Charles Elisha Harris

1834 - 1916  (81 years)  Submit Photo / Document    Has no ancestors but 48 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Charles Elisha Harris
  Birth	2 Jul 1834	Brownhelm Township, Lorain, Ohio, United States
  Gender	Male
  Initiatory (LDS)	11 Mar 1858	EHOUS
  FamilySearch ID	KWNJ-8ZZ
  Death	3 Feb 1916	Junction, Piute, Utah, United States
  Burial	5 Feb 1916	Harris Cemetery, Junction, Piute, Utah, United States
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I17322	mytree
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

  
  

  Family	Louisa Maria Hall,   b. 30 Dec 1839, Exeter, Scott, Illinois, United States d. 6 May 1923, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 83 years)
  Marriage	20 Apr 1855	Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States
  Children	1. Charles Elisha Harris,   b. 23 Jan 1856, Willard, Box Elder, Utah, United States d. 3 Jan 1940, Monroe, Sevier, Utah, United States (Age 83 years)   2. Alva Harris,   b. 28 Feb 1859, Willard, Box Elder, Utah, United States d. 23 Dec 1885, Monroe, Sevier, Utah, United States (Age 26 years) + 3. Isabelle Maria Harris,   b. 15 Apr 1861, Willard, Box Elder, Utah, United States d. 31 May 1938, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 77 years)   4. Jesse Orson Harris,   b. 29 Mar 1864, Washington, Washington, Utah, United States d. 3 Jan 1947, Olympia, Thurston, Washington, United States (Age 82 years)   5. Mary Adrienne Harris,   b. 3 Jun 1866, Toquerville, Washington, Utah, United States d. 30 Nov 1954, Inkom, Bannock, Idaho, United States (Age 88 years)   6. Eugene Harris,   b. 10 Jan 1869, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States d. 7 Jun 1900, Oxford, Franklin, Idaho, United States (Age 31 years)   7. Silas Albert Harris,   b. 14 Jun 1871, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States d. 5 Oct 1964, American Fork, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 93 years)   8. Ida May Harris,   b. 1 Oct 1873, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States d. 13 Sep 1888, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 14 years)   9. Ole Van Harris,   b. 5 Dec 1876, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States d. 26 Feb 1968, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 91 years)   10. Clarence Earl Harris,   b. 24 May 1879, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States d. 9 Aug 1966, Driggs, Teton, Idaho, United States (Age 87 years)   11. Mertie Adell Harris,   b. 27 Jul 1884, Junction, Piute, Utah, United States d. 1 Dec 1974, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 90 years)
  Family ID	F176	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Apr 2024

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 2 Jul 1834 - Brownhelm Township, Lorain, Ohio, United States Marriage - 20 Apr 1855 - Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States Initiatory (LDS) - 11 Mar 1858 - EHOUS Death - 3 Feb 1916 - Junction, Piute, Utah, United States Burial - 5 Feb 1916 - Harris Cemetery, Junction, Piute, Utah, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  A Brief Sketch of the Life of Charles Harris by his Son, Silas A. Harris My father, Charles Harris, kept no journal, diary, or record of any s o rt to perpetuate his memory or achievements, neither is there any publ i c account of his character as a Utah Pioneer. Barring a few notes that he dictated just prior to his death, this sk e tch must be accepted as the memiors and personal opinion of his son wh o k new him most intimately during his middle life, which though undistin guis hed for notable achievemas the most prosperous, care free, and happi est o f his eighty-one years. Charles Harris, a son of Emer Harris amd Parma Chappell, was born Ju l y 2, 1834, at Brownhelm, Ohio. He was therefore ten years old when th e pr ophet Joseph Smith was martyred. He remembered seeing and hearing Jo sep h Smith on many occasionss father, Emer Harris, was an elder brothe r of M artin Harris, the witness of the Book of Mormon. As a child, Charl es hear d often from the lips of his uncle the details of his associatio n with th e prophet and of Martins part in the translation of that ancien t record . It is well known tthat Martin Harris advanced the money for th e first p ublication of the book. My father always strongly denied the manner of translation as set for t h by some writers. He said that as Joseph looked through the Urim and T hu min, he would see as upon a scroll the characters and below them the E ngl ish Translation. Thisuld read to the scribe. Throughout his life he c arri ed the notion that somewhere the church would avenge the wrongs of M issou ri in a war with their enemies. I have often heard him quote a prop hecy f rom some of the leaders that ran like this, "the time will come wh en thi s people with their feet planted upon these mountains will reach o ut an d take hold of the Lord's battle ax (join with the Indians) and rea d th e constitition anew to this and to all other nations," Charles Harris was married to Louisa Hall in Ogden April 20, 1855. Fr o m this union were born eleven children. The life of this pioneer couple was typical of that of thousands of t h e same period. From the beginning to end it was fraught with much hards hi p, toil, and much honest, courageous endevour. In their attempts to be tte r their conditions theed from place to place rather more frequently t ha n might seem practical, but whenever they went they were missed by man y a nd loyal friends who always made new and faithful friends in their ab ode. In 1862, the family was called to assist in pioneering and settling U t ah's Dixie. They first settled in Washington where their fourth child , Je sse was born in a wagon box temporarily used as a tent. Soon they mo ved t o Toquerville where ar child Mary Addriene was born. June 3, 1866 . The wr iter knows little of these years except they were filled with mu ch want a nd hardship. Mother related that she made one pouns of sugar la st a yea r using it only to sweeten medicine for the babies. Father cultivated a garden on a hillside so steep that stepping fro m o ne irrigation ditch to another was like climbing from one row of seat s t o another in an amphitheater. Their sojourn in Dixie lasted only eight years, so that by January 1 9 , 1869, they were in Parowan, where upon this date a son Eugene was bor n . Eugene was born in a log cabin in the middle of the street. The cabi n h ad been built before thn was laid out and was later moved on a lot wh er e I was born June 14, 1871. Parowan at this time, being about 20 years from settlement, was the m o st thriving town on all Southern Utah, having good school, a fine ston e c hurch, which is still standing, splendid pastures, and timbers facili ties . Father built and operated one of the earliest saw mills in the canyo n . He erected for himself a good frame house for those early times and b ec ame associated in a business and social way with the best elements o f th e community, He servr a time as City Marshall. The older children made good starts in the school. But since all th e l and and water had to be appropriated, there seemed no future outloo k eith er for supporiting so large a family,nor for homes when they wer e ready t o leave the parental. At this time father was working as a carp enter, fol owing the trade of his father before himk and incidently was u sing a caro enter;square his father had made from an old saw and which h e used both o n the Kirtland and Nauvoo temples. This square is now in di splay in the L DS Museum, In Salt Lake. But back to my story; In 1877, he saw a chance to better his conditi o n financially by buying a squatters claim to 640 acres, choice grass a n d farming land on the Sevier River. The move greatly improved the livi n g conditions, but debared tildren from further school or religious trai ni ng for many more years. The nearest Stake was at Panguitch, 40 miles a wa y and nearest ward and publice school was Kingston, 10 miles. With nei the r of these we affliliated. Our new cattke ranch and an equal holding belonging to fathers brothe r , Dennison, consisted of the greater part of the tract now covered by t h e Pauite Resivour. These brothers jointly reserved a large system of sp ri ngs that afforded an unld source of irrigation water. They built mile s an d miles of pole fence, affording pasture and wild hay meadow for mor e cat tle than either ever could acquire. The land belonged to what was known as school land, The law being th a t it should be sold for school purposes whenever the territory should b ec ome a state. The squater would have the first rights to purchase the land with h i s improvements. Though he held the absolute jurisdiction his title wou l d never be secure till it was bought of the state. When father could th in k of himself as the Lordl he surveyed, he felt rich and happy as a kin g , but always haunted with the fear that he would lose it all and so di d n ot improve more than was demanded for immediate use. We lived on this ranch 10 years doing no other work than fencing, put t ing up hay, and tending cattle and horses. The reservoir was clear as c ry stal and one of our chief sports was lassoing fish with a fine wire o n th e end of a birch rod quimilair to lassoing calves in a corral. Thes e catc hes were suckers, but trout fishing was good and we all became exp ert ang lers, The older boys and father took more ducks and deer than cou ld be pu t to beneficial use at times. Mother made numerous pilows from f eathers a nd the deer hides at the time brought good prices. From the sal e of the h ide and sale of butter and cheese, the family's shoes and oute r clothin g was supplied. My memory of these times is so vivid and intere sting tha t it is hard to keep from swelling this sketch into a volume. A side fro m mother, I think we did not average working more than three mon ths out o f the year which was a pretty soft snap wit "No school days, sc hool days , golden rule days." In converting the mile from 15 or 20 cows into butter and cheese, doi n g the cooking, washing, and sewing for so large a family it is safe t o as sume that mother did more work than all the rest put together. She w as vi sited by the stork twicer moving to the ranch. At this point, a brieft character sketch of Charles Harris may prov e t o be the most valuable part of this record. His father Emer Harris, a fte r walking 50 miles to where the Book of Mormon was being published, w as p resented with the veryt copy bound, He read it and was converted t o the n ew faith. His faith and testimony prevails to this day among hi s descendi ng almost unanimously. Charles Harris never wavered for one istance from his conviction th a t Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God. and that his successor s w ere also divinely endowed. To him throughout his whole life the wor d of B righam Young was the wordod. He never tired of pointing out the wa ys of s piritual and financial success as taught by Brigham Young, With t he faith ful cooperation of his wife, they raised all of their eleven chi ldren t o an abiding belief in the principles of Mormonism. All were marr ied in t he Temple, rarely if ever, did any of the boys profane the nam e of Diety , Never to my knowledge was any of the brothers drunk. It i s a matter o f regret that three of them dabbled more or less on Tobacco . All our fami ly are raising their children in the faith of their parent s. Wherever father was known, he was noted for scrict honesty, full weigh t , full measure, full truth was as much a part of him as the color of h i s eyes. His nephew, Martin, aged 82, told me this summer, illustrating his fa t her;s honesty which as an eye and ear witness Martin knows to be true . H e says a neighbor, Lyman Johnson, had a horse exactly like the one fa the r owned. He wanted to tror father's horse to match his own. Johnson w as s o pleased when he found father willing to trade that he offered hi s othe r team horse as an even trade, Father said, "Your horse is worth m ore tha n mine which I know better than you do. I will give you $20.00 " , he ha d not demanded to satisfy fathers sense of fair dealing, That mig ht soun d unreasonable but people who knew father would express no surpri se. During several years of our life on the ranch, there was a heavy immi g ration of settlers to Arizona, our place was a camping ground that lodg e d nearly every traveler on the route. Scores of times we were asked t o pa sture for the night fromo 40 horses. For this accomodation, father w oul d not accept a cent from the Arizona Trekkers, and generally when the y as ked for butter or milk, it was also tendered without money and witho ut pr ice. Maybe my readers can sense this sacrifice along with me when h e is t old that at this time I was trapping musk rats and curing the fur s to b e sold at three to five cents to satisfy the cravings of a barefoo t boy. Father had an inborn power of discipline that carried him safely an d w ith dignity through all the varied experiences of raising a large fam ily , He said that he never punished a child in his life except to make h im m ind his mother. One or two chastisements suffised for a life time for each child, A s f or me, my obedience was not the result of fear but of object worship . T o do his slightest bidding and recieve a word of approval was the hei gh t of my youthful ambitid I believe it was largely true of the rest o f th e children, Long after I was married, I said to sister, Belle, "I have never se e n a man in my life that I would rather have for a father than he."Bell e s aid, "Nor I either." If the expression is permissable, I should like to call father an ari s tocrat. His conversation, general demeanor, and choice of companion al l m arked him at superior to the general rule of humanity. He could tolerate no smutty stories even in the camp. His laughter was f r ee and pleasant but not too loud and boisterousl He brought books and t ri ed by example to teach the rules of etiquette. He taught dancing lesso n s at one time and social and ball room etiquette was a favorite them wi t h him. Considering the frontier life we let, I consider his sense of proprie t y and culture among his outstanding traits, wven when bathing with us b oy s in the river, he was modest as a schoolgirl, He was an idealist. and therefore frequently locked horns with thos e w ho were content to leave well enough alone. While we lived a the ranc h, h e tried to persuade the people at Junction to lay out a town after t he pa ttern Brigham Young fol. He met only cold rebuufs as well as for ma ny oth er ideas about canals, roads, parks, etc. And though he lived in a nd abou t Junction half his life, he never ceased to feel an inner urge t o set th e town in order. Junction was a string town for 30 years befor e it was of ficially laid out in square blocks. Father was not only genuinely compassionate toward the human family , b ut to animals as well. I never saw a better example of the scriptura l say ing, "A just man regardeth his animal."Once when compelled to put a way th e old family dog whicheen bitten by a snake, he explained to us ch ildre n that he gave him as good a burial as an Indian generally gets. H e burie d his favorite horses and taught us they would live again. If an y of my r eaders object, let him read the revelation of Saint John. In se lling a ho rse, father was always careful to know the character of the pr ospective o wner as a kind masterr would in selling a favorite slave. Life on the frontier while pleasant and carefree, afforded little opp o rtunity for either secular or religious training. Father tried to mak e th is up in a measure of buying the standard church works, faith promot ing s eries, subscribing to tseret News and the Juvenile Instructor. Tha t we ch ildren were real Mormons will appear from an incident that happen ed whe n Brigham Young jr. was seeking a camping place. During the poliga my rai d he said to us boys, almost in a whisper, "I would like to stay w ith a M ormon Family." My brother, Eugene, standing there in a pair of fa ther's o ld boots shouted almost to the top of his voice, "Well here i s a Mormon. " The visiting dignitaries made much of this incident thinkin g perhaps Eu genes enthusiasm was due to his pride in being a Mormon boy . But I suppos e he was thinking more of the fee we should get from thei r Pasture Bill. Speaking of education, father built a room and set one of the older g i rls to teaching the younger ones. This did not amount to much but by se nd ing one or two away to Monroe and Richfield each year, it finally deve lop ed that we got a fairs that later produced 6 school teachers out of m othe rs 11 children. After selling the ranch in 1887, we spent the summer on a cattle ran g e on the east fork of the Sevier River, we lived in Richfield the follo wi ng winter and in the spring bought two homes in Junction. Father belonged to the old school of LDS who believed that the highe s t degree of glory in God's Kingdom could only be attained by embracin g th e principles of plural marriage. Having been baffled in entering thi s pri nciple till late in lie met and married a young girl after he was p ast 5 0 years of age. He met her in Richfield as a neighbor whose fathe r was bl ind and the family appealed to his sympathy. This explains the p urchase o f 2 homes. He had mistaken believed that the persecution was ov er so tha t he might live out his days unmolested, however his professe d friends we re the first to make trouble so father was obliged to live i n exile in Co lorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and finally Farmington, Utah. It was only after motherr moved permanently to Provo to school her yo u nger children and after father had served a term in the penitentery fo r u nlawful cohabitation that he finally drifted back to Junction where h e li ved out his days in peach his plural wife, Elizabeth Anderson. Ther e wer e 3 children from this second marriage. Juanitta Blanche the firs t died i n infancy, Mrs. Susie Davenport, and Milo Harris live in Junctio n at th e writing. Charles Harris retained his figure straight as an arrow to the very l a st. He was always guessed to be 15 or 20 years younger than he really w as . It is worthy of mention that he was teaching dancing to the young pe opl e of the Mututal Improt Association two weeks before he died. Fathe r woul d never tolerate anyone classifying him as an old man. just a fe w weeks b efore his death and old friend had said to father who was ailin g, "Brothe rr Harris, you can't expect to feel very well anymore, You ar e getting t o be an old man." Father replied, "**** it. don't think I don 't knowwhe n I am sick." The parting was an abrupt one. They never met ag ain in life . The old Brother Robert Wooley who told me smilingly of thi s incident li ved to pass the century mark. On a cold midnight in January, father put his clothes on and joined h i s neighbors in an attempt to put out a fire in a neighboring garage. H e c aught a cold which developed into pneumonia and he passed away Februa ry 3 , 1916. He was atteny his nephew Dr. H.G. Merrill, Milo Hendricks , a son- in-law, and all of his ten living children. He was laid away aft er sincer e and appropriate ceremonies eulogizing him as a true Latter-da y Saint , a brave and energetic pioneer, a kind and faithful father and h usband . A fried and neighbor who truly loved his fellow men. His remains rest beneath a marble stone near the state Highway one mi l e north of Junction, In Pauite County.