USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
D
A. D. KELLEY
98
HISTORY OF WYOMING
gratifying success. He is also manager of the National Brokerage Company, is president of the Plymouth Rock Oil Company and vice president of the Cheyenne Building & Loan Association, and has been a member of its board since its organization or for over seventeen years .. The last named organization has done much for the improvement and upbuilding of Cheyenne and Mr. Kelley may well be proud of his connection with it. Through this means many have been able to gain homes which otherwise they would probably not have secured and the stability and substantial growth of Cheyenne has been greatly augmented in this way.
On the 11th of February, 1878, Mr. Kelley was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Moran and to them have been born the following children: Frank A., who died at the age of twenty-seven years; Ed. J., who is manager of the retail Kelley Mercantile Company ; Grace G .; Mrs. Flora M. Ott, wife of Julius F. Ott, manager of the wholesale house of the Kelley Mercantile Company; and Mrs. Hazel J. Hutchison, wife of James Hutchison.
Mr. Kelley votes with the republican party and has been quite prominent in its ranks, serving as city treasurer of Cheyenne, as sheriff of Laramie county in 1891 and 1892 and as a member of the territorial legislature in 1884, before the admission of Wyoming into the Union. In 1893 he was chosen to repre- sent his district in the state legislature for a two years' term, and was reelected in 1895 and served to 1897. He was speaker of the house during the last session in which connection he rendered rulings that were strictly fair and impartial. He was identified with much constructive legislation and he has always stood for progress and improvement in public affairs, taking an active interest in all that pertains to the welfare of city, state, and nation. Evidence thereof is the fact that he is chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee, having done important and re- sultant work in this connection. Fraternally he is a Mason of high rank, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He has membership in the Industrial Club and for eight years was president of the old Commercial Club. He is a broad-minded man of big ideas, unfaltering in enterprise, determined in purpose and actuated at all times by marked devotion to the general good.
HORACE R. CHRISTMAS.
Horace R. Christmas, of Kemmerer, has figured prominently in connection with law practice and with political affairs in Lincoln county and is now a member of the law firm of H. E. & H. R. Christmas, enjoying an extensive practice at the bar of his district.
He was born in Grand Haven, Michigan, January 28, 1882, and is a son of Horace E. and Margaret J. (Leggett) Christmas. The father was a native of Alton, England, and in young manhood crossed the Atlantic to the new world. He had pursued his early law studies in England and he continued his prepara- tion for the bar after becoming a resident of Michigan, being admitted to prac- tice in that state and later in Wyoming. He has since been very prominent in legal circles in Wyoming and is numbered among the representative and honored lawyers of Lincoln county. He has one of the largest and finest law libraries to be found in his portion of the state and has well appointed law offices. His practice has always been of an important character and has constantly grown and developed with the settlement of this section of the state. He has received the appointment of United States commissioner and is filling the position at the present time in connection with his professional activities and duties. For ten years after his removal to the west he was in the service of the Union Pacific Coal Company at Rock Springs, Wyoming, which position he resigned to accept that of assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Rock Springs.
99
HISTORY OF WYOMING
He acted in that capacity until 1894, when he was admitted to the bar of Wyom- ing and entered upon the practice of his chosen profession. In October, 1898, he took up his abode in Kemmerer and upon the incorporation of the city was chosen city attorney. He also became city attorney of Diamondville upon its incorporation.
Mr. Christmas has figured prominently in connection with the Wyoming National Guard and has been very active in military circles. He holds a com- mission with the rank of colonel. Colonel Christmas was married in Michi- gan to Miss Margaret J. Leggett, of Grand Haven, and they became the par- ents of eight children, of whom Horace R. of this review is the eldest. The others are: J. A., living in Kemmerer; C. A., who is engaged in the drug business in Kemmerer; Mrs. W. J. Witherspoon, whose husband is a hard- ware merchant of Kemmerer; and Margaret, Marjorie, Frank M. and Cornelia, all of whom are at home.
In his boyhood days Horace R. Christmas was a pupil in the schools of Rock Springs, Wyoming, and continued his education under private instruc- tion until he entered the University of Wyoming, while subsequently he became a student in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. There he pursued his law course and was graduated with the class of 1908. He then returned to his father's home in Kemmerer and entered into partnership with his father under the present firm style of H. E. & H. R. Christmas. They rank with the leading attorneys of Wyoming. The young man had the benefit of the experience and training of his father and thus started upon his professional career under exceptionally favorable circumstances. They are both members of the Wyoming Bar Association and of the American Bar Association.
On the 12th of September. 1917, Mr. Christmas was united in marriage to Miss Eugenia Stayner, of Salt Lake City. a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Stayner, who are still residents of Salt Lake City. The father is a well known instructor in music and a prominent composer, having published many fine compositions.
Fraternally Mr. Christmas is a thirty-second degree Mason and is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Rock Springs. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he was called upon to represent his district in the state legislature in 1911. He has also served as district court commissioner and his record is in harmony with that of his honored father, who has long figured as one of the prominent citizens of Wyoming. The firm ranks among the foremost lawyers of the state and the record of the young man has added new lustre to an untarnished family name.
CHARLES D. SPALDING.
Charles D. Spalding, cashier of the Albany County National Bank at Laramie, is one of the best known men in banking circles in southern Wyoming, and while but little past middle age has been for more than a quarter of a century identified with the city's financial institutions, thus acquiring a business prestige as well as a personal acquaintance equalled by very few men in Laramie.
He was born in Bloomington, Illinois, February 25, 1872, a son of Charles W. and Annetta (Dawson) Spalding, who were natives of Kentucky and of Illinois respectively. Soon after the Civil war the father removed to Illinois, having pre- viously served through the war as a member of an Illinois volunteer regiment, in which he made an exceptionally good record for fidelity and bravery. He was afterward a well known government employe in the United States post office at Bloomington, Ill. He became a pioneer of Laramie, served as county clerk of Albany county and his last days were passed here. He was born in 1835 and had therefore reached the age of seventy-three years when in 1908 he was called to the home beyond. His widow is still living and is a resident of Laramie. They
100
HISTORY OF WYOMING
were the parents of three children: George Spalding, who resides in Omaha, Nebraska; Irene Spalding, who is deceased; and Charles D., of this review.
The last named was the eldest of the family and was a little lad of but four summers when in 1876 his parents removed to Laramie, becoming pioneer citi- zens here. He attended the public schools of Laramie and afterward entered the preparatory department of the University of Wyoming, subsequent to which time he made his initial step in the business world. For a time he was in the employ of his father, who was county clerk of Albany county, and in 1890 he became identified with the banking business, entering the Wyoming National Bank, with which institution he was connected until 1895. He was afterward with the First National Bank until 1900 in various departments and became con- nected with the Albany County Bank as assistant cashier, being elected to the position of cashier in 1903. He has capably filled this office ever since and has come to be regarded as one of the ablest men in his capacity in the city. He is a courteous and obliging official, extending the assistance of the bank wherever possible but never exceeding the point where the interests of depositors or stock- holders might be jeopardized. He is thoroughly familiar with every phase of banking and his work in this connection has done much for the success of the institution.
On the 7th of September, 1898, in Laramie, Mr. Spalding was united in mar- riage to Miss Allie Crumrine, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Crumrine, who were natives of Pennsylvania and came to Wyoming in 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Spalding have one child, Charles C., who was born in Laramie in 1902 and is now a high school pupil.
The parents are consistent members of the Episcopal church and Mr. Spalding is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is serving on the board of trustees of the State University, and his aid and influence can always be counted upon to further any plan or project for the public good. Starting out in life without any special advantages, he has constantly worked his way upward and stands high in financial circles. Moreover, the esteem and good will of his fellow townsmen is cordially extended him, for his has been an upright life and he possesses a genial, social nature that makes for personal popularity.
HON. CHARLES N. POTTER.
Hon. Charles N. Potter, chief justice of Wyoming, who since January, 1895, has been a member of the supreme court of the state, his present term to continue until 1918, when he will have occupied this position of high judicial preferment for twenty-three years, is one who by an unassailable record has reflected credit and honor upon the people of the state who have honored him.
He was born in Cooperstown, New York, October 31, 1852, a son of George W. and Mary J. (Marcellus) Potter. After acquiring a public school education, completed by graduation from the high school at Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the class of 1870, he took up the study of law in the University of Michigan and won his LL. B. degree with the class of 1873. He then entered upon law practice in Grand Rapids, where he remained until 1876, and in March of that year he arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, having been a resident of Michigan from 1854 until 1876, or for a period of twenty-two years. For forty-two years he has made his home in Wyoming and has left the impress of his individuality and ability in marked manner upon the records of the state. Entering upon the prac- tice of law, he was not long in winning distinction at the bar and was also called to leadership in connection with political and public affairs. From 1890 until 1892 he served as secretary of the republican state central committee of Wyo- ming, covering the first state campaign. In 1889 he had been chosen a member of the Wyoming constitutional convention and thus took active part in framing the organic law of the commonwealth. He had been a resident of Wyoming
Charles M. Potter
103
HISTORY OF WYOMING
for only a brief period when he was first called to public office, being appointed city attorney of Cheyenne in 1878 and reappointed in 1879 and again in 1880. In 1889 he was again appointed to that office. He was county and prosecuting attorney of Laramie county from 1881 until 1883 and later he served, as previously indicated, as a valued member of the constitutional convention. After he had for two years been secretary of the Wyoming state republican central committee he was made delegate from Wyoming and chairman of the delegation to the republican national convention held in Minneapolis in 1892. In February, 1891, he became attorney general of the state of Wyoming and occupied that position until January, 1895. At this time he became a member of the supreme court of Wyoming by election, having been chosen for the supreme bench at the general election in November, 1894, and he has ever since sat upon this bench of last resort. Still higher honors came to him on the 9th of December, 1897, when he became chief justice. He was reelected at the general election in 1902, again becoming chief justice in April, 1905, and was reelected in 1910 and again became chief justice in 1915.
On August 22, 1877, at Muskegon, Michigan, Justice Potter was married to Miss Bessie C. Ireland, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Slater) Ireland, and to them were born three children, two sons who died in childhood, and a daughter, Ada, the widow of Walter B. Dunton, late of Rock Springs, Wyoming. who died May 4, 1917.
Judge Potter's interest in community affairs is indicated by his active service as a member of the Cheyenne Board of Education, on which he served from 1888 until 1897, and he was also president of the Cheyenne Industrial Club from 1910 until 1913. He is a Mason of high standing, the honorary thirty-third degree having been conferred upon him. He belongs to Acacia Lodge, No. 1I, A. F. & A. M., of Cheyenne, is a past grand master of the grand lodge of Wyoming and was secretary of the Past Grand Masters' Association in 1911 and 1912. He is likewise past grand chancellor of the Wyoming Grand Lodge of Knights of Pythias and is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. Since coming to the west he has made his home in Cheyenne and his activities have had much to do with shaping the interests and molding the history of the entire state.
FRANK GATCHELL.
Frank Gatchell, a civil engineer practicing as a member of the firm of Burritt & Gatchell, was born in North Dakota on the 20th of October, 1881, a son of P. A. and Harriet O. (Ostrander) Gatchell, the former a native of Maine, while the latter was born in the state of New York. At the time of the Civil war the father responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in the First Maine Heavy Artillery, with which he served until the close of hostilities. participating in a number of hotly contested engagements. He afterward removed westward to Nebraska and for a time resided in North Dakota, but in 1893 became a resi- dent of Sheridan, Wyoming, where he engaged in newspaper publication. He was also registrar of the land office at Buffalo for four years and he and his wife still make their home in Buffalo, where they are highly esteemed by all who have been brought in contact with them. They had a family of six children, of whom four are yet living.
Frank Gatchell was a young lad when brought by his parents to Wyoming and in the public schools of Buffalo he pursued his early education. completing a course in the high school, after which he became a student in the Highland Park Academy of Des Moines, Iowa, from which in due course of time he was graduated. He studied civil engineering while in that school and afterward came to Buffalo, where for twelve years he occupied the position of county engineer. He was later appointed chief engineer for the Wyoming Railway and acted in
104
HISTORY OF WYOMING
that capacity for four years. He then began the private practice of his pro- fession in Buffalo, where he has since remained, and has secured a good clientage in his chosen field of labor, practicing now as a partner in the firm of Burritt & Gatchell. Constant demands are made upon his time and energies in a profes- sional connection and his work is conducted along the most practical and scien- tific lines.
In 1903 Mr. Gatchell was united in marriage to Miss Winona Munkres, who was born in Colorado in 1881 but was only fifteen months old when her parents removed with their family to Wyoming. She has become the mother of two children : Joris O., who was born July 22, 1904; and Harriet Sibyl, born Octo- ber 19, 1906.
Mrs. Gatchell is a member of the Episcopal church and fraternally Mr. Gatchell is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. They are pleasantly situated in Buffalo and in addition to his property in the city Mr. Gatchell owns eighty acres with a nice summer home three miles from Buffalo. He is most attractively and pleasantly located, with an interesting family, with a good business and with many friends who enjoy his companionship and who entertain for him warm regard.
E. S. LAUZER, M. D.
Dr. E. S. Lauzer is recognized as a capable physician and surgeon, suc- cessfully practicing at Rock Springs, but his fellow townsmen have also recog- nized the fact that he is qualified for leadership in public affairs and have called upon him to assume the reins of city government. He is now filling the position of mayor, in which connection he is exercising his official prerogatives in support of many well defined plans and projects for the general good and is giving to his city a businesslike administration.
Dr. Lauzer is a native of Minnesota, his birth having occurred in Hutchin- son, January 29, 1882, his parents being Simon and Anna (Tmey) Lauzer, both of whom are natives of Bohemia, whence they came to America in 1857. Mr. Lauzer's study of his adopted land, its conditions and its interests led him to espouse the cause of the Union at the time of the Civil war and he became a member of Company A of the First United States Infantry. He won rank as a non-commissioned officer and rendered active service to his adopted land in her hour of peril, participating in many hotly contested engagements, in which he proved his valor and his loyalty. In days of peace his attention was given to agricultural pursuits and he became a well known farmer of Minnesota, where he devoted many years to the work of tilling the soil. At the present time, however, he is living retired, occupying a beautiful home in Minneapolis, where he and his wife are now able to enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. They reared a family of six children : Emily; Anna; Abby ; Fred; Joseph ; and E. S., of this review.
The last named was the third in order of birth. He began his education in the public schools of Hutchinson, Minnesota, passing through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school with the class of 1901. His advanced studies were pursued in the University of Nebraska, where he completed his medical course in 1905. winning the professional degree. Immediately after- ward he came to Rock Springs, Wyoming, being sent by the Union Pacific Rail- road Company, where he entered upon the active duties of his profession under the supervision of Dr. R. N. Reed, surgeon for the Union Pacific Railway & Coal Company at Rock Springs. He remained in that connection for two years and then entered upon the private practice of medicine, in which he has since continued, being recognized as one of the leading physicians not only of his city but of this section of the state. He has a very large and lucrative prac- tice and is splendidly qualified to cope with the intricate problems that con-
105
HISTORY OF WYOMING
tinually confront the physician because he has been a close and discriminating student of the profession, reading broadly, thinking deeply and keeping in touch with advanced professional thought, research and scientific investigation. He is now physician and surgeon for the Wyoming Coal Company, the Lion Coal Company and the Central Coal & Coke Company of Rock Springs and he is a member of the Wyoming State and the American Medical Associations.
On the 18th of June, 1914, Dr. Lauzer was united in marriage to Mrs. Anna (Geise) Miller at Sidney, Nebraska. Mrs. Lauzer is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Geise, the former a pioneer settler of Nebraska and an associate of Colonel William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill. He acted as Indian scout under Colonel Cody and experienced many of the hardships and privations of pioneer life in the west. By her former marriage Mrs. Lauzer had a daughter, Mabel Frances Miller, who was born in Saratoga in 1901, and is now a student in Brownell Hall at Omaha, Nebraska. She is as dear to the Doctor as though she were his own child.
Dr. Lauzer is well known in Masonic circles, having taken the degrees of the York Rite and of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Elks lodge at Rock Springs. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he has served as county physician and surgeon of Sweetwater county. while in 1916 he was elected to the office of mayor of Rock Springs, in which connection his fellow townsmen speak of him in terms of admiration and high regard by reason of his faithful performance of the duties that devolve upon him. He is public-spirited and cooperates earnestly in all plans to advance the interests of the city, to extend its trade relations and to uphold and advance its civic standards. Guided in life by most creditable principles, he has made for himself an enviable name and place in both professional and business circles.
N. R. GREENFIELD.
N. R. Greenfield, a well known and prominent representative of the legal fraternity in Carbon county, practicing at Rawlins, formerly filled the office of prosecuting attorney of the county and through the period of his residence here has always been accorded a gratifying private practice that has constantly grown in volume.
A native of Illinois, Mr. Greenfield was born at Freeport on the 24th of February, 1874, a son of Frederick and Etta (Poppen) Greenfield, who became residents of Illinois in the early '50s, settling near Freeport. The father devot- ed his life to farming for a considerable period and then removed to Lexington, Nebraska. He was also engaged in general agricultural pursuits in that state, where he continued to reside until 1902, when he removed to South Dakota, where he continued to make his home until called to his final rest. He passed away near Huron, South Dakota, in 1912, at the age of seventy-six years, while his widow survived until 1914, and was seventy-five years of age at the time of her demise. They had a family of twelve children.
N. R. Greenfield, who was the sixth in order of birth, spent his boyhood largely in acquiring an education, supplementing his early training, received in the district schools, by a course in the high school at Lexington, Nebraska, where he was graduated with the class of 1893. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for three years in that state and later he became a student in the Nebraska State University at Lincoln, where he completed a course in law as a member of the class of 1897. He located for practice in Lex- ington, Nebraska, where he remained until March, 1899, and then came to Rawlins. He has since been one of the foremost representatives of the bar in this city. A liberal clientage has been accorded him and he has won numerous cases of importance, many of which have rested upon involved and intricate legal problems, for which he has found ready and correct solution. His devo-
106
HISTORY OF WYOMING
tion to his clients' interests is proverbial and he never forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. He served as county attorney of Carbon county from 1905 until 1911 and made an excellent record during his incumbency in that office. He belongs to the Nebraska State Bar Association and the Wyoming State Bar Association and has been a member of the state board of law examiners. He has likewise become identified with mining inter- ests in the west and is director of a number of mining and oil corporations of Wyoming.
In August, 1902, at Rawlins, Mr. Greenfield was united in marriage to Mrs. Minnie (Carr) Kelly, widow of L. C. Kelly. Fraternally Mr. Greenfield is well known as a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and as a Mason of high rank. He has taken all of the York and Scottish Rite degrees up to and including the thirty-second degree in the consistory and he has filled various offices in the order, while in 1917 he was a delegate to the Imperial Council at Minneapolis. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party but he does not seek nor desire office outside the strict path of his profession, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his law practice. He is the owner of a splendidly equipped law office and law library and he is a man of rare business ability as well as of marked profes- sional skill, having won for himself a position of distinction in connection with a profession where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit and power.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.