Ruth Luce

Ruth (Grant) Luce (1775-1860). In 1838 she converted to Mormonism and went with her husband and children to Nauvoo, Illinois. Her name appears on the membership records of the Mormon Church at Nauvoo between 1840 and 1848 (Newell). On 15 February 1845 she received her Patriarchal Blessing and on 25 December 1845 was Endowed in Nauvoo.

When the Mormons were driven out of Nauvoo in 1846 she was 61 and her husband Malatiah was 64. Some secondary sources say her husband died in Nauvoo in 1849, but he is known to have been in Salt Lake City in 1848. Likewise, some secondary sources say she came across the plains to Utah in 1850 (Carter, "Companies of 1850"), perhaps in the Stephen Markham Company. However, it is more likely that she traveled in the Willard Richards Company in 1848 with her husband and the family of her son Stephen (Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel database).

She was a pioneer settler of both Salt Lake City and Ogden. On 29 September 1850 she was re-baptized and confirmed. In 1851 she was living as a widow with Lovisa Snyder in Salt Lake City (1851 Census). She was sealed to her late husband on 24 January 1853 in the the office Brigham Young, with her son Ephraim standing as proxy. She appears on the 1856 statehood census in Salt Lake City's 10th Ward.

She died at the age of 84, after nearly 10 years in the west.

Sources

• Justin Swanström
• Findagrave.com: Ruth Grant Luce Married Malethiah Luce on 1 Jan 1799. She took her Endowment in the original Nauvoo Temple on 25 Dec 1845. They were sealed on 24 Jan 1853.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 6 2019, 3:56:42 UTC