Manuscripts

Autobiography of George Pectol [microform] : 1858

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Description: Microfilm of the autobiography of George Pectol, covering the years from approximately 1846-1858. Portions of the volume are missing, but it opens with George's examination of the Book of Mormon and his decision to travel to Nauvoo, hearing Mormon preachers, and deciding to join the Mormon Church. He also writes of performing baptisms and preaching the gospel around Jackson County, Missouri, of anti-Mormon experiences in Missouri, of his overland travel to Utah, of leaving home in Iron County due to Indian attacks, of moving to Sanpete, and of life in Washington to 1858.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1858
Call number: MSS MFilm 00195 item 01
Creator: Pectol, George (1805-1869)(Opens in new tab)

Autobiography of Solomon Chamberlain [microform]: 1858

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a typescript of Solomon Chamberlain's brief autobiography, written in 1858. It covers his childhood in Connecticut, his living of a "very wicked life" following his father's death, his search for redemption in religion and joining of the Methodist Order around 1815, a long account of his conversion to Mormonism in 1830, his travels attempting to sell the Book of Mormon and his belief that he could convince the "Reformed Methodists" of its "truth," his move to Missouri in 1831 and departure following mob violence, his life in Nauvoo to 1847, his travels to and from Utah and Council Bluffs, his gold mining trip to Sacramento, and many references to his ill health.

MSS MFilm 00398 item 03

Autobiography of Samuel Miles [microform]: 1881

Manuscripts

Microfilm of the autobiography of Samuel Miles, kept in about 1881. It includes a brief family history and descriptions of Miles' childhood and his family's move to Freedom, New York, where they were neighbors to Miles' uncle (by marriage) Warren A. Cowdery; Mormon missionaries in the area; the family's move to Missouri, where Miles worked on his father's farm; persecutions of Mormons in Missouri; a history of the Mormon expulsion to Illinois; various accounts of Joseph Smith; the family's 1845 move to Nauvoo and Miles' work as a teacher; a detailed account of Miles' time with the Mormon Battalion, first under Captain Allen (who died at Fort Leavenworth) and then Lieutenant Smith (who was unpopular compared to Jefferson Hunt), and their overland travels to San Diego and Sutter's Fort; Miles' move to Utah; a trip to California he took in 1858; the formation of the United Order at Enoch in 1874; and various notes on Miles' teaching and farming activities. The autobiography covers the years through 1881.

MSS MFilm 00829

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Diaries of George W. Bean [microform] : 1855-1856, 1891-1897

Manuscripts

Microfilm of two of George W. Bean's diaries, one kept from 1855-1856 and one from 1891-1897. The 1855-1856 diary details interactions between Mormon missionaries at Las Vegas, New Mexico, and local Indians, including baptisms, trade, and some hostilities. Included are Bean's account of a journey from Las Vegas to California across the Mojave in October-November 1855 (which included stops in San Bernardino, Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Mission, and El Monte) and of travels between Las Vegas and the "Colorado Muddy" in 1856. Bean also references an encounter with the "murderers" of J.W. Gunnison, an Army captain killed in an Indian massacre in 1853; remarks on the camp visit of explorers Jules Remy and Julius Lucius Brenchley, who published "A Journey to Great Salt Lake City" in 1861; mentions his attendance of a performance of J.H. Martineau's "Missouri Persecutions;" and describes various interactions with Las Vegas Mission President William Bringhurst. Portions of the diary are in pencil and are partly illegible. The 1891-1897 diary centers on Bean's daily life in Utah, including trips to visit family and friends and attend conferences in Provo, Sanpete, Salt Lake City, Parowan, and Bunkerville. It also includes a description of the Bean Company entering construction bids and a High Council trial for allegedly breaking contracts, and includes a biographical sketch of George Bean.

Autobiography of Samuel Miles [microform]: 1881

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a typescript of the autobiography of Samuel Miles, supplied by his daughter Minnie Miles Mathis to the St. George Ward Chapter, Daughters of the Pioneers. The autobiography was kept in about 1881. It includes a brief family history and descriptions of Miles' childhood and his family's move to Freedom, New York, where they were neighbors to Miles' uncle (by marriage) Warren A. Cowdery; Mormon missionaries in the area; the family's move to Missouri, where Miles worked on his father's farm; persecutions of Mormons in Missouri; a history of the Mormon expulsion to Illinois; various accounts of Joseph Smith; the family's 1845 move to Nauvoo and Miles' work as a teacher; a detailed account of Miles' time with the Mormon Battalion, first under Captain Allen (who died at Fort Leavenworth) and then Lieutenant Smith (who was unpopular compared to Jefferson Hunt), and their overland travels to San Diego and Sutter's Fort; Miles' move to Utah; a trip to California he took in 1858; the formation of the United Order at Enoch in 1874; and various notes on Miles' teaching and farming activities. The autobiography covers the years through 1881.

MSS MFilm 00376

Autobiography, diaries, and sketches of Frederick William Hurst [microform] : 1858-1885

Manuscripts

Microfilm of an autobiography, diaries, and sketches by Frederick William Hurst and spanning the years from approximately 1858-1885. The first volume consists of an autobiography Hurst wrote in Utah in 1858, and which also contains a few diary entries from 1864 and notes labeled Camp Deseret, 1858. The second volume was kept from 1855-1856 while Hurst was serving as a missionary in Hawaii; the third volume, dated 1857-1858, was begun at San Francisco and describes his missionary work in California and travels to Utah; the fourth, dated 1875-1877, opens in Utah and goes on to describes sailing to Auckland and Hurst's mission work in New Zealand; and the final volume is identified as Memorandum of Missionary Labors Commencing January 12, 1879, and appears to have been kept in Millville and Hyde Park, Utah. Portions of all of the volumes are very faint and partially illegible. The reel also contains fifty sketches done by Hurst between 1855-1885, and which include scenic and structural drawings from California (including San Francisco), Utah, New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii; sketches of ships, portraits mainly showing women in various forms of historical dress; and a variety of drawings of plants and animals.

MSS MFilm 00199

Autobiography of George Thomas Rogers [microform]: 1950

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a typescript autobiography by George Thomas Rogers, written at Joseph City, Arizona, in 1950. Rogers recalls his birth in Utah and childhood in Arizona, including at St. Joseph, Show Low (where he was rescued after falling in a well), Lot Smith's United Order, and Flagstaff. He describes goings on at a log saloon in New Town, Arizona (including a tale of how Flagstaff got its name), living on the San Francisco Mountains in Arizona, spending winters in Utah, working for the Babbitts Brothers grocers in Flagstaff, and being whipped by other children in school for being a Mormon. He later recalls his marriages and the births of his children, as well as mentioning his work on the Hopi Indian mission.

MSS MFilm 00223 item 03

Autobiography of George Pectol [microform] : 1858

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Autobiography of Solomon Chamberlain [microform]: 1858

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Autobiography of Samuel Miles [microform]: 1881

Autobiography, diaries, and sketches of Frederick William Hurst [microform] : 1858-1885

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