DESERET

Composer: Ebenezer Beesley

Ebenezer Beesley was born December 14, 1840, in Oxfordshire, England. He had two wives. He married his first wife in March of 1859. They left England in April of 1859 to move to Salt Lake City. They travelled by foot and handcart from Omaha with a company of 250-300 people. He married his second wife in 1869. Beesley was a musician and music teacher who directed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Utah from 1880-1889 and other choirs in Utah. He wrote several hymns and edited Latter-day Saints Psalmody, the first LDS hymn book with both music and words. Dianne Shapiro from Find a Grave website, "Ebenezer Beesley Composed Nearly a Dozen Hymns in the Current Hymnbook and Conducted the Choir for Almost a Decade," from The Tabernacle Choir Blog,… Go to person page >