William Samuel Godbe (1833-1903) - Find a Grave Memorial

Journalist. Born in London, England, he was converted to the LDS Church by Parley Pratt in 1851, he emigrated to what was then called the Territory of Utah, where he opened his Deseret Drug in 1855. Started his publishing career in 1867 with the Utah Magazine, which he co-founded with Elias L.T. Harrison. He was also a strong supporter of the development of mining in the Territory, and published an article endorsing it in his Magazine- for which he was promptly excommunicated from the Church (1869). Both his Utah Magazine and his Deseret Drug were forced out of business by the end of that year, both by Church organized boycotts. Disillusioned now with the Mormon Church, he made a clean break and started his own daily newspaper, the Salt Lake Daily Tribune and Utah Mining Gazette, in April of 1871, to compete with the Church owned Deseret Evening News. By 1883, the title of his newspaper had been shortened to The Salt Lake Tribune, under which name it is published today.

Bio by: Donald W. Ball