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Show FALL 2013 UHQ pp 304-385_UHQ Stories/pp.4-68 9/16/13 1:25 PM Page 323 the Progressives could either return to the Republicans or go to the more liberal Democrats.70 In voting for Taft, Utah became a conservative Republican stronghold, while elsewhere in the nation Wilson enjoyed popularity among former Bull Moose progressives who had migrated to the Democratic Party. After the election, in 1913, Jody Eldredge resigned as assayer and moved his family to Ogden to continue as the general manager of the Mor ning Examiner. Glasmann, Eldredge, and Frank Francis became the best of friends, even though they held three opposing political Glasmann in his later years. opinions. By 1916, it appeared that Glasmann would begin yet another political adventure. That year, candidates in the recently formed first congressional district jockeyed for U.S. Congressman. Glasmann stayed true to the Republican Party, and insisted that he had only defected in 1896 and 1912 because men deserved more loyalty than the party. Ironically, because of Glasmann’s liberal roots the party turned to him as the only person capable of defeating the likely Democratic candidate, Milton H. Welling.71 But on May 12, 1916, three weeks before the filing deadline, William Glasmann suddenly died of a heart attack while resting alone at his home. He was fifty-seven. His dreams of finishing the South Fork Dam and going to Congress died with him. The news spread quickly as Ogden mourned the loss of one of its leading citizens. Francis eulogized his friend and mentor of twenty years, saying: It was natural that a man of such strong personality would provoke antagonism and make enemies—he had enemies and he fought them with all the intensity of his nature—yet he never harbored malice and was always ready when the battle was over, to ground his weapons and smoke the pipe of peace.72 70 For an account of the effects of the demise of the Progressive Party, see Lewis L. Gould, Reform and Regulation: American Politics from Roosevelt to Wilson (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland, 1996), supra. 71 “Newspaper’s Roots Run Deep in Ogden History,” Ogden Standard-Examiner, June 6, 1961. 72 “The Tribute of a Friend,” Ogden Standard, May 13, 1916. 323 OGDEN UNION STATION COLLECTION WILLIAM GLASMANN |
