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Lot Essay
In the lead up to the presidential election of 1892, President Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) embarked on a record breaking 9,232 mile, five-week journey through the entire United States. departing from Washington D.C. on April 14th, 1891 and passing through nineteen states, the President traveled in a lavish custom passenger train with five cars, including a plush blue upholstered drawing room and separate sleeping chamber. He was accompanied by the Postmaster General, Secretary of Agriculture, military advisors, and his daughters. Throughout the journey Harrison gave over 140 speeches, often from the back of the observation car at the rear of the train. His mission was two-fold: secure his reelection, and build relationships and good will with his constituents in the new Western states and territories.
Harrison’s visit to the territory of Utah, beginning with a stop in the capitol of Salt Lake City on May 9th, was likely anticipated with some apprehension. In 1888, Harrison was elected on a Republican platform which included language discussing the need to “stamp out” polygamy, and expressing concern about the growing power and influence of the Mormon church, a view personally shared by Harrison as a staunch practicing Presbyterian. In 1890, the 4th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Wilford Woodruff Sr. (1807-1898), officially issued a manifesto banning polygamy, but in Washington D.C., Harrison warned Congress that this was likely a ploy to help Utah gain statehood, and to not grant it hastily. Harrison avoided speaking at any explicitly Mormon or religious sites while in Utah, including the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, and in the end his visit to the territory, his first since becoming president, proved largely positive.
President Harrison and his entourage arrived in Salt Lake City at 2:45am on May 9th, and after a brief rest, met with the Territorial Governor and City Mayor at an 8:00am Citizens’ Committee Reception and breakfast. It is most likely that the president was gifted the present salver at this event by Robert C. Chambers (1832-1901), who is noted in the inscription on the reverse. Born in Ohio, Chambers moved to Sacramento in 1850 during the California Gold Rush. He would go on to own mining investments in multiple states in the west, and was prominent in the formation of Butte, Montana, as well as Park City, Utah, just east of Salt Lake City. There he led the Ontario silver mine from 1872 to 1891, including a partnership with John L. Daly and his Daly Mining Company, which eventually comprised 1,200 acres in Empire Canyon just outside Park City.
Interestingly the inscription on the front of the salver is dated April 4th, 1891, when the president visited Salt Lake City on May 9th, possibly reflecting a delay in the dates of Harrison’s United States tour.
Harrison’s visit to the territory of Utah, beginning with a stop in the capitol of Salt Lake City on May 9th, was likely anticipated with some apprehension. In 1888, Harrison was elected on a Republican platform which included language discussing the need to “stamp out” polygamy, and expressing concern about the growing power and influence of the Mormon church, a view personally shared by Harrison as a staunch practicing Presbyterian. In 1890, the 4th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Wilford Woodruff Sr. (1807-1898), officially issued a manifesto banning polygamy, but in Washington D.C., Harrison warned Congress that this was likely a ploy to help Utah gain statehood, and to not grant it hastily. Harrison avoided speaking at any explicitly Mormon or religious sites while in Utah, including the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, and in the end his visit to the territory, his first since becoming president, proved largely positive.
President Harrison and his entourage arrived in Salt Lake City at 2:45am on May 9th, and after a brief rest, met with the Territorial Governor and City Mayor at an 8:00am Citizens’ Committee Reception and breakfast. It is most likely that the president was gifted the present salver at this event by Robert C. Chambers (1832-1901), who is noted in the inscription on the reverse. Born in Ohio, Chambers moved to Sacramento in 1850 during the California Gold Rush. He would go on to own mining investments in multiple states in the west, and was prominent in the formation of Butte, Montana, as well as Park City, Utah, just east of Salt Lake City. There he led the Ontario silver mine from 1872 to 1891, including a partnership with John L. Daly and his Daly Mining Company, which eventually comprised 1,200 acres in Empire Canyon just outside Park City.
Interestingly the inscription on the front of the salver is dated April 4th, 1891, when the president visited Salt Lake City on May 9th, possibly reflecting a delay in the dates of Harrison’s United States tour.