vertisement and everything is done to please the customers. The business of the
house has grown along substantial lines and its further development will undoubtedly
be attributable in large measure to the progressive methods of Mr. Sumner. The busi-
ness premises of the company are located on Main street, between Center and First
South, and embrace an area of twelve thousand square feet. Even the large store,
with additional warehouses, has been found inadequate to properly conduct the increas-
ing business and the company is now contemplating the construction of a large building
in another location. Mr. Sumner is also the vice president of the James M. Peterson
Bank, the only member of the Federal Reserve System in the county.
After the outbreak of the war Mr. Sumner was chairman of the fuel administration
board for the county. In 1917 he went to Camp Lewis preparatory to going to an offi-
cers' training camp, but those in charge there soon recognized his business ability and
transferred him to Washington, D. C., where he did duty in the war risk insurance
department of the war department until demobilized in 1918.
In 1914 Mr. Sumner married Miss Edithe Peterson, a daughter of James M. Peter-
son, one of the early residents of Richfield, and they now have one son, Scharf Sayre.
Mr. Sumner is a member of the Commercial Club and a prominent representative of
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He has long been recognized as an important
172 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
factor in the upgrowth of city and county, his aid and influence being always given on
the side of advancement and improvement. He is actuated by a most progressive spirit
and few young men of his years have attained to a position of leadership as he has
done. It is true that family connections have been of benefit to him, but his native
and acquired ability qualified him to assume the heavy responsibilities which came
with the management and control of the wholesale and retail mercantile interests and
the assumption of his duties as vice president of the bank. He studies carefully every
business situation and manifests the keenest discrimination in picking out those things
which are most essential to successful control of business. He is making the concern
of which he is the head one of the most important commercial interests of southern
Utah.
JOHN J. STEINER, M. D.
Dr. John J. Steiner, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Rich-
field, was born in Germany in 1863, a son of John S. and Magdelena (Frash) Steiner.
The father was also a physician and came to America in 1871, first settling at Carroll,
Iowa, where his son, John J. received his preliminary education. Later the family
removed to South Dakota and in that state the son obtained his collegiate training.
Deciding to follow in his father's professional footsteps, he next entered the St. Louis
Medical College, from which institution he was graduated with high honors as a mem-
ber of the class of 1889. He then removed to the Pacific coast, where he began prac-
tice at The Dalles, Oregon, and won substantial success there, a most liberal patronage
being accorded him. In 1892, finding that the lower altitude of the coast was not agree-
ing with him, he removed to Marysvale, Utah, where he remained for two years. He
then took up practice at Panguitch and in 1900 he pursued a post-graduate course in
the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, and was there gradu-
ated with the class of 1901. In 1903 he accepted the position of surgeon at the Annie
Laurie mines at Kimberly and continued to act in that capacity until 1907, when he
retired from the position to further pursue his studies in post graduate work in the
Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since that time be has prac-
ticed his profession at Richfield, making a specialty of surgery. He is particularly
well qualified in this regard, possessing comprehensive knowledge of anatomy and the
component parts of the human body together with the onslaughts made upon it by
disease. His surgical work has been of the highest possible character and his prac-
tice covers Sevier and adjoining counties. He is also the president and manager of
the Richfield General Hospital, one of th*e best equipped institutions of this kind in
the state.
In 1903 Dr. Steiner was married in Marysvale, Utah, to Miss Georgia Blanchett,
of that city, and they now have three children: Dean, Edward and Rose Gail. Dr.
Steiner, while public-spirited to a degree and an active member of the Commercial
Club and similar organizations, has never become a worker in political circles. He
was, however, examining physician of the draft board and medical member of the Coun-
cil of Defense during the period of the war. He is an active member of the State Medi-
cal Association and of the American Medical Association and is esteemed throughout
Utah as a talented medical practitioner and sterling citizen. He has ever held to the
highest ethical standards of the profession and he has continually promoted his knowl-
edge and ability through study and research.
OSCAR MALMROSE.
Oscar Malmrose is the senior partner in the firm of Malmrose & Sheffield,
proprietors of the City Grocery at No. 11 North Main street in Logan. He was born
in Brigham, Utah, August 21, 1883, a son of B. E. and Augusta (Olsen) Malmrose.
who were natives of Sweden. They came to America in 1877, making their way
direct to Brigham, where Mr. Malmrose spent his remaining days, his death occurring
May 4, 1905, when he had reached the age of seventy-five years. He was a mason
by trade and devoted his entire life to work along that line. He was also an earnest
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 173
supporter of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, counting no activity on
his part too great if it would further the cause in which he so firmly believed. Prior
to coming to the new world he did missionary work in his native land following his
conversion to the church. His wife came to America on the same vessel with him
and they were married in the year of their arrival. Mrs. Malmrose still survives
her husband and resides at Brigham.
Oscar Malmrose was the fourth in order of birth in their family of ten children,
four sons and six daughters. He is indebted to the public school system of Brigham
for the early educational advantages which he enjoyed and when he had reached the
age of fifteen he started out to earn his own livelihood, being first employed at the
meat cutting trade, which business he followed as a journeyman meat cutter until
1908. On the 4th of July of that year he formed a partnership with Robert Sheffield
and purchased the City Grocery, which had been established in 1904. From a small
business they have developed their interests until they have the leading grocery in
Logan. They employ three salespeople and their volume of trade is very large and
gratifying. Their success is due to the integrity of their methods, their reasonable
prices and their earnest efforts to please their customers.
On the 6th of June, 1912, in Malad, Idaho, Mr. Malmrose was married to Miss
Gladys Spierman, a native of Logan and a daughter of C. W. and Mary (Boudrero)
Spierman, who had long been residents of Logan, settling there about the time the
town was founded. Mr. and Mrs. Malmrose have become parents of three children:
Dorothy, Oscar Earl, and Helen. The family residence is at No. 230 North First West
and the home is owned by Mr. Malmrose. In politics he has ever maintained an
independent course. He belongs to the Logan Commercial Club and to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His time and energies are almost wholly given
to his business affairs and it has been this close application and persistency of
purpose that has enabled him to make steady advancement since he became one of
the proprietors of the City Grocery. He has always continued in the line of activity
in which he embarked as a young tradesman.
JOSEPH PARMLEY.
Joseph Parmley. chief clerk to the general superintendent of the Utah Fuel
Company at Castlegate, was born in Winterquarters, Utah, June 5, 1890, a son of
T. J. and Mary A. (Carrick) Parmley, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this
work. The family numbered three sons and four daughters, of whom Joseph, t Maria,
Mary and Florence B. are all living, while William, John and Hannah V. have
passed away.
After mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of Winter-
quarters, Joseph Parmley entered the Latter-day Saints University, in which he pursued
a commercial course from 1905 until 1909, when he was graduated. He started out
in business life as material clerk with the Utah Fuel Company at Winterquarters in
June of the latter year and afterwards accepted the position of second clerk on the
1st of January, 1910. He thus continued to serve until April, 1911, when he was
called to fill a mission to Great Britain, where he labored in the interests of the
church for two and a half years. Upon his return to Carbon county he resumed his
former position, acting in that capacity for four years, when he was promoted to the
position of chief clerk to the general superintendent of the Utah Fuel Company at
Castlegate. He has since acted in that capacity to the entire satisfaction of the
company. His capability and steady progress will undoubtedly win for him further
promotions as he is yet a young man to whom the future holds out large opportunities.
On the 25th of November, 1914, in Salt Lake City, Mr. Parmley was married to
Miss Lillie M. Broyles, a daughter of J. F. and Eleanora Broyles. Her father has been
an engineer for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad for the past thirty-five years and
is now living in Salt Lake City, but the mother has departed this life. Mr. and Mrs.
Parmley have become the parents of two children: Joseph, born November 29, 1915;
and Eleanora, born September 15, 1917.
Mr. Parmley has always been connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he was
elected town clerk of Scofield but resigned upon his removal to Castlegate in 1917.
174 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Since then he has been chosen town clerk of the town in which he now makes his
home and is filling the position at this writing. He is a wide-awake, alert and
progressive young man, interested in all that makes for advancement and improvement
along every line that has to do with the welfare of the community and the state.
SYLVAN EUGENE NEEDHAM.
Sylvan Eugene Needham, a jeweler of Logan, whose active identification with the
business interests of the city covers a period of almost a quarter of a century, was
born in Salt Lake City, May 25, 1878. His father, John Needham, was a native of
Leeds, Yorkshire, England, and coming to the United States made his way to Utah,
where he was well known as a member of the firm of Stains & Needham of Salt Lake
City. In the work of the church, too, he was very prominent and became a patriarch.
He has passed away, while the mother of S. E. Needham, who in her maidenhood
was Martha Rose Turner, of England, is likewise deceased.
Sylvan E. Needham pursued his education in the public schools of Midvale, formerly
West Jordan, Utah, and in the Agricultural College of Utah at Logan, in which he
completed a course with the class of 1895. He started upon his business career as
an employe of the Logan Dry Goods Company, a business formerly owned by R. K.
Thomas, and for many years was associated with that house. At length he embarked
in business on his own account, taking over the jewelry store established by the
Johnston Jewelry Company. He is now sole proprietor of this business, in connection
with which he carries a large line of jewelry of American and foreign manufacture.
In fact he has the leading jewelry store of Logan a handsomely appointed establish-
ment in which he is accorded a very large trade, owing to the reliability of his business
methods, the fine line of goods carried and his earnest desire to please his patrons.
On the 28th of June, 1905, Mr. Needham was married to Miss Lulu Holt, a daughter
of Samuel Holt, one of the pioneers of Logan who was born in England. Mr. and Mrs.
Needham have one son, Sylvan Eugene, Jr., now eight years of age. Mr. Needham
belongs to the Commercial Boosters Club a fact indicative of his interest in Logan
and her commercial and municipal welfare. His religious faith is that of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in 1901 he went on a mission to England and
Scotland. He has always been an. active worker in the church, in which he is now an
elder. His salient traits of character are such as have ever commanded for him the
respect, confidence and good will of his fellowmen and as a merchant and citizen he
stands, high in public regard.
REUBEN WARREN SEVY.
Reuben Warren Sevy, whose activities cover important sheep raising interests in
Sevier county and who has aided in shaping the legislation of Utah as a member of
the state senate, was born in New Harmony, Utah, in 1863, his parents being George
W. and Phoebe M. (Butler) Sevy, both representatives of pioneer families of the state.
Mrs. Sevy came to Utah with her parents in the winter of 1847-8 with a handcart com-
pany and the family located at Spanish Fork. Her father was one of the bodyguard
of Joseph Smith. George W. Sevy came to Utah in 1849 and while on a visit to Spanish
Fork formed the acquaintance of Miss Butler, whose hand he sought in marriage. Mr.
Sevy was afterward converted to the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Soon after their marriage the young couple were called to settle New Harmony
and it was there that Reuben W. Sevy of this review was born. After several years'
residence at that place the parents removed with their family to Panguitch, where
for many years Mr. Sevy was the bishop of that ward. He went with the first company
sent to colonize Mexico, where he served as presiding elder. The colony located
at Juarez, just across the river from El Paso, Texas, and there he bought land.
Reuben W. Sevy pursued his education in the common schools of Panguitch and
after completing his studies assisted his father, who was engaged in sheep raising.
In 1882 he began raising sheep on his own account and continued active in the business
there until 1912, when he removed to Richfield, Sevier county, after disposing of his
REUBEN W. SEVY
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 177
ranch to the state. A portion of the ranch is now occupied by the state reservoir of
the famous Piute irrigation project. Immediately upon taking up his abode in Sevier
county Mr. Sevy purchased land and again engaged in sheep raising. His property
here embraces one hundred and twenty-five acres, largely under the Piute irrigation
system, and is for the most part highly cultivated. His holdings in 1919 included
twenty-seven hundred Rambouillet sheep.
In 1882 Mr. Sevy was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Spencer, a daughter of one of
the pioneer families of St. George. She has ever borne her share in the responsibilities
of her home, has been a devoted mother and has been active in the work of civic and
religious organizations at Panguitch. The living chldren of Mr. and Mrs. Sevy are
as follows: Claude, who was graduated from the Kansas City Veterinary College as
valedictorian of his class and was for ten years in the service of the United States
government, is now manager of his father's ranch. Pearl is a graduate of the Utah
Agricultural College and is now teaching in the Richfield high school. Fern is a
senior in the Utah Agricultural College. Leo is acting as assistant to his brother
Claude on the ranch. Carl is a student in the Latter-day Saints high school at Salt
Lake City. Jesse and Alice are attending the graded schools of Richfield.
While Mr. Sevy has long been prominently known as a sheep raiser and ranchman,
in addition to his ranching property he has many large interests. He is the president
of the Standard Meat & Produce Company of Richfield, is president of the Sigurd
Mercantile Company and was one of the original stockholders and directors of the Jumbo
Plaster Company of Sigurd. He" also organized and for years was one of the directors
of the Cameron-Sevy Mercantile Company of Kansas. The most important interest of
Mr. Sevy is perhaps the State Loan & Trust Company, with headquarters at Salt Lake
City. The capital stock of this corporation is three hundred thousand shares and it
owns six hundred city lots in Salt Lake and transacts a general real estate, loan and
trust business. Mr. Sevy has for some time been a member of its board of directors
and in November, 1919, was made president and general manager. While spending a
large part of his time in Salt Lake, he resides with his family in Richfield and counts
that flourishing city as his home.
Mr. Sevy has been a prominent figure in public affairs as well and for ten years
served as chairman of the county republican committee and has been a delegate to
nearly every state convention held by that party in Utah. Aside from serving as a
member of the city council of Panguitch he was for two terms county sheriff and in
1909 was elected state senator from the tenth senatorial district, serving to the satisfac-
tion of his constituents for four years. He has been a most potential factor in the up-
building of Utah along many lines. He is a man of keen foresight and broad vision
who looks beyond the exigencies of the moment to the opportunities and possibilities
of the future and is proving a potent force in Utah's progress and prosperity as well as
a dominant factor in the attafnment of individual success.
EVAN R. OWEN.
Evan R. Owen, division manager for the Utah Power & Light Company, was born
in Wellsville, Utah, June 14. 1867, and is a representative of one of the substantial
families that Wales has furnished to this state. His father, Evan Owen, was a native
of Wales and came to America about 1854. He first settled in Iron county, Utah, and
in 1863 became a resident of Cache county, where he continued to make his home until
his death, which occurred when he was seventy-three years of age. He devoted his
time and energies to ranching and cattle raising and was very successful in the
conduct of his business. An active churchman, he was counselor to Bishop William
H. Maughan for twenty years. He married Elizabeth Walters, a native of Wales, who
came to America about 1854 in company with her parents, who established their home
in Wellsville, where Mr. and Mrs. Owen became acquainted and were married. Their
family numbered four sons and three daughters, of whom Evan R. is the second in
order of birth. The mother is still living and occupies the old home at Wellsville.
At the usual age Evan R. Owen became a pupil in the district schools of Cache
county and after mastering the branches of learning therein taught entered the Brigham
Young College at Logan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1887. He
next became a student in the University of Utah. Following his graduation he taught
178 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
school for fourteen years and proved an able educator, imparting readily and clearly
to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He next turned his attention to mer-
chandising in Wellsville, carrying a general line of goods and meeting with success
during the five years in which he remained a factor in the commercial circles of that
city. He next became a representative of the Utah Power & Light Company. He
entered the service of that corporation as right of way and claim agent and from
that position has worked his way steadily upward, being advanced by various promotions
until he is now division manager at Logan, a place of large responsibility and importance.
He is also a director of the Thatcher Brothers Banking Company of Logan.
Mr. Owen was married in Logan Temple to Miss Lizzie Benson, a daughter of the
late Apostle Ezra T. and Elizabeth (Gollier) Benson, mentioned elsewhere in this work.
Mr. and Mrs. Owen have four sons and four daughters: Alta, now the wife of Roy
T. Shaw, of Garland, Boxelder county; Cyrio B., a lieutenant of the Coast Artillery
Corps now on active duty in France and a graduate of the Utah Agricultural College;
Gretel B., the wife of Leo Hansen, a resident of Logan, Utah; and Leslie B., Luella,
Lucille, Ezra and Fred B.
Mr. Owen's work for the church has taken definite form and he was bishop for
nine years in the Wellsville ward and also served on a mission to Great Britain from
1898 to 1900. During that period he was president of the Welsh Conference.
In politics Mr. Owen is a stalwart democrat and when but twenty-one years of
age was made mayor of Wellsville. Notwithstanding his youth he made so splendid
a record that he was reelected for a second term and continued as the chief executive
of that city for four years, being the first democratic mayor of Wellsville. He was
also at one time a candidate for the office of secretary of state on the democratic ticket
and he has been a most prominent representative of the democratic party in Utah.
He served as a member of the democratic state central committee and has long been
very active in political and civic affairs. During the period of the war he was a
member of the City and County Council of Defense and was county food administrator
for Cache county. He is also a member of the Logan Commercial Club and for the
past three years has been its president. He is a man of unbounded energy, carrying
forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes in the upbuilding of his
business affairs and in the advancement of civic interests. He has served as trustee
of the Utah Agricultural College for four years and is a stanch supporter of every plan
and measure that has to do with the upbuilding and development of the community,
commonwealth and country.
CHARLES L. CHRISTENSEN.
Charles L. Christensen, who is with the United States Fuel Company as chief
carpenter for the mines at and near Hiawatha, where he makes his home, was born
at Ephraim, Utah, August 27, 1876, a son of Christian N. and Maria (Larson) Christensen.
The father was a contractor and builder, doing both carpentering and bricklaying and
also thoroughly understanding turning and lathe work. He came to Utah in 1873,
settling at Ephraim, and later was called to settle Emery county, at which time he
removed to Cleveland. While there he filled a two years' mission to Denmark. Both
he and his wife are now deceased.
Charles L. Christensen acquired a common school education at Ephraim and at
Cleveland and then several years later resumed his studies at Huntington, where he
spent two years in the completion of his course. When he was nine years of age he
went to live with his grandfather at Ephraim and there devoted much of his time and
attention to farming. After a few years he returned to Emery county and worked
with his father in the building and contracting business, learning both carpentering
and bricklaying. He was thus engaged until 1910, at which time he went to Castlegate
as carpenter for the Utah Fuel Company. On the 1st of September, 1914, he entered
the employ of the United States Fuel Company as a carpenter and mason, and on the
1st of February, 1917, was advanced to the position of head carpenter, having charge
of all carpenter work in connection with the mines at Hiawatha and the surrounding
district. He makes his headquarters at Hiawatha and he was the builder of the first
coke oven in Sunnyside. His service is entirely satisfactory to the corporation which
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 179
he represents, for he is a most efficient workman, his skill and understanding of the
business enabling him to carefully direct the labors of those who serve under him.
At Manti, Utah, on the 1st of July, 1898, Mr. Christensen was married to Miss Ray
Oviatt, a daughter of Adelbert and Malinda Oviatt. The two children of this marriage
have passed away and the- mother died in 1900. Her parents were pioneers of Emery
county, where her father follows farming. Her mother is deceased. On the 4th of
October, 1906. at Salt Lake City, Mr. Christensen was married to Christina P. Borreson,
a daughter of Peter C. and Mary Borreson, early settlers of Sanpete county. Her father
is a veteran of the Black Hawk war and after the Indian troubles removed to Emery
county. He was a blacksmith by trade and later lived at Castlegate, where he worked
at his trade for some time. For the benefit of his sons, however, he purchased a