USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 31
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OLE MOSSBERG.
Ole Mossberg, who is filling the office of sheriff of Sheridan county was born in Sweden on the 12th of August, 1867, and is a son of Olaf and Carolina (Johnson) Mossberg, who were natives of the same country. The father is now deceased but the mother is living and yet makes her home in Sweden. They had a family of ten children, seven of whom are still living.
Ole Mossberg, whose name introduces this review, spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Sweden and is indebted to its educational system for the advantages which he received in that connection. He came to America in 1889, when a young man of twenty-two years, believing that he might have better opportunities to win a fortune on this side of the Atlantic. He first settled in Iowa but resided in that state for only a brief period and in the fall of 1890 removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he resided until 1893. In the latter year
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he came to Sheridan, where he engaged in the stock business in the employ of T. L. Kimball. He then began farming on his own account and followed agri- cultural pursuits for a year but later entered the employ of William Cody as a horse breaker. In the spring of 1896 he helped to establish a colony of twenty-five German families near Cody. He continued in active connection with Mr. Cody until 1897 and in the following year he entered the service of Senator Kendrick, with whom he continued for two years. He then worked in the cattle business for the Hardin & Harskin Cattle Company, for some time and in 1901 accepted a position on the police force of Sheridan, serving in the capacity of patrolman for three years. He next entered the employ of the United States government as a forest ranger and after working in that capacity for a year was appointed deputy sheriff of Sheridan county in 1905 and so continued for six years. He then again went upon the police force and was employed in that way for two years. In 1915 he was elected to the office of sheriff and made so creditable a record in the position that he was reelected and is now serving for the second term.
In 1903 Mr. Mossberg was united in marriage to Miss Helga Johnson, a native of Sweden, and to them was born a daughter, Margaret, who passed away at the age of three years. Mr. and Mrs. Mossberg are devoted members of the Lutheran church and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He stands fearlessly at all times for what he believes to be right and he discharges his public duties without fear or favor. He is loyal to the trust reposed in him and has made a creditable record as a public official.
CLYDE V. RAU.
Clyde V. Rau, manager, secretary and treasurer of the Cokeville Mercantile Company at Cokeville, Lincoln county, was born in Fairfield, Nebraska, Decem- ber 27, 1800, and is one of the enterprising young men who have recognized the opportunities of the west and have become identified with one of the grow- ing cities of Wyoming, his labors contributing in substantial measure to its progress and improvement.
He is a son of Charles F. Rau, a native of Illinois and of German descent. The great-grandfather of Clyde V. Rau was the founder of the family in America, coming to the new world in the early part of the nineteenth century. The family home was established in Illinois during the pioneer epoch in the development of that state and Charles F. Rau was reared and educated in Illinois, establishing his home at a later period, however, in Fairfield, Nebraska, in the latter part of the '80s. He there successfully engaged in farming and in the live stock business but is now living retired. He married Fairie Hoskins, a native of Iowa and a representative of one of the old families of Illinois of French and English lineage. Mrs. Rau passed away in 1906 at the age of thirty- nine years. In the family were three children, one of whom has passed away. the survivors being Clyde V. and Lucille.
In the public schools of Fairfield. Clyde V. Rau began his education and afterward continued his studies in the high school of Lincoln, Nebraska, from which he was graduated with the class of 1911. On leaving that state he re- moved to Kemmerer, Wyoming, where he took up his abode in 1912. There he was employed in the store of the Blyth-Fargo-Hoskins Mercantile Company. Mr. Hoskins of that firm being an uncle of Mr. Rau. He continued there for three years, learning the mercantile business in all of its different phases, and he afterward spent eighteen months at Fossil as representative for the same firm. He acted as manager of the store at that place until January, 1917, when he came to Cokeville, having become a stockholder in the Cokeville Mercantile Company, of which he is now the manager, secretary and treasurer. This busi- ness was established in 1903 and the company has by far the largest commercial
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enterprise of this character in their section of Lincoln county. They employ five sales people in the conduct of the business, which has reached large and sub- stantial proportions. They carry an extensive line of general merchandise and the business is being carefully directed by Mr. Rau, whose previous experience well qualifies him to manage the interests under his control.
On the 19th of May, 1915, in Kemmerer, Mr. Rau was married to Miss Mabel Goddard, a native of Uinta county, Wyoming, and a daughter of Harry Goddard, who was of English birth. Mr. and Mrs. Rau have a daughter, Fairie Marie, born in Kemmerer, June 19, 1916.
In his political views Mr. Rau is a republican, while fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to the lodge at Kemmerer. He exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft, which is based on a recognition of the brotherhood of man and the obligations thereby imposed. In business his success is due to his own efforts. He has always worked diligently since making his initial step in the business world and his close application and energy have brought to him growing success. Moreover, he is regarded as a valuable acquisition to the business circles of Lincoln county, for he is a most progressive and enterprising young man, watchful of all opportunities pointing to success and of all indica- tions leading to the future development and upbuilding of this section of the state.
WALLACE C. BOND.
Wallace C. Bond, who has rendered important consular service to his country and who is now actively identified with the business interests of Cheyenne, where he is handling insurance and real estate, bonds and live stock, is possessed of that strong quality of perseverance that stops not before reaching the successful attain, ment of his purpose. His plans are always well defined and carefully executed and he is regarded as a most valuable addition to the business interests of Chey- enne. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he was born on the 29th of January, 1875, and is a son of George H. and Jane (Redman ) Bond. The father was engaged in the wholesale nursery business and now resides at Sydney, Australia. The mother, however, has passed away.
Wallace C. Bond, the eldest of a family of six children, is indebted to the public and high schools of New Brunswick, New Jersey for his educational privi- leges to some extent, although on account of delicate health he could not attend school as other children did and much of the time had a private tutor. In young manhood he accepted a clerical position with the Ninth National Bank of New York and in 1896 he removed westward to Cheyenne. Here he turned his atten- tion to ranching and to newspaper work, in which he was engaged for three years, or until the Ist of January, 1899, when he became private secretary to Governor De Forest Richards, and at the death of the governor acted for a short time as private secretary to Acting Governor Chatterton. In 1904 he became owner and editor of the Cheyenne State Leader, succeeding his father-in-law, E. A. Slack, in the management of the paper. In 1907 he was appointed consul to Aden, Arabia, and in 1908 was transferred to the consulship at Karachi, India. In 1909 further promotion came to him in his appointment as consul general at Copenhagen, Den- mark, where he remained until 1911, when he resigned his position and returned to Cheyenne. He then established an insurance, real estate and bond business, in which he has prospered, having an extensive clientage. He also handles live stock on an extensive scale and his business interests have been so carefully and intelli- gently directed that success in large measure has rewarded his efforts.
On the 19th of October, 1899, Mr. Bond was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Louise Slack, a niece of John M. Palmer, at one time United States senator and governor of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Bond hold membership in the Episcopal church and fraternally he is a Mason. He has taken the Knights Templar degree of the
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York Rite and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is a past com- mander of Wyoming Commandery, a past master of Kadosh Consistory of Wy- oming and a past master of Acacia Lodge, No. I, F. & A. M. He belongs to the Industrial Club and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party.
Mr. Bond is modest and unassuming in manner, but the public recognizes his worth as a business man and attests his valuable service in consular positions. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, entertain for him warm regard and Cheyenne has reason to be proud that he has cast in his lot here, for his deter- mined purpose, his ready adaptability and his business enterprise are contributing much to the material progress of the city, while at all times he stands for those interests which feature in the public welfare and which support affairs of civic virtue and of civic pride.
ARTHUR ERNEST LANE, M. D.
Dr. Arthur Ernest Lane, a physician and surgeon of Laramie, whose success in practice came as the result of his comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the scientific principles of medicine and surgery, combined with his human interest in the welfare of his fellowmen, was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, February 6, 1872.
His father, William W. Lane, a resident of Cheyenne at the present time, is a native of Illinois and belongs to one of the old pioneer families of that state. Later the parents became identified with the pioneer development of Wyoming, where William W. Lane took up his abode in 1867. During the period of his active business life he was a carpenter and builder, but is now living retired, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly merits. He is a Civil war veteran, having served at the front as a member of the First Iowa Cavalry as a noncommissioned officer. For three years he was engaged in active duty in defense of the stars and stripes and he now proudly wears the little bronze button that proclaims him a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, which has always been the party of reform and progress and which was the defense of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war. He has never sought or desired public office as a reward for party fealty, yet he has ever been most loyal in all matters of citizenship. He married Miss Ellen Flaherty, a native of Ireland, who came to America with her parents when a little niaiden of thirteen years, the family home being established in Jersey City, New Jersey, while subsequently a removal was made to Omaha, Nebraska. It was there that Mr. and Mrs. Lane became acquainted and were married, and Mrs. Lane passed away in Cheyenne, May 14, 1917, when seventy-six years of age. In the family were but two children, Arthur Ernest and Charles E., the latter still a resident of Cheyenne.
Dr. Lane, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the public and high schools of Cheyenne and after graduating from the high school entered the government mail service, in which he was employed for fourteen years. He desired, however, to become connected with professional activity and took up the study of medicine, entering the University of Nebraska, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree as a member of the class of 1905. Following the completion of his course there, he spent one year in the Jennie Edmondson Hospital at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and thus put his theoretical knowledge to the practical test and gained that broad and valuable experience which only hospital practice can bring. He located for the private practice of his profession in Percival, Iowa, where he remained for eighteen months, and then removed to Tingley. Iowa, where he also spent a year and a half. On the expiration of that period he came to Laramie, where he has since remained in active and successful practice. He holds to the highest standards in his profession and annually takes post graduate work in Omaha and in Chicago, thus keeping in touch with the most advanced thought and methods of the profession. He is active in the
DR. ARTHUR E. LANE
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general practice of medicine and surgery and his labors have been attended with most excellent results. He belongs to the Albany County Medical Society and also to the Wyoming State Medical Society.
On the 24th of June, 1905. Dr. Lane was married at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Miss Marie Mills, a native of England and a daughter of Joseph and Fannie (Northcott ) Mills, who were also of English birth. Her father is now deceased. By a previous marriage Dr. Lane has one daughter, Villette M., who resides in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Dr. Lane has manifested the same spirit of loyalty and fidelity that charac- terized his father in the Civil war by his enlistment for service in the Spanish- American war in 1898. He became a member of the Fifty-first Iowa Infantry, with which he went to the Philippines, doing active duty as a private. Since 1911 he has been serving with the rank of captain in the Officers' Medical Reserve Corps. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he filled the position of city and county health officer for four years, from 1913 until 1916 inclusive. Fraternally he is identified with the Elks, the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and Modern Woodmen of America. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is in hearty sympathy with all of its well defined plans and measures for the upbuilding of the city, the extension of its business connections and the upholding of its civic standards. Actuated by laudable ambition and characterized by determined purpose, Dr. Lane has steadily worked his way upward and occupies an enviable position in the regard of his fellow townsmen, while in professional circles he has the esteem and re- spect of colleagues and contemporaries.
E. PAUL BACHELLER.
Wyoming is distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar and the opportunities of a growing state are continually attracting to her young men of ability and enterprise, recognizing that the professional field is not yet overcrowded and that there will come a chance to prove their ability. Such a one is E. Paul Bacheller, who with liberal educational training as a foundation for his profes- sional career, has entered upon law practice at Casper and has already made for himself a creditable position as a representative of the bar of that city.
He was born in Potsdam, New York, July 21, 1892, a son of Charles O. and Amanda M. Bacheller, the former an own cousin of Irving Bacheller, the Ameri- can author, historian, poet and novelist, whose works are so widely read. Charles O. Bacheller is now a Montana rancher and lives in Los Angeles, California. His wife bore the maiden name of Amanda Jacobs and her parents resided near Quebec, Canada. The Bacheller family was founded in America by representa- tives of the name who were religious dissenters and came from England in the early part of the seventeenth century. The name is one of the oldest in Eng- land and can be traced back to a very early period. The coat of arms of the Bacheller family is a matter of record in the hall of records in England. In the direct line of descent appear many illustrious names. E. Paul Bacheller of this review is a nephew of the Hon. L. P. Hale, counsel for the interstate commerce commission for the state of New York, and is a brother-in-law of the Hon. H. Benjamin Chase, counsel for the excise commission of the state of New York. There is an extended genealogical history of the Bacheller family which has been compiled by Frederick Pierce.
E. Paul Bacheller acquired his early education in the Potsdam Normal School at Potsdam, New York, where he was in attendance for ten years. He afterward entered the Northern Normal School at Aberdeen, South Dakota, from which he was graduated in June, 1913. Later he became a student in the University of Montana at Missoula, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1915. He won the Bachelor of Laws degree in 1916, being graduated
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with high honors, receiving a prize for the highest scholarship given by the Amer- ican Law Book Publishing Company. In July of that year he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in Miles City, Montana, as an associate of the Hon. George W. Farr, and in April, 1917, he removed to Casper, Wyoming, where he became associated in the practice of his profession with R. H. Nichols. They have been accorded a liberal clientage which has connected them with considerable important litigation.
In additon to his law practice Mr. Bacheller is extensively interested in Wy- oming oil and is secretary of the Universal Exploration Company, also of the Western Crude Oil Company and the Bantry Oil Company. A young man of keen discrimination, alert and enterprising, he has made for himself a creditable place in business circles and belongs to that class of progressive young man who are contributing in marked measure to the upbuilding and development of the west. His political allegiance is given to the republican party.
C. P. WASSUNG.
C. P. Wassung, the efficient postmaster of Rock Springs, where he has re- sided for more than a third of a century, started out in the business world when a lad of thirteen as a messenger boy in the employ of the Western Union Tele- graph Company in Massachusetts. He was born on the 2d of September, 1862, in Springfield, Massachusetts, a son of Philip and Annie ( Able) Wassung, the former a native of Germany. The father canie to America during the latter part of the '40s, crossing the Atlantic in one of the old-time sailing vessels. He took up his abode in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he resided to the time of his death, which occurred in 1870, when he was thirty-seven years of age. He was there engaged in the furniture business and was quite successful in the conduct of his commercial interests. His wife was a native of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and of Swiss lineage, her people having settled in the Keystone state at an early period. Mrs. Wassung passed away in 1902 at the age of sixty-five years. She had reared a family of five children, four of whom are yet living, namely: C. P .; Arthur, a resident of Johnstown, New York; Annie, the wife of William M. Francis, of Atlanta, Georgia; and John B. Hubler, a half-brother, residing in New York city. Lillian died in infancy.
C. P. Wassung was educated in the public schools of his native city and started out to provide for his own support when only thirteen years of age, securing a position as messenger boy with the Western Union Telegraph Company in his native city. He later obtained employment in the Railway Clearing House in Boston and occupied a clerical position there, while subsequently he was with the Boston & Maine Railroad in the auditing department. He next became connected with the New York & New England Express Company at Springfield, Massa- chusetts, and later became a clerk in the Massoit House, which was the leading hotel of Springfield. There he remained until November, 1883, when he deter- mined to try his fortune in the west and made his way to Rock Springs, where he arrived on the 20th of that month. He then entered the employ of the Beckwith & Quinn Mercantile Company and that he was capable is indicated in the fact that he was retained in the service of that company for nine years. He was after- ward with the Union Pacific Coal Company of Rock Springs in the general offices. there continuing for twenty-one years, severing his connection at the time that he was appointed postmaster by President Wilson. He took office on the ist of March, 1914, and has since been active in that position. He discharges his duties with marked promptness and fidelity, having thoroughly systematized the work of the office, and to the general public he gives entire satisfaction by his prompt and faithful manner of caring for the interests committed to him. His political en- dorsement has always been given to the democratic party and he has been active in its ranks. Aside from serving as postmaster he occupied the position of city
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clerk for one term and for two years he was a member of the school board. He has always done everything in his power to further the interests and promote the welfare of city, state and nation, and his efforts in behalf of community interests have been particularly effective, far reaching and beneficial.
On the Ioth of August, 1887, in Rock Springs, Mr. Wassung was united in marriage to Miss Nellie A. Menough, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, and a daugh- ter of H. F. Menough, a representative of one of the old families of the Buckeye state. Mr. and Mrs. Wassung have become the parents of seven children, but three of the number have passed away, Edith having died in childhood, while Arthur has also been called to his final rest, and one child died unnamed in in- fancy. The others are : Ruth, the wife of Archibald Flora; Howard M., who is serving as sergeant in Squadron One Hundred and Two of the Aviation Corps; George B., who is with the freight department of the Union Pacific Railroad Company at Rock Springs ; and Charles P., who is still in school.
Fraternally Mr. Wassung is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and was formerly treasurer of his lodge. He was reared in the Unitarian faith but his family are members of the Episcopal church. His has been an active and well spent life, upright and honorable in all relations, and whatever success he has achieved or enjoyed is attributable entirely to his inde fatigable industry and perseverance. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, esteem him highly for his genuine personal worth and he has a circle of friends in Rock Springs almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance.
HON. MELVIN NICHOLS.
Hon. Melvin Nichols is now serving for the third term as county and prose- cuting attorney of Crook county and makes his home at Sundance. He is a broad-minded man of most liberal education who has been a close student of the leading political, economic and sociological problems of the day, in connec- tion with which he has kept abreast with the best thinking men of the age. By reason of his broad study and ability he has become a leader of public thought and opinion in the community in which he resides and has left the impress of his individuality in considerable measure upon the history of his adopted state. Other writers have termed him "the leading attorney of Crook county."
Mr. Nichols was born in Aurora, Illinois, November 9, 1844, a son of John and Mary (Chase) Nichols. The father was a native of Burlington, Vermont, born October 1, 1808, and his father was one of the minutemen of the Revolu- tionary war, being connected with the troops who in that section of the country were known as the "Green Mountain Boys." Mary (Chase) Nichols, the mother of Melvin Nichols, was born near Salem, Massachusetts, March 26, 1809, and in early girlhood attended the same school as Benjamin Butler, while John Nichols was a playmate in early life of Brigham Young and Stephen A. Douglas. Throughout the period of his manhood he was identified with agricultural pur- suits and after many years' residence in Illinois he passed away in Aurora on the 21st of December, 1863.
Melvin Nichols had mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools of his native city and was ready to enter college when he enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company H. Sixty-fifth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on the 12th of March, 1862. After two years' service he reenlisted on the 31st of March, 1864, at Knoxville, Tennessee, in the same company and regiment to serve for three years, and was finally mustered out, reaching home on the Ist day of August, 1865. He had participated in many hotly contested battles in which his regiment took part, and was captured at Harpers Ferry in September, 1862, in what was known as Colonel Miles' surrender.
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