Patty's Accomplishments & Contributions

Patty knew about being cooperative and harmonious. She maintained strong connections with her family, her church, and her community. Patty also provides a connection for us. Her moments in time as chronicled in her diaries could be our own in their ordinariness and significance; in their transience and permanence.


Patty valued her origins and looked toward "forever" with optimism. Because her capable hands dealt daily with life and death as midwife and medical provider for the community, she lived with a serious sense of urgency and preparation. Her contributions to the well-being of her contemporaries cannot be overemphasized. But she did not neglect other important aspects of daily living. As she took care of her "domestic concerns," she also shared her skills and the fruits of her labors with her immediate family circle and with the larger community. She thrived on work and freely expressed satisfaction in work done well enough to satisfy her own high standards. When she realized a profit from her medical skills and from the fruits of her gardens and orchards, a necessity if she was to be self-sufficient, she valued her accomplishment. And being an astute businesswoman, she invested any surplus wisely.

Patty gave much simply out of an innate goodness and a desire to use her considerable talents and means to serve others. She earned a place as a leader among women in spiritual and practical ways. Being naturally good-hearted, she helped others with time as well as with material goods.  

         

Despite these obvious accomplishments and others that could be cited, however, Patty's greatest contributions are still her diaries, on-the-spot chronicles of the Mormon trail experience and of life in early Utah. She was no prisoner of time and place. She kept track of her origins and never wavered from her firm belief in the here and now and the future hereafter. She leaves much to ponder, to admire, and, yes, to emulate.