USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 53
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ISAAC ADAIR was born May 2, 1835, in Ohio, died October 19th, 1907, in Fort Collins, Colo- rado. His first occupation after attaining his ma- jority was that of boatman on a canal. He then came to Denver as a teamster for Majors & Rus- sell, the overland freighters and stage proprietors. For many years after that he was engaged in freight- ing with mule teams from the Missouri river to as far west as Salt Lake and Oregon. While the Union Pacific railroad was being built he was en- gaged as a contractor, furnishing ties and timber for the company. In January, 1870, he was married to V. Anna Shores at Cheyenne, and shortly after- wards came to Pleasant valley, Larimer county, where he lived until 1875, when they located on Upper Boxelder and engaged in ranching, dairy- ing and stockgrowing. Here the family lived until 1904, when old age and declining health admon- ished them to sell their mountain holdings and move to Fort Collins, where he died as stated. His wife survived him but a short time. They left one daughter, Mrs. Dora Hazard of Central City, Colorado.
PROF. S. ARTHUR JOHNSON, born December 13th, 1866, at Morristown, N. J .; boyhood spent on a farm; graduated from Morristown High school, 1887; graduated from Rutger's college with degree of B. S. in Civil engineering, in 1891; engaged in private and public school work in Illi- nois from 1892 to 1895; received degree of M. S. from Rutger's in 1895; came to Denver that year; married May A. Bice, January 15th, 1896; taught science and mathematics in West Denver High school from 1896 to 1902; appointed assistant in
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Jno for Ryan
HISTORY OF
LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
Zoology and Entomology at Colorado Agricultural college in 1902; made associate professor of Zoology and Entomology in 1906, which position he still holds. Prof. and Mrs. Johnson have three child- ren, Alice M., born February 27th, 1897; Miriam A., born April 11th, 1901; Frederick B., born July 2nd, 1905. Prof. Johnson is a scholarly gentleman and is recognized as one of the strongest members, intellectually, of the college faculty, and his services in Farmers' institute work are in demand in all of the agricultural and horticultural sections of Colorado.
SHERMAN W. SMITH was born Aug. 30th, 1837, at Newport, New York. He came to the Big Thompson valley in 1863, and was one of the pioneers of the county. He was married Jan. 20th, 1875, to Miss Anna Sciddle. He died May 8th, 1888, leaving a wife, two children, two brothers, Charles C. Smith of Loveland, James M. Smith of Salida, and a sister, Mrs. G. F. Swartz of Freeport, Illinois. Mr. Smith was much esteemed by his neighbors and friends for his many excellent quali- ties of heart and mind.
JOHN J. RYAN .- In the death of John J. Ryan, which occurred at the family residence in Fort Col- lins on Friday, May 26, 1899, Larimer county lost one of its foremost pioneer citizens, a man who had spent nearly forty of the best years of his life in developing agriculture, the principal industry of the county, and in advancing the social, educational and material interests of its people. No history of the county would be complete without a refer- ence to his achievements along these lines, for much of the county's progress and advancement in those things which make life desirable in any locality is due to his influence and example and to his intelli- gent, untiring and well directed efforts in promot- ing the growth and welfare of his chosen home. But, one by one the pioneers of Colorado, the wil- derness subduers and commonwealth builders of our cherished Centennial state who forced their way across the trackless Plains against disease, lurking dangers and hostile savages, are dropping out of the ranks and leaving vacancies that never can be filled. Year by year the column grows smaller, the ranks thinner, and the circle narrower, and soon, all too soon, they will live only in the memories of grateful survivors and upon the pages of history, whose records will ever bear loving wit- ness of their courage, perseverance and self-denial ; of their hardships and privations. John Joseph Ryan was born May 14th, 1837, in Roscrea, County
Tipperary, Ireland. He was the son of John and Ann (Meacher) Ryan, natives of the same county. In the early 40's, the subject of this sketch came to the United States with his parents who set- tled near St. Louis, Missouri. He attended the public schools of St. Louis and obtained the rudi- ments of a thoroughly practical education, after- wards taking a course in the first commercial col- lege established in that city. When 18 years of age he went to Davenport, Iowa, to take the posi- tion of bookkeeper for a large lumber firm doing business in that city. On the 20th of October, 1859, he was united in marriage with Miss Pelagia J. Leonard, daughter of Harvey Leonard who was a pioneer of Scott county, Iowa and for twenty years its honored sheriff. Shortly after his mar- riage, Mr. Ryan started for Colorado, with five adventure-loving companions. He went to what is now Kansas City and, outfitted with ox train and a year's supplies, crossed the Plains via the old Santa Fe trail to the Arkansas river, thence up that stream to Pueblo and from there to Denver, where he arrived in April, 1860. From there he went to Central City and, buying a gulch claim, engaged in mining. He was unfortunate in his mining ventures and leaving the mountains, came down to the Big Thompson valley, where he hoped he might earn money enough to enable him to return to civilization. In June, 1860, he and a Mr. Spencer bought a claim of William C. Stover, sit- uated a short distance south of the present city of Loveland and which is still a part of the Ryan estate. Mr. Spencer returned to Iowa later that season, but Mr. Ryan concluded to remain. With the help of a German, he put up more than 50 tons of hay, which he hauled with ox teams to Golden and sold. He had purchased from a Mr. Tucker of Golden, two ox teams and a wagon, agreeing to pay for them when he sold his hay. He kept his engagement promptly and also had money enough left to buy a year's supply of provisions. In the spring of 1861, he sold the remainder of his hay in the stack at $30 per ton and from that time on to the day of his death, he never knew the want of a dollar. In the fall of 1862 he took a load of' vegetables, raised on his farm, to Fort Halleck, which was then being built by the government, and sold them to the troops stationed there. Teams and teamsters being scarce in those days, he was employed to haul logs for and help in the construc- tion of the fort buildings. Here he again met William C. Stover, who was returning from the Sweetwater county and who came down from Fort
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HISTORY OF
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Halleck to Big Thompson with Mr. Ryan. In 1863, he with other settlers built the Big Thomp- son Irrigation and Manufacturing company's ditch, one of the first irrigating ditches constructed in the Big Thompson valley. Mr. Ryan was one of the incorporators and directors of the company. His associates in this enterprise were W. H. Bacon, W. B. Osborn, Joseph Markley, Geo. P. Luce, Thomas Cross, H. B. Chubbuck, James M. Smith Jr., J. D. Bartholf, J. M. Lopen and John E. Washburn. Mr. Ryan kept the Overland stage station at Namaqua for nearly a year. In the fall of 1863 he returned to Iowa with a spring wagon, with which he brought his family to Colorado in the spring of 1864. The family lived in a small log home for several years, Mr. Ryan in the mean- time carrying on his farm operations with un- varying success. Later he engaged in the stock business in connection with farming, which also proved profitable. Indeed all of his undertakings turned out well and he became prosperous and wealthy. His accretions of capital were slow at first but steadily and regular, increasing in volume later on as his interests and investments became more extended and diversified. He gave liberally of his means to all worthy objects and was generous in his charities. During the early days, prior to the organization of the county for judicial purposes, justice was administered by a Claim club of which Mr. Ryan was secretary, Robert Hereford, presi- dent and Jesse M. Sherwood, judge. A short but stringent code of laws was adopted by the club according to which justice was meted out to those who violated its provisions, either in the Caché la Poudre or Big Thompson valleys. Those who lived under and were governed by this code declare that never was more exact justice administered than by this crude organization of pioneer settlers. The association commanded the respect of all and even those who were unruly elsewhere, here tried to keep within the bounds of the Claim club's code. Swift punishment followed a conviction of guilt, but it can be said to the honor of the club and to the credit of the two communities that not once during the period of its usefulness was it found necessary to sentence a man to be hung. Fines and banishment from the country were the usual sen- tences of the club.
MR. RYAN'S OFFICIAL CAREER.
In the early days of settlement of Larimer county, men of education, of business ability and in- tegrity were much sought after to fill the various
places of public trust and responsibility and it is not strange, therefore, that Mr. Ryan was often called upon to serve the people in public positions. In 1861, after the organization of Colorado as a Territory and the creation of Larimer county, he was appointed a member of the first board of county commissioners by Governor Gilpin. His colleagues appointed at the same time were A. F. Howes and F. W. Sherwood. Owing to a dis- agreement over the question of locating the county seat and the voting of bonds for county buildings, the board failed to perfect an organization, and Governor Evans, who succeeded Governor Gil- pin in 1862, appointed Joseph Mason, James B. Arthur and William B. Osborn, their successors. In the early days, Mr. Ryan was the democratic candidate for member of the Territorial legislature, but his party being largely in the minority, he failed of an election. He was also the candidate of his party in 1877 for county commissioner against Lewis Cross, who was elected. He was for years a member of the Big Thompson school board and assisted in building the first school house erected in the county. Later he served as mayor of Love- land. In 1877, Governor Routt appointed him a member of the state board of agriculture, an ap- pointment that was afterwards renewed by Gov. ernors Pitkin, Cooper and Adams, serving con- tinuously on that board for twenty-two years. His services in that connection for the entire period was marked at all times by zealous and efficient en- deavors to promote and further the interests of the Agricultural college and the course of popu- lar education generally. He was president of the board from 1895 to 1897, and was by many years the senior member in continuous service. He was also for many years an active and loyal mem- ber of the democratic state central committee, and served as delegate from Larimer county in every state convention of his party since the state was admitted into the Union, save one. In 1892, he was sent as an alternate delegate from Colorado to the National democratic convention held in Chicago, and was a member of the association of Colorado pioneers. He had been a stockholder, director and vice-president of the Bank of Love- land ever since the founding of that institution in 1882. His official career in all the positions of trust and responsibility held by him, was marked by the same careful attention to details, the same conscientious fidelity to the principles of right and justice, and the same regard for the interests of the people which characterized the man in the con-
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HISTORY OF
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duct of his own private affairs. Mr. Ryan's family consisted at the time of death of a wife and five children, four sons and a daughter, namely John H. of Salt Lake; George L. of Loveland; Mrs. Harriet Galligan, wife of Colorado's popular and efficient ex-state treasurer; Charles and William L. Ryan, the wife and two younger sons being then residents of Fort Collins. Mr. Ryan's body was entombed in Lakeside cemetery at Loveland, and the bearers of the casket were James B. Arthur, former mayor of Fort Collins, Abner Loomis, presi- dent of the Poudre Valley Bank, J. W. Nor- well, deputy district attorney, Aaron S. Benson, president of the Bank of Loveland, John Hahn, member of the board of county commissioners, and Frank G. Bartholf, a former county commis- sioner.
MRS. DAVID JAMES .- Carrie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shallenberger, was born in West- ern Pennsylvania and her parents came to Larimer county in 1877. In 1884 she and Davis James were married and four children were born to them: Mrs. Elmer Wright, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Corinne, Lloyd and Carolyn of Loveland. Mr. James was appointed postmaster of Loveland by President Mckinley and reappointed by President Roosevelt. He died November 19, 1906, and Mrs. James continued the office. She was later ap- pointed postmaster by Roosevelt for four years, her time expiring in January, 1911. She is highly es- teemed by all, and in the performance of her offi- cial duties she has demonstrated good business ability, evidence that a woman can perform other duties than those of the household, and that the political enfranchisement of her sex in Colorado was an act of statesmanship and justice. Since the foregoing was written Mrs. James has been reap- pointed postmistress for another term of four years by President Taft.
VICTOR G. H. STUART was born at Rumford, Essex, England, and educated at Clifton college, Bristol, England. He came to Larimer county March 17th, 1891, and bought the Wallis Link stock ranch on the Laramie river and followed the cattle business until 1908, when he sold ranch and stock and since 1910 has been a resident of Fort Collins. Mr. Stuart married Corwin H. Chase on December 4th, 1901, and she has borne him a son, V. G. Hamilton Stuart.
JOHN S. CUTHBERTSON was born at Lauder, Scotland, on the 13th day of January, 1843, at which place he received his education. In the year
1874 he came to Fort Collins and engaged in farm- ing. On May 8th, 1883, he married Mary Tay- lor and their union was blessed by the birth of three children, Bella and Helen, both of whom are still residents of Larimer county, and a son, William T. This young man was graduated at the State Agricultural college where he took his degree as Doctor of Veterinary Surgery and had commenced
JOHN S. CUTHBERTSON
his practice when, on the 13th of January, 1911, he was prematurely called to leave the labors of this world. He was a young man of great promise and already gave reason to believe that he would be- come a useful citizen as well as the support of his parents in their declining years. Mr. Cuthbert- son continued to follow the occupation of farming until 1905, when the infirmities of age emphasized by growing weakness of vision made it necessary for him to retire from active labor. Upon leaving- the farm he removed with his family to Fort Col- lins where he still resides. He has always been recognized as a devout believer in the comforting assurances of the Christian religion, a loved and devoted father and a highly respected citizen. Accustomed in his native country to the handling
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HISTORY OF
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of sheep, Mr. Cuthbertson was very successful in the business of feeding lambs for the market in this county, and his habits of frugality and careful husbandry were a rebuke to the wasteful methods of many of the farmers of his vicinity.
DRURY G. KEIRSEY .- One of Ben Franklin's wise sayings was "He that by the plow would thrive, himself must either hold or drive". That
DRURY G. KEIRSEY
is true of the farmer and it is equally true of the business man or professional man. To succeed in any legitimate undertaking a person must keep in touch with every detail, know what to do and how and when to do it and be competent to direct and control every feature and branch of his business. If he is a merchant, he must know what to buy that will please his patrons, and when and how to buy it and must also know how to offer and direct the sale of his wares, so that he may profit thereby. Our subject, one of the leading and most successful and prosperous merchants in Fort Col- lins, possesses all the requirements mentioned which accounts for his success. He is constantly "on the job", as the saying is, and nothing connected with his large establishment escapes his attention. Mr.
Keirsey was born in 1864, at Humansville, Missouri, and obtained his education in his native town. In 1890, he was united in marriage with Carrie Barnett and they have had four children, Lois, Faye, Harold and Mildred, all at home. He came with his family from Missouri to Canon City, Colorado, in 1893, and to Fort Collins in August, 1899, to take over the management of the Golden Rule store, then owned by a syndicate, later becom- ing sole proprietor and which he still carries on and conducts. He possesses all the requirements of a No. 1 business man and as such he has been able to build up and maintain one of the largest and best mercantile establishments in Northern Colorado, employing a large number of ladies and gentlemen as clerks and salesmen, and command- ing a trade that runs into the hundreds of thou- sands of dollars annually. Mr. and Mrs. Keirsey are prominent members of the Baptist church, and Mrs. Keirsey is a leader in church and social cir- cles. They have a beautiful home on East Oak street and are never happier than when entertain- ing friends and contributing to their pleasure.
WILLIAM NAYLOR was born September 28th, 1844, in Shelby county, Missouri. Married Ellen Oakes, also of Shelby county, February 20th, 1868; came to the Big Thompson valley in October, 1877, locating on a farm two and one-half miles north- west of Loveland where he lived 27 years and then moved to Loveland and retired from active labor; took part in building extensions to Louden ditch and was director of the company for 20 years ; succeeded in running water through the ditch in 1880; has seven children whose names and places of residences are: Mrs. W. H. Trindle, Anaheim, California; E. W. Naylor, Mrs. J. M. Clyde, James F. Nay- lor, Carl C. Naylor, Cora M. Naylor, all of Love- land, and Mrs. F. L. Thomas of Outlook, Wash- ington. His present residence is at the corner of Cleveland and 7th streets, Loveland. Mr. Nay- lor has seen the Big Thompson valley grow from a sparcely settled district to a populous and prosperous community, and Loveland from a way station on the Colorado Central railroad to a city of 5,000 in- habitants, and has done his share towards bringing these changes about.
JAMES H. McCLUNG was born May 24th, 1864, in Illinois; educated in the public schools of Ohio and Loveland, Colorado; came to Colorado in 1879, and settled in Loveland; employed six years in the flour mill of his uncle A. A. Leonard; married Martha A. Trusler in 1892, at Berthoud,
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MRS. JACOB WELCH
JACOB WELCH
HISTORY OF
LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
and they have two children, a daughter, Anna G. and a son Lee O. McClung; lived on and con- ducted a farm six years after his marriage. The family now resides on East Mountain avenue, Ber- thoud, where Mr. McClung is engaged in the butcher and meat market business. He has been a resident of the Centennial state for thirty-two years and is firmly convinced that there is no better county in the world than Larimer county.
JACOB WELCH-Born, Oct. 12th, 1819, near Uniontown, Pennsylvania; died, Sept. 18th, 1907, in Fort Collins, Colorado, aged nearly 88 years. In the death of Mr. Welch another link in the chain that bound the present with the past has been broken, and the community has suffered the loss of one who had been a prominent factor for more than a third of a century in the business and social life of Larimer county, a man of action, energy and enter- prise, who had done much for the upbuilding of Fort Collins and the advancement of its material prosperity. In his youth Mr. Welch attended the public schools of his native state, and at an early age entered upon an active business life, first learn- ing the potter's trade, then drifting into the mer- cantile business, which he followed for thirty-five years. In 1840 he migrated from his birthplace to Akron, Ohio, where he lived for thitry years, com- ing to Colorado in 1870 to join the Greeley colony. Three years later he moved to Fort Collins, then a frontier hamlet, which had since been his home. Here he established himself in the mercantile busi- ness at the corner of College and Mountain avenues, where the Welch block now stands, opening his store in a tent pending the erection of a suitable building. He continued in this line of business until 1879, when he sold his stock of goods to his son, L. W. Welch, and retired to look after his real estate interests, which occupied his time and attention until the beginning of his last sickness. Many monu- ments in the way of buildings erected by him in his chosen home attest his enterprise and activity as a citizen. In addition to the store building erected in 1873, which was destroyed by fire in February, 1880, and immediately rebuilt, he had built several others, including two handsome stone residences on Olive street, in one of which he lived until death called him; also the block of stores on West Moun- tain avenue, now owned by his son, L. W. Welch, besides several other structures of less importance. In the spring of 1881 he was elected mayor of Fort Collins and served one full term of two years, dur- ing which the Greeley, Salt Lake & Pacific railroad
was built through the city and while the town was taking on a rapid growth and extending its borders in every direction. On Jan. 17th, 1839, at Moga- dore, Ohio, Mr. Welch inter-married with Miss Anna Achison, who passed on to the Great Beyond to join the husband of her youth in 1910. The mar- riage proved a happy one, the bride and groom be- ing privileged to spend sixty-eight years of their lives together in the enjoyment of an uninterrupted married existence, a privilege accorded to but very few, indeed. Five children were born of the union, Mrs. Emma Schneider, Mrs. Martha Atwood and Corwin, Albert L. and L. Wilbur Welch, the three sons being residents of Fort Collins.
JOHN NELSON, JR., was born March 25th, 1870, in Scotland, coming to the United States with his parents while still a small boy, and to Fort Collins in 1873; received his education in the public schools and at the Colorado Agricultural college; married Laura Catlett in 1895, who died and on October 7th, 1900, married Lydia Pohlman for his second wife; has no children. Mr. Nelson is a car- penter by trade, but spends about eight months of the year superintending the running of water through Larimer county No. 2 canal. On arriving from Scotland in 1871, the Nelson family stopped two years in Chicago and were in that city during the big fire in October, 1871. Mr. Nelson's present home is at 517 East Laurel street, Fort Collins, Colorado.
CHARLES S. COOKSIE was born on December 22, 1858, in Clayton county, Iowa. He came to Colorado and to Fort Collins in June, 1885. In January, 1890, he was married to Ella Pulliam of Fort Collins. They have a family of four child- ren. Mr. Cooksie has been engaged in farming and in the mercantile business. He bears a fine repu- tation for integrity and clean citizenship.
RALPH LEROY PARSHALL was born in Golden, Colorado, July 2, 1881. His boyhood days were spent in the mountains at Creswell, where he at- tended district school. In September, 1899, he en- tered the Colorado Agricultural college. In 1904 he was graduated from the civil engineering course, since which time he has been a teacher in that de- partment. He took a post graduate course of five months at the University of Chicago and the sum- mer of 1904 he was assistant in the State Engineer's office at Denver. Since Mr. Parshall came to Fort Collins in 1899, he has made Larimer county his home. On June 12, 1906, he and Florence May
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HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
Stuver were united in marriage, one child, a son, Maxwell, being the fruit of the union. Mr. Par- shall is an honored and esteemed member of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering education.
LEVI TOMBAUGH had been before his death in March, 1911, as the result of a runaway accident, one of the enterprising and successful farmers and market gardeners of Larimer county. He was a
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LEVI TOMBAUGH
loyal citizen of the Centennial state, a man without guile, a great lover of children, though he never had any of his own, a devoted husband and foster father, a genial, warm-hearted friend and an accommodat- ing and obliging neighbor. Mr. Tombaugh was born Aug. 22nd, 1849, in Miami county, Indiana. He spent his boyhood days on his uncle's farm, at- tending the district school as opportunity offered and when his services were not needed on the farm. When 21 years of age he started westward, stopping a few years in Missouri, going thence to Texas and then back again to Missouri. The western fever still raged in his veins and in 1878 he came to Fort Collins to seek his fortune. The Larimer and Weld canal was then being built by Benjamin H. Eaton,
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