History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 108

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

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the post office. Capt. Rice assisted in organ- izing the town of Pueblo. He was one of the first Trustees, and was Mayor of the town dur- ing the first three terms of that office. He was a member of the Legislative Council, represent- ing the counties of El Paso and Pueblo in 1875 -76. In November, 1880, he was elected Regent of the State University of Colorado, which office he now holds. Capt. Rice has ever been a public spirited man ; and he has labored much for the general interests of Pueblo, for which he re- ceives and well deserves the esteem of his fellow- citizens.

HON. GEO. Q. RICHMOND.

George Q. Richmond, a prominent lawyer and the present Mayor of Pueblo, was born in Kennebec County, Maine, August 4, 1844. When fourteen years of age, he left home and went to Boston, where he worked for a time, and afterward attended school. In 1863, he took a trip through the West, spending about a year in California and Nevada. In the sum- mer of 1864, he returned to Boston and enlisted in the Sixty-first Massachusetts Infantry. He served in the U. S. Army to the close of the late war, being commissioned a Lientenant during the time. After the war he remained in Washington City, and attended the Colum- bia College, graduating in both the literary and law departments in 1868. He practiced law in Washington for a time, until coming West in 1870. In April of that year, he located at Pueblo, Colorado, where he has since resided and practiced his profession. In 1876, he was a candidate for Attorney General of the State on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated by a small majority. In that year he was a Centennial Commissioner, by appointment of the Governor of Colorado, at the National Exposition at Philadelphia. In 1880, he was a candidate for Supreme Judge, being the unani- mous choice of the Democratic convention which met at Leadville. He was elected Mayor of Pueblo at the last municipal election, which office he occupies at this time. Mr. Richmond has established a wide reputation as a lawyer, and is now doing a large and lucrative practice. He was married at Philadelphia, Penn., October 24, 1878, to Miss Jennie S. Siner.

M. SHELDON.

Mr. Sheldon is a resident of South Pueblo of eight years standing, which entitles him to

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be styled " an old-timer," by which he is well known in his city-and to a place in the ranks of its pioneers, and, in reality, in the ranks of the pioneers of the State, for while the experience of those who came to Colora- do between 1870 and 1875-76 was not gener- ally as severe as the experience of those who came in " '59 and '60," no more than the latter's was equal in hardships to that of Carson and other scouts of his day, yet it was at least similar in privation, and the application now of " Old-Timer," pioneer, etc., to them, is appropriate. He was born on his father's farm in Vernon, Trumbull Co., Ohio, August 31, 1844. For a few years he attended the Vernon District School, but being desirous of receiving higher education and culture than was conferred at Vernon, he entered the West- ern Reserve College in Farmington, Ohio, for a thorough course of study and graduation. During vacations, he worked on the farm at home. The summer he was eighteen, overwork in the harvest field injured his health to a de- gree which made close application to study impossible, and necessitated his immediate de- parture from college and the engaging in em- ployment which would not further injure his health. To recruit, he went to his father's and stayed on the farm four years, working or not, according to his health conditions. At the end of four years there was no change for the bet- ter, and in hopes of finding a climate in which his health would improve, he left Vernon, and made a tour of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, and settled in Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa. At Prairie City he formed a partnership with D. M. Bartlett and H. C. De Wolf, and began retailing general merchandise under the firm title of Bartlett, Sheldon & De Wolf. Another four years passed and health again demanded a change. This time, to meet the requirements of his failing health, he sold his interest in the stock and business of Bartlett, Sheldon & De Wolf, to Bartlett & De Wolf, and moved on a quarter-section of land which he bought in the township, resort- ing the second time to farming for a restoration of health. Working the raw land, putting up buildings and otherwise improving the section occupied his mind and gave promise-in ap- pearance only-of improvement, to disappear at the end of two years, when the quarter-sec- tion was transformed from a tract of wild

prairie land into an improved farm, comforta- ble and desirable home, which he would soon be obliged to leave to another to enjoy. At the close of the two years just mentioned, in 1873, with no financial consideration in view, but solely to seek the health he lost years be- fore, he and his estimable lady loaded a few necessary articles into a wagon, hitched a span of mules to it, and, taking a lingering look at the farm which had witnessed the beginning of their housekeeping, in a cabin by themselves, at a considerable distance from any neighbor -- but the happier because of the newly married life they had just entered upon-the farm which together they had made and surrounded with conveniences and luxuries, with many silent and spoken regrets at having to leave, they sadly yet courageously, and resigned to the will of Him who'" doeth all things well," got in and started across the plains for Colorado, the El Dorado of health for the invalid as well as that of precions minerals for the fortune hunt- er. Greeley was their objective point, where they arrived after days of tedious riding in a variety of weather. His health being the same as when he started, he had a desire to travel farther and drove on to Denver, South Park, Colorado Springs and Canon City, finding no place where he wished to locate until he arrived in South Pueblo, in September of the same year. Four years more was passed in a vain pursuit after complete health, by camping in the mountains during the summer, and particu- lar care during the winter. With the same spirit which has enabled him to endure and accomplish so much in the face of poor health, he commenced the business of selling the best brands of heavy wagons, in 1877, and shortly thereafter opened a lumber yard. He is doing probably the most extensive retail business in Eastern and native lumber of any dealer in the city, and is one of the citizens of South Pueblo who has accumulated a competency. His in- tegrity is above question and a refined organi- zation has made him deservedly popular. For several years he has been Treasurer of the School Board. He was Treasurer the first year of the organization of the South Pueblo Loan Association, an eminently successful enterprise, and re-elected to the same office, which he holds at the present time ; he also was a member of the City Council during the year ended April, 1881, and was elected City Treasurer at the

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expiration of the term of that office, for the ensuing year. When he left Ohio, he had hemorrhage of the lungs, which continued up to the second year of his residence in Colorado, and was so frequent when he left Iowa, as to make it impossible for him to ride all day. In the winter of 1880-81, he enjoyed the best health he had enjoyed in eighteen years. His health improves every year. He is strictly temperate, seldom ever drinking a cup of tea or coffee. He has not had an hemorrhage since the first year of his residence in the State. Mr. Sheldon is a Christian ; a member of the Con- gregational Church and an efficient worker in that body, and Superintendent of its Sabbath School.

JOHN V. SHEPARD.

This gentleman was born at Palestine, Ill., in 1846. He served through the late war as a soldier of the Sixty-second Illinois Volunteers. In the fall of 1866, he went to Charleston, Ill., where he clerked in a store for about three years. Subsequently, he traveled a number of years for a Boston shoe house, until coming West in 1872. In the fall of that year, Mr. Shepard located at Pueblo, and began business, keeping a general store, in partnership with the Wilson Brothers, the style of the firm being Wilson Brothers & Shepard. Mr. Shepard con- tinued a member of the firm until July, 1880, when, disposing of his interest, he opened a boot and shoe store on the opposite side of Santa Fe avenue. Mr. C. E. Dudley has since become a partner of Mr. Shepard, the firm now being Shepard & Dudley. They have a fine custom, and carry the largest and best assorted stock in Pueblo. Mr. Shepard was one of the first Directors of the Stock-Growers' National Bank, and is now a Director. He was married at Pueblo November 9, 1875, to Miss Margaret Newcomer.

THEODORE A. SLOANE.

Mr. Sloane was born in Rush County, Ind., in 1847. He was educated at Greencastle, Ind., where he graduated in 1871. Soon after finishing school, he came West, and settled at Pueblo, where he became connected with the People, a newspaper then being published. He was afterward managing editor of the People about two years. He studied law, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1876. He was County Superintendent of Public Schools two years-

from 1876 to 1878. In the fall of 1878, he was appointed Clerk of the District Court at Pueblo, which position he now holds! Mr. Sloane is highly regarded by the citizens of Pueblo. He was married, in 1875, to Miss Hinsdale, a daughter of ex-Gov. Hinsdale.

J. K. SMILEY.

J. K. Smiley is the son of a grain specu- lator of Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Penn., where he was born on the 19th day of Febru- ary, 1846. At the Brothers' Loretta College, a Catholic college in Latrobe, he graduated in 1863, and the same year secured a situation as salesman with the large wholesale hardware firm of Linsay, Sterrit & Co., of Pittsburgh, Penn., with whom he remained until 1865, when, believing that his country needed bis services, and that it was his duty to give them, he enlisted in Company H, of the Two Hun- dred and Eleventh Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers ; served one year, and was dis- charged at the close of the war. As soon as he returned from the army, Messrs. Linsay, Ster- rit & Co. urged him to take his old situation with them, an arrangement highly pleasing to him, and adopted by him. His engagement with them as salesman in their warehouse, be- fore his enlistment and after his discharge, covered a period of four years. At the expira- tion of four years, he was sent out as traveling salesman, and for a period of between five and six years more he represented the firm in all the cities, towns and villages to which their trade extended. The fame of Colorado's mines attracted his attention, and 1876 witnessed his departure from Pennsylvania and arrival in Leadville, Colo. He mined two years in Lead- ville, traveled around the State for a time, and finally located in Pueblo, contented to remain there during the remainder of his life.

JOSIAH F. SMITH.

Notably among the " old-timers " in Southern Colorado is Josiah F. Smith, a prominent citi- zen, and the present Police Judge of Pueblo. He was raised in Dayton, Ohio, where he was born September 2, 1829. He came West in 1848, and for ten years traded among the Indians through Wyoming, California and Ore- gon. In 1858, he returned to Missouri, going to St. Louis, where he lived more than two years. Coming West again in 1860, he located in

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Southern Colorado, on the Fontaine qui Bouille, at a point which became a village, known as Fontaine City, but which is now covered by East Pueblo. Mr. Smith has been prominently connected with the varied changes and growth of Pueblo from its very infancy. In 1866, he pre-empted a quarter-section of land bordering on Santa Fe avenue, which he afterward sold in town lots, realizing considerable money there- from. He was Sheriff of Pueblo County in 1864-65. He was a Deputy under Gov. Hunt when he held the office of United States Mar- shal. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1859, when Colorado was a part of Kansas Territory, and has since held that office at various times in Pueblo County. He was elect- ed to the office of Police Judge in May, 1881. Few men have been more intimately associated with the history of Southern Colorado, and few have figured more in the shifting scenes of Western life than Josiah F. Smith. The Judge has not been unmindful of his individual inter- est. He has long heen interested in the stock business, and by his various enterprises has grown quite wealthy. Long may he yet live among the people whose growth he has watched, and whose vicissitudes he has shared for over twenty years.

IRVING W. STANTON.

This gentleman is one of the remaining " old- timers " in Colorado. He came to the country when Denver was composed of log houses and shanties, and when the flourishing city of Pueb- lo only existed in the dreams of a few early pioneers. Mr. Stanton was born at Waymart, Wayne County, Penn., in 1836. Before he was fully grown, he started West. Coming as far as Kansas in the early part of 1855, he lived there about five months, after which he went to Towa, in which State he lived over four years. In 1860, he again journeyed Westward, arriving at Denver in June of that year. He prospected in the mountains during the summer, and re- turned to Denver the following fall. He lived in Denver, clerking in the post office and book- store there until the spring of 1862, when he went to Buckskin Joe, and bought out a book and stationery establishment, which he kept until the ensning fall. Then disposing of his business, Mr. Stanton enlisted in the Third Colo- rado Infantry, and continued in the United States service to the close of the late war. After

the war, he went to Washington City, and was there connected with the Department of the In- terior to 1867. In that year he received the ap- pointment of Register of the United States Land Office at Central City, Colo. That position he held over three years, until, during 1871, he was appointed Register of the Land Office at Pueblo. He held the office at Pueblo until June, 1875, when he resigned. During his inter- vals of business, Mr. Stauton had pursued the study of law. This he continued to the fall of 1875, when he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice at Pueblo, in partnership with Hon. G. Q. Richmond. He and Mr. Rich- mond have since continued together, doing a large and lucrative practice. Mr. Stanton was married at Potosi, Mo., in 1867, to Miss Mary A. Singer.

GEN. R. M. STEVENSON.

About twenty years previous to the outbreak of the war of independence, George Stevenson, Edward Shippen and John Armstrong were appointed His Most Gracious Majesty George the Second's Judges of the Courts of Quarter Sessions, and general jail delivery for the counties of York, Lancaster and Cumberland, in the province of Pennsylvania. George Stevenson, an Irish barrister, and an LL.D. of Dublin University, was the great-grandfather of the subject of the present sketch, and the first of the family who settled in America. When the colonies threw off their allegiance to the British Crown, Judge Stevenson, then a resident of Carlisle, Penn., became an ardent patriot, was Chairman of the Committee of Safety in his section, and was marked by the British Government as on arch rebel. His son, George Stevenson, Jr., became an officer in the Revolu- tionary army, and served during the entire war. During the whisky insurrection in Western Pennsylvania, about the close of the last cen- tury, George Stevenson left his home in Carlisle, in that State, as Major of a regiment of State troops sent there to restore order. He foresaw the coming greatness of Pittsburgh, and settled there ; was President of a branch of the Bank of the United States located at that point for many years, and was also Chief Burgess and first Mayor of the city. His son, Thomas Col- lins Stevenson, M. D., returned to Carlisle, at which town Raymond M. Stevenson was born, March 4, 1840. At the age of sixteen, he com-

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menced his career as a journalist, his first work in the profession being a report of a political meeting in the campaign of 1856. He was educated at Dickinson College, in his native town, and after trying several other professions, returned to his first love, and settled down to journalism. After serving in the quarter- master's department of the army during the early years of the war, he was obliged to return home with a constitution badly shattered by typhoid fever. In 1863, he was appointed by President Lincoln Vice Consul at Sheffield, England, where he remained until 1866. Re- signing his position, he returned to the United States and to journalism. In the summer of 1868, the attractions of Colorado became too strong to be resisted, and the subject of our sketch joined the army of emigrants bound for the Rocky Mountain region. After remaining in Denver for a few months, he removed to Pueblo, and was connected with the Colorado Chieftain for nearly twelve years (with the exception of a few brief interruptions), the last six years as managing editor. In 1879, he was appointed by Gov. Pitkin one of the Commissioners ofthe State Insane Asylum at Pueblo, which posiion he resigned in April, 1880, to accept that of Private Secretary to the Governor. The latter position he resigned in the fall of the same year to take a situation on the Denver Tribune, which he was obliged to resign on account of

illness. Upon the meeting of the General Assembly of the State in January, 1881, he was nnanimously elected Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, and at the close of the session appointed Adjutant General of the State. Gen. Stevenson was married in Pueblo, in 1871, to Susan C., eldest danghter of Rev. Samnel Edwardes, then Rector of St. Peter's Church in that city.

WILLIAM W. STRAIT.

He whose name forms the caption of this history was born April 3, 1839, in Sylvania Township, near Troy, in Bradford County, Penn., on his father's farm. When he was seven years old, his father moved to Centerville, Lake County, Ind .; two years after, to Pleasant Grove; and, in 1852, being elected Sheriff, he moved to Crown Point, the county seat, where he engaged in the mercantile business, and attended to the duties of his office. In 1855, he sold his business, and bought 1,000 head of stock cattle, and moved to Scott County, Minn.

William W. was then sixteen ; he had clerked a short time at Crown Point and at Shakopee. An opportunity to break prairie land at a price he could lay up considerable money occurring, he broke from 1855 till 1858. His school ad- vantages were not the best, but he made the most of them, and observation and study after leaving school has made him a business scholar. He again began clerking, in 1859, for his father, and remained with him until 1862. At the residence of his bride's father, eight miles from Shakopee, with Miss Amanda Haw- kins, he entered into a contract of marriage, June 18, 1861. He had saved, in 1862, enough capital to do business for himself. Jordan, in the same county, was selected by him as a place where merchandise conld be turned fast and with profit. He opened a general mer- chandise store there, and sold it in 1864, to start a livery, which he continned in till 1867. In partnership with his brother, the Hon. H. B. Strait, who was sent to Congress from the Second Congressional District of Minnesota, in 1872, he recommenced merchandising at Jor- dan, and sold goods there till 1876, when he and his brother sold their store, and he came to South Pueblo. He was appointed Postmaster at Jordan, Sand Creek Post Office, in 1862. One of the most exciting times of his life took place that year, in Angust, when Yellow Medi- cine and Red Wood Agencies were massacred by Indians, and Fort Ridgely besieged. For safety, he sent his family to the county seat, then left his business in charge of a boy clerk, and joined a company of mounted Independents, made up mostly of business men, and went to the relief of the fort. They scouted from Henderson to St. Peter, in advance of the volunteers, made a short halt at the latter place waiting for ammu- nition, and in face of expected ambush, pushed on through the ravines to Fort Ridgely. All the settlers west of the fort were killed, and he witnessed a spectacle of the mutilation of_the dead as is seen only where Indians have been on the war-path and held might in their grasp. The Indians were apprised of the coming of the company, and left the imprisoned defenders of the fort to peacefully and joyfully welcome the arrival of the would-be self-sacrificing com- pany who had saved them from massacre. Hearing of the beneficial effect the climate of Colorado has on invalids, he accepted of the verdict of the many, and brought his invalid

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wife to the State, without even first making the journey to ascertain if the reports were corrob- orated by the cure of those who had preceded him. Like hundreds of others had done, she gained her health, and rather than risk a change, he bought the Grand Central Hotel, one of the largest in the city, intending to make Colorado the future home of himself and family. In the spring of 1878, he leased the hotel to a renter, and spent the summer visiting relatives and friends in Washington, D. C., returning to Colo- rado in the fall. He has built four cottages in " The Grove," and was one of the projectors of the mineral-water artesian well, and is now, by developing the mineral resources of the State, at- testing his readiness to increase the wealth of the State as much as his has been increased by it.

JOHN A. THATCHER.

Few of those men who came out in the early days of Colorado have been more successful, or become more identified with the business in- terests of the country than John A. Thatcher. He was born Angust 25, 1836, near Newport, Penn., where he was raised and educated. In 1857, he came West to Holt County, Mo., where he lived about five years. In 1862, fol- lowing the "Star of Empire," lie came to Den- ver, Colo. After remaining there a few months, he went to Pueblo, where he located, and has lived for nineteen years, growing up with the place from its very infancy. At Pueblo he first engaged in the mercantile business, which he continued himself until the spring of 1865, when his brother, M. D. Thatcher, joined him, becoming a partner with him. Since then, his interests, and those of M. D. Thatcher, have been identical. In January, 1871, they insti- tuted a bank at Pueblo, which was operated as a private bank until the following June, when it became a national bank, taking the name of " The First National Bank of Pueblo." The capital stock of the bank was originally $50,000, but in 1874 it was increased to $100,000. The bank is owned and managed entirely by the Thatcher Brothers, M. D. Thatcher being the Cashier, and John A. Thatcher, President. Having amassed great wealth, the firm of the Thatcher Brothers now constitute one of the strongest and most influential in Southern Colorado. The First National is the principal bank, and is doing a large and increasing busi- ness. John A. Thatcher has been married a

number of years, and is now surrounded by an interesting family.

MAHLON D. THATCHER.

Mr. Thatcher is well known, especially among the business men, in Southern Colorado as a large capitalist and banker of Pueblo. He was born in Perry County, Penn., December 6, 1839. When fourteen years old, he moved with his parents to Martinsburg, Penn., where he re- ceived an academical education. After finish- ing school, he kept store for a time with his father at Martinsburg. He came to Colorado in the spring of 1865, and located with his brother in the mercantile business at Pueblo. He and his brother, John A. Thatcher, have since been together in all their business trans- actions. The Thatcher Brothers have been and are connected with many of the most impor- tant enterprises of Pueblo, the most notable of which is the First National Bank They in- stituted the bank and now own and conduct it themselves exclusively, John A. Thatcher being the President, and M. D. Thatcher, Cashier. Mr. Thatcher has amassed a large fortune and is to-day one of the leading business men of Colorado. His residence at Pueblo, is said to be the finest at this time in the State. He was married at Pueblo, August 1, 1876, to Miss Luna Jordan.

DR. PEMBROKE R. THOMBS.

This gentleman is well-known in Southern Colorado and throughout the State as an emi- nent physician, and the present Superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Pueblo. He was born at Yarmouth, Me., in 1840, and received his education principally at Water- ville College. In the spring of 1859, he went to Chicago, Ill., and there attended lectures at Rush Medical College, graduating in the spring of 1862. Soon after receiving his diploma, he entered the United States Army, becoming As- sistant Surgeon of the Eighty-ninth Illinois In- fantry. In the spring of 1864, he was promoted to Surgeon of the regiment, and continued as such to the close of the war. In June, 1865, his regiment being mustered out, Dr. Thombs returned to Chicago, and soon afterward he re- ceived from the Government a staff appoint- ment as Surgeon of United States Volunteers ; was assigned to Murfreesboro, Tenn., as Post Surgeon, and he remained there until June,

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 108

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080