Larimer County, Colorado - The whole text, 1911 (part 20 of 22)

Castleton, Vermont, and raised on a farm. In 1872 he married Nellie Hewitt and shortly afterwards started for Fort Collins, which has since, with the exception of a few years spent in Wyoming, been his home. He stocked a ranch near Spring canon with sheep and laid the foundation for a competence, but in 1877 sold his ranch and sheep to Rogers & Moore and engaged in farming in Pleasant valley. In 1881 he went to Lookout Mountain, Wyoming, and in company with his father established another sheep ranch which he sold in 1889 and returned to Fort Collins. Since then he has bought and sold sheep and fed lambs for the eastern markets, going with one shipment to England where he sold his lambs at a good profit. Two sons were born to him by his first wife, Edgar and Walter. For his second wife, Mr. Beach married Salvina Flowers in 1880, and four children were born to them: Mrs. Minnie Hotchkiss, Mrs. Maggie Johnson, Mrs. Cora Snook and

Mrs. Jerry Thornton Beach

Herbert C. Beach. His second wife died in 1905, and Mr. Beach now has his home with his daughter, Mrs. Snook, at 410 S. Howes street. Mr. Beach, his young wife and father and mother ar- rived in Fort Collins from Vermont, December 31st, 1872. Shortly afterwards he went to work as a salesman in Jacob Welch's general store, having in the meantime, established his father and mother on the Spring canon sheep ranch, where he remained seven years, . becoming thoroughly acquainted with the business and with the people. He was an excellent salesman, faithful, accurate and trustworthy. In 1890, he, like many others, engaged in sheep feeding and buying lambs on the range and selling them to other feeders. One season he bought and sold 75,000 lambs, and was considered one of the best judges of sheep in the county. Since his wife died in 1905, he has led a retired life. His father and mother both died in this city a few years ago.

Joseph Sainsbury. - Born, 1837, in Woolshire, England; came to the United States when 17 years of age and began life as a farmer boy in the state of New York. Two years later he went to Sauk county, Wisconsin, where he married Miss Mary S. Goman. Served two years in the 12th Wisconsin veteran volunteer infantry. He came to Larimer county in 1876, and located on a farm in the Harmony district, where he died Feb. 17th, 1889, aged 52 years. His widow and three daughters survive him. The daughters' names are: Mrs. H. C. Covington, Mrs. R. N. Watson and Mrs. Henri Mc- Clelland. Mrs. Sainsbury re-married several years ago, her second husband being Samuel L. McCarroll.

Charles Frederick William Cradock was born at the family home at Hartford, Yorkshire, England, in 1861. His health being somewhat impaired, he was induced to seek a change of climate and came to Colorado in the year 1879, and took up his residence near Fort Collins. Wishing to profit by the invigorating influences of outdoor life, Mr. Cradock engaged in ranching and has been the owner of several fine farms in Larimer county which he has brought to a high state of cultivation. His attention has been most extensively given to the production of forage crops and the feeding of live stock. In January, 1898, he was married to Miss Eleanor Maude Vaughan-Lloyd, of Richmond, Virginia. There have been born to them two children, Evelyn Constance and Eleanor Mary. The beautiful mountain home a short distance from Livermore, where Mr. Cradock with his family resided until a few months ago, had been his residence for 15 years and was well known for the generous English hospitality of its inmates. Mr.

Cradock is convivial and an unsparing entertainer; his very highly esteemed lady is intelligent, well informed and devoted to her family, while the two beautiful daughters fill the home with a radiance which makes the visitor loth to depart. The climate of Colorado has had a very beneficial effect upon the health of Mr. Cradock and he has been enabled to forget that he left his native land an in- valid. He has given little attention to politics but has been disposed rather to attend to the business of his farm and the delights of his pleasant home. He now owns a beautiful chicken ranch south of Denver, where he and his family now live.

Christian White. - This old soldier whose face has become so familiar to every resident of Fort Collins and who has made his home here for the past 30 years, was born in the city of New York in 1848. His services were in active demand while he wore the uniform of Uncle Sam, and his proficiency as a nurse was the means of his assignment to duty in the hospital wards of the army and navy. Many an old soldier, sick nigh unto death, has owed his recovery to the faithful care and unre- mitting attention given him by this experienced nurse. Mr. White came to Colorado in 1872, and followed mountain freighting for a number of years. Since coming to Fort Collins he has served as superintendent of the county poor farm five years. His services as a nurse have been frequently solicited by his friends and acquaintances. He is now on duty at the court house as bailifE for the district court.

Lewis Cross

Lewis Cross, a pioneer of the Little Thompson valley, postmaster, justice of the peace, and county commissioner of Larimer county from January, 1877, to January, 1880, died at the home of his son, John Cross in Denver, on Sunday morning, November 20, 1887, aged 71 years. Mr. Cross was born May 10th, 1817, in Rockingham county, Virginia, and lived at the place of his birth until 16 years of age, when he emigrated with his father's family to Wayne county, Indiana, where he followed farming. In 1840 he removed to Iowa, then known as the far West. He came to Colorado in 1860, settling first at Central City, afterward locating on Ralston creek, near the City of Golden, where he lived until 1873, when he moved his family on to a farm in the Little Thompson valley, one mile south of the present thriving town of Berthoud. His entire life was one of usefulness and benefit to mankind. He filled many public posts of honor and responsibility, executing every trust faithfully and with great fidelity. He served sixteen successive years as justice of the peace, and soon after his arrival in the Little Thompson valley, he was appointed postmaster, which ofKce he held until domestic affliction and broken health admonished him to resign, which he did in 1886. He was elected county commissioner to represent the third district in October, 1876, at the first election held in Colorado after it was admitted into the Union, and discharged the duties of the office with an eye single to the interests of the people. His colleagues on the board were Revilo Loveland and Noah Bristol. No man in Larimer county was more widely known and more respected, revered and beloved by his fellow citizens than Lewis Cross.

Mrs. Lewis Cross

Joseph M. Purdie was born January 8th, 1856, in Schuykill county, Pennsylvania; educated at La Salle, Illinois; married Mary E. Newham, December, 1882, at Weeping Water, Nebraska, and has four children, William, Elizabeth, Fern G. and Jeanette Purdie. Mr. Purdie came to Colo- rado in 1876 and located at Walsenburg; followed coal mining for eight years ; came to Larimer county in 1904 and is now engaged in farming. In the summer of 1882 he prospected for coal for the Denver and Fort Worth railroad company with Captain William Anderson.

Thomas Davis

Thomas Davis was born in Glenmorgan county, Wales, on March 31st, 1842. In May, 1868, he was married to Elizabeth Evans and the newly married couple at once set sail for America. Mr. Davis' brother, Ebenezer, had preceded him to this country and met him upon his arrival at Cheyenne in July, 1868. Ebenezer Davis had already settled upon a farm in the Poudre valley about eight miles southeast of Fort Collins, and upon the arrival of his brother, Thomas, the latter went with his wife to Ebs' home where they lived for a short time. In the spring of 1869, Thomas took up a homestead adjoining his brother's farm and at once moved upon it and commenced the work of bringing out the ditches and the building up of a home. When Thomas Davis and his wife arrived in this country they knew no other language than their native Welsh and their communication was con- fined to the few families from Wales who were settled near them. Thomas' attention while engaged in farming was given largely to the raising of cattle, a business in which he met with very ilattering success. In September, 1880, his life was brought to a sudden and premature close In an accident in which he was killed by a horse. He left surviving him his wife and five children, a son and four daughters. Mrs. Davis continued to live upon the farm and, with the aid of her children, to conduct the farming operations, proving herself to be an efficient and successful manager, until the spring of 1905, when she disposed of her farm and went to make her home with her youngest daughter who had been married to Homer Thayer. Coming to a country where every condition was new to them, unfamiliar with the language spoken, possessed with little of the world's goods, Mr. Davis and his wife, by persevering industry and frugality succeeded in winning a fair competence. Their ad- herence to the principles of Christianity, which they not only professed but carried very thoroughly into their daily intercourse with their fellow men, caused them to be loved and respected by all. Their in the city of New York. Here he followed for many years the business of contractor and builder; and was active in both church and Masonic circles. In 1873, he was attracted to Colorado by numerous New York acquaintances, who had come out with the Greeley colony. To one leaving the sea, the beauty of the mountains at Fort Collins attracted more strongly than the prairies surrounding Greeley. Consequently, Mr. Armstrong located in Fort Collins. He immediately became interested in the development of the town, erected several of its earlier residences and buildings and acquired a fair amount of prosperity. In 1880 he was appointed postmaster. He was prominent in all good works, mindful of the sick and needy, a loyal member of the First Presbyterian church of Fort Collins. He served in various offices, and was twice sent a Commissioner to the

General Assembly of the Presbyterian church. He was also an ardent member of the Masonic order, in which he had attained the thirty-second degree. At the time of his death, he had been for seven consecutive years. Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Colorado. His earthly life closed on the 4th day of September, 1904, in Denver, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Charles G. Mantz, where his widow rich in years and in fond memories of Larimer county, now resides.

Miles A. Brown was born in the state of New York on the 13th day of May, 1839. He was educated in the district schools of Fulton county. He has been three times wedded, marrying for his first helpmate Miss Sarah Cole in the year 1869, after his return from the Civil war. He served in this war from 1862 until 1865 in the First Michigan Sharpshooters. His first battle experience was at the Wilderness and from this time until his discharge he was in many hard fought battles. In 1870 Mr.

Miles A. Brown

Brown moved with his family to Colorado and settled on a farm in the Big Thompson valley, and afterwards in the same year in what came afterwards to be known as the Harmony district south- east of Fort Collins. His life since that time has been entirely devoted to farming, an occupation in which his efforts have been quite amply rewarded. When he arrived in Colorado, the problems of farming by irrigation in the arid West were all unsolved and his perseverance and intelligence have contributed greatly to the building up of the material wealth of the county. In 1878 he was married to Ellen Cowles, and later, in 1895, to Clara Preston. There are two children, Ellen, aged twelve, and B. T. aged eight years. Whatever enterprise has been undertaken in the county looking to the betterment of the condition of the farmers, to the improvement of the public schools, or to the general advancement of the county, has always found in Mr. Brown a warm and active supporter. While at no time an office seeker, he has been zealous in the performance of his duties as a citizen, being ever well posted on the questions of the day and ready by his ballot to register his opinion.

John Hardin. - ^Among the sturdy pioneers of Larimer county who helped to subdue the wilderness and make it habitable for the sons of men, John Hardin of Westlake, takes high rank. He was born January 13th, 1826, in Henry county, Kentucky, , and is of a lorig-lived, hardy race. Fourteen years later, he came to Missouri with his father's family and lived and worked on a farm until he attained his majority. That year, 1847, he joined a party of traders and went overland to California, driving an ox team and being six months on the road. There he worked in the mines two winters and then returned to the States by sea, via the Isthmus of Panama. On June 22nd, 1852, Mr. Hardin married Sarah J. Hand. He worked on a farm until 1864, when he came to Colorado, settling in Pleasant valley, where he worked for Abner Loomis and B. T. Whedbee until 1865, when his wife died, leaving him with four children. These he took back to Missouri and put them in school. He remained in the old home until the following winter when he came back to Colorado with a wagon load of flour which, he sold for $20.00 per hundred pounds, and returned to Missouri. On the 13th day of November, 1866, he married Mahalah Hand and remained east until the spring of 1869 when he again turned his face westward. He worked a rented farm in Pleasant valley that year and raised a crop of potatoes which brought him a goodly sum of money. He drove a bunch of cattle across the Plains when he came west the last time, and in the spring of 1870 he took up a home- stead on the South Lone Pine, 48 miles northwest of Fort Collins, and moved his family and cattle there that year. Since that time this has been his home. For several years after he moved to the mountains he hauled lumber, fence posts and firewood to Fort Collins with a mule team, camping out wherever night overtook him. He now owns an excellent and well improved 320-acre stock ranch and a fine herd of high grade cattle. Up to his 85th year, Mr. Hardin was hale, hearty, strong and active and not a work day passed that he was not doing something on the ranch, chopping wood, making garden or looking after the cattle. He died August 8th, 1911. Mr. Hardin is the father of ten living children whose names are Louisa F., George W., Mary J., Amanda, Montana J., Martha E., Matilda, John W., Mark, Allen R., and Edna R.

Henry Forrest Hall^ M. D., was born at Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, August 8, 1842. He graduated in medicine at the University of Vermont. At the outbreak of the Civil war, he went to the front as hospital steward in the U. S. regulars and was at the first battle of Bull Run. He saw service later under General Banks at New Orleans. After the war he went to California (via Panama) where he resided until January, 1886, when he came to Fort Collins. Here he practiced his profession for several years and was beloved by many because of his kind and genial character. He was mayor of Fort Collins for one term. His health failing, he removed to Alberquerque, New Mexico, in 1891, and a year later returned to California. He died September 22, 1897, at Coronado Beach after a long sickness with locomotor ataxia. He was married in 1885 to Agnes C. Murdock who survives him at Las Gatos, California.

Fulton N. B. Scott was born December 19th, 1841, in Washington county, Pa., and received his education in Illinois. He came to Fort Collins in 1873 and followed blacksmithing for several years, at which he was very successful. Later he engaged in the hardware business at Loveland, retiring from that line of business about twelve years ago to give his attention to other interests. Mr. Scott has been a County Commissioner, a member of the Fort Collins city council, and is a director of the First National bank of Fort Collins and of the National Bank of Loveland. He is a man of large means, acquiring his start by hard work, and has been an important factor in the development of the industries and business interests of Larimer county. He has been twice married. His first wife was Emma Flamming who bore him a son, Ira J. Scott, of Denver. He married for his second wife, Mrs. R. T. Lown, a daughter of Judge and Mrs. W. B. Osborn, of Loveland. Two sons, Delano and Claire, were born of this union.

Joseph S. McClelland. - When Joseph Simpson McClelland founded and established the Larimer County Express on April 26th, 1873, the first newspaper printed in the county, he builded a monument that should perpetuate his memory for centuries. The county at that time had a population of less than 1,500, all told, and it was a courageous thing for a man to attempt to make such a venture a success in the widely separated and sparcely settled community that existed then. But he did it, honored be his memory, and the Express today is a living witness of his wise foresight and his confidence in the future of his chosen home. Mr. McClelland was born April 17th, 1837, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. His parents were Joseph and Clarissa (Souder) McClelland, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of German descent. On January 5th, 1860, he was married to Henrietta Marsh, who died May 26th, 1906, in Fort Collins. For his second wife he married on September 12th, 1907, Mrs. Margaret Rambo, a widow and sister of his first wife. He died on Thursday, November 4th, 1909. Four sons, children by his first wife, survive him: Francis A., and Elmer F., employed on Denver newspapers; John Horace, employed on the Los Angeles, California, street railway system, and Henri S., who was associated with his father in conducting the large fruit farm at Fossil Creek. In early manhood our subject learned the printer's trade and published the Tribune at Tiflin, Ohio, for several years. Soon after the Civil war broke out Mr. McClelland enlisted May 27th, 1862, as sergeant in Company D of the 86th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was mustered out September 25th, 1862, by reason of expiration of service. He reenlisted September 11th, 1863, in Company G of the 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was given a Second Lieutenant's commission, being promoted to First Lieutenant on September 21st, 1864. This regiment saw much hard service in which the officers and men nobly acquitted themselves. He was mustered out with his regiment October 5th, 1865, at the close of the war. In 1866 he moved to Galesburg, Illinois, and purchased the Free Press, which he edited and conducted until 1872, coming to Colorado late that year. He worked on Denver newspapers a few months and in the spring of 1873 he came to Fort Collins and established the Express, the first number of which appeared April 26th, of that year. Shortly afterwards he filed on 160 acres of fruit and farm land at Fossil Creek, on which he lived for many years, going back and forth from his farm to his office until January, 1880, when he sold his newspaper to Craft brothers, and retired permanently from the printing business to give his whole time and attention to his farm, without, however, neglecting his duties as a citizen or losing his interest in public affairs. He was a member of Geo. H. Thomas post, G. A. R., serving one term as commander. He was also an active member of the Patrons of Husbandry, being one of those who organized the first Grange in Larimer county at Fort Collins in 1874. For several years before his death he was a leading member of Pomona Grange and served it as master. From 1878 to 1880, he was Postmaster at Fort Collins; served four years as a member of the State Board of Agriculture; was President of the State Horticultural Society for two years. Associated with othef farmers he assisted in building what was known as the Watson Mill which stood near the railroad track north of the depot and later contributed to the building of the Farmer's Mill, the structure being now used as a wholesale grocery store. He was also actively associated with others in getting the big beet sugar factory established in Fort Collins, and assisted in the promotion and construction of several irrigating canals, ditches and reservoirs in the Cache la Poudre valley. He was an active, energetic and very enterprising man and did much during his thirty-six years' residence in Larimer county to advance its material and moral development. In 1904 he gave over the management of his fruit farm to his son, Henri, and moved into Fort Collins which was his home until death called him hence. The McClelland fruit farm at Fossil Creek is widely known in Colorado on account of the extent of its orchards and variety and excellent character of the fruit produced, our subject being a pioneer in the fruit-growing industry in Larimer county. He began planting fruit trees on his claim in 1876, and kept adding to the area of his orchard until he had about 100 acres planted to a great variety of fruit trees and shrubs.

Warren H. Rutledge first made his presence known among the people of this world some time in 1872, in County Sligo, Ireland, where he received his education. He came to Colorado in March,

1898, and settled in Estes Park where he is engaged in the stock business and ranching in which he is meeting with a fair measure of success.

William O'Brien. - Many of Scotland's brave lads and bonnie lasses have crossed the broad Atlantic during the past twenty-five years to become citizens of the Cache la Poudre valley. They have foresworn allegiance to the British crown and have taken upon themselves the responsibilities and assumed the honors of American citizenship. They are now loyal citizens of the greatest Republic on earth, and are proud to be numbered among the defenders of the Stars and Stripes and the institutions the flag represents. They are industrious, prudent and thrifty, and are enrolled among the best citizens of Larimer county. Among those who forsook their ancestral homes in Scotland to seek new scenes, new friends and new homes and fortunes in Colorado, was William O'Brien, who, for the past eleven years, has been Superintendent of the Colorado Agricultural college farm, and has discharged its duties and shouldered its responsibilities in a manner that has given entire satisfac- tion to the State Board of Agriculture and reflected credit upon himself. Mr. O'Brien first saw the light of day on December 18th, 1862, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He was born on a farm and received his education in the public schools of the period. Following the example of thousands of his countrymen, he came to the United States to better his condition, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1887. While about the docks in that city in 1888, he noticed that a shipment of horses was being unloaded from a transatlantic steamer that had just arrived and closer observation convinced him that the animals had come from his own country and upon inquiry he learned that the horses belonged to Jesse Harris and that he was going to ship them to Colorado. He immediately sought out Mr. Harris and asked for employment in loading the horses on the cars and in caring for them enroute. Mr. Harris said to him "I have about all the help I need, but if you want to go along, I will take you through but will not agree to pay you wages during the trip." Mr. O'Brien jumped at the chance and that is how it is that he is a Coloradoan today. It was not long after he arrived in Fort Collins until he and two of his countrymen, John Eraser and Charles Willox, bought the Austin Mason farm of 120 acres, which they cultivated in company until Mr. O'Brien was appointed to the position he now holds at the college. In 1890 Mr. O'Brien m.arried Jane Eraser and they have nine children, Jennie, William, Jesse, Marshall, Annie, Lorna, Nellie, Alice and Bessie, all at home. He is an expert farmer and has served the state and college well as farm superintendent and given the best of satisfaction. Mrs. O'Brien, nee Erazer, is also a native of Scotland. She came to Colorado in 1890 to marry the sweetheart of her girlhood days and has never had occassion to regret the voyage across the Atlantic. She is a model wife and mother and her home is the abiding place of love, contentment and happiness.

John McNey. - A pioneer LIvermore ranchman and stockman, died on December 31st, 1901, at the family home, aged seventy years. Mr. Mc- Ney was born in 1831, in Sheffield, England, his parents being natives of Scotland. He came to the United States in 1856, locating first In South Carolina. Later he went to New York City and obtained employment in A. T. Stewart's dry goods store. From there he went to Galesburg, Illinois, and In 1867, he drove a six mule team, loaded whh government supplies for Gen. Custer from

Leavenworth to Wyoming. While on this trip he rescued a soldier's wife and three children from the Indians. In 1868 he drove an ox team to Colorado. The following year he hauled government supplies to Fort Ellis. He married Frances Stewart at Leavenworth in 1875, and that year started across the Plains with a herd of cattle and settled on a ranch eight miles west of Livermore, where he lived for twenty-six years, successfully engaged in the stock business. He left a wife and three sons, Stewart, Walter and John, all residents of Larimer county.

Calvin I. Woods was born February 25th, 1840, at Mt. Vernon, Ohio; graduated at Granville, Ohio ; married May Isabelle Harris, September 11th, 1867; children's names, George D., Frank T., Mrs. Lura M. Garbutt, Joseph H., Mrs. Zelma I. Smith, Mrs. Mabel C. Brown, Mrs. Jessie Newsome. Mr. Woods crossed the Plains in 1872 with a herd of cattle and located on a ranch in Livermore. In 1880, he sold his ranch and cattle and moved to Fort Collins and that city has since been the family home. Mr. Woods built the stone house on the farm on the Laporte road west of Fort Collins, now owned by S. B. Griffin, where he died in the spring of 1891. Mr. Woods was one of Larimer county's foremost citizens. He possessed the confidence and respect of all who knew him and was highly esteemed as a neighbor and friend.

John H. Payson was born June 28th, 1857, in Hope, Knox county, Maine ; reared on a farm and attended district and high school at Camden and Rockport, in his native state; came west in the spring of 1880 and spent two years in Wyoming, employed on a cattle ranch for Alford, Emerson brothers and Joseph Kennedy, coming then to Fort Collins which place is still his home. On September 24th, 1884, Mr. Payson married Alice M. Guest and they have one daughter, Mildred at home, their only son dying December 27th, 1908, while in his Sophomore year at the Colorado Agricultural college. For four years after his marriage, Mr. Payson followed farming in the Cache la Poudre valley and then located on a mountain stock ranch at Stratton park, where the family lived until 1905, moving then to Fort Collins to educate their children. Since then he has busied himself in improving his home and in building houses for sale and for rent. Mr. Payson is an industrious, prudent, quiet man and public spirited citizen and has an enviable standing in the community. Our subject was the third child in order of birth of Guilford M. and Sarah Amanda (Hobbs) Payson, both of whom were natives of Hope, Maine, and descendants of a Colonial family. The father was a ship carpenter by occupation at first, later becoming a merchant and then a farmer. He was the father of eight children three of them dying in their infancy, and five surviving. He served three years as a soldier in the Civil war; his father was a soldier of 1812, and his grandfather served in the Continental army during the revolutionary war, which shows that our subject comes from fighting stock.

John O. Williams^ expert in charge of the government horse station in Fort Collins, was born March 10th, 1885, in Vendocia, Ohio. He attended the public and High school at Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from the University of that state in 1908 with the degree of bachelor of science in agriculture. On March 16th, 1908, he was appointed scientific assistant in animal husbandry in the United States department of agriculture, stationed at Washington, D. C. In October of that year he was transferred to the Fort Collins station, where he still remains engaged in the work of producing a distinctly American type of carriage horse in which he is meeting with marked success.

John D. Davis. - Among the foreign born residents of Larimer county who left their native land to seek homes and fortunes in the United States and who settled in the Cache la Poudre valley at an early date, not many stood higher in the estimation of their fellow pioneers than the four Davis brothers, Ebenezer, John D., Thomas and David. They were esteemed for their industry, their probity and integrity, for their genuine hospitality and good citizenship. But it is of John D. in particular, we wish to speak in this sketch. He was born on March 14th, 1836, in Wales, and came to the United States in 1854, when 18 years of age. As a young man he worked in the Lake Superior copper mines a few years and later in the Ohio coal mines. On August 18th, 1863, he married Leah Jones, leaving in the spring of 1864 for Colorado, in company with his brother David and family, both coming to join their brother Ebenezer, [446] who located in the Cache la Poudre valley in 1859. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John D. Davis and their names are Thomas L. Davis of Timnath, Mrs. Rachael Davis of Loveland and John S. Davis, who is assistant cashier of the First National bank of Greeley. When Mr. Davis first came to Larimer county he filed on an 80-acre homestead near the present village of Timnath and preempted a tract of 120 acres adjoining his homestead. The Riverside School house stands on the land he homesteaded. He at once engaged in the cattle business in connection with general farming in which he continued for almost a quarter of a century, with excellent success. He sold his farm and disposed of his herds in 1885 and moved to Greeley, where he died July 11th, 1910. His widow resides with her son, John S., at Greeley. The eldest son, Thorrias L., was the third white child born in the Cache la Poudre valley, the first being Frederick Sherwood, son of Mr. and Mrs.

Mrs. John D. Davis

Jesse M. Sherwood, who was born in 1862. Mrs. Davis was born December 28th, 1843, in Wales. After locating in the Cache la Poudre valley Mr. Davis hauled hay cut with a scythe and baled in a hand press to Forts Hall, Fetterman and Laramie and Mrs. Davis looked after the home, milked the cows and made butter which sold for a big price in those days. She paid Joseph Mason $75 each for unbroken heifers with which to begin her dairy. One time in 1865, fearing an Indian raid she carried the infant Thomas into the meadow and with him hid in the tall grass. A neighbor, Mrs. Pinkerton, placed her seven children into a boat and with them hid in the willows, and then with bated breath listened through the night so that if the clattering hoofs of Indian ponies in the distance should warn her that she was on the wrong side of the river she could cross to the opposite side into the protecting shadows of a cottonwood grove, because it was also necessary to avoid being found by the Indian dogs.

James F. Vandewark, President of the Riverside Ice & Storage company; President of the Fort Collins chamber of commerce and one of the foremost business men of that city, was born December 22nd, 1870, in Beatrice, Nebraska. He was the second son in order of birth of Elmer E. and Lizzie N. (Giles) Vandewark, who came from Nebraska to Fort Collins in 1873 and located on a farm in Pleasant valley, near the village of Bellvue. The father of our subject was born in Jamestown, New York, of Holland Dutch descent, his grandfather coming from Holland and settling at Chautauqua lake. New York, early in the Nineteenth century. He was a good farmer and an excellent citizen, never neglecting any duty he owed his God, his family or his country, and his death several years ago was deeply lamented. The subject of this sketch was but three years of age when his father settled in Larimer county. He grew to manhood on his father's farm and received his education in the public schools of Larimer county. In June, 1893, he married Grace Harris, daughter of D. M. Harris, a pioneer hotel keeper of Fort Collins, and two children, Edith and Floyd, were born of the union. The son is a student at Winona Lake, (Indiana) school for boys, and the daughter is with her mother at Alliance, Nebraska. For his second wife, Mr. Vandewark married Helen K. Devers on May 12th, 1909. She was born in New York City. She came to Colorado with her parents in 1885, and was educated in the public schools of Larimer county. Mr. and Mrs. Vandewark have a beautiful home on West Mountain avenue. In 1892, Mr. Vandewark established himself in the transfer and coal business, adding the dealing in ice three years later. He built the first and only artificial ice plant established in Fort Collins. This plant was torn down in 1910 to make room for the tracks of the Union Pacific railroad. Mr. Vandewark then organized the Riverside Ice & Storage company and at once proceeded to build and equip the largest and best appointed artificial ice plant in Colorado, north of Denver. After selling the old plant to the railroad company, he disposed of his coal and transfer business to the Fort Collins, Coal, Seed and Transfer company, and has since given his time and attention to the manufacture, sale and delivery of pure ice. He employs a large number of men and teams in carrying on his business, in which' he has been preeminently successful, and is rated as one of the most active and influential business men of his home city. He has been a member of the Fort Collins chamber of commerce ever since it was organized and has taken a leading part in all of the public activities of that organization. At the last annual meeting of that body he was chosen president for the current term and is discharging the duties of the position with marked ability and enterprise. By his energy, industry and enterprise and by careful and prudent management, Mr. Vandewark has built upj from small beginnings, a large establishment by means of which he is supplying not only his own city but neighboring towns as well with a prime necessity and in all his transactions he is strictly reliable, prompt and painstaking. He is one of the most loyal of citizens and has great faith in the future of Fort Collins and Larimer county, of which he has been a resident nearly all his life. He is a member of the board of directors of the First National bank, of the Masonic lodge, of the B. P. O. Elks and of the Woodman of the World.

Philander Ricketts. - Early in youth the subject of this sketch made his choice of a profession and at the age of twenty, he was successfully training the young idea in the public schools of Indiana, in which state he was born on a farm in 1848. By teaching and attending college alternately, he graduated from Wabash college with high honors in 1878. Overwork and devotion to study undermined his health, compelling him to abandon his chosen line of work, and to seek some other occupation in a difiEerent clime. Taking a life partner in 1879, in the person of Julia Thomas, the couple came West immediately and settled on a farm near Fort Collins, engaging in agriculture and stock raising pursuits. Mr. Ricketts is a man of scholarly attainments. Four sons and two daughters have blessed their happy home. Dr. Joy Ricketts and Mrs. Mabel Startzer are the daughters, and Hubert, Richard, Julian and Stanley, the sons.

John R. Samuels, son of Harvey H. Samuels, a pioneer of the Big Thompson valley, was born Majth 27th, . 1841, .in Warren county, Illinois, whe;re he attended the public schools. _ He came with his father's family to Larimer county, in 1863, when 22 years of age. He assisted his father on the farm for several years and then he and his brother, F. M. Samuels, went into partnership to engage in farming and stock raising, which they followed for more than thirty years, with marked success. They then sold their holdings and retired, each with a handsome fortune. Our subject remained a single man until 1893, when on December 5th, he married Mrs. Carrie Clark, from whom he was divorced December 18th, 1905. Two children, Willie and Edith Lillian, were born of the union. The death of Willie in 1906, at the age of 11 years, was a severe blow to the father, one from which he never quite recovered as he was very [448] fond of his children. He did not remarry but lived single the remainder of his life. When he died on November 28th, 1908, he was considered one of the wealthy men of Loveland. Mr. Samuels was a man of strong convictions, honest, reliable and an excellent citizen. He believed in trying to do what was right for right's sake and not because of any creed or religious denomination. Politically, he adhered to the principles of the democratic party and voted his party ticket at State and National elections. In local matters he voted for the men whom he believed to be the best qualified for the office they sought. His death removed from the activities of life a man who had done much to develop the resources of Larimer county.

J. M. Shaffer. - Away down southwest in Delta county, Colorado, at Austin, may be found an old-time resident of Fort Collins, J. M. Shaffer, now actively engaged in fruit growing. In the year 1874, Mr. ShafEer, with his parents, left Delaware county, Indiana, overland bound for Atlantic, Iowa. After a short stay, not satisfied with the outlook, they harnessed up again, driving through to Fort Collins, arriving here May 28, 1879. The country was very attractive to them and Mr. Shaffer drove his stakes for a long stay. He was born at Covington, Miami county, Ohio, September 30, 1852, and was educated in the public schools. He was married in Fort Collins to Mary A. Harris, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Harris, September 30, 1879. For several years Mr. Shaffer was em.ployed as a salesman for firms in Fort Collins, and in 1906 branched out on his own account, conducting the Collins Cash grocery. Always an affable and courteous gentleman, he endeared himself to many who regretted his departure after 30 years' residence in Larimer county.

Daniel L. Powers. - Born in 1838 in New Jersey; died March 23, 1908, aged seventy years. Mr. Powers was a wheelwright by occupation. He came to Colorado in 1868 and to Fort Collins in 1870. Here he formed a partnership with William P. Morgan in the wagon making and blacksmithing business, Mr. Powers doing the woodwork and Mr. Morgan the blacksmithing. This arrangement existed for about ten years, when Mr. Powers withdrew from the firm to accept the agency for the sale of the McCormick farm implements, which he held for about twenty-two years. He was the first wagon maker to open a shop in Fort Collins and carry on the work of his trade continuously for a term of years, though James A.

Brown began doing work of that kind at odd spells two years before Mr. Powers located here. The deceased left a wife and three children, Clarence L. and two married daughters, . Mrs. Eva E. Durand of Windsor, and Mrs. Daisy Valentine, of Johnstown.

Hon. Ledru R. Rhodes was born on February 12th, 1849, in Licking county, Ohio, and attended the public schools of. that county. On the 8th of January, 1874, he was married to Eppie Cowan, of Fort Collins, who died in 1886, and a few years later, Mr. Rhodes took as a second wife, Luella Mason, the widow of Joseph Mason, an early settler of Larimer county. Mr. Rhodes has now living a daughter, Mrs. Helene J. Anderson, who resides at Los Angeles, California. The arrival of Mr. Rhodes in Colorado dates on the 17th day of March, 1872, in which year he came to Fort Collins. There are few men more fully endowed by nature with those qualities which, if their possessor is allowed the advantages of scholastic culture, lead to eminence at the bar or as a public speaker. Upon his arrival in Fort Collins, Mr. Rhodes tried his hand at several occupations and at last, in 1873, opened an office in that city for the practice of the law. In 1874 he was elected city attorney, and in 1878 he was chosen to represent the people of Larimer county in the State senate. As a senator he made a record of which he has a right to be proud. During his service of four years, he was a member of important committees and never neglected the interests of his constituents. His most important service, perhaps, was as a member of the committee on irrigation, where his experience in irrigation matters in the Poudre yalley eminently fitted him to act intelligently in the formation of the body of irrigation laws which were enacted in 1879. The wisdom of these laws. has been more and more recognized as the years have passed. Mr. Rhodes was also a member of the judiciary committee which drafted the practice act for courts of record now in operation in this state. In 1883 and 1884 he was chosen as attorney for the Colorado Cattle Growers association. In 1885 he was elected district attorney for the counties of Arapahoe, Larimer and Weld, defeating the Hon. I. N. Stevens, who opposed him. In 1890, Mr. Rhodes left Colorado and went to Salt Lake, Utah, where he practiced his profession for a period of twelve years, winning for himself a high rank at the bar of that city. In 1902 he returned to Fort Collins and again took up his practice in that city. He then gave up the general practice and to the present time has given his attention almost exclusively to cases arising out of questions involving the law of irrigation. In the last named field of the law, Mr. Rhodes has won an enviable reputation, having handled successfully some of the most fiercely contested matters involving many abstruse and difficult legal principles. The interests of Larimer county have never had a more ardent champion than they have found in Mr. Rhodes. The Agricultural college, the good-roads movement, the procuring of additional railroad service, the securing of public utilities, all have found in him a ready and efficient advocate. During his practice in Fort Collins, Mr. Rhodes has been associated in partnership with a number of the best lavi^'ers who have ever practiced at the bar of Larimer county.

William H. Trimble was born February 13th, 1824, in Logan county, Kentucky. At the age of 8 years he moved with his father's family to Calloway county, Missouri, where he received a public school education. He served as a private soldier all through the Mexican war in Doniphan's expe- dition. After the war he returned to his home in Missouri. In 1850 he journeyed across the Plains to California where he engaged in mining until 1855, returning then by way of the Isthmus of Panama and settling in Gentryville, Gentry county, Missouri, and engaging in the mercantile business. That year he married Sarah Catherine Allen and remained in business until 1863. On the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Trimble, though a slave owner, raised a company of Union volunteers of which he was commissioned captain. In 1863, he bought a drove of cattle and trailed them across the Plains to the Boxelder creek, north of Fort Collins, and sold them to E. W. Whitcomb. Returning to Missouri in the fall of 1863, he bought a freighting outfit and followed freighting from St. Joseph, Mo., to Denver, Colo. He also brought his family to Denver and remained through the winter freighting from Denver to Black Hawk. In the spring of [450]

1865 he returned East, sold out his freighting train and settled in Paradise, Clay county, Mo., where he reengaged in the mercantile business until 1872. In 1873 he made a visit with his family to Fort Collins and bought a half interest in the cattle business with Abner Loomis. He returned to Missouri in the fall and in the spring of 1874 he brought his family to Fort Collins and engaged in the mercantile business in a building which stood where now stands the Antlers hotel. In the fall of 1874, himself, A. C. Craig and James Todd of St. Joseph, Mo., engaged in the sheep business north of Laporte. In the fall of 1876 he and Mr. Loomis disposed of their cattle on the Sybille river in Wyoming to Swan Brothers; and later he and A. C. Craig engaged in the cattle business at Bates' Hole, Wyo., on the Platte above old Fort Casper. At the time of his death in July, 1878, they were running about 3,000 head of cattle. The five children, James H., Charles W., Mrs. Charles H. Sheldon, Robert E., and Edgar H., with the excep- tion of James H., who died in 1892, are all residents and highly esteemed citizens of Fort Collins. The subject of this sketch had been a Master Mason many years before his death and was buried with

Masonic honors. Mrs. Trimble was born in 1839, in Missouri. She was a devoted wife and a tender, loving mother who trained her children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. She was a zealous member of the Christian church and contributed largely of her means, her influence, and strength to the building of a church edifice and to the growth of the congregation. Mrs. Trimble died on June 30th, 1911, at her home in Fort Collins.

Elza Silcott. - Died in Fort Collins, June 20th, 1897 from apoplexy. He was a native of Park county, Indiana, born in 1851. He came with his family to Fort Collins in 1883 and engaged in the furniture business in which he continued until a short time before his death. He left a widow and one daughter. Later, Mrs. Silcott married Alexander Nelson and the daughter is now the wife of Mathew Auld.

Augustine Mason, one of the interesting pioneer characters of the Cache la Poudre valley, was born April 28th, 1830, near Quebec, Canada, of French parents, and was a brother of the late Joseph Mason, the first white settler in Fort Collins. He was educated at a private school in Rudgeland, Canada, but was twenty-four years of age before he could speak the English language. In September, 1857, he married Charlotte M. Bebee at Oneida Station, New York, where he remained for several years. His wife being an invalid from pulmonary trouble he was persuaded by his brother, Joseph, to bring her to Colorado, and arrived here March 17th, 1866. Soon after coming here he took charge of a mule train for his brother and transported forty-four government troops that had been stationed in Camp Collins, and were returning east to be mustered out, receiving $30 apiece for carrying them to Fort Leavenworth. Mrs. Mason's health improved rapidly in Colorado and was completely restored. She raised a large family of children, seven of whom were born in Fort Collins and had the honor of being mother to the first white child born in that place. This auspicious event occurred October 31st, 1867, Mr. Mason riding a fine mare to death hunting up Dr. T. M. Smith. The name of Agnes was given the child, and she is now the wife of E. C. Giddings, one of the best and most prosperous farmers in the county. Mr. Giddings and family have a beautiful home in Fort Collins, and he oversees the work on his big farm, six miles distant. The house in which Mrs. Giddings was born, stood immediately back of where the Tedmon house now stands and was built for officers quarters when the soldiers were stationed at Camp Collins. When he first came to the Cache la Poudre valley, Mr. Mason lived on what was later known as the W. F. Watrous place until 1870, when he bought the farm now owned by John Frazer. For 40 acres of this farm he paid $20 an acre and for an additional 80 acres adjoining, he paid $8.00 an acre. This farm could not be bought now for less than $300.00 per acre, so great has been the increase in the value of farm lands in the vicinity of Fort Collins, in the past few years. Mr. Mason and his family continued to live on this farm until 1884 when he sold it and moved to Wyoming, where he and his good wife died several years ago. Mr. Mason had more than his full share of the ills that flesh is heir to in the early years, suffering misfortunes that would have broken the spirit of the average man, but he never gave up and finally had the satisfaction of overcoming them all and of acquiring a handsome competence before he died. In 1867, he put in sixty acres to grain and the grasshoppers destroyed it all. These pests came from over the range and the air was so full of them at times that they hid the sun like a cloud. In 1870 the hail destroyed his entire crop as it did, also that of his neighbors', C. C. Hawley and Rock Bush. In 1871, he lost half his crop by hail. In 1872 he had a siege of erysipelas which kept him confined to the house for several months. That year he could not put in a crop. He had barely recovered when his wife was taken down with intermittent fever and one of his daughters had typhoid fever. In the summer of 1868, Mr. Mason had charge of twelve men employed in putting up hay for Capt. Allen at Meadow Springs, for the Cheyenne market. They had to keep watch every night to guard against the Indians, who were very troublesome that year. Black Crow of Chief Friday's band of friendly Arapahoes, was the hunter for the party and his squaw did the cooking. When Whitcomb's herder on the Boxelder, yvras shot by the Sioux, Black Crow became so nervous that he would not stay with the party, although pfEered double wages. This incident shows the nervous strain the pioneers were under all of the time from fear of a sudden raid by the wily redskins. They never left home unarmed and men carried their guns into the fields with them for use in case of attack. Mr. Mason was a square built man of medium height and rugged nature. He had dark brown hair and wore a full beard' which nearly covered his face, and was afraid of- nothing. He was kind hearted, a good neighbor and devoted to his friends and family. The names of his children are : Mrs. Charlotte R. Landers, Nathan N. Mason, Mrs. Nina Riddle, Joseph E. Mason, Mrs. Agnes E. Giddings, Mrs. Ettie L. Conrey, Mrs. Ida N. Leach, Augustus Mason, Mrs. Lettie A. Garrett, and Clarence Mason.

Cornelius H. Bond, sheriff of Larimer county from January, 1896 to January, 1901, and a public spirited, progressive citizen, was born October

Cornelius H. Bond

9th, 1855, in Guernsey county, Ohio. He completed his school studies at Muskingum college in his native state, and in 1879, came to Colorado, arriving at Loveland on March 7th. In 1888, Mr. Bond married Frona Sullivan, a daughter of the late James Sullivan vi^ho vv'as a pioneer of the Big Thompson valley, and one child, a daughter, Doris, vv^as born of the union. Mrs. Bond died February 20th, 1895, at Loveland. On May 7th, 1896, our subject married Alma Sanborn. Of this union four children wtrt born, Frank Cornelius, Florence Camelia, George Frederick and May Sanborn Bond, all at home. In the fall of 1895, Mr. Bond was nominated on the re- publican county ticket for the office of sherifiE and was elected in November by a plurality of 1234 votes, the largest cast for any of the candidates at that election, which indicated his personal popularity with the people. He was reelected in November, 1898, and served the county as sheriff in an able, faithful and very efficient manner for a period of five years. In 1902 he was appointed a member of a committee to view the old Bald mountain road to Estes Park, and in his report he recommended the building of the present scenic road up Big Thompson canon. It was largely through his earnest efforts and influence that the road was built. In 1905, Mr. Bond organized the Estes Park Townsite company, of which he is the present manager. He has been largely instrumental in promoting the growth and material welfare of the beautiful village of Estes Park.

Peyton H. Workman. - Mr. Workman came to Colorado a baby in arms only three months old, from Beloit, Kansas, where he was born in 1882; educated in Denver, his parents first locating near Kit Carson. He was married in Loveland, January 11th, 1910, to Miss Natalie W. Bauer. They have one bright little boy. Mr. Workman's occupations have been many and varied. He freighted in the mountain district for awhile. His father was a successful stockman and it was natural that he should hanker for the broncho, saddle and chaps. For five years he followed the cow punchers' life. Tiring of this, he invested in a cigar and confectionery store in Loveland. He was appointed marshal of the city, serving one year. In 1910 the Texas fever caught him, but finding the Lone Star State much over estimated, he returned to Loveland and is now a carpenter, contractor and builder. Always an active and energetic man, he deserves success.

James Sweeney. - Serving Larimer county faithfully and efficiently as sheriff constitutes the major part of the public record of James Sweeney, and it is a record that reflects great credit on him. To be elected four times in succession as a Democrat, overcoming a strong Republican majority, indicates his popularity with the people and the measure of confidence they reposed in him. Larimer county has had a good many sheriffs since he retired from office, but all old-timers will tell you now that the county never had a better one than "Jim" Sweeney. He was born October 24th, 1847, in Clinton county. New York; raised on a farm and attended the public schools. At 16 years of age he went to Vermont and worked on a railroad and in 1864 he joined a construction camp engaged in rebuilding railroad bridges destroyed by contending armies during the Civil war. He came to Colorado in 1868 and ate his first meal in the then territory at Mariana's station on the Big Thompson. He spent the first two years at Central City working in a saw mill, and in 1871 located a stock ranch on the Redstone, Larimer county, and engaged in the cattle business until 1876, when he moved to Fort Collins which has since been his home. He married Elizabeth Duncan in 1876 and has three children, Mrs. Mary Nelson, wife of M. G. Nelson, cashier of the Commercial Bank and Trust company; Frank, an engineer on the Moffat road, and Miss Arloe.

Hon. John A. Cross. - Among the recent comers to the Big Thompson valley was John A. Cross. He was born on a farm in Seneca county. New York, on March 24, 1855. After he had reached his majority, he realized that 'York state was not the place for a farmer, and early in 1879, he started west, reaching Loveland that summer. He located his present homestead of 160 acres and with a team of mules, broke up several acres for crops. He married Mary E. Beardsley, early in the winter of 1882, in Livingston county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Cross returned to Colorado in the spring of 1883 and occupied the homestead, and there they have since resided. Farming in the summer and working on ditches in the winter was the routine work for years till a political friend opened up a new field of action. The fall of 1899, Mr. Cross was elected sheriff of Larimer county and was re-elected in 1901, and during his five years in office, he increased his hundreds of friends to thousands. He retired from office early in January, 1905, and returned to Loveland and aided in organizing the First National bank of that city. On May 27, its doors were opened with Mr. Cross as Vice-President. On January 1, 1909, he became the bank's business, or assistant cashier, resigning therefrom in December, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Cross are blessed with six children and all are alive and enjoying good health. Mrs. Katherine L. Coleman of Los Angeles, California; Albert C. Cross, in charge of the home ranch; Mrs. Mary A. Koenig, on a ranch nine miles east of Loveland ; Jean A. Cross, teacher of the Welcome Hill school; Helen M. Cross, a pupil in the Loveland High school and John A. Cross, Jr., the "baby" of the flock. John A. Cross is a likable and lovable man.

He is ever the same, courteous and pleasant to all - and it is questionable if the Big Thompson valley has a more esteemed or popular citizen. And such men are the backbone of Colorado's industrial and social order. He bears adversity like a philosopher of old, and it does one good to hear him tell how his crops were lost to him at five different times by hail, or, as he puts it - "since living in the valley I've been hailed out five times and starved to death as many more, but I'm still alive and enjoying good health, thank you." At the general election held in November, 1910, Mr. Cross was the choice of his party for the post of State senator from Larimer county, and was elected over Peter Anderson, one of the most popular of the pioneer citizens of the Cache la Poudre valley, and began serving his first term in that body of lawmakers in January, 1911.

Herbert M. Lewis was born April 17th, 1845, in Barry county, Michigan; died September 30th, 1908, at Timnath. Our subject married Mary E. Kitchel October 15th, 1868, and six children were born to them, five of whom are living, to-wit: Seth C. ; Stephen G. ; William G. ; John H. ; Lewis and Mrs. Alta L. Bush. Mr. Lewis came to Fort Collins December 25th, 1881, and soon afterward moved on to a farm six miles east of that city where he died.

William J. Logan

and brimming with energy and enterprise. He stopped in New York, engaged in the mercantile business until 1866, when he came to Omaha, Nebraska, where he remained until 1876, when he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1878, he located on a ranch on upper Boxelder creek and engaged in the cattle business and dairying. He sold his stock ranch in 1907 and moved over to the old Overland stage road in Virginia Dale, where he built a store, stocked it with goods, and is now doing a fine business. His store is the only one in that section of the country and is a great convenience to the ranchmen in that vicinity, also to the tourists and the traveling public which pass his door, as he sells camp supplies as cheaply as they can be obtained in Fort Collins or elsewhere. Mr. Logan is a well preserved and very intelligent and enter- taining gentleman, with whom it is a pleasure ' to spend a season in conversation. His only son, George Logan, has a fine, well-stocked ranch near him and is one of the prosperous citizens of Virginia Dale.

Aaron Ejtchel. - ^A veteran of the Civil war, a pioneer farmer of Larimer county and former county commissioner, died on November 6th, 1910, from pneumonia after a very brief illness, aged 68 years. He was born April 23rd, 1842, in Lake county, Indiana. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a volunteer in the 23rd Iowa Infantry and served all through the war, receiving an honorable discharge July 26th, 1865, at Galveston, Texas. Mr. Kitchel married Mary Hart at Indianola, Iowa, in 1868. He came with his family to Colorado in 1879 and located on a homestead situated six miles east of Fort Collins. His wife died in 1895 and he sold his farm and moved to Fort Collins. He remarried in 1900, his second wife, formerly Mrs. Mary Hamilton, dying in 1908. His surviving children are Alfred B. Kitchel of Sheridan, Wyoming, William F. Kitchel of Upland, California, Oliver Kitchel of Sheridan, Wyoming and Jennie L. Kitchel, a teacher in the Fort Collins schools.

Andrew J. Ames came to Colorado in 1860, first engaging in mining in Russell Gulch. On account of being afflicted with mountain fever he came down out of the mountains and settled in the Poudre valley. Mr. Ames was born in 1835 at Dumfries, Upper Canada, of New England parentage. The family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, thence to Northeastern Iowa. Mr. Ames came west during the Pikes Peak excitement. In 1862 he gave Todd Randall $400 to relinquish his claim to what is now known as the Slockett farm. In company with Judge Howes he built the Pioneer ditch and the first upland crops were raised under it on Mr. Ames farm. Mr. Ames brought the first mowing machine used in the valley and it proved so valuable an aid in making hay that he rented it to neighbors for $30 per day. Mr. Ames was the pioneer log driver on the Poudre, bringing down 200,000 feet to the Obenchain mill in 1865. The logs were cut along the river bank from the mouth of the canon to the Little Narrows and brought $21 per thousand feet. The mill stood on the farm now owned by William Falloon. Mr. Ames was largely instrumental in improving and opening up the Rist Canon road. Two thirds of all the house logs, lumber, posts, poles, firewood, etc., came out of the hill over this road. Mr. Ames farmed until

1880 when in company with R. Q. Tenney he engaged in the implement, flour and feed business, finally selling out and removing to Denver where he died a few years ago.

John G. Riddle. - ^When John G. Riddle sank into that "sleep that knows no waking" on July 23rd, 1887, Larimer county lost, and felt the loss deeply, too, one of its very best and most progressive citizens - a man who was beloved and esteemed by all that ever came within the sphere of his acquaintance. He was the embodiment of all that pertains to the attributes of nobility of character, a just and upright man, a good citizen and a devoted husband and father. Mr. Riddle was born December 24th, 1819, in Washington county, Indiana. He moved to Iowa in 1843 then a wild and unsettled country, and shortly afterwards married Frances May, who bore him eleven children, six girls and five boys, their names being Mrs. L. Hake of Boulder, Colorado; Stephen A. Riddle, of Lucas county, Iowa; Mrs. M. L. Landes, F. P., John and I. C. Riddle, of Fort Collins; E. A. Riddle and Mrs. Edson Warren, of Clarendon, Texas; Mrs. T. A. Gage, of Denver, Colorado; Mrs. Rachael Watrous (deceased) and Mrs. May Owens, of Grand Junction. Mr. Riddle first crossed the Plains in 1864 with a drove of cattle which he took to Boulder county and sold. Six years later, in 1870, he moved his family to Fort Collins and purchased the farm later owned by E. R. Barkley, two miles northwest of the county seat which he improved and on which he lived until death removed him from the activities of life. He early took an active interest in public affairs and was an enterprising and public spirited citizen, one of the most prominent leaders in all undertakings that promised to promote and advance the material, social and moral upbuilding of his chosen home. He assisted materially in the organization of the Larimer County Fair association and was its first president, freely contributing of his personal efforts and means to make it a success. He was a sterling democrat of the old school. He never sought nor would he accept public office, though often urged by political friends to allow his name to be used as a candidate for official honors. Though he realized that good public officers were necessary in the proper conduct of government affairs, he believed that his duty laid in the direction of doing all he could by precept and example, to promote and aid in the development of the material resources of the county and he fully exemplified this belief. He was a great lover of good live stock and did a great deal to improve the character and quality of the horses and cattle of the county, always breeding the very best on his own farm. His ten children are still living. Mr. Riddle's body was borne to its last resting place in Grandview cemetery by Abner Loomis, James B. Arthur, A. N. Hoag, W. B. Miner, W. C. Stover and N. C. Alford, six of Larimer County's most highly esteemed pioneer citizens. Mrs. Frances (May) Riddle was born November 19th, 1826, in Fountain county, Indiana; moved with her parents to Marion county, Iowa, in 1843, and was married to John G. Riddle July 25th, 1844. She died on May 21st, 1911, at the home of her daughtre, Mrs. M. L. Landes, Fort Collins, with whom she had made her home for most of the time since the death of her husband in 1887.

Ed. H. Wills. - When Mr. Wills' parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Wills reached Fort Collins in 1869, he was then but a little fellow barely four years old. He was born in Williamsburg, Ohio, September 17th, 1868. His father had served his country faithfully during the Civil war and not long after the close of hostilities, joined the vast army of emigrants who sought homes in the Great West. Mr. Wills was educated in Fort Collins and was married here to Georgia Bosworth, June 19th, 1895. Their home is blessed with two children, one boy, Paul; one daughter, Mary. Mr. Wills followed the plumbing trade for 25 years in which he was most successful. He is now enjoying a much needed rest at his home near Fort Collins, where he cultivates a fine fruit farm.

William P. Morgan. - Born in 1838, in Wales, came to the United States in his youth and settled in Cambria, Wisconsin; came to Colorado in 1865 and located in Fort Collins which had since been his home. He was a blacksmith by occupation and at once went to work at his trade in a log shop which stood on Chestnut street a little north of Jefferson street, which he purchased of Robert Royston. Mr. Morgan worked at his trade a good many years, a part of the time being associated with Daniel L. Powers and later with Michael Gardner. For three or four years before his death, on Sunday, October 21st, 1907, he did but little shop work on account of being crippled with rheumatism. He served one term as deputy sheriff under Sheriff James Sweeney and had been town marshal once or twice in the early history of Fort Collins. He left one son, Harry Morgan of Stove Prairie and two married daughters whose residence is Denver, Colorado; also three brothers. Pierce and Owen of Wisconsin, and Thomas Morgan of Stove Prairie, Larimer county.

William Edwin James, one of the pioneers of Estes Park and founder and builder of Elkhorn Lodge, a noted and deservedly popular resort hotel in the park, was born in Camden, N. Y., where he received his education. On December 25th, 1865, he was joined in marriage with Ella McCabe and their living children are: Homer Edwin, Howard Perry and Ella Estes James, now Mrs. Peter Hondius. Our subject came to Colorado in 1874, arriving at Denver, October 20th. Here he remained about a year and then moved, on May 4th, to Estes Park, where he died January 15th, 1895. On settling in Estes Park, Mr. James engaged in the live stock and hotel business, in which he was very successful. He was a genial, hale fellow well met, always ready to give time to his guests, and he enjoyed a good story with the best of them. His heart was with the Estes Park people and no one had ought to say of him but that which was good.

He had been a Master Mason for 32 years when he died. Mrs. James was born in Utica, N. Y., and came with her husband to Colorado in 1874. There were but very few people in the park when Mr. and Mrs. James settled there and society was in an inchoate state. There were no near neighbors and for a number of years they lived a secluded life except during the tourist season, when they annually entertained many visitors. Since her husband's death, Mrs. James has continued to carry on Elkhorn Lodge with excellent success. This popular resort hotel has recently been greatly enlarged and has done a large business for a great many years. Mrs. James' eldest son. Homer E. James, is a prominent and prosperous business man of Estes Park, being a dealer in lumber and building material, etc.

Henry F. Pratt. - Our subject, one of the former thoroughgoing and successful farmers of Larimer county, but now a resident of California, was went to California and on September 24th, 1878, he was joined in marriage with Rose Garrett. In the fall of 1879 he removed with his family to Larimer county and took up a homestead claim seven miles east of Fort Collins, on which he lived 28 years, successfully carrying on general farming. The farm IS still known as the "Old Pratt place." Here his wife died November 25th, 1885, leaving two children, Cora, now Mrs. Charles Nixon of Severance, and Arthur, who lives near the Boxelder school house. Mr. Pratt was one of the pioneer farmers of the Cache la Poudre valley, locating on his homestead claim when the county was new and undeveloped and when neighbors were few and far between, but notwithstanding the hardships and adversities of pioneer life he persevered and conquered them all and is now enjoying the fruits of his early day labors and experiences. He married for his second wife, Mrs. Fannie Smith who Is still living. In 1907 he sold his farm, implements and stock and removed to California where he now resides.

Hon. Herbert E. Tedmon^ owner of one of the largest stock ranches and herds of cattle in Larimei county, was born June 12th, 1852, in Martinsburg, New York. His ancestors on the paternal side were pioneers of Massachusetts, having come to this country from Scotland. His maternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. Our subject received his education in the public schools and at Martins' institute; clerked three and one-half years in a hardware store in Lowville, New York, and then he and his brother, B. S. Tedmon, engaged in the grocery business in his native town. They sold out their business in the spring of 1878, when both came to Fort Collins and bought the Joseph Mason stock of general merchandise on Jefferson street and reengaged in the mercantile business. They continued in trade together until January, 1883, when our subject purchased his brother's interest and closed out all lines except hardware. For two years he was associated with E. R. Barkley in the hardware trade, selling his interest in the stock in 1885 to embark in the cattle business in which he is still engaged. In 1887 he moved to Logan county and served three years from 1889, as Clerk of the District Court of that county. He was appointed Register of the United States land office at Sterling by President Harrison, which position he filled until 1894, when he returned to his stock ranch at St. Cloud, Larimer county. He was elected County Clerk of Larimer county in 1897, and reelected in 1899, giving the people four years of excellent service in that position. During his encumbency of the County Clerk's office he and his family resided in Fort Collins, returning to his stock ranch in 1903. He was a member of the city council of Fort Collins for one term and also served as Secretary of the Board of Education. In the fall of 1882, Mr. Tedmon was elected state Senator to represent the counties of Grand, Larimer and Routt in the Fourth and Fifth General assemblies of Colorado. On December 12th, 1876, Mr. Tedmon married Jennie L. Smith in Booneville, New York. They have an only child, a son, Earl L. Tedmon, who was educated in the public schools and at the Colorado Argicultural college and who is also engaged in the stock business at St. Cloud.

W. S. Vescelius.^ - One of the early settlers of Fort Collins, was born in 1821, in Seneca county. New York; died in Denver, September 3rd, 1886, and was buried in Fort Collins cemetery. He emigrated from his native state to Fort Collins in 1871, where he resided until 1880, when he went to Denver to engage in business. His aged widow lives on West Olive street, Fort Collins. His only daughter, the late Mrs. Joseph Shipler, died in 1883. Mr. Vescelius was well known and greatly respected by all the old-timers.

Noah Bristol was born in November, 1836, at Panton, Addison county, Vermont; died December 21st, 1907 at St. Cloud, Colorado. He was educated at Vergennes in his native state, and in 1860 went to Wisconsin. Here he engaged in teaching school and in farming until 1865 when he returned to Vergennes. He remained there ten years, two of the first board of directors. Since his wife's death several years ago, Mr. Bristol had been a member of his son's family. He left one son, W. P. Bristol of Fort Collins and two daughters, Mrs. Edgar Kern of Windsor and Mrs. Elsie Price of Greeley.

JuDSON H. Bristol was born February 12, 1853, at Panton, Vermont, where he was educated and reared to man's estate; died October 7th, 1907, in Fort Collins, Colorado, aged 54 years. Mr. Bristol came to Colorado in 1875 and engaged in farming and stock growing. He returned to his of which were spent in the employ of the Rutland & Burlington railway company. Later he engaged in the produce forwarding and commission business. He was also proprietor of the Stevens House at Vergennes for a few years. In 1874, Mr. Bristol came to Larimer county and buying the Whitcomb stock ranch on the Boxelder, eighteen miles north of Fort Collins, engaged extensively in sheep husbandry and wool growing. He also followed farming and dairying. He sold his Boxelder holdings in 1905 to the Buckeye Ranch company and he and his son, W. P. Bristol, purchased a stock ranch at St. Cloud, where they lived and where the elder Bristol died. Mr. Bristol was, in 1875, elected a member of the board of county commissioners and served a full term of three years, being chairman of the board the last year of his term. He was again chosen county commissioner at the election in November, 1881, and served from January, 1882 to January, 1885. He was an excellent business man and made one of the best commissioners the county ever had. He was also postmaster at Bristol for several years and was filling the same position at St. Cloud when he died. When the Larimer County bank (now the First National bank) was established in 1881, he was a member native state in 1880, and was there joined in marriage with Miss Alice Foote, who, with four children, Mrs. Addie F. Brown, Warren J., Ralph F. and Mildred survive. In 1890, Mr. Bristol disposed of his stock and ranch holdings and moved his family to Fort Collins, which is still the family home. Since then he had filled several places of public trust and responsibility with exceptional fidelity and efficiency, among them being deputy sheriff, deputy internal revenue collector, deputy county assessor and was serving his second term as justice of the peace in and for Fort Collins when he died. He was a man of courage, genial disposition, generous to a fault, charitable to a degree and was well liked by all who knew him. As a public official, he was true and faithful to his trust, always kind and obliging.

Ida Maria Warren^ widow of the late Captain Charles Warren, was born May 23rd, 1851, in Dalton, among the famous Berkshire hills of Massachusetts, in the valley of the Housatonic. She was descended of sturdy revolutionary stock, her paternal and maternal grandfathers having been soldiers in the war for American independence, and she was a cousin of United States Senator

Frances E. Warren of Wyoming. She graduated from the High school of Dalton at the age of fourteen years. For several years thereafter she was a teacher in the public schools of her native tovv'n and in the schools of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Her maiden name was Ida M. Warren. She was united in marriage with Capt. Charles Warren in 1872 and in June, 1873, they came from the East and located in Fort Collins which was thereafter- the family home. She died in that city on November 4th, 1908. Mrs. Warren found plenty of work for her hands, head and heart to do on coming to her western home. She closely identified herself with every movement which had for its object the intellectual and moral uplift of the community and she was a tower of strength in church and club work. She was also especially interested in the public library, and was one of the originators and active promoters of the movement to establish a public library in Fort Collins and had been a leading and influential member of the board of directors of that institution from the very first. She had also been a member of the Woman's Club, the Kanetenah club and the Woman's Pioneer association and had just established her right to membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution when death called her hence. All classes felt deeply the loss, the city, the church, society and the cause of humanity had sustained in her death for she was a leader in all good works.

Captain Charles Warren. - ^A gallant soldier of the Civil war, whose term of active service exceded four years, during which he participated in many of the hard fought and bloody battles of that internecine conflict; who rose from the ranks to a first lieutenancy and was breveted captain at the close of the strife for distinguished services on the field of battle; an active man of affairs who did much in his life-time to develop the agricultural resources of Larimer county and to promote its growth and business interests, was Captain Charles Warren, who died in Fort Collins on May 8th, 1898, from a stroke of apoplexy. Captain Warren was born May 30th, 1840, at Aurora, New York, and educated in the public and High schools of Lee, Massachusetts. When the Civil war broke out in April, 1861, he enlisted under the call of President Lincoln for 75,000 ninety-day volunteers, in Duryea's famous Zouaves. At the expiration of his term of service as a ninety-day volunteer, he reenlisted in his brother's artillery company, the 5th New Jersey, and participated in all the battles in which the company was engaged, and was subsequently commissioned a second lieutenant in the 45th New York Volunteer Infantry. He was discharged in Texas at the close of the war with the brevet rank of captain, conferred for distinguished service in the field. After the surrender of Lee at Appomattox in April, 1865, his regiment was sent to Brownsville, Texas, to protect the border during the Maximillian troubles in Mexico, and there is where he was mustered out. Soon after being discharged from the military service. Captain Warren engaged in the mercantile business in New York City, and later became a cotton factor at Atlanta, Georgia. He returned to New York in 1870 to accept a position in the custom house under Hon. Chester A. Arthur, who was elected vicepresident in 1880, on the ticket with James A. Garfield and succeeded to the presidency on the death of Garfield in 1881. In 1872, Captain Warren and Ida M. Warren were united in marriage at Dalton, Massachusetts, coming in 1873 to Fort Collins, which has since been the family home. Three sons, C. Brook, Nathan C, and Thomas J. Warren, were born of the union, and all three are residents of and engaged in business in Fort Collins. The eldest son, C. Brook Warren is a prosperous grocer; Nathan C. a member of the Warren Com- «iercial Company, and Thos. J. a member of the firm of Espelin & Warren, florists. For three or four years after locating in Fort Collins, Captain Warren was engaged in the lumber trade, subsequently moving on to a tract of raw land near Warren lake, which he improved and lived upon until 1890, when he was chosen manager of the Harmony mills and moved his family to Fort Collins. That city was his home thenceforward until he died on May 8th, 1898. On retiring from the milling business in 1906, he organized the Warren Commercial company and remained at the head of its affairs up to the time of his last illness.

E. A. Nye was born at Amherst, Loraine county, Ohio, in the 50's, and was educated at Elyria, Ohio. In 1877, he came to Larimer county with a wagon train, being followed by Indians day after day watching for a chance to steal horses for Sitting Bull's band of hostiles. He married Eva Herrington, September 28th, 1880, at Highland Park. Five children, Mrs. Mamie Lindenmeyer, R. W., Frank, Mildred and Harlan Nye, all living, were born to them. The present home of the family is at 116 North Grant street. Fort Collins. Mr. Nye cut the logs for the lumber used in the Remington

Preston A. Taft. Persistence, when combined with good judgment, almost invariably opens the trail to success. Mr. Taft has never had occasion to regret that his foresight and ambition led him to brave the lurking dangers of the long, soul and body wearying journey across the Great American desert in the early days and persist in seeing for himself what there was in Colorado. His elder brothers had preceded to the new Eldorado and their letters home, teeming with glowing descriptions of the country, the climate and opportunities for young men, filled his heart with ambition ; hence we see him leaving the old home in the old Granite state and striking out for the West. This was in 1865, when the Plains were cris-crossed with the trails of blood-thirsty savages who were waging a relentless war against the whites, raiding and burning settlements and slaying inhabitants, regardless of age or sex; swooping down upon wagon trains, killing the drivers, driving off the stock and either burning or stealing the contents of the wagons as their necessities demanded. But the dangers of the

Plains had no terrors for him. He was young, resolute and ambitious, afraid of nothing, determined and full of the spirit of adventure. He luckily fell in with a drover who was trailing a herd of cattle to the Cache la Poudre valley and came through in safety. The cavalcade arrived at its destination in the fall and our subject spent the following winter helping to herd the cattle in the Boxelder valley. In the spring of 1866, he and his brother-in-law, H. W. Chamberlin and Captain Glenn, went to Fort Sanders, and established a ranch on the Laramie river at the Union Pacific crossing, the present site of the City of Laramie, Wyoming. Here the three men put in a stock of general merchandise valued at $12,000. The ranch was raided by the Indians in October, 1866, and John Sherry and a Mexican employe were killed. Mr. Taft had started for Camp Collins the day before the raid occurred, consequently was not present. The company sold what goods the Indians were unable to carry away, for $1,400, and abandoned the ranch. In December of that year, after closing out the remainder of the stock of goods, Mr. Taft went to Denver to spend the winter and in the spring of 1867, joined his brothers, Walter and Louis Taft at Georgetown, Colorado, where he spent a year at mining, returning in 1868 to his old home in Vermont. Mr. Taft was born May 25th, 1844, in Swansea, New Hampshire, and educated in Vermont, to which state his father moved when he was a child. In December, 1869, the year following his return from Colorado, he married Ida M. Howe, who died in 1871. In 1873 he turned his face westward again, arriving in the spring of that year at Laporte, which has since been his home. In August, 1878, he married for his second wife, Mrs. Olive Wallace, widow of Lieut. Fred Wallace who was stationed at Camp Collins in 1865-6 with the 21st New York cavalry, and who died in 1878. Of this union one daughter, Pauline, survives. Mr. Taft is a market gardener and fruit grower by occupation.

Dennis F. O'Loughlin. - ^A stockholder of the Consolidated Plaster company, which owns and operates extensive plaster mills at Red Buttes, Wyoming, and Buckhorn, Larimer county, was born March 17th, 1856, in Lambertville, New Jersey, and educated in the public schools of Willimantic, Connecticut. He was the eldest son of Michael and Margaret (Mathews) O'Loughlin, who were natives of Ireland. The father emigrated to the United States when he was eighteen years old and the mother at the age of ten years. After leaving school our subject learned the plasterer's trade which was his occupation until about four years ago, when he retired with a competence. During the last three years that he worked at his trade he plastered 550 Fort Collins houses. In 1878, our subject married Annabell Roach at Willimantic, Conn., and there are five children living: Dennis, Robert, Leo, Annabell and Frank. Mr. O'Loughlin came from Connecticut to Fort Collins with his family, arriving on May 2nd, 1880, and was one of the first guests at the Tedmon house, which had just been completed and thrown open to the public. The town was then beginning to take on a rapid growth and Mr. O'Loughlin found plenty to do at his trade and when he retired after twenty-seven years of active work there were but few dwellings, residences and business houses that he had not finished their interior walls. In politics, Mr. O'Loughlin is a republican, but not a bitter partizan, often crossing his ticket where, in his opinion, the interests of the county or state will be best subserved by the election of candidates on the opposition ticket. He is first of all a loyal, liberal and public spirited citizen of Fort Collins, towards whose up-building he has contributed so much of his brain power and energy during the past thirty years. Few men in Fort Collins enjoy the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens to a greater extent than Dennis F. O'Loughlin. He is the soul of honor and his integrity is unquestioned.

W. T. Parke was born in 1857, in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was educated. He came to Colorado in 1880 and in 1888 settled in Estes Park, where he has since been successfully engaged in the mercantile business. Our subject is a bachelor and has neither chick nor child to take his attention from business.

Benjamin F. Burnett was born the son of William N. and Margaret (Reeves) Burnett, on April 9th, 1838, in Tazewell county, Illinois. He was united in marriage with Clara C. McGrew, January 31st, 1865, in Peoria county, Illinois, from which union were born Lulu, Frank J., Pearl, Arthur, Maud and Zoa. Mr. Burnett enlisted on May 1st, 1864, to serve 100 days as Second Lieutenant of Company C 139th, Illinois Volunteer Infantry and was honorably discharged October 28th, 1864, by reason of expiration of service. He reinlisted at Pekin, Illinois, February 10th, 1865, to serve one year or during the war, and was mustered in as captain of Company C 148th, Illinois

Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was mustered out September 5th, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee. During his second enlistment Captain Burnett served as Provost Marshal at Tullahoma, and Decherd, Tennessee. His militiary record is an honorable one and without a blemish. At the close of his first term of service, he received a personal letter of thanks, signed by President Lin- coin and Secretary of War Stanton. Mr. Burnett came with his family from Peoria, Illinois, to Fort Collins in the fall of 1879, and they were cherished and highly respected residents of the city for many years. At first he engaged in the mercantile business and then followed mining and prospecting at Lulu, Teller, Manhattan and other camps in the state, moving a few years ago to Denver, where he and his unmarried children reside. He is still interested in mining and has large interests at Manhattan near which place he and his family annually spend their summers in their tree embowered cottage "Laughalot" on the banks of the swift flowing Cache la Poudre river. Mr. Burnett is one of the most active, energetic and enterprising of the early settlers of Fort Collins and, as a result, he is now financially able to live at ease the rest of his life. His eldest son, Frank J. Burnett, served Larimer country as County Clerk and Recorder for four years, and is still a prominent business man of Fort Collins.

William H. Avery

rado. Mr. Avery was educated at Cazenovia seminary, Cazenovia, New York. He came with his family to Fort Collins in June, 1881, and at once engaged in active business pursuits, dealing extensively in real estate. He was interested with his brother, Franklin C. Avery, in the purchase of a large body of railroad land in Larimer and Weld counties, which, through the construction of the Larimer County Canal, by means of which the lands could be watered, became very valuable as farming lands. Our subject had general charge of the business in which he and his brother were associated in connection with those lands. He was distinctively a business man, imbued with the spirit of activity, vigilance and enterprise. All enterprises of a public nature, designed to promote the general welfare of Larimer county and increase its productive possibilities, received his earnest support and effective cooperation. At the time of his death he was a director of the First National bank of which his brother, F. C. Avery was' President, and was also President of the Larimer County Canal Company an irrigation project that he took a deep interest in and to the construction of which he contributed liberally of his means. Fort Collins lost an excellent citizen when William H. Avery died.

Hannah H. King. - Our subject came with her husband, the late J. M. McCain, from Iowa to Greeley in September, 1873, and in March, 1874, they located on a dairy ranch in Virginia Dale. In 1877, when the C. C. railroad was being built, Mr. McCain took charge of the Fossil creek section house, returning in 1880 to their ranch at Virginia Dale. Here, on July 4th, 1885, Mr. McCain died, leaving his wife with five small children to raise, care for and educate. The following year she moved to Fort Collins, bought a house and put her children in school. In 1889 she married George W. King and the family moved back to Virginia Dale. They soon returned to Fort Collins and built the house on East Oak now owned and occupied by Frank Mathews. In 1903, Mrs. King and her two daughters went to California, and from there in 1909, to Portland, Oregon, where they now reside. Mrs. King is a fine type of pioneer women - resolute, fearless and firm of purpose, she battled bravely against unfavorable circumstances and overcame them and has lived to educate her children and see them occupying high positions, loved, honored and respected.