I like to collect photos

Some people collect stamps, I like to collect photos and articles about events in Tennessee Mormon history. Often I have been given these by friends or readers (sometimes by those who are both). Often what I get is tangentially related. But even if they are, I find there is something new in it.

Recently I was given this image. It was dated 1964 and showed Robert Coleman and Horace Cooper "Bud" Talley. The building behind them was identified as the Old Talley Cabin. According to the photgraph notes this was the sme cabin where the B. H. Roberts stayed at Cane Creek after he exumed the bodies of Elders Gibbs and Berry. The bodies actually were left in the wagon in the barn.

The cabin originally belonged to I. Tom Garrett, who was the owner when the missionaries were killed. After Mr. Garrett fled Cane Creek for Illinois in fear for his life, the family sold it to Bash Talley, one of the few members of the branch who stayed at Cane Creek. Bash also ended up buying the land on which the Conder farm sat. H. C. Talley, in this photo, was the son of Bash and Eliza Talley, though he did not join the LDS church until 1949.

When I read this it reminded me of a story told to me a while back how Bud Talley would say the bodies were kept in his barn the night B. H. Roberts dug them up. I always thought, "that can't be right." But now seeing this photo, I put two and two together. I knew the Talley family owned the land that the Garret cabin was on. Now it all makes sense. I'm sure whoever took this photo wasn't thinking it would someday resolve two conflicting stories.

So go ahead and collect stamps. I'll stick with photographs.