Harrisville is located north of Ogden in Weber County. In the early years, the area witnessed a double tragedy which cost the lives of two human beings. It was in 1850, just three years after the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley, that Urban Stewart built the first house in what was to become Harrisville. It was constructed of logs and was located about 300 yards to the southwest of the Harrisville Chapel. Stewart had planted a garden and watched over it with care. The night of 16 September 1850 he heard rustling out in his corn patch and saw a moving object, which he fired at, killing Terikee, a chief among the Shoshones. The Indians retaliated by killing a white man named Campbell, a transient employee of Farr's Mill, and Stewart had to leave the country. There was a general Indian uprising and Mormon Church authorities in Salt Lake City advised the area's residents to move into Bingham Fort, about two miles away.

In 1851 Martin Henderson Harris, for whom Harrisville was named, and a nephew of Martin Harris of Book of Mormon fame, built a log home west of Four Mile Creek. That same year more settlers came. Pleasant Green Taylor settled on the Urban Stewart claim, Haskill Shurtliff, Levi Murdock, Warren Child, and others settled in Harrisville. However, Indian trouble started again. Some houses were dismantled and moved into Bingham's Fort. Crops were planted, so the settlers would work on their farms, but they had to carry their guns to protect themselves from the Indians. The trouble eventually subsided and they moved back to their homes. Before they moved into the fort, the area farmers had just used the water from Four Mile Creek. After much effort, they received a charter and grant to take water from the Ogden River.