USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 38
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Mr. Kellahin is a member of Roswell Lodge No. 18, A. F. & A. M., and in the year of 1906 was elected grand lecturer for the Territory. He also belongs to Columbia Chapter No. 7. R. A. M., of Roswell, and to Rio Hondo Commandery No. 6, K. T., of which he is eminent commander. In October, 1905, he became a member of the grand lodge of the Territory at Albuquerque, and is today one of the prominent Masons of the Terri- tory. His business interests, too, have prospered since he came to the new world and he has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in this country with its broader opportunities and advance- ment more quickly secured.
Joshua P. Church. the efficient manager of the telephone company, has
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been a resident of Roswell since the spring of 1880. About twelve years ago the Roswell Telephone and Manufacturing Company was incorporated, at which time the franchise was received, and the following gentlemen were the organizers of the concern : Messrs. Cahoon, Poe, McGaffey and Church. The work was started as a local system, with thirty-five 'phones, but the number has since been increased to five hundred in this city, and two years ago they put in a long distance system, connecting Roswell with Carlsbad. a distance of eighty miles. also establishing a system at Artesia with one hundred and fifty 'phones, and they are now putting in three different exchanges, Hagerman, Dexter and Lake Arthur. The officers of the company are: President, J. W. Poe; vice-president, J. P. Church ; treasurer, E. A. Cahoon ; and secretary, L. K. McGaffey. This is the pioneer system of the Pecos Valley, and at the present time the company is doubling the toll line. Mr. Church is numbered among the public- spirited and progressive citizens of the community, and he is now serving his fifth term on the city board, having also been twice chairman of the board.
For a number of years past Mr. Foreman has been prominently iden- tified with the business interests of Roswell, and in this time has become recognized as one of its leading and useful citizens. He came from the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, to Roswell in 1899. In September of the same year he purchased the Hotel Richards, which he conducted for about two years, on the expiration of which period he rented the hotel and took up his abode a half mile east of the town, where he bought five acres of land, the purchase price being two hundred dollars an acre. During his residence here he has greatly improved his land and has erected thereon a nice residence. He returned to take charge of the hotel again January I, 1906. In April, 1904, he was elected a member of the school board of Ros- well, the cause of education ever finding in him a firm friend, and he is numbered among the wealthy and influential citizens of Chaves county.
For many years J. D. Hortenstein was closely associated with the his- tory of Chaves county, and when death claimed him the community mourned the loss of a representative citizen, widely and favorably known in agricultural circles. He came to the Territory in 1897 from Illinois and selected a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, twelve miles from Roswell, and in 1898 the family moved here from Mattoon, Coles county, Illinois. In May, 1901, he completed an artesian well eight hun- dred and forty feet deep, this being the first well sunk in the vicinity. Sixty acres of his place was devoted to orchard and alfalfa. He also owned the town site of Orchard Park, located on the railroad twelve miles south- east of Roswell, which was platted in November, 1905. The postoffice name of Orchard Park is Alellen. The estate is managed by his widow and son, Hale Horntenstein.
Among those who have attained distinctive prestige in the business life of Chaves county is A. M. Robertson, who is now serving as the Roswell agent for the Continental Oil Company. On his arrival in New Mexico in 1880 he engaged in mining at White Oaks, where for three years he prospected for gold. and from that time until 1885 he followed the search for the precious metal in Doña Ana county, near Las Cruces. He then came to Lincoln county, and from 1885 to 1888 served as its efficient deputy sheriff. In February, 1889. Mr. Robertson took up his abode in
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the city of Roswell, and in company with G. A. Richardson embarked in the lumber business, they conducting the first vard established in the valley, but in 1897 the firm dissolved partnership and Mr. Robertson afterward con- ducted the business alone for two years. He then turned his attention to the transfer business, becoming agent for the Continental Oil Company, in which position he has ever since continued, discharging the duties de- volving upon him to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. For four years he served as a commissioner of Chaves county, and in both his busi- ness and official record he has been true to the trusts reposed in him and has shown himself worthy of the public regard.
C. W. Haynes, who has for a number of years been numbered among the substantial citizens of Chaves county, taking an active and helpful part in the progress and welfare of the community, took up his abode within the borders of New Mexico in 1883, first locating at Las Vegas. For five years he conducted a cattle ranch eighty miles southeast of that city, near Fort Sumner, on the expiration of which period, in 1888, he came to Lin- coln county, locating on a ranch forty miles north of this city, and in 1895 located in Roswell. In 1896 Mr. Haynes was appointed by Governor Thornton as sheriff of Chaves county, to fill the position vacated by Charles Perry, who had embezzled eight thousand dollars' worth of the county's funds and escaped to southern Africa, where he is supposed to have been killed. Mr. Haynes was elected to the position of sheriff in 1897, serving for two years, and- during his tenure of office he discharged the duties encumbent upon him with signal ability and trustworthiness. Prior to entering upon the duties of that office he had served as county commis- sioner, and since retiring from office he has engaged in the real estate business, owning large interests. On the 17th of January, 1902, Mr. Haynes completed a dam across Spring river, which conveys water through thirty-two hundred feet of canal and generates power for a water system. He is a firm believer in the future of Roswell, as is evidenced by the hun- dreds of city lots which he has bought. He deals extensively in real estate on his own account, and is also associated with C. D. Bonney in the busi- ness, they having large and extensive interests.
The name of James F. Hinkle is deeply engraved on the pages of Chaves county's history, for he has been an active factor in administering the affairs of government, and is widely recognized as a Democratic leader. He is a native of Missouri. He came to New Mexico from Texas in 1885 and established the Penasco Cattle Company, with which he was connected until 1901. This county was then known as Lincoln, and he maintained his headquarters sixty-five miles from Roswell. He had about twenty-five thousand cattle on the range, and his was one of the largest cattle ranches in the Territory, but in 1901 he disposed of his interests and took up his abode in Roswell. In the following year, 1902, he became associated with J. J. Hagerman, with whom he has since been connected.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Hinkle is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, and is a member of all its branches, and also holds membership relations with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 169, of which he is the exalted ruler. His political support is given to the Democratic party, and on its ticket he was elected to the legislature in 1892, and again in 1895, to the terri-
I. T. Hinkle
Col. C. L. Buland
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torial council in 1901, and as mayor of Roswell in April, 1904, two-year term. He is also a director of the First National Bank of Roswell.
Frank Divers, of Roswell, first came to the Territory in 1883, at which time he located fifty miles east of Carlsbad, in what was then Lin- coln county, but is now Eddy county. He came from Texas, and in 1886 he removed his family to Midland, Texas, but continued in the stock busi- ness in the Territory until 1896. The ranch of which he was formerly owner now belongs to C. B. Merchant, and was the first ranch located in the southeast part of the Territory, while Mr. Divers also erected the first windmill in that part of the Territory. Returning to Midland, Texas, he there engaged in the cattle business for a few years.
In June, 1900, Mr. Divers removed to Roswell, trading his Texas property for a ranch ten miles southeast of the town. Later he sold this place of eight hundred acres to C. Chisholm, and it now constitutes a part of the Chisholm hog ranch. In February, 1901, Mr. Divers became a resident of Roswell, and in 1903 he purchased a ranch near Campbell, whereon he has about seven hundred head of short-horn Durham cattle. He has been grading up this herd for seventeen years, and now owns some very fine and valuable stock. He is also a director in the First Na- tional Bank. He has prospered in his business undertakings, owing to his close application and indefatigable energy, his keen sagacity and reliable business judgment. He is a strong man, strong in his honor and good name, as well as in his success. The Baptist church finds in him a most active, earnest and helpful worker and generous contributor, and he is also a co-operant factor in many measures that have had direct bearing upon the welfare and progress of Roswell and this part of the Territory, along material, intellectual and moral lines.
The name of Lucius Dills is'one well known throughout this section of the southwest territory, for here he has passed many years of his life and is now filling the important office of city engineer. In 1885 he arrived in New Mexico, and for one year thereafter practiced law at Lincoln, after which he came to Roswell and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, thus continuing for three years. In 1891, in connection with J. D. Lea, he established the Roswell Record, a weekly newspaper, which he conducted until December, 1898, when he took up the work of a civil engineer. Since entering upon this occupation Mr. Dills has done much surveying for sidewalk work, having surveyed about twelve miles of ce- ment walk, and he has also done much levee work on the Rio Hondo for flood protection. Two years agc he was made the city engineer of Ros- well, and in this position he has acquitted himself with credit.
Colonel Charles L. Ballard, a stockman at Roswell, Chaves county, and a veteran of the Spanish-American and Philippine wars, is a native of Texas and came to the territory in February, 1878, with his father, A. J. Ballard, who was a buffalo hunter and took up his residence at Fort Sum- ner. After a year he removed to Lincoln county, settling near Lincoln, where he engaged in stock raising and merchandising.
Colonel Ballard remained with his father until 1880, when he re- moved to Roswell and entered the employ of Captain Lea. In 1890 he began the stock business on his own account and has since conducted oper- ations here as a ranchman and stock raiser save during the period of his military service. In 1898 he enlisted in a squadron raised in New Mexico,
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the regiment mobilizing at San Antonio, Texas. He was second lieutenant of the second squadron. Roosevelt joined the regiment at San Antonio and they procecded to Cuba, Colonel Ballard serving throughout the period of military operations in that country. Later he was commissioned as second lieutenant to join the Eleventh Volunteers in the Philippines, and served there for two years, being mustered out with the rank of first lieu- tenant. He made a most creditable military record, owing to his loyalty and his valor.
Returning to the United States in 1901, Colonel Ballard resumed stock raising, to which he now gives his time and energies with good success. In 1901 he was appointed a member of the cattle sanitary board by Governor Otero, and at the last general election was chosen to repre- sent his district in the territorial council. His political allegiance is given the Democracy and his opinions constitute a decisive factor in the local councils of his party and are not without weight in territorial affairs.
W. P. Turner, one of the prominent business men of Roswell, came to this territory from Texas in October. 1895, while in search of health, and took up his abode in Roswell. For the succeeding five years after his arrival he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, and on the expiration of that period. in 1900, he organized the firm of Williamson & Turner, real estate, fire and life insurance dealers. In 1904 the firm of Turner & Ma- lone was organized, engaged in the same business. In 1905 was organized the Pecos Valley Immigration Company, with offices in Kansas City, and the members of this well known company are: Turner & Malone, Ros- well; Warren & Malone, Hagerman; Jolin Richey & Sons, Artesia; Alli- son & Hancher, Carlsbad, and McLenathan & Tracy, also of Carlsbad. The officers of the company are: President, John Richey ; vice-president, W. W. Warren ; secretary and treasurer, W. P. Turner ; and general man- ager, W. R. Allison. This company has brought more immigrants to the valley than any other organization. It has about four hundred agents located over the United States from New York to California, and pre- dicts great possibilities for the future of the Pecos Valley.
Mark Howell, chief deputy sheriff of Chaves county, living in Ros- well, was born near Warrensburg, Missouri, in 1842, and in his boyhood days went to Independence, Missouri, with his parents. In 1853 he accom- panied them on the long and tedious journey to California. The family home was established on the Tuolumne river, and at the age of fifteen years he engaged in freighting. He has lived at different times in various parts of California, laid out and surveved the town of Madera and was one of the first settlers of Merced, California, taking up his abode there in 1872. In January, 1882, he came to New Mexico, locating in Las Vegas, and in 1884 he removed to Roswell. He has surveyed most of the ditches in Chaves county and also land. His work in this connection has been an important one, for there is nothing which has as direct bearing upon the development and prosperity of the Territory as its irrigation system.
Aside from his activity in business, Mr. Howell has been recognized as a leading merchant of Chaves county because of his capable and active service in public office. He was deputy treasurer for six years, county treasurer for four years, and was the first county surveyor, receiving that office through appointment. Since the first of October, 1905, he has been chief deputy sheriff, and over the record of his public career and private
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life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. Fraternally he is a Mason and Odd Fellow, prominent in the ranks of that order, as well as in political and business life. His labors have been of direct and perma- nent good in Chaves county, proving a valued factor in the upbuilding and advancement of this part of the Territory.
One of the most successful business men of Chaves county is J. A. Cottingham, a member of the Roswell Lumber Company of Roswell. He has been a resident of the southwest since the 18th of June, 1899, when he took up his abode in this city, and here he has ever since been an important factor in its business circles. In 1899 he erected the Roswell Steam Laundry, in connection with which he also conducted a small lumber busi- ness, the nucleus of his present large enterprise. Prior to his removal to New Mexico Mr. Cottingham had conducted a lumber business in Kopperl, Texas, and it was from that city that he came to Roswell. In March, 1902, he organized a home company, which was incorporated as the Roswell Lumber Company, with John Shaw, president, I. B. Rose, vice-president, H. Fitzgerald, secretary, and J. A. Cottingham, treasurer and manager. On the 10th of March, 1902, they purchased the interests of the Lewis & Wells Lumber Company. The capital stock of this company is valued at twenty thousand dollars, and they carry paints and building material.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Cottingham is a member of the blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic order at Roswell.
L. K. McGaffey, a real estate dealer of Roswell, New Mexico, is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his people having come to this country in colonial days. He was born in Caledonia county, Vermont, and has been a resident of the Territory since 1884. when he located at Los Lunas. He was there employed in the mercantile firm of L. & H. Huning for one year and dur- ing the succeeding seven years had charge of a cattle ranch for that firm in western New Mexico. He settled in Roswell in 1892, and was post- master of the city under appointment of President Cleveland from 1893 until 1898, and since the latter date has been dealing in Pecos valley lands, being one of the prominent real estate dealers of this section of the Terri- tory. He is a director of the First National Bank of Roswell, and has pro- moted various land, gas and telephone companies, operating through the valley, which connections indicate his progressive spirit and the important part which he is taking in introducing all modern improvements into this new but rapidly developing region.
In community affairs Mr. McGaffey has taken a helpful part, has served as chairman of the city council and is at this writing, in 1906, a member of the board of education at Roswell. He has likewise been president of the Roswell Commercial Club and has held various other positions of a similar nature. In 1904 he attended the Democratic national convention as a dele- gate from his Territory. His labors have been of direct and immediate serviceableness in upbuilding Roswell, the intellectual, material and polit- ical interests feeling the stimulus of his co-operation and benefiting by his keen discrimination and practical methods.
Although a resident of Austin. Texas, the extensive business interests of G. W. Littlefield in the southwest place him among the leaders in in- dustrial circles here. He formerly owned what was once known as the L. I. T. ranch, which was established in 1877 in Texas, but in 1881 sold that property to the Prairie Cattle Company, this being just before the
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rise in cattle, and Captain Littlefield then went to southern Texas and bought cattle, which he drove to the Pecos Valley, locating at Bosque Grande, on the Pecos. There he established the L. F. D. ranch, one of the most important in New Mexico, and at that time there were no ranches between Fort Sumner and Roswell. In 1887 he went on the plains eighty miles east of this place, this being at a very early day in the southwest, and not a house could be seen between Roswell and Midland, Texas. In 1892 Captain Littlefield purchased a farm three miles from Roswell, where he keeps blooded stock and a large feeding yard. He purchased the land for five dollars an acre, and there he now owns twelve hundred and fifty- two acres, all of which is under irrigation. In 1901 he went to Texas and purchased the south end of the Capital Syndicate land, known as the X. I. T. ranch, consisting of about three hundred thousand acres, all of which is grazing land, and there he has a fine herd of high-grade Durhams and Hereford cattle.
Major Littlefield maintains his home in Austin, Texas, where he is president of the American National Bank, and his extensive interests in New Mexico are conducted by his nephews, J. P. White and Thomas D. White.
David L. Geyer, who is filling the position of receiver of the United States land office at Roswell, New Mexico, was appointed to this position by President Mckinley on the Ist of October, 1897. from Pomeroy, Ohio, and entered upon the duties of the office on the 17th of November of the same year. His second term in this official position will expire in March, 1907.
Judge J. T. Evans, probate judge of Chaves county, and a resident of Roswell, has made his home in the Territory since the fall of 1892. He was born in Alabama and pursued his education at Meridian, Mississippi. For four years he engaged in teaching school in Texas and was county surveyor of Coleman county, Texas, for four years. Preparing for the practice of law, he was admitted to the bar in Coleman county about 1886, and while residing there was elected and served for four years as county judge, bringing to the bench excellent qualifications for the discharge of the responsible duties of an office to which the general public must look for the protection of its rights and liberties. In the fall of 1892 he removed from Texas to New Mexico and has since resided in Roswell, where, open- ing an office, he entered upon the active practice of law, displaying an ability that soon made his clientage a distinctly representative one. In 1901 he was chosen to the office of probate judge, which position he is now filling for the third term, proving most capable in the discharge of his duties as is indicated by the fact that he has been twice re-elected. His political support is given to the Democracy and he has loyally adhered to the party in times of defeat as well as in times of victory because of his firm belief in its principles and policy.
In his social relations Judge Evans is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Samaritan Lodge No. 12, at Roswell, in which he has taken all of the de- grees and filled all of the chairs. He likewise belongs to the Masonic lodge and the Royal Arch chapter and is a worthy exemplar of the teachings and tenets of the fraternity.
Extensive business interests in Chaves county place Mr. White among the leaders in industrial circles, and he has achieved that success which is
Eza White daily
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the logical result of enterprise and straight-forward methods. He came to this Territory from the Lone Star state of Texas, arriving in Roswell in March, 1899, and at once embarked in the sheep industry. He has thus been identified with one of the leading enterprises of this section of the country for many years, and now has twelve thousand head of sheep ranging west of Roswell, averaging a nine-pound wool clip. His life has been a success, but all his achievements are the result of patient effort and industry.
Harold Hurd, the president of the Roswell Wool and Hide Company, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and completed a course of study in the law department of Columbia University, New York city, from which he was graduated with the class of 1896. He was then admitted to the bar in New York state, where he entered upon the practice of his chosen pro- fession. In 1898, however, he enlisted for service in New York and went to Cuba on the Yankee. In September, 1898, he received an honorable dis- charge and took up law practice in New York, where he remained until 1899. In February of that year he came to the Territory, going first to Albuquerque, and in February, 1900, came to Roswell and made arrange- ments whereby he became owner of a ranch devoted to sheep raising. After conducting it for a time, however, he sold that business and joined in the organization of the Roswell Wool & Hide Company, incorporated. This company is officered by Harold Hurd, president; Clark A. Baker, treasurer ; and William A. Bryant, secretary. They are wholesale and retail dealers in coal, hay and grain and shippers of hides, wool and pelts and also agents for the Anheuser-Busch and Pabst Brewing Companies. The company was incorporated February 15, 1905, and has a paid up cap- ital of twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Hurd is also vice-president of the Commercial Club and is a business man of enterprise, whose ambition and keen foresight are proving an essential and valuable factor in the management of the business in which he is now engaged.
In January, 1906, Mr. Hurd was admitted, on motion, to the supreme court of the Territory.
In the history of the business interests of Chaves county the name of A. Pruit is indelibly inscribed, for through a number of years he has been one of its leading promoters, and is a member of one of the leading firms of the valley. 111 1893 he became connected with the firm of Pierce & Walker, of Carlsbad, with whom he remained for three years, at which time that company was absorbed by that of Joyce, Pruit & Company, this being in 1895. The Joyce-Pruit Company was incorporated on the Ist of June, 1905, with the following officers : president, John R. Joyce ; vice-president, J. F. Joyce; and secretary and treasurer, A. Pruit. Their first branch house was established at Roswell June 15, 1895, Mr. Joyce continuing in business here while Mr. Pruit was a member of the firm of Pierce & Walker at Carlsbad until the consolidation in 1895. The branch house at Artesia was established in August, 1904, that at Hagerman July 1, 1906, and the branch at Pecos, Texas, was established in 1896. The capital stock of this company is valued at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In addition to all the above mentioned connections Mr. Pruit is also vice- president of the First National Bank of Roswell, and he occupies an eviable position in the business circles of Chaves county.
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