Emmeline Blanche Woodward Harris Whitney Wells (February 29, 1828 – April 25, 1921) was an American journalist, editor, poet, women's rights advocate, and diarist. She served as the fifth Relief Society General President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1910 until her death. She represented the state of Utah at both the National and American Women's Suffrage conventions and was president of the Utah Woman's Suffrage Association. She was the editor of the Woman's Exponent for 37 years. She was a plural wife to Newel K. Whitney, then Daniel H. Wells.
Emmeline Blanche Woodward was born on February 29, 1828, in Petersham, Massachusetts. She was the seventh child of David and Diadama Hare Woodward. Her father died when she was four years old. She would later claim that her widowed mother inspired her to be a women's rights advocate. When her mother got remarried to Samuel Clark Jr., the Woodward family moved to North New Salem, Massachusetts. There, Emmeline spent ten years of her childhood. Religion heavily influenced her first years of life; her family attended the local village church per New England tradition. As a child, she wrote poems and stories, which she shared with her friends. She often enjoyed being in nature. Woodward was very intelligent and began studying in public school until she enrolled in the New Salem Academy. She graduated from the Academy at the age of fourteen.
The revivalist movement disrupted New Salem's previous religious unity, and Woodward's community was split among different denominations. Following her mother, siblings, and a few friends, Woodward joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 1, 1842. After her baptism, she returned to the Academy and continued her schooling; she did not attend church meetings for her first year of membership. When she applied to become a teacher, discrimination against her new faith proved to be a challenge. Nevertheless, she persevered and taught school briefly in Orange, Massachusetts, before her first marriage at the age of fifteen.
She married 15-year-old James Harris, also a new church member, on July 19, 1843, in Vernon, Vermont. This marriage proved to be difficult for the young Emmeline; her mother-in-law disapproved of her, and she was unprepared for married life. Later, she wrote that she had been too emotional to make such an important decision and regretted marrying at such a young age. Life for Emmeline (now Harris) only became more difficult when she, along with the Harris family and a group of other New England Latter-day Saints, left for the Mormon settlement of Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1844. After a time, her mother- and father-in-law left the church and Nauvoo, so she and James were left alone. She gave birth to a son, Eugene Henri, on September 1, 1844. Unfortunately, Harris had been sick with "ague" during her pregnancy, and at six weeks old, her infant son became sick as well and did not survive. In addition to battling her own illness and the sorrow of losing her son, Emmeline said goodbye to her husband, who left to find work in St. Louis. He asked her to leave Nauvoo to live with his parents once more, but she refused. James Harris died as a sailor in the Indian Ocean and never returned to his wife.
The young Emmeline Harris returned to teaching. Through his children's attending her school, Harris met and later married Newel K. Whitney on February 24, 1845, under the Mormon practice of plural marriage. Emmeline Whitney admired her new husband and felt much safer as his wife. She left Nauvoo in 1846 and, along with the large Whitney family, left Winter Quarters, Nebraska, for Utah Territory in 1848. They traveled with the Heber C. Kimball company at the invitation of then-church president Brigham Young. During the journey, Whitney grew close to her sister-wives. She became friends with the "first wife" Elizabeth Ann Whitney in particular. During the journey west, Emmeline began recording her life experiences in the first of what would become 47 journals. She was pregnant when the company reached the Salt Lake Valley on October 8, 1848. Her first daughter, Isabel "Belle" Whitney, was born in the back of the same wagon that had carried her mother across the country; Emmeline later recounted, "our poor wagons and tents were the only homes we had." After a Whitney family home was constructed, her second daughter, Melvina Whitney, was born on August 18, 1850. Unfortunately, this good news was followed in short order by her second husband's unexpected death. Emmeline Whitney deeply mourned his passing. By age 22, she had been widowed twice. Shortly before his death, Newel Whitney had told her that she would prove to be "a tremendous influence in the building of the kingdom in the west."
Newel Whitney's death in 1850 prompted her to begin teaching school once more, as a means of providing for her daughters. She remained primarily responsible for financially supporting herself for the rest of her life. She then approached Daniel H. Wells, a friend of her late husband's and a prominent civic leader, about marriage. In 1852, she became his seventh wife. Their early marriage was distant, as Daniel Wells was heavily involved in civic and church duties and had six other families. Emmeline Wells lived separately from his other wives. She had another daughter in 1853, Emma "Emmie" Wells. When the Utah War broke out in 1857, Emmeline moved south to Provo. There, she continued to teach school. In 1859, she gave birth to her fourth daughter, Elizabeth Ann Wells, who she named after Elizabeth Ann Whitney. Her fifth daughter, Louise Martha "Louie" Wells, was then born in 1862. Thus, she and Daniel Wells had a total of three children together. Though the early years of their relationship had been difficult, the two became fond and loving companions later in life. Wells did not regret or doubt her participation in polygamy. Daniel Wells died on March 24, 1891. By the end of her life, Emmeline Wells had been widowed three times. Once her children were grown, Wells devoted herself to writing.
"The aim of the paper has always been to assist those who needed assistance in any or every line. ... We love women and would ever strive to uplift and help them to attain their ideals."From a young age, Emmeline Wells had been writing poetry and short stories; but her career truly blossomed with the editorials she wrote for the Woman's Exponent. Established in 1872, the periodical published news about women in the LDS church along with articles advocating for women's educational, economic, and voting rights. The Exponent became part of a nationwide network of feminist journalism, exposing Wells's voice beyond Utah. She wrote many articles about women's rights, particularly the right to run for office and the right to vote. Under the pseudonym "Blanche Beechwood", she published 40 articles arguing fervently for suffrage, societal reform, and religious freedom. Wells became the Exponent's associate editor on May 1, 1875, when Cornelia H. Horne ended her term as business manager. Following Lula Greene Richards, Wells was the second and last senior editor of the periodical from 1877 to 1914. She also assumed responsibility as its publisher, business manager, and owner. As editor, she became known for her executive talents and her superb memory. She continued to publish her own essays and poems, changing her pseudonym to "Aunt Em". In response to a special request from church president Brigham Young, she wrote and compiled the life stories of many Latter-day Saint women for publication in the Exponent. Her different writing selections over the years balance feminist and romantic views, as well as her religious beliefs. The Exponent served as a space for LDS women to express their views, including those of polygamy. Near the end of her tenure as editor, Wells enlisted the help of her daughter Annie Wells Cannon as assistant editor. After her failed request to have the Exponent become the Relief Society's official publication, the suffragist periodical closed in February 1914 with Wells's last editorial titled "Heartfelt Farewell".