Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 135

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 135

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cannot be surpassed by any in the entire country. A large supply of mountain water furnishes ade- quate facilities for irrigation and enables the owners to raise every variety of grain and fruit and vegetable in abundance. From fourteen to twenty-one men are kept at work on the place. The improvements are of an important nature and greatly enhance the value of the property, which is as fine as can be found in the United States. The elegant residence, which stands back from the road, affords a splendid view of the valley below and the mountains beyond. A commodi- ous barn with water in every part, affords ample accommodations for the owners' fine blooded horses. Another large barn furnishes stable room for the work horses, and it also has running water. All of the buildings on the place are lighted by electricity, the power being furnished by a plant on the ranch. Every kind of machin- ery that would be of assistance in the cultivation of the land may be found here. The stock on the place includes a herd of blooded Hereford high-grade cattle and some of the finest blooded horses, both running and trotting horses, to be found in the entire country. One might travel through the oldest states of the east without find- ing a place that bears a better class of improve- ments than the Doll Brothers' ranch.

In addition to this property the firm own ranches containing two thousand three hundred and eighty acres, on which they keep a large number of horses and cattle of common grades. They have done much to improve this part of the state. Among the improvements they have made may be mentioned the building of stores and a roller flouring mill with every modern improve- ment, at Gypsum. Other enterprises have re- ceived the impetus of their co-operation and as- sistance. The brothers are highly regarded by all who know them and are recognized as able and successful business men. Those having charge of the business interests in Ohio have, through their sagacious judgment, accumulated valnable property and built up a business that is substantial and prosperous; while the brothers who have given their attention to ranching have improved a ranch that is unsurpassed in the state of Colorado. Three of the brothers were soldiers in the Union army, and all served from the open- ing to the close of the conflict except Hiram, who was captured by the enemy and held in Ander- sonville prison for sixteen months. All are Re- publicans in political belief and keep themselves

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posted concerning national issues as well as local affairs, but none has shown a desire for official responsibilities.

In 1882 our subject was united in marriage with Miss Lucy Slusser, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, and is a daughter of D. M. and Lydia (Holweck) Slusser, natives of Ohio. They are the parents of one son and three daughters: Frank J., Susan, Gretchen and Dorothy. Fra- ternally Mr. Doll is connected with the Masonic order and the Odd Fellows. He is an intelligent and able business man, identified with the best interests of Eagle County, and ever ready to aid in the promotion of such enterprises as will ad- vance the general welfare.

12 ANIEL W. TAFF, manager of the Reve- nue Tunnel Company of Creede, has been identified with the history of this camp from its earliest days and has not only witnessed, but also contributed to, its transition from a rough mining camp to a business center and a community of law-abiding citizens. His energy and business qualifications fit him admirably for the position he holds, in connection with one of the promi- nent companies of Mineral County, and in his capacity as manager he has rendered most effi- cient service in the interests of the Revenue Tunnel Company.

In New York City, February 18, 1847, the sub- ject of this article was born, a son of David J. and Mary A. (Gray) Taff, also natives of New York. He descends from Adjutant-General Taff, a na- tive of France, who at the opening of the Revo- lutionary war was commissioned to return to his native land, in order to raise funds and troops to assist the colonists. He succeeded in his un- dertaking, but on his way back to America the vessel was wrecked and he was lost. He was a co-worker of Lafayette, and occupied much the same position as that illustrious man, being a wealthy landed proprietor and a nobleman. David J. Taff spent his life in New York City, where he was a shipbuilder and sparmaker, and took an active part in public and educational affairs.

In a collegiate institute at Stafford, Conn., the subject of this sketch acquired his education. For ten years he was connected with the Dry Dock Savings Bank of New York, now a large institution, with depositsaggregating $20,000,000, and of which his father was one of the founders. In 1877 he left New York and went to the north- west, where he spent eight years, assisting in the

construction of the Northern Pacific and Cana- dian Pacific Railroads. In 1885 he came to Colo- rado, settling at Colorado Springs and accepting the position of traveling agent for the Midland Railroad. After two and one-half years he re- signed the position and turned his attention to mining in the different camps of the state. During the boom of 1892 in Creede, he came to this camp, where he has held a number of posi- tions in connection with different mining compa- nies. In 1894 he became a promoter of the Reve- nue tunnel, of which he has since acted as mana- ger. It is the aim of the company to complete a tunnel three thousand feet into Mammoth Moun- tain, of which work one thousand feet have been finished.

Since 1896 Mr. Taff has served as justice of the peace, and at present fills the office of city treasurer. He has always been a Republican and is now an adherent of the silver wing of the party. Though not identified with any denomi- nation, he is interested in church work and con- tributes to worthy projects, religious, educational and social. In the administration of his office as justice he has made a successful record, in view of the fact that the place was in a transitory period from camp life to a more settled basis. Much of his time not devoted to the tunnel work is devoted to the development of extensive sulphur lands which he controls. February 20, 1879, he was united in marriage with N. Anna Lair, of Cynthiana, Ky., and they have a pleasant home in Creede.

B ANSOM A. HAYES, mayor of La Veta, and one of the proprietors of the La Veta flour mill, was born in Caldwell County, N.C., in 1845. At three years of age he was taken to Georgia by his parents, Alphan and Martha (Harrison) Hayes, both natives of North Carolina. His father, who was a leading Democrat of his locality, did all in his power to prevent Georgia from seceding at the time of the Civil war and was a strong Union man. On the other hand, all of his six sons were strong in their sympathies with the Confederacy and all entered the southern army and fought until death or the end of the war. The father died in Georgia at sixty-three years of age. His wife passed away in 1884, aged seventy-five. They were the parents of nine children: Rev. Daniel Hayes, who is a Baptist minister in Georgia; Matilda N., widow of William Kincaid; John, who was killed in

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battle, while serving in the Confederate army, at thirty-one years of age; Joseph, who was killed in the seven days' battle and was buried by our sub- ject on the battlefield; Rufus, who died from disease while in the army; Martha, wife of Aaron Thomas; William H. H., who was killed at Richmond, Va .; Ransom A .; and Adeline, wife of Marion Thomas.

When our subject enlisted in the southern army he was a lad of sixteen. He became a member of the Beauregard corps, and followed the eastern division of the army until the sur- render. He was wounded at Richmond, his arm being broken, and two shots penetrating his body. From the effects of his wounds he was confined in the hospital at Richmond for six weeks, after which he returned home on a furlough of sixty days. Rejoining the army at Petersburg, Va., he took part in the engagements at Fredericks- burg, Antietam and South Mountain, the siege of Petersburg, at the time of the mine explosion, and for eight months was stationed at Fort Sum- ter. He was wounded September 30, 1864, at Port Harrison, and still carries in his limb the rifle ball he then received. At the close of the war he was made captain in his old regiment, but never accepted the commission.

Returning to his home in Blairsville, Ga., Mr. Hayes took a course in the academy at that place. In 1868 he came to Colorado and for a time en- gaged in mining at Black Hawk and Central City, from which places he went to the N. P. Hill smelter and there worked for six months. In 1869 he bought a saw mill on the Tyler Creek, which was one of the first saw mills erected there, and for some time he engaged in sawing lumber for the mines and for building purposes. After the mill had been in operation for eighteen months, it burned to the ground, causing almost a total loss of all he had previously made. In the fall of 1870 he came to the Cu- charas Valley, where but few white men preceded him, the only settlers here being Colonel Fran- cisco, R. B. Willis, Judge Daigre and James G. and William Hamilton. Locating here, he im- mediately took up a homestead, and began its improvement. At first he engaged in farming only, but gradually he began to stock his place, and after a time became the owner of consider- able stock. In 1891 he rented the land to his son and bought an interest in the La Veta flour mill, which he has since conducted, giving his atten- tion principally to the outside business of the

mill. He also owns a ranch near La Veta, which his son operates, and is interested in residence property in town.

Politically Mr. Hayes is inclined to be indepen- dent, although he usually votes Democratic on national questions. For two years he has been a member of the town board. In 1899 he was a candidate, on the citizens' ticket, for mayor of La Veta and was elected April 4 by a majority of forty votes. He assisted in the organization of the school board in district No. 15, of which he was a member for several years, and in which he has been deeply interested. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World and La Veta Lodge No. 59, A. F. & A. M. In 1872 he married Miss Louisa, daughter of Jephtha Own- bey, of North Carolina. They have an only son, James F.

ILLIAM TAYLOR JOHNSON, who has occupied a ranch near Nyburg, Pueblo County, since 1881, is a member of a southern family. His father, William Johnson, was born in Tennessee and removed from there to Missouri, enlisted in the Confederate army and died soon after the close of the war. By his mar- riage to Polly Schultz he had four sons and six daughters. Two of the former, Meredith and Franklin, are deceased, while the third son, Henry S., is engaged in farming in Texas. Of the sisters only two are living, Martha Ann, whose husband died during the Civil war; and Mrs. Elizabeth Webb.

In Ripley County, Mo., William Taylor John- son was born in 1847. After his father's death he was thrown upon his own resources and be- came self-supporting. In 1870 he went to Mc- Donough County, Il1., and for ten years engaged in farming there. In 1880 he came to Colorado and settled at Fountain, El Paso County, but one year later removed to the ranch he has since oc- cupied. He has been a hardworking, persever- ing man, and through his steady persistence has met with fair success. His time has been given so closely to his private affairs that he has had no leisure for participation in politics, in which, aside from casting a Democratic vote at elections, he has taken no part whatever.

The marriage of Mr. Johnson took place in 1866 and united him with Miss Mary A. Davis, who was born in Bedford County, Pa., and at the age of two years was brought by her parents as far as Canton, Ill., thence went with them to

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Missouri in 1858. She was one of a family of five daughters and two sons, of whom she and her brother, William Davis, alone survive, both being residents of Pueblo County. Her parents, John and Margaret Davis, were natives of Penn- sylvania; her father died in Illinois when she was eight and her mother died in Missouri five years later. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson became the parents of three sons and four daughters. Will- iam H., who is a farmer in Pueblo County, is married and has three children. Lizzie is the wife of Sterling Crawford, a farmer of this coun- ty, and they have six children. Lulu married Louis Sanders, of Pueblo, and they have four children. Rosa is the wife of W. H. Sanders, a brother of her sister's husband; they have one child. Elmer is a student in the local school. Daisy Lee, the youngest daughter, died in Illi- nois. Arthur M. died March 9, 1883.

DWARD KRUEGER is the proprietor of a hardware store and lumber yard at Buena Vista, Chaffee County. In his store he car- ries a full line of stoves, agricultural implements, wagons, miners' aud ranchers' supplies, bicycles, harness, wall paper, in fact, everything which can be found in a first-class village store. He has a large trade, which is not limited to Buena Vista, but extends throughout the surrounding country, which, with its rich mines of gold and silver, has attracted a large number of miners and made possible an extensive business in the handling of supplies for mines.

In Prussia, Germany, Mr. Krueger was born December 20, 1860. There he was reared and educated. At fourteen years of age he left school and began to work in a machine shop, where he remained for a year. Subsequently he served an apprenticeship of four years to the tinner's and machinist's trade, for which he was given his board and clothes and $100. In order to escape a draft into the German army he came to America, landing in New York City in the sum- mer of 1879. After six months there he went to Omaha, Neb., and two months later proceeded to Old Mexico, intending to go to South America, but the climate was intolerably warm and un- pleasant, so he returned to the United States. Reaching Colorado without any money he started to "beat" his way to Pueblo, and while passing through Buena Vista found he could secure em- ployment at his trade. He continued in the same position for three years, meantime taking private

night lessons in English. After having had charge of the store for a time he invested his earnings in a hardware stock, and has since en- gaged in the business here.

The success which Mr. Krueger has gained is in many respects remarkable. Coming to Buena Vista in 1880, penniless, and unfamiliar with our language and customs, he has not only made his own way, but has accumulated a fortune of $20,000 or more. In his life he has received no assistance from anyone. His father died when he was only five years of age and six years later his mother passed away, so that he was thrown upon his own resources at a time when boys stand most in need of loving care and guidance. Notwithstanding hardships and obstacles he has attained prosperity, and has also become known as an honest, honorable man, whose dealings with all are above reproach. Besides his busi- ness he is interested in a number of mines. By his marriage to Miss Sophia Hilsinger he has one son, Edward, now eight years of age. In religion he favors the Lutheran denomination, in which he was reared. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which he is master workman, and is also secretary of the local lodge of Odd Fellows.

HOMAS A. NICHOLS, a ranchman of Rye, Pueblo County, was born in Towns County, Ga., November 13, 1848, and is a worthy representative of one of the old and highly respected families of that state. He had several brothers who were members of the Confederate army during the Civil war and two were killed in the service. His father, David P. Nichols, came from Georgia to Pueblo County with our subject and died here.

At the age of twenty-six, Thomas A. Nichols started out in life for himself and continued to engage in farming in his native state until 1870, when he came to Pueblo County, Colo., locating first two miles from his present place, but the latter has now been his home for a quarter of a century. Here he farms two hundred and eighty acres of land which he has placed under cultiva- tion and improved with buildings. In connection with general farming he is engaged in stock-rais- ing.

In 1870, at the age of twenty-two years, Mr. Nichols married Miss Maggie Duckworth, a native of Georgia, whose father now lives on the Greenhorn. They have become the parents of

JOHN E. GAUGER.

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three daughters, namely :. Lillie Lee, wife of Charles Dusenberg, who lives near our subject; Ella M. and Dora Bell. Mr. Nichols never had the advantages of schools in his younger years, but is greatly interested in the education of the young. In his political views he is a Democrat.

C OHN E. GAUGER, one of the first settlers and a representative citizen of what is now Otero County, resides six miles west of La Junta, where he is improving a large and valu- able farm. At the time he settled in Rocky Ford it had but one store and a very small population. The school district - was thirty miles east and west by ninety miles north and south, yet, in spite of the vast territory covered, there was an average attendance of only nine pupils. La Junta was also a very small town at the time he taught the school there. He has been identified with the development of the county and has him- self been a large contributor thereto, the work he has accomplished toward the improvement of land and the cultivation of agricultural property being of a most important nature.

In Louisville, Ky., Mr. Gauger was born Oc- tober 28, 1855. When in his teens he removed to Illinios and received his education afterward in the high school of Xenia, that state. Later he taught school and then engaged in reading medi- cine. After four years he came west, expecting to return and complete his medical course, but his plans were changed after he came to Colorado, and he did not return east. He spent two months in Leadville, and then came to Rocky Ford, where he taught school for three years, later having charge of the La Junta school for one year. Taking up land near Rocky Ford, he began its improvement and cultivation. This property, a portion of which he entered from the government and which is one of the best-im- proved farms in the county, he sold in 1896. With it he sold his fine orchard, the best in the county, comprising thirty acres set out in valu- able fruit trees. Since then he has given his at- tention to the improvement of another farm near the old homestead. His brick residence is one of the finest in the county and is supplied with modern conveniences, such as bath tubs, closets, hot and cold water, etc. He is improving the place, making of it a most desirable property. He also has one of the best equipped apiaries in the state, consisting of four hundred colonies.

In the fall of 1889 Mr. Gauger was elected

county clerk. At the expiration of his term he was re-elected, and afterward, with an interval of one term, he served for a third term in the same office. Always a Democrat, that party re- ceives his vote, both in local, state and national elections. Frequently he has served as delegate to state, congressional and local conventions. August 26, 1880, he married Miss Ida F. Swift, daughter of J. H. and Harriet Swift, of Rocky Ford, pioneers of Otero County. Mr. and Mrs. Gauger have an adopted daughter, Lillian E. Gauger. Fraternally Mr. Gauger is a member of the Odd Fellows' Lodge at Rocky Ford, the Knights of Pythias Lodge at La Junta, and also belongs to St. John's Lodge No. 75, A. F. & A. M., of Rocky Ford; La Junta Chapter No. 20, R. A. M .; and Palestine Commandery No. .22, of La Junta.

Notwithstanding the fact that he has sold sev- eral hundred acres of land, Mr. Gauger still owns two hundred and forty acres. Besides the im- provement of his place, he gives considerable time to other matters, and is secretary and man- ager of the Farimount Melon Growers' Associa- tion, also a stockholder and director in the La Junta State Bank, which he assisted in organiz- ing; and a promoter of the Rocky Ford Milling and Elevator Company. He is a very enterpris- ing man of business and is highly respected as a citizen.

A NDREW F. HOOD. Probably no man in Durango is better known or more public- spirited than the gentleman whose name in- troduces this sketch, and who is proprietor of an undertaking establishment in this city. He was horn in Perry County, Ill., in 1856, a son of Ruliff Stevens and Annie (McClure) Hood. His father, who was born in Utica, N. Y., in 1812, grew to manhood on a farm and was given excel- lent educational advantages. Upon the comple- tion of his college course, in 1831 he came west as far as Perry County, Ill., where he taught school, a profession for which his scholarly at- tainments admirably qualified him. Some years later he turned his attention to farming, and be- came the owner of a valuable estate. He was one of the leading citizens of his county. Being a man of superior education, his advice was fre- quently sought in contested points, where a rightful decision was desired. In 1860 he was a presidential elector at the first election of Abra- ham Lincoln. After a residence of thirty-five

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years in Perry County, he moved to Kansas and settled in Ottawa, where he died in March, 1897, aged eighty-five years. His wife had died in 1856, at forty-two years of age. They were the parents of five children, namely: S. J., of La Plata County; Roger Williams; John Milton; Kate, wife Capt. Emory Hughes; and Andrew F.

The education of our subject was begun in public schools and completed in the Carbondale Normal School at Carbondale, Ill. At twenty- one years of age he took up the trade of painter and paper-hanger, which he has since followed. In 1883 he came to Durango, where he followed his trade for some years, but in 1894 opened an undertaking establishment, which he has since conducted, besides carrying a stock of wall paper, paints, glass, etc. For a time he made his head- quarters in Rico, and while there served as a member of the city council. He has been an active local worker for the Democratic party. He is a member of Durango Lodge No. 46, A. F. & A. M., and the Ancient Order of United Workmen in this place. By his marriage to Mattie J. McClure in 1883, he has two children, Josie and Ethel. Besides his property in Durango he owns real estate interests in Rico and Monte- zuma County, all of which he has accumulated by perseverance and industry since he came to Colorado. His prosperity has certainly been well merited, for on commencing for himself he had little, but through the exercise of good business judgment and determination he has placed himself among the substantial business men of Durango.

AMES W. KERN, a veteran of the Civil war and a resident of Colorado since 1878, started in the contracting and building busi- ness in 1890, forming a partnership with his brother, A. C., as Kern Brothers. Since then he has engaged in the building of residences and business blocks, and has had contracts for some of the most substantial buildings in the city. He has his shop at No. 107 Nevada avenue, while his residence, built and improved by himself, stands at No. 714 South Tejon street.

The father of Mr. Kern was Jacob Kern, who was born near Pittsburg, Pa., and in young man- hood removed to Virginia, where he became a planter, owning a plantation on the Roanoke River, at the head of the Shenandoah Valley. He died in Roanoke County when seventy-eight years of age. His wife, Hannah, who was born in Rockingham County, Va., was a daughter of

Albert Shafer, a native of Virginia, whose parents emigrated from Germany to Virginia and engaged in farming in Rockingham County. Mrs. Kern died at the old homestead when sixty-seven years . of age. She was the mother of ten children, eight of whom attained maturity and five are now living. Three of the sons took part in the Civil war, George and James W. being members of the Nineteenth Virginia, while John was a member of the Twenty-eighth Virginia Infantry and was wounded three times, but recovered.

Educated in private schools, our subject con- tinued on the home farm until the outbreak of the war. He was then a young man, having been born November 16, 1842. In July, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Nineteenth Virginia Artillery, C. S. A., and was appointed musician in the regular band, though his services were also called upon as a gunner when needed. He participated in a number of battles, but was not wounded nor captured. On the close of the war he returned home. In 1866 he went to Clay County, Mo., where he learned the carpenter's trade and then engaged in the building business. Later he carried on a hotel business. For five years he was in Kearney, Mo., and for three years in Rockport, Atchison County, Mo.

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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 135

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