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Silver Brothers Iron Works records

 Collection
Identifier: ACCN 2357

Scope and Contents

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.

Dates

  • 1870s-1991

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

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.

Conditions Governing 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.

Historical Note

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.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Silver Brothers Iron Works records (1870s-1991) consist of business and family materials related to this Salt Lake City company.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Ken Sanders Rare Books in 2007.

Separated Materials

Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P1455).

Processing Information

Processed by Lisa DeMille in 2007.
Title
Inventory of the Silver Brothers Iron Works records, 1870s-1991
Author
Finding aid created by Lisa DeMille
Date
© 2007 (last modified: 2020)
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863