Larimer County, Colorado - The whole text, 1911 (part 14 of 22)

Biographical

Elizabeth Hickok was born September 21, 1801, at Hartford, Connecticut. She came of a hardy, adventurous race and spent the greater portion of her long life on the frontier. When four years of age, her father sought a new home in the then trackless waste of Northern New York, finally locating where Watertown now stands. Here her early life was spent amid the scenes incident to a home in the wilderness, and here she obtained the rudiments of an education. On Washington's birthday, February 22, 1824, she was united in marriage with Hon. Ezekiel W. Robbins, and four years later went with husband and their two children to St. Louis, Missouri, then a frontier French trading post. Ten years later, or in 1838, the family removed to Chester, Randolph county, Illinois, where, in 1852, the husband died, leaving the widow in a new and undeveloped country with eight children to provide for and educate. She assumed the responsibility and kept her little flock together, providing for their wants as best she could and giving them all the advantages for schooling that the country at that time afforded. She remained a widow about five years, during which time she spent a year at her former home in Watertown, New York. On returning west she went to St. Paul, Minnesota, then in the heart of a wild, unbroken region, where she met and formed the acquaintance of Hon. Lewis Stone, to whom she was married in 1857. Leaving St. Paul, the family settled at St. Cloud, Minnesota, and remained there till 1862, when the Indians becoming troublesome, they concluded to cross the Plains and come to Denver. Their team was composed of two cows yoked together like oxen, which they drove through to Denver, milking the cows regularly and making butter on the way. In making the butter, no patent churn was employed. It was produced by the motion of the wagon, and it was good butter too. Soon after reaching Denver, Mr. Stone purchased twelve lots where the Union depot now stands and built a house thereon which was rented for a restaurant. Leaving a son of Mr. Stone's in charge of their Denver property, Mr. and Mrs. Stone located on a claim in the St. Vrain valley, where they remained about a year. While living in Denver, Mr. Stone became interested with Dr. T. M. Smith (then contract surgeon at Camp Collins and afterward for many years a prominent and influential citizen of Fort Collins) in some mining property, and it was through his influence that Mr. and Mrs. Stone were later induced to come to Camp Collins, a military post then just established in the Cache la Poudre valley on the site of the present city of Fort Collins, and they moved here in September, 1864. That was about a month before the soldiers came here to occupy their new quarters. Mrs. Stone was the first white woman to permanently locate in the embryo city, and was the only white woman here for about a year when others began to arrive. Two years before, in 1862, Mr. and Mrs. John G. Coy had settled on their present farm nearly a mile east of and across the river from Camp Collins. During the fall of 1864, Mr. and Mrs. Stone built the first dwelling house erected in Fort Collins. It was built of logs and stood where the stone hotel on Jefferson street now stands, and was occupied for hotel purposes for a good many years. The building was taken down in 1873 and moved to the corner of Mountain avenue and Mason streets where it was rebuilt and become a part of the Agricultural hotel of colony times. In 1908, the Pioneer Women of the Cache la Poudre valley bought the old house and had it moved on to a lot on S. Mason street, where it will be used by the ladies to hold their meetings in and kept as a memento of pioneer days. Many of the army officers stationed here during the winter of 1864-5 and the following summer boarded with Mrs. Stone while she conducted the hotel. A cut of the building made from a tintype taken in 1866, appears in this volume. Mr. Stone died in January, 1866, and was buried in the post cemetery near the corner of College avenue and Oak streets, the site of which was purchased by the United States in 1908 on which to erect a federal building for Fort Collins. During that year (1866) the settlement having increased in number by the arrival of emigrants from the East and the dangers from bands of predatory Indians having diminished, the soldiers were withdrawn and the post abandoned. About this time Mrs. Stone became interested with the late H. C. Peterson in the project of erecting one of the prime necessities of civilization, a mill for converting wheat into flour, and they at once set about carrying the project into effect. The mill was completed ready for use late in the fall of 1868, and it was the second mill of its kind built in Colorado north of Denver, the first one being located on Boulder creek, east of the present city of Boulder. The mill built by Mrs. Stone and Mr. Peterson was a frame structure and stood where the Lindell mill now stands. It was destroyed by fire in 1886, rebuilt in 1887 and again burned down in 1895. The present mill was built in 1896 and is still in successful operation. The first mill was operated by Mrs. Stone and Mr. Peterson until 1873 when they sold it to Joseph Mason. Mrs. Stone started the first brickyard and had made the first brick made in Northern Colorado. This was in 1871. The first kiln burned contained brick for two houses, one of which was built near the mill for herself. It was the first brick house built in Fort Collins. The second brick house stood near the mill race on North College avenue, and was built in 1872, for a man named Gano. Both of these homes were torn down in the spring of 1910 to make room for the tracks of the Union Pacific railroad. Mrs. Stone used to entertain all the ministers that came along in the early days and was friendly to all of the religious denominations, giving liberally of her means to their support. She also contributed towards the cost of every church erected in the home of her adoption during her life time, and was an ardent advocate of the temperance cause and was one of the first to help organize the Womans' Christian Temperance Union, and always did all in her power to advance the good work. She was especially distinguished in charitable work. She loved amusement and enjoyed social gatherings at which she was an honored guest. Being a Mason's widow, she was invariably invited to attend the social functions of the Masonic fraternity. At one of these held after she had passed her 82nd birthday, she joined in a dance in which representatives of four generations of her family participated, dancing with them in the same set with all the spirit and evident enjoyment of a young girl. During the last five years of her life she was comparatively helpless and unable to get about without assistance. She cast her first vote at the municipal election of

1895, being trundled to the polls by her son in a wheeled chair. She voted the prohibition ticket at both of these elections. She retained her mental faculties to the last and was bright and cheer- ful, recognizing her friends and greeting them with smiles and kindly salutations. She fell asleep for the last time on Wednesday, December 4th, 1895, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Theodosia Van Brunt, at the advanced age of 94 years, two months and 13 days. The bells of the city were tolled out of respect to her memory and to give notice of the sad though not unexpected event. At one time while a resident of Fort Collins, Mrs. Stone was possessed of a good deal of property and was deemed well off in this worlds' goods, but reverses came and the most of her accumulations were swept away, leaving her but little in her decliniug years. In preparation for the change that she knew to be inevitable, she had the forethought to put aside in Mr. George W. Buffum's hands, a sum sufficient to meet all the necessary burial expenses, and this was religiously kept and applied to that purpose, so that before the sun went down on the day of her burial, all the expenses thereof were paid in full. The funeral took place on Friday, December 6th, at the Presbyterian church, all the clergymen in the city, including Rev. J. F. Coffman of the Methodist church. Rev. L. S. Brown of the Christian church. Rev. U. F. Smiley of the Presbyterian church. Rev. Thos. Baker of the Episcopalian church and Rev. Arthur S. Phelps of the Baptist, having a part in the solemn service. The ushers were G. T. Budrow and R. S. Fedder, and the bearers were Abner Loomis, James B. Arthur, A. B. Tomlin, Andrew Armstrong, Ansel Watrous and Peter Anderson. A special choir composed of Miss Agnes Everest, Miss Bertha Pegg and Mr. John P. Ryckman and Charles R. Evans, with Mrs. Frank E. Baxter at the organ, rendered appropriate selections for the occasion. All business in the city was suspended during the funeral, all the bells in the city tolled the last sad requiem as the procession moved toward the city of the dead in Grandview cemetery, where the closing scenes were enacted and the body of dear "Aunty" Stone was tenderly placed in the tomb. Six of Mrs. Stone's children survive her death and they are W. T. Robbins of Loveland, Colorado; Mrs. Lucy J. Fallis of Gray's Summitt, Missouri; Theodosia M. Van Brunt of Loveland, Colorado; Ellen S. Ray of Chicago, Illinois; D. C. Robbins of Topeka, Kansas, and James M. Robbins of Petersburg, Illi-

RoBERT MiLLERj a native of Denmark, was born in 1843, in Copenhagen, where he received his education. He came to the United States in early manhood and settled at Des Moines, Iowa, where he was married in 1871, to Tena Paulson. He came to Colorado in 1873, locating first at Black Hawk. Ten years later, in 1883, he moved his family to Fort Collins, which continued to be his home until he died in 1905. Here he carried on farming and also followed the bottling business. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller and their names are: Mrs. N. G. Strayer, Frank E. Miller, John Miller, Alfred Miller, Robert Miller, Jr., Charles Miller, George Miller, William Miller and Elenore Miller. Mr. Miller built a brick block on N. College avenue in which^Jie carried on the bottling business for many years which his sons continue to conduct.

John J. Harding was born August 1st, 1863, in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, and received his education in the district schools of his native state. He came to Colorado in September, 1888, and engaged in farming near Timnath ; married Ida Ace, January 29, 1898; worked as farm hand from 1889 to 1895, excepting two years when he had charge of Lake Canal ditch; rented a farm in 1896 and carried it on one year and in 1897 he bought 160 acres of land in the eastern part of Larimer county which he has since cultivated and on which he feeds stock. Fortune has favored Mr. Harding since he came to Colorado and he is now rated as one of the prosperous farmers of the county.

Delano A. Edson. - Born November 30th, 1818, in Cayuga county, New York; married Elizabeth Wright in 1850; came to Fort Collins in 1880, and died december 23rd, 1887. Mr. Edson was a farmer by occupation. He opened a new farm three miles south of Fort Collins and soon became a leading and very successful farmer. His wife died August 2nd, 1884. Three children, Mrs. F. C. Avery, Mrs. Alex. Ault, (since deceased) and Mrs. A. A. Edwards survive their parents. He was a truly good man and a thoroughly conscientious and consistent Christian gentleman.

Carlyle Lamb was for 21 years guide to parties making the ascent of Long's Peak and during that period climbed to the summit 144 times. He was born October 24th, 1862, in Guthrie county, Iowa, and attended the public schools in Nebraska; came to Longmont in May, 1875 and to Estes Park in August, 1879, locating on a homestead at the foot of Long's Peak where he lived until 1902; married Emma Bachelder in Denver on July 24th, 1890. After selling out in Estes Park in 1902, he spent three years in Oregon and California, returning to Colorado in 1905 and locating on a dairy farm three miles west of Fort Collins where he still resides engaged in dairying.

John J. Nugent. - One of those who came to Laporte nearly a third of a century ago and who through industry and intelligent application, has done much to promote the fruit and vegetable growing and marketing business in Larimer county, is John J. Nugent, the subject of this sketch. He was born February 2nd, 1857, in Sussex county. New Jersey, and came to Colorado in 1876, when 19 years of age. For a few years thereafter he worked at mining at Caribou and other Boulder county mining camps. On April 21st, 1879, he was united in marriage with Mary E. Hoy, at Valmont, Boulder county and in 1880, he moved his wife to Laporte which has since been the family home. He continued work in the mines, leaving his wife at their new home, until he had accumulated money enough to pay for a tract of garden and fruit land on what is known as the "Island" at Laporte, when he quit mining and devoted his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of his land. He engaged in gardening and fruit growing and has had a fair measure of success. He has a fine home, surrounded by pleasing prospects, and lives in the enjoyment of comfort and plenty. Mr. Nugent's wife died in October, 1904, leaving besides her husband, four children surviving. Their names are Mrs. Elizabeth Runyan of Portland, Oregon, Mrs. May Garbutt of San Francisco, California, Mrs. P. J. Landes of Laporte and George H. Nugent at- home. In 1879, Mr. Nugent visited his old home in New Jersey and on returning to Colorado was accompanied by his sister, who is now Mrs. F. T. Dexter of Fort Collins.

J. Roland Seaman. - For many years past the familiar countenance of Mr. Seaman was to be seen upon entering the assessor's office where he has so long served as deputy. In 1910 the people of the county, appreciating his diligence and steady devotion to duty, promoted him to chief of that department of the county government, which he has assisted so ably to conduct. Mr. Seaman is a native son, born at Loveland, March 8th, 1884, and was married to Miss Henrietta H. Simmons at Fort Collins, June 5th, 1907. His wife was born in Fort Collins. Both were educated at home where the institutions of learning afford both the ground work and structure of an advanced education.

Abraham I. Akin was born at Lockport, Illinois, on September 22, 1861. He came to Colorado in the spring of 1880, and joined his father on a farm near Fort Collins where he remained until the year 1906. During his life on the Colorado farm, Mr. Akin showed a spirit of progress which manifested itself in the raising of one of the finest herds of thoroughbred shorthorn cattle produced in the state. He has been identified with many of the progressive movements in agriculture, having engaged successfully in sheep-feeding, orcharding, the raising of sugar beets and the development of water for irrigation. On September 4th, 1900, Mr. Akin was married to Miss Nellie Taylor, who was born and reared in Larimer county. They have one daughter, Grace, born November 20th, 1904. With his family he now resides in Fort Collins. He is wide awake and ever ready to advance any enterprise which looks to the betterment of his city and community.

Oliver L. McKissick was born October 11th, 1865, in Weld county, Colorado, and received his education in the public schools; married at Long- mont, March 11th, 1890, and the names of his children are Ethel R., Frances A., Chester C, and John W. McKissick; miner by occupation; coal mining at Erie from 1886 to 1893, and mining at Idaho Springs from 1893 to 1909; moved to Loveland in 1909 and employed as mechanic at the sugar factory; father, John M. McKissick, spent most of his life coal mining in Weld county.

Matthew Auld was born on May 8th, 1883 at Kilmarnock, Scotland. Coming to Colorado he stopped for a few years at Denver and in 1899 came to Fort Collins and attended the State Agricultural college. He was appointed Deputy clerk of the District court in 1907, and is recognized as a vocalist of ability. He was married on November 10th, 1909, to Miss Lois Silcott of Fort Collins.

Jacob Armstrong died on the 8th of June, 1889, at his residence in Fort Collins, aged 73 years. He was a native of the state of New York, and early in life learned the watchmaking trade which he followed until he came to Fort Collins in 1874. The first few years of his residence in Larimer county were devoted to sheep husbandry and wool growing, but becoming dissatisfied with a ranchman's lonely life he disposed of his flocks and ranch to his son and moved into Fort Collins and owned and occupied the Dr. Quick house, corner of College avenue and Magnolia streets, until he died. He was possessed of a snug fortune at his death which he settled upon his only child, Jacob Armstrong, Jr., just before death.

John H. Cameron Jr. was born in New York City, July 28th, 1870. He came to Fort Collins in 1882 and lived for some years on a farm. On January first, 1893, he was married to Nora A. Neece. Mr. Cameron has been for sixteen years an active member of the Fort Collins fire department and has acted for several years as assistant water superintendent for that city.

Rev. E. J. Lamb. - Our subject spent 40 years of his life carrying the message of the Master to the pioneers of Northern Colorado, much of the time doing missionary work organizing and establishing churches and Sunday schools in the valleys of the South Platte, the Cache la Poudre and the Big and Little Thom.pson. He was a typical frontier missionary, with a powerful frame, a kindly heart filled with zeal for the Master's cause and with a strong though appealing and sympathetic voice, he drew many a sin-sickened soul to the foot of the Cross. He was assigned to the missionary field of Northern Colorado in 1871, by the Missionary Board of the United Brethren church and was the second missionary sent by his church to the territory. He traveled long distances on horseback going from place to place in a thinly settled district, enduring hardships and privations that would have driven a less resolute man from the field. Mr. Lamb was born January 1st, 1832, in

Wayne county, Indiana, and obtained his education in the common schools of St. Joseph county, Indiana. In September, 1868, he married Mrs. Jane Morger, a widow with three sons, her maiden name being Jane Spencer. He was twice married, his first wife, at her death, leaving him with five children, Charles, Lawrence J., Carlyle, Jerry and Lillian. One daughter, Jennie, was born to him by his second marriage. The sons of his second wife when he married her, were Romantes, James and Frank Morger, one of whom, James, is a resident of Fort Collins. Mr. Lamb followed farming in Iowa and Nebraska for many years, and upon receiving a call to preach the gospel he was ordained an Elder of the U. B. church in 1871 and sent as a missionary to Colorado. He came to

Denver first in 1860 with the gold rush, returning shortly afterwards to Iowa. On coming to Colorado as a missionary he located at Burlington, now Longmont, moving later to Fort Collins and still later to Estes Park where he ministered to the people for ten years. Rev. Lamb, though 79 years of age, is still a vigorous man in the enjoyment of fairly good health.

Alfred F. Howes. - ^When former State Senator Alfred F. Howes died on January 16th, 1896, Larimer county suffered the loss of one of its intrepid pioneers, a brave soul who helped to pave the way in the valley of the Cache la Poudre for civilization's resistless tread. For more than 35 years Judge Howes had been a familiar figure in the community, one who, in the early history of Larimer county, took a leading part in all public enterprises, in politics and in social matters. All classes of citizens had confidence in him and went to him for counsel and advice in times of trouble and distress, and never came away without being comforted and assisted. Alfred F. Howes was born November 25th, 1817, in Putnam county, New York. His boyhood days were spent on a farm and his education was obtained in the country schools of the period and at select schools in Lima, Geneva and Canandaigua, all in his native state. He began early to take a deep interest in public affairs, and after leaving school he served one term of two years as deputy county clerk of Ontario county, New York, gaining thereby a knowledge of the methods of transacting public business which in after years served him and the home of his adoption a good purpose. At the age of 22 he left the par-j ental roof and boldly struck out for what was then considered the far west, finally locating at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where fifteen years of his life were spent in active business pursuits. Here, on July 5th, 1843, he was united in marriage with Mary Lane Buell, who died at St. Peters, Minnesota, in 1858, leaving two sons, Robert and Henry S. and a daughter. The daughter died at the age of 13 years, but the sons are still living, one of them, Robert, being a resident of Fort Collins. In 1854, Mr. Howes moved his family from Indiana to St. Paul, Minnesota, thence in 1857, to St. Peters in that state, of which town he was one of the founders. While living at St. Peters he served one term as supervisor of Nicollet county. Soon after the death of his wife in 1858, the children were sent to friends in the east, and the following year, Mr. Howes crossed the Plains to Denver, and in 1860, located at Laporte, Larimer county. After that and up to the time of his death in 1896, a period of more than 35 years, many of them years of toil, hardships, privation and danger, he was one of the foremost citizens and rugged stand-bys of Larimer county and of Colorado, ever loyal to what he believed to be their best interests, ever mindful of what constitutes good citizenship and ever true to the instincts of a gentleman. He was one of the leaders in the movement to organize the Colona town company at Laporte and was the first president and chief executive of the company. In 1864, he located upon the Howes homestead, a body of land embracing 640 acres situated along the north bank of the Cache la Poudre river, one mile east of the present city of Fort Collins. To this was added in after years by purchase 160 acres, making a valuable estate of 800 acres of the finest land in the valley. During the succeeding score of years he was fairly prosperous in his undertakings, making money by putting up hay and selling it to the government and to miners at Black Hawk and Central City. In the early years of his operations in this line he used to get as high as $150 per ton for hay delivered at Fort Laramie, and kept a string of teams on the road in the fall and winter hauling the product of his ranch to market. In the early history of the county, Mr. Howes took a leading part in promoting the growth and development of his chosen home, and every public enterprise started with that end in view received his cordial co-operation. The Pioneer irrigating ditch, which was among the first built in the county, was taken out by himself and Andrew Ames. The greater part of what was once Judge Howes' splendid farm is now owned by the Water Supply & Storage company. In 1868, Mr. Howes was elected county judge, and re-elected in 1872, serving the county in that capacity with signal ability and fairness two full terms. In 1874 he was named a member of the State Board of Agriculture in the act of the Territorial legislature establishing the Agricultural college at Fort Collins, and always took a lively interest in the subsequent growth and success of that institution, aiding it with voice and pen as occasion demanded. He was appointed by Governor Gilpin in 1861, a member of the first board of county commissioners of Larimer county, but failed to qualify. In 1890, Judge Howes was the candidate of the Republican party for State senator from the Second senatorial district, which then embraced the counties of Larimer, Routt and Grand, and was elected over Judge Edwin A. Ballard, his Democratic opponent. He faithfully served the people of the district with ability and distinction to the end of his term, in January, 1895, when failing health admonished him to give up politics and retire to private life. In about a year from the time he retired from office, death removed him to another sphere in the 79th year of his age. The bearers at the funeral, held on Saturday, January 18th, were James B. Arthur, John G. Coy, Abner Loomis, C. W. Ramer, P. Anderson and N. C. Alford, all of whom had known and admired the deceased as neighbor and citizen for more than thirty years.

Walter DeW. Taft. - The farm home of the Taft brothers, Walter DeW. and Louis B., situated about two miles northwest of Fort Collins, has long been noted for its good cheer and the genuine western hospitality of its inmates. Mrs. Walter Taft, an educated, intelligent and cultured woman, is the presiding genius of the household, and ably assisted, as she has been by her husband and his bachelor brother, Louis, she has made the home an ideal one, where good cheer, comfort and contentment hold complete sway. The latch-string to their door is always on the outside, and acquaintance and stranger is sure to meet with generous welcome. The Taft brothers were reared among the granite hills of New Hampshire and Vermont, and came from good old Colonial stock. They are distantly related to President William H. Taft, and are among the very best people in the Cache la Poudre valley, which has been their home for more than forty years. Walter DeW. Taft was born May 20th, 1832, near Oneida Lake, in the state of New York, where his parents, both natives of New Hampshire, spent about a year, returning to their former home in New England shortly after the birth of their third child, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Taft was educated at Swanzey, New Hampshire, and there learned the trade of making wooden bowls. His parents moved to Ludlow, Vermont, in 1850, and here the father and son engaged quite extensively in the manufacture of wooden bowls until 1860, when Walter migrated to Rock Island, Illinois, where a sister, Mrs. H. W. Chamberlin, and family resided. The following year Mr. Taft and Mr. Chamberlin and family came to Denver, crossing the Plains with an ox team, and for two years he followed freighting from the Missouri river to Colorado, making two trips back and forth each year. He and his brother, Louis, went to Virginia City, Montana, in 1863, returning to Laporte in 1864. While in Montana he paid $40.00 for a hundred pounds of flour and $2.50 per pound for butter. In the spring of 1865 the brothers went to Iowa and bought a bunch of cattle, which they drove across the Plains and pastured two years in the Boxelder valley and then sold them. In 1868 he went to Georgetown and worked in the Comet mine a couple of years. He was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Frazer Sept. 1st, 1870, and in 1872 returned to the Cache la Poudre valley, which has since been his home. For four years he lived on what is now the Falloon place, in Pleasant Valley, and while there sawed rails enough in Obenchain's mill for four miles of fence. He moved onto the farm he and his brother Louis now own and occupy in 1876. Mr. Taft was president of the Farmers' Protective association from 1888 to 1893, and has served one term as president of the Fort Collins Pioneer association. From the time Mr. Taft left Illinois, in 1861, until he settled down on a farm in Larimer county, he

Louis B. Taft. - ^The story of Louis B. Taft's life reads very much like that of his brother Walter, the date and place of birth alone excepted. Since Louis came to man's estate he has been associated with Walter in his journeyings and business undertakings, and is so associated today. He was born May 27th, 1839, in Swanzey, New Hampshire, where, and in the common schools of Vermont, he received his education. He came to Colorado in 1864 and clerked for a time for Mason & Chamberlin, who conducted a sutler's store for the troops in a log building which stood directly across Linden street from Stover's drug store. He went to Montana that fall to join his brother, Walter, and came back to Laporte with him in 1864, going to Iowa the next year after cattle. In 1867, after selling the cattle, he went to Georgetown and discovered the Comer mine, a very rich silver proposition, which he and his brother worked for two or three years. He then went into Stewart's reduction works and took up the study of metallurgy and soon became a proficient assayer, and was given charge of that department of the work. He remained there until 1872, when he came back to Laporte with his brother, Walter, and has since been a member of the firm of Taft Brothers. Besides the farm they live on they own a hay farm of 160 acres on the river bottom, about five miles east of Fort Collins, from which they take a great many tons of choice native hay every year, which brings them a large yearly income. They have accummulated a goodly share of this world's goods and are enjoying themselves in their old age as rational, intelligent human beings should always be able to do, and they possess the confidence and respect of all who know them, to a remarkable degree. In 1884 Mr. Taft was the democratic candidate for county commissioner from the First district, receiving 772 votes, as against 960 cast for Wm. P. Bosworth, his republican opponent. That year Grover Cleveland, the successful democratic candidate for President, received 645 votes in this county, so Mr. Taft, though defeated, ran 127 votes ahead of his ticket.

Mathew S. Taylor. - Mathew S. Taylor came to Larimer county in the early 60's when still quite a young man. He was a native of Illinois, and a brother of the late William S. Taylor, who kept the stage station at Virginia Dale, 1863 to 1865, and the Laporte station from 1866 to 1868, and was a well-known and popular young man, an attorney by profession. In 1869 he was the democratic candidate for member of the Territorial legislature and was elected over the late Judge John E. Washburn, his republican competitor. He served through the Eighth session of the legislature with marked ability and was considered one of the brightest members of that body. He was an indefatigable worker and during the term succeeded in securing the passage of several important acts affecting the interests of Larimer county, among them being the bill to locate the State Agricultural college at Fort Collins. When the Leadville excitement broke out in 1878, Mr. Taylor went there and opened an office for the practice of his profession and soon gained an extensive and lucrative practice. He died in Leadville, April 7th, 1884, aged about 40 years.

Judge John E. Washburn was born Aug. 7th, 1830, at Litchfield, Herkimer county. New York. On attaining his majority he went to Chicago, where, in 1853, he was married. He came to Colorado in 1860 and to the Big Thompson valley in 1863, where he lived until death supervened on Aug. 15th, 1886. He was one of the first to successfully engage in farming, dairying and fruitgrowing in Larimer county, and assisted in various ways in developing the resources of the county. He held during his lifetime in this county various positions of public trust, including one term as county judge, and was the candidate of the greenback party for governor of Colorado in 1884. Judge Washburn was a man of marked ability, and commanded the respect of those who disagreed with him on all subjects. His friendships were lasting. As a pioneer of the Big Thompson valley, he was always an energetic worker for the best interests of the community, and all projects calculated to advance the material, social and moral upbuilding of his chosen home received his hearty and active support. When the Grange movement started in Colorado, he was one of the first to enlist in it and he gave the cause earnest and efficient aid and encouragement. Later he was president of the Loveland Farmers' institute and also secretary of the Northern Colorado Horticultural society. He left a wife, now a resident of San Diego, California, and one daughter, Mrs. Winona W. Taylor of Fort Collins.

Mrs. Lucy Schilling is now a resident of Loveland, at 1109 Lincoln avenue. She recently came to that city from Nebraska. She married John J. Schilling, Jan. 15th, 1877, in Lake county.

Indiana, moving to Nebraska, where her husband died at Grand Island, in 1892. She has two sons living, Arthur E., a prosperous farmer at Scotia, Neb., and Earl S., employed in a business house in Loveland. The hand of sorrow has borne heavily upon this estimable lady, for, besides her husband, she has lost two sons and a daughter, Albert T., and Mrs. Lillie F. Locker, who died at Scotia, Neb., and Fred H., who passed away at Loveland.

Hon. Jared Lemar Brush was born in Clermont county, Ohio, on the 6th day of July, 1835, and was educated at Felicity, Ohio. Mr. Brush belongs to the class of empire builders to whom the West owes a large debt of gratitude. He came to Colorado in the year 1859 and for more than half a century has been identified with nearly every enterprise that has contributed to the development of the agricultural resources of the state. He settled in Russell Gulch and afterwards, in 1860, came to Weld county, where he engaged in farming and stock raising. He married Ada Maltby in 1866. Two children, both still living, were born : Walter L. and Edna M. Mrs. Brush died in 1874, and in 1879 he married Mrs. Doolittle. Five children, all still living, were born: Ruth G., Ada M., Mary J., Jared L., and Sterling R. Death claimed the second wife in 1903.

Mr. Brush has always taken a keen interest in political questions, local and national, and there have been few councils of the political party with which he is identified in which his voice has not been heard, and his influence felt. In 1870, he was elected sheriff of Weld county; county commissioner in 1874; a member of the state legislature in 1876. He has been twice elected Lieutenant Governor of the state, and has been three times sent as delegate to the National Republican convention, and has served for a good many years as a member of the State Board of Agriculture. He joined the Union colony in 1870 and has lived in Greeley ever since ; has been president of the Greeley National bank for twenty-one years. Mr. Brush will perhaps be longest remembered for the interest he has taken in the development of irrigation in Colorado. His assistance did much to perfect the organization of two large irrigation systems - the Upper and Lower Platte and the Beaver, and the construction of the ditches connected therewith. The development of the country around Brush, Colorado, has been accomplished chiefly as the result of his efforts. He has also at all times been deeply interested in educational matters and it was in no small degree due to his influence and energy that the State Normal school was located at Greeley. Under the first military organization of the state, Mr. Brush was made a field brigadier general. His clear sighted conception of the consequences which must follow from given causes has given him the truly prophetic vision, and acting upon the conclusions thus reached has enabled him to foresee the needs of the people and to grasp in advance the unguessed possibilities of the arid west. While securing to himself a competency of worldly goods, he has never acquired wealth by measures which left the field less productive for others. His influence has always been constructive, his conduct unselfish. He has had at different times large holdings of agricultural land in Weld county and has been able in his own experience to work out many of the problems which confronted the settler from the East, in the presence of an untried climate, a strange character of soil and the entirely unlearned methods of irrigation. His efforts towards the improvement of the stock fed upon the farms and the horses used by the farmers have done much to awaken an interest in these subjects, and his con- nection with the Agricultural college has put it in his power to further the efforts of the general government on these lines. For many years, the figure of Mr. Brush will stand out large in the history of Northern Colorado.

Horace W. Emerson And Daughter Dorothy

he was educated in the common schools and at the New Hampshire Institute. On October 22nd, 1862, he was married at his native town to Miss Lizzie Freeman. He came to Colorado in 1866 and first located at Julesburg. From that place he went to Fort McPherson where he worked for a time then, in the fall of 1867, moved to Sherman where he worked at putting up wood for the Union Pacific railroad company until the fall of 1868. In December of this latter year he came to Larimer county. During the winter of 1868-9 he was engaged in getting out railroad ties near Chamber's lake. The ties amounting to two hundred and twenty thousand in number were floated down the Poudre river at time of high water in the spring and were landed at Greeley. In 1870 Mr. Emerson went to Fort Lyon and built there two sets of company quarters of stone, and two sets of officers quarters of brick. In 1871 he built himself a home at Greeley where he resided for one year. In the fall of 1871, associated with his brother, Charles, he put in a herd of cattle near Livermore, and in the winter of 1872 worked at getting out ties near Fort Steele and continued to follow this work for seven or eight years, at the end of which period he returned to Larimer county and took up a body of land near Livermore, which is still occupied by himself and his brother Charles. Mr. Emerson's wife died in 1889 and in 1891 he married her sister, Metta Freeman, in Frankfort, Maine. He has one child, a daughter, Dorothy, aged twelve years.

Olin G. Reed^ eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel O. K. Reed, was born July 9th, 1873, in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at the Colorado Agricultural college; married Nellie Morseman, July 3rd, 1897, and they have five children, all at home, Lloyd M., Emmet G., Sarah J., Blanche J., and Eugene C. ; came to Colorado in February, 1881 and spent his boyhood days on his father's farm at Fossil creek on which he is now living and successfully cultivating.

William E. Mahood^ born Nqvember 21st, 1866, at Hanover, Illinois, received his education in the public schools of Nebraska; came to Fort Collins, December 10th, 1888; farmer and stockman; married Susie Kennedy, February 24th, 1897, at Windsor ; no children ; spent first few years in Fort Collins as salesman in a grocery store; guard two years at state penitentiary. Canon City; associated with Bennett Brothers in the ownership and management of a 640 acre farm/in Black Hollow and carried on farming and stock feeding until 1907, when he moved to Fort Collins which is still the family home. Still owns half interest in the farm and looks after its management; elected alderman from the third ward in April, 1909, serving on the council with signal ability and fidelity; is a Master Mason, a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templer. Mrs. Mahood, born November 18th, 1870, was a daughter of W. W. Kennedy, of Windsor, came to Colorado in 1880.

John Lindley Smith was born near Batavia, Ohio, Aug. 27th, 1838. He came to Fort Collins in 1870; was married here on June 6th, 1886, to Mrs. Rosamond S. Edwards. They have one child, a daughter. Miss Fern. Mr. Smith was a veteran of the Civil war, enlisting Sept. 10th, 1861, in Company F, 59th regiment Ohio volunteer infantry; was honorably discharged April 27th, 1862. He has always been an enthusiastic worker in the temperance cause; a faithful, earnest Christian at all times. He organized the first Sunday school in Fort Collins, August, 1870. The school was held in a small frame shanty opposite Aunty Stone's log hotel. When the Good Templars organized here in 1872 Mr. Smith was one of the main workers in the lodge. He was Deputy Grand Chief Templar for twelve years.

Charles G. McWhorter, born August 3rd, 1862, at Brockport, New York; came to Greeley in May, 1870; moved to Buckhorn valley in 1871, where he has since resided engaged in farming and fruit growing, having had good success in raising peaches; married Mary L. Sheldon August 9th, 1894, and has three children, Lewis A., Fannie L. and Lesle S. McWhorter; has served Larimer county as deputy assessor several years, giving excellent satisfaction. He is an upright honorable man, a good husband, father and neighbor; has one of the finest and most productive orchards in the county and his fruit always finds a ready market.

J. Monroe Whiteman^ senior member of the firm of Whiteman & Nelson, proprietors of the Gem grocery, was born Dec. 13th, 1847, in Livingston county. New York, and educated in the public schools of his native county. He came to Colorado in September, 1886, and for a number of years was the popular and efficient clerk at the Tedmon house, a position- he resigned to engage in the grocery business with D. C. Threlkeld, in 1900, which he still follows. Mr. Whiteman married Jennie Budrow in November, 1877, in Livingston, N. Y., and she died in 1891 in Fort Collins. Since then he has lived the life of a single man. In 1903, Mr. Threlkeld sold his interest to Frank M. Nelson. His business life has been a prosperous one and the firm of Whiteman & Nelson has a high rating in the commercial reports of the country.

Frank H. Madden was born December 11th, 1873, in Van Buren county, Iowa; his wife, whom he married January 24th, 1894, was born as Anna V. Hoskin, on September 24th, 1871, also in Van Buren county, Iowa; they came to Fort Collins, on March 20th, 1904, where they still reside; for three years after coming here he followed contracting and

Hon. Fred W. Stover, son of Hon. William C. Stover, a Larimer county pioneer and a member of the constitutional convention which framed the organic law of Colorado, was born Sept. 25th, 1878, in Fort Collins. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, at the University of Denver and the Denver Law school; married Lucile Timberlake, Dec. 28th, 1904, of Sterling, Colo., and they have one child, Sarah Margaret Stover. He was admitted to the bar in 1904 and began practicing his profession in Fort Collins that year; appointed judge of the county court of Larimer county in November, 1907, to fill out the unexpired term of Judge C. V. Benson, resigned, and in November, 1908, he was elected by the people to a full term, which he is now serving. Judge Stover is a member of the Colorado State Bar association and also of the Larimer County Bar association.

they have four children, Mary C, Edna F., Bertha M., and J. Keith McLeod; came to Colorado in 1874, locating first at Longmont; moved to Old St. Louis in the Big Thompson valley in 1875; was in the shoe business. Mr. McLeod died in Loveland, October 31st, 1896. He was a public spirited man and took an active part in every cause that promised to add to the welfare of Loveland, being an ardent temperance worker and also zealous worker in the church. His widow and children still live in Loveland. No man was better known in the Big Thompson valley or more highly respected than John C. McLeod.

William M. Slaughter died at his home in Loveland on Friday, Nov. 19th, 1897, from pneumonia, after a very short illness. One of the most striking figures of the early history of Colorado passed away when Judge Slaughter was called from the world. He came West in 1858, from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, with the very earliest of the pioneers and at once took a prominent part in directing public affairs. At that time no legal authority had been asserted for the protection of life and property, arid to preserve law and order a provisional court was established with three associate justices, Mr. Slaughter being named chief justice. Before this tribunal persons charged with crimes against person or property were given a trial, and if found guilty of theft the sentence was banishment from the country. Murderers were sentenced to immediate execution. While a member of this court. Judge WSiughter illustrated his unswerving fidelity to duty by condemning his friend, James Gordon, to death for shooting and killing, while drunk, an inoffensive German farmer. After pronouncing sentence, the judge gave him a respite of one week in order that the murderer might settle up his earthly affairs, and assisted him in closing up his business matters. Gordon was duly executed on the day fixed by the judge. In 1862, Judge Slaughter moved to Central City and in 1863 was elected mayor of that town. At that time Central was the leading town of the territory, a booming mining camp of perhaps 10,000 people. It was never "a man for breakfast" camp for the reason that murderers were sure of swift punishment. But two murders were committed there while Judge Slaughter was mayor. One of them expiated his crime on the gallows, and the other, Charles Hanicon, a theatrical manager, who killed Dan Spitz, a prizefighter, escaped to the south and joined the Confederate army. He was later killed in battle. Judge

Slaughter served two terms in the Territorial legislature and had a conspicous part in shaping the legislation of the period for Colorado. He came to Larimer county in 1872, settling on a farm in the Big Thompson valley, about four miles west of the present city of Loveland, and became one of the pioneer fruit growers of the county. Judge Slaughter was one of the prime movers in organizing and establishing the Pioneer Society of Colorado, and numbered among his friends nearly every Coloradoan who came to Pike's Peak in the great gold rush of 1858-59 and '60. He had passed the threescore milestone by four years, but was as vigorous and ambitious as a man of fifty up to his last illness. He practiced law in the courts of the county and state for several years before his death, and was an esteemed member of the Larimer County Bar association.

Isaac Adair was born May 2, 1835, in Ohio, died October 19th, 1907, in Fort Collins, Colorado. His first occupation after attaining his majority was that of boatman on a canal. He then came to Denver as a teamster for Majors & Russell, the overland freighters and stage proprietors. For many years after that he was engaged in freighting with mule teams from the Missouri river to as far west as Salt Lake and Oregon. While the Union Pacific railroad was being built he was engaged as a contractor, furnishing ties and timber for the company. In January, 1870, he was married to V. Anna Shores at Cheyenne, and shortly afterwards came to Pleasant valley, Larimer county, where he lived until 1875, when they located on Upper Boxelder and engaged in ranching, dairying and stockgrowing. Here the family lived until 1904, when old age and declining health admonished them to sell their mountain holdings and move to Fort Collins, where he died as stated. His wife survived him but a short time. They left one daughter, Mrs. Dora Hazard of Central City, Colorado.

Prof. S. Arthur Johnson, born December 13th, 1866, at Morristown, N. J.; boyhood spent on a farm; graduated from Morristown High school, 1887; graduated from Rutger's college with degree of B. S. in Civil engineering, in 1891; engaged in private and public school work in Illinois from 1892 to 1895; received degree of M. S. from Rutger's in 1895; came to Denver that year; married May A. Bice, January 15th, 1896; taught science and mathematics in West Denver High school from 1896 to 1902; appointed assistant in

Zoology and Entomology at Colorado Agricultural college in 1902; made associate professor of Zoology and Entomology in 1906, which position he still holds. Prof, and Mrs. Johnson have three children, Alice M., born February 27th, 1897; Miriam A., born April 11th, 1901; Frederick B., born July 2nd, 1905. Prof. Johnson is a scholarly gentleman and is recognized as one of the strongest members, intellectually, of the college faculty, and his services in Farmers' institute work are in demand in all of the agricultural and horticultural sections of Colorado.

Sherman W. Smith was born Aug. 30th, 1837, at Newport, New York. He came to the Big Thompson valley in 1863, and was one of the pioneers of the county. He was married Jan. 20th, 1875, to Miss Anna Sciddle. He died May 8th, 1888, leaving a wife, two children, two brothers, Charles C. Smith of Loveland, James M. Smith of Salida, and a sister, Mrs. G. F. Swartz of Freeport, Illinois. Mr. Smith was much esteemed by his neighbors and friends for his many excellent qualities of heart and mind.

John J. Ryan. - In the death of John J. Ryan, which occurred at the family residence in Fort Collins on Friday, May 26, 1899, Larimer county lost one of its foremost pioneer citizens, a man who had spent nearly forty of the best years of his life in developing agriculture, the principal industry of the county, and in advancing the social, educational and material interests of its people. No history of the county would be complete without a reference to his achievements along these lines, for much of the county's progress and advancement in those things which make life desirable in any locality is due to his influence and example and to his intelligent, untiring and well directed efforts in promoting the growth and welfare of his chosen home. But, one by one the pioneers of Colorado, the wilderness subduers and commonwealth builders of our cherished Centennial state who forced their way across the trackless Plains against disease, lurking dangers and hostile savages, are dropping out of the ranks and leaving vacancies that never can be filled. Year by year the column grows smaller, the ranks thinner, and the circle narrower, and soon, all too soon, they will live only in the memories of grateful survivors and upon the pages of history, whose records will ever bear loving witness of their courage, perseverance and self-denial ; of their hardships and privations. John Joseph Ryan was born May 14th, 1837, in Roscrea, County

Tipperary, Ireland. He was the son of John and Ann (Meacher) Ryan, natives of the same county. In the early 40's, the subject of this sketch came to the United States with his parents who settled near St. Louis, Missouri. He attended the public schools of St. Louis and obtained the rudiments of a thoroughly practical education, afterwards taking a course in the first commercial college established in that city. When 18 years of age he went to Davenport, Iowa, to take the position of bookkeeper for a large lumber firm doing business in that city. On the 20th of October, 1859, he was united in marriage with Miss Pelagia J. Leonard, daughter of Harvey Leonard who was a pioneer of Scott county, Iowa and for twenty years its honored sheriff. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Ryan started for Colorado, with five adventure-loving companions. He went to what is now Kansas City and, outfitted with ox train and a year's supplies, crossed the Plains via the old Santa Fe trail to the Arkansas river, thence up that stream to Pueblo and from there to Denver, where he arrived in April, 1860. From there he went to Central City and, buying a gulch claim, engaged in mining. He was unfortunate in his mining ventures and leaving the mountains, came down to the Big Thompson valley, where he hoped he might earn money enough to enable him to return to civilization. In June, 1860, he and a Mr. Spencer bought a claim of William C. Stover, situated a short distance south of the present city of Loveland and which is still a part of the Ryan estate. Mr. Spencer returned to Iowa later that season, but Mr. Ryan concluded to remain. With the help of a German, he put up more than 50 tons of hay, which he hauled with ox teams to Golden and sold. He had purchased from a Mr. Tucker of Golden, two ox teams and a wagon, agreeing to pay for them when he sold his hay. He kept his engagement promptly and also had money enough left to buy a year's supply of provisions. In the spring of 1861, he sold the remainder of his hay in the stack at $30 per ton and from that time on to the day of his death, he never knew the want of a dollar. In the fall of 1862 he took a load of vegetables, raised on his farm, to Fort Halleck, which was then being built by the government, and sold them to the troops stationed there. Teams and teamsters being scarce in those days, he was employed to haul logs for and help in the construction of the fort buildings. Here he again met William C. Stover, who was returning from the Sweetwater county and who came down from Fort '

Halleck to Big Thompson with Mr. Ryan, In 1863, he with other settlers built the Big Thompson Irrigation and Manufacturing company's ditch, one of the first irrigating ditches constructed in the Big Thompson valley. Mr. Ryan was one of the incorporators and directors of the company. His associates in this enterprise were W. H. Bacon, W. B. Osborn, Joseph Markley, Geo. P. Luce, Thomas Cross, H. B. Chubbuck, James M. Smith Jr., J. D. Bartholf, J. M. Lopen and John E. Washburn. Mr. Ryan kept the Overland stage station at Namaqua for nearly a year. In the fall of 1863 he returned to Iowa with a spring wagon, with which he brought his family to Colorado in the spring of 1864. The family lived in a small log home for several years, Mr. Ryan in the meantime carrying on his farm operations with unvarying success. Later he engaged in the stock business in connection with farming, which also proved profitable. Indeed all of his undertakings turned out well and he became prosperous and wealthy. His accretions of capital were slow at first but steadily and regular, increasing in volume later on as his interests and investments became more extended and diversified. He gave liberally of his means to all worthy objects and was generous in his charities. During the early days, prior to the organization of the county for judicial purposes, justice was administered by a Claim club of which Mr. Ryan was secretary, Robert Hereford, president and Jesse M. Sherwood, judge. A short but stringent code of laws was adopted by the club according to which justice was meted out to those who violated its provisions, either in the Cache la Poudre or Big Thompson valleys. Those who lived under and were governed by this code declare that never was more exact justice administered than by this crude organization of pioneer settlers. The association commanded the respect of all and even those who were unruly elsewhere, here tried to keep within the bounds of the Claim club's code. Swift punishment followed a conviction of guilt, but it can be said to the honor of the club and to the credit of the two communities that not once during the period of its usefulness was it found necessary to sentence a man to be hung. Fines and banishment from the country were the usual sentences of the club.

In the early days of settlement of Larimer county, men of education, of business ability and integrity were much sought after to fill the various places of public trust and responsibility and it is not strange, therefore, that Mr. Ryan was often called upon to serve the people in public positions. In 1861, after the organization of Colorado as a Territory and the creation of Larimer county, he was appointed a member of the first board of county commissioners by Governor Gilpin. His colleagues appointed at the same time were A. F. Howes and F. W. Sherwood. Owing to a disagreement over the question of locating the county seat and the voting of bonds for county buildings, the board failed to perfect an organization, and Governor Evans, who succeeded Governor Gilpin in 1862, appointed Joseph Mason, James B. Arthur and William B. Osborn, their successors. In the early days, Mr. Ryan was the democratic candidate for member of the Territorial legislature, but his party being largely in the minority, he failed of an election. He was also the candidate of his party in 1877 for county comrrtjssioner against Lewis Cross, who was elected. He was for years a member of the Big Thompson school board and assisted in building the first school house erected in the county. Later he served as mayor of Loveland. In 1877, Governor Routt appointed him a member of the state board of agriculture, an appointment that was afterwards renewed by Gov. ernors Pitkin, Cooper and Adams, serving continuously on that board for twenty-two years. His services in that connection for the entire period was marked at all times by zealous and eiBcient endeavors to promote and further the Interests of the Agricultural college and the course of popular education generally. He was president of the board from 1895 to 1897, and was by many years the senior member in continuous service. He was also for many years an active and loyal member of the democratic state central committee, and served as delegate from Larimer county In every state convention of his party since the state was admitted into the Union, save one. In 1892, he was sent as an alternate delegate from Colorado to the National democratic convention held In Chicago, and was a member of the association of Colorado pioneers. He had been a stockholder, director and vice-president of the Bank of Loveland ever since the founding of that Institution in 1882. His ofKcIal career in all the positions of trust and responsibility held by him, was marked by the same careful attention to details, the same conscientious fidelity to the principles of right and justice, and the same regard for the interests of the people which characterized the man in the con- duct of his own private affairs. Mr. Ryan's family consisted at the time of death of a wife and five children, four sons and a daughter, namely John H. of Salt Lake ; George L. of Loveland ; Mrs. Harriet Galligan, wife of Colorado's popular and efficient ex-state treasurer; Charles and William L. Ryan, the wife and two younger sons being then residents of Fort Collins. Mr. Ryan's body was entombed in Lakeside cemetery at Loveland, and the bearers of the casket were James B. Arthur, former mayor of Fort Collins, Abner Loomis, president of the Poudre Valley Bank, J. W. Norwell, deputy district attorney, Aaron S. Benson, president of the Bank of Loveland, John Hahn, member of the board of county commissioners, and Frank G. Bartholf, a former county commissioner.

Mrs. David James. - Carrie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shallenberger, was born in Western Pennsylvania and her parents came to Larimer county in 1877. In 1884 she and Davis James were married and four children were born to them : Mrs. Elmer Wright, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Corinne, Lloyd and Carolyn of Loveland. Mr. James was appointed postmaster of Loveland by President McKinley and reappointed by President Roosevelt. He died November 19, 1906, and Mrs. James continued the office. She was later appointed postmaster by Roosevelt for four years, her time expiring in January, 1911. She is highly esteemed by all, and in the performance of her official duties she has demonstrated good business ability, evidence that a woman can perform other duties than those of the household, and that the political enfranchisement of her sex in Colorado was an act of statesmanship and justice. Since the foregoing was written Mrs. James has been reappointed postmistress for another term of four years by President Taft.

Victor G. H. Stuart was born at Rumford, Essex, England, and educated at Clifton college, Bristol, England. He came to Larimer county March 17th, 1891, and bought the Wallis Link stock ranch on the Laramie river and followed the cattle business until 1908, when he sold ranch and stock and since 1910 has been a resident of Fort Collins. Mr. Stuart married Corwin H. Chase on December 4th, 1901, and she has borne him a son, V. G. Hamilton Stuart.

1874 he came to Fort Collins and engaged in farming. On May 8th, 1883, he married Mary Taylor and their union was blessed by the birth of three children, Bella and Helen, both of whom are still residents of Larimer county, and a son, William T. This young man was graduated at the State Agricultural college where he took his degree as Doctor of Veterinary Surgery and had commenced his practice when, on the 13th of January, 1911, he was prematurely called to leave the labors of this world. He was a young man of great promise and already gave reason to believe that he would become a useful citizen as well as the support of his parents in their declining years. Mr. Cuthbertson continued to follow the occupation of farming until 1905, when the infirmities of age emphasized by growing weakness of vision made it necessary for him to retire from active labor. Upon leavingthe farm he removed with his family to Fort Collins where he still resides. He has always been recognized as a devout believer in the comforting assurances of the Christian religion, a loved and devoted father and a highly respected citizen. Accustomed in his native country to the handling of sheep, Mr. Cuthbertson was very successful in the business of feeding lambs for the market in this county, and his habits of frugality and careful husbandry were a rebuke to the wasteful methods of many of the farmers of his vicinity.

Drury G. Keirsey

is true of the farmer and it is equally true of the business man or professional man. To succeed in any legitimate undertaking a person must keep in touch with every detail, know what to do and how and when to do it and be competent to direct and control every feature and branch of his business. If he is a merchant, he must know what to buy that will please his patrons, and when and how to buy it and must also know how to offer and direct the sale of his wares, so that he may profit thereby. Our subject, one of the leading and most successful and prosperous merchants in Fort Collins, possesses all the requirements mentioned which accounts for his success. He is constantly "on the job", as the saying is, and nothing connected with his large establishment escapes his attention. Mr. [306]

Keirsey was born in 1864, at Humansville, Missouri, and obtained his education in his native town. In 1890, he was united in marriage with Carrie Barnett and they have had four children, Lois, Faye, Harold and Mildred, all at home. He came with his family from Missouri to Canon City, Colorado, in 1893, and to Fort Collins in August, 1899, to take over the management of the Golden Rule store, then owned by a syndicate, later becoming sole proprietor and which he still carries on and conducts. He possesses all the requirements of a No. 1 business man and as such he has been able to build up and maintain one of the largest and best mercantile establishments in Northern Colorado, employing a large number of ladies and gentlemen as clerks and salesmen, and commanding a trade that runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Mr. and Mrs. Keirsey are prominent members of the Baptist church, and Mrs. Keirsey is a leader in church and social circles. They have a beautiful home on East Oak street and are never happier than when entertaining friends and contributing to their pleasure.

William Naylor was born September 28th, 1844, in Shelby county, Missouri. Married Ellen Oakes, also of Shelby county, February 20th, 1868; came to the Big Thompson valley in October, 1877, locating on a farm two and one-half miles northv\-est of Loveland where he lived 27 years and then moved to Loveland and retired from active labor; took part in building extensions to Louden ditch and was director of the company for 20 years ; succeeded in running water through the ditch in 1880; has seven children whose names and places of residences are: Mrs. W. H. Trindle, Anaheim, California; E. W. Naylor, Mrs. J. M. Clyde, James F. Naylor, Carl C. Naylor, Cora M. Naylor, all of Loveland, and Mrs. F. L. Thomas of Outlook, Washington. His present residence is at the corner of Cleveland and 7th streets, Loveland. Mr. Naylor has seen the Big Thompson valley grow from a sparcely settled district to a populous and prosperous community, and Loveland from a way station on the Colorado Central railroad to a city of 5,000 inhabitants, and has done his share towards bringing these changes about.

James H. McClung was born May 24th, 1864, in Illinois; educated in the public schools of Ohio and Loveland, Colorado; came to Colorado in 1879, and settled in Loveland; employed six years in the flour mill of his uncle A. A. Leonard; married Martha A. Trusler in 1892, at Berthoud, and they have two children, a daughter, Anna G. and a son Lee O. McClung; lived on and conducted a farm six years after his marriage. The family now resides on East Mountain "avenue, Berthoud, where Mr. McClung is engaged in the butcher and meat market business. He has been a resident of the Centennial state for thirty-two years and is firmly convinced that there is no better county in the world than Larimer county.

Jacob Welch - Born, Oct. 12th, 1819, near Uniontown, Pennsylvania; died, Sept. 18th, 1907, in Fort Collins, Colorado, aged nearly 88 years. In the death of Mr. Welch another link in the chain that bound the present with the past has been broken, and the community has suffered the loss of one who had been a prominent factor for more than a third of a century in the business and social life of Larimer county, a man of action, energy and enterprise, who had done much for the upbuilding of Fort Collins and the advancement of its material prosperity. In his youth Mr. Welch attended the public schools of his native state, and at an early age entered upon an active business life, first learning the potter's trade, then drifting into the mercantile business, which he followed for thirty-five years. In 1840 he migrated from his birthplace to Akron, Ohio, where he lived for thitry years, coming to Colorado in 1870 to join the Greeley colony. Three years later he moved to Fort Collins, then a frontier hamlet, which had since been his home. Here he established himself in the mercantile business at the corner of College and Mountain avenues, where the Welch block now stands, opening his store in a tent pending the erection of a suitable building. He continued in this line of business until

1879, when he sold his stock of goods to his son, L. W. Welch, and retired to look after his real estate interests, which occupied his time and attention until the beginning of his last sickness. Many monuments in the way of buildings erected by him in his chosen home attest his enterprise and activity as a citizen. In addition to the store building erected in 1873, which was destroyed by fire in February,

1880, and immediately rebuilt, he had built several others, including two handsome stone residences on Olive street, in one of which he lived until death called him ; also the block of stores on West Mountain avenue, now owned by his son, L. W. Welch, besides several other structures of less importance. In the spring of 1881 he was elected mayor of Fort Collins and served one full term of two years, during which the Greeley, Salt Lake & Pacific railroad was built through the city and while the town was taking on a rapid growth and extending its borders in every direction. On Jan. 17th, 1839, at Mogadore, Ohio, Mr. Welch inter-married with Miss Anna Achison, who passed on to the Great Beyond to join the husband of her youth in 1910. The marriage proved a happy one, the bride and groom being privileged to spend sixty-eight years of their lives together in the enjoyment of an uninterrupted married existence, a privilege accorded to but very few, indeed. Five children were born of the union, Mrs. Emma Schneider, Mrs. Martha Atwood and Corwin, Albert L. and L. Wilbur Welch, the three sons being residents of Fort Collins.

John Nelson^ Jr., was born March 25th, 1870, in Scotland, coming to the United States with his parents while still a small boy, and to Fort Collins in 1873; received his education in the public schools and at the Colorado Agricultural college; married Laura Catlett in 1895, who died and on October 7th, 1900, married Lydia Pohlman for his second wife; has no children. Mr. Nelson is a carpenter by trade, but spends about eight months of the year superintending the running of water through Larimer county No. 2 canal. On arriving from Scotland in 1871, the Nfelson family stopped two years in Chicago and were in that city during the big fire in October, 1871. Mr. Nelson's present home is at 517 East Laurel street. Fort Collins, Colorado.

Charles S. Cooksie was born on December 22, 1858, in Clayton county, Iowa. He came to Colorado and to Fort Collins in June, 1885. In January, 1890, he was married to Ella PuUiam of Fort Collins. They have a family of four children. Mr. Cooksie has been engaged in farming and in the mercantile business. He bears a fine reputation for integrity and clean citizenship.

Ralph Leroy Parshall was born in Golden, Colorado, July 2, 1881. His boyhood days were spent in the mountains at Creswell, where he attended district school. In September, 1899, he entered the Colorado Agricultural college. In 1904 he was graduated from the civil engineering course, since which time he has been a teacher in that department. He took a post graduate course of five months at the University of Chicago and the summer of 1904 he was assistant in the State Engineer's office at Denver. Since Mr. Parshall came to Fort Collins in 1899, he has made Larimer county his home. On June 12, 1906, he and Florence May

Stuver were united in marriage, one child, a son, Maxwell, being the fruit of the union. Mr. Parshall is an honored and esteemed member of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering education.

Levi Tombaugh had been before his death in March, 1911, as the result of a runaway accident, one of the enterprising and successful farmers and market gardeners of Larimer county. He was a loyal citizen of the Centennial state, a man without guile, a great lover of children, though he never had any of his own, a devoted husband and foster father, a genial, warm-hearted friend and an accommodating and obliging neighbor. Mr. Tombaugh was born Aug. 22nd, 1849, in Miami county, Indiana. He spent his boyhood days on his uncle's farm, attending the district school as opportunity offered and when his services were not needed on the farm. When 21 years of age he started westward, stopping a few years in Missouri, going thence to Texas and then back again to Missouri. The western fever still raged in his veins and in 1878 he came to Fort Collins to seek his fortune. The Larimer and Weld canal was then being built by Benjamin H. Eaton, [308] who was elected governor of Colorado in 1884. Our subject hired out to do construction work on the canal for Mr. Eaton, remaining in his employ for three years, and not only helped to build the largest irrigating canal in northern Colorado, but also the High Line canal near Denver, for which his employer was contractor. He returned to his Missouri home in 1884 and on Feb. 8th, 1885, he married Miss Jane Coy, the union proving a very happy one. In the fall of 1892, he moved his family from Missouri to Fort Collins, having decided that Colorado offered greater opportunities for a man of limited means for establishing a home and acquiring something for a rainy day than any other part of the country he had visited. He bought fifty acres of land two miles southwest of Fort Collins, then known as the Graham place. It was not a promising piece of land, but he could do no better with the means at command, so he took it, going into debt for a part of the purchase money. Part of the tract was covered by a cat-tail swamp and the remainder was a dry knoll above water. The first hard work he did on the place was in draining the swamp and converting it into garden land. He accomplished his purpose, however, and had the satisfaction of reclaiming about ten acres of what was thought to be a worthless swamp and making of it as rich and productive garden land as there is in Larimer county. He then began raising vegetables and small fruits for market in which he had remarkable success. He soon paid off the debt on his place and succeded in securing water for his dry knoll, finally bringing that under a high state of cultivation. About five years ago he sold his fifty acres of upland for $10,000, reserving the reclaimed swamp land for his own use. He sold the latter in the spring of 1911 for a big price and moved into Fort Collins, which has since been the family home. His faithful and devoted wife did her full share in bringing about prosperity, for while he was at work in the garden she would drive into town and sell the fruit and vegetables as they were produced on the place. Though, as stated, Mr. and Mrs. Tombaugh never had any children of their own, they have brought up three foster or adopted children, towit: Mrs. Anna Payne, and Mattie and Edward Tombaugh.

Benjamin F. Williams was born in Jefferson county. West Virginia, in 1872. In 1875 his parents moved to Illinois and the following year found them again Westward bound until the Plains of Nebraska halted their onward march for a period.

Again taking up the route to the setting sun, March, 1905, found Mr. Williams in Colorado, at Wellington. Looking about for a permanent location he was struck by the superior advantages of the Spring Canon ranch, then owned by Henry T. Miller, of whom he purchased in 1907. This is a fine ranch and is now in the hands of a competent and energetic farmer, who may be depended upon to keep up its fertility and productiveness. Mr. Williams has a willing helpmate, whose maiden name was Miss Ella Westberg, whom he married March 27th, 1910.

Hiram Pierce. - Born August 8th, 1852, at Waterford, Wisconsin; learned carpenter and joiner's trade; married Maggie White, May 12th, 1879, at Chilton, Wisconsin; three children, Robert Ansel, mining engineer, Denver; Blanche, stenographer and Elizabeth, student; both daughters at home; came to Fort Collins November 11th, 1878, and followed contracting and building until January, 1905, when he was appointed instructor in carpentry at Colorado Agricultural college, a position he still holds; has a fine home at 510 South Howes street.

Frederick J. Snyder. - Mr. Snyder was one of the real pioneers of Colorado and a very early settler in Larimer county, locating on a farm near the present town of Timnath, in 1865. He walked the entire distance from Chicago to Denver in 1860, making the trip in 271 days. He came alone, carrying his bedding and provisions, excepting what he killed on the road, on his back. He was a good citizen, a kind and obliging neighbor. He died at his farm home on Nov. 23rd, 1892, aged 72 years. Two sons, William and Lincoln Snyder, survive him.

TwiFORD CoRBiN. - The subject of this sketch was born October 11th, 1838, in Sussex county, Delaware. He spent his early years on his father's farm, having few advantages in the way of obtaining an education, but he was observing and through his intercourse with neighbors and friends acquired a good knowledge of business and political affairs. He left home in his early manhood to seek his fortune with only $15 in his pocket. He traveled westward and spent a few years in Illinois, going thence to Missouri to engage in business, finally turning his attention to farming near Cameron in that state. In 1867 he was married to Sarah M. Selby, who died in 1869. For his second wife he married Mrs. Sarah J. Leffingwell in 1871. Three sons were born to the second union only of whom Franklin, survives his parents and he is a resident of Fort Collins. In 1880 Mr. Corbin came to Fort Collins and purchased a lumber yard and this city was his home until he died, December 21st, 1896. He was an excellent business man and prospered in the lumber trade, accummulating a competence. He was an ardent member of the Christian church, and aided materially in organizing that denomination in Fort Collins, contributing liberally of his means to the building of a church edifice for the congregation to worship in. His religion was unostentatious and his record as a man and citizen was as an "open book". As a business man he was conservative and with wise foresight achieved success. He was manly and outspoken and had great admiration and strong friendship for men of that class. He took a great interest in public affairs, co-operating heartily in every movement calculated to advance the material and moral welfare of his chosen home.

William Thomas SxHortridge. - The "Blue Grass State" added more than its quota to the long line of pioneers who crossed the Plains in the early sixties - and among the stalwart sons of Kentucky the name of William Thomas Shortridge prominently stands forth. Born at Lexington, April 3rd, 1831, he was married at Independence, Missouri, to Miss Polly A. Kelly, December 19, 1854. There -was but one child born of the union, Mrs. Lou Wallace, long a resident of this city. Mr. Shortridge came to Colorado In 1860, locating in. Den- ver. He filled many political positions, a trusted and faithful public servant. A deputy U. S. Marshal and deputy sheriff in Denver, city marshal while a resident of Fort Collins, in 1882 and '83 and deputy sheriff under Sheriff W. T. Bransom in 1894. He was an old Plainsman - drove an ox team to Salt Lake for Ben Holladay in the summer of 1852 and was wagon master later on for Majors, Russell and Waddell. He died at his home in Fort Collins, May 15, 1905.

Pierce J. Landes^ son of Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Landes, was born May 10th 1885, at Livermore, Colorado; attended the public schools; married Rosalie Nugent, December 9th, 1908 at Laporte; farmer by occupation; went with parents to California in 1893, returning to Fort Collins in 1895, his father having purchased what is known as the W. S. Taylor farm, near Laporte. Our subject now owns the farm and has resided on it since 1895, engaged in general farming, sheep feeding and sugar beet raising in which he has met with good success. His mother was a daughter of the late John Riddle, one of the early settlers of the Cache la Poudre valley. His father is a retired farmer and he and his family live in Fort Collins.

H. B. Chubbuck was born in Pennsylvania, October 6, 1817. When twenty-one years of age, he left Pennsylvania and went to Illinois, residing there about twelve years. In 1850 he went to California, where he remained two years and then came east as far as Nebraska. In 1858 he came to Colorado, locating near the present city of Denver, and was one of the original members of the loan company which laid out the place in 1859. He located a claim on the west bank of the Platte in 1859 and in company with a man named Smith built the first bridge across that stream, hewing the timbers that were used in its construction from Cottonwood trees growing on their claims. The bridge was known for many years as the "Old Chubbuck bridge" and was on the road leading to the Gregory mine, now Central City. He was engaged in business in what is now West Denver, then called Auraria, during the first years of its existence, besides opening up quite a market garden. He used for two or three seasons for cultivating his garden crop, a single ox, broken to harness and driven with lines. He assisted in building an irrigating ditch to water his land, which was probably the first one built in Colorado. In the spring of 1862, he removed to the Big Thompson valley, locating on land later owned by David Hershman, where he resided until 1867, when he sold the claim and with his two sons opened up the farm on which he died October 9th, 1880, it being the first bluff farm taken up and improved in the county, and at that time considered a very risky investment. Mr. Chubbuck was the first county superintendent of schools for Larimer county and was elected sheriff in 1866, serving one term. He was a kind hearted man, greatly liked and respected, so much so that nearly everyone in the county was his friend.

Anna M. Montgomery, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul C. Johnson and wife of Albert Montgomery, was born April 24th, 1878, at Riverton, Iowa; attended school in Larimer county, Colorado; married June 25th, 1896, at Boulder, Colorado; has one child, Paul C, born May 2, 1897; came to Fort Collins in 1881 and was reared on a farm; housekeeper and dressmaker by occupation; residence Fort Collins. Her parents born in Denmark, the father in 1852 and the mother in 1858.

Peter Turner, the founder of the present town of Berthoud, was born in 1838 in Franklin county, Virginia, where he lived until he had reached the age of 17 years. He came to Iowa in 1857, and to Colorado in 1861, locating first in Russell Gulch. He followed sluice mining for two and a half years and then moved to Sunshine, Boulder county, and was the first settler in that camp. He came from there to the Little Thomfwon valley in the fall of 1877, and in 1880 laid off the present town of Berthoud from a portion of his farm. He is still a resident of Berthoud, reaping the benefit of his early day investments. He has five living children, but his wife, 'the companion of his younger years, died about three years ago. Mr. Turner built the first house in Berthoud, and still occupies it.

Lewis E. Parker. - Born in 1864, when war's alarms filled the country with its fears and dreads, with its tears and sorrows, our subject first saw the light in Fountain City, Indiana - a state whose stalwart sons fought nobly on many a gory battlefield in behalf of the integrity of the Union. When 16 years of age he went to Iowa and about a year later moved to Denver, where he dwelt about six months and then came to Larimer county to make his home. He was still a boy in years with a man's ambition and soon found employment on W. H. Peterson's farm near Timnath, then on George W. Baxter's farm in the Harmony neighborhood, putting in three years as a farm hand. He then filed a preemption claim on 160 acres in Coal Bank draw in Weld county on which he lived about four years and improved, serving two years in the meantime as road overseer of his district. On December 23rd, 1886, he led Nettie Cline, a daughter of one of the real pioneers of the Cache la Poudre valley, to the marriage altar. Six children, five sons and one daughter have blessed the union. In 1894, Mr. Parker purchased a half section of land situated in the Cache la Poudre valley, nine miles southeast of Fort Collins, and there he and his family have since resided. He is a successful farmer and stock feeder and, through industry, strict attention to his own affairs and good management, has succeeded in laying by a goodly store of this world's goods for use in his declining years. "His farm is one of the oldest in the valley having been taken up as a squatter's claim by Mrs. Parker's father in 1860, before the country was surveyed and afterwards proved up on and purchased of the government. It is well improved, the soil rich and productive and kept in a high state of cultivation, and Mr. Parker seldom or never fails to reap a rich reward in products for his season's labor, care and attention. Besides being a good farmer and stock feeder he is an excellent citizen who is doing well his part to develop the agricultural resources of his chosen home. He came to Larimer county a poor boy and has risen through his own unaided efEorts to a proud position among the successful men of the community.

A. T. GiLKisoN was born on the 25th day of December, 1847, at Centerville, Michigan. The story of his life is one that will be read with increasing interest as the accumulation of years puts farther into the background the experiences, the hopes, the disappointments and the successes of the searchers for the hidden treasures of the mountains. His has been the life of the prospector which, in the limited space allowed for this sketch, must be told without embellishment or the ornaments of fiction. When Mr. Gilkison was but a few months of age his parents moved to Ohio, and before he was a year old his mother died. Left to the care of grandparents and then to other relatives he was kept under one roof hardly long enough to begin to call it home before he was passed into the hands of new guardians. About the year 1855 or 6, he was taken to Chariton, Iowa, where he remained until 1866. Then, at the age of 19 years, he started to make a career for himself. He made the overland wagon trip to Colorado in company with quite a band of emigrants and arrived in Denver on the 1st day of April, 1866, and immediately commenced his search for gold. We shall only be able here to follow him rapidly in his wanderings. He went to Nevada, in Gilpin county, Colorado, meeting there with very little success. On May second, 1869, he married Margaret J. Dalley who was at that time but 16 years of age. In the spring of 1871, he moved to Caribou, then a noted silver camp. He continued to prospect for gold and located many claims but found nothing that would produce the expected "stake." His experience was that of many another prospector - hunting for the coveted ore as long as credit could be had for food. When credit was exhausted, a period of labor for wages until uneasy grocers and butchers were silenced and then another dash with pick and pan for the prospect field. The settling upon a piece of land and the raising of some hay and vegetables for sale to the miners were but incidents which interrupted for a short time the main object in life. The limiting of the family to one ration of meat a week, on Sunday morning, in order that money might be saved to buy a team, Is a pointer to mark the financial condition of the family. There were by this time two boys and a girl in the family. A mule team was finally purchased, partly on credit, and catching the "Leadville fever" the family started for that camp, sure that there was the long sought goal. Hardly landed at Leadville, he heard of the rich strikes being made at Gunnison and again the family were loaded into the wagon and the mules headed for that camp. But the drive was long and before Gunnison was reached the excitement had died out and Mr. Gilkison drove on to Gothic, a new camp just starting up. Here it was the old story - exaggerated reports, a frantic rush, feverish searching for prospects and - disappointment. Again the wagon was loaded and the drive made to Crested Butte. A halt was made at this place and here was found the end of the rainbow with its pot of gold. Going one day to the brook for water, Mr. Gilkison noticed the surface of a rock from which the soil had been removed by the boots of others who had used the same path. He examined the rock, removed a large fragment, and found it rich. This developed into a property his interests in which was sold for a sum of money which compensated him for the weary years of searching. He moved in 1880 to Larimer county and engaged for some years in farming and finally embarked in mercantile business in which he is still engaged. His father, James T. Gilkison, enlisted in the 104th Ohio Volunteers and was killed in battle.

Frank E. Miller. - Born December 8th, 1873, in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his education in Fort Collins, Colorado; came from Iowa with his parents to Colorado in 1874, locating first at Black Hawk, moving in March, 1883, to Fort Collins which has since been his home. Mr. Miller was united in marriage with Anna M. Dievendorf, of Boulder, Colorado, on November 23rd, 1897. They have no children. From 1901 to 1905, Mr. Miller served as deputy county treasurer under

Clark Smith, and was a popular and very efficient assistant in that office. Soon after retiring from public office he purchased what was known as the Killgore book store, which he has since conducted with a satisfactory degree of success. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have a charming home on S. Meldrum street and are hospitable and genial entertainers.

William C. Stover was born July 11th, 1841, in Bottetourt county, Virginia, his father, Jacob Stover, belonging to one of the first families of the Old Dominion. In 1850, when nine years of age, he emigrated with his father's family to South Bend, Indiana, where he attended school and received his education. Early in the spring of 1860 the subject of this sketch, then in his ninteenth year, left South Bend for the West. He crossed the Plains with an ox team in company with a long wagon train and arrived at Boulder, May 10th, 1860. From Boulder he came to the Big Thompson valley and located on a hay ranch. Here he celebrated his nineteenth birthday. He spent a portion of the years 1861 and 1862 in the Sweet Water country in Wyoming, returning to his ranch in the Big Thompson valley in the fall of 1862. Following the wake of the rush of gold hunters then pushing on to the new discoveries in Montana, which were at the height of their excitement, he spent a portion of the years 1863-4-5-6 in that territory, during which he made a visit to his former home in South Bend, Indiana. Here he and his brother, George, fitted up a train of ox teams and both came west to Virginia City, Montana, bringing with them a large quantity of groceries and provisions which they disposed of to the miners at a good profit. He returned to his home on the Big Thompson in the summer of 1867, and, in company with the late A. K. Yount, engaged in the mercantile business at old St. Louis, about one mile east of the present city of Loveland. In January, 1870, having disposed of his interests and business in the Big Thompson valley, he moved to Fort Collins, and, in company with the late John C. Matthews, established a grocery and supply store in the old Grout building, where the firm remained until 1874, when the stock and business was removed to a new brick building which the firm erected on the corner of Jefferson and Linden streets. Shortly after moving into the new building, Mr. Matthews retired from the firm and Mr. Stover became sole proprietor of the stock and building. He continued to carry on the business alone until 1882, when he sold an interest to the late