The “Southwestern States Mission” series analyzes the experiences of missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints working (mostly) in eastern Texas around 1900. The series was inspired by Ardis Parshall?s serial posting of the missionary diary of Willard Larson Jones at Keepapitchinin.
The posts address such burning questions as? What time did missionaries get up? How often and where did they bathe? And what?s with all the entertainment?
I anticipated (so far, accurately) the posts running short, dry, and rather like an undergraduate exercise in ?Using Primary Sources.? That said, I hope the net effect is to illustrate aspects of Mormon material culture, lived religion, and social History.
The missionaries in the study, their hometowns and counties, and the dates of their diaries available to me are:
- Joseph A Brooks, Mesa, Maricopa, AZ: 1899 Oct 04 – 1901 Jun 10 (went home Spring 1902)
- Amelia B Carling, Orderville, Kane, UT: 1901 Jun – 1901 Dec 17 (went home Fall 1902)
- Franklin Clark, Spring Lake, Utah, UT: 1899 Dec 05 – 1901 Nov 05 (diary complete)
- Josephine Cluff (Jones Kimball), AZ: 1904 Nov 28 – 1905 Aug 29 (first six months not yet included)
- James G Duffin, Toquerville, UT: Traveling Elder, 1899 Oct – 1900 Apr; Mission President, 1900 May – 1906 Oct.
- Heber N Folkman, Plain City, Weber, UT: 1899 Dec 07 – 1902 Mar 31 (diary complete)
- David R Forsha, St. George, Washington, UT: 1899 Dec 08 – 1900 Aug 15 (went home Fall 1900)
- Willard L Jones, Overton, Lincoln (later Clark), NV: 1899 Oct 20 – 1902 Mar 15 (diary complete)
Chronological listing
- 01 Fasting Frequency 2012 Mar 18
- 02 Sharing a Bed 2012 Mar 25
- 03 Band of Beloved Brethren 2012 Apr 01
- 04 Easter 2012 Apr 08
- 05 Washing Clothes 2012 Apr 15
- 06 Mission Presidents at General Conference 2012 Apr 22
- 07 Heathens and Home Missions 2012 Apr 29
- 08 Evil Spirits 2012 May 06
- 09 Mother’s Work 2012 May 13
- 10 The Mountain Meadows Massacre 2012 May 20
- 11 Calling a Mission President 2012 May 27
- 12 Evil Spirits Revisited 2012 Jun 03
- 13 The Language of Conflict 2012 Jun 10
- 14 Calling a Missionary 2012 Jun 17
- 15 Canada 2012 Jun 24
- 16 Independence Day 2012 Jul 01
- 17 Preaching about Authority 2012 Jul 08
- 18 The Report Book 2012 Jul 15
- 19 Pioneer Day 2012 Jul 22
- 20 Mexican Colonies 2012 Jul 29
- 21 Dyeing Clothes 2012 Nov 11
- 22 Thanksgiving Day 2012 Nov 18
- 23 The Death of Elder George O Stanger 2012 Nov 25
- 24 The Deaths of RE Johnson and TJ Adair 2012 Dec 02
- 25 The Deaths of Children and Parents at Home 2012 Dec 09
- 26 First Snow 2012 Dec 16
- 27 Christmas 2012 Dec 23
- 28 New Year’s Day 2012 Dec 30
- 29 The Death of President Lorenzo Snow 2013 Jan 06
- 30 Shaving 2013 Jan 13
- 31 Birthdays and Anniversaries 2013 Jan 20
- 32 Without Purse or Scrip 2013 Jan 27
- 33 Lady Missionaries? Perfect Right to Teach 2013 Feb 03
- 34 The Number of African-Americans 2013 Feb 10
- 35 Epithets for African Americans 2013 Feb 17
- 36 Interactions with African Americans, Part 1 2013 Feb 24
- 37 Interactions with African Americans, Part 2 2013 Mar 03
- 38 The Mission Call of Sister Amelia B Carling 2013 Mar 10
- 39 Amelia Carling’s Missionary Blessing 2013 Mar 17
- 40 The Courtship of Amelia Carling 2013 Mar 24
- 41 Hymnbooks 2013 Mar 31
- 42 April Fools’ Day and Other Reasons to Laugh 2013 Apr 07
- 43 Discreet Sisters, Part 1 2013 Apr 14
- 44 Discreet Sisters, Part 2 2013 Apr 21
- 45 Songs of Zion 2013 Apr 28
- 46 Singing 2013 May 05
- 47 Music through the Year 2013 May 12
- 48 July Sick Days 2013 May 19
- 49 Boils and Other Skin Lesions 2013 May 26
- 50 The Trip from Utah to Texas 2013 Jun 02
- 51 Germans and Other Europeans 2013 Jun 09
Other Treatments
Mission President Duffin Marries Missionary Carling Polygamously
- Reading Like a Conspiracy Theorist: A Post-Manifesto Polygamist?s Diary
- Reading Like a Conspiracy Theorist, 2: The Case for Polygamy
- Reading Like a Conspiracy Theorist, 3: Quinn and Hardy
1900 Galveston Hurricane
- 1/8: Introduction and Overview 2008 Oct 20
- 2/8: Landfall 2008 Oct 20
- 3/8: The Institutional Response 2008 Oct 21
- 4/8: Life Continues 2008 Oct 21
- 5/8: Finding a Merciful God in the Whirlwind 2008 Oct 22
- 6/8: Finding a Vengeful God in the Whirlwind 2008 Oct 22
- 7/8: Wild Conjectures about Consequences 2008 Oct 23
- 8/8: Random Reflections to Wrap Up 2008 Oct 23
- From the Archives: An Abortion Court 2008 Oct 13
- Missionaries and Smallpox, 1900 2008 Jul 15
- Within SWSM boundaries: Mormons, Cajuns, and Alcohol 2008 Jul 11
Recent Comments
Steve Fleming on BH Roberts on Plato: “Interesting, Jack. But just to reiterate, I think JS saw the SUPPRESSION of Platonic ideas as creating the loss of truth and not the addition.…”
Jack on BH Roberts on Plato: “Thanks for your insights--you've really got me thinking. I can't get away from the notion that the formation of the Great and Abominable church was an…”
Steve Fleming on BH Roberts on Plato: “In the intro to DC 76 in JS's 1838 history, JS said, "From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important…”
Jack on BH Roberts on Plato: “"I’ve argued that God’s corporality isn’t that clear in the NT, so it seems to me that asserting that claims of God’s immateriality happened AFTER…”
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “The burden of proof is on the claim of there BEING Nephites. From a scholarly point of view, the burden of proof is on the…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “But that's not what I was saying about the nature of evidence of an unknown civilization. I am talking about linguistics, not ruins. …”