Wilford Woodruff - Marriage and Family

Marriage and Family

Like many early Latter Day Saints, Woodruff practiced plural marriage. He was married to seven (possibly 8) women; however, not all of these marriages were concurrent. His wives were:

• Phoebe Whittemore Carter (8 March 1807–10 Nov 1885), m. 13 April 1837
• Mary Ann Jackson, (18 Feb 1818-25 Oct 1894) m. 2 Aug 1846 (later divorced)
• Mary Meek Giles Webster (6 Sept 1802-3 Oct 1852)m. 28 March 1852
• Emma Smith (born 1 March 1838–4 March 1912) m. 13 March 1853
• Sarah Brown (1 Jan 1834–9 May 1909), m. 13 March 1853
• Sarah Delight Stocking (26 Jul 1838–28 May 1906) m. 31 July 1857
• Eudora Young Dunford (12 May 1852-21 Nov 1922) m. 10 March 1877(later divorced)

Woodruff's wives bore him a total of thirty-three children, with thirteen preceding him in death.

Woodruff met his first wife, Phoebe Carter, in Kirtland shortly after his return from his first mission through Southern Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky. Woodruff came to Kirtland on November 25, 1836, along with Abraham O. Smoot. He was introduced to Phoebe by Milton Holmes on January 28, 1837. She was a native of Maine and had joined the LDS Church in 1834. Wilford and Phoebe were married on April 13, 1837, with the ceremony performed by Frederick G. Williams. Their marriage was later sealed in Nauvoo by Hyrum Smith. Phoebe was later numbered among the "leading ladies" who helped organize the Relief Society in Utah from 186?-1880.

During his time as president of the LDS Church, Woodruff had his wife Emma Smith Woodruff accompany him to public functions, and she was the only wife he lived with after Phoebe's death in 1885. She was a niece of Abraham O. Smoot. Although she married Woodruff when she was 15, she did not have the first of her eight children until she was 20. Emma was involved in the Relief Society, serving as both a ward and stake president for that organization. She also served as a member of the Relief Society General Board from 1892 to 1910.

Among Woodruff's children was the LDS Church apostle Abraham O. Woodruff. His daughter Phoebe was a wife of Lorenzo Snow (Snow succeeded Woodruff, his father-in-law, as president of the LDS Church).