Richard Harrison
Richard Harrison, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Richard Harrison
1808-1882
Biographical Sketch
Richard Harrison was a native of Worchestershire in the West Midlands, England who immigrated to the United States and was a pioneer in southern Utah.
Early Years in the West Midlands, England
Harrison was born in 1808 at Dudley, Worcestershire, England, the son of William and Elizabeth Baker Harrison. In 1836, he married Mary Ann Whitaker (1811-1898). He joined the Mormon church in Liverpool in 1840. During this time, Harrison worked as superintendent of Great Britain's largest iron foundry in Liverpool. He and Mary Ann had several children while in England but evidently they all died in childhood.
Immigration to America and onto Illinois
In 1843, the Harrisons immigrated to America and joined their coreligionists in the main Mormon center in western Illinois. They lived through the assassination of the Mormon leader, Joseph Smith in 1844, and the rising unrest between Mormons and the original settlers of the area in 1845-46.
Migration to Utah
In 1846, the new Mormon leader, Brigham Young, determined to evacuate their settlements in Illinois. The Harrisons joined the Mormon exodus from Illinois that eventually took them to Utah Territory in 1849.
Move to Southern Utah
Harrison was one of the original settlers in Little Salt Lake Valley of southern Utah. In 1851, Harrison was 43, his wife, Mary Ann, 39, and they had two children, John, 5 and Mary Ann, 10 months. He was in the first Cedar City choir conducted by Robert Wiley and was appointed as one of four original aldermen. The following year, he was appointed one of the school trustees. In 1854-55, he represented Iron County in the territorial legislature.
Superintendent of the Ironworks
Richard Harrison's main occupation in Cedar City was as one of the ironworkers. He was the first one listed in Henry Lunt's early list of "iron men". In May 1852, he was appointed superintendent of the initial ironworks and began plans for constructing the iron operation. With the help of others, Harrison began construction of a blast furnace, foundry, pattern shop, coke and charcoal ovens, waterwheel and other structures. When the ironworks was reorganized, Harrison became superintendent of the moulding department. His speciality as moulder was reheating iron and forging it into useful items. He was a shareholder in the enterprise and in 1853, he became a member of the newly-formed iron council.
When the so-called Noble furnace was constructed in summer 1854, Harrison worked all summer as a carpenter. They had some successes with this furnace, but they also experienced damaging blowouts that required much time, manpower and resources to repair.
From the beginning, the ironworkers were dogged by competing priorities of investing means and manpower into the ironworks -- which produced no immediate return on investment -- versus raising grain and foodstuffs. They were tasked with building the former, but they could not survive without the latter. Frequently, there was a clash of personalities over these and other priorities. In the early years, they went at their task with great determination. But as the failures and technical challenges mounted, so did their sense of frustration and discouragement. By 1855, the ironworks began to decline. In summary, Harrison was an experienced ironworker who made innovations in iron casting, but the iron foundry was beset by technological problems and was never fully successful.
In 1855, he took a plural wife by marrying a widow, Jane Fryer Jorden (1823-1896), and in the coming years they had eight children.
In the Iron Military District: 2nd Lieutenant Richard Harrison, Company E, Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion
In September 1857, Richard Harrison, 49, was a 2nd Lt. in one of the platoons in Company E. Fellow ironworker Robert Wiley was sergeant of the same platoon. Company E was commanded by Captain Elias Morris, also a skilled laborer in the ironworks. Morris's company was attached to the 2nd Battalion under Major Isaac C. Haight. John D. Lee maintained that Harrison was recruited to Mountain Meadows during the week of September 7-11, and attended the military council on Thursday, September 10. His exact role in the massacre the following day is unknown.
In Judge John Cradlebaugh's 1859 arrest warrant, Richard Harrison was listed as simply "Harrison". John D. Lee and his attorney William Bishop both referred to Harrison in Mormonism Unveiled, Lee's autobiography posthumously published in 1877.
Leaving Cedar City for Pinto
Meanwhile, in Cedar City in 1858, there were some final efforts at iron production, but after these failed the ironworks was closed. Harrison remained in Iron County but in 1860, the Harrisons were among the many who abandoned Cedar City. They relocated to nearby Pinto, halfway between Cedar City and Mountain Meadows.
Starting the Union Iron Works
In 1868, Harrison and David Adams, the chief furnace master of the earlier iron works, formed the Union Iron Works at Old Irontown (Iron City), west of Cedar City. He served for many years as a superintendent at these new ironworks. They operated a small blast furnace and several coke ovens on Pinto Creek. The pig iron they produced was shipped to the stamp mills in Bullion, Nevada. Ultimately, however, this enterprise failed for the same reason as the earlier one, lack of high-grade iron ore and coal.
Final Years
Harrison remained in Pinto until March 1882 when he passed away at the age of 73. He was survived by his two wives and children.
In 2009, a statue of Richard Harrison was unveiled in downtown Cedar City to honor his role as a founder of the Iron Mission and his contributions to early iron production in Utah.
References
Arrington, "Planning an Iron Industry for Utah, 1851-1858," Huntington Library Quarterly, 21:3 (May 1958), 237-260; Mormon Manuscripts to 1846: Guide to Lee Library; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries, 147; Seegmiller, A History of Iron County, 53, fn 32, 238, 321, 323; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 232, 379; Lee Trial transcripts; Shirts and Shirts, A Trial Furnace, 51, 123, 150, 156, 178-79, 210, 213, 215-18, 223-226, 228, 230, 234, 240-41, 243-46, 261, 264, 267-68, 270, 272, 302, 304-5, 308, 313-14 fn. 66, 349, 355, 401, 406 fn. 84, 432, 452, 462, 483, 495; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C; Youngberg, Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers, "Richard Harrison," 1025.
External Links
For further information on Richard Harrison, see:
- Harrison diary: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~schick/ knell/richardharrison.htm
- Harrison journey from England to Illinois: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ ~schick/knell/adventure.html
- Deseret Iron Company Account Book, 1854-1867: http://www.footnote.com/document/241905844/
- Unveiling statue of Richard Harrison: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12978307
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