---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 7
number: 6
published: 1904-04
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "Public Workers—Hamilton Gray Park," *Improvement Era* 7, no. 6 (April 1904): 451–452.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0706unse
  transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers.
  identifier: improvementera0706unse
start_page: 451
end_page: 452
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1904-04)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0706unse
  publication_year: 1904
  note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1904, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# Public Workers—Hamilton Gray Park

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PUBLIC 
        WORKERS.
HAMILTON 
        GRAY 
        PARK.
Among 
        the 
        public 
        workers 
        who 
        stand 
        prominent 
        in 
        the 
        history
of 
        the 
        business 
        and 
        commercial 
        development 
        of 
        our 
        state, 
        is 
        the
name 
        of 
        Hamilton 
        Gray 
        Park, 
        who 
        came 
        to 
        Utah 
        in 
        1854, 
        and 
        two
years 
        thereafter 
        entered 
        the 
        service 
        of 
        President 
        Brigham 
        Young
as 
        his 
        business 
        manager, 
        which 
        position 
        he 
        retained 
        from 
        that 
        time
until 
        May, 
        1869. 
        In 
        all 
        these 
        years 
        he 
        was 
        closely 
        connected 
        with
the 
        leading 
        business 
        enterprises 
        that 
        were 
        inaugurated 
        and 
        carried
on 
        by 
        that 
        great 
        pioneer, 
        in 
        developing 
        the 
        resources 
        of 
        the 
        new
commonwealth. 
        Among 
        these 
        may 
        be 
        mentioned 
        the 
        opening 
        up
of 
        canyons, 
        north, 
        east 
        and 
        west 
        of 
        Salt 
        Lake 
        City, 
        and 
        the 
        estab-
lishment of 
        flouring 
        and 
        saw 
        mills, 
        one 
        of 
        the 
        earliest 
        necessities
of 
        the 
        state. 
        Another 
        important 
        enterprise 
        was 
        the 
        contract 
        for
the 
        first 
        overland 
        telegraph 
        line, 
        spanning 
        the 
        continent 
        from 
        the
Atlantic 
        to 
        the 
        Pacific, 
        in 
        which, 
        under 
        President 
        Young, 
        he 
        took
a 
        leading 
        part 
        in 
        the 
        division 
        built 
        in 
        the 
        Rocky 
        mountain 
        region.
Hamilton 
        G. 
        Park 
        was 
        born 
        Nov. 
        25, 
        1826, 
        in 
        Scotland, 
        he
received 
        the 
        Gospel, 
        and 
        was 
        later 
        baptized 
        at 
        Kilbirnie, 
        Ayrshire,
Scotland, 
        in 
        Nov., 
        1840. 
        He 
        is 
        the 
        son 
        of 
        Samuel 
        Park 
        and 
        Isabella
Gray. 
        Soon 
        after 
        his 
        baptism, 
        he 
        was 
        ordained 
        to 
        the 
        office 
        of 
        a
teacher, 
        and 
        some 
        three 
        months 
        thereafter 
        to 
        that 
        of 
        a 
        priest, 
        and
in 
        due 
        time 
        to 
        that 
        of 
        an 
        elder, 
        taking 
        a 
        leading 
        part 
        in 
        Church
affairs 
        in 
        his 
        native 
        land. 
        He 
        was 
        appointed 
        to 
        preside 
        over 
        the
Kilbirnie 
        branch 
        of 
        the 
        Church, 
        which 
        position 
        he 
        retained 
        until
Sept. 
        4, 
        1854, 
        when, 
        together 
        with 
        a 
        company 
        of 
        saints, 
        he 
        sailed
from 
        Liverpool 
        in 
        the 
        ship 
        North 
        Atlantic. 
        Owing 
        to 
        the 
        illness
of 
        the 
        president, 
        who 
        had 
        been 
        appointed 
        to 
        take 
        charge 
        of 
        the

<!-- page:452 -->

452 
        IMPR0VEMEN1 
        ERA.
company 
        of 
        saints 
        that 
        emigrated 
        with 
        him, 
        he 
        became 
        the 
        presi-
dent in 
        charge 
        during 
        the 
        voyage.
In 
        the 
        spring 
        of 
        1869, 
        he 
        was 
        called 
        on 
        a 
        mission 
        to 
        Great
Britain, 
        arriving 
        in 
        Liverpool 
        on 
        the 
        9th 
        of 
        June, 
        that 
        year, 
        and
laboring 
        as 
        a 
        traveling 
        elder 
        in 
        Scotland 
        for 
        a 
        few 
        months. 
        He
was 
        subsequently 
        appointed 
        to 
        preside 
        over 
        the 
        Glasgow 
        confer-
ence, which 
        at 
        that 
        time 
        included 
        the 
        whole 
        of 
        Scotland. 
        After
finishing 
        his 
        mission, 
        he 
        sailed 
        from 
        Liverpool 
        on 
        the 
        12th 
        of 
        July,
1871, 
        in 
        charge 
        of 
        a 
        large 
        company 
        of 
        saints, 
        arriving 
        in 
        Salt 
        Lake
City 
        on 
        the 
        4th 
        of 
        August.
Soon 
        after 
        his 
        return, 
        he 
        was 
        appointed 
        to 
        act 
        as 
        second
counselor 
        to 
        Bishop 
        Edwin 
        D. 
        Woolley, 
        in 
        the 
        Thirteenth 
        Ward,
which 
        position 
        he 
        filled 
        until 
        1876, 
        when 
        he 
        resigned 
        to 
        fill 
        a 
        sec-
ond mission 
        to 
        Great 
        Britain. 
        On 
        this 
        mission, 
        he 
        arrived 
        at 
        Liver-
pool on 
        the 
        12th 
        of 
        November, 
        1875, 
        succeeding 
        Elder 
        David 
        Mc-
Kenzie 
        in 
        the 
        presidency 
        of 
        the 
        Scotch 
        Mission, 
        returning 
        from
Liverpool 
        on 
        Sept. 
        19, 
        1877, 
        again 
        in 
        charge 
        of 
        another 
        company
of 
        saints.
Prior 
        to 
        his 
        departure 
        for 
        his 
        second 
        mission, 
        he 
        acted 
        as
business 
        manager, 
        at 
        the 
        request 
        of 
        President 
        Young, 
        for 
        the
President's 
        son, 
        Jos. 
        Young, 
        in 
        which 
        position 
        he 
        took 
        a 
        leading
part 
        again 
        in 
        works 
        that 
        tended 
        to 
        the 
        development 
        of 
        farming,
coal-mining, 
        and 
        railroading.
Since 
        his 
        return 
        from 
        England, 
        in 
        1877, 
        he 
        has 
        been 
        in 
        the
employ 
        of 
        Z. 
        C. 
        M. 
        I., 
        in 
        which 
        position 
        he 
        is 
        entrusted 
        with 
        some
of 
        the 
        most 
        responsible 
        duties 
        that 
        arise 
        in 
        that 
        great 
        house. 
        In
addition 
        to 
        his 
        labors 
        in 
        that 
        institution, 
        he 
        has 
        been 
        an 
        active
worker 
        in 
        the 
        ward 
        Young 
        Men's 
        Mutual 
        Improvement 
        Associations,
and 
        Sunday 
        Schools. 
        For 
        eight 
        years, 
        he 
        acted 
        as 
        a 
        home 
        mission-
ary in 
        the 
        Salt 
        Lake 
        Stake, 
        in 
        which 
        stake 
        he 
        was 
        laboring, 
        by
appointment 
        of 
        the 
        late 
        President 
        Joseph 
        Young, 
        as 
        the 
        president
of 
        the 
        mass 
        quorum 
        of 
        seventies. 
        In 
        the 
        Thirteenth 
        Ward, 
        where
his 
        residence 
        was 
        located 
        for 
        many 
        years, 
        he 
        acted 
        as 
        the 
        clerk
from 
        1882 
        to 
        1891, 
        at 
        which 
        latter 
        date, 
        upon 
        the 
        death 
        of 
        Bishop
Millen 
        Attwood, 
        he 
        was 
        ordained 
        a 
        high 
        priest, 
        by 
        President 
        Joseph
F. 
        Smith, 
        and 
        set 
        apart 
        as 
        first 
        counselor 
        to 
        Bishop 
        Nelson 
        A. 
        Empey,
in 
        which 
        position 
        he 
        labored 
        until 
        1900, 
        when 
        he 
        was 
        called 
        to 
        the
position 
        of 
        second 
        counselor 
        in 
        the 
        presidency 
        of 
        the 
        high 
        priests'