Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 93

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 93

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C OHN T. RUSSELL is one of the pioneers of Colorado and has made his home in La Junta for a longer period than any other man now a resident of this city. When he came here, in 1880, there were only three houses, and he has seen the town grow up from a wild prairie. As justice of the peace, notary public and real-estate and insurance agent, he has been closely identi- fied with local development. At this writing he owns several residence properties and two busi- ness houses in the city, while in the insurance business he represents sixteen of the old fire in- surance companies.

Judge Russell was born March 1, 1840, in Middletown, Ohio, and there he was educated, also for a time attending school in Cincinnati. In 1856 he went to Jefferson County, Iowa, and settled upon a farm. The outbreak of the war found him eager to enlist in the Union service. In April, 1861, he became a member of Company E, Second Iowa Infantry, and was assigned to the army of the Cumberland, with which he took part in the battles of Fort Donelson, Pittsburg

Landing, Shiloh, Kenesaw Mountain, and others, being in nineteen engagements altogether. He was slightly wounded in one battle. After a service of three years and five months he was discharged, his time having expired. He then returned to his home in Iowa.

After a short time he came to Colorado, driv- ing two hundred yearling heifers through from Iowa, and these he herded on the ground where the city of Colorado Springs is now built. At that time there was but one house (and it of logs) in the present large and populous city. For two years he lived the life of a cowboy on the range. Then, returning to Colorado Springs, he opened a hotel and for two years carried on business in that place. From there he came to Rocky Ford, Otero County, then a town of but two or three houses. He opened a hotel, which was patron- ized by the ranchmen from the surrounding country and by travelers en route to the moun- tain regions. During the early days he also en- gaged in freighting from Denver to Canon City and Pueblo.

About 1880 he came to La Junta, where he has since engaged in business. As a Republican he has been an active factor in local politics. For eleven years he held office as justice of the peace, but refused then to hold the position for a further period. He was also police justice for eight years. At one time he was his party's candidate for county commissioner, but was defeated by a small majority. For four years he was a mem- ber of the school board of La Junta. Fratern- ally he is a member of La Junta Lodge No. 28, K. P., and is also identified with the Uniform Rank. He is one of the two remaining charter members of the lodge at this place, and was its first chancellor commander. He is also identified with and takes au interest in the order of Red Men. In common with most Colorado people, he has been interested in mining. However, his efforts, which were confined to mining in South Mountain and Silver Cliff in 1894-95, were not successful, and he soon abandoned the work.

In Colorado Springs he married Miss Della Matherly, who came from Davis County, Iowa, to Colorado. They have two children, Mary and John, both at home. Mrs. Russell's father and three brothers served in the Union army during the rebellion. The father died in the service and one brother was killed in battle; the other brothers came home on furloughs and died from disease contracted in the service. Mr. Russell

FRANK H. BENHAM.

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was one of the charter membersof the Grand Army of the Republic at La Junta, and has been either commander or adjutant ever since its organiza- tion.

- RANK H. BENHAM is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war whose devotion to his country was tested not only by service on the field of battle, but in the still more deadly dangers of a southern prison den. This gallant soldier is now one of the honored and highly respected citizens of Pueblo County, where he owns and operates a ranch and also a sawmill five miles from Rye.

Mr. Benham was born in Hammondsport, Steuben County, N. Y., June 5, 1846, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Cleveland) Benham, also natives of the Empire state, where the father engaged in the tanning business many years. In the family were two other sons who were also among the boys in blue during the Rebellion. George K. died in the service of his country, while Lemuel C. served all through the war and participated in the battles of Antietam, South Mountain and others.

During his boyhood and youth Frank H. Ben- ham attended the public schools of his native county, and in November, 1863, he enlisted in the Twenty-second New York Cavalry, and being in active service until taken prisoner, participated in many important battles and skirmishes. He was first incarcerated in Libby prison and later at Pemberton and Salisbury, N. C., and at Flor- ence, S. C., being finally released March 1, 1865, at which time he returned to Annapolis, Md., where he was discharged the following June. His first engagement was the battle of the Wil- derness.

At the close of the war Mr. Benham returned to New York, where he did contract work until 1872, coming to Pueblo County in that year. He located upon his present place, which he has improved with a good residence and substantial outbuildings. Being situated at the foot hills of the mountains and easily accessible to the timber belts, he early became interested in the milling business. For some years he engaged in that enterprise in connection with others, but sub- sequently purchased the mills and now carries on business alone. They are run by steam and he · has succeeded in building up a large and profit- able trade.

January 7, 1879, Mr. Benham was united in

marriage with Miss Louesa Butler, a native of Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa, and a lady of culture and refinement. Her father, Theo- dore Butler, came to Pueblo at an early day, and later settled on a ranch in the mountains, where he died in 1876. As a Republican, Mr. Benham has ever taken an active and prominent part in local politics, and two years ago was the candi- date of his party for the office of county commis- sioner, but lacked nine votes of being elected. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in business and social circles occupies an en- viable position. As a citizen he stands ready to discharge every duty devolving upon him, and has manifested the same loyalty in days of peace as in days of war.

ELSON G. WILSON. The accessions to the population of southern Colorado have not been wholly or even principally confined to the cities, although the latter naturally at- tract the larger percentage of retired capitalists and invalids who have sought the genial climate of our mountain state. But it has been proved that both stock-raising and general farm pursuits can be successfully carried on in the valleys be- tween the mountain ranges, and many men from other countries, as well as from eastern states, have embarked in agriculture here. Among the Norwegians who have become prosperous farm- ers is Nelson G. Wilson, whose ranch is two and one-half miles southeast of Buttes, El Paso County.

Mr. Wilson was born in Norway May 19, 1841, a son of Ole Wilson. He was an infant when his parents crossed the Atlantic and set- tled in Rock County, Wis., where his father se- cured land and followed general farming. When our subject was about fourteen years of age he began in the world for himself. Going to Illi- nois, he worked on a farm in Winnebago County. From there he went to Iowa, where he was em- ployed in Bremer County. In 1858 he went to Miami County, Kan., and there remained until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1861 he enlisted in a regiment of Missouri Home Guard, and took part in a number of skirmishes, serving for seven months. For a time he was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, and afterward at Springfield, Mo. In February, 1862, he was mustered out of the service.

Going to Leavenworth, Mr. Wilson secured employment as a teamster in the services of the

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government, but was soon taken ill with pneu- monia and taken to a hospital. After a tedious illness he recovered his health, and then hired out to drive a team to Colorado. It was in Oc- tober, 1862, when he arrived in Denver. After- ward he drove a team in the government employ until July, 1863, and in September of that year returned to Kansas, where he continued as team- ster for the government until 1864. Returning to Miami County, he remained there until the spring of 1870. He was married there, Decem- ber 22, 1864, to Miss Mary Hamilton, of that county, and a native of Kentucky, who had ac- companied her parents, John and Mary (Smith) Hamilton, to Kansas when she was a child.

In 1870 Mr. Wilson removed to Osage Coun- ty, Kan., where he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres. He remained there until 1881, and then came to Colorado, where he was first em- ployed on the Woodbury ranch in El Paso County, and later worked on Dr. Strickler's ranch for twelve years. With the money he had saved during these years of work, in 1894 he bought his present ranch of six hundred acres. Politically he voted for Grant in 1868 and has continued a member of the Republican party. He and his wife became the parents of three children. Nicholas, who was born in Miami County, Kan., went to Alaska in February, 1898, joining the gold-seekers in the Klondike. Mary Olive, who was born in Miami County, and Augustus, born in Osage County, Kan., are with their parents.

2 AVID M. JONES, of Manitou, master me- chanic of the Manitou & Pike's Peak Rail- road, has made his home in Colorado City since 1888 and secured employment on the cog road. He ran the first engine on this road and continued as an engineer until May, 1898, when his long and faithful service was recognized by promotion to his present position of master mechanic, in charge of the motive department. In this responsible place he has proved himself abundantly qualified to discharge every duty. He employs all modern conveniences, one of his latest improvements being a plan to sweep the cars with compressed air from the water motor.

Born in Hyde Park, Scranton, Pa., October 27, 1868, Mr. Jones is of Welsh parentage. His father, Philip Jones, emigrated from Wales to Pennsylvania and settled in Scranton, where for many years he made his home. During the Civil war he entered the army and served for a short

time. As engineer in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, he ran an en- gine out of Scranton for years, until the loss of an eye forced him to resign from that work. He was next employed in the machinist's shop of the same road. In the interests of the Baldwin Locomotive Company he went to South America and for eight years remained in Dumont, Brazil. In 1892 he came to Colorado Springs, where he died October 23, 1898. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lettie Lewis, was born in Wales, a daughter of Howell Lewis, who became a black- smith in Scranton and died in Lackawanna County. Mr. and Mrs. Jones became the par- ents of five children, of whom David M. and Mrs. Mary Parrett, of California, are the sole sur- vivors.

The Jones family in Wales was long identified with the agricultural interests of the shire of Bre- con, lying inland among the mountains. The grandfather of our subject, David A., was born in the town of Brecon and was a son of David Jones, Sr. In early life he engaged in farming, but after his marriage to Jane, daughter of Will- iam Jones, he settled in Rhymney, where he was employed as a contractor in the ore mines. His wife died in 1848, and three years later he brought his children to America. He settled in Hyde Park, Scranton, in August, 1851, and was con- nected with mining interests in Lackawanna County until his retirement from business. In October, 1856, he went to California via the Nic- aragua route. During the journey he was cap- tured by Walker's gang of filibusters, but was finally allowed to depart. After a year at the Monte Cristo gold mines he returned via Panama. He continued to reside in Scranton until his death, at the age of seventy-three years. In religion he was identified with the Congregational Church. One of his sons, the late Hon. D. M. Jones, of Scranton, was one of the most prominent business men and public officials of that city.

After completing his education in the grammar and high schools of Scranton, our subject in 1881 went to New Mexico, where he worked in the Santa Fe machine shops at Raton for four years. Later for three years he was employed as fireman on that road between Raton and Las Vegas. In 1888 he was promoted to be an engineer, but after six months resigned and removed to Manitou, where he has since made his home. Fraternally he is identified with Manitou Lodge No. 68, A. F. & A. M., and the Benevolent Protective Order

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of Elks. He is fond of fishing and hunting, and many of his leisure hours are spent in the moun- tains or on the plains, in the pursuit of his favor- ite recreations.

ORNELIUS JOSEPH HART. Prominent among the citizens who have been identified with the history of Pueblo from its pioneer days, stands the subject of this sketch, who for years has been a leading attorney of the city. During the long period of his residence here, while he has not amassed a large fortune, he has gained that which is yet more to be desired-the esteem and respect of a wide circle of acquaintances, and a reputation as a man of integrity, honor and ability. As a Republican, he has taken an active part in every city, county and state election since he came to Colorado, and his name has been prominently mentioned as a desirable candidate for attorney-general of the state.

At Little Falls, Herkimer County, N. Y., Mr. Hart was born June 28, 1838. When he was six years of age he was taken to Chicago, Ill., by his parents, Joseph and Clara E. Hart, but the town, then very small, was neither pleasant nor health- ful. In a short time his father purchased a team of oxen and a wagon, and, with his family, drove through to Rock River, settling near Rockford, Ill., where he purchased a farm. However, he was so troubled by the ague that after two years he sold out and removed to Savannah, Mo. There he carried on a harness business from the fall of 1846 until 1851, when he removed to Holt County, the same state.

The education of our subject was obtained in public schools and in a private academy at Sa- vannah, where he was a student for two years. In 1859 he entered the law office of James M. Pat- terson, where he read law. At the opening of the war he enlisted as a private in the Union serv- ice and assisted in recruiting the company of which he was a member. He took part in the battles of Lexington, second battle of Springfield, Mo., Turkey Creek and Oak Grove, Mo., and the battle of the Blue. In November, 1863, he was honorably discharged as sergeant-major. Upon leaving the service he went to St. Joe, Mo. From there, in 1865, he went to Colorado and lo- cated at Living Springs, forty miles east of Den- ver, on what was known as the Cut Off. He kept the Home Station on stage route. The fall of 1867 found him in Pueblo, then a very small town. Here he carried on a mercantile business

until 1871, when he was elected justice of the peace and police magistrate, continuing in these offices until 1879. During the latter part of his official service he devoted his leisure time to the study of law, and in 1879 he was admitted to the bar, after which he began the practice of his pro- fession. Two years later he was appointed county attorney and this office he continued to fill until he was elected county judge in the fall of 1883. As judge he served inost efficiently and accepta- bly, holding the office until 1887. In January, 1888, he was again appointed county attorney, this time serving until 1893, since which year he has devoted himself to his private practice.

In Forest City, Holt County, Mo., in 1865, Mr. Hart was made a Mason in Forest City Lodge No. 214. Upon coming to Colorado he was the prime mover in establishing Pueblo Lodge No. 17, and was its first master. He is still identified with this lodge, and is also a member of Pueblo Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., and Pueblo Commandery No. 3, K. T., and in 1878-79 served as grand master of the grand lodge of the state.

Just before coming to Colorado Mr. Hart was united in marriage with Miss Mary Bush, a na- tive of New York. They are the parents of three children. The eldest of these, Lorin M. Hart, is an attorney in Denver. The only daughter, Ella, is the wife of Frank E. King, of Monterey, Mex- ico. The youngest child is Frederick C., a bright lad of ten years.

12 R. ROBERT F. LOVE, a pioneer dentist of Colorado, came to this state in the spring of 1860 and has since been identified with its history. He is engaged in the real-estate bus- iness at this writing and makes his home in Col- orado City, where he is well known and highly respected. Reference to the history of his par- ents may be found in the sketch of his brother, William Asbury Love, a pioneer of '59. He was born in Princeton, Caldwell County, Ky., July 25, 1839, and in 1855 accompanied his parents to Jasper County, Mo., where he attended the Avilla public schools.

When the news of the discovery of gold in Col- orado reached Mr. Love in 1859 he at once set about making preparations to cross the plains. In the spring of 1860 he started for the new gold fields, making the trip with two wagons and four yoke of oxen, and bringing with him provisions sufficient for almost two years. He drove up the Arkansas to Colorado City, arriving there after

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

two months of travel. Hearing favorable re- ports from Breckenridge they started for that point. To get through the pass they used ropes and tackle, raising wagons over rocks and carry- ing provisions with them. They went around Pike's Peak to Twin Rocks, swam across the Platte, went through South Park, crossed the range, then down to Breckenridge, located claims on the Iowa Gulch, then went to French Gulch and bought placer ground. He operated the claims until December, 1860, when the water supply failed.

During the winter of 1860-61 Dr. Love went to Central City. In the spring he returned to French Gulch and sold his claims. Next he spent a time in Galena Gulch and Delaware Flats, then mined at old Montgomery from 1862 to the spring of 1864, when he came via Central and Denver to Colorado City. Here he formed a partnership with a man and embarked in farming on the Cheyenne. In 1865 he went to Colorado City and entered the academy, where he studied for four years. At the same time he began the study of dentistry under Dr. Sutherland, and on acquiring a thorough knowledge of the profes- sion opened an office in Colorado City. He also built a store building of concrete and put in a stock of drugs. From 1871 until 1875 he served as postmaster. In 1875 he disposed of the stock of drugs but continued as a dentist until 1878. Then going to Leadville he located the Climax mine, sinking two shafts of one hundred and ninety feet each. Not realizing the value of the mine he sold it for a small sum; since then it has brought its owners hundreds of thousands. He practiced dentistry in Leadville until 1882, and also carried on a ranch in South Park, at the headwaters of the Platte. In 1880, with two others, he bought the Weed ranch, on the Platte, near Hubbard, and carried it on until 1885, when he sold to one of his partners. Returning to Col- orado City he resumed practice, in which he con- tinued until 1890.

In 1864, with three others, Dr. Love located the site of the soda springs at Manitou and bought Williams Canon, containing the now-celebrated caves, but this property he afterward sold. He also owned one hundred and sixty acres on the site of Colorado Springs, which he sold to the first settlers there. In 1868 he bought a ranch twenty miles below Colorado City, but sold the place some years later. He has developed and built up considerable property in Colorado City,

Colorado Springs and Manitou. Politically he is a Democrat, but does not take an active part in public affairs. He is a member of the El Paso Pioneers' Society.

The marriage of Dr. Love took place in Colo- rado Springs and united him with Miss Mary C. Brandt, who was born in Winchester, Va. They are the parents of two daughters, Ethel May and Mabel Lilian. Mrs. Love is a daughter of David and Virginia (May) Brandt, natives respectively of Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Virginia. Her father, who was a son of Adam Brandt, a farmer (born in Pennsylvania and died in Virginia), en- gaged in the manufacture of farming implements in Virginia, but died in Hagerstown, Md., where his closing years were spent. Her mother was a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Nevel) May, of English descent. In the family of David Brandt there were three children, Mrs. Love and two sons, David C., of New York City, and Charles, who is in San Francisco.

HARLES W. WILLIAMS, M. D., post- master of Manzanola, Otero County, also proprietor of a drug store and an active practicing physician of this village, was born in Hockingport, Ohio, February 8, 1853. His boyhood days were spent in the village where he was born and there the rudiments of his educa- tion were obtained. Afterward he matriculated in the university at Lebanon, where he continued the studies of the regular course until his gradua- tion. Having decided to become a physician, he entered the Kentucky State School of Medicine at Louisville, Ky., and there continued until his graduation in 1880.

Returning to Ohio, Dr. Williams opened an office at Portsmouth, but after a time removed to Metropolis, Ill., where he continued to practice until 1887. He then came to Colorado, for three years carrying on practice in the village of Min- neapolis. From there he removed to Elizabeth, this state, but in a few months went to Pueblo, and after a year there and a few months in Over- ton, came to Manzanola in the fall of 1893. Here he has since engaged in the general practice of his profession. A Republican in politics, he received from the Mckinley administration an appoint- ment as postmaster in the fall of 1897, and in the summer of the following year opened a drug store. While he gives some attention to each, yet he has not neglected his practice, but employs a clerk to attend to the postoffice and drug store during his

THOMAS D. BAIRD, M. D.

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absence on professional business. Adjoining the village limits he has an eighty-acre tract, of which three acres are planted in fruit trees.

Fraternally Dr. Williams was made a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows while in Portsmouth, Ohio, and he still has his member- ship in that lodge. He is identified with the Christian Church of Manzanola and has been an active worker in its interests. In 1884 he was united in marriage with Miss Ella Wycoff, of Buena Vista, Ohio, and they are the parents of the following-named children: Sidney, Allen, Weir, Arthur, Avis and Dorothy.

HOMAS D. BAIRD, M. D., president of the state board of medical examiners, has, since 1886, resided in Walsenburg, where he carries on a large general practice, and is also surgeon for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com- pany at the Picton mines, the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Railroad Company, and the Northern Coal Company at Toltec. In educa- tional work he has been deeply interested, and as president, secretary and treasurer of the school board he has rendered effective service in behalf of the local schools, while as superin- tendent of schools of Huerfano County from 1887 to 1889, he was equally energetic in promoting the interests of schools throughout the county. He is now serving as mayor of the city of Walsen- burg.

Dr. Baird's interest in educational matters is his by right of inheritance, for his mother has for years been an educator of national promi- nence. She was the eldest child of Samuel E. and Harriet M. (Bell) Davis, and was born in Shelby County, Ky., and educated at Science Hall Academy, in Shelbyville. She was con- verted, at the age of fourteen, and became a member of the Baptist Church. At the age of sixteen she became the wife of Jesse K. Baird and five years later moved to Missouri, settling in Shelbyville, where she taught a select school for four years. From there going to Liberty, Clay County, she was for four years associate president (with her brother, John T. Davis) of the Liberty Female College, connected with Will- iam Jewell College. Afterward for three years she taught at Lancaster, Schuyler County, Mo., and then for seven years was a teacher in the high school at Springfield, Il1., from which place she was called to the presidency of the old Bethel (now Born in Shelby County, Ky., in 1850, the sub- Ingleside) male and female college at Palmyra in ject of this sketch spent the principal years of

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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 93

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