Hon. Jacob M. Schwoob is a resident of Cody, where he is well known as vice president and manager of the Cody Trading Company, but his interests have been far from local. Although he was the first treasurer of the town of Cody and its mayor, he has also been a most important factor in shaping the history of the state, and served most ably and creditably in the council chambers of the commonwealth, taking active part in the business transacted through legislative enactment. His course has ever been above suspicion. The good of the state he placed before partisanship and the welfare of his constituents before personal aggrandizement. He always commanded the respect of the members of the house and senate, and at home, where he is best known, he inspires personal friendships of unusual strength, all who know him having for him the highest admiration by reason of his good qualities of heart and mind.
    Mr. Schwoob is of Canadian birth. He was born on the 8^th of July, 1874, in Wellandport, Ontario, Canada, a son of William H. and Elizabeth (Steward) Schwoob. He was educated in the public schools of St. Thomas and in the collegiate institute of that place, after which he became identified with the hotel business in Buffalo, New York, where he remained from 1892 until 1898. In 1897 he became a naturalized American citizen.
    It was in October, 1898, that Mr. Schwoob became a resident of Cody, where he embarked in merchandising as a partner in the Cody Trading Company, of which he became manager. This is one of the most important mercantile enterprises of the state, conducting an extensive business which is wisely directed through the management and control of Mr. Schwoob, who is a man of keen discernment, of sound judgment and of indefatigable energy. His plans are always well defined and take cognizance of both the incidental and accidental circumstances of a case as well as its more important features. He therefore knew what to eliminate and what to retain and in thus discriminating between the essential and the non-essential he has carried his interests forward to notable success. He also became interested in promoting irrigation projects, including the Lakeview Irrigation Company on the south fork of the Shoshone river.
    Mr. Schwoob is perhaps even more widely known through his official connections than in business life. He was called to office in Wyoming when elected the first treasurer of the town of Cody in 1900. In 1903 he was chosen mayor of the city for a two years' term and in 1905 he was elected from Bighorn county to the Wyoming state senate, where he was continued by reelection for eight years. He was president of the senate in 1911. In the session of 1909, Mr. Schwoob and Charles E. Hayden, as well as D. E. Hallister and Dr. W. S. Bennett, created Park county, Wyoming, carrying through the house and senate the bill which resulted in the organization of the county.
    Fraternally Mr. Schwoob is well known as a prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in the Wyoming consistory, the Knight Templar degree in the commandery, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and he is regarded, by reason of his business associations, his political activity and his fraternal connections, as one of the foremost men of the Big Horn country.