History of Larimer County, Colorado, Part 59

Author: Watrous, Ansel, 1835-1927
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Fort Collins, Colo. : The Courier Printing & Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 678

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MARIANA MODENO, the first "white" settler in the Big Thompson valley, was born at Taos, New Mexico, in 1812, and was of Castilian parentage. He was said to have been liberally educated in his youth and to be able to speak thirteen different languages fluently. Next to Jim Bridger, Kit Car- son and Jim Baker, Modeno was perhaps the most noted frontiersman, trapper, hunter, guide, scout and Indian fighter in the West. He was known at one time in almost every town between the Missouri river and the Rocky mountains; from the City of Mexico to the British possessions. He carried the marks on his person of many a bitterly waged con- flict with the Indians, and was for many years a valued scout and guide in the employ of the govern- ment. He settled on the Big Thompson in 1858, where he lived until he died, June 25, 1878, hav- ing amassed considerable wealth in the meantime.

G. A. HAMILTON, one of the foremost farmers of the Big Thompson valley was born in 1849, near London, Ontario, Canada, and reared on a farm; attended district school. When 21 years of age he went to Michigan and worked in the pineries; bought land and lived in that state until health failed in 1879 when he came to Longmont and engaged in the grocery business; sold out in fall of 1882 and moved in January, 1883, to the farm he now lives on in the Big Thompson valley. Besides being a good farmer, he is an importer and breeder of Suffolk Punch horses ; has been a director of the

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Consolidated Home Supply Ditch and Reservoir company for 15 years, and is also Vice-President of the First National bank of Loveland, but has never held or aspired to any political office.

J. B. FULLER was born at Cape Vincent, in New York state, on the 26th day of March, 1863, and attended the public schools. In 1881 he came to Fort Collins and learned the plumbers trade with H. E. Tedmon, and has continued to the present time to work at that business. He was married on February 16th, 1907, to Miss Florence R. Mann, of Lyons, N. Y. Mr. Fuller was for twelve years a member of the Fort Collins fire department.

JOHN W. EVERHARD was born at Massillon, Ohio, and educated at Columbus in that state, where he later engaged in the mercantile business. Settled in Salem county, Missouri, in an early day, and came to Colorado in 1875. He and his brother-in-law, John C. Ish, bought the James Eaglin ranch of 320 acres, and began farming and stock raising. Mr. Everhard went to North Park in 1880 and located on a big stock ranch in the vicinity of Owl mountain, which he sold a few years ago to his nephew, J. L. Ish, and returned to Berthoud where he and his wife live in comfort- able retirement, beloved by all who know them. In 1881, Mr. Everhard was the democratic can- didate for County Commissioner, and in 1897 the candidate of his party for County Assessor, but failed of election, though polling a much larger vote than was cast for his party ticket at each election. He came of revolutionary stock, his grandfather having been a soldier in the war of Independence under General St. Clair.

GARDNER R. CUSHING is a Colorado product, having been born at Fort Collins on July 7th, 1880, where he received his education completing his school work at the State Agricultural college. He was married July 23rd, 1904, to a lady of Fort Collins and now has three children, Colbert E., Claudia M. and Lucy Bell. Mr. Cushing's father was the first breeder of Holstein cattle in Larimer county. The subject of this sketch has been for a number of years the clerk of the county court of Larimer county, the duties of which office he has performed to the entire satisfaction of the public. He is considered as among the clean and rising young men of the county.

FRANK J. BURNETT was born at Pekin, Illinois, on December 14th, 1873, and came with his par- ents to Colorado in the fall of 1879. The family

stopped in Boulder until the spring of 1880, when they removed to Larimer county. Mr. Burnett was educated in the schools of Fort Collins, and on the 14th day of February, 1905, was married to Miss Gertrude Dinnebeck. They have three child- ren, Ruth, Raymond and Benjamin F. He has been several times elected to public office in the county and has served the people faithfully and with the highest integrity as county clerk for a period of four years. He is now manager of the insur- ance department of the Security Abstract and In- vestment company of Fort Collins. He has always been a promoter of clean athletic sports.

ORIVILLE SPRINGER came to Colorado from Bridgeport, Gloucester county, New Jersey, landing in Larimer county March 3rd, 1887, and setting his stakes at Timnath, where he has since resided. He married Sibyl Tatum Howey, Dec. 30th, 1896. One child living, Earl Howey Springer. Mr. Springer is a practical farmer, thoroughly ac- quainted with the business in all its details, a man of probity and strict integrity.

CHARLES GOLDING-DWYRE, JR. was born in London, England, on the 19th day of February, 1872. He came with his parents to Fort Collins in 1883 and after having passed creditably through the schools of that city he took a course of study at the Colorado State Agricultural college. Jan. 1st, 1897, he was chosen as an instructor in that institution where he is still employed. On the 25th day of August, 1898, he was married to Miss Effie Loomis of Fort Collins. They have two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. Golding-Dwyre is earnest and capable in the work in which he is engaged, a good citizen and an example of what a young man possessed of proper ideals and a healthy self-reliance may accomplish.

Z. O. HOLCOMB was born August 12th, 1850, in Chillicothie, Missouri; married Alice E. Lawson, January 8th, 1882; five children were born to them and all are living. The family moved to Larimer county in 1901 and to Fort Collins in the spring of 1902. Mr. Holcomb is a farmer by occupation and has successfully cultivated the P. Anderson farm near Fort Collins the past two years.

JOHN H. CAMERON, was born August 14, 1842 in New York City. Early in life he learned the machinist trade an occupation he followed for 25 years. In 1864 he enlisted in the 125th New York volunteer infantry and was shortly afterward trans- ferred to the 4th N. Y. heavy artillery in which he

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served until the close of the war. He married Elizabeth Madden on February 28th, 1869, and in 1882 came to Fort Collins, locating first on a dry ranch seven miles north of that city. In 1890 he moved into the city and served as janitor at the Agricultural college for ten years. He died November 17th, 1901, leaving a wife and five sons, John H. Jr., Robert, Allen, George and Walter.

THOMAS B. BISHOPP .- There are few men liv- ing in Colorado today who have seen more of bor- der life, endured greater hardships and trials, met

THOMAS B. BISHOP

with more trying vicissitudes and come through them all unscathed, morally and physically, than the subject of this sketch. Mr. Bishopp was born June 27th, 1832, in Sailhurst Parish, Sussex county, England. He came with his father's family to Madison county, New York, when a child and re- ceived his education in the common schools of that county. His father was an importer and breeder of Durham cattle. In 1855, when 23 years of age, he came west to Iowa, going thence to Minnesota in 1856, remaining in that state until 1860, when he crossed the Plains to Colorado, locating first in California gulch. Prospecting and mining proving unsatisfactory, he returned to Denver and began freighting with ox teams from that city to Central City, which he followed for three years. He then went to Oregon and freighted from 1863 to 1867,

from the Columbia river to the Boise, Idaho, mines, conducting a general store at Boise in 1864. From 1865 to 1866 he fought Indians who robbed him of wagons and stock valued at $10,000, and in 1868-9 operated a sawmill and conducted a meat market at Silver City, Idaho. He came back to Colorado in 1869 and in 1870 built Union colony ditch No. 3, moving then to Colorado Springs and there oper- ated a dairy in connection with the transfer busi- ness until 1873, when he moved to his present home in Virginia Dale, where he is a successful breeder of Clydesdale horses and Durham and Jer- sey cattle. On Oct. 7th, 1880, he married Harriet C. Mckay and they have two sons, B. G. D. Bish- opp, instructor in dairying at the Colorado Agricul- tural college, and F. C. Bishopp, entomologist, U. S. department of agriculture, stationed at Dallas, Texas. From 1888 to 1891 our subject most ac- ceptably served Larimer county as a member of its board of commissioners.

STEPHEN A. WATHEN has been in the stock business in Spring canon ever since making his home in Larimer county in 1877. He is a native of Ken- tucky, born in Hardin county in 1860. He married Lydia L. Bardwell July 15th, 1885, in Fort Col- lins. A daughter, Miss Norah, is their only child. He has a fine ranch in Spring canon and a choice bunch of cattle.

LOUIS G. CARPENTER, junior member of the firm of L. G. & R. C. Carpenter, consulting engineers, with offices in New York and Ithaca, New York, and Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado; former Professor of Civil and Irrigation Engineering; Di- rector of the experiment Station at the Colorado State Agricultural college and former State Engi- neer of Colorado, was born March 28th, 1861, in Orion, Oakland county, Michigan. His father, C. K. Carpenter, was a prominent farmer, active in public work and in the organization of important enterprises. He was a director and vice-president of the Detroit and Bay City Railroad company, and for some time the only director in Michigan. At the time of his death he was President of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance company of Michigan, embracing several thousand members. His ances- tors settled in Massachusetts about 1640, and one of them was one of the ten incorporators of Rhode Island with Roger Williams. R. C. Carpenter, a. brother of our subject, has been Professor of Ex- perimental Engineering at Cornell university for many years, and is a recognized authority in many lines of work. Another brother, Judge William L.

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Carpenter, was District and Supreme Court Judge of Michigan for many years, resigning from the Su- preme bench to resume private practice in Detroit. He has also been President of the Detroit College of Law for a number of years. Our subject ob- tained the rudiments of an education in the public schools, spending his spare time for several years in a country printing office. He entered the Mich- igan Agricultural college in February, 1876, and graduated therefrom in November, 1879. The win- ter vacations were spent in teaching school and the money thus earned during his college course was sufficient to take him through without much aid from his parents. He did some instructional work while in college and acted as temporary instructor immediately after graduating. In February, 1881, he was chosen instructor in mathematics at his Alma Mater, remaining here with various promo- tions, finally becoming assistant Professor of Mathe- matics and Engineering. He resigned in 1888, to take charge of the department of Civil and Irriga- tion Engineering at the Colorado Agricultural col- lege, which position had been offered him. Two of his winter vacations were spent at the University of Michigan and two at Johns Hopkins' university in Baltimore. He had become so well known in the educational world as a mathematician that at the age of 23 his name was inserted in the American Cyclopedia of Biography. He became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1883, and of the British association in 1884. In June, 1888, Professor Carpenter was elected to the chair of Physics and Engineering at the Colorado Agricultural college, and began serv- ice at that institution September 1st of that year. From that time until 1910, a period of twenty-two years, Professor Carpenter was intimately con- nected with the history of the college and experi- ment station and also with the history of the de- velopment of scientific irrigation in the arid regions. About 1890, the course in Irrigation Engineering was established, the first in any American college. It was launched without precedent or guide and without available text books, but the students grad- uating from that course, beginning in 1892, have become prominent in the development of irrigation in the arid West. One of them is now a Division Engineer in the United States reclamation service, and many others are professionally connected with that service. Several have been deputy state engi- neers, while others have been in responsible charge of some of the largest canals and dams and con- structions in the West. In 1890 Professor Carpen-

ter was appointed to conduct an investigation or- dered by congress on artesian wells in Colorado and New Mexico. In 1891 he visited California to study irrigation in that state, and in 1892 he went to Europe, spending considerable time in France, Italy and Algeria, investigating the irrigation sys- tems of those countries, in doing which he was given special facilities. Some years later the French government conferred upon him the decoration of

Chevalier du Merite Agricola. In 1899 Professor Carpenter was elected Director of the Colorado Agricultural college experiment station, resigning in 1910 to give his attention to the duties of con- sulting engineer. He was an influential member of the association of experiment stations, several times an officer and was one of the committee of five which considered and passed upon the general ques- tions of policy of the stations in the United States. He was also a member of the confidential committee of five appointed to confer with President Taft be- fore his inauguration and, at the President's request, afterwards met him in Washington in April and November. In 1903 he was appointed State Engi- neer by Governor Peabody and served one term in this very important and responsible position. In 1902 he had been asked by the attorney-general to confer regarding the suit brought by the state of Kansas against Colorado concerning the waters of the Arkansas river. This was a subject of supreme importance, because if the attack proved successful it would have prevented the right to use the water from any Colorado stream for irrigation. At that time he prepared an outline of defence which was followed almost exactly in the development of the case, so that at the closing of the case by the deci- sion of the United States Supreme Court, the whole line of successful defense had been as he had indi- cated at the beginning. This Kansas suit was felt to be a most important matter and it is conceded that Professor Carpenter rendered Colorado an in- estimable service in the part he took in it. He practically collected and prepared all the evidence, and, working with Mr. Vaile, prepared the brief for Colorado, and the final decision of the Supreme Court recognized the right of Colorado to use the water of the Arkansas river for irrigation. This opened the way for active development which then set in with considerable vigor. While there may be future litigation respecting the rights of states to use water from inter-state streams for irrigation, the primary question as to whether such water may be so used has been permanently settled. Hearings in this celebrated case were held in Wichita and To-

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peka, Kansas, New Mexico, Arkansas, District of Columbia and in Colorado. Professor Carpenter was the first as well as the last witness put on the stand by Colorado and his examinations, all told, lasted eleven days. The testimony he gave on direct examination was published by the state. The work performed by Professor Carpenter in the Kansas- Colorado case was not necessarily connected with his duties as state engineer, but it was felt to be most important for the irrigation interests of the state. When his term expired he was told that he would be re-appointed State Engineer if he would make application for the office, but this he declined to do. He, however, continued as consulting engi- neer under special contract until the final decision in the Kansas case. In 1907 he was appointed a member of a commission by the Province of British Columbia to investigate and report upon irriga- tion in that province. Public hearings were held and Professor Carpenter spent much time searching the records and investigating conditions. As a re- sult, his report was published as a state document and was accepted as the basis of the water act that was passed by the next Parliament and under which that province is making great strides in develop- ment. Invitations for private employment became so pressing from many of the most important finan- cial interests in the country that in 1910 Professor Carpenter entered into an engineering partnership with his brother, Prof. R. C. Carpenter of Cornell university, and they have established offices in New York, Denver and their home towns. He has been engaged by the Macmillans, publishers of London, to prepare a book for one of their series and also by a New York firm to prepare one for their Harvard engineering series. He was a member of the editor- ial staff of the first edition of the Standard Diction- ary, and has been engaged for the new edition now under way. He is a director of the First National bank of Fort Collins, and also of the Fort Collins Building and Loan association, and President of the association for the past few years; an incorporator of the Michigan Engineering society ; was President of the American Society of Irrigation Engineers and also a member of various other scientific and engi- neering societies. He is said to have the largest and best library relating to irrigation in the world. In 1887 Professor Carpenter married Mary J. C. Mer- rill, a fellow student of his Alma Mater in the class succeeding his. They have two children, Louis, born in 1889, and Jeanette, born in 1892. Mrs. Carpenter was one of the founders of the Woman's

club of Fort Collins, is a member of the Public library board, and active in many enterprises.

WILLIAM CALLOWAY was born Aug. 9th, 1837, in Clinton county, Indiana, where he lived on his father's farm and attended school until he was 21 years of age. In the spring of 1859 he went to Mis-

WILLIAM CALLOWAY

souri and, associated with Jacob Cornelison, engaged in freighting with ox teams from the Missouri river to Colorado. During the winter of 1861-2 he and N. C. Alford camped on Meadow creek, twelve miles north of Livermore, and hunted game, which was hauled to Denver and sold. On one of his trips he was offered a town block situated in what is now the main business center of that city for a sack of flour, but refused to trade. Flour was worth then $100 per sack. In 1863 he went to Idaho and worked for N. C. Alford on a ranch for $100 per month the first year, and later conducted a ranch of his own. In 1867 he came to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and in the fall of that year took up a ranch in Box- elder canon, which he sold, and in 1870 located in Livermore on what is now known as the Cradock ranch, and engaged in stock raising. In 1874 Mr.

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Calloway married Fannie Keach and three children were born of the union, whose names are Mrs. Ella Burns of Seattle, Ray Calloway of Bellvue, Wash- ington, and Mina May, deceased. His wife died in 1878, and in 1881 he married Mary Calloway, widow of his deceased brother, Martin Calloway. One child, a daughter, was born of this union and she is now Mrs. Libbie Hoffman of Fort Collins. Mr. Calloway died June 9th, 1891, at Livermore.

FRANKLIN C. AVERY .- In looking back over the past forty years of the history of Fort Collins and reviewing the names of those who have been pre-eminent in the upbuilding of the place, the mind instinctively rests upon that of Franklin C. Avery. There are few, indeed, to whom greater credit can be given or upon whom a greater meed of praise should be bestowed for what has been ac- complished in the development of the resources of Larimer county and in the growth and advance- ment of Fort Collins, than upon Mr. Avery. He has been a leader and has aided by his means, his example and his influence those projects, public and private, which were designed to promote the growth of town and country and to add to the welfare of the people and advance their prosperity. Progres- sive plans have been promoted by his willing co- operation, and local interests have always received his fostering care. Justly, therefore, he occupies a position among the progressive and most influ- ential men of the town and county. Mr. Avery was born April 8th, 1849, at Ledyard, Cayuga county, New York. He was the second among the five children born to Edgar and Eliza (Worthing) Avery. His ancestors are listed among the colonial families of New England. Soon after completing a course in civil engineering Mr. Avery joined the Union colony and came to Greeley, arriving on May 9th, 1870. He assisted in surveying and platting the town of Greeley and also in laying out the ditches. In the fall of 1871 he located near La- porte, Larimer county, and embarked in the cattle business. In the fall of 1872 he was chosen as engi- neer for the Agricultural Colony and laid out and platted the town of Fort Collins for the colony, changing the old town survey to conform to the new. That fall he was elected county surveyor and was re-elected in 1874. He became interested in real estate and acquired title to town property and also farm lands in Larimer and Weld counties, and was at one time an extensive holder of landed property. In November, 1880, Mr. Avery founded the Larimer County bank, a state institution, with

a capital of $30,000. In 1882 the name was changed to the First National bank and the capi- talization increased to $50,000. The capital has since been increased to $100,000, and Mr. Avery served the institution as president from 1881 to 1910, when he sold his interest and retired. In addition to the Avery block, containing ten stores and a large number of offices, and which was the home of the First National bank for many years, he has had a number of other buildings erected in the city, including a handsome and commodious stone residence, set in the midst of large and beau- tiful grounds. He also had a fourth interest in the building of the Opera house block and owns one- fourth of the Northern hotel. It was through his instrumentality that these and the beautiful First National bank building were erected. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Larimer County Ditch company, which afterwards changed its name to the Water Supply and Storage company, and he originated the project of bringing water from the Laramie river across the divide to the Poudre water shed. That company constructed and practically completed one of the largest and best irrigation systems in Colorado, whereby many thousands of acres of otherwise unproductive land has been brought under a high state of cultivation. He was the president of the company for several years. The shares of this company originally fixed at $100 are now worth nearly $4,000. Mr. Avery has been thrice chosen a member of the Fort Col- lins city council, and has had much to do in shap- ing the municipal affairs of his chosen home city. On Feb. 24th, 1876, Mr. Avery married Sarah Edson, who was born near Auburn, New York, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Edson. Three children were born of the union, Edgar D., who has been cashier of the First National bank, city treasurer, and is now engaged in the real es- tate and loan business; Mrs. Ethel Woodworth, and Mrs. Louise Crose, all residents of Fort Collins.

JOHN R. BROWN .- This pioneer prospector, miner, blacksmith and farmer, was born Aug. 18th, 1833, near Toronto, Canada. He died Oct. 6th, 1910, at Buffalo, Wyoming, aged 77 years. He had few opportunities for obtaining an education and was early put to work learning the blacksmith's trade in his father's shop. In 1858 he migrated to Lawrence, Kansas, and on May 1st, 1860, he ar- rived at the Tarryall mining camp in South Park; spent the winter of 1860-61 in the Bobtail mine at Central City, and in June, 1861, enlisted in Com-

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pany B, Capt. S. M. Logan of the First Colorado Volunteers, then organized as infantry, but changed to cavalry the following winter. The regiment was sent to Fort Union in January, 1862, and in the latter part of the March following participated in the battles of Apache Canon, Pigeon's Ranch, and the fight at Peralto in April. Fred Smith of Westlake was engaged in these battles with Mr.

JOHN R. BROWN

Brown. In the fall of 1863 Company B was sent to Laporte to guard the Overland stage against In- dian attack. After being mustered out in October, 1864, Mr. Brown, in company with Robert Brown, started a blacksmith's shop at Laporte, doing a good business. They bought a squatter's right to 160 acres of land of John B. Provost and cultivated the land in connection with the blacksmith business. The Browns dissolved partnership in 1865, our sub- ject keeping the farm. During the winter of 1865- 66 he was the post blacksmith at Camp Collins, and in 1868 he and his brother, James A. Brown, became partners in wagon-making and blacksmith- ing, selling out in 1869, and John R. returning to his farm, which he sold in 1880 to A. T. Gilkison. In 1881 he took up the ranch on the Upper Poudre

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History of Larimer County, Colorado, Part 59

Author: Watrous, Ansel, 1835-1927 Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Fort Collins, Colo. : The Courier Printing & Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 678

Author: Watrous, Ansel, 1835-1927
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Fort Collins, Colo. : The Courier Printing & Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 678