WILLIAM ALLISON
William Allison, Superintendent of Public Schools for Ogden. The rapid
strides which Utah has made during the past decade is better
illustrated nowhere than along her educational lines. For many years
after the entering of the pioneers into the Territory the opportunities
offered the children of the settlers were so poor as to scarcely merit
recognition. Today Utah ranks well towards the front in point of
educational advantages among Western States, and each year sees her
better equipped in this regard, until ultimately it will not be at all
necessary for the youth of Utah to go to the Eastern colleges for their
higher education. This condition of affairs is being brought about from
the fact that the men in charge of educational matters are for the most
part young men or men who have grown grey in the work, and have devoted
their entire time to the betterment of conditions in Utah, and have
spent much time in travel and study of methods in eastern cities and
foreign countries, coming home to give Utah the benefit of their
observations. Among these men none have taken a deeper interest in his
work than has the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, and who is
one of the youngest Superintendents in the State, having held his
present position for the past seven years.
William Allison was born in Coalville, Summit County, Utah, January 4,
1866, and is the son of E. M. and Eliza (Beacon) Allison. He remained
at home until he was seventeen years of age, attending the public
schools of that place, and then entered the University of Utah, taking
a three years' course, and after his graduation spent two years
teaching, one in Coalville and one in Salt Lake City. In the fall of
1891 he entered the law department of Cornell University, with a view
of fitting himself for that profession, but was compelled to give up
his studies at the end of a year owing to ill health, and after his
return home again taught one term in his native town. In 1893 he
was tendered the Principalship of the Ogden schools, holding it two
years, and during this period his work bore such unmistakable evidence
of a high order of ability and peculiar adaptability for the work, that
he was in 1895 appointed Superintendent of all the public schools of
the city, and has since remained in that position, Mr. Allison has had
the hearty co-operation of Judge Dee and many other prominent educators
of Ogden in his work,-and during the time he has been in the
superintendency he has made a number of important changes and
improvements in the methods of instruction and also in the school
facilities. When he entered upon his present duties there were in the
High School three teachers and seventy-five scholars. At this time
there are twelve rooms in the building, each presided over by a
teacher, and an enrollment of three hundred and fifty pupils, and the
pro rata of increase in the other schools has been in like proportion.
Of the six thousand children in the city, four thousand five hundred
are estimated to be in the public schools. Among the improvements
introduced into the High School by the present Superintendent may be
mentioned chemical and physical laboratories and commercial
departments. He has also been a staunch supporter of the policy of
introducing manual training into all the public schools. Another
feature of these schools, and which originated with Mr. Allison and
after being adopted by the School Board and put into operation in the
schools, has since been introduced into the schools of other cities, is
the plan of semi-annual promotions instead of annual promotions. By
virtue of his office he is ex-officio President of the Ogden Teachers'
Association, and is a member of the State Teachers' Association, of
which body he was President in 1899. He is also a member of the State
Board of Education.
Mr. Allison has thrown his whole soul into his work, and all his
vacations are spent in the eastern cities, where he attends the summer
normal courses and thus opens each new year with fresh ideas and is
able to give both teachers and scholars a new impetus for their work.
He is also a member of the National Association of School
Superintendents, and is well known among the heads of colleges and
other lines of educational work throughout the country,' his work
having brought him into prominence as a leader in his chosen
profession, and eliciting much praise from older men.
His marriage occurred in Salt Lake City, in 1893, when he was united to
Miss Bessie Dean, daughter of Joseph and Catherine Dean of that place.
Mrs. Allison is a talented musician and a pupil of Professor Evan
Stephens, leader of the famous Mormon choir, and also a pupil of
Professor Tetedoux, of New York City. She possesses a rich control to
voice, and is well known in musical circles in Utah, having been prior
to her marriage a member of the Operatic Association of Salt Lake City,
and her voice having often been heard in the concert halls and Churches
of the city, as well as of Ogden, in which latter place she is very
popular.
[Source: Portrait, Genealogical and
Biographical Record of the State of Utah; Publ. 1902 By The National
Historical Record Co., Chicago; Transcribed and submitted by Andrea
Stawski Pack.]
GEORGE T. JUDD
George T. Judd, president of the Judd-Brower Automobile Company of Salt
Lake City, was born at Henefer, Summit County, Utah, April 30, 1874, a
son of George and Jane (Paskett) Judd, who were natives of England but
established their home in Utah in pioneer times after having made the
overland trip with a train of ox teams, which slowly wended its way
across the plains and over the mountains until Utah was reached. After
arriving at Salt Lake the father engaged in freighting between Salt
Lake and Council Bluff, Iowa, and in that connection crossed and
recrossed the plains many times. He later gave up that occupation,
which in the early days was a most hazardous one, and located on a farm
on the Weber river. He is still living at the advanced age of
seventy-eight years and the mother of George T. Judd has reached the
age of seventy six years. Their family numbered nine children: Mrs.
Emily A. Toone living at Metropolis. Nevada: Mrs. Ada Wilde, of
Cumberland, Wyoming; George T.; Mrs. Annie Harris,, deceased; Mrs.
Charlotte Jones, of Henefer, Utah; Mrs. Fannie Richards, of Henefer;
Mrs. Belle Edson, of Ogden, Utah; Mrs. Lillian West, late of Morgan,
Utah, now deceased; and Herschel, whose home is at Henefer.
George T. Judd, after attending the public schools of Henefer and the
high school at Coalville, Utah, entered the Brigham Young University at
Provo, from which he was graduated in 1897. He later spent three years
as a missionary in New Zealand for the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and after his return he taught school at Coalville,
Utah, for a year and for two years was principal of the schools at
Levan, while an equal period was spent in the same way at Provo. Mr.
Judd then became deputy assessor of Utah County and filled the office
for a term. He was subsequently made deputy sheriff of Utah County,
serving in that capacity one term, after which he was elected sheriff
and occupied the position two terms, receiving the highest number of
votes of any candidate ever elected in that county on any ticket. With
the expiration of his term he was called to service in the strike
troubles at the Bingham copper mines and was on duty there for six
months. He then became assistant state auditor under Lincoln G. Kelly,
examiner of public accounts for the office. In March, 1917, Mr. Judd
organized the Judd-Brower Auto Company of Salt Lake and has since built
up a very extensive business, handling the Liberty Six cars and also
the Olympian cars, and for these he has had a very large sale.
Mr. Judd was married September 22, 1897, to Miss Maggie Lewis, of
Provo, Utah, a daughter of William J. and Jane Lewis, who were pioneer
people of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Judd have six children. Marguerite,
born in Provo in July, 1898, is a graduate of the Granite high school
of Salt Lake. George E., born in Coalville, March 10, 1901, was
graduated from the Granite high school and is now a junior in the
University of Utah. Melba, born in Levan, Utah, August 29, 1903, is a
Granite high school pupil. Grace, born in Provo in April, 1905, is
attending Salt Lake high school. Amy born in Provo in 1907 and Grant
born in Provo, August 13, 1912, are in the graded school.
Mr. Judd gives his political endorsement to the republican party. He is
a member of the Auto Dealers Association and also of the Automobile
Club. His official record and his business career have alike been
characterized by steady progress and the faithful performance of duty
and the course which he has pursued has gained for him the respect and
confidence of all with whom he has been associated.
[Source: Utah since Statehood:
Historical and Biographical Volume 2; By Noble Warrum; Publ. 1919;
Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
WILLIAM J. LEWIS
William J. Lewis is actively identified with
the development and interests of Park City along many lines. He is a
bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in
business circles is well known as assistant manager at Park City for
the Utah Coal & Supply Company. He also has the distinction of
being the only probation officer retained in Utah when the present
democratic governor was elected.
Mr. Lewis was born in Provo, April 28, 1885, a
son of William D. Lewis, who is a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, as was also his father. William D. Lewis was born
September 7, 1858, in Provo, and now resides in Yakima, Washington. He
was on a mission in England for two years during the war and saw seven
air raids during that period. The mother of William J. Lewis bore the
maiden name of Sarah Harding and was born February 25, 1862, in Provo,
representing one of the old families of this section of the state. She
also survives, living in Yakima with her husband. They have a family of
seven children, two sons and five daughters: Minnie, the wife of J. C.
Gleason, a graduate of the Agricultural College at Logan and now a
resident of Park City; William J., of this review; Fern, the wife of
Thomas J. Rosser, a merchant and insurance man of Magna; Sterling, who
married Fern Michie, of Heber City, Utah; Ezma, who is a graduate of
the Brigham Young University, in which she completed a scientific
course with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1917, and is now the wife of
Floyd Knudson; Edna, a sophomore in the Brigham Young University at
Provo; and Ethel, who is a second year high school pupil in Yakima,
Washington, where she resides with her parents.
William J. Lewis acquired his education in the
Brigham Young University at Provo, completing a course in the
commercial department. He then went on a mission to the eastern states,
with headquarters in Scranton and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he
remained for twenty-seven months, or from the 4th of March, 1908, until
the 4th of June, 1910. Upon his return to Utah he came to Park City and
entered the employ of the Utah Coal & Supply Company in the
capacity of assistant manager. His father is the manager of the
business and half owner of the concern.
The activity of William J. Lewis extends to
various other lines, for he is now probation officer of Summit county
and such is his excellent record in this position that he was retained
in the office under the present democratic administration, when all
other probation officers of republican belief were removed. He is
likewise a bishop in the church in Park City, thus following in the
footsteps of his father and grand- father in relation to the work of
the church.
On the 26th of October, 1910, Mr. Lewis was
married to Miss Ethel Rasband, who was born in Park City in 1890, a
daughter of Bishop Frederick Rasband, who was the first bishop of Park
City, while the father of Mr. Lewis was the second to hold that office.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have become parents of four children: Wayne, Dean,
Wesley and Helen. It is moreover of interest in this connection to know
that Sterling S. Lewis, the brother of William J. Lewis, enlisted in
the United States army, becoming connected with the clerical department
of the Aviation Corps, and was on duty in France and England for more
than a year. Mrs. Lewis is a graduate of the high school of Park City
of the class of 1909 and after leaving that institution became a
student of music in the Brigham Young University at Provo. She has
marked musical talent which has been developed through wide study under
some of the best teachers of the state. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lewis occupy
an enviable position in social circles and have many friends throughout
Park City and this section of Utah.
Source: "Utah Since Statehood", Noble Warrum; Chicago :: S.J. Clarke Pub.
Co.,1920
Contributed and transcribed by Wayne Cheeseman
