Ruth (Grant) Luce (1775 - 1860)

Born 13 Oct 1775 in Hampden, Penobscot County, Maine

Ancestors

Wife of Malatiah Luce — married 29 Dec 1799 in Vinalhaven, Knox, Maine

Descendants

Died 3 Jun 1860 at age 84 in Ogden, Weber, Utah Territory, United States

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Biography

Ruth (Grant) Luce is a member of Clan Grant.

Ruth became a member of the LDS Church between 1830 - 1848.

Ruth (Grant) Luce was a Latter Day Saint pioneer.

Ruth (Grant) Luce (1775-1860).

The marriage intentions of Ruth Grant of Vinalhaven and Edward Webber of Hancock were published in Vinalhaven on May 12, 1794;^[1] however, it appears that the marriage never took place. The marriage intentions of Malatiah Luce and Ruth Grant both of Vinalhaven were published in Vinalhaven on December 9, 1798,^[2] and they were married in Vinalhaven on December 29, 1799.^[3]

Ruth and Malatiah had the following children, all born in Vinalhaven:^[4]

1. Ephraim, b. September 30, 1799
2. Stephen
3. Nancy, b. December 27, 1802
4. Sally, b. May 10, 1804
5. Thomas, b. February 27, 1806
6. Elizabeth (twin), b. January 1, 1808
7. Susanna (twin), b. January 1, 1808
8. Andrew, b. July 3, 1810

In 1838 she converted to Mormonism and went with her husband and children to Nauvoo, Illinois. Her name appears on the membership records of the Mormon Church at Nauvoo between 1840 and 1848.^[5] On 15 February 1845 she received her Patriarchal Blessing and on 25 December 1845 was Endowed in Nauvoo.

When the Mormons were driven out of Nauvoo in 1846 she was 71 and her husband Malatiah was 74. Some secondary sources say her husband died in Nauvoo in 1849, but he is known to have been in Salt Lake City in 1848. Likewise, some secondary sources say she came across the plains to Utah in 1850,^[6] perhaps in the Stephen Markham Company. However, it is more likely that she traveled in the Willard Richards Company in 1848 with her husband and the family of her son Stephen.^[7]

She was a pioneer settler of both Salt Lake City and Ogden. On 29 September 1850 she was re-baptized and confirmed. In 1851 she was living as a widow with Lovisa Snyder in Salt Lake City.^[8] She was sealed to her late husband on 24 January 1853 in the the office Brigham Young, with her son Ephraim standing as proxy. She appears on the 1856 statehood census in Salt Lake City's 10th Ward.

She died at the age of 84, after nearly 10 years in the west.

• Fact: Burial Ogden City Cemetery, Ogden, Weber County, Utah, USA

Sources

1. ↑ Vinalhaven Town & Vital Records, Vol 1 1785-1828. p. 403. FHL Film #007596929, image 222 of 837. Link to image at familysearch.org.
2. ↑ Vinalhaven Town & Vital Records, Vol 1 1785-1828. p. 406. FHL Film #007596929, image 223 of 837. Link to image at familysearch.org.
3. ↑ Vinalhaven Town & Vital Records, Vol 1 1785-1828. p. 420. FHL Film #007596929, image 230 of 837. Link to image at familysearch.org.
4. ↑ Vinalhaven Town & Vital Records, Vol 1 1785-1828. p. 392. FHL Film # 007596929, image 216 of 837. Link to image at familysearch.org.
5. ↑ Linda King Newell, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith (1984).
6. ↑ Kate B. Carter, "Companies of 1850" in Heart Throbs of the West, Vol. 5(1945):394-450.
7. ↑ Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel database.
8. ↑ 1851 Census.

See also:

• Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel: Ruth Grant Luce.
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36658545/ruth-luce : accessed 2 December 2016), memorial page for Ruth Grant Luce (1775 - 1860) - Find A Grave Memorial.