BYU Library - Special Collections

Photocopies of handwritten and printed letters, notes, military orders, and certificates. The materials relate to the migration of Mormons to Utah, the operations of the Utah militia during the Black Hawk War against Ute Indians, Harmon's Mormon Church activities, and his life in Holden, Utah.

Photocopies of microfilmed copies of diaries, letters, notes, and financial records. Richards was born in Massachusetts in 1824 and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He migrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he served in the "Nauvoo Legion" militia. Richards married Mary Parker in Nauvoo and moved to Utah in 1849. He served as missionary and mission president for his faith in Great Britain, the East U.S., and Europe. He was made a patriarch in 1902 and died in 1909.

Correspondence, diaries, and a family history. The correspondence is between Van Cott and family members. Also included are handwritten and signed letters from Brigham Young, second president of the Mormon Church, to Van Cott. The diaries cover the time when Van Cott served as a missionary for the Mormon Church from 1852 to 1856 and from 1859 to 1862. He was in Iowa City, Iowa, when the first handcart companies left for Utah.