Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-07-06
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MORMONISM IN KENTUCKY.

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MORMONISM IN KENTUCKY.
THE APOSTLES OF LUST At WORK IN THE
QUIET VILLAGE OF HUNTSVILLE.
Huntsville, KY, is in state of wild excite
ment. For weeks past not only Huntsville,
but Butler county and the neighboring coun-
ties of Muhlenber, Ohio and Grayson, have
been stirred up as they never have been since
the war. The cause of all the trouble is Nor
monsm. For weeks the country has been
filled with Mormon preachers and deluged
with Mormon tracts. The result has been to
separate families to make the husband for
sake the wife and the son the father; to make
lifetime friends lasting enemies; to make
brothers make war upon brothers; to bring
heart burnings and jealOusies and bitterness
between men in every relation Of life Nor
monsm here began in murder; it is ending
in seduction. Its votaries have sounded every
note in the scale between these two crimes.
a representative of the Louisville CONNER
ciul went to Huntsville to investigate the mat
ter and found all the rumors of the distur-
bance in that obscure Kentucky village fully
verified. Huntsville u, a little remote from
all intercourse with the centres of civilization
and is situated in one of the poorest counties in
the State. The people are part and parcel of
the place, kind hearted, hospitable and simple.
They have lived there and their fathers and
grandfathers before them. Every man knows
everything about his neighbors' affairs how
much land he has, when he was married, his
wife's pedigree, and his religion and politics
for years back. A stranger of fifteen years
residence is a suspicious character, but may
some day hope to have his children admitted
to the full fellowship Of the place. The vii
lage grocery is the point of central interest,
and aside from current marriages and deaths,
and how the different neighbors behaved be-
fore and after, it is a never failing subject OF
interest. Newspapers are almost unknown.
save an occasional weekly. Books are avoided
save one, and that book they know from COW
er to cover. From Genesis to Revelations the
Bible is at their fingers ends. They are very
kind to each other and pleasanter and quiet
er little neighb0rhood cannot be found in
the State of Kentucky All this was before
that memorable April night in 1880, when
two men, with words of peace upon their lips,
came to preach unlawful doctrines and to
break up forever the peace of the quaint little
village of Huntsville, and this is how l learned
the history Of it's misfortunes.
Farmer Rowland, who is also the village
postmaster, sturdy, square-set man, told the
reporter how one fearful stormy night in 1880,
he disremembered whether in April or May,
two strange men came among them and asked
for shelter They were Mormon elders. a
few days afterward they stirred around the
neighborhood, and after bit they began to
preach at Union Chapel. We didn't mind
them much at first, as they talked only about
being good and not drinking and swearing
and things of that kind. Then we found
out that they were saying bad things about
our women folks, saying our wives were not
married to us and we would all have to be
married again. We put them out of Union
Chapel, and they went around from house to
house preaching in public what was good, but
telling the folks in private that they ought to
believe in polygamy and all that. They have
kept this up now for mighty near two years
and we are growing desperate. They have
brought all sorts Of trouble into our families
and have ruined the peace of this whole neigh
borhood. Some others can tell you more than
/ can," and Mr.. Rowland leaned back in his
chair and reapsed into silence.
Another old farmer the Squire told about,
DR.. Alex. Hunt. who was the first convert,
and who had done more than any one else to
spread Mormonsm. lie studied medicine a
year at Louisville, and then whenever he prac-
ticed he preached Mormonism, and he also
gathered crowds of the most ignorant in fence
them. lie argued with his women patients
!
suasions. ''The doctrine he preached around
to our young men and women," said the
Squire, THAT they may live together loosely,
and, as they are saints, nothing bad will come
| of it, Our young girls are told that it amounts
! to nothing in Utah, and should not here.
The result of this preaching is frightful."
| A Methodist preacher then told of strange
tale he heard when he was last ut Muhlen-
berg:
Zone evening after sunset two strangers,
Mormon elders, knocked at the door OF Il
widow and said they were Mormon elders and
wanted lodging. Il am lone widow she
said, 'and have no man about my premises.
! You will have to 60 elsewhere.' The Nor
mon looked again and walked in, saying :
| we will enter, for the spirit moves us to
ENTER Then they sat down. The woman fled
out by another door and ran over to neigh
bOr's and narrated to him what had happened.
lie seized his shot gun and went back. The
| Mormon elders were seated at the fire, but
they rose when he entered. lie pointed the
gun ut their heads and said: You chaps git
But they said: The spirit moves us to stay
Then he said: and 1 tell you if you don't
leave in two minutes the spirit will move Inc
to blow your brains out. W
'They got up and left.''
| s'Ever since the Mormons have been here
they have brought trouble with our women
folks" said another. Alexander Tompkins
! was Mormon sympathiZer who came from
! Tennessee. lie struck up al intimacy at
once with the handsome wife of young far
mer, George Meffert. Soon Tompkins began
to say the spirit moved him to live with tile
woman and he made threats to kill Meifert
! if he did not give her up to him. Metfert
became excited and bloodshed was looked for
between the two men. They met once but were
| parted before any blood was spilled. One even
! ing, however, Tompkins full of rum, started
! towards Meffert to enforce his claim. George
was chopping wood. They quarreled and
i Tompkins reached for his pistol. 1t was
fatal move. Meffert sprang at him with the
axe and made one swinging stroke for his
right arm, another for his left, and TOmpkins,
armless, staggered of. Metfert followed him,
the axe fel again and again, and the Mormon
was left literally hacked to pieces. Meffcrt
| then left the country and went to Texas, where
his wife soon joined him, and he believed her
innocent. The MOrmons continuing their
preaching, dcbauchng the woman and putting
indecent and obscene pictures Oh the walls,
the people at last determined to drive out the
Mormon Elders and their disciples. Forty
! fully armed men met one evening not long
! ago, determined to preserve the peace of the
! neighborhoOd.
The Mormon preachers, who had by this
time been reinforced by two others from Utah
were a mile or more distant from town and
! had a little band gathered around them. At
! first they determined to fight and bloody bat
tie seemed imminent, but they finally thought
better of it, disbanded their forces and made
long detour round the town. They have not
been seen near huntsville since, but are ex-
| pected back at any time. The vigilance COM
mittee disbanded without doing anything.
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