USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 29
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and Mrs. Muir accompanied her husband to the new world. She, too, passed away in Rock Springs, her death occurring in 1909, when she was sixty-five years of age. They gave to their children excellent educational opportunities and lived to rear ten of their children and see them become useful members of society.
Walter A. Muir was only about a year old when the family home was established in Wyoming, so that practically his entire life has been passed in Rock Springs, where at the usual age he became a public school pupil, passing through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school. He pur- sued an academic course in the Nebraska State University and then entered upon the study of law, winning the LL. B. degree upon graduation from the Denver University in the class of 1909. Immediately following his graduation he returned to Rock Springs, where he entered upon the private practice of law, and in 1909 he formed a partnership with T. S. Taliaferro under the firm style of Taliaferro & Muir. They have continued in the general practice of law and their clientage has become extensive and of an important character. They have been connected with much litigation that has elicited wide public attention. From the outset of his career Mr. Muir has recognized the necessity for thorough preparation and never enters the court room until he has thor- oughly studied his case from every standpoint, preparing for defense as well as for attack. His devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial and his ability is attested by the liberal practice accorded him.
On the 4th of June. 1914, Mr. Muir was married in Rock Springs, Wyoming, to Miss Mary L. Devlin, who was born in Carbon, Wyoming, a daughter of Felix and Mary Devlin, who were pioneer settlers of this state. The father was a Civil war veteran and subsequent to the conflict between the north and the south he sought the opportunities of the west and became identified with the development of Wyoming. To Mr. and Mrs. Muir has been born a son, Walter Joseph, whose birth occurred in Rock Springs, March 4, 1915; and a daughter, Marion Louise, born February 24, 1918.
Mr. and Mrs. Muir occupy an attractive home in Rock Springs, where they have an extensive circle of warm friends. In addition to his property here he is part owner in a ranch and large herds of cattle, being secretary and treasurer of the Muir Cattle Company, a Wyoming corporation. His political endorse- ment is given to the republican party and he is one of the active workers in its ranks. He has served as county prosecuting attorney, being called to that office January 1, 1913, for a two years' term, and he is the present city attorney of Rock Springs. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while along strictly professional lines he has membership with the Wyoming State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is largely a self-educated as well as a self-made man and he partially provided for his expenses while pursuing a course in the university. He entered upon a profession where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit and ability and from the outset of his professional career has made steady progress owing to his close study, his analytical powers and his inductive reasoning, com- bined with the clearness and cogency of his arguments when he presents his cause to the courts.
EDWIN P. TAYLOR.
Edwin P. Taylor, commissioner of labor and a prominent citizen of Cheyenne, was born in Fort Sanders, Wyoming, August 3, 1876, a son of Andrew and Annie (Blake) Taylor. The father came to the west as first sergeant under Captain Pollock to protect the railroad builders against the Indians and spent his last days at Fort Sanders. His wife has also departed this life. In their family were two sons and five daughters.
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EDWIN P. TAYLOR
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Edwin P. Taylor, who was the youngest child, pursued his education largely in the school of experience, for he had little opportunity to attend school during his youthful days. He learned the printer's trade in the office of the Boomerang and of the Cheyenne Leader and Tribune, after which he went upon the road as a printer. In 1911 he was made chief of the fire department of Cheyenne and occupied that position for six years, or until the Ist of March, 1917, when he was appointed by Governor Kendrick to the office of commissioner of labor, in which position he is now serving. He became the first labor commissioner of the state, the office having been created in that year.
In religious faith Mr. Taylor is a Catholic and he has attained the third degree in the Knights of Columbus. In politics he maintains an independent course, supporting men and measures rather than party. His military service covers connection with the Light Artillery Volunteers of Wyoming from May until November in the Spanish-American war. His entire life has been passed in Wyoming and thus for forty-two years he has been an interested witness of the growth and development of the state and its progress along many lines. His memory goes back to a period when the settlements were comparatively few within the borders of the state and the work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun. As the years passed, however, marvelous changes occurred and Mr. Taylor has at all times borne his part in the work of general transformation and improvement.
FRANK SUMNER BURRAGE.
Frank Sumner Burrage, secretary of the board of trustees, and registrar of the University of Wyoming and secretary to the president, which important position he has filled for ten years, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, October 23, 1872, a son of George Francis and Elizabeth ( Hammond ) Burrage, who were likewise natives of that state, the former having been born in Leominster and the latter in Fitchburg. His ancestors were among the prominent early New England families and the ancestral line is traced back to a very early epoch in the colonization of New England. Representatives of the name served in the Revolutionary war. His father was for many years a well known business man of Boston, Massachusetts, and is now living in San Jose, California. His wife passed away in that state. In their family were three children, the sisters of Frank S. Burrage being: Mrs. Walton, living in Cheyenne; and Mrs. Frank Johnston, whose home is in Rawlins, Wyoming.
Frank S. Burrage was the eldest of the family and in his boyhood days he became a pupil in the public schools of Boston, while later he entered Jarvis Hall at Denver, Colorado, from which in due course of time he was graduated. That institution was a boys' boarding school and he received thorough training there, completing the academic course by graduation with the class of 1891. He afterward returned to New England and entered Trinity College, of Hartford, Connecticut, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1895 and was honor man in history and economics. He was also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society and of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. Following the completion of his course in Hartford he returned to Denver, where he engaged in teaching in Jarvis Hall for two years. In January, 1898, he went to Cheyenne, where he acted as tutor to the son of Governor Charles Carey, whom he prepared for college. He then entered Judge Carey's office and there remained until 1901, when he returned east as far as Detroit, Michigan, where he had charge of the Hammond building, of the Hammond estate, for four years. In 1905 he again came to Wyoming and accepted the position of cashier of the Laramie Repub- lican, with which he was identified until 1908. Since that time he has been con- nected with the University of Wyoming, becoming secretary of the board of trustees. In 1912 he was made registrar of the institution and secretary to the
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president and has now filled this important position for five years. He is splen- didly qualified by educational training and broad experience for the duties that devolve upon him, duties which he is discharging with marked capability.
On the 15th of September, 1908, Mr. Burrage was married to Miss Mary Vincent McClelland, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Rev. and Mrs. James Farley McClelland, representatives of a well known New York family. Mr. and Mrs. Burrage have become parents of two children: Nancy, who was born December 12, 1910, in Laramie and is now attending the University train- ing school; and Elizabeth, who was born August 17, 1917.
Mr. Burrage has always given his political allegiance to the republican party and he keeps thoroughly informed concerning the vital questions and issues of the day. His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church.
LLOYD E. KINDALL, M. D.
Dr. Lloyd E. Kindall, chief surgeon and superintendent of the Lincoln County Miners Hospital at Kemmerer, bases his professional activity upon comprehensive preparation and wide subsequent study. He is today one of the best informed young physicians of the state and has the respect and confidence of colleagues, contemporaries and the general public.
He was born in Cleveland, lowa, March 22, 1890, a son of Axel F. Kindall, a native of Sweden, who came to America with his parents when a lad of eight years, in 1872, his birth having occurred in March, 1864. The family home was established in Wapello county, lowa, and the grandfather of the Doctor was the founder of the American branch of the family. He devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and his son, Axel F., was reared upon the home farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of those who devote their attention to the tilling of the soil. The public schools of Wapello county afforded him his educational privileges and after reaching man's estate he turned his attention to general merchandising, which he successfully followed in Iowa until 1902, when he removed to Colorado, settling at Denver. He was there division store manager for the Colorado Supply Company and in 1910 he embarked in business on his own account at Paonia, Colorado, where he engaged in general merchandising. He resided there until his death, which occurred on the 3d of November, 1914. He was a devout Christian and an active church worker both in the Lutheran and Methodist churches and did everything in his power to advance civic standards, but his business affairs prevented him taking an active part in public affairs and he always declined to become a candidate for office, although frequently solicited to do so. His business affairs were carefully and wisely conducted and brought to him a gratifying measure of success. He mar- ried Matilda Ahlstrom, a native of Sweden, who had come to the new world when a young girl with an aunt, settling in Iowa, where she met and married Mr. Kindall. They became the parents of six children, five of whom are yet living, and Mrs. Kindall still makes her home in Denver, Colorado.
Lloyd E. Kindall, who was the second in order of birth in the family, pursued a public school education in Iowa and attended high school in Colorado, after which he became a student in the University of Colorado, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree as a member of the class of 1913. From the age of sixteen years he has been dependent upon his own resources, for at that time he accepted a position in a mercantile house of Pueblo, Colorado. He has done all branches of work in mercantile lines, from service as delivery boy to that of manager of a department, but he preferred a professional career and after preparing for the practice of medicine he entered upon a nine months' service as interne in the L. D. S. Hospital at Salt Lake City, Utah. He afterward spent another year as interne in the hospital of the Southern Pacific Railway Company at San Francisco, California, and thus gained the comprehensive knowledge and
Chinials
LINCOLN COUNTY MINERS HOSPITAL, KEMMERER
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broad experience which only hospital practice brings. He next became surgeon and superintendent of the Lincoln County Miners Hospital at Kemmerer, assum- ing charge on the ist of September, 1915. Here he has since remained and has rendered most effective and valuable service. He also conducts a very large private practice in Kemmerer and throughout the surrounding country, and is a physician and surgeon of marked ability, keenly interested in the profession and putting forth every effort that will promote his efficiency. He is most careful in the diagnosis of his cases and seldom if ever at fault in foretelling the outcome of disease. He is also surgeon for the Oregon Short Line Railroad from Granger, Wyoming, to Montpelier, Idaho.
On the 16th of August, 1916, Dr. Kindall was married in Berkeley, California, to Miss Katherine P. Hall, a native of New England and a daughter of Charles R. and Mary Hall. Politically Dr. Kindall maintains an independent course. Fra- ternally he is a Mason, having taken the degrees of the blue lodge at Kemmerer. He also belongs to the chapter and to the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Kemmerer Commercial Club and to St. Mark's Episcopal church. Along strictly professional lines he is connected with the American Medical Association. Dr. Kindall's large practice is due in measure to his individual effort, his laudable ambition and his persistency of purpose. He is now concentrating his efforts and attention upon the Lincoln County Miners Hospital, which was established in April, 1913. After a time Dr. William A. Whitlock took charge and remained as chief surgeon and superintendent until he was succeeded by Dr. Kindall. The buildings of the hospital and the Nurses"? Home were erected at a cost of thirty- three thousand dollars, the site being donated by P. J. Quealy. The grounds include ten acres beautifully situated on the outskirts of the city on a natural building site. The board of directors numbers twenty-one people, including ten miners, ten representative citizens not interested in mining and the chief surgeon and superintendent. The Lincoln County Hospital was built by contributions of the miners and citizens of Kemmerer and is maintained by the miners. The buildings, the equipment and the services of physicians and nurses, all speak the last word in modern scientific achievement in the field of medicine and surgery and Dr. Kindall as superintendent maintains the highest possible service, his efforts being thoroughly satisfactory to the board of directors. He is a most progressive man and his pronounced ability has brought him to the responsible position which he now occupies.
IVAN S. JONES.
Ivan S. Jones, whose large practice is the best evidence of his high profes- sional attainments, has been actively identified with the bar of Lincoln county since 1906. He has spent the greater part of his life in this state, although he is a native of Emerald, Ohio.
He was born February 7, 1879. a son of James W. and Frances A. (Huyck) Jones, both of whom are natives of Williams county, Ohio. They removed to Wyoming in 1884 and settled at Green River. The father had previously come to this state in 1871 and was engaged in railroad work for the Union Pacific and the Oregon Short Line Railway Companies for about a year. In 1872 he returned to Ohio and there engaged in railway work, while later he was em- ployed in a similar way in Iowa and in Indiana. As stated, he again came to Wyoming in 1884, at which time he took up his abode at Green River and en- gaged in ranching and stock raising. At length he disposed of his interests in this state and is now living retired in Santa Cruz, California, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in a well earned rest. He was born in the year 1847. so that he has now passed the seventy-first milestone on life's journey. His wife was born, reared, educated and married in Ohio and is with her husband in Santa Cruz. She has reached the age of sixty-nine years. In their family
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were six children, two of whom have passed away, while those living are Merrill W., Glenn R., Earl MI. and Ivan S. One son, Paul, died in Green River, Wyo- ming, while the other son, Harry, passed away in Ohio.
Ivan S. Jones was the third in order of birth in his father's family and in his youthful days pursued his education in the schools of Green River, having been a little lad of but five years when the family home was there established. After his school days were over he took up railroad work in the employ of the Union Pacific and Oregon Short Line Railroads and spent four and one- half years in that way. He then turned his attention to stock raising and ranch- ing and while thus engaged devoted his leisure hours to reading law, for a laudable ambition prompted him to prepare for a professional career. After thorough preliminary reading he was admitted to the bar in 1906 and has since successfully followed his profession in Kemmerer, where he at once opened a law office. In the intervening period of about twelve years he has made steady and satisfactory progress and from the beginning of his practice he has been unusually prosperous in every respect. The success which he has attained is due to his own efforts and merit. The possession of advantages is no guarantee whatever of professional success. This comes not of itself nor can it be secured without integrity, ability and industry. Those qualities he possesses to an eminent degree and he is faithful to every interest committed to his charge. Throughout his whole life, whatsoever his hand finds to do. whether in his profession or in any other sphere, he does with his might and with a deep sense of conscientious obligation. He was the first county prose- cuting attorney of Lincoln county.
On the 16th of October, 1907, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Ruby Bugher, of Kemmerer, a daughter of Dr. John C. Bugher, of Big Piney, Wyoming. They have become parents of four children: Alice, who was born in Kemmerer in 1908; Ruby Kathryn, born in 1911; Eunice, in 1913; and Vir- ginia, on the 7th of September, 1917.
In addition to his practice Mr. Jones has become extensively interested in oil lands in Lincoln county and his judicious investments will no doubt put him far beyond the pale of want. He, moreover, stands as one of the most success- ful practitioners of Lincoln county and is widely known and highly respected.
JOHN K. BURNHAM.
John K. Burnham, filling the position of county treasurer of Bighorn county and making his home in Basin, is a native of the neighboring state of Utah, his birth having there occurred March 3, 1878. His parents were Charles C. and Hannah (Vawdry ) Burnham, the latter a native of England, while the former was born in Illinois. In 1850 the father came to the west, settling in Utah after crossing the plains with ox teams. The mother walked from the Missouri river to Salt Lake City in the early '6os, and they became pioneer settlers of that locality, where they were married. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Burnham were born seven children, six of whom are now living. The mother passed away in April, 1917, but the father still survives and now makes his home in Lovell, Wyoming.
John K. Burnham was reared and educated in Utah, where he attended the common schools and also the State University. In 1898 he removed to Arizona, where he resided for three years, and in 1901 he came to Wyoming, taking up his abode in Bighorn county. He spent three years in the United States navy department, after which he returned to Wyoming, and he is now actively identi- fied with official interests in Bighorn county and also with agricultural inter- ests.
His political endorsement has always been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and in 1914 he was elected
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upon its ticket to the office of county treasurer, in which he made so creditable a record that he is now serving for the second term. He has also been town treasurer of Lovell, Wyoming, and he is the owner of one hundred acres of valuable irrigated land near that place. He is leading a busy and useful life and his activities have made him one of the valued and representative residents of his section of the state. Aside from acting as county treasurer he is also doing work as an auditor at various points in Wyoming.
HON. COMMODORE PERRY MEEK.
Hon. Commodore Perry Meek, a retired rancher and stock man, born in Maysville, Missouri, on the 12th of May, 1851, is a son of Richard and India Ann Meek, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The father followed farming throughout his entire life and passed away in Missouri in 1864. The son was reared to young manhood in his native state and acquired a common school education such as was afforded by the country schools of that day. He assisted in the work of the home farm until he reached the age of twenty years and in 1871 he made his way westward, landing at Cheyenne, Wyoming, which was then a territory. He began work at driving a bull team and was engaged in freight- ing between Cheyenne, Red Cloud, Fort Robinson, Fort Fetterman and old Fort Laramie. In 1876, when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, he made his way to Custer, at that time the only town in the Black Hills district. He re- mained there for a short period but afterward returned to Cheyenne, where he loaded up his freight team and then freighted to Custer, where he unloaded his stock for his employers. Once more he made the trip to Cheyenne and in fact made several trips between that place and the Black Hills. On some of his trips he encountered Indians and had a number of "scraps" with them between Hat Creek and Custer. He reached the latter place in May, 1876, with fourteen freight teams-all bull teams. Gold had just been discovered at Deadwood, South Dakota, and the people were leaving Custer for that place. There was no road from Deadwood to Custer except what had been made by single wagons and pack outfits and many interesting experiences occurred at that time which Mr. Meek relates in a most entertaining manner. On one occasion a large freight- ing outfit had just arrived in Custer and Mr. Meek was with it. While most of the outfit layed off for two or three days to rest up, he decided to go on, having had some experience in the mountains. He pulled out with his teams four or five miles ahead of the others and got in five days ahead of them. He had many hard hills to climb and the roads, such as they were, were very bad, especially through the mountains. The first road ever built into Deadwood was a toll road known as Boulder Hill and Mr. Meek had to pay seventeen dollars toll tax for his six-yoke bull teams, going in and out. Deadwood at that time-May, 1876,-was a wilderness. There was nothing there but a few log cabins and all heavy timber where the streets of Deadwood are today. He had to drag logs out of the way in order to get to some of the cabins to unload some freight. He was the driver of the first bull team that was driven up the streets of Deadwood. Later in the summer of 1876 he returned to Cheyenne, loaded up his team and drove to Fort Fetterman on the North Platte river, freighting from Medicine Bow on the Union Pacific Railroad the rest of the summer. In the fall of 1876 he made one trip to Fort Reno, on Powder river, and in the winter of 1876 he returned to the Black Hills, where he prospected until the spring of 1877. At that time he went on a prospecting expedition into the Big Horn mountains, where he spent the summer and then went west to Camp Brown, a distance of about four hundred miles. He returned to the Black Hills, as the Homestake mine had just been discovered by two Frenchmen. This they later sold to Senator Hearst of California for eighty thousand dollars. Mr. Meek went to work in what was called a segregated mine, known as Old Abe and owned by Scotch-
Commodore Per merk
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men, Messrs. Terry and Broadie. He hauled the first ore that was brought out of the Homestake mine. It was brought up in a wooden bucket hauled up by a windlass by two men, dumped out and hauled by wagon to Terry, a distance of two miles, to a ten stamp mill. After his experiences there Mr. Meek devoted his time to ranching and stock raising and owns now more than sixteen hundred acres of deeded land and over a thousand head of cattle. His ranch is located at Lodge Pole, in Weston county. In 1908 he removed to Upton, where he has since lived retired, spending his winter months, however, away.
In 1909 Mr. Meek was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary Emma Brown, a native of Illinois. They have traveled extensively, gaining that liberal knowledge and experience which only travel can bring. Mr. Meek is a member of Sundance Lodge, No. 9, A. F. & A. M., and his wife is a member of the Eastern Star. His active interest in promoting its success and securing the adoption of its principles. He served as a member of the state legislature for two terms, covering 1913 to 1915. He and his wife are members of the First Church of Christ Scientist at Boston, Massachusetts, and Mrs. Meek is a practitioner. The life story of Mr. Meek, if written in detail, would furnish many a thrilling incident. His ex- periences in the Black Hills are most interesting, his reminiscenses presenting a clear picture of conditions that existed at the time when there were no roads into the district and when the traveler had to follow the old rails. Mr. Meek bore his part in the early mining development of the region and his efforts have been a contributing factor to the progress of the mining industry in the northwest and also a factor in the agricultural development of Crook county. He is honored by all who know him and most of all where he is best known, showing that his life record has ever been a straightforward one.
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