USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 30
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In his political views and affiliations Judge Corbin is a stalwart Demo- crat. He was elected and served as probate judge of Grant county and has also been mayor of Silver City. He was married in 1885 to Mrs. Emma I. (Cross) Adams.
Charles A. Farnsworth, of Silver City, filling the office of sheriff of Grant county, is a native of La Salle county, Illinois, his birth having oc- curred in Redding on the 5th of April, 1868. In 1885 he came to New Mexico with his parents, Thomas F. and Nannah (Wright) Farnsworth, both of whom were of English ancestry, and the father is now deceased. In 1878 they left Illinois and for seven years thereafter were residents of Nepesta, Colorado, so that Charles A. Farnsworth, who was but ten years of age at the time of the removal from Illinois, acquired his education by studying successively in the schools of his native state, Colorado and New Mexico. In early life he herded cattle for four months and was after- ward connected with a grocery business at Lake Valley for two years. Subsequently he conducted a store for one year for W. C. Hadley Company at Hadley, now Luna, Grant county. In connection with his brother he became owner of a large cattle ranch on Bear creek and was identified with its management for nine years, at the end of which time he sold out, in 1900, and in connection with his brothers, T. F. and William S. Farnsworth, opened a grocery store and meat market in Silver City, which they still conduct, having a well appointed store, which has secured a liberal patron- age and, therefore, returns to them a good income.
Mr. Farnsworth votes with the Republican party and is a loyal ad- vocate of its principles. He was nominated upon the Republican ticket for the office of sheriff in October, 1902, but was defeated in that year. In 1904 he was again nominated and won the election by a majority of one hundred and twenty-five in a county which has a large normal Democratic strength. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks, with the Knights of Pythias and with the A. O. U. W. He is now discharging the duties of his office in a fearless, capable manner, and at the same time is connected with mercantile interests in Silver Citv.
W. D. Murray, residing at Central, New Mexico, has been a pro- moter of many important business enterprises of this section of the Ter- ritory and his labors have been of direct benefit and far-reaching effect in the work of growth, progress and development here. He is president of the Silver City National Bank, is interested in the wholesale firm of Jones, Downes & Company, of Silver City, also in the firms of Murray & Layne and M. F. Downes & Company, and in many other mercantile and cor- porate enterprises. He came to New Mexico in 1880 with his parents, the family home being established at Fort Selden. He was a student in St. Michael's College and in the Christian Brothers' School at St. Louis, Missouri, and in 1886 he went to Fort Bayard, his father being in the federal service at the old Fort Bavard, a government post. While in St. Louis he was fitting himself for telegraphic work, and after his graduation he acted as operator for a short time at Fort Bavard, also serving as clerk in the government trading post there. the store being conducted by B. W.
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Maginn. Following the sale of the store by Mr. Maginn to H. Booth, Mr. Murray continued as clerk and remained there until 1892, when the government discontinued the commissioning of post traders, and Mr. Mur- ray removed to Central. Here he opened a store for his former employer, Mr. Booth, in January, 1893, and the following year purchased an interest in the business, the firm of Booth & Murray being then established. This relation was maintained until 1897, when Mr. Murray became sole proprie- tor, conducting the business alone until 1900, when the firm of Murray Brothers was established, with W. D. and J. T. Murray as partners. This has been a leading place of business in Central since that time, and a num- ber of branch houses have been established at various places in Grant county. In Hanover the business is conducted under the name of the Hanover Mercantile Company.
Mr. Murray is interested in the Alley Canyon Lumber Company. In April, 1904, he accepted the presidency of the Silver City National Bank. He is also a director and heavy stockholder in the Silver City Savings Bank, also pratically owns the Silver Valley Waterworks,. which supplies the town with water; is a stockholder and director in the recently organized life insurance company known as the Occidental Life Insurance Company, doing business in New Mexico and Arizona. In 1900, in connection with J. W. Bibb, of Hanover, he organized the Grant County Telephone Com- pany, of which he is president, with Mr. Bibb as vice-president. They now have 'phones over the greater part of Grant county, and this enterprise has been of material benefit in the advancement of business interests and con- ditions in this portion of the Territory. The firm of Murray Brothers owns a half interest in the Mimbres Hot Springs, located twenty miles east of Santa Rita. Mr. Murray is a man of keen business discernment, recog- nizing the difficulties as well as the possibilities of a business situation, and planning to overcome the former and to utilize the latter. He has la- bored with good results, making the most of his opportunities and steadily progressing toward the goal of prosperity. At the same time his business career has been of a character that has contributed to general progress as well as to individual success.
In politics Mr. Murray is a Republican, and upon the party ticket was elected in 1900 to the office of county commissioner and served as chair- man of the board for four years.
At the Republican convention held at Las Vegas in 1906 he was nom- inated for the council from the tenth district, embracing the counties of Grant, Luna and Doña Ana. In the November election he was the only Republican who was elected in the county of Grant, the balance of the ticket being defeated. His majority in Grant county was 223, his majority in Doña Ana county was 523, and he lost Luna county by 95; hence the total majority was 651. He carried his own precinct, Central, by 129 out of 144 votes.
He is likewise a school director at Central and he belongs to the Elks Lodge, No. 413, at Silver City. and to the Knights of Pythias Lodge there. He was married in 1893 to Mattie Jones, Silver City. They have two girls, Lyda and Hazel, and one boy, Harry B. Murray.
Owen L. Scott, who is president and manager of Redstone Company, engaged in the operation of a sawmill eighteen miles northeast of Silver City, making his home at the mill, was born in Virginia, December II,
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1840, and in October, 1866, came to New Mexico, landing at Santa Fé. In 1842 his father had removed with the family to Wyandot county, Ohio, where he followed farming in pioneer days. In June, 1860, Owen L. Scott left Ohio and went to Colorado, arriving in Denver on the 16th of August of that year. In August, 1864, he enlisted at first sergeant in Company H of the Third Colorado Cavalry and served under Colonel George L. Shoup within the state of Colorado, engaged in Indian fighting. He was for one hundred days in the army. He had been in business in Colorado, and following his removal to Santa Fe he soon started to other parts of the Territory upon a prospecting trip. He located at Fort Selden, on the Rio Grande, in Doña Ana county, in 1864, and was there in the employ of George Blake, post trader, selling goods, until 1869. He also acted later as clerk in the quartermaster's department. He afterward returned east on a visit and in the summer of 1870 was engaged in mining in Colorado. In the fall of 1871 he came to Silver City, and in 1872 established the first newspaper in Grant county, called Mining Life, the first issue being given to the public in May of that year. He continued its publication until the spring of 1875. The following year he accepted the position of book- keeper for M. W. Bremen, the pioneer miner and the most successful rep- resentative of that business ever in the Territory. Mr. Scott continued as bookkeeper until 1883, when he was appointed postmaster by President Arthur and served for four years. In 1888 he joined the Hastings Lumber and Manufacturing Company, and thus became connected with the lum- ber business. In 1891 he organized the Black-Scott Lumber Company, and as secretary and manager operated the sawmill, which is situated eighteen miles northeast of Silver City, until January 1, 1901, when the Redstone Company was incorporated, with himself as president and mana- ger. and has continued in the lumber trade to the present time, with a large and constantly growing patronage.
Mr. Scott was married at Fort Selden, March 4, 1872, to Miss Mary Jane Hannum, a native of Ohio. He is a charter member of San Vicente Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F.
E. M. Young came to Silver City, April 15, 1882, from Deming, mak- ing the trip on a six-horse stage. This was then a small adobe town, the population being mostly the Mexican element and depending entirely tipon mining as a source of income. He there accepted a position as bookkeeper with f. N. Cohen, in whose employ he remained for several years, after which he became postmaster, filling that position from January 6, 1887, un- til 1891, under appointment of Grover Cleveland. Mr. Young is a stal- wart Democrat in his political affiliation, and has taken deep interest in political affairs for a number of years. In 1890 he was elected probate clerk, and by re-election served for four consecutive terms. In 1891 he was appointed a member of the board of regents of the New Mexico Nor- mal School, at which time he was made secretary and treasurer, and is still serving in that capacity.
Upon his retirement from the office of probate clerk Mr. Young en- tered the grocery business and has since continued in the trade, being rec- ognized as one of the prominent and substantial residents of Silver City, where his commercial and official activity have been of such a character as to render him one of the leading men here.
WV. A. Tenney, a freight contractor of Silver City, has been a resi-
.
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dent of New Mexico since 1873, when, at the age of thirteen years, he went to Valencia county with his father, N. C. Tenney, and entered the cattle business thirty-five miles southeast of Fort Wingate, in Little Onion. He was born and reared in Utah until the removal of the family to New Mexico. The father engaged in the cattle business until 1878, when, with his father, he went to St. John's, Arizona, and there he was killed while acting as peacemaker between the cowboys and the Mexicans in the great bull fight at that place.
W. A. Tenney was connected with his father in his cattle interests until 1878, when he secured a government contract for freighting from Albuquerque and Las Vegas to Fort Wingate, following that pursuit for four or five years, or until the Santa Fé Railroad was built to Needles. He has since engaged in freighting in New Mexico, Arizona and Old Mexico, making his headquarters in Silver City since June, 1903. His family, however, resides in St. John's, Arizona. Mr. Tenney is a member of Sil- ver City Lodge No. 13. I. O. O. F., and Silver City Lodge No. 7. A. O. U. W. He came to this section of the country in pioneer times, when the seeds of civilization had hardly been planted. and through almost thirty years has been an interested witness of the progress that has been made and the changes which have occurred, bringing about a wonderful transforma- tion in business conditions and in the settlement of the country.
Major O. G. Myhre, connected with the drug trade at Silver City and prominent in military circles of New Mexico as a member of the Na- tional Guard, was born at Beloit, Wisconsin, June 27, 1865. In the fall of the same year his parents removed to Iowa, locating at Estherville, Emmet county. The father, Andrew Myhre, a pioneer of Wisconsin, fol- lowed merchandising in various places in that state and in Iowa and left the latter state when Major Myhre was about eight years of age, removing to Lyle, Minnesota, where he again engaged in merchandising. The son was reared in Lyle, pursuing his education in the public schools, and after- ward in the institute at Decorah, Iowa, and a business college at La Crosse, Wisconsin. At Lyle he entered a drug store and learned the business. In 1887 he went to Chicago and pursued a course of study in the Chicago College of Ophthalmology. On the completion of the course he returned to Lyle, where he engaged in the drug and optical business. On the 29th of March, 1889, he was appointed postmaster of that place by President Harri- son, and in 1890 was elected mayor of the town. The following year the town was largely destroyed by fire, but Mr. Myhre reopened his drug store and continued in business there until the spring of 1892, when he came to New Mexico. He arrived at Carlsbad on the 30th of June, 1892, and conducted a drug store there for three years, when he returned to Chi- cago and went upon the road as a traveling salesman. In March, 1897, he came to Silver City and has been connected with the Porterfield Drug Company since that time, also conducting an optical business.
On the 19th of September, 1901, Mr. Myhre was commissioned cap- tain of Company D, of the First Regiment of Infantry of the New Mexico National Guard. In September, 1902, he was appointed by Governor Otero as major in the First Regiment and was assigned to command the Third Battalion. On the 23rd of March, 1905, he was appointed by Governor Otero as a member of the board of ophtometry and elected secretary. In community affairs he has also been deeply and helpfully interested, and
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since 1899 has served as chief of the Silver City fire department, while in 1905 he was chosen a member of the board of education and is now acting as its secretary. Fraternally he is connected with Silver City Lodge No. 413, B. P. O. E., and also a member of Silver City Lodge No. 12, K. of P., of which he is a past chancellor.
George H. Bell, owning and controlling a ranch near Silver City, was born in Dayton, Ohio, October 4, 1858, and spent his boyhood days there and in London, Ohio. He came to New Mexico in 1880, and for a time conducted a saloon in Silver City, but about seven years ago purchased a cattle ranch and now has one of the finest ranching properties in this part of the country. It is stocked with a high grade of cattle and his annual sales reach a large figure. Moreover, he has contributed to the substan- tial improvement of Silver City through the erection of two large business blocks, and he has been interested in mining to a greater or less extent dur- ing the entire period of his residence here.
Mr. Bell served as a member of the militia during the troubles with the Apache Indians. He has also taken an interest in politics as an advocate of the Democracy, and he belongs to Silver City Lodge No. 413, B. P. O. E.
Albert Dano, of Silver City, who has mining interests in the Burro mountains and is engaged in general development work, has resided in New Mexico for twenty-five years. He was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin, May 16, 1857, a son of William H. and Margaret Dano. His early life was spent in his native city, his education acquired in the public schools there, and he entered upon his business career as a drug clerk in Baraboo. In 1880, at the age of twenty-three years, he came to New Mexico and lived at different times in Socorro, Santa Fé and Albuquerque, but de- voted much of the time to business interests in Santa Fé. He also mined in various places. About ten years ago he came to Silver City, where he has since engaged in business. He now has good copper mining properties in the Burro mountains, which he is operating independently, and he is also engaged in general development work, his labors proving of direct and immediate benefit in the upbuilding and progress of this part of the Terri- tory. His co-operation can always be counted upon as a factor in the fur- therance of any movement for the public good.
Nick Hughes, Sr., well known as a cattleman of Lordsburg, is fa- miliar with the history of the Southwest from the early period in its pioneer development, for he came to New Mexico in 1856 at the age of fifteen years as a member of the United States cavalry engaged in active service against the Navajo Indians. He was born in Ireland. Entering the army in early manhood, he served for five terms, which covered the period of the Civil war, and also brought him into contact with military experiences upon the frontier in the subjugation of the red race, who took advantage of every available opportunity in a manifestation of the hostile spirit which made life such a hazardous thing to the frontier settlers. After retiring from the army he located in Puerto de Luna and embarked in the cattle business, the wide, open country giving an excellent range. About 1870 or 1871 he removed to Sension, in Chihuahua, Mexico, where he engaged in trade, largely dealing in cattle, horses and other stock. He was thus en- gaged until 1878, when he removed to the Sang Somone valley in Arizona. In 1887 he removed to the ranch a mile and a half northeast of Lordsburg,
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where he is now engaged in the cattle business. He has large herds and is constantly breeding up the stock to better strains.
None of the usual experiences of life on the frontier when the settlers were constantly exposed to the dangers of Indian attack are unknown to Mr. Hughes. He has had many encounters with the red men and various narrow escapes, and his life history, if written in detail, would be a most thrilling story of the varied experiences when his life was endangered and his escape seemed almost miraculous. On one occasion, between Chi- huahua, Mexico, and Silver City, while carrying a big bag of silver and gold which he had received in payment for a thousand head of cattle, he was attacked by rustlers, but escaped. Later he was jumped by a band of Indians, but again escaped, on each occasion owing to the fact that he rode a splendid horse, which outdistanced his pursuers. He has watched with interest the changes that have come as the tide of emigration has steadily flowed to this region, the white race having reclaimed the district for the uses of civilization, churches and schools being planted upon the frontier, business interests established and the development of the natural resources of the country carried on until, in point of business activity and sources of culture, New Mexico is not behind the older cities and long set- tled districts of the east.
Mr. Hughes was married in New Mexico in 1863 to Miss Josefa Armijo, and to them have been born four children: James, deceased ; John, who was killed in Old Mexico; Mary, the wife of John Robson; and Nick, Jr., who was born December 25, 1870, in Bernalillo county. He was reared to the stock business and had the reputation of being the best broncho rider in the Territory. He owns a ranch one mile east of Lords- burg, where he is engaged in raising cattle and horses, and he is also engaged in farming to some extent, having about twenty acres under irri- gation. He has a wife and four sons in the Territory. In politics he is an active Democrat, which is also the political faith of the father, who has always been an advocate of the principles of that party.
J. P. Ownby, deceased, who for many years was recognized as one of the prominent cattlemen of New Mexico and belonged to that class of citizens who have extended the frontier by planting the seeds of civilization in a hitherto new and undeveloped region, came to Lordsburg in No- vember, 1880. His youth was passed in Memphis, Tennessee, his native city, and in 1852 he went to California. He was prominent in communit affairs in the southern section of the state, serving as sheriff of Los Angeles county and also marshal of the city of Los Angeles for six years. In other ways he was an influential factor in the community. In November, 1880, he came to Lordsburg, where he was soon afterward joined by his children. Here he engaged in the cattle business. and in partnership with his son, B. B. Ownby, he began raising and dealing in stock, becoming one of the well known cattlemen of this part of the Territory. With ready adaptation of his interests to the condition of a new country, he conducted his business affairs with undaunted energy and enterprise, resulting in profit. In politics he was very active, giving his allegiance to the Dem- ocracv. In his family were two sons and a daughter.
B. B. Ownby, his son and partner, was born and reared in Los Angeles, California, where he acquired his education, and he was con- tinnously engaged in the cattle business in New Mexico since coming to the
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Territory in 1880. He has a ranch one mile north of Lordsburg and is here running large herds of cattle, representing a considerable investment and yielding him gratifying profit as the result of his annual sales. In- terested in public affairs to the extent of giving hearty support and co- operation to many progressive movements, Mr. Ownby is now serving as one of the commissioners of Grant county. He was county deputy sheriff of Grant county for twelve years, deputy United States marshal for four years and city marshal of Lordsburg, and the record of his public service has been characterized by unfaltering fidelity to duty.
Don: H. Kedzie, editor of the Lordsburg Liberal, became a resident of Lordsburg in 1887, and in partnership with S. D. Dye founded the Western Liberal. A year later the paper passed into the hands of Mr. Kedzie, who has conducted it alone continuously since.
Born in Clinton, Michigan, Mr. Kedzie supplemented his early educa- tional privileges by study in the State Agricultural College, from which in- stitution he was graduated. He learned the printer's trade at St. Joseph, Michigan, and afterward assisted his father, A. S. Kedzie, in conducting the Grand Haven ( Michigan) Herald. While there he became ill with consumption and for the benefit of his health removed to New Mexico. He found in the climatic conditions here the needed restoratives, and, en- tering business life, has since been allied with the interests of the Ter- ritory. He served as postmaster of Lordsburg during the administration of Benjamin Harrison, was reappointed under the first administration of President Mckinley, and is still acting in the position. He is a very loyal and ardent advocate of Republican principles, and publishes his paper in the interests of the party. He is also engaged in the insurance business and is a director of several mining companies.
Mr. Kedzie is a charter member and assisted in the organization, on the 4th of July, 1896, of Pyramid Lodge No. 23, Knights of Pythias, and he is a past chancellor and member of the grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias. In addition to the office of postmaster he has served as notary public, and is an enterprising business man and citizen, whose outlook rec- ognizes opportunities and whose efforts in behalf of public service have been far reaching and beneficial.
William H. Small, a representative of commercial interests of Lords- burg, was born and reared in the gas belt of Indiana, his birth having oc- curred March 21, 1858, and came to New Mexico on the Ist of January, 1883, on which date he arrived in Lordsburg. Here he entered business life as a dealer in stationery, subsequently opening and conducting a drug store, and later embarked in general merchandise, carrying on that line of business from 1897 until the present time. The Eagle drug store was founded in 1885 by W. H. Small and was merged with the business of the Eagle Drug Mercantile Company in March, 1897, at which time it was incorporated with W. H. Small as the chief stockholder, while John T. and James P. McCabe and S. M. Chase were also incorporators. Mr. Small has conducted his commercial interests along lines of modern business activity, recognizing that the field of opportunity is limitless and that strong determination and carefully formed and executed plans are a sure and safe basis upon which to build the superstructure of success. Mr. Small be- longs to Deming Lodge No. 23, A. F. & A. M., and to Lordsburg Lodge No. 23. K. P., and is in hearty sympathy with the teachings and tenets of
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these organizations. His efforts have been of direct and permanent benefit in the establishment of the commercial status and the development of bus- iness conditions in Lordsburg, where for twenty-three years he has made his home. Mr. Small was married at Fort Worth, Texas, in 1884, to Miss Sadie A. Oliver, a native of Indiana.
H. L. Gammon, a millwright and mechanic conducting a contracting business in Lordsburg, is a native of Maine, born November 30, 1850. His youth was passed in the Pine Tree state and he learned the millwright's trade in Comstock, Nevada, where he also gained practical knowledge of mining in its various departments and operation. He came to New Mexico in 1882, locating at Leitendorf as a millwright and subsequently became master mechanic for the Detroit Mining Company at Morenci, Arizona. However, he spent one year at Lake Valley, New Mexico, before going to Arizona, and after two years passed in the latter territory he returned to Lordsburg and erected a mill at Leitendorf. He has, however, made his headquarters at Lordsburg continuously since and is actively engaged in putting up and operating mining machinery. In this way he has con- tributed in practical manner to the development of the country, which finds one of its chief sources of income in its mineral deposits.
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