| Rachel Ibbotson, raised
in a strict Calvinist home, orphaned as a child, converts to Methodism,
marries a Methodist minister and raises a large family; stern, undemonstrative
mother with high expectations; well known for her acts of charity and "a
word in season for all." Mary inherits many of her mother's traits;
refuses proposal of marriage; family's poor financial condition. |
| Mary,
Joseph's sole support |
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For the first five years
of his life, Joseph F. Smith's mother was his primary source of comfort
and security. For the next eight—from the murder of his father, through
Winter Quarters, to the early years pioneering the Salt Lake Valley—she
served as both mother and father. Then she died. Deprived of the central
organizing influence in his life, Joseph fell apart. He drank, used tobacco,
got into fights, was expelled from school, and finally, at fifteen, sent
on a mission. |
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| His
ideal woman |
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As he grew older, Mary
became Joseph's ideal woman, embodying every feminine virtue—a madonna
figure. |
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| Sources |
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It is hard to develop
a clear picture of Mary's personality from half a dozen letters written
in the 1830s and 40s, the effusive adulation of her son, and the creative
imagination of hagiographers—and that is almost all we have. She is
rarely mentioned in contemporary documents, other than as the wife of Hyrum
Smith. |
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| Mary's
mother |
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But we also have a "memoir"
of Mary's mother, Rachel, written by Mary's sister, Ann. It provides the
religious context of Mary's first thirty years—an environment well
suited for a future Mormon. Moreover, Rachel seems to exhibit traits Joseph
ascribes to Mary—strength, piety, and charity. |
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Except
where noted, information about Rachel Ibbotson Fielding comes from Ann Mathews'
Rachel Fielding memoir. |
Strict
Calvinist parents
Orphaned at 7
Then raised by irreligious uncle |
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Twenty-year-old Rachel
Ibbotson was taking a leisurely stroll with a friend. Suddenly a woman rushed
past them, late for church. Normally Rachel might not have taken notice,
for she was not strictly religious any more—not since her parents died
and she had gone to live with her father's brother in Denham. Raised a strict
Calvinist, with no witness of redeeming grace, she had imagined herself
one of those poor, wretched souls destined for eternal damnation. As a child
she "would gladly have exchanged condition with brute creatures, thinking
their state far preferable to her own." But in Denham, fashion, plays,
cards, and other amusements gradually replaced her anxiety.
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Rachel
Ibbotson was born November 30, 1767 in Halifax,
Yorkshire, England, the second of four children and the only daughter of
John Ibbotson and Hannah Foster.
Rachel's mother died in 1781 and her father shortly thereafter, when she
was seven or eight.
father's brother: Matthews states that Rachel's father, had two brothers.
The Ancestral File lists three—John (b. 1766), William (b. 1770), and
Thomas (b. ca. 1774)—and an older sister, Sarah (b. 1742). |
| Providential
Sunday |
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But Rachel was still
a believer. "O! how I wish I was like that woman!" she exclaimed.
She should be in church, not out pleasure walking. Spurning her friend's
protestations, Rachel followed the woman into the chapel, where the minister's
sermon was, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?"
She was deeply convicted of her sins, and at the same time inspired by the
hope of redemption.
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| Wesleyans |
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Unlike Calvinists,
who relied wholly on the inscrutable will of God for salvation, followers
of John Wesley believed in a universal atonement. Salvation was available
to all who confessed Jesus as Lord. In addition, perfection was attainable
through grace and the methodical application of Christian principles. Methodists
aspired to sanctification through the "second blessing" of the
Holy Spirit. These teachings, and the use of lay preachers, rankled Calvinists
and threatened to split the Church of England.
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| Rachel
becomes a Methodist |
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Rachel, however, was
not concerned about church polity, it was personal salvation she sought.
She joined the Methodists and shortly thereafter received a powerful assurance
that her sins had been forgiven and her course was approved by God.
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| Marries
John Fielding, Methodist preacher and widower |
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Four years later she
married John Fielding, a Methodist
preacher seven years her senior. John was a widower with a ten-year-old
girl and a five-year-old boy. |
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| Honeydon |
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John and Rachel had
been married four years when, In 1794, his godfather, a maternal uncle in
northeastern Bedfordshire, invited John to take charge of a farm at Honeydon,
four miles west of St. Neots in Bedfordshire. After visiting the site, John
had to admit that the land was poor and the accommodations inconvenient,
but he wanted to be a farmer.
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grandfather:
Presumably relying on family sources, Don C. Corbett identifies the grandfather
James Dyson. [SHOWREF=dcc, 7. |
| Providential
call in scripture |
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When
he opened the Bible, his eye fell on a passage that he interpreted as confirmation
of his desire. But Rachel continued to oppose the move. After considerable
discussion John opened the Bible again, and again his eyes fell on a confirming
passage. He was sure he had "a providential call" to move to Honeydon. |
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Joseph
referred to this practice as application of scriptures. ¶
Joseph Fielding to the Millennial Star, 1841 |
| Preacher
without pay |
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In Honeydon, John continued
his career as a Methodist preacher, which meant he often rode ten to thirty
miles on Sundays to preach, without financial compensation.
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¶
Joseph Fielding to the Millennial Star, 1841 |
| Rachel
a religious enthusiast |
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For Rachel the move meant
exchanging her comfortable home in an urban center for a small rural cottage,
and a circle of lifelong friends for the company of strangers. Making a
virtue of necessity, she threw herself into the religious life of the village,
speaking in class meetings, leading prayer meetings, and injecting religion
wherever she went. Slackers "hardened in iniquity" often found
themselves on the receiving end of "affectionate expostulations." |
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| Rachel's
charity |
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Rachel's children praised
her as a model of Christian piety and benevolence. "It was a maxim
with her," wrote Ann,
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that whatever is given to relieve the necessities of the poor, is, if
given in a right spirit, lent to the Lord. …Frequently, when asked
by her children, "Mother, where is such or such a thing?" she
would pleasantly reply, "O, my dear, it is gone to heaven!"
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John's
charity
Lived in a Biblical world |
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As for John,
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Like Cornelius of old,
he feared God with all his house, prayed to God always, and gave alms to
the people to the utmost of his means," Joseph recalled, "and
God in his mercy, by particular applications of scriptures, gave him promises
… he only obtained a particular impression on his mind on an application
of some promise made to the Former-Day Saints. |
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However, "several
years" before John died,
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| Became
disillusioned with Methodism |
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although he had been so long and so firmly attached to the Methodist
cause, while he evidently increased in the spirit, and drew nearer to
God as he drew nearer his end, yet he appeared to be entirely weaned from
that body; in fact, he long lamented its corrupt state.
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| Family
saw parallels with Israel |
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We often used to think that we must be in some way
related to the children of Israel, because we saw the dealings of God
with us resembled his dealings with them, though of course far inferior,
for the Lord did not personally visit us, neither did angels minister
to us as they used to do in those days.
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¶
Toronto |
| Religious
education, ministers |
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The children were well
schooled in religious matters. The eldest sons, John
and James, became Methodist ministers; the eldest daughter, Ann, married
Timothy Matthews, who became the curate of Colmworth. |
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Timothy
was born June 26, 1795 in Lincolnshire and died September 4, 1845 in Bedford.
curate: A member of the clergy engaged as a paid assistant or deputy
to an incumbent in the Church of England or in the Roman Catholic Church
in Ireland. |
3
Mormon children
Mission to congregations of James and Timothy |
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The fourth, sixth, and
ninth children, Joseph, Mary, and Mercy Rachel, became prominent figures
in early Mormon history. In 1837 Joseph and several other Mormon missionaries,
including apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, converted much of James'
congregation to Mormonism and baptized many members of Timothy's church
as well. |
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Men with a Mission, 29–40;
CHC, 2:498–499, 502, 504, 505, 506–507.
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Live
in the Spirit
Have a word for all |
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Not given to praise
or flattery, Rachel's expressed her love for her children in prayer and
in firmly "opposing the gratification of every desire which she knew
to be prejudicial to their best interests." She had high expectations.
Her parting words of counsel to her children were, "You must live in
the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit, if you would be useful, and have a word
in season for all."
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Turns
down widower
Religious views |
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When Mary was thirty-one,
she received a proposal of marriage. She declined, writing her suitor that
his religious views were "inconsistent" with hers. There was another
reason— |
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Mary
to an unnamed suitor. The first letter, undated, refers only to religious
differences but alludes to other reasons "which I deem it unnecessary
to mention." The second letter, dated March 17, 1832, details her objections
to becoming a stepmother and also alludes to other reasons "which I
do not deem it necessary to mention." Both letters are in the Mary Fielding. |
| Avoid
becoming a step mother |
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the strong impression made upon my mind by the advice of my dear departed
parent never to enter into the important and responsible situation of
Step Mother. I have frequently heard her say that no one could tell the
uneasiness and unpleasantness experienced by many in that situation.
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Surely the gentleman
would "not be disposed to censure me for taking the advice of such
a pious & experianced Mother especially when it so much accords with
my own views and feelings." |
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| Trust
God |
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Like her mother, Mary
would not lose an opportunity to remind others that they should trust "the
alwise disposer of events" and remember their duty to Him. In closing
she reassured the gentleman that "all things will work together for
your good … so long as you faithfully serve & love God."
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| Impending
financial ruin |
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This might also have
been a reminder to Mary herself, for her father, at seventy-three, was unable
to farm and family finances were deteriorating rapidly. |
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Memoir
of Mrs. Rachel Fielding
England
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