Governor Thomas

1889-1893, Republican

About the Thomas Administration

Arthur Lloyd Thomas was Utah's 14th territorial governor. President Benjamin Harrison appointed him, and he served from 1889 to 1893. Before serving as governor, Thomas served as Secretary of Utah for more than eight years and was appointed to serve on the Utah Commission. In April of 1889, he was appointed governor of Utah. While governor he approved the free public school law improving education for children and further developed irrigation to open more land for settlement. Governor Thomas unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for the first state governor in 1895. He served as postmaster of Salt Lake from 1898 to 1914 and remained in Salt Lake City until his death in 1924.

Powell, Allan Kent, ed. Utah History Encyclopedia. Territorial Governors, by Miriam B. Murphy. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1994.

"The Governors of Utah," Improvement Era. Vol. IV No. 11 (September 1901).