Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 163

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 163

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In 1890 Mr. Booher was united in marriage with Miss Edith L. Reed, of Howard County, Ind. By this union three children were born, Mildred, Neva and Lane, the latter being named after Congressman Lane, the former preceptor and still the warm friend of Mr. Booher.

OHN C. VROMAN, one of the pioneers and leading stockmen of Otero County, residing three and one-quarter miles northeast of Manzanola, was born September 30, 1847, in Schoharie County, N. Y. He is descended from a long line of Dutch ancestors, who settled in the Mohawk Valley on a grant of land ceded by Queen Anne. By attendance upon public schools and an academy he gained a fair education, and at nineteen years of age began to teach school, continuing in that work in his native county for two and one-half years. From there he went to St. Clair County, Ill., and for three years taught school in Fayetteville, that county. In 1872 he took up a tract of government land that he still

owns. By homestead, pre-emption and tree claim, he secured a large tract of land comprising altogether nearly fourteen hundred acres.

Upon coming to Colorado Mr. Vroman brought with him for investment $2,200 that he had saved by years of frugality and perseverance. The country was then new. There was no railroad in what is now Otero County, and his nearest neighbor was four miles away. However, -he believed he could carry on a stock business in this section with profit, and minor inconveniences did not weigh with him in the least. Buying a herd of Texas cattle, he began in business .. From time to time he made purchases of other cattle, which he had on the range south of Manzanola. At times he had five or six thou- sand head in his herd, and for several years he re- mained on the range, looking after the cattle personally.

When the Catlin canal was started, in 1884, Mr. Vroman assisted in its organization and took a one-fourth interest in the same. The ditch is thirty-five miles long and cost about $59,000, the investment of this money having done more to build up the valley than any other enter- prise inaugurated. He is now the owner of nine hundred acres in the home place, of which about six hundred acres are in alfalfa. The land lies on the south side of the Arkansas River and is considered to be one of the best stock farms in the state. In addition to this property he owns several hundred acres in this county. For his brand he has used the letter V with a bar under same. He recently sold his entire herd of about thirty-six hundred head, for which he received a large amount. He is among the wealthiest men in Otero County, and has now a sufficient income to satisfy even an intensely ambitious man. That he has been successful proves him to be a man of sound sense and great enterprise, for he has received no assistance in his business efforts.

In national elections Mr. Vroman votes the Democratic ticket, but in local matters he is lib- eral, voting for the man rather than the party. After the county of Otero was organized he was one of the first commissioners elected, although he did not desire the office and only accepted it from a sense of duty. For three terms he con- tinned in the office, and during the last term served as chairman of the board. Other offices he has steadfastly refused to accept. A Mason in fraternal relations, he is connected with St.

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John's Lodge No. 75, A. F. & A. M., at Rocky Ford, and Chapter No. 20, R. A. M., at La Junta.

June 26, 1889, Mr. Vroman married Miss Sallie A. Beaty, who died May 1, 1890, leaving one son, John C. Vroman, Jr., now a student in the school at Rocky Ford.

A BNER E. WRIGHT, M. D. Doubtless there is no resident of Chaffee County who has had more intimate association with pioneer scenes than the subject of this sketch, who is a well-known retired physician living in Buena Vista. In addition to his invaluable work as a pioneer, stands his record as a surgeon in the army. As pioneer and army surgeon, his work was of the most hazardous kind. Upon the tented field, amidst its hardships, dangers and grave reponsibilities, or upon the lonely frontier, beset by hostile Indians, he proved himself a worthy son of Mars. He has shown the posses- sion of great powers of endurance, patience and courage, without which he would years ago have given up discouraged and defeated; but, by their aid, he has gained a position of prominence among his fellow-men.

Dr. Wright was born in Ogdensburg, St. Law- rence County, N. Y., January 25, 1816. He was educated in public schools and an academy. When eighteen years of age he entered the Allo- pathic Medical College, of Ogdensburg, N. Y., where he remained a student for three years, graduating in 1836. Going to Detroit, Mich. (then a small trading post), he practiced there for eight months. In 1837 he went to Indiana, where his father had entered land, and there he practiced for a year. In 1838 he went to the present site of Chicago, Il1., and engaged in prac- tice for several months. Thence he went to Marshalltown, Iowa, and entered land, at the same time engaging in practice; but after a year he sold out and went to Eldora, Iowa, where he built a sawmill. Later he practiced his profes- sion in Steamboat Rock, Iowa, and also carried on a store.

In the ever memorable year of 1849, when so many rushed from all parts of the Union to the gold fields of California, infatuated by the recent discovery of the precious metal and cheered on by visions of untold riches, Dr. Wright, with a large company, left his home in Iowa with a con- voy of horses for the El Dorado of the west. They had not traveled far on their way to the

Missouri River before they met throngs of people, half crazy with excitement, and traveling in all kinds of vehicles, some with horses, others with mules and even cows, some with wheelbarrows and hand carts. This motley throng could be seen for hundreds of miles scattered in companies along the way, and many of them destined never to see their homes and loved ones again. Nothing unusual occurred until they reached the Missouri River, which had overleaped its banks and spread over miles of the adjoining country. The party had one hundred and twenty horses altogether, and, as they could find no bridges or fords, they were obliged to swim. Dr. Wright was chosen to take all of the horses across. He swam behind a black horse that was game in water. The horses followed, single file. Had a single mistake been made, it would have meant sure death. All crossed as silent as the grave. The crossing place was the scene of a battle between the Sioux and Pawnees the day before, and fifty-four dead Indians had been left on the field, presenting a sight that was by no means pleasant.

The party started up the Platte River, which, in a week's time, they had to swim across, the water being so cold that they were benumbed and scarcely able to stand after crossing. It was at Fort Larimer, and the soldiers, seeing Dr. Wright's condition, rubbed him down like a horse and gave him plenty of whisky. On the day the party were crossing the great divide, he was out after antelope and was belated, so stopped at another camp. During the night the cry of "Indians" sounded in his ears. He sprang up and rushed out of the tent, with one boot on and the other filled with prickly pear. He saw "Mr. Shoshine" in the act of sending an arrow through one of the white men and im- mediately "plugged him with a chunk of lead." In the course of time the party reached Salt Lake City, where he heard Brigham Young speaking in the streets. When they reached the Hum- boldt River, they had a fight with the Indians; thirty were killed (one on their side) and one was wounded.

While going down the Humboldt one day, ten miles from anyone, Dr. Wright saw a head that he took to be that of a black bear, but as he came nearer, it looked like something else. He cocked his old trusty gun, advanced on a charge, and found an Indian in a hole in the ground, armed with bows and arrows. The Indian pretended to be ill. He left his hole in the ground without

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any ceremony and jumped into the river. When the doctor's reliable gun went off, there was one less Indian to massacre women and children. The day afterward he saw a poor Scotchman, a fine specimen of manhood, one of a Wisconsin company, lying on the bank of the Humboldt in the last agonies of death, having beeu shot by an Indian. After that the doctor's rifle spoke his sentiments toward the cowardly wretches on every occasion. When near the Humboldt lake, contemplating the magnificent scenery, the waves beating against the adamantine rocks, he noticed a slip of paper drifting by force of wind toward him, as though wafted by some spirit power to inform him of the last moments of a poor dying man. He was overcome with tears on reading the lines. They were:

"Yes, my native land, I love thee ! All thy scenes, I love them well ! Friends, connection, happy country, Shall I bid you all farewell?"

After crossing the desert, the party took a rest of several days, which seemed to greatly please the poor, surviving, haggard creatures from Carson River. Then they crossed the divide into California. The Indians being very trouble- some, Dr. Wright was chosen captain and con- tinued the war against them until they were almost annihilated. They were four months and twelve days on the road, and were not at all sorry to be once more in the bosom of civilization.

Reaching California, Dr. Wright engaged in mining and practicing his profession at George- town, and was so successful that in 1852 he re- turned to Iowa with $13,000. While in Califor- nia he had a desperate encounter with a grizzly bear, the story of which we will give in his own words:

"My encounter with a monster grizzly was an almighty interesting affair to me at the time, but I rarely speak of it. This fight happened in March, 1850, near what is called Main Top. I was one of the '49ers who went to Ione City in search of the root of all evil. Main Top was a mining camp composed of a few shanties and occupied by about seventy-five men who were engaged in placer mining. The location is between the north and middle forks of the Ameri- can River in Eldorado County. Of course wild beasts at that time were more plentiful in the mountains than now and often made visits to isolated claims and cut up antics. One day news came to the camp that a grizzly bear had attacked

a miner and killed one of his oxen in Humbug Canon. On hearing this a party of us organized for the purpose of avenging the loss of the miner and stopping further depredations by Mr. Grizzly. There were five of us, all armed with guns and pistols. Accidentally I carried a long sharp knife two and a-half feet long and three inches wide, such as was often used by prospectors for cutting a road through dense chaparral. We started out to find that bear if it took all summer. I found him first at the head of Shirt-Tail Canon. When I first sighted the bear he was about sixty yards distant lying in a pine thicket. Upon my approach he arose, uttering a hoarse growl of warning. He looked as big as an elephant and it made things kind o' creep down my back as he smashed his teeth together. As he raised up I drew a bead on him and sent a slug through his body just behind his front legs, but quartering, so that the slug, as it was afterward found, came out at the point of the shoulder. The bear did not show fight but plunged deeper into the chaparral. I pursued him, and while struggling with the bear the rest of the party came up and began firing at the animal. This was unfor- tunate for me, for not a shot hit the bear, but four clipped me, one shot going through the base of my right thumb. Worse still, one of the men, carried away by excitement, rushed up as I fell to the ground and fired so close to me that the ball went through my powder horn, which was slung over my shoulder with a pound of powder in it, the ball going into my right arm. Thus I was blown up, torn up and shot all at once. This story sounds strange, but it is true. You can see the wounds for yourself. The stump of my ear and the deep depression in the place where the skull once was, now covered by a strong cartilege; my left breast is deeply sunken and scarred from the bear's claws. Below the arm a part of the third rib is gone, having been broken several inches from where it joins the breast bone. A part of the rib was sawed off. All these scars I have spoken of will confirm the horrible story without affidavits. It was estimated that the bear weighed sixteen hundred pounds. He certainly was a monster in size and but for the fact that my first shot had weakened him I never should have come out of the fight first best. As it was it was a tough go with me. My comrades bound a piece pine bark on my head as a com- press to stop the flow of blood from the temporal artery; I was taken to Main Top and a surgeon

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secured. For twenty-one days Dr. Ralph, a graduate under Valentine Mott, of New York, never left my side for any length of time and I owe my life to his skill and patient nursing.

"It was five months before I was able to walk and two years before I could call myself well. Some perhaps think that the bear got away with a part of my brains, but when it comes to business I think I am about as clear headed as my neigh- bors, and my professional success goes to prove that I never lost all my brains anyway. I sailed for the states from San Francisco in the "Isabella," a whaling vessel, and accidentally I left the jar containing my rib, ear and piece of skull (pre- served in alcohol) in the boat; afterward I learned that they had been given by the captain to the Boston Medical Museum. For all I know part of myself may be there yet. I know the tale I tell is almost incredible, but the scars I have are proof enough and will exist as long as I live. I seldom talk of the affair. The whole thing comes to me almost as vivid as at the time it happened. I had been in five different tight scrapes with the Indians before that wrestle with bruin, but I never had as close a call. Consider- ing that I have written the story using hunters' language in part I have not added to nor taken from the truth of the story in any way. This was not a draw game. The bear got my scalp and I never got the belt."

In 1856 Dr. Wright went up on the Iowa River to get the numbers of some lands when that sec- tion was wild and unsettled. On his return he was shot in the leg by an Indian, whom he killed. About the same time the massacre at Spirit Lake occurred and he went there and assisted in burying the sixty-four victims. His partner was killed by the Indians while buying fur from them. In 1860 the doctor crossed the range to Colorado and with a party of three wintered at what is now Boulder. At that time the Ute Indians were very numerous in the locality and more than once he had altercations with them. In 1861 he returned to Steamboat Rock, and assisted in organizing the Thirteenth and Twenty-second Regiments of Iowa Infantry. He had inherited the patriotism of his grand- father, Hezekiah Wright, a Revolutionary hero. For eighteen months he served as captain, after which he was made surgeon. He continued in the service for three and one-half years, never asking any remuneration for his services. Re- tiring in 1864, he located in Johnson County,

Mo., where he engaged in practice for two years, after which he spent one year in Topeka, Kan. In 1871 he located at Granite, Chaffee County, Colo., but after eight months went to Chalk Creek, where the village of St. Elmo now stands. In addition to practicing he engaged in mining, and sold one claim, the Mary Murphy, for $75,000, also developed four or five others in the same locality, which he sold for $10,000 to $15,000 each. In 1878 le came to the present site of Buena Vista, and here he carried on prac- tice until 1895, when advancing years caused him to retire. His professional life has taken him through various parts of this country, and often he has walked fifty miles a day, going on foot through canons where a horse could not travel. In spite of his eighty-three active years and his many hardships, he is well preserved and vigor- ous, and maintains a deep and abiding interest in local enterprises. A stanch Democrat, he was for eleven years county coroner, when the country was full of outlaws, and he was instrumental in driving them out. He is officially connected with Sheridan Post No. 18, G. A. R., of Buena Vista. He still owns mining property at Twin Lakes, this state.

November 7, 1852, Dr. Wright married Miss Lucretia Gordon, of Iowa. They have five chil- dren: George, who is engaged in mining in Arizona; Abner E., Jr., whose sketch appears in this work; Laura, whose husband is engaged in mining at Lake City, Colo .; Edith, wife of Frank Teachout, of Buena Vista; and Charles, who is a clerk in this town.

ATHANIEL W. SAMPLE. Since 1871 Mr. Sample has been with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in Denver, and his steady advancement to positions of increasing importance proves the efficient character of his services. At the time he came west he expected to remain here but a short time, instead of which he has remained a permanent resident, identified witlı the growth and interested in the progress of the city and state. He was made general superin- tendent of the road January 1, 1892, and has since held that responsible position.

The subject of this sketch was born near Gor- donville, Lancaster County, Pa., August 14, 1843, the same day and month on which were born his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all of whom bore the same name. When he was eight years of age he lost his father. In 1858 he went

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to Philadelphia, where he was apprenticed to the machinist's trade in the Baldwin Locomotive works, remaining there until some months after the Civil war opened.

In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company K, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was mus- tered in at Philadelphia, being assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. During the Atlanta campaign he was a non-commissioned officer, and afterward was commissioned first lieutenant of his company by Governor Curtin. In January, 1865, he was appointed aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. W. J. Palmer, commanding the First Brigade, First Cavalry, Military Division of Mississippi. In July, 1865, he was mustered out and honorably discharged at Nashville. He then resumed his work as machinist in the Baldwin shops, Philadelphia, where he remained until 1871. In that year he came to Denver with three locomotives from the shops, which he was to set up and start in the shops of the Denver & Rio Grande, intending to return to Philadelphia as soon as his work was ended. However, his plans were changed and he remained with the Denver & Rio Grande, becoming first foreman in the company's shops. In 1877 he was appointed mas- ter mechanic and superintendent of machinery for the company, which position he held until the last of 1891, and then resigned to become general superintendent of the road. At the time that he was superintendent of machinery the Denver & Rio Grande and Rio Grande Western were under one management, the line extending to Ogden. He built the shop in Denver and that in Salt Lake City.

OHN A. WHITING, M. D. When the famous mining camp of Cripple Creek was in its infancy, Dr. Whiting came here from Colorado Springs and, opening an office, began the practice of the medical profession, while at the same time he also became interested in min- ing. These two lines of labor, in themselves so widely divergent, he has since conducted with success, gaining meanwhile a reputation as the leading physician of the Cripple Creek district, as well as a successful mine operator.

The boyhood days of Dr. Whiting were spent on a farm near Brantford, Ontario, Canada, where he was born May 3, 1862. He was educated in common schools and the Brantford Collegiate In- stitute, and at the age of seventeen began to teach school, which occupation he followed for

some years. In 1884 he entered the Detroit Col- lege of Medicine, from which he graduated in 1887, with the first honors of the class. For a year afterward he was connected with St. Mary's Hospital in Detroit, where he gained a broad fund of practical experience. From Detroit he came west as far as Kansas, and engaged in prac- tice in that state for two years, after which he spent several months in the New York Post- Graduate School. Coming west the second time, he established his office in Colorado Springs, but soon removed to Cripple Creek, his present home. His wife was formerly Eva J. Whiting, of Den- ver, and they have a daughter, Ruth.

Active in the Democratic party, Dr. Whiting was in 1892 elected mayor of Cripple Creek and two years later was re-elected. At the close of the second term he declined further nomination, and, though urged to become a candidate at each succeeding election, he has always refused, pre- ferring to devote himself entirely to his practice and his mining interests. Without his knowl- edge he was elected president of the Jeffersonian Democratic Club, which office he now holds. He is a director in the Gold Dollar and Mabel M. mines at this place, besides having interests in other mines. However, his attention is given to his practice more closely than to mining, and it is doubtless true that his practice is among the largest of any physician in the state, it being not merely the general practice of a physician, but including a large practice as surgeon. In 1893 he platted and laid out the Capital Hill addition, commonly known as the Whiting addition to the city. In fraternal connections he is identified with the Elks, Knights of Pythias and Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 96, A. F. & A. M., also the Knight Templar Commandery at this place.

ILLIAM F. MC CLELLAND, M. D., of Denver, has resided here from an early day, and has given especial attention to the effects of the climate upon disease. Through his influence many people in the east suffering from pulmonary troubles were induced to come to Colorado. On the other hand he was explicit in stating in his articles that people suffering from certain types of disease would be injuriously affected by the high altitude.

In early life Dr. McClelland studied in the medical department of the University of New York City, but afterward he entered Jefferson Medical College, from which he graduated March

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27, 1849, with the degree of M. D. He prac- ticed for one year in Mount Gilead, Ohio, and then located in Mount Vernon, that state, where he opened an office and embarked in professional practice. After five years he removed to Coun- cil Bluffs, Iowa, where he became known as one of the most skillful surgeons in that state. While in Council Bluffs he successfully performed a remarkable operation, known as "Caesarean Sec- tion." The history of the case was published at the time in the Boston Medical and Surgical Jour- mal and republished by European medical jour- nals, reflecting great credit on Dr. McClelland's judgment and skill. Since coming to Denver, in June, 1862, he has engaged in general practice.

With the various associations of the medical fraternity Dr. McClelland has been intimately identified. In 1873 he was president of the Colo- rado State Medical Society, and three years later held the same office in the Denver and Arapahoe County Medical Society. In 1876 he was chosen treasurer of the State Medical Society, which po- sition he held, by re-election, for many years. During 1864 he was surgeon of the Denver Mili- . tary Hospital. For years he has been connected with the American Medical Association. He has served as medical examiner and referee of tlie Equitable Life Assurance Company of New York for the district composed of Colorado, New Mex- ico and Wyoming. Upon the incorporation of the Millionaire Mining & Tunnel Company in 1876 he was chosen its president. He was also president of the Denver Mutual Building and Loan Association and a trustee of its property. With the Denver Consolidated Tramway Com- pany he has also been prominently connected, and is at present a director and member of the executive board.

REDERICK K. NOBLET, M. D., who is a practicing physician and surgeon of Holyoke and also proprietor of a drug store here, was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, May 5, 1868, a son of George and Maria (Kissel) Noblet, natives re- spectively of Dauphin County, Pa., and Mount Vernon, Ohio. He and his brothers, William (of 'Wyandot, Ohio) and Wesley (of Bucyrus, Ohio), are the sole survivors of a family of nine children. His father, who was born in 1811, grew to manhood at Halifax, Dauphin County, and from there went to Ohio, settling in Bucyrus and engaging in the occupation of a shoemaker. Some years later he also opened a grocery, which

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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 163

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