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.
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.
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.
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
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Purchased from Ken Sanders Rare Books in 2007.
Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P1455).
Processed by Lisa DeMille in 2007.
Consists of notes, estimates, quotes, letters, and other papers specifying selling rates of various materials and projects for the Silver Brothers and other companies.
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.
This is the continuation of scrapbook "A."
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.
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.
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.