Our school was named after Mary Jane Dilworth. Mary Jane Dilworth was born on July 29, 1831 in Pennsylvania. In 1846 Mary's mother, Eliza, and her daughters converted to the Mormon religion. Because of persecution they moved with other church members to Nauvoo, Illinois and then to Winter Quarters. After winter they started west with the John Taylor handcart company. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on October 3, 1847.

When the Dilworths arrived Mary Jane could not find work. Her mother suggested she teach school. On about October 24, 1847, Mary Jane, a girl of sixteen, started her school. She had a one room tent for a school room. On the first day she had nine students. She had no idea that a modern school would carry her name, or that a tree would be planted in her honor. Soon she went from a tent to a dirt floored log cabin. After that she had a platform, desks and benches.

A few years later she married and went with her husband to the Sandwich Islands where she opened another school. She was the mother of twelve children, and died on June 6, 1877, at the age of 46.

by Jessica

Dilworth Student

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