WALTER SCHOONMAKER.

WALTER SCHOONMAKER.
With various financial, commercial and industrial interests Walter Schoon-maker has been identified, and business affairs have largely profited by the stimulus of his exertion and cooperation. He is now the secretary-treasurer of the Cambria Fuel Company, operating at Cambria, in Weston county. He is also closely connected with banking interests, with live stock raising and with the operation of oil fields. He was born in Shandaken, New York, on the 7th of August, 1866, a son of Martin T. and Dina M. (Freer) Schoonmaker, who were also natives of the Empire state, where they were reared, educated and married. The father afterward engaged in ranching, and in 1880 removed westward to the Black Hills, settling in Custer county, South Dakota, where he followed ranching until 1909. He then removed to Weston county, Wyoming, filing on a homestead a mile and a half from Newcastle, on which he resided until the time of his death, which resulted from a runaway accident in Newcastle on the 19th of August, 1916. Up to the time he had been a man of vigorous health and constitution and his demise was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. Walter Schoonmaker was educated in the public schools of Kingston, New York, and in 1882, when sixteen years of age, he removed westward to Custer, South Dakota, where he found employment as a clerk in a mercantile establishment. In 1885 he went to Deadwood, where he was in charge of the office of the Deadwood Telephone Company for a year. Later, when the Northwestern Railroad was built into Buffalo Gap, this being the first railroad in the Black Hills, he went to Buffalo Gap, where he secured the position of bookkeeper with a hardware firm, and through the succeeding three years he was associated with that firm and also was identified with ranching interests. In the winter of 1889-90 he became associated with the Kilpatrick Brothers & Collins Contracting Company, railroad contractors, for whom he acted as accountant, bookkeeper and commissary man during the building of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad from Newcastle to Sheridan. He was associated with that firm for three years and in 1893 he removed to Cambria as office man for the Cambria Fuel Company, which was owned principally by Kilpatrick Brothers. Subsequently he advanced to the position of cashier, and resigned in that connection in 1901 to become associated with J. L. Baird in organizing the J. L. Baird Mercantile Company, Inc., of Newcastle. Mr. Schoonmaker became manager of the business, in which capacity he served until a year after the organization of the First National Bank of Newcastle, at which time Mr. Baird was elected to the state legislature and Mr. Schoonmaker was placed in charge of the bank. He continued to act as cashier of that institution until February, 1911, at which time he was offered and accepted the positiqn of secretary and treasurer of the Cambria Fuel Company, in which important capacity he has since served. He is a stockholder and one of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Newcastle and he has valuable live stock and oil holdings. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful completion. He is determined and energetic and his persistency of purpose, combined with indefatigable energy, has brought very substantial results. He has the ability to coordinate seemingly diverse interests into a harmonious whole, the unity of which is productive of gratifying financial returns. He closely studies every phase of a business situation and recognizes most readily the relative importance of any phase of the business, so that he is able to give due prominence to most important features bearing upon the attainment of success. On the 18th of September, 1895, Mr. Schoonmaker was united in marriage to Miss Susan Lamerton, of Wyoming, Iowa, and to them were born four children, of whom three are living: William W., who is with the Medical Corps in active service in France; Ruth L., a kindergarten teacher now in St. Louis, Missouri; and Gwynne F., at home. The wife and mother passed away February 14, 1906, and on the 19th of October, 1911, Mr. Schoonmaker was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Caroline Hayes Ingoldsby, of Kingston, New York. Mr. Schoonmaker is a worthy follower of the Masonic fraternity, exemplifying in his life its beneficent spirit, and he holds membership in Newcastle Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M.; Cheyenne Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R.; and Kalif Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of Sheridan. He also belongs to Cambria Lodge, No. 12, K. P., and is past grand chancellor of the state. He is likewise connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the American Yeomen. His wife is a member of the Episcopal church. Mr. Schoonmaker has never had occasion to regret the fact that he identified his interests with those of Wyoming and what he has already accomplished indicates that the study of his future record will prove of continued interest. Men of such pronounced business ability and enterprise are the real upbuilders of this great state, the rapid development of which is one of the marvels of the age.

With various financial, commercial and industrial interests Walter Schoon-maker has been identified, and business affairs have largely profited by the stimulus of his exertion and cooperation. He is now the secretary-treasurer of the Cambria Fuel Company, operating at Cambria, in Weston county. He is also closely connected with banking interests, with live stock raising and with the operation of oil fields. He was born in Shandaken, New York, on the 7th of August, 1866, a son of Martin T. and Dina M. (Freer) Schoonmaker, who were also natives of the Empire state, where they were reared, educated and married. The father afterward engaged in ranching, and in 1880 removed westward to the Black Hills, settling in Custer county, South Dakota, where he followed ranching until 1909. He then removed to Weston county, Wyoming, filing on a homestead a mile and a half from Newcastle, on which he resided until the time of his death, which resulted from a runaway accident in Newcastle on the 19th of August, 1916. Up to the time he had been a man of vigorous health and constitution and his demise was the occasion of deep and widespread regret.
Walter Schoonmaker was educated in the public schools of Kingston, New York, and in 1882, when sixteen years of age, he removed westward to Custer, South Dakota, where he found employment as a clerk in a mercantile establishment. In 1885 he went to Deadwood, where he was in charge of the office of the Deadwood Telephone Company for a year. Later, when the Northwestern Railroad was built into Buffalo Gap, this being the first railroad in the Black Hills, he went to Buffalo Gap, where he secured the position of bookkeeper with a hardware firm, and through the succeeding three years he was associated with that firm and also was identified with ranching interests. In the winter of 1889-90 he became associated with the Kilpatrick Brothers & Collins Contracting Company, railroad contractors, for whom he acted as accountant, bookkeeper and commissary man during the building of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad from Newcastle to Sheridan. He was associated with that firm for three years and in 1893 he removed to Cambria as office man for the Cambria Fuel Company, which was owned principally by Kilpatrick Brothers. Subsequently he advanced to the position of cashier, and resigned in that connection in 1901 to become associated with J. L. Baird in organizing the J. L. Baird Mercantile Company, Inc., of Newcastle. Mr. Schoonmaker became manager of the business, in which capacity he served until a year after the organization of the First National Bank of Newcastle, at which time Mr. Baird was elected to the state legislature and Mr. Schoonmaker was placed in charge of the bank. He continued to act as cashier of that institution until February, 1911, at which time he was offered and accepted the positiqn of secretary and treasurer of the Cambria Fuel Company, in which important capacity he has since served. He is a stockholder and one of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Newcastle and he has valuable live stock and oil holdings. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful completion. He is determined and energetic and his persistency of purpose, combined with indefatigable energy, has brought very substantial results. He has the ability to coordinate seemingly diverse interests into a harmonious whole, the unity of which is productive of gratifying financial returns. He closely studies every phase of a business situation and recognizes most readily the relative importance of any phase of the business, so that he is able to give due prominence to most important features bearing upon the attainment of success.
On the 18th of September, 1895, Mr. Schoonmaker was united in marriage to Miss Susan Lamerton, of Wyoming, Iowa, and to them were born four children, of whom three are living: William W., who is with the Medical Corps in active service in France; Ruth L., a kindergarten teacher now in St. Louis, Missouri; and Gwynne F., at home. The wife and mother passed away February 14, 1906, and on the 19th of October, 1911, Mr. Schoonmaker was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Caroline Hayes Ingoldsby, of Kingston, New York.
Mr. Schoonmaker is a worthy follower of the Masonic fraternity, exemplifying in his life its beneficent spirit, and he holds membership in Newcastle Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M.; Cheyenne Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R.; and Kalif Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of Sheridan. He also belongs to Cambria Lodge, No. 12, K. P., and is past grand chancellor of the state. He is likewise connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the American Yeomen. His wife is a member of the Episcopal church.
Mr. Schoonmaker has never had occasion to regret the fact that he identified his interests with those of Wyoming and what he has already accomplished indicates that the study of his future record will prove of continued interest. Men of such pronounced business ability and enterprise are the real upbuilders of this great state, the rapid development of which is one of the marvels of the age.