Jenny Reeder Ep. 509 The Cultural Hall

Jennifer Reeder is a historian and writer and is currently the nineteenth-century women’s history specialist at the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Reeder obtained degrees from Brigham Young University, Arizona State University, and New York University.

24:32 She was buried in a purple dress.

25:40 She was an excellent horsewoman.

27:44 It was not a normal thing for a woman to edit a hymn book, so it was a big deal for Emma to compile one.

32:11 In her later life, after Joseph’s death, she always insisted that Joseph never practiced polygamy.

35:41 The neighbor kids always remembered her delicious cookies.

36:45 She never saw her parents again after she left Harmony, Pennsylvania in 1830.

40:28 She was the first president of the Relief Society.

43:17 She was sealed to Joseph before she was endowed.

45:00 She was the first woman to be endowed, and she led early temple ordinances for women.

46:19 She stayed in Nauvoo and never came to Utah.

49:40 She was not a fan of Brigham Young, and he was not a fan of her.

53:46 She ran a dairy and provided for the family in Harmony, Pennsylvania.

54:46 She was pregnant when her husband Joseph Smith was killed.

56:50 She was more educated than Joseph and was his first scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon.

59:27 She crossed a frozen river on foot with 2 little kids and carrying a baby and a toddler, with Joseph’s translation of the Bible in pouches under her skirts when they escaped Missouri.

1:01:19 She was not at the Whitmer farm in Fayetteville, New York, when the church was organized in April 6, 1830.

1:02:17 She delivered 9 babies; adopted two, lost six babies, and raised 5 to adulthood. One of her sons was committed to a mental institution.

1:04:51 She was very politically astute and understood the US Constitution, the Illinois state constitution, and the charter of the city of Nauvoo. She corresponded with Illinois governor Thomas Carlin seeking her husband’s protection.

1:06:23 Her second husband, Lewis Bidamin, had an affair while they were married. Emma raised the illegitimate child and welcomed the mother into her home because she couldn’t provide for herself. On her death bed, Emma made Lewis and the woman promise to get married so their son would be legitimate.

1:09:55 Joseph came for her from the spirit world when she died.

1:11:10 She owned 1/2 share of a popular steam boat on the Mississippi River used for parties and entertainment.

1:14:41 She always testified of the prophetic role of Joseph Smith as a prophet and of the Book of Mormon up through the end of her life.