- John Jaques (Mormon)
John Jaques (
January 7 ,1827 –June 1 ,1900 ) was aLatter Day Saint hymnwriter and missionary and anAssistant Church Historian forThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .Jaques was born to Thomas Jaques and Mary Ann Heighington at
Market Bosworth ,Leicestershire ,England . He was baptized a member of theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the fall of 1845. A short time later, he served as a missionary for the church inStratford-on-Avon .Jaques crossed the Atlantic with his wife in 1856 on the "Horizon". They landed at
Boston and proceeded by train toIowa City . There they joined theMartin Handcart Company . Jaques' oldest daughter was among the many in that company who died when they were caught in snowstorms inWyoming .Jaques wrote many poems and other works, including "Oh Say What is Truth", which he wrote during a mission he served in England from 1869 to 1871. While in Stratford-on-Avon he contemplated
Pilate 's question toJesus Christ "What is truth?". Ellen Knowles Melling, who Jaques baptized while preaching inScotland , set the poem to music. The hymn is included in the hymnal of the LDS Church.From 1868 to 1871 Jaques co-edited the "
Millennial Star " withGeorge Teasdale and then from 1870 to 1871 he served as the sole editor of that publication. [Jenson, Andrew. "Encyclopedic History of the Church". (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 507]After returning to
Utah Territory , Jaques began working for the "Deseret News ". In 1874 he became the principal editorial writer for this newspaper. [Jenson, Andrew. "Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". (Salt Lake City: Deseret news Press, 1941) p. 187] He then served as anAssistant Church Historian starting in 1873. While in this position he was on a committee with A. Milton Musser andFranklin D. Richards that presented plans for a Genealogical Association of the church. This association was the forerunner of theFamily History Library inSalt Lake City . After theGenealogical Society of Utah was organized, Jaques served as its first librarian.References
*Allen, James B., Jessie L. Embry, Kahlile B. Mehr. "Hearts Turned to the Fathers: A History of the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1894-1994" Provo: BYU Studies, 1995.
*Cornwall, J. Spencer. "Stories of our Mormon Hymns". Deseret Book Company: Salt Lake City, 1975.
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