A Place for the Un-Gathered: The Home of Abraham and Mary Church of Hickman County Tennessee

[Below is an abridged version of my presentation at the 2017 Mormon History Association conference in St. Louis, Missouri last week. - BAllen]

In 1982 Historian Jill Garrett took several photographs of “the old Mormon place” along the banks of the Duck River in Tennessee. It was part of an historic community called Shady Grove.  The photographs which Mrs. Garrett took would be the last taken of the home of Abraham and Mary Church which was the center of the LDS missionary efforts in middle Tennessee for many years.

In 1833, Abraham and Mary Church purchased 543 acres of land along the Duck River in middle Tennessee. On that site they built, or perhaps expanded, their new home.
The design itself consisted of two almost separate structures with an open space between them called a dogtrot, which helped circulate the humid air.  It was all covered by a shared roof which also provided a sheltered outdoor living area.  Unlike other similar style homes, the dogtrot had a wooden floor and a second story running the length of the structure with rooms even above the dogtrot. The single roof created small but useful attic spaces above and on the rear side of the second story.  Further outdoor living space was provided by a front porch running nearly the length of the home.
There were other structures on the property too. There was a barn, a smoke house, stables, other unspecified out buildings and a cemetery. There were also slave quarters though no one bothered to mention them let alone describe them.

Mormon history in Tennessee began in 1834 when David Patten and Warren Parrish preached along the lower Tennessee River.  In June 1836, while escaping from a mob, the two reached safety in Hickman County. They proselytized there from late June to August in 1836 during which they met the Church family. Unfortunately neither missionary wrote about it.
The Churches, however, happily told others about their brush with fame. The earliest written record comes from Parley P Pratt Jr., a missionary who preached in Shady Grove in 1878-79. Pratt wrote “The Gospel trumpet was first sounded in this place over 45 years ago by David Patten and Warren Parish and the people in the immediate vicinity for many years past have had many strong testimonies of the truth of the great Latter-day work.”  As you might imagine this tale gained more details as the years passed. For example, latter versions recall Patten not for his preaching, but for his having gone hunting with the boys.
Despite this early contact, none of the Church family were baptized in 1836.  In fact, Shady Grove does not actually appear in LDS records for another five years.

In 1840 or 1841, two unnamed missionaries  arrived at the Church family home. They started their visit with a hymn. The oldest son, twenty-three year old Haden Church, said that just from the song they sang, he knew they were telling the truth.  He dropped everything and went to Nauvoo to meet the prophet. There, Haden was baptized in the Mississippi river by Joseph Smith on April 5th, 1841.
Two years later Haden returned to Shady Grove, this time as a missionary, setting up shop in his childhood home. His companion John Brown wrote “We arrived at Brother Church’s father’s home. He and the family spared no pains to make us comfortable though none of them belonged to the church at that time. Here we stayed and rested a few days.”
Despite the hospitality, they accomplished little in Shady Grove. They expanded into nearby areas but eventually headed south where they would have more success in Alabama and Mississippi. While they were still in Tennessee Haden returned to Shady Grove frequently, often without his companion. After almost a year in Alabama, Haden again returned to his parents’ Shady Grove home.
In July 1844, Haden Church was joined by Abraham O Smoot. A few days after his arrival Smoot heard rumors of the death of Joseph Smith, followed a few days later by confirmation letters. Smoot and Haden left Shady Grove together and returned to Nauvoo.
According to folklore Abraham and up to three of his sons, Emmons, Robert, and Charles also made their way to Nauvoo where one or more of them were baptized. That’s another story that gets more details as it is retold.
Haden did not stay in Nauvoo very long. He returned to Tennessee later the same year perhaps with the hope of converting those who had not yet joined the Church, but certainly with the intent of marrying a convert from Mississippi, Sarah Arterbury. After the wedding on December 17th 1844 they moved to Nauvoo the next year, before heading west to Utah.

It was about then that the first Abraham’s other children joined the Church.
His daughter, Christine Hoover, was baptized probably in 1844 by a companion of Haden’s named Benjamin Clapp. Late that year Christine and her husband had a son whom they named Joseph Smith Hoover. However, Christine and her husband - he was never baptized – chose not to gather with the saints as Haden and Sarah did.
Emmons, one of the three sons who were perhaps baptized at Nauvoo, showed no interest in gathering.
 Robert, another rumored Nauvoo convert, had no interest either.
 A third son, Thomas was baptized sometime in March 1847, a date recognized in church records. Thomas also stayed in Tennessee until well after the Civil War.  It was their father’s home around which they gathered to worship, though perhaps only when Haden returned on his frequent visits.

There is no evidence outside folklore that Abraham Church was ever baptized Mormon. He did subscribe to the Times and Seasons in 1841. But that in and of itself does not indicate church membership. In 1851 Abraham died, passing the family home on to his son Robert.
I have not been able to locate a will or another document showing how much land or property Abraham passed on to his children. I know that Robert inherited the house and some of the land on which it stood. From the 1850 census we know that Abraham valued his real property at $6,000 and that he owned 21 slaves.
In the years just before the Civil War, contact with the LDS Church in Utah slowed considerably. Haden returned once more splitting his time between his own and his wife’s families. Though some were members of the LDS Church, none of them returned with Haden to Utah.

Immediately after the war a few missionaries went back to the US South. One of the first places they went to was Shady Grove. Haden was there off and on between 1868 and 1870, and again in 1875. As before the visits were centered on the Church family home.  Robert, now called Uncle Robbins, was the head of the house. He and his wife were as gracious hosts as his parents were before them. The rest of the family embraced the LDS Church as well.  Haden’s brother, Charles and his wife Dolly found the time and resources to travel to Utah in 1872 for the sole purpose of receiving their temple work. Haden Church’s remaining siblings were baptized in or before 1875.

Haden was frequently sick while on his missions. His final one in 1875 was no exception. He spent the last few months of his life suffering from what was probably typhoid fever. After Haden’s death, his companion Henry Boyle explained in a letter to Brigham Young “[t]here are five brothers and three sisters of the deceased all living near here, all members of the Church, and who did all in their power to bestow upon him all the care and attention that his case required”   The family buried Haden in the cemetery beside the home near the grave of his parents.

After the death of Haden Church, his family continued to offer sustenance to the visiting missionaries. Many used it as a base, striking out to nearby venues to preach. Other branches opened up within few miles. In addition to Shady Grove, there were organized LDS congregations meeting at Totty’s Bend and Love’s Branch, with smaller informal groups nearby. More branches were organized all over middle Tennessee. In 1881 the Tennessee conference split in two: East and West Tennessee, with Church family home in Shady Grove as headquarters of the west conference. Two years later there were 14 active, well-attended branches in the West Tennessee Conference. It prompted another split, creating the Northwest and Southwest Tennessee conferences.
Members of the Shady Grove branch were faithful saints, but found alternatives to gathering. Emmons Church found the time and resources to go to Utah in 1877 to receive his temple work before returning to Tennessee.
Charles Church and his second wife Sarah gathered to Colorado where their fourth child was born in 1881. Under the direction of John Morgan, Colorado had become a secondary gathering point for the Saints from the Southern States Mission. By 1884, however, Charles and family had returned to Tennessee.  Key to their being able to return was the existence of a home and family at Shady Grove to which they could “ungather”.

The Church family home was considered such a safe place, that missionaries who needed some convalescing time would travel to there simply to recover. One example is J. Golden Kimball. Suffering perhaps from malaria, Kimball left Chattanooga where he was working with B H Roberts, and took a train north to Nashville then another south to Columbia; a trip of over 180 miles. There he would have had to hire a wagon or walk, for the last fifteen miles.
Kimball did not, however, get the chance to recover for long.  On Aug 10th 1884, a mob killed two missionaries in nearby Cane Creek. Two other missionaries escaped the mob, though they were separated from each other. Each determined to head for the safety of the Church family home at Shady Grove. Meanwhile Elder Kimball heard rumors of the shooting and tried to investigate, once on the 11th and again on the 12th. Each time he met one of the escaping missionaries along the way and they headed back to Shady Grove, and relative safety.
But the shooting death of Elders Gibbs and Berry would forever alter the role the home at Shady Grove could play. Upon hearing of the violence, Robert Church became severely ill. Descriptions of his condition are vague, describing initially fits of anxiety and incoherent ranting followed by a feverish calm.

Later that week B H Roberts arrived at Shady Grove, intent on retrieving the bodies of the two slain missionaries. At the Church home he secreted himself in the smoke house to create a disguise. You can see him in his disguise in this relatively famous photo.
He shaved his beard, exchanged his clothes for ones provided by various members of the Church family, including boots from one of the family servants. Using soot from the walls of the smoke house, he covered his pale skin. Roberts was able to successfully retrieve the bodies putting them on a train for Utah.

After lingering for 10 days, Robert Church passed away. B H Roberts reported on the funeral to the Deseret News and so was likely there. Other missionaries were present and preached the funeral sermon. Robert was buried in the family cemetery next to his home.
After the funeral the missionaries were fearful for their safety, even at the Church family home. The following morning, the entire contingent of the Northwest Tennessee Conference left for Nashville . Some went home, others were assigned to other areas in Tennessee.
Robert and his wife Laura had no children.  His verbal will left nearly everything to his brothers, George and Emmons, who were to make sure that his widow Laura was well taken care of.  Laura’s share was 105 acres which represented one third of Robert’s real estate.  The other two thirds went to George and Emmons. For reason we can only speculate, Laura sold the house two years later.
With the removal of the missionaries, and the sale of their meeting place, the local branch struggled. Some members of the branch moved west to places as varied as Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Texas. Many remained but few of their children stayed in the Church.

Joseph Bond purchased the home in 1887 and lived there for twelve years until his death in 1899. It then passed to his daughter Ida Shelby who lived there until the 1950’s.

The home, and the land under it, was purchased by a chemical company for the mineral rights on the accompanying land.
In 1983 Sarah Cannon purchased just the home with the intent of moving it.  Mrs. Cannon was well known at the time for her comedic persona Minnie Pearl. Her act included many self-deprecating jokes about the town in which she grew up; the fictitious Grinders Switch.
There were, however, plans to make the town real.  The hope was to create a tourist attraction; a place where devoted fans of Minnie Pearl could visit and experience a little bit of the southern culture of which the actress gently poked fun. To this end the Church family home was purchased and dismantled carefully. Each piece was labeled and moved to the site of the future park.
The home was not the only building in the project. This one was moved intact.
In 1991, however, Sarah Cannon suffered a stroke. The project was placed on hold. The pieces of the old home, logs, windows, doors, and foundation stones, were left exposed to the elements. Months turned into years and in 1996 Mrs. Cannon passed away. The project and the home that was meant to be a part of it were forgotten. Today the only reminder of the homestead is the cemetery.

As it became obvious that the home would not be rebuilt, descendants of Abraham Church sometimes visited the disassembled home at Grinders Switch. More than one took a memento home with them. These were collected by a great great granddaughter of Abraham Church from debris of the home while it was at Grinders Switch.
Hickman County later purchased the land at Grinders Switch for a new Agricultural Center and hired someone to clear away the debris. The contractor dumped what he hauled away on his farm.
The fascination with the home, however, continues. In 2014 one descendant collected a few stones from that farm and passed them around to his cousins; including one stone which was mailed to Texas.

The Formation of the Totty's Bend Branch

On February 20th 1877, Elder Joseph Argyle was on his way to his first assignment in Tennessee to report at the town of Shady Grove. He had been paying for his own transportation and had run out of money just 16 miles short of his destination.

"... I started to walk and went about 11 miles and met Bro John W Sharp who I had to labour with at a vilige known as williams port 4 miles from Shady Grove we overtook two me which hast us if we were peddlers they seeing my velies and a bundle with some of my cloaths we told them that we were ministers and they hast us of what persuation we was we told them and they hast us if we did not preach the gift of the Holy Ghost we told them that we did and they said they would like to hear us and hast us if we would go and preach at a place called Tottys Bend ten miles from Shady Grove we told them we would go but told them that they would have to furnish us foode and a bed as we was preaching without purse or scrip they said they would do that and we made arangements with them to go there in two weeks we left them..." [original spelling and lack of punctuation has been retained]

Two weeks later, Elders Argyle and Sharp kept their appointment. The men from Totty's Bend were true to their word. One of them [Mr Fyfe] arranged for the School house in which to preach and the other one [Mr Young] opened his home for them to eat and sleep. They held three meetings over the course of three days, and spent the second night at the home Johnson & Susan Totty. Many people from the days meeting joined the missionaries at the Totty home where the two were kept up late answering questions about the gospel. Mr & Mrs Totty became the first converts at Totty's Bend on March 21st 1877.

In June two more converts were baptized followed by three more in July, another in August and three more in September. Elder Argyle doesn't say exactly when, but sometime that year he formally organized the Totty's Bend Branch, ordained Johnson Totty an Elder and set him apart as the branch president. The branch would continue until 1884 1880 when the Totty family moved to Colorado.

The Healing of Sally Moore

Based on the journal of Elder Joseph Argyle. He and Elder John W Sharp were preaching among the saints of the Hickman & Maury counties in Tennessee. I have made some serious corrections for spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Friday May 25 1877
While at the home of John Mullens, preparing for a meeting at Pleasant Ridge, Elders Argyle and Sharp heard a shout across the Duck River. It was Thomas Coleman; a friend of the church but not yet a member. Thomas was asking that the missionaries would come to the aid of Sally Moore. Sally, Thomas said, was not expected to live til morning and he wanted the Elders to come right away and giver a healing blessing. In the exchange of shouts across the river, the elders deferred saying they had a meeting they were obligated to hold and could not make it that night, but that they would come to see her the next morning.  Thomas was distraught fully believing Sally would not last that long. Elder Argyle felt prompted to promise she would be fine until then.

The Elders still had some time before their meeting so they "found a lonely place in a bunch of new cedar" and prayed on the behalf of sister Moore, asking that the Lord would "stay the [disease] that was then praying upon her [system.]" First Elder Argyle prayed and then Elder Sharp. When they rose from their knees, Elder Argyle said "look at your watch and see what time you have got and I will look at mine and ... we will see what transpires at this time" for he knew she would be restored. The two went and held their meeting and then stayed the night with Brother [Thomas] Holiday Church.

Saturday May 26th 1877
The next morning they walked to Robert Church's home and had breakfast. Then they borrowed two of Robert's horses, which had been set aside for that purpose, and started off toward Sally Moore's home. It was about 7 miles away. Along the way they overtook Brother William Bryant who said he too was heading for Sally Moore's home because he heard she was nearly dead. Along the way they ran into a young man riding the other way. Brother Bryant asked him if he knew how Sally was doing and he said she was better.

When the three arrived at the Moore home, Sally's husband greeted them at the door. As they walked through the door Sally, still in her bed, smiled and told them she was feeling much better. Elder Argyle asked her when she began to feel better. She said it was the previous night and told him the time. Elder Argyle wrote that "it was the same time that we prayed for her." Sally's husband turned to Brother Bryant and said that he too noticed the change in Sally at that time and that he felt strange in a way he could not describe and he knew at the time it had something to do with the men Tom Coleman said he was going to get.

Elder Argyle and Sharp spent the night at the Moore home, giving instructions and in the morning they administered a blessing to sister Moore and continued on their way the Hoover home.

Hampshire Meetinghouse

I have posted a photo of this meeting house before with a groups of people in front of it here. A few weeks back I found more photos, including this one in color. The notes say only that the meeting house was built in 1937, which matches the information I have.

The building is no longer standing. I have been told that after the Church moved on to a larger building in Columbia, the land owner had it torn down and built a home on the spot. 

Turkey for Christmas

Here is another Christmas related event from Tennessee Mormons. This one is a from a missionary letter and tells how a local member hosted eight missionaries in her home.

"On Christmas day eight of us including Elder Young sat down to a beautiful turkey dinner at the house of Sister M[ary] Anderson of Shady Grove. Sister A[nderson] is a faithful Latter-day Saint and the elders have had a home with her for many years."

- Excerpt from a letter home written by N M Savage on May 8th 1897 at Magnolia, Tenn

Mary Ellen "Mollie" Anderson was born on 10 January 1859 in Hickman county to Henry Nichols and Margaret Church. Exactly when she joined the church is a casualty of the poor preservation of records from that time. LDS.org shows a baptism date of August 15, 1877, which I dutifully wrote down for this blog post. But when I double checked the date in my copy of the Middle Tennessee Record of Members book I saw "Aug (?) 1877" with Hyrum Belnap listed as having performed the ordinance with John Morgan the confirmation. Seeing that I thought "Well that date is wrong. Belnap didn't arrive in Tennessee until [Jun 23rd] 1879. I'll just look through Belnap's autobiography and find the right date" Except she wasn't in there. I found her husband John Anderson mentioned a few times, who fed the missionaries and let them spend the night. But that was in 1880 & 1881. Nothing on Mollie. It had to be some other missionary who baptized her. A few missionary journals later I found her actual baptism date. On August 17, 1877 she was baptized and confirmed by Elder Joseph Argyle, making her one of the earliest saints at Shady Grove, Tennessee.

Nephi Miles Savage was born on 9  November 1864 in Payson Utah to Henry Savage and Sarah Power. The life of Nephi M Savage is far beyond the scope of this tiny blog post. He was dedicated educator, and a faithful church member. He was older than most missionaries at the time and far better educated. But he struggled to keep his prematurely aging body moving at the pace needed for missionary work. Despite  rheumatoid arthritis and probably other joint problems which plagued him from youth, he kept going. After his mission he lived to the ripe age of 70.

The eight missionaries included at least...
Nephi M Savage, John W Shawcroft, Joseph D C Young, & Thaddeus W Naylor
The other four I have not been able to identify.

Family Lore about Abraham Church: Meeting David Patten

Abraham Church was the first in his family to settle in Middle Tennessee. He chose to build a home along the Natchez Trace (go look it up) where it crosses the Duck River. There he also built a ferry to serve the traffic along the Trace which thrived before the introduction of riverboats to the area. The family also farmed, raised horses, and built a race track. The family roots are deep in the area today. There is an annual reunion of his descendants in August. Every year I have been there are easily a hundred people there. Very few of them are Mormon.

I have struggled with the family lore about Abraham Church. Family historians disagree about whether or not he joined the Mormon Church. Part of the argument is one of identity. The story, as it has been told as far back as the 1880's (B.H Roberts recorded it) was that the family's first encounter with missionaries was with David Patten. The tradition was that Patten went hunting with the family while he was on his mission to Tennessee. He does not appear, however, to have joined the church at the time.

But did it really happen? Did the family really meet with the first President of the Quorum of the Twelve, the first missionary to Tennessee, and one of the earliest LDS martyrs? Or was this lore fabricated to make a better tale. The window for such a story is small. Patten arrived in Tennessee in Oct 1834 but was there for only four months. He returned again in March 1836 and stayed through September before heading to Missouri where he died in 1838 in the Battle of Crooked River. All the stories of his missions to Tennessee describe events in Henry & Benton counties. Abraham Church lived in Hickman county, about 75 miles from Benton county, so it is easy to dismiss the "hunting with David Patten" story as fanciful.

But even though there are no accounts of preaching in Hickman county, there is solid evidence that Warren Parrish & David Patten were in Hickman county from June 23rd to June 28th, 1836, and probably longer than that. Although Parrish wrote little about their time in Hickman county, records show he performed a marriage there on the 23rd of June 1836 between Mr. E. Matlock and Miss Susan K Fry. On the 28th of June 1836, Parrish wrote a letter describing persecution in Benton county, but posted the letter in Hickman county. In a different letter written in November 1836, Parrish wrote that after the persecution in Benton county ...

"the brethren immediately sent us away to Middle Tennessee; and we entered into their synagogues and preached the word. These were more noble than those of Benton county, for they searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so; ... there seemed to be many believing, and a vast field open for laborers in the vineyard of the Lord in the south." M&A Vol 3 No 2 pg 404-406

Of course where in Middle Tennessee they went is unclear. Certainly Hickman county is in Middle Tennessee, and Abraham Church lived in Hickman county, so while the evidence makes it plausible, and it may be a smoking gun, it isn't a slam dunk.

So while I once thought that this particular family story was more myth than history, there are enough pieces in the right place that I can't dismiss it out of hand. So I will continue to look for clues. Just the other day I ran across one more piece to the puzzle. Abraham subscribed to the Times and Seasons by letter, in the fall of 1841, sending $2.00. What this means I will leave until next week...

Returned Missionary Announcement - 1882

Here's a little tidbit about the persecution at Cane Creek before the Massacre. Although the names of the persecutors are not the same as the ones involved two years later, the one friend was a person who name would come up many times in the future. You can almost see the pattern of events to come.

Returned Missionary.- This morning we received a call from Elder Joshua Taylor of [Salt Lake City] who returned, on Wednesday, from a mission in Tennessee. “He Left Utah in May 1881, and labored the first two months in Shady Grove [Hickman county], and was afterwards appointed to take charge of the Cane Creek district [Lewis County], where there is a thriving branch of the Church. There was in that part a very active opposition. Some time since a mob of seventeen men, led by Witts Skelton and two sons, broke up the meeting, and threatened the lives of the Elders. For this conduct seven of the mobbers, including the three Skeltons, are under bonds to appear to answer a charge of disturbing a public worshipping assemblage. The same party set fire to and destroyed the stand and benches which were in a grove used by the saints. Brother Taylor spoke highly of the hospitality of the Southern people, and mentions Mr. I. T. Garrett of Cane Creek in particular, who was very kind to the Elders." (Deseret News, May 10,1882.)

John W. Sharp - Reporting from Hickman County, Tennessee 1877

Friday March 23 1877

The Deseret News reports news from Elder John W. Sharp, now laboring in Hickman County, Tennessee. "We learn from it (letter) that himself and Elder Argyle are doing a good work. A spirit of active inquiry regarding the principles of the gospel have been awakened among the people thereabouts, many of whom flock together to hear those two Elders preach. The latter are also kept busy till late at nights answering questions about "Mormonism". Recently several persons gave their names for baptism, and others appear to be on the point of doing the same. The missionaries named feel much encouraged in their labors"

Edward Stevenson reports from Hickman County, Tennessee 1878

On this day in 1878.......

Friday, March 15, 1878

         "Missionary work. -- Elder Edward Stevenson writes from Shady Grove, Hickman County, Tennessee. He and Elder Hyrun Clark are laboring in that part. The branch of the church there numbers 17. It was organized by Henry G Boyle. There is another small branch, at a place called Totty's Bend. It was organized by Elders Sharp and Argyle. A man and woman were recently baptized there. The people come to meeting at night over the 'clay hills' carrying torches to light them on their way. Many of the houses in that part of the country have no windows, rendering them particulary cold and airy in the winter.
          Elders Stevenson and Clark are laboring assiduously, holding meetings and preaching at every available opportunity."

Whose home is this?

One of the photos I recently found in the Church History Library is labeled as the "Home of James Conder". It isn't the only photograph so labeled in the Church History Archives. Yes, there are two photographs that make that claim. But they are both wrong. I wasn't sure until I received a digital image of the one I had not seen yet. But now I am sure. The first one I had seen I knew was not of the Conder home because the photo was taken in 1967, and the Conder home was destroyed by fire in 1894 or 1895. The 1967 photo was actually of the home of Isaiah Thomas Garrett. Three of the four missionaries connected to the shooting stayed at the home of Tom Garrett the night before. So the home was connected with the shooting, but is was not the place of the shooting. Originally I thought this second photo would prove to be another image of the same house: Tom Garrett's. There was only one way to know. I had to see it. But living far and away in Tennessee, that meant paying to have the image digitized. Since there were three photos in the file, and because I wanted to be sure, I had to pay for all three to be scanned. So for $15, I was about to be surprised.

It took a couple of weeks, before the CHL did their magic. Honestly they were faster than they said they would be. I have no complaints. But when I opened the link with the images, I did not find the home I was expecting. No way was this the Garrett home, but I wasn't sure whose house it was. Could these really be photos of the Conder home?

I was skeptical. I had been told so many obviously false "facts" about the massacre that I have to doubt whatever I am told. Other than the label on the archive file, what was it that indicated this was actually the site of the massacre? Oddly enough, the original label on the back of the second photo was typed "Home of Martin Conder" and then crossed off and "James Conder" was written in hand above it. The first one did not have the typed label, just the hand written note. James had a father, a brother and a son named Martin. By 1884, all of them had passed away. Of course I can't know for sure, but I suspect the typed name came from a misunderstanding that the home was Martin Conder's because he died at the massacre.

The third photo is an image of James Conder and his wife Malinda Conder. Perhaps something about the other photos might help me with one I was really interested in. All three images have the photography studio name "Hatch & Hatch" stamped on the back. The image of the Conders has obviously been edited. The original was a photo published in 1890.  The original had the two girls in the background, but for this version they had been cropped out. Since it is unlikely the girls were added in 1890, I must conclude that the 1890 version was the source and not the other way around.

Based on the article in which the Conder photo was originally published, it was mailed to B. F. Cummings by the Conders. It was likely he had written the Conders and asked for their photo. But that raises another possibility. Did the Conders also send these photos of their home? If they had, wouldn't Cummings have published them in 1890? I know I would have.

It seemed like a dead end. Then I vaguely recalled that this photo looked like a hand drawn image used in another article on the massacre. Could this photo have been the source for that drawing? I opened my digital file collect to see if they were similar. They weren't. My memory is apparently getting bad. But in the process I came across another photo that was even more like it: the home of Robert Robbins Church. This photo came from a descendant of the Shelby family who bought home after R. R. Church's death. The people in this photo are the Shelbys.

Details from the second photo in the CHL file and a comparison on several points has led me to believe these are the same house. I focused on comparing the shape of the foundation stones, and the position of the windows since building materials and plans were often ordered and could be very similar.

It is sad. I so very much wanted the photo to be what it claimed. I want to know what the home looked like. But now the question is, Is it worth the time and effort to prove that the photo is mislabeled at the CHL? I think I could convince anyone who will listen to me that these are the same house, but proving they are the home of R. R. Church, and not the home of James Conder, is another task altogether.

John H. Gibbs' Tennessee Converts

The following names were recorded by John H. Gibbs as being baptized while on his mission in Tennessee either by himself or by his companions: John Styler or W. E. Robison. They range in dates from September 6, 1883 to May 26, 1884. The locations range from Houston County to Lewis County, Tennessee and match Elder Gibbs proseletizing area.

Gibbs was 31 years old and had been working with the young men prior to his mission. Professionally he was a teacher. Among his missionary finding activities was to issue an open challenge to a game a marbles. All this made me wonder about the age of his converts. Turns out he was older than 68% of his converts and half were more than 10 years younger than him. One was even 7 years old, though only by a few weeks. In each case where a very young person was baptized, I have been able to find at least one parent who was a member as well, with the exception of James Prewett. Still looking.  That is even true of most of the teenagers too, with the exception of Fannie Willis (age 15). She joined with her 18 year old brother. But they had a 39 year old uncle who had joined earlier that year.

In fact the young ages of Gibbs converts had more to do with his focus on part member families. He baptized mostly spouses, and children of existing members,and a mother in one case. Less than 10 of his 44 converts were unrelated to existing converts.

There was nothing significant about the sex of the converts; 21 of 44 were female. I'm no statistician, but that seems pretty close to half. All but five were married or were too young to be married. Of those five at least two never married. If it were a ploy to get women for polygamous marriages, it was pretty much a failure.

Age Name
8     Archie H. Region
53   Zachariah Evans
39   Phebe Jane Evans
13   Rebecca Evans
11   David Roger Evans
8     Zachariah Evans Jr.
31   William S. Wood
30   Sarah V. Wood
20   Julia Ann Lockheart*
27   John Riley Hudson
50   Malinda Conder
17   Rachel Ann Conder
8     Jesse Whitfield Lancaster
53   William Winters
29   James Harrison Wood
28   Francis Josephine Sanders
45   Eliza Ann Talley
16   Jennette Love
7     William Jackson Love
9     James Samuel Prewett
14   Robt. Emmonds Bryant
60   Green Berry Corner
73   Gile Baker
39   William Sealy
24   Mary Ann Sealy
53   Lucretia Winters
13   Lupherty Catherine Winters
18   Josie Turner
46   Rachel Smith*
18   William W. Willis
14   Andrew Jackson Talley
15   Fannie Martha Angeline Willis
15   Lewis Sherman Winters
20   Joel Winters
13   George Thomas Talley
20   William Martin Conder
13   Levisa Jane Rebecca Conder
43   Eliz. Matthews Seals*
48   Feneby Fitzgiles
24   Laura Rebecca Grey
24   John Thomas Carroll
45   Banester Talley
45   Sarah Jane Carroll
26   Juda Clemant Carroll

The three converts with a * after their name were baptized by a companion of Elder Gibbs.

Abraham O Smoot hears of the Prophet's Death

News traveled more slowly 167 years ago. It was in July 1844, that Elder Smoot finally hears the news of the prophet's death. He has stopped for a few days in the area of Shady Grove, at the home of Abraham Church whose son, Haden Wells Church, had joined the Church in Nauvoo in 1840 and was now serving a mission.

July 05, 1844
On the 5th, traveled 6 miles in the forenoon, arrived in Murry County, at Mr. Church's, where I met Elder H. W. Church, with whom I had been acquainted in Nauvoo, who have been also preaching in the South for 12 months, so I spent the day and night with Esquire Church.

[The Church family home at Shady Grove sat in Hickman County right over the line from Maury County, so it would be easy for Elder Smoot to have made the mistake of placing it in Maury County.]
 
July 08, 1844
Traveled 14 miles on the 8th, passed through Williams Port twice and returned to Esquire Church's and spent the night, but not without having burdens of trouble on my mind from the alarming story that I had been told and came to hand through the medium of several newspapers of the day that General Joseph Smith the prophet was dead_ murdered by a painted mob in Carthage jail, I labored to conceal from my brethren and friends the sad news, by saying we had no right to believe the report, as many like reports had proved to be false in days past concerning him.

[Williamsport is only 3 miles from Shady Grove along the Duck River. Although he does not specify where he picked up the papers, it was likely in Williamsport. A 14 mile round trip would have only allowed him to travel 4 miles from Williamsport, not enough to get to Columbia.]

July 12, 1844
On the 12th, sent to the Post Office early and obtained my letters. An important Erra in my Christian life. Great God! endow me with Christian fortitude, for my for my fears are more than I can realized. On the return of the messenger I received with my letters a "Nauvoo Neighbor Extra", dressed in deep mourning from which I learned the awful tragedy that had been committed on the persons of Presidents Joseph and Hyrum Smith, had been assassinated by a painted mob, in which the pledged faith of the State of Illinois was stained with inocent blood.
 
[After receiving confirmation that the news was indeed true, he immediately made preparations to return home to Nauvoo.]

History Tales at a Father and Son Outing

Last Friday night I had the opportunity to speak at a Father and Son outing. There were estimates of over 90 people there, but it sure seemed like a lot more than that. I would have guessed twice that. There were 12 from my ward that I know of (we are a small ward) and many many more from several other wards.

I was asked to speak about the history of the LDS Church in the area and specifically to include the events of the Cane Creek Massacre. Our campground was on theland of a local Bishop and was within a mile, as the crow flies, from Shady Grove. That town served as a headquarters for the missionaries in the Tennessee Conference for many years. Shady Grove was really more of a plantation of sorts. The home of Abraham Church, later owned by his son "Uncle Robbins" Church, was at the center and hosted missionaries whose names most members know even today; B. H. Roberts, J. Golden Kimball and John H. Gibbs There were others as well that only history geeks know but who were equally famous in their day: David W. Patten, Abraham O. Smoot, John W. Taylor, and many more.

Not everyone was keenly interested, and it didn't bother me. I try to keep my history fascination to myself most of the time. I know not everyone wants to hear what I have to say. But most people were at least polite enough to pretend to be interested. There were a couple of kids who wanted to know when we were going to eat (it started at 8:00 pm). So maybe if give a presentation to a captive audience, I'll suggest we have popcorn or let then roast marshmallows on the bonfire. Who knows.

The next day, we offered a driving tour of a couple of important spots. About a dozen opted to join us. About a dozen more said they wanted to come but that they had promised their sons they would take the fishing. Fishing is big here. My two sons - age 13 and 9 - fished with friends for 7 hours, and I was only gone for 3 hours of that. When I finally dragged them away for dinner, they still wanted to stay.

We stopped at the Church family Cemetery in Shady Grove, and by chance ran into the owner of the land around it. He was able to confirm for us where the original home stood.We also followed the same route we had used before, stopping at a couple fewer spots. We made sure to stop at the railroad trestle and ended up at the Coder Cemetery at Cane Creek. Having already told the story the night before we had the chance to discuss some of the side stories I picked pver the last couple of years, including what happened to the Conder sisters and the other members of the Early LDS Church buried in both cemeteries.

The most interest we got was from members of the Church who were new to the area. They really wanted to understand the history of the Church in Tennessee. It gave them the chance to connect to the members who had been here all their lives. This may not be where they were born, but it is their adopted home. I don't see why other areas could not do the same.

Legislative Acts

One of the possible sources for research is public records. There are many kinds of public records and their usefulness varies from area to area. But I found an odd one that surprised me just how useful it was in one particular case.:Legislative Acts. The site of the Cane Creek Massacre is very close to the county line between Lewis County and Hickman County in Tennessee. So close that when the line was redrawn in 1897, the bill passed by the state legislature actually named the land owners who would stay in Lewis County. Some of these names are very familiar to me. This has helped me narrow the time window to determine when members of the Cane Creek Branch returned to Tennessee. In the list is Elisha Talley, a member who had returned from Colorado, Ruben Mathis and Solomon Hinson who were both vigilantes, and W. J. Garrette who was the son of Tom Garrett who was a close friend of the missionaries but never a member. And that isn't all the names I know. Lancaster, Willis, Bastian, tons of Hinsons and even a Crowe.

Including in the said county of Lewis the lands, farms, and homes of the following, to-wit: G. W. Skelton, Sr., R. A. Mitchell, G. W. Hinson, G. W. Skelton, Jr., Thos. James, E. C. Bastian, L. W. Hinson, J. R. Duncan, P.K.J. Hensley, W. H. Crowe, Bryant Mathis, D. C. Anderson, S. J. Downing, Elisha Talley, S. H. Hinson, A. H. Whylie, Budd Mathis, J. E. Sisco, E. M. Hinson, Richard Willis, W. W. Brown, D. D. Humphreys, C. W. Moody, A. T. Wylie, J. P. Talley, Ruben Mathis, W. H. Bastian, J. H. Brown, W. W. Quillin, J. A. Sisco, R. Lee Hinsley, William James, John Harper, D. L. Hinson, W. A. Pace, F. J. Cheatham, J. A. Goodman, C. A. Lancaster, "land" by Union Bank and Tr. Co., Executor; J. H. Sisco, W. A. James, J. M. Carson, Solomon Hinson, J. D. Brown, J. E. McCullom, W. T. Duncan, W. J. Garrette, Jonathan Duncan; and also all other farms and lands and homes embraced within said metes and bounds, as hereinbefore expressly set forth.

Sarah Church shares her testimony in Tennessee

I noticed the other day an entry in the Latter Day Saints Southern Star. It was a historical note about a sister sharing her testimony through the South.

History of the Southern States Mission
June 1880. Sister Sarah Church of Utah visited the south and while thus engaged made a number of appointments to preach bearing her testimony to the Gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith. She traveled through portions of Tennessee and Mississippi.

The note almost assumes she was of such stature that she need no introduction. Like Amy I wanted to know more about her.

Any project like this starts with the question “What do I know already?” For Sarah Church I know she had preached in both Tennessee and Mississippi and that she was from Utah, but little else. However, I made an assumption that if the saints in the South knew her by name, maybe ones in Utah knew her by name too. So my first stop was the Utah Digital Papers. There I found several references to Sarah Church, but most were to recent and the person too young to fit the bill. Except, that is, for two letters from George H Carver. The first reads...

Kosciusko, Miss
July 20, 1880

Editors Deseret News

Sister Sarah A. Church, who left her home in St. George, June 2d, to visit her relatives and friends in the South, was accompanied by Elders Scott and Bean as far as Nashville.

The Elders continued on to Rome, Ga., where they were assigned to their fields of labor.

Sister Church visited her friends and relations in Hickman, with whom she stayed for two weeks.

I accompanied her to this place, where she met her brother, sister and many other relations whom she had not seen for over 35 years, and who were overpowered with joy when they met each other with a brotherly and sisterly greeting.

She had enjoyed excellent health and a pleasant trip, and has been enabled to get the genealogies of many of her relatives. If all be well, she will leave for her home, in company with her sister, about the 1st of August.

The health of the people is generally good, and the weather mild and pleasant for this time of the year.
Your brother in the Gospel,
G. H. Carver.

The second letter is too long to quote, but I have excerpted the relevant portion here ...

Aug 14, 1880
Editor Junction [Ogden Standard Examiner]

...On the 12th inst., in company with Sarah A. Church, who was on a visit to see her relatives whom she had not seen for 35 years, I visited the northern part of Attala county, and the news was soon in circulation that a “Mormon” elder was in the neighborhood; so the patrons and builders of the Shiloh school house invited me to preach for them; but no sooner had I done so than a modern divine became very much alarmed and prescribed the mild treatment of “black-jacking” (whipping) for me. ...

Geo. H. Carver
Lodi, Montgomery Co., Miss.

OK, so now I am pretty sure this is the same person. I now know she has relatives in both Hickman County Tennessee, and Attala County, Mississippi. I also know she left the area 35 years prior to 1880, (i.e. 1845). Sounds like someone who went to Nauvoo, right? So, I quickly checked the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database. Only one name came up: Sarah Ann Arterbury Church. Immediately, I knew who this was. Sarah’s husband was Hayden Church whose family was from Hickman County. Hayden had served two missions to the South and died in 1875 while serving a mission in Tennessee. He was buried in Hickman County, Tennessee and Sarah likely made the visit to see her husband’s grave and visit his family. It all made sense. Sarah would have been like a celebrity in 1880. But who was she seeing in Mississippi? Sarah's family was from Alabama.

A check of FamilySearch and the 1850 census cleared that up. Sarah parents had passed way in 1848 and 1850, but in 1880 she still had a brother and sister living. And they were in Mitchells Mills, Attala County, Mississippi. Her brother: John Arterbury had a wife and a family with seven children. Her sister Paralee Arterbury had never married and was living with them.

Indeed, just as the letter predicted, Paralee accompanied her sister back to St. George, Utah. Paralee had been baptized in 1845, but had stayed with her parents instead of going west. This time, however she joined the saints. She went through the St. George temple in June 1881. But tragically Paralee passed away in St. George in October of the same year. In keeping with their understanding of the temple ordinances at the time, Sarah had Paralee sealed to her own husband Hayden Church on December 15th, 1881.

What I didn’t find, but would have made this journey complete, was a glimpse of the testimony Sarah shared with those she met in Tennessee and Mississippi. Sarah Church passed away on 29 July 1889.

P. P. Pratt and A. Church in Tennessee

Parley Parker Pratt was a missionary in Tennessee. No, not that P. P. Pratt. His son! His grandson was only 17 at the time so I don't think it was him. He wrote home to the Deseret News periodically and they dutifully printed his letters. It one of them he describes some healings in Tennessee.

Shady Grove,

Hickman County, Tenn.,
Dec 5th, 1878

Editors Deseret News:

[There are several paragraphs where he describes his health, and paradoxically says the people won't listen, but that he has more requests to speak he can fill. He unfavorably compares his success to that of the early "Elders of the Church" and says the current harvest is a gleaning by comparison. He describes the weather, poverty, and sickness and then moves right into healings]

In many localities there has been much sickness, principally chills and fevers, The Saints, when afflicted, and even strangers, send from three to ten miles to have our Elders come and administer to them. Several cases of healing have occured in this conference, which I think are worthy to be placed on record, as a testimony to the world that the Lord is with his servants and people at the present time as well as in former ages. The first case that I will mention is that of the infant son of Mr. A. Church, of this place, who was so reduced in flesh that he had been given up to die by two physicians. As a last resort the parents sent for Elder Stevenson and myself (about 20th of July) to come and administer to him. We complied with their request, when the child gradually recovered its health, to the great joy of the parents, who acknowledged the hand of God in its restoration.

[He then lists a couple of other healings, describes his plans for the new arriving Elders and signs off.]

Your brother in the Gospel
P. P. Pratt.

When I saw this my first thought was that this "A. Church" was Abraham Church. The place is certainly right. But the dates are wrong. This healing is placed in July 1878. Abraham died in 1851. So I started looking at his children, still too early, then grandchildren, when I found Abraham George Church. This one was about the right age, and he had a son who would have been just under a year old at the time. One other piece that helps fit this. A. G. Church and his wife Florence Bingham were not members, though several of his uncles and cousins were. This might explain why he sent for the Elders only as a last resort.

A. G. Church and his wife Florence didn't end up joining the LDS Church. Nor did Henry, the son who was healed. I guess miracles aren't everything.

Of course the identity of A. Church is still a theory. I need something to confirm it. Anyone out there have any ideas?

Abraham Church (1790-1851)
             |
George Brown Church (1822-1915)
             |
Abraham George Church (1852-1922)
             |
Henry Brown Church (8 Aug 1877-1950)

Alphonzo Snow and the Church family of Tennessee

A friend of mine recently discovered members of his family in Tennessee had earlier contact with the LDS Church than he originally thought. In Eliza R. Snow's biography of her brother President Lorenzo Snow, she included a brief bio of (President Snow's grandson?) Alphonzo Snow. Alphonzo served a mission in Tennessee and Kentucky from 1881-1883, and for a while was president of the East Tennessee Conference.

Elder Snow's short bio included only the most basic information. He vaguely described a few events where he avoided persecution and commented on the difference between the persecution in the north and the south. He considered the northerners less violent towards the saints, but also less likely to come to the missionaries defense. In the south, your enemies will try to kill you, but your friends will defend you with their lives. The one exception was a family with whom he was staying which, when the mob came, placed a gun in his hand so he could defend himself, while they hid in the back room.

Most hosts in the south were more gracious. For a month in the summer of 1882, he stayed at the home of Uncle Robbins Church in Shady Grove Tennessee. He said his host had the priveledge of going hunting with Elder David W. Patten, but without indication of when or where. But I think we can narrow down the possibilities.

Elder Patten died in Missouri in Oct 1838. So it must have been before that. He served a mission in Tennessee from late 1834 to early 1835 and again in 1836. Late in 1836 he moved to Missouri. He also made a trip from Missouri to Kirtland in 1837, preaching along the way. He likely passed through Tennessee on his way there and back to Missouri.

There is no indication that Elder Patten made it as far south as Shady Grove. Most of his writings place him in areas around the Tennessee river in the north part of middle Tennessee and Kentucky. Shady Grove is far south of that. But the Church family didn't move to Shady Grove until 1835 or 1836, prior to that they were living in Williamson County, which is well within the area in which David Patten was preaching. And although Uncle Robbins would have been about 10 years old at the time, it is no stretch to believe the young Robbins Church joining his father Abraham Church and David Patten on a hunting trip sometime in 1834 or 1835 while the family was living in Williamson County.

The earliest baptism in the Church family on record is 1840 for Hayden Wells Church. Robert "Robbins" Church, Isaac "Emmons" Church, and Thomas Holiday Church, and Charles Houston Church were all brothers of Hayden who also eventually joined the LDS Church. What my friend is trying to determine, was who were the missionaries that converted his ancestors. Hayden Wells Church was baptized by Joseph Smith in Nauvoo in 1840. B. H. Roberts wrote that Robbins and Emmons were baptized by Orson Hyde a few years later also at Nauvoo. But all three went to Nauvoo only after already having heard the gospel. One story says Hayden went to Nauvoo after he was touched by the beautiful signing voices of some LDS missionaries. But the story gives no names. So the question is, from whom did they hear the gospel. Was it David Patten in 1835? And if so why wait until 1840 or later to seek out baptism? Or was it another pair of missionaries in 1840? Or both?

The Family of Charles Houston Church

A few months ago I ran across a photo I just loved. I had to find out more about them. Oddly enough I had no problem finding their names.

Charles Houston (or Hayden) Church was born on June 20, 1836. Some genealogists say he was born in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee. His parents certainly lived in Williamson County at one point, but whether they were still there in 1836, I have not been able to determine. Eventually they moved to Shady Grove in Hickman County where their log home was one of the first built in the county.

Charles certainly grew up in Shady Grove and on August 18th of 1859, he married Dollie Mullens (1837-1874). They had a son (born in 1857 or 1858) they name Utah Church (one census recorder wrote "E. Church"). I take the name they chose to imply that Charles they may have been converted before that date, though I have no proof. The LDS baptism dates I do have are much later.

They lived in Tennessee in 1860 and 1870, showing up in the Census both years. Each census showed just the two of them and one son.

Dollie's first recorded baptism was on January 1, 1872 with Charles being baptized several weeks later on 13 April 1872. I don't know where the baptism took place, but he and his wife, Dollie, were then endowed (20 May 1872) and sealed (27 May 1872) in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. Had they emigrated to Utah? Or were they just there to have their temple work done? Either way, it is likely that when they made the trip to Utah they were "re-baptized" upon their arrival.

Then in 1874 Dollie died. The date comes from several family trees in Ancestry, but in each case it is unsourced. In addition I haven't been able to pin down whether she died in Utah or in Tennessee. Did they return immediately to Tennessee or did Charles stay until after Dollie died?

On November 1, 1874, Charles married Sarah Eliza Voss (1854-1917) in Tennessee. The two had seven children.  By 1880, They were living in Colorado. Utah Church was living nearby and had married. But they didn't stay long. They do not show up in the 1885 Colorado State Census and by the 1900 Federal Census, they are back in Tennessee. A carefull look of the 1900 census reveals that a son, Hayden, was born in Colorado in 1881, but their next child, Mary, was born in Tennessee in 1883. All of their remaining children were also born in Tennessee. One was a son they named Parley P. Church who was born in 1897.

Their situation was not unique. Many saints who emigrated from Tennessee to Colorado found the conditions untenable. The weather was harsh and they still had to endure persecution from the many non-mormons living in the area. Several chose to return to the land they knew, often to the very homes they were unable to sell when they left Tennessee in the first place.

Although I can't find original records to prove it, family records show that both Sarah and Charles died the same year in 1917 in Maury County, Tennessee. Sarah passed away in April, and Charles died a few months later in November.

Have you ever gone back to visit your mission?

I served in Hong Kong, and many times I have thought about returning to visit. So much has happened since I left. The temple that was announced while I was there has been built. The British returned control to China. I have lost contact with some friends. One I kept in contact with has passed away.

In February of 1887, the missionary who first formed the branch at Cane Creek, returned to visit many of the members he had baptized. It 1887, however few if any of the members that had left for Colorado had begun to return. So he spent his time visiting friends in neighboring Maury and Hickman counties. When he returned to Utah, he wrote a letter to the Deseret News.

Woods Cross, Davis County

March 14th, 1887

Editor Deseret News:
     I have performed two missions to middle Tennessee, and since that time having kept up a correspondence with some of my brethren whom I baptized and others, and finding out through them that there had not been any of the Elders to visit them since the massacre on Cane Creek, and sending me word that they felt like sheep without a shepherd, I thought I would pay them a visit, and left here on February 2, 1887. I have visited the saints in Hickman and Maury counties and found them feeling well; I can say that it was a time of joy and I feel amply paid for my visit. They received me very kindly and we had a good time together. I held three meetings, which were well attended.
     I performed two baptisms and blesses three children at Shady Grove. There are twenty-five members in the Shady Grove branch and ten in the Love’s branch.
     I wish to say to the brethren and sisters whom I visited that I got home safe and found the saints in Utah feeling well, never better; the persecution which is being brought to bear upon them is strengthening their faith, and they are becoming more united in the Gospel. Our enemies are doing a good work, but they don’t know it; though the day is not far distant when they will.

Joseph Argyle

Phoebe Church: Convert at 18, and then what?

From Elder Hyrum Belnap's journal we read about the baptism of a young girl named Phoebe Church, age 18.

Monday, November 3, [1879] we gathered at the water’s edge, near Garden’s Ferry, Duck River, where I had the pleasure of baptizing Phoebe and Paralee Church, daughters of Bro. Emmons Church. Although these girls were the first persons I ever baptized in my life all went off pleasantly.

Later that year Phoebe showed perhaps a little interest in the young, and single, Hyrum Belnap.

Sunday, September 26, [1880] I went to E[mmons] Church’s. Obtained my change of clothes from the girls. Sister Phoebe Church also presented me with one of her photos.

Tuesday September 28, [1880] Gave Sister Phoebe one of my photos in return for hers.

I bet you think you know where this is going. But you would be wrong. It isn't always obvious at any one point how one's life will turn out. But lets start back at the beginning, Phoebe Ellen Church was born on March 17, 1861* at Duck River, Tennessee to Isaac "Emmons" Church and Mary Ann Miller.

In 1884, Phoebe makes an appearance in the writings of B. H. Roberts. She runs an errand for him to bring back the young Mr. Coleman so that he could help drive the wagons to retrieve the bodies of Elders Gibbs and Berry.

She may have been a part of the exodus of Mormons from Tennessee following the Cane Creek Massacre, because on February 25th, 1885 she was in Utah where she went through the St. George Temple. But she didn't stay there long. For reasons that aren't clear she returned to Tennessee. Could she have left after being asked to enter into a polygamous relationship? Could she have left after the Manifesto made her marriage prospects dimmer? Maybe she just hated the climate. I don't know. But she still had relatives in Tennessee.

Once back home on December 15th, 1892, at the age of 31, she married Joel Ray Hicks, who was 4 years her junior and was not a Mormon. Joel was a widower who owned his own farm free and clear. He had a daughter from a previous marriage; one year old Emma C. Hicks. Together they had two sons of their own; Isaac Emmons Hicks and Joel Craton Hicks. In the 1900 census she noted she also had two other children that had by then passed away.

In the 1910 census they were living in Justice Precinct 6, Grayson County, Texas, where they rented a farm. Her name was mispelled Puebia Maks, but this was only a transcription error. The names and ages of her husband and children, as well as an examination of the original handwriting confirm this was indeed her. In addition, her Tennessee LDS membership records in 1910 have a note next to her name "gone to Texas - Reported July 09"

Farming in Texas obviously did not work out well for them. By the 1920 census they had moved to Tunstall, Pittsylvania, Virginia, where Joel found work in a cotton mill. He was a textile worker of some kind, and their younger son lived with them and worked with his father in the same mill. A two year-old granddaughter lived with them as well.

There was no evidence any of her children were baptized in the LDS Church, though with as frequently as they moved around, it would be a project to track down.

Phoebe died in February 15th, 1929 in Draper, North Carolina. Again her name was poorly transcribed, but the death certificate could be easily read if you knew what you were looking for. Her father's name is scribbled but recognizable. The cause of death is equally scrawled, looking something like "Mitral Regurgitation", a condition where a heart valve does not close properly. A secondary condition listed was senility. She was 67 years old. Phoebe was survived by Joel Hicks, who was either her husband or her son, who filled out the death certificate.

*Her death certificate said she was born in 1862.