Comments on: From our exchanges: Murder Ballads of Mormondom

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:27:01 +0000

/slaps forehead/ I had completely forgotten this, Bruce! Of course. I’ll get the full ballad for you, and see what she might have said about its origins.

By: Bruce Crow

Bruce Crow — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:06:40 +0000

Since there is no statute of limitations on comments (your words, not mine), I’ll bite. I remember reading this last June, but at the time didn’t know about the Cane Creek Massacre (I had started my blog just a week earlier). Now, of course it hits me in the face. Do you have a copy of Burt’s Book? (I saw a signed copy online for $250) I’d love to know more about the ballad’s origins.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:45:47 +0000

YAJohn — there’s no statute of limitations on murder ballads, er, comments. I’ve got a couple of reliable histories of the incident so won’t ask for that — thanks for offering. You might look through the rest of the collection and see if there is something especially quirky and not apt to be known to people who aren’t from that area. I always appreciate tips to new stories.

By: Yet Another John

Yet Another John — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:40:46 +0000

Ardis, I know this is late, but I thought I’d post it anyway. You asked earlier where I’d got my info on the Seegmiller/Roundy murder/suicide. I just was going through some old scouting stuff and ran onto a collection of Southern Utah News articles written by a local long-time scouter, amateur historian, explorer, etc. This collection was self-published by his family after his death. The guy lived in Alton for years and had family connections there long before that. One of his articles dealt with the incident we were talking about. I’m not sure where he got his info, hearsay or otherwise, but his version is basically the same, except I had it backwards: Roundy shot Seegmiller and then took his own life. Anyway if you’re interested in the article, let me know.

By: Maurine

Maurine — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:15:28 +0000

jeans,Olive Burt was a delightful person besides being a writer and a scholar. When I was young, she edited a section in the Deseret News called “The Newsette.” Children under the ages of fourteen submitted stories, poems, articles, and art work, which she judged and awarded points. Each year in the spring (I think) she held a program in one of the movie theaters, where the top contributers were featured and honored. Then, everyone went to Liberty Park for more activities and refreshments. I was one of the top “honorees” one year and several years later, I spent some time with her in her home in Salt Lake. I was always fascinated to see shelves and shelves of books, and books on tables and chairs. She always gave me a book or two when I left her home.

By: smb

smb — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:56:59 +0000

I think early Phelps is absolutely crucial to understanding earliest Mormonism. Later Phelps is fairly odd–I’ve often thought Phelps would have done best if the Millennium had arrived by 1845. I really like the guy, and if I had time, I think I would do a biography of him.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:18:23 +0000

smb, I missed your comment earlier. Ever since I learned what “ring around the roses” was really saying, I have enjoyed playing it with kids I babysat. Now we’ve joined in, uh, “plaguing” readers who don’t know.

I didn’t know about Cap-Stone being in Voice of Truth. Sometime I’ll have to do a post about Phelps. It’s hard to believe that the same mind produced some of our greatest hymns and some of the worst drivel I’ve come across. Brigham Young even junked some of his offerings as “scurrilous.” I think Phelps was insane by the end of his life, and may always have been teetering on the edge, with his madness sometimes generating beautiful poetry.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:12:16 +0000

jeans, I remember that great post of yours: In 1958, she had just published the luridly titled American Murder Ballads and Their Stories with Oxford University Press. Strangely, that one doesn’t appear on the MIA reading list. Well, maybe if they had known she would produce a Mormon version … [g]

Awesome, YAJ — the transmission of folklore right before your eyes, whether or not you were aware of that as a kid. (And I do mean “folklore” in the sense of a tale that grips the imagination of the people, not as something untrue or unreliable. Your short telling of both stories was highly accurate, not embroidered in the transmission.)

By: Yet Another John

Yet Another John — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:00:27 +0000

Ardis,

I live in Kane County. I remember hearing those things talked about when I was a kid, then later found out more about them. I think I read about them in A History of Kane County, 1870-1970, but it might have been elsewhere. I remember that I found out a little more about the Roundy incident from a friend of mine that lives in Glendale who is a Roundy.

By: jeans

jeans — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:43:44 +0000

Olive's book - but not this one - showed up on the recommended reading list for the MIA in 1958. I thought that was interesting, once I read her bio, because she seemed like a fascinating Mormon scholar I'd (regretfully) never heard of.