Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 71

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 71

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The Bent County Democrat iuscribes this tribute to his memory: "During late years his life has been a comparatively quiet and pleasant one, surrounded by his wife and children, although his plans for the future were laid with all the con- fidence that would characterize those of a young man. Although he had lived to the age of sixty- two, an erect carriage and firm tread betokened him a man of fifty. His perfect health and youth- ful bearing were due to a methodical, temperate life, and sensible care of himself. His life, both private and public, is one whose example can be emulated with profit by every young man. He has always been regarded as one of Bent County's solid and reliable men, and sorrow for his death is general."

OHN W. PRING, who has made his home in Colorado Springs since 1897, came to this state in 1876, for the purpose of investi- gating a tract of two hundred and forty acres he had previously purchased without ever having seen the property. He found the place a barren waste, without, apparently, enough upon it to keep a rabbit alive. Although making up his mind that he had made a most unfortunate trade, he determined to settle here. He at once began to cultivate and improve the land, upon which he en- gaged in stock-raising and general farming. Since then he has brought the tract under irrigation, built fences around it, and erected substantial farm buildings, so that the place has been made one of the best farms in El Paso County. It is situ-

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ated fifteen miles north of Colorado Springs, on both the Santa Fe and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroads, at Pring Station, which was named for him. His specialty has been the raising of graded Shorthorns. Prior to his removal to Colorado Springs he engaged in the dairy busi- ness and for seven years furnished the milk for the Antlers' hotel, whose bill amounted to more than $18,000. Shipments of milk were made over the Rio Grande road. In addition to this place he owns a farm at Gwillinville, five miles east of Monument, where his son superintends the cultivation of the four hundred and forty acres comprising the estate; and he is also the owner of three other farms in the same vicinity, all of which were improved by himself.

The Pring family is from Devonshire, Eng- land. Our subject's grandfather, Henry Pring, owned a fine estate, "The Rosewood," where he spent his entire life. He was drowned one night while fording a stream. His son, Henry, who succeeded to the ownership of the estate, was killed, when forty-seven years of age, by being thrown from a buggy by a runaway horse. Henry Pring, Jr., married Mary Ann Patch, who died in Devon, her native shire. Of their nine chil- dren six are now living, all in Devonshire ex- cept John W., the sixth in order of birth. He was born June 22, 1845, and attended in boyhood the pay schools of Devon. His father died when he was a lad of eleven years. Four years later he was apprenticed to the carpenter's and build- er's trade in the vicinity of his home place, and there he continued until he was twenty-one. Going to London in 1866, he engaged in con- tracting and building. With the money be- queathed him by his father he bought property and built eighteen residences at one time, after- ward erecting houses in different parts of the city. In addition to the residences built for him- self, he carried out contracts to build stores, hotels and houses for others.

After having been in London for five years, in the fall of 1871 Mr. Pring came to America, and bought the Utility works in Rock Falls, Il1., where he engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of articles in wood. After two years, however, he sold out. Since coming to Colorado he has given his attention principally to raising draft-horses, graded stock, and to the dairy business, in which he has been successful. His home is now at No. 318 West Kiowa street, Colorado Springs. When the Cripple Creek excitement began, he

was among the first in that district, and is still interested in mines there, owning the Bonnie Nell and Raven Hill, and having an interest in other claims there. In political views he is a Republican. He takes an interest in public affairs, but has always refused to accept public office.

In London, England, Mr. Pring married Miss Mary J. Beer, daughter of William Beer and a native of Exeter. They are the parents of nine children, namely: Harry, who lives in Montana; William, who occupies one of his father's ranches; Mrs. Ettie Shemwell, whose husband manages the home ranch; Lucy, wife of Dr. McConnell, of Monument; Lydia, Oliver, Edward, Aubrey and Arthur, who are at home.

ILLIAM G. BRANSON, who is engaged in business at Las Animas, Bent County, was born in Linn County, Mo., November 19, 1866, a son of John and Ann (Heckman) Branson, natives of Miami County, Ohio. His parents were married in Ohio and removed to Missouri prior to the Civil war, in which the father enlisted as a Union soldier, later organiz- ing and becoming captain of a company of colored men. Though he took an active part in numerous engagements, he was never wounded nor cap- tured. He made Linn County his home until his death, which occurred September 21, 1896. His wife is still living.

After completing the studies of the home school, our subject entered Avalon College at sixteen years of age, and continued there for three years, after which he taught one term of school. Later he was a student in the normal school at Stanberry, and on resuming his work as a teacher, had charge of schools in his home county for five years, besides which he engaged in farming. He was the owner of one hundred and twenty acres, where he made his home until he removed to Colorado in the fall of 1894.

In Linn County, Mo., August 26, 1888, Mr. Branson married Miss Bessie Carothers, who was born and reared in that county, a daughter of James C. and Jennie (Lomax) Carothers. They have two sons: Frank, who was born in Linn County May 15, 1890; and J. Carothers, also born in that county, April 26, 1894.

For more than a year after coming to Colorado, Mr. Branson clerked in his brother's hardware store in Trinidad, after which he came to Las Animas and bought the hardware, farm imple-

ANDREW L.' LAWTON.

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ment and furniture store which he has since con- ducted. He has built up a good trade among the people of the county, his reliability and fair- ness in all dealings having won him a large patronage. Politically a Republican, he cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison in 1888. He is now a member of the city council, to which position he was elected in April, 1898. All local measures for the benefit of town and county receive his help, and he co-operates with other public-spirited citizens in securing the wel- fare and progress of the city. He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is now an active member and trustee. Frater- nally he is connected with Elder Lodge No. 11, I. O. O. F., of Las Animas.

NDREW L. LAWTON. Through his close identification with the business interests of Colorado Springs, Mr. Lawton has become known as one of the influential citizens of the place. It is said of him that he has handled and improved more real estate than any other resi- dent of the city; and the fact is recognized by all that he is a very enterprising, progressive man. Largely to his energy is due the construction of the electric street railway, which now has twenty-eight and one-half miles of line in active operation, and which extends to Colorado City, Manitou, Cheyenne Canon, Roswell Printers' Home and Knob Hill.

The Lawton family is of English descent, and was represented in New England in an early day. Clark Lawton, who was born near Troy, N. Y., re- moved to Medina, Ohio, where he engaged in the manufacture of woolens. About 1844 he went to Lowell, Wis., where he carried on a farm and a flour and saw mill. Afterward, for some years, he made his home in Appleton, Wis., where his sons attended Lawrence University and his daugh- ters a ladies' seminary. In 1865 he removed to Burlington, Wis., where he engaged in the manu- facture of wooleus. The year 1874 found him in Colorado, and soon afterward he died in Colo- rado Springs, at sixty-eight years of age. While in Dodge County, Wis., he served as county treasurer, and for two terms was register of deeds. Fraternally he was a Mason. His mar- riage united him with Eliza Ann Lynde, who was born in New York, of an old New England fam- ily, and was orphaned at an early age. She died in Colorado Springs when fifty-eight years old. Their family consisted of two sons and two daugh-

ters, of whom our subject and a sister are now living.

In Lowell, Dodge County, Wis., the subject of this sketch was born, April 24, 1848. He was educated in Wayland University at Beaver Dam and in Lawrence University. For five years he was interested with his father in the woolen manufacturing business, and afterward carried on the enterprise alone for two years, until failing health forced him to seek a change of climate and occupation. July 4, 1874, he arrived in Colorado Springs, having come here by team from Kansas City, in order that the change of altitude might be made gradually. Owing to a strain that had caused an internal injury he was subject to hem- orrhages, but on coming west his health began to improve rapidly. In 1876 he engaged in the real- estate, loan and insurance business. He laid out three subdivisions that are now covered with houses-Gosen's addition and Lawton's first and second subdivisions. With others, he bought three hundred and eighty acres, comprising what is now West Colorado Springs, and there, in time, a large town was built up, with residences, school houses and other improvements. He and four associates laid out one hundred and twenty acres comprising the town of Roswell, which they started; also Hill Top addition, Verona Heights and Dixon Park Place. In addition to his prop- erty interests here, he owns real estate in Denver. From the organization of the Exchange National Bank he has served as a director. In 1890 he as- sisted in organizing the Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway Company, which bought the old horse-car line of six miles and replaced it with an electric line that is supplied with every mod- ern improvement, and is one of the best lines in the west. He has some mining interests, being director of a company that operates in Creede. He is a member of the Colorado Springs Board of Trade.

In Burlington, Wis., Mr. Lawtou married Miss Emily H. Perkins, who was born in that city, daughter of Pliny M. Perkins, a merchant, miller, manufacturer and pioneer farmer of that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Lawton have four children: An- drew J., who is associated with his father in the insurance and real-estate business; Frank C., who was educated in the School of Mines and is superintendent of the Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway Company; Lute P., who is em- ployed in his father's office as solicitor; and Mary C.

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Politically a Democrat, Mr. Lawton was alder- man from the second ward for two terms, and served as president both terms. For eight years he was a member of the board of trustees of the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, having been first appointed by Governor Eaton and reappointed by Governor Adams. In 1897 he was again appointed to the same position by Governor Adams for a term of six years. He was made a Mason in 1870 in Burling- ton, Wis., and is a member of El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M., of which he was master for three years; Colorado Springs Chapter No. 6, R. A. M .; Pike's Peak Commandery No. 6, K. T., of Colorado Springs; El Jebel Temple, N. M. S., and a life member of Colorado Con- sistory No. I, of Denver.

EV. JEAN BAPTISTE FRANCOLON, whose life has been one of busy activity, resides in Manitou, where he has built a beautiful castle, named "Miramont" after his old country home near Beaulieu, France. Here he passes his time in the completion of his writings, and awaiting the full restoration of his health, in order that he may resume active labors in the in- terests of the church. He was born in Clere- mont, France, December 27, 1854. His father, Jacques Francolon, a native of Versailles, was a graduate of the School of Engineers and for seven years was consul at Odessa. He was a member of a family in whose blood French and Spanish intermingled, and whose representatives were prominent in military and judicial circles.

Mari Francolon, our subject's grandfather, was a son of Col. Mari and Maria Theresa (de Leon) Francolon, the former a Castilian from Barcelona, who served as colonel of artillery be- fore the French Revolution, and met Senorita de Leon while he was serving as military attache to the French embassy at Madrid. Jacques Fran- colon died at thirty-seven years of age. His wife was Marie De Chalembelles, who was born in Beaulieu and still resides at her country home there, although a portion of her time is spent in Paris and at the seacoast. The De Chalembelles family is of the nobility, mention of whom is made in the annals of France, and whose ancestry is traced back to the time of the Crusades. One of the name was a follower of Peter the Hermit. Mrs. Francolon was a daughter of Count De Chalembelles, who served in most of the campaigns of the first Napoleon and was one of the com-

manding officers in the siege of Saragossa, where he was wounded. Born in 1793, he was only seventeen when he entered Napoleon's army, and was promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant-col- onel. He survived to a great age, dying in 1887.

The subject of this article spent some years in a Jesuit college, and afterward entered the Polytechnic school, the most exclusive school of the French government. While preparing to enter the diplomatic service of his country, he became more and more impressed with the thought that his first duty was to the church, and when his convictions were once thoughtfully formed, no entreaties of relatives were able to move him. He at once applied for admission to St. Sulpice, candidates for which must be recom- mended by their own bishops and pass a rigid examination of the faculty, presided over by the cardinal of Paris. He was admitted and studied there for four years, after which he was sent to Rome, where he became private secretary to Mgr. Lamy, archbishop of Santa Fe. In June, 1878, he came to America, and after two years received appointment as chancellor of the arch- diocese of Santa Fe. In 1883 he assumed charge of the mission at Santa Cruz, which comprised eighteen churches, covering an area, in parishes, of more than seventy square miles, with a popu- lation composed of Americans, Spaniards, Mexi- cans, Italians and Indians. During his service in this position he built one convent, two churches and repaired eleven. From his own funds he supported a number of winter schools. Through his influence the Rio Grande Railroad was able to gain the right of way through the Indian lands and also secured labor for the build- ing of the road.

While in Paris, in 1886, Father Francolon was sent by the French government on a delicate mission to the republics of Venezuela and of Guatemala, and on successfully concluding his mission he visited the republics of South and Central America, in order that he might learn the customs, habits and needs of the aborigines. On his return to France he was made an hon- orary member of the Geographical Society of Paris. The severe strain, mental and physical, which he had endured in his various laborious undertakings, told so severely upon his health, that he was obliged to discontinue his work temporarily. Knowing the virtues of Manitou as a health resort, in 1892 he came to this city,

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and the next year he caused the Gochner Home, at Colorado Springs, to be deeded and entrusted to the Sisters of Charity. In 1895 he went to Rome, and there had one public and one private audience with Pope Leo XIII, who appointed him the bearer of the Pallium to Archbishop Chap- pelle, then of Santa Fe, but now of New Orleans. On his return from Rome he founded the Mont- calme Sanitarium at Manitou, for the care of sick priests of limited means, and entrusted its management to the Sisters of Mercy of Colorado.

Father Fraucolon is a man of broad education, and a fluent linguist. In his wide travels he has been a deep and close student of races and cus- toms, and has gained a fund of valuable informa- tion concerning education, politics, social condi- tion and philosophy. In the highest sense of the term, he is a Christian philanthropist, a man whose aim in life is to aid in the upbuilding of the race and the welfare of the church, and one whose usefulness in the past is an index of the years of activity that await him.

HARLES A. ELDREDGE, who came to Colorado in 1879, bought Mr. Counselman's ranch, situated in Chico Basin, twenty-five miles southeast of Colorado Springs, and there he was extensively engaged in stock-raising and sheep-growing until he sold out in 1890. He is now interested in real estate at the Springs, where he has made his home all these years, and also has mining interests in the Cripple Creek region.

Mr. Eldredge was born opposite Crown Point forts at Bridport, Addison County, Vt. His father, Joseph C., who was born in Connecticut April 19, 1783, was a son of Jonathan Eldredge, who was born near Stonington, Conn., and served as sergeant under Washington in the Revolution- ary war. In 1799 he removed to Vermont and engaged in farming there until his death, when about eighty years of age. He was of English descent. Joseph C., who also engaged in farm pursuits in Bridport, served in the war of 1812. He was an active member of the Baptist Church and served as selectman of his town. His death occurred in May, 1869.

The mother of our subject was Amelia Maria Hammond, who was born in Pittsford, Vt. Her father, Thomas Hammond, was born in Newton, Mass., February 20, 1762, and, being the son of poor parents, was taken into the home of a farmer at the age of four. When he was sixteen he

enlisted in the colonial army, becoming a mem- ber of Col. Ebenezer Brooks' regiment of guards at Cambridge in 1778. Later he was assigned to the artillery. He witnessed the execution of Major Andre. After the war was ended he went to Shaftsbury, Vt., where he was employed by Col. Ichabod Cross, a noted Indian fighter, whose daughter, Hannah, he married March 25, 1784. They were given a tract of forest land at Pittsford, Rutland County, Vt., and settled upon it. He became a prominent man in his neighborhood and was held in the highest respect by all who knew him. January 6, 1791, he served as delegate to the Vermont convention which adopted the con- stitution of the United States. The newly-organ- ized state of Vermont paid New York state $30,000 to secure a release of the latter's claim on her, and Thomas Hammond was appointed to convey from Rutland to Albany the purchase price, making this offer in behalf of the state. For ten years he was a member of the Vermont legislature, for six years was assistant judge of Rutland County, and for four years a member of the executive council of Vermont. He was usually called "colonel," this title being his by right of service in the state militia. In addition to the management of his large farm, he engaged in the manufacture of woolen cloth. His first wife, Hannah, died February 2, 1819, and afterward he married Mrs. Sarah Stewart. His ten children were all born of his first marriage, Mrs. Eldredge being the sixth of these. His death occurred April 4, 1847. Our subject has a cousin, Gen. John Hammond, who was an officer in the Civil war and afterward served as congressman; another cousin, Charles A. Eldredge, served as a member of congress from Wisconsin.

The great-grandfather of our subject, Daniel Hammond, was born in Massachusetts October 18, 1727. He served in the French and Indian war and assisted in the taking of Cape Breton from the French, also took part in the forty-six days' siege of Louisburg, which ended June 17, 1745. As a result of exposure he contracted rheumatism, which rendered him bedridden for fifteen years. However, he recovered at length and fired with his old-time enthusiasm, he took up his rifle and prepared to defend his country in the war with England. His name appears as a member of Capt. A. Fuller's company that marched April 19, 1775, from Newton to Cam- bridge. He was not spared to witness the triumph of American arms, but died in 1777. His wife,

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who was Lucy Jones, a woman of strong mind and fine family, died in 1799 and was buried at Pittsford, Vt.

The father of Daniel was John Hammond, born March 16, 1696, and married at Newton in 1718 to Margaret Wilson, daughter of Samuel and Expe- rience (Trowbridge) Wilson. He died in 1773. His father, Thomas, who was born December 16, 1666, and died in 1738, was a son of Thomas, who died in 1678, and he in turn was a son of Thomas, who came to America as early as 1636 and settled at Hingham, Mass., where he was admitted as a freeman March 9, 1636. In 1650 he purchased land in what is now Newton, near a beautiful bay which now bears his name. His wife was Eliza- beth Cason. The date of his baptism was Janu- ary 6, 1586, and his death occurred in September, 1675. His father, Thomas, of Lovenham, Suf- folk County, England, married Rose Trippe, and two of their children came to America: Thomas (before mentioned), and William, who was pro- prietor of Watertown, Mass., and whose son, Ben- jamin, married a sister of William Penn. Our subject's mother was born January 17, 1796, and died in 1863. Of the second marriage there was a son, Joseph Hammond, who was a banker in New York City and later a government employe in Washington, where he died.

The subject of this article was born August 3, 1831. In boyhood he attended the district school at Bridport, the high school in Burlington, and then went to Troy, N. Y., where he was employed in the office of Charles Saxe, a brother of John G. Saxe. Later he was with an uncle in the lumber and grain business at Crown Point. He was married in Vermont, in October, 1858, to Miss Mary J. Goodwin, a native of that state, and daughter of John and Wealthy (Lee) Good- win. Mrs. Eldredge died in Bridport in 1865.

From 1866 to 1869 Mr. Eldredge engaged in the grocery business in Burlington, Vt. While there he was united in marriage January 2, 1867, with Miss Emma C. Hayward, who was born in Bridport, a daughter of Charles N. Hayward, bori Marchi 25, 1817. Her grandfather, Newton Hayward, was born in Morristown, N. J., and settled in Bridport, Vt., when it was a wilderness. He entered land and engaged in farming, besides which he followed the blacksmith's trade. He enlisted in the war of 1812 as an officer and was known as Captain Hayward. He died in Brid- port when sixty years of age. His wife, Hannah (Farrand) Hayward, was born in New Jersey in

1775, a daughter of Bethuel Farrand, who was a lieutenant in the New Jersey militia during the Revolutionary war, and was wounded while in the service. After the war was ended he returned home, an invalid, incapacitated for work. He died in 1794. His wife, Rhoda (Smith) Farrand, who was born in 1747 in New Jersey, went to Vermont and spent her last days. She was a daughter of Samuel Smith, who was born in New Jersey in 1720, and learned the shoemaker's trade. In 1771 he moved to Vermont, making the trip in a wagon drawn by oxen, and becoming a pio- neer of Addison County; he married Hannah Allen. The Farrands were descendants of Hugue- nots who came from Clermont-Ferrand, one hundred and thirty-seven miles from Paris, France.

Charles N. Hayward was a farmer in Bridport and also engaged extensively in raising merino sheep. He was a prominent man of his town, which he served as a selectman. In religion he was a Congregationalist. He died in 1874, when fifty-seven years of age. His wife, Susan E. Rockwood, was born in Bridport, daughter of William Rockwood, a native of Chesterfield, N. H. (born in 1780), who removed in early manhood. to Bridport, Vt., and engaged in farming there. He was a member of the Congregational Church. His father, Elisha Rockwood, was born in Groton, Mass., and removed to New Hampshire, where he carried on a farm. He was on the roll of the Lexington alarm. The Rockwood family came from Rockywood, England. The founder of the family in this country was John, who settled at Dorchester, Mass., in 1636. William Rockwood married Chloe Hemenway, a native of Vermont and daughter of Jacob Hemenway, who was a state representative and prominent man of affairs. The lineage is traced back to Elizabeth Hughes, member of the royal family of Wales.

The great-grandfather of Mrs. Eldredge was Elisha Rockwood, who married Abigail Stone, a descendant of Simon Stone, representative from Watertown, 1676-80; also a descendant of John Whipple, who represented Watertown prior to Mr. Stone's term of service; also a descendant of Jonas Prescott, grandfather of Col. William Pres- cott, of Bunker Hill fame. Elisha was a son of Elisha, Sr., who married Miss Lydia Adams, member of a family whose lineage is traced back to the Welsh royalty, in the thirteenth century. Mrs. Hayward resided in Colorado Springs for several years. Her death occurred October 8,

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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 71

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