Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 50

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 50

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) NIVERSITY OF COLORADO. Adjoining the city of Boulder and overlooking it from the high ground on the south side of Boulder Creek stand the buildings that comprise the Uni- versity of Colorado. The scenery is incompa- rable .. To the west may. be seen the highest foot- hills of the Rocky Mountains, and far in the dis- tance gleam the snow-capped heights of Arapahoe Peak. As the eye turns to the south, there may be seen the beautiful mesas; while the entire ex- panse to the north shows fertile plains, where the summer sun falls on green fields and tiny lakes.

The history of the University of Colorado dates back to 1861, when the legislature enacted its establishment at Boulder. Nothing, however, was done toward opening the institution for some years. In 1871 fifty-two acres of land, valued at $5,000, were given for university grounds, and

three years later the legislature of the then terri- tory appropriated $15,000, which sum was doubled by the citizens of Boulder. In 1875 congress set apart seventy-two sections of land for the support of the university. The next year the territory became a state, and the constitution provided that the university should become a state institution, and thus be entitled to the lands appropriated by congress. The first general assembly of the state made provision for its permanent support by levy- ing a tax of one-fifth of a mill upon the property of the state; also, for a fund to be secured by the sale of land granted by the United States.

In September, 1877, the university opened for the reception of students. There were two in- structors and forty-four pupils. In 1878 the gen- eral assembly appropriated $7,000 for apparatus, furniture, etc. Five years later a special fund was created by a tax of one-fifth of a mill for 1883 and 1884, which yielded $40,000, and was expend- ed for apparatus, additional buildings, etc. The university is maintained by a tax levy of one-fifth of a mill on the assessed valuation of the property of the state. In 1891 a special appropriation of $30,000 was made, which was used toward the erection of the Hale Scientific Building, a beauti- ful structure of modern style of architecture. Be- ginning with the general assembly of 1893, a large special appropriation in addition to the one- fifth mill has been made for each biennial period.

From time to time different departments have been added to the university, until it now com- prises the following: College of Liberal Arts, Graduate Courses, Colorado School of Applied Science, Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado School of Law and Colorado State Preparatory School. In the College of Liberal Arts four bachelor degrees are conferred, A. B., Ph. B., B. L. and B. S. These courses have in common certain basic studies, but are differentiated by characteristic studies for each degree. Group election has recently become an important feature of the curriculum. The graduate degrees are: M. A., M. S. and Ph. D.

The School of Law was opened in September, 1892, and is conducted upon the most advanced methods of legal instruction. Special attention is .given to mining and irrigation law, in which a Colorado attorney needs to be well grounded; as well as in the broader realm of national and inter- national law. The student is grounded in the

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principles of English and American law, while unusual phases of the law are presented in lectures® by the most distinguished jurists of the Rocky Mountain region.

The School of Applied Science was established in 1893. Its advantages are apparent to all who are familiar with the requirements of a high citi- zenship in Colorado. The requirements for ad- mission are the same as in the College of Liberal Arts. The principle is carried into practice here that thorough training on theory, followed by the application of theory to practice, is the only ra- tional preparation for engineering.

The School of Medicine was the first profes- sional department established in the university. Since the reorganization of the school in 1892, its growth has been rapid. A hospital has been erec- ted near the university grounds. The school has a large corps of professors, lecturers and assist- ants. The medical course extends over four years, of nine months each. A very high stand- ard of training is maintained in the school.

The State Preparatory School, conducted by the university, has for its object the attainment of a high standard of college preparatory educa- tion. This school occupies a substantial building in the center of Boulder, and is furnished with laboratories, library and other facilities.

The School of Music, technically, is not a de- partment of the university, but was organized to promote musical culture throughout the state.

It is the pride of the Colorado people that no- where in the United States can a classical educa- tion be secured at less cost than in the State Uni- versity. The tuition is as free as the Colorado sunshine and pure air. Here the young men and women of the state may obtain an education equal to that to be obtained in the best universities of the land. That the people appreciate the advan- tages offered is shown by the enrollment, includ- ing the Preparatory School, of more than seven hundred students.

There are now twelve university buildings on the campus. The Medical, Chemical, Engineering buildings and the gymnasium were dedicated in 1898, three years after the dedication of the Hale Scientific building. The engineering building, as thus completed, contains twelve rooms, besides well-equipped shops, and is a model of its kind. The gymnasium, which is 80x40, adjoins the ath- letic field, and its entire space is thrown into one

hall, provided with a platform at one end and a gallery at the other.

Having existed as a university for twenty-one years, the Colorado State University may now be said to have attained its majority, and what it has already accomplished may be taken as an index of what it will accomplish in the future. Its work has been definite and far reaching. It has awakened in young men and women a desire for knowledge and an ambition to broaden their mental horizons. It has developed their mind, enlarged their aspirations and uplifted their thoughts. What it has done in the past it will do in a larger measure in the future. In the en- lightened citizenship of the state, in the refine- ment of its daughters and the statesmanship of its sons, the good accomplished by the university will live through countless years to come.

AMES H. BAKER, A. M., LL. D., presi- dent of the University of Colorado, was born in Harmony, Me., October 13, 1848, a son of Wesley and Lucy (Hutchins) Baker, natives of Harmony and New Portland, Me., respectively. His grandfather, Lemuel, was a son of Joseph Baker, a native of Massachusetts. Agriculture has been the principal occupation of the family and longevity noticeable among its members. James Hutchins, the father of Mrs. Lucy Baker, was a member of the Maine legis- lature: Josiah Parker, her grandfather, was a member of General Washington's bodyguard.

In 1869 the subject of this sketch entered Bates College at Lewiston, Me., from which he gradu- ated in 1873, and afterward he was employed as principal of the Yarmouth (Me.) high school. Resigning that position in 1875, he came west to take charge of the Denver high school. His influence in that city was felt from the first. He kept abreast with the most advanced educational methods of the times and was quick to adopt their most desirable features, applying them, with such modifications as he thought best, in his own field of labor. During the seventeen years of his service in Denver, the attendance increased from fifty pupils to seven hundred and one of the finest high school buildings in the country was erected.

While at the head of the Denver high school, Mr. Baker took an active part in the educational work of the state. He became active in the work

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of the State Teachers' Association, and in 1880 served as its president, while five years later he was made president of the high school and college section. In 1886 he was elected a member of the National Council of Education, and in 1890 he served as its chairman on the relation of high schools to colleges. In 1891 he was elected as president of the highest educational council in the United States.

In Jannary, 1892, Mr. Baker accepted the presidency of the State University of Colorado. His influence has been wonderfully apparent in the increased usefulness of the university and its enlarged attendance. Under his leadership, the school has attained an enviable reputation abroad and in every town of the state, and the university has become the pride of every educator in the state as well as of every citizen in Boulder. Al- though the growth in the number of students has been remarkably rapid, the standards and effici- ency of the various departments at the same time have been constantly improved. That the char- acter of the work done in the University of Colo- rado is widely recognized appears in many ways, but in none more notably than in an editorial recently published in Minerva, the German year- book of the educational world. This ranks the University of Colorado amongst the first eleven American universities and the first five state universities. This estimate is based upon fac- ulties, facilities, standards and character of graduate work.

In 1883 President Baker was the orator of the day before the Alumni Association of his alma mater, and that institution in 1892 conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. He was a member of the committee of ten that made the famous report on secondary education in the United States and was the one who originated the scheme of such an investigation. His "Ele- mentary Psychology" was published in 1890, besides which lie has written many valuable papers and delivered many important addresses. His psychology has been extensively used as a text book, both in high school and academies. Besides his regular work he has been a constant student of psychology and philosophy and has also kept in touch with developments made in other lines of scientific thought.

The marriage of Mr. Baker took place in Den- ver, his wife being Miss Jennie V. Hilton,

who was born in New York state. She is a daughter of Rev. John V. Hilton, who was a Congregational clergyman in Boston, and later in Denver. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have two chil- dren, Hilton and Helen.

EVILO LOVELAND, who came to Colo- rado in the government employ in 1857, has

- made his home in Fort Collins since 1895. He was born in Durham, Middlesex County, Conn., in March, 1838, and was the oldest of three children, his sister being. Mrs. Ellen Isbell, of New Haven, Conn., while his brother, El- bridge, was a sailor. His father, Isaac Loveland, was born in Durham, and was a descendant of one of the first settlers at Saybrook, Middlesex County. For years he engaged in farming at Durham, but in 1866 he came to Colorado and settled on the Cache la Poudre River, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1890, at seventy-eight years. His wife, Susan Hall, was born in Killingworth, Middlesex County, member of an old Connecticut family; she died at Durham when her children were young.

It was in the summer of 1857 that our subject joined a government expedition that started from Fort Leavenworth and afterward divided, part going up the Platte under Colonel Sumner and the remainder going up the Arkansas to a point below the mouth of the Cache la Poudre. The latter expedition our subject accompanied, under Major Sedgwick, traveling with mule-train up the Arkansas and meeting the other expedition at a point previously arranged, after which Colonel Sumner took command of the entire force. They encountered the Indians and had a fight with them on Solomon's Fork. In the fall of the same year the train returned to Leavenworth. From that time until 1861 Mr. Loveland continued in the government service every summer on the plains. In 1858 he went to Utah on a Mormon expedition. The next year he drove the team of the Smoky Hill Express, owned by Jones & Rus- sell, between Leavenworth and Denver, and later he was employed by the same firm in herding mules. In 1860 he went to New Mexico for the government.

During the war Mr. Loveland was wagon master, also inspector and receiver of horses, in the west and southwest. In the siege of Vicks-

GEORGE K. PEASLEY.

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burg he was taken sick and afterward spent a year in Rolla and Springfield, Mo. In the spring of 1864 he was discharged at Springfield, Mo., and in the summer of the same year he again came to Colorado. This time he settled in Larimer County, twelve miles southeast of the present site of Fort Collins, on the Cache la Poudre, where he took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, and, with two others, made a private ditch. He continued raising stock and farm products on that place until 1895, when he sold out and bought a home in Fort Collins.

Politically Mr. Loveland is a pronounced Re- publican. He was made a Mason in Collins Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M. In 1876 he was elected county commissioner and served in that capacity for one term of three years. In Greeley he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Car- penter, a native of Ohio, and daughter of Daniel Carpenter, a member of the Union colony, com- ing to Greeley in 1871.

r EORGE K. PEASLEY, deceased, was a leading representative of the business inter- ests of Greeley, where he was extensively engaged in buying and shipping stock, and also conducted a hardware business, and was a di- rector in the First National Bank. Of excellent business ability and broad resources, he attained a prominent place among the substantial citizens of Weld County, and was a recognized leader in public affairs. He won success by his well-di- rected, energetic efforts, and the prosperity that came to him was certainly well deserved.

Mr. Peasley was born in Burlington, Iowa, August 15, 1847, and was a son of John F. and Lucretia Peasley, representative of a well-known and highly respected family of Illinois. Our subject was successfully engaged in farming in Henderson County until 1880, when he came to Colorado and located at Evans, where he was en- gaged in business for about three years with Capt. B. D. Harper, under the firm name of Harper, Peasley & Co. He then came to Gree- ley, where the company was later re-organized under the name of the Illinois Live Stock Com- pany, with Mr. Peasley as general manager. He and his brother-in-law, Nat. Bruen, of Hen- derson County, Ill., probably did more to raise the quality and standard of roadsters and track

horses in that and adjoining counties than any other two individuals. They owned the noted horses Egmont and Fame, brought from Ken- tucky, and many of Egmont's colts have won a world-wide reputation. Mr. Peasley became one of the most energetic and active business men of Greeley; was a member of the hardware firm of Robie & Peasley; was a director of the First Na- tional Bank; owned an excellent farm of three hundred and twenty acres of land under ditch in Weld County, and was also interested in real estate in Salt Lake, Utah.

On the 7th of January, 1874, Mr. Peasley was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. King, of La Harpe, Ill., a daughter of Calvin and Jane (Aus- tin) King. She grew to womanhood in her na- tive town, living there until her marriage, when she and her husband located on the old Peasley homestead in Henderson County, near the town of Decorra. To them were born four children, namely: George S., who died in infancy; Leroy, Maude and Mabel. Mr. Peasley had one sister, Mrs. Nat. Bruen, of Iowa, and two brothers, Frank and Charles.

While shipping cattle to Omaha, Mr. Peasley was killed by falling between the cars at Jules- burg September 17, 1895. He was a prominent member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men and the Knights of Pythias, and was buried under the auspices of both fraternities, the funeral services being conducted by Rev. O. J. Moore, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His genial, pleasant manner made him popular in social as well as business circles, and he was rec- ognized as one of the foremost citizens in north- ern Colorado, honored and respected by all who knew him.

HARLES B. ANDREWS, of Fort Collins, is the owner of large landed tracts in Lari- mer County. His home farm, known as Shadeland, is named from the fact of the fine grove of trees on the place, which comprises one hundred and twenty well-improved acres, within the city limits. His ranch, which is called Shet- land, takes its name from the fact that he long raised Shetland ponies on the place, having brought the first herd ever in the state, and mak- ing from time to time several importations of ponies. Now, however, he gives his attention largely to raising full-blooded registered Herefords, of which

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he has a large number. Adjoining Fort Collins to the west he has two hundred and forty acres, much of which is laid out in cherry and apple orchards. All of his land is under irrigation, and he is interested in and a director of most of the ditches on the south side of the Cache la Poudre.

John Andrews, who was an old laird of Scot- land, and owned the town of Ingleston, brought his family to America and settled in Allegheny City, Pa., where he lived retired. Like his fore- fathers, he was a strict Presbyterian. His son, Col. James Andrews, was born in Dumfries-shire, Scotland, and engaged in contracting, having con- tracts for bridges at Pittsburg and along the Pennsylvania Railroad at different places. With Captain Eades he became interested in the build- ing of the famous Eades' bridge at St. Louis, and contracted for the tunnel through that city to the Union depot. Next, with Captain Eades, he assisted in building the jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi, doing the most of the work on money advanced by himself, not receiving any money from the government until the completion of the work. He was engaged in building a railroad across the isthmus at Tehauntepec when Captain Eades died and the work was abandoned. The two, Captain Eades and Colonel Andrews, worked together harmoniously and successfully, the former influencing and working with politi- cians, the latter carrying out practical plans. But when Captain Eades died, Colonel Andrews gave up the work, as he had no taste for working with politicians. He embarked in the iron man- ufacturing business at Pittsburg, where he bought the Moorehead and MeLean foundries, and op- erated it as long as he lived. In the rolling mills he manufactured a fine grade of steel rails. He was a director in many banks, street railway and bridge companies, and took an active part in many local enterprises. He owned a beautiful home, known as Ingleside, which was situated in Allegheny City on Nunnery Hill. There his death occurred in July, 1897, when he was seventy-two years of age. His wife, who was Maria Carson, a native of the north of Ireland, accompanied her parents to Allegheny, Pa., and is still living at Ingleside. They were the pa- rents of eight children, namely: Mary, wife of Alexander Cochran, of St. Louis, Mo .; Ella, of Allegheny; Charles B .; Sidney, who is assistant

solicitor for the Illinois Central Railroad and re- sides in Chicago; Rie, of Allegheny; Robert, a stockman owning a large ranch in Larimer County; Walter and Eades, who live in Pittsburg.

In Allegheny, Pa., where he was born August 6, 1854, Mr. Andrews laid the foundation of his education, which was subsequently enlarged by attendance at the Western University of Pitts- burg. On account of ill health he was obliged to leave college prior to the completion of the regu- lar course. Hoping that a change might be ben- eficial, he traveled through Florida and California. In 1871 he passed through Denver, en route to California, and the next year returned, settling in Fort Collins, where he embarked in the stock business, becoming one of the most extensive cattle dealers here. For some time he was inter- ested with Abner Loomis in the purchase and sale of cattle. He had his range first at Fort Casper, Wyo., later near the Black Hills, and owns several thousand acres of land, all fenced, in Larimer County, at the headwaters of the Cache la Poudre. Besides other interests, he was a charter member of the company that organized the State Bank and is now a director in the Poudre Valley Bank.

In Fort Collins Mr. Andrews married Miss Julia Henderson, in March, 1881, who was born in La Grange, Mo., a daughter of John W. Hen- derson, a native of old Virginia. Her paternal grandfather removed with the family to Lewis County, Mo., where he and later his son engaged in farming. In 1880 the latter came to Leadville, but after two years there, settled in Fort Collins, where he is now superintendent of two ditches. He married Henrietta Durkee, a native of Mis- souri, and daughter of Lucien Durkee, whose wife was a Miss Bourne, of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Henderson had three children, but one, a son, Lucien, died in Silverton, where he was mining; the other son, Joseph, is living in Fort Collins. Mrs. Andrews was educated in La Grange Col- lege. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have one son, James Henderson, now a student at the State Agricultural College.

Politically Mr. Andrews is a Republican. He was made a Mason in Collins Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., to which he belongs, as he also does to Collins Chapter No. 11, R. A. M., De- Molay Commandery No. 13, K. T., Colorado Consistory of Denver, and El Jebel Temple,

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N. M. S. He and his wife are Presbyterians in religious belief. In 1898 he represented the Wyoming Cattle Growers' Association, of which he is a member, in the National Stock Growers' Convention in Denver. In earlier days, when game was plentiful, he heartily enjoyed a hunt on the plains, where he frequently saw thousands of elks and as many buffaloes in a herd. The ad- vance of civilization, however, has had its effect upon wild animals and there are now few to be found by even the most ardent hunter.

EV. JOHN BAPTIST RAVERDY was born in Rheims, France, June 24, 1831, and was ordained a sub-deacon in 1850. After nine years, hearing of the thousands who were cross- ing the plains to the mines of the Rocky Mount- ains, he felt there would be need of a spiritual adviser here, and he therefore crossed the ocean. Soon afterward Bishop Lamy ordered him to go to the mountain region with Father Machebeuf. He arrived in Denver October 29, 1860, where he found between thirty and forty Catholics. Though the outlook was not encouraging he urged his associate to build a church and this was done. On a foundation so unhopefnl was built what is now known as St. Mary's Cathedral, on Stout and Fifteenth streets, then out on the prairie.

While Bishop Machebeuf was building the church, Father Raverdy made a horseback tour of the southern part of the state. He arrived at Huerfano November 15, 1860, and remained there for some days, engaged in the sacred duties of his profession. He journeyed to and fro, endur- ing all the hardships of pioneer life, suffering ex- posure, and sometimes almost fainting from weari- ness, but never growing discouraged. Many a time he slept with no canopy save the arched vault of heaven, and his fare was poor and plain, but no one ever heard a word of complaint from his lips. On the other hand, he rejoiced that it was his privilege to engage in the holy calling of a priest. In 1864 he visited Utah and spent some weeks with the Catholics at Salt Lake. He then pushed his way on to Montana, where he found thousands of men engaged in a search for gold, and the month he spent among those ofttimes discouraged miners was fruitful of much good.

In 1866 he accepted the pastorate at Central

City, with the spiritual oversight also of Empire, Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Boulder and other small settlements, and continned at the head of this work until 1871. Three years previous to this his old friend and loved associate appoint- ed him his vicar-general. The tie between these two men was peculiarly strong and affectionate, and continued until death separated them. Father Raverdy returned home from France to learn that Bishop Machebeuf had passed away, and the shock undoubtedly hastened his own death, which occurred in Denver November 18, 1889.

- ON. HENRY P. H. BROMWELL was born in Baltimore, Md., Angust 26, 1823, the descendant of English ancestors who adhered to the Quaker faith. His grandfather, William, was born in 1751, in Maryland; but the father, Henry, was a native of Richmond, Va. For some years the latter was a lumber merchant of Baltimore, thence went to Cincinnati, and later settled in Clark County, Ill., and finally removed to Charleston, Coles County, where he died at seventy-four years. When a boy of seventeen years he took part in the war of 1812 and was present at the defense of North Point. He mar- ried Henrietta Holmes, daughter of Lemuel and granddaughter of Joseph Holmes, whose ances- tors came to this country in the "Mayflower" and was for years a wealthy shipping merchant of Boston and New York. Mrs. Bromwell died in Denver, in January, 1882, aged eighty-six years. Of her six children, only one survives.

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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 50

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