Emily Hill Woodmansee (March 24, 1836 – October 18, 1906)[1] was a nineteenth century 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.
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Emily Hill was born at Warminster, Wiltshire, England[2] and was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) when she was twelve. Among those who she would walk to church with at this point was Edward Tullidge.[3] 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 Hill and her sister Julia sailed for the USA.[4] They sailed on the "Thornton" in the Latter-day Saint company under James G. Willie.[5] The Hill girls crossed the plains in the Willie Handcart Company.[6]
In 1857 Emily married Dr. William G. Mills. He latter left on a mission to England. After returning to the United States with money he had raised from church members in England he denounced the church, abandoned his families and Emily never saw him again.[7]
In 1864 she married Joseph Woodmansee.[8] They had eight children together.[7]
Woodmansee wrote a "Hand-cart Song" that captured the cheerful mood of the Saints as they started westward.[9] Woodmansee wrote a poem about the sufferings in the handcart experience, drawing from her firsthand knowledge, in 1881.[10] She saw her works published in the Improvement Era, the Young Women's Journal and the Women's Exponent.[3] She also wrote a poem for the "Mormon" Women's Protest of March 6, 1886 against the Edmunds-Tucker Act.[11]
Woodmansee was involved in the real estate business in Salt Lake City. She also served as the treasurer for the Women's Cooperative Store.[7] Woodmansee wrote the Jubilee hymn for the Sunday School.[7] Woodmansee was also involved in the Women's Suffrage Movement.[7] Woodmansee was an acquaintance of President Heber J. Grant.[12]
In the 1927 LDS Church hymnbook there were eight hymns by Woodmansee. On of these was "O the Daughters of Zion, The Friends of the Poor".[13] One of her poems was featured in the 1941 Relief Society Centennial Anthology of Verse by Latter-day Saint women.[3] In the 1948 hymnal there were two hymns by Woodmansee. These were "Up! Arouse Thee, O Beautiful Zion" (with music by Leroy J. Robertson) and "When Dark and Drear the Skies Appear".[14] In the 1985 hymnal "As Sisters in Zion" was for the first time published as a hymn. It was recast as part of a very popular medley in 1999.
A compilation of Woodmansee's poetry was published in 1986.[15]
In 2004 some of her poems were again published in Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women published by the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University.[16]