History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 66

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

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Sir Thomas Fleming removed from Jamestown to New Kent county, Virginia, where his remaining days were passed. In England he married a Miss Tarlton and left, besides several daughters, in Virginia, three sons-Tarlton, John and Charles. An article in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, entitled "Ancestors and Descendants of John Rolph, with Notices of Connected Families," states that the date ascribed to Sir Thomas' advent in Virginia (1616) is certainly too early. The New Kent records are totally destroyed; hut if it is impossible to confirm the "old record" as to the date of his first settlement, it is a fact that his two sons, John and Charles, were living in New Kent in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and this Charles Fleming was the progenitor of the branch of the family to which John Donaldson Fleming belongs. He possessed estates in New Kent and in King and Queen counties and in Goochland county. He married and had several daughters and a son, John, who was born in 1697 and died in 1756. This Johu Fleming wedded Mary Bolling and they had numerous sons and daughters. John Fleming lived at Mount Pleasant, on the James, in what was part of Goochland county but later became Cumberland and is now Powhatan county. His eldest child, John Fleming, known as Colonel John Fleming, was a lawyer and a friend of Patrick Henry and assisted the latter in the Virginia legislature in securing the passage of the famous anti-tax-stamp resolutions. He became the father of the first Kentucky immigrant of the name, who founded Fleming county-Colonel John Fleming, who was the great-grandfather of Professor Fleming of this review. It is to be regretted that more definite record concerning him is not obtain- able, but British and Indian depredations in Virginia, the destruction of public, parish and private records during the Civil war, the ordinary vicissitudes of time, the care- lessness or indifference of the pioneer settlers, and the American disregard of pedigree generally, have all contributed to the inability of most Americans to point to complete documentary evidence. An early historian of Collins, Kentucky, speaking of John Fleming, the founder of Fleming county, Kentucky, says: "The witnesses of his life, like the fabled leaves of the Sibyl's prophecy, have been so scattered by the hand of death that it is impossible to give any save the following incidents"; and then he pro- ceeds to give an account of the encounter with the Indians at Battle Run, where Colonel Fleming received the wound which ultimately resulted in his death; and a few other adventures. Colonel Fleming was married in 1788 to Mrs. Lucy Donaldson nee Pettitt, a widow, and they became parents of three sons, William, John and Thomas. The last named was the grandfather of Professor Fleming of this review. He married Kerrilla

JOHN D. FLEMING

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Faris and to them were born a son and a daughter, John Faris aud Mary, who after- ward became the wife of Thomas R. Botts, of Flemingsburg, Kentucky. For his second wife Thomas Fleming wedded Emily Goddard and their children were: William; Judith; Margaret, who became Mrs. Hutchcraft; Lucy; and Ella.

John Faris Fleming, born in Fleming county, Kentucky, in 1814, was a surgeon of the Tenth Kentucky Cavalry in the Union army during the Civil war in 1864 and 1865. He was graduated in medicine from the old Cincinnati College of Medicine and practiced his profession in Fleming county, Kentucky, for sixty years. He was there married to Sallie Ann Vaughan and to them were born three children: Lucy Ann, who became the wife of C. W. Darnall, of Maysville, and had five children-Sally Vaughan, Anna, Thomas, Florence and John, but the last named died in infancy; Thomas W., of Fort Scott, Kansas, who married Sallie Kirk, and had two sons, Charles and John; and Charles Ernest, of Elizaville, Kentucky, who married Anna Berry and had two children, Mary Louise and Ernest. Following the death of his first wife John Faris Fleming was married to Amelia Perrin Anderson and their only child is John Donaldson Fleming of this review. The wife and mother passed away in 1852 and Mr. Fleming afterward wedded Mary Jane Stuart, by whom he had four children: James Stuart, who died in California; Sally Ann, of Carlisle, who married Frank Congleton, of Carlisle, Kentucky; George Watson Andrews, of Pleasant Valley, Kentucky, who married Miss Robinson of Nicholas; and Mary, who died at the age of twelve years. The death of the father occurred in 1890.

John Donaldson Fleming, reared upon the home farm in Fleming county, Kentucky, to the age of eighteen years, attended the country schools aud also a classical academy conducted by the Rev. James P. Hendrick, a Presbyterian minister, in Flemingshurg, the county seat of Fleming county, from which he was graduated in 1871. He after- ward became a student in Centre College of Kentucky at Danville, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1875, on which occasion he received the John M. Harlan prize for proficiency in English composition. He sub- sequently took up the profession of teaching and after serving as tutor in the college for a year became connected with the Boys' High School at Louisville, his salary there enabling him to pay for his previous educational training and to meet his expenses while studying law. He was instructor in Latin and Greek in the Boys' High School until 1879 and during that period he also pursued law studies in the law school of the University of Louisville, from which he was graduated in 1878. After severing his connection with the Boys' High School he entered the University of Virginia at Char- lottesville, where he pursued a post-graduate law course under Professor John B. Minor, which he completed in 1879. Immediately afterward he removed westward to Colorado and took up the practice of his profession in Leadville, entering the law office of James Y. Marshall. For the first three years of his residence in Leadville he was also manager of the Robert E. Lee Mining Company, of which Mr. Marshall was the president. In 1883 he was elected mayor of the city, which then contained a population of thirty thousand, and in 1886 he was appointed to the office of city solicitor, which position he filled for one term. In 1889 he was appointed by President Harrison to the position of United States attorney for Colorado and served for one term. Having removed to Denver, he entered upon the private practice of law on the expiration of his official service and enjoyed a distinctively representative practice until 1903, when he was appointed to the position of dean of the School of Law of the University of Colorado at Boulder. For some years prior to this time he had been a lecturer at the law school on a special topic and since 1903 has chiefly given his attention to the administrative work of the law department and to his duties as professor of law, although he has not withdrawn entirely from practice as an attorney. In 1912 he was appointed to the chair of the Thomson professorship of law of the State University at Boulder, a foun- dation due to the bounty of the widow of Judge Charles I. Thomson, and from tho Central University of Kentucky, his alma mater, he has received the honorary LL. D. degree. While Professor Fleming has made the practice of law and his work as an instructor the chief features of his life of intense and well directed activity. he has also continued in the mining field to some extent as a director of the Allegheny Mining Company of Leadville and the Gold King Extension Mining Company of San Juan county, Colorado.

On the 27th of August, 1890, in Danville, Kentucky, Professor Fleming was married to Miss Elizabeth Keith Stodghill, a daughter of John and Nancy (Smith) Stodghill. Their children are as follows. William Donaldson, who was born in 1892, was graduated from the University of Colorado in 1913 and from the medical school of the University of Colorado in 1917, while at the present time he is serving with the rank of first lieu- tenant in the medical corps of the United States regular army, upon the staff of the

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Walter Reed General Hospital at Washington. Marjorie Elizabeth was graduated in 1916 from the University of Colorado and was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society the same year. In 1918 she went to Washington to engage in war work for the government. The youngest of the family, Nancy Amelia, was graduated from the Boulder high school with the class of June, 1916, and is now a junior in the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Fleming is a republican in his political views. He belongs to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and he was one of the founders and charter members of the Denver Club and also of the University Club of Denver. His religions faith is that of the Episcopal church. It would be tautological in this connection to enter into any series of statements as showing him to be a man of broad scholarly attainments, for this has been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. His advancement has been the direct result of an earnestness of purpose that has never faltered in the face of diffi- culties or obstacles, while high ideals have actuated him at every point in his career and are constituting a most important element in the development of the School of Law of the University of Colorado, which through the efforts of Dr. Fleming and his associates has been placed on a par with the oldest law schools of the country. In 1915 Dr. Fleming was elected president of the Colorado Bar Association and ably served in that capacity for one term.

HENRY R. DEERING.

Henry R. Deering, the period of whose residence in Washington county covers a quarter of a century, has been actively identified with farming and stock raising inter- ests there since attaining his majority, now owning three quarter sections of valuable land and also an additional tract of eighty acres. His home is on section 25, eight miles northwest of Yuma. His birth occurred in Grafton, Nebraska, on the 23d of December, 1885, his parents being Henry and Elizabeth (Glantz) Deering, both of whom were natives of Russia. On crossing the Atlantic to the new world they first located at Sutton, Nebraska, and later removed to Grafton, that state, where Mr. Deering devoted his at- tention to general agricultural pursults until about 1893. He then made his way west- ward to Washington county, Colorado, and here took up a homestead which he success- fully operated throughout the remainder of his life, passing away in September, 1911, at the age of sixty-three years. His wife, surviving him for a number of years, was called to her final rest on the 19th of August, 1917, at the age of sixty-six. Their loss was deeply regretted, for they had gained many warm friends during the period of their residence in this state. Henry Deering had followed farming in Russia, prior to his emigration to the United States, and was widely recognized as an able and industrious agriculturist.

Henry R. Deering acquired his education in the schools of Nebraska and of Wash- ington county, Colorado, being a lad of but eight years when he came with his parents to this state. He remained at home until twenty-four years of age but prior to this time, on attaining his majority, he took up a homestead claim which he improved and to the operation of which he has since given his attention. To the original tract of one hundred and sixty acres he has added by purchase until his holdings now embrace three quarter sections of rich and productive land and also another tract comprising eighty acres. In connection with the cultivation of cereals he devotes considerable attention to the raising of pure bred stock, including Hereford cattle and Percheron horses, in which branch of his business he has been very successful, making his start on the open range before the country was fenced. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' Equity Union and the Farmers' Cooperative Elevator Company, both of Yuma, and enjoys a well merited reputation as one of the representative and prosperous young agriculturists of his community.

On the 26th of November, 1908, Mr. Deering was united in marriage to Miss Belle S. Strong, who was born at Burr, Nebraska, in May, 1883, a daughter of George and Sophia (Edwards) Strong, who were natives of Ohio and Missouri respectively. The father, a farmer by occupation, served for three years during the Civil war with the Guards of Trumbull county, Ohio. Soon after the close of hostilities between the north and the south he settled in Otoe county, Nebraska, where he secured a tract of land and devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits for many years. At length, however, he put aside the active work of the fields and removed to Peru, Nebraska, there spending the remainder of his life in honorable retirement. He passed away in September, 1908, and is still survived by his widow, who yet makes her home in Peru, Nebraska. Mr. Vol. IV-35

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and Mrs. Deering are the parents of two children: H. Lloyd, who was born October 15, 1909; and Raymond P., whose birth occurred on the 4th of June, 1912.

In his political views Mr. Deering is independent, supporting men and measures rather than party. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, to the teachings of which he faithfully adheres. Both he and his wife are widely and favorably known in Washington county, where the circle of their friends is almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance.

WILLIAM JAMES DONLON, M. D.

Dr. William James Donlon, of Denver, who limits his practice to the treatment of dis- eases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, in which branch of professional service he has attained marked skill and efficiency, was born in Hudsonville, Michigan, July 18, 1879, a son of John E. and Elizabeth ( Barker) Donlon. The father, a native of Rochester, New York, is now engaged in the produce business at Pueblo, where for some years the family have made their home. In fact, they removed to Colorado in 1880, at which time Dr. Don- lon was hut a year old. He pursued his education in the public schools of Las Animas, Colo- rado, completing a high school course as a member of the class of 1898. He determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work and to that end entered the Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1902 with the M. D. degree. He afterward did hospital work in Chicago as an interne in Kedzie Hospital for two years, gaining that broad knowledge and practical experience which can never he acquired so quickly in any other way as in hospital work. He then located for the private practice of medicine in Chicago, where he continued for two years, after which he returned to Colorado, where he remained for a time. Later he opened an office in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he was located for a few years, and for several years he resided in Chicago, where in his practice he specialized in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He did post-graduate work in the Chicago Charitable Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Dispensary and Clinics and the Chicago Charitable Hebrew Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Dispensary. He also took a course in the Chicago Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat College and pursued his investigations and studies in the Rush Medical Dispensary and Clinics and the Kansas City Charitable Dispensary and Clinics. In 1917 he opened an office in Den- ver, where he is now practicing. He is a member of the medical staff of the City and County Hospital and his professional colleagues and contemporaries speak of him as one of marked ability in the field of his specialty.

In 1903 Dr. Donlon was united in marriage to Miss Lucia Ross, of Easton, Illinois, and they have one daughter, Lucia Joan, three years of age. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Dr. Donlon has held membership with the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He is interested in all those forces which work for community betterment and for patriotic support of the country, but he has never at any time sought or desired public office, preferring instead to give bis time and energies to his professional duties, which have constantly grown in volume and importance. He recognizes fully the obligations and responsibilities that devolve upon him in professional connections and is constantly studying to advance his skill, keeping at all times in touch with the most advanced thought and the latest scientific research that has to do with his special field of practice.

HARLON B. PERSONS.

Harlon B. Persons, cashier of the First National Bank of Wellington, was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1890. He is therefore one of the younger representatives of financial interests in the state hut has already made for himself a creditable place in banking circles. He is a son of Winfield M. and Rose Alice (Woods) Persons, who are natives of New York. The father was a commercial man of New York for many years, going there in early life and residing there for an extended period or until he removed to Nebraska, where he engaged in the horse business for about seven years, at Norfolk. In October, 1916, he removed to Wellington, Colorado, where he is now living retired, and his wife is also living.

Harlon B. Persons was reared and educated in Waverly, New York, and in Aurora. Illinois. Subsequently he continued his studies in the Elgin Academy at Elgin,

DR. WILLIAM J. DONLON

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Illinois. He began reading law at Aurora, Illinois, where he pursued his studies for about two years, after which he occupied the position of accountant with a telephone company for some time. He afterward removed to Norfolk, Nebraska, and spent a year as bookkeeper in the Norfolk National Bank. He later became assistant cashier of the Menowi State Bank at Monowi, Nebraska, continuing with that institution for five years. In December, 1915, he came to Colorado and established the First State Bank of Nederland in Boulder county and served as its cashier until July 10, 1916, when he sold his interests there and removed to Wellington, purchasing stock in the First Na- tional Bank, of which he has since been the cashier, with W. L. Tanner as president, W. L. Hauptli and Arthur J. Piatt as vice presidents. The bank is capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars, has a surplus of eight thousand dollars and undivided profits of thirty-five hundred dollars, while its deposits amount to one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars. This bank was organized in 1905 and entered upon a prosperous existence, its business having steadily grown as the years have passed by. Mr. Persons also has farming interests in his section of the state.

On the 14th of May, 1912, Mr. Persons was married to Miss Vera B. McCoy, a daughter of H. L. and Flora (Gaskill) McCoy. The father spent his boyhood days at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and the mother was reared in Nebraska. Mr. McCoy was a lum- ber dealer and farmer of the latter state, to which he removed in early manhood. There he took up a homestead and is still the owner thereof, although at the present time he is living retired from active business, residing at Hastings. His wife passed away in August, 1910. To Mr. and Mrs. Persons have been born two children: Landon Monroe, born July 6, 1915; and Kenneth Claire, born July 12, 1917.

Mr. Persons has always given his political allegiance to the republican party. He is the present town treasurer of Wellington and previously served as town clerk at Monowi, Nebraska. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church-associations which indicate the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct in all of his relations with his fellow- men.

HARRY E. CHURCHILL.

For thirty-two years Harry E. Churchill has been connected with the legal fraternity of Greeley and has made for himself an enviable position among his colleagues, being accounted que of the most successful counselors and pleading attorneys in his part of the state. He was born in Benton county, Iowa, July 16, 1861, a son of Almon C. and Anna (Lovejoy) Churchill, natives of Vermont. The father was a farmer and stock raiser in Vermont, but in 1849 gave up this business in order to proceed to California to join the gold seekers. He subsequently returned to Vermont and later came west, locating in Benton county, Iowa, in 1855, and there he bought land which he operated for some time. He then removed to Linn county, that state, and there followed agri- cultural pursuits for the balance of his life. He died in 1868, being long survived by his widow, who passed away in 1892.

Harry E. Churchill was reared and educated in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he at- tended Coe College. He subsequently entered Western College at Toledo, Iowa, and after having completed his education became deputy auditor and subsequently deputy county treasurer of Tama county. This occupation brought him in close contact with the legal profession and he decided to study law and make this line of work his life profession. In 1886 he was admitted to the bar at Red Cloud, Nebraska, practicing there for a short time. In the same year, however, he decided to remove farther westward and came to Greeley, Weld county, where he has ever since been located. He enjoys a very large clientage, having successfully handled a number of important cases which have brought him prominently before the public. He stands high in the estimation of the bar and the courts and is considered one of the best informed lawyers in his part of the state All his life he has remained a student and is thoroughly read on legal prece- dent. He never enters the court room without being well prepared and on account of this and his logical reasoning is well able to combat any arguments which may come from the opposing side. His services have been retained in a great many cases of more than local reputation and he well deserves the success which he has achieved, not only on account of his professional ability, but because of the honorable principles which underlie his professional conduct.

Mr. Churchill has extensive farming interests. He has also in lesser degree inter- ested himself in mining and the oil business and owns a large amount of stock in enter-

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prises of that character. In copper mines he has made heavy investments, the proper- ties in which he is interested being mostly located in Arizona and Mexico. He was for many years a republican, but now gives his support to the democratic party and has heen a delegate to the last two democratic national conventions. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church and he is interested in the moral progress of his community. Although his oil interests are extensive and his work demands most of his time he has been ever ready to lend help to those projects which have for their purpose the upbuilding of community, county and commonwealth and by his activities and financial help has made possible the realization of a number of enterprises which have proven of great general benefit. He is the president of the Iowa Society, which numbers thirteen hundred members, and is very popular in its ranks. Many are the friends whom Harry E. Churchill has made in Greeley and all who intimately know him speak of him in the highest terms of commendation, admiring not alone his achievements but the qualities of character which are the foundation of his well merited success.

JUSTICE B. SMITH.

Among the honored pioneers of Boulder county and among its venerable citizens is Justice B. Smith, who has now passed his eighty-first birthday but is still active in the operation of important farming interests, giving particular attention to the live stock business, along which line he has attained remarkable success. All of his neighbors, in fact all of the residents in his district, honor in him one of the original old settlers, the remainder of whom have now practically all gone to that better land whence no traveler returns. His long years of arduous labor have resulted in a prosperity that is richly deserved and a valuable farm property on section 24, in Boulder county, located about seven miles northwest of Longmont, stands today as incontrovertible proof of what may be attained along agricultural lines when industry, foresight, business ability and experience are combined.

Mr. Smith was born in Michigan, June 18, 1837. a son of Azial and Elizabeth (Lowe) Smith, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Ohio. The father was also an agriculturist and went to Michigan when that part of the United States was still a territory. There he was in the employ of the government for some time, having been eighteen years of age when he set out upon the adventurous trip to the then undeveloped middle west. Subsequently he acquired land, which he farmed for a period, but in 1847 he migrated to Illinois, where for five years he was again engaged along agricul- tural lines. In 1853 he became one of the early pioneers of Iowa and for ten years, or until 1863, farmed in Butler county, coming in the latter year to Colorado. Our sub- ject had preceded him by three years, having arrived in this state in 1860, and he sub- sequently returned to Iowa to bring his father to the new home. During the remainder of his life Azial Smith made his home with our subject and his sister, passing away in April, 1880. He had survived his wife for about four years. her death having occurred in 1876.

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History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 66

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