Mormon Pioneer. Member of the Brigham Young Vanguard Company of July 1847. Founder of Park City, Utah and Mesa, Arizona. Charles Alfred Harper was born in 1817 near Philadelphia, to Eleanor Evans and Jesse Harper. His childhood was spent in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and New Castle County, Delaware. In 1841 he married Lavina Wollerton Dilworth, and the couple joined the western migration movement, emigrating first to Illinois, and later to Utah. Working as a scout for the Brigham Young Vanguard Company, Charles reached the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in July of 1847. He and his family eventually homesteaded at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, in current-day Holladay. Today, a residential street called Harper Lane in Holladay marks the location of the Harper homestead. From 1853-1855, Charles served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Norwich, England. At the conclusion of his mission he secured passage to the United States for a 16-year-old British girl named Harriet Taylor, whom he took as his plural wife upon her arrival in Utah. Later, along with Parley P. Pratt and Heber C. Kimball, he helped establish the Park City settlement in Summit County, Utah. Harriet and her children primarily lived at the Harper Ranch in Park City, where Charles maintained a cattle and sheep ranch. In about 1880, fearful of prosecution for polygamy, Charles took his family to the Arizona Territory and helped found the city of Mesa. He returned to Holladay about 1885 and lived there for the rest of his life. In addition to pioneering, Charles also served in the Utah Territorial Militia during various regional conflicts of the nineteenth century. He was politically active all his life and was a founding member of the Utah Democratic party. He died at his home in Holladay, Utah on April 24, 1900 at age 83. He is buried in the Holladay Memorial Park between his two wives.
Bio by: 46588789
Mormon Pioneer. Member of the Brigham Young Vanguard Company of July 1847. Founder of Park City, Utah and Mesa, Arizona. Charles Alfred Harper was born in 1817 near Philadelphia, to Eleanor Evans and Jesse Harper. His childhood was spent in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and New Castle County, Delaware. In 1841 he married Lavina Wollerton Dilworth, and the couple joined the western migration movement, emigrating first to Illinois, and later to Utah. Working as a scout for the Brigham Young Vanguard Company, Charles reached the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in July of 1847. He and his family eventually homesteaded at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, in current-day Holladay. Today, a residential street called Harper Lane in Holladay marks the location of the Harper homestead. From 1853-1855, Charles served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Norwich, England. At the conclusion of his mission he secured passage to the United States for a 16-year-old British girl named Harriet Taylor, whom he took as his plural wife upon her arrival in Utah. Later, along with Parley P. Pratt and Heber C. Kimball, he helped establish the Park City settlement in Summit County, Utah. Harriet and her children primarily lived at the Harper Ranch in Park City, where Charles maintained a cattle and sheep ranch. In about 1880, fearful of prosecution for polygamy, Charles took his family to the Arizona Territory and helped found the city of Mesa. He returned to Holladay about 1885 and lived there for the rest of his life. In addition to pioneering, Charles also served in the Utah Territorial Militia during various regional conflicts of the nineteenth century. He was politically active all his life and was a founding member of the Utah Democratic party. He died at his home in Holladay, Utah on April 24, 1900 at age 83. He is buried in the Holladay Memorial Park between his two wives.
Bio by: 46588789
Family Members
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Ann Harper
1841–1841
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Susan Harper
1841–1841
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Harvey John Harper
1842–1923
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Ellen Harper
1846–1847
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Charles Alfred Harper Jr
1848–1935
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William Bringhurst Harper
1851–1853
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Alfred Harper
1856–1856
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Harriet "Hattie" Harper Peterson
1857–1927
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Elizabeth Harper
1858–1859
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Edwin Harper
1858–1881
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Emmaline Harper
1861–1930
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Park Harper
1861–1935
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Parkaretta Harper Horton
1863–1929
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Chester Harper
1864–1940
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Lavina Harper Walker
1864–1946
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Nathan Harper
1866–1869
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George Harper
1868–1929
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Eleanor Harper White
1870–1932
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Alma Harper
1877–1914
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