If one were asked to express in a single word the most prominent and salient characteristic of Hon. Jacob A. Delfelder it might be done in the word helpfulness, for there is no man who has contributed more largely to the development of Riverton and Fremont county than he, and his helpfulness has been of a character that the sociologist says is of greatest worth to the world, the kind that helps the individual to help himself. He has ever striven to improve conditions having to do with the development and upbuilding and the advancement of business activity in county and state and is regarded as an authority upon the subject of irrigation and water rights as wells as an authority upon sheep raising. His labors have ever been of a character in which the public is a large direct and also indirect beneficiary.
    Mr. Delfelder was born in Effingham, Kansas, January 11, 1871, a son of Frederick and Anna (Wagner) Delfelder, both of whom were natives of Germany. On coming to this country they settled in Illinois and afterward removed to Effingham, Kansas. The father had been educated for and was ordained to the ministry of the Lutheran church but never followed that vocation. On settling in Kansas he took up the occupation of farming and became one of the leading agriculturists and prosperous residents of that section of the state. He is now living retired in Atchison and his wife also survives.
    Their son. Jacob A. Delfelder, was the fourth in order of birth in a family of eight children. He was reared upon the homestead farm and acquired his education in the country schools. He worked during the summer months and attended school in the winter seasons. At an early age he took up the study of the science of dehorning cattle and in due time became an adept in that work. After leaving the country schools he went to Atchison, Kansas, where he attended the Atchison Business College, from which in due time he was graduated. He paid his way through college with money which he earned in dehorning cattle.
    In 1892 Mr. Delfeldcr came to Wyoming with the idea of turning his attention to dehorning cattle but on reaching this state found that the cattlemen of Wyoming were not interested in that, so that he had to seek employment along other lines. He then turned his attention to sheep raising in Uinta county. Being first employed by Al Pomeroy, of Evanston, with whom he remained for three months. He then removed to Fremont and for two years was in the employ of David Sweeney. In the fall of 1894 he engaged in the sheep business on his own account in connection with Austin Bunce, forming the firm of Bunce & Delfelder, which was maintained until 1910, when, upon the death of Mr. Bunce, Mr. Delfelder purchased his partner's interest from the heirs and has since continued his operations independently. At the present time he has about twenty thousand head of sheep and about two thousand head of cattle, together with about five hundred head of horses, his stock being pastured upon an extensive ranch of two thousand acres of irrigated land, beside a large acreage of pasture land and range. Mr. Delfelder is now the president of the National Sheep Company and also of the Diamond C Sheep Company and there is no man in the state who has done more to improve conditions that affect sheep raising than he. On the 8^th of May, 1903, he was appointed by Governor Chatterton to the position of state sheep commissioner, at which time over ninety per cent of the sheep in Wyoming were scabby, and through his efforts, with the assistance of the commissioners, they eradicated the disease in less than two years. He served on the board altogether for about ten years and his efforts were most valuable and effective in promoting the sheep raising interests of the state by the improvement of conditions. He was also the originator and is a director of the National Wool House and Storage Company of Chicago, Illinois.
    Aside from his extensive sheep raising and other live stock interests Mr. Delfelder is president of the Farmers State Bank of Powell, Wyoming, vice president of the First State Bank of Riverton, a director of the Farmers State Bank of Worland and a stockholder and director in a number of other large financial institutions. In business matters his judgment is sound, his insight keen and his enterprise unfaltering. He is also interested in some realty companies and whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful completion.
    It is but natural that a man of Mr. Delfelder's business ability and devotion to the public welfare should be called upon to serve in public office. In 1913 he was elected to the house of representatives and while in the state legislature was the father of a number of important bills. He was instrumental in securing the passage of the Smith Levers bill and he introduced the bill that was the cause of the Wyoming central irrigation investigation. He is an authority upon the subject of irrigation, which he has studied from every possible standpoint, and he does not believe in a monopoly of water rights. Riverton, recognizing his genuine worth and public spirit, elected him to the office of mayor and for four years he served as chief executive of the city. On the 14^th of May, 1918, he was again elected to that position without opposition, as he had been during his previous terms of office. He would not accept the position in any other way, for he wants to feel that he has the whole-hearted support of the public and must feel that his efforts for the benefit of the city will not be hampered. He wishes to do things in his own way–and the public recognizes that his way is the best way.
    On the 19^th of October, 1910, Mr. Delfelder was united in marriage to Miss Evelyn Hartman and they now have a son, William W., who is attending the Todd Seminary for Boys, at Woodstock, Illinois.
    Fraternally Mr. Delfelder is a Mason and has attained the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite and has also taken the degrees up to and including the thirty-second of the Scottish Rite. He likewise belongs to Korein Temple of the Mystic Shrine and his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft. He occupies a most beautiful and modern home in Riverton and its warm-hearted hospitality is known throughout the countryside. He employs a great many people on his ranches and it is characteristic of Mr. Delfelder that he is always as courteous and genial to the laborers upon the ranch as to any heavy stockholder or official who is associated with him in his business interests. He is a big man in spirit and interests, broadminded, alert, energetic, ever actuated by a spirit of progress and looking ever toward the attainment of higher ideals and results. His adopted county and state have indeed profited by his labors, which have ever been of a most practically resultant character.