Charles John Thomas

Charles John Thomas (November 20, 1832 – March 31, 1919)^[1] was the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for part of the 1860s, and was involved in several other musical endeavors in early Utah.

Biography

Thomas was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England. His parents were Joseph K. Thomas and Margaret Spotswood. Charles J. Thomas was a member of an orchestra by the age of nine. He had been trained up to this point in music by his father, who made his living in orchestras. In 1851 he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The rest of his family joined the LDS Church shortly afterward, following his being healed after being administered to by elders of the church.

During the 1850s, Thomas traveled with an Italian opera company and some of his compositions were played at London theatres.

In 1861, Thomas emigrated to Utah Territory. Among the first things Thomas did on arriving in Utah was taking over the band of the late Ballo. He not only lead the Tabernacle Choir for a time but was also the first orchestral director at the Salt Lake Theatre. From 1862 until 1865 Thomas was director of the Tabernacle Choir. He was the first director to lead the choir in the current Salt Lake Tabernacle building. From 1865 until 1871, Thomas lived first in the St. George area and then in Beaver, Utah. In both locations he was involved in organizing choirs and teaching music.

Thomas was asked by Brigham Young to return to Salt Lake City in 1871 and again take the lead of the Salt Lake Theatre Orchestra. In the following years in Salt Lake City Thomas formed the first male glee club in Salt Lake City in 1876. He also taught music lessons in Salt Lake City, where he had among other students Heber J. Grant.^[2]

In 1887, Thomas served as a Mormon missionary in Great Britain. After his return to Salt Lake City, he was head of music for the Salt Lake Temple. He also was appointed by Evan Stephens to direct a choir made up of those members of the Tabernacle Choir that did not go to the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and thus provide music at the Tabernacle while most of the Tabernacle Choir was absent.

Thomas married Charlotte Gibbs. Charlotte died in 1875 and in 1878 Thomas married Amy H. Adams. Between his two wives Thomas had a total of 13 children, however only six of his children were alive in 1904, the rest having died primarily at very early ages.

Thomas's sister Margaret married George Romney (1831–1920),^[3] who was a brother of Miles Park Romney, the grandfather of George W. Romney, and the great-grandfather of Mitt Romney.

Among the works written by Thomas was the music to "Sons of Michael, He Approaches", a hymn that was in previous Latter-day Saint hymnals, but is not contained in the latest English-language hymnal of the LDS Church..

Notes

1. ^ "Death Certificate". State of Utah. April 1, 1919. http://archives.state.ut.us/cgi-bin/indexesresults.cgi?RUNWHAT=IDXFILES&KEYPATH=IDX208420069816. Retrieved 2009-12-10. 
2. ^ Heber J. Grant, "Practice Makes Perfect" (reprint), New Era, Feb. 2004, p. 37.
3. ^ Andrew Jenson. Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia. vol. 2, p. 538-539, quoted at mormonhistory.org biography section

References

• J. Spencer Cornwall. Stories of Our Mormon Hymns. p. 179-180
• B. H. Roberts. Comprehensive History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 253
• David Maxwell, “'The Morning Breaks': George Careless, Musical Pioneer”, Ensign, February 1984, p. 47
• Orson F. Whitney. History of Utah. (Salt Lake City: G. Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904) pp. 349–350
• Jenson, Andrew (1914), "THOMAS, Chas. John", Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 2, Salt Lake City, Utah: Andrew Jenson History Company, pp. 488–490, http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/BYUIBooks,3851 .

Persondata
Name	Thomas, Charles John
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 20, 1832
Place of birth
Date of death	March 31, 1919
Place of death