Archives West Finding Aid

Samantha Tryphena Brimhall Foley was born in Ogden, Utah, on 22 March 1858. She was a member of the "community of saints" who settled the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado, and spent ten years in the villages of Los Cerritos and Manassa. In the Spring of 1888 or 1889, Samantha and her family left Colorado and, traveling in two horse-drawn wagons, followed the Rio Grande to Albuquerque, New Mexico. They arrived in Albuquerque at the time of a diptheria epidemic, and two of her five children died of the disease within a few days of one another. Griefstricken, Samantha prayed, and heard a "sweet small voice," which directed her to study Spanish. She began her study of Spanish while riding on the wagon seat, as she and her family continued on their journey to Mexico. Her knowledge of the language provided purpose and meaning to her life, the remainder of which was spent working with Mexican converts. She helped found the colony of Dublan in the Mexican province of Chihuahua, where she was widowed within the first year. Samantha lived in the colony of Juarez, in Casa Grandes, and in "the city of Mexico" for the next several years, teaching school and acting as an interpreter. She married Andrew L. Foley on 5 January 1899. Their son, Andrew B. Foley, was born two years later. The Foleys returned to Salt Lake City in 1904, where Samantha studied nursing at LDS University. She was certified by the Utah State Medical Board in 1905. As her health was too poor for the practice of nursing, she taught Spanish and worked as a translator. After the death of Andrew L. Foley, Samantha settled in Southern California with her son. While in Southern California, she served as Director of Theology for the Relief Society, did genealogical work, and was active in the movement to include Spanish-taught classes in the local Sunday schools. She died on 5 November 1948, in Rosemead, California.