History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 32

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 944

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HENRY AUGUST IRONS.

With many phases of the pioneer development of Weld county the name of Henry Angust Irons is closely associated and the story of his life if told in detail would present a very interesting picture of pioneer experiences when this section of the country was the wild western frontier. Mr. Irons was born at Gloucester, Rhode Island, June 14, 1850, and traces his ancestry back to some of the oldest and most prominent colonial families. Matthew Irons, who came originally from Scotland, settled at Boston in 1630. Another ancestor was Roger Williams, who came from London, although originally from Wales, and who arrived in Boston in 1631, while in 1636 he founded Providence, Rhode Island. Another ancestor was Joshua Windsor, who settled at Providence about 1638, and still another was Resolve Waterman Belcher, who located there as early as 1660, while the Whipple family was represented as early as 1700. Matthew Irons married Annie Brown, of Boston, and died in 1661. Their son, Samuel Irons, was baptized November 25, 1650, and died September 25, 1691. On the 13th of September, 1677, he married Sarah Belcher and they were the parents of Samuel Irons, who was born March 17, 1680, and died December 30. 1720. His wife was Sarah Whipple, of Braintree, Massa- chusetts, whom he wedded May 3, 1709. They became parents of Samuel Irons III, who was born October 10, 1718, and died November 27, 1793. His wife was Hannah Waterman, a granddaughter of Roger Williams, through the first marriage of Marcy or Mercy Wil- liams, the youngest daughter of Roger Williams, to Resolve Waterman. Their son, Samuel Irons IV, was therefore a great-grandson of Roger Williams. He was born Feb- ruary 16, 1757, and died November 21, 1815. He married Huldah Colwell, who was a great-great-granddaughter of Roger Williams through the second marriage of his youngest daughter, Marcy, to Joshua Windsor. Samuel Irons and Huldah Colwell were own cousins. Their son, James Irons, was born July 16. 1793, and died in 1877. He married Huldah Steer and they were the grandparents of Mr. Irons of this review. Their family numbered six children: Will Henry, who was born in 1825 and died December 31, 1889; Salem, who was born in 1826 and became the father of Henry August Irons; Sarah. who died in 1910; John; Leander, who died October 24, 1906; and James. Of this family Salem Irons married Harriet Yeaw and they had a son, Henry August Irons of this review. The father died June 14, 1904. The name Irons probably comes from the French de Arns and it is probable that religious persecution drove representatives of that name as French refugees to Scotland, for practically all of the name of Irons came from Scot- land, although there is little of the characteristic Scotch in their appearance, while many traces of French features and complexion are to be found among them. Roger Williams was undoubtedly a native of Wales. although he early became a resident of England. With the exception of French and Welsh traits the ancestors have on the whole been of English blood and descent.

In the fall of 1852 Salem Irons removed with his family to Chicago, Illinois, which at that time contained a population of forty-five thousand. Later he established his home at Wheaton and there assisted in building the Wheaton Seminary. In 1854 he removed to Morris. Illinois, and Mr. Irons of this review accompanied him and there resided until 1873, when he became a resident of Denver. After a few weeks, however, he removed to Greeley, where he remained for about eleven months, after which he returned to Illinois. Two years later, however. he again came to Greeley, where he has since made his home. When eleven years of age he began attending the rural schools near Morris, Illinois, and was reared amid pioneer conditions and can remember seeing deer going about in flocks of fifty or seventy-five. His educational opportunities were limited to three months' attendances at school in the winter seasons and between

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the ages of twelve and twenty-one years he worked upon the home farm seven miles south of Morris, Illinois. After reaching the age of fourteen he had charge of the farm, for his father was away much of the time operating a threshing machine through the country and Henry A. Irons had the management of the home place and much hard labor fell to him in consequence thereof. He worked with his father until he reached the age of twenty-three years and then began farming on his own account and also took up carpentering and bridge building near Morris. On coming to Colorado in 1873 he purchased a homestead below Hardin but afterward sold that property and returned to Illinois in the spring of 1874. He then worked in the hardware business for an uncle and afterward did contract work on bridges. He remained through the winter but in 1875 returned to Greeley and began riding the range. He also cooked on the roundup and in the fall he bought a little bunch of cattle, with a partner. They conducted their interests together until 1878, when Mr. Irons left the cattle with his partner and began farming a tract of land north of Greeley. In the spring of 1879 he walked to Leadville from Colorado Springs, a distance of one hundred and forty miles, a man of the name of Kempton carrying their bags and blankets. Mr. Irons saw Leadville grow from a town of twenty-four hundred to twenty thousand that fall. He worked on getting out timbers for the Evening Star mine of Leadville, after which he returned to Greeley for the winter. He then again went to Leadville in the spring and prospected on Brush creek, a tributary of the Grand. Miners had previously been in the country, for there were still evidences of old sluice boxes that were put there in 1859.

Returning to Greeley, Mr. Irons purchased land east of the city, becoming owner of one hundred and sixty acres, which is still in his possession. He acquired that property in the spring of 1882 and resided thereon until 1893, when he was elected county com- missioner and rented the farm, which he has since leased. Through the intervening period, covering twenty-five years, there have only been four renters upon it and he has always had a verbal contract with them, a fact indicative of the straightforward business methods which Mr. Irons has always pursued.

In the fall of 1881 Mr. Irons was married in Morris, Illinois, to Miss May Keith. whose father was a farmer and a soldier of the Civil war, living at that time in north- eastern Iowa. She saw the burning buildings to which the Sioux Indians had set fire at the time of the Sioux massacre in 1863. Mrs. Irons was engaged in the millinery business in Morris, Illinois, prior to her marriage. She died in October, 1912, and her remains were interred at Morris, Illinois, she being then fifty-three years of age. They had a daughter, Blanche, who became the wife of J. O. Custer, a distant relative of General Custer, and now engaged in banking with the First National Bank of Greeley.

Mr. Irons joined the Masonic lodge at Gardner, Illinois, at the same time at which his father became a representative of the craft. He was then twenty-one years of age and he afterward became a member of the chapter. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. For three years he has been a director and vice president of the Farmers Mercantile Company, and this, with his other interests, claims his time and attention. His daughter, Mrs. Custer, is quite active in Red Cross work. Mr. Irons has for a quarter of a century, or since 1893, been a member of the Greeley Club. He has always taken an active part in interests for the public good and his work has been of signal benefit along many lines.

ARTHUR D. QUAINTANCE.

From pioneer times the name of Quaintance has figured upon the pages of Colorado's history and through the intervening years has stood as a synonym for progress and advancement in public affairs. The family is of English origin and was originally of the Quaker faith. The first representative of the name in America came to the new world from England many generations ago. The grandfather, Jesse Quaintance, was a pioneer of Colorado who removed to the west after living originally in Ohio. He arrived in this state in the latter '60s and established one of the first flour mills within the borders of Colorado, conducting business at Golden, where he continued to reside until called to his final home. He was the father of Brough P. Quaintance, who was born in Ohio and who accompanied his parents to Colorado during the pioneer epoch in the history of the state. When the family made the trip the grandfather brought with him across the plains, with an ox team, two large stones for crushing ore in Clear Creek and Black Hawk canyon and was engaged in that business in early days but subsequently established his flour mill. After the death of the grandfather B. P. Quaintance conducted the mill for a number of years and was also postmaster at Golden for sixteen years, while for two

ARTHUR D. QUAINTANCE

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years he filled the office of county treasurer there. In a word he has been a prominent and influential resident of that locality, where he is still engaged in the real estate and insurance business and is in charge of the Golden Building & Loan Association. In his business career he has ever been actuated by a spirit of advancement that has enabled him to utilize all the means at hand and to take advantage of opportunities that others have passed heedlessly by. His fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth and ability, have frequently called him to public office and in each position that he has filled he has rendered valuable service to the community. For some time he was city clerk and city treasurer as well as county treasurer. In politics he has ever been a stanch republican, giving unfaltering allegiance to the party, which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. In early manhood he wedded Annie Belmore, a native of Maine and a descendant of one of the old families of Calais, Maine, of English and Scotch lineage. Mrs. Quaintance also survives and she has reared a family of four children, three sons and a daughter: Charles F., now a resident of Golden, president of the Golden Chamber of Commerce and Improvement Association, secretary of the Golden Building & Loan Association, and secretary of the Herold China & Pottery Com- pany, now the leading manufacturers of chemical porcelain in this country; Arthur D., who was born in Golden, Colorado, October 17, 1884; Cregar B., who is an attorney at law practicing in Denver; and Caroline, now the wife of R. S. Ransom, a prominent mining engineer of Newark, New Jersey, and New York city.

Arthur D. Quaintance, whose name introduces this review, at the usual age became a public school pupil. After leaving the high school of Golden he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor for preparation for the bar and won his LL. B. degree there upon graduation with the class of 1906. In the meantime, however, he had started out in the business world, being first employed in construction work on the Moffat Rail- road, and it was in that way that he provided the means that enabled him to pursue his university course. He was ambitious to enter professional life and immediately after his graduation from law school he established himself in the practice of his profession in Denver, where he has since remained. Advancement at the bar is proverbially slow yet within a comparatively short space of time Mr. Quaintance had won recognition as an able young lawyer whose powers were rapidly developing and who was proving his ability to successfully cope with intricate legal problems. He belongs to the Denver Bar Association and to the Colorado State Bar Association and the former has honored him with election to a vice presidency. Aside from his law practice he is a director of the White Automobile Company of Colorado.

Mr. Quaintance gives his political support to the republican party and at the primary election, 1916, was presented as a candidate for district attorney for the first judicial district of Colorado. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason, loyally adhering to the teachings and purposes of the craft. A member of Denver Consistory No. 2, he has been a close student of the mysteries of Masonic lore and has heen honored with official position as grand orator, the duties of which, he is especially well qualified to perform. As a public speaker, he is forceful and pleasing and, in this connection it may be noted that during his course of study at the University of Michigan, he was honored with the presidency of the Jefferson Society, the well known oratorical and debating society of the university. He is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. He helongs to the First Presbyterian church of Golden, in which he has served as treasurer for several years. That he is much interested in the welfare and progress of his adopted city is indicated in the fact that he holds membership in the Denver Civic and Commercial Association and cooperates in all of its plans and purposes to upbuild the city, to extend its trade relations and uphold its civic standards. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished since starting out in life unaided, his persistency of purpose, his laudable ambition and his indefatigable energy gaining for him the place that he now occupies as a valued representative of the legal profession in Denver.

MARY REED STRATTON, M. D.

Dr. Mary Reed Stratton, most thoroughly trained for the practice of medicine and displaying marked skill and ability in the conduct of her professional interests, was born in Hudson, Wisconsin, February 1, 1869, a daughter of the Rev. James Stewart and Caroline T. (Miller) Reed, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. They removed to Wisconsin in early life and there resided for a number of years. The father

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was a prominent minister of the Presbyterian church and after leaving Wisconsin accepted a call to Chariton, Iowa. Later he came to Colorado, taking charge of the Presbyterian church in Alamosa, where he remained to the time of his death, which occurred in 1895, when he was fifty-seven years of age. He was a most earnest and zealous worker in behalf of his church, a forceful and fluent speaker, and his labors wrought great good in the moral progress and development of the communities in which he lived. His widow survives and is now a resident of Denver. Their family numbered six children, five of whom are still living: William A., who is a resident of Gainesville, Texas; Walter S., living in Denver; Helen F., who also makes her home in Denver; Ralph E., residing in Portland, Oregon; and Mary, of this review.

In early girlhood Dr. Stratton attended school in Iowa and in Kansas and also pur- sued a normal school course in northern Missouri. She afterward attended medical college, becoming a pupil in the Northwestern University of Chicago, Illinois, in the women's department. There she was graduated in 1892 and entered upon the active work of the profession as house physician in the Girls' Industrial School of Iowa, where she remained for a year. In Chicago, Illinois, on the 10th of October, 1894, she married Charles J. Stratton, a son of Mr. and Mrs. William James Stratton, well known and prominent people of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Charles J. Stratton was engaged in mining and was killed in a mine accident in the mountains of Colorado on the 18th of September, 1898. He was a manufacturer in Lexington, Kentucky, and had come to Colorado in order to supervise some mining property in the Cripple Creek district in which he was interested. Dr. Stratton had given up her practice subsequent to her marriage but after her husband's death resumed her connection with the profession. By her marriage she had become the mother of one son, Jack Reed Stratton, born in Cripple Creek district, February 18, 1897. He is a graduate of the Augusta Military Academy, Defiance, Vir- ginia, and is now a non-commissioned officer in the United States army, stationed at Camp Funston, Kansas. After the death of her husband Dr. Stratton returned to the Northwestern University of Chicago and resumed her studies. In 1900 she finished her post-graduate work there, after which she became physician for the White Breast Fuel Company of Illinois, at one of their mines, Cleveland No. 4 Mine, in Iowa, continuing in that connection for four years. In 1904 she returned to Colorado and since 1907 has practiced in Denver. She has done excellent work in all branches of medical practice but is particularly proficient in the treatment of children's diseases, in which she spe- cializes. Dr. Stratton belongs to the Medical Society of the County and City of Denver, to the Colorado State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. She is now physician for the State Home for Dependent Children. She is also examining physician for the Home Life Insurance Company of New York at Denver.

Dr. Stratton belongs to the Women's Benefit Association of The Maccabees. Her religious faith is indicated by her membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. She has become well known during the period of her residence in Denver, and has attained enviable professional prominence and success and her influence has been a potent force for good along many lines outside the path of her profession.

CYRUS F. TAYLOR, M. D.

Dr. Cyrus F. Taylor, the pioneer physician and surgeon of Pueblo county, has here practiced continuously since 1880 or for a period covering nearly four decades. As a rep- resentative of the medical profession he has met with well deserved success and the name of Taylor has long been an honored one in Pueblo and throughout the county. His birth occurred in Hope, Knox county, Maine, on the 21st of October, 1857, his parents being Cyrus and Caroline (Bowley) Taylor, who spent their entire lives in the Pine Tree state, where the father followed the occupation of farming. The family numbered three sons and a daugliter.

Cyrus F. Taylor, the eldest of the children, acquired his early education in the rural and high schools of his native state and subsequently continued his studies in the Maine Wesleyan Academy at Kents Hill. Having determined upon a professional career, he entered the Medical School of Maine at Bowdoin College, which institution conferred upon him the degree of M. D. upon his graduation with the class of 1880. He first located for practice at Liberty, Maine, there remaining from June, 1880, until the fol- lowing November, when he came west to Colorado, taking up his abode in Pueblo, where he bas remained an active representative of the medical fraternity to the present date. There were only four physicians in the county at the time of his arrival and he is the only one of these early practitioners who is still active in the profession. He has ever

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kept in close touch with advanced thought and methods in medical practice and has long enjoyed an enviable reputation as a most progressive and successful representative of the profession. He is a valued member of the Pueblo County Medical Society and also belongs to the Colorado State Medical Association and the American Medical Association.

On the 19th of November, 1881, Dr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Nancy A. Robinson, a former schoolmate. They became the parents of five children, as follows: Laura A .. who is principal of the Riverside school, which has an attendance of over six hundred children of foreign-born parents and is one of the largest schools with such an attendance in Colorado; Guy M., who is engaged in the automobile business; Dr. Ray R., who is a successful medical practitioner of Pueblo and a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work; Cyrus F., Jr., also connected with the automobile business; and Ernest W., a high school graduate.

Dr. Taylor is a republican in politics and has long been prominent and active in the local ranks of the party. In 1883 he was elected coroner and two years later was chosen county superintendent of schools, being reelected to the latter position in 1887 and making a most excellent record in that connection. In 1889 he was made chairman of the republican central committee. He also served for two terms as school director in District No. 1 and the cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart champion. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Court of Honor and the Eagles and he is likewise a member of the Bowdoin Alumni Asociation. His religious faith is that of the Universalist church. He takes a deep and helpful interest in all matters pertaining to progress and development in community affairs and is well known and highly esteemed as a public-spirited, leading and influential citizen of Pueblo.

GEORGE LINCOLN HODGES.

The history of the growth and development of Colorado reveals the names of certain men whose personality and achievements are synonymous with the state's advance- ment, morally, intellectually and financially. If in any single field her advancement has been greater than in others, that one is in the administration of justice, for among the members of her bar have been enrolled the familiar names of eminent jurists and talented counselors. Standing preeminent among his fellows, and enjoying honored distinction, is George L. Hodges, whose career furnishes a striking example of the success that comes to him who strives, even without the adventitious aid of chance and fortuitous circumstance.

Few possessions are more valued and wished for than strength, hut it is not generally realized that only through long, patient and continued effort can it be attained. It is thought of as a happy accident or a native gift to be passively grateful for, rather than as the direct result of toil and effort. This principle is equally manifest in moral and mental strength, as in physical vigor. The strong mind has accumulated power through hard mental activity; much earnest study, much effort of thought, have combined to give that vigorous force and elasticity which, to its possessor, is so valuable a boon. We look with favor upon the man thus endowed: We admire his clear vision, his sound judgment, his keen discrimination: We envy the ease with which he detects the point of an argument, or solves an intricate problem, or applies a principle, but we do not see and seldom even imagine the toil and patience that constitute the true source of his admired strength. The obstacles overcome and the trials which have been so hard to bear, have called forth the fortitude and heroism, component parts of every noble nature. It has come to him through effort and sacrifice, and the more it has cost, the greater the reward.

Born of a line of sturdy ancestry, active participants in the stirring affairs inci- dent to our nation's formative periods during the Colonial, Revolutionary and Civil wars, Mr. Hodges inherited those principles of industry, integrity and determination of purpose which have ever characterized his career. His father, James Luther Hodges, resided for many years in the Empire state and was a man of versatile attainments, as a farmer, also as a teacher in the public schools. In 1854, he went to Joliet, Illinois, and secured a contract for the building of the first high school in that city. He later applied for, and was appointed to, the position as the first principal of that school, while the assistant principal was none other than Anna Withall, whom he afterwards married. It is interesting to note that among the members of that first class in Joliet, were several young men who later became prominent in the business and financial

GEORGE L. HODGES

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world, and among whom may be mentioned, Sir William Van Horn, the builder of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and who, in recognition of this achievement, was knighted by Queen Victoria; Harlow N. Higginbotham, of Chicago, and Eugene Wilder, now a resident of Boulder, Colorado, where he has served as city clerk, publicist and is other- wise prominent in state and local affairs. James L. Hodges and Anna Withall were married at Joliet, Illinois, about the year 1855, the ceremony being performed by Bishop Vincent. Anna Withall was born in England and during her infancy, had come with her parents to America. The family took up their abode near Rochester, New York, where her father, the Reverend Elija Withall, continued his pastoral duties. She received the advantages of a thorough and careful educational training, and graduated with honor, from the well known Women's College at Albion.

James L. Hodges, following his term of principal at Joliet, returned to New York where George L. Hodges was born on the old family homestead, near Rochester, August 7, 1856. The following year, the family removed to Minnesota where they were numbered among the pioneers of Olmsted county, which was largely settled by families from the same eastern neighborhood and the county seat given the name of Rochester.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 32

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 944

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 944