Truth Over Rumor

When Margaret Eliza Taylor and Alexander Shoemaker first came to Missouri, they were not members of the church. In fact, Margaret seems to have been convinced the rumors that circulated concerning the Mormons were true. Margaret and Alexander's daughter, Margaret Shoemaker Clement, later said:

"I remember very well of hearing my parent relate the incident that brought them into the church. They were living in Missouri at the time the Saints were being mobbed and being driven from their homes, but they were known only as "desperadoes" and nearly every one joined to fight and exterminate them. A cold rainy period was on, and it had been raining for several days, when a "hello" was heard at the door. My father opened it. He was told that a whole company was coming and wanted shelter. He answered the inquiry with a strong "I will furnish shelter and protections." As the messenger turned and was gone, my mother objected to having a house full of "desperadoes" and said she could not live with them. He met her strong opposition by telling her she could stay upstairs. In spite of the fear she had for them, a large company of them came and they were made very welcome.

"My father and mother knowing the truth when they heard it was baptized six months later and my father proved a very able man to save the Saints from falling into traps the mobs or neighbors would set for them."[1]

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1 Margaret Eliza (Shoemaker) Clement, life history dictated to Belva Watson, sometime between 1920 and 1929; typescript privately held by Alta Clement Willis, her granddaughter, 2011.