Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 132

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 132

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F. HALBERT, attorney-at-law of Walsen- burg, and member of the firm of Hunt & Halbert, editors and publishers of the Wal- senburg World, was born in Benton County, Mo., in 1868, a son of Rev. Enos N. and Elizabeth (Glanville) Halbert, and, through his mother, a direct descendant of the house of Glanville, Eng- land. His grandfather, Joel B. Halbert, removed from Tennessee to Missouri in middle life, and settled upon a large farm, which was operated by slave labor. At the opening of the Civil war he freed all of his slaves and entered the Union army, becoming surgeon of the Eighth Missouri Regiment. Three of his sons also enlisted in the army, and two of these were killed in battle. The third, Enos M., was sergeant of Company B, Eighth Missouri Infantry, and remained in serv- ice until the close of the war, meantime receiving several wounds in engagements with bushwhack- ers. A native of Tennessee, he resided in Mis- souri from eight years until middle age, in 1878 removing to McPherson County, Kan., and set- tling near McPherson Centre. At the close of the war he entered the ministry of the Presbyte- rian Church, and has since been prominent in his denomination. By his marriage to Miss Glan- ville, who died in 1870, four children were born, Gustavus, Charles, Puella and E. F.

At the time of removing to Kansas, the subject of this sketch was about eleven years of age. He was educated in the public schools, and afterward

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engaged in teaching school, at the same time studying law under Charles S. Crawford, of Abi- lene. His studies were completed under the pre- ceptorship of Judge O. L. Moore, now on the bench of the eighth judicial district of Kansas. In May, 1895, he was admitted to the bar of Kan- sas and opened an office in Abilene. The follow- ing year he came to Walsenburg, and, being ad- mitted to the bar of Colorado, commenced to prac- tice here, since which time he has become known as a rising lawyer. In the fall of 1896 he was appointed deputy district attorney under R. R. Ross, and afterward was re-appointed for four years, to serve until 1901.

When sixteen years of age Mr. Halbert began to learn the printer's trade at Carlton, Kan. In 1896 he became associate editor of the Walsenburg World, and in August of 1898 was made editor. In the publication of the paper he is associated with W. C. Hunt. In his editorial work he sup- ports the Republican party and the present (Mc- Kinley) administration, with which he is in the strongest personal sympathy. Fraternally he is connected with the Maccabees in Kansas. In the Presbyterian Church he officiates as elder and for some time has been Sunday-school superinten- dent.

In 1898 Mr. Halbert married Miss Cora Delle Crain, daughter of L. L. Crain, who is a leading citizen of Chapman, an active Republican, and fraternally a Knight of Pythias. Mrs. Halbert was given excellent advantages in girlhood. Being the possessor of a fine soprano voice, whose purity and sweetness attracted general admira- tion, she was afforded the opportunity to study vocal music under the best teachers, and was also trained as a pianist. At this writing she is the leader of the choir in the Presbyterian Church, and is in constant demand as a vocalist and pian- ist at social functions. She is besides gifted along literary lines, and has contributed to local papers excellent articles, both in prose and poetry.

HARLES H. KNICKERBOCKER, city en- gineer of Trinidad, was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., March 1, 1831. He is a son of Frederick and Angeline (Kneeland) Knick- erbocker, also natives of that state. His father, who was a farmer by occupation, moved to Mich- igan in 1835 and was one of the first settlers in the locality where he established his home. How- ever, before he had improved his land, his death

occurred. His wife survived him for many years, and died in Missouri, in the spring of 1887, aged seventy-four.

After the death of the father the family moved to a farm in Lafayette County, Wis., and there the subject of this sketch passed his boyhood years. At the age of eighteen he began to assist in the surveying of government land in Wiscon- sin and in the laying out of townships. In 1850 he secured employment in the engineering depart- ment of the Illinois Central Railroad, and laid out the line through the northern part of Illinois. Afterward he was engaged on the Dubuque & Union Pacific in Iowa. While there the war broke out. He returned to Wisconsin and en- listed in Company C, Thirty-third Wisconsin In- fantry, becoming color-bearer of his company. Later he was promoted to be second sergeant. He was with General Grant at Vicksburg, was also at Mobile and Nashville, and participated in nineteen engagements, besides many skirmishes, but was never wounded. At the expiration of the war he was honorably discharged.

After a short visit in Wisconsin in 1865, Mr. Knickerbocker went to Kansas City, where he was employed as the principal engineer in build- ing the bridge over the Missouri River, it being the first bridge completed over that river. After- ward he was engaged in railroad engineering in Texas, Indian Territory, Colorado and Old Mex- ico. Among his contracts was that for nearly three hundred miles of roadbed on the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth Railroad, west to Folsom, N. M., later on the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf. Upon the completion of that road he was sent to Trinidad to locate eight miles of road on the Hastings branch of the Union Pacific. In 1891 he was engineer of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad, and in August, 1892, he located permanently in Trinidad, where he has since en- gaged in general engineering. In 1896 and again in 1898 he was elected city engineer. He had the contract for the building of the city sewers, thirteen hundred and seventy-seven feet long. In addition to railroad work he laid out several irri- gating ditches in Las Animas County and in Old Mexico. His contracts have extended over the entire west and have been filled to the satisfaction of interested parties.

While in Kansas City Mr. Knickerbocker, in 1879, built the first sewer there, and for a number of years he served as city engineer. He also built several houses and churches in that city,

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and is still the owner of improved property there. For one year he was a member of the school board of Kansas City. Fraternally he identified him- self with Temple Lodge No. 299, A. F. & A. M., in Kansas City; Kansas City Chapter No. 28, R. A. M .; and Kansas City Commandery No. 10, K. T., and during his residence in that city was very active in Masonic work. He belongs to Abernathy Post, G. A. R. In 1855 he married Mary E. Horder. Born to them were four chil- dren: Edith, Harry, Ethel, and Kate (deceased). The family still reside in Kansas City.

LEXANDER LEVY, proprietor of one of the most extensive mercantile establishments in Walsenburg, Huerfano County, was born in Austria in 1849, and spent the years of his early childhood in his native land. In 1866 he crossed the Atlantic, landing in New York City, and from there proceeded to St. Louis, Mo., where he remained until May, 1867. Next he went to New Mexico and clerked in a general store in one of the towns in that territory. From there, in 1871, he came to Walsenburg, and he has since been a resident of this town, with the exception of a few years in Trinidad.

Immediately after coming here, Mr. Levy opened a general mercantile store, but in Decem- ber of the same year he sold out his business. He then engaged in his brother's business in Trinidad, remaining in that city until 1875, when he returned to Walsenburg and here he has re-, sided continuously since that time. In 1875 he entered into partnership with Fred Walsen in the general mercantile business, but in 1883 he bought his partner's interest, and has since car- ried on the business alone, having through his energy and reliable dealings built up a trade that extends through all the surrounding country. In 1875 he became interested in railroad contracting, which he carried on, in addition to his other business. He had contracts in Colorado and New Mexico, and built sections of the Denver & has since become very valuable, as on it were

Rio Grande, the Santa Fe, and the Rio Grande Southern Railroads. Up to the present time he has continued to take contracts. He also owns a fine ranch and has stock interests in Huerfano County, besides real-estate in Walsenburg.

As an adherent of the Democratic party, Mr. Levy has taken an active part in local politics and is a leading man of his party in the county. Both in 1880-82 and 1890-92 he served as county treasurer. He has also held the position of town

treasurer and member of the city council. Act- ively interested in the cause of education, he has promoted the interests of the local schools through his efficient service as a member of the board of school directors, of which he has served ably as the president. In this position it has been his aim to do all within his power to promote the standard of scholarship and benefit the schools, in order that the children may have all the ad- vantages which a thorough education affords. Fraternally he is connected with the blue lodge of Masonry and has been its master; he is also identified with Walsenburg Chapter, R. A. M. His marriage took place in 1880 and united him with Lillie Sporleder, by whom he has four chil- dren, Archie, Ralph, Walter and Earl.

LARENCE P. HOYT was born at Conquest, Cayuga County, N. Y., November 7, 1845. His education was obtained in public schools. Starting west in 1863, he arrived in Virginia City in what is now Montana (then Idaho Ter- ritory) about July, 1864, and remained there for a few months, working in the mines. He left Virginia City October 4 of the same year, arriv- ing at Denver November 11. At that time martial law was in force, and the governor called for troops. Mr. Hoyt enlisted in the First Colo- rado mounted militia, and the regiment was ordered out to open up the stage line and freight route between Denver and Julesburg, and for the purpose of protecting emigrants from the Indians, who were very hostile at that time. The regi- ment was mustered out in the spring of 1865, and Mŕ. Hoyt went to work for a government contractor who was putting up hay at Fort Hal- lack, two hundred miles northwest of Denver. He was afterwards employed by the Overland Stage Company, and in April, 1866, went to Golden (then the capitol of the territory) and bought a body of land near the town, where he engaged in stock-raising and mining. This land found large veins of fine clay and coal. In the year 1892 he shipped over sixteen thousand tons of fire and plastic clay.

In 1871 he was elected city marshal of Golden, which position he filled for nearly three years. During this time and the following two years he was under-sheriff of Jefferson County, after which, for six years, he was deputy United States mar- shal of Colorado Territory. In 1879 he was among the first who went into Gunnison County,

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and was one of the locators of the town of Gothic, on the headwaters of the Gunnison River, where he engaged in the mining and mer- cantile business. In 1883 he was appointed, by Governor Grant, warden of the Colorado State Penitentiary, which position he held for two years. The following two years he continued his mining and stock industries, and in 1887 was again appointed warden of the state penitentiary by Governor Adams. While filling this position he always managed his home place at Golden, where there is a steadily increasing demand for the products of his mines.

In January, 1897, he was appointed, by Gov- ernor Adams, warden of the Colorado State Re- formatory, located at Buena Vista. This position he held until 1899, when he was for the third time appointed warden of the Colorado State Penitentiary by Governor Thomas. He still owns the old place at Golden, which he considers his home. Besides the clay and coal mines al- ready mentioned, his stock interests there have largely increased.

In politics Mr. Hoyt has always been a Demo- crat, adhering with faithfulness to every principle of his party. Fraternally he is a member of Golden Lodge No. 10, K. P. He was married in 1874 to Miss Ida R. Johnson, daughter of Judge J. M. Johnson, of Golden, Colo. They have three children, Mary, Maurice and Ruth. In personal characteristics Mr. Hoyt is a genial, whole-souled man, with an indomitable will that fits him for his responsible position, while, at the same time, he is kind hearted, liberal and gener- ous. His character is such that he has won not only prominence, but popularity as well.

APT. SAMUEL M. HERD, chief of the fire department of Pueblo, was born in Belle- fonte, Center County, Pa., January 12, 1851, a son of John R. and Margaret ( Morrison) Herd, natives respectively of Venango and Huntingdon Counties, Pa. His paternal grandfather, An- drew Herd, was born in Scotland, and on coming to the United States settled in Venango County, but later removed to Center County, and there re- sided until his death. The paternal grandfather, Samuel Morrison, a farmer and, later, a hotel- keeper in Bellefonte, afterward removed to Ty- rone, where he died. He was a son of Samuel · Morrison, Sr., a native of England and a pioneer farmer of Pennsylvania, also a soldier in the colo- nial army during the Revolution.

John R. Herd was a newspaper man, and edited successively the Meadville Courier, Erie Star and Center County Democrat (now the Democrat Watchman). During the Civil war he engaged in the hotel and lumber business. At one time he was sergeant-at-arms of the legislature at Har- risburg. Politically he was a Democrat. He died in Center County when seventy-four years of age. His wife died in the same county. They were the parents of five children, of whom three sons and one daughter are living. Samuel M., the eldest of these, was reared in Bellefonte and attended St. John's Academy in Center County, afterward entering the Commercial College of Pittsburg, from which he graduated in 1868. He engaged in the lumber business in Pennsyl- vania from that time until 1873.

Coming west to Pueblo at that time, our sub- ject was employed as bookkeeper for Thatcher Brothers, with whom he remained for five years. Afterward, for a year, his time was divided be- tween La Junta and Las Vegas, and he then ac- cepted a position in a dry-goods store in Pueblo, where he remained until January 1, 1885. He then traveled for a short time, after which he opened a restaurant on Union avenue, and con- tinued its management until he was appointed chief of the fire department in 1896. He has twenty-two men altogether in the department. The equipments are large and include two hose companies (one in Bessemer, the other on Broad- way), one chemical engine (in the city hall), one hook and ladder truck and one hose company, on Seventh and Main streets, one steamer (in city hall), and a hose company on Victoria street. From boyhood he has been interested in the work of the fire department. He became a volunteer fireman when sixteen years of age, and volun- teered in the first company organized in Pueblo, which became Pueblo Hook and Ladder Com- pany No. I. Afterward he was a member of dif- ferent volunteer companies in the city, served as foreman of the Richardson Hose Company, for one year was assistant chief of the fire depart- ment, and in 1881-82 was chief of the fire depart- ment. He was captain of the first running team that went out in the annual tournament of Colo- rado, and continued active in that work until 1884, winning some of the best prizes in the state. At Silver Cliff, September 9, 1882, his team of sixteen won the national record of five hundred feet in twenty-five seconds. After the fire of July, 1898, he was presented with a medal

W. A. LOCKETT, M. D.

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of gold, set with diamonds, a token of the esteem in which he was held by his friends. For four years he was a member of the National Guard, and was commissioned first lieutenant of Com- pany B, Fourth Battalion, later was made captain of the company, and at the time of his resigna- tion was senior captain and acting major of the battalion. He served as deputy sheriff for two years, receiving his appointment from Sheriff Anderson, and for two years was also deputy United States marshal for the district of Colo- rado under Walter Smith. Politically he is a Democrat. In the local lodge of the Order of Elks he served as secretary, and socially he is connected with the Rovers' Club.

ILLIAM A. LOCKETT, M. D., treasurer of Saguache County, was born in Kentucky, June 1, 1838. The family which he rep- resents is of English and Scotch descent, but has been identified with American history for many generations, having been among the early settlers of Virginia. His father, Lemuel, son of William Lockett, was born in the Old Dominion, but moved to Kentucky and bought a plantation there. He married Margaret Wood, also of Vir- ginia, and they had five children, viz .: Mary L., widow of John S. Loving, and a resident of Texas; Sarah E., wife of Lafayette Payne; William A .; James K., a farmer in Kentucky; and Margaret A., wife of George W. Freeman, and a resident of Kentucky.

In public schools and Camden Academy, Dr. Lockett obtained his literary education. In the spring of 1865 he graduated from the medical de- partment of the University of Louisville with the degree of M. D., and at once began to practice at the old homestead in Barren County, Ky. Six years later he removed to Andrew County, Mo., where he established a good practice and remained for eighteen years. Owing to failing health he came to Colorado, settling in Saguache County. Here he began in practice and purchased land in the "41-Country," a section of the county noted for the excellence of the grain raised. He was also interested in and connected with the man- agement and construction of the Farmers' ditch, which with its tributaries is between sixty-five and seventy miles in length, and is one of the finest ditches in the San Luis Valley. Upon this ditch almost $140,000 has been spent, and of the company owning it he served for two terms as president. In the same section he took up land

and now has six hundred and forty acres, devoted mostly to grain; on this property he has raised as high as forty-seven bushels of wheat to the acre.

That the services rendered by Dr. Lockett to the Populist party have been appreciated is evi- denced by the positions to which they have elec- ted him. In 1892 he was nominated and elected county judge, and at the expiration of his term, in 1895, he was chosen county treasurer, to which office he was re-elected in 1897. In his position he has given satisfaction to all parties, although it was only after considerable solicitation on the part of his friends that he consented to accept the nomination for the office, not having any special desire for political preferment.

In August, 1861, Dr. Lockett enlisted in Com- pany L, First Kentucky Cavalry, and served until ill health forced him to resign. During the time he was in the army he experienced all the hard- ships of forced marches, the tedium of camp life and the danger of the battlefield. His service was principally in Kentucky and parts of Ten- nessee and Alabama. In April, 1862, he was promoted to be a second lieutenant, and in June of the same year was made first lieutenant, and upon the promotion of his captain succeeded to that office.

Fraternally Dr. Lockett is treasurer of Olive Branch Lodge No. 32, A. F. & A. M., of Saguache. From boyhood he has been identi- fied with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has held every office that a layman can fill. At this writing he is superintendent of the Sunday-school. April 10, 1867, he married Mary Crittenden Yates, who was named for the well-known John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky. Of their eight children six are living: Harry C., a farmer in the San Luis Valley; Lemuel S., also a farmer; William C., who is deputy in the treas- urer's office, and connected with the abstract busi- ness of this county; Margaret, a teacher in the Saguache public school; James L., a ranchman ofthis county; and Archie F., who is attending school.

C. HALL, M. D., senior member of the firm of Hall & Landon, physicians and sur- geons, at Telluride, is justly regarded as one of the most skillful practitioners of San Miguel County. His knowledge and skill in all matters pertaining to medical and surgical science, his intelligence in other lines of study, and his up- right character alike entitle him to esteem, and

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he is held in the highest respect, not alone in this community, but in other places where he is known.

A son of Augustus A. and Sallie (Henderson) Hall, the former for years a leading resident of Lexington, Ky., but during the latter part of his life living on a farm near the city, where he died in 1881, at the age of eighty-one, the subject of this sketch was born in Lexington, in 1853, and was next to the youngest of six children, the others being as follows: Belle; William A., a physician, who died in 1879; Samuel B., a mer- chant of Telluride; Mrs. Benjamin Gaines, of Slater, Mo .; and Kate, wife of William Goodwin, of Fayette County, Ky. The mother of this family died in 1866, when fifty-five years of age.

In the Henry Seminary, at Versailles, Ky., the subject of this article obtained his literary education. Afterward he was a student in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1883, with the degree of M. D. During the same year he came west and settled in the then new mining camp of Telluride, where he has since devoted himself exclusively to professional work. Not only is he the oldest physician of the place, but one of the most skill- ful as well. When his practice became too large for him to give it the necessary attention, he took in Dr. J. P. Landon as a partner, and the firm of Hall & Landon is among the best known in the county. In 1896 he built the Telluride hospital, which he conducts as a private institution. In 1893 he erected the block on Main street where he now has his residence and office. Besides this, he has in other ways promoted the building interests of the town. During 1889 he made a trip to Europe and traveled over the continent, after which he spent six months in the study of modern theories at St. Bartholomew's College, thus better fitting himself for his large practice at home. In the fall of the same year he re- turned to America and resumed his practice.

As far as his practice will permit, Dr. Hall has identified himself with local politics, and, as a Democrat, takes an interest in the success of his party and the promotion of its principles. Since 1886 he has held the office of county physician. He is a member of Telluride Lodge No. 56, A. F. & A. M .; Telluride Chapter No. 80, R. A. M .; Ouray Commandery No. 16, K. T., at Ouray; Denver Consistory, Scottish Rite, and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S., of Denver, which makes him a thirty-second degree Mason. Also connected

with the Odd Fellows, he holds membership in Telluride Lodge No. 103, in which he is past grand. He is also a member of Bridal Vail Lodge No. 80, K. P., and is identified with the Uniform Rank of that order. He was mar- ried in 1883, his wife being Rose M. Douglas, of St. Joseph, Mo.

Having given years of thought and study to his profession, Dr. Hall is thoroughly qualified for its practice. Nature endowed him with the qualities necessary to success as a physician, for he is calm, sympathetic, thoughtful and cour- ageous. Though his practice engrosses his at- tention almost wholly, he yet finds time to keep posted upon the practical details in the improve- ment of the science and avails himself of every improvement in remedial agencies.

ARRY SCHIFFER. The life of the subject of this sketch has been largely spent in Colo- rado. He was a young man of twenty-one years when, in the early part of 1871, he came to Colorado, and this state has since been his home. A pioneer of the southern and southwestern parts of the state, he came to Durango in the fall of 1883, when the town was new and the population small. With the subsequent improvement of the place he has been closely identified. His life has been an active and industrious one, and his years of toil have brought him prosperity and success, which he now enjoys.

Born in New York City in 1849, the subject of this sketch is a son of Gabriel and Antoinette (Lessing) Schiffer, the former a large wholesale grocer and shipper during the early half of this century, and a well-known business man of New York, where he died at forty-eight years. Our subject was reared in New York City and re- ceived his education in public schools and New York College. When he had finished his studies he sought a home in the new west, where he rightly judged the opportunity for advancement would be better than in the east. Settling at Conejos he engaged in the mercantile business, being one of the first business men in the town, where he remained for two years. When Del Norte was started he went to that town, and opened the first general store in the place, re- maining there from the fall of 1873 until 1880. Meantime, in 1878, he opened a branch store in Alamosa, of which he continued to be proprietor until 1883. In the fall of 1880 he opened a branch store in Durango, and three years afterward he

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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 132

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