Inez Knight Allen: One of the First Two Single Sister Missionaries of the Church (1876–1937)

Amanda Inez Knight Allen was born September 8, 1876, near Payson, Utah, the daughter of the mining magnate and faithful benefactor Jesse Knight and Amanda McEwan Knight. On April 1, 1898, she was set apart as one of the first two single women in the Church to be formally called as full-time proselytizing missionaries—her childhood friend Jennie Brimhall was the other. They left Provo on April 2 and arrived in England on April 28, 1898. Because they were the first—and for a time only—lady missionaries serving in Europe, they were in constant demand to travel and speak throughout England, as well as France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and Holland. A fellow missionary, Joseph S. Broadbent, wrote to the Deseret Evening News that 'Sisters Jennie Brimhall and Inez Knight... bore strong testimonies on the restoration of the Gospel and the divine mission of Joseph Smith. There were about 800 people present and a pin could be heard drop.' Inez saw her purpose as dispelling the European belief that Mormon women were 'downtrodden slaves.' In February 1899, while she attended a meeting in Bristol, anti-Mormon rioters broke every window; she and her companions had to seek police protection. After Jennie returned home ill in late 1898, Inez continued alone—sometimes the only sister in the meetings—serving in Cheltenham, London, Kent, and Bristol until June 1900. She later served as matron of Brigham Young Academy and on the Relief Society general board.