Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 119

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 119

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EORGE BARR, sheriff of Otero County and a well-known Republican leader of his lo- cality, is a native of Ohio, born in Chilli- cothe, July 29, 1859. The years of his boyhood were passed in an uneventful manner, alternating attendance at school with work at home or with the usual sports of youth. When he was twenty years of age he decided to seek a means of liveli- hood in the great west, of whose resources he had heard so much and so often. Going to Kansas, he settled on land near Fredonia, and during the years that followed he gave his attention to its cultivation and improvement.

Coming to La Junta in 1888, Mr. Barr secured employment on the Santa Fe Railroad, and for several years was connected with that road. After- ward, for three years, he held the position of marshal of the town. In the fall of 1897 he was elected county sheriff, his election being a victory for the Republicans, of which party he is an ac- tive member and for which he has done effective work in his town. In the discharge of his duties as sheriff he is firm, energetic and brave, and no violator of the law may hope to escape from his hands.

In matters relating to fraternities, Mr. Barr has identified himself with two of the most prominent and successful orders. He is an active member of the blue lodge of Masons, belonging to Euclid Lodge No. 64, A. F. & A. M., and is also allied with its auxiliary, the Eastern Star. In the Inde-

petident Order of Odd Fellows he is a prominent local worker, holding membership in La Junta Lodge No. 74, of this city.

M ORRIS B. COLT, commissioner of Conejos County, located permanently in Alamosa in the spring of 1888, and, in addition to holding the position of superintendent of two ditch companies, he has carried on a general real- estate and insurance business, in partnership with G. A. Willis. From 1889 to 1897 he served as trustee of the town of Alamosa. In 1888 he was appointed agent of the town company, which posi- tion he now holds. As a Republican he has been intimately connected with local politics from the time of his settlement here: In 1890 he was first elected a county commissioner, and in 1893, again in 1897, he was re-elected to he office, which he now fills. During much of the period of his serv- ice he has served as chairman of the board.

Born in New York state in 1854, the subject of this sketch is a son of James B. and Mary (Morris) Colt, natives respectively of New York and Eng- land. His father, who for some years engaged in canal and railroad contracting, held a contract for completing a portion of the Erie canal; in 1866 he removed to Missouri, where he and his wife still reside, he having given his attention to stock- raising of recent years. Of eleven children, our subject was the oldest. His education was ob- tained in public schools, Kemper College and the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, where he completed an engineering course in 1875. Afterward he took charge of the construction of a portion of the railroads for which his father held contracts, his work taking him into Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Nebraska and Colorado. In that occupation he continued until 1886. His last contract was for the construction of the Mis- souri Pacific from MeCracken, Kan., to Pueblo, Colo., which work was completed early in 1887.

On retiring from contracting, Mr. Colt came to Las Animas, where he constructed the Henry ditch, one of the largest in Bent County. The ditch was completed in the spring of 1888. After- ward he constructed the laterals of the San Luis and Empire ditches, and later became superinten- dent of both ditches, of which he has since had charge. In 1881 he was united in marriage with Mary LaDue, of New York, and they have estab- lished a comfortable home in Alamosa, where both have many friends among the best people of the town. In fraternal relations he is connected

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with Camp No. 21, Woodmen of the World; Ala- mosa Lodge No. 96, K. P., and is second lieu- tenant of Lodge No. 21, Uniform Rank, besides which he is connected with the endowment depart- ment. As notary public he has had considerable work, and in other lines has been intimately iden- tified with local affairs. He is a man of business ability, and both in county and private affairs his influence has been felt in the advancement of measures for the benefit of town and county.

OSEPH WORKMAN, a successful business man of Walsenburg, was born in Toronto, Canada, July 14, 1841. He was the fourth son in a large family, whose other members were as follows: William, born February 27, 1836, died June 24, 1896; Frederick M., born April 3, 1838, died at Guelph, Canada, June 20, 1887; Matthew T., born February 9, 1840, died July 24, 1840; Benjamin, born July 31, 1843, died August 13, 1844; Anna C., born October 18, 1845; Catherine, born January 25, 1849, died in 1849; Thomas, born December 8, 1850; Florence, born October 12, 1852; Alfred, born November 15, 1857, died September 6, 1858.

Concerning the life and ancestry of the father of this family, Joseph Workman, M. D., we quote as follows from the Alienist and Neurologist of St. Louis, January, 1890: "Dr. Joseph Work- man was one of the earliest collaborators of this journal, and he has continued a faithful, con- stant and valued member of its staff to this day. Ripe in years, strong in mind, and full of knowl- edge, he has been and is a most helpful associate in the good work of the Alienist and Neurologist during the past decade in the charming and en- larging field of neurology. His long clinical ex- perience, large medical discernment and ripe scholarship have made him a power in the wide and widening circle of our readers. He is known to the Alienist and Neurologist by the always ap- propriate and entertaining translations, which have for so many years adorned its pages, the most critical of our many readers having always approved the judiciousness of his selections, ap- plauded the beauty of his diction and approved his criticisms when he has seen proper to make them. "Dr. Workman comes of a worthy and illus- trious lineage. The Workmans of Ireland are descendants of an English ancestry. Rev. Will- iam Workman, of St. Stephen's Church, Glou- cester, England, was deposed and excommuni- cated by the archbishop for having preached

against the setting up of images and pictures in churches. He had a numerous family. One of his sons, William, joined the army of Cromwell, and came over to · Ireland with that king-killer, as Cromwell was very liberal in rewarding his fol- lowers with the goods of other people. William received, in compensation for his military service, several tracts of land in County Derry, near Cole- rain. All the Workmans of Ireland, Scotland, America and India are descended from this Puri- tan soldier. They have all been of a migratory tendency.

"The father of the late Dr. William Workman, of Worcester, Mass., came to New England prior to the conquest of Canada by the Brit- ish and fought at the siege of Ticonderoga. Joseph, father of Dr. Joseph Workman, was a native of County Derry, and, with an elder brother, Benjamin, emigrated to the United States soon after the close of the Revolution. Af- ter three years in Philadelphia he returned to Ireland and married Catherine Gowdey, who was of Scotch descent. By her he had eight sons and one daughter, Joseph being the fourth of the sons. He was born in County Antrim, May 26, 1805, and was himself an old man when his parents died, his father at eighty-eight and his mother when past one hundred and two years.

"Joseph Workman graduated from the McGill University, as doctor of medicine and surgery, in 1835, after a course of five years with Prof. John Stephenson, M. D. He assumed charge of the Toronto Asylum for the Insane, July 1, 1853, and continued in charge until July 19, 1875. Since he severed his connection with that insti- tution he has resided in Toronto, most of the time engaged in the practice of his profession, but chiefly in the capacity of medical consultant. He has been president of the Toronto Medical Society and recipient of many other honors from his professional brethren of Ontario. His por- trait placed there by admiring friends adorns the walls of the medical society."

Dr. Workman was an active worker during the fearful outbreaks of cholera, which afflicted Montreal, and at that time was one of the few medical men who claimed the disease was con- tagious. As an authority on brain affections he stood in the front ranks, and was frequently re- ferred to by European and American professional journals as the "Nestor " among students of mental disease. As a linguist he had few equals. In addition to his knowledge of the classics, he

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was familiar with Scotch, Welsh, Irish, Gaelic, June 29, 1875, his wife being Rebecca, daughter German, French, Italian and Spanish, and trans- of Robert Moderwell, ex-sheriff of the county of Perth, Canada. They are the parents of two sons and two daughters: Florence Ethel, who was born July 17, 1876, in Canada, and died September 10 of the same year; Robert Joseph, who was born December 22, 1878, aad died August 27, 1887; Kathleen, born November 2, 1880; and Thomas A., November 7, 1882. lation from these to English was a favorite occu- pation with him. His translations were chiefly on medical subjects, more particularly on dis- eases of the brain, and they appear from time to time in the best American and Canadian pro- fessional journals. He was an honorary member of the Italian Societa Treniatra and other similar bodies in various European countries, but the highest possible acknowledgment was paid to his professional attainments when he was elected to honorary membership in the Medico Physio-' logical Association of Great Britain, an honor which no one else in America had received at that time, and few anywhere out of Britain. During the latter part of his life he held the chair of obstetrics and therapeutics in the Toron- to School of Medicine. His death occurred in Toronto April 15, 1894, when he was in his eighty-ninth year.

The wife of Dr. Workman was Elizabeth Wasnidge, who was born in Sheffield, England, in 1813, and was married to him in 1835. Of their children our subject, his father's namesake, was born and reared in Toronto, receiving a liberal academic education. In 1863 he began the study of medicine with his father, and later attended the University of Toronto, but became dissatisfied with the work, for which he felt he had no natural taste. Turning his attention to business he became interested in a hardware store with his brothers, and for seventeen years continued in the same place. In 1888, on account of chronic bronchitis, he came to Colorado, hoping that the climate would prove of benefit to him. After spending a few months on a ranch he was greatly relieved from the annoyance occasioned by the disease. In two years he felt sufficiently restored to return to Canada, but as soon as he went north his health again failed, so he settled in Colorado permanently. In May, 1895, he bought an interest in a furniture store in Walsen- burg, of which he is now the sole proprietor, al- though he still retains the title of Joseph Work- man & Co. To the original stock of furniture he has added a choice assortment of queensware, mouldings, picture frames, stationery, etc., and has built up an important business.

Politically Mr. Workman is independent. Fra- ternally he is connected with Unity Lodge No. 70, I. O. O. F. His marriage was solemnized in Canada, at the residence of the bride's parents,

REDERICK BURKHARD is the senior member of the firm of Burkhard & Son, of Trinidad. He came to this city in the fall of 1879 and engaged in the saddlery business with his father-in-law, whom he bought out in a few months. Afterward he conducted the estab- lishment alone until 1896, when his son, Stephen T., was taken into partnership. Not only is this the oldest, but it is also the largest business of its kind in southern Colorado. At the stores, Nos. 210-216 Main street, harness and saddles of every kind are manufactured, and carriages, wagons and vehicles of every description; also farm implements are kept on hand.

Mr. Burkhard was born in Huttwyl, Canton Bern, Switzerland, December 5, 1844, a son of John Jacob and Julia (Dalp) Burkhard. He was ten years of age when he came to America with his parents and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, who was a cutler by trade, made a spe- cialty of surgical instruments, and had a reputa- tion in Europe for skill in that line. He died in less than one year after coming to America, leav- ing nine children. Those besides our subject are: John Jacob, deceased; William R., who is a business man of St. Paul, Miun .; John F., a farmer of Minnesota; Andrew, who was interested in a saddlery business in Topeka, Kan; Marion B., widow of John Thorwarth, of St. Paul, Minn .; Ferdinand, of Minnesota; Theodore, a book- keeper with the firm of Burkhard & Son; and Julia, who died at the age of sixteen.

From eleven years of age until grown our sub- ject lived in Galena, Jo Daviess County, Ill. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to the sad- dler's trade in Galena with Major Perkins, an intimate friend and neighbor of Gen. U. S. Grant; and while in the store as a boy Mr. Burk- hard became acquainted with Grant and his family. He made the bridle that the afterward famous general used while acting as colonel of the Twenty-second Illinois Regiment. In May, 1864, he enlisted in Company C, One Hundred

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and Fortieth Illinois Infantry, as a private and served until November 4, 1864, when he was mustered out in Chicago. Afterward he located in Dubuque, Iowa, in which place, and later in other towns, he worked at his trade. In the fall of 1865 he went to Kansas and there engaged in business, continuing until 1872, when he sold out to his brother, who had been his partner. From that time until 1879 he carried on agricult- ural pursuits in the vicinity of Topeka, having a stock and fruit farm. From there he came to Trinidad and embarked in the business he has since conducted with signal success. His pros- perity is the result of his unaided efforts. He still attends personally to every detail of his large business, finding in this way the most satisfac- tory results can be secured. Interested in real estate, he has bought considerable property in Trinidad and in 1891 erected a comfortable resi- dence on Beach street.

While a Republican in national issues, Mr. Burkhard is inclined to be independent in local politics. Twice he has been elected to serve as alderman of the first ward, the first time in 1892 and again in 1896. Fraternally he is con- nected with Trinidad Lodge No. 17, I. O. O. F., in which he is past grand. He is also a mem- ber of Jacob Abernethy Post No. 29, G. A. R. May 24, 1869, he married Miss Ellen R. But- ler, daughter of S. T. and Mary A. Butler, of Topeka, Kan. Four sons and four daughters were born of their union, namely: Edwin D., a practicing physician in Philadelphia, Pa .; Mary A., wife of H. C. Nichols, of Trinidad; Ste- phen T., junior member of the saddlery company; Lida J., Luella, Elizabeth, Frederick W. and Walter. The older children are graduates of the city schools.

- RANK H. PETTINGELL. Through his connection with the mining interests of Cripple Creek Mr. Pettingell has become well known in Colorado Springs, where he has made his home since 1888. In 1891 he became interested in the Cripple Creek district, with which he is so thoroughly familiar that he has attained a wide reputation as a judge of mining investments, and many of his clients leave wholly to his decision the placing of their funds, relying upon his knowledge and fidelity. He is presi- dent of the Colfax Mining Company, secretary of the San Fernando Copper Mining and Smelting Company (which owns property in California),

secretary and treasurer of the Mount Rosa Mining, Milling and Land Company of Colorado Springs (which laid out the town of Victor) and secretary of the Ben Hur Mining and Milling Company, besides having official connection with a number of other companies. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, was a charter member of the Colorado Springs Board of Trade, the Amer- ican Bankers' Association, and was at one time president and for two years vice-president of the Colorado Mining Stock Exchange of Denver, even while a non-resident member.

The first member of the Pettingell family in America came from Staffordshire, England, to Salem, Mass., early in the seventeenth century. One of his descendants, Josiah, took part in the Revolutionary war. His son, Richard, was a large landowner in Newburyport, Mass. The latter had a son, Cutting, who was born in that city and became an extensive landed proprietor. He departed from the religious faith of his ances- tors, who were Congregationalists, and became an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had a son, Capt. Nathaniel Pettingell, who was born in Newburyport, and engaged in the coasting trade as captain of a ship, until his death, at thirty-eight years. He was a Methodist in religious views. His wife was Mary A. Feltch, of Newburyport, member of a family that emi- grated from Scotland to New Hampshire. Her father, Joseph H. Feltch, was born in Newbury, and was a successful farmer and highly respected citizen. He was a son of Col. Joseph Feltch, a native of New Hampshire and a colonel in the war of 1812, stationed at Portsmouth, N. H. Removing to Newburyport he became the owner of large estates there and was a man of influence and prominence. Joseph H. Feltch married Miss Mary H. Haskell, of Massachusetts, whose fath- er, Caleb Haskell, served under Arnold in Can- ada in the French and Indian wars. The Haskells are among the oldest families in New England. Caleb Haskell's parents were John and Johanna: (Ingersoll) Haskell, the latter a member of an old family of Salem, Mass. Our subject's moth- er died in Newburyport in 1894, aged fifty years. Of her four children three are living, namely: Frank H .; Cutting, who is with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company in Pueblo; and Joseph, who still resides in Newburyport.

The subject of this sketch was born in New- buryport, Mass., January 2, 1868, and received his education in grammar and high schools there.

MRS. MARGUERITE LU RAILEY.

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For six years he was employed by the Towles Manufacturing Company, in his native town. In 1888 he came to Colorado Springs, where he was bookkeeper for the First National Bank three and one-half years, then resigned to engage in the stock brokerage business. For one year he was a member of the firm of Pettingell & Coffin, but since 1892 he has been alone. Politically a Re- publican, he was secretary of the Republican League Club in 1896. He is a member of the El Paso Club of Colorado Springs, the St. Anma- nius Club of Topeka, Kan., the Sons of the American Revolution of Massachusetts, and the Sons of the Revolution of Massachusetts. His marriage, in Independence, Mo., united him with Miss Mary A. Morgan, who was born in Bowling Green, Ky., and received her education in a con- vent in that state. Mr. Pettingell has one son, Frank H. Pettingell, Jr.

In 1892 Mr. Pettingell organized the Security Loan Company. He became president of the Golden Dale Company, the stock of which, under his efficient supervision, greatly increased in value. Not only in business, but in social circles also, he is a very popular man, and he numbers a host of warm, personal friends among those whose acquaintance he has made since coming to Colo- rado. His large financial success is the legiti- mate outcome of his judicious application to business, and his entire career has been such as to sustain the confidence felt in his ability. In his relations with his clients it has been his aim to recommend only such investments as would, with the lapse of time and judicious development, necessarily increase in value, and those who have entrusted their business interests to him have found him to be conservative, judicious and faith- ful to every trust.

RS. M. L. RAILEY. In former years it was extremely rare that a woman was seen at the head of an enterprise of any size and importance, even at the present day such instan- ces are by no means common. The fact that Mrs. Railey has managed interests of magnitude and has done it successfully, proves that she pos- sesses more than ordinary business ability and sagacity of judgment. Alike in teaching and as the manager of large landed interests, her work has been successful and her ability recognized.

Now a resident of Park County, Mrs. Railey was born in Fayette City, Pa., a daughter of David and Susanna (Haveley) Patton. She was

one of ten children, of whom four are now living. Her sister, Lizzie D., is the wife of H. Jerrel, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa; her older brother, Au- gustus B., graduated from the classical and law departments of the Iowa Wesleyan University, and is now a practicing attorney of Ogden, Utah; while the younger brother, John H., is engaged in the real-estate business in Idaho. The father, David Patton, was born in Maryland in 1808, and there grew to manhood. He was married in Wheeling, W. Va., and from there moved to Pennsylvania, settling in Fayette City, and en- gaging in contracting and building. He was a skilled cabinet-maker and architect, and met with excellent success. In 1858 he removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he followed contracting and building the remainder of his life, dying in 1865.

The mother of Mrs. Railey was born in Vir- ginia in 1813, and was of German and French descent, her father having been of German par- entage, while her mother was born and reared in Paris, France. She was a descendant of Jacob De Haven, who loaned immense sums to the United States government during the Revolu- tionary war, fitting out General Lafayette and continuing to furnish supplies to the government during that historic struggle. Mrs. Patton died one year before her husband's decease.

Desirous of obtaining a good education, the subject of this sketch availed herself in girlhood of every opportunity that was offered for the ad- vancement of her education. She was graduated. from Howes' Academy and Teachers' Training School at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, after which she was for five years employed as a teacher in the Des Moines public schools. In 1873 she came to Colorado and settled in Pueblo, accompanying her brother, Augustus B. Patton, who began the practice of law in that city. For ten years she was a teacher in the Pueblo schools, after which she was made city superintendent of the Gunni- son schools, a distinction that had never before been conferred upon a woman in the state of Colo- rado. This position she filled with the greatest efficiency for five years. During her residence in Pueblo, in 1877, she became the wife of L. C. Railey, a business man of that city, who in the subsequent business depression disposed of his interests in Pueblo and went to Gunnison, where. he became foreman for one of the large smelters. In 1890 Mrs. Railey came to Park County and acting as agent for her brother, A. B. Patton, the

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owner, she took charge of a ranch of twenty-two hundred and eighty acres near Hartsel. Three years later she acquired the property by purchase and has since successfully engaged in the haying and stock business, being recognized as one of the most extensive cattle raisers in the county.

AMES C. WOODBURY. There is probably no citizen of Colorado Springs who has a larger circle of acquaintances throughout El Paso County than Mr. Woodbury. His large acquaintance is doubtless due to his long period of service as county commissioner, which office it is said he has filled for a longer time than any similar official in the state. It was in 1870 that he was first elected to the office as the candidate of the Republican party, and at seven subsequent elections he was chosen to fill the position, some- times without any opposition whatever. After having been eight times nominated and elected he declined further nomination, and retired from office in January, 1895, after a service of twenty- four years and three months. During this time (in 1873) the county seat was transferred from Colorado City to the Springs, bridges were built, roads were laid out, and the Ute Pass road, at a cost of $15,000, was built, thereby enabling peo- ple who had formerly paid several dollars in toll to reach Leadville via the Springs without any tax whatever. His name is inseparably asso- ciated with the development of El Paso County and Colorado. He has lived to see what was in years gone by a region of unsettled and appar- ently worthless land transformed into a cultivated country, with large ranches, thriving villages and prosperous people. In the midst of the stir- ring scenes of pioneer life he was ever ready to help those who needed assistance, and his kind- ness of heart and public spirit won the friendship of his associates. His influence over his fellow- citizens has been that which one true, honorable and enterprising man invariably wields over an- other.

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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 119

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