"They All Know Me Around Here" - Elder Cullimore, Part 11

This is the final part of the Mission Recollections of Albert Lorenzo Cullimore. It includes a couple of odds and ends. There is little indication of where or when during his mission these events occurred, except as noted.

One evening we were taken in by a Mr. Cauls who didn't belong to any church.  He treated us very well, and after supper suggested we attend a big revival being held in the community church.  We told him we would be happy to go with him.  When we got there we noted that they had moved most of the benches out, and had straw on the floor.  There was only one bench in the center of the building for the mourners.  They were shouting and jumping around as we went in; but as soon as we were discovered sitting on a bench just inside the door, the shouting quieted down and the preacher couldn't get anyone to come to the mourners' bench.  The preacher announced that the servants of the devil were in the room.  Soon he came out with a great speech, saying,"You Mormons get out of here, we don't want you here."

We left with Mr. Cauls and went back to his home. About an hour later some men came to Mr. Cauls' yard and called him out of the house.  They told him to get rid of the Mormons or they would. Mr. Cauls sent word back to the church from which these men came, saying, "I am what you call a wicked man and you all know me, that I would not be bluffed.  Just tell the ones that come after these men that they are my guests and I am going to protect them, even with my life if necessary.  Tell them to come prepared to haul at least three or four dead men, as I have plenty of guns and they are all loaded."  After they had gone, he told us not to worry.  "They all know me around here, and they won't dare come." We spent a peaceful night, and in the morning we were invited back to stay anytime.

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From April 27th, 1896 to September 17th, 1896, Elder Cullimore was assigned to Lawrence County which borders on the Tennessee - Alabama State line.

We heard of a member of the Church living on the line of Tennessee and Alabama, so decided to canvass in that section and try to hold meetings.  We did a lot of tracting, but finally found the people.  We found most of the people in the area quite bitter.  The members helped us find a church to hold meetings in but told us it was not really safe as there were a number of moonshiners there, and they may think we were government men in disguise.  We went to our meeting place and were confronted by several tough-looking fellows who told us if we walked up on the platform we would have to be carried off.  The member told us to get out of the community if we wanted to avoid trouble.  He said he thought it best for us not to stay longer and said he wished he could sell his farm, but there were no buyers.  There had been many killings, and three were in the federal prison for making moonshine in the neighborhood.

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There were many interesting things of this sort which happened, but I won't take time to tell them.