# Eliza R. Snow

Eliza Roxcy Snow (21 January 1804 – 5 December 1887) was one of the most celebrated Latter Day Saint women of the nineteenth century. A renowned poet, she chronicled history, celebrated nature and relationships, and expounded scripture and doctrine. Snow was married to Joseph Smith as a plural wife and was openly a plural wife of Brigham Young after Smith's death. Snow was the second general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which she reestablished in Utah Territory in 1866. She was also the sister of Lorenzo Snow, the church's fifth president. Called "Zion's Poetess", she authored numerous poems and multiple hymns, some of which are still sung by denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.

## Quotes

* Eliza R. Snow arose and said that she felt to concur with the President, with regard to the word Benevolent, that many Societies with which it had been associated, were corrupt,—that the popular Institutions of the day should not be our guide—that as daughters of Zion, we should set an example for all the world, rather than confine ourselves to the course which had been heretofore pursued.
** Relief Society Minute Book, March 17, 1842, compiled in 'The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow.
** Snow kept the minutes for the meeting and so described herself in the third person.
* E. R. Snow offer'd an amendment by way of transposition of words, instead of The Nauvoo Female Relief Society, it shall be call'd the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo—Seconded by Prest. J. Smith and carried.
** Relief Society Minute Book, March 17, 1842, compiled in The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow.
** Snow kept the minutes for the meeting and so described herself in the third person. Here Snow provided name of the forerunner to what would become the Relief Society.
* In the heav’ns are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare; Truth is reason—truth eternal Tells me I’ve a mother there. When I leave this frail existence— When I lay this mortal by, Father, mother, may I meet you In your royal court on high?
** "My Father in Heaven", Times and Seasons (Nauvoo, IL), November 15, 1845, p. 1039, compiled in 1.14 of The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women's History (Church Historian's Press, 2016).
** "My Father in Heaven" provides the lyrics to the hymn "O My Father", still sung by Latter-day Saints
* My sisters, let us cultivate ourselves, that we may be capable of doing much good. We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, and our position as Saints of the Most High is at the head of the world.
** Speech to the Salt Lake City Seventeenth Ward Relief Society, Union Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, February 18, 1869, compiled in chapter 10 of At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women (Church Historian's Press, 2017).
* Women had much more to do in moulding Society than men had We want to be living monuments of the character of our Heavenly Father and Mother and if we lived up to the priveliges we had we would all meet in their presence and have a good time together, if we could only get through without a spot on our Garments without speaking against the Priesthood or the principles of the Gospel Then what a Glorious thing it would be, how pure how holy and how enobled we would feel be if we could live thus.
** April 22, 1872, from the minutes scribed by Sarah M. Napper, in Twentieth Ward, Ensign Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records, vol. 1 (1868–1877), pp. 249–254, compiled in The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow.
* Woman must save her self. I would not risk my salvation to any man or being I must stand before my God and be judged If I act as a priestest [priestess] unto my God I must earn my position[.]
** Speech delivered July 1, 1875, at Santaquin, Utah, as recorded in Santaquin Ward, Nebo Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records (1868–1920), vol. 3 (1874–1878), pp. 40, compiled in The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow

## Quotes about Eliza R. Snow

* I want you to instruct the sisters.
** Brigham Young, quoted by Eliza R. Snow, in "Sketch of My Life", April 13, 1865, compiled in 3.5 of The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women's History (Church Historian's Press, 2016).

## External links

* The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, collects all known surviving speeches by Snow