Emily Hill Woodmansee (March 24, 1836 – October 18, 1906) was an English-born American Mormon poet and hymnwriter. Although only one of her hymns "As Sisters In Zion" is included in the 1985 LDS English language edition of the LDS Church's hymnbook, previous LDS Church hymnbooks have included more of her works.

Early life

Emily Hill was born at

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and was introduced to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) when she was twelve. Among those who she would walk to church with at this point was Edward Tullidge. Her family initially opposed her joining the church but through the efforts of John Halliday they were reconciled with the notion enough for her to be baptized. In 1856 Emily and her sister Julia sailed for the United StatesCornwall. ''Stories of Our Mormon Hymns'' p. 177 aboard the ''Thornton'' in the Latter-day Saint company under James G. Willie. The Hill girls crossed the plains in the

Willie Handcart Company The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart movement b ...

Marriage and children

In 1857, Emily married Dr. William G. Mills. He later left on a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

to England. After returning to the United States with money he had raised from church members in England, he denounced the church and abandoned his families; Emily never saw him again. In 1864, she married Joseph Woodmansee. They had eight children together and one adopted daughter Allie Bray whom they raised to marriage in 1870.

Pursuits

Woodmansee wrote a "Hand-cart Song" that captured the cheerful mood of the Saints as they started westward. Woodmansee wrote a poem about the sufferings in the handcart experience, drawing from her firsthand knowledge, in 1881. Woodmansee wrote a poem for the "Mormon" Women's Protest of March 6, 1886 against the

Edmunds–Tucker Act The Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 was an Act of Congress that focused on restricting some practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). An amendment to the earlier Edmunds Act, it was passed in response to the dispute ...

. Woodmansee wrote the Jubilee hymn for the Sunday School. Her works were published in the ''

Improvement Era The ''Improvement Era'' (often shortened to ''The Era'') was an official magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) between 1897 and 1970. History The ''Improvement Era'' was first published in 1897 as a replacement t ...

'', the ''

Young Woman's Journal ''The Young Woman's Journal'' was an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association (YLMIA), then the LDS Church's organization for adolescent females. Hi ...

'' and the ''

Women's Exponent The ''Woman's Exponent'' was a semi-official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that began in 1872. It published articles advocating for women's suffrage and plural marriage, in addition to poetry and other writings. ...

''. She served as the treasurer for the Women's Cooperative Store and was involved in the Women's Suffrage Movement. Woodmansee was involved in the real estate business in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Legacy

* The 1927 LDS Church hymnbook contained eight of Woodmansee's hymns. One of these was "O the Daughters of Zion, The Friends of the Poor". * One of her poems was featured in the 1941 Relief Society Centennial Anthology of Verse by Latter-day Saint women. * The 1948 hymnal had two hymns by Woodmansee, "Up! Arouse Thee, O Beautiful Zion" (with music by Leroy J. Robertson) and "When Dark and Drear the Skies Appear". "As Sisters in Zion" (with music by

Janice Kapp Perry Janice Kapp Perry (born October 1, 1938) is an American composer, songwriter, and author. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), she has written over 3,000 songs, some of which appeared in the church's offi ...

) was for the first time published as a hymn in 1985. * A compilation of Woodmansee's poetry was published in 1986. * In 2004, some of her poems were republished in ''Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women'' published by the

Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History The Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History (later renamed to Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History) was an academic research organization at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1980 to 2005 that sought to promo ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

.Mormon Literature Database – Let Us Have Peace
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References

External links

*
Emily H. Woodmansee papers, MSS 2003
L. Tom Perry Special Collections,

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...