The New York herald., 1879-08-04


Then he was Joined by other elders aud extended hts
heId OF operations. Ne aud his collssgaes would
preach In the open air. An private houses. An tho
court house-any where that they could ga q
hearing. They would solicit controversy. and
were found 10 be remarkably rlaaslble Prom
time 20 time We would 10 % p.opl.
who had bson converted b the Mormon fsfth.
They would be bsptizsd by the elder. and w<Ss
heuceforth known --aints." OCCASIONALLY th~%~
converts would he shipped b. Utah al on. time .
crowd OF forty people going on one tr<n. In
most instances. however. they remained IN a.orssA
living on their farms and making their houses h-ai
quarters for the elders rcnewoas Zoe ns~ converts
halting doubters-"
.Of course. they did not practlcs the poiy xsmie
doctrinef"
"oh. no, That would NOT have been permitted.
In fact. the elders preached tina a. part or
their doctrine In public The 0sorria s.sn,.--tAat
is. our native Mormons-bshaye we'll a. ANY ether
class OF citizens. whls they avow posysamy a.
part OF their creed they do attempt 90 practice
IL IN Georgia. For that sort of expsrin.snt thsy
stick to belief and declare that the ancss came
to Jo Smith. and that the book of Mormon n the
true book; and % so on, An my county lwa.ksrl they
bers OF call themselves the J0@ephites aud do
not agree with tho others ON e-rtsin aocfrin2i
.'IIave these elders had much oppositionr'
"a good deal. They have been frequently threat
ened with violence. % Sa, nothing serloa. has over
admirers. aud the orthodox preashers dsny them.
but the mass OF the people have cared much
about them. For many years they have been
preaching regularly 10 crowds all this up-country
and never heard OF them being hurt. I have heard
many cay that IL one Of them ever entered has
house and tried proseyte his wife or daughter he
would shoot him down. 1 must think that there ix
some personal grievance at the bottom OF the iats
killing. They may have seduccd some fathers or
husbands or wives or dsughtvrs from their mono
gamic and Christian belief aud invoked the anger Of
their relatives. There has always been great talk
OF their breaking up families by prosey ting ono
or two members OF them"
GRADUALLY GAINING GROUND
find that this Elder Morgan came into Georgia
from Lookout Mountain, where a camp or head
quarters had been established. Hetravelied through
the adjoining corners of Georgia and Tennessee.
organizing church branches, baptizing CONVERTS
preaching, exhorting and persuading He WAS put
in charge OF the mssons OF the southern States and
He had IN abundance OF money aud spent IL freely.
paying the way OF persons who wished to go to
Utah. He finally organized number OF branch
churches and gained foothold In dozen counties.
He and his colleague did not preach polygamy or
hold out any licentious inducements Thew preached
the Word and painted the material gIories OF Utah
They have been constant in their efforts and have
gradually gathered strength. They have N their
backs brave and men filled with fanatical aggres-
siveness. asked Judge Samuel Hawkins, of Cha
tooga if they had made any progress in his county.
ssOh, yes" said he. "They have their folio wers,
though principally side OF the county They
have sent out good many and have a good many
left: They are gradually gaining ground"
els it low class OF people that have Joined
themY'
Generally they are; and yet In my county they
have some intelligent well to do people,"
Have they ever been annoyed by tho unbe-
uevers?'
Court House in my town. also in Rome, and, in
fact, pretty much over our whole section. l never
heard of their having trouble You they arc
very particular. They do not talk about polygamy.
asked one of them once ii poygamy was part Of
his creed He replied: I'VE have our own views
of marriage; you have yours. We shall not disturb
Of course that the elders lcentous and i'm.
moral. All sorts of tales were told about them;
but never know of o case where they debauched
even one Of their female converts They were always
intimate with the families of the saints, but never
knew positively OF their M having wrong relations
being smart, shifty. determined men. bent
upon their work OF proselyting."
THE WORK AT vARNELL's STATION.
From what can learn the station ut which young
Standing was killed has been OF the most danger
Gus in the &c country s II was established .s about one
years DID, but young fellow of iLe ability and Of
practical courage. and by Rodger Clawson They
worked In the face OF the bitterest opposition
and their lives frequently threatened. Acharge
of seduction was brought against Stcnding and he
and Ciawson were forced to leave They went to
Pckeps, nighboring county. and the little flock at
Varnelis was turned over to Elder Hulsey. He
routed by mob that barely gave him time TO
go. Later he came back with another elder. and the
house in which they stopped was surrounded. and IL
was said that the mob. numbering ten or twelve
tnreStoneQ
another Mormon in it. BY this time Standing had
been made presiding elder of the Georgia Confer
ence' and in making his circuit had to visit Var
nelfs, and in fact this stormy charge had again been
confided to the OF himself and Ciawson. Apprc-
catng the situation, Standing addressed letter to
Governor Colquitt the 18th of June, in which he
said that elder OF the Church OF Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints commonly called Mormons,"
he would address the Governor upon a matter
of importance. He then stated that ere
peated letters from the saints at varnell's had
informed him that the elders OF his lmy) faith
had been compelled to fee Tor their lives. and that
armed mobs of forty and fifty men had surrounded
houses and searched them to drive these elders
OUT. He then rected that Georgia guaranteed free
dom Of thought and religious toeration, and said
that line from the Governor might have q fine
effect minor officers winked the lawlessness.
The letter. moderate and pacific in its tone. well
written In reply Governor Colquitt stated that tho
laws OF Georgia did guarantee perfect freedom to all
and that as long as the conduct of citizens was
proper they could think as they pleased. He added
that even when the conduct was in violation Of law
the law itself would punish this violation and that
for the law. In closing he regretted to hear Mr..
Standings reports from Whitfield county. and said
that he had ordered the State solicitor to look into
the reports and. if true. to bring the Offenders to
justice.
THE MURDER
Armed with this letter, Standing and Clawson
went to varnelps. On the night after their arrival
they were arrested nsulted and ordered to leave
the neghborhood instantly 1t being discovered tho
formed for tho purpose OF whipping them 1t 10 not
believed that there was any intention of killing
u
tree and dress them down with hickory limbs.
Standings foolhardiness In picking up pistol that
had been carsessly lad down. and threatening the
whole party with it, was the cause of his death.
After he had been shot once the whole party fired
upon him. and his head and neck literally rid
died. There is no doubt that there personal
motives back OF this determined hostility to tho
Mormons, and that the men who stood up against
their advance standing in defence ofamilics.
whose harmony and existence was threatened by the
teachings and the persuasion of these
The field in Georgia so long fought over and now
tat. vfth tho Nf0 ptxr
him. IL not to be abandoned. This act of violence
has only doubled the energies of those elders re-
manning, and stiffened the backs Of tho local
"ssints." Said Judge Hawkins to me. ''They have
never, understand, lost u single convert. When
they get man they keep him." Elder Morgan
himself is now coming to Georgia aud new preachers
will come with him. Able counsel have been EN-
ployed to prosecute Standings murdercrs when
they caught. The work of the Mormons In Geor-
gia will 20 They have already spread into
Fannin and Union counties and they never
give back an inch of ground Unless an example is
made of tho who killed Standing, we may look
for more outrages and bloodshcd from counties