Weber County UT Archives Biographies.....West, Chauncey Walker 1827 - 1870
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 September 2, 2011, 1:58 pm

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Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

HON. CHAUNCEY WALKER WEST.

    Hon. Chauncey Walker West, presiding bishop in the Mormon church of Weber
county from 1855 until 1870, was one of the most distinguished men of his time
in the history of Utah. He was the son of Alva West and Sally Benedict and was
born February 6, 1827, in Erie county, Pennsylvania. His colonial ancestor,
Francis West, who settled in Duxbury, Massachusetts, about the year 1620, was
identical with the Captain (afterwards Admiral) Francis West, brother of Lord De
La Ware, who was governor of Virginia in 1609. (See Hist. Dudley Family, Fol.
978.) His parents removed in his childhood to the state of New York, where, in
his sixteenth year, he joined the Mormons and soon after started out as a
traveling elder. In the fall of 1844 he gathered with his parents to Nauvoo,
Illinois, where, early in 1845, he was ordained a member of the Twelfth Quorum
of Seventy-quite a distinguished position in those days for a young man only
seventeen years of age. When the Saints were expelled from Nauvoo in 1846, he
assisted in starting the first company for the west. In June, 1846, he left with
his and his father's family, to seek a home in the Rocky Mountains. He partook
of the hardships incident to that memorable journey, losing many of his kindred
on the way, among the number his father and mother and brother Joseph, who died
at Winter Quarters. With no available resources but his indomitable will and
untiring activity he succeeded in bringing his father's large family to Great
Salt Lake valley, where they arrived in the fall of 1847. He was one of the
first settlers of Salt Lake City and also of Provo, Utah county, from which
latter place, in the month of December, 1849, he started with a company of men
under the direction of Parley P. Pratt to explore the southern part of Utah. The
company was gone two months and suffered many hardships, but returned in safety.
It was upon this return trip, and when the company was threatened with
starvation, and came near perishing in the snow, that Mr. Pratt selected
Chauncey W. West and Nathan Tanner from among the members of his party to go to
the settlements for relief; they made a most remarkable night and day journey to
Provo and virtually saved the exploration party from starvation and from being
frozen to death in the heavy snowfall by which they were imprisoned.

    In the fall of 1852, Mr. West and thirty-six others were called to go upon a
proselyting mission to eastern Asia. They started from Salt Lake City on the
21st of November, taking the southern route to California. On reaching San
Francisco, the elders, who were practically without means, learned that six
thousand two hundred and fifty dollars would be needed to take them to their
several fields of labor. Nothing daunted they immediately distributed themselves
over the city of San Francisco and throughout the mining regions of the state,
seeking assistance. Elder West went to the latter section, and in less than two
weeks the required amount was raised. January 25, 1853, Elder West made a
contract with Captain Windsor of the ship "Monsoon," for the passage of the
Hindostan and Siam missionaries to Calcutta, agreeing to pay two hundred dollars
per passenger. On the 28th they set sail and on the 25th of April, eighty-seven
days from the time of their embarkation, the vessel cast anchor in the river, in
front of the city of Calcutta. From Calcutta Elder West's labors were extended
to many of the principal cities of Hindostan, and to the island of Ceylon. He
labored principally in the latter place and in the cities of Madras and Bombay.
After, an absence of two years and eight months, he returned home, arriving at
Salt Lake City, July 15, 1855. It was a remarkable fact that not one of this
large company of Mormon elders was swerved from his fidelity to the Mormon cause
by the lure of gold that was being gathered in such quantities from the virgin
placer fields of California at the time of their departure from and return to
San Francisco. All filled their missions with honor to their church and credit
to themselves.

    In the fall of 1855 Mr. West settled in Bingham's Fort, Weber county, and on
the 29th of May removed to Ogden, having been appointed bishop of the first
ward. In the fall of the same year he was appointed presiding bishop of Weber
county, a position which lie held up to the time of his death, fourteen years
later. He was also elected to the house of representatives by the Weber county
constituency about this time and continued a member of that body until the year
1869, when failing health compelled him to retire from the position.

    As a prominent ecclesiastical officer of his church he was untiring in his
labors and zealous in the extreme. His devotion to the cause, and loving
fidelity to his coreligionists, early won for him the esteem of his superiors
and the affectionate regard of those over whom he was called to preside. As a
legislator he was equally efficient. While not overly fluent in speech, he was
possessed of a sound judgment, and keen appreciation of the needs of his
constituency, and the commonwealth in general, so much so that he was early
called to occupy leading positions on the most important committees of the
house, and became prominently identified with all the leading legislative
movements of those exciting and crucial times.

    July 18, 1857, he received his commission from Governor Brigham Young as
colonel of the Fifth Regiment, in the Weber Military District, and in March,
1858, was made brigadier-general in the territorial militia for distinguished
services in the Utah war, which position he filled with honor and ability. Being
a man of great courage, unbounded energy and commanding presence, he was
frequently selected for the most difficult and dangerous expeditions, both
against bands of marauding Indians and outlaws. He and his command were among
the first to be called to the defense of the Saints when the misguided President
Buchanan sent an invading army to Utah. At Echo canyon his regiment, which was
said to be among the best drilled and disciplined of the Legion, occupied the
post of danger (always the post of honor) in the center of the defile, and when
tidings came of Johnston's intended detour via the Bear river, General West was
selected to head him off. By forced marches he and his trusted men made such
rapid progress and presented such an aggressive front to the enemy that, hearing
of their movements, the invading troops returned to their former rendezvous and
went into winter quarters. This practically ended active hostilities, and gave
the government an opportunity of obtaining a correct undertsanding of the Utah
situation.

    In the spring of 1863 Chauncey W. West was a member of the legislative
convention of the inchoate State of Deseret which drafted a constitution and
sent Hons. William H. Hooper and George Q. Cannon, senators, as a delegation to
ask for the admission of Utah into the Union as a state; and at the April
conference, 1863, Elder West was selected to go to England and take charge of
the European mission of the Mormon church in the absence of George Q. Cannon,
then its president. He left Ogden, April, 21, 1862, in company with Hon. William
H. Hooper, and traveled, under cavalry escort, to the frontiers. Upon leaving
Ogden, the people of Weber county turned out en masse to bid him goodbye. The
artillery fired a salute and bands of music heading civic and military
organizations accompanied him some distance upon his journey. This public
demonstration of esteem for one whose brief sojourn of six years among them had
so won the hearts of his fellow citizens, was only equalled by the right royal
welcome that met him on his return sixteen months later. At Washington he was
introduced to President Lincoln and other distinguished statesmen, and on the
21st of June he sailed per steamer "City of Washington" for Liverpool, arriving
there on the morning of the 4th of July. He immediately entered upon the duties
of his calling as president of the European mission and so continued until
President Cannon's return. He visited all the leading conferences of the British
Isles and traveled extensively in Europe, preaching the gospel wherever
opportunity offered. Upon the return of President Cannon he assisted him
generally with the affairs of the mission until released to return home in the
fall of 1863. It was while upon this mission that he found among his
coreligionists a brass band of exceptional ability and in the largeness and
generosity of his soul he uniformed and immigrated the entire organization to
Utah, consisting of fifteen or twenty members. This band was for many years the
leading band of the intermountain  region.

    As a business man Bishop West was preeminently successful until the closing
years of his life, when misfortune of an unusual, and seemingly unavoidable
character, overtook him. Prior to this he was one of the most resourceful men in
Utah, always abounding in enterprises that had for their primary purpose the
profitable employment of his people. He was foremost in the building of canals
and wagon roads, and the first to develop the lumber industry by the building of
sawmills in the mountains. He and Francis A. Hammond established a tannery, boot
and shoe and saddle and harness manufactory in Ogden. He also conducted a
mercantile business, a hotel, a livery stable, a blacksmith and wagon shop, a
meat market and many other minor establishments. In connection with Joseph A.
Young he erected what was then one of the largest and finest flouring mills in
the territory. He also engaged extensively in freighting and carried the surplus
products of his people to distant markets. In all these enterprises employment
was furnished to hundreds of his fellow citizens.

    When the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways were being built, he and
Ezra T. Benson and Lorin Farr took a contract to grade two hundred miles of the
latter road from Ogden west. It was in the prosecution of this work, undertaken
under circumstances that, made it herculean in character, that Bishop Chauncey
W. West's eventful life was brought to an early termination. He had been given
immediate personal supervision of the work, which was being pushed with all the
vigor that money and the competitive energy that the two companies could
command. As the Union and Central Pacific forces neared each other, work was
kept up night and day, and to add to the already high tension of affairs, the
Union Pacific company advanced wages so as to draw off the working force of its
competitor. This in turn had to be met by another raise on the part of the
Central Pacific contractors, and thus they were placed at the mercy of their men
who became masters of the situation instead of servants of those by whom they
were employed. It was under these circumstances of labor demoralization that the
most expensive part of this work had to be done, and in consequence sits cost
was enormous, and far beyond the prices to be paid therefor as specified in the
contract. Governor Stanford, who was personally upon the ground and understood
the situation fully, promised to make the contractors more than whole, if they
would not slacken their efforts, but rush the "work to completion with the
utmost possible dispatch. This was done, but the promise was never fulfilled,
and in consequence, the contractors were financially ruined. Bishop West went to
San Francisco to get a settlement with the Central Pacific company, but died
without accomplishing it. His health had been greatly impaired by the hardships
and exposure to which he had been subjected in prosecuting this work, and the
damp, foggy weather of the coast, coupled with his great anxiety to secure such
a settlement as would enable him to discharge his obligations, proved too much
for him in his enfeebled condition. On January 6, 1870, he was compelled to take
his bed, from which he never arose again. In his last moments his great anxiety
was to prevent grief on the part of his family. Just previous to his demise he
declared to his wife that he had been visited by his mother and many of his
departed relatives who had expressed joy at the prospect of welcoming him
speedily to their society.

    At six o'clock on the morning of January 9, 1870, his noble spirit passed
away to the realms of the just. In speaking of his death Elder Charles W.
Penrose in the "Ogden Junction" says: "Weber county has lost a man of great
value, the church on earth a bright light and a faithful and devoted minister,
and the poor a generous and large hearted benefactor. Among the many encomiums
passed upon his character, one of the brightest and best and most frequently
repeated is, 'He was a friend to the poor.' Chauncey W. West has passed from the
sight, but not from the memory of his. friends, for his name will be numbered
among those of earth's greatest and noblest." Although but forty-three years of
age at the time of his death, Bishop West left a large family to mourn his loss.

    This biographical sketch of Bishop Chauncey W. West will be most fittingly
closed with the following brief review of his labors in the British mission, and
of his life and character in general, from a private letter written by
Congressman George Q. Cannon to his son, Hon. Joseph A. West, dated January,
1887: "His labors during this mission were greatly appreciated by myself and the
elders and Saints. During my entire acquaintance with him, from the time of his
arrival at Nauvoo until hie death, he was a man of untiring energy and industry.
He was remarkable for these qualities and for his great hopefulness. I do not
think he ever had a feeling of discouragement in his life. His boundless hope
doubtless led him into enterprises from which other men would shrink and made
him carry burdens which others would not have attempted to lift. He had an
excellent command of his temper, and a very pleasing address, and being a man of
handsome face and figure, he made friends wherever he went. The experience which
he had in public life, combined with these personal advantages, made him a most
valuable aid to me in my labors, and our association together while he was in
that misson, forms one of the pleasantest recollections of my life. In the early
years of my acquaintance with him, and especially in summer and winter quarters,
and in crossing the plains, and the first two years of our settlement in the
Salt Lake valley, which was as long as I remained there before taking my first
mission, I was always greatly impressed with the ripeness of his physical and
mental powers. He was a self-confident, full-equipped and well developed mature
man when others of his age were but youths in appearance and action. I was the
more impressed with these characteristics of his because there was not a month's
difference in our ages, and I was the older. When he left Nauvoo he was only
nineteen years, and when he reached Salt Lake valley only twenty years of age;
but among those of his acquaintance who did not know his age, he always passed
as a man several years older." From this and many like expressions given to the
memory of his life by noble compeers his record may close thus: Chauncey Walker
West was held in the highest esteem, and regarded with the deepest affection by
those who knew him best; he is spoken of as having been a worthy citizen; as a
militia commanding officer of high spirit and courage, as a business man of
preeminent enterprise and ability, and as a never-failing friend and benefactor
of his fellowman.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME IV
CHICAGO-SALT LAKE: THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1920


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