Utah Biographies ~ Derm to Doremus

Derm, John

One of the solid and substantial citizens of Salt Lake City who have done much in the way of development of the mineral wealth of Utah, is John Dern. A native of Germany, he came to America in 1865 when only fifteen years of age, and, like many another man who has won fame and fortune, secured his start on the farm and completed his education in the schools of Illinois. In 1869 he went to Fremont, Nebraska, shortly after the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, where he engaged in farming until 1879. Then, extending his lines of activity, he engaged in the grain, lumber, coal and livestock business, and later in the field of banking. In 1888 he was elected State Senator from the Tenth Senatorial District of Nebraska, and from 1890 to 1894 was the county treasurer of Dodge County, that State.

In 1890 his attention was turned to mining investments in Utah, and while still a resident of Nebraska he became one of the founders of the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines Company, a property which, under his direction, has been developed until it is regarded as a bonanza of Utah and has the record of paying $3,385,000 in dividends. Mr. Dern is the president of this property; and is also largely interested in Tintic properties, being president and general manager of the Uncle Sam Consolidated Mining Company at Tintic; vice-president and manager of the Lower Mammoth Mining Company of the same district; president and general manager of the May Day Mining and Milling Company, and holding a directorship and heavy interests in numerous mining properties in other districts of Utah and Nevada. He is a large investor in Salt Lake City Realty, and has numerous commercial interests in in this city as well as in Nebraska, where he formerly resided. He is confident that Salt Lake City will become the metropolis of the inter-mountain region, is broad-minded, public-spirited, and takes an active interest in every move that makes for the welfare of the city and State. He is prominently identified with the masonic fraternity. He is a trustee of the Agricultural College of Utah and a member of the Alta and Commercial clubs of Salt Lake City.

Doolittle, C. H.

Among the prominent and progressive mining engineers who have won fame and distinction for themselves in the inter-mountain country and elsewhere is Charles H. Doolittle, who is the able manager of the Bingham-New Haven mining interests in Utah. Mr. Doolittle is descended from an old New York family, and was born at Wappinger Falls, New York, December 4, 1861.

He is the son of Dr. Frank W. Doolittle and Mary C. Doolittle. He received his early education in the schools of his native place, and subsequently attended Columbia University of New York City, from which he graduated in 1885 with the degree of mining engineer, and that profession he has followed ever since.

Mr. Doolittle is an expert chemist, assayer, and surveyor, and for the past quarter of a century has been permanently connected with the mining and smelting business, and has operated all the way from British Columbia to Old Mexico, spending several years in the latter country following his profession. During that period he has developed and surveyed many very valuable mining properties. He was formerly one of the superintendents of the American Smelting and Refining Company, and is thoroughly qualified in the practical side of the mining industry. Mr. Doolittle has been a resident of Salt Lake City since 1903, and has represented several important mining companies during that period.

Mr. Doolittle is married, and is the father of two children; one deceased, Frank W., and one living, Dorothy C. Doolittle. He is a member of the Alta Club and also of the Country Club of Salt Lake. Mr. Doolittle is a man who, by his natural versatility and his extensive knowledge of mining, is especially fitted for a successful operator and promoter. He is of excellent executive ability and keen perception, and these qualities have given him a remarkable reputation in mining circles throughout the inter-mountain country. He resides at 366 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City.

Dooly, John E.

Few men are better known on the Pacific Coast and in the State of Utah than the subject of this sketch, John E. Dooly.

He was born June 8, 1841, in the little town of Benton, Lake County, Illinois, his father being Richard W. Dooly, a farmer, and his mother, Catherine Lonergan Dooly.

He was educated in the public schools of his native State. He embarked from the City of New York in his twenty-first year for California, on the steamship "Illinois" for the Isthmus of Panama, thence to San Francisco on the steamship ' ' Moses Taylor, ' ' better known to Californians as the "Rolling Moses."

Mr. Dooly arrived in California in 1863 and engaged in various pursuits in the vicinity of San Francisco and Stockton. In 1865 he obtained a position with Wells Fargo & Company in Sacramento, California, in which he continued until 1869 when he was appointed agent of Wells Fargo & Company at "Coburn," California, renamed Truckee after the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad. Leaving Truckee in May, 1872, he visited Europe, returning early in 1873, when he was appointed agent of Wells Fargo & Co. at Ogden, Utah, which at that time was the only transfer office of the express company. While representing Wells Fargo & Co. at Ogden, he established the first bank opened in the Junction City, under the name of "J. E. Dooly & Company." In 1877 he was appointed cashier of Wells Fargo & Co. Bank, Salt Lake City, and represented the financial interests of the corporation in Utah until 1902, a period of twenty-six years.

Mr. Dooly was one of the organizers of "The Utah National Bank of Ogden" in 1883, and has been its president for the past twenty-five years. In addition to his banking interests, Mr. Dooly is largely interested in real estate in Salt Lake City, Ogden and in various counties in the State, and is prominently identified with many large corporations, among which are the Dooly Block, the Island Improvement Company, the Syndicate Investment Company, the John E. Dooly Company, and several others.

On September 17, 1876, Mr. Dooly was married to Eleanor M. Taylor, who died May 23, 1894. The issue of this marriage was Eleanor F. (Mrs. Ernest Bamberger), Margaret L., Ethel C., John E., and Ruth A. Dooly (who died on May 30th, 1899).

He subsequently married May V. Cavanaugh on October 17, 1897, the issue of which marriage was Mary C. and Richard W. Dooly.

He has at all times manifested a forceful, independent and aggressive interest in public affairs, and has filled with credit to himself a number of prominent positions in public life, among which were: President of the Salt Lake City Board of Education; regent of the University of Utah; chairman of the Territorial Board of Equalization; chairman of the Board of Public Works; chairman of the Republican State Central committee and a member of the city council.

He is a charter member of both the Alta and Commercial Clubs of Salt Lake City.

He owns a beautiful home situate on a spacious and eligible site at the southeast corner of South Temple and Fifth East Streets.

Mr. Dooly is favorably and extensively known in business circles, and with his family enjoys a prominent social position throughout the inter-mountain States.

Doremus, Abraham Fairbanks

With a national reputation as a railroad construction and irrigation engineer, Abraham Fairbanks Doremus has performed no mean share of the work in building up the fame of Salt Lake, his native city.

The son of Henry I. Doremus, one of the most prominent educators of his day, and of Harriet Fairbanks, of the old American family of the name, Mr. Doremus was born in Salt Lake, May 24, 1849. Living here at a time when the present excellent school system was yet in its infancy, the young Doremus had the inestimable advantage of securing more than an ordinary education under the tutelage of his father. Being unusually proficient in mathematics and manifesting a fondness for the study, his mind early turned toward civil engineering, and he directed his energies toward acquiring a thorough knowledge of this profession.

Shortly after reaching man's estate, Mr. Doremus married Miss Pauline Richards, the daughter of Dr. Willard Richards. Five children blessed the union of whom three are now living. They are Mrs. Hattie D. Hagman, Henry E. Doremus and Cornelius E. Doremus.

The acquirements of Mr. Doremus as a civil engineer early attracted the attention of the great railroad corporations, then engaged in opening the West to commerce, and his services were in great demand, not only in Utah, but in Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada. He engaged in the work of location and construction for the Union Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande, Oregon Short Line, and various other railroads.

Interested in the science of irrigation from his youth, Mr. Doremus was and is now an authority on the subject, and his talents have been used in planning a number of large enterprises of this character in the West.

His services to the city and State have been recognized by the people, Mr. Doremus having held the office of city engineer, chairman of the Board of Public Works, state engineer of Utah, and a member of the State Board of Health. He was the Republican Party nominee for mayor of Salt Lake, but in a close contest was defeated by John Clark on the "Citizens" ticket.

Mr. Doremus is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a director of the "Fairbanks family in America." He is a member of the Commercial Club. Mr. Doremus is president of the Tooele City Water Company and is interested in the Blackfoot Stock Company. His residence is in Progress Flats, one of the handsome apartment buildings of the city, which is owned by Mr. Doremus.

Index

Source: Sketches of the Inter-Mountain States, Utah, Idaho and Nevada, Published by The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1909