Portrait & Biographical Record

Mardos Collection

A. S. ELWOOD, M. D.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
389

mained with them until 1871. April 5 of the latter year he arrived in Evans, Colo., and here he followed the carpenter's trade for a few years, then launched out as a contractor and builder, and finally in 1884 he embarked in lumber contracting. He has built a number of the substantial houses in Evans, as well as some public buildings, and is considered a reliable workman.

     In 1871 Mr. Behrens took up a pre-emption on section 28, township 5, range 65, Weld County, and to the original forty acres he afterward added one hundred and sixty acres, making his present place one of two hundred acres. It is conveniently situated near the village of Evans. An organizer of the Union ditch, he has since served as secretary and treasurer of the company. It is from this ditch that he secures the water supply for his land. In combining farming with stock-raising he finds sufficient to engage his time and thought.

     Politically Mr. Behrens is a Republican. In 1892 he was elected mayor of Evans and served for one year. In 1893-94 he served as trustee. At other times he has been chosen to occupy different local offices, including his present office of city treasurer, to which he was elected in the fall of 1897. For six years he was secretary of the school board of district No. 11, and during that time was an active factor in promoting the welfare of the school. Fraternally he is connected with Prosperity Lodge No. 109, I. O. O. F.

     In New York City, in 1865, Mr. Behrens married Miss Caroline Hipsehle, of that place, her father having come to America from Germany and served during the Civil war. They are the parents of six children, namely: Henry, Edward, John A., Charles O.; Matilda, wife of William G. Smith, of Denver; and Ollie L., wife of Robert B. Wilson, of La Junta, Colo. Mrs. Wilson died April 29, 1898; one child survives, Ollena.

S. ELWOOD, M. D., is among the citizens of Golden who served in the late war. When the Rebellion began he wished to enter the service and was examined in Keokuk for a position as surgeon, but was prevented from enlisting at that time. However, a year later, when news came of the battle of Shiloh nothing could prevent him from going to his country's aid and he at once enlisted as a private in Company E, Fortieth Iowa Infantry, which was mustered into service at Davenport. About one month afterward, he was given by Governor Kirkwood a commission as assistant surgeon of the Fortieth Regiment, assigned to the Sixteenth Army Corps, and participated in the siege of Vicksburg and the opening up of the Mississippi. For a time he was detailed as surgeon of the Tenth Missouri Cavalry, serving in Kentucky. Later he was placed in charge of the camps at Helena and Duvall's Bluff. In the summer of 1863 he was acting brigadier-general and ranking surgeon in charge of the division. Overwork and exposure injured his health to such an extent that he was unable to remain in the service, and after the capture of Little Rock, in the fall of 1863, he was honorably discharged, on account of physical disability.

     Dr. Elwood is not the first of his family who served faithfully in defense of his country, for his father, Henry, was a soldier in the war of 1812. The grandfather, Robert Elwood, was born in Ireland and came to America in early manhood, settling in the east, where Henry was born. The latter settled upon a farm near Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio, where his son, our subject, was born October 29, 1827; from there he moved to Martinsville, Clinton County, Ohio, and in 1849 went to Monroe, Jasper County, Iowa, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. He died on his farm there when seventy years of age.

     The mother of our subject was Sarah, daughter of John and Sarah (Mishon) St. Clair, all natives of Kentucky. Her father was the son of a Revolutionary soldier and himself took part in the war of 1812. He died in Highland County, Ohio. Henry and Sarah Elwood were the parents of ten children, viz.: Mrs. Mahala Moon, who is now more than eighty years of age; Washington, who died in Iowa; John, a resident of Kingman, Kan.; Hiram, whose death occurred in Nebraska; A. S.; William, of Lincoln, Neb.; Amos, who lives in Iowa; Henry and Elizabeth, who died in childhood; and Nancy, who was accidentally killed when a girl.

     In the public schools and the Quaker seminary at Martinsville, Dr. Elwood received a fair education. His first salaried work was as a teacher of a three months' term of school, for which he received $50 and boarded himself. There was so

390
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

little profit in this that he decided he could earn more money with his axe, and accordingly he began shipping rails and chopping logs, for which he was given $8 per month and his board. In 1850 he began to study medicine with a cousin, Dr. Elwood, in Leesburg, Highland County. On his removal to Iowa he continued his studies under Dr. H. C. Huntsman, of Pella, and in 1854 began to practice with his preceptor. Feeling, however, that he needed more professional knowledge, in 1856 he entered the Keokuk Medical College, where he took one course of lectures, and then formed a partnership with Dr. Putman, of Monroe, Iowa. In 1860 he entered the School of Medicine and Surgery, in Cincinnati, from which he graduated the following year with the degree of M. D. He then resumed practice in Monroe, where he continued, with the exception of the time spent in the army, until 1884. Several times he was chosen president of the Jasper County Medical Society and he is still a member of the Iowa Medical Association. On account of ill health, largely due to the exposure of army life, he decided to seek a change of climate, and in 1884 came to Golden, where he has since engaged in practice.

     In Monroe, Iowa, Dr. Elwood married Mary E. Howard, who was born in Utica, N. Y., the daughter of William and Martha (Brockway) Howard, natives of New York state. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Howard, who was a farmer, took part in the war of 1812, and died in Mohawk, N. Y.; his wife, Lucretia, was a daughter of Seth Johnson, a soldier in the Revolution. William Howard removed west to Monroe, Iowa, where he was an attorney for some years, dying there at the age of forty-eight. His wife, who was orphaned at three years of age, is still living in Iowa, being now seventy-seven years old. They were the parents of four children: Mrs. Elwood; Willett, formerly a merchant in Monroe and treasurer of Jasper County, now deceased; Chauncey, a miner at Cripple Creek; and Samuel, a merchant of Greenfield, Iowa. Three children were born to the union of Dr. and Mrs. Elwood, namely: Mattie, who is the wife of John L. Silverthorn, of Golden; William, who is operating mines at Idaho Springs; and Charles, who died at the age of thirteen months. The family are Presbyterians in religious belief.

      During his residence in Iowa Dr. Elwood was made a Mason and he is now a demitted member of the chapter at Golden. In 1856 he voted for John C. Fremont and he has ever since voted for Republican candidates, always taking an active part in politics. In 1894 he was elected county coroner of Jefferson County by a large majority, but not desiring the office he refused to qualify.

ON. HERBERT E. TEDMON, county clerk of Larimer County, and member of the fourth and fifth general assemblies of Colorado, sessions of 1883 and 1885 of the state senate, was born in Martinsburg, Lewis County, N. Y., June 12, 1852, being a son of Levi and Rachel L. (Seward) Tedmon, natives respectively of Lanesborough, Mass., and Otsego County, N. Y. His maternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. His ancestors on the paternal side were pioneers of Massachusetts, having come to this country from Scotland. Levi Tedmon, when a boy of eight years, was taken by his parents to Lewis County, N. Y., where he engaged in farming for some years. His last years were spent in Martinsburg, where he died at the age of sixty years. For eighteen years he served as overseer of the poor. Twice married, the only child of his first marriage, a daughter, resides in Minnesota. By his second wife, who survives him and resides in Fort Collins, Colo., he had four children. The oldest of these is Ferdinand L., living in Lewis County, N. Y. The second son, Bolivar S., came to Fort Collins in 1878 with his younger brother, H. E., and engaged in general mercantile business. He built the Tedmon House, which he carried on one year. He now resides in New York City. For two terms he was deputy state auditor of New York under Auditors Abbott and Spruance. The only daughter, Edith E., is the wife of S. B. Moore, of Fort Collins.

      When a boy the subject of this sketch attended the local public schools and Martin's Institute. In 1872 he went to Lowville, Lewis County. where for three and one-half years he clerked in a hardware store. Returning from there to Martinsburg he and his brother embarked in the grocery and hardware business. After continuing in that line until the spring of 1878, he then disposed of his interest in the business and came west to Colorado, opening a mercantile store in

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
391

Fort Collins. For a year the firm title was Tedmon Brothers & Arthur, after which it remained Tedmon Brothers until 1883, when our subject purchased his brother's interest and closed out all lines except the hardware business. He bought property and built an addition to the store on Jefferson street. For two years he was in partnership with B. R. Barclay as Tedmon & Barclay, after which he sold out, desiring to devote his attention to ranching.

     In 1885 Mr. Tedmon began in the stock business, opening a ranch on the North Fork of the Poudre, forty miles northwest of Fort Collins, in Larimer County. The land he purchased from the railroad company and improved it, irrigating from the Poudre. Here he has four thousand acres, almost all of which is fenced. He raises Herefords of a high grade, also horses. In 1887, with Kilham Johnson as partner, he bought a ranch on the Platte in Logan County, but after two years sold his interest in the place. He is a charter member and president of the Larimer County Protective Stock Growers' Association, and an associate member of the National Stock Growers' Association.

      Politically a Republican, Mr. Tedmon has held numerous offices of trust. In 1889 he was appointed clerk of the district court of Logan County, which position he held for three years. Afterward, for four and one-half years, he was register of the United States land office at Sterling, Colo., to which office he was appointed by President Harrison. During his incumbency of the position he resided at Sterling, but in 1894 returned to his ranch, and in January, 1898, upon beginning the duties of county clerk and recorder, he moved to Fort. Collins. He was elected to the office on the straight Republican ticket, against the combined forces of Democrats and silver Republicans, and entered upon official duties January 1, 1898, for two years, being the only county clerk in Colorado whose views politically are the same as those of the national administration. For one term he was a member of the city council. He served as secretary of the school board of Fort Collins until he resigned to remove to his ranch. While in Sterling he served as mayor for one term and was president of the school board for a term also.

     In Booneville, N. Y., Mr. Tedmon married Miss Jennie L. Smith, who was born on the Hudson. They have an only son, Earl L., who is a student in the Agricultural College. Mr. Tedmon was made a Mason in Collins Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., of which he is still a member. He is also identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

     The record of Mr. Tedmon as a legislator is one of which he might well be proud. In 1882 he was elected state senator by a large majority in the district comprising Larimer, Grand and Routt Counties. In the fifth general assembly he served as chairman of the committees on counties and county lines, insurance and engrossment, and as a member of many other committees. In 1883 he was successful in his endeavor to secure the perpetual appropriation, one-fourth of a mill tax of all property in the state for the support of the Agricultural College. This appropriation, however, was absorbed in an appropriation of one-sixth of a mill tax for all state institutions. In 1883 he participated in the memorable struggle for the United States senatorship, a contest that ended in the election of Thomas Bowen. In 1885 he aided in electing Senator Teller, being one of the original supporters of that now famous statesman. Upon the expiration of his term he refused further candidacy and retired from state political affairs.

APT. RICHARD SOPRIS. The history of a state is best told in the biographies of its citizens. Especially is this the case when the citizens are men of intelligence, ability and prominence, guiding spirits who lead others into the promised land of prosperity. The history of Colorado may properly be said to begin with the discovery of gold in Pike's Peak and the first chapter of the book carries the date 1858. It was during this year that Captain Sopris started westward from Indiana, going by stage to Omaha and from there making the trip across the plains, in company with two men, in a cart drawn by one horse. He reached Auraria March 15, 1859, in time to become one of the original shareholders of the town. Hoping to find gold in the mountains, he prospected along the Platte River and at Gregory's Diggings (now in Gilpin County), where he engaged in mining. He was elected president of the Miners' Union, an organization formed to maintain law and order, and establish

392
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

laws relating to mining claims. After the Bates lode was discovered, he located a claim on it, and continued to mine for a time.

     Returning to Denver in the fall of 1859 he was elected to represent Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory, in the Kansas legislature, his district at that time comprising all of the mining region of this part of the Rocky Mountains. He spent the winter in Lawrence and in the spring, when the legislature adjourned, he went back to Indiana, returning to Colorado in April, accompanied by his family. He had been so pleased with the prospects in the west that he determined to settle in Colorado permanently, believing that the success promised in the future would outweigh all the hardships and deprivations of the present. During the year of his return he headed a large company of gold seekers, to explore the then unknown regions west of the Snowy Range; the party left Denver July 1, crossed South Park to where Breckenridge now stands, went down Blue River and Eagle River, from there to the Roaring Fork of the Grand, and up Willow Creek to the foot of the mountain they named Sopris Peak, which is a part of the Elk Mountains, near Glenwood. They came to the hot springs (now famous as Glenwood Springs) where they camped and cut pine trees, constructing a boat in which they crossed Grand River. Just below the cave stood a large pine tree, which they blazed and inscribed with these words: "These springs were discovered on July 23, 1860, by Captain Sopris, and party of prospectors." After a week at the springs they crossed the river and went via Cochetopa Pass into the San Luis Valley, thence to Fort Garland and Denver, reaching this city after an absence of three months. The prime object of their journey had been to prospect for gold, but they failed to find any trace of the precious metal. However, the notes made and measurements taken were of great assistance to Governor Gilpin in preparing his first map of Colorado.

      In the spring of 1860 Captain Sopris and two other gentlemen framed a constitution and laws for a city government. The same was read at a public meeting and was adopted, It provided for the division of the town into three wards, with two alderman from each ward as members of the council. When the common council was organized, Captain Sopris was chosen president. On the organization of the territory the next year, a new charter was framed by the legislature. In August, 1861, he was commissioned captain of Company C, First Colorado Infantry, and served one year. On his return he again became actively connected with public affairs. He was sergeant-at-arms of the house in the second territorial legislature; was a delegate to the first constitutional convention of Colorado, served as county sheriff 1864-68, deputy sheriff 1873-78, mayor of Denver 1878-81, and in 1881 was chosen park commissioner, the first to hold the office, and continued in the position until 1890. In every place to which he was called, integrity, energy and intelligence characterized his actions. While serving as park commissioner, though he had but a limited fund at his disposal (usually but $3,000 or $4,000 annually), he created the first parks Denver ever had, among them City Park, which he transformed from a sage brush tract of three hundred and twenty acres, into a beautiful resort, with driveways, lakes, lawns, flower beds and many thousands of trees. In 1863 he was chosen the first president of the Colorado Agricultural Society, holding the office five successive years. In 1866, while acting as sheriff, he erected the buildings of the Colorado Agricultural Society, on their fair grounds, adjoining Ford's Park addition to Denver. For six years he was president of the Association of Colorado Pioneers. From 1869 to 1872 he was interested in railroad building, assisting in the construction of the Kansas Pacific, Denver Pacific and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroads.

     The life of Captain Sopris covered eighty years. It began in Bucks County, Pa., June 26, 1813, and closed in Denver April 7, 1893 It naturally divides itself into three eras: first, that of youth and character forming, when he resided in Pennsylvania; second, the time spent in Indiana, from 1836 to 1858, when he was a contractor on the Whitewater canal, then for five years captain of an Ohio River steamboat, and later, a railroad contractor; and third, what was doubtless the most important and useful part of his life, the years spent in Colorado.

     June 5, 1836, near Philadelphia, Captain Sopris married Miss Elizabeth Allen, a descendant of Ethan Allen. The fiftieth anniversary of their wedding was appropriately observed, and was probably the first golden wedding celebrated in the state. They were the parents of eight chil-