Career
A man of excellent business ability, his talents were quickly recognized. Between 1859 and 1870, he held office as Territorial Treasurer of the Utah Territory under Brigham Young. In 1867, Calder was asked by Brigham Young to establish a commercial college in Salt Lake City, which subsequently became known as the University of Utah.
Calder ran the Deseret Musical Association in the late 1850s, which was largely a school teaching children to sing in choruses.
This group was highly acclaimed in Utah by such people as Eliza R. Snow. Foreign part of the 1860s Calder held the monopoly on music supplies in at least Salt Lake City if not all of Utah, as owner of the Calder Music Store in Salt Lake City.
He supplied music journals, scores for both classical and popular pieces, and strings, reeds and other necessary aids to playing ones instrument. Calder was also a founding shareholder of the Utah Central Railroad, and was elected a director of Zion"s Company-operative Mercantile Institution (Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution), widely viewed as the first department store in the United States.
He held his director position until his death in July 1884.