Don B. Colton

Don B. Colton

Don Byron Colton (born September 15, 1876 in Mona , Juab County , Utah , † August 1, 1952 in Salt Lake City , Utah) was an American politician . Between 1921 and 1933 he represented the first constituency of the state of Utah in the US House of Representatives .

Early years and political advancement

Don Colton moved with his parents to Uintah County in 1879 , where he attended public schools. Until 1896 he studied at Brigham Young University in Provo . Colton worked as a teacher in 1898, 1901 and 1902. After completing a law degree at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor , he was admitted to the bar in 1905. He then began to work in his new profession in Vernal , Utah. At the same time he was also active in other areas such as cattle and sheep breeding. Between 1905 and 1914 he also worked in Vernal for the federal government's land administration authority.

Colton became a member of the Republican Party . In 1903 he was elected to the Utah House of Representatives; between 1915 and 1917 he was a member of the State Senate . From 1914 to 1924 he was a delegate to all Republican congresses in Utah. In addition, he was in 1904, 1924 and 1928 delegate to the respective Republican National Conventions , at which theodore Roosevelt , Calvin Coolidge and Herbert C. Hoover were each nominated presidential candidates who were then also elected to this office.

Colton in Congress

In 1920, Don Colton was elected to the US House of Representatives for the first constituency of Utah, where he succeeded Milton H. Welling on March 4, 1921 . After several successful re-elections Colton was able to complete a total of six legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1933 . There he was temporarily chairman of the election committee ( Committee on Elections No. 1 ) and a member of the committee for the administration of public land. In the congressional elections of 1932 he was defeated by the Democrat Orrice Abram Murdock . The election result in favor of the Democrats was in line with the national trend this year. The high point of this development was the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as US President .

Another résumé

After his tenure in Congress, Colton returned to working as a lawyer in Vernal. In 1934 he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . In 1937 he moved to Salt Lake City, where he worked both as a lawyer and as a rancher. In 1940 he ran unsuccessfully for the post of governor of Utah. He was also active in the Mormon Church , where he held some leadership roles.

Web links

• Don B. Colton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Don B. Colton in the database of Find a Grave (English)