Maria Elizabeth Bushman Smith The Life Story of Our Mother
By Derryfield N. Smith
Published by the Maria E. B. and Silas D. Smith Family Association, Altamonte Springs, Florida, 1982, p. 24
In the spring of 1878 John Bushman was relieved of his assignments as supervisor of farming for the St. Joseph settlement and appraiser for the property turned over by the new arrivals to the United Order so that he could return to Utah to bring his family down to Arizona. It was a joyful reunion when he arrived in Lehi on 4 May 1878. His aged mother, Elizabeth Degen Bushman, had been very ill and it was fortunate that John had returned to be with her for a couple of weeks before she passed away on 21 May. She had lived a most useful life, was beloved by everyone in Lehi, and her great faith had been an inspiration to all who knew her.
In her later life Elizabeth Degen Bushman became the good Samaritan of every village they lived in. She was an exceptionally gifted nurse and was renowned as the loving, successful midwife of the town of Lehi. Because of her reputation and affection, it was said she served as midwife at the birth of almost every baby born in Lehi during her life there. Nearly every family in Lehi had an Elizabeth named in memory of her.
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