Thomas Orthell Allred June 3, 1937 — September 4, 2024 Spring City

 

Thomas Orthell Allred

June 3, 1937 — September 4, 2024

Spring City

Our family’s hero, Thomas O. Allred, passed away Wednesday, September 4, 2024, in Spring City, Utah, at the age of 87, on the same property where he was born on June 3, 1937. Born to Iris and Parley Orthell Allred, he was the third of four children. 

 

Tom was born and raised in Spring City and attended his elementary education at the old stone schoolhouse. He graduated from North Sanpete High School in 1955. While he began working immediately following high school, he studied Mechanical Engineering at Snow College, University of Utah and the University of Nebraska. He was truly a lifelong learner.

 

Tom is survived by his wife, Dora (Madsen) Allred, and his three siblings Sherlene Larsen, Pat McGerty, and Richard (& Laurel) Allred; and his five children, Katherine (& Don) Vialpando, Nancy Allred; Sam (& Bob) Boland, Christian (& Emily) Allred, and Jason (& Kristy) Allred. Additionally, he’s loved and adored by his 18 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. His welcoming committee on the other side includes his parents; Dora’s parents Cleah & Theadore Madsen; his brother-in-law Frank; and sister-in-law Dorothy; his son-in-law Chuck, granddaughter-in-law Crystal; and his grandson Zachary; and many of his close friends recently departed.

 

Tom’s adult life began with the marriage to Dora Ellen Madsen. Their marriage marked the beginning of a long and happy life together. He and Dora were married November 9, 1956 in the Manti LDS Temple. In November, they would have been married 68 years. 

 

Soon after their wedding, he began working at the wool mill, then became a 3rd Machinist Apprentice with the Union Pacific RailRoad. He would rise in the company by taking positions as District Foreman in Hermiston Oregon, Asst. Superintendent (Green River, WY), then District Superintendent (Cheyenne, WY), and was then moved to UPRR’s Headquarters in Omaha, NE where he worked in the Engineering Department. Lastly, he moved to Little Rock, AK, where he worked within the Quality & Safety Department. 

 

He retired from Union Pacific at age 53 and moved back to Mt. Pleasant, where he and his sons built a beautiful home where he and Dora would live during retirement and use as a gathering place for his family. Gratefully, Nancy and her son, Dustin, joined them and have taken care of Tom, Dora and the home over these many years.

 

Tom was well traveled and enjoyed seeing new places. He travelled to faraway places such as Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and Nova Scotia where he enjoyed seeing the cultures and meeting the people of these countries. 

 

Tom dedicated himself to serving others. He would participate in any opportunity to help others and taught his children to do the same. He served as City Councilman in Spring City for 12 years. He enjoyed working on his retirement hobby farm known as “Uncle Tom’s Farm” and was well known for the sweetest corn and melons in the area; and for a flourishing Pumpkin Patch, which was often painted by his favorite local artists and that received visits from the elementary school kids where each were given the chance to pick out a pumpkin to take home. For decades, he could be found plowing snow from the Spring City streets and church parking lots, and never forgetting the driveways of several widows.

 

But his most cherished acts of service were those that he dedicated to serving within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served in various roles, and enjoyed serving as Counselor to four bishops. He and Dora served a Full-time Service Mission in the Bishop Storehouse. He also served weekly as a Temple Worker in the Manti LDS Temple for 20 years where he loved the work associated with the gathering of Israel within the temple.

 

The legacy he leaves behind is one of dedication, quiet strength, love and incredible faith. He took pride in knowing he could work as hard or harder than anyone and would show his love through actions rather than words. His greatest love was that of his dear wife, children and extended family.

 

As we bid Tom farewell, his impact on the lives he touched is immeasurable. May we all come to know the strength of faith that he had and honor his memory by living with similar commitment to things we care about. Though he may no longer walk beside us, his spirit will forever watch over and inspire us.

Funeral services wereheld on Monday, September 9, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. MST. A family viewing was held starting at 11:00 a.m. prior to services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 15000 N. HWY 117, Spring City, Utah 84662. There will be a viewing on Sunday evening from 5:00pm to 6:30pm also at the church.

 

Family Group Sheet of Theodore A. Candland

 

THE PROCTER & GAMBLE OF YESTER-YEAR ~~~Leo C. Larsen Mt. Pleasant, Utah ~~~Saga of the Sanpitch 1981, Senior Citizen Division, First Place Personal Recollection

 This post is one of our most popular.

Leo C. Larsen;  Thank You

 

As the correct amount of the "New & Improved" laundry detergent, manufactured by Procter & Gamble, was measured into the automatic washer, I asked myself, "I wonder how and when this giant corporation first began operation?" This opened the floodgate, and childhood memories of long ago came rushing to the present. I recalled the first commercial laundry soap I had seen. It was a sample box that Procter & Gamble had placed in the new electric washing machine that had been delivered to our home a quarter of a century ago. 

Then my mind flashed back to still earlier years when as a self-sustaining family, Mama made our own laundry soap. Soap-making at our house was usually a late spring, once-a-year operation. As a lad, it was my assignment to assist my brother in preparing for this important day. Early in the morning we took the blackened wash tub, hanging on a nail on the side of the granary, and set it on a steel tripod which Papa had fashioned out of a discarded steel wagon tire. This was merely a round iron rim a little smaller than the bottom of the tub. It had three legs about a foot in length which permitted a fire to be built under the tub to heat the contents.

 After this was all in place, a supply of fuel was needed. This we took from our year's supply of kindling that was neatly stacked in the woodshed. We placed it near at hand to be used when all else was in readiness. Mama then assembled the ingredients needed. This included all the unused lard, kitchen grease, and other animal fat that had accumulated during the winter. She carefully weighed it and then measured out the correct amount of water and other ingredients. Then she warned us, kids, to stand back. Apprehensively we watched as she opened the correct number of cans of Rex Lye and carefully poured them into the tub, constantly and gently stirring as she cautiously mixed her special recipe for homemade soap. Then the fuel was placed under the blackened tub and the fire was lighted. The contents of the tub must not fluctuate in temperature. It must not boil too vigorously, nor it must not be allowed to cool. Constant stirring and frequent skimming was necessary to assure that the end product was smooth, clear, and without foreign matter. It was a long, cautious process. 

After hours of careful attention, the solution had become the correct consistency, which was thick and "gooey," and Mama said with a sigh, "It's done! We'll let the fire die out, cover the tub, and let it stand overnight." The next morning the tub was removed from the tripod and turned upside down on a four-foot square board, and the solidified, but soft, contents were removed. This was cut into squares and set on a board in the sun to cure and dry. As a reward for helping Mama, she let us each autograph a bar of soap by scratching our names in one of the squares. To us, it was as great an honor to have our names "engraved" in a bar of Mama's homemade soap as to have had it chiseled in a slab of marble. When the soap was dry, it was boxed and stored ready for use on the weekly Saturday wash day. 

It was my assignment as a lad on that morning to grate a bar or two of this soap into a powder. To do this I used a gadget Papa had made which was a discarded rolling pin with a piece of galvanized tin nailed around it that had been punched full of holes with a large nail. This was placed on a frame with a hopper over it and a crank 40 attached to turn the cylinder. The soap was placed in the hopper; and as the soap came in contact with the sharp edges of the tin, and as the cylinder turned, the soap was grated into a powder similar to today's "New & Improved" detergent and was easily dissolved in hot water. 

These and many other recollections rushed through my mind as I stood watching this "New & Improved" detergent do its duty. I wondered if, in truth, it was any better, or even as good, as Mama's homemade soap of long ago. I wondered again, perchance did a "Johnny Procter's" mother and a "Billy Gamble's" mother pool their resources and expertise in soap-making and form a company to make soap for other people which later became known as Procter & Gamble? If Mama had done this, I wondered what the name of Mama's company would have been. But even so, I would emphatically say today that Mama was the "Procter & Gamble" of OUR FAMILY of yesteryear. 

Source: Personal recollection of the author.

PHOTOS FROM OUR ARCHIVES

 

Hamilton Elementary

 ~~~~~~~

James Jensen Wines and Liquors 

 ~~~~~~

Lundberg Block 

 ~~~~

Main Street Looking East 

 ~~~~

Sanpete County Coop
(the gentile store)
In 1866, Mormons were ordered not to buy at Gentile stores.
By 1868, signs printed with "Holiness to the Lord" above a drawing of an All-Seeing Eye were hung over the front doors of all Mormon businesses, "

~~~~ 

Safeway Store on the North Side Of Main Street

SAGA OF SANPETE COUNTY SETTLERS

Remelda Gibson Tooele, Utah First Place Poetry Professional Division

 Despite the disadvantages of ups and downs and ills, the dauntless pioneers built towns In Sanpete County‘s hills (they also built the mills). 

The farmers followed ox and plow to till the sage-brushed land. The women sewed the cloth they spun And scrubbed their clothes by hand (the washboard shed the sand). 

They churned the butter that was used upon the home-baked bread. They cooked the meals on black stoves that were constantly wood-fed (the coals were flaming-red) 

The water for the weekly bath was boiler-heated hot. The tub was small for a grown-up, But, large for tiny-tot (they learned to share a lot). 

Accompanying a mother‘s role In grievous, lengthened labor, The birth of babes was accompanied By midwife or neighbor. (the pain cut like a saber). 

Long-gone courageous pioneers, Immortalized by men, Through fearlessness and bravery Are a boon now as then (and future where and when). 

They walked the plains and pulled handcarts Or trekked a wagon‘s wake. They blazed, endured, and conquered For Sanpete County‘s sake! (their chain will never break!)

FEED STABLE

 

 

~~~~~~~

Unfortunately, Wasatch Academy did not appreciate the history of this building. 

Unfortunately the above feed stable

has hit the dust.

It was where the

  First Utah National Guard

Calvary Unit

kept their horses.

Wasatch Academy bought the site

and housed storage there for several years.

It is said that they now will have a parking lot there.

Turning the Hearts of the Children to Their Fathers

In 1926 the 222^nd Field Artillery Battalion, Battery D, Utah National Guard was organized.  Prior to this time, the local National Guard was a Calvary Unit  

This new battalion consisted of young men, some of them not yet married. The photo above represents just a few of the children who were born much later and who are very proud of their fathers because of their many accomplishments

The photo they are holding is  Battery D, 222^nd .FA.  It was taken at the annual summer encampment held at Jordan Narrows every summer. Their commander was Lee R. Christensen Sr.  The accompanying photo was reproduced from one that is displayed at Utah National Guard Headquarters in Draper.  The donor of the picture is Lee R. Christensen Jr., who now lives in Washington State.  Lee had it reproduced, framed and sent as a contribution to the Mt. Pleasant Relic Home. He, himself joined the group in 1937, just shy of his 16^th birthday.  He has told us that it was standard practice back then to join during your sophomore year in high school.  Lee tells us that Elmer Fillis and Billy Hansen joined at the age of 14.

The brass label on the photo says this group of young men were an Honor Battalion and here is why.  They earned Silver Cup for appearance, discipline, sanitation, quality of mess, speed and accuracy in firing works, control of instruments, close order drill, customs, and ceremonies of the service.  In 1927 this group was also honored for having   best program at the camp and for the greatest percentage of attendance.  First Sergeant A. W. Peterson was awarded a cash prize for general efficiency during the encampment and  Earl Beck was awarded a small loving cup for boxing.  Captain L. R. Christensen was highly commended for the splendid showing of Battery D. 

The men mustered into the charter group were:  Officers, L. R. Christensen, Chesley P. Seely, James F. Jordon.   Enlisted men were: Morris C. Pollard, Waldo M. Barton,   Evan A. Beck, Alden V. Borg, Milo Brewer, Arthur W. Brewer, Ray C. Brotherson, Ernest G. Brunger, Guy L. Candland, Grant Coates, Alvin H. Christensen, Harold Q. Christensen, Earl G. Christensen, Andy J. Draper, Robert L. Ericksen, Harold E. Frandsen, Othello P. Hansen, William Hansen, Harold Glen Johansen, Peter Jordan, Theron L. Jorgensen, Cannon Jorgensen, Drannen Kolstrom, Farrel Larsen, Ervin (Chris) Larsen, Joseph Larsen, Evan McArthur, Perry F. McArthur, Kent Nielsen, Edgar E. Olsen, Seymour J. Olsen, Mont Olsen, William M. Orrock, Axel W. Peterson, Ferry W. Peterson, Ray Primera, Francis J. Rackman, Que E. Rasmussen, James Howard Rasmussen, Paul F. Reynolds, Peter W. Reynolds, John H. Rosenberg, Hyrum Carlton Seely, Harry Simpson, Gordon Staker, Alden C. Syndergaard, Fern Truscott, William Radford Wagstaff, Daniel LeRoy Wall, and William M. Williams.

 A quote from the Mt. Pleasant Pyramid, our local newspaper, in 1927 states “Battery D is trying hard to be your protection and your pride in times of trouble.  It expects you to give it support and encouragement in times of peace.  ….. With scarcely an exception fathers and employers of these boys said to them, ‘We will make the sacrifice, you go to camp’. “Battery D  extends to those fathers and those employers its sincerest thanks.”  And from a 1933 Pyramid we quote, “During the past eight years’ competition for the regimental merit cup, Battery D has won the coveted honor five times, the last three years in succession.

 Mt. Pleasants’ National Guard Unit Btry D was called up for Federal Service 3 March 1941 and ultimately fought for our nation in World War II.       

Our Mt. Pleasant Community can be very proud of these men for generations to come.  Mt. Pleasant Pioneer Historical Association and Relic Home appreciate Lee R. Christensen’s very meaningful contribution.

GOLDEN WEDDING FOR MR. AND MRS. PERRY MCARTHUR ~~~ April 1978 ~~~ Source: Mt. Pleasant First Ward Relief Society Scrapbook 1970s

 

CHARLOTTE STAUNTON QUINDLAN JOHNSON HYDE "Aunty Hyde"

 

Charlotte Staunton Quindlan Johnson Hyde
You would think that a wife of Orson Hyde would be buried in Spring City next to him. You would think that she would have a very distinctive, monolithic marker of granite and stand very tall. Not so for Charlotte Staunton Quindlan Johnson Hyde. Of those many names by which she was called, we can only verify that her name was Charlotte Quindlan Hyde. She lived in Mt. Pleasant, taught school in Mt. Pleasant and died in Mt. Pleasant. Her grave marker is about 18 inches tall made of marble. You literally have to kneel down to read her epitaph there.

Charlotte Quindlen was born 22 of August 1802 at Lower Pensnock, Salem, New Jersey. Charlotte Quindlan was the name used at the Endowment House in Salt Lake City when she was sealed to Orson Hyde in 1852. The marble marker lists her as Charlotte Staunton Hyde as does the Mt. Pleasant History Book. Perhaps the name Staunton came from another marriage. From the dates we find that she was fifty years old when she married Orson Hyde.
The following is taken from the book “Orson Hyde Olive Branch of Israel”
“Orson Hyde was chosen as an original member of the Council of the Twelve in 1835, when the Mormon Church first organized this governing body. Orson's most well-known accomplishment was as a Mormon missionary to Jerusalem (1840-1842) to dedicate the land for the return of the Jews. Because his words have proven prophetic in the many decades since his entreaty, a peaceful garden on the Mount now honors him and his supplication. In 1979 civil authorities in Jerusalem invited the development of a five-acre hillside garden in honor of Orson Hyde.
“Orson Hyde was a remarkable individual. He received esteem in many roles, among them apostle, teacher, missionary, orator, scriptorian, journalist, editor, lawyer, judge, statesman, colonizer, and administrator; also as the husband of eight wives, the father of thirty-three children, a friend of mankind, and a servant of God.” MYRTLE STEVENS HYDE,
During the years 1850-1852 Charlotte Quindlin Johnson lived in Kanesville, Iowa at the home of Orson Hyde as a domestic assistant to his first wife Marinda. She was already a member of the L.D.S. Faith. She had been divorced from a man named Johnson. She was described as a seamstress who also liked children. She helped Marinda with her children Alonzo, Frank and baby Delila. She was with the Hyde Family at Winter Quarters and as they traveled across the plains to Salt Lake, arriving in 1852. Marinda and Charlotte got along very well.

Orson and Marinda discussed the possibility of inviting Charlotte to become a wife rather than a domestic. Orson had also married Mary Ann Price who for a time was a domestic in his household. Orson and Mary Ann were married in Nauvoo in 1843. Orson talked with Brigham Young about taking Charlotte as another wife and Brigham Young approved. Orson proposed to Charlotte, she accepted and they were sealed as husband and wife in the Endowment House 22nd of November, 1852. She was the fourth wife of Orson. Besides Marinda and Mary Ann, Orson had married Martha Rebecca Browett, who he later divorced in 1850. Martha went on to become the wife of Thomas McKenzie who also divorced her.

In the spring of 1853 we find Marinda, Mary Ann and Charlotte all living together under one roof in Salt Lake. Charlotte, however, was having a hard time adjusting to being a plural wife and departed the family, a mutual decision between she and Orson. They were separated, but never divorced. Brigham Young granted official separation for Charlotte and Orson Hyde in 1859.

Charlotte came to the Sanpete Valley long before Orson shows his influence here. It was during the “big move” with the earliest Saints first to Fort Ephraim, then north to resettle Mt. Pleasant. The first pioneers had been driven out of Camp Hambleton, located one mile west of the current city of Mt. Pleasant. She first made her living as a seamstress then as a school teacher while the settlers still lived inside the fort. A schoolhouse was then built outside the fort. She was fondly called "Aunty Hyde" by her students. She inspired many of her students to become teachers themselves.

In Mt. Pleasant History by Hilda Longsdorf the following description of Aunty Hyde school: “In a little log house about 12x15 feet, on the south side of the street on First North, about midway between State and First West, (in the area where Mary Ursenbach now lives-2008) Charlotte Staunton Hyde taught school. The building was also known and later used for Lesser Priesthood meetings and similar Church gatherings. Mrs. Hyde was a woman who no doubt had earlier in life received quite a liberal education, and although described as “a little old woman who smoked a pipe and was quite deaf,” she was affectionately called "Aunty Hyde". Many amusing stories were told of her school, but with all her students there remained pleasant memories. There being no hand bell, as in later years, the children were always called from their play to the schoolroom with her familiar call, “To Books. To Books. To Books.””

“Mrs. Hyde lived in a little log house west of the school. She often brought her bread to the schoolhouse to bake. She had a skillet with a tight fitting lid and in this, by heaping on it coals from the fireplace, which was in one end of the building, she baked the bread during school hours. She was paid for her services as a teacher with any produce or garden stuff available.
Mrs. Hyde taught for sometime in the log meeting house in the fort. Many attended school. A number of the pioneers were polygamist families and usually were large families. In some cases the entire family had attended her school as was the case in Abraham Day’s family, Joseph, Abraham Jr. , Eli A., Ezra, and Ephraim, children of the second wife, all attended; among others who also in later days became prominent citizens were her students Emaline Seely Barton, Oscar Anderson, William Morrison Jr., Sylvester Barton, Joseph Nephi Seeley, Annie Porter Nelson, Melvina Clemensen Crane, Peter Johansen, Chastie Neilsen, Benta Neilsen, Peter Jensen, Allen Rowe, Henry Ericksen, Miranda Seeley Oman, Wilhemina Morrison Ericksen, Hans Neilsen, William D. Candland, Charlotte Reynolds Seeley, Sarah Wilcox Bills, Celestial McArthur Barton, William A. Averett, Amasa Aldrich, James B. Staker, Maria Tidwell Larsen, Libby Barton Averett, Morgan A. Winters, Eli A. Day, W.W. Brandon, Sarah Davidsen Wilcox, Maggie Peel Seely, Samuel H. Allen, Harry Candland, Albert Candland, Charles Averett, Hazard Wilcox and Hans Neilsen.

FAMILY GROUP SHEET ERIC BERTHAL ERICKSEN

 

Sugar House Prison formerly Utah Territorial Penitentiary (taken from wikipedia)

Sugar House Prison formerly Utah Territorial Penitentiary The state penitentiary in 1903 MapWikimedia | © OpenStreetMap Location Sugar House neighborhood Salt Lake City, Utah United States Coordinates 40.723°N 111.849°W Status Defunct Population 575 (as of March 12, 1951) Opened January 1855 Closed March 12, 1951 Managed by U.S. Marshals (1871-1896) Utah Department of Corrections (1896-1951) Sugar House Prison, previously the Utah Territorial Penitentiary, was a prison in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The 180-acre (73 ha) prison housed more than 400 inmates. It was closed in 1951 due to encroaching housing development, and all of its inmates were moved to the new Utah State Prison in Draper. The site is now occupied by Sugar House Park and Highland High School.[1] History Prisoners in front of former Sugar House Prison, circa 1887 Territorial prison In January 1852 Territorial Assembly of the Utah Territory approved a memorial requesting Congress appropriate $70,000 for a territorial penitentiary. Congress approved an appropriation of $20,000 in March 1853 and plans were drawn up.[2] The following October, territorial governor Brigham Young selected the 10-acre (4.0 ha) government-owned site, then known as "The Big Field Survey", about six miles from central Salt Lake City. Sixteen "cozy cells dug into the ground, with iron bars on top" comprised the original prison at a cost of $32,000. The facility that became known as the Utah Territorial Penitentiary was opened in 1855. In 1867, the Utah Territorial Legislature determined that the prison was inadequate and once considered moving it onto an island in the Great Salt Lake. From 1871 to 1896, the penitentiary was federally operated by U.S. Marshals. The inmate capacity was expanded in 1875 to accommodate 300 individuals with the construction of a new cell house and prison walls.[3] State prison In 1896, the buildings and surrounding lands were given to the newly created State of Utah and were designated as the Utah State Prison,[2] sometimes referred to as the "state pen".[3] Starting in 1900, executions by the state were carried out in the prison. Prior to that, death penalties were administered in the counties where the crimes had been committed.[4] Tickets were distributed in 1903 for admission to publicly view an execution by firing squad.[5] Sugar House Prison Postcard, Circa 1910. With the continuing growth of Salt Lake City, the local residents eventually wanted the prison population relocated away from the neighborhood of Sugar House. In 1937, plans were approved for a new prison, 22 miles south of the city in Draper.[3] By 1941, work began on the 1019-acre (408 ha) site, then called "Point of the Mountain", to replace the aging penitentiary. However, construction of the new facility was delayed because of shortages stemming from World War II. On March 12, 1951, the 575 inmates at the old prison were transferred by bus to the newly completed Utah State Prison. After nine sticks of dynamite had little effect on the heavy walls of the shuttered penitentiary, the demolition of many sections had to be carried out stone by stone.[6] Sugar House Park City/County Park Following the razing of the old prison, proposals to repurpose the land included an amusement park, campground, golf course, and shopping center. The former site eventually became Sugar House Park, jointly owned by Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, while 30 acres (12 ha) were set aside for the future campus of Highland High School.[6] Notable inmates George Q. Cannon, early Mormon leader who was given a six-month sentence in September 1888 for "unlawful cohabitation" under the Edmunds Act.[7] John Deering, convicted murderer who was executed by firing squad in 1938 while hooked up to an electrocardiogram.[4] Joe Hill, convicted of murdering storekeeper John A. Morrison on circumstantial evidence; executed in 1915 at the prison despite attempts at intervention by President Woodrow Wilson.[8] See also flag Utah portal Capital punishment in Utah List of Utah state prisons Utah Department of Corrections References Muñoz, Olga (2 Aug 2007). "Life behind bars intrigues young hearts". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. Retrieved 6 May 2013. Anissa O. Taylor (February 2003). "State Prison Agency History #790". Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Archives & Records Service. Retrieved 1 April 2016. Arave, Lynn (14 Jul 2006). "Prison once stood where park now is". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 6 May 2013. Schindler, Hal (28 Jan 1996). "Taylor's Death Was Quick . . . But Some Weren't So Lucky". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. A1. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2013. (reposted by Utah.gov) Reavy, Pat (16 Jul 2010). "Utah has interesting history of executions Gardner will be only the third inmate to die by firing squad since 1976". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 6 May 2013. Arave, Lynn (14 Jul 2006). "Prison once stood where park now is". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2013. Cannon, Joseph A.; Fish, Rick (1994), "Cannon, George Q.", in Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917, archived from the original on 2017-01-13, retrieved 2013-05-06 Smith, Gibbs M. (1994), "Hill, Joe", in Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917 

 Utah State Penitentiary, Sugarhouse, Salt Lake Cit...: Utah State Penitentiary The following photographs and paintings show the Utah State Penitentiary, a Federal prison located at...

Sugar House Prison
formerly Utah Territorial Penitentiary

The state penitentiary in 1903
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Location	Sugar House neighborhood Salt Lake City, Utah United States
Coordinates	40.723°N 111.849°W
Status	Defunct
Population	575 (as of March 12, 1951)
Opened	January 1855
Closed	March 12, 1951
Managed by	U.S. Marshals (1871-1896) Utah Department of Corrections (1896-1951)

Sugar House Prison, previously the Utah Territorial Penitentiary, was a prison in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The 180-acre (73 ha) prison housed more than 400 inmates. It was closed in 1951 due to encroaching housing development, and all of its inmates were moved to the new Utah State Prison in Draper. The site is now occupied by Sugar House Park and Highland High School.^[1]

History

[edit]

Prisoners in front of former Sugar House Prison, circa 1887

Territorial prison

[edit]

In January 1852 Territorial Assembly of the Utah Territory approved a memorial requesting Congress appropriate $70,000 for a territorial penitentiary. Congress approved an appropriation of $20,000 in March 1853 and plans were drawn up.^[2] The following October, territorial governor Brigham Young selected the 10-acre (4.0 ha) government-owned site, then known as "The Big Field Survey", about six miles from central Salt Lake City. Sixteen "cozy cells dug into the ground, with iron bars on top" comprised the original prison at a cost of $32,000. The facility that became known as the Utah Territorial Penitentiary was opened in 1855. In 1867, the Utah Territorial Legislature determined that the prison was inadequate and once considered moving it onto an island in the Great Salt Lake. From 1871 to 1896, the penitentiary was federally operated by U.S. Marshals. The inmate capacity was expanded in 1875 to accommodate 300 individuals with the construction of a new cell house and prison walls.^[3]

State prison

[edit]

In 1896, the buildings and surrounding lands were given to the newly created State of Utah and were designated as the Utah State Prison,^[2] sometimes referred to as the "state pen".^[3] Starting in 1900, executions by the state were carried out in the prison. Prior to that, death penalties were administered in the counties where the crimes had been committed.^[4] Tickets were distributed in 1903 for admission to publicly view an execution by firing squad.^[5]

Sugar House Prison Postcard, Circa 1910.

With the continuing growth of Salt Lake City, the local residents eventually wanted the prison population relocated away from the neighborhood of Sugar House. In 1937, plans were approved for a new prison, 22 miles south of the city in Draper.^[3] By 1941, work began on the 1019-acre (408 ha) site, then called "Point of the Mountain", to replace the aging penitentiary. However, construction of the new facility was delayed because of shortages stemming from World War II. On March 12, 1951, the 575 inmates at the old prison were transferred by bus to the newly completed Utah State Prison. After nine sticks of dynamite had little effect on the heavy walls of the shuttered penitentiary, the demolition of many sections had to be carried out stone by stone.^[6]

 

 

City/County Park

 

Following the razing of the old prison, proposals to repurpose the land included an amusement park, campground, golf course, and shopping center. The former site eventually became Sugar House Park, jointly owned by Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, while 30 acres (12 ha) were set aside for the future campus of Highland High School.^[6]

Notable inmates

[edit]

• George Q. Cannon, early Mormon leader who was given a six-month sentence in September 1888 for "unlawful cohabitation" under the Edmunds Act.^[7]
• John Deering, convicted murderer who was executed by firing squad in 1938 while hooked up to an electrocardiogram.^[4]
• Joe Hill, convicted of murdering storekeeper John A. Morrison on circumstantial evidence; executed in 1915 at the prison despite attempts at intervention by President Woodrow Wilson.^[8]

See also

[edit]

• Utah portal

• Capital punishment in Utah
• List of Utah state prisons
• Utah Department of Corrections

References

[edit]

1. ^ Muñoz, Olga (2 Aug 2007). "Life behind bars intrigues young hearts". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b Anissa O. Taylor (February 2003). "State Prison Agency History #790". Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Archives & Records Service. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Arave, Lynn (14 Jul 2006). "Prison once stood where park now is". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b Schindler, Hal (28 Jan 1996). "Taylor's Death Was Quick . . . But Some Weren't So Lucky". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. A1. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2013. (reposted by Utah.gov)
5. ^ Reavy, Pat (16 Jul 2010). "Utah has interesting history of executions Gardner will be only the third inmate to die by firing squad since 1976". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b Arave, Lynn (14 Jul 2006). "Prison once stood where park now is". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
7. ^ Cannon, Joseph A.; Fish, Rick (1994), "Cannon, George Q.", in Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917, archived from the original on 2017-01-13, retrieved 2013-05-06
8. ^ Smith, Gibbs M. (1994), "Hill, Joe", in Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917
9. 
   

link:

Utah State Correctional Facility