Henry Columbus McDaniel

Martha Elizabeth Stover Shupe recalls, “When I was three years old [1878], my parents [Cornelius Jasper Stover and Palestine Palmina McDaniel], met their first Mormon Missionary. It was Elder John Morgan, and he came to my grandparents [Henry Columbus McDaniel and Lucy McDaniel] home on a mule and arranged to hold a meeting there. My mother said that she would go to the meeting since it was at her father’s house, but that she wouldn’t shake hands with him [the missionary] or believe a word that he read from his old Mormon Bible. But when she saw him he seemed to be such a nice young man that before she knew it she shook his hand and when he asked for her father’s old Bible and read from it, as he spoke, she was very impressed. By the time other missionaries came, both my parents were ready to join the church. They were baptized by Joseph Standing and Rudger Clawson. Three weeks after my mother’s baptism [baptized on May 4, 1879], a baby boy was born to her, which they named Joseph Rudger. Mother wove the cloth and made the trousers that Elder Standing had on when he was killed by the mob and my father helped Elder Clawson gather up their things and get Elder Standing’s body ready to ship. In November 1879, my parents and their family, which consisted of Jacob Henry, Lidia Belinda, Martha Elizabeth, James Cephas Jackson, and Joseph Rudger, left our home in Georgia and emigrated to Manassa, Colorado. The last night before leaving Georgia, the family spent the night with my Grandpa and Grandma Stover. They were somewhat prejudiced against Mormonism, especially Grandma Stover. However, Grandpa asked my father to lead in prayer that evening, but his mother wouldn’t kneel with the family. I can remember when we left that she gave me her black bonnet to wear in the wagon to where we took the train in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I also remember hearing her say as we left, “Poor Jap, poor Jap, I’ll never see you again.” And she never did. Later in the year we arrived in Colorado, getting off the train in La Jara. Just after we got off the train my mother stepped upon a little high spot where the snow had melted off the ground and sang, “Think Not When You Gather to Zion Your Troubles and Trials are Over.” My Grandpa and Grandma Henry McDaniel lived in Manassa, Colorado where we spent a few days until we could get settled in a home of our own. My Grandmother, Lucy McDaniel, had been baptized and had emigrated awhile before. Mother had to get wool from the Mexicans and card, spin and knit socks to sell to help Pap with making a living for the family. Sometimes she even cut wool from old sheepskins. The family all worked hard as times were hard and it took a lot to provide for the family to which another little boy, William Pinkney, had been added in March 1882.”