Thomas Durham — Providential Musical Appointment to Lead Parowan Choir (Dec 1856)

After surviving the grueling Martin Handcart trek and the life-threatening snows of 1856, Thomas Durham and his wife arrived in Parowan on Friday, December 12, 1856. According to family and local histories, Brigham Young personally requested Durham to move to Parowan to lead the choir. Despite exhaustion and recent trauma from the trek, Durham was immediately identified for his musical talents and on Sunday, December 14, 1856, only two days after arrival, he was asked to lead the local choir. Family accounts describe this as a prophetic or divine appointment: Durham felt a confirming spiritual impression that his musical ability was a stewardship from God to build up the culture of the Dixie mission. His leadership of the Parowan Choir became well known throughout the territory (including Durham’s later role leading the choir at an 1870 conference) and is recounted as a fulfillment of the promise he felt when his life was spared during the snows of 1856.