WILLIAM J. JENSEN.
WILLIAM J. JENSEN.
WILLIAM J. JENSEN.
William J. Jensen, timekeeper for the Diamond Coal & Coke Company at Diamondville, Lincoln county, and manager for the lumberyards owned and controlled by that company, is actuated in his business career by a spirit of progressiveness that falters not in the face of obstacles and difficulties but regards all impediments in his path as an impetus for renewed effort on his part. A native son of Utah, he was born in Clarkston, Cache county, July 31, 1871, a son of Ole A. and Margaret Ann (Jolley) Jensen. The father, who now resides at Fairview, Lincoln county, Wyoming, is a native of Denmark and came to the new world during the latter ’60s, making his way direct to Utah, where he carried on general farming and ranching. In 1893, however, he became a resident of Lincoln county, Wyoming, and has since remained within its borders. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and in local affairs he has been very active, doing all in his power to advance the success of his party and extend its influence. At the present time he is serving as road supervisor. His wife was born in England and came to the United States in the early ’70s with her parents, who established their home in Franklin, Idaho, becoming pioneers of that section of the country. To Mr. and Mrs. Ole A. Jensen were born eleven children, nine of whom survive.
William J. Jensen was the third in the family and acquired a public school education in Clarkston, after which he continued his studies in the Brigham Young College at Logan, Utah, being 2 graduate from that institution with the class of 1890. His early life up to that time had been spent upon the home farm and in the year indicated he started out to earn his own living, having attained his majority. He entered the educational field and taught his first term of school at Fairview. He devoted his life to the profession of teaching in addition to farming and ranching for a period of eighteen years and proved one of the most capable educators of Lincoln and of Uinta counties, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He constantly studied progressive educational methods and readily adapted any new ideas which he believed would prove of substantial worth and value in promoting the interests of the public schools. He came to Wyoming with his bride in October, 1892, at which time he settled at Fairview, where he successfully engaged in ranching, in merchandising and in the creamery business. He continued his residence upon a homestead there until March, 1913, when business changes necessitated his removal to Diamondville, where he has since resided. Throughout the intervening period he has been continuously in the employ of the Diamond Coal & Coke Company as timekeeper and general manager of the lumberyards owned by the company, having leased his homestead property. He is a man of good business judgment, watching carefully every opportunity pointing to success, and as the years have gone on he has made for himself a creditable place in business circles. He started out a poor boy and his success is due to his own efforts. When he went to college he met his tuition with money that he had earned. He had rented a farm near the old home place and in addition to working on his father’s farm he cultivated this rented land. He also engaged in keeping a set of books, devoting his time to that work Saturdays and also in the evenings. It was in this way that he earned the money necessary to provide his education. Since 1904 he has served as an expert on machinery and installation and operation with the Chicago Flexible Shaft Company. In early manhood he was traveling representative for that company, which he represented in every state west of the Mississippi. He also traveled for the company in Canada and Mexico, assisting in the work of installing and operating machinery. He displays expert knowledge and ability as a machinist and his work in this direction has been most commendable.
On the 30th of September, 1892, Mr. Jensen was married in Logan, Utah. to Miss Clarissa May Ames, a native of Portage, Utah, and a daughter of Clark Carter and Frances Jane (Beaven) Ames. In the paternal line she comes of English ancestry, the records of the family being traced back through seven generations to William Ames, who settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1640. He was born at Benton, Somerset, England, and died November t, 1653. Mrs. Jensen’s parents were pioneer settlers of Utah. Her father was a blacksmith by trade and also engaged in ranching and his dual business interests were quite successfully conducted. Both parents of Mrs. Jensen have passed away, their last days being spent in Lincoln county. They had settled in Fairview about 1895 and were widely and favorably known in that part of the state. To Mr. and Mrs. Jensen have been born the following children, six of whom are yet living. Frances May, born July 22, 1893, at Perry, Bannock county, Idaho, is now the wife of Sidney Loveland, a resident of Fish Haven, Idaho. William Oliver. born in Fairview, Wyoming, August 11, 1895, married Miss Hope Caldwell and resides in Diamondville. Ivin Clark, born July 22, 1897, at Fairview, is a resident of Diamondville. Leland Earl, born in Fairview, October 22, 1899, died Harold, born June 15, 1906, died on the 3d of July of that year. Rolla Mondell, born September 8, 1910, is at home. Fay, born in Diamondville, April 29, 1916. completes the family. There are also three grandchildren; Earl Loveland, born in Fairview, June 9, 1914; Delbert Loveland, born in Fish Haven, Idaho, August 19, 1916; and Foster Lamont Jensen, born in Fairview, April 24, 1917.
Mr. Jensen is a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints and is bishop of Diamondville ward. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He has always taken an active part in local and state politics and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He stands for progress and improvement along civic and educational lines and in 1909 he was elected to the state legislature as a member of the tenth Wyoming assembly, in which he served with distinction as a member of the committees on education and house records. He was likewise chairman of the committee on corporations, and his work as a member of the general assembly was performed with credit and honor to himself and with satisfaction to his constituents. In the field of political life and of commercial activity he has won distinction and is today numbered among the leading, influential and honored residents of Diamondville. He possesses the enterprising spirit of the west, which has been the dominant factor in producing the wonderful development of this section of the country. Brooking no obstacles that honest effort can overcome, he has steadily worked his way upward until, having long since left the ranks of the many, he stands today among the successful few. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, speak of him in terms of warm regard and the corporation which he represents regards him as a most valuable asset to its business equipment. In the management of the interests under his care he has displayed methods that commend him to the judgment of all and his executive ability is pronounced.