OCR Text |
Show r-r Citizen - Thursday, August 4, 1983 - Page 12 The Martin Harris Story Family What began as a family history has turned into what may well be the most complete story of Martin Haris, a witness to the Book of Mormon, ever written. Authored by Madge Harris Tuckett and Belle Harris Wilson, both of American Fork, "The Martin Harris Story" is "unquestionably the fullest, most intimate account of Martin Harris, who witnessed the revelation, growth and persecution of the early (LDS) Church." Also included in the volume are accounts of the lives of Emer Harris and Dennison Lott Harris. Mrs. Tuckett and Mrs. Wilson are great-granddaughters great-granddaughters of Emer Harris - a brother to Martin. The book is now available from either Mrs. Tuckett or Mrs. Wilson for $9.50. "When we started writing the volume, it was going to be a family history - then it just grew and grew as we did research," Mrs. Tuckett laughed. "We were into it before we realized it. It grew without us knowing it." The book is not only about Martin Harris, but tells of the early history of the LDS Church as Martin became acquainted with the church through his friendship with the family of Joseph Smith, Sr. and the Prophet Joseph Smith. It tells of Martin's conversion to the church, of his acting as the first scribe to the Prophet, of the sacrifices he made for the church -losing not only his home, but also his wife and family. The volume also tells of Martin Harris' witnessing "the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon," and "his never denying his testimony of the truthfulness," Mrs. Wilson added. Mrs. Tuckett and her husband, Eugene, spent an LDS Mission serving in the Martin Harris Home Police Beat Police warn of 'cat burglar' Several American Fork residences have been broken into recently by what police describe as a "cat burglar" - a person who breaks in during the night while the owners are home and asleep. The break-ins have all occurred between midnight and 7 a.m., according ac-cording to Lt. John Durrant of the American Fork Police Department, who is directing the investigation. Lt. Durrant said during a period of five nights, four homes were entered, and the burglar was scared away in at least two instances. All were in the area of Center Street and Second and Third North, and the Columbia Village area. Lt. Durrant said the burglar enters a home either by cutting the screen door and reaching in to unlock the lock, cutting the screen on a window and crawling through, or by "just plain opening the unlocked door and going in." He urged people to lock their doors and to be on alert for anyone suspicious in the neighborhood any hour of the day or night. "We'd rather check out a false alarm, than investigate the burglary itself," he stated. Lt. Durrant said items taken have included wallets and purses - one on a night stand right next to where the resident was sleeping. "What scares us is not how much or what the individual is taking, because it is never very much cash, but what could happen if the home owner should wake up and startle the burglar," officers said. "We are really worried from the safety point of view," Lt. Durrant said. Shoot out investigated American Fork Police are investigating in-vestigating the shooting out of autc windows during the past weekend. Lt. John Durrant, assistant chief, said the windshields of three vehicles parked in the area of First West were shot out during the past week. Damage was done with B.B. guns, he said, and cost of replacing the windshields is estimated at $650. Stop Signs Damaged Also over the past weekend, 10 stop signs and two yield signs were knocked over in American Fork City, according to police records. Damage to the signs was estimated at $600, as each had to be replaced. Lt. Durrant said the signs appeared ap-peared to have been knocked over with a vehicle, and were broken beyond repair. The signs were located in various parts of the community. Police said the danger in knocking the signs down is it might cause a fatal accident if a motorist should go through the intersection and not see a vehicle coming the other direction. history becomes i a J ' r- 3 "A " y s :y. I 1 ,-r.... . iam- AUTHORS-Mrs. Eugene (Madge) Wilson, autograph copies of their The book is available from them at in Palmyra and became acquainted with the area. Information gathered here was added to information she and Mrs. Wilson gained through research through the historical department of the LDS Church, at family reunions, and through geneology work. "Our grandfather remembered Martin Harris and grew up knowing him first hand. Many of these stories and information about him was passed on to family members," Mrs. Tuckett stateH r f V. : " f 11 v y ;vtrl V r : ' f "r j Jr.;. ' ' Y"Z '4'" ' 1 '' , J -sliF ,... ' 1 i I r. - j i f - tx v , ,3 t - f 'I mmn f v. v '" "S' J V ' ' L if hi , vry: ' i J i- c-1 . .. VJL''"'t ii - I f ' .-! - - ' J We care about you Tuckett, left, and her sister. Belle H. new book, "The Martin Harris Story." their American Fork residences. "There is a lot of early church history incorporated in the book -and everything we have in it is documented - it is not surmissing or guessing what might have happened," the sisters stated. They said they have been collecting material all of their lives, but have been working seriously on the book itself for the past three years. There are also included many early pictures, such as those of the Kirtland (Ohio) home of Martin 4We Know Quick Service" Randy, Ted (Burt) and Stephen Barratt know how important quick service is to their lumber and hardware customers. "The bank's quick loan service is a big advantage. We don't have to wait, we walk out of the bank knowing what to do. That's why we'd recommend our bank to anyone." book Harris, early barges, the Hill Cumorah without foliage on it, and others. "It is really Mormon history from Palmyra to Salt Lake City, and we've written it in a way that is understandable and readable by even the children," Mrs. Tuckett said. "We feel it has really been a spiritual experience in writing the book because of the way information in-formation would come to us just when we had given up on finding something, on pictures becoming available to us," Mrs. Tuckett said. The sisters grew up in Payson and each received a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University. After graduating from BYU, Mrs. Tuckett obtained a teaching certificate cer-tificate and achieved professional counseling status in 1968.. She was employed in the Alpine School District for many years, retiring in 1975 after 30 years of service. Mrs. Wilson taught in both the elementary and secondary schools of Emery, Uintah and Utah Counties. She and her husband, Edward A. Wilson, became the parents of four children. Both have held various positions in the LDS Church, with Mrs. Tuckett and her husband, Eugene, serving as ordinance workers in the Provo Temple and serving as missionaries in the New York Rochester Mission. They have one daughter. Mrs. Wilson has filled her life with service to others in the various auxiliaries of the church and has served as an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple. A copy of "The Martin Harris Story" may be obtained from them by contacting them at their homes in American F ork. Bank of American Fork r Alpine's celebration Alpine City will celebrate its 36th annual Alpine Days on August 12th and 13th. This year's theme is Alpine Yesterdays and the events promise to bring out the memories of the older citizens as well as catch the interest of the young people. Ijeading this year's parade will be Evan A. Shepherd, the oldest living Mayor of Alpine. Mr. Shepherd served the community from 1 948 to 1 950. It is of interest to note that his salary was $60 per year! The organizing committee, headed by Bob Smith, has put together a fine two-day spectacular. Beginning on Friday morning and continuing until midnight Saturday, there will be horse shows, the traditional breakfast cooked by the volunteer firemen, bake sales, concessions, sky-divers, baseball games, the big water fight in the city park and much more. Capping this year's festivities will be a community-wide Music Fest and an old fashioned hoe-down dance outside. Again this year the Sundowners will provide the music for the dance. Of special interest this year will be the presentation "Memories from the Past" which features several speakers discussing how Alpiners of yesteryear successfully met their problems. As with most of the community events, there will be no charge for this presentation. Alpine Days will be 12th: Pet Show 10:00 Horse Show 6:00 Dance 8:30 13th: Band Serenade 6.00 Marathon 7:00 Flag Raising 7:30 Breakfast 7:00 Parade 10:00 Bake Sale 10:30 Concessions & Fun 10:30 Waterfight l.OO Ballgame 2:00 Sky Divers 3:00 Memories of the Past 4:00 Movie 4:00 Music Fest 7:00 Fireworks 9:00 More information is coming. - American Fork, Alpine member FDIC yesterdays held Aug. 12th & 13th. 'I |