History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 82

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

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Reginald V. Towner received his education in the common schools and at the early age of fourteen began to set out for himself, finding employment as a cash boy and so continuing for a time. When only seventeen or eighteen he hecame collector for an in- surance company and in such capacity continued for several years, acting as collector until, in 1905, he became secretary of the Western Life & Casualty Company, having purchased an interest in this organization. Mr. Towner has since taken on the added burden of treasurer and has now served for thirteen years in an official connection with the Western Life & Casualty Company. This enterprise has grown wonderfully by reason of his executive ability and he has infused into it many new and resultant methods which have largely extended the business. He is thoroughly acquainted with insurance methods, proceedings, statistics and other details and is considered an authority in his line. More- over, he sees to it that the company always maintains the very highest standard of casualty insurance proceedings and its reputation only reflects the high conception of business transactions which guide Mr. Towner in his dealings.

In 1904, in Denver, was performed the marriage ceremony between Reginald V. Towner and Florence Lawton, of Aspen, Colorado, a daughter of Fred L. and Annie Lawton, both of English descent. The father, who was one of the well known locomotive engineers within the state and enjoyed the friendship of many and the respect of all who knew him, found a tragic death, being killed in Aspen by a fall from an engine. To Mr. and Mrs. Towner two children were born: Necile, aged thirteen; and Reginald V.,

REGINALD V. TOWNER

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Jr., aged eight. Both are attending school. The family are favorably known in the social circles of the city and have many friends, their hospitable home being enjoyed by all who appreciate the better and higher things in society life.

In business circles Mr. Towner stands very high and is widely known. He is ever ready to lend a helping hand where the growth and upbuilding of his community are concerned and he is interested in moral, mental and material progress. His business cares are so confining that practically his entire time is given to promote his insurance company and while thus furthering his individual fortunes he has contributed to the progress of the state by putting upon a prosperous basis a casualty company in this state. It may be predicted that as the city and state further progress the Western Life & Cas- ualty Company will accelerate its growth until it ranks with the foremost and most powerful companies of the older east. Mr. Towner finds recreation in automobiling, which is practically the only form of recreation which he permits himself to better fit him for his arduous business duties.

EDGAR C. HIGHBERGER.

Edgar C. Highberger, who is filling the position of county clerk in Pueblo county, discharging his duties with marked promptness, efficiency and fidelity, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on the 10th of June, 1865, and is a son of David . and Sarah (Harold) Highberger. The father was a farmer by occupation, devoting his life to that pursuit in order to provide for his family, which numbered four sons and three daughters, of whom Edgar C. is the second in order of birth. David High- berger is now living retired at the advanced age of eighty-five years, but his wife has passed away.

Edgar C. Highberger, spending his youthful days under the parental roof, is indebted to the public school system of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, for the educational opportunities which he enjoyed in youth and which qualified him for life's practical and responsible duties. After passing through consecutive grades to the high school he became a student in the Normal School and later took up the profession of teaching, which he capably followed for five years. He then turned his attention to commercial pursuits and was engaged in clerking in different mercantile establishments at various points in the east until 1890, when he removed westward to Colorado and accepted a position as clerk in a dry goods store in Pueblo. He has since made his home in this city and was identified with its commercial interests for eighteen years or until he was elected to his present position as county clerk. No higher testimonial of his capa- bility and faithful service could be given than the fact that reelection has continued him in the office for five terms. He is paiustaking and careful in the discharge of all of his duties, is thoroughly accurate and systematic and his course has received the strong endorsement of popular suffrage. Moreover, he was elected to the position on the democratic ticket in a county which gives a normal republican majority.

On the 17th of October, 1894, Mr. Highberger was united in marriage to Miss Grace Tuttle, of Wisconsin, the wedding being celebrated in Pueblo. She is a daughter of Edgar A. Tuttle and by her marriage has become the mother of two children: Robert T., who is now in the United States army; and Grace.

Fraternally Mr. Highberger is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Woodmen of the World, while his religious faith is that of the Congregational church. He is widely and favorably known, having a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance, and he is today the oldest in length of service among the county officials.

L. G. ROY LIGGETT.

L. G. Roy Liggett, filling the position of treasurer of Larimer county and making his home in Fort Collins, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1881, his parents being Coleman M. and Irene Liggett, who were natives of the Keystone state. The father was a merchant of Pittsburgh for many years, or until 1900, when he and his family removed to Fort Collins, where he purchased and improved a farm, continuing its cultivation for ten years but making his home during that period in the city. He finally sold his farm property and turned his attention to the feed and coal trade,

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conducting his store for some time. At the present, however, he is living retired, en- joying a well earned rest. His wife died in the year 1885.

L. G. Roy Liggett was reared and educated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where, after putting aside his textbooks, he was associated with his father in the mercantile business until the removal of the family to Colorado. He then became associated with J. B. Beals in the clothing business and later was with J. E. Wilson, a clothier, for five years. He afterward went to the Poudre Valley National Bank as teller and remained in that association until January, 1917, when he took up the duties of treasurer of Larimer county, to which position he had been elected in the previous fall. He has made an excellent record in the office, being a most faithful custodian of the public funds, systematic in all that he does and thoroughly reliable.

In July, 1910, Mr. Liggett was married to Miss Bertha L. Sayre and they are widely and favorably known throughout Fort Collins, where they have a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance. Mr. Liggett has always voted with the republican party and fraternally is connected with the Masons. His religious faith has ever been that of the Presbyterian church, of which his parents were also members. He has long taken a most active and helpful part in the work of the church and has been most earnest in his support of the project of building the sixty thousand dollar church recently erected. For twelve years he has served as church treasurer. He has also interested himself most actively and generously in the organization of the Young Men's Christian Association and in the erection of a new building for its use. He has been most earnest in the work for the Young Men's Christian Association in relation to the war and was county chairman of Larimer county in raising the quota for that institution. He has been an effective worker for the Red Cross and his sincere devotion to the cause, his diligence and his business discernment have made him a most splendid team worker in all that relates to the interests and welfare of the country. He was county chairman for the Third Liberty Loan and the effect of his labors is evidenced by the fact that the county subscribed fifty-three per cent over its quota. Mr. Liggett is again county chairman of the Fourth Liberty Loan, and while the quota is to be about double the amount of the third loan, Larimer county expects to go "over the top" just the same. This fine showing of patriotism is due to a wonderful organiza- tion made possible by every worker in the county. Mr. Liggett's activities have also largely been directed toward the moral development of the community and to the ad- vancement of higher standards of life, with a full recognition of the duties and obliga- tions imposed through the brotherhood of man.

JAMES M. SARE.

James M. Sare, a highly respected and worthy citizen of Pueblo, who is now filling the office of county commissioner, has during much of his life been in public service, his fellow townsmen recognizing his capability and his fidelity in office. He was born near Bloomington, in Monroe county, Indiana, April 11, 1849, and is a son of Lucien B. and Jane (Carmichael) Sare. The father engaged in farming and homesteaded in Indiana, where he spent his entire life, reaching the notable old age of ninety-four years, while his wife was ninety-six years of age at the time of her demise. He was a native of Virginia, while Mrs. Sare was born in North Carolina. They reared a family of six sons and six daughters.

James M. Sare, who was the sixth child in that family, began his education in the rural schools, and while his opportunities of attending school were somewhat limited. he possessed an observing eye and a retentive memory and has thus added much to his knowledge as the years have passed. In his youthful days he began work upon the home farm, on which he concentrated his efforts and attention more and more largely as the years passed on, remaining with his father until he reached adult age. He next accepted a position in the county clerk's office in Monroe county, where he remained for four years. At this time he took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in Bloomington, Indiana. He then began practicing in the probate and justice courts, in which he continued for three years, and on the expira- tion of that period he accepted a position on the road, representing a blank book and stationery house. but in 1876 was called upon for public service, the democratic party of Monroe county making him its nominee for the office of sheriff. The county was largely republican and Mr. Sare made the race, being defeated by only fourteen votes. a fact which indicated his popularity and the confidence reposed in him. He then turned his attention to the life insurance business and was general

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agent for the State Life Insurance Company of Indiana, which he yet represents. His identification with Pueblo dates from 1898 and through the intervening period he has been a representative of insurance interests in the city in which he makes his home. On the 9th of January, 1917, he took office as county commissioner and is now serving in that capacity, making an excellent record by the prompt and faith- ful manner in which he discharges his duties. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party, of which he has been a stanch advocate since reaching adult age.

Mr. Sare has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Nannie East, who died in 1873, and for his second wife chose Mollie Robinson. His children are: R. L. Sare, who was born of the first marriage and is now vice president of the Majestic Range Company at St. Louis, Missouri; Beryl, who is the wife of C. H. Converse, of Pueblo; Bessie E., the wife of Fred Smith, living at Silver City, New Mexico; and Josie May, the wife of Professor Charles Frazee, of Duluth, Minnesota, and there are also six grandchildren.

Fraternally Mr. Sare is an Elk and is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men. He belongs to the Commerce Club of Pueblo and cooperates heartily in all of its well defined plans and projects for the uphuild- ing of the city, the extension of its trade relations and the upholding of its civic standards. His policy as an office holder is to guard the interests of the taxpayers by giving a good economical business administration. He has become well known during the period of his residence in Pueblo and all with whom he has come in con- tact speak of him in terms of warm regard, recognizing in him many sterling traits of manhood and of citizenship.

HON. HENRY ALLYN HICKS.

Hon. Henry A. Hicks has left the impression of his individuality for good upon the legal history, the legislative records and upon many events of public interest and moment to the state. Denver numbers him among her representative and honored citi- zens and his course in life has always been such as to commend him to the confidence, respect and goodwill of all with whom he has been brought in contact. His efforts have not only heen far-reaching but have been most resultant and beneficial. Indiana numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in Montgomery county, that state, on the 23rd of September. 1867. His forefathers made their homes on American soil while this country was still numbered among the colonies of Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson Hicks, the grandfather of Mr. Hicks, participated in the War of 1812. The parents of Mr. Hicks were residents of Indiana, his father being of English ancestry and his mother Scottish.

Henry A. Hicks was the eighth child in his father's family of thirteen. He ac- quired a public school education in his native county and was a student in the high school of Lebanon, Indiana, from which he was graduated with the class of 1885. He next entered the Northern Indiana Normal School, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1889. He pursued his law studies there and in 1890 the LL. B. degree was conferred upon him. During periods in his college education he engaged in teaching in the graded schools of Boone county, Indiana, and after leaving Valparaiso he removed to Gilpin county, Colorado, in 1890, where he resumed the pro- fession of teaching as principal at Russell Gulch, for two years. He was also principal of schools at Blackhawk, Colorado, for a year and while living in Gilpin county was elected to the office of county judge, serving upon the bench for two terms. In 1894, in Golden, Colorado, Mr. Hicks was married to Miss Bertha Presnell, a native of Tennessee. To them have been born two children-Dorothy B. and Henry A., Jr. After this time, Mr. Hicks entered the practice of law in Central City, Colorado, and in the fall of 1908 located in Denver, where he has since concentrated his efforts and attention upon the general practice of law, in which he has been very successful. His is the natural discrimination as to legal ethics. He is thoroughly informed concerning the principles of jurisprudence and he never fails to present a case upon its merits, always readily recognizing the main point at issue and never neglecting to give a thorough preparation. His pleas have been characterized by a terse and incisive logic and a lucid presentation rather than by flights of oratory. His power is the greater before court or jury from the fact that it is recognized that his aim is always to secure justice and not to en- shroud the issues in a sentimental garb or illusion which will thwart the principles of

HENRY A. HICKS

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right and equity involved. For the past fifteen years he has been one of the directors and the attorney for the Rocky Mountain National Bank at Central City, Colorado.

Mr. Hicks was reared in the Christian church and his early training has had marked effect upon his later life. He has ever been a man of sterling worth, whom to know is to respect and honor, and he has ever fully met the duties and obligations of life, assist- ing materially in supporting plans and measures for public benefit. While a resident of Central City he was a member of the board of education and during that time com- piled a course of study which has since been in use in the schools there. He was for three years, from 1911 until 1914, a member of the state civil service commission and he is now serving as a director in the Bureau of Child and Animal Protection, closely studying the problems which have to do with child development and child labor and at the same time advocating the most humane standards for the protection of children and animals. In politics he has always been a democrat and taken an active part in political and civic matters. In 1909 he became a member of the state legislature, serving in the seventeenth general assembly, where he was regarded as the majority leader of the house. He was the author of the direct primary law and also of the present registration law, and was the leader in the adoption of the present state banking law and the public utilities laws. In a word, he has left his impress in large measure upon legislation of vital importance to the state and its people and he has always been actuated by marked devotion to the general good. In 1913 he became public trustee of the city and county of Denver, and served four years. At the time of this writing (1918) he is a member of the city civil service commission.

Fraternally Mr. Hicks is connected with Arapahoe Lodge, No. 130, A. F. & A. M .; South Denver Chapter, No. 42, R. A. M .; Ascalon Commandery, No. 131, K. T .; Rocky Mountain Consistory, No. 2, S. P. R. S .; and El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was made a Mason in Denver. He also belongs to Lebanon Lodge, No. 45, Knights of Pythias, of Lebanon, Indiana. He has membership in the Democratic Club and along the strict path of his profession is connected with the Colorado State Bar Asso- ciation and the Denver Bar Association. Mr. Hicks is very devoted to his family, finding his greatest happiness in promoting their comfort and welfare. In public life he has ever placed the general good before partisanship. He is a high-minded man whose contributions to the state and its development have been of a most valuable character. He holds to advanced standards for the individual and for the citizen in his public relations, and has never deviated from a course which he has believed to be right between himself and his fellowmen during his active and useful life.

EDWIN ISAAC NEWBY BURDICK.

Denver has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar. Among the representatives of the legal profession in this city have been many men capable of crossing swords in forensic combat with the most eminent representatives of the profession. Actuated by a laudable ambition to attain a prominent position in the practice of law, Edwin I. N. Burdick has advanced step by step in a calling in which progress is never made save as the direct result of individual effort and he is now accorded an extensive clientele that connects him with much of the important litigation heard in the state and federal courts.

He was born near Georgetown, Colorado, September 18, 1859, and is a son of James A. Burdick, who was born in Illinois and is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of that state of Norman descent. The founder of the family in America was Anson R. Burdick, who came to the new world from Normandy in 1632. He settled in Connecticut twelve years after the arrival of the Pilgrim fathers at Plymouth Rock and became identified with the development of that colony. Isaac Burdick, the great-great-grandfather of E. I. N. Burdick of this review, took part with the Connecticut troops in the French and Indian war and also in the Revolutionary war. His son, Anson Richard Burdick, served as a major in the War of 1812, and his son, Anson Burdick, Jr., the grandfather of E. I. N. Burdick, defended American interests in the Mexican war. James A. Burdick, the father, was also imbued with the military spirit that has characterized the family in the country's hours of danger and he enlisted for service with the western forces in the Civil war and was an independent scout from Colorado and Nebraska during the latter period of hostilities between the north and the south. Again the military spirit flamed forth in E. I. N. Burdick, who became a member of the Colorado National Guard, with which he served for twenty-five years, hold-

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ing the rank of lieutenant and afterward of captain of Company A at Boulder. In 1911 and 1912 he was sergeant major of the First Regiment of the Colorado National Guard and he has had further military experience as brigadier general of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias, in which position he served from April 10, 1911, until April 10, 1915. Thus his record has added laurels to that of a family prominent in connection with military affairs. The Burdicks have always been characterized by marked loyalty in citizenship and unfaltering patriot- ism. In other connections, too, they have rendered signal service to their country. The town of Elgin, Illinois, was founded by Anson R. Burdick, the grandfather of E. I. N. Burdick, and he contributed much to its material development and upbuilding as one of the organizers of the Elgin National Watch Company and also of the Gail Borden Condensed Milk Company of Elgin. His son, James A. Burdick, father of E. I. N. Burdick, was educated in the common schools of Elgin and in the Illinois Polytechnic University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Civil Engineer. In 1858 he came to Colorado, where he took up the profession of civil engineering and also became actively identified with mining. He devoted a half century to the profession and ranked as one of its most eminent representatives in this state. He was also one of the founders of Georgetown, Colorado, where he resided until 1878, when he removed to Leadville and in 1880 became a resident of Gunnison county. At a subsequent period he took up his abode in Irwin, Colorado, where he resided until 1882, and then moved on a ranch on the Ute Indian reservation, where afterwards Hotchkiss, Colorado, was founded, and there he resided until 1916, when he removed to Lakeland, Florida, but is now living retired from active life in Longmont, Colorado, enjoying the fruits of a well spent career. He was born in Elgin, Illinois, September 19, 1840, so that he has now passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party until the time of the demonetization of silver. He was a lifelong friend of Henry M. Teller, Edward Wolcott, Sam Landon and other men prominent in the state, the first named being the indefatigable champion of silver as one of the monetary standards of the country. Called upon for public service, James A. Burdick filled the office of county clerk and recorder of Clear Creek county, Colorado, and was quite active in political and civic mat- ters during the entire period of his residence in this state. He married Nancy Bell Kilgore, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 28, 1842, a daughter of Isaac Kilgore, a representative of a pioneer family of Cincinnati, Ohio, and descended from one of the old families of Rhode Island. The Kilgores were of Protestant faith and on account of religious persecution left Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to America during the early part of the seventeenth century. Their ancestry is traced back to the Robert Morris clan and the family was represented in the famous battle of Runnymede. Various distinguished names appear on the pages of the family history. From such ancestry was Mrs. Burdick descended. She passed away on September 6, 1915, at the age of seventy-three years, leaving two sons, the younger being Fred M. Burdick, a resident of Loveland, Colorado.

Edwin Isaac Newby Burdick was educated in the public schools of George- town, Leadville and Hotchkiss, Colorado, and in the high school at Denver, while later he entered the University of Colorado and next attended the Kent College of Law in Chicago, while subsequently he took up the study of medicince in the Uni- versity of Illinois. He was graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1890 and won the M. D. degree in 1892. He was admitted to the bar of Colorado in 1888. Following his graduation from the medical college he lectured in the Illinois University and University Extension for a period of six years and then returned to Colorado in 1900, taking up his abode in Denver, where he entered upon the practice of law, in which he has since successfully continued, having his office in the Charles building. His scientific training along other lines has been of the greatest value to him in his present professional activities. He is a lawyer of pronounced ability who prepares his cases with great thoroughness and care, and in a calling where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit he has made a most creditable name and place for himself. He certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, for he worked his own way through school. He had charge of the boys' dormitory of the University of Colorado, also kept books, worked on the Rocky Mountain News as a cub reporter, and occupied the position of night clerk in the Mountain View Hotel. He also followed other pursuits whereby he provided the means for meeting his college expenses and he never faltered in the pursuit of his purpose, putting forth every possible effort to carry out his well defined plans. While in Illinois, in 1894, he was made judge of the county court of Ottawa county

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 82

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