American Party (1904)

American Party
Founded	1904 (1904)
Dissolved	1911 (1911)
Split from	Republican Party
Preceded by	Liberal Party (not legal predecessor)
Newspaper	The Salt Lake Tribune (de facto)
Ideology	American nationalism Anti-clericalism Anti-Mormonism Liberalism Classical liberalism Republicanism
Political position	Syncretic
Politics of Utah Elections

The American Party was a political party in Utah from 1904 to 1911. It was designed to counter the influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Utah politics and is often described as an anti-Mormon party. ^[1]

Creation

The American Party was founded in 1904 by supporters of Thomas Kearns. Kearns was a U.S. Senator from Utah, mining and railroad magnate, banker and newspaper owner, including the owner of the Salt Lake Tribune ; under his ownership, the Tribune became a harsh critic of the LDS Church. In 1904, Utah's junior senator, LDS Church Apostle Reed Smoot, convinced the state legislature to elect George Sutherland to replace Kearns. Kearns was outraged and was convinced that Smoot had orchestrated his removal because of the Tribune's opposition to the LDS Church. Kearns's supporters formed the American Party, which was an attempt to revive Utah's 19th-century anti-Mormon Liberal Party. ^[2] Though not publicly among the party's organizers, Kearns was influential in the party. ^[3] As an editor for the Salt Lake Tribune , former United States Senator Frank J. Cannon also played an important promotional role for the party.

Activities

The party attracted a variety of non-Mormon, lapsed Mormon, and ex-Republican politicians and was endorsed by the Salt Lake Tribune. Between 1905 and 1911, the party controlled the municipal governments of Ogden and Salt Lake City. ^[2] In 1905, party co-founder Ezra Thompson was elected mayor of Salt Lake City, with fellow party members W. Mont Ferry, Arthur J. Davis, Lewis D. Martin, and Martin E. Mulvey elected as city councilors. ^[3] (Thompson had previously served as a Republican mayor of Salt Lake City from 1900 to 1903.) Thompson resigned in 1907 and he was replaced by new party leader John S. Bransford, who was re-elected in 1907 and was mayor until 1911. ^[3]

In 1908, the American Party ran John A. Street for governor of Utah. ^[4] Central platforms of the party were that the leaders of the LDS Church were still participating in plural marriage and had no intention of abiding by the 1890 Manifesto. ^[4] The party also alleged that the LDS Church monopolized lines of business within Utah and that the state needed a more vigorous enforcement of the separation between church and state. ^[4]

In 1909, the party opposed a state bill that would have instituted Prohibition in Utah. The LDS Church did not formally support the prohibition bill, but many of its top leaders did.

Disbanding

The party, although reasonably successful for ten years, was disbanded after the 1911 elections in which the party performed disappointingly. ^[2]

Electoral history

Federal Elections

U.S. Representative
Year	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place
1904	Ogden Hiles	6,796	6.68 / 100	3rd
1906	Thomas Weir	11,411	13.58 / 100	3rd
1908	Charles I. Douglas	13,484	12.10 / 100	3rd
1910	Allen T. Sanford	14,042	13.73 / 100	3rd

State Elections

Governor						Secretary of Stae
Year	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place		Year	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place
1904	William M. Ferry Jr.	7,959	7.82 / 100	3rd		1904	Walter James	7,801	7.69 / 100	3rd
1908	John A. Street	11,472	10.26 / 100	3rd		1904	E.A. Littlefield	13,960	12.48 / 100	3rd
Attorney General						State Auditor
Year	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place		Year	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place
1904	Samuel McDowall	7,336	7.22 / 100	3rd		1904	Lewis B. Rogers	7,656	7.55 / 100	3rd
1908	J. Walcott Thompson	13,784	12.32 / 100	3rd		1908	George W. Parks	14,071	12.58 / 100	3rd
Treasurer						Superintendent of Public Instruction
Year	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place		Year	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place
1904	W.M. Armstrong	7,880	7.76 / 100	3rd		1904	F.R. Christensen	7,529	7.41 / 100	3rd
1908	Henry Welsh	14,112	12.63 / 100	3rd		1908	George B. Sweazey	14,900	13.25 / 100	3rd

Utah Senate							Utah House of Representatives
Election	Leader	Votes		Seats		Control	Election	Leader	Votes		Seats		Control
		No.	Share	No.	±				No.	Share	No.	±
1904	N/A	6,480	9.60% [a]	0 / 29		Republican	1904	N/A	6,573	6.45% [b]	0 / 75		Republican
	Candidate Performance 6th District ▌Geo. L. Nye - 6,480 votes - (19.91%)                   ▌G. Jay Gibson - 6,410 votes - (19.70%)                   ▌H.D. Niles - 6,359 votes - (19.54%)							Candidate Performance Salt Lake ▌N.D. Corser - 6,573 votes - (20.22%)                 ▌John J. Stewart - 6,557 votes - (20.17%)                 ▌F.M. Benedict - 6,553 votes - (20.16%)                 ▌J.E. Darmer - 6,535 votes - (20.10%)                 ▌W.J. Barrette - 6,526 votes - (20.07%)                 ▌A.V. Taylor - 6,523 votes - (20.06%)                 ▌J.W. Cahoon - 6,468 votes - (19.89%)                 ▌K.H.P. Nordberg - 6,456 votes - (19.86%)                 ▌R.G. Sleater - 6,445 votes - (19.82%)                 ▌L.N. Lightfoot - 6,444 votes - (19.82%)
1906	N/A	10,458	16.22% [c]	0 / 29		Republican	1906	N/A	10,450	12.50% [d]	0 / 75		Republican
	Candidate Performance 6th District ▌Allen T. Sanford - 10,458 votes - (34.97%)                   ▌James W. Cahoon - 10,408 votes - (34.80%)							Candidate Performance Salt Lake ▌M.H. Wilson - 10,450 votes - (34.50%)                 ▌George M. Sullivan - 10,436 votes - (34.94%)                 ▌Thomas Watkins - 10,436 votes - (34.94%)                 ▌Arthur A. Sweet - 10,432 votes - (34.93%)                 ▌Douglas Rodeback - 10,419 votes - (34.88%)                 ▌J.N. Spalding - 10,417 votes - (34.88%)                 ▌Tony Jacobson - 10,416 votes - (34.87%)                 ▌B.B. Heywood - 10,411 - (34.86%)                 ▌R.G. Sleater - 10,377 votes - (34.74%)                 ▌A.J. Charon - 10,344 votes - (34.63%)
1908	N/A	14,112	18.80% [e]	0 / 29		Republican	1908	N/A	13,805	12.37% [f]	0 / 75		Republican
	Candidate Performance 4th District ▌J.H. Knaus - 257 votes - (6.06%) 5th District ▌W.D. Sutton - 284 votes - (5.33%) 6th District ▌George J. Gibson - 13,198 votes - (33.62%)                   ▌Ed. B. Critchlow - 13,171 votes - (33.55%)                   ▌Wm. W. Armstrong - 13,132 votes - (33.45%)							Candidate Performance Salt Lake ▌Albert S. Martin - 13,249 votes - (33.73%)                 ▌Henry Catrow - 13,207 votes - (33.62%)                 ▌Harlen S. McCann - 13,200 votes - (33.60%)                 ▌J.N. Spalding - 13,198 votes - (33.60%)                 ▌James McKinney - 13,192 votes - (33.58%)                 ▌Eugene W. Kelly - 13,191 votes - (33.58%)                 ▌Arthur A. Sweet - 13,189 votes - (33.57%)                 ▌Walter W. Little - 13,185 votes - (33.56%)                 ▌Norman D. Corser - 13,160 votes - (33.50%)                 ▌Clifford J. Crabtree - 13,155 votes - (33.49%) Summit    ▌David Baxter - 262 votes - (8.27%) Weber      ▌Albert F. Richey - 294 votes - (2.81%)                 ▌B.G. Knoth - 289 votes - (2.76%)                 ▌W.W. Davis - 275 votes - (2.63%)                 ▌F.A. Shiells - 265 votes - (2.53%)

1. ^ As some Electoral Districts elected multiple candidates, and the total number of ballots cast within the District was not recorded within presently used sources, the vote displayed here is inferred.

Municipal Elections

Mayoralties
Year	Municipality	Nominee	# votes	% votes	Place
1905	Salt Lake City, UT	Ezra Thompson	8,733 [5]	40.42 / 100	Elected
1907	Salt Lake City, UT	John S. Bransford	11,774 [6]	48.45 / 100	Re-elected
1909	Salt Lake City, UT	John S. Bransford	13,773 [7]	51.76 / 100	Re-elected
1911	Salt Lake City, UT	John S. Bransford	10,915 [8]	42.02 / 100	2nd

See also

• Anti-Mormon Party (Illinois)

Notes

1. Nancy Capace, Encyclopedia of Utah (Somerset Publishers, 2001) p. 120
2. Dean L. May (1987). Utah: A People's History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, ISBN   978-0-87480-284-9) p. 162.
3. Jeffrey D. Nichols (2002). Prostitution, Polygamy, and Power: Salt Lake City, 1847–1918 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, ISBN   978-0-252-02768-0) pp. 137–138.
4. "Anti-Mormon State Ticket: American Party Charges that Polygamy is Still Practiced", The New York Times , 1908-09-30.
5. "1905 Salt Lake City Municipal Election Results". The Salt Lake Herald. November 8, 1905.
6. "1907 Salt Lake City Municipal Election Results". The Salt Lake Herald. November 13, 1905.
7. "1909 Salt Lake City Municipal Election Results". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 9, 1905.
8. "1911 Salt Lake City Municipal Election Results". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 8, 1905.

1. Of 67,472 votes
2. Of 101,905 votes
3. Of 64,482 votes
4. Of 83,606 votes
5. Of 75,060 votes
6. Of 111,570 votes