Eliza Ann Morgan married James Frank Smith in 1893.

James Frank and Eliza Ann Morgan Smith (daughter of John Hamilton

 and Helen Melvina "Mellie" Groesbeck Morgan) were married in 1893.

Recently I came across this history of the man who married Eliza Ann Morgan. He was certainly an industrious gentleman.

“James F. Smith one of the most prominent young lawyers in Salt Lake City, and who has already made an enviable career in his chosen profession, was born in this city in 1872. He is a son of James Smith, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who came to Utah in 1869. His wife, Mary (Bowdidge) Smith, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a native of the Island of Jersey, a British possession near the coast of France. She emigrated to the United States in 1865, in which year she arrived in Salt Lake City

.

“Their son James was educated in the public schools of this city and later took a course in All Hallows College here.  Owing to the limited means of his parents, and the necessity of earning his own living, at the age of eleven years, he secured employment as cash boy for the Zion Co-operative Merchantile Institution, where he remained for about one year, and then secured employment in a grocery business.  He later mastered the painting and glazing trade, and followed that occupation for five or six years. His next business was with the glass firm of G. F. Culmer Brothers, where he remained for about four years and then entered the employ of the Salt Lake Building and Manufacturing Company, remaining with this latter establishment for about two years.  He was early alive to the importance of increasing his store of knowledge, and with that end in view, took a course at the Salt Lake Business College, and was later a clerk in the Morgan Hotel during which time all his spare moments were applied to his studies, and in 1894 he began the study of Law, reading with the firm of Chas J. Pence. And C. E. Allen. He continued to work in the daytime and study late in the night during 1895. On September 15^th  of the following year he accepted a position in the office of this firm where he pursued his studies until his admission to the bar of the Supreme Court of Utah. He then opened a law firm and struck out for himself. His first start was in a room about six feet wide and ten feet long. His equipment was, to say the least, as far as his books were concerned, of a very limited order. His application to his study and the ability he demonstrated in the successful conduct of the cases entrusted to him, soon led to an increase in his practice, and he is now one of the most successful young attorneys in Salt Lake City.

“Mr. Smith was married in 1893 to Miss. Eliza A. Morgan, daughter of Elder John M. Morgan , President [sic] of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His wife’s mother was a daughter of Nicholas Groesbeck, one of the early settlers of Utah.

“In political life Mr. Smith is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican Party, and while he has taken an active part in its work, has never sought or held public office. He, like his parents, is a member of the Mormon Church, and has been a faithful worker in its behalf.   He has acquired a prominent place in the legal and social circles of Salt Lake, and enjoys a wide popularity.” [i]

(To be continued.)

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[i] Biographical Record of Salt Lake City and Vicinity: Containing Biographies [over 500] of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, published in 1902 by the National Historical Record Co., Chicago. Pg 220.

Note: At the above "clerk in the Morgan Hotel" link scroll down to the second newspaper article, “The Ford Hotel Changes Hands.” Click on it to enlarge. Note the sentence. “Mr. Snyder, Mr. Morgan’s son-in-law tried in vain to keep the business afloat." I’d always wondered who Mr. Snyder might be.  I believe he was James Frank Smith. Familiar with the building industry Frank managed his father-in-laws hotel in those depressed times.