FRED H. CHAPIN.
  
FRED H. CHAPIN.
Fred H. Chapin is one of the best known and most popular hotel men of Wyoming and he has risen to a position of business prominence and success entirely through his own efforts. Recognizing the possibilities for advancement. he has quickly and capably utilized the opportunities that have come to him and has gained for himself an enviable position, being now well known as the proprietor of the Kemmerer Hotel at Kemmerer, Lincoln county.
He was born in Aurora, Illinois, August 5, 1880, a son of Fred and Edes (Garrity) Chapin. The father was a native of Vermont, while the mother was born in Ireland, but was brought to America at the age of three years, the family home being established in St. Charles, Illinois, where she was reared and married. The father became an expert workman in connection with the Aurora Watch Company at Aurora, Illinois, occupying a responsible position there for a long period. In 1900 he came to Wyoming, settling at Diamondville, where he is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned rest. His wife died in Hamilton, Montana, in 1903, at the age of forty-two years. They were the parents of six children, one of whom has passed away. The others are: Mrs. Frank Dudley, living in Darby, Montana; Mrs. Charles Douzois, of Roundup, Montana; Mrs. Harry Beck, whose home is in Seattle, Washington; and Edna, living in Hamilton, Montana.
Fred H. Chapin, the only son and second child, was a pupil in the public schools of Aurora, Illinois, until he had passed through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school when a youth of eighteen years. Removing to. the west, he became a resident of Helena, Montana, in 1897 and there secured a clerkship with the Amalgamated Copper Company, with which he continued until 1910. He then removed to Kemmerer and through the intervening period has been engaged in the hotel business, prosperity meeting his well directed efforts. In 1913 he erected an addition to his hotel as large as the original building. His business has constantly grown, for the hotel has built up a_ reputation for its excellent cuisjne and for the comfort afforded its guests. Mr. Chapin is continually studying the best methods of improving his hotel service and is a popular and genial host who has won the warm friendship of many of his patrons. He is systematic and energetic in all that he undertakes and in the conduct of his hotel he has displayed something of the methods of the pioneer who is continually seeking out opportunities for the improvement of conditions.
In October, 1903, Mr. Chapin was united in marriage to Miss Jane Sneddon, of Diamondville, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Sneddon, prominent and highly respected citizens of Diamondville and in fact well known throughout the state. Mr. and Mrs. Chapin have become the parents of two children: Paul, who was born in Butte, Montana, in 1907; and June, born in Kemmerer in 1913.
Fraternally Mr. Chapin is a Mason who has taken the various degrees of the order, being now a Knight Templar and also a consistory Mason. He is likewise connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Rock Springs. In politics he maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment, with little regard for party ties. His record is a commendable one and should serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others, showing what may be accomplished through individual effort and persistency of purpose. Starting out to provide for his own support at the age of eight years. he has advanced step by step and each obstacle and difficulty in his path has seemed to serve but as an impetus for renewed effort on his part. As a boy he was always ambitious and even in his youth seemed to recognize the possibilities for money making in any business venture. He sold papers in Aurora and later so developed his newspaper business that he had a number of boys working for him and made as high as fifty dollars per day during the big railroad strike, through his daily sales. Today he is one of the most influential and successful young business men of Wyoming, having accumulated a sizable fortune. His business methods promise for future success and his personal qualities make for marked popularity as a hotel man.