Rachel Ridgeway Ivins was born on March 7, 1821 in Hornerstown, New Jersey.  She grew up with a very close extended family. When Rachel was six years of age, her father died, and a few years later at age ten, her mother passed away. She, and her siblings, lived with her grandfather Ivins, who was a gentle soul, never demanding much from the children.

A few years later, Rachel decided to move in with her cousins, Joshua and Theodosia Wright.  Theodosia ran a tight ship and taught Rachel the benefits of keeping an orderly home.  When given the option to return to her grandfather’s, she begged to stay because she liked orderliness and practical responsibility. Later, she would be well known for her meticulous housecleaning and homemaking skills. Learning this skill as a teenager prepared her in encouraging her son, Heber Jeddy Grant, to seek after change, perseverance, and excellence. Yet, brought up in a Quaker home, there was no music.  Rachel loved music and would often go in the woods and sing to herself.

At sixteen years of age, she joined the Baptist Church.  She loved the music, and described herself as “religiously inclined but not of the long-faced variety.” When she was eighteen, she was invited, by her cousins, to attend a series of sermons by the Mormons.  Jedediah Grant was a popular preacher and many people enjoyed his humor and quick wit.

Rachel worried that these missionaries were some of the false prophets the Bible spoke against. Her sister urged her to attend meeting on Sunday, and Rachel again worried if it was a good idea to break the Sabbath day by listening to them. Her heart was softening, the more she attended the meetings, and read the Book of Mormon, but she was finally convinced during the funeral of a baby. The Baptist minister first preached that the baby was lost, because the parents had not baptized it. After, Elder Orson Hyde preached a sermon that glorified the little innocent ones who died, saying—“For of such is the kingdom of heaven”. She remarked that the contrast was great, and decided to be baptized.

When she was twenty-one, she traveled with her family to Nauvoo, arriving in the Spring of 1842. She was welcomed by the Saints, and enjoyed much friendship there.  One of her closest friends was Sarah Kimball. She met the Prophet, seeing him preach powerful sermons, as well as playing at parties. She said, “When he preached, his power deeply affected me. But in private and informal moments, he seemed distressingly ‘unProphet-like’. Joseph would ask Rachel to be one of his wives, but she was too horrified  and confused to answer. After his death, she returned to New Jersey, both physically (due to malaria) and spiritually ailing.  She stayed for ten years.

She lived with family, some who were Mormon, and others who were not. Eventually, the Mormon family wanted to go west to join the Saints and Rachel was ready to join them. She traveled with Israel and Anna Ivins, and their children, Caroline and Anthony (a future apostle). When they arrived in the valley, Jedediah Grant greeted them, and offered them a place, until they were situated. Rachel was thirty-two by then.

Jedediah M. Grant was born in New York, baptized at age seventeen, and a member of Zion’s Camp. In the Salt Lake Valley, he was the first mayor of Salt Lake City, as well as second counselor to Brigham Young. He was married with six wives when he welcomed the Ivins family into his home. He would soon ask for Rachel to be his seventh wife. Rachel was first sealed to Joseph Smith, then she was married for time to Jedediah. One year and two months later, Jedediah died of typhoid, leaving her with one child, Heber Jeddy Grant.

Rachel had a choice to make. Her family wanted her to return to New Jersey, where they would give her all she needed, and more, if she would leave Mormonism behind. Or, stay and marry Jedediah’s older brother, George, along with many of his other wives. She chose to stay, but sadly, George turned out to be a drunk and a scoundrel, so the wives, including Rachel, divorced him after two years. She was able to salvage some money from Jedediah’s estate and purchase a little adobe home on 14 South Second East, in the Thirteenth Ward.

She and Jeddy (her son, who would become the prophet, Heber J. Grant) were so poor, they often didn’t have money for firewood, or food to sustain them. Once, Rachel cried because she couldn’t afford even a small candy to give to Jeddy for Christmas. Yet, this home brought them independence, which gave Rachel security. The two would often store up, instead of eat, what little food they had, so they could have parties at their home, and Rachel always tried to stay positive and happy.

Rachel took in sewing, making little money.  It was suggested she take in boarders, and this brought in quite a bit more money. In fact, one guest said, “Madam, I like your cooking, I like your face, and I am coming here tomorrow to board.”  He gave her money to build a room for himself at the back of the house. Colonel Alex G. Haws, stayed for many years.  He was not Mormon, but enjoyed conversation with Rachel, and helped raise Jeddy.

As Relief Societies began to be organized in the Valley, Bishop Edwin D. Woolley called Rachel to be the first Relief Society president in the Thirteenth Ward. When he called the women together, to organize them officially, he stated that it was not his habit to be in a hurry to do things all the while looking hard at Rachel, who had been somewhat persistent in organizing the women. Bathsheba Smith and Emmeline Wells served as her counselors.

It was not easy for Rachel to speak to large groups. She felt inadequate to the job, but she served for thirty-five years. Known for her gifts of healing and prophecy, she had uncommon faith, and her prayers could reach past the heaviest of clouds. She was a suffragist, but was more of a moralist than an activist.

Rachel, and her Thirteenth Ward sisters, canvassed the neighborhood discovering the needy, collecting fabrics, and clothing. They braided hats, stored grain, and supplied the poor in their ward with necessities.

At the age of fifty, Rachel suffered from abscessed tonsils, and as a result, lost her hearing. Instead of voices, she had a constant head noise “like a steam engine going”. She was not able to hear the music she so much loved, and hearing conversations was very frustrating; although, she amazed everyone by occasionally catching a word or two, and being able to respond with the perfect comment. Rachel received many anointings and blessings, seeking a cure for her hearing loss.  She often went to the temple with the purpose of a miraculous healing. Congregations fasted and prayed for her. She was never cured, but she never lost her faith.

She died at 88 years of age on 27 Jan 1909. She wrote in a letter once that she was grateful that she had never complained even though she had reason to. She was satisfied with her life.

Information taken from an article written by Ronald W. Walker for BYU Religious studies.