Mary Jane chronicles her activities as a Relief Society president and wife of a bishop; her responsibilities as the mother of a large, active family; her seemingly never-ending drudgery at domestic chores; her attitude and posture in a polygamous setting; her frustration with her health; her obsession with the dream of writing; and more. She left a fascinating view of society a hundred years ago as seen through the eyes of a devout and involved Mormon polygamous woman.

Margery W. Ward, a graduate of the University of Utah, is a former assistant archivist for the State of Utah, past associate editor of the Utah Historical Quarterly; and former administrator of the Tanner Trust Fund's "Utah, the Mormons, and the West Series," which is published in conjunction with the Marriott Library, University of Utah. She is the editor of A Fragment: The Autobiography of Mary Jane Mount Tanner.

George S. Tanner, now retired, held positions in the education and information services of the LDS church. A student at the University of Chicago and graduate of the University of Utah, his training is evident in his Colonization on the Little Colorado: The Joseph City Region and John Tanner and His Family: A History-Biography. He also assisted Margery W. Ward in compiling A Fragment: The Autobiography of Mary Jane Mount Tanner.