- Life Sketch by G.E.
(Includes points of view not shared by all family members, and facts not supported by LDS Church Records. Would be more appropriate in the Memories section)
Sylvia was born on July 31, 1818 in Newry, Oxford, Maine to her parents David and Patty Bartlett Sessions. Sylvia was the third child born to the family of eight children, only three children in the family survived the dreadful circumstances and childhood disease’s, and of whom grew to adulthood. They were Perrigrine, Sylvia and David. Four of the eight children were buried in Maine, Sylvanus, Anna, Anna B. and Bartlett. Perrigrine writes in his journal how Sylvia mourned and wept over the death of her only two sisters. The dreaded Colery Morbus beset the family in 1823 and claimed the lives of several family members. Amanda was born later and died in Far West, Missouri.
In 1833, when Sylvia was fifteen years old, an event of such significance for the Sessions family occurred, that it cancelled any prospects of their living and dying near their birthplace and the burial plots of their loved ones. In August of 1833, Mormon missionaries came preaching. The message they brought altered the lives of the Sessions family dramatically and permanently. The family left Maine for the arduous journey to Far West, Missouri arriving there in 1837, having traveled by land and water, by self made trails, and by well used roads. They had been delayed in Kirtland, Ohio, for seven weeks while family members suffered through the measles. It was in Kirtland that they saw the Prophet Joseph Smith for the first time as he spoke at the Kirtland Temple.
With customary diligence, the Sessions family wasted no time getting established once they reached Missouri. They bought property in Far West, including two blockhouses and five acres of fenced land. During the winter they fenced 100 more acres.
Sylvia married Windsor P. Lyon in 1838 and the Prophet Joseph Smith preformed their marriage ceremony. Six children were born to Sylvia while she was married to Mr. Lyon, all of the children died in early childhood except for one daughter, Josephine Rosetta.
Family member’s record, that Sylvia was sealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time Windsor Lyon was out of the Church and it is said that Josephine Rosetta Lyon was Joseph Smith’s child. Daniel W. Bachman quotes from 24 Feb. 1915 affidavit sworn by Josephine Lyon Fisher in the presence of Andrew Jensen, Joseph H. Grant and her son, Ivin Fredrich Fisher. Josephine states that her mother Sylvia on her deathbed “told me that I was the daughter of the Prophet Joseph Smith, she having been sealed to the Prophet at the time her husband Mr. Lyons was out of fellowship with the Church.” Sylvia confided in her daughter, Josephine, that the ceremony had taken place at about the same time as Zina D. Huntington and Eliza R. Snow were sealed to the prophet as plural wives. Nauvoo Temple endowment dates are available, but sealing dates for Joseph Smith are not in the Nauvoo Temple records for 1845 and 1846. A personal history of Sylvia written by one of her descendants reports that Sylvia was sealed to Joseph Smith on January 26, 1846, long after the martyrdom. Heber C. Kimball stood as proxy. This is the date she reportedly also married Kimball for time. According to Stanley Kimball, Sylvia Sessions had become a plural wife to Heber C. Kimball on January 26, 1846 nothing indicates that they ever lived together. Despite the fact that Patty, grandmother to Josephine, wrote nothing in her diary linking Sylvia and Joseph Smith, evidently she believed that Josephine was the prophet’s daughter. (This information is taken from Patty Bartlett Sessions published diary).
Family tradition records that during the administration of Wilford Woodruff Sylvia had the sealing to Joseph Smith canceled and was sealed to Windsor P. Lyon. According to tradition, Windsor was excommunicated for suing Thomas B. Marsh for an unpaid loan. This was in 1942, according to church records. Heber C. Kimball re-baptized Lyon in his own kitchen in Nauvoo on February 1, 1946.
Mr. Lyons died in Iowa City in 1849 and Sylvia remarried Ezekiel Clark on January 1, 1950. Mr. Clark was a successful businessman, banker, and state legislator. They were married in Iowa City and had three children, Perry, Phoebe, and Martha.
Sylvia lived comfortable in her new situation but never gave up the desire to go west to her family. When her youngest daughter Martha was three months old she made the trip to the Salt Lake Valley with her brother Perrigrine. Perigrine stopped in Iowa City on his way home from his mission to England. Mr. Clark was not a member of the Church and would not come himself but outfitted Sylvia in the best possible manner to make the journey west. He always provided for them generously and corresponded frequently with Sylvia and the children.
After arriving in the Valley, Sylvia lived close to her mother and other family members. She raised her children in the Salt Lake area. When Perry, her eldest son by Mr. Clark, was nine years old she kept her promise to Mr. Clark and sent Perry back to his father so he could obtain a good education.
Sylvia and her daughter Josephine were re-baptized on Sunday, September 10, 1854. Sylvia’s daughter, Josephine married John Fisher on August 15, 1863 at the age of 19 and John was 21. On Wednesday, September 1, 1864 Josephine delivered twin boys (Irvin Frederick and Ivan John) one was born at 6:00 p.m. and the other at 3:00 a.m. In 1884, Josephine’s husband, John Fisher, took a second wife, Harriet Kinghton; they were married on February 2nd in Bountiful. Josephine’s husband died in 1905 at the age of sixty-three and Josephine died at the age of eighty in 1924.
On June 26, 1858, when the Johnston’s Army under the command of General Albert Johnston, entered the Valley of Salt Lake, early in the morning, they marched through the deserted city to camp on the west bank of the Jordan River. The saints deserted the city going various places; the Session family went to Lehi. An article in the ‘Atlantic Monthly’ described, “All day long, from dawn to after sunset, the troops and trains poured through the city, the utter silence of the streets being broken only by the music of the military bands, the monotonous tramp of the regiments, and the rattle of the baggage wagons.” In the succeeding days the army moved south along the Jordan to west of Cedar Valley, where they established Camp Floyd, remaining there until ordered back east at the outbreak of the Civil War.
Phoebe Jane Clark married John Henry Ellis on January 31, 1870 and their first child John Perry died. Their second child a daughter, Isabelle Jane was born on February 27, 1873. Phoebe Jane and John Henry had a total of 12 children, most of which were delivered by Phoebe’s Grandmother, Patty Sessions.
Sylvia died in 1882 in Bountiful, Utah at the age of sixty-four. She was buried in Bountiful, Utah.
________________
Daughter of David Sessions and Patty Bartlett
Married Windsor Palmer Lyon, Mar 1838, Orwell, Addison, Vermont. He died Jan 1849, Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa.
Children - Diana Lyon, Marion Lyon, Philofreen Lyon, Asa Windsor Lyon, Josephine Rosetta Lyon, Byron Windsor Lyon, David Carlos Lyon, Charles William Lyon
Married Joseph Smith, February 8, 1842
Married Heber Chase Kimball, 26 Jan 1846, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Married Ezekiel Clark, 1 Jan 1850, Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa. He died 23 Jun 1898, Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa.
Children - Perry Ezekial Clark, Phebe Jane Clark, Martha Sylvia Clark
History - Sylvia Sessions left Maine for Zion (Missouri) with her parents, Patty and David, in June of 1837. While in Missouri, Sylvia met and married Windsor Lyon. Sylvia's Mother, Patty, wrote about the wedding in her journal, "Sylvia was married to Windsor P. Lyon, Joseph Smith performed the ceremony... The next day the Prophet was there and a good time it was."
Sylvia, and husband Windsor, left Missouri for Nauvoo in February of 1839. There, Windsor established a mercantile business, selling "Dry Goods, Groceries, Crockery, Glass, and Hardware, Drugs, and Medicines, Paints and Dry Stuffs." By this time, they were the parents of two children.
Sylvia married Joseph Smith on February 8, 1842, when she was 23 years old. It is uncertain if her husband, Windsor, was aware of the marriage, but she did continue to live with him. Brigham Young taught that "if the woman preferred a man higher in authority, and he is willing to take her and her husband gives her up-there is no Bill of divorce required...it is right in the sight of God". Brigham also explained that the woman, "...would be in a higher glory". This may help shed light on Sylvia's complex marriage arrangement.
10 months later, on December 24th, Joseph's journal mentions a visit to his wife, Sylvia, who was giving birth to her third child: "Walked with Secretary Willard Richards] to see Sister Lyons who was sick. Her baby died 30 minutes before [we] arrived". Sylvia had lost two of her three children in death. On September 18, 1843, another of Joseph's visits to Sylvia is recorded by William Clayton, "Joseph and I rode out to borrow money, drank wine at Sister Lyons P.M. I got $50 of Sister Lyons and paid it to D. D. Yearsly."
On January 27, 1844 her only surviving child, Philofreen, also died.
|
1818 - 1882 (63 år)
Has ingen forfædre og ingen efterkommere i dette stamtræ.
Notater