Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 117

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 117

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In 1892 Mr. McNichols was united in marriage with Miss Priscilla Henney, who was reared in Aspen, a daughter of J. M. Henney, a mine operator now in Cripple Creek. Mr. and Mrs. McNichols are the parents of one daughter and two sons, Sarah, James Edwin and David Arthur.

OSE BONIFACIO ROMERO, one of the early settlers of Conejos County, was born near Santa Fe, N. M., in 1825. At seven years of age he was taken to Kentucky, where he was educated in the common schools, returning to New Mexico in 1846. He engaged in the mer- cantile business until 1861, when he enlisted in Company G, New Mexican Volunteers, and served in the United States Infantry until the close of the war. For brave conduct he was made captain of his company and at Fort Union was commissioned brevet-major. After the muster out of the volun- teers he was commissioned major of the Fifteenth Infantry, U. S. A., but resigned his commission on account of ill health and in 1866 was mus- tered out of the service in Santa Fe, N. M.

In 1870 Mr. Romero located in the San Luis Valley, buying a small ranch on the Conejos River. Soon after coming here he was appointed deputy county clerk, and in 1871 was elected to fill the position of county clerk, which office he held until 1876. He then spent three years upon his ranch, after which, in 1879, he was appointed commissioner of the insane asylum at Pueblo, Colo., and continued to serve in that capacity for eighteen successive years, his term expiring in April, 1897. He now devotes himself to ranch- ing and farming and owns three hundred and twenty acres, in two farms.

The governor of Colorado, in 1874, appointed

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Mr. Romero brigadier-general of the second divis- ion of the territorial militia. Politically he has always been a Republican, active in local and state matters, and among the Mexicans of this county has been a leader, his judgment being sought by them in important affairs. For about twenty years he served as judge of elections. As secretary of the school board of district No. 4, which position he has held since 1884, he has been of great assistance in promoting the welfare of his home school and has advanced the educa- tional interests of this locality. He served in the legislature of New Mexico from 1857 to 1860.

In 1852 Mr. Romero married Miss Maria Aga- pita Lopez, who was born in New Mexico in March, 1834. They became the parents of seven children, namely: Maria Salome; Jose Amieto; Maria Rita, deceased; Jose Martin; Jose Elias, deceased; Jose Camilo, and Maria Ynecita, de- ceased. The four living are all married, and there are thirty-four grandchildren.

C ANIEL W. WALSH, who came to Colo- rado in 1870, is the owner of a planing mill in Colorado Springs and carries on the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, filling orders for the finest work of the kind. His mill is operated by steam power, and is fitted up with all the other modern conveniences that assist in the success of the enterprise. In addition to the mill, he owns the site for a yard, but the latter he rents.

The parents of our subject were William and Ann (McCarthy) Walsh, natives of County Cork, Ireland, where he died at eighty-six and she at eighty-five years. By occupation he was a farmer, and he also gave considerable time to the wheel- wright's trade. Of his twelve children, eight at- tained maturity and six are living. One son, James, died in Colorado. Another son, Edmund W., lives in Colorado Springs, while John makes Boston his home. A daughter, Ann, is married and lives in Buena Vista, Chaffee County, Colo., and the other surviving daughter is Mrs. Stan- ton, whose husband was one of the original pro- prietors of Wichita, Kan.

The fifth member of the family was the subject of this sketch, who was born in Ireland March 5, 1842. He was reared on a farm and attended the national schools. While still in his native land he began to learn the carpenter's trade. He was the first of the family to emigrate to America. In 1860 he took passage on the steamer "City of

Edinburgh," and landed in New York after a voyage of seventeen days. Thence he went to Elmira, where he secured work in car shops. In 1862 he went to the oil regions of Crawford County, Pa., where he helped to build the Oil Creek Railroad from Corry to Titusville, and later engaged in building derricks and tanks, assisting in the construction of the first derrick at Pithole City for the United States Well Company.

In April, 1865, Mr. Walsh started for Pike's Peak, but stopped in Cleveland, Ohio, where he engaged in job carpentering. In 1868 he went south to Vicksburg, Miss., and built the Mag- nolia cotton-seed oil mill, after which he was employed in other parts of the south. In the fall of 1869 he came west as far as Kansas City and in the spring of the next year arrived in Denver, where for almost a year he worked in the Denver and Rio Grande shops, building the first cars ever run on the railroad. Afterward he was foreman of the car department for the Colorado Central Railroad at Golden. In July, 1872, he came to El Paso County, and engaged in contracting and building in Colorado City and Manitou, locating permanently in the former city. In 1875 he en- gaged with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad as bridge builder between Pueblo and El Moro, remaining in that capacity until 1877, when he turned his attention to private contracts. In 1887 he built the Walsh planing mill, which he con- ducted for some years in partnership with Gillis Brothers, but in 1893, on the dissolution of the partnership, he became the sole proprietor.

Politically Mr. Walsh is independent. His marriage took place in Denver and united him with Miss Ella McGovern, who was born in New York state. They are the parents of six chil- dren, named as follows: William, Edmund, John A. and Daniel, who assist their father in the plan- ing mill; Mary, at home; and Mrs. Anna Bom- beck, of Kansas City.

ON. G. S. BARNES, deceased, who for years was one of the most successful mer- chants of Colorado Springs, embarked in the hardware business in September, 1873, his first location being a frame building on the corner of Huerfano street and Cascade avenue. In 1876 he removed to No. 17 South Tejon street, which property he purchased on the death of the owner, D. Russ Wood. The store, a building of sixty feet, backed by extensive warehouses, is supplied with the largest stock of hardware of

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any similar establishment in the city, two floors being devoted to the stock. On the corner of Costilla and Wahsatch streets there is a ware- house stocked with jobbers' goods, where may be found, as in the retail store, hardware of all kinds, wagon works' supplies, agricultural im- plements, etc. In 1886 he took into partnership his son, James P., from which time until his death, September 3, 1898, the firm title was G. S. Barnes & Son. The active management of the business was placed in the hands of the junior partner, Mr. Barnes having practically retired in 1895.

In an early day three brothers came to this country from England. From them the Barnes family descends. James, grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in Connecticut, and removed to Paris, N. Y., where he engaged in farming. Asa our subject's father, was born in Farmington, Conn., and engaged in farming in Oneida Coun- ty, later was in Jefferson County, N. Y. During the war of 1812 he served as a captain of a com- pany of state militia. He was agent for Gerrit Smith in Oneida, where he cleared a large tract of land, and for nineteen years kept a country store on the state road between Rome and Adams. Fraternally he was a mason. He died in Jeffer- son County, in 1852.

The mother of our subject was Rhoda Coburn, a native of Connecticut; she died in New York when more than eighty years of age. In religion, as her husband, she adhered to the Presbyterian faith. Her father, Zebediah Coburn, was born in Connecticut and served an enlistment each year of the Revolutionary war. For some years he made his home in Jefferson County, N. Y., but died in Cortland County, at eighty-four years of age. His occupation was that of a cabinet- maker, and he manufactured large numbers of chairs, one of which is in the possession of our subject. The family to which he belonged was of English origin.

Of nine children who attained mature years our subject and sister alone survived until the death of the former. He was born in Florence, Oneida County, N. Y., November 28, 1818, and spent his boyhood years in Florence and that neighbor- hood, and was educated in evening schools and later at the Homer Academy. At sixteen years of age he left the farm and went to Homer, where he was employed for four years in his uncle's store. Afterward he traveled with his uncle, who was an invalid, and not only took care of

him personally, but attended to all his business matters. In 1854 he removed to Wisconsin and opened a hardware store in Horicon, Dodge Coun- ty, where he carried on business in the same building for nineteen years. From there he came to Colorado in the spring of 1873. He enjoyed the distinction of being the only man in the city, who was still in the same line of business as that in which he embarked more than twenty-five years ago. His residence was at No. 317 East Kiowa street, where his widow now resides. While in Horicon he was a member of the board of city trustees, and since coming to Colorado Springs he has served as mayor one term. In politics he was a Republican, and was active in the early days of the state.

On a snowy winter morning, when he was a young man, Mr. Barnes started on a journey of seventy miles through the drifts, in order to ful- fill a very important engagement. When he fin- ally reached Syracuse, he was united in marriage February 25, 1847, with Miss Maria E. Pierce, daughter of James Pierce, who was an early set- tler near Sangerfield, Oneida County. Their golden anniversary was held amidst much con- gratulation and good wishes of friends here and by letter and telegrams from distant points, at their home on Kiowa street, February 25, 1897. Their union was blessed with five children, the eldest of whom, James P., was his father's part- ner, while the other son, Marion O., is also in the store. The three daughters are: Lucy, Etta D. and Irene, wife of Hon. H. H. Seldomridge, of Colorado Springs.

LOYD A. WHITING, M. D., a leading and successful physician of Telluride, was born at Taylor's Falls, Minn., in 1860, a son of Charles B. and Flavia (Blanding) Whiting. His father was a merchant and prominent citizen of Taylor's Falls, where he died in 1874, aged forty- eight years; the wife and mother died in 1890, at fifty years of age. They were the parents of four children: Floyd A .; Edith, deceased; Sanford, a physician, now at Manila as surgeon of an Ore- gon volunteer regiment; and Charles S., deceased.

The education of our subject was acquired in public schools and the military school at Fari- bault, Minn. He studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. E. D. Whiting, and in 1884 graduated from the Cincinnati Medical College with the de- gree of M. D., after which he took a post-gradu- ate course in a medical college in Cincinnati.

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For a short time during the latter part of 1884 he was in Denver, Colo., but returned to Cincin- nati, where he engaged in practice and was em- ployed as a member of the staff of physicians at the city hospital. In 1891 he again went to Den- ver, this time remaining until 1896, when he came to Telluride. Here he has since built up a profitable practice, and has also acquired mining interests. Through membership in the State Medical Association he keeps in touch with pro- fessional work in Colorado, and by the reading of medical literature he notes every advance made in the science. Politically he is independent. He holds membership in Union Lodge No. 1, I. O. O. F., at Denver, and Arapahoe Encamp- ment.

In 1895 Dr. Whiting married Miss Florence Mattingly, daughter of Dr. Thomas Mattingly, a native of Kentucky, but during his active years a resident of Harrison County, Mo., where he was for years engaged in professional practice. In 1861 he became a surgeon in the Confederate army, in which he continued during the entire period of the Civil war, after which he resumed his professional duties in Harrison County, Mo. He continued to reside in that county until his death, in 1883, at fifty-four years. His entire active life had been devoted to the medical pro- fession, in which he held high rank. He mar- ried Elizabeth Christy, who was born in Ken- tucky and died in Missouri when thirty-five years of age. They were the parents of seven children, of whom five are living, namely: Nannie, wife of E. D. Powell, of Pattonsburg, Mo .; Ida, who married H. C. Davidson, of Cainsville, Mo .; Florence, Mrs. Whiting; Edward, whose home is in Lagrange, Tex .; and John, who resides in Houston, that state.

ILLIAM J. PRATT is engaged in the liv- ery business at No. 19 East St. Vrain street, Colorado Springs, where he has a large barn and vehicles of every description. From the time that he opened the stable, April 13, 1896, he has built up a gradually increasing business, and has become known as an enterpris- ing business man. He is also interested in mining, and is now developing the Alice Lease No. I mine, on Wallace Lode, Bull Hill, where he struck the first spade himself. He organized the company, of which he is now the principal mem- ber.

The grandfather of our subject, William Pratt,

was born in New York state, and was a graduated doctor of medicine, practicing in Eden. His son, William, who was born near Buffalo, N. Y., and moved to Pennsylvania in young manhood, en- gaged there for a time in farming, and later car- ried on a lumber and oil business. He is now living in Smithport and is seventy-five years of age. Politically he is a Republican. He married Sylvia Hultz, who was born near Buffalo, N. Y., and is still living. Of their four children, all re- side in the east except the subject of this sketch, who was next to the youngest. He was born in Smithport, Mckean County, Pa., February 5, 1862, and attended the public and high schools there. From boyhood he was interested in the lumber business. At eighteen years of age he embarked in business for himself, dealing in lum- ber until 1883.

One evening in 1883 Mr. Pratt made up his mind to go west. With him to decide was to act, and the next morning found him started west- ward, with no particular destination in view. He stopped in Chicago for six months, spent a similar time in Aurora, Ill., and in 1884 went to Lincoln, Neb., where he carried on a livery, sale and real- estate business, remaining there for twelve years. In February, 1896, he started overland with his livery outfit for Cripple Creek, where he arrived on the 22d of that month. At once he began the livery business, but he had been there only ten days when he fell a victim to pneumonia, which was raging in the camp. For a long time he was very low, and when he was finally brought to Colorado Springs, his weight had been reduced from two hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty-two, while his pocket book had suffered a similar dimunution in bulk. However, since be- ginning business in Colorado Springs, he has re- gained health and has been successful financially. Politically he votes the Republican ticket and in fraternal relations is identified with the Woodmen of the World.

EORGE WEAVER, clerk of La Plata Coun- ty, and for four years (1894-98) receiver of the United States land office at Durango, was born in Grant County, Wis., in 1850, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Deam) Weaver. His early life was quietly passed at his home in Wis- consin. In youth he learned the trade of a brick- layer, which he followed for a time. In 1879 he came to Colorado, and for a year remained in Central City and Leadville, but in the spring of

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1880 he came to the San Juan country, locating at Silverton. From there, in the fall of 1880, he came to Durango, then a new town, but recently platted. Here he followed his trade and also. worked as a contractor, taking contracts for the brick work on many of the public buildings. On the Democratic ticket he was elected county clerk in 1889, and held the office for two years at that time.

Going to Creede, Colo., in 1892, Mr. Weaver engaged in the mercantile business and mining, but after a year he returned to Durango, where he followed his trade until 1894. During the four following years he served as receiver of the United States land office at Durango. In 1898 he was again elected county clerk, and for a few months also continued as land receiver, but upon resigning the latter office turned his entire atten- tion to his official duties. In the politics of the town he has been prominent as a leader in the Democratic ranks. From 1885 to 1887 he was a member of the Durango city council, and he has also rendered efficient service as a director of the city schools. He is past master of Durango Lodge No. 46, A. F. & A. M .; past high priest of San Juan Chapter No. 15, R. A. M .; past em- inent commander of Ivanhoe Commandery No. II, K. T .; and a member of Aztec Camp No. 30, Woodmen of the World.

The marriage of Mr. Weaver, November 1, 1876, united him with Miss Phena Leadbitter, daughter of Asa Leadbitter, who was a pioneer of Wisconsin, and twice crossed the plains, being captain of the largest train that went overland to California; he was killed in California in 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have three children: Maude, Florence and George Merrill.

5 EORGE W. ATKINSON, who is engaged in contracting and building in Colorado Springs, came to this city in 1888 and has since had many important contracts, among them those for the Christian Church, Deaf Mute School and numerous elegant residences here, the round- house at Goodland, Kan., schoolhouse at Catlin, the Normal School at Greeley, high school at Pocatello, Idaho, schoolhouses and courthouses in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, including the courthouses at Fullerton and Aurora, Neb .; seven- teen buildings (in 1897) for the government at Fort Russell, Wyo., and a large warehouse at Fort Logan, Colo., also a large Normal school at Jacksonville, La.

Mr. Atkinson is of English parentage. His father, John, was born in Yorkshire, and was a contracting stone mason. Soon after his mar- riage to Anna Walker, of Yorkshire, he emi- grated to the United States and settled at Free- port Pa., where he died at sixty-two years of age. He was a large farmer in that locality. His wife, who died in Minnesota at eighty-four years of age, was a daughter of James Walker, a farmer of Yorkshire, where he died. Three children comprised the family of John and Anna Atkinson. James E., their older son, who was a pioneer of Minnesota, served as captain in a Min- nesota regiment during the Civil war and also fought in the Indian wars. Through his specu- lations in land he accumulated a large compe- tency. Prominent in public affairs, he was for years a judge and a member of the Minnesota legislature. His death occurred in Litchfield, Minn., in 1896. The only daughter, Sarah, Mrs. Peters, is living in Minnesota.

The subject of this sketch was born in Free- port, Pa., May 19, 1835, and remained on the home farm until he was fifteen. From boyhood he was familiar with the use of tools. After the death of his father, in 1850, he accompanied his brother on a contract on the Allegheny Valley Railroad, working as a stone mason for eighteen months with the same road, after which he as- sisted the chief engineer. In 1860 he began con- tracting for himself in Pittsburg and vicinity, and assisted in the building of the city hall and other public works, also built heavy culverts on the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio Railroads. In 1859 he went to the oil regions of West Vir- ginia, and at the opening of the war went into the Pennsylvania oil regions, at Titusville, Oil City and Pithole City, where he engaged in bor- ing and contracting. When the manufacture of oil was first begun, he was a contractor for the company having the work in charge and put up all their stone work. Afterward, for five years, he was with the United Pipe Line Company as superintendent of construction, having from eighty to one hundred men under him. Next he contracted in Pittsburg for two years.

Locating in Beatrice, Neb., in 1881, Mr. At- kinson engaged in contracting, and built the People's Bank building, the Nichols' building and other large blocks. He had contracts for railroads, as well as for general work. In 1887, at Gove, Kan., he embarked in the stock busi- ness, continuing, however, his work as a con-

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tractor. In 1888 he came to Colorado Springs, where he owns a handsome brick residence, built by himself, at No. 209 Soutlı Nevada street. Politically he is a Republican.

In Freeport, Pa., Mr. Atkinson married Miss Nancy J. Wilson, who was born in Huntingdon County, Pa., where her father, Samuel, was a farmer for some years, but later removed to Iowa, dying in Grundy County. They are the parents of nine children, namely: John, who has been a contractor in Marshalltown, Iowa, for ten years; Mrs. Nettie Finley, of Colorado Springs; Villa, at home; Charles and L. S., contractors in this city; Mrs. Elizabeth Hollingsworth, of Beatrice, Neb .; W. W., of Colorado Springs; J. W., a contractor here; and G. F., who is his father's partner in business.

AMES BYARD WRIGHT, M. D., a prac- ticing physician of La Veta and for two terms county physician of Huerfano County, was born in Modoc, Randolph County, Ind., July 31, 1867. He is a representative of one of the pio- neer families of Randolph County. His paternal grandfather, Rev. Hicks K. Wright, was of southern birth and in an early day settled in the forests of Indiana, where, from the early '40S until his death, he engaged in missionary work in behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church. As commissioner of Randolph County, and in other positions of trust, he discharged his duty as a citi- zen, but his time was mainly given to the preach- ing of the Gospel. His death, in 1877, removed from a sphere of activity a man who had accom- plished much for the spiritual welfare of his fel- low-men.

The doctor's father, H. K. Wright, was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, and is a well- to-do citizen of Winchester, in the county-seat of Randolph County. Active in public life, he is now serving his second term as treasurer of the county. As a member of the school board, and in other ways, he has advanced the interests of his community. He is still in business, and as a member of the firm of Sellers & Wright, has en- gaged extensively in the buying and selling of stock. He married Armina Pickering, who was born in Indiana, of southern parentage. They became the parents of six children, five daugh- ters and one son.

In his native town of Modoc (then known as Fallen Timber) our subject passed the days of his boyhood. He had the advantage of study in the

local high school and DePauw University at Greencastle, Ind., after which he entered the freshman class of the Indiana State University, and continued there until the close of the junior year. The study of medicine he carried on in the Indiana Medical College, and upon leaving college he went to Montana, where he engaged in the practice of his profession and also acted as surgeon for the Great Northern Railroad Com- pany for two years. Desiring to broaden his pro- fessional knowledge, he took a post-graduate course in the Louisville Medical College, where he completed the course in 1897. On leaving Louisville he came to Colorado, first locating in Creede, but not finding the outlook favorable, he remained only a short time. For one year he engaged in practice in Cripple Creek, after which he spent several months traveling in the interests of the Santa Fe Hospital corps. In June, 1893, he came to La Veta, where he has since engaged in practice, and, in addition, he holds an official position with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company.

In 1896 Dr. Wright was elected coroner of Huerfano County, and at the expiration of his tertn was elected for a second time. Active in the Republican party, in 1894 he served as secretary of the county central committee and at various times has been a delegate to local and state con- ventions. He is one of the six physicians now resident in Huerfano County, and by the others, as well as by the general public, is respected as a physician of ability and a man of intelligence. Fraternally he is identified with La Veta Lodge No. 59, A. F. & A. M., and is also a member of the Woodmen of the World.

APT. GILES CRISSEY, who has made his home in Colorado Springs since 1873, is the oldest living representative of the lumber business in this city. In 1874 the firm of Cris- sey & Whipple started the second lumber yard here, and embarked in the lumber and contracting business. Soon, however, Captain Crissey bought his partner's interest, and continued the enter- prise alone for a time. Afterward the business title became Crissey & Thomas, then Crissey & Davis, and on the organization of the Crissey- Davis Lumber Company, he was made president and general manager. In 1896 he bought the in- terest of Mr. Davis, and now has in business with him his two sons, as well as Mr. Fowler, who has been identified with the enterprise since 1883. In

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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 117

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