H. V. VAN PELT
H. V. Van Pelt, a well known Salt Lake City attorney and United States
commissioner, was born in Racine, Wisconsin, January 25, 1854, a son of
William Todd and Margaret (Beekman) Van Pelt. The ancestry of the
family is traced back to Gerardus Beekman, who came to America in 1650
and was one of the founders of the Dutch colony that settled near New
York City. He was prominent in that locality in the early period of
colonization in the Empire state and Beekman street of New - York city
was named in his honor. The Van Pelt family also comes from Holland
ancestry and both the father and mother of H. V. Van Pelt were born in
Griggstown, New Jersey. In the early '40s they removed westward to
Racine, Wisconsin, where the father engaged in the grain business,
buying wheat from the farmers throughout the territory from the Great
Lakes to the Mississippi. He operated large elevators at various
points, where he stored his grain until it could be moved to the mills,
and he developed a business of extensive proportions, constituting a
source of growth and progress also in the communities in which he
operated. He died in Racine in 1890 at the advanced age of
seventy-eight years, while his wife survived him for a long period and
died in 1912 at the age of eighty-seven years. In their family were
five sons and a daughter: Garrett B., residing in Boston,
Massachusetts; James, living in Fargo, North Dakota; William Todd, who
makes his home in Frazee, Minnesota; Charles, located at Minneapolis,
Minnesota; H. V., of this review; and a daughter who has passed away.
H. V. Van Pelt was the youngest in the family. At the usual age he
entered the public schools of Racine, passing through consecutive
grades to the high school and eventually becoming a student in Beloit
College at Beloit, Wisconsin, from which he was graduated in 1875 with
the A. B. degree. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1876 and
began practice at Racine, where he continued in the profession until
1883. He then removed to North Dakota, where he again conducted a law
practice until 1893 and became assistant attorney general of the state
but thinking to find still better opportunities farther west, he
removed to Salt Lake in 1894 and continued his partnership with Judge
Goodwin, the association between them being maintained from 1885 until
Judge Goodwin was elected to the district bench in 1915, since which
time Mr. Van Pelt has practiced alone. He has attained high
professional rank by reason of thorough ability in the preparation and
presentation of his cases and his wisdom as a counselor.
On the 7th of June, 1888, Mr. Van Pelt was united in marriage to Miss
Hattie Ryan, of East Orange, New Jersey, a daughter of Philip H. Ryan
of that place. They have become parents of four children, but one has
passed away. Marion, who was born in Lisbon, North Dakota, in 1890, was
graduated from the high school at Salt Lake, from Westminster College,
from the University of Utah and continued her studies at the University
of California. Mrs. Helen Nyman was born in Lisbon, North Dakota, in
1892, was graduated from the Salt Lake high school and from the
University of Utah and now resides at Myton, this state. They have one
child, Van Nyman. Roger Beekman Van Pelt, born in Salt Lake in 1894, is
a graduate of the University of Utah and is now in France, where he has
been attending the officers training camp for cavalry service at
Saumur, France. The son who passed away was Charles Van Pelt, who died
in November, 1917. He was a graduate of the University of Utah and a
boy of exceptional ability. At the outbreak of the great European war
he entered the office of the chief signal officer.
In the affairs of Salt Lake City Mr. Van Pelt has taken a deep and
helpful interest. He was vice president of the Board of Education and
since 1916 has been United States commissioner for the district of
Utah. He is a trustee and treasurer of Westminster College, having thus
served since 1901, and lie is a member of the Utah and the American Bar
Associations, and of Phi Beta Kappa. In these connections are shown the
breadth of his interests and the value of his public service. He
cooperates heartily in all well devised plans and measures for the
general good, holding to high ideals of citizenship as well as adhering
to the advanced ethical standards of his profession.
[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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