Salt Lake County Utah Bioghaphies

 

 

Hyrum Bennion
Walter H. Berrett
Alexander Beveridge
Seymour L. Billings Jr.
Andrew A. Biorn

Hiram E. Booth
George C. Bowers
Frank D. Brinton
James H. Brown
John Louis Brown

William D. Brown
Arch Browning

Carl F. Buehner
Walter J. Burton
George H. Butler
George Grant Bywater

 

 
Utah Since Statehood
Author is Noble Warrum - 1919
 

HYRUM BENNION.

Hyrum Bennion is the president of the Hyrum Bennion & Sons Company, engaged in the operation of a flour mill at Murray having a capacity of one hundred barrels and also in the conduct of a mercantile business at Taylorsville, where Mr. Bennion makes his home. He is numbered among the pioneer millers of Utah and through the long period of his connection with this business has developed his interests according to modern processes and improvements, the firm today having one of the thoroughly up-to-date flouring mills of Utah. Mr. Bennion was born in Garden Grove, Decatur county, Iowa. January 13, 1847, a son of Samuel and Mary (Bushnell) Bennion. The father was born in Flintshire, North Wales, while the mother was a native of Liverpool, England.  They were married in Liverpool just before leaving for America in 1844, making their first stop seven miles east of Nauvoo, Illinois. The father had been a journeyman baker during the period of his residence in Wales but after coming to the United States turned his attention to other pursuits. He built a two-story brick house at Nauvoo but was there driven out at the time of the expulsion of the people of his religious faith in 1846. He crossed the plains in 1847, arriving at Salt Lake on the 5th of October and camping at Pioneer Square during the winter of 1847-8. In the latter year he crossed the Jordan and aided in forming a small settlement called Welsh Fort, near where the town of Taylorsville now stands. There he homesteaded and took up the occupation of farming and stock raising in connection with his brother John. In 1863 he removed to Rush valley, where he engaged in raising sheep and cattle, and in 1875 he established his home in Castle valley, where he continued his stock raising interests.  In 1881, however, he disposed of his flock and herd owing to the hard winter through which they had just passed and took up his abode at Taylorsville. The father and one of the brothers of Hyrum Bennion took a mortgage on the mill at Taylorsville in 1876.  It was known as the Gardner mill and the Bennions continued the operation of this plant until the mill was destroyed by fire in 1909. It had a capacity of fifty barrels and was originally a burr mill but later the roller process was installed. 

Hyrum Bennion, born in Iowa, was reared in Utah amid the scenes and environments of pioneer life and became the active assistant of his father and brothers in the milling business and other interests which from time to time claimed their attention.  After the destruction of the original mill by fire in 1909 the company rebuilt and in December of that year opened their present plant, which has a capacity of one hundred barrels. The flour mill is located at Murray and they have a power plant at Taylorsville, where the first mill was situated. There the power is generated that is used in operating the mill at Murray. The old mill at Taylorsville was run by water power and this same power now is used in generating the electrical power for the new plant. The mill is thoroughly modern in its construction and equipment, being supplied with the latest improved machinery, and in addition to the manufacture of high grade flour, which finds a ready sale on the market, they buy and sell all kinds of grain, hay and straw. The business has steadily grown and is one of large volume. In addition a mercantile business is conducted at Taylorsville and the firm ranks among the prosperous business men of this section of the state.

On the 13th of December, 1869, Mr. Bennion was married to Miss Eliza Ann Harker, who was born in Taylorsville in 1854, a daughter of Joseph Harker, a pioneer from Lancashire, England, who followed farming and sheep raising in that country and continued in the same business after coming to Utah in 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Bennion became the parents of seven children: Hyrum, who is the secretary and treasurer of the milling company; Oscar J., who is head miller; Ernest, who lives at McGrath, Canada, where he is engaged in farming and stock raising; Joseph, who is an electrician and carries on the mercantile business of the firm at Taylorsville; Robert, an assistant miller; Eliza May, who became the wife of Harvey Smith and died of influenza at her home in Salt Lake, leaving two children; and Ruby, the wife of Frank James, who is engaged in the practice of law at Salt Lake and whose father was a pioneer plumber of the state. For his second wife Mr. Bennion chose Mary K. Karren.  of Lehi, and to them were born seven children: Annabelle, the wife of Thomas D. Wallace, a miller of Downey, Idaho; Sam T., vice president and a director of the milling company and a salesman on the road; Mary Eliza, the wife of Noble D. Wallace, a miller of Bountiful, Utah; David, who is head foreman of the mill at Murray; Mada B" the wife of David Rishton, a farmer residing at Ogden; Karren, who is with the Moline Plow Company and lives at Salt Lake; and Katharine, who died at the age of ten years.  There are also fifty-three grandchildren.

In the work of the church Mr. Bennion has ever taken an active and helpful part and was engaged in pioneering and mission work. In 1879-80 he was on a mission to England, being connected with the Bristol conference for a year and with the Norwich conference for a year. He Is now a high priest of Taylorsville and his father occupied the position of bishop, ward of Taylorsville.

In 1875 Mr. Bennion built a large brick residence in Taylorsville, where he has since made his home. In politics he is a republican but not an office seeker. However, he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of. the day and is a supporter of all those forces which make for public progress and improvement. His has been an active life, contributing in substantial measure to the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of the community in which he lives.


WALTER H. BERRETT.

Walter H. Berrett is the general manager at Salt Lake for the Inter-Ocean Elevators, having a chain of elevators throughout Utah and Idaho. This is a subsidiary concern of the Colorado Milling & Elevator Company of Denver, Colorado, one of the largest companies in the grain and milling business in the west. Not by leaps and bounds but by steady progression has Mr. Berrett reached his present responsible position, advancing step by step from office boy to the place of general manager. He is one of the moat respected and responsible representatives of this large company and the story of his rise is the story of earnest endeavor and faithfulness to trust.  Walter H. Berrett was born in North Ogden, April 6, 1884, a son of Richard T. and Anna E. (Toone) Berrett, who are natives of England. The father came to America with his parents in 1849, the family crossing the plains to Utah and casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers who reclaimed this great state for the purposes of civilization.

He was reared upon a farm near Ogden and took up fruit farming, becoming one of the prosperous orchardists and fruit growers of North Ogden, where his possessions include one of the finest orchards of the state. Both parents of Walter H. Berrett are still living and they had a family of seven children, of whom six survive: Emily, the wife of John Q. Blaylock, of Ogden; Thomas F., living in Ogden, Utah; Walter H., of this review; Orson T., of Ogden; Earl R., of Salt Lake City; and Edna, also making her home in Ogden.

Walter H. Berrett, after attending the public schools of Ogden and Salt Lake City, passing through consecutive grades, became a pupil in the Latter-day Saints University, in which he pursued a commercial course. He then made his initial step in the business world in connection with the grain trade as office boy in the employ of The W. 0. Kay Elevator Company, which company was absorbed by the Inter-Ocean Elevators, and by strict attention to business, by faithfulness in the performance of every duty and by indefatigable energy he won promotion through various positions until he reached the high place which he now occupies as general manager of the Inter-Ocean Elevators. No fortunate circumstances have aided him in his business career and his life is another illustration of the fact that merit wins. The company, which is a branch of the Colorado Milling & Elevator Company, has twenty-three elevators throughout Utah and Idaho, all of which are under the direction of the Salt Lake office. 

On the 26th of June, 1906, Mr. Berrett was married to Miss Jeanette Gibson, of Ogden, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Gibson. They now have three children: Halvor G., born in Ogden, July 16, 1907; Jeanette. born in Salt Lake City, May 3, 1912; and Marion, born February 19, 1917, in Salt Lake City.  In politics Mr. Berrett maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment with little regard for party ties. He belongs to the Commercial Club and is keenly interested in all that has to do with the progress and welfare of the city in which he makes his home and with the up building of the great west, of which he is a representative figure, exemplifying in his life the spirit of undaunted enterprise which has led to the continued growth and development of this section of the country.


ALEXANDER BEVERIDGE.

Alexander Beveridge, president and manager of the Beveridge Motor Company of Salt Lake, is a native son of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred at Clinton, that state, on the 24th of March, 1875. He comes of Scotch lineage, his parents, James E.  and Margarete (Thompson) Beveridge, being natives of the land of hills and heather, whence they came to America in 1872, establishing their home at Clinton, Pennsylvania, where they remained until 1878. They then removed to Salt Lake City and the father turned his attention to mining in connection with the Flagstaff Mining Company. Both he and his wife still make their home in Salt Lake City, where they have reared their family of six children who are yet living, these being: Andrew E., of Salt Lake; A. J., now in Panama; D. B., residing at San Francisco, California; B. H., of Park City, Utah; Mrs. Margaret Monley, of Salt Lake; and Alexander, who was the third in other of birth.

After attending the public schools of Salt Lake, Alexander Beveridge learned the trade of sign painting and outdoor advertising and when he had completed his apprenticeship embarked in the business on his own account and continued therein most successfully for fifteen years. He built up a business of large and gratifying proportions, employing from twelve to fifteen expert sign writers and painters. In 1905, however, he sold his interest in that connection to enter the automobile business, which was then almost in its infancy. He secured a contract with the Consolidated Wagon & Machine Company to handle the Ford cars for the company for a year, but owing to some misunderstanding left at the end of three months. When the Charmon automobile people were informed that he was looking for another connection they tendered him a contract and position to expire at the end of three months if either party was dissatisfied, but he remained with the company for two years. He then resigned to engage in business on his own account and established the Automobile Exchange, which he conducted successfully. Later, however, he disposed of that business and organized the Auto Purchasing & Sales Company, which he also placed upon a profitable basis and then sold. He afterward became manager of the Cheesman Auto Company, with which he was connected for two years, and in 1916 he was again tendered the sales agency for the Ford motor cars and parts. He immediately negotiated for a location on South Third street, the result of which was the erection of the handsome building which is now being occupied by the Beveridge Motor Company at Nos. 310-315 East South Third street. The business has been incorporated, with Mr. Beveridge as the president and manager, and the company now handles all Ford cars and parts and also maintains a large repair department, the business in all of its phases proving profitable owing to his excellent management and keen sagacity.

On the 1st of February, 1898, Mr. Beveridge was married to Miss Mabel Brough. of Salt Lake, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Brough, the former master mechanic for the Short Line Railroad. They have become parents of five children: Earl, Bessie, Lois, Leah and Marjorie. With the exception of the youngest all are yet in school, the eldest children being high school pupils.

In politics Mr. Beveridge maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment without regard to party ties. He is a member of the Salt Lake Motor Club and is interested in everything that has to do with the development of the trade, while at the same time in matters of citizenship he manifests a public-spirited devotion to the general good.


SEYMOUR L. BILLINGS, Jr.

Seymour L. Billings, Jr., secretary-treasurer and manager of the Billings Lumber & Coal Company, doing business at No. 2210 Seventh East street in Salt Lake City, was born in Marion, Kansas, June 20, 1893, a son of Seymour L. and Olive (Heaton) Billings.  The father was a native of Indiana and was a representative of one of the old American families. His father was born in the state of New York and his mother was a native of England. At the time of the birth of S. L. Billings, Jr., his father was engaged in business in southeastern Kansas and is at present a resident of Salt Lake City, where he is well known as a wholesale lumber dealer. To him and his wife were born four children: Paul W.. who is engaged in the insurance business at Duchesne, Utah; Roy H, manager of the Bonneville Lumber Company at Manti; Seymour L.; and Marjorie, who is a high school pupil in Salt Lake. 

Seymour L. Billings, Jr., also attended the high school and spent four years as a student In the University of Utah, from which institution he was then graduated. He then turned his attention to the lumber trade and was associated with his father in the business until 1917, when the Billings Lumber Company was organized and bought out the Forest Dale Lumber & Hardware Company. Seymour L. Billings, Jr.. then became the manager and the secretary-treasurer of the business and has since been in active control. The company deals in lumber, coal, hardware, cement and roofing and Mr.  Billings is the heaviest stockholder. The business has assumed extensive proportions and is steadily growing.

In 1916 Mr. Billings was united in marriage to Miss Martha Watson, a native of Salt Lake City, and they have one child, Seymour L. (III). They own and occupy an attractive home No. 955 Hollywood avenue, this being a beautiful bungalow. The religious faith of Mr. and Mrs. Billings is that the Presbyterian church and to its teachings they loyally adhere. Mr. Billings gives his political allegiance to the republican party and he is a member of Beta Theta Pi. national college fraternity, and of several clubs, including the University, Kiwanis and Lumbermen's Clubs. His life has been organized along lines that call for a full dole of labor with each turn of the wheel and the enterprise and sound judgment which he has displayed have been potent elements in winning for him deserved and continued success. He has never hesitated to take a forward step when the way was open and though content with what he has attained as he has gone along, he has always been ready to make an advance.


ANDREW A. BIORN.

Andrew A. Biorn, a successful and skillful optician, justice of the peace of the Murray precinct and also police judge of Murray, was born in Denmark, November 22, 1852. He was only two years of age at the time of his father's death and was then reared by an aunt, who was his father's sister. At the age of eight years he began herding geese and later herded lambs. He also did farm work and as opportunity offered attended the public schools. In 1873 he was converted by the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and while still a resident of Denmark served as a missionary, being thus engaged until 1876, when he crossed the Atlantic in order to join the colony of the people of his faith that had settled in Utah. He made his way to Brigham city and found employment in furnishing rock for the Salt Lake Temple.  He worked at the quarry for about one year and then removed to Logan, where he was engaged in carpenter work on the temple there until 1880. In that year he removed to Mink Creek, Idaho, where he continued in business as a contractor and builder and also took up the occupation of farming.  in 1896 Mr. Biorn was sent on a mission to Denmark and was president of the Aahus conference. After twenty-six months devoted to that work he returned to Idaho and in 1900 he took up his abode in Hunter, Salt Lake county, Utah, where he entered the employ of the Salt Lake Clock Company as a salesman and collector. In 1904 he removed to Murray and has since engaged in the optical business. He has secured a liberal patronage in this connection, for he is well skilled in the science that underlies his activities of this character and has thus been able to do expert work in optometry.  He is now serving as justice of the peace for the Murray precinct and also as police judge of Murray city, having been elected to the former position and appointed to the latter.

Mr. Biorn has been married three times and his third wife is living at the present time. He has ten children living, all of whom have reached adult age, have married and have families of their own except the three youngest. His grandchildren number thirtyone and he also has two great-grandchildren.

In politics Mr. Biorn has always been an earnest democrat and has ever been keenly interested in the welfare and progress of the districts in which he has lived. In Idaho he was also active in the work of the church, filling the office of bishop's counselor and superintendent of the Sunday school, also president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and ward teacher. He is now a high priest. His has been an active and useful life, in which he has ever held to high ideals and fully met his duties and obligations as he has recognized them.


HON. HIRAM E. BOOTH.

Hon. Hiram E. Booth, lawyer and legislator, who has been actively engaged in practice for thirty years in Salt Lake City, was born in Iowa in 1860. His father, Joseph Booth, a native of England, was born February 15, 1815, and came to the United States in 1850. He cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Iowa and in that state was married to Caroline Bishop, a native of Ohio. His death occurred in the year 1878, while his wife survived until 1889.

The youthful experiences of Hiram E. Booth were those of the farm-bred boy. He was reared to the age of eighteen years upon the home farm and during that period attended the district schools, especially through the winter months when his labors were not needed upon the farm. At the age of eighteen he left the farm and then attended school continuously for about two years. Later he studied law in the office and under the direction of the Hon. Frank Shim and was admitted to practice in the supreme court of Iowa in September, 1885. He then opened an office in Carson, Iowa, where he remained until December, 1888, when he came to Salt Lake City and in 1889 was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of this state. He has since continuously engaged in practice and has won recognition as an able and distinguished representative

of the Utah bar. The strength of his argument is based upon the thorough preparation of his cases and his comprehensive understanding of the principles of jurisprudence. He is never at fault in the application of such a principle and his recognized ability has won him a most extensive and distinctively representative clientage.  Aside from his law practice he is the president of the Herald Publishing Company of Salt Lake City. In 1892 he formed a partnership with E. 0. Lee and John G. Gray, under the firm style of Booth, Lee & Gray, which has been changed at different times since, the firm being today known as Booth, Lee, Badger & Rich. 

Mr. Booth has been married twice. On the 26th of August, 1886, he wedded Carrie M. Robinson, who at her death left a daughter, Viola K. On the 29th of May, 1889, in Postville, Iowa, Mr. Booth was married to Miss Lillian B. Redhead, a daughter of George Redhead, who was born in England but in early life came to the new world and served as a private in the Civil war from 1862 until 1865, participating in the Grand Review at Washington at the close of hostilities, when the victorious army marched down Pennsylvania avenue, the street lined with cheering throngs, while overhead was suspended a banner bearing the words: "The only debt which the country cannot pay is the debt which she owes to her soldiers." To Mr. and Mrs. Booth have been born, two daughters. Uinta C. and Irma A. The first daughter, Uinta C, is the wife of Chester E. Bowers, of San Diego, California, and they have two children, Booth H. and Betty. The other daughter, Irma A., is the wife of Robert Mitchell, of Salt Lake City, who was supply sergeant of Company A of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Field Artillery and served in France with the artillery until December 24, 1918. 

Mr. Booth is a Master Mason and exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He belongs also to the Masonic Club, to the Alta Club and to the Bonneville Club. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He was appointed judge advocate general of Utah on the 30th of January, 1909, with the rank of colonel, and served until the 1st of January, 1917. He has figured very prominently in political circles, being a stalwart supporter of principles which he believes to contain the best elements of good government. On the 26th of June, 1906, he was appointed United States district attorney for the district of Utah by President Roosevelt and was (reappointed by President Taft on the 24th of June, 1910, serving until the 1st of January, 1914, when he resigned. In 1893 he was elected to the territorial senate of Utah and took the oath of office in the following January. He served for two years and was made chairman of the committees on judiciary, militia, manufacturers and commerce and world's fair. In 1896 he was elected a member of the first state senate and served for one term. He has ever given the most thoughtful and earnest consideration to the vital questions affecting the welfare of the country and when a member of the state senate, his aid and influence were always on the side of those measures which he believed would safeguard the interests of the commonwealth and promote its progress and up building. His public service has ever been characterized by marked fidelity to duty, while in the practice of law his devotion to his clients' interests has become proverbial.


GEORGE C. BOWERS.

Among the leading contracting and building firms of Salt Lake, contributing not only in marked measure to the up building of the city but to the state as well, is numbered the Bowers Building Company, the partners in which are George C. and Frank B. Bowers. The former was born in Salt Lake, February 4, 1883. a son of John S. and Esther (Fulmer) Bowers and a grandson of David Bowers, who crossed the plains to Utah in early manhood, accompanied by his family, having previously emigrated from England to the new world. John S. Bowers was reared in Utah and after reaching man's estate took up the work of general contracting and building. Later he made a specialty of erecting high class residences and fine buildings, continuing successfully in that line for a long period. For several years, however, he has lived retired in Salt Lake, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. The mother of George C. Bowers also crossed the plains in pioneer times after sailing from England to America. They were married in Salt Lake City and Mrs. Bowers also survives. The family numbered eight children: George C; Frank B., who was born in Salt Lake in 1892 and is a partner of his elder brother in the Bowers Building Company; John D., Rose. Lewis J.. Leo J., Myrtle and Ernest, all of whom are residents of Salt Lake. 

In early life George C. Bowers was a pupil in the graded and high schools of Salt Lake and then became connected with the building and contracting business as an associate of his father. In fact since early youth he assisted more or less in the work in which his father was engaged and early became familiar with all of the details of the business. After the father's retirement he and his brother Frank took over the business, which they have since conducted under the name of the Bowers Building Company.  This is a general building and construction company, erecting manufacturing plants. They claim the distinction of being the pioneers in this field of business, concentrating their efforts and attention solely upon that line of work. Their own plant is a large building with excellent railroad trackage, in which their material is stored, and they maintain a large office for architectural drawings, in which more than twenty people are employed. They are doing contract work on an extensive scale and the high quality of their work insures to them a most liberal patronage. 

On the 28th of April, 1904, Mr. Bowers was married to Miss Margaret B. Williams, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Williams, of West Jordan, Utah. Mr. and Mrs.  Bowers have four children: Helen, born in Salt Lake in 1908; Harold, in 1910; Ruth, in 1914; and John E., in 1917. Frank Boivers, whose life record is similar to that of his brother George, with whom he has always been associated in business, married Miss Winnie Sanders, of Salt Lake, in 1917.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both George C. and Frank Bowers are members of the Commercial Club. Thorough preliminary training, close application to business and unfaltering reliability have been the salient features which have won success for the Bowers Building Company, now operating most profitably in Salt Lake and throughout the surrounding country.


FRANK D. BRINTON.

Frank D. Brinton, who follows farming in Brinton ward. Salt Lake county, where he was born November 21, 1857, is a son of David and Harriet (Dillworth) Brinton.The father was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, of Quaker ancestry. The Brintonscame to America on the Mayflower and representatives of the name afterward removed to Pennsylvania. General George Brinton McClellan was a second cousin ofFrank D. Brinton of this review, the general's mother being an aunt of David Brinton,father of Frank D. Brinton. When a little lad of but seven years David Brinton was left an orphan and in his youth learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed in Pennsylvania. In 1838 he was converted to Mormonism and in 1840 removed westward to Nauvoo. Illinois, where he remained and followed his trade until the people of his faith were driven out of that section of the country. He then removed to Savanah, Missouri, and there worked at his trade until he started for Utah, where he arrived in the fall of 1849. In the same fall he made his way to Iron county and established his home at Parowan. In 1853 he was called to Fort Supply, where he organized another settlement. In 1856 he was sent to the Missouri river to assist the famous Handcart Brigade and following his return to Utah took up his abode at Big Cottonwood, where he engaged in blacksmithing, maintaining a shop on his ranch. He there spent his remaining days and passed away May 17, 1878, at the age of sixty-three years. For eighteen years he was the bishop of Big Cottonwood ward and when on a mission to England he presided over the London conference. In the various branches of church work he took a deep and helpful interest and his labors were far-reaching and beneficial.

Frank D. Brinton was the fifth son in a family of fourteen children, thirteen of whom reached adult age. He has a twin sister who is now the wife of Hyrum A. Bagley, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Frank D. Brinton obtained a common school education and when twelve years of age started out in the business world as a clerk in the Big Cottonwood Cooperative Store, with which he was connected for twelve years.  He then went to Eureka, where he remained for six years, having a contract for hauling ore for the mines and employing as high as twenty-five teams in that work. He had several teams of his own and hired others and thus executed his contracts for a period of six years. Later he took a railroad contract for grading at Mammoth, which occupied his time for two years. In 1880 he purchased the property whereon he now resides, securing eighteen acres of land, and the same year erected thereon a two-story brick dwelling which is surrounded by a fine well kept lawn, while upon the place there are good barns and all modern equipment. There is a profusion of flowers and shrubs, and his place is one of the neatest and most attractive in the community. 

In 1880 Mr. Brinton was married to Miss Alwilda Andrus and they have had four children: Frank A., a bookkeeper in Salt Lake City; Alice, the wife of William Casto, of Holliday ward; Alwilda, who died in infancy; and Caleb V., who was in the navy where his death occurred in March, 1918, at San Diego, California. There are also eight grandchildren.

The family has remained active in the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mr. Brinton is a high priest and has been ward clerk of Brinton ward, which was so named in honor of his father. His wife is president of the Relief Society and his son Frank was sent on a mission to Michigan, where he remained for twenty-seven months, being president of the mission at Detroit during that period.  The family is widely and favorably known in the section of the state where they reside.  Theirs is a very fine country home, on which Mr. Brinton raises all kinds of fruit and also conducts a small dairy. His activities in this direction have been carefully managed, and his sound judgment and enterprise have constituted the basis of a growing success.


JAMES H. BROWN.

James H. Brown is the vice president and treasurer of the Brown Terry & Woodruff Company, owners of the Troy Laundry, which is one of the largest enterprises of this kind in the country. By reason of his business capacity and powers and his loyalty in citizenship, James H. Brown is accorded a place among the honored and representative residents of Utah. He was born at Adrian, Michigan, September 5, 1855, his parents being William Curtis and Elizabeth (Bucher) Brown. The father was born in Connecticut, but early in life moved to New York state. The mother is a native of New York, where her parents had lived from early times. Both the father and mother became residents of Michigan soon after their marriage, which was celebrated in the state of New York. They located near Adrian, Michigan, where the father engaged in farming, but subsequently they returned to the Empire state, where he was engaged in other lines of business to the time of his death. The mother still survives and is now living in Georgia.

Of a family of six children, James H. Brown of this review is the eldest. In his youthful days he was a pupil in the rural schools of New York and afterward attended the public schools of Corning, New York. He started upon his business career as an employe in a store at Corning and subsequently removed to Newark, New Jersey, where he entered the employ of the Newark News Company. He was afterward transferred to Chicago to an affiliated concern, the Western News Company. He spent six months there and then resigned to accept a position in Echo, Utah. There he became clerk in one of the general stores owned throughout Wyoming and Utah by the Beckwith Commercial Company. When a few months had passed, he was made assistant bookkeeper and finally was promoted to the position of head bookkeeper. Later he was transferred to the store at Rock Springs, Wyoming, in the same capacity. He was not only well known as a representative of commercial interests in that place, but also became an active factor in public life and was elected to the house of representatives in the last Wyoming territorial legislature, in which capacity he served with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents.

Following his retirement from office, Mr. Brown and his family removed to Salt Lake City, where in January, 1890 he and his associates bought the Troy Laundry. For a time after his arrival, he occupied the position of bookkeeper for the old Commercial Bank of Salt Lake, in which he spent a year. In 1891, however, he became an active factor in the development of the Troy Laundry, having been elected by its board of directors to the office of manager. In 1913 he also became vice president and general manager, which offices he now holds. Under his guidance the business has maintained steady and rapid growth and is perhaps the largest enterprise of the kind in the world, employing from two hundred and seventy-five to three hundred people. The development of the business is attributable in no small measure to the careful management and thorough organization of Mr. Brown.

On the 24th of October, 1883, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Leoline Woodmansee, of Salt Lake, a daughter of Joseph and Lavinia Woodmansee. pioneer residents of Utah.  Mr. and Mrs. Brown had eight children. James Creighton, born in Salt Lake in 1884, was graduated from the Sheffield School of Yale University in the class of 1906 and is now in business in Los Angeles. California. He is married and has one child, Barbara. Harold Ross Brown, born December 27, 1886, at Rock Springs, Wyoming, is a Yale alumnus of 1908, he too, having completed work in the scientific department, and he is now in business as assistant superintendent of the Troy Laundry. He married Miss Norinne Thompson and has one child, Norinne. The third member of the family died in infancy. Edward Terry Brown, the fourth child, born November 24, 1890, in Salt Lake, completed an academic course at Yale with the class of 1913, and he, too, is connected with the Troy Laundry. Marjorie, born August 4, 1893, in Salt Lake, was educated at Rosemary Hall. Greenwich, Connecticut. Lavinia, born December 30, 1895, in Salt Lake, was graduated from the schools of this city, also from the high school at Hollywood. California, and from the University of California in the class of 1918.  Elizabeth, born July 3, 1899. in Salt Lake, was graduated from Mount Vernon Seminary, Washington, D. C, on the 21st of May, 1919. Leoline, born January 10, 1902, in Salt Lake, was graduated from the high school at Hollywood, California, in 1919. Mrs.  Brown passed away December 18, 1916, while living at Hollywood, California. 

Fraternally Mr. Brown is a well known Mason. He has taken the degrees of both the York and Scottish Rite, becoming a Knight Templar and a thirty-third degree Mason, and has filled most of the chairs in the order, including that of past grand master of the state. He is a member of the Commercial Club, also of the Alta Club and the Rotary Club and is personally popular with all who know him. His life has ever been an exponent of high and honorable principles in business and in citizenship, and his progressiveness has carried him far beyond the point which the average man attains.  The Troy Laundry is certainly a monument to his ability, inasmuch as he is one of the partners and the directing head of the enterprise.


HON. JOHN LOUIS BROWN.

Hon. John Louis Brown, judge of the third judicial district of Utah and numbered among the honored residents of Salt Lake, was born in Murray, Salt Lake county, on the 6th of July, 1881, his parents being Henry W. and Sarah Ann (Kilpack) Brown. The father was born in England in 1839 and came to the United States with his parents in 1853. Landing on the eastern coast, they made their way across the plains to Utah, where after Henry W. Brown continued a resident of this state to the time of his death, which occurred in 1913.

Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, John Louis Brown attended the schools of Murray and afterward was graduated (cum laude) in 1909 from the Chicago Law School, winning the degree of LL. B. He had been admitted to the bar in Salt Lake in 1908, having attended the law department of the University of Utah from 1906 until 1908, subsequent to which time he continued his studies in Chicago. He was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Utah on the 21st of May, 1908, and to the United States circuit court of Utah. September 27, 1909. He entered upon the practice of his profession in Salt Lake City, becoming associated with the law firm of Moyle & Van Cott, but with his election to the office of city attorney of Murray in November, 1909, he removed his office to that town. In January, 1912, he was again appointed to the position. In July, 1913, he formed a law partnership with N. V. Jones and Robert L. Judd under the firm style of Jones, Brown & Judd, which relation was maintained until 1916. In that year he formed partnership with Burton W. Musser, as the firm of Brown & Musser, which continued until Judge Brown was elected to the bench in 1916. He extended his business interests to banking circles as a director of the Murray State Bank. Throughout the years of his active practice before the bar he was accorded a liberal clientage that connected him with much important litigation heard in the courts of the district. 

On the 2d of September, 1903, in Salt Lake, Judge Brown was married to Miss Lucy E. Fisher, a daughter of the late James M. Fisher, and their children are Lillace Irene, Grant Louis, and Lucy Carol.

Judge Brown is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He belongs to the Bonneville Club, to the Native Sons of Utah, to the Salt Lake Commercial Club, the Utah State Bar Association and American Bar Association-connections which indicate the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct.  Judge Brown was for several years a trustee of the Murray public library and at the time of its organization took a foremost part in arranging for the Carnegie fund and other details in connection with that institution's early history. His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic party, but he has never sought or desired office outside the strict path of his profession. Aside from serving as city attorney of Murray for several years he was in 1915 elected to the state legislature from Salt Lake county and while a member of the general assembly gave most thoughtful and earnest consideration to all the vital questions coming up for settlement. In November, 1916, he was elected judge of the third judicial district and has since served upon the bench.


WILLIAM D. BROWN.

William D. Brown, of Salt Lake, is agency superintendent for the Prudential Life Insurance Company for the state of Utah and is a prominent figure in insurance circles of the west. He was born in Connersville, Indiana, April 4, 1874, a son of Stephen A. and Amanda (Doughty) Brown, the former a native of Indiana, while the latter was born in Ohio. The Brown family is an old one in Virginia, where their identification dates back to the early history of the Old Dominion. The marriage of Stephen A. Brown and Amanda Doughty was celebrated in Indiana and they are still residents of Connersville, where the father has devoted his life to the occupation of farming, and in that pursuit he is still active. In their family were three children, of whom William D. is the eldest. One has passed away and the surviving daughter, Dora, is Mrs. Edward R. Conaway of Connersville, Indiana.

In early life William D. Brown became a pupil in the country schools of Indiana, afterward attended college and subsequently became a student in the State University of Indiana, in which he pursued the normal course. He later took up the profession of teaching in his home county and devoted his attention to educational work for five years. He then withdrew from that profession to enter insurance circles as an agent for the Prudential Insurance Company. He began writing insurance for the Prudential in his home locality and remained in that section for seven years. He next removed to Anderson, Indiana, where he resided for three years, and was then transferred by the company to Denver, Colorado, where he remained for nine years, being special assistant superintendent at that office. In 1917 he came to Salt Lake to take charge of the office at this point, his agency covering the territory of Utah. He is making a splendid official as superintendent in this district and has justified the confidence of the company in his ability as displayed by them in their transfer of him to Salt Lake.

On the 21st of May, 1896, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Lura A. Miller, of Connersville, Indiana, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Miller, of that place. In politics Mr. Brown maintains an independent course. He has membership with the Utah Association of Life Underwriters and was honored with election to the vice presidency in 1919. He is also a member of the Commercial Club, and he has gained a wide and favorable acquaintance during the period of his residence in Salt Lake, for the circle of his friends is constantly broadening as the number of his acquaintances increases.


ARCH BROWNING.

Arch Browning, manager of the Browning Automobile Company of Salt Lake and well known in this field of activity, was born in Ogden, Utah, December 16. 1885, a son of J. E. and Mary (Jones) Browning, who were also natives of Ogden, their parents having been among the earliest of the pioneers who crossed the plains to Utah and among the first to settle in Ogden. Here the father and mother of Arch Browning reached adult age and were married. He engaged in the sporting goods business and is now one of the leading business men of the city.

Arch Browning is one of a family of eight children, the others being Hazel, J. E., Annie. Miles, Frank, Mildred and Mary. Arch Browning, the eldest of the family, attended the public and high schools of Ogden and after putting aside his textbooks turned his attention to the automobile business. He started in this line in Ogden, where he operated successfully until 1915, when he removed to Salt Lake to open a branch here, but still has the Ogden establishment. In Salt Lake he organized the Arch Brown Automobile Company, of which he is vice president and manager. The company has sales and showrooms at 570 South Main street and handles the Willys-Overland cars. Two other branches besides the Salt Lake and Ogden houses have been added to the business, one at Twin Falls and the other at Idaho Falls, Idaho. All these agencies are distributors of the Willys-Overland cars, their territory covering Utah, Southern Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada. The business was incorporated in 1915 with M. S. Browning as president, Arch Browning as vice president and M. Browning as treasurer and secretary. 

On the 10th of November, 1910, Mr. Browning was married to Miss Frances Bassett  of Roosevelt, Utah, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bassett, and they have two children: Edmund B., born in Ogden in 1911; and Robert B., born in Ogden in 1913.  In politics Mr. Browning maintains an independent attitude, voting according to the dictates of his judgment. He belongs to the Commercial Club of Salt Lake, also to the Auto Club and to the Kiwanis Club, and he is well known in the business circles of Ogden and of the capital city and in various other sections of the Intermountain country.


CARL F. BUEHNER.

Carl F. Buehner is a contractor for all kinds of cement work in Salt Lake City.  He was born in Stuttgart, Germany, July 30, 1873, and is a son of Philip Henry Buehner, who died when the son was but twelve years of age. Up to that time he had been reared upon his father's farm near Stuttgart and had attended the public schools but was then obliged to go to work. He was employed at farm labor and in livery stables for a few years and afterward spent five years as coachman for a prominent banker of Stuttgart. Between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-three he was a member of the German army, belonging to the First Regiment of Grenadiers in the infantry service. He then returned to his position as coachman and thus served three years, or until October, 1898. He then entered the employ of the street car company of Stuttgart and remained with them until April, 1901. On the 30th of October, 1899  he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and on the 21st of April, 1901, he sailed for America on the steamship Commonwealth of the Dominion Line. The vessel weighed anchor at Liverpool and sixteen days later or May 8th, Mr. Buehner was in Salt Lake City. The same day he went to work on the street cars. He was also employed in coal yards in Salt Lake City, thus spending a year, after which he entered the employ of a general contractor, with whom he remained for four years. He then started out in business as a cement worker and contractor in a small way and the excellent work which he did and his thorough reliability soon brought him an increasing business, enabling him to employ a large force of workmen and take big contracts.  Today he is one of the leading cement contractors of Salt Lake City, doing any and all kinds of cement and plaster work from the foundation of buildings to the ornamental inside work. The cement work on many of the best buildings of Salt Lake City was done by Mr. Buehner. contracts having been awarded him for work of this character on the state capitol, the East Side high school, the Salt Air building, the Social Hall, and miles of sidewalks have also been constructed by him. His contracts are most numerous and important and his position is one of leadership in this field today. He has shop facilities for manufacturing all kinds of cement blocks. Mr. Buehner is very original in his ideas and was the first man in Salt Lake City to put out cement blocks of different designs and make, such as are universally used now. He owns a fine two story residence at No. 2292 Lake street, where he also has his shop. His equipment includes large cement mixers, with an auto truck delivery and the latest machinery of all kinds for doing every branch of cement work. In addition to the large contracts which he executes, he builds several houses each year for sale. 

In 1898 Mr. Buehner was married to Miss Anna B. Geigle and to them have been born ten children: Carl W., who is on a mission in the eastern states; Otto; Walter, who was accidently killed at the age of seventeen and one-half years; Adolph, who died when three years of age; John; Philip; Paul; Bertha; Clarence; and Helen.  Mr. Buehner is a Seventy in the church, a ward teacher and was special missionary in the Granite stake. He is also president of the German organization in the Granite stake. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, but he has never been an office seeker. His has been an active and useful life and illustrates what can be accomplished in this country where opportunity is open to all. The man of foreign birth here finds the chances which are often denied him in his native country, and if he possesses ambition and resolute purpose he can progress step by step until he reaches the plane of affluence. Such has been the career of Carl F. Buehner. now one of the prosperous business men of Salt Lake City.


WALTER J. BURTON.

Walter J. Burton, president of the Burton Lumber Company and Rocky Mountain agent for the Pacific Tank and Pipe Company, with offices in Salt Lake, was born February 15, 1865, in the city which is still his home, his parents being General Robert T. and Susan (McBride) Burton, the former a native of Michigan, while the latter was born in Ohio. It was in 1848 that the mother came to Utah, and in 1849 General Burton crossed the plains and located in Salt Lake City. He engaged in farming and at one time was associated with A. O. Smoot and John Sharp in the operation of a woolen mill at the mouth of Parleys canyon, there conducting business successfully for many years. He was very active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as bishop of the fifteenth ward and also as bishop's counselor under Bishop Preston. He was likewise active in a political way and in territorial days filled the office of sheriff of Salt Lake county. He was also United States marshal during the administration of President Grant and he was commissioned a general of the state militia during the period of Indian fighting in the early days. Thus in many ways he was closely associated with the development and upbuilding of the state and left the impress of his individuality for good upon its history. He died in Salt Lake City in 1911, while the mother passed away in 1913. Of their family of five children four of yet living, as follows: Willard C, vice president of the Felt Lumber Company of Salt Lake: Hosea, who is proprietor of a grocery store in Salt Lake; Mrs. R. A. Fenton, of Salt Lake, whose husband is engaged extensively in the raising of fine bred stock at Erda: and Walter J., of this review.

The youngest son of the family, Walter J. Burton, attended the district school in his early boyhood and for two years was a pupil in the Deseret University, now the University of Utah. He afterward entered the office of his brother, a prominent architect of Salt Lake City, with whom he remained for three years, acquainting himself with architecture and carpentering under his brother's direction. He afterward followed the carpenter's trade for five years and subsequently was for seven years employed at the Provo Woolen Mills, Cutler Brothers, agents. He next devoted two years to mining as superintendent of mines at Park City and then entered the retail coal office of the Utah Fuel Company as cashier, remaining in that position for eight years. Later he organized the Burton Coal & Lumber Company, of which he was treasurer and manager from 1900, the date of organization, until 1910, when he disposed of the lumber branch of the business. He is likewise the president of the Burton Lumber Company, conducting a wholesale lumber trade, and is the agent of the Pacific Tank and Pipe Company. In the Burton Lumber Company, A. B. Dansie, of Dillon. Montana, is vice president and Walter B. Burton secretary. Walter J. Burton is likewise a director and the vice president and treasurer of the Green Machinery & Manufacturing Company, is the vice president and one of the directors of the Three Kings Consolidated Mining Company and vice president of the Utah-Arizona Gold & Copper Mining Company. Mr. Burton is widely recognized as a man of sound judgment and marked business enterprise whose carefully directed efforts are bringing him continually closer and closer to the goal of notable success.

On the 16th of October, 1892, Mr. Burton was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Ella Brown, of Salt Lake, a daughter of Captain Benjamin P. and Rebecca (Webb) Brown, who removed to Salt Lake from Staten Island. New York, in 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Burton are now parents of four children. Mrs. A. B. Dansie, of Dillon, Montana, who was born, reared and educated in Salt Lake, is now the mother of one child, Clara. Walter Brown Burton was educated in the Agricultural College of Utah and is now secretary of the Burton Lumber Company of Salt Lake, where he makes his home. He married Gwendolyn Dunbar, a daughter of James T. Dunbar, and they have one child, Walter Dunbar Burton, born in Salt Lake in 1915. Sarah is a junior of the University of Utah and belongs to the Chi Omega, a fraternity of the University of Utah. Rebecca was born in Salt Lake and is a pupil in the public schools.

Politically Mr. Burton has long been a stalwart republican, giving unfaltering allegiance to the party and its principles. For four years he served as county commissioner of Salt Lake county but otherwise has not sought or filled public office. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Salt Lake and of the Lumbermen's Club. In reviewing the record of Mr. Burton, one is reminded of the fact that it is the enterprise and character of the citizen that enrich and ennoble the commonwealth. From individual enterprise has sprung all the splendor and importance of this great west.  Mr. Burton is numbered among those who have contributed to Utah's up building and at the same time he has carefully and wisely promoted his individual fortunes. He has excellent ability as an organizer, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. This enables him to conquer obstacles which deter many a man and it has been one of the salient features of his success.


GEORGE H. BUTLER.

George H. Butler is the vice president and manager of the Western Live Stock & Loan Company of Salt Lake City and is a man whose opinions carry weight in financial and business circles. The company of which he is at the head was formed for the purpose of financing live stock and cattle raising interests of the state and has been of great value to the agricultural circles of Utah, enabling many a man to continue his business until it has reached profitable proportions.  Mr. Butler was born in Salt Lake City, July 2, 1884, a son of Thomas and Mary Ellen (Slater) Butler, both of whom are natives of Bradford, England. They came to America in early life and made their way at once to Salt Lake City. The father was a weaver by trade and continued his connection with that industry after his removal to Utah. Here he was associated with the weaving factory established by Brigham Young but later branched out into other lines of business, and both he and the mother of Mr. Butler still make their home in Salt Lake City. They have a family of four children: Thomas S., who is proprietor and manager of Butler's Bootery of Salt Lake City; F. K., assistant secretary of the Utah-Idaho Live Stock Loan Company of Salt Lake City; George H., .of this review; and Alice, also living in Salt Lake City.

In his boyhood days George H. Butler attended the schools of Salt Lake City and also pursued a course in a business college. He then took up clerical work with the Oregon Short Line Railroad and afterward entered the employ of McCormick & Company Bankers, remaining with that banking concern from 1902 until 1908, during which time he arose from a minor position to that of teller. He subsequently resigned to accept a position in the Utah National Bank of Salt Lake City, where he remained until May 1, 1919, when he became actively identified with the Western Live Stock & Loan Company, which had been organized several months before. He resigned his position as assistant cashier of the Utah State National Bank to become vice president and manager of the live stock company, of which T. E. Wood, of Dubois, Idaho, is the president, and J. H. Grut, treasurer.

Mr. Butler is a member and the treasurer of the Kiwanis Club. Politically he maintains an independent course, supporting men and measures rather than party.  His entire business career has been actuated by a progressive spirit and his enterprise and determination have brought him prominently to the front in commercial and financial circles.


GEORGE GRANT BYWATER.

George Grant Bywater, filling the office of county surveyor of Salt Lake county, was born in Logan, Utah, April 1, 1886, and comes of Welsh ancestry, being a grandson of George G. Bywater, who was born in Wales and on leaving that little rock-ribbed country crossed the Atlantic to the new world, arriving in Salt Lake in the early '50s. He was a railroad man. His son, Joseph G. Bywater, was born in Salt Lake City in 1858 and was here reared. He is a locomotive engineer on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and resides in Salt Lake City. After reaching adult age he was married to Ruth Mowry, a native of Utah, who passed away in 1914.

George G. Bywater, their son, pursued his early education in the public schools of Salt Lake City and ultimately entered the University of Utah, from which he was graduated in 1909 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He afterward took up the profession of teaching in Mount Pleasant, Utah, where he was thus engaged for two years and on the expiration of that period he entered upon the practice of his profession that of mining engineer and continued active along that line until November, 1918 when he was elected by popular suffrage to the office of county surveyor of Salt Lake county for a two years' term. He is now acting in that capacity, giving to the county a businesslike and progressive administration in which his duties are most capably and systematically discharged. .

On the 7th of April, 1912, in Salt Lake City, Mr. Bywater was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Tyree, her father being Hiram Tyree, a native of North Carolina. They have four children: Orpha; Robert T., who was born in 1914; Barbara; and Elizabeth.  The religious faith of the family is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mr. Bywater belongs to the Phi Delta Theta and he gives his political endorsement to the democratic party, which he has supported from early manhood.  His entire life has been passed in Utah and that the record has been a creditable one is indicated in the fact that many of his staunchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present time.

 
 

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