Manuscripts

Harris family history

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Description: This typescript was collected and copied by Austin E. and Alta Fife from a typescript loaned to the Utah Humanities Research Foundation by Charles Martin Harris of Logan, Utah, on June 19, 1946. It covers the Harris family history, including their emigration to the United States, their activities in early America, Martin Harris' involvement with Joseph Smith (1805-1844) and the Mormon Church, and Emer Harris' reading of the first published copy of the Book of Mormon and his subsequent conversion.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1946.
Call number: mssHM 66588
Creator: Harris, Leander S(Opens in new tab)
Provenance

Martin Harris : One of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon

Manuscripts

Typescript of a brief biographical account of Martin Harris and his involvement with the translation of the Book of Mormon and organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Describes the arrival of a teenaged Joseph Smith in Palmyra, New York, in 1816, and his finding of the tablets later used to write the Book of Mormon; Harris' taking of a transcript of the tablets to Columbia University; his assistance to Smith in translating the tablets; and his inclusion as one of three witnesses (along with Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer) who were permitted to view the tablets. Also briefly recounts Harris' involvement with selecting the Twelve Apostles of the Mormon Church and helping Joseph Smith find holy ground in Missouri, as well as Harris' disillusionment with the Mormon Church following Smith's death. Includes a transcript of a portion of Martin Harris' sworn testimony taken at the time of his death in 1845, in which he describes witnessing the angel Moroni and hearing the voice of God.

mssHM 72353

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A sketch of Silas Harris's life, as written by himself [microform]: c.1880

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a typescript of Silas Harris' autobiography, written in about 1880 and completed by his daughter Sarah F. Cutler sometime after Silas' death in 1897. In the autobiography Silas writes very briefly of his childhood and conversion to Mormonism, his experiences in the Mormon Battalion, his overland travels back to Council Bluffs from California, his return to Utah, his mission work, and notes on his children. The final few paragraphs were written by his daughter Sarah, and contain reminiscences of her father.

MSS MFilm 00132

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Catalog of Mormon folk songs recorded by Austin E. Fife and Alta S. Fife, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, for the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress

Manuscripts

Supplemental catalog of Mormon folk songs recorded by Austin E. Fife and Alta S. Fife in St. George, Washington, Orderville, and Kanab, Utah, from March-April 1947. The catalog contains a brief description and local information for each song recorded in the following categories : 1) prose accounts of Mormon folk songs and folk singing; 2) songs of specific Mormon regional setting or inspiration; 3) songs of the Mormon migration; 4) songs of Mormon theological or sociological inspiration; 5) local songs, including those of Utah's dixie; 6) songs by Utah folk composers; 7) songs of general American folk interest, including ballad and narrative types, cowboy songs and ballads, and Indian themes and Western locale; 8) miscellaneous American folk songs; 9) American folk songs, war theme; 10) Germanic folk songs collected in Utah; 11) prose accounts of Mormon folklore; and 12) Mormon folk poetry. Supplement #1 for the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song.

mssHM 72351

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Sophronia Moore Martin autobiography

Manuscripts

This typescript of Sophronia Moore Martin describes her family's relocation from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and then to Salt Lake City, Utah. It also depicts her life as a Mormon wife and mother living on the Utah frontier.

mssHM 66673

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Indian Legends

Manuscripts

This typescript copy was made for the Harold B. Lee Library "from a typewritten copy loaned to Prof. M. Wilford Poulson of Brigham Young University by Mrs. William Brooks of St. George, Utah. September, 1938." It was originally copied from the handwritten manuscripts by Tony Tillohash which were owned by Ambrose M. Cannon of the Shivwit Indian Reservation in Washington County, Utah. It was loaned by him to the copyist for the Utah State Historical Records Survey Project of the Works Progress Administration of Saint George, Utah. Additional portions of the typescript were obtained by Foster Charles Toab, who also resided on the reservation.

mssHM 66669

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Life history of John Nielsen

Manuscripts

Typescript of John Nielsen's life history, probably recorded in or around 1885. The volume traces Nielsen's childhood experiences in Denmark, including prejudices faced by Mormon converts, and his family's plan to travel to the United States in 1866. It continues with notes on their voyage to New York, their travel by rail and boat to Florence, Nebraska, and their journey on foot to Salt Lake City. It concludes with reminiscences on Nielsen's life in Utah, including a grasshopper invasion in 1869.

mssHM 27973

Harris family history

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Martin Harris : One of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon

A sketch of Silas Harris's life, as written by himself [microform]: c.1880

Catalog of Mormon folk songs recorded by Austin E. Fife and Alta S. Fife, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, for the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress

Sophronia Moore Martin autobiography

Indian Legends

Life history of John Nielsen