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Good evening, we're going to get started. Welcome to the Church History Library's Men and Women of Faith lecture series. Tonight's lecture is entitled, "Faith to Persevere: The Southern States Mission, 1875 to 1898." Our presenter is Heather Seferovich. I am Deborah Xavier. I am the Marketing Communications Specialist for the Church History Department. Heather Seferovich earned her Bachelor's in American History and a Master's in American Social History at BYU. She is a published author who has written encyclopedia articles, text book modules, book chapters, family histories, and tourist brochures. She has presented papers at academic conferences, and chaired numerous sessions and workshops. Her research has focused on the LDS Church History, southern US history, Native American history, and education history. She is a member of the American Association of Museums, the Utah Museum Association, and the Mormon History Association. She was originally hired at BYU in 1996 to work on two international blockbuster exhibitions, "The Story of Masada" and "The Dead Sea Scrolls." As coordinator of the public programs at the BYU Museum of People and Cultures, she also team taught museum practice classes and helped mount student exhibitions. Sister Seferovich has spent 12 years as a book editor at BYU Studies while she served on a central staff of the Joseph Smith Papers Project for seven years, and also edited over 70 Mormon history books, along with a dozen journal articles and book reviews. In 2011 she became the curator of the "Education in Zion" gallery in BYU. Her most recent exhibition is entitled "Cosmo: the Credentials of a Cougar." Welcome, Heather. [APPLAUSE] Thank you. Good evening. I'm very happy to be with you tonight. My presentation is titled, "Faith to Persevere: the Southern States Mission, 1875 to 1898." Missionary activity has been a staple feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since its organization in 1830. The American South, in particular, was a significant region for LDS missionary work in the 19th century, since it was the largest domestic mission, and second only in size to the British mission. The region has contributed a handful of influential converts who have been disproportionately represented in Mormon history. Before the Civil War, the group known as the Mississippi Saints, and men such as Abraham O. Smoot, Henry G. Boyle, and Thomas E. Ricks were among the Southerners the elders converted. Furthermore, the South has been an important training ground for future Church leaders. Among those Southern States Mission elders who have risen to high positions of ecclesiastical and public leadership, have been-- this is in alphabetical order-- Willard Washington Bean, Charles A. Callis, Rudger Clawson, Matthias F. Cowley, Andrew Jenson, Louis Kelch, J. Golden Kimball, Karl G. Maeser, John Morgan, James H. Moyle, LeGrand Richards, B.H. Roberts, George Albert Smith, William Spry, Hosea F. Stout, George Teasdale, and Guy C. Wilson. Some of the men listed on this slide later became mission presidents of the southern states.

Several of these men rose to prominence, in one way or another. The mission was formally organized by Brigham Young in 1875, when he assigned eight men to fulfill a mission to the American South. Henry Boyle was an outstanding missionary. Some of his diaries and papers are in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University, and they are filled with amazing stories. John Morgan wrote several missionary pamphlets and tracts, most notably the Plan of Salvation, used throughout the Church for decades. And he became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Because his mission ran so long, he actually spent several months in Utah with his family, so he delegated the day to day tasks to three successive acting presidents: B.H. Roberts, who also later became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy; William Spry, who later served as a Southern States Mission president, and even later became Utah Governor; and John Kimball, who also later became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. His brother, Elias S. Kimball, followed him as mission president. Then Benjamin E. Rich, much like Morgan, wrote several influential missionary tracts, the best known being Mr. Durant of Salt Lake City. Ted S. Anderson wrote a detailed Master's Thesis on Rich's administration, so that's why I ended in 1898. Now let's look at the boundaries of this mission, especially since they were somewhat fluid over time. During the last quarter of the 19th century, all of these states were in the mission. Some left, but then later returned to the mission. Ultimately, the core states with significant amounts of concentrated missionary activity during these years consisted of Tennessee, which was the headquarters for the mission, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. Southerners had not fully recovered from their turmoil of the Civil War and Reconstruction when Church leaders formally established the Southern States Mission in 1875. During and after this time, some Southerners, particularly in rural areas, acted xenophobically, disliking those they considered to be foreigners, and sometimes even persecuting them. Other Southerners tended to distrust foreigners, but still treated them cordially. Many Southerners greeted Mormon missionaries, mostly Westerners whom they saw as spiritual carpetbaggers, with derision, or even hostility. Throughout the late 19th century, missionaries serving in the South encountered every imaginable situation in their travels. Tonight's presentation is designed to give the audience a peek into the life of Southern States missionaries in the late 19th century, and relate some of the elders' experiences during their southern sojourns. I hope that you'll be able to remember a story or two, and go home and tell somebody about it later.

Let's begin by looking at several photos from the mission. With a date of 1876, this was the earliest dated photo I could find in the Church History Library for this era I was looking at. The next earliest photo is of this famous preaching duo, Rudger Clawson and Joseph Standing, probably taken about 1879. Here is a group shot with Matthias F. Cowley seated on the left, next to President Morgan. The photo also includes George C. Parkinson, George E. Howe, and another unidentified elder. This photo was taken in the Kentucky Conference, and it shows some of the local members and/or friends who hosted the elders, along with the missionaries. This photo features President J. Golden Kimball with several elders, and what appeared to be some local members, or friends, as they were called. It likely was taken during a Mission Conference in one of the southern states, and those conferences were always held in the fall.

This picture included George Albert Smith-- he has the glasses on, he's in the front row on the left-- along with five other Southern States elders. Elder Smith arrived in the South in 1892 and served as a mission secretary, taking care of the day to day responsibilities for President J. Golden Kimball while he was in Salt Lake City.

This next photo features many elders from the 1890s. They are a handsome lot, aren't they? This photo shows elders in the South Carolina Conference in June 1896. Notice President Elias S. Kimball, seated in the middle with his arms crossed. You really have to look closely, because Elias and Jay Golden are very similar in appearance. This was a nice studio shot with President Kimball and some elders, sometime during his tenure as mission president. This photo was likely taken sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s. These missionaries are sporting sack coats, and they look very dapper, don't you think? Notice how they're carrying umbrellas and valises. We'll get to that in a minute.

This photo shows two unidentified elders from 1896, wearing Prince Albert suits.

And here we have Elders George M. Fryer and Armond T. Rose from about 1898, also sporting Prince Albert suits. Missionaries were expected to dress neatly and make good appearances, even back then. President J. Golden Kimball instructed his elders specifically to keep their boots blackened, remain clean by bathing regularly, and maintain neatly trimmed hair and beards. Elder Moses W. Taylor, who at that point was a mission secretary, happened to be dressed in a Prince Albert suit coat and silk hat when he met Apostle Moses Thatcher in June 1891. Thatcher commented, "This is the way a missionary should dress." Probably because the suits of that time resembled ministerial garb of the day. Historians will never know whether Taylor related this incident to Kimball, or if Thatcher mentioned it to Kimball or other Church leaders. In any case, J. Golden Kimball initiated the policy of uniform dress for his mission by February, 1892. And this is about the time when he negotiated a reduced rate with a Chattanooga suit maker, so that missionaries could get a discount. Kind of an early forerunner to Mr. Mac. Prince Albert coats were double-breasted frock coats that often had satin lapels. According to clothing historians, older men typically donned these through the mid 1890s, and they were often reserved for church clothes, kind of like your Sunday best. These facts, and I'm sorry-- the fact that this style was typically worn on Sundays, and that it was an older man's coat, lent credibility to the elders, who by this time were typically between the ages of 21 and 40. Clothing represented a form of social communication. Instituting uniform standards was an ingenious way to reshape public opinion, and legitimize the elders' position as clergymen. Such a dress code not only served to create a uniform appearance, but also commanded increased respect among those the missionaries contacted.

Now let's look at the geography and the climate, because 71% of all Southern States Mission elders came from Utah, it's helpful to understand the state's climate. Between 1875 and 1898, Northern Utah averaged 16 inches of rainfall a year, only four of those years witnessed above-average rainfall of between 20 and 24 inches. Conversely, Southern Utah averaged only 6.8 inches a year during this 23-year period. Coming from arid Western deserts averaging less than 16 inches of rainfall, most missionaries had difficulty adjusting to a region with nearly three times that amount, of 40 to 50 inches a year. Remember those umbrellas? Nearly all authors noted the numerous occasions they walked in mud, a miserable experience that made the roads very disagreeable to travel. One missionary, Elder Henry Edington, remarked that he walked 20 miles in such conditions one night. Moreover, the southern heat and humidity plagued new elders who were not accustomed to them. Elder John H. Gibbs explain the conditions. Quote, "I tell you it is hot, hot, hot!" He has that underlined. "I take off my shirt at night, and when I drop it down, it drops like a dishrag, and remains wet all night. Sweat can't describe it."

The South's sweltering climate fostered large insect and reptile populations, other unhealthful features of the region. Elders from the West often made particular notations of fleas, ticks, and snakes in their journals. For example, Elder Gibbs explained to his wife that Tennessee is blessed with insects. Quote, "We can pick them off almost any time of the day. This country is also filled with all kinds of snakes."

Elder Moses W. Taylor found 15 fleas in his body, but his companion fared much worse. "Brother Church looked like he had been covered, for his skin was so blotched that you could not find a clear place large enough to put your finger on."

Sometimes, missionaries used humor to describe such unpleasantries. While serving in Mississippi, Elder John B. Fairbanks playfully described his battle with fleas. Quote, "Persecution raged high last night, but I fought manfully, and succeeded in killing six of the company, which was composed entirely of fleas." [LAUGHTER] Fairbanks later summarized his activities, "Spent the evening in athletic exercises with the fleas. They would bite and jump, and I would kick and scratch." [LAUGHTER] Similarly, Elder Charles Flake, also serving in Mississippi, devoted an entire journal entry just to insects. He wrote, "Brother Merrill reports all well in the lower part of the state. He also reports that they have some friends that stick close to them. He draws the photo of some of them as follows, and wants to know if I recognize any of them, and says I can get any size or color I want, if I will just send in my order, and they will send me a live sample. How I would like to get rid of what we have here in Paris, Mississippi, for they are just coming in now full tilt."

The southern climate fostered such pests, however elders probably encountered them even more frequently, because they typically found lodging with the poorer social classes, and because they often walked through wooded areas. Even though missionaries joked about fleas, ticks, and insects, some of these bugs were actual threats to life. Of the nine elders who died of natural causes in the South, this number excludes those who were murdered, three succumbed to malaria or yellow fever, two to pneumonia, two list no cause of death, and two to typhoid fever, which isn't spread by insects, but rather through contaminated food and water, which gives further evidence of the unhealthful circumstances to which the elders were exposed. Numerous other missionaries contracted these diseases, but they eventually recovered or were sent home, and as they used to say in the mission, it was cheaper to send you home alive than it was dead. Many elders, particularly those in the swampy areas of South Carolina and Tennessee, became infected with malaria. Some cases were so acute that the men were asked or instructed to return home. Of the 237 elders who left the mission because of sickness between 1877 and 1898, chills and fever seem to have been the most common culprit. Once people became infected with malaria and survived the initial attack, they commonly suffered relapses months, or even years, later. Further, some strains of the parasite could remain in the affected person's body for up to 30 years, reducing their resistance to other diseases as well.

Let's talk about how the missionaries traveled. From the Church's inception in 1830, its missionaries generally followed the ancient Apostles' Injunction from the New Testament of traveling without purse or scrip. Thus, 19th century Mormon missionaries believed they were to depend upon God's mercy and the generosity of the people they encountered for food and lodging. Fortunately for those assigned to this mission, many Southerners proved to be hospitable hosts. Although traveling without purse or scrip was an economic necessity for the vast majority of Mormon missionaries, it probably also was perceived as a rite of passage by some. While having obvious disadvantages, this method of traveling possessed some benefits. Most elders would not have been able financially to support themselves, and their families as well. Even though few elders traveled with absolutely no money, they spent what little they had very frugally. Moreover, this type of traveling appears to have been an effective missionary tool, by requiring missionaries to mingle so closely with families, it is probable that more baptisms resulted from these intimate associations than from the elders' mass meetings.

Finally, Southern States Mission president J. Golden Kimball believed this method produced powerful faith in the missionaries. "The great majority of men, with few exceptions, cannot exercise the same faith when provided with plenty of money, as can the poor, humble, dependent servant of God, who feels that he is no better than his master." Since Mormon elders tended to travel without purse or scrip, they wandered from house to house, rarely spending more than one night in the same place, unless less Church members or relatives hosted them. Because elders' regular itineraries necessitated constant travel to secure lodging, missionaries typically walked between 1 and 20 miles a day, and occasionally more. Traveling such great distances on foot-- or as one elder called it, Mormon Conveyance-- was physically taxing, and many missionaries did so on empty or nearly empty stomachs. Occasionally, some elders were able to snack on fruit or raw vegetables by the roadside. Despite such hardships, elders generally managed to receive enough food to sustain their demanding regimen of walking, and they slept indoors more often than outdoors. Southerners, in general, treated the elders well, and basically kept them fed. For example, Elder Bryant Copely, clerk of the South Alabama Conference, wrote a letter to the Deseret News extolling southern hospitality: "It is a well-known fact that the people of the South are the most hospitable of any in America, and we elders are taught a lesson in charity and unselfishness that time cannot obliterate."

Even though most Southerners were hospitable, missionaries could not idly wait to receive their help, they had to request it. Asking for food and lodging, however, required a lot of nerve and not a little desperation. For example, Elder Rudger Clawson described the inhibition he felt the first time he asked for a meal in 1878. While traveling to meet his new companion, he became very hungry, and came upon an unpretentious home. He concluded to ask for a meal, something he had never done in all his previous life. He says, "I shrank at the idea. I felt embarrassed. I felt humiliated. It seemed to me, I would be acting the role of a beggar." However, hunger helped expedite his rationalization and diminish his fears. Clawson remembered a scripture, "The laborer is worthy of his hire." Upon further reflection, he perceived that the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, involving the Principle of Salvation, which he was authorized to offer the woman, would more than offset the value of the food. Quote, "thus reasoning, I felt perfectly justified in boldly asking for something to eat." The woman invited him in, fed him, and at the end of the meal, Clawson thanked his hostess and explained his mission. The woman wasn't interested, so he continued his journey. During John Morgan's tenure as mission president, he held one particular conference with the Tennessee elders, in which he instructed them to pray harder for missionary opportunities. Elder James Ford and his companion accepted the challenge. The duo was walking in uninhabited areas late one evening when the weather turned exceptionally cold and rainy. The missionaries knelt down, and Elder Ford uttered a powerful, heartfelt prayer for assistance. When they arose, he saw a man approaching them on horseback. "What are you boys doing here?" The stranger asked. "We are lost," the elders replied. "But we are very happy to see you." The man dismounted. "Well, you boys are in pretty bad shape. You better crawl on this horse, and I'll lead you back to my home. I went to bed pretty tired tonight, but I just couldn't go to sleep. I tossed and turned in bed with a constantly growing feeling that someone out here needed help. I don't know why I did it, but I got up out of a nice warm bed and came out into the rain and cold, and through these woods, because I felt that somebody was in trouble. I guess it was you boys who just wouldn't let me go to sleep." Once at the man's house, the elders were fed and given dry clothes to put on. When the host ask about their business, the missionaries shared the gospel message, and they stayed up late talking about religion. Early the next morning, the host went around notifying several neighbors of a meeting at his house that evening so the elders could preach to them. Soon, one family, then another, was seeking baptism, until most of the people in the valley were baptized. Another example of more hospitable hosts is illustrated by Elder J.M. Barlow in an 1882 letter he wrote to Matthias F. Cowley. "This country, North Carolina, agrees remarkably well with me. I now weigh 195 pounds, and am too big for my clothing I wore when I left home. We have a great many friends in this area, more than we can visit in a month, staying one night at a place. The people are kind and hospitable, that is, the more honest-hearted part. I realize that there has been considerable good accomplished here in these mountains the past year, although but little of the fruit may be ripened while I stay. I have labored diligently for the promotion of the interests of Zion in this land, and sometimes I almost feel discouraged. I would, if I would only give way, that none have yet come forth and become doers of the word, as well as hearers of it, too. But thank God, there are now as many as a dozen families who are particularly interested in the work we are proclaiming, and will, I believe, sometime embrace the truth, for they fully realize the apostate condition of Christendom. And that such a work as we represent must be established before the ushering in of the judgment dispensation now hanging over their heads." Another set of missionaries wrote, "we find the people as a rule are very friendly toward us, but they do not seem to understand the necessity of finding out and complying with the Plan of Salvation. We are satisfied that there are at least 30 families here in Aiken, South Carolina, that are always glad to see us and that make us welcome." Let's talk a little about the Southern diet. Even though most missionaries encountered hospitable hosts, several elders had difficulty adjusting to the Southern food. Based on letters and diary accounts, the typical bill of fare at this time seems to have consisted of cornbread, bacon, and coffee. Initially, these staples caused severe indigestion and heartburn for some elders. One missionary wrote, "it will be sometime perhaps before we can accustom ourselves to their food. I do not feel as well as I would like. It is bilousness, I think. I expect the pig meat does not agree with me." Some elders also mentioned their encounters with regional or exotic foods. For example, one recorded the first time he ate cornbread, one, his first sweet potato, one, his first turtle, and another his first possum. Those had to have been in Louisiana. Now let's talk about an interesting part of this mission, because there were African-Americans in the South. In the 1860s and 1870s, a few missionaries preached to anyone who would listen, regardless of skin color. African-Americans were not targeted by the elders, but a small handful who attended meetings were actually baptized. Some even emigrated to the San Luis Valley in Colorado with other Southern saints. And although I have yet to find a written account of a southern family whose domestic servants or farmhands also joined the Church with them during this era, it's not inconceivable that such an occurrence could have happened. I also can find no instances where missionaries stayed with African-Americans, but a few elders did accept hospitality from them in the form of an occasional meal. What I have found, however, are two very interesting photos.

This photo was take in Smyrna, Tennessee, during a Middle Tennessee District Conference in 1892 or 1893. I like how this woman and her daughter on the left were included in the photo. Notice how they hold a prominent place in the front, near what appears to be some local families. Notice also the missionaries are concentrated in the middle and back rows. Now, this next photo was taken during the First District conference in Sanderson, Florida, in January, 1897. Notice, again, how there are several local families scattered around, perhaps some are even members, while the bulk are definitely missionaries. But look at this front right corner, where 13 African-Americans are clustered together. Here's a detail of that corner. There's probably a few more, they were just cut off on that side of the picture, because the angle wasn't big enough to include everyone. They all seem to be well-dressed like they had attended a Church meeting, and while they are segregated, they're up front. I have found the diary of one missionary named Lorenzo Wilson Robbins, who was serving in the region at this time. He mentions that several African-Americans attended some meetings he held, but he never talks about preaching to them specifically, nor does he say they ever requested baptism. He does, however, mention that at the close of one of his meetings, one African-American man came up to him and his companion and quote, "made us a present of a nickel." I'm still trying to make sense of this dynamic, so if anyone has any additional information about this photo, or about this topic, would you please contact me? Let's move on to the preaching that the missionaries did. During the latter quarter of the 19th century, there were no set missionary discussions. While elders followed the Spirit, they also spent a considerable amount of time studying, and a lot of energy preaching, on a on a wide variety of subjects. Some of the common topics included the Fall, the Apostasy, the Kingdom of God, faith, repentance, the Holy Ghost, the necessity of baptism, the mode of baptism, the Book of Mormon, the Articles of Faith, the Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith, and the organization of the Church in biblical times compared to modern times. Serving in Virginia, Elder Ammon Mercer wrote, quote, "we opened meeting with about 16 present. " His companion, he says, "Brother Jay presided, and I led 40 minutes on First Principles of the Gospel. Brother Jay spoke on same, about 15 minutes. At close, we all sang hymns till dark." In another entry, about a year later, Elder Mercer recorded, "Soon after opening meeting, Elder E. W. --" I would assume that's his companion. "--came. First spoke 30 minutes on Apostasy and Restoration, reading many Bible references. I followed 55 minutes on history of the world and Restoration." Some elders who were blessed with good singing voices also use this as a missionary tool. For example, Elder Joseph Standing in Georgia held singing twice a week. He had access to a private house to hold meetings in once a week and a schoolhouse to preach in on Sunday, besides having families to visit. He says, quote, "thus I am kept out of mischief and my thoughts are engaged on other matters than home." Missionaries in the southern states occasionally used a variety of supplemental writings when tracting. For example, copies of the Book of Mormon were not always available, but when they were, many missionaries used them heavily in their proselyting. Also Parley P. Pratt's A Voice of Warning was quite popular, as was a pamphlet titled Principles Of Salvation, by John Morgan, and another titled Articles Of Faith. Elder Newel W. Kimball, serving in North Carolina, recorded, "I explained to my host family this evening what the Book of Mormon was, and then read to them Parley Pratt's introduction of it in The Voice of Warning. They were very much interested, indeed. Mr. Gibson told me that he had been blind as regards the gospel until he had met us. It was like the sun bursting through the clouds." It is worth mentioning here that in the 19th century, the LDS Church existed outside the realm of mainstream Christianity in the United States. Southerners perceived the Mormons use of scripture other than the Bible to be heretical. In one case a well-meaning southerner advised Elder Nathan Tanner to omit his testimony of Joseph Smith in the Book of Mormon from his sermon. He said, Elder Tanner recorded, "the man intimated I did not know how much danger I was in, and said there were men who were willing to gore me through for my testimony." However, Elder Tanner recorded in his journal that his testimony of these things was the reason he was preaching, otherwise he would go home. He then explained that he feared God's judgments more than those of a mob. Another missionary, an Elder N.L. Nelson, had an encounter with a Methodist minister by the last name of Thompson, who published an article in the local paper in Keyser, Virginia, "It was full of old slander, so often exploded." Elder Nelson wrote an article in reply, but the newspaper wouldn't publish it. The minister said, quote, "I consider Mormonism the most stupendous fraud ever gotten up." When Elder Nelson asked if he had ever read the scripture, the man replied, "No, but I have sketched it. I have been used to reviewing books, and I can tell the nature of some books by 3 sentences. It is no use to talk to me of Mormonism." The minister then concluded by saying he considered it his duty to himself, his fellow men, and his God to do everything he could against the missionaries. Elder Nelson surmised the minister, quote, "May have taken this course to redeem his character, and with some, he will undoubtedly be considered a great champion of Christianity." Rumors about polygamy and Mormons also had circulated throughout the nation beginning in the 1850s, and they only escalated during the rest of the century. Many Southerners perceived polygamous men to be sexual predators, and rumors abounded that Mormon missionaries were recruiting more women into the practice, destroying marriages, stealing wives, and smuggling them to Utah.

John Morgan was probably referring to such tales when he stated that many, quote, "Strange and peculiar ideas prevail in regards to the objects and intents of the Latter-day Saints." Somewhat ironically, Southerners' anti-polygamy sentiment had an added benefit of bringing the region into the good graces of the Northerners following the Civil War, thus producing a cultural reconciliation through uniting against a common enemy. The concept of honor played into this hostility, because some Southerners felt they were protecting their community against a legitimate threat to the acceptable social order of the dominant culture.

Now let's talk briefly about baptisms and immigration. Between 1875 and 1898, missionaries in the southern states baptized a total of 3,839 people. Although the numbers varied occasionally, they generally seem to be fairly steady, with between 20 to 30 souls being baptized somewhere in the mission nearly each month.

It was not uncommon for the elders to encounter problems with those investigating the Church to back out at the last minute, or to receive pressure from family and friends to not be baptized. The following story from J. Golden Kimball's time as a missionary in 1884 illustrates this point well. "After breakfast," he says, "Retired to the woods and held prayers. One of Brother Heninger's converts, a Miss Allen, an old maid, had applied for baptism, the time appointed being 2:00 PM. We arrived there in due time and found a large number of people gathered there to witness the baptism, but we went there and found she had come prepared for baptism, but the opposition being so bitter, her brother threatened her and swore she should never be baptized. Her father had appeared to be friendly, but he now turned against us. At any rate, she was hanging on the fence, and after explaining to her the danger of procrastination, she fell the wrong way and put it off for another time. No doubt--" let's see, "put it off for another time. It fell to my lot to acquaint the people of the change, no doubt many of them were delighted. Some had said if we attempted to baptize her, they would drowned us." With J. Golden Kimball's characteristically witty commentary, he ended this journal entry, "Priestcraft raged and devils howled, but still the world turned on its axis." He had a good perspective. After these local Southerners were baptized, many heeded the call to immigrate to Zion. For most Southerners, this meant settling in the San Luis Valley in Colorado, and the mission president was in charge of organizing these traveling companies. Throughout the 1870s in 1880s, it was common to have approximately 200 saints emigrating each year. There's several works on the San Luis Valley, so I'm going to leave that topic tonight, and I'm going to move into a miraculous healing that occurred. There were many miraculous healings that occurred in the Southern States Mission, but this one in particular was quite noteworthy. It involves John Brown, and it later was reported several times in the mission in multiple places. This version of the story, however, comes from a letter written by the person who was miraculously healed. It's kind of lengthy so for time, I'm going to summarize it. John Morgan was preaching, and there were some people in the crowd who knew him. They went up to talk to him afterwards, he came down and inquired about this person's relatives, their parents. And they said they were unable to come because their little brother was sick. And John Morgan says, "I have a message for them, and we must go to them immediately." They traveled all night, they reached the house at 3:00 AM, and the little boy who was sick had actually died several hours previously. His body had been temporarily laid on a cooling slab. President Morgan went into the room where the boy of 10 years of age lay, and prayed for him, blessed him, and raised him back to life. The boy went to school the following morning, and when the teacher arrived, he was sitting on the fence in front of the school. She thought it was an apparition, since the word had traveled around the neighborhood that he had died the night before, and she wouldn't believe otherwise until she looked for a scar that he had upon his wrist. The letter ends, "I was that boy," Well, let's talk about the hostility in the mission. The Southern States Mission had a reputation for violence.

Folklore has celebrated southern hospitality about as much as it has southern violence. Historically, the American South has been characterized by a predisposition for violence. H.C. Brarely identified the South as, quote, "that portion of the United States lying below the Smith and Wesson line." [LAUGHTER] The negative perceptions among white Southerners of radical reconstruction and carpetbag governments led to many unfavorable images of non-Southerners, and these experiences did not endear newly arrived outsiders to native Southerners. As a result, the missionaries also had problems with hostility. A hierarchy of persecution existed that escalated from written threats, to verbal harassment, to physical assaults, to forced expulsion from the community, and even to attempted and actual murder. Missionaries could never predict which threats would be acted upon, and which wouldn't be. Elders in the South periodically received written notices and threats. While the majority of these notices went unsigned, a small percentage included author signatures or were signed as "concerned citizens," "KKK," "white caps," or with fictitious names such as Judge Lynch. Some notices were written solely for intimidation purposes. Others, however, served as formal notices for the elders to leave the area. Elder John B. Fairbanks received a written notice to leave the county in which he was laboring in 1883. The letter asserted that Mormonism was demoralizing and illegal, then the note demanded that he and his companion leave, quote, "As soon as they can ride, walk, or crawl away, nevermore to return." The notice was signed, "Members of the Pleasant Grove, Alabama, Grange, Number 242." Copies of the letter were subsequently sent to two local papers. Some authors decorated their notices with crude artwork, perhaps for emphasis, since a picture is worth a thousand words. The first note, depicting a crudely drawn hanging, was left tacked to a tree in Georgia for John Morgan to find. It says, "A charitable hint to Mormons." The second note, also from Georgia, and also to John Morgan, includes artwork depicting two local citizens with rifles on the left as they shoot at a man dressed like a preacher, supposedly representing Morgan. Morgan received many threats with artwork, and he personally received the brunt of Klan threats, both written and verbal, during his time as a missionary and mission president. Although officially disbanded in 1871, many rural chapters of the Klan continued to function autonomously for several years.

In 1887, Elder Z.S. Taylor discovered a written notice on a church door before his scheduled meeting. Upon entering the church, he also found a rudely drawn gallows on the blackboard with the following caption, quote, "You shall hang between the heavens and the Earth till you are dead, dead, dead." "Dead" was spelled D-E-D. [LAUGHTER] While on his way to preach at a scheduled meeting in 1887, Elder Joseph E. Johnson explained that he and his companion had passed a minister on the road. When the preacher learned the elders identity, he, quote, "Cursed and swore, and said he would go with a crowd to kill us any time." Despite this frightening confrontation, the missionaries held their meeting unmolested.

In 1881 in Alabama, Elder Walter Scott and his companion were roused from bed by a noisy vicious mob late one Saturday night. The mob included half a dozen men who threw rocks at the house, fired their pistols, and yelled like demons. After a few minutes, the disorderly crowd retreated from the host's property. However, they continued yelling and shooting their guns throughout the night. Elder Scott, explaining the events to fellow missionaries, wrote that he was able to sleep in spite of the perilous situation. Assessing it for his audience, he poignantly penned, "Alabama is raging. Hell is boiling. The believers are afraid. Saints tremble." In another instance, in 1887, Elder Parley P. Bingham and his companions were reading quietly at their host's house in Union County, North Carolina. That's when a 60-man mob surrounded the property. The host walked outside and counseled with the disorderly crowd. When they demanded to talk to the missionaries, the host forbade the elders to go out or the mob to enter. This enraged the rabble, who then notified the elders to leave the county by sunrise, or quote, "they would deal roughly with us. Then they left the house whooping and yelling and discharging their guns." The missionaries temporarily ignored this threat, but by the end of the week, they deemed it best to leave the area. Many LDS missionaries received rough treatment at the hands of vigilante groups. Some violence was perpetrated to break up meetings and scare citizens who were sympathetic to the elders. Other rough treatment was done to harm the elders in an attempt to get them to leave the vicinity. During a meeting in Georgia in 1881, two or three preachers prodded a crowd of drunken men into rushing the pulpit while John Morgan was speaking. Morgan explained that he and his fellow elders, quote, "were jerked and thrown about considerable, and knives and pistols were flourished around uncomfortably near." In spite of the rough treatment, Morgan gratefully added, "By the help of the Lord, we came out all right with no bones broken." However, the drunken men did succeed in temporarily expelling the missionaries from the area.

While Morgan was mission president, the following incident occurred to Elder Frank Croft in Alabama. A mob took the elder and his companion into the backwoods with the intent of giving them lashes for being in the county. As they were taking the missionaries back, a letter fell from Elder Croft's pocket. The mob had instructed the elder to strip down to the waist, and this letter fell out of his pocket, and the mob member picked it up. Here is an account of that situation. The letter was from his mother. She counseled her son, "Patience, my beloved son. You must remember the words of the Savior when he said, 'Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Also, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for you will have your reward in Heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.' Also remember the Savior upon the cross, suffering for the sins of the world, when he uttered these immortal words, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' Surely, my boy, the men who are mistreating you elders know not what they do, or they would not do it. Sometime, somewhere, they will understand, and then they will regret their actions, and they will honor you for the glorious work you are doing. So be patient, my son. Love those who mistreat you and say all manner of evil against you, and the Lord will bless you and magnify you in their eyes, and your mission will be gloriously successful. And remember, son, that day and night, your mother is praying for you always." Well, the mob leader's heart was softened, his countenance changed, he had tears in his eyes, when he finally spoke, he said, "You have a wonderful mother. You see, I once had one, too." Then he told his fellow mobbers that they should let the elders go on their way, and they did. In 1883, Elder John Alexander wasn't quite as lucky as Elder Croft had been. Elder Alexander was confronted by a mob on a Georgia road and asked if he were a Mormon. When he replied affirmatively, the leader proclaimed, "well, you're going to die right here." Elder Alexander, fearing for his life, asked that he be allowed to pray. The leader agreed, with the stipulation that he be quick about it. Then the mob lowered their pistols and shot. Alexander closed his eyes and fell to the ground. Miraculously, none of the three bullets hit his body. Not waiting for an invitation to leave, he darted away to safety. Minutes later, Alexander realized that two of the three balls had come dreadfully close. One passed through his hat, and another had gone through his unbuttoned coat. In Alabama, in 1893, President J. Golden Kimball and some of his missionaries had a close call with a mob. He wrote in his diary, "I can't remember of ever retiring feeling more secure and free of mob violence, as the neighborhood had manifested no particular hatred or had threatened the elders. At about 11:30 PM, without any warning, there was a fierce yell coming from the throats of demons from hell, and murderers at heart. And at the same time, it seemed that a whole battalion of men were firing and shooting bullets on all sides into the old log house, part of which was only 3/4 of an inch lumber. The shingles on the roof rattled as with a hailstorm of bullets, then all was silent as death. A depression gloom, an ominous feeling included a sensation that all the devils in hell were turned loose. We were boxed up in the shell of a house that was far from being bulletproof, and the door at the foot of our bed was ajar, and no door in the house was barricaded. God only knew what was coming next. All we could do was wait, and trust in the God we worship. At last, the spell was broken, which lasted but a few moments. Brother McElven and his wife commenced to realize what a dastardly deed was committed, and their blood commenced to boil. He arose, loaded his shotgun with buckshot, and his good old wife followed him. We soon heard him fire twice, and a carping dread passed over us, not knowing what the result was. At his return, he explained that he had seen three men, and fired a salute at them. Elder Rogers and Elder Alder, who were sleeping on the floor, put on their pants and with shoes in hand were flying for the door that was open at the foot of our bed. I then arose, and Elder Smith, too, and we prevented them from going out. Elder Ridges, Sedmiller, and Farr remained in bed, and perhaps it will never be known how they felt, but the rest of us can imagine. The old man and woman were as cool and calm as could be. It was the first time I was ever under fire and smelled powder, and I felt thankful I stood the test as well as I did. It was a new experience, and as I lay awake most of the remainder of the night, there was a peculiar feeling that passed through my mind. At first, the natural man asserted his rights, and I became fierce and angry to think that American citizens advocating the Gospel of Jesus Christ were, in this enlightened age, under this great American government, to be shot at as if we were animals.

I then foresaw that some men had become brutes, murderers, and devils, and that our elders were in constant danger. The terribleness of the whole matter was so plain before me that the responsibility of the mission was more than I could endure. Then a change came over me, and I knew we were all servants of God, and he could protect us as, he had done. So I thanked Him, and felt thankful for the experience. The next morning, we examined the building, and found that men had been stationed at each corner of the house, and that they had shot directly into the house as they meant to kill. We also found a notice left for us, stating that it was the feeling of a hundred of the best citizens of the county that they rid their area of such men as us, and they signed their note "D, D, and D." We interpreted this to mean "Dead, Dammed and Delivered." I instructed the elders to leave for a short time, and Brother McElven to protect his home, even if he had to load up with guns." Well, that was quite an experience. Other Mormon elders in the South were not as lucky as President Kimball. In 1879 in Georgia, Elder Joseph Standing was killed by a mob. Joseph standing is sitting. In 1884, in Cane Creek, Tennessee, two missionaries, Elders John Henry Gibbs and Willam S. Berry, along with two local members, Martin Condor and James Riley Hudson, were killed by a mob. These stories have been widely documented in several published sources, so I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say, many elders were involved in life and death situations in the South, and I personally think it's miraculous that more were not killed. Elders were certainly not oblivious to the dangers they faced. However, their faith overcame their fears. As Elder B.H. Roberts reasoned, quote, "The Lord can care for me equally as well in Georgia, as he can in Utah." After writing other comforting remarks to his mother, he eloquently penned, quote, "Whenever dark clouds have arisen, and times have looked troublous, when men have gathered around us with hatred pictured on their faces and murder in their hearts, I have thought, 'My mother prayed for me this morning. All is well.'" His letter closes with a wish that he, quote, "Shall never live to see the day when my life will be dearer to me than the Kingdom of God." Church leaders questioned whether to close the mission because of the extreme violence. Presidents Morgan and Roberts discussed this question extensively with the First Presidency. Roberts privately admitted in his diary that the opinion of Church leaders was divided. After a few months of careful consideration, Church President John Taylor, with his counselors, George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, made the decision for the mission to remain open. However, the elders were instructed to protect themselves against mobs by following Christ's example. "If they persecute you in one city, flee into another." For many missionaries who served in the South, this was their first experience outside the Intermountain West and the Mormon cultural region. Most of them were second and third generation Church members. Thus, individual missionaries had little direct experience with prejudice and persecution until they arrived in the South, but we all know they'd been raised on the stories of persecution from early Mormon history, and surely some felt that it was a rite of passage to experience it. In conclusion, 19th century missionary life could be physically, emotionally, and spiritually taxing. Elders in the southern states encountered a new geographical climate and new foods. They studied and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they experienced the extremes of Southern hospitality and hostility. Stories of persecution and anti-Mormonism grab readers attention, and turn us into voyeurs, but the stories of hospitality and missionary life offer balance and perspective to the missionaries experiences during their southern sojourns. Elder Charles Flake explained the situation, which was representative of many of his co-laborers' circumstances. Quote, "Here I am without friends, and with but very little money, trying to propagate a doctrine that the very name of which brings reproach to my character among the so-called Christian world." Enduring such circumstances required a person to have unyielding belief in his religion, exceptional courage, and a strong sense of commitment and purpose. Despite the general bias against Mormons, many Southerners did believe the missionaries' messages. In the latter quarter of the 19th century, more than 1,760 elders baptized 3,839 people. This number would have been much larger had some not postponed baptism because of pressure from family, friends, and neighbors, or because of fear of community reprisals. What I'm trying to say is, the elders were a lot more successful than it even appears that they were. Many missionaries describe their time in the South as being invaluable. Elder James Hubbard explained, "This mission surely has been a great experience, given me knowledge and experience which I consider invaluable. Also a testimony of the truth of the work. I have made quite a number of friends, and have most always been treated very kindly by the good people of the South, many of whom I greatly love." The summary of one elder's mission is representative of many, many more. In the same passage, Elder Hubbard further disclosed, quote, "I have experienced some of the most supremely happy moments of my life, while at times I have been greatly tried."

Well, existing diaries by and large retain a sense of optimism amid trials and challenging circumstances. I feel very blessed to have been able to read so many documents from these wonderful elders. Their examples of hard work, diligence, duty, courage, faith, and perseverance are inspiring. I believe we are closest to Christ when we follow His example by learning, teaching, and serving others, just like these missionaries from these stories did. Thank you for letting me introduce you to these wonderful saints, and share their stories with you tonight. [APPLAUSE]

Now we will have a question and answer session. Are there any questions, and if so, you need to wait for a microphone. There's--

Thank you for this wonderful presentation. My name is Karen Matthews.

And I would like to know, how many people here are from the southern states.

Looks like about a third of us are. Wonderful, thank you. That's a great question. Thank you. I'm the one that said, are you from Georgia. I'm from South Georgia, my third great grandfather joined the Church in the late 1800s, along with his family. He was 75 at the time, which I found to be very courageous in such a small town. My second great grandfather had his daughters baptized, allowed them to be baptized, along with him and his wife, but not his sons, and I have determined that is because of-- who would have done business with him in that small town? And my questions are, do you have any records of many family staying in the South versus leaving the South and did the Church encourage converts to the San Luis area of Colorado? Thank you. Those are great questions. Let me explain the number of records that we are dealing with. At the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at BYU alone, there are over 150 diaries and letters and documents pertaining to the southern states. At Church Archives, there are over 3,000, well over 3,000, so I have not read every one of those. I'm sorry to disappoint you. I've read probably several hundred, not all 3,000 or 4,000. Now, if people stayed in the South, several converts did stay in the South. And it's probably a good thing, because they continued to help the missionaries. There were a lot of people who, for one reason or another, did not immigrate to Colorado. Perhaps they couldn't afford it, maybe they didn't want to leave family. Whatever the reason was, several did stay. There is a publication called The Southern Star. That was a newspaper for the South, and it was under Ben E. Rich's administration that was put out. I believe there's two volumes of it. So you should check that newspaper, and see if they mention your relatives anywhere. A lot of the information in that newspaper was contemporary to 1899, 1900, 1901, but they do have a history column that they ran regularly telling the history of that mission, so perhaps your relatives are mentioned there.

Other questions? I do have a question. Yes.

I was looking at the missionaries, and I was interested at their ages. How old were they? I mean, they seemed to be a lot older than they are now. And could they be any age, and what was the youngest and the oldest, or some probably were married, too? Yes, that's a great question. Why did they go to Colorado, and not this Valley? That was my other question. OK, good questions. What were the ages? By the end of this period that I'm looking at in the 1890s, the ages had fallen down to, most of them were in their 20s. Now, earlier, if you look at this slide, where I list the mission presidents. Under Henry Green Boyle, the missionaries were much, much older. And this is at a time when the missionaries were actually holding the Office of Seventy. And so they tended to be older men, especially through the 1870s and 1880s. Most of them were married. I don't know how many of them had actually left Utah to serve a mission because of polygamy, trying to avoid the federal marshals. But I'm sure some did, because that was a popular thing to do, to avoid the marshals, you go on a mission. None of the diaries that I've seen mentioned that specifically. So, you see, in these early years, you may have men as old as 60, and then it gets progressively younger as time goes on. So that by the time William Spry is President, most of them are in their 30s. By the time the two Kimball brothers become President, the majority are in their 20s. If you look at my Master's Thesis, I did an entire chapter on statistics, and it's been quite a while since I've done that, but you can look at all the tables that I have, and you can see, actually, how old the missionaries were by which conference they served in. So I'd encourage you to do that. Now, your other question had to do with San Luis Valley, and the immigration. Can you remind me what that question was? Just, why did they go there, and not here? Why did they go there, that's a good question. It had to do with John Morgan, primarily. And he wanted to find a climate that Southerners would be happier with. He knew how arid the West was. John Morgan was a remarkable character, and ma'am, you have some wonderful heritage, because where much is given, much is expected. John Morgan was from Illinois. He had served as some sort of official in the Civil War, I want to say he was like a Captain in the Civil War on the Union side. Now whether the Southerners knew that when he was there in the South, we don't know, but he realized that a lot of the Southerners would not be happy in the arid desert of Utah. So he scouted out the area with some apostles, and they determined that the San Luis Valley of Colorado was the best location for them, because of the climate. It does rain a little bit more there, and that just was the gathering place for them.

You might tell them, the digital collections are online, The Southern Star and the ones that are at the Church History Library. There are many digital collections online. If you get on to the Church History Library, they have digitized several of the diaries and letters, and if you get on to the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, they are doing an intensive project now to digitize some of their key items. If they are not digitized yet, you can put in a request and those will often be bumped to the top of the line. But it's nice in this day and age to have that available, and it's even better when they have the typed scrips. Yes. This would have been after the Civil War, did you find record-- that the South was, as I understand, devastated. What were the physical conditions at this time for these missionaries? Was there food? What did you find in your reading? By the time the missionaries actually arrived and Brigham Young created this mission in 1875, you're into Reconstruction. And the elders stayed out of the large cities. They primarily proselyted in the rural areas. When they went to the cities, they didn't have much luck. They encountered even worse persecution. And it was very difficult for those elders to find hospitality, so that's why they stuck to the rural areas. Now, the rural areas, by and large, they weren't as devastated as, say, Atlanta, that had been burned, or some other areas. So they didn't really talk much about the conditions, that tells me that there wasn't anything noteworthy to mention, but it's just a guess.

Are there still descendants of these southern pioneers in the San Luis Valley in Colorado, and is that still predominantly LDS? OK, I could only hear part of that. Is that still a predominantly LDS area, and are there still descendants of these pioneers from the South in Colorado? I would imagine there are some. I'm a historian, so a lot of history for me ends in 1899, and I haven't really followed things through to the modern day. I think we should ask here, is there anybody here? Yes, tell us your story. Get a microphone over to her, and she can tell us her story. Maybe she's part of that San Luis group.

My grandfather-- is this on? My grandfather James Thompson Lisonbee was one who was one of the missionaries that took this group. And then my sister, this would be three or four generations later, anyway, moved to that valley, and she just casually mentioned if anyone had ever heard of him. And yes, there are still many, many descendants of this group that still live in Manassa, in the San Luis Valley. And they know the names of those missionaries, they were a very important part of their life. Now, I have another question. How many of us here had ancestors who were missionaries in this mission?

OK, probably about a quarter. Quite a few of us. Do you have a history of John Bond? Is that name familiar? I recognize the name, I don't think I've read his diaries, though. OK, I brought some information with me tonight. Wonderful. Talk with the Church History Library, and see if you can-- Oh, they have it. Oh, they do have it, OK. Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you.

My question was, were there no missionaries there during the Civil War? And did it just happen 10 years later that they began? And, which of the southern states was the most fruitful?

OK, well, there was a missionary named John Brown, who was in the South post Civil War. It wasn't an official mission, so to speak, but he was an official missionary. And John Brown's diaries are at Special Collections at BYU. He has some wonderful prophetic dreams, where he will see a field of watermelons, and then he's given the interpretation, and it's basically having to do with missionary work in the South. But other than him, I don't know of other missionaries traveling during that time. And what was your second question, which state was the most fruitful? I would think Tennessee was, because Tennessee had three missions. It was also the headquarters for the mission at Chattanooga. And I'll tell you a fun story. When J. Golden Kimball arrives there as mission president, the elders are renting the basement apartment of this house from a widow, and he talks about Miss Allen, "an elderly woman of many words." I was reading that in an archive and I just had to laugh out loud. But I would say Tennessee, that's also where the two members and the two missionaries are murdered, so there's a lot of activity going on there. There's a couple of missionaries that are put in jail, and it's a long ordeal that John Morgan has to work through.

Any other questions? Let's get the microphone back here. I'm sorry, one other question. Can you hear me without the microphone? I can, but they need to record the question. All right. Are you aware of any sister missionaries in this mission, toward the end of 1898, 1899? No, my understanding of sister missionaries is actually the first two that go in 1898, they are connected with Brigham Young Academy. It's Brimhall and Knight, they're cousins and they go to Europe. And my understanding is that, as they're headed off on this trip, somebody has the great idea to set them apart as missionaries. They go and they preach in England a couple of times, maybe three or four or five times, but then the rest of the time, they're sightseeing. The only other females that went on missions in the 19th century accompanied their husbands, and they were not set apart as missionaries, that I know of. Maybe April Williamsen can tell us differently, but I know in the South Pacific, they had some of the missionaries' wives go with them, and they actually taught school to some of the Native children in the South Pacific. April, do you know of any other missionaries, females? Not off the top of my head. Well, I have a story for you. OK, tell us your story. My grandfather, John Bond, was there, and he had a dream, and his companion-- he dreamed that he saw his wife. He went on a mission at 22, and he was married. He went by himself. In this dream, he saw his wife. They hugged each other and everything. His companion said, 'that means you're going to be released at the next conference.' So he wrote her a letter and said 'come on out, I'm going to be released, and we'll go home together.' And she got there, and the mission president, E.S. Kimbell, said, 'what are you doing here?' And my grandfather explained the story, and the family's story is, then, he said, 'well your husband isn't going home, and so we'll set you apart as a missionary.' And they were companions for the next six months, until they both went home. Was this George and Lucy Smith? No, this was Mary Elizabeth Jeffs Bond and John Bond. John Bond, OK. Interesting. I was unaware of that story. Thank you for sharing. I think it's in his history. I'll talk to you later. OK, great. I know when George Albert Smith was there as the mission secretary, he was a newly married man, and so soon after he arrived. It was deemed best for his wife to come and join him. So she was there in the mission with him, but to my knowledge, she was not set apart, nor did she proselyte, and he primarily worked in the mission headquarters. Any other questions? Yes. Yes, I was in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina from '61 to '63. And in South Carolina, we met a lot, I think it was Whitehall, I don't remember the name for sure. But anyway, a bunch of Catawba Indians, a whole group. And Chief George was there at that time, he told me about many of his ancestors, a generation or so back, had traveled somewhere up in the Northern part, I guess they went to Colorado, too. And so I'm just wondering, did a lot of the Indians that were there move up to Colorado, and are they still there? There's some wonderful stories about the Catawbas. There are some wonderful stories. In fact, I'm a convert to the Church, and the first ward I was in, in South Carolina, was the Catawba South Carolina Ward. So I knew many of those Catawbas at that point. Chief Blue -- the whole ward was filled with Blues. There were a handful of Catawbas that emigrated to Colorado, but I think it was more of, not a one-way ticket, but a two-way ticket, or a four-way ticket. I think they came and they left. Now, this was under President John Morgan, when the missionaries in South Carolina first encountered the Catawba Indians, and within about, I want to say was about six months, probably half the tribe had converted, maybe more. And it was hoped by these missionaries that were working with the Catawbas, that the Catawbas could get in with the Cherokee in North Carolina and convert them. That never materialized, but I know the missionaries were trying to facilitate that. Yeah, the Catawba Ward has a great history. They are the longest continuously running Native American ward or branch in the Church, I believe. Yes, right behind you. My-- Bonnie, my wife. Right here-- we were married, five years ago. My wife that passed away five years ago, or six years ago, Gwennie Reedle, her mom is Marty Reedle, and her brother is Chief Blue of the Catawba, back there in South Carolina. So, when you mentioned that, I thought that was worth making a comment about. Yeah, it's fun. I've actually been teaching a unit in a history class at BYU this semester, and it turns out one of the seven students in there-- so, it's only seven-- one of the seven students is a descendant of Chief Blue, and that's not her last name, so it took us a while to make that connection. OK, there's a hand.

I'd like to address this gentleman, this brother's statement on the Catawba Indians. I happen to know quite a bit about the Catawbas.

My grandfather was a magistrate in South Carolina for 29 years, and Chief Gilbert Blue, most of the Catawba's Chiefs are called Blue. But Chief Gilbert Blue would come there on Sundays and have dinner with him, and that's how I first learned about the Mormons. My grandfather, every day in his life would drink Postum. I don't know if you know what Postum is, but I believe you do. And I would look at it, and it will stir in that cup, and it looked nasty to me, but they drank it, Blue and my grandfather. And I found out later that my grandfather had been married before, and his wife passed. And he had four children by her. Then he married my grandmother, and she had four children for him. And they were real close, all of them, to the Blues. We, ourself, when we're back home, we attend the ward there, of the Blues. The Catawbas joined the Church, as I'm told by one of the authors of a book by Brown, I believe, that they joined the Church as a tribe. They were alcoholics, drug addicts, and you just about name it, they did it. But when the brethren came through, they converted approximately, I believe, now may be wrong on these numbers, 156 at one time. And they baptized those folks, and their heritage is still part of them anyway, there today. And they have a ward there, a Catawba ward, just out of Rock Hill, South Carolina. So I just thought maybe I'd throw that in, and see if it meant something to you, great. If not, get the history of it. Well, thank you all very much. If you have any additional questions, you can come up and talk to me. Thanks for coming. [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYS]