The Women of Mormondom

by Edward W. Tullidge

Mrs. Amanda Wimley, although but eight years a resident of Utah, was converted to Mormonism in Philadelphia, in the year 1839, under the preaching of Joseph the prophet, being baptized shortly afterward. For thirty years the circumstances of her life were such that it was not expedient for her to gather with the church; she nevertheless maintained her faith, and was endowed to a remarkable degree with the gift of healing, which she exercised many times with wonderful effect in her own family. Journeying to Salt Lake City some eight years since, on a visit merely, she has now fully determined to permanently remain, as the representative of her father's house, to "do a work for her ancestry and posterity."

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Polly Sawyer Atwood, who died in Salt Lake City, Oct. 16th, 1876, is worthy of a passing notice, because of her many good deeds in the service of God. She was another of the last century women, being born in 1790, in Windham, Conn. Her parents were Asahel and Elizabeth Sawyer. Herself and husband, Dan Atwood, first heard the gospel in 1839, and were straightway convinced of its truth. They journeyed to Salt Lake in 1850. Here she displayed in a remarkable manner the works and gifts of faith, and was much sought after by the sick and afflicted, up to the day of her death, which occurred in her 86th year. It is worthy of mention that she was the mother of three men of distinction in the church—Millen Atwood, who was one of the pioneers, a missionary to England, captain of the first successful handcart company, and a member of the high council; Miner Atwood, who was a missionary to South Africa, and also a member of the high council; and Samuel Atwood, who is one of the presiding bishops of the Territory.

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In connection with Mother Atwood may also properly be mentioned her daughter-in-law, Relief C. Atwood, the wife of Millen, who received the gospel in New Hampshire, in 1843, and in 1845 emigrated to Nauvoo. This was just before the expulsion of the church from that city, and in a few months she found herself in the wilderness. At winter quarters, after the return of the pioneers, she married Mr. Atwood, one of their number, and with him in 1848 journeyed to the valley. Their trials were at first nigh overwhelming, but in a moment of prayer, when they were about to give up in despair, the spirit of the Lord rested upon Mr. A., and he spoke in tongues, and at the same time the gift of interpretation rested upon her. It was an exhortation to renewed hope and trust, which so strengthened them that they were able to overcome every difficulty. Her family has also received many striking manifestations of the gift of healing—so much so that she now bears testimony that "God is their great physician, in whom she can safely trust."

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Sister Sarah B. Fiske, who was born in Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., in 1819, is another of revolutionary ancestry; her grandfathers, on both paternal and maternal side, having served in the revolutionary war. In 1837 she was married to Ezra H. Allen. Shortly thereafter they were both converted to Mormonism, and in 1842 moved to Nauvoo. In the spring of '43 they joined the settlement which was attempted at a place called Shockoquan, about twenty-five miles north of Nauvoo. Journeying with the saints on the exodus, she stopped at Mount Pisgah, while her husband went forward in the battalion. Nearly two years passed, and word came that the brethren of the battalion were coming back. With the most intense anxiety she gathered every word of news concerning their return, and at last was informed that they were at a ferry not far away. She hastened to make herself ready and was about to go out to meet him when the word was brought that her husband had been murdered by Indians in the California mountains. She was handed her husband's purse, which had been left by the Indians, and which contained his wages and savings. This enabled her to procure an outfit, and in 1852 she journeyed to the valley.

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Here let us mention another octogenarian sister in the person of Jane Neyman, daughter of David and Mary Harper, who was born in Westmoreland Co., Pa., in 1792. She embraced the gospel in 1838, and became at once endowed with the gift of healing, which enabled her to work many marvelous cures, among which may be mentioned the raising of two infants from apparent death, they each having been laid out for burial. Herself and family received an unstinted share of the persecutions of the saints, in Missouri, and afterwards in Nauvoo, in which latter place her husband died. Her daughter, Mary Ann Nickerson, then residing on the opposite side of the river from Nauvoo, on the occasion of the troubles resulting in the battle of Nauvoo, made cartridges at her home, and alone in her little skiff passed back and forth across the Mississippi (one mile wide at that point), delivering the cartridges, without discovery. While the battle was raging she also took seven persons, including her mother, on a flat-boat, and by her unaided exertions ferried them across the river. This heroic lady is now living in Beaver, Utah.

Mrs. Neyman, now in her 85th year, testifies concerning the truth of the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith: "I know it is the work of God, by the unerring witness of the Holy Ghost."