Wilderh

Transcribed from "History of North Washington, an illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties", published by Western Historical Publishing Co., 1904.

HIRAM A. WILDER, who resides eleven miles north from Conconully at the Northland gold and copper mines, is deputy sheriff of Okanogan county. He was born on December 9, 1867, in Rice county, Minnesota, the son of Hiram K. and Jerusia M. (Ripley) Wilder, natives of New York and Ohio, respectively. The father was a pioneer in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota and dwelt on the frontier when he had to go one hundred miles to market. He enlisted in the Thirty-seventh Minnesota Volunteers in March, 1862, as a private, and was promoted to captain of his company before his discharge. He served in the south, and later under General Sibley in subduing the Sioux Indians in Minnesota. The mother is a descendant of the Cushmans, who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Her grandfather was general Joseph Ripley, a patriot in the Revolution. In May 1870, the parents crossed the plains with ox teams to California and thence to Albany, Oregon. In 1872, they came to Walla Walla, our subject walking and driving a band of cattle all the way. Settlement was made where Milton now stands, and they own a large property in that state. At the age of sixteen our subject began his career as cowboy, and in 1878 fought all through the Bannock Indian war. On one occasion he was with one hundred and fifty cowboys who held at bay five hundred Indians, nineteen of the cowboys being killed and our subject receiving two bullet wounds in the calf of the leg. In 1880 he went to Healdsburg College, California, and worked his way through, graduating in 1885. He was class orator at the commencement and completed his course with honor. Returning to Pendleton, Mr. Wilder was the principal of the Pendleton academy and commercial college for two years, then taught in the Milton academy. Later he farmed in the Cold Springs district and failed on account of the drouth. In 1889 we find him engaged in the real estate business in Spokane where he did well until the panic, then lost heavily. After this he went to Davenport, and in a wrestling match lost his right eye. About the time that he came to Spokane, Mr. Wilder was a lecturer for the Religious Liberty Association of Washington, D. C., and spoke every night, besides three times on Sunday, from May until December, arguing that church and state should be separate. In 1891 Mr. Wilder came to the Okanogan country and took charge of the Peacock mines for some Spokane people. One year later he called the first meeting of the Populists, organized a party, and stumped the county. In 1894, Mr. Wilder visited his people in Oregon, and took charge of the Elk City placer on the John Day, and also of other mining work in that section. He is now the largest stockholder in the Northland Gold and Copper Mining Company, the other shareholders living in Walla Walla. Mr. F. S. Dement is president, J. C. Hockett, vice-president, and C. M. Rader, secretary and treasurer. They have over one thousand feet of shaft and tunneling, and the property will soon be a divided payer. Mr. Wilder has been deputy assessor twice, in addition to holding other offices. He is a member of the W. W., and the Eagles.
On June 14, 1893, Mr. Wilder married Miss Mary B., daughter of Layton S. and Helen (Snyder) Baldwin, natives of New York. The father was captain all through the Civil War, and is now deputy mining surveyor of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and lives at Boise. The mother is a descendant of old Puritan stock, and came with her husband across the plains twenty-five years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Wilder have three children, Helen E., born in July, 1898; Jermaine E., born July 17, 1900; and Dorothy L., born September 28, 1902. Mr. Wilder is a stanch Democrat, and has been chairman of the county central committee several times. He was a delegate to the national state Democratic convention held at Spokane in 1900. He is a prominent man of good standing in the county.