The Prodding of a Stranger

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In 1854 when two good friends, Emma Ward and Jane Allgood, were crossing the plains, they became so tired that the two of them stopped to rest. The company that they were with continued on. At the urging of a man on horseback, the two girls caught up. Who did Jane say she thought the man was?

a.                  Moroni

b.                  Nephi

c.                   Brigham Young

d.                  One of the Three Nephites

Yesterday’s answer:

C   The dresses that the sisters wore

From the life of Eliza R. Snow:   Eliza continued to be sought after by the women because of her cheering counsel in private as well as public affairs. In her desire to help the sisters and the young ladies make wise choices as far as their clothing was concerned, she overdid her enthusiasm and made some of her friends very unhappy. Eliza felt that having extra ribbons, lace, and frills on dresses was not the proper way to dress. During the 1850s she made a great effort to have the women dress in what others called the “territory uniforms.” This resulted in a “hideous affair” with bloomers and full skirts with no frills, hoops, or trains. They did not stay in vogue very long.

In her book One Who Was Valiant, Clarissa Young Spencer recorded one event that Brigham Young was involved in. She wrote, “On one occasion, Father had given each of the older girls a beautiful grosgrain ribbon sash some nine or ten inches wide. One of the girls, “Phoebe, had laid hers out on the bed with her party dress in anticipation of an evening dance. When she went into her room just after dinner, the sash had disappeared, and naturally Phoebe was filled with indignation. Seeking out her mother, on the verge of tears, she told of the disappearance, ending with the statement, ‘I know that Aunt Eliza has taken it.’ Her mother tried to persuade her differently, but Phoebe was so sure that she waylaid Father in the hall on the way to evening prayers and made the same statement to him.

“Father replied mildly, ‘All right, Daughter, we’ll see,’ and as Aunt Elia came by on her way to prayer room, he stopped her and said, ‘Phoebe has lost a sash. Have you seen anything if it?’ ‘Yes, President Young,,’ she said, ‘I felt that you wouldn’t approve of anything so frivolous for your girls, so I put it away.’ ‘Sister Eliza,’ said Father, ‘I gave the girls those ribbons, and I am the judge of what is right and wrong for my girls to wear. Phoebe is to have her sash.’”

Not too long after this, Brigham Young called his wives and the young ladies who were living in the Lion House into the parlor for a meeting. He talked to them about not buying extravagant and fancy clothing. He wanted them to set an example for the other young women in the territory. He felt that they were following the fashions of the world too much. Flounces and bustles were to be limited. Bangs were no longer to be frizzed.

Lesson Committee, Museum Memories-Daughters of Utah Pioneers, (Salt Lake City, Talon Printing, 2010), 2: 363.