Person:Martha McBride (5)

DEATH: Levi Byram and Martha Jane Belnap Gold Medal Pioneers By Donald Levi Gale Hammon 1996 Page 22 WIDOW OF PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH DEAD

  A woman who was married in turn to Vinson Knight, presiding bishop of the Mormon church; to Joseph Smith, its first president, and to Heber C. Kimball, died yesterday of old age at the home of Bishop Belnap in Hooper. She was Mrs. Martha Kimball. She was in her 97th year. She was born March 17, 1805, at Chester, Washington county N. Y. She was married to Vinson Knight, July 26, 1826. Her husband died July 31, 1842, at Nauvoo. He was the presiding bishop of the Morman church at that time.
  She came to Utah in 1850, settling in Ogden,  where she made her home for a number of years. She went to Hooper in 1869, where she had lived most of the time since, although visiting often with relatives in other parts of Utah.
  She was sealed by the Mormon rite to the Prophet Joseph Smith at Nauvoo, a short time before his death.
  After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, she was married to Heber C. Kimball, and by him she had one child, who died in infancy. She was the mother of six other children by her first husband, Mr. Knight, and three of thise survive her all of them being between 70 and 80 years of age. They are Mrs. Almira Hanson, who resides new Cleveland O.; Mrs. Adeline Belnap, living in Hooper, this county, and James Knight, who resides at Clearfield, Piute county. She had a great many grandchildren and great-grandchildren and several great-great-grandchildren. Pictures of the old lady grouped with four of her direct descendants are to be found in the homes of most of her Ogden, relatives.
  The picture of the child in the accompanying illustration is that of Heber Balantine, grandson of former Sheriff Gilbert R. Belnap, and great-grandson of the daughter at whose home the old lady passed away.
  The physical strength and endurance of Mrs. Knight was well-nigh marvelous. For nearly twenty years she had not used spectacles. Her needlework was a model for fineness amongst all her acquaintances for the past fifty years. She was a great reader particularly of the daily papers, reading every word of telegraphic news, and during the Spanish-American was she was regarded as one of the best posted persons in Weber county on the military operations of the contending forces.
  Two of three years ago at a birthday reunion of the family held in her honer, Mrs. Knight was called on for a speech, and prefaced one of considerable length with a recital of the tremendous changes which had taken place in her lifetime, mentioning the steam engine, the modern printing press and the telegraph. To illustrate this latter she described with what slowness news traveled when she was a young women of 40, and wound up her recital of how on that very day the entire country was able to watch every, detail of a little affair at Carson City was knocked out by Fitzsimmons.

BIOGRAPHY: Website The Wifes of Joseph Smith-Martha McBride wife of Bishop Vinson Knight M:6 July 1826 Norwich,,Massachusetts. Martha McBride (Knight)(Smith)(Kimball), 1805-1901, married Joseph Smith in August 1842, at age thirty-seven. Joseph married her as the widow of Vinson Knight, another important early bishop, with whom she had lived from 1826 to July 31, 1842, when he died , and with whom she had seven children. After Smith's death, she married Heber C. Kimball for time on October 12, 1844, to whom she bore one child that died at birth. Nevertheless she lived most of her later life with relatives in Utah, especially in Ogden and Hooper.

Pioneer Ancestors, Salt Lake City Chapter SUP Martha McBride Knight Born 17 March 1805 at Chester, Washington County, New York. Entered Salt Lake Valley 17 September 1850

Martha McBride Knight was the youngest of nine children born to Daniel and Abigail Mead McBride. She was raised in a religious home by parents who had great faith in God. Her father was a Campbellite minister. Following her marriage in 1826 to Vinson Knight, the couple lived on a prosperous farm in Perrysburg, New York. Two Mormon missionaries, Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt, stopped at the Knight home one evening in March, 1834, to ask for a night's lodging. As a result of this visit, Martha and Vinson accepted the Gospel and were baptized. Shortly afterward, they sold their farm and traveled with relatives and other new converts to Kirtland, Ohio, to join the Saints.

Heart Throbs of the West Heart Throbs of the West: Volume 4 The Contribution of Eastern United States To Utah Charter Members of the Relief Society

Martha McBride Knight. Refinement, religious fervor and supreme loyalty characterized the life of Martha McBride Knight, the 9th child of Daniel McBride, a Camp-bellite minister of New York, and Abigail Mead. She was born March 17, 1805, at Chester, Washington County, New York. She was married July 26, 1826 to Vinson (Vincent) Knight, who inherited a farm at Perrysburgh, New York, from his father, Dr. Rodolphus Knight of Norwich, Massachusetts. They acquired considerable wealth from their farm. Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt brought the Gospel to them March 21, 1834. The first test of her faith was the departure of her husband for Zion's Camp, organized by Joseph Smith for the redemption of Zion. Upon Vinson's return the farm was sold at a great sacrifice. The Knights and four little children, accompanied by Newel Knight, Lydia Goldthwait and Maria Crandall, traveled 135 miles by stage coach and canal boat to Kirtland. They assisted in the building of the City of Kirtland and the Kirtland Temple. Afterward he moved his family to Adam-ondi-Ahman, where he became the bishop. Later, with the Saints, they lived for a season in Nauvoo. Martha joined the sewing circle and was a charter member of the first Relief Society. A few months later her husband died, July 31, 1842, and in September 1842 her son Nathaniel passed away. She often told her grandchildren of the cruel martyrdom of the prophet, the sorrowing of the Saints and the solemn services; her witnessing the form of Brigham Young change to the person of Joseph Smith, and Brigham's voice ringing out in the tone of Joseph's voice, declaring him the leader of the wondering Saints. She remembered the cruel expulsion of the Saints from Nauvoo, and the crossing of the Mississippi on the ice. She recalled the long winters with crude shelters at Winter Quarters and the tedious journey across the trackless plains. The burial of her baby grandson in Gilbert Belnap's tool-chest by the wayside was one sorrow she never forgot. They arrived in Salt Lake Valley, September 15, 1850, in Jonathan Foote's Company; and were assigned to go to Ogden to make their home. She was sustained first counselor to Delilah Pierce Palmer, first president of Ogden City Relief Society, January 6, 1856. Mrs. Knight witnessed the grasshopper plague; she attended the dedicatory services of the St. George Temple, and worked for her kindred dead in that edifice. After the death of her husband she married Joseph Smith, and later became the plural wife of Heber C. Kimball. Her children were Almira K. Hancom Stoddard, Rizpah K. Gibbons, Adaline K. Belnap, James Vinson, Martha A., Rodolphus Elderkin, and Nathaniel, who died in infancy, and an infant child born after her marriage to Heber C. Kimball. She was noted for her expert needlework, Her handmade handkerchief linen temple robe, used in the Nauvoo Temple, and a colorful artistically designed hand-made quilt top are preserved by her grand-children. She died November 1, 1901 at Hooper, Utah, at the age of 97. -Florence R. Ellison. He has not served who gathers gold, Nor has he served whose life is told In selfish battles he has won, Or deeds of skill that he has done. But he has served who now and then Has helped along his fellowmen. -Author Unknown.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. Heart Throbs of the West [database online]. Orem, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 1998. Original data: Kate Carter, Heart Throbs of the West. Vol. I-XII. Salt Lake City, UT: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1947.

History of James Bailey Maxwell, (SR) Compiled by Dale Maxwell Holyoak 4 May 2001 Page 2

 During the following crisis of leadership for the Church, special meetings were held on 8 August 1844 to determine who should lead the Church. In the morning, Sidney Rigdon put himself forth to be the leader. In the 2 o'clock meeting, Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, addressed the saints, was transfigured before them, appearing as Joseph Smith, and speaking with the voice of the Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and was accepted to be the leader. Gilbert Belnap's Mother-in-law, Martha McBride Knight, and Sophia Dutton DeGraw (whose family shall appear later in this history), were in attendance at that meeting and witnessed the transformation.

Levi Byram and Martha Jane Belnap Gold Medal Pioneers By Donald Levi Gale Hammon 1996 - Page 17

MEDIA: D0016 - Martha McBride Knight http://www.ldshistory.net/dk/dk3.html