Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 68

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 68

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OHN DE WITT BROWN, sheriff of Bent County, and one of the prominent and influ- ential Republicans of this county, was born near Toledo, Ohio, February 14, 1858, a son of Charles and Mary (Sutphen) Brown. When he was six years of age his parents removed to Omaha, and there his mother died in 1865. For several years afterward he alternated his time be- tween Omaha and Iowa, but in 1873 went to Furnas. County, Neb., and for three years lived in that then frontier locality. In 1876 he went to Wyoming and began to freight between Chey- enne and the Black Hills, which business he fol- lowed for three years.

In 1879 Mr. Brown had charge of a freighting outfit from Cheyenne to southern Colorado, aud in this way he first came to Colorado. He visited the various mining camps of the mountain re- gions, and engaged in freighting between them for some years. In 1881 he embarked in the coal

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business in Silver Cliff, being one-third owner of City. During the Civil war he made several at- an important enterprise there, and at the same time carrying on a stage line business. In 1884 he sold out, and buying a herd of mules drove them to Wyoming, but instead of selling them, as he had originally intended, he commenced to take contracts for canal and railroad grading, which business he followed until 1889. It was in the interest of the canal business that he first came to Bent County in 1888. Becoming in- terested in property here, he has since made this county his home, and is now the owner of two ranches comprising one hundred and sixty acres each.

The marriage of Mr. Brown took place at Cheyenne, Wyo., July, 7, 1885, and united him with Miss Maggie Richards, of Silver Cliff, Colo., a native of Boone, Iowa, and a daughter of Ed- ward and Eliza (Sangston ) Richards. They are the parents of three children: Nondas, who was born in Boone, Iowa, September 1, 1887; DeWitt, who was born on a ranch in Bent County June 4, 1889; and Florence, who was born in Las Ani- mas, November 2, 1897.

The first presidential ballot cast by Mr. Brown was in favor of General Garfield in 1880. From that time to this he lias always voted the Repub- lican ticket. His interest in public affairs and his fitness for public office led to his election as sheriff of Bent County in 1891. The duties of the position he discharged with such marked effi- ciency and fidelity that he was re-elected in 1895 and again in 1897. Fraternally he is a member of Elder Lodge No, 11, I. O. O. F., of Las Ani- mas.

OHN A. MURPHY. The newspaper is justly regarded as the herald of the progress of a community. The history of the Las Animas Leader proves that it has been no excep- tion to this rule. Through its advocacy of plans for the public welfare and its support of progres- sive projects, the paper has exerted an influence for good upon the town of Las Animas and the county of Bent. The high position it now holds in the estimation of the reading public shows that its editor is a man of strong mind and great energy; and such, indeed, is true, for Mr. Mur- phy, since purchasing the paper in 1884, has steadily raised its standard until it is now a lead- ing county weekly.

Mr. Murphy was born at Belleville, N. J., April 11, 1849, and was educated in New York

tempts to enter the army, but was rejected on account of youth. In 1867 he succeeded in en- listing and was sent west, joining Company G, Thirty-seventh United States Infantry, at old Fort Lyon, Colo. His company engaged in guarding mail coaches from Indian depredations, between Fort Lyon and Fort Dodge, Kan. In September, 1867, he went with his company to Fort Garland, Colo., at that time commanded by Kit Carson, colonel of the Second New Mexico Volunteers. He was promoted to be a sergeant and was appointed sergeant-major of the post. In 1869 the Thirty-seventh Infantry was con- solidated with the Fifth Infantry, commanded by General Miles, and Company G was transferred to Fort Reynolds, near Pueblo, where Mr. Mur- phy was discharged, in1 1870, on the completion of the term of his enlistment.

The question of the future became a very se- rious one with Mr. Murphy. Inclination pointed him toward his eastern home, but ambition made him aspire to see more of the west. He spent a short time in Pueblo and then joined a cattle out- fit bound for Texas, to bring up cattle. The trip was made south through New Mexico, down the Pecos, and across the staked plains, the en- tire distance of nine hundred miles, to San Antonio, Tex., being through the Indian coun- try, where heavy guards were needed, night and day, to guard against being taken by surprise. In the summer of 1871 he started back, with a drove of cattle, over the same trail, and arrived on the Arkansas in October. For two years he continued in the same business. There are many incidents in his rough life as soldier and as cowboy at that early day, when the Indian and buffalo held sway over almost the entire country, that would make interesting reading, but this brief sketch will not permit of detailed mention.

For several years Mr. Murphy was employed as bookkeeper in the Trader's store at Fort Lyon, but a change in the administration caused him to resign. . He then obtained the position of teacher in the Las Animas school (old town) and re- mained in that capacity for three years. In 1880 he came to West Las Animas (now Las Animas) as bookkeeper for Jones & Weil. Four years later he purchased the Las Animas Leader, the first paper started in the Arkansas Valley out- side of Pueblo. Of this he has since been pro- prietor and editor. His entrance into newspaper life necessarily caused him to take an active ill-

MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM CLIFFORD.

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terest in politics, although he had previously been more or less engaged that way. In 1879 he was the unsuccessful candidate for county clerk. In 1881 he was elected superintendent of schools, which position he continued to fill for six terms, and during that time was instrumental in placing the crude educational facilities of the county on an advanced and firm footing. He was elected mayor of Las Animas three times, in 1891, 1892 and 1893. He helped to organize the Republican party of Bent County and was the secretary of its central committee for many years. In 1875 he was made a Mason in King Solomon Lodge No. 30, A. F. & A. M., and during the interven- ing years has served in every office, passing from the lowest to the highest, being worshipful mas- ter in 1896.

In 1877 Mr. Murphy married Miss Frances Stauffer, of Lawrence, Kan., a descendant of tlie Stanffer family who were among the earliest settlers of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are the parents of three children. Will R., who is a promising young man of nineteen years, graduated from the Las Animas high school, and studied at Boulder University during the fresh- man year, later entering the Lawrence (Kan) University, where he is taking a course in civil engineering. Jolın A., Jr., is a student in the Las Animas schools. The youngest, Ida M., is a bright child of five years.

ILLIAM CLIFFORD, who is one of the most successful stockmen of Lincoln County and the owner of several ranches here, conducts the stock-raising business upon a large scale, having at the present time more than five thousand sheep, three hundred and fifty head of cattle and twenty head of horses. The property upon which he resides and which has been his home since 1884, is situated near Mirage, on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. In addition to the stock business he has been interested in general farmi- ing, and raises alfalfa, which he uses for feed.

Mr. Clifford was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, a son of John A. and Cisley (McCaffey) Clifford, natives of the same county as himself. His father, who was a farmer, spent his entire life in Ireland and died in 1863, when seventy years of age. In his family there were six sons and three daughters. Bernard was a builder and stonemason; Thomas followed the stonemason's trade; John enlisted in the British army and died while serving in the East Indies; Peter engaged

in farming in Ireland; Edward makes his home with our subject; Mary is married and lives in Chicago; Bridget lives in the old country; and Ellen is a widow living in Denver.

At the age of twenty-four our subject came to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, N. Y., but from there went to Connecticut and worked on a farm for three years. April 14, 1869, he ar- rived in Denver on a stage coach. For a short time afterward he worked in gold mines, then en- tered the employ of the Kansas branch of the Union Pacific Railroad Company and was a foreman on the road until 1884, meantime helping to build the road from Sheridan, Kan., to Denver, Colo. In 1884 he settled on his ranch near Mirage. Politi- cally a Republican, he received from Governor McIntire in 1896 appointment as county commis- sioner of Lincoln County, in which position he served for one term. In religion he is connected with the Roman Catholic Church.

Mr. Clifford was married, in 1867, to Miss Lizzie O'Brien, a native of County Wicklow, Ire- land, but a resident of this country from early girlhood. Three sons and four daughters were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford, namely: John, who died in boyhood; William, who is engaged in farming and stock-raising at Limon, Lincoln County, Colo .; James Edward and Hattie, at home; Ellen, wife of Frank Far- mer, of Deertrail, Colo .; Mary and Margaret, at home.

OHN C. ST. JOHN. One of the well-known firms of Colorado Springs is that of St. John Brothers, at No. 110 North Tejon street. In 1887 Mr. St. John, with his brothers, William and Elmer, became interested in the firm of Bumstead & Co., and in 1896, having bought out Mr. Bumstead, the firm title became St. John Brothers. In their specialties of steam fitting, plumbing, gas fitting and sewerage, they are un- excelled, and have built up a splendid reputation. Among their contracts were those for all the schoolhouses in the city, all but one of the college buildings, St. Francis Hospital, Colorado School for the Education of the Deaf and Blind, Printers' Home, First National Bank Block, Hagerman, Giddings, Stratton, Rouse and Degraff blocks, El Paso Club building, Alamo Hotel, Alta Vista Hotel, Elk. Hotel, Gazette and Durkee buildings, . and the residences of Messrs. Stratton, Hagerman, Arnold, Lowe, Morley, Burns, Giddings, Ehrick, Irving, Howbert, Robinson and Seldomridge, all

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in Colorado Springs; also the insane asylum at Las Vegas, N. M., court house at La Junta, Colo., Normal school and Masonic Temple at Las Vegas, First National Bank at Durango, Colo., Normal school at Galveston, Tex., and First National Bank in Montrose, Colo. Many of the fine residences in Manitou have also been fitted by them with appliances for water, light and heat.

A resident of Colorado Springs since June, 1879, and now alderman from the third ward of the city, Mr. St. John was born at Liberty Mills, Wabash County, Ind., October 2, 1860. His father, A. F., was born in Saratoga Springs, N. Y., and was a son of a physician, who practiced his profession at Marion, Grant County, Ind. The latter's father, who was a soldier in the Revolution, was a descendant of one of three brothers, who came to this country and estab- lished homes in different localities. Our subject was a second consin of ex-Governor John P. St. John.

A. F. St. John, who was a wagon and car- riage-maker at Liberty Mills, moved from there to Monon, Ind., and in 1869 removed by wagon to Carthage, Mo., where he engaged in farming. In 1879, with his wife and three sons, he crossed the plains in a wagon, and after a journey of five weeks, reached Colorado Springs June 10, 1879. While he worked at his trade, his sons, William and J. C., engaged in freighting. Later he car- ried on a shop, continuing in the business until his death, February 5, 1893, at seventy-seven years of age. Fraternally he was a master Mason and in religion belonged to the Presbyterian Church. His wife was Margaret Burke, a native of New Jersey, whose parents were of Scotch descent, but were born in the north of Ireland, and died in New Jersey. She is living and is now seventy-eight years of age. Of her fourteen children nine attained maturity and six are liv- ing. Caroline died in Indiana; Albert, who en- listed in Company B, Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry, fell at Champion Hill; Mrs. Annie Hedrick resides in Denver; Irene, Mrs. D. Toli- ver, lives in Colorado Springs; Lizzie, Mrs. Beshore, is in Indiana; Alice died in Missouri; William, J. C. and. Elmer constitute the firm of St. John Brothers.

When our subject was nine years of age he accompanied his parents from Indiana to Mis- souri. In 1879 lie came to Colorado, where he and his brother, William, had four wagons and

carried on a freighting business for three years between Colorado Springs and Leadville, and then from the terminus of the South Park Rail- road to Leadville, until the road was completed. For two years they engaged in mining in Gun- nison County. In 1884 his brother started in the plumbing business, while he became night baggageman on the Rio Grande at Colorado Springs. In 1886 he joined the State Militia and was a member of the same for seven years. He participated in the Ute war during 1876, and sub- sequently was promoted to be quartermaster sergeant; however, he began to learn the steam fitter's trade with Bumstead & Corum, and the following year he and his brothers bought Mr. Corum's interest, then nine years later bought out Mr. Bumstead. He is in charge of the bus- iness as manager and has personal supervision of all contracts accepted.

September 24, 1884, in Colorado Springs, Mr. St. John married Miss Josie Greenland, who was born near Christiana, Norway, a daughter of Herman and Martha (Jensen) Greenland, natives of Norway. Her father, who was the son of a farmer, engaged in the lumber business in his native land, but in 1867 came to America and the next year settled in Burlington, Iowa, where the family joined him in 1869. He has continued to make his home in that city to the present time. He and his wife are Lutherans in religion. They became the parents of five children, namely: Josie, who was reared in Burlington and came to Colorado in 1882; Oliff, still a resident of Bur- lington; Charles, of Galesburg, Il1 .; Sophia, of Iowa; and Christian, who died in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. St. John have three daughters, Mabel, Irene and Inez. Mrs. St. John is a member o the Monday Club, of the University Extension course. Sheisidentified with the Baptist Church, while he belongs to the Presbyterian denomina- tion . Both are members of the Daughters of Rebekah.

On the Republican ticket, in the spring of 1896, Mr. St. John was elected alderman from the third ward. In 1898 he was re-elected on the same ticket. He has served as chairman of the water committee, the duties of which are exceedingly important; and as a member of the sewer, ordin- ance and resolutions committees. He is actively identified with the Republican Club and is a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally he is connected with the Ancient Order of the United Workmen, Woodmen of the World, the

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Odd Fellows lodge, and encampment and canton of Odd Fellows, and has filled all the chairs in Lodge No. 38 and was elected representative to the grand lodge of the state of Colorado.

SORTLANDT E. PALMER, who is among the most successful mining engineers of Colorado, rightly deseryes considerable dis- tinction for the discovery of the rich ore that brought the Mollie Gibson and Argentum-Juniata mines into prominence. After having been for a time manager of the Argentum-Juniata, which he developed from the start, in June, 1890, he was made manager of the Mollie Gibson, and in December of the same year made the important discovery regarding ore that so greatly enhanced the value of the property. Since that time he has continued as manager of the two properties. In- terested in other mining property, he is president and manager of the Bull Hill Gold Mining Com- pany, and has been manager of the Rebecca, Union, Moose and Lillie Gold Mining Companies, but resigned their management owing to pressure of other business.

The Palmers originated in England and were early settlers of New England, but later genera- tions removed further south. David, grandfather of our subject, was born in Maryland and en- gaged in business as a shipping and forwarding merchant in Baltimore. He married a Miss Croxall, who was of English descent. Their son, Dr. J. W. Palmer, was born in Baltimore, and graduated from the University of Maryland, after which he practiced in Baltimore. In1 1850 he went via Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he was the first city physician by appointment. Thence he crossed the ocean to China, Siam, Hindostan and other Asiatic countries. During the Indian mutiny of 1851-52 he was surgeon on the British gunboat "Phlegethon." After two years abroad he returned to Baltimore, where he married Henrietta Lee, a native of that city. He soon abandoned the practice of medicine for tlie field of journalism. He was connected with the New York Tribune during the days of Horace Greeley, and later wrote for magazines and pub- lished several works of travel and translations of French works. As a writer he is still fluent and versatile as in his younger years. The power to interest and entertain, that " glorious gift of the gods," has been his in a very large measure, and while he would undoubtedly have achieved notice- able success in other lines of labor, his special

talent has evidently been along journalistic lines. His wife, who was a daughter of Elisha Lee, a native of Lyme, Conn., and a manufacturer of Baltimore, was a member of a New England family. She was a lady of splendid education and attainments, and wrote a number of essays and articles that evince the possession of literary ability. Her "Stratford Gallery," a series of critical essays on Shakespeare's heroes and hero- ines, attracted wide attention, as did also a later work, " Home Life in the Bible."

Of three children, the subject of this sketch alone attained mature years. He was born in New York City, December 28, 1857, and passed his boyhood years there and in Baltimore, where he attended private schools. In September, 1874, he entered Columbia School of Mines in New York, from which he graduated in June, 1878, with the degree of mining engineer. Afterward he was employed on geological surveys in Ten- nessee and in technical work for the Pennsyl- vania Company in Pittsburg. In 1884 he came to Colorado, where he engaged in mining in Leadville; and later in mining and smelting in Aspen. In 1886 he went to Rico, in the San Juan country, where he was manager of the Grand View Mining and Smelting Company for two and one-half years. On his return to Aspen he became manager for the Argentum-Juniata and Mollie Gibson Companies, of which he is still a director. He has made his home in Colo- rado Springs since 1893. -

In London, England, Mr. Palmer married Katherine Van Arnhem, daughter of Judge W. C. James, an attorney of Council Bluffs, Iowa, where she was born. Mr. Palmer is a member of the El Paso, Country and Denver Clubs, the University Clubs of Denver and New York, the Alumni Association of Columbia School of Mines, the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

LEMING NEFF came to Colorado in June, 1863, and in the spring of 1869 established a ranch seven miles north of Colorado Springs, where he homesteaded and entered land and 110W owns more than twenty-seven hundred acres in one body. The entire tract is fenced and irriga- ted from private reservoirs, besides which there are numerous springs on the place. While he raises corn and alfalfa, he uses his grain only for feed, his specialty being the stock business, in which he has met with unusual success. During

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the early days he ranged his cattle, but now has them in his pastures. His Shorthorns and Polled Angus cattle are of the highest grades and have the brand "N E F." In 1876 he brought his family to Colorado Springs, in order that his children might have needed educational advan- tages, and here he has since made his home.

Mr. Neff was born in Virginia April 11, 1818. His grandfather, Jacob Neff, a native of Pennsyl- vania, removed to Virginia, where he engaged in farming and died at eighty years of age. He married a Miss Jones, who, when a girl of eighteen, was taken prisoner by the Indians, but made her escape in about a week and returned home, cross- ing mountains and picking her way, in her bare feet, through dense, thorn-laden woods. The Neffs are of German descent. Isaac, our sub- ject's father, was born in Virginia, where he car- ried on a farm and also hunted deer and bear. In the fall of 1818 he settled ten miles west of Columbus, in Franklin County, Ohio, where he was a pioneer farmer. During the war of 1812 he served as a member of Virginia troops under General Harrison. His death occurred in Ohio when he was sixty-four years of age. His wife, Phœbe, was born, of German descent, in Hardy County, Va., and died in Ohio at the age of seventy-one. She was a daughter of John Stump, who was born in Virginia, and left home for a trip to the west, but was never afterward heard of. Our subject was the fourth among eight children, only two of whom are living. He was six months old when his parents removed to Ohio and there he spent his boyhood years upon a farm. From an early age he was noted as a fine marksman and many a deer fell beneath his un- erring aim.

When twenty-three years of age Mr. Neff took possession of a small farm in Franklin County. In 1855 he removed by wagon to Grinnell, Iowa, and engaged in farming, also conducted an inn on an old stage road. After three years there, he removed, again by wagon, to Nebraska, where he settled sixteen miles west of Plattsmouth, near old Louisville, on the Platte River, and took up a tract of farm land. Deciding to come still fur- ther west, in 1863 he came by ox-team and wa- gon, along the Platte, to Douglas County, Colo., where he settled near Point of Rocks, on what is known as Neft's Gulch to this day. Between July and Christmas of 1863 he killed and sold, there and in Denver, $275 worth of antelope meat. It was his intention to engage in the stock busi-

ness there, but he was several times obliged to seek the settlements on account of the Indians, and in 1868 abandoned the place entirely, after having been severely harassed by the savages. In 1864 he had brought his family to Colorado City for protection, but the next year took them to the vicinity of Denver, and again in 1868 re- turned to Colorado City. The next year he set- tled on his present ranch. He is a member of the El Paso County Pioneers' Society and takes a warm interest in maintaining the associations of old times. Politically he is a Democrat.

In Ohio Mr. Neff married Miss Mary Ann Beatty, who was born there. They became the parents of eight children, seven of whom are liv- ing. They are: Mrs. Alice Richie and Mrs. Ta- bitha Talbert, of Colorado Springs; Mrs. Malena Lowther, of Manitou; Katie, who is living in Cripple Creek; Hezekiah, a miner residing in Colorado Springs; Fleming A., who is connected with the city fire department of Colorado Springs; and William A., a grocer of this city.

OSEPH T. LAWLESS, editor and publisher of the Lamar Sparks, and one of the most in- fluential and prominent citizens of Lamar, Prowers County, was born in Kentucky January I, 1861. He was educated in private schools at Cleveland, Ohio, and Richmond, Ind. In the latter city he learned the printer's trade and after serving his apprenticeship he worked for a num- ber of years in Chicago. In 1881 he came west, where he followed his trade in several states and territories, and for some time was the editor and publisher of papers in Edwards County, Kan.

In the spring of 1887 Mr. Lawless took edito- rial charge of the Lamar Sparks, with which he has since been continuously identified, being now the owner, editor and publisher. When he came to Lemar it had only recently been started and was still in its infancy. To the development and growth of the town he was a liberal contributor, accomplishing much, through the medium of his paper, toward building up business enterprises and starting new industries. His paper is a bright, newsy sheet, filled with incidents of a local nature and articles bearing upon national issues and world-wide happenings. Appreciating its worth the people of Prowers County have been constant subscribers to the paper, which has built up an excellent circulation throughout this part of the state.

Stanch in his advocacy of the Democratic party

JAMES A. MC CANDLESS.

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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 68

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