Comments on: Charlotte Lee Hobby: “In Full Fellowship,” 1896

By: Velikiye Kniaz

Velikiye Kniaz — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:34:24 +0000

I thoroughly enjoyed this account of this faithful sister and the brethren who taught and baptized her. The fortitude of the Alabama, and virtually all southern Saints, seems to be a consistent thread that runs through their character. I remember Dr. (Sister) Melanie Benton, recollection of when her father and brothers faced off another gang of hooded Mormon haters from the front porch of their home. Brother Benton told them that the missionaries were his guests and friends in his home and that he would not give them up. He told them that he could recognize every one of them by their voices, saddles and mounts so their klan robes didn’t hide a thing. He warned them that they were on his land and that they had better clear off right now or he and his boys would open fire. Brother Benton concluded by saying, “You might get me and a few of us, but we’ll get a hell of a lot more of you before it’s over.” With some curses, threats and swearing the mobbed mob turned their horses and left the Benton lands. This occurred in Barbour County, Alabama, sometime around 1910-1914, I believe. I didn’t know Sister Benton’s exact age when she treated me for pneumonia while on my mission in Dothan. Sister Benton’s practice was in Enterprise, Alabama, a town known for it’s monument to the boll weevil. She had studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University with one of President David O. MacKay’s sons. Every afternoon, after about 3:00pm, Sister Benton would have her “clinic”. The poor of the area, both black and white, would fill her living and dining rooms, often with some form of payment in kind, (preserves, peanuts, pecans, eggs, bread and even chickens), and she would diagnose their ills, and treat them with the pharmaceutical samples that the reps would leave her. She always seems to have what they needed. Although inactive, she never denied the Faith and resisted the entreaties of the local Baptist ministers to forsake her “evil cult” and return to the fold. Sister Benton would smile and say, “Thanks for your concern, but I just can’t do it. I don’t want to go to hell!”

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:30:01 +0000

The only answer I have, Mark, is that there were precious few organized branches *any*where in Alabama in that era. If there was a requirement (and I don’t know whether it was requirement, or tradition, or something else) that someone must be assigned to a branch and not be a member-at-large, Pleasant Grove may have been the nearest branch, far away as it was. Certainly Charlotte lived in and around Mt. Willing/Braggs/Fort Deposit her whole life, and never lived outside of Lowndes County. I don’t know enough about the history of the Church in Alabama to speculate beyond this. (I’ve concentrated on my dad’s New York family since my mother’s sister was so heavily into the southern branch; now that I’m all there is left, I’ll be learning a lot more about the southern family and maybe can revisit this later. I do remember my grandmother saying they never went to church, except that the missionaries would meet with them in their home, and they held a home Sunday School for a while. They could as easily have been members of the Chicago branch as any branch at Birmingham!)

Thanks to you all for reading, and especially to Steve for broadening this beyond the story of an individual woman.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:06:08 +0000

What a nice addition to your family history!

The certificate and the accounts in the Deseret News raise a few questions, though–maybe you know the answers and are saving them for later.

Lowndes County is south and slightly west of Montgomery, and surely qualifies as “South” Alabama. But there’s no way that Birmingham could qualify as “South” Alabama, except by the same sort of reasoning that put the Utah Jazz in the old Midwest Division of the NBA, or the Atlanta Braves in the old National League West.

And it’s a long way from Mt. Willing to the village of Pleasant Grove which shows up on Google Maps about 10 miles west of Birmingham.

So, was the Pleasant Grove Branch located in the village of that name, just west of Birmingham?

Did some of the branches in those old missions cover huge areas? It’s 130 miles or over two hours, mostly by freeway these days, but a week’s journey back in 1896.

By: queuno

queuno — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 19:56:28 +0000

Today, you can get a printout of your family’s individual ordinance summaries (IOS). It has the membership record number, ordinance information, etc. Without it, it’s easy enough for the clerk to request the record using a full name and birthdate or membership number (birthyear is always required).

If your clerk hasn’t given you a copy of your IOS statement, ask for one (our ward sends a PDF file to families when they leave to take with them)…

By: Mina

Mina — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:41:40 +0000

How rich such little bits of paper are with history!

By: David Y.

David Y. — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:55:45 +0000

Loved this. And I didn’t know about individual members having to provide their membership information to their new wards. Informative and inspiring post. Thanks.

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:54:03 +0000

Great story, Ardis. As I was reading I had a hunch that this would tie into your Alabama kin.

Having served as a clerk, I cringe to think how chaotic such a membership record system was.

This post is so descriptive of the way the Church operated in the mission field. The term “conference” was used as a forerunner to “district”. This also underscores how critical the missionaries were to the Church in the mission field at the time, serving in the local leadership positions. Finally, this underscores once again the hostility and prejudice directed toward the Church in this area. (I’m sure that Bruce C. could elaborate more on that.)

Thanks for sharing, Ardis.

By: Alison

Alison — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:29:07 +0000

What a beautiful account! Thanks for sharing it, Ardis.