About Lewis County's Mormon Massacre

Tensions had been brewing for quite some time between the locals and the Mormon missionaries since their arrival in 1878. Mormon elders had passed through the area years prior to settling in Cane Creek, and not long after they settled rumors started.

"After consulting many sources, this writer feels satisfied that the following information elicits the main reasons for the intensified antagonism felt toward the Mormons.. The belief that Mormon elders had entered the head waters of Cane Creek for the sole purpose of propagating the doctrine of polygamy to the innocent young southern belles of this area," wrote Cindy Graves in an article titled, 'Mormon Massacre' was in Cane Creek, Lewis County.

The tension came to a head on a Sunday and started with David Hinson, a local Methodist preacher. According to the article, Hinson stated "some of the good men of the community banded together in order to give the elders a 'sound thrashing'" to get them out of town. The "sound thrashing" turned out to be what we now know as the Mormon Massacre.

On August 10, 1884, Hinson and a group of unknown men, in an unknown number, were reported to have dressed in disguise and set off for a cabin on Cane Creek. The cabin belonged to the Condor family who had loaned their house for a Sunday sermon with Mormon elders John H. Gibbs, William S. Berry and Henry Thompson.

The armed mob first came upon elder William H. Jones who was making his way to the sermon. Jones was questioned and left with a member of the mob, who was later identified as Rube Mathis, who had orders to shoot Jones if he tried to escape.

[The following events of what happened at the Condor household are recounted in some sources, but not all, with no sources named as to where the information came from. So the reliability of the information is unclear.]

The mob then made their way to Condor's home. When they arrived, the mob found members of the congregation waiting for services to start outside the home. One of these men was Jim Condor who was quickly captured by the mob and held back. Condor yelled to his two sons, James Hudson and Martin Condor, to get their guns and resist the attack.

It is said that James had to run up to the loft of the house to fetch his gun, and Martin's gun was laying in the antlers of a mounted deer. When Martin made it inside, Hinson, leader of the mob, was getting the gun down, and a scuffle for the gun ensued.

During the struggle, one mob member fatally shot Martin then turned the gun onto elder Gibbs who was also shot and killed. In the meantime, another mob member pointed their gun at elder Thompson, ready to take aim when elder Berry attempted to stop him, enabling Thompson to escape and run into the woods. Shortly after saving his friend, Berry was shot multiple times.

The assailants made their way out of the house when James came down with his gun in hand, shot and killed David Hinson. The mob was then reported to yell out in revenge for their fallen leader, and began aimlessly firing into the house. James was fatally shot and his mother was shot in the hip [some sources say leg], crippling her for life.

While the shooting took place, Mathis and elder Jones listened while in the woods. Mathis then let Jones go and both men fled the scene.

Elder Jones and Thompson then ran towards Hickman County where they united in Shady Grove two days later and boarded a train for Salt Lake City, Utah, never to return to Lewis County.

The tragic event left five dead, the Condor brothers, the two Mormon elders and David Hinson. An investigation into the massacre followed but no suspects were ever arrested and no one was ever charged. As one source said, "the authorities concluded, 'death was at the hands of unknown parties.'"

James and his brother Martin were buried on the property, and Jim and his wife moved out of town. The coroner ordered the two elders be buried on a knoll overlooking Cane Creek, just below the Condor residence.

A nearby missionary heard where the bodies had been buried and contacted Tennessee's governor, asking for protection while he retrieved the bodies of the two elders. The governor denied his request, telling him to trust the local authorities. Knowing better than to come to Lewis County alone, the man disguised himself and contacted locals he could trust to help him retrieve the bodies and ship them back to Utah where they could be given a heroes' burial.

Attitudes toward the massacre seemed to be less than empathetic as it was reported in the Hickman County newspaper during the same year that "converts prior to the tragedy have renounced the faith of the Latter-Day Saints. Not only are they moved to this from fear of violence, but we are told they never saw Mormonism in its enormity before they first looked upon it as one of the many branches of the Church of God (or the true branch), but since they have learned that was a mere cloak that could be used to commit unmentionable crimes under the garb of religion.. and while there are doubtless many good and true people in that organization, the tendency of its teachings [leans] toward evil instead of good," in an article titled, All Quiet in Lewis.

Many years later, the Tennessee Historical Commission placed a historical marker commemorating the Mormon Massacre.

You would think the story ended there, with the bittersweet marker remembering the tragic events that took place that day. However, the Mormon Massacre may still be a source of controversy as the sign was stolen and remained missing for months.

Three years ago the sign was located by the local, hardworking TDOT employees. Where they found it is even more maddening than the sign being stolen. It was found in the Buffalo River at Texas Bottom. Employees waded into the water to retrieve the historical marker, and contacted Charles and Joan Talley [the current owners of the property where the event took place]. The Talleys gladly thanked the employees and held onto the sign as they tried to figure out how they could fix it.

Luckily, Lewis County has progressed since 1884 and volunteers around the community made it possible for the sign to be mounted once again. TCAT Hohenwald's welding and machine tool classes, with Jeff Tatum and Kevin Hinson, made and attached a bracket for the sign. Kevin King then donated the steel post that can be seen supporting the sign today.