Susa Young Gates

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Susa Young Gates
Susa Young Gates, portrait bust
4th President of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
In office
June 3, 1905 (1905-06-03) – September 15, 1908 (1908-09-15)[1]
PredecessorMaria Young Dougall
SuccessorIsabell Whitney Sears
Personal details
BornSusa Young
(1856-03-18)March 18, 1856
Salt Lake City, Utah Territory,
DiedMay 27, 1933(1933-05-27) (aged 77)
Salt Lake City
Resting placeProvo City Cemetery
40°13′30″N 111°38′38″W / 40.225°N 111.644°W / 40.225; -111.644 (Provo City Cemetery)
Alma materBrigham Young Academy
Notable worksFounded the Young Woman's Journal and the Relief Society Magazine
Spouse(s)Alma B. Dunford (1872-1877; divorced)
Jacob F. Gates (1880-1933)
Children13
ParentsBrigham Young
Lucy Bigelow

Susa Gates (née Young, formerly Dunford; March 18, 1856 – May 27, 1933) was a writer, periodical editor, and women's rights advocate in Utah. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gates wrote the first lesson manual, was a member of the Relief Society general board, and a missionary.

Early life

Susa Young was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to Lucy Bigelow, LDS Church president Brigham Young's twenty-second wife.[2] Young was named Susanna, but went by Susa for most of her life. Young was Brigham's forty-second child. When Young was the second child to be born to Lucy Bigelow and Brigham Young. Young grew up in the Lion House. Young's home life was very structured because of the large size of her father's family. Her days consisted of scheduled meals, prayers, schooling, family devotionals, and sleep time. According to Young, her childhood was very happy and she enjoyed growing up in the Young family. However, Young recorded some memories of family difficulties. While Young reported that she had a close relationship with some of her father's wives, she did not enjoy spending time with all of them. She also rejected any speculation that there was fighting amongst Brigham's wives, while other family members did confirm that there was tension.[3]

When Young was born, her father was the president of the LDS Church, the Governor of Utah, and the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. As a result of her father's positions, Young enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle as a girl. As a result of a series of natural disasters, Utah experienced a food shortage and the people living in Utah were required to live off food rations. Young was also a child during the Utah War which also contributed to the hardship that her family experienced. As a result of the war, Young moved south temporarily with some of her family to what is now known as Provo.[3]

Young thrived in her school and as a result, she entered the University of Deseret at age 13, and by age 14, she had become the editor of the student newspaper, College Lantern.[3][4] However, her father withdrew her from school and moved her (along with two of his wives and their children) to St. George, Utah. In St. George, Young continued pursuing an education, but struggled to get along with her new teacher and peers.[3]

Marriage and children

Young most likely began being courted by different suitors when she was 14. The Lion House was a popular gathering place for young people who were interested in courting. Young's father had an active role in the courtships of his children and would often interview the young men who came to visit his daughters. He also strongly encouraged his daughters to not associate with people who were not members of the LDS Church.[3]

Marriage to Alma B. Dunford

In 1872, while living in St. George, Young married Alma B. Dunford. Gates was sixteen years old at the time of their marriage. The couple received permission from Brigham to be married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City and they were married on December 1. Dunford was a cousin of Young's brother-in-law. Little is known about their courtship. After they were married, they moved to Salt Lake City where Dunford opened up a dentist office. Together, the couple had two children, Bailey and Leah.

After the birth of their second child, the family moved back to St. George and began to build a house. However, Dunford was not happy in St George as he was able to earn more money as a dentist in Salt Lake City. Dunford reportedly drank which caused Young to be unhappy in the marriage. Before their house was completed, Dunford received a mission call to England. The family moved back to the Lion House in Salt Lake City. In letters to her sister, Young describes being very unhappy in her marriage and life during this time. Young and her children moved to Bloomington, Idaho to live with Dunford's parents. Shortly after they arrived in Idaho, Brigham died.[3]

Young decided that she wanted to end her marriage to Dunford and sent him a letter saying so. Still a missionary in England, Dunford was shocked and hurt to find out that Young wanted to end their marriage. Dunford returned from England and the couple appeared in court to determine the specifics of their divorce. The relationship was so contentious that Young ended being arrested and briefly incarcerated for a fight she had with Dunford over the division of property following their divorce.[3] Young and Dunford officially divorced in 1877.[2] Young gained custody over their son, Bailey, while Dunford gained custody of Leah,[4] who later became the wife of John A. Widtsoe.[5] Following the divorce, Young was "devastated" by being separated from her daughter and faced with financial obligations that she could not afford. Young did not receive alimony from the divorce, increasing her finical difficulties.[3]

Marriage to Jacob F. Gates

A few years after the end of her first marriage, Young began a relationship with Jacob F. Gates. Young had met and become friends with Gates while living in St. George. Young and Gates exchanged letters while Gates was living in Hawaii as a missionary for the church. In these letters, Gates invited Young to visit him in Hawaii. Susa accepted his invitation and spent much of her six-week trip with Gates. They continued their correspondence, and were married three months after Gates returned from Hawaii on January 5, 1880 in the St. George Utah Temple.[3] They lived in St. George during the beginning of their marriage. In their first five years as a married couple, Susa bore four children. Bailey, Susa's son from her previous marriage, enjoyed a close relationship with his new stepfather. Despite polygamy being practice in the church and Susa's idyllic recollections of growing up in a polygamist household, Susa reported that she was opposed to Jacob from taking another wife. While the family gained prominence in their community, they struggled financially for their whole life.[3]

During their marriage, Susa and Jacob lived in Hawaii as missionaries for the church. Their biological children also came to Hawaii with them.[3] In total, Susa and Jacob had eleven children, seven of whom did not survive to adulthood.[2]

Children

While Gates was estranged from her children for a tine, she did reconnect with Leah and Bailey after her time in Hawaii.[3]

As she grew older, Leah spent more time with Gates and her family. Evidenced in letters, Jacob and Leah had originally not gotten along, but their relationships was improving. Leah explains in a letter that her dislike for Jacob came from her love for her biological father (with whom she had lived for most of her childhood and youth). As time passed, Leah and Gates' relationship improved and Leah and Jacob also developed a close relationship. Gates was involved in the selection of Leah's husband.[3]

Since Gates had last seen Bailey, he had been living with his biological father. Eventually, Bailey asked Gates if he could live with her. Upon his return to Provo, Bailey continued to live a "troubled life." He left Provo and his family did not hear from him for several years. When his family was finally able to make contact with Bailey, he was living in Washington. Bailey ended up traveling around the western United States, working odd jobs to earn money. During this time, he asked for and received some money from Gates. Bailey also began to abuse alcohol, a habit that greatly concerned Gates. Bailey had strained relations with other members of his family because of unpaid debts. On January 16, 1895, Bailey was killed as he was working as a firefighter. Once his body was recovered, it was discovered that the only possession he had with him was Gates' last letter to him. At the time of Bailey's funeral, Gates was bedridden following a difficult childbirth and consequently was not able to attend.[3]

Education

Following her divorce from Dunford, Gates petitioned church leaders to help her continue her education. She was offered a scholarship to the University of Deseret (now known as the University of Utah), but decided to instead attend Brigham Young Academy (now known as Brigham Young University). As a divorced mother, Gates stood out among the other students, however, she was dedicated to her education and worked hard in her courses. While at BYA, Gates taught music lessons. Following the end of her first year at BYA, Gates decided to leave Utah to accompany one of Brigham's other wives to Hawaii.[3]

Gates also attended summer school at Harvard University, but she was not an enrolled, full-time student. At Harvard, she took courses in literature and physical health.[3]

Missionary experiences

Hawaii

Jacob received another mission call to Hawaii and requested and received permission for his family to come too. Susa, Jacob, and their children all lived in Hawaii as missionaries for the church. Before they left, Susa and Jacob attempted to receive for permission for Susa's son, Bailey, to come to Hawaii with them. This upset Susa's ex-husband, Dunford, who went to the courts and forced Susa to give him full custody of Bailey. Bailey and Susa were devastated that they had to be separated and said goodbye to each other shortly before Susa left for Hawaii. Susa, Jacob, and their three surviving biological children arrived in Hawaii on November 10, 1885.[3]

Gates and her family lived in La'ie, which at the time was a large plantation that offered only basic living conditions. The beginning of this mission was very hard for Gates as she greatly missed Bailey and her house was filled with vermin and mosquitoes. Gates did many things on the island to help the mission, including sewing, mending, cooking, baking, washing clothes, ironing, making butter, caring for the house and yard, cleaning, making preserves and soap, and whitewashing and painting. During this time, Gates gave birth to three more children. Together, the family helped out at the nearby sugar factory and raised chickens and cows. They also participated in church events. During this mission, some of Gates' children died from diseases. Despite Jacob being fluent in Hawaiian, there were often misunderstandings between the American Mormons and the native Hawaiians. These disagreements often stemmed from the amount of money that the Gates family spent. Knowing she had a "sharp tongue and occasional tendency to gossip," Susa also clashed with native Hawaiians and non-natives which cased disagreements.[3] Gates included stories and details about her experience in her book, The Little Missionary.[3]

During this mission, Bailey was living with his father. This put a strain on the relationship between him and Gates. Gates attempted to continue and strengthen the relationship by writing letters to Bailey, but Baily had formed a strong relationship with his father and did not have much interest in writing to Gates. Gates's other child from her previous marriage, Leah, had not seen her mother for many years since she lived with her father and thus did not have much of relationship with Gates. The separation and breakdown of relationships with her children greatly pained Gates.[3]

On April 14, 1889, the Gates family left Hawaii to return to the United States, finishing their four-year mission.[3]

United States

In March 1903, Gates received a mission call from the church to be a missionary in the United States. No other details or specifics are known about this assignment.[3]

Career

Alice Louise Reynolds, Amy Brown Lyman, Grace Raymond Hebard, Mrs. Weston Vernon, Ruth Moench Bell, Susa Young Gates

On May 27, 1870, Gates became the secretary of the Young Ladies Retrenchment Association. The Association was created as a way for young LDS women to support each other and connect with each other.[3]

Gates was involved in different educational institutions in Utah. Gates entered Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah, in 1878 where she taught music lessons and founded the music department.[3][4] In the 1890s, Gates returned to BYU and acted as a board member. While there, Gates created the home economics department and taught a physiology and genealogy class. She was appointed as a member of the board of trustees of the Agricultural College of Utah in Logan, Utah. At the same college, she was also a member on a committee on home economics and art.[3]

Throughout her life, Gates founded many organizations. She was one of the co-founders of the Utah Women's Press Club. Gates organized the Utah chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution. Gates also founded the Sons and Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She also helped to organize the National Household Economic Association.[2]

Along with other local church responsibilities and assignments, Gates was also a member of the general board of the LDS Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association. During her time on the board, Gates wrote the first two lesson guidebooks.[3]

Gates was a member of the National Council of Women (NCW) and she attended multiple NCW conferences. She also served as the chair of the US National Council of Women Press Committee.[3]

During some of Gates' career, there was a strong anti-Mormon sentiment in the United States, largely due to the church's practice of polygamy. This caused some disruption in Gates' career as some women did not want to associate with a Utahan or a Mormon. An example of this is when Susan B. Anthony refused to work with Gates anymore because she had not left the religion which practiced polygamy. Throughout her career, Gates defended her religion and contended to be accepted.[3]

Susa Young Gates (1895)

LDS church positions

Gates was involved in many different positions in the LDS church. Some of her positions include:

  • Member of the Relief Society general board
  • Secretary of the Relief Society general board
  • Editor of the Relief Society Magazine
  • Chair of the Genealogical Committee of the Relief Society
  • Teachers Committee of the Relief Society general board
  • Member of the general board of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association
  • Missionary in Hawaii and the "United States"[3]

While not an official assignment in the church, Gates wrote the first lesson manual for Sunday school lessons.[3]

Other contributions

Gates was an outspoken proponent of women's suffrage. In 1880, Gates organized a class in St. George which was called "Civil Government." In 1882, Gates was elected as an alternate delegate for an convention of the People's Party, a political group greatly influenced by the church.[3] Throughout her life, Gates was active in promoting women's rights and women's suffrage. She was a founding organizer of the National Household Economics Organization, served as a delegate and speaker to five congresses of the International Council of Women and was a delegate and officer of the National Council of Women.[4] Gates was also elected as an alternate delegate of the Republican National Convention in Chicago in 1908.[3] She attended several Republican National Conventions.[4]

Gates was a primary organizer of the Utah chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers,[1] and the National Woman's Press Club. Gates was also a member of the Board of Regents of Brigham Young University from 1891 to 1933, and Utah State Agricultural College from 1906 to 1912.[4]

Gates was also active in genealogy and LDS Church temple work.[2] Young researched her father's and mothers family history in depth.[3] She managed the genealogy departments in the Deseret News and Inter Mountain Republican, and edited and wrote columns for both papers in 1906. She later became the head of the Research Department and Library of the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1923.[2] Gates was the chair of the Genealogical Committee of the Relief Society. In this position, Gates created monthly lessons on genealogy for other women of the Relief Society.[3]

Writings

Throughout her life, Gates was an avid writer and published multiple books and journal articles. Gates also wrote plays, short stories, essays, eulogies, editorials, poetry, newspaper articles, and music lyrics. She sometimes published under the pen name, "Homespun."

Books

Gates' published books and novels include:

  • John Steven's Courtship: A Story of the Echo Canyon War
  • The Life Story of Brigham Young (co-authored with daughter Leah D. Widstoe)
  • Lydia Knight's History
  • Heroines of Mormondon
  • Surname Book and Radical History
  • Brigham Young: Patriot, Pioneer, Prophet
  • The Prince of Ur (co-authored with daughter Leah Widstoe)
  • Women of the "Mormon" Church
  • The Little Missionary
  • Up From Tribulation
  • Surname Book and Racial History
  • History of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Gates had planned on writing a series about female members of the church, but did not publish more than two volumes.[3]

Articles

While on a mission in Hawaii, Gates published an article about native Hawaiian dress. The article appeared in the July 1888 edition of Godey's Lady's Book. During her time in Hawaii, Gates also wrote articles that were published in the LDS-directed magazine Contributor and in Woman's Exponent.[3]

In 1889, after returning from their first mission, Gates founded the Young Woman's Journal, a periodical targeted to adolescent Latter-day Saint females. In 1897, the journal was adopted by the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association. Gates stepped down as editor of the Journal in 1900, but continued to contribute occasionally until it ceased publication in 1929.[2]

In 1915, Gates founded Relief Society Magazine a periodical targeted at members of the Relief Society. The magazine became the official publication of the church's Relief Society, and Gates edited it until 1922.[2]

Throughout her life, Gates had writings published in multiple, non-Mormon journals such as North American Review, Juvenile Instructor, and Godey's Lady's Book. However, most of Gates' articles were published in LDS owned or influenced magazines.[3]

Poems

Gates' poems include:

  • "From a Mother to Her Babes"
  • Hymn of the Mothers of Men"
  • "What, When, Who?"
  • "The House that Elizabeth Built"
  • "Consecration"[3]

Short stories

Some of Gates' published short stories include:

  • "Aunt Fanny's Rocking Chair"
  • "All is Well! All is Well!"[3]

Publications in the Relief Society Magazine

Articles
Relief Society Conference
Biography

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Past Presidents: Presidents of International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers". International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Plummer, Louise (1992). Gates, Susa Young (Vol. 1 ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. pp. 535–536.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am Burke, Romney. Susa Young Gates : daughter of Mormonism. ISBN 978-1-56085-417-3. OCLC 1292531010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Black, Susan Easton; Woodger, Mary Jane (2011). Women of Character. American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc. pp. 112–115. ISBN 9781680470185.
  5. ^ "The Widtsoe Family Papers . 1866-1966". Utah Division of State History. Utah State Historical Society.

External links

Archival resources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Susa Young Gates.

The following archives are kept at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University:

Other links

Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by 4th President of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
June 3, 1905 (1905-06-03)–September 15, 1908 (1908-09-15) 		Succeeded by
Isabell Whitney Sears
Relief Society Magazine titles
First Editor
1915–1922 		Succeeded by
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