Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 69

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 69

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mr. Lawless has been prominent in local politics and town affairs. He served for one term as councilman and a similar period as city clerk, and in 1898 was elected mayor of Lamar, which posi- tion he has filled with fidelity. For a number of years he was chairman of the county central com- mittee and member of the state central committee. As a member of the state editorial association he was the principal factor in securing the visit of the National Editorial Association to Lamar in 1898, a visit that was so fruitful of good results for the community.

In 1890 Mr. Lawless was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Crane, and they are the parents of three children, two daughters and one son.

AMES A. MC CANDLESS is often alluded to as the "father" of the village of Florence, in Fremont County. This now flourishing city, with its population of several thousands, is situated on the Arkansas River, between the Denver & Rio Grande and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroads, at the terminns of the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad and the other branch roads that lead to the coal mines. When he came here in 1869 there was no indication of a town, but three years later, when the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad came through here, he laid out the first part of the town. As soon as a few settlers came, he opened a store and started in the mercantile business. Since then he has been more intimately associated with the development of the place than any other citizen and owns many of the large store buildings here. As merchant, bank president, state senator, and in other positions, he has been associated with every line of thought and activity here. His success, which has been great, is due to no inherited for- tune, or to any happy succession of advantageous circumstances, but to his persistence in spite of lack of education, to his steady application and sterling integrity.

A son of James and Salina V. (Alexander) McCandless, our subject was born in North Car- olina, February 28, 1836. His father was a native of the highlands of Scotland, but came to America when young, and followed the cabinet- maker's trade in connection with farming. In 1867 he came to Colorado and two years later died here, at seventy-four years of age. He was chosen justice of the peace by the legislature of North Carolina, and held that office for thirty years. The three justices in the county comprised

the board of county commissioners, and he was one of that board. In his family there were five children: Mary, Mrs. Isaac Green, of Florence; Julia, wife of Amos Green, of Florence; David Colbert, deceased; Emily, wife of James Hartley, of New Mexico; and James A.

When a young man our subject engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1859 he moved to Nebraska, where he took charge of the stock owned by the Overland Stage Company, and also entered and improved one hundred and sixty acres. From time to time he acquired additional property and at the time he removed from the state, in 1864, he owned three hundred and twenty acres. On coming.to Colorado he settled in Fremont County, where at first he engaged in stock-raising. In 1869 he settled where Florence now stands, and since then he has been the most prominent resident of this locality. He was one of the first to attempt to develop the oil interests of the county. In 1864 he drilled some surface wells by hand and refined the oil in a small still, selling it for $6 a gallon. During the early days he frequently crossed the plains, his first trip of the kind being made with ox-team, while later he travelled with mule-team.

In the brick three-story structure erected for that purpose, Mr. McCandless still carries on a mercantile business, using the first floor for his goods, while the other floors are devoted to hotel and office purposes. As the necessity arose, lie put up other substantial business buildings, also many residences. In 1889 he erected an elegant three-story and basement brick residence, and here he has since made his home. The house is provided with every modern convenience and is surrounded by a fine lawn with shade trees and flowers. He is the father of three sons and five daughters, all living in Colorado.

In politics Mr. McCandless has always affiliated with the Republican party, and is active in po- litical affairs. He was a member of the second and third sessions of the state legislature, and served as senator in the sixth and seventh general assemblies. For three terms he was mayor of Florence. While not a member of any denomina- tion, he has given generously to the erection and support of the various churches of Florence. Fraternally he is connected witlı Petroleum Lodge No. 36, K. P. In all matters intended for the public good he takes an interest. He was one of the prime movers in the building of the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad, and for two

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years was a member of its board of directors. The development of the town from its first days to the present, it has been his privilege to witness, and toward it he has materially assisted by his energy and progressive spirit.

HIL S. DELANY, who is one of the suc- cessfn1 young business men of Colorado Springs, is a member of the firm of Delany & Delany, bankers and brokers, offices Nos. 26-27 Bank building. He was one of the first to engage in the organization of mining companies in the Cripple Creek district, and in this line of work he has met with considerable success. Among the successful companies which he has promoted are the Kimberly Gold Mining Company and the Kaffirs Gold Mining Company. The prop- erties of the Kimberly company are located on Beacon Hill and are being extensively developed by four deep shafts. This company has shipped considerable ore, but is yet very much in its infancy.

The subject of this sketch is the president of the company, and his brother T. C., secretary and treasurer, and another brother, William A., at Cripple Creek, is vice president and general manager. The success of the Kimberly company is attributed to the efforts of the above-mentioned firm after considerable litigation affecting the validity of the company's property. The Kaffirs company has recently come into prominence and seems destined to be another one of the successful enterprises launched by the subject of this sketch.

The son of William A. and Margaret Rachiel (Reeves) Delany was born in Pekin, Tazewell County, Il1., March 8, 1870. His father was a large lumber merchant in Chicago until the fire of 1871 destroyed his property. He then made his home in Pekin, Il1., and there died while still a young man. His wife, who was born in Pekin, was a daughter of Thomas Chun Reeves, a native of North Carolina, and one of the family of eight brothers and one sister. When he was quite young the family moved to Tennessee and settled near Nashville, where they became large slave- holders, but before the war the family freed their slaves and settled in Illinois. He was one of the first settlers in Tazewell County and became a large land owner and at one time mayor of the city of Pekin. During the Black Hawk war he enlisted for service, but being under the stipu- lated age his mother secured his discharge. He was always a strong Union man, but the balance

of the family identified themselves with the cause of the Confederacy, his brother, Col. Sam Reeves, being killed near the old Reeves plantation near Murfreesboro, Tenn.

From 1880 to 1882 the family left their old home in Tazewell County, Ill., and scattered in the different parts of the United States. Jennie Doolittle Delany resides in Chicago, and her brothers are located in El Paso County, Colo. Until eleven years old our subject lived in Pekin, Il1. Afterwards he spent two years in Cincin- nati, Ohio, and from there removed to Emporia, Kan., where the family conducted a large cattle and shoe business. He received his education mainly in the public schools and Kansas State Normal at Emporia, and also under private tutors in Cincinnati and Chicago. In 1888 the family moved to Chicago, where our subject studied dramatic art for a year under Professor Vinton, it being his intention to go on the stage, but fail- ing health caused the change in his plans. While in Chicago he practically started in life by entering the wholesale house of John Farwell Company, and after remaining there three years was connected with the Real Estate & Building Journal, but soon thereafter became identified with William A. Merigold & Co. in the sale of suburban property.

March 8, 1891, he left Chicago, arriving in Colorado Springs two days thereafter. After residing in Colorado Springs about a year, and soon after the discovery of the Great Cripple Creek Gold Camp, he became interested in min- ing, and has ever since given his entire attention to the mining stock brokers' business and also the organization of numerous mining companies owning property in the Cripple Creek district. He first became identified with Mr. Hicks, but soon thereafter got his two brothers interested with him in mining.

Prior to the writing of this sketch the firm had offices in Denver, Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek, but recently the office in Denver was aban- doned. The Cripple Creek office is now in charge of William A. The office at the Springs is in charge of the subject of this sketch and T. C. Delany, his brother.

The firm has been established in business seven years, the subject of the sketch being the senior member of the firm, but the junior partner. The members of the firm have all been members of the different mining stock exchanges throughout the state, and are now members of the Colorado

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Springs Mining Stock Association, and the Crip- ple Creek Gold Mining Exchange. The subject of this sketch has never identified himself very closely with politics, but he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and has shown great inter- est in the study of political economy.

The different members of the firm have all had considerable experience in different lines of busi- ness and professions, William A. having prac- ticed law in Chicago for three years, being a graduate of the branch of the Northwestern Uni- versity Law School located in Chicago, which was in charge of Judge Moran and Justice Bailey of the appellate court. T. C. Delany has had considerable experience in the banking business in Cincinnati in the Merchants' National, and also the Chemical and Park National Banks of Chicago. The three partners are still young men. They stand high in the community finan- cially and for honesty and integrity.

A BRAHAM PETERSON, whose home is four miles east of Caddoa, Bent County, was born in Norway, March 8, 1837, a son of Chris-' tian Peterson. His educational advantages were very limited, his boyhood years being spent in hard work upon a farm. When seventeen he went to Liverpool and from there took passage on a sailing vessel, that landed him in Quebec after a voyage of seventeen days. From that city he went up the St. Lawrence to Hamilton, and from there to Detroit, and then to Chicago, which was a small town, giving few indications of its future greatness. After a few days in the latter city he went further west via the Chicago & Alton Railroad. For a few years he worked on a farm in western Illinois, and later, in 1857, went to St. Louis. For a year he worked upon a farm in Missouri.

In the spring of 1858 Mr. Peterson enlisted in Company A, Fifth United States Infantry, and was sent to Utah to join Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, who had been sent with a force of soldiers to put down the Mormons. He was stationed at Camp Floyd until the spring of 1860, after which he was ordered to New Mexico to look after the Navajo Indians. Under General Canby he took part in a fight with the Indians. During the entire expedition, which lasted two months, the soldiers were not provided with a change of clothes, and had not been permitted to take any with them when starting on the march. During the Civil war his corps had several

skirmishes with Confederates from Texas, and at first it seemed as if the latter won the advantage, but the northern men stole the Confederate sup- plies and in that way won the victory. He re- ceived an honorable discharge April 21, 1863.

Coming to Denver, Colo., Mr. Peterson was employed to drive a quartermaster's team from New Year's, 1864, until March, when he went to Bannack City, Mont., in search for gold. For six years he engaged in mining, doing fairly well, but unfortunately he invested his gains in unprofitable mines, and left Montana with little more than he took into it. With two others he started for the mines of New Mexico, but on reaching Pueblo met some returned miners, who discouraged them from making the trip. He then came to Fort Lyon, where he expected to find a quartermaster who was an acquaintance, but in this hope he was disappointed. He then hired to Judge Moore, with whom he remained for eight years, and with the earnings of that period invested in one hundred and sixty acres. To that he afterwards added a claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres, which he proved up on. Here he has since remained, putting in all the improvements now noticeable, except the ditch which was here when he bought the property. Upon his farm he engages in the stock business, in which he has met with fair success. In poli- tics he is independent, never having allied him- self with any party. Fraternally he is connected with King Solomon Lodge No. 30, A. F. & A. M., at Las Animas, with which he has been identified since 1880 and in which he has taken a great interest.

R. W. W. ARNOLD, of Colorado Springs. The Arnold family traces its descent, in un- broken line, from Ynir, king of Gwentland, second son of Cadwalader, last king of the Britons, who flourished in the twelfth century. The coat-of-arms is a shield occupied by three lions rampant, surmounted by the crest, a mailed hand clenched, the scroll beneath bearing the motto, "Be just and fear not." Colors, red, white, blue and gold. Through Roger Arnold, the twelfth in descent from Ynir, and the first to adopt the name of Arnold, the family traces di- rect descent from King Alfred the Great. The original surname was Aruholt (meaning, strong eagle), which after some generations was changed -

to the present form. The successive generations to the present are as follows: Ynir, king of

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Gwentland; Meiric, Ynir Bichan and Carador, also kings of Gwentland; Dyfuwall and Systal, lords of Gwentland; Arthur, lord of Upper Gwent; Meiric, Gwillim, Arnholt, Arnholt, Roger, Arnold, Thomas, Richard, Richard (lord of the manor), Thomas, William, Richard, Richard, Isaac, Matthew, Richard A., John, William W. (of this sketch) and Clarence R. On the maternal side Dr. Arnold descends from Edward Ball, who lived in New Jersey in 1693, and whose great- grandson, Davis Ball, fought in the Revolutionary war.

Dr. Arnold's grandfather, John Arnold, was born on the Isle of Wight, and in 1820 came to America, where his family joined him the next year. He settled in Rush County, Ind., and be- came a merchant, farmer and postmaster at Arn- old's. From the forest he improved a valuable estate that still bears the family name. In 1864, when he was seventy-six, he died from the effects of a sunstroke. He was fond of reading and was a splendidly informed man.

Dr. John Arnold, father of our subject, was born in the Isle of Wight, England. He received his medical education in the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, and began the practice of medicine in 1836, in Vienna, Ind., where he remained un- til a failure of health in 1841, when he revisited his native land, spending a year with his kindred in the beautiful island. In 1843 he removed to Connersville, Ind., where he was the leading practitioner until 1853. He then purchased his father's farm and removed to it, carrying on the practice of his profession and overseeing the in- terests of the farm. In 1877 he removed to Rush- ville. He practiced until 1898, when he retired after sixty-two years of professional life. Fond of literature and well versed in the early history of his locality, he has compiled a history of Rush County and has also made frequent contributions to papers. He is the oldest living settler of Rush- ville, where he still resides, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. During the Civil war he and his son, our subject, were members of the Union League, which organization was called out sev- eral times to quell the Knights of the Golden Circle, when the latter were getting too bold. His wife, who was Sarah Ann Ball, was born in Ohio, and was a granddaughter of Davis Ball, a soldier of the Revolution. Her father, Abner Ball, was born in New Jersey, but during the most of his life made his home in Ohio and east- ern Indiana.

The subject of this sketch was born in Con- nersville, Ind., August 28, 1843. He was edu- cated at Fairview, Richland and Hopewell academies. He began the study of medicine un- der his father and afterward was a student in the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati. In 1864, with his father, he gained his first experience of professional work, and afterward took a post- graduate course in the Philadelphia Polyclinic. After his father removed from the farm to Rush- ville in 1877, the younger man continued the practice at the old home place, where he remained until 1886, the date of his removal to Colorado Springs. His specialty in practice has been diseases of the respiratory organs. His theory concerning pulmonary consumption has always been that the disease is primarily of neurotic origin, the result of degenerated nerve force, and that the micro-organisms discoverable in the af- fected tissues are not the cansative factors in the production of the disease. The mode of treat- ment based upon this theory consists in the em- ployment of all those agents that will most surely 'and promptly restore tone and energy to the weakened nerve cell. This end is attained by the judicious administration of powerful restorative tonics, by the use of compressed medicated in- halations, a species of "pulmonary calisthenics," by means of which the patient is enabled to utilize his full vital capacity; and by the employment of electricity in the form of the current generated by a powerful static influence machine. This won- derful piece of mechanismn, whose workings were exhibited to the writer, administers what is known as a static bath, by which the patient is sur- rounded by an atmosphere of electric energy, which strengthens and vitalizes every part of the system, causing in each cell renewed protoplasmic activity. The office in the bank building is one of the best and most thoroughly equipped offices in the west.

In Hopewell, Ind., in 1863, Dr. Arnold mar- ried Miss Eva M. Shaw, who was born in West Alexander, Pa., a daughter of Rev. Joseph Shaw, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, formerly a minister in the Presbyterian Church, but now retired. Her mother was Naomi Waite, of Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Arnold have two sons. Clarence R., the eldest, graduated from Colorado College in 1891, as a Ph. B., later took a course of two years in the medical department of the University of Penn- sylvania, but was obliged to relinquish his studies on account of ill health. In 1895 he was grad-

Dy. Miller

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uated from the Denver University, with the de- years: David G., who was born in Huntingdon gree of M. D. He has since practiced in con- County, Pa., April 25, 1857; Manta and Samuel J., who holds an official position in the state re- formatory at Huntingdon, Pa. nection with his father, and has made a specialty of gynecology. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons. The younger son, John S., is in Colorado Springs with his parents. The family are connected with the First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, where the doctor is a ruling elder and for several years was Sunday-school superintendent. Politically he is a Republican. While in Indiana he was a member of the state, district and county medical associations, and he also holds membership in the American Medical

Association. He is identified with the Sons of the American Revolution. On the corner of St. Vrain and North Nevada streets, he has a fine residence, the material for which is pink lava rock · brought from Castle Rock. Besides this place he owns other property in the city. He is a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce. In everything calculated to advance the welfare of his city he takes a deep interest, and is justly regarded as one of the most progressive citizens of the Springs.

Dr. Arnold inherits in large measure the fam- ily characteristic of love for literature and the arts, and has contributed numerous articles to the . press. By indefatigable industry, observation and the appropriation of advanced medical thought and practice, he has achieved a success in the practice of his profession which any man might be proud of.

12 AVID G. MILLER, manager of the Commo- dore mines, owned by the Commodore Mining Company, at Creede, Colo., has his office at No. 830 Equitable building, Denver, and divides his time between this city and the mines in Mineral County. He is of Pennsylvanian birth and Scotch-Irish descent. The family of which he is a member has long been identified with the history of Pennsylvania, and four successive gen- erations have resided on the homestead in Hunt- ingdon County. His father, Samuel Miller, was one of nine brothers, the most prominent of whom, D. P. Miller, M. D., of Huntingdon, Pa., has for many years been surgeon for the middle division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Samuel Miller was a farmer by occupation and a man of integ- rity and ability; he died when only twenty-eight years of age. By his marriage to Elizabeth Cun- ningham, a native of Pennsylvania, three chil- dren were born, all of whom attained mature

The eldest of the family, our subject, attended the local common schools until fifteen years of age, after which he studied in an academy at Huntingdon for a year. For two years he gave his time principally to farm pursuits, but such spare moments as he had from work were given to his books. At the age of eighteen he was granted a certificate to teach school, and for three years afterward he taught in winter and farmed in summer. When twenty-one he came to Colo- rado, and in February, 1879, located in Fairplay, near Leadville. He commenced to teach, but after one month the gold excitement in Leadville began and he resigned his position as teacher and hurried to the camp, which was forty miles from Fairplay. During his study at home he had devoted considerable attention to surveying and civil engineering, and upon going to Lead- ville he secured work with a firm of surveyors, with whom he remained as an employe for one year. At the expiration of that time he was given a third interest in the business. His connection with the company continued for another year, when the partnership was dissolved by the death of one partner and the removal of another.

For one year Mr. Miller was employed by Charles J. Moore, a prominent engineer, and their connection was a most pleasant one, and Mr. Mil- ler has always felt the greatest appreciation of the benefit derived from this association. Following this he was employed as assistant to Thomas W. Jaycox, chief engineer of the Twin Lakes Mining Company. After eight months he entered the office of Page & Blow, of Leadville, and when, five months later, the junior member was appoint- ed manager of the Silver Cord Mining Company, Mr. Miller bought his interest in the business, the firm title being changed to Page & Miller, civil and mining engineers. This connection continued from 1885 to 1888. A branch office was opened at Aspen, under the management of Mr. Miller, while Mr. Page took charge of the Leadville office.

Upon going to Aspen Mr. Miller became asso- ciated with E. R. Holden, who erected the Globe smelter at Denver and the Philadelphia smelter in Pueblo, and who was at that time receiver for the Emma mine. Ten months later the Aspen Mining & Smelting Company was formed, with

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J. B. Wheeler, president; W. B. Devereaux, gen- eral manager; and D. G. Miller engineer for the company, which position he retained for four years. During this time the management changed four times, but each time he was retained as engineer at the special request of the president of the company. Meanwhile, associated with J. H. Devereaux, he bought the Park-Regent mining property, which then had only a pros- pective value. He assisted in the development of the mine, which became known as one of the best mines of the Aspen district. Afterward, for two years, he spent his time traveling, principally in the east and in California.

In the summer of 1890 Mr. Miller accepted a position in the mineral division of the United States surveyor-general's office in Denver, but he was unable to bear the confinement of office work, and after eighteen months resigned. In 1892 he became associated with Maj. L. E. Campbell as engineer in the Amethyst mine. After remain- ing in that position for six months, in the fall of the same year he was employed by A. E. Rey- nolds as engineer of the New York & Chance Mining Company, and also later held a similar position with the Last Chance Mining Company, that owned adjacent property. In the fall of 1895 he began the work of developing the Com- modore Mining Company and was engineer and manager during the first year, but the work grew to such an extent that the management required his entire time, so another engineer was em- ployed. All the developments have been made under his supervision and the improvements per- sonally superintended by him. The company is the largest in the camp and one of the largest in the state, ranking with the Ibex of Leadville and the Virginius at Ouray. At this writing employ- ment is furnished five hundred men. The Den- ver officers of the company are: A. E. Reynolds, president; and D. H. Moffat, vice-president. The mine is operated through a series of tunnels, rang- ing from four to five thousand feet in length.

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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 69

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