Governor William Spry

GOVERNOR WILLIAM SPRY.

The present governor of the state of Utah was born in Wind- sor, England, on the 11th day of January, 1864. At the early age of eleven years Mr. Spry came to America with his parents, settling in Utah, where he has resided since the year 1875. His education was obtained in the schools of the state and has been confined to the advantages which could be obtained from the common school branches. He began manual labor early in life and at the age of thirteen worked as a stable boy, and later at railroad work, as a section hand. From this,

he advanced to the blacksmith shops where he made a record as a striker — not, however, as one who strikes for better terms or higher wages, but as one who strikes while the iron is hot, a char- acteristic that has continued with him up to date. Quitting the railroad shops, he later engaged in the hide and wool business, in wMch, as in other vocations, he succeeded admirably. At the age of twenty-one, he was called as a missionary to the Southern States. Here he labored for six years, the last four of which were spent in charge of the mission which then com- prised all the states south of the Mason and Dixon Line. In 1890, while yet in the mission field and one year before his release, he married Miss Mary Alice Wrathall. He has an interesting family of children. On his return to Salt Lake City after he had filled

his mission in a most honorable manner, he became connected with Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution, for which organi- zation he began to labor in the fall of 1891. Quitting this work, he moved to Tooele, in 1893, at which place he engaged in farm- ing and stock-raising with more or less success. His political career began in 1894, when he was elected county collector of

GOVERNOR WILLIAM SFRY.