Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 88

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 88

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The subject of this sketch was the third of four children, and was born in Newburyport October 20, 1857. He has an older sister, Margaret, and a younger sister, Susan W., who resides in New- buryport, while his brother, Willard J., who is a merchant in Newburyport, is one of the most prominent men of that town, being a director in the national bank there, trustee of the savings bank, ex-member of the state legislature, present register of deeds of Essex County, and ex-presi- dent of the city council. When our subject was two years of age his father died. He was educated in the grammar and high schools. At the age of seventeen he embarked in the mercantile busi- ness. In 1878 he went to Buffalo, N. Y., where he remained for some years, but his health was severely injured by the climate, and in 1883 he returned to Massachusetts. The following year he came to Colorado Springs, and after two years of recuperation he engaged in the real-estate business. For three years he was in the employ

640

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Mr. Kennedy, after which he entered the in- surance and real-estate business for himself.

In Stamford, N. Y., Mr. Hale married Miss Lucy D. St. John, who was born there. They have three daughters, Margaret, Agnes and Helen. The family are identified with the First Congregational Church of Colorado Springs, in which Mr. Hale is an active worker and an officer. He was made a Mason in El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M., with which he is still con- nected. The Colorado Springs Lodge, B.P.O E., numbers him among its active members.

OHN S. O'NEAL, chairman of the board of commissioners of Archuleta County, was born in Texas in 1847, a son of George Washington and Mary (Magers) O'Neal. The first twenty-five years of his life were passed in Texas. Being reared on the frontier he had little opportunity for attending school, but through observation and self-culture he acquired a broad knowledge. His early years were de- voted to the cattle business in the south. In 1873 he moved from Texas to New Mexico, and three years later he settled in La Plata County, Colo. While he was on the trail from Texas to New Mexico the Comanche Indians attacked his party, killed his partner, Wilson Keefe, and stole about one thousand head of their cattle and eighty head of horses.

On Pine River, in LaPlata County, Mr. O'Neal homesteaded a quarter-section of land, where he engaged in raising stock. For a time he made a specialty of fine horses. He also carried on gen- eral farm pursuits. In 1887 he disposed of his property there and moved to Archuleta County. Here he bought three hundred and twenty acres in what is known as O'Neal Park, fifteen miles northwest of Pagosa Springs. On this place he has engaged in raising hay and other farm prod- ucts to be used as feed. In stock his specialty has been Shorthorn cattle, of which he has one of the largest herds in the county. He was the first settler in O'Neal Park, which was named in his honor and comprises an area of 15 x 10 miles. During the summer months he resides at the park, while in the winter he occupies his fine home in Pagosa Springs, which he built in 1895.

A lifelong Democrat Mr. O'Neal is active in local politics. In 1895 he was elected a member of the board of commissioners, of which he has been the chairman. He is interested in move- ments for the benefit of his town and county, and

is a public-spirited, progressive man, who is not selfish in his ambitions, but works for the up- building of the county and the welfare of all of its citizens. In 1889 he assisted in the incorpor- ation of the town of Pagosa, of which he served as a trustee for three years. Two things he has worked for with especial enthusiasm, and these are good roads and good schools. He believes the progress of the county can best be promoted by these two agencies. Without good roads progress physically is slow; without good schools progress intellectually is slow. As a member of the school board of district No. I he has advanced the interests of education in his neighborhood. The fact that he was deprived of educational ad- vantages when he was a boy has made him es- pecially anxious that the children of this genera- tion should not suffer in this respect.

October 3, 1869, Mr. O'Neal married Virginia Keefe, by whom he has two children (twins), Eben and Lucy. He has been one of the success- ful stockmen of Archuleta County. His pros- perity is due largely to his determination of char- acter. "Go ahead " has been the motto of his life; and he has lived up to this motto in spite of reverses and in the face of obstacles. He keeps himself posted concerning the issues before our nation and is a thoughtful reader of current newspapers and periodicals. The first newspaper he ever read was the New York Tribune, of which Horace Greeley was the editor, and from that time to this he has continued to read the best of our publications.

é UGENE L. MYERS, proprietor of a store and hotel in Antonito, Conejos County, was born in Ohio in 1859, and received his edu- cation in public schools in Illinois. For three years he served an apprenticeship to the jewelry business at Chatsworth, Ill. In 1880 he came to Colorado and for three years was employed as night clerk in the Alamosa hotel. In 1883 he embarked in the stock business at Antonito, near which village he had a ranch with two hundred and fifty head of fine cattle, but in 1886 he sold the stock and opened a general store in town. He has since built up a profitable trade and is the owner of one of the largest general stores in the village, whose business interests he so capably represents. Besides his property here he is in- terested in real estate in Denver and owns some dwelling-houses there.

Supporting the Democratic party Mr. Myers

641

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

has been active in local affairs. For two years he was town trustee of Antonito. Under Sheriff Smith he was for six years deputy sheriff of Con- ejos County. In 1891 he was chosen to serve as mayor of Antonito, and so satisfactory was his work that in 1893, 1895 and 1897 he was re- elected to the office. In all local enterprises he has been a leading factor. He was one of the leading workers in the organization of the Anto- nito Ditch and Land Company, of which he has been president since 1892 and in which he is a heavy stockholder. In the building of the ditch he took an active part, realizing that it would prove of the utmost value in the upbuilding of the town and surrounding country.

During 1890 Mr. Myers erected the Palace Hotel block, the first floor of which is utilized for his store, while in the upper part he has a hotel. He is one of the substantial men of the place and justly stands high among his fellow- citizens. Fraternally he is a member of Antonito Lodge No. 63, I. O. O. F. In 1885 he was united in marriage with Miss Jennie, daughter of R. H. Beers. They became the parents of five children, but their oldest son was accidentally killed in 1888. The other children are: Mabel, Ralph, Layton and Gertrude.

AMMON POLLARD, who for years has suc- cessfully engaged in the cattle business, is one of the leading citizens of Pueblo, where he has various important interests. For some years, as a member of the firm of Pollard & Wylie, he has conducted the Star livery at No. 127 East Fourth street. He took an active part in the organization of the Standard Fire Brick Company, of which he is now secretary and a director. As a stockholder in the Mercantile National Bank he is connected with another im- portant local enterprise. He is a director in the North Dundee Land Company, which laid out Dundee Place addition to Pueblo, comprising forty acres of improved property.

The Pollard family is of English descent. Our subject's great-grandfather enlisted in a Massa- chusetts regiment that served in the Revolutionary war. His son, Samnel, was born in Massachu- setts, but removed to Charlestown, on the Con- necticut River, in Sullivan County, N. H., where he cleared a farm from a tract of timber land. Ephraim, our subject's father, was born in Charlestown and in early life settled on a raw tract of land, from which he improved a valuable

farm. He continued to reside on that place until his death, in 1864, at sixty-four years of age. He married Clarissa Currier, who was born in Langdon, Sullivan County, N. H., her father, Joseph Currier, having been an early settler and farmer there. She died in Providence, R. I. Of her six children, all but one are still living, two of the sons being in Pueblo.

On the home farm near Charlestown, where he was born December 26, 1833, our subject grew to manhood. In 1855 he went to Chicago, Il1., where for ten years he was an employe of a wholesale and retail grocery firm. In August, 1866, he came to Pueblo, joining a brother, Mil- ton, who had come to Colorado in 1860. He at once located a ranch on St. Charles Creek, six- teen miles southwest of Pueblo. At that time no survey had been made, but as soon as the land was surveyed he homesteaded and pre-empted a tract, and later bought considerable property, finally becoming the owner of eight hundred acres of irrigated land, the water for which was provided by the Pollard ditch, four miles in length. While he raised some grain for feed, the land was used principally for the pastnrage of stock. He used as his brand "P O" on the left side. The increase in the number of cattle on Colorado ranges led the brothers, in 1877, to re- move to the Panhandle, shipping their cattle by train loads, and they continued there until 1882, when they sold out, the brother going to Kan- sas, while our subject returned to Colorado and in 1886 re-invested in cattle; these he kept on his ranches in El Paso County, Tex. In 1882 he embarked in the grocery business in Pueblo, but after two years sold out. He then started the Dexter stables, on Sixth street, continuing there until the stables were burned down, when he started the Star Livery Company's stables.

In Texas Mr. Pollard is interested (with a partner) in over fifty thousand acres of state and railroad land fenced, and the water for his cattle on these lands is obtained by drilling wells several hundred feet deep. Besides his other interests he owns ranching property in Pueblo County, and mining property in the Cripple Creek dis- trict. At one time he was connected with the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association, but, on moving his cattle to Texas, became interested in the Texas Stock Association. He assisted in organizing the Victor Electric Light Company and was treasurer and a director for about three years, when he sold his stock. He assisted in

642

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

organizing the Pueblo Light, Heat and Power Company and was a director until its consolida- tion with the Pueblo Light and Power Company, in which he is still interested. Politically he is a Republican. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, in which he serves as an elder and trustee. By his marriage, in Pueblo, to Miss Eliza Davis, a native of Indiana, he has four children now living. The oldest child, Alice Carey, died at sixteen years of age, shortly be- fore she would have graduated. The others are: Charles H., an electrical engineer at Victor; Hat- tie Emma, a graduate of the high school of Pueblo and a member of the University of Colo- rado, class of 1901; Grace and Horace, who are attending the Pueblo schools.

L BNER J. LEWIS, mayor of Pagosa Springs, Archuleta County, was born in Rockville,

- Ind., in 1847, a son of George A. and Mary (Hamilton) Lewis. When fourteen years of age he accompanied his parents to Kansas, where he was educated in the higher branches. His first active experience in life was in 1862, when he acted as drummer boy at the mustering camp near his home in Indiana. At the age of nineteen he began to learn the trades of baker and barber, both of which he followed until 1885. In 1873 he came to Colorado and after a short time in Pueblo and one season in Black Hawk, in 1874 he settled in the new town of Del Norte, where he remained about five years. In 1878 he came to Pagosa Springs (then Fort Lewis), where he has since engaged in business. In 1886 he built a house, in the front part of which he opened a barber shop, but this building was destroyed by fire in 1894. The next year he rebuilt. In 1887 he erected a substantial business block in the cen- ter of the town and there he conducted a meat business for a year, but afterward sold the build- ing, which is now used as a town hall. He has done much to promote the growth of the town and erected three of the main business blocks here, besides his residence.

Upon all questions affecting the public welfare Mr. Lewis has had the courage of his opinions, which he has expressed openly, fearing neither friend or foe. While he usually votes the Demo- cratic ticket, he is not bound by party ties, but in local elections votes for the best man. For several years he served as town trustee. In 1894 he was elected mayor, which position he has since held, by re-election each year. He has re-

fused nomination for county offices, believing he could serve his town and his fellow-citizens more efficiently by taking no part in county work. In fraternal connections he is a member of Pagosa Camp No. 412, Woodmen of the World. In the course of his life he has met with many obstacles and has had much that would have dis- couraged a man of less determination of character, but he has persevered, and through intelligent, honest labor, has attained a fair degree of success.

HARLES H. FREEMAN, county clerk of Archuleta County, and one of the extensive cattle dealers of southern Colorado, has spent almost his entire life in this state, but was born in Hancock County, Ill., where the first seven years of his life (1863-70) were spent. He was one of three children, of whom his sister, Carrie, and he survive. In 1870 he accompanied his parents, Henry E. and Sarah E. (Melvin) Free- man, to Colorado, and settled with them in Colo- rado Springs, where he attended public school. In 1877 he came with them to what is now Pa- gosa Springs, and here he has since made his home.

By pre-emption Mr. Freeman secured a tract of land, upon which he embarked in the stock busi- ness, and he is now the owner of a ranch of four hundred and eighty acres lying near Pagosa Springs. For a time he was proprietor of a butcher shop in Leadville. In 1889-90 he car- ried on a mercantile business at Pagosa. Of late years he has given his attention largely to the buying and selling of cattle, in which busi- ness he has met with success.

As a supporter of the Republican party Mr. Freeman has been active in local politics, and has given his allegiance to all measures for the benefit of his party and his community. In 1891 he was chosen to serve as treasurer of Archuleta County, and two years later was re-elected, serving four years altogether. The position of clerk, to which he was elected in 1895 for the first time, he filled with such efficiency that in 1897 he was re- elected, and is the present incumbent of the office. For the various offices he has held, in all except his first election as treasurer, he was the nominee of the Republican party, endorsed by the Democrats. He has been one of the leaders of his party in the county and has been a factor in its success.

The marriage of Mr. Freeman took place in 1886 and united him with Catherine Rogers, a

J. W. TULLES, M. D.

645

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

native of Delta County, Colo .; they have two daughters, Hattie and Irene. In fraternal con- nections Mr. Freeman is connected with the blue lodge of Masons at Durango, and Pagosa Camp No. 412, Woodmen of the World. An intelli- gent, law-abiding and enterprising citizen, he has won the regard of his associates and the respect of all with whom business or official relations have brought him in contact.

OHN W. TULLES, M. D., a successful physician at Cheyenne Wells, also superin- tendent of the schools of Cheyenne County, was born near Fairfield, Iowa, in 1852. His father, Capt. Perry Tulles, was born in Ohio and spent his early manhood in that state, but about 1850 removed to Iowa and has since engaged in farming in that state. During the war he raised a company assigned to the Twenty-third Iowa Infantry and was commissioned its captain, but was injured and forced to retire from the service. Farming has been his life occupation and in it he has met with success. From an early age he has been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His father, David Tulles, who was a captain in the war of 1812, built two large flour mills in Ohio and for years engaged in the milling business there. For some years he also served as judge of Guernsey County, and was also sent to the legislature. When ad- vanced in years he removed to Iowa, and there died.

The mother of our subject was Sarah Wheeler, a native of Ohio. Her father, Samuel Wheeler, who was a planter of Virginia, removed from there to Ohio and finally went to Iowa, where he died at ninety-nine years. He was a man of business ability and accumulated considerable wealth. Our subject was one of a family con- sisting of three sons and eight daughters. Of these, Lee is a carpenter and farmer in Oklahoma, and was a private in the Civil war; Dr. Morgan Tulles is a dentist in Kansas; Melissa died at two years of age; Alameda died in 1876; Eva is the wife of Henry Sheffer and lives in Washington state; Jennie, Mrs. James Bracewell, resides in Iowa; Viola, Mrs. A. L. Doty, lives in Washing- ton state; Mattie resides with her parents in Iowa; and Sarah, who was perhaps the most gifted of all the children, died at eighteen years.

The education of our subject was obtained in the school at Garden Grove, Iowa. At the age of twenty-one he left the farm and commenced to

teach school, which occupation he followed for ten years, in Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. In 1884 he embarked in the drug business in eastern Kansas, but in a short time settled in Great Bend, that state, and in the fall of 1887 sold out his business and entered the Kansas City Medical College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1889. In January, 1890, he came to Cheyenne Wells, where he established a drug store and began to practice his profession. During the same year he was made assistant surgeon of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, which position he has since held.

In the spring of 1891 Dr. Tulles was elected a member of the school board and at the same time was appointed clerk of the district court, which latter position he held until 1895. On resigning the clerkship he was appointed super- intendent of schools of Cheyenne County. In the fall of 1895 he was elected county superin- tendent, and two years later was re-elected to the position. To these various offices he has been elected upon the Republican ticket, being a stanch advocate of that party. Fraternally he is connected with Ivan Lodge No. 100, I. O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

The marriage of Dr. Tulles, which took place in 1876, united him with Miss Mattie J. Harris, a native of Ohio. Four sons and two daughters were born of their union, namely: Carl M., Perry R., Russell L., Arthur J., Estella Edna and Marie. Mrs. Tulles is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the services of which the family attend.

ILLIAM KRIER, clerk and recorder of Huerfano County, is a man whose present honorable position is due entirely to his unaided efforts. He was born in Belgium March 17, 1853, and spent his boyhood years in his native land. When he was twelve and one-half years of age he started out in the world to earn his own livelihood, and from that time on he was self-supporting. October 26, 1872, he landed in New York City, and for two and one-half years he remained in that city, where he followed the shoemaker's trade in the employ of professional shoemakers.

Believing that the west would afford him better advantages, in the spring of 1875 Mr. Krier went to Wisconsin and located at Port Washington, but after seven weeks in that place he concluded

646

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to try elsewhere. He went to the Lake Superior region, stopping at Marquette for a short time, and afterward settling on Beaver Island, where he followed his chosen trade. In the fall of 1877 he went to Mackinaw Island, Mich., and there engaged in making shoes for a short time, later entering the hotel business. From there he re- moved to St. Louis, Mo., in the fall of 1878, and in the spring of the following year came to Colo- rado, settling at La Veta, Huerfano County, where he engaged in the manufacture of shoes. He still carries on a general boot and shoe busi- ness there, although the duties of his office require his presence in Walsenburg.

In politics Mr. Krier is a Democrat. He was elected town treasurer of La Veta, an office that he filled efficiently for six years. For two years he was a member of the town council. In the fall of 1897 he was elected county clerk and recorder, being elected on the Republican ticket, and receiving a majority of five hundred and seventy-five, the highest of any one on the ticket.

Returning east in 1881, Mr. Krier was united in marriage with Miss Cecelia Ander, of Burling- ton, Iowa, by whom he has three children, Katherine, Edward W. and Agnes. In fraternal relations he is a charter member of the La Veta Camp, Woodmen of the World, and has the dis- tinction of serving as the first banker of the camp. In his wanderings around the country he has seen the hardships of life, while his pleasures were few, but since settling in Colorado he has carried on a steady business, which has given him a good income and a place among the reliable and successful business men of Huerfano County.

ZIAS T. CLARK, sheriff of Las Animas County, and the owner of large landed and stock interests, was born in North Carolina November 21, 1847, a son of Walter H. and Rebecca (England) Clark. He was four years of age when his parents removed to Izard County, Ark., and there he gained the rudiments of his education. In 1864 he accompanied his parents to Texas, and there he remained for six years, meantime engaging in the lumber business and farming.

In 1870 Mr. Clark drove a herd of cattle over the plains to Colorado, landing in Las Animas County, where he worked on a stock ranch for some months. During the early winter he re- turned to Texas, but in the spring of 1871 came back to Colorado with one thousand head of

cattle. Taking up a pre-emption fifty miles east of Trinidad, he began in the stock business, and in it he has since continued, being now recognized as one of the leading stockmen of his county. He is also the owner of an agricultural farm, where he carries on general farm pursuits, from these two departments of agriculture receiving a good income.

The opinions of Mr. Clark in matters political coincide with the Democratic party. There was a time when he thought the party was deserting its old Jeffersonian moorings, and he then allied himself with the Populists, but after the Chicago convention of 1896 he returned to the old party. He is interested in educational work and for several years served as a member of the school board, being its secretary much of the time. In the fall of 1897 he was elected sheriff of Las Animas County for a term of two years. For this position his disposition, which is cool, calm and collected under all circumstances, well quali- fies him.

Fraternally Mr. Clark is a member of Trinidad Lodge of Odd Fellows and Las Animas Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M., in which he has passed the chairs. September 15, 1878, he was united in marriage with Mary L., daughter of Daniel Moore, an old settler of Las Animas County. The three children born of this union are: Clarence W., who is bookkeeper in the sheriff's office; O. T., Jr., and Ruth.

LWOOD E. PIKE, former treasurer of Prowers County, has since his retirement from office been engaged in business at La- mar. For abont one year he was a partner of C. C. Huddleston in the grocery and hardware busi- ness, and since their partnership was dissolved by mutual consent, he has been engaged in gen- eral merchandising. A native of Union County, Ind., he was born June 5, 1853, to Calvin B. and Sarah (Maxwell) Pike. His father, who was a farmer by occupation, removed to Winneshiek County, Iowa, in 1854, and pre-empted a claim, which he cleared, cultivated and improved. From the raw prairie he evolved a fine homestead, and there he is now living, at the age of sixty-six.

The education acquired by our subject was such as the common schools of Winneshiek County afforded. He remained at home until he reached the age of twenty-one, and then went to Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, where he bought a tract of eighty acres of farm land. In

647

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mason City, the county-seat, he was married, October 28, 1879, to Miss Lyda C. Watkins, who was born in Iowa County, Wis., but had spent her girlhood principally in Mason City. A short time after his marriage he removed from his farm to town and opened a livery stable, in which business he met with fair success. A few months after Lamar had heen platted, in 1886, he came to this village, and has since resided near or in this place.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 88

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