ROBERT ALMANZO SMILEY.
ROBERT ALMANZO SMILEY.
ROBERT ALMANZO SMILEY.
Robert Almanzo Smiley occupied a prominent place among the successful sheep men of Wyoming and also stood in a foremost position as a representative citizen of Rawlins. He was born December 18, 1853, at Dryden, Tompkins county, New York, his parents being Artemas and Emily (George) Smiley. In both the paternal and maternal lines he came from old families in that section of the Empire state. His father was a successful farmer and belonged to a family that for many generations had followed agricultural pursuits.
Robert A. Smiley acquired a high school education and, displaying a fondness and adaptation for business rather than farming, was early engaged in buying and selling hay, grain and other products of the farm, which were shipped to business firms of New York city. He was ambitious, energetic and capable and was continually on the outlook for broader and better fields of labor. He planned to make a trip to the west with a view of locating in the rapidly developing section of the country. He made his way to Omaha. where an uncle. John Bergen, was engaged in the grocery business. and for about a year Mr. Smiley remained in his employ as a clerk. The work was too confining, however, for one who preferred outdoor life, and, leaving Omaha in the spring of 1881, he started for the Black Hills country by way of Cheyenne. At that city he spent a few days. during which time his attention was directed to the sheep business. which was an industry entirely new to him, especially in the extensive manner in which it is conducted in the west. He visited a sheep ranch near Cheyenne during this time and learned more about the business, in which he became interested to a sufficient point to decide him to remain in Wyoming rather than go on to the Black Hills country. During the season of 1881 he followed sheep shearing, working for a considerable part of that time on the Laramie plain. He was employed in connection with the outfit of Balch & Bacon, who were prominent in the industry at that period. Mr. Smiley returned to the east during the winter of 1881-2.
At Dryden, New York, on the 26th of February, 1882, Mr. Smiley was united in marriage to Miss Mary Maxwell, who was born June 17, 1859, a daughter of Edward and Harriet (Fisher) Maxwell, who were farming people. Her father was a son of John and Malinda (Chase) Maxwell and the former, who was born in the north of Ireland, came to America in young manhood and devoted his life to farming.
Returning to Wyoming in March, 1882, Mr. Smiley purchased a ranch at Pass creek and with fifteen hundred sheep that he purchased as they trailed to Wyoming from California, he began in the sheep business, an industry that he followed successfully during the remainder of his life. From time to time he added to his interests in that connection until he became one of the foremost sheep raisers in the state. After about nine years at Pass creek he took up his residence in Rawlins, where he remained until his demise. He was extensively interested in the Rocky Mountain Sheep Company and was sole owner of the Smiley Sheep Company. He was also a director of the First National Bank of Rawlins and was one of the owners of the hot springs and the hotel at Saratoga, Wyoming, in which enterprise he was connected with J. M. Rumsey and F. Chatterton. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Smiley numbered three children: Leland Almanzo, whose history follows; Mabel, who died in California in 1901 at the age of ten years; and Ethel, who passed away in Rawlins in 1902, when but six years of age.
Mr. Smiley was survived by his widow and son when on the 22d of January, 1908, he passed away in Sacramento, California, whither he had gone for the benefit of his health. His remains were interred in Mountain View cemetery in Oakland. He attended the Episcopal church and was a liberal contributor to its support. He was also a prominent lodge man, having taken all the degrees in the Masonic fraternity except the honorary thirty-third degree. He had membership with the Knight Templar Commandery of Rawlins and with the Mystic Shrine and he was also a member of the consistory in Cheyenne. He belonged to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and to other fraternal organizations. He was also a stanch republican and he served in several official capacities, including that of county commissioner, which office he filled for several years. In this connection a local paper wrote: “His name, connected with any movement or enterprise, meant an absolutely square deal. He manifested kindly and generous consideration for everyone and his friends were as numerous as his acquaintances. No eulogy, no matter how well penned, can approach the measure of justice due him as a citizen of this community and state, and his demise is keenly regretted on every hand. Throughout the period of his residence here he had been a most substantial citizen, broad-minded and public-spirited and loyal to every duty.”