The history of Wyoming or that of any state is the record of the lives of those people whose activities have had to do with its upbuilding and development. Judged by this standard, there are few, if any, men living in Wyoming today whose life record constitutes a more important chapter on the pages of Wyoming's history than does that of pioneer banker Edward Ivinson, philanthropist and a most honored and beloved resident of Laramie.
    He was born on the St. Croix River Estate, West Indies, September 20, 1830, his parents being Thomas J. and Sarah ( Hewiston) Ivinson. The father was born in Cumrew, England, and from there went to the West Indies, where he became a well known sugar planter, spending his remaining days in that group of islands, his death there occurring in 1850, when he had reached the age of sixty-six years.
    Edward Ivinson was educated in England at Craft-House Academy, Brampton, and on entering upon his business career there served an apprenticeship at the dry goods trade. He came to America when a young man and in New York city was in the employ of Lord & Taylor, well known importers and merchants in the wholesale and retail dry goods trade. After a few years in New York, Mr. Ivinson removed to the west, settling in Evansville, Indiana, where for some time he was paymaster for the Evansville & Crawfordsville Railroad. It was while acting in that capacity that he was presented on the 3^d of November, 1857, with a handsome solid gold watch and chain by the employes of the road. He treasures this timepiece highly, even though it is more than sixty years since it was presented to him, and while it is of considerable intrinsic worth, its value as a matter of sentiment would be difficult to estimate.
    Previous to locating in Wyoming, Mr. Ivinson was for a time connected with mercantile interests and also with the cotton trade in Memphis, Tennessee. Subsequently he became interested in the business of contracting for supplies for camps along the Union Pacific line, which was then building. In 1867 he went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and in February, 1868, arrived in Laramie, at which time trains were not yet in operation for passengers. Mr. Ivinson erected a store building on the lot adjoining what is now the Albany County Bank on Second street, and soon afterward offered a general line of merchandise to the shifting population of a "thirty-day town," as most of the towns springing up at that time were then called. In addition to merchandising he was engaged in the tie business, furnishing ties for the Union Pacific Railroad. Whatever he undertook he carried forward to successful completion, for in his vocabulary there was no such word as fail. Mr. Ivinson disposed of his mercantile interests and in 1871 established the first private bank in Laramie, which he conducted two years. This he later merged into the Wyoming National Bank, in which he was the prime mover and became the sole proprietor. In later years, when the Wyoming National was absorbed by the First National Bank, Mr. Ivinson was one of the heavy holders in the latter institution and its president for a number of years. In fact, under his careful and able management it became one of the foremost financial institutions in the state. Mr. Ivinson was for eighteen years president of the Merchants National Bank of San Diego, California, in which city he was extensively interested along business lines, maintaining a winter residence there for a number of years. Since 1916 he has retired from active business to the extent that retirement is possible for one of his wonderful activity and extensive private interests.
    On the 21^st of April, 1854, in Jersey City, New Jersey, Mr. Ivinson was united in marriage to Miss Jane Wood, a native of West Riding, Yorkshire, England. This happy event in his life contributed largely to his success, as he was most fortunate in his selection of a wife. Theirs was largely an ideal companionship. Whatever was of interest to one was of vital importance to the other. Their plans and purposes relative to everything that came into their lives were freely discussed and they worked together for the accomplishment of given ends, the sound judgment and keen insight of Mrs. Ivinson often supplementing and rounding out the business experience of her husband. Thus as the years passed on their mutual love and confidence increased as they shared together in the joys and sorrows, the adversity and prosperity which checker the careers of all. They celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on the 21^st of April, 1904, when at Maennerchor Hall they held a reception for their friends, and later a banquet was served in the Union Pacific Hotel. This was a most important social event in the life of the city, and the high esteem in which they were held is shown by the large number of people who were present on that occasion. On the 21^st of April, 1914, their sixtieth wedding anniversary was celebrated, when more than two hundred and fifty citizens of Laramie and the state called to pay their respects and express their happy felicitations to this worthy couple, who for six decades had traveled life's journey as man and wife, gathering all that was best and noblest from their experiences and shedding around them much of life's sunshine. Mrs. Ivinson had come to Laramie in May, 1868, a few months after her husband, and was a passenger on the first regular passenger train into the city. She was a woman of great force of character and strong individuality. From the first she assisted in the work of the church in Laramie, in the organization of the first Sunday school and in the first lodge among women, having become a charter member of the Rebekah Lodge of Laramie. Her philanthropies were broad, her benevolences many and yet so unostentatious was her giving that many times only she and the recipient knew of the kind act. She was always prominent in the charity work of the community and had her part in every movement that had for its object the uplift of her fellowmen and the upbuilding of the city. When death called her on the 9^th of November, 1915, one of the local papers said editorially: "The death of Mrs. Edward Ivinson on Tuesday has caused sorrow all over the city and county. Few persons have more closely associated their lives with the intimate life of the community than have she and her Inisliand. They came when the city was so new that there was not a wooden building here, and with the exception of brief intervals they have made their abiding place here. It can be truthfully said of both that they brought their whole lives into the midst of the living here and long ago became a part and parcel of the great throbbing heart of the city. Mrs. Ivinson will be sadly missed. Her cheery smile, her kindly word of greeting, her indomitable spirit of having a prominent part in every undertaking that made for the betterment of the community, her desire to alleviate suffering, and above all, her disposition to see that the city was properly regarded by the transient visitor, have made her a woman that can ill be spared at this time. Her individuality asserted itself on many occasions. Nothing was ever started that would tend to help in the social, religious, intellectual and economic forwarding of the people toward a higher goal that she was not interested in, and if she was not personally associated with the movement, her aid, her counsel and her purse were often at the call of those who were. Mr. Ivinson has filled an important place in the city's growth and everybody who respected and revered his wife is extending to him the wish that his life may be spared many years. To the members of the family the community owes a certain debt of gratitude and there is not one of us who will not wish for the bereaved husband and daughter every good gift within the power of the Most High to bestow. As the community will miss the wife and mother, so will it bestow upon those left behind the benisons of well wishes and earnest prayer for their guidance and comfort." Only those who have suffered such bereavment could understand the loss to Mr. Ivinson, so closely was his life and that of his wife intertwined in their interests, their activities and their ideals. Her splendid counsel, sound advice and inspiration were of great help to her husband. They were perfectly at one in their plans for philanthropy and as a memorial to his wife he erected the Ivinson Hospital in Laramie, making it one of the leading institutions of the kind in the state.
    He has been prominently identified with philanthropic work, has been treasurer of the State Union and very active in church work. He erected the tower on St. Matthew's Episcopal church of Laramie and installed therein the chimes and clock. According to the terms of his will, his beautiful residence in Laramie will be given to the state as an old ladies' home upon his death. His improvements upon the Episcopal cathedral alone have cost thirty-five thousand dollars. He has given most generously to aid the needy aside from his splendid benefactions to the Old Ladies' Home and the Ivinson Hospital and is continually extending a helping hand to those who need assistance or encouragement. This is done not from any sense of duty but from the keenest interest in the welfare of his fellowmen. No man more fully recognizes the teaching of the brotherhood of man and throughout his entire life, although his business interests and cares have been many, he has ever found time to go about doing good. Various other interests have profited by the efforts, energy and co-operation of Mr. Ivinson, who has been a member of the board of trustees of the University of Wyoming since it was created and who was the first treasurer of the university, in the affairs of which he has ever taken a most active and helpful part.
    Mr. Ivinson was an early member of Laramie Lodge, No. 2, I. O. O. F., and has filled all the offices in that lodge. In the church, too. he was called to official position, serving for many years as senior warden in St. Matthew's Episcopal church. His association with Laramie dates from its earliest inception and covers connection with almost every enterprise of importance to the city, whether commercial, religious or social. He has always been prominent in affairs of the state, though not as a politician or seeking such reward, but as a business man and citizen. At any time that he has become active in political affairs it was been at the request of his friends, While never holding important office, his advice has been sought by those who have, and he has had not a little to do with shaping that activity which resulted in separating from what was then Dakota the territory of Wyoming and which has led in time to the development of the state, admitted to the Union in 1890. For more than half a century he has also been a well known figure in the financial circles of Wyoming and thus his life along many lines has been of great worth to the community.
    In his eighty-eighth year, hale and vigorous, with a keen appreciation for a fishing or hunting excursion, in which it has been his custom for many years to indulge with success that bespeaks skill in both. Mr. Ivinson yet spends many pleasant hours in the pursuit of those things which are of interest to him. His has been notably the career of a successful man. He overcame difficulties and obstacles by unfaltering perseverance and unabating energy and step by step he advanced until he attained a position of wealth. The most envious could not grudge him his success, so worthily was it won and so honorably has it been used. While his success in a business way should encourage others, showing what may be accomplished through individual effort, as he started out in life empty-handed, his high sense of personal honor, his integrity and fidelity to obligations to others should serve also as an inspiration to his fellowmen. The world is better for his having lived and the love which is entertained for him throughout Wyoming is but the logical result of his upright life and his brotherly spirit.