USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 11
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HON. W. P. RICKETTS.
A record of notable achievement is that of Hon. W. P. Ricketts, who, starting out in the business world in a humble capacity, has steadily worked his way upward. In the spring of 1875 he came to Wyoming, then a youth of seventeen years, and for some time he rode the range. Gradually he was advanced to positions requiring executive force and keen discernment, and eventually he embarked in the cattle business on his own account, becoming in the course of years one of the prominent cattlemen of the state. In other connections, too, he has figured prominently, being one of the democratic leaders of Wyoming.
A native of Kentucky, he was born on the 9th of February, 1859, and is a son of T. B. and Mildred P. (Turner) Ricketts. The family came to Missouri in 1860 and settled near Liberty, where the father engaged in teaching in the country schools and also followed the carpenter's trade. The mother passed away when her son W. P. was about seven years of age, leaving a family of three children, but the two daughters are now deceased. The father died on Thanksgiving day of 1917 at the advanced age of ninety years.
W. P. Ricketts was reared to young manhood in Missouri, where he attended the country schools, and later became a high school student at Independence. Missouri, pursuing his studies there for two years. He acquired a better educa- tion than most boys of the neighborhood because of the fact that his father was a teacher and was much interested in educational progress, realizing the value of intellectual training as a preparation for life's practical and responsible duties. In 1875, when about seventeen years of age, W. P. Ricketts left home and made his way westward to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he arrived about the middle of February. He went to work in a flour mill there but in the spring of the same year removed to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and entered the employ of the Sea- wright Brothers Cattle Company, operating fifty miles north of Cheyenne. He worked at everything that a cattleman has to do, including riding the range, cow punching, etc., and was in the employ of the company for eleven years, regarded as one of its most capable and trusted representatives. In the spring of 1886 he went to work for the North American Cattle Company as foreman and when in 1888 that company consolidated with the Western Union Beef Company,
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Mr. Ricketts entered the employ of the company as general superintendent for Wyoming and Montana. He remained in that connection until 1898, in which year the company closed out their business, and Mr. Ricketts purchased their holdings and equipment and embarked in the cattle business on his own account. That he has prospered is indicated by the fact that he is today ranked with the most prominent cattlemen of northern Wyoming. He is the owner of the Sun- nyside ranch, located thirty-five miles north of Gillette, in Campbell county. This is one of the most modern and splendidly equipped ranches in that part of the country. The buildings are large and substantial, furnishing ample shelter for grain and stock as well as for the men employed on the ranch, the farm machinery is of the latest improved pattern and everything about the ranch indi- cates the progressive spirit and practical methods of the owner, who is now extensively and successfully engaged in the raising and breeding of both horses and cattle.
Mr. Ricketts was united in marriage to Miss Nettie C. Wilson, a native of Hot Springs, South Dakota, on the 20th of January, 1893, and she passed away on the 2d of January, 1911. In politics Mr. Ricketts has always been a stalwart democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and during the session of 1911 he represented his district in the house of representatives. When Campbell county was organized in 1912 he was elected chairman of the board of county commissioners and served in that capacity in a most acceptable manner for four years, being the first incumbent in the position and doing much to systematize the work of the office and to establish the policy of the county through the exercise of his official duties. The great English statesman, Glad- stone, one said: "Believe me when I tell you that thrift of time will repay you in after life a usury of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams and that waste of it will make you dwindle alike in intellectual and moral stature beyond your darkest reckoning." Every man as he approaches middle life realizes the truth of these words of England's great scholar and statesman, but Mr. Ricketts did not wait for middle life to become cognizant of the spirit of those words. From his young days he has displayed a spirit of thrift that has made for success in life with him. There have been few idle hours in his career. "America," declared the philosopher Emerson, "is another name for opportunity," and the opportuni- ties that have surrounded W. P. Ricketts he has wisely utilized and improved and now stands among the foremost business men of northern Wyoming and as one of the honored citizens of the state.
JAMES G. STANLEY.
James G. Stanley, actively engaged in the practice of law at Casper, was born at Gary, South Dakota, March 4, 1881, a son of William H. and Rebecca (Aiken) Stanley. He supplemented his public school training by study in Black Hills College at Hot Springs, South Dakota, and in the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1902. With broad literary training to serve as a foundation on which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge, he entered the Columbian Law School at Washington, D. C., and was graduated with the Bachelor of Laws de- gree in 1904.
He has since concentrated his attention upon his practice and as the years have passed he has won a clientage that is large and of a distinctively representa- tive character. He prepares his cases with great care and his presentation shows wide research. In no instance has his reading been confined to the limita- tions of the questions at issue; it has gone beyond and compassed every con- tingency and provided not alone for the expected but for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them. His logical grasp of facts and principles of the law applicable to them has been another potent element
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in his success and a remarkable clearness of expression and adequate and pre- cise diction enable him to make others understand not only the salient points of his argument, but his every fine gradation of meaning and this may be accounted one of his most conspicuous gifts and accomplishments. During the period of his residence in Lead, South Dakota, he served as city attorney from 1908 until 1917 and was a delegate from South Dakota to the republican national conven- tion held in Chicago in June, 1916. These facts are indicative of his prominence in the community and his influence over public thought and acton. He became a resident of Casper in 1917 and has already built up a practice of gratifying proportions.
On the 2d of August, 1911, Mr. Stanley was married in Springfield, South Dakota, to Miss Edith Stevens, a daughter of George Stevens, and they have one child, Mary Edith.
Mr. Stanley belongs to the Hamilton Club of Chicago, which is one of the strong republican organizations of that city. Fraternally he is a Mason and also an Elk and exemplifies in his life the beneficent principles upon which these orders are based.
WILLIAM EDWARDS CHAPLIN.
William Edwards Chaplin is numbered among those who framed the organic law of the state as members of the constitutional convention of Wyoming. He is also a prominent citizen and newspaper man of the state, well known as the editor of the Laramie Republican, one of the most progressive republican papers of the west.
He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, February 25, 1860, a son of Edwards Hast- ings and Helen Constance (Stillman) Chaplin, who were pioneer people of Omaha, having removed to that city from a farm in Illinois. They had gone to Illinois from Ohio in 1845 and thus step by step made their way westward. The father was born in Urbana, Ohio, and the Chaplins were of English descent. One of the early representatives of the name was Benjamin Chaplin, who settled in Massachusetts at an early period in its colonization, and the town of Chaplin was named in his honor. He married Sarah Edwards, a daughter of Timothy Edwards and a granddaughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, one of the early and distinguished clergymen of New England. The line of descent comes down through Ben- jamin Chaplin, Jonathan Edwards and Edward Hastings to William Edwards Chaplin of this review. In the early years of the nineteenth century Jonathan Edwards Chaplin removed to Ohio and his son, Edwards Hastings Chaplin, was born in Ohio, March 21, 1822. The latter was reared to manhood in that state and after mastering the elementary branches of learning went to New Eng- land to continue his studies in Yale University of New Haven, being there graduated with the class of 1845. He afterward became a resident of Swan, Warren county, Illinois, and in 1856 he removed westward to Nebraska, settling near Omaha. There he spent the remainder of his days, his death occurring on the 12th of February, 1873. In 1851 he had married Helen Constance Still- man, who died April 9, 1872. They were the parents of five children, all of whom have passed away with the exception of William Edwards Chaplin of this review, who was the youngest.
To the age of thirteen years W. E. Chaplin remained in Omaha, Nebraska, and in 1873 came with a brother and sister to Wyoming, settling at Laramie. He was then apprenticed to Colonel E. A. Slack, a pioneer publisher of Wyoming, in order to learn the printer's trade. He entered the colonel's office in Laramie on the Laramie Daily Independent. In 1876 Colonel Slack removed to Cheyenne and established the Cheyenne Daily Sun, which was later merged into the Daily Leader of today. Mr. Chaplin, however, remained in Laramie until the fall of 1876, when he joined Colonel Slack in Cheyenne and worked on the Sun until
WILLIAM E. CHAPLIN
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1878. Late in that year he returned to Laramie, where he was employed in con- nection with the publication of local papers until the spring of 1881. In that year the celebrated Bill Nye established The Boomerang, which later became so widely known, and Mr. Chaplin became its first foreman, as well as a stock- holder in the paper. In 1883 he obtained a larger interest in the paper, with Mark Jennings and George A. Garrett as his associates, while Mr. Nye with- drew. In 1886 Mr. Jennings sold his interest to others and the new firm style of McKee & Chaplin was assumed. This firm continued the publication of the paper until 1890, when The Boomerang was sold to a syndicate of Albany county democrats, headed by N. E. Corthell. Since that time The Boomerang has been conducted as a democratic paper. In August, 1890, the firm of McKee & Chaplin established the Laramie Republican and a year later the junior partner pur- chased the interest of Mr. McKee, since which time he has had as partners Frank Spafford and James Mathison. These three own the paper today and Mr. Chap- lin is its editor. It is one of the leading dailies of the state, with a wide circu- lation, and it has been an influencing factor in molding public opinion in Wyo- ming.
On the 14th of February, 1882, Mr. Chaplin was united in marriage to Miss May Ralston and they have become the parents of two children: Thomas Ed- wards, of Laramie ; and Mazie, the wife of Wilkie Collins, cashier of the Douglas National Bank of Douglas, Wyoming. Mrs. Chaplin was a daughter of John and Anna (Hall) Ralston, both now deceased.
Mr. Chaplin has taken quite an active interest in politics. In 1885 he was made a member of the Laramie city council and in 1894 served as mayor of that city. He was registrar of the United States land office in 1898 under President McKinley and was reappointed, serving under the administrations of Presidents Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson, to October 1, 1915, or for a period of seventeen and a half years altogether. During that extended incumbency he had to remain in Cheyenne, where he erected his handsome home on Central avenue, but his legal residence was and still is in Laramie. The diversity of his business interests and connections, however, has caused him to divide his time about equally between Laramie and Cheyenne. He served in 1889 as a member of the constitutional convention of Wyoming and has displayed a public-spirited devotion to the general good that has been farreaching and beneficial in its effects. He has twice been honored with the presidency of the Wyoming Press Association and is a well known figure in newspaper circles throughout the west. Mr. Chaplin was supreme representative of the grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias of Wyoming for twenty years and he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and a past president of the order. Patriotism has ever been one of the marked char- acteristics of the family, and in Mr. Chaplin it finds expression in unfaltering loyalty to every cause which he believes will prove of public benefit. He has striven eagerly and earnestly to uphold the welfare of community, commonwealth and country, and his life has been characterized by high standards of citizenship.
CHARLES W. DE KAY.
Among the native sons of Laramie who have won prominence in the busi- ness circles of the city is Charles W. De Kay, the cashier of the First State Bank. He is honored and respected by all, not alone by reason of the success he has achieved but also owing to the straightforward business policy that he has ever followed, and though important interests are under his direction, he always finds time to cooperate in plans and measures for the general good and in all things is a public-spirited citizen.
His father, the late Thomas Willett De Kay, was a native of Indiana and came to Wyoming in 1868, casting in his lot with the Laramie pioneers. He became one of the first lumber merchants of the city and remained in busi-
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ness here until his death, which occurred in 1874, when he was but twenty- seven years of age. He had married Tillie Wagner, a native of Missouri and a representative of one of the old families of that state who came of German ancestry. Mrs. De Kay had removed to Laramie with her brother, Henry Wag- ner, who was a pioneer merchant of the city, and here the marriage of the parents of Charles W. De Kay was celebrated. To them were born two chil- dren, the younger being Etta, who is now the wife of John Sandgren, of Laramie. The mother is still living in Laramie and is now the wife of H. L. Reger. By her second marriage she has two daughters: Katie, who is the wife of B. B. Hanger, a resident of Denver, Colorado; and Beulah, who is the wife of W. C. Weigel, who is located at Omaha, Nebraska.
Charles W. De Kay pursued his education in the public and high schools of Laramie, being graduated on the completion of the high school course as a member of the class of 1887. He then made his initial step in the business world, his first position being that of an employe in the rolling mills of the Union Pacific Railway Company. After a short time, however, he became a messenger boy in the store of his uncle, Henry Wagner, with whom he con- tinued for three years, serving in a clerical capacity during the latter part of that period. Subsequently he was made timekeeper in the master mechanic's office of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, continuing with that corpora- tion for thirteen years. On the expiration of that period he turned his at- tention to the banking business, with which he became identified as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Laramie. He remained with the bank from 1898 until 1913, a period covering almost fifteen years, and during the latter years of his connection with the institution served as assistant cashier. In June, 1913, he entered the First State Bank of Laramie as assistant cashier and in January, 1916, was advanced to the position of cashier, which position he yet fills. Long experience in banking well qualifies him for the onerous duties that devolve upon him and which are most capably discharged to the satisfaction of all of the directors and stockholders of the institution. He is a courteous and obliging official and is ever willing to extend the assistance of the bank to its patrons to a point that will not hazard the interests of the depositors.
On the 17th of April, 1902, Mr. De Kay was united in marriage in Laramie to Miss Mabelle Land, a native of Canada and a daughter of S. E. and Jennie (Emory) Land. They have two children: Emory Willett, who was born in Laramie, April 24, 1903 ; and Charles Gordon, born May 29, 1905.
In his political views Mr. De Kay is a democrat and fraternally he is con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is identified with the Chamber of Commerce and at one time he was a member of the school board of Laramie, while in other ways he has been active in civic matters. He is of the Episcopalian faith and his upright life has been guided by the teachings of the church. In a word he is a typical American citizen, interested in material, social, intellec- tual, political and moral progress and neglectful of his duties in none of these relations. Laramie may be proud to number him among her native sons by reason of the excellent record which he has made, and in that city not to know Charles W. De Kay is to argue one's self unknown.
AUGUST F. NEUBER.
August F. Neuber is classed with the representatives of commercial enter- prise and business leadership in Wyoming, being the president of the Beeman & Neuber Mercantile Company of Rock Springs. He was educated in the schools of his native country, but at the age of eighteen years bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for the new world, attracted by the broader business opportunities which he believed he could secure on this side of the
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Atlantic. He arrived in America in 1876 and made his way at once into the interior of the country, settling in Geary county, Kansas. There he was first employed at farm work and followed agricultural pursuits for several years. Later he secured a position as a clerk in Kansas and subsequently acquainted himself with all branches of merchandising. His first business venture on his own account was made in Nevada, Missouri, where he began merchandising. There he conducted a store successfully for three years, at the end of which time he sold his interests and removed to Evanston, Wyoming, where he ar- rived in 1893. He was there employed by the Beckwith Mercantile Company, one of the pioneer commercial concerns of the state. They conducted a num- ber of branch stores throughout Wyoming and their position was one of leader- ship in mercantile circles. Mr. Neuber continued at Evanston for ten years and in 1903 removed to Rock Springs, where in connection with Newell Bee- man. A. E. Bradbury and A. B. Quinn, he formed a partnership and estab- lished the present business, which in point of volume of trade in this line is the largest in the city. They carry an extensive stock of dry goods, clothing, shoes, furniture, rugs, etc., having a well appointed department store. Their establishment covers a space of sixty by one hundred and seventy-five feet and they employ on an average of eight salespeople annually and at times their sales force exceeds that number. The business is constantly developing along substantial and gratifying lines and the success of the enterprise is due in no small measure to the efforts and ability of Mr. Neuber, who also conducts a department store at Idaho Falls under the name of the Neuber & Berry Com- pany. Mr. Neuber is the president of the Beeman & Neuber Mercantile Com- pany of Rock Springs, is the principal stockholder in the undertaking and conducts the business under his supervision. His is the policy which directs the interests of the house and the success of the undertaking is attributable in large measure to his efforts. He is a sagacious and farsighted business man, alert to every opportunity opened in the natural ramifications of trade, and through the simple weight of his character and ability he has come into im- portant commercial connections.
Politically Mr. Neuber is a republican but is not an office seeker. He came to America a poor boy, anxious to make the most of his opportunities, and as the years have gone on his efficiency and determination have brought to him a measure of success that is most substantial. He is now justly classed with the self-made men of Rock Springs.
JOSEPH J. KLODT.
Joseph J. Klodt, a rancher living at Newcastle, Wyoming, whose well directed interests and activities have brought him a substantial measure of success, was born in Milton, Van Buren county, Iowa, October 14. 1877, his parents being Anthony and Lena (Knecht) Klodt, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Austria. The father left Germany in young manhood and became a resident of Iowa during the pioneer epoch in its history. There he followed farming for many years and passed away in that state in 1900. while his widow survives and still makes her home in Ottumwa, Iowa. The father had come to America in the late '4os, leaving Germany because of the political strife existing there during that period. To him and his wife were born eight children, and all are yet living, namely: Peter J., who resides on the old homestead farm in Van Buren county, Iowa; Frank H., who lives on a ranch near Billings, Montana; Joseph J., of this review; Theresa, twin sister of Joseph and now the wife of George Emanuels, a resident of Marshalltown, Iowa : William A., who is living upon a farm near Ottumwa, Iowa ; Albert A., who has removed to the west and is now on a ranch near Lewiston, Montana;
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George, who with his brother Peter occupies the old home place in Iowa; and Elizabeth, who lives at home with her mother.
Joseph J. Klodt, whose name introduces this review, acquired his early education in the district schools of Van Buren county and in the public schools of Milton, and when not occupied with his textbooks gave his assistance in the development of the home farm. When his education was completed he concentrated his entire time and attention upon the farm work and thus con- tinued until he reached the age of twenty-one. In 1900 he removed westward, settling in Converse county, Wyoming, where he was employed for a year by H. L. Reed of that place. He also spent one year in the employ of Joe Gans, both prominent sheep men of Converse county. From 1902 until 1906 he was associated with S. C. Holts in the sheep business, and in 1906 they entered into partnership with J. L. Baird and continued in that connection until 1908, at which time Mr. Klodt disposed of his interests to his partners and engaged in the sheep business independently. In 1910 he organized the Mush Creek Land and Live Stock Company, a sixty thousand dollar corporation, which owns at this time over two thousand acres of land in Weston county. more than twelve hundred head of cattle and more than five thousand head of sheep. The officers of the company are: Joseph J. Klodt, president and manager ; Mrs. Joseph J. Klodt, secretary and treasurer ; and Julius Knecht, vice president. Mr. Klodt is also a director and stockholder in the Newcastle National Bank, a director in the Newcastle Drug Company and secretary and treasurer of the Wyo- ming Transfer & Machine Company. He also has large interests in the Buck Creek oil field and other oil interests, In a word, he has extended his efforts into various fields and his activities have been a most potent force in bringing about the material development and progress of Weston county as well as the promotion of his own interests. He has one of the finest bungalows in the town of New- castle, which was completed at a cost of over twelve thousand dollars. His success has enabled him to enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. His advancement in a business way has been the direct result of his own labors, which have been most intelligently put forth.
In Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 8th of October, 1907, Mr. Klodt was united in marriage to Miss Nina L. Kelley, a native of Minnesota, who spent her girl- hood days in Athens, Tennessee, and in California and who completed her edu- cation in Grant University at Athens, Tennessee. To Mr. and Mrs. Klodt has been born a son, John J., whose birth occurred in Weston county, Wyoming, September 15. 1908.
In his political views Mr. Klodt has always been a stalwart republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking. He has always preferred to give his untiring attention to his business affairs, working persistently and earnestly to provide a good living for his family, and as the years have passed on his purpose has been accomplished.
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