Who is Martin Harris from No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith and what is their importance?

Martin Harris was a wealthy neighbor of the Smith family who was very interested in the things happening to young Joseph. He acted as scribe for Joseph for some time. Martin took a copy of the characters and a translation to Professor Anton in an attempt to have it verified. Later, after much pleading, Martin took the first 120 pages to show his wife. They were lost; it is thought that Mrs. Harris stole the pages, as she often taunted Joseph that he could not reproduce them. He had been commanded not to retranslate, but to translate another record that held a similar, but more spiritual record of the same time.