EMELINE LEAVITT SMITH

(The following is as read by her granddaughter, Lula Evans Reading, at the William Reed Smith Family Reunion held in Centerville, Utah, on March 9, 1940)

Emeline Leavitt, the daughter of Wire Leavitt and Phoebe Cole, was born in Lower Canada about 1832. Little is known of her early childhood in Canada. About 1842 her family (parents, two brothers, and a sister) started for Nauvoo. Her father died on the way at a place called Twelve Mile Grove.

We don't know just how long the family remained in Nauvoo, but on the 2nd of October 1847, with one brother, George Leavitt, a sister and her mother, Emeline arrived in Salt Lake Valley. The older brother Charles did not come with them. Although some years later he visited them, he did not join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but returned to his home in the east. During that first winter they stayed in Salt Lake City and endured all the hardships only those first pioneers knew.

In the early spring, Emeline came to Centerville with O. M. Duel to help his wife with the housework as Mrs. Duel was an invalid. She was not there long before she was called back to Salt Lake City because of the sickness of her mother.

The first winter in the Valley was a very hard one. A great deal of sickness and disease was prevalent. Emeline's mother helped care for the sick and went out nursing and helping to relieve conditions until she became sick and died in the spring of 1848, leaving the three children to care for themselves. She was the second woman to be buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

George Leavitt was twenty-one. He came to Centerville, bringing his sisters, Emeline and Louisa, and made a small adoba house for them. They all did whatever they could to get along and care for themselves. George made adoba bricks and did carpenter work. Emeline, being the older sister, felt the responsibility of her younger sister and mothered her until she was married to Horton Haight.

In the old adoba school house in Centerville, Utah, where the Memorial Hall now stands, Emeline went to a dance. She was a very beautiful and attractive girl, and there she met her future husband, William Reed Smith. He could see no one else during the evening and before long, on March 3, 1853, they were married. Shortly after the marriage, her husband left for California. This was at the time of the famous Gold Rush and Emeline was told she would never see him again, for he was called a Winter Mormon. However, in a few months he returned, bringing some gold nuggets, a silk dress and a side saddle. People came from miles around to see these treasures.

In March, 1855, William Reed Smith was made Bishop of the Centerville Ward, and as a bishop's wife, Emeline filled her place exceedingly well. Many who came to the town stayed at her home. Men hauling grain from the north to the city tithing office made it their stopping place and were welcomed and fed. School teachers boarded there too and her home was always filled. Brigham Young came there many times and his brother Joseph Young was often there. Among the many who called were Porter Rockwell and John D. Lee. On many occasions her bedrooms were all filled, with additional beds made upon the floor. This necessitated a lot of bedding which was all made in the home. Many times after retiring, she would get out of bed to prepare a meal and make up a bed for a weary traveler.

Emeline was considered a very good cook. She did a lot of cooking with buttermilk and soda. The things I particularly remember were her graham bread and squash pies. Her husband grew corn, also cane, and owned a molasses mill. When the molasses was almost done, she would take white peaches, wash them and put them in the vat. After they were cooked they were put in ten gallon cans, covered and kept for winter. She always dried a large amount of peaches, corn and currants. As a great luxury in her home, pear preserves were made when sugar was $100 a sack. These preserves were on her own table only at Christmas and on very special occasions.

She was a great lover of flowers. The first peonies I ever remember seeing were in the garden on the south side of her house. She raised chickens and had a fine vegetable garden. She owned a lovely white cow which she always milked.

She was a mild and lovable character with an even disposition and an abundance of patience, as each new wife her husband married was brought home to live with her. One of the wives, Aunt Mary, said of her "She was a wonderful woman and I thought more of her than any sister I had. I often wonder how she could put up with three young wives of her husband, all in her home at the same time and all many years younger than herself."

Emeline was the mother of eight children, four boys and four girls, whose names appear below. The inscription on her tombstone reads "Emeline Leavitt, wife of William Reed Smith, born July 26, 1832, Lower Canada; died August 8, 1888.

Children (all born in Centerville, Utah):

1.Sarah Louisa Smith (b 10June1854, md B.H.Roberts 24Jan1878, d17May1946)
2.Phoebe Emeline Smith (b 21Nov1855, md William Evans)
3.William Reed Smith (jr) (b 14May1857, d 9Aug1869)
4.Joseph Smith (b 22Sep1858, md Mary Roberts)
5.Luna Smith (b 29Mar1860, md Henry Rampton)
6.Charles Leavitt Smith (b 1Apr1862, md Pamelia Tompson)
7.George Smith (b 11Dec1864, d 8Sep1928)
8.Lucy Smith (b 8Oct1868, d 8Sep1911)