Joseph Standing


Joseph Standing was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was killed by a mob near the town of Varnell, Whitfield County, Georgia, in 1879.

Family

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, and a resident of Box Elder County, Utah, Standing was born to British immigrants James and Mary Standing. He was one of ten children. His father was a stonemason who worked on the Nauvoo and Logan Temples. Prior to his missionary service, Joseph Standing was a fireman with the Wasatch Engine Company. He was not married and had no children.

Missions

Standing's first mission call, in 1875, was to the Eastern United States, where he primarily served in Illinois and Indiana. In March 1878, he was again called to missionary service, this time to the church's Southern States Mission, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. During an August mission conference in Haywood Valley, Chattooga County, Georgia, Standing, along with fellow missionary Matthias F. Cowley, were sustained as the 'traveling Elders' of the Southern States Mission.
By April 1879, Standing was the presiding Elder of the Georgia Conference, responsible for overseeing all church affairs in the state. That same month, at a general conference of the church in Salt Lake City, 22-year-old Rudger Clawson was called with seven other men to serve in the Southern States Mission. Clawson was assigned by mission president John Hamilton Morgan to be Standing's companion.
Clawson may have been aware of the church's situation in Georgia prior to his arrival. By at least 1876, Standing's letters were periodically published in the Deseret Evening News. One published on April 30, 1878, provides insight into his experiences in the post-Reconstruction South;
Local opposition to Mormonism increased as Standing and other elders increasingly gained converts in rural areas in North Georgia. Mormon missionaries were seen by some as spiritual carpetbaggers, deceivers who preyed on the poor and uneducated. The majority of those who were baptized into the faith followed the church's council to "gather with the Saints" and left their homes for Mormon settlements in Utah and Colorado.
Joseph Brown, former Georgia Governor and future U.S. Senator, told the New York Herald;
As the threat of violence toward Mormons increased, Standing sent a letter to Georgia Governor Alfred H. Colquitt on June 12, 1879, briefly outlining the activities of armed mobs in Whitfield County and requesting assistance.
Through his secretary J. W. Warren, Governor Colquitt replied;

Mobbing and death

On July 21, 1879, Standing and Clawson were leaving Varnell for Rome, Georgia when they were accosted by an armed mob of a dozen men. Most were on foot; at least three were on horseback. When Standing asked by what authority they were stopped on a public road, one member of the mob reportedly told them;
The mob led them into woods and stopped at a spring. It does not appear that it was the intention of all in the mob to kill them. James Faucett told them; "I want you men to understand that I am the captain of this party, and that if we ever again find you in this part of the country we will hang you by the neck like dogs." According to Clawson, after an hour of "desultory conversation… of which the vilest accusations were laid against the "Mormons," the beastly talk of the mobbers," three men who had left on horseback returned and directed Standing and Clawson to go with them.
Although it is not clear where they intended to take them, all accounts agree that Standing resisted by turning towards the mob and in a loud voice commanded them to "Surrender." When he made this declaration he was holding a pistol a member of the mob had left unguarded on a nearby tree stump. In response, Standing was immediately shot in forehead "directly above the nose". Another member of the mob then pointed to Clawson and said "Shoot that man." Clawson folded his arms and said "Shoot." Although he appeared calm and maintained composure, he nearly passed out in the anxiety of the moment. For reasons unknown, the same man who moments ago told the mob to shoot Clawson now said "Don't shoot." As Clawson examined Standing, one man said; "This is terrible; that he should have killed himself in such a manner," claiming that Standing accidentally shot himself "while bringing his weapon into position."
Clawson convinced the group that he should leave for help to remove Standing's body. He contacted Henry Holston, two miles away, and Holston agreed to go to the site of the incident and look after Standing's body while Clawson rode a horse to Catoosa Springs to contact the coroner. Before returning with the coroner, Clawson sent the following telegram to Governor Colquitt in Atlanta; "Joseph Standing was shot and killed to-day, near Varnell's, by a mob of ten or twelve men." He sent the same message to John Hamilton Morgan in Salt Lake City with the additional line; "Will leave for home with the body at once, Notify his family."
When they reached the spring, the mob had dispersed and a crowd of spectators were gathered around Standing's body. The body now had more than 20 bullet wounds in the face and neck. It is believed this was done by the mob to protect the original shooter from conviction by having each man participate in the crime. Following the shooting the Atlanta Constitution called Standing "fat and beardless, and with not a very bright look, judging from his picture" and reported that those in the community became "alarmed for fear some member of their family might fall a victim to the seductive arguments and pleadings of the young Mormon… services were regularly attended by those who every week became more and more inoculated with the pernicious creed." In spite of this perception Clawson told a reporter he believed the actions of the mob were not in harmony with the sentiments of the general population.

Funeral

Clawson accompanied Standing's body back to Utah by train and funeral services were held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Sunday, August 3, 1879. Speakers included John Taylor and George Q. Cannon. Approximately 10,000 attended the service.
Transcripts of Taylor and Cannon's remarks were published in the Deseret News and later in the multi-volume Journal of Discourses. Standing was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Trial

On August 1, 1879, eleven days after the shooting, Governor Colquitt offered a $500.00 reward for "the capture of the murders of the Mormon elder" accompanying the thirteen warrants for arrest issued by the local Sheriff. Andrew Bradley, Jasper P. Nations, and Hugh Blair were indicted by a grand jury for first degree murder and riot.
Accompanied by John Morgan, Clawson returned to Dalton, Georgia for the trial in October. Henry Holston, Mary Hamlin, and Jonathan Owensby testified in behalf of the prosecution. The latter two interacted with the mob while Standing and Clawson were in the mob's custody prior to the shooting. Numerous witnesses testified for the defense, and it was widely understood that most of them were lying. On October 19, three days after the trial began, the accused were acquitted of murder. On October 29 the Deseret News reported that the accused had also been acquitted of "riot."
The Atlanta Constitution reported that seven of the twelve men were Christians and at least one a member in good standing in a local church. John Morgan wrote to the paper; "If these men are Christians; if they and their advisers and abettors are to be admitted into the city that "lieth four square," we beg the privilege of locating in the other place, as we think it much preferable." The paper replied;

Standing's legacy

The story of Standing's murder lived on in the life of Rudger Clawson. In 1898, Clawson was appointed to the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second highest ecclesiastical body in the church, a position he held until his death in 1943. Clawson's high profile life in Utah, and among Mormons generally, gave opportunity for commentators to look to the events in his life that may have shaped his faith in a God and his commitment to the church. He was regularly asked to tell the story of Standing's death, and references were made to the event by church leaders in conferences of the church for decades. The story of Rudger Clawson can not be separated from the story of Standing.
In 1880, the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of Salt Lake City placed a monument of Italian marble over Standing's grave in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. By the 1980s, the obelisk had cracked in half and rested beside the grave. It was replaced in 2001 with a new marker, a replica of the original, including iron fencing around the base. The text on the south side of the monument was written by Orson F. Whitney.

Joseph Standing monument

On May 3, 1952 church president David O. McKay dedicated a monument at the site of Standing's murder in Whitfield County, Georgia. The lot was donated to the church by W. C. Puryear and the road leading to the monument was named Standing Road. The property is maintained by the church and open to the public.
One of the dormitories at the church's Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, is named in honor of Joseph Standing.
In May 1978, a Latter-day Saint congregation was organized in Dalton, Georgia, south of Varnell.