Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 120

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 120

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The Woodbury family was first represented in America by two brothers who came from England to Massachusetts in 1624. One remained in that state, the other proceeded to New Hampshire. Isaac Woodbury, our subject's father, was a son of a Revolutionary soldier and was born in Lev- erett, Franklin County, Mass., where he engaged in farming. In 1844 he removed to Illinois, traveling by railroad to Albany, packet to Buffalo, lake to Chicago, and thence by stage to Putnam

County, where he settled on a farm. There he remained until his death at fifty-six years. His wife, Eunice, was born in Massachusetts and died in Illinois at sixty-two years of age. Her father, Samuel Osgood, was a member of an old family of Massachusetts, whose first representatives there emigrated in 1600 from the north of Ireland. They were of the Presbyterian faith. Our sub- ject was the third of eleven children, seven of whom attained mature years. Of these, A. O., who is eighty-five years of age and the eldest of the family, resides in Nebraska, as does also a younger sister, Mrs. Jerusha Deweese; Mary, the older daughter, died in Illinois, and George B. in Nebraska. Isaac is living in Minnesota.

In Leverett, Mass., where he was born Decem- ber 16, 1825, our subject attended the public schools. Later he was a student in the prepara- tory department of Amherst College. In 1844 he came to Illinois, where his father died the next year. His education was completed in Mount Palatine Academy, after which he carried on farming and also traveled as a salesman for some years. In 1855 he went to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he engaged in the mercantile business for five years.

When the news reached the east that gold had been discovered in the mountains of Colorado our subject determined to try his fortune as a miner. He outfitted a horse and mule train at Fort Dodge and crossed the Mississippi River at Council Bluffs March 31, 1860. April 23 he landed at Auraria (now a part of Denver). From there he went via Colorado City and Ute Pass over the base of Pike's Peak, where the roads were merged into cliffs and boulders and became almost im- passable with teams. At one place the wagons were lowered over the cliffs by means of ropes. On reaching California Gulch he engaged in min- ing, and afterward spent his winters in Central City aud the summer months at the gulch and Breckenridge. In the fall of 1862 he took up a ranch at what is now Buttes Station, El Paso County, where he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres and embarked in farm pursuits. Later he bought additional land until he became the owner of seven thousand acres in the county, and here he has carried on a large business as a cattle-raiser. Besides his ranch he owns land on Rush Creek and has a cattle range in Cheyenne and Kiowa Counties. Since he located in Colo- rado Springs, in 1891, his partner has had the oversight of the cattle, which are principally

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Herefords and Shorthorns. The brand is O L, on the left hip. Shipments are made to the vari- ous markets and of recent years good prices have been received for the cattle. Three railroads run through the ranch, the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf, Denver & Rio Grande, and Atchison, To- peka & Santa Fe.

In El Paso County, in 1871, Mr. Woodbury married Miss Jane A. Sylvester, who was born in Medina County, Ohio, and came to Colorado the year preceding her marriage. They have three daughters: Agnes C., who married H. E. Ben- bow and lives in Colorado Springs; Elba Nell, wife of Martin Drake, of Colorado City; and Jennie A. Mr. Woodbury is connected with the El Paso County Pioneers' Society and the Asso- ciation of Colorado Pioneers. For years he has been a member of the Colorado Cattle Growers' As- sociation. He was a member of the first board of school directors of District No. 9, and assisted in building the first schoolhouse in the district. In 1868 he was made a Mason in Colorado City, and is now identified with El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M .; Colorado Springs Chapter No. 12, R. A. M .; Pike's Peak Commandery No. 6, K. T., and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S.

AVID HUME RICE, M. D. Since coming to Colorado Springs in 1888, Dr. Rice has established a reputation as a skillful physi- cian and has built up a large and lucrative prac- tice. He is a close student of his profession, and, in the fall of 1897, with a desire to keep himself posted concerning the latest developments in the science of therapeutics, he went to New York, where he took a post-graduate course in the Poly- clinic, receiving a diploma in recognition of his work. His skill and ability have won for him a high standing, not only among his patrons, but among those of his profession in the city and county.

The Rice family is of English extraction. Jesse Rice, who was a native of England, settled in Indiana in a very early day and from there, in 1835, removed to Adams County, Ill., becoming a pioneer farmer of that county. His son, Will- iam D. Rice, who was born in Rising Sun, Ind., devoted his active life to agricultural pursuits, and held the office of supervisor and various local positions of trust in his county. His death oc- curred about 1873. His wife, whom he married in Adams County, was Martha Staker, a native of Kingston, Canada, and daughter of Conrad

Staker, who removed from Canada to what was then Adams (now Pike) County, Ill. Mrs. Martha Rice is living in Plainville, Ill. Of her seven children all but one are living, namely: John H., a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, and practicing physician in Quincy, Ill .; David Hume; Luther, who occupies the old homestead; Merritt and Meredith, who are twins and are in partnership, as dentists, at Plainville, Ill .; and Mrs. Mary Sellers, of Decatur, Ill.

On the home farm near Quincy, Ill., where he was born September 6, 1855, the subject of this sketch passed the years of youth. He attended the public schools and Johnson College in Quincy, after which he assisted in cultivating the home- stead. The study of medicine he began under Dr. W. C. Trotter, of Richfield, Ill., and after- ward took a course in the Missouri Medical Col- lege. With his brother, John H., he engaged in practice at Niantic, Ill., for a year or more, then returned to college, where he graduated in 1885, with the degree of M. D. Returning to Rich- field he opened an office there, but in the fall of 1885 removed to Cheney, Kan., where he en- gaged in practice. From there, in 1888, he came to Colorado Springs, where he has his office in the Postoffice block. He is identified with the El Paso County Medical Society and takes an in- terest in all plans for the advancement of his pro- fession and the enlargement of its usefulness. His participation in politics has been of a quiet nature, but he is stanch in his advocacy of the Democratic party. In Liberty, Ill., he was made a Mason, and now belongs to El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master; is also connected with Colorado Springs Chapter No. 6, R. A. M., in which he is past high priest; and Colorado Consistory No. I, of Denver.

The marriage of Dr. Rice was solemnized in Adams County, Ill., and united him with Miss Ida M. Maclaskey, whose father, George Ma- claskey, was a pioneer of that part of Illinois. They have one child, Ethel May.

AURENCE M. PETERSON, one of the oldest residents of Manassa, Conejos Coun- ty, was born in Denmark in 1843, and at the age of ten years was brought to the United States by his mother, his father having died in England prior to embarkation for America. Soon after landing in this country the mother died in Kansas City. Afterward the family scattered. He learned that his brother intended to accom-

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of the peace at Manassa, and secretary of the pany a band of Mormon emigrants to Utah, but he refused to go, and instead joined a party of Mexican freighters bound for Santa Fe, N. M. In Albuquerque he formed the acquaintance of a captain in the United States army, with whom he went to Fort Union as errand boy and from school district. In 1895 he was a candidate for representative. Since 1895 he has engaged in the real-estate and conveyancing business, and also acts as town attorney for Manassa, besides which he is engaged in general farming and there to Fort Massachusetts, returning to Fort. stock-raising on his eighty-acre ranch. In 1863 he married Maria Gertrudes Trujilla, who was killed by accident near Antonito. In 1886 he married Ida Sego, by whom he has five children: Clara C., Laurence R., Minnie G., Laura D. and Ruby.

Union in 1856. Later he spent two years in Sa- pello, N. M., with a captain in the Mexican army, and while there he attended a Spanish school. His life in boyhood was not a happy one; he was friendless and alone, in a strange land, with no one to speak a kind word to him or help him in any way.

In 1859 Mr. Peterson secured employment as clerk in a general store, but the next year went to Las Vegas, N. M., and there joined a freighting train bound for Kansas City, returning the same season to Las Vegas. His next position was as clerk for Henry Connelly, then proprietor of a store at Mora, afterward governor of New Mex- ico. In 1867 he moved from Mora to Trinidad, Colo., and engaged in general merchandising. The next year he was elected county clerk and recorder for Las Animas County, which position he held for two years. In 1870 he acted as as- sistant postmaster under Henry A. Baracalough. From Trinidad he moved to a point on the Las Animas River, where he kept a general store until 1874, and in 1875 he took his family and Mexican driver to Utah to see his brother, from whom he had run away in Kansas City in 1854. While in Utah he became an adherent of the Mormon church. Prior to his return to Colorado he was ordained an elder and began missionary work among the Mexicans. Forty of his Mexican converts accompanied him to Little Colorado, Ariz., but in a short time he returned with the majority of them and established a Mormon set- tlement at Castle Rock, N M. In 1878 he re- ceived an inquiry from the president of the Mor- mon Church as to a good location for settlement in southern Colorado or New Mexico, and he recommended that part of Conejos County where Manassa now stands. He was requested by the president to establish a settlement at this point, which he did, and his brother was sent to estab- lish the stake. He has been a resident of Man- assa since.

In 1887 the Republicans elected Mr. Peterson judge of Conejos County, and in 1890 and 1893 re-elected him to the office, which he held for nine years. For some time he has been justice

M ARION A. PATRICK, the lessee and manager of the Pagosa hot springs and hotel, and the owner of real estate in both Pagosa and Durango, was born in Morocco, New- ton County, Ind., in 1860, a son of John and Sarah Patrick, of Indiana. Educated in the schools of his native county, he was seventeen years of age when he came to Colorado and set- tled in Georgetown. After a year in that camp he removed to Idaho Springs, where he developed mines in which he was interested. From there, in 1881, he removed to Durango, and pre-empted a quarter-section of land on Pine River, where he began to raise stock and carry on general agricultural pursuits. In 1883 he went to Silver- ton, where he remained for a year, engaged in mining and buying some interests in mines. Upon his return to his Pine River ranch he took charge of the local lumber yards for a Chicago firm. Selling his property in 1889, he came to Pagosa Springs, and here embarked in the cattle business. The following year he assumed the management of the springs for the Pagosa Springs Company, and in 1891 he leased the springs and hotel. The Patrick hotel is known and appreciated by those who have had the good fortune to be its guests. He is a popular land- lord, and makes the welfare and comfort of his guests his chief aim.

In matters of a political nature Mr. Patrick al- ways works with the Republican party. He was one of the prime movers in the incorporation of the town of Pagosa Springs, and has since served on the town board. He has also held office as secretary of the board of school directors of Pagosa Springs. He is a member of Pagosa Camp No. 412, Woodmen of the World, and a regular attendant at its meetings. In 1885 he was united in marriage with Annie Grimes, by whom he has two sons, Clifford and Bradford.

JOHN FRED DIEZ.

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Devoting his entire attention to the manage- ment of the hotel and springs, Mr. Patrick has met with success in his business. Connected with the springs are three bath houses for ladies and gentlemen. Every modern convenience has been introduced, in order to provide for the com- fort of guests and enhance their pleasure, and the results speak volumes for his genial manner, en- terprising disposition and untiring perseverance.

OHN FRED DIEZ was one of the colonists who settled in the Wet Mountain Valley in 1870, and he has since been well known among the German residents of Custer County. In addition to his ranch here he also owns ranching property in Huerfano County, where he has a half-section of land devoted to hay and grazing. Stock-raising has been his specialty, and in this industry he has been very successful. Adding to his herd from time to time, he has become the owner of a large bunch of cattle, and on his place raises grain and hay to be used for feed. He has continued both farming and stock- raising, and by industry and ability has gained success, while others, who had more capital to start with, have failed through lack of persever- ance. In 1883 he erected a fine stone residence on his ranch, and besides he has all the neces- sary farm buildings for the shelter of stock and storage of grain. He usually keeps from twelve to fifteen work horses on his ranch.

Born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in April, 1844, our subject is a son of John Fred and Ma- greda (Eichner) Diez, the former an agricultur- ist and proprietor of a vineyard. He was edu- cated in Germany and there learned the machin- ist's trade. When less than twenty years of age he came to America and for a time followed his trade in Buffalo, but in two years went to Chi- cago, where he was employed in a machine shop and foundry. In 1870 he joined the colony and came to what is now Custer County (then a part of Fremont). He took up one hundred and sixty acres of land, but having no money with which to make improvements, he began to work in the mines of Central City, where he worked as an engineer for two years. With the money thus earned he returned to his ranch and soon had the work here started in good shape. He has since engaged in farming and stock-raising.

Both in local and national elections Mr. Diez supports Republican principles. While in Chi- cago he married Tillie Riester. Of their union

seven children were born, six of whom are liv- ing: Emma, wife of Frederick Ockelbein, a farmer of Custer County; Albert, who assists his father in the cultivation of the home place; Fred, Joe, Minnie and Annie. Mr. Diez came to Colo- rado without any capital whatever, and by indus- try and perseverance has become the owner of a · valuable ranch and has gained a place among the prominent stockmen of his county.

ILLIS A. REESE, attorney for La Plata County, and a successful lawyer of Du- rango, was born in Union County, Ill., in 1858, a son of Capt. John P. and Dora (O'Daniel) Reese. His father, who was an officer in the Civil war, was active in the defense of the Union and has always been prominent in local affairs. Po- litically he is a Republican. He owns large es- tates in Union County and has for years been an enterprising farmer of that part of Illinois. His five children are: Willis A .; J. O., of North Dakota; Lou; Lena, wife of Otis Miller; and Ann, wife of George James.

After having completed his education, our sub- ject began to study law under W. S. Day, then of Union County, and now a judge in Los An- geles, Cal. In May, 1880, he was admitted to the bar of Illinois. He formed a partnership with Judge Crawford of Jonesboro, Ill., under the firm title of Crawford & Reese, but after one year in that connection his health failed to such an extent as to render a change necessary. For two years he made no attempt to practice, but de- voted himself to the recuperation of his health. When able to work again he resumed practice and also taught school during the winter months, remaining in Union County until 1891, and after 1886 he devoted himself exclusively to the law. In 1891 he came to Colorado and settled at Du- rango, where he formed a partnership with N. C. Miller, district attorney. They continued together until January 1, 1896, when Mr. Reese began for himself, and has since been alone.

Until 1896 Mr. Reese voted the Republican ticket, but during the exciting presidential cam- paign of that year he became an advocate of the Democracy and a supporter of the movement for the remonetization of silver. He had previously been active among the Republicans. In 1892 he was chairman of the Republican county central committee, and in 1895 he was the Republican candidate for county judge. On transferring his allegiance to the Democratic party he was ap-

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pointed campaign manager for the county and in 1897 served as chairman of the Democratic county central committee. In 1898 he was a candidate for county judge on the Democratic ticket. In 1897 he was appointed county attorney and the fol- lowing year received the same position by second appointment.

Fraternally Mr. Reese is a member of the blue lodge of Masons. Identified with the Knights of Pythias, he has served as chancellor commander, and for four years has been grand representative to the grand lodge. His marriage, in 1883, united him with Thisbie, daughter of J. J. Biggs, who was born in Illinois, but is now living in Durango. They have two children, Mamie and Clarence, who are ten and six years of age re- spectively.

D EORGE W. PARKER, ex-county judge of Otero County and a resident of La Junta since 1888, was born in Clinton County, Ind., March 16, 1838, being a son of Daniel and Lucy (Moore) Parker, natives respectively of Bordentown, N. J., and Cincinnati, Ohio. He is of Irish descent, his paternal grandfather, Philip Henry Parker, having been born in the north of Ireland, and emigrating from there to America in early manhood; his first home in this country was in New Jersey, but in an early day he re- moved to Ohio and there engaged in farming until his death, at an advanced age.

The boyhood years of Daniel Parker were spent on a farm near Cincinnati. From there he re- moved to Clinton County, Ind., and engaged in farming, but in a short time he settled in Wat- seka, Iroquois County, Ill., and opened a mer- cantile store. He continued to reside in that place until his death, at sixty-eight years of age. A Republican in early life, he afterward became identified with the Democrats, and continued to espouse the principles of that party as long as he lived. For a time he was associate justice of his county. While he started in life without means, he was so judicious and enterprising that at his death he left about $50,000. His wife, who was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, died at eighty-four years. They were the parents of three children, but Elizabeth died at thirty years and Daniel W. at twenty, so that our subject is the sole survivor.

The literary education of Judge Parker was principally obtained in the Middleport Collegiate Institute. When twenty-three years of age he

graduated from the Albany Law School, after which he carried on a law practice in Watseka, in connection with his business interests there In 1878 he removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and for three years carried on a grain business. Next he went to California and engaged in the real- estate business in San Diego, continuing there until he came to La Junta in 1888. Since making his home in Colorado he has engaged in the stock business.

Judge Parker is a stanch friend of the silver cause. While in Illinois he was a Democratic candidate for member of congress, also served as member of the legislature and county commis- sioner, and in 1895 was elected judge of Otero County by a large majority. For a number of years he was very prominent in politics in Illi- nois and at one time stumped the state for Peter Cooper, the latter having been nominated for president in a convention of which Judge Parker was a member. He was a delegate to the People's party convention in St. Louis, Mo., where he supported Bryan. He is a member of the blue lodge of Masons in La Junta. For years he has been a member of the Methodist Church, to which he has contributed liberally. His wife bore the maiden name of Emma Griffin, and was from Des Moines, Iowa. By a former marriage he had two children: Daniel W., who is engaged in mining in Colorado; and Carrie, wife of G. W. Bryson, of Omaha, Neb.

EV. ASBURY H. QUILLIAN, deceased. In the early days of Colorado, and especially the southern section of this state, one of the well-known circuit riders was the subject of this sketch. "Parson" Quillian (for under this title he was best known) came to Colorado in 1870 and settled in Huerfano County, where he en- gaged in missionary work in behalf of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church South. Among the ten or more churches that he organized and estab- lished were those at Walsenburg and La Veta. While giving his attention principally to ministe- rial work he also superintended his stock ranch near Gardner, Huerfano County, and this prop- erty he still retains. The approach of old age, with its attendant infirmities, caused him to lay down his work in 1898, and afterward he lived retired in Walsenburg.

Born in Habersham County, Ga., March 6, 1830, our subject was a son of Rev. James and Sarah Quillian. His father, who was a native of

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North Carolina, moved to Georgia in childhood and became a pioneer worker in the Wesleyan faith there, entering the ministry in middle life and continuing active until his death. For years he served as tax collector of his county. He was a man of means and a large holder of land and slaves. In his family there were seven children who lived to maturity, and of these three are now living: James M., who followed a mercantile life until the war, since which he has engaged in farming; Sarah, the widow of H. H. Parks, of Georgia; and Asbury H.

When a young man our subject, in 1852, went to California and for three years engaged in min- ing near Sacramento, meeting with fair success. In 1855 he returned to Georgia and embarked in the mercantile business in Banks County, contin- uing there until the war broke out. He then turned his attention to ministerial work. From Georgia, in 1870, he came to Huerfano County,

Colo., where the greater part of his subsequent life has been devoted to missionary work. He OUIS PAQUIN. Since the age of six years Mr. Paquin has been a resident of Colorado. The years of his youth were passed in or near Pueblo. In 1876 he was one of a party of five who came to that part of La Plata Coun- ty now included in Montezuma, and of these five men he alone is left. With the stock he drove endured all the hardships incident to the nature of his work, but long rides did not dishearten him nor indifference on the part of others weaken his determination to do all within his power for the cause of Christ in this part of the Lord's vine- yard. He has lived to see, in a large measure, the reward of his labors. Churches have sprung . from Pueblo he embarked in the stock business in up and Christianity has spread its refining, up- lifting influence upon the lives of all the people. There is a higher moral tone prevalent than is to be found in some frontier localities, and this is without doubt due in some degree to his efforts.

In 1875 Mr. Quillian was elected county super- intendent of schools and continued to serve ac- ceptably in that capacity until 1885, being four times re-elected. The position is now held by his daughter, Miss Fannie, who is a lady of abil- ity and very popular with all parties; when she was nominated, in 1897, no other candidate was placed in the field to oppose her, but all united in voting for her.

In Georgia, November 18, 1858, Mr. Quillian married Agnes F., daughter of Thomas Lilly and a native of Georgia. Her mother's brother, Judge George W. Pascal, was a prominent attor- ney of Texas and author of a well-known legal work; he was connected as an attorney with the Peabody suit for the recovery of school lands sold by the state to raise funds for the carrying on of the war, and it was largely through his efforts that the lands were recovered. His father, George

Pascal, was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Quillian became the parents of ten children, viz .: Alice L., wife of A. O. Wil- burn, a stockman of Gardner, Colo .; Stella S. C., Mrs. Charles Alexander, of LaVeta; Thomas J., who is engaged in the stock business in this county; Ida E., wife of Erskine Williams, a lead- · ing lawyer of Fort Worth, Tex .; Fannie, county superintendent of schools; Hattie, a professional nurse; Lizzie, who is a teacher in the Walsen- burg school; Annie Isabel, who died in infancy; Emma, who is teaching in Walsen Mine School; and Mary, now a student in the Walsenburg high school.

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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 120

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