Harriet Bennion
Born 18 Dec. 1858 in Taylorsville, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory.[1] Daughter of John Bennion and Esther Wainwright.[2] Married first Benjamin Harker, 27 Dec. 1877, in Salt Lake City; three children; widowed, 1884.[3] Married second Vincent McKay Pugmire, 30 Dec. 1887; husband died of malaria while on his mission to the southern United States, 1888.[4] Married third Matthias F. Cowley, ca. 1900; one child.[5] Participated in several Relief Society events and clubs with EBW, 1897–1903.[6] Treasurer of the Utah Women’s Press Club, 1897–1904.[7] Founding member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1897; corresponding secretary, 1901.[8] First counselor in the Salt Lake Stake Relief Society presidency, 1904–1908; president, 1908–1915.[9] Served on the Relief Society general board, 1907–1910.[10] Died 22 June 1923 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles Co., California.[11]
[1] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. H, 1872–1878, p. 387, line 14, Harriet Bennion, 27 Dec. 1877, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL. “U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925,” database online, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 Sept. 2020). “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 8 Jan. 2019), Harriet Bennion (KWNX-PC5).
[2] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. H, 1872–1878, p. 387, line 14, Harriet Bennion, 27 Dec. 1877, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL.
[3] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. K, 1875–1878, p. 443, line 6224, Benjamin Harker and Harriet Bennion, 27 Dec. 1877, microfilm 183401, DGS 5270324 (restricted access), FHL. Howard Sharp Bennion, et al., comps., The Bennion Family of Utah, vol. 2 (Salt Lake City: Bennion Family Association, 1962), 163. “Benjamin Harker,” Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, Millcreek, Salt Lake Co., UT, Find a Grave, posted 6 Mar. 2011, memorial no. 66568754 (http://findagrave.com, accessed 24 Sept. 2020).
[4] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. M, 1883–1889, p. 88, Vincent McKay Pugmire and Harriet Harker, 30 Dec. 1887, microfilm 183402, DGS 5270325 (restricted access), FHL. Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, vol. 3 (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1920), 200.
[5] Howard Sharp Bennion, et al., comps., The Bennion Family of Utah, vol. 2 (Salt Lake City: Bennion Family Association, 1962), 166. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 8 Jan. 2019), Harriet Bennion (KWNX-PC5). Salt Lake County Clerk, Marriage Records, 1887–1965, Marriage Licenses, cert. no. 47748, Lois B. Cowley, 15 Aug. 1925, microfilm 429121, DGS 4705997, image 593/852, FHL.
[6] EBW, Diary, 3, 9, 14, and 31 July 1903; 2 Aug. 1903; 6 Sept. 1903; 29 and 30 Oct. 1903; 6 and 7 Sept. 1904; 9 Dec. 1904.
[7] EBW, Diary, 30 Oct. 1897. Utah Women’s Press Club, Papers, MS 3339, CHL.
[8] James T. Jakeman, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and Their Mothers (Salt Lake City: Western Album, 1915), 46, 158, 159. EBW, Diary, 24 Sept. 1901.
[9] Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Salt Lake Stake, Part 1, 1955, pp. 7, 16, 36, 62, 66, 68, 106, 116, 126, 137, 157, (limited access), CR 375 8, box 6108, folder 1, CHL. “Conference of Relief Society,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 2 Apr. 1904, 2. “Former Stake Relief Society President Dies at Santa Monica, Calif,” Deseret News, 25 June 1923, 1.
[10] Jill Mulvay Derr, Janath Russell Cannon, and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1992), 437. “North Weber Stake,” Woman’s Exponent, Jan. 1909, 6.
[11] California State Board of Health (Los Angeles County), "Los Angeles County, California Index to Deaths, 1905–1978 and Death Records, 1889–1960: Index to Deaths, Los Angeles County, California, A-Z, 1921–1931," cert. no. 7779, Harriet B. Harker, 22 Jun. 1923; Register/Recorders, County Clerk Office, Norwalk, CA; microfilm 1358346, DGS 558748, FHL. Harriet B. Harker. “Former Stake Relief Society President Dies at Santa Monica, Calif,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 25 June 1923, 1.