Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 112

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 112

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OBERT H. BEERS, whose ranch lies be- tween Manassa and Sanford, in Conejos County, is a native of Banberry, Oxford- shire, England, born in 1832. In childhood he was brought to the United States by his parents. His education was obtained principally in the public schools of New York City. At the age of sixteen he accompanied his parents to the west, making the trip via ox-team to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he remained for four years, mean- time assisting his father in clearing new land. In 1852 he went to California and engaged in mining and merchandising on the American River for two years, after which he began farming near Oakland, the same state, operating one hun- dred and sixty acres there. In 1860 he made a trip back to Salt Lake by mule-team and while on the way met the famous Wells-Fargo pony express. For three years he engaged in freight- ing between Salt Lake and Sacramento. Besides his experience in California mines, he lias also en- gaged in placer mining at Virginia City, Nev., where he stopped for two months while en route west the first time.

Locating in Utah Valley in 1863, Mr. Beers continued freighting to Austin, Nev., during the winter of 1863-64, and in the spring of the latter year he went to Bear Lake, Utah (now Idaho), where he opened a store and at he same time en- gaged in stock-raising and farming. He was one of the pioneers in the opening up of Bear Lake Valley, where he remained until 1880. He then disposed of his interests in Utah property for $8,000 and came to Manassa, Colo., then a new settlement. To his original purchase here he has since added until he owns eight hundred and twenty-three acres, which he devotes to farm- ing and stock-raising. From 1881 to 1889 he was also manager of the Manassa Co-operative Mercantile and Milling Company. In 1894 he bought the Manassa flour mill, which he has since owned, but now leases to other parties. He is one of the most extensive ranchmen in this part of the valley. On his place he has from eighty to one hundred head of horses, besides a large number of cattle. He is a stockholder in the Manassa Canal Company, the Northeastern Canal Company, Ephraim Canal Company and Richfield Canal Company, and has been an active factor in the extension of the irrigation facilities of this section. In partnership with E. L. Myers he built the Palace hotel in Antonito and opened it for business.

Mrs. Etta M. Beers, our subject's first wife, died in 1888, leaving five children, viz .: Robert H .; Herbert W .; Charlotte H., wife of William C. McGregor; Emma J., who married E. L. Myers; and Eva Adelia, Mrs. Louis Rinehart. The second marriage of Mr. Beers united him with Jane Bance, and they have become the parents of four children: Frank, Myrtle, Melvin and Arnold.

ACKSON HECKART, a farmer and stock- man living about four miles from Rush Fisher's ranch in Pueblo County, is a native of Butler County, Pa., born twenty-five miles north of Pittsburg, May 17, 1837, and is a son of William and Magdalena (Haupt) Heckart. His paternal great-grandparents were natives of Ger- many, and on his mother's side belongs to an old Pennsylvania family. By occupation the father was a farmer and carpenter.

In the county of his nativity, Jackson Heckart was reared and educated in much the usual man- ner of farmer boys of his day in that locality. At the age of seventeen years he began life for him-

CHARLES ERNEST CHADSEY, PH. D.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

self and successfully operated the old homestead until the Civil war broke out. In response to his country's call for troops he enlisted in 1861, in Company C, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry, under Captain Lauden, and remained in the service for three years and seven days, taking part in the seven days' battle, the engage- ments around Richmond, the second battle of Bull Run, and the battles of Fredericksburg, South Mountain and Antietam and Gettysburg, where his division turned the day. He was all through the battle of the Wilderness and the engagement at Cold Harbor, and when his term of service expired was honorably discharged.

After his return home Mr. Heckart engaged in painting, but being poisoned by the lead used, he was compelled to give up that business, and in 1876 came to Colorado. For several years he was engaged in farming and stock-raising on his own account in Pueblo County, and now manages the Lamb ranches. He is still interested in farm- ing, and is meeting with fair success. Since 1864 he has been a supporter of the Republican party, and as a loyal citizen and honored veteran of the Civil war he deserves representation in this volume.

In 1888 Mr. Heckart narrowly escaped death. At the time of the cloud burst on the Doyle Aroya, August 17, he was suspended by the wrist to a cotton wood tree, over twenty feet of water. He had slipped his arm in the fork of a tree and was thus held for eight and one-half hours. Here he was finally rescued in an insensible condition.

HARLES ERNEST CHADSEY, PH.D., superintendent of the Durango city schools, and one of the best-known educators of the state, was born in Otoe County, Neb., in 1870, a son of Frank and Sarah (Barnum) Chadsey. His father, a native of Canada, settled in the States in early manhood and in 1867 removed from Michigan to Nebraska, becoming in time one of the leading business men of Nebraska City, where he remained for several years as a merchant. The last years of his life were de- voted to literary work, many of his articles being for Nebraska newspapers. A stroke of paralysis in 1873 terminated his physical activities, but fortunately his mental faculties were not injured, and he continued his contributions to the press during the ten years that followed. He died in 1883, at the age of fifty-nine years. He was a son of William Chadsey, a farmer in Canada, but

a native of New England, being a descendant of a pioneer family in Rhode Island, whose first representatives in this country came from Eng- land in 1700. The English ancestors were among the prominent Catholic families of the sixteenth century.

The only son of his parents, the subject of this article has three sisters, Flora (deceased) and Lillie and Effie, who reside with their mother in Durango and are teachers in the public school here. Our subject when a boy received excellent advantages, so that he was able to add to the large degree of ability he inherited from his fa- ther. Upon completing a public-school course he entered Doane College, where he remained for three years. In 1892 he graduated from the Leland Stanford Junior University with the de- gree of B. A., and after another year of study was given the degree of A. M. In the fall of 1893 he was appointed fellow of finance and history at Columbia University, where he re- ceived the degree of A. M. in 1894 and the degree of doctor of philosophy in 1897.

Coming to Durango in 1894 he accepted the position of high-school principal, in which capac- ity he continued for three years, his work mean- time being of a most helpful nature. The degree of success with which he met is shown by his promotion to a post of greater responsibility. In 1897 he was appointed city superintendent of schools, and in this responsible place he is dis- charging his duties ably and with success. By close study of authorities in the various depart- ments of literature and by observation and travel he has gained a breadth of knowledge to which few attain. His position in connection with the signal corps of the United States, which he held for two years (1887-88), at Omaha, Neb., and Springfield, Ill., was helpful to him in enabling him to gain a knowledge of much that could not be learned from books. In the realm of literature political economy has been his special line of labor and thought. In the history of our coun- try, and the causes which led to certain results, he is well informed, not merely from a historic, but also from an economic and scientific stand- point. In 1896 he published a work pertaining to the struggle between President Johnson and congress regarding reconstruction, which was a part of the Columbia University series. He has also contributed articles to the Political Science Quarterly. He is a member of the American Historical Association and the National Educa-

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tional Association. Active in institute work, he has delivered addresses at various conventions of teachers, and has always won recognition as an advanced thinker. In the reorganization of the public-school system of Durango, his modern views became apparent, the result being greatly to the benefit of local school work. All the ed- ucational movements of the state receive the im- petus of his influence, and he is now secretary of the State Teachers' League. Fraternally he is a member of Durango Lodge No. 46, A. F. & A. M .; San Juan Chapter No. 30, R. A. M .; and Aztec Camp No. 30, Woodmen of the World. In religious belief he is a Presbyterian and regularly attends services at this church in Durango, of which he is an active member.

C APT. SETH BAKER, who has resided in Colorado Springs since 1881, is a member of the firm of Hallett & Baker, undertakers, at No. 7 North Cascade avenue, and is also sec- retary and treasurer of the Hallett & Hamburg Mining Company, and a director of the Chesa- peake and Gold Stone Mining Companies. The business to which his attention is especially given is among the oldest exclusively undertaking en- terprises in the city, and the building occupied by the firm since 1891 was built for their use and is equipped with every modern improvement.

Captain Baker was born on Cape Cod, Mass., March 30, 1837, a son of Capt. Seth and Sophia (Lovell) Baker, natives of Cape Cod. His grand- father, Capt. Seth Baker, was born at the same place and engaged in the merchant and marine trade for many years. The family has been rep- resented in America since a short time after the landing of the "Mayflower," and each generation has had one bearing the name of Seth. Our sub- ject's father, who was in the merchant marine service, died at forty-nine years. His wife, who died at seventy-six years of age, was a daughter of Capt. Abner W. Lovell, a seafaring man, who was drowned while on a pleasure excursion in the harbor of Hyannis, Lewis Bay. He was a soldier in the war of 1812.

The subject of this sketch was one of six chil- dren, of whom three sons and one daughter sur- vive. Three of the sons were in the merchant marine trade. William G., who was chief mate on his ship, died of yellow fever at Rio Janeiro, Brazil; Rebecca died in Massachusetts; Henry H. is a merchant at Hyannis; Seth was fourth in order of birth; Cyrus was captain of a merchant

ship and served in the navy during the Civil war; and Sophia, Mrs. Berth, lives in New York.

In the grammar and high schools of Hyannis and Centerville Academy our subject received his education. When seventeen he shipped on the clipper ship, "Robin Hood," which rounded Cape Horn and went to Shanghai, China, returning to New York with a cargo of tea. This voyage lasted ten months and ten days. Later he was able seaman on the same ship and went around the world once. As third officer on a large clip- per ship of eighteen hundred tons he sailed via the Horn to San Francisco, thence to Callao and Chincha Island, on the west coast of Peru, and returning to New York via Cape Horn after a voyage of ten months. On the same ship, as second officer, he sailed to San Francisco, where he was made chief officer. Going south on the ocean to Callao, from there the ship sailed to the Isle of Java and at Batavia, East Indies, took on a cargo of arrac and sugar, and proceeded around the world to Rotterdam. His next ship was the "North America," of which he was chief officer and which carried cotton from Savannah to Liv- erpool, then took iron to Boston. As chief officer of the "South America" he sailed via Cape Horn to Callao with merchandise, then from Chincha Island to Boston with guano. On the "City of Boston" he made several voyages between Bos- ton and Liverpool, and during this time was made captain of his ship, at the age of twenty- four. On this ship he sailed to Melbourne, Aus- tralia, thence to Akyab, East Indies, from there with rice to London via the Cape of Good Hope, thence to New Zealand via Good Hope with a cargo of coal, from there to Howlands Isle, on the equator, in the Pacific Ocean, where he loaded the ship with guano. On the homeward journey, under stress of storms and heavy winds, the ship sprung a leak in the South Indian Ocean and two hundred tons of cargo were thrown over- board. The ship put in to a harbor for repairs, after which it was brought back to Boston.

On the "Robert" Captain Baker took a cargo of ice to Madras, East India, via Good Hope, thence to Calcutta, and with a cargo of merchan- dise to Bombay, from there with linseed via the cape to New York City. During this voyage the ship sprung a leak off Good Hope and nearly foundered, but the captain and crew succeeded in bringing it to New York by pumping constantly during the sixty days between the cape and har- bor. This was the captain's last voyage, He

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left the sea and in 1871 settled in Springfield, Mass., where he conducted a mercantile business until 1881. He then came to Colorado Springs and embarked in the undertaking business, in which he is still interested. He is a member of the State Association of Funeral Directors of Colorado and was a delegate to the national con- vention of Funeral Directors at Omaha in 1898.

In Massachusetts Captain Baker married Miss Rebecca W. Paine, of Massachusetts. They had three children: William G., who has a very large business as importer of teas and coffees in Spring- field, Mass .; Alice W., of Colorado Springs; and Alexander B., a graduate of the dental college in Denver and now engaged in practice in Colorado Springs. The captain's second marriage took place in this city and united him with Miss Estelle Whaite, who was born in Iowa. They have two children: Edith Lovell and Seth, Jr. The fam- ily spend the winters in the city and during the summer occupy their cottage at Green Mountain Falls.

Politically Captain Baker is a Republican. In the Unitarian Church he officiates as a trustee and secretary of the board. He is past officer in the Royal Arcanum and Ancient Order of United Workmen; also in Pike's Peak Lodge No. 38, I. O. O. F., and the encampment.

ENJAMIN F. SLUSSER, who has resided in Las Animas since 1887, was born in Stark County, Ohio, March 30, 1838, a son of David and Sarah (Kimball) Slusser, who were of German birth and descent. He was reared on a farm and became familiar not only with the Eng- lish language, but German as well, his parents using the latter in their home. In Mahoning County, Ohio, he was married September 25, 1859, to Miss Hannah Haines, who was born in Stark County, a daughter of Richard and Re- becca (Crispin) Haines. Her father was eighty- six years of age at the time of his death, and her mother, who resides in Alliance, Ohio, is now eighty-five. Mrs. Slusser received a common school education, and spent her girlhood princi- pally in Mahoning County.

Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Slusser removed to Jasper County, Il1. When the call for volunteers was made he enlisted in Company F, Fifty-ninth Illinois Infantry, and was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Mo. The Illinois quota being filled, he and others were transferred to the Ninth Missouri, and later, when another

call was made, they were transferred to the Fif- ty-ninth Illinois. Among the engagements in which he participated were the following: Wil- son's Creek, Pea Ridge, Ark .; Corinth, Perry- ville, Knob Gap, Stone River, Liberty Gap, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Cassville, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Smyrna Station and At- lanta. During the time he spent in the city last- named his term of enlistment expired, and he re- ceived an honorable discharge, with a paper of commendation from Lieut. M. C. Baughman. During the time he was in the army he took part in twenty severe battles, besides ten skirmishes. During the campaign in Georgia he was at one time detailed to carry the wounded from the field, and Lieutenant Baughman says of him, that when all others who were appointed to this duty could not be found, he was always at his post, and many wounded soldiers could testify to his cour- age and fidelity to duty, by which their lives were saved. He had been detailed in February, 1864, and returned to his company in August of the same year, remaining with them until the capture of Atlanta. He took part in a forced march of two hundred miles, which was accom- plished in four days, and is known as the greatest forced expedition on record. At one time, when detailed to drive a team, he was kicked by a mule, and his lower jaw was broken. He was picked up unconscious and was apparently dead, but soon recovered his senses and resumed his work, re- fusing to go to the hospital. His hat and por- tions of his clothing were frequently shot through. Lieutenant Baughman further says of him that he at all times executed all orders of the company commander, and that for his conr- age and bravery in standing between danger and his friends at home he richly deserves their ap- probation and thanks.

After being discharged from the army, Mr. Slusser returned to his home in Illinois, where he spent one year. He then moved to Marshall, Il1., and worked at the plasterer's trade for four years, after which he became a contracting plas- terer in Terre Haute, Ind. Twenty years were spent in that city, and from there he came to Las Animas in 1887, buying his present home in 1891. He and his wife have three children. Willis Delos was born in Jasper County, Ill., and is a plasterer in Las Animas; he is married and has five children. Edward Anson, who was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, is married and lives

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in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he follows the plas- terer's trade. Mary, who was born in Marshall, Ill., is the wife of George J. Kramer, of Las Ani- mas; they have one child. Mr. and Mrs. Slusser are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She is identified with the Woman's Relief Corps, of which she has been chaplain. In the Richard- son Post, G. A. R., he has filled the office of com- mander and other positions. Politically he has been a Republican ever since 1860, when he cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln.

OSEPH W. MILSOM. The services which in the past Mr. Milsom has rendered the Republican party in Colorado entitle him to rank among the influential public men of the state. He is especially prominent in the vicinity of his home town, Canon City, and in Rosita and Silver Cliff, where he formerly resided. In these several places he has held various positions of trust and responsibility. He is a man of un- usual energy of character. To this quality, com- bined with his executive ability, is due his ef- ficiency in public office and his distinction in pub- lic affairs. Reared in the faith of the Republican party, he saw no reason, on arriving at mature years, for changing his political belief; in fact, the history of our country during the past years has made him even a stronger advocate of Re- publican principles than he was originally.

Mr. Milsom was born in Bloomsburg, Colum- bia County, Pa., June 8, 1853. His father, John Milsom, who was a native of England, came to America at twenty-two years of age and engaged in leasing and operating iron mines. An active Republican, he held many minor offices, but re- fused any position that would detract his atten- tion from business. Before coming to the United States he married Mary Parry. Of their ten children, five are now living. Sarah married David Gemberling and resides at Selinsgrove, Snyder County, Pa .; Martha J. is the wife of William H. Miller, of Elmwood, Peoria County, Ill .; Joseph W. was third in order of birth; Annie M. married William S. Smith, of Lawrence- ville, Tioga County, Pa .; and Henry J. is head bookkeeper of the Glen Mary Coal Company.

In public schools and academies at Orangeville and McAllisterville, the subject of this article obtained a fair education. At sixteen years of age he commenced to teach school in Snyder County, Pa. In 1873 he removed to Farming- ton, Ill., but in the spring of the following year

went to Omaha, Neb., where he was connected with the firm of Buckby, Fries & Co. until the summer of 1876. He then went east and visited the Centennial, after which he returned to Farm- ington, Ill., and accepted a responsible position with Seaman, McArthur & Co .. In the spring of 1878 he came to Colorado and settled at Canon City, but in the fall went to Silver Cliff, and in the spring of the next year embarked in the building business, when that town was in the midst of its hoom and was the third town in the state in population. His work there was financi- ally successful.

Moving to Rosita in June, 1880, Mr. Milsom opened a furniture and undertaking establish- ment, and carried on a large business. In March, 1881, he was burned out, and at once bought a lot and put up a building, in which he continued until the spring of 1882. For several years he served as justice of the peace, during which time he also held the position of police magistrate. January 9, 1883, he was appointed clerk of the district court by Judge Charles D. Hayt. Two years later he was re-appointed by Judge Cald- well Yeaman, and four years later was continued in office by Judge Julius C. Gunter. He con- tinued in the position until he resigned, on re- moving to Canon City in 1890. While serving as district clerk, in 1885 he was elected mayor of Rosita. At that time all licenses were from six to eighteen months in arrears and city warrants were selling at thirty-five cents, but within a year he had all licenses paid up and six months in advance and warrants had been advanced to par.

Upon coming to Canon City, in January, 1890, Mr. Milsom was appointed clerk of the county court, and that position he held until September 1, 1890, when he resigned to accept the deputy county clerkship of the county. In the fall of 1893 he was elected county clerk and still holds the position, having been re-elected in 1895 and 1897. In 1898 he was nominated for secretary of state by the Republican party, and, although he knew there was no likelihood of election in the face of the combined forces of Democrats and Populists, his duty to his party led him to accept the nomination, and the fact that he ran ahead of all candidates on the ticket shows his popularity. He attends all county and state conventions of his party and is active in its work.

In 1885-86-87 Mr. Milsom was master of Rosita Lodge No. 36, A. F.& A. M., and afterward he was master of Mount Moriah Lodge No. 15, of

D. B. FAIRLEY.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Canon City; also high priest of Canon City Chap- ter No. 14, R. A. M .; thrice Illustrious master of Canon City Council No. 5, R. S. M .; Eminent Commander of Canon City Commandery No. 9, K. T .; and has held subordinate positions in all the grand bodies of the state, being at present Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge. He has been Worthy Patron of Canon City Chapter No. 21, Order of the Eastern Star; Captain of Rockafellow Camp No. 10, Sons of Veterans, and is a member the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

A trustee in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Milsom is now a member of its building com- mittee, which has in charge the erection of a $15,000 church. He is also a director in the V. M. C. A. During his term of service as presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce, he infused new life into the body, which under his adminis- tration has accomplished more than any of its predecessors. He is a man of systematic and temperate habits, methodical in all of his work, and possesses the fine physique which enables him to discharge an apparently endless amount of work without detriment to his health. His mar- riage, which has been an exceedingly happy one, was solemnized October 26, 1881, his wife being Millie J. Elliott, daughter of Lorenzo D. and Elizabeth C. Elliott, then of Rosita, but now of Canon City.

B. FAIRLEY, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Colorado Springs, is at the head of a large furniture and undertaking business, the success of which has been accom- plished through his enterprise and sound judg- ment. He came to Colorado in 1878 and for six months engaged in the drug business. In 1880 he started his present business, buying out Barton & Hodgeman, who were successors to the first furniture and undertaking firm in El Paso County. After six years he took in his brother, C. W., as partner, the two continuing at the original loca- tion, Nos. 107-109 Huerfano street. In 1888 they started a new store, though continuing the other also, and in the same year they removed the undertaking business to No. 18 South Nevada street, which gives them three separate places of business. In 1892 they opened one of the first furniture stores in Cripple Creek, but have since disposed of the furniture, retaining, however, an extensive undertaking business there. At one time they also had an undertaking establishmeut

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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 112

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