Person:Almera Johnson (1)

Also listed as Almera "Woodward" was a daughter of Ezekiel and Julia Hills Johnson and a plural wife of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith.

After Joseph Smith's death, on Nov. 16, 1845 she married Reuben Barton with her brother Joel Hills Johnson officiating. Together they had five daughters. Their third daughter, Lois, (the only one who lived to adulthood) was mentally impaired. Feeling responsible for her child's condition, "Almera wondered if it was punishment because she remarried."

In 1861 Almera and Reuben, who had become disaffected with the Church, separated and Almera traveled to Utah and settled in Parowan where for three more decades she would care for Lois.

On Aug. 1, 1883 she stated: "...the Prophet Joseph Smith taught me the principle of celestial marriage including plurality of wives and asked me to become his wife...

"On a certain occasion in the spring of the year 1843... I went from Macedonia to Nauvoo to visit another of my sisters, the one who was the widow of Lyman R. Sherman, deceased, at which time I was sealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith…

"After this time I lived with the Prophet Joseph as his wife, and he visited me at the home of my brother Benjamin F. at Macedonia.

"...I had many conversations with Eliza [Louisa?] Beaman who was also a wife of Joseph Smith, and who was present when I was sealed to him, on the subject of plurality of wives, both before and after the performance of that ceremony.

"And also that since the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith I was married for time to Reuben Barton of Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Ill., by whom I have had five daughters, one only of whom is now living."

Within their journals her brothers Joel and Benjamin refer to her as Almera "Woodard" not "Woodward." Joel named one of his own daughters Almera Woodard.

• Almera Woodard Johnson Barton, of Westford, Vermont, became a plural wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois on the 1st of Aug. 1843.

• She was highly regarded by the Mormons for her appearance, character and capability; yet before a year had elapsed from the date of her marriage, Almera had become a sorrowing widow and without issue, for the martyrdom of the Prophet occurred the following June 27, 1844.

• Born in Vermont, Almera with her parents and other members of the family, had long resided in Pomphret, Chautauqua Co., New York. She was the seventh child and fourth daughter of Julia Hills and Ezekiel Johnson, and was born in October of 1812. Her marriage to the Prophet transpired near her 31st birthday.

• On November 16, 1845, at Nauvoo, approximately one and one-half years after the Prophet’s death, she was persuaded to lay aside her widow’s weeds and become the wife of James Reuben Barton. Barton’s letters, written to Almera, with their excellent penmanship, word dexterity and flawless spelling, indicates the writer to be an individual of considerable skill and attainment. Five children, all daughters, were born to Almera and J. Reuben, yet upon Almera’s passing she was devoid of posterity. One by one, her children had been called back to the spirit world, unmarried and childless, leaving her grief-stricken and hope shattered. J. Reuben Barton’s belief and faith were apparently of but a superficial nature, for he eventually became an apostate, causing a rift that slowly widened, until a separation between himself and Almera became inevitable.

• Almera was not only a homemaker of ability and an individual of taste and attraction, but like all her parent’s children, her fingers dripped service. To her nieces and nephews she was the adored “Aunt Mera,” and showing his high regard for her, her brother, William Derby Johnson, addressed her in his letters as, “My Ever Dear and Respected Sister Almera,” and expressed a hope that when called to the other side, he might be as well-prepared for departure to a higher sphere as she was.

• William Derby’s wife, Jane Cadwallader Johnson, also wrote from Colonia Diaz, where the couple moved, making their home later in life and building themselves a handsome dwelling, urging Almera to join them. They wished to look after her in her declining years, she said, and provide the comforts they felt she so deserved and needed. They had everything, Jane declared, to make her comfortable and happy. Yet, although Almera’s resources were at a low ebb, and she was troubled greatly with rheumatism, her independent nature would not permit her to be a burden to anyone.

• Death found both herself and William Derby in the selfsame year, with but a month separating them. The summons from the other side came to both in the spring of 1896, while Almera was in Utah, and William Derby in Mexico. William was the younger of the two by twelve years. Almera lived to be eighty-four.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Almera Woodard Johnson Smith Barton, in Find A Grave.
2.   Ancestral File.