Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 52

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 52

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The subject of this sketch is a member of an old family of New York. His grandfather, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, engaged in farming and general business pursuits, and died at ninety-five years of age; his wife passed away at the age of ninety-four. The father, Abraham Macky, a native of New York, removed to Wayne County and engaged in farming near Savannah, where he remained until his death. He was accidentally killed in a railroad accident, when forty-five years of age. His wife, Eliza- beth Wormuth, was of Holland-Dutch descent, her ancestors having located in the Mohawk Val- ley at an early day. She died at seventy-seven years. Her father was ninety-five and her mother ninety-four at the time of death.

The family of which Mr. Macky was the old- est consisted of four sons and three daughters, all of whom, but one daughter, attained mature years and are still living. Two brothers, Jerome and Alonzo, were members of a New York regi- ment during the Civil war, and they, as well as the third brother, Chauncey, reside in Michi- gan. The subject of this sketch was born in Herkimer County, N. Y., November 11, 1834,

and was reared in Wayne County, where he at- tended public school. He learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, which he followed in Wayne County until 1857, and then went to Grant Coun- ty, Wis., where he was similarly occupied. Dur- ing the Pike's Peak gold excitement of 1859 he started for the mountains, going with team and cows to Omaha, and from there three weeks later he started across the plains with an ox- train. After a journey of six weeks he reached Colorado, in July, and spent the remainder of the summer in Boulder and Gilpin Counties. In 1860 he went to California Gulch, where he engaged in mining, but in the fall returned to Boulder, where he worked at his trade. On coming to this now beautiful city he found it a town of log huts and tents, and in the fall of 1860 he built the first frame house here. It then stood on the corner of Pearl and Fourteenth streets, but has since been removed two blocks east. Being a fine building for those days, it was used for special occasions, such as court sessions, public meet- ings and dances. Later he erected the first brick residence in Boulder, a portion of which is still standing; also the first brick business house, which still stands; and the first building with plate glass front and iron posts.

The first public position held by Mr. Macky was that of deputy to Mr. Chambers, the county treasurer. Afterward he was elected to the office and became the second treasurer of Boulder County, holding the position nine years, a longer period than it has been held by any other in- cumbent. He was postmaster for more than nine years and the postoffice was kept in his building. As deputy internal revenue collector for Boulder, Weld and Larimer Counties, it was his duty to collect income, profession and property tax, placed on account of the Civil war. This position of deputy he held until the office was moved to Denver. For some time he was city clerk, also served as postmaster, and city treas- urer over nine years; and as clerk of the dis- trict court under James A. Belford, and deputy clerk for Boulder County under John A. Cleve- land. As justice of the peace he also rendered efficient service to his community. For many years he served as secretary of the Boulder County Agricultural Society, accepting the posi- tion when the organization had a debt of $4,000 and through his personal efforts reducing the in-

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debtedness to $75. He had almost the whole burden of the management of the society and suc- ceeded in increasing its usefulness and popularity, but after his resignation as secretary the society fell to pieces.

In addition to the presidency of the bank, Mr. Macky has other valuable business interests. He was one of the organizers of the Boulder Mill- ing and Elevator Company, with which he is still connected. During all this time he has been in- terested in mining. Among the tracts of real estate that he owns are the lands included in the Mapleton addition to the city of Boulder, and he is secretary and treasurer of the company that has platted and sold the lots. In the association of Boulder County Pioneers, of which he is an active member, he has for years held the office of secretary and is also a member of the Association of Colorado Pioneers. His marriage, which took place in Boulder March 8, 1870, united him with Adelaide B. Dickerson, who was born in Massa- chusetts and died in Colorado in 1895. Frater- nally he is identified with Columbia Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M .; Boulder Chapter No. 7, R. A. M .; Mount Sinai Commandery No. 7, K. T .; El Jebel Temple, N. M. S., and the Eastern Star Lodge. Politically he is a Republican and has been a member of the state central committee of the party.

EROME MATHEWS, who is engaged in the cattle business in Elbert County, was born in Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio, and is the son of Bernard and Ellen (Clinton) Mathews, both natives of Dublin, Ireland. His motlier, who was of English ancestry, was a lineal descendant of Lord Clinton, who was a British general during the Revolutionary war. Bernard Mathews grew to manhood in his native land, where he married and where two of his children were born. On emigrating to America he settled in Ohio and engaged in farming in Hardin County, where he died at ninety-one years of age. His wife was seventy-two at the time of her death.

The parental family consisted of ten children, of whom we note the following: Mrs. Mary Gar- rity lives in Des Moines, Iowa; John, one of the pioneer cattlemen of Elbert County, owns and carries on a ranch at North Park; James C., also a cattleman, resides in Denver; Matthew R. is in

North Park; Cornelius M. is ranching in Elbert County; Lucy P., a sister of charity, is con- nected with the Good Samaritan Hospital of Cin- cinnati; Joseph C. resides on the old Ohio homestead; Clotilda was the wife of D. Flanni- gan, of Kenton, Ohio, where she died in 1897; Alfred is the editor of the Kenton Democrat, pub- lished in Kenton, Ohio; and Jerome is the young- est of the family.

The first members of the family to locate in Colorado were John and Cornelius M., who crossed the plains with freight teams in 1862 and for a period continued in that then very lucrative business. In 1869 they established a ranch upon the present site of Elizabeth, Elbert County, and continued in the cattle business until their cattle were numbered by the thousands. In 1872 they were joined by James C., who had gone from Ohio to Des Moines, Iowa. There, in 1869, he married Teresa Kennedy, a beautiful and accom- plished lady, who comes from a fine family num- bering among their ancestors the eminent scholar, Dr. Cahil, and Bishop Butler, of Limerick. Coming from a family of orators, she inherited a great talent for this art, and in early life became a pupil of the late Walter C. Lyman. On arriv- ing in Colorado she became a pioneer ranch- woman, but later made her home in Denver, where she has devoted her time to her art and established The Kennedy College of Oratory.

Jerome, of this sketch, was educated in Notre Dame University at South Bend, Ind., from which he received his diploma in 1874. Being the seventh son of the seventh son, it was decided by the family that he should be a physician, but, his health having failed during his studies, he was advised by his doctor to give up school and seek an open air life in Colorado, where he ar- rived in 1877, joining his older brothers in the cattle business. In 1886 he and his brother, James C., established a large hay ranch at Wal- den in North Park. They fenced the entire ranch and carried on cattle-raising extensively, raising a fine grade of cattle and making shipments to the east. The climate of North Park being severe and the locality too far away from their Denver home, they sold their property there and returned to Elbert County, where they now are engaged in cattle-raising.

Politically Mr. Mathews is in sympathy with the principles of the Democratic party and he

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votes that ticket at elections, but the duties of business have engrossed his attention and pre- vented him from identifying himself with public affairs. He is a member of the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association. In everything pertaining to the cattle business he takes a warm interest. He believes Colorado to be one of the best of our states for stock-raising purposes, the abundance of water, excellence of the pasturage and extent of range making it especially adapted for that de- partment of agriculture.

ILLIAM P. ALLEN, M. D., a practicing physician of Eaton, Weld County, is one of the rising young professional men of his locality. He is a son of Levi E. Allen, president of the Weld County Abstract Company, at Greeley, and a native of New York state, born January 25, 1840, to John and Mary (Butterick) Allen, natives respectively of Hartford, Conn., and Massachusetts. John Allen, who was one of eleven children that attained mature years, en- gaged in farm pursuits during his active life. His son, Levi E., was educated in a log school house in Wisconsin, the family having moved to that state when he was five years of age. When twenty-one he enlisted in Company C, Thirteenth Wisconsin Infantry, and later, until May, 1866, served as quartermaster of the Sixty- fifth United States colored troops. On his return to Wiscon- sin he engaged in farming near Sharon, but after some years, in 1872, he opened a hardware store. Five years later he was elected circuit clerk, which office he filled for seven years, then resumed farming. In 1893 he came to Colorado and has since carried on an abstract business. He is a member of U. S. Grant Post No. 13, G. A. R., and its present commander. In re- ligion he is a Congregationalist. In 1864 he married Carrie, daughter of Joseph R. and Celestial (Johnson) Wilkins, and they are the parents of five children, namely: Pliny W., who is associated with his father in business; William P .; Albert J., a notary public, and also in the abstract business; Mary C., a teacher in the Fort Collins public schools; and Maud Alice. Calver Allen, the doctor's great-grandfather, was a brigadier-general in the war of 1812, and fought in the battle of Sacket's Harbor.

In Sharon, Wis., where he was born May 27,

1870, the subject of this sketch received his edu- cation, first attending public schools and later taking a special course under a professor, after which he matriculated at the Chicago Homeo- pathic College. He continued in that institution until he graduated with the class of 1894, and afterward spent eighteen months in hospital work, in order that he might obtain the practical experience so essential to the highest success. Coming west, he opened an office at Greeley, but a few months later located at Eaton, where he has since built up an excellent practice. At this writing he holds office as health physician of Eaton. His practice takes him on drives through the surrounding country, as well as in the village itself. He is a student of the profession, and keeps in touch with every advance made in the science, thereby heightening his skill as a phy- sician. Fraternally he is connected with Occi- dental Lodge No. 20, A. F. & A. M., of Greeley, Eaton Lodge No. 130, Woodmen of the World, and Elkhorn (Wis.) Lodge No. 89, K. of P. In politics he is a Republican.

ILLIAM NICHOLSON, president of the Long's Peak Coal Company and mayor of Erie, Weld County, was born in County Durham, England, July 21, 1850, a son of Henry and Jane (Atkinson) Nicholson. He was the youngest of thirteen children, five of whom are stilt living. Those besides himself are sisters: Mrs. Mary Robinson, a widow; Elizabeth, wife of John Warhurst; Esther, wife of John Lawson; and Jane, Mrs. Thomas Johnson, all living in England. The father, who spent his entire life in England, followed coal mining until his death.

When a small child our subject was deprived of a mother's care by death. He was thirty when his father died. From the time he was eighteen he was thrown upon his own resources. Going to work in the mines, he devoted himself to coal mining, and at twenty years of age had charge of some ninety men in the Dickinson mine, which important position he held about ten years. In 1881 he determined to come to America and landed in Philadelphia after a thirteen days' voyage on the steamer "British Crown," which anchored in harbor July 28 of that year. From Philadelphia he went direct to Steubenville, Ohio, where he worked in the mines for two years. In

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1883 he came to Colorado and took charge of the Garfield mine at Erie, which he managed some four years. He was then made manager of the Stewart mine here and for five years continued in this position.

Resigning that position in 1892, Mr. Nicholson formed a partnership with Joseph R. Powell and leased their present property, and sinking their mine, began business for themselves as the Long's Peak Coal Mining Company, with Mr. Nicholson as president and Mr. Powell as vice-president and . secretary. In 1893 they sold a half-interest in the mine to the United Coal Company, when that company was incorporated and Edward P. Phelps, of Denver, became treasurer of the consolidated company.

In Denver, in 1883, Mr. Nicholson was united in marriage with Miss Alice V. Pallatt, a native of Philadelphia. No children were born to their marriage.

In April of 1898 Mr. Nicholson was elected mayor of Erie. Four years prior to this he served as a member of the board of aldermen. He is in- terested in all matters pertaining to the welfare of his fellow-citizens and the development of local resources. Fraternally he is connected with Garfield Lodge No. 50, A. F. & A. M., Long's Peak Commandery No. 12, K. T., of Longmont, and Eureka Lodge No. I, A. O. U. W. His residence is one of the most handsome in this section. He is held in high esteem by all with whom he comes in contact.

ON. HENRY GEBHARD. In the list of industries contributing to the development of Colorado the Colorado Packing and Pro- vision Company should receive prominent men- tion. This company was organized in 1890 by . the fourth floor is the sausage factory. The meat is distributed in Denver and shipped to the mountain towns of Colorado; also to New Mex- ico, Arizona, Texas, Idaho, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Mr. Gebhard, who the following year built a large packing house, equipped with refrigerator and ice machine and furnished with steam power. From the first he has been the president of the company as well as its manager, and it is largely due to his enterprise and sagacious judgment that the house does the largest business of any of its kind in the state.

As the name indicates, the Gebhard family is of German origin. The subject of this sketch was born in Baden February 12, 1846, and that city was also the birthplace of his parents, Adam

and Susan (Geiger) Gebhard, and of his grand- fathers, Henry Gebhard and Conrad Geiger, both farmers by occupation. Of the family of five children he was next to the eldest; he has with him a younger brother, Paul, who. is interested in the packing company. When seventeen years of age Henry began to learn the builder's trade, which he followed for some years in his native land. In 1868 he took passage on a vessel at Hamburg and after landing in New York he pro- ceeded direct to Chicago, from there going to the Lake Superior region and working at his trade in Hancock, Mich. In 1869 he came to Colorado and located in Central City, where he secured employment at his trade.

In company with another gentleman, in 1872 Mr. Gebhard started in business for himself, and the firm of Huber & Gebhard became well known as wholesale and retail dealers in meat. Two years later he started a ranch in Elbert County and embarked in the cattle business, buying and selling, and shipping to Denver and other points. The ranch was sold in 1884 and the partnership · dissolved the next year. Coming to make his home in Denver in 1884, Mr. Gebhard has since resided in this city, where, in 1887, he laid the plans for his packing house. He was first a member of the Burkhardt Packing Company, which conducted business in an old packing house built by Mr. Huffers, but this building soon became too small for the increasing trade. In 1890 he organized the Colorado Packing and Provision Company, the largest packers of pork and beef in the state. The packing house con- tains every modern equipment. The meat is cut up on the second floor and dropped to the cellar, where it is cured and hams are smoked. On the third floor is the cooling or chilling room, and on

Mr. Gebhard is a member of the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association and has served on a number of its committees. In politics he is a Re- publican. For two terms (from 1878 to 1882) he was a member of the state legislature, and served with marked ability and satisfaction to his con- stituents. He also served on the board of county commissioners of Elbert County, and for one .

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term was its chairman. He is a director in the Denver National Bank. He has a comfortable home in Denver, presided over by his wife, who was Miss Emily Ehorst, a native of Hanover. They are the parents of six children, namely: Charles, who is foreman of the shipping depart- ment of the packing house; Harry, who is em- ployed on the delivery force; Mina; Paul and Otto, twins; and Margaret.

The business interests of Colorado are indebted to such men as Mr. Gebhard for developing the resources of the country and giving employment to many hands and thus sending happiness to many homes. He worked his way to success by the use of good business methods, and built up an enviable reputation among the business men of the state, who prize his friendship and ac- knowledge him as a leader among men.

EORGE RICHARD WILLIAMSON is one of the pioneers of Colorado, as he arrived here in December, 1858, and in the follow- ing spring assisted in laying out the town of Boulder, and built one of the first houses in the place, it being made of logs. For the past forty years he has been actively interested in farming and mining operations and has done all within his power to advance the material welfare of this lo- cality. He constructed the wagon road between Boulder and Rawlins, along Bear Canon; was one of the organizers of the Boulder National Bank, and since the expiration of its second year has been the president and chief stockholder. He was one of the early members of the Boulder Electric Light Company, and has been a director and treasurer of the same; and is financially in- terested in the Boulder Elevator and Milling Com- pany.

The birth of G. R. Williamson occurred near Mercer, Mercer County, Pa., July 14, 1824. His parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Fruit) William- son, were natives of the same county, Mercer. The father was a soldier of the war of 1812, enlist- ing when but eighteen years of age, and was in the lake region service. His three brothers were also participants in the war, and one of them, Samuel, rose to the rank of colonel. Thomas Williamson was occupied in farming in his native county until he was well along in years. His deatlı took place when he had reached his seventy-

first year. His wife, who was a daughter of Richard Fruit, died at the age of fifty years. Her mother was related to Governor Curtin of Penn- sylvania. The marriage of Thomas and Eliza- beth Williamson was blessed with eight children, four of whom survive. Samuel, a brother of our subject, died in Colorado.

An ancestor of our subject, Thomas Williamson, was created a baronet June 3, 1642, by Charles I. of England. The family coat-of-arms is a shield or a chevron gules, between three trefoils, stipped sable. The crest: issuing from a mural crown, gules a drui-wyvern, and the motto is "Et patri- bus et posteritate." ("Both for forefathers and for posterity.") The great-grandfather of our subject was a native of Scotland. He married Mollie Cochran, and emigrated to the United States, settling in eastern Pennsylvania. His forefather's history and lineage can be traced back as far as 1381. Grandfather George Williamson was born in Pennsylvania and with his six broth- ers fought in the war of the Revolution. Subse- quently he went to the neighborhood of Lexing- ton, Ky., where he located on a land claim, but the Indians were so troublesome that he returned to his native state, and in 1798 engaged in farm- ing in Mercer County, where he continued to dwell until his death, at the age of fourscore years.

Reared on a farm and educated in the district schools, such was the history of George R. Wil- lianrson prior to his eighteenth year, when he obtained a teacher's certificate and had charge of a school for a term or more. He went to Wiscon- sin and spent the winter of 1852-53, and in the following year crossed the state of Iowa with a team, and settling in Nebraska, engaged in farm- ing in Dakota County. He was the first sheriff of that county, in which region he remained until the Pike's Peak excitement led him to start for Colorado. He joined a wagon train fitted out in Sioux City, and journeyed up the Platte as far as Julesburg, thence to the present site of Cheyenne, and southward to Boulder, the trip taking about two months. Stopping in the hamlet of Big Thompson, they put up some shanties and in the January following went to Boulder. Mr. William- son engaged in gulch-mining at South Boulder, Spring Gulch, California Gulch, etc., for some time, having John Rothrick for his partner. In the fall of 1860 our subject returned to this town and has

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since been interested in several mines which he opened, known as the Yellow Pine Group. He personally superintends the mines, and made the locations under the new law of fif- teen hundred feet to the claim. He also is concerned in the extension of the Utica mine east (the Oklahoma), near Ward, and in other mining property of value. He has made a study of mineralogy and is thoroughly posted upon everything pertaining to ores and mining. His fine farm of three hundred acres is well im- proved, and lies about a mile and a-half east of Boulder. A well-built brick block, called in his honor, was erected by him in this place, as well as other structures. For years he made his home near Sugar Loaf, in this county, in order to be in the vicinity of his mines, but for about nine years he has been a resident of Boulder. Until recently, and from its organization, he was a member of the Association of Colorado Pioneers, and he still be- longs to the Boulder County Pioneer Society

May 13, 1875, Mr. Williamson married in Den- ver Mrs. Erie (Kuester) Graves, daughter of James M. Kuester, who was a noted editor and journalist. He was one of the first editors of the Pittsburg Dispatch; later published the Mercer Dis- patch; the Erie Observer; the Lawrence Journal, of Newcatle. He came to Denver in 1875, and died at the age of seventy-two years. His father, Mordecai, was a native of Germany, and after his settlement in the Keystone state, married a Quaker maiden, and lived in Philadelphia. The mother of Mrs. Williamson was Catherine, daugh- ter of Daniel Deutler and wife, who was a Miss Gottschalk, a descendant of a Revolutionary war hero. Mrs. Williamson was born near Erie, Pa .; was educated in the high school and seminary of Newcastle, and upon reaching maturity married Daniel Graves, a farmer, who died in 1876, in Pennsylvania. Some time afterward she came west, and lived in Denver until her marriage to Mr. Williamson. Her only sister, Mary E., is Mrs. M. Bliss, of Denver, and her only brother, Gilbert, died in Pittsburg. She is president of the Ladies' Union of the Boulder Congregational Church.

In early life Mr. Williamson was a Whig in politics, and cast his first vote for Henry Clay. After the dissolution of the Whig party, he be- came somewhat independent in politics, voting for what he considered to be the best interests of

the people and the country. In 1874 he was ap- pointed by Governor Grant one of the county commissioners of Boulder County and served about one year. He was one of the prime factors in the organization of the silver party in the state, and has ever since been a strong advocate of the same, believing that the principles and policy of that party would best insure the development of the state and country. He was one of the men who determined to make the ratio sixteen to one in the platform of the party.

For many years Mr. Williamson has been rec- ognized as one of the most intelligent and able men of Boulder County and this portion of Colo- rado. He is one of those who, in the pioneer era, laid the foundation, broad and deep, which has enabled the state to move forward in its splendid development. As one of the pioneers and as a citizen possessing sterling qualities of manhood, he will long be remembered. He is now the oldest bank president living in the county.

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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 52

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