History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 77

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

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JOHN W. HELBIG.

John W. Helbig is prominently known as a leading attorney of Denver and perhaps even more widely known throughout the state as one of the authors of the initiative and referendum bill, which has become a part of the Colorado constitution. His public service has been of utmost importance to the state, as his aid and influence have ever been on the side of progress and improvement and he has been active in bringing about a correct solution of many intricate and involved public problems. A native of Virginia, Mr. Helbig was born in Lynchburg, on the 23d of March, 1866, and is a son of John and Emelie J. D. (Bonitz) Helbig, who were married in Washington, D. C., but after the Civil war established their home in Lynchburg, Virginia, remaining residents of that state to the time of their death. The father passed away in 1901, at the age of sixty-nine years, while the death of the mother occurred in 1916, when she was seventy years of age.

In the acquirement of his education John W. Helbig attended the Lynchburg high school, the Spencerian Business College of Washington, D. C., and the University of Vir- ginia, being graduated from the last named institution in 1888 with the LL. B. degree, hav- ing completed the law course. Throughout his entire career he has been engaged in law practice and possesses comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence. He has not specialized along a single line but has continued in general practice, and there is no member of the profession more careful to conform his practice to a high standard of professional ethics. He never seeks to lead the court astray in a matter of fact or law nor endeavors to withhold from it a knowledge of any fact appearing in the record. He treats the court with the studied courtesy that is its due and indulges in no malicious criticism because it arrives at a conclusion in the decision of a case different from that which he hoped to hear. Calm, dignified, self-controlled, free from passion or prejudice, he gives to his clients the service of great talent, unwearied industry and rare learning, but he never forgets there are certain things due to the court, to his own self-respect and above all to justice and a righteous administration of the law which neither the zeal of an advocate nor the pleasure of success permits him to disregard.

On the 25th of December, 1890, in Wilmington, North Carolina, Mr. Helbig was united in marriage to Miss Carrie E. Hanby, a daughter of John H. Hanby. To them have been born seven children, as follows: Mary Emelie, whose birth occurred February 10, 1892, and who passed away August 2, 1892; John, who was born February 17, 1894, and who has enlisted for military service; Douglas Warren, whose natal day was June 17, 1897; Florence Lucille, born May 4, 1900; Carolyn Hanby, born October 20, 1902; Emerson Dalby Bonitz, born December 8, 1906; and Robert, whose birth occurred December 4, 1913.

Fraternally Mr. Helbig is connected with the Elks lodge with which he has been identified since 1897. In 1886 he became a member of Lambda Chapter, Kappa Alpha fraternity, and he is a past great sachem of the Colorado Reservation of the Improved Order of Red Men. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and Denver elected him a representative to the general assembly in 1897 and again made him a member of the house in 1909. He served in 1910, during the special session, and was one of the legislative authors of the initiative and referendum bill of the Colorado constitu- tion. Strong and positive in his democracy, his party fealty is not grounded on partisan prejudice and he enjoys the respect and confidence of all of his associates irrespective of party. Of the great issues which divide the two parties, with their roots extending

JOHN W. HELBIG

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down to the very bedrock of the foundation of the republic, he has the true statesman's grasp. Well grounded in the political maxims of the schools, he has also studied the lessons of actual life, arriving at his conclusions as a result of what may be called his post-graduate studies in the school of affairs. Such men, whether in office or out, are the natural leaders of whichever party they may be identified with, especially in that movement toward higher politics which is common to both parties and which constitutes the most hopeful political sign of the period.

JAMES D. HUSTED.

The extent and importance of the business interests of James D. Husted place him in the ranks of those men who have contributed most largely to the material upbuilding of this state. At the same time he has been actively and prominently identified with charitable and benevolent projects and is continually reaching out a helping hand to those less fortunate than himself. Obstacles and difficulties in his path seem but to serve as an impetus to renewed effort on his part, whether in the business world or in the attainment of some object for the betterment of condi- tions among his fellowmen. He has been a resident of Denver since 1896, arriving here when in the thirty-ninth year of his age, his birth having occurred in Clarksfield, Huron county, Ohio, September 26, 1857. He comes of English ancestry, the progen- itor of the family in America having been Robert Husted, who crossed the Atlantic- from England in 1635 and for two years was a resident of Massachusetts. He then removed to Connecticut and assisted in founding and laying out the town of Stam- ford. Samuel Husted, the paternal grandfather of James D. Husted, participated in the War of 1812 and aided in quelling some of the Indian uprisings. He also served with the rank of captain in one of the home militia organizations. While identified with the pioneer development of Connecticut in early colonial times, representatives of the family also aided in promoting the early settlement and sub- sequent progress of other states. The grandfather, Samuel Husted, became one of the pioneers of the Western Reserve of Ohio, removing to that district in 1817. He had formerly been a hatter of Danbury, Connecticut, and after taking up his abode in the Buckeye state he established a sawmill and flour mill. Obadiah J. Husted was the last of a family of fourteen children born to Samuel Husted and his wife. His birth occurred in Ohio and he became a successful farmer and stock raiser of that state, where he resided until 1885, when he removed westward to Kansas City, Kansas, where he continued to make his home until called to his final rest, his death occurring in 1900, when he had reached the age of eighty years. In early manhood he wedded Mary Warner Hurlbutt, a native of Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, born in 1823, and a descendant of one of the old Connecticut families from Brookfield. Her parents were Robert W. and Anne (Foote) Hurlbutt, who were early settlers of Pennsylvania. The grandfather took up his abode in Allegheny county and at the time of the second war with England he participated in military operations as a private. His daughter, Mrs. Husted, lived to the age of seventy- eight years, passing away in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1901. By her marriage she had become the mother of four children, three sons and a daughter, of whom all but one son are yet living.

The younger is James D. Husted of this review, who began his education in the district schools of Ohio and started out to earn his own living when a youth of sixteen years. He was first employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a telegraph operator and station agent and continued in the railroad service until twenty-five years of age. In 1878 he removed to the west and became connected with the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company at Kansas City. There he remained to the age of twenty-six years, when he became identified with financial, real estate, in- vestment and banking interests on his own account in Kansas City, Kansas. There he continued until 1896, when he disposed of his interests in that section of the country and made his way to Colorado, where he entered the live stock business and also became a factor in financial circles. He has since been continuously and suc- cessfully engaged along those lines. He is numbered among the largest breeders of Hereford cattle in the west, operating extensively in that connection. He was one of the organizers and has ever since been president of the The Hereford Corpora- tion of Wyoming, a most extensive Hereford breeding enterprise. Associated with Mr. Husted in this company are some of the most representative live stock men of the west, including Raymond S. Husted, vice president and manager; John D.

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Hering, treasurer; and George C. Lazear, of Chicago, secretary. Mr. Husted is also president of the Platte River Cattle Company, of which he was one of the organizers. He is also holding extensive interests in lands and other investments and he and his business associates have been most prominent factors in the development of the state.

Mr. Husted was married in Kansas City, Kansas, September 26, 1881, to Miss Jennie B. Thorpe, a native of Illinois, who belonged to an old New York family of English origin whose descendants afterward became early settlers of Illinois. Mrs. Husted died May 2, 1913, in Denver. She was a prominent member of the Central Presbyterian church and very active in its work as well as taking a keen interest in charitable movements, always putting forth every effort to ameliorate hard con- ditions of life for the unfortunate. Mr. and Mrs. Husted became the parents of one son, Elbert Ervin, of whom the father has every reason to be proud. He was born in Kansas City, Kansas, June 8, 1892, was graduated from the Manual Training high school of Denver and afterward pursued a four years' course in the Agricultural College. During the succeeding eighteen months he traveled and did exploration work in Alaska, reporting for New York interests concerning undeveloped resources of that country. Upon the declaration of war with Germany he at once returned to the States and immediately offered his services to the country, giving up an excellent position and bright business hopes for the future in order to join the first officers' training camp at Fort Riley. There he obtained a commission as second lieu- tenant and was immediately assigned to duty in the Three Hundred and Fifty- third Regiment of Infantry and on the 14th of January, 1918, was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. At this writing he is en route over the seas with his command, anxious and ready to do his full duty in supporting the cause of democracy and putting an end to German autocratic rule and militarism, which threatens the stability of every democratic nation, recognizing no rights of another people to live but setting defiance to every law of man and of God. On the 5th of January, 1918, he married Miss Ruth Blair, a native of Atchison, Kansas, and a daughter of Elwyn Blair, a member of a long established and prominent family of Atchison, Kansas.

James D. Husted gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He belongs to the Denver Club, and to the National Arts Club of New York. He is a very active and earnest member of the Central Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder. He is also a member of the state committee of the Young Men's Christian Association and of the Sunshine Mission. Mr. Husted is also a member of the Lions Club of Denver. He is a man of whom it may be truthfully said that he has never lost the common touch. Success and accumulated power have not dulled his perceptions of what is right nor have they dimmed his vision of the true perspective from his position as compared with that of men of more humble mien. His handclasp is as warm for the friend in a threadbare coat as for the prosperous business friend of his later years. No little of his sustained power is due to his moral and social characteristics as well as his judgment and selection of high class and capable men as associates in his business affairs. In social intercourse he is genial, kindly and humanly sympathetic; in business he is the personification of its highest ethics and the most rigid integrity.

CHARLES B. HUGHES.

Charles B. Hughes, numbered among Pueblo's well known attorneys of pro- nounced ability, his high professional standing being indicated in the large clientage accorded him, was born in Butler county, Ohio, on the 20th of March, 1866. He acquired a public school education, supplemented by a course in the National Normal University, from which he was graduated in 1888. He afterward determined upon the practice of law as a life work and with that end in view became a student in the law school of the Cincinnati College, in which he completed his course by grad- uation with the class of 1891. The same year he was admitted to practice in the courts of Ohio and since 1896 he has been identified with the Colorado bar. Through the intervening period he has continued in practice here and his recognized power and ability in presenting his cause before the courts has won for him many notable victories. He has been called to public office in the line of his profession, serving as city attorney of Pueblo from 1907 until 1909. In the latter year he was made deputy district attorney of Pueblo and Kiowa counties, and continued to occupy that

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position until September, 1916. In that month, he was appointed district attorney for the tenth judicial district to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of John W. Davidson and in the general election of 1916 was elected by a large majority to the office of district attorney the duties of which position he has since ably and faithfully discharged. He was also county attorney of Kiowa county from 1899 until 1917. The thoroughness with which he prepares his cases has ever been one of the salient features in his growing success and his retentive memory has often excited the surprise of his colleagues.

In 1895 Mr. Hughes was united in marriage to Miss Pearl O. Marshall, of Rye, Colorado. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while in the line of his profession he has connection with the Pueblo County Bar Association and the Colorado State Bar Association.

JOHN ROBERTSON SMITH.

John Robertson Smith has for thirty-eight years been a representative member of the Colorado bar. He was born in Scotland, the son of Thomas and Anne (Robertson) Smith. The family, consisting of the father, mother and son, and one sister, now Mrs. Charles W. Garfield, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, came to the United States in 1857, and having made their permanent home at Grand Rapids, became identified in many ways with the growth of that city. John R. Smith, after his graduation from school, and following some business experience in contracting for the construction of public works, took up the study of law under Judge John W. Champlin, afterwards chief justice of the supreme court of the state of Michigan. He was admitted to the bar at Grand Rapids, but not long after admission, determined to try his fortune in the west, and in 1880 arrived in Colorado, settling at Silvercliff, in Custer county, then the third town in population in the state, and began his law practice. The mining interests of Custer county having gone down, Mr. Smith removed to Denver in 1889 and has ever since been in the active practice of his profession in this city. He is one of the distinguished list of lawyers in Colorado who, having had their start in a mining camp when they came to Denver, brought with them a clientage which never de- serted them and which grew with the years. Mr. Smith has been largely identified with litigation having to do with mining and irrigation interests and is recognized as an authority in those branches of the law. The cases in which he has taken part ever since 1880, have materially helped the courts in laying down the principles on which the mining, irrigation and public land laws of the state finally rest, so that Mr. Smith feels that he has done his full share in laying broadly and well the foundations of our local law.

Mr. Smith was married in 1887 to Ellen E. Foote, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, daughter of Major Obed H. Foote, and their daughter Margaret is the wife of Hartley B. Woods, of Denver, associated with Mr. Smith in practice.

Mr. Smith is a member of both the Denver and the Colorado State Bar Associations, and of the American Bar Association. In politics he is a republican. He has traveled widely, both on business and for recreation, and his observations of conditions abroad, applicable to the growing industries in Colorado, have in important particulars resulted in substantial benefit to the state. He possesses the sterling characteristics of the Scot- tish race and in a profession where advancement depends upon individual merits and ability he has won a worthy name and place.

WILLIAM A. HILL.

William A. Hill, chief justice of the supreme court of Colorado and the author of various irrigation laws of the state, was born in Farmington, Illinois. December 19, 1864, a son of Abner K. and Amanda (Martin) Hill, who were residents of Colorado for more than thirty years. The father for about a quarter of a century was engaged in the hotel business at Fort Morgan, this state.

Judge Hill of this review pursued his common, high school and collegiate edu- cation in the schools of Illinois and Iowa and afterward entered upon preparation for the bar, being admitted to practice in 1888. While advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, no dreary novitiate awaited Judge Hill. Like all others who

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attempt to win in the difficult and onerous profession of the law, to which life and liberty must look for protection, he had to prove his ability and developed his powers through actual experience in the work of the courts, but he possessed the requisite industry and nature had endowed him with keen mentality. This combination proved adequate to the demands of the situation and step by step he progressed. For about twenty years he specialized in irrigation law before being elevated to the bench and is the author of sundry irrigation laws of the state. There is per- haps no man in Colorado better informed concerning this field of jurisprudence, as he has studied the subject of irrigation from every possible standpoint. While residing in Morgan county he filled the office of county attorney for six years and he was also mayor of Fort Morgan for two years. He became actively con- nected with the work of framing the laws of the state when elected to the state senate, representing the twelfth and twenty-fifth districts of Colorado, covering a period of eight years. His next public position was that of judge of the supreme court, to which he was chosen in 1909 for a term of ten years. The statutes of the state provide that the office of chief justice shall be a matter of rotation among the members and Judge Hill took his place in that position in January, 1918. He has proven himself the peer of the ablest members who have sat in the court of last resort, enjoying the full confidence of his contemporaries and his colleagues in the profession, his decisions presenting a masterful grasp of the argument and of every point involved. Aside from his practice his business interests largely cover invest- ments in real estate in Fort Morgan and in Morgan county.

On the 26th of June, 1890, at York, Nebraska, Judge Hill was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Hunter, a daughter of James H. Hunter, who removed from Kentucky, his native state, to Augusta, Illinois, where the birth of Mrs. Hill occurred. Judge and Mrs. Hill have become the parents of a daughter, Zana A. She is a graduate of Denver University, also of the New England Conservatory of Music of Boston and has traveled extensively, being in China during 1916-17 and in Peking during the sudden rise and fall of the monarchy and the war incident thereto.

Judge and Mrs. Hill hold membership in the First Congregational church of Denver. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and of politics, as of law, he has been a close and discriminating student. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the degrees of lodge, chapter and commandery, and he is also connected with the Knights of Pythias. He occupies a prominent social as well as judicial position, his splendid qualities as a man and citizen as well as a lawyer gaining him the high regard of all who know him. His contribu- tion to public progress in his adopted state has been a most valuable one, for he has been a close student of many problems affecting its welfare and his investigations have led to decided advancement and improvement.

THOMAS S. HARRISON.

Thomas S. Harrison, a well known geologist of Colorado, who is now consulting geologist for the Midwest Refining Company of Denver, with offices in the First National Bank building, was born in Evansville, Indiana, August 27, 1881, a son of Ed Harrison, who was born in Texas and belonged to one of the old Virginia families of English origin. The grandfather was a native of Kentucky and became one of the early residents of San Antonio, Texas. Ed Harrison was reared and educated in Texas and Indiana, removing to the latter state in young manhood. There he was actively engaged in manufacturing lines, making his home in Evans- ville throughout the greater part of his life. He passed away in 1889 at the com- paratively early age of thirty years. He married Pauline Wilson, a native of Kentucky and of English descent. She is now living in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Thomas S. Harrison, the eldest of three children, was educated in the public schools of Evansville, in the University of Indiana and in Denver University, where he won the degree of Bachelor of Arts upon graduation with the class of 1904, He afterward matriculated in the Colorado School of Mines and won the M. E. degree upon graduation in 1908. Following the completion of his course in the last named institution he entered the government service as a mining engineer in the United States general land office at Cheyenne, Wyoming. He there remained for eighteen months, after which he became geologist for the Franco-Wyoming Oil Company, with which he continued until the close of the year 1915. During that time he

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opened many of the principal oil wells in the Grass Creek oil fields and in the Oregon basin. He has since been associated with the Midwest Refining Company of Denver as consulting geologist and his high professional standing is indicated in the fact that he has been admitted to membership in the American Institute of Mining Engineers and is also a member of the American Mining Congress.

On the 23d of February, 1910, Mr. Harrison was married in Cody, Wyoming, to Miss Ruth Wiley, a native of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and a daughter of Solon N. and Katherine (Newton) Wiley, descendants of old and prominent Massachu- setts families. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have become parents of four children: Thomas S., who was born in Omaha, Nebraska, February 9, 1911; Ed Newton, born in Cody, Wyoming, October 1, 1914; John Wiley, born in Cody, February 2, 1916; and Ruth Pauline, born in March, 1918.

Politically Mr. Harrison maintains an independent course, voting for men and measures rather than for party. He belongs to the Denver Athletic Club and his wife is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Their religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and they occupy an enviable position in social circles where true worth and intelligence are received as the passports into good society. Mr. Harrison's deep interest in scientific investigations has led to con- tinuous study, resulting in broader experience and efficiency, and his professional rank is with the foremost geologists of the state.

JOSE S. ABEYTA, JR.

Jose S. Abeyta, Jr., of Trinidad, filling the office of county clerk, was born March 13, 1877, in Weston, Colorado, a son of Agapito and Cleofas (Lujan) Abeyta. The father is a well known farmer and stockman. The family removed to Trinidad about 1873. the father having already been a resident of the place since 1868. Both he and his wife are yet living and have attained a ripe old age. They were among the pioneers of their section of the state and have contributed in no small measure to its development and progress. They have reared a family of five children.

Jose S. Abeyta, the eldest child and the only son, was educated in the rural schools and, like most boys of that day, gathered much of his learning in the school of experience and through home study. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for sixteen years. In 1914 he was elected county clerk and his excellent record in the office caused his reelection for a second term in 1916. He is also engaged in ranching and is raising some stock at the present time. In a word he is leading a busy and useful life and is regarded as a sub- stantial citizen of the community.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 77

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