Hilliard Samuel Ridgley LL. B. (1874 - 1937)

Born 16 Oct 1874 in Siam, Taylor, Iowa, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Eva J. (Fenwick) Ridgley — married 21 Jun 1899 in North Platte, Nebraska

Died 8 Apr 1937 at age 62 in Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

"Hilliard S. Ridgely, a prominent member of the Wyoming bar, was born on a farm near Siam, Taylor county, Iowa, October 16, 1874. a son of Eli and Olive (Allen) Ridgely. There were eight children, six boys and two girls, and the subject of this sketch was the third child and the second son of the family. His father and three of his father's brothers served in the Union army during the Civil war, and three uncles on his mother's side of the house likewise fought for the preservation of the Union.

His father was a homesteader in Lincoln county, Nebraska, and in the early '90s removed with his family from the homestead to North Platte, the county seat, where Mr. Ridgely was graduated from the high school. Taking up the study of law, he entered the law offices of Wilcox & Halligan. Later he was admitted as a student of law at the College of Law, University of Nebraska, where he was graduated, receiving the degree of LL. B., June 10, 1897. He at once entered the active practice of his profession and was elected county attorney of Lincoln county, Nebraska, the fall of 1898, and was reelected in 1900 by an overwhelming majority.

At the expiration of his second term as county attorney, Mr. Ridgely removed from North Platte to Cody, Wyoming, where he was Colonel W. F. Cody's (Buffalo Bill) personal representative and attorney for a number of years. Upon the Burlington Railroad building from Frannie south through the Big Horn basin, he removed to Basin, the county seat, where he built up a large and lucrative practice. In 1911 he was appointed United States district attorney for the district of Wyoming by President Taft. This necessitated his removal to Cheyenne..."^[1] By 1917 he was a practicing attorney in Cheyenne, Wyoming.^[2] "Mr. Ridgely was considered one of the leading criminal lawyers of the state of Wyoming. As United States district attorney he discharged the duties with marked promptness, fidelity and ability.

In politics Mr. Ridgely was of the republican faith and in 1908 was one of the delegates at large from the state of Wyoming to the republican national convention at Chicago. This convention nominated William Howard Taft as the republican candidate for president, and he was elected at the November election following. Mr. Ridgely was one of the original Taft men in Wyoming and was active in his behalf before as well as after the convention. In 1914 Mr. Ridgely was the republican candidate for the office of governor against the democratic nominee, Hon. John B. Kendrick. It was a close race, but the democrats had fused with the progressives that year and carried the state, and Mr. Ridgely was defeated by a small majority. At the close of the campaign he withdrew from active politics and devoted his time and energy to the practice of the law. As a lawyer and business man he was successful, and as a citizen and friend he was popular.

On the 21 St of June, 1899, at North Platte, Nebraska, Mr. Ridgely was united in marriage to Miss Evea J. Fenwick. To this happy union were born three children: Lucile, Fenwick and Hilliard Jr.

In religious faith Mr. Ridgely was a Presbyterian and fraternally a Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine and also of the Knight Templar commandery. He was likewise connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and was a member of the Industrial Club.:^[3] He passed away in Cheyenne in 1937.

Sources

1. ↑ http://sites.rootsweb.com/~wytttp/history/bartlett2/h_s_ridgely.htm
2. ↑ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K687-KZZ : 23 February 2021), Hilliard Samuel Ridgely, 1917-1918.
3. ↑ http://sites.rootsweb.com/~wytttp/history/bartlett2/h_s_ridgely.htm

• "Iowa State Census, 1885," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H4VG-H6Z : 2 March 2021), Hilliard Ridgley in household of Eli Ridgley, Polk, Taylor, Iowa; citing p. 13, 1885, State Historical Society, Des Moines; FHL microfilm 1,020,186.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3BZ-7SH : accessed 6 April 2021), Hilliam Ridgeley, North Platte Precinct North Platte city Ward 1-3, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 153, sheet 13A, family 250, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,932.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPJJ-G6W : accessed 6 April 2021), Hillgard S Ridgely, Basin, Big Horn, Wyoming, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 18, sheet 5B, family 24, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1745; FHL microfilm 1,375,758.
• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNBK-PGW : 4 February 2021), Hilliard S Ridgeley, 1920.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7W3-S6Z : accessed 6 April 2021), Hilliard S Ridgely, Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 3, sheet 4B, line 88, family 108, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2623; FHL microfilm 2,342,357.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 06 April 2021), memorial page for Hilliard Samuel Ridgely (16 Oct 1874–8 Apr 1937), Find a Grave Memorial no. 29169244, citing Lakeview Cemetery, Cheyenne, Laramie County, Wyoming, USA ; Maintained by Eric Crow (contributor 46623671) .

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Larry Ridgley for starting this profile.