Hannah Schofield Cowling Hepworth

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Hannah Schofield Cowling Hepworth

Hannah Schofield Cowling was born April 2, 1834 at Westgate Hill, Tong, England. She was the only daughter and oldest child of David Cowling and Eliza formerly Schofield. As a young girl, Hannah worked in a mill. It is thought that she ran a weaving machine.

Hannah was baptized into the LDS Church September 9, 1852 at the age of 18. Two of her three brothers were baptized that same year and her mother was baptized in 1856. Both of her parents died in England, her father June 6, 1856, and her mother in 1865.

Hannah married Edmund Hepworth on September 17, 1862 at Birstall Parish in Yorkshire. They emigrated May 30, 1863. One of Hannah's brothers, Peter, emigrated at the same time. Another brother, Richard, emigrated a year later on April 28, 1864.

Hannah raised a respectable family of three boys and five girls of which three died in childhood. She also raised Eliza Sant's two boys as her own.

On January 2, 1890, the Grover Relief Society was organized, and Hannah was chosen and sustained as president. She was set apart by James Jensen, Sr., Albina Jensen was chosen and sustained as first counselor and Lovina S. Thurman as second counselor.

Meetings were held once a month on the first Thursday. The sisters bore their testimonies and encouraged each other in work they had been called to do. At this time there were no outlined lessons in the Relief Society. They used the Woman's Exponent and read articles from it. Many times Hannah walked to Relief Society from the old ranch.

As early as February 5, 1891, the sisters began to feel the need of a Relief Society house. Sister Hannah mentioned this to Bishop. Jensen. He said it was the right thing to do so she asked the brethren to help them. Later on, the brethren went to the canyon to get out logs to build the house. A site was chosen on the north side of the meeting house lot with access to it on the north street but this house didn't materialize until September 15, 1957, sixty-six years later. Also, Hannah tried hard to get a granary to store grain in. During this period, the sisters donated wheat and oats and stored it where they could.

The responsibilities of the Relief Society were quite different from today. Besides caring for the sick, they made burial clothes and took care of the dead. Hannah helped bring many babies into the world. Many times she stayed in the homes until the woman could get out of bed which was always ten days.

The sisters in those days had but little money so their donations for charitable purposes consisted of thread, calico, wool, eggs, butter, and carpet rags. Very often eggs were sold at eight cents a dozen.

In 1906, Hannah was released as president of the Relief Society after having served faithfully for 16 years. At the time of her release, she was 72 years old.

As to any woman, plural marriage was a challenge to Hannah. She never complained but always tired to do her part to keep peace in the family. In 1901 after moving Hannah to the mill lot in Grover, Edmund spent most of his time with Lydia and family. At this time, all of Hannah's family were married except Edgar who was 22, but Lydia had six girls and one boy at home, the eldest being 18 and the youngest, two. One can imagine the trial this would have been for Hannah, but she was a noble person in the way she handled herself, never grumbling and always with patience. Polygamy was a difficult law to live, and it was harder on the woman than the men. We admire these women who lived this law of God.

Hannah had a strong testimony of the Gospel and did her best to live up to its teachings. She set a good example for her family and all her associates.

She had a kind sympathetic nature and was a peacemaker. These characteristics are well portrayed by her devotion to the two little boys when their mother, Eliza Sant, died. She also kept a welcome spot in her home for those who needed one.

Hannah loved flowers and enjoyed having them around. In her later years when it was hard for her to dig in the soil, she had Edmund put in an extra window on the east side of the kitchen of the double-roomed cabin on the mill lot. Onto this window she had a flower box built. In the spring of 1902, she sent back East for some bulbs and had a lovely window garden.

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