Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 103

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1530

USA > Colorado > Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present > Part 103

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M. H. MURRAY.

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an education. The extensive property he has ac- cumulated represents years of toil on his part. Energetic and progressive, he has made a success of life and has attained a competency and the re- spect of his fellow-citizens.

M ALACHI H. MURRAY, whose home is in Las Animas, Bent County, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., June 2, 1842, a son of Thomas and Ann (Martin) Murray. As a boy he attended the schools of his native city and under the instruction of his father learned the carpet-weaver's trade. In this occupation he be- came experienced at an early age, being able to throw the shuttle when only twelve years old. His father taught him to do his work carefully and well. The family had come over to this country with others of their faith (the Quaker) and, like the others, they were very thorough in their chosen occupations, believing that what was worth doing at all was worth doing well.

At the age of twenty Mr. Murray enlisted in Company I, Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Colonel Rush commanding. He was taken prisoner at the second battle of Bull Run, and was held for eight days, under immediate super- vision of General Lee. The Confederates at that time we in dire need of food, and their prisoners fared very badly, having nothing to eat except food that had been abandoned by Union forces. He was paroled and sent to Washington, D. C., where three months later he was exchanged. He took part in the battle of Gettysburg under General Patrick. Taken seriously ill with typhoid fever, he was placed in a hospital at Annapolis, Md., where he lay, apparently very near unto death, for four months. His recovery was very slow and tedious. He was honorably discharged from the service and as soon as his health was partly restored, in 1864 he came west. For a time he was at Santa Fe, later at Monterey, Mexico, where he engaged in buying and selling horses. During the two years spent there he was fairly successful. In 1872 he came to Colo- rado, bringing with him, to Bent County, a herd of Texas cattle, and since that time he has engaged in the cattle business, at times having as many as five thousand head. While he has met with reverses, yet in the main he has been suc- cessful, and his position is now that of an extensive and prosperous stock-raiser. His landed possessions aggregate four thousand acres.

At Pueblo, Colo., January 6, 1879, Mr. Murray

married Miss Mary Nicholson, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from the high school of Cincinnati. She came to Colorado in 1875 with her parents, Samuel and Ann (Osborne) Nicholson, and her home has since been in Las Animas, where her seven children were born. Olive, the eldest, who is a graduate of the high school in Las Animas, is now a student in the State University at Boulder, Colo. Joseph was born March 3, 1881, and is at home. Alice, the second daughter, has been a student at St. Cecilia's Academy at Washington, D. C. May, Ida, Amelia and Irene complete the family circle.

In 1864 Mr. Murray voted for Abraham Lincoln. From that time to this he has voted the Republican ticket. For two years he served as mayor of Las Animas, and from 1889 to 1895 held office as mayor. He served upon the board of county commissioners at the time the present court house was built. In religion he and his family are connected with the Roman Catholic Church.

EORGE M. CARTER, a resident of Colo- rado Springs since 1889, represents one of the pioneer families of America, the first of the name in this country having crossed the ocean in the "Mayflower." His grandfather, Thomas B. Carter, who was born in Vermont, became a millwright, following his trade in Vermont and New York, thence removing to Lena, Ill., where he was a money loaner and real-estate dealer. He was prominent in his locality and was elected to the legislature of Illi- nois. His death occurred in Lena when he was sixty-eight years of age.

Nelson Carter, our subject's father, was born in the Green Mountain region of Vermont, but was reared in New York, and for some years lived in Lena, Ill., where he was proprietor of the Lena Hotel. In 1857 he went to Johnson County, Mo., as general agent for Missouri of the old Manny reaper factory in Freeport. During the Civil war he was a member of a com- pany of home guard that fought at Carthage, Pea Ridge and in other skirmishes. While in the service he was taken ill, in September, 1862, and died in November at Dunksburg, Mo. His wife, who was Eliza Reber, a native of Brush- ville, Pa., was a daughter of Jacob Reber, who was born, of German descent, in Pennsylvania, and became a prosperous farmer of Kent Town- ship, Stephenson County, Ill., of which he was a

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pioneer. After the death of Mr. Carter his widow returned to Freeport, Ill., where she now makes her home. Of her three children two are living, one son, S. J., being with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad in Freeport.

The subject of this sketch was born in Lena, Il1., April 30, 1855, and was reared in Freeport, attending the grammar and high schools there. At seventeen years he entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad Company as brakeman between Amboy and Dubuque, which position he filled for seven years. He was then made yard- master in Freeport and conductor of the bush engine at the same time, filling these places for four years. In 1883 he went to Missouri, and settled at Knobnoster, Johnson County, where he engaged in the real-estate and insurance business for six years, and then, hoping to find relief from asthma, he came to Colorado Springs. He soon secured employment as a brakeman on the Rock Island road between Colorado Springs and Denver, remaining as such until the Ist of January, 1893. Meantime he became interested in the Cripple Creek mine, and organized the Union Gold Mining Company, of which he was the first secre- tary and which patented four claims, Delmonico, Pike's Peak, Orpha No. I and Orpha No. 2. After having been manager and secretary for three years, in 1893 he sold his interest in the property. After leaving the road he turned his attention to mining. He organized the Gould Mining and Milling Company, of which he was a director until he sold his interest. In the organization of the Black Wonder Gold Mining Company he took an active part, became its first secretary and is still a stockholder. He was active in the organization of the Humboldt Gold and Silver Mining Company, of which he is vice-president and a director. He is also one of the largest stockholders in the Copper Mountain Gold Mining Company, the Montreal Gold Mining and Milling Company that owns the Flourine mine, and the Freeport and Cripple Creek Gold Mining Company, which owns four patented claims and of which he is vice-president and a director. One of the organizers of the Mariposa Mining and Tunnel Company, which owns nine claims in Cripple Creek district, he has since served as its president. He is also interested in other com- panies, all in Cripple Creek, and in addition is engaged in the brokerage and loan business, and is a stockholder in the Exchange National Bank.

In Missouri Mr. Carter married Miss Lou Alice

Marshall, who was born in Johnson County, Mo., where her father, Richard Marshall, was a large farmer. Three children bless the union, namely: Mabel, a member of the high school class of 1899; Bessie, also a student in the high school; and Dorcas. The family are identified with the Christian Church. In politics Mr. Carter is a Republican. He is a member of the Colorado Springs Mining Stock Association. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being a charter member of the lodge here; the Ancient Order of United Work- men, Woodmen of the World, Royal Arcanum and Elk's Club.

DGAR E. WADE, general manager of the El Paso Electric Company, Colorado Springs, has been connected with this company from its organization. When he came to this city in November of 1886, the work of building the orig- inal plant had just been commenced, and he came as an electrical engineer to superintend and take charge of the plant. One year later he was made manager of the plant, which position he has since held, in addition to which he is a stock- holder in the company. It is largely due to his practical knowledge of electrical engineering that the works have been so successful. At the in- ception of the enterprise the plant had a capacity of seven hundred lights of sixteen-candle power, but it was afterward ascertained that the system was not suitable for residence purposes. Seven months after the first building was completed an- other was begun, with a capacity of fifteen hun- dred incandescent and fifty arc lights, and this was completed in one year. Since then its ca- pacity has been increased, until now there is a capacity of nine thousand nine hundred incandes- cent lights, and two hundred and fifty-five arc lights, with two hundred horse-power of genera- tion for furnishing power. At present there are connected twenty-four thousand incandescent and two hundred and twenty arc lights. This is al- most the only city in the United States that av- erages about one light for each inhabitant. The equipments are modern and the plant one of the best of its kind.

George Wade, father of our subject, was born in Vermont and became a mechanical engineer in Augusta, Me. In 1857 he removed to Chicago, where he established a machine shop and steam fitting works, and continued to conduct this busi- ness until he died in 1876. In the Chicago fire

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of 1871 he was burned out and afterward rebuilt in a different location. Fraternally he was con- nected with the Knight Templar Masons. He married Carrie E. Gray, who was born in Ver- mont and resides in Chicago. Of their two sons, W.H. is a farmer near Lowell, Ind. The older son, our subject, was born in Augusta, Me., Novem- ber 16, 1856, and attended the grammar and high schools of Chicago, graduating from the latter at nineteen years of age. After completing his education he entered his father's establish- ment, where he learned steam-fitting and engin- eering. After the works were burned down in 1875 he took a position with the John Davis Company, but after a year turned his attention to stationary engineering. Two years later he became shipping clerk in S. P. Rounds' type foundry, and within six months was placed in charge of the order department. When Mr. Rounds sold his business in Chicago and removed to Washington, D. C., in 1884, our subject ac- companied him, and for two years was employed in the government printing office, after which he was placed in charge of the electrical plant. When there was a change in the administration he resigned. From that city he came to Colorado Springs, where his energy, ability and business judgment have been instrumental in securing the success of the El Paso Electric Company. He represents his company as delegate to the Na- tional Electric Light Association, in which he has served on important committees. Politically he is a Republican and has been identified with the county central committee. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He was married in Chicago to Miss Clara E. Eddy, who was born in Troy, N. Y., but resided in Chicago from the age of thirteen until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Wade and their son, Bert E., reside on Knob Hill.

D r HARLES ANKELE, sheriff of Chaffee County, was formerly a resident of Salida, but now makes his home in Buena Vista. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 12, 1857, and spent his boyhood days in that city, receiv- ing a fair education in public schools. At an early age he began to work in an architect's of- fice, and continued there for four years, after which he had charge of a construction party en- gaged in work on the Mississippi River, and for three years he was located at Osceola, Ark., in the employ of the government.

Going to the Republican River in Nebraska in 1879, Mr. Ankele became a cowboy in that locality, and remained there for four years. In the spring of 1883 he removed further west and settled in Salida, Colo., where he secured employ- ment as town marshal and police officer. Being naturally of a fearless, determined disposition, he was suited for the office which he held, and his name became a terror to law-breakers. In the fall of 1897 he was elected sheriff, assuming the duties of the office in January, 1898, and at the same time removing from Salida to Buena Vista. He is married, his wife having formerly been Miss Maggie O'Neil, of Leadville, Colo.

In matters relating to politics Mr.Ankele gives his allegiance to the silver Republican cause, and it was upon this ticket that he was elected sher- iff. Fraternally he is connected with Salida Lodge No. 54, I. O. O. F .; Iron Mountain Lodge No. 19, K. P .; and Pinon Camp No. 17, Wood- men of the World, all of these organizations be- ing in Salida.

ACOB ETZEL, president of the Wet Moun- tain Creamery Company, in which he is a large stockholder, is also an extensive farmer and stock-raiser and owns a ranch two miles south of Westcliffe, in Custer County. As his name in- dicates, he is of German nationality. He was born in Saxe-Weimar, Germany, January 19, 1843, a son of Anton and Margaret (Schuchert) Etzel. He was educated in Germany and in 1861 came to the United States, settling in Butler County, Pa. Six months later he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry, in which he served until the expiration of his term, in 1863, when he was honorably discharged. The most important en- gagements in which he took part were those at Antietam, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg.

Returning to Pennsylvania, Mr. Etzel worked in a store for about a year. In 1864 he went to California, where for the next five years he en- gaged in mining, and afterward returned to the occupation in which he had been reared, that of farming, which he carried on in Yolo and Saline Counties, Cal. He became the owner of a herd of cattle and gave considerable attention to dairy- ing. In 1880 he decided to come to Colorado, hoping that the change would benefit his health, which had been poor for two years. Upon com- ing to this state he took up one hundred and sixty acres, and later bought the quarter-section where

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he now resides. This land he devotes to the raising of grain and hay, also making a specialty of stock. His experience in farming has well fitted him for ranch life, and he has the reputa- tion of being one of the most successful ranchmen in Wet Mountain Valley. It has been his custom to range his cattle in the summer and feed them during the winter. His hay and grain crop is a heavy one for the amount of land under cultiva- tion. In 1898 he raised sixty tons of hay, four hundred and fifty bushels of wheat and twelve hundred and fifty bushels of oats, which latter crop would have been heavier had it not been for the disastrous hail storm in the spring.

Actively interested in local matters, Mr. Etzel votes the Democratic ticket and takes an interest in measures for the benefit of his people. He was reared in the Roman Catholic faith and has always adhered to that religion. In April, 1889, he married Mary Wise, of Butler County, Pa., daughter of Anthony and Anna (Schick) Wise, natives of Wurtemberg, Germany.

ENJAMIN F. MORLEY. Twenty-five miles from Buena Vista, Chaffee County, on the Saguache range, is the Mary Murphy mine, an important producer of both gold and silver, the former predominating. The mine was located in 1880, and for some years was operated with fair success, but in 1893 was closed down and remained so for two years. In January, 1895, Mr. Morley came to Chaffee County to take charge of it, and from the time he assumed its management the mine has been successfully op- erated. About one hundred tons of ore are pro- duced per diem, and a mill, with a daily capacity of one hundred tons, is operated at the mine. The company owning the mine is composed of per- sonal friends of Mr. Morley and residents of Chester, Pa. In 1897 they built a smelter in Buena Vista that has a capacity of one hundred and twenty tons a day, and here the metal is sep- arated from extraneous substances. The entire management of the plant devolves upon Mr. Mor- ley, who is a stockholder and director of the com- pany, and the only member of the same in Colo- rado.

Mr. Morley was born at Strawberry Point, Clayton County, Iowa, December 3, 1855. When five years of age he was taken by his parents to a farm near Rockford, Ill., and there he spent the years of youth. For two years he attended a pri- vate school in Rockford, and afterward prepared

for college at Windsor (N. Y.) Academy. He took the regular four years' course in engineering and chemistry at the Pennsylvania Military Col- lege, Chester, Pa., from which he graduated. Continuing in the same institution, he remained there as an instructor and professor for ten years, and then for six years was vice-president and business manager of the same college. In Janu- ary, 1895, he left Chester and came to Colorado. He is manager and a director of the Mount Blanca Gold Mining Company, of Costilla Coun- ty, on the Sangre de Cristo range, and is assist- ing in developing the mine, which is very promis- ing. In January, 1897, he purchased the electric light plant in Buena Vista, and when the smelter was put in it absorbed the same.

In 1882 Mr. Morley married Miss Sarah de Lannoy, daughter of a French professor in the Pennsylvania Military College, where Mr. Morley was pupil and teacher. They have five children: Sylvanus G., Constance de Lannoy, James Hen- ry, Alice Evelyn and Eleanor Franklin. The family are connected with the Episcopal Church.

Until recently Mr. Morley was a Republican, but the money question becoming a national issue, he found himself in sympathy with the Democratic silver doctrines. In the spring of 1898 he was elected mayor of Buena Vista on the independent ticket and is the present incumbent of that office.

BNER E. WRIGHT, JR., who is engaged in the mercantile business in Buena Vista and is also county commissioner of Chaffee - - County, was born at Steamboat Rock, Hardin County, Iowa. The sketch of his ancestry ap- pears in the biography of his father, the well- known pioneer, Dr. Abner E. Wright, upon another page. His boyhood years were spent in attendance upon the schools of his home town. When about twenty-one years of age he em- barked in the mercantile business in Buena Vista, and continued for five years. Upon selling out he engaged in the cattle business in Gunnison County, this state, for one year.

Returning to Buena Vista in 1892, Mr. Wright opened the general store of which he has since been the owner and proprietor. He carries a complete assortment of goods, such as are needed in this section of the country, and also has the staples, groceries, merchandise, etc., besides dealing in hay and grain. Having spent the greater part of his life in Colorado he naturally

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feels a deep interest in matters pertaining to the court decided against Mr. Layden, but he took advancement of the state. Local projects of a progressive nature receive his co-operation, and he has proved himself to be a public-spirited citizen.

In political connections Mr. Wright voted the Democratic ticket until 1885, when he allied him- self with the People's party. In 1895 he acted as mayor pro tem. of Buena Vista and the follow- ing year was elected to the office, which he filled with efficiency. For three years he rendered good service as a member of the city council. In 1895 he was elected county commissioner, and for two years acted as chairman of the board. On the expiration of his term he was again elected to the position of commissioner.

Mr. Wright is a young man (born March 10, 1861), and has attained a degree of prosperity commendable, when it is considered that his years of active business life have not been many. Energetic and pushing, he is steadily working his way to a position of assured success. In fraternal relations he is a member of Mount Yale Camp No. 11, Woodmen of the World, and Bnena Vista Lodge No. 88, K. P. His marriage united him with Clara E., daughter of J. C. Irving, of Chaffee County. The children born of their union are: A. Geraldine, Edward, Corinne and Dewey Sampson.

M J. LAYDEN, county assessor of El Paso County, came to Colorado in Angust, 1892, and engaged in prospecting in Cripple Creek, since which time he has been interested in mining. For two years he served as president of the Trade's Assembly of Cripple Creek and a very active member; for a similar period he served as president of the Free Coinage Miners' Union. He served as a delegate to the convention of the Western Federation of Miners, held in Denver. His sympathies have always been enlisted in favor of the greenback and silver movement. His first vote was cast for Gen. Ben Butler. In 1897 he was chosen secretary of the convention of the Peo- ple's party of El Paso County, and in that meet- ing he was nominated for sheriff; however, when a fusion ticket was decided upon, he was trans- ferred to the county assessorship, and he was elected in the fall of 1897. The official count gave him a plurality of thirty and he received a cer- tificate of election from the county clerk, but the election was contested by J. M. Jackson, then in- cumbent of the assessor's office. The county

the matter to the supreme court of Colorado, where a decision was rendered in his favor, July 19, 1898, and he took the oath of office July 30 following.

Mr. Layden was born in Pocahontas County, Va., March 21, 1862, his birthplace being within sight of the old fort where Pocahontas was born. His father, John, who was of Irish parentage, settled in Pocahontas County and engaged in the dry-goods business until the war. He then en- tered the Twenty-second West Virginia Cavalry, under Colonel Ashby, in General Jackson's corps, and for three years he was captain of Company E. He was wounded three times in the second battle of Bull Run, and was obliged to remain away from his regiment for a time. During the last year of the war he was commissioned to buy sup- plies for the Confederate government. After the war ended he engaged in the stock business in the Great Kanawha Valley, W. Va., where he died at sixty years. He married Kate Loftus, who was born near Richmond, Va., of Scotch-Irish extraction. Her father, John Loftus, was a plant- er in Virginia, and the son of a Revolutionary hero, whose family were prominent in early days of Virginia. Mrs. Layden died in middle age. Of her three sons and two daughters, all except one attained mature years. John, who came to Colorado in March, 1892, was killed in Cripple Creek in July, 1892, while mining, falling from a shaft and being killed instantly.

In old Virginia our subject remained until four- teen years of age. He then went to West Vir- ginia. For two years he was a student in Wash- ington Lee University near Richmond. In 1880 he went to Texas, where he engaged in railroad- ing and the stock business. He was also in Old Mexico for some time, being for three years em- ployed on the Mexican National Railroad. On his return to Texas he became interested in ranch- ing. From Texas he came to Colorado, and is now living in Colorado Springs. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Red Men.

ATHAN WARD came to Saguache County i11 1869 and took up a quarter-section of land, later homesteaded another one hun- dred and sixty acres. At that early day there was no one in the valley west of him; in fact, white settlers were very few in all parts of the valley, and his principal neighbors were Indians, but he was never molested by them. From its

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primeval condition he developed the land into a well-improved ranch. Besides this place he has a timber claim of forty acres. Running water through the ranch adapts it for stock purposes and also for the raising of hay, which he raises in sufficient quantities to furnish feed for his stock during the winter.

In Norfolk County, England, our subject was born on the first day of the year 1837, a son of William and Susanna (Riches) Ward, natives of England. His father emigrated from the county of Norfolk to America in 1852 and settled in Iowa, where he devoted the remainder of his active life to farm pursuits. He is still living in that state and is now eighty-seven years of age. In politics he has adhered to Republican prin- ciples, while in religion he is a Methodist. Of his family, two daughters died in infancy. The seven sons are named as follows: Nathan; William, deceased; Robert, who owns a ranch in Oklahoma; James; Thomas, a farmer in Iowa; John, who resides at Delmar Junction, Iowa; and Henry, who lives in South Dakota.

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Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 103

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1530

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1530