Resilal li Iglees
Li xJane Elizabeth Manning James

“Li xJane Elizabeth Manning James,” Eb’ li na’leb’ sa’ resilal li Iglees

“Li xJane Elizabeth Manning James”

Li xJane Elizabeth Manning James

Li xJane Elizabeth Manning (maare 1822–1908), a’an jun reheb’ oob’ lix kok’aleb’ wiib’ laj Afroamericano sa’ li estado Connecticut li moko preexeb’ ta sa’ xkutankil naq preexeb’ lix k’ihaleb’ laj Afroamericano sa’ Estados Unidos.1 Naq toj saaj sa’ 1841, ki’ok sa’ jun li iglees, li New Canaan Congregational Church xk’ab’a’, a’b’an chirix 18 po, sa’ li hab’alq’e re 1842–1843, kikub’e xha’ rochb’een xjunkab’al sa’ Lix Iglees li Jesukristo reheb’ laj Santil Paab’anel sa’ Roso’jikeb’ li Kutan. Li xJane ut eb’ lix komon ke’raj xjunajinkil rib’ rik’ineb’ laj santil paab’anel sa’ Nauvoo, jo’kan naq ke’el chaq Connecticut ut xkoheb’ sa’ Nueva York, re naq te’xik sa’ jun li jukub’. A’b’an, kirame’ li rokikeb’ sa’ li jukub’ xb’aan xb’onol lix tib’eleb’, jo’kan naq ke’teneb’aak chi b’eek 1287 kiloom toj sa’ Nauvoo. Sa’ Peoria, Illinois, kipatz’man reheb’ ma preexeb’ ut ma naru te’xk’ut xhuheb’ li naxye naq ach’ab’anb’ileb’. Chiru chixjunil lix yu’am, li xJane kirahob’tesiik xmaak xb’onol xtib’el.

xjalam-uuch li xJane Manning James

Xjalam-uuch li xJane Manning James.

B’antiox re li Biblioteca y los Archivos de Historia de la Iglesia

Naq kiwulak aran Nauvoo, li xJane kixnaw ru laj Jose ut li xEmma Smith. Kikana sa’ rochocheb’ ut kixtenq’aheb’. Sa’ jun li kutan, li xEmma kixpatz’ re li xJane ma taaraj taatz’ape’q sa’ junajil jo’ rab’inb’ej sa’ xjunkab’aleb’ laj Smith xb’aan li tijonelil.2 Li xJane ink’a’ kiraj; maji’ naxtaw ru li na’leb’ a’an, a’b’an kixpaab’ naq laj Jose Smith, a’an jun li profeet. “Kinnaw ru li profeet aj Jose,” chan. “A’an jun winq q’axal chaab’il. … Relik chi yaal, kinnaw naq a’an jun li profeet.”3

Sa’ aatinak rik’in laj Jose ut lix na’, li xLucy Mack Smith, li xJane kixtaw xna’leb’ chirix lix Hu laj Mormon ut lix jaltesinkil ru, jo’ ajwi’ chirix li k’ojob’anb’il k’anjel re li santil ochoch.

Li xJane kisumla rik’in laj Isaac James, jun li ach’ab’anb’il winq aj New Jersey. Rochb’een lix yum li xJane, laj Sylvester, ke’el chaq Nauvoo sa’ 1846 ut xkoheb’ sa’ rokeb’aal li saq’e rik’ineb’ laj santil paab’anel. Sa’ li po junio, kiyo’la li ralal li xJane ut laj Isaac, a’an laj Silas xk’ab’a’. Sa’ li chihab’ jun chik ke’xq’ax ru li helhookil ch’och’ ut ke’wulak sa’ Lago Salado sa’ xraqik li chihab’ 1847. Ke’yo’la waqib’ chik lix kok’al laj Isaac ut li xJane, a’b’an kaahib’ reheb’ ke’kam naq maji’ nakam li xJane. Jo’ chixjunileb’ li ke’wulak sa’ li ru taq’a Lago Salado, li xJane ut laj Isaac ke’k’anjelak re xch’olaninkil xjunkab’al. Laj Isaac, a’an aj k’anjel ut wan naq kixb’eresi lix b’eleb’aal laj Brigham Young. Li xJane kikemok, ut kixyiib’ ut kixpuch’ li t’ikr, jo’ kixb’aanu chaq aran Nauvoo.

Ke’ch’a’ajko’ laj Isaac ut li xJane sa’ xsumaleb’, jo’kan naq ke’xjach’ rib’ sa’ 1870. Moqon li xJane kisumla rik’in laj Frank Perkins chiru wiib’ chihab’, a’b’an chirix a’an xjunes kikana rik’ineb’ lix kok’al ut li ri. Xb’aan xmaak’a’il li tumin ut xkamikeb’ oxib’ reheb’ lix kok’al, li xJane ki’ok wi’chik chi trab’ajik. Kixyiib’ ut kixk’ayi li xab’on, ut wiib’eb’ li ralal ke’k’anjelak re xk’ulb’al xtojb’al. Sa’ 1890, 20 chihab’ chirix li relik, laj Isaac kisutq’i sa’ Lago Salado, ki’ok wi’chik sa’ li Iglees, ut ki’ok jo’ ramiiw li xJane. Naq kikam sa’ li chihab’ jun chik, kib’aanuman li k’anjel re xmuqlajik sa’ rochoch li xJane.

Us ta chixjunil li ch’a’ajkilal kixk’ul, li xJane kixpaab’ li evangelio ut kixb’antioxi naq komon sa’ li Iglees. Kixk’e tumin choq’ re xkab’lankil li santil ochoch ut ki’oken sa’ li Komonil re Tenq’ank ut li Ch’uut re Moderacion reheb’ li Saaj Ixq.4 Li xJane kixk’ul k’iila musiq’ejil maatan, jo’ li k’utb’esinb’il matk’, li k’irtesiik xb’aan li paab’aal, ut li aatinak sa’ jalanil aatinob’aal. “Lin paab’aal chirix lix evangelio li Jesukristo,” chan sa’ xraqik lix yu’am, “toj jwal kaw anajwan wi’chik chiru inpaab’aal sa’ li kutan naq kikub’e inha’.”5

Chalen 1884 toj 1904, li xJane kiraatinaheb’ laj jolominel re li Iglees—laj John Taylor, laj Wilford Woodruff, laj Zina D. H. Young, ut laj Joseph F. Smith—ut kixpatz’ reheb’ ma naru taatiqib’aaq ut taatz’ape’q sa’ junajil sa’ li santil ochoch.6 Sa’ li kutankil a’an, eb’ li komon q’eqeb’ xtib’el maji’ neke’ru chi tz’aqonk sa’ lix k’ihaleb’ li k’ojob’anb’il k’anjel re li santil ochoch. Sa’ 1888, jun awa’b’ej re oqech, laj Angus M. Cannon xk’ab’a’, kixk’e xliceens li xJane chixb’aanunkil li k’ub’iha’ choq’ reheb’ lix komon li ak kamenaqeb’.7 Moqon sa’ 1894, eb’ laj jolominel ke’xk’e xliceens re naq chi uuchilej taatz’ape’q sa’ junajil rik’in lix junkab’al laj Jose Smith jo’ jun li moos. Us ta ink’a’ kitiqib’aak chi moko kitz’ape’k sa’ junajil rik’in xjunkab’al sa’ li santil ochoch chiru lix yu’am, ke’b’aanuman li k’anjel a’in choq’ re li xJane sa’ 1979.8

Kikam sa’ li 16 abril, 1908, naq 95 chihab’ wan re, jun laj santil paab’anel tiik chi paab’ank. Kitz’iib’aman sa’ li periodico Deseret News, “Moko k’iheb’ ta li neke’xq’ax ru xpaab’aal ut xtiikilal li xJane Manning James, ut us ta neb’a’, kiwan k’iila cient li ramiiw.”9

Eb’ li raqalil

  1. Lix na’ li xJane kiwan jo’ preex, a’b’an ki’ach’ab’aak xb’aan jun li chaq’rab’ sa’ li estado Connecticut. Li xJane kiyo’la chi ach’ab’anb’il, a’b’an toj kiwan li preexil sa’ li estado chirix naq ak xikenaq li xJane. Re xtawb’al xkomon chik li esil chirix lix yu’am li xJane, chi’ilmanq Henry J. Wolfinger, “A Test of Faith: Jane Elizabeth Manning James and the Origins of the Utah Black Community,” in Clark Knowlton, ed., Social Accommodation in Utah (Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 1975), 126–75 and Quincy D. Newell, “The Autobiography and Interview of Jane Elizabeth Manning James,” Journal of Africana Religions, vol. 1, no. 2 (2013), 251–91.

  2. Zina D. H. Young letter to Joseph F. Smith, Jan. 15, 1894, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

  3. “‘Aunt’ Jane James,” in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, vol. 16, no. 12 (Dec. 1905), 551, 553.

  4. Eighth Ward Relief Society Minutes and Records, 1867–1969, Eighth Ward, Liberty Stake, Aug. 20, 1874; Oct. 20, 1874; Dec. 21, 1874; Jan. 20, 1875; Mar. 22, 1875; May 20, 1875; Nov. 20, 1875, vol. 1, Church History Library, Salt Lake City [Jane went by the last name Perkins for a short time]; “Ladies Semi-monthly Meeting,” Woman’s Exponent, vol. 22, no. 9 (Dec. 1, 1893), 66. Li xJane kixk’e tumin choq’ re xkab’lankileb’ li santil ochoch re St. George, Logan, ut Manti, jo’ ajwi’ choq’ re li mision sa’ xyanqeb’ laj Lamanita (laj ral ch’och’). Chi’ilmanq Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, “Jane Manning James,” Ensign, Aug. 1979, 29.

  5. Jane Elizabeth Manning James autobiography, circa 1902, dictated to Elizabeth J. D. Roundy, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, 22.

  6. Jane E. James letter to John Taylor, Dec. 27, 1884; Jane E. James letter to Joseph F. Smith, Feb. 7, 1890; Jane E. James letter to Joseph F. Smith, Aug. 31, 1903.

  7. Angus M. Cannon letter to Jane E. James, June 16, 1888; see also Tonya Reiter, “Black Saviors on Mount Zion: Proxy Baptisms and Latter-day Saints of African Descent,” Journal of Mormon History, vol. 43, no. 4 (Oct. 2017), 100–123.

  8. Resil lix yu’am li xJane Elizabeth Manning James, maare 1902. Li xJane kixye resil lix yu’am sa’ Lago Salado, sa’ xyanq li chihab’ 1902 ut 1908; Ronald G. Coleman and Darius A. Gray, “Two Perspectives: The Religious Hopes of ‘Worthy’ African American Latter-day Saints before the 1978 Revelation,” in Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith, eds., Black and Mormon (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004), 54. Chi’ilmanq ajwi’ Quincy D. Newell, “The Autobiography and Interview of Jane Manning James,” Journal of Africana Religions, vol. 1, no. 2 (2013), 256, 275 (note 34).

  9. “Death of Jane Manning James,” Deseret News, Apr. 16, 1908.