Matt Evans, every United Order community worked out the details in a unique way. We have a modern misconception of a standard United Order pattern, probably based on our general familiarity with Orderville, thinking that this-is-how-we-will-all-live-in-the-Millennium. Turning to the 19th century for models gives us a great many possibilities.. I’ve looked at enough United Order communities (including Salt Lake City) to recognize differences, but not nearly enough to quantify any of them, including the bartering feature. You’ll be delighted to know, though, that none of them had anything like a minimum wage. Maybe not so delighted to acknowledge that there was no over-class, either …

Ardis, in my Anthologie francaise sur les Mormons (1974, copies at BYU HBLL) there is the account of a French traveler who met this lady in SLC. I remember it as an impressive piece – he mentions on the one hand her wealthy aristocratic past (she must have been known in higher circles as the French traveler knew her from reputation), on the other hand her humble situation as a convert who emigrated to Utah, but sustained by the glowing testimony she gives. A moving account. He does not mention her name, only initials as was often done in that period. I have no copy of that anthology here in Belgium and it dates back to pre-e-files-times.

Julie, it would be interesting to find out if that lady is indeed in the Ward Quilt book.

Tatiana — Yes, he wrote in English 99% of the time, slipping into French with just a few phrases here and there. Since writing this account (yeah, you’re getting some recycled papers!), a whole cache of Ned’s letters in French have turned up, in what I have to think of as out-of-the-ordinary circumstances. I’ll write about that in a follow-up post a little later. One of my Relief Society accounts to be posted eventually is about Ned’s aunt Julie and is, I suppose, as much about Ned as it is about Julie.