Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 60

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 60

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In the grammar and high schools of Mount Vernon the subject of this sketch obtained the rudiments of his education. Afterward he at- tended the OhioWesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. While carrying on his college studies, in 1864 he volunteered in Company E, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Infantry, of which he served as corporal until the expiration of his period of service. On leaving the army he returned to the university, where he remained until his graduation in 1868, with the degree of A. B. After graduating he entered the mercantile bnsi- ness, being thus engaged in Delaware, Ohio and Morrow County, that state.

Coming to Colorado in 1879, Mr. Evans settled in Fort Collins. From 1880 to 1891 he was in the meat business with Messrs. Thoman and Vol- lintine, and also had charge of the boarding house and stores at the stone quarries in Arkins and

Stout for a number of years. Since 1891 he has engaged in the grocery business, conducting the well-known College avenue grocery. From the time of his settlement here he has been interested in the sheep business. For two years he engaged in sheep ranching near Bristol, twenty miles north of Fort Collins, and on selling out turned his attention to the grocery and produce business. In 1896-97 he fed five thousand head of lambs, being the heaviest feeder in the country at that time. He owns two hundred and forty acres six miles southeast of Fort Collins, all of which is under irrigation; also owns a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres northwest of the town. Since 1894 his grocery store has been carried on under the firm name of J. C. Evans & Son. They set out fifty acres in cherry trees, planting eleven thousand of the English murella variety, and irrigating the land. On the place they in- tend building a canning factory. Two men have the oversight of the trees, and it is the intention of the firm to set out ten acres additional in trees. It is probable that this is the largest cherry orchard in the United States.

In Ohio, August 15, 1871, Mr. Evans married Augusta Noe, who was born in Morrow County, daughter of R. L. Noe, a farmer and business man of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have a son and daughter. The former, Charles R., his father's partner, is a graduate of the state Agricultural College. The daughter, Grace G., is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University and the wife of E. L. Shannon, an attorney of Denver.

Politically Mr. Evans is a silver Republican. For two years he served as mayor of Fort Collins. In 1894, on the Republican ticket, he was elected state senator by a large majority. He served creditably in the tenth and eleventh general as- semblies, sessions of 1895 and 1897. Through his efforts, in 1895, was secured the passage of an appropriation bill of $15,000 for the new state road over Medicine Bow Range through Ute Pass to North Park, a road that has since been com- pleted. During the same year he worked for an appropriation of $10,000 for the state Agricult- ural College, which was secured, and appro- priated for the enlargement of Machinery hall, completed in 1897. He also worked for the appropriation of $5,000 to build the chemical laboratory, which amount was secured and used for

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the purpose intended. He introduced a bill scaling down the salaries of county offices, in order to re- duce them to a level with other labor; this bill passed the senate but was defeated in the house. He was re-elected to the state senate Novem- ber 8, 1898.

In Collins Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., Mr. Evans was made a Mason. In 1898 he attended the convention of the national organization of cattlemen, where he read a paper concerning "Lambs on Alfalfa Feed." He is clear in his thoughts and earnest in their expression, and is considered one of the best speakers in his county.

A SA STERLING. Of the stockmen residing in Greeley few are better known than the subject of this article, who has gained note- worthy success through his good management in business affairs. In addition to his large stock interests, he is president of the First National Bank of Greeley, which was established in 1884 and is regarded as one of the substantial and safe monetary institutions of northern Colorado. Its officers are: Mr. Sterling, president; William Mayher, vice-president; A. J. Park, cashier; and U. M. Henderson, assistant cashier. The bank has a paid-up capital of $100,000, with a surplus of $15,000, loans to the amount of $250,000, and about an equal amount in deposits.

On a farm in Livingston County, Mo., Mr. Sterling was born April 20, 1842, being a son of Travis and Chloe Sterling. His father was a native of Maryland, his mother of Kentucky. In 1859 he left home and went to St. Joseph, Mo., where he spent the winter with an uncle. In the spring of 1860 he came across the plains with a herd of cattle and arrived in Denver during July of that year, when the gold excitement was at its height. For four years he herded cattle on a ranch near Denver. In 1864 he went with a drove of cattle to Montana, where he remained until 1867. In April of that year he went to Salt Lake, Utah, and remained there until the fall of 1869, engaged in buying and selling cattle for John W. Kerr & Co. In the fall of 1869 he went to Cheyenne, bought some cattle, drove them to Salt Lake, and sold them to Kerr & Co., thus doubling his capital, and again was employed by Kerr & Co., and remained with them until the spring of 1870. He then purchased cattle near

old Bent's Fort in Colorado and sold them in Utah. He continued buying and selling cattle. and horses and thus laid the foundation of his fortune. His business took him all over the west and into Texas and Mexico, and he spent considerable time in Old Mexico. In 1871 he drove Texas cattle into Weld County, but the winter being uuusually severe, half of his herd was lost.

The range on which Mr. Sterling pastures his cattle extends about twenty miles along the Platte River. He is the owner of several ranches, which are leased to tenants, and also has a hay ranch of four hundred and eighty acres in Tenn- essee Park, near Leadville. He has always been identified with the cattle and horse interests of this western country and is at the present time a large owner of cattle and horses. For about eight months during the year his stock pastures on the range, when the most of them are gathered and feed hay. Mr. Sterling is a Democrat in politics. In 1875 he was united in marriage with Miss Anna Loustelet, of Denver, and they have a comfortable home in Greeley.

HARLES E. PENNOCK, president and manager of the Pennock Nursery and Seed Company, of Fort Collins, is a member of a pioneer family of Massachusetts, some of whose representatives drifted to Vermont. His grand- father, who was the son of a Revolutionary sol- dier, himself rendered active service in the second war with England. The father, Oliver P. Pennock, was born in Vermont, whence he removed to Livingston County, N. Y., and en- gaged in farming. In 1861, when fifty years of age, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourth New York Infantry, in which he remained until his death, two years later. His wife, Caroline, who was born in Haverhill, N. H., died in New York in 1854. She was a daughter of Benjamin Rowell, a farmer and a soldier in the war of 1812, who in early days removed from New Hampshire to Livingston County, N. Y.

Of the nine children of Oliver P. and Caroline Pennock, five are now living. John R. lives in Livingston County, N. Y .; Mary B., Mrs. Hor- atio M. Foster, came to Colorado in 1860 and resides at Parker; Ellen M., Mrs. Edward Q. Peck, lives in_Colorado Springs; Elizabeth J.,

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Mrs. J. M. Tallman, lives in Elizabeth, this state. Of those deceased, William M. was a member of the Wadsworth Guard (One Hundred and Fourth New York Infantry ), and was killed in the battle of Gettysburg; George F. died in Fort Collins in 1888; Alice died at seven years; and one died unnamed in infancy.

The subject of this sketch was born on a farm in Livingston County, N. Y., May 5, 1850. When he was a boy his father and brothers (ex- cept John) enlisted in the Federal army, and he followed their example by enlisting in the Four- teenth New York Heavy Artillery as a drummer boy, but he was not accepted. Six months later, at the time of muster, he was rejected as too young. In 1864 he again enlisted, this time in the Fifty-eighth New York National Guard, and was mustered in for one hundred days. He served for four months, guarding rebel prisons, and was mustered out at Elmira, N. Y. Early in 1865 he enlisted in the Forty-fourth New York Infantry, and was mustered in and stationed in New York on Hart's Island. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged. In April of the next year he came to Colorado, starting from Omaha with a mule team and joining a train on the Platte. The Indians drove the mules off, and he then hired to an ox-team train, which reached Denver in June. For ten years he en- gaged in freighting, his route extending west to Salt Lake City and Nevada and north to Chey- enne. His brother, Frank, preceded him two years to Colorado, having come in 1864. He was noted as an Indian fighter, and was a man of great bravery. In 1876 our subject began pros- pecting in the mountains, going into North Park when there was not a person within its bounds. Next he engaged in making ties, which he floated down the Cache la Poudre, at the time the railroad was building from Fort Col- lins to Stout. Later he was superintendent in charge of the building of the High Line ditch around Bingham Hill, having the oversight of the construction of two tunnels, two hundred feet and one hundred and fifty feet long, respectively. His next work was the building of the railroad for the Union Pacific through the Poudre canon, which work took fourteen months, his special charge being the construction of the Big Narrows road, twenty miles above.

In 1881 Mr. Pennock retired from railroading

and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres in Pleasant Valley. Nothing was to be seen on the land but prairie dogs. The surroundings were desolate and the prospects unattractive. How- ever, with a firm faith in the future, he began to cultivate the land. He put in lateral ditches, drowned out the prairie dogs, began planting apple, pear and peach trees, and made a specialty of the nursery business. He now has thirteen acres in orchards of pears, apples, peaches and cherries, and all kinds of small fruits. In 1897 he started a nursery at Fort Collins, incorpor- ating the Pennock Nursery and Seed Company, which owns seventeen acres adjoining Fort Col- lins on the west and has leased six acres in the eastern part of the city. Here are propagated thousands of trees of all kinds, which are sold not only in this state and in all the states of the union, but in Germany and England also. A number of new fruits have been originated and propagated, one of which is the Rocky Mountain cherry, now sold all over the country. The office of the company is in Fort Collins, Mr. Pentock's home farm in Pleasant Valley, one mile south of Bellvue, being used for an experi- mental station in originating and testing fruits. Not only is his the finest variety of fruits in the state, but it is also probably the largest. The homestead is known as "Apple Grove Fruit Farm."

In Pleasant Valley Mr. Pennock married Miss Lydia C. Flowers, who was born near Bull Run, Va. Her father, Jacob Flowers, was born in Pennsylvania and was captain on the river in early life. About 1868 he removed to Kansas City, and in the spring of 1873 came from there to Colorado, settling in Pleasant Valley, where he has since resided, engaging in farming and the lumber business. His wife, Elizabeth Meeks, was born in West Virginia and died in Colorado. They had six children, namely: T. Wesley, ot Bellevue, Idaho; S. W., who is in the stock busi- ness in British Columbia; Lydia C., Mrs. C. E. Pennock; Sarah, Mrs. J. T. Beach, of Fort Col- lins; Benjamin Franklin; and Cora, wife of William Tilton, a merchant of Bellevue. Mr. and Mrs. Pennock have four children living: Arthur, Mary Alice, Charles Eldridge and George Maurice.

Besides his other property Mr. Pennock owns a ranch in the mountains six miles west of his

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homestead. This property, of one hundred and sixty acres, he has fenced and improved, making of it both a fruit and stock farm. He was one of the founders of the Larimer County Horticultural Society, of which he is president. Frequently he has written articles upon horticultural topics for the Field and Farm, by which others receive the benefit of his successful experience. Politi- cally he votes the Democratic ticket, and in religion he is of the Universalist faith. He is connected with George H. Thomas Post No. 7, G. A. R. Fraternally he holds membership with Larimer County Lodge, K. of P., in Fort Col- lins. On the formation of District No. 50 he became a school director, and for many years was secretary of the board, but resigned some years ago. In many respects his success is remarkable, for he began without capital and under disad- vantageous circumstances; but in spite of hard- ships and obstacles he has won success, and is among the most prominent and influential men of his county in his line of business.

C LBERT C. OVIATT, late postmaster of Longmont, was a man universally respected and honored by his associates and acquaint- ances. Asa business man and public official he was equally well liked and was entirely deserving of the high praise that was accorded him at all times. Generous to a fault, kindly and genial in disposition, he won warm friends wherever he went and his loss has been deeply felt in many circles here and elsewhere, wherever hewas known. No one ever applied to him in vain for help and sym- pathy, for he was always ready to carry out the teachings of the Golden Rule.

A son of Cyrus and Marian Oviatt, residents of Ohio, Mr. Oviatt was born in Richfield, a thriving village of the Buckeye state in August, 1853. He was reared to manhood and acquired his education in Ohio. His health not of the best, he decided to travel in the west to some ex- tent before settling down to business, and about one year was passed by him in California. Re- turning then as far as Colorado he led an out- door life for a few years, carrying on a farm at Highland Lake, Weld County, with success. Soon after Longmont was founded he located here and opened a meat market. In this new line of enterprise he also met with gratifying results, and of the aid society connected therewith.

financially, at the same time gaining the good will and respect of all our business men and citizens.

`Albert C. Oviatt was active in the ranks of the Democratic party. He served as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Jester, and also as constable. In 1894 he was appointed postmaster of Longmont by President Cleveland. He continued to fill the office to the entire satisfaction of everyone from that time until his death, which sad event occurred July 9, 1896. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

The first wife of Albert C. Oviatt was Miss Allie Comstock in her girlhood. She departed this life in Colorado, leaving two children, now grown to be young ladies. The elder, Nellie Marian, is a graduate of the Presbyterian College, of Longmont, and is now an assistant in the post- office. Lida Miller, who graduated from the Longmont high school, is a successful teacher, now located in the town of Hygiene, Boulder County. In 1891 Mr. Oviatt married Miss Lillian Terry, daughter of Edwin and Jane (Lewis) Terry. Her father was born in Connecticut and died in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he had been engaged in building and contracting for several years. He was seventy-one years old at the time of his demise. The mother was born in Ireland, but came to the United States in infancy. She lived in New York City and there met and married Mr. Terry. She also died in Kalamazoo, Mich. Mrs. Lillian Oviatt is a native of Kalamazoo, and in 1890 came to Colorado. Her marriage with Mr. Oviatt was solemnized in Longmont, and here their happy life together was passed. Three beautiful little daughters came to brighten their home, namely: Helen Marie; Hazel Marguerite and Inez Alberta.

In the fall of 1896 Mrs. Oviatt was appointed postmistress of Longmont, to succeed her hus- band. So well was she esteemed by our citizens and so strongly recommended for continuance in the office that President Mckinley, of the oppo- site party, retained her and gave her a re-appoint- ment. Very few women in Colorado were better fitted for such a responsible position or have given greater satisfaction. She in turn was suc- ceeded by O. W. Richardson. Mrs. Oviatt is a member of the Ladies of the Tent of the Macca- bees, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church

FRANK G. PECK.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

5 RANK G. PECK, secretary and treasurer of the Portland Mining Company, has resided in Colorado Springs since 1872. He was born near El Paso, in Woodford County, Ill., June 7, 1862, and is a son of Arthur Peck, repre- sented elsewhere in this volume. When three years of age he was taken to Clinton, De Witt County, the same state, where he remained about six years. June 3, 1872, he came with the fam- ily to Colorado Springs, where he attended the high school until graduation and afterward spent one year in Colorado College. Going to San Juan in 1878 he engaged in prospecting. In the spring of 1879 he went to Leadville, and there became interested in mining property, but sold it before its true value was known. For three years he operated mining property in Gunnison, which he patented and still owns, expecting to develop it at some future time. His next point of work was at Robinson camp, eighteen miles north of Leadville, in Summit County, on the same level as Leadville, and there he has been interested since 1885. He owns the Ingleside group, and is president of a company owning considerable property surrounding the Robinson group, also an interest in that group.

In April, 1892, Mr. Peck went to the Cripple Creek camp, where he found the ground all stakes and claims being developed. He engaged in the brokerage business and invested his profits in desirable claims in Cripple Creek. His first in- vestment was in what became the Bobtail mine No. 2, now a part of the Portland Mining Com- pany's property. About the same time he ac- quired an interest in the Black Diamond. Bob- tail No. 2 was sold on bond lease to the Portland, but after one payment of the syndicate, the other payments were forfeited, owing to the amount of litigation in which they were involved, and it was arranged that the balance of the bond be taken in stock, on condition that the syndicate give one-fifteenth to the parties having paid in. This left Mr. Peck a stockholder in the company. In May, 1894, he became a director and assistant secretary of the company, and in February, 1897, was elected secretary, which office he has since filled. In February, 1898, he was also made treasurer, which position he fills in addition to that of secretary. In 1892 he purchased rather heavily of stock in the Anchoria-Leland Mining and Milling Company, on Gold Hill, in which he has since been interested. Some years ago he bought an interest in the Midget and surround-

ing properties. This mine is now bearing out the faith he had in it and is proving valuable prop- erty. He is vice-president, general manager and secretary of the Midget Gold Mining and Milling Company, and is interested in many other claims.

Mr. Peck is recognized as one of the most suc- cessful promoters in Colorado. His friends and others who have become associated with him in business ventures have great confidence in his ability, sagacity and foresight, and experience has shown that such confidence is invariably well placed. He now has in view several ventures which give promise of being very remunerative to those who become interested therein; and they are, in large degree, measures which will develop into public benefits. He is a charter member of the Colorado Springs Mining Stock Association and chairman of the mining committee in the Chamber of Commerce. He is identified with the Pike's Peak Club and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In Colorado Springs he married Miss M. Annie Burns, by whom he has a son, James Arthur Peck.

M ARTIN DRAKE, deceased, formerly a large real-estate owner in Colorado City, was born in Antwerp, N. Y., March 2, 1818, and descended direct from the illustrious Sir Francis Drake. His father and grandfather, both of whom bore the name of Josiah, were natives of Rutland, Vt., and farmers by occupa- tion. The former, who served in the war of 1812; removed after its close to Antwerp, N. Y., where he engaged in farming. When more than eighty years of age he died in Vermont, where he was visiting at the time. In religion he was a member of the Baptist Church. His wife, who was Julia Ann Wallace, was born in Vermont, and was united in marriage with him August 20, 1814. She died in 1868, at the age of eighty years. Of their children only one survives, a daughter, who lives near Battle Creek, Mich.

In 1856 Martin Drake removed to Illinois and settled near Pekin, where he operated a farm. About 1870 lie went to Kansas, where he con- tinued the cultivation of land. While living in New York he had married Marietta Young, who died in Illinois, leaving two children, Mrs. Jane Shotwell, of Douglas County, Kan., and Mrs. Mary Gibbs, of Colorado City. In Lawrence, - Kan., in 1872, he was a second time married, his wife being Mrs. Jennie (Nugent) Allen, who was born in Albany, N. Y., a daughter of

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Dr. George and Mary (Geoghan) Allen. Her instituted a fire insurance department, represent- father, who was a native of England and a ing some of the best companies in the United surgeon in the British army, was on duty in the East Indies and China, and died of yellow fever in Havana, Cuba; his wife died in England when a young woman. They had two children, Mrs. Drake and Mrs. Mary Travers, of New York City.

Orphaned when a mere child, Mrs. Drake was taken into the home of her uncle, Dr. William Geoghan, of Albany, and accompanied him to Topeka, Kan., in 1856. At that time Topeka was a new town, with only a few houses, and those were built of sod or logs. There she became the wife of Luther Allen in 1858. Mr. Allen was born in New York, a son of A. K. Allen, who removed from Rushford, N. Y., to Kansas, in 1856, joining two of his sons, who had come west in 1854. They settled in Lawrence. During the Civil war all served in the Union army and two were captains. They carried on a hardware business in Lawrence, and one of the brothers was elected a member of the first state legislature. Luther Allen was commissary ser- geant of the Ninth Kansas Infantry and served until his health failed. He died in 1867, when only twenty-eight years of age. He and his wife had two children: Jennie R., wife of C. W. Kins- man, of Colorado City; and Mrs. Mary I. Jolinson, also of this city.

After his second marriage Mr. Drake continued for a few years in Kansas, where he owned farms and engaged in the real-estate business. In 1875 he went to California, but soon returned to Kansas. In 1878 he came to Colorado City, where he laid out Drake's first addition, com- prising three acres, and this property he built up and sold. Politically he was a Republican. Active in educational work, he served for several terms as a member of the school board. He was practically the organizer of the First Baptist Church of Colorado City, and retained his mem- bership there until his death. His wife still attends that church. At seventy-eight years of age his life was brought to a close, April 2, 1896. Besides his wife he left two children: Martin and Julia, Mrs. William A. Fisher.

Martin Drake, Jr., was born in Lawrence, Kan., in June, 1874. He was brought to Col- orado City by his parents in 1878. In 1893 he graduated from the high school, after which he took a course in the commercial college in Colorado Springs. He then embarked in the real-estate and loan business and has also

States. In the fall of 1896 he was elected, on the Republican ticket, justice of the peace for the first district of El Paso County, and assumed the duties of the office January 1, 1897. In addition he is a notary public. In 1898 he laid out Drake's second addition to Colorado City, com- posed of two and one-half acres, which he is developing and building up. His marriage united him with Miss Elba Nell, daughter of J. C. Wood- bury, of Colorado Springs. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, Uniform Rank, of Colorado City, and El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M., of Colorado City.

R URNAL R. BABBITT, attorney, of Colo- rado Springs. The Babbitt family was founded in Massachusetts in an early day by representatives of the name who came from England. Succeeding generations bore an honor- able part in the material and commercial develop- ment of the commonwealth. Osmond Babbitt, who was born in the old Bay state, removed to New York and later became a pioneer farmer of Michigan, remaining at Salem until his death. During his residence near Rochester Falls, N. Y., his son, Rufus, was born. The latter engaged in agricultural pursuits near Salen1, and also took an active part in local matters. In religion he was connected with the Congregational Church. He died in Salem when he was fifty years of age.

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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 60

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