Birth: Jul. 13, 1857 - Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA
Death: Feb. 11, 1930 - New York, New York County, New York, USA
Son of William John Silver and Mary Askie
Married Mary Eleanor Watson, 18 Mar 1880, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Married Elizabeth Farnes, 24 Jan 1898, Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico
Married Laura Blanche Clark, 20 Sep 1913
History - Joseph A. Silver, Secretary, Treasurer and General Manager of the Silver Brothers Iron Foundry and Machine Company, and one of the most prominent business men of Salt Lake City, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1857, and came to Utah with his parents when only three and a half years old, and spen his boyhood days in Salt Lake City, most of the time working in his father's shop. He was educated in the schools of Salt Lake City, and later in the Deseret University, now the University of Utah. When he was seventeen years old he started on his business career, and the successful establishment which he and his brothers have erected through their own efforts and by the exercise of their ability and industry, makes him one of the most prominent business men in Utah, and their foundry the largest one in the inter-mountain region. From a very small beginning this establishment has grown into large proportions; employing in the beginning no one except the three brothers, it now affords employment to over one hundred men and its reputation has spread from the confines of Salt Lake City throughout the entire West. Its success has been achieved, not through any lucky chance, or through financial backing, but by the unflagging industry and application which these three brothers brought to the performance of the tasks which confronted them in making their business a success.
The first work which Joseph did was in the carpenter trade, which he followed for eight months, later securing employment in the millwright department of the Ontario Mill, and there he devoted a like period, later being promoted and put in charge of the machinery of the mill, and then acting as its Superintendent for over three years. He resigned this position and returned to Salt Lake City, where he for eight months was engaged in building his home at No. 633 North First West, and also working for his father in the foundry. After remaining two years in Salt Lake City, he returned to West Jordan, bordering on the Sandy District, and took charge of all the smelters and machinery of the different works there, giving his time largely to the care of the Telegraph smelters and visiting other works, He again came to Salt Lake City and secured a position in the shops of the Utah Central Railroad, where he remained for three years, leaving there and entering the service of the Union Pacific Railroad at Logan, where he was made foreman of the locomotive department of that company, where he remained about ten months. He resigned this position to accept a better one on the Rio Grande Western, in the same department of that road in Salt Lake CIty, later being placed in entire charge of that work. He returned to the Utah Central Railroad, and was made Assistant Superintendent, but resigned that position two years later to take his share in the partnership of the Silver Brothers Iron Works, with which business he has ever since been identified. Much of this city's growth is due to his wide experience in the iron business and to the capacity which he had acquaired for the handling of large contracts and the solving of difficult engineering problems.
Family links:
Parents:
William John Silver (1832 - 1918)
Mary Askie Silver (1829 - 1862)
Spouses:
Mary Eleanor Watson Silver (1856 - 1941)
Elizabeth Farnes Silver (1870 - 1925)
Laura Blanche Clark Cook (1880 - 1985)
