Ellen DePriest's Miracle

Margaret "Ellen" Talley DePriest [1] would certainly qualify as one of the lesser known early Saints. Yet her life can be just as interesting as the more often told stories. Ellen was the recipient of a miracle which saved her life. But her life was so much more than just one event. She was born in the uncertainty of the Civil War on 3 April 1864 in Lewis County, Tennessee to Elisha Freeland Talley & Barbara Ellen Hudson.

Ellen's family had moved to this remote part of Tennessee two generations earlier.  They came in the 1820's, soon after the Treaty of Washington was signed in 1806. The treaty allowed white settlement south of Tennessee's Duck River to the state line. For this vast tract of land, the Creeks received $14,000 while the Cherokees received $10,000, a gristmill, a cotton gin, and a $100 yearly payment to Chief Black Fox.

Small towns sprung up on the larger rivers. But there were large parcels of land to be had on the highland creeks. They attracted the adventurous like the DePriests, the Talleys, and the Lancasters, from North Carolina and Georgia where the opportunities to build your own farm were limited to those who could afford to buy the land.

There were no churches in this highland frontier. But occasionally an itinerant preacher would wander through. Campbellites, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists were the most common,  but the Mormons made an appearance too.

Ellen's parents, Eli & Barby Talley, were the first in Lewis County to join the Mormons in September of 1879.  Mormons were not well liked. They were known to be polygamists and were accused of far worse. Then her uncle John Lancaster joined, and her aunt Malinda's husband, Jim Conder joined too. With her family joining a strange and unpopular faith, it must have seemed like a strange autumn, to be sure. But then a miracle happened. Uncle John's invalid sister, Rachel Lancaster was healed by the power of prayer. It was no trickery. Rachel was at death's door and everyone knew it. She had been sick for years and now had worsened. She could not breath and was not expected to last the night. But there she was the next morning, singing Mormon hymns!! And it was the prayers of the Mormons that did it. They had administered to her with oil like was done in the Bible. Rachel was baptized a week later along with Elizabeth, Uncle John's wife.

It didn't take long for Ellen to decide follow their example. She and her new husband, Tom DePriest, were baptized in Cane Creek on the 28th of January along with three others: Ellen's sister Leona, and her husband's brother and his wife, James and Margaret DePriest.[2] 

Ellen and Tom [3] were expecting their first child. It was an exciting time. A new marriage, a new church, and the baby was due in early May. Sadly there was an accident. The details are sketchy. There appears to have been a fire which went out of control. Accidental fires were a frequent hazard.  Ellen's own grandmother Feriba would die from a fire accident in 1896. While she was making soap outdoors in a kettle over an open fire a gust of wind blew the flames onto Grandma Feriba's dress. The single description of the accident in Ellen's case is more vague. We don't know how the fire started or even where it was. Ellen and her husband were able to suppress the fire, but the "exposure in fighting [the] fire" caused her to miscarry.

Six days passed and she had not delivered the dead child. Ellen was growing ill and was bedridden. Her belly swelled abnormally. She was "chewing her tongue & swooning." The midwives and the local doctor determined there was no more they could do for her. One midwife left saying she would not attend a dead woman. They sent for a physician who had the tools to remove the child in pieces, thinking this was the only way to save her life. Two of the missionaries laboring in the area administered to her, and pronounced that she would have health and strength.

Late in the afternoon on the seventh day, after being prostrated for two days, Ellen finally delivered the dead child, feet first. About an hour later the doctor they sent for arrived and declared her as healthy as any woman he had seen give birth. By the end of the day he declared her fully recovered.

It must have been a monumental event in her life. When other family members turned away from the Church in later years, Ellen remained strong. In March of 1883, Ellen and her husband joined an emigrant company heading for Colorado. Travelling with them was Tom's brother and his wife, James and Margaret DePriest. Both families settled in Manassa, on the same block.

In November 1884, after the Cane Creek Massacre, Ellen's parents and other relatives including Tom's other brother Pleasant, followed them to Manassa. Although her parents didn't stay for more than a couple a years, Ellen remained and raised her 11 children in her new home. All of them grew to adulthood, married and had children of their own. She shared a long life with her husband who died in 1932. Ellen passed away, few years later, still living in Colorado, still true to the faith, on 9 May 1937.

[1] There is a photo of Ellen floating around the internet, but I have not been able to verify its authenticity with a family member, nor have I been able to get a clear enough version to make it worth putting in online. Much of the information about her was confused with her aunt/sister-in-law with the same name.

[2] Ellen shared more than just a first and last name with her sister-in-law, Margaret DePriest. They also shared maiden names: Talley. Her sister-in-law, Margaret Eisabel Talley DePriest, was also her father's younger sister.

[3] Ellen and Tom lived "up the hollow" from her parents Eli & Barby Talley. Missionaries usually visited both families on the same day, so it was probably very close by.

Looking for Rachel Conder

Amy's post over at Keepapitchinin got me to thinking more about documenting my research on Tennessee Mormon families into the LDS Church's newest online family history tool: Family Tree.  I had been to the site a couple of times, but saw that many of the errors from New.FamilySearch were perpetuated there. Amy's post has given me hope that perhaps the new mechanisms for fixing them might make a difference.

I'm not so naive to think that family history always has clear easy answers. Sorting through the clutter of rumor and ill conceived ideas is part of the fun of history and family history. Creating Family Tree does not remove the clutter. But at least it creates an easier way to store sources which will make the effort of documenting the process and sorting out the problems easier.

Lets take for example the Conder family of Cane Creek. Family Tree shows they had four children, Martin, Visey, Rachel, and "P". I know Malinda and Jim  had six children together, but for three of them their names, gender, birth dates, and death dates were never recorded. They appear to have died very young and before the family met the missionaries. Malinda also had a son with her previous husband, but we'll leave him out of the current discussion. In Family Tree "P" is listed as a son, but I think "P" is really a duplicate of Rachel.

A couple of years back I ordered a copy of the a micro film showing LDS Church Records for Middle Tennessee. This particular record was dated 1910. The record has been a great source, and includes some records of members in Lewis County where some survivors of the Cane Creek Massacre lived. Below are the names listed for the Conder family

It is a pretty close match to Family Tree. As you can see there are four of them. I believe they are...

Visey J. Conder = Lavicia Jane Rebecca Conder
Wm. J. Conder = William James Conder
Malinda Conder = Malinda Conder
P. Conder = Rachel Ann Conder

I think most people would agree with my first three matches, even without knowing the family, but the fourth might give you pause. In what world does "P" = Rachel?

Let me guide you through my thought process.

Rachel lived with her parents for the rest of their lives, foregoing marriage in order to take care of them. Malinda could barely walk due to her injury, though she could get around with a cane. In the days before automation, the chores of housework would have been significant. Rachel would have been very busy  cooking, cleaning, and taking care of her mother. In every interview she gave she is with her parents, and she explains why she stayed. That she might not be on the record is odd.

I also know that she was very dedicated to the church. Even in the face of the horrors inflicted on her family, she received and treasured the church literature sent to her. After both of her parents passed away and she moved in with her Methodist sister, she kept her collection of church publications locked up. After Rachel's death, her brother-in-law took the whole cabinet outside and burned it with all its contents. So for her not to be included in the Church records would be odd.

The record above shows other problems which indicate it was a copy of an older record,and  not an original compilation. In 1910 Visey's name is 13 years out of date. She had married Will Haley in 1897. So it must have been transcribed from an older source and not verified for accuracy.

With a little more digging I did find this record (below) as a possible match for the older record. [There were several names between the header and the Conder family entries. For the sake of space and perhaps privacy, I have cut them out.] Based on the dates of the records around it, it had to be written between Nov 1901 and Sept 1903, though because it was in the same hand writing as the 1901 entries, I am guessing it was closer to 1901 than 1903.

It still has the wrong name for Visey, but in 1901 she had only been married 3-4 years. She had joined the Methodist church when she married and likely did not care to update the Church records. The spelling of each abbreviation and the order of the  names is identical to the first record, making me pretty sure this is the source for the first. In fact this record book has been transcribed many times. It is full of notes, names circled, crossed out, check marks, and on and on. Other than perhaps a note at the top of the page indicating this book was used to generate a 1930 church census, the meanings of the marks are lost, probably stored only in the head of their creator.

Note that Rachel and "P" don't appear on the same record in either case. In this entry, "P" clearly shows a birth date and a baptism date which match Rachel's further validating my opinion that "P" and Rachel are that same person. There are no other options than for "P" to be Rachel. But how do I explain why  "P" was written and not at least part of her real name? So far I have a few options.

1. The intent was to write an "R" but it just looks like a "P" to us. Although I don't know why the clerk would just write an "R". In the second and earlier record, however, it looks even less like a "R".
2. Perhaps the writer for both records was working from a third incomplete source record, not collecting the data first hand. This would also explain why Visey was not listed with the name Haley. He may have misread his source. 
3. "P" was Rachel's nickname. There is no evidence of this whatsoever.
4. Rachel had a twin brother named "P" who died young. But their names got mixed on an early church record and never sorted out since. (this is pure fantasy).

I have not yet figured out where the death date for "P" came from. Family Tree only says "LDS Church Membership" as its source. Plus I also don't know how the gender for "P" was determined. There is nothing in either record indicate the sex of the person.

I'm not ready to delete "P". But if I can figure out how Rachel came be recorded as "P" and answer these last two questions I'm sure I would.

Ada Turner Gets Married

Ada Turner was one of the lesser known figures connected to the Cane Creek Massacre. At age sixteen she joined the LDS Church and subsequently - a few weeks before the massacre - immigrated to Utah with her eighteen year old sister Josie and their aunt Lovona Shaw. Their departure has been suggested as one of the causes that led to the violence. More than one missionary serving in Tennessee at the time connected their baptism and immigration to the increased anti Mormon sentiment leading up to the shooting. Leaving ones parents was viewed in Tennessee as a harsh form of disloyalty, though her parents didn't see it that way. Local folklore going back to 1906 speculated that since both girls were shipped off to Utah in 1884, they would have soon become part of some polygamous marriage. Some people got pretty agitated that Mormons were carrying off girls to Utah. The truth, however, was the two went to Utah to go to school. Ada finished high school, went on to finish college, though it was her sister who graduated at the top of her class. After school, Ada opened a kindergarten in Rexburg, Idaho. In 1897, she married Samuel Ricks, monogamously. The two had one child. The marriage ended in divorce ten years later and Ada moved to Salt Lake where she raised her son with the help of her sister Josie.

A couple of years ago I was given two photos for which there was circumstantial evidence that they were the two Turner sisters, Ada and Josie. The photos were taken in Salt Lake City and sent back to Lewis County relatives. They were not labeled and over the years no one could remember who they were. Nearly everybody baptized at Cane Creek were related, and as more years passed the relationships became more interconnected. But only three women baptized at Cane Creek went to Utah: Ada, Josie and their Aunt Lovina. The rest went to Colorado, Missouri, or stayed in Tennessee. Lovina had a debilitating case of Dropsy, and had suffered from it most of her life, making it difficult to even walk. Her condition would be obvious in any photograph. So the theory was these two photos might possibly be the two sisters.

To prove it, I needed to track down a verifiable photo of the sisters. For the last two years I have trolled genealogy message boards and similar sites for people who are working on Ada Turner's family history. Because Josie never married, it was less likely I would find anyone working on hers. Last week it paid off. I received a copy of a photo of Samuel Ricks and Ada Turner. It appears to have been a wedding photo.

But was it a match for one of the two sisters I already had photos of? There is some superficial similarities to one of the photos, hair style and expression in the eyes, but the shape of the face is not quite right. What do you think?

The other mystery woman has no similarities at all. (see the other photo here)

So while you might think this was a bust, what I really am is excited. I have a photo of another member of the Cane Creek Branch!! As for the two unidentified women? I have other possible matches. There is no rule that says they can't have been women who immigrated to Colorado who had their photos taken during a visit to Salt Lake City. Or perhaps formwe Cane Creek resident John Westbrook, who had a history of sending photos back to Lewis County, sent a photo of his first wife: Juda Elizabeth Samples. Elizabeth died young of consumption. I have been unable to locate comparative photos of her either. While I may not spend as much time on this as I have in the past, it is still an unanswered question. Who were these women?

Dabbs Cemetery at Trace Creek

I'm really a bit surprised at myself. I have been researching the Cane Creek Massacre for almost 4 years, and although I have been to the Conder Cemetery and seen the marker placed for Riley and Martin, I still had not visited the graves of the family members who survived: Jim, Malinda, Rachel and Vicie.

About four months ago I decided to fix that oversight. It wasn't hard to learn where they were buried. Several independent records confirm that they were buried at Dabbs Cemetery on Trace Creek. That made sense. The family lived along Trace Creek after returning to Lewis County in about 1897. That year Vicie married Will Haley, whose family had lived along Trace Creek for many years.

The cemetery itself, however, was harder to find than I expected. I found Dabbs Cemetery Road, and where it intersected with Trace Creek Road. Thinking that the cemetery was probably at the far end of the road, I drove out to find it. Sadly, the road ended and there was no cemetery to be found. It was getting dark and I was running out of time, but no one was home at the only nearby house I could find. My search would have to wait until next time.

On my next visit months later I finally found the cemetery. Turns out that the road used to continue on to Dabbs Cemetery, but that the bridge had been destroyed and the bulk of the road had been reclaimed by the woods. There was another road from the opposite direction that was still being used: Kro Hollow. My second attempt was successful.

Jim died in 1911. His grave stone was made professionally. But it has sustained the most damage, broken clean in half. Besides his name, and dates, there is a quote which I unfortunately could not read.

Malinda died in 1916. Her stone was not made professionally, and is more difficult to read. But the stone itself is in better condition than her husband's. This low resolution version of the photo does not do it justice, but the script letters of Malinda's stone are thin and appear to have been made by the repeated tracing of a metal stylus. Weather has nearly eroded the name completely from view.

Rachel died in 1955. Her stone is noticeably more modern than the others. Though it has begun to tilt forward as the ground under the marker settles. I had to stand at an odd angle to get this shot.

Vicie died in 1958. I don't know when the current stone was added, but it includes her husband who died in 1964. The stone may have been purchased in 1958 and Will's name added when it was time.

The weather actually cooperated with me. It had been raining and snowing all morning. But I think the lower light gave me better results. The last cemetery trip I took was on a sunny day. The light coming through the trees created too much contrast against the shadows making it hard the photograph anything. The overcast light of early afternoon worked much better.

Although the condition of some of the grave stones is sad, I don't really have a relationship with the deceased. Legally I can't fix this. My only options are to see if some descendents are willing to approve efforts at repairs. Most of them, however, want nothing to do with Mormons.

The Conder Family before and after the Massacre

[This paper was presented at the MHA conference on May 29, 2010. ]

Prologue

On August 10th 1884, over a dozen disguised men armed with pistols and shotguns attacked the home of Jim and Malinda Conder where LDS Church services were about to begin. When the shooting was over five people were dead, one crippled, and the lives of the nine LDS families still living at Cane Creek were forever changed. But with the crippling of Mrs. Conder and the death of her two sons and it was the Conder family which suffered the most.

The Conder Family

Twenty nine years earlier, in 1855, the future Mrs. Conder was twenty-two year old Malinda Carroll living on Little Swan Creek in Lewis County. That year she married John R. Hutson and the two moved into a log home along the east fork of Cane Creek . Even before their first child was born, however, John died . Malinda was devastated, but she continued living on Cane Creek . When her son was born later that year , she named him John Riley Hutson, after his deceased father. Riley was six years old, when Malinda remarried. Her new husband, Jim Conder, treated her son as his own.

Their life was soon interrupted by the Civil War. Actually, the closest the war came to their home was small units foraging for food and supplies. But still, people from Cane Creek lost fathers, husbands and brothers in battles across the south. Jim Conder and his brothers fought at the Confederate defeat at Raymond, Mississippi in May 1863. One of Jim’s brothers was killed. Two others were captured. To avoid the same fate, Jim just went home .

Back at Cane Creek, Jim and Malinda resumed their lives. They had three children of their own ; Martin, Rachel, and Visey. They built up their farm to about 300 acres including an apple orchard near the house. A saw mill at nearby Ivy Mills provided periodic employment which they took when they could get it. In the evenings they gathered in the homes of friends and family for entertainment. Music was a big part of that. Young Martin Conder, for example, learned to play the violin . From time to time they would listen to traveling preachers. Campbellites, Baptists and Methodists were the most common, but the Mormons came too.

As early as 1878, LDS missionaries were holding public meetings in area schoolhouses and the homes of some prominent residents like Sheriff John Carroll. But it was at the home of Eli and Barby Talley that a branch of the LDS Church took root. Eli opened his home for the missionaries in late July 1879. By September, both he and his wife requested baptism. Dozens more, most of whom were relatives, would eventually follow.

Among them were Jim and Malinda Conder. Barby Talley was Malinda’s sister-in-law through her first husband. And Malinda’s brother was Sheriff John Carroll. But it was Jim who first committed to baptism . Malinda decided to wait. Although no clear explanation is given, one elder speculated it was because of the false rumors being spread about the LDS church.

The events that convinced others to join had no apparent effect on Malinda or her decision on whether to get baptized. On November 10th, 1879, Rachel Lancaster was miraculously healed. Shortly thereafter Rachel and her sister-in-law, Sarah Lancaster , joined the small branch, bringing membership up to eight. And the healing caused a stir among others living on Cane Creek. Within a couple of months, seven more people were baptized. Still, Malinda and her children were not among them.

Several families that joined the LDS church took the opportunity to gather to Zion. Rachel Lancaster, Burwell Blanton and his family, and the three DePriest brothers along with their families, went to Colorado as directed by Church leaders. But most of the members of the Cane Creek branch elected to stay in Tennessee. Jim showed no interest in moving west and no missionary recorded encouraging him to do so.

Over the next five years, Jim was actively involved in the branch. He and two others coordinated the building of a log meeting house. And missionaries frequently ate and slept at the Conder home. Many elders became close friends with the Conder family. So close that they were not above playing pranks on each other.

One March morning, Jim Conder returned from hunting squirrels to find a young man at his home. The man introduced himself as Willis Robison, a Baptist minister. He said he had heard there was going to be a Mormon service there that evening and he wished to attend. He said he had heard much spoken about the Mormon Elders, though most of it in disrespect. Actually, Reverend Robison was Elder Robison, a relatively new LDS missionary to Tennessee who had not yet visited Cane Creek. At the urging of his companion and with the consent of Jim’s family, he had agreed to pose as a Baptist preacher. But Jim was not so easily deceived. After only a few minutes, he interrupted Robison saying “You can’t fool me on them eyes. You’re an elder yourself.” Jim and Elder Robison became close friends after that.

In February 1884 Malinda had a change of heart. She and two of her children, Riley and Rachel were baptized. Even in Tennessee, February is not a warm month. The discomfort of an outdoor, midwinter baptism is mitigated only by true dedication. Malinda did not get baptized just to please her husband. Her conversion was genuine. This also marked the beginning of a string of baptisms at Cane Creek. In April and May of 1884, eighteen more were performed, including two more of Jim and Malinda’s children: Martin and Visey.

Originally, Martin had no interest in getting baptized. Martin genuinely liked the missionaries, but he was sometimes described as a hardened mountain boy. His rough demeanor concerned even his parents. So the service was planned for just four baptisms including Visey. But since the missionaries were going to leave Cane Creek to visit another branch right after the service, one missionary was impressed to seek out Martin before the service started in order to say good bye. He found Martin working in a bean field belonging to Tom Garrett . As the two were saying good-bye, the elder shared his testimony. Martin was so touched by his words, that he insisted on being baptized that very day.

Lead up to the Massacre

About five days before the massacre, two missionaries recently assigned to the area, made their way to the Cane Creek where they stayed at the Conder home. Two other missionaries joined them at Cane Creek the next day, staying at the Garrett home that first night. The four spent the week visiting members and preparing for Sunday’s service.

On Friday afternoon, while they met at the home of Eli and Barby Talley, A neighbor, Rube Mathis, came to visit the Conder family for an early afternoon meal. Unlike nearly everyone else living on Cane Creek, Rube wasn’t related to the Talley family. He was actually first cousins with the one vigilante who would be killed at the massacre, David Hinson. Because of that relationship, Rube had attended a meeting the previous day. Its purpose was to decide what to do about the Mormon problem. We have to guess what they decided. But since Rube was friends with the Conder family, he felt the need to warn them they were in danger.

It isn’t clear whether Jim and his sons understood the nature of the plans being made against them, but they dismissed the warning. They told Rube that they had been threatened before, but it never amounted to anything. This time, they insisted, would be no different. When Rube realized he could not get them to cancel the Sunday morning service, he left with the advice that they not do anything foolish to make things worse.

However, Rube must have made quite an impression on Malinda Conder. That night she had a dream about Sunday’s meeting. In her dream she saw that there would be violence and bloodshed. So, when she awoke Saturday morning, she urged her boys to load their guns in order to be ready for whatever happened. They did as she asked. Riley placed his muzzle loading double barrel shotgun in the loft, probably thinking he wouldn’t need it. Martin hung his single barrel gun on deer antlers over the back door, where it was more readily accessible.

The Massacre

On Sunday morning guests began arriving at the Conder home at least an hour before the scheduled meeting. Malinda’s niece, Betty Webb brought her husband Al and their two sons: Byron and Kess. They came partly out of curiosity, but mostly to support “Aunt Sues” as Malinda was known to her extended family. But the visitor Malinda seemed most excited about was her nine month old grandnephew Kess . She took Kess in her arms and from that point on her focus was on the baby. Thirteen year old Visey took over for her mother in the kitchen.

Malinda and her other daughter, Rachel, sat in the room which had been set up for the meeting. Betty Webb, Eliza Talley and others who have not been definitively identified were also in the room as well as three missionaries . Prior to the start of the meeting, they sang a collection of hymns . Outside, Martin and Riley showed a few guests around the orchard next to the house. Jim was positioned at the front gate. He welcomed latecomers as they arrived and kept an eye out for the trouble Rube Mathis had warned about.

Just as the singing inside stopped, a dozen or more men emerged from the forest and seized Jim. He had only enough time to call out for his sons to get their guns. Both boys ran for the house. Riley jumped the fence and made it there first. He went in the back door and up to the loft to get his gun. By the time Martin made it to the house, three or four of the vigilantes were already inside. One of them was going for Martin’s shotgun hanging over the back door. Martin reached for it as well and soon found himself wrestling for control of the gun. In the struggle the vigilante’s mask came off revealing him to be David Hinson. At this Hinson lost his temper. He drew a pistol, pointed it at Martin’s face and pulled the trigger. The gun snapped, but didn’t fire. Furious, David hit Martin on the head with the pistol knocking him to the ground. The gash on his head looked serious but at most rendered him briefly unconscious.

By the time Martin regained his senses, he could see two missionaries lying dead on the floor. David Hinson was still standing there holding Martin’s shot gun. So Martin did what any twenty-two year old boy pumped with adrenaline and testosterone would do. He got up and tried to grab his gun. This time, however, another man shot Martin, killing him instantly.

Moments later, Riley came down the stairs with his own shot gun just in time to see Hinson walking away from Martin’s body and out the door. Two of the vigilantes still in the house saw Riley with his gun and tried to grab him. Riley shook them off and moved to the door. He picked David Hinson out from the crowd and shot him above the waist .

Responding quickly one of the men outside fired on Riley fatally wounding him in the stomach. Other vigilantes fired into the house, one of them hitting Malinda who was still holding baby Kess. Part of the shot hit her in the upper thigh, breaking the bone.

After the Shooting

After the vigilantes left, Jim and several others ran to the house. Martin and the missionaries were dead. Riley still was conscious, so they helped him to a shed behind the house. Knowing he could not survive his wounds, Riley insisted that they do what they could to save his mother. Riley lived only a couple of hours after the shooting. Someone was sent by carriage to get a doctor. They returned with Dr. Plummer who tried to set Malinda’s broken bone . Even with this help it appeared for a while that she would not recover.

Immediately after the shooting, Jim told Tom Garrett that he knew who the disguised men were. But when the coroner arrived the next day, Jim testified that because of the masks he could not identify any of them except David Hinson who was, by then, dead. Fear of reprisal kept him silent. It was just a glimpse of the fear that came to drive behavior of the survivors of the Massacre for years afterwards.

In fact, the fear intensified into justifiable paranoia. A couple of days later, just before midnight, the Conder girls heard rocks being thrown at their door. Anxious that the vigilantes might have returned, they immediately put out their lamps. By the moonlight they could see a dirty, ill clad man crouching behind a tree stump. He claimed to be Elder Willis Robison and asked to be let in. The Conder family knew Elder Robison, but this man looked more like a farmhand. He said he came a long way to make sure everyone was all right and to see if he could help. He refused to be turned away now. Awakened by the disturbance, Jim came to the door. He immediately recognized his friend’s voice and let him in. Jim told Elder Robison all about the Massacre and assured him that there was nothing he could do for them. He also told him that the last two missionaries had made it safely to Shady Grove.

Elder Robison observed how Jim and Malinda were dealing with the tragedy in different ways. Malinda was understandably bitter, considering her injury and the loss of her two sons. Bedridden, she was smoking a corn cob pipe to ease the pain. In addition her survival was still in doubt. Jim, however, wasn’t angry. He seemed sad yet at peace. He was grateful that in the midst of all the violence that God had preserved those he had. But the longer Elder Robison stayed the more uneasy Jim became. He said he was concerned for Elder Robison’s safety and encouraged him to leave immediately. But more than that, he was afraid that guards placed by the vigilantes had seen Elder Robison arrive and would soon come to get him. That would, of course, put the rest of his family great in danger. So, at Jim’s urging, just an hour after his arrival, Elder Robison left the Conder family as he had found them.

Second hand reports claim that Jim immediately left Lewis County in fear of his life, leaving his family behind. Malinda was certainly too weak to move. But other evidence doesn’t support this claim. Eight days after the massacre Jim was seen outside his home chopping firewood when B.H. Roberts exhumed the bodies of the dead missionaries. Elder Roberts later wrote that eventually Jim took his whole family to Perry County. And leaving did seem wise. Two other murders were rumored to have been committed by the vigilantes, exacerbating the fear that the violence wasn’t going to stop.

But the fear didn’t last forever. Jim and Malinda eventually came back to Lewis County, although they could not bring themselves to live in their original home . In 1895, Visey married Will Haley , a resident of Trace Creek eight miles to the south of Cane Creek. Jim, Malinda, and Rachel moved into a house next door to Visey and her new husband. They lived there quietly for many years, perhaps hoping to avoid stirring up the previous animosity. But in 1900, Jim, Malinda, and a few other branch members still living in Lewis County signed an open letter attesting to the character of the missionaries who served at Cane Creek. The letter was reprinted in LDS Church publications. Such a public repudiation of the popular justification for the murders could have been dangerous but they suffered no repercussions for their statement. Some of the suspected vigilantes had died or moved away by 1900. While others were reported to be ashamed of the part they played in the violent affair.

In retrospect we can see the tide had turned, although at the time no one would have believed it. Few Latter-day Saints from outside Tennessee braved the unknown danger of Lewis County, Tennessee. Contact between the LDS Church and the members still living there was sporadic at best. Whether it was a missionary on his way to serve elsewhere or a missionary on her way home, the visits were short and private. Sometimes missionaries would visit to perform ordinances in catch up fashion like the baptisms for teenage children of member families. Several of Malinda’s nieces and nephews were baptized in this way.

Although they did not have regular services, the Conder family remained committed to the LDS Church. In 1910 they, along with seven others were listed on LDS Church rolls for Lewis County. With the exception of the Conders, however, none of the survivors of the massacre still living in the county were included on the list. It would, however be their last appearance in Church records. In 1911, Jim passed away , followed in 1916 by Malinda .

Completely devoted to caring for her parents in their old age, Rachel chose to not get married. In her old age she told one interviewer that she did not regret that decision. After her mother died, Rachel moved in with her sister. They entertained a handful of guests interested in talking to the survivors of the Massacre. The sisters recounted their experience and showed off relics of the past. Among them were Riley’s shot gun and Martin’s violin. One guest was even allowed to play the violin. Later the shotgun was donated to the Church History Library, but the location of the violin has passed from public record.

Although they received guests, the old fear was still present. In 1934, the LDS church placed a monument on the grave of Riley and Martin. Charles A. Callis, the newest member of The Twelve, dedicated the monument in the presence of a dozen guests. The Conder sisters did not attend the service, possibly out of fear that such an open association would stir up the old animosities.

In 1947, when missionaries were again permanently assigned to Lewis County , one of the first tasks of the new missionaries was to visit the homes of known members, including Rachel and Visey Conder. The sisters were polite to the elders, allowing them to take photographs. In one missionary’s opinion, however, the sisters didn’t want to have anything to do with them after that out of fear it could cause them trouble. The men who had killed their brothers, crippled their mother and driven them from their home were all dead and gone, but the effects of their violence were still being felt. Even after sixty-three years, the fear was still strong.

Eventually the last two members of the Conder family at the massacre passed away. Rachel died in 1955, still in Lewis County at the age of eighty-seven. She was buried at Trace Creek Cemetery, a few miles south of Cane Creek. Visey died a few years later in 1958 at the age of eighty-eight. Visey was survived by her husband Will, two daughters, four grandchildren, and several great grandchildren.

Bibliography

Horace Talley's Baptism

[Last year at about this time I found an article about the first baptism from Cane Creek in 65 years. Below is the text of that article.]

First Convert Baptized in Cane Creek Since Massacre of Two Elders in 1884



By Elder Bruce E. Belnap
Nashville, Tenn.

On Sunday, August 10 1884, 65 years ago, at the home of Elder and Mrs. Conder of Cane Creek, Lewis County, Tenn. Sunday School services were just beginning under the direction of Elder Gibbs and Berry.

As the opening song was announced, a mob attacked from the front of the house and in a few minutes five persons lay dead including Elders Gibbs and Berry, Martin Conder, John Riley Hudson and the leader of the mob, Dave Hinson. Among those present were the Conders and their children, Rachel Ann, Visey Jane, Martin, and a half-brother John Riley Hudson.

UNTIL 1947 the missionary efforts of the church excluded Lewis County as a proselyting area though the church sent various men at times to visit the spot and to talk with the people. The house has since burned down but the little cemetery remains where a monument has been erected in honor of Martin Conder and John Riley Hudson.

During all these years there has been one friend living near the scene who has been willing to show visitors around and to relate the story. He is Horace Campbell Cooper Talley, son of Mrs. Talley who was present at the massacre. Horace Talley was not present but heard the shots from the Talley home. He remembers the day vividly although he is now 73 years old. He hasn’t heard a Latter-day Saint missionary preach since that time.

ABOUT A MONTH ago while visiting with the elders in Lawrenceburg, one of them suggested that we go and see Mr. Talley. I wasn’t much in favor at first, but all of a sudden I stood on my feet and was impressed to say “Let’s go!”

We arrived and found Mr. Talley and talked to him for about an hour. As we prepared to leave, he took me to one side and asked me when a conference would be held in the Hampshire Branch. He also wanted to know if a certain elder was still in Columbia. When I answered hi questions, he asked me if Elder Clifford, a spry 62 year-old missionary from Clearfield, Utah, could baptized him, I was pleasantly surprised, because our conversation had not been on the first principles of the Gospel.

So I told him “Yes” and we left knowing that this would be the first person from Cane Creek to ask for baptism since that fateful Sunday in 1884. It was also interesting that he should ask me for permission to be baptized because my grandfather, Hyrum Belnap, was a missionary in Cane Creek in 1880 and knew all these folk and baptized some of them.

All plans were and an Oct 2, Brother Talley was baptized by Elder Arch F Clifford and confirmed a member by me. Brother Talley wept for joy and we are sure that he has had a testimony of the Gospel for many years.

Pioneers who came too late to count

The Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database covers a period that ends with the arrival of the railroad to Utah in 1869. It is a reasonable cut off. I would never suggest that cut off be changed. But pioneers continued to come for many years (and still do today, but that is the subject for some other blog). I'll admit pioneer may not be the right word. Perhaps pilgrim is more appropriate.

After the organization of the Southern States Mission in 1875, some mission presidents organized companies of saints to go to Zion. For as long as the mission was based in Chattanooga, sometimes once or even twice a year, a company left for the west. John Morgan was probably the first to really bring order to these companies. He negotiated purchase agreements with the rail companies. He assigned missionaries to accompany the emigrants, sometimes even going himself.

Andrew Jenson noted a particularly large company of eighty left on November 13, 1884 bound for Colorado and Utah. But no where have I been able to find lists of any of the these pioneers. That surprises me considering how meticulous we are about keeping records. Perhaps someday ......

But from Cane Creek I know a few names and approximate dates. It isn't a complete list, but it is a start.

Spring 1881 - Colorado

Blanton, Burwell
Blanton (nee Tatum), Emily
Whitwell, Susan Palthena
Whitwell, John Marshall
Whitwell, Osce Jackson

Autumn 1883 - Colorado
Lancaster, Rachel
Depriest, James Houston
Depriest (nee Talley), Margaret Eisabel
Depriest, Thomas Walker
Depriest (nee Talley), Margaret Ellen
Depriest, Pleasant W.
Depriest (nee Fuller), Martha E.
Depriest, Mary Jane
Depriest, Sarah A. L.
Depriest, William Jason

May 1884 - Utah
Westbrook, John Douglas
Shaw, Lavina
Turner, Nancy "Josie"

November 13, 1884 - Colorado
Talley, Elisha Freeland
Talley (nee Hudson), Barbara Ellen
Talley, Leona Evelyn
Talley, Andrew Jackson
Talley, Ulysses Britt
Talley, Lewis Scott
Lancaster, John M.
Lancaster (nee Talley), Sarah Elizabeth
Lancaster, Margaret
Lancaster, Mary Maude
Lancaster, Martha M.
Lancaster, John William
Lancaster, Elizabeth
Lancaster, Jesse Witfield
Sealy, William
Sealy (nee Talley), Mary Ann

Lewis County LDS Church Membership in 1910

Another recent find in my research was a list of LDS Church members in Tennessee by county compiled in 1910. I noticed recently that a few stakes made such a survey of local membership at about the same time. I wonder if this was a mandate from the Church leadershipt in Salt Lake.

By 1910, the membership of Lewis County had dropped considerably. Most had either left for Colorado following the Massacre or had renounced their membership in the Church. A few remained true and their names are recorded in 1910. I added the baptism date if I could find it from other sources.

  1 Oct 1879 Conder, William James
  4 Feb 1884 Conder (Carroll), Malinda
  4 Feb 1884 Conder, Rachel Ann
12 May 1884 Conder, Lavicia Jane
27 Dec 1897 Carroll, Marshall S.
  9 Feb 1898 Carroll, Henrietta
12 Jun 1899 Carroll, George Wesley
12 Jun 1899 Carroll, Viola Anne
12 Jun 1899 Carroll, John Richard
                    Bastian Talley

Of course, if you have been reading here long you will recognize the Conder family. They left Lewis County right after the Massacre in 1884. They probably went to Perry County where James' brother lived. The home they left behind had been burned down sometime before 1895. By 1900 the whole family were living in Lewis County again. And in 1910 they appeared on the roles of the Mormon Church. James Conder would pass away in 1911. Malinda would die in 1916. Rachel never married. Visey (Lavicia) Conder married Will Haley. Their children were never baptized.

The Carroll family are all siblings, the children of John Thomas Carroll (the nephew of Malinda Carroll) and Juda Pope. John and Juda were baptized in May 1884, and were still living in 1910. For unknown reasons, John and his wife do not appear on Mormon Church records that year. The next generation after these five children also did not appear on church records. To be honest, though, I'm starting to get into the area of living people. I'm not very good at tracking living people.

Bastian Talley is the only person I haven't identified. He may be the 12 year old son of George Thomas Talley called Basha or Basty in the 1910 or 1900 Census. George was baptized in 1884 by Elder Gibbs. The next baptism would be George's brother Horace Cooper Talley in 1949.

Cane Creek Membership list

Below is a list of members (and possible members) of the Cane Creek Branch before it dissolved following the Massacre. Where I have identified the baptism date I have included it. Where I do not know the baptism date, I have estimated it but with a "?" where I am unsure about the exact date. The names with an "*" after them had emigrated to Utah or Colorado prior to the Massacre. In total I have 49 names. Twelve had already left Tennessee leaving me with 37 possibly at the Massacre.

According to the Utah Journal, the branch had 31 members at the time of the Massacre, 22 of which were baptized by Elder Gibbs. If I drop off the six I think were baptized in 1882 but for which I do not have a clear baptism date, my numbers match. The problem is I know there were more. At the very least, Lizzie Garrett, if not a couple more. So the list still needs work.

Anyway, if we add the unbaptized children of the member families plus at least one family who were just visiting (the Webbs). It starts to look like quite a crowd of people who were probably there on the day of the Massacre.

20 Jun 1879 Blanton, Burwell*
20 Jun 1879 Blanton (Tatum), Emily*
20 Jun 1879 Whitewell, Susan Palthena*
21 Sep 1879 Talley, Elisha Freeland
21 Sep 1879 Talley (Hudson), Barbara Ellen
1 Oct 1879 Conder, William James
1 Oct 1879 Lancaster, John M.
22 Nov 1879 Lancaster, Rachel*
22 Nov 1879 Lancaster (Talley), Sarah Elizabeth
28 Jan 1880 Talley, Leona
28 Jan 1880 Depriest, James Houston*
28 Jan 1880 Depriest (Talley), Margaret Eisabel*
28 Jan 1880 Depriest, Thomas Walker*
28 Jan 1880 Depriest (Talley), Margaret Ellen*
8 Feb 1880 Depriest, Pleasant W.
8 Feb 1880 Depriest (Talley), Martha E.
20 Jun 1880 Lancaster, Elizabeth
? Sep 1880 Whitwell, John Marshall*
? Sep 1880 Whitwell, Osce Jackson*
12 Dec 1881 Westbrook, John Douglas*
? ? 1882 Bastin, J. Tom
? ? 1882 Talley, James "Poole"
? ? 1882 Talley (Lancaster), Sarah Elizabeth
? ? 1882 Shaw, Lavina*
? ? 1882 Banks, [Brother]
? ? 1882 Garrett, Elizabeth C
30 Jan 1884 Lancaster, Jesse Witfield
3 Feb 1884 Winters, William
4 Feb 1884 Conder (Carroll), Malinda
4 Feb 1884 Conder, Rachel Ann
4 Feb 1884 Hudson, John Riley
6 Apr 1884 Talley (Morehead), Eliza "Lies"
20 Apr 1884 Sealy, William
20 Apr 1884 Sealy (Talley), Mary Ann
20 Apr 1884 Winters (Hudson), Lucretia
20 Apr 1884 Winters, L. Catherine
20 Apr 1884 Turner, Nancy "Josie"*
11 May 1884 Talley, Andrew Jackson
11 May 1884 Willis, William
11 May 1884 Willis, Fanny Martha Angeline
12 May 1884 Conder, Lavicia Jane
12 May 1884 Conder, William Martin
12 May 1884 Winters, Lewis Sherman
12 May 1884 Winters, Joel
12 May 1884 Talley, George Thomas
25 May 1884 Carroll, John Thomas
25 May 1884 Talley, Banester "Bash"
26 May 1884 Carroll (Quillin), Sarah Jane
26 May 1884 Carroll (Pope), Juda Clemant

Josie Turner's Baptism

When Elder Jones, who survived the Cane Creek Massacre gave a newspaper interview about his involvement, he described what he considered to be the start of the trouble.

We held several meetings on Cane Creek since that time, and at one of them, about four months ago, an intelligent young lady was baptized. This attracted much attention, and about two hundred persons came from different parts of the country to see if it could really be true that she was about to espouse so despised a cause as 'Mormonism.' Her father had been a friend to us, though inclined to infidelity; he never opposed her being baptized in the least. We baptized four others at the same time, and this was no doubt one of the chief causes of the bitter enmity against us. Several threats were made after this occurred.

Two weeks subsequently we had another meeting published, but the Saturday night before it occurred, the mob burned down our meeting house, ...

I had always wondered how I would identify this young lady, but had not had any luck. Now, with some additional notes from the John H Gibbs Collection, and the fixed date of the meeting house burning down, I have it. This young lady was Nancy Josephine Turner, or Josie as she was called.

Mr Turner always considered education as very important. He even built a school house for his children to attend. And when they were older, he kept a second house in Hohenwald for his children to live at when they attended school there. And Josie was indeed intelligent. After Josie went to Utah, she was valedictorian at Brigham Young College in 1890.

Mr Turner never joined the church even though he was very much a friend. When the Massacre drove other friends of the saints to leave Tennessee, the Turners went to Oklahoma, not Utah, probably because he felt he would not be welcome for the same reason he was never baptized.

It is nice that the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall together.

Are you a descendent of one of these missionaries?

Below I have listed a handful of missionaries I know served in or near Cane Creek between 1878 and 1884. They are in roughly chronological order. Some of these I have located and made copies of their journal. A few I have located and read but was not allowed to make copies. Many I haven't even started to look for yet. I know that there is a wealth of information about the people living at Cane Creek that is hidden only because we don't know about it. If your ancestor is here, I'd love to talk with you about any mission stories they might have passed down.

Edward Stevenson Jr. (Yes, the pioneer. His journals are publicly available at CHL)

Thomas S. Higham

Joseph Argyle (His journal is at the CHL. I got a copy from a member of the Argyle family)

Martin Garn - Sugar House,Salt Lake, Utah (Available at CHL but only to descendants)

Franklin Spencer - Richfield Sevier, Utah

George H Carver - Plane City, Utah (Available at CHL but only to descendants)

Lorenzo Hunsaker - Honeyville, Box Elder, Utah

Daniel R Bateman - (Does anyone know if this is this the same Daniel R. Bateman named in some of the FLDS documents?)

Hyrum Belnap - Hooper, (I have this from Belnap family Website)

George Bartholomew

Brigham Henry Roberts (I have much of what he wrote, but not his mission journal. He didn't keep one for the year 1884, but may have written about the people when he was there in 1883. Still looking around.)

Richard C. Camp

John R. Murdock

James W. Eardley

Robert S. Spence

Reynold Alexander Crump - Fort Herriman, Utah

Joshua Hawks

Joshua Taylor

William Oxley Beesley - of Provo, Utah

Joseph W. Thatcher

Joseph Ford

Alphonzo Snow

James T. Hammond

missing gap - I'm sure there are a few missionaries in 1882-83 I have not yet identified]

Thomas Hazen Merrill - Richmond, Utah

Edwin Ruthven Miles - Smithfield, Utah

Willard H Robinson

Willis Eugene Robison (online at MMD)

Henry Bronson Thompson (his mission journals for his second mission to Scotland are at U of U, I haven't found anything for his first mission)

John Henry Gibbs (4 of the 5 are online at MMD, last one at BYU)

William Shanks Berry (I have this from CHL)

William Howell Jones

Hand Drawn Maps

One of the finds in the John H Gibbs papers is a collection of hand drawn maps. I requested copies of two. I can't really reproduce them here. I haven't secured permission to do so.

One of them is easy to read. It marks a trail from "Milam", on "B.Dam" [Beaver Dam Creek] along the "Brushy Fork" of Beaver Dam Creek, by "David Henson's" house and field, across an unnamed creek, then between a "Bacon Shed" and a building belonging to "Old Man Henson", up a "steep hill" for "3/4 mile" to a building identified only as "B.S.S." and then down "slippery" creek to Cane Creek. These are places I know. I've driven part of this route. But there are other notes on the map I may never figure out. At the top of the steep hill is a note to "take left". At that spot his trail crosses a straight line noted only by the initials "S. P."

The other map is from another direction. It tells how to get to Tom Garrett's house using a path that runs by the John Carroll's house. The handwriting is practically illegible. But I can make out certain notes like "keep all right hand [illegible] after you leave old field", "Ridge Road" and a building labeled as a school. This one will take more time to figure out.

West Tennessee Baptism Book

I arrived home to find a package containing photo copies from my visit to the BYU Special Collections library. The copies were everything I had hoped for.

One of the items is a thin bound ledger book listing vital information about 44 different people baptised in the West Tennessee Conference when Elder Gibbs was there. Out of them, 41 were baptised by Elder Gibbs. The names and the labels in the ledger book are all written in the same beautiful handwriting, which I can assume is Elder Gibbs'

Names I have come to know well are included: John Riley Hudson, Malinda Conder, Rachel Ann Conder, William Winters, Eliza Ann Talley, William Sealy, Mary Ann Sealy, Josie Turner, Andrew Jackson Talley, William Martin Conder, Levisa Jane Rebecca Conder, and John Thomas Carroll among others. Of great importance are dates I could not find elsewhere, the correct spelling of some names, and parents' names. And it is great fun to see what is not there. Eliza Ann Talley (who was married to Bash Talley) would not provide her birth date.

At the end of the book are the names of 9 people who were baptized by the son of Elder Gibbs, John H. Gibbs Jr., when he was on his mission in 1906-7 in South Carolina. The handwriting is clearly different. I can only guess that he took the book with him on his mission. Notes about his mission in the LDS Southern Star describe him bringing along his father's missionary journal.

Solomon Hinson

Solomon Jordan Hinson was a brother of "Grey George" Hinson who was the father of David Hinson. For two days prior to the Massacre, Solomon rode around to homes in Lewis County “inciting the people to hatred of the Mormons and gathering men for the contemplated raid upon Cane Creek.” He took with him an anti Mormon article, even reading it to those that could not read. For this reason he has been called the main instigator of the Massacre

Shortly following the Massacre, Solomon contracted tuberculosis. For the next couple years he slowly wasted away and in 1886 was near death. But he doesn’t actually die until March 5th, 1913.

The only source linking Solomon Hinson to the Massacre is an 1886 Deseret News
newspaper article based on an interview with a missionary, George J. Woodbury, that had just (in September 1886) returned from Tennessee. Although Elder Woodbury was certainly not a firsthand witness to the Massacre, and spent much of his time in the southern Tennessee, he did know many of the people involved and would have been exposed to all the rumors, gossip, as well as some reliable information concerning the Massacre. From a distance of over 120 years later, we may never be able to discern between accurate and inaccurate information. At the very least we can say that in 1886 Solomon Hinson’s involvement in Massacre was rumored.

L. Tom Perry Special Collections at BYU

On a recent trip to Utah I stopped at the Harold B Lee Library. In the special collections library, named for L. Tom Perry, is a collection of papers that at one time belonged to Elder John H. Gibbs.

The collection consists of two boxes with several folders in each. The originals are kept in the vault and normally copies are used when some one like me wants to read through the material. And that is just what I did. I walked up to the desk and asked if I could take a look for a paper I was writing. We had some trouble finding the collection. After some unproductive searches I recalled that I had the manuscript number in my notes: MSS741. Even that didn't help. Until the person helping me thought to add a V in front of the number for "vault" and there it was. Note, it is filed under "John Henry Gibbs."

I filled out some forms, and had an interview with an archivist. The folders may be looked at one at a time. So I looked through a book called a finding aid to help me decide which folders I would get first. I was taken to the manuscript reading room where I waited for the first folder to be brought out. After being given specific instruction on keeping the contents of the folder in order I at down and began to read.

Just a little hint of what I found. A record of baptisms in the North West Tennessee Conference. A hand drawn map of the Cane Creek area and the location of members homes. A handwritten note from a mobber telling him to leave the area. Letters written to his wife. A hymnbook in his possession when he died.

But as wonderful and useful as this will be for my paper, there were a few glitches. One of the folders that should have contained copies of the originals was empty. So the archivist had to go in the back and pull the original. According to the finding aid the document I wanted was in folder 13 in box 2. But when the original folder was opened before me the contents didn't match. The finding aid matched what was in the copy folders, but not the originals folders. We ended up pulling the entire manuscript box and looking folder by folder. Not a single folder in the original folders matched the finding aid.

Amidst all this the power went out.... twice! There was talk of evacuating the library when it went out the second time, but it eventually came back on.

I did request that some copies would be made. I was given several red plastic sleeves to place around the copies I wanted. The staff would then make the copies which I could have sent to me, or I could come back the next day. Sometimes, if someone is in a rush they will try to get them ready the same day, but with the power going out, they were just too far behind. I arranged to have the copies mailed to my home.

When they arrive, I will excitedly pour over them, and I'll post an update here.

Colorado State Census 1885

Sometimes I have felt sorry for myself because the exact census year I need has been lost. The 1890 Census burned in a fire in 1921. The small amount that survived was destroyed by bureaucratic inertia sometime between 1933 an 1935. The fiasco led to the creation of the National Archives.

So when I wanted to find where the survivors of the Cane Creek Massacre were living, I thought I'd have to wait until 1900 to find out. But not anymore. Several states conducted State Censuses, and Colorado was one of them.

In June 1885, a special state census was authorized. With the help of federal authorities, state officials collected a variety of information. Why? I can't find a specific answer, only general explanations that states often did this when they thought the population had changed so much that they could not rely upon the federal census. Colorado had become a state in 1876 and was still growing fast, perhaps so fast they needed more current census data.

Using the 1885 Census I have found that Elisha Talley and his family and William Sealy and his family both moved to Manassa, Colorado by 1885. I know they were back in Tennessee in 1900 and are buried there. With this I can add them to the list of Cane Creek families who found the climate in Colorado too harsh compared to Tennessee. Having recently driven across that area of the country, I can compare the two and I understand their decision. (no offense intended)

The William & Mary Sealy Family

The Sealys were a young family. And although I have not located baptismal dates for them, they are named in the Salt Lake Tribune (under the name Sely) as one of the members preparing to leave Cane Creek in October 1884. The Sealy family then shows up in Manassa, Colorado in June of 1885 (under the name Seely) living next to Mary's parents. Despite this, the Sealy family do not appear to have stayed in Colorado, since after they died they are buried in Tennessee.

William Scott Sealy was born in 1855 in Tennessee. He married Mary on January 5th 1875.
Mary Ann Talley was born on Dec 13, 1860, the daughter of Elisha and Barbara Talley. She was 24 and married at the time of the massacre. She is in the 1880 census living with her husband, William Sealey, at Cane Creek and were still living there at the time of the massacre.

“Old Lady Sealy” was still living in Lewis County when Elder Bean visited in 1895. Although he did not meet her, residents with whom he spoke claim she was a Mormon “but she won’t admit to it.”

Susan A Sealy was born in 1876. Since this would mean Mary would have to have been pregnant at age 15, it is possible Susan is her step daughter.

Conference at Cane Creek - 1881

[What follows is based primarily on the Autobiography of Hyrum Belnap, President of the Tennessee Conference of the Southern State Mission. The conference lasted from Saturday Aug 6th to Sunday Aug 7th, 1881, and was held in a grove somewhere along Cane Creek. I added some detail to the names, in at least the first instance it is used.]

August 4. Elder Joseph Thatcher and I [Hyrum Belnap] left Mr. Wince Turner and continued to Cane Creek. Took dinner with Isaac Thomas Garrett. They were greatly pleased with our visit as they had received reports of my being waylaid and killed. It was reported that I had been found by the wayside with fourteen bullet holes in me. We continued down the Creek to Elisha Talley’s, our headquarters. I received three letters from home and one from Robert S. Spence informing me that he and Elder Joshua Taylor did not agree and they wished to be separated. [I have not located any journals belonging to the two that might indicate the nature of their disagreement.]

August 5. Weather cloudy with prospects of rain. This had been the longest dry spell for many seasons. They did no irritating here, hence the ground dried up very rapidly after a rain. When the corn began to wilt down the people thot (sic) starvation was coming. There was one small patch of corn I persuaded them to irrigate, which grew nicely. We walked around the plantation, spied some watermelons and had our fill. Then went down to John M. Lancaster’s and observed the place which they had prepared for meeting in a nice little grove. We then returned to Elisha Talley’s where we met Elders John N. Price and Lorenzo Hunsaker who had come down from I. T. Garrett’s. They went on down to J. M. Lancaster’s. Elder Thatcher did some writing and I did some reading, having found a discourse of Brigham Young’s on the resurrection. This lead me back to our creation and the wisdom of the all wise Creator in placing us on earth. Especially am I thankful that I was permitted to be born under the covenant and reared among the Latter Day Saints, where I could be taught the truth. Went up the Creek to I. T. Garrett’s with Elder Bateman.

August 6. We held meeting at the grove. There was a large crowd. There were present on the stand Elders Hyrum Belnap of the Tennessee Conference, Joshua Taylor, R. C. Camp, Robert S. Spence, James W. Eardley, Lorenzo Hunsaker, Joseph W. Thatcher, William Oxley Beesly, Thomas Hazen Merrill, John N. Price and Daniel R. Bateman, traveling elders, John M. Lancaster and James H. Depriest, local elders [John and James' wives were both sisters of Elisha Talley]. The speakers were John N. Price, Daniel R. Bateman and James W. Eardley. Meeting was then adjourned until 4:00 P.M. We scattered among friends for dinner. At 4 p.m. we assembled again. The speakers were Joseph W. Thatcher, William O. Beesly, Joshua Taylor, R. C. Camp. Conference then adjourned until 10:30 A.M. Sunday morning. That night Elder William O. Beesly and I stayed with Pleasant Depriest.

Sunday, August 7. We opened our conference at 10:30 A.M. A large crowd had gathered. Elder Robert S. Spence occupied most of the time. President Hyrum Belnap then bore a faithful testimony that this was the work of the Lord. Conference adjourned and reconvened again at 4:00 P.M. Elder Lorenzo Hunsaker spoke to the subject, “The Church of God is always guided by Revelation.” Hyrum Belnap spoke on the subject, “Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.” Conference adjourned. Sine die.

We went and administered to Rachel Lancaster [John Lancaster's sister. She had tuberculosis]. Pres. Belnap called in a council of Elders Hunsaker, Camp and Bateman over the quarrel between Joshua Taylor and Robert S. Spence at Shady Grove. At the conclusion of our deliberations we decided to send J. W. Eardley and T. H. Merrill to Shady Grove, D. R. Bateman and R. C. Spence to Perry County, W. O. Beesly and Joshua Taylor on here on Cane Creek. Hunsaker and Belnap remained with James Depriest over night.

August 8. Held priesthood meeting at Elisha Talley’s. Elders Spence and Taylor repented and said they would do better. The elders all returned to their fields of labor except those assigned yesterday. Hyrum Belnap went up to I. T. Garrett’s, wrote a letter to Elder Joseph Ford and James T. Hammond and made appointment to be up in East Tennessee the second Sunday in September. Spent the night with William Sealy.

[Hyrum Belnap wrote his Autobiography years later, probably by comparing journal entries and adding notes as he recalls them. Though he repeats himself a couple of times and some of his dates (like certain baptismal dates) don't match the official record, his detail is refreshingly detailed. When understood that this is not a period document, just written to look like one, the errors are minor.]

Prince & Betty Webb Family

Prince Albert Webb was born in 1861 (probably in Illinois) to John Keston Webb and Tabitha Hensley. Tabitha died sometime in 1863. Not long afterwards, John died in 1867. Prince and his siblings were sent to live with his mother's family in Lewis County.

Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Carroll was born in 1860 in Lewis County to William Andrew Carroll and Sarah Jane Quillen. She married George Hinson and they had two children, both of whom died quite young. George died in an accident, being dragged to death by two runaway oxen. [I have not been able to determine if George was related to David Hinson.] In 1881, she remarried to Prince Albert Webb.

Betty and Prince were at the scene when the mob came to the home of Betsy's aunt Malinda Carroll Conder. Prince was a minister for the Free Will Baptist Church. Family tradition states they had no interest in the Mormon Church, but had traveled by ox cart to visit Betty's aunt. With them were their two children Byron F. Webb and William "Kess" Webb. Kess was being held in Malinda's arms when she was shot in the hip during the Massacre.
---------------------------

There was a note in the Nasville Banner that Col Johnson interviewed a man named Prince who lived on Swan Creek about the events. Prince claimed to have spoken with a Mormon Elder (probably Elder Jones) Sunday afternoon after the massacre. He asked for directions to Shady Grove in Hickman County. I don't know where Prince Albert Webb lived, but Betty's family lived on Swan Creek. It is likely this was the "Prince" at the Conder home
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An anonymous source gave an interview with a newspaper (Nashville Daily American, August 19, 1884) in which he summerized, second hand, the eyewitness account of Betty Webb.

At about 10 o'clock, she saw the mob near the gate with old man Condor under arrest. He immediately called his boys to get their guns. They were off a short distance from the house, and made a rush for the home, as did also three of the attacking party, all reaching the house about the same time. Young Conder made an effort to get his gun. But before getting entire posession of it, one of the attacking party seized it, and for some time "begged him" to use her words, to give it up at one, and make no further attempt to molest them. He became more violent, and, by a quick movement, got posession of the gun, and quick as thought knocked his antagonist on the head with it, when he was shot dead by David Hinson, who had remained motionless during the struggle over the gun.

Elder Berry made a rush for Hinson, gathered him and had him partially unmasked, when he was shot dead by young Condor's first antagonist. Elder Gibbs, after making an unsucessful effort to assist Berry, was killed by the third party in disguise, all dying instantly. The house being cleared, Hinson and his party started to the gate to rejoin their company, when hutson, who had unknown to them, ran upstairs after his gun, appeared in the door and shot Hinson, who lived but a short time. Hutson started to run, but was shot down as he passed through the back door. Another barrel was emptied into him, and then the mob retired, carrying Hinson with them.

The account, though attributed to Betty Webb is paraphrased by the unnamed resident of Palestine, in Lewis County, Tennessee. Regardless of the "name dropping" it is still a heresay version.

One historian, Jeremy Ricketts, noted that Betty Webb never made any public statement to confirm or deny this version which is attributed to her. This description does differ on many specific points. If this account accurately represented her testimony, one might expect her to have made a statement herself. More likely, she feared the reprisals of the vigilantes, and so made no effort to make a statement or correct any of the details.

Not surprisingly, no published historian has seriously considered the facts as presented here as reliable. There have been several non Mormon historians who have written about the Massacre: W. L. Pinkerton, William W. Hatch and Marshal Wingfield, just to name a few. None have relied on the details from this story.

Prince and Betty later had six more children; Minnie Jane Webb, Tabitha A Webb, Bertha Webb, Earnest Sewell Webb, Walter Marion Webb, and Delia E. Webb. Betty died in 1922. Prince died in 1930. Both are buried in Lewis County.

Isaac Thomas Garrett - Later life

[I have since discovered that his correct first name was Isaiah not Isaac. He used the name Tom. -BAllen]

Tom Garrett was the first to invite the missionaries to Cane Creek. After hearing the first Mormon sermon preached in the area he said "It won't do." When asked to explain himself he went on. "It won't do for us because it is the truth. We can't stand that. If this doctrine is preached here in about a year we will be killing these men for preaching it." He was wrong. It actually took over five years. Though he was never baptized, his wife and daughter both joined the Church.

Tom was also instrumental in saving the life of Elder Thompson, sneaking him out of Lewis County in his buggy after the Massacre with a pistol under his seat. He helped bury the dead on Monday, the day after the Massacre, and help Elder Roberts dig up the Elders again on Wednesday. Ultimately he and his family left Lewis County, Tennessee for Bond County, Illinois, about 50 miles north east of St Louis, Missouri. Tom’s maternal grandfather moved there years earlier so it is likely he had cousins living there at the time.

After arriving in Illinois, Tom wrote a letter to Hyrum Belnap. In appeared in the Ogden standard Examiner on 23 January 1885. In it he explains why he left Tennessee and a bit of his financial condition. He was able to sell only a part of his farm, rent another part and the rest was still unresolved. His wife, daughter and son-in-law moved with him. B. H. Roberts notes that the Church was able to send him some financial assistance. His wife died in 1887. His son-in-law-died a few years later.

Recently a helpful source sent me a another letter which he wrote on 11 March 1908, this time to the Deseret Evening News. At the end of his letter, which is only quoted in part, he sounds sad that his life had parted ways from association with the Mormons.

I have never heard the gospel preached since I heard the elders on Cane Creek before the massacre. They gave me a little book called ‘The Voice of Warning,’ and I keep it precious. What I did for the elders then I would do again, even if it did compel me to move out. I would like to shake hands with them. It would be a great pleasure for me to hear from any of the Elders who labored in Tennessee and on Cane Creek, and if any are still in the land of the living, I wish they would write to me.

I know of no responses to this request, though I imagine there were some. We don't know when Isaac Thomas Garrett died, but I don't see him in the 1910 Census so he probably died shortly after writing this letter.