John Menzies Macfarlane

John Menzies Macfarlane (October 11, 1833 – June 4, 1892)[1][2] was a Scottish-born Latter-day Saint hymnwriter, choir director and civic leader who spent most of his life in Utah Territory.

John Menzies Macfarlane
Born(1833-10-11)11 October 1833
Stirling, Scotland
Died4 June 1892(1892-06-04) (aged 58)
Utah Territory, United States
OccupationHymn writer, militia, judge and academic
NationalityScottish
Notable works"Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains", "Dearest Children, God is Near You"

Life

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Macfarlane was born in Stirling, Scotland. He came to Utah Territory in the early 1850s and settled in Cedar City in 1853.[3] In 1852, Macfarlane married Ann Chatterley. Multiple sources identified him as one of the many Iron County Militia men involved in the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre.[4]

Macfarlane served as superintendent of schools from 1866 to 1868 for Iron County, Utah,[3] and the leader of the choir in Cedar City which he took to St. George. Erastus Snow urged Macfarlane to move to St. George and start a choir there, which he did.

Besides leading the choir, Macfarlane served as a district judge and worked as a surveyor and a builder. In St. George, he was involved in founding an academy in 1888 that was the predecessor to Dixie State College of Utah.[5]

Among Macfarlane's hymns are "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains" and the music to "Dearest Children, God is Near You".

Notes

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  1. ^ Pyper, George D. (1939). Stories of Latter Day Saint Hymns Their Authors and Composers. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press. p. 81. ISBN 9781417968565. Retrieved 14 December 2009.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "John Menzies Macfarlane, 1833-1892". Macfarlane-Sinclair Family Website. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  3. ^ a b Seegmiller, Janet Burton (1998). A History of Iron County: Community Above Self (PDF). Utah Centennial County History Series. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Historical Society, Iron County Commission. pp. 191–192. ISBN 0-913738-19-0. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  4. ^ "List of those Accused of Being Present at the Massacre". The 1857 Iron County Militia Project. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  5. ^ Washburn, Lorraine T. (1961). "Culture in Dixie". Utah Historical Quarterly. 29: 257. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2009.

References

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Further reading

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  • Macfarlane, Lloyd Wayland (1980), Yours Sincerely, John M. Macfarlane, Salt Lake City, Utah: L. W. Macfarlane.
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