AUGUST L. ROHLING.
Mardos Collection
AUGUST L. ROHLING.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 399
cally he has always been a stanch Republican. He was reared in the doctrines of the old Dutch Reformed Church, but now attends the First Congregational Church of Denver. During the most of the time since the organization of the chamber of commerce, he has been one of its members. He is identified with the Denver and Colorado Bar Associations, in the latter of which he has served as a member of the executive committee and the committee on admissions. Like the majority of Denver business and professional men, he has mining interests in the state.
Mr. Decker is the father of three children: Cora K, wife of George W. Sargent, of Trinidad, Colo.; Howard, who died at seven years; and Mason L., who married Jeanne Stewart, of New York City, and is now a member of the law firm of Decker & Mead, of Denver. Mrs. Decker was a daughter of Edmund and Emily (Bailey) Worden, natives of New York. She was born at Seneca Falls, N. Y., April 10, 1844, and died March 18, 1897.
UGUST L. ROHLING, the prosperous and popular merchant of Fort Collins, is a native of Dielingen, Westphalia, Germany, and a son of Philip and Agnes (Heitplocke) Rohling. He was fifth in order of birth among six children, the others being Mrs. Angeline Wellman, who lives at the old homestead; Henry, a namesake of his grandfather Rohling, and au officer in the war of 1870-71, since which time he has been a shoe merchant; Philip, of Blackhawk, Colo.; William, a merchant of Danville, Ill.; and Herman, who was an officer in the German army, and is now a veterinary surgeon at the old home in Germany. The father, who was fond of military affairs, served in the German army as an officer. He followed the occupation of a veterinary surgeon until his death, which occurred at the age of seventy-eight years and six months. His wife is still living in Westphalia.
In Dielingen, where he was born February 28, 1858, our subject passed the first fifteen years of his life, meantime attending the gymnasium. In 1873 he accompanied his brother Philip to America and settled in Indianapolis, where he secured employment in the wholesale dry-goods house of Hibbon, Patterson & Co. Remaining there three years, in 1876 he came to Colorado, the first member of the family to locate in this state. The name, Blackhawk, being peculiar, attracted his attention and led him to the town, where he secured employment as clerk for Rittmaster & Co. In 1882 he was joined by his brother Philip, and they formed a partnership as Rohling Brothers, starting a store on Gregory street and building up a large trade. In 1892 they opened a store at Fort Collins and our subject came here to superintend it, since which time he has acquired a valuable patronage. In 1894 he bought the block he now occupies, and which was built in 1892.
The Rohling Block, as it is known, has a frontage of fifty feet, divided into two store rooms, and is one of the largest blocks in the city. The entire first floor and the basement are occupied by the stock of dry-goods, carpets, clothing, furniture, etc., which is the largest of its kind in the place. February 1, 1896, the partnership was dissolved, and our subject retained the Fort Collins interest, his brother taking the Blackhawk store. In addition to the store he is interested in mining in the Manhattan district of this county, and is developing the Lynn lode, the extension of the Ida May mine. He is also interested in mines in the Tip Top district. With his brother he worked the Belmont mine for many years, but finally sold his interest. He is also interested in the Greeley and Fort Collins Mining Company, of which he has been treasurer, and has invested some in placer mining in North Park at Owl Mountain.
In Blackhawk Mr. Rohling married Johanna Rudolph, who was born in Newark, N. J., and died in Blackhawk, leaving one child, Elizabeth Augusta. His second wife, whom he married in Longmont, was June Stephenson, who was born in Carthage, Mo., a daughter of W. T. Stephenson, of Joplin, Mo. Their union has been blessed with two children, A. Lynn and Lois.
During the period of his residence in Blackhawk Mr. Rohling was a member of the council for one term and for three years a member of the school board, of which he was president for a year. He was made a Mason in Blackhawk Lodge No. 4, A. F. &. A. M,, and now belongs to Fort Collins Lodge No. 19. In the Independent Order of Odd Fellows he belongs to Fort Collins Lodge No. 19, which he has represented in the grand lodge, and is also identified with the
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. encampment and Rebekah Lodge. He is a charter member of Larimer Lodge No. 101, K. of P., in which he was the first chancellor commander, and is grand district deputy; also a charter member of the Uniform Rank, K. of P.; also represented the Knights of Pythias in the grand lodge. His wife is connected with the Eastern Star.
ON. FREDERICK J. EBERT. It would be impossible to write an accurate history of Denver without making mention of the life and works of Mr. Ebert, who was a prominent citizen of this place from 1875 until his death, May 3, 1888. In many different ways that showed the versatility of his talents, he contributed to the development of the city and the advancement of its interests. Especially was his influence given to the public schools, and, recognizing his assistance in the promotion of educational interests, it was deemed a fitting memorial to his labors to name in his honor one of the fine school buildings of Denver. Believing that iron manufactures could be successfully established in the west, he took an active part in founding the first rolling mill in this city, and at the time of his death he was president of the Colorado Iron Works. In spite of the fact that he was one of the busiest of men, he nevertheless found time for scientific and classical studies, and acquired a conversational knowledge of six languages, besides a broad fund of historical information that made him one of the most learned men in his state.
Reviewing the ancestry of the Ebert family, we find that the name was originally Aberhart and that many years ago it was founded in Germany by emigrants from France. Our subject was born in Brunswick, Germany, January 27, 1822, and attended the gymnasium for some time, after which he was a student in the Academy Collegium Corolinum, a polytechnic institution of high reputation, from which he graduated with first honors. He selected the science of forestry for his occupation, and in his twenty-fourth year was given the degree of A by the government and was duly commissioned as forest engineer. He was an officer under the duke of Brunswick in the Revolution of 1848, and during the troubled times that followed he deemed it best to seek a home in another country. After starting to America in 1850, a pardon was sent him for his connection with the Revolution, but he preferred to continue his journey to a land of freedom and liberty of thought. Reaching New York in June, he went on to Milwaukee, Wis., where he remained a year, studying the English language and the customs of the people. He spent two years in St. Louis, where he was employed as a civil engineer in the building of the bridge across the Missouri, and from there went to St. Joseph, Mo., where he engaged in civil engineering for seven years.
Coming with an engineering corps to Denver in 1860, Mr. Ebert surveyed what is now the Kansas Pacific Railroad as far as the headwaters of the Republican River, one hundred and twelve miles from Denver, but the Indians under Little Wood and Left Hand attacked them, and while by parleying they saved their lives, still further advance was considered impracticable. The engineers came via the Platte to Denver, arriving here December 12. Mr. Ebert soon secured work with W. A. H. Loveland in surveying a line for a mountain road from Denver to Central City, which was the first railroad survey in the Rocky Mountain district. In 1862 he drafted the first map of the territory and assisted Surveyor-General John Pierce in making its first land survey. In 1863 he was chosen city engineer of Denver and served for two terms, his surveys being the only ones that have stood the test of time and the law,
In 1865 he embarked in the stock and dairy business near Denver, but ten years later moved back to the city in order that his children might have educational advantages.
On the organization of the Exchange Bank, Mr. Ebert was a stockholder and director, continuing in that capacity until his election as president; the latter office he resigned in 1878, but continued connected with the bank as vice-president until his death. He was elected a member of the constitutional convention that framed the fundamental law of the state, and his services in that body were of a distinguished and honorable nature. To him and Mr. Golden, more than to any other men, may be ascribed the establishment of the schools of Denver and their subsequent success. At the time of his death he was president of the board of regents of the State University at Boulder. Politically he was a Republican.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 401
In St. Joseph, Mo., in December, 1855, Mr. Ebert married Miss Mary Davies, who was born in Shrewsbury, England, a descendant in the third generation of a Frenchman who crossed the channel and settled in Shropshire, England. Her father, Thomas Davies, was born in 1800, and some years after his marriage he came to America, settling in Buchanan County, Mo., in 1849, but later removing to Troy, Doniphan County, Kan., where he died in 1892, at the age of ninety-two. Before leaving England he married Phoebe Nooks, who was born in Montgomeryshire and died in St. Louis while en route to the west. Of their five children, two sons took part in the Civil war as soldiers in the Union army; and during his service the younger son took both of his brothers-in-law and a number of friends prisoners-of-war and sent them back to his father in Kansas in order to save their lives. Mrs. Ebert was reared in St. Joseph, Mo., and remained there for a time after her marriage, but in 1862 came to Colorado, reaching Denver after a five weeks' trip, October 22 of that year. She is a woman of superior business ability and since the death of her husband has managed the estate in a most efficient manner. She was left four hundred and eighty acres, a portion of which was in the city, extending from Twenty-fourth street to Downing avenue, between the Platte and Whittier school; but after her husband's death she was compelled to go to law in order to retain the land. For four years the matter was in the courts, but she was finally successful in retaining a large share of the tract. She owns a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, within the present limits of the city, and this by irrigation she keeps in a high state of cultivation, building upon the place, on Hyde Park street, just beyond City Park, a little town known as London farm. She also owns twenty acres on North Capitol hill, and has in addition what is the largest dairy farm for miles around, having the ranch stocked with registered jerseys, Holsteins and Shorthorn Durhams. One-half block of land on her farm she donated for school purposes. In the management of the property she is assisted by her son, Alfred G., who is a graduate of the high school and for two years a student in the University of Denver. Her other children are daughters, namely: Mrs. Leonore M. Hall, who graduated from Wolfe Hall and resides in Denver; Mrs. Ida J. O'Brien, whose husband is an attorney in Denver; and Zetella E., who graduated from the Denver high school and from the Emerson School of Oratory in Boston, and is now a prominent member and the auditor of the Woman's Club, of Denver. The family are identified with the Episcopal Church.
The Dodge family has been represented in America ever since the "Mayflower" made its first trip across the waters. The doctor's great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution. The grandfather, Zebulon, was born in Massachusetts and engaged in farming there until his death. The father, Horace Dodge, was born in Belchertown; Mass., and removed to the west in 1836, settling as a pioneer in DuPage County, Ill., twenty miles from Chicago, where he secured a deed to land from the government and improved a farm. The land is still owned by members of the family. He was eighty-four at the time of his death; his mother was ninety-nine when she died. Longevity is noticed in every generation of the family, many of whom reach ninety years of age.
The doctor's mother, Lucy A. Hickman, was born in Winchester, Va, in the Shenandoah Valley, and resides in Wheaton, Ill., at the age of eighty-three years. She is a member of the Baptist Church. Her father, W. Fielding Hickman, was born at Natural Bridge, a member of an old Virginia family, and removed to the Shenandoah Valley, where he engaged in farming. He started to remove to Indiana, traveling by team, but died while on his way west. One of his sons was in the navy during the war of
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1812 and also accompanied Commodore Perry on his expedition for the opening of the Japanese ports. The Hickman family are lineal descendants of John Knox, the Reformer.
The family of Horace and Lucy A. Dodge consisted of six daughters and one son, all of whom are still living, the youngest sister, the wife of a minister, having for the past seventeen years been a missionary in Africa. The subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth. He was born on the home farm in DuPage County, December 13, 1840, and grew to manhood on the homestead where he was born. At the age of eighteen he began to teach school, and with the money thus earned he expected to avail himself of a collegiate education. In 1861 he entered the freshman class of Wheaton College, but four weeks later he volunteered in Company E, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, and was mustered into service at St. Charles, Ill., as a private. Ordered to Washington, he remained there until December 13, 1861, when he went to camp in Virginia. In March, 1862, he marched to Centerville and Manassas, where he took part in a battle, then retreated to Alexandria, and went by transport to join in the Peninsular campaign of 1862. He took part in the engagements at Williamsburg and Mechanicsville and the seven days' battle, then retreated to Harrison's Landing, ordered back to Alexandria, and from there to Bull Run, in time for the second battle there; afterward participated in the battle of Antietam, spent the winter in picket duty and scouting, took part in the battle of Fredericksburg, and in the spring of 1863 was present at Chancellorsville, Beverly Ford, Brandy Station, Aldie, Upperville and Gettysburg, where his regiment opened the battle on the first day and continued at the front until the close of the third day. Soon after that battle he was detailed to the division headquarters as a scout, and the winter of 1863-64 was occupied in scouting. In the spring of 1864 he was in the advance in the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, and after the latter engagement was transferred to Sheridan's headquarters as scout, taking part in Sheridan's raid on Richmond and continuing at his headquarters until the fall of 1864. In October he was mustered out and discharged in Chicago.
Returning to the home farm, our subject spent some time in improving it. In January, 1866, he entered the Chicago Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1868. He was in the Hospital for Women and Children in Chicago for a year, also engaged in practice in Riverside for a year, and in January, 1871, settled in Denver, where he engaged in practice for eight months. He then removed to Valmont, at that time the most promising town in Boulder County. Eighteen months later the railroad was completed to Boulder, and he located here, where he has since carried on a general practice. For years he has been president of the board of pension examiners in Boulder, which he assisted in organizing. For four years he was county physician, has served as alderman two terms, as fire chief one term, county coroner two terms and health officer six terms. He has been professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the Colorado University, and in the fall of 1898 was given the chair of clinical medicine. In November, 1897, he was appointed chairman of a committee to raise money for the erection of a hospital in connection with the medical department of the state university. The committee was successful and a commodious, well-appointed building now furnishes refuge for the afflicted, as well as clinical material for the students.
In Chicago, Dr. Dodge married Miss Laura H. Sturdevant, who was born in that city, daughter of Noah Sturdevant, member of an old York state family and a coal operator and lime manufacturer in Illinois. Two children of Dr. and Mrs. Dodge are living and two are deceased, namely: Horace C., who graduated from the Boulder high school and is a member of the medical department of the state university, class of 1901; Laura, who was educated in the Rockford Female College; LeRoy, who was accidentally killed at twelve years, being thrown from a horse; and Frederick, who died at four years.
Fraternally Dr. Dodge is identified with Columbia Lodge No: 14, A. F. & A. M.; Boulder Chapter No. 7, R. A. M., in which he is past high priest; Mount Sinai Commandery No. 7, in which he has been eminent commander four terms, and is a permanent member of the grand commandery; El Jebel Temple, N. M. S., of Denver; and is grand representative of the Grand Commandery of New Jersey. He is a charter member of the Nathaniel Lyon Post No. 5, G. A. R, in which he is past commander, and for one year,
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