Arthur Stayner (29 March 1835 – 4 September 1899) was an English horticulturist who emigrated to the United States and became important in the founding of the

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

industry in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Beet sugar

The first entrepreneurs to try to make sugar from beets in Utah were the

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

pioneers in the early 1850s, who used machinery shipped from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, but their attempts to produce granulated sugar failed because they could not overcome the problems created by growing beets in alkali soils. Stayner studied the

sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, Sugar refinery, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, about 80% of sugar is extracted from sugar cane, grown predominantly in the tropics, and 20% from sugar beet, ...

in California. He was energetic and using his property, he conducted experiments with sugar cane,

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

cane, and sugar beets in

. In 1887, he produced the first 7,000 pounds of commercial sugar in Utah and received a $5000 award from the legislature. With the support of

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 Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) and other business leaders, he formed the

Utah Sugar Company Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the ...

in 1889 with 20 stockholders. This company was ultimately instrumental in building a $400,000 beet sugar factory constructed by E. H. Dyer in 1891 at Lehi. The company was so successful that it encouraged the building of other factories in Utah and Idaho that resulted in great economic growth in the two states from the research and the manufacturing of sugars and sugar syrups.

Death and legacy

Stayner became a prominent citizen of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. He died on 4 September 1899 from

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

stemming from a lead pellet which became embedded in his heel. Although a physician considered amputation of his limb, the infection had permeated his body, and it was too late to save him. Although Stayner was not interested in financial gain from sugar manufacture, because of the energetic work, he is regarded as the "father and founder of the movement that made the manufacture of sugar in Utah a success."

Notes

External links

The Sugar Beet Industry and Economic Growth in the West
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stayner, Arthur British emigrants to the United States 1835 births 1899 deaths Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature People from Utah Territory Businesspeople from Utah 19th-century American businesspeople American sugar industry businesspeople

Beet sugar

Death and legacy

See also

Notes

External links