Emmeline B. Wells - Biography

Biography

Emmeline Blanche Woodward was born in 1828 in Petersham, Massachusetts, the daughter of David and Deiadama Hare Woodward. Her father died when Emmeline was four years old. Precocious, energetic and intelligent, she graduated at age fourteen from the New Salem Academy. She taught school briefly before her first marriage at the age of fifteen.

Woodward joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in 1842. She married 16 year old James Harris, also a new member of the church, the following year. In 1844, the young couple, his parents, and other Latter Day Saints from their region migrated to the headquarters of the Church, Nauvoo, Illinois. After the death of their infant son Eugene Henri, Harris left Nauvoo looking for work and never returned.

The young Emmeline Harris returned to teaching. Through his children in her school, she met and later married Newel K. Whitney, a significantly older man, under the LDS doctrine of plural marriage. Emmeline Whitney left Nauvoo in 1846, and traveled to Utah with the extended Whitney family in 1848. At this time, she began maintaining a personal journal. Wells would continue writing in her diaries (forty-six journals are known) until 1920, shortly before her death. On the first page of volume 1, dated Friday, February 27, 1846, she recorded:

Whitney's death in 1850 left her with two young daughters, whom she supported by again teaching school in Salt Lake City. She remained primarily responsible for supporting herself and her children for the rest of her life.

Emmeline Whitney approached Daniel H. Wells, a friend of her late husband and a prominent civic leader, about marriage. In 1852, she became Daniel Well's seventh wife, bearing him three daughters. Their early marriage was distant, as Daniel Wells was heavily involved in civic and church duties and had six other families. However, later in their lives, the couple became fond and loving companions.

Wells was the editor of Utah's Woman's Exponent, a semi-monthly periodical established in 1872 for Mormon women. She also wrote numerous short stories and poems, most published. She later compiled her poetry into a single volume, Musings and Memories. In 1912 she became the first Utah woman to receive an honorary degree, in literature, awarded her by Brigham Young University.

A bust of Wells, inscribed "A Fine Soul Who Served Us", is found in the rotunda of the Utah State Capitol. The bust was funded through the efforts of women's groups in Utah, including the feminist community, LDS women's groups, and women's groups from other church organizations. Wells is, to date, the only woman so honored.