MARCELLIN PINEAU.
Mardos Collection
MARCELLIN PINEAU.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1099
ARCELLIN PINEAU came to Colorado in September, 1865, and settled in Denver, where he worked at the tailor's trade. After a time he located on Coal Creek, Arapahoe County, where he now owns a valuable ranch of four hundred and eighty acres. The place is fenced and contains the usual improvements of house, barns, etc., while a part of the land is used for pasturage and the remainder planted to corn and hay that is used for feed. The results are due to his energy and perseverance, for he has worked untiringly to secure needed improvements on the place and has used every precaution in purchasing stock to secure only the best grades.
A native of Chouviney, Middle France, Mr. Pineau was born June 5, 1824, a son of John and Jane (De Cham) Pineau. The parents remained until death in their native land, the former dying there in 1863. In his family there were two sons and one daughter. Peter was a grain dealer in France, but is now deceased. Mart married Louis Repeaux and is living in France. Our subject spent his early life in his native country, where he was educated in the schools. At the age of nineteen he started out for himself, having previously learned the tailor's trade. He remained in Paris until 1855, when he crossed the ocean, settled in Chicago, and for seven years carried on business in that city. After coming to Colorado he worked at his trade until coming to his ranch. He pre-empted, homesteaded and made a timber claim. The former he sold and later bought one hundred and sixty acres more. He is married and has one son, Lucian Marcell, who is in the Colorado Iron Works.
Since becoming a citizen of this country Mr. Pineau has been loyal to the welfare of the nation and its interests. Politically he believes in Republican principles and votes the straight party ticket. In his school district he has served as treasurer, and it was through his efforts that the first school was started here. In religion he is a Catholic. He has been a very successful business man, and is one of the best-known stockmen in his vicinity. For a time he lived in Central City and managed the Central City Hotel while there.
UTHER C. SECREST is in partnership with his brother, T. E., in farming and the threshing business, and ranks among the enterprising young agriculturists of Jefferson County. He was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, May 14, 1864, and received a fair education in the public schools of his native place. At nineteen years of age he went to Iowa, where for eighteen months he was employed as a farm hand, and in that way he gained an excellent knowledge of agricultural pursuits. Returning from Iowa to Ohio, he engaged in farming and stock-raising for himself, and, being industrious and persevering, he was prospered.
Believing, however, that Colorado offered better opportunities to a farmer than did his own state, in 1888 Mr. Secrest came to Colorado. On his arrival here he became a partner of his brother in the farming and stock business in Jefferson County, the two owning a well-improved farm near Arvada. For some years they have also been engaged in the threshing business, being proprietors of a steam threshing machine, which they operate during the season.
The two brothers are men of business ability, energetic, capable and honorable. Agriculture, in its various departments, has formed their chief occupation in life, and the manner in which they have taken advantage of every method or plan tending to the enhanced value of their property has had considerable to do with their success, They own and cultivate a valuable tract of land, and everything about the farm indicates their careful and intelligent supervision.
HOMPSON E. SECREST, a progressive and well-known agriculturist of Jefferson County, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, February 8, 1865, a son of Henry G. and Hannah S. (Rose) Secrest. He remained at home until fifteen years of age, when he came west as far as Iowa, and for two years taught in public schools in that state. In 1882 he refused a school tendered him and came to Colorado on a tour of inspection, arriving in Denver on the 12th of April. He was favorably impressed with the country and determined to locate here. After about a week he and a companion, who had come with him from Iowa, went up into the mountains and built a hut at Kenosha, in South Park, where they remained for three months.
Returning from Kenosha to the vicinity of Denver, a short time afterward the two young men crossed the plains into Kansas. In three
48
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. months, however, Mr. Secrest was again in Denver, and afterward he worked as a farm hand in the neighborhood of that city. During 1885 he rented a tract of land, which he began to cultivate. The next year he bought his present farm, which is situated some three miles northeast of Arvada, and here he and his brother, Luther C. have since carried on a general farming and cattle-feeding business, in which they have been very successful.
The marriage of Mr. Secrest took place June 2, 1897, and united him with Elizabeth Ault, an estimable lady, of this county. In the public affairs of his locality he takes an intelligent interest. Politically he is a Democrat. His attention, however, is given almost entirely to his farm interests and to operating a threshing machine that he owns.
Of their sons one was Thomas Jefferson Stiver, Sr., father of the doctor. He was born in Center County and upon arriving at man's estate selected farming for his life work. To it he devoted his active years, but not to the exclusion of matters relating to the public welfare. He was always interested in the growth and progress of his county, and took an especial interest in educational matters. For twenty-seven years he was president of the school board, in which capacity he did much toward promoting the standard of education in his neighborhood. His name among his acquaintances stood for every quality that marks a good citizen. To each of his six sons he gave good educational advantages and he was proud of their attainments and honorable character. He died in 1872, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife, Mary F., was a daughter of William Bike, of Aaronsburg, Pa. They are the parents of eight children: Rev. Samuel Stiver; William Stiver, M. D.; Prof. Perry O. Stiver; James R. and Thomas J., both physicians; David S. Stiver, D. D. S.; Maggie; and Belle, wife of Edward Ward, M. D., of Bellefonte, Pa.
After having studied in an academy for a time, the subject of this sketch began to teach school when he was sixteen years of age and continued in the occupation during the winters until he was twenty-two, the intervening summers being devoted to academic study. He studied for three years in the medical department of the University of Denver, from which he graduated in 1895. After graduating he became assistant to the chair of rhinology and laryngology in the university, which position he has since held. He is a member of the alumni of the university and the Colorado State Medical Society and also a member of the American Medical Society. During the short time he has engaged in professional work he has built up a good practice, with flattering prospects for future success.
ELSON FRANKLIN, superintendent and manager of the State Ore Sampling Company, of Blackhawk, Gilpin County, is a gentleman who has risen to prominence and prosperity by native force of character and genius. Handicapped to an unusual degree in his youth, he made a brave struggle and eventually won success as he truly deserved. Always an interested student along scientific lines he mastered with comparative ease problems in chemistry, mineralogy and assaying and is an authority on these subjects. He is a member of the Colorado Scientific Society and has given his earnest attention to the matter of extracting gold and silver from the ore in which it occurs.
The eldest in a family of six children, Nelson Franklin practically brought up his brothers and sisters, even though he did not possess the best of health when he was a young man. He was born in Brantford, Canada, in 1857, his parents being job and Fannie (Field) Franklin. The father was a native of Herefordshire, England, born in 1830. He was about twelve years old when he accompanied his father, William Frank-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1101
lin, and the rest of the family to America, and settled in the neighborhood of Brantford, Ontario, where they engaged in farming. When he had reached man's estate he married a lady whose birth had also taken place in Herefordshire, and whose father, John Field, of the same locality, had become a farmer of Brantford, Canada, when she was a young girl. Mrs. Franklin died at the old home near Brantford in 1874. The father went to California in 1873, and from that time until his death, in 1891, was a ranchman and contractor in the vicinity of San Francisco. They were the parents of six children, all of whom survive. The eldest daughter, Jennie, is Mrs. Thomas H. Fair, of Toronto, and the next one, Rose, is Mrs. J. Holtby, of Belvidere, Ill. William, the forth child, is engaged in running a market in Belvidere, Ill. Mrs. Annie Hart resides in Red Bluff, Cal.; and Job, the youngest, is in Santa Rosa, Cal.
On account of his delicate health Nelson Franklin did not attend school very much in his boyhood, and is indebted to his own private study, in a large measure, for his liberal education. When he was sixteen he became a bookkeeper for a drygoods house, and within six months was made head bookkeeper, which position he retained for six years. He then went to Buffalo, N. Y., and occupied a similar place for two and a-half years, after which he came to Colorado. This was in 1882, and during the following four years he prospected and mined in the San Juan district, and opened and developed the Vanderbilt and the Blizzard mines, which he still owns.
In 1886 Mr. Franklin commenced taking contracts for building railroads, and for four years was employed in carrying out work for the Midland, the Rio Grande, the Santa Fe, the Rio Grande Southern and Franklin & Carroll. One mile of railroad which he built for the Rio Grande, in the Grand River canon, is a marvel of skill and engineering and cost the corporation $116,000. In 1890 Mr. Franklin became superintendent and chemist for the Gold and Silver Extraction Company, and was the first to successfully develop and use in practical manner the cyanide process. For the next few years he was busily occupied in introducing this new system and erecting mills in various localities. Since 1896 he has been the manager of the State Ore Sampling Company, which concern operates a plant capable of handling one hundred tons per day. Mr. Franklin is interested in several mines and is developing mines in Nevada District, Gilpin County.
Fraternally our subject is a Mason, having been admitted to the lodge in Brantford, Canada; made a Royal Arch Mason in Buffalo, and while in that city becoming a member of Lake Erie Commandery No. 21, K. T. He now belongs to Union Lodge No. 7, A. F. & A. M., of Denver; Royal Arch Chapter of Denver; Colorado Commandery No. 1, K. T., of Denver, and El Jebel Temple, Mystic Shrine. He is master workman of Central City Lodge No. 16, A. O. U. W., of Central City, and is identified with Blackhawk Lodge No. 4, K. of P. Politically he is a Democrat and has often attended conventions of the patty as a delegate.
Mr. Franklin was married in Denver to Miss Zora Seaman, who was born in Georgetown, Colo. Her father, LaFayette Seaman, was an early pioneer in this state, coming here in 1860, and his death took place in Denver a few years ago. The two children born to our subject and his estimable wife are named Electa and LaFayette. The family reside in Central City, where they have a very pretty and attractive home.
OHN S. McCLAVE owns and occupies one of the most comfortable brick country houses to be found in Weld County. It was erected by him in 1886 and adds greatly to the value and desirability of the homestead. Fifteen years ago he bought his property, known as Fulton farm, and has since been extensively engaged in stockraising and general farming. The place comprises two hundred and forty acres, and is well adapted for the pasturing of live stock. During the winter Mr. McClave feeds about fifteen hundred sheep, to say nothing about his cattle and horses, of which he keeps a good many at all times. In addition to this farm he owns eight hundred acres located on the Arkansas River, and that property is managed by his sons, Beard and Perry, enterprising young men. The success which our subject has achieved in life is something of which he may be justly proud, for he began the battle without capital, save his strong, willing hands and brave heart.
Stephenson McClave, father of the above, was
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. a native of Grafton, N, H., born in 1806. When he was a young man he went to Boston to learn the machinists' trade and from there he went to Mobile, Ala. He remained in that city three years and in the dread yellow fever epidemic of 1830 he was one of the sufferers. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he passed the rest of his days, chiefly engaged in farming. He died in 1883. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican. He was a son of John McClave, of New Hampshire, in which state the common ancestor of the family had settled upon his arrival here from Scotland. Our subject's mother, Sarah (Bangheart) McClave, was a native of Trenton, N. J., and died in 1874, aged sixty-four years. Of her six children five survive: J. S.; William, a resident of Illinois; Sarah, wife of Erskine Sellick, of Buckley, Ill.; Michael J., of Loveland; and Stephen, of the same place.
John S. McClave was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, and was educated in the public schools and in Antioch College. Then he taught school in Clermont County for some five years, and later turned his attention to farming. From 1872 to 1883 he was a wholesale dealer in grain in Illinois, buying and selling in all parts of the state. March 16, 1883, he landed in Platteville, with the intention of locating here permanently, and the following autumn he purchased his present place. He is a stockholder in the Platteville Ditch Company and has been president of the same for some six or seven years.
During a period of three years Mr. McClave was secretary of school district No. 31. In 1888 he was brought forward as a candidate for the Colorado legislature, but was defeated, owing to the much greater acquaintanceship and longer years of residence here of his opponent, Francis W. Hammitt. He has always been an active Republican, and when in Illinois was a justice of the peace. He is a charter member of Platteville Lodge No. 81, I. O. O. F., and is past grand and is a member of the grand lodges of Illinois and Colorado, and formerly was identified with the encampment in Illinois.
In 1859 Mr. McClave married Miss Hattie M. Goodell, daughter of John Goodell, of Lime, Grafton County, N. H. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McClave, namely: Albert, Beard T., Maude M. (Mrs. R. Haythorn), Perry, Hattie, Ada, Blanche and Ray E. Albert has much of the responsibility of the management of the home farm. Ray is attending the State Agricultural College in Fort Collins. Hattie and Ada are graduates of the state preparatory school at Boulder. Ada is now teaching in the Denver public schools; and Hattie and Blanche are teaching in the Eaton schools.
REDERICK C. SCHRODER was born in Germany December 24, 1849, and, aside from his brother Henry, was the only child of Eilert Schroder, a native of Elmendorf Germany, born about 1822, and a farmer by occupation. When he was a boy he had such advantages as the neighboring schools afforded. At the age of twenty-one he enlisted in the army and took part in the Franco-Prussian war, serving for two years and eight months in the army. On his return home he resumed work on the farm. In 1876, having decided to emigrate to America, he set sail on a steamer, which landed him in New York City after a short voyage. In a few days he went to Kansas, where he spent two years each in Donovan and Washington Counties, engaged in farm pursuits.
Coming to Colorado in 1880, Mr. Schroder begun mining in Summit County, where he remained for fifteen years. During that time fortune favored him and he discovered valuable mining properties. For some eight months, in 1890-91, he engaged in prospecting in New Mexico. He came to Clear Creek Valley in 1895 and purchased his present place of twenty-five acres, where he has since engaged in gardening and fruit-growing. In 1895 he built a substantial and commodious brick residence, which is handsomely furnished and provides a comfortable home for his family.
October 7, 1894, Mr. Schroder married Mrs. Julia A. Petrie, widow of William H. Petrie. She was born in Pleasantville, Weschester County, N. Y., a daughter of Milo M. Parrish, a native of Stockbridge, Mass. Her father removed in early life to Westchester County and for many years carried on business as a marble contractor in Pleasantville and Tuckaho, being the owner of valuable marble quarries. His wife was Mary Tallman, a native of Newburg, N. Y. Mrs. Schroder is a woman of far more than ordinary
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1103
ability. She possesses qualities that make her counsel valuable not only in the management of household affairs, but also in the conduct of the business. In December, 1896, she became the owner of a half-interest in the Puzzle group of mines, one of the valuable mining properties of Breckenridge, and now operated under lease to Messrs. Nelson and Young.
ENJAMIN WOODBURY, proprietor of the Fruitvale Nurseries near Boulder, purchased his present home place of ten acres in 1882. At that time there was not a tree or building on the land, and it bore little resemblance to the beautiful, well-kept country place it is with its fine orchards, lawns and residence. The latter was erected by our subject in the summer of 1883, since which he has added to and improved it until it is one of the most desirable modern homes of Boulder or vicinity. He is a pratical (sic) fruit-grower and florist and is making a success of the undertaking.
The father of our subject, Simon Woodbury, was born in Bremen, Lincoln County, Me., in 1806. He learned the trade of a millwright and carpenter, following those callings in his native place until shortly before his death, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. He was county commissioner two terms and acted in various minor offices in his community. His wife bore the maiden name of Hannah Yates, and all of their six children are living. Thomas is a resident of San Francisco County, Cal. Matilda, Lucy and Caroline are married; and John L. is a contractor and builder in Denver, Colo.
The paternal grandfather of Benjamin Woodbury of this sketch bore the same Christian name. He came to this country from England accompanied by two brothers, one of whom went to Cleveland, Ohio, while the other located in the northern part of Maine. He took up his own abode in Lincoln County, Me., and devoted himself to agriculture. Grandfather Thomas Yates, also a Maine farmer, and a veteran of the Revolution, was a native of the Emerald Isle. On his father's side, the great-grandfather of our subject, a Mr. Farrer, was a participant in the war of the Revolution, but more remarkable than this is the fact, that of his family of ten sons and two daughters, eight of the sons were also soldiers in the colonial struggle for independence. It is a question if such a record was made by any other family, either in that war or in any of the succeeding wars of this country, for where is there another case where a father and his eight sons were participants in one great battle, as was the case when this notable nine fought for the same cause in the engagement at Lake Champlain. Small wonder that a land which could muster forth such devoted families should conquer over all her enemies and become one of the grandest governments on the earth.
Benjamin Woodbury was born in Bremen, Me., July 27, 1831, and under his father's instruction learned the trades of carpenter and millwright. For two seasons he worked in the ship-yards at Bath, Me., and in 1853 he determined to seek his fortunes in the west. At St. Louis he took the first steamer that went up the Missouri River that spring. Kansas had not yet been organized into a territory, and it stretched out toward the setting sun in dreary, unbroken prairie. Some fifteen or twenty families had settled at a point that was called Ossawatomie, and here Mr. Woodbury located. He built a shop and a, house and then proceeded to erect numerous houses and barns for the new citizens of the little town. The place was near four Indian reservations, and, as the red-skins were doing considerable farming, our subject found his spare time well occupied in manufacturing and repairing wagons, farm implements, etc. He also entered eighty acres of land, but he suffered so severely with ague that he sold out about twenty months later and returned to Chicago, where he had spent a few days when on his westward journey. In that city, destined to become a great metropolis, he worked at his trade and at building canal boats. In 1859 he had charge of the hydraulics of the Illinois and Michigan Canal Company.
In 1860 the attractions of the great and growing west again appealed to him so strongly that he came to Colorado, and for a few months prospected in Gilpin County. In the autumn he went to New Mexico, only to return here in the spring following. That summer and fall he worked at gulch mining near Idaho Springs. In 1861 he returned to Gilpin County and for the next three years put up mills in Blackhawk and vicinity, often employing from forty to eighty
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. men, their labors extending to Clear Creek and Boulder Counties. In 1867 our subject built the first wing of the Canon City penitentiary, for the government, and in 1872 he built the first wing of the Laramie City penitentiary, also for the government. In 1873 Mr. Woodbury moved his family to Denver, and purchased a small home on Wheat Ridge, north of Sloan's Lake. His land here numbered eight acres. In 1875 he removed to Boulder and again engaged in mill-wrighting until he invested in his fruit farm. He was a mason, belonging to the lodge at Black. hawk, of which he was a charter member. Politically his ballot is used for the nominees of the silver Republican party.
At the age of twenty-one our subject went to the mountains with a team and began hauling. After one year he returned to Bear Creek, where he rented land four miles east of Morrison. The following year he rented a place in Littleton, then returned to Bear Creek, where he operated as a renter for two years. Afterward, buying a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on Bear Creek, one and one-half miles east of Morrison, he settled down to the busy life of a farmer. In 1876, during the Black Hills excitement, he sold his place and went to the new mining country, where he engaged in the dairy business and in putting up hay. On his return he bought an eighty-acre farm in Longmont, but after two years sold that place and went to the Gunnison country, where he embarked in the dairy business.
On his return to Bear Creek in 1881, Mr. Lewis bought two hundred and eighty acres situated four miles east of Morrison. This property he afterward sold, and purchased five hundred and fourteen acres adjoining it, which he now owns. In 1892 he rented that place and bought an interest in the livery business of Abbo & Brown, which business has since been continued under the firm title of Abbo & Lewis. He still owns two hundred acres of land one-half mile east of Morrison, but the property is operated by tenants. Fraternally he is connected with Morrison Lodge No. 82, I. O. O. F., and is the present treasurer of the lodge.
In 1870 Mr. Lewis married Miss Sarah E. Donovan, daughter of Cornelius Donovan, Her father, who was a native of Bourbon County, Ill., moved to Illinois in boyhood and remained there until 1859, when he came to Colorado. He endured all the hardships and shared the experiences common to the pioneers of 1859. Farming was his life work, and in it he met with fair success. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are: Amy L. and Oscar R. The daughter is the wife of James Abbo, member of the firm of Abbo & Lewis, and a prominent farmer of Jefferson County.
AMUEL STROUSSE is one of the old residents of Georgetown, and has been the longest engaged in his line of business of any merchant in the city. He has been enterprising and very successful, and has frequently established branch houses elsewhere, afterwards disposing of them, while he continued to retain his original location here. He possesses the esteem and respect of the entire community, who do not begrudge him the prosperity so justly gained by him in the legitimate lines of trade.
Mr. Strousse is a native of Bavaria, Germany, his birth having occurred near the city of Augsburg, April 29, 1850, His father was of an old and respected family there, and was a land
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1105
owner and stock-dealer. Both parents lived and died in Germany. The mother bore the maiden name of Clara Laubheimer, and in her girlhood her home was in Wurtemberg. Of the eight children of this worthy couple all but two remain in Germany. These two, Emil and Samuel, are in America, Emil being in business with our subject in Georgetown.
When he was a lad of thirteen years Samuel Strousse went to the city of Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he served an apprenticeship to the trade of manufacturing passamenterie trimming. Then, on account of the law forcing young men into the army for a term of years, he decided to come to the United States. He left Havre in 1869, and upon reaching New York he obtained a position as a clerk, and held the place for a few months. In December, 1869, he landed in Georgetown, and found employment with a Mr. Trapp, a merchant. In 1870 he started in business for himself on Sixth street, and has since been extensively engaged in dealing in dry goods and clothing. He opened a branch store in Silver Plume, and carried it on until the business was purchased of him by his brother-in-law, Mr. Morgenthau.
In 1880 Samuel Strousse embarked in business in Leadville, and was the proprietor of one of the largest houses of the kind in that place, until, at the end of some three years, the strike of the Molly Maguires occurred, when Mr. Strousse closed up his store and brought his goods to Georgetown. In addition to his other affairs, he has investments in mining property and real estate, and loans money, as well. Politically he is a stanch Republican. For years he has been treasurer of the Odd Fellows' Lodge No. 18, and is now noble grand. He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias.
April 9, 1873, Mr. Strousse married Miss Flora Morgenthau, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mrs. Strousse is the eldest in a family of seven children, her parents being Sampson and Lena (Gutmann) Morgenthau, natives of Fürth and Dispecht, Bavaria, Germany, respectively. The father was a merchant in Cincinnati and later in New York. Both parents died in New York City. The father was a member of the Ohio State militia at the time of the Morgan raid during the Civil war. April 9, 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Strousse celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in New York, their children and a large circle of friends being assembled to do honor to the occasion. Howard is a graduate of a commercial college and is a bookkeeper in the employ of his father. Lena is the wife of L. E. Young, the largest manufacturer and dealer in hats in New York. Arthur is attending Weingart's Institute in New York.
EORGE W. MANHART, the well-known merchant of Sedalia, was born in Luzerne County, Pa., February 5, 1855, a son of Christian and Sarah (Barney) Manhart, reference to whom appears elsewhere in this volume. He was five years of age when his parents came to Colorado, settling near Montgomery, and from there, in October, 1866, removing to the ranch they have since occupied. On that place our subject continued to make his home until his marriage, which took place June 21, 1876, at the old homestead, his bride being Miss Bertha Hoffman, daughter of Louis and Ellen (Gallagher) Hoffman.
March 4, 1878, Mr. Manhart embarked in business in Sedalia, but the business was at first conducted on a small scale, in a small building. From that beginning he has built up his present large and profitable trade. In the summer of 1889 he erected a stone store, which is a substantial building and would be a credit to a much larger city than Sedalia. It is three stories in height, including a basement, and is heated by steam and lighted by electricity, Mr. Manhart owning a dynamo that lights both his store and his residence. At one time his business in cash sales aggregated $30,000 per annum, and it is now about $12,000. As a merchant he is keen, painstaking, anxious to please, and content with small profit on each sale. His goods he sells at reasonable prices, which makes him popular among the people of the surrounding country. His entire time and thought are given to his business, and he has never mingled in public affairs, other than to cast a Republican ticket at elections.
Twelve children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Manhart. The eldest of these, Albert, was born on the ranch where his paternal grandfather resides, June 20, 1877, and is now a bookkeeper and clerk in the store. The others are: Cora Maude, born December 17, 1878; Herbert,
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. November 15, 1880; Bertha H., October 5, 1883; Sarah K, horn December 22, 1884, died August 6, 1893; Clara Florence, born February 2, 1886; Mary W., born April 9, 1887, died October 13, 1891; Ethel Irene, born September 10, 1888; Frances Elsie, April 17, 1890; Christian Louis, May 26, 1892; Edna Ada, November 25, 1894; and Arthur Henry, December 18, 1896.
ON. ENOCH J. COFFMAN, ex-member of the state legislature, and one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Longmont, was born in Preble County, Ohio, October 19, 1837, His parents were Jacob and Mary (Stover) Coffman. His father was born in Maryland, and was a son of Daniel Kaufmann, who went to that state from Germany and followed the trade of a miller, changing his name to the present spelling - Coffman. Jacob Coffman entered the war of 1812 while yet a boy, then carried on freighting until 1832, in Maryland. At that time he went to Ohio, where he engaged in farming; from there he removed to Ogle County, Ill., and continued his occupation of farming for seventeen years. In 1865 he came to Colorado and entered one hundred and sixty acres, now the Secor estate, where he died at the age of seventy-two years. His wife died in Longmont, having attained her seventieth year. She was born in Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of Daniel Stover, afterwards of Preble County; Ohio. They were the parents of a large family of children, of whom all but one grew to adult years. These were as follows: Daniel S., who is engaged in mining in Glendale, Colo.; Susanna, Mrs. Hooker, now deceased; Christiana, Mrs. Slifer, a resident of Longmont; Simon, who died in this state in 1860; Enoch J., whose name heads this sketch; J. D., who is now living in Denver, and was a soldier of the Seventy-second Illinois Regiment; Rev. J. F., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now located in Blackhawk; O. F., who is also a resident of Denver; Rev. A. W. who is also a minister in the Methodist Church and has a charge in Nebraska; Cornelia, who died while the family were living in Illinois; and Helen M., who is Mrs. W. W. Secor, of Longmont.
When he was about eleven years of age Mr. Coffman's parents moved to Illinois, where he was placed in the public schools, and later graduated from Mount Morris Seminary. After leaving school he taught for two years in Illinois and one in Iowa, and then, hearing such wonderful stories of the wealth of this territory, determined to come and investigate for himself. Accordingly, in 1862, he started overland with a horse train, crossed the mouth of the Platte and followed that stream until he reached the central part of the state. When he arrived in Gilpin County he had been four weeks on the road, and here he halted and devoted the following three years to mining. In this enterprise he met with moderate success, in the meantime making several trips back and forth to the river. In 1865 he entered a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he is now living. Eighty acres of this, in Longmont, he sold to the Chicago and Colorado Colony, and one of their streets is named in honor of him. The adjoining eighty was divided up, twenty in town lots, Coffman's addition to Longmont, and the remaining sixty he cultivates. This is devoted to general farming, stock-raising, etc. In addition to this he owns ten acres on Reservoir hill. He was among the first to take up with the plan of making ditches for irrigation, and the Coffman ditch, which runs through his farm and is three miles long, was constructed entirely by him. He has always retained his interest in mining, and is one of three owners of Lord Byron mine in the Gold Hill district.
While in Iowa Mr. Coffman married Miss Electa McConahay, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Thomas McConahay, a blacksmith and machinist. They have one child, Stella, who is a graduate of the Longmont high school and academy, and is engaged in teaching. Mr. Coffman was made a trustee of the Chicago and Colorado Colony when it was started and still occupies that office. He has served the city as trustee and also as school director for many years. He assisted in erecting all of the first school buildings here, and has always been a strong friend to education. In 1892 the People's party placed him on their ticket as candidate to the office of representative from Boulder County, and elected him by a majority of six hundred and ten. He served through the session of 1893, and the extra session of 1894, where he was chairman of the irrigation and a member of other committees. He has been an adherent of the People's party
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