Archives West Finding Aid

John W. Meldrum was born on a farm in Caledonia, New York, on September 17, 1843. His parents died before he was fifteen. He continued to farm and attended public school during the winter months while growing up in Caledonia. He had two brothers, Norman H. Meldrum and his younger brother Gordon B. Meldrum.

In 1863 John Meldrum joined the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery. His regiment joined the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. All three brothers fought in the Civil War for the Union, but Gordon B. Meldrum, the youngest brother, did not survive the war. He died of exposure and hardship as a prisoner in Libby Prison. In 1865, John Meldrum was honorably discharged and obtained employment in the Quarter Master’s Department of the Army in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1867 he returned home to New York and met his wife Emmaline Hicks Warren. They were married on November 13, 1867. She died in 1908. They had no children.

In 1868 John Meldrum and his family moved west to Wyoming and Colorado. They arrived in Cheyenne on April 6, 1868. From 1869-1870 John Meldrum and his brother Norman raised cattle in La Porte, Colorado, but in May of 1870 John and his wife moved to Laramie, Wyoming. Norman H. Meldrum stayed in Colorado where he became a prominent political figure, holding positions as Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State. From 1911-1919 Norman lived in Wyoming as Commandant of the Wyoming Soldiers and Sailors Home in Buffalo. He died shortly after his retirement in February, 1920.

John Meldrum became Clerk of the District Court for the Second Judicial District of Albany and Carbon Counties in September 1872. As clerk he wrote the original sentencing draft for George Parrott alias “Big Nosed George,” in Carbon County. In 1882 he was nominated by the Republicans as a delegate to Congress for Wyoming. He lost the nomination to M.E Post of Cheyenne. In 1884 he resigned as Clerk of the District Court in order to take the appointment by President Arthur of Surveyor General of the Wyoming Territory, but he resigned in 1885 when President Cleveland came to office. In 1889 Meldrum was appointed Secretary of the Territory. He became acting Governor when Governor F.E Warren was elected to the U.S Senate. On July 10, 1890, the Wyoming Territory was admitted to the union, while Meldrum was acting governor. On July 3, 1891, he was appointed Inspector General of the Wyoming National Guard with the rank of colonel by Governor Barber. After resigning as Inspector General in 1893, Meldrum was appointed as the first Commissioner of Yellowstone National Park in 1894. He was Commissioner for 41 years until 1935 when he announced his retirement. He died shortly after, while visiting his niece Susie Meldrum in Denver. He was 92 years old.