John Askie Silver
Vice-president and general manager Lethbridge Iron Works, Limited. Prominent farmer. Engineer & mechanic.
(from findagrave)
John A. Silver was born on the Atlantic Ocean, August the 7th, 1855, while his parents were en route to America, and when but four years of age his parents removed from New York to Salt Lake City, and here he spent his boyhood days. His early education was derived from the common schools that then existed in this city, but with the demand for workers that was then made by the West, and especially Utah, where every hand was needed in the development of its resources and the sustenance of the people, he early started to work in his father’s foundry, where he learned the machine business.
His father, William J. Silver, was born in London, England, in 1832, and lived there until he reached his majority. He was educated in the common schools of London, and in Bath, England. He secured employment on the Southwestern Railroad, where he remained for about three years. He emigrated to the United States and settled in New York, where he remained for four years, going to Utah in 1859. Upon his arrival in Salt Lake City he secured employment at different occupations, and finally laid the foundations for the establishment of the present leading iron works of Salt Lake City. The first site of his establishment was on Center Street, which he occupied until 1879, when he moved to his present location. From a very small beginning, his ship, at first covering a space of only twelve feet square, and with no other help than his own, his ability and industry soon led to the increase of his business, and in 1868 he constructed the first steam engine ever built in Utah. This engine was built without the aid of any improved machinery or appliances, but so thorough was his work that it is still in operation. The business that Mr. Silver had begun continued to grow with the passing years, and he remained at its head, directing its affairs, until 1886, when it was transferred ant the entire business sold to his three sons. At that time he employed almost twenty-five men and from the time that his sons have managed the property its force has been increased until it now numbers on its rolls between one hundred and one hundred and twenty workmen. Upon his retirement from the iron foundry he went to Provo and successfully established iron works there, but continued that establishment only about three years. Since his return from Provo he has devoted his time almost exclusively to the preparations of loans and designs for machinery.
The zeal which John A. Silver has shown in his business enterprises was demonstrated in the facility with which he mastered the intricacies of the machine business. After spending a time in his father’s works, during which he ws thoroughly equipped in that trade, he, together with his brothers, Hyrum Askie Silver, and Joseph Askie Silver, now also officers in the Silver Brothers Iron and Foundry Works, spent about nine years in the various mining camps in Utah and adjoining States, erecting pumps and installing mills. He also spent about nine years in the shops of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which are now under the control of the Oregon Short Line system. He entered the shops as a journeyman, and rising through the intermediate steps to foreman, was finally made master mechanic, which position he resigned in 1886. In this year he and his two brothers purchased his father’s foundry and machine works. At that time the works were limited. When the three brothers secured the business they did all the work themselves. It was a hard, long pull, but the firm of young men stuck to their tasks, notwithstanding the fact that they had to go in debt for their entire business. With unflagging industry they worked night and day until they got the woks well under way, and it has since grown year by year until the at the present writing [1902] it is the largest foundry and machine shops west of Omaha. The plant, from a small shop of twelve feet, has now grown until it covers several acres of land. The business is located at No. 149 West North Temple, and the buildings run from that street through to South Temple, and gives employment to more than one hundred people, supplying almost all the steel and iron used in the intermountain region. The development of this plant is one of the most striking of the successes which the people of Utah have made in their conflict with the unpromising natural conditions. The Silver Brothers’ foundry is run on systematic lines, and with such rate ability and precision that it easily stands high in the rans of such industries throughout the United States.
Located in the Salt Lake Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Related:
- William J. Silver (his father)
- Hiram Clawson Silver (his son)
- John Russell Silver (his grandson)
