USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 22
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William F. Hamilton pursued a public school education and afterward attended the New Athens (Ohio) College. When his text-books were put aside he took up the occupation of farming in the east and was thus engaged until his removal westward in 1879. Arriving in Wyoming in that year, he turned his attention to the sheep industry, taking up his abode on a sheep ranch. He lived on the old government farm, fourteen miles north of Laramie, and he brought the first sheep across the Platte river into Wyoming in 1880. He homesteaded what was known as the Eighty-Six Homestead and resided thereon for six years, becoming one of the early residents of that section of the state. When the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was built through that section of the country he took up his abode in Douglas in 1886 and since that period has made his home in the city, from which point he has directed his sheep interests. He laid out the Hamilton addition to Douglas and has been a most potent factor in
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WILLIAM F. HAMILTON
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bringing about the substantial development, progress and upbuilding of the sec- tion of the state in which he lives. He is engaged in ranching on an extensive scale and he has studied closely every point bearing upon the practical develop- ment and improvement of the region. Realizing what it would be to the district to have an adequate water supply, he became the originator of the La Prele dam and reservoir project, resulting in the building of a dam one hundred and thirty- six feet high and the construction of one hundred miles of ditch, whereby twelve thousand acres of land have been brought under cultivation. In this undertaking he was associated with Dr. Wilson and B. J. Erwin, the three men planning and carrying forward to successful completion a project which has been of untold value and worth to this section of the state. With many affairs of importance to the community Mr. Hamilton has been closely and helpfully associated. At one time he was postmaster of Douglas and at every period of his residence in the city, covering thirty-two years, he has stood for progress and improvement along lines that have produced splendid results.
In September, 1883, Mr. Hamilton was united in marriage to Miss Mary Vincent, formerly of Pennsylvania and of Ohio, and their children are: Martha. the wife of D. D. Caley; Artie V., the wife of John Le Bar, who is engaged in the automobile business in Douglas ; George R., who is engaged in ranching : James H., who is with the United States army in France; and William S., who is in the United States navy.
In his political views Mr. Hamilton has been a stalwart republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, and in this connection it may be mentioned that his father was one of the organizers of the underground rail- road through Pennsylvania to conduct the escape of the negroes to the north. Fraternally Mr. Hamilton of this review is connected with the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is fond of hunting and outdoor life, to which he turns for rest and recreation. He has made himself a most creditable place in business circles in this section of the state and as one of the pioneer settlers his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. There was no house here at the time of his arrival and he built the first dwelling in this section of the state. He can tell the story of every phase of frontier life in this locality by reason of personal experience and his reminiscences of the early days are most interesting. In the work of general improvement he has indeed been an important factor, realizing the opportunities before the district and at all times utilizing these opportunities in the best possible way for the upbuild- ing of the community as well as for the advancement of his individual success. Another proof of his patriotic and public spirit may be found in the fact that he is one of the organizers and is president of the One Hundred Per Cent American Club of Douglas, Wyoming.
WILLIAM C. KINKEAD.
William C. Kinkead. a Chevenne attorney who has engaged in the practice of law since 1894 and thus brings twenty-three years' experience to the solu- tion of legal problems which now confront him in the care of his extensive practice, was born in Knoxville, Iowa, in April, 1869. a son of Lemuel and Mary J. (Zuck) Kinkead. The father was also a prominent attorney who devoted his life to law practice, but both he and his wife are now deceased. .
Their son, William C. Kinkead, spending his youthful davs under the parental roof. acquired a public and high school education in Knoxville, Iowa, and after- ward entered the University of Iowa for the study of law, having determined upon law practice as his life work. He completed the full course and was graduated with the class of 1894. after which he opened an office in his native citv. there remaining for thirteen years. But the opportunities of the great and growing west attracted him and in 1907 he removed to Cheyenne, where
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he has now been engaged in practice for eleven years. He has much natural ability but is withal a hard student and is never contented until he has mastered every detail of his cases. He believes in the maxim: "There is no excellence without labor" and follows it closely. He is never surprised by some unex- pected discovery by an opposing lawyer, for in his mind he weighs every point and fortifies himself as well for defense as for attack. He convinces by his concise statements of law and fact rather than by word painting and so high is the respect for his legal ability and integrity that his assertions in court are seldom questioned.
On the 4th of January, 1908, Mr. Kinkead was united in marriage to Miss Clare Button and they have two sons, Robert Button and Tom Harrington. The religious faith of the parents is that of the Episcopal church and Mr. Kinkead is a Mason of high standing, belonging to the consistory and to the Mystic Shrine. He is much interested in Wyoming and its development and cooperates in all well defined plans and purposes for its upbuilding. Along strictly pro- fessional lines he has connection with the Wyoming and with the American Bar Associations. He has made steady progress in his profession and what- ever he does is for the best interests of his clients and for the honor of his chosen calling. No man gives to either a more unqualified allegiance and these qualities have won for him the admiration and respect of all who know him.
WILLIAM J. WITHERSPOON.
No history of Kemmerer would be complete without extended reference to the Kemmerer Hardware & Furniture Company, of which William J. Wither- spoon is the secretary and treasurer and in which undertaking he is associated with Albert P. Heitz and R. Howard Embree. The three are most progressive and enterprising young men and their well defined plans are being carried for- ward to successful completion. They are today at the head of one of the most important commercial enterprises of their section of the state and are now actively engaged as well in the automobile trade.
Mr. Witherspoon is a native of Sumter, South Carolina. He was born on the 11th of November, 1888, of the marriage of S. M. and Elizabeth ( Mont- gomery) Witherspoon, who are also natives of that state, where the family has resided for many generations. The parents of William J. Witherspoon still make their home at Sumter and the father has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. To them have been born eight children: Hugh, yet a resident of South Carolina ; Robert and James, who are living in Salt Lake City, Utah; Joseph, of South Carolina ; Samuel, who is now with the United States army in . France; Mrs. Mary Muldrow, of South Carolina; Annie Laurie, at home; and William J., who was the fourth in order of birth.
In his boyhood days William J. Witherspoon devoted his attention largely to the acquirement of a public school education in his native town. On remov- ing to the west he made his way to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he entered the banking business, with which he was connected for three and a half years. He then removed to Kemmerer, Wyoming, and became associated with the Kem- merer Coal Company. with which he remained for three years. He also spent three years in the employ of the Frontier Supply Company and later became as- sociated with the Kemmerer Hardware Company. After four years he pur- chased stock in the business and was elected secretary and treasurer of the Kemmerer Hardware Company, with Mr. Heitz as the president and Mr. Em- bree as the vice president. This undertaking has proven one of the important commercial interests of the city, and still further extending their labors, the three partners of the company organized the Up-to-Date Auto Company, of which Mr. Witherspoon became the secretary and the active manager. The com-
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pany handles both the Reo and the Ford cars and maintains a well equipped garage in addition to handling all kinds of automobile accessories and supplies.
In September, 1912, Mr. Witherspoon was united in marriage to Miss Marion Christmas, a daughter of Colonel and Mrs. H. E. Christmas, the former a promi- nent attorney of Kemmerer. They now have two children: Robert, born in 1914; and Francis, born in 1917.
Mr. and Mrs. Witherspoon hold membership in the Episcopal church and fraternally he is connected with the Masonic lodge. In politics he is an inde- pendent democrat. He usually votes with the party but does not consider himself bound by party ties. He is one of the best known and most popular young busi- ness men of Lincoln county and aside from his business has those qualities which have won for him the warm friendship and kindly regard of all with whom he has been associated.
THEODORE DIERS.
Theodore Diers, cashier of the Citizens State Bank at Sheridan, was born at Seward, Nebraska, December 4, 1880, his parents being Herman and Annie (Schulte) Diers. The father removed to Nebraska from the state of Iowa in 1869 and the following year established a general merchandise store in the town of Seward. In the same year he was married to Annie Schulte and both are still residents of Seward, being numbered among the highly respected people of that city.
Theodore Diers acquired a public school education in Seward and afterward attended the Lincoln Business College at Lincoln, Nebraska. He started upon his business career as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Seward when seventeen years of age and two years afterward was elected to the position of assistant cashier. In 1909 he came to Wyoming, where he opened the Clearmont State Bank in the town of Clearmont and in August of that year was employed as cashier. In March, 1910, he removed to Sheridan and assisted in the organi- zation of the Citizens State Bank, of which he has since been cashier. In 1912 he was elected president of the Clearmont State Bank and still continues in that capacity. He is also treasurer of the Sheridan Building & Loan Association and is thus actively interested in financial affairs in his section of the state.
Mr. Diers is identified with several fraternal organizations. He is identified with the Masons as a member of the lodge, chapter, commandery and Mystic Shrine and he is prominently known in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, having been a past exalted ruler of Sheridan Lodge of Elks in 1913 and district deputy grand exalted ruler of Wyoming in 1916. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and in 1912 he was elected to the lower house of the Wyoming legislature, where he made so creditable a record that in 1914 he was elected state senator from Sheridan county and served in the sessions of 1915 and 1917. In August of the latter year he was appointed federal food admin- istrator for the state of Wyoming by President Wilson, and he is a member of the Wyoming State Council of National Defense, standing stanchly for those interests which uphold the national policy in this period of stress when America is bearing her part in the effort to save the world for democracy.
LAWRENCE E. ARMSTRONG.
Lawrence E. Armstrong, actively engaged in the practice of law at Rawlins, was born in Jackson, Ohio, October 21, 1868, and was the eldest of the ten children of Washington and Salletha ( Dyson) Armstrong, both of whom were natives of the Buckeye state, where they continued to reside throughout their
There done Hier
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entire lives. The father devoted his attention to farming, but at the time of the Civil war put aside all business and personal considerations to respond to the country's call for troops, joining the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery as a private for three years' service, thereby demonstrating his unfaltering loyalty. He died in Ohio in 1887 but his widow is still living in Jackson, that state.
In his boyhood days Lawrence E. Armstrong became a pupil in the public schools of Jackson county, Ohio, and afterward pursued a preparatory course in the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he was graduated with the class of 1891. Later he attended Ohio University and won the Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1894. He then took up the profession of teaching in 1895 and was identified with the schools of Rawlins and of Carbon county, Wyoming, for three years, but he regarded teaching merely as an initial step to other professional labor and in 1901 completed a course in the law department of Columbia University, which institution in the previous year had conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. In 1901 he opened a law office in Rawlins and through the intervening period has built up a large practice that ranks him with the leading attorneys of the state. Mr. Armstrong has made steady progress in his law practice and his success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capability. His devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial.
On the 29th of April, 1903, in Denver, Mr. Armstrong was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Bingner, a daughter of H. G. and Anna Bingner. They have be- come parents of three children : John Reuel, who was born in Rawlins in 1904 and is now attending high school; L. E., who was born in 1906; and Anna, born in 1916.
Mr. Armstrong is a Mason, connected with both the York and Scottish Rites, and he enjoys the highest regard of his brethren of the fraternity because of his close conformity to its advanced ethical standards. He has social qualities which render him popular and he is held in the highest esteem throughout Raw- lins and wherever he is known. For four years he was a resident of Denver, where he was engaged in the investment business, but with the exception of that period he has continuously devoted his attention to his profession since his ad- mission to the bar and his ability has brought him to a creditable standing among the lawyers of his adopted state.
HENRY D. BALLARD.
Henry D. Ballard, operating extensively and successfully in the real estate field in Douglas, was born in Allegany county, New York, in 1842, a son of Moses R. and Eliza ( Beecher) Ballard, both of whom have passed away. They lived, however, to an advanced age and reared a family of eleven children.
In the public schools Henry D. Ballard began his education, which he con- tinued in the Iowa City University. He afterward concentrated his efforts and attention upon general agricultural pursuits, which he successfully followed until January 25, 1916, when he removed to Wyoming. For a number of years he also conducted a commercial college at Lincoln, Nebraska, having removed to that state in 1910. Upon coming to Wyoming he opened a real estate office in Doug- las and has since negotiated many important realty transfers. He has thor- oughly informed himself concerning property values in his city and county and has gained many clients by reason of his honorable business methods and his progressiveness. In addition to his real estate business he is conducting a ranch which he owns. While throughout his entire life he has largely concen- trated his efforts and attention upon his business affairs, at the time of the Civil war he put aside all business and personal interests in order to espouse the cause of the Union and for a brief period was with a cavalry company, after which Vol. II-11
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he joined Company A of the Twenty-third Iowa Infantry, with which he saw about three years of active service on southern battlefields.
On the 2d of November, 1884, Mr. Ballard was united in marriage to Miss Mary M. Corcoran and to them have been born a son and a daughter. Mr. Ballard has ever been a great student of history and he is much interested in Wyoming and its development, contributing in active and helpful measure to the work of progress and improvement. His religious faith is that of the Uni- tarian church and fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a republican and he is a broad-minded man who looks at all important questions without partisanship and stands at all times for progress and improvement. He maintains pleasant relations with his old military comrades through his membership in the Grand Army of the Re- public and he is as true and loyal to his country in days of peace as when he followed the stars and stripes upon the battlefields of the south.
WARREN RICHARDSON.
Warren Richardson, one of the county commissioners of Laramie county and widely and favorably known throughout the county and especially in Cheyenne, where he makes his home, was born on the 30th of October, 1864, in Indianapolis, Indiana, a son of Warren and Mary A. (Kabis) Richardson. The father was a man of prominence in the communities in which he lived. He filled the office of county clerk in 1874 and was a city councilman of Cheyenne, during which time he did much toward developing the beautiful park system of the city, and was also county superintendent of schools. He was likewise well known as an author and in financial circles through his connection with the First National Bank of Cheyenne and his activities thus contributed to the material development and upbuilding of the district in which he lived. His last days were spent in Seattle, Washington, where he passed away in March, 1908. His widow survives and is now living in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Warren Richardson, born in Indiana, became a resident of Wyoming in 1869, the family home being established at Cheyenne, where he pursued a public and high school education, making good use of his opportunities in that direction and thus laying a substantial foundation for his success in later life. In his youth- ful days he began learning the printer's trade and after working in that way for a time turned his attention to ranching and the live stock business. Through all the intervening years to the present he has been an active factor in the develop- ment of Laramie county along various lines. He has been not only associated with its live stock interests but has been frequently called upon to serve in positions of public honor and trust. He is now chairman of the board of county commissioners of Laramie county for a term of four years that will extend from 1915 until 1919. He is a most active factor in promoting the good roads move- ment and is the consul for Laramie county in connection with the Lincoln High- way project, of which he is heartily in favor. He has closely studied the question of good roads and is a stanch advocate of every practical movement to improve the highways, recognizing how beneficial this is when judged from the stand- point of economics, of utility and of comfort. Mr. Richardson originated the idea of a combined city and county building and under his regime the beautiful building was begun and almost completed. He is watchful of every indication that has to do with the upbuilding and progress of his community in any way and he has become associated with the work of developing the oil regions of the state, having been active in this field for thirty years, his labors having been carried on in the Salt Creek and Big Muddy districts.
Mr. Richardson is a stalwart champion of the republican party. Fraternally he is a prominent Mason, belonging to Wyoming Consistory, No. 1, A. A. S. R., and he is also identified with Korein Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Rawlins.
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WARREN RICHARDSON
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He has membership with the Elks Lodge, No. 660, and Phoenix Lodge, No. 144, Woodmen of the World. He is thus well known in fraternal circles and is in hearty sympathy with the beneficent spirit which underlies these organizations. He enjoys hunting and fishing and indulges his taste for those sports when leisure permits but places business and official interests first and is making a most credit- able record as county commissioner, giving to the county as chairman of the board a most efficient and progressive and businesslike administration, during which many thousands of dollars of back taxes were collected and the county put on a cash basis for the first time in many years.
CHESTER E. HARRIS, M. D.
Dr. Chester E. Harris, associated in the ownership of the Basin Hospital at Basin, Wyoming, with Dr. Herbert T. Harris, was born in Algiers, Indiana, September 6, 1881, his parents being James Finley and Josephine Harris, the former also a physician. With the removal of the family to Ogden, Illinois, he continued his education in the schools of that city until graduated with the class of 1897. He afterward entered the preparatory school of the University of Illinois, which he attended in 1898 and 1899. He then became a student in the University of Illinois and won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1902. The following year his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree and in 1906 he completed a medical course in the State University of Illinois, winning his M. D. degree at that date. He was then a member of the house staff of the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago from 1906 until 1908 and through hospital experience gained that broad knowledge and efficiency which can never be as quickly acquired in any other way as in hospital work. He afterward opened an office in Chicago, where he remained in active practice from 1908 until 1912. In the latter year he removed to Basin, Wyoming, to become joint owner with Dr. Herbert T. Harris of the Basin Hospital, which they have since conducted. In the same year he was made county physician of Bighorn county and has since served in that capacity.
In Chicago, Illinois, on the 14th of April, 1910, Dr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Adriana Van Eenenaam, a daughter of Dick Van Eenenaam and Rica (Vyan) Van Eenenaam. Dr. and Mrs. Harris have one child, Frances Josephine.
, In his political views Dr. Harris is an earnest republican and in 1915 was elected coroner of Bighorn county, which position he is now filling. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and along strictly professional lines he has membership with the Northwestern Wyoming Medical Society, of which he is the vice president, the Wyoming State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. Through the meetings of these different organizations he keeps in touch with the trend of modern scientific thought, inves- tigation and progress and readily adapts progressive ideas to the needs of his pri- vate practice.
HON. EDWARD E. JOHNSON.
Hon. Edward E. Johnson, filling the dual position of justice of the peace and police judge of Rock Springs, was born in Madelia, Minnesota, June 26, 1866, his parents being Eric and Cenia ( Iverson) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Norway. whence they crossed the Atlantic to the new world, first establishing their home in Illinois. They afterward became pioneer residents of Minnesota, where the father engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1894. His
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widow still survives and is yet a resident of Minnesota. In their family were nine children, seven sons and two daughters.
Edward E. Johnson, who was the second in order of birth in that family, pur- sued his education in the public schools of Minnesota and afterward removed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he resided for four years, working along various lines in order to provide for his support. In 1892 he arrived in Rock Springs, after which he was employed by the Union Pacific Coal Company and also as a switchman by the Union Pacific Railway Company, spending his time in that man- ner until 1902, when he was made justice of the peace, in which capacity he has since continued, making an excellent record by the fair and impartial manner in which he discharges his duties. In 1910 he was elected police judge of the city and is now occupying those offices, his excellent record being indicated by his long re- tention in these positions.
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