Mardos Collection
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the acquaintance of Mr. Scheck in Denver. Two children bless this union, Raymond and Ralph. In matters political Mr. Scheck has never given his allegiance to either of the prominent political parties, but maintains an independence of opinion that finds expression in a ballot cast for the man he deems best qualified for a position of trust and responsibility. Fraternally he is connected with Colorado Lodge No. 1, K, of P.
ON. HIRAM PRINCE. Few of the farmers and stock-raisers of the Boulder Valley have been more successful than Mr. Prince, and certainly none has exerted a greater or more wholesome influence upon the citizenship of the county. Life with him has been eventful; its experiences many and thrilling, but its twilight is being passed tranquilly in preparation for the eternal reunion with loved ones gone before. Among his fellow-citizens he has always been popular; and when, in 1880, trouble arose in the division of the water for irrigation purposes, many men some distance down the creek who had prior water rights being unable to get water, as it was taken out of the ditch before it reached them, a petition was gotten up and, with four hundred names attached, was taken by J. P. Maxwell to the governor, asking to have Mr. Prince appointed water commissioner, the people feeling that their troubles would be satisfactorily settled if placed in his hands. He served acceptably in this position for five years. For three years he was justice of the peace. In 1885, on the Republican ticket, he was elected by a large majority to represent the people in the state legislature; again, in 1889, he was returned to the lower house, during which term he was made chairman of the committee on state institutions and took an active part in regulating and remedying abuses in these institutions.
A native of Mobile, Ala., Mr. Prince was one of three children born to John and Mary (Cooper) Prince. When about ten years of age he ran away from home and shipped aboard a schooner for New York City, there meeting parties who were looking for sailors to man a whaling schooner. He secured employment with them and was sent to Stonington, Conn., where he shipped on board the barque "George." After a trip of some eighteen months, when the vessel, loaded with eighteen hundred barrels of oil and a supply of bone, was on its journey home from the Arctic, at the Hawaiian Islands he ran away and boarded the barque "Croton," bound for New Bedford, notwithstanding the fact that he had more than $400 coming to him from the cargo of the "George." The " Croton " encountered a terrific storm at latitude 76 and the ship was dismantled; finally, however, he arrived at New Bedford on board a schooner.
After some years Mr. Prince shipped on board a barque as second mate and made several trips between Boston and New Orleans, after which he shipped as second mate of a schooner bound for the Sierre Leone Islands on the coast of Africa. He made two trips on the schooner, during the first of which every man on board came down with the African fever and many perished. He fell a victim to the disease, as did also the captain and the first mate, and the latter was left blind. After his second trip he returned to New York, in poor health. He went to Mobile, Ala., where he secured work on a lighter. Later a better position opened for him and he became master of a sloop, but his health was still poor and the work was too much for his debilitated system. He contracted yellow fever, on his recovery from which he became cook on a wrecking steamer that was raising railroad rails from a barge wrecked some time before. While working in this capacity, he was granted the privilege of acting as a diver and during the six weeks he spent in diving, he found five corpses that had gone down with the wreck. His next employment was at steamboating on the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers in the cotton trade, for which he received $90 per month. A few months later he was stevedoring at Mobile.
At last, with several hundred dollars in his pocket, Mr. Prince concluded to go to St. Louis and, with a companion, he took passage on one of the large steamers of the Mississippi. The good time they had while on board the ship was expensive, and left them with but twenty-five cents apiece on arriving in St. Louis. Here Mr. Prince secured employment fitting up the "Polar Star," and when his work was finished he was made second mate. When the boat left Booneville, however, he was dissatisfied and left, going to the lead mines in the southwestern part of Missouri. From there he accompanied some
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. traders on an expedition among the Osage and Comanche Indians, and during that time met with many thrilling adventures. He made two trips of this kind, then began to work for a blacksmith, who gave him a set of tools for a horse and bridle, and for many nights, after his employer had retired to rest, he remained at work, anxious to acquire a thorough knowledge of the trade. Soon he secured work with another employer who was a finished mechanic, and it was not long before he became an adept at all kinds of iron work. Some three years later his employer left and he married the latter's daughter and continued the blacksmith's business at the old stand. Prosperity attended him and he bought two hundred and twenty acres, which he farmed in connection with work at his trade.
Seven years after his marriage to Miss Helen M. Lindsay, which occurred in 1856, Mr. Prince started across the plains for Colorado. Arriving in Denver, he filled a government contract to put up hay and various other things. The next year, 1864, he bought an interest in the Files House and began as a hotel keeper. However, he objected to the business on account of the bar in connection with the hotel, so he sold out and took a contract to put up two hundred tons of hay at $40 a ton; Indian troubles prevented him from filling his contract. In 1865 with another man, he bought a blacksmith shop, of which he later became the sole proprietor, and followed wagon making and blacksmithing. He made the first omnibus in Denver, which was sold for $2,700. About that time troubles arose between the colored and white children, and his opinions were asked; on giving them, they were found to be so practical that he was placed on the school board by a majority of fifty to one. Little do the children now in Denver realize how much they owe to Mr. Prince. Through his broad views on educational matters he became one of the well-known men of the city. When the school funds ran low he kept the school open by leaving his shop and giving his time to the circulation of a subscription list, to which men of all classes contributed when asked by him to do so. He justly deserves the title of "Father" of the Denver schools. In addition to his other work in behalf of children, he opened a Sunday-school independent of any church. This project was frowned upon by some, who believed it would not succeed unless carried on under the auspices of the church; but the school grew constantly until the capacity of the building was taxed to its utmost. He took the first excursion of school children out of Denver to Greeley and Fort Collins, hiring a train of palace cars for the occasion.
In 1867 Mr. Prince bought a trust deed for forty acres of land, which was on the corner on the Larimer street bridge. His health failing, he turned his attention to the stock business. In 1870 he sold that property and coming to the Boulder Valley settled down to farming and stockraising. Here he has prospered and after giving each of his six children eighty acres he still retains two hundred and forty acres in his home farm. His sons, Frank, Louis L., John H. and Clarence E., are prosperous farmers, and his daughters, Mollie, Mrs. Alphonso Schofield, and Emma, Mrs. Elmer Schofield, are living in this locality, where their husbands are progressive farmers.
This sketch would be incomplete were not mention made of Mrs. Prince. Whatever of success has come to Mr. Prince, he owes in no small degree to his wife. In early life he encountered hardships and made many unfortunate ventures, but after he was blessed by the counsel and cooperation of his wife, prosperity came to him and whatever he undertook was crowned with success. She was a broad-minded woman, with keen insight and an intuition that was rarely equalled. When death claimed her, February 2!, 1898, Mr. Prince received the greatest blow of his whole life. He had encountered adversity with a brave heart, but this bereavement darkened his life and brought an unconquerable sorrow to his heart. He is blessed by the affection of his sons and daughters, who have endeavored, as far as possible, to alleviate his sorrow and, by loving care, render his loss less difficult to bear.
ETER MAHLER, who owns and occupies a farm of one hundred and twenty acres near Littleton, was born February 22, 1852, in Miedesheim, Lower Alsace, now a part of Germany. He is the son of George and Catherine (Martin) Mahler, whose family consisted of seven sons and two daughters, all still living but two of the sons. They are as follows: Catherine, wife of Jacob Siegefried, a farmer of Phaffenhoffen,
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Lower Alsace; John, who is engaged as a farmer in Engweiler, Lower Alsace; Margaret, wife of Michael Dorer, who is a barber in Orange, N. J.; Peter, of this sketch; Philip, who farms the old homestead in Alsace; and Henry, who is an agriculturist in Kent County, Ontario. The farm where Philip lives has been in the family for a number of generations. There the father of our subject was born in 1815, and there he died in 1894, having devoted his active years to the cultivation of the homestead. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and was highly respected for his integrity and upright character. His wife, who like himself was a consistent member of the Lutheran Church, was born in Engweiler, Alsace, in 1822, and died in 1887; she was a daughter of Jacob Martin, a farmer of Engweiler, where his ancestors had resided for many generations.
It was the universal custom in Alsace for the boys to learn a trade, but our subject, not wishing to be bound out as an apprentice, asked his father to give him the money that his apprenticeship would require, and allow him to come to America. His father consented, and accordingly, March 20, 1867, the fifteen-year-old lad took passage on the steamer "Cele," bound from Havre to New York. After a rough and stormy voyage of twenty-two days he landed in New York, from which city he went at once to London, Ontario, and from there to Delaware, Ontario, where lived an older brother.
Among the farmers of that locality Mr. Mahler secured employment, remaining there until the spring of 1872, when his health being poor he determined to seek a home in a more congenial climate. For that reason he came to Colorado. After his arrival he hired out by the month to different farmers in Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. In 1884 he pre-empted a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres, two miles south of his present home, and for five years he remained on that place, reaping the benefits of his personal labor. In 1889 he sold the property for a good sum, and at the same time purchased his present farm, from which he sold forty acres in 1891, leaving it one hundred and twenty acres. He devotes his attention to the cultivation of the property, the value of which has been greatly enhanced by the improvements he has placed on it. He has never taken part in politics and does not ally himself with any party, voting for the men whom he considers will best represent the people.
March 27, 1890, Mr. Mahler married Mrs. Eva C. (Erickson) Johnson. No children have been born of this union, but three boys are given a home by Mr. Mahler, one of them being Fred A. Johnson, a son of his wife by her former marriage, while the other two are orphans, Albert and Arvid Erickson, sons of a deceased brother of Mrs. Mahler.
A. CLOUGH, M. D., who is a well-known physician and surgeon of Denver, and has his office at No. 1349 California street, was born in Folsomdale, Wyoming County, N. Y., March 21, 1859, and is a son of Nathan and Electa Louisa (Rice) Clough. His father, who was born on the old family homestead in Wyoming County, made farming his life work and passed the years of active manhood upon the place where he was born, superintending the improvement of the place and the cultivation of the land.
At the age of nineteen, having previously obtained a fair education, our subject began to teach in the school near his father's home. In 1879 he entered Griffith Institute, Springville, Erie County, N. Y., where he completed two years' work in one year, and was thus enabled to begin his collegiate course in the fall of 1880. He remained for four years as a student of Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y., from which he graduated with the class of 1884, receiving the degree of A. B. All of the expenses connected with his college course he had himself defrayed, doing any kind of work that offered itself in order that he might obtain the desired education. After having completed his literary education he entered the medical department of the University of Niagara at Buffalo, N. Y., and spent one year there. His mother had died of consumption and his own lungs were weak, so, fearing that he might inherit the disease that had carried his mother away, he deemed it best to seek a more salubrious climate. In 1885 he came to Colorado, since which time he has made his home in this state. March 27, 1884, he married Miss Lela Barker, of Clinton, N. Y., daughter of Col. Henry Barker. They were the parents of one child, Aenona.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Soon after removing to Colorado Dr. Clough entered the medical department of the University of Denver, from which he graduated in 1886, with the degree of M. D. He at once went to Morrison, this state, to enter upon practice, and had the unusual experience of being called into service on the day of his arrival. He remained there about a year and built up an excellent practice, but believing Denver to be a much more preferable location he returned to this city. Here for seven years he was associated in practice with Dr. Steadman, and afterwards was in partnership with Dr. A. R. Seebass for three years, since which time he has practiced alone. The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by his alma mater. His second marriage occurred September 6, 1893, and united him with Miss Grace Neely, daughter of Col. Floyd Neely, of West Virginia.
Dr. Clough is a member of the county and state medical societies, as well as of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Medicine, and has attended and participated in the work of several conventions, and is also connected with the Alumni Association of the Denver University. He was reared in the Republican faith. In 1889 he was appointed commissioner of health for the city of Denver by the mayor, Wolfe Londoner, and held the position for two years. He is a man of inventive turn of mind, and possesses the faculty of devising needed improvements. Seeing the great necessity for a street sweeper that will clean the streets while dry, he in 1896 began to study out a model, in the construction of which he was finally successful, and a patent has been applied for. In this work he is in partnership with H. H. Call, who is a skilled mechanic of Denver.
OHN W. WALKER, who for years resided upon a ranch situated on section 34, township 5, range 65, Weld County, removed in August, 1898, to Delta, Delta County, Colo., where he now lives in retirement from life's active labors. He is a man of excellent character, retiring in disposition and unobtrusive in manner, but known for his honesty and integrity, and one who numbers many friends among his associates. In Chester District, S. C., Mr. Walker was born in September, 1824, a son of John and Elizabeth (Hood) Walker, natives respectively of County Antrim, Ireland, and South Carolina. His father, who accompanied his parents to this country about 1778, located in South Carolina, where he remained for many years. In 1835 he removed to Illinois, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising, and spent the remainder of his life. In politics he affiliated with the Democrats. His death occurred in 1854, when he was eighty-seven years of age. Of his eleven children, only two are living, John W. and Thomas, of Orange, Cal. The wife and mother died in Illinois when fifty-four years of age.
When the subject of this sketch was about ten years of age his parents removed to Illinois and in that state his boyhood days were passed. When a boy he attended school held in an old log building, destitute of the equipments now considered so essential to a school. After growing to manhood, he carried on a farm with his brother Thomas, making a specialty of raising cattle. In 1866 ill health forced mm to abandon all active participation in business. The following year he and his brother came to Colorado, arriving at Evans June 14, 1872. After a short time his brother returned to Illinois, but he remained, and, with the cattle he had brought with him, embarked in the stock business. In 1873 he took up as a homestead his present farm and during the same year built a house, his sisters, Jane and Margaret, joining him here and making his home theirs until they died. During his first six years on the ranch he made a specialty of stock. In 1878 he formed a company and constructed the Union ditch, which was completed about 1882. For several years he served as treasurer of the company. He also bought stock in the Old Colony Ditch Company, built by the Massachusetts colony. Since irrigating his land, he has carried on general farm pursuits. Stockraising, however, has formed his principal industry, and at one time he had two hundred head of cattle and forty horses, but later sold most of his stock, retaining only forty head of cattle and one horse. His four hundred and sixty acres of land are well improved and all under water, making them responsive to cultivation.
Politically Mr. Walker is active in the local ranks of the Republican party, which ticket he has voted continuously since the party was organized. His sisters were members of the
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