In 1839, missionaries were sent to NE Mississippi and NW Alabama. They had quite a bit of success. Behind the monument is a spring that flows down from the hill. They dammed it up and created a pool where they could baptize. Soon, there were more than 200 converts, and a branch (small congregation) was started. This is about 11 miles north of present-day Caledonia, MS, on Wolfe Road, very close to the AL border (N33d 49' 35", W88d,17' 44')
In 1846, they were advised to emigrate to Utah, so most of them sold their farms, packed up and left. They were on a NW track to the Salt Lake valley at the same time that Brigham Young and the first group of saints were headed west to the same destination from Winter Quarters, NE. The Mississippi saints actually made it into the Salt Lake valley on July 22, 1847, two days before Brigham Young!! They actually had crops already planted, including turnips.
My ancestry includes pioneers from this group, who were the Bankheads and the Crosbys. So now 173 years later, I'm back in the same place those early missionaries went to, trying to do the same thing. Only now, the members stay where they're from and build up the church where they live - no need to gather to Salt Lake (we've got too many people there already).
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