Microfilm of a typescript of Silas Harris' autobiography, written in about 1880 and completed by his daughter Sarah F. Cutler sometime after Silas' death in 1897. In the autobiography Silas writes very briefly of his childhood and conversion to Mormonism, his experiences in the Mormon Battalion, his overland travels back to Council Bluffs from California, his return to Utah, his mission work, and notes on his children. The final few paragraphs were written by his daughter Sarah, and contain reminiscences of her father. The autobiography (frames 8-11) is on the same reel as MSS MFILM 131 and MSS MFILM 133. All inquiries about this item should be directed to the H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Microfilm. San Marino, Calif. : Huntington Library Photographic Dept., 1948. 1 microfilm reel : negative 35 mm. Forms part of the Manuscripts Department's Mormon file, c.1805-1995. Silas Harris (1824-1897) was born in Lawrence County, Indiana. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after his uncle encouraged church elders to pray over Silas during a serious illness. The Harris family later lived in Missouri and Iowa before arriving in Council Bluffs in 1846. Silas joined the Mormon Battalion under Jesse B. Hunter in 1846 and served until 1847. He spent the winter of 1847-1848 in San Francisco, and ran a mail business with his uncle between Salt Lake City in the Missouri River in the spring of 1848. Silas returned to Council Bluffs that fall and reunited with his parents near Kanesville. In 1849 the family crossed the plains to Utah. In 1851 Silas was called on a mission to San Bernardino with Charles C. Rich and Amasa Lyman, and in 1855 he served on a mission to the Washington Territory. Silas settled in Washington County, Utah, and helped colonize Dixie. In 1848 he joined an exploring expedition to the White Mountains. In 1872 he moved to Glendale, Utah. He died in 1897.
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