George Manwaring
by John H. Manwaring, brother
George Manwaring, son of Henry and Sarah Barber Manwaring, was born in Cheshire, England, March 19, 1854. Died July 7, 1889 at the age of thirty-five.
He joined the Church when nine years of age and emigrated to Utah with his father's family in 1871, at the age of seventeen.
Before coming to Utah he was employed as an errand boy in a country store near Cheshire, England. He did not have the privileges of attending school more than a few weeks, but when he died at the age of thirty-five he was a well educated man. While working in this store he took advantage of every opportunity to read good books, borrowing from his employer and others books of every kind. He became very much interested in the study of stenography, mathematics and literature, and when he came to Utah at the age of seventeen, was able to report sermons delivered in the tabernacle. He became very proficient in mathematics and was a splendid penman. He started a magazine known as The Home Circle, of which he was the editor and manager, but this venture failed for lack of financial support. He was a music teacher of rare ability. Never having had a music lesson in his life, he was able to play piano or organ and to teach, all of which he did by ear. He traveled extensively over the state and in practically every ward in the state taught the children music in Sunday School where he visited. He was a gifted poet, and many of his poems were published in the newspapers and the magazines in the early eighties. He wrote some of the most beautiful and inspiring songs, many of which are printed in the Sunday School Union Song Book, and some are sung Sabbath after Sabbath in practically every ward in the Church. Some of the best known are, "Closing Hymn", "Parting Hymn," "Beautiful Day of Rest," "Gladly Meeting," "We Shall Meet Again," "Beautiful Mountain Home," "Welcome to our Union Meeting," "Sacrament Hymn," "'Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love," and "Joseph Smith's First Prayer."
The name of George Manwaring will never die as long as the last named song is in print. The inspiration for this song came while gazing upon a painting entitled The Vision by C. C. A. Christiansen of Ephraim, Utah. This painting showed the Father and the Son appearing to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
It would be interesting to know what inspired each of the songs mentioned above but this brief history will not permit going into detail. He was naturally gifted as a poet and wrote hundreds of poems and songs which have never been in print. One in particular was a poem written at the end of a letter to his mother:
'Tis Good to Pray
'Tis good to approach the Lord by prayer,
And humbly kneel before his throne,
To call on him who loves to hear,
And makes our heartfelt wishes known.
'Tis good to lay our burdens down,
Relieve our hearts of every care;
And seek for strength from him above,
Who hath the power to answer prayer.
'Tis good to ask forgiveness
Too, for every evil thought and deed;
To Him for mercy humbly sue,
Who doth the contrite sinner heed.
'Tis good to know that one will hear,
And not in vain our prayers ascend,
When to the Father we draw near
Through Jesus Christ, our truest Friend.
This poem, like so many others of a similar nature, seemed to come through inspiration from the Father and one cannot help but be impressed with the thought that he was a very devout Christian and possessed of a very religious nature.
George Manwaring was employed for a number of years as Manager of the Retail Grocery Department of the Z.C.M.I. and while so employed decorated the first Christmas window of this department of the Z.C.M.I. Later he entered the retail grocery business in Salt Lake City for himself but disposed of his business to enter the employ the D. O. Calder Music Palace as traveling salesman. It was while so employed that his opportunity came to teach the children in the Sunday Schools of the various wards in the Church where he visited each Sabbath Day. He was a great lover of nature and this love found expression in painting, in poetry and in song.
[George Manwaring is my great-great-great grandpa]
Source: Rootsweb.com ; Picture
An Excerpt from the Autobiography of Herbert Manwaring
Herbert Manwaring – Oldest son of Henry and Sarah (Barber) Manwaring, brother of George Manwaring
“I joined the church when I was twelve years old, and was baptized by Elder Robert Bate about June 5, 1862. During the time I worked on the farm, I attended meetings at father's house, which was about four miles from where I worked. During this time, the Elders of the church had counseled my parents to send me to Zion. It took my parents and me four years to earn enough to pay my fare to Wyoming. About April 26, 1866, we decided to ask for my release from my employer. We applied for the release but the farmer would not let me go. I stated the facts in a meeting of the Saints, and had practically decided that I would not go that year. I bore my testimony and expressed my desire to go to Zion, but the way seemed closed to me. After I sat down a Sister Nancy Bate got up and began to speak in tongues. She trembled under the power of the Spirit of God. After she had finished and sat down, Father, who was presiding at the meeting, asked if there was anyone who had the interpretation of this tongue. The Sister then got up and interpreted what she had said under the Spirit of God. These are practically the words she said; "Brother Herbert, thus sayeth the Lord, if you will be faithful, you shall go to the Land of Zion. You shall have many trials and difficulties to meet, but if you remain faithful you shall be the means of helping your fathers, mother, brothers and sisters to that land." We had faith in this manifestation of the spirit of prophecy, and began to prepare for its fulfillment.
Herbert’s travels:
April 26, 1866 - The sailboat "John Bright" set sail for New York
Took steamboat up the Mississippi River
Train to Florence Wyoming where he awaited the ox, horse and mule trains for Utah.
Started journey across the plains about the middle of June, 1866
Arrived in Salt Lake City
[Five years later the prophecy was fulfilled and Herbert’s family arrived in Salt Lake safely in September of 1871. George Manwaring (my great-great-great-grandpa) was 17.
Source: Autobiography of Herbert Manwaring (copy); Picture
Carl Ludvig or Charles Lewis Ericson
Born: July 28, 1826 in Yxe, Lindesberg, Orebo, Sweden
Married: January 20, 1858 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England to Emma Amelia Marshall
Died: July 9, 1881 in Provo, Utah, Utah
Carl Ludvig Ericson (Charles Lewis Ericson) was born July 28, 1826 in Yxe, Lindesberg, Orebo, Sweden to Eric Johnson and Sarah Bretta Rap. He was their only child. Charles was a smart man and his mother was “very proud of her son’s scholastic achievements.” Elta Ericson Juliessen said that “He was somewhat of a child prodigy in mathematics” and he could also speak seven languages! Later in his life, Charles obtained a degree in engineering and through his many business trips to England he met Emma Amelia Marshall, who he would later marry in 1856. She moved back with him to Sweden where she had to learn a whole new language.
Charles was well known and good at his work. In 1885, “he was made engineer” to the King of Sweden and had up to 200 men working for him. He was known throughout the land and respected. It is said that people would step out of his way when he was walking and some would even bow. He was criticized and persecuted when he and his wife joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the spring of 1863 and actually lost his position. Throughout all of this, he remained a faithful and devoted member.
In July 1868, he said goodbye to his family in Sweden and came to the United States. He settled in Utah. The following spring, his wife and six children joined him. Charles made many surveys and maps of different areas in Utah - the Cache Valley, Corrine, Ogden, and many of the boundary lines of the state. He also made one of the first maps of the state. In addition, he helped finish the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads at Promontory Point where the two railroads met.
Charles died on July 9, 1881 of apoplexy, or a stroke.
Source: Information compiled from histories in possession of the Ericson family.
Emma Amelia Marshall
Born: January 20, 1838 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England
Died: November 7, 1920 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
John Nightingale Davis
Born: October 19, 1864 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married: February 1, 1893 in Manti, Sanpete, Utah to Wilhemine Caroline Marie Jasperson
Died: October 26, 1931 in Vernal, Uintah, Utah
