Summit County UT Archives Biographies.....Kearns, Thomas April 11, 1862 - October 8, 1918
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    The history of Utah supplies no narrative more romantic than the story of
the life of Thomas Kearns, who achieved that which has been the accomplishment
of but few men even in the history of the country, the phenomenal rise from
comparative obscurity to the heights of financial success, from the plane of the
laborer, with limited opportunity for early education, to the exalted position
of United States Senator.

    Thomas Kearns was born on a farm near Woodstock, in Oxford county, Ontario,
Canada, April 11, 1862. His people were Irish emigrants. His father, Thomas
Kearns, had settled in Canada, there marrying Margaret Maher and supporting his
family by farming. When Thomas was a lad of seven or eight years his parents
removed from Canada to Nebraska, where the father engaged in farming and stock
raising in Holt county. Thomas Kearns acquired a common school education but was
forced to lay aside his textbooks before he was seventeen years of age and
provide for his own support. He had early become familiar with all the duties
and labors incident to farm life, as he had assisted in the cultivation and
development of the old homestead.

    This was at the time of the gold excitement in the Black Hills and young
Kerns naturally believed that there would be found opportunities far greater and
that the field in which he might there exercise his ability promised more
results than the restricted sphere of farm life. He left his home in Nebraska
and struck out for the Black Hills. His first work in the new country was in
freighting provisions across the plains to the mountain camps which had already
sprung into existence in the Black Hills. This occupation he followed until the
building of railroads did away with the business of overland freighting. He also
worked for a stock association in the Black Hills, weighing cattle, and later he
did a little mining, after which he returned home.

    Not long afterward, however, he went to Arizona and at the mining settlement
of Tombstone he again engaged in mining and also drove a team for one season.
Then, in the spring of the year 1883, he started for Utah with tour companions,
driving a team across the southern desert. He first sought employment at Tintic.
but was unsuccessful there, so went to Springville, where he entered the employ
of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, which was pushing its trackage from Salt
Lake City to Ogden. Mr. Kearns worked on a supply train, running from
Springville to Salt Lake City, and in this way made his "traveling stake," as it
was known in those days. He then started for Butte, Montana, but at Pocatello,
Idaho, turned back and went to Park City, Utah, where among the mines in that
section he was destined to make his fortune. Unquestionably a man of his
character, big of stature and great of strength, he would have made his success
wherever in this great undeveloped west he might have chosen to locate, but
fortune smiled upon him the day at Pocatello when he heeded the advice of others
and turned back to Utah. Opportunity opened the way but only with pluck and
undaunted energy did he travel the path shown to him.

    Mr. Kearns had made many friends among the miners by reason of his honesty,
his manliness, generosity and amiability, and this reputation was of much value
when he sought employment as a miner. He arrived in Park City in June, 1883, and
immediately entered the employ of the Ontario Mining Company, being one of a
shift of men taking out the ore. He regarded this merely as a stepping-stone to
greater things and all of his leisure time at night was devoted to the study of
geology, while during the day he learned all that he could about the practical
operation of mining properties. He labored in the Ontario mine eight hours each
day and utilized all of the remaining hours of daylight for his own prospecting,
also using his savings in the same pursuit. His first efforts were followed by
failure after failure and on many of his prospecting trips through the mountains
he was without food for days. For many months he worked sixteen hours each day,
eight in his shift at the Ontario mine and eight in tapping the mountains in
search for wealth. Thus seven years flew by, in which time his efforts were
attended by almost constant failure, hut he never lost heart. It was during his
employment with the Ontario Mining Company that he first met his lifelong
friend, David Keith, who was then foreman of Ontario shaft No. 3 and under whom
Mr. Kearns worked for some time in the Ontario and Daly mines.

     In December, 1889, Mr. Kearns severed his connection with the Ontario mine
and started work in the Woodside mine. This property was owned by Colonel Edward
P. Ferry but was being operated on lease by the Willman Brothers. Kearns secured
a contract from the firm for the construction of a tunnel through the Woodside
property. While engaged in building this tunnel his attention was attracted to
the general direction of the principal vein of ore. It led toward the adjoining
property, undeveloped and known as the Mayflower.

     He held consultation with David Keith, with the result that they, in
company with John Judge, A. B. Emery and W. V. Rice, secured a lease upon the
Mayflower property. Work was started here February 1, 1890, and in April ore was
struck at a depth of two hundred feet. This mine gave to the world fully one
million six hundred thousand dollars. There was a succession of endless
troubles, litigation over the property, enjoinments by the court, difficulty in
securing purchase money for the land and countless other vicissitudes attendant
upon mining and had Mr. Kearns and his contemporaries been men of less
determination and pugnacity they would undoubtedly have lost.

     With the first shipment of ore from the Mayflower Mr. Kearns received a
payment of twenty thousand dollars and it was characteristic of him that he
should give his first thought to his aged parents, then in somewhat straitened
circumstances on the small farm in Nebraska. It was typical of the devotion he
held for his loved ones throughout his life when he immediately provided a
competence for his mother and father with this first money he received.

     The Mayflower mine as it was developed paid all the expenses of the
litigation which it brought about and also for four adjoining claims, known as
the Silver King group, then owned by John Farrish and Cornelius McLaughlin, who
had located it, W. H. Dodge and Martin McGraw. The Silver King ground was bonded
by Messrs. Kearns and Keith, together with their partners, in October, 1891, and
was purchased by them in 1892. In July of the latter year the Silver King Mining
Company was organized with David Keith, president; Mr. Kearns, vice president;
and A. B. Emery, secretary. Over forty-six thousand dollars were spent before
ore was struck, but within three months' time after the strike was made all
expenses were paid. The ore yielded from forty to fifty per cent lead, from
fifty-six to sixty ounces of silver and a by-product of gold.

     The success of this mining property is directly attributable to the genius
of Mr. Kearns. His experiences as a practical miner and his knowledge of the
workingmen's condition aided him in doing much to raise their standard and to
give them more comfort. When he became a mine owner he voluntarily raised the
wages of all the workers, through a desire to benefit the hardy men of toil
whose lives he had shared in the early days. That he was a true friend of the
miners is shown by the incident which occurred during the financial panic of
1897, when the mining companies of Park City were desirous of reducing the
wages. Mr. Kearns and David Keith were interviewed upon this question and they
flatly refused to lower their wage scale, even in the face of the existing
conditions. That the "laborer is worthy of his hire" was their constant motto
and by virtue of this they were held in the highest esteem by the workingmen.
The labor problems which confront the employer of today would have had no excuse
in arising had all corporations recognized the individual toiler as did Mr.
Kearns and his associates.

     It was Thomas Kearns who first foresaw that the territorial limits of the
Silver King mine, which up until its amalgamation into the Silver King Coalition
Mines Company in 1907 had paid out some ten and three-quarters millions of
dollars in dividends to its stockholders, were soon to be reached as its vast
ore bodies were practically entirely depleted. In spite of the opposition,
through timidity of some of his own associates and in face of the great
financial panic of 1907 that had commenced to sweep across the country, Kearns
resolutely started out and completed the details of getting together and
securing possession of the vast mining territory surrounding the old Silver
King, forming the present Silver King Coalition Mines Company, of which he was
president and general manager at the time of his death, with an area comprising
a total of some two thousand three hundred and fifty acres, not even half of
which has yet to this day been prospected. It was the sagacity and knowledge of
Kearns alone, coupled with his courage to carry out his convictions in face of
almost insurmountable obstacles, that thus insured to the stockholders a
continuation of the millions of dollars in dividends which have been paid out
since 1907 up until the present time, and, which from all indications will
continue for many years to come.

     On the 14th of September, 1890, Mr. Kearns was married to Miss Jennie
Judge, whose uncle, John Judge, had been one of Mr. Kearns' associates in the
Park City mines. Mrs. Kearns was born at Port Henry, Essex county, New York,
November 30, 1869. Her mother, Jane (Pattinson) Judge, was of American birth,
while her father, Patrick Judge, was a native of Ireland, though he had come to
this country when but four years of age. He died when his daughter Jennie was
only two years old, and when she was a maiden of ten summers her mother, who had
later become the wife of William Wilson, removed to Utah, where her husband was
employed in the Park City mines. It was here, in 1887, that Jennie Judge met
Thomas Kearns and in the Catholic church at Park City their marriage was
celebrated by Father Fitzgerald and they entered upon a life of full
companionship and unabated happiness which continued until the husband was
called by death. To them were born four children. Margaret died at two years of
age. Edwin Judge Kearns, educated in Santa Clara College, California, married
Margaret Jenkinson of Salt Lake City, and has charge of a Nevada cattle ranch of
several thousand acres. Thomas F., was also a student of Santa Clara College and
recently a lieutenant of aviation at Mather Field, near Sacramento, California.
He was married July 30, 1919, to Miss Kathryn Whitney. Helen M., who attended
St. Mary of the Woods Academy in Indiana, was married September 17, 1919, in
Salt Lake City, to Glen Elroy McCarthey of Albany, New York, where they now
reside. The family circle was broken by the hand of death when, in his home at
Salt Lake City, Thomas Kearns passed away October 18, 1918. In addition to his
immediate family, Mr. Kearns is survived by two sisters: Mrs. Frank J. Westcott
of Salt Lake City and Mrs. Mary Testman of Grand Island, Nebraska; and one
brother, J. E. Kearns of Reno, Nevada.

     For many years Mr. Kearns was a distinguished figure in political circles
of the west. In 1892 he was persuaded to become a member of the city council of
Park City and in the fall of 1894 was elected a member of the constitutional
convention which in 1895 framed the basic laws of the state of Utah. He was
always a republican in politics and gave unwavering support to the party and its
principles. In 1895 he was a candidate for state senator but was defeated. In
June, 1896, he was a delegate to the republican national convention which met in
St. Louis and was one of the fearless men who walked out of the convention after
it had declared against bi-metalism.

     In January, 1901, Mr. Kearns was chosen United States senator by the
republican majority of the Utah legislature. Even though he had been very active
in the ranks of his party his election was at first regarded doubtful but the
magnificent support he received and the "landslide" which followed clearly
demonstrated the universal popularity of the man. In the halls of congress Mr.
Kearns made an enviable record. He had not been there for many months before he
had established his worth and ability, as shown by the following quotation from
a local writer of the time:

     "It is safe to say that the west has never been represented in the United
States senate by a stronger, more level-headed or influential man than Senator
Kearns has proved himself to be. During the short period of his official life in
the senate of the United States he has by his influence and untiring efforts
caused Utah to be recognized and honored to a degree that surpasses any new
state in the Union. Appointments have been secured for citizens of this state
which many older and more prominent states might well be proud of. Few men in
the senate stand closer to President Roosevelt than does Senator Kearns, and it
is probably owing to this fact that he has been able to wield so strong an
influence for Utah. The splendid showing which he has already made may be taken
as a forerunner of what will be accomplished for the good of the state during1
his term in the senate; and while it is true that he has gained the favor and
good will of not only the president, but also of many of the most prominent men
in the country, he has at the same time lost no friends in his own state. Beyond
a doubt he today stands as close to the hearts of the masses in Utah as any
other man in public life. In, securing the raising of Fort Douglas to a
regimental post and the appropriation of over seven hundred and forty thousand
dollars for improvements, Senator Kearns has rendered Salt Lake City a service
which can only be measured and appreciated as the years go by."

     The writer of the above prophesied well. Throughout his tenure of office
Mr. Kearns worked unceasingly for the good of his own state as well as for the
nation. His integrity in office was unquestioned and has stood the test of time.
His voice on the floor of the senate and in the committees of which he was a
member carried weight, as evidenced by the many statutes of his now written into
the laws of the land.

     Mr. Kearns traveled extensively over many parts of the world and at one
time inters viewed the late Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican at Rome and received
his blessing. He was always a large donor to the Catholic church, in which he
held membership, and his gift of ten thousand dollars toward the erection of the
Cathedral of the Madeleine insured the completion of that magnificent church
edifice. From 1911, until his death he was a member of the board of trustees of
the Catholic University of America, succeeding Michael Cudahy of Chicago.

     His and Mrs. Kearns' provision for the erection of the St. Ann's Orphanage
in Salt Lake City was one of Utah's most notable charitable works and will for
all time remain as a monument to them and the spirit in which it was provided.
This orphanage, which had had a lowly beginning in 1890-91 under Bishop Scanlan,
was much in need of a desirable location and huilding. After Bishop Scanlan
secured an option upon the ground for the building, Mr. and Mrs. Kearns placed
to his account the sum of fifty thousand dollars to pay for the site and for the
erection of a modern building thereon. The cornerstone of the orphanage was laid
August 27, 1899, and in the spring of 1901 the building was completed and
dedicated. Mr. and Mrs. Kearns assisted the orphanage continually. Mrs. Kearns
participated with her husband in all those acts of generosity and benevolence
which have hrought happiness to so many. Thomas Kearns was especially active in
helping destitute miners and their widows. He was unostentatious in his charity,
which was known on many occasions only to himself and the recipient. He did not
find his greatest joy in the accumulation of wealth but in dispensing it and was
constantly extending a helping hand where aid was needed.

     It is also a significant fact that in the matter of investments Mr. Kearns
always had in mind the welfare of his own state. Had it not been for his
interest in Utah, the Salt Lake route, then the San Pedro & Salt Lake Railroad,
would not have been built. California and Utah needed this route and for years
Senator W. A. Clark of Montana had talked of financing the venture, but not
until Mr. Kearns, David Keith and the late Richard C. Kerens of St. Louis
combined with him was he able to take the necessary steps. Senator Kearns was a
member of the original board of directors of that railroad and continued a
member of the board until his death. In this and many other local enterprises
Mr. Kearns invested his wealth and surely no better proof of his fidelity to his
own people could be found. Among other things Mr. Kearns was a director in the
National Bank of the Republic of Salt Lake City, also in the First National Bank
of Park City. The magnificent new Kearns building in the business district of
Salt Lake City and the beautiful residence completed in 1901 at 603 East South
Temple are striking examples of the man's desire to improve his home city.

     In social life Mr. and Mrs. Kearns have always been leaders. Many
organizations of the city were benefited by Mr. Kearns' membership, these
including the Alta Club, Commercial Club, Knights of Columbus, Bonneville Club
and the Elks, the latter of which he was an honorary member.

     In 1901 he became interested in newspaper investments and acquired the Salt
Lake Tribune from P. H. Lannan; later his friend David Keith bought a half
interest in the paper, which publication has been one of the most successful in
the journalistic field of Utah.

     Mr. Kearns had a wide personal acquaintanceship which included most of the
big mining and financial men of the west, among them Ex-United States Senator W.
A. Clark of Montana, one of his closest personal friends. This acquaintanceship
dated hack many years and ripened into the warmest kind of a friendship that was
evident on many occasions when Senator Clark visited the west. These two
gentlemen were associated in many business enterprises.

     In closing this brief biography of Thomas Kearns the following quotation
from an editorial at the time of his death presents in simple form the general
estimate of him and his accomplishments: "He was a man of great natural ability
and force of character and had done much for Salt Lake City and Utah. Now that
he has gone to his reward he will be sincerely mourned by a large circle of
devoted friends and acquaintances throughout the country, among them the revered
Cardinal Gibbons and others who hold or have held the highest positions within
the gift of the people. They loved and admired him for his sterling worth as a
man among men, one who held stoutly to his own opinions, but always accorded the
same right to others. He was large in stature and great in soul. He carved out a
fortune in the world for himself by indomitable pluck and energy. Wealth and
political honors came to him comparatively early in life, but they did not spoil
him or cause him to hold himself aloof from old-time friends upon whom fortune
never smiled. He loved Salt Lake and was proud of the fact that he had been an
important factor in its upbuilding. He was charitable to a marked degree and the
orphanage he founded will stand as a monument to his memory."


Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

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


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