Bamberger, Simon, 1845-1926

Simon Bamberger (February 27, 1845 – October 6, 1926) was a German-born businessman and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the fourth Governor of Utah from 1917 to 1921. Bamberger retains the distinction of being the first non-Mormon, the first Democrat, as well as the first, and to date only, Jewish Governor of Utah.

Born in Eberstadt, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, he emigrated to the United States at the age of fourteen, first settling in Cincinnati before moving to Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana and St. Louis, Missouri, establishing a garment manufacturing company with his brother in St. Louis. In 1868, Simon obtained employment with the Union Pacific Railroad as manager of the company store at the “front of construction,” where he remained until the first transcontinental railroad was completed at Promentory Point, Utah, in 1869. After getting word that his business had failed, Bamberger moved to the Utah Territory.

In Utah, Bamberger ran two small hotels and then made a fortune by investing in the Centennial Eureka Mine in Juab County as well as in other Utah and Nevada mines. He built the Salt Lake and Ogden Railway as well as the Lagoon resort in Farmington. He served on the Salt Lake City Board of Education from 1898 to 1903 and the state senate from 1903 to 1913. In 1916, pledging to sign a prohibition bill, Bamberger was elected Governor of Utah. During his term as governor, the Democratic-controlled legislature, with Bamberger’s approval, passed such progressive legislation as creating a Public Utilities Commission and passing a Workmen’s Compensation Act to be administered by a new State Industrial Commission, a Corrupt Practices Act, a Labor Organization Act, and a bill implementing the initiative and referendum process were also passed. The governor also signed a statewide prohibition bill and called a special session of the legislature to ratify the national women’s suffrage amendment.

Bamberger declined to run for reelection in 1920 and returned to his business interests. He died in Salt Lake City in 1926 of an apparent heart attack.