EXHIBITS
The Utah-Idaho Central Railroad: Northern Utah’s Interurban Experience: David Eccles and the Origins of the Railroad
Array
(
[0] => Digital intern
)
David Eccles and the Origins of the Railroad
Birth and Early Life
David Eccles was born on May 12, 1849, in Paisley, Scotland. As the second oldest son of seven children and having a blind father, David learned at a very young age to work hard for the survival and well-being of his family. At the age of six, after his family moved to Glasgow to seek better opportunities, David worked selling resin sticks from wood that he and his family gathered and processed. His father, William, had created a workshop in their home to produce kitchen utensils, and David often sold these utensils along with the resin sticks to the people of Glasgow. Despite their work and contributions from other family members, the Eccles family suffered conditions of poverty.[1]
Prior to David’s birth, William and his wife, Sarah, had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after meeting missionaries who had traveled to Scotland. They believed in the teachings and direction of the leadership of that church and were working together to earn the funds necessary to immigrate to the United States and join other members in Utah. For eight years since arriving in Glasgow in 1855, the Eccles family struggled to save what little money they earned to seek new fortunes in America. In 1863 they received financial support from the Perpetual Emigration Fund of their church and were finally able to leave Scotland for the hope of a new life and a better future.[2]
Immigration and Success in Utah
Upon arriving in Utah, the Eccles family found a new home in Ogden. Leonard Arrington writes that they found “no streets paved with gold, no mansion [awaiting] them there. In fact, the shack in which they spent their first winter in the new land was probably less than what they had left behind in Scotland; certainly no better.”[3] David immediately began to work again for his family selling his father’s wood products. As he grew older, he sought new opportunities in Oregon and Wyoming with mining, lumber, and railroad companies. Through his perseverance and determination, he saved enough to start his own company. At the age of twenty-three he invested in a sawmill which he established near Ogden in the Monte Cristo Mountains. In time, his small sawmill business expanded throughout the state of Utah and into nearby states, reaching as far as Oregon. After this success, David would go on to establish many other businesses throughout the Western United States, becoming Utah’s first multimillionaire. He invested much of the profits and resources of his various companies into the development of communities within Utah.[4]
Origins of the Railroad
