Posted by:
Plaid n Paisley
(
)
Date: July 21, 2014 03:58PM
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58198497-78/black-mormon-flake-says.html.csp"Flake, for example, joined the faith in 1844 along with his white owners, James and Agnes Flake (to whom he had been given as a wedding present), Stevenson says.
James Flake died in a farming accident in 1850, leaving Agnes a widow, he notes. "According to Agnes’ son, she left behind Flake as an offering to the church and moved to California but only after a futile effort to sell him to other Mormons in the territory."
In 1854, Young gave Flake his freedom. Flake remained a devout Mormon for the rest of his life. He is listed as a "servant" on the monument at This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City’s eastern foothills.
"Green Flake found himself compelled to live out the paradox that was the black Mormon experience," Stevenson says, "a vision of a hopeful, universal gospel at odds with a telestial reality that the white Mormon community failed to transcend.""