USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 16
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advanced to the position of cashier, so serving until 1916, and he is still vice president of that bank. In the year mentioned he was called to the vice presi- dency of the First National Bank of Douglas and he is also the vice president of the Van Tassell Bank. The First National Bank of Douglas is a thriving and progressive institution. Something of the nature of its business is indicated in its statement which was issued November 20, 1917, at the close of its fiscal year and which is as follows :
Resources
Liabilities
Loans, discounts $552,292.83
Capital stock .. $ 75,000.00
Surplus and undivided
profits
73.943-51
Circulation 75,000.00
Deposits 761,208.71
$985,152.22
$985,152.22
The officers and directors of this bank are: C. F. Coffee, W. H. Davis, T. C. Rowley, C. F. Maurer, F. W. Clarke, Jr., and Theo Pringle-names which indi- cate the strength of the institution.
On the 21st of March, 1894, Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Wanda Pontius and to them have been born three children: Dee P., Clarence V. and Mercy E. Mr. Davis votes with the republican party, of which he is a loyal adherent. He has taken the degrees of the blue lodge in Masonry, is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church and to its teachings he is ever loyal, his belief actuating him in all busi- ness and public as well as private relations of life. He therefore commands the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been associated.
C. P. SCOTT.
C. P. Scott, vice president and manager of the Rock Springs Lumber Com- pany and also actively engaged in business as a contractor, was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, March 10, 1866, a son of John and Julia (Cummings) Scott. The father is a native of Ireland and remained in that country to the age of seventeen years, when he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, becoming a resi- dent of Ohio. Subsequently he removed westward to Lincoln county, Missouri, where he engaged in farming and still makes his home, although he has for some years lived retired in the enjoyment of a well earned rest, as he has now reached the eighty-eighth milestone on life's journey. His wife also survives and is seventy-eight years of age. In their family were thirteen children, eleven of whom survive : James T., a resident of St. Louis, Missouri; John T., who makes his home in Lincoln county, Missouri; W. P. and R. E., who are also living in Lincoln county, that state; Allen, who is located in Crook county, Wyoming ; Ella, also of Crook county, this state; Minnie, who became the wife of Gonza Mudd and died in Crook county, Wyoming, in June, 1917; Mrs. Julia O'Brien, living in Lincoln county, Missouri; Mrs. Celia V. Fahey, whose home is in Cheyenne, Wyoming ; Mrs. Georgia Cook, of St. Louis, Missouri ; Clara, located in Lincoln county, Missouri; C. P., of this review ; and one who died in infancy.
C. P. Scott was the second in order of birth in this family. In his boy- hood days he attended the public schools of his native county, after which he secured a position with the Iron Mountain Railway Company in the bridge and building department and while thus employed traveled extensively over their system. He remained with the company for two years and then went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he took up contract work, continuing in business in that city for four years. Returning to Lincoln county, Missouri, he was there en-
Bonds and securities 158.105.94
Real estate 11,595.39
Cash and exchange. 263, 158.06
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HISTORY OF WYOMING
gaged in building and contracting for six years and on the expiration of that period entered the retail lumber business, which he carried on for four years. He then left Missouri to become a resident of Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1908, and became associated with the Rock Springs Lumber Company, in which con- nection he is conducting a business of large and gratifying proportions, his patronage steadily growing. He also does contract work and both branches of his business are proving profitable.
In February, 1902, in Lincoln county, Missouri, Mr. Scott was united in marriage to Miss Mary Gertrude Mattingly, a daughter of W. R. and Anna E. ( Mudd) Mattingly, who were also residents of Lincoln county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have become the parents of two children, Retah, who was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, in 1903, and is now attending school in Cheyenne, this being her second year in convent work there; and William, who was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, in 1905 and is a pupil in the schools of Rock Springs.
Fraternally Mr. Scott is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is serving as a trustee of the local lodge. He is also a trustee of the South Side Catholic church of Rock Springs, of which he and his family are communicants. His political support is given to the democratic party and he is now serving as a member of the city council, taking active part in furthering the best interests of the community. He is a self-made man and one who de- serves much credit for what he has accomplished, as he has worked persistently and earnestly since starting out in the business world. His labors have brought good results and today he is one of the well known and valued representatives of commercial and industrial activity in his adopted city.
HON. HERMAN B. GATES.
Wyoming on the whole has been fortunate in the class of men who have oc- cupied her public positions. They have usually been devoted to the general welfare and qualified by innate ability and experience for the duties that have devolved upon them. In his present position as state treasurer Hon. Herman B. Gates is adding to the stability of the state, while his record reflects credit and honor upon his constitutents.
A native of Illinois, he was born in Auburn, January 7, 1884, a son of Jacob A. and Susan M. ( Ballou) Gates. The father was a farmer by occupation and went to Illinois from the south. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil war and he passed away when his son Herman was but a year and a half old. The mother is still living and in the family were four children but two sisters died in infancy.
Herman B. Gates, who was the third in order of birth, acquired a public school education in Auburn, Illinois, passing through consecutive grades to the high school and he then completed a business course. In 1902 he removed to the west with Thermopolis, Wyoming, as his destination, and became bookkeeper in the First National Bank, which position he occupied for three years. He was afterward assistant cashier and eventually he became one of the organizers of the First National Bank at Worland, Wyoming. He was made cashier upon the organization in 1906 and afterward, in 1910, was elected to the vice presidency of the bank and later was made its president. He thus became widely known in financial circles and his broad experience, ability and enterprise brought him prom- inently to the front as a logical candidate for the office which he is now filling. He was elected in 1914 to the position of state treasurer for a four years' term and is a most capable custodian of the public funds, thoroughly familiar with the complex problems which devolve upon him in this connection. At one time Mr. Gates served as director of the Hanover Canal Company, which was engaged in building canals in the Worland district, and later he was one of the directors of the Upper Hanover Water Association, a farmers' organization which took over the canal from the construction company. At present he is vice president and a
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director of the Western National Life Insurance Company, a Wyoming corpora- tion with headquarters in Cheyenne. For a time also Mr. Gates was engaged in ranging cattle, pursuing this business for about three years in the Thermopolis district, on Kirby creek, known as the Black Mountain country.
On the 28th of August, 1908, Mr. Gates was married to Miss Nellie Foster, a daughter of A. L. Foster, of Iowa. Since becoming a resident of Wyoming, Mr. Gates has made judicious investment in property in this state. He is interested in beet farming and in stock raising and is one of the directors of the sugar com- pany owning and operating a factory at Worland, Wyoming, having been instru- mental in the establishment of the plant there. He is fond of hunting and fishing and enjoys various phases of outdoor life.
Fraternally he is connected with the Masons as a Knight Templar and as a representative of the consistory and the Mystic Shrine. He is a Protestant in his religious faith. In politics he has always been an earnest republican and in 191I was elected to the state legislature, where he took active part in furthering through legislative enactment many of the best interests of Wyoming. He has always been devoted to the welfare of the state and has been particularly active in advancing the development of Worland and the Big Horn basin, having seen the town grow from nothing to a city of fifteen hundred. Twice he has acted as its mayor in 1910 and 1911 and at all times his aid and cooperation can be counted upon to further local progress or advance the welfare of the state. Broad-minded and public-spirited, his labors have been productive of great good and at the same time he has carefully and wisely directed his private business affairs, so that substantial results have accrued. His home is at Worland.
GUY U. SHOEMAKER.
Guy U. Shoemaker is the postmaster of Laramie and one of the prominent and influential residents of that city. He was born in Elliott, Iowa, April 27. 1882, a son of the late Charles E. Shoemaker, who was a native of Illinois and belonged to one of the old families of that state. His ancestors came originally from Pennsylvania and were of German descent. The founder of the American branch of the family was one of six brothers who were among the earliest Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam and later representatives of the name became pioneer residents of Pennsylvania. Some of the family participated in the Revolu- tionary war. Charles E. Shoemaker, the father of Guy U. Shoemaker, was a successful Iowa farmer for many years, establishing his home in Montgomery county, that state, in 1880. There he resided for a considerable period, after which he removed to Adams county, where his death occurred in 1908, when he had reached the age of forty-eight years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Unangst, is a native of Pennsylvania and a representative of an old Pennsylvania Dutch family. She still survives and is now residing in Corning, Adams county, Iowa, in the old home which she has so long occupied. By her marriage she became the mother of nine children, five sons and four daughters.
Guy U. Shoemaker is the eldest of the family and, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, he acquired his education in the public schools of Corn- ing, Iowa, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. In early man- hood or at the age of twenty he left the home farm upon which he had been reared and started out in the business world on his own account. He took up the profession of teaching, to which he devoted his energies from 1902 until 1908. following that profession in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, after which he removed to Wyoming. Prior to locating in Nebraska he spent one year in study in the Barnes Commercial College at Denver, Colorado, in which he pursued a special course.
It was in May. 1908, that Mr. Shoemaker arrived in Laramie a comparative Vol. II-8
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stranger. He there entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad in the freight department and continued in that position for a year. He afterward became associated with the W. H. Holliday Company as bookkeeper in the gen- eral office and continued with the firm for almost four years. Later he was with the Pacific Life Insurance Company as district manager and followed the insurance business until June 1, 1917, when he assumed the duties of postmaster, to which he had been appointed by President Wilson. He is a stalwart democrat in politics and for the past four years has been very active in political and civic matters in Laramie. He was elected to the office of mayor of the city in November, 1914, and served for one term, at the end of which time he received public endorsement of his administration in a reelection. He remained the chief executive of the city until he resigned to accept the position of postmaster, in which office he is displaying the same spirit of loyalty and the same methods of thoroughness and promptness which characterized his work as mayor.
On the 20th of June, 1908, Mr. Shoemaker was united in marriage, at Sidney. Nebraska, to Miss Anna Gunderson, a native of that state and a daughter of Amund Gunderson, who belonged to one of the pioneer families of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker have one daughter, Loma Ellen, who was born in Laramie, November 25, 1914.
Fraternally Mr. Shoemaker is a Mason, an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. He attends the Presbyterian church and he belongs to the Chamber of Commerce. His interests are broad and varied, touching the welfare of society in many ways, and he stands at all times for progress, improvement and advancement. His course has been steadily upward and he now occupies an enviable posi- tion in the regard of his fellow townsmen.
GEORGE H. PAUL.
George H. Paul, a representative of the Wyoming bar, practicing at Riverton, with a clientage that is extensive and of an important character, was born in Cov- ington, Indiana, a son of George W. and Esther E. Paul. The father practiced law in the Hoosier state for about half a century and helped to frame the laws of Indiana during that period, becoming recognized as a potent force in shaping public thought and opinion along various lines.
George H. Paul pursued his education in the Wabash College of Indiana and prepared for the bar, after which he was admitted to practice. He came to River- ton in November, 1906, lived in a tent for two months and opened his law office in 1907. Later he was appointed city attorney, in which capacity he served for several years. He was admitted to the bar of Wyoming, October 1I, 1907, and has since practiced in Riverton. All days in his career have not been equally bright. Advancement at the bar is proverbially slow and there usually comes a time to every young practitioner when he must patiently abide his time, content with lesser cases and smaller fees. But as the years passed on Mr. Paul dem- onstrated his ability to handle important legal problems and today is in control of a splendid general practice. His wife stood with him through all the hard- ships of pioneering and through her assistance and encouragement they managed to weather the hard times, believing in the possibilities of this section of the country. That they made no mistake in casting in their lot with the people of Riverton has been proven in the years which have since come and gone. In his professional career Mr. Paul has been retained in many of the important cases of this county. No one better knows the necessity for thorough preparation and no one more industriously prepares his cases than he. He is always courteous and deferential toward the court, and kind and forbearing toward the adversary. He examines a witness carefully and thoroughly but treats him with a respect which makes the witness grateful for his kindness and forbearance. His analysis
GEORGE H. PAUL
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of the facts is clear and exhaustive; he sees without effort the relation and dependence of the facts and so groups them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the points they tend to prove. It is these qualities that have ifade him one of the most successful lawyers in Fremont county.
In Ohio, in 1904, Mr. Paul was married to Miss Emma Dallas. They are members of the Methodist church and in his political views Mr. Paul is a republican. Well pleased with the west, he has passed through the pioneer epoch to the period of modern-day progress and prosperity. Today he is not only actively engaged in the practice of law, with a large clientage, but is also inter- ested in a number of corporations, together with oil interests, farm lands and property in the town of Riverton, and his labors have met a just and merited reward.
HERBERT TAYLOR HARRIS, M. D.
Dr. Herbert Taylor Harris is one of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of northwestern Wyoming, being now successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Basin. Liberal college and university training have wel! qualified him for the onerous and responsible duties that devolve upon him in this connection and he is continually promoting his knowledge and efficiency by wide reading and study and yearly post graduate work.
Dr. Harris is a native of Illinois. He was born in Piasa. December 27, 1879, a son of William Johnston and Louise A. ( Braley) Harris, the former a native of Frankford, Ontario, Canada, while the latter was born in Franklin, New Hamp- shire. The father was also a physician, devoting his entire life to the practise of medicine, and Dr. Herbert T. Harris was therefore, as it were, "to the manner born." He pursued his early education in the Wentworth Military Academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897. He afterward attended the Creighton Medical College at Omaha, Nebraska, winning his M. D. degree upon graduation with the class of 1902. The following years he went abroad for study and for two years was a post graduate student in the University of Vienna, Austria, and at London, England.
Upon his return to the United States in 1905 Dr. Harris came to Wyoming and entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he has since been constantly and successfully engaged. From 1905 until 1908 he was chief surgeon to the Sheridan Coal Company at Dietz and in the latter year he opened an office in Basin, where he has since practiced. He is half owner of, and surgeon to, the Basin Hospital, Inc., and in addition he has a large private practice which makes constant demands upon his time and energies. He is also interested in ranching. in banking and in the development of the oil fields and his investments have been judiciously made.
On the 27th of June, 1906, in Carlinville, Illinois, Dr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia Ryder Burton. A. B., R. N., a daughter of Frank W. Burton, an eminent lawyer and jurist, and of Anna ( Robertson ) Burton. To Dr. and Mrs. Haris has been born a son, Burton, whose birth occurred September 3. 1907.
In his political views Dr. Harris is a democrat, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, but he has never been a poli- tician in the sense of office seeking and the only public positions which he has held have been in the strict path of his profession. Since 1910 he has been a member of the Wyoming state board of health, of which he was president, a fact that indicates his high professional standing. He is also city physician and county health officer of Basin and Bighorn county, respectively, and he is the president of the Bighorn County Library Association. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Masons, while along strictly professional lines he is identified with the Northwestern Wyoming Medical Society, of which he was one time
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the president ; the Wyoming State Medical Society, the American Medical As- sociation and the American College of Surgeons. Holding to the highest profes- sional standards, he has made his work of great value and benefit to his fellow- men, and colleagues and contemporaries speak of him in terms of the highest regard.
THOMAS A. JAMES.
It is a trite saying that there is always room at the top, but few men really seem to comprehend just what this means, or else they lack the ambition to put forth the persistent effort that leads to success. Since starting upon his business career, however, Thomas A. James has steadily progressed and the steps in his orderly advancement are easily discernible. He has made wise use of his time, his talents and his opportunities. His entire career has been characterized by devotion to the duties entrusted to him and in later years by a most wise and careful use of the opportunities that have come to him. It is these qualities which have brought him to the presidency of the Superior Lumber Company of Rock Springs, in which connection he is controlling business interests of considerable extent and importance. He is a western man by birth, by training and preference and in his life displays the enterprising spirit which has always been the dom- inant factor in the upbuilding of the great empire west of the Mississippi.
He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 12. 1865, and is a son of Thomas J. James, who was a native of Wales and in 1856 left that little rock-ribbed country to become a resident of America. He did not tarry on the Atlantic coast but immediately emigrated to the western section of the country, traveling overland by wagon train and becoming one of the pioneers of Utah. He was a carpenter and builder, and followed his trade successfully in that state throughout the re- mainder of his life, being called to his final rest in Salt Lake City in 1914, when he had reached the venerable age of seventy-nine years. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Elizabeth Newton, was a native of England, having been born in Manchester. She came to the new world with her parents during the latter part of the '50s and they also settled in Salt Lake City, where she formed the acquaintance of Thomas J. James, who sought her hand in marriage. To them were born nine children, of whom Thomas A. is the eldest. Mrs. James passed away many years before the death of her husband, departing this life in 1882, at the comparatively early age of thirty-nine years.
Thomas A. James acquired his education in the public schools and his thorough training well qualified him for life's practical and responsible duties. Facing the business world, he turned to the trade which had occupied the attention and energies of his father, serving an apprenticeship at carpentering and after master- ing the business working as a journeyman for some time. He advanced in that connection until he was made foreman by the Union Pacific Railway Coal Com- pany and continued to serve in that way for a period of twenty years. It is well known that those who remain in the employ of a large corporation for an extended period are possessed of excellent qualifications for the position which they occupy, and that Mr. James was with the Union Pacific for two decades is indicative of his ability, fidelity and efficiency. He became a citizen of Rock Springs, Sep- tember 16, 1885, and with the exception of a period of two years has resided in the city continuously since. It was during 1904 and 1905 that he made his home in Cassia county, Idaho, where he was engaged in farming. . At the end of that time, however, he sold his land there and returned to Rock Springs. In 1907, in connection with Victor Smith, Mr. James entered the lumber business and established what was then known as the Smith-James Lumber Company. This was a partnership concern and the business was thus continued for three years, at the end of which time it was incorporated under the style of the Superior Lumber Company, with Mr. James as the president and general manager. From
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the beginning their patronage has steadily increased and the business of the company is today very extensive and gratifying. They have now gained a place of leadership among the prominent lumber concerns of Sweetwater county.
At Rock Springs, in 1890, Mr. James was joined in wedlock to Miss Mar- garet Syme, a native of Scotland and a daughter of James and Margaret ( Holden ) Syme, who were early settlers of Rock Springs, where they took up their abode in 1882. Her father is now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. James have been born six children, of whom five are still living: Thomas Irvin; Viola, who was born in Rock Springs, September 15, 1895; Cecil, whose birth occurred in Rock Springs, March 14. 1900; Edwin James, who was born in Rock Springs, May 1, 1905; and Leah, born in Rock Springs, February 1, 1911. The eldest child of the family died in infancy.
Mr. James exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and meas- ures of the republican party and has been an active worker in its ranks. He has served as a member of the ctiy council for three terms and has utilized his official prerogatives to advance many interests of public concern and benefit. He stands at all times for those interests which are of most worth in the civic life of the community. He belongs to the Church of the Latter-Day Saints and is one of its presiding elders. Thoroughness characterizes him in all that he does and it has been by reason of his close application and unfaltering enterprise in business that he has steadily advanced. Shakespeare has said. "There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." That Mr. James recognized the opportune moment is indicated by his growing success and as the years have passed on he has steadily progressed until he is now one of the leading representatives of the lumber trade in his section of the state, con- trolling important interests as the president of the Superior Lumber Company.
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