Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 5

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 5

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When twelve years old John Speer secured a horseback mail route, to help pay for the land his father had bought. The route extended from Kittanning to Carversville, a distance of seventy- five miles through a ragged, rough country, and sixteen miles of which was a most dreary wilder- ness. He gave the name of Rock Springs to one place in the wilderness. After following this work for some years he became a printer's ap- prentice, at which he served for three years in Indiana, Pa., meanwhile continuing his private studies of grammar, mathematics and the sciences. For four months he was employed on the Kit- tanning Gazette. In1 1839 he began the publica-

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tion at New Castle, Pa., of the Mercer and Beaver Democrat, a Whig paper, which supported General Harrison for president. In 1840 he was employed on the Portsmouth Tribune, and also made a trip through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, later taking a flatboat trip to New Orleans. In 1842 he established the Harrison Gazette, a Whig weekly, at Corydon, Ind., but soon returned to Ohio and assisted in the editing of the Mount Vernon Times, after which, in September, 1843, he established the Democrat Whig at Medina, Ohio. The office was destroyed by fire in 1848, but was soon re-established, and he continued to publish the paper until 1853, when he declared that the Whig party had outlived its usefulness. On the passage of the Kansas and Nebraska bill he went to Kansas, locating at Lawrence Sep- tember 27, 1854, and on the 15th of October publishing the first number of the Kansas Pioneer, which in January, 1855, was changed to the Kansas Tribune. In November of that year the paper was moved to Topeka and published there by Speer & Ross until 1854, when it was sold to the junior partner. Afterward Mr. Speer engaged in dealing in lumber, but in December, 1859, bought the Lawrence Republican, which he con- ducted until September 4, 1862. January 1, 1863, he revived the Kansas Tribune at Lawrence, and this he conducted until August 21, 1863. On that day the plant was destroyed by Quantrell's band, who went up to Lawrence intending to kill or cap- ture John Speer, its editor. In November the paper again started and he continued its editor un- til 1871, when he retired temporarily. From Octo- ber, 1875, to March, 1877, he was again connected with the paper as its editor. Since his retirement from editorial work he has devoted much of his time to literary work, for which his wide travels, extensive experience and vigorous style of writ- ing admirably qualify him. In 1864 he was a delegate to the convention at Baltimore that nominated Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson for president and vice-president. At one time he was state printer of Kansas. He was a mem- ber of the house of representatives of the first free state legislature, from 1862 to 1866 was United States collector for the state of Kansas, and in 1864 was elected to the state senate.

In Corydon, Ind., July 14, 1842, Mr. Speer married Elizabeth D., daughter of John and Martha (Withers) McMahan, the latter a descend-

ant of Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, the former a relative of the Hardins of Kentucky. She was educated in a Catholic school near Bardstown, Ky., and was a woman of exemplary character, and in religious belief a Methodist. The night when the Tribune office was set on fire, her son, John M., was shot down in cold blood, and a younger son was either murdered or burned to death in the office; the house, too, was set on fire, but she prevented it from being destroyed. She died April 9, 1876.

T .- REV. J. P. MACHEBEUF is remem- bered by all who knew him as a talented bishop, a tireless worker and a genial friend. He was born in Rione, France, August 11, 1812, and was ordained to the priesthood on Christmas of 1836. For three years he was in charge of a parish near Clermont, after which, in 1839, he came to America. He spent a short time in Cin- cinnati, where he made a study of the English language and became familiar with its use. Jan- uary 1, 1840, he was ordered to Sandusky, Ohio, where he built the first church in the place, it being a fine stone edifice, and he also founded an academy in the same city. In 1844 he visited his old home in France and on his return to the United States brought with him ten sisters of the Ursuline order, introducing into this country one of its finest body of teachers.

In January, 1851, Father Machebeuf left San- dusky and joined Bishop Lamy at New Orleans, from which place they went to San Antonio, and thence traversed the entire breadth of the state of Texas, accompanied by a guard of soldiers. On their arrival at their destination, Santa Fe, the people of that place gave them a brilliant reception, showing every courtesy to their new bishop, Lamy and his vicar-general, Machebeuf. The frequent absences of the bishop on mission- ary tours left the charge of the diocese almost wholly upon his vicar-general, who faithfully discharged every duty. Afterward, for six years, he was pastor of the Albuquerque parish, and be- sides his duties there, he visited all the military posts on the frontier of New Mexico. In 1858, when there was a partial organization of Arizona, Bishop Lamy was made ecclesiastical adminis- trator of Arizona, and Father Machebeuf was sent to take possession of the missions established by

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the former missionaries at different points. These missions had been under the bishop of Sonora, Mexico, whom Father Machebeuf was obliged to interview. After considerable delay he reached the Villa de Alamos, where he met the bishop and conferred with him in regard to the matter. On his return to Santa Fe he was enabled to re- port to Bishop Lamy that his mission had been most successful. In 1859 he was again sent to Arizona, this time to take charge of all its mis- sions. After a short time Bishop Lamy ordered him to return to Santa Fe, and on doing so he learned that the bishop had been granted by the Pope jurisdiction over what is now the state of Colorado. He was asked to come to Colorado, and, in company with Father J. B. Raverdy, in September, 1860, left Santa Fe for Denver, where they arrived the last of October. In 1866 he was made vicar-apostolic, and in 1868 he was consecrated a bishop in the Cincinnati Cathedral. He remained a resident of Denver until his death, August 10, 1889.

Of the results of the bishop's work in Denver, too much cannot be said in praise. Without doubt he was a man, not only of great piety and deep faith in God, but also of unnsnal executive ability and determination of will. His church. on Stout street, in Denver, was the first brick house of worship built in the state. In his diocese there are eighty or more priests, ninety churches, one hundred and twenty or more stations, a large number of academies and parochial schools, many hospitals, an immense Catholic population; and all this largely due to the pioneer work of the great-hearted Bishop Machebeuf.

EORGE E. ROSS-LEWIN, cashier of the First National Bank of Denver, was born in the city of Rochester, N. Y., March 28, 1857, and is of Irish parentage, but of Welsh descent. The first of the name in the United States was his grandfather, Francis Burton Ross-Lewin, who settled in Rochester and made that city his home until his death. The father, W. H. Ross-Lewin, was born in the north of Ireland and accompanied his parents to Rochester, where, on attaining manhood, he embarked in the mercantile business and continued a successful and extensive business man until his retirement. In 1889 he removed to Chicago, where he has since made his home.

From an early age the subject of this sketch displayed an aptitude for commercial affairs. On the completion of the studies of the grammar school, at the age of sixteen he entered upon his active business career. His first situation was that of clerk in a Rochester bank, where he re- mained for a number of years, by his fidelity and ability winning merited promotion to the position of teller. He continued to make his home in Rochester until 1881, when he came west to Colo- rado, arriving in Denver June 19. His first position here was that of collection clerk in the First National Bank. May 1, 1886, he was pro- mioted to the position of assistant cashier, and in the discharge of the duties of that office was so conspicuously successful that in 1891 he was made cashier.

In addition to his connection with the bank, Mr. Ross-Lewin is treasurer of all the companies of which Mr. Moffat is the president, as well as a number of other concerns, among them being the Denver Consolidated Tramway Company, the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad Company, Victor Gold Mining Company, Metallic Extrac- tion Company and the Anaconda Mining Com- pany, the prosperity of all of which he has pro- moted by his sound judgment and acute intellect- nal powers. He is vice-president and one of the directors of the Bimetallic Bank of Cripple Creek, and is also vice-president of the Bank of Victor. He is a member of the Denver Club, and in polit- ical faith adheres to the policy of the Republican party. In Cincinnati, Ohio, he married Miss Elizabeth Closterman, whose father, Henry Clos- terman, was a manufacturer in that city. They have an only child, Elizabeth.

The state of Colorado owes much of her pros- perity to a number of wide-awake business men representing various interests, and among these the bankers of Denver have done much to pro- mote enterprise and give security to investors. It requires just the class of men that Mr. Ross-Lewin represents to conduct vast enterprises, which by their phenomenal success made Colorado famous among her sister states and attracted millions of eastern capital. It requires tact as well as busi- ness ability to successfully manage the affairs of one concern, and it is rare that one man has been equipped by nature to ably conduct a variety of enterprises to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Mr. Ross-Lewin owes much of his success to

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his early training and to those precepts given him by his parents, from whom he also inherits the energy of the Celt and the thrift and persever- ance of the old Welsh ancestors, which, properly applied, lead to success.

- REDERICK J. BANCROFT, M. D. The eminence attained by Dr. Bancroft in his profession, and his high character as a citi- zen, have won for him a place among the most influential of the physicians and surgeons residing in Denver. The fact that he has been called to many positions of trust, professional, military and educational, testifies to the recognition of his ability by others. During the long period of his residence in Denver he has aided in the carrying out of progressive enterprises for the benefit of the place; his most valuable service probably being his articles relating to the climate of Colorado written in the early days, by which, directly and indirectly, he added more to the permanent pop- ulation of Colorado than any citizen of the state.

The descendant of early settlers of New England, Dr. Bancroft was born in Enfield, Conn., May 25, 1834. His literary education was received in the academy at Westfield, Mass., and the Charlotte- ville (N. Y.) Seminary, and upon leaving school he began the study of medicine. In February, 1861, he graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo, N. Y., and in April of the same year he opened an office in Blakely, Pa. About that time the war broke out, and after six months of private practice, in November he enlisted as a surgeon in the army, being detailed by the surgeon-general of the state to take charge of the Church hospital in Harrisburg. In the spring of 1862 he was ordered to the Seventy- sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, at Hilton Head, S. C., and in May became medical attendant of the troops on Pinckney Island, Seabrook's and El- liott's plantations, in South Carolina. His next appointment was to take charge of a small portion of the Fourth and Seventh New Hampshire Reg- iments, in transit from Hilton Head, S. C., to New York quarantine, which troops were infected with yellow fever. Afterward ordered to Philadelphia, and assigned to the Third Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, he served as examining surgeon of re- cruits until the spring of 1863, when orders came for him to fit up a hospital for Confederate pris-

oners, at Fort Delaware. He attended to that matter, then rejoined his regiment, the Third Pennsylvania Artillery, at Camp Hamilton, Va., in May, 1863. In June he was appointed post surgeon at Fortress Monroe by General Dix and remained there until the close of the war. While there Jefferson Davis, the vanquished Confederate president, was brought to the fort, but Dr. Ban- croft's nativity as a New England man being ob- jected to, another physician was summoned to at- tend Mr. Davis. With two other officers, Dr. Bancroft was detailed to investigate the past mail- agement of military hospitals near Fortress Mon- roe.

On resigning from the United States military service, at the close of the war, Dr. Bancroft re- turned to Pennsylvania, where he took a course of lectures in the University of Pennsylvania. In April,, 1866, he came to Denver, where he has built up a large practice. For several years he was surgeon for the Wells Fargo stage lines, and later was surgeon for the Denver Pacific, Kansas Pacific and Rio Grande Railroads, being connec- ted with the last-named company as chief surgeon from 1871 to 1887. He is to-day chief surgeon of the Rio Grande Western, Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf, and the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railways. He was elected president of the Den- ver Medical Society in 1876; he became identi- fied with the American Medical Association; was vice-president of the National Association of Railway Surgeons; served as examining surgeon for pensions from 1868 to 1885; held the office of city physician 1872-77, 1878-79; was the first president of the state board of health, holding the office for two years, and later was secretary for a year. He became identified with the medical department of the Denver University, having as- sisted in its organization and has been an active worker ever siuce. He was elected to the chair of fractures and dislocations and holds that position at the present time.

In 1875 he was made president of the Agricult- ural Ditch Company, which position he held until 1887, and wasre-elected in 1897 and 1898. Dur- ing his service as president of the board of educa- tion in East Denver, 1872-76, he was instrumen- tal in advancing the interests of the public schools and promoting the standard of scholarship. An Episcopalian in religion, he was a member of the standing committee of that denomination in 1878-

Mm it. Byens

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79, and for years he served on the board of trus- tees for Wolfe Hall, Jarvis Hall and St. Luke's Hospital. When the Colorado State Historical and Natural History Society was organized January 10, 1879, he was made its president, an office that he held till 1897, when he resigned. The result of his work, with that of others, in this society is shown in the large collection of pre-historic relics now in the capitol. When the first Grand Army post was established here in 1868, largely through his efforts among the soldiers in enlisting their in- terest in the work, it was felt that he was the one to occupy the highest office in the post; and he was made the commander. Soon afterward Gen. John A. Logan appointed him provisional department commander of Colorado and Wyo- ming, he being the first to occupy that position. From 1866 to 1876 many articles concerning the climate of Colorado, and its effect upon certain types of disease, were written by him.

June 20, 1871, Dr. Bancroft married Miss Mary C. Jarvis, daughter of George A. Jarvis, of Brook- lyn, N. Y., who endowed Jarvis Hall of Denver, Colo. This union was blessed with three chil- dren, viz .: Mary M., George J. and Frederick W.

ON. WILLIAM N. BYERS. It would be impossible to write a history of Denver with- out making frequent allusion to the subject of this article, for he has been intimately identi- fied with its most important enterprises since the days of its infancy. To his enterprise the city is indebted to an extent impossible to estimate. His far-seeing sagacity and business acumen have overleaped obstacles that seemed to others insur- mountable. Especially is his name associated with the founding and early history of Denver's oldest paper, the Rocky Mountain News. He arrived in Denver April 17, 1859, bringing with him the first printing press west of Omaha, and at once established a weekly newspaper. Success smiled upon his efforts and rendered possible the establishment of a daily paper, the first issue of which appeared August 18, 1860. He continued the manager and editor of the paper until 1878, when he severed his connection with it. In the early days of Colorado he did much to attract settlers by publishing articles pertaining to this state, explaining its resources, the advantages · it presented for stock-raising and farming, the

wealth of its mountains in minerals, and the salubrity of its climate. Through his pen he did probably as much as anyone in Colorado to enhance the interests of the state and render possible its wonderful development of to-day.

The organization with which the name of Mr. Byers is now most intimately associated is the famous festival of mountain and plain, which has been held annually since 1895. He was a mem- ber of the first board of directors, and since the second year has been the president. Much of his time is given to preparation for this great cele- bration, which attracts thousands to Denver. Many of the most striking features of the festival are original with him, among them the bal champedre (outdoor ball), when five thousand or more persons, in masquerade attire, dance under a covered canvas on Broadway. There are four grand parades, the one on the first day repre- senting a pageant of progress in the history of the state and five miles in length. On the second day occurs the great masked parade, while on the third day is the military and social parade, ending with a sham battle at City Park, and in the even- ing the parade of the slaves of the silver serpent.

Mr. Byers is descended from a Scotch family that, during the religious persecution of the six- teenth century, was driven into the borders of Ireland, and there took part in the siege of Londonderry. They emigrated to Pennsylvania when that state was still a wilderness, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The great- grandfather of our subject, and his three sons, took part in the Revolution. The father, Moses Watson Byers, was born in Washington County, Pa., and at the age of four years, in 1808, accom- panied his parents to Ohio. They settled at Circleville, Pickaway County, but later he and a brother removed to Darby Plains, in Madison County, where he improved a place of nearly three hundred acres. In 1850 he sold his prop- erty there and settled near Muscatine, Iowa, where he-improved a large tract. His last days were spent in Muscatine, where he died in 1866, at the age of sixty-two years. In religious belief he was a Presbyterian. His wife, Mary A. Brandenburg, was a member of a well-known German family that became early settlers of Montgomery County, in the Miami Valley of Ohio; she died in Iowa in 1884.

Of the family of six children, five attained

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maturity and four are living, William N. being the eldest. Mrs. Ann Eliza McDonald resides in Washington, Iowa; Mrs. Olivia M. Kessinger makes her home in Muscatine; Mrs. Rachel Jane Morris resides in Denver. One of the sons, James H., was a member of an Iowa regiment during the Civil war and was killed in 1863, dur- ing the siege of Vicksburg. Our subject was born in Madison County, Ohio, February 22, 1831, and spent his early years upon a farm. In 1850, with team and wagon, he removed to Iowa, and the following year he engaged in government surveying in western Iowa, soon becoming deputy United States surveyor in Iowa, and later in Oregon and Washington. From there, in the winter of 1853-54, he went to California, return- ing east after a few months. For a short time he engaged in railroad surveying, but when the Kansas and Nebraska bill opened those territories for settlement, he went to Omaha, which then had only one house and that a log cabin. As county surveyor, he laid out a large part of the city. He was the first deputy United States surveyor appointed in Nebraska, in which capa- city he ran the township and section lines in the eastern part of the territory. When the city government of Omaha was established, he was elected an alderman, and in 1854-55 he was a member of the first territorial legislative assembly of Nebraska. From Omaha he came to Denver early in 1859. Here he established the now famous Rocky Mountain News, which in 1872 became an incorporated company, with himself as president.

. The connection of Mr. Byers with Denver's history has by no means been limited to journal- istic work. He has been interested in the develop- ment of mining properties, is now a member of the executive committee of the city library, and a member of the chamber of the commerce, of which he was president in 1893 and 1894. He was interested in the Denver Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande, South Park, and Denver, Utah & Pacific roads, all of which had an important part in the developing of Denver's resources. From the organization of the Denver Tramway Com- pany he has been a director, and since it became the Denver Consolidated Tramway Company he has also been vice-president and acting president of the company, and a member of the executive and auditing committees. In Muscatine, Iowa,

in 1854, he married Miss Elizabeth Minerva Sumner, granddaughter of Governor Lucas, an early governor of Ohio and afterwards the last territorial and first state governor of Iowa. The Sumners are an old Virginia family and are con- nected with the famous statesman, Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. Two children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Byers. Frank, the son, owns a horse and cattle ranch at Hot Sulphur Springs, Grand County, this state. The daughter, Mary Eva, is the wife of William F. Robinson.

From the organization of the party Mr. Byers has been a stanch Republican. For years, through his influence with his pen, he was a power in public affairs. For the admission of Colorado into the Union he labored unceasingly. In June, 1859, he was chairman of the first con- vention called to secure a state organization, but this convention adjourned without definite action. In 1864 he was a member of the couvention that framed the first state constitution, under which the enabling act was passed by both houses of congress, but vetoed by Andrew Johnson. In 1864 President Lincoln appointed him postmaster in Denver, which office he held until 1867, resign- ing then on account of the pressure of business. Again, under the administration of President Hayes, he was appointed postmaster April 14, 1879, and served until 1883.

The rapid growth of the city between his first term as postmaster and his second tenure of the office brought many problems before the postal authorities for solution. During the summer months, when the city was crowded with visitors from the east, the throngs around the postoffice were so great that it was almost impossible to gain access to the building. In front of each delivery window would form long lines extending out into the street, and although the delivery clerks worked unceasingly people sometimes were obliged to wait an hour for their mail. Such a condition of things could not be tolerated in a growing and enterprising city. Upon accepting the position the second time, Mr. Byers again set himself to work to secure improvements. It was largely through his influence and untiring efforts that the free delivery system in Denver was organized and he at once began to plan for its establishment. It was the work of many days before the system was put into operation. The

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force at first consisted of only six letter carriers who were properly equipped and trained. Letter boxes were placed on convenient corners through- out the city, and soon the people began to reap the benefit of the improved system. Before the expiration of his term of office about thirty carriers were employed. The telegraph had been introduced in October, 1863; the street railway system had been inaugurated in January, 1872; the steam cars had brought Denver into touch with other localities June 24, 1870, when the first railroad train reached Denver over the Denver Pacific road; water and gas works had been introduced, fire alarms and telephones, so that the free delivery system was about the last "link" that was necessary to constitute Denver a metro- politan city. It was during Mr. Byers' term of office from 1879 to 1883 that Denver made giant strides toward becoming a metropolis and the queen of all our mountain states and it was dur- ing these busy years so fruitful of future greatness that Mr. Byers worked faithfully and enthusiasti- cally to bring his department to its subsequent excellence, thus adding no small share towards its growth and development.

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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 5

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