History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 17

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 836

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Mr. McGuire has been married twice, first on Thanksgiving evening of 1896. Through this union he became the father of two children, Gertrude and Harry, aged respectively twenty and fifteen years. Both were born in Denver. On the 31st of July, 1909, Mr. McGuire was married in Denver to Miss Lena Pearl Carper, a daughter of J. P. and Virginia (Hamilton) Carper, who were pioneer settlers of Denver. To this marriage has been born a daughter, Virginia, whose birth occurred in Denver, March 28, 1911. The family residence is at No. 500 Franklin street, Denver, and the property is owned by Mr. McGuire.

In his political views Mr. McGuire is independent. In 1898 he was a candidate for the state legislature on the republican ticket but was defeated. He belongs to the Denver Civic and Commercial Club and is interested in all of the plans and projects put forth for the upbuilding of the city. He belongs also to the Mountain Club and to all local shooting clubs and he is a member of St. Philomena's Roman Catholic church. He finds his chief diversion in hunting large game in Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the western part of the United States and has many splendid mounted trophies. He is considered an authority on the fauna of the Rocky Mountain region, especially as to grizzly bears, and he gave to the Museum of Natural History at City Park in Denver probably the finest group of grizzly specimens in the world. His friends speak of him as a man of unusually fine personality, of tenacity and clear thinking powers, who is careful and conservative, very upright and honorable. They mention him, too, as a gentleman in every way-one who has built up a very successful business by observance of strict business ethics and also by reason of his genial personality.

WILLIAM KUMMER.

William Kummer resides near Lakewood, just outside of Denver, where he has five . acres of land. Here he is largely living retired, having in previous years followed the barbering business. He was born in Rheinsberg, Germany, March 14, 1856, a son of Mr. and Mrs. William Kummer. The father died when his son William was but four weeks old and the mother passed away when our subject was but a year and a half old, so that he knows little concerning his parents. His rearing was in charge of the town until he was fourteen years of age. He then went to Berlin, where he learned the barber- ing business and for four years he conducted a shop of his own in that city. He left there on the 28th of December, 1883, thinking to have better business opportunities in the new world than he could secure in that land. He arrived in New York on the 21st of January, 1884, and for two years worked at his trade. He also conducted a shop of his own for two years in New York and was proprietor of a barber shop in Brooklyn from 1887 until 1890, having five chairs in his shop. In November of the latter year, however, he started for the west with Denver as his destination, reaching this city on the 7th of December. He then opened a shop at No. 1464 South Tenth street, where he remained until 1893, when he removed to No. 1422 West Colfax avenue, there purchasing a house and building a shop in front in which he had three chairs. He remained in the barbering business there until 1907, when he purchased five acres of land in Lakewood and opened a country grocery store. This he conducted for three years and during two years of that time was also exchange manager for the Lakewood branch of the telephone company. On the expiration of that period he erected a new residence on his five-acre tract and returned to the barbering business, which he conducted in the Western Hotel for five years. At

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the end of that time he retired and is now occupied with looking after the development and cultivation of his five acres.

Mr. Kummer was married in Berlin, on the 21st of May, 1880, to Miss Bertha Lehnert and they have a son, Ernest William, who was born in Denver and is now a mechanic with the Packard Company of that city. He is of a very studious nature, possesses an inventive turn of mind and is a young man of whom the parents have every reason to be proud. He applies himself closely to his business and puts forth every effort to ad- vance along that line.

Mr. Kummer gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which he has supported since becoming a naturalized American citizen. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World and also to Harmony Lodge, No. 61, A. F. & A. M., being a loyal follower of the craft.

HERBERT SHAW DESOLLAR.

Herbert Shaw DeSollar needs no introduction to the representative business and banking fraternity of Colorado. However. a few facts of his life story may prove of interest. He was born in Beardstown, Cass county, Illinois, July 26, 1855. His parents, Henry Brown and Jane (Cook) DeSollar, came to America from England in early life, locating in Beardstown, Illinois. His father conducted under the name of The DeSollar Carriage & Wagon Manufacturing Company the largest establishment of its kind in central Illinois.

Herbert Shaw DeSollar was one of four children. At the age of seventeen he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for four years. Later he graduated with high honors from the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, and was acknowledged to be one of the finest penmen in the United States. Mr. DeSollar after- wards engaged in commercial college work and established a chain of business colleges in various cities in the central states. This work finally brought him to Denver in 1888, when he founded the Central Business College. The success of this institution needs no comment, as hundreds of Colorado's leading young business men and bankers are its graduates. In 1906 he retired from commercial college work and since then has devoted most of his time to the real estate and investment business. His activities reached a climax when he successfully concluded two real estate transactions which entailed two of the highest commissions ever paid in Denver.

On July 26, 1885, Mr. DeSollar was married to Miss Hattie May Le Brun, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Julian Albert Le Brun, of Chicago, Illinois. Their only child, Hattie Jeannette DeSollar, now the wife of Horace H. Brooks, was born in Denver. She acquired her education in the Wolcott School for Girls and later at the Girls' Collegiate School of Los Angeles, California.

In politics, Mr. DeSollar maintains an independent course. He belongs to different organizations of the city and is a prominent Mason.

EVAN THOMAS EVANS.

Evan Thomas Evans, whose landed possessions in Elbert county are most extensive, was born at Pen y Groyes, Wales, in June, 1859, his parents being Thomas and Mary Evans. On leaving the little rock-ribbed country of Wales they crossed the Atlantic to the Holland Patent in New York. our subject being at that time a youth of fourteen years. Within a brief period the family removed westward to Red Oak, Iowa, and there Evan T. Evans successfully followed farming until 1903, when he removed to Elbert county, settling on his present large ranch. The removal was made on account of the health of one of his children.

It was in 1886 that Mr. Evans was united in marriage in Plainfield, New York, to Miss Eleanor Perry and they became the parents of six children, Roy, Mamie, Lillie, Gilbert, Elsie and Perry. The youngest is now at Camp Fremont, California, being a private in an infantry regiment.

As the years have passed Mr. Evans has concentrated his efforts and attention upon his farming interests, adding to his possessions as his financial resources have increased until he is now the owner of eighteen hundred acres of the richest land in Elbert county, situated on the outskirts of the town of Elizabeth. He still owns the three eighty acre tracts that he farmed in Iowa and he is reputed to be the most prosperous

MR. AND MRS. EVAN T. EVANS

EVAN T. EVANS' RANCH

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farmer of Elbert county. His methods have at all times been practical and progres- sive and the neat and thrifty appearance of his places is an indication of his undaunted spirit and his thorough familiarity with the most advanced ideas of modern agriculture.

Mr. Evans is a member of the Presbyterian church and takes a deep interest in its affairs. He has been an elder for the past fifteen years, has served as a director on the school board for fifteen years, and is secretary of the Elizabeth high school, doing everything in his power to promote moral and mental growth and extend edu- cational influence. His aid is always given on the side of progress and improvement and his cooperation can be counted upon to further any movement for the general good.

WILLIAM RAYMOND SANDERSON, M. D.

Dr. William Raymond Sanderson, who in young manhood qualified for the practice of medicine and for many years has been identified with cattle raising in Colorado, making his home at the present time near Kuhns Crossing, was born in December, 1857, near Druid Hill Park in Maryland. His father was Thomas Sanderson, whose father removed from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Frederick, Maryland, where Thomas Sander- son was born. Representatives of the family in the fifth generation are now living upon a part of the old family homestead in the east.

William Raymond Sanderson was educated in the famous Lawrenceville, New Jer- sey, school under the celebrated teacher, Dr. Samuel M. Hamill. In preparation for a pro- fessional career he entered the University of Maryland at Baltimore and after complet- ing his course was for a time one of the resident physicians of the Baltimore City Alms- house. He came to the west in 1882 and associated himself with his brother, Jolın P. Sanderson, in the live stock business.

In the '80s, when Dr. Sanderson removed to Elbert county and engaged in the cattle business, it was followed by such leading men of the state as Governor Routt, Governor J. A. Cooper, Finis P. Ernest, W. H. H. Cranmer and Dewey C. Bailey. Dr. Sanderson purchased his first herd of cattle from the late Senator Frank T. Cochrane. Through- out all the intervening years Dr. Sanderson has been engaged in the cattle industry.

Dr. Sanderson was for a time coroner of Elbert county, which is the only public office that he has ever held. Notwithstanding his desire to keep out of office, he has been a potent factor in promoting public progress and improvement through his support and endorsement of every measure for the general good. He believes that public office is a sacred trust and strongly advocates enfranchisement of women. His brother's son, John P. Sanderson, Jr., is a first lieutenant in France, where he was heroically fighting for the democratization of the world.

RUSSELL HARRIS FORBES.

Russell Harris Forbes, confidential secretary to Verner Z. Reed, a Denver capitalist, with offices in the city of Denver, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, December 12, 1885. The family comes of Scotch ancestry and was founded in America by the grandfather of Russell H. Forbes, who on crossing the Atlantic in 1837 took up his abode in Ashland county, Ohio. The Forbes family has been represented in the Buckeye state from pioneer times. Henry William Forbes, father of Russell H. Forbes, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a son of Alexander Forbes, who at the time of the discovery of gold in California crossed the plains to the Pacific coast in 1849 and was there engaged in mining. In Cleveland he became a pioneer contractor and builder and con- tinued to make his home in that city until his death, which occurred in 1914, when he had reached the advanced age of ninety years. His son, Henry William Forbes, followed mercantile pursuits first in Cleveland and afterward in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in Chicago, Illinois, his death occurring in 1901, at the early age of forty-five years. In young manhood he had wedded Miss Anna M. Schermerhorn, a native of Albany, New York, and a descendant of one of the old families of the Empire state-a family coming of Dutch ancestry. The line is traced directly back to the early seventeenth century and after the emigration to the new world members of the family took active part in the work of colonization and participated in the Revolutionary war, and Mrs. Forbes is now connected with the Daughters of the American Revolution. She still

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makes her home in Cleveland. To Mr. and Mrs. Forbes were born two children, the daughter being Myrtle H., now the wife of Chester T. Brackett, a journalist of Cleveland.

Russell H. Forbes, the only son in the family, pursued his education largely in the public schools of Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, and in the University of Wisconsin. At the age of eighteen years he took up the profession of civil engineering and in 1904 removed to the west, going first to New Mexico. He followed civil engineering in connection with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad and afterward came to Denver, where he arrived on the 1st of May, 1906. He immediately entered upon pro- fessional activity in this state and continued exclusively in that field of labor until 1912, when he started to practice his profession independently. But hard times came on and general business conditions were poor, so that he abandoned his office and became an engineer for railroads and mining companies. He next took up journalism and from 1912 until 1914 was a reporter on the Denver Post. While engaged in news- paper work he was a strong advocate of the good roads movement in Colorado and spent considerable time and effort in the early development of public opinion along that line and the projects connected with the improvement of the thoroughfares, instituting much work that has since accomplished splendid results. In 1914 Mr. Forbes became connected with Verner Z. Reed, taking charge of a campaign which Mr. Reed organized and financed to improve market conditions for the fruit growers of the state and which was continued until 1915. On the 1st of January, 1916, Mr. Forbes entered Mr. Reed's office as assistant secretary and three months later was made his confidential secretary, which position he has since filled. He is also a director of the Mid-West Oil Company and a member of other corporations of which Mr. Reed is the principal stockholder.

On the 2d of February, 1910, Mr. Forbes was united in marriage in Denver to Miss Rose R. Lowrie, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, and a daughter of Harold W. and Rosa (Redford) Lowrie, who are representatives of old Carolina and Tennessee families. To Mr. and Mrs. Forbes have been born four children: Elizabeth A., born in Denver, April 7, 1912; Robert H., August 22, 1913; Rose Myrtle, June 20, 1916; and Margery, July 30, 1918.

In politics Mr. Forbes maintains an independent course. In 1917 he was appointed on the commission of conciliation by the United States department of labor, being one of the dollar a year men in maintaining conditions which contribute much to the successful prosecution of the war. Mr. Forbes is a member of St. Mark's Episcopal church and his chief diversion comes through hunting, fishing and motoring. He is a lover of all phases of outdoor life and when leisure permits spends his time in that way. Merit and ability have brought him prominently to the front in business connections and his worth is widely acknowledged by those with whom he has been brought in contact. His vision is broad, his sagacity keen and his judgment sound.

FRANK PURSE.

Frank Purse, engaged in the dairy business on Rose Hill at Aurora, selling only to the wholesale trade, was born at Grey Abbey, in County Down, Ireland, a son of John and Jane (Lemon) Purse, His education was acquired in his native country and he came to the United States when about seventeen years of age. thinking to have better business opportunities in the new world. He arrived in Denver about 1885 and not long afterward entered the dairy business in what was then Arapahoe but is new Adams county. He remained there for a few years and subsequently purchased fifteen acres on Rose Hill, where he continued in the dairy business, in which he has since been engaged. He is one of the well known dairymen of this section of the state and has conducted his interests along progressive, modern and scientific lines. He retailed milk about fifteen years but now sells only to the wholesale trade. He has a well equipped dairy, thoroughly neat and sanitary in every department, and he keeps cows of high grade.

On the 21st of March, 1900, Mr. Purse was married to Miss Mabel McDonald, a daughter of Asa B. and Nancy J. (Dillon) McDonald. The father was a contractor of prominence in his chosen line of business and was the builder of the Adams county courthouse, the Arapahoe county courthouse and the residences of John F. Campion, J. S. Brown, C. S. Morey and a number of the palatial homes of the more prominent people of this section of the state. Mrs. Purse was born and reared in Cleveland, Ohio, and by her marriage has become the mother of a daughter, Elizabeth Frances Jane.

Fraternally Mr. Purse is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a republican and regards it as the duty as well as the privilege of every

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true American citizen to exercise his right of franchise in support of the measure in which he believes. He served for four years as county commissioner of Adams county and made an excellent record by his fidelity to the trust reposed in him. He is always loyal to the best interests and to everything that has to do with the welfare and progress of his district. His business career has been a most active one and his close application and indefatigable energy have been strong points in the attainment of that measure of prosperity which he is now enjoying.

A. H. FRERICHS.

A. H. Frerichs, cashier of the Stockmen's National Bank of Brush, Colorado, was born in Talmage, Nebraska, in November, 1886, a son of Theodore and Mary (Teten) Frerichs, who were pioneers of Otoe county, Nebraska, to which place they removed about 1878. The father is a banker there and has devoted his entire life to the banking business, his present connection being that of cashier of the Bank of Talmage, and he is also the president of the Stockmen's National Bank of Brush. He has had much to do with the commercial and financial upbuilding and development of the section of the state in which he lives and his energy has brought substantial results. His wife passed away in April, 1908.

A. H. Frerichs · was reared in Talmage, Nebraska, pursuing his education in the schools of that place and of Omaha. His connection with Brush dates from 1907, when he came to Morgan county to accept the position of assistant cashier of the Stockmen's National Bank. A few years later he and his father purchased the con- trolling interest in this bank and in 1911 A. H. Frerichs was made cashier. This bank is capitalized for thirty-five thousand dollars and has a surplus and undivided profits of twenty-five thousand dollars, while its deposits have reached four hundred thousand dollars. The bank is in excellent condition and its business is steadily growing. In 1908 the Stockmen's National Bank erected a modern bank and office bullding on the main street of the town.

Mr. Frerichs was married in October, 1908, to Miss Blanche Puffer and to them has been born a daughter, Dorothy D., whose birth occurred in August, 1909. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Frerichs are Presbyterians, loyally supporting the church in all of its branches of work and contributing liberally to its support. Fraternally Mr. Frerichs is connected with Lodge No. 1143, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and his political allegiance is given to the republican party, which finds in him a stalwart ad- vocate. He is the present mayor of Brush and his administration is marked by notable devotion to the public welfare, with practical methods for the achievement of his pur- poses. Moreover, Mr. Frerichs is actively engaged in war service work, ably assisting in promoting all measures of the government in order to make the world safe for democracy and is now serving as member of the Morgan County Council of Defense and as vice chairman of the local Red Cross organization.

ELLIS HUNTSMAN.

Ellis Huntsman, actively, successfully and extensively engaged in farming in Elbert county, was born in Noble county, Indiana, March 27. 1885, a son of Riley and Sarah (Bell) Huntsman, both of whom are representatives of old colonial families. They are now residents of Colorado Springs and Mr. Huntsman of this review puts forth every effort to make them comfortable and happy in their declining years, thus repaying them by filial devotion for the love and care with which they surrounded him in his youth.

Ellis Huntsman was educated in the public schools to the age of sixteen years, and accompanied his parents to Colorado, arriving in this state in 1898. The family home was established in Elbert county, in what is generally known as the Divide district, and since that time the members of the family have been substantial citizens of this state. His brother, L. E. Huntsman, has one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the property of Ellis. He is married and has a pleasant home on the Divide. Another brother is the head of the H. C. Huntsman Mercantile Company at Matheson, Colorado, and a sister is the wife of O. S. Keysor, a large land holder of this district.

Ellis Huntsman is devoting his time and energies to the development of what is one of the best farms of the county, comprising five hundred and twenty acres. This he has

A. H. FRERICHS

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acquired and converted into a valuable property, employing the most modern and pro- gressive methods in the cultivation of the fields, while all modern improvements are found upon the place. An air of neatness and thrift pervades the farm and gives indica- tion of the practical efforts of the owner.

GEORGE A. MITZE.

George A. Mitze, a farmer and stock raiser successfully carrying on business in Adams county, Colorado, was born in Kansas on the 29th of November, 1873. His parents, George and Elizabeth Mitze, were natives of Germany, who came to America in the '50s, at which time they located in Peoria, Illinois. They afterward removed to Kansas, where they resided until 1874 and then came to Colorado, settling on a farm in Denver county, where they spent their remaining days. They had a family of five children, three of whom are living.

George A. Mitze was reared and educated in Colorado, pursuing his studies in the public schools. After his textbooks were put aside he took up farming on his own account, having been reared to that occupation, so that he brought practical experience and knowledge to the beginning of his business career. After a time he purchased his present farm, comprising one hundred and ninety-five acres of good land, a part of which is under ditch. He has improved his place with one of the finest homes in the county and upon his land are found large and substantial barns and outbuildings, furnishing ample shelter to grain and stock. Everything about the place is indica- tive of his progressive spirit and practical methods and the results which he achieves are most gratifying.

In 1900 Mr. Mitze was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bukoutz, a native of Kansas, and to them have been born six children: Mary E., Albert H., Bertha H., William A., Emma C. and Clara Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Mitze are members of the Lutheran church, and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. They are highly esteemed in the community in which they make their home and enjoy the warm-hearted hospitality which is cordially extended to them by their many friends. Mr. Mitze has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits and is num- bered among those who have made this district a most productive and prosperous one.

CHARLES HOEFFER.

Charles Hoeffer, a resident farmer of Adams county and proprietor of the Alpine Creamery of Denver, was born in Germany, October 28, 1859, a son of John Henry and Mary (Dick) Hoeffer, who were natives of that country, where they spent their entire lives and there reared their family of thirteen children, seven of whom are living. John Henry Hoeffer was for fifty years a teacher in Germany, his home being at Birk, in the government district of Siegburg on the Rhine.

Charles Hoeffer spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Germany, where he attended public school. He came to America in 1878, when a youth of nineteen years, and first settled in Tipton, Missouri, where he remained for two years. He then came to Georgetown, Colorado, where he engaged in mining, and in 1881 he purchased the farm in Adams county upon which he now resides. Taking up his abode upon this place, he bent his energies to its development and cultivation and has lived thereon throughout the intervening period save for six years when he was a resident of Denver, during which time he conducted a meat market in that city. Tiring, however, of city life, he returned to the farm and has since given his efforts and attention to its man- agement, while he is also operating the Alpine Creamery of Denver, of which he is the owner and from which source he derives a very gratifying revenue.

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History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 17

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 836

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 836