Sarah Priscilla Leavitt Hamblin — Rachel Hamblin's Inspired Request

In 1857, while the Hamblin family was residing in Santa Clara, Utah, Jacob Hamblin's wife, Rachel Judd, was suffering from severe illness and was frequently bedridden. Sarah Priscilla Leavitt, then sixteen years old, had been living with the family and assisting Rachel with the household and the care of the children. Rachel, feeling a spiritual prompting regarding the future of her family and her own declining health, requested that Jacob take Sarah Priscilla as a plural wife to ensure the children would have a devoted mother to care for them. This request was viewed as a divine preparation for the family's survival and stability. Following Rachel's inspired wish, Jacob and Sarah Priscilla were married on September 11, 1857. Sarah Priscilla subsequently became the primary caregiver for Rachel's children and also cared for the surviving orphans of the Mountain Meadows Massacre who were brought to the Hamblin home that same year.