HON. JOHN J. SPRIGGS.

HON. JOHN J. SPRIGGS.
Hon. John J. Spriggs, a leading attorney and prominent citizen of Lander, Fremont county, was born in Louisville, Illinois, September 14, 1877, a son of James J. and Nancy (Warren) Spriggs. The father was a native of North Carolina, while the mother was born in De Mossville, Kentucky. Their marriage was celebrated in Illinois and Mr. Spriggs devoted his attention to the occupation of farming in that state. He was a pioneer of Clay county, where he homesteaded land and performed the arduous task of developing and improving a new farm. His son, John J. Spriggs, was reared upon the old homestead farm and assisted in the work of developing the fields. He pursued his education in the public schools near his father's home, supplementing his district school training by a course in the high school at Louisville. Illinois, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895. He afterward attended Shurtleff College and later entered the Northern Illinois Normal School, in which he was a student at the time of the outbreak of the Spanish-American war. At the first call for volunteers, he left college on the first train, even leaving his board and tuition. paid in advance, and joined the Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was immediately organized and afterward stationed at Jacksonville, Florida. He enlisted in June, 1898. and received an honorable discharge in the spring of 1899. In the following fall Mr. Spriggs entered the University of Illinois, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1903. The following year he took up to the profession of teaching in order to gain funds that would enable him to further continue his studies. On the night following his graduation he was united in marriage to Miss Edna C. Vance, of Edwardsville. Illinois, a university classmate who had been graduated on the same day, Mrs. Spriggs receiving the B. L. S. degree. In the fall of 1904 he entered the University of Missouri and won his law degree upon graduation with the class of 1905. He entered upon the active practice of his profession in Columbia, Missouri where he remained until April, 1907. when he removed to Lander, Wyoming. He then filed a soldier's declaratory statement on a homestead. He served for six months as assistant postmaster of Lander following his arrival and then finished out a term as principal of the high school. When his school work was completed he opened a law office in Lander and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1908 he was appointed United States commissioner and occupied that position until 1910, in which year he was elected to the state legislature, where he served for one term. His political endorsement has always been given to the democratic party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and he was elected a delegate to the national democratic convention which was held in St. Louis in 1916, his wife attending the same convention as an alternate. Mr. Spriggs is now the incumbent in the United States commissioner's office. He is actively interested in all those questions and movements which have to do with the upbuilding of his city and state, his influence being always on the side of progress and advancement. To Mr. and Mrs. Spriggs have been born eight children, seven of whom are living. The parents are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Spriggs is master of the Milford Grange and lecturer of the Fremont County Pomona Grange. He was appointed by President Wilson chairman of the legal advisory board of Fremont county to give legal advice to draft registrants. While his interests and activities are broad and varied, he largely concentrates his attention upon his professional activity and is regarded as one of the leading lawyers of Fremont county and this section of the state. His practice is now extensive and of an important character. He prepares his cases with provident care and his presentation of his cause shows wide research along the lines involved. At no time has his reading ever been confined to the limitation of the questions at issue. It has gone beyond and compassed every contingency and provided not alone for the expected, hut for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them. His mind is naturally analytical, logical and inductive and the strength of his character is displayed in the way in which he obtained his education. All these qualities and the readiness with which he grasps the point in an argument, are features in his success as an attorney.

Hon. John J. Spriggs, a leading attorney and prominent citizen of Lander, Fremont county, was born in Louisville, Illinois, September 14, 1877, a son of James J. and Nancy (Warren) Spriggs. The father was a native of North Carolina, while the mother was born in De Mossville, Kentucky. Their marriage was celebrated in Illinois and Mr. Spriggs devoted his attention to the occupation of farming in that state. He was a pioneer of Clay county, where he homesteaded land and performed the arduous task of developing and improving a new farm.
His son, John J. Spriggs, was reared upon the old homestead farm and assisted in the work of developing the fields. He pursued his education in the public schools near his father's home, supplementing his district school training by a course in the high school at Louisville. Illinois, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895. He afterward attended Shurtleff College and later entered the Northern Illinois Normal School, in which he was a student at the time of the outbreak of the Spanish-American war. At the first call for volunteers, he left college on the first train, even leaving his board and tuition. paid in advance, and joined the Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was immediately organized and afterward stationed at Jacksonville, Florida. He enlisted in June, 1898. and received an honorable discharge in the spring of 1899. In the following fall Mr. Spriggs entered the University of Illinois, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1903. The following year he took up to the profession of teaching in order to gain funds that would enable him to further continue his studies. On the night following his graduation he was united in marriage to Miss Edna C. Vance, of Edwardsville. Illinois, a university classmate who had been graduated on the same day, Mrs. Spriggs receiving the B. L. S. degree. In the fall of 1904 he entered the University of Missouri and won his law degree upon graduation with the class of 1905.
He entered upon the active practice of his profession in Columbia, Missouri where he remained until April, 1907. when he removed to Lander, Wyoming. He then filed a soldier's declaratory statement on a homestead. He served for six months as assistant postmaster of Lander following his arrival and then finished out a term as principal of the high school. When his school work was completed he opened a law office in Lander and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1908 he was appointed United States commissioner and occupied that position until 1910, in which year he was elected to the state legislature, where he served for one term. His political endorsement has always been given to the democratic party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and he was elected a delegate to the national democratic convention which was held in St. Louis in 1916, his wife attending the same convention as an alternate. Mr. Spriggs is now the incumbent in the United States commissioner's office. He is actively interested in all those questions and movements which have to do with the upbuilding of his city and state, his influence being always on the side of progress and advancement.
To Mr. and Mrs. Spriggs have been born eight children, seven of whom are living. The parents are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Spriggs is master of the Milford Grange and lecturer of the Fremont County Pomona Grange. He was appointed by President Wilson chairman of the legal advisory board of Fremont county to give legal advice to draft registrants. While his interests and activities are broad and varied, he largely concentrates his attention upon his professional activity and is regarded as one of the leading lawyers of Fremont county and this section of the state.
His practice is now extensive and of an important character. He prepares his cases with provident care and his presentation of his cause shows wide research along the lines involved. At no time has his reading ever been confined to the limitation of the questions at issue. It has gone beyond and compassed every contingency and provided not alone for the expected, hut for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them. His mind is naturally analytical, logical and inductive and the strength of his character is displayed in the way in which he obtained his education. All these qualities and the readiness with which he grasps the point in an argument, are features in his success as an attorney.