USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 56
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valley were all under water and the stream itself was a raging torrent, he built and operated a ferry until the flood subsided, doing a thriving business transferring emigrants and travelers from one side of the river to the other. Overland travel was heavy that year and he made a lot of money with his ferry. For more than twenty-five years Mr. Provost kept the only hotel and road house in La-
JOHN BAPTISTE PROVOST
porte and during that time entertained many of the noted men of the state and nation, and he be- came known almost from coast to coast as the genial "Uncle John" at the base of the mountains. He had scores of friends all over the country. He was genial of manner, kind of heart and charitable to a degree. He was one of the landmarks of the county and people of all classes mourned his death.
W. E. VAPLON .- The Colorado Agricultural col- lege has been very fortunate in secuirng the services of so competent a man as Mr. Vaplon to have charge of its poultry department. He is experienced in that line of work, eminently practical and a val- uable addition to the institution's corps of instruc- . tors employed in the many branches of farm work which are of such interest to the agriculturists of the
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HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
state. Mr. Vaplon comes from Menomonie, Wis- consin, where he was born Aug. 2nd, 1869. He was educated at the same place, grew to manhood there and was married to Miss Edith Staples Dec. 1st, 1894. They have two children, Lawrence and Esther.
FRANK P. STOVER .- This gentleman, one of the foremost citizens and business men of Larimer county, was born Dec. 11, 1852, in St. Joseph
FRANK P. STOVER
county, Indiana; raised on a farm near South Bend, that state. He attended the South Bend High school five years, taking a course in civil engineer- ing in the meantime. In 1871 he engaged in the hardware business, which he followed until 1874, when he came to Fort Collins and purchased W. C. Stover's interest in Hocker & Co.'s City Drug Store, later becoming sole owner. Since then the City Drug store, with Frank P. Stover constantly at its head, has been one of the principal land marks of the city. In the fall of 1889 Mr. Stover was elected county treasurer on the Democratic ticket by 206 majority over his opponent, C. L. Smith, Republican, in a strong republican county. He was re-elected in 1891 and served the county in
that capacity with great faithfulness, fidelity and efficiency four years. He was town recorder and town trustee in 1882-3, when first water works were constructed. He has always been a very popular gentleman and a thorough-going business man. He is married, has a beautiful home in Fort Collins, and his domestic life is ideal.
ALBERT E. BUTLER is a ranchman residing in Livermore, Colorado. He came to Colorado in the spring of 1885 and settled first in North Park. He was born at Springdale in the state of Maine, October 5th, 1865, and received his education at Meridan, Massachusetts. In November, 1902, he was married to Mrs. Eva Mosman. Mr. Butler's attention since arriving in the state has been largely given to the raising of cattle, at which business he has been very successful. He enjoys the respect of his fellow citizens, is known as fair and honorable in his dealings and worthy of confidence.
WESLEY W. LOWERY died December 9th, 1901, aged 52 years. He was born in January, 1849, near Canton, Ohio. When eight years of age his father moved his family to Indiana, where the sub- ject of this sketch grew to manhood's estate. In 1864, when fifteen years of age, Mr. Lowery en- listed in the 44th Indiana volunteer infantry and was assigned to Gen. George H. Thomas' corps. The service was too severe for one of his years and he became broken in health and was obliged to spend several months in the hospital. After his discharge from the army he went with his father's family to Illinois, where he lived until admon- ished by broken health to seek a milder climate. On April 2nd, 1874, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Coon, who, with six children, two sons and four daughters, survive him. The son's names are Irvin I .; of Springfield, Missouri, and Ambrose, whose home is in Salt Lake, Utah. Two of the daughters, Mrs. Carrie E. Keach and Miss Ophie, have died since their father departed this life. The other daughters, are Mary M. (now Mrs. Wilkins O. Peterson, a resident of Pueblo) and Miss Ruth, who is still with her mother. Mr. Lowery came to Fort Collins in 1882, and for three years followed the occupation of plasterer. In 1885 he purchased a stock ranch near St. Cloud in the mountains, and engaged in stock raising, in which he was very successful, leaving his family in comfortable circumstances. In the summer of 1901 he returned to Fort Collins with his wife and younger daughters, leaving his stock ranch and herds of cattle to the care of his sons. Mr. Lowery
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COUNTY, COLORADO
was an honorable, upright man and citizen, and possessed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him.
ARCHIBALD R. MILNE .- Born in 1824, in Lon- don, England; died October 28, 1907, in Denver, Colorado. He came with his father's family to the United States in 1834, and settled near Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1853 he went to the gold fields of Australia and worked at mining in that country for seventeen years. He returned to the United States in 1870 and came to Colorado in 1871. In 1874 he filed on an eighty acre home- stead in the beautiful valley of the North fork of the Cache la Poudre river, on which he lived a third of a century. He sold his ranch in 1901 to the North Poudre Irrigation company for reser- voir purposes, but continued to occupy his old home until about the first of October, 1907, when he went to Denver to receive medical treatment at a sanitarium where he died shortly afterward. Mr. Milne was unmarried.
"RANGER" JONES .- Michael Jones, better known among the pioneers of Larimer county as "Ranger" Jones, died July 12th, 1889, at his home near Vin- ing, Kansas. He was the father of Mrs. Thomas Earnest, whose husband was also a Caché la Poudre pioneer, and for many years occupied an extensive ranch on the north side of the river about a mile west of Timnath. The farm was later owned by the late G. R. "Bob" Strauss and is now the prop- erty of his brother, Herman Strauss. Michael Jones was born in October, 1816, in Kentucky. In 1860 he came to the Cache la Poudre valley and began dealing heavily in cattle, horses and mules, amassing a large fortune, amounting at one time to $400,000. Along in the 70's Mr. Jones moved to Kansas where he purchased 800 acres of land in one body and built himself a home on it. Here he lived until he died in 1889, though making fre- quent trips to his former Colorado home to visit with his daughter, Mrs. Earnest, and other old time pioneer friends. He was an energetic and very in- dustrious man and was known all over the country on account of his genial good nature. He could take a joke as well as give one, and was given the name of "Ranger" Jones, a name that stuck to him as long as he lived.
HON. WILLIAM H. TRINDLE was born in Van Meter, Iowa, on May 1st, 1879. He attended the Western college of Toledo, Ohio, taking a full col- legiate course, then attended the law school of
Drake university, Des Moines, Iowa. He came to Loveland in the winter of 1902, looking for a site to locate, and in April, 1903, he returned, satisfied with the location, determined to make that city his future home. How well he decided was borne out by the republicans of Larimer county electing him in 1908 to represent them in the Seventeenth Gen- eral assembly of the state. Mr. Trindle is an able
HON. WILLIAM H. TRINDLE
student of the law and he possesses a magnetism of manner that has made him hundreds of friends in his native city, his county, and his state. He is junior member of the Simpson & Trindle law firm.
JAMES M. SMITH .- Born, Dec. 26th, 1838, at Newport, New York; died, Feb. 13th, 1906, at Santa Maria, California. Mr. Smith was one of the early settlers and pioneers of the Big Thompson valley, coming there in 1861. He followed farm- ing and stock raising for several years and, in 1869, engaged in the mercantile business at Old St. Louis, one mile east of the present city of Loveland. He disposed of his store and stock of goods in 1877, and in 1878 went to Leadville; here, and in other parts of the state, he lived until 1904, when, broken in health, he went to California. He is kindly re-
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membered by all of the old-timers of the county as "Jolly J. M." He left a wife, one son, a daughter and a brother, Charles C. Smith of Loveland.
JOHN C. BEERS was born a subject of Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria-Hungary, near Vienna. Hearing of the opportunities offered to young men in America, he left his native country and in 1874 he landed in the country which has con-
JOHN C. BEERS
tinued to be his home. On March 22nd, 1879, he came to Fort Collins and for fourteen years fol- lowed the blacksmith trade. He then disposed of his shop and took up the business of farming which he followed with marked success for a period of 15 years. On the 29th of December, 1880, he was married to Addie Jones of Fort Collins, and there are living as the fruits of this union three children, Edith, George and Leroy. While engaged in farm- ing Mr. Beers for several years was extensively interested in sheep feeding which proved fairly profitable. After 15 years of agricultural labor and having become possessed of several well-im- proved farms, he sold out all of his landed property and moved with his family again to Fort Collins with the intention of retiring from active labor. But
labor had become a necessity to enjoyment of life and he again opened his shop and re-engaged in the business of blacksmithing. Larimer county has had no citizen who sustained a higher character for industry and integrity than does Mr. Beers. No security is better than his word and none of his fellow citizens is more highly respected. Like all men of his nationality he is a friend and ardent supporter of the public school system and a devoted churchman.
A. P. GARRISON, one of the leading contractors and builders of Fort Collins, was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1864. He was graduated from Eureka college, Eureka, Illinois, in 1886, and followed teaching for about ten years after graduating ; mar- ried Mattie N. Stubbs, in 1890. They have no children. The family came to Colorado in 1901, locating at Greeley, moving two years later to Fort Collins which is still its home. Mr. Garrison has had but few idle hours since coming to Fort Col- lins and is regarded as a good mechanic and a man of his. word.
AUGUST JOHNSON, is a native of Smoland, Sweden, born October 25th, 1860, the year the first settlers began to locate in Larimer county, and at- tended the public schools of Sweden. He crossed the Atlantic and came to Loveland in 1888, remain- ing there two months and moved on to a farm at Sunnyside. On February 9th, 1889, he married Anna T. Peterson at Berthoud. Two children have been born to them, Carl Erick and Anna Elvira. In 1906 the family moved to Berthoud and are now residing on East Mountain avenue of that place. Mr. Johnson's occupation has been and is now that of a farmer in which success has resulted from his well-directed efforts. He rejoices in the fact that he came to America and located in the Garden spot of Colorado, where he has been able to accumulate a comfortable fortune.
JOHN E. POPE, editor and proprietor of the Wel- lington Sun, was born August 15th, 1868, at Sigourney, Iowa, where he received his education. Learned the printer's trade in the Keokuk County News office; married Clara Vannander, April 6th, 1892, and was editor and publisher of the Fonda (Iowa) Review from 1897 to 1900. Came to Colo- rado in the summer of 1900, locating first in Denver and remaining in that city about a year. He then went to Elbert, Colorado, and took charge of the Elbert County Tribune, which he conducted until 1908 when he sold the plant and moved to Welling-
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Mary R. Houve 5
Jesse Harris.
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
ton and bought the Sun, of which he is now editor and publisher. Mr. Pope came from a newspaper family, his father, A. J. Pope, being a newspaper man and contributor to the columns of several Miss- issippi valley papers. Mrs. Pope, wife of the sub- ject of this sketch, died January 4th, 1911, in Fort Collins, but left no children.
JESSE HARRIS .- To have for the subject of a biographical sketch a man whose life has been de- voted to doing something for the improvement of material things, for the development of the resources and advantages of his chosen home and for the social, educational and moral advancement of his fellowmen, affords the conscientious biographer the keenest of pleasure, for he feels that in telling the life story of such a one, he is placing before the world an example for others to emulate. Such a man is Jesse Harris of Fort Collins. Mr. Harris was born November 15th, 1849, in Clermont county, Ohio. His parents moved to Iowa when he was a child and he received his education in the public schools and at the University of Iowa at Iowa City which he attended. His boyhood was spent on a farm where he acquired an intimate knowledge of the habits and characteristics of the different breeds of domestic animals with special reference to the horse. He loved a horse and early in life was ac- counted one of the best judges of horses in Iowa, a reputation he holds to this day in his Western home. On March 12th, 1872, our subject was joined in marriage with Mary A. Miles, at Rock Island, Illi- nois, where she was engaged in teaching penmanship in the High school. Mr. and Mrs. Harris are the proud parents of six living children; Mrs. Ellen Brooks, of Denver; Capt. Archibald J. Harris, of the 2nd regiment United States infantry, stationed at Honolulu, Hawaiian islands; Mrs. Grace M. Keller, of Salem, Oregon; Mrs. Abbie D. Coy and Miss Mary R. and Lucien M. Harris of Fort Col- lins. Mr. Harris came from Iowa with his family to Larimer county in 1878 arriving in Fort Collins on November 8th. He taught school the following winter in the Little Thompson valley, and in 1880 moved his family to Fort Collins where he has since resided. Here he engaged in dealing in real estate and the buying and selling of horses and cattle. In 1885 he began importing registered draft, coach and English Hackney horses in which he continued until 1893, making nine round trips to Europe and receiving ten shipments of Clydes- dale, English Shire, Percheron and Cleveland Boy horses which he sold to horse breeders in the various
states between New York and California, inclusive. He brought over from Europe some of the finest and most valuable specimens of horse flesh ever im- ported, gaining a national reputation as a judge and importer of horses. He did more to improve the character and increase the value of the horse stock of Colorado and the western states than any other man. On May 31st, 1899, Mr. Harris was chosen a member of the State Board of Agriculture, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John J. Ryan. He was made chairman of the farm committee and at once went to work with his characteristic vigor to improve conditions on the farm and make it what it was designed to be, a model of its kind. He was also instrumental in getting the board to purchase a large tract of pasture land near the foot- hills on which was a living spring of water slightly tinctured with sulphur. This water he had piped to the college where a stone fountain was erected from which constantly flows a steady stream of potable, health giving water for the use of the col- lege. On the side of the fountain the name "Har- ris" is chiseled in the rock in recognition of Mr. Harris' services in supplying the college with a prime necessity. He served six years on the board and through his activity and influence, many changes for the better were made on the farm and in the erection of new buildings. Since retiring from the board he has given much of his attention to deal- ing in real estate and the buying and selling of live stock. On the 4th of April (1911) he was elected mayor of Fort Collins by the largest majority ever cast for any candidate for that office in the history of the city. In 1909, acting as agent, he purchased more than $400,000 worth of real estate in Fort Collins and vicinity for right of way and terminals for the Union Pacific railroad, which is building into the city from Denver. Mr. Harris has recently been appointed a member of the Board of Peni- tentiary and Reformatory Commissioners for Colo- rado, one of the most important appointments made by Governor Shafroth. He has been live stock agent in Colorado for many years for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad company, a posi- tion he still holds.
MRS. MELISSA HECKART, was born February 15th, 1842, in Green county, Pennsylvania, and at- tended the public schools of her native state and Iowa. Her maiden name was Melissa Clark. On February 24th, 1859, she married W. C. Harriman, who died in 1879, and she became the wife of Daniel Heckart, April 17th, 1881. The names of
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her children are G. N. Harriman, Mrs. J. W. Price, Mrs. Bessie Bales, H. L. Heckart and Flossie Heckart. She came from Marshall county, Iowa, to Greeley in 1873, and in 1874, the family located on a ranch near Virginia Dale which she still owns.
THOMAS H. GARRETT .- No one taking a square look at the present clerk of the board of county commissioners would class him as an Englishman,
THOMAS H. GARRETT
but such must be the fact as Thomas says so, but he was educated in the Utica, N. Y. schools, arriving in Larimer county in 1880; married Mary A. Kirby in Fort Collins in 1891. A daughter, Ellen, is the only child. Mr. Garrett has served in many im- portant public positions and has at all times proved a capable and efficient officer. He served as deputy assessor under J. M. McCreery, as deputy county clerk under F. J. Burnett, is now serving in the same capacity under A. P. Greenacre. He was for nine years city clerk of Fort Collins, and in early days was a member of the city's fire department. When Mr. Garrett was chief of the fire depart- ment, Fort Collins had its crack running team, and the races between rival inter-state teams were ex- citing exhibitions of speed, skill and endurance. For
four years he tried farming but decided that a farm- er's life was not in his line, and he claims no record for those four years. He left the farm to engage in mercantile pursuits.
JOHN M. HOFFMAN, is a Virginian by birth. He first saw the light of day on Christmas, 1864, at Edinburg, where he was educated. Twenty- one years later he came to Colorado and spent a couple of years at Eaton, following the occupation of a miller. In 1887 he came to Fort Collins, which city has since been his home. Mr. Hoffman was married December 14th, 1892, to Francis E. Coy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Coy. They have two children, Lydia A. and M. Coy Hoffman, both at home. In 1894, Mr. Hoffman built the Hoffman flour and feed mill on Riverside avenue, and is president and general manager of the Hoffman Milling company which now operates the mill. His business life has been successful, and he is recognized as one of the solid, substantial citizens of Fort Collins and Larimer county. He and his family reside on East Oak street. He is an esteemed member of Collins lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M.
WALTER J. PRENDERGAST .- Of the long list of pioneers who came to the Caché la Poudre val- ley in 1858, 1859 and 1860, but two remain as residents. These two are Rock Bush and Walter J., better known as "Joe" Prendergast. All the others of that intrepid band known as the very first settlers, have either joined the silent majority or moved on to other fields. Walter Joseph Prender- gast was born on Easter Sunday, 1834, in County Mayo, Ireland. At the age of twenty he migrated to the United States, landing at New York city. Here and in the surrounding country he sought employment without success and, early in the win- ter of 1855 he enlisted as a private in the Seventh United States infantry for a term of five years. In the spring of 1858 his regiment was ordered to re- port from a military post in the Indian territory to Gen Albert Sidney Johnston at Camp Floyd, Salt Lake, Utah, for service in suppressing the Mor- mon rebellion. The regiment followed the Oregon trail up the North Platte through South Pass to Salt Lake. He was discharged as a sergeant on the expiration of his term of enlistment in Febru- ary, 1860. He then fitted up an ox team and a wagon and started on the return trip to the states. He remained several weeks at Fort Bridger on his way east, where, on the 16th of April, 1860, he married Martha Hanson, who made very pleasant
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company for him, not only for the remainder of the overland journey, but also for the fifty years of the journey through life which they have traveled together. They came from the Laramie Plains down over the old Cherokee trail to Laporte, where, rather than pay John D. Provost's charges for using his log toll bridge, they forded the river and proceeded on their way. They arrived at the up- per crossing of the Little Thompson creek on the 16th of May, 1860, and, being weary of travel and pleased with the appearance of the country decided to locate, and found a home. Here they built a snug log cabin in which they lived until the spring of 1861, when they moved to the Cache la Poudre valley and located on the ranch now owned by J. T. Stroh near the Weld county line. The summer of 1860 was spent in cutting and putting up hay, which he hauled to the mining camps at Black Hawk and Central City that fall and the following winter. The valley of the Little Thompson and the adjacent prairies were covered with a thick and heavy growth of grass and he put up a large quantity of hay, which brought a good price at the mining camps. For one load of hay, hauled to Black Hawk with four yoke of oxen in the winter of 1860-61, during the time of scarcity, he received $625. He lived on the Poudre from the spring of 1861 until the spring of 1877, when he moved on to the farm he still owns and occupies at Fossil Creek. While living on the Poudre he cut and put up hay, raised grain and vegetables and pros- pered. The hay was hauled to Fort Laramie and sold for $100 per ton. "Many a day", he says, in speaking of his experiences in 1863-4-5, "I have carried my rifle, powder horn, bullet pouch and revolver to the field with me, fearing an attack from the Indians. I would set my rifle against a hay cock and lay the powder horn and bullet pouch beside it, but always kept the revolver with me ready for use. I never looked toward the bluff without expecting to see the head of a redskin peer- ing at me. They never gave any trouble, how- ever, except to come to the house and beg for food". His nearest neighbors, when he first moved on the Poudre, were James B. and John Arthur, Eb. Davis, George Stotts and a man by the name of Thacker and J. M. and F. W. Sherwood. "While those were perilous times, full of apprehended dangers and when we experienced hardships and privations ; when flour was costly and sometimes impossible to get, and when we often went hungry for bread, we still enjoyed ourselves and always made the best of the situation. We were young,
healthy and ambituous and thought of nothing of what we had to endure," says Mr. Prendergast. In 1862, Mr. Prendergast bought some Mexican onion seed for which he paid an ounce of gold dust for an ounce of seed. The flavor of the onions raised from that seed was accentuated by a strong taste of gold. Mr. and Mrs. Prendergast are pas- sing their declining years mid peace and plenty,
WALTER J. PRENDERGAST
surrounded by four of their children and a host of admiring friends and neighbors. Six children have been born to them, all of whom are living. Their names are Mary, Mrs. Margaret McLean of Lon- don, Ontario, Canada; John, Walter, Mrs. Mat- tie Atherly of Cheyenne, and James.
REV. A. S. KEMPER .- Born in 1836 in Cin- cinnati, Ohio; educated in High school of his na- tive city and taught school a few years; married Mary Bradbury in 1855; licensed to preach by Presbytery of Cincinnati in 1860; graduated from McCormick Theological seminary, Chicago, in 1863, going thence to Minnesota where his wife died in 1877; married Cecilie Farsund in 1879; largely instrumental in founding Female seminary at Albert Lea, Minnesota; came to Colorado in
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1889 to become pastor of Fossil Creek church, where second wife died; has had no charge since that time; has four living children, Charles W., Fred A. and Josie of Fort Collins, and Mrs. C. K. Benedict of Los Angeles, California.
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