There were three Wilcox family members baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Blount County from 1918 to 1920.
Timeline of Baptisms
9 Mar 1918: Georgia Wilcox
28 May 1920: Horace Wilcox
28 May 1920: Pearl Wilcox
Georgia Edna Wilcox (1901-1974)
9 March 1918: Georgia Edna Wilcox was baptized by Loren Joseph Blain and confirmed by Ernest Langston
Elder Loren Joseph Blain (1890-1919)
Joseph Blain Loren served in the Southern States Mission from 1916 to 1918. In his mission acceptance letter to Joseph F. Smith, he wrote: “I am certainly glad to know that I am worthy to be called on a mission and will be glad to accept it.” Elder Blain was released from his mission December 13, 1918 and died January 20, 1919. He fell ill and died of pneumonia after returning home to Thatcher, Arizona. He was not married. Elder Loren baptized Wilburn B. Townsend, Bessie Ann Frye, Homer Frye and Burley Lorina Harmon in Cades Cove, in 1918, and Georgia Edna Wilcox and Lila Tefeteller in Maryville the same year. Elder Loren confirmed Lona Parham in Millers Cove, in 1917, and Georgia Edna Wilcox and Lila Tefeteller in Maryville, in 1918, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Ernest Langston (1893-1978)
Ernest Langston served in the Southern States Mission from 1917 to 1919. He married in the St. George Temple in 1952. He served a second time in the Southern States Mission, this time with his wife, in 1955. Of his first mission, his family wrote: “President [George A.] Callis [Southern States Mission President] had a positive influence on Ernest’s life as he often spoke of him and his experiences in the mission field.” Ernest and his wife did not have any children. Elder Langston confirmed Georgia Edna Wilcox a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Georgia Edna Wilcox was the first of the three siblings to be baptized. She was baptized in 1918, at the age of 17. She married Hubert Justice in 1923. They raised five children together in Blount County. Georgia died in 1974, at the age of 73. She is buried in Sherwood Chapel and Memorial Gardens in Alcoa, Tennessee. Hubert died in 1990, at the age of 89. He also is buried in Sherwood Chapel and Memorial Gardens.
In 1922, Elder Thomas Gibby noted meeting the Wilcox family and possibly was referencing Georgia Edna Wilcox during the below visit recorded in his missionary journal:
[Sunday] – 11 June [1922] Sunday we stayed in most of the day. I tried to take a little nap in the afternoon. Towards evening we visited Sister [Sarah Katherine Cooper] Wilcox whose daughter had just been operate on for appendicitis. Had a pleasant visit. We went up town to look over the prospects for a street meeting, but there were but few people on the streets and so we did not try to hold [a] meeting. I did some reading before retiring.
Horace Lester Wilcox (1908-1944)
28 May 1920: Horace Lester Wilcox was baptized by Alden Conrad Sorenson and confirmed by Marius Fred Hansen
Elder Alden Conrad Sorenson (1897-1989)
Alden Conrad Sorenson served in the Southern States Mission from 1919 to 1921. In his mission acceptance letter to Heber J. Grant, he wrote: “I received your expected letter and was very much pleased. I am well satisfied with my appointed place… hoping I will fufill (sic) an honorable mission.” He had recently married in the Salt Lake Temple when he received his call to serve. He was described as “a wonderful man, very kind, and helpful.” He was self-made, being kicked out of school at a young age and made a name for himself with his hands, laboring in the Ogden Iron works. He and his wife raised two children in Utah. He baptized – in Cades Cove, Maryville and Happy Valley – Ralph Lamon Whitehead, Pearl Edith Wilcox, William Moses Whitehead and Horace Lester Wilcox, and confirmed the first two named and Mack Davis as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Marius Fred Hansen (1899-1971)
Marius Fred Hansen served in the Southern States Mission from 1919 to 1921. He married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1923. They raised two children in Utah. Elder Hansen baptized Mack Davis in Happy Valley and confirmed Rosie Davis in Happy Valley, William Moses Whitehead in Happy Valley, and Horace Lester Wilcox in Maryville members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Horace Lester Wilcox followed the footsteps of his older sister, being baptized two years later in 1920, at the age of 11. It is unknown if Horace married or had children. He died in 1944, at the age of 35, and is buried in Maryville, Tennessee.
Pearl Edith Wilcox (1911-2008)
28 May 1920: Pearl Edith Wilcox was baptized and confirmed by Alden Conrad Sorenson
Elder Alden Conrad Sorenson (1897-1989)
Alden Conrad Sorenson served in the Southern States Mission from 1919 to 1921. In his mission acceptance letter to Heber J. Grant, he wrote: “I received your expected letter and was very much pleased. I am well satisfied with my appointed place… hoping I will fufill (sic) an honorable mission.” He had recently married in the Salt Lake Temple when he received his call to serve. He was described as “a wonderful man, very kind, and helpful.” He was self-made, being kicked out of school at a young age and made a name for himself with his hands, laboring in the Ogden Iron works. He and his wife raised two children in Utah. He baptized – in Cades Cove, Maryville and Happy Valley – Ralph Lamon Whitehead, Pearl Edith Wilcox, William Moses Whitehead and Horace Lester Wilcox, and confirmed the first two named and Mack Davis as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Pearl Edith Wilcox was baptized, at the age of 8, with her brother, Horace, in 1920. She married Minuard Edmondson and they raised three children together. She died in Texas, in 2008, at the age of 96.
In 1935, Elder Leroy Palmer met with Wilcox family in Maryville. He documented his experience with them in the following journal entries:
[Thursday] – 4 April [1935] I read the letters this morning which the MIA officers wrote to me before I left home. I was loyal to their trust. I did not open them until the date which I was supposed to. We did some tracting this morning. We also ran onto some members at the Church that haven’t been visited for years. Their names were Wilcox: [Sarah Katherine Cooper Wilcox; Georgia Edna Wilcox; and Pearl Edith Wilcox]. We had a very fine visit with them. They invited us back so we will go back tomorrow. We will probably hold a meeting with them.
[Friday] – 5 April [1935] I woke up this morning expecting some word from home but I was disappointed for I did not get any mail. We went down to Sister [Sarah Katherine Cooper] Wilcox‘s where we talked to them all day. They gave us a dinner which makes a total of about six meals I have had since I came. We did some good words reconverting a daughter of Sister Wilcox who has joined the Holy Rollers. She was not very enthused but she was interested. The elders have not been there to see them in several years.
| 1st Generation Members: |
| Georgia Edna Wilcox |
| Horace Lester Wilcox |
| Pearl Edith Wilcox |
Smoky Mountain Ward 