On 6 November 2023, Marie Holder was interviewed about her grandmother, Polly Harmon, who was a well-known midwife in Millers Cove and Cades Cove. This experience she narrates below would have occurred circa 1888. The following is the transcript of the interview:

“To my knowledge [Polly] was the only licensed midwife [in the local area]… She had this dream, that she went to this house to deliver this baby. They had this cellar, it wasn’t a finished basement, it was just a dug out hole you would call a cellar. And in the dream, on the bank in that cellar, was a book that was laid out. And she thought, ‘that book is something I should look at.’ That was her dream.”

“Well, I don’t know how much time passed away. She went to this house to deliver this baby. And they told her, ‘I don’t have any money to pay you with.’ So they told her to go down into the cellar to get three quarts of something to pay her that she had canned. So, Polly went down into the basement, into the cellar to get the canned stuff and she saw this book lying over there on the bank. She thought of the dream she had. She went over there and picked the book up. When she closed it, it was the Book of Mormon. She took it back up stairs and asked the woman, in lue of the canned stuff, ’If you don’t mind, I’ll just take this book.’ The woman said, ’Well, sure. You can have the book. A couple of men came by here not too long ago and left it. I just couldn’t throw it away. So, I put it down in the cellar.’”

“So, Grandma took the Book of Mormon home with her.”

“You couldn’t tell grandmother anything but the Mormon Church was true. I mean, that was it. Nothing. She was staunch. And when she’d get paid anything, she’d save her tithing money. When the missionaries would come through, she’d give her tithing money to send in for her. She was a strict tithe-payer.”

— Marie Holder

According to baptismal records, Polly Harmon was baptized and confirmed, on May 7, 1895, by Hans Walter Christensen and James Alma Muir.

Olivee Long shared the following story of her uncle, Ether Harmon:

“I first learned of this story in April 1993 at a funeral viewing. I met Kermit Caughron, the last resident of Cades Cove. I introduced myself to him. When he found out I was a Harmon descendant he said, ‘The Harmon’s were Mormons. Are you a Mormon?’ Now, remember, this was April 1993 and the story he related to me had happened in about 1920 when my Uncle Ether was around 6 years old. In this year, according to Kermit, they were having a terrible drought in the Cove and it was a great worry to all the people. If they or their animals lived through the winter months they had to have rain for their crops and yet their crops were dying because no rain came.

The drought was talked about all the time, even the children at school were worried. Uncle Ether informed them there was no need to worry, if they wanted rain, all they had to do was to pray for it to rain. Many of the kids kidded him or made fun of him. The children told him if he could pray for rain and get it then to go ahead and pray for rain. At last Uncle Ether said he would pray for rain and started to walk into the woods by the school to pray and the kids started to follow him. He stopped and said they had to stay there and not follow him. Kermit said they watched him from a distance and that he knelt down and prayed for several minutes and then got up and walked back to them and said, ‘It will rain.’ Kermit said there was not a cloud in the sky and it looked as if it would never rain, but before the school day ended, the sky became dark and the rain poured down. It kept raining during the growing season and, when it did get a little dry again, some of the kids said, ‘Ether, we need more rain you better pray.’ Uncle Ether said, ‘No, if you want rain then pray for it yourself; I taught you how to pray.’ Approximately 73 years after the incident an elderly man was still amazed and still remembered when a 6-year-old Mormon boy prayed for rain.”

-Olivee Long

[Friday] – 2 June [1922] It was Ether [Lloyd Harmon]’s birthday. We prepared for the baptismal services. It was rather cold and raining some. At a little bend in the creek we found a suitable place for the service. Before about four people, we baptized the little boy, Brother [David John] Black first explaining the need of baptism. I performed the ordinance.

We went back to [Samuel Patterson] Harmon’s and changed clothes. In the evening, we held a sacrament meeting at Brother Will[iam Wade Hampton] Brown’s, where we confirmed Ether [Lloyd Harmon] a member of the Church. The few Saints bore their testimonies to the truthfulness of the Gospel. The little boy, [Ether Lloyd Harmon], also bore his testimony, which was sure fine for a boy so young. At night we spent a pleasant evening at [the] Harmons’ in singing. Brother [Samuel Patterson] Harmon and [the] boy played on the violin and banjo.

On 6 November 2023, Marie Holder was interviewed about her family. Below is a transcript of a portion of the interview in which she shares details about Ether’s honesty and ability to forgive others.

[Mike]: “How did your father, [Ether], get his name? What can you tell me about your dad?”

[Marie]: “He was named after Ether from The Book of Mormon. Daddy was as honest as they come. He was tremendously honest. Now, one time that impressed me about him was at the grocery store. When they gave him change back, they gave him back 50 cents too much. And he didn’t catch it until we got home. He takes this change out and counted it. He looked at the [receipt]. He said, ‘They gave me 50 cents too much here.’ We lived in Louisville and we bought, we were shopping in Maryville. So he drives all the way back to Maryville to give that person 50 cents [Marie laughing]. It was too much money [Marie laughing]. Daddy was a hard worker and he wouldn’t take anything from anyone, but he was willing to give… I loved growing up with my family. It was a lot of fun.”

“[Ether] had an older brother. His name is General Washington and he didn’t join the Church.** He was killed by Jake Garland. He shot him [three times]. General built, prepared a fence for Jake. He [General] went over to his house and told him he needed to be paid for the work that he did. And Jake told him he didn’t owe him anything. He didn’t do the work like he wanted it done, but anyway it went down, General got killed… I know we went to a memorial one day up there at the church [in Cades Cove] and Jake Garland was there. Jake came up to Daddy and Austin, [Ether’s brother], and asked Austin if he would forgive him and to see if he wanted to shake Austin’s hand. Austin would not shake his hand, and he said, ‘No, I would not forgive you even if you were dying.’ And then he came over to Daddy and offered to shake Daddy’s hand. And [Jake] said, ‘Will you forgive me?’ And [Ether] said, ‘I will, I forgive you.’ I thought that was commendable of Daddy. And Daddy said, ‘Well, it’s like this: to be forgiven you’ve got to forgive because our Heavenly Father is the one that does forgive.’ And he said, ‘So I do forgive him. I don’t hold any grudges against him.’ So I thought that was commendable of daddy to do that, what his brother wouldn’t do.”

[**There is a baptismal record that identifies General Harmon’s baptism as April 10, 1904. General Harmon’s wife, Rose Davis, also has a baptismal record. Together they had a son named William Levi Harmon who was also baptized, on August 23, 1939, 15 years after General Harmon was killed.]

[Sunday] – 18 May 1902 Eleven months today I left home. It is now 12 o’clock. We held meeting here at Bro[ther Joseph John (JC)] Garl[a]nd. A[binadi] Porter, speaker, [Othello] Roundy presiding. Subject: spoke on Revelation. Elder[s] [Alphonzo Brigham] Murdock and Hamblin just came from [William] Charley Garl[a]n[d]’s been there since Tuesday. Elder [Alphonzo Brigham] Murdock has been sick while there. We started there and met them. He says Mrs. [Elmyra Miller] Garl[a]n[d] is getting along alright. I will relate her cirumstance.

[El]m[y]ra [Miller] Garl[a]n[d] is not a member of the Church. She being confined, the child, [Charles Wesley Garland], being ten days old. After three days tried to get up and took a back set and was very sick. In fact was dangerous. Having the child [in] bed [with] fever, she had suffered for a week when we went to her home last Tuesday. Her husband, [William Charles Garland], is a member of the Church. That evening her husband desired for us to administer to his wife. He said she had been bitter against our people but had repented and had faith in the ordinance. We held meeting at night. After meeting we laid hands on her and blessed her, not having any oil with us. She rested good all night, which she hadn’t done for a week. Next morning we fasted, consecrated some oil and in the afternoon administered to her. Elder [Alphonzo Brigham] Murdock annointed her and I confirmed the annointing. In side of one hour the lady was sleeping and never felt any pain after. Elder [Alphonzo Brigham] Murdock remained there until Sunday and can testify to this and in the power of God was manifest and she says she knows she was healed by the power of God, and as soon as she gets well is going to get baptized into the Church with all her family. She has 14 children and only married 20 years. She had a dream two weeks ago, she saw in her dream her sickness and she saw a mist coming up before her. It came up until it reached her neck and it seemed as though it would smother her, but she said two Mormon Elders came and lifted up their hands, got their hands above the fog and pressed it down until she recovered.