According to the LDS Records, Mary Polly Gill Wilson and her daughter-in-laws were among the organizers of the Women's Relief Society of Nauvoo in the 1850's. Faced with an influx of many converts from afar going into Nauvoo for refuge and with little to support themselves, the Wilson women organized clothing and food for these destitue families making their way to Utah. Some of the seven Wilson sons also stayed behind the initial groups leaving for Utah to assist families beforein going themselves.

Some of Polly's Gill relations from Springfield, Vermont (her childhood home) were also living in Garden Grove, Illinois at that time, and were not converted to the Mormon cause, and it may be that she remained with family at her advanced age. Most elderly people did not survive the journey to Utah.