Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 29

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 29

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was converted, and in January, 1804, united with the church, after which he entered the Congrega- tional ministry. In the spring of 1808 he began his ministry at Westford, where he remained as pastor for thirty useful, happy, busy years, meet- ing with remarkable success. In November, 1837, he became pastor of a church at Williston, Vt., where he remained for six years. At Underhill the following five years were spent, but the con- gregation was able to pay him only $250 a year, which, as his family was large, was insufficient for his needs. Later he accepted calls from Mil- ton and Tinmouth, thence returning to Under- hill, where he spent six years. In July, 1863, at the age of eighty-one, he resigned his pastor- ate, after which he ministered to the church at Swanton for two years. Two years were spent in Oswego, after which he preached in Westford for more than a year, but a serious fall terminated his active labors. His closing years were, however, not spent in useless retirement. He retained his mental faculties and to the last of his long life kept in touch with modern thought and religious advancement. He died at Oswego, N. Y., at the age of one hundred years and twenty-five days. His was a remarkable life. On the one hundredth anniversary of his birth he was the recipient of hundreds of congratulatory letters and calls. The good that he accomplished can never be meas- ured. The fruits of his life work will continue until time shall be no more. For twenty-two years he was corporator of the University of Ver- mont, from which institution he received the de- gree of D. D.

September 15, 1806, Dr. Parmelee married Amira Mead, of West Rutland, Vt., who died January 14, 1821. Afterward he married Phebe Chapin, who was born April 21, 1794, and at- tained the age of almost ninety years. He had twelve children, of whom two sons became minis- ters, one serving his Master in the mission field. The oldest son, John D., father of our subject, was born in Vermont, December 3, 1813, and spent his youthful years in Westford. In 1836 he came west as far as Indiana, and later went to Iowa, where, in 1843, he built the first house in Des Moines. In youth he learned the cabinet- maker's trade, but failing health caused him to go south on a vessel, and for several months he sailed before the mast in the coast trade. Afterward he ·

worked in loading vessels around Pensacola, Fla., also was employed in compressing cotton. On coming north, he entered the employ of the Amer-

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ican Fur Company. In 1836 he started west and where hostile Indians roamed unmolested, he wit- nessed the wonderful transformation of later after many delays reached Iowa, in October, 1840. He was then in the employ of G. W. and W. G. years, and was himself a factor in the growth and Ewing, of Fort Wayne, Ind., who were exten- development of the state. He bore an important part in advancing the welfare of the people and developing the resources of the state. As a brave pioneer, his name is worthy of being perpetuated in the annals of the state, whose prosperity he promoted. A public-spirited man, he took an active part in all measures, educational, commer- cial and moral, tending to the welfare of the com- munity. Respected in life, in death he is hon- ored. The citizens of Colorado, who wish to do honor to the pioneers of the state, can never for- get the name of John D. Parmelee. sive traders with the Indians. His first trading post was two miles below where Ottumwa now stands and was in the country of the Sacs and Foxes. While there he married Huldah J. Smith, who was born in Fulton County, Ill., February 28, 1825, and was the daughter of an Indian tra- der. March 12, 1843, he left the camp for Rac- coon Fork, where the new post was to be built. He made the journey with two sleighs, containing twelve men and provisions. At the east end of Court avenue bridge he located the fort and began the construction of the first house built in what By his marriage to Miss Smith, Mr. Parmelee had five children, four of whom are living, viz .: George S., who was born near Des Moines, Iowa, November 17, 1843; Helen, wife of James Mc- Laughlin, of Sebastopol, Cal .; Emma, who mar- ried R. P. Shoemaker, owner of a ranch adjoin- ing our subject's; and Horace, a successful ranch- man of Park County. The second son, James A., is deceased. is now the populous city of Des Moines. In June, 1843, he quit the employ of Ewing Brothers, and bought an interest in a sawmill, which was com- pleted in 1844. In 1846 a run of burrs for grind- ing was introduced and the mill was patronized by settlers for miles around. As the population increased, the trade grew, and he put in a saw- mill three miles below the other one. In 1849 he bought a stock of goods and for ten years was en- gaged in the mercantile business.

In April, 1860, Mr. Parmelee migrated to Colo- rado. Here he engaged in the sawmill business on South Clear Creek, but in a short time dis- posed of the mill and engaged in gulch mining in the same section. Later he removed to Deer Val- ley, where he opened a hotel and also engaged in ranching and built the toll road up Turkey Creek

canon. After a time he again resumed sawmill- ing, and conducted a mill until the spring of 1879, when he began to manage a ranch. During the latter part of the '70s he served as county com- missioner of Park County. He was a man of ster- ling character and had many friends among the pioneers of the state. In 1872 he settled on a farm fifteen miles below Fairplay, on the south fork of the South Platte, and afterward operated a sawmill here. During the Leadville excitement he ran a mill at that camp. He was engineer and builder of the Cherry Creek road into Denver, which was completed about 1868.

It was the good fortune of John D. Parmelee to live to see the state, of which he was among the first settlers, develop into a condition of prosper- ity and influence. When he passed away, Sep- tember 22, 1885, it was after a residence of thirty- five years in this commonwealth. From a wild range of mountains or desolate stretch of plains,

From his father our subject inherited that sturdy character and energy which are so invalu- able in attaining success. For many years before his father's death he was his confidential assist- aut, his ally in every business undertaking, and his companion and friend. When a youth he had enjoyed some experience in freighting and stag- ing, also as a miner in the San Juan country. After his father's death he purchased one hundred and forty-one acres of the estate, which he farms, in addition to one hundred and sixty acres adjoin- ing that he homesteaded. He is one of the pros- perous cattlemen of the county. Fraternally he is connected with Black Hawk Lodge No. 11, A. F. & A. M. His marriage, November 14, 1895, united him with Miss Eva Grant, daughter of Joseph Grant, who for some time was a prac- ticing attorney in Fulton, Iowa, but later became a leading contractor and painter of Milwaukee, Wis., and subsequently a manufacturer of liquid slating.

Mr. Parmelee has done much for the commu- nity in which he resides, and as a business man he has the respect of all with whom he has had business relations. He is decidedly practical in his views, has always been a keen observer, and has had the good judgment to grasp at every op- portunity that presented itself for the advance- ment of his cattle and ranching interests.

J. C. PLUMB.

HON. J. C. PLUMB.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

This review of the Pamelee family shows that they possess marked characteristics. Our sub- ject was the oldest son of John D. Parmelee, who in turn was the oldest son of Simeon Parmelee, D. D., and the latter was the second son of Simeon Parmelee, Sr. Each generation evinced strong individual traits that made them prominent and influential. Dr. Parmelee turned his great genius into the ministry; undoubtedly he would have been equally successful in any other pro- fession or business. John D. seemed to follow his grandfather's taste for frontier life, and we find him forging his way through unnumbered perils, seen and unseen, into the midst of the primeval forests of the west and later into the wild mountain regions of Colorado, where, as the re- sult of his earnest effort, he accumulated a mod- est fortune and gained many friends. Of such families is the bulwark of our nation; they form its strength and its sinew; their lives, unostenta- tious, yet wielding an immense power for good, have left their influence upon localities with which they have been identified, and their name is above reproach.

ON. JULIUS C. PLUMB. At this time of the incorporation of the Anchoria-Leland Mining and Milling Company, Mr. Plumb was elected treasurer, and this position he has since held, besides serving as a director of the company. The Anchoria-Leland owns more than forty acres on Gold Hill and derives its name from the Lillian Leland and two Anchor claims, which by consolidation formed the present com- pany. In addition to this and other important mining interests, he is engaged in the stock busi- ness, and also devotes considerable time and attention to politics and public affairs. Always a Republican in his views, at the time of the McKinley-Bryan campaign, when his party de- clared for the gold standard, he assisted in the formation of the silver Republican party, and is now serving as a member of its state central com- mittee. In 1894 he was chosen to represent the third ward as alderman, but resigned in the spring of the following year in order to accept the office of mayor of Colorado Springs, and con- tinued in the latter office until April, 1897. Dur- ing his administration many important improve- ments were made, noticeable among which was the purchase of three thousand acres of govern-

ment land at the head of Beaver Creek, thereby rendering possible an excellent reservoir system. Another important improvement was the letting of the contract for and building of the Strickler tunnel, six thousand four hundred feet, through the base of Pike's Peak.

The Plumb family was represented in Massa- chusetts in an early day. Our subject's great- grandfather removed from that state to Penn- sylvania. The grandfather settled in New York. He was related on the maternal side to the Locke family, whose most famous representative was "Petroleum V. Nasby;" the Fairchilds, of Ober- lin College, and the Remingtons, of typewriter fame. In his family there were fifteen children. One of these, Hon. Ralph Plumb, M. C., and now a resident of Streator, Il1., was connected with Senator Dorsey and others in the under- ground railroad and was arrested for complicity with the John Brown raid on Harper's Ferry. He and the others who were arrested were im- prisoned in Cleveland. The citizens rose en masse and demanded their release, but the pris- oners preferred to stand trial. They were finally convicted, but the sentence was never carried out. Mr. Plumb entered the army and was quarter- master in General Garfield's regiment, and also served as a colonel. Removing to Illinois, he founded the town of Streator. He was president of and built the Chicago & Paducah (now a branch of the Wabash) Railroad; he built the Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern road (now a part of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe), of which he was president; and also built and was president of the old Fox River (now the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy) Railroad, from Aurora to Streator; also constructed what is now the Lacon branch of the Chicago & Alton Road. His serv- ice as member of congress covered two terms.

J. C. Plumb, Sr., father of our subject, was born in New York state. When a young man he went to Ohio, and thence to Iowa, where he engaged in teaching school until he died, April 23, 1854. While lifting logs from a wagon he received a strain that resulted in his death. Only one child was born of his marriage to Mary A. Burton, who, after his death, was a second time married, and became the mother of a daughter, Helen Allen, wife of J. A. Wright, of Colorado Springs. Mrs. Plumb was born in Orleans Coun- . ty, Vt., in 1825, a daughter of Asa and Minerva (Beach) Burton, and a granddaughter of Henry

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Burton, a farmer of Norwich, Vt., and of Titus Beach, who lived near Sandy Hill, N. Y. Asa Burton was born in Norwich, and engaged in the clothing business. In 1845 he moved to Iowa and settled on a farm near Fort Madison. He went across the plains to California in 1849, but after two years returned home, and died soon afterward.

The subject of this sketch was born in Mont- rose, Iowa, December 12, 1852. He was reared by his mother on a farm near Fort Madison, and attended the district schools and Denmark Acad- emy, located in a New England settlement. When seventeen years of age he joined his uncle at Streator, and was given work as messenger for the American Express Company on the Chicago & Paducah Railroad. At nineteen years he be- came a conductor on the passenger train between Streator and Effingham, and continued in that position until 1878, when he returned to Iowa. In the spring of 1879 he married and came to Colorado, settling at Eastonville, El Paso County, where he embarked in the stock and dairy busi- ness and improved a claim that he homesteaded. By subsequent purchase he became the owner of seventeen hundred and twenty acres, which he fenced and improved. His cattle were of the finest breeds. He bought his herd from a son of Lord Ogelvie, who was one of the originators of the Polled-Angus stock, and his importations were among the finest in the United States, In 1890 he retired from the cattle business and two years later sold the herd, which is still in exist- ence and is the largest herd of Polled Angus in the state.

In November, 1886, Mr. Plumb was elected county commissioner, beginning official duties January 1, 1887. In 1889 he entered upon his second term in the same capacity. The business of the office becoming large, in 1890 he removed to Colorado Springs. He continued in office until January, 1893. In April, 1891, he went into the Cripple Creek district as a member of the Hayden Placer Company and located the old town of Cripple Creek, building the Clarendon hotel and other buildings, and bearing a prominent part in the development of that region.

The marriage of Mr. Plumb took place in Iowa and united him with Miss Clara Coriell, who was born in Dubuque, Iowa. She is a daughter of William Worth Coriell, of Fort Madison, Iowa, a pioneer government surveyor, who surveyed many of the early towns of Iowa and died of

cholera on the Mississippi River. Mr. and Mrs. Plumb have two sons: Carl, who is a member of the high school class of 1899; and Hugh.

B. COATS. It was during 1876 that Mr. Coats came to Colorado and he has since made this state his home. After spending a few months in Pueblo and South Park, in the spring of 1877 he went to Gunnison County and pre-empted a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he afterward added from time to time, until his possessions aggregated a section of land. The property lies fifteen miles east of Gunnison, bordering the Tomitchie River, which furnishes an abundant supply of water. Upon the place graded Shorthorn Durhams are bred and raised, and from there are sold in the markets of the east. It is the custom of the owner to spend the summer months upon the ranch, in the supervision of his interests there, while during the winter he occupies his city home at No. 723 Sherman avenue, Denver.

On a farm ten miles southeast of St. Joseph, Mo., in Buchanan County, the subject of this sketch was born in 1839, to Alfred and Emily (Hicklen) Coats. His father, a native of York state, emigrated westward to Missouri at an early age and settled in Buchanan County, where he became a prominent farmer and stock-raiser. He remained there until his death in 1859, at sixty years. His wife, who was born in Ten- nessee and accompanied her parents to Missouri in girlhood, died in Buchanan County when sixty- eight years of age. Of their twelve children, five are living, our subject being next to the oldest of these. The oldest son, in 1855, when eighteen years of age, went to Oregon and California, and is now engaged in the sheep business in the former state.

On the death of the father our subject, then a young man of twenty years, took charge of the home farm and carried it on for a number of years. In April, 1861, he enlisted in the Confed- erate army and served in Boyd's Battalion until the battle of Pea Ridge, when he was wounded a little above his right elbow. The injury was so serious as to force him to remain in the hospi- tal at Little Rock for some time. On his re- covery he was given charge of the chief field transportation department, with the rank of cap- tain. When the war closed he was honorably discharged and returned to his home. The fol- lowing year he removed to Dekalb County, Mo.,

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

near Maysville, where he bought a farm and en- gaged in the cattle business. From that place, in 1876, he came to Colorado, driving his cattle across the plains to Pueblo. He was a resident of Gunnison County at the founding of the city of Gunnison and has been identified with the growth of that locality, not only as a stock-raiser, but also as a member of the Golden Eddy Mining Company. For many years he has been con- nected with the Cattle Growers' Association of this state, and served as delegate to the National Cattle Growers' convention at St. Louis. Few who reside in the state are more closely identified with its stock-raising interests than he. Through this industry he has become the possessor of ample means, that place within his reach all the luxuries of life. Giving his attention closely to the cattle business, he has little time, even if he had the inclination, to mingle in public affairs. However, he keeps posted concerning politics and gives his allegiance to the Democratic party. He was married in Gentry County, Mo., February 15, 1874, to Miss Sarah Dever, daughter of Alex- ander Dever, who was a successful farmer of that county.

DWARD P. ARTHUR, mayor of the city of Cripple Creek and cashier of the Bi-Metallic Bank of Cripple Creek, came to this camp in January, 1893, to accept the position of assist- ant cashier of the financial institution with which he has since been connected. He continued in that capacity until March 1, 1896, when he was made cashier and manager of the bank, and since then has had in charge the entire management of the concern, the president, D. H. Moffatt, and vice-president, George E. Ross-Lewin, being resi- dents of Denver.

Near Liverpool, England, where he was born, January 12, 1839, the subject of this article grew to manhood, meantime attending school in Liver- pool and assisting in the work of the home farm. For seven years after he had completed his edu- cation he engaged in farming on the Isle of Man. From there he went to Queensland, in the north- eastern part of Australia, where for five years he was superintendent of a sheep station. Return- ing to Great Britain, he had charge of the im- proving of a large estate in the north of Scotland. In 1872 he came to America and settled on a ranch on Bear Creek, Colo., twenty, miles west of Denver, but two years later he removed to a

ranch in South Park, where he engaged in rais- ing cattle, as well as considerable hay for feed.

Turning his attention to the banking business in Alma in 1882, Mr. Arthur opened the Bank of Alma, in partnership with C. G. Hathaway. After five years he sold his banking interests and began placer mining in the same county (Park). Two years later he returned to his ranch, which he continued to superintend until he came to Cripple Creek early in 1893. He is a man of quiet, retiring disposition, with no fondness for public life, and in his vote is independent. In April, 1899, he was elected mayor of Cripple Creek.

In March, 1868, Mr. Arthur married Miss Sarah Morris, who was born near Liverpool, England, and died in Cripple Creek, January 10, 1897. She was an earnest and faithful member of the Episcopal Church, with which Mr. Arthur is also identified. They became the parents of ten children, namely: Catherine, wife of William Thomas; Edward P., Jr., a mining engineer at Cripple Creek; Elizabeth, wife of Alexander Davidson, of this place; Hamilton, who is manager of his father's ranch; Reginald, at home; Thomas and William, who are on the ranch; Pellew, Mary and Harold, at home. April 5, 1899, Mr. Arthur married Louisa C. W. Bar- rett, a native of England.

ON. JOHN H. VOORHEES, judge of the tenth judicial district of Colorado and one of the most influential citizens of Pueblo, is a member of a family whose first representatives in America settled in Rochester, N. Y. His father, Israel Voorhees, a native of Ohio, devoted his entire active life to agricultural pursuits in that state, but in 1889 came to Colorado and is now living retired from active business, in the city of Pueblo. He is a man who keeps posted concern- ing national issnes, and in politics gives his alle- giance to the Democratic party. The lady whom he married, Lucinda Thompson, of Ohio, was a daughter of John L. Thompson, who settled in Cincinnati when it was a hamlet containing only three houses, and continued to be identified with its growth for years. The family to which he belonged was resident in Pennsylvania from an early day.

By the marriage of Israel Voorhees and Lucinda Thompson one daughter, Delia A., and two sons were born. One of the sons, Enes R., engaged in the cattle business in Colorado until his death, iu

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1891. The other sou, John H., our subject, was born near Pisgah, Butler County, Ohio, June 15, 1859. His boyhood days were passed on the home farm. Primarily educated in country schools he afterward studied in the National Normal Uni- versity at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he gradu- ated with the class of 1881. Two years later he graduated from the Central Indiana College at Danville, Ind. On the completion of his literary studies he accepted a position as teacher of higher mathematics and civil engineering in Campbell University, at Holton, Kan., where he taught in 1883-84, but, owing to poor health, was obliged to resign.

The next position which he held was that of instructor in the city schools of Hamilton, Ohio. From there, in 1885, he came to Colorado and settled in Pueblo, where he accepted the position of principal of the Centennial high school, the largest and finest school in this city. He con- tinued to serve efficiently in this capacity until February, 1887, when he was elected city super- intendent of the North Pueblo schools, remaining in that office for the remainder of the year.

In addition to his work as an educator lie has from time to time engaged in civil engineering. A number of ditches in the Arkansas Valley were surveyed under his supervision. He organized the Oxford Farmers' Ditch Company and assisted in constructing the ditch, besides which he as- sisted in the construction of the Rocky Ford Canal, Land, Loan and Trust Company's canal. With the legal profession in view he had been reading law since 1881, and finished his studies in the office of A. B. Patton, and was admitted to the bar in August, 1890. He became attorney for the canal company he had assisted to organ- ize, and was also retained as attorney for a num- ber of irrigating ditch companies in the southern part of the state. Under Governor Waite, in March, 1893, he received the appointment of judge of the district court of the tenth judicial district. In the fall of the same year he was elected for one year, and in 1894 was re-elected, this time for a term of six years. As a judge he is a rec- ognized anthority upon all matters relating to land and irrigation questions. He is impartial in his decisions and just in even the smallest details. By his scholarly attainments and impar- tial spirit he has won the favor of the attorneys and the admiration of the people. In politics he was a Democrat until 1892, when he allied him- self with the People's party. Fraternally he is

connected with the Elks, Odd Fellows and Wood- men of the World. August 13, 1884, he was united in marriage with Anna, a daughter of Thomas I. Seaton, of Apex, Mo., and they have one son, Karl S.

ON. WILLIAM H. MEYER. For many years Mr. Meyer has been identified with

- the ranching and stock interests of Costilla County. This occupation, however, has not rep- resented the limit of his activities, for he has been long and honorably connected with public affairs, and his influence has been felt in the advance- ment of public-spirited enterprises and the devel- opment of the state's resources. It is worthy of special note that he was elected in 1876 as a mem- ber of the first state senate of Colorado and in 1898 he was again elected to the senate. The in- terval of twenty-two years was a time of activity in the public service, his most prominent position meanwhile being that of lieutenant-governor, to which he was elected in 1882.

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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 29

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