Come, Come, Ye Saints

Commemorative plaque at Locust Creek, in Wayne County, Iowa, where William Clayton composed the hymn

"Come, Come, Ye Saints" (originally "All is Well") is one of the best-known Latter-day Saint hymns. The lyrics were written in 1846 by Mormon poet William Clayton. The hymn has been called the anthem of the nineteenth-century Mormon pioneers[1] and "the landmark Mormon anthem."[2]

Clayton wrote the hymn "All is Well" on April 15, 1846, as his Mormon pioneer caravan rested at Locust Creek, Iowa, over 100 miles west of its origin city of Nauvoo, Illinois. Just prior to writing the lyrics, Clayton had received word that one of his wives, Diantha, had given birth to a healthy boy in Nauvoo. It was set to the music of a popular English folk tune, "All is Well."[2]

The lyrics of the hymn were originally published in 1848 in a small collection known as Songs from the Mountains and were added to an official LDS hymnbook in the 1851 edition of the Manchester Hymnal. The hymn was published with the current music (the "Winter Quarters" tune) for the first time in the 1889 edition of the Latter-day Saints' Psalmody. The hymn was renamed "Come, Come, Ye Saints" and is hymn number 30 in the current LDS Church hymnal. A men's arrangement of the hymn is number 326 of the same hymnal. [3]

"All Is Well" published in the Latter-day Saints' Psalmody


"Come, Come, Ye Saints" features prominently in celebrations of Pioneer Day in Utah and in performances of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.[4] Arrangements of the song have also consistently been used in the daily organ recitals at Temple Square.[5] A musical motif referencing the first line of "Come, Come Ye Saints" is used at the end of official broadcasts and videos released by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The hymn also appears in a Protestant hymnal, the United Church of Christ's New Century Hymnal, with alternate lyrics for the LDS-oriented third verse written by lyricist Avis B. Christianson.[6] Another version by Joseph F. Green is contained in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal.[7]

  1. ^ Reeve, W. Paul; Parshall, Ardis E., eds. (2010). Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 103. ISBN 9781598841077. Succeeding generations have treasured this link to pioneer heritage, making this perhaps the best-known and most beloved of Mormon hymns.
  2. ^ a b Thatcher Ulrich, Laurel (2017). A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 141–143. ISBN 9780307594907.
  3. ^ Bradshaw, Samuel (2023-07-02). "All Is Well (English)". SingPraises.net. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  4. ^ Swinton, Heidi S. (2004). America's Choir: A Commemorative Portrait of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain and Mormon Tabernacle Choir. pp. 13–16. ISBN 1-59038-282-X.
  5. ^ Organ Recitals on Temple Square (June 12, 2023 - June 18, 2023 ed.). Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2023.
  6. ^ Cracroft, in Walker and Dant, pp. 143–45.
  7. ^ 1985, Song #622.