USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 58
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A. P. Tone Wilson prepared for the profession in the Kansas City School of Law of Kansas City, Missouri, as a member of the class of 1898 and has since followed his profession. He was formerly register of the United States land office at Topeka, Kansas, and for five years was editor and owner of the X-Ray Democrat, a newspaper published in that city. Since his removal to Burlington he has won for himself an enviable posi- tion at the bar of this city. He prepares his cases with thoroughness, with earnestness and with great care, and the presentation of his cause is always clear, lucid and forceful. He is now accorded a large clientage and is recognized as one of the brilliant lawyers of his county. He is likewise interested in real estate in Kit Carson county, having made judicious investments in property.
Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Carletta E. Parker, a daughter of the Hon. Fred Parker, of Johnson, Nebraska. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, is an Odd Fellow and also a Knight of Pythias. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church and his political views in his support of the democratic party. His acquaintance is broad, and high regard is entertained for him by reason of his enterprising and progressive public spirit and his professional powers.
JOHN McLENNAN.
It seems that John McLennan should need no introduction to the readers of this volume, for he is prominently known as one of the leading labor organizers of the country and as the arbitrator of many differences which have occurred between capital and labor. He is a born leader of men, possessing that power which for want of a better term has been called personal magnetism. At the same time he has been a most thorough and discriminating student of the great problems which he has discussed from the platform and through the press, and he has in addition a judicial cast of mind that enables him to see both sides of a question and to decide impartially. He has therefore been able to solve many difficult problems in the labor world and bring about equitable adjustment satisfactory alike to employer and employe. His work has indeed been of great worth and Denver should be glad to number him among her citizens. He was born in Cromarty, Scotland, on the 28th of January, 1873, and is a son of Kenneth and Anne (Stewart) McLennan, who spent their entire lives in Scotland, where the father engaged in farming. He died in that country in 1905 and his widow survived him for but a few months, when she, too, was called to the home beyond.
John McLennan was the youngest of their eight children. In early life he became a pupil in the public schools of his native country, but when still comparatively young started out in the business world on his own account, taking up the work of a stationary engineer. After serving an apprenticeship he continued to follow his chosen vocation in Scotland until his nineteenth year, when he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, attracted by the favorable opportunities which he believed he might secure on this side of the Atlantic. He was ambitious to work his way upward in a business way and. removing to Colorado, he secured a position as a mine engineer in Cripple Creek. There he remained for a time, after which he resigned to accept a better position in Colorado
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Springs. He was identified with the coal mines there in 1895 and in various parts of El Paso county for a period of six years. During the widespread strike of 1903 he gave up his position and was elected district board member of the Mine Workers' Union. In 1904 he was chosen to the position of district secretary, in which capacity he served until April, 1909. He was then elected president of the State Federation of Labor and was retained in that position until January I, 1918, when he resigned. In 1912 he was also elected district president of the Mine Workers' Union, with jurisdiction over all of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. He continued as president thereof until February 15. 1917. In these connections he has been called upon to aid in the settlement of many labor disputes and to bring about the adjustment of labor conditions. His sympathy has ever been with the oppressed, his activity in behalf of the one who needs assistance, and yet he has ever attempted to be fair and impartial in his rulings and he has to his credit various adjustments of labor difficulties. He has read broadly and thinks deeply. He has closely studied economic situations, especially in relation to the develop- ment of the mineral resources of the state and the conditions under which the work- men labor. He believes that every man should have a fair living wage and that his life should be properly safeguarded in every possible way. With this end in view he has wrought results which on many occasions have' largely furthered the interests of the mine workers. He has long realized that such results are only accomplished through close cooperation and unity of purpose and through his plain, concise and logical utter- ances he has led many to see the point that he takes, while his contributions to the press have also carried conviction to the minds of many of his readers.
On the 19th of February, 1908, Mr. McLennan was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Crawford, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Crawford. They have become parents of one son. John McLennan, Jr., who was born in Denver in 1912 and is now a pupil in the public schools. Mr. McLennan belongs to the Knights of Pythias, to the Brotherhood of American Yeomen and to the Homesteaders and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for he has here found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has made steady progress, while his life work has constituted an element of worth to those whose cause he has espoused.
ROBERT SMITH ALLEN, M. D.
Dr. Robert Smith Allen, one of the well known members of the medical profession in Denver, was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1873, a son of Z. T. and Anna (Cunningham) Allen, both of whom were natives of the Keystone state. They removed to Colorado and the father became well known in connection with railroad contract work but after some years retired from active business, spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of well earned rest. He died in Denver in 1910 and was survived by his widow until the 10th of March, 1918, when she, too, passed away. Their family numbered four children, of whom but two are living, Mrs. C. W. Perry and Dr. Allen of this review.
In the public schools of Pennsylvania, Dr. Robert S. Allen acquired his early education and later was for a time a student in the Ohio State University. He took up the profession of teaching, which he followed successfully in his native state for about three years. In 1896 he became a resident of Denver and in that year entered the medical department of the University of Denver, from which institution he was gradu- ated with the M. D. degree in 1900. He at once began the practice of his profession in Denver, which for more than eighteen years has been the scene of his professional activity. Dr. Allen has built up a large and lucrative practice, always holding to the highest professional standards, and belongs to that class of medical men who dignify their profession. Thoroughly progressive, he has ever kept in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress and at all times his work has been of great worth to his fellowmen. He served as county physician in 1910 and 1911. He is a member of the Denver City and County Medical Society, the Colorado State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and he is also a member of the Colorado draft board.
Dr. Allen is a well known and prominent Mason, taking a keen and active interest in the work of that fraternity. He has taken the degrees of the York and Scottish Rites, becoming a thirty-second degree Mason in Denver Consistory, No. 1. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Royal Arcanum, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern
DR. ROBERT S. ALLEN
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Woodmen of America and to other fraternal and social organizations. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.
Combined with professional skill Dr. Allen has shown good business judgment, resulting in a measure of financial success that places him among the more substantial class of citizens in Denver. He is exceptionally fond of literature and has an extensive collection of standard and classical works in addition to his splendid medical library. He is particularly fond of outdoor life, including hunting and fishing in the mountains. He realizes that the well balanced man is the one who can play well and work well. While he concentrates his efforts and attention largely upon his professional interests and duties, he enters with enthusiasm into anything that he undertakes and never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose.
Dr. Allen was married July 16, 1917, to Miss Cecil McAnlis, of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel McAnlis, of that city. By a former marriage Dr. Allen had a son, John C., who was born in Denver on the 11th of Angust, 1902, and is now attending school. The family residence at 1600 South Broadway is one of the excellent private homes in that section of the city.
GEORGE W. SMITH.
Among the successful merchants of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, is George W. Smith, who for a number of years has carried on a prosperous establishment in this town. He is a popular business man, having won by his genial and affable ways a large cus- tom, and as he has followed in all his transactions the strict path of honesty and main- tains the highest business principles it is bnt natural that he has prospered as the years have gone by. He was born in Licking county, Ohio, November 7, 1855, his parents being William W. and Mary (Fear) Smith, and in the public schools of his native state he received his primary education. In order to improve his educational opportunities and to better prepare himself for life's arduous duties he then attended the North Liberty Normal School at Jacksonville, Ohio. Laying aside his texthooks, he entered upon a commercial career and for three years was employed as a clerk in a store, after which period he hecame bookkeeper and paying teller in the Bank of Manchester at Manchester, Ohio, continuing in this connection for nine years, at the end of which time he came to Colorado and in March, 1889, settled in Jefferson county. For a number of years he held the position of rural mail carrier, and carefully hns- banding his earnings, gradually acquired the means which enabled him to set himself up in business, establishing a general merchandise store in Wheat Ridge, which he has ever since successfully conducted. He carries a well selected and complete line of mer- chandise which he retails at a reasonable profit and he has gradually built up a pat- ronage which is extensive and assures him of a gratifying annual income.
In May, 1892, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Junie M. Linn, a daughter of Dr. A. E. Linn, of Nebraska, the ceremony being performed in Denver. To this union were horn four children, Mildred L., Irene M., Lois Mae and Ellwood.
In his political affiliations Mr. Smith is a republican and fraternally belongs to the Odd Fellows. He is deeply interested in church work and charitable institutions and at present is efficiently serving as an elder of the Methodist church, in which he has ever taken a helpful interest. Both he and his wife are popular in the social circles of their community, in which they have made many friends, who often partake of their generous hospitality. Mr. Smith has been connected with military affairs and takes an active part in war service work. his interest being easily explained by his service for five years with the Ohio militia, in which organization he served when he was a resident of that state. There is much to be said in commendation of Mr. Smith, who has rounded out a successful career entirely by his own efforts. Obstacles have obstructed his path, but he overcame them by indefatigable energy and industry and has made for himself a foremost place among the citizens of Wheat Ridge.
JACOB SCHERRER.
With the death of Jacob Scherrer, on January 7, 1918, passed from life a man who not only achieved eminence for himself as one of the great men of his state but one whose labors contributed in large measure to the development of Denver. He was very successful in the cattle industry and in that business acquired the means which
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permitted him to extend his influence into other business relations. He was oue of the famous band of fifty-niners, many of whom have passed to the home beyond, and with his death there closed a career which connected the romantic pioneer period with the era of present-day progress. Moreover, Mr. Scherrer took great interest in the higher things of life, educational and social interests being particularly near his heart.
Jacob Scherrer was born in France, February 8, 1838, of Swiss and French ancestry, his parents being Joseph and Theresa Scherrer. His mother died in France in early life and the father later married again in that country. In 1847 he came to America with his family, bringing with him his son Jacob, who was then nine years of age, settlement being made on a farm near Iowa City, Iowa. There the father remained until 1882, devoting his life's labors to agricultural interests, but in the latter year he came to Denver, where he died in 1885 at the age of seventy-nine years. He was a shoemaker by trade, but after coming to this country gave his entire attention to farming.
Jacob Scherrer had begun his education in France but continued the same in this country near his father's farm in Iowa. He subsequently assisted the latter in his agricultural labors and remained in that state until in the '50s, when he followed the trail of the gold seekers across the wide prairies to Colorado. He reached this state after having experienced the usual hardships of overland travel. In fact, the dangers which beset his party were so many and so real that those with whom Mr. Scherrer left Iowa turned back to that state, but the latter continued to face west- ward, courageously following the setting sun. Having accomplished his purpose, he at first settled at what is now Boulder. It was later, or on July 11, 1859, when he first came to Denver.
Father Macheboeuf, who later became Catholic bishop of Colorado, was at that time doing missionary work for his church in this section and it was to the Scherrer home in Boulder and Georgetown that Father Macheboeuf repaired every Sunday in order to celebrate mass. This practice was continued until the small Catholic congre- gation was able to raise sufficient funds to erect a more suitable place of worship. In the early '60s Mr. Scherrer became interested in the cattle business and continued active along that line until a short time before his death. His shrewd business sense, his transparent honesty, his long experience and his natural ability soon led him into prominent connections in this line of business and prosperity attended his efforts. For two years he was also engaged in the stock business in Montana and was one of the founders of the town of Helena. Mr. Scherrer's ventures proved eminently suc- cessful and in the early '80s he was able to acquire a five thousand acre ranch in Kit Carson and Yuma counties, which he extensively devoted to stock raising. It was known as the Bar Tree ranch and was one of the noted cattle grounds of the state. He disposed of this property in 1911. In 1901 he and other Denver capitalists went to St. Louis, Missouri, and bought a tract of land there which they had surveyed into lots. These new additions were called Denverside and Alta Sita, and Mr. Scherrer derived a handsome profit from this transaction. When the World's Fair in St. Louis opened in 1904 he returned to Denver and here he lived retired until his death.
In 1871 Jacob Scherrer married Miss Leontine Louise Marion, daughter of another Colorado pioneer. The ceremony was solemnized by Bishop Macheboeuf. Mrs. Scherrer was a daughter of Joseph Marion, a native of Auxierre, France, and for years one of the largest seed merchants in his native land. He married a daughter of Blaise Savrie, a wine grower in France, and in 1854 brought his family to America, settlement being made near Hartford, Connecticut. After two years the family removed to St. Louis. Missouri, where the father engaged in general merchandising, but in 1859 he made the hazardous overland trip to Colorado, his wife joining him the next year in this state. They located in Denver and here Mr. Marion conducted a mercantile business on Ferry street with good success, spending, however, several years in mining in Utah. His wife died in Denver, August 6, 1896, at the age of seventy years, and he has also passed away. In their family were four children: Leontine Louise, who married Jacob Scherrer; Angele, the wife of A. V. Scherrer, a half-brother of our subject; Josephine; and Albert. Josephine Marion now lives in Denver, but Mrs. Scherrer was killed in an automobile accident near Los Angeles, California, about five years ago, on March 25, 1913. She was greatly beloved by all who knew her, for she was a woman of fine qualities of heart and mind who not only had ably assisted her husband in his suc- cessful commercial career but who did much good among the unfortunate and needy. Wherever there was distress to relieve she could be found and many were the cases where she quietly dispensed charity, no one knowing of the transaction but the giver and the recipient. To Mr. and Mrs. Scherrer were born ten children. Leo J., who is engaged in the real estate business in St. Louis, married Katherine Wall and has one
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son, Leo Antonio. Dr. E. A. Scherrer, of Denver, married Miss Ritzious, of New York city, by whom he has two children, Henry and Marion. Charles W., who is in the government service, married Miss Guydonia Robinson, of Alabama, and has a son, Charles. Marie is the widow of P. P. Vandeventer, who passed away eighteen years ago. Stella married Horace McDowell, of Chicago, by whom she has three children, Scherrer, Stella and Fredericka. Garfield married Annette Monihan and they have four children, J. Garfield, Annette, Louis and Elmer, the family making their home on a ranch originally owned by his father. William S., who lives on a ranch, part of which was his father's property, married Barbara Hoflander, of New York, by whom he has three children, Robert, and William and Phillip, twins. Fredericka passed away seven years ago; Leontine lives in Denver, and Jacques S. died fifteen years ago.
Mr. Scherrer was a devoted communicant of the Catholic church, displaying deep interest in church work from his early youth. He had part in the construction of the first parochial Catholic school in connection with the old cathedral at Fifteenth and Stout streets in Denver, and was president of the first parish school in this city. He was one of the ten men who gave one thousand dollars each in order to make possible the erection of Mercy Hospital, and for six years he was president of the Chamber of Commerce. The importance of his cattle interests may be surmised from the fact that he served as president of the Colorado Cattle Association. With the exception of his residence in St. Louis, he lived continuously in Denver from 1881 until his demise. His political affiliation was with the republican party but he had no desire for political preferment and outside of giving support to the candidates of his party he did not participate in public affairs.
Mr. Scherrer in his later years was a familiar figure on the streets of Denver and was generally and genuinely respected by people in all walks of life. He was ever ready to cooperate with others in movements for the betterment of the conditions of the less fortunate and the growth, betterment and beautification of his adopted city were dear to his heart. In business and private life he had made innumerable friends all over the state and all united in their appreciation of his manly character. His death, at the age of eighty years, was not only a shock to his immediate family, all of whom were present at his bedside at the last moment, but was the occasion of general and widespread regret throughout the state, which in him honored one of the early pioneers and one of those sterling men who by their labors laid the founda- tion to the prosperity which is enjoyed by the present generation. His memory is enshrined in the hearts of his friends and many are those who profited by his kindly advice and who sought his help and assistance in time of need and which were seldom if ever refused. With the death of Jacob Scherrer there passed from this life a figure which in regard to his city had attained historical significance.
GEORGE A. BOYD, M. D.
The splendid climate has naturally made of Colorado a health resort and there is no state perhaps which has a larger percentage of capable physicians. Among those practicing at Colorado Springs is Dr. George A. Boyd, who was born upon a farm in Spencer county, Indiana, in 1864, a son of Thomas J. Boyd, who was born in Tennessee in 1813 and removed to Indiana with his parents in 1821. Upon the old home- stead farm Dr. Boyd was reared to the age of fifteen years and attended the country schools. He then went to Oregon county, Missouri, where his eldest brother was lo- cated, and there he entered the employ of his brother, Joseph Lane Boyd, becoming manager of a drug store at Thayer, Missouri. He was thus employed from 1881 until 1883, at which time he returned to his native state and entered Danville Normal Col- lege. completing a classical course there by graduation in 1888. In the meantime he determined to devote his life to the practice of medicine and in preparation therefor he entered the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York and won his professional degree upon graduation as a member of the class of 1890. He first located for practice in Kansas City, Missouri, where he continued for a year, and then removed to Edger- ton, Kansas, where he practiced for eight years. He next went to Baldwin, Kansas, where he resided for four years, and in 1904 he came to Colorado Springs, where he has since engaged in active practice, devoting the greater part of his time and attention to surgery. His knowledge in this direction is comprehensive and his skill pronounced.
In 1892, in Salina, Kansas. Dr. Boyd was united in marriage to Miss Jenny Lind Shelley and to them have been born the following named: Helen Shelley and Agnes
DR. AND MRS. GEORGE A. BOYD
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Courtney, twins; Edith, who is pursuing a medical course in Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Maryland; and Dorolyn.
In politics Dr. Boyd maintains an independent course. He is a stout adherent of the single-tax system and stands strong on land reform. He was a personal friend of Henry George whom he greatly admired and also knew his family. Every essential reform movement finds in Dr. Boyd a warm champion. However, most of his time and attention are given over to his professional interests and he is now a member and librarian of the El Paso County Medical Society, a member of the Colorado State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Solly Tuberculosis Society, the Colorado Springs Clinical Club, and in 1903 he was a delegate from Kansas to the meeting of the American Medical Association held at St. Paul, Minnesota. Through these mem- bership connections he keeps in close touch with the latest thought and discoveries of the profession and he is utilizing every opportunity to promote his knowledge and ad- vance his efficiency. He has developed superior ability in surgical work and occupies an eminent position in that field of practice.
FRANK TOMPKINS.
For over twenty years Frank Tompkins has been connected with hotel interests in Limon, Colorado, having come to this city in 1897. His first place was an unpre- tentious wooden affair and he conducted it for about three years, but he now has a comfortable hostelry, to which he gives a great deal of his time, although he is now serving also as president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Limon. In the growing west he has found opportunities for expansion and development and has attained a degree of prosperity which reflects his business ability, his untiring industry and the honorable business methods which he has ever employed in all of his business transactions.
A native of New York, Mr. Tompkins was born in Elmira in December, 1853, a son of Solomon and Cornelia Tompkins, the former an interior decorator and designer of considerable reputation. Their son received his early lessons in life under the guid- ance of his parents, who instilled into him honorable principles of American manhood. In the acquirement of his education he attended school in his native state but in 1879, at the age of twenty-six years, he decided to leave the east in order to make his fortune in one of the less developed states of the west. In that year he removed to Michigan, where he remained for two years, but the surroundings in which he found himself did not appeal to him and he felt that he had not found as yet the opportunity which was to place him among the prosperous and well-to-do. He came to Colorado in 1879, taking up his residence in Hugo, Lincoln county, and he has therefore now been a resident of this state for about thirty-nine years. During the next ten years he rode the range, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the cattle business, and also did some cow punching. He is therefore well acquainted with one of the pioneer occupations of this state and can relate many interesting occurrences, reminding one of those early days when mining and cattle interests were the business activities in the state. He soon made his influence felt in his community and his standing among his fellow citi- zens is evidenced in the fact that upon the organization of the county he was appointed the first sheriff thereof by Governor Cooper. He served as such for one year in 1889 and in 1892 was again elected. After a two years' term he was reelected, these two terms covering the years from 1892 until 1896. In the discharge of his duties he was always faithful and fearless and succeeded in ridding his district of the greater part of the lawless element that infested it during those rough and ready days. His efforts were always appreciated by the law abiding citizens of the county, all of whom spoke most highly of Mr. Tompkins' qualities, expressing themselves as thoroughly satisfied with his official work.
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