USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 51
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S. F. STEWART is a southern man by birth, reach- ing Colorado from North Carolina Aug. 2nd, 1889. He located in Fort Collins, where he has been a fix- ture up to this time. Independence day, 1856, is the date of his birth. He was educated in the pub-
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MRS. ELIZABETH (AUNTY) STONE
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
lic schools of his native state and married June 15th, 1887, in Graham county, Kansas, Lena R. Tritt. The names of his sons are Paul L., George S., and Modern W. For sixteen years Mr. Stewart was engaged in the farm implement business, but is now conducting a general store on Jefferson street. He is very well known to the farming community as a courteous, obliging and accommodating man, thor- oughly reliable in all his dealings.
MRS. ELIZABETH STONE .- Civilization in Fort Collins may be said to have had its beginning when Lewis Stone and his wife, the late Mrs. Eliza- beth Stone, better known all over Northern Colo- rado as "Aunty" Stone, located in Camp Collins in September, 1864. Mrs. Stone was the first white woman to become a permanent resident in what is now Fort Collins, which continued to be her home until death called her hence on December 4th, 1895. She was a remarkable woman in many respects, leading a busy, useful life, doing good in the world, finally passing on to her reward in the 95th year of her age. There have been and are more renowned women in the world than good old "Aunty" Stone, women of higher educational attainments, of nobler intellectual endowments, loftier aspirations and who outranked her in social distinction, but never one whose sympathies were broader or more fruitful, or who did more by pre- cept and example to sustain the weak, encourage the oppressed, inspire the halting and disheartened and to put new life and hope into the despondent than she did during her long and eventful life. Every good cause found in her a friend ready to listen and prompt to undertake in its behalf to the full measure of her time. and ability. She encour- aged the weak and faint of heart and sent them on their way rejoicing. She was acute, thoughtful, original and persistent. She worked on another's plans for the advancement of good as eagerly as if they were her own. She sought out the un- fortunate and quietly helped them or saw that they were helped. She was a simple hearted, unosten- tatious, yet forceful woman. Every good work in church or community found in her a friend and en- thusiastic supporter. Every evil cause had in her a relentless foe. She was a friend to the friendless, a mother to the motherless, the guide and coun- sellor of youth and an upright Christian woman. She was, withal, a faithful, devoted wife and mother. Such were the chief characteristics of the first white woman to settle in and establish a home in Fort Collins, and from the very beginning her
influence upon the wild, sometimes reckless, natures of the soldiers stationed here at that time and upon those who came after they had gone, was of a marked beneficial character. The presence among them of a noble, white-souled woman and her con- stant appeal to their better nature, exerted a whole- some influence and restrained them from the in- dulgence in those demoralizing excesses, so common among men on the frontier, away from the civiliz- ing influences of home and dear friends.
BIOGRAPHICAL
Elizabeth Hickok was born September 21, 1801, at Hartford, Connecticut. She came of a hardy, adventurous race and spent the greater por- tion of her long life on the frontier. When four years of age, her father sought a new home in the then trackless waste of Northern New York, finally locating where Watertown now stands. Here her early life was spent amid the scenes incident to a home in the wilderness, and here she obtained the rudiments of an education. On Washington's birthday, February 22, 1824, she was united in marriage with Hon. Ezekiel W. Robbins, and four years later went with husband and their two children to St. Louis, Missouri, then a frontier French trading post. Ten years later, or in 1838, the family removed to Chester, Randolph county, Illinois, where, in 1852, the husband died, leaving the widow in a new and undeveloped country with eight children to provide for and educate. She as- sumed the responsibility and kept her little flock together, providing for their wants as best she could and giving them all the advantages for school- ing that the country at that time afforded. She re- mained a widow about five years, during which time she spent a year at her former home in Water- town, New York. On returning west she went to St. Paul, Minnesota, then in the heart of a wild, unbroken region, where she met and formed the acquaintance of Hon. Lewis Stone, to whom she was married in 1857. Leaving St. Paul, the fam- ily settled at St. Cloud, Minnesota, and remained there till 1862, when the Indians becoming trouble- some, they concluded to cross the Plains and come to Denver. Their team was composed of two cows yoked together like oxen, which they drove through to Denver, milking the cows regularly and mak- ing butter on the way. In making the butter, no patent churn was employed. It was produced by the motion of the wagon, and it was good butter too. Soon after reaching Denver, Mr. Stone pur- chased twelve lots where the Union depot now
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stands and built a house thereon which was rented for a restaurant. Leaving a son of Mr. Stone's in charge of their Denver property, Mr. and Mrs. Stone located on a claim in the St. Vrain valley, where they remained about a year. While living in Denver, Mr. Stone became interested with Dr. T. M. Smith (then contract surgeon at Camp Col- lins and afterward for many years a prominent and influential citizen of Fort Collins) in some mining property, and it was through his influence that Mr. and Mrs. Stone were later induced to come to Camp Collins, a military post then just established in the Cache la Poudre valley on the site of the present city of Fort Collins, and they moved here in September, 1864. That was about a month be- fore the soldiers came here to occupy their new quarters. Mrs. Stone was the first white woman to permanently locate in the embryo city, and was the only white woman here for about a year when others began to arrive. Two years before, in 1862, Mr. and Mrs. John G. Coy had settled on their present farm nearly a mile east of and across the river from Camp Collins. During the fall of 1864, Mr. and Mrs. Stone built the first dwelling house erected in Fort Collins. It was built of logs and stood where the stone hotel on Jefferson street now stands, and was occupied for hotel purposes for a good many years. The building was taken down in 1873 and moved to the corner of Mountain avenue and Mason streets where it was rebuilt and become a part of the Agricultural hotel of colony times. In 1908, the Pioneer Women of the Caché la Poudre valley bought the old house and had it moved on to a lot on S. Mason street, where it will be used by the ladies to hold their meetings in and kept as a memento of pioneer days. Many of the army officers stationed here during the win- ter of 1864-5 and the following summer boarded with Mrs. Stone while she conducted the hotel. A cut of the building made from a tintype taken in 1866, appears in this volume. Mr. Stone died in January, 1866, and was buried in the post ceme- tery near the corner of College avenue and Oak streets, the site of which was purchased by the United States in 1908 on which to erect a federal building for Fort Collins. During that year (1866) the settlement having increased in number by the arrival of emigrants from the East and the dangers from bands of predatory Indians having diminished, the soldiers were withdrawn and the post aban- doned. About this time Mrs. Stone became inter- ested with the late H. C. Peterson in the project of erecting one of the prime necessities of civilization,
a mill for converting wheat into flour, and they at once set about carrying the project into effect. The mill was completed ready for use late in the fall of 1868, and it was the second mill of its kind built in Colorado north of Denver, the first one being located on Boulder creek, east of the present city of Boulder. The mill built by Mrs. Stone and Mr. Peterson was a frame structure and stood where the Lindell mill now stands. It was de- stroyed by fire in 1886, rebuilt in 1887 and again burned down in 1895. The present mill was built in 1896 and is still in successful operation. The first mill was operated by Mrs. Stone and Mr. Peterson until 1873 when they sold it to Joseph Mason. Mrs. Stone started the first brickyard and had made the first brick made in Northern Colorado. This was in 1871. The first kiln burned contained brick for two houses, one of which was built near the mill for herself. It was the first brick house built in Fort Collins. The second brick house stood near the mill race on North Col- lege avenue, and was built in 1872, for a man named Gano. Both of these homes were torn down in the spring of 1910 to make room for the tracks of the Union Pacific railroad. Mrs. Stone used to entertain all the ministers that came along in the early days and was friendly to all of the religious denominations, giving liberally of her means to their support. She also contributed towards the cost of every church erected in the home of her adop- tion during her life time, and was an ardent ad- vocate of the temperance cause and was one of the first to help organize the Womans' Christian Tem- perance Union, and always did all in her power to advance the good work. She was especially dis- tinguished in charitable work. She loved amuse- ment and enjoyed social gatherings at which she was an honored guest. Being a Mason's widow, she was invariably invited to attend the social func- tions of the Masonic fraternity. At one of these held after she had passed her 82nd birthday, she joined in a dance in which representatives of four generations of her family participated, dancing with them in the same set with all the spirit and evident enjoyment of a young girl. During the last five years of her life she was comparatively helpless and unable to get about without assistance. She cast her first vote at the municipal election of 1894, and her last at the election held in April, 1895, being trundled to the polls by her son in a wheeled chair. She voted the prohibition ticket at both of these elections. She retained her men- tal faculties to the last and was bright and cheer-
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ful, recognizing her friends and greeting them with smiles and kindly salutations. She fell asleep for the last time on Wednesday, December 4th, 1895, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Theodosia Van Brunt, at the advanced age of 94 years, two months and 13 days. The bells of the city were tolled out of respect to her memory and to give notice of the sad though not unexpected event. At one time while a resident of Fort Collins, Mrs. Stone was possessed of a good deal of property and was deemed well off in this worlds' goods, but reverses came and the most of her accumulations were swept away, leav- ing her but little in her declining years. In pre- paration for the change that she knew to be in- evitable, she had the forethought to put aside in Mr. George W. Buffum's hands, a sum sufficient to meet all the necessary burial expenses, and this was religiously kept and applied to that purpose, so that before the sun went down on the day of her burial, all the expenses thereof were paid in full. The funeral took place on Friday, December 6th, at the Presbyterian church, all the clergymen in the city, including Rev. J. F. Coffman of the Methodist church, Rev. L. S. Brown of the Christ- ian church, Rev. U. F. Smiley of the Presbyterian church, Rev. Thos. Baker of the Episcopalian church and Rev. Arthur S. Phelps of the Baptist, having a part in the solemn service. The ushers were G. T. Budrow and R. S. Fedder, and the bearers were Abner Loomis, James B. Arthur, A. B. Tomlin, Andrew Armstrong, Ansel Watrous and Peter Anderson. A special choir composed of Miss Agnes Everest, Miss Bertha Pegg and Mr. John P. Ryckman and Charles R. Evans, with Mrs. Frank E. Baxter at the organ, rendered ap- propriate selections for the occasion. All business in the city was suspended during the funeral, all the bells in the city tolled the last sad requiem as the procession moved toward the city of the dead in Grandview cemetery, where the closing scenes were enacted and the body of dear "Aunty" Stone was tenderly placed in the tomb. Six of Mrs. Stone's children survive her death and they are W. T. Robbins of Loveland, Colorado; Mrs. Lucy J. Fallis of Gray's Summitt, Missouri; Theodosia M. Van Brunt of Loveland, Colorado; Ellen S. Ray of Chicago, Illinois; D. C. Robbins of Topeka, Kansas, and James M. Robbins of Petersburg, Illi- nois.
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ROBERT MILLER, a native of Denmark, was born in 1843, in Copenhagen, where he received his edu- cation. He came to the United States in early man-
hood and settled at Des Moines, Iowa, where he was married in 1871, to Tena Paulson. He came to Colorado in 1873, locating first at Black Hawk. Ten years later, in 1883, he moved his family to Fort Collins, which continued to be his home until he died in 1905. Here he carried on farming and also followed the bottling business. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller and their names are: Mrs. N. G. Strayer, Frank E. Miller, John Miller, Alfred Miller, Robert Miller, Jr., Charles Miller, George Miller, William Miller and Elen- ore Miller. Mr. Miller built a brick block on N. College avenue in which he carried on the bottling business for many years which his sons continue to conduct.
JOHN J. HARDING was born August 1st, 1863, in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, and received his education in the district schools of his native state. He came to Colorado in September, 1888, and engaged in farming near Timnath; married Ida Ace, January 29, 1898; worked as farm hand from 1889 to 1895, excepting two years when he had charge of Lake Canal ditch; rented a farm in 1896 and carried it on one year and in 1897 he bought 160 acres of land in the eastern part of Larimer county which he has since cultivated and on which he feeds stock. Fortune has favored Mr. Hard- ing since he came to Colorado and he is now rated as one of the prosperous farmers of the county.
DELANO A. EDSON .- Born November 30th, 1818, in Cayuga county, New York; married Eli- zabeth Wright in 1850; came to Fort Collins in 1880, and died december 23rd, 1887. Mr. Edson was a farmer by occupation. He opened a new farm three miles south of Fort Collins and soon be- came a leading and very successful farmer. His wife died August 2nd, 1884. Three children, Mrs. F. C. Avery, Mrs. Alex. Ault, (since deceased) and Mrs. A. A. Edwards survive their parents. He was a truly good man and a thoroughly conscien- tious and consistent Christian gentleman.
CARLYLE LAMB was for 21 years guide to parties making the ascent of Long's Peak and during that period climbed to the summit 144 times. He was born October 24th, 1862, in Guthrie county, Iowa, and attended the public schools in Nebraska; came to Longmont in May, 1875 and to Estes Park in August, 1879, locating on a homestead at the foot of Long's Peak where he lived until 1902; mar- ried Emma Bachelder in Denver on July 24th, 1890. After selling out in Estes Park in 1902,
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he spent three years in Oregon and California, re- turning to Colorado in 1905 and locating on a dairy farm three miles west of Fort Collins where he still resides engaged in dairying.
JOHN J. NUGENT .- One of those who came to Laporte nearly a third of a century ago and who through industry and intelligent application, has done much to promote the fruit and vegetable
JOHN J. NUGENT
growing and marketing business in Larimer county, is John J. Nugent, the subject of this sketch. He was born February 2nd, 1857, in Sussex county, New Jersey, and came to Colorado in 1876, when 19 years of age. For a few years thereafter he worked at mining at Caribou and other Boulder county mining camps. On April 21st, 1879, he was united in marriage with Mary E. Hoy, at Valmont, Boulder county and in 1880, he moved his wife to Laporte which has since been the family home. He continued work in the mines, leaving his wife at their new home, until he had accumulated money enough to pay for a tract of garden and fruit land on what is known as the "Island" at Laporte, when he quit mining and devoted his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of his land. He
engaged in gardening and fruit growing and has had a fair measure of success. He has a fine home, sur- rounded by pleasing prospects, and lives in the en- joyment of comfort and plenty. Mr. Nugent's wife died in October, 1904, leaving besides her husband, four children surviving. Their names are Mrs. Elizabeth Runyan of Portland, Oregon, Mrs. May Garbutt of San Francisco, California, Mrs. P. J. Landes of Laporte and George H. Nugent at home. In 1879, Mr. Nugent visited his old home in New Jersey and on returning to Colorado was accompanied by his sister, who is now Mrs. F. T. Dexter of Fort Collins.
J. ROLAND SEAMAN .- For many years past the familiar countenance of Mr. Seaman was to be seen upon entering the assessor's office where he has so long served as deputy. In 1910 the peo- ple of the county, appreciating his diligence and steady devotion to duty, promoted him to chief of that department of the county government, which he has assisted so ably to conduct. Mr. Seaman is a native son, born at Loveland, March 8th, 1884, and was married to Miss Henrietta H. Simmons at Fort Collins, June 5th, 1907. His wife was born in Fort Collins. Both were educated at home where the institutions of learning afford both the ground work and structure of an advanced edu- cation.
ABRAHAM I. AKIN was born at Lockport, Illi- nois, on September 22, 1861. He came to Colo- rado in the spring of 1880, and joined his father on a farm near Fort Collins where he remained until the year 1906. During his life on the Colorado farm, Mr. Akin showed a spirit of progress which manifested itself in the raising of one of the finest herds of thoroughbred shorthorn cattle produced in the state. He has been identified with many of the progressive movements in agriculture, having en- gaged successfully in sheep-feeding, orcharding, the raising of sugar beets and the development of water for irrigation. On september 4th, 1900, Mr. Akin was married to Miss Nellie Taylor, who was born and reared in Larimer county. They have one daughter, Grace, born November 20th, 1904. With his family he now resides in Fort Collins. He is wide awake and ever ready to advance any enter- prise which looks to the betterment of his city and community.
OLIVER L. McKISSICK was born October 11th, 1865, in Weld county, Colorado, and received his education in the public schools; married at Long-
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mont, March 11th, 1890, and the names of his children are Ethel R., Frances A., Chester C., and John W. McKissick; miner by occupation; coal mining at Erie from 1886 to 1893, and mining at Idaho Springs from 1893 to 1909; moved to Love- land in 1909 and employed as mechanic at the sugar factory; father, John M. McKissick, spent most of his life coal mining in Weld county.
MATTHEW AULD was born on May 8th, 1883 at Kilmarnock, Scotland. Coming to Colorado he stopped for a few years at Denver and in 1899 came to Fort Collins and attended the State Agri- cultural college. He was appointed Deputy clerk of the District court in 1907, and is recognized as a vocalist of ability. He was married on November 10th, 1909, to Miss Lois Silcott of Fort Collins.
JACOB ARMSTRONG died on the 8th of June, 1889, at his residence in Fort Collins, aged 73 years. He was a native of the state of New York, and early in life learned the watchmaking trade which he followed until he came to Fort Collins in 1874. The first few years of his residence in Larimer county were devoted to sheep husbandry and wool growing, but becoming dissatisfied with a ranchman's lonely life he disposed of his flocks and ranch to his son and moved into Fort Collins and owned and occupied the Dr. Quick house, corner of College avenue and Magnolia streets, until he died. He was possessed of a snug fortune at his death which he settled upon his only child, Jacob Armstrong, Jr., just before death.
JOHN H. CAMERON JR. was born in New York City, July 28th, 1870. He came to Fort Collins in 1882 and lived for some years on a farm. On January first, 1893, he was married to Nora A. Neece. Mr. Cameron has been for sixteen years an active member of the Fort Collins fire department and has acted for several years as assistant water superintendent for that city.
REV. E. J. LAMB .- Our subject spent 40 years of his life carrying the message of the Master to the pioneers of Northern Colorado, much of the time doing missionary work organizing and estab- lishing churches and Sunday schools in the valleys of the South Platte, the Cache la Poudre and the Big and Little Thompson. He was a typical fron- tier missionary, with a powerful frame, a kindly heart filled with zeal for the Master's cause and with a strong though appealing and sympathetic voice, he drew many a sin-sickened soul to the foot of the Cross. He was assigned to the missionary
field of Northern Colorado in 1871, by the Mis- sionary Board of the United Brethren church and was the second missionary sent by his church to the territory. He traveled long distances on horse- back going from place to place in a thinly settled district, enduring hardships and privations that would have driven a less resolute man from the field. Mr. Lamb was born January 1st, 1832, in
REV. E. J. LAMB
Wayne county, Indiana, and obtained his educa- tion in the common schools of St. Joseph county, Indiana. In September, 1868, he married Mrs. Jane Morger, a widow with three sons, her maiden name being Jane Spencer. He was twice married, his first wife, at her death, leaving him with five children, Charles, Lawrence J., Carlyle, Jerry and Lillian. One daughter, Jennie, was born to him by his second marriage. The sons of his second wife when he married her, were Romantes, James and Frank Morger, one of whom, James, is a resi- dent of Fort Collins. Mr. Lamb followed farm- ing in Iowa and Nebraska for many years, and upon receiving a call to preach the gospel he was ordained an Elder of the U. B. church in 1871 and sent as a missionary to Colorado. He came to
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Denver first in 1860 with the gold rush, return- ing shortly afterwards to Iowa. On coming to Colorado as a missionary he located at Burling- ton, now Longmont, moving later to Fort Collins and still later to Estes Park where he ministered to the people for ten years. Rev. Lamb, though 79 years of age, is still a vigorous man in the en- joyment of fairly good health.
ALFRED F. HOWES .- When former State Sena- tor Alfred F. Howes died on January 16th, 1896, Larimer county suffered the loss of one of its in- trepid pioneers, a brave soul who helped to pave the way in the valley of the Cache la Poudre for civilization's resistless tread. For more than 35 years Judge Howes had been a familiar figure in the community, one who, in the early history of Larimer county, took a leading part in all public enterprises, in politics and in social matters. All classes of citizens had confidence in him and went to him for counsel and advice in times of trouble and distress, and never came away without being comforted and assisted. Alfred F. Howes was born November 25th, 1817, in Putnam county, New York. His boyhood days were spent on a farm and his education was obtained in the country schools of the period and at select schools in Lima, Geneva and Canandaigua, all in his native state. He be- gan early to take a deep interest in public affairs, and after leaving school he served one term of two years as deputy county clerk of Ontario county, New York, gaining thereby a knowledge of the methods of transacting public business which in after years served him and the home of his adoption a good purpose. At the age of 22 he left the par- ental roof and boldly struck out for what was then considered the far west, finally locating at Law- renceburg, Indiana, where fifteen years of his life were spent in active business pursuits. Here, on July 5th, 1843, he was united in marriage with Mary Lane Buell, who died at St. Peters, Minne- sota, in 1858, leaving two sons, Robert and Henry S. and a daughter. The daughter died at the age of 13 years, but the sons are still living, one of them, Robert, being a resident of Fort Collins. In 1854, Mr. Howes moved his family from Indiana to St. Paul, Minnesota, thence in 1857, to St. Peters in that state, of which town he was one of the founders. While living at St. Peters he served one term as supervisor of Nicollet county. Soon after the death of his wife in 1858, the children were sent to friends in the east, and the following year, Mr. Howes crossed the Plains to Denver, and in 1860,
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