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1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Manuscripts
Memoir by James William Nixon recalling events of his life from the time of his youth in St. George, Utah. He recounts attending Martha Cox's school, his baptism by William Empy, the family's move to Mt. Trumbull, his childhood occupations (including caring for cattle and horses, running his father's mill, and driving oxen), lumber hauling, the death of his father, his work on Tobe Whitmore's cattle ranch, his travels throughout Utah, his romance with Effie Woolley, his mission work in the midwestern United States and California, and his travels throughout California including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino.
mssHM 16951
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Rare Books
A man is shot dead while standing in line at the bank, another is fired for printing an obituary of a citizen as yet undecesaed. A young woman visits her father following his nervous breakdown, and a devoted sister is profoundly unsettled by the sermon her brother insists on reciting. Whether in childhood or Vietnam, in memory or the external present, these people are revealed in the extenuating, sometimes extreme circumstances of everyday life, and in the complex consequences of their decisions. These fifteen stories are fiction of dazzling emotional range and absolute authority--Adapted from jacket.
644157
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Manuscripts
Typescript of an autobiography begun by David Osborne (also spelled Osborn) in February 1860. Osbourne recounts his childhood in Virginia, his conversion to Mormonism, persecutions against the Mormons, the Osbournes' travels throughout Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, the deaths of his wife and several of their children, and his life in Utah. The autobiography covers the years from 1807 to 1870. A note written by David A. Osborne records the death of his father in 1893.
mssHM 27971
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Manuscripts
Typescript copy of William Elias Abbott's autobiography and family record. It begins by tracing his ancestors and gives a detailed history of his mother, Abigail Smith Abbott. The majority of the manuscript consists of Abbott's reminiscences of his life and family experiences as a pioneer in Nevada, specifically in Bunkerville and Mesquite, as well as his dedication to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Included is a Military History of Private Israel Abbott, which recounts the wounding of Abbott's brother Israel in France during World War I, typescript copies of several of Abbott's church certificates, and a brief history of My Grandfather, Orville Morgan Allen (1805-1893). Also include are typescripts of several letters, including those to Abbott from Heber J. Grant (1929), Thekla Schaerr (1930), Grace Stirling (1935), Key Pittman (1939), Barbara Adair (1941), and Ruth Cram (1942?); those from Abbott to his nephew Austin Abbott (1941) and to the Moapa Stake Presidency (1941); a letter of recommendation for Abbott as Justice of the Peace from Las Vegas lawyers (1936); a letter from Gordan B. Hinckley to "Leon" (1941); and an exchange of letters between Joseph Smith and John Arlington Bennett (1843). Bound.
mssHM 51999
![The family record book and autobiography of William Leany [microform] : c.1891](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN4SLZ5IS%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Manuscripts
Microfilm of the Family Record of William Leany (filled in printed family history book, published in Salt Lake City in 1877). The first twelve pages consist of genealogical information. The rest of the volume contains Leany's autobiography, begun January 1, 1888. Leany begins with more genealogical and family history (including the Revolutionary War service of his relatives), and then recounts his early life in Kentucky. His family left tailoring to begin raisin tobacco, and, according to Leany, "thereby sold ourselves to the merchants." During his childhood in Kentucky Leany "toiled under all the disadvantages of frontier life," and he and his twin brother Isaac traveled to Missouri in 1836. While on the way they converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Leany writes that his father belonged to no specific church, his mother was a "Republican Baptist," and his stepmother a "Hell Redemptionist"). Debts and various health issues kept Leany from traveling to Nauvoo until 1843, and in the meantime he was present when Isaac was shot during the Haun's Mill Massacre in 1838 (Isaac survived). After finally arriving in Illinois, Leany describes hearing Joseph Smith preach and deciding to go west to Utah in 1846. In 1850 he was part of the company sent to Little Salt Lake and settled near what is now Parowan. He describes troubles with the Walkers Band of Ute Indians and his later moves to Cedar City and finally Harrisburg. William Leany's account ends with a letter to his "Dear Children and Grandchildren," written at Harrisburg on May 5, 1891. In it Leany describes his spiritual beliefs and what he believes to be the religious and temporal obligations of his descendants. The final pages of the film contain a brief autobiography entitled Struggles of an 1847 Pioneer by I.C. Leany. Leany gives an in-depth account of Isaac Leany's experiences at Haun's Mill and describes traveling to Utah with Edward Hunter's company in 1847.
MSS MFilm 00036
![Appleton Milo Harmon's early history and journal for his travels through the United States, England, and Scotland in 1850, 1851, and 1852... [microform]: c.1842-1853](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN458F3DW%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Manuscripts
Microfilm of Appleton Milo Harmon's autobiography and journal of his British mission from 1850-1853. The autobiography traces his childhood and his family's early conversion to Mormonism; their travels from Pennsylvania to Kirtland, Springfield, and Nauvoo; Harmon's 1842 mission to New York; his journey form Nauvoo to Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters, recalling the winter of 1846-1847; and detailed accounts of his overland travels from Winter Quarters to Utah and back. Some of the specific incidents he recounts include the violent backlash of "enemies" after the election of Brigham Young as Church president in 1845; the formation of the Mormon Battalion; and encounters with Indians, particularly the Omaha. The rest of the volume contains diary entries from Harmon's mission to England and Scotland. After a detailed account of his slow overland trip and ocean crossing, Harmon records his mission experiences in Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Sunderland, Carlisle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Most of the entries focus on Harmon's attendance of Church conferences and notes on baptisms, births, marriage, and deaths. He also describes his trip to London (which included visits to the Thames Tunnel and British Museum) and sinful behavior he believed was caused by a "fever" for gold in Australia. The volume ends with an account of his return voyage to the United States in 1853.
MSS MFilm 00053