1883 Ogden City and Weber County Directory
THE POSTOFFICE.
There is no one institution in any of the cities or settlements in this country of more vital importance, or which shows more fully their gradual or rapid development or growth than the postoffice. Mail facilities are of primary requirement in the settlement of new sections.
Ogden, among many other towns, suffered many inconveniences in mail matters in its early days. The rates of postage were much higher both domestic and foreign that they are, to-day. Whereas the postage on a letter the usual weight—not to exceed half an ounce—is now only five cents, in those times it was twenty-four cents to Great Britain; besides the vast difference in the time required in transit between then and the present. We can now receive a letter from Liverpool in 18 days after it is mailed, where formerly it required more than that number of weeks to reach us. The first postoffice was established in 1852. Mr Isaac Clark was appointed postmaster. The mails reached but once a month, and were meagre in quantity. In 1854 Mr. Clark died, and was succeeded in the office by the late James G. Browning. He continued in the incumbency until 1856. During his administration the population increased, as also did mail matter and mail facilities. In that year he went out of office and General Chauncy W. West was appointed his successor. Mr. C. B. McGregor, Cols. Walter Thompson and Daniel Gamble were successively assistant postmasters to Mr. West, during whose incumbency the mails greatly multiplied, and the means of conveyances were much facilitated. General West continued in the office until the latter part of 1869. (He died in January, 1870.) During the above-named periods the postoffice in Ogden was only fourth-class, and the first postmaster only received from eight dollars to twelve dollars per annum. On the retirement of Mr. West, Mr. Isaac Moore was appointed postmaster, and the institution became a third- class office and the appointment was by the President of the United States. In 1872, the office was reduced to that of fourth-class, with, of course, a corresponding decrease in salary. In the summer of that year Mr. Moore resigned, and on the 10th of August Mr. Joseph Hall was appointed postmaster, by the Postmaster General. His assistant was his daughter, Miss Thirza A.Hall. Hon. Lorin Farr and Charles Woodmansee, Esq., became Mr. Hall's sureties. By October of the same year the business and patronage of the office had increased so rapidly and to such an amount that Mr. Hall obtained a special readjustment, (the office was raised to that of third class) and in December he was re-appointed by President U. S. Grant and confirmed by the Senate to be the incumbent of the new office. At the next regular biennial adjustment the office was raised to second-class. Then commenced the fight of politicians for appointment as postmaster in Ogden City. They fought Mr. Hall for about one year, being assisted by the Congressional delegations of Nebraska and Iowa. All sorts of complaints were trumped up against him which can best be explained by the following article on the subject which was published, some time after, in the Omaha Bee:
That doctors do not like to take their own medicine holds good with the members of the Gopher Ring of Nebraska. They do not want Newman punished for holding back funds belonging to the Government. Look at another case, one Sharp was a postal clerk on the Union Pacific, and he wanted to be postmaster of Ogden. He was unfit to hold any office, and a fit tool and associate for the mem-bers of the ring. Joseph Hall was then the best postmaster this city ever before or since had. Sharp secured names to his petition through misrepresentation and sent to the notorious Belknap who worked in harmony with Hitchcock and company for the appointment. Some charges must be brought against Hall to get him out of place. Three different special agents were sent here to trap and report against him but each failed. A chief head clerk came and partook of the hospitalities of the postmaster and his excellent family, that he might blacken their character in a report to Washington, but on investigation his report fell, and Mr. Hall stood solid with the Department. Bitter Creek got on a high, three years ago, and stopped traffic over the road for some ten or fifteen days. This office deposited surplus funds at the Omaha office, remittances being made almost daily by registered letter. Registers were unsafe in the postal car at Green River and the one running between here and there; so Mr. Hall deemed it best to keep them in his safe, and sent them forward just as soon as the road was open. Here was a chance that Yost took advantage of, and the remittances simply reported for the month of April, with the days blank, and a very large remittance, on one day made a bad showing, and Hall was retired and Sharp given the office. Hall did just what the Department would expect him to do under the circumstances, but Hitchcock and Yost took advantage of the situation to make it appear that he was using funds of the Department, and thus accomplished their object. The ring are ever ready to take such advantage of honest men, but when one of their number is fairly caught it is altogether a different matter, and they refuse to take such medicine.
On the 22nd of November, 1875, Mr. Hall retired and Neal J. Sharp entered on his duties as postmaster. He continued in office until the spring of 1877, when he was removed and Major L. B. Stephens was appointed in his stead. Miss Cora B. Stephens, his daughter, remained in the office as his assistant during his incumbency. In September, 1879, he was removed and General Nathan Kimball was appointed postmaster, with Mr. Hall as deputy, Miss T. A. Hall, John S. Corlew, and J. N. Kimball as clerks. The mail service had now become vastly extended, and the mails received at the Ogden office were immense. The registered matter was distributed here through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Wyoming, many parts of California, Nevada, and other places on the Pacific Coast. The office was enlarged, the force and the services were increased, and Ogden became one of the most important postoffices between New York and San Francisco.
General Kimball continued in office until the 12th of February, 1883, when he retired. Mr. E. A. Littlefleld was appointed postmaster, and is the present incumbent. His assistants are: Mr. John S. Corlew, deputy post master, Miss Cora B. Stevens and Mr. W. H. Smith clerks.
The Money Order business of the Ogden office is very extensive, and orders can be sent to and received from Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Algeria, and other countries.
