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George Sutherland letters received

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MSS 1638

Scope and Contents

Handwritten letters written to George Sutherland while he was a lawyer in Provo, Utah. The items deal largely with legal and business matters in various areas of Utah. Most items have been severely water damaged.

Dates

  • 1888-1889

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Letters received must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

George Sutherland was born on March 25, 1862, in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England to Alexander George Sutherland and Frances Eliza Slater. He was the oldest of six children. After being converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Sutherland family immigrated to Utah in the summer of 1863. George started working at an early age to help the family financially. He was a clerk in a clothing store and an agent of the Wells Fargo Company. In 1879, he began attending Brigham Young Academy where he studied under Karl G. Maeser. After graduating in 1881, he worked for the Rio Grande Western Railroad for a year before moving to Michigan to attend the University of Michigan Law School. After admission to the Michigan bar, he married Rosamond Lee on June 16, 1883, in Beaver, Utah. Together they had four children. George joined his father in a law partnership in Provo, Utah which dissolved in 1886 after which George formed a new one with Samuel Thurman, future chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court. Sutherland moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1893 and the following year helped organize the Utah State Bar Association. In 1896, he was elected as a Republican to the Utah State Senate, where he served as chairman of the senate's Judiciary Committee. In 1900, Sutherland received the Republican nomination as the party's candidate for Utah's seat in the federal House of Representatives and went on to serve in the 57th Congress. In January 1905, George secured unanimous support to represent Utah on the United States Senate. While in the Senate, he introduced the Nineteenth Amendment and campaigned for its passage, helped draft the Equal Rights Amendment, and adviser of Alice Paul of the National Woman's Party. After being defeated for re-election in 1916, George resumed the private practice of law in Washington, D.C. On September 5, 1922, George was nominated to the Associate Justice seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. He retired as a justice on January 17, 1938. George died on July 18, 1942, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Extent

1 box (ca. 100 items)

Appraisal

19th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts.

Title
Register of George Sutherland letters received
Author
Garrett Schroath
Date
2011 April 13
Description rules
Appm
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States