Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 74

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 74

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Change of climate being necessary for his health, Dr. Gibson came to Colorado in 1896, and has since engaged in the practice of his special- ties in Colorado Springs, where he is also ophthal- mic surgeon for the State School for the Deaf and Blind, ophthalmic surgeon for the Midland Rail- road, and oculist for the St. Francis hospital at Colorado Springs. He is a member of the New York and American Ophthalmic Societies. Fra- ternally he is a Master Mason, in politics a Re- publican, and in religion is identified with the

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Episcopal Church. His marriage, which took place in New York City, united him with Miss Mary Katherine Chichester, who was born in California, daughter of a prominent business man of San Francisco.

ATHAN ELDEN PARKER. With the progress of Colorado, and more especially with the history of El Paso County, Mr. Parker has been intimately associated for many years, having contributed materially to the de- velopment of its resources and the growth of its industries. A pioneer of 1860, he has witnessed the remarkable growth of this section of country, which now offers to settlers all the luxuries and refinements of life, instead of hardships and pri- vations such as he and his fellow-pioneers en- dured in early days. Since 1884 he has been a permanent resident of Colorado Springs. In 1895, on the Republican ticket, he was nominated county commissioner and was elected by sixteen hundred plurality, taking his seat January 1, 1896. At the expiration of his term he was not a candidate for re-election.

The Parker family in this country descends from three brothers who crossed the ocean in the "Mayflower," from England. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a resident of west- ern New York. The father, Capt. Chase Parker, moved to Dover, Piscataquis County, Me., where he engaged in farm pursuits and served as select- man. His death occurred when he was sixty- five. When he was a young man he followed the sea and was captain of a vessel in the coast- ing trade. In religion he was a Congregational- ist. His wife, who was Mary Crosby, was born in Maine, where her ancestors were early settlers; her father, Eben Crosby, was a farmer near Hampden. She remained in that state until her death at sixty-seven years. In her family there were two daughters and four sons. Chase, the eldest, died in Maine; Mrs. Mary Bartlette re- sides in California; Eben died in Maine, July 13, 1898; Sarah, who was a teacher for twenty one years, died in Topeka, Kan., in 1872; Stephen died at Cape Girardeau, Mo., in February, 1864, while he was in charge of a wagon train at that place.

The subject of this article was born in Dover, Me., February 21, 1832, and received his educa- tion in public schools and an academy. In Feb- ruary, 1854, he left New York on a steamer bound for the Isthmus of Panama, and after one

month reached his destination, the California gold fields. For four years he engaged in min- ing in the Shasta and Yreka mines, after which he returned to Maine. Late in the year 1858 he went to Kansas, settling on a farm at what is now Valley Falls. From there, in 1860, he came to Colorado, outfitting at Leavenworth with four yoke of oxen and a wagon, and coming via the Platte route. After a journey of six weeks he reached Denver. From there he went to Central City. In the summer of 1861, returning to Valley Falls, he brought a freight train to Denver and Central City. In 1862 he made two trips, one to Denver the other to Laramie, Wyo., crossing the plains five times in one season. In 1863 he was employed as post forage master at Cape Girar- deau, Mo., in the quartermaster's department, remaining for nine months. Illness obliged him to resign, and he returned to Kansas. In 1864 he hauled forage to Fort Hallock for the army. In 1865 he had charge of a train of thirty wagons for the Butterfield Overland Dispatch Company and made two trips between Atchison and Den- ver. During the Indian troubles of 1864-65 he had frequent narrow escapes from the savages. In 1866 he was in charge of the Holliday cattle train, and made three round trips between Atchi- son and Denver.

Returning to Valley Falls, Mr. Parker opened a general mercantile store, which he carried on at intervals for ten years. In 1879 he came back to Colorado and settled near Buena Vista. For one year he engaged in the forwarding and com- mission business, after which he had charge of boarding trains on the South Park Railroad when the tunnels were building. Later he was similar- ly engaged on the Rock Island road, accompany- ing the track-laying gang from Horton, Kan., to Colorado Springs, and from Pond Creek, I. T., to Fort Worth, Tex., also from Jansen, Neb., to Omaha. In 1893, with his son, James M., he organized the First National Bank of Cripple Creek, of which he was a director and his son the president. In 1898 he sold his stock in the bank and retired from the directorate. In addition to his other interests, he has owned stock in mines. With two others he owned the Necessity mine, and he is still connected with the Prince Albert mine.

Politically Mr. Parker is a Republican. He was made a Mason at Valley Falls and is now a member of El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M. In the Congregational Church he serves as a

GEORGE W. IRVIN.

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member of the board of trustees. He is a charter member of the El Paso County Pioneers' Society and a member of the Association of Colorado Pioneers. November 1, 1858, in Maine, he mar- ried Miss Buradilla Dunham, who was born in Dover, her father, Eben Dunham, having been a farmer there. He died when a young man, but his wife lived to be ninety-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have three children: James M .; Ida R., Mrs. Hutchins, of Valley Falls, Kan .; and Edith G., Mrs. H. H. Walbert, of Colorado Springs. The son, who is a man of fine business ability, was until recently president of the First National Bank of Cripple Creek, but sold his interest in July, 1898. He is interested in mining enterprises and is manager and superintendent of construction of the Mississippi River, Hamburg & Western Railroad in Arkansas, a work of great responsibility, but one which he is admirably fitted to discharge satisfactorily.

G EORGE W. IRVIN, superintendent of pub- lic schools of Conejos County and the owner of a ranch near Sanford, was born in Arkan- sas in 1857, and is a representative of a family that has long been identified with educational work. His father, Ptolemy V. Irvin, was a son of John E. Irvin, who taught in Georgia and Alabama for forty years and was very prominent in educational circles in the south. He died in 1870, when eighty-four years of age. His brother, David, was a leading attorney of Georgia, and the author of what is known as the Irvin code. The family was founded in the south in an early day by members of the Georgia colony that came from England.

One of the sons of John E. Irvin, whose name is also John, has been very prominent as an at- torney in Texas. Ptolemy V. Irvin was born in Georgia, but spent his life principally in Alabama, where he was reared and where he taught school for years. At the opening of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate army and continued in the service until he died. By his marriage to Sarah Allan, a native of South Carolina, he had nine children, and of these seven are living, namely: Benjamin F., John E., William M., P. V., Catherine (Mrs. Asa Field), Nancy E. (Mrs. W. V. Thomas), and George W. The mother died in 1893, at the age of sixty-seven.

When our subject was very young he was taken to Alabama and was educated in public schools and Gleaner Academy of Tennessee, also

the Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah, from which he graduated in 1887. He came from Tennessee to Colorado in 1883 and settled in the San Luis Valley, where he taught school for some years in or near Manassa. In August, 1885, he entered college, desiring to obtain a more finished education than had hitherto been possible. In 1887, upon graduating, he estab- lished his home at Sanford, Conejos County, of which he was among the first settlers. He con- tinued as principal of the school in that village for eight years. In 1895 he purchased a ranch of two hundred and forty acres near Sanford, and here he has since made a start in the general stock business and farming.

The ability shown by Mr. Irvin as a teacher led to his selection as county superintendent of schools, to which office he was elected in 1895 and re-elected in 1897. Here, as in the school-room, he has proved himself to be a man of ability and intelligence, with a broad knowledge of edu- cational work and a profound interest in its ad- vancement. In 1890 he was elected justice of the peace at Sanford, and was re-elected in 1892, 1894 and 1896. Politically he is a pronounced Republican.

Every plan for the advancement of the schools of the county receives Mr. Irvin's co-operation. He is chairman of the County Teachers' Asso- ciation, and in 1896 organized the County Reading Society, of which he is the president. During the same year he established the Conejos County Normal School, for the special training of teachers, and of this he is the general superin- tendent. He is a progressive educator and keeps abreast with the latest improvements in pedagogy.

The first marriage of Mr. Irvin took place in 1879 and united him with Miss Elizabeth S. Jordan, who was born in southern Tennessee and died in Conejos County in 1894, leaving one child, Mattie B. Afterward he was united in marriage with Miss Mary N. Bailey, of this county.

ILLIAM J. ROTHWELL, M. D., who is a well-known representative of the medical profession in Lincoln County, graduated from the Gross Medical College in Denver in 1894, and afterward spent six months in central Kansas, coming from there to Hugo, where he has engaged in general practice, and since 1896 has also been proprietor of a drug store. Besides his private practice, he has served acceptably as

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health physician for the county and surgeon for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. During his resi- dence in Kansas he was a member of the board of pension examiners. Heis a member of the Colorado State Medical Society, and has been as- sociated with various fraternal organizations, but is now active only in the Knights of Pythias.

Born in Perth County, Ontario, in 1866, Dr. Rothwell is a son of William Rothwell, a native of Ireland, who spent almost his entire active life in Canada, but removed to Colorado in 1880 and settled in Denver. From that time forward he lived in retirement, and his death occurred in 1898, when he was seventy-five years of age. He was united in marriage with Mary Rothwell, a native of Ontario, and who has three brothers practicing physicians in Denver. Our subject was one of a family of four sons and four daugh- ters. The eldest, John, has engaged in railroad- ing for a number of years and resides in Denver; T. E. is interested in ranching in this state; B.E. is a student in Gross Medical College; Katie is the wife of George Maynard, and lives in the Dominion of Canada; Sadie married Louis Wald- smith, of Denver; Nettie is the wife of Charles Burkhardt, of Denver; aud Rilla is Mrs. Charles Stahl, also of Denver.

In the schools of Ontario our subject received his literary education. After coming to Denver he began to study medicine with his uncles and later took the regular course in Gross Medical College. He is interested in professional work, and if careful study and perseverance entitle one to success, he is certainly deserving of all the good fortune the future years may bring. While he has never sought office, he is by no means wanting in convictions, and may always be relied upon to vote the Democratic ticket and support its principles. In 1895 he married Miss Maggie Dugan, who was at that time a teacher in the Hugo public school. The doctor's only child died in infancy.

EORGE D. FREED, county treasurer of Lincoln County, was first elected to this office in the fall of 1895, when he was en- gaged in the mercantile business at Limon. He continued his store in the latter place until Au- gust, 1896, when he moved the stock of goods to Hugo, the county-seat, and at the same time pur- chased another store in this place, combining the two into his general mercantile business. The management of this enterprise he has continued,

in conjunction with his official duties. In the fall of 1897 he was re-elected county treasurer, and is still the incumbent of the office, which he has filled with the greatest efficiency and faith- fulness.

The father of our subject, G. F. Freed, was born in Germany and emigrated to America at an early age, settling in Indiana and engaging in agricultural pursuits. For many years he was identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he was a stanch Republican and reared his son, our subject, in that faith, but the latter afterward became a Democrat. The mother of our subject was Hannah Kurrle, who was born in New York City, a daughter of Christopher Kurrle, for years the proprietor of a hotel in New York City, but during the latter part of his life a resident of Indiana. Our subject was born in Kendallville, Ind., in 1858, and was one of a family of five sons and three daughters. His oldest brother, who en- gaged in the mercantile business for two years in Colorado, died in 1897; Henry A., who was em- ployed as a clerk in our subject's store for two years, is now living in Kendallville; Charles E. is engaged in the agricultural implement busi- ness at Kendallville; Jacob F. cultivates the old homestead; Elizabeth is the wife of John Bennett, a farmer of Noble County, Ind .; Helen is the wife of Archibald Crofoot, who is employed in the Star Wind Mill factory and lives in Kendall- ville; and Agnes married Douglas Harvey, a merchant of Avilla, Ind.

On starting out in life for himself, Mr. Freed became a traveling salesman, traveling through Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois and Minne- sota. In 1881 he came to Colorado and for six months resided in Denver and vicinity, but in 1882 returned to Indiana. Six years later, in 1888, he again came to Colorado, this time settling at Arriba, Lincoln County, where he opened a general store. In 1889 he removed to Limon Station, at the junction of the railroads, where he engaged in business until August, 1896. During his residence at Limon he was a member of the school board and for five years served as its secretary. Besides his other interests he is the owner of a farm in Montrose County, where he has a large fruit orchard. His marriage, which took place July 29, 1891, united him with Mollie E. Ash, daughter of Park A. and Cor- nelia Ash, her father being a contractor at Long- mont, Colo .; he died in 1894. Mr. Freed is a

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man who has attained a large degree of success, and that, too, without assistance from anyone. He has made his own way in the world from an early age and by industry and good judgment has become the possessor of valuable business in- terests, besides acting as the incumbent of one of the most important county offices.

ILMER M. KINSMAN, who has resided in Colorado since 1863, and has been con- nected with the Midland Railroad shops constantly since 1888, is a member of an old family of Massachusetts, whose earliest records date back to 1337 in Northamptonshire, England. Robert (2d), son of Robert Kinsman (Ist), was born in England and crossed the ocean on the ship "Mary and John," from London to Boston in May, 1634. In 1635 the two, father and son, removed to Ipswich, Mass., where two years later they were given a grant to tracts of land and built a house near the present site of the south church of Ipswich. The son, who was born in 1629, was reared in Ipswich, and was made a freeman in 1673, a selectman in 1675, tithing man in 1677, and quartermaster in 1684. During the war with the Narragansetts he bore an active and valiant part.

Thomas, son of Robert (2d), was born in Ips- wich in 1662, and married Elizabeth Burnham. His son, Stephen, was born in Ipswich in 1688, and had a son, Jeremiah, who was a native of the same place and married Sarah Harris. Their son, William, born in Ipswich August 27, 1752, married Ann Brown, daughter of Lieut. Jacob and Anna (Quarles) Brown. William Kinsman was a member of Captain Parker's company of Newburyport, Mass., and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill and other Revolu- tionary engagements. His death occurred when he was ninety-one. He had a son William, who was born in Ipswich September 4, 1776, and mar- ried Sarah, daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth (Dodge) Brown. His entire life was spent in the house where he was born, and there he died at the age of ninety years and two months. Lon- gevity has been very noticeable in the various generations of the family.

D. F., son of William .Kinsman, was born in Ipswich January 10, 1828, and grew to manhood on his father's farm. He became a machinist and manufacturer in Columbus, Ohio. Later, removing to Bentonsport, Van Buren County, Iowa, he engaged in the manufacture of plows

until his shop was burned down. In 1860 he came with oxen to Colorado and spent a few months in Breckenridge, but in the fall of the same year returned east. In 1861 he again came overland, this time with a mule team. In the fall of 1861 he went back to Bentonsport, and in 1862, accompanied by his wife and two children, made the journey across the plains by ox-team to Breckenridge. Later he engaged in mining at California Gulch, where he was reasonably suc- cessful. In the fall of 1862 he removed to Colo- rado City, where he bought one-half block and entered eighty acres across the creek, at what is now Calvert Heights. For ten years he carried on a blacksmith's trade. In 1872 he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres on Cheyenne Creek, where he engaged in farming and the stock busi- ness. Later he turned his attention to mining in Colorado and New Mexico. Fraternally he was connected with the Odd Fellows. He was trustee of Colorado City for a time, and died in that city in 1888. His wife, who was Martha A. Wood, a native of Illinois, died in Colorado City in 1884. She was a daughter of Clement Wood, of a southern family, who settled in Illinois, thence removed to Iowa, and in 1862 went to California. On his return east he served as a commissioned officer in the Union army. He died in Bentons- port in 1896. Our subject was one of three sons, and was born in Bentonsport, Iowa, May 21, 1856. His brother, Clement Wood Kinsman, was at one time a trustee of Colorado City, where he is now living, and is a manufacturer of cement and plaster of paris. The other brother, Her- bert Clarence, is in the employ of the Colorado Midland in Colorado City.

In 1862 our subject was brought by his parents to Colorado and settled in Colorado City. He attended the public schools and for two terms was a student in Colorado College. For some years he was interested with his father in the stock business, after which he was employed in Kansas City, Mo., for three years. Since 1888 he has operated a moulding machine in the Midland shops. He resides in a residence built by him- self on the old home site in Colorado City. Po- litically a Republican, he was an alderman for two years, and served as chairman of the com- mittee on streets, also as a member of other com- mittees. He is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the American Yeomen.

The marriage of Mr. Kinsman in Colorado City united him with Miss Clara Brockelsby, who

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was born in Lawrence, Kan. They have four children, Ida, Hazel and Helen (twins) and Robert Earl. Mrs. Kinsman was fourth among nine children, six of whom are living. She is a daughter of William Brockelsby,a native of Eng- land, whose father, Robert Brockelsby, emigrated with his family to America and settled in Ohio. After his marriage William Brockelsby removed to a farm in Marion, Ohio, bnt later settled near Lawrence, Kan. During the war, at the time of Quantrell's raids, he was a marshal, and for four years, as lieutenant, was a member of the Sev- enth Kansas Regiment. He is now living retired in Lawrence. He is actively connected with the Grand Army. His wife, who was born in Eng- land, came with her parents to Ohio, and is still living.

ILLIAM A. LITTLEFIELD, proprietor of a leading book store of Trinidad, was born in Amherst, Mass., November 4, 1838, and is a son of Henry A. and Sarah A. Littlefield, natives of Maine. When only four years of age he was left fatherless. His educa- tion was obtained in the schools of Boston and Springfield. At seventeen years of age he went to Jefferson City, Mo., joining an engineering corps that engaged in the construction of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. From Missouri in 1860 he went to Bureau County, Ill., and made his home with an uncle. In January, 1865, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Illinois Infantry, and remained in the service until September, engaged in guard duty at Nash- ville and other points in Tennessee.

After having been mustered out of service in September, Mr. Littlefield secured employment in the construction of the Burlington & Missouri Railroad in Iowa, but in a short time he went back to Missouri and secured a position, at Sedalia, in the freight department of the Mis- souri Pacific Railroad. Two years were spent in that capacity, after which he entered the office of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad in Sedalia. In 1878 he resigned that position and came to Trinidad, where he was employed in clerical positions until 1887, and then purchased a half-interest in the book and stationery store of Julius H. Clark, on Main street. Two years later the firm title was changed to its present form, William A. Littlefield & Co. Abont 1888 le removed to the opposite side of the street, and has since occupied the same building. He car-

ried a complete line of books, making a specialty of text books and school supplies, in which he has a large trade. This is the oldest book store in the city, the business having been established in 1873.

March 17, 1880, Mr. Littlefield received from Governor Pitkin appointment as notary public, and has since been retained in this position, being now in his fifth term. For ten years he served as United States ganger, his district com- prising Colorado and Wyoming, but in 1897 he resigned the position. Through all the changes of the past he has remained loyal to the Repub- lican party, and always votes its ticket. Fra- ternally he is a member of Trinidad Lodge No. 17, I. O. O. F., and Jacob Abernathy Post 29, G. A. R. May 30, 1883, he married Emma C. Hamlett, of Lexington, Mo., who owns the "company" interest in the firm of which he is the head.

12 AVID BARNES was elected superintendent of the schools of Prowers Connty in 1897 and has since showed the greatest efficiency in the discharge of his official duties. He is en- titled to rank among the pioneers of the county, for he came here in 1886, the same year that the town of Lamar was laid out, and three years be- fore the organization of Prowers County by its separation from Bent. His first work here was that of entering and improving land. His fellow- citizens, appreciating his worth, enlarged his sphere of usefulness by electing him to his pres- ent office-a jnst recognition of his valne as a citizen. To this office he has carried the same degree of energy, the same spirit of industry that has always characterized him, and under his supervision educational interests have made a steady advance.

A son of John and Elizabeth (Harger) Barnes, the subject of this sketch was born in Nemaha County, Neb., November 17, 1865. His boy- hood days were spent on a farm and in the ac- quirement of a practical education. In 1886 he left home and came to Colorado, where he took up a timber claim. During the spring following he pre-empted and improved land near Granada. His first presidential vote was cast for Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and he has since voted the Re- publican ticket.

In Coolidge, Kan., May 22, 1887, occurred the marriage of Mr. Barnes to Miss Sarah Ella Dyas, who was born in Canton, Mo., and graduated

JUDGE P. W. SWEENEY.

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from the Christian University, in that town. After completing her education she engaged in teaching school, which occupation she followed in Missouri and Nebraska, later coming to what is now Prowers County, Colo. As a teacher she was very successful, and Mr. Barnes also met with success in that profession, which he followed for some years, in connection with his other work. He is therefore capable of judging the different methods of instruction, and can advise and counsel teachers understandingly. One of his most important changes since coming into office has been the introduction of a uniform reading course among the teachers of the county, which plan is bringing good results. He and his wife are the parents of three children: Ella Beatrice, Joy and John Gordon. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Barnes has been a class-leader and a teacher in the Sunday-school.

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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 74

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