33 WOMEN OF THE RESTORATION

by Emma M. Phillips

Over the past century and a half, thousands of women have lived and died in a Christian cause called the Restoration movement. Out of this long list of women of the Church, the author has extracted a group of thirty-three to be representative examples of the kinds of lives which have helped the Church to grow.

Because their biographies appear in this book does not make them heroines over and above the other women of the Restoration movement. They stand on a level with the unsung—and in many cases now unknown—women of our faith who reared sons and daughters in our tradition and talked to their neighbors about the gospel, and who cleaned churches, built fires, taught classes, quilted and tied "comforts," and did the myriad other tasks required on the frontier of service.

It is to our loss and our shame that we have not done a better job of collecting and retaining the information necessary to make a permanent record of the lives of more of our pioneer women. Many of their experiences, would bring to our young people a greater appreciation for the energies spent that we might now worship as we do.

The biographies in this book are arranged in chronological order. As you read, you will notice the changing times and changing problems that have confronted our women. From these stories of service and sacrifice, both adult and young can gain a greater insight into our history and a higher regard for the cause these women fostered.