Who is this man who contributed so much to our visual knowledge of church historical figures and places?
This amazing man is my Great, Great, Great, Great Uncle, or perhaps it is easier to say that he is my Grandmother Speas' Great Uncle.
Frederick was born in 1830, the year the Church was restored to the earth. He was the eighth of nine children born to George and Deborah Adams Piercy of Portsea, Hampshire, England.
His baptism was on March 23, 1848, when he was 18 years old. No doubt he impressed the leaders of the English mission. In 1849 he was ordained a priest, and he served as secretary of the LDS London conference that and the following year.
He joined his life with my family tree on September 15, 1849, when he married Angelina Hawkins. He had been a member for 18 months at this time and his bride was a convert of 10 months. The following June he was set apart as a missionary and departed for Paris along with five others ordained to proselyte. His wife, Angelina, expecting their first child, stayed in England.
Frederick's artistic talents were immediately put to missionary use, preparing drawings of Apostle Taylor, the family of Orson Pratt, as well as a composite engraving of the General Authorities of the Church, based on daguerreotypes sent from Salt Lake City.
In early 1853, the idea was presented of creating a series of engravings of the "most notable places" on the emigration route from Liverpool to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
As he embarked on this assignment, his narrative journal was as delightful as his engravings and wood carvings. The completed illustrated volume, "Route from Liverpool to the Great Salt Lake Valley" is a treasure.
Stay tuned for more posts about his work and writings.
