2018 - Veterans Day!

My gratitude for our service men and women could never be adequately expressed. In 2011 I gathered together all VETERANS I'd posted about here.

May we NEVER forget!

Does anyone know how John Morgan came to be called "John Hamilton Morgan"?

Group of Southern States Missionaries about 1880

3-John Morgan, 4-Matthias Foss Cowley (SS Mission 1880-1882)

Used with permission, John Hamilton Morgan Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. purchased 2012.

Great Grandfather John Morgan's FamilySearch.org family tree is marked "Read Only." Amy's 2014 question is still found there and accessible.

Does anyone know how John Morgan came to be called "John Hamilton Morgan?" The book "The Life and Ministry of John Morgan," makes the following statement about the middle name, but the co-author, Nicholas G. Morgan Sr., does not give a source for the information: "Although christened 'John Hamilton Morgan,' the 'Hamilton' name coming from his mother's people, my father confined his name, throughout his mature life to 'John Morgan.'" Every record I recall seeing from John Morgan's lifetime calls him "John Morgan" with no middle name or initial, with the exception of the 1850 US Census, which calls him "John W." Anyone familiar with any letters or other sources that show him using the middle name "Hamilton" during his lifetime?
25 May 2014   by Amy Tanner Thiriot

During August of 1894 Matthias Cowley was attending to John Morgan as he lay dying in Preston, Idaho.  Cowley's journal entries reveal some helpful family history facts.

Last year cousin Karen discovered a drawer full of 5 x 7 index cards her Grandfather Nicholas G. Morgan had copied his own father's journal entries onto. Among the cards were eleven with Matthias Cowley's August 1894 journal entries.

The card I transcribed below is very telling.

(continued from the previous card where he is writing about Mary Ann Linton Morgan)

Aug 19 – 92 After moving away for some time, she again returned and again, the third time – and this time rented Adam Hunter’s house in which another little baby boy was born [Jan 26, 1894] and whom they called for me – Mathias Cowley. His father blessed him and I blessed him again the night after his father’s death.

After the burial, Mrs. Helen [lined through M. Morgan] Snyder and myself attended the services in the Tab. and listened to Pres. Housdale of the Michigan University on the Essentials of the Mind. After meeting called on Geo. A & Lucy Smith, his wife, the later a second cousin of mine. Returning to Bro. Morgan’s by request of Sis. Helen M. Morgan,  I blessed her little baby boy, sealing upon him the name of John Hamilton. Slept that night at Bro. Morgan’s.  

The following image shows three other index cards of the eleven in Nicholas Morgan's file drawer.

If there is interest, I will add the transcription of the other ten index cards that describe John Morgan's days at Preston, return train trip to Salt Lake and his funeral and burial.

Thank you cousin Karen.

David W. Hamilton -- a man of strict integrity!

Capt. David W. Hamilton is one of my great great grandmother Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan's younger brothers. Here I posted some of great grandfather John Hamilton Morgan's journal entries about his Uncle David's 1892 visit to Washington D. C.  for a G. A. R. gathering

Sketch of His Life and Services held in Memory of Him.

[February 28, 1896]

The funeral services of Capt. David W. Hamilton were held in the First M.E. [Methodist Episcopal] church Friday afternoon conducted by his old friend, Rev. James B. Lathrop, assisted by the pastor, Rev., J. W. Duncan. The deceased was raised here, and his life’s record is such that it will be a continual inspiration to those who knew him to lead a higher and better life.

In 1863 he had charge of Camp Morton where several thousand Rebel prisoners were confined, and upon leaving that position he turned over to his successor $14,000 belonging to prisoners and intrusted to his care by their relatives and friends.

If he had not been a man of strict integrity he might have kept this fund. This is an instance that shows his fine sense of honor and reveals his true character. He was a member of the First M.E. church, “Pap” Thomas Post, No. 5. G. A. R., and Greensburg Lodge, No. 36, F & A. M--The G. A. R. and Masonic fraternities held ritualistic services in the church and at the grave. Both orders were well represented, showing their high esteem of a comrade and brother. The following sketch appeared in the Indianapolis Journal which we reproduce for the benefit of our readers:

Capt. David W. Hamilton died at noon yesterday at St. Vincent’s Hospital, after an illness of several years. Captain Hamilton was born in Kentucky, February 1, 1828 but early in life the family emigrated to this State, settling in Decatur county, where the boy grew to manhood. At Greensburg, with his elder brother, John T. Hamilton, he learned the trade of a saddler and harness maker. From early youth he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was very popular there in the days of 1850 to 1861. In politics he was a Whig of unwavering fidelity, and become a Republican of unyielding conviction, supporting John C. Fremont with all the zeal of his ardent nature.

When Sumter fell in 1861 Captain Hamilton was one of the first men to place his name [illegible] Morgan’s roll. His company [illegible] organization, April 22, 1861, Company B of the Seventh Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. As first sergeant he served in that company in the three months’ service. In the movement from Webster on Phillippi, Va., on June 2, 1861, with Lient Rickets, of his company, he was detalled to lead the advance guard of the direct column, and, probably the only time during the long war, two men carried a lantern at the front, as the night was so dark and rainy and the mud so deep that the commanding officer deemed it necessary to find the road. These two officers carried the light within two or three miles of the objective point when it became so fine a target the outpost pickets of the enemy that it brought the column to a halt. Upon the reorganization of the Seventh Regiment for the three years’ service, he was elected as first lieutenant of Company E, and on the promotion of Capt. Ira Grover, became its captain.

Contracting diseases that made it impossible for him to march, he was transferred to the invalid corps, and was soon after appointed to the command of Camp Morton in 1863, where he had charge of the rebel prisoners therein. He gave complete satisfaction to the government as a pains-taking commander. When the term of his enlistment expired he was mustered out of the service, and in a few months, believing his disabilities would permit it, he again entered the service and was commissioned a captain in the Fifty-first Indiana. Before leaving the service he was commissioned a major of that regiment, but was not mustered with that rank before he retired finally from the service. He was a member of Encampment No. 80, of the Union Veteran Legion of Indianapolis; a command of “Pap” Thomas Post, G. A. R. [Grand Army of the Republic] of Greensburg, and a Mason of the lodge at the same place. His remains were taken to his old home at Greensburg last night. Captain Hamilton lived a bachelor’s life until a few years ago, when he married an estimable woman, who lived but a few months.

References: Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana Library new papers obituary collection.                                          

A groom named Jack W. Morgan!

Garrard Warren Morgan

This picture of Garrard Morgan's youngest son, Garrard Morgan IV, has always intrigued me because of his serious lamb-chop-side-burns. The rest of the hair on his head is trimmed so neatly. He isn't a 4th generation Garrard Morgan as my mother thought because Warren is his middle name. Following some further searching I've found him listed as Jap W. Morgan, Jack W. Morgan, Girard Morgan, and George Morgan.  There may yet be other versions.

In an 1863 letter John Morgan wrote home to his mother during his Civil War service (letter posted here on The Ancestor Files), John mentions each of his brothers and his sister.

"I get letters frequently from Will. Reced one from Lu[ella] last evning also one from Morg [Perhaps Morg Hamilton buried in South Park Cemetery in Greensburg, Indiana]. Kiss Jap for me. [His dog?] I would give a thousand dollars to see. Is Lon [Leonidas] studying any now. Tell him to improve his time above everything else. Let novels and such trash alone. Let him have something solid and something that will give him information to read. Knowledge is more than gold and silver. Poor Jimmie. I am sorry his jaw troubles him yet. He is a good boy and has the go aheaditiveness about him to make a man of himself one that will make his mark."

I’ve always had difficulty hearing people use the word “Jap”.  When I first read it used by great grandfather John Morgan in his Civil War letter home to his mother, I was admittedly less concerned with its use than imagining him wanting his mother to kiss his dog.

"JAP W. MORGAN, station agent and telegraph operator. C. & A. R. R.,  [Chicago and Alton Railway ][1] P.O. Stanford: son of Gerard Morgan, who was born in Nicholas Co., Ky., May 16, 1806 and married Eliza A. Hamilton Jan. 1, 1832. She was born in the same county July 15, 1810. They moved to Decatur Co., Ind., in 1834, and to Coles Co., Ill. April 11, 1857, and to McLean County in 1875. They have six children, viz., William H., John W., Louellie, Leonidas, James, A. and Jap. W., the subject of this sketch; he was born in Decatur Co., Ind., May 5, 1854. In September 1872, went West on a visiting and prospecting tour to California and most of the Territories. Returning to Mattoon Ill., in October 1874, he then made a tour through the Southern States, Texas, and Indian Territory, returning to Bloomington May 5, 1875. He soon commenced studying telegraphy in the employ of the C. & A. R. R. Co. April 18, 1878 he married Miss Emma R. Meagher daughter of Capt., J. C. Meagher, of Cambridge, Ohio. She was born in Kimbolton, Guernsey. Co., Ohio, Aug. 3, 1860 and came to Stanford in June 1872." [2]

Emma R. Meagher's marriage record is available from McLean County Illinois vital records where it is listed alphabetically: MEAGHER, EMMA R married 18 Apr 1878 in MC LEAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS, U. S. A. a groom named JACK W MORGAN.  7,411,742 

"Jap's" Older brother Elder John Morgan traveled to and through Mc Lean County, Illinois in 1875 as a missionary, teaching family and friends in Illinois and on into Indiana the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph Standing and John Morgan specifically taught his father and brother James as mentioned here and here. [3] Perhaps Garrard "Jap" Warren Morgan was introduced to his brother's new understanding of the Gospel during this time.

Thanks to descendant Eliza's work Garrard's FamilyTree page has been updated. You can see there that "Jap" later returned to the lands and territories he explored as a young man, living in Texas and Oklahoma. He was buried in Missouri following his 1920 passing when his wife Fannie was left a widow. 

---

[1] http://www.r2parks.net/alton.html

[2]   --The History of McLean County, Illinois: Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, by W. Le Baron, Jr., 1879, McClean County, Ill., - 1078 pages.
[3] John Hamilton Morgan Journal, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah.

Updated record of John Morgan's missionary service.

Amy has used the church's new missionary database to update Great Grandfather John Morgan's missionary service here.

Thank you Amy for keeping us appraised of the new missionary database and updating John Morgan and the Southern States Missionary records. I appreciate your work and your example.

Garrard Earl Morgan. John and Mellie Morgan's tenth son was an artist.

 As a two-year-old, Earl was the older of the two baby boys his widowed mother raised following his father’s August 1894 death.

Born October 8, 1892 to John and Helen, Melvina “Mellie” Groesbeck Morgan Garrard Earl grew up in the old Farmers Ward where his family lived on Bryan Avenue. There he attended the Waterloo School with his siblings.

Earl signed his 1917-1918 US World War I registration card as “E. Grard Morgan.” His occupation at that time was Window Trimmer for The Vine Company, Chicago, Ill. The registrar reported he was tall, slender, with blue eyes and auburn hair. Earl claimed “exemption” because “wife solely dependent.” He’d recently married Merin Birgita Engman, a Swedish immigrant. Their only child was named Garrard and was called Jerry.

In 1928 his family lived on Wilson Avenue in Salt Lake City and his niece Helen Rex of Randolph, Utah spent the school year in his home while she attended the L.D.S. High School.

Sometime later Earl and Merin were divorced. Merin and Jerry lived with Grandma Mellie Morgan for a time.

I’d learned from Morgan descendants that Earl was very artistic. Several of his paintings hung in his mother’s home but none of them could be accounted for. I was understandably thrilled to see one emerge from my deceased Aunt Winifred Rex Andrus’ home this past year. It was signed G E Morgan and her daughters said they had never seen it before.

Its unknown when Earl painted this 10 x 12 inch oil on pressed board.  With my cousin’s permission I had a Giclée disc and print made of the original and offered copies to interested family members. I recently purchased a copy for myself and had it wrapped around an 1-1/2 inch deep frame with the edges cloned.

I’d be happy to order a copy again for interested family members. The print is still $37 on canvas. Having it wrapped onto a frame as I did doubled the cost and then some. Please let me know if you’d like me to order you one next time around.

Wikepedia. Giclée; The name originally applied to fine art prints created on IRIS printers in a process invented in the late 1980s but has since come to mean an inkjet print. It is often used by artists, galleries, and print shops to suggest high quality printing but since it is an unregulated word it has no associated warranty of quality.                                                                                                                

April 13, 1876, There appears to be a different atmosphere here [Indiana].

A stained glass window from

the new  Indianapolis, Indiana Temple

As an early 1876 missionary John Morgan spent some time with his parents who lived in Illinois. He and his companion, Joseph Standing, traveled from there towards the southern states mission. They worked hard during their stay in Illinois, attempted to hold meetings, and found many doors closed to them. After leaving Illinois the atmosphere changed.

Morgan wrote on April 13, 1876: We are now in Indiana and have been well treated and kindly received by all. There appears to be a different atmosphere here to what there is in Illinois. Am in hopes that we shall be able to do a good work in the neighborhood.

John Morgan’s birthplace of Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana is about fifty-miles from the new Indianapolis, Indiana Temple.

John Morgan at October 1887 conference in Tennessee.

Mount Olivete Cemetery

1101 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, Tennessee

 approximately seven miles from Nashville, Tennessee

 picture from Wikipedia, November 2005

Yesterday’s Amateur Mormon Historian’s post was of interest to me. The conference Bruce wrote about occurred in the midst of the following John Morgan 1887 Southern States’ Missionary posts. 

                                                                                             

September11 – 18, 1887

September17, 1887, Newspaper account of Tennessee conference mobocracy

October13, 1887

His map of the railways bordering the Middle Tennessee Conference is equally intriguing and illustrates John Morgan's use of the railways during his travel there.

From Chattanooga, Tennessee, Mission President John Morgan recorded in his journal:

October 7, 1887 — Made preparation during the morning and at 1:35 p.m. left for Murfreesboro over N.C. and St. L. Railroad to attend the East Tennessee conference.

At Decherd, met Elder E. S. Wright.  At Murfreesboro, met Elder H. K. Perkins and accompanied him to brother William Burks, four miles out at the Labanon pike [about seven miles from Nashville, Tennessee].  Arrived at 7:30 p.m. where we stayed tonight.

October 8 — After an early breakfast, started for the conference, fourteen miles distant. Arrived at 8 a.m. at Miss Simmons where we met all the Elders laboring in the East Tennessee Conference. Held Council meeting and at 10 a.m. met in Conference with a fair attendance. Had a dinner under the shade of the tree, and met again at 2 p.m.  A good spirit manifest. After meeting, held another council.

October 9 — Stayed at Mrs. Simmons last night. Held council at 8 a.m. and met in council [council was crossed out of typed journal transcript and conference written in its place] at 10 a.m. and increased attendance, and a good spirit manifested. Had lunch and held council between 12 and 2. Had another good meeting, after which Elder Wright and myself bid the Elders and saints goodbye and accompanied Brother Halfaen home. During the Conference the East Tennessee conference was divided and Elder  S. H. Head [Samuel Hugh Head  served SS Mission January 24, 1886 -  unknown release date]  was appointed to preside over the East half.

October  10 — Started at 5:30 a.m. for Lebanon and at 7 a.m. took train for Nashville, arriving at 8. Visited the Capitol Bridge Market, Vanderbilt, Penetentiary, [sic. penitentiary] and other points of interest about the city. At night attended the Theatre, Vendome, Keene in Marc Anthony.

John Hamilton Morgan journal, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah  

Helen Melvina "Mellie" Groesbeck Morgan's Sister Wives.

A cousin recently shared some family documents with me.

Mrs. Helen M. Groesbeck Morgan, 359 Bryan avenue, widow of John Morgan, died early Monday morning as a result of injuries received in an automobile accident in Oakland, Cal., according to word received by N. G. Morgan of Salt Lake.

Mrs. Morgan was visiting relatives in California during the last three weeks.

She was born in Springfield, Ill., February 7, 1852, and crossed the plains with her parents, Nicholas and Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck, in 1856. She had lived in Salt Lake since 1856.

Surviving are the following children: Mrs. Helen M. Austin, Mrs. Ruth Kunkel, N. G. Morgan, Mrs. Gail Clayton and Judge John H. Morgan, all of Salt Lake; Mrs. Percy Rex of Randolph, Utah, and G. E. Morgan of San Francisco; one sister, Mrs. Josephine G. Smith, and two brothers, Joseph F. and Samuel Groesbeck of Salt Lake.

The obituary doesn't name Mary Ann Linton Morgan as a family member.  The Deseret Mortuary Company Automobile List for Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan’s June 20, 1930 funeral shows Aunt Mary Morgan’s inclusion in the “second automobile.”

Very very little was written or said in my mother’s family [P.H. and Bessie Morgan Rex] about her grandfather John Morgan's polygamy. Only that it was and it included Aunt Mary and Aunt Annie. 

Some years ago when I found each of their grave stones far away from one another in the Salt Lake Cemetery I could not understand why and I was saddened.

I've since attempted to rectify some omissions. John Morgan’s headstone, placed at his Salt Lake City grave site by Southern States Missionaries several years following his 1894 death, had a blank side just calling for an explanation. I enlisted descendants participation in a project to add his wives names to his grave stone.  

Engraving added to John Morgan marker in 2012.

This post was triggered by James Tanner's post The Shadow Wife at Genealogy's Star this morning.

See also December 11, 2014 post The Shadow Wife - part 2.

And here I've contributed to Amy's cautionary tale  "Middle Name Creep"  posted yesterday. I do concur with Amy, I've never found an early source for John Hamilton Morgan.

Eliza Ann Morgan Smith history concluded.

Continued from here.

Eliza Ann’s family grew like her mother and father's did. She and Frank resided in Salt lake City and by 1913 they had ten children. That year James Frank Smith died, leaving Eliza Ann widowed with numerous small children. Not unlike her father, John Morgan’s, 1894 death left her own mother.

Eliza's children are:

Laura Smith (1895-    )

Eliza C “Lila” Smith (1894-1980)

James Pence Smith (1896-1962)

Helen Melvina Smith Buckley (1899-1992)

Alan Smith (1901-1901)

Richard B. Smith (1901-    )

Nicholas Smith (1903-    )

Alice M. Smith (1906-1925)

Clair Smith (1909-    )

Lillian D. Smith Ort (1913-1980)

According to Utah Marriage records Eliza Ann was married to John Robinson in Davis County, Utah on August 14, 1920.[i] Mr. Robinson was twenty-five years Lyle’s senior. He passed away in 1928.[ii]

It is not known when Eliza Ann moved to California. She was living there in 1938 when Bessie’s oldest daughter Helen Rex and new husband Glenn Frazier visited her family in early 1938. Helen explained in her January 20, 1938 letter to her brother Harold.

“A week ago last Sunday we went out to see Aunt Lile. We met her daughter Lila and husband where we got off the street car, and they took us to Aunt Liles. She has a married daughter and an unmarried daughter living at home with her. Then we met her son Jim. He reminds me a lot of Uncle Earl. Tall and thin.”

Eliza Ann was residing there in 1930 when her mother Mellie visited her and suffered a fatal fall. Mellie passed away on June 15, 1930. 

Eliza Ann  passed away in Solano, California on January 15, 1952. She and Frank are buried in her father’s family plot in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

[i] “Utah, marriagaes, 1887-1966,” index, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F8GK-732: accessed 05 Nov 2014), John Robinson and Lila Smith, 14 Aug 1920; citing Davis Co., Utah; FHL microfilm 484357

[ii] State of Utah—Death Certificate File No 1044, 152, John Robinson, 18 No. Chicago St, Salt Lake, buried City Cemetery (Anna Robinson, wife, signed death certificate).

Eliza Ann Morgan married James Frank Smith in 1893.

James Frank and Eliza Ann Morgan Smith (daughter of John Hamilton

 and Helen Melvina "Mellie" Groesbeck Morgan) were married in 1893.

Recently I came across this history of the man who married Eliza Ann Morgan. He was certainly an industrious gentleman.

“James F. Smith one of the most prominent young lawyers in Salt Lake City, and who has already made an enviable career in his chosen profession, was born in this city in 1872. He is a son of James Smith, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who came to Utah in 1869. His wife, Mary (Bowdidge) Smith, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a native of the Island of Jersey, a British possession near the coast of France. She emigrated to the United States in 1865, in which year she arrived in Salt Lake City

.

“Their son James was educated in the public schools of this city and later took a course in All Hallows College here.  Owing to the limited means of his parents, and the necessity of earning his own living, at the age of eleven years, he secured employment as cash boy for the Zion Co-operative Merchantile Institution, where he remained for about one year, and then secured employment in a grocery business.  He later mastered the painting and glazing trade, and followed that occupation for five or six years. His next business was with the glass firm of G. F. Culmer Brothers, where he remained for about four years and then entered the employ of the Salt Lake Building and Manufacturing Company, remaining with this latter establishment for about two years.  He was early alive to the importance of increasing his store of knowledge, and with that end in view, took a course at the Salt Lake Business College, and was later a clerk in the Morgan Hotel during which time all his spare moments were applied to his studies, and in 1894 he began the study of Law, reading with the firm of Chas J. Pence. And C. E. Allen. He continued to work in the daytime and study late in the night during 1895. On September 15^th  of the following year he accepted a position in the office of this firm where he pursued his studies until his admission to the bar of the Supreme Court of Utah. He then opened a law firm and struck out for himself. His first start was in a room about six feet wide and ten feet long. His equipment was, to say the least, as far as his books were concerned, of a very limited order. His application to his study and the ability he demonstrated in the successful conduct of the cases entrusted to him, soon led to an increase in his practice, and he is now one of the most successful young attorneys in Salt Lake City.

“Mr. Smith was married in 1893 to Miss. Eliza A. Morgan, daughter of Elder John M. Morgan , President [sic] of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His wife’s mother was a daughter of Nicholas Groesbeck, one of the early settlers of Utah.

“In political life Mr. Smith is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican Party, and while he has taken an active part in its work, has never sought or held public office. He, like his parents, is a member of the Mormon Church, and has been a faithful worker in its behalf.   He has acquired a prominent place in the legal and social circles of Salt Lake, and enjoys a wide popularity.” [i]

(To be continued.)

---

[i] Biographical Record of Salt Lake City and Vicinity: Containing Biographies [over 500] of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, published in 1902 by the National Historical Record Co., Chicago. Pg 220.

Note: At the above "clerk in the Morgan Hotel" link scroll down to the second newspaper article, “The Ford Hotel Changes Hands.” Click on it to enlarge. Note the sentence. “Mr. Snyder, Mr. Morgan’s son-in-law tried in vain to keep the business afloat." I’d always wondered who Mr. Snyder might be.  I believe he was James Frank Smith. Familiar with the building industry Frank managed his father-in-laws hotel in those depressed times.

Tunnel Hill, Varnell Station, and Dalton, Georgia. April 2014.

(Continued from here.)

Trip to Georgia and Tennessee concluded here. Entries from John Hamilton Morgan's journal are included.

Tunnell Hill, Whitfield County, Georgia.

September 16, 1878 - Wrote a little, read some and drove over to Varnells station and beyond where I got my boots fixed.

September 17, 1878 - Went to see Mr. Huffaker today. Held a long talk with him on the principles of the Gospel. Meeting tonight, full house and good attention, and I think we are moving something. 

Tunnell Hill, Georgia was abloom with flowers, sunshine and a clear blue sky the morning we visited. The slow moving pace of life there didn't call for guard rails at this train crossing.

Unnamed church at Tunnell Hill

September 18, 1878 -  Wrote and visited among the folks and held meeting on the 20th, stayed all night with Mr. Henry Holstine, P. O. Varnells Station, Georgia. Drove to Tunnell Hill and feel that things are moving up.

Tunnell Hill, Georgia. 

September 22, 1878 - Held meeting at 11 a.m. Good attendance and the spirit of God to lead us; a good impression made.

September 23 - Drove over to the station and visited some.

Varnell Station rail road crossings were the only in the area I saw with crossing arms. Slow paced with numerous churches, I snapped pictures of the few indicators of where we were.

Varnell Station was important in Joseph Standing's missionary service in 1878-9 and is further explained at the Ancestor Files and here on earlier posts.

The following pictures were taken at the Joseph Standing Memorial Park in Dalton, Georgia. Without our kind friend chauffeuring us, we'd have never found it. Notwithstanding the wonderful directions on the Amateur Mormon Historian, which I had with me.

A beautiful sacred spot in the midst of woods and confusing, winding roadways. 

We considered it miraculous we arrived and could visit there.

This memorial park and monument honor the memory of Elder Joseph Standing of Salt Lake City, Utah, a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) who was killed here by a mob July 21, 1879. His companion, Elder Rudger Clawson, who later became President of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church was unharmed.

The cooperation of W. C. Puryear and family who donated the land and were most helpful in other was, made this memorial possible.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints May 1952

The site is presently well cared for and must serve members in the area

 and visitors like us with a beautiful destination and retreat.

A clump of watercress was growing in a tiny drainage stream running across the park.

This old broken marker must be as old as the tragedy itself.

Joseph Standing's body was purportedly taken to the Stover family home near Dalton where it was cared for, and prepared for the journey back to Salt Lake City, Utah and home. This cove housing an old pond and mill may be where the Stovers were living at that time.

The roadway below led us out of the cove and our wonderful Tennessee/Georgia adventure which is concluded here.   

John Morgan was in Salt Lake at the time of Joseph Standing's murder. His 1879 journal pages from mid-April to mid-August are missing, so he is silent on the tragedy. He and his wife had James Standing to their home in Salt Lake City for dinner on January 11, 1881.

The final leg of our trip into Haywood Valley, Georgia. 2014.

(Continued from here.)

We stopped on Highway #27 before reaching the Haywood Valley Road turnoff because I was attracted to the  beauty and charm of these old structures in the morning rain.

No longer inhabited, the property owners chose to keep and preserve these old buildings.

They were in the woods across the road from the Living Waters Ministries at Little Texas Road  and Highway #27. 

I took the picture of the street sign below to help me later remember and identify where we were when we discovered these buildings.

Later when Mr. Campbell of Haywood Valley talked of this intersection, gave me a copy of his Georgia Church History map, and explained how to pronounce the word Armuchee [Ar-moo-chee], I realized we'd stopped at the site of the earliest Armuchee branch on our drive into Haywood Valley Road that day.                        

We were met at the intersection below by a kind friend of my Rex cousins who drove north from Atlanta that morning to chauffeur us into Haywood Valley and the Campbells' home there.

The Haywood Valley Road looks exactly like the pictures cousin Geraldine M. sent me in 2008 and I posted here and here.

This is the land Thomas "Jetter" Lawrence's, Haywood Valley, Georgia, home stood on in the late 1870's.

All that remains of Jetter's home site is the large rock in the foreground that marks his well. The Campbells presently own and live on the land Jetter Lawrence frequently welcomed John Morgan to during his years in the Southern States Mission.

The Campbells' map illustrates their knowledge and respect for John Morgan's service in their valley and the northwestern Georgia hills. The map is immensely helpful as I recall our travels to Georgia and Tennessee coupled with the history I've learned from the John Morgan journal.

Armuchee, Georgia is first mentioned in John Morgan’s journal on May 7, 1877, Armuchis [sic] Branch: Returned to Chatooga County, crossing some terrible rivers on the way, swift and rapid. Held a general conference of the North Georgia and Alabama Saints [see History of the Southern States Mission here] at Haywood Valley Church. Well attended and good spirit prevailing … Brother Lisonbee and I started on a trip to this branch [Armuchee] and the Beechcreek. Found the brethren generally  enjoying the spirit of God and feeling well the spirit of emigration is taking hold upon the Brethren generally and I am much in hopes that all will try and emigrate this Fall.

"Armuchee, was for a time a part of the Chatoogee District of the Cherokee Nation. In 1832, however, the Georgia Legislature made this area a part of Floyd County, Georgia as a matter of law. Thereafter, in defiance of the United States Supreme Court, it became exclusively a part of Georgia as a matter of fact by military might. Government troops forced the Cherokees to travel the “Trail of Tears”, or more literally “The Trail Where We Cried”. Over the Trail of Tears in 1838 the Cherokees were removed to the Arkansas and Oklahoma Territory." 

Note: According to Mr. Campbell's research and the deed of the land he purchased and the people who lived on it in Haywood Valley, the land originally belonged to Thomas Lawrence, who was called Jetter. The nick-name Jetter was given to his grandfather, a "fine shooter" whose grandson, Thomas, was also an excellent shot and was called Jetter—"Uncle Jetter"—by John Morgan. An extra "thank you" to the Campbells for their hospitality and permitting my use of their map here. The John Morgan Journal and papers are now a part of the MWDL. Click John Morgan's picture in the right hand column of this blog for a link to the MWDL site.

(To be continued.)