TOOELE COUNTY PROJECT

biographies & obituaries

Back to Biorgraphies Page  |  A - G  |  H - M  |  N - S  |  T - Z

• JOHN W. TATE. John W. Tate, stake clerk of Tooele stake, is the owner of a valuable farm property that lies within the city limits of Tooele and is devoting his attention to its development in the production of crops and fruit, nearly one-half of his land being planted to orchard. In all business affairs he displays marked enterprise and energy and is winning well merited success in his undertakings.
     Mr. Tate is a native of Wyoming. He was born in that state, August 8, 1853. while his parents were enroute from St. Louis to Utah. He is a son of John and Ann (Seetree) Tate, whose family numbered fourteen children, of whom John W. is the fifth in order of birth. The others who are living are George H.,, of Tooele; Joseph, of Salt Lake City; and Mrs. George W. Reed, also of Salt Lake City. As stated, the family came to Utah in 1853, after one year's residence in St. Louis. The parents were natives of England and about 1851 crossed the Atlantic to the new world. On reaching Utah they took up their abode in Salt Lake City but in 1864 the father removed with his family to Tooele, where he owned land that is now a part of the business section of the city. He devoted his attention to farming, prospecting and mining.

   His son, John W. Tate, acquired a common school education and early in life be came a prominent factor in public affairs in his locality. In 1880 he was appointed to the office of city recorder and discharged the duties of the position with marked capability and fidelity. Four years later he was elected to the position of county clerk and recorder and served in the dual capacity for two terms. On the expiration of that period he was sent on a mission to Virginia for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and remained in that section of the country for nearly a year. Upon his return to Tooele he ran a peddler's wagon, selling merchandise throughout this section. He was thus engaged until 1898, when he opened a store in Tooele, conducting a general merchandise establishment until 1914, when he sold his business to the Wellworth Stores Company. He is now devoting his attention largely to the further development and improvement of his farm property of fifty acres, which lies within the corporation limits of Tooele and is a very valuable tract of land, splendidly irrigated, and nearly half of the entire amount is planted to orchard. He also has a grain farm of one hundred and sixty acres two miles from the center of the city. He raises splendid apples, cherries and peaches, and in 1887 he built the brick residence upon the place that he now occupies. He is also a stockholder in the bank at Tooele and in his business af fairs he has prospered as the years have gone by, owing to his close application, his persistency of purpose and his unfaltering energy.
   On the 22d of February, 1875, Mr. Tate was married to Miss Elizabeth De La Mare, a daughter of Philip De La Mare, one of the early settlers of Tooele county and a very prominent, influential and honored man, who left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the history of his community and of the state. In 1850 he was sent to France to purchase sugar machinery for the manufacture of sugar from beets, being sent by the Mormon church. He also used his personal funds freely for the benefit and upbuilding of the community in which he lived and there are few men who have done more for the development and substantial progress and upbuilding of Tooele county than did Philip De La Mare.
   To Mr. and Mrs. Tate have been born fourteen children. The eldest, John P., is a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having served in the Philippines. He married Mabel McBride, of Tooele, and they became the parents of eight children: Roy P., Lola F., Francis C., Stella F., Jules Wesley, John L., Lillis M. and Eveline L. John P. Tate now has the county agency for the Rawley Remedies and resides in Tooele. William F., the second of the family, is serving as deputy sheriff of Tooele county and resides in the city of Tooele. He wedded May Belle Gundry, of Stockton, Utah, and they have eight children: Cecil W., Lucy W., Emery, Sharon, John W., Elmer, Ruth and Carroll. Joseph H., an automobile dealer, conducting a garage at Mesa, Arizona, wedded Ivy Erickson, of Tooele and has one son, Joffre. George S., who is serving his second term as county treasurer of Tooele county, wedded Alice M. Richards, of Tooele,, and their five children are Thelma, Alice, Joel A., George F. and Ralph. Mary Alice became the wife of Alfred L. Hanks, the present bishop of the Tooele North ward, and she passed away in the year 1918, leaving a daughter, Ellen Ramona. Ethel S. is the wife of Nicholas G. Morgan, an attorney at law of Salt Lake City, and they have four children, Dorothy, Helen, Marjorie and Nicholas G., Jr. Clara is the wife of William H. Hough, of Los Angeles, California, and they have one son, William Grant. Anne M. is the wife of William F. Atkins, county recorder of Tooele county, and they have four children, Ina M., Claude, Elizabeth and Morley. Delia Mar is the wife of Samuel Campbell, a contractor and builder of Salt Lake City, and they have one child, Ruth. Leland S. married Sarah M. Brown, of Grantsville, and they reside upon a farm in Tooele county. Edith is the wife of Arthur Verne Bracken, a farmer in Rush Valley, and they have one child, Lee Vern. Luella, a music teacher, resides at home. Charles Delmer is now on a mission in Florida, Thomas Theodore is at home and assists in the operation of the home farm.
   Mr. Tate gives his political support to the democratic party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called upon him to serve in several local offices. He filled the position of county treasurer from 1887 until 1890 and has been very active in school matters, acting as clerk and trustee of the schools for more than twenty years. He has been more or less active in the building of all of the schools of Tooele and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion. In the work of the church, too, he has been active and for fifteen years served as stake clerk. His life has indeed been a busy and useful one, fraught with good for the community, and at the same time he has promoted his individual interests.
~Source: Utah Since Statehood: Historical and Biographical, Volume 2, by Noble Warrum, 1919

• SEYMOUR B. YOUNG, M. D. The life span of Dr. Seymour B. Young has already covered eighty-two years and his record is one of intense activity and usefulness not only in the practice of medicine hut as a most earnest and untiring worker in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The family name is inseparably interwoven with the history of Utah and with the high moral purposes of the early pioneer settlers, for he is a nephew of Brigham Young, former head of the church and the leader of the Saints who made the long pilgrimage across the plains to the new Zion.
     Dr. Young was born in Kirtland, Lake county, Ohio, October 3, 1837, a son of Joseph and Jane A. (Bicknell) Young, the former a native of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, while the latter was born in Geneseo, New York. It was in the year 1832 that the parents removed to Ohio, where they became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Subsequently they became residents of Nauvoo, Illinois, and thence moved to Winterquarters, now Florence, Nebraska, where the pioneers to Utah outfitted for their long journey across the plains. The parents of Dr. Young remained at Florence for three years and then followed the pioneers to the new Zion, reaching Salt Lake City in 1850. The father became a most prominent and earnest worker of the church in the new capital city and continued very active in church work to the time of his death, which occurred in 1881, when he had reached the age of over eighty-four years. He was senior president of all quorums of seventies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in 1844 was a missionary to the eastern states and in 1870 filled a mission to Great Britain. The mother, Jane Adeline Bicknell, who became the wife of Joseph Young in 1834 at Kirtland, Ohio, was a daughter of Calvin and Chloe (Seymour) Bicknell, who were residents of Geneseo, New York, where they passed away. Mrs. Young was born August 14, 1814, and by her marriage became the mother of twelve children, eight of whom are still living. The record is as follows: Jane Adeline, the deceased wife of Charles B. Robins; Joseph, who died in 1858; Dr. Seymour B., of this review; Judge Le Grand Young, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work and who married Grace Hardie, a pioneer handcart girl of 1856, coming with the first company; John Calvin and Mary Lucretla, both deceased; Vilate; J. A.; Chloe, the widow of Dr. Francis Denton Benedict; Rhoda, the widow of Thomas J. Mcintosh; Henrietta, residing in Seattle, Washington; and Brigham B., who married Alisa Muzzacatta. The mother of the above named children passed away in Tacoma, Washington, in 1913, at the notable old age of ninety-eight years and six months.
  Dr. Young is the eldest of the surviving sons of the family. He attended the church schools and the Deseret University soon after the organization of that institution. Determining upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he entered the University of New York and was there graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1874. He located for practice in Salt Lake and is today the oldest practicing physician and surgeon of the city. He still remains active in his chosen calling, coming to an honored old age by reason of a life that has been of great benefit to his fellowmen. He started in his profession with such well known colleagues and contemporaries as Dr. W. F. Anderson, Dr. Hamilton, Dr. Williamson, Dr. Heber John Richards, Drs. J. M. and Denton Benedict and others who have all passed to the great beyond. Dr. Young has at various times taken post-graduate work, continuing his studies to within the last decade, and thus has at all times kept in close touch with the trend of modern professional thought and practice. He long ago held membership with the Salt Lake City and County Medical Societies, with the Utah State Medical Society and still holds membership with the American Medical Association. He was one of the founders and organizers of the State Medical Society of Utah and had the honor of serving as president. He was also city physician of Salt Lake from 1875 until 1886 and did splendid work in that connection.
     On the 14th of April, 1867, Dr. Young was married to Miss Elizabeth Ann Riter, a sister of W. W. Riter, of the well known pioneer family of that name that was established in Salt Lake in 1847. Dr. Young is the father of eleven living children. Seymour B., Jr., born in Salt Lake City in January, 1870, is married, has five children and makes his home in this city. He is known in business circles as a member of the firm of Muir & Young, real estate dealers. Elizabeth, born in Salt Lake City, has be come the mother of eleven children as the wife of Melvin D. Wells, the youngest son of General Daniel H. Wells. Florence Pearl was born in Salt Lake City, where she still makes her home with her parents. Ada Lucille is the wife of Willard Arnold, of Salt Lake City, and they have six children. Elma was born and reared in Salt Lake City, where she still makes her home. Professor Levi Edgar Young, born in Salt Lake City, was educated in the University of Utah and in Harvard University and is now professor of history in the former institution. He married Miss Valeria Brinton, a graduate of the University of Utah, and they reside in Salt Lake City and are the parents of three children. Bernice is the wife of Orson F. Rogers, is living in Salt Lake City and has three children. Josephine Irene is also a resident of the capital city. Clifford Earl, born in Salt Lake City, is cashier of the People's State Bank at American Fork. He married Miss Edith Grant and they have three children. Hortense Clair, also born in Salt Lake City, was educated in the high schools and normal school, graduated from the University of Utah and is now teacher of French and English in the Latter-day Saints University of Salt Lake City. In April, 1884, Dr. Young wedded Abbie C. Wells and their surviving daughter is Mrs. Nana Wells Clark, who was born in Liverpool, England, was graduated from the Salt Lake City high school and the Economic high school of Washington, D. C, and now resides with her mother in Salt Lake City, giving her attention to the teaching of economics in the public schools.
     Dr. Young has always been active in the work of the church and is senior president of the first council of seventies and is the president of all the seventies of the church. In 1857 he went as a missionary to Great Britain and again in 1879. He has been called upon for public service in other connections outside the church, being city health officer for a number of years, while in 1862, when President Lincoln telegraphed to President Young to furnish a battallion of men to enlist for service in the federal army to protect the mail and telegraph lines west of the Missouri river. Dr. Young answered his country's call, became a corporal in the Lot Smith company and remained in service until March, 1862, when he was honorably discharged. In the winter of 1863-4 he saw service against the Digger Utes in Tooele county and Cedar Mountains and in 1866 was in the expedition to Sanpete and Sevler counties in the Black Hawk war of Utah. He is a member of John Quincy Knowlton Post, G.A.R., and is junior vice commander of the Department of Utah. His activities have ever been of a character that have contributed to public progress and improvement, that have upheld high ideals of citizenship and have promoted the legal and moral status of the community in which he lives. He is a representative of one of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of the state and his record refiects credit and honor upon an untarnished family name. He has now traveled life's journey for eighty-two years - years rich in good deeds and fraught with high purposes. To him have come the blest accompaniments of age - honor, a numerous family and troops of friends.
  ~Source: Utah Since Statehood: Historical and Biographical, Volume 2, by Noble Warrum, 1919