Tom Whitmore, filling the office of clerk of the district court in Sweetwater county and well known as a popular and highly esteemed resident of Rock Springs, was born in Lake county, Ohio, November 26, 1848. His father, John Whitmore, a native of Connecticut, was a descendant of one of the old families of that state, of Scotch origin. He took up the occupation of farming as a life work and followed that pursuit both in Connecticut and in Illinois. Removing to the west in 1852. he took up his abode in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, his death there occurring in 1854, when he had reached the age of fifty-eight years. His wife bore the maiden name of Betsey Tisdel. She was born in Connecticut and belonged to one of the old families of that state, of Scotch lineage.
    Tom Whitmore is the only surviving member of a family of seven children. He acquired a public school education in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where his early life to the year 1864 was spent upon the home farm. He was then a youth of sixteen years and in response to the country's call for troops he enlisted as a member of Company E, One Hundred and Forty-second Illinois Infantry. He afterward reenlisted as a member of Company D. One Hundred and Fifty-third Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, and served until the close of the war, being mustered out with the rank of lieutenant in July, 1865. After hostilities had ceased he returned to the north, again taking up his abode in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming. Subsequent to the war he also attended school in Chicago for two years, recognizing the value of educational training as a preparation for life's practical and responsible duties. In 1868 he removed to Cass county, Iowa, at which time the Rock Island Railroad Company had not yet extended its line into that district. He drove overland from Illinois and after reaching Iowa engaged in general merchandising and in the grain business, continuing in that state until 1880. On the 22^d of July of that year he arrived in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and became connected with the coal department of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. He worked in that way until 1888, when he was elected sheriff of Sweetwater county, which position he occupied through reelection for six years, and later served for two years as deputy sheriff. He then entered the liquor business in Green River and successfully conducted his place until 1915. In 1908 he was elected clerk of the district court and has now served for almost a decade in that position, making an excellent record by the prompt, capable and faithful manner in which he discharges his duties. He votes with the republican party and has always been an active worker in its ranks, doing everything in his power to further its success and secure the adoption of its principles.
    In October, 1874, in Cass county, Iowa, Mr. Whitmore was united in marriage to Miss Mary McClure, a native of Indiana, and to them have been born two children; Nellie, the deceased wife of Hugo Gaensslen, president of the Green River State Bank, by whom she had four children, Helen, Julia, Alice and Freda; and Lillian, who is the widow of Charles Harris. After losing her first husband, Mrs. Harris became the wife of Walter Siegel, of Green River, and they have one child, Tom Siegel. By her first marriage she had two children, Margaret and Lillian Harris.
    Mr. Whitmore is widely and favorably known in Sweetwater county, where he has so long resided and has for so many years filled public office, painstakingly and faithfully performing his onerous and responsible duties.