Overcoming Misunderstanding

A recent study by Gallup (see Frank Newport, "Mississippi Is Most Religious U.S. State," 27 March 2012) shows that eight southeastern states and Utah are among the most religious in the United States. The authors of American Grace found much the same thing: Utah, the Deep South, and the Mississippi Valley are the most religious areas of the country (see Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Page 27). Both Utah and the South tend to be conservative politically, and both side with conservatism in the "culture wars." Unfortunately, people in Utah (and the Mormon corridor) and the South have often come in conflict with one another. Evangelical Christians (for the most part) reject the claim of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be Christian. Many Latter-day Saints in turn have made little effort to understand Evangelicals and the importance that their religion has had in the shaping of their lives.

It is unlikely that Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints will agree on doctrinal issues any time soon. This blog is not to argue points of theology in the Bible or other scriptures, nor should any comments be about arguing religion. Rather, this blog seeks to increase understanding of the history of Latter-day Saints, specifically in the South, and how southern history fits into the equation. What Utahns and Latter-day Saints need to understand is the history of the South and how Evangelical Protestantism has been a major force in the lives of southerners. Utahns need to treat the history of southerners (black and white) with the same respect they would accord their own ancestors. On the flip side, southerners need to understand that Latter-day Saints have been among them for many years, and up to the 1950s most Latter-day Saints in the South were native southerners, their own kin. Southerners should also understand that the Mormon West is very much a kindred area with its own history of troubles with the Federal Government, a tradition of hospitality, and its own sense of religion within the community.

Both the Bible Belt and the Book of Mormon Belt have much to learn from the history of each other. Hopefully this blog will be a way to overcome misunderstanding between these two areas, and anyone else who seeks to know more about these two areas.

The Namesake Chapel

Here is what remains of the old Cumorah Chapel. First built in 1907, it was used by the Douglas Latter-day Saints up until 1961 when the current chapel was built. It received some renovation in 1935 to add space for a stage and classrooms. It currently sits on the property of Orson Adams, a small distance from its original location.

Its original location was adjacent to the Cumorah Cemetery, located on Cumorah Cemetery Road, about five miles south of the Coffee County Courthouse in Douglas. The Cumorah Cemetery is one of a handful of cemeteries specifically set apart for Latter-day Saint burials.

Frances Vickers Wilkes's article, "Coffee County's Cumorah Chapel," Douglas Enterprise, 13 September 1989, gives an excellent overview of the history of the chapel.

A Foundation

Within the last several months I've come to appreciate the usefulness and importance of blogs in our current society. Having been inspired by several blogs concerning history, I've decided to try my hand at it also. Since this is my first time, be aware that the posts may lack the brilliance that many others have, but allow me time to learn and grow. We all have to start somewhere.

This will be a blog focused on the Latter-day Saints and Southern History. There will be posts in which the two meet, and other posts which will be devoted to the two exclusively. There are also other blogs that touch these topics, and I'll have links to them in short order. This blog will tend to focus on Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, three of the Deep South states.

The name of this blog refers to one of the early Latter-day Saint congregations in Georgia, located near present-day Douglas. Missionaries first arrived there in the last years of the 1890s and by 1907, a church called "Cumorah" was built and provided a place for services for over fifty years. The "junction" part recognizes that railroad development in the South was an important factor in the spread of Mormonism throughout the South, just as it transformed southern society in many other ways.

So, there you have it. Hopefully this blog will aid you in exploring the history of the Latter-day Saints in the southern United States.