Aurelia Rogers

Family Background

1834. October 4: Aurelia Read Spencer was born in Deep River, Connecticut, to Catherine Curtis and Orson Spencer. Her father was a charter member of the Council of Fifty, Saint Louis Stake president, president of the British Mission, and president of the University of Deseret.

Her family joined the Church and moved to Nauvoo when she was seven. Aurelia learned to smoke a pipe at her grandmother's knee, but finally responded to a "monitor within that told me it was wrong, and what it would lead to if persisted in: I should be, if I lived, an old lady smoker. This thought disgusted me, for I never did like to see women smoke."

Aurelia was only thirteen when her mother died during the Nauvoo exodus. Orson Spencer related the last days of his wife's life: "Under the influence of a severe cold, she gradually wasted away, telling her children, from time to time, how she wanted them to live and conduct themselves, when they should become motherless and pilgrims in a strange land."

Aurelia and her older sister Ellen cared for the other four children in Winter Quarters while their father filled a mission to England.

Mother

1851. Three years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young's 1848 company, Aurelia married Thomas Rogers and moved to Farmington, Utah. They had twelve children, only seven of whom lived to maturity. After the death of one, Aurelia wrote: "I almost lost faith in God; for once in my life, I even doubted the existence of a Supreme Being.

"One day while reflecting on these things, one of my father's letters came to my mind, wherein he said, 'Trust in God though he slay you!' I caught at the suggestion, which had surely been given by the Spirit of the Lord, and went to Him in prayer, asking Him to forgive me for my lack of faith, and to grant me strength to endure, feeling that I would put my trust in Him henceforth and forever."

"Mother of the Primary Association"

1878. March: When Relief Society President Eliza R. Snow visited Farmington, Aurelia expressed concern about rowdy boys. "What will our girls do for good husbands, if this state of things continues? Could there not be an organization for little boys, and have them trained to make better men?"

Farmington Bishop John W. Hess received a letter from John Taylor authorizing a new organization in the ward. August 11, 1878, Bishop Hess set Aurelia Rogers apart as president of the Church's first Primary Association. Though she felt "willing, but very incompetent," she taught her charges "obedience, faith in God, prayer, punctuality, and good manners." Rogers also served as secretary of the Farmington Relief Society for twenty-two years.

Women's Advocate

1893. Called to the Primary General Board. One year later she was a Utah delegate to the Women's Suffrage Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1895 she was elected a delegate to the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C.

Death

1922. August 19: Died in Farmington, Utah. Shortly before her death, she told family members: "I would like just a few simple blossoms from my own garden… if any one has money to spend for flowers for me, it would make me happier to have it given to comfort someone in need." Buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Sources
Madsen, Carol Cornwall, and Oman, Susan Staker. Sisters and Little Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1979.
Rogers, Aurelia S. Life Sketches of Orson Spencer and Others, and History of Primary Work. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons Co., 1898.
Ritchie, Elizabeth Kohler. "Aurelia S.Rogers." Sister Saints. Edited by Vicky Burgess-Olson. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1978.

	A Book of Mormons Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker Copyright 1982, Signature Books Salt Lake City, Utah Contents


	Aurelia S. Rogers (1834-1922)

				Aurelia S. Rogers was "Mother of the Primary Association." Photograph courtesy LDS Church Archives.


	Family Background 1834. October 4: Aurelia Read Spencer was born in Deep River, Connecticut, to Catherine Curtis and Orson Spencer. Her father was a charter member of the Council of Fifty, Saint Louis Stake president, president of the British Mission, and president of the University of Deseret. Her family joined the Church and moved to Nauvoo when she was seven. Aurelia learned to smoke a pipe at her grandmother's knee, but finally responded to a "monitor within that told me it was wrong, and what it would lead to if persisted in: I should be, if I lived, an old lady smoker. This thought disgusted me, for I never did like to see women smoke." Aurelia was only thirteen when her mother died during the Nauvoo exodus. Orson Spencer related the last days of his wife's life: "Under the influence of a severe cold, she gradually wasted away, telling her children, from time to time, how she wanted them to live and conduct themselves, when they should become motherless and pilgrims in a strange land." Aurelia and her older sister Ellen cared for the other four children in Winter Quarters while their father filled a mission to England. Mother 1851. Three years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young's 1848 company, Aurelia married Thomas Rogers and moved to Farmington, Utah. They had twelve children, only seven of whom lived to maturity. After the death of one, Aurelia wrote: "I almost lost faith in God; for once in my life, I even doubted the existence of a Supreme Being. "One day while reflecting on these things, one of my father's letters came to my mind, wherein he said, 'Trust in God though he slay you!' I caught at the suggestion, which had surely been given by the Spirit of the Lord, and went to Him in prayer, asking Him to forgive me for my lack of faith, and to grant me strength to endure, feeling that I would put my trust in Him henceforth and forever." "Mother of the Primary Association" 1878. March: When Relief Society President Eliza R. Snow visited Farmington, Aurelia expressed concern about rowdy boys. "What will our girls do for good husbands, if this state of things continues? Could there not be an organization for little boys, and have them trained to make better men?" Farmington Bishop John W. Hess received a letter from John Taylor authorizing a new organization in the ward. August 11, 1878, Bishop Hess set Aurelia Rogers apart as president of the Church's first Primary Association. Though she felt "willing, but very incompetent," she taught her charges "obedience, faith in God, prayer, punctuality, and good manners." Rogers also served as secretary of the Farmington Relief Society for twenty-two years. Women's Advocate 1893. Called to the Primary General Board. One year later she was a Utah delegate to the Women's Suffrage Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1895 she was elected a delegate to the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. Death 1922. August 19: Died in Farmington, Utah. Shortly before her death, she told family members: "I would like just a few simple blossoms from my own garden… if any one has money to spend for flowers for me, it would make me happier to have it given to comfort someone in need." Buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Sources Madsen, Carol Cornwall, and Oman, Susan Staker. Sisters and Little Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1979. Rogers, Aurelia S. Life Sketches of Orson Spencer and Others, and History of Primary Work. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons Co., 1898. Ritchie, Elizabeth Kohler. "Aurelia S.Rogers." Sister Saints. Edited by Vicky Burgess-Olson. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1978.