USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 90
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In October, 1879, Mr. O'Donnell removed to Denver, where he opened a law office in 1880, the interval being employed in travel through the mountains and prospecting. He early took a high rank at the Colorado bar, of which he is now one of the recognized leaders. He has been in many of the most important litiga- tions of this state since 1880. His reputation as a lawyer is not confined within the borders of Colorado, and his professional services are in frequent demand in neighboring states. He does not specialize, for he holds that the determination of questions of fact by judicial processes and the application of legal principles thereto call into exercise the same faculties whether the case is civil or criminal, whether cognizable at law or in equity, and whether tried before a court or a jury, hence. while recognized as a great jury lawyer, his reputation is no less secure with the bench of the appellate courts, state and federal. The same eloquence, learning and logic, which have won him fame at the bar have enabled him to move and carry great audiences in public assemblages and on the hustings. In debate, either on the stump. before a jnry or before a court, he is logical, eloquent and incisive. His repartee is so keen and quick few care to invite it to hostility, and his flashes of wit, on occasions where appropriate, are the delight of all hearers and cause him to be much sought on post prandial occasions.
Mr. O'Donnell was one of the organizers of the first state bar association organized in Colorado, and of the Denver Bar Association, of which he has been president. He is a member of the American Bar Association, and president of the Colorado State Bar Association, 1916-1917.
He became active in politics before leaving New Jersey and was on the stump for Tilden and Hendricks in his native state in 1876 before old enough to vote. In
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1877 he was a delegate to the New Jersey democratic state convention, which nominated George B. McClellan for governor and was one of the six original sup- porters of "Little Mac" in that body. He carried his political faith with him to the west and in his new surroundings speedily affiliated with men of like conviction. He was secretary of the Arapahoe county (Denver) democratic county convention in the spring of 1880; delegate to the state convention in Leadville in June, and chairman of the convention which nominated candidates for legislative and county offices in the fall of the same year. It was in this year that he made his first ap- pearance on the stump in Colorado, and no political speaker has since been more in demand.
Mr. O'Donnell has never been a seeker for public office and has never held a strictly political office, hut, through the exigency of party, he ran for judge in Den- ver in 1883 and was the democratic nominee for the one congressman to which the state was then entitled in 1890. He was a delegate-at-large to the national demo- cratic convention at Chicago in 1892. Prior to the assembling of the convention, he took measures to bring about a caucus of delegates from far western states, particularly those interested in silver mining, with the purpose of preventing Cleve- land's nomination. This caucus, of which he was secretary, Senator W. A. Clark, ot Montana, being chairman, agreed to support Senator E. P. Gorman, of Maryland. Enough Cleveland votes had been brought into the caucus to insure Cleveland's defeat. The manager for the latter, William C. Whitney, persuaded Senator Gorman not to let his name be used, and Gorman thus lost the presidency. Mr. O'Donnell was a member of the committee on credentials of this convention and participated in the successful fight against the anti-snappers, and led the movement to increase the representation of the territories from two to six delegates, an anti-Cleveland measure which was carried through a committee and a convention, a majority of which favored the candidate against whom it was directed. In this struggle he had a notable encounter with General Bragg, of Wisconsin, who made himself famous by the remark, "We love him, (Cleveland), for the enemies he has made." He made several speeches at the convention, one seconding the nomination of Adlai E. Stevenson for vice president, to which the latter always attributed his nomination. After the adjournment of the convention, Mr. O'Donnell united with other Colorado delegates in an address to the democrats of the state, advising immediate assembly to consider the situation. Returning to Denver he took charge of the movement to induce the democratic party of Colorado to declare officially against Cleve- land. When the democracy convened in convention at Pueblo he was made chair- man. The declaration to support Weaver and Field was nearly unanimous, and electors pledged to those candidates were nominated. The minority bolted, but Mr. O'Donnell successfully maintained, in the courts, the right of the nominees of the Pueblo convention to the name democratic, and, as a democrat. vigorously sup- ported the nominees of the convention on the stump, and the electors nominated at Pueblo were chosen by an overwhelming majority.
In 1896 Mr. O'Donnell was again a delegate-at-large to the Chicago conven- tion, in which he took a leading part. He was a member of the "steering commit- tee" of the majority, which outlined the plan of campaign of the silver forces. This convention was carried off its feet by the celebrated "Crown of Thorns, Cross of Gold" speech of Bryan, but Mr. O'Donnell voted for his original choice, Bland of Missouri, to the last. He was a member of the credentials committee of this con- vention also and was chosen by the majority of that committee to support its re- port on the floor. This report unseated a portion of the Michigan delegation, and gave the majority of the convention the necessary two-thirds vote which afterwards nominated Bryan. The debate which followed was one of the most noted in con- vention annals. It was closed by Mr. O'Donnell in a speech which quieted the tumult of the noisiest period of the convention and ended in the adoption of the report, by an overwhelming majority. He was again delegate-at-large to the St. Louis convention of 1904 and chairman of his delegation. He seconded the nomi- nation of Alton B. Parker for the presidency in a speech which is among conven- tion classics. He was a member of the original executive committee of the Louisiana Purchase Centennial Exposition in 1901, and was a member and vice president of the Colorado Board of World's Fair Managers, 1903-1904. He was a member of the first charter convention, a non-partisan body, chosen by the people under a constitutional amendment to form a charter for Greater Denver, June and July, 1903. In the senatorial contest of 1911. which ended in a deadlock, he was sup- ported during the entire session for United States senator, and he received a large vote in the democratic primaries of 1912 as nominee for the same office.
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Mr. O'Donnell is extensively interested in mining and in city property and lands. In 1878 he wrote and published a history of Morristown, New Jersey. He is a member of numerous semi-public organizations, political, scientific and charit- able. He takes great interest in explorations and in geographic subjects. He is a member of the National Geographic Society, and a fellow of the American Geo- graphical Society. He has delivered many addresses and written numerous papers covering legal, political and historical subjects, and sociological problems and the World War. His address, "The Relation Between the Declaration of Independence and the World War," delivered at Fort Morgan, Colorado, July 4, 1917, was re- printed and circulated by the National Security League in its campaign, "Patriotism Through Education."
Mr. O'Donnell is a member of the Denver Club, Denver Athletic Club, Mont- clair Country Club, the National Democratic Club and the National Arts of New York, and president of the New Jersey Society of Colorado.
He was married October 21, 1881, to Kathryn, daughter of William Dwyer, Mississippi river steamboat owner and operator, of St. Louis, Missouri, whose family settled in that city immediately after the Louisiana purchase. There are three children: Canton, a lawyer, junior member of the firm of O'Donnell, Graham & O'Donnell, at this writing first lieutenant of Battery B, Colorado Field Artillery, U. S., N. G. C., serving on the Mexican border; Ottomar, mining engineer, recently appointed a lieutenant in the regular army; and Dorotita O'Donnell.
CHARLES F. ENGLAND.
Charles F. England, general manager of the Thiel Detective Service Company at Denver, was born in Union county, Georgia, on the 15th of September, 1886. His father, William M. England, also a native of Georgia, followed the occupation of farming in early life and afterward became identified with the wholesale grocery trade in Atlanta, Georgia, where he conducted business successfully for many years. He is still living in that city but has now retired from business. He married Emma Halcombe, a native of Union county, Georgia, and she, too, survives. They became the parents of seven children, five of whom are yet living.
Charles F. England pursued his early education in the schools of Dahlonega, Georgia, and afterward entered the Georgia Agricultural College. Still later he became identified with commercial interests in Atlanta, where he engaged in the drug business, both on his own account and in connection with others. He con- tinued his residence in the south until he reached the age of twenty-two years, when in 1908 he removed westward with Denver as his destination. He has since been identified with the Thiel Detective Service Company of Chicago, being operative, cashier and manager until 1915, when he was advanced to the position of general manager, in which capacity he has since served. The work of the department under his direction has been thoroughly systematized and splendid service is rendered the public.
In his political views Mr. England has been a democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Epis- copal church, to the teachings of which he loyally adheres. He greatly enjoys music and golf, turning to the arts and to outdoor pastime for rest and recreation.
GEORGE OVERTON WOLF.
George Overton Wolf, junior partner in the firm of Gregg, Whitehead & Com- pany, brokers in stocks and bonds, with offices in the First National Bank building of Denver, was born in Alexis, Illinois, August 11, 1878. Early representatives of the name resided in Pennsylvania, where the father, Jacob L. Wolf, was born, and when yet in his teens he accompanied his parents on their removal to Illinois. In Warren and Mercer counties of that state Jacob L. Wolf resided until 1888, when he removed with his family to Denver and during his active business career in this city was connected with the wholesale fruit and produce business, being thus iden- tified with the commercial interests of Denver until 1900, since when he has lived retired. He married Lucy Edwards, a native of Illinois. Among her ancestors was Ninian Edwards, the first governor of that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Wolf have been
GEORGE O. WOLF
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born two children, the younger being N. L. Wolf, who resides at Los Angeles but is now in the national army, having enlisted from Los Angeles, and at the present time holding a commission in the aviation service.
George O. Wolf was educated in Denver, having been only about ten years of age when the family removed to the west. He passed through consecutive grades to the high school and on attaining his majority started out in the business world, being first connected with the Philadelphia Smelting & Refining Company. He afterward entered the employ of the American Smelting & Refining Company, serv- ing in clerical lines and winning his way upward until he became assistant to the manager. He was with that company for a period of ten years. He next entered business on his own account, turning his attention to stocks and bonds in 1912. The following year he entered into a partnership relation and thus became one of the fonnders of the present firm of Gregg, Whitehead & Company. His previous business experience well qualified him for work of this character and he is today thoroughly familiar with stocks and bonds and is thus able to carefully direct the investments of his clients.
In Denver, on the 21st of November, 1900, Mr. Wolf was married to Miss Mabel Stearns, a danghter of John E. and Isa ( Hunt) Stearns, the latter a daughter of Ex-Governor Hunt of Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf have become parents of two children: Margarette Stearns, born September 15, 1902; and Chester Stearns, horn in Leadville, September 12, 1907.
Politically Mr. Wolf is a republican. He belongs to the Denver Country Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Denver Civic and Commercial Association and is inter- ested in all that has to do with the upbuilding and progress of his city, cooperating heartily in all well defined plans and measures for the general good.
HON. CASIMIRO BARELA.
The record of no man in public office has extended over so long a period as that of Hon. Casimiro Barela and none has been more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct or stainless in reputation. Called to represent his district in the upper house of the general assembly in the year in which Colorado was admitted to state- hood, Las Animas county has felt that no other could so well serve her interests or aid more efficiently in promoting the upbuilding of the commonwealth. His election to the state senate followed service as a member of the territorial legisla- ture and no man has done more to fuse Spanish elements into the highest type of American citizenship than he.
Born in Embudo, New Mexico, on the 4th of March, 1847, Casimiro Barela is the son of Don Jose Maria Barela and Doña Maria de Jesus ( Abeyta) Barela. The original American ancestor of the family, Casimiro Varela, came from Spain at the head of a colony of eighty and arrived at San Jose, California, on the 25th of Feb- ruary, 1777. The ancestors of Mr. Barela in the maternal line were also among the early Spanish residents of California and were identified with the pioneer de- velopment of San Francisco. In 1839 Julian Varela removed to Tome, New Mex- ico. In 1846 Jose Maria Barela, on account of Indian troubles, removed to Embudo, New Mexico, and it was during the period of his parents' temporary residence there that Casimiro Barela was born. His father died in 1878 and his mother passed away on the 13th of May, 1895.
A part of the elementary education of Casimiro Barela was acquired under the direction of the Rev. Jnan B. Salpointe, afterward archbishop, who directed his studies at Mora, New Mexico, from 1859 until 1863. He afterward acquainted him- self with commercial methods under his father and in 1866, while on a business trip to Trinidad, Colorado, he decided to make it his place of residence. He then returned to New Mexico to complete his arrangements and in 1867 took up his abode in the territory of Colorado, settling in the San Francisco valley, in Las Animas county, where he still has a large ranch and is successfully engaged in stock raising. The Colorado & Southern Railroad Company established a station His stock raising at that point which was named Barela in honor of the family.
interests, however, constituted but one phase of his activities. He became inter- ested in the merchandising and forwarding business at Trinidad and at El Moro and also extended his efforts into the field of railway building, becoming one of the incorporaters of the San Luis Valley Railroad. With the organization of the American Savings Bank at Trinidad he was elected a member of its directorate
CASIMIRO BARELA
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panionship with his children and his interest in them, his loss has been most deeply felt.
Lloyd Llewellyn Pugh, the second son of the family, now twenty years of age, acquired his early education in the country schools and later attended the Central Business College of Denver. He then returned home and worked upon the farm, becoming the active assistant of his father. He enlisted, however, on the 3d of December, 1917, for aviation service with the Six Hundred and Fifteenth Squad and was sent to Kelly Field, Texas, while at the present time he is in Georgia, preparing to go across to France to aid in winning world freedom from the military rule of the Huns, whose so called kultur is a note of aversion to all who love liberty, justice and right.
MAY TOWER BIGELOW. M. D.
Dr. May Tower Bigelow is one of the most widely known women physicians in the west, not merely because of her superior ability in her chosen profession, but also because of the great amount of charitable work which she does and her activities in behalf of the Red Cross. Dr. Bigelow occupies an elegant home, handsomely and taste- fully furnished with many rare and beautiful art treasures, most of which are the work of her own brush, for she has been a student under some of the most noted masters of Munich and of Paris. All this indicates her versatility and the wise use which she has made of her time and talents.
Dr. Bigelow is the wife of Dr. Charles Wesley Bigelow, formerly president of the Union State Bank of Denver, and now a director of the Merchants Bank of Denver. He is equally well known for his charitable work and also for his ability as an educator, for he has graduated hundreds of Colorado's well known business and professional men, having been engaged in educational work in Denver for twenty-four years. He is now professor of psychology and American history in North Denver high school. The work for his Ph. D. degree was done at the University of Chicago and Harvard and Denver Universities.
Dr. May Tower Bigelow was born in St. Charles, Minnesota, April 13, 1866. a daughter of Myron and Lucretia (Maynard) Tower. Her father was born at Smyrna, Chenango county, New York, March 20, 1833, and was a son of Almon and Mary ( Sexton) Tower. He was a representative of one of the old New England families, his grandfather, who was born in Connecticut, having when a young man penetrated into the then wilds of Chenango county, New York. Employed by the United States government, he assisted in cutting a mail route across the Empire state. He became one of the first permanent residents of Chenango county, where he passed away at the venerable age of ninety-six years. His son, Almon Tower, was born and reared in Plymouth, New York, where he wedded Mary Sexton, also a native of that place. She was born in December, 1808, a daughter of Seth Sexton, a native of Connecticut and a pioneer settler of Plymouth. He was one of the founders of the Congregational church there, in which he served as deacon for many years. He passed away at the age of seventy-two. Subsequent to his marriage he removed to Smyrna, New York, where he resided until 1843. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Almon Tower were seven in number, Myron, Addison, Nancy A., Amasa, Warren, Nettie and Flora E.
Myron Tower was educated in the district schools of his native county and in 1850 removed to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he remained for seven years, hecom- ing a resident of Minnesota in 1857. He afterward established his home at La Crosse, Wisconsin, and engaged in the commission business, his trade covering northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. In the fall of 1857 he went to Walworth county and thence to Minnesota, where he joined a surveying party, working in that way through the summer months, while in the winter he conducted a singing class. He possessed a remarkably fine voice and much natural musical talent. In 1859 he went to Illinois, where he purchased a threshing machine, which he took to Wisconsin, it being the first in his part of the state. He threshed grain for his neighbors, making considerable money out of his investment. In 1860 and 1861 he cultivated a rented farm but after- ward removed with his family to Saratoga, Minnesota, locating there about the time the call was issued for troops to aid in the preservation of the Union. His patriotic spirit aroused, he enlisted as a member of Company K, Ninth Minnesota Infantry, and while with that command had many thrilling escapes from death. He fought valiantly in hotly contested battles and at Guntown, on the 10th of June, 1864, was wounded in the side and leg and for six days and nights lay on the battlefield without medical
DR. MAY T. BIGELOW
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intercourse he is genial. kindly and humanly sympathetic. Of him it may be truth- tully said that he has never lost the common touch. Great success and accumulated power have not dulled his perceptions of what is right nor dimmed his vision of the true perspective from his position as compared with that of men of more humble mien. His life record finds embodiment in the words of Pope:
"Statesman, yet friend to truth; of soul sincere, In action faithful and in honor clear; Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who gave no title and who lost no friend."
JOHN HITTSON.
John Hittson, deceased, of Denver, stood for all that is most commendable in the pioneer. Courage, zeal, enterprise, determination all characterized his career and enabled him to contribute in large measure to the development of Colorado when it was a frontier state. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, he was born October 11, 1831, and died December 25, 1880, in Denver, Colorado. His parents were Jesse and Polly ( Beck ) Hittson, also natives of Tennessee, the former of Scotch desceut, while his father was born in Prince Edward Island.
About the year 1837 the parents removed with their family to Monroe county, Mississippi, at which time John Hittson was a lad of six summers. He there remained until 1851, when he became a resident of eastern Texas, the family residing in eastern and afterward in western Texas. During the period of the Civil war John Hittson went to Mexico with a wagon train several times in order to obtain food in exchange for other commodities. On such trips it was not unusual to have trouble with the Indians, who on several occasions stole the horses of the white men. While in Texas, John Hittson became interested in the cattle business and in 1861 came to Colorado to inves- tigate cattle raising conditions in this state. While en route he became associated with John Loving, who was also a cattleman and who was wounded in New Mexico by the Indians, being found by Mr. Hittson, who bound up his wounds and thus saved his life.
Mr. Hittson proceeded as far west as Salt Lake in his investigation of western prospects and from that time until 1870 he was engaged in cattle raising at points between Texas and Colorado, purchasing four or five ranches in the latter state in 1870. In 1872 he returned to Texas for his family, but his wife preferred to remain in the southern home and as a measure of compromise his daughter Martha, now Mrs. W. H. H. Cranmer, returned to the frontier Colorado home with her father. Being a girl of sterling character and sufficient courage to meet the hardships and trials of frontier life, she made an admirable comrade for her father. This was in January. 1872, and the two made the trip to Denver hy railroad at a period when railroad travel was not the luxurious Pullman affair that it is today. From that time until his demise Mr. Hittson continued his residence in the mountain state and purchased the White ranch near Deertrail, whereon he engaged extensively in raising cattle and also handled many hundred head of sheep. He was an extremely successful man of marked business enterprise and sagacity who throughout his life seemed to possess the Midas-like touch that turned to gold anything with which he became connected. The integrity of his business activity matched his enterprise and won for him the high respect of all of his fellow citizens.
It was in the year 1851 that Mr. Hittson was united in marriage to Miss Selina F. Brown, of Henderson, Texas, who was born January 28, 1837, and who passed away in Denver on the 9th of December, 1890. They became the parents of ten children, nine of whom lived to adult age. Mary, the eldest, became the wife of Jobn Hayes, of Texas, and lives in Oakland, California. She had three daughters: Jennie, who became the wife of Frederick DesDemeth, of New Mexico, both now deceased; and Emma and Martha, who are living with their mother in Oakland. Jesse, the second of the family, resides at Mineral Wells, Texas, where he is engaged in the cattle and banking business. Martha Jane is the widow of William H. H. Cranmer, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Selina Virginia is the widow of Finis P. Ernest and has five living children: Stella, Florence. Finis, Virginia and Arnold. Dora is the widow of Ross Millsaps, of Colorado City. Texas, and has a daughter, Lena M. Greene. William lives in western Texas and is the father of four children. Donna, married Pringle Moore, and died in Denver. She left two children, Jessie and Pringle. The latter died at the Army Training Camp
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