Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 136

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 136

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Hoping that a change of climate would benefit his health, which had become impaired, Mr. Kern came to Colorado in 1878, and spent some time in Manitou and Denver, resuming work as soon as he was able to do so. About 1890 he started in the contracting and building business, in which he has since engaged. While in Clay County, Mo., he was made a Mason and is now connected with El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M. Politically he formerly adhered to the Demo- cratic party, but is now a Prohibitionist. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church, in which he has served as a deacon and Sunday- school superintendent much of the time since he was a young man. He is identified with the El Paso County Builders' Association.

In Clay County, Mo., Mr. Kern married Mrs. Mary (Pike) Cole, who was born near Elizabeth City, N. C., and was a daughter of Joseph Pike, who was a native of Perquimans County, N. C., and engaged in farming there. Prior to the war he removed to Hendricks County, Ind., and there he died in 1862. In addition to being a farmer he was an expert engineer and machinist, and possessed considerable mechanical ability. His wife, who was Deborah White, was born in North

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Carolina and died in Virginia when Mrs. Kern was eighteen months old. In her family there were six children, three of whom attained mature years and two are living, Mrs. Pugh, of Henry County, Ind., and Mrs. Kern. A brother, Joseph H. Pike, was killed in the Civil war during the seven days' battle. Mrs. Kern had only one child, Daisy, and she was taken away by death when six years of age. Mrs. Kern was a mem- ber of and active worker in the Eastern Star, and is also a member of the Christian Church. She has a host of warm personal friends among her acquaintances.

HARLES WORTHINGTON DARROW, attorney-at-law, Glenwood Springs, descends from ancestors who were prominent in the early history of New England. His father, who was a member of a pioneer family of Vermont, was born in that state near Lake Champlain, and for years engaged in the dry-goods business at St. Albans, where he built the Darrow block, then the finest business building in the city, but since destroyed by fire. In politics he affiliated with the Republicans. His wife, Harriet Buck (Wheel- er) Darrow, was a cousin of former Vice-Presi- dent Wheeler. They were the parents of three children, of whom Merritt Smith Darrow is division train dispatcher of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, with headquarters at Chilli- cothe, Ill .; and the only daughter, Emma H., is the wife of Herman B. Chittenden, principal of the public schools of Burlington, Vt.

Orphaned at an early age by his mother's death, our subject began to be self-supporting when still a mere boy. At thirteen he was given charge of a telegraph office on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad at Chester, Wis., and he continued with that company until he was nine- teen, his last work for that company being as a train dispatcher at Chicago. Meantime, his edu- cation had by force of circumstances been neg- lected. Realizing his need of broader knowledge than he possessed, he entered a public school and later took a course of four years in the North- western University at Evanston, Il1., from which he graduated in 1882. While in college he was elected city clerk of South Evanston, Ill., and continued to serve in that position until he re- signed on the completion of his college course. He then became private secretary to Gen. Arthur C. Ducat, general western manager of the Home Insurance Company, at Chicago. After a short

time in that capacity he traveled in the west and later turned his attention to the study of law, entering the law office of Paddock & Aldis, of Chicago, with whom he remained for a year and then was appointed private secretary to L. O. Goddard, assistant general solicitor of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, at Chicago.

While filling that position Mr. Darrow was ad- mitted to the bar of the supreme court of Illinois. In the fall of 1885 he came to Glenwood Springs, and was at once appointed local attorney for the Grand River Coal & Coke Company and shortly afterwards for the Colorado Midland Railroad Company and as such purchased the company's right of way for a considerable distance, and has since represented that company locally. Ever since coming to Glenwood Springs he has been actively engaged in the practice of the law. For four years he held the office of city attor- ney here, and in January, 1899, was appointed county attorney. Much of his time is spent in his fine library, among his books, which include a large equipment of professional works as well as others of a general character. That he pos- sesses will power and determination his suc- cess shows, for in spite of early disadvantages, in spite of the necessity of earning his own liveli- hood from childhood, he has attained a success that does not come to all. He keeps well posted concerning politics and gives his influence to the Democratic party. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason. In 1885 he married Elizabeth G. Morper, of Chicago. Their family consists of seven children: Helen, Nicholas, Alice, Gretchen, Charles, Horace and Leslie.

RANCIS A. MC NEILL, M. D., of Rico, Dolores County, came to this place in 1891, when the mining camp was in the zenith of its prosperity, and until 1894 he was actively en- gaged in the practice of his profession. During the latter year he was elected county clerk and recorder, and at the expiration of his term, in 1896, was again chosen to fill this position. At the same time that he became county clerk, Judge Russell appointed him clerk of the district court, which office he has since held. In 1893 he was a member of the town board and mayor pro tem, and in 1897 he was elected mayor on the Popu- list ticket. Since coming to Rico he has done perhaps more than any other citizen to secure the reorganization of Dolores County and the town of Rico. He assisted in placing the latter

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upon a cash basis, having introduced an ordi- nance providing for the transaction of business upon a strictly cash basis, which system still stands.

In Sangamon County, Ill., in 1849, Dr. McNeill was born, a son of William and Civilla (McNamee) McNeill, natives of Maryland. His father devoted his entire active life to the prac- tice of medicine, in which profession he engaged in Illinois for fifty years, being a leading physi- cian of Mechanicsburg. Actively interested in politics and public affairs, he nevertheless al- ways refused to accept office for himself. He died at his home in Illinois in 1888, aged seventy- seven. His wife, who is now eighty-one, is liv- ing at Grove City, Ill. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom are living, namely: Thomas; Laura, wife of S. P. Williams; Robert B .; Francis A .; Nellie, Mrs. P. H. Gallagher; and Lutie. The second-born, Richard McNeill, M. D., and the sixth and seventh, Catherine and Charles, are deceased.

Upon completing the studies of the local schools, our subject spent a year in the Univer- sity of Michigan, after which he taught for a year. Under his father's preceptorship he began the study of medicine, and later took the course of lectures in the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, from which he graduated in 1874. He practiced his profession in Pana, Il1., for three years. He then established himself in Sharps- burg, Ill., but after eighteen months he returned to his native town of Mechanicsburg, taking up his father's practice and continuing there until 1888. In 1887 he served as county physician of Sangamon County. While residing in Pana he was elected assistant surgeon of the Fifth Regi- ment, Illinois National Guard, and in 1879 was appointed regimental surgeon, spending eleven years in the national guard service. During the encampment of 1886 he was acting brigade sur- geon, and was post surgeon at East St. Louis during the great railroad strike of that year.

The year 1888 found Dr. McNeill in Montrose, Colo., where he practiced for a year. He then took a contract as railroad surgeon in the con- struction of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from Sapinero to Lake City. Returning to Mon- trose on the completion of his contract, he prac- ticed there for a year. In 1890-91 he was con- tracting surgeon in the construction of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad from Ridgway to Dolores. Upon completing that contract he set-

tled in Rico. Here he has been one of the lead- ers in the political field, and a supporter of the People's party. He has been a candidate for a number of offices and has · never been defeated. Besides the claims which he owns in Rico, he is interested in mining in Mount Wilson district, where he has a fine prospect. Connected with Rico Lodge No. 79, A. F. & A. M., and Rico Lodge No. 48, A. O. U. W., he is past master workman of the latter. In 1877 he married Sarah A. Sharp, by whom he has a son, Harry S. Mrs. McNeill is a daughter of John Sharp, for whom the town of Sharpsburg, Ill., was named, but now resides in Montrose, Colo.

NDREW J. HOTTEL, local manager of the Lamar Milling and Elevator Company, has had charge of the company's mill ever since its erection in 1892, and addition, superin- tends the management of the company's ranches comprising six hundred and forty acres. The mill is one of the most important and flourishing enterprises of Lamar, and its erection was an evidence of the progressive spirit of the citizens, who, realizing the need of such a plant, combined together and rendered the enterprise possible. The plant has a capacity of five hundred barrels in twenty-four hours, and the quality is of a very superior grade.

From earliest boyhood, Mr. Hottel has been familiar with the milling business, for his father, A. S. Hottel, was a practical, experienced miller, and operated several mills, two of which were burned during the Civil war. Our subject was born near Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Va., August 7, 1852, a son of A. S. Hottel by his marriage to Mary A. Hockman. When he was a boy the war raged through his section of country, and their property was injured by the depredations of both armies. During vacations he assisted in the mill and after leaving school he gave his entire attention to the milling business, in which he has since engaged, with the excep- tion of two years spent as a school teacher and a few months in Omaha, Neb., in 1876, as book- keeper for a wholesale grocery.

Coming to Colorado in the fall of 1876, Mr. Hottel took charge of a mill at Fort Collins, which he conducted for sixteen years. From there he removed to Lamar in 1892, and has since managed the mill and land owned by the Lamar Milling and Elevator Company. He is also the owner of real estate in Lamar and two

GEORGE D. BARDWELL.

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ranches on which he raises cattle. A Democrat from boyhood, he was elected on that ticket a member of the town council of Lamar; and in that position, as well as in the capacity of a private citizen, he has been helpful in promoting the in- terests of the town, and developing the material, educational and commercial resources of the county.

A Mason fraternally, Mr. Hottel is a member of Fort Collins Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M., belongs to the chapter at Lamar; and De Molay Commandery, K. T., at Fort Collins. His mar- riage was solemnized in Norwalk, Ohio, October 14, 1890, and united him with Miss Fannie B. Benedict, with whom he had become acquainted in Fort Collins, but whose home was in Norwalk. They are the parents of three children, David Benedict, Mary Harriet and Agnes.

EORGE D. BARDWELL. During the years of his residence in Lake City Mr. Bardwell has gained a high reputation among the at- torneys of Hinsdale County. Through his in- terest in professional affairs and in matters affect- ing the educational and general welfare of his town, he rightly deserves to be classed among its public-spirited citizens. The "Pearl of Colo- rado," as the mining camp of Lake City was long termed, has, by reason of its important mining interests, a large amount of law work necessi- tated by its position and surroundings, and an attorney must, therefore, be well versed in min- ing laws in order to meet the requirements of his profession. In this respect Mr. Bardwell is well fitted to gain success. Having engaged both in surveying and in mining, he is familiar with the details of each, a fact that has assisted him in his practice. Besides his private practice he has served efficiently in various offices of trust and responsibility, notable among which are the offi- ces of county, city and district attorney.

Mr. Bardwell is a New Englander by birth and descent. His parents, Hon. G. W. and Anna (Hussey) Bardwell, were natives of Mas- sachusetts, and after their marriage, in 1859, made their home in Northampton, that state, where the father followed the occupation of a teacher. He was a man of prominence in local affairs, a Republican in political belief, and in the office of state senator efficiently represented the people of his district. Of three children compris- ing the family, the third forms the subject of this article. He was born in Northampton July 29,

1866, and was reared in that town and in Spring- field, the same state. His education, begun in the Springfield public schools, was supplemented by a course of study in the Boston Latin School and in Amherst College.

When a youth of seventeen years Mr. Bardwell commenced to make his own way in the world, and from that time he was self-supporting. The three occupations in which he has en- gaged are surveying, mining and the profession of an attorney. In the year 1883 he came west to Colorado and since then has been a resi- dent of this state, having made his headquarters successively in Leadville, Aspen, Gunnison and Lake City, in which last-named city he has re- sided since 1893. He has been actively identified with the public life of Lake City, and haswielded an influence in the local ranks of the Democratic party, whose principles he stanchly upholds. He is also prominent in the fraternal organizations of Woodmen of the World and Ancient Order of United Workmen. Various plans for the ad- vancement of his town and county have received his co-operation and support, and he is always relied upon to aid in progressive enterprises. He was united in marriage July 6, 1896, with Miss Hannah Cunningham, of Pueblo, Colo., by whom he has two daughters. He and his wife have many friends in Lake City, and stand high in he most select social circles of the town.

12 ANIEL W. STONE, clerk of the district court for the county of Las Animas, is also president and editor of the Chronicle-News Publishing Company, of Trinidad. From an early age he has been interested in the printing business, and when a boy he learned the "art preservative," becoming familiar with the setting up of type and the use of printing presses. Since he established his home in Trinidad he has been connected more or less intimately with the newspaper business in this city. As an editorial writer he has been in especial demand, his articles showing depth of thought, quickness of appre- hension, terseness of expression, with an occa- sional dash of humor or spice of sarcasm.

Mr. Stone was born in Jefferson, Jefferson County, Wis., January 18, 1859, and spent his boyhood years largely in attendance upon public schools. At the age of fifteen he went to Butler, Bates County, Mo., and afterward attended the college in that town. From there he went to Marseilles, Ill., and entered a printing office,

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where he learned the trade of a compositor. Since then he has been connected with publishing or editorial work. In 1887 he came to Trinidad, where he became reporter and business manager of the Advertiser, a daily paper. In 1891 he pur- chased the business of the Chronicle, a daily evening paper, and continued as sole proprietor until August, 1898, when, by consolidation with the Trinidad News, the Chronicle-News Publish- ing Company was organized, with himself as president and editor, the paper being run as a straight Republican organ.

Active in the Republican party, Mr. Stone has been influential in promoting its success in Las Animas County. In 1894 he was elected clerk of the district court, which office he has since filled. For ten years he has been a mem- ber of the Republican central committee. While he is justly prominent in his party, he has never displayed any unkind partisan spirit, but has been fair and honorable, evincing the same up- rightness in politics that has characterized him in business.

In fraternal connections Mr. Stone is a member of the Knights of Pythias; Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Las Animas Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M .; Trinidad Chapter No. 23, R. A. M .; and Oriental Commandery No. 18, K. T. June 7, 1882, he was united in marriage with Lida V., daughter of R. T. Alberty, of Marseilles, Il1., and they have one child, Kitty M.

RANK TOMPKINS, former sheriff of Lin- coln County, and now proprietor of a hotel at Limon, this county, was born in Elmira, N. Y., in 1853, a son of Solomon and Cornelia (Baker) Tompkins, natives respectively of Tomp- kins and Yates Counties, N. Y. His father spent the most of his active life as a contractor and builder in Elmira, N. Y., where he was respected as a man of worth. In politics he always voted the Republican ticket. He was the son of a Revolu- tionary soldier, and his wife's father also took part in that struggle for independence. Our sub- ject had one brother and two sisters. The for- mer, George P., is a decorator in Akron, Ohio. Ada is the wife of William S. Dyer, of Elmira, N. Y .; and Sophia married L. A. Mallory, of Olean, that state.

The public schools of Elmira afforded our sub- ject his first opportunity for an education. At the age of nineteen, starting out for himself, he came to Colorado and settled in Hugo, Lincoln

County. In 1889 Governor Cooper appointed him sheriff of Lincoln County and three years later he was elected to the same office, to which he was re-elected in 1894. After retiring from office he came to Limon in 1897. In 1894 he was united in marriage with Mary A. Bell, of Leavenworth, Kan., by whom he has three children, Lawrence R., Margaret and Nellie C.

Politically Mr. Tompkins has always affiliated with the Republican party, in the faith of which he was reared. He is actively connected with the Knights of Pythias and takes a warm interest in the order. The family of which he is a mem- ber is one of the oldest in New York state, and for generations its representatives bore a part in the history and progress of that state.

AMES A. HART, M. D., who is prominent in both the professional and the club circles of Colorado Springs, holds a high position among the people of this city and is recognized as an able, skillful and successful physician. He is vice-president of the American Climatological Association, a member of the American Public Health Association, the State and American Medical Societies, and assisted in the organiza- tion of the El Paso County Medical Society, of which he officiated as president for several terms.

The Hart family originated in England and on coming to America settled in Nova Scotia. James Hart, who was born in Nova Scotia, removed to Peekskill, N. Y., where he engaged in farming. His son, Gilbert B. Hart, also a native of Nova Scotia, engaged in the lumber business in Peeks- kill, and was an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Elizabeth Tay- lor, a native of Underhill, Vt., and a member of an old Connecticut family. She was a daughter of Capt. James Taylor, a farmer of Vermont and a soldier in the war of 1812. She died at Peeks- kill, leaving two sons, James A. and Coleridge A., the latter an attorney in New York City.

The subject of this sketch, a son of Gilbert B. and Elizabeth Hart, was born at Peekskill, De- cember 19, 1849, and was educated in the academy in his native town. In 1873 he was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, with the degree of M. D. For a year afterward he was resident physician to St. Peter's Hospital at Albany, N. Y., after which he engaged in practice in that city. On account of incipient tuberculosis he came to Colo- rado in the fall of 1876, and for some months

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traveled through the state, recuperating. When years. When he returned to Missouri he was his health permitted a return to professional duties he selected Colorado Springs as his home, and, associated with the late Dr. Reed, began in prac- tice. In 1886 his health became impaired by neuralgia and severe headaches, and he went to sea, hoping that the change would benefit him. From that time until 1889 he was surgeon on the Pacific mail steamer line from San Franciso to Japan and China, making eight voyages between these points, besides several trips to Panama. In 1889 he returned to Colorado Springs and re- sumed his practice. The following year he was married, in Geneva, N. Y., to Mrs. Elizabeth (Slosson) Morris, who had one son by her for- mer marriage, Truxton Morris.

In the organization of the El Paso Club Dr. Hart took an active part, and he has served both as secretary and vice-president, besides which he has been a member of the board of governors constantly from its organization, with the excep- tion of his years at sea. He is also a charter member of the Cheyenne Mountain Country Club. In national politics he is a Republican, but in local matters it has been a fixed principle with him to support the men and measures that he deems will conduce to the welfare of the peo- ple and the promotion of municipal interests.

OSES J. MARKS is one of the pioneer mer- chants of Buena Vista, Chaffee County. He started the first store on what is now the main street of the town, clearing away the rocks in order to secure a site for his store and at the same time opening up the street. In his es- tablishment, which is the largest double store in the town, he carries a full line of clothing, hats and caps, boots and shoes, and also a complete assort- ment of dry goods. Besides his mercantile busi- ness he is interested in several mining properties, among them the Portland and Isabella mines. He was president of the company owning the Lucky Gus mine, and owned one-sixth interest in the mine, which was sold for $100,000.

Born in Prussia in 1837, Mr. Marks was ten years of age when he accompanied his parents to America and settled with them in St. Louis, Mo. In 1849, when thirteen years of age, he went to California via water, and there purchased goods which he peddled among the mining camps. After a few months he and two brothers opened a clothing and dry-goods store in Stockton, Cal., and continued there very successfully for fifteen

wealthy. For six years he carried on business in Boonville, Mo., after which he spent five years in Carleton, the same state, but the pro- longed drought and consequent hard times caused him a heavy loss in business. In the fall of 1879 he came to what is now Buena Vista, bringing with him a small stock of goods that represented his entire possessions. He opened a small store and has since engaged continuously in business. In 1886 he separated his stock of dry-goods and clothing, the son taking charge of the dry- goods department in a separate building, while he turned his attention to the clothing business, of which he has since made a specialty. In 1889 he built a two-story brick building that is the largest business block in the town.

By his marriage to Miss Ella Rosenblatt, of St. Louis, Mr. Marks had eight children, one of whom, a son, died at twenty-four years of age. The others are: Isaac M., who is in charge of his father's dry-goods store in Buena Vista; Jacob A., who clerks in the store; Simon, a private in Company H, First Colorado Infantry, now sta- tioned in Manila; Rose, who has attended college at Colorado Springs; Jessie, Youir and Bertha, at home. In politics Mr. Marks is a Republican and has been active in local affairs. He has twice been elected mayor of the town and once served as president of the school board. Fraternally he is a charter member of Mount Princeton Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M., of Buena Vista, and is also connected with Buena Vista Lodge No. 42, I.O.O. F.

HRISTIAN N. A. HAHN, proprietor of the Albany hotel at New Castle, Garfield County, and a well-known real-estate dealer of this place, also the representative of five lead- ing insurance companies, came to this town in 1888 and has since resided here. He has taken an active part in local politics, as a leader of the Democratic party, upon which ticket he was elected mayor and alderman. For four years he held the office of postmaster, which responsible position he filled with efficiency. Among the citizens of New Castle he holds a leading place, his ability and energy having won from his associates their regard and esteem.

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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 136

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