History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 72

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791

USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV > Part 72

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

438

BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

Oshkosh, Wis., and ealled the 21st infantry, He the 20th corps formed in line. This was the acted as recruiting offieer in raising this regi- last battle Sherman's army fought. Soon after ment. It was mustered into the U. S. service Lieut .- Col. Fitch was brevetted colonel and at Sept. 5. 1862, and at once sent to the Army of the Cumberland then at Louisville, Ky., under Gen. Buell. It was at first placed under the orders of Gen. P. H. Sheridan. On the Sth of the following October it fought in the battle of

Goldsboro was assigned to the temporary eon- mand of the 2nd brigade of the 1st division of the 14th corps. From Goldsboro the army marched through Raleigh as far as Avent's Ferry, on the Cape Fear river. Here Cot. Perryville, Ky., in Rousseau's division, losing Fitch held the farthest outpost, but it was the a large number of men. The major of the last actual warlike service of the command. regiment was killed in this battle, and soon Lee surrendered and orders were at once given after Adjutant Fitch was promoted to fill the to march to Washington. The troops marched vacancy over the heads of all the captains. from Raleigh to Richmond, a distance of 155 On the 30th of Dee., 1862, at the head of the mites, in six days, and thence to Washington, regiment, he attacked Wheeler's rebel cavalry where they appeared in the grand review. May S. 1865. Col. Fitch commanded his regiment in this review and received many flattering commendations for the accurate movements and fine appearance of his men. He was mustered out at Milwaukee, Wis .. June 17, 1865, having been continuously in the service since May 1, 1861. In Love's his- on the Jefferson Pike, Tenn., and recaptured a wagon train that had just been taken by Wheeler. le fought in the battle of Stone river with his regiment in the 14th corps, under Gen. George II. Thomas, and soon after was made inspector of the 1st division, 14th corps. This placed him on the staff of Major-General

Rousseau. He served in this capacity in the tory of Wisconsin in the war, we find the for- engagement of Hoover's Gap, Dug Gap, the lowing: "General A. C. McClurg, chief of staff great battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Moun- to General Davis, pays a particularty high tain and Mission Ridge. After the latter he tribute to the conduct of Lient .- Col. Fitch on was relieved from staff duty at his own re- this trying occasion-the battle of Benton- ville. N. C .- and to his character in general as quest, and took command of his regiment, stationed then on the top of Lookout Moun- an officer." A. A. Nugent. Esq., a lawyer at tain. This was in the winter of 1863-64. The Kaukauna, Wis., who lost his arm in the battle Atlanta campaign began the Sth of May, 1864. of Bentonville, N. C., in an oration delivered with the battle of Buzzard's Roost, Ga., and at a rennion of the surviving veterans of the ended Sept. S, 1864, in the capture of Atlanta. 21st Wis. infantry, held at Waupaca, Wis., Major Fitch took an active part in all the hat- June 21, 1888, thus spoke of Col. Fitch: "I tles of that campaign, including Resaea, New believe him to have been the bravest and most

Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Chatta- competent officer that ever led a Wisconsin regiment into battle. In the midst of battle he was as cool and collected as on dress parade." In Sept., 1865, he located in Milwaukee, and opened a law office. In 1866 he was appointed pension agent, and made certain improve- ments in the method of paying pensions, whiel afterward were enacted into faw by Congress hoochee, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro and the siege of Atlanta. When this regiment was camped in Atlanta he was granted a leave of absence in Sept., 1864, went back to Batavia, Ohio, and married Alice A. Rhodes, his present wife, on the 12th of Oct., 1864. Hastening back to the army early in November, he joined his regiment just in time to command it in the and saved the pensioners much expense. In "march to the sea" under Sherman, having in 1870, upon the recommendation of his family physician, for the health of his wife, as well as his own, he moved to Colorado, settling near Pueblo on a raneb, and engaged in the raising of sheep and horses on a large scale. Ile was successful from the start. In 1871 he was appointed major-general of militia for holding the office four years. In Jan., 1876, he was appointed receiver of publie moneys at Pueblo. He held this office for nine and one- half years, until Cleveland was inaugurated. then a democratic successor was appointed in Aug., 1885. In Nov., 1876, the directors of the Stockgrowers' National Bank at Pueblo in- vited Colonel Fiteh to become president of that the meantime been promoted to be lieutenant- colonel. Savannah was taken Dec. 20, 1864, and for several days Colonel Fitch's regiment was city guard. The restless Sherman soon turned his baek upon Savannah and com- menced the more ardnous campaign through the Carolinas. In this Col. Fitch had eom- southern Colorado, and reappointed in 1876. inand of three regiments, the 21st Wisconsin, 42nd Indiana and 104th Illinois. Coming near to but avoiding Columbia, S. C., capturing Fayetteville and taking part in the affair at Averysboro, the army was rapidly approaching Goldsboro, N. C., when it was suddenly at- tacked, near Bentonville, by Hardee's forces. The 1st brigade, 1st division, 14th corps, com- manded by General Hobart, was in the front bank. He accepted and held the position nearly and received the first attack. Col. Fitch's twelve years, being the principal stockholder, command was a part of this brigade, and while and during the entire period personally man- the rest of the brigade was swept away, it aged its business. He made banking a sue- performed the feat of changing front three cess. In 1888, desiring a more quiet life and times in the face of the enemy and avoided extensive travel, he sold his interest in the capture until the rest of the 14th and part of bank. lle is also a prominent Mason in Colo-

439

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

rado. Ile belongs to the lodge, chapter and by the growth of the city, then well entered commandery. He has been eminent com- upon its second great period of development. mander of his commandery and grand com- inander of the state. lle has held nearly every office in the gift of the grand commandery. Ile was one of the three commissioners of Pueblo to settle upon a basis of consolidation of the cities of Pueblo, South Pueblo and the town of Central Pueblo. The consolidation was accomplished and has greatly contributed to the growth of the city. He has two chil- dren-Frederic, born in Milwaukee, Wis .. June 25, 1567, and Florence, born in Pueblo county, Colo., April 12, 1873. Both have been liberally educated in eastern schools.

FARISH, John B., a noted mining engi- neer, was born in San Francisco, Cal .. July 3, 1854. His father, A. T. Farish, was born in North Carolina, in 1810; emigrated when twenty-one years old to Tennessee, where he was a pioneer and one of the founders of Memphis. He arrived in California by the overland route in Sept., 1849, and engaged first in mining, subsequently in the mereantile trade. Ilis family followed, via Panama, in 1852. John B. was educated in the public schools of San Francisco, and entered the university at fifteen years of age. Financial misfortune succeeded and within the year he went to the gold mines of Sierra county, where he worked in various positions for several years, then returned to San Francisco and completed his education as a mining engineer. In March, 1879, he came to Colorado, and located in Leadville, opening an assay office, but in May was appointed superintendent of the Silver Cliff mine in Custer county, where he remained about one year, then went to Nevada, California and New Mexico, in each of which states he was in charge of large operations on important mines. In 1883 he as- sumed the management of mines at Leadville and in P'ark county, but in the following spring settled in Denver, established an assay office, and also acted as consulting mining engineer for eastern and European investors. In this capacity he has traveled very extensively in all parts of North America. Mr. Farish has attained high rank among the more eminent in his profession.

he opened a real estate office and made the initial move toward independence and ultimate fortune, with only a few dollars capital, but with courage and faith in the outcome. Ilis first venture was the purchase of what is known as Capitol hill subdivision, an entirely vacant traet, on a part of which the Emerson school building now stands, and adjoining the present Wolfe Hall property It will be under- stood by the reader of to-day that this now somewhat aristocratic and thickly populated section was wholly outside and beyond the limits of the city, uninhabited and untrav- ersed by any transportation lines. The fore- sight and vigorous effort brought to bear by Mr. Fletcher and his contemporaries in the same direction, produced the transformations that have made that quarter one of the most beautiful in the metropolis. Excepting Mr. Henry C. Brown, who, in 1860, preempted 160 acres of the first line of Capitol hill-a title it acquired in 1807, after the location of the capitol site-and converted it into choice resi- dence lots and blocks, Mr Fletcher was the first to aid in populating those grazing grounds for cattle beyond (with here and there a brick yard), and changing it from its primeval con- dition to one of lovely homes, adorned with shade trees and emerald lawns, It is not a part of the record that he advanced from a clerkship to affinence by rapid strides. It was only after years of perseverance, by con- stantly maintaining and persistently proclaim- ing his faith in the future of the city, and in- sistently dirceting attention to the elevated lands he was endeavoring to sell, supplemented by the aid of a few thousands of eastern cap- ital. that he succeeded in turning the tide in that direction and in relieving himself from financial embarrassment. Thenceforward. from the beginning of 1886, his transactions multiplied rapidly and his profits were large. in Jan .. ISAS, he was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce directorate, by whom he was chosen president of that organ- ization. In March following he was made president of the state board of immigration, and ardently fostered all movements looking to the prosperity of the city and state. Having amassed large sums from sales of Denver property, in 199900 he, with others, invested heavily in Pueblo realty, purchasing large tracts adjoining that city, laying out subdivi- sions and uniting with local capitalists and publie spirited men upon a system of perma- nent and far-reaching improvements. Much of the subsequent growth of Pueblo was due to the introduction at the proper time of these now influences. The mineral palace erected there was in large part due to Mr. Fletcher's efforts, and in organizing a company to build it he was made its president. In April. 1850. Mr. W. D. Todd, cashier of the Union Bank.

FLETCHER, Donald, real estate broker, was born in Coburg, Canada, Sept. 29, ISID. where the years of his boyhood were passed. At the age of seventeen the family removed to Chicago, where he attended private schools. and subsequently entered the University of New York, whence he graduated with gratify ing honors. In IN70 he came to Colorado. chietly with a view to restore, in this geniat climate, his seriously impaired health, which was fully attained in due course. Locating in Denver, and being almost penniless, he de- copied the first situation he could find a clerkship in one of the offices of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad-where he remained until 1881, when, realizing the opportunities offered was made a partner in Mr. Fletcher's business.

440

BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

The office was removed from its original rooms, at the corner of Sixteenth and Glenarm streets, to the Jacobson building, on the corner of Sixteenth and Arapahoe. and subsequently to the Equitable. In 1890 Mr. Fletcher began builling one of the handsomest residences in the city, which since has been completed and ocenpied. While at the head of the Chamber of Commerce he was made president of the railway project known as the California "Short Line," beginning at Leavenworth, Kan., pur- suing a straight course to Denver and thence hy the most direct route across the mountains to Salt Lake and Ogden. The first survey from the Missouri river to Denver was completed and the line located in 1889, the remainder in 1890. Little further was done. He was made president of the Colfax avenue electric rail- way, was a stockholler in six different mann- facturing concerns established in Denver, and in seven distinct firms doing a retail mercan- tile business in the sam - city. H'siny stments in these enterprises were made for the sole purpose of aiding them to successful results. In the tremendous financial disasters of 1893 Mr. Fletcher suffered great losses, but, being young, robust and hopeful, expects to retrieve himself in good time.

the building of iron and steel thoroughfares superseded stages and freighting by mule and cattle trains. Some of the camps they aided in establishing have since developed into thrifty towns; the wilderness they pene- trated in desolation has been transformed into scenes of brisk activity; the commerce which they controlled has been diverted into count- less channels. Years ago Mr. Field retired from such pursuits and became a resident of Denver.

FIELD, E. B., manager of the Colorado Telephone company, was born in Chelsea. Mass., in 1850. Although he attended for a short time the public sebools of his native city, the more valuable part of his education was obtained in the great university of hu- man experience, supported by tireless energy and indomitable will power to accomplish things. At the age of sixteen he lo- rated in Boston and engaged in the wholesale woolen business, being a solicitor for the firm with which he was employed. He remained in Boston until Nov., 1879, when, on account of lung trouble, he came to Colorado, and settled in Denver. He engaged with the tole phone company in Jan., 1880, and by apply- ing himself with great assiduity to the study of electrical science became so thoroughly proficient in knowledge pertaining to the duties of his position that he was, within the space of one year, made superintendent of the company's business. In 1884; he was again promoted, by receiving the appointment of general manager. He began at the bottom of the ladder and ascended to the top in a brief space of time, which shows what a man may do when he makes the right kind of an (fort. Mr. Field has entirely regained his health, and under his able and vigorous man- agement the affairs of the telephone com- pany are in a prosperous condition.

FERGUSON, D. H. See Vol. III, page 225. FIELD, Thomas M., merchant and con- tractor, was born on a farm near Columbia. Boone county, Mo., Feb., 17, 1837. At the age of fourteen he entered upon a course of study in the university of Missouri at Col- umbia, gradnating at the age of nineteen. Having a decided inelination toward the pro- fession of engineering, much attention was given to that branch of instruction. Therefore. soon after graduating. he was employed with the corps then surveying the line of the North Missouri railroad in that state. Thus practically embarked in the profession of his choice. ho followed it about eight years. FORD, Barney L., was born at Stafford Court Ilonse, Va., Jan. 22, 1822. Ile is en- tirely self educated by reading and study, having bad no advantages of schooling, public or private. lle was raised on a plantation in South Carolina. Ilis life was filled with all manner of adventures, only the stronger out- lines of which need be related. For some four years he was engaged in driving hogs and mules from Kentucky to Columbus, Ga .; next became second steward on a cotton boat from Columbus, Ga .. to Apalachicola. Fla., in which he served three years. From 1816 to 1848 he was employed ou a Mississippi pas- senger steamer plying between St. Louis Louisville and New Orleans. In 1848 he went to Chicago and engaged as a barber. A year later he married in that city, and in IS51 went to Niearangna, where he bought and managed the I'nited States hotel at Greytown, until the bombardment of that place by the I'nited States navy in retaliation for an attack by the natives on the U. S. war ship Prometheu- then came to Colorado (1864), and here sub- sequently became interested in constructing the Denver Pacific, Kansas Pacitic and Denver & Rio Grande railways, both as civil engineer and contractor. While the latter road was being rapidly pushed forward from Pueblo to the San Luis valley, he purchased large stocks of merchandise and established exten- sive trading posts in the new and prosperous towns along the line, the largest at Alamosa. where with his partner, the tirm being Fieldl & Ilill, he carried on a general merchandise busi- ness. From April, 1874, to April, 1876. he was treasurer of the city of Denver, and in 1878, two years after the admission of our state, he was the democratie candidate for the office of lieutenant-governor, but was de- feated by Il. A. W. Tabor. The old mer- chandising and railway contracting firm of Field & llill was one of the strongest in the territory. It established many houses, made large sums of money, and was a conspienons factor at the beginning of the new era when and the destruction of the property of Ameri-

LA. MELBURN

RESIDENCE

L.A.MELBURN &

A. MELBURN & - CO.

U CARRIAGE REPOSITORY IOFFICE TY

BLACKSMITH SHOP WOOD SHOP ™

COLORADO CARRIAGE WORKS.

441

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

cans in the town. The commander demanded rental. he returned to Chicago with the ex- indemnity, which being refused, he ordered pectation of retiring from business; bought the women and children to seek a place of a home and settled down in what he believed safety and immediately opened fire with all to be a life of peace and comfort, after all tlie his guns. After this warlike event, Mr Ford stormy and changeful years he had passed. But the agent with whom he left his property bilt, as steward of one of his vessels on Lake and business affairs in Denver, proved treach- prons and soon left him stranded again. In 1567 he returned to Denver, cleared up his badly shattered estate as well as he could, then went to Cheyenne, which the Union Pacific railroad was rapidly approaching. ning order when the first locomotive arrived. During the next twenty-four hours his cash receipts were $1.150. As so frequently oc- entered the employ of Commodore Vander- Nicaragua, running between Virgin Bay and Castillo Rapids, on the San Juan river. After eight months' service with Vanderbilt, he opened the California hotel in Virgin Bay and managed it until the filibustering ex- pedition by the notorious General Walker, opened a restaurant and had it in full run- who came there from New Orleans with the purpose of conquering and appropriating that country, took place. This impelled Mr. Ford to sell out and return to his native land. He eurs, he had taken an unfortunate partner reached New York in the fall of that year, moved to Chicago and there opened a sale and boarding stable which he condneted until 1860, then came to the Rocky Mountains. Proceeding to Central City, he purchased a placer claim in Gregory Gulch, and after a

and they disagreed. Ford paid him $10,000 for his interest and proceeded alone. This occurred in May. The next January his place was destroyed by fire, and, being without insurance, the loss, as before, was total. In 1ST] he returned to Denver and repurchased brief, but rather unfortunateexperience inmin- his old restaurant on Blake street, but sold ing came to Denver and went to work for his board in the old Hemingway house. After a time he bought, mostly on eredit, the vacant lot adjoining the hotel, erected a small frame building thereon, opened a barber shop and ran it until 1861. By that time the rich placers of Georgia, French and neighboring gulehes of Summit county had attracted large numbers to that region. lle joined the procession and opened a miners' boarding house in French Gulch. In October a tre- mendous snow storm closed the mines and caused a general exodus to the plains where the winters were less severe and supplies more abundant. Finding his occupation as a boarding house keeper reduced to unprofitable California and bought a restaurant in San proportions, he came back to Denver (Nov .. Francisco, but this too proved a failure, so he moved to Bodie and started a Innch counter, out of which he made sufficient money to bring him back to Denver. Finding no sat- isfactory opportunity there, he went to Sum- mit county and at Breckenridge established a restaurant. In 1887 he bought an interest in the Oro mine and two years later sold out, realizing a profit of $20,000. Jan. 1. 1890, he returned to Denver, bought a comfortable home and invested the balance in first-class income-paying property. In early times Mr. Ford was the most noted caterer and res- tanrateur in the Rocky Mountain region, re- spected by everyone, and patronized by the better class of people. All the pioneers re- member him, and the many occasions on which they have sat at his table. Many dis- tinguished men have been banqueted there. among them Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheri- dan, Dent and others. After an extremely checkered but serupulously honest career, it is hoped that his remaining years may he passed in well earned peace, happiness and comfort. 1861), put an addition to his building there and opened a restaurant in the rear of his barber shop and conducted both. The res- taurant was largely patronized from the first, Mr. Ford being a superior caterer and cook, hence the profits wore continuously large. The business soon mounted to cash receipts averaging about $250 a day. Then came the conflagration of 1863, which destroyed his building and most of its contents. Having no Insurance, it was a total loss. Deciding to rebuild and re-establish himself he applied to Luther Kountze (of Kountze Bros., bank- ers) for a loan, which was granted. With the funds thus obtained ($9,000), ho erected a much larger building, furnished and fitted it with all needful accessories, and began anew. Within ninety days after the resumption of business he repaid the entire sum with inter- est at 25 per cent. per annum. In 1865 he sold the restaurant to Mr. John J. Relthman, and leased him the building for $250 a month. From the profits and sale he realized $23,400 cash, much the largest sum he had ever pos- sessed, and with an assured income from the

in 1872, and bought out the Sargent house on Larimer street. In 1873 he bought the corner of Blake and Sixteenth streets, and erected the Inter-Ocean hotel, at a cost of $55,000, which was completed in 1874 and Jeused to Howard C. Chapin. For some years after, indeed, until the Windsor was built this was the aristocratie hostelry of Denver. . This enterprise had just been fairly launched when the people of Cheyenne offered him a considerable subsidy to go there and build a first-class hotel. Accepting their overtures, he erected the Inter-Ocean hotel in that city, but it proved an unprofitable venture and in due course bankrupted him. He then went to

FORSYTH, Alexander, was born in Scot- land in 1817. Ile received his education in

442

BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.

the public schools of that country and re- and of the P. O. S. of A. From the sale of his mained there until 1867, when he went to original farm, and other profitable ventures, England. After some years residence there, he has acquired a comfortable fortune, and he moved to Canada and afterward settled i is a highly respected member of the com- Pennsylvania, where he lived until 1879. Not munity. being entirely satisfied, he concluded to ex- tend his travels to Colorado, and spent the next fifteen months in Leadville and the Gun- nison country in mining. He finally came to Denver and took charge of the Riverside cem etery, which he has managed to the pres- ent time. He is largely interested in real es- tate and owns a ranch consisting of 640 acres.

FRANCE, Lewis B., lawyer and author, was born in Washington, D. C., Aug. 8, 1833. Originally bred to the printer's trade, he has made a wide reputation as an editor, lawyer and author. In these lines of literary and legal effort his name is as familiar as house- hold phrases, to all dwellers in the Rocky Mountain region, and to thousands of read- ers of the interesting tales he has written, that may justly be termed beautiful idyls of frontier life and experience, the humorous, sentimental and pathetic phases strongly idealized. His youthful instruction was ob- tained first in private schools; afterward at Georgetown college, D. C., where he remained until 1849, when he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and became an apprentice in the extensive book printing honse of Eli Morgan & Co., remaining four years. Here he thoroughly a short visit there, he crossed the plains by learned the trade, and it may have been this the Platte route, arriving in Denver June experience which inelined him to authorship. 16. Two days later he, with others who He was subsequently associated with sever? formed the party, camped the wagons on daily papers of that city, as reporter and edi- Clear creek just below Golden City, and leav- tor, until the latter part of 1856. Inelining the camp and property in charge of a guard, toward the legal profession, his leisure was Fassett and his comrades packed their blan- devoted to the study of law in a desultory

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 72

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company Publication date: 1889-95 Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co. Number of Pages: 791

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791