Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 11

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 11

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After the death of his father, which occurred in December, 1858, our subject went to the upper peninsula of Michigan, where he worked in copper mines. Later he was in the lower pen- insula. At the first call for troops during the Civil war he volunteered in the Fifth Michigan Infantry, but the quota being filled, the regiment was not called into service at that time. In 1862 he entered Company C, Twenty-seventh Michi- gan Infantry, and enlisted as a private at Copper Harbor, thence going to Kentucky and joining the Ninth Corps under General Burnside, in the Department of the Ohio. He took part in the in regard to proportionate loss, according to the

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

statistics by Fox, and first in percentage of loss of the regiments that entered the service in 1862.

After his retirement from the army, Captain Moynahan studied in Bryant & Stratton's Com- mercial College in Detroit. In April, 1866, he graduated from the college and shortly afterward came to Colorado, where for two years he super- intended a mine in Park County, then turned his attention to merchandising. In 1874 he started a store at Alma, of which place he has since been the most prominent business man. His name is so well known throughout the state that both in 1884 and 1886 he was prominently mentioned for governor of the state. He is a member of the Abe Lincoln Post, G. A. R., in Denver, of which he is past commander. In the Colorado Com- mandery of the Loyal Legion he holds member- ship.

In Greenfield, Mich., our subject married Mary Monaghan, who was born in Ireland, a daughter of Peter Monaghan, who came to America and settled in the upper peninsula of Michigan, there engaged in mining. The four children born of the union are: Alice, Ambrose Edwin, James W. and Clarissa.

AVID GRIFFITHS, state inspector of coal mines, was appointed to this position by Governor McIntire February 18, 1895, for a term of four years. The coal industry in Colo- rado is yet in its infancy and only the croppings have been mined, the vast wealth in coal that lies underneath the surface of the earth having never been touched. This statement will give an idea of the immense veins that wait to be freed from their prison beds within the earth. While the output is so very small in comparison with the actual amount here, yet it is sufficient to provide the entire state with coal for its railroads, manu- facturing industries, public buildings and private residences, and besides this, large shipments of coal and coke are made to other states. The manifold duties connected with the development of the industry require the entire time of the state inspector and an assistant.

The family of which Mr. Griffiths is a member has long been known in Carmarthaenshire, Wales. His grandfather, John, who was born there, made it his home throughout life, tilling one of its farms. William, father of David, was born in that shire, but after his marriage to Ann Evans

he removed to Glamorganshire, where he en- gaged in farming until his death, in 1888, at the age of sixty-one. His wife passed away in 1878, at the age of fifty-one years. She was a daughter of Hugh Evans, who was a weaver and manufact- urer of woolen goods.

Of four children, three being daughters and still in Glamorgan, the subject of this sketch is the eldest. He was born at Glynneath, Vale of Neath, Glamorganshire, February 1, 1856, and in early childhood was a pupil in the British schools. Before he was ten years of age he be- came a helper in a coal mine near Resolven, and while there learned to dig coal, in which work he began before he was sixteen, meantime becoming fire boss in a mine in the Neath district. In 1882 he took passage at Liverpool for America, and after landing in New York proceeded at once to Colorado, where he arrived in May. He en- gaged in mining in Erie district until February, 1883, when he went to Como, Park County, Colo., and continued mining. March, 1884, found him in Crested Butte, where he was fire boss for the Colorado Coal and Iron Company, and this company in 1885 sent him to take the. position of fire boss at the Walsenburg mines. In May, 1886, he resigned the position and visited his old home in Wales, spending six months in renewing associations with the com- rades and scenes of his youth. While in Wales he married Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Reese and Elizabeth Howells.

On his return to America Mr. Griffiths re- sumed his former place as fire boss in the Wal- senburg mines, and was later promoted by the company to be pit boss at the Robinson mines. Resigning in June, 1889, he went to Sopris, Las Animas County, where he took the position of fire boss with the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com- pany, but this he resigned in October, 1890, in order to accept a position as mine foreman with the Trinidad Fuel Company at Chicosa, Colo. During his time with them he had entire charge of the group of mines, with three openings. In 1894 he resigned and took full charge of the Oak Creek mines at Williamsburg for the United Coal Company, being superintendent and mine fore- man for the company until he accepted his pres- ent position of state inspector. During the administration of Governor Waite he was one. of seven who took the competitive examination for

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

state inspector, and of the seven four passed the in Lena until 1866, when he sold out and started minimum, which was sixty per cent; of these he for Montana. On the 20th of May he met his brother in Nebraska City and together they bought four hundred cattle and freight teams, which they loaded, and started up the Platte. At Fort Larimer they were informed by officers that they would have no trouble in passing over the Bozeman route. After they had traveled some distance they were attacked by Sioux and Chey- ennes at Dry Fork aud Wind River. His brother was shot and killed, and he narrowly escaped the same fate. He spent the winter at the head of the Missouri River and sold out in the spring of 1867, returning to Illinois in July, accompanied by his brother's family. received the highest grade, his being ninety-nine and a fraction per cent, while the others received respectively sixty-six and eight-tenths per cent, sixty-two and sixty-one and a fraction. The ap- pointee was the one who had sixty-two per cent. He was again examined at the regular time in 1895, this time receiving ninety-nine and a frac- tion, while not one of the three other competitors received ninety per cent, which was the minimum. February 18, 1895, he was appointed state in- spector for a term of four years. For three years he studied in the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton and graduated from that in- stitution in the mining course, receiving his diploma September 11, 1897. In the final ex- amination his standing was ninety-eight and seven-tenths per cent, which was remarkably high.

Since his appointment as state inspector Mr. Griffiths and his wife have made their home in Denver. They have five children: William, Martha A., Elizabeth, Catherine Jane and Blos- som. In national politics Mr. Griffiths is a silver Republican. He was made a Mason at Crested Butte and is still a member of Lodge No. 38 at that place. He is also a member of Unity Lodge No. 70, I. O. O. F., at Walsenburg.

EWIS CHENEY. Few men who have been citizens of Boulder at any period of its history became so well known as Mr. Cheney, and still fewer gained a wider personal popularity or warmer friendships. For years before his death he was president of four banking institutions, for which responsible work his superior mental qual- ities abundantly qualified him. He accumulated an ample fortune through the steady prosecution of business enterprises, not by any lucky turn of fortune's wheel, or the fortunate issue of specula- tive schemes.

Born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y., April 4, 1830, Mr. Cheney was reared on a farm. When a boy he removed to Stephenson County, Ill., settling on a farm near Lena. At the age of twenty he journeyed over the plains with an ox-team to California, where he engaged in mining, freight- ing and stock dealing, which yielded him a hand- some revenue. In 1854 he returned overland to Illinois, and engaged in the mercantile business

After selling his property in Lena, Mr. Cheney removed to Holden, Mo., and in partnership with I. M. Smith, under the firm name of Smith & Cheney, opened a bank July 1, 1868. In 1871 the Bank of Holden was organized, with himself as president. In 1874 he assisted in or- ganizing the Bates County National Bank, in Butler, Mo., and was made its president. Three years later, in 1877, he organized the First National Bank of Boulder, of which he was presi- dent until hisdeath. He also organized the First National Bank of Gunnison and was its president during the remaining years of his life. Through his business and financial ability and sound judg- ment in investments, he became one of the wealth- iest men in Boulder.

In 1855 Mr. Cheney married Margaret Blair, who died in 1867. His second marriage took place in Holden in 1871, and united him with Sarah A. Milner, who was born near Connors- ville, Fayette County, Ind. One of her earliest recollections is of leading by the hand her great- grandfather, Amos Milner, who was a native of Kentucky, a soldier in the Revolution, and was nearly blind at the time of his death, when little less than one hundred years old. His son John moved from Ohio to Indiana and died there; the latter's son, Amos, was born in Ohio, settled in Fayette County, Ind., and engaged in farming un- til his death, which occurred when his daughter was ten years of age. His wife, Rosanna, was a daughter of John Boyd, a farmer in Indiana; she died when her daughter, Sarah A., was eight years old. Of her five daughters and three sons one daughter and two sons are living. John, an attorney, died in Indiana; William I. and Amos

GEN. BYRON L. CARR.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

O. reside in Boulder, the latter being a veteran of the Civil war. Three of the sisters died in Indiana and one in Missouri. When a girl Mrs. Cheney lived with her grandparents, Milner, in Indiana, but she was married in Holden, Mo. Since fifteen years of age she has been a member of the Christian Church. She owns and occupies a beautiful residence at No. 1205 Bluff street, where, surrounded by every comfort which ample means can provide, she may reasonably hope to spend her declining days. She is a lady of gentle character, kind to the deserving poor, as was her husband, and generous to all in need. In her family there are three children: Oliver I., who is engaged in mining at Somerville; Charles H., who is bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Boulder; and Lynette, a graduate of the Christian College at Columbia, Mo.

The life of Mr. Cheney closed March 31, 1885. He was a member of the Christian Church and an active participant in its enterprises. Frater- nally he was a Knight Templar Mason. He was interested in everything that would promote the well-being of the city, and was ever willing to sacrifice private interests for the public welfare. Although deeply engrossed in his banking enter- prises, yet he was interested in every good work, ever public-spirited and efficient, and believing as he did that there is but one thing that will make a state great, an educated Christian citizen- ship, all along the pathway of his busy life he was the friend of the church, the school and col- legiate education. As a progressive citizen, an able banker, a consistent Christian and a kind friend, he is remembered by all who knew him.

G EN. BYRON L. CARR. There are among the citizens of Colorado many men of un- usual breadth of mind and brilliancy of intel- lect, men who would be valuable acquisitions to the citizenship of any state, and to whose mental acumen and excellent business judgment much of the progress made by this state during the past two decades may be attributed. Such a man is the subject of this sketch, who has been hon- ored by the people of the state with election to the office of attorney-general. Since coming to Colorado in 1871 he has held many responsible positions, both under the territorial and the state government, and the highest interests of the com-

monwealth have been visibly enhanced by his sagacity and practical judgment.

The Carr family has been represented in America since the days of the Pilgrim Fathers. The ship carpenter of the "Mayflower," 1620, was George Carr, who settled at Plymouth, but later removed to Salisbury, Mass., where gen- erations of his descendants lived and died. The town was situated on an island in the Merrimac River, and under the name of Carr's Island, by which it was commonly known, was granted to George Carr in 1625. Some of the family were in the colonial wars, and two, one of whom was named James, took part in the enterprise against Quebec. Capt. Daniel Carr was born in Salis- bury in 1710, and attained the age of one hun- dred years. His son, Deacon John Carr, was born in Newburyport, Mass., in 1774, and when a young man removed to Grafton County, N. H., where he engaged in farming. For a long time he served as deacon in the Congregational Church.

Next in line of descent was General Carr's father, Capt. John Carr, who was born in Graf- ton County, served as captain of a company of New Hampshire militia, and for years was a con- tractor and builder of bridges and churches. He made his home in Haverhill until his death, which occurred at sixty-four years. His wife was Susan Ryder, a native of New Hampshire, and the daughter of Seth Ryder, who was born in Newburyport, Mass. The latter, who was the son of a sea captain, married Mary Hibbard, whose father, Thomas, was an officer in the Revolution, having served as clerk of a company of militia in 1775-76, sergeant on guard and scout duty in 1777, and captain of a company from May, 1779, to 1781, being continuously in the service from 1775 to 1781. He was of Eng- lish descent. Mrs. Susan Carr died in 1889, at seventy-five years; she was the mother of seven children, four of whom attained maturity, By- ron L. being the youngest child and the only son now living.

In his native town of Haverhill, N. H., and in the Newbury (Vt.) Academy General Carr received his education. While a student in the academy, April 19, 1861, he enlisted in the Sec- ond New Hampshire Infantry, serving for three months. In 1862 he enlisted in the First New Hampshire Cavalry, Company M, and re-enlisted

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in 1864, serving until June, 1865, when he was discharged as acting sergeant-major of the First Cavalry. With the Army of the Potomac he took part in the battles of Cedar Mountain, sec- ond battle of Bull Run, Chantilly, Fredericks- burg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Shen- andoah campaigus, battles of Antietam and Cold Harbor; the campaign around Richmond and Petersburg, and the battle of Appomattox. At Fisher Hill, in September, 1864, he was four times wounded and lost his left thumb. At Ap- pomattox, the day before Lee surrendered, he was wounded in the right arm, which was so se- riously injured as to make amputation necessary. He remained in the hospital from April 8, 1865, to the following July, when he was able to leave. At Middleburg, Va., June 17, 1863, he was cap- tured by Stuart's cavalry and sent to Libby prison, thence to Belle Island, remaining as pris- oner until October, when he was exchanged. While in prison he suffered all the privations and hardships incident to life as a prisoner of war.

On his return from the war he completed his academic course in Vermont, and then, in 1867, went to Waukegan, Ill., where he was principal of the high school. In 1868, by appointment, he was made county superintendent of schools, to which office he was elected in 1869 for four years. While in that position he studied law and was admitted to the bar. Resigning his of- fice in 1871 he came to Colorado in April of that year and located at Longmont, where he taught for a year and also practiced law. In 1873-74 he was attorney of the first judicial district of Colorado, including Gilpin, Clear Creek, Boul- der, Jefferson and Larimer Counties. In 1875 he was chosen a member of the constitutional con- vention of Colorado, and in the convention of 1875-76 he was chairman of the committee on military affairs and drew up the military article. He also served as a member of the committees on education, mines and mining, agriculture, and revision and adjustment. The convention was composed of thirty-nine men, who stood among the brainiest and most influential in the state. In the convention March 14, 1876, the constitu- tion was adopted, and President Grant issued his proclamation admitting the state on the Ist of August. On the Ist of July it was submitted to the people for ratification, and by them was adopted.

On the Republican ticket, in 1894, Mr. Carr was nominated for the office of attorney-general and was elected, taking his seat in January, 1895. The following year he was re-elected on a fusion ticket of silver Republicans and Demo- crats. In addition to discharging the duties of his office, he is interested in farm lands in Boul- der County, and in real estate elsewhere. He is a member of the Masonic lodge in Longmont, and has been past grand master of Colorado; Longmont Chapter No. 8, R. A. M., in which he is past high priest; Long's Peak Commandery No. 12, K. T., in which he is past eminent com- mander and past grand commander of the state, holding the latter position at the time of the con- clave in Denver in 1892, when he gave the ad- dress of welcome; also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In the Grand Army he is quite active. He aided in organizing Mc- Pherson Post No. 6 of Longmont, of which he is past commander, and in 1884 was department commander of Colorado. The most of the na- tional conventions of the army he has attended. He is a member of the national executive council of administration in the Grand Army.

In Chicago General Carr married Miss Mary L. Pease, who was born in Maine, the daughter of Eliphalet Pease, who was a native of Maine and died in Colorado. They have two children, Jerome B., a student in the Denver high school; and Susie, wife of Capt. L. P. McGuire, of Den- ver, who is private secretary to his father-in-law. Mrs. Carr is grand worthy matron of the Order of Eastern Star of Colorado. She is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps No. 32 at Longmont; is past department president of the state corps, and in 1895 held office as national inspector.

F. LEECH. The record of the life of Mr. Leech for some years past has been the his- tory of the Inter Mountain Railway, or, as it is now known under the more recent laws of incorporation, the Colorado Northwestern Rail- way. The road extends from Boulder west and north to Ward, passing through Crissman, Sa- lina, Copper Rock, Sunset, Sunnyside and Dew- drop. The charter, under the laws of Colorado, shows a capital stock of $500,000 and bears date of 1897. The contract was let August 1, 1897, and the road was completed to Sunset February

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

28, 1898, the first train running on that day. By the latter part of May, 1898, the line was ex- tended to Ward, twenty-six and one-half miles from Boulder. A branch, running from Gold Hill Junction to Eldora, will be completed in the fall of 1899, and will be eighteen miles in length. The undertaking has been one of great responsi- bility and represents an immense amount of labor, much of which has been accomplished by Mr. Leech, who is a director. The officers are: E. C. Thompson, of Meadville, Pa., president; Col. C. W. Mackey, of Franklin, Pa., vice-president and secretary; Thomas R. Mann, of Lockhaven, Pa., treasurer; J. T. Blair, of Greenville, Pa., general manager; and T. S. Waltemeyer, of Omaha, who is a director.

The subject of this sketch was born in Tionesta, Forest County, Pa., November 24, 1850. His fa- ther, D. E., was born in Leechburg, Armstrong County, Pa., his grandfather, John, in Mercer County, and his great-grandfather, John, Sr., in York County. The last-named, who was a far- mer, served as government surveyor and civil en- gineer in Pennsylvania and received in payment a large tract of land in Mercer County, upon which he settled and engaged in farm pursuits; he died on that place at the age of ninety-nine years. His father, who was a lieutenant in the Revolu- tionary war, was a member of a family that be- longed to the Society of Friends and came from England to Philadelphia with William Penn.

The grandfather of our subject, together with his brother David, had the contract to build the western end of the Pennsylvania Canal, which they completed from the Allegheny River east over the mountains, it being the greatest feat of engineering that had been accomplished up to that time. They founded the town of Leechburg, now on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and with a present population of twenty thousand people. Both were stockholders in the canal until it was sold by the state. The grandfather died when visiting in Tennessee, aged seventy-two.

Our subject's father, who was a farmer in For- est County, removed from there to Greenville, Mercer County. Prior to that, in 1850, he went via the Panama ronte to California, where he en- gaged in mining for two years. On his return east he bought a farm in Greenville, where he continued until the war. He then enlisted as a private in Company I, Second Pennsylvania Cav-

alry, where he served in the Army of the Potomac under General Stoneman until the close of the war, a period of four and one-half years of service. He was slightly wounded in the battle of City Point. For meritorious service he was promoted to be first lieutenant. When the war ended he re- turned to his farm. In 1873 he removed to Ogal- lala, Keith County, Neb., where he remained for six years upon a ranch. The year 1879 found him in Boulder, Colo., where he continued to re- side until shortly before his death. While on a visit to his ranch in Nebraska, he died, at the age of sixty-four; the remains where brought to Boulder for interment. He was identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and was com- mander of the post at Ogallala.

Our subject's mother was Elizabeth Hilands, a native of Tionesta, Pa., and now a resident of Los Angeles, Cal. She was a daughter of John Hilands, a civil engineer, who resided in Tiones- ta until his death, when but little less than one hundred years of age. In her family there were four sons and four daughters, namely: M. F .; Mrs. Charlotte Tanner, of Denver; Mrs. Dora Lonergan, of Manitou; Mrs. Carrie Simms, who died at Fort Collins in December, 1897; Elmer E., a cattleman at Big Springs, Neb .; Willianı H., a locomotive engineer running on the Atch- ison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad into Los An- geles, Cal .; Mrs. Ida M. Stansfield, of West Australia; and C. D., of Los Angeles, Cal.

When our subject was a boy his father entered the service of the Union, and he, being the oldest of the children, assisted his mother in the mall- agement of the farm. In 1865, when his father returned home, he secured work as a newsboy on the Atlantic & Great Western (now the Erie) Railroad, and soon after was given employment in the McHenry House at Meadville, Pa. Later he was fireman on the Atlantic & Great Western road, between Meadville and Kent, and during his leisure hours he learned telegraphy. This lat- ter occupation he followed to some extent. From Pennsylvania he went to join his father, who had moved to Sparta, White County, Tenn., and he secured work as locomotive engineer in the em- ploy of the Nashville & Lebanon Railroad, where he remained for six months, when he was injured in a wreck. Going to Cincinnati, Ohio, he was for a time employed in the Western Union Tele- graph Company's office. Believing that a change

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of climate would benefit his health, in 1871 Mr. Leech came west, making the run along the Union Pacific from North Platte as extra agent and train dispatcher. For a time he engaged in railroading in Wyoming, but he suffered with the ague there, and concluded to "rough it" among the Indians. He went among the Sioux, whose language he learned and among whom he spent the greater part of three years in the western part of Nebraska and Wyoming. When he went to Sherman, Wyo., in the fall of 1871 he was in such poor health that the inhabitants, believing he would not survive the winter, dug a grave for him at once, as it was their custom to prepare graves in the fall, in order that it would not be necessary to dig in the frozen ground in the win- ter. However, the climate and his outdoor exer- cise benefited him so much that he soon regained his former strength. From the fact that he is a very reserved man, the Indians called him "Wah see chee yoppa chinclullah," meaning "White man talks little," and one might well add, "and that little is to the point."

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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 11

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