The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-05-17
.MORMON1sM.
It. Doctrines and Bellefs-How They Live
From the Atlanta Constitution.

From, the Atlanta Constitution.
/ SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, April 26.-
Georgia and Tennessee furnish US NOR
converts than any other two States il
the Union," said prominent Mormon
elder to-day, "and Alabama, the tw'
Carolinas and Mississippi come next, il
the order named. How do we get them
Why, ne proselyte them, of course. W.
have large number of missionaries nov
at work in the South, and We are reapine
9 great harvest Of souls. We are callet
'Mormons,' but this is an erroneous title
as we are a purely religious, worshippine
community, whose collective title is the
Church of Jesus Christi"
LATTER DAT SAINTS.
"Our missicn and our teachings are
] greatly misun. erstood by those who live
| in the East. In the South ne find greater
receptiyeness Of mind; the people are Of
simple faith and the seeds Of our great
and glorious gospel take root quickly
We have metwith great success, though
with aomey fepulses and misfortunes
scofsrs have offered indignities to ou,
missionaries, but We still work on
undannted: We look upon Georgia as
the most promisipg State in the Union
We believe the propagation of our doc.
trines there -and in Tennessee-will be
rapid, and will, in time, result in the
establishment of our worship in the
larger or more populous cities. Of the
other Southern States it is difficult to
speak at this time. A bitter feeling
seems to have sprung up against US in
Alabama, and this is perpetrated by the
sectarian press; in fact ne find bigots the
hardest people to fight. As to the num-
ber ofsconverts made by our missiona-
ries, it would be impossible to get statis-
tics unless through the railway officials,
as the chiefs of our order are not inclined
to make, public the strength of our
denomination. In 1aSO there we're, in
Utah.. 12O, ,2SS so.called .Mormons,' 6.sSS
Apostste Mormons, 800 Josephite Nor
mons, 1,716 doubtful and Il, 1856 Gentiles.
Since then
:. oUR RANKS HAVE INCREASED
rapidly until it is almost impossible to
give correct figures. In Salt Lake City
there are 2S,2OO Latter-day Saints, and
less than 900. Gentiles..'
Mr.. J.SH. Bennett, general passenger
agent of the Denver and Rio Grande
railway, was interviewed on the subject
of Southern converts to Mormonism.
"They bring in a great many" " said he,
principally from Georgia and the Caro-.
linas. One party came in our line, only
the other day, from thatsection, number.
ing over 25O. Several parties of 40 to 50
have been sent BY the missionaries, and
q large party from the Carolinas arrived
here early in April. 1t would be impos.
sible to get any exact figures"
The. Utah Central railroad is owned by
the Mormons, and many of their South
.ern converts are sent via Kansas City
and Denver to Ogden and then brought
down to Salt Lake. via the Saints own
line. This is done to prevent the railway
officials from gathering accurate statis-
tics as to the proselyting now going on.
Of course the missionaries are at work in
other States besides the South. Indiana,
Illinois and Iowa are furnishing few
converts, and Pennsylvania, Massachu.
isetts and the New England States an
occasional one.
THE MORMON RELIGION,
or doctrine, is very generally misunder.
stood. Joseph Smith, the founder ofthe
church, was born in Vermont, in 1905,
and when about fourteen he began to see
visions, after the fashion of Joan Of Arc.
On the 2lst of September, 1928, an angel
appeared to him and blessed him, and in
1897, the "records Of the Lord" we're
delivered in his hands. These records
we're engraved on plates of gold, si1
inches wide and eight inches long, bound
together, as the leaves of book, with
golden rings. The writing was in Egyp'
tian characters, and these Smith transla-
ted, as he says, "by the gift and power Of
God" This Mormon bible purports to
give history of America and says the
aborigines are defendants of Joseph and
came here 600 years before Christ's birth.
The most remarkable statement of this
Bible is that Christ made His appear.
ance upon this continent aud planted the
gospel here; that BE had apostles,
prophets, pastors and teachers as in the
east; that the people we're cut oain con.
sequence Of ftheir trapgr gressions,; that; the
last of the prophets wrote the abridge'
ment of the prophecies, history and
| career of this people on the plates o1
gold and buried them in the earth, where
they lay concealed until their hiding
place was revealed to Smith. In 1880
the frat church of the Mormons was
founded in Fayette, N. Y. The doctrine
! spread, persecution followed, and finally
in 1S47 Brigham Young and company
| of 142 pioneers came to Salt Lake and
| founded this city. Things prospered
until in 1857
ALFRED CUNNING, OF GEORGIA,
was appointed Governor to succeed
Brigham Young, and an army was sem
here to subdue what was believed to be 8
rebellion against the Federal Govern
meut. The campaign was a brief one, al
it was proved the Mormons were not il
rebellion. The favorable side of tht
Mormon question should in justice b.