Page 226 - 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 years later the interior was
dismantled and removed in anticipation of remodeling that was completed in 2001. Sutton Hall is now

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