Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 98

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 98

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Mr. Brown was born in McLean County, Il1., in 1853, a son of Henry and Lemirah (Smalley) Brown, natives of Ohio. His father, who was born in 1818, devoted his active years to farming and stock-raising, but is now living retired from active business cares, though he still maintains the supervision of his property. In religion he is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his family there were six sons and three daughters, namely: Henry W .; George, a farmer in Nebraska; Frank, who is engaged in the fruit business in California; Charles and John, farmers in Illinois; and Louis, also a farmer, who resides in Washington state; Rebecca J., wife of D. B. Rogers, of Illinois; Arabella Ann, a widow; and Amanda, who married Merritt Downey, of Illi- nois.

In the district schools of his native county our subject received his primary education. The information there obtained he supplemented by a course of study in Lewiston College. At the age of twenty he commenced to study medicine, but, the profession not being congenial, he discon- tinued study in that line. For five years after- ward he engaged in farming in Illinois, and then removed to Missouri, where he remained for four years. Later he spent brief periods in Nebraska and Kansas, and in 1888 came to Colorado, settling in Kit Carson County, where he has since made his home. His life has not been marked by any startling incidents, but he has been quietly and earnestly devoted to business pursuits, and has

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been characterized by perseverance, industry and steadfastness of purpose. He has not been active in local affairs; however, he is a decided Demo- crat and always votes his party ticket. In church connections he is a Congregationalist. By his marriage, which took place in 1880 and united him with Sarah Alice Demmitt, a native of Illi- nois, he has two children, Earl and Nora May.

OHN GILL, one of the successful stockmen and farmers of Pueblo County, is the owner of a ranch of several hundred acres, where he has a large number of cattle and horses, and also en- gages in the raising of fruit. He came to the United States from Bavaria, Germany, where he was born in the little town of Neistadt, April 8, 1831, a son of John and M. Catherine Gill, own- ers of a farm in that section. He was the young- est of a family of two sons and three daughters, all of whom remain in Germany excepting him- self. One of his step-brothers, Tobias, came to America and settled in Michigan in 1847; his own brother, Anton, has engaged in farming in Ba- varia.

When seven years of age our subject was put out to work, and afterward he was self-support- ing. During the summer months he was em- ployed on a farm, and in winter engaged in saw- ing wood. For the entire year's work he received $7 and his board. His mother died when he was thirteen, and the old home was then broken up. At twenty-two years of age he crossed the ocean, joining his step-brother in Michigan, and securing employment in a sawmill above Detroit, at Ma- rine City, St. Clair County, on the St. Clair River. When not engaged in the mill he worked at chop- ping cord wood. Soon he went to Chicago, and from there to St. Joseph, Mo., later to St. Louis and New Orleans, and for one year was employed on a steamboat, after which he went to Leaven- worth, Kan. In the spring of 1858 he crossed the plains with an ox-team to Salt Lake City, where he arrived in the summer, and remained during the winter that followed. In 1859 he reached the mining camp at Denver, then the headquarters for miners, but containing only a few houses. Food was so scarce that flour sold for seventy-five cents a pound, and, as his purse was almost empty, he could get little to eat. He went back to Leav- enworth, St. Louis and New Orleans and again engaged in the steamboat business.

In the spring of 1860 Mr. Gill went to Arkan- sas, where he hired to the government as a team-

ster and drove six mules from Sumter to Fort Ar- bnckle. When the troops were sent after the Kiowa Indians, he accompanied the expedition, which was composed of three hundred and twenty wagons and a large number of soldiers. He traveled as far as the old Santa Fe crossing on the Arkansas River, from which point, in the fall of the same year, he came to Pueblo County, secur- ing employment with "Hickey" Rogers, owner of the ranch which Mr. Gill afterward bought. In 1864 he went to Montana, where he remained for four years. In 1869 he returned to the place and has since engaged in its cultivation. Wish- ing to stock it with cattle, he went to Texas and bought a large number of head, which he drove to Colorado, this forming the nucleus of his pres- ent extensive business. Politically he votes the Democratic ticket. He was reared in the Cath- olic faith. His wife, who was born in Kentucky, accompanied her father to Colorado in 1863 and has since made her home in Pueblo County, where she has a host of warm personal friends.

OHN J. THOMAS, proprietor of the Thomas market gardens of Pueblo, and one of the early settlers of this city, was born in Colum- bus, Ohio, in 1837. He was seven years of age when he accompanied the other members of the family to Illinois, settling in Pike County in 1844. His father, Elijah, who was a native of Ohio, followed agricultural pursuits, both in Ohio and Illinois, and was known as an industrious, per- severing and upright man. At the opening of the war the three sons took up arms in defense of the Union, Elijah and Jeremiah, who were members of Illinois regiments, and John J., who enlisted from Colorado.

From early boyhood our subject was familiar with scenes of pioneer life. He had the advan- tages of a good common-school education. In 1857, with a desire to see something of the west, he went from Atchison County, Mo., where he had been living for a time, to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., from which place he accompanied two regiments and two batteries of the United States troops to Salt Lake, Utah, making the trip across the plains, driving one of the mule-teams. Re- turning to Fort Leavenworth, he was there for a time, then outfitted a train and as wagon master returned to Colorado and the west with supplies for the overland mail line. His trip to the mountain regions had inspired him with a desire to try life in the west, and in 1859 he again came

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to Colorado, arriving in Denver, then a small hamlet. He spent the winter of 1860-61 in the mines of Summit County, at Breckenridge.

Shortly after the opening of the Civil war, in October, 1861, Mr. Thomas enlisted as a member of the First Colorado Cavalry, and remained in the service until the close of the war, being dur- ing most of the time on the frontier, engaged in Indian fighting. He took part in a number of engagements with the red men, and won recogni- tion for his meritorious service in the army. When he had been honorably discharged he went to Pueblo, then a small trading hamlet, with a few buildings. He opened a hotel, where he en- tertained people who were crossing the plains. After a time he turned his attention to the cattle business, in which he engaged successfully for ten years, and at the same time was also inter- ested in a grocery business. In the summer of 1888 he went to the Gunnison country to engage in mining. While there he was appointed register of the land office, which had just been established. He served for two years under President Arthur and a similar period under President Cleveland.

On returning to Pueblo, Mr. Thomas turned his attention to the management of his real- estate interests. After three years he formed a company, of which he was general manager for two years, and the object of which was to build an artificial ice plant. Owing to unforeseen cir- cumstances the enterprise was a failure, and en- tailed upon him a heavy financial loss. His next venture, which has proved very profitable, was the establishment of the Thomas market gardens, and of these he has since been the manager. In spite of frequent reverses and many obstacles he has finally won a large degree of success. He has made his own way in the world since four- teen, when he left home, and although he had no capital with which to begin, he has with de- termination pursued his way until he attained prosperity.

In 1871 Mr. Thomas married Amelia D. Ed- wards, of Pennsylvania. They have three chil- dren: Samuel E., who is a lieutenant in the First Colorado Regiment and is now serving in Manila; Mary C .; and Sophia C., who is as- sistant librarian in the Pueblo public library. For more than forty years Mr. Thomas has affiliated with the Republican party. In 1867 he was elected county treasurer, afterward served as a member of the city council, was elected to the legislature in 1879, and in 1891 was chosen a

member of the board of county commissioners, of which he became chairman. He is a Mason of the highest degree, and a member of Upton Post, G. A. R.

J. G. HARDY EPPERSON, proprietor of the South Park hotel and the owner of extensive ranching interests at Howbert, Park County, was born in Knox County, Ill., January 27, 1850, a son of William and Susan- nah (Richardson) Epperson. He was one of twelve children, of whom he and two brothers alone survive. One of the brothers, H. P., re- sides in Los Angeles; the other, Albert T., lives at Woodland Park, Colo. The father was born in Tennessee in 1806 and at twelve years of age removed with his father (his mother having died while he was quite young) to Fountain County, Ind., settling on the Wabash River, where he took up a tract of raw land. Upon the farm that he cleared and improved he made his home for thirty years. Afterward, for eighteen years, he was one of the leading farmers of Knox County, Ill. In 1868 he removed to Missouri and settled in Henry County. From there, five years later, he came to Colorado. His closing years of life were spent in the home of our subject, with whom he remained until his death, in 1885.

Two months after he attained the age of twen- ty-one years Mr. Epperson married Miss Jose- phine Spurlock, their marriage being solemnized April 20, 1871. He then settled down to farm- ing on the home place. In 1873 he loaded his goods in a wagon, and, with his family, started for the west, his wagon being one of a train of fifty wagons, of which twenty-seven were the outfits of neighbors. Leaving Montrose April 2 they reached Alma, Colo., six weeks later. During their journey they had many exciting buffalo hunts and also found other game in abund- ance. They frequently met Indians, but with the exception of having their horses stampeded at night, at different times, they were not mo- lested.

On his arrival in Alma Mr. Epperson began as a teamster. In the fall he went to Rocky (also in Park County), where he spent the winter, and in the spring returned to Alma. After a few months, in the fall of 1874 he came to Hartsel and took up what is now known as the Railey ranch, three miles west of town. He was one of the first men to lay a pole in the county and one of the first to take out a ditch. In 1877 he sold

JAMES A. HOPKINS.

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his ranch and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of what is known as the James ranch, three miles northwest of Hartsel. There he re- mained until 1884, during which time he in- creased his landed possessions to six hundred and eighty acres. His next location was ten miles southwest of Littleton, near the Platte canon, where he was successfully engaged in the cattle business for five years. That property in 1889 he traded for a ranch at Howbert, Park County, where he has since engaged in haying and the cattle business and also established the South Park hotel.

During 1892 Mr. Epperson went to Colorado City, where he became interested in numerous tracts of city real estate. After a short time he removed to Cripple Creek and established the Cripple Creek dairy, which for six years he con- ducted with success, in partnership with his son. While in that place he acquired considerable city property, which he still owns, and he also owns property in Colorado City, where he usually spends the winter months. In April, 1897, he moved back to Howbert to look after his ranch, leaving his son in charge of the dairy at Cripple Creek, and in August, 1898, he sold his interest in the dairy, since which time he has given his attention largely to the management of his prop- erties. Of his seven children only three are liv- ing: William Albert, Artemecia and Harry A., all of whom are with their parents. Mr. Epper- son has many friends in various parts of Colorado and is highly esteemed for his sterling qualities of heart and mind.

AMES A. HOPKINS, superintendent of water works in Colorado Springs, was born in Altoona, Blair County, Pa., March 11, 1857. His father, Lewis Hopkins, who was of Welsh descent, married Anna C. Domer, a de- scendant of German ancestry, and after carrying on a lumber business in Altoona for some years, in the fall of 1858 he removed with his family to Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo., settling upon a farm of one hundred and eighty-three acres. This property he purchased from Hen- derson Murphy, whose father was the first settler in that part of the country, having secured six hundred acres there (a Spanish grant). Indians at the time were plentiful and not at all friendly. The old log house, which was a huge affair, was erected in 1800 by the settlers, and was used as a fort when the Indians got on the war path. In

1880 this house was removed and a commodious frame residence erected. The farm, by constant improvement, became one of the finest estates in southeastern Missouri. Upon it Lewis Hopkins and his wife continued to reside until they died, he on the 22d of December, 1890, at the age of seventy-five years, nine months and two days, and she March 7, 1897, at the age of seventy- seven years, five months and four days.

The family of five daughters and six sons is yet unbroken by death. The eldest son, Ely D. Hopkins, when eighteen years of age enlisted in a Missouri regiment during the Civil war and served for more than three years, meantime tak- ing part in about forty battles; at the close of the war he was mustered out at New Orleans. Eda K., the second son, served the Union for eight- een months as a member of a Missouri regiment. These two sons are living on adjoining farms within sight of the old homestead. Jeremiah, the third son, is living on the old home farm; Michael K., the fourth son, went to southern Kan- sas in 1878, but after two years there removed to White Pine, Gunnison County, Colo., where he engaged in mining for six years; later he was for a few years foreman on a ranch near Colorado Springs. Resuming his work in connection with mines he went to the Cripple Creek district, where he spent five years, and is still the owner of valuable property there, but is now engaged in farming near Provo, Utah. The youngest son, George B., completed a course in telegraphy at a school in St. Louis, and for two years he engaged in that occupation in southeastern Missouri, after which he spent two years in Colorado, and then removed to Provo, Utah, where he has a position as ticket agent and operator, and there he has built a home and settled down. Four of the daughters live in the vicinity of the old home: Mrs. Mary A. Powell, Mrs. Annie C. Griffin and Mrs. Sarah C. Cunningham, all of whom are comfortably situated and live on farms; and Mrs. Emma Doughty, wife of M. L. Doughty,a well-to- do citizen and now postmaster at Farmington. The youngest daughter, Alice C. M. Govreau, came with her husband to Colorado Springs in 1892, he being engaged as meat cutter with a grocery and meat firm for a year or more, after which he carried on a grocery and meat business of his own, but in 1897 sold out and went to Rocky Ford, Colo., where he is now a prosper- ous grocer and butcher.

The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm

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in Missouri. For four years he was a student in Carlton Institute at Farmington, Mo., but his studies proved too confining and he was obliged to leave school before the completion of his course. He graduated in bookkeeping and pen- manship from C. H. Pierce's Business College at Keokuk, Iowa. In the spring of 1882 he came to Colorado. After a short stay near Trinidad he went into the Gunnison country, where he en- gaged in prospecting and mining for five years. In the early part of 1887 he was united in mar- riage with Miss Fannie B. Chadbourne, of Bonne Terre, St. Francois County, Mo. He then came to Colorado Springs, where he has made his home ever since. For almost a year he was employed in connection with the city water works, after which he was for nine years with E. S. Bumstead & Co., plumbers and gas-fitters, of Colorado Springs. During the last two years of his connection with the firm the title was St. John Bros., plumbing and heating. April 20, 1897, he was appointed superintendent of water works for the city of Colorado Springs, which position he now holds. He owns mining prop- erty in the Cripple Creek district, being inter- ested in the Ramona lode claim on Bull Hill, which is considered good property. He also has mining claims in Woodland Park district to the amount of twenty-five acres, which property will no doubt in time be a good paying proposition. He and his wife are the parents of three children: Alva E., Hubert V. and Robert S. Politically he is a Republican. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World; the Junior Order United American Mechanics, of which he has served as financial secretary; is now protector of the American League of Liberty; also a member of the American Water Works Association, and was for about seven years connected with the Plumb- ers' Association, in which he filled all of the chairs.

B S. HALL was born near Meadville, Pa., June 27, 1829, a son of John and Ketnrah (Sulton) Hall, natives respectively of Craw- ford County, Pa., and New Jersey. His paternal grandfather, John Hall, Sr., was born in Hol- land, and on emigrating to America settled in New Jersey, but later removed to Crawford County, Pa. The occupation of the family has been that of farming.

family of ten children. The widowed mother had nothing with which to sustain her large fam- ily except a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of.land, encumbered with a mortgage. With the help of her older children she succeeded in clear- ing off the debt and kept the family together. The children, however, had very meagre oppor- tunities for obtaining an education, as the help of all was necessary in the work of the farm. Our subject attended subscription school for a short time and spent one winter in a public school. With this limited amount of schooling he has, by self-culture and observation, gained a good education and is now a well-informed man. At seventeen years of age he began to work by the month, receiving $10 per month, and at the ex- piration of four years was receiving $35. During all of that time he saved one-third of his wages. Until he was twenty-three he continued to work out, having only two employers during the entire time. For one of these, a Mr. Elder, he worked five years.

With the money he had saved Mr. Hall bought out the heirs in the old homestead, of which he assumed charge at twenty-three years. In 1861 he came to Colorado, via railroad to Chicago, coach to Council Bluffs and in the latter city bought a mule team, which he drove across the plains in twenty-four days. From Denver he proceeded to the Blue River and engaged in min- ing, also bought an interest in a sawmill, but neither venture proved profitable. When he came he had brought with him $1,800 and before Christmas he was ready to leave, with only $37.

Within four miles of the present site of Foun- tain Mr. Hall bought a claim of one hundred and sixty acres, for which he agreed to pay $175 in installments. After two years he was joined by his family. During his first year on the ranch he raised over sixteen hundred bushels of corn. For the first five hundred bushels he received five cents a bushel, but for the balance he was paid ten cents per bushel. He also raised over four hundred bushels of wheat, for which he was paid seven cents a pound. When his family came west in 1863 he met them at St. Joe, and from there drove through in twenty-one days, which was the quickest trip ever made by a mule- team. For thirty-one years he continued on the same ranch, to which, from time to time, he added land, until his possessions aggregated four- teen hundred acres. He also introduced a system

When our subject was three years of age his father died, and he was left, the seventh, in a of irrigation. The property is known as Hall's

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ranch and is the best for many miles around. In 1893 he removed to a small place near Colorado Springs.

Politically Mr. Hall is a stanch Democrat. He is a member of El Paso Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M. Of his seven children, three died in in- fancy. The oldest of the family, William, was born in Pennsylvania and died in Denver; his children had died previously and his wife passed away soon afterward. David, the second son, lives on the Hall ranch, is married and has four children. Frank, who is married and has three children, makes his home on a ranch on Rock Creek in this county.

S. HERRING, proprietor of a shoe store in Colorado Springs, also secretary of the Nugget Mining and Milling Company, has been a resident of this city since 1891. Pur- chasing an interest in the New York Cash Store in 1892, he became the senior proprietor of the business, remaining as such until August, 1898, when he sold his interest and the partner- ship was dissolved. Since that time he has con- ducted Herring's Shoe Store, at No. 107 South Tejon street. Besides his mercantile interests he owns one-fourth of the stock of the Nugget Mining and Milling Company in Cripple Creek, which he assisted in organizing, and which owns the Charles B. on Grouse Mountain, and the Elizabeth Cooper, adjoining Jackpot and the Doctor mines. He is also interested in other com- panies and claims.

Mr. Herring represents the sixth generation in descent from the founder of the family in Amer- ica, a Prussian, who settled in Maryland and whose children removed to Virginia. The grand- father of our subject, George Herring, was born in Virginia and removed to Trumbull County, Ohio, where he cultivated a farm near Girard until his death at an advanced age. The father, Rev. George Herring, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, and engaged in farming there. In 1863 he removed to Blairstowu, Benton Coun- ty, Iowa, where he improved a farm, and after- ward, by purchase, became the owner of two sec- tions of land. He was ordained a minister in the Evangelical Association in Iowa and preached in his vicinity for years. He died in August, 1877, when fifty-four years of age.

The mother of our subject was Susanna Keck, who was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, and is now living in . Iowa, at the age of seventy-two.

Her father, who was a member of an old Penn- sylvania family, of German descent, was a farmer in Mahoning County and a prominent worker in the Evangelical Association. Our subject was the oldest child and only son of four children. He was born in Girard, Trumbull County, Ohio, June 12, 1852, and at the age of about eleven years accompanied his parents to Blairstown, Iowa, where he was a student in the Academy. In 1876 he embarked in the general mercantile business at Watkins, Iowa. When his father died, the following year he closed out his busi- ness and gave his attention to the settlement of the estate. In 1881 he removed to Kansas, and after a time became proprietor of the Gove County Bank at Gove City, which he con- ducted until his removal to Colorado Springs. At the time of his removal he was serving as mayor of Gove City, which position he had held for two terms. Politically he is a Republican. He is connected with the First Methodist Epis- copal Church, which he serves as steward.

During his residence in Iowa Mr. Herring was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. May, who was born in Paulding, Ohio. They became the parents of three children, one of whom, Jay, died at five years of age. Myrtle Laurella, the older daughter, graduated from the high school of this city in 1898 and is now a student in Colo- rado College; Flossie May, the younger daugh- ter, is a member of the high school class of 1901.

HOMAS TRIBE, who resides in Colorado Springs, and gives his attention to the over- sight of his important mining interests, is a member of an old family of England. His father, William, and grandfather, Thomas, were born in Uxbridge, and descended from a noble family, of whose large estates they were among the heirs. William, who was a sign painter by trade, did much of the painting in Windsor Castle. In 1850 he came to the United States and settled in Hills- dale, Mich., where he was engaged in sign and fancy painting. Possessing literary tastes and ability, he made frequent contributions to local papers, and in all of his writings advocated the interests of the people. For some time he was a member of the board of supervisors. About 1873 he came to Colorado and here continued to reside until his death. His wife, Elizabeth H. Jefferay, was a daughter of a farmer, Thomas Jefferay, and was born in Wendover, England. Her death occurred in Colorado.

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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 98

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