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Divine Duty: Hannah Sorensen and Midwifery in Southwestern Utah
The valley of the San Juan at Bluff, Utah, November 4, 1895. Photograph by Charles Goodman, courtesy of Hilda Perkins.
Divine Duty: Hannah Sorensen and Midwifery in Southeastern Utah
BY ROBERT S. MCPHERSON AND MARY LOU MUELLER
As HANNAH SORENSEN EMERGED from between the winding walls of Cow Canyon and into the outskirts of Bluff City, Utah, in August 1896, she must have had second thoughts about where she would spend the next six weeks Although Bluff could boast a number of stone houses and public buildings, the town was small and still a teenager in its development, having been founded only sixteen years before. Compared to the conveniences of Provo and the Wasatch Front she had left behind, Bluff had little to offer. Indeed, of all the places where Hannah had been dispatched to teach her Woman's Hygienic Physiological Reform Class, Bluff must have seemed one of the most austere and remote.1 But in keeping with the tradition of hard work and sacrifice that characterized midwifery as a profession, she accepted her assignment and six weeks later left behind an important legacy.
Working under difficult circumstances was not new to Hannah. Her life had been as bumpy as the road that brought her to Bluff She had graduated from the Royal Hospital of Denmark in 1861 at age twenty-five and worked for the Danish government practicing obstetrics for the next twenty-two years. The government provided her with a lovely home for her ten children and husband, while her job assured her prestige at a time when women struggled to break into the professional world But these benefits did not offset the pain of an unhappy marriage caused primarily by differences in religious beliefs.2
In 1883 Hannah joined the Mormon church and was told immediately that "a Mormon could not occupy any position under the government." When she lost herjob and her home, her husband left, too, forcing her to move to a poorhouse with her four youngest children. Friends immigrating to America offered to take her daughter, Maria, with them and Hannah consented Subsequently, her husband coerced authorities into taking her three sons, the youngest a baby, from her and placing them in foster homes. "Oh cruel day," she penned eleven years later, "when my little boys were snatched from my arms by the brutal police—my heart bleeds from the wound even this moment." Hannah was told that all would be restored if she would deny her new faith, but she remained steadfast Within a few months, having sacrificed everything for her beliefs, she was on her way to America with the help of the church.3
In Utah, devotion drove Hannah to assume a personal mission, under the sanction of church leaders, to enlighten women about medical practices. She took pride in her efforts, commenting that "the Lord blesses my work wonderfully."4 Her work became a consuming passion and suggests today's approach to holistic medicine. Far more was involved in healing a person than just working with the physical body In 1889, while lecturing in Sevier County, Hannah had said:
Thus, when the course began in Bluff on August 20, 1896, Hannah taught a new perspective and philosophy on health care that differed from accepted practices of the day.
Her critique of obstetrics was even more broadly representative of attitudes in remote communities. Although physicians were a rarity in small Mormon settlements like Bluff, the general feeling toward orthodox medicine was one of mistrust Many doctors in rural areas practiced with very little formal training and relatively little "reading" about medicine. Most physicians who had graduated from college preferred life in the East to the isolation of frontier settlements One historian remarked that not a single orthodox doctor practiced outside Salt Lake City prior to 1870.6
Among Mormons, mistrust of the profession can be traced to early church leaders. Brigham Young spoke openly against the "surgeon's medicine"and warned Captain Jefferson Hunt of the Mormon Battalion:
Ineffective medical practices and an upsurge of promising herbal remedies fueled such sentiments. Samuel Thomson's patented system of botanical treatments in his book New Guide toHealth, or Botanic Family Physician (1813) significantly influenced medical practices of the day.
Willard Richards, Thomas B. Marsh, and Frederick G. Williams were among early church leaders who joined the Thomsonians. For twenty dollars and a pledge of secrecy, they received his book and became doctors of herbal medicine From their positions within the church they and other leaders influenced the membership in general. It is not surprising, for example, that when Joseph Smith called Ann Carling as a midwife, he told her to use herbs exclusively.8
The Popular Health Movement of the 1830s, which formed in New England and spread to Ohio, denounced the use of alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, and other stimulants. While not entirely focusing on herbal healing, members advocated a botanical approach The movement also espoused moderation in diet, encouraging the use of grains and denouncing excessive meat consumption. Much of what is expressed in the LDS Word of Wisdom parallels these health reform tenets.9
Disease was prevalent in early Utah settlements due to primitive sanitary conditions Church leaders established the Council of Health around 1850 to teach sufferers to treat themselves with herbal remedies. Council meetings were so heavily attended that within two years they were moved to the spacious Tabernacle Women traveled long distances to learn about home herbal remedies and to hear speakers preach against the evils of "the poison doctors."10
Around 1850 priesthood healing was reemphasized since members had become increasingly reliant on "the arm of flesh" in treating their afflictions. In 1852, Brigham Young taught:
Near the end of his life Young moderated his attitude towards orthodox medicine, and he admonished people to be wise in using "every remedy that comes within the range of. . . knowledge."12
Young had long advocated the role of women as midwives because it seemed compatible with a woman's nature to serve and care for the sick and those in childbirth. Modesty also necessitated midwives Even into the 1930s many women preferred having a female midwife over a male doctor to deliver their children.13
Once discouraged from studying medicine, women were being told by 1868, "The time has come for women to come forth as doctors in these valleys of the mountains."14 Although some became doctors, their numbers were few compared to the demand. Undaunted by fairly primitive circumstances, midwives continued to meet a wide range of health care needs Their role did not begin and end with childbirth; the scarcity of doctors placed added responsibility on them to treat injury and illness as well One midwife in the 1900 census listed her occupation as "nurse."15 In the community, however, she was described as the "doctor, the obstetrician, the allround [sic] physician for disorders physical and mental."16
Although midwives treated a range of maladies, they were armed mostly with folk remedies local to the area For example, a journal kept by Mary Jones, a Bluff midwife, included instructions for setting a broken limb. She wrote that the bone was set by "pulling on it and pressing with the thumb and fingers until you feel it slip into place." Then, while applying pressure, the fracture was wrapped with cotton and "board splints a little of an inch wide all around then bandaged with a bandage dipped in starch (made with cornstarch or flour)." When the dressing had dried and been trimmed, the patient was then confined to bed for a while to restrict movement.17 Other folk remedies included sagebrush and Brigham tea which served as stimulants, blood purifiers, and cure-alls Milkweed, tobacco, whiskey, or black mud cured snake bites; sometimes a live toad, frog, or chicken was cut open and placed on the bite to draw the poison. When physical remedies failed, priesthood-holders provided anointing and the layingon-of-hands for divine aid.18
This last point is important. In nineteenth-century Mormon culture, sickness and physical distress were healed as much by supernatural means as physical remedies. Prayers of faith were as powerful as any elixir. That is why, for instance, one San Juan County midwife, known affectionately to Mormon and gentile as "Aunt" Jody Wood, relied heavily on faith and priesthood authority When she received her calling as midwife from Bluff bishop Jens Nielson, she said, "I'm as green as a cucumber and I don't know how babies are born." Jody was promised during a blessing "that if she would do her best, she would be led by the Holy Spirit." During her first delivery she panicked. The baby's umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around its neck. Not knowing how to proceed, she heard the voice of Bishop Nielson from behind tell her plainly what to do When she turned around she was alone, but the baby had come safely into the world.19
A midwife was a prominent symbol of social order as she fulfilled her responsibilities within the community. A knock on the door at any hour was often all the warning a midwife would receive One such person, Olive Myrtle Black Palmer, began practicing nursing and midwifery around 1899. Whenever the need arose, "Aunt" Myrtle could be seen wearing her apron, walking along the dusty streets with her little black bag. Her appearance was an indication that "somebody was going to have a baby."20
Sometimes the delivery of a baby could last for days Once preparations had been made, all the midwife could do was encourage and reassure the mother. If complications arose the midwife called in the elders and they prayed at the bedside for the patient's muscles to relax. After delivery the midwife visited daily to bathe and care for mother and child, or the midwife stayed with the family during the mother's ten-day confinement Often she did all of the housework, including cooking, washing, and supervising the children, while caring for the mother and her infant.21
Fortunately, the midwives were devoted to their practice, for they received little monetary reward. Fees ranged from $2.50 to $10.00 for delivery and duties during confinement. Jody Wood charged $2.50 until Stake President Walter C. Lyman insisted on paying her $10.00 for delivering his son. She felt $10.00 was too much. After that, at the insistence of Bishop Nielson, Jody settled her fee at $5.00, although, on occasion, she also accepted goods and commodities in trade Myrtie Palmer charged $10.00 for delivery and ten days of care; however, she delivered six children in a certain family without receiving a penny and went back and delivered a seventh child because her skills were needed. 2
Training for midwives became increasingly popular in the latter half of the nineteenth century In 1873 Eliza R Snow organized a medical program through the Relief Society that invited two or three women from each ward in the church to come to Salt Lake City for instruction in hygiene, nursing, and midwifery.23 Among others, Dr. Ellis R. Shipp, considered "Utah's Grand Old Lady," taught "hundreds of women [who] went out from her classes to take to all corners of Utah . . . instructions in the basic principles of obstetrics and home nursing."
Obviously, midwives learned much from experience. Many possessed a natural instinct and desire to be of service. Their demeanor had a calming influence on patients that was comforting at a time when medicine alone was inadequate in treating afflictions. Albert R. Lyman, a local historian, noted that at age sixteen he suffered from a terrible boil or abscess on his back. It had been poulticed with everything imaginable without improvement. He was in such agony that he could not bear to have anyone come near him until his father sent for Jody Wood:
So when Hannah Sorensen arrived in Bluff in August 1896 many people realized the importance of her visit.25 Twenty-six women from the Four Corners area attended the special nursing course sponsored by the Relief Society. Although it was designed for midwives, other women could and did attend, and Sorensen encouraged all women to participate.26
She had written her own text in 1892— Notes Written for the Benefit of Members of the Woman's Hygienic Physiological Reform Classes. Her purpose was two-fold. She could not find a textbook she agreed with, and she wanted her students to have a reference to take home. She told the class to take notes every day "so that there would be no room for misunderstanding concerning the instructions given."27 Mary Jones, the daughter of Bishop Jens Nielson and wife of Kumen Jones, kept faithful notes. In a photograph of those attending, Mary is clearly visible on the front row with her notebook open and pen poised. Her writings now serve as an important record of what transpired.
All of the women, despite the inexperience of some, were instructed in midwifery. Sorensen, anticipating the question, stated:
According to Sorensen's text, a midwife is one who comprehends "a knowledge of woman and her offspring during pregnancy, labor, and the puerperal state."28
Ideally, a midwife's qualifications included much more than just delivering babies: "The nature of her labor requires a healthy, skillful, intelligent, and truthful woman . . . refined, quiet, and sensitive ... a true lady. When called out, she should be prepared against contagious diseases that she shall not be the cause of bringing any diseases to the lying in woman either from unclean hands or clothes." She must keep strict confidence, never indulging in "slander nor scandal."29
Many of Sorensen's qualifications correspond with those of her contemporary, Dr. Ellis Shipp. In the May 18, 1888, issue of the Utah Sanitarian, Shipp listed the qualifications nurses should possess:
Sorensen felt strongly about virtuous women and the kind of men they should marry: "A man of God is he who, above everything, regards the laws of God; who would sacrifice earthly comfort and pleasure ... he who will sacrifice his own selfish, human cravings if they are of such a nature that he thereby injures the true happiness, health, and virtue of the woman given to him in holy wedlock." Her "law of continence" stated that "The reproductive element, or organs . . . were not given to man and woman, were not placed in their body for the sake of gratification of fleshly passions, but for another great and Divine purpose, namely, reproduction . .. . " Therefore, "Men and women should not indulge in sexual intercourse during pregnancy or during the nursing period for their children will inherit licentiousness." Mary Jones recorded in her notes, "To bring into subjection these passions, we should not use spice, liquors, beer, nor meat." A man of God "must be free from bad and contaminating habits such as drinking, gambling, smoking, swearing, blaspheming, and . . . promise to live a strict continent life." One reason for this belief, Sorensen stated, was that "the wife is poisoned by having a husband that uses tobacco, by intercourse with him, for nicotine is all through his body and there is a large portion of this in the semen, and the delicate organs are so susceptible that they become diseased."31
Considering Sorensen's own marital difficulties, one can understand her belief that "Instead of happiness, marriage has, in many instances brought the greatest misery." Moreover, she wrote, "I do not pretend to give any specified explanation of married life." She did, however, expound that it was the lot of women to bear the brunt of physical suffering when the law of continence was ignored. So, she felt it her duty to "stand up as a defender."32
Having established this foundation, Sorensen explained that the purpose of the Woman's Hygienic Physiological Reform Class was to study three subjects: "Hygiene, Obstetric, and Sexual-Physiology." All are "linked to the other," she explained, "and all included in the life-history of every daughter of God." She went on, "We must understand Nature's laws in order to be governed by them. The soul, mind and body are inseparably connected, hence, our instructions will be spiritual as well as physical. Perfect law and reason in everything should be our constant study."33
Mary Jones's notes are interspersed with Sorensen's advice: avoid "feather beds [which] gather all kinds of germs and filth;" and "the more sensitive of two bed fellows will absorb the poison excretions from the body of the other," causing "languor and nervousness" upon arising.34
After thirty-one years of medical service, Sorensen concluded that the practice of obstetrics in her day was contrary to natural principles. She expressed dismay that her classes were not more widely attended, but that did not diminish her zeal to teach. "It is hard to sin against knowledge, if we have any hope or character," she wrote, "but easy to do wrong in ignorance." She believed that "misery is brought upon woman because of a lack of knowledge of natural laws" and warned:
Sorensen preached that women should understand their physiology in order to eliminate fear of the unknown and increase their ability to handle the unexpected Thus, her instruction began with an overview of a woman's reproductive anatomy Mary Jones's notes detailed an anatomical description of the female pelvis: "There is no difference in the pelvis of a large and a small woman. God created them to bear children, the large as well as the small.... Hence we see God's wisdom. We were all formed to bare [sic] children."36
Jones's next entry described the fetal head's construction, including cranial bones, sutures, regions on the skull, and fontanelle (or "soft spot"). Sorensen taught these concepts to help them understand the "precedings [sic] of delivery":
Much of the subject matter Sorensen taught was avoided by society "because of its delicacy." As a result, she felt that most people lived in gross ignorance. They needed to approach frankly these intimate topics to improve acceptance of the natural functions of a woman's body She asserted, "There is no shame connected with womanhood." The women in her class were taught every aspect of female development from puberty to maturity In discussing menstruation, Sorensen stated, "Awoman is not healthy because she menstruates, but in spite of it ... . Its cause, as also its treatment, is so little understood of woman-kind in general that it is one of the many causes for a woman's degraded physical condition today." Nosebleeds should not be attributed to irregular menstruation, she advised, and "Don't be afraid to wash when you menstruate." Her other teachings on this topic reveal nineteenth-century perceptions: Early menstruation was caused by "luxury, stimulants, indolence, hot rooms, pruriency of thought . . . novel reading, acting on the stage in love affairs, (yes we might as well say, that to witness these performances has the same effect)," and, she added, "secret associations with the opposite sex." Such things brought misery to the young woman and consequently, to the entire human race Sorensen cautioned mothers that medicine, baths, and "many other things too curious to be named" should not be employed to force menses during puberty Instead, mothers should examine whether their daughters were round dancing, "given to unnatural appetites . . . improper mode of dress . . . lack of physical work, and outdoor exercises."38
A balanced diet and proper hygiene were essential to good health for young girls as well as any other person. Sorensen advocated the use of "very little salt, no vinegar or pepper, nor anything strong and irritating to the delicate membranes lining the internal organs." The ideal diet should include plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, "as near their natural state as possible, as fresh in the season thereof, or in cans put up fresh, also dried fruit stewed." Common vegetables should be properly prepared with sweet cream She considered bread the most important food if it was prepared carefully from coarse flour, ideally graham, and baked well. White bread was to be strictly avoided. Jones's class notes included a recipe for nutritious fruit sandwiches: "Spread slices of light whole wheat or graham bread with a little whipped cream, and then with fresh fruit jam lightly sweetened with fig sauce, or steamed figs, chopped steamed prunes, or sliced bananas . . . most relishable."39
Referring to the Word of Wisdom, Sorensen agreed that meat should be eaten sparingly: "One [person] thinks it sparingly to have meat once a day, another likes it more, and what he would call sparingly would be twice a day." Along those same lines, she advised, "We should not eat much meat and [teach] our children to spare animal life . . .we cannot do it while we kill animals to eat."40
In addition to her concern about diet, Sorensen decried the fashions of the day: "It is either through ignorance of the laws and principles which govern the beautiful, or lack of stamina, independence, and stability of character that the daughters of God throughout nearly all of the Christian nations have become such inveterate slaves on this subject." She believed that corsets and whalebones caused "the deformity his Satanic Majesty intended" by altering the shape of the pelvis and that constricting the generative organs rendered them "unfit for the mission the Creator designed them for." Women were counseled to wear comfortably fitting garments that hung from the shoulder, thus alleviating the weight and confinement of a banded skirt and allowing proper breathing. As for foundation garments, she advised, "Do not have colored under clothes, [since] it will cause sickness."41
In 1865 when Sorensen began her practice the science of bacteriology had advanced from ignorance of contamination to recognition of bacteria as a source of infection Hungarian obstetrician Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, who died that same year, had discovered that transmission of infection to women after childbirth was pronounced in hospitals but almost nonexistent in home births. He determined that the unsanitary practice of physicians moving from one patient to another and even leaving the autopsy room without washing increased chances of mortality for their patients. Although his findings were not well received, they eventually led to the adoption of more sanitary practices and a pronounced decrease in deaths of new mothers
With that knowledge firmly established, Sorensen explained in What WomenShould Know the nature of puerperal septicemia, or childbed fever. She defined the symptoms as a "fever beginning within the first week after labor—usually before the fourth day—attended with septic infection of the woman's blood and inflammation of one or more of the reproductive organs." She believed that the infection came from corruption within. Although colds and "milk fever," or the dispersion of breast milk throughout the body, were usually blamed, she thought the cause was "failure to reassimilate, or to excrete such products of tissue degeneration . . . [with] accumulation in the blood and . . . consequent increased susceptibility to other sources of infection. It is called self-infection." She believed that if the patient was "in a perfect or normal state of purity of body, there is no soil in which the germs or bacteria can flourish or multiply, for such can only live on dead or waste matter."42
Sorensen stressed strict aseptic procedures: Boiled bedcovers were to be used on the delivery bed to ensure they were free from germs. Midwives were instructed to "have a clean cloth to wrap around the child; white if you can get it. Do not use old dirty or colored cloth, for then the first breath of air the child breathes is impure and fills its lungs with impurities."43
Sorensen identified many sources of infection for the "lying in woman" and described them in detail:
Mary Jones noted: "Be very careful in regards to contagious diseases and be sure you do not carry germs with you to the sick room in your clothes." Women were counseled to change before waiting on another patient. "Do not wash the dead and then go to the sick room until you have been disinfected. Have a nail brush and clean your nails before waiting on a woman. Have carbolic with you and put a few drops in the water to wash."45
In cases of measles or skin diseases Sorensen advised the women to move the patient to a room away from others, remove curtains and carpets, and bathe the patient every day, twice if necessary. Soiled clothing and bedclothes were to be wrapped inside a towel soaked in carbolic, removed without exposing them to those in other rooms, and put directly into boiling water.46 In spite of these instructions, measles, one of the most communicable diseases of childhood, swept through Bluff in 1899. A notation made byJody Wood on the front page of her "Record of Babys Born" stated: "All the children in Bluff had the measles in the months of November and December 1899. All of our children have had them."47
During the course of her instruction Sorensen covered all phases of pregnancy, labor and delivery, including how to cut the umbilical cord, treating the diseases of pregnancy, and care for the woman and newborn during confinement.48 One would expect no less from a midwifery course, but obviously Sorensen taught much more than that.
She concluded her instruction by answering questions such as "how early is it proper to instruct our girls and boys concerning the natural laws by which they, as physical beings, should be governed?" That time will be made known to a mother by the spirit of God, Sorensen explained, which will also enable her "to explain such principles as these .... It takes a wise woman to be mother of children of God." Near the end of her prepared text she stated: "I have now written down in these notes, some of my ideas concerning women physically, and such as concern our sex in general."49 She told her Bluff class that they would all be qualified to act as nurse and midwife when the need arose.
Toward the end of herjournal, MaryJones entered this notation: "Farewell to my Lovely Class. We have met and now we shall part. Shall we ever meet again? Each answers: Perhaps. I thank God that He caused me to meet you on myjourney."50 Besides this sharing and friendship, what were the lasting effects of Hannah Sorensen's instruction? The gravity of their education was indicated by this sober notation in Mary's notebook: "A mistake made in midwifery cannot be corrected. That chance is gone forever and a life may be lost."51 It seems logical to assume that every woman retained what mattered most to her from the instruction. Each resumed the cadence of her daily routine, some with the newly added responsibility of midwife. For many of the women, that burden was most certainly lightened by their encounter with Hannah Sorensen.
The need for midwives in remote southeastern Utah remained for many years. They continued to attend women in childbirth, nurture newborns, console grieving families, and treat the injured and infirm Epidemics of smallpox, typhoid, diphtheria, and influenza pressed them into action during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Rural Utah was often hard hit by contagion because of a reluctance to accept vaccinations that continued for decades.
In 1908 and 1909 the hazards of contagion in San Juan County prompted the selection of district quarantine officers who enforced regulations meant to curb the spread of diseases such as diphtheria. Additionally, health officers assumed the responsibility to bring towns in the county into a "sanitary condition."52 This included everything from control of garbage collection and manure removal to protecting outhouses from an invasion of flies.
As acceptance of orthodox medicine increased, medical personnel were still reluctant to practice in rural communities. The scarcity of doctors in SanJuan County meant suffering and death for some. In 1911 fifteen-year-old Parley Hunt, son ofJoseph and Adalaid Hunt, fell with his horse near Bluff and a broken rib punctured his lung. "They brought him home twelve miles," wrote his mother "He lived thirtysix hours and suffered a thousand deaths. We sent 75 miles for a doctor, but he could do him no good" and Parley died.53 Advanced local care might have saved the boy's life.
The first doctor to practice in San Juan County located in Monticello in 1914 but stayed less than a year; a second doctor lasted only a few years. The first successful attempt to keep a doctor in Monticello for an extended period did not occur until 1929 when county residents retained the services of Dr C R Spearman by guaranteeing his income.54
Because of the lack of trained physicians, midwives served for a longer period in San Juan County than in other, more populated regions. Some students of Hannah Sorensen's Woman's Hygienic Physiological Reform Class were still practicing nursing and midwifery well into the twentieth century Did her students understand in 1896 the important contributions they would make to society during their lifetime? If length of service is an indicator, they certainly did.
Class member Marian Frengler Bronson of Monticello listed her occupation as "nurse" in the census of 1910 and "general nursing" in 1920. In addition to these duties, she raised six children and held various church positions. As one relative wrote, "She heard the cries of those in trial, and closed the eyes of the dying." After forty-seven years of service, she died in 1935.55
MaryJones was the mother of only one son, born in 1889 when she was thirty-one. She labored as nurse and midwife with any who needed her services—Anglos, Navajos and Utes. She died at age seventy-five in 1933.56
Mary's sister-wife, May Lyman Jones, also a student of the course, had ten children, losing two in infancy. She did not practice midwifery but made it possible for Mary to be away from home by taking on added domestic responsibilities. When May was forty-two she was severely burne d and died as a result in April 1906. Mary then became a second mother to the children.57
Jody Wood, a legend of heroism in San Juan County, came to the course already knowledgeable Her journal, "Record of Babys Born," showed that she had already been delivering babies for a decade. Although her first delivery was entered as December 19, 1886, she noted at the bottom of the first page: "I did not keep a record of this at first and now I put them down as I get them." Despite her experience, Jody was always anxious to enhance her education. Her sister and fellow classmate, Caroline Nielson Redd wrote: "She took care of me when eight of my children were born. Sometimes Aunt Mary Jones came with her, and when these two good women entered my home, all fear left ... . If there is such a thing as perfection on the earth, Aunt Jody can be counted as such. To know her was to love her." The last baby Jody delivered was a girl born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Lyman, in September 1908 She passed away six months later on February 1, 1909, at age fifty-six, having served diligently since 1882.58
Of most midwives it can be said that they constantly gave of themselves, providing an important service to the community. Myrtle Palmer, for example, delivered 501 babies, beginning in 1889, only two of which died, and she lost no mothers. She continued nursing until age seventy-two, when her health failed. In 1949 she died at the age of eighty-four.59
And what of Hannah Sorensen, dedicated instructor of the 1896 Woman's Hygienic Physiological Reform Class? As the Relief Society celebrated its fiftieth year in 1892, Hannah wrote a brief autobiographical sketch for a "jubilee box" prepared by the Provo Fourth Ward The container was opened twenty-five years later From her own history we learn that Hannah sacrificed everything for her new-found faith. After arriving in America in 1883, she was reunited with her Maria. Both mother and daughter were saddened by the absence of the little boys. Tragically, Maria passed away three years later.
In 1885 Hannah entered into plural marriage, receiving "very litde comfort and no support from him [her husband]." Still, she felt satisfied by fulfilling what she believed was right. Six years later, Hannah's nineteen-year-old son, Christen, discovered his mother's whereabouts andjoined her. She wrote of him, "He was baptized into the Church about nine months ago—thanks to the Lord. What a joy that boy is to my soul I will hope still that more of my children will come."
In 1892, the same year that What Women Should Know was published, she included her life sketch, as a letter addressed to her youngest son, in the "jubilee box" along with "my picture as I look now, and a little relic for your wife, or your daughter, also a lock of my hair." And so her letter ended.
An update was added by Christen's widow years after the jubilee box was opened. Eventually, Hannah learned that her first husband had immigrated to Chicago with her children and made them give him their earnings from whateverjobs they could find Ultimately, she was reunited with her children in Chicago and spent her last days there.60 Although no record of Hannah's death has been found, Mary Jones's classjournal records a sentiment expressed by Hannah: "When I die, I do not want any show displayed. I appreciate your kindness to me here, and I shall never forget it. I will take these feelings with me into the Eternal worlds."61
Certainly Hannah's principles represent the actions and beliefs of many of the midwives she taught. Grounded in the very tangible world of birth, sickness, and death, these women used their skill and knowledge to relieve suffering in the remote areas of southeastern Utah at the turn of the century. Some of Hannah's philosophy even seems prophetic for her time, as she wrote: "I sincerely believe that with wise treatment and a better understanding of 'how to live,' we may look for the day when difficulties in labor will be a thing of the past, and there will be no necessity for being confined to the bed as a result of delivery."62 To a certain extent we are seeing that day.Yet perhaps the most lasting lesson to come from Hannah Sorensen's class a hundred years ago is that values such as kindness, concern, and morality, when mixed with knowledge, serve as a powerful force to heal and comfort members of a society.
NOTES
Robert S McPherson, Blanding, is an instructor at the College of Eastern Utah-SanJuan campus and serves on the Advisory Board of Editors for UtahHistoricalQuarterly.
Mary Lou Mueller, Blanding, is a graduate of the College of Eastern Utah-SanJuan campus, which she attended under the Michael T Hurst Scholarship Fund, and is currently pursuing a degree through Utah State University.
1 By contrast, see the account byJoseph Eckersley, clerk of the LDS Wayne Stake, of the enthusiastic reception Hannah Sorensen received in Loa, in DeseretEvening News, March 8, 1895.
2 Hannah Sorensen, "A Diploma of the First Degree," Our PioneerHeritage, 20 vols (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1958-77), 6:402-4.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Julie A Dockstader, "Angels of Mercy: Pioneer Midwives in Utah," Pioneer, vol 42, no 1 (Winter 1995), p 14, quoting from Midwife Instruction Book, notes taken from lectures by Hannah Sorensen, Feb 8—May 11, 1889, Elsinore, Sevier Co., Utah, Rosa B Hayes, reporter, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City.
6 Robert T Divett, "Medicine and the Mormons," Bulletin of theMedical Library Association, vol 51, no 1 (January 1963), pp 3, 4.
7 N Lee Smith, "Herbal Remedies: God's Medicine?," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 12 (Fall 1979): 43.
8 Ibid., pp. 40-43; Blanche E. Rose, "Early Utah Medical Practice, Utah Historical Quarterly 10 (1942): 44.
9 Smith, "Herbal Remedies," p. 40.
10 Ibid., pp., 44-45.
11 Linda P Wilcox, "The Imperfect Science: Brigham Young on Medical Doctors," Dialogue: A Journal ofMormon Thought 12 (Fall 1979): 28.
12 Joseph R Morrell, "Medicine of the Pioneer Period in Utah," UtahHistorical Quarterly 23 (1955): 131.
13 Divett, "Medicine and the Mormons," p. 5.
14 Wilcox, "The Imperfect Science," p 33.
15 Toni Richard Turk, Rooted in SanJuan: A GenealogicalStudy of Burials in San Juan County, Utah, 1879-1995 (Salt Lake City, 1995), p 285.
16 Albert R Lyman, "Josephine C Wood: Nurse of the SanJuan Frontier," p 1, Special Collections, Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
17 Mary Jones, notes titled, "The Woman's Hygienic Physiological Reform Class of Bluff, August 20, 1896," p 15, in authors' possession.
18 Austin and Alta Fife, Saints of Sage and Saddle: Folklore Among the Mormons (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1980), pp. 257-58.
19 Clair Noall, "Mormon Midwives," Utah Historical Quarterly 10 (1942): 133; Frances H Hoopes, "Josephine (Jody) Chatterley Wood: Midwife of San Juan," Blue Mountain Shadows 2 (Fall 1988): 35; Lyman, "Josephine C Wood," p 3.
20 Ida Nielson and Venice Lyman, interview with Erin Hubble and Robert S McPherson, Blanding, November 16, 1994.
21 Dockstader, "Angels of Mercy," p. 14; Noall, "Mormon Midwives," p. 118.
22 Hoopes, "Josephine (Jody) Chatterley Wood," p 36; Nielson and Lyman interview.
23 Carol Cornwall Madsen, "Creating Female Community: Relief Society in Cache Valley, Utah, 1868-1900,"Journal of Mormon History 21 (Fall 1995): 133; Rose, "Early Utah Medical Practice," p. 31.
24 Lyman, "Josephine C Wood," p 4.
25 Wilmer Bronson, "Marion Frengler Bronson: Midwife of Monticello," Blue Mountain Shadows 5 (Fall 1989): 65.
26 Hannah Sorensen, Notes Writtenfor the Benefit ofMembersof the Woman's Hygienic Physiological Reform Classes (Provo: Dispatch Press, 1892), p 3.
27 Ibid., p 2.
28 Ibid., pp 3, 4.
29 Ibid., pp 4-5.
30 Rose, "Early Utah Medical Practice," p 31.
31 Sorensen, Notes, pp 29, 31;Jones, notes, pp 5-6.
32 Hannah Sorensen, What Women Should Know (Salt Lake City: George Q, Cannon & Sons Co., 1896), pp 62-63; Sorensen, Notes, p 31.
33 Sorensen, Notes, p. 2.
34 Jones, notes, p 5, 9.
35 Sorensen, Notes, pp 2, 6, 46.
36 Jones, notes, pp 3, 15.
37 Sorensen, Notes, p 10.
38 Sorensen, What Women Should Know, p 31;Jones, notes, p 12; Sorensen, Notes, pp 17, 20, 22-23.
39 Sorensen, Notes, p 23;Jones, notes, p 27.
40 Sorensen, Notes, p 25;Jones, notes, p 11.
41 Sorensen, What Women Should Know, pp 56, 53, 58;Jones, notes, pp 5, 9 The controversy over proper, healthful fashion began as early as 1851. Patty Sessions, considered the mother of Mormon midwifery, wrote in her journal: "I went to Sister Smith's to help form a fashion for the females that will be more conducive to health than the long tight-waisted dress filled with whalebone and hickory that they wear now." See Noall, "Mormon Midwives," p 107.
42 Sorensen, What Women Should Know, pp Ill, 113.
43 Jones, notes, p 36.
44 Sorensen, What WomenShould Know, p 114.
45 Jones, notes, p. 34.
46 Ibid., p 15.
47 Jody C Wood, Bluff, "SanJuan County 1886 Record of Babys Born," p.l, in possession of Frances Hansen Hoopes, used by permission For a comprehensive review of the life of AuntJody, see Frances H Hoopes, "Josephine Catherine Qody) Chatterley Wood: Midwife of San luan," Blue Mountain Shadows 2 (Fall 1988): 32-41.
48 Sorensen, Notes, index.
49 Ibid., pp. 64, 65.
50 Jones, notes, p 33.
51 Ibid., p 34.
52 Cornelia Perkins, Marian Nielson, and Lenora Jones, The Saga of San Juan (Salt Lake City: Mercury Publishing Company, 1957), p 257.
53 John LaRay Hunt interview, John Hunt Family History (n.p., n.d.), copy in possession of authors.
54 Robert S. McPherson, A History of SanJuan County (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society and San Juan County Commission, 1995), pp 275-76; Stephanie Singer, "Early Medical Care," Blue Mountain Shadows 8 (Summer 1991): 67.
55 Turk, Rooted in SanJuan, p 377; Bronson, "Marion Frengler Bronson," p 65.
56 Perkins et al., The Saga of San Juan, p 315; Turk, Rooted in Sanjmxv, p 191.
57 Perkins et al., The Saga of San Juan, p 315.
58 Wood, "Record of Babys Born"; Hoopes, "Josephine Catherine (Jody) Chatterley Wood," p 36; Perkins et al., The Saga of San Juan, pp 340-41.
59 Ida P Nielson, Book of Remembrance, pp 16-17, in possession of the Nielson family, Blanding, Utah.
60 Sorensen, "A Diploma," 6:403-4.
61 Jones, notes, p 28.
62 Sorensen, What WomenShould Know, p 111.
