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. He was educated at the Utica Academy. In 1838 he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 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 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. Clawson was a close associate of Brigham Young and for many years served as his business manager. He also was involved in the building of the

Salt Lake Theatre The Salt Lake Theatre was a 1,500 seat Pioneer style, pioneer theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah that was built in 1862. It was located at 75 East 100 South. History Theatre was a popular affair among the Mormon pioneers, Mormon Pioneers and pla ...

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 ea ...

. ''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 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 Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution (typically referred to as ZCMI) was an American department store chain. It was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 9, 1868 by Brigham Young. For many years it used the slogan, "America's First De ...

(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. Among their children was Spencer Clawson 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 the ...

who was a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...

. Another of their children, Thomas A. Clawson, became a dentist and served in several callings in the LDS Church including succeeding

Orson F. Whitney Orson Ferguson Whitney (1 July 1855 – 16 May 1931), born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1906 until his death. Early life ...

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 Emily may refer to: * Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name Music * "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily'' * "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 son ...

. Clawson had a total of forty-two children.

Notes

References

. ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia'', Vol. 1, p. 629. *

Richard H. Cracroft Richard Holton Cracroft (June 28, 1936 – September 20, 2012) was an author and emeritus professor of English at Brigham Young University (BYU) where he held the title of Nan Osmond Grass Professor in English and spent time as head of BYU's E ...

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
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