In a pile of old Relief Society handbooks, I found this great little booklet about the history of the Relief Society.\u00a0 It was published during Belle Spafford\u2019s presidency.\u00a0 It had lots of information in it, including this fascinating explanation.<\/p>\n
As the Relief Society was reorganized in the various wards and community developments throughout the Salt Lake Valley, it wasn\u2019t until 1877 that a woman was called as a Stake Relief Society President.\u00a0 Before this time, ward presidents ran things for their individual community needs, but looked to women leaders centralized in Salt Lake City for advice and support.\u00a0 Eliza, and several women friends, would travel long distances together to connect with the various outlying areas of the territory.\u00a0 The Woman\u2019s Exponent provided another important service in connecting the sisters who were distant to the city of the Saints.<\/p>\n
North of Salt Lake City was the city of Ogden, in the Weber Valley.\u00a0 Several Relief Societies\u00a0 were formed in this community and they all looked to a woman by the name of Jane S. Richards.\u00a0 Jane was an incredible woman who survived a difficult passage across the plains.\u00a0 For many years women looked to her for direction and leadership.\u00a0 It was her idea to invite Pres. Brigham Young to attend a conference where all the sisters in the area came to gather and hear their leaders.<\/p>\n
At this conference, Brigham Young saw the expanse of devoted women, and clearly seeing the strength and spirit of Sis. Richards, felt inspired to announce the organization of the Weber Stake Relief Society, with Sis. Jane S. Richards called as its first stake Relief Society President.\u00a0 This announcement was met with \u201chappy surprise\u201d by those in attendance.\u00a0 This began the consolidation of various Relief Societies into stake organizations.<\/p>\n
Emmeline, relating the events of this meeting in the Exponent, said, \u201cThere were so many good things said for encouragement of women in stepping forward to assist in building up Zion, that we could only wish that all the world could have heard it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sister Richards would continue her service as the Relief Society president of the Weber Stake for thirty-one years.\u00a0 For twenty-two of those years she was also a member of the Relief Society General Board, as well as serving as a counselor in the General Presidency.<\/p>\n
The second stake Relief Society organized was the Salt Lake Stake.\u00a0 Five months after President Brigham Young\u2019s death, Eliza R. Snow called a special meeting in the Fourteenth Ward.\u00a0 She stated that President Young had inaugurated a movement previous to his death in the Weber Stake, which she considered proper to carry out.\u00a0 Mary Isabella Horne was appointed as the Relief Society president of the Salt Lake Stake.\u00a0 She too would serve concurrently as a member of the General Board, as well as serve as the president of the Retrenchment Association.\u00a0 Joseph Smith was the one who gave Sis. Horne the title of \u201cGeneral Among Women\u201d.<\/p>\n
Eliza would travel all over the territory creating more Relief Society stakes, and calling the women to serve as presidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a pile of old Relief Society handbooks, I found this great little booklet about the history of the Relief Society.\u00a0 It was published during Belle Spafford\u2019s presidency.\u00a0 It had lots of information in it, including this fascinating explanation. As the Relief Society was reorganized in the various wards and community developments throughout the Salt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[373,484],"tags":[402,412,155,139],"class_list":["post-2315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-relief-society-challenge-ideas","tag-eliza","tag-jane","tag-relief-society","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\n