Frank B. Woodbury

I pulled a book off my shelf containing a large volume of information about Frank B. Woodbury. Some of the stories are wonderful but to put them in context I thought I would summarize his life and some details of church service first.

Frank B Woodbury was born in Saint George, Utah on December 27th, 1867 to a polygamous family. His father, Orin N Woodbury, was frequently away. As a result he was raised primarily by his mother Ann Cannon. Ann’s siblings included Lenora Cannon who was John Taylor’s wife, and George Q Cannon, who was an Apostle. Ann used her influence to get Frank an apprenticeship at Deseret News in Salt Lake City. Frank would work in the typesetting office at Deseret News for 50 years.

Frank married Lilly Lambert May 27 1891 in the St. George Temple. Shortly thereafter, he was called to serve in the “Indian Territory Mission.” Lilly gave birth to their first child while he was gone. After his return, he served in several calling including Ward Clerk and in the presidency of the seventies quorum. When the Salt Lake stake was split (in 1904) into four stakes, Frank was called to serve on the high council of the new Pioneer Stake.

He was ordained a Patriarch of the Pioneer Stake in 1924 and after he moved to the Salt Lake Stake was sustained again in 1945. In the spring of 1935, he was asked by Heber J Grant to give patriarchal blessings to members visiting Salt Lake from areas without a Patriarch. After two years he was released from this call. During that time he gave 823 blessings. As a patriarch he recorded giving 5,613 blessings, though the church history office told me the number was 5,008. He also served as a sealer in the Salt Lake Temple for many years.

Late in life he shared his testimony in an interview with his Bishop, Thomas S. Monson. In it he said the following.

I have had many testimonies concerning the truthfulness of the Gospel… I have known all of the presidents of the Church except Joseph Smith, and I can bear testimony that they were all men of God.

At the time David O. McKay was the prophet. He knew Harold B. Lee, Gordon B. Hinkley, and Thomas S. Monson as well, and probably all the other presidents of the church. On December, 21st, 1962, Frank B Woodbury passed away.

Love letters

In 1921 Allen Crow met his future wife, Alpha Coolbear, at a Farmer's Ward dance. Alpha was visiting with a friend. Since they didn't live near each other, they wrote letters. I don't have many letters that Allen wrote, but Alpha's have survived. Below is an undated letter written by Alpha between 1921 and 1924.

     Dearest Allen:
     Anyway your are the dearest Allen I know.

     We have been invited to another Halloween party. Edna Sims, one of my friends is giving it. It is next Monday so will you please write across that date reserved. We are to come in costume. Don't groan. It is hanging out on the line to dry the witches. I have no time to consult your taste but dont you dare say you wont wear it. I'll tell something that will sure bring you --- now don't get shocked --- I'm going to wear my ears fully exposed to view!!! Will you rub them if they get cold? Adaline says you wont be seen with me but I know you wouldn't miss it. Be carefull the goblins don't get you on the way home tonight because I want a peice of you to kiss Sunday.
                                                                   Alpha

P.S. My wouldn't it be awful if someone should get hold of this letter? They would wonder what in the world ails me.

                                                                   XXX

I kissed the last one so hard it blurred.

The Scattering (Diaspora?) of Mormonism.

Maybe Diaspora is too strong of a word. But most wards of which I have been a member are made up of a mix of people who have moved from the west (Utah, Idaho, Arizona) and a few who were baptised locally. My current ward (outside Nashville) has only 1 in 10 who joined the Church locally.

My parents were born and grew up in Salt Lake City. My father did his best to remedy that fact, taking a job, and my mother, away from Utah. He seldom visits, and when he does, it is for two days at the most. They raised five children away from Deseret. But in the end all five of us attended a university in Utah. None of us live there, but we feel the pull. Is it pride in our heritage? Is it the longing for extended family?

A religion professor of mine, Joseph Fielding McKonkie, described it as another scattering of Israel. "Get out of Utah" he would say leaving no doubt of his feelings on the matter.

It reminds me of a phenomenon with architects in New England. Joel Garreau described it in his book Nine Nations of North America. Architecture students would get admitted to prestigious New England schools. But when it came time to enter their careers, they found they loved living in New England so much they could not leave. The result was an economy with an abundance of architects. This of course made it easy to find architects willing to work on a teachers’ salary, so the cycle perpetuates itself.

I didn't choose the military like my father did, but I didn't stay in California where my parents ended up either. I lived in DC and Baltimore for 14 years after I met my wife. But I still consider myself a part of the scattered.

The Chinese expression for it is 原籍 yuán jí, ancestral home. You don't have to have lived there, but you are from there nontheless. Taiwanese passports until the 1990s would list your ancestral home even if you were not born there and could never visit. It defines who you are.

I recently moved to Tennessee. When I meet someone new, the question is always the same. Where are you from? What they really want to know is who I am. Sometimes I say Maryland. Other times California. Sometimes I even admit to being born in Wisconsin, with the caveat that I have never been back. The most curious, or perhaps just those who really need me to fit into their preconceived notion of the world, aren't satisfied until I explain that my parents were born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. And with a silent nod, they change the subject.

Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP)

In my search for more history on Mary Curtis, I found that the DUP held "something" about her in their archives. The DUP collects histories written about people who came to Utah, or were born in Utah, prior to the advent of the railroad. And Mary Curtis was no exception. So I sent off for what ever they had. Of course I had no way of knowing what it was. So I told them to limit the expense to $25 (at 25 cents a page).
It arrived on earlier this week. I was to some degree pleased but I was also disappointed. There were about half a dozen "histories", each about 2-3 pages long, claiming to be written by different people. After reading all of them I found a few tidbits I didn't know before, but by and large, they repeated most of the same stories word for word. So I have put together a list of requests for people who submit histories to organizations like the DUP.

1)Please fill out the form they give you to fill out and send it with your history. That form was included some of the histories, but not all of them. It tells the future reader things they should know when judging the validity of your history.
2)Please indicate your source. It doesn't have to match the official citation styles, but I can't tell who the original source was of the six versions of the story.
3)If you add something not in your source, note why you added it or where you got the idea. Poetic imaginations are nice to read, (never let the truth get in the way of a good story) but I want to know that that is what I am reading before I waste time trying to find proof that something really happened.
4)If you are not going to add something, why bother. The original author probably knew your subject better. So unless you have something new to add, or at least collect into one spot, why muddy the waters with another history?

I am grateful for the availability of the histories and to the DUP for collecting them and making them available to others, even if the do add some restrictions of who they will let see them. They make it possible for people like me with little or no real history credentials to get started.

Heber J Grant

I was noticing how many aspects of Mormonism today were defined during the 26 year presidency of Heber J Grant.
Food storage. It was under Heber J Grant that we were first asked to store a one year supply of food and fuel. We don't get asked about the fuel much anymore. And the time is down to 3 months. But water and funds have been added.
Genealogy. As Ardis pointed out this was when we were asked to put together our four generation pedigree charts. The name has changed to Family History and technology has changed to but "Four generations" is still the mantra.
Word of Wisdom. I read somewhere that it was Heber J Grant that started pressing the issue of the Word of Wisdom, particularly coffee. Any one have something to support this?
Church Welfare. Which started out being called the Church Security Program.
Home teaching. Became a program of Monthly visits in the members' homes.
Seminary and Institute program was finally set up in a way that we would recognise today.
Regular attendence of Sacrament meeting and the Temple.
Others. Are there other aspects I am missing?

Elders Gibbs & Berry Together?

In a missionary diary of Elder Davis H Elton, I found some entries that intrigued me. Dated Thursday Nov 23, 1899

"Expect to accomplish our trip tomorrow. Going to Retro, Hamilton Co. Tenn. first where we expect to meet Elders Gibbs and Berry."

On this trip, Elder Elton, accompanied by his mission president Christo Hyldahl, meet them and then split up, President Hyldahl going with Elder Gibbs and Elder Elton going with Elder Berry. He later refers to them by their initials W. H. Gibbs and J. W. Berry. Both Elders Gibbs and Berry appear several more time in Elder Elton's diary include notes indicating they exchanged letters.
The Elder John H. Gibbs who was killed in Lewis county Tennessee had only one son. He was named John Henry Gibbs after his father. Furthermore, Elder Elton knew both Elder Berry and Elder Gibbs and yet only mentioned Elder Berry being related to the events of Lewis county. Had Elder Gibbs also been connected, other than having a chance same last name, Elder Elton would have noted it in the interview. I also entertained the idea that perhaps Elder W. H. Gibbs was a nephew of J. H. Gibbs, but I was unable to locate any of the J. H. Gibbs relatives with the initials W. H.
I can only conclude that the legend the local missionary told me was based on the companionship of this Elders Gibbs and Berry. And while Elder Berry was the son of W. S. Berry, Elder Gibbs was not related to Elder J.H. Gibbs. So while it is a good story, it isn't true.

Elder Berry Returns

Upon relating the account of Cane Creek to a local missionary, I was told that he had already heard it and that there was a mission legend that the Lewis county area was closed by the church [true] and that the ordinance of "dusting of the feet" was performed [I haven't found any evidence of that yet] and that the area was later reopened by the descendants of Elder Berry and Elder Gibbs who were later called to serve in the same mission and served as companions. I found the story compelling, but had a hard time accepting it as anything more than folklore.
But yesterday I found this story in the Latter-day Saint Southern Star. Dated June 7, 1900, I found and interview with Elder David H. Elton who wanted to cite one of his

"...Elders here in the Chattanooga conference. His name is J. W. Berry, and at present he is laboring in Bledsoe county, Tennessee."

The reporter, recognizing the name asked if he was related to the Elder Berry killed in Lewis county. Answered Elder Elton "Yes! the young man now laboring in Bledsoe county is the son of Elder W. S. Berry, who was brutally martyred by a savage, cruel mob several years ago." The article goes on to explain that his brother was also serving in the southern states, specifically in the North Alabama Conference. And that he two of them have been serving since January 21, 1899.
This was obviously John William Berry who would have been 23 when this article was written. I can't say which of Elder W. S. Berry's other sons was also serving with him. But is was probably James S.(25) or Jesse A.(23). William was too young (16).
I have not been able to track down who his companions were or a list of the areas in which he served.

Cane Creek Follow up

Hyrum Belnap wrote in his autobiography the following notes with no explanation or date. The dates on the preceding entry was October 26, 1913. Two entries later we find the date February 22, 1914. I assume he obtained this information from John Garrett between these two dates.

John Garrett, Mount Pleasant, Tennessee
The men who killed Gibbs and Berry were: {in Southern Mission}
George Sharop
Arch Brown, dead
William Grimes, dead
David Hinson, dead
Dr. Hugh Plumber, dead
Bob Goodman, dead
Babe Hinson
Thomas Edwards, dead
George Hison
Charles Paxton
Joseph Bates
R. Toomey, dead

Hyrum served in the Southern States Mission from June 1879 until October 1881. He served in an area that included Cane Creek. Many of his entries include places and names familiar to those who have studied the Cane Creek Massacre. In his autobiography he mentions staying at the house of Thomas Hinson on several occasions. This is interesting because Governor Bate of Tennessee indicated that David Hinson was angry with the Elders because of some incident with his family.

Cane Creek Massacre

One of the biggest events in LDS History in Tennesse was the Cane Creek Massacre, also known as Tennessee's Mormon Massacre. Cane Creek is a remote section of Lewis County, Tennessee. Missionaries of the period focused on rural communities because of the opposition they received in the larger cities.

The two missionaries serving in the area which included Cane Creek, were Elder Henry Thompson and Elder William S. Berry. A meeting was planned for Sunday morning at the home of "Jim" Conder. They were joined earlier in the week by two other Elders; John H. Gibbs and William H. Jones. Elder Gibbs had previously served at Cane Creek and was very well known. He had recently been given a supervisory role for LDS missionary activities in western Tennessee and as part of his duties had completed a tour of western Tennessee and parts of Mississippi.

Sunday morning while three of the Elders met at the Conder home, Elder Jones was at the home of Tom Garrett where he, Elder Gibbs and Elder Thompson had spent the night. He was reading a discourse by a “prominent elder of the church” to a small group meeting there. When he was finished, he started to make his way to the main Sunday meeting when he was surrounded by a mob of armed men in masks and "outlandish colorful" disguises. After questioning him, they left him under the guard of one of their number. The mob seemed mostly interested in the whereabouts of Elder Gibbs. "Time is flying. Let us get Gibbs" one of the vigilantes said.

The mob proceeded to the Conder home. They seized "Jim" Conder at the gate, who called to his two sons for help. One of the sons, J. Riley Hutson (his stepson) ran up to the loft to get his gun. The other, W. Martin Conder, ran to the back door to get his. The apparent mob leader, David Hinson, and few others entered the house where and Hinson and Martin struggled over the gun. At some point Hinson pulled a pistol to shoot Martin. The gun misfired but it allowed Hinson to gain the upper hand and he knocked Martin to the ground. He then turned and shot Elder Gibbs. Another member of the mob, then attempted to shoot Elder Thompson. Elder Berry grabbed the gun barrel with both hands and pushed it out of the way while Elder Thompson escaped out the back door. Elder Berry was then shot and died instantly. Martin regaining his composure went after the gun again. But he was shot by a different assailant and died instantly. Martin’s half brother, Riley, came down from the loft and shot and killed David Hinson but was in turn shot himself. Another shot fired from outside the Conder house hit Mrs. Conder in the hip. Her story is continued by Ardis Parshall here. The mob then left taking the body of David Hinson with them.

During the gunfight Elder Jones, left under guard less than a mile away, heard the shots and was allowed to escape by his guard. He immediately headed for Shady Grove in the next county.

Elder Willis E Robison and his companion in McEwen, Tennessee heard rumors of a shooting, but they varied from a single Elder being wounded and left to die in the woods to everyone at the meeting being killed. Not being able to determine the truth from the rumors, Elder Robison disguised himself as an itinerant cotton picker, he made his way to the Conder home. After learning from the Conder's what had happened he left in time to receive instructions to rendezvous with B. H. Roberts in Nashville.

Elder J. Golden Kimball, who was the Mission Secretary, by chance met one of the escaping missionaries (Elder Jones) in Shady Grove, Tennessee, the nearest community to Cane Creek with a Mormon congregation. The next day Thompson makes it to Shady Grove. With details from both Elders, Kimball sent news to Elder B. H. Roberts, who was an acting Mission President under John Morgan. Roberts sent instructions for all the missionaries to gather in Nashville.

Roberts, after meeting with Jones and Thompson, disguised himself, and went to Lewis county to secure the remains of the two Elders. He then had them sent to Utah in the care of Elder Robison.

For most of this my source has been Tennessee’s Mormon Massacre by Marshall Wingfield. And the two surviving missionaries published their accounts in the Deseret News. B. H. Roberts published an account based on interviews with unnamed witnesses. But there are other accounts which disagree on the specifics. One is published on the Lewis county website (the domain registration has expired for this link. I'm hoping the admin will fix that soon. Try this site instead). It is un-cited but quotes the work of W. L. Pinkerton. Pinkerton was a lawyer from Centerville, TN, and a local amateur historian. He would have had (in 1907) access to oral testimonies of several eyewitnesses from both sides. But unfortunately he did not document any of his research. It differs on many details, but not significantly.

[Addendum: updated October 1, 2013. This is only a brief summary of the events. Far more is known about what happened that day and I have published a book on it called A Land of Strangers. But in order to make the blog short enough to be readable, I've had to exclude much of the detail. If you want to read more of what I have written, click on the Cane Creek label to the left or if you want a more detailed summary of Aug 10, 1884 click here. For the hardcore historian take a look at my book for almost 300 pages of detail about the massacre and the lives of the Tennesseans involved. I am always finding more details so if you want even more, you can also email me at bruce.allen.cr at gmail.com with specific questions]

Ola Larson: Persecution & Emigration (Part 2)

Shortly thereafter, Ola Larson's employment was terminated. He was told he was a top notch gardener but that he was let go because they found out he was Mormon. Unemployment led to poverty. Soon Bailiffs confiscated his furniture and other possessions to settle outstanding debts. His family was left with just their "bedclothes."

During the same time I had great religious trials also. Two Utah brethren had for most of the time been living in my house for over one year. One of these brethren was president of the New Zealand mission. His name was Elijah. F. Pearce, and the other brother's name was George Batt. Both of these brethren did a great deal which was not proper for missionaries to do, and when they came home to Utah they were both cut off from the church for adultery. Pearce after a long time was re-baptized into the church again, but Batt stole a team and wagon and took one of his wives with him and has never been heard from since up to this time [1896]. Wm. M. Brombey from Springville, Utah arrived to preside over the mission, and he stopped in my house for quite a while together with N. H. Groesbeck.

Ola eventually learned a new trade of weaving baskets. He made everything from Baby Carriages to Chairs, and became quite prosperous doing so.

Still had meetings in my house every Sunday, and a few came and visited our meetings. Brother Nordstrand then went away to North Island and I was set apart as President of Christchurch Branch which position I held until I left New Zealand.

Ola described his business ventures and his missionary efforts during his last years of his stay in New Zealand.

During my stay in New Zealand I baptized 19 people. Two or three of them were my own children. The last man I baptized in New Zealand was John Phillips, just about one month before we left the country. The last missionary there who stopped with us was Charles Hayborn. He came from Australia and gave us a call on the road from there to North Island. Most of all the missionaries labored amongst Maoris on the North Island.

Finally, a friend he had baptized inherited some money from his father in England and offered to help pay part of the Larson Family's cost to emigrate to Utah.

I sold out my business to my brother-in-law James Nelson who had been working with me for several years, but he paid a very small amount for my stock and materials. Part of my tools I brought with me so after eleven years' experience on the island I said goodbye to all my friends after which the Christchurch branch of the church broke up, there being no one to preside and then most of the saints removed to North Island and a few apostatized. There were only left a few scattered saints. The four sisters Roundtree who had received the Gospel through my wife's labor shortly after left and went to Auckland, and John Phillips emigrated to Utah about two years later. Three of the Roundtree girls went to Utah but one, the youngest, went back to Christchurch again to her parents, their parents not being in the church. We had our last meeting in my house on the 15th of July 1885, and on the 16th we left Christchurch and went on board the steamship Manaponi in Lyttelton.

They arrived in Auckland and boarded a large steamer, the Zealandia, on the 21st of July 1885 bound for San Francisco, California. From there they went on to Utha and settled in Logan.