Horace Gibson Whitney
Born 6 Jan. 1858 in Salt Lake City.[1] Son of Horace Kimball Whitney and Mary Cravath.[2] Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1866.[3] Chairman and officer of the Wasatch Literary Association, 1874–1878.[4] Assisted EBW with business dealings, 1878.[5] Married Marion Mumford Beatie, 10 Jan. 1884.[6] Directed the Salt Lake City Eighteenth Ward choir, 1885–1920.[7] Active in many financial, industrial, and civic organizations, 1885–1920.[8] Manager of the Home Dramatic Club, 1889–1894.[9] Editor of the Daily Herald, 1890.[10] Secretary, treasurer, and member of the board of directors of the Heber J. Grant Company, 1890–1894.[11] Represented the Newel K. Whitney family at gatherings, 1891–1904.[12] Business manager for the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir, 1896.[13] Secretary for the general Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association, 1897.[14] Member of the organizing committee for the Historical Society in Utah, 1897.[15] Committee member for the Pioneer Jubilee celebration, 1897.[16] Business manager of the Deseret News, 1 Jan. 1899–15 Apr. 1920.[17] Authored The Drama in Utah, 1915.[18] Served on the Church’s General Music Committee, 1920.[19] Died 25 Oct. 1920 in Salt Lake City.[20]
[1] Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Eighteenth Ward, 1907–1912, p. 54, Horace G. Whitney, CR 375 8, box 1854, folder 1, image 341/648 (limited access), CHL. “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. H, 1872–1878, p. 49, line 15, Horace Gibson Whitney, 16 June 1873, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 18 Nov. 2019), Horace Gibson Whitney (KW8M-Y6K).
[2] Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Eighteenth Ward, 1907–1912, p. 54, Horace G. Whitney, CR 375 8, box 1854, folder 1, image 341/648 (limited access), CHL. “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. H, 1872–1878, p. 49, line 15, Horace Gibson Whitney, 16 June 1873, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL.
[3] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake Temple, vol. H, 1872–1878, p. 49, line 15, Horace Gibson Whitney, 16 June 1873, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL.
[4] Wasatch Literary Association, Minute Book, 1874–1878, 1890, vol. 1, pp. 2, 9, 159, 161, 166, MS 2689, CHL.
[5] EBW, Diary, 3 Jan. 1878,
[6] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. M, 1883–1889, p. 20, Horace Gibson Whitney and Marion Mumford Beatie, 10 Jan. 1884, microfilm 183402, DGS 5270325 (restricted access), FHL. “Hymneal,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 10 Jan. 1884.
[7] “Passing Events: The Death of Horace G. Whitney,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1920, 182.
[8] “Passing Events: The Death of Horace G. Whitney,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1920, 182. “Funeral Services for H. G. Whitney to Be Held Thursday in Assembly Hall,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 26 Oct. 1920, 1.
[9] “Dramatic and Lyric,” Sunday Herald (Salt Lake City), 14 Sept. 1890, 2. Horace G. Whitney, The Drama in Utah: The Story of the Salt Lake Theatre (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1915), 38, back cover.
[10] “Dramatic and Lyric,” Sunday Herald (Salt Lake City), 14 Sept. 1890, 2.
[11] Heber J. Grant and Company, Minute Books, 1888–1953, pp. 399 (1888), pp. 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 33, 245 (1889), p. 166, (1890), MS 5622, CHL. “Elected Officers,” Salt Lake Herald, 1 May 1895, 7.
[12] “Relief Society Reception,” Woman’s Exponent, Mar. 1912, 40:50. Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 457. EBW, Diary, 6 Jan. 1891; 23 May 1900; 24 Dec. 1904.
[13] “The Choir in ’Frisco,” Salt Lake Herald-Republic, 17 Apr. 1896, 8.
[14] “Improvement Associa’ns,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 19 July 1897, 5.
[15] “Historical Society,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 21 July 1897, 5.
[16] “People: Backstage with 1897 Jubilee,” Salt Lake Tribune, 13 July 1947, 23.
[17] “The News Today,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 17 June 1899, 9. “Horace G. Whitney Leaves News Desk,” Salt Lake Herald, 17 Apr. 1920, 9. EBW, Diary, 14 Nov. 1898.
[18] Horace G. Whitney, The Drama in Utah: The Story of the Salt Lake Theatre (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1915).
[19] General Music Committee, “Music Committee Minutes, 1920–1969,” vol. 1, Sept. 1920–Dec. 1940, pp. 3–6, CR 108 8, CHL.
[20] “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 30 Apr. 2020); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 1879/350 (1920), Horace Gibson Whitney. “Funeral Services for H. G. Whitney to Be Held Thursday in Assembly Hall,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 26 Oct. 1920, 1.