Ed Johnston ~ Mayor of the Month ~ September 2011 ~ 1834-35

Once again we have a former mayor  with no formal biography readily available.  No descendants locally available to glean information from.  It anyone out there can fill in the blanks, a very large one ________,please do.  So we have collected tidbits of information from Hilda's History of Mt. Pleasant and also from Utah Digital Newspapers, which is a wonderful resource.Family Search has a number of Ed Johnstons so we cannot be sure whose his parents were and where he came from.  We do know he was the Mayor of Mt. Pleasant.  We know that he went on to be a Utah State Senator.  We know that he owned and operated Johnston's Drug Store. And we know that he was once President of the Utah Pharmaceutical Association.  He joined the Royal Arch Masons of Mt. Pleasant, and was scribe, as well as Worshipful Master. He was also a veteran of the Spanish American War. He must have been a very influential and well liked gentleman. 

The following are the news clippings we have found on Ed Johnston:

The above article appeared in the Manti Messenger on 

September 9, 1938.

The above was found in the Manti Messanger February 14, 1941

Salt Lake Telegram 1925-04-09

Salt Lake Telegram 1926-12-13 

Items about Ed Johnston in History of Mt. Pleasant by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf

P. 13:

Mount Pleasant is pleasantly located in the northern part of Sanpete County, Utah, about one hundred miles southeast of Salt Lake City. It is situated on Pleasant Creek, one of the tributaries to the Sevier River, and about midway between the Wasatch plateau on the east and the Sanpitch River on the west. Its ele­vation, as registered on a standard disk, set in the northwest corner of the west wall of Johnston's drug store, S. W. corner of the intersection of State and Main, is 5,923.97 feet, and as registered in standard disk, set in stone head wall of irrigation ditch, ninety feet southwest of D. & R. G. Depot and thirty feet west of center of railroad track is 5,843.67, showing a gentle slope which gives excellent drainage. The United States census of 1930 shows its population as being at that time 2628, with Manti 2240 and Ephraim 2076.

 P. 199:

The Sanpete County Council of Defense was organized as follows: J. W. Cherry, chairman; Burke McArthur, secretary; Ed. Johnston, treasurer; Committee chairmen, Finance, N. S. Niel­sen; Publicity, ,Burke McArthur; Legal, J. W. Cherry; Sanitation and Medicine, Ed. Johnston; Food supply and conservation, L. R. Anderson; Industrial survey, Orlando Bradley; Labor, Christian Willardsen; Military affairs, J. Morgan Johnson; State protection, H. R. Thomas; Survey of man power, L. P. Brady; Woman's work, Mrs. G. W. Martin.

P. 201:

In January of 1922, Ed. Johnston moved his drug stock into his new building, corner of State and Main, and during the year, the Wasatch Academy completed their two buildings, the gymnasi­um and the Infirmary.

P. 204:

February 12, 1936, Ray K. Bohne was appointed postmaster. and after a short time, the office was moved to the Ed. Johnston building.

P. 206:

The new city hall was dedicated August 23rd. Following  a parade, a program was held on the steps of the building. Senator Ed Johnston presided. Invocation was offered by Daniel  Rasmussen and the dedicatory prayer by C. W. Sorensen, and an historical sketch was given by Mrs. S. D. Longsdorf.

P. 238:

1932-33. Mayor, W. P. Winters; Recorder, Daniel Rasmussen;

      Treasurer, Pearl Larsen; Councilors, H. P. Olsen, four years;

      Ed. Johnston, John Fowles, Willis N. Madsen, E. W. Wall.

1934-35. Mayor, Ed. Johnston; Recorder, E. W. Wall; Treasurer,

      Pearl Larsen; Councilors, Willis N. Madsen, four years; Henry

      P. Olsen, John Fowles, Parley Hansen, Daniel Rasmussen,

      (21) Lawrence Winters.

P. 324:

(1935) A portion of the old fort wall was still standing. James Wilson had a blacksmith shop on the corner where Mayor Ed Johnston now has a drug store. Peter Matson had a shoe store and Lydia T. Winters ran a millinery store. The Presbyterian Church was where the Mason Lodge Hall is now. James Borg and Ole Clemen­sen had a harness shop near the Beaumann home, and Abner Crane had a blacksmith shop near where the Crane home is now.

Doctor W. P. Winters ~ Mayor of the Month ~ August 2011

http://mtpleasantpioneer.blogspot.com/2011/08/doctor-w-p-winters-mayor-of-month.html

We were not able to find a regular biography of Dr. W. P. Winters.  We searched the internet and talked with people who knew him.  The following is a mixture of items we were able to find.  Peter Hafen remembers him to be a very jovial fellow.  He and his second wife, Mae were frequent visitors at the home of  Peter's "Uncle Dutch" and Aunt Johanna Hafen.



William Philitis Winters was born 24 April 1868. 
Father Henry Adelbert Winters,

Mother: Elizabeth Williams.
He married Nancy Jane Cummings in 1895. She Passed away in 1946.
He married Mary M. Wilcox Patterson in 1947.  Mary (Mae) was also from Mt. Pleasant.
Mae was the daughter of Joseph and Candace Rowe Wilcox.
Candace Rowe Wilcox was a local midwife and assisted Dr. Winters.

He died 10 July 1952 in Price, Utah.  He is buried in Mt. Pleasant.

He started his medical career in Castle Dale, but later moved his practice to Mt. Pleasant

Dr. Winters Hospital as it looks today.  Location:  149 South 100 West, Mt. Pleasant, Utah

News of his aged  father's dying.

1923 He was proprietor of Carbon Hospital in

Price, Utah

~~~~~~~~~

Mayor Winters and Prohibition 

~~~~~~~~~

Below is a notice of his second Marriage.

He married Mary M. Wilcox Patterson in 1947.

Doctor Winters and his second wife, Mae walking down the street. .
submitted by Marilain Black

Marilain Black, a granddaughter of Mary (May) Wilcox, second wife to doctor Winters shares with us a couple of interesting    stories: 

He (Doctor Winters) was her sweetheart before he became a Dr. I understand she married Joseph Sharp Patterson, Sr. on the rebound. 

My Great Grandmother, Candace Rowe Wilcox raised 8 children my grandmother

Mary M. Wilcox, was the eldest child and was 20 when her father died.  She (greatgrandmother)  became the local midwife and helped Dr. Wm. P. Winters (her oldest daughter's first sweetheart) when he was not available.  She was elected as City Treasurer on the Democratic ticket in Nov. 1987

Mary M. Wilcox Patterson  and Dr. Wm. P. Winters met again about 1947 and were married in Pocatello, Idaho by Bishop Henry B. West on 16 Jul 1947.  Dr. Winters and my grandmother

went on a honeymoon to California where his daughter, Louise, lived.  They were offered to be on a program for the oldest newlyweds but my grandmother refused.

He was 80 and she 79.  On their way back to Utah, they passed a terrible accident and stopped to administer first aid.  It was so bad, Dr. asked my grandmother to rip off her underclothes and used them to pack in the wounds.  Dr. Winters died after they had been married five years on 13 Jul 1952 in Price, Utah.  She died

8 Feb 1959 in Salt Lake City.

NOTE:  My grandmother was never called Mary.  We knew her by Dana and know she was called Mae by others.   

The following are items taken from the History of Mt. Pleasant by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf.



p. 195

In 1908, Dr. August Lundberg purchased the first two auto­mobiles brought to Mt. Pleasant. The first, a "Lokomobile" was, however, of short duration, for in the course of a month or so he purchased another, this was a large red touring car called the "Northerner."

In 1909, Dr. W. P. Winters purchased a Buick, and Frank Waldermar an E. M. F. About a year or so later, Christian Hansen purchased a ,Buick, Showman Longsdorf, a Case, and F. C. Jensen, a Cadillac. Among other early cars were those owned by Lyman Aldrich, Wallace Petty and Hyrum Merz. All these cars were very popular with the pleasure seekers and a great deal of time was spent on the road. 

p. 238  1932-33. Mayor, W. P. Winters; Recorder, Daniel Rasmussen; Treasurer, Pearl Larsen; Councilors, H. P. Olsen, four years;Ed. Johnston, John Fowles, Willis N. Madsen, E. W. Wall.