Who is Patty Bartlett Sessions?

Patty Bartlett Sessions was born February 4, 1795, in Bethel, Maine. Her parents were Enoch Bartlett and Ann Hall. She was married to David Sessions on June 28, 1812 at the age of seventeen.

Patty Sessions foremost legacy came through her role as a midwife. She was encouraged by Dr. Timothy Carter, the first permanent physician in Bethel,  to practice midwifery. Her skill in delivering babies became critical to the well-being of fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

In 1846, Brigham Young instructed the Latter Day Saints to head west, into what was then Mexico. He instructed Patty to go with the pilot company to care for the sick and afflicted, as well as to serve as midwife. She delivered 9 babies on the banks of the Mississippi River, and many others on the pioneer trek. She spent the winter of 1846/47 at Winter Quarters, Nebraska delivering babies. She arrived in Salt Lake Valley in September 24, 1847 where she settled the rest of her life.

Within one year of arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Sessions delivered 248 babies. She recorded 3,977 births with only two difficult cases. She continued to deliver babies until she was 85 years old.

Patty was a compulsive record keeper, having over 20 years of daily recorded diaries. These diaries 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. Her records are also a primary source of birth records in the LDS community during this period.

She lived a full life living until the age of 97.

David Sessions