Margaret Myler and Henry "Mart" Harmon and Henry Martin Harmon Jr. Family Story

A family working together– to build a good life for themselves and their posterity– that describes the family of Henry Martin Harmon Jr. and his wife, Margaret Lavina Myler. Henry was known as "Mart" by his friends and family. Born in 1860 in North Ogden, Utah to Henry Martin Harmon and Susan Marler, Mart was the second of eleven children born to this union– and the eldest son. His father also had a second wife, Mary Alzina Sperry who bore him 13 children. Susan and "Aunt Zina" and their families lived together very harmoniously. The love these two families had for one another is still spoken of by their numerous descendants. There was a 38 year age span between Henry Sr's oldest and youngest children.

Margaret was the daughter of James Myler and Julia Ann Brownell. She was the eighth of eleven children and the second daughter. Mart and Margaret met in Clarkston, Utah and married when he was 17 and she was 15–just two weeks after Mart's mother gave birth to his sister, Alvaretta Harmon (who eventually married Frank Leroy Davis and is buried in the Sugar City Cemetery.)

In 1883, Margaret's parents and their married children moved to the Snake River Valley arriving in Lewisville, Idaho on 15 Apr. Her siblings families included the Orrin M. Myler family, William Stokes family, James Archibald family, and Arthur J. Goody family.. Mart and Margaret Harmon also came to Lewisville at this time. They lived in covered wagons and tents while log houses were built with family members working to help one another build more permanent shelter and clear the land of sage so crops could be planted.

To clear the sage brush, two teams of horses, hitched to a length of railroad tie and driven by a driver on each side of the horses was needed. It took one pass in each direction up and back to rip the sagebrush from the rich soil. To clear about 5 to 10 acres of land a year was about all these pioneers could do. The larger sagebrush was used as firewood for the settlers.

To dig wells, the men shoveled by hand until they could no longer throw soil upward, then a pulley was rigged where buckets were lowered and brought up full of soil. After the well had been cased with 4-inch boards secured by 2 x 4 posts, the well was used for water as well as for storing milk, butter, meat, and other perishables, which were lowered to the level of the cold water to keep them fresh.

Digging canals was done by hand and it required great teamwork. Hordes of mosquitoes infested the Lewisville area during the irrigation season and the whole settlement would move out during this time to the high bench country to escape the vicious insects. Some of the men would stay behind to do the irrigation and watch over the property.

A great example of how the settlers worked together is the way they met the Cricket invasions that threatened the Upper Snake River Valley near Lewisville. The men got together and determined their defense. They constructed tin-covered fences with a pair of log rollers at the lower end of it along a creek. When the crickets came, men, women, and children began banging pans and making noise while herding the crickets toward the creek. As the crickets reached the creek, they tried to hop it, but struck the fence and slid down the tin tip into the water which carried them downstream to the rollers which were turned by men. The rollers crushed the crickets. Many tons of crickets were crushed in this manner and had to be hauled away and buried.

All of the Myler families and the Harmon family was very musically inclined. The Lewisville ward records tell of Martin Harmon singing "The Mormon Battalion Song" at the pioneer celebration on July 24, 1890. James Myler delivered an oration on the Mormon Battalion of which he had been a participant. A couple years later, the celebration of the founding of the Relief Society is covered in great detail. It was interesting to note that Margaret Harmon made a brief speech to the sisters at this time.

In 1896, Mart sold his 40 acres to his brother, Allen "Al" Harmon and moved to Parker, Idaho where he took up a larger acreage. While in Parker, Margaret gave birth to the last three of their twelve children.

A severe diphtheria epidemic struck the area and hit the Harmon family with great intensity. Three of their five daughters perished during this epidemic during a one month period of time. A doctor had told Margaret to give the girls a "chew of tobacco" to help them but this thought horrified her and she felt the doctor was a quack. However, she relented when her little son, 2 ½ year old Wylie, also had the diphtheria. Another doctor played with him letting him ride on his back so that Wiley would let the doctor swab his throat and give him tobacco to chew. Wylie recovered and Margaret ever wondered if the tobacco might well have saved her girls, too. Eliza (19), Julia (14), and Susan (7), Harmon are buried side by side in the Parker cemetery.

Mart and his three older sons filed on homestead rights in the Camas Meadows country. Camas Meadows (Kilgore) is located at the curve of the Idaho panhandle and very near the Montana border. They got several hundred acres of land and the law required that someone had to live on the land several months of the year. It was a while before they could get logs to build a house, so the summer of 1905, their 15-year old son, Parley, lived in a covered wagon in the meadows. He milked twelve cows, separated the milk, churned the cream and made butter, packed it in ten-pound lard buckets and sent it to his parents in Parker. His mother re-worked the butter and wrapped it to sell. Parley fed the separated milk to the 125 pigs he herded.

Moving out to Camas Meadows was truly a family enterprise with all working together to help one another. They built a log house and moved the family to Kilgore. Church records indicate the family removed to the Kilgore ward from Parker on Dec 19, 1908. About 1910, Mart took a mail contract to deliver mail from Spencer to Kilgore, then on to Glen Rea towards Yellowstone Park. This was a full-time job at which their sons worked. Some of the boys would bring the mail from Spencer to Kilgore and another would take it on to Glen Rea. At that time there were no cars, so they used horses and a light wagon or buggy to deliver the mail in the summertime. In the winter, they would ski behind a small sleigh pulled by a team of 6 or 8 dogs depending upon the load. Winters were long and hard and sometimes the blizzards were so bad that the boys would just cover their head with a tarp and depend on the dogs to take them home. In the fall, when the snow began to fall, they would stick long willows in the snow about fifty feet apart to show them where they were and to make it easier to find their way in case of a blizzard. The snow would get so deep they could not see the usual fence posts and it would freeze so hard that they could go anywhere with a team and sleigh on the crust of the snow. Skis were kept within easy reach of the outside doors of the house to be used to do chores around the ranch and to go from house to house among the family and neighbors.

In the beginning, the settlers put up wild Timothy hay. In winter, many tons of baled hay were hauled to Spencer to be sent to Butte for horses in the mines there. There was plenty of wild game to eat. Sage birds and game birds abounded. The sage grouse was a favorite food source. Big game and bear could be found in the timbered area and herd after herd of antelope could be seen all the time around the lower perimeters of the meadows. Coyotes were many and considered quite a menace.

The Harmons had quite a large dairy operation. Margaret sold all the butter she could spare to the Trude Ranch which was a stage stop and hunting resort for wealthy eastern people on the mail route to Glen Rae and the boys would deliver it along with the mail. She baked nearly every day–lots and lots of bread to feed her hungry and growing family. She was well known for her wonderful pies and cinnamon rolls. She even baked pans and pans of dog bread which was broken up in the dog dishes and covered with milk. The dogs had to be well taken care of as they were literally the family's transportation for the winter mail route. All worked together raising a large garden and lots of raspberries. Fruit trucks came up from the valley bringing apples, peaches, plums and pears. Bottling the produce was a major family project.

World War I intruded on their peace—as their second son, William Russell was sent to Germany; five of their sons were required to register for the draft, but as far as we know, only William actually served in the Army. He was gassed in Germany and died soon afterward.

The oldest son, James, was very ambitious and with the help of his extended family, he established the town of Idmon at the junction of the road that goes to Spencer. He built a small store and post office at which one of his sisters-in-law, Eva Tucker Harmon, (md to Parley) was the first postmistress. A school, a large mercantile store, and a hotel along with several houses kept family members busy, employed and very actively involved. Mart and Margaret lived in and managed the hotel. School teachers boarded at the hotel.

The Myler family tells of building a washing place down on the creek which included a place to heat wash water and a clothesline to dry the clothes. So as not to waste time while the clothes dried, they made a net to catch fish while waiting. Claims are made that these fish were 10 to 12 pound trout jumping up the falls to go upstream to spawn. It was a great sport, but they never kept more than they could use. When small trout were caught, they were fried crisp and be eaten bones and all.

Along with the hard work, the Harmon family loved to play! They were a very musical family. Margaret had a player piano, James played the fiddle and the other boys played the banjo and guitar. Most everyone played a harmonica and they were famous for their incredible singing voices from the deepest base to baritone, tenor, and the women provided the alto and soprano. Many is the time the family would gather and hold sing-a-longs. They would often sing far into the night with grandchildren sneaking down the stairs after being put to bed–just so they could listen! Dances were held in the school house and would often go all night long. Children would be laid on blankets on benches or on the floor and parents would keep dancing. Each family brought pot-luck food and everyone enjoyed eating together and dancing. Many times the Harmon boys provided the music. On the 4th of July celebrations, the Harmon family sold homemade ice cream which was a big hit on a hot day!

Of the death of Henry Martin Harmon Jr. On 28 Feb 1824, one of his granddaughters wrote: "Grandfather Harmon died in Idmon when I was five. I remember curling up under a blanket with my cousin on a leather sette in the hotel they ran and trying so hard to cry while not realizing the sorrow of it. He was a kind and gentle man whereas Grandma was stern and strict and ruled the roost!" However, the grandchildren sure did love her cookie jar–which was never empty and oh, to sing with her—that was heaven! Their children and grandchildren maintained close family ties to the present generation.

Margaret later married a long-time family friend, Russell King Homer, but died 6 months after on 5 Sep 1926. When she passed away, her six living sons made an impressive site as they served as pall bearers and her granddaughters were flower girls. Mart and Margaret are buried in unmarked graves near their three daughters in the Parker cemetery. Another granddaughter wrote: "Grandma decreed that the one of her children to pay her funeral expenses would inherit her beloved player piano. We were delighted to be the ones to have that piano!" The funeral expenses were paid for by her daughter Ada Jensen.

Children of Henry Martin Harmon Jr. And Margaret Lavina Myler are:

Henry James Harmon md. Katie May Mortenson He died 1960 in Montana (8 children)

Eliza Lavina Harmon d. 21 Jan 1900 in Parker

Martin D. Harmon md. Effie Sharp d. 1946 in Pocatello (4 children)

William Russell Harmon md. Anna Lorentzen; died from WWI wounds in 1924 (no children)

Julia May Harmon d. 30 Jan 1900 in Parker

Arthur Ozro Harmon md. Laura Ellen Walker and died 1957 in Twin Falls (9 children)

Parley Allen Harmon md. Eva May Tucker and died 1968 in Pocatello (6 children)

Susan Alzina Harmon d. 17 Jan 1900 in Parker

Ada Millie Harmon md. George Aldo Jensen and died 1974 in Nevada (6 children)

Wiley Myler Harmon md. Edna May Hendrickson and died 1858 in Twin Falls (2 children)

June Alvina Harmon md. William Henry Barnett and died in California (7 children)

Elmon Ether Harmon md Marie Flint and died in 1961 in Pocatello (1 child)

An interesting sidelight: Of Mart and Lavina's children, James fathered one set of girl/boy twins; Ozro fathered two sets of girl/boy twins; and June had one set of girl/girl twins. Ozro's youngest twins include the father of Cheryl Harmon Bills, author of this article. She is the daughter of Billy W and Eunice (Wayment) Harmon and lives in St. Anthony, Fremont, Idaho. by Cheryl Harmon Bills great granddaughter