Eliza Jane Pulsipher Terry - Utah Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Eliza Jane was born in Nauvoo, Adams County, Illinois, on 26 July 1840. Her parents were Zerah and Mary Brown Pulsipher. She was seven years old when persecution drove the saints west. She walked across the plains with her family, picking up buffalo chips for fuel. They arrived in Salt Lake in the fall of 1848.

She became the second wife to Thomas Sirls Terry on 6 May 1855; she was not quite 15 years old. She was the youngest sister of Thomas Sirls' first wife, Mary Ann. From this Marriage 12 children were born, 5 boys and 7 girls.

In 1856 Thomas was called on a mission. Eliza Jane spent much of that time with Mary Ann at the farm in Little Cottonwood (while Mary Ann was giving birth to her fourth child in Salt Lake). It was a hard winter with deep snow and severe cold; Eliza suffered because of the hard work and the cold. Her hardships were compounded when her brother William, who agreed to help with the heavy chores, left her alone because of a call from Brigham Young to help rescue the handcart companies in Wyoming. Eliza Jane had great faith and never complained because of these hardships.

In 1862 Eliza Jane and her 3 children along with Thomas Sirls and Mary Ann and the Pulsipher family traveled the long, rough. dusty road to Dixie. She gave birth to her fourth child a few months after arriving there.

Eliza Jane was very independant and very capable. She took a course in obstetrics from a trained nurse in St. George and became a very loving and compassionate midwife, much sought after to attend new mothers and those who were sick from various causes. Because of the loss of 4 of her own children while they were very young, she was very tender with those who were ill. She was a lovely woman with brown hair. She always wore a long black dress with deep pockets, and always had a coin or two in them for anyone who was in need. Eliza Jane and her family spent years building and operating the ranch and stage station where she cooked for the drivers and passengers. She had the boys manage the ranch. When polygamy was outlawed, Eliza Jane pourchased a home with her own money and moved to Panaca, Nevada, where she lived until her death on 5 May 1919 at the age of 79. Eliza Jane was laid to rest in Panaca. Thomas Sirls was not there when she passed away but came soon and spoke at her funeral.