Ebenezer Beesley (14 December 1840 – 21 March 1906) was a Latter-day Saint hymn writer and composer. The music for twelve of the hymns in the 1985 English-language hymnal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints written by him.
Beesley was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. His parents joined the LDS Church when he was quite young and he was baptized a member of the church on September 22, 1849.
In 1859, Beesley emigrated to Utah Territory in the George Rowley Handcart Company with his family, including first wife Sarah Hancock Beesley.[3] They first lived in Tooele, Utah, but later they moved to Salt Lake City. In the 19th Ward in Salt Lake City, Beesley served as both choir director and music director for Sunday School. He studied under George Careless. In 1863, Beesley joined the Salt Lake Theatre Orchestra, where he played the violin.
Beesley was a contributor to the Juvenile Instructor magazine. He also was one of the men appointed by John Taylor to oversee the publication of the Latter-day Saints' Psalmody, which was the first LDS Church hymnbook to include music.[1]
In 1880, Beesley became the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. In September of that year, Beesley led the choir's first excursion outside of Salt Lake City on a trip to American Fork, Utah where they performed with the local choir for a large group of citizens. Beesley served as the choir director until 1889.
After serving with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Beesley taught in Tooele and then for a time in Lehi, Utah. He then moved back to Salt Lake City where he died. Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
