M. GRANT HANSEN, D. C.
Dr. M. Grant Hansen, a chiropractor of Brigham whose life is one of usefulness to his fellowmen, was born in Plain City, Utah, June 14, 1882, his parents being H. C. and Annie Katherine (Nielsen) Hansen, both of whom were natives of Denmark. The mother came to the new world in 1862. Coming to the United States about 1854, when thirty-five years of age, the father made his way to Utah and for many years was a resident of Plain City, where he passed away in 1903. He was very active in the work of the church and filled the office of high priest.
M. Grant Hansen was one of a family of eight children, five of whom are still living. After pursuing his education in the public schools of Plain City until he had mastered the branches that constituted the curriculum there he entered the Weber Normal Academy at Ogden, from which he was graduated with the class of 1905. He then took a business course in the Smithsonian College at Ogden, graduating in 1906. Broad literary training therefore served as an excellent foundation upon which to build the superstructure of professional knowledge. Determining to become a chiropractor, he entered the Palmer School at Davenport, Iowa, and was there graduated with the D. C. degree as a member of the class of 1916. Immediately afterward he came to Brigham and has since been engaged in active practice here. During the intervening period of three years he has built up an extensive practice and his labors have been eminently successful.
Dr. Hansen was married to Miss Alice King, a daughter of Joseph S. King, one of the pioneers of Layton, Davis county, Utah. Their religious faith is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Dr. Hansen is president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of the first ward at Brigham City. In the fall of 1913 he went on a mission to Denmark and finished his missionary labors in the northern states, where he spent fourteen months. When leisure permits he enjoys a fishing trip and thus finds his recreation from strenuous professional duties. He belongs to the Utah Chiropractic Association and also to the Universal Chiropractic Association and thus keeps in close touch with the onward march of the profession. He is an earnest, capable, hard-working man in his chosen calling, finding delight in his work and gaining his greatest pleasure when his labors accomplish the desired results.
NEELY L. HANSEN.
A spirit of modern-day enterprise actuates Neely L. Hansen in the conduct of his business. He is one of the merchants of Brigham, carrying on a general store. Utah numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred at Smithfield, Cache county. July 25, 1873. His father, N. P. Hansen, a native of Denmark, came to Utah in 1865 and finally settled in Brigham, where he followed the shoemaker's trade until about 1885, when he became a watchmaker and jeweler, following that business throughout the remainder of his life. He removed to Smithfield but afterward returned to Brigham, where he passed away in April. 1918. In his younger days he was quite active in the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mother of Neely L. Hansen was prior to her marriage Miss Marie Lofgren and her death occurred in 1884.
At the usual age Neely L. Hansen became a pupil in the public schools of Brigham and in young manhood left school to make his initial step in the business world. He spent two years in the employ of others and then learned the barbering trade, at which he worked for a period of twelve years. In 1902 he opened his general store in Brigham and has since been one of the capable and successful merchants on Main street. He carries a large line of general merchandise and has an attractive establishment, which is liberally patronized by reason of his honorable dealing, his progressive methods and his reasonable prices.
In 1899 Mr. Hansen was united in marriage to Miss Dorothy Madsen, of Provo, a daughter of Peter Madsen, one of the pioneer settlers of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Hansen have become the parents of five children: Lola, nineteen years of age; Ted, who was born in 1904; Roma, who is nine years of age; Neal, aged three; and Jay, aged one.
Mr. Hansen is a member of the Brigham City Commercial Club and is interested In all of the projects put forward by that organization for the benefit and upbuilding of his city. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is much interested in its success and has attended various conventions. He does everything in his power to promote the party's success because of his firm belief in the principles of its platform as elements in good government. He is also a member of the bishopric of the first ward and was on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from October, 1911, until November, 1913. He visited Egypt, Denmark and other countries and his experiences abroad brought to him that wide knowledge and culture which is never as quickly secured in any other way as in travel. He returned to America in 1914. He is a well known and representative citizen and business man of Brigham, enjoying the warm regard of all who know him.
JOHN P. HOLMGREN
John P. Holmgren deserves the well merited reputation of being an absolutely square man-one in whom every dependence can be placed and who is thoroughly reliable under every circumstance. He makes his home in Bear River City and has his office in Garland. The story of his life is an interesting one. He was born at Chimney Rock, Wyoming, September 13. 1865, a son of Peter O. and Johannah Holmgren, who were natives of Sweden and became early settlers of Bear River City. The son was educated in the common schools and in the University of Utah, and after completing his University course he took up the occupation of farming and stock raising, in which he has continued to the present time. As the years have passed he has prospered and as opportunity has offered he has extended his landed possessions, which are now very large. In addition to the twelve-hundred-acre tract which he owns at Bear River valley, Mr. Holmgren is also the owner of a ranch in townships 13 and 14, near Snowville where he has eight thousand acres. Upon that property he raises short horn cattle and has won wide fame in this connection. In fact his herds are so well known that his name as a breeder and raiser of short horns is known throughout Utah. His care of his stock is conducted along most scientific lines and his enterprise, diligence and determination spell success.
John P. Holmgren has always been a leader among the farmers of Bear River valley and has won a popularity second to none. Born and reared upon a farm, he enjoys farm life because of his love of animals and his appreciation of all growing things. He is a very extensive beet grower, having about one hundred acres planted to that crop each year, and has raised as high as forty tons to the acre. He has also received several prizes for beet growing, including the four leading prizes offered by the sugar company. He is now the agricultural superintendent of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company and his appointment to this office is a striking evidence of his honesty, his conservatism and his freedom from prejudice. In 1917 the sugar company and the farmers of the valley were having great difficulty over the failure of the company to conserve the beet crop. Meetings were held to adjust the differences and the farmers were requested to name a man of their own community to look after their crops who would accept the position of agricultural superintendent This was done. On being called to the office of the company Mr. Holmgren was informed that his neighbors had almost unanimously named him for the position, which was then tendered him and which he accepted in February, 1917, and has since held. It is through his efforts that the sugar company and the farmers of the valley arc now on the best of terms. Each side esteems him as a man who is thoroughly square and reliable under every circumstance and one who is ready at all times to secure exact justice for each side. His reputation as an honest man and a progressive one extends wherever he is known.
Mr. Holmgren was married to Miss Mary Jensen, a daughter of J. P. Jensen. She is an accomplished lady and has been a great helpmate to her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Holmgren have the following children: Andrew, Edwin, Mabel, a graduate teacher of domestic science; Leona, the wife of Emery Reese, of Brigham; Lidia and Minnie, both of whom are teachers; Leroy and Parley, who are devoting their attention to farming; Mildred; and Delbert, who completes the family. The home of the family is at Bear River City, while Mr. Holmgren has his office at Garland. When one reviews and investigates his career, the old saying that "an honest man is the noblest work of God" comes to mind.
JOHN H. HORSLEY.
John H. Horsley, well accounted one of the representative business men of Brigham, where he is conducting a fine book store, was born in Perry, Boxelder county. Utah, December 29, 1869, a son of William Horsley, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof benefiting by the wise guidance and careful teachings of earnest Christian parents, John Horsley developed qualities which have made him a man among men. He attended the Brigham high school, also the Brigham Young College at Ogden and was there graduated with the class of 1892. He afterward became associated with the firm of William Horsley & Sons, proprietors of an extensive general merchandise store, and four years ago he established his present business as a dealer in books, stationery and office supplies. His establishment is situated on North Main street, next to the post office, and he has a very large trade, particularly in school books. His business methods will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny, his commercial integrity being above question.
In 1894 Mr. Horsley was married to Miss May Rees, of Brigham, a daughter of the first mayor of the city, John T. Rees, who was a valued pioneer citizen in whose honor Rees Park was named. Mr. and Mrs. Horsley have become the parents of four children: J. Wesley, who is now secretary to Representative Willey in Washington, D. C, and is a law student; Marjorie, who is attending the Junior high school; Miriam, also a student in the Junior high school; and Esther.
Mr. Horsley has served as ward clerk in the second ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He too was sent to England on a mission in 1902 and spent three successful years there in the interests of the cause. He has been most active as a church worker and has also been prominent in secular affairs. He has served for six years as city recorder, elected on the republican ticket, and was a member of the city council. He is indeed a "worthy son of a worthy sire," and inspired by the example of his father and guided by the most honorable principles, his life has commanded for him the respect, confidence and good will which the name of Horsley always inspires in Boxelder county.
WILLIAM HORSLEY.
Many hardships and difficulties confronted William Horsley in his youth and early manhood but his life record is another proof of the fact that it is only under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposition that the best and strongest in men is brought out and developed. When discouraging circumstances have arisen in his career they have seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed effort on his part and he has continued in his moral development and in the up building of his business affairs until he is regarded today as one of the most prominent and valued residents of Brigham.
Mr. Horsley was born in Soham. Cambridgeshire, England, November 20, 1842, a son of John and Susan (Clements) Horsley, both of English birth. The mother was the only one of her family who embraced the Mormon faith and this was the cause of her leaving home. She took her little son, then only four and one-half years old, with her to the city of London and struggled and worked to support him. Later he obtained a position as errand boy, working for a half crown a week. When Mrs. Horsley's father died he left to each of his children five thousand dollars, but her share was conditional upon her giving up her faith, which she refused to do. At last she saved enough money to send her son to America in charge of a man who was coming to Salt Lake City, to keep him from being kidnapped by his father, and though at the last moment her heart railed her she made the decision for the boy's good and he embarked on the 12th of April, 1855, from Liverpool on the sailing vessel Samuel Curlin. He was then a lad of twelve years. After thirty days at sea he landed in New York and proceeded thence by rail to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which was the terminus of the railroad lines in the United States toward the west. From Pittsburgh the party proceeded down the Ohio and up the Mississippi river to St. Louis by boat and thence to Mormon Grove, where, after remaining two weeks to outfit, the party started across the great plains, making the trip by way of Fort Kearney. Finally they reached Salt Lake City on the 23d of September, 1855, and there the man who had brought Mr. Horsley from England promptly deserted him. leaving him upon the public square. Another man took pity upon him and although he had eleven children of his own he said he "might as well make it a dozen" and took Mr. Horsley under his roof and protection. After a few years spent in Salt Lake City, during which time he did any work that he could to secure a scant living, he made his way to Perry, Boxelder county, and began working on the farm of David Osborne, with whom he remained for a year. He was afterward employed by neighboring farmers for two years and in the spring of 1864 he was called to drive teams across the plains for the church. When that task was completed he engaged in farming for others, being paid four hundred dollars for his first year's service, four hundred and fifty dollars for the second year and four hundred and seventy-five for the third.
On the 30th of March, 1867, Mr. Horsley was married to Miss Elizabeth Welch, a daughter of John and Eliza (Billington) Welch, and for fifty-two years this worthy couple have traveled life's journey together. They had five sons and three daughters, of whom one son and one daughter have passed away. William Clements, the eldest son. now a resident of Brigham, is a well know leader in business and church circles, being a counselor to President Stohl of the Boxelder stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. John H. is mentioned on another page of this work. Ernest Preston, formerly president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association for fifteen years and now a member of its general board and active in all work of the church, is engaged in business with his father and brothers. Clarence Eugene, a member of the Mutual Improvement Board and active in church work, is also connected with the firm of Horsley & Sons. Lillie is the wife of Alonzo H. Peterson. Louise is employed in the office of the Boxelder board of education and is a member of the county Sunday school board.
As the years have passed Mr. Horsley has improved every opportunity to advance along material, intellectual and moral lines, and his achievements have placed him in the front rank among the most honored and respected citizens of Boxelder county. His developing powers, resulting from the faithful performance of every duty that has devolved upon him, have well qualified him for added responsibility and in 1874 he was made receiver for the Cooperative Mercantile Company and most acceptably filled that position until 1884. the business being developed to a successful enterprise under his control. He had previously had some mercantile experience, having formerly been proprietor of a country store at Perry. In 1884 he was called by the church for a mission to England and went abroad in the fall of that year. It was in the same year that his faithful and loyal mother passed away. Her life had been a sacrifice to her Christian belief but she remained "faithful unto death." She had come to America in 1862 and settled in Salt Lake City. She brought with her two other sons, Harry and Clements. Mr. Horsley was in the London conference and served as its president for seven months. He spent twenty-five months on that mission, meeting with good success as the result of his untiring efforts and his unfaltering zeal. In 1899 he was again sent on a mission and was connected with the Bristol conference, of which he was made president. This included Wales, the Channel islands and other districts. He is now a patriarch in the church and his labors have indeed been a valuable asset in the promotion of the cause.
Upon his return from his second mission Mr. Horsley opened a store in 1891 on Main street in Brigham and erected a large brick store building. At the age of seventy-seven years, he is actively still engaged in business with his sons. They conduct a general mercantile establishment, also carry on a feed and seed business, and one son has a book store at Brigham, adjoining the post office. It may well be said of Mr. Horsley that he is "seventy-seven years young." Old age need not necessarily suggest idleness nor want of occupation. There is an old age which grows stronger and brighter as the years pass on and gives out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience for the benefit of others. Such is the record of Mr. Horsley, who still remains an active factor in the world's work, honored and esteemed for his sterling qualities of heart and mind, for his kindly and generous nature. His many friends frequently go out of their way to trade and visit with him. His career has been an ornament to the church and to the community in which he has lived and, moreover, he has a family of sons of whom he has every reason to be proud, not one of them ever having crossed the threshold of a saloon or smoked tobacco. The example of their father they have followed, making the name of Horsley indeed an honored one in Boxelder county.
JOSEPH HUNSAKER.
Joseph Hunsaker. of Honeyville. was born in a wagon at West Jordan, Utah, in 1856. when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Hunsaker. were on their way to Nevada, the father being sent to that state to found a mission of the Mormon church. Abraham Hunsaker was a native of Kentucky and in Illinois was converted to the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. He came to Utah in 1847 and was a member of the famous Mormon Battalion. He first settled in Utah county, where he took up the occupation of farming and stock raising. He was very active in the work of the church and in the winter of 1863 he was called by the church to erect and colonize that portion of Boxelder county which is now Honeyville. Realizing the needs of his people in that district, he bought a sawmill, which he operated until 1873, when he built and in 1866 began the operation of a large grist mill and later gave his attention to the manufacture of flour, having the first flour mill in the state north of Brigham. In 1864, still attempting to meet the needs of the people, he essayed dry farming and to him belongs the honor of being the first to engage in dry farming in northern Utah. Some authorities have given another section the honor for the pioneer work of this character, but his family hold the record which shows that nearly two years passed after Mr. Hunsaker took up the work before there was another experiment at dry farming attempted in northern Utah. He and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Harriet Vernitta Beckstead, labored long and earnestly both for the church and the community. Mr. Hunsaker held all of the church offices and was the first bishop of Honeyville. The name of Hunsaker is synonymous with the history of Honeyville, its founding and development.
Joseph Hunsaker grew to manhood under his father's roof and has remained in Honeyville throughout his entire life, giving his attention to agricultural pursuits. He has worked diligently and persistently along material lines and has also been an active and earnest worker in the church, his services of that character being very varied. He has been elder, high priest, counselor to Bishop B. H. Tolman, who succeeded Mr. Hunsaker's father to the bishopric, and for twenty-two years he was president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and has been assistant superintendent of the Sunday school from its organization in 1877 to 1884. He was called to a mission in the southern states in 1884 and his labors there met with abundant success. In 1886 he was sent to England on a mission and during that call was transferred to Switzerland to gather the genealogy of his father's family. Returning to Utah, he and his brother Elzarus took charge of their father's band of horses. They went to Idaho to settle, but Joseph Hunsaker was soon called back to take charge of the cooperative store of Honeyville. This store was the outgrowth of a small establishment opened by Abraham Hunsaker and later organized as a cooperative store. This Joseph Hunsaker conducted after returning from Idaho for a period of fourteen years, at the end of which time It was sold to his two brothers. Elzarus and D. W.
In 1878 was celebrated the marriage of Joseph Hunsaker and Miss Emily Graham, a daughter of an English family of that name that had settled in Utah in 1863. The Graham family had been called to settle the Blue Creek country in 1866, but the hostility of the Indians was so great as to force them to return to Brigham and in 1868 they removed to Honeyville. Frederick James Graham, the father of Mrs. Hunsaker, died at Honeyville in 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Hunsaker reared three children from infancy
to manhood and womanhood, these being Eunice Jane Wickham, now the wife of Nathaniel Boothe, a farmer of Honeyville; and Chester Conrad and Adella Lurline Walters. They also reared a son of the first named, Veran N. Chester Conrad Walters, who, after serving for fifteen years in the United States army, is now employed in a drug store in Boston, Massachusetts. Adella is the wife of Ira May, a rancher of Wyoming. Joseph Hunsaker has many brothers and sisters in this state and In Idaho. The majority of the family, however, have remained true to Honeyville, and while the foundation of this section was due to the labors of Abraham Hunsaker, the superstructure which has been reared upon that foundation is due to his children, who have loved to labor for the pleasant little town and valley which was developed from a western waste and wilderness through the efforts of their father. The family name is indeed synonymous with the progress and up building of this section of the state.
B. HOWELL JONES.
B. Howell Jones, an eminent member of the Utah bar, making his home at Brigham, has been connected with important suits heard in all of the courts of the state and also before the United States supreme court. Mr. Jones is a native of Wellsville, Cache county, Utah, born March 8, 1869, his parents being Ricy D. and Ann (Howell) Jones. The father was born in Wales and came to America in 1848. He crossed the country to California among the gold seekers who made their way to the Pacific coast in 1849. In the latter part of the same year, however, he took up his abode in Utah and his last days were spent in Cache county, where he passed away in 1911, having lived all of his life as a modest farmer. The mother of B. Howell Jones was a daughter of William Howell, who adopted the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his native land of Wales and afterward served as a missionary for the church in France. When instructed to return to Utah he took passage for America with his little family, but death came to him while he was on the Atlantic. His family continued the journey alone and upon their arrival in this state took up their abode in Cache county.
B. Howell Jones acquired his early education in the graded schools of Wellsville and afterward attended the University of Utah. Ambitious and energetic, he then took up the profession of teaching in Boxelder county and was thus identified with the schools for two years but regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor and with the money thus earned he paid his tuition for a law course in the University of Michigan. He was there graduated with the class of 1889 and was admitted to practice at the bar of that state in the same year. He immediately afterward went to Boston. Massachusetts, for post-graduate work in the Boston University. In 1890 he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar and, feeling that he was now well equipped for professional duties, he returned to the west and for a time practiced his profession in California. Later he returned to Utah and settled at Brigham, where his ability was soon recognized and was rewarded with election to the office of county prosecuting attorney, which position he held for fifteen years. Upon the entrance of Utah into the Union he became United States district attorney. His reputation as a lawyer is not confined to his home county but extends even far beyond the borders of the state. He has had more than a dozen cases before the United States supreme court, having previously been admitted to practice before that high tribunal. The famous cases of the proper construction of the acts of congress covering the Union Pacific grants were argued by Mr. Jones before the supreme court. With license to practice his profession in the courts of Utah, Michigan, Massachusetts and California, in the eighth and ninth circuit courts of the United States and in the United States supreme court, with a thorough legal education ripened by study and experience, Mr. Jones' ability as an attorney is well established.
In 1889 Mr. Jones was married to Miss Malvina Christensen, a member of a well known pioneer family of Cache county. They became the parents of two children: Lewis C, who has just received his honorable discharge from the United States army; and Melvin, now thirteen years of age. Upon the birth of Melvin, death claimed the mother and Mr. Jones has remained true to her memory, never marrying again, devoting his life to the welfare of his sons and to his professional interests and duties, along which line he has won well earned distinction.
P. W. KNUDSON.
P. W. Knudson is a member of the Guarantee Auto Company of Brigham. a partnership concern of which the proprietors are Knudson, Reeves & Zundell. The city of Brigham finds in this firm a worthy representative of business enterprise and progress.
The senior partner, Mr. Knudson, was there born on the 25th of December, 1881, a son of Peter and Dinah (Peterson) Knudson. The father was also born at Brigham, a son of the late Arthur William Knudson, a native of Denmark, who was the first of the name to establish his home in the new world, taking up his abode among the pioneer settlers of Utah. Peter Knudson was reared and educated in his native city and is now engaged in farming and stock raising, which he successfully follows. He is a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a member of the second ward bishopric and does all in his power to promote the growth of the church and extend its influence. In politics he is a stanch republican and has served as a member of the city council. The mother, Mrs. Dinah Knudson, was a native of Copenhagen. Denmark, and came to the new world with her parents. She died in 1894, leaving a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters.
P. W. Knudson, the eldest child, was educated in Brigham and in the Brigham Young College at Logan. After his textbooks were put aside he first engaged in farming with his father, but at the age of seventeen years started out in the business world on his own account. He went to California, where he was employed in various ways until the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, when he enlisted in the service of his country as a member of Company M, Forty-third United States Volunteer Infantry. He served as a private on the Philippine Islands and participated in the battles of San Mateo and Luzon. He entered the service on the 21st of September, 1899, and on the 27th of December of the same year participated in a skirmish at Mariquina. On the 27th of January, 1900, he took part in the battle of Cabalogan and during the expedition he participated in many scouting activities and skirmishes connected with the Philippine campaign. He served under Captain George 0. Duncan and was honorably discharged July 5, 1901. Mr. Knudson has been identified with the automobile business since 1914 and has been in his present connection since June, 1918, as a member of the firm of Knudson, Reeves & Zundell, proprietors of the Guarantee Auto Company. They are sole agents at Brigham for the Chevrolet cars, tractors and trucks and they also maintain a garage service station and a thoroughly modern repair plant. In this line they have the leading shop in Brigham and the business has now reached very gratifying and profitable proportions.
On the 7th of August, 1907, Mr. Knudson was married in Salt Lake Temple to Miss Jennie Elizabeth Lerdahl, a native of Norway and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Karl Lerdahl, who are now residents of Salt Lake City. Mr. Knudson, however, met his wife while on a mission to Norway. They have four children: Shirley W.. Jennie La Rue, Ralph Clarence and Max Byron.
Mr. Knudson is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the second ward in Brigham and he served on a mission to Norway from 1903 until 1906 and was president of the branch. In politics he is a republican and he is a member of the Boxelder Commercial Club. He is recognized as a man of honorable character, straightforward and reliable in all his dealings and faithful to every trust reposed in him.
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