Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 174

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 174

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Of the town where he was born our subject has little recollection, as he was but two years of age when the family moved from there. After 1868 (during which year his mother died) he was reared in Louisville. He was educated in a pri- vate seminary at Brandenburg, Ky. In the spring of 1880 he came to Colorado and for a month was employed as mining engineer at Lead- ville. He then went to Fairplay, Park County, Colo., where he was similarly engaged until the summer of 1889. After a short visit in Branden- burg, Ky., he began engineering in Ohio and later was employed at canal building in New York. He acted as superintendent on the "Rock Cut" of the Harlam ship canal during the build- ing of the same: After two years in the east he again came to Colorado, establishing his head- quarters at Fairplay. He followed engineering until April 13, 1892, the date of his arrival in Cripple Creek. He was one of the pioneer min- ers of this camp and has become prominently known in mining circles. In this place he co11- tinued to make his home until 1896, when the family moved to Denver. However, much of his time is still spent in Cripple Creek, where he has his business headquarters. In January, 1893,

the Hull City placer was located, and in the fall of the same year he purchased an interest in the mine when it was considered worthless; since then it has developed into a very valuable prop- erty. Formerly he prospected considerably, but since the Hull City placer proved a paying in- vestment, he has turned his attention to mining engineering.

By his marriage to Edmonia G. Richardson, of Brandenburg, Ky., daughter of W. C. Richard- son. Mr. Smith is the father of three children, namely: William G., who is a student in the Louisville (Ky.) Medical College; Florence W. and Katie M., who are students in Denver schools. Mr. Smith is not active in politics, but is, nevertheless, a very decided Democrat in his political opinions, and never fails to cast a vote in support of the party. He is connected with the Elks of Cripple Creek; Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 96, A. F. & A. M .; Cripple Creek Chapter, R. A. M., of this city; Cripple Creek Comman- dery No. 26, K. T., and the Colorado Consis- tory, being a thirty-second degree Mason.

Y EORGE H. CLARK, who has resided in Colorado since 1888, during that year took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and at the same time secured by pre-emp- tion another quarter-section situated eight miles southwest of Akron. Upon this land he settled down to a farmer's life. At first he had a few head of cattle, but purchased other head, until he has become one of the leading cattlemen of Washington County. He is associated in busi- ness with his son-in-law, E. W. Clark. He is well posted in the stock business, and his thor- ough familiarity with every detail of the occu pation enables him to engage in it successfully, in spite of reverses which all stockmen meet at one time or another.

A son of Richard S., the youngest son of John and Abra (Woods) Clark, the subject of this sketch was born in Chester, Rockingham County, N. H., April 14, 1827. His grandfather, John Clark, served as a soldier in the war of the Revo- lution, participating in the battles of Concord and Bunker Hill. His service covered a period of seven years, ending with his discharge after the surren- der of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Our sub- ject was one of nine children, five of whom are living, viz .: Josiah, who is a merchant of Nashua, N. H .; George H .; Jane, Mrs. Brown, of Goffs- town, N. H .; Richard S., a farmer residing at

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Auburn, N. H .; and Sylvania, wife of John Davis, also of Auburn. The parents were born in Chester, N. H., the father in 1800, the mother a year later. Both were members of old families of the state, where they continued to reside dur- ing their active lives, making their home upon a farm. The death of the father occurred in 1866, and that of the mother in 1879. The former was active in military matters and held the rank of captain in the state militia, after which he was always called "Captain" Clark.

The fact that his father had met with business reverses forced our subject, when fourteen years of age, to begin the battle of life for himself. From that time he was self-supporting. For two years he was employed as a farm hand during the summer, while during the winter he worked for his board and attended school. At sixteen he became an apprentice to the brick-mason's trade, at which and at plastering he served a three years' term. On the conclusion of his ap- prenticeship he commenced to work as a jour- neyman. For the next seven years he was em- ployed successively in Lowell and Lawrence, Mass., Bangor, Me., Boston, Mass., Manchester and Concord, N. H. Afterward he spent a short time in the southern states. On his return north he settled in Muckwonago, Waukesha County, Wis., where he worked at his trade. During his residence in that town he was married to Miss Sophia E. Perkins. Two years after his mar- riage he removed to Indiana and settled in Clo- verdale, Putnam County, where he continued to make his home until the outbreak of the war; meantime he traveled through the south, visit- ing all of the slave states, and coming in contact with slavery in its every form. At the opening of the war he removed to Newport News, Va., and in connection with his brother, John, opened a post store, where they conducted a prosperous business during the entire period of hostilities be- tween the north and south.

In October, 1865, Mr. Clark settled in Living- ston County, Mo., where he was engaged in merchandising and remained for a number of years. Next going to Florida, he was employed for four years in the mercantile business at Jack- sonville by his brother John. On his return to Missouri he located at Dawn, where he opened a hotel and also carried on a livery business. He continued there until the year of his removal to Colorado and his settlement on his present ranch. He and his wife had five children, but only one

is now living, Mary A., wife of E. W. Clark, a prominent cattleman and the county surveyor of Washington County. Since 1850 he has been identified with the Masonic fraternity and now holds membership in Akron Lodge No. 74, A. F. & A. M. He has given his vote to the Repub- lican party since early manhood, and has always been a stanch adherent of its principles. In re- ligion he is connected with the Christian Church.

AMES A. DAWSON, one of the early set- tlers of the old Fort Sedgwick reservation and a well-known farmer and stockman of Sedgwick County, was born near Industry, Beaver County, Pa., February 6, 1859, a son of William W. and Elizabeth (Ewing) Dawson, He was one of five children, of whom the sur- vivors are himself and his sister, Margaret Myrtilla, wife of John Ramsey, of Pennsylvania. One of the family, Benoni W., was a recruit of Company B, First Colorado Infantry, during the Spanish war of 1898, and died of typhoid fever at Honolulu, when en route to the Philippines.

A native of Hancock County, Va., William W. Dawson was born May 27, 1830. His mother dying when he was an infant, he was reared by his two aunts and an uncle in Beaver County. Under the care of these relatives he grew to manhood; and as they became aged and infirm, he took charge of the home farm and cared for them until they died. The property then be- came his by inheritance, and he has since made his home there. He was the son of a physician of Hancock County, Va. (now W. Va.), and his wife was the daughter of Alexander Ewing, a farmer of Beaver County, whose father-in-law, Lieutenant Knight, was an officer in the war of 1812.

After attaining his majority our subject spent two and one-half years in farm work in Iowa and Kansas, after which he returned to Pennsylvania and for four years worked on the old homestead. In1 1885 he married Miss Maggie Linda Barclay, the marriage ceremony being performed at the home of the bride's parents in Beaver County on the 25th of June. Her father was R. H. Bar- clay, a well-known farmer of that section. In February, 1886, with his wife, our subject came west, settling at Kearney, Neb., where he en- gaged in farming for one year. In March, 1887, he removed to Sedgwick County and settled five miles southwest of Julesburg, where he entered a squatter's claim to one hundred and sixty acres

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of land in the Fort Sedgwick reservation. When the reservation was opened to settlement a year later he proved up on his place; but, unfortunate- ly, he had settled on one of the odd sections, and later, when the railroad was attached, the section proved to be railroad land, and he was compelled to buy the place. He has been prospered in his rauching pursuits, and is to-day one of the well- known men of the section. Interested in educa- tional matters, he has served efficiently as men- ber of the school board of his district, which is justly proud of the fact that it has one of the best- equipped and most handsome country school- houses in the county. In politics he is an ardent ally of the Republican party. He and his wife are the parents of two daughters, Myrtle and Mary.

ETER STEIN is the owner of a ranch in the fertile valley near Gypsum, Eagle County, and also owns, at Eagle, the best-equipped 2 blacksmith's shop and wagon works in the entire county. When he came here in 1886 he pur- chased a ranch one mile from Gypsum, and in connection with its cultivation carried on the blacksmith's trade in the same neighborhood. In 1897 he built a substantial blacksmith's shop, and has since carried on business at Eagle.

The birth of Mr. Stein occurred in 1856, near Bezirka-Coblentz on the Rhine, about twenty-five miles from the famous old town of Bingen. He is a son of John Stein, a farmer in the old coun- try, and Marie (Fey) Stein, who was born in the town of Schneppenbach. The family of which he is a member consists of five sons and one daughter. Jacob, Joseph, John and Henry live at the old homeplace in Germany, and Catherine is the wife of Jacob Getz, who lives in the same neighborhood as her brothers. The only one who came to America was the subject of this sketch. He was reared on the home farm and educated in German schools. Following the time-honored German custom, he began to learn a trade when fourteen years of age. He served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade for three years, after which he followed the trade as a journeyman for three years. He then entered the regular army, and for three years lived the life of a German soldier.

Coming to America in 1882, Mr. Stein settled in Breckenridge, Summit County, Colo., but after one year removed to Alma, this state, where he opened a shop. For four years he engaged in

business there. In 1886 he settled in Eagle County, where he has since resided. Besides his business and ranch interests he was one of the promoters of the Eagle Valley Creamery, in which for some time he owned an interest. His political views bring him into affiliation with the People's party. Fraternally he is connected with the Woodmen of the World.

In 1883 Mr. Stein married Miss Louisa Barth, a native of Krebsweiler, Germany, a town that is situated near our subject's native place. They are the parents of five children: William, Har- man, Pauline, Louisa and Minnie.

OHN G. HUDSON, county clerk and re- corder of Washington County, was born in Oakland County, Mich., May 3, 1859, a son of John K. and Amanda (Green) Hudson, and next to the youngest of the family of five chil- dren now living. The others are: Gilbert R., a ticket broker in Denver, Colo .; Maria L., wife of Allen Becker, a farmer in Hemlock, N. Y .; Le- men W., who is engaged in business in Port Hu- ron, Mich .; and Edward A., a business man of Oxford, Mich. His father, a native of New York, graduated in medicine at Rochester, N. Y., after which he practiced his profession at Rochester, Mich. About 1853 he was crippled, and giv- ing up his outside practice he opened a drug store, and at the same time carried on an office practice. His death occurred in 1865. After- ward his widow continued the drug business and reared her children.

While a mere youth Mr. Hudson came to Colorado, arriving in Denver August 12, 1876. On his arrival he secured a position in a woolen mill, where he worked for three months, after- ward joining a party of surveyors engaged in the survey of the South Park Railroad. During the building of the Alpine tunnel he was a member of the engineering corps and was employed there during the entire period until the completion of this famous engineering feat, which occupied two and one-half years. Afterward he went to Idaho, and during 1881-82 was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad as a civil engineer on the Oregon Short Line. In 1883 he worked on the Union Pacific Railroad in Kansas. The following year he spent some months among relatives and friends in Michigan. December 12, 1885, he ar- rived in Akron, of which town he was among the earliest settlers. Here, in partnership with his brother, Lemen W., he established the first

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drug store in the town. One year later the part- nership was dissolved, the brother returning to Michigan, while he turned his attention to paint- ing and contracting. Later he was made sur- veyor of Washington County, a position that he held for five years. At the same time (1892-93) he was clerk of the district court and also town clerk (1892-96). In the fall of 1895 he was the candidate on the fusion ticket for the office of county clerk and recorder, and was elected by a handsome majority. Two years later he was re- turned to the office on the same ticket. In polit- ical belief he is a Populist, stanch in his adher- ence to the principles for which his party stands. Fraternally he is senior warden of Akron Lodge No. 74, A. F. & A. M., and secretary of Akron Tent No. 2, K. O. T. M.

September 1, 1892, occurred the marriage of Mr. Hudson to Miss Burtie B. Ball, who was born in Indiana and came to Akron, Colo., in company with her father, George W. Ball. Three children were born of this marriage, two of whom are living, namely: John G., Jr., born April 22, 1895; and Gilbert R., July 24, 1896.

HARLES I. COLWELL, county commis- sioner of Morgan County, president of the Lower Platte and Beaver Ditch Company, and a successful ranchman, was born in Knox- ville, Ill., February 11, 1861, a son of Francis M. and Sarah E. (Cooper) Colwell. There are but two children in the family, he and his sister, Millicent M., who is the wife of J. C. Johnston, M. D., of Denver. His father, a native of Indi- ana, born in 1834, grew to manhood near Knox- ville, Ill., where he learned the trade of a car- penter. After his marriage he continued to fol- low his trade in Knoxville. Six years prior to his death he removed to Greenville, Bond County, Ill., where he died in 1870. His wife, a native of Knoxville and a daughter of Charles and Maria (Hadley) Cooper, was one of seven chil- dren, the most famous of whom was Job A. Cooper, at one time governor of Colorado.

When his father died, our subject was only nine years of age, and one year later his mother passed away. He was taken into the home of his uncle, Thomas Cooper, his guardian, with whom he came to Colorado in 1874 and settled near Greeley, engaging in the cattle business as an assistant on the ranch. After he reached the age of sixteen his uncle paid him a salary, and he continued with him nutil he attained his majority.

At that time his two uncles, Thomas and Job A. Cooper, who had been partners in the cattle busi- ness, dissolved their partnership, the latter pur- chasing the cattle, which he placed on the Trowel ranch. He gave our subject the management of the cattle, and the latter continued for fourteen years to have the management of his uncle's stock interests in this section. At the time he be- gan in the work he had a small bunch of cattle, and these he turned in with his uncle's, looking after both herds. In 1889 he purchased two hundred and forty acres five miles northeast of Brush, and at that time turned his cattle upon his new purchase. In 1897 he resigned his position in order to give his entire attention to his per- sonal interests, which had assumed important proportions. He has since resided on his ranch near Brush and has been prosperously engaged in raising and selling cattle.

The Republican party has in Mr. Colwell a stanch adherent. On that ticket in 1895 he was elected commissioner of Morgan County, and at the expiration of the term, in the fall of 1898, he was returned to the office, which he fills with ability. For some years he has acted as presi- dent of the Lower Platte & Beaver Ditch Com- pany. He has served as secretary of the school board and has been helpful in promoting educa- tional matters in his district. December 30, 1886, he married Miss Mary G. Barnes, by whom he has five children: Olive, Francis, Charles L., Mary A. and Millicent M.

M RS. P. P. (LANDRUM) HARGROVE, who is successfully engaged in ranching in Sedgwick County, is a member of a pioneer family of northeastern Colorado. She is a daugh- ter of Rev. Jerome B. and Virginia S. (Brants- ford) Landrum, and was one of a family of nine children. They are named as follows: Georgi- anna, deceased; John W., a farmer and stockman of Sterling, Colo .; Eugene F., who is a successful farmer of Greeley, Colo .; Pattie P., Mrs. Har- grove; Thomas J., a minister in the Adventist Church; Robert P. and Lewis (deceased), twins; Emma E., wife of T. K. Propst, a prominent stockman of Merino, Colo .; and Jerome H., a farmer and stockman of Merino.

The father of Mrs. Hargrove was born in Bar- ren County, Ky., May 14, 1820, a son of John and Elizabeth (Page) Landrum, natives of Vir- ginia, who settled in Kentucky in very early times and continued to reside there until they

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died. His education was acquired in common schools. On reaching manhood he began for himself, and while he gave considerable attention to farming and stock-raising, he also devoted much time to the work of a local preacher. He became familiar with the Scriptures in early life, and being an earnest speaker, met with success in the preaching of the Gospel in the Methodist Church. Finally, declining years incapacitated him for active work and obliged him to give up ministerial work.

In the fall of 1873 Mr. Landrum visited Colo- rado for the first time. He was pleased with the country, and in the spring of the following year returned to make it his home. However, he did not bring his family here until the spring of 1876. He settled at South Platte (now Merino), where he bought state land and engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1882 he removed to Evans, and there he has since resided. His wife, who was born in 1822, is also living.

Mrs. Hargrove was born in Barren County, Ky., and her education was obtained in local schools. June 20, 1877, at the age of twenty-one years, she became the wife of Robert P. Har- grove, who was born in Barren County, and had removed to Colorado in 1875, settling near Ster- ling. Later he engaged in ranching near Merino, where he took up a tract of land. The three children born of this union are: Dora Lee, Beat- ford M. and Elsie Gladys, the eldest of whom is a student in the Julesburg school. In 1885 Mrs. Hargrove established her home on a ranch nine miles southwest of Julesburg, but in 1897 she homesteaded a tract of land where she now re- sides. For three years she was interested in sheep-raising, but now her attention is mainly given to the cattle business. She is a member of the Congregational Church, and takes an interest in all matters of a religious and charitable nature. Among the people of Sedgwick County she has many friends, and all esteem her for her energy of character and her kindness of heart.

R ICHARD W. CORWIN, M. D. The medi- cal profession has many able representatives in Colorado, men who stand high because of native ability of a superior order and because of thorough study of the best authorities in the science. As a representative, especially of the department of surgery, prominent mention should be made of Dr. Corwin, of Pueblo, who is recog- nized as one of the most eminent and successful

surgeons in the entire state. He has risen to a position of great influence solely through the exercise and development of his native powers of mind, and his career affords a striking example of the results of application.

Born in Binghamton, N. Y., May 24, 1852, Dr. Corwin was two years of age when his parents removed to New York City and four years old when they settled upon a large tract of timber land near Narrowsburg, Sullivan County, N. Y. As soon as large enough to be of help, he assisted his father in lumber camps and in rafting logs and lumber down the Delaware River. He was given excellent educational advantages, first in Cornell University, and later in the State Univer- sity of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he after- ward taught from 1874 to 1878. Going from there to Chicago, he remained in St. Luke's Hospital for two terms. His knowledge of medi- cine and surgery, gained theoretically in Ann Arbor, and experimentally in the hospital, fitted him for successful work in his profession.

In the spring of 1881 Dr. Corwin came to Pueblo to take the position as chief surgeon for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, which covers the steel works and thirty mines located in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. He has since had charge of their hospital in this city and the surgeons at their mines. That the position is one of responsibility is shown by the fact that the company's medical staff treated twenty-nine thousand patients during the year 1898. He is also surgeon for the Denver & Rio Grande and the Union Pacific & Gulf Railroads and the Colo- rado smelter. For four years he has acted as a member of the state board of health. He is a member of the board of managers of the Normal School in Pueblo, and is surgeon-general of the state, also surgeon of the State Asylum for the Insane, located in Pueblo.

For the purpose of study under the best instruc- tors, in 1889 Dr. Corwin went to Europe, and for a year studied in hospitals in Edinburg, London and elsewhere. It has also been his custom to take a post-graduate course in New York colleges at intervals of three years, by which means he keeps abreast of the latest discoveries and develop- ments in his chosen field of professional labor. His connection with various asylums, companies and sanitariums as surgeon, brings many respon- sibilities upon him, besides which he has a large and important private practice. In spite of his busy life, he always finds time for a genial word

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with his acquaintances or a helpful act to those in need, and he is therefore respected, not only as a surgeon, but also as a gentleman. Fraternally he is identified with South Pueblo Lodge No. 31, A. F. & A. M., Pueblo Chapter No. 12, R. A. M., and Pueblo Commandery No. 3, K. T., and is now grand standard bearer of the state. At one time he was president of the Pueblo County Medi- cal Society. He is also a member of the State Medical Society, the Railroad Surgeons' Associa- tion and the American Medical Temperance Association.

AMUEL D. SHUMATE, who is engaged in a general ranching business three and one- half miles east of Fort Morgan, was born in Clark County, Mo., on Christmas day of 1859, a son of George W. and Hannah (Dale) Shumate, The family of which he is a member consists of the following sons and daughters: John P., of Sacramento, Cal .; George William, a resident of Saline County, Mo .; Hannah J., wife of Louis Gaume, of Sacramento, Cal .; Mary E., who mar- ried Edward Kelley, and lives in Saline County, Mo .; Samuel D .; James O., of Saline County, Mo .; David L., of Excello, Macon County, that state; and Sarah M., Mrs. Warren House, of Saline County.

A native of Virginia, born in 1818, George W. Shumate was five years of age when his parents moved to Kentucky. Some eight years later they settled in Ohio, but after a year moved to Missouri, where he grew to manhood, married and followed carpentering and farming in Clark County, where he settled after his marriage. In 1865 he removed to St. Louis County, and there made his home for two years. The remain- ing years of his life were passed in Saline County, where he died April 12, 1897.

The education acquired by our subject was such as the common schools of his county af- forded. In 1880 he "launched his ship on the sea of life." In company with his cousin he came to Colorado during that year. The old- fashioned plan of crossing the plains in a "prairie schooner" had been superseded by the modern steam cars, and few were contented to resort to the slower method of transportation. However, wishing to see the country, he and his com- panion preferred to drive. They arrived in Sterling July 7, 1880, and remained there for a time. Soon after our subject entered the employ of a man who had the contract to carry the mail

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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 174

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