JAMES M. COOMBS.
Mardos Collection
JAMES M. COOMBS.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 831
and four years old. They lived to be respectively twenty and twenty-one years old, when one died, and the other refusing food, apparently died with grief about two weeks afterwards.
Though he never became very strong Mr. Stevens greatly improved in health, and carried on a rented farm near Greeley for nine years. He then built a good brick residence in Greeley, and subsequently traded the place for the eighty acre ranch which he now owns. Having purchased a small lot across the road from his homestead, as the location was pleasanter, he erected a comfortable brick house, it being one of the best farm houses in this valley. During his residence in Greeley he was for three years engaged in business, but lost about $1,200 before he retired to agricultural life again. On the whole he has been successful as an agriculturist, though he has met with some reverses, and in 1895 and 1896 his crops were destroyed by grasshoppers. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, being a member of Poudre Valley Lodge No. 12, of Greeley. He has always been a stalwart Republican. Religiously both he and his estimable wife are members of the Greeley Methodist Episcopal Church. Their eldest child is Etta, wife of Herman H. Preston, of Florence, Colo. Ralph G., the only son, lives in Florence. Mittie B. is the wife of Leland B. Ritter, and lives with our subject on the ranch, her husband assisting in the general management of the same.
AMES M. COOMBS, a retired farmer, residing in Longmont, Boulder County, was born in Clark County, Ind., October 14, 1837, a son of John and Rachel (Hoagland) Coombs. He was one of six children and is second among four now living. His older sister, Martha J., married Thomas W. Wells, and is living in Girard, Kan.; John W. is engaged in the cattle business in Cherry County, Neb.; and Lizzie M. is the wife of Maland Russell, of Brunswick, Ga.
In Clark County, Ind., where he was born in 1809, John Coombs engaged in farming for some years, but in 1843 removed to Lynn County, Iowa, settling within six miles of the town of Marion, and there carrying on a farm until his death in 1879. James M., of this sketch, acquired a common-school education and was reared to a farm life. In 1864 he and a partner outfitted themselves with a wagon and a team of oxen, and on the 1st of May of that year started across the plains for Colorado. After a journey of two months they arrived in Denver July 1, and the 4th was spent in Golden. Thence they went to Blackhawk, and the first day's work done by Mr. Coombs in Colorado was on the old stone building now used as a depot in Blackhawk. For that day's work he was paid $5.75. After a few days there he began working at gulch mining, at which he continued until the 14th of September. He then hired to a freighting outfit to go to Virginia City, Mont., and on the 21st of September he left Denver with a train of twenty wagons and twenty-five men. Reaching Snake River they found the snow so deep that they were compelled to abandon all hope of soon proceeding further. While the train lay there until May, our subject and fifteen other men walked to Virginia City, their employer paying their salaries and furnishing them with food until their arrival.
In Virginia City Mr. Coombs was employed in the mines until June 21, when he bought a horse and started back to Denver. On the Fisher road ranch, five miles south of Denver, he worked for five months, when he came to Boulder and purchased a ranch on St. Vrain Creek. In the spring of 1866 he went to St. Joe, Mo., with a freighting outfit, and in the fall returned to. his ranch. During the winter, with a team he had bought, he hauled hay to Blackhawk and Central City. In the spring of 1867 he hauled hay to Fort Laramie, for which he received $100 per ton. From the 1st of July to the latter part of September he hauled wood and hay for the government to Fort Laramie. Returning to Weld County, he worked at various kinds of employment. In the fall of 1869 he bought a bunch of cattle and horses and embarked in the stock business, which he carried on until 1876, and then disposed of his interests. During the three following years he butchered beef and looked after the cattle owned by George Zweck. Meantime, in the fall of 1876, he had taken up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Larimer County, and later bought a timber claim of eighty acres, and in 1881 settled down to farming. His wife owns one hundred and sixty acres adjoining his tract, making their joint farm one of four hun-
832
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. dred acres. In 1890 he rented the ranch and moved to Longmont, where he has since resided.
February 27, 1894, Mr. Coombs married Miss Lena Mitchell, a native of Tennessee, and daughter of William S. Mitchell, a prominent merchant of Clarksburg, that state.
PHRAIM K. C. EVANS, a veteran of the Civil war, now residing on a farm south of Loveland, Larimer County, was born in Beaver County, Pa., in 1838, being a son of North and Mary Ann (Black) Evans. His father, who was a large land owner and successful farmer, spent his entire life in his native commonwealth of Pennsylvania, dying there when seventy years of age. When a boy Ephraim attended the common schools in the home neighborhood, and on leaving school learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for twenty-five years. In 1874 he started for the west, and arriving in Denver, began to work at his trade. Two years later he went to Longmont and from there, in the spring of 1878, took up a homestead of government land in Larimer County. He prepared the land for cultivation and in 1880 put in his first crop, since which time he has followed general farming, at the same time having the contracts for several houses and business blocks in Loveland. His ranch comprises four hundred acres of land, some of which is used for pasturage for his stock, while the remainder is under cultivation.
During the McKinley campaign of 1896, Mr. Evans was the Republican candidate for county representative from Larimer County. He is a true patriot, and showed his patriotism during the Civil war, when he enlisted, in 1861, in Company B, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, as a private. During his service of three years he participated in the battles of Gettysburg and Antietam, and for a time was confined in a hospital, after which he rejoined his company in time to take part in the second battle of Bull Run. He followed the Army of the Potomac in all of its campaigns, and as a member of Cooper's battery, was under heavy fire much of the time. His health was seriously affected by the exposures and hardships of army life, and he has never been strong since.
In 1866 Mr. Evans married Miss Eliza Fenton, of Pennsylvania. They have four children: Lois G. wife of T. E. Burns; Alma B., who married Elliott McNeal; Howard and Anna Cecelia. For eighteen years Mr. Evans has officiated as an elder in the Christian Church, in which he is an active worker and to which he has contributed liberally. For several years he was a director in the Home Supply Ditch Company, of which he is a charter member. He is one of the directors in the Larimer County Bank, a stockholder in the Handy Ditch Company and in the Berthoud roller mill, in which for several years he served as a director. Considering the fact that he began without capital, he has accomplished results of which he may well be proud, and he is not only well-to-do financially, but is also respected as a man of integrity and highest honor.
OLUMBUS C. HAYS, a retired farmer and stock-raiser residing in Loveland, Larimer County, was born in Lafayette County, Mo., in 1834. He is of English descent, his grandfather, Jacob Hays, having emigrated from England to Virginia, where he died. The father, John Hays, a native of Virginia, sought a home in the west in his early manhood and settled in Missouri, where he successfully engaged in farm pursuits during the remainder of his active life. In politics he voted the Democratic ticket. Prior to coming west he enlisted for service in the war of 1812 and continued in the army until the close of the conflict. His death occurred in 1858, when he was sixty-three years of age. By his marriage to Rebecca Robinson, who died in 1838, he had seven children, five of whom are living, namely: William, of Kansas City, Mo.; Isaac, Jacob and Columbus C., all of whom live in Colorado; and Rose, Mrs. Hale, of Missouri.
The boyhood years of our subject's life were passed in Missouri and his education was obtained in country schools. In 1853 he accompanied Waddell, Russell & Majors on a teaming expedition to New Mexico, and for a number of years afterward he was employed as teamster. In 1861 he began freighting in and around Denver and along the Platte, at which work he continued for five years. In 1866 he settled on Bear Creek and began the improvement of a farm, on which he made his home until 1871, and then settled upon a stock ranch in the mountain region. After having made his home on that place for over
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 833
three years, in 1875 he took up land near the present site of Loveland, and here he followed farming and stock-growing until 1890, when he retired from active business cares and established his home in Loveland. He is a director in the Batik of Loveland and is in comfortable circumstances financially, having a competency for his declining years.
In 1860 Mr. Hays was united in marriage with Miss Emeline Fletcher, of Missouri. They are the parents of eight children, viz.: John, Lee, George, Belle (wife of Frank S. Smith), Mary (Mrs. Charles Maxwell), Pearl and Fern. The family are identified with the Christian Church of Loveland, and are prominent and popular among the best people in Loveland's social circles.
RS. ALICE M. BECKWITH, the present efficient county clerk of Weld County, was born at Huntley, near Elgin, Ill., but when a child removed to Wisconsin with her parents, Noah and Jane (Coleman) Maltby, both natives of New York state. The paternal grand-father, Noah Maltby, Sr., was also born in New York, and was of English descent. Mrs. Beckwith is next to the youngest in a family of seven children, two sons and five daughters, the others being James D., who died in the state of Washington; Adelia M., wife of G. S. Hill, of Glendale, Ore.; Appleton N., a resident of Oakdale, Wis.; Lydia J., wife of Alfred A. Howard, a farmer and contractor of Greeley; Ada N., wife of Lieutenant-Governor Brush; and Ruth M., wife of Horace C. Clark, clerk of the supreme court, of Denver. The sons were both soldiers of the Civil war, Appleton being with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea as a member of the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, while James ID. was a member of an Iowa regiment, and both remained in the service over three years, as they re-enlisted. Mrs. Hill was the first of the family to come to Colorado, arriving here in 1864, but she was soon afterward followed by the others, the parents coming in 1871 and our subject in 1876.
Mrs. Beckwith was married in Wisconsin to Charles D. Wells, who was elected to the state legislature from Monroe County, that state, in 1875. By that union she had one daughter, Lotta, now the wife of Charles E. Clark, deputy clerk of Weld County. In 1879 she married W. D. Beckwith, now a farmer and water commissioner of North Park, Colo.
Since 1888 Mrs. Beckwith has been connected with the clerk's office in Weld County, having applied for a position in January, that year, to Captain Hotçhkiss, then county clerk. So acceptably did she fill the position that site was retained by his successors, Mr. Huffsmith, P. C. Williams and L. C. Mead. In June, 1897, she announced her intention of becoming a candidate for the office of clerk on an independent ticket, and as her friends interested themselves in her behalf she was endorsed by the People's, Republican and Prohibition parties, and at the fall election received a majority of nearly one thousand over her opponent. She was the first lady elected to that office in Weld County and the third in the state, the others being Mrs. Gunn, of Logan County, and Mrs. Sue Callihan, of Boulder County. By her long clerkship she is especially qualified for the office, and is now most capably and satisfactorily discharging its duties, winning the commendation of all concerned. She was the second lady to register after the female suffrage bill was passed, has taken quite an active, influential part in public matters, and has clearly demonstrated the possibility of ladies assuming important positions in public life. She attends the services of the Congregational Church, though not a member, and in social circles she stands high.
BRAHAM SLATER, a pioneer of '59, settled upon an eighty-acre farm, one mile west of Denver, in 1889, and here he has since engaged in gardening and the raising of small fruits. He is a native of Ontario, Canada, born March 27, 1828, and is a son of Benjamin and Maria (Johnson) Slater. He was one of ten children, six of whom are still living, namely: Isaac, who resides in Sioux City, Iowa; William, of Chicago; Samuel, living in Polo, Ill.; Lydia, the widow of Henry Wagner, of Ontario; Abraham; and Mary, widow of Daniel Appleford, of Polo.
The father of this family was born in Chenango County, N. Y., about 1790, and there grew to manhood. The inducements held out by Canada to secure settlers led him to migrate to that country, where, in order to secure land, he was required to take the oath of allegiance. On the
834
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. breaking out of the war of 1812 he was drafted into the service by the Canadian government and served as sergeant of his company until the close of the war. He was then offered a homestead by the government, but the land was situated so far back in the country that he refused it, and bought property in a more desirable place. Settling down to farm pursuits, he spent his remaining years as an agriculturist, and died on his homestead about 1879. He was a man of influence and was highly respected. His first wife died when our subject was six years of age and afterward he married Mrs. McMurchy, a native of Scotland. They became the parents of seven children, five of whom survive: Catherine, Jonathan, Sarah, Lois and Joseph.
At the age of eighteen years our subject began in life for himself, securing employment with a Canadian farmer, with whom he remained for three years. In 1849 he came to the States and for seven years made his home near Polo, Ill., where he rented a farm. In 1856 he went to Iowa and located in Chickasaw County, where he farmed and worked for others until 1859. At the time of the discovery of gold in Pike's Peak he determined to go west to the mountains, and with an ox-team he started across the plains, leaving Iowa on the 28th of March, 1859, and arriving in Denver on the 14th of June following. After a few days in Denver and Golden he went to Central City and until November of the same year he worked in the mines. In the fall he returned to the valley, where he spent the winter, and in the spring of 1860 went back to the mines, working at California Gulch until the fall. He then again came back to the valley, and again in the spring went to Central City, where he followed various occupations. On his return in the autumn to the valley, he settled on Clear Creek, and in the spring engaged in farming on a quarter section of land taken up by himself and a partner. After one year he sold out and bought one hundred and sixty acres in the same neighborhood, where he carried on farm pursuits. In 1889 he removed from that place, which was situated three miles west of Arvada, to his present property on Prospect avenue, one and a-quarter miles from the county line. Here he has since engaged in farming and the raising of small fruits.
In 1868 Mr. Slater married Miss Mary Moon, and they have three children: Edgar W., who cultivates the home farm; Nettie, who is at home; and Nora, deceased. In political affiliations our subject is a silver Republican. He was uncle a Mason at Golden in 1863. In religious belief he is a Methodist, and has been a well-known and useful member of the church.
In order to irrigate his farm, which consisted of four hundred acres, Captain Warren devised an excellent plan. In 1873 he filled Warren Lake, which formed a natural basin, from Cache la Poudre, having one of the first water rights. He incorporated the Warren Lake Reservoir Company, of which he was one of the largest stockholders. The water from the reservoir is used in the irrigation of the land, which in this way is abundantly watered. In 1891 Captain Warren was elected manager of the Harmony mills, a farmers' mill, which he managed successfully for five years, resigning in August, 1896. When
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