Patty Bartlett Sessions

Who was Patty Bartlett Sessions?

Patty Bartlett Sessions was a Mormon midwife. She was one of the wives of Joseph Smith, Jr. while still married to her first husband, David Sessions. She was the mother of Perrigrine Sessions, founder of Bountiful, Utah. She is best known for her diaries, which recorded the daily activities of the Latter Day Saints during the first year of the Mormon migration to Utah, and the earliest days of their settlement there. These diaries document the physical, social, and religious circumstances of the settlers, especially of the women, and are frequently cited by historians. Her records are also a primary source of birth records in the LDS community during this period, and are highly prized for documenting almost 4,000 births.