Cache County UT Archives Biographies.....Nibley, Charles Wilon February 5, 1849 - 
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     Charles Wilson Nibley, a dynamic force in the business development of the
west, is now president of the Grande Ronde Lumber Company, president of the San
Vicents Lumber Company, general manager of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company and one
of the directors of the Zion Cooperative Mercantile Institution. He is also a
leading churchman and is the presiding bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. The story of his life in commercial and industrial circles
and the record of his zeal and devotion to his church constitute a most
interesting history.

     He was born at Hunterfield, a small coal-mining town eight miles south of
Edinburgh, Scotland, on the 5th of February, 1849, and is the fourth child and
the second son of James and Jean (Wilson) Nibley. The father, who was a coal
miner, had difficulty in providing for his family but was ably assisted by his
wife, a most energetic, frugal and thrifty woman, who never seemed to tire of
working and planning to better the conditions of herself and her family. She
possessed, too, a deeply religious nature and when, in the year 1844, she
listened to the teachings of Henry McEwan, an elder of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, who spoke on the village green of Hunterfield, she
felt a satisfaction in listening to his teachings that she had never before
experienced. Both James and Jean Nibley within a week were baptized into the
church and from that time forward they lived in the hope that they might join
the main body of the Saints in America. Poverty prevented them from carrying out
this wish until they could save a sufficient sum to enable them to undertake the
journey. It was not until 1855 that they left Scotland, crossing the Atlantic
and taking up their abode in Rhode Island, for their money was not sufficient to
carry them further. For five years they resided in that state, working in the
woolen mills until they could resume their journey to Utah. In the spring of
1860 they started on their westward way and reached Florence, Nebraska, which
was an outfitting point for Utah immigration. Joining a company commanded by J.
D. Ross as captain, they reached the Salt Lake valley on the 3d of September,
and they soon afterward established a permanent home at Wellsville, Cache county.

     Charles Wilson Nibley was at that time a lad of eleven years. He soon
afterward began providing for his own support by herding sheep at Wellsville,
and from his initial step in the business world he has utilized every available
opportunity for advancement. Later he secured a clerkship in the village store
and also made good use of his limited opportunities for the acquirement of an
education, spending two winter seasons in study at Wellsville, while for one
winter he was a student in Brigham City. He is today a well informed man
notwithstanding the lack of his early advantages, for in the school of
experience he has learned many valuable lessons and by reading and study has
continually promoted his knowledge. He is recognized as a man of especially
sound judgment and keen sagacity.

     It was in the year 1866 that Charles W. Nibley removed to Brigham City and
entered upon a clerkship in the store of Morris Rosenbaum, who, recognizing his
ability and fidelity, afterward admitted him to a partnership. On the 30th of
March, 1869, he married Rebecca Neibaur in Salt Lake City and in the fall of
that year he was sent on a short mission to the eastern states and labored
principally in Massachusetts and New York until his return. Resuming his
business connections with renewed activity and energy, he secured appointment to
the position of general freight and passenger agent for the Utah Northern
Railroad in 1873 and for four years thereafter made his headquarters at Logan.
In 1877 he was called to accompany Apostle Joseph F. Smith on an European
mission and during two years spent in England served as secretary thereof.

     With his return to Logan in 1879 Mr. Nibley resumed his business
connections and for a time he also served as counselor to O. C. Ormsby in the
superintendency of the Cache stake Sunday schools and ultimately succeeded Elder
Ormsby in that position. With the organization of the La Grande stake in 1901 he
was chosen first counselor to President Frank Bramwell and thus continued until
he was chosen to succeed William B. Preston as presiding bishop of the church on
the 11th of December, 1907.

     In the meantime, in 1889, Mr. Nibley, with other prominent business men of
Utah, organized the Oregon Lumber Company of Baker City, Oregon, and thus became
a prominent factor in the lumber trade of that section. In 1890 he became one of
the organizers of the Sumpter Valley Railroad Company and for a number of years
he occupied a position of leadership in business circles in eastern Oregon. The
development of his commercial interests places him in a conspicuous position as
one of the prominent representatives of the lumber and sugar trade of the west.
He is a man of marked enterprise, who from the beginning of his career has
realized that success depends upon the individual, that when one avenue of
opportunity seems closed he can carve out other paths to reach the desired goal.
The proud American title of a "self-made man" has rightfully been won by him.
Starting out in the business world in a most humble capacity, he is now a
dominant figure in commercial and industrial circles, nor has he ever allowed
the attainment of wealth to monopolize his time and energy, for he has always
rendered a due measure of service to his church and to his community in the work
of general improvement and advancement.

     On March 30, 1919, the occasion of Bishop Nibley's fiftieth wedding
anniversary, a local daily paper said in part: The celebration of Bishop and
Mrs. Charles Wilson Nibley's golden wedding and Mrs. Nibley's birthday at the
Hotel Utah last night was attended by a large number of their friends and
relatives, who gathered from all parts of the state and from Idaho to do honor
to the pioneer couple. The ballroom was decorated with the flags of the allies.
In the supper room tables sufficient to accommodate a larger number of couples
were set. This room was decorated with a profusion of palms, ferns, daffodils
and American Beauty roses. Canary birds were hung in different parts of the
room. An orchestra played Scotch airs, melodies reminiscent of bygone days, and
dance music for those that wished to dance. In the receiving line were Bishop
and Mrs. Nibley and Mrs. Nibley's bridesmaid, Mrs. Elizabeth Cain Crismon.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
ILLUSTRATED VOLUME II
CHICAGO-SALT LAKE: THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1919


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