May 1995 Blazer

Why the towns of Thurber and Grayson changed their names

THE HISTORY BLAZER 41' E'IYS OF CrTAH'S PAST FROIII THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake City. ITT 84101 ( 801) 533- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3303 Why the Towns of Thurber and Grayson Changed Their Names ORIGINOSF MANY UTAHP LACE NNAME'SA ~ E'EASILRYE COGNIZABLE to most people, even with a limited background in U. S., Utah, and Mormon history. Some names like those given to Piute and Sanpete counties have Native American origins, while others reflect national political figures such as Washington and Fillmore. Many place names like Nephi and Lehi are traceable to Mormon scriptures and reflect the religious convictions of the colonizers. Others such as Brigham City and St. George are named for early Mormon leaders. Two towns, Bicknell in Wayne County and Blanding in San Juan County, both had original names that were also linked to their pioneer pasts, but a wealthy easterner named Thomas Bicknell and his wife Amelia D. Blanding changed all of that. The town of Bicknell was originally named Thurber in honor of Albert King Thurber, a devout Mormon pioneer of Wayne County. Thurber was born April 7, 1826, in Rhode Island and at age 23, bitten by the California gold bug, traveled west in 1849 in search of riches. On his way through Utah, however, he stopped in Salt Lake City where he met some Mormons and decided to abandon his dream of finding gold and join the Saints instead. A few years after settling in Utah, Thurber was selected by the Mormon hierarchy to help pioneer Utah County; he subsequently moved to Spanish Fork where he was appointed bishop and helped build the first meetinghouse there. He was not allowed much time to rest, for he was soon sent on to the new settlement of Richfield in Sevier County. There he was made the ecclesiastical leader over the region and com-mend exploring and settling the surrounding country. He headed expeditions into nearby mountains and valleys in 1873, 1876, and 1881 that ultimately led to the settling of Wayne County. In his various journeys Thurber longingly admired a section of land on the Fremont River in Wayne County and in 1879 settled on it. Others joined him at his chosen spot, and eventually it grew into a quaint little town that residents named Thurber in honor of its prominent pioneer settler. The story of Blanding's original name is similar to that of Thurber's. Blanding rests in a beautiful spot ten miles south of the towering Blue Mountains on the upper end of the White Mesa in southeastern Utah. It was on the south side of the Blue Mountains in 1902 that Mormon colonizer Joseph A. Lyman bought a ranch and temporarily settled his family. He soon opened a post office which he named Grayson after his wife Nellie Grayson Rogers Lyman. In 1905 when Lyman's family relocated to White Mesa to found a new settlement they moved the Grayson post office with them. Residents of the new community agreed to apply the name of the post office to the town and Grayson was born. ( more) Both Thurber and Grayson seemed aptly named, each in honor of one of its pioneer settlers. But all of that qhanged in 1914 when, for undeterminable reasons, Thomas W. Bicknell, a wealthy author, educator, and publisher from Providence, Rhode Island, offered a library of 1,000 volumes to any Utah town willing to rename itself after him. One resident from Thurber, George C. Brinkerhoff, was in the East at that time serving a Mormon mission and approached Bicknell about his offer. Upon returning to Thurber, Brinkerhoff explained Bicknell's proposition to his fellow residents, a majority of whom voted in favor of changing the town name. Townsfolk in Grayson also heard news of Bicknell's offer and made a similar application for the promised library. To satisfy both communities Bicknell eventually m g e d a compromise. He agreed to give Thurber half of the library for taking the name of Bicknell, and Grayson the other half for changing its name to Blanding , his wife's maiden name. Thus, in March 19 15 Gray son officially became Blanding, and in April 1916 . Thurber became Bicknell. The wealthy easterner thereby . . perpetuated both his and his wife's names in Utah forever- or at least until the two towns receive a better offer. Sources: Annie Snow, ed., Rainbow Views: A History of Wayne County ( Springville, 1953); John W. Van Cott, Utah P h Names ( Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990); Charles Kelly, " A Brief Biographical Sketch of Albert King Thurber," typescript, Utah State Historical Society Library; Gary L. Shumway, " Blanding: The Making of a Community," in Allan Kent Powell, ed., Sara Juan County, Utah: People, Resources, and History ( Salt Lake City, 1983); Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who ' s Who in America ( 19 14- 15). THEH ISTORBLYA ZERi s produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone [phone] ( PR)