as an office seeker. He enjoys outdoor life and especially fishing, but his. duties as
president of the Agricultural College of Utah are very exacting, as he is at the head of
an institution numbering over twenty-five hundred students. From early life he has
given close study to the scientific phases of agriculture and to experimental and research
wor.k, and his comprehensive knowledge enables him to speak with authority upon many
questions which have to do with the welfare, progress and prosperity of Utah's farming
population.
THOMAS FITZGERALD.
Thomas Fitzgerald is a member of the city council of Price and is devoting his
attention largely to his official duties, for he has practically retired from business,
deriving his income from judicious investments which he has previously made. He was
born in Pennsylvania, June 27, 1851, a son of Thomas and Isabel (Lakays) Fitzgerald,
who were natives of Ireland and emigrated to the United States in early life, settling
in Pennsylvania, The father was foreman of the North Branch canal for a number of
years and when the canal was abandoned he assisted in building the Lehigh Valley
Railroad on the canal site. He passed away in 1888, at the age of seventy-nine years.
In the acquirement of his education Thomas Fitzgerald attended the public schools
of Pennsylvania, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. In early
manhood he came to the west, seeking the broader opportunities which he believed were
offered in this section of the country. He took up the business of placer mining and
was thus engaged in Idaho, where he also conducted a restaurant for several years.
In July, 1895, he established his home at Price, Utah, where he has since resided,
covering a period of almost a quarter of a century. He has now retired from active
work but owns a good business block which he manages and which returns to him a
substantial annual rental.
In Salt Lake City, in 1896, Mr. Fitzgerald was married to Miss Minnie Nielson, a
daughter of Jens and Caroline Nielson, who were residents of Emery county, where the
father followed farming. Both he and his wife passed away in 1914. Mr. and Mrs.
Fitzgerald have become the parents of six children: Isabelle, who was born in Sep-
tember, 1897, and is now teaching at Castlegate, Utah; "William J., who was born in
February, 1899, and enlisted immediately after war was declared against Germany,
serving for two years with the Twenty-first Infantry; Thomas N., born in September,
1902; John, in January, 1906; Charles E., in June, 1908; and Gerald I., in January, 1911.
In his political views Mr. Fitzgerald is a democrat and Is thoroughly conversant
with the leading issues and problems of the day. He is giving his city efficient service
as a member of the city council and his aid and influence are always found on the side
of progress and improvement. He has led an active and useful life and his industry,
enterprise, sound judgment and judicious investments have constituted the basis of his
well deserved success.
BISHOP WILLIAM EVANS.
With various lines of Logan's development pertaining to her material, social and
moral progress William Evans has been closely associated. He is now engaged in the
manufacture and sale of ice, is identified with agricultural interests and is a prominent
representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which he is filling
the office of bishop. He was born in South Wales March 14, 1866, a son of Evan and
28 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
Mary J. (Davis) Evans. He remained in his native land until he reached the age of
seventeen and then crossed the Atlantic to the new world and made his way at once
westward to Utah, taking up his abode in Logan. Here he turned his attention to
farming, in which he is still engaged, giving his attention to general agricultural pur-
suits and stock raising. His ranch comprises eighty-seven acres of good land, all of
which is irrigated and now under a high state of cultivation, while many accessories
and improvements of the model farm have been added thereto. In 1905 he established
a plant for the manufacture of ice on Sixth West street, and has since conducted the
business, the plant having a capacity of ten tons of artificial ice daily, in addition to
which he handles natural ice and his trade in this connection has reached extensive
and gratifying proportions, his interests having become one of the important business
enterprises of the city.
In community affairs Mr. Evans has also taken a most active and helpful part. He
was a member of the Logan city council for ten years and filled the office of deputy
county assessor from 1915 until 1919, assessing Logan during that period. On November
4, 1919, he was elected city commissioner for a four year term. In the work of the
church he has been a recognized leader and in 1907 was appointed to the office of bishop.
He had been superintendent of the Sunday school for seven years, had filled the office
of president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association for nine years and
previous to this filled a mission to Great Britain. In 1914 he made a trip to South
Wales, accompanied by his wife, and spent six months in his native land.
On the 20th of November, 1887, Mr. Evans was married to Miss Emma R. Williams,
a daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Watkins) Williams, who were natives of Wales.
They came to Utah in 1853, settling in Farmington, where they resided for six years,
after which they removed to Logan, being among the first six families to locate in that
city. The father engaged in farming throughout his active business career and passed
away in 1906. To Mr. and Mrs. Evans have been born twelve children, nine of whom
are yet living, namely: William, Jr., Phyllis, Benjamin W., Gwyneth, Virginia and
Harold, twins, Gladwyn, Alton and Afton. The family is widely and favorably known
in Logan and Mr. Evans' position in public regard is a most enviable one owing to the
excellent record which he has made as a churchman, as a business man and as a citizen.
CHRISTIAN NEPHI JENSEN.
Christian Nephi Jensen is numbered among those who through their activi-
ties have upheld Logan's reputation and standards as a great educational center.
He is now president of the Brigham Young College and a prominent figure in educa-
tional circles in the state. He was born in Ephraim, Sanpete county, Utah, June
18, 1880, a son of Jens Peter Jensen, a native of Denmark, who in 1866 became a
resident of Utah, establishing his home in Sanpete county, where he has long fol-
lowed the occupation of farming and still makes his home. He has been very active
in the upbuilding of that county and in the promotion of its church interests. He
was president of the high priest quorum and filled various missions for the church.
The mother, who in her maidenhood was Dorothea Gregersen, was born in Copen-
hagen, Denmark, and she became the wife of Jens Peter Jensen in the Endowment
House in Salt Lake City. Her death occurred in February, 1912.
Christian N. Jensen was educated in the primary schools of Ephraim, in the
famous Snow Academy, the University of Utah, and Utah Agricultural College, com-
pleting his course in the last named institution as a member of the class of 1908.
He won the degree of Bachelor of Science at the Agricultural College of Utah in
Logan and later he pursued post-graduate work in the University of California and
in Cornell University at Ithaca, New York, winning the degree of Master of Science
in Agriculture in 1909 and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in February, 1912,
both in Cornell University. That he chose as a profession a calling for which nature
eminently intended him is indicated in the marked progress that he has made. He
occupied the chair of botany and plant pathology in the Agricultural College of
Utah for a year and a half or until 1913, when he was appointed by the trustees
of the Brigham Young College at Logan to the responsible office of president, in
which capacity he has since continued. He has further been active in the educa-
tional field as a member of the board of examiners of the church board of educa-
UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD 31
tion, which supervises the entire church school system of the state. Formerly he
was an instructor in Snow Academy and was superintendent of schools at Manti,
Utah, as the successor of Professor A. C. Nelson. He is a charter member of the
Phi Kappa Iota and also belongs to the American Association for the Advancement
of Science and to the National Educational Association. He likewise holds member-
ship with the Physo-Pathological Society of America, and is an associate member of
the American-Scandinavian Foundation. His life work and interest centers in the
cause of education and he has ever been a broad reader, a deep thinker and a discrim-
inating student.
In % 1911 Mr. Jensen was united in marriage to Miss Marian Lee Choate, a
daughter of Frank T. Choate, of Romulus, New York, a relative of Ambassador
Joseph Choate, well known American statesman, who for many years represented
his country as ambassador to England. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen have two children,
Frank Christopher and Lee Gregersen, aged respectively eight and seven years.
Continuing his work in the church, Mr. Jensen has been on the Sunday school
board throughout his entire life and there is no phase of the activity of the church
with which he has not been closely associated. He is well known in college fraternal
circles, belonging to the Delta Theta Gamma, a fraternity of the Agricultural Col-
lege of Utah, and to the Sigma-Xi, a fraternity of Cornell University, and the great
science fraternity of America. He is a man of charming manner and pleasing per-
sonality, a most thorough and capable educator and a man of scholarly attainments
with whom association means expansion and elevation.
AUGUST ERICKSON.
For more than fourteen years August Erickson has been closely associated with
mercantile interests in Salina and is now one of the proprietors of The Fair, the leading
department store of the town. He was born in Sweden in 1872, a son of Erick and
Johanna (Pearson) Erickson. He pursued his education in the schools of his native
country and when a youth in his teens was converted to the faith of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This led him to come to Utah in 1892, when twenty
years of age, at which time he took up his abode in Salt Lake City, there following the
tailor's trade, which he had learned in his native country. He was thus employed until
1903, when he removed to Salina, but in the same year he was called to go on a mission
to Sweden and labored in his native country in behalf of the church until 1905. He had
served on a mission in his homeland prior to coming to the new world and in both
missions had the satisfaction of baptizing many into the faith. It is one of the joys of
his life that many of his converts are now pleasantly located among people of their
faith in Utah and Idaho and are valued members of the church.
After his return to Salina in 1905, Mr. Erickson became manager of the clothing
department of the Salina Cooperative Association and later was made manager of the
company. He resigned in 1917 and established The Fair in association with B. L.
Jensen. This is now the leading department store of Salina, carrying a full line of
general mercharidise and enjoying an extensive trade throughout the northern part of
Sevier county. The firm also conducts business under the name of the Salina Meat &
Supply Company and has established an extensive branch of The Fair at Payson. On
his own account Mr. Erickson also operates a ranch of sixty acres near Salina, devoted
to the crops best adapted to soil and climatic conditions here. He likewise breeds cattle
and altogether is one of the progressive and prosperous business men of Sevier county.
Mr. Erickson has given but little attention to politics yet consented to serve for
one term as a member of the city council of Salina. He has ever since his conversion
been an active member of the church and has filled the office of president of the Youmg
Men's Mutual Improvement Association and president of the One Hundred and Seventh
Quorum of the Seventy. In 1911 he was ordained high priest and was called as first
counselor to Bishop K. W. Bird of the first ward, while in 1917 he was set apart as
bishop of the first ward of Salina.
In 1899 Mr. Erickson was married in Salt Sake City to Miss Elizabeth Johanson,
a daughter of J. A. Johanson, a well known farmer of Sevier county. They have but
two children: Nima, the wife of J. F. Davidson, of Springville; and Wanda, a high
school pupil. In every relation of life in business circles, in the church and in public
32 UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
connections Mr. Erickson has faithfully performed every duty assigned him and has
been loyal to every trust reposed in him. He thus enjoys the respect and esteem of his
fellow citizens and by reason of his progressiveness and enterprise in business he has
won a place among the successful merchants of Sevier county.
JOHN W. GARDNER.
John W. Gardner, attorney at law, practicing in Logan, was born in Pine Valley,
Utah, February 5, 1880. His father, John A. Gardner, also a native of this state, was
born at Big Cottonwood, Salt Lake county, and was a son of the late Robert Gardner,
a native of -Scotland and one of the founders of the American branch of the family.
Robert Gardner and two of his brothers, Archibald and William Gardner-, crossed the
Atlantic to Canada in 1815 and in 1847 became residents of Utah, being among the
first contingent of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to locate in this
state. Robert Gardner and his brothers in the early days conducted a number of
grist and saw mills and thus contributed to the material development of the common-
wealth, while at the same time they were very active in church affairs. Archibald
Gardner was a bishop at Big Cottonwood for a number of years and the brothers were
among the leading and representative men of that section. John A. Gardner, father
of John W. Gardner, was reared and educated in southern Utah, his parents having
removed to Washington county in pioneer times, aiding in the colonization of that
section at the request of President Brigham Young. Robert Gardner took a very
active and prominent part in the development and religious administration of the
district. John A. Gardner followed in the business footsteps of his father and con-
ducted several sawmills in Washington county for many years. He also engaged in
farming and stock raising and in both lines of business met with substantial pros-
perity. He is now making his home in Logan. He has likewise been very active in
the work of the church and was in the bishopric for a period of twenty-five years. He
also served on a mission in the eastern states, including New York and Pennsylvania,
in 1897 and 1898. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party and for
twenty years he was county commissioner of Washington county. The mother 6f John
W. Gardner bore the maiden name of Celestia Snow and was born in Lehi, Utah, a
daughter of William and Ann (Rogers) Snow, members of the prominent Snow fam-
ily that came to this state in 1847. Mrs. Gardner is still living and by her marriage
became the mother of seven sons and three daughters, of whom John W. Gardner is
the eldest son and second child.
John W. Gardner began his early education in the public schools of Pine Valley
and continued his studies at the high school at Cedar City, Utah. He later entered the
Brigham Young College at Logan, Utah, where he obtained his first degree, Bachelor
of Arts, in 1908. He later matriculated in the Agricultural College of Utah at Logan
and next became a student of the University of Utah, where he obtained his Master's
degree in 1910. In 1908 he began teaching at the Brigham Young College and his
teaching there, though not continuous, covered a period of five years, during the
greater part of which time he was a member of the presidency of the college.
He studied law at the Leland Stanford Junior University and the University of
California for the period of three years and was admitted to the Utah state bar in
1912. Since 1916 he has practiced law continuously in Cache county and during the
years of 1916-1918 he served this county as county attorney.
He is interested in all that has to do with the material development, moral up-
building and civic progress of the community in which he makes his home. In politics
he is a democrat and an earnest advocate of the principles of his party. He is an
active member of the Logan Commercial Boosters Club. During the period of the
World war he was a member of the Logan Liberty Loan committee as well as federal
appeal agent and member of the local draft board in the selective service of the
United States.
In Salt Lake Temple, on the 3d of June, 1908, Mr. Gardner was married to Miss
Cynthia Hill, a native of Ogden, Utah, and a daughter of J. J. and Martha (Stowell)
Hill, who belonged to old and distinguished families of Ogden. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner
are the parents of four children: Eldon J., who was born in Logan, June 5, 1909;
Eugene, born in Logan, March 22, 1913; and Lucile and Marian, twins, born June 15,
33
1918. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Gardner was a successful teacher, connected with the
Brigham Young College from 1906 until 1908 inclusive. They occupy an attractive home
at No. 445 West First South street, which is the property of Mr. Gardner and which
is the abode of warm-hearted hospitality.
Mr. Gardner has been very active in church work. He has been Sunday school
superintendent for the past six years and on the Cache stake board for four years,
while for three years he has been on the Mutual stake board. He served on a mission
to New Zealand from 1900 to 1904, covering more than four years, and was very suc-
cessful in his labors.
In a profession where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit and
ability Mr. Gardner has made steady progress and is today recognized as one of the
strong and able members of the bar of Logan. The thoroughness with which he pre-
pares his cases, the clearness with which he presents his cause and his loyalty to the
highest standards of the profession are the salient elements in his success. His devo-
tion to his clients' interests is proverbial, yet he never forgets that he owes a still
higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. He belongs to both the Cache County and
the Utah State Bar Associations.
BISHOP JOSEPH CAMPBELL.
Bishop Joseph Campbell is the treasurer of the Cache county school board and
a teacher in the Providence public schools. He is also a bishop in the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints and thus he is actively connected with the educational
and moral progress of his section of the state. He was born October 26, 1861, in
Providence, where he still makes his home. His father, Joseph H. Campbell, is a
native of Ohio and of Scotch descent, .the family having been founded in America
by the great-grandfather of Bishop Campbell, who on crossing the Atlantic to the
new world established his home in the state of New York and afterward removed to
Ohio. Joseph H. Campbell was reared in the Buckeye state until 1850, when he ac-
companied his parents on their emigration to Utah. His father, Benonia Campbell,
died on the plains while en route to Nebraska. Joseph H. Campbell was at that time
a youth of fourteen years, and with his brothers and sisters he continued the journey
to Salt Lake, where he arrived in the month of September. During his youthful days
he followed agricultural pursuits but later engaged in business on his own account.
In 1857 he went to Cache to seek a location and in 1859 took up his abode as a per-
manent settler within the county, devoting his attention to farming and stock raising
throughout the remainder of his active business life. He won substantial success in
that undertaking and is now living retired in Providence, enjoying the fruits of his
former toil. He is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and in 1863 filled a mission at Missouri river points and conducted the emi-
grants from that section of the country to Utah. He has been active in various other
lines of church work and has ever been regarded as one of the substantial and valued
citizens of Cache county. The mother of Bishop Campbell bore the maiden name
of Elizabeth Mathews and was born in Wales. She came to the United States with her
parents and in 1856 made the trip to Utah with a hand-cart company, walking the
entire distance over the hot, sandy plains and across the mountains. She was a
daughter of the late Hopkin and Margaret (Morris) Mathews, both of whom died in
Providence. Mrs. Campbell passed away August 22, 1916, at the age of seventy-two
years. She had become the mother of nine children, six sons and three daughters, all
of whom are yet living.
Joseph Campbell, whose name introduces this review, was the eldest child and
in the district schools near his father's home he began his education, supplementing
his early opportunities by study in the Brigham Young College of Logan, in which
he completed the normal course. His early life to the age of twenty years was spent
upon the home farm, during which period he became familiar with all of the duties
and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He then took up educational work,
in which he has since engaged with the exception of a period of four years, spent upon
a mission. He has done excellent work as an educator, imparting clearly and readily
to others the knowledge that he has acquired and inspiring teachers and pupils under
him with much of his own zeal and interest in the work. He has continually studied
Vol. IV 3
34 UTAH SINCE. STATEHOOD
to improve the methods of instruction which- he has employed and has kept in touch
with the modern ideas of the most advanced educators of the country. He is also the
vice president of the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank of Logan and in addition
he conducts a ranch at Providence.
It was on the 30th of September, 1887, at the place of his nativity, that Mr. Camp-
bell was married to Miss Ella Hammond, a native of Providence and a daughter of
M. D. and Freelove (Miller) Hammond, the former now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Camp-
bell have become parents of eight children, ' six daughters and two sons. Ella Irene,
the eldest, is the wife of Godfrey J. Fuhriman, who is living at Ridgedale, in the
Pocatello valley of Idaho. Vesta is the wife of Leon Alder, also living at Ridgedale,
Idaho. Elizabeth is the wife of Bernard Hansen, whose home is at Sheridan, Wyom-
ing. Genevieve is the next of the family. Joseph Milton married Vera Thorpe and
is a resident of Providence. Alta and Alva, twins, and Glenn complete the family.
Mr. Campbell is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
is bishop of the second ward of Providence, having been ordained May 1, 1909, by
Apostle Hyrum M. Smith. He served on a mission from 1890 until 1893 in England
and was president of the Norwich Conference during the latter part of that period.
His second mission was to the northern states and while there he served as president
of the Northern Illinois Conference for nineteen months, with headquarters in Chicago.
In politics he is a democrat and while never an active politician he has ever been a
supporter of those plans and measures which work for public benefit and progress
and during the period of the war was chairman of the Council of Defense at Provi-
dence.
E. TAFT BENSON.
E. Taft Benson, cashier of the Farmers' & Merchants' Savings Bank of Logan,
was born September 29, 1882, in the city which is still his home. His father, Brigham
Young Benson, is a native of Salt Lake City and a son of Ezra Taft Benson, who
was born at Mendon, Massachusetts. The father is still living and is yet an active
business man, identified with various interests. He has a farm of eleven hundred
acres, is the president of the Trenton Clarkston Mill & Elevator Company and presi-
dent of the B. Y. Benson & Sons Company of Trenton, Utah. He has developed his
interests until they have become extensive and important projects in the commercial
and industrial life of the community. The mother of E. Taft Benson bore the maiden
name of Margaret Adams and was the third female child born in Logan, her father
being Hugh Adams, a native of Scotland, who became one of the pioneer settlers of
Logan and one of the promoters and upbuilders of Cache county, and who passed