BYU Studies Quarterly BYU Studies Quarterly

Volume 15 Issue 3 Article 12

7-1-1975

Dear Ellen: Two Mormon Women and Their Letters S. George S. George

Ellsworth; Ellsworth; Letters of Long Ago Agnes Just Reid Agnes Just Reid

Thomas G. Alexander

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Alexander, Thomas G. (1975) "Dear Ellen: Two Mormon Women and Their Letters S. George Ellsworth; Letters of Long Ago Agnes Just Reid," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 15 : Iss. 3 , Article 12. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol15/iss3/12

This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact scholarsarchive@byu.edu, ellen_amatangelo@byu.edu.

BOOK REVIEWS 375

S george ellsworth editor dear ellen two mormon wo-men and their letters salt lake city tanner trust funduniversity of utah library 1974 92 ppap 12.001200agnes just reid letters of long ago brigham D madseneditor salt lake city tanner trust fund university of utahlibrary 1974 93 ppap 9509.50950reviewed by thomas G alexander professor of history and ass-ociate director of the charles redd center for western studies atbrigham young university

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Alexander: <em>Dear Ellen: Two Mormon Women and Their Letters</em> S. George

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any reader isis pleased to find more in a book than liehelleile bar-gained for and this reviewer was pleasantly surprised that thedear eleuelenelleneieneilen volume consisted of more than the edited letterslettefsof two mormon women opening with a biographical sketchof ellen spencer clawson and ellen pratt mcgary professorellsworth tells of their early life inin nauvoo their exodus towinter quarters and to utah and their separate lives in saltlake city and san bernardinothis sketch leads to the heart of the book which is a series

of letters exchanged between the two women in 1856 and1857 offering perspectives on conditions inin salt lake cityand san bernardino the letters tell of the lives of womenrepresenting two social classes and two perspectives fromwithin the mormon comincommunityunity far from the center of mor-mondom and daughter of a lower class family ellen pratt en-dured two uneven marriages and divorces and a life whichtook her from california to variousvarious towns in utah ellenspencer on the other hand as the wife of hyrum B clawsona socially prominentpron nnentanent businessman ecclesiastical leader andpolygamist saw mormon society from the top by focusingon social and family concerns the letters tell much of life inthe two morimorlmormonnon communcommancommunitiesi tiesthe third section of this book consists of biographical

sketches of the lives of the two women and their families un-til the deaths of the central figures

though the book focuses on the letters exchanged betweenthe two women the strength of the volume lies in the com-mentary found inin the first and third sections here professorellsworth has put the lives of the participants in perspectiveone learns of ellen pratt s flirtation with spiritualism of thefailure of her two marriages and of life in beaver during the1870s and 1880s he learns that ellen clawson s life centeredon her family the theatrical and business pursuits of her hus-band and the concerns of a polygamous wife

though seemingly inin the same form as the nineteenthcentury dear ellen letters professor madsen s letters of longago were in fact written in the early 1920s by agnes justreid completed before the development of present oral his-tory techniques mrs reid based the letters on the reminis-cences of her mother eminaemma thompson just an early settlerof the blackfoot river valley of southeastern idaho

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BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 15, Iss. 3 [1975], Art. 12

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol15/iss3/12

BOOK REVIEWS 377

written inin the form of letters to emma s father georgethompson a mormon convert who had returned to englandafter the bitter disappointment and horrors of the morrisitemornsitemorrisineMorriMorn sitewar of 1862 the narrative tells of life near fort hall res-ervationer inin the 1870s and 1880s married at the age of fifteento george bennett one of the soldiers whowiiowilo helped escort themorrisitemornsitemorrisineMorriMorn site refugees to idalioidaho emma was abandoned after sev-eral years of movingiovingbovingn throughout the mountain west she re-turned to the blackfoot river country in 1869 married nelsjust shortly thereafter and began the life described in thelettersthe narrative conveys impressions of life and incidents on

the idaho frontier and includes such matters as relations withthetlle indians the struggle for sufficient irrigation water andthe comingcorning of the railroad haunted by extreme lonelinesseminaemma just gave birth to ten children feared for her life andtheirs during the difficulties with the nez perce and bannocksBannocksin the late 1870s and endured an unhappy life with a man shedid not love the letters end in 1891 when george thompsondecided to return to idaho

one particularly interesting passage tells of her return tosalt lake city to testify inin the trial of robert burton accusedof the murder of joseplijoseppi morris and others the trial resultedinin burton s acquittal because many of the witnesses includingmrs just could not identify himhirn and were hazy about detailsof thetiietile events which had taken place nearly two decades before

in general the editorial work in both the ellen and emmavolumes isis well done thetlletile letters are put inin perspectivethrough introductions postscripts and notes and the identifiidentifycationscanions of those persons and places identified are adequatefortunately a map supplied with the reid letters helps tolocate many of theilieille places mentioned but inin the ellen volumea number of places are not identified

it is usually impossible for the editor of any volume toidentify all of the persons and places mentioned some simplydefy identification because they cannot otherwise be locatedin some cases however the failure to identify seems to havecomecornecoine because the unidentified person or place was not partof the central interest of the editor in the reid volume forinstance an entire letter isis devoted to thetiletiie experiences of thetllejust family with an unidentified captain baker the letterietterhowever gives enough information that a perusal of francisfiancisfeancis

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Alexander: <em>Dear Ellen: Two Mormon Women and Their Letters</em> S. George

Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1975

378

B heitman s historical register and dictionary of the unitedstates army washington GPOGFO 1903 makes it possible toidentify the captain with a high degree of probability as step-hen baker of michigan who served as a private corporal andsergeant during the civil war and advanced to lieutenant andthen to captain by june 1874

one caveat should be raised about thetiietile reid volume sincelike many oral histories it purports to relate emotional statesand events thirty to fifty years removed in time it must be usedwith caution did emma just for instance really have thecontinual death wishes portrayed in the volume or is this aprojection of her state of mind as an invalid septuagenarianat the time of the interview though many of the reminis-cences can be compared with contemporary sources and thusadd insight into the events social historians particularly mustbe careful in using such material in the absence of contempo-rary evidence as an indication of the attitudes of a pioneerduring the 1870s and 1880s

withal the editors are to be complimented on the finework they have done professor ellsworth s volume adds con-siderablesiderable insight into the life and attitudes of nineteenthcentury mormon women and professor madsen helps us tounderstand life on the idaho frontier in addition the tannertrust fund and the series editors should be congratulated forovidingprovidinghvidingIM volumes of this quality

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BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 15, Iss. 3 [1975], Art. 12

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol15/iss3/12