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Thomas Alfred Clawson, Sr. was born on 19 October 1862 at the family home on Third East and South Temple Streets in Salt Lake City. Thomas A. Clawson was the fourth son of Hiram B. and Margaret Gay Judd Clawson. During his career, Hiram B. Clawson was a secretary to Brigham Young, manager of ZCMI and director of the old Salt Lake Theatre and the Social Hall.
Thomas A. Clawson worked for his father first at the Salt Lake Theatre and later at Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution, where he worked in the drug department. In 1878, he began working as an apprentice for his brother, Stanley, a dentist. His apprenticeship ran until 1884, during which time he attended the University of Deseret and completed three years of study. After working with Dr. L. Berg in Brigham City and Logan and again with his brother, Stanley, he enrolled in the New York College of Dentistry from which he graduated in 1886. The following year he began his own practice in Salt Lake City.
In 1891, Clawson was sent on a mission to England by the L.D.S. Church. Prior to leaving Salt Lake City, he married Elizabeth Grosbeck, the daughter of William and Eleanor Grosbeck in the Logan Temple on 30 April 1891. Three weeks later on May 19 he departed for London. His second year there he presided over the London Conference. Upon completion of his mission in May 1893, Clawson spent two and one-half weeks touring Scotland and Ireland. He arrived in New York on 22 May 1893 and reached Salt Lake City on June 30th.
Clawson resumed his dental practice and in 1897 formed a partnership with Dr. Julian E. Young and Dr. Ezra O. Taylor in the Templeton Block (Main and South Temple Streets) in Salt Lake City. In September 1901, he purchased the Utah State Dental Supply House from his brother Stanley. In 1937, Clawson was honored by the Utah Dental Society for fifty years of practice.
Clawson was an active member of the L.D.S. Church most of his life. He was baptized into the Church at the age of eight and served in various capacities. In March 1901, he was ordained a High Priest and made a member of the High Council of the Salt Lake Stake. Clawson was appointed Bishop of the Eighteenth Ward in April 1906 and served in that position for thirty-two years. In 1939, he was appointed a Patriarch of the Ensign Stake.
In addition to his professional and church participation, Clawson was an active member of the Salt Lake Dramatic Club and a director of the Victor Gold and Silver Mining Company of Eureka. He died on 3 January 1942 of a heart ailment. He was survived by two sons and three daughters. One daughter, Esther, had died in 1937. His wife, Elizabeth, died in March 1952.
The Thomas A. Clawson Collection consists of fifteen original bound journals dating from 17 June 1892 to 15 December 1927. Two other journals from 19 May 1891 to 10 December 1891 and 11 December 1891 to 16 June 1892 are missing. The journal entries from 17 June 1892 to 30 June 1893 were written while on an L.D.S. mission to England. These entries include church business, tourist attractions and other places visited and routine comments on the weather and health of Clawson and his fellow missionaries.
The remaining thirteen and one-half volumes reflect Clawson's life in Salt Lake City from 30 June 1893 to 15 December 1927. Clawson's entries were daily. However, he did skip days, weeks, even years at times primarily due to a busy schedule or illness. The longest time of absence was three years, nine months and twenty days from 13 April 1913 to 25 January 1917.
The entries typically included comments about the weather, business and any sickness in the family. In addition, any activities related to church or church offices held by Clawson were included. Clawson also kept a record of the patients he had by name, the type of dental work performed and any problems concerning the case in terms of technique or results that occurred.
Local and national news items were recorded. The most detailed national or international event covered by the journals was World War I. Clawson summarized the progress of the war in almost every entry of the time, increasingly as the end of the war drew near. Local items were generally confined to some political notes and major crimes committed such as murders and arson. Clawson's news entries appeared to be very brief summaries of newspaper coverage.
Clawson's journals are valuable in providing prospective researchers with a look at a practicing Utah dentist who kept an accurate record of work done and treatments. Used. In addition, the journals provide a view of the life of an active church member and official in Salt Lake City from 1892-1927.
Thomas Alfred Clawson Journals, 1892-1927, Utah State Historical Society.
The Thomas Alfred Clawson Journals are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.
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