GEORGE T. ODELL
Prominent among the business men of Salt Lake is George T. Odell, who
for years has been closely identified with the history of the city as a
representative of some of its most important business interests, while
his residence in the state covers fifty-eight years. He is a man of
keen discrimination and sound judgment and his executive ability and
excellent management have brought to the concern with which he is
connected a large degree of success. He is now the president of the
Consolidated Wagon & Machine Company, which has attained a foremost
position in this line of business, being today the largest retail
implement house in the world. Mr. Odell was one of the founders of this
company and was for years its general manager until becoming its
president March 18, 1919, succeeding Joseph F. Smith. The (growth and
prosperity of the company are due in large measure to the efforts of
Mr. Odell, who has in his management inaugurated a safe and
conservative yet progressive policy which commends itself to the
judgment of all and has secured to the corporation a patronage which
makes its volume of trade one of great magnitude. The history of Mr.
Odell is the story of orderly progression from a humble place in
business circles to a position of leadership among the business men of
the state.
Born in London, England, on the 4th of December, 1848, George T. Odell
is a son of George and Ann (Newman) Odell, who in 1861 left their
native country and sailed for the new world. The voyage from Liverpool
to New York required thirty days and was made in "The Underwriter." The
family proceeded westward and from winter quarters at the Missouri
river, they made the journey by ox team to Utah. The father was a
printer and publisher and on reaching Utah settled in Ogden. where he
took up the occupation of farming. Later in association with Charles W.
Penrose, he was interested in the printing of the "Ogden Junction," Mr.
Penrose being the editor and Thomas George Odell the printer. It was
amid the pioneer surroundings of farm life in the '60s that George T.
Odell was reared, his time largely being devoted to the work of the
fields. He afterward became a reporter on the "Ogden Junction" and in
1869 secured a position as brakeman with the Southern Pacific Railway
Company. After about a year he was advanced to the position of
conductor and thus continued until 1878. In that year he turned his
attention to the produce and shipping business, with which he was
associated for two years, when he removed to Bullionville, Nevada, to
take charge of the mercantile interests of the Bullionville Smelting
Company. In the winter season of 1882-1883, however, Mr. Odell returned
to Salt Lake City, where he took up his permanent abode and joined
Joshua F. and Heber J. Grant in the establishment of an implement and
vehicle business in 1883. This constituted the nucleus of the present
corporation, of which Mr. Odell is the general manager. Various changes
in name and partnership relations have occurred since that time. The
business was first conducted under the name of Grant, Odell &
Company as a co-partnership concern and later was incorporated under
the style of the Grant, Odell Company. Subsequently , the name of the
Cooperative Wagon & Machine Company, Inc., was assumed and on the
13th of February, 1902, this was changed to the Consolidated Wagon
& Machine Company, which organization grew out of a merger of the
Cooperative Wagon & Machine Company and the Consolidated Implement
Company. Of the new organization Mr. Odell became a director and the
general manager. The business of the new concern has steadily developed
until it has reached mammoth proportions, being now the largest retail
establishment of the kind in the world. Its sales include agricultural
implements, machinery and vehicles, which are distributed through
fifty-five stores, operated by employees of the parent concern
throughout Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada. The business development of
the house is attributable in no small degree to the untiring efforts,
the keen sagacity and sound business judgment of Mr. Odell, who in
control of the business has ever held to the highest commercial
standards, so that the commercial rating of the company is the highest
attainable.
In various other business deals the cooperation of George T. Odell has
been sought and has contributed to the successful development of
various important industrial and commercial concerns of the west. He is
the president and one of the directors of the Utah Asphalt Company;
also of the Utah Hydro Carbon Company; is a trustee of the Beeman
Cashin Mercantile Company; president and a director of the Utah Karns
Tunneling & Machine Company; a director of the American Fuel
Company; the vice president and one of the directors of the Columbia
Trust Company; a director of H. J. Grant & Company; president and
director of the Richlands Irrigation Company; vice president and
director of the Wright Mercantile Company of Idaho Falls, Idaho; and
president and director of the Odell-Wrlght Investment Company. The
extent and importance of his interests have made him well known in
eastern business circles and few men have contributed in larger or more
substantial measure to the commercial development and upbuilding of the
west.
On the 11th of May, 1871, at Ogden, Utah, Mr. Odell was married to Miss
Florence Caroline Grant and they have become parents of five children,
Thomas George, Joshua Frederick, Florence Louise, Adelaide Eugene and
Ethel Marie. That Mr. Odell is appreciative of the social amenities of
life is indicated in his membership in various clubs and in the Masonic
fraternity as well. In the last named his association is with Wasatch
Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M., and he has become a Knight Templar and
member of the Mystic Shrine. He has also attained the thirty-second
degree in the Scottish Rite. In club circles he is known as a
representative of the Alta and Rotary Clubs of Salt Lake City and also
of the Commercial Club, of which he has been a most prominent member
and a dominant figure. He is vice president and one of the directors of
the board of governors and a charter member of the Commercial Club. He
is likewise a director of the Home Benefit Building Society, is a
trustee of the Agricultural College at Logan, and entering most
heartily into all war activities, became state director for the
National War Savings in Utah and a member of the Utah State Council of
Defense. Of Mr. Odell's work in connection with the sale of War Savings
Stamps in Utah, a local publication said in part: "Not enough has been
said in praise of the efforts of George T. Odell as state director of
the W. S. S. All over the land the campaign in behalf of the W. S. S.
proved to be one of the most difficult of undertakings. Why this should
be is almost inexplicable in view of the inducements offered by the
government to float this form of loan. It was an investment almost
without equal in the long history of war loans. The selling of W S. S.
as it transpired was a big task everywhere. Nowhere was it performed
more worthily or more successfully than in Utah under the direction of
Mr. Odell and his associate, James W. Collins. Although one of the
busiest men in the state as general manager of the Consolidated Wagon
& Machine Company, Mr. Odell willingly augmented his labors to
serve the government in its hours of crisis. He made many trips into
the state to organize the work and to use his great influence to pro-'
mote the sales.
It was his marvelous energy and tenacity which brought such notable
results despite the many difficulties. We are justified in assuming
that it is this character of persistency in the pursuit of an object
once set as a goal which has brought Mr. Odell such success as a
business man. Doubtless it had something to do with his selection as
state director of the W. S. S. campaign. It is the distinction of Mr.
Odell that, coming to this country a poor lad from England, he has
worked his way up from the humble position of a freight conductor to
the general managership of the largest retail farm implement company in
the world. The Consolidated Wagon & Machine Company. For twenty
years Mr. Odell has been at the head of this flourishing concern. Its
growth has been due in large measure to him. It is a worthy monument to
one of the ablest business men of the state. In recent months Mr. Odell
has created for himself another monument—his achievements as director
of the W. S. S. activities in Utah. His fellow citizens will long
remember the great, patriotic work he has done."
Mr. Odell is a strong man—strong in his ability to plan and perform,
strong in his honor and his good name. His long and honorable
connection with the line of merchandise handled by his house has given
him a most extensive acquaintance in eastern business circles, where,
in certain cases, he has known personally and done business with three
generations manufacturing the same line of implements or machinery. The
subjective and objective forces of life are in him well balanced,
making him cognizant of his own capabilities and powers, while at the
same time he thoroughly understands his opportunities and his
obligations. To make his native talent subserve the demands which
conditions of society impose at the present time is, the purpose of his
life and by reason of the mature judgment which characterizes his
efforts he stands today as a splendid representative of the prominent
merchant and capitalist whose business is but one phase of life and
does not exclude his active participation in and support of the other
vital interests which go to make up human existence.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
JESS C. OLSON
Jess C. Olson, well known in business circles from coast to coast as
the head of the Jess C. Olson Distributing Company of Salt Lake City,
was born in Des Moines, Iowa, June 23, 1880, a son of George and Jennie
(Israelson) Olson, the former a native of Denmark, while the latter was
born in Sweden. The parents came to America in early life and became
acquainted in Iowa, where they were married. The father engaged in the
contracting business there until 1892, when he removed to Salt Lake
City and here entered mercantile lines. Subsequently he became the
district representative of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association of
St. Louis and won substantial success in that connection. He afterward
established business under the firm style of Olson & Son and
occupied a prominent position in business circles until failing health
caused his retirement. He was also an influential factor in public
affairs, although he would never accept public office. In recent years
he has made his home at intervals in Los Angeles, California. Both
parents are still living and the mother is now in Salt Lake City, where
the family home has always been maintained.
With the father's retirement the business was turned over to his son,
Jess C. Olson, who has continued his interests under the name of the
Jess C. Olson Distributing Company, of which he is sole proprietor. He
is the only child of his parents and in boyhood pursued a public school
education, while later he became a student in the Lincoln Normal
University, Lincoln, Nebraska, and there completed the normal course
with the class of 1900. He afterward returned to Salt Lake City and
entered the railroad office of the Oregon Short Line as a clerk. He
continued there for a brief period and subsequently went to St. Louis,
Missouri, where he again took up railroad work in clerical lines,
remaining there for a brief period. Once more he became a resident of
Salt Lake City and here entered the banking business as bookkeeper with
the National Bank of the Republic, occupying that position for a number
of years, when he resigned to become cashier with the Armour Packing
Company at Salt Lake City. He| occupied the latter position for four
years and at the end of that time was induced to accept a position in
the office of the city treasurer but when a year had passed resigned to
become associated with his father in the distribution of the
Anheuser-Busch products through this district. He remained in business
with his father until the latter retired and has since been most
successful in carrying on business on his own account.
Since the prohibition amendment has gone into effect he has devoted his
efforts to the sale of non-intoxicating beverages and is sole agent in
Salt Lake county for Becker's "Becco," a substitute for malt liquor,
and the "Bevo" manufactured by the Anheuser-Busch Association, together
with soft drinks such as grape juice and similar beverages. Mr. Olson
states that his business has increased more than three times what it
was when intoxicating liquors were sold and he is now at the head of
one of the most successful commercial enterprises in his section,
employing from seven to ten people in the warehouse alone and in
handling the output. He has erected a modern warehouse and office at
No. 553 West Fourth South street, which occupies a lot three hundred
and thirty by one hundred and fifty feet, with trackage directly onto
the platform of the warehouse where goods are received and shipped in
carload lots.
In Salt Lake City, on the 23d of December, 1916, Mr. Olson was married
to Miss Willmina E. Delzell, a daughter of Will and Mina Delzell,
residents of Denver and afterward of Salt Lake City. Mrs. Olson's name
was formed of a combination of the names of her father and mother. On
their wedding trip Mr. Olson took his bride to Honolulu where he spent
several months before returning to the beautiful residence in Salt Lake
City which he had provided for the homecoming. He belongs to the
Commercial Club of Salt Lake City, also to the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Loyal Order of
Moose. In politics he maintains an independent course. He is one of the
most popular and prominent of the younger business men of Salt Lake
City and his success is the direct outcome of his own labors, for he
has never received assistance from anyone and through progressive
measures has reached the place which he now occupies.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
DAVID A. OPENSHAW
Prominent among the energetic, enterprising and progressive business
men of Provo is David A. Openshaw, the treasurer and manager of the
Provo Meat & Packing Company, doing business at No. 53 North
Academy street in Provo, Utah. He was born August 2, 1869, at
Santaquin, Utah, and mention of his family is made in connection with
the sketch of W. L. Openshaw on another page of this work. His early
education was acquired in the public schools of his native city, while
subsequently he attended Brigham Young Academy. He was fourteen years
of age when he started out to provide for his own support and was first
employed by his father in connection with the sawmill business. The
business relation between them was maintained for about nine years, at
the end of which time David A. Openshaw entered the office of the
county collector and later he was connected with the county treasurer's
office for a period of about seven years. At the end of that time he
entered the First National
Bank of Provo in a clerical capacity and there remained for two years.
In July, 1902, he became connected with the Provo Meat & Packing
Company as a bookkeeper and in 1915 he became a member of the firm and
was made manager and treasurer of the company. In this dual capacity he
has since served and has contributed in substantial measure to the
growth and development of the business. The firm is one of the oldest
in this section of the country and the volume of their trade is
scarcely surpassed by that of any other house. Mr. Openshaw, with the
thoroughness that characterizes all of his work, is bending every
energy to the further development of the business and his industry,
enterprise and sound judgment are potent factors in its growth. He is
also vice president of the Merchants' Credit Rating Association and he
is an active and helpful member of the Provo Commercial Club.
On the 30th of January, 1894, in Salt Lake Temple, Mr. Openshaw was
married to Miss Mary Wall, a native of Sanpete county, Utah,, her birth
having occurred in Spring City. She is a. daughter of Frederick and
Elizabeth (Robinson) Wall, who were pioneer settlers of Sanpete county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Openshaw have been born four children. La Verne, who
was born February 14, 1896, is now the wife of Hugh C. Brown, a
resident of Provo, and they have one daughter, Marjorie. D. Lynn was
born August 18, 1899. Rulon W. was born November 5, 1904, and Aura in
1908.
During the recent great European war Mr. Openshaw was a ward
committeeman on every drive and actively supported all war measures. He
belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the First
ward and has been its treasurer. His political allegiance is given to
the democratic party and he is deeply interested in all political and
civic matters which have to do with the upbuilding, the welfare and
progress of the community. He stands loyally for any cause which he
believes of benefit to the city or commonwealth and in everything that
he does or undertakes he is actuated by a most progressive spirit.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
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