William Clayson (1840–1887) was a Latter-day Saint hymnwriter who wrote the music of "The Day Dawn is Breaking"; "Nearer, Dear Savior, to Thee"; "Hope of Israel"; "O Thou Rock of Our Salvation"; "The Iron Rod" and " Oh, What Songs of the Heart". Clayson was born in England. He joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) in 1855. In 1859 he served as

branch president A branch president is a leader of a "branch" congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The calling of branch president is very similar to the calling of bishop, except that instead of presiding over a ward, th ...

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. In 1861 he emigrated to

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

, settling in

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. He married Susan Moulton in Utah who he had become engaged to before leaving England. He was associated with the LDS Sunday School in Payson, and all his hymn tunes were written as accompaniments to words by Joseph L. Townsend, who was also associated with the Sunday School in Payson.

Sources

* J. Spencer Cornwall. ''Stories of Our Mormon Hymns''. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1975. p. 73. *

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

. ''Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985. p. 388. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clayson, William 1840 births Converts to Mormonism English leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints English emigrants to the United States People from Payson, Utah 1887 deaths English Latter Day Saint hymnwriters 19th-century English musicians