Wikipedia Biographical Summary:

"...Ellis Reynolds Shipp (January 20, 1847 – January 31, 1939) was one of the first female doctors in Utah. She founded The School of Nursing and Obstetrics in 1879, and was on the board of the Deseret Hospital Association. She successfully combined motherhood and a medical practice, saying, “It is to me the crowning joy of a woman’s life to be a mother.” In her 50-year medical career, she delivered more than 5,000 babies—and led the School of Nursing and Obstetrics in training five hundred women who became licensed midwives..."

"...Born Ellis Reynolds, she came with her family to Utah Territory in 1852. Her family was among the early Mormon pioneer settlers of Pleasant Grove, Utah. In 1866, Ellis Reynolds married Milford Shipp. She bore a total of ten children, six of whom survived infancy..."

"...Shipp began studying at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1875 leaving her children behind in Utah Territory in the care of her husband's other wives. Brigham Young sponsored her education in the Eastern United States and she later did further medical studies at the University of Michigan.

Shipp wrote the words to "Father, Cheer Our Souls Tonight" which is in the 1985 English edition of the LDS hymnbook. In 1910, she published a book of her own poems entitled Life Lines.

Ellis Reynolds Shipp served as a member of the Relief Society General Board from 1898 to 1907. She also served on the general board of the Young Women. Both the Relief Society and the Young Women are organizations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Ellis Reynolds Shipp', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 May 2012, 20:31 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ellis_Reynolds_Shipp&oldid=491455622> [accessed 24 May 2012]