Ruth Daggett (Vose) Sayers (1808 - 1884)

Born 26 Feb 1808 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Wife of Edward Sayers — married 23 Jan 1841 in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Wife of Joseph Smith Jr. — married Feb 1843 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, USA

Died 18 Aug 1884 at age 76 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, USA

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

Ruth (Vose) Sayers was a Latter Day Saint pioneer.

Biography

Ruth was born on February 26, 1808 in Watertown, Massachusetts (just west of Boston).^[1][2][3]

She converted into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as young woman, and was baptized by Brigham Young on August 14, 1836. She may have informally converted earlier, in May 1832.^[4][5]

She married Edward Sayers on January 23, 1841 in St Louis, Missouri.^[6] The couple moved to Nauvoo, Illinois before 1842.^[7][8]

In February 1843, while still married to Edward, Ruth married Joseph Smith.^[3][9] As with most of Joseph Smith's polyandrous marriages, she continued to live with her first husband after the ceremony. Joseph was killed on June 27, 1844. Ruth was visiting Boston around the time of his death, and first heard the news there.^[3]

Ruth returned to Nauvoo on August 6, 1844 but left for Boston again, this time with her husband Edward, later that month. Ruth and Edward remained in Boston from 1844 to 1849.^[3] They then returned west in 1849, migrating to Utah with the Silas Richards Company. They would have arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in late October.^[10]

Ruth and Edward lived in Salt Lake City for the rest of their lives.^[3] In fall of 1856, Ruth left for Boston again, presumably to visit her aunt Polly. She returned to Utah with Polly in June 1857, crossing the plains with the Ephraim K. Hanks Mail Express.^[3][10]

Ruth's husband Edward died on July 17, 1861. Her aunt Polly died on December 9, 1866. Ruth was not known to have any children.^[3]

Ruth passed away on August 18, 1884 in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[2][11][12]

Sources

1. ↑ Sayers, Ruth Vose, Patriarchal Blessing Index, 1833–1963, microfilm 392,683, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Obituary for Rose Daggett Vose Sayers, "Deaths". Deseret Evening News, 18 August 1884, p. 2. University of Utah Library.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Compton, Todd. "Gardener's Wife: Ruth Daggett Vose (Sayers Smith)." In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1997, pp. 381-387.
4. ↑ Discussion of this date discrepancy appears in Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, p. 382.
5. ↑ Young, Brigham. Journals, 1832–1877, entry for 14 August 1836. Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. CR 1234 1, boxes 71–73. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
6. ↑ "Hymenial." Times and Seasons, vol. 2, no. 8 (15 February 1841), p. 324. Brigham Young University Library.
7. ↑ "1842 Nauvoo Census", index with images, Ruth Sayyears, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
8. ↑ Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 19 May 1841, vol. I, pp. 309–310, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
9. ↑ Ruth Vose Sayers, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, 1 May 1869, in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1:9, 4:9. Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. MS 3423. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} "Utah Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database, 1847-1868," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK9B-HJBF : 10 February 2018), Ruth Daggett Vose Sayers, 29 Oct 1849; from "Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel: 1847-1868," database, > The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (https://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/ : 2004-).
11. ↑ "Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849-1949," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQHJ-LPP : 4 August 2017), Ruth Daggett Vose Sayers, 18 Aug 1884; citing Ward 12, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, Management and Archives, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 4,139,695.
12. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL7-MPVF : 11 July 2016), Ruth Daggett Vose Sayers, 1884; Burial, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States of America, Salt Lake City Cemetery; Find A Grave: Memorial #86515308, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

See also:

• "Sayers, Ruth Daggett Vose." The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press (accessed 1 February 2021).
• "Ruth Sayers". Woman's Exponent, vol. 13, no. 2, 15 September 1884, p. 61-62. Internet Archive.
• "Ruth Vose Sayers." [http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/18-RuthVoseSayers.htm Remembering the Wives of Joseph Smith (wivesofjosephsmith.org: accessed 1 February 2021).
• Hales, Brian and Laura Harris. "Ruth Vose." Joseph Smith's Polygamy (josephsmithspolygamy.org: accessed 1 February 2021).
• Hansen Park, Lindsay. "Remembering the Forgotten Women of Joseph Smith: Ruth Daggett Vose Sayers Smith." Feminist Mormon Housewives (accessed 26 January 2021).
• Compton, Todd. "Gardener's Wife: Ruth Daggett Vose (Sayers Smith)." In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1997, pp. 381-387.

Census records:

• "1842 Nauvoo Census", index with images, Ruth Sayyears, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCSX-MPS : 12 April 2016), Ruth Sayers in household of Edward Sayers, Great Salt Lake county, Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States; citing family 7, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH2W-YJP : 28 July 2017), Ruth Sayers in entry for Edwin Sayers, 1860.
• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCT-1RG : 2 January 2021), Ruth Sears, 1870.
• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNSK-ZTY : 14 November 2020), Ruth B. Sayers, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Territory, United States; citing enumeration district ED 51, sheet 179B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,337.