Elizabeth Fairchild

1828–1910

Sealed to Brigham Young 3 Oct 1844 — she was 16, he was 43.

This was a sealing, not a marriage in law — plural marriage had no legal standing. What that meant.

Nauvoo, after the martyrdom

Who she was, and what happened

Sealed the SAME DAY as Eliza R. Snow - Johnson's table gives both 3 October 1844, and Brigham's journal has her as 'Betsey Farechil[d]es' at Snow's sealing. She was sixteen. Johnson names her as one of three from this cohort who divorced Brigham; the certificate is dated 2 June 1855. She never became part of his household. Her later life answers the question the record usually leaves open: she married FOUR more times - James D. Lyman, Joseph McMurray, James Matthews and W. L. Chastain - stayed in Utah, and lived to 1910, outliving Brigham by thirty-three years. Johnson: the young women who left him 'all remarried; and Mary Jane, Eliza, and Elizabeth remained in Utah.'

Key dates

1844 Sealed to him 3 Oct 1844 A sealing, not a marriage in law: plural marriage had no legal standing.
no date Temple sealing confirmed Confirmed in the Nauvoo temple, Jan-Feb 1846. Documented, but Johnson gives no date
1855 Divorce or separation 2 June 1855
1910 Died 1910

Nothing here is inferred. Johnson's Table 1 has one date column, so where an event is documented but undated it is shown as "no date" rather than given a spurious one — the missing date is itself a fact about how these records were kept. Only two of the fifty-five have a civil marriage date; for the other fifty-three the single date records a sealing, because plural marriage had no standing in law.

What survives in her own words

Nothing from her, and no life of her written by anyone else.

None known. She appears in Brigham's journal, a divorce certificate and a family group sheet.

Family group sheet of William Lowery Chastain and Elizabeth Fairchild, GS

15 of the fifty-five left words of their own. The rest are known only through other people's papers. What that silence means.

The record

Born: 1828
Died: 1910
Died at: Utah (Johnson: she 'remained in Utah')
Outlived Brigham Young?: Yes
Marriage or sealing: 3 Oct 1844
Her age at the marriage: 16
His age at the marriage: 43
Age gap: 27 years
Phase of his life: Post-martyrdom, pre-temple
Type of sealing: Not recorded ?
Already married to another man?: No ?
Her other husbands: (2) James D. Lyman (3) Joseph McMurray (4) James Matthews (5) W. L. Chastain
Widow of Joseph Smith?: No
Sexual relationship?: Not documented here
Children by Brigham Young: 0
Lived with him?: No - never part of the household
Divorce or separation: Divorced; certificate 2 June 1855
Named in his will?: Not applicable or not recorded
Sealed to him as an adopted daughter first?: No ?
Kin tie to him or another wife: None recorded
Left the church?: Remarried and remained in Utah (Johnson p. 63); church membership not separately documented
Remarried after Brigham Young?: YES - four times, after her 1855 divorce
Her later husband(s): James D. Lyman; Joseph McMurray; James Matthews; W. L. Chastain

Source and confidence: Johnson Table 1 entry 11 and n. 11 (p. 66) - DATE, DEATH YEAR AND LATER HUSBANDS NOW CONFIRMED from the printed table; Johnson pp. 63, 65

A blank or “not established here” means the fact was not documented in the sources behind this table. It does not mean zero, and it does not mean no. We leave it empty rather than guessing, because inventing a detail of her life would be another way of not listening to her. The size of that gap is the argument for the book she never got.