My great, great, grandmother, Jane Johnston Black, was a servant to the Prophets.

Jane was born in Ireland. She married William Black Jr. in 1822 and together they had four children. In 1834, the family moved to Manchester England for work. It was there they heard the Mormon Missionaries. They joined the church in 1839.

William went on a mission to Ireland. In 1840 Jane took her children to Nauvoo, Illinois. Being a nurse and midwife, Joseph Smith called her to give medical aid and comfort to the Saints.

William joined his family in Nauvoo in 1843. On the day of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith John Taylor needed surgery to remove the bullets he sustained in the Carthage Jail. He asked that Jane be there for the surgery. She helped nurse him back to health.

When the Saints left Nauvoo to cross the plains, Brigham Young issued Jane a call to care for the sick and deliver babies on the trek to Utah territory. He promised her she would not lose a mother or child on the way; she didn’t.

After arriving in Utah Jane, her husband and children were called to help settle the Manti area, then Spring City.