USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume IV > Part 15
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EDWARD J. MORELAND.
Edward J. Moreland, who is engaged in ranching in El Paso county and is also the manager of the elevator at Peyton, was born December 30, 1867, in Perry county, Indiana, a son of James H. and Martha Moreland. The father was a native of Ohio and removed with his family from Indiana to Olney, Richland county, Illinois, during the early boy- hood of Edward J. Moreland, who was there reared and educated. In 1885 the latter went to Kansas and for a short period engaged in freighting out of Garden City, Kansas. Afterward he was connected with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company, being employed as foreman of the track gang until the road was completed to Colorado Springs. He then took up his abode at Peyton, where he preempted one hundred and sixty acres of land and also took a timber claim of one hundred and sixty acres. Later he purchased other tracts, adding to his place from time to time until his landed posses- sions now aggregate fourteen hundred and forty acres. The ranch is devoted to general farming. He raises various crops best adapted to soil and climate and is also extensively engaged in raising stock, keeping from one hundred to one hundred and fifty head of cattle upon his place in the winter. In 1917 he raised five hundred and sixty bushels of beans on a forty acre lot, which is a record crop for dry farming. He is the president of The Peyton Farmers Cooperative Elevator Company and in this connection is also conducting a profitable and growing business.
In his political views Mr. Moreland is a socialist. He is a highly respected citizen of Peyton, active and industrious and a recognized leader among the residents of that locality, his worth being acknowledged by all with whom he has come in contact.
ELMER E. SCHLOSSER.
Elmer E. Schlosser, attorney at law, was born in Chambersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1861, a son of Dr. Noah and Katherine (Maxwell) Schlosser, who were also natives of Franklin county, where four generations of the family had previously been represented. The ancestral record can be traced directly back to an early period in the seventeenth century. Dr. Noah Schlosser was a prominent member of the dental profession for many years. In early life, however, he was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and during the period of the Civil war served as chaplain of his regi- ment. He afterward took up dentistry, which he followed in Denver from 1883 until the time of his death, which occurred in 1909, and throughout the entire period was accorded a liberal patronage, for his marked ability placed him in the front rank among the ablest members of the profession. His wife survived him for several years, passing away
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in Denver in 1914. Their family numbered five children: Dr. Frank G., Maxwell D., Elmer E., Mrs. A. D. White and Mrs. Henry W. Spangler, all of Denver.
Elmer E. Schlosser was reared in the place of his nativity and in early life was a pupil in the public schools of Carlisle. Pennsylvania. Later he became a stenographer and telegraph operator at Elmira, New York, taking up the work at the age of eighteen years and continuing active in that line until his removal to Denver on the 12th of April, 1883. Here he entered the law office of Pence & Pence, under whose direction he continued bis reading until admitted to the bar in May, 1891. He has since engaged in active practice and by reason of individual merit and ability has steadily worked his way upward, heing at times connected with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of his district. He is very careful and painstaking in the preparation of his cases, is strong and logical in argument and clear in his deductions. He belongs to the Denver City and County Bar Association and also to the Colorado Bar Association.
On the 31st of January, 1891, Mr. Schlosser was married in Denver to Miss Gertrude Ramey, who was horn in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Ramey, representatives of a prominent old family of the Keystone state. Mr. and Mrs. Schlosser have become the parents of a daughter, DeRugh, who was graduated from the North Denver high school and is now the wife of F. E. Brainard. She was born in Denver in 1899.
In his political views Mr. Schlosser has always been a republican since age con- ferred upon him the right of franchise but has never been an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his professional interests, which have con- stantly grown and developed until he now has a large and distinctively representative clientage. His legal learning, his analytical mind, the readiness with which he grasps the points of an argument, all serve to make him an able advocate and his ability is combined with an excellent presence, an earnest manner and marked strength of char- acter.
CHRIS IRVING.
Chris Irving, prominent in the busy industrial life of Denver. having by honest dealing and thorough workmanship become a leading figure in the business life of the community, is now president of the Chris Irving Plumbing & Heating Company, which is the largest and oldest concern in this line of work in the state, having through the years of its existence executed many important contracts not only in Denver but throughout the west.
The life story of Chris Irving is one of earnest endeavor crowned with substantial success. He was born in Scotland, May 9, 1860, a son of William and Margaret (Richardson) Irving, who were also natives of Scotland, where they spent their entire lives, the father passing away in 1869, while the mother died in 1870. There were three children born of this union, of whom Chris Irving is the only survivor. He was left an orphan at a tender age. His education was acquired in the schools of Glasgow, Scotland, but when a youth of only thirteen years he laid aside his text- books and went to work. He served an apprenticeship at the plumber's trade covering a term of six years and after having received his papers went to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he secured a position in his chosen vocation. Eighteen months later he went to London, England, where he worked at his trade for various prominent firms through a period of ten years. While thus engaged he installed the plumbing and heating plants in many of the most prominent public and private buildings of the city and these are still doing service.
In 1890 Mr. Irving decided to come to the United States and first located in New York city, where he remained for eight months. He then made his way westward to Denver and for two years was employed by various firms but in the meantime was watching for an opportunity to engage advantageously in business on his own account. He carefully saved his earnings until his economy and industry had brought to him sufficient capital to enable him to take the desired step, which was done in 1892. In many of the large buildings throughout Denver and the state he has installed the plumbing and heating systems, securing important contracts of this character while still alone in business and after the organization of the present Chris Irving Plumh- ing & Heating Company. His work is found in the new Denver Federal building and post office, also in the State Museum, the Colorado National Bank building and other of the large and fine structures of the city. One recent contract of the firm involved the expenditure of more than two hundred thousand dollars for the plumbing and
CHRIS IRVING
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heating system in the two million dollar Broadmoor Hotel of Colorado Springs. Their latest contract is for all the plumbing as well as the high pressure steam heat- ing in the Government Recuperation Camp buildings at Aurora, Colorado, and is the biggest job of the kind, calling forth the most expert knowledge, experienced manage- ment, punctilious execution and reliable workmanship with vast resources and exten- sive facilities, ever performed by a Colorado plumbing firm, and will cost approximately half a million of dollars. These and many hundreds of other buildings in which their work is found constitute the testimonial of the ability and prominence of the firm. Their work is of the highest possible standard and they are alive to every improvement in the trade and the methods of heating and plumbing installation. The business was incorporated in 1900 with Mr. Irving as the president, James Flockhart as vice presi- dent and Stephen J. Slattery as secretary. In addition to his connection with this important and growing business Mr. Irving is a director of the Merchants Bank.
In 1898 Mr. Irving was married to Miss Annie C. Murray, of Denver. In politics he maintains an independent course and fraternally he is identified with high degree Masonry as a member of the various branches of the York Rite and the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Denver Civic and Commercial Association. His high standing along the line of his chosen vocation is indicated in the fact that he is a valued member of the Colorado Master Plumbers' Association and in 1913 and 1914 was president of the National Master Plumbers' .Association. Unaided and alone he has worked his way upward, dependent upon his own resources from the age of thirteen years, careful analysis of his life history bringing to light the fact that industry has been the broad foundation upon which he has built his success.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WOODWARD.
Colorado was fortunate in its pioneers-fortunate in having within its borders in its early days men who could apply to its development the resources of modern science. To this class belongs Benjamin Franklin Woodward, to whose skill and energy Colorado owes the speedy construction of telegraph lines which brought the news of the mo- ment to its doors, accelerated its trade and thoroughly modernized its communities.
Benjamin F. Woodward was born in Newark, Ohio, June 25, 1834. His father, Thomas H. Woodward, was a plow manufacturer, who invented many improvements on the cast iron plow of that period. He was born in Massachusetts, where the family had been prominent since 1634-not many years after the founding of Plymouth colony by the Pilgrims. The family of Thomas H. Woodward, which had early removed to Ohio, later settled in Rochester, New York, where Benjamin F. Woodward went to school until his thirteenth year. In 1847 the family removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and there Benjamin F. Woodward soon obtained a position with the Atlantic & Ohio Tele- graph Company, which a little later was merged with the Western Union. At the age of eighteen he became the Pittsburgh office manager for that corporation. A remarkable capacity for administration soon brought the young man to the attention of men of large means and William Mccutcheon, a wealthy wholesale grocer, offered him a co- partnership and unlimited capital to establish a mercantile business in the west. This offer he accepted, although but twenty-one years of age, and from 1856 until 1862 he conducted business at Fulton, Illinois.
In that city Mr. Woodward was married in 1861 to Miss Helen S. Bassett, a daughter of Dr. William Bassett. Failing health compelled him to seek a milder climate and through the influence of General Thomas T. Eckert, who had never lost sight of his Pittsburgh protege, Mr. Woodward obtained the position of cipher operator at General Peck's headquarters at Suffolk, Virginia. There he remained until 1863, when he was made manager of the Denver office of the Pacific Telegraph Company, then building its line from Julesburg, Colorado, to Denver. In the latter city he began his great constructive work for the new west. He was not alone the Denver manager for the company but supervised the construction of the new telegraph line. On the 10th of October, 1863, he opened his office in Denver, using at first the pony express to carry and bring his messages from the daily changing terminals of the telegraph lines, until finally, when the wire was extended to Denver, the unique service by pony express was discontinued.
In 1865 the Pacific Telegraph Company became a part of the Western Union, with Mr. Woodward as manager. He had in those few years established a reputation for business capacity and sterling integrity so that the best and most progressive men in
ยท BENJAMIN F. WOODWARD
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the community joined him when in the fall of 1867 he organized the United States and Mexico Telegraph Company. In this enterprise he was associated with such men as Henry M. Porter, William N. Byers, D. H. Moffat, F. Z. Salomon, L. B. Maxwell, John Dodd and E. Spiegelberg. They completed a line from Denver to Santa Fe, opening it for business in 1868. In the fall of that year Mr. Woodward and his associates constructed the line to Cheyenne. In 1875 he was induced by General' Palmer to accept the important post of superintendent of the telegraph lines along the now rapidly extend- ing Denver & Rio Grande system. When he left that position it was to develop his real estate and other interests. He was one of the men who in the early days could vision the future of Denver and Colorado. In those pioneering periods it took courage to invest heavily in Denver realty, but this Mr. Woodward did and thus laid the founda- tion for the fortune which came to him by reason of his early faith and foresight.
Mr. Woodward was one of the most active members of the Central Presbyterian church. He was one of its earliest members, was prominent in effecting the consolida- tion of the old Seventeenth Street church with the Central. He was trustee for nearly the entire period of his membership, and for many years its president. When the present church edifice was erected he was one of the heaviest contributors. He was the founder of Riverside cemetery, now one of the most beautiful of the city's burial places. It is due largely to his initiative that the Young Men's Christian Association was made a great and influential institution in Denver.
Benjamin F. Woodward was foremost in all that stood for civic progress, and his labors were most far reaching and resultant. He recognized clearly the value of any project or plan which he endorsed and he labored zealously for its adoption and success- ful promotion. His death, which occurred March 22. 1908, while he was making a tour of Mexico, was mourned by the entire community. He left one son, Frank L. Wood- ward, who is today one of the leaders in the professional and social life of the city and state.
FRANK LINCOLN WOODWARD.
Frank Lincoln Woodward, son of Benjamin F. Woodward, was born in Denver, June 16, 1866. As a child and man he stands as a type of that pioneering spirit which has made a great productive center of this foothill district. It is this that has made him a worthy successor to the giants of the early days, among whom his father was by no means the least.
In the acquirement of his education Frank L. Woodward was graduated from the East Denver high school in the class of 1884. In 1888 he was graduated from Yale University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1890 he left the Yale Law School with the degree of LL. B. He next entered the law office of the firm of Benedict & Phelps in 1891, and the following year became connected with the law office of Rogers, Cuthbert & Ellis. In 1900 he entered upon the practice of law independently and has since followed his profession with success, being classed among the prominent representatives of the Denver bar. His activities in other lines have attracted nation- wide attention. He has always been an enthusiastic golfer and early took the lead in making Denver the center of western golfing affairs. In 1896 he was a member of the first golf committee of the Denver Country Club. In 1901 he won the Colorado state golf championship at the Cheyenne Mountain Country Club, Colorado Springs.
In January, 1913, the United States Golf Association elected him second vice presi- dent, in 1914 he was chosen first vice president and in 1915 became the president. In 1912 it was largely through the efforts of Mr. Woodward that the Western Golf Associa- tion held its annual tournament. in Denver. In that year he was elected president of the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association, and in 1914 he became president of the Western Golf Association. In 1909 he was elected president of the Denver Country Club, and has filled that office many times since-a tribute to his progressiveness, as the Country Club of Denver is a model institution of its kind.
Mr. Woodward was the leading factor in bringing the Chicago Grand Opera Com- pany to Denver for its most successful season in the far west, and he performed the same service for the Boston Grand Opera Company in the following year. Since 1911 he has been president of the Denver Symphony Orchestra Association, which is responsible for the yearly musical festivals so much appreciated by Denver lovers of the artistic in music.
In 1913 he was elected secretary of the Denver Society of the Archaeological Insti- tute of America, serving in that capacity until 1916, when he was chosen president of
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the association, and still continues in that office. In 1913 he was elected president of the Denver Federation of Charity and Philanthropy, and is still serving in that capacity, having been out of office but one year. In 1917 he was elected president of the Univer- sity Club of Denver, succeeding himself in 1918. He was secretary of the Colorado Yale Association in 1904, and elected president in 1905.
For years he has been a life member of the American Red Cross, and during almost the entire period of his connection with that body served as a member of the executive committee of the Denver Chapter.
He is a prominent member of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, and the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, serving on its art committee, its good roads com- mittee, its committee on Rocky Mountain National Park, and on other committees which have to do with the development work of the organization. In 1918 he was appointed by Mayor Mills as a member of the Denver water commission, which is in sole charge of the newly purchased water system. He was prominent in the organiza- tion of the Denver Morris Plan Company, a remedial and industrial loan organization the parent organization of which was the Industrial Finance Corporation of New York. He is a director of the Colorado Historical Society; and has for many years been a vestryman of St. Barnabas church, of which Rev. Charles Marshall is rector.
When the country sent out its call for men to give their time and energy to various departments of public service Mr. Woodward was one of the first to respond among the famous dollar a year men. He is now deputy federal food administrator for the state of Colorado, and is giving most of his time to that service, and as such sat in the state council of defense organized by Governor Gunter.
On the 10th of February, 1891, Mr. Woodward was married at New Haven, Connecti- cut, to Miss May Farnam, a daughter of Charles H. and Alice (Davies) Farnam.
ALLAN F. WRIGHT.
Allan F. Wright, who for more than four years has served as a member of the board of pardons in Colorado, makes his home in Denver and is well known as one of the conductors on the Colorado & Southern Railroad. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, on the 23d of April, 1873, a son of Malcolm and Elizabeth (McGill) Wright, in whose family were five children: Melville; Edna, the wife of L. G. Kay; Stella; Stanley; and Allan F.
The last named was but five years old when his parents came to Colorado, establish- ing their home in Denver. The father was a pioneer tanner here and followed that business to the time of his death, which occurred on the 25th of December, 1907. He is survived by his widow, who yet makes her home in Denver. Allan F. Wright pursued his education in the Villa Park school, one of the public schools of Denver, and when his textbooks were put aside started out in the business world as an employe of the Windsor Hotel. Later he entered the employ of the Colorado & Southern Railroad Com- pany, with which he has since been associated, and, advancing in that connection, he has for some time served as conductor. He is popular with the traveling public because he is courteous and obliging and he has made many friends among those who have occasion to travel over the road.
Mr. Wright gives his political allegiance to no particular party. For more than four years he has been a member of the state board of pardons, in which connection he has done important work, giving much time to the duties of the board, and these duties he discharges with a marked sense of conscientious obligation. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 52, of Pueblo, Elks Lodge, No. 17, of Denver, to the Order of Railway Conductors, and also to the Railroad Young Men's Christian Association. He stands for all that is highest and best for the individual and for the community at large and is a man whose sterling worth and splendid characteristics have commanded for him the respect, confidence and goodwill of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
IRA THORNTON SHEPPARD.
Ira Thornton Sheppard, who has extensive farming interests in Elbert county, was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, December 25, 1867, a son of William Stewart and Mary. (McAllister) Sheppard. The paternal grandfather removed from Kentucky to Illinois. He was a Baptist minister and his son, William Stewart Sheppard, also devoted his life
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to the cause of the ministry. Both the Sheppard and McAllister families come of Scotch ancestry.
Reared amid the refining influences of a cultured home, Ira T. Sheppard enjoyed the educational advantages accorded by schools in the vicinity of Jacksonville, Illinois. Through the period of his boyhood and youth he also became actively connected with farming and followed that pursuit in his native state tor a time, after which he removed westward to Hutchinson, Kansas, where he engaged in the dairy business for eight years. On coming to Colorado in 1914 he purchased an entire section of land in Elbert county, which constitutes a part of his present holdings. Throughout the intervening period he has concentrated his efforts upon the development and improvement of his property and is the owner of one of the fine ranches in his section.
On the 8th of October, 1890, at Lynnville, Illinois, Mr. Sheppard was united in marriage to Miss Percie Clyde Fisher. They have an interesting family of four sons and a daughter: Glen C., who is now a lieutenant with the United States army at Camp Kearny; Guy Raymond, who is a corporal in active service in France; Fred Leroy, who also offered himself for enlistment but was rejected on account of physical disability; Ralph Benjamin, who is a student in the Colorado State Agricultural College at Fort Collins; and Mary Electa, twelve years of age. Mr. Sheppard and his family are widely and favorably known in Elbert county and he is regarded as a man of excellent business ability and of enterprising spirit, who capably directs his ranching interests and at the same time finds opportunity to cooperate in well defined plans and measures for up- building the county and advancing its civic interests.
WILLIAM W. PORTER.
William W. Porter, engaged in the real estate and investment business in Denver, was born in Monroe county, Missouri, November 30, 1850, and is descended from New England ancestry, while the line is traced back still farther to England. His father, the Rev. James Porter, was a native of Kentucky, in which state representatives of the family settled at an early period in its development. He became a minister of the Baptist church and devoted his entire life to that holy calling, his last days being passed in Monroe county, Missouri, where he departed this life in 1855, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Walker, was a native of Virginia and belonged to one of the old families of that state of English lineage. To Rev. and Mrs. Porter were born eleven children, six sons and five daughters, two sisters and four brothers of William W. Porter still living. He was one of twins.
William W. Porter acquired his early education in public schools and later he attended a college at Huntsville, Missouri, while subsequently he was graduated from Mount Pleasant College in 1871. He started out upon his business career on attaining his majority and throughout all the intervening period has devoted his attention and energies to the real estate business, which he followed in Moberly, Missouri, until 1882, in which year he removed to the west with Denver as his destination. He arrived in this city in November and immediately opened a real estate office. That he has pros- pered as the years have gone by is indicated in the fact that he has continued in this line in Denver for thirty-six years and has long been regarded as one of the foremost real estate dealers of the city. He has conducted an extensive business, negotiating many important property transfers, and there is no man more thoroughly informed concerning realty values in this section of the state. At one time he was a director of the People's Bank during the '90s.
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