USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 84
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familiar with every phase of its pioneer development as well as its later progress and improvement and he has related many most interesting incidents of the early days, while his experiences of that period and of the present indicate the vast changes which have occurred in the methods and manner of life in the west during the period of his connection with Colorado.
HENRY C. FREEMAN.
Henry C. Freeman is owner of a good farm of four hundred and eighty acres in the vicinity of Calhan. His place is well improved according to ideas of progressive farming and his success is the merited reward of persistent and earnest labor. Mr. Freeman is a native son of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Hancock county, that state, on the 10th of May, 1854, his parents being Lewis B. and Mary E. Freeman. The father was a native of New Jersey, while the mother's birth occurred in Ohio. Remov- ing westward, they lived for some time in Illinois, and while spending his youthful days under the parental roof Henry C. Freeman attended the common schools. He spent the vacation periods at farm work and thus early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. In 1888 he arrived in Colorado, removing to this state from Valley county, Nebraska. He homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in Arapahoe county and after residing thereon for a time disposed of that property and came to El Paso county, settling a mile east of Calhan, where he purchased land. To his original holdings he has added from time to time until the boundaries of his farm now include four hundred and eighty acres of excellent farm property. On this place stands a comfortable residence and substantial barns and outbuildings which furnish ample shelter for grain and stock. He has one hundred head of cattle upon his place and is regarded as one of the wide-awake, alert, energetic and successful farmers of the community.
On the 24th of March, 1876, Mr. Freeman was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Scott, who was born in Marion county, Iowa, where she grew to womanhood. They have become the parents of four children. Perry P., born April 10, 1877, married Prudence Dixon, of El Paso county, Colorado, and they reside in Idaho, where he is manager of a large fruit ranch. Russell C., born November 12, 1883, is living on a ranch at Emmett, Idaho. Laura, born April 14, 1892, is the wife of George Sypes and they have a son, Glen, who is with them on their homestead farm, which is situated in the southeastern part of El Paso county. Harry, born December 12, 1897, is at home with his parents and is doing active work in the development, cultivation and improvement of the ranch. He attends to much of the business connected with its cultivation and management and greatly relieves his father of care and labor. He is repaying his parents in filial devotion for the love and care with which they sur- rounded him in his boyhood days and he is a son of whom the parents have every reason to be proud.
In his political views Mr. Freeman is independent, supporting men and measures rather than party. Fraternally he belongs to Camp, No. 475, of the Woodmen of the World, at Calhan. His life's course has ever been upright, his many friends testifying to his honorable qualities and high character.
HON. T. G. PRICE.
Hon. T. G. Price, engaged in the real estate business in Burlington and also inter- ested in general farming in Kit Carson county, was born in Clayton county, Iowa, June 27, 1847. a son of Eliphalet and Ellen (Cottle) Price. The father was a well known lawyer, justice of the peace and judge and was a very popular and highly respected man. His prominence is indicated by the fact that a large engraving of him is hanging in the state capitol in Denver. He was for a few years a resident of Colorado Springs.
T. G. Price acquired his early education in the public schools and afterward became a student in what was known as the Upper Iowa University. He was twenty years of age when he made his initial step in the business world, receiving the appoint- ment of railway mail agent in Clayton county, Iowa, the run being between Dubuque, Iowa, and La Crosse, Wisconsin, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles. He held that position for two years and in June, 1887, came to Colorado, settling at Burlington.
HON. T. G. PRICE
ELIPHALET PRICE
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He had participated in the Civil war, spending a year and a half under the command of General A. J. Smith as a member of the Forty-fourth lowa Infantry, with which he took part in a number of important engagements. When he left the army he had a soldier's warrant for eighty acres of land and of this he made use upon his removal to Colorado. He secured the eighty-acre tract through his military warrant and had the land platted into town lots. In the early days he lived at various places on the prairie. The nearest railroad was eighty miles distant, and when he wanted to build a house he had to haul the lumber for a distance of forty miles. He built the first frame house in Burlington. He was actively interested in cattle raising, buying cattle which he would put upon the range, and as he moved with his herd from place to place, he would build a sod house. This was during the period when Burlington was being established. As the years passed on and the county became well organized Mr. Price was called upon for public service and for three years occupied the position of county judge. He was also sent to represent his district in the lower house of the state legislature, of which he was a member for two sessions, the regular session of 1892 and 1893 and the extra session of 1894.
Before leaving Iowa Mr. Price was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife. His son, Avalo, who is now married and has three children, resides in Denver. He occupies the position of foreman in connection with one of the divisions of the Moffat irrigation ditch.
Mr. Price is a republican in his political views. Coming to Colorado in pioneer times, he has been an eye witness of the development and upbuilding of Kit Carson county and has borne his share in the work of general improvement as promoted by the development of its business interests, and by other activities.
A. N. CHRISTENSON.
A. N. Christenson, of Limon, agent for the Sinclair Oil Company in eastern Colo- rado. was horn December 6, 1874, in Bergen, Norway, and was the fourth in order of birth in a family of ten children whose parents were Christian and Lena Christen- son. The father was a cooper by trade and thus provided for the support of his family.
A. N. Christenson had but limited educational opportunities and at eighteen years of age he bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for the United States, for he was disgusted with the military spirit that prevailed in Europe and wished to get away to a country where he could feel free. Before leaving Norway he had become somewhat familiar with the coopering business. He crossed the Atlantic alone and located at Arriba, Colorado, where his brother was then working for the Rock Island Railroad Company. All of his brothers came to the new world later and today all are in the United States and here they have prospered, wisely utilizing their oppor- tunities. A. N. Christenson worked as a section hand for the railroad company when he first came, receiving a wage of a dollar and thirty cents per day. He followed that business for two and a half years and was then promoted to the position of fore- man, which he occupied for five years. He was engaged on the reconstruction of the western division of the Rock Island Railroad Company, known as the Colorado division, and was put in charge of what is termed the floating gang. For five years he worked in that way and during that time lived in box cars. That the railroad company appre- ciated his services was indicated in many ways. At times he had one hundred and fifty men under his direction. He bas some very interesting stories to tell of his railroad experiences, for he had many gangs of Greeks, Turks and colored men in his employ. During his service as foreman on the railroad one of the things that he always saw to was that the men had the best of food. He never believed in bullying his men, whether they were whites or blacks, from the Orient or from his own country. He considered that good treatment got better results and he was always fair, just and kind. About the spring of 1907 he and his brother went into partnership in the hotel business and built the Lincoln Hotel of Limon, which they conducted successfully for five years. The brother then decided to leave, so that A. N. Christenson purchased his interest and continued in the hotel business alone until 1915, when he withdrew from that field of activity on account of his family, as he did not care to rear his children in that environment. He now leases the hotel and is engaged in the oil business. He built a station near the railroad and handled the products of the Texas Company for a time, but did not approve of some of their business methods, so he withdrew from that connection and accepted an offer from the Sinclair Oil Company. with which he has since remained. It is characteristic of Mr. Christenson that he
A. N. CHRISTENSON
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would not continue with a company that he did not believe was doing an absolutely fair business. He brought the first regular oil truck to Lincoln county and he had an investment of forty five hundred dollars in the oil station and in his business when he was bought out by the Sinclair Company.
In December, 1906, Mr. Christenson was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Kors- world, who was born in Norway and came to the United States in 1904. She passed away in 1910 and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Limon. She left two children, Oakford and Jess. Mr. Christenson's second marriage was celebrated June 18, 1913, when he wedded Angusta Korsworld, who though of the same name was not a relative of his first wife. The children of this marriage are Clara, Mildred and Elouise.
Mr. Christenson owns some town property, including a nice home, and he is giving his children the best possible educational opportunities. He is a lover of good books and has purchased for the family all of the best classics and books that will help them in every way in their studies. He is himself a self-educated man, and while he is now well informed, he has reached his present stage of intellectual progress through individual study and the wise ultilization of his time in the perusal of good books. He is devoted to the welfare of his family, being a kind and loving husband and father, and he desires to rear his children so that they will become substantial and worthy citizens. The religious faith of the family is that of the Lutheran church. In 1899 Mr. Christenson became a charter member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Limon and in 1911 he joined Hugo Lodge, No. 139, A. F. & A. M., exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the Masonic fraternity. In politics he is a republican but is a great admirer of President Wilson, whose statesmanship and wisdom in handling the momentous affairs of the nation at the present time has commanded alike the admiration and respect of people of all parties. Mr. Christenson's course is one which has commended him to the goodwill and the confidence of all. for he has made wise use of his time, talents and opportunities since he decided to leave Norway and cast in his lot with the people of the land of the free.
WILLIAM JONES.
William Jones has won a wide reputation in the manufacture of artificial limbs and orthopedic apparatus and surgical instruments. So prominent has he become in this connection that his Denver establishment is largely known and heralded throughout the country. Mr. Jones was born in Sheffield, England, November 17. 1863, a son of William and Annie (Inglesby) Jones. The mother, remaining in England, passed away in Sheffield. The father was a manufacturer of surgical instru- ments in his native country and after coming to America engaged in business with his son. His death occurred in Denver in 1905. In the family were eleven children.
William Jones of this review, the sixth in order of birth, attended the schools of England and after his textbooks were put aside engaged in business with his father. thoroughly learning the trade of surgical instrument manufacture. After leaving home he went to Aberdeen, Scotland, where his father afterward engaged in the surgical instrument manufacturing business. He was associated with his father there until 1883, when he was sent to Cape Town, South Africa, where a branch house was established. Of this he assnmed the management, there continuing until 1885, at which time he turned over the management to others and sailed for the new world. He made his way to Chicago and conducted a similar manufacturing business at that place, devoting his time to surgical instruments and orthopedic apparatus until 1887. In the latter year he removed to Denver and established his present business, which has become well known to the leading physicians and surgeons throughout the country. There are very few engaged in this line of business in America, so difficult is it to learn and so high a degree of proficiency must be attained. Mr. Jones, however, has devoted his entire life to the business and whatever leaves his establishment is considered a standard of excellence. He is today regarded as an expert in the manufacture of artificial limbs, surgical instruments and many of the devices for the crippled and his business is the largest of the kind in the west.
In 1887 Mr. Jones was married to Miss Annie Foxal of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a danghter of Mr. and Mrs. John Foxal, her father heing the first to engage in the manufacture of the large chains used in shipping. Mrs. Jones passed away in Denver in 1911, leaving two children: Mrs. Ruth McCracken, who was born in Denver: and John Frederick, also a native of this city. The daughter was educated in the North Denver high school and is the wife of Harry J. MeCracken, by whom she has a
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son, William Warren. John Frederick Jones was graduated from the public schools and is now a member of the national army, with the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh United States Infantry, being a machine gunner. After losing his first wife Mr. Jones married again, but his second wife passed away eight months later. In April, 1917, he wedded Miss Minnie Louise Hermann, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hermann, well known people of Denver.
Fraternally Mr. Jones is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and with the Royal Arcanum. He has social qualities which have won him warm friendship throughout the city and also among his business acquaintances, who esteem him by reason of his unfaltering loyalty to the highest commercial ethics and standards.
JOHN ALBERT THATCHER.
The name of Thatcher is an honored one in Colorado. It is inseparably interwoven with those events which have made history in the state, for John Albert Thatcher and his brother, Mahlon D., were among the most prominent merchants and financiers of Colorado, while their brother, Henry Calvin Thatcher, was the first chief justice of Colorado. Each in his own way bore a most important part in furthering the work of progress and development in the west. Possessing broad, enlightened and liberal- minded views, faith in himself and in the vast potentialities for development inherent in his country's wide domains and specific needs along the distinctive lines chosen for his life's work, the career of John A. Thatcher was a most active one, in which he accomplished important and far-reaching results, contributing in no small degree to the expansion and material growth of the nation and from which he himself derived substantial benefit.
Mr. Thatcher was born in Pfoutz Valley, near Miller's Town, in Perry county, Penn- sylvania, on the 25th of August, 1836, his parents being Henry and Lydia Ann Thatcher, whose family numbered seven children, of whom John A. was the eldest, the others being: Elvina; Mahlon D .; Mrs. Frank G. Bloom, now of Trinidad, Colorado; Mrs. M. H. Everhart, of Martinsburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania; Henry Calvin; and Dora. Of these, Elvina, Henry Calvin, Dora and Mahlon D. are all deceased.
John A. Thatcher acquired his education in the public schools of Tuscarora, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, in the Tuscarora Academy and in the Airy View Academy, con- ducted by Professor David Wilson at Port Royal, Pennsylvania. His father would have given him the privilege of attending college, but he preferred to go west and start upon a business career instead of going to college. On the 1st of April, 1855, the family removed from Newport, Perry county, Pennsylvania, to Martinsburg, Blair county, and in the fall of the following year John A. Thatcher took up the profession of teaching there in connection with a rural school in Lorberry township, Schuylkill county, Penn- sylvania. Attracted, however, by the opportunities of the west, he made his way to Holt county, Missouri, in 1857 and for five years was engaged in clerking, thus acquiring comprehensive knowledge of mercantile life and methods. At the time of his arrival there Oregon, the county seat of Holt county, and Forest City, on the Missouri river, were both flourishing towns, but with the outbreak of the Civil war they were made the subject of raids by organized bands of thieves and desperadoes and the resulting conditions led John A. Thatcher to make a change in 1862. Accordingly he packed his stock of merchandise in a mule wagon and started for Colorado.
It was on the 15th of September, 1862, that Mr. Thatcher reached Denver, where he remained until December of that year and then took up his abode in Pueblo, where he spent the winter. In the spring he again went to Denver but after a few months returned to Pueblo, having dissolved partnership with his former business associate, James H. Voorhees. They divided their stock of merchandise and with his share loaded in a wagon drawn by ox teams Mr. Thatcher started for Pueblo on the 14th of August, 1863. He was a resident of his adopted city for exactly fifty years and his life work was one of intense activity, constituting an important element in the growth and progress of the state in which he lived. He opened the first general store in what is now Pueblo and three years afterward was joined by his brother. Mahlon D .. who entered into partnership with him. Their business relation was maintained for many years and they extended their efforts into various fields, which made their name a con- spicuous one in connection with the substantial business development of the west. In 1870 they organized a private bank and after conducting it for eight or nine months converted it into the First National Bank of Pueblo on the 17th of April, 1871, capi-
JOHN A. THATCHER
MRS. MARGARET A. THATCHER
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talizing the institution for fifty thousand dollars. Three years later, or in 1874, the capital stock was increased to one hundred thousand dollars, the Thatcher brothers personally holding the majority of the stock. The bank steadily grew and is still con- trolled and managed by members of the Thatcher family. Further extending his efforts, John A. Thatcher became an officer and director of the Pueblo Savings & Trust Company, was also interested in the First National Bank of Denver, and in the Inter- national Trust Company of Denver, besides various other financial institutions and mercantile enterprises in Otero and Bent counties, in Trinidad, in Lake City and points in southern Colorado. He became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Grand Opera House block in Pueblo and he made extensive investments in real estate, ranking for many years as one of the largest taxpayers of this city. He was also closely con- nected with the live stock interests of the west, having vast ranches in southern Colo- rado and northern New Mexico, upon which he pastured great herds. The Trail, the official organ of the Society of the Sons of Colorado, said of him at the time of his death: "John A. Thatcher was a most vital factor in the making of the Pueblo of today. To tell of his life would be to write the history of that city. From the day of his arrival to the present time his genius was discernible in every forward step which the 'Pittsburgh of the west' has taken. In securing capital for local enterprises, in establishing factories and foundries, in developing agriculture and stock raising in the Arkansas valley and in successfully completing irrigation projects he devoted bis time and invested his money with immense returns both for himself and for the com- munity in which he lived. The secret of his financial success lay in his close application to business and his love for hard work. It is safe to say that no clerk in his employ kept longer hours, devoted his time so absolutely to the routine of his duties, or had so sure and so keen a grasp upon the work before him as had this veteran banker. On the hottest summer day he might have been seen at his desk in the First National; ou the coldest day in winter he arrived at the bank ahead of bis clerks and got to work long before they put in an appearance. He lived a life of unre- mitting industry. He won his wealth by his own shrewdness and ability, frugality and thrift. Could he have lived but a few months longer he would have seen the greatest fruits of his success in the opening of the handsome new bank building at the corner of Fifth and Main streets in Pueblo."
It was on the 17th of April, 1866, that Mr. Thatcher was united in marriage to Miss Margaret A. Henry, the second daughter of Judge John W. Henry, a distinguished jurist of Colorado of the early days. They became the parents of five children, Lenore, John Henry, Lillian, Albert R. and Raymond Calvin, but the elder daughter and the second son have passed away. Mrs. Thatcher is a very active worker in the Red Cross and in other movements which are claiming public attention at the present time, and associated with her daughter, Mrs. Forest Rutherford, and sons, John Henry Thatcher and Raymond C. Thatcher, she presented a fully equipped field ambulance to the Fifteenth Ambulance Corps in memory of her husband on the 10th of September, 1917.
Mr. Thatcher was devoted to his family and found his greatest happiness at his own fireside, counting no personal effort of sacrifice on his part too great if it would promote the welfare of his wife and children. He built what is perhaps the most beautiful residence in Pueblo, occupying an entire block of ground, Mrs. Thatcher giving to the place the name of Rosemount. He passed away on the 14th of August, 1913, after a residence of more than a half century in Colorado. He was a man of generous impulses and possessed a kind, charitable heart. He was very loyal to his old-time friends and associates and was always ready to lend a helping hand wherever needed. In spite of the demands made upon his time and thought by the exactions of his multi- tudinous business interests, he found it possible to keep in touch with his former com- panions, and, in his quiet way, relieved many a case of suffering and rendered timely aid to many an old pioneer. He had a happy faculty of saying a kindly word at the right time, of offering assistance when most needed, and of smoothing out rough places in the paths of those less capable of withstanding misfortune than himself. John A. Thatcher was the most approachable of men but was not easily imposed upon. He had sound common sense to an eminent degree and was quick to detect fraud. But his experience in the world of finance and public affairs did not harden his sensibilities. Few of the wealthy men of today possessed so large a circle of friends and acquaint- ances, and fewer still were so well liked by all with whom they associated. In the course of his fifty years of continuous residence in Pueblo, John A. Thatcher made a record that will endure the closest scrutiny, and it is much to be doubted if he made a single enemy. While his memory is honored as that of one of the foremost hankers and business men of the state, it is cherished by his associates because of his friendly
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spirit and his many likable qualities. He was a man of quiet tastes, systematic in all that he did, never seeking publicity but faithfully performing his duties day by day. He was a devoted member of the First Presbyterian church, a valued representative of the Southern Colorado Pioneers' Association, a member of the Sons of Colorado and a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Colorado, of which he was honorary president at the time of his death. Well may his life record serve as a source of encouragement and inspiration to others, and for years to come his memory will remain as a blessed benediction to all who were closely associated with him.
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