Martin Harris Gravesite

Martin Harris put his farm on the line for a book, then spent thirty years away from the church it founded. One of the three men who signed a sworn statement that they had seen the golden plates, Harris mortgaged his New York farm to pay the three thousand dollars that printed the first Book of Mormon in 1830. He followed the Mormons to Ohio but fell out with them there, and stayed behind when they went west. Yet he never took back his witness. In 1870, aged eighty-seven, he came to Utah, and is buried here in Clarkston.

What the plaque says

This gravesite was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1980, as the only remaining site in Utah associated with Martin Harris-one of the three witnesses to the "Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ." A committed supporter of Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon Prophet, Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to secure 83,000 for the printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. He followed Joseph Smith and the Saints to Kirtland, Ohio, but disaffected and remained there when Joseph and other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints moved on to Missouri, and then later to Illinois. During the intervening years he never denied his witness of the Book of Mormon, and in fact, in his later years bore his testimony to all who would listen. In 1870, at the age of 87, he travelled to Utah, alone and in poor health, and was rebaptized. He lived with his oldest son, Martin Harris, Jr., in Clarkston until his death on July 10, 1875. The present monument, the third to mark the Martin Harris gravesite, was placed July 10, 1925.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• American West Heritage Center — 15 mi
  A living history farm spanning 160 acres of Cache Valley
• Logan — 17 mi
  A vibrant college town tucked into a stunning mountain valley
• Tony Grove Lake — 21 mi
  A glacial alpine lake at 8,100 feet surrounded by wildflower meadows
• Wellsville Mountains — 21 mi
  The steepest mountains in North America for their height

More markers nearby

• Newton Reservoir — 5.4 mi
• Pioneer Home and Granary — 6.1 mi
• Sagwitch Timbimboo, Shoshone Chief — 10 mi
• Hampton's Bear River Crossing — 11 mi