Jane Elizabeth Manning James
Encyclopedia
Jane Elizabeth Manning James (September 22, 1822 – April 16, 1908) was an early African American
member of the Latter Day Saint movement
who lived with Joseph Smith, Jr. and his family for a time in Nauvoo, Illinois
.
James was the first documented African American woman to come to the Utah Territory
as a Mormon pioneer
. With her husband Isaac James, she had eight children. Their daughter Mary Ann was the first black child born in Utah. After Isaac left the family in 1869, Jane repeatedly petitioned the First Presidency to be endowed and to be sealed, along with her children, to Walker Lewis
, a prominent African American Mormon Elder. Lewis, like Elijah Abel
, had been ordained to the priesthood during Joseph Smith's lifetime, and Jane therefore assumed that he would be eligible for temple ordinances. However, her petitions were consistently ignored or refused.
After Isaac died in 1891, Jane asked that she and her family be given the ordination of adoption so that they could be sealed in that manner. Her justification, according to her correspondence with church leaders, was that Emma Smith had offered to have her sealed to the Smith family as a child. She was now reconsidering her decision, and asked to be sealed to the Smiths.
Her request was refused. Instead, the First Presidency "decided she might be adopted into the family of Joseph Smith as a servant, which was done, a special ceremony having been prepared for the purpose." The ceremony took place on May 18, 1894 with Joseph F. Smith
acting as proxy for Joseph Smith
, and Bathsheba W. Smith
acting as proxy for Jane James (who was not allowed into the temple for the ordinance). In the ceremony, Jane was "attached as a Servitor for eternity to the prophet Joseph Smith and in this capacity be connected with his family and be obedient to him in all things in the Lord as a faithful Servitor". (Salt Lake Temple Adoption Record, May 18, 1894, Book A, p. 26)
Jane was dissatisfied with that unique sealing ordinance, and applied again to obtain the sealing that was offered to her by Emma. According to the diary of Franklin Richards, the LDS First Presidency met on August 22, 1895 to consider Jane's appeal, but again turned her down. (At this same meeting, they also considered the case of Mary Bowdidge Sojé Berry Smith, "a white Sister who m[arried] a negro man [and] entreats for permission to receive her ordinances but is refused.")
A few years before her death, James dictated a brief life story to Utah biographer Elizabeth J. D. Roundy, including information on her childhood, religious conversion, interaction with the Joseph Smith family in Nauvoo and with the Latter-day Saints in Utah. The document is held in the Wilford Woodruff Collection in the LDS Church Archives.
A 20 minute documentary based on James' life, "Jane Manning James: Your Sister in the Gospel," premiered in 2005, and has been shown at This Is The Place Heritage Park
in Salt Lake City, Utah
, the 2005 annual conference of the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
(FAIR), and on public television (PBS
). The film was directed by Margaret Blair Young
, co-author with Darius Gray
of the "Standing on the Promises" trilogy of historical fiction that draws on the facts of James' life. Documentary filmmaker Scott Freebairn produced the film.
In June 1999, a monument to James' life was dedicated near James' grave in the Salt Lake City Cemetery
by the Genesis Group
(an official organization begun under LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith
to support Latter-day Saints of African descent) along with the Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation. The original headstones of Jane and Isaac James were supplemented with a granite monument faced with two bronze plaques. One side of the monument commemorates an incident documented in 1850, by Mormon pioneer Eliza Partridge Lyman, who wrote:
A second bronze plaque, containing quotations from James' and significant dates and events from her life, was placed on the back of the monument. In April 2005, the graves and monument were again cleaned and sealed. The inscription on her grave marker reads:
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
member of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
who lived with Joseph Smith, Jr. and his family for a time in Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
.
James was the first documented African American woman to come to the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
as a Mormon pioneer
Mormon Pioneer
The Mormon pioneers were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated across the United States from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley in what is today the U.S. state of Utah...
. With her husband Isaac James, she had eight children. Their daughter Mary Ann was the first black child born in Utah. After Isaac left the family in 1869, Jane repeatedly petitioned the First Presidency to be endowed and to be sealed, along with her children, to Walker Lewis
Walker Lewis
Walker Lewis was an early African American abolitionist, Freemason, and Mormon elder from Massachusetts.-Family and personal history:Lewis was born Friday, August 3, 1798 in Barre, Massachusetts to Peter P. Lewis and Minor Walker Lewis. His full name was Kwaku Walker Lewis, named after his...
, a prominent African American Mormon Elder. Lewis, like Elijah Abel
Elijah Abel
Elijah Abel was the first black elder and seventy in the Latter Day Saint movement, and one of the few black members in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to receive the priesthood.-Life:...
, had been ordained to the priesthood during Joseph Smith's lifetime, and Jane therefore assumed that he would be eligible for temple ordinances. However, her petitions were consistently ignored or refused.
After Isaac died in 1891, Jane asked that she and her family be given the ordination of adoption so that they could be sealed in that manner. Her justification, according to her correspondence with church leaders, was that Emma Smith had offered to have her sealed to the Smith family as a child. She was now reconsidering her decision, and asked to be sealed to the Smiths.
Her request was refused. Instead, the First Presidency "decided she might be adopted into the family of Joseph Smith as a servant, which was done, a special ceremony having been prepared for the purpose." The ceremony took place on May 18, 1894 with Joseph F. Smith
Joseph F. Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
acting as proxy for Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
, and Bathsheba W. Smith
Bathsheba W. Smith
Bathsheba Wilson Bigler Smith was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement. She was the fourth general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a matron of the Salt Lake Temple, a member of the Board of Directors of Deseret Hospital, Salt Lake...
acting as proxy for Jane James (who was not allowed into the temple for the ordinance). In the ceremony, Jane was "attached as a Servitor for eternity to the prophet Joseph Smith and in this capacity be connected with his family and be obedient to him in all things in the Lord as a faithful Servitor". (Salt Lake Temple Adoption Record, May 18, 1894, Book A, p. 26)
Jane was dissatisfied with that unique sealing ordinance, and applied again to obtain the sealing that was offered to her by Emma. According to the diary of Franklin Richards, the LDS First Presidency met on August 22, 1895 to consider Jane's appeal, but again turned her down. (At this same meeting, they also considered the case of Mary Bowdidge Sojé Berry Smith, "a white Sister who m[arried] a negro man [and] entreats for permission to receive her ordinances but is refused.")
A few years before her death, James dictated a brief life story to Utah biographer Elizabeth J. D. Roundy, including information on her childhood, religious conversion, interaction with the Joseph Smith family in Nauvoo and with the Latter-day Saints in Utah. The document is held in the Wilford Woodruff Collection in the LDS Church Archives.
A 20 minute documentary based on James' life, "Jane Manning James: Your Sister in the Gospel," premiered in 2005, and has been shown at This Is The Place Heritage Park
This Is The Place Heritage Park
The This Is the Place Heritage Park is located on the east side of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA at the foot of the Wasatch Range and near the mouth of Emigration Canyon.-History:...
in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, the 2005 annual conference of the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research is a non-profit organization that specializes in Mormon apologetics and responds to criticism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . FAIR is made up of volunteers who seek to answer questions submitted to its web site...
(FAIR), and on public television (PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
). The film was directed by Margaret Blair Young
Margaret Blair Young
Margaret Blair Young is an American author, filmmaker and writing instructor affiliated with Brigham Young University.- Biography :Young is married to English professor Bruce Young...
, co-author with Darius Gray
Darius Gray
Darius Gray is an African-American Latter-day Saint speaker and writer.Gray was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the mid-1960s and then attended Brigham Young University for a year...
of the "Standing on the Promises" trilogy of historical fiction that draws on the facts of James' life. Documentary filmmaker Scott Freebairn produced the film.
Salt Lake City Cemetery
thumb|The northern section of the cemetery at night, looking towards Salt Lake CityThe Salt Lake City Cemetery is in The Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. Approximately 120,000 persons are buried in the cemetery. Many religious leaders and politicians, particularly many leaders of The...
by the Genesis Group
Genesis Group
The Genesis Group is a social organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for African American members and their families. It was first organized in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1971 to provide members an organization where they could affiliate with fellow African American members. ...
(an official organization begun under LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. was the tenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1970 until his death. He was the son of Joseph F. Smith, who was the sixth president of the LDS Church...
to support Latter-day Saints of African descent) along with the Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation. The original headstones of Jane and Isaac James were supplemented with a granite monument faced with two bronze plaques. One side of the monument commemorates an incident documented in 1850, by Mormon pioneer Eliza Partridge Lyman, who wrote:
- April 13: Brother Lyman [Eliza’s husband] started on a mission to California with O. P Rockwell and others. May the Lord bless and prosper them and return them in safety. He left us . . . without anything to make bread, it not being in his power to get any.
- April 25: Jane James, a colored woman, let me have two pounds of flour, it being about half she had.
A second bronze plaque, containing quotations from James' and significant dates and events from her life, was placed on the back of the monument. In April 2005, the graves and monument were again cleaned and sealed. The inscription on her grave marker reads:
- Jane Elizabeth Manning James
- "I try in my feeble way to set an example for all."
- Born free in 1882 [The marker incorrectly states her birth year. It should say 1822], Fairfield County, ConnecticutFairfield County, ConnecticutFairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
- Baptized LDS in 1841, she led a group of family members to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1843
- "Our feet cracked open and bled until you could see the whole prints of our feet with blood on the ground."
- Jane lived with Joseph, Emma and Mother SmithLucy Mack SmithLucy Mack Smith was the mother of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. She is most noted for writing an award-winning memoir: Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations. She was an important leader of the movement during...
- "Brother Joseph sat down by me and said, 'God bless you. You are among friends."
- Married Isaac James around 1845
- Arrived in Salt Lake September 22, 1847
- "Oh how I suffered of cold and hunger, but the Lord gave us faith and grace to stand it all."
- Shared half her flour with Eliza Partridge Lyman, who was near starving.
- Died April 16, 1908, outliving all but two of her eight children.
- "But we went on our way rejoicing, singing hymns, and thanking God for his infinite goodness and mercy to us."