Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 97

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 97

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).

through wrong-doing of his subordinates he was displaced from his position and rank. Later on it was Colonel Stanton's opportunity to be of service to him through his friends in congress, and the secretary of war, Mccrary, under an act of congress, reviewed his case and restored his rank.

On recovering his health, our subject went to Chicago and clerked for his uncle, George H. Wentz, who was engaged in contracting and building on the Rock Island Railroad in Illinois and Iowa. In the spring of 1857 he became clerk in a hotel in Washington, Iowa, and later pur- chased a half-interest in the business. In the spring of 1860 he outfitted at Council Bluffs, and with a horse team proceeded up the Platte River via Fort Kearney and the South Fork, reaching Denver after a journey of some five weeks. The following months found him prospecting and mining in different camps. First, he was on the Empire Fork of Clear Creek. In July he accom- panied John H. Gregory to Lost Canon Gulch at the head of Cache Creek, but finding it all claimed, returned to California Gulch, thence to Fairplay, and with two others prospected what was called Australia Gulch at the head of Beaver Creek, a branch of the Platte. At a miners' meeting he was elected president of that district. Australia Gulch, like many others of that day, did not prove a success, and after being thorough- ly prospected would not pay and was abandoned. In the summer of 1861 he was for a time deputy postmaster of Denver under S. S. Curtis, pres- ident Lincoln's appointee, and in the fall of 1861 and the winter that followed he was clerk for D. H. Moffat in the book store of Woolworth & Moffat. In the spring of 1862 he went to Buck- skin Joe, Park County, and purchased the stock of books and stationery and the newspaper agency of J. Leroy Lewis.

October 8, 1862, he enlisted with Lieut. George F. Crocker in the Third Regiment, Colorado In- fantry, the first battalion of which was mustered into the service in January, 1863, with himself as second lieutenant of Company C. In March of that year he left Denver with this battalion of his regiment (five companies) under the command of Lieut .- Col. S. S. Curtis, and marched to Leavenworth, Kan., thence took the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad to Hannibal, Mo., and there em- barked on steamer for St. Louis. From St. Louis the command was ordered by Major-General Rosecrans (who had succeeded Maj .- Gen. Sanı-

708

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

uel R. Curtis in the command of the depart- ment of the Missouri) to Sulphur Springs, twenty miles below St. Louis, where it went into camp and remained three or four weeks engaged in drilling. It was then ordered to Pilot Knob, Mo., where it did garrison duty, and assisted in building Fort Davidson, our subject, however, being assigned to duty as provost-marshal at Potosi, Mo. In the fall of 1863 the command was ordered to Rolla, Mo., where it remained on duty for a short time, going from there to St. Louis, where, in December of that year, the second and third regiments of Colorado Infantry were con- solidated, and formed the Second Colorado Caval- ry, which in January, 1864, was ordered -to northwestern Missouri to fight bushwhackers. In the fall of that year occurred the famous Price raid, in which our subject with his regiment took part, and as second lieutenant he commanded a company in the engagements at Little BIne, Big Blue, Westport, Mine Creek and Newtonia. When Price started from his rendezvous at Wav- erly, Mo., he had about twenty-eight thousand men; in front of him was General Curtis, with less than four thousand volunteers and two bat- teries of artillery. At Newtonia there were only about fifteen hundred Federals, but they attacked and fought with great bravery the entire fighting force of Price's army from two o'clock in the afternoon until sundown, when Gen. John B. San- born's brigade of General Pleasanton's command came to their relief and the battle was soon won. The wounded were cared for, the dead buried, and early on the second morning they renewed the chase after Price, driving him out of Missouri and across the Arkansas River. Lieutenant Stanton commanded the advance the day the river was reached and he with General Curtis and staff, Colonel Ford and Major Pritchard watered their horses in the river immediately after Price's retreating force had crossed. While in camp on that November night the soldiers were drenched by a terrible rain storm. In the morning they started for Fort Gibson, where our subject, who was acting regimental quartermaster and com- missary, expected to obtain supplies of food and clothing, but on reaching there he found the only food obtainable was beans and bean bread. He at once dispatched couriers to Fort Scott for two ambulances of hard tack, which met the command the second morning after leaving Fort Gibson, and the hard tack was distributed to the men, who received it with great rejoicing. The command

went on to Fort Scott, where it was abundantly supplied with food and clothing, thence to Leavenworth, where it arrived with about three hundred and fifty men out of the twelve hundred comprising the regiment at the commencement of this campaign. General Curtis, in a speech to the regiment on its return to Leavenworth said: "The Second Colorado Cavalry has done as much as, aye more, to drive Price out of Missouri and keep him out of Kansas, than any other regiment engaged." From Leavenworth the regiment, in the winter of 1864-65 was ordered to Fort Riley and stationed along the Arkansas route to guard against the Indians, who were then becoming troublesome. After the Price raid our subject was promoted to be first lieutenant and assigned to Company L, which company he commanded until July, 1865, when he was assigned to duty on the staff of Gen. John B. Sanborn, command- ing the district of the Upper Arkansas, as pro- vost-marshal, with headquarters at Fort Riley, in which position he continued until September of that year, when the regiment was mustered out of service at Leavenworth, Kan.

On being honorably discharged from the serv- ice Colonel Stanton went to his old home in Penn- sylvania, where he enjoyed a deserved rest after his three years' service, much of it fighting bush- whackers and guerillas. In the spring of 1866 he went to Washington, D. C., intending to return to Colorado as soon as the bill for the admission of the state became a law, but when President Johnson vetoed the bill he changed his plans and accepted temporarily a clerkship in the department of the interior. In February, 1868, he was appointed register of the United States land office estab- lished at Central City under the mining act known as the Chaffee mineral land law, which passed congress in 1866. Accepting this position, he returned to Colorado and took up his residence in Central City.

The position of register in a district where all transfers were of mining property, involv- ing many technicalities, was one of the great- est importance and responsibility. The change from old customs (to which miners clung with obstinate persistency) to newer and more sat- isfactory systems, was not easily accomplished, for there had been considerable protest against congressional interference in the matter. In spite of many obstacles, Colonel Stanton filled the position in such a manner as to win the friend- ship of all, and there was general regret when, in

709

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1871, President Grant transferred him to the Stanton to represent Colorado at the celebration newly-established land office at Pueblo. He suc- of the anniversary of the battle of Yorktown, and the memorable surrender of the British army un- der Lord Cornwallis to General Washington. In July, 1898, he was appointed clerk of the district court of the tenth judicial district by Judge N. Walter Dixon, and this office he now holds. ceeded Mr. Wheeler, who had served as register here for a few months only. This position was quite different from the one he had previously held, but it was perhaps no less difficult and responsible, for upon him fell the establishing of titles and the deciding of problems connected with the old Mexican grants.

Desiring to enter upon the practice of law, which he had previously studied, Colonel Stanton resigned as register in 1874 and the following year was admitted to the bar. He formed a part- nership with George Q. Richmond, which lasted until May, 1881, and was marked by a steadily increasing practice. Under the administration of General Garfield he was the postmaster of Pueblo, and at the expiration of his term of service returned to his law practice and real-estate busi- ness. As a member of the school board he was a prime factor in the erection of the first brick school building in the city (the Centennial school), which has been remodeled and enlarged and is one of the finest school buildings in the state. From 1881 to 1886 he was president of the Pueblo Gas Company, which was organized through his efforts. In 1888 he was elected president of the Pueblo Board of Trade, and through his instrumentality it was reorganized and the Merchants' Exchange consolidated with it, a plan that had been repeatedly tried in for- mer years. When the Missouri Pacific Railroad was about to extend its lines from the western part of Kansas to some point in Colorado the board of trade sent Colonel Stanton to interview Jay Gould in New York. The building of that line of railroad to Pueblo was due largely to his efforts. When Mr. Gould visited Pueblo a few months preceding his death, he said to Colonel Stanton: "I have never regretted building my road to Pueblo. I have been out driving over your town to-day. It must become a great city."

When David H. Moffat was elected president of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, Colonel Stanton induced the board of directors and officers of the company to visit Pueblo, and in a speech delivered at that time before the Pueblo Club, George Coppell, president of the board of directors, promised that Pueblo should have a union depot in the near future. The present beautiful and commodious structure is the result of that promise.

In 1883 Governor Pitkin appointed Colonel

Active in Masonry, Colonel Stanton is a past presiding officer in Lodge No. 17, A. F. & A. M., and Chapter No. 3, R. A. M. He organized Pueblo Commandery No. 3, K. T., of which he was eminent commander for six years. He is past grand high priest of the grand chapter of Colorado, and past grand commander of the grand commandery of Colorado, also a member of El Jebel Temple, N. M. S. In the Col- orado Commandery of the Loyal Legion he is past junior vice-commander and a permanent member of the national encampment of Loyal Legion. In Central City, in 1869, he established the first Grand Army Post in Colorado, and he was the first commander of McPherson Post, as it was known. He held the rank of assistant in- spector-general on the staff of Gen. John A. Logan in 1868, when Logan was commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. Politically he is a prominent and influential member of the Re- publican party of Colorado, and in 1890 his name was brought forward for governor by his friends in the southern part of the state. In every posi- tion which he has held, the wisdom of his selec- tion has been vindicated by his broad erudition, equable temperament, sense of justice and energy of character.

An important part of Colonel Stanton's life- record would be omitted were no mention made of his wife, to whose courage amid all the vicissi- tudes of frontier experiences, to whose devotion to his welfare, and to whose sweet, gentle spirit, casting its benign influence over his impetuous temperament, he owes a debt of which few are aware. Mary A. Singer was born in Pennsyl- vania, April 19, 1847, and passed the days of early childhood near Harrisburg. When eight years of age she was taken to Missouri, where her father was a contractor on the Iron Mountain Railroad. She was given excellent educational advantages and graduated from Bonham's Female Seminary of St. Louis. In Potosi, Mo., on New Year's Day of 1867, she became the wife of Colonel Stan- ton. The following year she accompanied him to Central City and from there to Pueblo in 1871. One child came to bless their union, Mary Helen

710

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Stanton, who was educated at Mrs. Somers' school in Washington, D. C. She is now the wife of Maj. Harlan J. Smith, of Pueblo, and has one son, Irving Stanton Smith.

The death of Mrs. Stanton was a heavy loss to her husband, whose devoted helpmate she had been during all the years of their married life. She passed away October 19, 1894, in the glorious hope of the resurrection which her Christian faith had always tenderly cherished. She was not only an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but also in the Ladies' Benevolent Union, and in works of charity her heart was never weary. While she was active in philan- thropic and religious work, her home was her first sanctuary, and there she delighted to love, live and worship; there her happiest hours were spent in ministering to the comfort of her husband and child. She has entered into rest, but her memory is fresh and green in the hearts of her family and the many to whom her charity came, quietly, at the needed moment, and those whom she favored with her rare friendship.

HOMAS A. BARNARD, deceased, was for many years actively connected with the ag- ricultural interests of Pueblo County, and was numbered among the progressive and prac- tical farmers whose labors did much to advance the general prosperity and welfare of the commu- nity. A native of Virginia, he was born in Pat- rick County, near the Blue Ridge Mountains, and only ten miles from the North Carolina line. His birth occurred in 1833, and his boyhood days were spent on his father's farm, where he early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. When the Civil war broke out, however, he remained true to the principles with which he had always been familiar, and entered the service of his loved southland. He remained with the Confederate army until the close of hostilities, and three of his brothers also wore the gray. Mr. Barnard was taken prisoner and incarcerated at Camp Chase for more than a year. He participated in many of the hotly contested battles of the war, including the engagements of Seven Pines and Gettysburg, and at the last-named his brother Charles was killed.

When the war was over Mr. Barnard removed with his family to West Virginia, and in 1866 went to Arkansas, where they remained about five years. In 1879 they came to Colorado, trav-

eling across the plains with wagons. In October of that year they located upon the farm which is now the home of Mrs. Barnard, and there our subject carried on agricultural pursuits until his death. The land had been entered prior to the time it came into his possession, but with the ex- ception of a little adobe house there were no im- provements upon it. With characteristic energy Mr. Barnard began its development, and soon transformed the raw tract into rich and fertile fields. He also made many substantial improve- ments in the way of buildings, erected a good residence, built fences and planted a fine orchard. Thus in useful toil his days were spent, and he developed one of the finest farms in the county. During the "boom" he was offered $15,000 for the place. When he first arrived in the county all farm products were very high, and he en- gaged in the dairy business with excellent suc- cess, selling butter at fifty cents per pound and eggs at fifty cents per dozen.

August 24, 1854, Mr. Barnard married Miss Caroline Thompson, who was born in Floyd County, Va., and is a representative of one of the old families of that state. Her grandfather went to Bunker Hill with his father to help bury the dead after that first important battle of the Revolutionary war. She had one brother who served in the Confederate army during the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Barnard were born nine children, but two of them are deceased: Inez,the wife of Frank Dawdy, an engineer, residing in Pueblo, died January 25, 1895; Elitha P., the wife of Robert Lemon, a ranchman of Pueblo County, died October 26, 1886. The others are: W. J., who is married and lives near his moth- er's home; T. J., who is married and resides near Fowler, Colo .; I. M., who operates the home farm; Ellen, wife of W. A. Campbell, near Rocky Ford, Colo .; Alice, wife of T. J. Steel, of Foun- tain, Colo .; Nannie N., wife of F. H. Cunning- ham, a resident of Pueblo County; and Emma O., at home.

In politics Mr. Barnard was a stanch Demo- crat, but was never an aspirant for office. He won the proud American title of self-made man, for his prosperity was the direct result of his own well-directed efforts, his enterprise and energy. He left to his family a comfortable property, but more than that, he left to them the priceless her- itage of an untarnished name. He died June 24, 1891, at the age of fifty-nine years, respected by . all who knew him. His widow, a cultured and

E. h. DeLalengua.

713

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

refined lady, still occupies the old homestead, where she lives with her daughter Emma and her grandchild, Lucille Dawdy.

DWARD MORTON DE LA VERGNE, president of the Raven Gold Mining Com- pany, was the first mining man to enter the Cripple Creek district and has since been one of the most prominent mine operators, as well as an influential citizen, of Colorado Springs. He was born near Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, May 14, 1846, a son of George Washington and Mary (Yates) De La Vergne. His paternal grandfather, who was born in New York, July 6, 1779, operated a line of Hudson River boats, but afterward transferred his business .to the Ohio River and ran one of the first lines on that river. His last years were spent upon a farm near Po- mona, Cumberland County, Tenn., where he died at a very advanced age. He married Rhoda Collins, who was born December 10, 1778, mem- ber of an old family of New York, Of their chil- dren four attained maturity. James, who lived in Durango, Colo., died January 30, 1899; Cath- arine is the widow of W. H. Dodge, of Clinton, Mo .; Edward Morton spent his entire life at his native place on the Hudson and there died.

The eldest of the family was our subject's father. He was born near Fishkill, on the Hud- son, in Dutchess County, N. Y., October 18, 1800. By trade a miller, he built and operated a mill on the Hudson, between Fishkill and Pough- keepsie. March 17, 1824, he married Mary Yates, who was born February, 25, 1798. O11 selling his mill he removed to Ohio and for some years engaged in farming there. In 1848 he moved to Cumberland County, Tenn., where he built and conducted a mill, operating it in addi- tion to superintending his farm. During the Civil war he took his family to the valley for pro- tection. From Tennessee they removed to Clin- ton, Henry County, Mo., where our subject car- ried on a real-estate business for ten years, but in 1878 he brought the family to Colorado Springs, where his father died January 15, 1893. Politi- cally he was a Whig until the disintegration of the party, after which he adhered to Republican principles. He was a descendant of French-Hu- guenot ancestors who were early settlers on the Hudson. His wife, who was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., was a member of a Revolutionary family and the daughter of a successful manufac- turer. She, like her husband, adhered to the

Presbyterian faith. When she was more than ninety years of age (though in full possession of her faculties until her last illness) she died at her son's home in Colorado Springs in 1889.

In the family of G. W. and Mary De La Vergne there were the following-named children: Mrs. Anna Doss, of Kansas City, Mo .; William, who is engaged in the drug business at Brownington, Mo .; Mary E., who died in Tennessee; Alexander, who was a member of a New York regiment dur- ing the Civil war and is now a practicing physi- cian in Hoisington, Kan .; Catherine, who re- sides with her brother, E. M .; Gertrude Yates; Mrs. E. W. Snyder, who died in Clinton, Mo .; Isaac, who died in boyhood; George, who was lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Tennessee Mounted Federal troops, received injuries from a shell explosion at Chickamauga, and afterward served as judge of court-martial at Cleveland until the close of the war; Rhoda Collins; Mrs. W. B. Brown, of Sedalia, Mo .; and Edward Morton, the youngest of the family. Col. George De La Vergne came to Colorado Springs in 1877, and was numbered among the prominent business men of the city. He laid out the village of Lihue, named for one of the Sandwich Islands, where his wife was born. This place, which is now owned and occupied by our subject, consists of seventeen acres, immediately outside of the cor- porate limits of Colorado Springs, and contain- ing, among other attractions, the finest spring in the country and a little brook formed from it, in which are fine trout. Upon leaving Colorado Springs Colonel De La Vergne went to Hono- lulu, where he has since made his home.

During the war, when his brothers were in the army, the care of the family fell upon the sub- ject of this sketch. In 1868 he removed, with the others, to Clinton, the county-seat of Henry County, Mo., where he remained for ten years, On coming to Colorado in 1878, he began to learn mining, studying every department from the low- est up, and also gaining a thorough knowledge of mining machinery. At the time of the Gunni- son excitement he was one of the first on the Ute Reservation, and located claims there, but the district did not prove a profitable one. He en- gaged in mining in Silver City, N. M., and Ari- zona, for four years, after which he was manager of the Orient mine at Lawson, on Clear Creek, for one year, returning from there to the Springs.

It was about this time that Mr. De La Vergne secured a specimen of ore from a Mr. Johnson.

714

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

On assaying it he found it ran $240 in gold. He inquired and found Mr. Johnson had obtained the ore from Robert Womack, and the latter said it was from their old ranch near Mount Pisgah. Looking up the records, he located the place. On the strength of the assay, in December, 1890, he outfitted a wagon, and with a partner, F. F. Frisbee, drove to Cripple Creek. The weather was intensely cold and the roads blocked by snow, which made progress slow. At last, after considerable circuitous riding, and after sleeping for many nights in the wagon, he reached the desired spot and located the El Dorado claim, which is the first claim filed from the Cripple Creek district. The first implements brought there for mining were purchased from Barnes & Son, and the bill bears date of March 16, 1891, the goods being shipped on that date via the Colo- rado Midland Railroad.

From the time of locating the claim, Mr. De La Vergne engaged in prospecting and assaying, and when he found a satisfactory assay he loca- ted not only the El Dorado, but other claims, among them the Raven, on the hill named for it. The Raven Gold Mining Company was organized with himself as president and manager, and the mine has proved to be a good producer. With Messrs. Colburn, Frisbee and Seldomridge, he or- ganized the El Dorado Gold Mining Company, of which he was manager and vice-president, and theirs was the first claim filed naming the dis- trict. He is now a director of the Virginia M. Gold Mining Company, and is owner of the Lofty and one of the principal owners of the Alhambra. Formerly he acted as manager of the Requa Gold Mining Company, but has sold his interest in this mine. He is a member of the Cripple Creek Club and the Chamber of Commerce in Colorado Springs. Politically he is a Republican, always voting the straight presidential party ticket. In religion he is a Presbyterian.

The marriage of Mr. De La Vergne took place in Colorado Springs and united him with Miss Alice M. Hook, who was born at Davenport, England, and is a danghter of William E. Hook, now of Colorado Springs. In 1895 Mr. De La Vergne made a tour of Europe, spending the summer in visiting points of interest on the continent and in England.

All enterprises having for their object the good of his country receive the sympathy of Mr. De La Vergne and find in him an advocate and friend, ready to give substantial aid, and that, too, with-

out any thought or hope of reaping personal ad- vantage. Fortunate in his undertakings, judi- cious in all of his actions, prompt and energetic as a business man, and intensely patriotic in de- votion to his country, few men are more respected than he.

ENRY W. BROWN. A lifetime of activity in business and in agricultural pursuits, coupled with strict integrity, honesty of purpose and energy, has tended to place Mr. Brown among the honored residents of Kit Car- son County, where he resides. Since he came to Colorado in 1888 he has engaged in the stock business, having a ranch near Flagler. Shortly after he came here he opened a feed and livery stable in Flagler. In 1892 he formed a partner- ship with George L. Cornwell in the hardware business, and five years later became his partner in the stock business, which he has since con- ducted with success.

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 97

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