USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 17
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EDWARD W. STONE.
Edward W. Stone, the efficient and popular mayor of Cheyenne, whose admin- istration is actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good, ranks, too, as a self-made man in the acquirement of business advancement and success. He was born in Belpre, Ohio, in February, 1862, a son of Loring and Johanna Stone. He acquired a common school education and afterward spent some time as a student in Oberlin College of Ohio, but the lure of the west was upon him and, hoping to find better opportunities and advantages in this new and growing sec- tion of the country, he made his way to Wyoming in 1884, arriving in Cheyenne on the 1st of January. He sought a place in which to build his fortune, anxiously ever looking to the future. He secured employment with J. S. Collins & Com- pany in the harness and saddlery business and remained with that house for several years. He was afterward in the employ of A. D. Kelley, a grocer of Cheyenne, and some time later entered into partnership with Pitt Convert and purchased the business of Mr. Kelley, which they conducted for a number of years but eventually sold out, having in the meantime won a substantial measure of success in that undertaking. In fact, they had one of the large and well appointed grocery stores of the city and enjoyed a gratifying patronage. On dis- posing of the grocery store Mr. Stone aided in the organization of the Citizens National Bank, which was incorporated in 1906 and of which he became the cashier. He served in that capacity until 1917, when he was elected to the vice presidency of the bank and is now its second executive officer. The bank has steadily prospered and expanded and is today one of the strong financial institu- tions of the state. Mr. Stone, as cashier and vice president, has contributed much to this result. He is thoroughly conversant with every phase of the bank- ing business and from the outset recognized the fact that the bank is most worthy of patronage which most carefully safeguards the interests of its depos-
EDWARD W. STONE
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itors. His progressiveness therefore has been tempered by a wise conservatism that has produced excellent results.
In 1888, at Belpre, Ohio, Mr. Stone was united in marriage to Miss Mary Harrison, a daughter of Captain Jack Harrison, a steamboat man.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Stone is a Knight of Pythias and has filled various offices in the local lodge and has also served as grand chancellor of the state. He is likewise a prominent Mason, connected with both rites, having attained the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Moreover, the honorary thirty-third degree has been con- ferred upon hini. He has filled most of the chairs in the order and has been a most earnest worker in its behalf. Possessing a retentive memory, he has been able to easily acquaint himself with the various rituals and forms of work, so that in an official position he has been most efficient. Mr. Stone is a member of the Country Club and also of the Commercial Club of Cheyenne. He is fond of fishing and outdoor sports but never allows such things to interfere with his business duties nor the faithful performance of official service which he has undertaken.
In politics he is an earnest republican and at the first election after the admis- sion of the state he was chosen county treasurer of Laramie county. He was later elected to the state senate and subsequently was again chosen to represent his district in the upper house of the general assenibly and twice acted as presi- dent of the senate. In the fall of 1917 he was elected mayor of Cheyenne, which position he is now filling, and his administration is one which is giving uniform satisfaction. As an assemblyman he gave the most thoughtful and earnest con- sideration to all the vital questions which came up for settlement and lent the weight of his aid and influence to many progressive measures.
He is a self-made man in the truest and best sense of the term. He has essentially formulated and given shape to his own character. While he has prospered in his business career, he has not made the attainment of material success the sole end and aim of life. On the contrary, he has ever been cognizant of his duties toward his fellowmen and to the community at large, and patriotism has been one of his marked characteristics-a patriotism that has been manifest in tangible effort for the general good. He is widely known throughout the state, his friends are many and he is honored and respected by all. The record of few men in public life in Cheyenne has extended over a longer period and none has been more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct or stainless in reputation.
B. V. KOONTZ.
The machinery of government must be carefully controlled if public stability is to be maintained and progress augmented. Among those who have been chosen to handle the public interests of Washakie county is B. V. Koontz, now filling the office of sheriff, and his record in that position is characterized by the utmost fear- lessness and capability in the discharge of his duties.
A native of North Carolina, he was born on the 14th of April, 1878, and is a son of John and Cornelia (Colvard) Koontz, both of whom were natives of North Carolina, in which state they are still living. They became the parents of a family of eleven children, eight of whom survive.
B. V. Koontz passed the period of his youth in North Carolina and acquired his education in its public schools. In fact, he continued his residence in the Old North state until 1905, at which time he had reached the age of twenty-seven vears. He then determined to try his fortune in the west and made his way to Wyoming, settling first in Sheridan county. In 1906 he arrived in Washakie county, where he has since lived, and during the intervening period his fellow townsmen have come to regard him as one of the valued and representative citi- zens of his part of the state. In 1916 he was elected to the office of sheriff and
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is now acting in that capacity, making a most creditable record by the prompt and systematic manner in which he discharges his duties. He is also interested in oil lands in Wyoming and is actively connected with the cattle business, and in addition he owns eighy acres of irrigated land in the state.
Mr. Koontz has always voted with the democratic party and is a firm believer in its principles. When not in office, however, he has given the major part of his time and attention to business affairs and investments and whatever success he has achieved is the direct and merited reward of his own labors. He came to the west with little capital and is today the owner of valuable interests in Washakie county. He has made wise use of his time and opportunities and the careful di- rection of his business interests and investments has been one of the strong and salient features in winning for him his present day substantial success.
JOSEPH IREDALE.
Among those men who have been factors in the substantial growth and steady development of Rock Springs and of Wyoming, none have perhaps manifested a more active or helpful interest in the work of general improvement than Joseph Iredale, who is engaged in the automobile and garage business but who never fails to find time to advance general interests, cooperating heartily in all those plans which have to do with the benefit and upbuilding of city or state.
He was born in Maryport, England, August 3, 1860, a son of John and Matilda (Cooper) Iredale, who were also natives of that country, whence they came to America with their family in 1870 and settled in Stark county, Ohio, near Canton, where the father took up the business of steam engineering. He was a close personal friend of Major William McKinley, afterward president of the United States. Mr. Iredale continued a resident of Ohio for several years and later became a resident of Iowa and of Kansas, while in 1878 he removed to Carbon county, Wyoming. He always followed the business of steam en- gineering, being active along that line until his death. He passed away in Rock Springs in 1906, at the age of sixty-seven years. In the family were six sons and four daughters, of whom Joseph Iredale was the eldest.
In the public schools of Ohio, Joseph Iredale pursued his education and later took up the machinist's trade, which he learned under the supervision of his father and grandfather, gaining expert knowledge along that line. His father had served an apprenticeship under Archibald Cooper, the maternal grandfather of Joseph Iredale and a well known locomotive engineer of that day who had come to America in 1860. After mastering his trade Mr. Iredale continued to work along that line in Ohio and in Wyoming. He came with his father to Carbon county, this state, and later was employed in the Union Pacific machine shops at Rawlins but in 1882 took up his abode at Rock Springs, where he en- tered the employ of the Union Pacific Coal Company as engineer in the machine shops, continuing to act in that capacity until 1906. He resigned his position to accept the postmastership at Rock Springs and he filled the office from 1906 until 1915. He then resigned and established himself in the automobile and garage business, conducting his interests under the name of the Iredale Garage, which is now the leading establishment of the kind in Rock Springs. He has built up a business of large and substantial proportions, having a well equipped plant, and his trade has steadily increased as the years have gone by.
In 1887 Mr. Iredale was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Paterson, of Rock Springs, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Paterson, who were pioneers of Rock Springs, where the father is still living at the age of eighty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Iredale have become parents of three children: Fulton C., who was born in Rock Springs in 1892 and was graduated from the public schools, is now a thorough auto machinist and is in business with his father. Hazel, born in Rock Springs in 1894, was graduated from the public schools and the
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University of Wyoming and is now the wife of O. C. Johnson, a resident of Laramie. Lucille, born in Rock Springs in 1895, is a high school graduate and is the wife of F. A. Carlson.
Politically Mr. Iredale is a republican and is recognized as one of the leaders in the local ranks of his party and in fact has had much influence over political thought and action in the state. For three terms he has been a member of the state legislature and for two terms has represented his district in the state sen- ate. As a member of the general assembly he has given the most thoughtful and earnest consideration to all vital questions coming up for settlement and has lent the weight of his aid and influence to all those measures which he has believed of benefit to the state and has opposed with equal firmness and determin- ation all interests which he has deemed ill advised legislation. In community affairs his labors, too, have constituted important elements of public progress and improvement. For eight years he was chief of the Rock Springs volunteer fire department and he is now president of the Rock Springs school board.
His life record is a splendid illustration of the fact that no matter what the advantages or opportunities one has in youth, he must essentially formulate, determine and give shape to his own character. This Mr. Iredale has done and with the passing years his developing powers have brought him to a posi- tion of leadership not only in the business circles of his adopted city but in con- nection with the public interests of the state, and at all times he stands for prog- ress and improvement, his devotion to the general good being an unquestioned fact in his career.
HON. JOHN McGILL.
Hon. John McGill, of Laramie, was one of the well known pioneer settlers of Wyoming familiar with every phase of frontier life. He was for a long period a well known cattleman of southern Wyoming but afterward lived retired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil until death claimed him, March 15, 1918.
He was born in Lennoxshire, Scotland, July 16, 1846, a son of Quintin and Jessie ( Allen) McGill, who were natives of the land of hills and heather, where they spent their entire lives, the father devoting his attention to the iron working trade. They passed away in Scotland at an advanced age after rearing a family of eight children.
John McGill, who was the eldest of that family, pursued his education in the public schools of Scotland and remained a resident of that country until he reached the age of twenty years, when, attracted by the opportunities of the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to Canada, where he was employed in various lines of business at several points in Canada until 1868. In May of that year he crossed the border into the United States and made his way westward to Cheyenne, Wyoming, since which time he was a resident of this state. For a time he was in the employ of Sprague, Davis & Company, engaged in the manufacture of ties for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and he continued in that line of work for about ten years. At the end of that time he established a ranch on the Big Laramie and turned his attention to stock raising, including cattle and sheep, in which business he continued successfully until he sold out in 1915. In the meantime he had become one of the leading cattlemen of his section of the state, having large herds, and his business affairs were wisely and successfully con- ducted. As the years went on his financial resources increased as the result of close application and the intelligent direction of his labors and investments and thus he came into possession of a handsome competence that enabled him to retire. He removed to Laramie and purchased property, and there he then made his home. He was a director of the Albany County National Bank and all his invest- ments were most judiciously placed.
On August 25, 1875. in Laramie, Wyoming, Mr. McGill was united in marriage
John Ir Till
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to Helen Patrick Owens, who passed away November 23, 1902, leaving four children. Thomas A., who resides in Albany county, is very successfully con- ducting a cattle ranch. He married Nora Rose Dodge and has three children, Mary Helen, Eva Agnes and Owens Dodge, the last born in May, 1917. The second in the family, Margaret Owens, is now Mrs. William Irvine, her husband being a successful ranchman of Albany county. Jessie A. is the widow of Oscar C. Soward, of Laramie, and has two children, Hortense Helen and Ida Margaret. Helen Owens, who completes this family, resides at home. On December 6, 1905. in Laramie, Mr. McGill was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Fannie MI. Settele, widow of Louis P. Settele and a daughter of James Marsh, who was the first lessee of the Wyoming state penitentiary. The demise of Mrs. Fannie M. McGill occurred February 25, 1910, and she left two children, Frances Eliza- beth and John Quintin. The present Mrs. McGill previous to her marriage on October 14, 1914, was Miss Emma Bear, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Bear, of Fulton, Illinois.
In politics Mr. McGill maintained an independent course. His value as a citizen was widely recognized and again and again he was called upon to serve in positions of public honor and trust. He was a member of the last territorial council and for six terms he represented his district in the state senate, being a member of the first state senate after Wyoming's admission into the Union. He gave careful consideration to the vital questions which came up for settlement and left the impress of his individuality for good upon many measures which had to do with the welfare and progress of the state. He served as president of the senate one term and was a member of the constitutional convention. For twelve years he filled the office of county commissioner and exercised his right of franchise in that connection for the benefit of his county in ways that have been most resultant and beneficial. Up to the time of his death he served as tax com- missioner. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church and he was a Mason having attained high rank in the Scottish Rite, belonging to the consis- tory. He was also a member of the Mystic Shrine and his life was a most faith- ful exposition of the teachings and purposes of the craft. As one of the pioneer settlers of Wyoming, Mr. McGill was widely known. He left home when a young man of twenty years without capital and became one of the prosperous residents of his adopted state. There was no phase of the pioneer development of this sec- tion of the state with which he was not familiar and his reminiscences of the early days were interesting, covering the period when Wyoming was largely an open range and the cattlemen still rode at will over the country. He lived to witness remarkable changes as the years passed and he profited by conditions, wisely using his time, talents and opportunities until he became one of the well- to-do men of Laramie, honored and respected by all who knew him by reason of an upright life.
With Mr. McGill, who passed to the great beyond March 15. 1918, there went to his reward one of those men whose life history was part of the history of his state and community. He not only wrought for himself, but he labored for the benefit of others and he left his impress for good upon the annals of his common- wealth. He died in Denver, Colorado, while undergoing a surgical operation and his deathi was a shock to his family which is hard for them to bear. Expressive of the high esteem in which Mr. McGill was generally held is an editorial which appeared one day after his demise, March 16, 1918, in the Laramie Republican and which is appended to this sketch in full. The Laramie Republican writes of Mr. McGill's achievements and virtues as a citizen as follows :
"The death of Hon. John McGill has removed one of Wyoming's foremost citizens. During almost half a century he has been a conspicuous figure in the public life of the state. Born in Scotland and descending from sturdy stock of that rugged country, he was a man of iron. Sickness rarely troubled him and the doctors found him a poor customer. When he decided to change his residence to America his first choice was the old and forbidding climate of Nova Scotia. Later he decided to take up his residence in Wyoming, settling at Tie Siding, where he
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swung the axe and worked in the timber. From this employment he turned to ranching, taking up land some forty miles north of Laramie, and there he raised his family, giving much of his time and his energy to matters pertaining to the public welfare.
"As a private citizen his life was incorruptible. He was a good husband and a kind father. His neighbors profited by his example and precept. He aided them in their private affairs and in the transaction of their public business. In turn, they called upon him to represent them in various official positions. He served them as member of the legislature in several sessions. He was a county commissioner and as such stood for economy and the wiping out of the county debt. During his service on the county board taxation was kept low and the people got value for every dollar expended.
"Perhaps John McGill's greatest work was done in the legislature. where he served both in the house and senate. As senator he conducted Albany county's side of the controversy over the location of the agricultural college and never yielded an inch of the rights that he believed belonged to our people. On one occasion the representatives of Freinont county carried the bill for the location of the college at Lander clear through the house and it was up for consideration in the senate when Mr. McGill moved its indefinite postponement at an opportune time and it was killed.
"Mr. McGill was the author of the anti-gambling law and was always found in keen opposition to vice and immorality.
"In the early years of his residence in Wyoming he was an ardent supporter of the republican party, but in the later years of his life became estranged from that party and accepted office at the hands of the democratic administration, being first appointed to the position of state tax commissioner by Governor Joseph M. Carey in 1911. He was reappointed by Governor Kendrick in 1915 and was hold- ing the position at the time of his death. He was an advocate of equality in tax- ation and at all times used his official power to bring about a level rate of taxation among all the counties.
"His life work was the stock business, in which he was eminently successful in the management of both cattle and sheep. He had the faculty of making wise investment of his surplus and was largely interested in the Albany County Na- tional Bank and the First State Bank of this city. He leaves an ample fortune to his heirs and the priceless legacy of a sterling character."
F. H. HARRISON, M. D.
Dr. F. H. Harrison is today the oldest physician in Wyoming in years of con- tinuous connection with the medical profession. He practices at Evanston, where he has remained since 1872. He has not only been identified with the science of medicine and surgery, however, for as a pioneer he has been active in many of these movements which have led to the upbuilding and development of the state. He is familiar with all phases of Indian warfare and with all phases of frontier life and the history of Wyoming is to him an open book, for he has been a most active participant in events which figure most prominently in its annals.
He was born in Toronto, Canada, April 2, 1842, and is a son of William and Mary (O'Connor) Harrison. The father was a native of England and in his boyhood davs made the voyage across the briny deep to Canada, settling near Toronto, where he engaged in farming, there maintaining his residence until his death, which occurred in 1849, when his son, Dr. Harrison, was a little lad of but seven years. The mother was born in Wexford, Ireland, and in child- hood became a resident of Canada, where she was married and continued to reside until called to the home beyond in 1904. She had at that time reached the eighty- fourth milestone on life's journey. In the family were five children, of whom
DR. F. H. HARRISON
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one daughter died at the age of sixteen years. The others are: William, who is living in Brampton, Canada; John, also located at Brampton ; and Nicholas, who still lives in Canada.
The other member of the family is Dr. F. H. Harrison, of this review, who in his youthful days was a pupil in the public schools of Canada and afterward took up the study of medicine in New York city, matriculating in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1866. His collegiate training was comprehensive and thorough, and thus well equipped for professional duties, he made his way westward to Colorado, crossing the plains with team and wagon. He took up his abode at Gilpin, where he remained for a year and a half, and in November, 1867, he removed to Cheyenne, Wyoming. where he practiced for a short time. He was afterward with the Union Pacific grading camps in his professional capacity and continued with the road until the line was extended to Evanston. He then went to the South Pass mines, where he followed mining for two and a half years, but in 1872 returned to Evanston, where he has since been in constant practice. Entering upon professional duties in this state in 1867, he is today the oldest physician in Wyoming. Through the intervening period of a half century he has kept in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress, acquainting himself with those discoveries which scientific investigation has brought to light. He is a well informed phy- sician and one thoroughly skilled in all departments of medical and surgical practice. In the early days he went through all the experiences that come to the frontier physician. He fought in many of the Indian wars and was with the posse in the Wind River campaign, in which Black Bear, the chief of the Arapa- hoes, was killed. The summer's sun and winter's cold could not deter him from the faithful performance of his duties and at times he would ride for miles and miles over wind swept districts, facing the storms of winter, yet he never hesitated when his professional service was needed. He belongs to the Wyoming State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Aside from his active connec- tion with the profession he has also extended his efforts into other fields and is now president of the Evanston National Bank, president of the Evanston Drug Company, a director of the Evanston Electric Light Company and president of the Harrison Stock Growing Company of Uinta County. In business affairs he has displayed sound judgment and unfaltering enterprise and his cooperation with any project has constituted an element in its growing success.
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