In the spirit of Black History Month, I want to give a quick biographical sketch of Jane Manning James, an early black convert to Mormonism. Jane joined the LDS Church in 1843 at the age of 21. That year, she and eight other black Mormons walked 800 miles to Nauvoo, where the bulk of the church was then located.
For their time, early Mormons were actually quite progressive on the matter of race. Joseph Smith, for example, ordained several black males to the priesthood (the black priesthood ban wasn’t fully articulated or enforced until Brigham Young became president). Many early Saints also had abolitionist sympathies, and the fear that Mormons wanted to free slaves is partly why the church was driven out of Missouri. And when Smith ran for president of the United States in 1844, he campaigned on a platform of abolition. Appreciating this context, it’s not hard to see how these black members might have felt welcome among the Saints.
When Jane arrived in Nauvoo, she was directed to Joseph Smith’s Mansion House. There, they were shown extraordinary hospitality, and Jane even lived with Smith for some time. Shortly before Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844, Emma Smith extended an invitation to Jane to be sealed to the Smith family as an adopted daughter. Flattered, but unsure what exactly the offer meant, she declined—a decision that would prove to be a life-long regret. More about that soon.
