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Historical records matching George Henry Brimhall
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About George Henry Brimhall
He was an educator and settled in Spanish Fork Utah
Brigham Young University president from 1904 to 1921.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Brimhall
George Henry Brimhall (December 9, 1852 – July 29, 1932) was President of Brigham Young University.
Brimhall was born to George W. Brimhall and his wife the former Rachel Ann Meyer in Salt Lake City. When Brimhall was about one year old the family moved to Ogden and they later moved to Spanish Fork.
As a boy, Brimhall was taught to love learning by his mother, his first teacher. He studied under Wilson Dusenberry at the Provo Timpanogos Academy, where, as valedictorian, "for the first time I was applauded although my pants were patched." "My ruling passion has been to move men's minds", said Brimhall, and his administration was marked by an emphasis on teacher training.
When Brimhall was about a year old his family moved to Ogden and then moved to Spanish Fork, which is where Brimhall attended "Timpanogos University". Because of his family's financial situation, one semester they gave the school a side of beef to pay for his tuition. After working closely with instructor George Carson at a Spanish Fork common school, he moved back to Spanish Fork, became a teacher, and received a county teachers certificate. In 1874, Brimhall married Alsina Elizabeth Wilkins. They were the parents of 6 children.
While in Spanish Fork, Brimhall was involved with the city's civil affairs. He became city marshal in 1875, but only for a short period of time and was later appointed as "auditor of accounts" for 2 terms. He also organized a literary and debate society and helped build a schoolhouse called "The Young Men's Academy". He eventually became principal of the academy. After being involved in most of the educational events in Utah County, Brimhall became interested in BYA and decided to begin attending in 1876.
In 1877, Brimhall graduated from Maeser school, but often struggled to get good scores on teacher examinations and other academic assessments. In 1883, Brimhall was elected as the district superintendent of Utah County schools and oversaw many other educational programs in Utah County and in Salt Lake City. He worked closely with Warren Newton Dusenberry, who was an instructor at BYA.
Brimhall also worked with the Sunday School organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and taught classes for the church's Young Men Mutual Improvement Association. He published some articles in the Contributor Magazine and was on the local board of examiners. He eventually moved from Spanish Fork to Provo in order to take his place as head of the Provo community schools.
In 1890, Abraham O. Smoot invited Brimhall to be a part of the faculty at BYA as a church calling. Through BYA and with special instruction from Benjamin Cluff, Brimhall was finally able to complete a college degree, while simultaneously heading the Intermediate Department and Preparatory School. When Cluff became BYA's principal , Brimhall took his place as head of the Normal Department, but continued in his position over the Training School as well. Then in 1894, Cluff returned to Michigan to complete his graduate work and left Joseph B. Keeler and Brimhall as co-acting principals of BYA. Both Brimhall and Keller had desires to follow Cluff's example and go east to study, but because Keller had been at BYA longer, he was permitted to go east first. Because of this delay in Brimhall's education, he would never again have such an interest in pursuing higher education. This became one of the greatest weaknesses of his administration.
In 1897, Brimhall was called by John W. Taylor to serve a month-long mission in Colorado. While in Colorado, Brimhall became ill, along with others he contracted continued the rest of his life.[2]:342 When he returned to BYA after his mission, he continued to work closely with Cluff. They worked to persuade the state legislature to recognize the BYA Normal School. He also worked closely with church leaders in Salt Lake City and in 1898 he became an official member of the Church Board of Education.
After graduating from Brigham Young Academy, Brimhall served as principal of Spanish Fork schools and then as district superintendent of Utah County schools, finally returning to Brigham Young Academy. He became president of the school, now a university, in 1903.
Suffering from chest and abdominal pain, Brimhall resigned the presidency of BYU in July 1921, although he remained head of the Department of Theology and Religion. Brimhall committed suicide on July 29, 1932, although many newspapers simply reported that he died after a long battle with illness.
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George Henry Brimhall's Timeline
| 1852 |
December 9, 1852
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Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States
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| 1875 |
December 13, 1875
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Spanish Fork, Utah County, Utah, United States
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| 1876 |
December 16, 1876
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Spanish Fork, Utah County, Utah, United States
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| 1879 |
October 26, 1879
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Provo, Utah County, Utah, United States
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| 1880 |
June 18, 1880
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Spanish Fork, Utah County, Utah Territory, United States
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| 1882 |
April 26, 1882
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| 1883 |
October 21, 1883
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Spanish Fork, Utah County, Utah, United States
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| 1886 |
December 11, 1886
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Provo, Utah, Utah, United States
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