George W. Thatcher: 9th Mayor of Logan
Dates in Office: 1894-1896
Terms in Office: 1
Age when Elected: 54
George Washington Thatcher was born on February 1, 1840 in Springfield, Illinois. His parents were Hezekiah Thatcher and Alley Kitchen. He married Eunice Caroline Young in 1861 and also Fanny Decker Young in 1867 and they had seventeen children. He died in Logan, Utah on December 23, 1902.
The public life of Mr. Thatcher began in the earth 1860's as a "pony express" rider from Salt Lake City to Echo Canyon. In 1874 he was elected a member of the Salt Lake City Council. Then in 1876 he came to Logan as superintendent and manager of the Utah Northern railway. He later was a member of board of Brigham Young College in 1877, a member of the Territorial Board of Education, and appointed in 1893 by President Grover Cleveland as a member of the Utah Commission.
George W. Thatcher was mayor of Logan from 1894 to 1896. During his term in office, major advances were made in the electrification of the city with lines stretching as far as Utah Agricultural College (currently Utah State University) in 1896.
Sources:
1. "Tri-Weekly Journal". George W. Thatcher Dead : Logan's Foremost Citizen Passes to the Great Beyond. Logan, UT: December 25, 1902.
2. Noble, Warrum, ed. "Utah Since Statehood: Historical and Biographical". Chicago, Illinois: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1919, 4:14-18.
3. Ricks, Joel E., ed. "The History of a Valley : Cache Valley, Utah-Idaho". Logan, Utah: Cache Valley Centennial Commission, 1956.
Timeline
1896
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~ The St. John's Episcopal school closed.
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~ The Logan City electric power company closed, and the plant was dismantled.
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March ~ Logan received the designation as a second class city from Utah state government.