1834–1903

Introduction

Born: June 19, 1834, God­man­ches­ter, Cam­bridge­shire, Eng­land.

Died: Oc­to­ber 18, 1903, Ne­bras­ka.

Buried: Wy­uka Ce­me­te­ry, Ne­bras­ka Ci­ty, Ne­bras­ka.

Biography

Forscutt joined the Mor­mon (LDS) Church as a 19-year­old in 1853, caus­ing his fa­ther to dis­own him and make him move out of his child­hood home. From 1855–60, Fors­cutt was an LDS mis­sion­ary in Eng­land.

In March 1860, he mar­ried Eli­za­beth Uns­worth. On their wed­ding day, he and his wife be­gan their move to Ut­ah, in­tend­ing to join the LDS ga­ther­ing in Salt Lake City.

Upon ar­riv­ing, he be­came a sec­re­ta­ry to LDS pre­si­dent Brig­ham Young. Short­ly af­ter his ar­riv­al, For­scutt be­gan to learn about the LDS prac­tice of plur­al mar­riage, which he had not been aware of pre­vi­ous­ly.

This dis­co­ve­ry, com­bined with oth­er dis­agree­ments with Brig­ham Young, led For­scutt to leave the LDS Church.

He be­came af­fi­li­at­ed with a group led by Jo­seph Mor­ris. He was an apos­tle in the Mor­ris­ite or­ga­ni­za­tion and was in­volved in the 1861 Mor­ris­ite War.

After these in­ci­dents, Fors­cutt joined the Unit­ed States Ar­my unit at Fort Doug­las in Salt Lake Ci­ty, and was sta­tioned in Ru­by Val­ley (now Ne­va­da) be­fore re­turn­ing to Salt Lake Ci­ty.

In 1865, Fors­cutt joined the Re­formed LDS (RLDS) Church in Salt Lake Ci­ty. He soon left the ter­ri­to­ry, fear­ing for his life as an apos­tate from the LDS Church.

Forscutt became a close per­son­al friend of Jo­seph Smith III, and lat­er served as a full-time RLDS mis­sio­nary in Eng­land and the So­ci­ety Is­lands.

Works

He was a co­py­ist in the pro­cess that led to the 1866 pub­li­ca­tion of the Jo­seph Smith Trans­la­tion of the Bi­ble in 1866.

Forscutt also com­posed a num­ber of hymns and ed­it­ed Saints’ Har­mo­ny, an RLDS hym­nal pub­lished in 1889.

Sources

Lyrics

  1. Almighty God, These Can­di­dates
  2. Angel Voic­es Sing, Hal­le­lu­jah
  3. Answer My Soul, Wilt Thou Con­fess?
  4. Art Thou Worn with Care and Trou­ble?
  5. As Death Its Vic­tims Shall Re­sign
  6. Assembled Here, O Gra­cious Lord
  7. Baptized in­to Thy Death, O Lord
  8. Behind the West­ern Hills
  9. Blest Pri­vi­lege to Mor­tals Giv­en
  10. Boast On, Proud Lu­ci­fer
  11. Bow, Ye Mor­tals, Bow Be­fore Him
  12. Break Now the Seal
  13. Bring Forth the Pri­son­ers to the Bar
  14. By Thy Spir­it’s Pre­sence Stirred
  15. Cheerful the Sum­mer Hours
  16. Christ Hath Drank Deep of the Cup
  17. Confirmation, Lord, We Thank Thee
  18. Creator of the Hea­vens and Earth
  19. Doubt Like Tem­pest Clouds May Low­er
  20. Every Cloud That Car­ries Wa­ter
  21. Faithful and Just Is He
  22. From the Courts of Hea­ven­ly Glo­ry
  23. God, in His Abun­dant Mer­cy
  24. Grant This Can­di­date Thy Bless­ing
  25. Hark, ’Tis the Voice of Je­sus
  26. Heavenly Fa­ther, We Adore Thee
  27. Heralds, Cry Aloud, and Suf­fer
  28. Home, Sweet Home, My Heart Still Loves Thee
  29. Hosanna, Ho­san­na, Ho­san­na
  30. How Plea­sant o’er the Earth’s Fair Form
  31. Humble Though Our Beth­el Be
  32. Icebound Earth Is Break­ing, The
  33. In Ed­en’s Bow­ers, with Good Sur­round­ed
  34. In Peace Shall Ju­dah Dwell
  35. In the Midst of Tri­bu­la­tion
  36. Jesus Our Sor­rows Bore
  37. Judah Shall Ga­ther Home
  38. Justice De­mands That My Life Shall Be
  39. Justice Must Come Though It Lin­ger
  40. Kindred Once Part­ed Meet Again
  41. Labor Were Fu­tile Here
  42. Law of the Gos­pel Is Per­fect, The
  43. Let Zi­on Arise
  44. Light of Day Breaks Mild­ly Forth, The
  45. Lord Hath Fa­vored Is­ra­el, The
  46. Lord Will Re­mem­ber His Peo­ple, The
  47. Man May Be­lieve on Evi­dence
  48. Met in Thy Sac­red Name
  49. Met, Lord, to De­di­cate
  50. O Lord, How Migh­ty Are Our Foes
  51. Only Faith That I De­sire, The
  52. Our Of­fer­ing, Lord, Ac­cept
  53. Peace, My Soul, an An­gel Guide
  54. Praise the Lord with Songs of Glad­ness
  55. Quench No Flame of Pure Af­fect­ion
  56. Quickly Mar­shal All Thy Sons
  57. Redeemed by the Blood of the Sav­ior
  58. Repentance Brings Grief for Sins We Have Done
  59. Secure From Harm and Dan­ger
  60. Sere and Yel­low Leaves Ap­pear, The
  61. Shadows of Night De­part­ed, The
  62. Shall Vain Man Se­cure God’s Fa­vor
  63. Signs in the Pes­ti­lence
  64. Sorrows of Child­hood, the Fol­lies of Youth, The
  65. Sovereign Grace, Ere Man Had Fall­en
  66. Speed on Your Jour­ney
  67. These Signs Shall Fol­low Who Be­lieve
  68. They Come From Be­yond the North­ern Seas
  69. Though Clouds of Sick­ness Dim Thy Sky
  70. Though Griev­ous and Dark Is the Night
  71. Though Sa­tan Will Be Bound
  72. Truth Is Migh­ty, Who Can Stay It
  73. Under the Ca­no­py of Hea­ven
  74. Under the Sav­ior’s Reign
  75. Upon the Throne in Ma­jes­ty
  76. Upon This Theme My Mind Would Dwell
  77. We De­di­cate to Thee This House We Have
  78. When Bride­groom and Bride at This Al­tar
  79. When Griefs the Saints Op­press
  80. When the Bright Sun of Pros­pe­ri­ty Shin­eth
  81. When the Great Teach­er of Man­kind
  82. When the Heart Is Sad and Wea­ry
  83. While Af­flict­ed, Tossed, and Driv­en
  84. With Face in Pray­er, Bow Down
  85. Winter Winds Have Cir­cled Round, The
  86. Zion’s Light Again Is Dawn­ing

Help Needed

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Fors­cutt (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),