Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company
in Idaho Falls 1889-1944
by Mary Jane Fritzen Bonneville County Historical Society
Assisted by D. V. Groberg
Idaho Falls, Idaho 1994
1 Introduction
by Mary Jane Fritzen
Wagons and machines, essential for homesteaders in the Upper Snake River Valley, many of whom had pressed northward from Utah, were the business of C. W. and M. The Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company, opened its Eagle Rock store in 1889, and closed its doors in Idaho Falls in 1944. Its demise marks the change from horse and buggy and horse-powered farm machinery to automobile and engine-driven farm implements. It also marks the city's urbanization.
During its 55 years here, C. W. & M. was the major supplier for much building material and hardware, so important when men were building homes and farms for their families. Formed by Salt Lake businessmen George T. Odell and Heber J. Grant (then a Mormon Apostle), it was locally directed by Gilbert George Wright, who came to Idaho Falls in 1889, and remained until his untimely death in 1933. Many of the employees were his relatives--his father, uncle, brother, in-laws, etc. But it gave employment to many others. One of these, D. V. Groberg, recalls his admiration for the firm, where he worked in 1928.
Wright not only managed C. W. and M., but was a prominent businessman and civic leader. For example he was president of the Anderson Brothers Bank, the first Idaho Falls Public Library Board, and a member of the New Sweden Pioneer Association. Members of his family have been influential in many facets of Idaho Falls development. His wife was one of the VIS, Village Improvement Society, which contributed in many ways to beautifying the developing city. Because of Mr. Wright's importance, we have included biographical information and photos of his family.
C. W. & M. had branches in many towns of Utah and Idaho, and a few in neighboring states. Its last annual report, 1944, showed 15 stores in Idaho, 13 in Utah, and one in Wyoming.
C. W. & M. Company
Horse-drawn wagons loaded with sacks of grain fill the streets in certain old photos of downtown Idaho Falls. One of the places to park was just west of C. W. & M. on the northeast corner of Capital and Broadway. The farmer and his family were likely to be shopping at C. W. & M. anyway, because Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company stocked not only wagons and machines, but all kinds of hardware.
Across the river today the Army Surplus Store occupies the former C. W. & M. warehouse, as shown by the "Consolidated Wagon and Machine Co." sign revealed during recent remodeling. A 1923 Idaho Falls brochures describes C. W. & M. as "the leading implement firm of the entire Northwest," and "the largest retail implement firm in the world." It reads:
They maintain headquarters at Salt Lake City, Utah, and operate some 45 or 50 large and
well stocked stores in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada. The Idaho Falls establishment
occupies premises 150 x 120 feet in size which contain three floors and they also have a
warehouse about 100 x 400 feet, which are practically three stories in height. This company carries an immense stock of everything pertaining to hardware, implements, wagons, buggies, lumber, building material, etc., and by purchasing stock in large quantities direct from the original sources of supply, is in position to offer as low prices on standard goods as can be had anywhere....
The officers of the Consolidated Wagon & Machine Company are Heber J. Grant,
President; George T. Odell, Vice President; G.G. Wright [of Idaho Falls], Vice President and
General Manager...Manager in the Idaho Falls district is Geo. A. Cope.
For its Golden Jubilee Edition of 1934, The Post Register searched its files and quoted from 1896: "Who They Are, Business and Professional Men of Idaho Falls. C. W. & M. Co., G. G. Wright manager; Iona Mercantile, James E. Steele, manager; Anderson Brothers, oldest business house in Idaho Falls; Z.C.M.I., Joseph A. Smith, manager; the Clark and Fanning, N. H. Clark and E. Fanning, partners." On January 10, 1902 the newspaper had announced, "Cooperative wagon and Machine Company and Consolidated Implement Company will be consolidated under title of Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company on February 1 in Idaho Falls."
Gilbert George "G. G." Wright, the first local manager, had been born in Ogden, Utah in 1866, and had begun to work while a teenager at the Cooperative Wagon and Machine Co., founded by his uncle, George
T. Odell with Heber J. Grant and other prominent men. He came to Eagle Rock to manage the Eagle Rock store in 1889, and in 1890 married Matilde Ellen Bailey. Their first home was on Capital Avenue; in 1909 they built a big home at 371 No. Ridge. After Wright became district manager and then general manager for the retail chain, he had to work in Salt Lake City, but still commuted to Idaho Falls on weekends. It was while driving home from Salt Lake City in 1933 that he was killed in an automobile accident at age 66.
His death was a loss not only for his family, but for the entire community. In a letter to the Editor, 10 September 1934, J. D. Ellis proposed a monument to Wright. He wrote:
"My proposal is that the community provide a monument, something of native stone which need not be too expensive, to be placed on Memorial Drive near the place of business which he served for so many years, the C. W. & M. company.
"If `Gib' Wright had not helped as many as he did this country would not have gotten the start it did. I know many times he not only sold us machinery on credit but loaned us the money to put in a crop and did not stop there as he took a real interest in us, came to see us and wanted to know how we were getting along and offered help and did help. He was not nearly as much interested in getting back his money as he was in helping people and he never lost anything by treating people that way."
In that same 1934 newspaper G. W. Charlesworth, local manager, confirmed that, "More than $1,000,000 was extended the early settlers for the purchase of farm machinery, and the company is indeed glad to have helped so much in the growth and development of the entire Upper Snake River Valley.... And those early settlers made good, too, for practically every cent of that large sum was repaid."
When C. W. & M. came in 1889 there were then two implement firms in Eagle Rock: the Cooperative Wagon and Machine company managed by G. G. Wright, and The Consolidated Implement company, managed by James E. Steele. In 1902 they were brought together as Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company.
In 1905 a big new store was opened on the corner of Main (Broadway) and Capitol. It was a social event to remember. An invitation kept by Ed Winn invites "Yourself, family and friends to attend the grand free house warming of our new building, corner Main Street and Capital Avenue, Idaho Falls, Idaho, Friday evening, January sixth, 1905, 8 o'clock." It offers guests half fare on railroad from Salt Lake, Montpelier, Red Rock and St. Anthony; and 55 thousand feet of floor space to dance on.
The new two-story brick building covered one-fourth of a city block on present Broadway. In addition, an implement building and repair storehouse was operated across the river on West Broadway.
In 1934, 20 people were employed here. J. A. Kerr, who had been with the firm since 1889, was sales manager. Albert Greenwell was an employee from 1890 until 1931. Stock included John Deere Implements, Myers Domestic Pumps, Pomona Irrigation Pumps and Turbines, Stover Feed Grinders and Mills and many other implement lines, as well as building and household items.
Many residents of early Idaho Falls got their start in business by working at the C. W. & M. Retired real estate developer, Delbert V. Groberg, recalls:
"I worked at the Idaho Falls store during 1928. George Cope, who did the hiring, introduced me to Clinton Dinwoodey, who was also applying for work during vacation from college, and we were employed to take a general inventory of the C. W. & M. merchandise, everything from nuts and bolts to shovels and wagons and threshing machines, hoes and horse collars, harnesses, too.
"Having had a tour of duty at the C. W. & M., and now being a qualified former employee of this old established pioneer company, I felt ready to face the world. It seemed to me almost everyone had worked at the
C. W. and M.: Aunt Clara Brunt, James E. Steele and Myrtie Jensen and her Uncle Andrew Jensen; Worth Wright's father, A. D. Wright, R. A. Bolin, Billy Charlesworth, and of course G. G. Wright, J. J. Johanneson, George A. Cope, etc. Mayor Ed Fanning had worked there from 1914-19.
"My next contact with the C. W. & M. came after I had finished at the B.Y.U. and was married and had established our home and started in the Real Estate and Appraisal business in Idaho Falls. A young successful looking man named Ensign called on me and said he had bought controlling interest in the C. W. &
M. He said he owned a majority of the stock. This was in 1932-33, and the depression was on. Mr. Ensign was interested in the market value of the real estate owned by the C. W. & M. Co. He said he felt the stockholders' equity was mainly in the land and buildings. Sad but true, the automobile and the airplane had passed up the old horse and buggy and most family farm needs, and the C. W. & M. was reduced to only the residual value of its real estate."
By 1944, C.W.& M. was gone. (On April 3, 1944, three investors -Frank T. Hill, David M. Sweeney and William N. Burke - bought the building on Broadway and Capital Ave. for $50,000, and in 1945
J. L. Meyers bought the West Broadway warehouse for $65,000. In 1952 the big store property was sold to Walter S. Ries and Associates, who had the building torn down and a new store was built for the J. C. Penney Co.) The old building was removed, and local resident Vincent E. Mullin bought the bricks to build his home on 2370 So. Boulevard.
.....Mary Jane Fritzen, 1993 From Post-Register, Golden Jubilee Edition, 10 Sep. 1934
C. W. & M. Co. Aided Early Day Settlers; Advanced $1,000,000
Hundreds of farmers were given start because of company's broad policy; Many immigrants attracted
HISTORY OF LARGE IMPLEMENT COMPANY TOLD
"More than $1,000,000 was extended the early settlers for the purchase of farm machinery to help populate this rich new territory during the first years of the Consolidated Wagon and Machine company's operation in Idaho and Utah," states Mr. G. W. Charlesworth, local manager.
"This certainly was a tremendously big undertaking, and the company is indeed glad to have helped so much in the growth and development of the entire Upper Snake River Valley," he adds. "And those early settlers made good, too, for practically every cent of that large sum was repaid."
It is a fact that many of those farmers attribute their success to the credit given them when they immigrated here. Many of them are now wealthy and retired.
The history of this largest intermountain implement concern dates back to 1889, five years after Idaho Falls' first newspaper was founded. In that year there were two implement firms in the town then known as Eagle Rock. One, the Co-operative Wagon and Machine Company, was managed by the late Mr. G. G. Wright; the other, the Consolidated Implement company, under the management of the late James E. Steele.
It was in 1902 they were brought together under the present name. The late Mr. Wright assumed the managership of the new firm in 1912 and was promoted to district manager about 1915 and still later was made general manager. The company is now managed by Mr. Kent R. Burt of Salt Lake City.
The local "C. W. & M." store, the name commonly used to indicate this old Idaho institution, is located at the corner of Broadway and Capitol avenues, in a two-story brick building covering approximately one-fourth of a city block. In addition, an implement building and repair storehouse is operated on West Broadway on the west side of the Snake River.
Approximately 20 people are employed in the various departments at the present time. J. A. Kerr, who has been with the firm since 1889 is now managing the sales floor. In 1890 Albert Greenwell became an employee and left in 1931.
Mr. Charlesworth joined the company in October, 1910, as manager of the invoice department, later becoming sales-manager for the Idaho district. After the recent changes of managerships he was made manager of the local store.
The large stock in the local store includes John Deere Implements, Myers Domestic Pumps, Pomona Irrigation Pumps and Turbines, Stover Feed Grinders and Mills and many other implement lines. In addition, a complete line of hardware and household items is carried.
There are now 29 stores in operation in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, those in Idaho being located at Idaho Falls, Driggs, Ashton, St. Anthony, Downey, Rexburg, Rigby, Blackfoot, Montpelier, Rupert, Buhl, Jerome, Twin Falls, Burley and agencies at Salmon, Mackay, Aberdeen, Soda Springs, Bancroft, American Falls.
"The company has always maintained a policy of fairness in every business transaction and has made every effort to be as lenient as possible with credit customers in years of economic stress," says Mr. Charlesworth, "and the company is very proud to have been able to perform an honest service to the many farmers in this region these many years. We want to thank the many friends and customers of the `C. W. & M. Co.' who have made possible the remarkable record of its growth."
From Post-Register Golden Jubilee Edition, 10 Sep. 1934
Propose Monument to Pioneer.
Editor, The Post-Register:
During this time of honoring pioneers, to which your newspaper is dedicated this week, let me call attention to one pioneer whose good works should never be forgotten by the people of Idaho Falls and vicinity and that is that of the late G. G. Wright. If the people of the Idaho Falls of today do not know and understand those of us who do, and by them I mean the pioneers of this country yet living, know what G. G. Wright contributed to the community and it is my plan that the community, particularly the real old timers, get together for the purpose of placing a memorial that we and those to come shall not forget. My proposal is that the community provide a monument, something of native stone which need not be too expensive, to be placed on Memorial drive near the place of business which he served for so many years, the C. W. & M. company.
G. G. Wright came to Eagle Rock in the year 1889 and I personally knew him from that time until his death and know what he did for this part of Idaho and believe he did more for the community than any other 20 men regardless of who they might be. G. G. Wright made it possible for a great many people to get along and make some headway, who without his help would have had a hard time. He helped people all over eastern Idaho, from Pocatello to Driggs, in many ways that a lot of us old timers remember. He was a real business man who know people he was dealing with and was not afraid to take chances and to let people have what they needed on credit. He knew people he was dealing with and he would take what we raised, always allowing a fair price, when we did not have the money to pay and we seldom did and those of us alive today who knew him want to see something done for this man who did so much for others.
If "Gib" Wright had not helped as many as he did this country would not have gotten the start it did. I know many times he not only sold us machinery on credit but loaned us the money to put in a crop and did not stop there as he took a real interest in us, came to see us and wanted to know how we were getting along and offered help and did help. He was not nearly as much interested in getting back his money as he was in helping people and he never lost anything by treating people that way.
It is not only the ranch people he helped. He brought money to the community to finance most of our older business buildings.
I want you people to put this in your 50th year Golden Jubilee paper and start something for what I believe was the real pioneer of us all and I want to give the first $5 toward starting a fund for this monument to "Gib" Wright.
Yours truly,
J. D. ELLIS
Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company by D. V. Groberg
The Consolidated Wagon and Machine Co., known as the "C. W. & M." was a very prominent hardware and farm machinery and equipment company in Utah and Idaho for the period of 50 or 60 years, from the last 15 or 16 years of the 1800s to the 1940s.
I worked at the Idaho Falls store during 1928. In applying for a job I called at the big office of G. G. Wright, and was met by a formal dressed little man with a goatee, and he said, "I am Yea Yea Yohanison. I am secretary for Yie Yie Wright."
In a ritual somewhat related to being introduced to a Scandinavian monarch I was ushered into the office of Mr. Wright. He looked and acted the part of a busy executive, but said he left the hiring up to George Cope, and said to see him and tell him you had talked to me, and George Cope and Billy Charlesworth would let me know if there was a job opening for me. I thanked him and was escorted out by his secretary, Yea Yea Yohanison.
Mr. Cope was available at another office. He seemed to know I was coming. He asked if I had had any clerical experience. I told him I had handled mail and packages and handled routine business at the mission office in New York, and felt I could do most any kind of work at the store. He introduced me to Clinton Dinwoodey who was also applying for work during vacation from college, and we were employed to take a general inventory of the C W & M merchandise, everything from nuts and bolts to shovels and wagons and threshing machines, hoes and horse collars, harnesses, too.
Having had a tour of duty at the C. W. & M., and now being a qualified former employee of this old established pioneer co., I felt ready to face the world. It seemed to me almost everyone had worked at the C. W. and M: Aunt Clara Brunt, James E. Steele and Myrtie Jensen and her Uncle Andrew Jensen; Worth Wright's father, A. D. Wright, R. A. Bolin, Billy Charlesworth, and of course G. G. Wright, J. J. Johanneson, George
A. Cope, etc. etc.
At Christmas, along with all the employees I received an autographed copy of a book from Heber J. Grant, President of the C. W. & M. Co., and thanking me for the service given to the company. I thought it was special to be one of that number, and wanted to thank the leaders for the opportunity of a job and for getting acquainted with the business and learning from some of the older workers about the history of the big company.
In taking inventory I had to memorize the classified code that was used to show the cost on the merchandise. This was a 10 letter word with each letter representing a number. The 10 letters S t r a p e z o y d. A horse collar, for example, would have a selling price of say $9.00, and the letters E.D.D. In taking inventory we would give the cost as $6.00, the E being 6 and the D being 0. By taking inventory we became acquainted with the general layout of the facility and I marveled at how massive the store was on Broadway and Capital, and how even bigger the warehouse and property was on the west side of the river.
My next contact with the C. W. & M. came after I had finished at the B.Y.U. and was married and had established our home and started business in Idaho Falls. A young successful looking man named Ensign called on me and said he had bought controlling interest in the C. W. & M. He said he owned a majority of the stock. This was in 1932-3, and the depression was on. Mr. Ensign was interested in the market value of the Real Estate owned by the C.W.& M. Co. He said he felt the stockholders' equity was mainly in the land and buildings. He had carefully audited the company's operating statement and found the overall business was not profitable, and said it was now operating at a loss. I had been aware of the change that had taken place. The expense of keeping up the big buildings, paying the heat and lights and taxes, etc., besides the salaries of the clerks and salesmen, bookkeepers and secretaries, managers, etc., and maintaining an outdated inventory that was related to the horse and buggy more than to the automobile and the service station needs -- All this made the future dark and as Mr. Ensign had evidently decided, the longer the business tried to operate, the less there would be for the stockholders.
I remember meeting Billy Charlesworth in front of the big store on Broadway where he had been a department manager and long-time employee. He was a prominent musician and in demand as a singer. He quoted from one of the songs the following: "Change and decay in all around I see." It was coming like an on-moving force getting ready to wipe out the old and replace it with the new. The automobile and the coming of the airplane had passed up the old horse and buggy and mostly family farm needs, and the C.W.& M. was reduced to only the residual value of its real estate. After the income and expense of closing out its business operations, sad but true.
....written May, 1993
(MJF note: C.W.& M. is listed in the January 1944 telephone directory, but is not listed in July, 1944 nor thereafter.)
Family History of Gilbert George, (G. G.) Wright
The parents of G. G. Wright, Annie Sarah Odell and Gilbert Josiah Wright, both sailed to America in their youth with their respective families, who were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England. The Josiah Atwell Wright family crossed the plains to Salt Lake Valley in 1852, and the Thomas George Odell family in 1861. Both families settled in Ogden.
The following is excerpted from M. J. B. Vlahos, The Wright Family History, "Genealogy of the Wright Family:"
Annie Sarah Odell was a lovely singer, and performed often in programs and in plays...Through this interest in singing and performing, Miss Odell met her future husband, Gilbert Josiah Wright. The couple was married on January 1, 1866 and their first home was a little log house behind the home of her father-in-law, Josiah Atwell Wright, on Grant Avenue in Ogden. At that time the log house was used as a granary, with a grain bin in one corner and a bed in the other; what a time to keep the mice out! A stove and cupboard completed the modest furnishings. It was here that their first child was born, Gilbert George Wright.
Annie Sarah Odell was in every respect a pioneer woman. She reared her family, seven sons and daughters, in ak day that knew little of luxury. The homes were lighted with kerosene lamps and candles which were molded by her own hands. There was no indoor plumbing; no hot and cold running water and the washings were done by hand. She was an accomplished seamstress and made all of the children's garments. The first nice suit of dress clothes for her husband was made by her hand, plus the linen for the home.
In June of 1897, the family moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho. The Snake River Country being settled rapidly was still very much in a frontier state. In Idaho Falls she loved to walk and did so daily. She also had some cows and sold their milk, Florence Wright remembers.
About 1909, Annie Sarah Odell, over sixty years of age, went back to England with her only brother George Thomas Odell. Together they returned to the scenes of Bedfordshire, visiting the old Odell home and their family friends. They traveled through Germany and France and thoroughly enjoyed this experience together.
On March 25, 1908 Gilbert Wright died of typhoid fever. Annie Sarah survived him by 21 years, and died on November 1, 1929, at 82 years of age. All her children were with her at the last and she was buried by the side of her husband in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Idaho Falls.
Gilbert George Wright, son of Gilbert Josiah Wright and Annie Sarah Odell was born on September 28, 1866 in Ogden, Utah. He left school early and went to work at the Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company. This company had been founded by Gilbert's uncle George T. Odell, Heber J. Grant and other prominent men. It sold everything from farm machinery to buggies, seed and other farm supplies, saddles and lap robes. It became the first chain store in the country with branches all over Utah and Idaho.
In 1889, he was sent to Idaho Falls, Idaho to manage a branch of C. W. & M. George T. Odell states in an 1889 letter, "Her [Annie's] oldest boy acts in the capacity of manager for me at our house in Eagle Rock, Idaho....He is a bright, active young business man...."
On April 9, 1890 Gilbert Wright married Matilda Ellen Bailey, daughter of Ann Mary Folker and Joseph Moroni Bailey. The couple moved to a home on Capitol Avenue in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Gilbert Wright was widely known and respected in his community. He was a great friend to farmers, especially in New Sweden, west of the Snake River. In bad years he loaned them money and gave them credit for seed and machinery at C. W. & M. He was a member of the New Sweden Pioneer Association.
In 1912, Gilbert Wright was promoted to a management position in Salt Lake City. Even though business circumstances required his presence in Salt Lake during the week, he always came home to Idaho Falls on the weekends. His daughter, Florence Wright Bybee, remembers the pleasure of his regular Saturday visit at her home on Placer Avenue. He would greet all the children, sometimes with candy or gum and catch up on all the news before going downtown to his office.
He enjoyed hosting family picnics and parties and once organized a large family reunion at the Bonneville Hotel in Idaho Falls. In 1918 he built for his family a summer home... at Ideal Beach on Bear Lake near Garden City, Utah...
On April 9, 1933 while driving home from Salt Lake City, there was a car accident and Gilbert George Wright was killed. His death at the age of 66 was a great loss, not only for his family but for the entire community. From the many newspaper articles published at that time it is evident that he was widely mourned. Idaho Falls stores and banks were closed on the day of his funeral.
In addition to being General Manager of the C. W. & M. Company, Gilbert George Wright was involved in many business and financial endeavors. He was President of the Anderson Brothers Bank and with Edward Fanning, founded the Idaho Falls Mill and Elevator Company. The mill was the only market for grain and other produce for years. He was a member of the following organizations: Board of Directors of the First Security Corporation, Republican State Central Committee, the Rotary Club of Idaho Falls, the Elks Club, Board of Directors of Utah Power and Light Company. He was President of the Dinwoody Furniture Company, the Rexburg Drug Company and the G. G. Wright Loan and Investment Company. He was Chairman of the Board of the Salt Lake City branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and during World War I; he served as the Director of Council of Defense and the Liberty Loan Drive.
Gilbert Wright was instrumental in having established in Idaho Falls the Carnegie free library and was a member of the first library board and president for two years, serving from January 1909 to August 1914.
Matilda Ellen Bailey, daughter of Ann Mary Folker and Joseph Moroni Bailey, was born on April 11, 1872. Her father died when she was three years old, leaving her young mother to raise her and her brother Joe.
On April 9, 1890, she married Gilbert George Wright in the Logan L.D.S. Temple. The reception was held at the Lincoln Hotel, which was owned by her husband's parents. As her husband was now managing the Consolidated [Cooperative] Wagon and Machine Company in Idaho Falls (Eagle Rock then), Idaho, they moved there to a home on South Capitol Avenue. In the years following, the couple's four children were born: Gilbert Oliver, Florence Annie, Sheldon Bailey and Joseph Odell.
10
Matilda Wright was involved with family and Church activities. Her in-laws, the Gilbert Josiah Wrights, moved from Ogden to a home near them on Capitol Avenue. Her brother-in-law Eugene and her sister-in-law Annabelle were also nearby, so there were many family gatherings. Her daughter Florence remembers fondly the July 4th and 24th picnics at Highland Park.
As a member of the Village Improvement Society, Matilda Wright worked toward beautifying Idaho Falls by planting trees and forming parks. She and a group of her friends held meetings and sought ways to improve their town. One of their members, Mrs. Bowen Curley, donated the block between 9th and 10th Streets that became Kate Curley Park, where Matilda Wright's grandchildren, Marilyn Wright and Martha Bybee, spent many happy hours playing.
In 1908, the family moved to a new home on Ridge Avenue.... [See photos.]
In 1933, Matilda's husband was killed in an automobile accident. Three years later she married Dr. Clifford M. Cline, a long time family friend. She continued living in the Ridge Avenue home until her death on March 7, 1952.
Notes about G. G. Wright
Notice of death, Post Register 10 April 1933, p. 1
G. G. Wright died 9 April 1933.
p.3: Grant Odell Implement Co. later changed to Cooperative Wagon and Machine Company, later changed to the present Consolidated Wagon and Machine Co., of which he was until about 1 year ago the general manager. G. G. Wright had been a salesman and representative traveling from farm to farm and selling equipment was a large factor in developing the company into the largest retail wagon and farm implement selling concern in the U. S.
....During his management of that business, from the early pioneer days until the present time, the company and G. G. Wright was able to give many men a start in life in extending to them through his knowledge, a credit and again affording a market for that which they had to sell.
...I. F. Mill and Elevator Co...The establishment was lost by fire several years ago, and was never rebuilt....primarily interested in the original irrigation companies of the valley....
Common response of oldtimers: Gib Wright was one of, if not the most progressive, helpful and useful men of the community, always considerate of others and ready to help, regardless of the demands upon his time or his own business."
Chairman of Bonneville Co. Council of Relief (through Reconstruction Finance Corporation).
Mrs. Albert Greenwall of Idaho Falls is his sister. Mr. Johanson was hurt in accident. funeral: Professor Young:
"If each one of these roses and flowers represented an individual person, they would not represent more people than Gilbert Wright in his own way had helped...."
Editorial: He had a courage and a firmness of purpose which refused to be discouraged, as well as the happy faculty of passing that encouragement on to others and helping them to carry the burden....It is unfortunate more did not know him better. His life was well spent and he was an influence in the development of a great community...."
Telephone Directory: C.W.& M. in January 1944, not in July 1944.
Rexburg Standard, Dec. 1915: The C. W. & M. Company
photos: Geo. T. Odell, General Manager
H. C. Duffin, Rexburg Manager
G. G. Wright, Assistant General Manager
When the pioneers came to Rexburg and the Upper Snake River valley, most of them came for the purpose of making new homes and to better their own financial condition. In most cases they were even unable to buy the necessary implements to raise a crop. It was fortunate for them when the C. W. & M company commenced business here through the H. Flamm people in 1889. For that company had sufficient backing and did extend credit very liberally at a time when it was most needed. Had it not been for their liberal policies the farmers of this valley could not have made the progress which they have. The C. W. & M. company have probably been the greatest single benefactors in the up-building of this valley.
The above assertions will also apply to the entire state of Utah, the eastern part of Wyoming, western Nevada and the best half of Idaho, for these sections were practically all in the same condition as our own, and were assisted in the same manner by the C. W. & M. company.
The liberal policies of this company, which have done so much for the upbuilding of the west are only the reflection of the personality of the characters who have steered its destiny. And, instead of having this tribute paid to the C. W. & M. as a company, we would rather apply it to those men who have made it the largest retail implement house in the world, Geo. T. Odell and G. G. Wright. For they have been the more active individuals.
The destinies of the company are guided by an executive committee composed of James H. Moyle, banker, stockman and attorney; Charles S. Burton, president of the Farmers and Stockgrowers bank, and Thomas R. Cutler, general manager of the Utah-Idaho Sugar company. The active management of the company is entrusted to Geo. T. Odell, general manager, assisted by G. G. Wright and Grant Hampton.
The directorate is composed of Joseph F. Smith, W. S. McCormick, Geo. T. Odell, G. G. Wright, C.
S. Burton, James H. Moyle, Francis M. Lyman, Thomas R. Cutler, William Spry, James L. Wrathall, Heber Scowcroft, Geo. D. Keyser, W. W. Armstrong.
It is doubtful if any of these men conceived 35 years ago of the wonderful progress that was to be made by this company. They are now operating fifty-five stores in Utah, Wyoming and Nevada.
Mr. George T. Odell, the general manager of the company, has considerable interests in Rexburg aside from his connection with the C. W. & M. company. He is a stockholder in the Rexburg Drug company and the Farmers and Merchants bank. He visits Rexburg frequently and is a personal friend of many of our people. He is known throughout the entire country as the head of one of the greatest institutions in the world, a distinction alone well worth every effort of a man's life. He has certainly achieved accomplishments which rarely come to any man.
The company's business was started in Idaho by Mr. G. G. Wright in the spring of 1889 at Eagle Rock, now Idaho Falls, Idaho. Mr. Wright was sent to Eagle Rock by his company to negotiate for a take over the implement part of what was then the Bunting & Wheeler company. The deal was closed by Mr. Wright who has remained with the company ever since.
That same year they arranged with the Henry Flamm company of Rexburg to handle these goods on a commission basis and continued with Mr. Flamm until the spring of 1897, at which time the company erected and opened up in a frame building on their present location, with Mr. Lester T. Wright, brother of G. G. Wright, as branch manager. Mr. Lester T. Wright continued in that capacity until 1908, at which time he was transferred to Twin Falls as district manager for the Twin Falls district, and Mr. H. C. Duffin, the gentleman who always wears a white vest and who was then in charge of the branch house at Twin Falls, was transferred to Rexburg. From the year 1889 business enjoyed at Rexburg has continued to increase and at this time it is one of the company's largest and most profitable branch houses. Great credit is due Mr. Lester T. Wright and Mr. H. C. Duffin in this direction. The extent of their business outgrew the frame buildings originally used, and in the year 1910 they erected one of the most handsome business blocks in our city, a picture of which appears on this page. In connection with implements, the company carries many other tributary lines, including lumber and building material. Quality of goods, prompt attention to customers' needs, a complete stock together with a full lien of repairs, all at prices consistent with service and quality, is the secret of their success.
Mr. G. G. Wright, assistant general manager, divides his time between Salt Lake and Idaho Falls offices, but he maintains his residence, and claims that he always intends to, at Idaho Falls. Aside from his connection with the C. W. & M. company and in assisting in the building up of the country, he has taken a personal interest in Idaho, and particularly in Rexburg. He was one of the organizers of what is now the First National bank of Rexburg and continued as a stockholder and director for many years. This will also apply to the Rexburg Drug company and he is still one of its heaviest stockholders and a director. He also owned the building recently occupied by the Rexburg Garage, now occupied by the Farmers Society of Equity; is a stockholder in the Farmers and Merchants bank and other institutions in this county. He has always manifested a friendly spirit toward Rexburg and its citizens. In addition to Mr. Wright's business life he has been active religiously and politically, giving freely of his time in both directions. We have heard it said that Mr. Wright would someday move to Salt Lake, but Mr. Wright has made the statement that when he came to Idaho it was with the intention of remaining and he is still of the same frame of mind.
He is one of the really big men of the west and still in the prime of life. With his ability and energy we can only imagine what his future in the business world could be....
C. W. & M. Additional notes
from Leonard Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom, p. 346-47:
Wagons and agricultural implements. Of special interest to a predominantly agrarian society was the provision of cheap farm wagons and machinery. An outstanding Board of Trade committee gave serious attention to this industry. After the failure of at least two attempts to manufacture these items in Utah, the committee decided to organize a cooperative
company to import wagons, carriages, implements, and tools. In 1883 the Cooperative Wagon and Machine Company was organized with a capital of $100,000. This company later merged with the Consolidated Implement Company to form the Consolidated Wagon and Machine Company, with a capital of $2,500,000. The latter company sometimes regarded as a "church" company, occupied a strategic position in this field in the intermountain area for almost four decades.
from Ron Walker, "Young Heber J. Grant," in , 20th Century American West, Economic Conditions, Lectures, 1983, pp. 105-107:
In January 18[8]4 he [Heber J. Grant] launched what actually was his first major commercial venture. Along with Joshua Grant, his brother, and George Odell, his cousin-in-law, Grant purchased the implement business of B. Mattison and formed Grant, Odell and Company. "The special legislation that has been enacted against our people was the cause, as much as anything else which led us to engage in the wagon and machinery business," he later explained. "Prior to the formation of the firm of Grant, Odell and Company, almost the entire control of the wagon and implement business was in the hands of men whose interests were inimical to our people; and in some cases these parties used a portion of the means which they had made from the Mormon people to try to procure special legislation detrimental to their interest." Like a general reconnoitering a battlefield, Grant had surveyed a strategic salient and attacked. Grant, Odell and Company was his first home institution.
The selling of buggies, wagons, and farm machinery in Utah had a shaky history, and Salt Lake City bankers were cautious when Grant asked for financing. The company was forced to turn to private lenders such as James Wrathall of Grantsville and to pay usurious interest. Within a year after its organization, without ample capitalization and financing, Grant, Odell and Company was almost at the end of its financial tether.
Grant would replay the wagon company scenario several times with other companies: inadequate financing, desperate scrambling to meet obligations, and then triumphant success. Odell proved an able manager, and business from the first was unexpectedly brisk. By April 1885 the partnership was broadened into a corporation. A year later [1886] the company was rechristened the Cooperative Wagon and Machine Company, a change Grant believed would improve its public image and marketing. "Human nature is such that many men don't like to see a firm successful but they don't object to a Cooperative Company succeeding." By the end of the 1880s bankers were asking the company to take loans, and the conservative money man James Sharp climbed aboard as a major investor. During its first seven years, the company became the largest wagon and implement dealer in Utah, accumulated $100,000 in reserves, and consistently paid an annual 12 percent dividend. It made Grant's business reputation.
From its beginning the wagon company was a semi-religious venture, a business of the Mormon people. It paid tithing to the Church before issuing dividends. Officials curbed swearing by employees and threatened to dismiss the former mule-skinner B. F. Grant if he didn't desist. One major reason for incorporating was to attract prominent Church leaders as investors. Grant wrote LDS stake presidents offering them stock, reduced his own holdings to allow others to invest, and personally guaranteed against loss stock options for the First Presidency. Such action not only placed profits in the proper hands but enhanced the firm in the eyes of Mormon consumers. "I feel that the ... men that are now associated together in our firm are much more worthy of the patronage of the Saints than those who are not of us," Grant pointedly wrote to one local bishop. "There has never in my opinion been a time when it was more necessary for me to support our friends only, than now."
The Cooperative Wagon and Machine Company provided Grant an ample field for his salesmanship. But he insisted that there was not religious arm twisting. "I know quite an amount of business naturally comes to me on account of being an Apostle," the young businessman admitted. "This I am willing to accept but nothing that comes because a person feels that he is under any obligations." The anti-Mormon Salt Lake Tribune had a more jaundiced eye. "Apostle Heber J. Grant . . . sells wagons and mowing-machines to saints on the score that he is an Apostle and he will deal by the brethren better than any wicked Gentile would," the paper wrote with begrudging admiration. "He sells threshing-machines and horse rakes to Gentiles on the score that he has so great a custom among his own people that he can afford to sell to Gentiles cheaper than any Gentile man or firm can."
Notes from D. V. Groberg. Legal documents found in the Bonneville County Courthouse: (Note: copies of these and other earlier documents and street maps from Mr. Groberg available in Museum files)
Corporation Warranty Deed #160068. The C. W. & M. building on Broadway. Sold by C.
W. & M. Co. 3rd day of April 1944, to Frank T. Hill, David M. Sweeney and William N. Burke for $50,000.00, $55.00 I. R stamps. Legal description: Lots 7, 8, and 9 in Block 27, Railroad addition to the Town of Idaho Falls, Idaho, less one foot along the S.E. side of lot 9. Consolidated Wagon and Machine Co., by Frank A. Fisher, vice president; A. F. Selander, secretary.
89-319. Deed dated 1st day of December 1953. From Frank T. Hill and Clarella K. Hill, his wife, to Kathleen Sweeney, a widow.
89-327? Deed dated 1st day of Dec. 1953 from William H. Burke and Elizabeth C. Burke his wife to Kathleen Sweeney a widow, same property as above deeds.
Mortgage Book 65. $ 247: Lease dated 2/28/44: But subject to a lease to C. C. Anderson stores Co., dated Feb. 28, 1944 and subject to the balance due as of Dec. 1st 1953 of that certain mortgage to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U. S. recorded Book 65 of Mortgages page 247, Bonneville County. Balance computed to be $48,000.00; $4.15 in RRS attached.
100-445-6. Feb. 2, 1956, administratrix deed. From Kathleen Sweeney, administratrix of David M. Sweeney, to Walter S. Ries of Alameda, Calif. $25,000.
Notes from oral histories at Bonneville Museum:
Mary Sweeney McMurtrey, 12/15/1986: Dan Sweeney built old C. W. & M. for Gib Wright....W. W. Keefer built C. W. & M. (More details on provided about both builders, indicating earlier and later buildings. It seems Keefer was building in 1880s and Sweeney in 1930s.)
James E. Steele
James E. Steele, Iona pioneer, managed the Consolidated Implement Company in Idaho Falls, which merged with C. W. & M. in 1902.
He was born in Manchester, England, of Scottish origin, on June 22, 1852, the son of James Steele and Elizabeth Wylie. The Steele family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1856 and immigrated to America. They crossed the plains pushing handcarts with the Martin Company. During this trek the elder Steele died. When the rest of the family arrived in Salt Lake City, they were assigned to American Fork where they lived in a dugout. Later, James and his brother built a home for their mother and worked in the Bingham mines to pay for it.
On Dec. 23, 1880, he married Elvira C. Compton in Salt Lake City. To this union six sons and two daughters were born.
James E. Steele arrived in Sand Creek, now Iona, on March 17, 1885. He selected and filed in 160 acres of land. Shortly thereafter he moved his family from Salt Lake City to the log cabin he had built for them.
On May 23, 1886, he became Bishop of the Iona Ward. With his own money, he purchased a 160acre tract of land for $100.00, had it surveyed and laid out in lots as the townsite of Iona. He then resold it at the original cost to those desiring to settle there.
He became Second councilor to President Thomas E. Ricks of the Bannock Stake in 1890. In 1895 he was set apart as President of the newly organized Bingham Stake and remained in this position for about 13 years.
From the time he was a very young man he was active in political and government affairs. He served in the Idaho House of Representatives one term and one term in the State Senate. As a member of the legislature he was on the Irrigation Committee; consequently, many of his ideas are included in the state laws pertaining to irrigation. He was also active in prohibition and in promulgating fish and game laws. He was President and Manager of the Iona Mercantile Company, President of Anderson Brothers Bank of Rigby and President of the Eagle Rock and Willow Creek Canal Company for 22 years.
President Steele has been described by an acquaintance as a large man of medium complexion, well organized, a good businessman, very industrious, a good manager and free with his means in making financial contributions, not only to the Church, but also to public enterprises and schools. He was a man of courage and great faith. He had confidence in the future growth and development of the Upper Snake River Valley. Many sought and received his guidance and counsel.
His final testimony was, "I have a burning testimony of the Gospel. I know it is true and I want my children to know it and live it because it means eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven."
President Steele died October 18, 1929, at the age of 77.
....Lloyd Mickelsen, Idaho Falls Idaho North Stake History, 1982, p. 17.
Bibliography
Post-Register Golden Jubilee Edition, Idaho Falls, Idaho
10 Sep. 1934 Rexburg Standard, Rexburg, Idaho, December 1915. Idaho Falls, Idaho In Picture and Prose, 1923. Joe Marker, Eagle Rock U. S. A., Idaho Falls, Idaho
2nd Edition, 1980. Lloyd Mickelsen, Idaho Falls, Idaho North Stake History
Idaho Falls, Idaho, 1982. Martha Vlahos, The Wright Family History, 1982. Leonard Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom,
Harvard University Press, 1958, p. 345-347. Leonard Arrington, Building the City of God, Deseret Book Co., 1976, p. 329. Ron Walker, "Young Heber J. Grant," in 20th Century American West, "Economic Conditions," Lectures, 1983. Mary Jane Fritzen, "Banks and Banking," p. 17, Idaho Falls City of Destiny,Bonneville County Historical Society, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 1991. Bonneville Co. Historical Society Museum, Idaho Falls, Idaho:
Printed materials, yearbooks, files, photos, oral histories in the Reading and Reference Room. City Directories in the Idaho Falls Public Library. Legal Documents from Bonneville County Courthouse and from
Brigham Young University Library.