Bathsheba W. Smith was born on May 3, 1822, in Shinnsten, Harrison County, West Virginia to Mark Bigler and Susannah Ogden. She was baptized on August 21, 1837, into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with most of her father's family. She moved for Missouri right at the time the State was preparing for war against the Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bathsheba witnessed first-hand the persecutions in Missouri. In the spring of 1840, her family moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. She married George A. Smith, one of the twelve apostles, on July 25, 1841. Together they had four children. In 1849, she and her family arrived in the Salt Lake valley. Her family was called to settle Little Salt Lake Valley, two hundred fifty miles from Salt Lake City. Her son was killed during his mission to the Moqui Indians in 1860. Her husband died in 1876. She served in the Temple after his death. She became the General Relief Society President in 1901. She went on to be a member of the Board of Directors of Deseret Hospital and a leader in the western United States woman's suffrage movement. She passed away on September 20, 1910, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Emmeline B. Wells was born on February 29, 1828, at Petersham, Massachusetts to parents David Woodward and Deiadama Hare. When she was four years old her father died, which meant she and her siblings were raised mainly by their mother. In 1842, she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a child, Wells was very well-educated and began teaching in her early teenage years. She married James Harris at age fifteen, they had one son who died shortly after his birth, but Harris deserted Wells. Wells then married Bishop Newel K. Whitney in 1849 and they had two children. When he died in 1850, Wells raised her children on her own in the Salt Lake Valley, where they had immigrated to in 1848. In 1852, she married Daniel Wells and had three more children. She continued teaching while in Utah and she also became involved in civic affairs such as suffrage and women's rights. Wells was the chief editor of the women's rights journal Women's Exponent. She was also friends with famous suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and in 1899 she was invited by the International Council of Women to speak at its London meeting as a United States representative. Wells served as the general president of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1910 to 1921. She died on April 25, 1921 in Salt Lake City, Utah.