Daniel Haggart, son of Christie Ann Stewart, was born on April 24, 1795 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. The name of his father is unknown. It is also unknown when Daniel moved from Syracuse to Palmyra.
Blacksmith
Daniel worked as a blacksmith in Palmyra. If Daniel moved to Palmyra after 1825, Zachariah Blackman, the first blacksmith in Palmyra, had likely moved onto Farmersville, New York, a distance of 100 miles from Palmyra.[1] Zachariah Blackman is remembered in Church history circles as the blacksmith who ridiculed young Joseph Smith Jr. about his visions.
Daniel Haggart: A Family Man
The marriage date of Daniel Haggart and Madeline Service is unknown. Madeline was born in 1804 at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment on the western edge of Lake Ontario in Dundas, Canada. Madeline was nine years younger than Daniel. Since their first child was not born until 1829, it is assumed that Daniel married Madeline in 1828. To their union were born six children.
Martin Harris built a house for the Haggarts
Martin Harris built a house for the Haggart family on his own land. Due to the size of the Haggart family at the time (husband, wife, and a baby), it is assumed the house was small. The reason for Martin’s relationship with the Haggarts is clouded. A familial bond did not exist between Martin Harris and the Haggarts. Martin Harris was twelve years older than Daniel Haggart and twenty-one years older than Madeline Service Haggart.
The 1830 US Federal Census listed the households in the Martin Harris neighborhood in order of their residents: “Daniel P. Haggart, Preserved Harris, Martin Harris, and Northrop Sweet.”[2] Preserved Harris, Martin Harris, and Northrop Sweet were early Latter-day Saint converts. They each accepted Joseph Smith as a prophet and gathered with the Saints to Ohio. According to Lucy Harris, Daniel Haggart was also an early convert and moved his family to Ohio. After moving to Ohio, each of these neighbors lost their faith in Joseph Smith’s prophetic calling. When the Saints moved onto Missouri, the four neighbors remained in Ohio.
Lucy Harris was decidedly opposed to her husband Martin building a house for the Haggarts. On November 29, 1833, she gave a sworn statement about the issue. Her statement was printed in Mormonism Unvailed:
With regard to Mr. Harris being intimate with Mrs. Haggard, as has been reported, it is but justice to myself to state what facts have come within my own observation, to show whether I had any grounds for jealousy or not. Mr. Harris was very intimate with this family, for some time previous to their going to Ohio.
They lived a while in a house which he had built for their accommodation, and here he spent the most of his leisure hours; and made her presents of articles from the store and house. He carried these presents in a private manner, and frequently when he went there, he would pretend to be going to some of the neighbors, on an errand, or to be going into the fields. —
After getting out of sight of the house, he would steer a straight course for Haggard’s house, especially if Haggard was from home. At times when Haggard was from home, he would go there in the manner above described, and stay till twelve or one o’clock at night, and sometimes until day light. If his intentions were evil, the Lord will judge him accordingly, but if good, he did not mean to let his left hand know what his right hand did. The above statement of facts, I affirm to be true.[3]
The Lord was mindful of a problem existing between Martin Harris and Madeline Haggart. In March 1830, the Lord declared through his Prophet Joseph Smith, “I command thee that [Martin Harris] shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife; nor seek thy neighbor’s life” (D&C 19:25). The divine instruction to “not covet thy neighbor’s wife” was a reference to Madeline Haggart. It is assumed the divine command “nor seek thy neighbor’s life” was a reference to Daniel Haggart.
The defining conditions of Lucy Harris’s allegations of impropriety were not confirmed nor denied by Martin Harris. This leaves us with an unanswered question—did Martin Harris have an illicit relationship with Madeline Haggart?
If Martin Harris had an illicit relationship with Madeline Haggart, Daniel would have had reason to discredit Martin. Therefore, Daniel might have been willing to steal the 116 page manuscript.
There is not conclusive evidence that Martin committed adultery—quite the contrary. If there had been an improper relationship between Martin and Madeline, why would Daniel and Madeline move from Palmyra to Ohio with the Saints? It is assumed that the Haggarts left Palmyr with a large contingency of Saints under the leadership of Martin Harris. On May 27, 1831, the Wayne Sentinel printed, “Several families, numbering about fifty souls, took up their line of march from this town [Palmyra] this week for the promised land, among whom was Martin Harris.”
No record has been found of the Haggarts living in Kirtland. However, records show that in 1832, the Haggarts were living in Willoughby, three miles from Kirtland. Several of the early Saints resided in Willoughby. The 1850 US Federal Census lists Daniel, age fifty-five, living in Willoughby with his wife Magdaline Haggart, age forty-six, and their children.[4]
Death of Daniel Haggart
Daniel died on January 12, 1853 at age fifty-seven. The 1880 US Federal Census lists Madeline Haggart as living with her daughter and son-in-law, Adelaide Haggart and William Thomas, in Willoughby.[5] Madeline’s death date is unknown.
Children of Daniel and Madeline Haggart
1. Sarah Haggart (1829–August 4, 1919). She was born in New York. She married a Mr. Storry. She died in Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio.
2. Diantha Haggart (February 22, 1832–February 27, 1902). She was born in Lake County, Ohio. She married Lewis Morgan Ford on November 4, 1852 in Lake County, Ohio. She was buried in the Oakwoods Cemetery in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.
3. John Alexander Haggart (July 6, 1835–March 2, 1924). He was born in Lake County, Ohio. He married Caroline E. Davison on October 18, 1861 in Lake County, Ohio. He died in Grand Ledge, Eaton County, Michigan.
4. James Daniel Haggart (1839–December 20, 1924). He was born in Ohio. He married Sarah Jane Moon on June 25, 1868 in Geauga County, Ohio. He died in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
5. Adelaide Haggart (August 27, 1841–January 14, 1921). She was born in Ohio. She married William Thomas on January 31, 1868 in Lake County, Ohio. She died in Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio.
6. Charles Stewart Haggart (1847–April 14, 1924). He married Lillian. He died in Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio.
[1] Troskosky, Palmyra: A Bicentennial, p. 76; Barrett, Sacred Places, p. 52; US Revolutionary War Pensions, 1801–1815, 1818–1872.
[2] US Federal Census, 1830.
[3] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 254–257; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:36.
[4] US Federal Census, 1850.
[5] US Federal Census, 1880.