History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 57

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

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Charles F. Tew was born in Blair, Nebraska, December 11, 1871. His father was John W. Tew, of English ancestry, and his mother was Emeroi (Seargent) Tew, who came of Revolutionary ancestry. Charles F. Tew was educated at Blair, Nebraska, and at Cheyenne, Wyoming, to which place he removed in the year 1890. Having determined upon the practice of law as a life work, he prepared for his chosen calling, and was admitted to the har at Cheyenne in 1893. In 1897 he removed to Greeley, Colorado, where he practiced law for a time, and has since given his attention to law practice in Denver. He has a keenly analytical mind. readily connecting cause and effect, and is seldom if ever at fault in the application of a legal principle. This, however, has been but one phase of his activity. He has been prominent in the promotion of recent large irrigation projects, including the construction of ditches and reservoirs along the South Platte river. He was closely associated with the late D. A. Camfield in organizing the irrigation dis- tricts in the South Platte valley and in the development of large areas to productivity.

Mr. Tew, in connection with John T. Warren, filed on the Empire reservation in 1902 and 1903. and after the development of that district and the task of connecting it up with the Bijou ditch, he was prominent in the projection and in the building of the Riverside reservoir, in which undertaking he was associated with Camfield and others. They built the reservoir, which is the largest in the South Platte valley aside from the Cheesman reservoir. They also built the Point of Rocks reservoir for the North Sterling irrigation district and the Jumbo reservoir. Mr. Tew, associated with C. M. Ireland and others, also organized and promoted the Hewylyn irrigation district, now successfully serving over thirty thousand acres of land near Hudson. He was likewise one of the

CHARLES F. TEW

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organizers of the great Greeley-Poudre district, which built the long tunnel through the Green Mountain range to tap Laramie river and turn its waters into the Poudre. Although the completion of this project is prevented by the litigation between Wyoming and Colo- rado in the supreme court of the United States, it is an enterprise that will rank with the foremost in the state and which will ultimately irrigate over one hundred thousand acres of fine land in Weld county. For about two years Mr. Tew has been engaged in the long litigation at Denver and Brighton, involving the Antero reservoir, the Cheesman reservoir of Denver, the Union Water Company, the Highline canal and the East Denver irrigation district and in the controversy between the Antero & Lost Park Reservation Company, the Henry L. Doherty Company and others. There are few men so thoroughly informed concerning irrigation in Colorado and the problems arising therefrom. As a lawyer Mr. Tew is familiar with every legal phase concerning the development of the irrigation projects of the state, and actuated by a most progressive public spirit, has done everything possible to further Colorado's interests in the matter of irrigation and thus promote the productivity and wealth of the state.

Mr. Tew has never held public office although he is often heard on the hustings, being a fluent, earnest and forceful speaker who always commands attention and seldom fails to carry conviction to the minds of his hearers. He is a thorough student, a clear thinker, a deep reasoner, logical in his conclusions and cogent in his utterances.

JOHN W. FINLAN.

John W. Finlan, who conducts a mercantile business in Vineland, and has built up a considerable trade in his line, was born in Ontario, Canada, August 28, 1858, his parents being William and Mary (Kennedy) Finlan. The father followed agri- cultural pursuits throughout his life and both he and his wife have passed away. In their family were three daughters besides our subject who was the oldest in order of birth.

John W. Finlan was reared under the parental roof and received his education in the Dominion. He assisted his father with the work of the farm until he came to Colorado in 1879, locating in Leadville, where for three years he was connected with mining. He was also engaged in railroad construction work for some time and in 1888 went to Pueblo, where for twelve years he was in the employ of the Gallup Saddlery Company. Subsequent to this he held for five years the position of secretary and treasurer of the Star-Journal. He later was a member of the Taylor-Finlan Mercantile Company, successfully directing the affairs of this enterprise for about five years, at the end of which time he sold his interests in Pueblo. He is now con- ducting a mercantile business in Vineland which he established in 1914, and as he follows reliable methods and carries complete and representative lines of goods his success has increased from year to year.

On February 9, 1892, Mr. Finlan was married to Miss Margaret McDonald and to this union were born two daughters, Marie and Josephine. In his political affiliations Mr. Finlan is a democrat, interested in public affairs, although he has never aspired to office. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church, of which he is a devoted communicant, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Columbus, in which he has attained the fourth degree, the Knights of The Macca- bees and the Woodmen. He has made many friends since coming to Vineland and all who know him speak of him in the highest terms of praise, for over his career there falls no shadow, either in his business or private life.

ELDRIDGE V. HOLLAND.

Unlike the usual tendency of the times to specialize, Eldridge V. Holland has continued in the general practice of law, never concentrating his efforts along a single legal line, and has won notable success in many departments of jurisprudence owing to his thorough preparation of his cases and his ability to accurately apply the principles of law to the points in litigation. A native of Kansas, he was born in Jefferson county on the 10th of November, 1880. His father, Robert Eldridge Holland, was born in Virginia and was a descendant of one of the old families of that state, of Irish lineage. The family was founded in America by three brothers, who came to the new world prior to the Revolutionary war. One branch of the family was

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established in Virginia, where through successive generations the ancestors of Eldridge V. Holland lived. His father was a successful farmer, who removing from Virginia, became one of the early settlers of Jefferson county, Kansas, where he resided until 1883. He then became a resident of Buchanan county, Missouri, where he continued to make his home until his death, which occurred in 1903, when he had reached the age of sixty-four years. During the Civil war he responded to the call of the south and served as a private in the Confederate army. He married Martha Louisa Chestnut, a native of Kentucky, who belonged to one of the old families of that state, of Scotch descent. Mrs. Holland is still living at the old home in Missouri. She had a family of four sons: William R., who is engaged in the grain and elevator business at Claremore, Oklahoma; James O., a resident farmer of Edger- ton, Missouri; Eldridge V .; and Robert C., a hardware merchant at Agency, Missouri. Eldridge V. Holland pursued his education in the public schools of Buchanan county, Missouri, and in the William Jewell College at Liberty, Missouri, while later, in preparation for a professional career, he entered the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor as a law student, there remaining through 1902, 1903 and 1904. He entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in St. Joseph, Missouri, being admitted to practice in all of the courts of that state in 1905. He continued a representative of the bar there for six years and then removed to Denver, where he arrived in the fall of 1911. Soon afterward he entered upon general practice, in which he has since continued. His success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. His pleas have been characterized by a terse and decisive logic and a lucid presentation rather than by flights of oratory, and his power is the greater before court or jury from the fact that it is recognized that his aim is ever to secure justice and not to enshroud the cause in a sentimental garb or illusion which will thwart the principles of right and equity involved.

On the 9th of October, 1907, in St. Joseph, Missouri, Mr. Holland was united in marriage to Miss Kate Van Brunt, a native of Nebraska and a daughter of John and Rexville (Hawley) Van Brunt, who were pioneer settlers of Nebraska, the former now deceased.

In politics Mr. Holland is a democrat where national questions and issues are involved. He was elected on a nonpartisan ticket to the city council from District No. 1 on the 15th of May, 1917, and at the present writing, in the spring of 1918, is a candidate for congress from the Denver district. He has considerable influence in political affairs, doing much to shape the policy of the party in the section in which he lives. He is a man of growing powers and developing ability and the wisdom of his judgment on public questions is widely recognized. Mr. Holland is a member of Sigma Nu, a Greek letter fraternity, and at Gower, Missouri, was made a Mason. He has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite and belongs to the Mystic Shrine and is a worthy exemplar of the teachings of the craft. He is yet a comparatively young man and, viewed in the light of past accomplishments, his future will be well worth the watching.

HARRY R. WARING.

Harry R. Waring is the proprietor of the Fort Lupton Press, published at Fort Lupton, Weld county, where he has resided since 1913. He has almost continuously, however, been identified with printing interests in the state since 1891. He was born in Leon, Iowa, on the 17th of July, 1871, a son of Jonathan and Amanda (Schaeffer) Waring, who were natives of Bloomington, Illinois, and of Bonaparte, Iowa, respectively. The father served as an express messenger in the early days, when such trips were made on horseback, and he also engaged in dealing in horses. He went to Iowa at a very early period in its development, when a youth of fifteen years, and located at Leon. He also spent a year in Leavenworth, Kansas, in an early day, after which he resided in Iowa until 1889 and for an extended period was there engaged in farming. Colorado witnessed his arrival in 1889, at which time he took up his abode in what was then Bent but is now Baca county, where he secured a preemption claim. With characteristic energy he began the improvement and develop- ment of the place, which he cultivated for two years, when his health failed, after which he made his home with his son, Harry R., spending his remaining days in Denver. He died April 10, 1897, and his widow passed away May 23, 1915.

Harry R. Waring was reared and educated in Leon, Iowa, to the age of eighteen

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years, when he came with his parents to Colorado and took up the printer's trade, which he had previously followed for two years in his native state. He completed his apprenticeship to the trade, however, in Colorado and for a year and a half worked in Longmont on the Longmont Times. In 1890 he went to Denver, where he engaged in the printing business in the employ of others until 1894. He afterward spent ten months at Cripple Creek, but returned to Denver, where he continued until 1896 and then made his way to San Francisco, California, where he resided for a short time. He later again spent a few months in Denver and once more went to Cripple Creek, where he worked from 1897 until 1903. Again he was identified with printing interests in Denver, being employed on Denver papers until 1908, when he removed to Pierce and established the Pierce Record, which he continuously published until 1913, when he removed his plant to Fort Lupton with the intention of starting another paper, but changed his plans and consolidated his interests with those of the Fort Lupton Press in partnership with W. G. Hubbell. This association was maintained until April 6, 1917, when Mr. Waring purchased the interest of his partner and is now sole proprietor of the Fort Lupton Press, which has a circulation of six hundred. He has a splendidly improved plant, which includes a linotype machine and everything for turning out excellent newspaper and job work.

On the 14th of April, 1898, Mr. Waring was married to Miss Emma A. Spencer and they have become the parents of four children, but the first born, Margot O., who was born in January, 1900, died in April of the same year. Those surviving are: Helen M., who was born August 15, 1901; Robert H., born December 17, 1902; and Marion V., born October 23, 1906.

Mr. and Mrs. Waring hold membership in the Episcopal church. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity and in his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit and purposes of the craft. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is now occupying the position of town clerk. He stands for advancement and improvement in all things relating to the general welfare and to the advancement of county, commonwealth and country.

FRANK NEWTON BRIGGS.

Frank Newton Briggs, a prominent banker of Denver, exemplifies in his life record the fact that success is not a matter of genius or of fortunate circumstance, as held by some, but is rather the outcome of clear judgment, industry and experience. Persistency of purpose has enabled him to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path and work his way steadily upward until he ranks with the leading financiers and bankers of Colorado, having since January, 1911, been president of the Interstate Trust Company of Denver.

He was born at Wilton Junction, Muscatine county, Iowa, September 21, 1859, a son of Elias Clark and Rachel Jane (Byers) Briggs, the former a native of Vermont, born in 1831, while the mother is a native of Ohio. Her parents were Moses and Mary ( Branden- burg) Byers. Her brother, Hon. William N. Byers, was a pioneer of Denver and the founder of the Rocky Mountain News, the oldest paper published in the state. The death of Elias C. Briggs occurred at Wilton Junction, lowa, in 1861, the mother being then left with the care of two children. Elias Clark Briggs was a cabinet maker by trade and established a furniture store, which he conducted in connection with cabinet making. being the first to enter that field of labor in Wilton Junction. In those early days the town cabinet maker always conducted the undertaking business and for several years he was the only undertaker and furniture dealer through a wide territory, but death ended his labors when he was but thirty years of age and thus it was that Frank Newton Briggs was early forced to start out in life independently. The mother moved to Washington, Iowa, where she resided until 1881, when she removed to Denver, where she has since made her home.

Frank Newton Briggs is indebted to the public school system of Iowa for the limited educational opportunities which he enjoyed, but the death of his father, leaving the mother with very limited means, made it imperative that he seek employment when but a young lad in order that he might contribute to the support of his mother and family. During the summer seasons he was employed at farm labor in the vicinity of Washing- ton, Iowa.

In 1879, he was offered a position in the Denver postoffice at a salary of five hundred dollars per year. He had previously been earning but eleven or twelve dollars per month and this seemed to him a very munificent sum. He was at the time a youth of nineteen.

Fin. Briggs

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Having been unable to save anything from his earnings, he was forced to borrow seventy dollars from friends in order to buy his railroad ticket and equipment for the trip to Denver, where he arrived on the 30th of April, 1879.

Energetic, determined and persistent, he never allowed obstacles and difficulties to bar his path if they could be overcome by continued and honorable effort, and such traits of character soon won to him the favorable attention of those higher up in the postal service. Promotion accordingly followed, so that when he severed his connection with the Denver postoffice in 1883, he was holding the position of chief of city distribution and superintendent of letter carriers. While thus employed he installed the first mail boxes in the city, receiving these from Washington, D. C. They numbered only twelve in all and Mr. Briggs selected the locations for these as a matter of convenience to the citizens. This was in 1881, following the introduction of the carrier system, the first letter carriers being at that time added to the city postoffice force. He continued in the government service for four years and then withdrew to enter into a merchandising partnership with Frank S. Byers in Grand county, Colorado, under the firm style of Byers & Briggs. While there residing Mr. Briggs was appointed postmaster of Hot Sulphur Springs and continued in that position until 1886, when he resigned, having been elected judge of Grand county. He ably served in that capacity until 1889, when he returned to Denver and entered the real estate business, in which he continued successfully until 1893, when the widespread financial panic involved the country and he lost everything, eventually paying up, however, all that he owed. Subsequent to that time he was connected with various business enterprises of the city until 1896, when he removed to Victor, Colorado, and purchased the Victor Daily Record from Halsey M. Rhodes. This he edited and man- aged very successfully, building up a large circulation and making the paper a profitable one. This was during the boom days of the Cripple Creek district and he was one of the most prominent factors in the business and political life of that section during those exciting days.

Mr. Briggs became prominent in the political activity of that region, serving as chairman of the silver republican party and later on doing much to shape the policy of the republican party in Teller county and in the state during that period. In 1902, how- ever, he disposed of the Victor Record and turned his attention to the banking business in Grand county. While on a visit to Denver he met Mr. Moffat, with whom he was well acquainted and who was then just starting to build the now famous Moffat Railroad. In fact it was Mr. Moffat who suggested to Mr. Briggs that he go into the banking business in Grand county. The latter replied that he knew practically nothing concerning banking, but Mr. Moffat told him all he needed was a safe, a sign and a set of books, get an office and become acquainted with the people. The suggestion was followed by Mr. Briggs, who on the 2d of October, 1902, established the first bank in Grand county, at Hot Sulphur Springs. It was a very small affair, with five thousand dollars capital, occupying a little corner of the country postoffice, its space being about six by fifteen feet. In three years' time, however, he had built up his banking business from nothing to one hundred and forty-five thousand dollars in deposits and he then erected a sub- stantial bank building which is still being utilized for the purpose for which it was built. Moreover, he acquired for Mr. Moffat all of the right-of-way for the railroad through Grand county and acted as its financial and confidential agent for several years. Pros- pering in his banking operations, he extended his efforts in that connection by establishing the Bank of Kremmling and also the Frazier Valley Bank. After acting as cashier of the Bank of Grand County for several years he was elected to its presidency, and having become well established in the banking business, he was called to a still broader field, being elected to the cashiership of the Interstate Trust Company of Denver on the 1st of May, 1908. Accordingly he returned to this city and from the beginning of his con- nection with the institution its growth has been notable. His pronounced ability in this field led to his election to the presidency of the bank in January, 1911. Something of the growth of the business under his administration is indicated in the fact that when he became connected with the Interstate bank it was capitalized for fifty thousand dollars and its deposits amounted to two hundred thousand dollars, while at the present time the deposits have reached two million, six hundred thousand dollars, and the capital and surplus of the bank are two hundred and forty thousand dollars.

Extending his efforts into other fields, Mr. Briggs organized the first bank of Engle- wood, Colorado, in 1909, calling it the Arapahoe State Bank. In December, 1910, it was converted into the First National Bank of Englewood and he was elected its president, in which connection he built up a strong financial institution, which he disposed of in 1917. Whatever he has undertaken in connection with banking has been carried forward

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to success. He seems to possess almost intuitive judgment in connection with every phase of the banking business and his sagacity, keen discrimination and unfaltering enterprise have been most important elements in upbuilding the banking business in this state. He was president of the Colorado Bankers Association in 1914, and during his administration the Association made wonderful progress.

On the 7th of June, 1888, Mr. Briggs was united in marriage to Miss Nannie Eyestone, a daughter of W. J. Eyestone, who at one time was a prominent public official of Iowa. Mr. Briggs is identified with several fraternal organizations. He has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Masonry, belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. He is also connected with the Denver Chamber of Commerce, and he and his wife are members of the Central Presby- terian church.

In politics he maintains an independent course. Colorado has no stronger nor more enthusiastic advocate of its interests and opportunities than he, and throughout the entire period of his residence in the state he has been a most earnest worker for its upbuilding and advancement. Honored and respected by all, there is no man who occupies a more enviable position in banking and business circles than he-a fact due not only to the success he has achieved but also to the honorable and straightforward business policy which he has ever followed. His life record indeed illustrates the fact that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

BEVERLEY TUCKER, M. D.

Dr. Beverley Tucker, who since 1892 has engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Colorado Springs, where the name has long figured as a synonym for most efficient professional service, was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1867. His father, Beverley St. George Tucker, was a native of Williamsburg, Virginia, and was fifty-five years of age when he passed away in 1894. He was the son of Judge Nathaniel Beverley Tucker of Virginia, who was a prominent lawyer of his day and was appointed United States district judge in the western circuit by President Pierce. The family is among the oldest and most prominent in the Old Dominion, the great-grandfather of Dr. Tucker of this review having been a half brother of John Randolph, of Roanoke.

Dr. Beverley St. George Tucker was educated at William and Mary College of Vir- ginia and afterward became a student in the medical department of the University of Virginia, while subsequently he entered the University of New York as a medical student and was there graduated. He was for some time connected with the hospitals of New York city, acting as interne in the Long Island Hospital at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. He at once returned to Virginia and immediately offered his services to the Confederacy and rose to the rank of surgeon. He served throughout the entire period of hostilities on the staff of General Mahone. At the close of the war he took up his abode in Richmond, Virginia, where he remained until 1869, when he removed westward to Marshall, Missouri. There he resided until 1880, when he came to Colorado Springs and soon acquired a large practice in this city, remaining an active and prominent mem- ber of the profession here to the time of his death, which occurred on the 30th of March, 1894. In early life Dr. Tucker was united in marriage to Miss Eliza C, Mercer, of Wil- liamsburg, Virginia. They had six children: Lilie, Henrietta, John S., Beverley, Hugh and St. George. In the passing of Dr. Tucker the Colorado Springs Gazette wrote: "There are few citizens of Colorado Springs who have died in late years who have been so sincerely and universally mourned as Dr. Tucker."

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 57

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