HISTORICAL WEBER is a name that in- spires, a name that will live in the memory of thou- sands forever, representing a school whose influence is felt the world over. It was due to the leadership and ability of honest, courageous and persevering men that Weber Academy was established, an institution developed from the early Church system of education which was inaugurated in 1888. The following is an extract from a letter sent that year to the presidency of Weber Stake from the First Presidency of the Church: "We feel that the time has arrived when proper education of our children should be taken in hand by us as a people. Religious training is practically excluded from district schools. The perusal of books that we regard as divine is forbidden. Our children, if left to the training they receive in these schools, will grow entirely ignorant of those principles of salvation for which the Latter Day Saints have made many sacrifices. To permit this condition of affairs to exist among us would be criminal. The desire is universally expressed by all thinking people in the Church that we should have schools wherein the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Covenants can be used as text books, and where the principles of our religion may form a part of the teaching of the schools." After receiving this letter with the authorization that accompanied it, President Lewis W. Shurtliff, President of the Weber Stake, met with other Stake officials to consider the matter. The body decided to organize a Board of Education which would establish a Weber Stake Academy. The Board as then organized included Lewis W. Shurtliff, Nils C. Flygare, Charles F. Middleton (Presidency of the Weber Stake); Joseph Stanford of the High Council; Robert McQuarrie, Bishop of the Second Ward; Thomas J. Stevens, Bishop of the Fifth Ward; David McKay, Bishop of Huntsville; and Professor Louis F. Moench, Stake Superintendent of Sunday Schools. The responsibility of establishing a school was rightly placed; for these men, tried in the early experiences and persecutions of the Church, had proved their ability. President Lewis W. Shurtliff, born in Sullivan, Ohio, July 24, 1835, passed through the early trials that came to the Saints. At the age of sixteen he left Council Bluffs with his parents and crossed the plains to Utah, arriving in September, 1851. During the trouble with the Indians here in Weber County, Mr. Shurtliff became a lieutenant in the militia that was raised to defend the settlers. At the age of twenty-three he was called with other men on a colonizing expedition to the Salmon River country in Eastern Oregon. In 1863, he was with Captain Thomas E. Ricks, helping a company of emigrants on their journey to Utah. While on his mission to Great Britain, he successfully pre- sided over the Nottingham and London HISTORICAL conferences, and traveled extensively in England, Wales, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, and Italy, doing faithful missionary work as he went. After returning to Utah he served as Bishop of Plain City until 1883, as Weber County Commissioner for eight years, as a member of the territorial legislature, and as Probate Judge of Weber County. He was a delegate to the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress, and to the National Irrigation Congress. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention, and after Utah became a State, he wis elected to the Senate, where he served for two years. He was also Postmaster of Ogden for four years. It was in 1883 that Mr. Shurtliff was called to be president of the Weber Stake, which position he held until his death. Charles F. Middleton, another of the founders, was born February 24, 1834, in Washington County, Illinois. He helped with the building of Nauvoo, and shared the joys and sorrows that came to the Saints in their journey to Utah. After arriving in Ogden, he accompanied President Shurtliff on the colonization mission to the Salmon River country, Oregon. After returning from that State, he served successfully in a number of civil position in Ogden. Between August 7, 1871, and January 21, 1883, he labored as second counselor to David H. Peery in the Weber Stake, and on the latter date was chosen First Counselor to President Shurtliff. He filled a short mission to Illinois, Mis souri, and Iowa; at all times he worked for the betterment of humanity. Nils Christian Flygare was properly titled when the name Christian was given him. He was born in Sweden, February 3, 1841. While in his native country, he labored three years as a missionary, traveling extensively throughout Sweden. After being re- leased from his position as president of the Stockholm Conference, in 1864, he immigrated to the United States with a large company, and arrived in Salt Lake City in September of the same year. Shortly afterward he moved to Ogden, where he engaged in the work of contracting and building. In 1874, President Brigham Young called him on a mission to Scandinavia where he again became president of the Stockholm Conference, serving for one year, then for two years as president of the Scandinavian Mission. On his return he conducted a company of emigrants from Liverpool to Utah. Willing men are always in demand: Elder Flygare was called again to preside over the Scandinavian Mission after one year of rest at home. During the two years he held this position, he assisted Elder A. W. Carlson in translating and publishing the Book of Mormon in the Swedish language. On returning, he again led a company of immigrants to Utah. Six years later (1885), he was called a third time to preside over the Scandinavian Mission which mission resulted in the conversion of many people. Between 1877 and 1883, he was Bishop of the Fourth Ward; and from 1883 until the