Hiram Bradley Clawson (November 7, 1826 – March 29, 1912) was a Latter-day Saint businessman and Church leader in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Life and career

Clawson was born in

Utica, New York Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the fo ...

. He was educated at the

Utica Academy Utica Free Academy, whose predecessor, Utica Academy, opened in 1814, was a high school in Utica, New York, which operated from 1840 until 1990, when it was consolidated with Thomas R. Proctor High School. The combined entity operated briefly at ...

. In 1838 he joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

along with his widowed mother. In 1841 they moved to Nauvoo. Clawson went west with the Latter-day Saints, arriving in Salt Lake City in 1848. He supervised the building of the first adobe building in Salt Lake City and then was the head mason for the

Council House A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

of which Truman Angell was the architect. Also for a time while Angell was away on a mission Clawson served as acting architect of the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth templ ...

. Clawson was a close associate of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as chu ...

and for many years served as his business manager. He also was involved in the building of the Salt Lake Theatre and was often a performer in its plays. Clawson was also for a time manager of the theatre.

Andrew Jenson Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, (December 11, 1850 – November 18, 1941) was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for much of the ...

. ''Encyclopedia History of the Church'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1941) p. 763 Clawson served as an aide-de-camp to

Daniel H. Wells Daniel Hanmer Wells (October 27, 1814 – March 24, 1891) was an American apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the 3rd mayor of Salt Lake City. Biography Early life Wells was born in Trenton, New Yor ...

in running the

Nauvoo Legion The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint ...

in 1850. He later served as adjutant general of the Legion from 1863 until the legion was disbanded in 1870. In 1865 Clawson bought out William H. Hooper to become partners with Horace S. Eldredge. Clawson and Eldredge dissolved their firm in 1868 and sold it to Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI). Clawson was then the general superintendent of ZCMI from 1868-1873. After being replaced for a short time by Hooper, Clawson took over the head of ZCMI again from 1874-1875. In 1875 Clawson bought the agriculture, hide and wool departments of ZCMI which he ran as an independent business until 1885. From 1884 until 1902 Clawson served as the bishop of the Twelfth Ward in Salt Lake City.

Family

Clawson had four wives. His first wife was Ellen Curtis Spencer Clawson, a daughter of

Orson Spencer Orson Spencer (March 14, 1802 – October 15, 1855) was a prolific writer and prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in several highly visible positions within the church and left an extensive legacy of ...

. Among their children was

Spencer Clawson Orson Spencer Clawson (1852–1916) generally known simply as Spencer Clawson, was a politician, businessman and inventor in Salt Lake City in the general time frame of 1900. Clawson was the son of Hiram B. Clawson and his wife Ellen Spencer Claws ...

who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Salt Lake City. Clawson's second wife was Margaret Gay Judd, who was born in Canada. One of their children was

Rudger Clawson Rudger Clawson (March 12, 1857 – June 21, 1943) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1898 until his death in 1943. He also served as President of the Quorum of th ...

who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. Another of their children, Thomas A. Clawson, became a dentist and served in several callings in the LDS Church including succeeding Orson F. Whitney as bishop of the Eighteenth Ward in Salt Lake City. Clawson's third wife was Alice Young, a daughter of Brigham Young and

Mary Ann Angell Mary Ann Angell Young (June 8, 1803 – June 27, 1882) was the second woman married to Brigham Young, who served as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Young's first wife had died in 1832, leaving Young a wid ...

. Clawson's fourth wife was Emily Young, a daughter of Brigham Young and Emily Partridge. Clawson had a total of forty-two children.

Notes

References

. ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia'', Vol. 1, p. 629. * Richard H. Cracroft and

Neal E. Lambert Neal Elwood Lambert (born 1934) is an emeritus professor of English and American Studies at Brigham Young University (BYU). His most notable work was ''A Believing People: Literature of Latter-day Saints'' an anthology co-edited with Richard Cra ...

, ed., ''A Believing People'', (Provo: BYU Press, 1974) p. 119.
University of Utah bio of Clawson

External links

H. B. Clawson certificate, MSS 1167
in the

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

Hiram B. Clawson Papers
a
University of Utah Digital LibraryMarriott Library Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clawson, Hiram B. 1826 births 1912 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Businesspeople from Salt Lake City Businesspeople from Utica, New York Converts to Mormonism Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Utah Mormon pioneers