Brigham felt it was important to educate women as well as men. He wanted women to learn about whatever they were interested in. “We think the sisters ought to have the privilege to study various branches of knowledge . . . they may . . . study law and physic [medicine], or become good bookkeepers . . . In following these things they but answer the design of their creation.”8
Ellis Reynolds lived in Pleasant Grove, Utah with her family. Her mother died when she was fourteen; and after her father remarried, she stayed with her grandparents. On a visit to Salt Lake City, she met one of Brigham’s step sons and was introduced to the Young family. Brigham saw Ellis again when he visited Pleasant Grove. He was impressed with her intelligence and zest for life, and invited her to come live at the Beehive house and go to school with his children.
Two years later Ellis married Milford Shipp and began her family. Her thirst for knowledge was so strong that she arose every morning at four a.m. to study before her husband and children awoke. At the age of twenty-eight, she left for medical school in Philadelphia with the blessing of her husband and Brigham. She completed her education and returned to Utah to practice medicine.
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