Descriptive Summary
MSS 3176
John Taylor Woodbury Jr. Correspondence, Turkish
Mission,
1905–1909
Woodbury, John Taylor Jr.
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
1 box (0.5 linear ft.)
John Taylor Woodbury Jr.
(1884–1936) was born in St. George, Utah to John Taylor Woodbury Sr.
(1863–1936) and Mary Elizabeth Evans Taylor (1862–1954). He served a four-year
mission for the LDS Church in Turkey, from 1905 to 1909. In 1909, while still
in Turkey, he married an Armenian/Turkish woman by the name of Mimzar Gagosian
(1890–1933). Woodbury taught at Dixie College in St. George for twenty-five
years, where he served as head of the department of religion and education. He
also served two terms as St. George’s mayor.
This collection consists of letters that
John Taylor Woodbury Jr. wrote to his family while serving an LDS mission to
Turkey from 1905 to 1909. It also contains pictures of Woodbury, some of the
LDS missionaries and the mission president, and the LDS Branch in Zara.
Provenance
These letters were originally gathered by Ann Woodbury Hafen. Ann gave
them to the mother of Jeanette C. Rawlings, who donated them to the Harold B.
Lee Library in April 2005.
Access
There are no access restrictions to John Taylor Woodbury Jr
Correspondence, Turkish Mission, 1905–1909.
Conditions of Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary
copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from John Taylor Woodbury Jr.
Correspondence, Turkish Mission 1905–1909 must be obtained from the Supervisor
of Reference Services and/or the Special Collections Board of Curators.
Preferred Citation
Initial Citation: MSS 3176; John Taylor
Woodbury Jr. Correspondence, Turkish Mission 1905–1909; Western and Mormon
Americana; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham
Young University.
Following Citations:MSS 3176, LTPSC.
Biographical History
John Taylor Woodbury Jr. was born 16 August 1884 to John Taylor
Woodbury Sr. (1863–1936) and Mary Elizabeth Evans Taylor (1862–1954) in St.
George. He served a four-year mission for the LDS Church in Turkey, from 1905
to 1909. In 1909 he married a Turkish woman by the name of Mimzar Gagosian
(1890–1933).* He graduated from Dixie College in 1913 and from Brigham Young
University in 1916. He later taught at Dixie College and was head of the
department of religion for many years. He also headed the education department.
He was mayor of St. George for two terms. After his first wife’s death he
married Grace Mills in 1933. He died on 19 December 1936.
*Although John spells her name “Mimzar” in his letters, other sources
list her as “Nimzar.”
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of this collection consists of the letters John Taylor
Woodbury Jr. sent to members of his family during the time he was serving as a
missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Turkey, from
1905 to 1909. The letters document his journey to Constantinople, then his
assignments in Aintab, Aleppo, Marash, Sivas, Zara, and Athens, Greece as he
was preparing to return home. The letters report his missionary work, his
learning the language, his translating the Book of Mormon into the Turkish
language, his responses to anti-Mormonism, and his eventual marriage on 12
September 1909 to Mimzar Gagosian (1890–1933), an Armenian convert to the
Church whom he met in Zara. She returned to Utah with him and from their
marriage came seventeen sons and daughters.
Occasionally Woodbury’s letters speak of massacres in Turkey, local
government concerns, and treatment of Christians by the Turkish authorities.
Notes on Arrangement
This collection has been organized chronologically into thirteen
folders, with the first eleven folders representing a town/area that John T.
Woodbury served in. The twelfth folder contains post-mission correspondence
dating from 1910 to 1933 as well as a copy of his obituary published in the
Washington Co. [Utah] News.
The thirteenth folder contains copies of four photographs. The first
was attached to the 31 May 1909 set of letters and is a photograph of his
future wife, Mimzar Gagosian. The original photograph has been transferred to
photoarchives and is housed in the fourteenth folder of the collection, but a
photocopy remains in the collection in the thirteenth folder. The last three
photographs in folder thirteen are all high resolution digital copies of
photographs. The first of these is a photograph of Woodbury; the second is of
Woodbury, some companions, and the Mission President of the Turkish Mission;
and the third is of the LDS Branch in Zara.
Other BYU Holdings Relating to the Turkish Mission
1. Diaries and poems of Joseph Wilford Booth, 1885–1916 (MSS 155)
2. The Ferdinand Hintze Collection, 1877–1993 (MSS 2262)
Subject Tracings
Places
Zara (Turkey)
Genre/Form
Letters
Photographs
Subject
Mormon Church--Missions--Turkey
Mormon Church--Missions--Armenia
Container List
Correspondence Traveling from Salt Lake City to Constantinople,
Turkey, May 1905 to June 1905
Correspondence Traveling from Salt Lake City to
Constantinople, Turkey,
17 May 1905
to 18 June 1905
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
1
1
17 May [1905]—Postcard to his parents—1
p.—Salt Lake City, Utah
1
1
2
19 May [1905]—Postcard to his parents—1
p.—Machias, Colorado
1
1
3
22 May ‘05—Postcard to his parents—1 p.—by
train between Niagara Falls and Buffalo, New York.
1
1
4
25 May ‘05—Letter with envelope to his
parents—3 p.—Boston, [Massachusetts]
1
1
5
31 May/2 June 1905—Letter with envelope to
his parents—4 p.—On the ocean
1
1
6
6 June 1903 [sic]—Letter with envelope to
his parents—2 p.—Liverpool, England—Includes a receipt for an international
money order for $50.00 from St. George, Utah
1
1
7
11 June 1905—Letter with envelope to his
parents—3 p.—Lisbon, Portugal—Includes 1 page, My
Account up to Time I left England
1
1
8
15 June 1905—Letter with envelope to his
parents—4 p.—Gibraltar
1
1
9
18 June 1905—Letter to his brother David—1
p.—near Malta; Letter to his sister Mattie—2 p.; Letter with envelope to his
brother Will—2 p.; Letter to his sister Annie—1 p.
Correspondence from Constantinople, Turkey, 2 July 1905 to 15
September 1905
Correspondence from Constantinople, Turkey,
2 July 1905
to 15 September 1905
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
2
1
2 July 1905—Postcard with photo of Smyrne to
his brother Angus—1 p.—Constantinople—I spend most
of my time reading
1
2
2
[?] July [1905]—Postcard to his parents—1
p.—Constantinople—part of the date and message are unreadable—much talk about the Bregande and Armenian massacres.
1
2
3
19 July 1905—Letter with envelope to
parents—8 p. of good details—Constantinople; 30 July 1905—Letter to brother
Angus—2 p. Note: The envelope in which these letters came also includes 4 pages
of miscellaneous notes, a 2 page poem, a mail address for Mischa Markow and
Stephen B. Newman, and language notes.
1
2
4
16 August 1905—Letter to parents—6
p.—Constantinople; 17 August 1905—Letter with envelope to brother Angus—2 p.
1
2
5
24 August 1905—Letter with envelope to
parents—8 p.—Constantinople
1
2
6
6 September 1905—Letter to parents—6
p.—Constantinople; 7 September 1905—Letter to David and sisters—2
p.
1
2
7
15 September 1905—Letter to parents—4
p.—Constantinople—President Booth has arrived—We have our assignments; Letter
with envelope to brothers and sisters—2 p.
Correspondence from Aintab, 22 October 1905 to 17 February
1906
Correspondence from Aintab,
22 October
1905 to 17 February 1906
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
3
1
22 October 1905—Letter with envelope to
parents—8 p.—Aintab, Syria, Turkey—Left Constantinople on 3 October with
Brother Newman—Good detail
1
3
2
9 November 1905—Letter with envelope to
My Loved Ones—8 p.—Aintab, Syria,
Turkey
1
3
3
25 November 1905—Letter with envelope to
parents—8 p.—Aintab, Syria, Turkey
1
3
4
16 January 1906—Letter with envelope to his
brother Will—8 p.—Aintab, Syria, Turkey
1
3
5
1 February 1906—Letter to
My Dear Loved Ones—4 p.,
incomplete—Aintab—Observations on state of country and the recent massacre—Has
now read the Koran
1
3
6
17 February 1906—Letter to parents—4
p.—Aintab, Syria, Turkey—To go to Aleppo—Good detail
Correspondence from Aleppo and Aintab, 4 February 1907 to 3
August 1907
Correspondence from Aleppo and Aintab,
4 February
1907 to 3 August 1907
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
4
1
4 February 1907—Letter with envelope to
sister Annie—4 p.—Aleppo—Has been receiving the Dixie
Advocate
1
4
2
25 March 1907—Letter to his father—4
p.—Aleppo—to go to a conference in Aintab—problems of members emigrating (tax
and health/eyes)
1
4
3
29 June 1907—Letter with envelope to Angus
M. Woodbury—4 p.—Aintab
1
4
4
3 August 1907—Letter with envelope to
parents and brothers and sisters—4 p.—Aintab—is translating the
Official Declaration of the Church issued at
the last General Conference—President Booth is trying to start a colony
here—has translated a few songs and the 24th chapter of Matthew from Pearl of
Great Price—the last page has material in Turkish
Correspondence from Marash, 29 August 1907 to 19 December
1907
Correspondence from Marash,
29 August
1907 to 19 December 1907
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
5
1
29 August 1907—Letter with envelope to
parents—3 p.—Marash, Turkey—Arrives in Marash on 27th—Elders have suffered much
persecution in past—Elder Vance is his companion—Anti-Mormon
ministers
1
5
2
12 September 1907—Letter with envelope to
parents and brothers and sisters—6 p.—Marash, Turkey—Good detail of his
life/work in Marash
1
5
3
18 October 1907—Letter with envelope to his
father—4 p.—Marash, Turkey—Use of visual aids in teaching/re: lantern plate
pictures via James E. Talmage’s lecture tour in England, but about half were
broken—Challenges of teaching Mohammadians
1
5
4
7 November 1907—Letter with envelope to
parents and brothers and sisters—4 p.—Information on Elder Vance—Meeting with
police
1
5
5
19 December 1907—Letter to father—4
p.—Includes long extract from letters of Joseph Booth regarding Woodbury
translating Book of Mormon in Arabic; Letter with envelope to mother—2 p.
Correspondence from Marash, 2 January 1908 to 29 April
1908
Correspondence from Marash,
2 January
1908 to 29 April 1908
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
6
1
2 January 1908—Letter to parents and
brothers and sisters—6 p.—Marash, Turkey
1
6
2
16 January 1908—Letter with envelope to
parents and brothers and sisters—4 p.—Marash
1
6
3
6 February 1908—Letter to parents and
brothers and sisters—4 p.—Marash
1
6
4
11 March 1908—Letter/note with envelope to
his brother David—2 p.—Marash
1
6
5
1/4 April 1908—Letter with envelope to his
father—4 p.—Marash and Aintab—I have written about
half of the Book of Mormon—speaks of spies among us—also in envelope is
a part (pp 3–4) of another letter (also speaks of a traitor)
1
6
6
29 April 1908—Letter to parents and brothers
and sisters—4 p.—Marash—had been in Aintab 2–25 April—recalls details of visit
to Aintab—more on Book of Mormon/problems with it
Correspondence from Aintab, 20 June 1908 to 14 July 1908
Correspondence from Aintab,
20 June 1908
to 14 July 1908
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
7
1
20 June 1908—Letter with envelope to his
sisters Mattie and Annie—2 p.—Aintab—I have
completed writing the Book of Mormon in the Turkish—now proofing
characters with Elder Newman—Plans to go to Sivas with Elder John D. Stevenson
by August
1
7
2
27 June 1908—Letter with envelope to parents
and brothers and sisters—3 p.—Aintab
1
7
3
14 July 1908—Letter with envelope to his
father—4 p.—Aintab—Letter torn in half—Book of Mormon translation finished and
ready to print—Going to Sivas
Correspondence from Sivas, 2 August 1908 to 27 September
1908
Correspondence from Sivas,
2 August 1908
to 27 September 1908
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
8
1
2 August 1908—To “My Loved Ones” with
envelope—2 p.—Sivas, Turkey—Arrived in Sivas on 1st—Thirty Saints have left for
Zion—Mentions a photo of himself he is sending home
1
8
2
16 August 1908—Letter to his parents—8 p.
(page 7–8 on half page)—Sivas—Turkish writing at the beginning—Reacts to death
of Rose, his sister—Changes taking place in government—Now wishes to learn
Arabic to translate Book of Mormon into
1
8
3
30 August 1908—Letter with envelope to his
mother—2 p.—Sivas; Letter to his sister Mattie—2 p.
1
8
4
6 September 1908—Letter with envelope to his
brother William—2 p.—Sivas
1
8
5
27 September 1908—Letter to his father—4
p.—Sivas—Probably going to Zara—Our labors are
confined to giving tracts away at our room—Comments on local
conditions
Correspondence from Zara, 13 October 1908 to 12 February
1909
Correspondence from Zara,
13 October
1908 to 12 February 1909
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
9
1
13 October 1908—Letter with envelope to his
father—4 p.—Zara—Left Sivas on the 2nd—Good beginning with Elder Stevensen—More
talk of a colony
1
9
2
10 November 1908—Letter with envelope to his
father—6 p.—Zara—The recent piece in the Era gave a
good exposition of the Mohammedian doctrine—More detail on local
beliefs—Longs to do some manual labor
1
9
3
30 November 1908—Letter with envelope to his
mother, Mary—2 p.—Zara—Saints are kind, but poor—Weather can be very
cold
1
9
4
31 December 1908—Letter to his father—4
p.—Zara; 1 January 1909—Possibilities of being released from Mission; 1 January
1909—To his Brother Dave—2 p.—On a small piece of paper
1
9
5
12 February 1909—Letter with envelope to his
brother David—2 p. and short note—Zara—Has felt more than 50
earthquakes/tremors in Zara—Cold with blizzards
Correspondence from Aintab, 31 May 1909 to 27 August 1909
Correspondence from Aintab,
31 May 1909
to 27 August 1909
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
10
1
31 May 1909—Letter with envelope to his
father—2 p.—Aintab; 31 May 1909—Letter to his sister Annie—2 p.—speaks of his
sweetheart and bringing her home/Annie can
teach her English; 31 May 1909—Letter to his brother David—2 p.—Speaks of
bringing a wife home—She is a Mormon girl—Includes a small photograph of her;
31 May 1909—Letter to his brother William—2 p.
1
10
2
29 July 1909—Letter to his father—6 p.
(pages 5–6 on half-sheet)—Aintab—The Turkish Mission to be closed by 1st of
October—He has been released and is to go to Athens—His girlfriend (Mimzar)
with the Zara Saints to go to Athens—the Mission is bankrupt/no money for them—He intends to marry
Mimzar—He has not seen her for three months—Problems with a Miss Stewart back home
1
10
3
21 August 1909—Letter with envelope to his
father—4 p. (page 3–4 are half-page both sides)—Aintab—Zara Saints expect him
to pay for Mimzar’s passage—More about Mimzar
1
10
4
27 August 1909—Postcard to his father—1
p.—Plans to leave for Zara
Correspondence on Trip Home, 18 September 1909 to 17 October
1909
Correspondence on Trip Home,
18 September
1909 to 17 October 1909
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
11
1
18 September 1909—Postcard to his father—1
p.—Sivas—With Mimzar he has arrived in Sivas—Going to Samisun, then to
Athens
1
11
2
2 October 1909—Letter with envelope to his
brother William—4 p. (plus 2 pages on scrap of paper)—Aintab—Might go to
Palestine, but needs money—How to get Mimzar home—Details all costs of travel
home
1
11
3
6 October 1909—Letter with envelope to his
father—4 p.—Athens—To be in Athens in a week or two—Mimzar with him
1
11
4
17 October 1909—Letter to his parents—4
p.—Patras—Will leave for New York tomorrow evening on ship
Martha Washington—Traveling with President
Booth and Wife, Elder Newman and eight members, and Mimzar—To Salt Lake
city/Mimzar has American friends in Murray—Anxious to get home/plans to get
home about the 10th or 12th of November
Later Correspondence and Obituary, 2 April 1910 to 10 December
1953
Later Correspondence and Obituary,
2 April 1910
to 10 December 1953
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
12
1
11 June 1921—Letter with envelope to his
father—2 p.—Salt Lake City—Has just visited Winder’s Dairy
1
12
2
20 July 1921—Letter to his father—2 p.—Salt
Lake City
1
12
3
28 December 1915 (postmark)—Postcard—1 p.
Provo—Greetings to you all, John and
Mimzar
1
12
4
2 April 1910—Postcard—1 p.—St. George,
Utah—To Dear Sister, from Mimzar
1
12
5
19 July 1933—Postcard to his father—1
p.—Near Omaha, heading for Chicago
1
12
6
6 August 1933—Postcard to parents—1
p.—Chicago—Had visited Field Museum
1
12
7
5 August [?]—Postcard to John T. Woodbury
and family from Ernest Hafen [on a mission?]—1 p.—Bern, Switzerland
1
12
8
Newspaper clipping of John T. Woodbury Jr.’s obituary
from Washington County News—10 December
1953
Photographs
Photographs
Box
Folder
Item
Contents
1
13
1
Photocopy of a photograph (~2.5 x 2 cm) of Mimzar
Gagosian, which was attached to the 31 May 1909 set of letters written by John
to his family. The original has been transferred to photoarchives. The
photograph is small and of poor quality.
1
13
2
Digital copy of a photograph of John Taylor Woodbury Jr.
(14 x 10.5 cm) sometime between 1904 and 1909, when he was on his Turkish
Mission.
1
13
3
Digital copy of a photograph (19.5 x 21 cm) of some of
the members of the LDS Branch in Zara, Turkey in 1901. Included with this is a
photocopy of the picture with the members’ names identified.
1
13
4
Digital copy of a photograph (25.5 x 19 cm) of some
members of the Turkish Mission. The picture was taken in Aleppo, Turkey in July
1909. All the individuals in the photograph, including John T. Woodbury and the
Mission President, Joseph Wilford Booth, and the Mission President’s wife, are
identified.