Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 124

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 124

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OBERT MEADE SMITH, M. D., came to Colorado Springs in 1892 intending to re- main only two weeks, but he was so pleased with the climate and city that he has established his permanent home here. In November of that year he bought the Broadmoor dairy, of which he has since been the proprietor, and which is the largest dairy in the city. On his farm of fifteen hundred acres he raises Brown Swiss cattle, to the care and feeding of which he gives the closest attention, as he did also to their selection. The dairy is conducted upon strictly scientific prin- ciples. The milk is subjected to the Pasteur proc- ess, being put in a plant manufactured for that purpose. The capacity of the dairy is a ton of milk a day, all of which is marketed in the city.

Dr. Smith is of Scotch descent. His father, F. G., Jr., was born in Philadelphia and was a son of F. G. Smith, Sr., who was a native of Philadelphia and engaged in the East India trade. He was one of a family of seven brothers and two sisters, all of whom celebrated their golden wed- dings. During the war of 1812 he served in the First Philadelphia City Troop. The saber which he carried is now in Dr. Smith's possession.

Francis Gurney Smith, the father of our sub- ject, bore the same name as his father. He grad- uated from the University of Pennsylvania and for twenty-five years was engaged as professor of physiology in that university. At one time he was vice-president of the American Medical So- ciety and attending physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital. He was one of the founders of the

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Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company and its first medical director. He was also a member of the medical staff of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company and the United States Mu- tual Life Insurance Company, and a director of the First National Bank of Philadelphia. His office was at Fifteenth and Walnut streets, Phila- delphia. He died in that city in 1878. His wife, who was Catherine Dutilh, was born in Philadelphia, a daughter of Edmund Dutilh, of Dutch descent, and a merchant in the East India trade. He had a brother who was a very promi- nent banker. Mrs. Catherine Smith is living in Philadelphia. She has three sons and one daugh- ter, all living. One of the sons, Dr. Alexis Dupont Smith, is practicing in Germantown; and another, Edmund Dutilh, is an iron merchant in Pennsylvania. The oldest son, our subject, was born in Philadelphia June 2, 1854, and in boy- hood attended a preparatory academy, after which he took the regular course in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1873, with the de- gree of A. B. In 1876 he graduated in medicine, receiving the degree of M. D., and the same year the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him. For eighteen months he was engaged as resident physician in the Episcopal Hospital at Philadel- phia, where he had a large and valuable experi- ence in the treatment of disease, in its varied forms. After practicing for one year he took up the study of physiology in 1879, studying in Liepsic, Germany, and at Cambridge, England. At Leipsic he was interested in graduate work under Professor Ludwig, and in Cambridge con- ducted his studies under the preceptorship of Prof. F. Balfour.

On his return to Philadelphia Dr. Smith was engaged as demonstrator of physiology in the University of Pennsylvania, after which for some years he was professor of comparative physiology in the same institution. Meantime, he also did considerable literary work, acting as assistant editor of the Medical News, assistant editor of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, editor of the Therapeutic Gazette, and lecturer on chemistry at the Episcopal Academy. In 1891, hoping that the change of climate would prove beneficial to his wife, he went to New Mexico, and for a year remained at Kingston, where much of his time was devoted to hunting and fishing. From there he came to Colorado Springs.

In Philadelphia, in 1877, Dr. Smith married Miss Florence Peace, daughter of Edward Peace,

M. D., a graduate of the University of Pennsyl- vania, and surgeon to the Pennsylvania Hospital. Her paternal ancestors were from South Caro- lina, while her maternal ancestors, the Colemans, were of an old Pennsylvania family and owned the iron ore banks in Lebanon. Five children were born to the union of Dr. and Mrs. Smith: Francis Gurney, member of the Second United States Cavalry, Company B, now stationed at Porto Rico; Vernon Peace, deceased; Godfrey Dutilh, Florence Peace, Robert Meade, Jr., and Philip Peace.

Politically Dr. Smith is a Republican. In both the El Paso and Cheyenne Mountain Country Clubs he served for some years as a member of the board of governors. In religion he is identi- fied with the Episcopal Church. During his resi- dence in Pennsylvania he was a member of the Philadelphia and State Medical Associations, and is now connected with the American Physiologi- cal Society and the American Society of Natural- ists. Among his literary works are about thirty professional pamphlets, a number of papers, sev- eral books (among them the "Physiology of the Domestic Animal), and a translation of Herman's Pharmacology.

LBERT R. SMITH, president of the San Luis Stake of Zion, residing at Manassa, L Conejos County, was born in Iron County, Utah, in 1862, and is a son of Silas S. Smith. He was educated in the schools of Utah and from an early age began to fit himself for missionary work. In 1882 he came to Manassa, where the first Mormon settlement had been made three years before, and here he has since made his home.

In 1886 Mr. Smith was married, and the fol- lowing year he went south, to engage in mission- ary work in behalf of his religion. He remained in the south for twenty-six months, returning to Colorado in 1889 and settling upon a ranch near Manassa. Upon the resignation of his father as president of the San Luis Stake, it 1892, he was appointed to the position, and in this capacity he has since been retained. His stake embraces all of the San Luis Valley and two branches in New Mexico. Much of his time is devoted to mission- ary work. He maintains a general supervision over four bishops' wards, with six branches, making ten organizations in all.

By virtue of his office, Mr. Smith is president of the church tribunal or high council, which is

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the highest authority in the local stake. He is also president of the stake board of education, which presides over all the educational matters of the stake, but does not interfere with the pub- lic school system of the county or state, its work relating principally to religious instruction. While his interest is especially deep in matters relating to his chosen work, he is interested in all matters looking toward the elevation of the county and its general advancement.

ILLIAM O'BRIEN, county attorney of Pitkin County, and attorney for a number of important and large corporations in Aspen and elsewhere, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 10, 1860. He is a son of Bernard and Margaret (Burke) O'Brien, natives of Ire- land, having come to Ohio with their parents when young. His father, who was a road con- tractor, made his home in Cincinnati during the greater part of his active life, and there his death occurred. In politics he voted the Democratic ticket. Of his children, Richard died when thirty years of age and Mary in girlhood; Ellen is living in Cincinnati. These, with William, comprised the first wife's family. After the death of his first wife he married Mary Gorman, by whom he has five living children.

At the age of sixteen our subject graduated from St. Xavier's College at Cincinnati. With a desire to enter the profession of law he became a student in the Cincinnati Law School, from which he graduated in 1878, at eighteen years of age. He and another young man took the class prizes out of the very large number of members of the class. He was, however, too young to be admitted to the bar and was obliged to wait nearly three years before he was entitled to practice. Upon attaining his majority he was admitted to the bar and for over three years practiced in Cincinnati. For about two years he was first assistant prosecuting attorney of Hamil- ton County, under the administration of William H. Pugh. The year 1884 found him in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he spent one year in practice, and from there he came to Aspen, where he has, in the Bank building, an office furnished with a splendid library and other needed equip- ments. For some time he served as city attorney of Aspen and later was appointed county attorney. Politically he adheres to Democratic principles. Besides his professional practice, he has an interest in various mines in this section. In 1890

he married Margaret, daughter of William Elmen- dorf, who removed from New York state to Colo- rado, and has since engaged in mining and assay- ing in Lake City and Aspen.

HARLES E. SNIDER, who came to Colo- rado in 188 r and has since made his home in Manitou, has, since 1884, represented his mother's interests in the Cave of the Winds, and since 1895 his mother's interests in the Grand Cavern, two of the greatest scenic wonders in Manitou. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 17, 1854, the fourth among ten children, of whom seven sons are living and two sons and one daughter deceased. His grandfather, George Snider, who was a native of Maryland, living in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry on a plantation, removed to the vicinity of Reading, Pa., where he again engaged in farming. During the war of 1812 he was a freighter in the employ of the government. He participated in the defense of Baltimore, when the city was threatened by the British. His death occurred in Ohio.

Samuel Snider, our subject's father, was born in eastern Pennsylvania in 1817, and became a contractor and builder in Ohio, building locks on the Ohio canal, and also stone contractor in Cleveland. Later he settled upon a farm in Sum- mit County. In 1861 he located in Akron, where he engaged in contracting until 1879, and then brought his family to Colorado in the spring of 1881. He built the first lime kiln in Manitou. After three years the business was bought by his sons, Charles and George, and he retired from active business cares. In religion he was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in Manitou in January, 1895. His wife, who was Alvira Scranton, was born in Portage Coun- ty, Ohio, and was a daughter of Joel Scranton, a native of Berkshire County, Mass., who with his brother and their families drove through with ox-teams to Ohio, he settling in Portage County, on the shore of Lake Brady, and his brother becoming in time one of the wealthy men of Cleveland. He was accidentally killed near his farm on a railroad crossing in 1863, when very advanced in years. The mother of Charles E. Snider died March 22, 1899, at her home in Manitou, Colo., from a severe attack of la grippe, at the age of seventy years and five months.

When a boy our subject attended the public schools of Akron, Ohio. Under his father he learned the stone cutter's trade and stone busi-

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ness in general, following it the greater part of the time for four years. Coming to Colorado in the spring of 1881, he afterward became inter- ested in the lime business, his father building a lime kiln in the winter of 1881 and manufactur- ing the first output in the spring of the next year. In 1884 he became directly interested in the busi- ness with other brothers, and continued with it until the panic of 1893. In 1889 two of his brothers opened up the red sandstone quarries in Red Rock canon, between Manitou and Colorado City. The stone business was consolidated with the lime kilns in 1890, and the two were incorpo- rated as the Snider Stone & Lime Company, with our subject as secretary and treasurer. Many of the large buildings in Denver and other parts of the state, as well as west to Salt Lake City and south to the Gulf and east to the Mississippi River, are constructed of this red sandstone, the qualities of which are well known to the con- tractors. They also operated a sandstone quar- ry beyond Leadville, on the Colorado Midland Railroad. When the panic came on, the company failed and the works have been idle since then. There are four kilns, with a combined capacity of eight hundred bushels per day. Recently a company was formed and purchased the lime kilns and limestone quarries, and our subject has been installed as general manager of the business.

EORGE H. PHILLIPS. As a leading citi- zen of Telluride, one who has long been closely identified with its business interests, his far-reaching enterprise, aptitude for affairs, and broad public spirit being potent in advancing its welfare in various directions, the name of Mr. Phillips is inseparably linked with its growth and progress. In 1887 he moved his planing mill from Gunnison to Telluride, and embarked in the lumber business here, also took the con- tract for the erection of many of the principal res- idences in the town. From 1889 to 1895 he had charge of the city water works as superintendent. During the same time he was engaged in steam- fitting and plumbing work, and since 1895 has given his entire time to this business, which is the only one of its kind in the place. He has also given some attention to prospecting and mining, and has become the owner, besides, of real estate and five houses in Telluride. He is the present mayor of the city, having been elected in 1898.

In Gallia County, Ohio, December 20, 1849, the subject of this article was born, a son of James and

Barbara Ann (Fry) Phillips. His father, who was a leading man of his locality, engaged in farming and the mercantile business, and for sev- eral terms served as county sheriff. During the Civil war he was lieutenant of Company A, Fifty- sixth Ohio Infantry, assigned to the army of the Potomac, and after the war ended he returned to his farm, where he died in 1874, aged seventy- seven years. His wife survived him for years, her death occurring in 1897, at the age of eighty- two. Of their eleven children, seven are living.

From Ohio, at sixteen years of age, our subject went south and for two years traveled there, en- gaged in selling stock. In 1867 he embarked in the mercantile business, and for eighteen months kept a commissary for railroad employes at Bruns- wick, near Savannah, Ga. In 1869 he went to New York City and from there, in government service, shipped on a sailing vessel, that belonged to the Admiral Rogers' expedition. With this party he visited Brazil, Cape Town (Africa), the East Indies, China, and many ports on the east- ern coast of Asia. The expedition returned after an absence of three years and eight months and he proceeded from New York City to his old home in Ohio, later engaging in the lumber business on the Ohio River in West Virginia. Afterward he was interested in the stock business in Mis- souri, for Chicago merchants, for three years.

Coming to Colorado in 1881, Mr. Phillips went from Pueblo to Gunnison and there took charge of the city gas works and also acted as assistant superintendent of the water works. In 1884 he erected a planing mill on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and for two years carried on a very extensive lumber business there, but in 1887 brought his planing mill to Telluride. He has since been one of the leading business men of this city. Politically he was a Republican until 1884, since which time he has affiliated with the Popu- lists. In Gunnison he was a member of the town board, resigning on his removal from that place. In 1895 he was elected county commissioner of San Miguel County, and three years later was chosen mayor of Telluride. In 1887 he married Miss Hattie Jenkins, of Missouri, and they have two children, George Otho and Glaudia Belle, who have attended the select school and academy at Healdsburg, Cal., and are being given the best educational advantages possible.

Mr. Phillips is a member of Telluride Lodge. No. 56, A. F.[& A. M .; Bridal Vail Chapter No. 28, R. A. M., of which he is treasurer; Ouray

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Commandery No. 16, K. T., of Ouray; Bridal Vail Lodge, K. P., of which he is a charter mem- ber, vice-commander and past chancellor comman- der; a member of the Uniform Rank, and of the grand lodge.

BERLE K. SHELTON, M. D., the leading active practitioner of Buena Vista, Chaffee County, was born in Bloomfield, Iowa, Sep- tember 10, 1854. His father, Elijah J. Shelton, M. D., a well-known physician of Iowa, is a na- tive of Indiana, born at Columbus iu 1832, and, early beginning the study of medical science, took the regular course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. After graduating he removed to Iowa in 1846 and settled in Bloom- field, then a pioneer village. Wishing to gain more extended knowledge, he studied for a time in the Iowa State University at Iowa City. De- voting himself closely to professional work, he attained a reputation as one of the most skilful surgeons in his state and as a specialist in the treatment of a number of important diseases. His practice became so extensive and covered so wide a territory, that, in order to relieve himself of so much travel, he established a sanitarium in his town, and this he has since conducted. He has resided continuously in Iowa since 1846, with the exception of the years of 1859, 1860 and 1861, when he made his home in Kansas. Though now sixty-seven years of age, he is quite robust physically and his brain is as quick and keen as in the days of his prime. For several years he held the office of coroner and also served as a member of the board of pension examiners.

In the public schools of Bloomfield our subject gained his primary education. Afterward he attended Shurtleff College at Alton, Ill., from which he graduated February 17, 1876. He then entered the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in Cincinnati, Ohio, and there he remained during four winters, while in the intervening summer months he was a student in the St. Louis Medical College. Upon completing the regular course he graduated, in 1876. From that time until 1890 he practiced with his father in Bloom- field, and afterward established and conducted a sanitarium in Ottumwa, Iowa, meeting with suc- cess until the loss of the building and equipments by fire cost him about $40,000. In October, 1895, he came to Buena Vista, where he has since engaged in practice and has also served for two terms as county coroner. Politically he is a

stanch Democrat, but has never identified him- self with public affairs, preferring to devote him- self to professional work.

Dr. Shelton married Miss Kissie S. Hayes, second cousin of ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes. She was born in Lima, Ohio, and grew to womanhood in Carleton, Mo., where she was educated. Both Dr. and Mrs. Shelton are mem- bers of the Christian Church, in which faith they have reared their children: Helen E., Lucy I. and Eberle K., Jr. In fraternal relations the doctor is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and a member of the Rebekah Degree Lodge of Odd Fellows (the first organized in the world) at Bloomfield, Iowa, of which his parents are charter members. In Masonry he belongs to Bloomfield Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Malta Com- mandery No. 17, at Ottumwa, Iowa; the Consis- tory at Des Moines, Iowa, and Mystic Shrine at Davenport, Iowa.

ILLIAM C. MC CURDY, treasurer of Mesa County, and the owner of important ranch interests in this county, came to Colorado in 1893, and settled in Grand Valley, near Fruita. Here he purchased and improved a ranch, upon which he was engaged in general agricultural pursuits until the fall of 1897. He was then elected on the Populist ticket to the office of county treasurer, and as the duties of the office required his constant presence at Grand Junction he removed to this city, but he still retains his ranch property, which is now leased. On the re-organization of the Grand Valley Ditch Com- pany he was elected one of its directors and in that capacity was retained for two years, after which he officiated as treasurer of the company for the same period of time.

The boyhood years of our subject were passed in Nova Scotia, where he was born June 14, 1834, a son of Alexander and Margaret (Conkey) McCurdy. His education was obtained in Nova Scotia. For some time he was employed in a mercantile house in the city of Boston. In 1856 he engaged in the boot and shoe business for himself at Lynn, Mass., and was for several years engaged in that business at Lynn and at Water- ford, N.Y. In 1868 he removed to the west, set- tling near Waterville, Kan., where he engaged in farming. During his residence there he took an active part in public affairs, and in 1870 was elected probate judge of Marshall County, which

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office he filled for three successive terms. As township assessor he served for a number of terms, and he also held office as justice of the peace. For three years he carried on a mercan- tile business at Marysville.

In 1880 Mr. McCurdy went from Kansas to Winslow, Ariz., where he continued in the mer- cantile business, freighting his goods from Albu- querque, N. M. When the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was built through Winslow he moved to Flagstaff. There he carried on busi- ness until 1882, his family in the meanwhile residing in Marysville, Kan., where, after 1882, he joined them. On account of poor health he did not for a time engage in any occupation. His home continued to be in that state until 1893, when he became one of the residents of the Grand Valley. The location and prospects so pleased him that he established his permanent home near Fruita, in Mesa County, which he believes to be one of the garden spots of the state. He was married at Troy, N. Y., May 8, 1866, to Miss Mary R. Brooks, daughter of Benjamin and Mary R. (Walker) Brooks, of Waterford, that state. They are the parents of two children, George H. and Mabel, the former of whom acts as deputy county treasurer.

OHN P. LANDON, M. D., of Telluride, was born in Carroll County, Il1., January 1, 1850, a son of M. Z. and Mary (Sanborn) Landon, natives of New York and Canada. His father, who was a carpenter and builder, was a well-known citizen of his locality and took an active part in politics during the ante-bellum days. From 1856 to 1860 he served as a mem- ber of the state legislature. For sixteen years he held office as justice of the peace, and he also served as county sheriff. During the latter part of his life he was engaged in the banking busi- ness at Denison, Iowa, where he died at seventy years of age. His wife is still living and at this writing (1899) is seventy-two years of age. They were the parents of five children: Alexander M .; Gertrude, wife of W. H. Kriedler; John P .; Jessie and Viola, deceased.

In common schools and Beloit (Wis.) College, our subject obtained a fair education. The study of medicine he prosecuted under Dr. Skinner, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and F. H. Hamilton, of New York, completing the course of Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1875, with the de- gree of M. D. On his return to the west he

opened an office at Sterling, Ill., but after a short time removed to Polo, the same state, where he remained for four years. In 1879 he went to Rico, Colo., where, in addition to the practice of medicine, he became interested in mining. Re- maining in that place until 1897, he meantime built up a good practice and became widely known in the valley. In order to avail himself of the larger opportunities which Telluride affords he came to this city in 1897, and has since been practicing his profession here. His practice is very large, extending through La Plata, Monte- zuma, Dolores and San Miguel Counties, in all of which he has gained a reputation for skill and efficiency which his talents justify. He is also interested in mining at Rico and other parts of the San Juan country.

Dr. Landon is a worker in the Republican party, and, while he has never had any desire to hold office, he has more than once been chosen by his fellow-citizens to serve in positions of re- sponsibility and trust. Three terms he served as mayor of Rico, and he was also coroner of Dolores County. Prominent in Masonry, he is a member of Rico Lodge No. 79, A. F. & A. M .; Tyrian Chapter No. 61, R. A. M., at Polo, Ill .; Ivanhoe Commandery No. 11, K. T., at Durango; Den- ver Consistory No. 1, Scottish Rite; and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S., of Denver, being a thirty-second degree Mason. In 1875 he was united in marriage with Miss Carrie S. Wood- ruff, of Polo, Il1., and they have one son, Fred- erick C.

A man of great sagacity, thoughtful discrimina- tion, careful in diagnosis, accurate in treatment, Dr. Landon has established a reputation as a physician and surgeon that is second to none in southwestern Colorado.

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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 124

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