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Biography

Martha Ann Smith Harris was born 14 May 1841 in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, United States to Hyrum Smith (1800-1844) and Mary Fielding (1801-1852) and died 19 October 1923 Provo, Utah County, Utah, United States of unspecified causes. She married William Jasper Harris (1836-1909) 21 April 1857 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah.

Martha Ann Smith was the youngest daughter of Hyrum Smith (1800-1844), 2nd Patriarch and early martyr of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her brother, Joseph Fielding Smith (1838-1918), later became 6th President of the Church. Much of her life is portrayed in the official Church History Saints Vol II.

After crossing the plains as a little girl with mother, The family settled south of Salt Lake City, and Mary died of a lung infection in the fall of 1852. Joseph had fainted when he learned about her death.40 For a time, he and his younger sister, Martha Ann, lived on a farm with a kind woman, but she died too. Their aunt Mercy Thompson then took care of Martha Ann while apostle George A. Smith, their father’s cousin, took Joseph under his wing.[1]

Life in Salt Lake Valley

Around the time the Cannons left for California, thirteen-year-old Martha Ann Smith received a letter from her older brother Joseph F. Smith in Hawaii. “I am well and hearty,” he wrote cheerfully, “and have grown considerably since you saw me last.”

Whether he meant that his growth was physical or spiritual, Joseph did not say. He seemed far more interested in dispensing brotherly advice to his younger sister than in describing his new life as a missionary in the Pacific.

“I could give you much counsel, Marty, that would be beneficial to you as long as you live upon this earth,” he declared grandly. He encouraged her to listen to her older siblings and not fight with her sisters. “Be sober and prayerful,” he advised her, “and you will grow up in the footsteps of your mother.”14

Martha Ann appreciated her brother’s advice. She had been just eleven years old when her mother died, but her memories remained vivid. Growing up, Martha Ann had rarely seen her widowed mother smile. In fact, if Martha Ann or her siblings ever made their mother laugh, they considered it quite an accomplishment. Yet Mary had been a loving mother, and Martha Ann’s world now seemed empty without her.

Martha Ann had fewer memories of her father, Hyrum Smith. She had been only three when he died, but she still recalled a time when her mother had made him a pair of trousers. After he put them on, he had walked proudly back and forth with his hands in his pockets. She remembered him being loving, kind, and affectionate with his children.15

Soon after the Smith family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, they had settled along a creek not far from a canyon southeast of the city, and they worked together to establish a farm. A few years later, they and their neighbors were organized into the Sugar House Ward under the leadership of Bishop Abraham Smoot, one of Wilford Woodruff’s earliest converts. The ward took its name from the Church-owned factory in the area, which Bishop Smoot operated to produce molasses from beets.16

Martha Ann and her siblings supported each other as new trials came their way. The mild winter of 1854–55 had created drought conditions across Utah Territory, which depended on runoff from heavy mountain snowfall to replenish its streams and rivers. The drought strained Martha Ann’s family as it did everyone else. As weeks passed and little rain fell, the land in the valley grew drier, killing crops the Saints had planted earlier that year. Irrigation ditches started to dry out and crack.17

To make matters worse, hordes of grasshoppers infested the settlements, devouring the meager crops and ruining the prospects for a good harvest. The Saints in Sugar House and other settlements tried to plant more seeds, but the drought made cultivation difficult, and the grasshoppers kept coming. [2]

Relatives of Martha

In the spring, Martha Ann had begun living with her older brother John and his family, and her new home provided opportunities for personal improvement. As much as Martha Ann liked John, she did not care for his wife, Hellen, or his in-laws. “They will tell lies behind my back and make fun of your sisters and call them liars,” she confided in a letter to Joseph. Knowing Joseph might scold her for speaking ill of family, she added, “If you should know them as well as I do, you would not blame me.”26

That summer, however, a letter from the East drew Martha Ann’s attention away from family squabbles. Lovina, her oldest sister, wrote that she was finally moving to the valley with her husband and four children. Almost immediately, John headed east to bring them supplies and help them on the trail.

Martha Ann and her sisters expected John to come with Lovina and her family in one of the handcart or wagon companies arriving that fall. But when the first companies arrived that season, John and Lovina were not among them. In fact, news of their whereabouts did not come until the third handcart company arrived in early October.

“The handcart company has come into the valley,” Martha Ann informed Joseph, “and they said that the company that John is in is three weeks behind.” They had no news about Lovina and her family. [3]

William Harris

Joseph also learned more about the reformation in letters from his sister Martha Ann. “I have been baptized and am commencing to live my religion,” she wrote in February. “I am just beginning to see my faults and mend my ways.” After months of feuding with Hellen, Martha Ann had finally made peace with her sister-in-law.10 “The folks are reforming, and they treat me well now,” Martha Ann told Joseph. “We are all good friends.”11

With many young people in her ward getting married, Martha Ann wondered if it was time for her to marry as well. She was secretly in love with William Harris, the stepson of Bishop Abraham Smoot. “My hand trembles when I say love, but it is so, very so,” she confided to Joseph. “He is a good young man and has gained my affections.”

She pleaded with her brother to keep the secret. “Do not say anything about it in any of your letters except mine,” she wrote, “and tell me what you think about it.” William would soon be leaving on a mission to Europe, however, which Martha Ann considered a sore trial. “I am getting over it now; that is, I am striving to overcome it,” she lamented in her letter. “I suppose it is all good.”12 [4]

A Hasty Marriage

As tensions increased between the Saints and the United States government, Martha Ann Smith prepared to say goodbye to William Harris, who would soon be leaving for the European mission. Martha Ann expected to marry William when he returned home. On the day he met with the First Presidency to be set apart for his mission, she helped his mother, Emily Smoot, prepare his belongings for the journey.

As they worked, William burst into the room. “Get your sunbonnet, Martha, and come on,” he said. While setting William apart, Brigham Young had suggested that William bring Martha Ann to the city and marry her before leaving for Europe. Startled, Martha Ann turned to Emily. “What shall I do? What shall I do?” she asked. “Honey,” said Emily, “put on the calico dress and go on.”

Martha Ann quickly changed into her calico dress and climbed into the wagon beside William. They were married in the Endowment House, and Martha Ann moved in with William and the Smoot family. Two days later, William loaded his belongings into a handcart and left the valley in a company of seventy other missionaries.27

When the missionaries arrived in New York City several weeks later, William was astonished by the hostility many people felt toward the Saints. “We hear all kinds of abuse about the Mormons and the authorities of the Church,” he wrote Joseph F. Smith, his new brother-in-law. “The topic of conversation is Utah, Utah in every newspaper that you see. They say that they are going to send out a governor for Utah and troops, and he will enforce the law of the United States, set the women at liberty, and if old Young resists, hang him up by the neck.”28[5]





Children


Offspring of William Jasper Harris (1836-1909) and Martha Ann Smith Harris
Name Birth Death Joined with
William Jasper Harris (1859-1926)
Joseph Albert Harris (1861-1911)
Hyrum Smith Harris (1863-1924)
Mary Emily Harris (1865-1947)
Franklin Hill Harris (1867-1947)
Lucy Smith Harris (1870-1903)
John Fielding Harris (1872-1946)
Mercy Ann Harris (1874-1905)
Zina Christine Harris (1876-1958)
Martha Artemissa Harris (1879-1965)
Sarah Lovina Harris (1882-1961)



Siblings


Offspring of Hyrum Smith (1800-1844) and Jerusha Barden (1805-1837)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Lovina Smith (1827-1876) 16 September 1827 Manchester, Ontario County, New York, United States 8 October 1876 Farmington, Davis County, Utah, United States Lorin Edwin Walker (1822-1907)
Mary Smith (1829-1832) 27 June 1829 Manchester, Ontario County, New York, United States 29 May 1832 Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio, United States
John Smith (1832-1911) 22 September 1832 Kirtland, Ohio, United States 6 November 1911 Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Helen Mariah Fisher (1835-1907)
Nancy Melissa Lemon (1833-1915)
Hyrum Smith (1834-1841) 27 April 1834 Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio 21 September 1841 Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois
Jerusha Smith (1836-1912) 13 January 1836 Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio, United States 27 June 1912 Harper, Box Elder County, Utah, United States John William Peirce (1833-1908)
Sarah Smith (1837-1876) 2 October 1837 Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio, United States 6 November 1876 Ogden, Weber County, Utah, United States Charles Emerson Griffin (1836-1900)


Offspring of Hyrum Smith (1800-1844) and Mary Fielding (1801-1852)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Joseph Fielding Smith (1838-1918) 13 November 1838 Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, United States 19 November 1918 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States Levira Annette Clark Smith (1842-1888)
Julina Lambson (1849-1936)
Sarah Ellen Richards (1850-1915)
Edna Lambson (1851-1926)
Alice Ann Kimball (1858-1946)
Mary Taylor Schwartz (1865-1956)
Martha Ann Smith (1841-1923) 14 May 1841 Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, United States 19 October 1923 Provo, Utah County, Utah, United States William Jasper Harris (1836-1909)



See Also

  • Martha Smith
  • Smith in Hancock County, Illinois
  • Smith in Salt Lake County, Utah
  • Smith in Utah County, Utah




Footnotes (including sources)

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