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.

Parley P Pratt Jr. Part 1

Elder Parley P. Pratt Jr. served more than one mission for the Church. In 1878 he was serving alone in the north western states (Iowa and Missouri) when he learned that Elder Edward Stevenson Jr. was also serving his mission alone in Tennessee. So in May he headed south to join him, thinking they would be better off serving together.

Taking steamer for 200 miles up the Cumberland river, I arrived in Nashville, the state capital of Tennessee, which contains 35,000 people. Laying over for a day, I called upon the Mayor, who received me kindly. He had many questions to ask respecting our people and doctrines, and even expressed a desire to hear me preach. He opened the federal court room to me, and according to announcement, on the evening of the 12th of June, I addressed a very respectable and attentive audience on the subject of the gospel.

Pratt wrote a few letters to the Deseret News with updates to his service. His letters are a pretty good substitute for a journal, since he gives wonderful detail, even if his spelling was not perfect.

Passing on some 65 miles southwest, by rail and wagon, I joined Elder E. Stevenson at this place [Shady Grove] on June 16. He and I labored together in the counties of Hickman, Murry [Maury] and Louis [Lewis] for some 35 days, holding in the meantime 27 meetings, with an average attendance of 58 strangers.

This was not the earliest reference to work in Lewis County I have come across. Elder Stevenson’s diary says much the same thing but gives greater detail about the people to whom he preached. In particular they preached at the home of Sherriff John Carroll who was the brother of Malinda Carroll Conder. In attendance was Tom Garrett who invited the Elders to his home on Cane Creek.

We have, in this district, two branches of the Church, numbering 33 members, all in good standing, six of whom have been added during the last six months, by baptism.

I can only assume the two branches he means are Shady Grove and Totty’s Bend, the only two branches of the Church I know of at the time in the area.

[Next Time: Pratt in East Tennessee]

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

Margaret Nomie Church Bryant

 An AMH reader, Julie, provided me with this autobiography. It has some great information about the Church family whose LDS roots go back to 1841, the Shady Grove area of Tennessee where they lived, and Kelsey Texas, where many Tennessee saints moved.

Top row: Myron Early, Carl, Lelia

Bottom Row: Audrey, Margaret Nomie, Emmons, Robert Emmons, Laura

I, Margaret Nomie Church Bryant, was born on December 29, 1879. [Her parents were William Leonidas Lorenzo Church and Callie Dona Letsinger.]

We lived at Duck River in Tennessee and Pa fished. He always wanted me to paddle the boat for him. When I was five, my two younger brothers [William Ellis Church and John Bond Church] and I were blessed by Elder [John H.] Gibbs and [William S.] Berry. [see note #1 below] Both of these elders were killed by a mob the very next day. I was baptized when I was 14 [February 25, 1895]. I went to school until the fourth grade. I was the only Mormon girl and the other shunned Mormons.

I knew Bob [her husband Robert Emmons Bryant] all my life. He used to take me to school on his horse. One time he went to Idaho to visit his sister and while there he went to a carnival. He decided to give a man a dime to find out what his future wife would look like. When he got the dime out, he saw my face. He came back to Tennessee and started going with me and other girls. One day Bob told me that if I would marry him he would buy me lots of pretty dresses. A few days later when all the family was gone, I put on Ma's best dress and put her saddle on my horse and went to meet Bob.Ma saw me leave and when I crossed the bridge on Duck River, she guessed where I was going. Bob and I got the license and went back to his house and got married. He already had a house built to live in. We went home the next day and told my mother and father, but they didn't say much.

[Bob and Nomie were married on February 17, 1897. Their first child, Earley Belle Bryant was born at Duck River Tennessee on Dec 24, 1898.]

My father and mother moved to Texas about 1901 then to Oklahoma. Then we came to Oklahoma when Earley was three. It was a wild place with fine land and lots of cattle. We lived on an Indian man's place and he was good to us. We could just drive us a cow and milk all we wanted, and wild hogs were plentiful in the pecan bottoms, but there were no good houses to live in and no church or school close to go to. Our few neighbors didn't go anywhere, only visiting on Sunday. We had Father, Mother, brothers and sisters, but were not satisfied not to have a church.

[Liela Irene Bryant was born on March 5, 1903, while they were living in Oklahoma.]

One day when I going to get a bucket of water I looked down and picked up a little gold dollar. I had never seen a gold dollar before. On a little farther, I picked up a litle gold ring, so I ran back to the house. Bob was fixing to go to the little store and post office, so I wrapped up the little dollar and sent for the Deseret News. One came to us soon and there was a piece in the paper about Kelsey, a Mormon community in Texas. That was in 1904, I think, so it wasn't long before we came to Kesley and bought this place. We have left, but we always came back. We went to Oklahoma just before Carl was born. It took us three weeks to get there. We got there one day and Carl was born the next night.

[Carl Bryant was born on September 30, 1905. Back in Kelsey they had four more children; Myron B. Bryant was born January 15, 1905, Laura Pauline Bryant was born on October 4, 1911, Audrey Bryant was born on July 15, 1913, and Emmons Church Bryant was born on February 2, 1916. New.family.search.org shows that Laura died when she was one month old. But she is clearly in the photo above. Mmmmmm.]

We went to the temple when Audrey was four months old and stayed in Salt Lake for a while. We went back to Tennessee, but it was so far for Earley and Leila to walk to school that they wanted to come back to Kelsey where thay could go to school here as they knew we had a good one here. The missionaries used to teach here and were teaching then.

We always had lots of missionaries. They always like to stay with us. When Emmons was a little boy, some elders were here and he told them he was always glad to have the elders come because he knew we were going to have a good dinner. This got away with Earley, but have had elders that would stay with us weeks at the time in Tennessee. My [grand]father [Isaac] Emmons Church, had a brother, Haden [Wells] Church, who joined the church and went to Nauvoo. He crossed the plains and settled in St. George. I have heard they lived at St. George and some ar still there. One of his great grandsons was here at Kelsey on a mission years ago when we first came here. When President Bennion was ission President, we sure had a good time with so many conferences. He always came here and stayed with us and would stay here and visit all the saints and have two or three-day conferences with lots of missionaries and good speaking.

I was sick a long time with gall stones. We sold out and went to Arizona. Brother J. S. Ault drove me to town. I was sick the first time I rode in a car. Brother ans Sister Mcinty and family - Earl, Halley, and baby - went with us all on the train. Earley took care of Emmons since he was small. We got to Arizona and lived in Brother Aults's place close to Oscar Kay and Brother Ault. the father and mother. We went to Church at Gilbert, Arizona, and the children went there to school. There was a nice church there, but I had to go to the doctor at Mesa very often and got better. Brother Posey and family came to our place. They had the flu and most of us took the flu and after that the children had the measles. All were real sick except Myron. He went to bed and covered his head and was soon well.

We were there two years. We lived next to the railroad. Emmons was playing out close to the railroad and came dragging up a snake. It was dead, but that didn't keep it from scaring us all. He was just two years old then. All the children picked cotton. There was lots of it. Laura and Audrey decided they wouldn't pick, so Bob told them if they didn't pick, just quit eating. They did just one time, but soon fell in line. We were there two years and went to Utah in 1919. I did love to go to church at Gilbert. The church leaders were from Mexico and were good leaders.

[Nomie' daughter Earley wrote an almost daily log of their trip to Salt Lake. She stopped after 5 weeks, when the family was near Price, Utah. The family stayed at Price while Bob and Nomie went on to Salt Lake City]

Bob took me to the hospital [in Arizona]. There the doctors said he couldn't do anything. He wanted to send me to Salt Lake City, but we didn't know which one. We went the next day and when we got there [several weeks later] it was the L.D.S. They took me in and I had to be treated a week before I was able to be operated on. Bob had to leave me the next day after he made arrangements for me. He then had to go back to Price where the children were camped. The doctor didn't let him off until he could have some of the family to be with meand he sent Earley. She stayed about three weeks.

When she came back to Price, they all got ready to come back to [Kelsey,] Texas. She had a good place to stay. Brother and sister Berley Thompson took her in. We had known them a long time. They were in Kelsey when we came here in 1905, but now live in Little Rock, Arkansas, and work in the church there. Bob and the children chartered a [railroad] car for the teams and wagons. He came on it and the children on the train. My father and mother liver here [in Kelsey]. They had a good place to land, and I stayed on in the hospital 42 days and several weeks later came home alone and the train they were on.

I was in the Relief Society since we came to Kelsey in 1905. I was in the presidency for about two years. I went to all the church meetings and walked. I furnished the sacrament bread for 40 years. Early saw to the bread when I was gone.

[Nomie wrote this upon request for her granddaughter Nita Caldwell. Nita then typed it up for her. Nita is a daughter of Emmons]

Note #1: Elder Gibbs and Berry were never companions. They had not even served together until the day they were killed. They were both in Cane Creek, a full-day's journey from Shady Grove, the day before they were killed, but didn't even stay at the same home that night. According to Elder Berry's journal, he and Elder Thompson did visit Emmons Church Thursday July 29th, a few days before the massacre. He named Emmon's "two grand children [Earley] Bell and Bobby" as being there too. It is easy to see how this could evolve into a memory about Gibbs and Berry blessing them the day before they were killed.

Pluck-em-in ... again

George Church was a brother of Hayden Church and early LDS missionary. Most of the Church family eventually joined as well.  But before they did there was "Pluck-em-in"; a race track built by George Church in the Shady Grove area of Tennessee. It sat near his home along the Duck River, near the modern day community of Duck River on the Maury/Hickman county border. Gambling on horse racing was a widely practiced vice. In 1900, the Spence brothers (Jerome and David) recounted a story about a stranger who came to visit.

One day there came to George Church's race course a stranger riding an ugly, "slab sided" bobtailed bay horse, with mane roached, like a mule. The stranger was shabbily dressed, and the questions he asked about the horses and horse racing showed him to be entirely unfamiliar with the sport then in progress. He drank some and was very anxious to buy cattle, of which he was in search. He learned that thee would be in a few days a big horse race on Josiah Shipp's track near Centerville. By going there he could see cattle ownersfrom all over the county, and, inaddition to this, he was told that he could see a very lively horse race. For this latter he did not care, but, although an additional twenty miles' ride would be rather hard on his horse, he concluded to go on to Centerville in order to buy cattle, of which he was in great need. He went to Centerville the night before the day on which the races were to be run.

The next morning he was one of the large crowd at the track; but by the demon, Drink, the quiet, inoffensive cattle buyer had been transformed into a swaggering drunkard, who wanted to bet on the race money, which his appearance showed he could ill afford to lose. His condition was such that he could scarcely walk, and his faculties were so overclouded that he did not care which horse he backed. He just wanted to bet. He had seen other people bet at Churchs' track, and, so he said, he had as much money as anybody. His own horse was hitched near by, and, mounting it, he, continuing his boasting, announced that it could beat anything on the ground. Remonstrances were in vain, and he, continuing to wave his money, soon found takers. He was, in race-course parlance, "an easy thing," and soon there was a mad rush for his money. Having come for the purpose of buying cattle, he had money to [cover] all money offered him, and, in addition to this, was soon betting money against watches, pistols, overcoats, etc.

When the horses lined up for the start, some of the more observant noticed that the stranger seemed to have become strangely sober in a short time. When three-fourths of the track had been gone over and the stranger and his horse were still well up in the bunch, it was remembered that nobody had seen him take a drink. When the stranger's horse won with ease, beating Griner's horses, the pride of Hickman County it gradually dawned upon those who had bet with the stranger that they had been victimized.

The stranger was Shilo True [see #1 below], the trickiest trickster of them all, and the missionary work that he did the day produced lasting good. Many saw the error of their way and never bet again. Many who that day bet with the professional gambler, Shilo True, afterwards became the most prominent citizens of the county. Two of his converts were Emmons Church and his father [Abraham] Church, who, riding back to Shady Grove without their overcoats, agreed that they would gamble no more. For years, whenever people saw the appearance of fraud, a cheat, or a swindle or when they wanted to halloo, "Enough!" they simply said "Shilo!" and were understood.

No date acompanied the story, but George was born in 1822 and Abraham died in 1851, so this likely happened in the 1840's. The race track was in use in 1841 when Hayden first heard the gospel and went to Nauvoo to learn more. Emmons (Isaac Emmons Church) was baptized in 1871. Neither George nor his father Abraham joined the LDS church.

#1 Perhaps this was William Shiloh True (1819-1853) of Maury County, Tennessee.
.

News from the Tenneessee Conference [1878]

I do like to read through newspaper articles to get a feel for how events were viewed when they were "current". Plus you never know what kind of details you might find.

Local and Other Matters

From Friday’s Daily, Mar. 15. [1878]

Missionary work. – Elder Edward Stevenson writes from Shady Grove, Hickman County, Tennessee. He and Elder Hyrum Clark are laboring in that part. The branch of the Church there numbers 17. It was organized by Elder H. G. Boyle. There is another small branch, at a place called Totty’s Bend. It was organized by Elder 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 particularly cold and airy in winter.

Elder Stevenson and Clark are laboring assiduously, holding meetings and preaching at every available opportunity

[In that very same article [dated March 20, 1878] in the Deseret News was the following paragraph]

The Keepapitchinin was pitched out of existence in 1870. As its editor’s announced intention was to publish “semi occasionally,” it is liable to resuscitation. After all it may not be dead, but merely sleeping.

I think Keepapitchinin is no longer sleeping

A Public Debate

On May 15, 1881 in Shady Grove, Tennessee, Elder Hyrum Belnap was challenged to a public debate by Reverend J. M. Moulton, a Campbellite minister. According to Belnap, Elders were encouraged to avoid public debates since they would lead to mob violence if the minister found himself beaten. During this first meeting Reverend Moulton treated Elder Belnap and Spence kindly so they concented and set a date for the public debate three weeks later on July 5th & 6th

On the day of the debate Elder Belnap records what happened.

July 5. After breakfast we went out in a nice little grove, the place where Reverend J. M. Moulton and I were to have a public debate. This is just on the line between Hickman and [Maury] Counties. Brother Treadway here introduced us to Squire Frierson, the gentleman who had been chosen chairman of our debate, “Does the Bible Sustain the Doctrine Taught by the Latter Day Saints?”

At 10:00 o’clock the chair called order and I took the stand and affirmed the subject, proving same from the scriptures. Rev. Moulton took the negative, read nothing from the scriptures, but resorted to abuse of the Mormons from reports he had heard. Said that the Mormons were not the only people who believed in revelation. Spoke of Mohammed. I objected, as we were to confine our proof from the Bible. The chair sustained the objection. This very much excited the gentleman and he was unable to collect himself until his time was up. An adjournment was taken until 3:00 o’clock.

At 3:00 o’clock order was called and I opened, proving each assertion [from] the Bible as I went along. The woods were just full of people form all over the country. They seemed very much interested. This gave us an opportunity to read from the scriptures the principles of the gospel to the people, also to show them Biblical proof of the divinity of the Book of Mormon.

As the Reverend Moulton arose he began reading parts of the scriptures, part of one verse and part of another, making them read as he desired. Then he would explain what this and that meant, not allowing the scriptures to speak for themselves, as I did. Then he resorted to sarcasm and abuse as if he were fairly going mad. At the close I tried to get him to let us continue the same subject that evening, but he declined.

July 6. At 10:00 o’clock we were again at our post. This day the subject was, “Is the Doctrine of the Christian Church (to which he belonged) in Accordance with the New Testament?” He affirmed this subject. Moulton showed forth repentance and baptism by immersion. O. K., but he stopped here. It was my privilege to show that this was a small part of the gospel taught in the New Testament.

At 3:00 o’clock he acknowledged that I had explained the gospel principles correctly as Jesus taught them, but there had now come a more excellent way of perfection. In my answer, it was the opportunity of my life to show the people the acknowledgement of the Reverend that Jesus taught one doctrine for salvation and that my friend Moulton had another, then put the question squarely, which plan should we follow, the one given by Jesus or the more excellent way taught by man, even the Reverend himself. Here compared the two doctrines and stated to them that they could all follow the Reverend Moulton, if they chose, but as for me I preferred to follow Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation taught by him. The judge did not call me when the time arrived. The people were so interested they seemed to have forgotten and I must acknowledge that the Lord blessed me as He never had before with language to express myself and with the spirit of testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. At night I came over with W. Hunt

Elder Belnap did not record any mob violence at Shady Grove following the debate.

Pluck-em-in

This story was given to me as a single sheet. Obviously a photo copy. the notes written on the top indicated it came from a book called "Hither and Yon" by Jill K Garrett. At the end was a date May 9, 1982. I might assume it was written by Jill herself. I run into her name all the time when I am searching original records from that part of Tennessee.

The book, Hither and Yon: The best of the writings of Jill K. Garrett, (Columbia, Tennessee 1986) is still under copyright so I can't really quote the whole thing. But in the article on page 282, she relates how she was taken to "the old Mormon Place; an old log home near the Duck River on property belonging to the Hooker Chemical Company in Hickman County. The home was near the property line of the Natchez Trace Parkway System, but actually sat right on the original Trace. Nearby was a cemetery and one of the names she recorded from the graves there was Abraham Church (1790-1851). Abraham settled there in 1836. One of his sons, George, built a race track. The track was called Pluck-em-in.

Jill went on to describe another son of Abraham Church: Rufus Robins Church. According to Jill RR Church had joined the Mormon Church and moved to Utah. He had come back to influence his friend s a neighbors to join the church. He died just 12 days after the Cane Creek Massacre, and was buried in this same cemetery. Newspapers claimed his death may have been from natural causes but that the real cause was shock due to the deaths at the Massacre.

It sounds like Jill has conflated the stories of RR Church together with that of Hayden Wells Church. It is likely Hayden's grave stone was originally place here. However, I believe the name was Robert Robbins Church. "Rufus" probably comes from Rufus Coleman, who was a friend of the missionaries and who helped Elder Roberts retrieve the bodies of Gibbs and Berry.