Charles Edwin Loose political correspondence, 1897-1928

Charles Edwin Loose became a prominent Utah industrialist and a key figure in the Utah Republican Party at the end of the 19th century and his correspondence reflects this involvement. He was born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1853 to Betsey Jane and Robert Loose. C.E.'s father passed away the following year. Betsey Jane was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and she, with her family, emigrated to Utah in 1860. Once in Utah, the family settled in Payson. However, Charles and his two brothers, Robert Warren and William A., left home in the late 1860s and moved to the mining country of northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. For the next two decades the brothers worked in the mines of this area. Charles also did some prospecting in New Mexico and Mexico.

Loose moved back to Payson in 1887 in order to be closer to his mother, and in 1888 he married Mary Jane Patten. He settled permanently in Provo, Utah. Loose continued to be involved in mining. He had interests in several mines in Utah's Titnic District. He eventually became associated with Provo banker Reed Smoot. Thus, when Smoot ran for the United States Senate in 1902, Loose was a principal backer in the campaign.

Politically, Loose was an active republican. He twice served on the state Republican Committee, and was being a member of the Republican National Committee. In 1912 he was elected to serve as a delegate from Utah to the Republican National Convention. He was also elected to the Utah Senate twice.