an office needed skills in drawing, drafting, mathematics and technical classes before they even could apply. One popular method of obtaining those much-needed skills was to enroll in correspondence classes. One of the most popular correspondence schools in the country was the International Correspondence School (ICS) of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Its curriculum included a wide variety of professional fields, and its programs were popular in both the urban and rural communities of Utah. Davis County’s most notable late 19th-century architect-builder, William Allen, took a series of ICS classes in 1897. He later went on to become a licensed architect in 1911. Architects Taylor Woolley and Hyrum Pope also studied via ICS in the early years of this century. Those armed with the rudimentary skills received their practical experience as apprentices in architects’ and engineers’ offices in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Logan. Late 19th-century architects Richard K. A. Kletting and Walter E. Ware trained several generations of architects in their Salt Lake City offices. However, a more steady and lucrative training ground for young designers was in the shops of the West’s railroads. In Utah, the Oregon Short Line was a major employer of young draftspersons. When these apprentices reached their maturity as architects, it was not uncommon for them to receive commissions from railroad employees. With one exception, formally trained architects were rare in the late 19th and early 20th century Utah. The exception, Joseph Don Carlos Young (1855-1938), the last surviving son of Brigham Young, was the first architect in Utah to receive a formal education. He majored in civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, from 1875 to 1879. After graduating, he engaged in railroading and engineering and was a two-term Utah territorial legislator before turning to architecture. In 1887, he succeeded Truman Angell Sr. as LDS Church architect and remained in that position for 50 years. During 1888-89, he taught mechanical and architectural drafting in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Utah. Young was succeeded in this teaching role by William Ward, a stonecarver and sculptor, who turned architect after his return to Utah in 1888. In 1906, Young practiced in partnership with his son, Don Carlos Young Jr. — a partnership that continued until 1915. Joseph Don Carlos Young was also an exception to the late 19th-century architectural community since it was comprised of mostly non-LDS, or “Gentile,” architects from outside Utah Territory. Two of the most respected and most prolific of these professional Gentile architects were Richard K. A. Kletting and Walter E. Ware. Kletting, the son of a German railroad builder, spent his early years in railroad camps. As a young man, during summers, he learned stonecutting, and at 16, he became a junior draftsman in the engineering office of the German railroad. After additional drafting work in a city engineer’s office, he went to Paris to work for a large construction firm. He immigrated to the United States in 1883, visited a number of cities on his trek west, and settled in Salt Lake City, where he was immediately employed. Two years after his arrival, he advertised his profession in the “Salt Lake City Directory for 1885.” He designed large commercial buildings, church buildings for the LDS Church, and schools and residences. His most notable achievement was winning the design competition for the Utah State Capitol Building in 1912. Kletting, somewhat of a loner, was best known for his teaching. Aside from training a large number of Utah’s future architects in his office, he also taught math and other subjects in his home. He was also credited with cataloging the book collection of the Salt Lake City Public Library. He was an avid conservationist, concerned about Utah’s public lands and watershed areas. His interest in conservation was recognized in 1964 when a 12,000-foot peak in the Uinta Mountains was named in his honor. Walter E. Ware, like his colleague, was also associated in his early years with the railroad. His father was an inventor and expert in steam shovel operations who had befriended Sidney Dillon of the Union Pacific railroad. After completing high school, Ware went to work in an architect’s office and later in Union Pacific drafting offices. He eventually designed a number of buildings for Union Pacific. Ware opened an office in Salt Lake City in 1891 and practiced architecture for nearly 60 years, from 1891 to 1949. His early work was residential architecture. However, the scope of his practice changed as did the nature of the designs as he took on various partners. One of his longest partnerships was with Alberto O. Treganza, a Californian influenced by Craftsman architecture and the Midwest’s Prairie School style. His last major partnership, from 1938 to 1949, was with Floyd McClanahan. Kletting and Ware share the title “Dean of Utah Architecture.” Both were known for the wide range of their commissions, their professional ethics and the desire to impart their knowledge to future generations of Utah architects. Both were honored in November 1939 for their professional achievements at a lavish banquet at the Hotel Utah sponsored by fellow architects. Walter Ware also was honored as the first Fellow of the Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Thomas Kearns residence, Neu Hansen 15
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