#29 "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief"

I've always loved this hymn ever since I heard the story of John Taylor singing it just before the martyrdom of Joseph Smith at Carthage Jail. Brother Taylor sang all seven verses and then the Prophet asked him to sing it again, which he did. Shortly after, the mob attacked and killed the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith.
I have a couple of memories of this song. Once, when I was the music director of the Baldy Mesa Branch (1986-1989) one of the young Aaronic priesthood boys had forgotten to bring the bread for the sacrament. The branch president turned to me right before sacrament meeting was to begin and said, "We need to change the opening hymn to #29, 'A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief', and I need you to have the congregation sing all seven verses." So, we did--in order that someone could find someone to borrow some bread from in the other ward that met in the Hesperia Building with us. It's not often that all seven verses are sung with the congregation, even though it tells a full story when they are.
A second memory of singing this song is when we sang it with the Hesperia Stake Choir, and the director had us sing the tune of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" with the words to #136 "I Know that My Redeemer Lives". It was very effective because you focus on the message of the hymn more when the tune is different. I really enjoyed how the text and tune went together that time.