Lucy Walker (Latter Day Saint)

Lucy Walker
Photograph c. 1850
Personal details
Born	Lucy Walker (1826-04-30)April 30, 1826 Peacham, Vermont, United States
Died	October 1, 1910(1910-10-01) (aged 84)
Spouse(s)	Joseph Smith Heber C. Kimball
Children	9
Parents	John Walker Lydia Holmes

Lucy Walker was an early member of the Latter-day Saint movement and one of the plural wives of founder Joseph Smith. She was secretly sealed to Smith without the knowledge or consent of Smith's first wife, Emma Smith.^[1]: 463 Lucy was 17 at the time, while Smith was 36-years-old.^[2]

Lucy became Smith's foster daughter after her mother passed away, and Smith sent her father on a mission. Smith welcomed Lucy and three of her sisters into his home and called them his "daughters."^[2]

Shortly after, Smith revealed the secret doctrine of polygamy to Lucy and proposed, saying that the marriage was a "command from God" and if she refused, "the gate will be closed forever against you". Lucy refused, stating that God must manifest His will to her regarding the matter, and told him to never speak of it again. After two sleepless nights, where she considered suicide, she finally agreed to the marriage.

In 1888, as part of a project to collect testimonies of early Latter-day Saints Lucy wrote her life story in her own hand.^[2]

Why should I be chosen from among thy daughters, Father, I am only a child in years and experience, no mother to counsel [she died a few months prior]; no father near to tell me what to do in this trying hour [Smith sent him on a mission]. Oh, let this bitter cup pass. And thus I prayed in the agony of my soul.
-- Lucy Walker, ^{1888, Salt Lake City [emphasis added][2]}