Krum author George Hubbard traces a key movement in Denton’s religious community in his sixth book, documenting an effort particularly close to his heart.

When the Saints Came Marching In: A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Denton, Texas, 1958-2008 plots the local progression of the Mormon church by relating anecdotes through dozens of interviews.

DRC/Al Key

A book documenting area Mormon history by Krum author George Hubbard traces the church’s growth from a few Denton members in 1959 to almost 10,000 in Denton County and surrounding areas today. “I knew most of the people who were involved during the early years,” Hubbard said. Hubbard, pictured in his study on Tuesday, is also the author of The Humor and Drama of Early Texas and Which End of a Buffalo Gets Up First: True Tales of Early Colorado.

View larger More photos Photo store

The book shows how the Latter-day Saints movement spread from its Denton beginnings in late 1959 through the county and then to the nearby counties of Cooke, Collin, Montague and Wise.

Along the way, the reader can sense a formation come about through individual efforts. Today’s result is a membership of more than 10,000 people in the greater Denton area.

“There’s hardly any doctrine in there,” Hubbard said of the book. “It’s about what people did.”

Hubbard is an adjunct professor in the mathematics and computer science department at Texas Woman’s University. He moved back to Denton with his wife, Billie, in 1980 after many years in California.

Hubbard was already conversant with historical writing, having published such books as The Humor and Drama of Early Texas and Which End of a Buffalo Gets Up First: True Tales of Early Colorado. As a longtime Mormon, he said, he saw enough uniqueness to the church’s local history to make a fine book, but for many years it didn’t come together.

In late 2006, Hubbard said, Latter-day Saints leaders formally asked him to write about their Denton chapter. The research came easily enough, and he began a writing process that took nearly two years.

“I knew most of the people who were involved during the early years,” he said. “So that was a major resource. I interviewed three or four dozen people. … I went to Salt Lake City and did some research. And so a lot of it was personal knowledge I had, plus being able to contact most of the people who were still here — that got it going.”

Shady Shores resident Brad Andrus, 32, was born into the Mormon faith. He attributes the growth of its local membership to the work of God.

“It will continue to take hold and grow like we cannot even imagine,” he said. “Basically, I think the reality is, there’s something very inspiring and gratifying that we’re part of, and when others get a glimpse of it, they’re attracted to it.”

Andrus, one of the book’s distributors, said that prior to founding Denton-area meetings in 1959, local Mormons attended services in Fort Worth twice a week. 

“They certainly wanted to cut down on the drive — but more than that, to have a local congregation to share with others, and make it easier for others to attend locally,” Andrus said. “One interesting thing to take note of is, with these congregations we’re all teaching the exact same thing and we’re kind of intertwined. Geographic boundary determines which congregation you go to. But the same thing taught in Fort Worth in 1959 is the same thing being taught in Denton in 2009.”

Hubbard said writing the book was an evolutionary process. He had a spiritual investment in the subject matter, but that didn’t prevent hitches in writing the manuscript. Having plenty of researched information at hand but no way to make it feel organized enough to get off to an “ideal” start, Hubbard said, he just started writing.

 “At a certain point, I look at it and reorganize it. You go through that process five or six times, and the end result doesn’t look anything like the beginning. So I would say I organize as I go,” he said. “Every now and then, somebody would tell me something and correct some misunderstandings I had.”

Hubbard added that his book research offered no doctrinal surprises. There was no information revealed about the faith that contradicted his personal beliefs. But he said he was amazed at some of the contributions people made, through time and effort, to create the local Mormon bedrock.

“I do have concerns with whether or not I got everything accurate,” he said, admitting that the manuscript didn’t offer enough room to include every person who had a hand in forming and continuing the church.

Hubbard’s personal faith began with a conversion that happened, almost by chance, for him and his wife some 58 years ago.

“I was in the Army during the Korean War, stationed in Fort Riley, Kan.,” he said. “We had an apartment in the front of a house. Two LDS missionaries came down the street and knocked on our door. We liked what they had to say and we felt a good spirit about it. And that was the start.”

GREG RUSSELL can be reached at 940-566-6861. His e-mail address is grussell@dentonrc.com .