Joel Hills Johnson (1802-1882)

Born in 1802 in Grafton, Massachusetts, Joel Hills Johnson joined the Church in 1831 in Amherst, Ohio. He served LDS missions to New York and to Ohio and Kentucky and participated in Zion’s Camp, although he stopped in Springfield, Illinois and never reached Missouri. He served as the President of the Ramus, Illinois stake starting in 1840. Johnson reached Utah in 1848, settling in the Mill Creek, Utah area for a few years. He then helped found Enoch, Utah in 1851 and helped settle southern Utah.

He was among the most prolific of early Mormon poets, recording more than 700 poems in his journal. In addition to those found in various LDS periodicals, his poetry is found in two published collections, Voice from the Mountains (1881) and Hymns of praise for the young (1882). He died in 1883 in Kane County, Utah.