History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 3

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

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It was in 1865 that Mr. Fahrion was married to Miss Elizabeth Swena, of Denver, and with his young bride he removed to Elbert county. He was identified with farm- ing and cattle raising for many years and at one time owned as high as two thousand acres of land. In 1918 his heirs sold a thirteen hundred acre tract which had been left to them by their father. There are five sons and one daughter in the family, including Mrs. E. N. Wood, who is secretary of the Kiowa school board.

George Conrad Fahrion possessed a mind judicial in character and one that could not be swerved by personal prejudice. While he had not pursued the study of law in early manhood, he was called to the bench and for thirty-seven years served as county judge, being again and again re-elected on the democratic ticket in a republican county. He was the most noted representative of the county bench in the state. Time and again he called litigants before him and settled their disputes without the expense of lawyers or court costs. From all over the county people who had trouble over property rights would come to him and agree to let him decide the case privately. His clear vision and his sterling integrity made his name a synonym for uprightness and fair dealing in every household. He was county judge of Douglas county during the period when Elbert county was created and there began a career on the bench which continued to the time of his death, on December 6, 1909. His picture now occupies the place of honor on a wall of the Elbert county courthouse. His record should ever be a source of inspiration and encouragement to those who knew him and his memory remains as a blessed benediction to all with whom he came in contact.

OSCAR LEE YOUNG.

Oscar Lee Young, the president and manager of the Kansas-Colorado Oil & Re- fining Company of Denver, was born in Allen county, Ohio, September 3, 1850, a son of William and Jane (Ralston) Young. The father was born in Maryland and the mother in Pennsylvania. They became residents of Ohio in early life and there the father followed the occupation of farming. He afterward removed from Ohio to Dekalb county, Indiana, where he passed away, and his wife also died in that locality.

Oscar Lee Young is the only surviving member of a family of nine children. Three months out of the year he attended the country schools and during the remainder

HISTORY OF COLORADO

of the time devoted his attention to farm work, hut hy diligent night study he secured sufficient information to enable him at the age of sixteen years to take up teaching in the country and village schools of Ohio. He afterward entered the law office of Judge L. M. Ninde, of Indiana, and was admitted to general practice in the courts of that state in 1876. He entered upon the practice of law at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and afterward removed to Duluth, Minnesota, where he remained for twenty years a prominent figure of the bar of that city. For fifteen years of that period he devoted his attention to corporation work, especially in regard to laws affecting the mines and mining interests. His knowledge in that department became so widely recognized and his fame spread abroad to such an extent that the officers of one of the large corporations decided to make Mr. Young an offer to devote his entire time to the in- terests of the corporation and relinquish all outside practice. From that time he was connected with a number of very important cases for the said corporation. At length, however, he severed his connections and in 1917 came to Denver, where he immediately began investigating oil interests with the result that he entered into active association with the Kansas-Colorado Oil & Refining Company, which has hold- ings in the Wyoming fields, where operations are now being conducted. Of this com- pany Mr. Young is the president and is most wisely and carefully directing its interests. He is also preparing to open law offices in Denver and his established reputation as an expert on mining law will undoubtedly insure him an extensive clientage. He belongs to the Denver Bar Association and the Colorado Bar Associa- tion as well as to the Minnesota State Bar Association.

On the 24th of May, 1882, Mr. Young was united in marriage to Miss Jane M. Walker, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. They became parents of two children, of whom one has passed away. Walker R., born in Butler, Indiana, in May, 1885, was grad- uated from the high school of Duluth, Minnesota, and from the University of Idaho and is now with the United States government in the engineering department reclama- tion service, located in Denver. He married Miss Marguerite Bush, of Boise, Idaho, and they have one child, Jane Bush Young, who was born in Boise. They are main- taining their home in Denver.

With limited opportunities in youth, Oscar Lee Young has nevertheless steadily advanced, wisely utilizing the talents with which nature endowed him and taking ad- vantage of every opportunity offered. Step by step, therefore, he has progressed until he has long occupied an enviable position in legal circles and is today also well known as a prominent representative of oil interests.

HENRY RICHARD PHILLIPS.

Henry R. Phillips, prominent in railroad construction work and contracting, has been a resident of Colorado from the pioneer epoch in its history. He was born in Garnett, Kansas, April 12, 1870, a son of E. C. and Stella J. (Barnheiser) Phillips, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. The mother removed to Brecken- ridge, Colorado, with her parents when hut nine years of age and they were married at Golden. In early life E. C. Phillips also removed to the west and was one of those hardy trail blazers whose efforts constituted an initial element in the early development of this state. Afraid of neither man nor beast, he engaged in freighting and braved the dangers and hardships of pioneer life. His freighting trips took him between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Butte, Montana. During the Civil war he volunteered for active duty and served his country through four and a half years of that crisis, enlisting in an Ohio regiment. In the early days of railroad building he gave up his freighting outfit and became a railroad builder through Kansas, continuing in that work for many years. At a later period in his life he resided at Longmont, Colorado, where he passed away in March, 1912. His widow survives and is still a resident of Longmont. In their family were four children: Henry R., of this review; Mrs. A. H. St. Clair, of Longmont; Mrs. L. C. Rash, and Mrs. Charles C. Lewby, also living in Longmont.

Henry R. Phillips was a pupil in the schools of Salina, Kansas, after which he entered college as a student in the Wesleyan University there, in which he pursued a business course. He then returned home to become the active assistant of his father in railroad construction work and continued with him along that line of business for fifteen years or until 1905, when he decided to conduct business on his own account in that way. Removing to Denver, he organized the Phillips Construction Company, with offices in the Railroad hullding, and has since been very successful as a railroad builder and contractor. His business has taken him to various parts of the country and his con-

HISTORY OF COLORADO

tract work has been of a most important character along various lines aside from rail- roading. He and his associates had the contract for the building of a considerable portion of the pipe lines for the Denver Union Water Company, also built the interurban street car line between Denver and Boulder and has executed many other large and notable contracts. His business is conducted under the name of the Phillips Construc- tion Company, of which he is the president.

In 1894 Mr. Phillips was united in marriage to Miss Maude Cushman, who was born in Boulder, Colorado, and died in Salina, Kansas, in 1901. She was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Washburn Cushman, of Longmont, Colorado. In 1907 Mr. Phillips was again married, his second union being with Miss Anna Belle Davis, of Denver. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are well known socially and receive the hospitality of many of the best homes of Denver. Mr. Phillips belongs to the Denver Motor Club and is widely and favorably known. The extent and importance of his business interests have gained him a large acquaintance in various sections of the country and his ability has brought him proml- nently to the front along the line which he has chosen as a life work. One element of his success is undoubtedly the fact that he has always continued in the field of labor in which he made his initial business step. He has never dissipated his energies over many lines but has concentrated his efforts and attention with the result that he has gained expert knowledge and skill in his particular field.

WILLIAM J. BARKER.

William J. Barker, vice president and general manager of the Denver Gas & Electric Light Company, has risen to his present position by a method which has come to be known all over the world as distinctively "American." This means that ability met with its reward wherever someone was needed for the next higher job. By the exercise of his native powers, whereby these powers have grown and developed, William J. Barker has reached the notable place which he occupies today in connection with one of the leading corporations of his city.

Mr. Barker was born in London, England, December 24, 1855. In 1869 he came to America to fight his way to the top. It was, however, much of a boyish adventure- this coming to America, for first of all he had worked his way to Australia on a sail- ing vessel-an experience that gave him some notion of what hard toil means in this world. But in this, as with everything else he has since done, he mastered the "sail- ing" business and there was nothing in connection with a full-rigged craft that he did not know.

On one of these trips and while still a very young man, Mr. Barker made his way to New York and the hustling, bustling spirit of America appealed so strongly to him that he decided it would be worth his while to anchor here for life. He finally landed in Cleveland, Ohio, and worked as an engineer. With a mind trained to look for and apply needed mechanical improvements, he soon attracted the attention of employers. The climax was reached when he came into the employ of E. W. Rollins, a great genius whose success was based largely upon his ability to put the right man into the right place. Mr. Barker was now given every opportunity to develop his talents along mechanical lines. When electric lighting was needed in Denver, it was to W. J. Barker that the Denver company turned for effective installation. He found Denver an ideal spot for the best work along his new lines. He found in the office of the general manager, Frank Frueauff, now president of the Denver Gas & Electric Light Company, one of the most progressive minds in the industrial world. Later there came into office Robert W. Speer, one of the greatest mayors the country has known. The result of this combination is the "best lighted city in the world." At the time of the triennial conclave of the Knights Templar the illumination was of so unique a character that Mr. Barker and his associates in the work achieved a nation- wide fame. In fact the lighting at all of the great national conventions held in Denver has done much to make these gatherings memorable. No city in the country has a "Movie Row" as wonderfully lighted as' is Curtis street. In the street lighting of Denver it was Mr. Barker who supervised the work, suggesting many valuable im- provements to Mr. Speer and the Art Commission which had general charge of the matter. He has now for some years been the general manager of the company and the wheels run as smoothly in the large Gas & Electric Light building on Champa and Fifteenth streets as the myriad clusters of lights that have made this structure the greatest feat in illumination in America.

A friend, in writing of Mr. Barker's more intimate life, has said: "His hand

WILLIAM J. BARKER

HISTORY OF COLORADO

is open to those in need; he is a booster of the first rank; he believes in Denver and always does his share; he never forgets the friends of his youth; the worthy and deserving never appeal to him in vain; he enjoys companionship; he is a never failing friend; he is a good hushand and father; all in all he is a man, and when he has finally been gathered to his fathers there will be real mourning in ranks high and low, and it can be well said of him: 'The world was brighter and better for Bill Barker living In It.'"

ARTHUR L. HOYT, M. D.

Dr. Arthur L. Hoyt, a well known and representative citizen of Akron, Is the efficient treasurer of Washington county. He was born in Monticello, Iowa, on the 12th of January, 1867, a son of Lyman and Adeline (Hallett) Hoyt, who were natives of New York and Michigan respectively. In 1850 the father removed to Iowa, locating in Jones county, where he purchased and improved a tract of land which he successfully cultivated throughout the remainder of his life. His demise occurred on the 4th of April, 1879, while his wife was called to her final rest in April, 1882.

Arthur L. Hoyt was reared in the state of his nativity and after completing his more specifically literary education went to Iowa City to enter the medical department of the State University, which institution conferred upon him the degree of M. D. in 1896. He first located for practice at Popejoy, Iowa, where he remained for six years, and next removed to Dows, Iowa, there successfully following his profession until 1911. In that year he came to Colorado for the benefit of his health and took up his abode in Akron, Washington county, where he opened a drug store. He did not practice medicine but continued in business as a druggist until the 1st of January, 1915, when he was elected county treasurer, in which capacity he has since served. In this con- nection he is making a most creditable and commendable record, discharging his dutles with marked promptness, ability and faithfulness. He has farming interests In this state and has now long been numbered among the substantial and esteemed citizens of his community.

On the 15th of March, 1888, Dr. Hoyt was united in marriage to Miss Louetta Swisher, a daughter of Phillp O. and Margaret Elizabeth (Swisher) Swisher, by whom he had three children, namely: Otto J., who Is engaged in the jewelry business in Akron; and Phillip Otho and Audrey Lyman, both of whom died In infancy. Dr. Hoyt gives his political allegiance to the republican party, while his religious faith is that of the Pres- byterian church. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.

ROBERT WILBUR STEELE.

Denver's history records no more illustrious name than that of Hon. Robert Wilbur Steele, whose developing powers brought him to the highest judicial position within the gift of the people of the state. He lives in the memory of his friends, enshrined in the halo of a gracious presence, as a man of marked professional ability and the highest sense of personal honor. He was born in Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio, November 14, 1857, and was the second in a family of five children, an elder sister and younger brother passing away in early life. His parents were Dr. Henry King and Mary Frances (Dunlavy) Steele. The former was born in Dayton, Ohio, April 1, 1825, and was a son of Dr. John and Cornelia (King) Steele, who were representatives of pioneer families of Ohio and Kentucky. After attending Center College at Danville, Kentucky, Dr. Henry Steele pursued a course in medicine and surgery at the University of New York and became a successful practitioner of Dayton, Ohio, to which city his father had removed from Kentucky in 1812. The latter was a son of Robert Steele, who was one of the founders of Transylvania College at Lexington, Kentucky. Thus it was that he came of an ancestry honorable and distinguished and his own lines of life were cast in harmony therewith. Dr. John Steele cared for the sick and wounded in the Dayton Military Hospital in 1812 and Dr. Henry Steele was surgeon of the Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry and later of the Eighth Ohlo Cavalry in the Civil war.

During this period the family largely resided at Dayton, Ohio, and there Robert Wilhur Steele began his education. He was not a robust, but was always a likable lad and was greatly beloved by his relatives. It was the desire to improve the condition

DR. ARTHUR L. HOYT

HISTORY OF COLORADO

of his son's health that led Dr. Henry Steele in 1870 to remove with his family from Ohio to Colorado. That was the year which distinctly marked the ending of the pioneer epoch and the beginning of an era of modern day development. Dr. Steele became a most prominent and influential resident of Denver, was appointed a member of the state board of health in 1879 and again called to the office in 1891. He was among the organizers of the Colorado Medical Society in 1871 and served as its presi- dent in 1875, while in 1877 he became the first dean of the medical department of the University of Denver. He passed away January 20, 1893, and the Steele Memorial Hospital has been most appropriately named in his honor.

Robert Wilbur Steele was a youth of but thirteen years when he accompanied his father to Denver and he became a member of the first graduating class of the city, completing his course in 1877. Almost from the time of his arrival in Denver he earned all of his own spending money and it was not long before he was substantially con- tributing to his own support. He was employed in the Union Bank in a minor capacity and also acted as collector for Dr. Williams, who was associated with Dr. Steele in practice. In those early years he spent his summer vacations upon a ranch owned by his cousins, in the San Luis valley, near Villa Grove, and the outdoor life contributed much toward the development and maintenance of his health. In his schooldays he was not a particularly brilliant scholar, set off from others by his intellectual attainments, but is well remembered by his classmates, owing to the charm of his personality and his ability as a speaker. He won the prize in the third Woodbury contest for oratory, which was held June 14, 1876, on which occasion he declaimed Webster's famous oration in reply to Hayne. Even in his schooldays he manifested a deep interest in politics, coupled with the capacity of readily making friends-traits of character which are of unmistakable worth to the political leader. Of him at this period in his life it was written: "Sincerely democratic in his thought and attitude toward others, affable to all of whatever rank or station, just in his judgments, yet always willing to find an excuse for the weak or misguided, he had all the dangerous weapons of the demagogue, yet without any of the demagogue's disposition to use them wrongfully. He was inter- ested, though not so profoundly as in later years, in the fundamental principles and problems of government; he had a lively and active interest in men as men; and he was also interested in the practical problems of political organization and in the results that may be accomplished by the union and coordination of individuals in political parties." He seemed to turn naturally to the study of law, having almost intuitive interest in questions which concerned legal practice, while his oratorical ability also constituted a potent force in his chosen life work. He began his reading in the office and under the direction of the firm of Wells, Smith & Macon, very prominent attorneys of Denver, and the next year he became a student in the Columbian University, now the George Washington University of Washington, D. C. The climate of the east, however, proved detrimental to him and in 1879 he returned to Colorado and resumed his law studies with the firm of Wells, Smith & Macon, being admitted to the bar in 1881. Not long afterward the board of commissioners appointed him clerk of the county court of Arapahoe county, of which Denver was then the county seat, and he devoted his attention for three years to these duties, during which time he completed the study of law, history and general literature. In 1884 he resigned to engage in the active practice of his chosen profession.

On the 28th of February, 1884, Judge Steele was married to Miss Anna B. Truax and they became the parents of three sons and two daughters: Henry; William; Frances Edwina, who died in early childhood; Robert, born in 1891; and a daughter. Jane, who is yet a resident of Denver.

It was not long after his marriage that Judge Steele formed a law partnership with William H. Malone, and he continued actively and successfully in the private practice of law until called to the office of district attorney. In 1885 he was appointed land attorney for Colorado for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company, which was extending its line through the state, and in the capacity of attorney Mr. Steele became familiar with the districts through which the line was being built and utilized his opportunity for judicious Investment, acquiring large land holdings, from which he afterward derived a handsome income. Moreover, he became extensively interested in land law practice, in which field of jurisprudence he was regarded as an expert. Thus he was steadily advancing along professional lines and at the same time his inter- est and activity in politics was bringing him prominently to the front in that connection. In the fall of 1890 he was elected chairman of the republican central committee of Arapahoe county, at which time there were two very decided factions in republican ranks. He immediately set to work to heal the breach and with notable tact and ability brought the two opposing sides together. He was elected to the office of district

HISTORY OF COLORADO

attorney and his course was generally endorsed as that of an extremely fair-minded and capable man, who, as one of the local papers expressed it, was "a prosecutor and not a persecutor."

Up to the year 1893 Colorado was the leading state among those which advocated the silver standard and, when owing to conditions which have become a matter of history silver declined rapidly in value causing the financial failure of various banks throughout the state, the investments of the firm of Steele & Malone were not exempt from the wide disaster and suffered heavy losses. Many there were who at that time took refuge behind the bankruptcy law, but the standards of conduct to which Robert Steele adhered were too high to admit of such a course. We again quote from a contemporary biographer: "In the dark days of 1893 he wrote for the relief of others a bankruptcy law that gained high repute for its mingled mercy and justice, but for himself he claimed no clemency. Men saw and respected the quality of his character and the integrity of his purpose and gladly accorded to him the one thing he asked- the time to meet their claims. Only those most intimately in his confidence knew the burden he carried through the years, or how much strength and time that might well have been devoted to better things went toward the discharge of that indebtedness. For nearly twenty years he faced his task and performed his duty and when the end came he went to the great hereafter a free man, having discharged not only every personal debt, but also every one that had been assumed by him as a result of business entanglement or association with other men."

In January, 1895, Mr. Steele was appointed to the office of judge of the court of Arapahoe county. His work upon that bench did much toward the development of his attitude toward his fellowmen. He always believed in tempering justice with mercy and he regarded the law as a safeguard and protection rather than as a means of punishment. Moreover, it was an added experience in his life which was further qualifying him for the graver and more responsible duties that were to devolve upon him in his election to the supreme court bench. At this period of his life he was not only studying legal problems but was keeping in touch with the best thinking men of the age in regard to all the questions which were paramount and vital before the people. He had always been a republican in politics but when the party became divided upon the silver question he followed the leadership of Senator Teller, not because he had the highest regard and respect for that statesman, but because he recognized the importance of the silver issue to the welfare of Colorado. He was an independent thinker and his study and intelligence convinced him that the silver problem involved fundamental principles affecting the rights and the interests of the common people. He therefore could no longer call himself a republican while the republican party plainly declared itself opposed to the maintenance of the monetary system that had been the established practice from the earliest days of the republic. A silver republican party was the necessary and logical result and in 1898 Judge Steele became a candidate for reelec- tion to the bench, receiving also the endorsement of the people's, the democratic, the Teller silver republican and the national people's parties, receiving two-thirds of the total number of votes cast at that election. Judge Steele while serving upon the bench inaugurated what was known as juvenile field day. In his position as county judge he was succeeded by Judge Ben B. Lindsey, who enjoys a world-wide reputation as the promoter of a court established exclusively for juvenile offenders. Judge Lindsey freely and frankly acknowledged the value and importance of Judge Steele's services in this great work of reform. Writing to him some years afterward. he said: "You were the first judge to enforce our law of 1899, which contained the germ of the present juvenile laws." Judge Steele in the course of his judicial career rendered many important deci- sions which have found their place upou the state records. He delivered a dissenting opinion in the Moyer case and from all parts of the country came to him letters endors- ing his position. Possibly the most notable tribute to the strength and convincing logic of the minority opinion was that of Chief Justice Gabbert, who delivered the original opinion of the court and who considered it advisable, after the minority opinion had been presented, to file an extraordinary and supplementary opinion, in which he practically admits the overwhelming truth of Justice Steele's main points. It was in January, 1900, that Robert Wilbur Steele was called to the office of supreme court judge of Colorado, and when destiny brought him to a higher tribunal he had already received nomination by acclamation at the hands of his party as its candidate for the office, a second term, and his reelection was generally conceded. Death, however, intervened and on the 12th of October, 1910, he passed to the home beyond. The life of Robert Wilbur Steele was dominated by the spirit of democracy-a democracy that believed that "All men are created free and equal," and it was his constant effort to uphold democracy in its highest and best sense. It permeated his actions in every relation of

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History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 3

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