Floyd Henry Thatcher

Floyd Henry Thatcher was born January 11, 1899, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Moses Thatcher and his second wife, Lydia Ann Clayton. Moses Thatcher, a Mormon polygamist, had three wives, Celestia Ann Farr, Lydia Ann Clayton and Georgianna Snow. Moses and his first wife, Celestia, had seven children, and with his second wife, Lydia, he had four children, the last of whom was Floyd Henry Thatcher, according to a membership record for Floyd found on Ancestry.com. Moses also had three children with his third wife, Georgianna Snow, according to a profile record shown on Ancestry.com.

In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census for Salt Lake City, Utah, Lydia A. Thatcher, 47, was living at 56 East North Temple Street with her children, Clarice, 21, Karma, 17, Clayton, 15, and Floyd H., 1 year old. Lydia had been married for 22 years and had given birth to four children, all living. She was born in Utah and her parents were born in England, and all of her children were born in Utah. She owned her own home free from a mortgage.

Living in the same home was a man named Algenia Clayton, 45, born in 1855, (probably Lydia's brother), and his wife, Lizzie, 44, and their children, Gertrude, 13, Jeanie, 11, Vera, 8, and Algenia K. (a son), 3. He had been married for 21 years and they had given birth to six children, four of whom were still living. Mr. Clayton was working as a railroad engineer. His wife, Lizzie, was born in France, her father in England and her mother in Germany. She came to America in 1857 and had been naturalized.

Lydia's husband, Moses, was not living with the family at this time, so he must have been living elsewhere with one of his plural wives and their children during the 1900 census. Sadly, just nine years later, Floyd's mother, Lydia, passed away in June of 1909, when Floyd was only 10 years old, and then two months later, his father, Moses, died in August of 1909. After the death of his parents, Floyd and his sister Karma went to live with his married sister, Clarice, who was 20 years older than Floyd and could have easily been his mother based on their ages. In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, they were living at 954 8th Avenue West, and were listed as follows: Clarice, 31, her daughter, Meriam, 7, son, Douglas, 4, and daughter Lydia, 1, Karma, 28, and Floyd H., 11.

Clarice had been married to Henry Smith Tanner in about 1900, but he was not shown to be living with them at the time of the 1910 census. Clarice and Smith had given birth to 3 children, all of whom were living. None of the family members had an occupation in 1910, and Clarice was listed as having her own income, as did Karma and Floyd. Henry Smith Tanner may have been living with one of his plural wives at the time, since he had a total of 5 wives, including Clarice Thatcher Tanner, Laura Lauretta Woodland Tanner, Louetta Brown Tanner and Columbia Eden Richards Tanner.

In 1918, Floyd was living at 1349 South 8th West in Salt Lake City, which was his sister Clarice's home. When he completed his U.S. World War I Draft Registration Card in September that year he described himself as being of medium height and slender build with blue eyes and dark brown hair. He was 19 years old, and was a student at the University of Utah. He listed his sister, Ms. Karma Thatcher, at the same address, as the name of his nearest relative. Sadly, just 3 months later, his sister, Karma, passed away at the young age of 37 years old from bronchial asthma and a pelvic infection. She was born June 27, 1881, and died on Christmas Eve in 1918. Her occupation listed on her death certificate was listed as a housekeeper and she was single at the time of her death

Floyd enlisted in the U.S. Army October 15, 1918, and served at the Student Army Training Center at the University of Salt Lake City, Utah, as a Private. He did not serve long, and was discharged two months later on December 10, 1918, and he did not have to serve in the war overseas, perhaps because of his involvement in the Mormon Church.

In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census for Salt Lake City, Utah, Floyd, 20, was living at 1349 8th Street West with his older sister, Clarice Tanner, 40, and her husband, Smith Tanner, 50, and their children, Miriam, 17, Douglas, 13, Lydia, 11, Sharon, (a son), 8, and Virginia, 4 years 3 months old. His sister was listed as the head of the family, and she owned her own home but had a mortgage. Smith Tanner was working as an attorney at law, and Floyd as an overseer in the fancy box department of the Union box Company.

When Floyd Henry Thatcher applied for a passport a couple of years later on April 18, 1921, he was 22 years old and described himself as being 5'-8" tall with blue eyes and dark brown hair, with an oval face, straight nose, round chin, medium mouth and forehead, and a dark complexion. He was living still at 1349 South 8th West, Salt Lake City, and was applying to go to England on a mission for the LDS church since he had recently been appointed a minister of the church. There is a UK Incoming Passenger List showing that Floyd arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 13, 1921, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Floyd returned to the United States from England sometime after August 20, 1923, when he applied for another passport. On that passport application he asked that he be allowed to visit the following additional countries on his way back to America: Great Britain and Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Holland and Spain.

Since he was being released from missionary work by the LDS Church August 20, 1923, perhaps he was planning on seeing Europe before returning to the USA. He then returned to America via Quebec, Canada, where he arrived on October 12, 1923, having departed from Liverpool, England, on the ship, Montcalm. He was 24 years old.

Floyd married Phyllis Edwards October 17, 1928, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and they had one daughter, Jeanine, born in 1933. In the 1930 U.S. Federal Census for Salt Lake City, Utah, Floyd, 31, and Phyllis E., 27, were living at 382 South 12th East, and he was working as a Treasurer for a heating company and his wife, Phyllis was working as a Desk Operator for a Beauty Shop. They were renting their home for $37.50 per month, and they had a radio in their home.

By the 1940 census, they were living at 308 Twelfth East in another home they were renting for $50 per month. Floyd, 40, was working as a bank auditor, and earned $3,600 in 1938 for the 52 weeks he worked at that profession for 40 hours per week. Phyllis E., 37, was not working at the time, since she was probably taking care of their six year old daughter, Jeanine. Floyd had 4 years of his high school education and Phyllis had 2 years of college. Jeanine was in the first grade.

In 1944, Floyd and Phyllis were living at 861 14th East and he was working as the Treasurer of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association. Sadly, Phyllis passed away the following year when her daughter, Jeanine, was only 11 years old. Floyd later married Vilate Jacobs (1900-1994) on July 24, 1953, in Evanston, Wyoming, but they later divorced. However, they were living together in Salt Lake City in 1965 when Floyd was still working as an Auditor for the First Federal Savings and Loan Association. They were living at 1107 E. South Temple in Apt. 1 at the time. As late as 1977, Vilate J. Thatcher was listed as the widow of Floyd H. Thatcher, was retired, and living at 160 S. 13th East Street in Apartment 8. Vilate had previously been married to Floyd William Cambell in 192, but I don't know if they ever had any children.

Floyd and Phyllis' daughter, Jeanine, married Donald Bosch, and they had three children, a son and two daughters. Jeanine passed away July 1, 2010, from Huntington's disease, and donated her body to medical science at the University of Utah Medical Center. There is a beautiful photograph of her holding one of her great grandchildren shortly before she passed away shown on her profile page here on Geni.

Floyd's older sister, Clarice, born January 26, 1879, in Salt Lake City, passed away on January 11, 1960, at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, at the age of 80 years old. Her cause of death was listed on her death certificate as a bowel obstruction and cancer of the cecum. She was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery on January 14, 1960. Previous to her death, she had been living at 49 North 7th West Street in Salt Lake City.

Floyd's brother, Clayton Irwin Thatcher, married Mamie Hines September 12, 1906, in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were living in Salt Lake City in the 1930 census at 830 S. 9th East, a home they owned which was valued at $9,000. He was working as an auditor for a building and loan. In the census they were listed as Clayton I., 44, Mamie, 42, and their daughter, Helen M., 18.

Clayton and Mamie had another daughter, Mary Louise Thatcher, who was born in 1908, and in the 1940 census, Clayton, 52, and Mamie, 52., were living with Mary Thatcher Barnes, 32, and her husband, Stuart K. Barnes, 32, and their children, Mary Ann, 9, and Naney T., 3 years old.

Also living in their home was a 24 year old maid named Catherine E. Greene. Stuart K. Barnes was working as a lawyer for the Securities Exchange Commission, Clayton was working as a supervisor for the Treasury Department, and Mamie was working as a manager of a woman's shop. Stuart's income for 1939 was $5,000, Clayton's was $3,200, Mamie's was $900, and their maid, Catherine, earned $468.00 of income. So it seems they were doing fairly well at the time. I could find no other public records for Clayton Irwin Thatcher.

Following is Life Sketch of Floyd's father, Moses, from a book about Utah statehood, found on Ancestry.com. He was also listed as being a Fifth Ten of the First Fifty of the first Hundred of the LDS Pioneer and Handcart Companies from 1847.

Moses Thatcher was born February 2, 1842, in Sangamon county, Illinois, the sixth of eight children born to Hezekiah and Alena (known as Alley) Kitchen Thatcher. Among the vivid memories of his childhood were incidents of the expulsion of the Mormon people, with whom his parents were identified, from the beautiful city of Nauvoo. He was a very little boy when his father's family made the long and arduous journey across the plains and mountains, arriving in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1847 with the second company of pioneers.

In the spring of 1849 the family continued on to California, where his parents conducted an eating house near Auburn in the mining district. Here he earned considerable money, for a lad, by running errands and caring for the horses of travelers. At the age of eleven he began to formulate his plans and seek an education. On the 29th of December, 1856, at Rio Puta, in Yolo county, California, he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Henry G. Boyle. He was ordained an elder on the 23d of March, 1857, and, although but fifteen years of age, was called on mission from which he gathered experience and knowledge of value throughout his life.

With the coming of "Johnston's Army" a call was issued by President Brigham Young directing all saints to assemble in Zion, so Moses Thatcher, in company with his brothers, John B. and Aaron D., started by team for Utah, arriving on New Year's Day of 1858. Notwithstanding the exciting and unsettled times, Moses Thatcher found time to attend school between shifts while serving on the special police force of Salt Lake City.

Returning from the exodus southward, after the army had been withdrawn, Moses Thatcher accompanied his father to Cache valley where he assisted in getting out timber for the construction of the Union Mills. The following year he attended the University of Deseret and was ordained a "Seventy" by President Young.

When Moses Thatcher was married to Miss Lettie Farr in April, 1861, he built the first frame house in Logan as their home. He was prominently identified with each step in the development of this beautiful city, materially, morally and educationally, up to the day of his death. From the time of his marriage, Moses Thatcher remained in Logan, herding cattle on the Promontory, helping capture Indian marauders and otherwise taking an active part in the labors and duties incident to pioneer life in the untamed west, until April, 1866, when he was called to the European mission field, presiding over the Cheltenham and Birmingham conferences during the ensuing two years.

Upon his release Mr. Thatcher returned to Logan, where he organized the firm of Thatcher & Son for the conduct of a mercantile business later merged with the business of W. H. Shearman, becoming the Logan Cooperative Store, with Moses Thatcher as manager. In the conduct of his mercantile interests his keen discernment and executive ability built up an extensive trade for the house.

In August, 1870, he became an active factor in railway circles, being chosen director and secretary of the Utah Northern Railway Company, organized at that time. Subsequently he was made general superintendent of the road. Later, he was connected with his brother, George W. Thatcher, in Thatcher Brothers' Bank, one of the strong financial institutions of the state. He was president of this bank at the time of his death, besides being a vice president or director of other banking concerns in Utah.

Mr. Thatcher's business interests were varied, extensive and important. He became the owner of a fifty thousand acre ranch in Chihuahua, Mexico, where he engaged in the raising of fine cattle. He was also a director of the Utah-Mexican Plantation Company, and was generally regarded an authority on Mexican matters. He was president of the Farmers Utah Loan Association, and president and general manager of the Thatcher Milling & Elevator Company and other strong corporations which constituted a valuable element in the business development of northern Utah and southern Idaho.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, secular interests and church work are closely interwoven. While directing important business affairs, Mr. Thatcher continued an active worker in the church, being superintendent of the Cache valley Sunday schools until April, 1877. He was a member of the territorial legislature, representing Cache and Rich counties, and as a member of the constitutional convention in 1872 took a leading part in the proceedings of that body. When the Cache valley stake was organized, May 21, 1877, Moses Thatcher was chosen president and continued to fill that position until April 9, 1879, when he was ordained an apostle by President John Taylor to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Orson Hyde.

When colonization in Mexico was under consideration, Moses Thatcher was sent to that country on a mission, his associates being Elders James Z. Stewart and Milton G. Trejo. The following year he went to the City of Mexico on his second mission, returning in 1881. At the October conference in 1882 he was chosen, together with Erastus Snow, to explore in Mexico for the purpose of finding a suitable place for settlement. Returning in February, 1883, he made his report, and, in the following July, left on a mission to the northern Indians, his work in that connection causing him to travel twelve hundred and fifty miles.

In December of the same year he was called to assist Delegate John T. Caine at Washington, D. C., where he labored until April, 1884, when he rejoined his family in Logan. But he was not permitted to long enjoy the comforts of home life or the opportunities incident to that period of business development. In October of the same year he was sent on a most successful mission to the Shoshone Indians, who were discontented and showing signs of becoming actively hostile. In January, 1885, Mr. Thatcher again went to Mexico, in company with President John Taylor, and explored the Magdalena river in Sonora. Later, he was made chairman of an exploring and purchasing committee, and while acting in that position made several trips to Mexico before the plan of purchasing seventy-five thousand acres of land was consummated. Altogether, he visited Mexico twenty-three times.

Mr. Thatcher acted as assistant to President Wilford Woodruff in the presidency of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association for several years, and his writings in the Contributor were among the clearest and most effective of that day. During the seventeen years of his apostolic service he traveled on an average of eighteen thousand miles annually in the interest of his church and people. Notwithstanding his tireless activity in this direction he found time to aid public progress along other lines and to develop business interests necessary for the maintenance of his family, and the dispensation of many charities.

In politics Moses Thatcher was a stalwart Democrat, elected as such to the constitutional convention of 1895, which framed the fundamental law of the state. Once he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States senate, but later declined the position when it was offered him by a majority of the Utah legislature.

Mr. Thatcher was ever devoted to his family, which numbered fourteen children. These were Mrs. Ida T. Langton, who died in 1907, Mrs. Emma Jepperson, Moses, Jr., George F., deceased, Lee, Preston A., and Vida (children of Mrs. Lettie Farr Thatcher); Clarice, Karma, Floyd, and Clayton I., (children of Lydia Ann Clayton Thatcher); and Ashby, Elton and Arthur, (children of Georgia Snow Thatcher).

The death of Moses Thatcher occurred on the 21st of August, 1909. His funeral services were held in the Logan tabernacle on the afternoon of August 26th, when all business in Logan was suspended in honor of the man who had played so important a part in the establishment of its excellent material, intellectual, political and moral standards. Special trains from Salt Lake City brought men eminent in the councils of the church and the funeral services were attended by many thousands, hundreds being unable to gain admission to the tabernacle.

Men bore testimony to his "faculty of making and keeping friends," to his "winning personality" and to his "gift of oratory," which made him a power in the championship of any cause which he espoused. Perhaps no clearer idea of his character and ability can be given than is found in resolutions passed and tributes paid at the time of his passing. His high standing in banking circles is indicated by the following. "Whereas, the hand of death has removed from our midst Honorable Moses Thatcher, whose demise occurred in Logan City, Utah, August 21, 1909. "Whereas, Mr. Thatcher had been vice president and director of the Deseret National Bank from September 6, 1888, and vice president and director of the Deseret Savings Bank since its organization, June 18, 1889, until the time of his death.

Therefore, be it Resolved that the board of directors of these two institutions unite in expressing the sense of loss they have sustained in the passing of their friend and associate; that they recall the many years of pleasant relationship which existed between Mr. Thatcher and themselves, only interrupted by the delicate condition of his health, which of late had deprived them of his genial companionship and his wise counsel; that they fully appreciate his long and able services and unite in tendering their sincere sympathy to his family in the great loss which they have sustained."

From the pen of the veteran journalist, Judge C. C. Goodwin, came the following tribute on the 28th of August, 1909: "It is most difficult to give a clear idea of what Moses Thatcher was in life, in a few lines in a newspaper. He was a most winsome man personally, a natural orator, a subtle thinker, a natural leader of men. He failed in his ambition when it was not right that he should fail, and we are convinced that he became a candidate for senator in the firm belief that his church was out of politics, that its leaders would not interfere and that permission given to republican apostes would not be withheld from democratic apostles entering the arena."

Moses Thatcher was a remarkable man in many respects. With the manners of a Chesterfield and the winsome smile of a refined woman, he combined the courage and relentless will of a Jackson. All who knew admired him for his gentle ways, his soothing voice, his sympathetic heart, his great and glowing soul. But his unconquerable determination to pursue the right course as he understood it, led him into many a bitter controversy which he maintained to the end regardless of consequences to himself. As an exponent of the gospel of the church to which he belonged, he had few equals. Eloquent, persuasive, magnetic, and sincere, he charmed his audiences at home or abroad, and his work in the missionary field made a place for him in the hearts of his people, which nothing but his memory will ever fill.

He loved the mountains of his home state and spent the summers in his canyon camp. With the vision of an artist he enjoyed the beauties of nature and with the language of a poet he spoke his appreciation of their charms. Few men have combined with such nice proportion the qualities of the dreamer and the fighter, the artist and the banker, the philosopher and the man of affairs. For Moses Thatcher was all of these, and a gentleman to the core.