The Governors of Utah, Samuel B. Axtell

IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol. IV. MAY, 1901. No 7.

THE GOVERNORS OF UTAH.

SAMUEL B. AXTELL. On the 14th of February, 1874, a Washington dispatch announced that W. H. Clagett, delegate in Congress from Montana, and a bitter enemy to the "Mormons," had been nominated governor of Utah. This proved inaccurate; it was based on a promise that he would be nominated if certain pending Congressional legislation were enacted. The nomination was never made, and Governor Woods, as we have seen, remained until December 28, of that year. Governor Samuel B. Axtell succeeded, arriving in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, February 2, 1875; he immediately took charge, becoming the tenth governor of Utah Territory. On his arrival, he was met in Ogden by a number of prominent citizens, who went that far in a special car to greet him. His term of office was very brief, lasting only until Tuesday, June 8, of the same year, when

he was deposed, or rather transferred, to become governor of 1

Arizona, to give place to George W. Emery, who became the eleventh governor of the territory. The reason for Governor Axtell's transfer was that he did not sustain with enthusiasm the policy which had been inaugurated

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against the "Mormons" by Governor Shaffer and the local poli- ticians; in fact, he discouraged such partizanship, and tried to be impartial all around, acting constantly in accordance with this position and view of affairs. The result was that he was persis- tently misrepresented; and, from the first, it was announced by the local politicians that they had in view his removal if possible. About this time, it was becoming apparent that the agitation kept up in the past four years would die out. The removal of Chief Justice McKean, and the departure, some time prior, of Governor Woods, had a quieting effect on the community, and the agitators now centered their main efforts on the governor's re- moval. When Governor Axtell came to Salt Lake, he made his head, quarters in the Townsend House; and he had not been there more than a day or two when he called at the News office. On the 4th, he issued a certificate of election to Hon. George Q. Cannon, the delegate-elect to Congress from Utah, who had been denied this right from Governor Woods who alleged that there had been fraud in the elections, and that there was no proof of Mr. Cannon's citi- zenship. The Deseret News, however, gave as reasons why the cer- tificate was not issued, that Governor Woods was dishonest, par-

tial, and a "ringite" prejudiced against the majority. Speaking of the conditions during his brief reign, the same paper said, when he was transferred: "Utah has not seen a quieter time for many years than since the advent of Governor Axtell and the richly-deserved removal of the late chief justice. The pur- posely gotten up sensations from Salt Lake have died out, and a reign of comparative peace and quiet, if not of good will, has been inaugurated." Hon. Samuel B. Axtell was born in Franklin county, Ohio, October 14, 1819. He received an excellent education in Ober- lin and Western Reserve colleges. Early in life, he went west, and, in 1851, landed in California, where he sprang into a political career at once, being elected prosecuting attorney for Amador county, in 1854. was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress on In 1867, he the Democratic ticket for the first district of California, when the state had only three members. He was re-elected in 1869, in June of which year he first visited Utah, coming in company with

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the Congressional committee on Ways and Means. President U. S. Grant appointed him governor of Utah, his political views having then changed. He is said never to have been a very radical Democrat, and was a conservative Republican. As we have seen, his Utah career was short; and, in the early days of President Hayes' administration, he was made governor of New Mexico, over which territory he became chief justice some years later, resigning in 1885, to practice law in Santa Fe. He continued in this pro- fession for a couple of years, when, in 1887, he went east in quest of his health, which was fast failing. He settled in Mor- ristown, New Jersey, where he died on Thursday, August 6, 1891, at the advanced age of nearly seventy-two years. Governor Axtell was a man of prominent features, good as the world goes, but lacking that combativeness and sagacity necessary for the make-up of a successful politician. He was kind and urbane, mingling freely with the peQple, making no dis- tinction of classes. His coming to Utah as 'governor was the beginning of a change for the better, to be followed the same year by the visit of the great President Grant himself, who had been greatly prejudiced against her people because of a lack of correct information about them.