Utah Biographies ~ Taylor to Walker
Taylor, Harry P.
A striking example of what a determined and energetic young man
can accomplish in a short time is exemplified in the wonderfully
successful career of Harry P. Taylor of Salt Lake City, who
recently cleaned up a neat fortune out of the Engineers' lease
on the Florence-Goldfield Company's property at Goldfield,
Nevada. Mr. Taylor gave his entire attention and ability to the
development work and production of the ore from this lease, with
the result, as everyone in the mining world knows, of great
success and fortune for himself and associates.
Harry P. Taylor was born February 10, 1876, in Salt Lake City,
Utah. He is, therefore, one of the younger generation of
"pioneers." He is the son of Gilbert H. Taylor and Eliza Jane
Taylor, both of whom were natives of New York State. Mr. Taylor
educated himself, attending Oberlin, Cornell, and the Colorado
School of Mines. From the latter he graduated with the degree of
"Engineer of Mines" in 1900, and at once entered upon the duties
of his profession.
His first work was as superintendent of properties of a mining
company in Oregon, where he remained one year; next he managed
properties in Northern Nevada, Idaho and Montana for a period of
four years, in the meantime gaining practical experience that
was useful to him later on. Mr. Taylor is now actively connected
with the Sevier River Land and Water Company, whose lands are
located in Juab and Millard counties, Utah. It is conservatively
estimated that this company is watering 100,000 acres of land in
this State.
Harry P. Taylor was married to Lois M. Nesmith of Warren, Pa.,
and they are the parents of three children, namely, Georgia,
Jack and Jerry Taylor. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Alta Club
of Salt Lake City, and is now a resident of Los Angeles,
California.
The offices of the Sevier River Land and Water Company are in
the Newhouse Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Thompson, Ezra
One of the real pioneers of Utah and a
citizen who has done much for his native place is Ezra Thompson,
who was born in Salt Lake City, on July 17, 1850. His father was
Ezra Thompson, a millwright in humble circumstances, and his
mother was Lois Trumbull Thompson. Young Thompson passed his
early boyhood in his native town, attending public school in
winter and in summer herding and working at anything he could
find, whereby he could contribute to the support of the
household. Ezra was a strong, athletic boy, very fond of manly
sports, and was a great baseball player in his youth. Being
naturally inclined to outdoor pursuits, he adopted the vocation
of a freighter, a very lucrative one in those days. From
freighting supplies he drifted into mining, at which he made his
fortune. His principal field of operations was the Park City
District, where he resided for fifteen years and became
connected with some of the greatest mines in that productive
district. Among his experiences was a heavy and protracted law
suit with the owners of the Silver King. He made a hard fight,
but, the decision going against him, he accepted it like the
strong man that he is, and has never cherished any animosity
over the result.
On February 14, 1884, Mr. Thompson was
married to Miss Emily Pugsley, daughter of Philip Pugsley, a
well-known manufacturer and mining man, since deceased. They are
the parents of four children; namely, Lynn H., Norinne, Ezra P.,
and Clyde R. Thompson. The family resides in a beautiful
residence on East South Temple Street, the fashionable residence
quarter of the city. Mr. Thompson served two terms in the city
council of Park City, and was for two terms mayor of Salt Lake
City, a position he filled with honor, dignity and great
executive ability. He was first elected in 1899, and served
until 1904. He was re-elected by the American party, of which he
is a member.
Since returning to private life, Mr.
Thompson has devoted himself to his mining interests,
real-estate holdings, and other business affairs, which occupy
his time fully. He is a lover of good horses, and personally
very popular and of a charitable and kindly nature. Mr. Thompson
is president of the Idaho Gold Mining and Milling Company, and
president of the Cardiff Mining and Milling Company, both very
productive and valuable mining properties. He is a member of the
Alta Club and Commercial Club of Salt Lake City.
Waldemar Van Cott
Waldemar Van
Cott was born December 11, 1859, in Salt Lake City, his father
being John Van Cott, a farmer, and his mother, Laura L. Van
Cott.
Mr. Van Cott obtained his education in the University of Utah
and the University of Michigan. He was married to Miss Ella
Quayle in Salt Lake City, August 17, 1881, and five children
were born to them, three daughters and two sons. They were
Pearl, Nora and Helen, the last of whom is not living. Nora is
married to John Crombie Niven, a mining engineer. The sons are
Waldemar Q. Van Cott and John Daire Van Cott, the former of whom
is attending college in the East. Mr. Van Cott is an
attorney-at-law, having been admitted to practice at the Utah
bar in 1885. He is the head of the legal firm of Van Cott,
Allison & Riter, being Waldemar Van Cott, E. M. Allison, Jr.,
and W. D. Riter.
Mr. Van Cott is a member of the Alta Club of Salt Lake, and of
the Holland Society of New York City. This society is one of the
oldest on the continent, its founding being coincident with the
first arrival of Hollanders at New Amsterdam. Mr. Van Cott's
great-great-great-great-grandfather was Claes Nickolas
Cornelissen Van Cats, born in Schoonhoven, Holland, in 1640,
emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1652, married July 23, 1670, to
Catalina Jans. His great-great-great-grandfather was Johannes
Claessen Van Cats, born in New York, October 14, 1674. His
great-great-grandfather was Nickolas Van Cats, born at Flushing,
L. I., 1715, and married to Jannetje Woertman. His
great-grandfather was Johannes (John) Van Cott, born April 22,
1747, at Oyster Bay, L. I., and married to Maud Jemima Titus.
His grandfather was Losee Van Cott, born in Washington, Dutchess
County, New York, November 14, 1789. His father was John Van
Cott, born in Canaan, Columbia County, New York, September 7,
1814, and his mother was Laura Lund. His father became a convert
to Mormonism in New York State, and was among the earliest of
those to move to Nauvoo and on to Utah. The subject of this
sketch, though born in a Mormon family, has never affiliated
with that Church. His father died in February, 1882, in the
sixty-eighth year of his life.
The ancient history of the Van Cott family shows that in 1304,
during the war between Flanders and Holland, Lord Van Kats, who
by Lord Guye had been appointed chatelaine of the Castle
Schoonhoven, arriving in that city to see what was happening
there, was arrested and imprisoned by the burghers, which was
reported to Lord Witte at Dordrecht; who thereupon appeared with
a force before Schoonhoven, but the son of Lord Klass Van Kats,
who had remained in the castle, would not surrender it and it
was invested. Yoiiker Willen, son of the Count of Holland,
immediately joined the forces of the besiegers of the castle
where the following ruse was employed: A tower (evenhoge) was
moved up against the wall of the castle. At the extremity
nearest the castle the old and imprisoned Lord Van Kats had been
fastened. The old lord had claimed that he would, in that
position, be the first to receive the arrows and stones of the
defenders. This moved the young lord, and to avoid being the
cause of his father's death he surrendered the fort on the
condition that all lives within would be spared. The evenhoge
was a wooden tower built of any practical height on wheels and
was the same implement used for the same purposes by the Romans
under the name Sambuca. In the records of the Reformed Dutch
Church at Oyster Bay there are many entries of births of the Van
Kats, and the marriages between them and other Dutch families.
Walker, David Fredrick
The history of the inter-mountain
country would be incomplete without the name of David F. Walker,
who for over fifty-seven years has been one of the leading
business men and most prominent and progressive citizens of
Utah. David F. Walker was born April 19th, 1838, at Yeadon,
Yorkshire, England. He was the third of the four famous Walker
brothers, all of whom contributed so much to the up-building of
Utah. His father was Matthew Walker, who was a wool merchant and
hotel proprietor in England. He died in St. Louis, in 1850, on
the way to Utah. His mother was Mercy (Long) Walker, who passed
away in Salt Lake City in December, 1863. David F. Walker was
educated in the public schools of England. He arrived in Salt
Lake City, September 20th, 1852, being then but a boy of
fourteen.
David F. Walker's first occupation in life after arriving in
this country was as a peddler of notions in St. Louis, where he
stayed for two years. Upon his arrival in Salt Lake he entered
the employ of William Nixon, formerly of St. Louis, but then
know r n as "The Father of Utah Merchants," who conducted a
general merchandise store. Mr. Walker remained in this position
until the spring of 1859, at which time (July 1st) the firm of
Walker Brothers was established at Camp Floyd about forty miles
southwest of Salt Lake. The four brothers made up the firm.
David F. Walker was the prime mover in starting the business,
having got the first stock of goods on credit, the stock
consisting of $90,000 worth of goods. The firm, which was
originally formed for the purpose of selling supplies to the
soldiers then encamped at Camp Floyd, remained there until the
departure of the troops, when the stock was removed to Salt Lake
City and the foundation laid for the present mammoth store which
is second to none in Utah in every respect. The business was
continued by the Walker brothers until 1886, and on January 20th
of that year, Mr. Walker retired from the firm, selling out his
interest to the remaining three brothers. In 1888 Mr. Walker
went to San Francisco and entered business there. He built a
magnificent country residence at San .Mateo, California. It has
four acres of lawn and covers six acres of rare plants and other
foliage. The house has a frontage of one hundred feet and a
ninety-foot depth, and is built in old Southern colonial style.
Mr. Walker takes great pride in his California home and loves to
work about the grounds among the plants and flowers, which is
his chief recreation.
Mr. Walker was first married to Emeline Holmes, May 18th, 1859.
She died in August, 1876, and their children were Emeline,
Sarah, Ann, David F., Jr., Henry W., Maud, and Stella May.
On October 25th, 1883, Mr. Walker was married to Althea Hunt,
who came from an old New York family and was born, in the old
Ninth Ward in New York City. To them have been born three
children, of whom two are living, Althea Margaret and Clarence
Hollister.
Mr. Walker is a member of the Pacific Union Club, and the
Burlingame Country Club, of San Francisco, and a former member
of the Alta Club, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mr. Walker's residence in Salt Lake City is at No. 75 C Street.
Index
Source: Sketches of the Inter-Mountain
States, Utah, Idaho and Nevada, Published by The Salt Lake
Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1909
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