No history of Wyoming would be complete without extended reference to John W. Stryker, one of the pioneer merchants of Laramie, who has been identified with the city since 1877 and throughout the entire period has been connected with its commercial interests. For many years he has figured as a factor in the successful development of the trade of the W. H. Holliday Company, of which he is the secretary and treasurer and in which connection he has aided in building up one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the state. His life record indicates what can be accomplished by determined purpose and indefatigable energy, for he started out in the business world empty-handed and is today in possession of a comfortable competence.
     He was born in Birmingham. Ohio. July 21. 1852. His father, Abraham H. Stryker, was a native of New York and a representative of one of the old families of the Empire state of Dutch descent. The founder of the American branch of the family settled at New Amsterdam, now New York, in the early part of the seventeenth century and later representatives of the name were among the pioneers who contributed to the development and upbuilding of Ohio. Abraham H. Stryker became an attorney at law in the Buckeye state and during his later years resided in Atchison, Kansas. He had been a partner of Governor Click of Kansas while the latter was a resident of Sandusky, Ohio, and on his account removed to Kansas. He became a very prominent factor in democratic circles while living in Ohio, doing much to shape public thought and opinion during war times. He passed away in Atchison, Kansas, in October, 1880, at the age of fifty years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Henrietta Wood, was a native of Ohio and a representative of one of the pioneer families of the state of English lineage. She died in Ohio in 1853 when but twenty-five years of age, and of her two children one passed away in infancy.
    The surviving son, John W. Stryker, pursued his education in the public schools of Ohio and in Oberlin College to the age of fourteen years, when he started out to provide for his own support and since that time has been dependent entirely upon his own resources, so that whatever success he has achieved is the direct result and reward of his labors. He was first employed as chain man with a surveying party in eastern Kansas, engaged in the survey of the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad. His next position was that of clerk in a hardware store in Atchison, Kansas, which was his initial experience in mercantile lines. He removed from Atchison to Netawaka, Kansas, and there engaged in mercantile pursuits through the winter of 1872-3. He then came to Wyoming in January. 1873, casting in his lot with its pioneer settlers. He located first at Medicine Bow, where he remained until March, 1877, when he arrived in Laramie, with the interests and upbuilding of which he has since been actively and prominently identified. Here he found employment with the firm of Trabing Brothers, then the leading merchants of Wyoming, and continued with that firm until March, 1880, when he became associated with W. H. Holliday. That association has since been maintained and through all the intervening period, covering thirty-seven years, he has been an active factor in the further growth and development of the enterprise. The business was originally established on Railroad street and was begun on a comparatively small scale but has since been developed into the largest general merchandise establishment in the state of Wyoming. They carry an extensive line of hardware, groceries, furniture and other things, and their patronage has reached most gratifying proportions. They have ever exercised the utmost care in the personnel of the house, in the selection of goods, in the treatment rendered customers and in the business methods employed and thus their trade has constantly grown through the excellent service which they have rendered to the public and through the capable management of their interests. Mr. Stryker has also been engaged in the undertaking business since 1880 and has developed one of the most important business concerns of the kind in the state. He has a fine building erected expressly for this purpose, containing a beautiful chapel, and with all other equipment of a modern undertaking establishment of the present day.
    On the 3^d of December, 1878, in Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Stryker was united in marriage to Miss Lura L. Jacques, a native of Rome, Georgia, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs.C. W. Jacques, who have passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Stryker have become the parents of three children, two of whom are living: Donna Rena, the wife of D. N. Sudduth. who is a prominent stock raiser, residing at North Park, Colorado, being president and general manager of The Canadian Land and Live Stock Company, of which J. W. Stryker is secretary and treasurer; and Jennie Iris, the wife of Clifford Sawyer, living in Colorado. There are also six grandchildren, the Sudduth family having four–Iris, June, John S. and Neal, while the Sawyer family has two children, Florence and Clifford.
    In politics Mr. Stryker follows an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is interested in all those forces which have to do with the upbuilding and welfare of the city, giving his aid and support to all interests which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. His business record should serve to inspire and encourage others, for it shows what can be accomplished through individual effort and determination. Starting out in life empty-handed, obstacles and difficulties in his path have seemed but to serve as an impetus for renewed effort and concentration on his part and his close application and persistency of purpose, guided by sound judgment, have made him one of the foremost representatives of commercial interests in the state.