USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 24
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GEORGE W. ACE.
George W. Ace, actively engaged in the furniture, hardware and undertaking business at Rock Springs, was born near Scranton, in Wyoming county, Penn- sylvania, July 8, 1860, a son of John and Christiana (Jennings) Ace. The mother was born in Pennsylvania, but her people were from Lancastershire, England. The paternal grandfather came from Germany and took up the occupation of farming as a life work, and the father was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania. On leaving the east he removed to Hastings, Nebraska, where he devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits throughout his remaining days. Both he and his wife passed away in Hastings, his death occurring in 1899, while Mrs. Ace departed this life in 1894. In their family were seven children, five of whom are yet living : Mrs. Rose Kintner, a resident of Pennsylvania; William, who has made his home at Rock Springs since 1883: Mrs. Alice Kintner, also of Pennsylvania ; Norman, living in eastern Colorado; and George W., of this review, who was the fourth in order of birth. The oldest daughter died near Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1906, and the youngest son in 1898, at the age of twenty- eight years, in Hastings, Nebraska.
At the usual age George W. Ace became a pupil in the public schools of Pennsylvania and his educational training there was supplemented by a year's study in Nebraska following the removal of the family to the west. He after- ward worked upon his father's farm until he attained his majority and then started out in life on his own account. He made his way to Butte, Montana, and was employed in the Anaconda mines for a year. He afterward returned to Nebraska, where he engaged in farming for eight years and then sold his interests in that state. Subsequently he took up his abode in Oregon and devoted his attention to farming south of the city of Albany for four years. on the expira- tion of which period he became a resident of Rock Springs in 1897 and turned his attention to the furniture and undertaking business in connection with his brother. He bought out the business in 1909 and has since conducted his com- mercial interests on an extensive scale. He has one of the largest stores of
MR. AND MRS. GEORGE W. ACE
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furniture and undertaking goods in Rock Springs and Sweetwater county, and his business has reached extensive and gratifying proportions.
At Rock Springs, on the 23d of November, 1909, Mr. Ace was united in marriage to Harriet A. (Lockwood) Kemp, whose father was killed in the Civil war when the daughter was only about two years of age. By a former marriage Mr. Ace had three children. Roy, born in Hastings, Nebraska, was graduated from the high school of Rock Springs and is now married and resides in San Pedro, California, where he is in the employ of the Standard Oil Com- pany. Edna, born in Hastings, Nebraska, was graduated from the Rock Springs high school and is now married and resides in Los Angeles, California. Geneva, born in Albany, Oregon, resides in Long Beach, California.
Mr. Ace is a prominent Mason, belonging to the York Rite as well as to the Mystic Shrine. He is very active in Masonic circles and is a prominent repre- sentative of the craft, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit upon which it is based. He is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Eastern Star. His political endorsement is given to the republican party but he has never been an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business affairs. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church, in which he has served as treasurer for five years. He has traveled extensively over this country and is a broad-minded and cultured gentleman who by thrift and industry has reached a high and creditable position in Rock Springs' business circles.
F. S. KING BROTHERS COMPANY.
The F. S. King Brothers Company of Laramie is the one Wyoming industry that is the foremost of its kind in America, enjoying not only a national reputa- tion but one that extends to every country on the face of the globe where the wool and sheep industry is represented in any degree of modern development. The history of this company is but a record of the perseverance, application and clean, businesslike methods of three brothers-Francis S., Herbert J. and Joseph H. King-during the period of their respective identification with the business. Its modest beginning is well remembered by the older residents of Albany county, while the early struggles of the King brothers as young men make their subse- quent success a well earned reward. Superior men in every way, they would have made a success of any business that they might have taken up. In the sheep business each one seemed to fit into a different branch of the work and thus the brothers constituted a most formidable combination, working toward results that had to bring success.
Francis S. King was the first of the brothers to become connected with the sheep industry in Wyoming. This was in the middle '8os, when he entered the employ of Paul Pascoe, an old-time sheep man operating in what is now Albany county. Mr. King gradually acquired an interest in the flock and in 1888 was joined by his brother, Herbert J., who had come direct from England. The two brothers had individual and partnership interests with Mr. Pascoe at different times until 1892, when they severed connections with him and branched out in the business together under the style of King Brothers. In the meantime, or in the year 1891, their younger brother, Joseph H., had come from England and entered their employ. In 1895. Joseph H. King acquired an interest in the busi- ness and in 1898 a partnership was formed under the style of F. S. King Brothers, the business being so continued until June 30, 1904, when it was incorporated as the F. S. King Brothers Company, with Francis S. King as president, Herbert J. King as vice president and Joseph H. King as secretary and treasurer. The firm name has never since been changed but the personnel of the firm changed in 1915, when Herbert J. and Joseph H. purchased the interest of their brother.
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Francis S., who retired from the business, since which time Herbert J. has been the president, with A. C. Jones as vice president and Joseph H. King as secretary and treasurer.
As range sheep men originally, the King brothers had given considerable more attention to breeding and its results than the average sheep man of that time, and noting the beneficial results achieved, they gradually went into the breed- ing business. They first bought Glide ewes in California and select Merino ewes from Oregon, breeding them to Shattuck and King Merino rams. Their first flock header ram was Mckinley, bred by Shattuck & King and sired by Shattuck & King's "Chance," the grand champion at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, while Mckinley's dam was Lady Burwell, also grand champion at Chicago in 1893. Merino blood predominated among these breeders until 1901, when at the Omaha exposition they purchased their hrst Rambouillet ram, Ray R. 25, whose sire and dam were born on the water en route to America with a German importation to the Chicago World's Fair. This ram was crossed with the best Merino blood, producing a large increase in size and a smoothness in body, showing marked progress in breeding and established beyond all question of doubt the advantage and desirability of the Rambouillet blood. Ever on the alert to secure the best breeding, they purchased at the St. Louis exposition in 1904 the first prize yearling Rambouillet ram, Lockwood and Markham No. II, and from A. E. Green, of Orchard Lake, Michigan, who had the grand champion Ram- bouillet ewe at the St. Louis exposition, they bought a number of ewes, as well as from A. A. Wood & Son of Saline, Michigan. Others of this same strain were purchased as the foundation of their registered flock. From time to time the finest ewes from the best breeders in the world have been added, coming from such flocks as Lockwood, Markham, Chapman, Eager, Owen, Lincoln, Moore. Bates and Wyckoff. When the latter flock was discontinued they purchased all the young ewes it contained. Among the noted rams that have been used in building up their Rambouillet flock was A. A. Wood & Son, No. I, sire of Kaiser, grand champion at all the leading fairs of the country ; and Beaconsfield Wycoff No. 762, undefeated ram of America and probably as grand an animal of his strain as ever lived, never being defeated in the show ring. At Denver, in 1908, he was awarded the championship over all breeds. At the National Wool Growers' Association in Helena, Montana, the same year he was grand champion. He weighed three hundred and twenty-eight pounds and clipped as high as forty-two pounds. As a sire his record for getting prize winners has never been equalled. Among the animals sired by Beaconsfield, were Hercules, a two-year-old prize ram at the Seattle exposition that was sold to the United States government for twelve hundred and fifty dollars; Johnny Bull, for whom an offer of fifteen hundred dollars was refused ; Lion ; King's Model ; Laramie Boy, twice grand champion at the Chicago International Stock Show ; Wyoming Boy, also a grand champion at the International Stock Show. The high character of Beaconsfield as a sire will be shown when it is recorded that nine thousand dollars worth of his yearling rams were sold in one season.
On the death of the great Beaconsfield, representatives of the King Brothers Company scoured the country in search of an animal to replace him. The search resulted in the purchase of Ben Hur, a two-year-old and grand champion of the year and sire of every prize winner at the Michigan State Fair that year. Ben Hur proved a noted sire, among his get being Thickset, King's Chief, Longfellow, Ben Hur, Jr. Of these animals, Thickset was the grand champion at Chicago in 1913 and was the sire of Thickset, Jr. and Pride of the West who was the first prize yearling at the Chicago International Stock Show in 1916, as well as being the first prize aged ram at the same show in 1917. Pride of the West was also sire of first prize pen of lambs get of sire, first prize ram and ewe lamb and cham- pion ram and ewe at the Chicago International Show in 1917. Twenty-five hun- dred dollars has been refused for Pride of the West and seven hundred dollars was refused for his first ram lamb.
At the sale of stock in Salt Lake City in August, 1917, King's Big Chief, the
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largest Rambouillet ram on record, sold for thirteen hundred dollars. He weighed four hundred pounds, was five feet eight and three-fourths inches long, three feet six inches high and six feet seven inches girth.
The King Brothers Company for a number of years only showed its stock at smaller fairs, their first display being at Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1903, the first Wyoming State Fair, where big competition was encountered, and there they won a silver cup. The next year, at the St. Louis World's Fair, their wool exhibit won a gold medal for every fleece shown. In 1910 they first showed at the Chi- cago International Stock Show, getting five firsts and two seconds also champion ram, champion ewe and champion flock. When they first showed at big eastern state fairs their exhibit was referred to before its arrival as the "sagebrush flock." It was not thought possible to raise the superb animals in Wyoming that they were to exhibit. Those older eastern exhibitors went down to defeat and the "sage- brush flock" captured the ribbons. At the San Francisco exposition in 1915 they won twenty-nine first premiums, also winning grand champion B. ram and ewe, get of sire, Flock Reserve Champion C, ram and ewe ; also premium championships for breeder and exhibitor ; and they have been consistent winners at all the leading state fairs for many years.
The business of this company has kept abreast of every advance in sheep breed- ing. Its buildings have been constructed in the most modern way and in some instances embody features original with the company and not utilized elsewhere. Their holdings include thirty thousand acres of deeded land and twenty thousand acres of leased land, which extensive holdings have developed from the original homestead taken up by Francis S. King. The business methods of the company have always been the most straightforward and reliable and they have ever en- joyed an unassailable reputation for the highest integrity. During the past eighteen years the company has bent its energies and spared no expense in devel- oping a Rambouillet sheep that would in form, fleece and hardiness fill the wants of the western sheep man. By a careful selection of sires that have descended from noted ancestors, mating them with ewes of large, robust frame, the com- pany has produced a strain that has made itself felt throughout the country.
HON. JACOB A. DELFELDER.
If one were asked to express in a single word the most prominent and salient characteristic of Hon. Jacob A. Delfelder it might be done in the word helpful- ness, for there is no man who has contributed more largely to the development of Riverton and Fremont county than he, and his helpfulness has been of a char- acter that the sociologist says is of greatest worth to the world, the kind that helps the individual to help himself. He has ever striven to improve conditions having to do with the development and upbuilding and the advancement of business ac- tivity in county and state and is regarded as an authority upon the subject of irrigation and water rights as wells as an authority upon sheep raising. His labors have ever been of a character in which the public is a large direct and also indirect beneficiary.
Mr. Delfelder was born in Effingham, Kansas, January 11, 1871, a son of Frederick and Anna (Wagner) Delfelder, both of whom were natives of Ger- many. On coming to this country they settled in Illinois and afterward removed to Effingham, Kansas. The father had been educated for and was ordained to the ministry of the Lutheran church but never followed that vocation. On set- tling in Kansas he took up the occupation of farming and became one of the leading agriculturists and prosperous residents of that section of the state. He is now living retired in Atchison and his wife also survives.
Their son, Jacob A. Delfelder, was the fourth in order of birth in a family of eight children. He was reared upon the homestead farm and acquired his educa- tion in the country schools. He worked during the summer months and attended
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school in the winter seasons. At an early age he took up the study of the science of dehorning cattle and in due time became an adept in that work. After leaving the country schools he went to Atchison, Kansas, where he attended the Atchison Business College, from which in due time he was graduated. He paid his way through college with money which he earned in dehorning cattle.
In 1892 Mr. Delfelder came to Wyoming with the idea of turning his attention to dehorning cattle but on reaching this state found that the cattlemen of Wyoming were not interested in that, so that he had to seek employment along other lines. He then turned his attention to sheep raising in Uinta county, being first employed by Al Pomeroy, of Evanston, with whom he remained for three months. He then removed to Fremont county and for two years was in the employ of David Sweeney. In the fall of 1894 he engaged in the sheep business on his own account in connection with Austin Bunce, forming the firm of Bunce & Delfelder, which was maintained until 1910, when, upon the death of Mr. Bunce, Mr. Delfelder purchased his partner's interest from the heirs and has since continued his opera- tions independently. At the present time he has about twenty thousand head of sheep and about two thousand head of cattle, together with about five hundred head of horses, his stock being pastured upon an extensive ranch of two thousand acres of irrigated land, beside a large acreage of pasture land and range. Mr. Del- felder is now the president of the National Sheep Company and also of the Diamond C Sheep Company and there is no man in the state who has done more to improve conditions that affect sheep raising than he. On the 8th of May, 1903, he was appointed by Governor Chatterton to the position of state sheep commis- sioner, at which time over ninety per cent of the sheep in Wyoming were scabby, and through his efforts, with the assistance of the commissioners, they eradicated the disease in less than two years. He served on the board altogether for about ten years and his efforts were most valuable and effective in promoting the sheep raising interests of the state by the improvement of conditions. He was also the originator and is a director of the National Wool House and Storage Company of Chicago, Illinois.
Aside from his extensive sheep raising and other live stock interests Mr. Del- felder is president of the Farmers State Bank of Powell, Wyoming, vice presi- dent of the First State Bank of Riverton, a director of the Farmers State Bank of Worland and a stockholder and director in a number of other large financial institutions. In business matters his judgment is sound, his insight keen and his enterprise unfaltering. He is also interested in some realty companies and what- ever he undertakes he carries forward to successful completion.
It is but natural that a man of Mr. Delfelder's business ability and devotion to the public welfare should be called upon to serve in public office. In 1913 he was elected to the house of representatives and while in the state legislature was the father of a number of important bills. He was instrumental in securing the passage of the Smith Levers bill and he introduced the bill that was the cause of the Wyoming central irrigation investigation. He is an authority upon the subject of irrigation, which he has studied from every possible standpoint, and he does not believe in a monopoly of water rights. Riverton, recognizing his genuine worth and public spirit, elected him to the office of mayor and for four years he served as chief executive of the city. On the 14th of May, 1918, he was again elected to that position without opposition, as he had been during his previ- ous terms of office. He would not accept the position in any other way, for he wants to feel that he has the whole-hearted support of the public and must feel that his efforts for the benefit of the city will not be hampered. He wishes to do things in his own way-and the public recognizes that his way is the best way.
On the 19th of October, 1910, Mr. Delfelder was united in marriage to Miss Evelyn Hartman and they now have a son, William W., who is attending the Todd Seminary for Boys, at Woodstock, Illinois.
Fraternally Mr. Delfelder is a Mason and has attained the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite and has also taken the degrees up to and including the thirty-second of the Scottish Rite. He likewise belongs to Korein Temple of the Vol. II-12
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Mystic Shrine and his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft. He occu- pies a most beautiful and modern home in Riverton and its warm-hearted hospi- tality is known throughout the countryside. He employs a great many people on his ranches and it is characteristic of Mr. Delfelder that he is always as courteous and genial to the laborers upon the ranch as to any heavy stockholder or official who is associated with him in his business interests. He is a big man in spirit and interests, broadminded, alert, energetic, ever actuated by a spirit of progress and looking ever toward the attainment of higher ideals and results. His adopted county and state have indeed profited by his labors, which have ever been of a most practically resultant character.
HON. FENIMORE CHATTERTON.
Hon. Fenimore Chatterton has long occupied a central place on the stage of public activity in Wyoming. His entire record reflects credit and honor upon the state that has honored him. He was at one time chief executive of Wyoming. is now one of the prominent attorneys and business men of Fremont county and has been identified with many interests and movements which have left an indelible impress upon the history of the state. Tangible evidence of his public spirit is found not only in the legislative records but also in con- nection with many projects which have been carried forward to successful completion and which constitute important elements of public welfare. His career is illustrative of the opportunities that are furnished in America to ambitious young men. He had no financial advantages at the outset of his career but was fortunate in that back of him was an ancestry honorable and distinguished and he is happy that his lines of life have been cast in harmony therewith.
He was born in Oswego, New York, July 21, 1860, a son of German H. and Ama ( Mazuzan) Chatterton, both of whom were natives of Vermont and repre- sentatives of early New England families. The Chatterton family was established on American soil in the year following the first trip of the Mayflower to the new world in 1620. Members of both the Chatterton and Mazuzan families participated in the Revolutionary war and in the War of 1812. German H. Chatterton occupied a college professorship in early manhood and subsequently was admitted to the bar, devoting many years to the practice of law. Later he was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry and did missionary work on the western frontier, building many churches through Iowa and the middle western states. He is still living and now makes his home in Greenville, New York, at the age of eighty-seven years, having retired from active business and pro- fessional connections. His life has been one of farreaching influence and benefit. His wife passed away in the year 1864.
Fenimore Chatterton, whose name introduces this record, was educated in the public schools and in Columbia College at Washington, D. C., followed by a course in law in the University of Michigan, from which he received his LL. B. degree in 1891. In January, 1878, he removed to the west to win a fortune if possible. For six months he remained in Chicago and then continued his journey to the Iowa wheat fields, where he earned enough money to meet the expenses of a course in the State Normal Institute there. He afterward se- cured a teacher's certificate, but before he had entered upon active work as a teacher he was offered a position in connection with a mercantile house of Fort Steele, Wyoming, the proprietor, Mr. Hugns, conducting both a wholesale and retail general merchandise business. He was also at the head of a banking institution at Fort Steele, which was the principal trading point of Carbon county. The county boundary then extended from the Colorado line to Montana and the mercantile company covered in its business operations a wide territory, conduct- ing an extensive trade, while the banking business, too, drew its patronage from
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throughout the entire county. The business opportunity offered Mr. Chatterton looked good to him and he accepted the proffered position. Five years later Mr. Hugus, wishing to retire from business, turned his entire interests over to Mr. Chatterton, accepting the latter's note for thirty-two thousand dollars. With characteristic energy Mr. Chatterton bent his energies to the conduct and further development of the business and his labors were attended with such success that within five years he had discharged all of his financial obligations and had established his interests on a firm financial basis. He was thus identified with commercial activity in the state for a number of years, building up a trade of large and gratifying proportions. In 1888, however, he sold the business and was elected to the offices of probate judge and county treasurer, serving in the dual capacity until 1890, when he resigned to become a candidate for the first state senate. He was elected to the office and reelection continued him in the position for two terms. It was after his connection with the upper house of the general assembly for one term that he returned to the east and com- pleted his law studies in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. where he was graduated with the class of 1891. The following year he opened a law office in Rawlins and entered upon a successful career as a representative of the bar, remaining in active practice there until 1899. During this time he served for two terms as county and prosecuting attorney and in 1898 he was elected secretary of state. His powers and his abilities proving adequate to every demand that was made upon him in public service, he was continually advanced from one position of trust to another until in 1903 he succeeded Governor DeForest Richards in the office of chief executive of the state.
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