Card, Harry Barton Personal History

HARRY BARTON CARD

by Julia C. Tebbs

Harry Barton Card was born in Toledo, Ohio Feb. 16, 1861, the son of Thomas and Harriett (Burr) Card. He spent his boyhood there. When he was a boy, he had malaria (called "chills and fever" then) and was told by a neighbor Col. A. T. Babbitt, who owned the Bar O Ranch in Wyoming, to go west to Wyoming where the air was dry and life adventurous and he would get well.  He was so fascinated by the tales of the ranch in Wyoming that he never ceased to plead with his parents to let him go. He was 17 years old and had earned $47.00 by carrying a morning and evening paper in Toledo, when he bought an emigrant ticket.  His mother packed a lunch to eat on the train.  He was routed via St. Louis, Omaha and then to Cheyenne.  His parents were sure he would come back in a week, but not so for Harry Card.

He arrived in Cheyenne March 28, 1878 and obtained work on the T. W. Chaffie Company sheep ranch where he worked about three months as a helper for Mrs. Chaffie. Then he went to work for the Union Cattle Company, which at this time was one of the largest outfits in the territory ranging from 12-15,000 head of horses.  He also worked for the 0. W. Ranch for four years. Jack Blackwell was the assistant foreman and he and Mr. Card filed on homesteads in the Lost Springs area, Converse County.   It was here he brought his bride Miss Edith May McLaughlin. Their son Nat and daughter Iva were born here.  He was engaged in the horse and cattle business until 1892 when he invested in the sheep business. He carried on his operations from headquarters ranch at Manville. It was here at their home in Manville that two daughters, Julia and Alma, were born. Later Harry formed the Card Sheep Co. with his son Nat, and Charles W. Burdick, State Auditor and later Secre­tary of State of Wyoming. They handled between 30,000 and 40,000 sheep.

During the winter of 1911 an unusually severe storm set in and the company suffered heavy losses as the result of a four-day storm. He sold the sheep business in 1916 and went into the cattle business. He was very successful until the fall of 1919 and spring of 1920 when more severe blizzards set in. The feed surplus, what there was, was exhausted and out of 4,600 head of cattle between 2,300 to 2,500 died from exposure and starvation.

On May 5, 1907, he was elected president of the Bank of Manville, which he had helped to organize. He was interested in everything that would benefit the community. He served on the school board, helped very much financially with the building of the Methodist Church, provided a skating rink for all that wanted to participate and furnished a big bob sled for the young people during the winter.  The family home at Manville was noted for its genuine hospitality.

Mr. Card was a thirty-second Degree Mason and Shriner.

The Cards moved to Cheyenne in 1945 to be near their children. He passed away Feb. 19, 1946 and interment was in Cheyenne in Bethel Cemetery.

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