USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume II > Part 63
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THOMAS P. SWEET.
Thomas P. Sweet was for many years actively identified with ranching interests in the west, but is now practically living retired, making his home in Newcastle. He has passed the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, for he is now in the seventy-second year of his age. He was born in Rhode Island, December 18, 1846, a son of Thomas P. and Amie (Wade) Sweet, both of whom were natives of Rhode Island and were descendants of early American families. The father was a farmer by occupation and also a woodsman, devoting his entire active life to those pursuits. He passed away during the early boyhood of his son Thomas.
The latter was the fourth in order of birth in a family of six children, which included a half brother. He was reared to manhood in his native state and received such educational advantages as the country schools afforded. He assisted in the work of the home farm during the period of his boyhood and youth, also worked in the lumber woods and was reared amid such surround- ings and environment. In February, 1864, when eighteen years of age, he enlisted in response to the country's call for troops to aid in the preservation of the Union, becoming a private of Company E, Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery. In the fall of the same year he was transferred to Company A of the Light Artillery and was in the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. In the winter of 1864-5 he participated in the engagements in South Carolina and took part in a number of skirmishes and military movements until Sherman came through that section. He then went to Charleston and at that time embarked on a boat for Beaufort, South Carolina, where he continued until 1865. He then returned to Rhode Island, where he was mustered out in August, receiving an honorable discharge after having participated in many hotly contested battles.
Mr. Sweet remained at home for three years after the war, working upon the old homestead farm, chopping wood and doing other such tasks. In 1868 he went west to California, where he was employed in different ways for about six years. In 1874 he made his way northward to Oregon, where he was employed in the mines and also engaged in hunting. In the fall of 1875 he returned to California and through the winter worked on a ranch. In the
Thomas P. Sweet
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spring of 1876 he was again in the east, remaining in Rhode Island for about a year. But once more he heeded the call of the wild and proceeded to the Black Hills country, which was just being opened up to settlement, owing to the gold discoveries in that district. He arrived there in April, 1877, and afterward engaged in mining in that locality for about two years. In 1879 he was elected sheriff of Custer county, serving for two years, being the first chosen to that position after the organization of the county. Custer was at the time the largest city in the Black Hills country and also the most notorious because of the law- less element that had invaded the district. Order seemed to have no place in the catalogue of most of its citizens. Mob rule prevailed and crime seemed to reign supreme, but Mr. Sweet fearlessly took up the task of restoring order and enforcing law and, absolutely fearless and loyal to duty, he made good in that respect.
In 1881 Mr. Sweet removed to Wyoming, settling on Beaver creek, in what was then Laramie county, but which later, with the division of the district. became Crook county and is now Weston county. Here he took up a homestead and began farming and at the present time he owns about five hundred acres of valuable land, in addition to which he leases an entire section of six hundred and forty acres. Upon his ranch all kinds of stock are raised, but a specialty is made of cattle. At one time Mr. Sweet was also extensively engaged in the breeding and raising of horses. He settled on Beaver creek when there were only two other settlers in this part of the state, one of these being Henry, or "Hank," Freel and the other Coleman Flaherty, who owned the Stockade ranch. Mr. Sweet has seen this section grow into one of the most highly developed and improved districts of northeastern Wyoming and has contributed in marked measure to the changes which have been wrought and the progress that has been promoted.
On the Ist of February, 1892, Mr. Sweet was united in marriage to Frances Viola Johnston, who was born in Quaker City, Guernsey county, Ohio, July II, 1860, a daughter of Levi and Frances Barrah (Roache) Johnston and a grand-niece of John Brown, the famous abolitionist, whose labors largely con- stituted the initial step in freeing the slaves, as he addressed the people in various places concerning abolition and at length forfeited his life to the cause of free- dom at Harpers Ferry-one of the nation's martyrs. The father of Mrs. Sweet was born in Ohio and her mother in Pennsylvania. By a former marriage, her first husband having been W. P. Hannum, Mrs. Sweet had one daughter, Bessie Myrtle, who is now the wife of Lawrence O'Neil, of Cheyenne, and is president of the Cooks and Waiters Union of Cheyenne. They have four children. To Mr. and Mrs. Sweet have been born the following named. Stella Mae, was born in Weston county, September 26, 1892. Fred Thomas, born in Weston county, April 21, 1896, was married in Cheyenne. May 15, 1918. to Miss Zola Vivian Marvin, of Hubbell, Nebraska. Della Naomi, who was born in 1902, is a student in the Leverne school. Mrs. Sweet's parents were pioneers of Iowa, settling in Poweshiek county in 1857. There the father took up government land, upon which he remained for about a year, after which he returned to Guernsey county, Ohio, for his family. He continued in that county until 1861 and in March of that year again returned to Iowa, settling in Tama county. having previously sold his property in Poweshiek county and invested in a
Tama county farm. He remained thereon until March. 1879. when he removed to Norton county, Kansas, where he resided to the time of his death, in 1909. He had for a considerable period survived his wife, who passed away in the same county in 1890. Mrs. Sweet was the eighth in order of birth in a family of nine children, as follows: Hannah, the eldest. became the wife of Jacob Furance and passed away in San Francisco. California, about the year 1894. Lewis Cass lives in Decatur county, Kansas. Henry makes his home in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Robert B. passed away in 1911. Margaret Ann became the wife of Alfred MI. Marvel and died in 1913. her husband having already departed this life. Loran is a resident of Flagg. Oklahoma. Perry Barker also resides Vol. II-32
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in Flagg. Mrs. Sweet is the next of the family. Malvena is the wife of Jacob Cline and they are residents of Oklahoma.
Mr. Sweet votes with the republican party but is not a politician in the sense of office seeking. He is interested in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of his community and lends ready aid and cooperation to movements for the general good. His time and energies, however, have been concentrated upon his business affairs, which have been wisely and carefully directed. He has been most diligent and determined in the conduct of his business interests and his carefully directed plans have brought to him a substantial measure of success that now enables him to live retired and yet enjoy a very substantial income by reason of his judicious investments and the capable manner in which his ranching interests are conducted.
R. G. KLEEMANN.
R. G. Kleemann is a candy manufacturer of Laramie and has so directed his business interests as to win a place among the substantial merchants and citizens of his adopted city. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, April 28, 1869, a son of Rudolph G. and Sophia (Settelle) Kleemann, both of whom were natives of Germany, and a grandson of Carl Kleemann who was an officer at the battle of Waterloo and well known in the section of Germany where he resided as the proprietor of Kleemann's Inn.
In childhood the parents came to the new world, settling in the south, where they remained for a time and later became residents of Chicago. The father engaged in the manufacture of billiard tables and at the time of the great Chicago fire in October, 1871, was conducting the most extensive business of that character in the new world. The fire destroyed his plant and he lost everything. He built the first billiard tables made in America and some of the table plates which he used are still preserved by his son. Fire, however, was not the first occasion of loss to the Kleemann family, for Rudolph Kleemann had been extensively in- terested as a planter in the south where he lost a fortune in a cotton plantation through floods. A spirit of resolute purpose has ever characterized the Klee- mann family, however, and obstacles and difficulties in their path have seemed but to serve as an impetits for renewed effort on their part. On leaving Chicago the parents of R. G. Kleemann came to Wyoming, arriving in Laramie in 1876. Here the father established a hotel, which he conducted for a year and then sold out. On the expiration of that period he turned his attention to mining and was killed while inspecting a mine in April, 1879. His widow yet survives and still makes her home in Laramie .. They were the parents of six children: Albert, who is a resident of Pocatello, Idaho : Charles J., also living in Pocatello; R. G., of this review : Mrs. C. J. Waechter; Agnes, who is a teacher in the schools of Laramie : and Louis F., engaged in the piano business in San Antonio, Texas.
R. G. Kleemann, the third in order of birth in the family, attended school in Laramie, where he arrived when a youth of seven years. He started in business as a candy manufacturer before he had attained his majority and since then has built up an enterprise of large proportions. He has been wonderfully successful in the conduct of his business and now enjoys an extensive wholesale and retail candy business, his trade covering Laramie and the surrounding territory. He is today one of the most successful in his line in the state. He has continuously engaged in this business for twenty-eight years and he has based his success upon the excellence of his product, his fair dealing and his reasonable prices. He purchased the building in which he now conducts business and it stands as a monument to his enterprise and well directed energy and thrift.
On the 12th of October, 1904. Mr. Kleemann was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Steltemeier, of St. Louis, Missouri, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Steltemeier, of that city. Five children have been born of this marriage: Rudolph
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G., who was born in Laramie in October, 1905, and is now in the University training school; Agnes J., who was born in January, 1906, and is also a student in the University training school; Carl F., born in August, 1908, a public school pupil; Albert J., who was born in October, 1912; and Louis Harry, in May, 1916. Fraternally Mr. Kleemann is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and politically he maintains an independent attitude. voting according to the dictates of his judgment without regard to party ties. He is one of the representative citizens of Laramie. standing high in public regard and well known in trade circles throughout the state. He has never faltered in his purpose and has ever recognized the fact that when one avenue of opportunity seems closed one can carve out another path whereby he can reach the desired goal. He has ever been watchful of chances for legitimate advancement in business circles and by close application and watchfulness over every feature of his trade he has built up a gratifying business that places him among the substantial men of his section of the state.
ARTHUR H. MARBLE.
Arthur H. Marble belongs to that class of citizen who never wait for oppor- tunity to knock twice. He may have heard the old saying that opportunity knocks but once. He never takes the risk of losing his chance and his intense activity and indefatigable enterprise have enabled him to advance steadily step by step in business connections and he is now a prominent figure in financial circles of Wyoming as the president of the Stock Growers National Bank of Cheyenne.
He was born in Butler, Missouri, on the 9th of August, 1870, and is a son of Gilbert and Almira V. ( Hall) Marble. His parents on leaving Missouri removed to the Black Hills of South Dakota during the childhood days of their son Arthur and continued residents of that district until called to the home beyond. In their family were but one son and one daughter.
Arthur H. Marble pursued his education in the public schools of the Black Hills district and in young manhood entered upon his business career as a clerk with a trust company in Deadwood, South Dakota. Throughout the entire intervening period he has been identified with the banking business, with which he has become thoroughly familiar in principle and detail. He has been engaged in banking on his own account for a long period. He organized a bank at Bellefourche, South Dakota, and was its cashier for thirteen years. He then removed to Cheyenne to become vice president and manager of the Stock Growers National Bank and in 1913 was elected to the presidency, since which time he has bent his efforts to con- structive work, to administrative direction and executive control. His efforts are not concentrated alone upon this institution, for he is an officer and director of a dozen or more banks scattered throughout the west and in fact is one of the leading figures in financial circles in this section of the country. He is a man of keen and ready discrimination who seems almost intuitively to recognize the possibilities and the drawbacks of every business situation. He therefore makes it his purpose to eliminate the latter and to utilize the former to the best advantage and his powers of organization have enabled him to coordinate seemingly diverse interests into a complex and unified whole. He is the bank manager for Clay, Robinson & Company, which has a large number of banks, and he makes Cheyenne his home.
In 1915 Mr. Marble was united in marriage to Miss Hilda Macaulev. His political support is given to the republican party and he is well known in Masonic circles having taken the various degrees of the York and Scottish rites, while in his life he exemplifies the beneficent spirit upon which the craft is based. He is also identified with the Knights of Pvthias and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He was likewise a factor in organizing the Cheyenne Industrial Club, of which he became the first president. It was formed to advance the interests of
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the city along the lines of trade and of civic improvement and the impetus which he gave it during his presidency has been continuously felt to the present tune. He is also a member of the Country Club and his religious faith is indicated in his identification with the Episcopal church. He is active in all those interests which pertain to the advancement of Cheyenne or to the upbuilding of the state and is a man of marked ability that has qualified him for leadership and placed him in a prominent position among the men who are the real upbuilders of Wyoming.
HAROLD ROY HARRISON.
Harold Roy Harrison, filling the position of county clerk in Lincoln county and making his home at Kemmerer, indicates through the faithful discharge of his official duties that he regards a public office as a public trust-and no trust reposed in him is ever betrayed in the slightest degree.
A native of Utah, Mr. Harrison was born at Bountiful, Davis county, December 20. 1885. He is descended from English ancestry, the family having been founded in America by Henry J. Harrison, who came from England and made his way direct to Utah, where he worked at the mason's trade, becoming one of the pioneer settlers and promoters of the town of Bountiful. There occurred the birth of his son, Harold Henry Harrison, who was reared and educated in Utah and in young manhood took up the trade of brick and stone mason, learning the business under the direction of his father and becoming an expert workman in that line. During the period of his residence in Utah he held the record of having erected the greatest number of buildings in the state in a given period. In 1800 he removed to Wyoming, settling at Auburn, in the Star valley, where he engaged in merchandising. He has since continuously and successfully remained in that line of business and is one of the leading repre- sentatives of commercial activity in that section of the state. In 1890 he was appointed postmaster of Auburn and has since occupied the position, covering a period of twenty-seven years and holding the record of being the oldest post- master in point of continuous service in the state. He has at all times been actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good and has put forth effective activity for the welfare of city and commonwealth. He established the first public bathing facilities at the Sulphur Springs, Auburn. Wyoming, and has since turned his interests there over to his sons. His political endorsement has always been given to the democratic party and he has done everything in his power to advance its welfare and promote its success. He has also been a stal- wart champion of the cause of education and for many years served as school trustee. He married Clara Mould, a native of England, who at the age of seven years came to the United States with her mother, Mrs. Jane Mould, who is still living in Auburn, Wyoming, at an advanced age, being now in the seventies. The paternal grandfather of Harold R. Harrison is still a resident of Bountiful. Utah. He has reached the age of eighty-seven years and has been identified with that locality for a longer period than any other resident of the section The maternal grandmother, Mrs. Jane Mould, was a widow at the time of hier removal to the United States. She settled in Utah, so that Mrs. Harold Henry Harrison, her daughter. was reared and educated in that state. There she was married and in the intervening years she has become the mother of nine children who are yet living.
Of that family Harold Roy Harrison was the second in order of birth. He obtained a public school education in Wyoming and later became a student in the Fielding Academy at Paris, Idaho. He next attended the Brigham Young Academy at Logan, Utah, and completed his studies at the age of eighteen years save that he afterward pursued a commercial course through the International Correspondence Schools. He started out to provide for his own support on attaining his majority. Prior to that time he had engaged in missionary work
Very truly yours,
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in the south, spending two years in that part of the country with very great success. On his return from the mission field he took up the profession of teach- ing and for three years was principal of the schools at Thayne, in the Star valley of Wyoming, in Uinta county. He later spent two years as principal of the schools in Auburn, Wyoming, and in November, 1912, was elected county clerk, which position he is now filling for the third term, making a most cred- itable record in office, as is indicated by his reelections.
At the beautiful Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah, Mr. Harrison was married October 6, 1906, to Miss Sarah B. Steele, a native of Utah, born in Tooele county, and a daughter of Joseph and Charlotte Steele, who were pioneer people of that county. To Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have been born six children : Donald, who was born in Auburn, Wyoming, October 28, 1907; Ila, born in Thayne, May 23, 1909; Blanche, born in Alpine, Idaho, June 16, 1910; Donna, born in Auburn, December 8, 1911; Letha, born in Kemmerer, February 15, 1913; and Harold, born in Kemmerer, October 12, 1914.
Harold R. Harrison is not only filling the position of county clerk but is also identified with business interests as a member of the firm of H. H. Harri- son & Sons. His religious faith is that of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints and he is first councillor to the bishop of Kemmerer. Politically he has ever been a stalwart democrat and as a member of the Chamber of Commerce he is taking active and helpful part in all interests that tend to promote the prog- ress and advance the upbuilding of city and state. He is now acting as chair- man of the good roads committee of the Kemmerer Chamber of Commerce and has been a potent factor in promoting other lines which look beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities and opportunities of the future. In a word, he is a most public-spirited citizen and his fellow townsmen have the utmost confidence in his ability and in his devotion to the general good.
JUDGE VOLNEY JEAN TIDBALL.
Judge Volney Jean Tidball, judge of the second judicial district of Wyoming, while not a native of this state, has been numbered among its residents from in- fancy and has been closely associated with its development and upbuilding. es- pecially in the matter of upholding its legal status.
He was born April 7, 1883, in Bozeman, Montana, a son of Lewis C. and Jennie E. (Kelly) Tidball. The father was a native of southeast Ohio, while the mother was born in southwestern Iowa, where her parents were early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis C. Tidball removed with their family from Montana to Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1884. and although the father was admitted to the bar of this state, he never engaged in practice. His death occurred in Bellingham, Washington, in 1917, and his widow now resides in that city.
Judge Tidball was reared and acquired his preliminary education in Sheridan, Wyoming, being graduated from the high school there with the class of 1901. He next entered the University of Wyoming and won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1905. He further continued his studies in the University of Michigan, where he pursued a law course and received the LL. B. degree in 1908. He began the active practice of law in Laramie as a partner in the firm of Downey & Tidball in 1908 and so continued until 1912. During this period he was also secretary of the Albany Mutual Building Association from 1910 until 1912 and he served as a member of the board of trustees of the Uni- versity of Wyoming from 1909 until 1913. On the 6th of January of the latter year he was appointed by Governor Carey to his present position on the district court bench as the successor of Judge Carpenter and in 1915 was elected to the office for the full term, which expires in 1921. He is proving himself the peer of the ablest members who have sat on the bench of the district courts in
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Wyoming, his decisions being characterized by marked fidelity to duty and a masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution.
On the 15th of July, 1913, Judge Tidball was united in marriage in Laramie to Miss Gertrude Ponting, a daughter of James and Mary Ponting, of an old and highly respected Laramie family. Mrs. Tidball was graduated from the Uni- versity of Wyoming as a member of the class of 1908 and for four years was a successful teacher in the University Training School. They have become the parents of a son, Volney Jean, Jr., who was born June 28, 1917.
In politics Judge Tidball maintains an independent course but is deeply interested in all matters of progressive citizenship and served as chairman of the Second Liberty Loan drive for Albany county in 1917. He is one of the youngest men that has ever been called to the district court bench, notwithstanding which fact there have been few representatives of the district court judiciary who have displayed higher qualifications, and he is regarded as one of the eminent judges of Wyoming, recognizing fully the obligations that devolve upon him in his efforts to dispense justice between man and man. Personally he has always occupied a very high position in the estimation of his fellow townsmen from the time when he first came to Laramie as a university student. A young man of exemplary character, of upright life and high ideals, his record reflects credit and honor upon an untarnished family name.
SAMUEL BLACKHAM.
Samuel Blackham is the senior partner in the firm of Blackhanı & Judd, proprietors of the Rocky Mountain Livery & Garage at Evanston. He was born December 23. 1860, at West Elizabeth, Pennsylvania.
His father, the late Samuel Blackham, was a native of England and came to America at the age of twenty-one years. He established his home in Penn- sylvania. where he resided until the latter part of 1861. The year 1862 wit- nessed his arrival in Utah and in 1868 and 1869 he was employed by the Union Pacific Railway Company on the construction of its line through Echo canyon. On the 2d of October, 1870, he removed with his family to Evanston and was employed at the trade of stone mason and plasterer in connection with the construction of the U'nion Pacific roundhouse at Evanston. He was also en- gaged for many years in the contracting business in the construction of homes, doing the masonry and plastering work, being a pioneer in that line of activity in Evanston, which was a tent city at the time of his arrival. He built many of the city's best homes and was actively identified with the improvement and development of the 'city and surrounding country. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party in his early life, but later he affiliated with the republican party and gave to it his stalwart support. His religious belief was that of the Episcopal church, in the faith of which he passed away in April, 1913. when seventy-six years of age. He remained an active factor in the business life of Evanston for a considerable period but spent his last ten years in retirement, enjoying a rest which he had truly earned and richly deserved. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Lamb and was a native of Lon- don, England. She came to America with her mother, who crossed the Atlantic to join her husband. Mrs. Blackham was at that time a maiden of fif- teen years and on the Ist of March, 1859. in St. Joseph, Missouri, she became the wife of Samuel Blackham. She still survives and yet makes her home in Evanston, where she has resided from early pioneer times. She has become the mother of twelve children, four sons and eight daughters. Of this number four have passed away, three of them dying in childhood, while one son reached young manhood, being twenty-four years of age at the time of his demise.
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