Page 235 - PGM Compendium

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Of
M⸫W⸫ William J. Sutton

1914-1915

Most Worshipful Brother William James Sutton was born in
Lapeer County, Michigan on September 29, 1865 and
graduated from the Michigan State Normal School in Fenton
in 1886. After his graduation, he moved to Cheney,
Washington where he was instrumental in setting up the
Cheney School District in 1887 as well as the State Normal
School (now Eastern Washington University) at Cheney in
1889. Sutton served as the first vice-principal of the Normal
School, and was then the principal starting in January 1892.
The Normal School, which started as the Benjamin P.
Cheney Academy in 1882, served as public school for the
city of Cheney until the establishment of the Public School
in 1887. In 1889, with the statehood of Washington, the Academy was offered to the State of
Washington as the State Normal School.

After resigning from the State Normal School in February 1897, he married Nellie Hutchinson,
the former principal of the Training School at the Normal School and he purchased a farm on the
western edge of town.

Our Brother would be brought to Masonic Light on March 3, 1890, in Temple Lodge, No. 42, a
man of sincere heart, and honest conviction, and generous impulse. By these qualities he rose
among his brethren and gained distinction wheresoever he went, until rising step by step in his
own Lodge and community he stood in 1914, as Grand Master of Masons in Washington and a
citizen distinguished in the political life of his state.

Sutton was first elected to the Washington State Senate in 1913, where he pushed through an
appropriation of $300,000 to the Normal School over the veto of Governor Ernest Lister. The
appropriation was used to replace the administration building lost in the 1912 fire with what would
become the prominent Showalter Hall on the campus of Eastern Washington University. Other
accomplishments as a politician include saving the State College from being demoted to a trade
school.

After retiring from the Senate in 1932, he continued to farm and act as a prominent citizen of
Cheney until his death on December 22, 1940. His legacy endures on the campus of Eastern
Washington University.

Sutton Hall was completed in 1923 and was the first men's dormitory on campus. In the 1970s,
Sutton Hall was used as a residence for armed services veterans, many of whom had recently
returned from the conflict in Vietnam. Around 1978 it ceased operation as a dormitory and a few