Married Ann Jones
Married Jane Davies 21 October 1876 in Salt Lake
William-Gwendolyn-Norma
Died in Salt Lake 31 Dec 1900
Buried in Salt Lake City
1880 Census
1900 Census
Gwendolyn wrote the following about her father:
William Harmon was born November 22, 1820, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He worked in the coal mines, beginning as a very young boy and continuing until he reached the age of manhood. He was privileged to hear the everlasting gospel preached by two young Utah elders in the streets of his native city. He immediately sensed the truth of the words spoken and in due time was baptized (1847) a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a very enthusiastic member and was very anxious to impart the wonderful truth to others.
He was an eyewitness to a miracle that was performed at the coal mine where he worked. A man was brought to the top after an accident, completely crushed, bones mostly broken, and life apparently gone. Elders of the Lord administered to the man; William Harmon saw the administration and testified with two others that he distinctly heard the bones crackle as they took their place in the man's frame. This is recorded in the life of one of our early church leaders with the names of William Harmon and two others as witnesses.
One of his uncles, an extremely wealthy man, was childless. He was getting old and needed someone to take his place and help him. He called William, his nephew, to his home and said, "William 1 have looked over all my relatives and I have chosen you to be my sole heir. You must begin now to take over my responsibilities, but there is one condition. You must promise that you will renounce this Mormonism and never go to Utah." William Harmon without hesitation said, "If I must renounce my faith and promise never to go to Zion, then you may keep your wealth for I choose my religion and Utah."
From the time he joined the Church he had a great desire to go to Utah, but he kept thinking, "I must have my wife and family to go with me." Time passed and he wasn't a young man anymore. His wife and family had no intentions of joining the Church or leaving Wales. What should he do? He had done everything he could to get them to see the light, but to no avail. Finally he told them that unless they showed some intention of listening, he would surely go to Zion alone. Even this did not stir them and so he left for the Zion he longed to see.
Not long afterwards, he received word of the death of his wife, although she was in good health when he left. This affected him terribly. He sought the Lord in his grief and asked the Lord to tell him if he had done right in leaving his wife. He received a wonderful answer to his prayer. He saw the spirit world. His wife and a friend were sitting sewing, and they were conversing, and his wife said, "Yes I made a great mistake. I know the Lord is displeased with me. My husband was right. Now I know the gospel is true and I am full of sorrow for the part I played in opposing the Church. I was in the wrong." This answer to his prayer was a great consolation to him and he thanked the Lord for it. He had his wife sealed to him in the temple.
After a few years he married Jane Thomas, a widow, and they raised a family of their own in Utah. Gwendolyn Harmon said her father was very talented musically and a good "soft shoe dancer." He was often asked to perform in the local wards. He was a very kind and loving man, and was loved dearly by his family.
His work in Utah was first as a construction laborer on the Salt Lake Temple, and later in grounds maintenance on the Temple Block. He lived to the ripe old age of 80 years, full of faith to the last, hardly ever missing a day's work, and working at his last job until ten days before his death, which occurred December 31, 1900, in his home in Salt Lake City, just as the whistles, bells, and noise of the new year began sounding.
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