RICHARD BALLANTYNE
By Edward H. Anderson
There is considerable inspiration in recalling the names of the early
workers in the history of our Church and State. Among these, the
name of Richard Ballantyne stands our prominently. He was the
founder of the great Sunday School system of the Latter-day
Saints. For fifty years after the entrance of the Pioneers in to
the valley of the Great Salt Lake he was a leading character in the
development of the religious, social, and educational interests of the
people of Utah.
Of scotch descent, he early in his native land heard the principles of
the gospel; and when twenty-five years of age he had so far convinced
himself of the divinity of the cause that he joined the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints by baptism in the waters of the Leith, on a
beautiful moonlight night in December, 1842.
Some years after his arrival in Utah, in writing of his birth in the
Church of Christ, he dwelt upon the romance of it. Here are son
of his words and the question which he asked:
“All nature seemed to be at peace. To look at the broad expanse
of waters, and to contemplate the mysteries of the unfathomed deep
might well suggest the mysteries of the unknown future that now lay
before me; and if a picture thereof had been unfolded to me, what would
I have seen?”
What indeed would he have seen but persecution at home; pilgrimage to a
foreign land; tempestuous seas; Nauvoo, with its sore trials and its
martyred Prophet and Patriarch; the pioneer journey over the deserts to
the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by wild beasts and savages, sickness,
hunger, and death; a new and barren home where there were supreme war
with the elements and crickets for a scant livelihood; himself moved
upon by the Spirit of God to build a house without money and to
establish a Sunday School, which, under the fostering hand of God’s
providence was to grow in his lifetime to be a mighty aid in God’s
“marvelous work and a wonder;” travels over unknown seas to proclaim
the gospel to the heathen, until, without purse or scrip, he should
encircle the earth in his mission of love; the days of the
“Reformation” in his desert home; the armies of the nation unwittingly
sent to Utah with a view to accomplish what others trials and
sufferings of the people had failed to do; the abandonment of home in
the “Move;” the return in peace to witness the marvelous growth of his
chosen people, until the silence of the mountain valleys in broken by
the voice of thrift and the hum of industry; himself standing as the
husband of three wives and the father of twenty-two children, and over
one hundred grand-children with sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; the
“Raid” and legal persecutions of 1882 to 1890, with its days of fearful
apprehension, imprisonment, and fines; the light and prosperity of the
decade closing the 19th century darkened to him by financial
failure: the end of his days marked by the peace of a life well
spent, and the joy of beholding a united and honored family, and having
a mind full of faith and hope and trust in God, which could in the end
exclaim: “I know that my Redeemer lives.”
Such is a brief outline of the main incidents in his life. Having
asked the question, What would I have seen? there is significance in
his further statement made after reviewing some of the incidents of his
life, in which he says: “This is to show how wise it is in God to
keep the future mostly hidden from our view.”
Richard Ballantyne was born at Whitridgebog, Roxburgshire, Scotland,
August 26, 1817. Members of his family have traced the history of
the family in Scotland as far back as 1300 A. D., but Richard
Ballantyne could trace his ancestry to his grandfather who was William
Ballantyne and whose wife was named Margaret. They had two sons,
David and Robert Ballantyne.
David Ballantyne was born in Scotland at Merton or Earlston, in
1743. He married Cecelia Wallace, who died in Scotland before
1808. With her he had four children,--William, who received the
gospel from Orson Pratt, in 1842, and died about 1856; Henry, the
second son, who also received the gospel from Orson Pratt in 1842, and
died about 1850; Margaret, who married John Thompson, and had two
daughters, Margaret and Hannah; and the fourth child, whose name was
Cecelia. David Ballantyne’s first wife died, and he married
again, October 28, 1808, at the age of sixty, Ann Bannerman, then
nineteen years of age. She was the daughter of Peter Bannerman
and Ann Mattherson. They had seven children,--Ann, Peter, Jane,
Robert, Richard, Annie, James.
Richard Ballantyne’s father was a large, handsome man, six feet tall,
and weighing over two hundred pounds. He died in 1829, in Spring
Hill, near Kelso, Roxburgshire, Scotland, and was buried in Ednam
church yard without hearing the restored gospel. He was a good,
devout, and faithful follower of Christ, however, and a lover of His
divine truth and mission.
David’s wife, the mother of Richard, with the family, gathered to
Nauvoo, Ill., in 1843, and continued a faithful member of the Church,
cheerfully bearing all the trials and privations of the expulsion,
travels in the wilderness, and the settling of a new county in the Salt
Lake Valley. She finally passed away in peace, in October, 1871,
and was buried in the Salt Lake city cemetery In the lot of President
John Taylor who had married her daughters Jane and Annie. All the
children remained true to the faith until the end.
Richard Ballantyne married, February 18, 1847, at Winter Quarters,
Iowa, Huldah Meriah Clark, the daughter of Gardner Clark and Delecta
Farrar; she was born October 26, 1823, in Genesco county, New York, and
died April 2, 1883, in Ogden, Utah. Their children are:
Richard Alondo, Delecta Ann Jane, David Henry, Meriah Cedenia, John T.,
Annie, Roseltha, Isabel, Joseph.
On November 27, 1855, Richard Ballantyne married Mary Pearce, daughter
of Edward Pearce and Elizabeth Bennett, born in London, England,
October 1, 1828. Their children are: Zechariah, Mary
Elizabeth, Jane Susannah, James Edward, Eliza Ann, Heber Charles.
On November 7, 1856, Richard Ballantyne married Caroline Albertine
Sanderson, daughter of Knute Alexanderson and Ingeborg Christina
Larsen. she was born September 19, 1837, at Rogen, Norway.
Their children are: Thomas Henry, Caroline Josephine, Matilda,
Catherine Mena, Jedediah, Brigham, Laura Elizabeth.
Richard Ballantyne was baptized by sprinkling when an infant in the
Relief Presbyterian Church, being later taught in its doctrines.
At the age of twenty-one he became an elder, and later a ruling elder
whose duties consisted of visiting among the members with the priest,
and looking after the finances of the church, in which labors he was
greatly blessed. While still a young man, he began his labors as
a Sunday School teacher, which work he continued, after his moving to
this country, to his dying day.
As to his employments in his youth, we have it recorded that when he
was seven years of age he herded his mother’s cows on the public
roads. At ten he tended the gardens-walks, and the lawn of a
wealthy gentleman, working also on the farm. From twelve to
fourteen, he worked exclusively on the farm.
As to his schooling, it was obtained during the time from the age of
nine to fourteen, when he occasionally attended school, mostly in the
winter months.
At fourteen he was apprenticed as a baker to a Mr. Gray, serving three
years. At sixteen he was made foreman of the business, and served
one year as baker’s foreman in Kelso under a Mr. Riddle. His
former master Gray dying, he purchased his business for $25 and became
his own master,. For five years he conducted his business in
Earlston, quitting when he removed to Nauvoo, when he abandoned the
business which he never liked.
Richard Ballantyne left the native country in 1843, with his mother,
two sisters, and a brother, coming by way of New Orleans to Nauvoo,
Illinois. Here he became the manager of the Coach and Carriage
Association where many of the wagons and vehicles were built which
aided the first emigrants across the plains to Utah.
In 1846, he settled the affairs of John Taylor’s printing
establishment, hired and operated a flouring mill with Peter Slater,
thirty-six miles east from Nauvoo, also engaged in farming.
During the troublous times in Nauvoo, he had many experiences at the
hands of the mob. He was in their hands at one time for over two
weeks, suffering greatly from exposure and hardship while his captors
led him and his companions from one place to another in the secluded
woods. At this time, the mob had decided to dispose of their
captives by shooting them. The ground was measured off and
prepared all ready for the bloody deed, when the timely arrival of a
warning messenger stopped the execution. They finally escaped and
returned in safety to their homes in Nauvoo.
In 1846, with the scattered remnants of Nauvoo, he migrated to Winter
Quarters, where he remained about eighteen months, passing through all
the hardships incident to life on the plains in that early day.
On May 18, 1848, he started fir the Valley, crossing the plains in
President Brigham Young’s company, which arrived in Salt Lake City in
September of that year.
On arrival at the old fort in the valley he engaged in farming out
towards Mill Creek. Foe three years in succession he lost his
crops, and finally obtained five acres of land in Canyon Creek.
Here a terrific hail storm destroyed his crop, so that altogether his
farming operations could not be pronounced very successful.
The first Pioneer Day celebration was held in the Tabernacle square,
Salt Lake City, July 24, 1849. Richard Ballantyne took a
prominent part in the proceedings, he being called upon to present to
President Young the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of
the United Stated. He also acted as standard bearer to the
twenty-four young men who constituted part of the President’s escort.
As early as 1846, Richard Ballantyne was ordained a Seventy by
President Joseph Young, and later a High Priest by Apostle John Taylor,
which latter office in the Church he held and honored to the day of his
death, laboring with constancy to his priesthood, and considering all
his duties a pleasure.
The work which he had performed in his native land among the children
of the Church gave him a love for Sabbath School labors, and these were
his chief delight. On arriving in the Valley he began immediately
to meditate on how the moral and spiritual welfare of the children
might be advanced, and having obtained a little home in the Fourteen
ward, Salt Lake City, he asked his bishop for permission to establish a
Sunday School. This was granted, but there was no prospect for
obtaining a house to meet in for months to come. Under his
predicament, he resolved to build an addition to his home, and there
begin his school. He, therefore, set to work in the summer of
1849 and hauled rock from canyon quarries, and laid the foundation of
red sandstone. He also made the adobes, hauled logs to the saw
mill for exchange of lumber, exchanged work with a carpenter who made
the doors and windows, and so the first Sunday School house was
erected. The first session of the school, whose students numbered
something like fifty, was held in this building on the second Sunday in
December, 1849. Later the school was held iin the Fourteenth ward
meetinghouse, and this became the first Sunday School among the
Latter-day Saints.
Richard Ballantyne was asked why he was so desirous of organizing a
Sunday School, and he answered in writing: “I was early called to
this work by the voice of the Spirit, and I have felt many times that I
have been ordained to his work before I was born; for even before I
joined the Church I was moved upon to work for the young people.
Surely no more joyful and profitable labors can be performed by an
elder. There is growth in the young. The seed sown in their
hearts is more likely to bring forth fruit than when sown in the hearts
of those more advanced in years. Furthermore, I have passed
through much trouble, been sorely tried by friends and foes, and in it
all the gospel has brought such a solace to me that I was very desirous
that all the children of the Saints should learn to prize it as I
valued it. And more, I saw that the children from the very nature
and circumstance of the people were being neglected, and I wanted to
gather them into the school where they could learn, not only to read
and write, but the goodness of God and the truth of the gospel of
salvation given by Jesus Christ.”
He thus continued his temporal and spiritual work until the fall of
1852, when he was called to go on a mission to Hindustan in
India. After a long and perilous voyage, he arrived at Calcutta
with twelve other elders on July 24, 1853. On the third of August
following, he helped to organize a branch of three members in St.
Thomas Mount near Madras, in which vicinity he had been appointed to
labor with Elders Robert Owen and Robert Skelton. He published
several issues of the Millennial Star and Monthly Visitor, in which
many of hid writings on the gospel are set forth. He had many
remarkable and faith-promoting experiences while on this mission.
One incident which he has written and which has been printed tells how
he and his companion obtained passage across the Bay of Bengal to
Madras by their promising the captain of the ship that if he would take
them, he would have a safe voyage. He took them, and their
promise was verified by their safe arrival, notwithstanding the ship
had a miraculously narrow escape from collision with another ship in a
narrow ship channel.
On the 25th of July, 1854, Richard Ballantyne sailed for England via
Cape of Good Hope, arriving in London on the 6th of December of that
year, thence making his way ion charge of a company of Saints across
the ocean to St. Louis, Mo., by way of New Orleans. In the spring
of 1855, he was placed in charge of a company of emigrants numbering
about 500, with fifty wagons, which he led across the plains, all of
them arriving in Salt Lake City in first class condition on the 25th of
September, 1855. Thus in so early a day, Richard Ballantyne
encompassed the earth on his mission. Upon his arrival in Salt
Lake City, President George A. Smith said to him: “You have
accomplished a journey around the world without purse or scrip, and
brought in your company with a band of music and flags flying.”
Immediately after the arrival, President Brigham Young appointed him to
a home mission to preach to the Saints in the well-remembered
“Reformation.” He devoted all his time to visiting the Saints and
preaching repentance to the people, until May, 1857. On being
released from the work, he took a fencing contract on Jordan
river. Here he earned a team with which, making several trips, he
moved his family to Nephi, prior to the coming of Johnston’s
army. The migration south is well known in history as the “Move,”
and was one of those trying ordeals which appears to have been the lot
of the early builders of the Church and the pioneers of this western
land.
At Nephi he remained two years, farming. He returned to Salt Lake
City in the fall of 1859, and the following year, having been offered a
$3,000 stock of merchandise, removed to Ogden, where he opened a store
and prospered exceedingly. He was one of the first business men
of Ogden.
Acting on the advice of President Brigham Young, Richard Ballantyne
gave up his merchandising and purchased a farm in Eden, Ogden Valley,
where he raised some large crops, but also lost six successive crops
which were destroyed by grasshoppers. From that time on he was
engaged in a variety of work. The Union Pacific Railroad being
built about 1868-9 was a great boon to the people of Weber county,
since grasshoppers and destroyed their crops for years. A large
number of people turned their attention to the building of the
railroads,--the Union Pacific from the east and the Central Pacific
from the west. Richard Ballantyne assisted in the construction of
both roads.
Later he became manager of a combination of three co-operative stores,
which he afterwards closed out, in 1871. For the next six years
he engaged in farming. In May, 1877, be sold his farm in Ogden
Valley and purchased the Ogden Junction, a newspaper which had been
established by Franklin D. Richards, in 1870. He successfully
published this paper for eighteen months, when he sold out to a company
of young men of whom Joseph A. West was the leader.
He then went to railroading again, helping to build the Oregon Short
Line. In 1881 he became one of the originators and founders of
the enterprise which has placed great district of country known as the
Sand Ridge, between Kaysville and Ogden, under cultivation. He
entered four hundred and eighty acres of land under the Davis and Weber
county canal, and with his associated and others, began the stupendous
task oif building that important waterway. Those who are now
engaged in farming in that country, and are enjoying the advantages of
the water from the canal can scarcely realize the toil that was
necessary to make the enterprise a success, nor the doubt that filled
the minds of most of the people as to ever placing under cultivation
the dry and forbidden acres of sage lands which have now been turned
into fruitful orchards and beautiful gardens. Even Richard
Ballantyne, who had faith in the development of the country, must have
had his doubts, for we find that in 1889 he sold his interests for
$16,000, and purchased a lumber business of Barnard White in Ogden,
thinking undoubtedly that he could be more successful in providing for
his family through this business than in the slow accretion of
wealth that was sure to come from the land. At this time, what
was known as the “Boom” came on; business flourished in every branch;
money was easy; everybody received credit; and little was thought of
the reverses in store. The “Boom” caused everybody to engage in
the real estate business, and that added to the reversed in general
business, made matters so that when the panic of 1893 struck the
community, it completely ruined Mr. Ballantyne financially, and
doubtless hastened his death which took place in Ogden, Utah, November
8, 1898.
Not only did Richard Ballantyne take a leading part in Church affairs,
but in civil and educational matters he was also a leader. For
fourteen years he was a member of the Weber County Court, whose members
are now called Commissioners, and several terms an alderman in the City
of Ogden. In all these positions he bears an unimpeachable record
for honesty and conscientious work. In educational affairs he
assisted in the erection of the first central school of Ogden, and in
the building of other school houses, acting as trustee for a number of
years. He was a strong advocate of a good system of schools which
would place a common school education within easy reach of the people.
In 1872 he was chosen Superintendent of Sabbath Schools for the Weber
Stake, which position he held and magnified and loved till his
death. In 1877 a Sunday School Jubilee of the Weber County Sunday
Schools was held in the Tabernacle, Ogden. Here for the first
time many a youngster heard some of the old original Sunday School
songs which have since become household treasures in every home of the
Saints. The Sunday School Union has then been organized for some
years, and the veteran Sunday School man, George Goddard, was in the
height of his ability and enthusiasm for the Sunday School cause.
Thousands of children with their parents came. The Union officers
presented Richard Ballantyne with a testimonial, printed in colors on
white silk in the best art known in that day, and containing his
portrait in the center.
At Richard Ballantyne’s death, he was the senior member of the High
Council of the Weber Stake, having been associated with that body for
over seventeen years. Here he was known as a firm defender of the
right, and a lover of fair play and justice.
Three celebrations were held in honor of his birthday at different
times. On one of these occasions, August 26, 1896, when he was
seventy-five years old, an ovation was given him by his posterity under
the trees in Farr’s Grove, now Glenwood. A company of ninety-six
were present. A year later he was honored by a public
celebration, when thousands of children marched through the streets of
Ogden with music and banners in his honor.
In his closing days the veteran superintendent was practically without
funds to support himself. Upon request of General Superintendent
George Q. Cannon, the Sunday Schools of the Stake were asked to
contribute towards assisting him to build a small home in which the
last three months of his life were spent in quiet peace, marred only y
the weakness of his body. He was conscious to the last, and full
of ideas and plans for the progress and welfare of the schools.
His work in this line kept him young in spirit, his interests being
entwined around the hosts of Sunday School children whom he dearly
loved.
At Elder Ballantyne’s largely attended funeral, President George Q. Cannon uttered this estimate of him:
“I have known Brother Ballantyne ever since hr gathered to the Saints
in Nauvoo. I have been somewhat intimate with him, and I can bear
testimony to his work, to his uprightness, and to his devotion to
truth, always manly and of unflinching integrity. He loved the
work of God, and loved to do what was required of him. The love
of his fellowmen was exhibited in his devotion to the children.
He has sought to point out the path of life and salvation to them, and
has done it successfully. There is everything to cause us to
rejoice in the life as well as in the death of such a man.”
(Source: The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Aug. 1911. - Transcribed by Maggie Coleman)
WILLIAM A. BANKS
William A. Banks, of Murray, manager of the C. H. Banks Undertaking
Company Inc., was born at Salt Lake City, March 2, 1882, the son of
Cornelius H. and Mary (Jones) Banks, who were natives of England and
Wales respectively. The father came to America in 1864, crossing the
Atlantic on the ship General McClellan, and after reaching the eastern
seaboard made his way across the country, travelling over the plains
with a government freight train under Captain Seeley. He journeyed to
Tooele, Utah, where his sister,Mrs. Thomas Nicks,was living,and there
he followed carpentering for three years. He afterward removed to Salt
Lake and was in the employ of Joseph E. Taylor, an undertaker, for
twenty-four years, acting as coffin maker and funeral director. He was
then sent to England on a mission covering twenty-six months and upon
his return went to Murray,Utah, where he established undertaking
parlours which he successfully conducted until a few years before his
death,or until the 16th of December, 1914, when he turned over the full
management of the business to his son William. He was a veteran of the
Black Hawk war of Sanpete County. He always remained an active follower
of the church and at the time of his death was bishop's
counsellor,assistant Sunday school superintendent and high priest. The
mother of William A. Banks is still living at Salt Lake in the old home
residence on Banks Court,which was named in honour of her husband, who
then purchased land from ex Governor Daniel Wells soon after his
marriage in 1867. Mr. Banks was also well known in theatrical circles
throughout his entire life and was connected with many amateur
performances given in the Salt Lake theatre, always taking the part of
the villain,which reminds one of the words of the great actor, Booth,
who said: "It takes the best man to successfully play the role of a
villain." His theatrical activities covered the eleventh ward of Salt
Lake City and that ward has had no amateur plays since his demise.
William A. Banks acquired a common school education and spent much of
his youth in Taylor's undertaking rooms with his father,while later he
was closely identified with his father in the undertaking parlours at
Murray. About five years prior to his father's death he took over the
management of the business,of which he is now the head. He has recently
removed to new quarters on State street,in Murray,where he has a large
and well appointed establishment,including a chapel that seats more
than one hundred people.
In 1902 Mr. Banks was married to Miss Emma Alice West, of Salt Lake,
and they have five children: Rollin Llewellyn, Vivian Fay, Mary
Caroline, Woodrow Arthur and William J.
Mr. Banks remains a member of the Mormon church but has not been active
in the church, in politics or in public connections, preferring to
confine his attention to his business which has been wisely managed and
conducted, so that he is today one of the leading undertakers of
Murray, accorded a liberal patronage. He is most careful and
conscientious in the handling of his business, and his success is well
deserved.
(Source: Utah since Statehood
Historical and Biographical, by Noble Warrum, editor, Vol 1, Publ 1919.
Transcribed by Wayne Cheeseman)
GEORGE WASHINGTON BARTCH
Bartch, George Washington, educator, lawyer, jurist, was born on March
15, 1849, at Dushore, Pa. He graduated from Bloomsburg state normal and
received academic degree of master of science. For several terms he was
superintendent of public schools of Shenandoah, Pa.; in 18841886 he
practiced law in Pennsylvania; in 1886-88 in Colorado; and in 1888-89
practiced law in Salt Lake City. In 1889-93 lie was a probate judge of
Salt Lake county by appointment of President Harrison; In 1893-96 was
associate justice of the supreme court for the territory of Utah; and
served on the supreme bench until he resigned. In 1896-1906 he was a
member of the state supreme court of Utah; and in 1899-1900 and 1905-06
was chief justice. He resigned his office as chief justice in 1906 and
organized the law firm of Bartch and Bagley at Salt Lake City, where he
is now engaged in active practice.
Source: [Herringshaw’s National
Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand
Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the
United States, by William Herringshaw, 1909 – Transcribed by AFFG]
CHARLES W. BENNETT
Judge Bennett was for years a distinctive and unmistakable leader at
the bar and while in active practice was esteemed as one of the
foremost lawyers of the West. He was the founder of the firm of Bennett
& Whitney, which now bears the name of Van Cott, Allison &
Riter. In politics, Judge Bennett was very active. He was candidate for
the United States Senate in 1896. He was born October 14, 1833, in
Duanesburg, New York, and spent his early life on his father's farm in
that State. He was educated at Princeton Academy, and graduated from
Albany Law School in 1857, and admitted to the bar of New York that
year.
Considering the West to offer the best field, he moved to Wisconsin,
and practiced in that state until 1860, when he moved to Chicago and
became a member of the firm of Bentler, Bennett, Ullman & Ives,
where he continued until 1871, when he moved to Salt Lake City. Since
then his activities were in Utah, where he was associated with the
greater legal problems that have come up for settlement. The firm he
established steadily built up a reputation for the integrity of its
membership and for their great learning in the law.
In September 1858 Judge Bennett married Isabella E. Fisher. In social
and fraternal circles Judge Bennett was most active at one time. He was
a member of the Masonic Order. But of all his activities, he stands
pre-eminently as a leader of the bar. Known for his fairness, as well
as his judicial acumen, he made friends among those who were working
for the uplifting of the legal standing of the West, and finished his
active career with a reputation among the foremost achieved by men, who
have given their talents to legal matters in the Rocky Mountain region.
Judge Bennett was killed by a street car in Salt Lake City on October
11, 1906.
[Source: History of the bench
and bar of Utah; By Interstate Press Association; Publ. 1913;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
JOHN F. BENNETT
Prominent among the energetic, successful and farsighted business men
of Salt Lake City is John F. Bennett, a leading figure in commercial,
financial and industrial circles. In fact there are various corporate
interests which have found in his energy and enterprise the stimulus of
development and activity. Mr. Bennett was born in England, July 11,
1865, but was only three years of age when his parents left that
country and crossed the Atlantic to the new world, emigrating to Utah
in the fall of 1868., The trip across the plains was a long and arduous
one, the father walking the entire distance from Omaha to Salt Lake
City, while John F. Bennett also covered a part of the distance on foot.
Reared in Utah, John F. Bennett was a pupil in the school at Social
Hall until he reached the age of fourteen years. His first task was
that of carrying charcoal for the blacksmiths who were sharpening tools
for use in the work on the Temple. Prompted by a laudable ambition,
however, he has constantly advanced and each forward step has brought
him a broader outlook and' wider opportunities. At length he has come
into positions demanding marked executive ability and is now
concentrating his efforts and attention upon administrative direction
of most important business interests. Among the many directorates of
which he is a member are the following. He is the president of the
Bennett Glass & Paint Company, the vice president of the Ogden
Paint, Oil & Glass Company, and the vice president of the Farmers
& Merchants Bank of Provo and the Sugar Banking Company of Salt
Lake. He is likewise second vice president and chairman of the
executive committee of Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution, a
director of Zion's Savings Bank and the Utah State National Bank and of
the latter two is a member of the executive committee.
He was one of the organizers and for thirty years has been a director
of Zion's Benefit Building Society. He is also a director of the Utah
Savings & Trust Company, of the Home Fire Insurance Company, the
Salt Air Beach and Salt Air Railroad Company and the Utah Oil Refining
Company. He is a man of determined purpose, carrying forward to
successful completion whatever he undertakes, for he has always
recognized the fact that when one avenue of opportunity has seemed
closed he can carve out other paths whereby he can reach the desired
goal. He has found correct solution for many difficult and involved
business problems and his career constitutes an example of industry and
enterprise that may well serve as a stimulus to the efforts of others.
In November, 1897, Mr. Bennett was united in marriage to Miss Rose
Wallace, a daughter of Henry Wallace, a Utah pioneer, and to them have
been born the following children: Wallace F., Harold H., Elizabeth,
Mary and Richard.
Mr. Bennett is a very prominent churchman, working particularly in the
departments for the young in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. He is general, treasurer for the church Sunday schools and one
of the executive board. He is regarded as a broad-minded and
public-spirited citizen and he is one of the charter members of the
Salt Lake Commercial Club, of which he has served on the governing
board. Any project for the city's development or for the advancement of
its material, social, intellectual and moral interests receives his
endorsement.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
WALLACE FOSTER BENNETT
Senate Years of Service: 1951-1974
Party: Republican
BENNETT, Wallace Foster, (father of Robert Bennett), a Senator from
Utah; born in Salt Lake City, Utah, November 13, 1898; attended the
public schools and the University of Utah; during the First World War,
served as a second lieutenant of Infantry; returned to the University
of Utah and graduated in 1919; high school principal and later
businessman and paint manufacturer; president, National Association of
Manufacturers in 1949; elected as a Republican to the United States
Senate in 1950; reelected in 1956, 1962, and again in 1968 and served
from January 3, 1951, until his resignation December 20, 1974; was not
a candidate for reelection in 1974; resumed business pursuits; was a
resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, until his death on December 19, 1993;
interment at Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of U. S. Congress, 1774-Present
Contributed and transcribed by Anna Newell
JOHN MILTON BERNHISEL
BERNHISEL, John Milton, a Delegate from the Territory of Utah; born at
Sandy Hill, Tyrone Township, near Harrisburg, Cumberland County, Pa.,
July 23, 1799; attended the common schools; was graduated from the
medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia;
commenced the practice of medicine in New York City; moved to Nauvoo,
Hancock County, Ill., in 1843, and thence to the Territory of Utah;
settled in Salt Lake City in 1848 and continued the practice of
medicine; elected to the Thirty-second and to the three succeeding
Congresses (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1859); was not a candidate for
renomination in 1858; resumed the practice of medicine; elected to the
Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1863); was not a
candidate for renomination in 1862; resumed the practice of his
profession; served as regent of the University of Utah; died in Salt
Lake City September 28, 1881; interment in Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of U. S. Congress, 1774-Present
Contributed and transcribed by Anna Newell
NAHUM BIGELOW
By A. William Lund
Nahum Bigelow, son of Simeon and Sarah (Foster) Bigelow, was born in
Brandon, Vt., Feb. 9, 1785; like his father he was a farmer and stock
raiser. Yankee restlessness drove him out in the world, and
taking a peddler’s pack, he traveled about the country until he was
married, Dec. 12, 1826, to Mary Gibbs in Lawrenceville, Ill. The couple
moved to Coles Co., and lived there for ten years. Here
“Mormonism” was preached to Nahum, and after some time given to thought
and prayer, he, his wife and two eldest children were baptized April 1,
1839. Another move was then made to Mercer Co., and still another
to Hancock Co., in 1843.
The character of Nahum was one of frank, sturdy independence.
Honest to a fault, generous, quick tempered and affectionate, his
children bear resemblance more or less to the father. He was
inclined to invention, and was a “good provider” for his family.
Brave but not reckless, he gave one man a proof of his fearlessness.
It was when the “Mormons” were being persecuted, mobbed, and driven
like sheep by wolves, in Hancock and adjoining counties of
Illinois. Threatened with his life, one night a man knocked at
Nahum’s door, demanding admittance. It was the day, the very
hour, in which the mob had threatened to come and burn every house and
kill every one beneath the farmer’s roof. Three times Nahum asked
who the intruder was and what was his business; three times he was told
gruffly to open the door and let the stranger in or a way would be
forced. Suiting his action to the determination expressed in
words, the supposed mobocrat put his shoulder to the door and pushed
his way in. Sorry the moment, for Nahum quietly reached for his
gun, and as the man sprang into the room, a rifle shot rang through the
house, and the stranger turned and fled, yelling as he ran, “Boys, I am
shot.”
The supposed mobocrat turned out to be one of a posse of men sent from
Carthage, on Nahum’s own application, to defend the family. They
had purposely concealed their identity to practice a poor joke on the
naturally excited family. Dearly, almost with his life, the
unfortunate lieutenant paid for his fun. For weeks he lay at
death’s door in the Bigelow home, nursed carefully by the house mother
and her grown daughters. His life was spared.
When the trial of Nahum Bigelow came off, the captain was honest enough
to make out a deposition setting forth the facts, sending it to
Carthage, and thus saved probably the life of the farmer. Nahum,
indeed was overwhelmed with shame and remorse when he saw whom he had
shot. Some months after this, an old neighbor who was a bitter
“Mormon” hater, asked the farmer to take a “friendly” breakfast with
him and administered a deadly poison in the cup of coffee which was
handed to Nahum. Only by faith and constant prayer did Nahum rise
up from the bed of agony upon which this “friendly” act threw
him. For months he suffered all that mortality could endure and
still exist. Through it all, his one constant prayer was,
“Father, only let me live till I can get my family out of this
mob-ridden country into the great unknown regions of the West, and then
when they are safe and in peace, I am ready to go.”
It was so. After going through the heart-rending scenes of the
drivings of Missouri, he was enabled to emigrate his family to Utah in
1850, he and his family settling for the winter in Farmington.
His daughters, Mary and Lucy, were married to President Brigham Young
and remained in Salt Lake City. In the winter the brave old
farmer failed rapidly, and on Jan. 28, 1851, the spirit took its flight
to its rest.
As a whole, the descendants of Nahum Bigelow show all the distinctive
family traits and are everywhere honored as friends, neighbors, and
citizens. Rejoicing in their honorable name and family, each
seems to feel a peculiar pleasure in performing his part so that it may
be said of all, “Behold a family in whom there is no guile.”
(Source: The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Publ 1912. Transcribed by Marilyn Clore)
HENRY WILLIAM BLAIR
Blair, Henry William, soldier, congressman, author, was born Dec. 6,
1834, in Campton, N.H. He was prosecuting attorney for Graf ton county
in 1860. He served in the union army as lieutenant-colonel during the
civil war. He was a representative in the New Hampshire state
legislature in 1866; and a state senator in 1867-68. In 1875-79 and
1893-95 he was a representative from New Hampshire to the forty-fourth,
the forty-fifth and fifty-third congresses; and declined a
renomination. In 1879-91 he was United States senator from New
Hampshire. He is the author of The Temperance Movement, or the Conflict
of Man with Alcohol. Blair, Jacob B., lawyer, jurist, congressman, was
born April 11, 1821, in Parkersburg, Va. He was prosecuting attorney
for Ritchie county for several years. In 1861-65 he was a
representative from Virginia to the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth
congresses. In 1867 he was elected a representative in the state
legislature; and was United States minister to Costa Rica in 1868-72.
In 187688 he was associate justice of the supreme court of Wyoming
territory. He died Feb. 12, 1901, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Source: [Herringshaw’s National
Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand
Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the
United States, by William Herringshaw, 1909 – Transcribed by AFFG]
JEDEDIAH M. BLAIR
Jedediah M. Blair is one of the prominent, progressive citizens of
northern Utah, whose home is in Logan but whose circle of influence
extends throughout the whole section of which his home is the
metropolis. He was born in Salt Lake City, July 8, 1854, and when but
six years of age went with his parents to Logan. For five years he
lived there and during that time availed himself of such educational
facilities as the place then possessed. In 1865 the family removed
temporarily to Salt Lake and three years later went to Irontown, Iron
county. While there and when but sixteen years of age, he was named
postmaster of the town, the appointment being made by President Ulysses
S. Grant. Completing his term of office there, he returned to Logan in
1873 and for many years after that engaged in agricultural and
mercantile pursuits, being connected with the Logan Branch of Z. C. M.
I. for many years. In 1893 Mr. Blair was appointed postmaster of Logan
by President Grover Cleveland and in February, 1916, was again named to
fill that position, this time by President Woodrow Wilson. His
administration of these offices won him the commendation of the people
he served and the congratulations of his superior officers, for he
brought to his task courtesy, fairness and a strong desire for
efficiency and economy.
It is not in any official capacity, however, that Mr. Blair has
achieved most nobly but rather in his daily walk in life, in his
constant courageous fight for the right as he saw it and his
exemplification of his principles in his manner of living. Positive in
his nature, outspoken, as loyal to his friends as he was to his
principles, he wielded a powerful influence for good among his fellow
workers. He possessed strong religious convictions as a Latter-day
Saint and never wavered when called to their defence whether in serving
as a missionary or in giving of his time, means and mentality when
invited to do so. Not the least of Mr. Blair's activities have been
along political lines and they brought him recognition as one of the
leaders of his party in the section where he resided. He was always a
steadfast, unswerving democrat, ever ready to contend for his
principles and always a worthy honourable foe in a political battle.
Politically, as well as religiously he is of metal that always rings
true.
His home life has been a model one and he has reared a family that is a
credit not only to himself and wife but to the community as well. His
wife, a woman of most admirable motherly qualities was Miss Julia
Ballif, whom he married December 11, 1879. She is a native of Utah,
having been born in Provo, June 15, 1858, and is the mother of seven
children, namely: Julia Blair Athay, Jedediah M. Blair, Jr., Seth H.
Blair, Harriet Blair Woolley, Franklin M. Blair, Bennett George Blair
and Miss Sarah Blair. Mr. Blair achieved the reputation he possessed is
not strange for he comes of true-blue, sturdy American stock. His
father was Seth W. Blair, Missouri-born, a stalwart of stalwarts in his
Americanism, a gentleman of many attainments and an indefatigable
worker. He came to Utah in very early days and was the first United
States Attorney for the then territory of Utah, being appointed by
President Millard Fillmore. He enjoyed a good legal practice because of
his wide knowledge of the law and his unfaltering honesty in applying
it. In 1852 he married Sarah J. Foster, a splendid type of Ohio
womanhood, who bore him six children, namely: Jedediah M. Blair, Mattie
Blair Hansen, Katherine Blair, Leonora Blair Hammond, George E. Blair
and Vilate Blair. Only two members of this family were living in 1920
the subject of this sketch and Mrs. Mattie B. Hansen. Seth M. Blair
died at Logan, March 14, 1875, and his wife Sarah passed away at the
same place, January 26, 1909.
Jedediah M. Blair began this life with the richest heritage that can
come to an individual a clean body and a clean, honest mind, a soul
fired with high purpose and a family history rich in traditions of
patriotism, love of God and love of his fellows It was largely due to
that inheritance that he was able to live down the bodily ailments that
almost made an invalid of him for years, and achieved an honourable and
an enviable position among his fellows.
(Source: Utah since Statehood
Historical and Biographical, by Noble Warrum, editor, Vol 1, Publ 1919.
Transcribed by Wayne Cheeseman)
REVA ZILPHA BECK BOSONE
BOSONE, Reva Zilpha Beck, a Representative from Utah; born in American
Fork, Utah County, Utah, April 2, 1895; attended the public schools;
graduated from Westminster Junior College in 1917 and from the
University of California at Berkeley in 1919; taught high school
1920-1927; graduated from the University of Utah College of Law at Salt
Lake City in 1930 and was admitted to the bar the same year; practiced
law in Helper, Carbon County, Utah, 1931-1933 and Salt Lake City,
1933-1936; member of the State house of representatives 1933-1935,
serving as floor leader in 1935; elected Salt Lake City judge in 1936
and served until elected to Congress; during the Second World War was
chairman of Women’s Army Corps Civilian Advisory Committee of the Ninth
Service Command; official observer at United Nations Conference at San
Francisco in 1945; first director of Utah State Board for Education on
Alcoholism in 1947 and 1948; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-first
and Eighty-second Congresses (January 3, 1949-January 3, 1953);
unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1952 to the Eighty-third
Congress and for election in 1954 to the Eighty-fourth Congress;
delegate to Democratic National Conventions in 1952 and 1956; resumed
the practice of law in Salt Lake City, 1953-1957; legal counsel to
Safety and Compensation Subcommittee of House Committee on Education
and Labor 1957-1960; judicial officer, Post Office Department in
1961-1968; was a resident of Vienna, Va., until her death there July
21, 1983.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present
Submitted and transcribed by Anna Newell
FRANK C. BRAMWELL
Frank C. Bramwell, who on the 1st of January, 1921, received the
appointment of state superintendent of banks, has been a resident of
Oregon since 1899 and has become recognized as a most progressive
business man and public-spirited citizen, gaining his present position
of trust and responsibility through the strength of his mental
endowments and the wise utilization of his time, talents and
opportunities.
Mr. Bramwell was born at Salt Lake City, Utah, December 21, 1881, and
is a son of Franklin S. Bramwell, a native of Sheffield, England, who
has traveled all over the world and is a man of broad views and wide
information. He married Emily Neal, a native of Lancashire, England,
and is now residing in Grants Pass. Oregon, but his wife passed away in
1915. For some time he successfully engaged in the hardware business
and he is probably one of the best known men in the state. He has been
very active in political circles in both Idaho and Oregon and became
one of the organizers of the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce, of which
he served as vice president In 1919 and 1920. Lester H. Bramwell, a
brother of the subject of this review, is assistant cashier of the
United States National Bank at La Grande, Oregon.
Frank C. Bramwell as a child removed with his parents to St. Anthony,
Idaho, and In 1899 he became a resident of Oregon, first going to
Baker, where he remained for a year, after which he removed to La
Grande. He was graduated from college in 1903, on the completion of a
four years' course, following which he entered banking circles at La
Grande, later serving for three and a half years in the county clerk's
office in Union county, Oregon. In January, 190S, upon the
recommendation of Senators Bourne and Fulton, he was appointed by
President Roosevelt as register of the United States land office at La
Grande and in June, 1912, was reappointed to that office by President
Taft, serving until September 30, 1916. He then removed to Grants Pass,
where he again became identified with banking interests. He was
appointed by the State Banking Board as state superintendent of banks,
assuming the duties of the office on the 1st of January, 1921. He is a
shrewd, systematic business man, well versed in the details of modern
banking, and is proving well qualified for the discharge of the
important and responsible duties which devolve upon him in this
connection, securing the goodwill and cooperation of the majority of
the bankers of the state.
On the 28th of February, 1903, Mr. Bramwell was united in marriage to
Miss Afton Thatcher and they have become the parents of five children:
Vernon, seventeen years of age; Leola; and Frank C, Jr., Edgar
and Aaron, aged respectively seven, four and two years. Fraternally Mr.
Bramwell is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks,
belonging to La Grande Lodge, No. 433, of which he is a past exalted
ruler. With industry and determination as dominating qualities he has
made steady progress in the business world, his record being one which
at all times will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny. He has
ever regarded a public office as a public trust and no trust reposed in
Frank C. Bramwell has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree.
Source: History of Oregon: Volume II - The Pioneer Historical Publishing Company - Chicago - Portland; 1922
Submitted and transcribed by Jim Dezotell
GEORGE HENRY BRIMHALL
Occupying a position of distinctive precedence in educational circles
in the west, George Henry Brimhall is now president of the Brigham
Young University, of Provo. He was born in Salt Lake City, December 9,
1852, and is a son of George Washington Brimhall and Rachel Ann Mayer.
His father was born November 14, 1814. He became a resident of the
state during the era of pioneer development in Utah, and was identified
with its industrial interests as a master mechanic. He was prominent in
religious and political circles and was called by his fellow townsmen
to represent them in the territorial legislature. The mother, Rachel
Ann Mayer, a daughter of George Mayer and Ann Yost, was born in
Indiana, February 9, 1829. The daughter of pioneers, she herself was a
pioneer and did the work incident to those days.
Her family, consisting of ten children, four sons and six daughters, as
a rule, bear the impress of her strong will and sturdy character
particularly is this true in relation to her eldest son George H., who
greatly resembles his mother in physical features and mental
endowments. He first attended a private school in Ogden, for in those
pioneer days public schools were unknown. Later he attended the public
schools in Salt Lake City, Cedar Fort in the Dixie country and in
Spanish Fork. Afterward he became a student at Provo, attending the
first high school of that city. At a still later date he was a student
in the Brigham Young Academy, the institution that became the successor
of the Timpanogos Academy. President Brimhall has often said in public
that it was due mainly to his mother's determination, in the face of
the greatest possible financial odds that he was enabled to attend
school in Provo. In his school days he was eager to advance, eager to
obtain knowledge. Many lessons were prepared while he was teaming and
herding.
He was one of a group of forty-two young men who established a high
school in Spanish Fork, known as the Young Men's Academy. A student of
the institution, at first, he soon became one of its teachers. While
thus engaged he worked out a system of school grading. In educational
circles his progress has been continuous. From being a superintendent
of the Spanish Fork schools, he soon became county superintendent of
Utah county and later city superintendent of Provo City. It was this
latter position he was filling when he was called to the faculty of the
Brigham Young Academy. During his period of service on the faculty, he
held the chair of psychology and pedagogy for the greater part of the
time. At all times during his connection with the institution he has
held some executive position. By an action of the board of trustees he
became its chief executive January 3, 1903. Prior to this time he had
served as president of the Utah State Teachers' Association.
President Brimhall's professional career falls naturally under three
heads: his work as a teacher, as an executive and as an educational
lecturer. He has always been recognized in the profession as one of
Utah's foremost teachers; with him it is a gift as well as a
profession. In all the years of teachers coming and going at the
Brigham Young University, no other teacher ever attracted so many
students to his classes as did Professor Brimhall.
Prior to Professor Brimhall's coming to the presidency of the school,
two degrees had been conferred upon him, the" first the degree of
Bachelor of Pedagogy, the second the degree of Doctor of Science. It is
self evident that he has succeeded as an executive, because of his
having been called to one executive position after another
successively. The greatest period of expansion in the Brigham Young
University as to buildings, equipment, faculty and students has
occurred under his administration.
As seen from the student's point of view, he has been the subject of
many tributes in all of the college periodicals for many years. Perhaps
no better epitome of them all can be found than in the dedication of
the 1915 year book, known to the students as the "Banyan."
"To the man who thinks of the needs of his institution;
"To the man whose acts inspire patrons, teachers and students to do their best for the good of the school;
"To the man who appreciates responsibility and the confidence that others place in him;
"To President George H. Brimhall whose greatness comes partly from the
life which he has given our B. Y. U., we cheerfully dedicate the 1915
'Banyan.'
"B. Y. U. Student Body."
In all probability President Brimhall is most gifted as a public
speaker. His ability to lay hold of an apt illustration on the instant
and drive it home has been one of the elements of his good teaching. He
is one of the best known educational lecturers in this intermountain
country, having lectured at institutes and in educational meetings and
throughout this entire region.
But the scope of President Brimhall's public addresses reaches far
beyond that of an educational lecturer. Rarely has any man been as
generally sought for on platform and in pulpit as has President
Brimhall. It is safe to say that there is no public movement of any
general interest that he has not been asked to champion by word of
mouth. Suffrage, prohibition, civic betterment, public welfare
movements of many phases have all sought and received such support as
his talent affords.
An idea of his popularity as a speaker may be had when we take into
consideration the fact that on one 4th of July he received twenty-four
invitations from twenty-four committees of twenty-four different cities
and towns to deliver the 4th of July oration, and that from thirteen
communities came requests for similar service on the 24th of July.
There is one variety of discourse in which President Brimhall is past
master; it is in the short address and short sermon. These addresses
have made the chapel exercises of the Brigham Young University noted
and their author famous. They are always short, racy and to the point,
filled with apt illustration and telling epigram.
Dr. Brimhall has served for many years on the general church board of
education, the church board of examiners, the general board of religion
classes and on to general board of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement
Association. He is one of the oldest members of the Y. M. M. I. A.
board. In connection with Dr. Milton H. Hardy he wrote the first
manual, a series of lessons for the young people all over the church.
In a period covering thirty-three years there have been comparatively
few summers when Professor Brimhall has not been engaged in writing
lessons for the M. I. manuals, the present summer being no exception to
the rule.
But his literary achievements have not been confined to writing
lessons; he has been a constant contributor to local magazines and has
given out many interviews for the public press. His composition is not
confined to prose. He has written a measurable quantity of creditable
verse. His "Old Glory" written on the entry of the United States into
war set to music by Prof. Clair W. Reid, was sung all over Utah and in
many of the adjoining states. In addition to being connected with the
various church boards, before mentioned. President Brimhall has served
his church in the capacity of a stake superintendent of the Y. M. M. I.
Associations of Utah stake, and as a member of the high council of that
stake.
He has always taken great interest in civic affairs. He was a member of
the city council of Spanish Fork during the period of his residence in
that city. He is affiliated with the republican party. In 1896 he was a
candidate on the republican ticket for the state senate, but a
democratic landslide resulted in the defeat of all republicans. He has
been a speaker in practically every political campaign since the days
of statehood.
President Brimhall was married in 1874 to Alsena E. Wilkins. To them
were born these children: Lucy J., Alsena E., George W., Mark H., Wells
L. and Milton H. President Brimhall's second marriage, to Flora
Robertson occurred in 1885. The children born to them are: Dean R., Fay
R., Fawn R., Ruth Afton, Paul R., Alta R., Golden H., Ario R. He is
fond of fishing and hunting. His leisure hours find him haunting
canyons and streams with his boys and other members of his family who
delight in manly outdoor sports.
George H. Brimhall is a man of rich spiritual and rich intellectual
endowments, whose gifts have been supported by a life of strenuous
work. Whatever his limitations may be he never fails to scintillate.
Brilliancy is in the essence of all his power. His style whether in
oral or written discourse is full of originality, and presents many
surprises in analysis thought and sentence structure.
President Brimhall possesses personality, a personality that has
impressed itself upon thousands of students; a personality that has
attracted the attention of many persons from both east and west because
of its force and originality: a personality that compels and commands,
and rarely fails to grip those with whom he comes in contact.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
ABRAHAM WILLIAM BROOKE
BROOKE, Abraham William, secretary and auditor American Refrigerator
Transit Co.; born, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 2, 1855; son of George
and Anne (Homes) Brooke; removed to St. Louis, July 3, 1857, and was
educated in public schools; married, St. Louis, Apr. 2, 1877, Lucy
Athalie Welles; eight children: Marie Grace (Mrs. Frank V. Grubs), Rosa
Josephine (Mrs. Wilbur G. Miles), Lucv Claire (Mrs. F. F. R. Hesse),
Agnes Welles, Constance Griffin (Mrs. J. P. Finkenaur), Emilie Claire,
Georgene Christy, Adrian Welles. Became connected with the accounting
department Missouri Pacific Ry., 1883; appointed auditor American
Refrigerator Transit Co., 1889, and has also served as secretary same
since June 1, 1903. Republican. Presbyterian. Office: 915 Olive St.
Residence: 3016 Shenandoah Ave.
Source: The Book of St. Louisans, Publ. 1912. Transcribed by Charlotte Slater
ARTHUR BROWN
Senate Years of Service: 1896-1897
Party: Republican
BROWN, Arthur, a Senator from Utah; born near Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo
County, Mich., March 8, 1843; attended the common schools and graduated
from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1862; pursued graduate
work at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; graduated from the law
department of the University of Michigan in 1864; admitted to the bar
and commenced practice in Kalamazoo; moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in
1879; upon the admission of Utah as a State into the Union was elected
as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from January 22,
1896, until March 3, 1897; was not a candidate for renomination;
resumed the practice of law in Salt Lake City; shot in Washington, D.C.
on December 8, 1906, by a woman who claimed to be the mother of his
children, and died on December 12; interment in Mount Olivet Cemetery,
Salt Lake City, Utah.
Source: Biographical Directory of U. S. Congress, 1774-Present
Contributed and transcribed by Anna Newell
ARTHUR BROWN
Arthur Brown, United States Senator from Nevada, was a character that
arrested attention as a man, as a statesman and as a lawyer. He was
learned in the law, a strong advocate, had a mind keen, incisive and at
times displayed great brilliancy. He resided in Salt Lake City for
thirty-five years, having made a marked reputation as a young man in
the practice of his profession in Michigan, from whence he came. He was
strong in the presentation of his own side of a controversy in court,
and he never failed to discover the vulnerable points in the case of
his adversary, or to expose such weakness in the most effective manner.
He was a very successful lawyer, and in the average of cases tried by
juries, there was no more successful verdict getter at the bar during
the time he was practicing in the courts of Utah. And though he was
extremely strong in the presentation of his own case, he was always
fair. His word in all professional matters was perfectly reliable. If
he extended a favor orally, his adversary was as safe as if he had a
written stipulation embodying the agreement. He was an intense and
positive character, had many characteristics of leadership, was an
ardent partisan in politics and politically ambitious, and reached for
a short time, upon the admission of the state, that highest and most
coveted honor the state can confer, a United States Senatorship. He
died in the fall of 1906.
[Source: History of the bench
and bar of Utah; By Interstate Press Association; Publ. 1913;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
FRANK BURGNER
Frank Burgner, general superintendent of the Utah Ore Sampling Company,
which operates a sampling mill at Murray and another at Silver City, is
thus actively connected with mining interests. The business was
formerly owned and developed by Colorado people but is now the property
of Jesse Knight, of Prove, and as general superintendent Mr. Burgner is
giving complete satisfaction. He was born on the 13th of
September, 1881, in Greene county, Tennessee, and is a son of Winfield
Scott and Barbara (Broyles) Burgner, both of whom were representatives
of old and prominent families of Tennessee. The
great0great-grandfather, Peter Burgner, was born in Germany but came to
America about 1760. The great-grandfather was born in
Pennsylvania in 1773 and the grandfather was a native of the same
state, but his son, Winfield Scott Burgner, was a native of
Tennessee. The grandfather was an expert workman in wood,
manufacturing violins, pipe and reed organs and furniture. He
inherited many slaves but set them all free before the Civil war,
becoming convinced that the system of slavery was wrong. Although
a southern man he became a stanch Unionist and a Lincoln republican and
was prominent in the political circles of his state. His son,
Winfield Scott Burgner, became a carpenter and cabinetmaker and was
also the owner of a plantation. He reared a family of three
children, of whom Frank Burgner of this review is the eldest. He
was but six years of age at the time of his father’s death. His
brother George is foreman of the plant of the Stonega Coal & Coke
Company at Big Stone Gap, Virginia. His sister Kitty is the wife
of W. Lilly, a railroad man of Johnson City, Tennessee.
Frank Burgner obtained a high school education and also pursued a
mechanical engineering course through the International Correspondence
Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania. When eighteen years of age Mr.
Burgner went to Watson, Missouri, where he engaged in feeding cattle
for three years. He afterward removed to Salt lake City, where he
worked as a mechanic in the employ of the Oregon Short Line Railroad,
and in 10-3 took up his abode in Murray as an employee of the Utah Ore
Samplling Company. He has worked his way upward from a minor
position with this company to general superintendent. From 1909 until
1917 he was at the Silver City plant as superintendent and since that
time has been superintendent of the plants at both Silver City and
Murray dividing his time between the two places. His position is
now one of importance and responsibility and he has fully met every
obligation that devolves upon him in this connection. He is also
interested in a leasing business in Nevada and Utah and owns property
in Salt Lake City.
In 1905 Mr. Burgner was married to Miss Belva Cahoon, a daughter of
Reuben and Melvina (Morgan Cahoon, who were born and reared at
Murray. They have for children: Ila, Donald, Viola and June, all
now in school. They reside at the company home near the sampling
mill in Murray.
Fraternally Mr. Burgner is connected with Tintic Lodge, No. 711, B. P.
O. E., with the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Watson, Missouri, and with
the Brotherhood of American Yeomen at Murray. He is a self-made
man and deserves much credit for what he has accomplished.
Obtaining a liberal education he has worked his way steadily upward,
utilizing every opportunity and advantage that has come his way, and he
is now able to speak with authority upon the intricate and involved
questions which have to do with the sampling of ores in Utah.
[Source: Utah since Statehood: Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919; Transcribed by Richard Ramos]
HON. THEODORE T. BURTON
Hon. Theodore T. Burton is one who has left the impress of his
individuality upon the history of city and state in connection with
public affairs as well as business interests. He is now the
manager of the firm of Burton & Company, is a well known business
man of Salt Lake and is also one of the city commissioners. He
was her born on the 21st of January, 1873, and is a son of Robert T.
and Sarah (Garr) Burton. The father was one of the leading
figures in the public life of the community at an early day,
contributing to the development of the territory and to the up building
of the state. He was also an active factor in the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. Robert T. Burton was born at
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada, in 1819 and was a son of Samuel and
Hannah (Shipley) Burton, who were natives of England and came to
America in 1817, settling at Pultneyville, Wayne county, New
York. There they remained about to years and then went to Canada,
where they resided until 1828, when they removed to Lucas county, Ohio,
and subsequently to Adrian, Michigan, while later they returned to
their old home in Canada. In 1838 Samuel Burton, the grandfather
of Theodore T. Burton, was converted to the Mormon faith, his wife
having joined the church the year before. The family left
Canada in the fall of 1838 and went to Knoxville, Illinois, where they
resided for a year and then removed to Nauvoo, Illinois, where they
remained until 1846. Robert T. Burton was an active churchman
from the first and did missionary work in Illinois, Michigan and
Ohio. Returning to Nauvoo, he became a member of Captain
Gleason’s cavalry company of the Nauvoo Legion and he was also a member
of the Nauvoo Brass Band and the Nauvoo choir. He left Nauvoo
with the first company to cross the Mississippi river and the family
made a temporary home about fifty miles down the river. There the
grandmother of Theodore T. Burton died. In May 1848, Robert T.
Burton with his first wife and family set out on the trip across the
plains with Captain Allen’s division of the Brigham Young company,
arriving at Salt Lake on the 23d of September, 1848. The next
spring they made a home at the corner of Second West and First South
streets in Salt Lake City, where the family remained until his
death. Robert T. Burton was constable of Salt Lake City in
1852. He became United States deputy marshal in 1853 and for many
years filled that office. He was also sheriff, assessor and
collector of Salt Lake county from 1854 until 1874. In 1856 he
went to meet a belated handcart company and he served in the Echo
Canyon war as a major general. He likewise became United States
internal revenue collector for Utah by appointment of President
Lincoln, so continuing from 1862 until 1869, and thus in many ways he
was actively associated with events framing the history of the
territory and of the commonwealth. Remaining an active worker in
the church, he was counselor to Bishop Cunningham of the fifteenth ward
of Salt Lake City and in 1867 he became bishop of the same ward.
In 1869 he went as a missionary to the eastern states and in 1873 was a
missionary to Europe, becoming president of the London
conference. He was also second counselor to Edward Hunter,
presiding bishop, and after the latter’s death was first counselor to
the presiding bishop, William B. Preston, He took active part in
the early Indian wars, first as captain, then as major and afterward as
major general, being commissioned by Governor Durkee in 1868. He
likewise served as a member of the board of regents of the University
of Deseret. In community affairs he manifested the keenest
interest and was a member of the city council of Salt Lake from 1856
until 1873. A life of great usefulness was ended when on the 11th
of November 1907; this great and good man was called to his
reward. Robert T. Burton was married to Sarah Garr, the mother of
Theodore T. Burton, February 7, 1856, she having entered Salt Lake City
in 1847, as a pioneer. In their family were twelve children that
reached adult age: Henry F., Frank, Alfred J., Alice, Lyman W.,
Elbert T., Edward L, Theodore T., Ada M., Virginia L., Austin G. and
Hardy G., while Frank, Alice and Lyman W. are deceased. Austin is
now bishop of Talmage, Utah.
In the acquirement of his education Theodore T. Burton attended the
University of Utah, where he pursued a business course. He was
reared to farm life and at the age of twenty-three years went on a
mission to the eastern states for two years, after which he returned to
Salt Lake and entered the employ of the Felt Lumber Company.
Subsequently he was with F. H. King, a lumber dealer, and in 1901
he organized the Burton Coal & Lumber Company, being personally
interested in its management until he disposed of his share in the
business in 1913. The following year he became a dealer in real
estate and in 1916 organized the firm of Burton & Company for the
conduct of a stock brokerage and real estate business. He is the
manager of this company and as such has greatly extended its clientage
and developed its activities. Mr. Burton is also a large investor
in trackage warehouses, owning several, which he leases to the large
furniture and storage people of Salt Lake City, and in this connection
he has displayed notable sound business judgment, bringing him
substantial success.
In 1899 Mr. Burton was married to Miss Florence Moyle, of Salt Lake,
representing one of the leading pioneer families of the city, and they
have become the parents of three children: Theodore, Wilford and
Kenneth, James Moyle, the father of Mrs. Burton, emigrated to America
from Cornwall, England, in 1854, landing at New Orleans. He was
married to Margaret Cannel, January 31, 1870, a pioneer who walked
across the plains, entering the Salt Lake valley, August 20,
1868. Mr. Moyle was a prominent representative of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as captain of a
company in the Nauvoo Legion. A mason by trade, he became a
leading contractor of Salt Lake City, having charge of the stone work
on the Temple block and later acting as general superintendent of work
on the Temple block. He was also a stanch friend of the case of
education and when he passed away on the 8th of December, 1890, the
capital lost one of its respected and influential citizens.
Mr. Burton remains an active church worker and is superintendent of the
Pioneer State Sunday schools, a member of the Stake High Council and a
high priest, while his wife is secretary of the Fourth Ward Relief
Society. He takes a keen interest in public questions and the
vital problems of the age and in 1914 was elected on the democratic
ticket to the state legislature. In November, 1919, he was
elected a city commissioner of Salt Lake for a four years’ term.
His devotion to the general good insures his capability and
progressiveness in the office. His entire life has been
characterized by the spirit of advancement and through capably directed
business affairs he has gained place among the substantial men of Salt
Lake City.
[Source: Utah since Statehood: Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919; Transcribed by Richard Ramos]
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