BRIEF BITS ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS
Thomas Harris and Ann Williams and their sons,
Thomas, Micah and Dan
Harris Reunion—July 19, 1980
It is our desire to prepare a short excerpt to
better acquaint “Our family members, the Thomas Harris descendants” with the
beautiful countryside in and about Henefer as the
Ancestral home of the Harrises.
We base a great deal of our information on the
book “Henefer, Our Valley Home,” written by Fannie J.
Richens and Maxine Wright.
In the shadow of the beautiful Wasatch
Mountains is nestled the little city of Henefer. The
broad Weber River flowing peacefully on, is lined on
either side with towering cottonwood trees and willows. The rolling hills to
the eastward form a beautiful scene both summer and winter.
It was to this beautiful valley that Thomas
Harris brought his family in the 1850's/ He and his
wife joined the Mormon Church in Wales and left England to sail to America in
1854. They were nearly 9 weeks on the ocean, and Thomas waited on his whole
family who were desperately seasick. Ot
the 8 children born up to that time only 3 boys, Thomas, Micah, and Dan had
survived. They spent several years in Nebraska on their way to Utah. While
there, a daughter, Eldora Ann, was born, but she lived only 3 years. The whole
family worked hard wherever they lived. Thomas Sr. dug wells, and the boys,
Thomas and Micah learned to drive teams and freight before they were fourteen.
Shortly after the family arrived in Utah,
Thomas built a little log home for his family, then left to go to Montana to
work in the Gold Fields to make money to support them.
Thomas William Harris was born in Wales in
1844, the oldest son of Thomas Sr. and Ann Williams. He made his home in Henefer. He married Catherine Davis 28 March 1870 in Salt
Lake City. It seems that Tom had a love for good horses and always kept a
beautiful team that he freely used for special occasions. He freighted and
brought supplies to Henefer for some of the local
stores. Thomas’ wife, Catherine, died while still a young woman, leaving him
with a family of boys to raise. He owned a farm and
several teams of horses, thus providing plenty of work for his growing boys.
Thomas always kept one team close at hand so that when a death occurred in the
settlement he was ever ready to carry the dead to the final resting place. For
many years Mr. Harris was the “hearse” and funeral coachman of Henefer. It was very ironic, but in 1927, the very team
which had so carefully carried many people to the cemetery caused the death of
Thomas Harris. He was reaching down from a load of hay to gather the driving
lines and fell to the ground. The team became frightened and ran away causing
his death.
Micah Francis Harris, 2nd son of Thomas and
Ann Williams to come to America was born 3 Aug 1848, Nanty Glow, Monmouthshire, South Wales. He married Mary Jane Bond 15
Jan 1868 on her 18th birthday. Four of their first five children died in
infancy, four little boys, and are buried in a row in the Henefer
cemetery. By the time Mary Jane was 20, she had born
and buried two baby boys. Mary Jane died in 1910. Later Micah married Mrs. Agnes
C. Peterson (Jones). She preceded him in death 3 years.
Micah Francis and Mary Jane had been married
only a year and a half when another tragedy entered their lives. It was about
the time of the Pacific Railroad came in to Utah. Brigham Young had the main
contract from Evanston, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah. This meant a great deal for the
Mormon Pioneers. Micah and three other young men were cutting ties for the
railroad and were camped high up on the west mountains
near the timber belt. There was a large snowdrift where they camped, and Micah
had to move their camp and belongings up over the snowdrift in to better
timber. He was obliged to make several trips since he had to carry everything
on his back. On one trip, he had a bundle of several items and also a loaded
rifle. He did very well and was making real progress, when his foot slipped,
and he, with his pack went tumbling down over the snowdrift and hit the bottom
with terrific force. For some reason, the gun was discharged and the bullet
struck Micah squarely on the chin. His chin bone was pulverized, his jaws were
broken, and he had but one tooth left in his mouth. It required days to get him
to a doctor in Salt Lake City. There were months of recuperation and
convalescence, and when he was finally dismissed by the doctor,
his mouth was so badly deformed that he had to learn to talk all over again.
Joe says of his father, “During the many years I knew him best, he was a large
man and he worked like a horse and never did try to crawl out of anything because
of his misfortunes.” He continued, “I never remember hearing him complain
because of his handicaps. He took them in regular stride and made the best of
every situation. If there were not another thing to my dad’s credit, I would
still regard him as one of the greatest heroes I have ever known. As to you who
carry the blood of this good man in your veins, I sincerely trust you can
develop a feeling of kinship that will increase your pride in such a noble
ancestor.”
In 1876 Micah Francis Harris went on a mission
to Iowa and Nebraska. He was the 3rd missionary to go from Henefer.
Micah’s son, George, left for a mission to the southern states in 1898. Micah’s
son, Joseph, left for a mission to Great Britain in 1900.
Micah was ordained Bishop of the Henefer ward by Apostle Reed Smoot, May 25, 1901. He was
ordained a patriarch May 9, 1915.
By 1900 the church building in Henefer became inadequate. In 1908 Bishop Micah F. Harris
and his counselors, William Richens and Alma E. Richens had the old building
torn down under their direction, and a new frame building was commenced. The
old one was brick. Most of the labor was contributed. The foundation was made of
cement manufactured at Devil’s Slide. Cement was mixed by hand,
the rough lumber was hauled from Kamas, and the finished lumber from Salt Lake
City. W.H. Branch and son William did the plastering and traveled by horse and
buggy from Coalville every day to finish the job. The
beautiful finishing of the wood throughout was done with a graining tool by
Harry Coblin (Harry the Painter). The building was
spacious and beautiful. It consisted of one large room for congregational
meetings and a wing built on either side with a second story each. This extra
space was used for class rooms. The tall windoes were
topped with stained glass of beautiful shades of green. The wings had six
folding doors which could be opened and used as part of the chapel when
overflow crowds made it necessary. The building was heated with a coal furnace
which was installed in a small basement. Every family contributed to the Sunday
eggs to be sold to Mr. Cromar and the money was used
to buy nails for the building. The building was at first topped with a belfry,
but it did not have a bell. Years later a bolt of lightning
struck the belfry tearing one corner away so the whole belfry was removed and
the roof was remodeled and repaired by Josiah B. Raylor
and William H. Brewer. The Relief Society organization encouraged all
ward members to save their worn clothing and any other kind of fabric they could
find. They material was torn in strips and sewed together. Mrs. Matilda Francis
was hired to weave 50 yards of carpet for which she received 25 cents per yard.
The long strips were laid down the aisles on either side and in front of the
chapel.
The seats used in the chapel told a story all
their own. The building was all finished and ready for dedication but there
were no seats and no money to buy any. Bishop Harris said he had been to the
Presiding Bishop’s Office so many times that he hesitated to go any more;
however, he made one more trip and presented his problem again. He talked at
great length with Bishop John M. Wells without reaching any decision, then Brother Wells suddenly arose and said, “Bishop Harris,
you stay here until I come back. I have an idea.” Bishop harris waited patiently but after two hours had
passed, he decided to leave. Just as he was walking to the door Brother Wells rushed
in to the room and said, “Come with me.” Bishop Harris followed and he was led
to the basement to the great Temple. There he saw row upon row of long seats
stacked upon each other. There were the seats that had been used at the time
the Temple was dedicated and had not been used since that time. Bishop Wells
presented them to Bishop Harris as a gift to the Henefer
ward from the presiding authorities. Bishop Harris was overjoyed. He felt sure
that this was a direct answer to his prayers to his Father in Heaven for aid
and guidance.
The next problem facing him was how to get the
seats from Salt Lake City to Henefer. They were heavy
and cumbersome, but someone suggested they use teams and hay racks and in a
matter of a few weeks the seats were placed in the meeting house in Henefer. About 100 seats were needed to fill the chapel and
two wings. The backs and arms were stained and varnished while the seats were
padded and covered with red plush. At last the building was finished. It was
dedicated by Apostle George F. Richards May 7, 1911.
President M.W. Taylor said that Bishop Micah
F. Harris would have the honor of making the first speech in the new
meetinghouse. Bishop Harris said he felt it an honor to do so. He welcomed all
in their visit to Henefer Ward and said they intended
to have the meetinghouse dedicated during the conference. He spoke of the work
that had been accomplished by the people of Henefer
in the past five years. They had built an amusement hall, waterworks and the
meetinghouse, and he appreciated the blessings of the Lord that had come to
them.
Micah’s youngest son, Hyrum went to England on
a mission in 1909.
March 24, 1907 Mary Jane Harris was sustained
president of the Henefer Ward Relief Society with
Jane Beard and Myra Beard counselors.
Originally Micah had the name of Micah only,
which he received as a child. After he became successful in business some other
person with a similar name used to receive and open his mail. In order to
protect his interests and avoid confusion, he obtained permission from the
courts to add the name of Francis, which became his legal name for the
remainder of his life.
A great many of our Harris relatives are
buried in the Henefer cemetery. The cemetery is a
very beautiful place in the spring of the year. Flowers such as buttercups, sun
flowers, bluebells, lady slippers, and sego lilies bloom everywhere.
As we look at the little valley of Henefer today with its beautiful well-kept homes and all
the conveniences modern inventions have brought it is not easy to picture it as
it was one hundred years ago. When the first pioneers brought their families to
make a new home the entire valley was covered with sagebrush.
