26th Utah Territorial Legislature
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.[1]
Session
The legislative session convened on January 14, 1884, at the City Hall in Salt Lake City, and ended on March 14, 1884.[2][3]
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 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
- ^ "Relating to the Elections". Deseret Evening News. June 14, 1883. p. 3. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
- ^ "Legislature". Deseret Evening News. January 14, 1884. p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
- ^ "The Governor and the Appropriation Bill". Deseret Evening News. March 14, 1884. p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2026.