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Show Farnswort h let t ers are donated BYU establishes collection Descendants of Moses F. Farnsworth, one of the first recorders in the St. George LDS Temple and the first in the Manti Temple, have donated several of his journals, letters and photographs to Brigham Young University to establish the Moses ' Franklin Farnsworth Memorial Collection. Sterling J. Albrecht, director of libraries at BYU, said the collection contains priceless materials, including an unpublished history of Manti and an alphabetical list of Idaho and Utah Mormons who were imprisoned lor polygamy, along with a list of code names used by local polygamists to communicate with each other. The collection also contains an early stamp collection and one of the first published genealogies in Utah. "We are very grateful to receive these valuable historical materials," Albrecht said. "They add to our knowledge of Utah history and give an important im-portant personal touch to historical records." They were donated by Alma Rasmussen, Ruby Rasmussen, Raymond B. Farnsworth, Cynthia Lehman representing the Floyd Hase family, Nola Heppler and Melvin F. Hase. The gift includes only part of the full collection of journals and letters handed down to family members. Raymond Farnsworth is now acting as curator of the collection for the family. Those contibuting the materials hope that other family members will uncover more of Farn-sworth's Farn-sworth's records and add them to the collection. Moses Farnsworth came to Utah in 1853 and joined the LDS Church in 1854. His journals tell of the Johnston's Army campaign in 1857 and the settlement to Kanab, including the Kanab fire that destroyed many homes in that area. In 1877, LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff sent Farnsworth Farn-sworth to serve as recorder of the St. George Temple, telling him, "Put your trust in God, work without wages, and we will do the best we can for you and your family." While working as recorder, Farnsworth hand-ruled many of the early temple forms as he helped to organize the records. He later became the first recorder in the Manti Temple. His brothers, Philo T. and Steven M. Farnsworth, Farn-sworth, and sisters, Laura F. Owens, Lydia Mayhew and Louisa Caroline Shipp, were also prominent in early Utah settlement. Farnsworth was a prolific writer and kept many journals, letters, photos of early Utah and other valuable historical materials that were handed down to his descendants who are prominent in agriculture, science, education, inventing in-venting and Church leadership. |