For thirty years Dr. William C. Cunnington has actively engaged in the practice of dentistry and since 1908 has maintained an office at Kemmerer, where a liberal patronage is accorded him. He was born in Callodan, Ontario, Canada, March 16, 1854, a son of John Cunnington, who was also a native of Canada and a representative of one of the old families of that country of English and Irish lineage. The paternal grandfather, William Cunnington, was the founder of the American branch of the family, crossing the Atlantic to Canada during the early part of the nineteenth century and casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Ontario. He hewed his own logs to be used in building a house and in the midst of the wilderness developed a farm, performing the arduous task of cutting down the trees and preparing the land for cultivation. As the years passed on, he won success in his farming operations. His son John afterward became a pioneer settler of Waterloo, Iowa, where he took up his abode in 1868. Later he again heard and heeded the call of the west, removing to Clay county, Nebraska, establishing his home near Sutton, where he followed farming until 1892. In that year he took up his abode in Evanston, Wyoming, where he carried on stock raising and farming, there passing away July 16, 1916, at the notable old age of eighty-nine years and one month. He retired from active business life about ten years prior to his death but continued in business for a much longer period than many men. Such a record should put to shame many a man of less resolute spirit who grows weary of the struggles and trials of business life and relegates to others the burdens that he should bear. The well spent years of Mr. Cunnington won him the substantial fruits of labor and in his last days he was thus enabled to enjoy all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life. He married Janette McDonald, a native of Canada, who is of Scotch descent and still survives, occupying the old homestead at Evanston. She is remarkably well preserved for a woman of her age, having reached the eighty-second milestone on life's journey.
    Dr. Cunnington of this review was the eldest of a family of ten children, nine of whom are still living. He was educated in Waterloo, Iowa, attending the public schools, and afterward he pursued a course in the Chicago Dental College, but long before he entered upon preparation for the profession he had begun to earn his living in other ways. His early life was spent upon the home farm and at the age of seventeen he started out independently, working as a farm hand for neighbors in Nebraska. He also rode the range as a Nebraska cowboy for six years. At length, however, he determined to devote his life to professional activity and began preparation for the practice of dentistry in Chicago. Following his graduation he opened an office in Sutton, Nebraska, where he remained for seven months, and in the spring of 1887 he removed to Evanston, Wyoming, where he continuously and successfully practiced for twenty-one years. On the expiration of that period he established an office in Kemmerer, where he located July 5. 1908. Through the intervening period, covering more than nine years, he has remained in active and continuous practice in Kemmerer and is the dean of the dental profession in this section of the state. He is splendidly qualified for high professional achievements. He possesses marked mechanical skill and ingenuity in the operative work and underlying all of his labors is a broad knowledge of the scientific phases of dentistry brought to light by the latest investigation and research work.
    Dr. Cunnington was married February 14, 1889, to Miss Annie Faulkner, a native of Evanston, and they have two children: Pearl, the wife of I. J. Farnes, of Evanston; and Mrs. J. C. Colvin, also of Evanston.
    Dr. Cunnington votes with the republican party and for two years he served as county coroner of Uinta county. He has also been a member of the city council of Kemmerer and is much interested in political and civic matters, doing everything in his power to advance high standards of citizenship. For six years he occupied the position of state dental examiner, his appointment to that office indicating clearly his high professional standing. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Rock Springs and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Evanston. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church. He belongs to the Kemmerer Chamber of Commerce and cooperates heartily in all of its well defined plans and measures for the upbuilding of the city and the advancement of its interests along material, intellectual, social, political and moral lines.