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Wives of Justus Morse INDEX

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1 History By Michael S. Riggs Helen Mar Clark second wife of Thomas Callister 1    Helen Mar (Clark) Callister (like her brother Daniel Porter Clark) was also a stepchild from Elizabeth Towne's first marriage. She was the second wife of Thomas Callister, having been married in Nauvoo in 1845. Both Helen and Thomas worked in Uncle John Smith's tailoring shop in Macedonia, Illinois, and fell in love. When Thomas asked John Smith for permission to marry Helen, he was asked to take his daughter Caroline Clara Smith first. Three-and-a-half months later, he was finally able to wed Helen. Significantly, Thomas Callister and his two wives were all adopted by John Smith in the Nauvoo Temple before the exodus. It is worthy to note that Helen, while raised from the age of three by Justus Morse, had John Smith as a spiritual father. This may not have been a slight on Morse as he himself viewed Smith also as a religious mentor into plural marriage and Nauvoo era Temple rites. An early plural marriage and adoption into the John Smith family were critical to Helen's continuance in the LDS Church throughout her life. She and Thomas also immigrated in association with her older brother, Daniel Porter Clark, and long-time family friend, LDS Apostle Amasa M. Lyman. Thomas later took one of Lyman's daughters as a plural wife, and one of Helen and Thomas' daughters married Francis M. Lyman. Thomas was the first stake president set apart for Millard County, Utah, and served in the state legislature while Helen served as president of the Fillmore, Utah, Relief Society for twenty-five years. 2    .

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