Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 165

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 165

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

D HARLES W. GIBBS. During the years of his active connection with civil engineering pursuits, Mr. Gibbs has become well known

Near Bangor, Me., in 1859, our subject was born to Wingate E. and Martha (Cutler) Gibbs, and was the oldest of three sons, the second of whom, D. C., is a physician in Telluride, Colo .;

1254

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and the youngest, Bernard, still lives in Maine. His father, who has been a prominent farmer of his locality and a lifelong resident of Maine, is still living at his old homestead. He has been a leader in political circles and for two terms served as a nember of the state legislature. Reared o11 a farmi, our subject early learned to be helpful and industrious. He was educated in public schools and the University of Maine at Orono, where he studied civil engineering. After graduat- ing in 1879, he taught school in Orono. In 1881 he came west as far as Burlington, Iowa, where he secured employment as an engineer on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. From there he went to Knoxville, Iowa, and later was connected with the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad, at Spirit Lake, Iowa. From the fall of 1881 until the fall of 1883 he was in Mexico as assistant engineer upon the Mexican National Railroad.

Returning to Maine in the fall of 1883, Mr. Gibbs spent the winter at his old home, and in the spring of 1884 went to- Minnesota and en- gaged in railroad work and in surveying town sites, after which, during the winter of 1884-85, he taught school at Echo, that state. In the spring of 1885 he went to Pocatello, Idaho, and for a year engaged in the survey of the Union Pacific road, after which he was connected with the resident engineer's office at Omaha, Neb. In July, 1886, he came to Colorado, where he was engaged in the construction of the Colorado Mid- land road, and upon the completion of the work, in July, 1887, went to Utah, where for a short time he surveyed for an extension of the Colo- rado Midland and later, in the spring of 1888, worked on the construction of the Rock Island at Colorado Springs. In the spring of 1888 he com- menced the Silverton Railroad, from Silverton to Ironton, which was completed in the fall of 1889. During the same fall he became chief engineer of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, from Durango to Ridgway, which work was completed in 1893. Afterward for two years he engaged in general engineering and surveying at Durango, later spent two years in Ophir, where he was general en- gineer for the Suffolk Globe Mining and Milling Company, miners of gold and silver. From Ophir he came to Telluride in the spring of 1897. He owns considerable real estate, besides his other interests. One of his important works was making surveys for the Meldrum Tunnel and Mining Syndicate (Limited), of which company

he is chief engineer. While in Maine in 1883 he was made a Mason; has demitted from his Masonic lodge in Maine and affiliated with the lodge at Telluride. Since coming to Colorado he has been identified with the Woodmen of the World at Rico. In 1889 he married Addie Ham- mon, of Colorado, by whom he has three daugh- ters, Helen, Martha and Eloise.

OHN T. ROSS, cashier of the State Bank of Fort Morgan, is recognized as one of the sagacious financiers of northeastern Colo- rado. In 1890 he assisted in the organization of the bank with which he has since been identified, as a large stockholder, a director and officer. Re- cently, however he has become so deeply inter- ested in the cattle business that he has transferred much of his bank work to his assistant, while he gives attention to the buying and selling of stock.

In Indiana County, Pa., Mr. Ross was born on Christmas day of 1858, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Cowan) Ross. He was the youngest of eight children, of whom the others are as fol- lows: Robert, a farmer and stockman of Hanover, Ill .; Richard, who is proprietor of a boot and shoe store at Grinnell, Iowa; Mary A., who mar- ried A. S. Work, a farmer and stockman living at Marion Center, Pa .; Samuel, deceased; George, who is engaged in farming and stock-raising in Audubon County, Iowa; Sarah J., wife of Samuel Work, of Indiana County, Pa .; and David, who is engaged in the mercantile business in Chicago.

The father of our subject was born in Ireland about 1814 and when eighteen years of age came to America. For some years he resided in New York City, but after his marriage in that city he settled upon a farm in Indiana County, Pa., and there engaged in farming during his remaining years. His death occurred in 1894. His wife, who was born in Ireland, accompanied her par- ents to America at sixteen years of age and is still living on the old homestead in Pennsylania. The boyhood years of our subject were spent on the farm and in school. As he approached manhood he devoted his energies to the cultivation of the home farmı. At about twenty-one years of age he assumed full charge of the place, which he con- tinued to manage until 1889.

July 3, 1889, Mr. Ross arrived in Fort Morgan, where he worked for a month at the carpenter's trade. He bought an interest, one month after his arrival, in a lumber yard, and later purchased his partner's interest in the business, which he

DANIEL WESLEY FALL.

1257

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

conducted successfully. With the exception of one year, when he had a partner, he continued alone until March, 1898, when he sold his lumber interests and removed to the ranch of one hun- dred and sixty acres near town, which he had ac- quired during a visit to Colorado in 1887. For three years he officiated as mayor of Fort Morgan, in whose growth and development he has main- tained a deep interest. He is a member of Fort Morgan Camp No. 193, Woodmen of the World. November 10, 1892, he married Miss Lella M. Hotchkiss, daughter of Capt. A. Hotchkiss, of Fort Morgan. To this marriage four children were born: Ada, Laura, Lucilla and Elizabeth.

ANIEL WESLEY FALL, chairman of the board of county commissioners of Summit County and a prominent assayer and mine operator residing in Breckenridge, was born in Thorntown, Boone County, Ind., September 27, 1847, a son of Asa and Elizabeth (Davis) Fall, and a lineal descendant of the family of Daniel Boone. He was one of a family of seven chil- dren, of whom all but two are living. The eldest, John N., residing in Oakland, Cal., is a wealthy capitalist and owns extensive farming interests in the state of Washington; Amos D., a prominent farmer of Tulare County, Cal .; Jackson N., who is a successful farmer residing at Walla Walla, Wash .; Catherine, widow of J. M. McFarlane, also of Walla Walla; and Daniel Wesley, complete the list of surviving members of the family.

Asa Fall was born in Ohio in 1808 and there was reared, married, and engaged in the lumber business. Early in the '3os he removed to Boone County, Ind., where for many years he carried on a lumber business and farming. Meantime he acquired extensive farming interests and his- sons, as they grew toward manhood, were given the management of the land, while he gave his attention to his lumber interests. After some years he disposed of the lumber business and re- tired to his farm. With his family, in 1853 he removed to Fremont County, Iowa, where he es- tablished his home one mile north of Sidney and acquired extensive farming interests. He con- tinued to reside there until 1874, when he was persuaded by his eldest son to dispose of his prop- erty in Iowa and remove to the state of Wash- ington. He has since lived in retirement, di- viding his time between Dayton and Walla Walla, in both of which towns he owns a resi- dence. His first wife died in 1854 and afterward

he married Mrs. Mary Williams, by whom lie had two children: Findley, of Walla Walla, and Theodosia, wife of J. M. Robinson, of Spokane,- Wash.

In many respects Asa Fall is a remarkable man. Though now more than ninety years of age, he is quite robust and has full possession of his faculties. He comes of a long-lived race and it is possible that he may himself become a cen- tenarian. Both his father and mother were in the nineties at the time of their death, and his grand- mother was more than one hundred years old at the time of her death. As a business man he was unusually successful and the handsome property that he accumulated represented his unaided efforts.

At thirteen years of age our subject began to work on a farm near his father's home. When past sixteen, in 1864, he started for Washington, then a sparsely settled territory in the remote and seldom-visited west. Indian depredations were unusually numerous at the time. In com- pany with George Liggett, wife and sister, he be- gan the journey across the plains. On reaching Sand Creek, Colorado, about midday, they stopped and prepared their dinner. On that same spot, the following night, a party of freighters were massacred. The same band of Indians, after killing that party, made a circuit and some two hours later killed a ranchman directly in front of the four people comprising our subject's party, and the fact that the latter drove one hundred head of loose cattle renders their escape from discovery by the Indians little less than miracu- lous. They arrived in Denver June 28, shortly after the great flood. As the Indian depredations were increasing, they decided to stop in Colorado. Going to Golden, our subject engaged in herding cattle. In the winter he was a page in the legis- lature, while in the summer of 1865 he worked as a farm hand. The next winter he was the unanimous choice for page of the legislature, in which capacity he continued for several months, until the session was adjourned. The spring of 1866 found him again working on a farm. In June he was asked to accept a position as sales- man for C. A. Clark, then one of the leading merchants of Golden, but now living in Louis- ville, Colo. After three years the store changed hands. Our subject continued with the new firm for three months, and then, in partnership with John Collins, purchased the stock of James Col- lins and, under the firm name of Collins & Fall,

1258

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

began in the general mercantile business. He Journal, he has shown himself to be discriminat- continued in the business for three years, when ing and full of resources; and as a writer, terse, clear and entertaining. he disposed of his interest in the store. After a visit home in the spring of 1874 he spent three months mining in Boulder County.

Through the advice of his friend, Prof. Greg- ory Board, then the principal of the State School of Mines, our subject entered that school and be- gan a course of studies in assaying and chemis- try, devoting himself closely to his studies and winning rapid advancement. In the fall of 1875 he was made assistant assayer of the old Golden smelting works. In the summer of 1876 he was made assayer and chief of the works, which im- portant position he held until the fall of 1879. For a few months afterward he was in the employ of E. Burlingame, who held out strong induce- ments in order to retain his services, but he had determined to come to Breckenridge. April 16, 1880, found him located in this city, where he formed a partnership with Arthur Nichels and 'engaged in assaying. The partnership was dis- solved in the fall, he buying his partner's inter- est in the business, as well as in mines. He has continued extensively interested in assays and mines.

While his attention has been closely given to his private business interests, Mr. Fall is also a loyal citizen and neglects no duty to his town, county, state or country. In 1886 he was elected town clerk of Breckenridge, which position he filled for a term. In 1896 he was chosen com- missioner of Summit County, and in January, 1899, became chairman of the board. As a citi- zen he is popular and respected. That he is making a success of life is generally conceded, and it has been done by the exercise of good judg- ment, energy and determination. Politically he is a Democrat.

ON. O. K. GAYMON. Not only has Sum- mit County gained prominence through its rich mines of gold and silver, but by reason of its citizens who have attained distinction in public life it has become well known throughout the state. Among its most prominent men is Mr. Gaymon, who, as a member of the state sen- ate, has become intimately identified with the best interests of Colorado and has been especially interested in promoting the welfare of his county. It may with justice be said of him that as a legis- lator he has been public-spirited and incorrupt- ible; while as the editor of the Summit County

Now a resident of Breckenridge, Mr. Gaymon was born in Iowa City, Iowa, June 11, 1858, and was one of the twelve children (eleven still living) who comprised the family of Charles and Rosanna (Kimball) Gaymon. His father, who was born in Dauphin County, Pa., in 1817, in youth learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, and for some years after his marriage he followed his chosen occupation in Pennsylvania, but in 1846 he removed with his family to Iowa City, Iowa, where he engaged in the furniture business and also worked at his trade. Disposing of his busi- ness in 1858, he removed to a farm and for twenty years cultivated his land. Finally retir- ing from active labors, he returned to Iowa City, where, at the age of eighty-two, he is enjoying the fruits of his many years of labor, and is still a hearty, robust man.

The education of Mr. Gaymon was obtained in the common schools, the commercial college and Hyatt's Academy, of Iowa City. At twenty years of age he entered the Journal office in Iowa City and began to learn the printer's trade. After some two years he went to Marengo, Iowa, and secured employment in the office of the Marengo Democrat, later being made manager of the publication. Two years were spent in that office. In 1882, having decided to come west, he started for Colorado and arrived in Denver in March. Immediately he made arrangements for the establishment of a paper in Dillon, Summit County. May I of the same year the first issue of the Dillon Enterprise appeared. In the pub- lication of the paper his strong,. vigorous person- ality was brought to bear, and he prospered from the first.

Having purchased the Summit County Journal, of Breckenridge, May 1, 1898, Mr. Gaymon con- solidated the two publications, continuing them under the title of his more recent purchase. In his advocacy of measures for the public good he has been energetic and indefatigable. He has been a stanch supporter of the silver cause and has accomplished much in its behalf. His editorials have attracted widespread attention, and his views upon political questions, while decidedly pronounced in favor of the silver Re- publican movement, have not only won the enthusiastic endorsement of his party, but the admiration of political opponents. While in

JOHN FROST.

I261

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Dillon he was for fourteen years a member of the school board, and also served as town clerk and justice of the peace. In 1896 he was elected state senator on the fusion ticket and has since filled the office with ability and great credit to himself.

The marriage of Mr. Gaymon united him with Miss Gussie N. Childress, and was solemnized in Denver i11 1884. Mrs. Gaymon was born in Marengo, Iowa, and has become the mother of two sons, Alva E., born in 1886; and Melvin K., in 1892. Fraternally Mr. Gaymon is connected with Breckenridge Lodge No. 47, A. F. & A. M., and Golden Nugget Lodge No. 89, K. P.

OHN FROST came to Colorado in the spring of 1886 and took up a pre-emption and a tree claim, also, six months later, a homestead, each comprising one hundred and sixty acres, situated eight and one-half miles west of Atwood, Logan County. For ten years he engaged in the cattle business on that property. In the fall of 1896 he settled upon a ranch two and one-half miles north of Atwood and here he now resides. Besides this place, he still owns his old home farm in Ohio, as well as his three claims in Colorado. He has made the cattle business his special work, and has engaged in it successfully.

In Kent, England, near London, Mr. Frost was born May 20, 1837, a son of John D. and Miriam (Latter) Frost, whose other child is Edward, a farmer living twelve miles from Buffalo, N. Y. His parents were natives of Kent, the father born on Christmas day of 1808, and the mother Janu- ary 17, 1816. The former, who was a gardener and farmer for years in his native shire, emigrated to America in 1850 and settled in Oneida County, N. Y. From there, in 1857, he removed to Geauga County, Ohio, and purchasing a farm, continued to make it his home until he died, December 1, 1876. His wife, who was a daughter of Lord Ed- ward Latter, died when our subject was three years of age, and the latter was thus deprived of a mother's affectionate oversight when too young to realize his loss. He was thirteen years of age when he accompanied his father to the United States, and afterward he made his own way in the world. During the summer months he worked in the har- vest fields, while in the winters he did chores and general work to pay for his board, while he at- tended school. At eighteen years of age he se- cured work in a grist mill, where he remained for two years.

After his father had been in Ohio for a year, our subject joined him there, and with him en- gaged in the sawmill business in Chester, Geauga County. February 24, 1859, he married Miss Pamelia Corner, daughter of William Corner, who was born in Pennsylvania. The children born of their union are as follows: Frank A., who is engaged in farming and the cattle business in Morgan County, Colo .; Willard M. and John B., who are stockmen in Morgan County; Lillian D., wife of W. M. Tedwell, a stockman of Logan County; and Mary A., who married Thomas D. Pomeroy, a farmer and stock-dealer of Logan County.

Shortly after his marriage Mr. Frost purchased his father's interest in the sawmill and formed a partnership with Edward Morey. They added to their sawmill business a box factory, continuing the partnership up to 1870. August 11, 1863, Mr. Frost enlisted in Company M, Second Ohio Heavy Artillery, and served until the close of hos- tilities, being mustered out of the service August 23, 1865, at Nashville, Tenn. In 1870 he re- tired from the firm of Morey & Frost and for six- teen years afterward he engaged in farming in Geauga County. From there, in 1886, he came to Colorado, where he has since made his home in Logan County. He is connected with. the Grand Army ofthe Republic, and in politics has always adhered to the principles for which the Republican party stands.

R OBERT J. ROBERTSON, who has ably served the people of Washington County as county judge and in other positions of trust, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., August 23, 1842, a son of James and Rachel (Cunningham) Rob- ertson. He is one of a family of six, the others being Joseph, a merchant living at Farmington, Ill .; Rachel, wife of James L. Irwin, a farmer of Lucas County, Iowa; James, who is connected with his older brother in the mercantile business at Farmington; William T., who has charge of a general store at Farmington, Ill., being a mem- ber of the mercantile firm of Robertson Brothers; and Mary E., who married Frank F. Crane, a hardware merchant of Farmington.

A native of County Antrim, Ireland, born in 1818, James Robertson grew to manhood in his native country, and there married Miss Cunning- ham, who was born in County Derry in 1818. In his youth he learned the weaver's trade. Shortly after his marriage he came to the United

1262

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

States and settled in Philadelphia, where he worked at his trade for six years. Later he spent a number of years at Wheeling, W. Va., where he was connected with the Sweeney Glass Manu- facturing Company. About 1856 he removed to Farmington, Ill., and opened a general store in that then small frontier town. By industry and good judgment he was enabled to build up an extensive business, and this he continued during the remaining active years of his life. His last years were spent in retirement, and he died in March, 1896. A quiet, unassuming man, he avoided public life, and, although repeatedly asked to accept the best offices in the county, he always refused. His wife is still living and is now in her eighty-second year. .

After the completion of his education, our sub- ject worked in his father's store and also, at other times, was employed by other merchants in Farmington. In 1866 he went to Memphis, Tenn., where he became an employe of Clark & Drury, a large wholesale commission firm. After a time the firm became D. A. Clark & Co. With the original firm and its successors in business he remained for five years. He then went to Texas to accept the position of surveyor with the Texas Pacific Railroad. He assisted in running the first line from Sulphur River to Sherman, via Texarkana. The town of Texarkana had not yet been platted and the entire town site could have been bought for $100. After the survey was completed he was given charge of the bridge construction from Jefferson to Sulphur River. When the road was completed in 1873, ou ac- count of illness he returned home. In Farming- ton he accepted a position with P. P. Chapman, a prominent merchant, with whom he remained until 1884, when failing health caused him to re- sign. Two years later he came to Colorado, seek- ing a change of climate that might prove bene- ficial. Settling at Akron, he engaged as a clerk for George E. Black, a general merchant, with whom he remained for eighteen months. After- ward he was employed by John F. Dole, a mer- chant and the present county treasurer. After more than two years in his store he resigned the position in order to accept the position as cashier of the Washington County Bank, where he re- mained for two years. His next employment was as deputy in the county clerk's office, where he remained for two years. He was then again obliged, through failing health, to seek a change and outdoor employment. He took a trip to the

south, and traveled through North Carolina and Virginia, being greatly benefited by the three months of rest and travel. In the fall of 1895 he was elected judge of Washington County, being the Democratic and Populist candidate. For one term he served his constitueuts faithfully and with zeal and discretion. An old-line Democrat in his views, he was practically the " father" of the People's party in Washington County, which he organized with the object of defeating a ring of politicians. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows.

In 1875 Mr. Robertson married Ida C., daugh- ter of George Hunter, a farmer of Farmington, Ill., where she was born. They have an only child, Lillian B.

HOMAS K. PROPST was an early settler of Logan County and is now one of its sub- stantial ranchmen and stock-raisers. He is a native of the south, born in Pickens County, Ala., October 10, 1858, being a son of Michael V. Propst, to whose life reference is made in the sketch of S. R. Propst. Such advantages as the common schools afforded fell to our subject when he was a boy. Early in life he decided to seek his fortune in the great west and selected Colorado as the preferred location. April 7, 1876, was his first day in Logan County. Settling at Merino (then known as Buffalo) he began riding on the range and for seven years worked among the cat- tle and on ranches, receiving fair wages. Not long after he came here he was engaged with Mr. Nichols in capturing and breaking wild horses on the plains. During the winter of 1878-79 he had charge of a freighting outfit belonging to his brother, S. R. Propst, freighting from Sidney to Deadwood. During the severe winter of 1879-80 he and his brothers, who were interested together in the cattle business, lost their stock, and were left with nothing to show for their years of hard labor.

In 1882 Mr. Propst took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and a tree claim of eighty acres. The following year he settled on his place and began its improvement. About the same time he began to invest money in cattle and horses, as his limited means would allow. Gradually he worked up a large business. . As the years passed he prospered, and his farm is to day one of four hundred acres, while he owns fifty head of horses and more than four hundred head of cattle. He is not active in politics, but allies himself with the

ANSON ALONZO ALLEN.

1265

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Democratic party and always votes that ticket. Since 1895 he has held office as a member of the school board, in which capacity his work has been helpful to educational interests. Heis a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The marriage of Mr. Propst to Miss Emma Landrum occurred in 1882 and has been blessed by five children, Ora, Thomas, Lewis, Leon and Allen. Mrs. Propst was a daughter of Jerome Landrum, a native of Kentucky, who settled in Colorado in 1875 and is now living at Evans.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 165

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