In March 1878, he was again called to missionary service, this time to the church's Southern States Mission, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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.

One published on April 30, 1878, provides insight into his experiences in the post-Reconstruction South; A person traveling among the Southern people realizes that though they have been whipped by the North, yet there is a feeling of enmity existing in their bosoms, which only needs a little breeze to inflame their passions to deeds of carnage and strife.

[12] 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.

[13]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.

I am fully aware dear Sir, that the popular prejudice is very much against the Mormons, and that there are minor officers who have apparently winked at the condition of affairs above referred to.

Ministers of the Gospel could then travel without fear of being stoned or shot and the houses of the Saints would not be entered into in defiance of all good law and order.

Under the provisions of our State Constitution, the reformation of religious faith, or of opinion on any subject, cannot legitimately be the object of legislation, and no human authority can interfere with the right to worship God according to the requirements of conscience.

When Standing asked by what authority they were stopped on a public road, one member of the mob reportedly told them; The government of the United States is against you, and there is no law in Georgia for Mormons.

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.

[18] 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.

[24] 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.

"[25] 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.

[28] 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[s]… [their] services were regularly attended by those who every week became more and more inoculated with the pernicious creed.

"[29] 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.

[29] 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.

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.

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; We agree with Elder Morgan in his sentiments about the pious "Christians," recognized members and communicants of churches who imbrue their hands in the blood of innocence and mutilate the dead.

of Salt Lake Stake 1880(South View) Beneath this stone, by friendship's hand is lain The martyred form of one, untimely slain; A servant of the Lord, whose works revealed The love of Truth for which his doom was sealed.

where foes beset-when but a single friend stood true, nor shunned his comrade's cruel end Deep in the shades of ill-starred Georgia's wood, Fair freedom's soil was crimsoned with his blood.

"On May 3, 1952 church president David O. McKay dedicated a monument at the site of Standing's murder in Whitfield County, Georgia.

The cooperation of W. C. Puryear and family who donated the land and were most helpful in other ways, made this memorial possible.One of the dormitories at the church's Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, is named in honor of Joseph Standing.