Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 81

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 81

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John Black, the doctor's father, was born in the north of Ireland and came to the United States at the age of fifteen, settling in Cumber- land, Md., where he engaged in the hotel busi- ness. Later he resided in Wheeling, W. Va., and finally settled on a farm in that state, where he remained until his death. He married Lydia

ALEXANDER HINKLEY.

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Smith, who was born in Shippensburg, Pa., of remote German descent, and died in West Vir- ginia. Their six sons and four daughters at- tained years of maturity and all but one son still survive. Our subject, who was one of the youngest children, was born in Wheeling Octo- ber 27, 1858, and attended the public and high schools there in youth, afterward graduating from a business college. His first business vent- ure was as a druggist, and at the same time he carried on the study of medicine under a local physician. With the money saved while in busi- ness, he defrayed his expenses while in the medi- cal department of the Columbian University of Washington, from which he graduated in March, 1882, with the degree of M. D. Two months after graduating he established his office in South Pueblo, now a part of Pueblo, where he has since engaged in practice. Politically he gives his ballot to the candidates of the Democratic party, of whose principles he is a supporter. For one term (1889-91) he held the office of county coroner. Other offices of local trust and respon- sibility would have been given him from time to time had he so desired, but he has preferred to con- centrate his mind upon his profession, to which he is intensely devoted. He is a member of the Alumni Association of Columbian University, his alma mater.

A' LEXANDER HINKLEY is the owner of a large ranch ten miles from Kit Carson, Cheyenne County, and near the Kansas Pa- cific Railroad. Since he settled here, in July, 1875, he has engaged in raising cattle and horses, and through the energy and good judgment dis- played in his work, has accumulated a valuable competency. He was born in Alexandria, Va., in 1835, a son of Daniel and Mary (Mattocks) Hinkley. His father, who was a son of Patrick Hinkley, was born in Pennsylvania in 1811, and in youth learned the trade of a carpenter and builder. He was the first carpenter to erect a building in Virginia by the square. After some ten years in the Old Dominion, he removed to Ma- son County, Ky., where he followed his trade. Thence he went to Brown County, Ohio, and fi- nally settled in Iowa, where the remainder of his life was passed. For twenty-five years before his death he engaged in the ministry of the Christian Church. At the time of his death he was sev- enty years of age.

The mother of our subject was a young girl

when she accompanied her parents from Ireland to America, and soon afterward her father died. She died in Iowa at the age of sixty and was buried by the side of her husband at Rochester, that state. In their family were five sons and three daughters. Of these John, who was a railroad engineer, was killed on the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad in 1872; Dan is a farmer in Kansas, while Jacob cultivates a farm in Iowa; William was drowned in the Cedar River in Iowa; Sarah is the wife of Joseph Iler, of Washta, Iowa; Eliza, Mrs. H. B. Hempery, lives in Chicago; and Margaret married John J. Gifford and lives in Estherville, Iowa.

When the family settled in Brown County, Ohio, our subject was nine years of age. He was educated in private schools there. At fifteen years of age he began to learn the blacksmith's trade, but never followed it. Later he was em- ployed as fireman on the Bell Fontain Railroad for six months. After his brother, John, became connected with the New Albany & Salem (now the Monon) road he secured employment on it, and during the fifty-six months he remained in that position, he never lost a day. For three months he ran a. locomotive on the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, after which he was connected with the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad for two years, later was with the Chicago & St. Paul Railroad for a year. In the spring of 1860 he came to Colorado, arriving in Denver, which he found to be a small town with only three brick buildings. In the fall of 1862, having returned to Denver after a time spent in Salt Lake City, he entered Company I, First Colorado Infantry (subsequently cavalry ), and continued in the serv- ice for three years, taking part in a number of engagements in the west. After the war was over he spent one year in government employ at Den- ver, later was in Texas for a year, and then re- turned to Colorado, where he worked for differ- ent parties. In July, 1875, he settled upon the ranch where he has since engaged in the stock business.

During the long period of his residence in Colo- rado, Mr. Hinkley has seen its progress, from a sparsely settled territory to a progressive, popu- lous state. In early days he became acquainted with many of the noted scouts, among them Kit Carson, with whom he served for a year or more in the army. He experienced all the hardships of life on the frontier, but his is a nature fitted to contend with obstacles, and he has enjoyed his

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busy life on the plains. In 1876 he married Fredericka Westhoff, and they had two children, Alice, and Lydia (deceased). The second wife of Mr. Hinkley was Mary Heslew, a native of Wis- consin, her father, William Heslew, having emi- grated from Prussia to Wisconsin and followed the carpenter and cabinet-maker's trade there until his death. She was one of a family of two brothers and seven sisters, the others being: Harmon, a farmer in Nebraska; Edward, who is engaged in the livery business in eastern Ne- braska; Minnie, who married Frederick Clinefelt and lives in Nebraska; Mrs. Amelia Mattocks, of Oregon; Emma, Mrs. Jacob Doth, deceased; Louisa, who is married and lives in Wisconsin; Annie, Mrs. James Graham, of Oklahoma; and Ada, wife of M. F. Phister, of Idaho. In poli- tics our subject is a Democrat.

OHN PETER FALKENBERG, a general merchant of Westcliffe, Custer County, was born in Utica, N. Y., in 1845, and is of German parentage. His father, Anton Falken- berg, came to the United States in the early '40S and afterward followed the trade of a cabinet- maker and millwright, which he had thoroughly learned in the old country. In 1845 he removed to Detroit, Mich., and there remained for ten years, after which he went to Chicago. In 1865 he retired from active business, but continued to reside in Chicago until his death. Politically he was a Democrat, and in religion a Catholic. His first wife, whom he married in Utica, N. Y., was Gertrude Schumacher, and they became the parents of six children, three now living: John Peter; Andrew, a business man of Chicago; and Kate, also of Chicago. After the death of his first wife he married Susan Berger, by whom he had three children: Frank A., who is a druggist in Chicago; Caroline, who is a teacher of music in a convent at Green Bay, Wis .; and Amelia, who is similarly engaged in St. Louis. The third wife of Mr. Falkenberg was Caroline Studer, who survives her husband and resides in Chicago.

The education of our subject was commenced in Detroit and completed in Chicago, where he attended a parochial school conducted by Chris- tian Brothers. He gained a knowledge of busi- ness matters through attendance at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College in Chicago. Under his father he learned the carpenter's trade and afterward also became a practical tinner. When

about twenty-three years of age he opened an office at Twenty-ninth and State streets, Chicago, and became a real-estate dealer, buying and sell- ing property south of Twenty-ninth street.

When the colony was formed to come to Colo- rado in 1870, Mr. Falkenberg determined to join them, and in the fall of that year located in the upper end of Wet Mountain Valley. In the spring of the following year he removed to Pu- eblo, where he worked as a carpenter for two years. At the time he came to this state, the railroad extended no further than River Bend, one hundred miles from Denver, and the re- mainder of the journey was necessarily made by wagon, but while he was living in Pueblo, the railroad was extended to that point. In the early part of 1873 he moved back to the valley and lo- cating a ranch, followed his trade, while at the same time he began the improvement of the property. After three years on the ranch he went to Ula, a village two miles north of Westcliffe. In 1876 he started in the mercantile business there, putting up a building in which he carried a stock of goods. From 1879 to 1888 he also served as postmaster of the village. Starting on a small scale, as his trade grew his stock was en- larged, until finally he had a complete assortment of goods.

Westcliffe having been started, Mr. Falken- berg came here in 1888, and erected a stone store building, fifty-five feet deep. Two years later he built the residence he has since occupied. One year after coming to this village he increased the size of his store building to one hundred and twenty-five feet depth, so that he had 25X125 feet for his large stock of merchandise. Besides this, he put up the adjoining building, 25x70 feet, and now has his dry goods in a separate building across the street. During all these years he has continued to operate his ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, which lies about six miles west of town and on which he raises fine crops of grain, potatoes and hay.

Politically Mr. Falkenberg has always affiliated with the Democratic party. In 1892-93 he served as county treasurer, and has also been a member of the town board. For seven years he has been identified with the school board. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. He has assisted in de- veloping the mining interests of Custer County, having a tunnel seven hundred and fifty feet on a promising prospect, and is also interested in the Bull Domingo mine. August 8, 1870, he mar-

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ried Barbara Lanzendorfer, of Chicago, but a na- tive of Rochester, N. Y. They became the par- ents of four sons and three daughters, all of whom are living but one daughter. They are named as follows: Charles William, who assists liis fa- ther in the store; Amelia and Carrie, who con- duct the dry-goods store on the opposite side of the street from the main store; Frank A., who helps his father in business; Grover Edward and Henry.

HARLES W. MC REYNOLDS, of Colorado Springs, was born in Wantage, Sussex County, N. J., December 8, 1842, a son of Rev. Anthony and Susannah ( Hodges) McRey- nolds. His paternal grandfather, who was a na- tive of Scotland, came to America some years prior to the Revolution, but after a time returned to the British Isles and settled in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland, where he became a large land owner. He married an English lady, who died at the age of one hundred years; he was one hundred and two at the time of his death.

Born in Dungannon, Ireland, Anthony McRey- nolds was educated in Edinburgh for the ministry and became an ordained clergyman in the Pres- byterian Church. After his marriage to Miss Hodges, who was a native of Ireland, he re- mained for a short time in that country, and then emigrated to the United States and accepted a pastorate in New Jersey. Afterward he estab- lished a church in what is now a suburb of Cleve- land, Ohio. In 1848 he began the practice of law in Cleveland, and soon attained prominence in his profession. In politics he was a Republican and a strong Abolitionist. During the adminis- tration of President Lincoln he was appointed consul to Ireland and left his home for Washing- ton, where his commission was to be handed him. In Baltimore, however, he was taken seriously ill, and decided to decline the appointment. With the exception of some years spent in Ann Arbor, Mich., in order that his children might attend the state university, he continued to reside in Cleveland until his death, at eighty-two years, in 1886. By his first wife, who died in Ohio, he had three children: Mrs. Ann Deardorf, who died in Ohio in 1877; Mrs. Sarah Bonner, of Eden- ton, N. C .; and Charles William, of this sketch. By his second marriage three children were born: Frederick, Frank and Mrs. Hattie Prentice, all of Cleveland. Our subject was an infant when

his parents moved to Cleveland, and there he studied in the grammar and high schools. When a mere boy he learned telegraphy, and when the overland telegraph line was completed he was of- fered $60 per month in gold as operator at Rocky Ridge (now South Pass City), Wyo. He came west in 1861 via stage from St. Joe. After re- maining a short time at Rocky Ridge he was transferred to Pacific Springs. In 1862 he re- turned to Cleveland and joined the Cleveland Grays, Company D, Eighty-fourth Ohio In- fantry, May 26 of that year, and served until September 20, when he was mustered out and discharged, liis service having been principally in Winchester, Va., and Cumberland, Md. In February, 1863, he entered the service of the United States military telegraph corps as cipher clerk, and remained until the spring of 1865, when he resigned at Nashville, Tenn. He was first assigned to Memphis, Tenn., with the rank of first lieutenant, and served successively with Generals Hulbert, McPherson, Banks and Thomas, and was intermediate cipher operator between Generals Grant and Sherman. While he was serving with Gen. J. J. Wilson, illness in his family caused him to resign. During his service he had many exciting and hazardous ex- periences. While constructing telegraph lines at different places to open communication with the troops, he was captured three times, first by Sol Street's guerillas, then by General Forrest (both of which times he made his escape), and last by McNeerey's guerillas, who released him. As an operator he was especially valuable to Federal of- ficers by reason of the fact that he had committed to memory the three different ciphers, and was, therefore, not obliged to carry a key, which might have been captured with him.

Upon leaving the telegraph service Mr. McRey- nolds studied law under Judge Bishop, and later entered the Ohio State Law School, from which he was graduated. He then traveled in Old Mexico for two years, also took a trip to Chili, South America, and to California, thence took the first stage through from the terminus of the railroad to Utah, and became the first Western Union operator at Corinne, receiving the first message ever delivered in that town. His next station was Box Elder, or Brigham City, where he remained for a year. From 1873 to 1876 he remained principally in Texas, and from that state went back east. In 1878, during the yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, he volunteered to go

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to that city as operator, and remained there some months. The following year he went to Colo- rado and became an employe of the Santa Fe Railroad Company at Pueblo. For six years he was the company's agent at Nepesta, Pueblo County, and at the same time served as justice of the peace. In 1887 he went to Leadville. At the beginning of the Cripple Creek excitement he was general forwarding agent of the Grant Trans- fer Company, which handled almost all of the ore out and the freight into the camp. He was man- ager of the Beaver Park Land Company, which located the town site of Gillett. At the same time he became interested in mines, and is now president and general manager of the Pay Car Gold Mining and Leasing Company. In Janu- ary, 1896, he came to Colorado Springs and opened a brokerage office. In the fall of the same year he was elected justice of the peace and held the position for two years.

The first wife of Mr. McReynolds was Julia Ranney, who was born in Cleveland and died there. His second marriage, which took place in Dodge City, Kan., united him with Miss Flor- ence Smith, who was born in Ohio. They have one daughter, Pearl.

Always a Republican, in 1896 Mr. McRey- nolds became an adherent of the silver branch of the party. In 1897 he was secretary of the county committee. He was made a member of the Odd Fellows' Order in Colorado, and belongs to the lodge at Colorado Springs. He is also identified with Colorado Springs Post No. 22, G. A. R .; El Paso County Pioneers' Society, the Old Time Telegraphers' Association and the State Keeley League, of which he has served as president.

Naturally of a roving disposition, with a desire for adventure and excitement. in youth he fell into those temptations that assail the thoughtless and gay, but in after years, seeing the folly of his course, he showed genuine Scotch determination in gaining the victory over every temptation and settling down to a life of steady industry and up- rightness. He is a man who is respected by all who know him.

OHN G. SCHWEIGERT, county attorney of Custer County, residing in Westcliffe, was born in Toledo, Ohio, in November, 1862, and is a son of John G. and Barbara (Dueringer) Schweigert. He and his sister, Freda, Mrs. Herman Hahn, of Toledo, are the

survivors of the original family of five children, whose father came to America in 1849 and en- gaged in building and contracting in Toledo. When he was but four years of age his father died and five years later his mother passed away, after which he was taken into the home of an uncle, who was engaged in the tobacco business in Toledo.

In the spring of 1880 Mr. Schweigert came to Colorado, first settling in Ute City, near Aspen, where he was engaged in mining until the fall of 1881. Afterward he made his headquarters at Cotopaxi, Fremont County, until 1884, and while there he began the study of law. Coming from that place to Custer County, he continued his studies with Judge Adams as preceptor. In 1889 he was elected county judge and three years later was re-elected, serving in all for five years, but resigning one year prior to the expira- tion of his second term. He was admitted to the bar in 1893 and has since engaged in the general practice of his profession. His work as judge, and also as clerk of the district court under Judge Bailey, gave him a diversity of experience and an excellent insight into different phases of juris- prudence, which was of inestimable value to him in his later practice. Besides his general and county practice he acts as counsel for the Custer County Cattle Growers' Association.

Active in the local work of the Democratic party, Mr. Schweigert has regularly attended county conventions and has also been a delegate to those of the state. Besides being county judge for five years and clerk of the district court for six years, he held the office of mayor for two terms, and in these various capacities proved himself an earnest, efficient and reliable official. In the adjudicating of the water rights of this section he acted as referee. In all matters of especial importance, pertaining to the drawing up of papers, as trustee, administrator, etc., he is always relied upon, and has served as executor of the majority of the estates in the county. In the midst of other duties he has maintained his interest in mining and has done much toward the development of mines in this county. Fraternally he is connected with Rosita Lodge No. 25, A. O. U. W., and Westcliffe Camp No. 309, Woodmen of the World.

January 31, 1887, Mr. Schweigert married Alice C., daughter of Rev. L. W. Smith, of Rosita. They have two sons and one daughter, John L., Willie G. and Marie A.

JOHN P. BREEN.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

OHN P. BREEN, superintendent of the Wat. son, Robinson & Cameron mines at Walsen- burg, has been connected with the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company since 1884. First as a coal miner, in the spring of 1887 he was promoted and made pile mine foreman, which position he held until 1892. Afterward he was sent to Rouse, Huerfano County, and from there, October 1, 1892, was transferred to Walsenburg, as superin- tendent of the mines at this place. He has en- gaged iu prospecting in this county and other parts of the San Luis Valley and in the Red River district of New Mexico, also in Gunnison County, in all of which places he has staked out claims. During the twenty-two years in which he has en- gaged in mining, he has made a close study of every detail connected with the business and few are better informed than he regarding the value of claims and their feasibility for profitable opera- tion.

The father of our subject, John Breen, Sr., was born in Ireland and in 1843 (the year following our subject's birth) brought his family to the United States, settling in Minersville, Schuylkill County, Pa., and engaging in coal mining, which occupation he had followed in Ireland. He had owned one of the first coal mines in County Kil- kenny and had operated it for several years. Having from youth been identified with the coal mining industry, he was well fitted to engage in it with practical success. He remained in Minersville until his death, which occurred in 1875, at the age of seventy-five. By his mar- riage to Anna Grudy, he had five children, name- ly: Mary, wife of Daniel Brennan, of Miners- ville; Patrick, of the same place; Peter, deceased; Anna, wife of Simon Kirwick, who lives in Phil- adelphia; and John. The mother of these chil- dren had died in Ireland when her youngest child, our subject, was only nine months old.

At the age of thirteen our subject began to as- sist his father in the mines. Five years later he went to New York City, where for one year he worked at stair-building, and then, returning to Minersville, served an apprenticeship of three years to the cabinet-maker's trade. After com- pleting his time he went to Philadelphia, where he followed carpentering, building and contract- ing, and erected several dwellings in the north- western part of the city, also a number of busi- ness blocks. The year after the Centennial he went to the oil regions and began the manufac- ture of oil-well supplies and derricks at Bradford,

Pa. After continuing in that business for some time, in December, 1879, hestarted for Colorado, and in January, 1880, arrived in Buena Vista, from which point he proceeded to Leadville. There he followed his trade until May, when he went into the Gunnison country and began pros- pecting; at the same time heassisted in the erec- tion of buildings in the towns of Ruby and Crested Butte. He still owns two patented claims in the Gunnison district. In 1882 he secured employ- ment as a carpenter in the anthracite mines near Crested Butte. In 1884 he entered the employ of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, with which he has since remained.

Since coming to Walsenburg Mr. Breen has purchased a substantial residence, and here he and his wife (who was formerly Miss Jennie Moore, of Philadelphia) have established a cosy and comfortable home. In his political belief he is a strong supporter of free silver and believes that, only by a restoration of silver to its proper standard, can a permanent prosperity be secured for our people. With the exception of this plank, he is in sympathy with the Republican platform.

RANK L. KENNICOTT is the owner of a pleasant home in the Wet Mountain Val- ley, where he is engaged in stock-raising and farming. On locating here in 1871, he took up one hundred and sixty acres of land, and with thirteen cows and a few potatoes for planting, he began for himself. The start was very small, but from it he has worked his way to be one of the leading cattlemen of Custer County. When he came to this section, there was a scanty popu- lation and the land was wild, while all the sur- roundings were those of the frontier. He has increased his rauch until it includes ten hundred and forty acres. His principal farm products are grain and hay, the annual average of the latter being seven hundred tons. Every fall he buys from three to four hundred head of cattle, which he feeds during the winter and sells in the spring.

In Cook County, Il1., Mr. Kennicott was born December 13, 1842. The family of which he is a member came to America prior to the Revolution and settled near Albany, N. Y. About 1833 his father, Hiram Kennicott, a native of Albany, and for some years a resident of New Orleans, settled in Illinois. When very young he read law and, by special act of legislature, was ad- mitted to the bar before he was of age, after which he engaged in practice in New Orleans.

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However, after removing to Illinois, he became the owner of a sawmill and several stores, and later engaged in the dairy business. He was a prominent and influential man, and, while not seeking office for himself, was active in assisting his friends and was one whose advice was sought for. By his marriage to Eugenia Ransom, mem- ber of an old family of Buffalo, there were born twelve children; all are still living, and the oldest is sixty-one, while the youngest is more than thirty. They are named as follows: Ransom, a retired first lieutenant, U. S. A., and colonel of the Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry during the Civil war, now living retired in Chicago; George, who was a captain in the Thirty-seventh Illinois In- fantry, and is now with the Chicago & Alton Rail- road in Chicago; Frank L .; Rose; Harold, a farmer at Delta, Colo .; Mary, wife of Frederick C. Hale, of Chicago; Lillie, who married H. D. Smith and resides in Denver; William, who carries on a fruit business in Colorado, his home being at Delta; Victor, in Denver; James, a ranchman at Delta; Clarence, a farmer and fruit- grower at Delta; and Eugenia, Mrs. Jesse Hart, of Delta.

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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 81

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