Jane Elizabeth Manning was born in Wilton, Connecticut, around 1821. Jane and her siblings were unusual in never knowing the bonds of slavery. After embracing the gospel, her family joined a caravan of Saints traveling to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1843, but were forced off a boat in Buffalo, New York, because of their race.
Determined to gather with others of their faith, Jane said: “We started on foot to travel a distance of over 800 miles. We walked until our shoes were worn out, and our feet became sore and cracked open and bled until you could see the whole print of our feet with blood on the ground. We asked God the Eternal Father to heal our feet, and our prayers were answered forthwith.”
After Jane’s arrival in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith’s immediate response was, “Sister Emma, here is a girl that says she has no home. Haven’t you a home for her?” Jane lived with the Smiths and became close, like family.
After Joseph Smith was martyred, Jane and her husband, Isaac James, with their sons Sylvester and Silas, joined others and would soon embark on yet another treacherous journey to escape religious persecution. Jane was expecting her third child, Mary Ann, when she and her family entered the Salt Lake Valley in September 1847. Jane remained a faithful and respected Latter-day Saint until her death in 1908.