Elbert D. Thomas
Elbert Duncan Thomas (June 17, 1883 – February 11, 1953) was a Democratic Party politician from Utah. He represented Utah in the United States Senate from 1933 until 1951. He served as the Chair of the Senate Education Committee.
Elbert D. Thomas
February 11, 1953 (aged 69)
Honolulu, Hawaii Territory, U.S.
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Ethel Evans(m. 1946)
3
United States Army (Reserves)
Utah National Guard
Biography[edit]
Thomas was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, on June 17, 1883, to Caroline Stockdale and Richard Kendall Thomas. He was the fifth of 12 children. His parents loved the arts, especially the theater. They built the first Children's Playhouse west of the Mississippi River in a barn on their property, which they named the Barnacle. Elbert was involved in many plays held for the public in the Barnacle. His father was involved in local government and held conventions and political rallies at the Barnacle. His family later moved to a home across from what is now the Conference Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). This home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While an undergraduate student at the University of Utah, Thomas helped found the Amici Fidissimi Society in 1902.[1] The AF Society was a men's fraternal organization which later affiliated with Phi Delta Theta fraternity, an international college fraternity, in 1914, becoming the Utah Alpha Chapter of the Fraternity. Elbert was the first initiate into Phi Delta Theta at the University of Utah.
Thomas married Edna Harker on June 25, 1907, in the Salt Lake Temple and they had three daughters together. Edna died in 1942, and Elbert later married Ethel Evans in 1946 in the Salt Lake Temple.
Church service[edit]
Thomas served a mission to Japan for the LDS Church with his first wife, from 1907 to 1912. He was one of the first LDS missionaries sent to Japan, and his first daughter, Chiyo, was born there. Elbert developed a deep love for the Japanese people and learned to speak Japanese fluently. He was the author of Sukui No Michi, the Japanese translation of the Mormon tract Way of Salvation. For part of his five-year mission, Thomas was the president of the Japanese Mission. On his return from Japan, he became a Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Utah (where he had received his B.A. in 1906). He taught Latin, Greek and Japanese culture, as well as being a Political Science and History professor and eventually an Administrator on the Board of Regents at the University of Utah for many years.
Legacy[edit]
The Gibbs-Thomas House, in Salt Lake City, which was Thomas's sole residence in Utah, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 in large part to recognize his association.[4]