There were 14 A. H. Garland family members baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Blount County from 1893 to 1927.
Timeline of Baptisms
1890
30 Nov 1893: Sarah Cauble
2nd-Generation
11 Jan 1894: William Garland
3rd-Generation
18 Dec 1898: JP Garland
3rd-Generation
1900
23 Mar 1902: Robert Garland
3rd-Generation
11 Aug 1907: Lillie Garland
3rd-Generation
1910
1 Oct 1912: Toliver Parham
3rd-Generation
10 Aug 1917: Hattie Gentry
2nd-Generation
1920
1 Nov 1927: Paul Garland
4th-Generation
Alexander Harrison Garland (1823-1902)
30 November 1893: Alexander Harrison Garland was baptized and confirmed by Robert Cunningham Young
Elder Robert Cunningham Young (1863-1904)
Robert Cunningham Young served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1894. He was baptized, at age 27, two years before his mission. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I received your letter… asking my feelings in regard to taking a mission to the Southern States. I will say that I will do the best I can and will be ready…” He was called to serve shortly after his wife passed away and he had to leave his infant son in the care of friends and family while serving. He entered East Tennessee during a period of local opposition against the Saints. He challenged the Church’s antagonists, even in the printed press of the Maryville Times, bringing light to darkness with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He returned home early from his mission due to illness, which lasted periodically until his death. He remarried in the Salt Lake Temple after he returned home. They had four children together. He became a school teacher, but taught only a few years before he died in 1904. His transcribed mission journal provides valuable insight into the efforts of the first Smoky Mountain Saints and their missionaries in East Tennessee, from 29 August 1892 to 14 January 1894, as the Church first began to grow. Elder Young baptized Sarah Margaret Cauble, Jordan Henry Harrison Hicks, Andrew Johnson Smith, Louvenia Hicks, Alexander Harrison Garland, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the first three named as well as William Edward Silver Garland and Louella Garland as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Alexander Garland emigrated from Mitchell, North Carolina like many of the first Saints in Blount County. He married Eliza Jane Nelson, in 1848, and they had nine children together. He was 70 years old when he was baptized with his son, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, and his daughter-in-law, Sarah Margaret Cauble. Elder Robert Young documented Alexander’s baptism in his journal, in 1893, and noted giving further instructions to him as a new member of The Church of Jesus Christ, in 1894. Though it may be speculated from the below journal entry of January 2, 1894 that Alexander Garland’s wife, Eliza Jane Nelson, may have been baptized, a baptismal record or journal entry documenting such has yet to be identified.
Thursday – 30 [November 1893] Went over to Abram’s Creek and dedicated a spot to baptize some converts. I baptized Alexander [Harrison] Garland, son of Steven [Joseph] Garland and Betsey [Elizabeth] McKeeney. Also [Joseph] John Calvin [JC] (better known as Joe) Garland, son of Alexander [Harrison] Garland and Eliza [Jane] Nelson. Sarah Margaret [Cauble] Garland, daughter of Peter Vargary [Vardry] Cauble and Mary Ann Mosteller, and also Andrew Johnson Smith, son of Marquis Lafayette Smith and Eliza[beth Henly] Nelson. I confirmed the last named [Andrew Johnson Smith] and Sarah Margaret [Cauble] and Elder [William] Ricks confirmed the other two. We held meeting at Joe’s [John Calvin (JC) Garland]…
Tuesday – 2 [January 1894] It is nice and clear this morning. Quite hard frost last night. Started for Millers Cove about 9 AM. Arrived about 1 PM. Mr. [Thomas] Hearn [Hearon] told me before I left that he intended to get baptized. Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s folks [Alexander Harrison Garland and Eliza Jane Nelson] were glad to see us. Spent the evening in telling them of their duties. They feel well in the work. 8 [miles]
Alexander Garland’s grandson, Paul Ezekial Garland, published a book in 1994 entitled “The History of the Garland Family in America,” which provides an understanding of his grandfather’s early life and death. Though it is now known that Alexander Garland was a baptized member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because of the journal of Elder Robert Young – which has brought to light a greater understanding of both his baptism and, particularly, the powerful role his son, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, had in the growth of the early Church in East Tennessee – their baptisms and greater details of their activities as members of The Church had been lost until more recently. The below excerpt is from Paul Garland’s book about Alexander Garland.
“Alexander left home in his early manhood and secured a job as a switchman on a railroad that ran from east Tennessee to Lynchburg, Virginia. It was in Lynchburg that he met his wife. She was a clerk in a store that belonged to John G. Meems. After their marriage they made their home in a log cabin in Garland’s Gap, atop Pumpkin Patch Mountain, between Bakersville, North Carolina and Little Rock Creek. It was here they raised their family during the dreadful period of the Civil War. This gap in the mountain was named for him. The cabin was still standing in 1974 when I visited there accompanied by my son, Leonard. The land and cabin have been purchased by a Florida family and they have since remodeled the cabin.
Alexander was a lumberman and cattle raiser. At the time of his death he was living with his son in Walland, Blount County, Tennessee. He had gone down to the creek to bathe. His foot slipped on a rock, he fell and hit his head on a rock, and he was killed. It is believed that he and his son, [Joseph] John Calvin [(JC) Garland], were the first members of the Mormon Church to live in Tennessee. Both were devout church members despite the fact no other church members lived in the same county.”
In Calvin Stephens’ biography of Howard Melvin Randall – a missionary who served in Blount County and knew Alexander Garland – he retold the following from the journal entries for May 2-3, 1902 of Elder Howard Randall:
“While in [Millers] Cove, [Elder] Howard [Randall] was called upon to preach his first funeral sermon. A grandpa [Alexander] Garland (apparently this is what his family and the missionaries called him) turned up missing one morning. When a search for him was made, he was found lying dead in the creek; his body was returned to the house [of Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland] where the missionaries were staying. The next day [Elder] Howard [Randall] and others dressed him and prepared him for burial. At 12:30 p.m. funeral services were conducted at the church with [Elder] Howard [Randall] being asked to preach the funeral sermon.
Alexander Garland passed away May 2, 1902, at the age of 78, and is buried in Millers Cove Cemetery. A few months later, Elder Abinadi Porter documented arriving in Blount County a week after his death. In July, Eliza was not doing well and the missionaries gave her a blessing.
[Tuesday] – 8 July 1902 Elder[s Claudius Eugene] Hawk[e]s, [Thomas] Lawrence and [Melvin Parley] Miller and myself left Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garl[a]nd’s about 9 o’clock after administering to his mother, [Eliza Jane Nelson]. Went till (sic) we came to a sick man by [the] name of Burns. He wanted us to administer to him. He said he had faith in the ordinance. After, went to Marysville (sic), received a letter from my wife and Bishop Inglestrom. Arrived to the home of W[illia]m Ward. Stopped overnight. Walked 18 miles.
Eliza died six years later, in 1908, at the age of 88, and is buried in Mitchell, North Carolina. Their son, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, who was baptized with Alexander Garland, became a second generation member and the most powerful influence in the growth of the Church during the first years in Blount County.
Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland (1851-1928)
30 November 1893: Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland was baptized by Robert Cunningham Young and confirmed by William Ricks
Elder Robert Cunningham Young (1863-1904)
Robert Cunningham Young served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1894. He was baptized, at age 27, two years before his mission. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I received your letter… asking my feelings in regard to taking a mission to the Southern States. I will say that I will do the best I can and will be ready…” He was called to serve shortly after his wife passed away and he had to leave his infant son in the care of friends and family while serving. He entered East Tennessee during a period of local opposition against the Saints. He challenged the Church’s antagonists, even in the printed press of the Maryville Times, bringing light to darkness with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He returned home early from his mission due to illness, which lasted periodically until his death. He remarried in the Salt Lake Temple after he returned home. They had four children together. He became a school teacher, but taught only a few years before he died in 1904. His transcribed mission journal provides valuable insight into the efforts of the first Smoky Mountain Saints and their missionaries in East Tennessee, from 29 August 1892 to 14 January 1894, as the Church first began to grow. Elder Young baptized Sarah Margaret Cauble, Jordan Henry Harrison Hicks, Andrew Johnson Smith, Louvenia Hicks, Alexander Harrison Garland, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the first three named as well as William Edward Silver Garland and Louella Garland as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder William Ricks (1839-1900)
William Ricks served in the Southern States Mission from 1893 to 1894. In his mission acceptance letter to George Reynolds, he wrote: “I am pleased to answer you in the affirmative.” He was nine years old when he traveled by wagon with the pioneers from Nauvoo to Utah in the Heber C. Kimball Company. At age 24, he returned to assist another group of pioneers traveling by wagon to Utah. He served as a Minute Man to defend the early pioneers against the indians. He returned to Wyoming multiple times to rescue pioneers needing assistance and suffered from exposure to the elements during these ventures. His ongoing physical ailments from this exposure are documented during his mission in the 1893 journal of his companion, Robert Young. William Ricks married early pioneer, Margaret Gordon, in 1865. When he was called to serve in East Tennessee, he and Margaret had 12 children, 10 would live to adulthood. His brother, Thomas E. Ricks, founded Ricks College, now known as BYU Idaho. Martin Harris, one of the transcribers of the Book of Mormon and one of The Three Witnesses of the gold plates, was William Ricks’ neighbor in Clarkston, Utah. He entered a second marriage with Mary Clark, with whom he had one child. He served nine months in the East Tennessee Conference and was forced to return home due to his health. William Ricks died six years after his mission “directly related to his exposure to extreme weather on his many trips to help his fellow saints [in Wyoming as they came from Nauvoo].” At the time of William Ricks’ wife’s death, they had 138 living descendants. A record of his short time in Blount County is found in the transcribed mission journal of Elder Robert Young. Elder Ricks confirmed Alexander Harrison Garland and Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Millers Cove, in 1893.
Sarah Margaret Cauble (1857-1914)
30 November 1893: Sarah Margaret Cauble was baptized and confirmed by Robert Cunningham Young
Elder Robert Cunningham Young (1863-1904)
Robert Cunningham Young served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1894. He was baptized, at age 27, two years before his mission. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I received your letter… asking my feelings in regard to taking a mission to the Southern States. I will say that I will do the best I can and will be ready…” He was called to serve shortly after his wife passed away and he had to leave his infant son in the care of friends and family while serving. He entered East Tennessee during a period of local opposition against the Saints. He challenged the Church’s antagonists, even in the printed press of the Maryville Times, bringing light to darkness with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He returned home early from his mission due to illness, which lasted periodically until his death. He remarried in the Salt Lake Temple after he returned home. They had four children together. He became a school teacher, but taught only a few years before he died in 1904. His transcribed mission journal provides valuable insight into the efforts of the first Smoky Mountain Saints and their missionaries in East Tennessee, from 29 August 1892 to 14 January 1894, as the Church first began to grow. Elder Young baptized Sarah Margaret Cauble, Jordan Henry Harrison Hicks, Andrew Johnson Smith, Louvenia Hicks, Alexander Harrison Garland, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the first three named as well as William Edward Silver Garland and Louella Garland as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Hattie Jane Gentry (1890-1977)
10 August 1917: Hattie Jane Gentry was baptized by Thomas Charles Sutton and confirmed by Loren Joseph Blain
Elder Thomas Charles Sutton (1896-1954)
Thomas Charles Sutton served in the Southern States Mission from 1917 to 1919. In his mission acceptance letter to Joseph F. Smith, he wrote: “I have always had a feeling that I would someday be called upon to go out in this great world and preach the true word of God to the people.” He married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1920. They raised four children together in California and Utah. In Millers Cove, in 1917, Elder Sutton baptized Hattie Jane Gentry, Lona Parham, and Lewis Calvin Parham, and confirmed the last named a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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.
Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland was the most influential member missionary in Blount County as The Church of Jesus Christ first began to grow at the turn of the century – from his joining the Church in 1893 until his death in 1928. His calling in The Church is unknown; however, as documented in an East Tennessee Conference mission photo from 1897 with President Elias S. Kimball and a missionary’s journal in 1911, it is evident that he was very involved in directing member activities and mission work as the elders would visit him immediately before and after baptisms, presumingly to report activities. He owned a mill in Walland and large properties in Millers Cove. He was well known in the community as a man of influence and strength as the Maryville Times reported him to be “one of the strongest men in the county.”
“Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland is a large raw-boned man. A typical Southerner. A good Saint and has a heart like an ox.”
Elder James Willard Hubbard
JC Garland’s story began in 1892, at the age of 42, when he first appeared in the journal of Elder Robert Young. According to Paul Ezekiel Garland, JC Garland’s home was located at “the extreme west end of Miller’s Cove in Blount Co[unty], Tennessee. Today it is called Mountain Homes and Blackberry Farm.” Over the next year, JC Garland became eager to learn about the gospel and eventually inquired to be baptized, which he fulfilled with his father, Alexander Garland, and his first wife, Sarah Margaret Cauble, who took great care of the missionaries throughout the years.
In 1917, after the death of Sarah, his second wife, Hattie Gentry, was baptized. Misionaries’ journals document his actions inviting large groups of neighbors to his home for meetings. JC Garland invited his friend, Charlie Garland, to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The following month, his three children were baptized and, three years later, Charlie Garland was baptized. Ultimately, all seven of JC Garland’s living children would be baptized. One example of his efforts as a member missionary was when he sought out the missionaries in Knoxville and brought them back to Millers Cove after they had been away laboring in Knoxville for some time, which led to the baptism of Samuel Harmon.
There are large gaps in historical records as missionary journals largely discuss JC and Sarah from 1892 to 1895. There are 12 journals discussing JC Garland throughout the years until 1922. Elder William Hayes even documented JC and Sarah Garland’s visit to Salt Lake City, in 1909, when they visited for their living endowments in the Salt Lake Temple. The next available missionary journal is not until 1911, when JC and Sarah are the first members to greet and host the missionaries upon their arrival after transfers. One of the most interesting documents is the below photograph taken with the missionaries of the East Tennessee Conference photographed in Cherokee, North Carolina at a meeting in August 1896. The photo captures 27 missionaries, Mission President Elias S. Kimball, and standing tall in the back of the photo is JC Garland.
In 1927, soon-to-be apostle Charles A. Callis confirmed JC and Hattie’s child a member of The Church of Jesus Christ. Hattie is JC Garland’s second wife, following the passing of Sarah Garland. The last documented Church-related history of JC Garland is in 1927, when he gifted 25 cents to Doris Russell at her cold winter baptism in Crooked Creek. Back to the beginning…
JC Garland’s story with The Church begins in late-1892. He is first introduced in the journal of Elder Robert Young, in which the elders were hosted by the Garlands, they discussed the gospel of Jesus Christ and held an outdoor meeting with 60 people in attendance at the Garland’s home.
Thursday – 3 [November 1892] This being fast day we went without breakfast. It is raining this morning. After dinner we went through the rain to Millers Cove. We had quite a time getting down the canyon as the water was up. We stopped overnight with Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland and we were treated well. We sang songs and spoke on the principles of the gospel. 7 [miles]
Saturday – 5 [November 1892] We went to Mr. William Sayman’s place where we had intended to hold meeting this evening. He thought it best not to hold the meeting here as they are going to have a trial today. After dinner we went down to the trial but there was a poor case of it. They could not prove anything against her, only what she had told them, but they found her guilty. In the evening we held meeting at Mr. [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. There were about 60 present. I spoke first about forty-five minutes on the First Prin[ciples] of the Gospel. Elder [Lewis Alma] Adams followed on the Divine Authenticity of the B[oo]k of M[ormon]. We had a very good time. 3 [miles]
The elders were away for over a month laboring in other parts of the county and returned – in December 1892 and March and April 1893 – when the Garlands again hosted the missionaries. The missionaries began sharing additional doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. JC Garland also invited the missionaries to share the gospel with his friend, William Charles Garland.
Thursday – 13 [December 1892] We started out for Millers Cove. We got on the wrong trail and got lost as it was foggy and came back to where we started before we were aware of it. We took dinner with Mr. White then started out again. This time we got along all right, got over in the cove in good time. Stopped with Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland. 10 [miles]
Saturday – 25 [March 1893] Happy Valley. We started for Millers Cove about 8:30. Had dinner at Neuberts Mills’. He invited us back. We visited some houses in the cove that we missed before. We stayed with Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland. I took up salvation for the dead and some of the other principles of the gospel. 8 [miles]
Friday – 21 [April 1893] Millers Cove. Mr. Walker insisted on us staying until after dinner, which we did. They cordially invited us to come back. We crossed the Little River on a skiff and went over in the other end of the cove and stayed with Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland. He treated us kind as usual… 3 [miles]
Saturday – 22 [April 1893] Millers Cove. Mr. [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland asked us to stay until afternoon, then he would go about six miles to see [William] Charley Garland, which we agreed to do. He lives up in the mountain about three miles east of the Cove Road. Mr. [William Charles] Garland is interested in our doctrine. We had quite a conversation on the gospel… 7 [miles]
Over the next months of May, June, July, August, September and November, the missionaries continued to visit with the Garlands and teach the gospel. The missionaries regularly reported that the Garlands were kind hosts and good friends. In September 1893, the elders who had been ministering to the Garlands attended a missionary conference in Newport, in which President J. Golden Kimball taught the elders to “not urge any to get baptized, let them take their time.” Following the conference, in November, JC Garland inquired to be baptized and, in December, he was baptized with his father, Alexander Garland, and his first wife, Sarah Margaret.
Saturday – 11 [November 1893] …Went up to Millers Cove… Went to Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s and was kindly treated. He spoke some about being baptized. 12 [miles]
Tuesday – 28 [November 1893] …Started for Millers Cove although I was somewhat ailing. Elder [William] Ricks killed a pig for Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland as he was away from home. I am a good deal better today. 8 [miles]
Wednesday – 29 [November 1893] Spent the day and night with Mr. [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland. Helped him pull and pit some turnips. Talked some to Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland and Andy [Johnson] Smith on the gospel. 0 [miles]
Thursday – 30 [November 1893] Went over to Abram’s Creek and dedicated a spot to baptize some converts. I baptized Alexander [Harrison] Garland, son of Steven [Joseph] Garland and Betsey [Elizabeth] McKeeney. Also [Joseph] John Calvin [JC] (better known as Joe) Garland, son of Alexander [Harrison] Garland and Eliza [Jane] Nelson. Sarah Margaret [Cauble] Garland, daughter of Peter Vargary [Vardry] Cauble and Mary Ann Mosteller and also Andrew Johnson Smith, son of Marquis Lafayette Smith and Eliza[beth Henly] Nelson. I confirmed the last named [Andrew Johnson Smith] and Sarah Margaret [Cauble Garland] and Elder [William] Ricks confirmed the other two. We held meeting at Joe’s [John Calvin (JC) Garland]. [William] Charley Garland said he would want to be baptized after a while. 3 [miles].
Another companionship, Elder William Hayes and Elder William Ricks – not assigned to Blount County at that time – visited with the Garlands shortly after their baptisms while they were en route to their assigned field of labor.
[Tuesday] – 12 December [1893] Began inquiring for my lost man [Elder William Ricks] and learned that he was in Millers Cove about 10 miles distance and, although the rain was coming down, I started reaching “Uncle Billie White’s” at 1 AM (sic), where I had dinner but as they informed me of Elder [William] Ricks’ uneasiness, thought I had better go over the mountain where he was, which I did. Arriving at 3 PM wet as a rat. He was at Jos[eph John Calvin (JC)] Garlands who has recently been baptized.
[Wednesday] – 13 December [1893] Half-soled my shoes today and helped Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] G[arland] with his tobacco crop. Went to his clearing this PM and at night went to rough [illegible] by the name of William Gladden and gave them a good long gospel sermon.
[Friday] – 15 December [1893] Leaving our good friend Joe [John Calvin (JC) Garland] for our field…
Elder Robert Young and Elder Sloan returned to Millers Cove and spent the first week of 1894 with the Garlands. This week consisted of gospel discussions, teaching “them of their duties” as members of the Church, and blessing their children. It is also notable that, again, JC Garland is looking to share the gospel with friends and neighbors. Their final day with the Garlands was spent baptizing the three oldest children.
Tuesday – 2 [January 1894] It is nice and clear this morning. Quite hard frost last night. Started for Millers Cove about 9 AM. Arrived about 1 PM. Mr. Hearn told me before I left that he intended to get baptized. Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s folks [Alexander Harrison Garland and Eliza Jane Nelson] were glad to see us. Spent the evening in telling them of their duties. They feel well in the work. 8 [miles]
Wednesday – 3 [January 1894] Spent the day with Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland in reading. Popped some corn and they put molasses candy in it. I had a bath today. Spent the night with them telling them of their duties and asking them questions on the gospel. 0 [miles]
Thursday – 4 [January 1894] To Seaton. This being Fast Day we went without breakfast. We blessed John Pres[s]ley [Garland] and Robert Filmore [Garland], two of [Joseph] John Calvin [JC] Garland’s children. I acted as mouth to the first [John Pressley Garland] and Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan the latter [Robert Filmore Garland]. Had dinner, then started for Maryville… 4 [miles]
Friday – 5 [January 1894] Maryville. 7 AM started for town. Arrived very muddy about 10 AM. Cleaned up, then started in town to recanvass. I went to a shoe shop and got my shoes repaired. I also got a tooth filled. I feel very bad with a pain in the head, legs stiff etc. I had Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan administer to me. We spent the night at the Central Hotel but I did not eat anything. 8 [miles]
Saturday – 6 [January 1894] To Millers Cove. I feel all right this morning. We called on a few persons and then decided we had finished the co[ve]. James Waters asked us to have dinner with him and of course we never refuse. Started for Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s about 7:30. Got there about 6 PM. Found all [is] well. 11 [miles]
Sunday – 7 [January 1894] Spent the day in popping corn and eating and also reading. Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland spent the night with Andy [Johnson] Smith and got back about 1 PM. We interrogated Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland on the Bible, the necessity of baptism. He is striving diligently to learn. 0 [miles]
Monday – 8 [January 1894] Went with Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland to find his hogs. We also found some mistletoe. After dinner Joe [John Calvin (JC) Garland] pulled one of my wisdom teeth. We then went in the woods with him and cut and hauled three loads of wood. 4 [miles]
Tuesday – 9 [January 1894] Raining again this morning. I pulled one of Joe’s [John Calvin (JC) Garland] front teeth. I wrote a letter to Jane Osborn. Spent the remainder of the day in sitting around. In the evening after supper popped corn and had a good time. 0 [miles]
Wednesday – 10 [January 1894] Held meeting. Joe [John Calvin (JC) Garland] sent Willie [Edward Silver Garland] up to invite Thomas Hearn to come over but he and his wife are sick so they did not come. Spent the day in lounging around and reading some. Spent the evening in talking on the Bible. 1 [mile]
Thursday – 11 [January 1894] Millers Cove. We had a short meeting today. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan spoke first, then I added a few words. We then went down to the water’s edge and Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan baptized three of Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin] J.C. Garland’s children, vix Lulu [Louella Garland], Laona [Lona Mae Garland], and William [Edward Silver Garland]. We then went back to the house and confirmed them. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan was mouth for Laona [Lona Mae Garland] and I was for the other two [Louella Garland and William Edward Silver Garland]. Afterward I spoke some to the people on our belief. They popped some corn again. We went with Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland after dinner and looked over his farm. In the evening went and spent about two hours with a Mr. Gladden. They are interested and invited us back and stop with them. 4 [miles]
Elder Robert Young returned home from his mission due to illness shortly after baptizing the Garland children. The next available journal is from Elder William Hayes who had previously visited the Garlands shortly after their baptism in 1893. He and his companion, Elder John Halliday, returned after laboring in another field for a year to find a “happy meeting” with the Garlands. They spent the next week of Christmas vacation with the Garlands and relished in jovial times with good friends celebrating the birth of the Savior.
[Wednesday] – 19 December [1894] …Started out next day and kept going towards Blount Co. Came to Little River, followed up its stream, passed through the gate of the Chilhowee Mountain, crossed the [illegible] to our surprise, found ourselves at Bro[ther] Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s where we had a happy meeting after a year absence from them. We had no idea of coming this far but found them please at our arrival.
[Sunday] – 23 December [1894] Spent AM reading and in PM held a meeting at Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. Elder [John Roland] Halliday spoke first, me next, which consumed nearly all the time. The other spoke only for moments. Had a fine time together.
[Monday] – 24 December [1894] Reading in forenoon played harpsichord in the PM. Spent day inside. At night we played “Santa Clause” to the family putting an orange and an apple in each sock or stocking with rocks chips (sic) and sundry other articles for amusement. Bro[ther John Calvin (JC)] Garland undressed and went to bed and left his trousers within reach so we put a gnat[ty] big pumpkin (or punkin) in them and sewed them up, legs and all, and retired for the night.
[Tuesday] – 25 December [1894] A Merry Christmas to all! We are awoken by the children’s jolly cheers. The best fun came when Bro[ther John Calvin (JC)] Garland went to put on his pants. He [illegible] on Elders [Thomas Watts] Sloan, [John Roland] Halliday and [illegible] to my surprise. Santa came to me, bought a nice celuford (sic) soap box. Congenial old Mr. R. he shall never be forgotten. All day was spent in games of various kinds, chiefly Fox and Geese. All night we had a hilarious old time. Played Brother I’m [illegible] Panorama and we finished a trap for Bro[ther John Calvin (JC)] G[arland] by hanging a bucket of bran just over the door so that when he pushed the door open it tipped the bucket up and spilled the bran down his neck. Elder [John Roland] Halliday and I skipped into the dark and Bro[ther John Calvin (JC)] G[arland] threw bran all over Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan. In all the day was a jolly one though we often thought and spoke of home and loved ones and wondered how the little ones were spending the day. How beautiful are the serene thoughts of Zion with her hills surrounded. We also had a concert in the evening. Each one having either to sing or speak. We shall never forget the happy hours spent under this old moss-covered roof. Perhaps next year will be spent under our own vine and our own fig tree with those who render life so sweet.
[Wednesday] – 26 December [1894] Raining all day so we did not venture out. Spent day in reading and writing etc.
[Thursday-Monday] – 27-31 December [1894] Spent at Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. We had a week of holiday, which was a holiday in which we played all kinds of games, sang songs, and each night had a concert or talk. We had a couple of inches of snow. Have our first taste of winter. I have read [the] B[oo]k of M[ormon] about half through last week. Just got my first letter from home in 7 weeks. It brought the sad news of little Bliss Hayes’ death. What a world of disappointment when our dear ones are called away. Now we bid farewell to old 1894 with its many joys and cares. We have counted it by day until at last we have reached 365. Last new year it looked like an ocean – now it seems as but a bubble. We can look back with many pleasant experiences during the year ,and [of] all years have to regret is possibly the loss of many years which should have been better employed. At home some changes have occurred which causes a sigh of regret, some dear faces we will never see on earth again, but, all in all, good for the many blessings we daily enjoy, for the protecting hand which has shielded us in hours of peril, lifted us up in moments of disdain and inspired us with courage when all the world seemed gloomy and the heavens above us have let come what will, we know that our cause in the end will win. We may faulter, perchance may fall into darkness, but the cause of Christ will steadily grow and eventually triumph. Oh that we and mine may be kept written and touched of the Spirit of God, that we may keep the faith and light after the battle of life, and when the Master selects his justice, I pray we are counted worthy to be numbered among the blessed. Farewell dear [18]94, you shall always be fondly cherished in our remembrance as a year spent in the service of the Lord. Total 3,538 [miles]
The next journal entries of missionaries in Blount County appear after an absence from Millers Cove. Elder William Hayes and Elder John Halliday took a leave of absence from the county and were working in Knoxville without success. Shortly after they moved to a new boarding house in Knoxville, JC Garland found them, brought provisions, and made them promise to return to Millers Cove, which they did. Interestingly, one week after JC Garland brought them back to Millers Cove, the missionaries baptized Samuel Patterson Harmon, which highlights the intent of bringing the missionaries back to Millers Cove.
[Saturday] – 30 March [1895] Finished West K[nox]ville about noon. Got onto an old preacher who tried about an hour to convert me on being “saved by grace” alone and that our works availeth nothing. We lead it up and down for all that we were worth but came to no understanding. On reaching home found Elders [George Barlow] Wintle and [John William] Webster had arrived so we spent the PM in social chat. About 9:30 PM in came Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland who spent the night with us and made us promise to return with him.
[Sunday] – 31 March [1895] Being Sunday Eld[er John Roland] Halliday and I went out to the Red Cross Methodist Church to S[unday] S[chool] and stayed until meeting. Had the pleasure of seeing the minister baptize a child from a glass of water. This is the first sprinkling we ever saw performed. The preacher made a hit on us in his remarks, in fact they all tended in that direction. Returning home [in] the PM spent in writing letters and reading. Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland called in. Total miles 4,010
[Monday] – 1 April [1895] This being April fool day after laying a plot for Elders [George Barlow] Wintle and [John William] Webster we concluded to rusticate for a week and see if the house air of the country would not brace us why a little, accordingly, we met Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland at the stables and at 8 AM were headed for Blount Co. Had a very pleasant journey as the trees just begin to put forth their leaves and the gentle zephyrs of heaven sends forth sweet fragrance over hill and dell. Arriving at our destiny, we found Sister [Sarah Margaret Cauble] Garland quite sick, being laid up of fever, though some better than the day before now. Elder [John Roland] H[alliday] and I sat up the greater part of the night with her to administer to her wants.
[Tuesday] – 2 April [1895] Weather turned off cooler, we helped put in some garden stuff and went after water cress and feaster in country style.
[Wednesday] – 3 April [1895] Helped Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] G[arland] kill a couple of hogs this AM. Did some writing in the PM.
[Thursday] – 4 April [1895] Thought our Saints needed a practical lesson on cleanliness, so we pitched in and turned things upside down from porch to kitchen renovating the whole plantation and wound up by trimming the bushes and cleaning the yard. It looks like unto another place. I intend to giving Sister [Sarah Margaret Cauble] Garland her medicine.
[Friday] – 5 April [1895] After planting a field of potatoes we went to spend the day with [Nathan] Dempsey Harris and wife [Sarah Margaret Woody]. On our way our dog treed a squirrel. We got the gun and after spending about 3 hours and shooting 8 shots, succeeded in killing it. Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland fired some brush heaps and the wind came up and scattered the fire which got into the woods and fences, and we had an awful time to get it cut off by creating a pathway through the leaves in head of it. Brother J[ohn] R[oland Hallaway] not feeling well. His pulses are 112.
[Saturday] – 6 April [1895] This is a day of rejoicing among the Saints as home brings general conference. We shall look with longing even for some of the conference sermons. We built a step today. Hired our shoes preparatory for our journey Monday morning. Trees are now in bloom and nature once more seems to smile. It seems almost wonderful to think of the rapid growth made by our church during its short life. 65 years have passed since its birth. Then only six members and now numbered by the hundreds of thousands.
[Sunday] – 7 April [1895] Sunday again. Spent AM in quiet but in the PM, having been requested so to do, I had the pleasure of initiating another person into the fold of Christ. It was Samuel [Patterson] Harmon, a young married man who has heard our elders speak many times for several years past. Elder [John Roland] Halliday confirmed him and would have done the baptizing but that he was not feeling quite well and the water was quite cool. After performing the ordinance, some desiring to hear us preach, we concluded to hold a short service on the porch of Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s house which we did. Sister [Sarah Margaret Cauble] G[arland] is some better than she has been, though unable to sit up as yet…
Elder William Lehi Hayes was released from his mission in June of 1895. He went to bid farewell to his dear friend, JC Garland, when he came down with malaria. He was nursed back to health at the Garlands over an almost-three month period. Elder Hayes wrote about this memory before his own passing.
“After my release on June 10, 1895, I came down with malaria fever and could not start for home until latter part of August and reached home on evening of Aug. 31. I was at the home of some good friends during this sickness, Bro[ther] and Sister Jos[eph John Calvin (JC)] Garland in Blount Co[unty], Tenn[essee]. I shall never forget their kindness. In 1909, I persuaded them to visit Utah and have their temple work done, which they did and were very happy over their visit and its results. During my two months violent illness I was watched over by day and night by my life long friend John R. Halliday. Without his constant watch care the final outcome of my illness may have been written up in another way entirely. I always feel that l owe him a debt of gratitude which I have been free to express.”
In 1909, Elder James Abraham was a “traveling elder” of the East Tennessee Conference. He documents spending short visits to each area of the mission throughout his journal. In August, 1909, he documented visiting Blount County and finding JC Garland away from his home visiting Utah on the trip to the Salt Lake Temple that Elder John Halliday reported they were “very happy over their visit and its results.”
[Thursday to Friday] 5-[13] Aug[ust 1909] The luckiest day of my life! Was thrown from a street car and drug (sic) for about 20 feet. Had my clothing torn but only received a few bruises and the only cost was a new suit of clothes. It was lucky that I was not killed. Elder [William Martin] Hunter and I left Knoxville for the sticks. Rode as far as Maryville and then walked to Cha[rle]s [Harrison] Russel[l‘s] 7 miles. I am feeling tough. We went out with the intentions of holding some meetings, but the preacher had told the people, if they came to hear the Mormons he would cut them of[f] from his church, so no one came to our meetings. So we went over and visited Bro[ther Isaiah James] Franklin who was very low with the fever. He had not spoken for a week. We administered to him. He was feeling much better [the] next morning and began to mend. We spent a week visiting among friends and Saints and came back to Knoxville. While out at Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s place [in Millers Cove], he being gone to Utah, we went to see his daughter, [Lona Mae Garland], who is a member. But her husband, [John Lowery Perkins], wouldn’t let us have any dinner. But she left the house took us with her and cooked some dinner at her father’s place…
According to church records, JC and Sarah took out their endowments together and were sealed for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple, on September 28, 1910. The following day, JC was sealed to his father, Alexander Garland, who was baptized with JC, in 1893, and passed away, in 1902.
In 1895, Elder James Willard Hubbard was assigned to labor in Roane County and spent ten days at JC Garland’s home in Millers Cove. One commonality that is noted in the missionaries’ journals is that elders from all over the East Tennessee Conference come to JC Garland’s home to meet with other missionaries and have meetings with JC Garland. Elder Hubbard, upon meeting JC Garland, noted some of his characteristics and documented these ten days in the following journal entries:
Friday – 5 [July 1895] Started in company of Elder [Frederick Moroni] Houston to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland‘s, a distance of about 56 miles.
Saturday – 6 [July 1895] Arrived 7:30 PM in an easterly course. It is east of Chilhowee Mt. in Millers Cove, Blount Co., Tenn[essee]. Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland is a large raw-boned man. A typical Southerner. A good Saint and has a heart like an ox. We were pained upon arrived at [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland‘s to find our beloved brother, W[illiam] L[ehi] Hayes, down with fever. Also with him we found Elders [Joseph Cross] Orme and [John Roland] Halliday. We were delighted to see them.
Sunday – 7 [July 1895] Resting today. Nothing of interest transpiring.
Monday – 8 [July 1895] Elder [William Lehi] H[ayes is] a little better. Went after breakfast with Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland to cut some oats. After which he and I went into the hills to try to get a sheep, which we did after a hard hunt. The sheep, though domestic, are very wild and the woods so thick they were very hard to find and follow. Continual prayer in behalf of Bro[ther William Lehi] Hayes.
Tuesday – 9 [July 1895] I bound oats most all day for Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland. Bro[ther William Lehi] Hayes is improving. Elder [Joseph Cross] Orme and I went a distance of about a mile to stay with Mr. [Nathan] Demps[e]y Harris, a very poor but clever man whose wife, [Sarah Margaret Woody], belongs to the Church.
Wednesday – 10 [July 1895] Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland went to Knoxville to appear at U.S. Court to a charge of selling tobacco. Elder [Joseph Cross] Orme went with him to go home to Zion. God speed him on his way. Elder [Frederick Moroni] Houston also went with Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] G[arland] but will return with him. Elder [William Lehi] Hayes [is] still improving. I think he will son be up, although he is very low-spirited. I spent 1/2 an hour fixing my pants.
Thursday – 11 [July 1895] Wrote a letter home and went to Millers P. O. Was very happy to receive two letters from home. All were well, also very much delighted to receive their photograph. I received also a letter from the office enclosing $5. I went to Gambols P. O., thence to a store where I bought a pair of shoes for $2. Returned to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland‘s. Went to stay with Bro[ther] Sam[uel Patterson] Harmon, he is very poor. God bless them.
Friday – 12 [July 1895] Returned to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] G[arland]‘s. Elder [William Lehi] Hayes is much better. Rested and studied all day. Remained here all night.
Saturday – 13 [July 1895] Spent the forepart of the day reading etc. [In the] afternoon I bound oats for Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland. Remained here all night.
Sunday – 14 [July 1895] The whole family and 5 elders resting and reading and studying the gospel.
Monday – 15 [July 1895] Nothing of interest. Elder [William Lehi] Hayes [is] slowly improving. Elder [Erastus Snow] Christensen went to [the] P. O. He got some mail for J[ohn] R[oland] H[alliday] and W[illiam] L[ehi] H[ayes], some from Pres. [Elias S.] K[imball] from the office, sending some medicine. This is our last day here I expect. We had a good time while here. Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland is so good. He would like to have all the Elders here.
In August 1896, the missionaries of the East Tennessee Conference of the Southern States Mission held a meeting in Cherokee, North Carolina. The only available documentation of this meeting is the photo of those who attended and journal entries of Elder James Hubbard. In the photo are 27 missionaries of the conference, the mission president, Elias S. Kimball, and standing in the back of the photo is the member missionary, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland. An understanding of Brother Garland’s eagerness to and influence in sharing the gospel, friendship with the missionaries, and dedication to the work, allows the reader to imagine his role in the early days of the growth of the Church and why he was attending this meeting as the only member not set apart as a missionary. Elder Hubbard noted the photo in his journal entry:
Sunday – 9 [August 1896] M[iles] w[alked] 4. We again assembled and held 2 meetings. Had our photo taken, then held a counsel meeting. [Stayed at] Jack Sedford’s.
The missionaries departed from the meeting and went to their fields of labor. Elder Hubbard, in a group of six missionaries, spent ten days walking back across the Smoky Mountains in their suits with their “grips” in hand. En route to Knoxville, they arrived at JC Garland’s home and baptized Sister Harmon.
Friday – 21 [August 1896] M[iles] w[alked] 10. We came on to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland‘s. Find all [are] well.
Saturday – 22 [August 1896] Rested, changed cloth[e]s etc. Held one meeting and all stayed at Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] G[arland]’s.
Sunday – 23 [August 1896] M[iles] w[alked] 7. [Held] S[unday] S[chool] at Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] G[arland]’s. Then, held a meeting. After dinner, we all went up the cr[eek] 3 mi[les] to Bro[ther John Goulder] Ha[r]m[o]n‘s, where we held a meeting, then baptized Sister [Mary Jane Davis] Harm[o]n. Then, we all went back to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] G[arland]’s.
In 1897, Elder Isaac Smith was in Knoxville working for a short time before leaving for his field of labor in Northern Tennessee, when he happened to meet JC Garland, his family, and friends at a carnival. A short time later, the missionaries in Blount County requested him to join them for a meeting at JC Garland’s house in Millers Cove. He documented this in his journal in the following entries:
Monday – 11 October 1897 We walked fast this morning because Buffallo Bill’s shows were coming in and we wanted to see the parade, but we got there too late and, as we had no money, we couldn’t go to the show either. We went to the express office but found no clothing for us. About dark, Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland from Blount Co. with some of his family and neighbors came to see the carnival and happened in on us, “quite a happy surprise,” and, after chatting a while, we held a meeting with them. This was at Andy [Johnson] Smith‘s, where I spent my first night in Knox Co. The next two days, October 12 and 13, we spent the mass of our time on the streets watching the processions. They were very good but couldn’t compare with those at the carnival in Salt Lake City in ’96. We spent those two nights at Mrs. Dockery’s.
Friday – 29 October 1897 Today we walked 27 mi[les]. Stopping at Mr. Orr’s for dinner. My joints ran dry before we had gone halfway and before we reached Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland‘s; I could hardly work them. The bottom of my feet were also very sorely afflicted, but after supper I bathed my feet and legs in hot water (Elder [Adams Wesley] Ensign doing the rubbing act) which made them feel much better. Elders [Frederick Gilbert] W[arnick]and [Joseph Rowland] M[orrell] were at the meeting when we got there, but came in while I had my feet in the kettle. A very happy reception followed. Joe [Rowland Morrell] and I were privileged to sleep together.
It becomes apparent in finding and reading the journals of missionaries who served in the East Tennessee Conference that JC Garland was well known to the missionaries, even those not assigned to serve in Blount County. As new journals are discovered, quick scans reveal visits to JC Garland’s home while missionaries are traveling to their fields of labor. For example, in 1900 Elder William Edward Bench was walking from Concord, Tennessee to North Carolina and made a brief layover at the Garlands. He documented this with simple entries of “Stayed at Bro Garland’s.”
[Friday] – 9 Febr[uary 1900] Went from Concord to about three miles East of Maryville.
[Saturday] – 10 Feb[ruary 1900] Went on over to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s a distance of eleven miles. Rained all day.
[Sunday] – 11 Feb[ruary 1900] Stayed at Bro[Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s.
[Monday-Tuesday] – 13-14 Feb[ruary 1900] ” ” ” “
[Wednesday] – 15 Feb[ruary 1900] Left Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s and walked over to Walden P. O. in Sevier Co[unty].
In 1902, Elder Abinadi Porter was assigned to Blount County, where he labored for just under three months. After arriving at McGhee Train Station in Maryville, he went straight to JC Garland’s home. He arrived less than two weeks after Alexander Garland, JC’s father, had passed away. The Garlands’ home again served as the missionaries’ home base as they began visiting the homes of the members and holding meetings, particularly at the Garlands’.
[Saturday] – 17 May 1902 We tract till we came to the city of Marysville (sic). Went to office, got our mail, then went ten miles distance to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garl[a]nd‘s. Arrived 1/2 after three o’clock. We were called in a home on our way by a sick man, a Methodist. He bought a “Voice of Warning.”
[Sunday] – 18 May 1902 Eleven months today I left home. It is now 12 o’clock. We held meeting here at Bro[ther Joseph John (JC)] Garl[a]nd. A[binadi] Porter, speaker, [Othello] Roundy presiding. Subject: spoke on Revelation…
Over the next 75 days, Elder Abinadi Porter mentioned JC and Sarah Garland 33 times in his journal. The Garlands fed the missionaries and let them stay at the home while they shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. The missionaries were working in a group of six and one can imagine the effort required to take care of these missionaries. Elder Claudius Hawkes was one of these missionaries. Though we do not have a journal of Elder Hawkes, he did keep a daily log of the names of the missionaries’ hosts. He documented JC Garland and his children, Louella, Lona, and Robert, as their hosts and “entertainment” during this period.
In 1904, Elder LeRoy Armstrong documented his short two weeks in Blount County, including with JC Garland. Their home was the first and last stop. The missionaries left the county to a measles outbreak, but spent the majority of their time at the Garlands. This is documented in the following journal entries:
[Friday] – 22 Jan[uary] 1904 Sweet Blount Co[unty]. We lefe (sic) Mr. Dunn and canvassed over to the place of Townzen (sic). After dinner, as we were canvassing, we run on to one of the Saints. We left our grips there and went and canvassed Townzen (sic). It was a swell place. I went into some kind of a business house and that it was a dwelling house. The next pass I get in to (sic) where they were holding prayer meeting. We canvassed one house that cost about 8,000 dollars. I tell you, we were right among the big wigs. I was up against the preacher, but he did not have much to say. We canvassed till dark, then came up to Bro[ther James Isaiah] Franklin’s and came down the railroad track to Walland. There I got some soles for my shoes. Also, some writing material. We then went across the mountain to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s.
[Saturday] – 24 Jan[uary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. We left [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s and came up to [Samuel Patterson] Harmon’s. We wrote letters in the forenoon and, after dinner, we held [a] meeting. Sister Crook was prompt on time. I fast[ed] till supper, which was prepared just after dark: cornbread and string beans with the hide on. Went good between the teeth.
[Sunday] – 25 Jan[uary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. After breakfast we left Polley [Ann Davis] Harmon’s and came down to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s, set around and chewed the sage with Uncle [Joseph] John [Calvin (JC) Garland]. After dinner we went up to the mail box and got our mail. We met a Cambellite (sic) preacher there and had quite a little talk with him. After supper we went up and stayed with Bro[ther] John [Goulder] Harmon.
[Monday] – 26 Jan[uary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. When we got up this morning it looked very much like rain. We was going to go out canvassing but we thot (sic) it looked to storm. So, we stayed at [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s that day and teared granny and guber peas (sic).
[Wednesday] – 28 Jan[uary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. When we got up this morning it was snowing and it snowed all day. Uncle Joe [John Calvin (JC) Garland] got us out hauling hay up to the barn, so we walked in the snow all day. We had a right smart of fun putting [illegible] on the [illegible] and the geese.
[Thursday] – 29 Jan[uary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. It snowed some this morning. So we stayed to (sic) [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s till after dinner. We went up to the barn and eat wallnuts (sic) till we just about made ourselves sick. We stayed till the mail came but there was none for us. So we got ready and came up to Sister [Samantha Carolina Naillon] Woody’s. We held [a] meeting with them that night.
[Wednesday] – 3 Feb[ruary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. Soon after breakfast we left Bro[ther Jonathan] Woody’s and went down to [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. We we came up to the door, they did not ask us to come in, so, [if] anything, it made me feel pretty funny, but we went in any how, but did not feel much welcome. Elder [Wilford Woodruff] Freeman went up to the mail box after dinner and there he got some photos for us, some large ones of his self and some [illegible] photo of us both. While he was gone, I went up in the woods and fixed my pants. At night some loving folks came in and they had a rough and tumbled time for a while. The girls and boys would wrestle. This is the way. Feb[ruary] 3[rd] warmed up.
[Saturday] – 6 Feb[ruary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. We left W[illiam] C[harles] Garland’s and came over to Pollie [Ann Davis Harmon]’s for dinner. We then went down to Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s and packed our grips and made ready to leave the co[unty] as there were so many measels here. We went over and spent the night with Bro[ther] John [Goulder] Harmon.
[Sunday] – 7 Feb[ruary] 1904 Walland, Blount Co[unty]. We left Bro[ther John Goulder] Harmon and came over to [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s and got our grips. Then went up to Bro[ther Jonathan] Woody’s. Just after we got there, how it did rain and blow and there [were] places in the house that you could throw a cat through and the rain came in and wet the bed and the folks had a hard time to keep in the dry. But after it stop[p]ed raining, we had a good time talking with the people and we sang some for them. The night before we got there, Bro[ther Jonathan] Woody and his son caught 5 possums. Some had possum for dinner to [illegible].
[Monday] – 8 Feb[ruary] 1904 Wallen (sic), Blount Co[unty]. We left [Jonathan] Woody’s and started for Sevier Co[ounty]. Came to Walland and got our mail. We had too many tracts to carry so we went some over to [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. We had a heavy load but we made it thru to John Baker before run down. He seemed quite pleased to see us as Elder [Wilford Woodruff] Freeman had been there before and visited on him when he got hurt.
Beginning in the early 1900s, the missionaries were not regularly assigned to labor in Blount County. Therefore, records of this approximate ten-year period are limited as the missionaries only visited for short periods of time or were briefly assigned to labor in Blount County. During this period, in the East Tennessee Conference minutes, it is documented that a Sunday School was organized in Millers Cove, in 1908. This is the first instance of a locally organized Church led by members in the county.
“22 Sept[ember 1908] Elders Gus[tavious] Williams and J[orgen] G[eorge] Jensen organized a Sabbath School in Millers Cove, Blount Co[unty], Tenn[essee]. Not being able to obtain consent to hold forth in a schoolhouse nearby, the Elders with hammer and saw remodeled an old store building belonging to one of the members.”
Shortly thereafter, in December 1909, JC Garland visited in the Mission Office to inform the missionaries that there was a need for the missionaries to visit the area.
“Week ending Dec[ember] 3rd, [1909] Brother J[oseph John] C[alvin (JC)] Garland of Blount Co[unty] made us a visit Friday night. Feeling first rate, invited us to his house. He said that several were interested in our doctrine.”
The next available journal was written by Elder John Isaac Morley and not until 1911. As Elder Morley entered the mission field in Blount County with his companion, Elder Heber Palmer. The elders arrive at the train depot in Walland and who is there to greet them? JC Garland. The Garlands would host the missionaries for the next two weeks off and on and help them get acquainted with the area, as well as help them get to know the other members and those who are friends of the elders. These other members include John Goulder Harmon, Mary Jane Davis Harmon, Samuel Patterson Harmon, Polly Harmon, Mary Jane Harmon, David Lafayette Whitehead, and their families and more.
[Monday] – 27 February 1911 Arrived in Blount County. Left Knoxville at 7 AM for Walland. Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland met us at [the] depot with rig and drove us to his home 4 miles. President Stailey, Elder [Heber] Palmer, Sister Harvey, and myself were in the company. Got here OK. Had a fine dinner. Went and caught some fish. Had cottage meeting in evening. All’s well.
[Tuesday] – 28 February [1911] Helped Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland load manure. Helped Jonathan Perkins split some pickets in evening. Walked about 2 miles to Bro[ther Samuel Patterson] Harmon’s and held a cottage meeting.
Wednesday – 1 March 1911 After breakfast helped Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland take some potatoes out of his cellar which were very rotten and stunk awful.
Thursday – 2 March 1911 Got up early. Had breakfast and took Pres. Stailey and Sister Harvy (sic) to Walland in back. Come (sic) back to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s and wrote to Morley and I.J. (sic). Got news and journals and read part of them. Gears (sic) up mules and helped get load of wood.
Friday – 3 March 1911 Jonathan Perkins caught a oposom (sic) alive last night and brought it up to Sister [Sarah Margaret Cauble] Garland’s this morning. It had 12 young ones in its pouch, the first this one I ever seen. I worked our chores in forenoon. In afternoon rode Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s gray mare to Walland… Read letters from wife… Read with pleasure and wrote to wife.
Saturday – 4 March 1911 Helped Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland sow oats… Held cottage meetings in evening.
Sunday – 5 March 1911 Fast day. Held sacrament meeting at 10 AM. Afternoon went to Bro[ther Samuel Patterson] Harmon’s. Had pleasant time. Saw a ground hog returning. Thanked the Lord for his mercies to me this day.
Monday – 6 March 1911 On account of storm we did not get out canvassing. Studied most of forenoon. After dinner I went and helped Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland cut some trees.
Tuesday – 7 March 1911 Left Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s at 7 AM for Happy Vallie (sic). Elder [Heber] Palmer fell in the creek. Walked 10 miles and canvassed on way. Got dinner and William [Edgar] Tucker’s about 2 PM. Come (sic) down to David [Lafayette] Whitehead’s. Had supper and talked on gospel until 9 PM…
Wednesday – 8 March [1911] Left Bro[ther David Lafayette] Whitehead in morning. Went down to Chill Howie (sic). Was invited and had dinner with Dr. George Bobbins. Saw Tennessee River. Canvassed on way back to Bro[ther David Lafayette] Whitehead. Met some good friends. Walked about 10 miles.
Thursday – 9 March 1911 Went over across Abraham’s Creek canvassing. Walked about 6 miles… Had a long gospel conversation with him. Come back to Bro[ther David Lafayette] Whitehead’s. Held a cottage meeting in evening. Not many come (sic).
Friday – 10 March 1911 Ate breakfast with Bro[ther David Lafayette] Whitehead after which we blessed Layman Ralph [Whitehead] their baby [of Mary Lucinda Tefeteller and David Lafayette Whitehead]. From there went to Ms. Mary [Jane Harmon] Tucker’s and blessed Earnest Adam her baby [and of William Edgar Tucker]. Walked about 5 miles and was invited and took dinner with Mr. Spencer [illegible]. Was treated well. Walked another 3 miles to M[ary] J[ane Davis] Harmon’s. Had supper and held a cottage meeting after which we walked 1 mile to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s to sleep. Reed (sic) and read letters from wife, sister, Mary, mother and Delena.
Saturday – 11 March 1911 Wrote letters to wife, mother, Mary, [and] Delena. In afternoon went out and leveled land for Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland with team until 9:30 AM. Then come in, shaved, took bath and read papers and Liahona. Went up to Bro[ther] Sam[uel Patterson] and Polly [Ann Davis] Harmon’s and stayed all night.
Sunday – 12 March 1911 After breakfast at Sister [Polly Ann Davis] Harmon’s went down to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. Went to Mary J[ane] Harmon’s who is sick. Held cottage meeting at 10 AM. Had talk with [illegible]. Read Era and other books most of afternoon.
Monday – 13 March 1911 Left Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s at 9 AM. Canvassed as we went down the creek at 11 AM. We come to Mr. CC Caghorn who invited us to have dinner which we accepted and appreciated, after which we went on canvassing. Got down to a gentleman by the name of Marton who was cutting stove wood with small [illegible]. I ask him if I could interest him in religion. He got very angry and said I could not throw off on him. I told him I was not trying to, then he ordered me off. I told him he did not have the fruit of the spirit upon which he picked up a club about 5 ft. long and drawed (sic) back to strike me. I said don’t do it, bro[ther]. He told me again to go, upon which I started slowly, him telling me I barly (sic) saved my life. I pray the Lord will forgive him. Came on up to Townsend and got entertainment of Mrs. Andrew [Louella Garland] Parham, a member.
Over the next two months, there are 17 days in which Elder Morley mentions visiting with the Garlands, even immediately before or after baptisms, including the same day he visits Charles Harrison Russell, who was baptized in 1909, David Lafayette Whitehead, who was baptized in 1904, the day after baptizing Tennessie “Tennie” and Eliza Hicks, and, again, going to see JC Garland immediately after baptizing Mattie Russell.
Monday – 13 May [1911] Left Bro[Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. Went over had dinner with Sister [Ellen Morley] Franklin. Went to Chas [Harrison] Russell’s. Had long talk with Abe H. Lame. Stayed at [illegible]
Monday – 22 May [1911] Left Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s [at] 8 AM. Walked to Happie (sic) Valley to Bro[ther David Lafayette] Whitehead’s. Helped set out some sweet potatoes.
Sunday – 28 May [1911] Left Mr. Riddler. Came up to Bro[ther] Chas [Harrison] Russell’s in afternoon. I baptized Sister Mattie L[ane] Russell. Heber Palmer confirmed her. I blessed little Margaret Lane Russell.
Monday – 29 May [1911] Left Bro[ther] [Charles Harrison] Russell’s at 8 am. Walked over Chilhowie Mountain to Bro[ther] [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. Am here waiting [illegible].
Tuesday – 30 May [1911] Helped Lillie [Lilly Hayes Garland] do washing and studied most of day.
Wednesday 31 May [1911] Left Bro[ther] [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s [at] 8. Walked over Chilhowie. Ate dinner with Bro[ther] [Charles Harrison] Russell in field. Canvassed and got to stay with Alf Lane.
Sunday – 4 June [1911] Went on top of Chilhowie Mountain and held meeting. Had a nice crowd. Went down to Bro[ther] Hodge’s. Had fine dinner. From there went down to Walker with Bro[ther William Riley Thomas] Tipton and folks come back to Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s for the night.
In 1922, Elder Thomas Gibby was assigned to labor in Blount County. He began visiting members and spent time in Millers Cove with JC Garland’s family:
[Friday] – 26 May [1922] We left at six AM for Maryville after paying for our bed and meals. It was mail day and I had become anxious. We tracted along the pike but towards noon we ran out of literature and moved on faster. It was one o’clock when we reached Maryville. At the P.O. we found the first class mail not in so we went back to [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s. In the afternoon, I received a nice long letter from Miss [illegible] and one from [illegible]. These letters were answered that night. My rest was not very restful that night because of an unclean bed. Brother Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland is such a faithful Latter-day Saint but he has one of the laziest women in the world.
[Saturday] – 27 May [1922] Most of the day was spent at [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s reading and writing. At noon we went up town to get our checks cashed and had some trouble in finding a bank that would cash them. We listened for a few moments to a Holiness preacher on the street. After he finished his say, we held a meeting. Had a nice sized crowd to whom Brother [David John] Black called to repentance. Sold some small books after meeting. Spent an evening and another night at Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s.
[Sunday] – 28 May [1922] Sunday forenoon was spent at [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s in reading and trying to catch up with lost sleep. It was hard to rest with “Aunt Hattie” [Jane Gentry] calling Paul [Ezekiel Garland] every few moments. In the afternoon we walked through town to Sister [Margaret Lane] Russell’s. It was good to find a clean place once again. Had a pleasant visit and they gave us a good clean meal. We sat up quite late talking and then returned to a clean bed. Sure had a night’s sleep.
[Monday] – 29 May [1922] We ate breakfast at [the] Russell’s and then went back to [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s to prepare for the “sticks” again. I received my third inoculation. At about two o’clock, we left Maryville with Will[iam Edward Silver] Garland in a wagon on our way to Cades Cove. We had a long jolly ride over a rough road and through red clay mud, some places hub deep. We spent the night at [William Edward Silver] Garland’s.
[Tuesday] – 30 May [1922] The large part of the forenoon was spent in study and talking. A little before dinner, we went to a family of Buttlers (sic), the woman being a member, Brother Garland’s daughter, [Lilly Hayes Garland]. We had dinner with them. After dinner, we got into a little discussion with [Isaac Edmondson] Buttler (sic) and soon found that he was very bitter. He was very abusive of our Church and doctrines, especially polygamy. He sure got his “Irish” up. We left [the] Buttlers’ (sic) at three o’clock for Millers Cove. Had a nice little hike up a creed bed. Got on the wrong trail once and had to retrace our tracks for about a mile. It was quite difficult for us to find a place to stay, and it was nearly dark before we got into the cove. A man by the name of “Bob” Smith took us home with him and he was half drunk. His wife was a member. They were certainly in poverty-stricken conditions. The man spent most of his time in making corn liquor. It was a dirty place.
[Saturday] – 10 June [1922] Saturday I finished writing answers to letters, which I mailed at the post office. While in town, Brother [David John] Black bought a suit, hat and shoes. He sure got dolled up. At night we read and talked with Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland till past bedtime.
[Tuesday] – 13 June [1922] Today I laid around all day as yet not recovered from my illness. I wrote a letter to Brother Howes. Brother [David John] Black was ailing because of stomach disorder, so we remained in Maryville another day. Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland gave us a hint to leave but we could not go as we were, so we swalloed the hint. By night I was feeling somewhat better and had a night’s rest.
[Wednesday] – 14 June [1922] In the forenoon we visited Sister [Laura Bell Harmon] Abbot, a daughter of Brother [Samuel Patterson] Harmon. She is a real Latter-day Saint and we spent a pleasant day there. She prepared us a bite to eat and the best part about it, it was clean. We were both feeling well enough so that we decided we would leave on the morrow for Clinton where mail was coming to us Friday. Stayed at Brother [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s.
JC and Sarah had six children who survived to adulthood and all were baptized members of the Church. Sarah died in 1914, at the age of 56. JC married Hattie Gentry in August 1917. They named their first son Joseph Fielding Smith Garland. He died the day after he was born. JC and Hattie had two children together who survived to adulthood. Their oldest son, Paul Ezekiel Garland, was baptized in 1927, the year before JC passed away. In 1994, Paul published a book titled “The History of the Garland Family in America” and said the following about Hattie and JC Garland’s wedding: “The ceremony was performed by President Charles A. Callis, his personal friend…” At that time, President Charles A. Callis was president of the Southern States Mission and later became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In 1927, the year before JC Garland died, his last son, Paul, was baptized. Charles A. Callis, confirmed Paul a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Callis traveled from the mission office in Chattanooga to perform the ordinance for the son of his “dear friend,” as Paul called them. The last available record of JC Garland was at the cold winter baptism of 11-year-old Doris Russell in Crooked Creek, in 1927. She wrote this memory before her passing:
“I was baptized in Cripple Creek in the dead of winter [26 January 1926]. They had to break the ice on the water to make room so I could be baptized, but I remember the water being cold. Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland gave me twenty-five cents for being baptized. I thought that was the most money I had ever seen.”
JC Garland died in 1928, at the age of 77. Sarah Garland died in 1914, at the age of 56. JC and Sarah are buried side by side in Millers Cove Cemetery. Brother Garland’s headstone has the message inscribed: “father is gone but not forgotten.” Hattie Garland died in 1977, at the age of 87, and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Maryville. She also remained a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout her life. Bishop Anthony C. Oxborrow officiated at her funeral.
Louella Garland (1878-1969)
11 January 1894: Louella Garland (Parham) was baptized by Thomas Watts Sloan and confirmed by Robert Cunningham Young
Elder Thomas Watts Sloan (1868-1918)
Thomas Watts Sloan served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1895. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I beg to notify you of my acceptance of the same and a sincere desire to do my duty in this respect.” He married in the Manti Temple, on November 3rd, and left to serve, on December 2nd. His time in Blount County is well-documented in the transcribed mission journals of Elder William Hayes and Elder Robert Young. He became an esteemed business man working for the Heber J. Grant Company and eventually started the Sloan Corporation shortly before he died unexpectedly from pneumonia in 1918. He and his wife raised one son together in Utah. He baptized William Edward Garland, Louella Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the last named a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Robert Cunningham Young (1863-1904)
Robert Cunningham Young served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1894. He was baptized, at age 27, two years before his mission. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I received your letter… asking my feelings in regard to taking a mission to the Southern States. I will say that I will do the best I can and will be ready…” He was called to serve shortly after his wife passed away and he had to leave his infant son in the care of friends and family while serving. He entered East Tennessee during a period of local opposition against the Saints. He challenged the Church’s antagonists, even in the printed press of the Maryville Times, bringing light to darkness with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He returned home early from his mission due to illness, which lasted periodically until his death. He remarried in the Salt Lake Temple after he returned home. They had four children together. He became a school teacher, but taught only a few years before he died in 1904. His transcribed mission journal provides valuable insight into the efforts of the first Smoky Mountain Saints and their missionaries in East Tennessee, from 29 August 1892 to 14 January 1894, as the Church first began to grow. Elder Young baptized Sarah Margaret Cauble, Jordan Henry Harrison Hicks, Andrew Johnson Smith, Louvenia Hicks, Alexander Harrison Garland, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the first three named as well as William Edward Silver Garland and Louella Garland as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Toliver Andrew Parham (1878-1913)
1 October 1912: Toliver Andrew Parham was baptized by George Alma Sampson and confirmed by Heber Ewer Palmer
Elder George Alma Sampson (1888-1975)
George Alma Sampson served in the Southern States Mission from 1912 to 1914. In his mission acceptance letter to Joseph F. Smith, he wrote: “I fill (sic) my inability, but I am willing to go and do the best I can in helping to spread the gospel.” He married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1915. They raised ten children together. George was well known for his singing and violin playing. At the time of his death in 1975, he had 70 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In 1912, Elder Sampson baptized Toliver Andrew Parham and Austin Hale Harmon, in Millers Cove, and confirmed Laura Walker and Jane McClanahan, in 1913, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Heber Ewer Palmer (1890-1962)
Heber Ewer Palmer served in the Southern States Mission from 1910 to 1912. Upon his return home on Christmas Day, he wrote the following to Joseph F. Smith: “My labors were indeed a pleasure to me, and I can say were very profitable especially or individually to myself. And I will also add that I am perfectly willing to serve another mission.” Elder Palmer served as a companion to Elder John Morley while in Blount County. Elder Morley documented their labors together in his transcribed mission journal. He was one of 27 children in his family. He married in the Salt Lake Temple, in 1918, and was drafted to serve in World War I. He returned home from Europe and had three children. He attended law school in Chicago, began a career in law, and lost everything after three years during the Great Depression, which was followed by many difficult years. He returned to Utah with his wife and children. They learned to rely on the Lord during a time in their life without anything. Regarding mission service, his wife later wrote: “Our greatest desire was to send our boys on a mission, and not one went, so we decided to send someone else. We sent Leslie Hunter, then a son of a neighbor, and assist a friend’s daughter.” Having experienced the blessings of a mission themselves, they assisted other missionaries throughout their lives. In 1911, Elder Palmer baptized Dora Tipton in Townsend, Eliza Lee Hicks and Rachel Tennessee Hicks in Tuckaleechee Cove, and confirmed the first named and Martha Elizabeth Lane in Maryville, and, in 1912, Toliver Andrew Parham in Millers Cove as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Louella Garland was about 12 years old when she moved from North Carolina to Millers Cove. It was only a short time later when the Garland family met the missionaries. In 1894, at the age of 15, she was baptized with her brother and sister one month after her mother, father, and grandfather were all baptized. Elder Robert Young documented her baptism in the following journal entry:
Thursday – 11 [January 1894] Millers Cove. We had a short meeting today. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan spoke first, then I added a few words. We then went down to the water’s edge and Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan baptized three of Bro[ther Joseph] J[ohn] C[alvin] Garland’s children, vix Lulu [Louella Garland], Laona [Lona Mae Garland], and William [Edward Silver Garland]. We then went back to the house and confirmed them. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan was mouth for Laona [Lona Mae Garland] and I was for the other two [Louella Garland and William Edward Silver Garland]. Afterward I spoke some to the people on our belief. They popped some corn again. We went with Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland after dinner and looked over his farm… 4 [miles]
Toliver Andrew Parham met Louella Garland while living in Millers Cove and the two were married in November 1897. They had two children together who would become Third Generation Members. Two years before Brother Parham’s death in 1913, Elder John Morley documented the following interactions with Andy and Louella, including their attendance at an in-home meeting:
Monday – 13 March 1911 Left Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s at 9 AM. Canvassed as we went down the creek at 11 AM… Came on up to Townsend and got entertainment of Mrs. Andrew Parham [Louella Garland], a member.
Friday – 18 (sic) March 1911 …Wrote to wife… Come down to Mr. [Toliver] Andy Parham and held cottage meeting.
Saturday – 18 March 1911 Slept at Sister [Louella Garland] Parham’s. After breakfast [illegible] had dinner at Mrs Lee Grant’s after which went out in Dry Valley canvassing. It started raining. Met a Mr. Henry Miller who bought book and treated us fine. Come back down to Mr. Grant’s and held meeting.
Wednesday – 29 Mar 1911 Came back up to Bro[ther Jobe Abraham] Harmon’s. Studied all forenoon. In afternoon went down to see Lou[el]la [Garland] Parham. Held meeting at William [Riley Thomas] Tipton’s. Come up to Job[e Abraham] Harmon’s tonight.
Saturday – 1 Apr 1911 Wrote letters to wife. Washed clowse (sic). Was visited by Job[e Abraham] Harmon and wife [Mary Jane Garland], [Toliver] Andy Parham and wife [Louella Garland], Ms. Sallie Bry and Dora Tipton and Mrs. S[he]rmon B[u]rchfield. Held cottage meeting.
Sunday – 20 April [1911] Held meeting in afternoon. Went up to [Toliver Andrew] Parham’s for night.
Andy Parham died, in 1913, lat the age of 34, less than two years after Elder Morley’s journal entries were written. He is buried in Millers Cove Cemetery. After his death, Louella married William Riley Perkins and the two never had children together.
In 1935, Elder Leroy Palmer tracted into Louella Garland and her husband, William Riley Perkins. He documented their time together in the following journal entry:
[Sunday] – 7 April [1935] We stayed pretty close to home today, it being Sunday. We were able to get in some very good studying. In the evening we went down to a family of Saints. They gave us a fine supper. In fact, we had too many good things to eat and could not do them justice. We spent the evening visiting. The lady, Mrs. L[o]u[el]la [Garland] Perkins, showed us her collection of pictures. After this we had become lazy, like a snake after eating, so we decided to stay with the family for the night. It was arranged so thus we spent another night.
William died in 1951, at the age of 70, and is buried in the Millers Cove Cemetery. Louella died in 1969, at the age of 90, and is also buried in the Millers Cove Cemetery.
William Edward Silver Garland (1880-1928)
11 January 1894: William Edward Silver Garland was baptized by Thomas Watts Sloan and confirmed by Robert Cunningham Young
Elder Thomas Watts Sloan (1868-1918)
Thomas Watts Sloan served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1895. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I beg to notify you of my acceptance of the same and a sincere desire to do my duty in this respect.” He married in the Manti Temple, on November 3rd, and left to serve, on December 2nd. His time in Blount County is well-documented in the transcribed mission journals of Elder William Hayes and Elder Robert Young. He became an esteemed business man working for the Heber J. Grant Company and eventually started the Sloan Corporation shortly before he died unexpectedly from pneumonia in 1918. He and his wife raised one son together in Utah. He baptized William Edward Garland, Louella Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the last named a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder Robert Cunningham Young (1863-1904)
Robert Cunningham Young served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1894. He was baptized, at age 27, two years before his mission. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I received your letter… asking my feelings in regard to taking a mission to the Southern States. I will say that I will do the best I can and will be ready…” He was called to serve shortly after his wife passed away and he had to leave his infant son in the care of friends and family while serving. He entered East Tennessee during a period of local opposition against the Saints. He challenged the Church’s antagonists, even in the printed press of the Maryville Times, bringing light to darkness with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He returned home early from his mission due to illness, which lasted periodically until his death. He remarried in the Salt Lake Temple after he returned home. They had four children together. He became a school teacher, but taught only a few years before he died in 1904. His transcribed mission journal provides valuable insight into the efforts of the first Smoky Mountain Saints and their missionaries in East Tennessee, from 29 August 1892 to 14 January 1894, as the Church first began to grow. Elder Young baptized Sarah Margaret Cauble, Jordan Henry Harrison Hicks, Andrew Johnson Smith, Louvenia Hicks, Alexander Harrison Garland, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the first three named as well as William Edward Silver Garland and Louella Garland as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
William Edward Silver Garland was about 11 years old when the Garland family moved to Millers Cove where they would first meet the missionaries. Elder Robert Young documented William’s name twice, when he was called “Willie” set to invite a neighbor for a meeting with the missionaries and on the day of his baptism, at the age of 13, in the following journal entries:
Wednesday – 10 [January 1894] Held meeting. Joe [John Calvin (JC) Garland] sent Willie [Edward Silver Garland] up to invite Thomas Hearn to come over but he and his wife are sick so they did not come. Spent the day in lounging around and reading some. Spent the evening in talking on the Bible. 1 [mile]
Thursday – 11 [January 1894] Millers Cove. We had a short meeting today. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan spoke first, then I added a few words. We then went down to the water’s edge and Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan baptized three of Bro[ther Joseph] J[ohn] C[calvin] Garland’s children, vix Lulu [Louella Garland], Laona [Lona Mae Garland], and William [Edward Silver Garland]. We then went back to the house and confirmed them. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan was mouth for Laona [Lona Mae Garland] and I was for the other two [Louella Garland and William Edward Silver Garland]. Afterward I spoke some to the people on our belief. They popped some corn again. We went with Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland after dinner and looked over his farm. In the evening went and spent about two hours with a Mr. Gladden. They are interested and invited us back and stop with them. 4 [miles]
In 1913, William Garland married Samantha Elizabeth Tipton. They had eight children together, seven survived to adulthood.
In 1922, Elder Thomas Gibby was serving in Blount County and documented a day with William Garland in the following journal entry:
[Monday] – 29 May [1922] We ate breakfast at [the] Russell’s and then went back to [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s to prepare for the “sticks” again. I received my third inoculation. At about two o’clock, we left Maryville with Will[iam Edward Silver] Garland in a wagon on our way to Cades Cove. We had a long jolly ride over a rough road and through red clay mud, some places hub deep. We spent the night at [William Edward Silver] Garland’s.
William was tragically killed when he was 48 years old and is buried in the Grandview Cemetery in Maryville. His nephew, Paul Ezekial Garland, retold the events of that day in the following story:
“Prior to our father’s [Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland] death, he sent me out to my brother Will’s farm so that I would have supervision while he was sick. While staying with Will and Samantha, an event occurred that I shall never forget. Will[iam Silver Edward Garland] ran sawmills and furnished the tannery at Walland with tan bark and acid wood. He hired several men and they lived in certain houses in different locations on the farm. This was called ‘batching’ by the employees. On one occasion he discovered that one of the men was sneaking out at night and making moonshine whiskey on Will’s property. He did not care that the man was moonshining, but he sure did not want him doing it on his property. This person was ordered off the property and told to stay off.
A few days later this person, Clyde Wilburn, by name, was spotted by Will at a log cabin where some of the employees lived. He was riding a horse on the ridge from which he spotted Wilburn. The cabin was a two room house with connecting porches in front and rear and down one side of the building. There were three doors, one between the two rooms and one on the front side and another to the rear of the house. As Will approached the house. Wilburn went around to the back. Some of the men were sitting on the banister of the porch. Will asked them where Wilburn went. Some of the employees were related to Wilburn, and they told him that he had left. Will went around back and came through the house. As he entered the front room, Wilburn picked up a shotgun and emptied both barrels into Will’s stomach. The blast knocked will down and he was heard to say, ‘You damn coward.’ Wilburn threw down the shotgun and took off running to the east.
Some of the men took sheets from the beds and made a stretcher out of them. Will was placed on this and carried about four miles to the main house. Lee, Will’s eldest son, went on horseback to Wilkersons Store about seven miles away to the nearest telephone to call an ambulance. As Will was being carried to the house, a steady stream of blood came from the sheets. When the ambulance came, it was a T-model Ford. Will was placed inside and his wife, Samantha, went with him to lend any comfort to him that was possible.
The children and I was sent to a neighbor’s house to spend the night. The neighbor, Bill Potter, was at work in Maryville and would not be home until after midnight. We were sent to the upstairs to sleep but we were all awake at one o’clock in the morning. All of us heard him tell his wife that Will had died.
I was sent back to my father’s home in Maryville. Samantha had her hands full take care of her own, with six children of her own and pregnant with a yet unborn. My father [Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland] then told of Will’s death, looked off into space and said, ‘It’s a long road and it has no end.’ [My] father [Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland] died a month later.
They were trying Clyde Wilburn for murder. I took an old pistol that had belonged to Dad, went to the courthouse and waited for Clyde Wilburn to appear. The pistol was so large that I could not hide it. A deputy sheriff saw me with the pistol in my belt. He took it from me and I never saw that gun again. I was nine years old.”
Lona Mae Garland (1884-1964)
11 January 1894: Lona Mae Garland (Perkins) was baptized and confirmed by Thomas Watts Sloan
Elder Thomas Watts Sloan (1868-1918)
Thomas Watts Sloan served in the Southern States Mission from 1892 to 1895. In his mission acceptance letter to Wilford Woodruff, he wrote: “I beg to notify you of my acceptance of the same and a sincere desire to do my duty in this respect.” He married in the Manti Temple, on November 3rd, and left to serve, on December 2nd. His time in Blount County is well-documented in the transcribed mission journals of Elder William Hayes and Elder Robert Young. He became an esteemed business man working for the Heber J. Grant Company and eventually started the Sloan Corporation shortly before he died unexpectedly from pneumonia in 1918. He and his wife raised one son together in Utah. He baptized William Edward Garland, Louella Garland, and Lona Mae Garland, and confirmed the last named a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Lona Mae Garland was born in North Carolina and moved to Millers Cove, where she was baptized at age 10, one month after her father, Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland, mother, Sarah Margaret Cauble, and grandfather, Alexander Harrison Garland. Elder Robert Young documented her baptism in the following journal entry:
Thursday – 11 [January 1894] Millers Cove. We had a short meeting today. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan spoke first, then I added a few words. We then went down to the water’s edge and Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan baptized three of Bro[ther Joseph] J[ohn] C[alvin] Garland’s children, vix Lulu [Louella Garland], Laona [Lona Mae Garland], and William [Edward Silver Garland]. We then went back to the house and confirmed them. Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan was mouth for Laona [Lona Mae Garland] and I was for the other two [Louella Garland and William Edward Silver Garland]. Afterward I spoke some to the people on our belief. They popped some corn again. We went with Bro[ther Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland after dinner and looked over his farm. In the evening went and spent about two hours with a Mr. Gladden. They are interested and invited us back and stop with them. 4 [miles]
Lona Mae married John Lowery Perkins in Knoxville, in 1905. Together they had eight children, seven survived to adulthood.
In 1922, Elder Thomas Gibby was serving in Blount County and documented meeting Lona Garland in the following journal entry:
[Friday] – 9 June [1922] We left [the] Myers’ early Friday morning for Maryville. Jake Garland told us of a near way over the mountain. We took a wrong trail and got off into the woods, filling our legs with chiggers and ticks. It was some climb over the top, but a harder job to hold back going down on the other side. At about eleven o’clock we had made the hike over and we stopped at John [Lowery] Perkin’s for dinner. Sister [Lona Mae Garland] Perkins was Uncle Joe [John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s daughter. After dinner we left [the] Perkins for Maryville, tracting.
After Lona Garland’s brother, William Silver Edward Garland, was murdered in 1928, his son, Paul Ezekiel Garland, went to live with Lona and John. He wrote the following story about Lona and John:
“After the death of my father, I lived for some time with John and Lona. Because of the age difference they felt more like parents to me than sister and brother-in-law. John was a man who liked to laugh. You could not be in his company and not feel at home. He was zealous in his duties as a father and loved his family. Neither the children nore I could recall Lona or John speaking a cross word to each other. Earnest, or Ern as we called him, decided he was going to make some money. Unknown to his father, he pretended to be hunting on Chilhowee Mountain. Instead he had built and set up a ‘still’ to make moonshine whiskey. Soon he had enough stock on hand and needed to bring it out of the mountains to sell. He engaged his brother, Robert, myself, and a friend, Paul Maynard, to help carry his merchandise out of the mountains. He did not want his father to know of the operation. He cautioned us, especially me, not to let John know anything or to let him trick us into acknowledging our part in the operation. True to fatherly instincts, John became suspicious. He first came to me, acting as if Ern had told him everything. He asked me if I had any idea as to what would happen to me if the revenue officers had caught us. I looked him in the eye and lied like a trooper. John, I said, ‘we were in the flats of the mountain hunting.’ He said, ‘Paul, don’t lie to me. Ern has told me all about the trip.’ I saw through what he was attempting to do and would not admit to anything. About fifteen minutes later, Ern came up to me as angry as a wet setting hen. “I told you not to let Dad trick you into telling about last night. After I warned you, you let him get you to admit everything we did.” ‘Ern,’ I said, ‘you are the one he tricked. I didn’t tell him a thing.’
John was a good joke teller. I remember a joke he told my father when we were visiting a logging camp on Bays Mountain. He said he had a dog that was especially fond of by the name of Rusty. On this occasion Rusty had followed him to church and took his place by the pew where John sat. When the choir went into a song, Rusty joined in and hit a few high notes of his own. He continued even after the choir had ceased to sing, disturbing the preacher as he tried to deliver the message. The pastor eventually stepped down from the pulpit, took old Rusty by the collar and tossed him out the front door. When the services were over and the preacher was greeting the congregation in the vestibule, he offered an apology for tossing Rusty out. John replied rather indignat, ‘It didn’t make a bit of difference anyway, Preacher, Rusty wouldn’t have sat through that lousy sermon you preached anyway.’ It was a few years later that ‘ole Rusty passed over the great divide. John mentioned to the preacher that his dog had died and he wondered if he could get him to say a few words over him The preacher acted rather incensed and said that he wouldn’t be preaching over a dead dog. John replied that he and the wife had saved up for the occasion about two hundred and fifty dollars. He was going to allow fifty dollars for the casket and the pot, and the other two hundred was going to the one who said a few words over old Rusty. The preacher spoke up and said, ‘John, you didn’t tell me old Rusty was a Baptist.’”
When I was in Europe during World War II, [in] every mail delivery I had at least one letter from my sister Lona. If there was ever a couple made for each other, it had to be Lona and John.”
Lona Mae died in Maryville, in 1964, at the age of 79, and John died in 1963, also at the age of 79. They are buried in the Pecks Chapel Cemetery in Maryville.
John Pressley (JP) Garland (1890-1953)
18 December 1898: John Pressley (JP) Garland was baptized and confirmed by undetermined missionaries
John Pressley (JP) Garland moved with his family from North Carolina to Millers Cove when he was a toddler. The missionaries became acquainted with the Garland family and began a friendship with his father, JC Garland, and mother, Sarah Cauble. One month after the two were baptized, Elder Thomas Watts Sloan and Elder Robert Young returned to bless two of their children, JP and Robert Fillmore Garland. Elder Young documented the blessing in the following journal entry:
Thursday – 4 [January 1894] To Seaton. This being Fast Day we went without breakfast. We blessed John Pres[s]ley [(JP) Garland] and Robert Filmore [Garland], two of [Joseph] John Calvin [JC] Garland’s children. I acted as mouth to the first [John Pressley (JP) Garland] and Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan the latter [Robert Filmore Garland]. Had dinner, then started for Maryville. Stopped overnight with Uncle Billey. Aunt Nancy was sick with Lagrippe. We called on Mr. [illegible] He said he believes [illegible] 4 [miles]
JP Garland became blind at a young age and had to adapt to the difficulties of life without sight. He would eventually move to Nashville to attend school for the blind, where he met his wife, Sarah Dixon, and would live the remainder of his life. JP’s brother, Paul Ezekiel Garland, wrote this story of his brother and Sarah Dixon:
“Sarah Dixon was a teacher of Brail at the Tennessee School for the Blind. Her reputation in the profession was that she was the very best. John Pressley or J. P. as the folks in Nashville called him, was also a teacher at the school. He taught ‘Manual-arts’ at the school for thirty-four years. He was well known on the lecture circuit around Nashville. Despite his handicap he was a very successful man, owning many of the buildings in Nashville. He owned a dairy in Franklin and a factory in Memphis.
He eventually lost ‘light perception.’ He once told me this was the most difficult day of his life. I visited his home in Nashville many times. He loved for us to walk the streets of Nashville, as he told me the history of his city. My brothers were all good me, in a rough and rugged era, I always thought that ‘Press’ as I called him, would have been the best had he been a sighted man. He and Sarah had no children.”
JP Garland and Sarah Dixon married in 1920. John died in 1953, at the age of 62. Sarah died in 1961, at the age of 67. They are both buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville. His obituary published in Nashville identified him as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Lillie Hayes Garland (1897-1999)
11 August 1907: Lillie Hayes Garland (Butler) was baptized and confirmed by George Leonard Hobson
Elder George Leonard Hobson (1882-1957)
George Leonard Hobson served in the Southern States Mission from 1905 to 1907. In his mission acceptance letter to George Reynolds, he wrote: “I am willing to take the mission required of me and will be ready to go…” While serving in Tennessee, he published an article in the Deseret Evening News: “There is a great demand for Elders in the South, as in other parts, and work is fast bearing fruit. There is much religious confusion existing among the religious denominations of the state.” He married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1912. They raised seven children together in the mountains of Summit, Utah. Elder Hobson baptized Lillie Hayes Garland, Olive Retta Harmon, Milburn Asher Harris, and Champion Burke Harris, and confirmed the first and last named as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, all in Millers Cove, in 1907.
Lillie Hayes Garland was born in Millers Cove on the Garland Homestead. She was baptized at the age of 10. Lillie is mentioned in two missionary journals. Elder Isaac Morley first mentioned Lilly in the following journal entry when she was a teenager:
Tuesday – 30 May [1911] Helped Lillie [Hayes Garland] do washing and studied most of day.
Lillie married Isaac Edmondson Butler in 1916. They raised at least six children together in Maryville. Lillie learned to fish from her father, JC Garland, as he was known to stock the Little River and would often fish with the children and missionaries. This led to Lillie becoming and remaining an avid fisherman throughout her lifetime.
In 1922, Elder Thomas Gibby was serving in Blount County when he met Lillie Garland, who was married to Isaac Butler, documenting their meeting in the following journal entry:
[Tuesday] – 30 May [1922] The large part of the forenoon was spent in study and talking. A little before dinner, we went to a family of Buttlers (sic), the woman being a member, Brother Garland’s daughter, [Lillie Hayes Garland]. We had dinner with them. After dinner, we got into a little discussion with [Isaac Edmondson] Buttler (sic) and soon found that he was very bitter. He was very abusive of our Church and doctrines, especially polygamy. He sure got his “Irish” up. We left [the] Buttlers’ (sic) at three o’clock for Millers Cove. Had a nice little hike up a creed bed. Got on the wrong trail once and had to retrace our tracks for about a mile. It was quite difficult for us to find a place to stay, and it was nearly dark before we got into the cove…
Lillie’s brother, Paul Ezekiel Garland, wrote the following about his sister, in 1994: “Edmondson and Lille ran a grist mill on Butler Mill Road for years, grinding meal and flour for their neighbors. It was water powered with a sluce of water that ran through a millrace from a large dam that was built by the mill. Edmondson was a good miller and was patronized by farmers from all over the county.
“Lillie and I are the only remaining members of our large family. She is ninety-seven years old and her mind is as sharp as any youngster. She can remember the names and birth dates of her many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. She is an ardent Christian and attended her church regularly until a recent fall has put her to using a walker. For several years she has been the eldest member attending the Garland Family Research Association’s reunions.”
Lillie died in 1999, at the age of 101. She is buried in the Carpenters Campground Cemetery in Maryville.
Robert Filmore Garland (1893-1925)
23 March 1902: Robert Filmore Garland was baptized by Othello Roundy and confirmed by Melvin Howard Randall
Elder Othello Roundy (1875-1957)
Othello Roundy served in the Southern States Mission from 1902 to 1904. In his mission acceptance letter to George Reynolds, he wrote: “I received your letter last knight (sic) and in reply will say I am ready and willing at any date to fill a mission.” Elder Abinadi Porter documented his labors in Blount County with Elder Othello Roundy in his transcribed mission journal. He was one of 13 children in his family. He married in the Logan Temple, at the age of 37. They raised one daughter together. He spent his career working for the United States Postal Service. Elder Roundy baptized George Woody, Robert Filmore Garland, Joseph Franklin Harmon and Laura Bell Harmon, and confirmed the first named and William Council Harmon as member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Millers Cove, in 1902.
Elder Melvin Howard Randall (1879-1945)
Melvin Howard Randall served in the Southern States Mission and Middle States Mission from 1900 to 1902. He married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1909. He and his wife had seven daughters. He served many years as Stake President of the Morgan Utah Stake. Elder Randall explained the death of one of the first baptized members in Blount County, Alexander Garland, in his missing mission journal that was recounted in his biography, which portion is now available on Family Search. Elder Randall is mentioned in the mission journal of Elder Abinadi Porter. Elder Randall baptized Jobe Abraham Harmon and confirmed Laura Bell Harmon, William Council Harmon, Robert Filmore Garland, and the first named as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Millers Cove, in 1902.
Robert Filmore Garland was almost a year old when his parents and grandfather were baptized the end of November 1893. The missionaries returned to give further instructions in January 1894 and blessed the two youngest children, JP and Robert. Elder Robert Young document his baby blessing in his journal.
Thursday – 4 [January 1894] To Seaton. This being Fast Day we went without breakfast. We blessed John Pres[s]ley [(JP) Garland] and Robert Filmore [Garland], two of [Joseph] John Calvin [JC] Garland’s children. I acted as mouth to the first [John Pressley (JP) Garland] and Elder [Thomas Watts] Sloan the latter [Robert Filmore Garland]. Had dinner, then started for Maryville. Stopped overnight with Uncle Billey. Aunt Nancy was sick with Lagrippe. We called on Mr. [illegible] He said he believes [illegible] 4 [miles]
Robert’s brother, Paul Ezekiel Garland, wrote the following about his brother: “Robert was an electrical engineer. He was away working on a power project in Idaho when World War I came to America. He wrote his father and his brothers and sisters that he was volunteering for service. He went to Europe in the infantry. He was almost cut in two by machine gun fire in the breaking of the ‘Hindenburg Line.’ He returned home and seemed to be on his way to full recovery.
He gave me a handful of old coins before he moved with his family back to Black Mountain, N.C. One of my first memories is riding in his sports car, which was built in the shape of a racer. Life in East Tennessee was very difficult in those days. Children were taught to defend themselves. Unlike today when guns are everywhere. Men would stand toe to toe and battle each other with their fists. Robert’s reputation as a fighter grew until all of Blount County knew he was not to be trifled with.
Soon his health turned for the worst. His old wounds began giving him trouble. He moved with his family to Black Mountain so he could be near the Veterans Hospital at Oteen, NC. He did not last long, dying three days after we had visited him. We had just gotten home when the news came, forcing us to return back across the mountains for his funeral, we traveled in a T-model Ford.”
Robert married Abby Garland, in 1921, soon after returning from Europe during WWI. They had two children together. Robert died, in 1925, four years after his wedding, at the age of 32. He is buried in the Homers Chapel Cemetery in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Paul Ezekiel Garland (1919-1999)
1 November 1927: Paul Ezekiel Garland was baptized by Albert Grant Street and confirmed by Charles A. Callis
Elder Albert Grant Street (1903-1988)
Albert Grant Street served in the Southern States Mission from 1927 to an unknown date. He worked in the office in Chattanooga. On November 1, 1927, he traveled to Millers Cove with the mission president, Charles A. Callis, to baptize JC Garland’s youngest son, Paul Ezekiel Garland, who referred to President Callis and JC Garland as “dear friends.”
President Charles A. Callis (1865-1947)
Charles A. Callis served in the British Mission from 1893 to 1895. In 1875, he emigrated from Dublin, Ireland to Coalville, Utah, where he worked long days in the coal mines to support his family. He introduced the missionaries to his family when he was eight years old in Ireland. They found him wandering outside after dark and walked him home. All members of his family were baptized shortly thereafter. He began studying law when he was called to serve in the Southern States Mission from 1906 to 1908. In 1902, he married Grace Pack – in the Salt Lake Temple – who also served a proselyting mission in the Southern States from 1906 to 1908. In 1908, Elder Callis was called to serve as President of the Southern States Mission, serving from 1908 to 1934, during which time he was admitted to the Florida bar to defend legal cases against the missionaries. He obtained a reputation as a powerful defender of the faith and disciplined leader. After Elder James E. Talmage passed away, President Callis was called to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Charles and Grace raised eight children together while serving in the Southern States Mission. In 1947, Elder Callis attended the meeting to organize the first stake in the Southern States Mission. He called this moment the “crowning achievement” of his life. He died the next day at the age of 81. President Callis told his story of the “dirty little Irish kid” which was retold by James E. Talmage in his General Conference talk titled “Them That Honour Me I Will Honour.” In 1917, he officiated the wedding for his “dear friend,” JC Garland and Hattie Gentry – who are from Millers Cove. In 1927, Elder Callis traveled from Chattanooga to Millers Cove to confirm JC’s son, Paul Ezekiel Garland, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Paul Ezekiel Garland was confirmed by the president of the Southern States Mission, Charles A. Callis, who would later become a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Charles A. Callis was a personal friend of Paul’s father, JC Garland, who had spent almost three decades by this time working closely with the missionaries and mission presidents assisting the work of the Lord.
Elder Thomas Gibby was serving in Blount County in 1922. He documented an entry mentioning Paul by name:
[Sunday] – 28 May [1922] Sunday forenoon was spent at [Joseph John Calvin (JC)] Garland’s in reading and trying to catch up with lost sleep. It was hard to rest with “Aunt Hattie” [Jane Gentry] calling Paul [Ezekiel Garland] every few moments. In the afternoon we walked through town to Sister [Martha Lane] Russell’s. It was good to find a clean place once again. Had a pleasant visit and they gave us a good clean meal. We sat up quite late talking and then returned to a clean bed. Sure had a night’s sleep.
Paul was attending college when WWII began. He left school, never to return, and enlisted in the US Army during WWII, serving in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, and Germany. He was at the Elba River when the American and Russian armies met. He remained in Germany after the war to work in the Office of Military Government as director of Special Servicees in Berlin. In 1947, he returned to the states.
In 1949, he married Edna Lamb, with whom he raised at least three sons. He started his own trucking company that he operated for many years in Melvindale, Michigan before becoming a professional numismatic. He opened a rare coin business, authoring “The History of Tennessee Banks and Their Issues,” which is still available for purchase and used today for determining values of rare coins and bills from Tennessee. In 1992, he was awarded the “Medal of Merit” by the American Numismatic Association at its annual convention. In 1981, he retired and moved to Texas to be closer to his children and grandchildren, and later returned to Tennessee. He was a a member of the Garland Family Research Association throughout his life and authored two volumes titled “The History of the Garland Family in America,” from which details of the lives of the Garlands and, particularly, his immediate family have been preserved and used for his family members in the story of The Smoky Mountain States.
Paul Garland died in 1999, at the age of 80, and is buried in the Grandview Cemetery in Maryville. Edna Lamb died in 2017, at the age of 90, and is also buried in Grandview Cemetery.
Lona Parham (1909-1999)
10 August 1917: Lona Parham (Borden) was baptized by Thomas Charles Sutton and confirmed by Loren Joseph Blain
Elder Thomas Charles Sutton (1896-1954)
Thomas Charles Sutton served in the Southern States Mission from 1917 to 1919. In his mission acceptance letter to Joseph F. Smith, he wrote: “I have always had a feeling that I would someday be called upon to go out in this great world and preach the true word of God to the people.” He married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1920. They raised four children together in California and Utah. In Millers Cove, in 1917, Elder Sutton baptized Hattie Jane Gentry, Lona Parham, and Lewis Calvin Parham, and confirmed the last named a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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.
Lona Parham was raised in Millers Cove and baptized the same day as her brother, Lewis Calvin Parham. In 1938, she married Charles Borden. They had two children together, Carolyn and Gene, who is a veteran of the Vietnam War. Lona died in 1999, at the age of 90 and is buried in Millers Cove Cemetery. Charles died in 1990, at the age of 79, and is also buried in Millers Cove Cemetery.
Lewis Calvin Parham (1907-1987)
10 August 1917: Lewis Calvin Parham was baptized by Thomas Charles Sutton and confirmed by Loren Joseph Blain
Elder Thomas Charles Sutton (1896-1954)
Thomas Charles Sutton served in the Southern States Mission from 1917 to 1919. In his mission acceptance letter to Joseph F. Smith, he wrote: “I have always had a feeling that I would someday be called upon to go out in this great world and preach the true word of God to the people.” He married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1920. They raised four children together in California and Utah. In Millers Cove, in 1917, Elder Sutton baptized Hattie Jane Gentry, Lona Parham, and Lewis Calvin Parham, and confirmed the last named a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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.
Lewis Calvin Parham was raised in Millers Cove and baptized the same day as his sister, Lona Parham. He was less fortunate with love and married five times. He had one daughter, Kathy Parham. In 1987, he died and is buried in Laws Chapel Cemetery in Walland.
| 1st Generation Member: |
| Alexander Harrison Garland |
| 2nd Generation Members: |
| Joseph John Calvin (JC) Garland |
| Sarah Margaret Cauble (Garland) |
| Hattie Jane Gentry (Garland) |
| 3rd Generation Members: |
| Louella Garland |
| Toliver Andrew Parham |
| William Edward Silver Garland |
| Lona Mae Garland |
| John Pressley (JP) Garland |
| Lilly Hayes Garland |
| Robert Filmore Garland |
| Paul Ezekiel Garland |
| 4th Generation Members: |
| Lewis Calvin Parham |
| Lona Parham |
Smoky Mountain Ward 