History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 60

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

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MRS. MARY D. COLE.

Mrs. Mary D. Cole resides at Berthoud, enjoying a substantial income derived from wise investments. For a number of years she was actively identified with agricul- tural interests, giving supervision to the cultivation of an excellent ranch. It is fitting that in the evening of her days she should he relieved from all business and financial cares by reason of the sound business judgment that she has displayed in former years. Mrs. Cole is a native of Calais, Maine. She was born December 14. 1837, a daughter of James and Susan (Smith) Dyer, who were natives of Maine and of Massachusetts respectively. The father followed farming in the Pine Tree state throughout his entire life. He was born in 1799 and had reached the age of eighty years when in 1879 he was called to his final rest. The mother survived for a number of years and died in 1892.

Their daughter, Mrs. Cole, was reared and educated in Maine and was graduated from the Calais Academy with the class of 1857. She then began teaching, which she followed in the public schools of her native state for twelve years. On the expiration of that period she made her way to Chicago, where she resided for a year or more and then came to Colorado. About 1880 she took up a quarter section of land and devoted her attention to its development and improvement for twenty-three years. Her farm was situated a mile and a half north of Berthoud and she greatly improved the place, adding to it substantial buildings, while the fields were brought under a high state of cultivation through her enterprise and businesss ability. At length she removed to Berthoud, where she has since resided, enjoying a well earned rest from further business cares and responsibilities. She bought a fine modern home, which she now occupies, enjoying all of the comforts of life.

Mrs. Cole has reared three children, two of whom she legally adopted, namely:

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James L. Sybrandt, who wished to take his father's name after he reached adult age and who is farming four miles west of Berthoud; and Mary, who died in November, 1892, at the age of eleven years. Mrs. Cole also reared her nephew, Alvin P. Hall, who is now a member of the United States army.

Mrs. Cole was for fourteen years secretary of the Loveland Farmers' Institute. She served on the school board of Berthoud for a time and has been much interested in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of the community. She owns a business block in Berthoud but sold her farm in 1912. She has membership in the Eastern Star, gives her political allegiance to the republican party and her religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, of which she has long been a loyal and helpful member. She has now passed the eighty-first milestone on life's journey, a woman of marked capabil- ity and many good deeds, highly esteemed wherever known and most of all where she is best known.

DORUS V. MILLER.

Dorus V. Miller, now living retired, making his home in Brighton, was in his active business career identified with commercial and agricultural pursuits, but for two decades has enjoyed well earned rest. He was born in Portage county, Ohio, May 13, 1858, a son of Henry and Rachel (Caris) Miller. He pursued his education in the schools of Branch county, Michigan. having removed to that state with his parents when he was but two years of age. He assisted his father in clearing farm land there and continued to engage in the cultivation of the fields until 1884, when he left the middle west and made his way to Colorado. For a time he was at Fort Lupton, but after two months removed to Brighton and purchased a meat market, which was located on the site of his present residence. He conducted the busi- ness for two years in connection with George Twombly and Charles Hurley and during the next spring his brother-in-law, William Hurley, joined the firm. About that time Mr. Miller purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land and turned his attention to general farming, in which work he continued actively for many years. He sold his ranch in 1906. He had previously purchased the John Twombly ranch, which he still owns and from which he now derives a good annual rental. For two decades, however, he has lived retired and so successfully was his business managed in previous years that he now has a competence sufficient to meet all of his needs and also supply him with many of the comforts and luxuries of life. His career illustrates what can be accomplished when there is the will to dare and to do. He started out in the busi- ness world empty-handed and has gradually worked his way upward, his indefatig- able industry and perseverance being the means of obtaining for him the substantial measure of success which is now his.

In Denver, on the 27th of December, 1887, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Anna McTiernan, a daughter of Martin and Anna (Lunney) McTiernan and a native of Port Henry, New York. Their religious faith is that of the Catholic church, and fraternally Mr. Miller is connected with the Woodmen of the World, having served as banker of Brighton Lodge, No. 134. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he has filled the office of alderman of Brighton and has also served as mayor of the city. While in office he carefully studied municipal needs and sought to meet these in every particular. He introduced progressive ideas for the benefit and welfare of the community and his official service was one of worth and benefit to the city which he represented.

ALFRED H. HANSCOME.

Alfred H. Hanscome, deceased, was well known as a representative of the farming interests of Adams county. He was born in New Hampshire on the 21st of June, 1840, and his parents, Oliver and Mary J. Hanscome, were also natives of that state, where they spent their entire lives. The son passed his youthful days under the paren- tal roof and acquired his education in the public schools among the Granite hills of New Hampshire. At length he determined to try the opportunities offered in the west and made his way to Kansas in 1858. There he remained for a year and then, still attracted by the lure of "farther west," he made his way to Colorado, arriving in Denver in 1859. From that time until his demise he was connected with the state. Vol. IV-32

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He cast in his lot with its early agriculturists, taking up a homestead in Adams county of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which his widow yet resides. Mr. Hanscome bravely faced the hardships and privations incident to the settlement of the frontier. It was many years before the district in which he lived had a railroad and the long distances to market had to be covered with team and wagon, while crops brought but low prices and it was difficult to obtain a start; but as the years passed on the labors of the pioneers brought about decided changes in the conditions at first prevail- ing. Mr. Hanscome bore his full share in the work of general improvement and develop- ment, becoming recognized as one of the representative farmers of the community.

On December 12, 1878, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hanscome and Miss Alice Ike, a native of Nebraska, born September 1, 1861, and a daughter of Jacob Ike, who crossed the plains in 1866 and took up his abode in what is now Adams county, Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Hanscome became the parents of four children: Mary L., now the wife of Otis G. Mathews; Bertha Alice, the wife of L. E. Gier, living in Denver; Walter O., occupying the old homestead; and Roy E., also a resident farmer of Adams county.

Mr. Hanscome passed away on the 5th of May, 1893, and was laid to rest in the Riverside cemetery in Denver. His long residence in this section of the state had made him widely known and his demise was the occasion of deep and widespread regret to his many friends. Those who knew him esteemed him as a man of genuine worth and his family found in him a devoted husband and father whose first interest was their welfare and happiness. As a pioneer he contributed to the development and upbuilding of his section of the state, being among the first to penetrate into the wilderness of Adams county and aid in the work of converting the plains into pro- ductive fields.

WILLIAM MYERS.

William Myers is one of the venerable citizens of Adams county, having passed the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey. Moreover, he is numbered among the pioneer settlers of Colorado who have been active in planting the seeds of civilization and development in this section of the country. He was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of March, 1834, representing one of the old families of that state. His parents, Henry and Hannah (Koller) Myers, were also natives of Pennsylvania, where they spent their entire lives. To them were born fourteen children, two of whom are yet living.

William Myers was reared in the state of his nativity and at the usual age began his education in the public schools. He remained at home with his parents until he reached the age of twenty, when he started out to try his fortune independently. Leaving Pennsylvania, he removed to Ohio, where he learned the blacksmith's trade, remaining in that state for a year. He afterward again started westward and this time made Shelbyville, Illinois, his destination. He lived there for four years and on the expira- tion of that period took up his abode in Iowa City, Iowa, where he remained for a year.

Colorado was a most sparsely settled territory when he arrived within its borders and Denver nothing more than a western mining camp when he took up his abode in that city June 9, 1860. He continued to live in Denver for sixteen years and through that period worked at the blacksmith's trade. In 1876 he removed to the farm whereon he now resides and which he owns. It is a tract of one hundred and eighty acres of rich and productive land situated on section 10, township 2, of Adams county. He then concentrated his efforts and attention upon its cultivation and development and as the years passed added many substantial improvements in keeping with the pro- gressive spirit of the present time. He turned the first furrows in many of his fields and brought the land under a high state of cultivation, so that substantial crops were annually produced. The farm is still one of the attractive and valuable places of Adams county, but Mr. Myers by reason of his advanced age has put aside the active work of the fields, leaving the cultivation of the property to his son Robert A. On this place was put down the first artesian well in Adams county.

On September 9, 1869, in Denver, Mr. Myers was united in marriage to Miss Hannah E. Kinsey, who was born in Mercer county, Illinois, August 10, 1844, and they became the parents of five children: Elsie, at home; Herbert W., who has passed away; Robert A., living on the old homestead; and Harry and Orville, both of whom are deceased. The wife and mother was called to her final rest on the 2d of February, 1918, and her grave was made in the Riverside cemetery at Denver. Mrs. Myers came

WILLIAM MYERS

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to Colorado in 1868 and for a number of years was a teacher in the public schools of the state.

Mr. Myers has made thirteen trips across the plains with team and wagon, and he recalls many interesting incidents in connection therewith. The first trip, from Iowa City to Denver in 1860, was made in thirty-five days. Of the four men who made up the party, Mr. Myers is the only one to remain. The others, becoming discouraged by the privations and hardships of the frontier, returned to the east after a short stay.

Mr. Myers gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and although never an office seeker he has served as school director of Henderson for many years and he is a charter member of the Henderson Grange. His long residence in the state has made him widely known and this, combined with, the sterling traits of his char- acter, places him in the ranks of Colorado's honored pioneers.

SIMON P. SUITER.

Simon P. Suiter, whose home farm seven miles southeast of Fort Collins is a well developed property of Larimer county, was born in Minnesota, June 16, 1867, a son of Leonard and Catherine Suiter, who were also natives of that state. The father was a carpenter by trade and always followed that pursuit in Minnesota, where he passed away. His wife died in the same state in 1877.

Simon P. Suiter was reared and educated in Minnesota and there worked as a farm hand in his youth and early manhood. He continued his residence in that state until 1892, when he came to Colorado and took up his abode in Larimer county, where he was again employed at farm labor for a few years. He worked diligently and with determination, however, and after a brief period had saved enough to enable him to begin farming on his own account. In 1897 he located on the place owned by his wife, comprising eighty acres, and has further developed and improved this to a con- siderable extent, making it one of the good ranch properties of the district.

On the 17th of March, 1897, Mr. Suiter was married to Miss Florence M. Frederick, a daughter of Phillip S. and Nancy (Keagy) Frederick, who are mentioned in con- nection with the sketch of U. S. G. Frederick on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Suiter have had three children: Laura, who died November 28, 1910, at the age of twelve years; and Nancy C. and Alice E., who are attending school.

Mr. Suiter has always been interested in the cause of education and has served on the school board. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and religiously is identified with the Presbyterian church. His political views harmonize with the prin- ciples of the democratic party and to it he has always given his support. He possesses the spirit of western enterprise and is leading the busy life of a farmer whose labors annually result in the harvesting of good crops.

JOSEPH FULTON HUMPHREY.

There is no question as to the importance of the public service which Joseph F. Humphrey rendered to Colorado Springs, and with his death on the 6th of August, 1918, was chronicled the passing of one who was closely associated with nearly every phase of the upbuilding of the city. While he passed the seventy-ninth milestone on life's journey, he did not come to an inactive and useless old age. He retained his deep interest in affairs of life to the end and on the day on which he was stricken had prepared to attend the national reunion of the Grand Army of the Republic in Port- land, Oregon. His life story is one of interest from the opening chapter until the word finis is written. He was born near Ripley, Ohio, March 4, 1839, and was a youth of thirteen years when he accompanied his parents and the family to Belle- fontaine, Ohio, where he attended high school. His initial step in the business world was made in learning the machinist's trade and in 1860 he went south to become fore- man of the machine shops at Holly Springs, Mississippi. When the trouble between the two sections of the country took on alarming proportions he returned to the north and for three years was in the service of his country, all of the time in the navy in the Mississippi squadron. A contemporary writer has said: "One of the interesting events in the life of the deceased was his escape from the rebel army during the Civil war. At the age of fifteen years he began to learn the machinist's trade in his father's shop. In the year 1860 he secured a place in the machine shops at Holly Springs, Mississippi,

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and when the foreman left was promoted to that position. At the opening of the Civil war the owner of the shops prepared machinery for the manufacture of guns. When the federal army began to march south toward Holly Springs the machinery was removed to Atlanta and he was given transportation there, but decided he would either go north or attempt to escape through the lines. After a trip to a nearby plan- tation he met a conductor on the Mississippi Central Railroad, who, surmising that Mr. Humphrey wanted to go north, assisted him in his preparations for getting through the lines.

"By the time the Union forces had left Memphis and started toward Holly Springs he was enabled to walk into their lines, reaching there about six o'clock in the morn- ing, after walking thirty miles. Among the members of an Ohio regiment he found a number of his boyhood acquaintances. After recuperating for a day he went with the army to Memphis. The entire country filled with Confederate cavalry. The federal troops stopped at Lafayette to await supplies from Memphis, heing on quarter rations. The next day Humphrey started with a companion and rode through in a sutler's wagon, stopping nine miles from Memphis for dinner. General Grant with his staff halted for a little rest at this spot before proceeding to Memphis. The Confederates, not recognizing him, made no attempt to stop his progress, as they were anxious to capture a large wagon train of supplies that had been sent from Memphis to the soldiers. On the morning of the next day they captured the wagon train and escort and a railroad train at Germantown; also some prisoners.

"Mr. Humphrey then proceeded to St. Louis by steamer where he remained for three weeks and then went on to Ohio to visit his parents. In the fall of 1862 he went to work in a navy yard at St. Louis and built gunboats until the spring of 1863, when he received an appointment as assistant engineer on the Osage of the Mississippi squadron under Admiral Porter. Later he was transferred to the Neosha. He accom- panied Banks' expedition up the Red River and afterward sailed up and down the Mississippi and its tributaries and participated in numerous skirmishes. In August, 1865, he was detached from the Neosha and went to New Orleans on the Ibex, returning from there to Mound City, where he was detached on leave of absence. It was his intention to remain in the navy, but the war having closed he decided to resign and was honorably discharged November 18, 1865, after a service of nearly three years."

After the close of the war Mr. Humphrey spent some time in railroad and engineer- ing work in the south but transferred his activities to the west in 1870, when he hecame paymaster of the Denver & Pacific Railroad, with headquarters at the capital. When the Rio Grande was completed to Colorado Springs, in 1872, he removed to the latter city and accepted the position of chief clerk in the auditor's department. He turned from railroad activity to banking in 1878, on appointment to the position of assistant cashier of the First National Bank, and the following year was made its cashier. In that capacity he was long connected with the financial interests of the city. He also achieved considerable success through mining operations in Leadville and also through building operations in the new and rapidly developing town of Colorado Springs. He arrived here about the time of the founding of the town and was thus able to reap the benefit of its developing business conditions.

Mr. Humphrey not only promoted his own fortunes, however, but labored untiringly for the benefit and upbuilding of the city and his name is synonymous with the estab- lishment and promotion of many interests which have been of the greatest public benefit. He voted with the republican party and because of his marked devotion to the general good his aid was sought in public office. For two years he served as alder- man of Colorado Springs and in 1883 was elected to the office of mayor, in which position he gave to the city an administration marked by businesslike qualities and notable devotion to duty. This led to his reelection and during his two terms in office he had much to do with the beginnings of the water system, the park system, the fire department and various other public enterprises. He frequently served as a delegate to the state conventions of the republican party and in 1896 he was a republican presi- dential elector, running three thousand votes ahead of his ticket-a fact indicative of his personal popularity and the confidence and trust reposed in him by his fellow- men. After having assisted in establishing various public utilities upon a safe basis he became a member of the school board of Colorado Springs and made an excellent record in that office through nineteen years. He likewise served for several years as a trustee of Colorado College, but there was no other public interest that received as fully his interest, attention and assistance as did the state institution for the deaf and blind children. He was instrumental in having this institution located in Colorado Springs and for twenty years he served on its board of trustees, continuing in the office to the time of his demise. The value of his service was recognized by the board

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in naming one of the new and modern buildings of the institution Humphrey Hall. He felt the deepest concern in the welfare and training of the unfortunate little ones and desired that every possible effort should be put forth to make up to them for the things which fate had denied them. He incorporated and was the first treasurer of the original volunteer fire department of Colorado Springs and took great pride in the pioneer fire-fighting organization. He could well be called the "father of the city park system," for while mayor in 1882 he planted the first trees set out in Acacia park and converted that tract of ground into a real park, sowing grass seed there, where everyone predicted that nothing could grow. It was through his instrumentality also that South park was platted and transformed into one of the beauty spots of Colorado Springs.

In Ohio, in 1874, Mr. Humphrey was married to Miss Rebecca Miller, who passed away in August, 1910, after which he made his home with his two sisters, Misses Martha and Mary Humphrey. To him and his wife was born a son, Robert Guy, a hydro-electric engineer, who is a resident of Rock Island, Illinois.

Mr. Humphrey was a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge at Bellefontaine, Ohio, for fifty-eight years. He also had membership in Pikes Peak Commandery, No. 6, K. T., in El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Denver, and in the Denver consis- tory. The motive springs of his conduct, however, were found in his membership in Grace Episcopal church, of which he was ever a loyal and devoted adherent and for over forty years a vestryman. It is said that in every relation of life and to every cause that he espoused he was loyal and steadfast, and while his friends miss him, the memory of his beautiful life, of his sincerity and simplicity of character, will not be forgotten. His friends will not mourn for him as they would for a young man cut off in the flower and promise of youth, but will rejoice in his memory as that of a man who laid down his task in the twilight of the day, when all that he liad to do had been beautifully and fully completed.

PETER A. LEYNER.

Peter A. Leyner was one of the worthy and substantial citizens of this state, a Colorado pioneer and one of the first settlers in what is now Boulder county, where he made his home for over forty-seven years. On May 2. 1860, he and hls young. bride started on the long drive from their Iowa home to that new Eldorado known in those days as Pike's Peak, where they arrived June 29, 1860. Soon they were located in Lefthand canon, in Boulder county, where Mr. Leyner at first engaged in raising garden produce, and on Boulder creek he remained throughout his life, grad- ually developing a large property of over a thousand acres. Barring a few days Peter A. Leyner reached the age of eighty-five years, covering a life of useful activity, his birth having occurred on the 16th of November, 1822, in the little town of Dach- enheim, in Rhenish Bavaria, the province also being known as the Bavarian Palat- inate, in Germany. His parents were farming people and from them he inherited that inherent love and understanding of the soil and the out-of-doors which remained with him throughout his life. Owing to the narrow conditions existing in Germany and with the desire to give his children better advantages, Mr. Leyner's father, accompanied by the family, came to America in 1833 and settled in Butler county, Ohio, where Peter A. Leyner largely received his education, and residing upon his father's farm, became thoroughly acquainted with efficient methods of agriculture. He remained with his parents, who had carefully instilled into him life's most im- portant lessons, until his nineteenth year and then was engaged in farming on his own account for four years in that neighborhood, until in 1851 he removed to Hagers- town, Indiana, where he embarked in the mercantile business, there quite success- fully continuing for about three years. In 1854 Mr. Leyner decided, however, to strike out farther west and went to Des Moines, Iowa, where until the spring of 1860 he was engaged in the real estate business. In the fall preceding, on Septem- ber 13, 1859, he was united in marriage to Maria A. Dock, who was born in Fair- field township, Columbiana county, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel and Lydia Dock, natives of Pennsylvania, of Holland ancestry. Mrs. Leyner shared with her husband the trials, privations and hardships of life as well as its triumphs and successes and at the time of his death survived him.

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History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 60

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