David O. Calder
David Orson Calder had excellent business ability and used his talents in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after he joined the Church in 1840. He was born on June 18, 1823, in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. He was educated for business during his service at the Union Canal Company and was appointed manager of the stations of the service between Edinburgh and Glagow. He, his six siblings, and their widowed mother immigrated to Utah in 1851. They were detained in Ohio for two years due to the death of his eldest sister.
He began work as a bookkeeper with the Trustee-in-Trust of the Church of Jesus Christ in 1855 and was appointed chief clerk in 1857. He organized the system of accounts and records in each department of the Church. He held the office of Territorial Treasurer from 1859 to 1870 under Brigham Young. After serving as a missionary in Scotland, he was appointed business manager and managing editor of the Deseret News. Brigham Young asked him to establish a commercial college in Salt Lake City, which eventually became part of the University of Utah.
Calder had an interest in music and ran the Deseret Musical Association, which taught children to sing in choruses. His Calder Music Store in Salt Lake City supplied music journals, classical and popular scores, and strings and reeds for instruments.
He was also a founding shareholder of the Utah Central Railroad, and director of Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution. He served as a city councilor in Salt Lake City from November 1875 to February 1880, when he was elected to the office of an alderman of the city.
Calder died on July 3, 1884.
