Associated Locations:
- Red Brick Store, Nauvoo, Illinois
Associated Dates:
- March 17, 1842 – Relief Society established
Inspiring Stories
Relief Society Organized
During our residence in the brick store the Relief Society was organized, March 17, 1842, and I was chosen counselor to the President of the society, Mrs. Emma Smith. I was also set apart under the hand of Joseph Smith the Prophet to administer to the sick and comfort the sorrowful. Several other sisters were also set apart to administer in these holy ordinances.The Relief Society then was small in numbers, but the Prophet foretold great things concerning the future of this organization, many of which I have lived to see fulfilled; but there are many things which yet remain to be fulfilled in the future. 1
Reason for the postponement of the Relief Society
John Taylor
The “reason why the Relief Society did not continue from the first organization was that Emma Smith the Pres. taught the Sisters that the principle of Celestial Marriage as taught and practiced by Joseph Smith was not of God.” 2
- Elizabeth Ann Whitney, Woman’s Exponent, VII (September 1, 1878), p. 51; (October 1, 1878), p. 71; (November 1, 1878), p. 83; (November 15, 1878), p. 91; (December 15, 1878), p. 105; (February 15, 1879), p. 191; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 40.
- Newell and Avery, 174; John Taylor, 29 June 1881, LDS Archives
