History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 6

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

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In early life Storrs H. Hall attended the country schools and afterward had the advantage of training in the city schools of Denver. He subsequently turned his atten- tion to dairying, in which he engaged for a short time, and later he worked for wages for two years. In 1898 he became interested in the Holstein dairying business in connection with his brother and they established what is known as the Western Holstein Farm of about sixteen hundred acres in Jefferson county. Upon it they now have one hundred head of thoroughbred Holstein cattle and milk cows. At the head of the herd is one of the best known thoroughbred Holsteins in the country, Western Ascalon Colantha Boy, registered as No. 116,247. On the Ist of May, 1918, the Hall Brothers had a large sale, in which they disposed of all of the animals of their great milking and milk and butter bred Holstein cows and heifers which had no registra- tion papers. There were about one hundred and thirty of them, in ages from one to ten years, constituting one of the best lots of milking and milk and butter bred animals ever offered for sale, representing over thirty years of intelligent breeding, and selection of the kind that makes good. The Western Holstein Farm is situated on the Morrison road, five and a half miles southwest of Denver. The Hall Brothers are now owners of a herd of thoroughbred Holsteins, including Sir Colantha Lass, No. 45,670, a well known show bull that has won many ribbons, and champion of the state. They have done much to improve the grade of stock raised in Colorado and to stimulate an interest in high bred cattle. They were also the organizers of the Producers Dairy in Denver in January, 1918, with Storrs H. Hall as secretary and treasurer. The president is M. E. Penrose, while C. W. Hall is vice president of the company. With twenty delivery wagons they cover the city in the distribution of their dairy products and they have thirty-five employes. Storrs H. Hall is also a director and treasurer of the Western Holstein Dairy Company.

STORRS H. HALL

HISTORY OF COLORADO

On the 23d of April, 1903, Mr. Hall was married to Miss Nellie B. Ashton, of Denver, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George J. Ashton, of a well known Denver family. They have two children: Clyde S., who was born in Denver in 1904 and is now attending high school; and Irene, born in Denver in 1906.

In politics Mr. Hall maintains an independent course, nor has he ever sought office. For six years he was a member of the school board of Jefferson county and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion. He is an exemplary representa- tive of the Masonic fraternity belonging to Lodge No. 61, A. F. & A. M., and he also belongs to the Civic and Commercial Association of Denver. Of a nature that could never be content with mediocrity, he has steadily worked his way upward, actuated by a laudable ambition that has resulted in the attainment of notable success. He has taken no steps backward. His career has been marked by steady progress and he is today one of the best known breeders and raisers of Holstein cattle in the state.

JAMES E. JEWEL.

There are many points of interest in the life record of James E. Jewel, a well known attorney at law of Fort Morgan, a prominent breeder of registered Holstein cattle in Morgan county, a veteran of the Civil war whose loyalty to his country was not only manifest on southern battlefields but has also been evidenced in his atti- tude toward public questions throughout his life. Ohio claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Montgomery county on the 19th of October, 1847, his parents being Aaron W. and Susanna (Peck) Jewel, who were natives of Miami and of Mont- gomery county, Ohio, respectively. The father was of Welsh lineage, while the mother was of German descent. Aaron W. Jewel was a carpenter by trade and followed that pursuit until he reached the age of thirty-five years, when he turned his attention to farming and also took up the practice of law in Iowa. He removed to that state in 1854, settling at Brandon, in Buchanan county. It was after his removal to the west that he studied law. He also entered land there and developed and improved a farm, devoting his remaining days to its further cultivation. In his law practice his clientage connected him with most of the important cases that came up in the southern part of the county. He died upon the old homestead in March, 1886, and is survived by his widow, who now resides at Vinton, Iowa, at the notable old age of ninety-three years. In the family were nine children, eight of whom are living.

James E. Jewel was reared and educated in Buchanan county, Iowa. His early school privileges were very limited, being confined to about six months' attendance at a district school. After he had attained his majority, however, he continued his studies, working his way through an academy and through Western College, while still later he attended Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa. He took up the study of law in the State University at Iowa City and was graduated there with the class of 1877. Locating for practice at Independence, Iowa, he followed his profession at that place from 1877 until 1900, when he removed to Chicago, where he continued until September, 1901. At that date he became a resident of Fort Morgan, Colorado, where he engaged in farming and in stock raising and also in the buying of wool and sheep. He purchased eight hundred acres of land under the Morgan ditch and at that time was the largest landowner under the ditch and the largest owner of water rights. With characteristic energy he began the development and improve- ment of his ranch property and his labors soon wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the place. In 1908 he opened a law office and has since actively and successfully followed his profession. He has ever prepared his cases with great thor- oughness and care and has displayed marked ability in presenting his cause to the courts. In 1910 he sold his land under the Morgan ditch, which he had purchased at from twenty to twenty-five dollars per acre, for one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre. In 1913 he bought one hundred and sixty acres under the Bijou ditch and has improved it at a cost of teu thousand dollars. It is now stocked with pure bred Holstein cattle and Berkshire hogs and is the best improved farm in northeastern Colorado, lacking in none of the accessories and conveniences found upon the model farms of the twentieth century. He also makes a business of feeding cattle during the winter months. In 1908 he lost twenty thousand dollars in feeding sheep, but undeterred by this he has continued his efforts and his success has placed him among the foremost stock raisers of his section of the state. His property interests also in- clude a fine modern residence at No. 123 East Platte avenue, in Fort Morgan, which he erected at a cost of ten thousand dollars.

JAMES E. JEWEL

HISTORY OF COLORADO

On the 5th of March, 1871, Mr. Jewel was married to Miss Mahala Roszell, a daugh- ter of Hiram and Mary (Dole) Roszell, who were natives of Kentucky. The father was of French ancestry and devoted his life to farming. In early manhood he removed to Indiana and in 1848 went to Benton county, Iowa, where he carried on farming throughout his remaining days, his death occuring in 1883, while his wife passed away in 1880. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Jewel were four children. Fred B., born June 25, 1872, was engaged in the hotel business in Missouri and in the fall of 1918 expected to take charge of and operate his father's farm, but on his way from Missouri by automobile he and his wife were stricken with the influenza, and died at Marshall, Missouri. Jed Lake, born August 26, 1875, is engaged in the laundry and newspaper business in Chicago and is said to have the finest laundry in the United States. Ray W., born January 3, 1883, is engaged in the wholesale oil and gas business at Pueblo, Colorado. Helen M., born March 11, 1891, Is at home.

Mr. Jewel has a most interesting military record, for on the 27th of October, 1864, when he was a youth of but seventeen years, he enlisted at Dubuque, Iowa, as a member of Company C, Twenty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which com- mand he was engaged in active duty until transferred to Company C of the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, which regiment had reenlisted. He then served until the close of the war and was mustered out with a most creditable military record on the 18th of December, 1865, at Mobile, Alabama. He was engaged in the two days' fight at Nashville, Tennessee, under General Thomas, was also in the siege of Mobile and took part in the siege and capture of Spanish Fort and of Fort Blakely, the latter being captured after General Lee's surrender.

Mr. Jewel is a stockholder and the president of the board of directors of the Farmers Union Cooperative Creamery Company of Fort Morgan and is a stockholder in the Farmers Unlon Elevator & Mercantile Company. He likewise belongs to the Farmers Union and fraternally is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and with the Grand Army of the Republic. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is allied with the more progressive wing of the organ- ization. He has voted for every republican since President Grant was a candidate for office in 1868. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church and he has been identified therewith since reaching the age of nineteen, or for fifty-one years. He is supportIng a student in a preparatory school in China. Throughout his entire life his aid has ever been given on the side of progress and improvement and his per- sistent purpose has enabled him to accomplish excellent results not only for the ad- vancement of his individual interests but for the benefit of the public fortune and wel- fare. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, esteem him as a man of genuine worth.

JOSEPH RAMSEY HEWITT.

Joseph Ramsey Hewitt, who identified his interests with those of Elbert county in February, 1918, when he purchased his present large ranch in the vicinity of Elizabeth, was born upon a farm near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on the 21st of May, 1874, a son of Henry and Mary Ellen Hewitt. whose ancestral line can be traced back through five generations in the Old North state.

In the public schools of his native city Joseph R. Hewitt pursued his education and was identified with agricultural interests in the south until 1900, when he left North Carolina and removed to Wyoming, settling near Saratoga, where for six years he again carried on agricultural pursuits. In February, 1918, he purchased his present large ranch, which is one of the valuable properties of Elbert county. He has always employed the most progressive methods in the development and cultivation of his fields and his progressive spirit has been manifest in the excellent improvements placed upon his land.

In New Jersey, on the 7th of September, 1905, Mr. Hewitt was married to Miss Elizabeth Belle Davis, who in the maternal line is a descendant of the Sawyer fam- ily that for generations has occupied one of the old colonial homes near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, the bricks and material having been brought from England. One end of the building is blue and the other red. It is still standing in a good state of preservation. It was originally built by a noted tory family who later returned to England, and the property was purchased by the Sawyers during or about the time of the Revolutionary war. The great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Hewitt on the mater- nal side and also the great-great-grandfather on the paternal side were high sheriffs

HISTORY OF COLORADO

of Pasquotank county, North Carolina, during the Revolution, one succeeding the other in that position. Mrs. Hewitt has one brother who is federal district judge, located at Trenton, New Jersey. He was democratic leader in the state senate of New Jersey when President Wilson was governor of that state. Two other brothers are, the Rev. Quinton C. Davis, of Durham, North Carolina, and the Hon. James Mercer Davis, of Mount Holly, New Jersey. To Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt have been born three children, Joseph Ramsey, Jr., Quinton Davis and Elizabeth Davis.

Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt hold membership in the Baptist church and take an active interest in its work and upbuilding. Their aid is always found on the side of right, advancement and improvement and throughout his life Mr. Hewitt has been actuated by a progressive spirit that is manifest in his business, and citizenship relations as well. During the period of his residence in Elbert county he has gained the respect of all with whom he has been brought in contact and is rapidly winning many friends.

HON. JOHN G. LILLEY.

Hon. John G. Lilley, deceased, left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the history of the state, not only by reason of his active and prominent connec- tion with agricultural interests but also as a legislator and as a factor in the develop- ment of the state along many other beneficial lines. His life record, therefore, should find a prominent place upon the pages of Colorado's history.

A native of England, John G. Lilley was born at Gillsboro on the 12th of June, 1833, his parents being John and Ann (Buck) Lilley, who were born at North Gills- boro, England. About 1847 they removed from their farm at that place to Birkenhead, Cheshire, where the father engaged in the laundry business until his death in 1886, having for three years survived his wife, who died in 1883. Both were members of the Church of England.

John G. Lilley was a youth of fourteen when the family home was established in Cheshire and for six years he was employed in the Birkenhead market. On reaching the age of twenty he bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for the new world, attracted by the business opportunities which he believed he might secure on this side of the Atlantic. He spent a few days in Portland, Maine, and then went to New Brunswick, where he remained for ten days, after which he changed his plans and shipped as a steward on a vessel bound for Ireland. He remained on the Emerald Isle for six weeks, while the vessel was anchored in Cork, after which he returned to his home in England and devoted a year to the butchering business. At the end of that time he once more crossed the Atlantic, landing at Boston, Massachusetts, whence he made his way to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the butchering busi- ness from 1854 until 1860. In the latter year he came to Colorado and settled in Denver, which was then a little mining town. For two years he devoted his attention to prospecting in the mountains and in 1862 purchased the farm whereon he continued to reside from that date until his demise. His purchase, made in February, 1862, established his ownership to one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining the town of Littleton. As the years passed and lie prospered he added to his holdings until within the boundaries of his place were comprised three hundred and eighty acres. At a later period, however, not wishing to have the care of so extensive a property, he sold all but one hundred and fifty acres of his land. He not only most progressively developed his farm property and met with substantial success in that undertaking but also became one of the builders of the Rough and Ready grist mill in 1868. This mill soon won the reputation of manufacturing the finest flour in the state, and for years its products were shipped as far east as Boston, commanding the highest prices on the market. Twice during Mr. Lilley's connection with the mill the plant was destroyed by fire but was immediately rebuilt. He also became the senior partner in the firm of Lilley & Coberly, which took extensive contracts for supplying ties for the building of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. These ties were secured on the Divide and taken to the territory between Littleton and Sheridan. In executing his contracts Mr. Lilley utilized forty wagons, each drawn by seven yoke of oxen, for hauling over the trail. These oxen, together with much other live stock, were stolen and driven off by the Indians, the herder escaping the red-skins by hiding in a dug-out. A man of marked business enterprise, Mr. Lilley never faltered in the accomplishment of his purpose and in his vocabulary there was no such word as fail. When one avenue of opportunity seemed closed he recognized the fact that he could carve out other paths whereby he might reach the desired goal and as the years went on he carefully and Vol. IV-4

HON. JOHN G. LILLEY

MRS. ALICE JAMES LILLEY

HISTORY OF COLORADO

wisely directed his business efforts with the result that he won most substantial success in that connection.

Mr. Lilley was always a republican and when the currency question became a paramount issue he stood with the silver wing of the party. He was for more than a quarter of a century president of the school board in his district and in 1872 bis fellow townsmen sent him as their representative to the state legislature, where he took a most active part in supporting those measures which he believed would be of benefit to the commonwealth. He was particularly earnest in his advocacy of leglsla- tion having to do with the cattle industry in the state. In 1879 he became county commissioner of Arapahoe county and served most capably in that position for three years. He was familiar with every phase of pioneer life and experiences and in 1864 became captain of a company that was organized to protect life and property from the raids of the Indians. This company was called into active service in 1868 to suppress the Utes and Cheyennes, who had been most troublesome. At all times Mr. Lilley took a most active and helpful part in promoting every movement or project for the benefit and welfare of community, commonwealth and country. He was a pro- gressive citizen, highly honored because of his sterling personal worth, and when death called him in April, 1909, his loss was deeply felt by many friends as well as by his immediate family.

It was in 1855 that Mr. Lilley returned to England, where on Christmas day he was married to Miss Louise Ann Hay, after which he brought his bride to his new home. He was at that time residing in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Some time later they came to Colorado, where Mrs. Lilley remained until called to her final rest on the 7th of May, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Lilley became the parents of ten children: William H., a resident of Jefferson, Colorado; Anna, deceased; Maggie, the wife of Frank Soper; Fred; Lucy, who has also passed away; Harry; Marcia L., the wife of Charles Watlington; Josepha, the wife of J. Sherman Brown; Benjamin E .; and John G.

In 1898 Mr. Lilley was again married, his second union being with Miss Alice James, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Leroy B. and Sarah (Tilton) James, both of whom were natives of Missouri. The mother died in that state and the father afterward came to Colorado, where he passed away in 1909. They had a family of nine children, three of whom survive. To Mr. and Mrs. Lilley was born a daughter, Allce, who is now the wife of Earl Radcliffe, of Littleton.

Mrs. Lilley is a highly educated woman who was graduated from the high school at Louisiana, Missouri, and taught in that state for several years. She then came to Colorado and was a teacher in Littleton, acting as assistant principal of the high school of that place for a decade prior to her marriage. She afterward took up the dairy business, in which she still continues and she is now conducting a most exten- sive business, having a herd of one hundred and fifty cows. The product is sold at wholesale in Denver, averaging two hundred gallons per day throughout the year. She has all the latest dairy equipment, such as milking machine and everything found in a first-class dairy establishment. Her ranch comprises one hundred and fifty acres of fine bottom land, all of which is irrigated. There are two large silos upon the place, eighteen by forty feet. She utilizes two big motor trucks to deliver milk in Denver. Another attractive feature of the farm is a fine orchard containing various kinds of fruit. She is extensively engaged in raising corn and alfalfa, and all of the latest improved farm machinery to facilitate the work of plowing, planting and harvest- ing is found upon her place. There are also large poultry buildings and she is making a specialty of raising fine chickens. In addition to her ranch property she owns many valuable building lots in the village of Littleton and a fine residence there. She is also a stockholder in the Nevada Irrigation Company, which has one of the best water rights in the state.

Mrs. Lilley's literary talent in her younger years was manifest in the writing of several fine poems, but her extensive business affairs at present leave her little oppor- tunity for activity of that kind. She is a member of the Presbyterian church and she has exercised a widely felt and beneficial influence in the community along lines of moral and cultural development. Her efforts during her labors in the educational field, were not limited to the curriculum of the school room but were broad enough to include the all important feature of character building and moral worth. She was largely instrumental in securing the establishment of a public library in Littleton, having been one of the original committee of three, chosen for that purpose. She also sponsored, and brought about, the organization of a literary society among the pupils of the high school, and was president of the Reading Club, an organization which was the nucleus of the Woman's Club of today. In looking back over the past, with due consideration, and giving credit for the part she has had in community building, it is

HISTORY OF COLORADO

difficult, if not wholly impossible, to accurately gauge the exact extent of her influence in moulding the minds and shaping the characters of the boys and girls who came under her influence as pupils, and who have become the active men and women of today, many of whom, freely acknowledge to her in person, their gratitude for her interest in their welfare. A lady of splendid traits of heart and mind as well as of marked business ability, she commands the highest respect of all and those who know her are proud to call her friend.

RAYMOND REEVES.

Raymond Reeves, vice president of the W. E. Moses Land Scrip and Realty Com- pany of Denver, was born at Brownwood, Texas, July 22, 1885, and was therefore a young man of twenty-four years when in 1909 he became a resident of Denver, where he has now made his home for a decade. His parents, William Bush and Pauline (Murray) Reeves, are both natives of Tennessee. The father became one of the pio- neer settlers of Texas, where he engaged in educational work. As a teacher he gained a very wide reputation and became recognized as one of the most prominent repre- sentatives of the school interests of the Lone Star state, being now retired. He makes his home at Gorman, Texas, where he has now lived for many years, and there he and his wife reared their family of three children: Charles E., now living in Des Moines, Iowa; Mrs. J. C. McDearman, of Cookeville, Tennessee; and Raymond, of this review.

The last named, after attending the public schools of Brownwood, Texas, entered the Haskins Normal College, from which he was graduated and then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for three terms, continuing in educational work in Eastland county, Texas. Subsequently he entered Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, for the study of law and won his LL. B. degree as a graduate of the class of 1907. He was then admitted to the bar at Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he entered upon active practice, continuing successfully in his chosen calling there until 1909, when he removed to Colorado, establishing his home in Denver. Here he became connected with The W. E. Moses Land Scrip and Realty Company as field attorney and gradually advanced through various departments until he was elected vice president of the company, in which capacity he now serves. This company is conducting an extensive real estate business, their clientage steadily increasing and their profits thereby accruing.

On the 22d of July, 1909, the twenty-fourth anniversary of his birth, Mr. Reeves was united in marriage at Cisco, Texas, to Miss Ina Owen, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Almus Owen, the former a very prominent member of the medical profession in the Lone Star state. Mr. and Mrs. Reeves have a son, Malcolm Patterson, who was born in Denver, April 24, 1910, and is now a pupil in the Park Hill school.

In his political views Mr. Reeves is a democrat, having always supported the party yet never seeking or desiring office. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, being a Knight Templar and member of the Mystic Shrine, and also with the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and is identified with the Denver Motor Club and the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, while his religious faith is indicated by his connection with the Park Hill Methodist Episcopal church.

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History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 6

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