USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume IV > Part 27
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A Mauldin
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is now in France, valiantly defending the cause of his country and of the allies in this world struggle for democracy. The youngest son, Harold Stratton, was in the new draft.
Mr. Mauldin gave his political allegiance to the democratic party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, frequently called upon him for public service. Three times he was elected county commissioner, making a most creditable record in that office. He passed away February 24, 1908, after a residence of forty- one years in Colorado. He was therefore a witness of the greater part of the growth and development of the state, for pioneer conditions existed at the time of his arrival and he and his mother and sisters had to face many of the privations and hardships incident to the settlement of the frontier. As the years passed, however, these dis- appeared before an advancing civilization and Mr. Mauldin was among those who contributed in bringing about the marked change which has made Elbert county one of the most progressive and prosperous sections of the state.
GEORGE FRANKLIN CHASE.
George Franklin Chase, of Boulder, passed away on the 27th of October, 1918, at the age of eighty-one years. During the latter part of his life he lived retired but for many years had been prominently and successfully identified with agricultural pursuits, his prosperity enabling him in his later years to enjoy a rest which he truly and richly merited. He came to Colorado from far-off New England, his birth having occurred in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1837. His paternal grandfather, Nicholas Chase, was a native of New Hampshire and was a descendant of Aquilla Chase, who with two brothers came from England to America, becoming founders of the family in the new world. George W. Chase, father of George Franklin Chase, was born in New Hampshire, spent his youthful days in that state and was married there to Miss Ann Mathews, who passed away in 1839, after which he was married again, in 1844. He later removed to York county, Maine, where he opened a little general store in New- field, conducting business for a few years. He then sold his stock and turned his attention to the clothing trade at that place, carrying on the business until about 1857. Subsequently he concentrated his efforts and attention upon farming in York couny, Maine, and was thus identified with its agricultural development until his demise, which occurred in 1874.
George Franklin Chase pursued his education in the public schools of York county, Maine, and in other districts where the family lived. He was twenty-two years of age when he came to Boulder, Colorado, arriving in the year 1859 and thus casting in his lot with the earliest pioneers of this section of the state. The city of Boulder had just been laid out and the work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun, but he had the prescience to discern something of what the future had in store for this great and growing western country and, obeying the dictates of his judgment, he gathered the reward of his labors in the fullness of time. He at once took up wild land and with characteristic energy began the arduous task of developing a new farm. Many hardships and difficulties confronted him, but he persevered and in the course of years transformed the wild tract into richly productive fields, from which he annually gathered substantial harvests. He always retained possession of the land which he settled upon in 1859. for which he later obtained a patent from the government and which to the time of his death remained a source of substantial and gratifying income to him.
On the 14th of May. 1864, in Biddeford, Maine, Mr. Chase was united in marriage to Miss Angusta A. Staples and to them were born four sons and a daughter, but the last mentioned died in infancy. The eldest son, Frederick L., was graduated from the University of Colorado in the class of 1886 and afterward won the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Yale University in 1891. He was astronomer at the Yale Observatory until 1913, when he returned to Boulder and is now living with his mother. George Arthur, the second son, died in 1897, at the age of thirty years. Charles H. has also passed away, and Harry A., the youngest son, was graduated from the University of Colorado in 1899 and departed this life in 1902. The only member of the family who married was George Arthur, the second son, who wedded Dora Milner but left no children.
In politics Mr. Chase was a stalwart republican. having supported the party from the date of its organization to the time of his demise. He once served as county commissioner of Boulder county, Colorado, filling the position for three years, and he
GEORGE F. CHASE
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also served as one of the first trustees of Boulder. He was a member of the Colorado Home Guard during the period of the Civil war. Fraternally he was a Knight Templar and Royal Arch Mason and when called to his final rest he was serving for the forty-fourth year as treasurer of Columbia Lodge, No. 14, A. F. & A. M., a record which it is believed is unprecedented in Masonry. He was a Congregationalist in religious faith and did much active work in behalf of the church and in support of Masonry, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft which is based upon a recognition of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. His life was indeed an honorable and upright one and constituted an influencing factor for good in the community in which he so long lived. Great indeed were the changes which came to Boulder and the surrounding district during the period of Mr. Chase's connection with the state, and as one of the honored pioneers and substantial citizens he deserves mention in the history of Colorado. He remained an officer of the First Congregational church in Boulder from its organization in 1866 until the time of his demise, this being the second Congregational church organized in Colorado territory. When death called him, his pastor pronounced a fitting eulogy upon him, in which he said: "Deacon Chase came from a race of sturdy men. He had the pioneer spirit. He lost neither his religion nor his conscience by the side of the long trail across the plains. He brought a New England conscience into the new land where distinctions of right and wrong were not always any too clear. For conscience sake, during the long, slow journey across the country by ox teams, he and a few companions rested each Sabbath while others of the original caravan pushed on. On the same day, how- ever, all reached Boulder together. Those who had kept their faith finished strong and fresh; the others, with tired bodies and worn-out teams. Such men as he stood against the drift towards carelessness and indifference in the early days. He stood without wavering for the things of the spirit when most men were seeking only gold. He early identified himself with the Congregational church and for more than fifty years filled the office of deacon with honor to himself and the church. His unusual fidelity has been a bulwark. It kept weaker souls true to their tasks. Duty was not a word he disliked.
"In times of grief, men found, in his stanch faith, comfort and hope. Because he lived faithfully, it has been easier for other men to resist sin, work cheerfully and bear grief manfully. It could be said of him, as was said of another Godly man, 'Whenever he walks by my shop I say to myself, There goes a true man, and that moment everything good in me feels stronger, and I find it easier to live as I ought.' "There was a solidity and firmness in his character that makes it fitting to say that he was, 'As an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.'
"'A man shall be as rivers of water in a dry place.' We who live near the plains, once called 'The Great American Desert,' and have watched the streams flow down from snowy heights and spread out in a thousand streamlets, giving, through their beneficent ministrations, the beauty of growing crops and the riches of abundant harvests, can appreciate this figure of speech. Such is the man who mediates between the heights of God and the dry plains of human life. 'Down from the heights of life where uptower to heaven the great ideals of faith and hope, of duty and destiny,' come the streams that beautify and fructify the great stretches of ordinary life. We are all better because some men live with the Eternal, and through them, out into the channels of friendly intercourse, flows the grace of God.
"Deacon Chase was a man of God. His religion was not a form, a mere attempt to satisfy God by rite and ceremony; nor was it the correct and ungracious goodness of the mere legalist. Religion was his life. We cannot think of two distinct sides to the man, one secular and the other sacred. His piety was natural and unaffected. He knew what it was to feed upon heavenly bread and drink from the spiritual foun- tains, but he lived as he prayed and he prayed as he lived. He was a churchman because it was in the 'fellowship of kindred minds' that he found it easier to meet and serve God. His worship was earnest and sincere; his church work as natural as his farming.
"Some religious men dwell always in the heights. But the truly great are those, like Moses, who come down from the mountain with the word of God for the people. What finer thing can be said of a man than that his life was a channel through which flowed kindness, justice, love! Such men make churches possible. They keep community life high minded and true spirited. We ordinary men owe more to these spiritually minded men than we are ever willing to acknowledge. No community grows into strength and nobleness of character without such men. Should they pass without leaving successors, our community would soon be ungracious and barren in its
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life and ugly in its culture. It is entirely fitting that we cherish the memory of all the quiet, unobtrusive men who, like Mr. Chase, are 'as rivers of water in a dry place.'
"'A man shall be as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land.' Notice the pic- ture this figure suggests: The caravan has trekked its silent, dusty way along the weary road for hours. It halts for a rest beneath the shadow of a great cliff by the wayside. In the coolness and restfulness of the shade the springs of human fellow- ship bubble forth. The toil of the road is forgotten except as subject of jest. Heart reaches out to heart, voice answers to voice, and laugh kindles laugh, until spirits as well as bodies are made fresh for the journey once more. So the shadow of the rock may stand for the refreshment and joy that come from God's Great-hearts who ease the toil of life's journey by their cheer and good fellowship. In their presence the tragedy of the way is softened and the joys are heightened. All blessings on the men who relieve the weariness of life by their cheeriness, the strain of life by their kindness, and ease the friction of the way by the oil of gladness! They are the real peace-makers who shall be called the Children of God.
"Mr. Chase was such a man. His was the friendly heart that makes a good com- panion whether at work or play. He smoothed human relations by his own good- temper. He was a man of peace, tactful and conciliatory, whose differences with other men were righted by friendly council rather than in courts of law. He possessed the cheering, healing grace of kindliness,-a virtue beyond appreciation in a world of irritable people. It meets the hosts of sour looks and ungracious words and scatters them by its magic. It softens the asperities of life and brings smiles where frowns have been. There are great men we admire from afar; good men who inspire us by example; but it is the kind man in whose shade good fellowship thrives. We have many ways of measuring the greatness of our fellows; but I am sure that if all the feeble folk, the little children, and the weak and infirm could decide who are great, the kindly man would be king of them all.
"Mr. Chase did his part, by a kindly spirit, to wipe out contentiousness, harshness and pain, and to send men singing along the way. He truly 'lived in a house by the side of the road and was a friend to man.' The Journey of Life has been made easier and pleasanter for many of us who have rested by the way in the shadow of his gracious personality.
"Mr. Chase lived his life nobly and then came to the moment of translation quietly and beautifully at the close of an evening of friendly talk in his own home. He passed with a heart filled with goodwill, and rich in the esteem and love of lodge, church and community. He built his life into these institutions, and as long as they endure, his personality will be potent for good among us. He loved life, yet because he loved life, he did not fear death. He felt that the man who lives with God lives an eternal life over which death has no power. His body served the spirit for more than the allotted time and so it was fittingly laid aside for a spiritual body in which he serves his Master and 'grows rich in a deeper sanctity.'
"Do you ask the secret of this modest, gracious, beloved man? It has been an open secret to those who have known him at all intimately. He was Christ's man. Could he respond to these words, he would say with the Psalmist and all truly great, 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give the glory, for Thy mercy and Thy truth sake.' He would say with the great Apostle. 'The life I lived in the flesh I lived by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.'"
PERRY DAVIS.
Important business interests and official duties have claimed the time and atten- tion of Perry Davis, who is one of the prominent live stock dealers of Elbert county, also well known as a bank president and as a public official. Mr. Davis was born in Charleston, West Virginia, on the 1st of January, 1868, a son of Robert Hamilton and Sarah Jane (Hall) Davis. The mother came of an old Virginian family established in that state in early colonial days. The father was born in West Virginia and there resided until 1871, when he removed with his family to Jewell county, Kansas.
Perry Davis was at that time but three years of age. He pursued his education in the schools of Kansas and in his early youth took up farm work, to which he gave his time and energies until 1889, when at the age of twenty-one years he made his way to the Divide country and filed on a claim near Simla, in Elbert county. During that period he was recognized as one of the most daring as well as one of the most reliable cowboys on the cattle range, riding for Lem Gammon, now one of the leading stockmen
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of the state and a member of the State Live Stock Commission. Mr. Davis has recently been appointed brand inspector for Simla and Matheson. As the years passed on he acquired large tracts of land and is today one of the prominent ranchmen of his section of the state. There is nothing concerning the range nor cattle raising in any connec- tion with which he is not familiar and his unfaltering industry and intelligently directed efforts have brought him substantial success. When the Matheson State Bank was formed a few years ago he became its president and is still at the head of that institution.
On the 19th of November, 1917, Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Clara M. Roberts, of Phillipsburg, Kansas, a brilliant and talented woman of liberal educa- tion, thoroughly versed in the literature of the day.
Mr. Davis is a stalwart democrat and four years ago was elected sheriff of Elbert county, which is normally republican by a majority of three hundred. In 1916 he was reelected by a majority of six hundred and seven, the largest vote ever given any officer in the county. He was again nominated in 1918 but declined to become a can- didate for a third term, as his growing business interests now make full claim upon his time and attention. His elections are proof of his personal popularity and the con- fidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen, who have found him a loyal and fearless officer, doing much to preserve law and order. However, his business affairs have been steadily developing and his ranching interests are now extensive and important, while as president of the Matheson State Bank he is closely associated with financial interests of the locality.
HENRY A. LINDSLEY.
Henry A. Lindsley, one of the ablest members of the Denver bar, is a representa- . tive of that prominent coterie of men who have constituted a dynamic force in the development of Denver's greatness through the advancement of her material interests and the upholding of her legal, intellectual and moral status. Mr. Lindsley was born in Lebanon, Tennessee, March 30, 1871, a son of Henry Stevens and Mary Bashie (Atkins) Lindsley. Henry A. Lindsley comes from a family that has been promi- nent in educational and professional circles in Tennessee ever since it was first estab- lished in that state by Dr. Philip Lindsley, D. D., the great-grandfather. The latter was vice president for years and later president elect of the College of New Jersey at Princeton, now Princeton University, before going to Tennessee, where he organized the University of Nashville and remained its president for several years. On his mother's side the ancestors of Henry A. Lindsley were among the pioneers of Louisiana.
Accorded liberal educational opportunities, Mr. Lindsley obtained his degree of Bachelor of Arts from Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1889, and the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1890, when not yet twenty years of age. He came at once to Denver and in 1893 the firm of Whitford & Lindsley was organized, which later became the firm of Decker & Lindsley. During the next seven years Mr. Lindsley won for himself a place among the most prominent of the younger attorneys of the city. In 1899, when only twenty-eight years of age, he was elected district attorney, serving for four years. On the 1st of December, 1902, he was, under the newly adopted Article XX of the state constitution, required to and did fill not only the office of district attorney but also that of county and city attorney. In 1904, when a charter was finally adopted, he was appointed attorney of the city and county of Denver by the late Mayor Robert W. Speer, and remained his adviser and closest friend until Mr. Speer's death. It required the greatest legal skill to pave the way for the physical development of Denver. The great plans of Mayor Speer, which are now evident in a wonderfully beautiful and improved city, were not easy of execution. At every point there was opposition. It was to this task, of sweeping aside the litigation which oppo- nents of civic betterment were constantly invoking, that Mr. Lindsley devoted his wonderful energies and resourceful mind. There was so much of this work that the recital of it would cover many pages. For example, the first great fight made on Mr. Speer's plans was on the question of the validity of special assessments. The decision meant either progress or its opposite to Denver. Mr. Lindsley had the cases advanced on the docket and won them all. after one of the greatest legal battles in the history of western municipalities. The era of public improvement in Denver started when the fight was won. The bond issue for an auditoriura, of which the people of Denver are now so proud, was three times defeated. It was fought in the
HENRY A. LINDSLEY
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courts under the leadership of one of the greatest legal minds in the west. The strug- gle was, in fact, Herculean, for the men of the opposition brought every legal techni- cality into play. Here, too, Mr. Lindsley won out. It is but scant justice to him to say that there is hardly a great public improvement planned by Mr. Speer, and scarcely a great reform or innovation projected, in the planning and execution of which he did not go to Mr. Lindsley for advice. He closely studied all of the grave, complex and important problems that came up in connection with the city's rebuilding and im- provement and Denver certainly owes to him a debt of gratitude in that he removed every legal obstacle that hindered civic growth, progress and development. Mr. Linds- ley has been connected as attorney or in an advisory capacity with practically every constitutional case decided by the supreme court of Colorado since 1900 and a large majority of these have been decided in favor of the side on which he contended. Today he is justly counted one of the leading members of the Colorado bar, a man whose legal knowledge is based upon a rare native shrewdness as well as a resourceful and analytical mind.
Mr. Lindsley was married to Miss Ada H. Sherman, a daughter of Nathaniel Sher- man, and they have one son, Henry Sherman Lindsley. Mr. Lindsley is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a Mason of the thirty-second degree and also a Shriner. His club memberships include the Denver Athletic Club and the Lakewood Golf Club. He is also a member of the Denver Civic and Commercial Asso- ciation. He has many attractive social qualities in addition to that strength of character which everywhere commands respect and confidence. Nature endowed him with keen mentality and he has used his talents wisely and well, not only for the benefit and upbuilding of his fortunes, but for the promotion of public interests which will make his service to the city of acknowledged worth through years to come.
GEORGE C. ORR.
George C. Orr, president of the Orr-Walworth Foundry Company of Denver and owner of one of the best equipped foundry plants in the west, has made for himself a most creditable position in the business circles of his adopted city. This is due to the thoroughness with which he has mastered everything that he has undertaken and the spirit of enterprise which he has always displayed.
George C. Orr was born in Rock Island, Illinois, December 7, 1861, a son of Patrick and Mary (Cumminsky) Orr, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Easton, Pennsylvania. On coming to America, in his boyhood days, the father located in the Keystone state, but in 1857 removed to Rock Island, Illinois, where he engaged in blacksmithing. having acquired a knowledge of that trade while in the east. After a time spent at the forge he gave up that work to engage in coal mining but later again took up the trade and did blacksmithing on a bridge which was being erected across the Rock River, some few miles from Rock Island. While thus working a span of the bridge broke and he was killed by the fall, in the year 1866. His widow long survived him, passing away in May, 1917, at the age of seventy-eight years. They had a family of three children: Mrs. Ella Wehand living at Moline, Illinois; George C .; and Mrs. Jennie Boyle, whose home is at Alexandria, Indiana.
In the public schools of Moline George C. Orr pursued his education, and having inherited his father's mechanical skill and ingenuity, took up work along that line. He was employed on the Rock Island arsenal, assisting in building that famous plant. He worked on the building until 1881, when he came to Denver and secured a position as molder with the Colorado Iron Works. He there remained until 1883, when he returned to Moline, where he again spent a year. On the expiration of that period he once more became a resident of Denver and worked at his trade in con- nection with various foundries until 1896, when he joined William C. Enz in forming a partnership under the name of the Enz-Orr Foundry Company. This association was maintained until 1913, when Mr. Orr purchased the interest of his partner. The business had been incorporated in January, 1909, with Mr. Enz as the president, Mr. Orr as the vice president and George Eckbart as the secretary. This is a close cor- poration, and they have thirty employes and through the period of the war have been engaged in government work.
In June, 1902, Mr. Orr was married to Miss Sarah Frances McDonald, of Denver, a daughter of J. McDonald, of Moline, Illinois. They have become the parents of three children. William Enz, born in Denver in 1903, is attending high school. This boy has a natural inclination toward electrical work and has displayed marked skill
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in this particular branch of work. George Curn, born in Denver in 1908, is now in the high fifth grade in the public schools. He already has shown marked adaptability as a thorough mechanic and molder and has displayed unusual proficiency along the latter line, turning out as fine work as men who have followed the trade all their lives. At a recent date a visitor to his father's plant saw two tons of iron fittings for marine engines which this boy had made and which had been passed upon as perfect and yet young George had received absolutely no aid in the work. The youngest of the family is Sarah Frances, who was born in Denver in 1911 and is also in school. Mr. Orr is one of Denver's representative men and citizens. He is particularly well known in connection with athletic interests and was the leader of the Enz-Orr bowling team, which won the Denver City championship in 1912. In politics he is independent, voting for the candidates whom he regards as best qualified for office. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the drill team, which has won a number of prizes in competition all over the country. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He and his family occupy a fine home at No. 1225 Detroit street, in Denver, and this and his valuable plant are the visible evidence of his life of well directed energy and thrift. Following the line of his natural talents, he has steadily worked his way upward and the thoroughness and initiative which he has displayed have brought him to a most enviable position in the business world.
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