Brief Life Sketch

Caroline Clara Smith Callister was born on June 6, 1820, in Potsdam, New York, to John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Her father was the third Patriarch of the Church and an uncle to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Her grandfather, Richard Lyman, served with distinction in the Revolutionary War under General Putnam. Baptized a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at age fourteen, Caroline embraced the restored gospel and faced the trials of early Church membership with unwavering faith. She married Thomas Callister on August 31, 1845, and together they had eight children.

In 1846, Caroline and her family endured the harsh winter at Winter Quarters, where she gave birth to a son in a wagon. Weakened by scurvy and malnutrition, she lost the baby at just eight months old. Though still ill when the pioneers left for the Salt Lake Valley, she was lifted by her husband’s second wife to view her baby’s grave one final time. The journey west was grueling, especially for Caroline, who had suffered from physical disability since birth. She lost several more children in infancy and was later devastated by the deaths of her daughters Philomela and Clara, leaving only Mary to survive to care for her in her final years.

Despite hardship, Caroline remained faithful and devoted. She lived with her husband near the Jordan River before relocating to Fillmore, Utah, where she served as Relief Society president. She passed away in Ogden on January 9, 1895, at the age of seventy-four, honored for her strength, sacrifice, and deep spiritual conviction.