Publication History:

Place of Publication: Smithfield, UT

Frequency:  Weekly

Volume and Issue Data:  Vol. 2, Nos. 1-6, Oct. 24-Nov. 28, 1869

Size and Format:  2.5 columns on 8.5”x14” lined paper, one issue with an extra 8”x10” and another with a 5”x7” poem

Editor/Publisher:  Louisa L. Greene

Title Changes and Continuation:  None

General Description and Notes:

Motto:  “Remember Thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth.”

The manuscript paper, Smithfield Sunday School Gazette, was a weekly paper edited from Oct. 24 to Nov. 28, 1869, by Louisa L. Greene, who later became founding editor of the Woman’s Exponent, a Mormon publication for women.  The Exponent was never an organ of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association, as the authors of The Story of the Latter-day Saints state on p. 336.

Copies of the Smithfield paper for the above dates are in the archives of the Mormon Church Historical Library in Salt Lake City.  Content of the papers included news of Sunday School members and of the community, with some literary efforts by the editor and her helpers.  The paper was distributed at Sunday School meetings.  Greene would have been about 20 years old in 1869.

(The above information was provided by Prof. Sherilyn Cox Bennion, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California)

According to the Olsons, the Sunday School was organized in Smithfield on Sunday, April 15, 1866, with Francis Sharp as superintendent.  There were 69 pupils in eight classes, with a teacher for each group….(40)

The Sunday School took charge of the May Day celebrations, the July celebrations, edited the Smithfield Sunday School Gazette, opened the first library there, and in general played an active part in the life of the Mormon community.

Information Sources:

Bibliography:  James Allen and Glen Leonard, The Story of the Latter-Day Saints (Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Deseret Book Co., 1976), p. 336; Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Olson, eds., The History of Smithfield [Utah] (Smithfield:  City of Smithfield, 1927), pp.40-43

Locations:  Mormon Church Historical Library Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah (Ms D 2918, Box 17, fd 17)