USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 93
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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, becom- 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 ont 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
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DR. MAY T. BIGELOW .
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attention, food or water. To avoid being captured with his gun, he broke it to pieces and buried the parts. While he lay on the field partially unconscious from pain a company of rebels found him more dead than alive and he was taken to Andersonville prison, being thrown into a dungeon cell together with other prisoners, who nursed him back to life, feeding him at first with milk from a spoon. In the following September he and his fellow prisoners dug a tunnel with an oyster shell and escaped, but before he had gone five miles he was recaptured. He never ceased to hunt some way whereby he might escape and the following October he again secured his liberty by hiding under a provision wagon until he was well out of reach. He traveled only by night, swam through alligator infested swamps and was fired on many times, but finally reached a habitation. He was again taken prisoner, however, at Cape Fear River and sent to Wilmington, North Carolina, and thence to Florence, South Carolina, where he was held until Decemher, 1864, when he was exchanged and taken to the hospital at Annapo- lis, from which he was honorably discharged June 20, 1865.
When the war was over Mr. Tower returned to Minnesota and in 1868 removed to Nebraska, traveling sixteen days with a wagon train, after which he settled in Mill precinct. He went to Plattsmonth, forty-five miles distant, to secure lumber to erect the first frame house in that vicinity and he improved a large tract of land, to which he gave his attention until the fall of 1870, when he engaged in the nursery business, becoming the pioneer in that line in his section of the state. He thence removed to Fillmore county, Nebraska, where he became the owner of a homestead of three hundred and sixty acres, on which he lived for two years. In 1870 he sold one half of the farm and rented the other half. He then erected a fine residence in Carleton, Thayer county, where he resided until 1883, after which he lived retired from business in a beautiful home in Lincoln, Nebraska. While a resident of Thayer county he served as justice of the peace and after his removal to Lincoln was assessor of Lancaster county from 1872 until 1878. While living at La Porte, Texas, he was for four years mayor of the city. For a long period he was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of Nebraska, and he always gave his political allegiance to the republican party, while his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Tower was married twice. He first wedded Chloe L. Maynard, of Walworth county, Wisconsin, in October, 1860. Her father, Rufus Maynard, a native of Vermont, was one of the early settlers of Walworth county. Mrs. Tower died in St. Charles, Minnesota, in 1867, leaving two children, Almon and May. Mr. Tower afterward married Miss Mary Evans, who was born in Wales, a daughter of D. M. and Sarah (James) Evans, who came to the new world in 1833 and after living for a time at Utica, New York, removed to Minnesota in 1856. The father, who was a tailor by trade, after- ward took up farming on land which he purchased at St. Charles, hut subsequently removed to Faribault, where he was superintendent of the tailoring department of the Asylum for Deaf Mutes. He died in 1880. His daughter, Mrs. Tower, was a lady of liberal education. She was married January 17, 1869, and passed away in Denver in 1915.
Dr. Bigelow began her education in the country schools of Thayer county, Nebraska, and later attended the State University, from which she was graduated in 1889 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. Taking up the profession of teaching, she passed through all the grades, from the kindergarten to the chair of mathematics in the Nebraska State Normal. She pursned a law course under Judge Archibald and was granted 1 certificate.
At Lincoln, Nebraska, on the 16th of June, 1890, she became the wife of Charles Wesley Bigelow, who was born at Hinsdale, Illinois, and is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, '89. He was reared in Chicago and afterward removed to Nebraska, where he engaged in farming. After receiving his university degree he took up educational work and today enjoys the reputation of being one of the best beloved as well as most efficient educators of the state.
Dr. Bigelow is a lady of liberal education, who won her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She pursued a special course in Harvard on sociology and government. She then took up the study of medicine at Munich, Bavaria, and afterward attended special lectures and pursued various courses under the best known medical authorities. Returning to Colorado, she was graduated in medicine from the State University of Colorado with the class of 1915. Most of her medical practice at first was done for charity but under the protests of the physicians of Denver she has since confined her work only to the most urgently needy charity cases. She has a very wide practice here among the best people of the city as well. While ֏ lady of high scientific attainments, Dr. Bigelow is also well versed in art. She has studied sociology at Oxford. England, and she traveled six thousand miles through-
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out Europe, studying the people, their habits and modes of life. Upon her return to Denver she taught art for a time to private classes and she still takes the deepest interest in the subject. She is a member of various study clubs and also of Radiant Chapter of the Eastern Star. She belongs to the Colorado Branch of the American Alumni Association, to the West Side Woman's Club, to the Colorado Woman's Medical Society, to the Denver Woman's Medical War Work Service League, to the American League of Defense, to the City & County Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, to six units of the American Red Cross, to the Denver Branch of the Mothers Congress, and to the National Teachers Association. She is also a member of the Physicians and Surgeons Red Cross; is the chairman of Denver's Free Milk Station for Babies; and is a member of the Volunteer Medical Service Corps, Council of National Defense. She belongs to the First Congregational church and in politics is a stalwart republican, while at the present time she is qualify- ing for the office of state representative, having been nominated on the 10th of September, 1918, and elected in November of that year.
In addition to all this Dr. Bigelow is the fond mother of four children. Maurice Clenen, who was born in Madison, Nebraska, in 1891, was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science from the University of Denver and is now a captain of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Infantry, on active duty in France. He married Miss. Doane Hughes on the 1st of July, 1918, at San Jose, California, and his wife is a graduate of Denver University, remaining in her position as a teacher in West Denver high school while her husband is at the front. Florence Bigelow, born in Madison, Nebraska, passed away in Denver in 1898. Ruth is now the wife of Fred C. Vertress, who is in an officers' training camp. She was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1894 and won the B. S. and Ph. C. (1917) degrees at the University of Colorado. She is now analytic chemist and chief clerk of the Great Western Sugar Company in its Denver laboratory. Lucretia, the youngest of the family, is now the wife of Lieutenant John Doble, who is with the Twentieth Infantry, First Engineers Corps, stationed at Camp Funston. Mrs. Doble was born at Denver in 1896.
Dr. Bigelow's activities in large measure touch the general interests of society. As a physician she ranks among the foremost according to the testimony of colleagues and contemporaries and her highly developed powers in this direction have been of the greatest benefit to the poor and needy. She has cultivated many of those things which have high cultural value, has been a close student of sociological and economic problems, and her broad reading and investigation have awakened the deepest sympathy, manifest in practical effort to alleviate the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. She is now keenly interested in the war activities, putting forth the greatest possible effort to promote the work that is of the greatest value to the boys over there. In a word she is constantly reaching out along lines of usefulness and helpfulness to all mankind and her highly developed intellectual powers and practical service well qualify her for the legislative honors and duties that came to her as a successful candidate of the republican party in the election of November, 1918.
ALLEN J. ROUSH.
Allen J. Roush, filling the office of mayor of La Veta and well known as a representative business man and citizen there, was born in Highland, Kansas, on the 20th of July, 1891, a son of Edwin J. and Rosa (Allen) Roush. The father is a farmer by occupation, and both parents are still living. Their family numbered but two children, a son and a daughter.
Allen J. Roush is the younger child and has been a resident of La Veta since 1899, in which year the family home was established in Colorado. Then a youth of but eight years, he afterward attended the public schools and later continued his studies in Pueblo, where he became a high school pupil. He finished his high school course, however, at La Veta, where he was graduated with the class of 1907. He afterward went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he made his initial step in the business world, being employed in a retail cigar store for a year. On the expira- tion of that period he returned to La Veta and was in the office of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company for four years. He then purchased the Spanish Peaks Hotel at La Veta and conducted it for eight months. His next step in the business world was the purchase of a bakery and confectionery store, which he sold after four years and turned his attention to the garage business, which he conducted successfully until 1918, when he sold out that he might concentrate his entire ef-
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forts and attention upon the duties of the office of mayor, which he is now ac- ceptably filling.
It was on the 14th of August, 1913, that Mr. Roush was united in marriage to Miss Helen Moore, of Grand Junction, Colorado, and they have one child, Ardis. In his political views Mr. Roush is a republican and it was on the 2d of April, 1918, that he was elected to his present position, in which connection he is giving to the city a businesslike administration characterized by reform, progress and improve- ment. He is a third degree Mason and a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also connected with the Chamber of Commerce and cooperates heartily in 'all of its well defined movements for the public good. He enjoys out- door life, particularly hunting trips, but does not allow outside interests to inter- tere with the faithful performance of his business activities nor public duties. He puts forth every possible effort to advance the welfare of city and state and is a close and discriminating student of men's movements for the general good. A young man, he is actuated by the enterprising spirit of the west, which has been the dominant factor in the upbuilding of this section of the country, and step by step he has progressed, each forward step bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. The recognition of his personal worth on the part of his fellowmen led to his selection for the important position which he is now filling.
EMIL J. LINDQUIST.
Emil J. Lindquist, well known in commercial circles in Denver, has from a humble position steadily worked his way upward until he stands as one of the heads of the Lindquist-Strachan Mercantile Company. Inc., wholesale dealers in furnishings and notions. Their business is one of the foremost of the kind in Denver and Mr. Lind- quist has made for himself a very creditable place in commercial circles in his native city, his life. therefore, standing in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country. He was born March 1, 1876. in Denver, a son of John Christian and Christine ( Swanson) Lindquist, both of whom were natives of Sweden. The father came to the United States in 1864 and aided in building the Union Pacific Railroad as the line was extended across the west. Much of his life, however, was devoted to the business of tailoring. He has now passed away, as has also his widow.
After mastering the branches of learning taught in the lower grades of the public schools of Denver, Emil J. Lindquist became a pupil in the North Denver high school. from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1892. Throughout his entire business career he has been connected with commercial interests. When his textbooks were put aside he entered the employ of the Daniels & Fisher Company, with which he remained for seventeen years, and when he severed his connection with that firm he was holding the responsible position of contract agent. He was desirous, however, of engaging in business on his own account and utilized every means to further that end. At length his industry and economy had brought to him sufficient capital to enable him to carry out his plans and he became one of the organizers of the firm of Lindquist. Strachan & Heck, an association that was maintained for two and a half years. On the expiration of that period the business was reorganized under the name of the Lind quist-Strachan Mercantile Company. Inc. They have an extensive wholesale furnish- ings and notions house, occupying a large building at Nos. 1717-21 Arapahoe street. Their stock is very attractive and their business ability has resulted in developing a trade that places them with the foremost representatives of commercial activity in the city. They have recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement and in dealing with their customers have ever endeavored to give adequate returns and service for investment. They employ the most progressive commercial methods in. intro- ducing their goods to the trade and their course measures up to the highest standards.
In 1900 Mr. Lindquist was united in marriage to Miss Marie Riley, of Denver, and they now have a son. Melville, nine years of age, who is attending school. Mr. Lind- quist is a member of the Motor Club of Denver and has many friends in that organiza- tion. He turns to trout fishing for recreation and greatly enjoys a trip with rod and flies. He likewise belongs to the Civic and Commercial Association and is much interested in all that has to do with the development of Denver along business lines and in con- nection with the advancement of its civic standards. The place which he has won for himself in mercantile circles is indeed creditahle and the Lindquist-Strachan Mercantile Company, Inc., is showing every evidence of advancing and increasing its trade. The
EMIL J. LINDQUIST
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officers of the company are: A. R. Strachan, president; O. A. Davis, vice president; and E. J. Lindquist, secretary and treasurer. Alert and energetic, watchful of all oppor- tunities pointing to success, they have formulated and carried to completion well devised plans and as the result of a laudable ambition, unfaltering perseverance and unabating energy, Emil J. Lindquist now ranks with the leading merchants of his native city.
ALFRED I. HAYES, M. D.
Dr. Alfred I. Hayes, of Victor, Colorado, is a successful medical practitioner who not only has many private patients but is also connected with the District Hos- pital there. He is a son of Andrew E. and Susan Hayes, who were married in Mis- souri in 1866. The father was born in Illinois, from which state he enlisted for service in the Civil war with an Illinois regiment. For three years he faithfully served his country and after the conflict was ended removed from Illinois to Mis- souri, where he passed away in 1870. His widow survived him only a year, her death occurring in 1871.
Dr. Hayes was born upon the home farm in Daviess county, Missouri, in 1868 and attended the neighboring country schools in order to gain a primary educa- tion. He later attended the Winston school in Daviess county and the East Denver high school and received his medical education in the University of Colorado at Boulder, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1896. He then located at Altman, 'Teller county, where he practiced for two years, at the end of which time he went to Gold- field, where for ten years he was a very successful practitioner. Not only did he become well known as a medical man in that city but he also served for two years as mayor, giving the community a businesslike and resultant administration. After his ten years' sojourn in Goldfield he came to Victor and here he has since continued with gratifying success, being connected with the District Hospital. He is a careful diagnostician, a good surgeon and thoroughly versed in modern medical science and keeps in touch with the latest methods and discoveries.
On June 18, 1896, in Winston, Missouri, Dr. Hayes was united in marriage to Miss Olevia Smith, and to them were born three children, Helen Lee, Rachel Elizabeth and Olevia Alfreda. Dr. and Mrs. Hayes are very popular in the social circles of Victor and their hospitable fireside is a favorite meeting place for their many friends. Politically he is a republican. He is prominent and popular in fra- ternal circles, being a Scottish Rite Mason; a member of the Knights of Pythias, being a past chancellor commander of Goldfield Lodge; and he also belongs to the Elks lodge. In these organizations he has many friends, all of whom esteem him highly, recognizing in him a man of the highest principles. In professional circles Dr. Hayes stands equally high, his colleagues rating him among the best informed physicians and surgeons of the state.
FREDERICK W. WHITESIDE.
Frederick W. Whiteside, chief engineer with the Victor-American Fuel Company of Denver, was born in Chicago, November 2, 1875, his parents being William W. and Helen M. (Stillwell) Whiteside, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in the Empire state. At an early period William W. Whiteside became a resident of Chicago and in 1879 removed with his family to Denver, where he was employed by the firm of Daniels & Fisher from the 5th of April, 1879, until 1893. He acted as head buyer for the company and was long one of its most prominent and trusted representa- tives. His later years were spent with the Union Pacific Coal Company and he passed away in Hanna, Wyoming, in August, 1914. His widow is still living and now makes her home in Oakland, California. They had a family of two children: Riley S., now a resident of Oakland; and Frederick W.
The last named attended the public schools of Denver and was graduated from the East Denver high school with the class of 1893. He was but three years of age when brought to this city, so that practically his entire life has been spent in Colorado. He entered the University of Colorado in order to pursue a course of engineering and was graduated in 1897, heing the first and only graduate of the engineering department. He
FREDERICK W. WHITESIDE
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entered upon his professional career as an employe of the Denver Union Water Com- pany and built the famous Marston reservoir near Denver. He continued in the service of that corporation until the reservoir was completed and then became assistant engineer with the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company, occupying that position for a year. He was then made division engineer for the El Paso & Rock Island Railway Company. with headquarters at Alamogordo, New Mexico. continuing to serve in that position until 1904, when he went to work for the Col. Fuel & Iron Company as assistant engineer. He was next made chief engineer of the Victor-American Fuel Company, which position he is still filling most efficiently. He has likewise done splendid work for the state of Colorado on various engineering projects and holds very high rank among the leading engineers of the state. His technical training and his practical experience have brought him broad and comprehensive knowledge of every scientific phase of the business and of all actual work done and his powers have constantly developed as the years have passed. He holds membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers, also in the Colorado Engineering Society and is secretary of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute.
On the 23d of August, 1899, Mr. Whiteside was married in Denver to Miss Ida May Kay, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Kay, of Denver. and they have two children: Frederick Kay, who was born May 25, 1902, and is attending the Denver high school; and Mildred Ruth, who was born in Denver. November 5, 1912, and is a pupil in the Corona school.
Mr. Whiteside is identified with Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Tau Beta Phi. two college fraternities. He is a member of Temple Lodge. No. 84, A. F. & A. M., and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Colorado Consistory, No. 1, while with the Nobles of El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. In politics he maintains an independent course. His time and efforts are con- centrated upon his professional duties and aside from his connection with the Victor- American Fuel Company he is a director of the Wolf Creek Railroad Company. His advancement is attributable entirely to his untiring labors and his laudable ambition and throughout his entire career he has never waited for opportunity to knock twice.
GEORGE H. SWEENEY.
Among the alert and enterprising business men of Pueblo is numbered George H. Sweeney, who is conducting a real estate and fire insurance agency, in connec- tion with which he has won a large clientage. He ranks among the foremost in this connection and his efforts have been a potent and farreaching force in the upbuilding and improvement of his city. Mr. Sweeney is numbered among the native sons of Pueblo, born on the 3d of November, 1879. His parents were W. H. and Hannah ( Peabody) Sweeney, the latter a sister of Governor Peabody. The parents were married in Denver and removed to Pueblo, where Mr. Sweeney for many years engaged in the furniture business, becoming a pioneer in that line of trade in his adopted city, to the upbuilding and commercial success of which he made liberal contribution. Both he and his wife have now passed away. Their family numbered two sons and a daughter.
George H. Sweeney, the youngest member of the household, spending his youth- ful days under the parental roof, began his education in the public schools and, mastering various branches of learning, won promotion from time to time until he became a high school pupil. When his textbooks were put aside he made his initial step in the business world as an employe in the First National Bank of Pueblo and later he became connected with the coal trade in this city. The next change in his business career brought him into the field of real estate, at which time he opened an office in the Thatcher building. He found here a congenial field of labor and has made steady and rapid progress. He now handles most of the large buildings in Pueblo, negotiating many important realty transfers, and he is also a prominent factor in industrial circles of the city as the secretary and treasurer of the Pueblo Foundry & Machine Company, which is controlling a very extensive and important business. In the foundry are employed one hundred and fifty men and their patron- age is steadily increasing, constituting a substantial source of Pueblo's prosperity. In addition to his real estate interests Mr. Sweeney handles fire insurance, of which he writes a large amount annually.
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