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 and they settled in the Mormon settlements in western Iowa. In 1849, they joined the Ezra T. Benson Company which began its journey from the outfitting post in Kanesville (modern Council Bluffs), Iowa. Departing in mid-July, they were in the midst of the very heavy overland travel occasioned by the California Gold Rush.

The Mormon Trail

Outbreaks of cholera caused numerous deaths on the overland trail that season. They passed the usual milestones on the trail: Fort Kearney, the South Fork of the Platte River, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, Green River, Fort Bridger, Bear River, and Weber River. After suffering the usual hardships of overland trail they arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in late October.

Move to Southern Utah

Harrison was in the original company of colonists sent in Little Salt Lake Valley of southern Utah. Also in the company were Thomas Cartwright, 36, William H. Dame, 31, George Hunter, 22, Nephi Johnson, 17, John D. Lee, 39, Carl Shirts, 15, and Robert Wiley, 41.

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, Harrison, George A. Smith and William Dame were delegates from Iron County to the territorial legislature. Because of concerns about Indian hostilities, they were accompanied by an armed guard. 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.

Superintendent of the Ironworks

The Early Ironworks in Cedar City

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 implements. 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. After 1855, the ironworks began to decline. One problem was the fickle nature of Coal Creek, which continued to alternate between flooding and droughts. They determined to develop a more dependable source of power.

The Ironworks in 1857

In April 1857, the delivery of a new steam engine from Great Salt Lake City seemed to provide the answer. Working from April to June they installed the steam engine and completed the new engine house. In the first week of July, they were ready to begin smelting. They “put on the blast” and had a modicum of success. But they continued to be plagued with problems ranging from poor quality raw materials to smelting equipment that lacked technical sophistication. When in late July the steam engine seized with sand from the dirty creek water, they speedily dug a reservoir to store a supply of clean water for the boiler. They continued making smelting runs through August. All the while crews at the ironworks manned all the necessary functions there, while other crews, mainly miners and teamsters, gathered the raw materials – iron ore, coal, limestone, and wood – necessary to sustain smelting.

The smelting continued until September 13. In other words, around September 3, when a dispute arose between some settlers and several men in the passing Arkansas company, the blast furnace was running nonstop. And when Cedar City militiamen, many of them ironworkers, mustered to Mountain Meadows where they were involved in the massacre on September 11, other ironworkers in Cedar City continued the smelting runs night and day. For additional details, see Smelting at the Ironworks in 1857.

From late April to September, those working up the canyon in mining or hauling wood, coal, limestone, rock, sand or “adobies” to the ironworks were Isaac C. Haight, James Williamson, George Hunter, Joseph H. Smith, Ira Allen, Ellott Wilden, Swen Jacobs, Alex Loveridge, Joel White, Ezra Curtis, Samuel McMurdie, Samuel Pollock, John Jacobs, John M. Higbee, John M. Macfarlane, Samuel Jewkes, Nephi Johnson, Thomas Cartwright, William Bateman, Elias Morris, Benjamin Arthur, Joseph H. Smith, Robert Wiley, and Philip Klingensmith. Those working at the ironworks on the furnace, engine, coke ovens or blacksmith shop included Elias Morris, John Humphries, Ira Allen, John Urie, Benjamin Arthur, James Williamson, Joseph H. Smith, Samuel Jewkes, Joseph Clews, Richard Harrison, William C. Stewart, William Bateman, John M Macfarlane, John M. Higbee, John Jacobs, George Hunter, Samuel Pollock, William S. Riggs, Alex Loveridge, Ellott Wilden, Ezra Curtis, Eliezar Edwards, Swen Jacobs, Joel White, and Thomas Cartwright. (The two lists overlap because some worked both in the canyon and at the Ironworks.) Other prominent figures at the ironworks who were not later involved at Mountain Meadows were Samuel Leigh, George Horton, James H. Haslem, Laban Morrell, John Chatterley, Thomas Gower, Thomas Crowther and others.

Harrison's Role at the Ironworks in 1857

During this period of 1857, Harrison performed numerous tasks at the ironworks. In mid-June, he shingled the blacksmith shop, following which he was "Clearing out [the] Casting Hous[e] & old Trial Furnace." The following week, he was a moulder of the cupola, or small furnace. Next, he worked on beam supports near the new engine. Returning to the cupula, he worked as a moulder for several days. Early in July he "fitted up" the cylinders of the steam engine. At mid-month, he was part of a small team who spent more than five days each on the steam engine. In late July, he worked as a carpenter. In early August, he joined the large crew of more than 40 men in building a reservoir for a reliable water supply for the steam engine. In mid-August, he spent a day making a wagon box for the coal mine.

The majority of the southern Utah militiamen at Mountain Meadows were from Cedar City. Of these, nearly all of them had worked at the Ironworks or supplied raw materials to it. Indeed, in the weeks before the Mountain Meadows Massacre, they had worked intensely together, hauling materials, building a new water reservoir, and making the latest run of the blast furnace. One perennial mystery of the massacre has been why the militiamen mustered to Mountain Meadows in “broken” militia units; that is, from different platoons and companies, none of which had a full compliment of its members. Perhaps the reason lies with the Ironworks. Those in the Ironworks knew each other and had worked alongside one another. Not only was Richard Harrison acquainted with those who mustered from Cedar City to Mountain Meadows, he had worked with them at the Ironworks. Perhaps the answer is that the men of the Ironworks were on hand and available and Isaac Haight, who himself had worked closely with them, assigned them to muster to Mountain Meadows.

In the Iron Military District: 2nd Lieutenant Richard Harrison, Company E, Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion

In 1857, the Southern Indian Mission were headquartered at Fort Clara on the lower Santa Clara River near modern-day St. George, Utah. It was part of the Iron Military District which consisted of four battalions led by regimental commander Col. William H. Dame. The platoons and companies in the first battalion drew on men in and around Parowan. (It had no involvement at Mountain Meadows.) Major Isaac Haight commanded the 2nd Battalion whose personnel in its many platoons and two companies came from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the north such as Fort Johnson. Major John Higbee headed the 3rd Battalion whose many platoons and two companies were drawn from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the southwest such as Fort Hamilton. Major John D. Lee of Fort Harmony headed the 4th Battalion whose platoons and companies drew on its militia personnel from Fort Harmony, the Southerners at the newly-founded settlement in Washington, the Indian interpreters at Fort Clara, and the new settlers at Pinto.

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, who was also one of the chief masons in the ironworks. Morris's company was attached to the 2nd Battalion under Major Isaac C. Haight. See A Basic Account for a full description of the massacre.

According to John D. Lee, Harrison arrived at Mountain Meadows with a militia contingent from Cedar City.

On Thursday evening, September 10, Lee identified Harrison and many others from Cedar City who attended the war council on the grounds of Mountain Meadows.

On Friday, September 11, many members of the militia contingent from Cedar City acted as guards alongside the emigrant men as they marched northward from their fortified position inside the wagon circle. As the massacre commenced, the duty of the guards was to wheel and fire on the emigrant men, quickly dispatching them. Yet during the actual massacre, reactions varied among the guards. Some shrank from their duty, others fired over the heads of their victims, while others still undertook their bloody duty with zeal. Within minutes, members of the Cedar City unit had killed all but three of the emigrant men. However, whether Harrison was in this guard unit and if so, how he acted during the massacre will probably never be known with any certainty.

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 ironworks, formed the Union Iron Works at Old Irontown (Iron City), west of Cedar City. Harrison, Adams and their small crew labored for three years on their steam-powered blast furnace and associated equipment. In April 1871, they made their first successful run, producing 800 pounds of iron every eight hours. It was a promising start and reportedly more successful than they had experienced at the Cedar City Ironworks. Harrison 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 died 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; Bagley, Blood of the Prophets, 159; Bigler and Bagley, Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives, 69, 70 fn. 14; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries, 147; Bradshaw, ed., Under Dixie Sun, 216; Brooks, Journal of the Southern Indian Mission, 17, 18, 32, 70, 84; Fish, Mormon Migrations, 283; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 232, 379; Lee Trial transcripts; Seegmiller, A History of Iron County, 53, fn.32, 238, 321, 323; 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; Turley and Walker, Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Jenson and Morris Collections, 107, 119, 223; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C; Youngberg, Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers, "Richard Harrison," 1025.

For full bibliographic information see Bibliography.

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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