John J. Lyon (4 March 1803, Glasgow – 28 November 1889) was a Scottish Latter Day Saint poet and hymn writer.

[1] Thomas' sister Margaret, who had lost all of her children, adopted five-year-old John in order to alleviate some of her brother's monetary expenses.

Lyon then began pursuing a career in spinning, but after three years in his new apprenticeship, his new shop master released all of his apprentices as had occurred previously.

[2]: 44 Lyon continued to pursue a career in weaving and set-out (at age seventeen) to live on his own because his mother was remarried and he did not want to be a part of their new life.

After taking-on such a great responsibility, Lyon stopped working for his religious newspapers and travelled and preached using what little money his family made from weaving.

[2]: 123 After years of waiting and preaching about the gathering, on 27 November 1852 Lyon and his family heard the news that they could begin their journey to Zion.

[4] Each night Lyon and other church leaders lead the saints (and anyone else who wanted to participate) in prayer and gospel sermons.

[2]: 182  The morning after arriving in St. Louis, the saints boarded the Jenny Dean, a small paddle-wheeler, heading to Keokuk, Iowa.

Because of insufficient funds, the saints stayed in Iowa for one month as some of the men got jobs in order to subsidize money for the necessary travel provisions.

[2]: 185  On 2 June 1853 Lyon's group of fifty saints and eighteen wagons left Iowa to begin their journey across the plains as part of the Gates Company.

[2]: 193–194  After a month, the saints stopped in Council Bluffs for a couple weeks, then crossed the Missouri River and began the last 1,031 miles to arrive in the Great Salt Lake Valley.

[2]: 226  In March 1855, after the Endowment House was completed and dedicated, Lyon was asked to be its superintendent and worked in that capacity for thirty years.

This caused 30,000 saints, including Lyon's family, to move south along with important church documents and other valuables.

[2]: 251  When famous visitors such as Mark Twain and Horace Greeley came to the region, Lyon was able to meet these men and show them his impressive book collection and other gems unique to the Salt Lake area.

[2]: 254  At the end of 1859 the last of Janet and John's children made it to the Salt Lake Valley after years of postponed travel west.

[2]: 256  Even with all of his responsibilities in the church, Lyon found time to teach aspiring young actors important elements for acting and was the critic at the Salt Lake Theatre.

[2]: 278 When he reached the age of seventy, many saints gave him the title of "Father Lyon" as a sign of respect and friendly intimacy.

As was customary during this time period, many of Lyon's first works were written and published anonymously in order to protect the author from any form of harassment or blame.

All of the proceeds were donated to the church's Perpetual Emigration Fund, allowing European saints to make the journey to Zion.

[2]: 150, 159  More light-hearted works were often written in Lowland Scots such as "Elegy on Wee Hughie", which was about an expired canary: "But he'll ne'er wake us mair,

An example of his stronger and more vitriolic work is The Apostate: "I knew him, ere the roots of bitterness "Had grown to putrid cancer in his soul.

"Then Revelation's light gleamed o'er his mind "In strange fantastic dreams of future bliss, "He saw the dawn, and this was quite enough

"Reflections", Lyon's first published work after arriving in Salt Lake, recounted some of the hardships faced on the journey across the plains.

His first publication that spoke specifically about life in Utah tells a story of a polygamist husband in Arabia as not to offend the LDS community while being humorous regarding a topic which members considered to be a sacred practice.