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Sylvia Porter (Sessions) Clark (1818 - 1882)

Sylvia Porter Clark formerly Sessions aka Lyon, Smith, Kimball
Born in Andover West Surplus Township, Oxford, Massachusetts, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Daughter of and
Sister of , , , , , , and [half]
Wife of — married 21 Apr 1838 (to Jan 1849) in Far West, Caldwell, Missouri, United Statesmap
Wife of — married 19 Sep 1844 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United Statesmap
Wife of — married 1 Jan 1850 (to Apr 1854) in Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, United Statesmap
Descendants descendants
Mother of , , , , and
Died at age 63 in Bountiful, Davis, Utah Territory, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 1 Sep 2011
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Nauvoo Temple
Sylvia became a member of the LDS Church between 1830 - 1848.
Sylvia (Sessions) Clark was a Latter Day Saint pioneer.

Biography

Sylvia Porter Sessions was born on July 31, 1818 in Andover West Surplus, Oxford, Massachusetts (present-day Newry, Oxford, Maine). She was the daughter of David Sessions and Patty Bartlett.[1][2][3][4]

In August 1833, the first Mormon missionaries arrived in Newry. Sylvia's parents and her older brother Perrigrine were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints over the next two years.[3]

The family left for Missouri on June 5, 1836 or 1837. They arrived in Far West, Missouri on November 28 and soon bought a large farm.[3][5]

Sylvia married Windsor Palmer Lyon on April 21, 1838 in Far West, Caldwell, Missouri.[3][6][7] Sylvia and Windsor would have six children, only one of whom would survive to adulthood.[3]

They left Missouri in 1839, crossing the Mississippi River on March 8. Soon afterward, Sylvia and Windsor moved to Nauvoo, Illinois.[3]

On February 8, 1842, Sylvia married Joseph Smith as a plural wife. A month later, her mother Patty also married Joseph Smith.[3][8][9] These were both polyandrous marriages, and as with most of Joseph Smith's polyandrous wives, evidence suggests that both Sylvia and Patty continued to live with their previous husbands. It is not known whether Windsor knew about Sylvia's marriage to Joseph Smith.[3]

Windsor Lyon was excommunicated from the church in November 1842, apparently because he had sued a church leader in civil court over a debt rather than going through internal church proceedings. Windsor seems to have remained on good terms with Joseph Smith and some other church leaders.[3]

Joseph Smith was killed on June 27, 1844. On September 19, 1844, Sylvia was married and sealed to Heber Chase Kimball for time only in Nauvoo, Illinois.[10] As Sylvia was still married to Windsor Lyon, the dynamics of this polyandrous marriage are unclear. They may have considered this marriage to be purely ceremonial at this time. Sylvia continued to live with Windsor, but sometimes spent time with Heber Kimball.[3]

Early in 1846, Windsor was rebaptized into the LDS church. According to family traditions, he married a plural wife, Susanne Eliza Gee, around February of that year.[3][11]

On January 26, 1846, Sylvia's sealings were formalized in the Nauvoo Temple when she was sealed to Joseph Smith for eternity with Heber Kimball standing proxy for Joseph. She was then sealed to Heber for time.[3][12][13] She continued to live with Windsor Lyon.[3]

Later in 1846, Windsor and Sylvia moved to Iowa City. In mid-January 1849, Windsor died of tuberculosis.[3][14]

Family records indicate that Sylvia may have considered moving to live with Heber Kimball after Windsor's death, and many expected her to do so. However, she ultimately stayed in Iowa City and married Ezekiel Clark, a non-Mormon, on January 1, 1850.[3] They were legally married on February 5, 1850.[15]

In April 1854, Sylvia separated from Ezekiel and left Iowa City for Utah with her children and her brother Perrigrine.[3] Perrigrine led their pioneer company into the Salt Lake Valley in August 1854.[16] Sylvia was apparently accepted into Heber Kimball's family after returning to Utah, but never lived in any of his homes. She settled in Bountiful, Utah.[3]

By 1863, Sylvia had moved to a large house in Bountiful and operated the home as a hotel.[3]

Sylvia died of "dropsy" on April 13, 1882 at 5:30 am in Bountiful, Utah.[17][3][4]

Marriages and children: (see biography and children's profiles for sources)

  1. Windsor Palmer Lyon, m. April 21 1838 - Jan 1849 (widowed)
    1. Marian Lyon, b. July 3 1839, d. March 19 1842
    2. Philofreen J Lyon, b. June 11 1841, d. January 27 1844
    3. Asa Windsor Lyon, b. December 24 1842, d. December 24 1842
    4. Josephine Rosetta Lyon, b. February 8 1844 in Nauvoo
    5. Byron Windsor Lyon, b. September 4 1847 in Iowa City, d. December 13 1851 in Iowa City
    6. David Carlos Lyon, b. August 8 1848 in Iowa City, d. April 21 1850 in Iowa City
  1. Joseph Smith Jr., m. February 8 1842 - June 27 1844 (widowed)
    Shortly before her death, Sylvia told Josephine Rosetta Lyon that she was the daughter of Joseph Smith. Recent DNA analysis strongly suggests that Josephine was the biological daughter of Windsor Lyon, not Joseph Smith.
  1. Heber Chase Kimball, m. September 19 1844
  1. Ezekiel Clark, m. January 1 1850 - April 1854 (separated)
    1. Perry Ezekiel Clark, b. February 4 1851
    2. Phebe Jane Clark, b. September 1, 1852
    3. Martha Sylvia Clark, b. January 20, 1854

Sources

  1. ↑ Black, Susan Easton, compiler. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848. 50 vols. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, 1989. Private Donor. Ancestry Record 5333 #80339. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
  2. ↑ “Clark, Sylvia Porter,” Patriarchal Blessing Index, 1833–1963. Microfilm 392,643. U.S. and Canada Record Collection. Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 Compton, Todd. "Mother and Daughter: Patty Bartlett (Sessions Smith Parry) and Sylvia Porter Sessions (Lyon Smith Kimball Clark)." In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1997, pp. 171-204.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 11 February 2021), memorial page for Sylvia Porter Sessions Clark (31 Jul 1818–12 Apr 1882), Find A Grave: Memorial #43324160, citing Bountiful Memorial Park, Bountiful, Davis County, Utah, USA ; Maintained by SMSmith (contributor 46491005).
  5. ↑ "An Aged Sister Gone". Davis County Clipper (Davis County, Utah), 22 December 1892. University of Utah Library.
  6. ↑ George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2011), p. 606, footnote 173. As cited by BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
  7. ↑ "Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKZW-8RR6 : 25 February 2020), Winsor Palmer Lyon and Sylvia Sessions Porter, 1838; citing Marriage, Caldwell, Missouri, United States, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; FHL microfilm 007425248.
  8. ↑ Josephine Rosetta Fisher, Statement, Bountiful, Davis Co., Utah, 24 Feb. 1915. Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915. Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. MS 3423. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
  9. ↑ Incomplete affidavit (“Cylvia Lyon”), 1869. Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915, 1:60, 2:62. Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. MS 3423. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
  10. ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, p. 184. Compton cites an entry in Brigham Young's journal.
  11. ↑ George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2011), p. 606, footnote 234. As cited by BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
  12. ↑ Lyndon W Cook, Nauvoo Marriages, Proxy Sealings, 1843-1846 (Provo, UT: Grandin Book Coo., 2004), p. 42, citing the Diary of Heber C. Kimball and the Diary of Brigham Young for 19 September 1844. As cited by BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
  13. ↑ Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sealings and adoptions of the living, 1846-1857; index, 1846-1857 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1958), p. 505. As cited by BYU Nauvoo Community Project, Brigham Young University.
  14. ↑ Johnson Co., IA, District Court, Probate Records, 1847–1919, vol. 3, pp. 360–361, microfilm 985,943, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. As cited by The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press.
  15. ↑ "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJXY-4BL : 4 November 2017), Ezekiel Clark and Sylvia P. Lyon, 05 Feb 1850, Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, United States; citing reference , county courthouses, Iowa; FHL microfilm 1,704,936.
  16. ↑ “Sylvia Porter Clark,” Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868, Pioneer Database, 1847–1868. Compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel.
  17. ↑ "Died", Deseret News, 19 April 1882, p. 16. University of Utah Library.

See also:

  • "Clark, Sylvia Porter Sessions." The Joseph Smith Papers, The Church Historian's Press (accessed 8 February 2021).
  • "Sylvia Sessions Lyon." Remembering the Wives of Joseph Smith (wivesofjosephsmith.org: accessed 11 February 2021).
  • “Josephine Lyon Fisher: Her Parentage.” Bountiful Historical Museum, updated 21 July 2009. Accessed via Internet Archive (archived 9 April 2013).
  • Compton, Todd. "Mother and Daughter: Patty Bartlett (Sessions Smith Parry) and Sylvia Porter Sessions (Lyon Smith Kimball Clark)." In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1997, pp. 171-204.

Census records:





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Comments: 2

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[Living Breece]
I too reviewed the MatchBot-proposed merge of Sessions-308 and Sessions-59 and agree they appear the be the same person, dates, places and activities. I know nothing more of this Sessions however and hesitate to adopt it.
posted by [Living Breece]
Susan McNamee
Hi! I reviewed the MatchBot-proposed merge of Sessions-308 and Sessions-59 & confirmed they're duplicates. They have the same place and date of birth as well as death. Sylva was married 4 times and spouse on both profiles matches. One of her husband's profiles is Smith-545. She is listed as one of his wives. Thanks! ~ MatchBot MP (MatchBot Monitors Project)

P.S. I've checked and Sessions-59 is the lowest-numbered profile.

posted by Susan McNamee

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Categories: Early LDS Adherents | Perrigrine Sessions Company 1854 | LDS Pioneers