submitted by Joy Fisher (sdgenweb@yahoo.com) *********************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ut/utfiles.htm *********************************************************************** HON. MOSES THATCHER. Moses Thatcher was born February 2, 1842, in Sangamon county, Illinois, the sixth of eight children born to Hezekiah and Alley (Kitchen) Thatcher. Among the vivid memories of his childhood were incidents of the expulsion of the Mormon people, with whom his parents were identified, from the beautiful city of Nauvoo. He was a very little boy when his father's family made the long and arduous journey across the plains and mountains, arriving in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1847 with the second company of pioneers. In the spring of 1849 the family continued on to California, where his parents conducted an eating house near Auburn in the mining district. Here he earned considerable money, for a lad, by running errands and caring for the horses of travelers. At the age of eleven he began to formulate his plans and seek an education. On the 29th of December, 1856, at Rio Puta, in Yolo county, California, he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Henry G. Boyle. He was ordained an elder on the 23d of March, 1857, and, although but fifteen years of age, was called on mission from which he gathered experience and knowledge of value throughout his life. With the coming of "Johnston's Army" a call was issued by President Brigham Young directing all saints to assemble in Zion, so Moses Thatcher, in company with his brothers, John B. and Aaron D., started by team for Utah, arriving on New Year's Day of 1858. Notwithstanding the exciting and unsettled times, Moses Thatcher found time to attend school between shifts while serving on the special police force of Salt Lake City. Returning from the exodus southward, after the army had been withdrawn, Moses Thatcher accompanied his father to Cache valley where he assisted in getting out timber for the construction of the Union Mills. The following year he attended the University of Deseret and was ordained a "Seventy" by President Young. When Moses Thatcher was married to Miss Lettie Farr in April, 1861, he built the first frame house in Logan as their home. He was prominently identified with each step in the development of this beautiful city, materially, morally and educationally, up to the day of his death. From the time of his marriage, Moses Thatcher remained in Logan, herding cattle on the Promontory, helping capture Indian marauders and otherwise taking an active part in the labors and duties incident to pioneer life in the untamed west, until April, 1866, when he was called to the European mission field, presiding over the Cheltenham and Birmingham .conferences during the ensuing two years. Upon his release Mr. Thatcher returned to Logan, where he organized the firm of Thatcher & Son for the conduct of a mercantile business later merged with the business of W. H. Shearman, becoming the Logan Cooperative Store, with Moses Thatcher as manager. In the conduct of his mercantile interests his keen discernment and executive ability built up an extensive trade for the house. In August, 1870, he became an active factor in railway circles, being chosen director and secretary of the Utah Northern Railway Company, organized at that time. Subsequently he was made general superintendent of the road. Later, he was connected with his brother, George W. Thatcher, in Thatcher Brothers' Bank, one of the strong financial institutions of the state. He was president of this bank at the time of his death, besides being a vice president or director of other banking concerns in Utah. Mr. Thatcher's business interests were varied, extensive and important. He became the owner of a fifty thousand acre ranch in Chihuahua, Mexico, where he engaged in the raising of fine cattle. He was also a director of the Utah-Mexican Plantation Company, and was generally regarded an authority on Mexican matters. He was president of the Farmers Utah Loan Association, and president and general manager of the Thatcher Milling & Elevator Company and other strong corporations which constituted a valuable element in the business development of northern Utah and southern Idaho. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, secular interests and church work are closely interwoven. While directing important business affairs Mr. Thatcher continued an active worker in the church, being superintendent of the Cache valley Sunday schools until April, 1877. He was a member of the territorial legislature, representing Cache and Rich counties, and as a member of the constitutional convention in 1872 took a leading part in the proceedings of that body. "When the Cache valley stake was organized, May 21, 1877, Moses Thatcher was chosen president and continued to fill that position until April 9, 1879, when he was ordained an apostle by President John Taylor to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Orson Hyde. When colonization in Mexico was under consideration, Moses Thatcher was sent to that country on a mission, his associates being Elders James Z. Stewart and Milton G. Trejo. The following year he went to the City of Mexico on his second mission, returning in 1881. At the October conference in 1882 he was chosen, together with Erastus Snow, to explore in Mexico for the purpose of finding a suitable place for settlement. Returning in February, 1883, he made his report, and, in the following July, left on a mission to the northern Indians, his work in that connection causing him to travel twelve hundred and fifty miles. In December of the same year he was called to assist Delegate John T. Caine at Washington, D. C, where he labored until April, 1884, when he rejoined his family in Logan. But he was not permitted to long enjoy the comforts of home life or the opportunities incident to that period of business development. In October of the same year he was sent on a most successful mission to the Shoshone Indians, who were discontented and showing signs of becoming actively hostile. In January, 1885, Mr. Thatcher again went to Mexico, in company with President John Taylor, and explored the Magdalena river in Sonora. Later, he was made chairman of an exploring and purchasing committee, and while acting in that position made several trips to Mexico before the plan of purchasing seventy-five thousand acres of land was consummated. Altogether, he visited Mexico twenty-three times. Mr. Thatcher acted as assistant to President Wilford Woodruff in the presidency of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association for several years, and his writings in the Contributor were among the clearest and most effective of that day. During the seventeen years of his apostolic service he traveled on an average of eighteen thousand miles annually in the interest of his church and people. Notwithstanding his tireless activity in this direction he found time to aid public progress along other lines and to develop business interests necessary for the maintenance of his family, and the dispensation of many charities. In politics Moses Thatcher was a stalwart democrat, elected as such to the constitutional convention of 1895, which framed the fundamental law of the state. Once he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States senate, but later declined the position when it was offered him by a majority of the Utah legislature. Mr. Thatcher was ever devoted to his family, which numbered fourteen children. These were Mrs. Ida T. Langton, who died in 1907, Mrs. Emma Jepperson, Moses, Jr., George F., deceased, Lee, Preston A., and Vida (children of Mrs. Lettie Farr Thatcher); Clarice, Karma, Floyd, and Clayton I., (children of Lydia Ann Clayton Thatcher); and Ashby, Elton and Arthur, (children of Georgia Snow Thatcher). The death of Moses Thatcher occurred on the 21st of August, 1909. His funeral services were held in the Logan tabernacle on the afternoon of August 26th, when all business in Logan was suspended in honor of the man who had played so important a part in the establishment of its excellent material, intellectual, political and moral standards. Special trains from Salt Lake City brought men eminent in the councils of the church and the funeral services were attended by many thousands, hundreds being unable to gain admission to the tabernacle. Men bore testimony to his "faculty of making and keeping friends," to his "winning personality" and to his "gift of oratory," which made him a power in the championship of any cause which he espoused. Perhaps no clearer Idea of his character and ability can be given than is found in resolutions passed and tributes paid at the time of his passing. His high standing in banking circles is indicated by the following: "Whereas, the hand of death has removed from our midst HONORABLE MOSES THATCHER, whose demise occurred in Logan City, Utah, August 21, 1909. "Whereas, Mr. Thatcher had been vice president and director of the Deseret National Bank from September 6, 1888, and vice president and director of the Deseret Savings Bank since its organization, June 18, 1889, until the time of his death. Therefore, be it Resolved that the board of directors of these two institutions unite in expressing the sense of loss they have sustained in the passing of their friend and associate; that they recall the many years of pleasant relationship which existed between Mr. Thatcher and themselves, only interrupted by the delicate condition of his health, which of late had deprived them of his genial companionship and his wise counsel; that they fully appreciate his long and able services and unite In tendering their sincere sympathy to his family in the great loss which they have sustained." From the pen of the veteran journalist, Judge C. C. Goodwin, came the following tribute on the 28th of August, 1909: "It is most difficult to give a clear idea of what Moses Thatcher was in life, In a few lines in a newspaper. He was a most winsome man personally, a natural orator, a subtle thinker, a natural leader of men. He failed in his ambition when it was not right that he should fail, and we are convinced that he became a candidate for senator in the firm belief that his church was out of politics, that its leaders would not interfere and that permission given to republican apostles would not be withheld from democratic apostles entering the arena." Moses Thatcher was a remarkable man in many respects. With the manners of a Chesterfield and the winsome smile of a refined woman, he combined the courage and relentless will of a Jackson. All who knew admired him for his gentle ways, his soothing voice, his sympathetic heart, his great and glowing soul. But his unconquerable determination to pursue the right course as he understood it, led him into many a bitter controversy which he maintained to the end regardless of consequences to himself. As an exponent of the gospel of the church to which he belonged, he had few equals. Eloquent, persuasive, magnetic, and sincere, he charmed his audiences at home or abroad, and his work in the missionary field made a place for him in the hearts of his people, which nothing but his memory will ever fill. He loved the mountains of his home state and spent the summers in his canyon camp. With the vision of an artist he enjoyed the beauties of nature and with the language of a poet he spoke his appreciation of their charms. Pew men have combined with such nice proportion the qualities of the dreamer and the fighter, the artist and the banker, the philosopher and the man of affairs. For Moses Thatcher was all of these, and a gentleman to the core. Extracted from: UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATED VOLUME IV CHICAGO-SALT LAKE: THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1920