William Spry (January 11, 1864 – April 21, 1929) was an American politician who was the third Governor of the State of Utah. He is the namesake of the William Spry Agriculture Building that houses the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

Life and career

Spry was born at Windsor,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He emigrated to

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

with his parents at the age of eleven. In 1885, Spry was called as an LDS Church missionary and went to serve in the Southern States Mission. From 1888 to 1891 (continuing his time from being a regular missionary), Spry served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Southern States Mission. In 1890, during his mission, Spry received permission from the leaders of the church to return briefly to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

where he married Mary Alice Wrathall. Jenson, Andrew. ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia''. Vol. 4, p. 381 In 1894, Spry was elected county collector in

Tooele County, Utah Tooele County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 58,218. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year. Tooele Co ...

. In 1902 Spry was elected to the Utah House of Representatives and in 1905 he was appointed one of the members of the Utah state board of land commissioners. From 1906 to 1908, Spry served as

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

for the

District of Utah During the American Civil War in the early 1860s, the District of Utah was a subordinate district of the U.S. Army's Department of the Pacific. The district was composed of territorial areas that later became parts of the modern U.S. states of Id ...

. He served as governor of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

from 1909 to 1917. He was a Republican. Spry was a strong opponent of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

, and vetoed two bills that would have implemented this. In 1915, Spry refused President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

's request to reconsider the impending execution of Joe Hill and allowed the execution to take place on November 19. From 1921 to 1929 Spry served as commissioner of Public Lands. Ludlow, Daniel H., ed., ''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The five-volume texts have been digitized and are available ...

''. p. 634 Spry died in Washington, D.C., in 1929 when he was still serving as the Federal Commissioner of Public Lands. He was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Spry, William 1864 births 1929 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American Mormon missionaries in the United States Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery English emigrants to the United States English Latter Day Saints English leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Farmers from Utah General Land Office Commissioners Republican Party governors of Utah Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives Mission presidents (LDS Church) People from Tooele County, Utah People from Windsor, Berkshire United States Marshals Latter Day Saints from Utah

Life and career

See also

References

External links