He has proved a ready adaptability to various trades and occupations and at different times has been employed as carpenter, mason and plasterer. He also helped move houses all over this section of the country. In 1900 he married and bought his father's interest in their common holdings and after that for some years he was a regular farmer, stock raiser and also operated a water well drilling outfit. With his machine he put down about 100 wells in this region. On leaving the farm Mr. Stamper moved to Meade, where for a time he was engaged in carpenter work, later was a furniture dealer, and continued merchandising until 1910.
Many men possess latent talents which are discovered only by accident.
It was an incident if not an accident which brought Mr. Stamper into the auctioneering profession, While he was a furniture merchant at Meade the townspeople were holding a bazaar. The proceeds of that sale of miscellaneous articles were to be applied for the purpose of a waterworks plant. A few days later a local tradeswoman in the millinery and dry goods business asked him to sell out her stock. He went ahead issuing the bills, the sale was held on schedule, and that was his first real effort as an auctioneer. Calls came to him from every direction to cry sales and he found himself in a new profession or business.