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Show • • • - 19 - 1884, July (cont'd) peacemakers and begged them not to quar r el. The people in those counties who had appeared friendly, now se emed to become cold and indifferent, and the Elders were told that t hey were at liberty to go els ewhere, which they did . 1884, August Not hi ng of any moment occurred in th~ mission during this month until the lOth, except it was t ha t Elder Roberts was uneasy, and in several letters to Pre s ident Morga n , int ima ted his anxiety concerning the safety of th~ Elders in the Mi s s ion though for t h is there ~ppeared no cause. On the tenth of this month, at the residence of brother James Condors, ~ho lives on Cane Creek, Lew is County, Tenn. oc curred a dreadf ul tra jedy·-in the murde r~n g of Elders John H. Gibbs of Paradise , Cache County, and Wm. s . Berry of Ka na rraville, Kane Count y , Utah, and two sons of Brot her Condors, J. R. Hudson and Martin Condor. The following is a history of the sad occurrence • . The enemies of the Latter-day Sa ints have ever sought to i mpede their progress by misrepresenting them to t he world a nd arousing the worse prejudices of mankind a ~ainst them, u:Q.til, like t he Church in f ormer days, the Saints are everywhere spoken against . To stem this stream of popular sentiment, the Presidency of the Southern States Mission, appointed Elders J. H. Gibbs and ~ • H. Jone s to go. on a lecturing tour through the rnission . They were instructed to call upon the leading citizens of the various counties and g i ve them corre ct informa tion respe,cting the doctrine, history, and the progress of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , as well as to represent the true condition af af fa irs in Utah, p oliticall~a n d socially , and morally . In this labor, they traveled t hrough a number of counties in Tennessee and also i n the northern part of Mississippi and f rom thence r eturned to Tennessee , arriving on Cane Creek, Lewi s County a bout the seventh of August. It i s near the heqd of Cane Creek were Elders Joseph Argyle, Edward S tever~s on, and 1 art in Garn , sever a l years ago, found a people who were willing to l isten to their teachings. A number obeyed the ~ospel . and a Branch of the Church was organi zed. Ever sine~ Elders have been prea ching t here and in the surrounding neighborhood . Last spring it became t he field of labor of Elder Gibbs. By his energy and the blessings of the Lord u pon his effor ts, qui te a number were add ed to the Ch~rch. It was to this Br anch of the Church El ders Gibbs and Jones returned after their lecturing trip through west Tennes see and Mississippi . They had the pleasure of me eting El ders w. S . Berry and Henr y Thompson, who, a few days before, had dropped in to visit the Sa ints, and hold public service with them on Sunda y , August 10. Sometime prev ious to the hour appointed f or meeting on Sunday |
