The 26th Utah Territorial Legislature met in 1884. The regular election for the Territorial Council and the House of Representatives was held August 6, 1883. The election was conducted under the oversight of a commission appointed under the provisions of the Edmunds Act to exclude polygamists from participating.
Session The legislative session convened on January 14, 1884, at the City Hall in Salt Lake City, and ended on March 14, 1884.
Members
Name County Office Notes Territorial Council: Joseph Barton Davis William W. Cluff Summit President Heber J. Grant Salt Lake Joel Grover Juab James T. Hammond Cache Robert W. Heyborne Iron Jonathan S. Page Utah Franklin S. Richards Weber Heber J. Richards Salt Lake William W. Taylor Salt Lake Luther T. Tuttle Sanpete Edwin G. Woolley Washington Territorial House of Representatives: Charles L. Anderson Tooele John Boyden Summit Caleb D. Brinton Salt Lake John Clark Salt Lake William Creer Utah Benjamin F. Cummings Jr. Cache Wilson H. Dusenberry Utah Philo T. Farnsworth Jr. Beaver Samuel Francis Morgan Abram C. Hatch Wasatch John Houston Garfield Joseph Howell Cache Rees R. Llewellyn Sanpete John H. Morgan Salt Lake David H. Peery Weber John Rider Kane Joseph V. Robison Millard James Sharp Salt Lake Speaker Oliver G. Snow Box Elder Joseph Stanford Weber Albert D. Thurber Sevier Samuel R. Thurman Utah George Webb Utah Don Carlos Young Salt Lake
The disqualification of polygamists produced significant turnover in the legislature, which was much less experienced than previous bodies. William W. Cluff, the only member of the Territorial Council to return from the previous session, was chosen as its president. In the House, only Oliver G. Snow, Wilson H. Dusenberry, Samuel R. Thurman, James Sharp, Samuel Francis, Abram Hatch, and David H. Peery were able to be re-elected (in addition, Jonathan S. Page moved from the House in 1882 to the council in 1884).
Crossover between the legislature and ecclesiastical leadership in the LDS Church was also dramatically reduced. Where the 1882 legislative session had included six members of its Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in 1884 only Heber J. Grant, the sole monogamist in the quorum, was able to serve. (Grant would marry two additional wives later in 1884 and thus did not return in the 1886 session.) However, the legislature still included several regional leaders (stake presidents), including Cluff, Snow, and Hatch.
References