Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 90

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 90

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November 4, 1864, Mr. Salazar began to work for H. E. Easterday, of San Luis, who owned a store and also built a mill that is still standing. At that time he could neither read nor write, but seeing the necessity of mastering these elemen- tary studies, he set himself diligently to work, and in thirty days had mastered them sufficiently to enable him to transact the business. He con- tinued with Mr. Easterday until February, 1867, when he began to farm six miles west of San Luis, but after one season he removed to Red Rock, near Fort Lyon. June 1, 1868, he returned to San Luis and for six years was employed in a store, after which, in 1874, he established a mer- cantile business on the site of his present store. In 1895 his store and stock were burned by an incendiary, with a loss of $15,000. Immediately afterward he built his present store, with a front- age of one hundred and fifteen feet, and here he has one of the largest stores in this part of the state. He also owns several thousand acres of

grazing and farming land in this county, and has on the range about four hundred head of cattle.

Various public offices have been filled by Mr. Salazar. In 1874 he was elected school superin- tendent of the county and the following year he was chosen county judge. In 1880 he was elected to the legislature, where he served for one term. During that time he was the father of the bill to destroy the loco weed, which bill was passed. In 1882 he was chosen to represent the nine- teenth senatorial district in the state senate. He was returned to the state legislature in 1894 and 1896, and took part in various measures pertain- ing to the welfare of his section of the state and his countrymen. He has assisted in the building of schoolhouses and churches, and has contrib- uted to other public projects.

February 26, 1874, Mr. Salazar married Genoveva Gallegos, daughter of Jose Dario Gallegos. They became the parents of eight liv- ing children, all of whom have been given col- legiate advantages. They are: Rebecca, the wife of F. G. Lopez, of New Mexico; Juan M., named for his grandfather; Odila, wife of E. I. Gonzalez, who lives in New Mexico within a hundred yards of the birthplace of Mr. Salazar; Delfino, Cedalia, Eliza, Margarita and Casilda. The family have an elegant home and are surrounded by every comfort which ample means can provide.

OHN A. MC DOWELL, assessor of Prow- ers County, is one of the prominent Repub- licans of this section of the state. From early boyhood he has been interested in politics, and has supported enthusiastically the principles of his chosen party. In 1897 he was nominated for the office of assessor, and was elected by a majority of three hundred and fifty-seven, which is the largest majority ever given here for this of- fice. The duties of the position he is discharging with ability and energy, and his term of service has been eminently satisfactory to all.

A resident of Prowers County since 1885, Mr. McDowell was born in Venango County, Pa., October 25, 1851, a son of James W. and Susan B. (Wingard) McDowell. He remained on the home farm during boyhood and received such educational advantages as the local schools af- forded. At the age of seventeen he began to earn his own livelihood, and for a time was em- ployed by others. The earnings thus made were carefully invested, and he became the owner of several oil wells in Pennsylvania. Through judi-

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cious investments he secured a competence, and was worth about $20,000, but the larger part of this he lost through the manipulations of the Standard Oil Company.

During his residence in Pennsylvania, Mr. Mc- Dowell was married to Miss Emma Cline, a na- tive of that state. . In 1880 he came west and for some years was engaged in prospecting and min- ing in New Mexico, from which place he came to Bent (now Prowers) County iu 1885. With 110 capital to aid him in starting, he pre-empted land three miles east of Lamar, and there remained for some years, giving his attention to the culti- vation and improvement of the property. At this writing he owns three ranches, all in Prowers County. He and his wife are the parents of four children, namely: Harry, who is married and lives in Lamar, being foreman for the Great Plain Storage Company; Laura, who is the wife of W. A. Leonard, of Lamar; Raphey, at home; and Sadie, wife of N. N. McLean.

Mr. McDowell was made a Mason in Lamar Lodge No. 90, to which he now belongs, and he is also identified with Oriental Chapter, R. A.M. in this place. The Woodmen of the World and the Order of Maccabees number him among their members. He is one of the progressive citizens of Lamar, and favors all plans for the benefit of his town and county.

EV. SALVATOR PERSONÉ, superior of the Order of Jesuit Fathers at Trinidad; was born in Italy, December 25, 1833. He was educated in the best schools of Naples and France and at Frederick City, Md., and was afforded every advantage which ample means could pro- vide, or a mind, ambitious for knowledge, could suggest. Upon the completion of his collegiate course he engaged in teaching, and for some time was connected with theological schools in France and Italy.

Desiring to undertake missionary work in the new world, in 1871 Father Personé crossed the Atlantic to America and studied for one year at Frederick City, Md. His first assignment was in New Mexico, where he built Las Vegas College, and of this institution he continued to be presi- dent for eleven years. In 1888 the Jesuit Fath- ers transferred the college to Denver, in which city he founded and opened a new school, and of this he remained president for four years. Dur- ing the entire time of his educational work he continued to be deeply interested in missionary

efforts, and frequently visited remote districts, where he ministered to the spiritual welfare of the Roman Catholics.

In 1892 Father Personé accepted the position he now holds, that of superior of the Jesuit priests of Las Animas County, which embraces twenty- two different chapels. For the responsibilities of his holy office his long years of training and practical work admirably qualify him. For forty- five years he has given himself wholly to Chris- tian labors, and the famous order to which he be- longs has no representative more faithful or self- sacrificing than Father Persone.

ON. JOSEPH E. REYNOLDS, who came to his present farm in 1882, secured a home- stead grant of two hundred and eighty acres, and afterward, by purchase, added to the estate until he is now the owner of seven hundred and twenty acres, improved with good buildings and containing the necessary equipments of a model farm. The ranch stands on section 6, town- ship 12, range 67 west, one and three-quarters miles northeast of Husted, El Paso County. In politics he has adhered to the Republican party from youth, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. Elected to the eighth and ninth gen- eral assemblies of the state legislature, he served as chairman of the committee on appropriations, as member of the committees on the World's Fair, state institutions, corporations and railroads, and took an active part in securing the passage of various important bills. He was chief of the Colorado Horticultural Department at the World's Fair. He was a member of the extra session called by Governor Waite. He introduced the bill and secured its passage for building the state reservoir at Monument.

In Westmoreland County, Pa., Mr. Reynolds was born November 25, 1844, a son of Levi and Eliza (Norris) Reynolds. His father, who was born in Cecil County, Md., of Quaker parentage, learned the carpenter's trade. He removed to Pennsylvania, where he met and married Miss Norris, and they continued to reside in West- moreland County until death. They were the parents of three children: Joseph E .; Levi, who is a farmer, carpenter and owner of a sawmill, and also owns the old homestead; and Eliza Jane, who married Elias Moose and lives in Indiana County, Pa.

When about fourteen years of age our subject began to learn the carpenter's trade, under his

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father's instruction. In September, 1862, he en- listed in Company I, One Hundred and Fifty- fifth Pennsylvania Infantry, afterward known as Pearson's Zouaves. He participated in the bat- tles of Antietam, Federicksburg, Chancellors- ville and Gettysburg, but afteward fell a victim to typhoid fever, and was very ill for months. When able to leave the hospital he was detailed to carpenter's work; but after a time was able to go to the front, and participated in other engage- ments. While in the hospital he took advantage of night school and as a result of his studies there was successful in passing the examination entitling him to a lieutenant's commission in a company of colored troops, but before he began to act in that office the war closed. He was twice wounded in battle, once at Gettysburg, where he received a flesh wound in the left arm, and once at Chancellorsville, where he received another flesh wound and had his overcoat shot full of holes. He took part in the grand review.

On returning home at the end of the war Mr. Reynolds began life as a farmer and carpenter. In 1866 he went to Omaha, where he worked on the Union Pacific Railroad, having charge of a force detailed to build tanks and windmills, building all of these west of Sherman, Wyo., to Salt Lake, and a number east of Sherman. Af- ter two years on the Union Pacific he went back east. December 23, 1869, he married Miss Sarah Ann McConnell, who was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., a daughter of D. K. and Harriet (Sloan) McConnell.

After four years in Pennsylvania Mr. Reynolds came to Colorado and for a time was sawyer for Sloan's sawmill in Denver, but after two years moved to the divide and worked in sawmills there. In 1882 he came to the farm where he has since resided, and during the same year he built a substantial residence. He and his wife have had six children: Frank, who was born in Westmoreland County, Pa .; Olive, born in Den- ver; Harriet, who was born in Pennsylvania; Mary, who was born in El Paso County; Minnie, who died at the age of seven and one-half months; and Raymond, who was born on the home farm. In religion Mr. Reynolds is a believer in Quaker doctrines. While in Pennsylvania he was made a Mason, and there took three degrees. In Omaha he took the Chapter, Council and Com- mandery degrees, and in Colorado he has taken the Shriner and Scottish Rite degrees, up to the thirty-second.

HOMAS B. MITCHELL, proprietor of the Mitchell house, at Fountain, El Paso County, was born in Holmes County, Ohio, March 3, 1829, a son of Alexander and Eleanor (Beattie) Mitchell, natives respectively of County Donegal, Ireland, and Washington County, Pa. His father, who crossed the ocean at eighteen years of age, was married in Holmes County, Ohio, and continued to reside there, upon a farm, until within a few years of his death, when he removed to Jefferson County, Iowa. He died near Fairfield and is buried there, by the side of his wife, whose death occurred within a month of his own. He was about seventy-five years of age. Of his family of nine children, eight at- tained mature years, but only two are now living, Thomas B., and Alexander, who is in Fairfield, Iowa.

The subject of this sketch, who was third among the nine children in the family, passed his boyhood years in Holmes County and received a fair common-school education there. At twenty years of age he began to work upon a farm, re- ceiving $9 a month. His health, however, could not endure the strain of farm work, and when he was twenty-two he turned his attention to the shoemaker's trade, opening a shoe store and hir- ing men, at the same time learning the trade. After two or three years at the trade in Ohio he went to Iowa, in 1858, and settled in Cedar County, where he entered government land and improved a farm.

January 18, 1860, Mr. Mitchell married Miss Margaret Tidball, who was born and reared in Holmes County, Ohio, and had been his friend from childhood. She was a daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Thompson) Tidball, who were probably natives of Washington County, Pa. Her paternal ancestors came from England, but were of Scotch descent. Her mother died when she was three years of age and her father when she was fourteen. Though reared in the Presby- terian faith, both she and her husband are now identified with the Christian Church, in which he is serving as a deacon. They have only one liv- ing child, Minnie, who was born in Cedar Coun- ty, Iowa, and became the wife of Elliott H. Kirk in 1888. There are two grandchildren, Howard Earl and Margaret, of whom Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are very proud.

After his marriage Mr. Mitchell went to Iowa and engaged in farming. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, Thirty-first Iowa Infantry, which

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was sent along the Mississippi. However, the exposure and hardships of army life undermined his health to such an extent that he was able to do but little active duty. He was sick in the hos- pital while Vicksburg was being stormed, later was transferred to the hospital at Jefferson Bar- racks, Mo., and finally to the Keokuk Hospital. While there he was discharged from the service, on account of general disability. Meantime his wife had returned to Ohio, and he joined her there, but after a few months went back to Cedar County and resumed farming. In 1866 he re- moved to the vicinity of Fairfield, where he made his home with his parents, in order to take care of them. Finally his own health became so poor that he was obliged to seek a more pleasant cli- mate. He came to Colorado in 1871 and engaged in farming, buying and entering land, and carry- ing on a farm for several years. Meantime he moved to his present home in 1872. From time to time he has added to his house, and finally entered the hotel business, in order to accommo- date the need for such a place here.

From the organization of the Republican party Mr. Mitchell has been firm in his allegiance to its principles. He voted for Scott in 1852 and has supported every Republican candidate since that time. He was elected justice of the peace in Fountain and was successful in settling, before they were taken to trial, all but a very few out of the many cases brought to him. While in Fair- field, Iowa, he was identified with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Mitchell has met with fair success in life; this, too, in spite of the fact that he began for himself without means, and by his industry and perseverance, with no aid except that given him by his capable wife, has gained a competence and provided his family with all the comforts of life.

OHN WOLFE, a retired farmer and miner, resides one mile west of Ivywild, on the Cheyenne Canon road, in El Paso County, and two miles from the Cheyenne mountains. Here at one time he had four hundred and eighty acres, a part of which he had bought as a squat- ter's claim from William Hawbert, the original settler. After working in the employ of Mr. Hawbert for a time Mr. Wolfe bought his right to the land in the winter of 1863. He home- steaded the property and his deed bears the sig- nature of the president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant.

Born in Harrison County, Ohio, December 22, 1832, our subject was a son of Thomas L. and Mary (Kelly) Wolfe. His father, who was a farmer, removed to Jefferson County, Ohio, when our subject was five years of age, and two years later he went to Clayton County, Iowa, entering land there from the government, and continuing to reside there during the remainder of his life. Our subject received such advantages as the schools in Jefferson County afforded. He had also the advantage of instruction from his father, who was a school teacher as well as a farmer, and trained his son carefully at home.

In Iowa Mr. Wolfe, with his father and brother, entered land, which they owned and op- erated in partnership. In 1860 he and a broth- er-in-law, William Sturm, came to Colorado, spending two months on the road and making the trip with ox-teams. Soon after he reached Denver he was taken ill with black tongue fever, and for three months was confined to his bed. His long sickness consumed all of his money, and by the time he was able to resume work he had only a half-dollar left. Meantime his brother- in-law had gone to the mountains, and when he returned to Denver, our subject having secured employment as cook in a camp, he was not able to find him, so concluded he was dead and buried. Thinking, however, there might be a possibility of the reverse being true, he left a letter in the postoffice. As soon as our subject received the letter he immediately started for the mountains. The trip was a lonely one. All the way from Denver to the mines he met but one man. At night he slept beneath the open sky, rising in the morning to pursue his journey. When at last he reached the mines he worked at first in a small store, it being then too cold to engage in mining. Later he went to the camp at Brecken- ridge, and during the summer engaged in min- ing, but in the winter proceeded to Georgia Gulch, where he remained some months. In the summer of the next year he began mining for himself. During the following winter he worked by the day and laid the foundation of the money he afterward used in the purchase of a farm. Turning his attention to farming, as prices were good, he was successful from the first.

In 1864 Mr. Wolfe enlisted in Company G, Third Colorado Cavalry, under Colonel Shoup, and was assigned to duty in the service against the Indians. He took part in the battle of Sand Creek. Indians were at that time very hostile,

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and he saw one savage who had the scalps of fourteen white men. Mr. Wolfe terminated his wicked career by shooting him, but he could not complete the revenge by scalping him, as such methods were too barbarous to suit him. In 1865 he returned to Iowa and spent the winter. On his return he gave his attention to farming. In 1877 he went to the Black Hills in Dakota, but was not very successful, as Indians were trouble- some and made it almost impossible to work. In 1878 he went to Leadville, where he worked for some time and was fairly successful. Ever since then he has been interested in mining. In polit- ical matters he is a Republican.

January 16, 1894, Mr. Wolfe married Mrs. Mary Worrell, née Harland, whom he had known for twenty-four years. She was born in Richland, Keokuk County, Iowa, a daughter of Carter S. and Nancy (Yates) Harland .. She was fourteen years of age when she accompanied her parents from Iowa to Colorado. Her first mar- riage, which took place in Colorado Springs in 1876, united her with W. H. Worrell, who died in 1889. She is a well-educated lady, and was a graduate of the high school at Richland, Iowa, after which she taught school for one year in Iowa and two years in Colorado.

ON. EMRI ALLEN SMITH owns four hundred acres of irrigated and improved land lying on Fountain Creek, section 24, township 15, range 66 west, three miles north of Fountain, El Paso County. This property he secured shortly after his arrival in Colorado in 1865, and here he has since made his home. The family of which he is a member has been repre- sented in America since early colonial days, the first of the name here having come from either England or Wales. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Smith, who was a Virginian planter, served through the entire period of the Revoli1- tionary war.

Mr. Smith was born in Loudoun County, Va., July 30, 1829, a son of James Martin and Mary S. (Berry) Smith. His father, who was a farmer by occupation, also in early life engaged in trad- ing with flatboats in the south. About 1833 he removed to Belmont County, Ohio, where he be- came the owner of several hundred acres and a man of wealth. In that county he remained until his death. He was the father of a large family, but only four are now living, and three of these reside in Belmont County. Our subject attended

the local public schools and later studied in an academy in Wheeling, W. Va., which was just across the river from his home. He remained with his parents until he married, at twenty-two years of age. That event, which took place September 20, 1851, united him with Miss Judith Cell, who was born in Pennsylvania December 29, 1829, accompanied her parents to Guernsey County, Ohio, and later to Belmont County, where she be- came acquained with Mr. Smith. Afterward she went with her parents to Benton County, Ind., where she was married. She is a sister of David and Joseph Cell, in whose biographies the family history appears.

After his marriage Mr. Smith settled upon the old Ohio homestead, but soon removed to Benton County, Ind., and in the spring of 1855 settled in Knox County, Mo., where he practiced law. During his residence in Ohio he had read law and gained a fair knowledge of jurisprudence, and his readings were continued in Indiana and Missouri. Just before the outbreak of the war he went to Mississippi, looking for a suitable location. He remained there about eighteen months, when he made his way back through the lines to his family in Missouri. At the close of the war, in 1865, he started for southern Colo- rado, driving across the plains with a four-horse team, accompanied by his family. The trip took about six weeks. At that time Indians were very troublesome and white emigrants were in great danger, especially when they traveled in small parties.

Filing a claim on a tract of land Mr. Smith settled in El Paso County, where he has since re- sided. In politics he is somewhat independent, although his father was a Henry Clay Whig and later a Jacksonian Democrat. While living in Indiana he was appointed circuit judge to fill a vacancy and held the office during two terms of court. Since coming to Colorado he has been nominated for county judge, but the Democratic party, which nominated him, is in. the minority here. In 1856 he became a member of Edina Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in Knox County, Mo. After coming west he assisted in organizing El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M., in Colorado City, of which he is still a member.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Smith was com- posed of eight children. The first-born, Arthur A., died in infancy and was buried in Oxford, Ind. Mary, who was well educated and became a teacher, died in El Paso County and is buried

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in the Fountain cemetery. Amelia married Herbert Cell and died in Kansas, leaving five chil- dren. Alveretta is the wife of William P. John- son, and has three children; they reside on her father's farm. Charles H., who is a lawyer by profession, went to Central America as manager for a coffee plantation there. Robert L. resides with his parents. William E., who lives in Knox County, Mo., is married and has four children. Grace, who married David G. Stoddard, resides in El Paso County, near Table Rock.

C OHN S. HUNT, a popular and rising attor- ney of Colorado Springs, is engaged in the practice of civil, corporation and mining law, and is acting as counsel for a number of mining companies in the Cripple Creek region, as well as for other corporations. He came to this city in the fall of 1892 and associated himself with T. H. Edsall, of the firm of Pattison, Edsall & Hobson. Since the death of Mr. Edsall he has engaged in practice for himself, and has repre- sented the firm of Pattison, Waldron & Devine, attorneys, of Denver.

The Hunt family is of English descent, but was represented in this country at an early day, its members living at Hunt's Point, Long Island. The grandfather of our subject, Ward Hunt, was a son of Montgomery Hunt, who was one of the first settlers of Utica, N. Y., and became the first cashier of the Bank of Utica (now the First National Bank). Ward Hunt, who was born in Utica, N. Y., graduated from Union College at Schenectady, and in 1872 was appointed by Pres- ident Grant associate justice of the United States supreme court, prior to which he had served as judge of the court of appeals of New York state. He was an intimate personal friend of the illus- trious statesman, Roscoe Conkling. He contin- ued to serve on the bench until his death, which occurred in 1885.

Ward Hunt, Jr., father of our subject, was born in Utica, and graduated from Hamilton College. He engaged in the practice of law in his native city until 1885, when ill health caused him to remove to Colorado. He is now living retired in Colorado Springs. Fraternally he is a Mason. His wife, who was Annette Taylor, a native of Utica, was a daughter of Hon. William B. Taylor, who was born in Utica, served for several years as state engineer, and was a well- known civil engineer, practicing for years. Gen. Chester A. Arthur was one of his intimate friends.

He died in Utica in 1894, at seventy-one years. His father was a native of England and emigrated from there to New York. The mother of Ward Hunt, Jr., was Ann Savage, daughter of Judge John Savage, of Salem, Washington County, N. Y., who was judge of the New York court of appeals for many years and also chief justice; his father, who was a member of a Vermont family, served as an officer in the Revolution and after- ward was elected sheriff of Washington County.

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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 90

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