Amy Lindsey and Dr. Leslee Thorne-Murphy, English
The published journals of Mormon pioneers have served as a great asset to our understanding of American history, but these have largely been the journals of prominent pioneer men. Surprisingly, most of the journals of common pioneer women have not been published, and so, are not accessible to genealogists or scholars interested in the history of the LDS Church and in America’s nineteenth-century women writers. Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Professor Emeriti in English from BYU is compiling significant unpublished writings of Mormon pioneer women for publication in the “Life Writings of Frontier Women” series published through Utah State University Press. Upon publication, the journals are available to a scholarly audience such as historians and literary critics and become a valuable possession for descendents of the diarist.
BYU English Professor Leslee Thorne-Murphy is preparing the journals of Mormon pioneer Rhoda Ann Dykes Burgess for publication in this work. Rhoda Dykes was born in Nauvoo, IL in 1845 and traveled across the plains with her mother. She married George Burgess and settled in Pine Valley, Utah. During Rhoda Burgess’s life, many fundamental changes took place within the Church that affected Mormon culture, such as the succession of presidents of the Church and disputes over polygamy. Rhoda Burgess’s journals—the most thorough, detailed works we have which give the perception of nineteenth-century Mormon society as seen through the eyes of the average, faithful woman—give valuable insight concerning the common woman’s primary concerns and how the events of the time affected her, her family, and her community.
Working as an assistant to Professor Leslee Thorne-Murphy, my first task was to learn about the process of documentary editing. Professor Thorne-Murphy suggested several books on documentary editing for me to review and also several books in the Life Writings of Frontier Women Series so I could get a better understanding of the final vision for Rhoda Burgess’s journals. I then was given two year’s worth of Rhoda Burgess’s journals (the pages had been typed from the original journal) and scanned them into a word-processing program. After printing the scanned pages I began the process of proofing them against the originals. Every detail had to match the original text as closely as possible. Everything from misspelled words to extra spaces were marked and entered into the computer. I made two passes through the two years of journals and entered the corrections. This process took about twenty hours. This stage of the project was beneficial in helping me develop editing skills, namely, my eye for detail and ability to work on a tedious manuscript for several hours at a time. It was also the most monotonous portion of the project and I found it difficult to keep focused on the manuscript and pick up on all the details.
After completing the proofing, I returned the scanned and corrected pages to Professor Thorne- Murphy. My next task was to aid in creating a glossary of names to be included with the published journals. Professor Thorne-Murphy had reviewed all twenty years-worth of the journals and pulled out all the names of people and places mentioned by Rhoda Burgess, writing them on an index card with any information given in the context, such as “Alfred: Rhoda attended his wedding on July 3, 1885.” Many of the names were only first names or were only last names with a title such as “Mrs. Adams.” It was my job to take all the index cards with names beginning with “A” and perform research in the library and online to get further information about those people, namely, their birth and death years, where they lived, who they married, their connection to Rhoda Burgess, and any other information readers might find helpful in identifying these people.
My main sources for finding this information were the Family Search website (www.familysearch.org); the census records contained on www.ancestry.com; and O Ye Mountains High, a history of Pine Valley, Utah. I also found many other sources to be helpful for specific names, such as the map collection in the Harold B. Lee Library; Under Dixie Sun, a history of Washington County, Utah; The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters; and various books on the history of the medical practice in Utah. I researched about twenty names and found information on all but two of the names. This process so far has taken me about 15 hours.
The research portion of the project was the most difficult, and also the most engaging and rewarding. It was a challenge to race around the library searching for leads, only to find nothing, but it was exciting to begin with simply a first name and one line of information and come up with a full name, birth date, death date, and life history of a person. I feel this portion of the project greatly enhanced my researching skills. I also became much more familiar with the abundant sources available online and in the Harold B. Lee Library. I gained a great passion for researching and learning about the lives of the early pioneers as I performed this work.
The work on this project is ongoing. The proofing work I did only covered two years of journals and the research I performed was only for the names mentioned by Rhoda Burgess beginning with “A”. With twenty years’ worth of journals to prepare for publication, this project has much more work that needs to be done. A problem I foresee for the future of this project is the time it will take to complete. Professor Thorne-Murphy believes in the value of this project, as do I, but at the current rate, the journals will not be available to the public for many years. If more students could work on the project, it would greatly speed the prepublication process.
Publishing the journals of Rhoda Ann Burgess, as well as other common pioneer women, will give scholars, researchers, genealogists, and anyone interested in the lives and writings of nineteenth-century women a great resource for understanding the early LDS Church and the dayto- day living of the common, faithful woman. I am grateful for my involvement in this project. I have learned how to work independently and budget my time. I have gained skills in documentary editing, researching, and glossing that will be valuable to me in my future work as an editor. Despite all this, the most valuable experience this project gave me was the opportunity to learn about the life of Rhoda Ann Dykes Burgess, to share in her joys and sorrows, and to gain a greater appreciation for the sacrifices of the early pioneers of the LDS Church.