Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 20

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 20

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).

142

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and is interested in and attorney for The San Miguel Consolidated Gold Mining Company, The Telluride Power Transmission Company and other corporations. His time has also been given to needed legislation, and a number of bills, after- ward enacted into laws, of importance to his sec- tion and helpful to the state at large, were pre- pared by him; among others being the bills passed by the Eighth General Assembly providing that the expenses of the counties of this state shall not exceed the revenues derived by them from taxa- tion, and requiring them to do business on a cash basis. In October, 1871, he married Ada B., daughter of Daniel A. Olin, of Milwaukee, Wis., and with his wife and two children (Ada B. and William) still resides at Ouray, Colo. Frater- nally he is connected with Ouray Lodge No. 37, A. F. & A. M., Kilwinning Chapter No. 21, R. A. M., and Ouray Commandery, K. T.

EORGE P. DUDLEY. It was in 1877 that Mr. Dudley settled upon his present prop- erty, one mile west of Garo, and here he began in the cattle business and in raising hay. In 1883 he became interested in the sheep indus- try. About 1888 he sold his cattle interests and has since devoted his attention exclusively to the breeding of sheep.

Born in Oswego County, N. Y., April 16, 1838, our subject was one of the six children of Rev. Ira and Margaret (Ferris) Dudley. Of the fam- ily two daughters and two sons are living. Mary A. is the wife of J. B. Curtis, of Hannibal, N. Y .; Emily is the widow of L. M. Webb, of Pueblo, Colo .; and Judson H. is a mining ex- pert with headquarters in Denver. Rev. Ira Dud- ley was born in Vermont in 1799 and at the age of about twelve years went to New York with his parents, the journey through trackless forests, destitute of roads, being made by the aid of blazed trees. He grew to manhood in Cayuga County, and in early manhood studied for the ministry and was ordained to officiate in the clergy of the Baptist Church. The greater part of his ministerial life was passed in eastern and northern New York. About 1845 he went, via wagon, to Michigan, where he held a pastorate. Four years later he removed to Illinois, where for three years he preached in Bloomingdale and St. Charles. Returning thence to New York state, he continued to preach the gospel as long as his physical health permitted. He died at eighty- ·five years of age.

The Dudleys are descended from Samuel Dud- ley, who emigrated from Northamptonshire, Eng- land, with his father and family, about the year 1630, making the voyage on the "Arbella." He settled at Newton (wow Old Cambridge), Mass.

After having attended public schools for some years, the subject of this sketch entered Fulton Academy, where he spent two years, and after- ward studied for two terms in Hamilton College. While still a boy his father purchased a farm, aud the management of this place was given into his hands. When he was still less than twenty-one, his father moved from the farm and he acquired a half-interest in the property, of the cultivation of which he took full charge. March 21, 1861, he married Miss Emma J. Lawrence, daughter of Russell C. Lawrence, a prominent manufacturer of woolen goods near Perth, Lower Canada. Her great-grandfather, Capt. Henry Lawrence, came to America with the British army during the Revolutionary war and afterward set- tled permanently in Vermont.

With a view to engaging in the stock business in Colorado, our subject came here in the fall of 1863. He engaged in the freighting business, starting for Colorado from the Missouri River in the spring of 1864 and continuing freighting to Denver and as far as Virginia City, Idaho, for some two years. Finally the hostility of the Indians drove him out of the business. Return- ing to New York, our subject sold his farm and settled his business affairs. With his family, in 1868, he settled in Johnson County, Mo. In the spring of 1874 he moved to Colorado and settled one mile above Alma, Park County, pre-empting the land for the town of Dudley. He continued in that place, interested in mining, until 1877, when he removed to the property he still owns. From 1884 to 1887 he served as commissioner of Park County. For many years he served as sec- retary of the school board. The success that he has attained since coming to Colorado is the result of his own sturdy will and determination of char- acter. He is industrious and painstaking in all of his work. The many details connected with ranch life receive his close attention. Nothing escapes his careful oversight. To this is largely due his prosperity.

Three daughters were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Dudley. The eldest of these, Cora L., is a lady of superior attainments and broad culture. She was educated in Fulton (N. Y.)

Thomas Rucker

143 .

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Academy, and became the wife of Louis Guiraud, now deceased. During the World's Fair in Chi- cago she was assistant secretary of the board of commissioners of Colorado, and afterward went to Europe, where she represented the press and some gold mining interests of Colorado at the ex- position in Antwerp, Belgium. Georgia Belle, de- ceased, was the wife of Harold Chalmers, of Park County, and at her death left a daughter, Ellen Belle. The youngest daughter, Margaret E., who was educated at Fulton Academy, is the wife of W. H. Ball, of Syracuse, N. Y., and has one son, George Dudley.

ON. THOMAS A. RUCKER. Both on the bench and at the bar Judge Rucker has gained an enviable reputation for acuteness and breadth of mental faculties, the power of logical reasoning and extent of legal knowledge. When he came to Aspen, Pitkin County, in 1881, he established himself in practice, in which he has since continued, with the exception of the periods in which he held public office. As a jurist he has been characterized by strict im- partiality, close application to business, and the observance of principles founded on integrity. He has won success and a creditable place in the estimation of his fellow-citizens.

The Rucker family was among the earliest set- tlers of Kentucky, where its members owned large tracts of land and took an active part in political affairs. James Willis Rucker, the judge's father, was born in that state and for a number of years served as a member of the Kentucky state legislature. By his marriage to Elizabeth Jones, of that state, daughter of David Jones, a pros- perous farmer, he had a family of three daugh- ters and four sons, of whom two daughters are deceased, the third, Mrs. M. V. Warren, being a resident of Arizona. Of the sons, David is de- ceased; Judge A. W. Rucker resides in Denver; and J. W. is a farmer living near Denver.

Born in Cole County, Mo., May 1, 1844, the subject of this review received his education in local schools and Bethany College, an institution founded by Alexander Campbell and his co- workers during the early part of the nineteenth century and which is still one of the prominent colleges of the Christian Church. He took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in Missouri in 1869, where he began practice. In 1874 he settled in Kansas City, Mo., where he built up a good practice and remained until his

removal to Aspen, Colo., in 1881. Two years after he settled in Pitkin County he was elected county judge, which office he filled from 1883 to 1886. During the latter year Governor Adams appointed him district judge of the ninth judicial district, to fill a vacancy; at the first election afterward he was regularly elected, and has since succeeded himself in the office at each subsequent election. He is considered to be one of the ablest judges in his part of the state, and his decisions are held in high respect by the supreme court.

In 1867 Judge Rucker married Mariam B. Pemberton, a native of Pettis County, Mo., and a daughter of George M. and Melissa M. Pember- ton, both natives of Kentucky, but who moved to Missouri with their parents previous to their marriage. Judge and Mrs. Rucker have two sons: T. P. Rucker, M. D., who is a physician at Basalt, Colo .; and Addison W., a business man in Aspen. The Rucker family was strongly Democratic from early days and the judge was reared in the faith of this party, with which he has always voted, although he is inclined to be rather liberal in political matters. Since 1868 he has been identified with the Masonic Order, and he is also a member of the Order of Elks.

R. CROSIER, who resides on Michegan Creek, six miles below Jefferson, is one of the substantial and successful ranchmen of Park County, and is also justice of the peace in his district, which office he has held, almost con- stantly, for many years. He is a native of Ver- mont, born in Waterville, April 1, 1830, a son of Edmund L. and Lucy (Hodgkins) Crosier. Of five children comprising the family, he and liis sister, Cynthia, wife of George W. Foster, of Woodbury, Vt., are the sole survivors. Their father, a native of Lamoille County, Vt., learned in youth the trade of carpenter, but early in life settled upon a farm and afterward devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He served as captain of a company of state militia and for many years was justice of the peace. His death occurred in 1848.

The education of our subject was acquired in common schools and in Morrisonville and John- ston Academies, in each of which he spent one term. When his father died he was eighteen years of age, and, being the eldest of the children, the support of the others devolved largely upon . him. Until the fall of 1855 he engaged in teach- ing school and in general contracting. Then,

144

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his health being poor and his sisters having mar- ried, he went to Wisconsin, settling in Iola, where he was made town treasurer and constable. In the spring of 1860 he came across the plains to Colorado, arriving in Denver June 11 of that year. Shortly afterward he went to Boulder County, and for ten years engaged in mining there and in Summit County. At the same time he was interested in freighting, having a partner who attended to that business while he sought the precious metal.

In 1865 Mr. Crosier took up a ranch on Tarry- all Creek, twelve miles below Jefferson, and where later the postoffice of Bordenville was established. There he spent a portion of his winters until 1869, when he sold the ranch, re- turned to Wisconsin and embarked in the lumber business on the Wolf River. In 1874 he came back to Colorado and took up a ranch three and one-half miles from Jefferson, on Michegan Creek. There he engaged in the haying and stock business until 1895. From 1877 to 1880 he served as county commissioner, to which office he was elected on the Republican ticket. In 1895 he sold his ranch and went to Mesa County, buying a ranch, of which his son, Lelon J., is now manager, in connection with a ranch of his, own. However, he found the climate too warm to be enjoyable and in 1896 returned to Park County, settling on the land which he has since superintended. While in Wisconsin, in 1860, he was made a Mason. After coming to Colo- rado he affiliated with the lodge in Central City, but later removed his membership to Doric Lodge No. 25, A. F. & A. M., at Fairplay. June 14, 1864, he married Miss Lucinda Blandin, daughter of C. K. and Melissa Blandin, residents of Iowa, Wis. One child blessed their union, Lelon J., now living in Mesa County, Colo.

HOMAS T. BARTLETT is living retired at Fort Garland, Costilla County, which was the scene of many of his adventures in pioneer days. He was born in Boston, Mass., November 30, 1829, a son of Hosea and Abagail (Tilden) Bartlett, natives respectively of Plym- outh and Boston. In 1849, when twenty years of age, he took passage on a sailing vessel bound for California, and rounded the horn, landing in San Francisco during August of that year. From that city the brig sailed up the Sacramento River to the capital city, and thence he traveled fifty miles northwest to Coloma, where he engaged

in placer mining for two years. While he met with fair success, he was afterward unfortunate in the loss of his savings by an attempt to build a huge dam on the middle fork of the American River. From his $2,000 invested, all he got was a mess of fish.

Abandoning mining in 1851, Mr. Bartlett turned his attention to steamboating between Sacramento and San Francisco, being on a boat called the "New World." During the latter part of his five years on the river he ranked as mate. Afterward, for five years, he was em- ployed on the Sacramento Union. When the Civil war began, in 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany C, First Cavalry of California, in which he served as corporal. His command, which was under Brig .- Gen. James H. Carleton, was intended to have been a battalion of ten companies of infantry and five of cavalry, but seven companies were added, making a full regiment. He saw service in New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado, and was engaged principally in quell- ing Indian insurrections on plains and frontier. In 1863 he was detailed as General Carleton's escort at Santa Fe and was made second lieuten- ant of Company C, First New Mexico Infantry, but the order being given to stop all muster-in, he was not mustered in, although commissioned a lieutenant. He was commissioned regimental quartermaster of the First New Mexico Cavalry, Kit Carson commanding, and remained with that regiment until he was mustered out some months after the close of the war. He was then com- missioned first lientenant of Company C, First Battalion of New Mexico Volunteers, Kit Carson lieutenant-colonel, and remained as such until he was mustered out at Santa Fe in November, 1867. During the last two years of his army life he was intimately associated with that intrepid frontiers- man, Kit Carson, and when he was mustered out he accompanied his commander from Fort Gar- land to Santa Fe for that purpose.

The first time that Mr. Bartlett came to Fort Garland, it was as an officer in the army, for the purpose of quelling an uprising among the Indians of the San Luis Valley. He spent one year and six months at the fort before he was dis- charged from the service. Upon retiring from the army he married and settled in the San Luis Valley, where he engaged in the cattle business until 1880. He then sold out and returned to Missouri, accepting a position with Samuel C. Davis & Co., of St. Louis, with whom he re-

HON. J. O. CAMPBELL.

147

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mained for six years. In 1886 he returned to this valley and has since made his home in Fort Garland. For five years he was employed by Ferd Meyer at Costilla. Politically he is a stanch Republican. In 1875 and 1878 he was elected sheriff of Costilla County. His wife, Maria Antonia Lewis, whom he married at Carson's headquarters in Fort Garland in August, 1867, died in 1896, two years after the death of their only son, Thomas M., a promising young man of twenty years.

ON. JAMES O. CAMPBELL. The standing of any community depends as much upon the character of its public men as upon its - local industries. During the four years that he represented Montrose, San Miguel and Dolores Counties in the state senate, Mr. Campbell be- came known throughout Colorado as a man of public spirit and progressive character, one who favored measures for the benefit of the people and who held positive opinions upon all subjects of importance. All projects for the promotion of the welfare of his constituents in the seventeenth senatorial district met with his hearty endorse- ment, and his representation was entirely satis- factory to all, and highly creditable to himself. Refusing renomination, in 1898 he retired from office.

The Campbell family is of Scottish origin. Robert Campbell, father of James O., was born in Scotland, but in early life emigrated to Amer- ica and in 1849 went to California, while ten years later he was found among the pioneer gold-hunters in California Gulch, Colorado. He is now living the life of a retired and successful farmer in Iowa. For a time during his youth he followed the sea, but during one of his voyages he left his ship at San Francisco and went to Feather River to en- gage in gold mining. By his marriage to Char- lotte Vincent, of England, he had six children. The eldest of these, James O. Campbell, was born in Clinton County, Iowa, in 1855. He was educated in the public schools of his home neigh- borhood and in Germany, where he studied from 1873 to 1876, becoming conversant with the Ger- man language and afterward studying mining in a famous school of mines.

On his return to the United States Mr. Camp- bell engaged in teaching school in Iowa, where he remained for four years. On account of poor health, in 1880 he came to Colorado and settled at Rico, where he commenced in business as an

assayer. After a few years he accepted a posi- tion as superintendent of the Santa Clara Mining and Milling Company, which position he resigned some years later in order to become superintend- ent of the Jumbo mine. In 1892 he opened the Black Hawk mine, of which he is now superin- tendent. Having made a life study of mining, he is familiar with its every detail and is especially well qualified to make a success of his ventures in this direction. He is still employed as assayer for several companies and also acts as agent and ore buyer for the Omaha and Grant Smelting Company.

In politics a Democrat, Mr. Campbell takes quite an active part in public affairs, and does whatever seems best to advance the interests of his town and county. For several terms he served as a member of the town board. In 1888 and 1889 he held office as county superintendent of public schools and for two years held the position of justice of the peace. His interest in educa- tional matters has been shown by his efficient service for five years as president of the Rico school board. From 1894 to 1898 he represented his district in the senate, serving in two regular and one extra sessions. Besides being the owner of a number of patented mining claims, he has a ranch of one hundred acres in the Las Animas Valley and several building lots in Rico. His entire property is the result of his unaided ef- forts and has been gained by judicious invest- ments. For his success he deserves especial credit, when it is considered that he had little assistance in obtaining an education, but worked his way through school in Germany, and later taught to assist in defraying his expenses in the Iowa State Agricultural College in 1877-78. In 1888 he married Miss Mattie A. Kincaid, dangh- ter of Edward Kincaid, of Illinois; and they have one child, Melicent.

- ENRY I. HIGGINS came to Leadville in 1883 and has since been identified with the mining interests of this district. For years he has been manager of the American smelting works, which were started in 1879, and he has his office in the American National Bank build- ing. Since coming to Colorado he has gained a practical knowledge of mining, and is now thoroughly familiar with all the minutia of the industry.

Henry I. Higgins, Sr., our subject's father, was born in Maine, and removed from there to

148

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

New York state, later going to Michigan, where, as in the other places of his residence, he engaged in the hardware business. Politically he was a Republican and in fraternal relations a Mason. His death occurred in 1876, when he was seventy- six years of age. He married Emily Beecher, a native of Ohio and a distant relative of Henry Ward Beecher. Of their marriage nine children were born. The three daughters are: Amelia, Ritta and Augusta E., whose husband, George Clingman, is a manufacturer of cigars in Cali- fornia; one of the sons, Charles B., is engaged in mining in California; and another, Alvin, was an attorney.

Born in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1836, our subject was taken by his parents to Michigan in childhood and there attended public school. At twenty years of age lie started out for himself, and went to Chicago, where for fifteen years he was connected with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, as purchasing agent, with headquarters in Chicago. He was also engaged in the iron business with John Ayers & Sons for a time. In 1883 he came to Colorado and has since made Leadville his home. He has been prospered financially and, without assistance from anyone, has gained a fair degree of success, being well fixed financially.

In 1858 Mr. Higgins married Augusta F. Taylor, of Geneva, N. Y. He has an only child, Cara, who is the wife of Lient. Henry McCrea, an officer in the United States navy. An ardent believer in the principles advocated by the Re- publican party, he gives to it his allegiance, and is a faithful supporter of party principles and candidates. As a citizen he has always done his duty, and has maintained a hearty sympathy with all plans for local enterprises and improvements.

ICHARD K. MACALESTER, M. D., resi- dent physician for the Glenwood Hot Springs Company at Glenwood Springs, is a man whose scholarly attainments and broad profes- sional knowledge make him a conspicuous figure in any assemblage of people. Possessing the cos- mopolitan tastes of one who has traveled widely, and the culture of one who has rightly interpreted Pope's counsel "Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring," with mind enriched by years of study in this country and abroad, the position which he occupies, in professional circles and so- ciety, is richly merited and deservedly held.

Through his father, Dr. Macalester descends from ancestors prominent in Philadelphia business and society circles. His grandfather and great- grandfather, Charles Macalester, respectively, were large real-estate owners and founders of several still prosperous business corporations and philanthropic institutions, while his maternal grandfather, Dr. Richard S. Kissam, was a prominent physician of New York, and a son of Richard Kissam, a celebrated surgeon of the same city. It will thus be seen that a taste for pro- fessional life, and especially for the science of medicine, is an inheritance of the present gen- eration.

Born in St. Augustine, Fla., in 1859, Dr. Macalester is a son of Charles and Julia (Kissam) Macalester, natives respectively of Philadelphia and New York City, the former a capitalist in his native place, where he made his home during life. In the family were five children, of whom two are deceased; and one of the sons, Charles, a gentleman of leisure, has a world-wide reputation in sporting circles as the famous amateur pigeon shot of the United States. One daughter is mar- ried, and resides abroad. The second son, our subject, was given in youth every advantage, both in this country and abroad, which ample means could provide, and he is said to be one of the few linguists speaking and writing four languages, viz .: English, French, German and Italian-perfectly, correctly and fluently. In 1883 he completed a three-years graded course of study at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School. With a predilection for medical studies, his read- ing was then turned in that direction, and for seven years he studied and worked at the uni- versities and hospitals of Heidelberg, Vienna and Zurich. In 1890 he took his degree in medicine at the university of the last-named city. On his return to the United States, after an absence of eighteen years, he engaged in practice in New York City, where, in addition to his private patronage, he acted as neurologist to the Colum- bus Hospital, physician to the New York dis- pensary, the West Side dispensary, and lecturer in the New York School of Clinical-Medicine. He also identified himself with the Lenox Medi- cal Society, the New York County Medical So- ciety, the American Medical Association and other medical societies. In 1898 he came to Colorado to accept the position of resident phy- sician for the Glenwood Hot Springs Company. Since coming here he has associated himself with

149

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Colorado State Medical Society and has be- come interested in climatological influences and their relation to the health, as well as in the value of the mineral springs as a remedial agency for various chronic diseases. Politically he is in sympathy with the policy of the Democratic party. While he was abroad, in 1881, Dr. Macalester married Miss A. Bauer, by whom he has four children, Richard K., Alvina, Olga and Elizabeth Lathrop.

EORGE G. BOOCO, the owner of real estate and ranching interests in Minturn, Eagle County, was born in Indianapolis, Ind., and reared in Anderson, that state. In early man- hood he was for a short time at West Lancaster, Ohio. At twenty-two years of age he came to Colorado and settled in Leadville, in 1879, during the boom days of that town. For several years he engaged in the mining business, leasing and bonding many well-known mines in that district, and he still owns shares in a number of mines there. Before the Denver & Rio Grande Rail- road had extended its track to Eagle County he located a ranch at what is now Minturn, and it is upon his land that the town is built. It is situ- ated in a small valley between the mountains, with a beautiful stream, Eagle River, running through its entire extent. There are rich mines of gold and silver in the vicinity and many mines waiting for capital to develop their valuable re- sources. The prospects for the growth of the town are bright. Mr. Booco has realized a con- siderable amount from the sale of his lots and still owns other lots that are advantageously located, besides which he has a fine ranch and a comfort- able home.

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 20

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