Family correspondence: From father Thomas William Whitaker, 1883, 1886

File — Box: 9, Folder: 16

Identifier: II

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The John Mills Whitaker papers (1847-1963) consist of the personal and professional papers of Whitaker. Included are significant memos, notes, and researched materials; and miscellaneous personal items and newspaper clippings, all collected over a period of some seventy years. There are his own original journals in shorthand and longhand, dating 1878 to 1959; the journal he compiled and authored from his shorthand notes during the years of his retirement from active work, 1947 to 1955; and the second journal of his father, Thomas William Whitaker, 1849-1886.

Whitaker's most significant materials are concerned with his business as the secretary of John W. Young and the building of the Salt Lake and Fort Douglas Railway; as secretary of the Salt Lake and Eastern Railway; his seminary teaching, much of which evolved into the Latter-day Saint seminary program; the establishment of a Free Public Library which later became the Salt Lake Public Library; and his activities during the depression with unemployment in church and state, which marked the beginning of the ward, stake, and general welfare program of the Latter-day Saints Church.

The journal of Thomas W. Whitaker gives a short resume of his early life, and more specifically after he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Francisco, California, in 1849. He went on a church mission to Tahiti soon thereafter. On his return he joined LDS Church members in San Bernardino, where he built a home for Charles C. Rich and Amasa Lyman and did other work for the Church. In 1856, he moved to Centerville, Utah, at the request of Rich to handle his business at home. Much of the journal expresses his ardent feelings for the Church and his concern for the Saints in the importance of their living the gospel to the fullest.

Addenda to the collection includes diary transcriptions and photocopies and some oversize materials.

Dates

1883
1886

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Some original items have been removed and placed in Reserve. Access must be given by the Manuscripts Curator and by appointment. An archivist must remain with the items if being used. Photocopies are available in the collection for research use.