The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1884-10-02
MORMON FUNERALS.

| LII our llUC16 IOWn lives Il HAL, w 0Slcy
M, who is son of one of seven women
who were at one time all wives (D of his
father; his wife is also a child of seven
wives; she is niece Of her husband, and
was married to another man before she
married Mr.. M. and had one child, Will
| lie, a pretty little fellow. bright as the
morning, and loved b; lis playmates.
Mr. M is very brutal man, and it
is certainly queer, too, why he should be
so, when his father only went into polyg-
amy that he might raise up holy poster
ity, and he often beat his stepson Willie
unmercifully. The boy attended our
school, and one morning as he was start
ing for school, Mr.. NJ said to him:
willie, I wish you would go and carry
away that sage brush" A lot of it was
piled near the house.
Mrs. M said, eff he do, he will be too
late for school.
Mr.. M said, "Willie, if you don't do
that work, 1 will beat you till Christ
won't know you," supplementing it with
the most horrible oaths, "and,' contin-
uing, 81 want you to leave here and never
come back"
The boy, knowing the brutality of him
who should have been his protector, was
was much frightened, and tremblingly
sought the home of a relative that night.
The next day he suddenly took the ty-
phoid fever and pneumonia, and was sick
but five days, when Deaths sickle cut
him down. and we who knew him best
think that the loving Christ did know
him when he passed through the gates.
In all his delirium accompanying the
fever, he constantly screamed to those
about him for help, as he said Wesley was
coming to kill him with club.
He died at the house of a very strong
Mormon, and as a matter of course, the
funeral must be conducted in part by the
Saints; but as he had been attending our
school and Sunday School, his mother
wanted me to be present and assist; so
when the time came who should be pres
ent but the President of the Tooele Stake
County of Zion, the highest official next
to the Apostles, and F. M. Lyman, one
of the Twelve Apostles, who has one of
his wives and large property here, and
happened to be here at that time.
After singing,
"When first the glorious light of truth;
Burst forth in these last days.
Pres. Gowans got up and made few re-
marks. Apostle Lyman then was called
upon, but did not want to speak until l
had spoken, but had not gone there to
talk in their heartless manner, nor had I
how 70 +Io
son why he wanted me to speak before
him was that he wanted to contradict all
that 1 should say; that is their game.
Not to speak egotistically, but I knew
that all of consolation that would be said
on the occasion would be said by myself
or Rev. Mr.. Copeland, if he should be
called upon by the Bishop in charge of
ceremonies. Lyman had to speak. He
ran away off to the celestial country,
where the boy would by and by become
god, and create worlds, have many wives,
and beget numerous posterity, and place
them as Adam and Eve on these new
planets.
The Mormons say that children cannot
sin until they are eight years old, and as
w llliC w do hoV lllIlC qulCC, G1lO SOONi SOI
soling Apostle told us that he could
not by any possibility be lost-even
though he had not been baptized, as all
Mormon children are supposed to be at
the age of eight. nor even heard the gos-
pei, having only attended the Methodist
Sunday School. Well. after he was
through his talk, preached the funeral
sermon. Then we proceeded to the grave,
and after the coffin had been lowered into
the ground, good brother dedicated"
the grave. Standing over it with both
| hands stretched toward heaven, he COM
mitted the plat of ground containing the
grave to God. Next, 1--WE dedicate to
Thee, o God, the Eternal Father, the
clothing on this our brother, that thou
wilt keep them until the last day; also,
the boards, nails, screws, cloth. covering,
and all that pertaineth to the cOnstruc-
tion of this cofin;" and lot of other
mumbling, which could not remember.
After this Bro. Copeland and l went
home, wiser than before.
j. D. GILLIAN.
TooELE, UTAH, Sept. "a, 1884.