USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 29
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In 1866 the camp of Georgetown was first struck by Messrs. Butine Vol. II. 14
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and Streeter, George Duncan, Andy Johnson and others. No work was done for two years later. when operations were commenced by E. Weeks and J. Fresh, on what is known as the McNulty. In 1872 the wealth of the camp became apparent, and the district is still productive.
Central City is nine miles from Silver City, and is situated on a table leading down from the mountain, in which are located the Hanover and Santa Rita copper mines. The entire table is checked with gold and silver bearing leads, and the numerous ravines cutting through the flat furnish an unfailing supply of the purest mountain water.
Lordsburg, in the western part of the county, on the Southern Pacific line, is also the center of a flourishing gold and silver district, in which are Pyramid and Shakespeare, already mentioned.
Physical Geography and Natural Wealth .- The general appearance and contour of Grant county is anomalous. The great divide comes down near its western line, trending southwest. It divides the county into two very unequal portions, the larger of which, or Mimbres basin, has no ocean drainage, but its waters flow toward Palomas lake, the sink of this great region. The Gila drains the northwest of the county into the gulf of California.
The country abounds in mountain ranges, in which mines are being developed, or, more correctly speaking, in mountain clusters, rising to alti- tudes not exceeding 1,000 feet above the level of the plains, and elevated from the undulating plains, representing the former islands, when, during the cretaceous period, the waters of the sea still covered the country. A multitude of evidences in the shape of ruins, ancient pottery and remnants of implements conclusively prove that this country, in prehistoric ages, has been inhabited by a human race or races who, comparatively, occupied a high scale of civilization.
The Mimbres rises in the mountains of the same name, taking its head waters within a mile or so of some of the principal feeders of the Gila, but on the gulf side of the mountains. During its upper course it takes up the waters of many large springs and small water courses, and supplies water for over one hundred farms ranging from two hundred to about ten acres in extent. The apples and hardy fruits, together with fine vegetables raised in the upper valley of the Mimbres, are of a very superior quality.
Below the mountains the Mimbres takes the form of what is usually termed a "lost river." About thirty miles north of Deming it debouches upon a plateau of the Sierra Madre, a large plain of deep alluvial soil. Little or no water is in sight except in the flood seasons ; but it may always be had at moderate depths below the surface. For sixty miles south of the Mexican line, and for a similar distance east and west, the same condition prevails. The rivers rise in the mountains, drain a considerable water-shed and then disappear into the earth. The importance of this underflow may be judged by the numerous lakes which appear in old Mexico, just south of the line. Palomas lakc is the principal. It is five or six miles long, three-quarters to two miles wide and fed by hundreds of springs. Some of these are so strong that their disturbance of the water can be plainly seen on the surface of the lake.
Harvey Howard Whitchill is a pioneer of New Mexico of the '60s. We of the early part of the twentieth century cannot realize the conditions which met the pioneer of even twenty-five years ago, and little less dream
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of the environments which surrounded the early settler, whose residence here has covered three, four or five decades. Mr. Whitehill's memory bears the impress of the early historic annals of the Territory, and he has been a participant in many epochal events. He now lives in Silver City and is engaged in developing the natural resources of the Territory, especially in the line of silver mining.
A native of Ohio, Mr. Whitehill was born in Bellefontaine, September 2, 1837. In early life he followed railroad engineering in the middle west and in 1858, when a young man of twenty-one years, went to Colorado, spending most of his time in that state in Denver, Leadville and other mining districts, engaged in mining and prospecting. He devoted one year to mining in the Russell gulch and was sergeant-at-arms of the first provincial government of the Territory in 1859-60. He afterward returned to his mining and took out about twelve thousand dollars. He then re- turned to the San Juan country and spent the winter of 1860-1. Formerly Mr. Whitehill had been engaged in freighting in the west before the advent of railroads, and during the Civil war had enlisted at Fort Union, where he was in active duty for about a year. He belonged to the company under command of Captain Joseph Simpson and First Lieutenant H. H. Halford. He was sworn in by Colonel Chatman of the regular army, commanding officer at Fort Union at that time, and afterward by Major Paul of the regular army. Lieutenant Halford was murdered at Elizabethtown in 1872. Mr. Whitehill continued to serve until honorably discharged in 1862. All of the members of the command furnished their own horses. Following his military service he became a government contractor for grain at Fort Union.
On the 19th of December, 1865, in Denver, Colorado, Mr. Whitehill was married to Harriet M. Stevens and about 1866 or 1867 they came to New Mexico, locating in Elizabethtown during the days of the first gold excitement there. Mr. Whitehill gave his attention to placer mining and continued in that vicinity until 1870, when he removed to Silver City, where he has since been engaged in silver mining. He is familiar with all kinds of mining machinery and has done much work along that line here. He is also interested in cattle to some extent and has thus been closely asso- ciated with two of the most imporatnt sources of income to the Terri- tory-the development of its rich mineral resources and the raising of live stock.
In his political affiliation Mr. Whitehill is a stalwart Democrat, active in the work of the party and having considerable influence in its local councils. He has filled various local offices and about 1880 was elected to the legislature. He is also prominent in the local Masonic lodge and is a man of genuine personal worth, commanding and enjoying the esteem and confidence of those who know him. His life history, if written in detail, would present a characteristic picture of pioneer experiences during the days of Indian outbreaks, added to the hardships. privations and difficul- ties which are always encountered upon the frontier. On various occa- sions he has had trouble with the Indians and has narrowly escaped with his life. One of his most exciting adventures occurred at Mogollon.
In 1894 Mr. Whitehill was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, with whom he had traveled life's journey happily for almost thirty years. They were the parents of nine children: Harry V., who is engaged in the
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cattle business on the Mimbres; Emma, the widow of W. H. Kilburn, of Silver City; Wayne W., who is interested in mining and makes his home at Silver City: Cornelius Cosgrove, who is engaged in the insurance bus- iness ; Josie, the wife of Herbert H. Bishop, of San Francisco; Hattie, the wife of H. L. Dodson, of the Mimbres; Ollie, the wife of Robert Bell, of Silver City ; and Carrie and Mary, who are at home with their father.
Cornelius C. Whitehill of this family was born in Silver City, Novem- ber 8, 1873, and was reared under the parental roof, acquiring his education in the public schools. During the earlier years of his manhood he gave his attention principally to cattle ranching. but is now engaged in the real estate and insurance business and in both departments has a large clientage, being one of the representative and enterprising young business men of this part of the Territory. He was married on the 10th of June. 1895, to Miss May Biggs and their children are Cornelius O. and Clarice. Cornelius C. Whitehill is a member of the Elks lodge and also of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Colonel Howard H. Betts. filling the position of city clerk at Silver City, New Mexico, is a native of New England, his birth having occurred in Danbury. Connecticut, December 1. 1855. He was reared, however, in New York city and he has been a resident of Silver City, New -Mexico, since December, 1886. In that year he entered the employ of the firm of Morril & Company, with whom he remained for a year, when he em- barked in business on his own account, conducting his store successfully until 1891. He then disposed of his stock of groceries and, in partnership with W. H. Newcomb, organized the Silver City, Pinos Altos & Mogollon Narrow Gauge Railroad Company for the building of a line, but the repeal of the Sherman act caused the financial ruin of the firm after the work of grading for a distance of nine miles from Silver City had been completed.
Various official honors have been conferred upon Mr. Betts and he has made a creditable record in different offices he has filled. He was appointed a member of the board of penitentiary commissioners and for two years acted as its president. In 1897 he was chosen to the office of city clerk of Silver City and has since acted in this capacity, covering a period of nine years. He was appointed assessor of Grant county in 1899 and 1900. Opposed to misrule in all municipal or county offices, his course has been characterized by unfaltering devotion to the public good through the faithful performance of the duties entrusted to him.
On the 9th of December, 1809. Mr. Betts was married to Miss Annie A. Newcomb. He is a member of Silver City Lodge No. 413. B. P. O. E., and is its secretary, and membership relations connect him with Silver City lodge, K. P. February 24, 1906, Governor Hagerman appointed him colonel on his staff.
Arthur S. Goodell, of Silver City, wholesale and retail dealer in hav. grain and feed, who is also filling the office of county treasurer, was born in Lyme. Grafton county. New Hampshire, in 1858. He has been a resident of New Mexico since 1883. He was reared in his native city and after acquiring his early education there became a student in the academy at Thedford Hill, Vermont. He arrived in New Mexico when about twenty- five years of age, locating in Grant county upon a ranch on the Gila river. There he remained for about seven years and in 1801 he established a livery stable in Silver City, which he conducted successfully until 1905. In
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Pratogel Strand St. Petty
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the meantime, in 1903, he purchased an interest in his present business and since June, 1905, has been alone in the ownership of his wholesale and retail hay, grain and feed store in Silver City, with a good patronage, which annually returns to him a gratifying income. His business interests are capably managed and from a humble position he has worked his way up- ward to the plane of affluence.
In 1896 Mr. Goodell was married to Miss May Gaddis, a native of Louisiana, who was a teacher in the public and normal schools. They have one child, May. Fraternally Mr. Goodell is a Mason, having been initi- ated into the order in Silver City lodge in 1892. He also belongs to Silver City Chapter, R. A. M., to Malta Commandery, K. T., of Silver City, and to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Aside from his business, however, his chief attention is given to his official duties. He is an active and stalwart Republican and upon the party ticket was elected sheriff in 1901, serving for a term of two years. He has been mayor of the city since the spring of 1904 and county treasurer since the fall of that year, and in both offices he gives a public spirited and progressive administra- tion, characterized by reform and improvement.
Theodore W. Carter, prominently known in mining circles, arrived in the Territory in April, 1897, and became identified with copper mining in Grant county. In 1900 he leased property from the Southwestern Copper Company. Up to that time the property had remained idle for twenty vears and had produced very little. Mr. Carter continued to operate under the lease until 1903, when the Burro Mountain Copper Company was formed and he took over the property and purchased ground covering about a mile square. The work of Mr. Carter under the lease was what led to the great development now being carried on. Today the property is among the most promising and paving in New Mexico, this camp be- ing the largest in the Territory. Nothing was being done when Mr. Carter took up his abode there and the growth and development of this locality is attributable directly to his efforts and enterprise. He organized the Burro Mountain Copper Company, was connected therewith as man- ager until a recent date and is now acting as managing director, with offices in Silver City. He now has a mill on the grounds at Leopold and its capacity is two hundred and twenty-five tons per day. When he be- gan operations Mr. Carter had three Mexicans to assist him and hauled the ore to the smelter at Silver City. He shipped under that lease over one hundred thousand dollars' worth of ore. gross.
Mr. Carter is a native of Iowa and spent two and a half years in Colo- rado before coming to New Mexico. He is an architect by profession and followed that calling to some extent at Denver and Cripple Creek, but went into the mines at the latter place and there first received his min- ing experience. Coming to New Mexico, he realized the opportunities here presented and has carried on the development work along modern lines, resulting in great benefit to the district and proving at the same time a source of individual profit.
Orange Scott Warren, deceased, who was a respected and representa- tive citizen of Silver City, was born in Malden, Massachusetts, August 15, 1847. and was a descendant of the old Warren family, prominent in that state. During his boyhood days his parents removed to Lawrence, Kansas, where he was educated, being graduated from the schools there. He after-
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HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
ward entered the Union army as private secretary to a colonel command- ing a regiment. About the close of the war he returned east to New Jersey for a short time, and afterward went to Seattle, Washington, where he was cashier in a bank for two years. Subsequently he again went to New Jersey and afterward spent two years in the banking business at Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1876 he made his way to San Francisco and to Port- land, Oregon, remaining on the coast until 1882. In that year he came direct to Silver City and spent his remaining days in the insurance and real estate business hcre, being one of the representative men of this part of the Territory. He was not only active in business life, but also con- tributed in substantial measure to public improvement, and was a co-oper- ant factor in measures which had direct bearing upon public interests. He was the first county superintendent of schools in Grant county, and the cause of public education found in him a warm and earnest friend, while other beneficial public measures received his endorsement and co-opera- tion. He died on the eve of his nomination for county commissioner on the 6th of October, 1885. His public spirit and progressive citizenship made his services much sought in connection with affairs of general mo- ment. He was a well educated man, a good conversationalist and fluent talker, and was recognized as a strong and influential Republican, whose opinions were frequently a decisive force in the local councils of his party.
Mr. Warren was married in New Jersey in 1874 to Miss Elizabeth Von Wachenhusen, a native of Brooklyn, New York, and a daughter of Baron Frederick Von Wachenhusen, of Mecklenburg, who served as lieu- tenant in the German army in the revolution of 1848, and because of this had to leave his native country, which he did in company with the re- nowned Carl Schurz. Of the children of this family one son, Frederick, is now deceased. Joan is the widow of E. B. Moorman, of Louisville, Ken- tucky, and a son, Eugene, is now in St. Louis, Missouri, where he occu- pies a prominent position with the Citizens' Insurance Company. He was formerly a resident of Silver City and was Republican candidate for the New Mexico legislature at the Thirty-fifth session. Since her husband's death Mrs. Warren has continued to reside in Silver City, and has charge of the business which he established. He was a man of splendid qualities, as displayed in his business, political and social relations, and his death came as a personal bereavement to his many friends as well as to his im- mediate family.
Robert Black, a contractor and builder of Silver City, came to this place March 2, 1872. He was born and reared in Cambridge, Massachu- setts, and in 1859 entered Harvard College, so that in his youth he enjoyed splendid educational privileges. He resided at Cambridge until twenty- seven years of age. On leaving Boston he spent one year in Denver, Colo- rado, and was induced to come to Silver City from that place to construct a quartz mill. From that time to the present he has been closely asso- ciated with the material progress, the intellectual development and the up- building of the city along those lines which contribute to civic virtue and civic pride. He was engaged as a contractor and builder until 1883, when he was called to public office and later he resumed operations in that di- rection and has erected nearly all of the important buildings in the city and county in many years. He put in the first wood working machinery
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ever installed in the territory, building the first complete planing mill, which was shipped in sections from Boston, Massachusetts.
On the Ist of May, 1883, the railroad was completed to Silver City, and Mr. Black, as mayor here, had the honor of driving the silver spike. The town had been incorporated in May, 1878, and in April of that year Mr. Black had been elected its first mayor, in which capacity he served for two terms. In 1880 he was elected a member of the territorial legislature as the representative for the five southern counties and filled that position for two years. He has been the champion of many feasible movements for public good and while in the legislature was the author and introduced the first public school bill. The cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart friend, and he has been president of the school board of Silver City for the past twenty-one years. He was instrumental in securing the establishment of the normal university here, and for eight years has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Agricultural College. He is also a member of the New Mexico Pioneer Society, which includes all men who became residents of the Territory prior to 1880. He served on the Board of County Commissioners for one term of two years, and in various posi- tions to which he has been called he has shown himself abundantly worthy of the trust and confidence reposed in him.
Mr. Black is a member of Silver City Lodge No. 8, A. F. & A. M., and has taken the degrees of the Commandery and of the Mystic Shrine at Albuquerque. He also belongs to the Eastern Star, and is the oldest Knight of Pythias in the Territory, but has not identified himself with a local lodge of that organization. His affiliation with the Masonic craft covers a period of more than forty years, during which time he has been a worthy exemplar of the beneficent spirit of the order, which promotes mutual helpfulness. brotherly kindness and charity among its followers.
James A. Shipley, residing at Silver City, is deputy clerk of the third judicial district, also deputy sheriff, deputy treasurer and collector. He was born in Bonaparte, Van Buren county, Iowa, June 16, 1871, and pur- sued his education in the public schools of Indianapolis. He arrived in New Mexico, January 9, 1891, representing the Wells-Fargo Express Com- pany at Albuquerque until 1894. In the spring of the latter year he came to Silver City and occupied a clerical position in the assessor's office until December of that year. Through the succeeding ten years he was clerk in the probate clerk's office and also deputy clerk of the third judicial dis- trict of New Mexico. He lias discharged the combined duties of his pres- ent positions, being deputy clerk of the third judicial district, deputy sheriff and deputy treasurer and collector. In politics he is an earnest and unfalter- ing Republican, doing all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party, and in 1901 he was candidate for the office of pro- bate clerk, but was defeated.
Mr. Shipley was married. March 5. 1892, to Miss Ina E. Whitehill, a daughter of P. P. Whitelill, and their children are Frederick G. and Addison P., aged respectively ten and four years. Mr. Shipley is a char- ter member of Silver City Lodge, No. 413, B. P. O. E., of which he is a past exalted ruler.
Andrew B. Laird, of Silver City, filling the position of county assessor of Grant county, is a pioneer of 1881. He was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, July 3, 1854, and pursued his education in the schools of that
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state. In 1876 he went to Kansas, making his home in Sterling, where he engaged in business as a builder and contractor until 1881, when he went to Las Vegas. There he engaged in building operations for eight months, and afterward went to Bernalillo. In February, 1883, he went to Deming, where he did the greater part of the building until 1893. While there he was elected sheriff of Grant county in 1886 and served for one term. He was re-elected to the office in 1892, and in 1894 was chosen by popular suffrage to the position of treasurer and collector. Since 1893 he has made Silver City his home, and in addition to county offices has filled some local positions, acting as town marshal for three years. He was appointed as- sessor in January, 1904, to fill a vacancy, and is the present incumbent in the position. In politics he has always been a stalwart Republican, and was the first representative of the party to be elected sheriff of Grant county.
Mr. Laird has not only proved an efficient and capable officer, but also an enterprising business man, and during the past four years has been closely connected with building operations at Fort Bayard. He has had some military experience, being captain of the only militia company in the field ordered out in the campaign against the noted Indian chief, Geronimo, in 1885, commanding Troop H of the Second Cavalry. Mr. Laird was made a Mason in Kansas, and he assisted in organizing and became the first master of Lodge No. 11, A. F. & A. M., at Deming. He was also senior grand warden of the grand lodge in 1884. He is also an Elk.
Mr. Laird married Flora A. Haight, a native of Owego, New York.
James Corbin, who is engaged in the insurance and real estate busi- ness in Silver City, where he is also notary public and where he formerly served as probate judge, was born in Newport, New Hampshire, March 24, 1838. He is a brother of Austin Corbin and a son of Austin and Mary (Chase) Corbin, the former a native of Somers, Connecticut, and the latter of Claremont, New Hampshire.
James Corbin acquired his early education in Newport, New Hamp- shire, and afterward attended the South Woodstock (Vermont) College. He made an early trip to Iowa in 1856, his brother Austin being at that time a lawyer and banker of Davenport. He afterward returned to New York, and in 1864 came to New Mexico on account of his health. In 1859 he had started for Pike's Peak, but did not reach his destination and returned to Davenport, Iowa. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he was in Chicago, Illinois. Because of his health he afterward re- turned to the east, where he read law, and following his arrival in New Mexico he was admitted to the bar.
Locating in Santa Fé, Mr. Corbin became a clerk in the law office of Samuel P. Cleaver and of Merrill Ashurst. He was later engrossing clerk in the territorial legislature, and in the succeeding summer started for Mexico or California, but instead stopped at Fort Craig, where he en- gaged in clerking for United States until fall. He thence went to Fort Selden, where he did clerical work. He was next at Fort Cummings, and a year later, in 1866, went to Fort Bavard, where he spent most of his time until coming to Silver City in 1870. He has made his home con- tinuously in Grant county since 1865, and has been engaged to a greater or less extent in independent mining ventures, and still owns valuable
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mining property. He has also conducted a real estate business for several years, negotiating important realty transfers. It was Judge Corbin and associates who discovered the celebrated chloride mines in Grant county, one of which produced silver to the value of over a million dollars.
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