Elizabeth Ann Whitney

Elizabeth Ann Smith Whitney (December 26, 1800 – February 15, 1882) was an early Latter Day Saint leader, and wife to Newel K. Whitney, another early Latter Day Saint leader. She went by her middle name, Ann. Early life and marriage Elizabeth Ann Smith was born in Derby, Connecticut, to Gibson Smith and Polly Bradley. She was the couple's oldest child. Her parents did not attend any church, but identified as Christian, and Ann Smith later described her young self as "naturally religious." As a child, she was "carefully educated according to the customs of that early period", such as dancing and singing. When Smith was about 18 years old, she had some sort of disagreement with her mother and left home. She followed her unmarried aunt, Sarah Smith, westward to Kirtland, Ohio. In this venture, the two women displayed what Mark L. Staker, a faculty member of the LDS Church History Department, calls "a strong sense of self-reliance". Sarah Smith bought a parcel of land within the Connecticut Western Reserve, and soon one of Ann's uncles joined them in Ohio. Her father also tried to move west, but was prevented from doing so by his wife. When she was 20 she met her future husband, Newel K. Whitney. The couple was married on October 20, 1822 after a three-year courtship. They quickly accumulated wealth and status in their community. They had eleven children together and adopted several homeless children. Conversion In Kirtland, Ann and her husband joined the Disciples of Christ, called the Campbellites at the time, led in the area by Sidney Rigdon. This group denied it had power to give the gift of the Holy Spirit. This, along with vague answers to Whitney's questions, caused her and her husband to pray for direction. In response to that prayer, the couple claimed to have seen a vision and a voice stating, "Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!"