Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 30

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 30

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The subject of this article was born in Han- over, Germany, April 14, 1847. At the time of emigrating to America he was a youth of fifteen years. His first home was in Lexington, Ky., where he participated in some of the stirring inci- dents of war-days. In 1865 he went to St. Louis, and in June of the same year went to New Mexi- co, where for two years he clerked in a store in the old town of Albuquerque. From there, in July, 1867, he came to San Luis Valley, settling first at Zapato, Costilla County, where he took up a squatter's claim and embarked in ranching. In 1874 he removed to his present location, ten miles west of San Luis. Here he has continued to be largely interested in stock.

The Republican party has won and retained the allegiance of Mr. Meyer, and he has been widely known among its members. Before he had reached his majority he was elected county clerk. In 1869 he was chosen to serve in the territorial legislature and in 1873 he was again elected to that body. In 1875 he was chosen a member of the convention that formulated the constitution of the state, which was admitted into the Union the next year, and in 1876 he was elected a member of the first senate of the state. During the early days of the state, his influence was most helpful in the establishing of laws and developing of resources, and he won many friends among the most gifted men of the con- monwealth. His county has had the benefit of

CAPT. ARTHUR HOTCHKISS.

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his experience and energy in the extension of its interests. For twelve years he held the office of county commissioner; and in educational matters, too, the influence of his ability has been felt in his own neighborhood. At this writing he is a com- missioner of the state penitentiary, and also acts as agent for two Indian agencies. The various positions that he has so efficiently filled prove him to be a man of broad knowledge, great en- ergy and keen intuition.

APT. ARTHUR HOTCHKISS, president of the State Bank of Fort Morgan, was born in Albany, N. Y., February 23, 1829, a son of William and Elizabeth (Sherman) Hotchkiss. He was the oldest of six children, of whom three besides himself are now living, viz .: William J .; Theodore, a retired business man of Glens Falls, N. Y .; and Adeline, widow of A. Arnold, of Glens Falls. The father, a native of Albany, born in 1806, in youth learned the tailor's trade, but shortly after his marriage he became promi- nent in politics and gave up his trade. In 1832 he removed to Warren County, N. Y., where he resided until his death. He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1846 and ten years later was elected to the state senate. Among the other offices he filled were those of postmaster, supervisor, justice of the peace and engrossing clerk of the senate, also clerk of the bureau of military records. For years he did a general con- veyancing business. His death occurred in 1878.

When thirteen years of age the subject of this sketch left school and began to assist his father in the management of his affairs. Two years later he became salesman in a general store in Warren County. After three years, during which time he gained a thorough knowledge of business details, be began as a traveling mer- chant, peddling goods through the state. When he was twenty he began to follow the trade of car- penter and joiner, and at the same time became proprietor of a sash, door and blind factory. In June, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, One Hun- dred and Fifty-fourth New York Infantry, and was at first lieutenant of his company, then captain of Company K. He took part in the battles of Chancellorsville, Lookout Valley, Rock , of Quaker ancestry, he adhered to the faith of Faced Ridge, Resaca, Mount Hope Church, and many minor engagements. The only time he was wounded was at Chancellorsville. At the close of hostilities he was mustered out of service at Elmira, N. Y.

Soon after his discharge from the army our subject opened a sash, door and blind factory in Olean, N. Y. Four years later, in 1870, he formed one of the Greeley colonists, arriving in what is now Greeley on the 17th of May. There he took up land and began farming. He was one of the founders of the town, a trustee of the colony and was largely instrumental in promoting its prosperity. While there he was county com- missioner for eight years, county clerk for two years, and for some years engaged in the real- estate, insurance and loan business. The court house was erected under his immediate super- vision. In 1890 he came to Fort Morgan and established the State Bank of which he has since been president.

In 1849 Mr. Hotchkiss married Sarah J. Rich- ards, by whom he had one child, William A., who has been connected with the office of clerk and assessor of Weld County for many years. After the death of his first wife our subject mar- ried Matilda J. Barron in 1858. To this union four children were born, viz .: Arthur, assistant cashier of the State Bank of Fort Morgan; Charles, deceased; Luella, wife of John T. Ross, cashier of the State Bank of Fort Morgan, and a large ranchman and stock-owner in Morgan County; and George, at home. Mr. Hotchkiss is connected with the blue lodge of Masonry in Olean, N. Y. He is actively identified with the R. A. Cameron Post, G. A. R., in Fort Morgan. This city owes much to his energy and ability, in the upbuilding of its interests and the extension of its commerce, but especially in the establish- · ment of its finances upon a sound basis.

BIJAH JOHNSON, M. D., of Montrose, was born in Wayne County, Ind., July 10, 1837, a son of Charles and Nancy (Beeson) Johnson, natives respectively of North Carolina and Ohio. His father came north to Indiana when a boy and settled in Wayne County, assist- ing in clearing the land where now stands the city of Richmond. His life occupation was that of a farmer. In politics he was a Whig until the . formation of the Republican party, to which he afterward belonged. A descendant of a long line

the Friends. His father, James Johnson, who was of southern birth, settled in Indiana when it was a territory and there remained until his death. In the family of Charles Johnson there are eight children, all still living, viz. : Charles

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A., who is a farmer of Madison County, Iowa; Isaac K., a carpenter and builder living in Cali- fornia; Sarah J., wife of Charles P. Kennedy, of large vote. Deeply interested in educational Iowa; Jesse, who lives in Warren County, Iowa; Abijah; Eliza, Mrs. Hollingsworth, who lives near Kokomo, Ind .; Eli, of Madison County, Iowa; and Rhoda M., wife of Wesley Menden- hall, who lives near Newtown, Ind.

At the age of sixteen our subject left home and began to work at the carpenter's trade. A year later he went to western Iowa, and in 1857 to Kansas, traveling on foot for two hundred miles of the journey, while the remainder of the dis- tance was covered as a boat hand on a steamer. Returning to Indiana in 1860, he entered Beech Grove Academy, where he attended, at intervals, for three years, during which time he also en- gaged in teaching. In 1862 he began the study of medicine under Dr. Wesley Allen, of West New- ton, Ind., with whom he remained for a year, and then entered the medical department of the State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; a year later he became a student in the Long Island Hospital College of Brooklyn, where he attended lectures and clinics, while at the same time he had the advantage of clinical work in the City Hospital New York City. He began practice at Fairview, Ind., and while there married Mrs. Sarah A. Street.

Removing to Earlham, Iowa, in 1869, Dr. Johnson engaged in practice there for eleven years. He was mayor of that town for five years and under his administration it became a Prohi- bition town. In 1880 he came to Colorado and settled at Castle Rock, but five years later he re- moved to Montrose, his present home. In addi- tion to his private practice he acts as surgeon for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. For some years he has been connected with the Na- tional Association of Railway Surgeons, which has now been enlarged to include Canada and . Mexico, and is styled the International Associa- tion. He is also connected with the Colorado State Medical Society. He isa member of Mont- rose Lodge No. 63, A. F. & A. M .; Montrose Chapter No. 20, R. A. M .; and Montrose Com- mandery No. 19, K. T., and is now master of the blue lodge and chaplain of the commandery.

In politics Dr. Johnson is a strong Prohibi- tionist, his sympathy with the temperance move- ment having led him to ally himself with the party that works for the downfall of the liquor traffic. While in Castle Rock he served as cor-

oner for two terms. In 1894 he was the Prohi- bition nominee for state auditor and received a

work he has been a member of the board of school directors for ten years, and during nine years of this time he has acted as its president. In May, 1899, he was again elected for a term of three years. The school is one of ten rooms, in charge of ten teachers. Under his administration many important changes have been made and the school building has been enlarged and improved.

December 31, 1864, Dr. Johnson married Mrs. Street, of Randolph County, Ind., daughter of Jacob Wright. They are the parents of a daugh- ter and two sons. Britomarte is the wife of Olin Spencer, of Montrose; Carl, a physician and sur- geon, is now vice-consul at Amoy, China; and Ross is connected with the freight department of the Colorado Midland Railroad at Cripple Creek.

Not only is the doctor a successful student of the medical science, but of nature as well. He has a fine cabinet containing rare mineral speci- mens, and he often devotes his leisure hours to their collection and examination. In his library may be found all of the latest and best works of science. He has been a thoughtful student dur- ing all the years of his active life, and has con- sequently amassed a degree of knowledge that is unusual. Among the people of his town and county he has many warm personal friends.

OSELLE W. HASKINS. As a represent- ative of the business element of Ouray, to whose progressive spirit is due much of the prosperity enjoyed by the city since local mining interests caused it to spring into existence, men- tion belongs to the name of R. W. Haskins, a pioneer of' 1879. He is a leading business man of the place and owns a large store, in which he carries a full line of shelf and heavy hardware, tinware and miners' supplies.

In McHenry County, Ill., where he was born in 1856, Mr. Haskins passed the years of youth, gaining his education in the Woodstock schools. His first employment was as clerk in a store in Illinois. In 1872 he came to Pueblo, Colo., and secured a position as clerk in a store. The following year he removed to Del Norte, where he was also occupied as a clerk. From there, in 1879, he came to Ouray, and accepted a position as clerk and deputy in the office of the county recorder. To this office, in 1883, he was elected

WILLIAM W. ROLLER.

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on the Republican ticket, and his service was so satisfactory that he was re-elected at the expira- tion of the term.

Upon retiring from the county clerk's office, Mr. Haskins was for a time associated with his brother, C. W., in the abstract, insurance and loan business, and later purchased the business which he has since increased to its present dimensions. His time is closely given to the management of his business affairs, yet he keeps posted concerning the great questions of the age and discharges every duty as a citizen. He has filled the offices of police magistrate and justice of the peace .. The principal industry of the county, mining, has been given some attention by him, and he has purchased stock in a number of mines. He was married in December, 1889, his wife being Miss Grace Powell, of Ouray.

Returning to New York, Mr. Roller resumed his studies, attending a seminary at Oneida, after which he entered Dartmouth College. In the spring of 1868 he came west to Kansas and em- barked in the furniture business, which he con- tinued until 1878. He then came to Colorado and opened a furniture store at Colorado Springs, having made the change of location in the hope that his wife's health might be benefited by the Colorado climate. In the spring of 1880 he came to what is now Salida. The town had just been laid out and named South Arkansas. It con- ILLIAM W. ROLLER, who is engaged in the real-estate and loan business at Sa- lida, Chaffee County, has done much toward the development of this city. Largely through his instrumentality was organized the Salida Electric Light Company, of which he has since acted as vice-president. He also organized the Opera House Company and is its president, ery Company. The Central block was built under his supervision and he now owns an inter- est in the building. He organized the land com- pany that platted and developed the town, and has had charge of the Governor Hunt property. tained twenty-one buildings and a frame hotel. The railroad had recently been completed to this point, and all the surroundings were those of the mountainous frontier, but he saw the possibilities of the place. He bought property and started a furniture and undertaking store. The town, being at that time the terminus of the road, was naturally a rough place, and much of its popula- besides which he is president of the Salida Crean1- · tion could have well been dispensed with. He has seen the subsequent change in the character of the people and assisted in the development of the place from its infancy and incipiency. After four years he sold his stock of furniture and be- came a real-estate and insurance agent. In 1895 he sold the insurance business, since which time he has given his attention to real estate and mining. He has owned mining property in Clear Creek, Gilpin, Custer and El Paso Counties, and now holds property in Chaffee and Gunnison Counties. He is president of the company formed to handle the new Stephens process for the ex- traction of gold, silver and copper, which takes them out in solution without roasting, a process much superior to that requiring the use of cyan- ide or chlorate. The company is known as the Stephens Mineral Extraction Company, and is capitalized at $100,000.

Near Buffalo, N. Y., the subject of this sketch was born November 1, 1841, a son of John P. and Eliza (Seafly) Roller, natives, respectively, of Wittenberg, Germany, and New York state. His father came to America at ten years of age and about 1869 settled in Kansas, where he en- gaged in business until his death. His widow makes her home in Ottawa, that state. They were the parents of three children: William W .; Mary E., who married J. L. Hawkins, a hard- ware merchant of Ottawa, Kan .; and Nellie, wife of N. A. Hamilton, of Ottawa.

In the spring of 1861 our subject enlisted in Company A, Sixty-fourth New York Infantry, and served until October, 1864, when he was mustered out. He took part in all the engage- ments of the army of the Potomac excepting Get- tysburg, when a wound kept him from active participation. He was wounded in the battle of Fair Oaks and again at Chancellorsville, where

he commanded his company. He was present in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Antietam, in front of Petersburg, etc., and was promoted successively to first sergeant, second and first lieutenant and captain, and was mustered out as lieutenant-colonel. He served both under Grant and Miles.

In politics Mr. Roller was a Republican until the currency issue arose, when he favored the silver cause, but he has not been active in public affairs, his business taking all of his time. In Masonry he is a member of the blue lodge, chap- ter, commandery and consistory, and has filled various offices in the order, among them that of

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grand high priest of the royal arch chapter of Colorado. Several times he has served as com- mander of Edwin M. Stanton Post No. 37, G. A. R. He is also a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion, Commandery of Colo- rado. He is not identified with any denomina- tion, but assists in the support of the Episcopal Church, which his family attends. He has been twice married. At Ottawa, Kan., in 1872, he married Claramond Hayes, who died in 1883, leaving a son, Arthur H., now in Denver. In September, 1884, he married Nellie H. Arnold, of Salida, and they have three children: Douglas Arnold, Nellie Harris and Winfield Irving.

ENRY M. MORSE is now living retired, enjoying that rest which is the proper re- ward of a pioneer who has had an honor- able, useful and active career. His home is near Swallows, and is a fine ranch bordering the Arkansas River and lying along the line of the Denver & Rio Grande and the Santa Fe Railroads, about fifteen miles from the city of Pueblo. He was born in Boxford, Mass., about thirty miles north- east of Boston, June 2, 1833, in one of the old historic houses of that section-a one-story frame dwelling long noted for the many brave men it had sent forth to battle for the rights of the country. The grandfather and father of our subject both bore the name of Samuel Morse, and the latter was a soldier in the war of 1812. The house in which he was born was also the birthplace of his brothers and four of his cousins, who entered the Union service. His brothers, in order of birth, were: Edwin C., Sylvester P., Henry M., Gardner S. and Herbert C., but in the reverse order they entered the service, the young- est first, followed by the others in succession. Herbert C. served for three years in the Twelfth Massachusetts Infantry, under Colonel Webster, a son of Daniel Webster, and died in Libby prison after participating in battles where five hundred out of five hundred and fifty were killed. Another brother was in a battle where two hun- dred out of two hundred and thirty-seven were killed. There were also three sisters in this family, but only one is now living, Mrs. Charlotte Horner.

Henry M. Morse was reared at the old family homestead, which still stands among the trees and ferns of New England. He pursued his educa- tion in the district schools of the neighborhood until fifteen years of age, when he went to sea.

He followed the life of a sailor until 1854, within which time he visited Nova Scotia, the West In- dies and various other foreign countries. In 1854 he emigrated to California, but after a year spent in the Golden state made his way to Central America. He was in that land at the time of the Walker fusilade, but soon he returned to New York and later to his old home in Massachusetts, where he spent the greater part of the time until the inauguration of the Civil war.

Responding to his country's call for aid Mr. Morse enlisted as a sharpshooter. At one time he was considered one of the finest sharpshooters in Massachusetts. Later he was. transferred to the Seventeenth Massachusetts Infantry, Burn- side's brigade, with which he served for three years, participating in the battles of Kinston, Whitehall and Goldsborough, all of which oc- curred in December, 1862. At the close of the war Mr. Morse returned to his New England home and was engaged in different lines of business until 1871, when he came to Colorado, locating first in Denver, and coming to Pueblo County in 1871. For a number of years he acted as guide, and conveyed parties visiting the beauties of the mountain scenery. In 1881 he went into the gun and locksmith business in Pueblo, which he con- tinned until 1892, in the meantime taking into partnership his two sons, who continued in the business after he retired. He purchased the ranch near Swallows and in 1889, after staying there two years, he rented the place and returned to Pueblo, where he now resides.

No man in the state knows the paths in the mountain better than he. He was known all over this western country as "Yankee Hank, the guide." As a hunter he has won great renown, and has killed more game than any other man in the locality. His trusty rifle has brought down many bears, and on several occasions he has been nearly knocked down by them and has had some narrow escapes, but has never yet received a scratch. He has killed as many as fourteen ante- lope in one day, and his fame as a hunter has spread far and wide. A marked characteristic in his nature is his fondness for curios and he has some of the finest specimens to be seen anywhere, his collection being very valuable. He has over one hundred and twelve revolvers and pistols, some of which were carried in the Revolution, others in the war of 1812 and the Civil war, while still others have come from distant lands. His Indian arrow points, bows and arrows, Indian

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relics of all kinds, and relics of the cliff-dwellers, indicate his familiarity with the history, manners and customs of those races. His collection also contains many curious, rare and valuable speci- mens of sabres, knives, shot guns and rifles, together with several hundred kinds of badges. One pistol which he has belonged to his brother- in-law, Leonard W. Philips, who was a soldier in the Union army and died in Andersonville prison. The pistol was given him when he entered the service and at the first battle of Bull Run he lost it, but on returning to the field he was fortunate enough to regain possession of it.

In 1855 Mr. Morse married Miss Edna A. Philips, who was born and reared in Bradford, Mass. She is a most cultured and accomplished lady and occupies a very prominent position in Pueblo County. She was one of the organizers of the Ladies' Benevolent Union and served as its treasurer for several years. It was this society which established the first hospital in Pueblo, its first headquarters being a tent. She has served as treasurer of the Eastern Star and of the Young Women's Christian Association, and has been a leader in many lines of benevolent and social in- terests. By her marriage she has two sons and one daughter: Elvin H., who is in business at Colorado Springs; Leonard, of Pueblo; and Clara, wife of Will Latshaw. There are now several grandchildren, in whom Mr. and Mrs. Morse take great pride.

In politics Mr. Morse hasalways been a stanch Republican since voting for Fremont, and has been quite prominent in the local ranks of his party. He was a member of the first city council of Pueblo and later served in the same office for four years. He was deputy sheriff for several years, and has been a member of the school board for a considerable period. In 1891 he was elected county commissioner by a majority of nine hun- dred and seventy-five, and never solicited a vote. He was largely instrumental in securing the con- struction of the Santa Fe Railroad through Pueblo, when Denver was fighting the measure. He owns considerable property in the city. In Masonry he has attained the Knight Templar degree and is one of its charter members and a Past Emi- nent Commander in Pueblo Commandery. He also belongs to Upton Post, G. A. R., and is Past Commander and a life member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and an honorary mem- ber of the Eastern Star. For years he has been vice-president and an active worker in the Young

Men's Christian Association, and with his family he attends the Christian Church. He is noted for his hospitality, his genial, pleasant manner and his companionable spirit. His life has at all times been upright and honorable, and he pos- sesses those manly qualities which win friendship and regard wherever seen.

OHN Q. ALLEN, M. D., who has been en- gaged in medical practice in Montrose since 1894, was born near Indianapolis, Ind., Oc- tober 21, 1854, a son of Preston and Susan (Jes- sup) Allen, natives respectively of Ohio and In- diana, and of Quaker lineage. His grandfather, Joseph Allen, emigrated from the Shenandoah Valley to Ohio and remained there a short time, but in 1821 located near Indianapolis, Ind., of which locality he was a pioneer. He was a son of Jackson Allen, a resident of the Old Dominion and of Scotch-Irish descent. The Jessups were of English ancestry. Preston Allen was a promi- nent man in his community and a Republican in politics. In his family there were four children. The oldest of the number, Dr. Maria Jessup, wife of Joel Jessup, is a successful physician of Hen- dricks County, Ind. Charles F., the third in order of birth, was a professor in Central Normal Col- lege of Indiana, but died at the early age of twenty-five. Marietta is the wife of Luther Stan- ley, of Camby, Ind.

The education of our subject was largely ob- . tained in public schools, Bloomingdale Academy and Central Normal School. After three years of study he graduated from the Indiana Medical Col- lege of Indianapolis in 1883. Eight years later he took a course in the New York Polyclinic. After graduating he was for two years connected with the Indianapolis City Hospital and Marion Coun- ty Hospital. For eighteen months he practiced · in West Newton, Ind., after which he removed to Plainfield. On account of his wife's health he came to Colorado in 1891, remaining in Denver until 1892, after which he spent two years in the new mining camp of Creede. Since then he has had charge of a growing practice in Montrose, besides which he has, since 1897, served as coun- ty coroner, and for three years has acted as sur- geon to the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and since 1895 has been secretary of the examining board for pensions. He is a member of the American Medical Association and the Colorado State Medical Society. In the Congregational Church he is an active worker and a trustee. He

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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 30

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