USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
The last named was educated in the schools of his native country and at the age of fourteen years entered upon an apprenticeship to the baker's trade under his brother-in-law, Adolph Gurtler, with whom he worked for four years. thoroughly mastering the bakery and confectionery business. He afterward fol- lowed his trade as a journeyman in Belfort, Vesoul and Gray, France, until 1879. when he determined to try his fortune in America, believing that he might have still better business opportunities on this side of the Atlantic. He first took up his abode in New York city, where he was employed as second baker in the Coleman House at Broadway and Twenty-seventh street. There he remained for two years, after which he removed to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he secured a position in the Bay State House, working as a baker there for a year. Again, however, he heard the call of the west and made his way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he resided for nine years. He was there employed in the old Transfer Hotel, conducted by the Union Pacific Railway Company, after which he removed to Ogden, Utah, where his brother had preceded him. He was the baker at the Reed Hotel for nine years and from Ogden went to Poca- tello, Idaho, where he was employed by the Oregon Short Line Railroad as a baker in the Railroad Hotel. He spent three years at that place and then re-
454
HISTORY OF WYOMING
moved to Evanston, where he arrived on the 25th of July, 1907. Here he es- tablished his present business, which has been developed from a small beginning to one of the large and important enterprises of this character not only in Uinta county but in western Wyoming. He conducts both a wholesale and retail busi- ness. His products are of excellent quality and his reasonable prices and straightforward dealing have been salient features in his growing success. He is most careful in the management of the business and sees that sanitary con- ditions are at all times followed in the production of the output.
On the 27th of October, 1887, Mr. Siegel was united in marriage at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Miss Annie Quinn, a native of Ireland, who came to America with her brother Thomas Quinn, and settled at Council Bluffs. There she passed away November 26, 1892, at the comparatively early age of thirty-two years, leaving two children : Mary and Joseph, who were born in Council Bluffs. Joseph is now associated in business with his father. On the 31st of August, 1908, in Evanston, Wyoming, Mr. Siegel was again married, his second union being with Miss Johanna Morganson, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, and a daughter of James Morganson, who was one of the early pioneer settlers of Wyoming.
Mr. Siegel gives his political endorsement to the democratic party, which he has supported since becoming a naturalized American citizen, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him as he has always pre- ferred to give undivided attention to his business affairs. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. In 1913 he and his wife took a trip to Europe, visiting his old home in Alsace. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he has found the oppor- tunities which he sought and in their utilization he has made steady progress, being today one of the prosperous business men of Evanston. His diligence and persistency of purpose have constituted important elements in his growing suc- cess and he is now controlling a wholesale and a retail trade of large and grati- fying proportions.
ALBERT G. HAMILTON, M. D.
Dr. Albert G. Hamilton, who is engaged in the practice of medicine and sur- gery at Thermopolis, ranks with the leading surgeons of the state, his marked efficiency in that line winning the admiration of professional colleagues and con- temporaries. He acts as surgeon in charge of the New Hopewell Hospital and under his direction many important operations have been performed.
Illinois claims him as a native son. He was born in Mattoon on the 8th of August, 1863, and is a son of James and Margaret ( Hoskins) Hamilton. He was educated in the public and high schools of Mattoon, and determining upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he was then graduated from the medical department of the University of Ohio at Cincinnati as a member of the class of 1888. He has since pursued post-graduate work in the West Side Hospital of Chicago in 1900 and in the New York Polyclinic in 1910, and about a month each year attends the clinics at different hospitals throughout the country. He entered upon the active practice of medicine in Humboldt, Illinois, where he remained from 1888 until 1892 and then went to Springfield, Nebraska, where he continued in the active practice of medicine until 1906. The latter vear wit- nessed his arrival in Thermopolis, Wyoming, where he has since remained. and in the intervening period, covering twelve years, he has made continuous progress in his profession, gaining distinction as a prominent representative of medical and surgical practice. He has particularly specialized along the latter line and his marked ability has brought him to the front. He thoroughly understands anatomy and the component parts of the human body, is cool and collected in emergencies and with steady nerve and hand he performs the multitudinous delicate duties that feature in surgical work. In 1909 he established the Hopewell Hospital in Ther-
GS. Hamilton
E
HOPEWELL HOSPITAL, THERMOPOLIS
Vol. II-23
458
HISTORY OF WYOMING
mopolis and has made it an institution of value to the state. He belongs to the North Western Wyoming Medical Society and his high professional standing is indicated in the fact that in 1911 he was elected to the presidency of the Wyoming State Medical Society, serving as the head of the organization for two years. He was also a charter member of the Clinical Congress of Surgeons of North America and he belongs to the American Association of Railway Surgeons and to the American Medical Association. He is now engaged in the erection of a hospital at a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars, which is equipped with the Hot Springs baths and all modern appliances of that character, making it one of the finest in- stitutions of the kind in the state.
Dr. Hamilton has served as coroner of Sarpy county, Nebraska, holding the of- fice for three terms. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, belonging to Nebraska Consistory, No. I, A. & A. S. R., and he is also a member of Tangier Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Omaha. He is likewise connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. While prominent and popular in these organizations, he concentrates the major part of his time and attention upon his professional duties, which are extensive and arduous. He has been actuated in all that he has done by a laudable ambition to make his service of the greatest benefit to his fellowmen and in all of his pro- fessional work is most conscientious, while his developing powers have placed him in the ranks of the most skilled surgeons of the state.
JAMES W. FISHER.
James W. Fisher is regarded as one of the leading educators of southwestern Wyoming. He is located in Millburne, Uinta county, but while now devoting his attention to the profession of teaching, the experiences of his life have been broad and varied and in many respects are most interesting.
He is a native of Montrose, Missouri, born July 29, 1866, and is a son of John W. and Mary C. (Hibler) Fisher. The father was a native of West Vir- ginia and the mother a native of Missouri. Mr. Fisher followed farming and stock raising and passed away at Mount Zion, Missouri, in 1905, at the age of sixty-nine years, leaving a family of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, while two other children of the family, a son and daughter, died in infancy. The mother still survives and resides near Montrose, Missouri, at the age of seventy- two years. In politics Mr. Fisher was a democrat and at the time of the Civil war responded to the call of the Confederacy, enlisting in the Tenth Missouri Cavalry, in which he served under Captain Norvall Spangler. He was in the battle of Lexington, Missouri, and participated in other hotly contested engagements.
James W. Fisher was reared to manhood in his native state and there acquired his early education in the district schools of Henry county, attending a school which was known as "Granddaddy" up to the age of fifteen years. He worked on the farm, as all country boys do, early becoming familiar with the labors of the field, and later he attended a country school in St. Clair county to the age of seventeen years. He then went to work as a hired hand and was thus employed until he attained his majority. He afterward attended a district school in Henry county known as the Mound school, taught by William Moser, a prominent edu- cator of that time in west central Missouri. After spending a term in that school Mr. Fisher became a student in the Clinton Academy at Clinton, Missouri, where he pursued a classical course for about eighteen months, the school being con- ducted by Professor E. P. Lamkin, who was the father of the present superin- tendent of public instruction of Missouri, U. W. Lamkin, who when Mr. Fisher was a pupil in the school was his schoolmate. A statement issued by Superintendent Lamkin quite recently, regarding the ability and character of James W. Fisher, may be inserted here as of interest :
JAMES W. FISHER
460
HISTORY OF WYOMING
"March 8th, 1918.
"To Whom Concerned :
"I am very glad to say that I knew James W. Fisher when he and I were in school together in Henry County, Missouri. I later knew him when we were teaching in that county. I knew him as a hard worker, energetic, making friends readily, keeping those he made and of unquestioned honesty. I am confident that he will made good.
(Signed)
"UEL W. LAMKIN."
Another pupil at that same time was Dr. Ralph H. McKee, of the University of Maine. Later Mr. Fisher began teaching in the public schools of Henry county, Missouri, following the profession in 1887 and 1888. He afterward went to Hopkins county, near Sulphur Springs, Texas, where he worked in a cotton gin and also taught what was known as the Community school in 1889 and 1890. He then returned to Missouri, where he followed the profession of teaching in the winter months, while in the summer he was employed as a farm hand for a period of six years or until the fall of 1896. He then removed to Marshall, Saline county, Missouri, where he attended the Missouri Valley College and also taught in the public schools until 1903. In that year he returned to Henry county and was a teacher at Garland, Missouri, for one year. He also worked as a section hand on the Frisco railroad at Garland, Missouri, and later he taught for a year at Field's Creek, Missouri.
On the 9th of August, 1905, Mr. Fisher found it necessary to take his wife to a hospital at Nevada, Missouri, after which he returned home and straightened out his affairs there, his father having died in the meantime. In December of the same year he went to Kansas City, where he sought a position in an express office in the Union depot. Failing to secure the desired position, he took a job as coal heaver and went to Mystic, Iowa, with George D. Lloyd, who was engaged in that line of business. On one occasion three and a half tons of coal passed from under his feet during a gale of wind, but he was uninjured by reason of the fact that he remained cool and collected.
In April, 1906, Mr. Fisher took the civil service examination at Kansas City, Missouri, for a position as teacher in the Indian service. On the 13th of May, 1906, he obtained a position with the Western Union telegraph construction gang located at Lewis, Missouri, under Foreman Sam Sullins. He then engaged in digging holes for telegraph poles and worked on the line to Appleton City, Missouri, where they were superseded by another construction gang. On the 10th of July, 1906, Mr. Fisher went to St. Louis, Missouri, and thence to Little Rock, Arkansas, crossing the Arkansas river at Argenta. The gang began string- ing long distance copper wire over the Iron Mountain route. Mr. Fisher had charge of a hand car, being on one occasion the "bucker of the reel," where one hundred and seventy pounds of copper wire was carried by him and another man about twenty miles through the Ozarks. This was where each man had to bear his task without flinching-a task that was very arduous. Just before reach- ing Russellville, Arkansas, one of the climbers fell from a thirty-foot pole, caus- ing his hands to be turned back on the wrists. No one seemed to understand how to relieve him until Mr. Fisher was called to his assistance, when he pulled the hands back straight and rubbed the wrist bones into place, thus giving him relief, and so it was not necessary for a physician to set the injured joints. After reaching Russellville, Mr. Fisher was promoted to the position of jack strap puller, pulling the wire for eleven tiers, which was a feat that other men did not wish to try. He was engaged in such work between Russellville and Van Buren, Arkansas, and afterward went to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and from that point to Gurdon, in the same state, and in the same business, working from there to within thirteen miles of Texarkana, Arkansas, where the gang met another gang and turned back to St. Louis, Missouri, repairing the wires at Pacific, Missouri. At that point they were shipped out to Altus, Oklahoma, and completed a line from the depot to the Cotton Exchange, after which Mr. Fisher resigned his position. He then resumed the profession of teaching in a public school near Altus, Okla-
461
HISTORY OF WYOMING
homa, and in the meantime worked as a ranch hand for G. R. Rogers. On the Ioth of May, 1907, he went from Headrick, Oklahoma, to White Earth, Minne- sota, where he took up the duties of teaching in the Indian service in the White Earth day school. About the Ist of September he was transferred to the Porter- ville day school and his sister Ethel there began keeping house for him. He remained at that school until November, 1910, when he resigned to go on a home- stead near Gheen, Minnesota. In the meantime he worked as a swamper and cook for a logging outfit and returned to White Earth, Minnesota, in January, 19II. He then temporarily took up teaching in the White Earth boarding school and about the Ist of February was reinstated as day teacher in the White Earth day school. There he remained until the 20th of October, when he was trans- ferred to the Fort Totten boarding school near Devils Lake, North Dakota, as a school farmer in the Indian service. He continued at that point until June 1, 1912, when he resigned and went to Crookston, Minnesota, working for thirteen days as helper on a bridge gang on the Great Northern Railroad, after which he resigned and entered the summer school at the Northwest School of Agricul- ture at Crookston, Minnesota, pursuing the agriculture and blacksmithing courses. After working for one month for the college he resigned and returned to Missouri, where he remained with his family until about October 1, 1912, when he was reinstated as farmer in the Indian service at Keams Canon, Arizona. He entered on his duties there on the 6th of October and continued at that place until about the Ist of September, 1913, when he resigned and came to Wyoming. He began to teach in the public schools at Mountainview about the 2d of September and in June, 1914, he went to Laramie, where he attended the summer session of the State University. In 1915 he taught school at Lonetree, Wyoming. Prior to this time, or on the 14th of May, 1914, he entered a homestead on Nebraska Bench, near Millburne, and he also taught school in that locality for two years. At the present time he is teaching at Almy, near Evanston, Wyoming, and that he is well qualified for his work is evident from the statement issued by the Missouri State Department of Public Schools presented to our readers on a preceding page. Moreover Mr. Fisher is a poet of more than ordinary ability and leave is herewith taken to present him as the author of two poems :
BEAR RIVER ROBIN.
Bear River Robin is the bird for me. He is a soldier of the West that be Just as plucky for his weight as the bear, Even more, as he never hibernates where He can get haw apples to save his pate. No matter what comes he never trusts fate.
He knows the best place, upper Bear River, Where all creation couldn't make him shiver As long as the haw apples are 'bove snow. He is the bird for me. I can't say no. As he has never turned to make retreat. Tho' he oft has been near absent of heat.
He has hung to the Bear River willows Thru the winter of our first year's billows Of war for world liberty that'll create A greater sphere for robin without rate. To live, when he should choose time to sail in To any clime where free man is dwellin'.
Let us all bless the Bear River Robin For his courage, as he has his doin' All his own, as long as haw apples last,
462
HISTORY OF WYOMING
Nothing can change his mind, but face the blast, Forgetting his migratory habit, Waiting here for spring, as we all do it.
This destroys the belief that some Caesars Believe that the warm is nearing the bars. You may say no, but a message of love, Carried by humane tokens of a dove, Fortifies stout the fact without delays, That Bear River Robin is stay'r these days.
(James W. Fisher, teacher Almy school, R. F. D., Evanston, Wyoming, con- tributor. Published in the Wyoming Times, March 7, 1918.)
LITTLE WINNIE.
Dear Little Winnie, pride of our hearts, We regret that you so soon must depart, Leaving us behind to moan your leave. This world of sun-shine, much to achieve, While you sang your bestest songs Divine- Never groaning, making music chime.
Dear Little Heart of ours, we shudder To think of your passing the border Beyond the grasp of our loving hands To dwell somewhere in far distant lands, Chosen by your Heavenly Father, Where you may sing without bother.
Dear Little Friend of ours, as we knew You to ever be to us, and true, No matter what happened any time Your little soul would so always rhyme
To the call of a jolly to-do That made us all happy thru and thru.
May you ever live in the blue skies Where your soul may be seen with our eyes, As a little star giving its light, To always show us the way of right, Never letting us vary away Till we all meet you Judgment-day.
We'll all try ever to breathe a song In memory of you in our throng As we attend loyal Almy School, E'er doing our best to keep the rule Of our dear teacher who can with pride, With us, cherish Good Winnie who died.
(A tribute to Little Winnie Sessions, aged eight, a pupil at the Almy school, 1917-1918, who died March 17, 1918. Written on the night of March 18, 1918.)
On the 23d of December, 1893, Mr. Fisher was united in marriage to Miss Mary P. Russell, of Cole, Missouri, and to them have been born two children, Naomi E. and Mary O. P. The former became the wife of Fred Dean, of Clinton, Missouri, and they now reside in Sedalia, that state. The other daughter makes her home at Green River, Wyoming.
463
HISTORY OF WYOMING
Such have been the varied experiences of Mr. Fisher-experiences which have taken him into various sections of the country and made him familiar with its conditions and its history .. From his experiences he has learned many valu- able life lessons and is today a most interesting man because of his reminiscences and his ability to vividly portray to the hearer what he has himself seen. He is highly esteemed throughout the community in which he makes his home and he is making valuable contribution to the development of the educational interests of southwestern Wyoming, all speaking of him in terms of high regard in this connection.
FRANK E. ANDERSON.
Born in Kansas and ever recognizing the possibilities and opportunities of the west, Frank E. Anderson has become an important factor in the development of Laramie, where he is now engaged in the practice of law.
He was born in Jefferson county, Kansas, October 14, 1876, a son of A. J. Anderson, a native of Sweden, who came to America during the latter part of the 'sos and first took up his abode in Lawrence, Kansas, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. At the time of the Civil war, however, he put aside all business and personal considerations and responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in the Seventeenth Kansas Infantry, in which he became corporal. He served with that command until the close of hostilities and was ever a brave and loyal soldier, faithfully doing his duty, whether called to the lonely picket line or to the firing line. He afterward became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic in Kansas and he is still a resident of Lawrence. that state. He has retired from active business, however, and is now enjoying the fruits of a well spent life. He married Margaret McCain, a native of Ken- tucky and a descendant of an old family of that state of Irish lineage. The mother, who passed away in Lawrence, Kansas, February 1, 1914, at the age of sixty-four years, had a family of six children, of whom three are deceased. Those who survive are: Dr. Bertha O. Anderson, a practicing physician of Lincoln, Illinois, who was graduated from the Kansas State University; Mrs. Malinda Neilson, a widow who is acting as housekeeper for her father; and Frank E., of this review.
The last named was .educated in the public schools of Lawrence, Kansas, and in the Kansas State University, where he pursued his professional studies and won his L.L. B. degree upon graduation with the class of 1900. His early life had been spent upon the home farm with the usual experiences of the farmbred boy who divides his time between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. Following the completion of his law course he entered upon active practice in McLoud, Oklahoma, and afterward practiced at Lawton, Oklahoma. He was one of the first lawyers in the latter city, beginning practice there before there was a house in the town. He continued in Lawton for four months and then returned to Lawrence, where he remained until February, 1906, when he became a resident of Laramie, Wyoming, where he has since remained in active and successful practice. He had been a resident of Laramie for only a brief period until he had secured a good clientage, to the in- terests of which he has always been most loyal. He served for two terms as county attorney, from January 1, 1911, until January 1. 1915. He continues in the general practice of law and is thoroughly familiar with the principles of juris- prudence and is seldom at fault in the application of these principles to the points in litigation. He has won many verdicts favorable to his clients and his ability is widely recognized.
In Lawrence, Kansas, on the 4th of June, 1904, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Ray Buckminster, a native of that city and a daughter of Joseph and Rachel Buckminster They have become the parents of three children :
464
HISTORY OF WYOMING
Harold Eugene, who was born in Lawrence, Kansas, March 4, 1906; Dorothy Marie, born in Laramie, May 6, 1908; and Lawrence Spencer, born in Laramie, July 29, 19II.
Mr. Anderson gives his political endorsement to the democratic party and is one of the active workers in its ranks, doing all in his power to uphold its in- terests and promote its success. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to the Albany County Bar Association, of which he is now president, and he belongs to the Wyoming State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He turns to hunting as his chief diversion and is an excellent marksman, his skill resulting in winning many fine trophies of the chase. His entire life has been characterized by a laudable ambition that, manifest in youth, caused him to work his way through the university and thus prepare for a professional career. He ever holds strictly to high ethics and standards and has been an able minister in the temple of justice.
MIRS. ANNA BELLE SMITH.
Mrs. Anna Belle Smith, capably filling the office of county treasurer of Sheri- dan county and making her home in the city of Sheridan, was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, June 9, 1875, a daughter of Frederick F. and Mary Frances Newcomer. Her father was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and was a son of a prominent Baltimore merchant. At an early age he joined the Eighteenth Maryland Regiment and was wounded at the battle of Antietam. He also fought Indians on the plains of Wyoming in the early '6os and for a time was stationed at Camp Douglas in Salt Lake City, being there during the period of the building of the Mormon Temple. He heard Brigham Young preach his first sermon in the tabernacle and was a witness of other events which marked the early history of that region. He was afterward stationed at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, at the time when a part of his regiment, under General Carrington, was massacred at Fort Phil Kearney. About 1869 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Frances McGuire, of Maryville, Missouri, and emigrated to Colorado with the family in the early '70s. Indian troubles were prevalent during the trip overland. In the fall of 1883 he removed with his family to Wyoming and settled on a home- stead in Prairie Dog valley, where he became a prosperous farmer and stockman. He died of apoplexy in Sheridan, Wyoming, September 13, 1913, at the age of sixty-four years, while his wife passed away in Sheridan, February 25, 1909. Their surviving children are: B. A. Newcomer, a resident of Banner, Wyoming ; Edwin V. Newcomer, also living at Banner ; Mrs. E. B. Williams, whose home is at Ucross, Wyoming : and Mrs. Smith, of this review.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.