Oscar N. Anderson
Oscar N. Anderson, real estate operator; abstractor; secy. And manager The Sheridan County Abstract Book Co.; loan and insurance broker; (Prog.); b. Feb. 1, 1876, Sheridan, Ills.; s. of Erasmus and Ellen (Peterson) Anderson; educ. Pub. And grad. H. S., Aurora, Neb., 1895; student State Univ. of Nebraska, 1898-1902; located in Sheridan, Wyoming, 1902, and was employed in the office of the superintendent fo the C.B. & Q. R. R., 1902-6; engaged in the real estate and insurance business and sec.-ma. Of the Sheridan County Abstract Book Co., since 1909; trustee of The Sheridan Building and Loan Assn., 1913-15; makes a specialty of selling irrigated ranches and placing Eastern loans; deputy county clerk, Sheridan county, Wyo., 1906-9; member Masons, Chapter and Blue Lodge; O. E. S.; I. O. O. F.; Kappa Sigma fraternity. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915, Transcribed by Richard Ramos]

H. C. Benham
H. C. Benham, lumber merchant; pres. Big Horn Lumber Co.; (Prog.); b. Feb. 2, 1862, Linn county, Iowa; s. of J. L. and Margaret (Boyce) Benham; edu. Pub. schls. Linn county; grad. Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Business college, 1889; engaged in lumber business in Deadwood, S. D. 1890-1900; located in Sheridan, Wyo., 1900, and organized and has been president and general manager of The Big Horn Lumber Co., since; director and v-pres. Sheridan County Bldg. & Loan Assn., since organization, 1912; director and pres. Sheridan Business Men's Club, 1914; director and v-pres. Sheridan Commercial Club, 1912-13; first president Denver-National Parks Highway Assn., 1913; pres. Sheridan Good Roads Club, 1913-14; mem. Masons, York rite; Past High Priest R. A. Masons. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915, Transcribed by Richard Ramos]

Fred H. Blume
Fred H. Blume, attorney; (Prog. Rep.); b. 1875, of German parentage; received high school education at Audubon, Iowa; grad. College of Liberal Arts, Iowa University, 1898; practiced law, Audubon, Iowa, 1899-1905; located in Sheridan, Wyoming, January, 1905, and has been engaged in the practice of law there since; county attorney, Audubon county, Iowa, 1901-5; city attorney, Audubon, Iowa, 1899-1905; mem. Wyo. H. of Rep., 1907-9; mem. Wyoming State Senate, 1909-13; city attorney, Sheridan, Wyo., 1907-11; Prog. Candidate for Congress, 1914; mem. Elks; K. of P.; M. W. of A.; Highlanders; A. O. U. W.; Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915, Transcribed by Richard Ramos]

Harmon Brittain
A frontier farmer and stockgrower, a valiant Nimrod in these western wilds when they were not as yet much broken to civilization and game was plentiful, with an excellent record to his credit in each capacity, and a secure and enviable place in the regard of his fellowmen, Harmon Brittain of near Dayton in Sheridan county, Wyoming, can look upon his life in both prospect and retrospect with a large measure of satisfaction, having always met its responsibilities with a manly and courageous spirit and having at hand and before him enough of worldly wealth and consideration to give safety and sunshine to his declining years. He was born in Indiana on March 7, 1839, his parents, William and Rachel (McReynolds) Brittain, natives of Kentucky, having settled in that state in early times. There when he was six years old his mother died, and ten years later, in 1849, his father moved to Iowa and in 1855 removed his family to Grundy county, Mo. After a residence of some years in that county he settled in Bates county in the same state and there in 1889 in the fullness of years he died and was laid to rest. Harmon Brittain grew to manhood and was educated in Missouri, and for more than a quarter of a century was there engaged in farming. In 1886 he removed to Wyoming and, locating on Pass Creek in Sheridan county, prosecuted a vigorous and profitable stock industry, handling and raising horses, until 1895 when he removed his base of operations to Johnson county, thirty miles south of Buffalo, where he carried on the same enterprise. In June, 1902, he came to Dayton and purchased a ranch adjacent to the town of 160 acres of superior land, highly improved and in an excellent state of cultivation, where he has a fine herd of Shorthorn cattle and also nearly 200 horses of good breeds. A special feature of his ranch and the industries thereon conducted is an apiary of unusual proportions, value and productiveness. It is one of the best in this section of the country and has attracted the attention of men interested in bee culture in many places. On his land he raises large crops of alfalfa and other farm products, and his beautiful residence is one of the ornaments of the neighborhood. Mr. Brittain was first married in Grundy county, Mo., in 1860, with Miss Julia E. Leonard, a Kentuckian, who died on December 27, 1900, leaving two children, William F., the postmaster at Sheridan, and Sarah C., now wife of Arthur Cossit of Pass Creek. On January 1, 1902, he was again married, on this occasion to Mrs. Nettie Shadduck, a native of Pennsylvania, the marriage being solemnized at Buffalo. In his career as a hunter Mr. Brittain has killed twenty-two bears and 300 deer and elk. He still pursues the sort with all the ardor if not all the vigor of his early days and brings home many trophies of his skill and prowess. [Source: "Progressive Men of the State of Wyoming", 1901, By A.W. Bowen & Co]

Sherman D. Canfield
Sherman D. Canfield, ex-commissioner and supt. Of the department of finance, accounts and public property, city of Sheridan; postmaster Sheridan; (Dem.); b. September. 3, 1865, Cuming county, Nebraska; s. of George and Lucy (Rhodes) Canfield; educ. pub. schls. Omaha; student University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1880-3; clerk in general superintendent's office Union Pacific Ry., Omaha, 1883-7; personal representative and confidential secretary to Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) in Europe and America, 1887-8 and 1890-3; supt. Railroad facilities for Union Stockyard Co., South Omaha, 1880-90; located in Wyoming, 1892; manager and one of the proprietors (W. F. Cody Hotel Co.) of the Sheridan Inn, Sheridan, Wyo., 1893-6; engaged in cattle business on Powder River, 1896-1904; purchased horses for the British government during the Boer war, 1900-1; timber contractor, Shoshoni Forces Reserve, 1904-5; general agent Wyoming Coal Mining Co., 1906-9; supt. Of preliminary surveys of proposed railroad between Miles City, Mont., and Sheridan city council, 1895-9; elected in 1911 as one of the first commissioners of the city of Sheridan under the commission form of government; re-elected 1913; appointed postmaster Sheridan, March 3, 1915, and resigned city commissionership; member Masons, Knights Templar, Shriner; Elks; Sheridan Chamber of Commerce, Address: Sheridan, Wyoming.
[Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

Sherman L. Caple
Sherman L. Caple, owner and manager of The Sheridan Music Co., ex-legislator; secy-treas. The Mid-Continent Oil Co.; (Dem.) b. August. 17, 1864, Monroe, Iowa; s. of Nimrod and Margaret (Fry) Caple; educ. Pub. And H. S. Monroe, Iowa; taught school several terms in South Dakota, and then engaged in stockgrowing in Custer, Pennington and Fall River counties, South Dakota, until 1903; engaged in general merchandise business in Custer, South Dakota, 1902-5; located in Sheridan, Wyoming, 1905, and engaged in grocery business; organized The Cash Supply Co., in Custer, S. D., and removed it to Sheridan; is now the principal stockholder of this concern; organizer and manager of The Sheridan Music Co., since Dec. 1908; county auditor, Custer county, So. Dakota, two years; mem. Wyo H. of Rep., 1913-15; mem. I. O. O. F. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

Ralph Denio
RALPH DENIO, general manager The J. W. Denio Milling Co.; (Rep.); b. Dec. 23, 1877, Longmont, Colorado; s. of J. W. and Hattie (Taylor) Denio; educ. pub. and H. S., Longmont, Colorado.; grad. Univ. of Colorado (Boulder) 1899; engaged in grain and flour business in Longmont, 1899-1901; traveling salesman for The Longmont Flour Milling Co., 1901-2; asst. manager Longmont Flour Milling Co., 1903; located in Sheridan, Wyoming, 1903, and established The J. W. Denio Milling Co., operating the largest flouring mill in Wyoming; has been general manager since; director The Big Horn Reservoir Co.; director The Colorado Colony Ditch Co.; mem. Executive board of the Denver-National Parks Highway Assn.; 1913; member Sheridan city countil, 1906-7; mem. 32 deg. Mason Knight Templar; Potentate, Kalif Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; Past Exalted Ruler, Elks No. 520. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

R.G. Diefenderfer
R. G. DIEFENDERFER, attorney; county and prosecuting attorney Sheridan county; (Rep.); b. Jan. 8, 1888, Hilliard, Penn.; s. of F. A. and Florence (Ball) Diefenderfer; educ. Pub. and H. S. Conneaut, Ohio; Allegheny college, Meadville, Penn, 1904-6; grad. (LL. B.) Univ. of Mich., Ann Arbor, 1911; reporter Cleveland (O.) Plain Dealer and Cleveland Press, 1907; city editor, Conneaut (Ohio) News-Herald, 1908; located in Sheridan, Wyoming, in the general practice of law, Aug. 11, 1911; county and prosecuting attorney, Sheridan county, Wyo., 1913-15; re-elected, 1913-17; mem. Masons; Elks. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

T.C. Diers
T. C. DIERS, banker and legislator; pres. Clearmont State bank; cashier Citizens' State Bank of Sheridan; (Dem.); b. Dec. 4, 1880; Seward, Nebraska; s. of Herman and Anna (Schulte) Diers; educ. pub. schls. Seward; student Lincoln (Neb.) Business college, 1897; engaged in banking business as bookkeeper First National Bank of Seward, Neb., 1897; asst. cashier same bank, 1900; located at Clearmont, Wyoming, 1909, and organized and became cashier, the Clearmont State Bank, 1909-10; one of the organizers and cashier the Citizens' State Bank of Sheridan (Wyo.) since 1910; pres. Clearmont State Bank since 1911; treasurer Sheridan Building and Loan Assn.; secy-treas. The Enterprise Publishing Co.; mem. Wyo. H. of Rep., 1913-15; mem. Wyo. State Senate, 1915-19; Past Exalted Ruler, Sheridan Lodge No. 520, Elks; mem. Masons, Blue Lodge and Royal Arch; Knights Templar and Shrine; Sheridan Business Men's Club. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

Frank M. Downer
FRANK M. DOWNER, Jr., attorney: (Rep.); b. Jan. 6, 1887, Longmont, Colorado; s. of Frank M. and Mabel (Fox) Downer; educ. pub. and H. S. Longmont; grad. (LL. B.) Univ. of Colorado (Boulder), 1908; engaged in practice of law in Denver, Colorado., in office of Hayt, Dawson & Wright, 1908-9; located in Sheridan, Wyoming, Dec. 1909, in general practice of law; city attorney, Sheridan, 1912-14; mem. Elks; L. O. O. Moose. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

Cameron W. Garbutt
CAMERON W. GARBUTT, postmaster Sheridan (1907-15); (Rep); b. July 12, 1855, Greece, Monroe county, New York; s. of Volney J. and Lucy (Bennett) Garbutt; educ. pub. schls. Greece, N. Y.; student Barrett's Collegiate Institute, Rochester, N. Y.; located at La Porte, Colorado, 1873; engaged there in ranching and cattle business until 1877, in mercantile business, La Porte, 1878-83; located permanently in Wyoming, 1883; took a herd of cattle overland and located on Prairie Dog creek in Sheridan county, 1883; married, 1890, to Anna May Loucks, daughter of Hon. J. D. Loucks, first resident of Sheridan; opened the first exclusive grocery store in Sheridan, 1891; organized and become pres. and treas. The Sheridan Milling & Mercantile Co., and built the first steam rolling mill in Wyoming, at Sheridan, 1893; engaged in different mercantile pursuits at various times; engaged actively in oil business in Bartlesville, Ind. Terr., (now Okla.), 1904-7; supt. And inspector forest reserves of Wyoming, So. Dakota and Nebraska, 1898-1903; postmaster Sheridan 1907-15; mem. Masons, Knights Templar, Shriner; charter member Sheridan lodge, No. 8, A. F. & a. M.; mem. Sheridan lodge No. 520, Elks. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

J. Louis Graverson
J. LOUIS GRAVERSON, attorney; (Dem.); b. November. 24, 1882, South Bend, Indiana; s. of John and Sarah (Schilt) Graverson; educ. pub. schls. Bremen, Ind.; grad. H. S. Bremen, 1903; grad. (LL. B.) Indiana University, Bloomington, 1910; taught school near Bremen, Ind., 1903-7; admitted to practice before Indiana Supreme Court, 1910; U. S. Circuit Court of Indiana, 1910; admitted to practice in Wyoming, 1911, and in the District Court of the U. S. for Wyoming, 1912; located in Sheridan, Wyoming, 1911, and engaged in the practice of law as a member of the firm of Graverson & Lawhead, 1911-12; since 1912 has been in the general practice by himself in Sheridan; mem. Wyo. H. of Rep., 1915-17; mem. Masons; Elks; Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Phi Delta Phi law fraternity. Address: Sheridan, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

Edwin L. Dana
EDWIN L. DANA, stockgrower and ranchman; born in California, Oct. 15, 1864; moved with parents to Montana, 1866, and to Wyoming in 1885; has resided continuously in what is now Sheridan county, Wyoming, since 1885, and for the greater part of the time has been engaged in the ranch and cattle business; has never held public office or been affiliated with any political party; attended the public schools of Montana at Missoula and Helena and later spent two years as student in Minnesota and two years in Michigan. Address: Parkman, Wyoming. [Source: Men of Wyoming, By C. S. Peterson, Publ 1915. Transcribed by Anna Parks]

Oliver P. Hanna
This representative gentleman who was the very earliest arrival and settler in what is now Sheridan county, Wyoming, was born at Metamora, Ill., on May 10, 1851, the son of Harvey and Nancy (Taylor) Hanna, natives of Pennsylvania who came to Illinois in 1850, making the trip by way of the Ohio river. The father was a first cousin of the father of Hon. Marcus A. Hanna, the distinguished U. S. Senator from Ohio. In the Illinois home they had chosen the Hannas lived and worked out a destiny of peace and prosperity, such as was available in those early days in what is now the great prairie state, encountering the perils of frontier life, wherein men, beasts and even nature herself seemed arrayed in arms against their hopes and their very safety and here their son Oliver was reared, from the experiences of his wild life drawing in that strength of body and firmness of spirit which prepared him for many subsequent contests with man and nature on the later frontier to which his love of adventure hurried him. His path from the beginning of his career has been beset with difficulties, but his soul and physique were hardened to meet them, dangers forming the very spice of his life. He has been a hunter of mighty prowess, a pathfinder of skill and intrepid courage, a redeemer of the wilderness from its savage condition and a promoter of the enterprises of that advancing civilization which builds commonwealths and enriches peoples. In 1868, when he was but seventeen years of age, he started out in life for himself, making the long and hazardous trip across the plains from Fort Scott, Kan., to the Deer Lodge valley in Montana, there joining the army of miners working in the rich placer grounds now covered by the city of Helena. Thence he went in a short time to the valley of the Yellowstone and for eight years in that prolific region was engaged in hunting and trapping on an enormous scale, when joining the government survey under Professor Hayden, he aided in laying out the Yellowstone National Park and in naming its natural curiosities. Under General Custer he was a trusted scout and was in the command of that renowned chief of scouts, Mich Bowier. After a short visit to his old home in 1875 he returned to the western frontier, joining General Crook's command and accompanying it to what is now Sheridan county, where he was placed in charge of a wagon train drawing supplies to Fort Fetterman. The next year he went with the supply train to the Red Cloud agency and in 1878 started with a pack outfit for Bozeman, Mont., but when he reached Fort McKinney he took a contract to supply the soldiers with 3,500 pounds of elk and deer meat per month during the winter. He kept his contract faithfully, killing all the game himself and employing teams to haul it to the forts. In 1879 he accompanied James White on a hunting expedition, on the Yellowstone River near Miles City, in which they killed 2,200 buffaloes in six weeks. During that winter, it is said, there were slain on the Yellowstone 225,000 of these noble animals, and he and Mr. White killed more than any other two men. At the expiration of three months of this profitable sport the Indians drove the hunters away, but Messrs. Hanna and White had 5,000 buffalo hides to take with them. In 1879 Mr. Hanna came back to Wyoming and located on a ranch he had taken up near the site of the present Bighorn in Sheridan county. In the intervals between his labors in improving his ranch he acted as guide for parties of tourists and hunters. During his first year's residence at Bighorn he killed sixteen bears, being crippled in his arms ever since from a dangerous encounter with one of them, within this year he also made a trip of 700 miles with a team to Cheyenne and return for the purpose of buying a plow, garden seed and seed grain. He started in February and returned in April, camping out all of the way, and with the plow thus secured through so much toil and effort he made the first furrow turned with a plow in Sheridan county. The plow is still in his possession, a valued souvenir of a period of difficulty and danger happily forever past. He raised a crop of oats which he threshed with a flail, in the spring of 1880 selling the grain at ten cents a pound. On his ranch, remote from civilization and with but few of the comforts of life about him except such as were secured by his own efforts, he lived for some years, improving the property and hunting. Meanwhile the advance guard of the oncoming army of settlers was approaching his domain, and accepting always the opportunity of the moment, he laid out the town of Bighorn and christened it with the name it now bears. He built the first cabin erected in the present Sheridan county and helped Mr. Mason build the first one erected in the town of Sheridan. In 1890 he sold his ranch and in 1892 purchased a store at Sheridan which he conducted until 1900, from the time of his purchase until 1896 being postmaster of the town. Mr. Hanna has always been active in local affairs where he has lived and taken a deep interest in politics. He is a Democrat in political faith, in 1900 being elected to the state legislature, the only man of that party who was elected in the state. At the close of his term in 1901 he accepted a position with Armour & Co., of Chicago, as traveling salesman, a position which he still holds. He owns a residence and considerable other property in Sheridan and makes that place his headquarters. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Order of Elks. On June 27. 1885, he married at Miles City, Mont., Miss Dora Myers, a native of Bloomington, Ill. They have three children, Tressie M., aged 16; Jesse, aged 14, a student in the military school at Kearney; and Laura, aged 12. Mr. Hanna has had a remarkably interesting and adventurous career and he has met all the requirements thereof with an unyielding fortitude and constancy to duty. He is essentially a child of nature and has reveled in her wild and virgin luxuriance, yet has had an unswerving fidelity to the requirements of civilized life, daring dangers of every kind in their behalf. Whether sharing the lowly couch of "Big Nosed George," a notorious road-agent, acting a part of necessary cunning while a private detective of the Union Pacific Railroad, whether founding a town and establishing its civil functions or marching in the Bozeman-Rosebud expedition against the Sioux Indians, who under the command of Sitting Bull kept them fighting for twenty-seven days; whether hunting wild beasts alone in the forest or on the plains or helping to arrest and imprison lawless men of desperate character: whether gliding down the turbid Missouri for hundreds of miles with a few faithful companions, the mark of frequent shots of hostile savages all along the course, or pursuing in solitude the daily vocations of his quiet ranch; in all the exigencies of his existence he has borne himself bravely and with becoming dignity. [Progressive men of the state of Wyoming ... By A.W. Bowen & Co., 1901]

The following biography was submitted by an unknown researcher (original source unknown):

Oliver P. Hanna was born on a farm near Metamora, Illinois, May 10th, 1851, one of nine children born to James Harvey and Nancy (Taylor) Hanna. His mother died when Oliver was but four years old. At the age of eight he accompanied his father to El Paso, Illinois, to hear the famous debate between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. His father was running for the State Senate and he introduced Douglas. It has not been ascertained whether or not the elder Hanna was elected, but at any rate he died the same year.
When the Civil War broke out Oliver's four brothers joined the army and Oliver, just ten, was sent to live with his sister and brother-in-law, being "bound out" to the latter until he should become twenty-one.
But life on the farm was hard and the hours were long. During the winter months he went to school and the rest of the time he did a man's work. What little money was given him he invested in "Beadle's Dime Novels". They were full of tales of high adventure in the wild and woolly west, with such noted figures as Louis Wetzel, "Wild Cat Joe" and "Indian Dick". At once Oliver decided that he would be a great trapper and daring Indian fighter just as soon as he could save enough money to go west.
Realizing that many years must elapse before he would be able to earn the money for his trip in his present location, he ran away one night heading for his Uncle's farm at Indian Grove. Here he was made welcome and was given a job looking after a band of sheep.
When the war ended only two of his brothers, Leroy and Jesse returned. Leroy had been in Libby Prison for nine months and was broken in health. When they discovered where Oliver was they sent for him to come and stay with them. They had taken a large contract digging ditches and they gave the boy a job driving a team of oxen, paying him twenty dollars: a month. Most of this was carefully saved for the trip "out West."

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