William Montague Ferry (March 12, 1871 – January 11, 1938) was an American politician. He was a Utah State Senator and the 17th

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Ferry was born in

Grand Haven, Michigan Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Ha ...

, and was the son of Edward P. Ferry and Clara White. Ferry was named after his grandfather, who was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister and missionary in Michigan. Ferry moved to Utah and became a mining investor in Utah and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. He was president of the American Silver Producers. He was an associate of

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Thomas Kearns Thomas Kearns (April 11, 1862 – October 18, 1918) was an American mining, banking, railroad, and newspaper magnate. He was a US Senator from Utah from 1901 to 1905. Unlike the predominantly Mormon constituents of his state, Senator Kearns wa ...

. Ferry served as director and vice-president of the Utah Savings & Trust Co, the director of the Walker Brothers Bank, the Silver King Coalition Mines, and the Mason Valley Mines of Nevada. In January 1903, Thompson was a signatory of an official protest to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

of the

Utah Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term l ...

's election of Mormon apostle

Reed Smoot Reed Smoot (January 10, 1862February 9, 1941) was an American politician, businessman, and apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). First elected by the Utah State Legislature to the U.S. Senate in 1902, he served ...

as a United States Senator for Utah. In 1904, when Kearns failed to be re-elected to the Senate by the Utah Legislature due to the perceived influence of Smoot, Ferry was among the founders of the

anti-Mormon Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed against the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term is often used to describe people or literat ...

American Party. In the 1904 election, Ferry was elected as a member of the city council of Salt Lake City. The mayor,

Ezra Thompson Ezra Thompson (1850–1923) was the 12th and 14th mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, who was elected three times and served two non-consecutive terms. He was mayor from 1900 to 1903 and 1906 to 1907. Early life Thompson was born on July 17, 185 ...

, and three other members of the city council were also members of the American Party. In 1911, the American Party dissolved, and Ferry was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

Utah State Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members representing an equal number of senate districts. Each senate district is ...

. He served in the State Senate until 1915, when he was elected mayor of Salt Lake City. He served as mayor for one term, until 1919. Ferry married Edna Tremain in 1896. Ednah Ferry was a delegate from Utah to the

1924 Republican National Convention Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. Upon Ferry's death, his wife Ednah was left in charge of his estate worth $345,000 ($6,550,000 in 2021 dollars).

References

Ferry, William Montague (1871-1938)
politicalgraveyard.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferry, W. Mont 1871 births 1938 deaths American Party (Utah) politicians American mining businesspeople Mayors of Salt Lake City Republican Party Utah state senators Businesspeople from Utah Ferry family People from Grand Haven, Michigan 20th-century American legislators 20th-century Utah politicians