Mardos Collection
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 555
Since coming to Denver he has established domestic ties, being united in marriage with Miss Maggie Stocker, who was born in St. Clair, Schuylkill County, Pa., daughter of Matthew Stocker and sister of one of the aldermen of Denver. Four children were born of their union, one of whom, Clay, is deceased, and three are living: Elizabeth, Esther and William.
AN P. HADFIELD came to Denver in 1881, and, with the exception of short periods spent elsewhere, has since made this city his home. For a time he was employed in the South Park shops, later was foreman on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad for a year and was stationed at Chama, N. M. On his return to Denver he entered the general shops of the Union Pacific road as foreman in the machine shop. Through his work while in the employ of others he gained the experience that has since been so valuable to him and also accumulated sufficient capital to enable him to start out for himself. In 1889 he began general contracting and plumbing, and now has his place of business at No. 2711 Stout street.
In the town of North Dighton, Bristol County, Mass., the subject of this sketch was born in 1845. He is a son of Dan Hadfield, a native of Lancashire, England, and a cotton spinner by trade, but in 1840 an emigrant to America, where he secured employment in the paper factory of Lincoln & Co., at North Dighton, Mass. He continued with the same company until he died, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Holt, was born in England and died in Massachusetts in 1868, at the age of fifty-three. She was a daughter of Thomas Holt, who was superintendent of stables at a large cotton manufactory in England.
There were four children in the family of Dan Hadfield, Sr., and three of these are living: Mrs. Elizabeth Tisdale, of New Haven, Conn.; Dan P.; and Mrs. Patience Haworth, of Denver. Our subject was reared in North Dighton and Taunton, Mass., where he attended the public schools. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to the machinist's trade in the Mason Machine Works, where he continued for three years. He then went to Boston, where he secured work with McKay, the large shipbuilder, who built the "Great Republic." During the two years he was there he was with the Rhode Island Locomotive Works of Providence, after which he was a contractor with the Burnside Rifle Works. Ill health forced him to seek a change of climate and he went south, but after a time located in Chicago, where he was foreman in Crane Brothers Northwest pipe factory. For a short time he was with a railroad in Urbana, Ill., but returned to Chicago at the time of the fire and remained there until the panic.
Returning to Massachusetts, Mr. Hadfield was employed as a foreman with a manufacturing company in Greenfield. Later he was for three years with William Corliss, safe manufacturer, in Rhode Island, and during the most of this time he was engaged in perfecting the Corliss safe, eleven of which he put in the banks of that town, the first one costing $85,000. When through this work he went to Kansas City, then in the days of its first boom. He secured work in the Union Pacific shops at Armstrong, Kan., and later at Omaha, Neb., where he remained until coming to Denver in 1881.
Politically Mr. Hadfield was a stanch supporter of silver. Having made a careful study of the currency question, he believes that the west can never attain desired prosperity and wealth until the standard of the two metals, gold and silver, is changed. Regarding the tariff question he favors protection of home industries. He has frequently been elected as delegate to local conventions and has served on committees. In 1885, on the Republican ticket, he was elected alderman from the eighth ward and served for one term, being a member of the license, water and health committees. He was made a Mason in Wyandotte, Kan., and was also at one time identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but is not now. His wife, who was born in Vermont, was Mrs. Emma A. (Walker) Hawthorne, daughter of Edwin Walker.
ILLIAM SIMPSON, president of the Contractors and Builders' Association of Denver, is one of the well-known business men of this city, where he has since 1879 made his home. In 1882 he built at No. 1643 Champa street and this property he still owns, as well as his home at No. 2906 Boulevard, Highlands. As
23
556
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. a contractor and builder he has had several very important contracts, among them the Central Presbyterian Church, the residences of Donald Fletcher and J. C. Harley, and many other contracts of less importance. In other lines of business he has also been interested, and through energy and the exercise of good judgment he has accumulated a competency.
The Simpson family is of Scotch origin. The father of our subject, John Simpson, was born in Forfarshire and was reared on the home farm; in youth he learned the carpenter's trade in Dundee and shortly afterward came to America, settling in New Brunswick, where he engaged in the building business, also manufactured carriages and farm implements, and was the owner of a large farm in Chatham. His death occurred in that place at the age of sixty-nine. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Abigail Mary Dickson, was born in New Brunswick and now resides with our subject, being in the enjoyment of fair health for one of her years (seventy-eight). Her father was an officer in the English army and upon his retirement settled upon a farm in New Brunswick.
In the parental family of four children, three of whom are living, William is the eldest. He was born in Chatham in 1851 and attended the public schools and academy of that place, graduating from the latter in 1871. Afterward he served an apprenticeship of four years to the carpenter's trade and on the expiration of his time continued with his former master, remaining with the same man for eight years, lacking only a week. His employer dying, he continued the business alone for seven years afterward. The ill health of a son induced him to seek a change of climate, and hearing much concerning the salubrious air of Colorado he resolved to come hither. Accordingly he settled in Denver in 1879 and embarked in the building business here. When quite young he made a study of architecture, and many of the buildings he has erected were also designed by him.
The marriage of Mr. Simpson took place in Canada, his wife being Annie, daughter of David Mc Hardy, a farmer in New Brunswick, where she was born. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have a family of seven children, Etta, Hardy, Beatrice, Kate, Mary, William and Colin. In national politics Mr. Simpson is a Republican, but in local elections votes for the man he believes to be best. qualified to represent the people in office. For one term he was a member of the board of aldermen. In the spring of 1896 he was nominated for alderman from the fifteenth ward, but refused to accept; he also declined the nomination for member of the board of supervisors. Both the men who were nominated after his refusal to serve received the election, but he preferred to devote his attention to business matters and not mingle in public affairs. He was a charter member of the Carpenters and Builders' Association, of which he was the first president and is still the incumbent of that office. Formerly he was connected with the Central Presbyterian Church, but he became one of the charter members of the Presbyterian Church of Highlands and is now chairman of its board of trustees.
DWIN J. HELLIER, one of Denver's successful contractors and builders, was born in Sidmouth, Devonshire, England, and is the eldest son of James and Emma (Hellman) Hellier. His father, who is a member of an old Devonshire family, is engaged in the shoe business in Torquay, where he and his wife make their home. The only member of their family in America is Edwin J. who was educated in Sidmouth College, but at the age of only twelve years began to learn the carpenter's trade, at which he served in Torquay until he was twenty-one, meantime gaining a thorough knowledge of carpentering and building, brick-laying, stone-cutting, papering and painting and draughting. He successfully passed the examination in building construction and draughting in the school of arts at Torquay, gaining the government prize for draughting in 1885.
Continuing at his trade in his native land until 1889, Mr. Hellier then came to America, proceeding direct from New York to Denver, where he arrived in June of that year. Here he has since engaged in general contracting. Among his contracts may be mentioned those for Mrs. Fisher's residence on South Fifteenth street, the Ursey residence, St. Paul's rectory, the Slack home at Mount Clair, Dr. Woods' residence. First District school, and other buildings that rank among the best of their kind in Denver.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 557
Fraternally Mr. Hellier is connected with the Woodmen of the World and Columbia Court No. 14, F. O. A. He is fond of the bicycle and is a member of the Denver Wheel Club. In the Carpenters and Builders' Association he holds active membership. The possessor of a bass voice of marvelous compass and power, he spends considerable time with his music, and now sings second bass in the Apollo Club of Denver, to which he belongs. He also sings in the choir of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. He is a man of genial, pleasant disposition, and has won a host of friends among the people of Denver.
ANDY ALLEN HUGHES, M. D., president of the board of pension examiners and head physician of the Pacific jurisdiction Woodmen of the World, has resided in Denver since 1867, and during a considerable portion of this time has engaged in the practice of medicine. After a three years' course of study in the St. Louis Medical College, he graduated in 1883, with the degree of M. D., and at once opened an office in Denver, where he has since built up a large private practice. In 1888, during the first term of Governor Adams, he was appointed a member of the state board of medical examiners, and served six years. In 1896 he was again appointed by Governor Mclntire and is still filling the position, having been secretary during the larger part of his connection with the board.. Under President Cleveland, in June, 1893, he was appointed upon the board of examining surgeons for United States pensions and has since been president of the organization. Actively interested in the establishment of the Woodmen of the World, he now has the distinction of being the oldest member in the Pacific jurisdiction. In 1890 he was made head consulting physician of the order, and three years later was promoted to head physician of the jurisdiction, with six hundred physicians under him, his duty being to pass upon all the applications for membership in the order. He is local surgeon for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company and chairman of the Prudential Insurance Company of New Jersey. In Denver Lodge No. 41, K. of P. he is examining physician. He is connected with both the Colorado State and American Medical Associations.
The Hughes family was represented among the early settlers of Virginia and some of its members took part in the Revolution. Andrew S. Hughes was for some years a resident of Kentucky, but removed from there to Missouri and became a pioneer of Clay County, where he engaged in the practice of law. His son, Bela M., was born in Nicholas County, Ky., a nephew of ex-Governor Metcalf of that state. He was admitted to the bar in Missouri, where he practiced for years. In early days he went to St. Joseph, Mo., and later located in Atchison, Kan. With his cousin, Benjamin Holliday, and others he started the overland stage line between Atchison, Denver and Salt Lake and this he was connected with for some years as president and attorney. In 1864 he came to Denver, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. He was one of the most active promoters of the Denver Pacific Railroad between Denver and Cheyenne and was the first president of the company, also in promoting the construction of the Denver & South Park Railroad. While in Missouri he was general of the state militia, and he is usually called by that title. A Democrat in politics, he was a member of the first state senate of Colorado. He is still living in Denver, which he has seen grow from a small and unimportant village to a commercial, railroad, mining and stock-raising center, the metropolis of the great Rocky Mountain region. His wife is Laura, a daughter of Maj. Tandy Allen, of Bourbon County, Ky., whose father was a soldier of the Revolution and a pioneer from Virginia to Kentucky, and afterwards was a circuit judge in Kentucky for many years, residing in Paris.
The youngest of six children comprising the family of General Hughes was Tandy Allen Hughes, who was born in St. Joseph, Mo., but has spent his life principally in Denver, having come here in boyhood. His great-grandfathers, Allen and Hughes, were officers in the war for independence, from the beginning of hostilities with Great Britain to the end of the struggle. He was given excellent educational advantages and is a man of broad information, not only upon subjects pertaining to medicine, but in matters of historical, scientific or general importance. He was married in St. Louis to Miss Cecile S. Shorb, of that city, and they have one child, Margaret Belle. In political belief, like his father, he adheres to Democratic principles. He is a director
558
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. of the Denver Athletic Club, and is eligible to membership in the Sons of the Revolution. His attention has been closely given to his professional interests, which leave him but little time, even had he the desire, to enter public life; however, he is well informed regarding the topics of the age and is unswervingly loyal to the principles that he believes will best promote the happiness and welfare of the people.
AMUEL W. AKINS, alderman of the eighth ward, Denver, was nominated for that office in April, 1897, upon the tax payer's ticket, endorsed by the Populists; and, although there were five candidates in the field, he was elected by a majority of over six hundred, polling three hundred more votes than the other four combined. During his term of service in the council he has been chairman of the committees on rules and order of business, and member of the committees on claims, electric light and gas, markets, printing, public grounds and buildings, street railways and water, and he expects to lead the fight against the electric light and gas trusts. He takes a very active part in the city's progress and favors all plans for the advancement of the people's interests.
In St. Joseph County, Ind., Mr. Akins was born June 17, 1852, being the oldest son and fourth child in a family of nine that attained maturity, of whom seven are now living. His father, Samuel B., was born in Toronto, Canada, and removed in boyhood to Indiana, where he learned the carpenter's trade. He became a contractor and builder, following that occupation until his death at the age of seventy-five years. He married Sarah Burkett, who was born, of German descent, in South Carolina and accompanied her parents to Indiana, where she died at fifty-two years.
Under the instruction of his father, our subject learned the carpenter's trade. At the age of sixteen he began to earn his own livelihood, working afterward in Jewell County, Kan., and Otoe County, Neb., then going in 1871 to Wyoming, where he worked near Fort Steele. In 1873 and afterward he was employed at Alta, near Salt Lake City. From there he went in 1878 to Butte, Mont., then a small village of only four hundred inhabitants, and he at once began to work as a carpenter and builder, also invested in real estate, and at one time owned the Maria mine. The spring of 1881 found him located in Denver, where he has engaged in contracting and building, also carried on a real-estate business. He has his office at No. 2748 Franklin Street.
Fraternally Mr. Akins is identified with the Woodmen of the World, and in national politics he votes the Democratic ticket. He was united in marriage, in Denver, to Mrs. Clara (Kreider) Woodend, who was born in Pennsylvania. They are the parents of three children, Blanche, Arthur and Stewart. Mrs. Akins is a daughter of Daniel F. Kreider, who was born in Lebanon County, Pa., where he engaged in the mercantile business; afterward he removed to Princeton, Mo., and accepted a position as freight and ticket agent on the Rock Island Railroad. He still resides in Princeton and is a member of the United Brethren Church of that place. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Thomas, was born in Schaefferstown, Lebanon County, Pa., where her father, James Thomas, was a farmer.
LEXANDER V. SCHERRER. It was in 1864 that the subject of this sketch first saw Colorado. During that year he came with his parents, via ox-team train, from Omaha to Boulder, and settling in the latter town he assisted his father in the dairy business until December, 1867, when the family returned to Johnson County, Iowa, However, he did not forget the years spent here, and, believing the state offered wonderful opportunities to industrious men, he determined to establish his home here. In 1872 the way opened for him to come to the state and he located in Denver, at once embarking in the cattle business. He and his brother, with whom he is in partnership, have made a specialty of dealing in beef cattle and were the pioneers in the dehorning of cattle, which has now become so popular in the state.
Joseph and Theresa Scherrer, parents of our subject, were born in Alsace, France, and after their marriage, in 1847, emigrated to America, settling upon a farm near Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa. There, with the exception of the years already alluded to, they made their home until 1882, when they came to Colorado a second time and both died in Denver, the father in 1885,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 559
at the age of seventy-nine, and the mother in 1884, at the age of sixty-eight years. By trade the father was a shoemaker, but after coming to this country he devoted his attention to farming. Of their nine children all but one are still living. The oldest child, Jacob, came to Denver in 1859 and for some years was extensively engaged in the cattle and real-estate business here, but now resides in East St. Louis, Ill. Two sisters, Mrs. F. Scherrer and Mrs. Schwanke, came to Colorado in i861; the latter resides in California. Joseph A. is engaged in the cattle business at Agate, Colo. Mrs. Guard and Mrs. McClure, who came to this state in 1864 and 1876 respectively, now reside in California, and the youngest sister, Mrs. Doll, who came to Colorado in 1882, is also now a resident of California.
The birth of our subject occurred near Iowa City, April 13, 1848, and he was reared in Johnson County on the home farm. In 1864 and again in 1882 he came to Colorado, the latter year as a permanent settler. In January, 1884, he originated the Arapahoe Cattle and Land Company, which was incorporated with himself president and manager. The company located a ranch at Agate and continued the cattle business until 1891, when the sold out, and since then Mr. Scherrer has bought the place. Meantime he also pre-empted a homestead on the East Bijou. On his large ranch he has a reservoir, and by damming a gulch established a natural lake of more than two hundred and fifty acres, from which irrigation ditches run to every part of the land. Little is raised on the place except hay, which is used for feed; the land is principally devoted to the pasturing of stock, which are raised here in large numbers. From the organization of the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association he has been identified with it and for a time was its vice-president. Politically he favors a readjustment of the currency question, so that silver may be placed upon its proper basis, and he votes for the men who are pledged to the support of silver. He is a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church.
In Denver, in 1876, Mr. Scherrer married Miss Angele Marion, who was born in Paris, France, the daughter of Joseph Marion, a native of Auxierre, France, and for years the largest seed merchant in his native land. He married a daughter of Blaze Savrie, a wine grower in France, and in 1854 brought his family to America, settling near Hartford, Conn., but after two years removing to St. Louis, Mo., where he engaged in general merchandising. In 1859 he made the overland trip to Colorado and the next year his wife joined him. He located in Denver, and embarked in merchandising on Ferry street, but after some years he engaged in mining in Utah, where he makes his home in Salt Lake City: His wife died in Denver, August 6, 1896, aged seventy years. They were the parents of four children that reached maturity, of whom two were born in Denver. Their names are: Leontine, Mrs. Jacob Scherrer, of St. Louis; Angele, Mrs. A. V. Scherrer; Josephine and Albert, of Denver, and the latter is engaged in the real-estate business in this city. Mrs. Scherrer remained with her grandmother in Paris until 1863, when her mother returned to France and brought her to the United States. In 1864 she came to Colorado by stage, and has since resided in Denver, receiving her education in the Loretto convent and Wolfe Hall here, and Sacred Heart College in St. Joseph, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Scherrer are the parents of seven children, namely: Edith, who died in April, 1894, at the age of seventeen; Harry, who is a member of the class of '98, in Wallace Business College; Louise, William, Josephine, Angele and Albert.
560
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Of the children of Theodore and Fannie Miles, Alfred H. was next to the youngest and is now the only survivor. He was educated in Ohio and when a boy often shot squirrels in what is now the public square of Cleveland. In 1840, when a little less than twenty years of age, he was married in Newburg to Miss Sophronia C. Simmons, who died in Denver in 1891. Three children were born of the union: Fannie D., Mrs. Randall, who died in Old Mexico; Emma C., Mrs. Stokely W. Slayden, whose first husband, R. E. Whitsitt, was one of the founders of the city of Denver; and George T., who lives on the Zeandale farm.
In youth Mr. Miles learned the trade of carriage-maker, which he followed for a time. In 1850 he went to California, via New York and Panama to San Francisco, and from there found his way to the mines, where he engaged unsuccessfully in prospecting and mining. His next venture was in a wagon shop at Stockton, but he soon sold that and entered the cattle business in southern California. In 1853 he returned to Ohio and bought a hotel at Newburg, which he carried on for a few years. Later he bought and operated a sawmill at Eight-mile Lock. Selling out in 1859, at the time of the discovery of gold in Colorado, he started west, intending to go to California, but decided to settle in Colorado. At Leavenworth he outfitted with two ox-teams and a wagon, also taking provisions for a year and the first cookstove ever in Colorado. After fifty-nine days he landed in Auraria (Denver), and soon pre-empted a tract of one hundred and sixty acres four miles below Golden, on Clear Creek. In 1864 he located a homestead in Denver, now R. E. Whitsitt's addition to Arlington Heights. He erected the first brick residence in Denver, a house that is still standing. Near the city he bought a farm for $2,000 and after nine years sold it for $72,000. He also owned the Bryn Mawr addition to the city of forty acres, now sold to the city for $24,500, to be included within a park. His residence stands at No. 1018 South Fifteenth street.
At the time he came to Denver Mr. Miles had only $5, and his present financial position and high standing speak volumes for the opportunities which Denver offers to every man of enterprise and determination. On concluding to settle in this locality he took up a farm, and borrowing the only plow in the country, in one day (and that Sunday) he broke three acres. He had one pound of turnip seed sent him from his uncle in Ohio and this he sowed. He also started a garden. The turnips proved to be the largest ever seen in the state, some of them measuring one foot across. He took them to Central City, where they sold for twenty-five cents apiece; these were the first vegetables ever in that town, and he was paid for them in gold dust. So anxious were people to get turnips from him that they traveled fifty miles or more for them and offered cattle or horses in exchange. Out of the pound he sowed he raised fifteen hundred bushels of turnips; so it may truthfully be said that turnips gave him his start in business. He paid $2.50 per quart for potatoes, and from these he raised eighteen bushels, which he sold at thirty cents a pound. His uncle sent him some strawberry plants, but only two grew, and from these in two years he was raising strawberries for sale, disposing of the first of these at $32 her bushel. While in California he saw immense stalks of corn, which, however, bore no corn; and he was therefore much surprised when a man from California showed him a couple of ears grown there. He concluded to try the experiment of raising corn here, and bought Australian corn at $1 per quart, which he planted on his Clear Creek farm and from which he raised three hundred bushels. The corn was of the finest quality and took a prize at the fair. With the firmest faith in irrigation and its necessity in this country, he was among the first to take steps for providing water for his ranch, and the experiment proved very successful. His confidence in the growth of Denver led him to invest in real estate here, some of which he sold at a large profit, while some he still retains in his possession. At one time he owned two lots occupying the present site of the postoffice. For years he has been connected with the Colorado Society of Pioneers. Politically he was first a Whig, later a Republican, then a Populist and a champion of the silver cause.
When settling on his Zeandale farm Mr. Miles had no lumber, but an abundance of limestone, so he built a house of cement and limestone. It stood on the trail between Golden and Denver. The Indians had been very troublesome and during one of their raids had killed the Hungate family, frightening the other settlers so that they
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 561
took refuge in Denver. After two years a company was organized, Capt. Clinton Tyler at the head, to chastise the savages, in order to prevent future attacks from them, The Utes had been friendly, but the Arapahoes were hostile, cunning and desperate, and an attack on them was therefore planned. The Indians concealed themselves behind trenches, but the white men fired the cannon horizontally into the trenches, thus frightening and routing the enemy. For a time there was peace, but in two years the Indians made another raid up the Platte, and then started up Clear Creek. The farmers, knowing that Mr. Miles had a concrete house which could not be burned, hastened thither and filled the building, some of the men also standing guard without. Meantime the people in Golden went to the top of Table Mountain and fortified themselves there. The Indians found themselves unable to successfully attack either party and so withdrew without molesting the settlers. Afterward no further trouble was experienced with them.
Mr. Skerritt was born in Parsonstown, Kings County, Ireland, the oldest of eight children, of whom seven are living. One of the brothers, Richard, was a soldier in a Michigan regiment during the war. The parents were Richard and Catherine Skerritt, of Ireland, the former a soldier in the British army and a member of the British Horse police, doing duty in Ireland. He was a fine horseman, an excellent judge of horse flesh, and was detailed to buy horses for the British army. After his marriage he secured an honorable discharge from the army. In 1835 he settled in Oakland County, Mich., and engaged in farming in White Lake Township until his death, which occurred at fifty-six years of age. His wife also died in Michigan.
After his father came to America, our subject, who had remained in Ireland, was taken into the home of an uncle, with whom he remained for thirteen years. In 1848 he and his uncle, Thomas Skerritt, came to America, where he spent one year in Michigan. Then, with his uncle, he removed to Amherstburg, near Fort Moulden, Canada, where he engaged in farming from 1849 to 1856. Returning to Michigan in the spring of the latter year, he settled in Wyandotte, Mich., where he was contractor for A. B. Ward & Co., proprietors of the first rolling mill in the west. In November, 1856, at Pontiac, Mich., he married Miss Mary Skerritt, who was born in Kings County, Ireland, the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Proud) Skerritt. She was one of four children, of whom but two are living. Her brother, Joseph, was an early settler of Oakland County, Mich., where he engaged in farming until his death. Another brother, Thomas, who is with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in Denver, volunteered at the opening of the war in a Michigan regiment and served until the close of the conflict. He was wounded and taken prisoner at Lexington, but was paroled and exchanged. Mrs. Skerritt left Ireland at the age of fourteen and came to her brother, Joseph, in America, settling in Oakland County, Mich.
In December, 1856, Mr. Skerritt went to Chicago with the company that started the first rolling mill there, but they closed down the mill after a year and he then, in the spring of 1858, started for Kansas, going by team to Leavenworth, where he engaged in teaming and the livery business. In April, 1859, he started, with a horse team for Pike's Peak, but on the way west traded his team for oxen and cows. After a dangerous and tiresome journey of six weeks he reached Denver, June 2, 1859, and then proceeded to Central City, his wife being the first white woman in that place. In August of the same year he crossed the mountains to Breckenridge, Summit County, his wife being the first woman to cross the range. On the way they camped once near the soda springs at Manitou and his
562
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. wife made biscuit from soda water. November 5, 1859, he left Breckenridge, intending to spend the winter in New Mexico, but when he reached old Fountain City, near what is now Pueblo, he was advised not to proceed further, as New Mexico was no place for a white woman. For that reason he turned back and came to Denver.
Immediately afterward Mr. Skerritt took up a pre-emption claim on the Platte, where Petersburg now stands, and there he remained until the flood of 1864 washed out his land, He then pre empted his present property, Shady Side farm, where he set out the trees that make the name of the place a very appropriate one. He has traded some in land and in 1880 sold off the site of Orchard Place. He irrigates his ranch from the city ditch, by which means he can water every part of the place. In early days he engaged in the cattle business, but for some time has not been interested in that industry. He and his wife are members of the Pioneer Society. In religious belief they are connected with the Episcopal Church. Politically he is a Republican. For over twenty-five years he was a director of the school board, during part of the time serving as secretary; and he was also road supervisor for nine years.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Skerritt consists of eight children. Thomas, who was born in May, 1860, in Denver, is engaged in mining in Cripple Creek and is a member of the Pioneer Association, being perhaps the youngest member of that society; Joseph is with a mercantile firm in Cripple Creek; George is engaged in the livery business at Shady Side; William died at thirteen years of age; Marguerite and Mamie are with their parents; Harry is interested with his brother in the livery business; and Charles manages his father's ranch at Rifle, Garfield County.
ARL M. LINDQUIST, member of the board of supervisors of Denver, is president and general manager of the Lindquist Bakery and Cracker Company, one of the well-known business concerns of the city. In 1891 he built the works at No. 3528 Market street, and carried on the business under the title of C. M. Lindquist Biscuit Company, but March 2, 1898, the company was incorporated under its present name. All kinds of bread, cake and crackers are manufactured here, and the excellent quality and reasonable prices of the bakery goods have created a demand for them not only in this state, but also in Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming and other adjacent states.
Mr. Lindquist was born in Eukjoping, Upplau, Sweden, August 15, 1861, the son of John and Hilda Elizabeth (Ekeberg) Lindquist. His father, who was a cabinet maker and manufacturer of furniture, engaged in business in Enkjoping until his death at the age of fifty-two years. He married a daughter of John Ekeberg, a merchant tailor in Sweden. When still quite young she died, November 1, 1861, leaving two sons, John A., now of Denver, and Carl M. The latter was only three months old when his mother died. He was reared in Enkjoping and attended the public schools there. November 1, 1878, he went to Germany, and for a year worked at the baker's trade in Kiel. In 1879 he went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and continued to work at his trade in that city.
Having resolved to come to America, Mr. Lindquist left Copenhagen, March 15, 1881, on the steamer "Harold," which sailed first to England for repairs and then crossed the ocean, anchoring in New York April 25. From that city he went to Pittsburg and secured employment with the Marvin Biscuit Company, remaining in their bakery for two years. Next going to Chicago, he worked with the Aldrich Baking Company there until 1884. The work was injurious to his health, and thinking an ocean voyage and a visit to his old home would he beneficial, he left Chicago November 5 and took passage at Philadelphia for Copenhagen, going from there to Stockholm and the old homestead in Sweden. He spent seven months with his father and old friends, and came back to America so benefited by the trip that his fellow-workmen in the Chicago shop scarcely recognized him. After continuing for another year with the Aldrich Company, he started in business for himself, opening a bakery at No. 148 Milton Avenue, North Chicago, where he engaged in business for eighteen months.
Selling out the business June 23, 1887, Mr. Lindquist came to Colorado, and on the 12th of July he opened a bakery on Thirty-fifth and Larimer streets, Denver, where he remained until his removal to his present location in 1891. He
 |
 |
 |
 |
