USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume IV > Part 59
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On the 6th of January, 1898, Mr. Jensen was united in marriage to Miss Katie Deitricksen, a daughter of Peter and Matilda (Johnson) Deitricksen, who are natives of Denmark and came to America in the '70s. They settled in eastern Kansas, taking up their abode in Doniphan county, where Mr. Deitricksen purchased and improved land which he has since owned and cultivated. His wife is also living. To Mr. and Mrs. Jensen have been born ten children: Roy, Francis, Bessie, John, George, Ethel, James, Jr., Robert, Ruth and William.
Fraternally Mr. Jensen is well known as a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Woodmen of the World. His religious faith is that of the United Brethren church. Politically he is a democrat and is an active worker in support of party interests. In 1916 he was made the democratic candidate for the office of county commissioner but was defeated by ninety-nine votes. He was also at one time candidate for county assessor, ou which occassion he was de- feated by ahout two hundred votes. In 1902 he returned to Europe on a business trip. His military record covers six months' service with the army. His grand- father in the paternal line fought the Germans in 1848, 1849 and 1850 and his father was in the war in 1864, when the Germans took Kiel and the remainder of Holstein and Slesvig. He has a brother who served with the United States army and two sons who registered for service. The home place of Mr. Jensen is a very attractive one, highly improved with all modern conveniences, and forms one of the pleasing features of the landscape.
BENJAMIN PRESTON.
Benjamin Preston passed away in 1913, after long and honorable connection with the ranching interests of Larimer county. He was born in England, May 9, 1848, and traveled life's journey for sixty-five years. His parents were Benjamin and Ellen A. (Mallows) Preston, who were natives of the same country. The father was a farmer in England until the last few years of his life. He then crossed the Atlantic to the new world and made his home with his children, as did his wife, both having now passed away.
Benjamin Preston was reared and educated in England and when he had reached the age of eighteen years he hade adieu to the friends and scenes of his childhood and crossed the Atlantic. He first made his home with an uncle in Michigan, where he completed his education, and in 1868 he arrived in Larimer county, Colorado, cast- ing in his lot with its pioneer settlers. He first cultivated a farm on the Big Thomp- son and also operated a threshing machine for a few years. Upon his land he ran cattle. In 1877, however, he purchased what is now known as the Preston farm of one hundred and sixty acres. It was then a tract of wild land but with characteristic energy he began its development and cultivation and his labors soon wrought a marked change in the appearance of the place, which he brought to a high state of development. He set out many trees, added substantial buildings and continued the further improvement of the place throughout his remaining days. He made a specialty of raising Defiance wheat and took several prizes upon this crop. He also made a business of feeding cattle and sheep and thus added materially to his income.
It was on the 18th of November, 1874, that Mr. Preston was united in marriage to Miss Hessie S. Bell, a daughter of Thomas P. and Lettia (Ferguson) Bell, who were
MR. AND MRS. BENJAMIN PRESTON
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natives of Ireland. The father came to America when a boy in company with his parents, the family home being established in Chicago. Later he returned to Ireland but after reaching man's estate and having a family he once more came to the new world, crossing the briny deep in 1864. He located at Paterson. New Jersey, and after- ward lived at various points but in 1871 came to Colorado and settled at Evans, Weld county, where he took up a homestead which he cultivated for a considerable period. At length he came to Larimer county and bought a place a mile northeast of Harmony. His attention was given to the development of its fields until he sold out and went to live with his daughter in Denver, there passing away in 1906. For a long period he had survived his wife, who died ahout 1892. To Mr. and Mrs. Preston were born four children: Clara L., now the wife of J. B. Halderman, a farmer residing in Larimer county, and their children are, Thelma Lucille and Byron Preston; Charles Benjamin, who is operating the old home place and who was married January 16, 1910, to Agnes C. Gifford, hy whom he has three children, Gladys I., Ruth L. and Benjamin Gifford; William A., at home; and Mabel T., who died May 3, 1895.
The family circle was again broken hy the hand of death when on the 26th of Octoher, 1913, the husband and father passed away after a short illness. He had served as county commissioner of Larimer county the year before his death. He was a mem- her of the Grange and of the Farmers Union, gave his political allegiance to the republican party and was a devoted follower of the Presbyterian church. He had many sterling traits of character, was faithful in friendship, loyal in citizenship and devoted to the welfare of his family.
FREDERICK L. RISER, M. D.
Dr. Frederick L. Riser, well known as an able and successful physician but now engaged in commercial fish, raising, was born in Lansing, Iowa, on the 9th of July, 1858, although for many years he has made his home in Colorado. He is a son of Fred and Barbara (Marti) Riser, who came from Switzerland to this country in early life and were married in Iowa. The father homesteaded there in 1852 and trans- formed a tract of wild land into rich and productive fields. He has always given hIs attention to the occupation of farming but is now living retired at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
Dr. Riser is the second son in a family of four sons and one daughter who were born of his father's first marriage, while there were five sons and eight daughters of the second marriage. He was educated in the district schools of Lansing, Iowa, and afterward attended the German-English College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1880. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for four terms but regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor, for it was his desire to become a member of the medical fraternity. With that end in view he attended the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri at St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1884. His high standing is indicated in the fact that he passed the examination ahead of the fellow members of his class and received a scholarship prize.
Dr. Riser located for the practice of medicine in his native town of Lansing, Iowa, where he remained from 1884 until 1888. He then removed to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he opened an office and continued in active practice until 1897. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American war in the following year he went to Douglas, He next removed to De Queen, Arkansas, where he practiced for six years and while Wyoming, and afterward to Rawlins, Wyoming, where he remained for three years. there he put out a peach orchard of forty-five acres and to its cultivation and develop- ment gave his time and attention as well as to his medical practice. He later removed to Denver and contemplated the practice of medicine in that city but instead purchased four and one-half acres of land near Henderson and hegan commercial fish raising, specializing in rainhow trout. At the start he had one hundred thousand eggs but lost most of these, as they were brook trout. He then began raising rainbow trout and has won a very substantial and gratifying measure of success. To his first purchase of land he added eleven and one-half acres and later made an additional purchase of ten acres. He now has one main spring ditch with numerous laterals and he has also huilt a water system to the house for domestic use. During all this time or until July, 1917, he practiced medicine in connection with fish raising but found that he could not do justice to hoth and retired from the profession. He is now one of the success- ful and prominent fish raisers of this section of the state and has studied hard to
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make the business what it is. He has followed progressive and scientific lines and he now supplies the leading hotels and principal clubs of Denver throughout the year with rainbow trout.
On the 17th of October, 1904, Dr. Riser was married in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Miss Cora Hubbell and they have one son, Frederick Oliver, now thirteen years of age and a pupil in the eighth grade of the public school of Henderson. In his fraternal relations Dr. Riser is a prominent Mason, having taken the degrees of the York Rite and also of Korein Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Rawlins, Wyoming. He is a repre- sentative of the Woodmen of the World and gives his political allegiance to the republi- can party, in the principles of which he firmly believes. He is loyal to every interest having to do with the welfare and progress of the community in which he makes his home. Wherever he has lived he has won high regard and the warm friendship of those with whom he has come in contact by reason of his personal worth as well as by reason of his professional ability. Turning his attention to fish raising, he greatly enjoys the business in which he is now engaged and in which he is so wisely directing his efforts that success in substantial measure is today his.
REV. JOHN JOSEPH BROWN, S. J.
Rev. John Joseph Brown, president of the College of the Sacred Heart of Denver, was born at Eagle Harbor, Michigan, on the 7th of February, 1867, a son of Matthias and Margaret ( Allard) Brown. The mother was an Alsatian by birth, while the father was a native of Michigan. They removed westward to Denver when their son, John J., was nine years old, in October, 1876, the centennial year, and Father Brown has therefore been identified with Denver for forty-three years. He pursued his educa- tion, following his preliminary course, in St. Ignatius University of San Francisco, California, and later became a student in Woodstock College at Woodstock, Baltimore. He was ordained to the priesthood on the 28th of June, 1896, by James Cardinal Gibbons and in the same year became identified with the College of the Sacred Heart of Denver. After teaching for three years he was made manager of the college and continued in that position for two years. For the past seventeen years he has been president of the institution. During the period after becoming manager he was for one year connected with St. Stanislaus Seminary of St. Louis, Missouri, and for two years he was pastor of St. Patrick's church in Pueblo. During his long term as president the institution has been thoroughly modernized. The laboratories are among the finest in the west, having the most complete equipment, facilitating the work to the highest possible point. A large gymnasium has been added to the school and in every way the institution has grown to be one of the great Catholic colleges of the country. Reverend Brown is untiring in his zeal in behalf of the school and his labors have been a most direct and potent element in securing the desirable results which have been brought about.
WILLIAM M. WRIGHT.
William M. Wright, residing a mile and a half north of Loveland, his home being on section 2, township 5, range 69 west, was born in Adams county, Ohio, October 17, 1838, and has therefore passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey. During this long period he has witnessed many events which have shaped the history of this country and of the world, while in his home locality he has taken au active part in upholding those interests which have contributed to the material, social and moral progress of the community. His parents, Finley S. and Nancy M. (McIntyre) Wright, were also natives of Ohio, where the father followed the occupation of farming until 1846, when he removed with his family to Iowa, settling in Lee county near Keokuk. He there purchased land which he cultivated for ten years and then removed to Hancock county, Illinois, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1868. He afterward went to Page county, Iowa, and later moved across the line into Missouri, where he purchased land which he further developed and improved throughout his remaining days. He passed away May 29, 1886, having for a number of years survived his wife, whose death occurred in November, 1867.
William M. Wright was reared and educated in Iowa and Illinois and remained with his parents until he had reached the age of twenty-two years, when he began working as a farm hand for others. He was thus employed until 1862, when he
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responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting with the boys in blue of Com- pany C, Seventy-seventh Illinois Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, or for a period of three years, being mustered out on the 10th of July, 1865, at Mobile, Alabama. Several times his clothing and cap were pierced by bullets but he was uninjured, returning to his home with a most creditable military record.
Mr. Wright then resumed work as a farm hand and later rented land, which he cultivated for a year. He afterward spent two years in eastern Iowa and two years in western Iowa, subsequent to which time he removed to Kansas, where he took up a homestead claim that he cultivated from 1872 until 1879. In the latter year he came to Colorado for the purpose of looking over the state with a view to locating in the west and in 1880 he bought a relinquishment, which he at once began to develop. He has since concentrated his efforts and attention upon this place, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation until it is today a valuable ranch property of one hundred and sixty acres-the visible testimony of his life of well directed energy and thrift.
In March, 1866, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Arminta D. Puntenney and to them were born six children. Samuel, the eldest, born February 22, 1868, is married and is now farming his father's place. Myrtie J., horn August 24, 1869, became the wife of C. E. Puntenney and passed away in Pueblo, Colorado, November 14, 1906, at the age of thirty-seven years, leaving two children: Hattie, who is now a school teacher in Weld county; and John W., a member of the United States army. Elizabeth, born June 18. 1871, died September 28, 1893, at the age of twenty-two years. John, born January 19, 1874, is residing in Loveland. Colorado. Arminta, born February 29, 1876, died November 17, 1893, at the age of seventeen years. Martha M., born May 20, 1878, is the wife of Walter Evett, who is farming in Larimer county. The wife and mother passed away December 29, 1912, after an illness extending over several years.
In his political views Mr. Wright is a prohibitionist, which indicates his attitude concerning the suppression of the liquor traffic, and he has done everything in his power to promote the temperance cause. While in Kansas he served as postmaster for five years but otherwise has not held or desired office. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old military comrades. His religious faith is that of the United Presbyterian church, of which he became a member in 1862 and of which he is now a ruling elder. He has always taken a helpful interest in the work of the church. and his aid and influence have always been given in support of those plans which are looking to the uplift of the individual and to the benefit of the community at large. His has been an honorable and upright life, in which he has little to regret, having held to high ideals, commanding the respect, confidence and goodwill of all with him he has been associated.
GEORGE M. GRIFFIN.
George M. Griffin, of Brighton, who is filling the office of clerk of the district court, is numbered among Colorado's native sons, for his birth occurred three miles south of the city in which he still resides. His natal day was September 27, 1868, and his parents were George C. and Lucelia (Rust) Griffin, who in the year 1859 had crossed the plains to Colorado, casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers of this section of the state. In 1860 the father took up a homestead, which he developed and improved, continuing active in farm work until two years prior to his death, which occurred in 1910. He hore a helpful part in promoting the agricultural development of the dis- trict and he also left the impress of his individuality upon the political history of the state, having been a member of the first state legislature.
George M. Griffin was educated in School District No. 10 and afterward spent two years as a student in the Agricultural College at Fort Collins. He then took up farming on the old home ranch, having previously had much experience in farm work during the periods of vacation. He continued to devote his time to the cultivation of the land until 1903, when he was called to public office by appointment of Governor J. B. Orman to the position of county treasurer of Adams county. He continued to serve in that position for six years, having been twice elected. He next became con- nected with the Brighton Ice, Light & Power Company as its secretary and treasurer and is still active in that line of business, which constitutes an important commercial element in Brighton. Six years ago, however, he was again called to public office by appointment as clerk of the district court of the first judicial district, his appoint- ment coming from Judge Harry S. Class. He is still serving in that capacity and his
GEORGE M. GRIFFIN
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record is one which has gained for him high commendation from the court and from the bar.
Mr. Griffin was married on the 14th of March, 1891, in Hazeltine, Colorado, to Miss Minnie Clay, a daughter of W. K. and Sophie Clay. Mrs. Griffin was born in Missouri and by her marriage has become the mother of three children: Marvin C., who is now with the national army in France; George C., who is an automobile mechanic; and Howard H., who is in school.
Mr. Griffin is identified with the Woodmen of the World and his political alle- giance is given to the democratic party, which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. His worth is acknowledged by all who know him and as the years have passed he has won for himself a most creditable name and place in Brighton. His life record, for he has always lived in this locality, is as an open book which all may read and that his entire career has been worthy of regard is indicated in the fact that his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood days to the present.
GEORGE W. LITLE.
Farming interests for many years were greatly promoted through the activities of George W. Litle, who now lives retired at No. 447 East Eighth street, Loveland, in Larimer county, Colorado. He brought to this state the enterprise and thorough experience of the middle west, his birth having occurred in Lee county, Iowa, near Fort Madison, in May, 1841. His parents were Robert and Catherine (Miller) Litle, the former a native of the north of Ireland and the latter of Virginia. The father was brought to America in his youth and when a young man located in New Orleans, there remaining for a time, operating a boat on the Mississippi river. His trip comprised four hundred miles up the river and he successfully continued along that line of work some time. He then, however, removed to Chester, Illinois, which is near St. Louis, and there conducted a general store for several years, going at the end of that period to Fort Madison, Iowa, where he bought land from the govern- ment four miles west of Fort Madison. The tract was an unpromising wilderness when he took it up but he immediately set himself to the arduous task of clearing it and improved it year by year, also building a loghouse, which is still standing, operating this farm in all for about twenty-six years. He then removed to Baxter Springs, Kansas, where he engaged in the general merchandise business, conducting an establishment of that kind for about ten years, when he retired, making his home with our subject and his brother for about three years, at the end of which period he returned to Baxter Springs, where he resided until his death. His wife passed away in 1853.
George W. Litle was reared amid pioneer conditions in Iowa, where he pursued his education in the schools adjacent to his father's farm and remained with his parents until he reached the age of fourteen, when his undaunted enterprise decided him to run away from home and take life's duties upon his own shoulders. He at first went to Illinois, where he worked for a time, and then made his way to Wisconsin, where he also was employed as a farm hand. He returned to the parental roof with one hundred dollars, which he had carefully saved, and there remained until the spring of 1861, when his undaunted spirit again moved him to seek new fields to dis- cover. He, a brother and two other boys traveled across the country to California with ox team, being five months on the road. In the Golden state they engaged in mining and later Mr. Litle of this review bought a claim near the town of Jennie Lind which he operated for two years. He then went to Idaho and with his brother bought an interest in a mining claim which he operated for about four years, coming at the end of that time, in 1867, to Larimer county, Colorado, where another brother was operating a flour mill. Our subject entered into partnership with him and they leased a mill and farm for five years, the brother operating the mill and Mr. Litle of this review giving his attention to the farm. During this time he made several trips to Laramie City, Wyoming, driving an ox team and walking the entire distance, and also freighted for two seasons. In the winter of 1869 Mr. Litle hauled one hundred and eight sacks of flour to Laporte and there sold it for eight dollars wholesale, the merchant retailing it for fourteen dollars; in fact he was largely connected with the pioneer enterprises of his section and can recount many interesting experiences in connection with the early frontier days. He attended the first court in Fort Collins, which was held in a government building. He served as a juror and as he could
MR. AND MRS. GEORGE W. LITLE
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obtain no other room to sleep in, had to pass the night in the jail. Subsequently Mr. Litle and his brother bought a one hundred and sixty acre homestead near Loveland, which he greatly improved, and this he continued to operate for four or five years, at the end of which time he sold out and bought four hundred acres, to the cultivation of which he gave his undivided attention. He was the first man in his county to set out an orchard and as a result was the first to sell apples by the barrel. For four years Mr. Litle operated this place and then sold part of it, taking his present home in Loveland as part payment. In 1910 he moved into town and since then has alargely lived retired in the enjoyment of a gratifying income. He ever followed progressive ideas and methods in his operations and displayed rare business ahility, thus acquiring a substantial competence.
In October, 1869, Mr. Litle was married to Miss Mary A. Bird, who was born and reared within forty rods of Mr. Litle's old home in Lee county, Iowa. They have adopted two children: May, who is the wife of Courtland Secord, a resident of Fort Collins, by whom she has two children, one of whom is in the army; and Jean, the wife of Harvey Elliot, of Loveland, by whom she has three children.
Mr. and Mrs. Litle are highly respected residents of Loveland, where they have a handsome home at No. 447 East Eighth street which often is a gathering place for their many friends. In his political affiliations Mr. Litle is a democrat, steadfastly supporting the party, and has ever taken a lively interest in local affairs as well as state and national issues. For seven years he served as justice of the peace, winning high reputation for his fairness and impartiality, and he also served as water com- missioner for the equal distribution of the waters of the Big Thompson, for a number of years. Fraternally he is a member of the local lodge of Elks and for several years was president of the Fraternal Aid. Mrs. Litle is a devout adherent of the United Brethren church. Both have made valuable contributions to intellectual as well as moral progress in their community but especially along agricultural lines Mr. Litle has been successful, thus setting an example that may well be followed by other local agriculturists. He introduced many new methods, especially in regard to cattle feeding, along which line he specialized, and in every way has proven himself a leader in his line of occupation. There is great credit due him for what he has achieved as all that has come to him has been acquired through his own labor. Starting out to earn his own living when a boy of fourteen years, he has made good use of the opportunities presented to him and through wise utilization of his chances has attained the substantial position which he now occupies, having at the same time won the esteem and admiration of all with whom he has come in contact in business or private life.
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