CAPT. NELSON C. ROE.
Mardos Collection
CAPT. NELSON C. ROE.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 239
smelter, after which, in 1880, he went to Leadville and secured employment in the smelter there. Afterward he operated the Cash mine in the gold district, continuing to develop it for five years. In 1890 he bought out George Kirkbride, one of the oldest merchants in the district, and embarked in the general mercantile business, which he has since conducted, having in stock a full line of dry goods, groceries and hardware.
The marriage of Mr. Boyd, in Boulder, united him with Mary P. Kirkbride, who was born in England and came to Boulder in company with her father, George Kirkbride. They are the parents of two children, Bessie and Donovan. Politically a Democrat, Mr. Boyd is active in local affairs. He is chairman of the district Democratic central committee and a member of the county central committee. In 1896 he was appointed postmaster under President Cleveland and still holds the office. Fraternally he is connected with Gold Hill Lodge of Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is a charter member of Bimetal Lodge No. 44, I. O. O. F., in which he is a past officer.
APT. NELSON C. ROE, one of the honored veterans of the Civil war, is serving as justice of the peace in Greeley, a position he has filled for four years with credit to himself and satisfaction to the community. He is thoroughly impartial in meting out justice, his opinions being unbiased by either fear or favor, and his fidelity to the trust reposed in him is above question. He is regarded as one of the leading and most highly respected citizens of Weld County, and it is, therefore, consistent that he be represented in a work whose province is the portrayal of the lives of the prominent men of this section of the state.
Mr. Roe was born in Cortland County, N. Y., June 19, 1825, a son of Sylvester M. and Mary (Chatterton) Roe. His uncle, William Roe, was the father of E. P. Roe, the well-known novelist. The family have for many generations made their home in Cortland County, our subject's grandfather, John E. Roe, having settled there when his nearest neighbor was seven miles away, and there he engaged in farming. Of his children Sylvester was the oldest and was educated in the common schools. In early life he engaged in clerking in New York City, later followed mercantile pursuits in Freetown, Cortland County, and after farming for some time at Virgil, N. Y., he sold his place and engaged in the fruit commission business. He died at the ripe old age of eighty-one years. For many years he was elder in the Presbyterian Church, and was greatly interested in all church work. In his family were two sons and four daughters, of whom our subject is the oldest.
Captain Roe pursued his studies in the schools of his native county until seventeen years of age, when he went to Elmira and engaged in clerking for a time. On his return to Cortland County he embarked in business on his own account, but in 1852 came west, stopping first at Chicago, from which place he shipped produce to New York. Later he went to San Francisco by way of Cape Horn, and in 1855 located in Iowa, where he was first engaged in buying grain. For two years he was also captain of a steamboat on the Mississippi River, running from St. Louis to St. Paul, and then settled in Lyons, Iowa, where he engaged in buying and shipping grain until 1862. In 1860 he had crossed the plains by wagon to Denver, where he spent the summer, but was not enough impressed by the country to stay.
By the urgent request of Governor Kirkwood, of Iowa, and his adjutant, General Baker, Captain Roe formed a company during the Civil war, raising eighty-nine men and marching them into camp within two days. Upon his arrival the governor commissioned him captain of Company K, Twenty-sixth Iowa Infantry. By way of St. Louis they joined the Federal troops and were assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, under command of Generals Sherman and Logan. They participated in many important engagements, including the battles of Arkansas Post and Chickasaw Bayou, and the siege of Vicksburg, where Captain Roe was in command of two hundred men standing guard over the man-of-war "Hartford" belonging to Admiral Farragut's fleet. In the Atlanta campaign our subject participated in sixteen battles, including those at Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold and Kenesaw Mountain. The lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, while intrusting all important matters to his charge, would never give him an opportunity for advancement, and this so discouraged our subject
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. that at Atlanta he resigned August 27, 1864, having served two years and fourteen days. His colonel would not act on the resignation, and it was only through the personal effort of General Logan that he received his honorable discharge.
Returning to Lyons, Iowa, the captain purchased a hotel, which he conducted under the name of the Randall House for two years. In 1867 he came west, following the Union Pacific Railroad until it reached Laramie City, and spent the years 1869, 1870 and 1871 at Sherman engaged in dealing in stock and shipping timber. In the spring of 1872 he located at Evans, Colo., which at that time was three times as large as Greeley, and was clerk of the school board when they built the large schoolhouse. He was interested in business there until 1879. In 1880 he removed to Greeley and from that time until 1894 engaged in farming, but ill health compelled him to retire from active work in the latter year and he located in the city. In the fall of that year he was elected justice of the peace without a single dissenting vote, and is now most capably discharging the duties of that office. As an ardent Republican he has always taken an interest in political affairs, attends all of the county and state conventions of his party and does all in his power to promote its welfare. He is public-spirited and progressive, taking an active interest in all matters for the good of the community, and is one of the leading and influential members of the Presbyterian Church of Greeley. Fraternally he is an honored member of U. S. Grant Post No. 13, G.A.R.
On the 1st of October, 1846, Captain Roe was united in marriage with Miss Katherine L. Tupper, a step-daughter of the well-known Brick Pomeroy. They have one son, Herbert S., who is engaged in mining near Gunnison, and is the principal owner and manager of the Cortland Gold and Silver Mining Company.
LISHA McMILLAN The life which this narrative sketches began in York County, Pa., in 1810, and was brought to a close in Arapahoe County, Colo., August 2, 1882. The McMillan family was represented among the early Quaker settlers of Pennsylvania, where succeeding generations resided, adhering to the religious faith of their ancestors. George McMillan, father of our subject, was born and reared in Pennsylvania and made farming his life work, following that occupation until his death in 1846. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Rebecca Cutler, died in 1816, when her son, Elisha, was a small boy, and subsequently the father married a second time.
After attaining manhood the subject of this sketch removed to Ohio, where he began the study of medicine, and upon going to Illinois he continued his professional studies. However, his health was poor and close study soon injured it to such an extent that it became absolutely necessary to seek other employment. He then turned his attention to farming, going to Iowa in 1838 and cultivating a farm near Primrose for years. From that time until his death he made agriculture his life work. He died August 2, 1882, in Pilot Grove, Lee County, Iowa. He was not blessed with robust health, and never had the strength to engage in manual labor, but he superintended his landed properties and left a competence to his wife.
On New Year's day of 1862 Mr. McMillan married Caroline P., daughter of John and Mathilda (Board) Brown, a sister of ex-Senator Hiram R. Brown. Her grandfather, Dixon Brown, was born in Fauquier County, Va., but prior to the nineteenth century removed to Kentucky and followed farm pursuits, though giving some attention to the trade of a blacksmith. The maternal grandfather, George Board, was born in Baltimore, Md., and when a young man removed to Kentucky, where he married Sarah Harmon, daughter of a wealthy slave owner. Through his energetic efforts he became well-to-do, but unfortunately went security for some friends and was obliged to pay the entire amount of the notes, thus losing all of his property. His father-in-law offered to start him in business again, but he was of an independent nature and refused the kind offer. He took his family to Indiana and later removed to Illinois, where he entered land and spent the remaining years of his life.
Mrs. McMillan was a daughter of John Brown, who was born in Virginia, spent his boyhood years in Kentucky and after his marriage to Miss Board removed to Indiana, settling in Bedford, Lawrence County, where he was employed in a bank for twenty-two years. From there he went to Lee County, Iowa, and later settled in Mount
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Pleasant, where his death occurred. Further reference to his life will be found in the sketch of his son, Hiram R., who was formerly senator from Jefferson County. Mrs. McMillan is a most estimable lady and as such is esteemed by all by whom she is known. She conducts the place and attends to the property interests left by her husband, whose sound judgment and business ability enable her to enjoy every comfort that can enhance the pleasure of life.
A few years subsequent to his parents' removal to Cesaea, Turkey, the subject of this article was born, the date being November 29, 1859. With his eight brothers and sisters (five of whom are now living) he passed his boyhood days in the land of the "Unspeakable Turk." Until he was entering upon his fifteenth year he pursued his studies under the tutorship of his parents. In 1873 he entered the preparatory department of Robert College, in Constantinople, and at the close of the year came to America. He continued his education in the high school of Newtonville, Mass., until his health began to suffer, when he went to Boston, and for a short time engaged in business. Believing that an ocean voyage would be beneficial, he shipped before the mast on the "William Hale," and went around Cape Horn, South America, to Valparaiso, Chili, thence to Iquique, Peru, and to Talchona, Chili, returning to New York with a cargo of saltpetre and wool, and arriving in the metropolis after an absence of over eleven months. He then drifted to Westboro and Worcester, Mass., and took up the study of music. He suffered with a sunstroke about this time, but persisted in his musical training, and ultimately became a teacher of the piano and organ, and church organist.
In 1888 Mr. Farnsworth came to Colorado, for a change of climate. Settling in Boulder, he started classes in music, sight-singing, etc., in the university, and was later chosen to act as a teacher of music in the public schools. Under the stimulus of his enthusiasm, a department of music was created in the university, with himself as an instructor. In connection with Professor Baker and others the Colorado School of Music was organized, and he is not only a member of the board of the same but musical director as well. For several years he was organist in the Congregational Church. To his efforts is due the founding of the Boulder Choral Society. This successful organization, under his leadership, has given the Messiah, Elijah and the Creation, and has won an enviable reputation. He has also had charge of the Glee Club and the Ladies' Musical Club. Besides those already mentioned, the Preparatory School Orchestra has given numerous well-received concerts, with him as their leader, and he is the conductor of the Friday Musical Club, of which his wife is the president. It gives about four concerts a year.
In Worcester, Mass., Mr. Farnsworth married Miss Charlotte Joy Allen, in 1890. She was born in that city, and after attending Wellesley College for three years, completed her higher studies in the University of Colorado, receiving
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Her father, Prof. Benjamin D. Allen, has won high standing in the musical profession, and for some time was connected with the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music at Boston, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth are members of the Congregational Church, the former being a trustee and superintendent in the Sunday-school. He is a member of the University Scientific Association and the National Musical Association. At the meeting in Boulder of the first-named organization. In 1896, he read a paper entitled "Intellectual Element in Music," and this article was published in full in the Chicago Musical Review.
ARMON MERCHANT. Years ago, when the west was a vast unsettled territory, and railroads were unknown across the plains, and Indians and wild animals roamed, unmolested, among the mountain fastnesses Mr. Merchant cast in his fortunes with the few settlers west on the Missouri. He planned to start in the fall of 1858, but waited until the spring of the following year in order to make the trip with a company of ten. The hardships of the long journey can be understood only by those who took it. The company rode on the north side of the Platte, where no wagon had ever passed before, and on reaching the head of the emigration at John Richow's bridge, now in Wyoming, they disbanded, each to engage in prospecting for himself. The Frenchman who had charge of the toll bridge offered Mr. Merchant $50 to take care of the business, which he did, having charge of the bridge toll, the store and postoffice. While there he had some interesting experiences. At one time, by his coolness, he averted bloodshed between his employer and a train of emigrants who had loosened the Frenchman's boat and were crossing the river.
Mr. Merchant was born in Cortland County, N. Y., April 30, 1832. His father, Harvey Merchant, was born in Schoharie County, N. Y., removed thence to Cortland County, and about 1841 settled in the midst of the beach and maple woods near Albion, Calhoun County, but a few years afterward went to Eaton Township, the same state. Harmon accompanied his father in the various removals and assisted in clearing up the land in Michigan. When a boy he was a pupil in pay schools and later studied in Olivet College one winter. In 1855 he went from Michigan to Iowa City, Iowa, then the terminus of the railroad, thence went to Council Bluffs by stage, from there to DeSoto, on the Missouri River. There he pre-empted land and began its improvement, but his father was seriously injured about that time, which necessitated his return to Michigan, and in that way he lost his pre-emption. In the spring of 1858 he returned to Douglas County, Neb., and remained a year, starting further west in April of 1859. Reaching the Frenchman's ranch, he remained with him until December, when he and J. H. Wheeler bought out the weekly stage that ran from Leavenworth to the Salt Lake district. While engaged in this business, his special work was the care of the horses. During the winter of 1861-62 the Indians were very troublesome and the presence of government troops was necessary much of the time. In the spring of 1862 he and his partner crossed the plains to Grand Round Valley, Ore., driving cattle and horses with them, and on reaching that place he took up a ranch and started in the dairy business. He was successful, feeding and milking sixty cows, and building up a good business. Selling out in the fall of 1864, he went to Sonoma County, Cal., where he bought a ranch, and engaged in the butter and cheese business and as a dealer in cattle. While there he married Miss Margaret C. Crisp, who was born in Kentucky and was reared in California.
In the fall of 1869 Mr. Merchant sold his ranch and returned on a visit to Michigan. Mr. Wheeler, who had joined him in California, accompanying him to the east. The next year they left their families in Cleveland and went to Texas, from which place they drove twenty-six hundred head of cattle to the north, expecting to start a ranch in Nebraska. They wintered the stock in Kansas near Wichita, where many of the cattle died. During the same winter they fed cattle in Lawrence for the market. In the spring of 1871 they started a ranch thirty miles from Sidney, Neb., where they had a large herd of cattle. They continued the partnership until the fall of 1880, when they sold the ranch and stock. Four years prior to this Mr. Merchant located in Denver for his headquarters, and afterward he became interested in the livery business here, also bought property and dealt in real estate. He is now the
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