Augusta Maria Smith Ellsworth

Biographical Sketch: Augusta Maria Smith Ellsworth was born in 1918 in Hunt, Arizona. She was known as Maria. Later she moved to Snowflake where she grew up in a family of eleven, including a twin. As far as she could tell, Maria was able to work hard and not complain. She graduated from Arizona State Teaching College at Flagstaff May 29, 1940, and taught Kindergarten and First grade. A couple years later Maria was visiting Salt Lake City and met and became engaged to George Ellsworth. They were married on the 24th of October in 1942. They had two boys, Stephan and Mark, and four grandchildren: Guinevere Julia, Margaret Ellen, Andrew Mark, and Joseph Henry.

Throughout Maria's life she was active in her community. She served in the local PTA's, and two terms on the Logan City School Board where she was the only female member. She then became a member of the State Accreditation Committee. Maria was the President of the Old Main Society and President of the Faculty Women's League at Utah State University. She was a teacher and served various positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1993 Maria Ellsworth was awarded the prize for the best biography of the year by the Mormon History Association. Her book was titled Mormon Odyssey: The Story of Ida Hunt Udall, Plural Wife, which was published by the University of Illinois. She has also had seven book reviews published by scholarly journals. She died on December 1, 1999, in Logan, Utah.

Provenance:

The papers included in this collection were donated to Special Collections and Archives Manuscripts Division at Utah State University between 1995 and 1998. Other items were donated after the death of Maria Ellsworth in 1999. Scope and Content:

The Maria Ellsworth Collection contains her correspondence, letters sent and received, from the years 1936 to around the time of her death in 1999. It also includes articles and newspaper clippings from her life and community involvement. This collection has Maria Ellsworth's journals from December 2nd, 1967 to November 11th, 1998. It also has two other journals: one from 1983 and 1984. There are different writings by Maria about her family and her own personal experiences.

SOURCE: https://library.usu.edu/specol/manuscript/collms229.html

Manuscript Registers, Utah State Uniiversity Libraries, Special Collections & Archives

Maria Ellsworth Papers, 1880-1990's

COLL MSS 229

Collection Processed by: Erin Pratt and Britney Porter, March 2003