Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Silver Brothers Iron Works records, 1870s-1991
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Silver Brothers Iron Works
- Title
- Silver Brothers Iron Works records
- Dates
- 1870s-1991 (inclusive)18701991
- Quantity
- 1 linear feet
- Collection Number
- ACCN 2357
- Summary
- The Silver Brothers Iron Works records (1870s-1991) consist of business and family materials related to this Salt Lake City company.
- Repository
-
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860
Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
The Silver Brothers Iron Works business began with William J. Silver (b. 1832). He was an early Mormon pioneer, born in London, England, who founded one of the earliest foundries and machine shops in Utah. His company, named Silver Iron Works, was located in Salt Lake City. The company created many significant works, such as the cast oxen for the LDS Church's Salt Lake City temple and the iron fence surrounding the Brigham Young cemetery. William J. Silver later moved to Colorado and his three sons John, Hyrum, and Joseph Aske (1857-1930) took over the company, renaming it the Silver Brothers Iron Works. About ten years later, John Silver also moved and left the company to his brothers and Joseph Aske's son, James Watson Silver (1881-1965). Around this time, the company began to manufacture machinery for Utah's sugar beet industry. Joseph Aske Silver also learned the Bessemer process to make steel, making their company the first in Utah to make steel castings. Around the beginning of World War I, the bank foreclosed on the Silver Brothers Iron Works due to debt and other losses. James Watson Silver moved to Ogden and founded the Ogden Iron Works. It manufactured machinery for the sugar beet and mining industries. This company went out of business around 1991.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Silver Brothers Iron Works records (1870s-1991) consist of business and family materials related to this Salt Lake City company. Included are scrapbooks, a missionary diary, some artifacts, a notebook, and miscellaneous materials. There are three scrapbooks in the collection. They were originally unlabeled, so have been labeled A, B, and C by the processor to distinguish them from each other. They contain correspondence, agreements, stock certificates, minutes, equiptment specifications and diagrams, biographical sketches, news articles, and other papers dealing with the Silver family and company.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Preferred Citation
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | James W. Silver, New Zealand Missionary Diary | 1901 |
| 1 | 2 | Selling Price Notebook
Consists of notes, estimates, quotes, letters, and other papers specifying selling rates of various materials and projects for the Silver Brothers and other companies.
|
1907-1917 |
| 1 | 3-5 | Scrapbook "A"
This scrapbook includes correspondence, resolutions, deeds, balance sheets, agreements, stock certificates, minutes, blueprints, and pamphlets. All original photographs were removed to the Multimedia Division. Photocopies were placed in their stead.
|
1915-1930 |
| 2 | 1 | Scrapbook "A"
This is the continuation of scrapbook "A."
|
1915-1930 |
| 2 | 2-3 | Scrapbook "B"
This scrapbook includes advertisements, equiptment specifications and diagrams, correspondence, biographical sketches, news articles, and stock information. All original photographs were removed to the Multimedia Division. Photocopies were placed in their stead.
|
1920s-1991 |
| 2 | 4 | Scrapbook "C"
This scrapbook includes biographical sketches, family histories, news articles, equiptment diagrams, correspondence, and advertisements. All original photographs were removed to the Multimedia Division. Photocopies were placed in their stead.
|
1883-1970s |
| 2 | 5 | Artifacts
Includes calipers and a t-square engraved with Joseph A. Silver's name. Also a silver medal awarded to Joseph A. Silver in 1878 for his invention of the velocipede.
|
circa 1870s |
| 2 | 6 | Miscellaneous |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Iron-works--Utah--History--Sources
Corporate Names
- Silver Brothers Iron Works--Archives
Form or Genre Terms
- Scrapbooks
Finding aid created by Lisa DeMille
2007 (last modified: 2020)
