USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109
224
HISTORY OF COLORADO
in the year 1918 is filling the office for a second term. He is also a vice president of the National Live Stock Exchange, having been elected at the Chicago convention in 1918.
Aside from the direct field of his business, Mr. Blakley is well known, being the president of the Denver Fair Association for one term. also president of the Denver Police Board during Mayor Armstrong's administration. He has never sought or desired political office or emoluments, however, but has preferred to do his public duty as a private citizen, cooperating in plans and measures for the general good and giving his support to many well devised interests for the benefit of Denver along those lines which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. He was one of the organizers of the Volunteer Firemen's Association and at all times he has borne his full part in the work of progress and improvement relative to Denver's upbuilding.
On the 12th of September, 1880, Mr. Blakley was united in marriage to Miss Ophelia Bonnell, of Denver, a native of Missouri and a daughter of William and Adeline Bonnell. They became the parents of five children who are yet living and lost two in infancy. The eldest, L. L. Blakley, born in Denver in 1883. is associated with the News-Times. He married Miss Mabel Wright, of Denver, and to them have been born five children, Lyle. Helen, Margaret, Geraldine and William. A. A. Blakley, Jr., born in Denver in 1885. is engaged in business with his father. He married Viola Pais and has two children. A. A. Blakley 1Il and Harry Blakley. A. K. Gilbert, born in Denver in 1887, married Dixie Lee, of Denver, where they reside. and they have two children, Elsie Gilbert and Sterling Gilbert Blakley. Ralph S. Blakley, born in Denver, married Miss Martha Myers and has one child. Martha Agnes. He is a live stock salesman. Bonnell C. Blakley, born in 1900, is secretary and treasurer of the Blakley Commission Company. All of the children were educated in the high school of Denver.
Mr. Blakley is a well known Mason, belonging to the blue lodge. chapter and com- mandery, and the Shrine, and in years of membership he is one of the oldest members of the Woodmen of the World in Colorado. A highly respected citizen and substantial stockman, he has made notable progress in the business world and what he has accom- plished represents the fit utilization of his innate powers and talents and a recognition of opportunities.
GEORGE BEGGS CREWS. M. D.
Widely known in Denver is Dr. George B. Crews, who for many years has been active- ly and successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery. Illinois claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Cass county on the 25th of July, 1856. His parents were William J. and Mary E. ( Beggs) Crews. The father was a native of Kentucky, while the mother was born in Illinois, and the former accompanied his parents on their removal from the Blue Grass state to Illinois, where they settled in pioneer times. Arriving in Cass county in 1830, the grandfather turned his attention to the occupation of farming there and was one of the first to break the virgin soil in that region. William J. Crews there also followed the occupation of farming until some years after his marriage. His wife passed away in Cass county. Illinois, in 1865 and he later removed to Kansas. where he operated a sawmill. On leaving that state he went to Arkansas, making his way into the lumber district, where he set up a sawmill. which he continued to operate until his health failed him because of the swampy nature of the country. He died in Augusta, Arkansas, in 1872.
Dr. Crews, who had accompanied his father to the southwest. then returned to lilinois. where he entered school, pursuing his studies at Virginia, Illinois. where he passed through consecutive grades to the high school. He completed his course in 1875 and tor four years thereafter he was a student in the Illinois Wesleyan University. With his sav- ings he paid his tuition in the Northwestern Medical College of Chicago and completed his course by graduation in the class of 1883, at which time his professional degree was con- ferred upon him. He then went to China as a missionary of the Methodist church and re mained abroad from 1883 until 1889, practicing his profession and making converts to the church by his religious teaching. On his return he came to Denver and opened an office in this city in 1889. Through the intervening period of almost thirty years he has been one of the successful practitioners not only of the city but of the state and for ten years he was a member of the faculty of the Denver Medical College as professor of pharma- cology. He has done post-graduate work along the line of his profession and is constantly promoting his knowledge and advancing his efficiency through broad reading and study.
Dr. Crews was married in Normal, Illinois, on the 31st of July. 1883, to Miss Kate V. Town, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Zerah Town, of a well known family of Bloomington.
gio 18. Crous
Vol. III-15
226
HISTORY OF COLORADO
Illinois. They have become parents of four children: Luella, who was born in Denver in 1890 and is a graduate of the Denver high school; Helen, who was born in 1892 and is a graduate of the University of Denver; Floyd, who was born in 1897 and is now a sopho- more in the University of Denver; and Mary, who was born in 1900 and is a pupil in the Denver high school. The other members of Dr. Crews' family are his brother Charles, who is a business man of Pueblo, Colorado, and a sister, Mrs. Mollie Besly, living in Denver, while another sister, Luella, died in infancy.
In politics Dr. Crews is a republican where national questions and issues are in- volved but casts an independent local ballot. He concentrates the major part of his time and attention upon his professional duties and he belongs to the Denver City and County Medical Society, the Colorado State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion. From the outset of his professional career he has manifested the deepest interest in the science of medicine and all that has to do with the laws of health. Anything that tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life awakens liis attention and he is very quick to discriminate between the essential and the non-essential in all that regards professional activity. He diagnoses his cases most carefully and his judgment is seldom, if ever, at fault. His record proves that power grows through the exercise of effort and, never content with what he has already accomplished, he is constant- ly pusbing his way upward to higher planes, giving him a broader outlook and wider op- portunities.
HENRY O. MORRIS.
Henry O. Morris, the well known secretary and treasurer of the Proven Fields Oil Company, residing in Pueblo, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 14th of October, 1855, a son of Henry J. and Malinda (Bigney) Morris. His uncle, Major Bigney, was one of the very earliest of the Colorado pioneers and at one time was editor of the Pueblo Chieftain. Henry J. Morris, father of Henry O. Morris, was engaged in the blockade service during the Civil war. He died in France. The family afterward removed to Janesville. Wisconsin, and later sought a home in the west, settling at Leavenworth, Kansas. In September, 1874, they came to Colorado, taking up their abode in Pueblo, and thus Henry O. Morris became a resident of this city when a youth of nineteen years. He had acquired his education in the graded schools of the various localities in which he had lived and after the removal to Pueblo he became identified with newspaper inter- ests as a member of the staff of the Pueblo Chieftain. Later he was engaged in cavalry service and geological survey work of the government for five years, after which he returned to Pueblo and for a quarter of a century was engaged in the real estate and insurance business in this city, dealing largely in ranches. He was thus active through the period of early development and colonization in this part of the state. A year ago he became one of the organizers of the Proven Fields Oil Company, which buys only proven oil lands which it then develops. Its work has been carried forward most satis- factorily and successfully and one may always depend upon its property as of productive value.
Mr. Morris was married on the 23d of December, 1893, to Miss Matta C. Kinnear, of Baltimore, Maryland, and they are highly esteemed socially in the city in which they ' make their home.
JOHN T. ALLEN.
John T. Allen, who has made an enviable position and creditable name for himself in insurance circles in Denver, was born in Humphreys, Missouri, August 6, 1875. a son of Theodore and Allie (Dunlap) Allen. the former a native of Maryland, while the latter was born in Illinois. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming and has been called to his final rest, but the mother is still living. In their family were five chil- dren who still survive, two being residents of Missouri, one of Oklahoma and one of Washington.
The other member of the family is John T. Allen of this review, who is indebted to the public school system of his native state for the educational opportunities which he enjoyed. In early life he became connected with the cattle business and from 1904 was identified with banking at Fargo, Oklahoma, for seven years. On the expiration of that
227
HISTORY OF COLORADO
period he turned his attention to the life insurance business in connection with the Kansas City Life Insurance Company, coming to Denver, where he arrived in June, 1911. and through the intervening period he has continued in the field of insurance as repre- sentative of the same company, for which he has built up a business of large and gratify- ing proportions. He is now state manager for Colorado and Wyoming. He is thoroughly familiar with every phase of insurance and in the development of his agency has shown himself to be master of the situation, with excellent powers of organization.
Mr. Allen was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Casey, of Oklahoma, the wedding being celebrated in Texas, and they have two children, Edna Aline and Betty Jane, three years and three months of age respectively. Mr. Allen was made a Mason in Fargo, Oklahoma, and has taken the Consistory degrees of the Scottish Rite, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft, which is based upon a recognition of the brother- hood of mankind. He belongs to the Denver Athletic Club and the nature of his interests and activities is further indicated in the fact that he has membership in the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, that he gives his political allegiance to the republican party and that he is a loyal adherent of the teachings of the Christian church. in which he has long held membership. A resident of Denver for seven years, he has made many friends during the period of his connection with the city and now occupies an enviable position in both business and social circles.
C. M. RHEIN, D. D. S.
Dr. C. M. Rhein, engaged in the practice of dental surgery in Denver, was born in Mount Vernon, Indiana, September 2, 1892. a son of Charles William and Sarah ( Mott) Rhein, both of whom were natives of Indiana, where they have spent their entire lives. The father became a well known and successful retail grocer of Mount Vernon, Indiana. where he still resides. In 1894, however, he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away at the age of thirty-one years.
Dr. Rhein, their only child, was a pupil in the public schools of Mount Vernon and afterward continued his education in Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee. He left that place after studying there for two years and matriculated in the University of Denver in 1913, winning his D. D. S. degree as a member of the class of 1914. He then opened an office in Denver, where he has since built up a large practice, and he keeps in touch with the advanced thought and purposes of the profession as a member of the Denver Dental Society. the Colorado State Dental Association and the National Dental Association.
Dr. Rhein was married on the 2d of June. 1915, to Miss Mary Katherine De La Vergne, a daughter of Mr. and Mrsh. J. A. De La Vergne, of Denver. One child has been born to them, Margaret Jane, whose birth occurred in Denver, March 18, 1917.
Dr. and Mrs. Rhein are members of St. Thomas Episcopal church and he also has membership in the Masonic fraternity and is master of his lodge. He likewise belongs to Delta Sigma Delta. His personal qualities as well as his professional ability have gained for him a creditable place in public regard. That he is successful is indicated by his well appointed offices in the Commonwealth building, where large demands are daily made upon his time and energy. His practice has always been the expression of the latest ideas of dental surgery and pronounced skill in the actual operative work.
HON. FRANCIS M. WEILAND.
Hon. Francis M. Weiland is numbered among the residents of Fowler who are now retired. For many years he was very active in business circles and controlled important interests, but in later years has put aside business cares and is enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. At different periods in his career he has been active in public office and at all times has been most loyal to the interests of the com- munity and commonwealth which he has represented.
Mr. Weiland was born in Knightstown, Indiana, on the 29th of September, 1849. his parents being J. H. and Elizabeth (Leonard) Weiland. The father was a millwright by trade and for many years resided in Indiana but both he and his wife are now deceased. Their family numbered four sons and one daughter.
Francis M. Weiland, who was the fourth in order of birth, acquired his education in the public schools and also had training in a commercial school. His early experiences
228
HISTORY OF COLORADO
were those of the farm-bred boy and he soon became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. He left the farm in 1872, when a young man of twenty-three years, and removed to Pueblo, Colorado, where he became identified with the mercantile house of Peabody & Jordan, occupying a position there for three years. On the expiration of that period he hegan farming on his own account and for a few years successfully cultivated a tract of land. He then engaged in merchandising on his own account in Nepesta, where he continued until 1890, when he removed to Fowler, establishing what is now the Larkin Mercantile Company. He conducted the business successfully for a time and then sold out, after which he devoted a number of years to farming. At length, however, he put aside the active work of the fields and took up his abode in Fowler, while his sons are now cultivating the place. He has ever manifested a progressive spirit in all that he has undertaken and his success has come to him as the merited reward of persistent labor, intelligently directed.
In 1868 Mr. Weiland was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Carleton, a native of Iowa, and to them have been born the following named: Adelbert A., C. E., Edward F., Jay O. and Pearl, the last named the wife of Stanley Larkin, of Fowler. There are thir- teen grandchildren.
Mr. Weiland is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has filled all of the chairs in the local lodge. His political allegiance has ever been given to the republican party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to a number of public offices. He filled the position of county commissioner for one term and was school director for twenty-five years, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion, for he put forth effective and earnest effort to advance the school system of his district. He also served for two regular terms and one special term in the state senate and was chairman of the committee on agriculture and irriga- tion. He was well qualified for that position because of his practical experience and his close study of agricultural conditions and his efforts resulted in bringing about needed and desirable legislation for the benefit of the farmers. Moreover, he closely studied every question which came up for settlement and gave to every cause in which he be- lieved his most earnest support and worked just as effectively against any measure which he believed would prove detrimental to the interests of the state. In fact, his course was marked by public spirited devotion to the general good and his labors were far-reaching and effective. He has proven a man of worth to his community and one who merits and receives the goodwill, confidence and high regard of all with whom he has been associated.
WILLIAM L. WILLS.
William L. Wills, filling the office of county treasurer in Las Animas county and making his home in Trinidad, comes to Colorado from Illinois, his birth having occurred in Pike county of the latter state on the 9th of September, 1855. He is a son of Thomas H. and Ann (Fisher) Wills. The father engaged as captain and owner in steamboating on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers for a period of twenty-five years, and for a number of years made his home in St. Louis. He afterward removed to Independence, Kansas, where he engaged in the banking business, and there his remaining days were passed, his death occurring at that place in 1879. For ten years he had survived his wife, who passed away in 1869.
William L. Wills was the second in order of birth in a family of four children, having three sisters, one of whom is yet living and is now Mrs. John Grass, of Denver, Colorado. After attending the public schools of St. Louis for a time, he continued his education in the schools of Independence, Kansas, and in young manhood he became the assistant of his father in the bank. He afterward took charge of his father's live stock interests, and thus in early manhood received thorough business training, well qualifying him for later increased responsibilities. He came to Colorado in 1882 and engaged in the cattle business, which he has followed practically throughout the entire period of his residence in the west, conducting his interests at various periods in Colorado, New Mexico and Montana. He thus became well known in connection with the cattle industry and his affairs have been wisely, carefully and successfully conducted.
Mr. Wills has also figured prominently in connection with public interests. For two terms he served as city alderman of Trinidad and exercised his official prerogatives in support of various plans and measures for the general good. In 1912 he was elected to the office of county treasurer, and that he has made a most excellent record in this position is indicated in the fact that he is now serving for the third term. He has always been
WILLIAM L. WILLS
230
HISTORY OF COLORADO
a republican in politics. has frequently attended county and state conventions, and has been a most active party worker, yet he always places the general good before partisan- ship and the public welfare before self-aggrandizement.
On the 13th of February, 1896, Mr. Wills was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Reed, a daughter of M. C. and Julia ( Brannin) Reed, pioneer settlers and at one time owners of Vermejo Park. New Mexico. This is now the property and country home of the millionaire Bartlett. The Reed family settled there in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Wills are well known socially in the city where they make their home. enjoying the good-will and high regard of all with whom they have come in contact. Mr Wills is a director and was one of the promoters of the Las Animas County Fair. and does everything in his power to insure its success. He has also been the president of the Taft Republican Club. Fraternally he is an Elk, belonging to Trinidad Lodge. No. 181, with which he has been identified for a quarter of a century, being today the only living representative of the original members. He belongs also to the Trinidad Club. to the Chamber of Commerce. and to the Red Cross committee, associations that indicate much concerning the nature of his interests, the rules that govern his conduct and his attitude upon vital and signifi- cant questions.
ROBERT V. WEICKER
Robert V. Weicker is contributing to Denver's business activity as president of the Weicker Transfer & Storage Company and also as treasurer of the Young-Crook Invest- ment Company, the former. however, claiming the major part of his attention. Mr. Weicker comes to Colorado from Missouri, his birth having occurred in Carroll county of the latter state on the 9th of December, 1864. His father, the late George O. Weicker, settled in 1840 in St. Charles county, Missouri, among its earliest settlers. There George O. Weicker was reared and educated and at the outbreak of the Civil war he en- listed for active service with the Union army. During the early '60s he removed to Car- roll county. Missouri, where he spent his remaining days. devoting his attention to agri- cultural pursuits with good success. He had reached the advanced age of eighty-three when he passed away in October. 1917. In early manhood he wedded Mary Lett, a native of Missouri and a representative of one of its pioneer families of English and Scotch lineage. She died in 1869.
Robert V. Weicker was the third child in a family of three sons and three daughters and acquired his early education in the public schools of Carroll county, spending his youthful days to the age of fourteen years upon his father's farm. He afterward worked upon farms in the neighborhood until he reached the age of twenty years, and in 1884 he made a trip across the country with his elder brother, A. C. Weicker, to Garden City, Kansas, where he secured work in a sales stable. He continued at Garden City until September, 1888, when he came to Colorado. arriving in Denver an entire stranger. He immediately secured employment in the Albany stables, then located where the Equitable building now stands, at the corner of Seventeenth and Stout streets. There he worked until the following May, when he entered business on his own account, starting in the express business with a one-horse wagon, which constituted the nucleus of his present extensive enterprise, now one of the largest transfer and storage business interests of Colorado. The warehouses are located at Nos. 1441-1451 Wynkoop street and No. 1536 Wynkoop street. The storage capacity of these buildings is indicated in the fact that they average one hundred thousand square feet of floor space. The buildings are thor- oughly modern and fireproof and the firm is now erecting an addition to the former which is seventy-five by one hundred and twenty five feet and six stories in height. It has large elevators and other appliances to facilitate the handling of such work and a number of anto trucks are used. Something of the volume of their business is indicated in the fact that the firm today employs on an average one hundred people. The growth of this enterprise is attributable in no small measure to the efforts, keen business insight and indefatigable energy of Mr. Weicker, who, utilizing every legitimate means for the development of the firm's patronage, has built up one of the largest undertakings of the kind in the city. He is also treasurer of the Young-Crook Investment Company, a Denver corporation.
In August, 1895. Mr. Weicker was married in Denver to Miss Florence C. Holliday, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, whose parents were pioneer people of that state. They now have two daughters, Irma and Eunice, both born in Denver. The family residence is at No. 1648 Madison street.
231
HISTORY OF COLORADO
Mr. Weicker turns to fishing and hunting for his chief diversions. In politics he is a republican and fraternally is connected with Pike Lodge, No. 117, A. F. & A. M .; Colo- rado Chapter, No. 29, R. A. M .; Colorado Commandery, No. 25, K. T .; and El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also has membership with the Elks, the Woodmen of the World and the Royal Arcanum and he is a member of the Denver Civic and Commercial Club, a fact indicative of his interest in the welfare, upbuilding and progress of his city. His life record contains much that is of inspirational value to the man who must depend upon his own efforts and resources, for Mr. Weicker started out in the business world a poor boy, beginning work for his board and ten dollars per month as equivalent for his services. He worked from sunrise until late at night at hard farm labor, but he never faltered and his persistency of purpose constituted the foundation upon which his later success has been built. Utilizing every advantage that has come to him, he has steadily progressed and is today a most active factor in business circles of Denver.
WILLIAM GARMAN KRAPE.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.