| |
Growing Up Years of Lillie Esplin
THE GROWING UP YEARS OF FRANK NELSON HARMON
Because Frank Nelson Harmon's four great
grandparents
Oliver and Sarah Harmon,
John Madison and Mary
Parker Chidester,
Jeremiah and Elizabeth Bartlett Woodbury and
George
and Ann Qualye Cannon joined the Church, they made the trek to Utah.
Because Frank's grandparents
Levi Nehemiah and Eunice Chidester Harmon and
Orin Nelson and Ann Cannon Woodbury continued to be active in the Church and
obeyed the call to go to southern Utah,
Frank Harmon's parents
Melvin Myron Harmon and Alice Cannon woodbury met,
married and started their family in St. George, Utah.
 |
|
Frank Harmon's parents, Melvin and
Alice, began their married life in St. George where Melvin taught school. |
| The first child, Melvin Myron, was
born the 14th of April 1892, but he died in June of that same year. In 1893
Melvin Harmon was called on a mission to the southern states. The school board
refused to let him go until his school term ended. The Church told him to wait
till spring and go to Hawaii to teach school.(His brother Levi who had dreamed
that Melvin would go to Hawaii must have been delighted to hear of the switch
from the southern states to Hawaii.) |
|
 |
 |
|
Frank's father was told that he could take his
wife if she cared to go. Alice was pregnant with Frank's older brother Irvin,
but she "cared" to go. On their way they attended the dedication of the Salt
Lake Temple. They were set apart by B.H. Roberts and Elias Morris. |
| They left Salt Lake City the 28th of April 1893
and traveled across Nevada to San Francisco, California and spent four days in
San Francisco. The Harmons sailed from San Francisco on the Mariposa and
arrived in Honolulu in six and one half days. |
 |
 |
They were taken to the church plantation in Laie
where Melvin was to teach school. |
| Frank's brother Irvin was born June 18,
1893. |
 |
Melvin taught school in Laie ten months
of the year for three years. When school was not in session he traveled around
the islands doing proselyting.
| |
|
On one of these
trips he traveled without purse or scrip and as you can see he could have
traveled from the island of Oahu to any one of the islands. Hawaiian saints
gave him nickels and dimes to add up to $2.00. On board the ship a storm came
up and Melvin was seasick, standing at the rail throwing up. When the captain
came to collect the fare, Melvin stuck his hand in his pocket and emptied it,
knowing that was all the money he had. |
|
|
The captain said, "Is that all you've got?"
Melvin nodded.
The captain put the money back in his hand and
said, "Keep you G.D. money!"
When Melvin reported this at church
headquarters, the mission president said, "You're the first missionary who ever
got a ride on that boat for nothing." |
| |
|
On another trip he
had to cross a volcanic field of lava that he discovered was still
hot.(Probably on Hawaii, the Big Island, where there are several active
volcanoes.) The lava burned off the soles of his shoes. He prayed that the way
would open for him to finish his assignment. He opened his eyes and there was a
pair of shoes a short distance away. They were not new, but in good shape and
fitted him exactly. He finished his assignment. |
| Frank Harmon's mother, Alice, had charge of the
mission kitchen the first year. The rest of the time she spent in the
plantation store. Besides teaching school, Melvin kept the mission books and
tended the kitchen garden. |
| As a baby Frank's brother Irvin was
very sick. The doctor who came from Waialua tried for three days to help but
finally gave up and said he could do nothing more. The missionaries in Laie
held prayer circles for the baby and immediately he coughed up phlegm that had
stopped his breathing. When the doctor returned he was amazed and said the baby
would be all right. |
|
 |
 |
|
Alice Harmon was the subject of a joke played on her by the Hawaiians. They
told her they had taken all day to chew the coconut for the pudding which she
liked so much. She rushed home and forced herself to throw up all the pudding.
(When I-Lillian Heil-lived in Laie, I told them the story and they laughed and
said her friends had played a joke on her. They always grated the coconut for
the pudding.) |
Before the Family left Hawaii the picture
below was taken the 8th of August 1896.
Below are several pictures of Alice Woodbury
Harmon.
| to the right is a picture of the
Harmon family home in St. George, Utah. The house was on an acre lot with room
for vegetables, horses and chickens. A 20 acre farm in Washington Fields
provided their basic food needs. |
|
 |
Frank N. Harmon did not
know his grandfather Harmon or Woodbury because both of them died before he was
born. He did know the older brothers and sisters of his father (his aunts and
uncles). Here they are in a picture taken about 1900 when Frank was five years
old. |
|
|
In
1898 Frank's sister Alice, was born. Here is a picture taken of the three
Harmon children when Alice was about 6 or 7 months old, Frank was about 3 1/2
and Irvin was 5 1/2 years old.
|
Frank especially loved his grandmother
Cannon--remembering that when he was sick with rheumatism, Grandma Cannon
rubbed his legs and the pain eased. When his mother and father rubbed, the pain
didn't ease. He reported that "I began to take notice. I discovered that my
grey haired pioneer grandmother was praying all the time she was
rubbing."
Excerpt from Frank N. Harmon's Brief
History of his Life p.2 |
|
|
| Frank also knew his grandmother Woodbury
and her brothers and sisiters. Here is a picture taken about 1905 when Frank
was ten. |
 |
 |
|
Frank Harmon started school in 1910 at the new
Woodward School but he learned to do his share of family work before that. He
started milking cows at age four. Here is his class school picture-probably the
first grade. |
Some of his first drawings were saved.
Here are two from a little booklet. This one is Santa's reindeer on the roof as
Santa prepares to deliver presents. They show he shared all children's love
affair with Santa Claus. |
|
 |
 |
|
This drawing shows
Santa arriving in a buggy rather than a sled (in snowless St. George, Utah)
That would fit the climate of St. George where snow was very unusual. |
|
To the right is a
report card he received in the second grade. The teacher's comments are
difficult to read. In the third month she wrote "good work". Fourth
month:"Attendance and work good." Fifth month:"Doing nicely" Sixth month:"Frank
is a good worker" Seventh month:"Improving" Eighth month: "Is a good
student" |
|
|
Meantime other children were being added to the Harmon family. To the left is a
1901 picture showing Frank, his older brother Irvin and two younger sisters
Alice and Emily.
|
 |
 |
|
And of course, Frank Harmon was
growing up. Here is a picture of him with his friends when he was about nine or
ten years old. The picture was captioned, "My Crowd When in Knee Pants." |
| In April 1905 (when Frank was 9 1/2) his
father Melvin was called on a second mission to Hawaii. |
 |
|
During part of the time Melvin was on this
second mission, the president, Samuel Wooley returned to Utah because of his
father's illness. Melvin became the acting president. During this time the
enemies of the Church demanded access to Church records. When Melvin Harmon
refused to give the records up, he was put in prison in Honolulu.
One
story coming out of this event concerns what happened when the case came before
the judge. |
|
|
The judge said, "Mr. Harmon, where do you
live?
Frank's father Melvin replied, "Do you mean
where is my home?"
The judge shouted, "Mr. Harmon, where do you
live?"
Melvin roared back, "I live right where I
stand."
The judge changed and in a very soft voice
asked, "Mr. Harmon, where is your home?"
Melvin Harmon answered, "St. George, Washington
County, Utah, United States of America.
Frank's father was cleared of wrong doing and
released to return home. The news of his acquittal was printed in the
newspaper.
Newspaper Article Telling of the
Acquittal of Melvin M. Harmon
"Melvin Myron Harmon" by
Alice Harmon Ballard
A complete description of the problem in Hawaii
has been compiled by his grandaughter Carolyn Foremaster Weber, "Elder Melvin
Myron Harmon and the Edmunds Act in Hawaii."
Carolyn has also printed up a copy of the diary
Melvin Harmon kept during his second mission entitled "Second Mission to the
Hawaiian Islands: Diary of Melvin Myron Harmon". |
During the three years their father
was on his second mission the Harmon family in St. George was growing up. In
about 1906 a family portrait was taken of Frank's mother with the children.
Frank's mother had the responsibility of taking care of the six children by
herself. When Emily (Frank's sister) asked Alice Harmon how she maintained the
family while Frank's father was on his second mission she first of all said the
family, "had been greatly blessed. But, I assure you we weren't lazy. I made
yeast and sold it for flour so I just about kept us in flour." Neighbors and
relatives were generous to them.She said, "I never got down to where I didn't
have a penny in our house."
"Alice Harmon's
Comments About How She Maintained Her Family While Melvin Served His Second
Mission" by Emily Harmon Foremaster |
|
 |
 |
|
While Melvin Harmon was gone (from
1905-1908) Frank graduated from elementary school. To the left is his sixth
grade Certificate of Promotion |
 |
|
Here is a picture of Frank with
Marion Lauritzen and another friend. |
After
Frank's father returned from Hawaii, two more sons were added to the
family-George and Elmer. By this time Frank was a teenager shown here as a
member of the Hickory Club formed by Joe Atkin after his return from a mission
in England. Perhaps Joe's purpose was to encourage boys to go on missions. |
|
 |
|
|
The
family farm in Washington field (south and east of St. George) was several
miles from Saint George. The road to it crossed the Virgin River. For years
this old bridge (now replaced) was the way to cross the river.
Frank spent time working and playing on that
farm. In fact he improvised a wagon-box sleeping place to save travel time
between Washington Field and St. George. One day a king snake crawled out of
the box and a horrified neighbor asked if Frank really slept in the box. Frank
wasn't worried because from his studies he knew the king snake was
harmless)
The Family Harmon
by Frank N. Harmon p 28
|
| Frank
Harmon spent two years at Dixie College. To the right is a picture of him as a
20 year old. He started as a Normal student (that is, in teacher training) but
switched to science work because he didn't enjoy the manual arts classes
required in the Normal student curriculum. |
|
 |
 |
|
He was
active in college activities. He joined the science seminar. |
| He was
president of his college class. The picture on the right was taken from the
1918 Dixie College yearbook. |
|
 |
 |
|
Frank's
sister was also active in college activities. Alice was in the college
play-"Why Smith Left Home." She is the first one standing on the left. |
| Frank
also enjoyed social activities. North of St. George is a hill of red sand
stone-appropriately known as Red Hill. It was the site of many parties. Here is
a picture showing Frank (second from the right) with friends. The picture was
titled "Party on Red Hill" and was dated 1918. |
|
 |
 |
|
One of
his friends was Venice Hopkins shown in this picture taken December 1917. Frank
and Venice wrote to each other while he was in the army. |
After completing two years of college,
Frank joined the army the 13th of May 1918. Before leaving, the picture of the
family (below) was taken.
 |
|
At
about the same time this picture was taken of Frank playing with his two
younger brothers Elmer and George. |
| Before
going into the army, Frank had been ordained an elder and gone to the temple.
Here is a list of the ordinances and dates. |
|
 |
| He had a picture taken of the
barracks (his bedroom) on the 16th of May 1918. |
|
|
| Frank was sent first to
Boulder, Colorado. |
 |
To the right is a
picture of Frank Nelson Harmon in his army uniform. |
|
|
In this picture he is at the southeast
corner of the armory at Boulder, Colorado.
|
 |
 |
|
Frank
was sent to school at the University of Colorado in Boulder to train as a radio
operator. Here is a picture taken 25th of June 1918 with his radio class. |
| When he
finished the army training school in July 1918, he was given a certificate of
training. |
|
 |
 |
|
Frank
was a happy soldier, enjoying the new sights and very upbeat about the
activities required by the army. He wrote to his family frequently and often
wrote a special letter to each of his siblings.
His schooling was
varied and he wrote, "they are trying to give us some quick all around training
so we will be prepared to do a number of things if necessary. |
| His letters told how much he appreciated family
support commenting that when others in the family leave, "they will realize
(the) value of 9 other persons in (the) world at least, that they know will
stand by them at all times. |
|
 |
 |
Frank's family supported him with pictures and
letters while he was in the army. Here is one of the pictures sent to him
showing his oldest sister, Alice with his youngest brother, Elmer. |
| Another picture was
sent to him by his sister, "farmer Emily." |
|
 |
 |
|
Frank's twin sisters, Vera and Verna, sent this
picture to him showing that they were growing up in his absence. |
| In his
letters Frank reflected on how necessary everyone was to the war effort,
especially farmers because if food ran out the army would be "out of
commission." |
|
 |
 |
|
Frank left Boulder the 14th of July
1918 being sent off royally by Colorado citizens who gave them cake and candy
to take on the trip. They arrived at Fort Dodge, Iowa on the 15th of July 1918
after what Frank termed a splendid trip through corn and wheat fields.
(Remember, he was a farmer.) |
He talked of leaving Camp Dodge in
early August warning the family not to talk about army movements. He said one
fellow sent a telegram telling his family he was going to N.Y.C."They brought
him back under guard and I guess he is waiting trail (trial)."
By this
time Frank had been assigned to the 338th Field Artillery in Division 88. |
|
 |
 |
|
His last letter from Camp Dodge
(August 10, 1918) was in his usual optimistic vein and thanked his family for
the moral training they had given him as he reflected on possible combat ahead
of him. |
By the 13th of August he was sending
postcards as he traveled east by train. The map shows the route he
traveled. |
|
 |
 |
|
Here is the cover of a postcard he
sent while he was actually in the ship waiting its departure. |
| He compared the heat in the hold of
the ship to that of pitching hay in August in St. George |
|
 |
During the
Atlantic crossing Frank did not suffer from seasickness. His appetite was
common knowledge in his division. In the 338th U.S. Field Artillery's Book of
Memories he is described as a "bear for beans, bread and bully-beef."
| Frank Harmon later wrote about some faith
promoting incidents that occurred during the ocean voyage from New York City to
England. |
 |
 |
|
By the 10th of September, Frank was
in England commenting on how green the country was. He could understand why
Robin Hood liked the woods but desert-born Frank Harmon didn't like the rain
"every other half hour." |
By the 14th of September 1918 he was in
France and wrote his folks that even the poor Utahns were not as poor as the
French people he saw.
 |
|
Frank was billeted in a barn and the
fruit was similar to St. George - mostly grapes. They were close enough to the
front to hear the "big guns booming." |
| In a letter written the last of
October he reported they were near Bordeaux, France. |
|
 |
 |
|
On November 12, 1918 he wrote that he
was overjoyed about the signing of the armistice, telling how they celebrated
by having a man's military ball. |
 |
|
He sailed home from Europe on
the "Pocohontas", a ship they had captured from the Germans. The Germans had
called the ship the "Princess Irene". |
Frank was discharged
from the army the 16th of January 1919. He worked on his father's farm that
spring intending to go off to school in the fall. Professor E.M. Hall persuaded
Frank to stay another year taking classes, and being a lab assistant for
Professor Hall (in the science building shown at right). He received $15 a
month pay. His father encouraged him to stay saying. "Who knows but the girl of
your choice may register at school this year?"
Excerpt taken from The Family Harmon
by Frank N. Harmon page 5 |
|
 |
| It was during the 1919-1920 school year at Dixie
College that Frank Harmon met Lillie Esplin, who was specializing in Domestic
Science. |
|
|
|
