The W. W. & W. B. Gardner, Inc. Records, 1948-1956

A Register of the Collection at the
Utah State Historical Society
The machine-readable finding aid for this collection was created by the Collections Management staff, Utah State Historical Society.

Utah State Historical Society
Salt Lake City, Utah

Copyright, 2005, Utah State Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Reproduction, storage or transmittal of this work, or any part of it, in any form or by any means, for commercial purposes, is prohibited without prior authorization of the Utah State Historical Society. This work may be used for scholarly and other non-commercial use provided that the Utah State Historical Society is acknowledged as the creator and copyright holder.
Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Summary Description
Repository:Utah State Historical Society
Call number:Mss B 1630
Creator: W. W. Gardner
Title:W. W. & W. B. Gardner, Inc. Records, 1948-1956
Quantity:.25 lin. ft. (1 box)
Note: The materials in the collection are originals.
Abstract: The collection includes brochures, statements and correspondence from Madsen Iron Works to Wilford Woodruff Gardner's construction company. Also included is the record of a lawsuit between W. W. Gardner and Gordon A. Leonard.

Topics:
Contractors--Utah

Persons:
Gardner, Wilford B., 1920-1956
Gardner, Wilford Woodruff, 1885-1978

Organizations:
W. W. Gardner Construction Company
Madsen Iron Works
W. W. & W. B. Gardner, Inc.

Places:
Salt Lake City, Utah

Form or Genre:
Correspondence, brochures, statements, legal documents.
Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Background

Background Note

W. W. & W. B. Gardner, Inc. was a company owned by Wilford Woodruff Gardner and Wilford Butler Gardner, father and son.
Wilford Woodruff Gardner was born 17 May 1885 in West Jordan, Utah. He received his B. S. degree from Utah Agricultural College in Logan, Utah and his Master's degree from Oregon State College. Gardner was an instructor of Civil Engineering at Oregon State. For six years he was Assistant State Road Engineer for the Utah State Road Commission. Gardner also spent time as an engineer for mining companies and the Pittsburgh Potash Company in 1919. Gardner formed Christensen Jacobs Gardner, a contracting company, which later evolved to W. W. & W. B. Gardner, Inc.
Gardner married Annie (Tess) Gray Butler on 17 December 1913. Their son, Wilford Butler, was born 29 May 1920 in Salt Lake City. He married Barbara Shurtliff on 9 October 1941. Together, the family ran W. W. & W. B. Gardner Inc., with Wilford W. as president, Barbara as vice-president, and Annie as secretary-treasurer.
At the age of 36, Wilford B. died tragically of a heart attack while taking a shower at his home. His wife, Barbara, was left to tend six small children. Her extended family network helped Barbara with the children, and two years after her husband's death she opened Design & Decor with her sister, Virginia. The business evolved into Alfa Lite, which flourished until Barbara closed the shop in 2003.
Annie (Tess) Gray Butler Gardner died 28 March 1976 in Salt Lake City. Wilford Woodruff Gardner died two years later on 14 November 1978.
Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Scope and Content

The collection includes brochures, statements and correspondence from Madsen Iron Works to Wilford Woodruff Gardner's construction company. Also included is the record of a lawsuit between W. W. Gardner and Gordon A. Leonard.

Series Descriptions

Correspondence
Legal Documents
Equipment
Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation:

W. W. & W. B. Gardner, Inc. Records, 1948-1956, Utah State Historical Society.

Acquisition Information:

Received as field collection by Sharon Odekirk, 24 January 2001.

Restrictions on Use

The W. W. & W. B. Gardner, Inc. Records are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.

Processing Information:

Collection processed by Melissa Ferguson, 2005

Finding aid compiled by Melissa Ferguson, 2005

Finding aid edited by Linda Thatcher, 2005

Collection cataloged by Linda Thatcher, 2005

Finding aid encoded for the World Wide Web by Craig Ringgenberg, 2005

Sources:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family Search for Wilford Butler Gardner. Available at www.familysearch.org, accessed May 2005.

Obituary, Wilford Butler Gardner, Salt Lake Tribune, 25 September 1956.

Obituary, Wilford Woodruff Gardner, Salt Lake Tribune, 16 November 1978.

Polk Salt Lake City Directories, 1948-1963.

Separations

Eleven blueprints have been separated from the collection and are stored with the blueprints.
Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Container list

Box

Folder

Contents

Correspondence

1

1

1952

1

2

1953

1

3

1955

1

4

1956

Box

Folder

Contents

Legal Documents

1

5

Gordon A. Leonard Bankruptcy, 1948-1953 [Vault]

Box

Folder

Contents

Equipment

1

6

Madsen Iron Works Construction Machinery Brochures, 1950

1

7

Instructions and Parts Book for Symons Type F Screens, 1953

1

8

Madsen Iron Works, Spare Parts List, Madsen 3000-lb. Plant #217, 1953

1

9

Madsen Iron Works Equipment Brochure, 1955

1

10

Quotation: Madsen Low Pressure Air-Oil Burner Unit, 1956