Show roosevelt mourns the ri 1 he loss of her founder tho the passing of ed P F harmston Harm last week to his reward after a most useful lire life in the uintah basin has caused roosevelt people who have been used to the familiar figure of 0 her founder and first mayor to pause in their daily tasks and tell each other of the many good deeds he performed tor for all in his long and useful life not only lii fu roosevelt where he was beloved by all but throughout the reservation section and also the ashley valley where he spent his very active young manhood in the up building of this great inland empire there Is possibly no greater mark left throughout ghou t the section by any one man than that of our beloved citizen and the very first subscriber to the roosevelt standard ao ac bracy was a watch word with ed F y harmston and was an indelible mark in his signature recognized when once seen as the highest type of the mark ot of the matt mali ever the same and always accurate the same in his young manhood as in old age always ed F harmston and let us pause here to say that with his friends by nearly all he met and also with his few enemies he be was just as meting exacting and pure as was his hia probably known better than my any other in the entire eastern atah utah A peculiar incident happened hap bened on last at the vernal court house where much of 0 his accurate work was done in moving an old desk in the sheriffs office in the court house at it was found some papers had been nailed in the back of the desk when repairing some time taking them out county clerk wilson murray who as a boy was acquainted with the deceased and she sheriff riff 1 richardson at a glance both recognized them as having been signed by mr harmston they were papers belonging belo raging to the flies files ot of the early at the time knew ot of mr air harm death yet each had a story ot of good deeds done by the man who made the signature and also paused in their work to tell them it is this kind of a man roosevelt and the entire basin mourns and that the following sketch Is but a poor outline of his life the basin needed just such a man tor for he contributed tri buted the widest range of value and served his country well lie he was a man of me church or creed nor lodge but no worthy cause was ever turned down by him irrespective ol of where it came it is said ot of him by kiy those who knew him best beat and under the most trying circumstances that hs he never mever used a word ot of profanity or told unclean stor ies tobacco and intoxicating liquor he never used his life was upright and where mistakes may have beem beela made he lid did more than his share 0 of making them right and it Is probably for this trait of 0 character he was beloved the most he early in life learned to delve deeply into the hidden bidden things of education and his broad research made of him the finished scholar he was a keen observer of things and men and knew well the motives which actuated I 1 men to do things sometimes detrimental to the public good ile he was not slow in placing checks wherever he could in doing so BO he generally made a deeper friendship atter after doing so he never made any demonstration ol of his success his self control was a marvel to all he was worshipped wor shipped by his children of 0 whom there are 8 all living his widow also survives ilia his was a most happy home life when entering the uintah basin thirty five years ago he was tn in charge ot of the whiterocks Whiter oclis indian school and mrs harmston Har raston matron in 1871 they moved to vernal and it ft was here he be lived until the opening of the reservation in 1905 when he homesteaded homestead ed the present site ot of roosevelt previous to this time he was active in building us the ashley valley As a surveyor he be was par excellence his work being ot of the highest type and most accurate much of tho the government surveys around vernal are his work and it la Is almost without flaw according to engineers who have hava had bad occasion to check up life his work the now famous meridian the boundary line between uintah and wasatch counties Is one of tho the greatest monuments to his ability years ago trouble arose between uintah and wasatch over the collection of taxes harmston was employed by uintah commis ed F harmston 9 af pf Y V L 0 r 1 f af I 1 all V W d to locate the line the records of the U S land office will show that the line established by sir mr Harm harmston Is mathematically correct later a dispute arose between the land office and the survey Mr Harmston also made the survey tor for the uintah railroad and those who have traveled over this scenic road declare it is marvelous how bow the survey was made thu same detail Is 13 noted on the split mountain canyon which he surveyed yea accurate corners being established in almost inaccessible places in business mr harmston was a success he established the uintah abstract company at vernal and herbert secretary of 0 the company who associated with mr air Harm harmston stort tor for a short time before they sold out to the present ca company m and he retired to take up other business he was postmaster at vernal for a time in partnership with will britt he was in the implement and drug business henry woodruff went with him in hardware and then john H reader joined him in the drug business later they bought out the vernal drug store harmston was a registered pharmacist he never during all the years of his life allowed his license to expire it was while he was in the hardware and implement business that he was postmaster of vernal in 1900 he took a position with the st louis gilsonite company as chief eng engineer inper which position he held tor for biye years just prior to the opening ot of the reservation harmston ward pack and J garnet hollest went into real estate they located many homesteaders it was about that time that the first steps were taken to organize the dry gulch irrigation company a cooper co oper active concern its history is well known harmston was its chief engineer tor for many years the system was constructed under his able aper elsion continued on last page roosevelt mourns the loss of her founder continued from page 1 the original roosevelt townsite consisted of 40 acres ot of land in the harmston homestead he platted that and put it on the market mark e A small beginning iio lived t to 0 aja see roosevelt grow into a prosperous a city ot of 1500 people v in politics of 0 which ho he took a keen delight he was a republican and a great admirer of 0 theodora roosevelt and hence the namo name of the splendid town which he founded in the commercial center of 0 the uintah basin and tor for which he gave the best years ot of his lite life in watching it development to show his faith in education and for its advancement of the interests of his hig home town he probably shortened his life by many years when in 1911 he got up from a sick bed when just able to be around after an att attack ack ot of typhoid fever he got up against the advice of physicians and friends and made the fight to secure the county high school at roosevelt without his able help and suggestion myton would have secured the coveted prize and as it was only seven votes made the decision upon the incorporation of 0 roosevelt he was chosen her first mayor and served well and faithfully only last summer he wrote a most accurate history of roosevelt was published in the standard for years he was duchesne county chairman a position he held until failing health caused him to resign he held a similar position in uintah county his influence politically was felt not only in county and basin affairs but in the state and nation he received many letters letter ter from president roosevelt which are cherished mementos of himself and family A while before his death it was thought through mr harmsons Harms Harm tons influence mr roosevelt roosavelt would really visit here edgar fernando harmston was born near princeton in mercer county missouri february 24 1864 while iw he was a small boy his parents moved to the southern part of iowa another ledges moved from indiana and located about three miles from ane harmstone Harms tons in december 1884 he was married to mary alary cumberledge eight children all of whom are living came to bless that upion union they are craig If mellette ellette floyd albert eugene theodore all of roosevelt mrs hazel frizzell san jose calif and miss mildred Harm harmston stori of roosevelt now in fresno california not since he got up from a sick be bed d in 1911 to tight fight for the location of the high school has mr harmston been in good health in 1319 he suffered a stroke of paralysis which affected his vocal organs and optical nerves in 1920 he was stricken with ilu flu for a long time he was almost blind but soon his bis sight came back in 1922 11 he suffered a second stroke during these three beirs he hc was just obe to lel eel about it war wan hard for him to talk only a few days bere L lia 19 bealh his condition bheam ilar imig ful ul he was forced to no go to bod bd never t to 0 get e t up avan aeils th tha third d deprived e p g 1 ved bm of leh ail AI abt it was wath wl h hull id d ireth icat il cit ite middle af f tullay aft rno n tf r alst week claiz m nn 3 of his velt quietly told each other that ed F harmston had gone to meet his reward on which Is mostly on the credit side of the final books when they will be opened and he wil receive the just compensation that Is coming to him roo roosevelt evelt and the entire basin will miss his big kindly countenance and wisdom in counsel |