Edward Lennox Sloan was a Latter-day Saint editor and publisher. He also was the arranger of the text of the hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

 "For the Strength of the Hills" into the version currently contained in the hymnal

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 book)

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the official hymn book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....

 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Sloan was born in Bangor, Ireland and was trained as a weaver. At some point in his teens, he joined the LDS Church. He was ordained an elder in the church at age 18 and then served as a missionary

Mormon missionary

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. At this time he published a volume of poetry he had written entitled The Bard's Offering.

In 1851, Sloan married Mary Wallace, who was also a native of Ireland.

After having served as editor of the Millennial Star

Millennial Star

The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star was the longest continuously published periodical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, being printed from 1840 until 1970....

, Sloan immigrated to Utah Territory

Utah Territory

The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....

 in 1863. He crossed the ocean on the Amazon on which he served as the first counselor in the presidency over the Latter-day Saints on board.

In Utah, Sloan was the founder of the Salt Lake Daily Herald in 1870, which he ran with W. C. Dunbar. When his efforts to get a column on women's issues included in the Herald were defeated by Dunbar, Sloan went ahead and organized the Women's Exponent with Lula Greene as editor. Sloan also published the first city directory

City directory

A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. Antedating telephone directories, they have been in use for centuries....

 of Salt Lake City.

Sloan also served as secretary of the Deseret Sunday School Union at the time of its organization in 1872.

Prior to the founding of the Herald, Sloan had assisted George Q. Cannon

George Q. Cannon

George Quayle Cannon was an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and served in the First Presidency under four successive presidents of the church: Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow...

 in editing the Deseret News. He was also the recorder of many of the discourses included in the Journal of Discourses

Journal of Discourses

The Journal of Discourses is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young...

.

Sloan practiced plural marriage

Plural marriage

Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...

and had three wives and 15 children.