HON. SIMON SKOVGARD.

HON. SIMON SKOVGARD.
Hon. Simon Skovgard is vice president of the First National Bank at Basin and is one of the prominent cattlemen of Bighorn county. He is likewise a leader in political thought and action and is now representing his district in the state senate. His activities of a business and political nature make him one of the valued and representative citizens of his section of the state and one who is leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon Wyoming's annals. He was born in Greenleaf. Kansas, January 21, 1876, and is a son of James C. and Catherine E. Skovgard, both of whom were natives of Denmark, where they were reared and married. Three children were born to them in that country ere they emigrated to the United States in 1873, at which time they took up their abode upon a farm near Greenleaf, Kansas. where they spent their remaining days. Their son, Hon. Simon Skovgard, was educated in the Barnes high school at Barnes, Kansas, where he was graduated with the class of 1893. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for a year, and in 1894 he became a student in Midland College at Atchison, Kansas, where he pursued his studies for two years. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster of Greenleaf. Kansas. and so served until 1905. In the spring of 1906 he removed to Colorado, settling on a stock ranch in Elbert county, where he was engaged in the live stock business until 1908. In the early spring of 1909 he made his way to the Bighorn basin of Wyoming and took up his abode in the town of Basin. He has become a prominent factor among the cattlemen of the district and while he has been among the big producers of beef cattle, he is now running only about twelve hundred head. He has, however, extended his efforts into other business connections and he is well known in financial circles as the vice president of the First National Bank of Basin. In 1897 Mr. Skovgard was united in marriage to Miss Hope Scott, of Greenleaf, Kansas, and to this marriage eight children were born, six of whom survive, namely, Constance, Wilma, Gertrude, Virginia, Merle and James, all yet at home. Mr. Skovgard and his family are members of the Lutheran church and fraternally he is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Temple Lodge, No. 20, A. F. & A. M., to Topeka Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R., of Topeka, Kansas, and Kalif Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of Sheridan, Wyoming. His political endorsement has been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and in 1912 he was chosen to represent his district in the Wyoming state senate, to which position he was returned in 1916, his reelection being the endorsement of his excellent service in a legislative capacity during his first term. He has thus served through the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth general assemblies of Wyoming and has given most thoughtful and earnest consideration to the vital and significant problems coming up for settlement, particularly at this date when there are many problems to be solved arising out of the conditions of the war. Mr. Skovgard is justly accounted one of the leading and representative citizens of Bighorn county, a man in whom one may well place confidence by reason of his business and political integrity and his public spirit. Anyone meeting him face to face would know at once that he is what in this country we term a “square” man—a dependable man in any relation and any emergency. His quietude of deportment, his easy dignity, his frankness and cordiality of address, with a total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, foretoken a man who is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability. the right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities.

Hon. Simon Skovgard is vice president of the First National Bank at Basin and is one of the prominent cattlemen of Bighorn county. He is likewise a leader in political thought and action and is now representing his district in the state senate. His activities of a business and political nature make him one of the valued and representative citizens of his section of the state and one who is leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon Wyoming's annals. He was born in Greenleaf. Kansas, January 21, 1876, and is a son of James C. and Catherine E. Skovgard, both of whom were natives of Denmark, where they were reared and married. Three children were born to them in that country ere they emigrated to the United States in 1873, at which time they took up their abode upon a farm near Greenleaf, Kansas. where they spent their remaining days.
Their son, Hon. Simon Skovgard, was educated in the Barnes high school at Barnes, Kansas, where he was graduated with the class of 1893. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for a year, and in 1894 he became a student in Midland College at Atchison, Kansas, where he pursued his studies for two years. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster of Greenleaf. Kansas. and so served until 1905. In the spring of 1906 he removed to Colorado, settling on a stock ranch in Elbert county, where he was engaged in the live stock business until 1908. In the early spring of 1909 he made his way to the Bighorn basin of Wyoming and took up his abode in the town of Basin. He has become a prominent factor among the cattlemen of the district and while he has been among the big producers of beef cattle, he is now running only about twelve hundred head. He has, however, extended his efforts into other business connections and he is well known in financial circles as the vice president of the First National Bank of Basin.
In 1897 Mr. Skovgard was united in marriage to Miss Hope Scott, of Greenleaf, Kansas, and to this marriage eight children were born, six of whom survive, namely, Constance, Wilma, Gertrude, Virginia, Merle and James, all yet at home.
Mr. Skovgard and his family are members of the Lutheran church and fraternally he is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Temple Lodge, No. 20, A. F. & A. M., to Topeka Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R., of Topeka, Kansas, and Kalif Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of Sheridan, Wyoming. His political endorsement has been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and in 1912 he was chosen to represent his district in the Wyoming state senate, to which position he was returned in 1916, his reelection being the endorsement of his excellent service in a legislative capacity during his first term. He has thus served through the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth general assemblies of Wyoming and has given most thoughtful and earnest consideration to the vital and significant problems coming up for settlement, particularly at this date when there are many problems to be solved arising out of the conditions of the war. Mr. Skovgard is justly accounted one of the leading and representative citizens of Bighorn county, a man in whom one may well place confidence by reason of his business and political integrity and his public spirit. Anyone meeting him face to face would know at once that he is what in this country we term a “square” man—a dependable man in any relation and any emergency. His quietude of deportment, his easy dignity, his frankness and cordiality of address, with a total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, foretoken a man who is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability. the right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities.