The Salisbury family was headed by Katharine Smith Salisbury, sister to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Katharine Smith was born July 28, 1813 at West Lebanon, Grafton County, New Hampshire, the seventh surviving child and second daughter of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. On June 8, 1831 she married Mormon convert Wilkins Jenkins Salisbury, and together they had eight children: Elizabeth, Lucy, Solomon, Alvin, Don Carlos, Emma, Loren and Fredrick. Wilkins Salisbury later apostatized from the Church and was erratic in his support for Katharine and their children. Katharine died of pneumonia on February 2, 1900 in Fountain Green, Illinois.