Journals of Early Mormons

Another great source for journals, letters and other writings of early Mormons is at BOAP's web site. BOAP stands for the Book of Abraham Project. But there is so much more there. I'll let you explore to find the details on your own. I found...

Some members with a connection to Tennessee;

Henry G Boyle: an early Southern States Mission President.

David W. Patten: an early missionary in Tennessee (he was also in the Quorum of the Twelve, and one of the first martyrs)

Wilford Woodruff: a companion of Patten and was in charge of the mission for a while, so was the equivalent of a mission president in Tennessee before there were mission presidents (he also held some other positions in Church leadership).

In addition to Mormons with connections to Tennessee, there were a few relatives of mine;

Vinson Knight: One of the first four Bishops in Nauvoo. He wrote a letter describing events in Far West, Missouri.

Gilbert Belnap: Joined he church as a young man. He once spied on an anti Mormon mob assembling at Carthage.

Charles Lambert: He worked on the Nauvoo temple, even staying long after the rest of the saints left so it could be finished.

Arrest brings conversion

I stumbled across this letter from a man who was once in a mob. The mob was led by an officer of the law in Carter County, Tennessee who arrested Elder W. F. Garner and Elder C. F. Christensen for teaching polygamy. The year was 1884.

The letter is addressed to Elder Garner in Clifton Idaho and is dated 11 January 1898.

MR WM F GARNER

Dear Sir and Brother --For the first time in this life I seat myself to drop you a few lines to tell you something perhaps that will do you some good. I am one of the men that were with the officer in Carter County Tenn when Elders Christensen and Garner were arrested and if you remember one of you said to the other “We might preach to these men as they did to the jailor of old.”

Little did I think that I would find your words of any benefit to me but God for my sake put me in that wicked officer's hands to help do that work that my prejudiced heart might be softened and I can bear my testimony that from that very day I commenced to search for the truth.

But I never saw another pair of Elders until 1893 at which time I was ready for the water. Elder Thomas W Sloan baptized me and Elder John R Terry baptized my wife last spring. I had been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in belief for four years before I or my family had heard a Mormon Elder preach. The little book known as the Voice of Warning did all the preaching to me except what you and Brother Christensen did that lonesome night going from the head of Shell Creek to Roan Mountain

I am the oldest man that was in that gang and the one that did the most of the talking and asked so many questions. But it was God's will for me to be there one reason was that I should protect you from harm and the other was to show me the way of the truth for without that I would perhaps be today where I was before that notable night.

Now brother as you know God always sends His judgments on those who will not heed His teachings but seek to do evil. That wicked constable who had the papers for you Elders came to his death on the railroad at the station. He was standing on the road and did not seem to try to get away. His body was torn to pieces and he filled a drunkard's grave. We can only pray that our Heavenly Father will hasten the time when His Spirit will cover the land as the waters do the sea and when there will be no drunkards. We send love to you all.

Your brother in the Gospel

WM C SUTPHIN

Exiled from Zion

Not too long ago, on a discussion at another blog about the way other historians gloss over our history, I made a comment like “the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years until they were led to Zion. The Mormons wandered Zion (Missouri and surrounding areas) for 15 years until they were led to the desert.” I thought it was a great original thought. Turns out I was wrong. Richard Jackson beat me to it by 15 years.

The citation and abstract are below. But you can purchase a .pdf copy of this article for an insane $31.50! I don’t think so! I’m still looking around for the complete text to his paper (for a more reasonable price) I don’t have access to JSTOR at my public library (Cursed rural Tennessee library system!). And I don’t want to pay $31.50 for a 17 page electronic document.

But what kind of insight does looking at our history this way bring? Do we still look at Jackson County as Zion from which we are in exile? Is our definition of Zion broad enough to allow us to be content with the land of Deseret? Do we still believe we will be called to return to Missouri in a mass migration in the manner described in the alleged Horseshoe Prophesy attributed to John Taylor? And how does it change considering the Diaspora of Mormons living outside the Great Basin (like I do in Tennessee)?

Jackson, Richard H. "The Mormon Experience: the Plains as Sinai, the Great Salt Lake as the Dead Sea, and the Great Basin as Desert-cum-promised Land." Journal of Historical Geography 18 (1992): 41-58.

Abstract
The experiences of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in migrating across the Great Plains to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, in colonizing the Wasatch oasis, and in occupying major portions of the Great Basin gave rise to a collective and official landscape tradition within a few years of the migration and settlement process of the mid-nineteenth century. In this official tradition, the Mormon experience is viewed as analogous to the wanderings of the Children of Israel in the Exodus. The Plains, the Wasatch oasis, and the Great Basin are all viewed in this collective tradition as harsh, uninviting, desert landscapes. The traditional Mormon view of the Plains and Wasatch oasis as desert, derived from examination of Church records, speeches of elders, correspondence and newspaper articles, contrasts in almost all aspects with the actual accounts of the participants in Mormon migration and settlement. The records of migrants on the Mormon Trail present a pastoral view of the Plains and the earliest recorded impression of the Great Salt Lake Valley were of an abundant and bucolic region. The contrary official invented desert tradition persisted well into the mid-twentieth century, largely as a result of the belief that group identity can be reinforced by a tradition of shared hardship and by a glorification of the past.

Margaret Tittle

In Wilford Woodruff's journal, we learn of a Tennessee convert named Margaret Tittle. The year was 1836, and Wilford Woodruff was joined just a month earlier by David W. Patten. Elder Patten had recently returned from Kirtland Ohio where he received his endowments, in the Kirtland, Ohio Temple.

May 17th, Brother Patten and myself laid hands on Margaret Tittle, who lay at the point of death, and she was instantly healed through the power of God. Brother Patten had preached faith, repentance and baptism to her, and she covenanted to be baptized; but after she was healed refused to attend to that ordinance. Brother Patten told her she was acting a dangerous part, and the Lord would again afflict her if she did not repent.

We pursued our journey, and on our return found her very low with the same fever; she begged us to lay hands upon her and heal her, and she would obey the Gospel. We again laid hands upon her, and she was healed, and went down to the water and I baptized her.

I have looked far and wide for other references to Margaret Tittle; Newspapers, Census records, LDS Church histories, journals of other misionaries in Tennessee, etc. So far no luck. I'm not ready to give up yet. But given her earlier reluctance to even get baptized after having received a miracle, I wonder if shortly after these famous missionaries left, she fell away from the church. Perhaps she contracted her fever a third time and died before the next U. S. Census. Perhaps her husband died and she remarried. We may never know. Some people have simply slipped through the cracks.

If you know of something that might help me find her, I'm all ears.

When is a Massacre not a massacre

That is a very good question. I started out using the conventional name to which we have become accustomed. In Tennessee it is most commonly called Tennessee’s Mormon Massacre. In Utah, I have heard it called the Cane Creek Massacre. Either one will work, but a poster who for some reason has decided to remain anonymous asked the question; is this really a massacre?

Massacre is a word used to evoke an emotional response. Many times that response is justified. I won’t list the Massacres known through history, but seldom have as few as five people been killed. One exception is the Boston Massacre; which helped ignite the American Revolution. Only five were killed in the riots that day. But to equate the events of August 10, 1884 to the Boston Massacre would be misleading. The events at Cane Creek did not precipitate a comparable response.

My anonymous poster described it as more like the shootout at the O.K. corral. But that is misleading too. With a few notable exceptions, Mountain Meadows, Crooked River, and at Gallatin, Missouri, Mormons have not resorted to violence. Some missionaries bluffed about carrying guns, but I have seen no records of their having to use them.

One comparison I’ve heard that seems to fit best is the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Some of the prisoners were armed, including Joseph, but ultimately there was no contest. The mob was too big and well armed. They killed who they wanted to kill and left when they were done.

Another comparison in Wounded Knee. Yes, I know far more people were killed at Wounded Knee, but the battle was equally one sided. And the threat posed by the Native Americans was arguably just as false.

The LDS Branch at Cane Creek was also heavily outgunned that day. Only two of the Mormons were armed that day and only one returned fire. By all accounts the Mormons only fired one shot. Compared to a mob of twelve or more vigilantes, there was little doubt this was a predominantly one sided fight. Maybe massacre isn't the best word, but I can't think of a better one.

Cane Creek Killings? Tennessee Mormon Martyrdom? Lewis LDS Lynching? I don't think so.

The earliest use of the word massacre I have found comes from a Deseret News article published in Salt Lake City on August 19th, 1884. Thereafter, it is picked up by newspapers across the U. S. and even in Europe. Before this date most newspapers used the word “Murders”, “Martyrdom” or “Tragedy”. For the sake of clarity, however, I will continue to use Massacre.

Are we still a millennial church?

A few days ago I read a blog post that discussed this very issue.

Ever since the disappointment of 1890 (when Joseph would have been 85), we have been moving further and further away from the belief that the second coming is imminent. How far have we come? I know there are some people out there trying to make a buck off the fear that the coming very soon (2012?). Some of them are Mormons. While they quote scriptures and conference talks, they too are in it just for the money. I have heard them being compared to priestcrafts. It may not be fair, but I think the comparison is not far off.

I think we have come further than many of us will admit. Here is an example. In 2001, the name of the LDS church was changed in Chinese. There was a phrase in the Church name that were intended to be a translation of “Latter-day” which in Chinese means “the end of the world.” This phrase was changed to a phrase meaning “later time period.” (1)

To the missionaries serving in Tennessee in 1884, the "end was near". But we are not the millennial church we once were. Instead we now focus on spiritually preparing to meet the savior, which will happen for each of when we died regardless of when it will happen for the whole world. But we still believe we are living in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. What does that mean to you? Will Christ come in your lifetime? Sometime in the next 10 years? 100 years? Or 1000 years?

(1) In Chinese these were changed from the old version to a new version .


Old version


New version

Translated from left to right the first four characters mean “Jesus Christ”, the next two mean “latter-day”, the next two “saints”, and the last two mean “church.” It is the translation of "latter-day" which changed.

Patrick Q. Mason

One of the most comprehensive studies of violence against Mormons in the Post Civil War South was a PhD dissertation by Patrick Q Mason. His work is thorough and well documented.

Mason earned a doctorate in history from the University of Notre Dame in 2005. He completed a bachelor's degree in history at Brigham Young University (1999), an M.A. in history at the University of Notre Dame (2003), and an M.A. in international peace studies at the Kroc Institute (2003). His research and teaching specialties include religion, race, and violence in U.S. history, and comparative religious violence and peace building.


His dissertation Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Mob: Violence against Religious outsiders in the US South, 1865-1910 is big so be warned. It deals with violence against Black, Jews, Catholics and Mormons. The Mormon section includes a part on the Cane Creek Massacre, and a part on the Joseph Standing Murder. It is a wonderful piece. Make sure not to miss the appendix which has statistical look at violence against Mormons for approximately the same period.

Burwell Blanton & Emily Tatum

Burwell Blanton was born in Coffee County Tennessee on 9 January 1838 to Smith Blanton and Nancy C. Willis. He married Clementine Sartain before 1870. Most likely he divorced Clemmentine since she dies in 1896. He had two daughters with Clementine. They lived with theri mother after their parents split up. He married Emily Tatum on 18 December 1877.

Emily Tatum was born on 5 November 1837 at Jones Creek, Dixon County, Tennessee to George Washington Tatum and Parthenia Murell. Emily and her first husband, Solomon Jackson Whitwell, were married on 26 November 1857. They lived in Hickman County, Tennessee and had at least four children: Thomas Benton Whitwell, Susan Palthenia Whitwell, John Marshall Whitwell and Osce Jackson Whitwell. Then on 3 February 1865 Solomon Whitwell dies in South Carolina, probably fighting in the Civil War. In 1877 she marries Burwell Blanton. The 1880 Census indicates Emily could not read or write.

Burwell and his family met the missionaries in 1879 and are among the first few to join the church in the Cane Creek area. They were baptized and confirmed on 20 June 1879 by Elder Joseph Argyle.

Burwell Blanton (misspelled as Buswell) is described in Elder Belnap’s journal as a member living on Beaver Dam near (six miles north of) Cane Creek in 1879. Franklin Spencer baptized two of his sons, - actually stepsons John Marshall Whitwell and Osce Jackson Whitwell - in late August or early September 1880.

Burwell is at one point the Branch President before he emigrates to Colorado. In 1900, while living in Colorado his wife and step daughter die. Burwell then drops off the record. There is a Burwell Blandon living in Arkansas at this time, and some have decided they are the same person. But I am not able to reconcile some of the details to my satisfaction.

Susan Palthena Whitewall was born on 22 March 1860 at Cane Creek, Tennessee. She was the stepdaughter of Burwell Blanton. She was baptized on 20 June 1879 by Elder Joseph Argyle and confirmed by Elder Martin Garn. She joined the church on the same day as her mother and stepfather. She died, unmarried in 1900 while they were in Colorado.

John Marshall Whitwell was born on 30 November 1863 in Hickman County Tennessee. A note in Hyrum Belnap’s autobiography claims that he was baptized in 1880, probably in September, by Franklin Spencer. Though I can find little about his life, I do see he married twice; first to Euphamie Highfill in 1891, and after the death of his first wife, to Zella Florence Bradin in 1898. Both marriages were in Missouri, and he died in Jackson County, Missouri on 3 September 1928. This location and the fact that his name is not on any of the LDS membership lists I have read makes me wonder if he joined one of the other Restorationist movements.

Osce Jackson Whitwell was born on 3 December 1864 in Hickman County. A note in Hyrum Belnap’s autobiography claims that he was baptized in 1880, probably in September, by Franklin Spencer. He marries Theodosia M Elliott in Jackson County, Missouri in1885. He dies in 7 Feb 1951 in Augusta, Kansas but is buried in Jackson County, Missouri. Like his brother I wonder about which church he ultimately affiliates himself.

Cooper Skelton Manuscript

In the 1930's, the Work's Progress Administration (WPA) in something called the "Historical Record Project" set about collecting local records of historic value. Cemeteries were catalogued, family Bibles were collected and indexed and older residents were interviewed with the intent of documenting their memories of local history. The Cooper Skelton Manuscript (official project no. 465-44-3-115) was one of these.

The manuscript is a typed copy (I've held the original in my hands) of a newspaper clipping saved by Katie Cooper who lived "15 miles east of Hohenwald," Tennessee. It was hand copied by Mrs. Lillie L. Skelton and later typed by Mrs Josie Smith. I have found many documents quoting this newspaper clipping, but not the original.

The manuscript quotes selections from a history of Lewis County originally written by W. L. Pinkerton in 1909. Pinkerton claims that living witnesses will attest to the truth of his stories. He then provides a lurid claim of sexual assault without giving names of victims, witnesses, or perpetrators. He describes all three in only the most general terms, a young southern girl, her boyfriend, and two Mormon missionaries, leaving the reader to mentally associate these people with ones he already knows. He does not even give a date or place. The crime, if it happened at all, is referenced nowhere else in written form.

The most appalling selection sounds a little like the infamous missing newspaper article. It makes me wonder if Pinkerton found the newspaper article. Pinkerton's version reads…

Big meetings were held, and baptisings were conducted the followers becoming imbued with the new religion. In their zeal, husbands who had hitherto been devoted in attention to their wives now were resigned in their natures and with indifference silently sat by listening to the elders affectionately address the wife of a brother as his wife and other endearing terms. To even be plainer it is asserted that when one's wife would be baptized in to the church, the Elder would then say: Sister you are now as much my wife as you are your husbands’ ", A significant fact worth recording here was the manner in which the HOLY GHOST would be bestowed. If a woman joined the church and was baptized it is said she would be then carried to some nearby house in order that she could receive the HOLY GHOST. Men folks, however, could have it bestowed on the creek bank, as well as anywhere else. Why this difference? Can hellish reasons not be inferred from what has been said already. If any man doubt for one moment these statements there are still living witnesses in this vicinity who can testify to them. If any man doubt a moment that this was a rotten and corrupt deception by which simple excited women were attempted to be seduced then let him visit this immediate neighborhood and hear the story from the lips of a pure woman who was at that time a girl of tender years.

Hear her statement then say whether or not the citizens who banded themselves together for the purpose of driving the "Elders" out of the community acted rashly or without just cause.

The young girl, though uneducated, and while little versed in what the world would term refinement and culture, at the same time possessed a virtuous soul and indignantly rebelled against the hypocrisy and sin they sought to palm off on her as a part of Mormon worship.

It is further narrated that the "Elders", not satisfied with having failed to deceive this innocent young woman, and not content with finding she would not yield to their infamous persuasion, they even went so far as to lay hold of her with violent hands.

Think of such designing hypocrisy. Think of preachers in the guise of the church and in the name of religion entering our homes for the purpose of seducing our wives and daughters: and then think of the stupid father who under the sway and influence of these scoundrels become so blinded as to look upon them as saints and who could not realized what was being done before his own eyes.

Think of the bashful, timid country boy who stood by as a witness and saw the girl he loved, nay the sweet innocent country girl he had worshipped from early boyhood ensnared and captivated, dethroned of all reason, excited and entranced and lured off under the bewilderment that he has discovered a new religion which will allow her to commit fornication and where adultery is no longer a sin.; and you ask if his was done on Cane Creek in LEWIS COUNTY did the saints and Elders practice anything like this?

Yes, all this and even worse things were done, if possible and that is why good citizens rose up against it with a determination to put an end to the corruption that was then becoming so notorious among certain families in the neighborhood. These were the causes which led to the subsequent killing of the preachers and three other parties and which resulted in running the others out of the country.

This passage is pure fiction. This did not happen on Cane Creek, though I cannot speak for anywhere else. This article was designed to incite animosity against all Mormon missionaries on behalf of all young southern girls and their boyfriends. The article could not have be more specific, or else the writer would not get the desired result. If, as I suspect, this is taken from the missing newspaper article, this was read by many before August 10, 1884, and the actual result was 5 deaths and one wounding.

As a foot note, when other websites have quoted the Lewis County version of the Massacre from Pinkerton’s history, this selection is usually edited out. Even people with an axe to grind against the LDS Church recognized this is so obviously false that it would damage their own credibility.

Pleasant Depriest & Martha Fuller

Pleasant Whitfield Depriest was born on 28 January 1849 in Hickman County, Tennessee to William Andrew Depriest and Nancy Harder. On 23 September 1870 he married Martha Fuller.

Martha Elizabeth Fuller was born on 7 December 1851 in Hickman County, Tennessee to William J. Fuller and Mary B. Davidson.

The Depriests had several children, but had many of them died at a young age.

Sarah Ann Laura Depriest was born on 18 August 1871 and was baptised and confirmed a member of the Mormon Church on January 1 1881.

Alonzo Depriest was born 6 November 1872. He died one week later.

William Jason Depriest was born on 2 April 1876 and would have been 8 at the time of the massacre and old enough to get baptized. But the earliest baptismal date I have for him was 1 July 1885.

Mary Jane Depriest was born on 15 February 1879 and would only have been 5 at the time of the massacre. She was baptised on 3 May 1888.

Pleasant and his family were among the early converts to the Mormon Church in Lewis County, Tennessee. He was baptized Sunday the 8th of February 1880 by Martin Garn, after a meeting at Elisha Talley’s. Church records show Martha was baptised on 8 February 1881. I believe the correct date is 1880.

In Elder Gibbs journal, there are a couple of references to his going to Hohenwald to visit Pleasant DePriest at his home. Though he was part of the branch, he may have lived in town instead of on the creek. Hohenwald was only about 4 miles from Cane Creek.

Their next child was Martha Depriest, who was born 22 June 1882. She died six weeks later.

Pleasant and Martha were very likely to have been at the Conder farm on the day of the Massacre in 1884, although I have no evidence of where there were at the time of the shooting.

This is one of the few families that I can prove that they left Tennessee for Colorado following the Massacre. Pleasant already had two brother’s living in Manassa, Colorado.

On 10 March 1888, Martha gave birth to a girl which died the very same day. The birth must have been hard on her for she died less than 3 weeks later on 30 March 1888 in Manassa, Colorado.

Their oldest daughter, Sarah, married in 1889 but tragically died just ten years later in 1899 at the age of 28.

On 13 November 1901, Pleasant was sealed to his deceased wife in the Salt Lake City Temple.

Pleasant died in Manassa, Colorado on 27 March 1919.

John Doyle Lee

John D. Lee was a native of Illinois. He joined the Mormon Church in 1837 or 1838 and in 1839 was sent on his first mission to an area that included Tennessee. Off and on for the next five years Elder Lee preached and baptized in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.

After the exodus, Lee settled in southern Utah. There he became the center of a tragic event called the Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857. Though the level of his participation has been hotly debated, before he was executed for the killings, Lee left a book describing his side of the tragedy. This book, Mormonism Unveiled; Or The Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop John D. Lee, published in 1877, claims the Mormon Church was using him as a scapegoat.

A few of the members and missionaries in Tennessee prior to the Massacre ran into opposition from people who had read it. Though it was not described frequently as a source of the problems in Tennessee, it did come up. Here is one example.

In her journal, Mary Jane Miller wrote that a local man tried to get her family to not listen to the Missionaries by telling them about the horrible things the Mormons did at Mountain Meadows. He claimed to know all about it because he had read John D. Lee’s book.

John Douglas Westbrook

About three months before the Massacre, a young man, John Douglas Westbrook, left for Utah. He was fortunate enough to be a recipient of one of Elder Gibbs final letters. He also gave an interview with the Utah journal in which he told what he knew of those involved in the Massacre. This interview is one of the few sources claiming the leader of the mob, David Hinson, was a Methodist minister. The paper says...

"David Hinson, one of the mobbers who was killed, was a local preacher of the Methodist persuasion, Brother Westbrook thinks, and it may hence be inferred that he was a leader of the mob."

But who was John Douglas Westbrook. Pat Miller helped me with a summary of his life and some very important details.

John Douglas Westbrook was the son of Amos C. Westbrook and Susan Lucetta Nance. John was born on 14 Sep 1860 in Lewis County, Tennessee. His father died of illness, contracted in a northern Civil War prison, when John was only two years old. His mother remarried Azariah Anderson Conder in 1863. Azariah was a brother to William James Conder at whose home the Massacre happened.

It is likely John heard about the LDS Church through mother who joined the LDS church in January 1880. John was baptized by Thomas Merrill on 12 December 1881 at Cane Creek, Tennessee, confirmed on 12 December 1881 by Brigham H. Roberts, and ordained a Priest by John H. Gibbs on 13 September 1883.

Three months prior to the Massacre, John left Cane Creek in May 1884 and moved to Utah. He initially stayed with Elder Gibbs brother-in-law in Utah. It is apparent that Elder Gibbs had made that arrangement. In a letter Elder Gibbs gave John advice to save his money and to beware of those who would try to get him involved in risky business ventures. He also said he would look up John's mother when he was passing through “Obron.”

John lived in Utah for only a short time before he was called to help in the San Luis, Colorado Stake, arriving in La Jara, Colorado on 14 February 1885.

There he was ordained an Elder by S. C. Berthelson on 2 April 1888. He also met Leander Elizabeth Kelley and they were married on 29 April 1892. A Family Group Sheet in the possession of Mrs. Edith W. Hunnicutt has a note about John Douglas Westbrook and Leander Elizabeth Kelly;

Our parents were married for time and eternity by Apostle John Henry Smith, 29 Apr 1892 in Manassa, Conejos Co., Colo. In a letter from Pres. George Albert Smith, he said the marriage and sealing was valid.

John continued strong in the gospel. He was ordained a Seventy by Apostle John Henry Smith on 1 July 1894. He received his Patriarchal Blessing in September 1896 under the hand of Elihu K. Ball.

John kept in contact with the Conders. He sent them photos of the family on at least two occasions. These photos are labeled “James” D Westbrook Family, though this is most likely a mistake since every other record uses “John.” On the left is one of them. [The date on the photo is December 10 1892, which I thought was odd since the boy was too old for that to work. I thought the date must be wrong. But as you'll see below, it all falls into place.]

John and his wife eventually had at least 11 children. Their names were:
James Robert (1893), John Douglas (1894), Joseph Albert (1897), Bernice Evelyn (1899), Edith Elizabeth (1901), Jesse Ephriam (1904), Joel Howard(1907), Mary Wanda (1909), Ella Grace (1913), Ernest Ray (1915), and Susan Louise (1918). James Robert died before his first birthday, though the other children all appear to have lived to adulthood.

Another photo was found in the Conder family collection in Lewis County, Tennessee. A better copy of it was given to me by Pat Miller. Based on the number of children in the photo it was probably taken in around 1905. [Both of these photos are published in the Pictoral History of Lewis County.]

John was ordained a High Priest by Erastus Christensen on 7 January 1911.

The last photo I have of the Westbrook family, also from Pat Miller, has an inscription on the back. It says

Albert, Bernice, Jesse, Edith, Howard, Wanda - Frank, Douglas, Grace & Ray are not on this picture.

It was the "Frank" that had me puzzled. The label makes sense if you agree that only the children are named. The four names at the end are those not present. Grace and Ray might not be in the photo because they are not yet born. Douglas would have been the oldest and was absent without explanation.

But Frank was a mystery. He did not appear on the Westbrook family groupsheet. So I looked in the Census and found an "Amos Franklin Westbrook" in the 1900 & 1910 Census living with John and listed as a son, but with an implied birth year of 1887. The fact that he appears in each of the two census records and is named on the back of a photo led me to believe it is not a mistake. Leander Kelley could not have been his mother. Not only had she not yet married John, but she was also only 11 years old in 1887. This explains who the boy in the 1892 photo would be. It must be Frank.

The answer was that John Westbrook had prior wife. Knowing their son's name I was able to find her: Juda Elizabeth Samples. John married her in 1886. The Manifesto was in place in 1890, so it is likely they were divorced or she had died prior to his 29 April 1892 marriage to Leander Kelley. The small number of post-Manifesto marriages performed were mostly in Mexico. And although John Henry Smith did direct other apostles to perform these marriages, there is no evidence he did any of them himself. It would be cool if I found one, but I don't think so.

I can find two death dates for Juda Elizabeth Samples. One is a note saying she died before 1906. The other says she died 20th April 1872 [Note: a member of the family pointed out this is actually her sister's death date]; a ridiculous date considering her son was born in 1886. So what was it? Did she die before John married his second wife? Did she divorce John? or was this a post -Manifesto plural marriage? Anyone out there want to help me clear this up? My guess is an early death. There was only one child, and if this marriage had gone on until 1909, I would expect there to have been more. But I want to lock this up and I don't know where to turn next.

John Douglas Westbrook's death, however, I know about. He died 23 October 1948 in Sanford, Colorado and was buried two days later.

The Missing Newspaper Article that Started it all

While some historians have claimed the Red Hot Address was largely responsible for the anti Mormon feeling in Lewis County in 1884, I believe more credit should be given to a Newspaper article that has since been lost. There are significant differences between the lost article and the Red Hot Address. I have previously reprinted the text of the Red Hot Address. Since I do not have the missing newspaper article I will quote what I do know.

Jack Wells, who confessed to having been in the mob, said “the whole thing was a big mistake.” He went on…

I believe that damn newspaper started the whole thing. Some fellers from the village rode up the creek here letting all read it as could read. And them that couldn’t read, they read for them, and got us all excited.

Another man known only as Bill, who was working for his cousin on the field near where Elder Jones was captured, said this about the newspaper article.

But the worst was a nasty newspaper article that was circulated among the people. I reckon you could find copies of that paper around yit (sic). It stirred up the people something terrible, and most of ‘em believed it, but some of us believed it was mostly lies. I never here’d of no women bothered by the Mormons.

W. W. Bean wrote about a conversion in 1895 with Mr. Simpson who lived in Lewis County. He told Bean that…

The fact is much of the prejudice against the Mormons is the result of a vicious newspaper article that was extensively circulated throughout the country. I don’t recall where the article was originally printed, but our little country paper at Lawrenceburg copied it and it spread like a forest fire all over the country.

After being asked to tell some of the details included in the article Mr. Simpson went on.

Among other things the article said: ‘The Mormons are after your women, and when they are converted to Mormonism, and an Elder has a woman in the water ready for baptism he stoops over and whispers to her, saying, after you are baptized and become sanctified, you become as much my wife as you are now your husband’s, and what-so-ever thou doest ye sinneth not.’ I didn’t believe the article. And I think it was published with evil design. I had many conversations with the Mormon Missionaries while they were in our county and we even entertained them at our home, and we learned to know the as perfect Christian gentlemen. That contemptible newspaper article was circulated from one family to another, until the whole county seemed agitated over the Mormons. That article was largely responsible for the mobbing of the Mormons. It was sensational and a majority believed it, and the few of us who did not believe it were helpless. We played safe by not expressing our views.

Others used words similar enough to Mr. Simpson to imply they probably had the same source. A storekeep in Mannie Station said…

The Mormons are the best bible preachers we’ve had around here, and if they’d leave that damn secret sanctification stuff out, and quit telling the women that it don’t matter what they do after they are sanctified they can’t sin.

Mr. Simpson's description of the newspaper article's content are different from the contents of the Red Hot Address, and so could not be the same document; though the two could have been printed together. I suppose the article may even have been intended as commentary on the Red Hot Address. But even if they were printed together, it was not the contents of the Red Hot Address that appears to have inflamed the local resident, but the text that had been added before it made it to Lewis County, Tennessee.

Regardless, while the newspaper article appears to have made no specific accusations about the Elders working at Cane Creek, the possibility enraged a large number of the local non-Mormons; enough for it to erupt into the violence now known as the Cane Creek Massacre.

[The above quotes come from an account written by W.W. Bean in 1895 about his visit to Lewis County and quotes from those he interviewed there. You can find a copy at the Salt Lake City Church History Library and Archives. Manuscript MS624.]

Utah Digital Papers

For someone who specializes in Mormon History but doesn’t live anywhere near Utah, the Utah Digital Newspapers is a useful source. Collections once only available along the Wasatch Front now can be perused at your leisure. Of course even if you do live near a Utah Public Library. This is still a very useful tool.

It was started in 2001 by the University of Utah with a demonstration grant. The idea was to prove it could be done. The program was so successful they received more grants. Other organizations, including BYU, have joined the effort.

Like most newspapers, you need to be careful about what was printed. The accuracy of the information is not guaranteed, only that it was printed. And just being in print is not proof that what was printed was true. Many things were printed for obvious polemical reasons. Makes you wonder about what my great grandchildren will read in papers published today that will seem outlandishly partisan to them.

The database is large, and contains a huge number of papers. Although it is far from comprehensive, new collections are being added all the time. Check the homepage for the newest ones. Check out how your ancestors we portrayed in the papers. You might be surprised how closely watched the comings and goings of ordinary people were.

Mormon Missionary Diaries

One of my favorite online tools is Mormon Missionary Diaries. Released in around 2004, it was a truly ambitious project. Not only did the project team transcribe hundreds of missionary journals, but they also scanned every page, including the covers, in color. They also made the scans search able. So if I think a person or place name was mistyped, it is a simple matter to locate the original writing and making my own judgement. Plus the transcriptions maintain the original pagination of the diary. It was a lot of effort.

The diaries are organized by mission region, and by missionary. The interface isn’t the fastest. So I usually skip to the printing version of the diary I want (found at the bottom of each diaries’ index) and save it to my hard drive. Then I can read, search and explore without the delay that comes mostly from working over the Internet.

Included in a section apart from the diaries themselves, is a biography on each diarist. Don’t hesitate to read through the biographies. Even after almost a year of researching the Cane Creek Massacre, I found new sources of information just by reading the biography of John H. Gibbs.
One note on searching; the diaries retain the original spelling of the diarists. So if you are looking for references to something specific, like “Tennessee”, recognize that not every young man from Utah knew how to spell it correctly.