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the candidate for county commissioner, but did not work for the election and consequently was defeated, though by seventeen votes only. The parents of Mr. and Mrs. Cramer were religious. In life they were faithful members of the United Brethren Church.
OHN
H. MORCOM, superintendent of the Colorado Iron Works, was born
near Land's End, Cornwall, England, and is a member of one of the
old families of that shire, to which the first of the name in
England are supposed to have emigrated from Normandy. His father,
John, who was a son of David Morcom, was born in Cornwall, where
he followed the baker's trade during his active life. When
advanced in years he came to America, and from that time until his
death he resided in DeSoto, Mo. He married Jane Goodman, who was a
native of Cornwall, and is now living in Kansas. Their only child,
who forms the subject of this sketch, was reared in his native
shire, where, at the age of fourteen, he began an apprenticeship
to the blacksmith's trade in the foundry owned by one of the
largest manufacturers of machinery in England. Three years were
spent in the foundry, after which he went to London and entered
the employ of Rennie & Co., ship and gunboat builders, with
whom he completed his trade.
In 1867, at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Morcom came to America and settled in Renovo, Pa., where he worked in the Sunbury & Erie Railroad shops. One year later he went to St. Charles, Mo., and was employed in the Northern Missouri shops there for two years, after which he spent a similar period in the Missouri Pacific Railroad shops in St. Louis. His next employment was as master mechanic in the blast furnace of the South St. Louis Iron Works at Carondelet, a responsible position and one that he filled with efficiency. In 1877 he resigned, having decided to come to Colorado for the benefit of his family's health. At Golden he secured work in the railroad shops of the Colorado Central, where he continued until the fall of 1879, and then came to Denver. From that time until August, 1881, he was employed by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. He then accepted a position as foreman in the blacksmith shop of the Colorado Iron Works Company, later was made foreman in the machine shop, taking up the mechanical part of the machinery, together with the oversight of the men. In the fail of 1887 he was made superintendent of the works, which position he has since held, besides being a director of the company. At times he has had as many as six hundred men employed in the foundry, machine, pattern, blacksmith and boiler shops, and his capable management of the hands, as well as his intelligent supervision of the plant, has materially increased its prosperity.
In London, England, Mr. Morcom married Catherine Tripp, who was born in Cornwall. They have a son and daughter; Philip, who is foreman of the blacksmith shop of the Colorado Iron Works; and Carrie, at home. Mr. Morcom has never taken all active part in politics, but keeps well posted concerning public affairs and is a Republican in belief. Fraternally he is connected with the Ancient Order of Foresters, also with Oriental Lodge No. 87, A. F. & A. M., and Denver Chapter No. 2, R. A. M.
ILLETT
L. BOOTH is engaged in general farming and the dairy business in
Arapahoe County, where he owns a ranch situated just across Cherry
Creek from the postoffice of Oakes. He was born at Prairie du
Chien, Wis., April 18, 1856, a son of Levi and Millie (Downing)
Booth. His father, who was an attorney, was one of the two first
graduates of the University of Wisconsin, and removed in 1857 to
Madison, where he engaged in professional practice about four
years. In 1860 he came to Colorado and here, a year later, he was
joined by his wife and son, who had been visiting near Sandusky,
Ohio. He engaged in mining and other occupations. For three years
he lived in Leadville and then removed to Lamacia, six miles from
Las Cruces, and forty miles from Old Mexico, where for six months
he carried on a mercantile business, though he was prospered
financially, the location and surroundings were not congenial. In
the entire town of ten thousand inhabitants there were but three
white women. In 1864 he removed to Denver and took up land near
the city, where he has since made his home.
Until fourteen years of age our subject did not attend school. However, under his mother's instructions he was taught to read and write and given a knowledge of arithmetic. After coming
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to Denver he attended school in this city and in time became the possessor of a fair education. At twenty-one years of age he rented a farm, but after a year he returned to the home place, where he remained six years. May 1, 1884, he married Miss Carrie F. Hale, of Denver, who was born near St. Johnsbury, Vt., a daughter of Loren and Roxanna (Brown) Hale, who moved from New Hampshire to Vermont. She received an academic education, three years before his marriage he had bought a home and to it he took his wife. In 1896 he embarked in the dairy business, in which he has also been successful.
Politically Mr. Booth is a Republican. In the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a member, he takes an active part and is especially interested in Sunday-school work. As superintendent of the school he was instrumental in promoting its welfare. Fraternally he is connected with Harmon Lodge No. 105, I. O. O. F. He is a member of Cherry Creek Grange No. 8, in which he has filled various offices. He and his wife are the parents of four children, Levi G., Perley Thomas, Charles Holbrook and Hazel Lillian.
IRAM
MARFELL, who is a successful mine operator and is the owner of
valuable coal lands about two and a-half miles south of Erie, Weld
County, is one of the representative citizens of that locality. He
is a native of England, his birth having occurred in
Gloucestershire, May 15, 1840. His parents were Edmund and Ann
(Burdock) Marfell, and of their family, which originally comprised
six children, only two remain. A sister, Belinda, is the wife of
Cornelius Harris, of Drybrook, England.
Edmund Marfell was born in the same neighborhood as that in which the birth of the subject of this article took place. His life extended from the year 1800 to 1884, and was busy, useful and happy, in spite of business reverses and the sorrows and trials which came to him, as to all. In the early part of his career he followed agricultural pursuits for a few years, and then turned his attention to mining, in which he prospered. In time he became one of the comparatively rich men of his neighborhood, but he went security for friends and lost heavily, until but a small portion of his property remained. For several years he held the responsible position of overseer of the parish, a similar office to that of county commissioner in America. His wife, Ann, was born in 1807. The Marfell family have been residents of Gloucestershire for a great many generations and have been marked for traits of independence, good citizenship and uprightness of word and deed. Our subject's grandfather, Moses Marfell, was a well-to-do farmer of the shire mentioned and at the time of his death he had reached the ripe age of eighty-seven years.
In his boyhood Hiram Marfell obtained a common-school education, and long before he had arrived at his majority he worked with his father in the old stone-quarries of the neighborhood of his early home. About 1863 he took a position as time-keeper in a colliery and continued to act in that capacity for some seven years. In 1870 he set sail for the United States, and upon landing in Portland, Me., went to New York, and thence to Mahoning City, Pa. During the following two years he found employment in the anthracite coal mines, after which he concluded to travel in the west, seeing something of the country. He remained for a few days in Virginia City, Nev., and then spent two or three months in the Grass Valley mines in California. Returning to Colorado he commenced working in the Erie coal mines. At the end of about eighteen months there arose dissatisfaction among the men, and the result was that nineteen of the number, including our subject, formed a combination and leased the Mitchell mine. Mr. Marfell was chosen from them to represent their goods in Denver, disposing of the production of the mine. The plan prospered for a time, but dissensions arose as to the management of the business, and the company ultimately suspended operations.
The next step of Mr. Marfell was to embark in business for himself, and up to 1893 he had Henry Goodrich as a partner. In 1880 they sunk the shaft of the Stewart mine, which they actively operated for thirteen years, and sold in 1893 to the People's Coal Company. A short time prior to this transaction Mr. Marfell had sold his coal business in Denver to Dresser & Wise. Since then he has given his chief attention to his landed interests, as he owns six hundred and forty acres two and a-half miles south of Erie. A quarter-section of this property is valuable coal land. In 1896 he leased some coal land four miles south of Erie, and has since been operating
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it. He is a man of excellent business ability and few more thoroughly understand the value and possibilities which lie in the vast coal-beds of this state.
In Denver, May 24, 1882, Mr. Marfell married Miss Elizabeth Flannagan, of that city. After a happy life together of little more than eight years, Mrs. Marfell died, in November, 1890. While he is not identified with any church or denomination, Mr. Marfell is interested in religious enterprises and contributes liberally toward their support. He is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge, A. F. & A. M.
AVID
J. TINTLE, who resides in the south-eastern part of Douglas
County, was born November 30, 1856, at Bloomingdale, a little town
in the northwestern part of New Jersey. When he was five years of
age his father died and one year later his mother, who was in poor
health and realized she had not long to live, placed him and a
younger brother in Foster Home, at Newark, N. J., a Presbyterian
institution. There dwells, clearly through all the intervening
years, fresh and strong in the memory of our subject the
remembrance of the last sad parting with his mother, for he never
saw her again until taken to her funeral. He remained at the Home
until ten years of age and was well treated, both he and his
younger brother being sent to school regularly. In fact, the
larger part of his education was obtained in those years.
From the Home the orphan boy was bound out to Sam J. Randall and worked for him at all kinds of work that falls to the lot of a strong, healthy boy in the country. He did not always receive the best of treatment and was not sent to school, although such had been promised to the Home authorities. When two years had passed away Mr. Randall found that he could not keep the boy without fulfilling his part of the contract, and the boy, knowing the same to be true, ran away and began to work for his next neighbor, John Ross, a large dry-goods merchant of New York City. He remained with Mr. Ross for some time, receiving his wages regularly. From there he drifted to Paterson, N. J., where he drove a milk wagon for J. B. Corter. He then visited an uncle in Brooklyn, with whom he found his only sister, and becoming very much attached to her he spent the next two years in Brooklyn, but was obliged to pay board regularly to his uncle. He was anxious to become a sailor and haunted the Brooklyn navy yard until his uncle, fearing he might succeed in finding a place at last, persuaded a boy-chum of our subject to coax him out west. They were sent by the Children's Aid Society to Missouri and arrived at Lathrop when he was about fourteen years old, but quite large and strong for his age. He soon found employment with Alexander Judy, with whom he remained for two years. He was then sent to Divide, Colo., with others, driving a herd of cattle across the plains.
June 9, 1872, Mr. Tintle arrived in the neighborhood of his present home. Being too young to take up land he worked at farming, logging, etc. He spent a few months in San Luis Valley then returned to the Divide, where he became a cowboy and worked for some of the best cattle men in the state, one of these being H. H. Metcalf, secretary of the stock association at the present time. In the summer he rode from Colorado to Texas, but most of the winters he spent on the Divide. In 1878 he became acquainted with Miss Julia Alderman, a teacher in the little country school near where he lived, and the youngest daughter of James H. and Adelia Alderman, of New Jersey, but then residing with their sons on the Divide. She was born in Jacksonville, Ill., in 1860, and moved in 1872 to Denver, where she was educated, graduating from the Denver high school in 1880. After her graduation she began to teach in the school, where she continued until her marriage at her brother's home, December 21, 1881.
Up to the time of his marriage Mr. Tintle had saved nothing and owned no land. He rented a little farm three miles from his present home and furnished a little house, in which he and his wife began housekeeping very comfortably for the west. In February, 1882, he took a herd of cattle on shares, and bought for $I,000 (on time) the place he was renting. After four years he sold out to a wealthy miner and had enough left to pay part down on a larger place, farther up the creek, and the present home of the family. It contained three hundred and twenty acres of land, well watered and timbered, but scarcely a furrow had been turned in the soil. Since then he has built his residence, paid the remainder due
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on the place, and expects to continue the improvements until he has a model country home. He and his wife have three sons and three daughters, all born on the Divide except Mary, who was born in Denver. The oldest daughter, Millie, a bright girl of fifteen, is attending school in Denver. The sons, Frank L. (eleven years of age), David J. (nine) and Lawrence M. (seven), attend the district school at the present writing. Mary E. is three and one-half years of age and Ruth ten months. The children will be given every advantage within the reach of their parents, who wish to give them the best possible preparation for the responsibilities of active life.
Giving his whole attention to private matters, Mr. Tintle has never taken any interest in political affairs. In 1892 he was asked by his friends to run for commissioner, but refused, as he did not feel that he could leave home. Three years from that time he was told by prominent men of the county that he would be nominated for commissioner and to be at the convention to accept. That was the first convention he had ever attended, but he has attended most of the county and state conventions since. He was nominated on the Republican ticket and elected. He has always been a strong Republican and is now an equally strong silver supporter. In January, 1898, he was elected chairman of the board of commissioners and has since held the position. During his term of service he has built a number of roads and valuable bridges and otherwise improved the county. It is his aim, and the desire also of the other board members, to run the county for the best interests of the majority of the people, regardless of politics; and, while striving to neglect nothing that demands attention, they are nevertheless quite economical, and no expenditure is authorized without due consideration. November 8, 1898, he was re-elected commissioner on the fusion ticket.
Neither Mr. Tintle nor his wife is a member of any church, being liberal in their views, but cherishing the greatest respect for Christianity in its sincere and honest form. In all their dealings they strive to be upright and do as they would be done by. They are very charitable in disposition and no one is ever turned away from their door hungry. Mr. Tintle has never forgotten the days when he was homeless and his heart goes out in sympathy for all who have no place on earth they can call home. Fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Odd Fellows' Lodge of Elbert, but living at such a distance he cannot attend meetings regularly, and has not taken an active part in their proceedings. What he has accumulated represents continuous hard work through many years. He is an able business man, an efficient worker, and possesses the executive ability that should secure a high degree of prosperity for its possessor. However, he has never cared to hoard money, but prefers to spend it in securing comforts for his family and good educations for his children.
DWARD
B. BOWLES, a general farmer residing in Harris, Arapahoe County,
was born in Dade County, Mo., November 16, 1846, and is the son of
Williamson and Louise (Priddy) Bowles. He was one of seven
children, of whom all but two are still living, those besides
himself being Alonzo C., a farmer living in Waco, Tex.; Sanford, a
farmer in Dade County, Mo.; Maria, wife of Tully King, a farmer of
lone, Ore.; and Newton, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in
Weld County, Colo.
The father of our subject was born in Hanover County, Va., in 1814, a son of John W. Bowles, of English descent. He grew to manhood on the home farm and after his marriage removed to Missouri, where he remained for years. He gave up active business affairs some ten years before his death, and during his remaining days resided with his children in Colorado and Missouri. He died in 1897 at the age of eighty-three years. Our subject grew to manhood beneath the parental roof and had such educational advantages as the neighboring schools afforded. In 1863 he turned his steps westward, coming to Colorado with a party of fifteen other emigrants, with oxen and a herd of three hundred cattle. For five years he was occupied in freighting on the plains from the Missouri River to Salt Lake, Denver, Santa Fe and other important points.
In 1868 Mr. Bowles became interested in farming. For three years afterwards he cultivated rented kind, and in 1871 took up the homestead where he has since resided. In 1871 he married Miss Elizabeth Longan. Nine children were born of their union, all living, and named as follows: Benjamin, who is a farmer in Weld
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County; Jesse, who assists his father on the home farm; Newton, John, Bessie, Maria, Bruce. Marietta and Lawrence, all at home. In politics Mr. Bowles is independent, never having allied himself with any political party, but voting for the men he believes best qualified for office, whatever their political affiliations.
ENJAMIN
C. JOHNSON purchased a tract of forty acres near Harris, Jefferson
County, in 1882, and has since made this place his home. He
engaged in carpentering until 1889, meantime having practically
built the entire village of Lafayette, but since that year he has
given his attention to the sale of machinery. A native of
Champaign County, Ohio, he was born November 25, 1844, and was one
of the three children of Benjamin and Maria (Means) Johnson. His
father, who was born and reared in Greenbrier County, W. Va.,
removed at the age of twenty-eight years to Ohio, where he resided
until his death, following farm pursuits. He was a man of sterling
qualities and was held in high esteem by all who knew him.
After having spent his first fifteen years at home, our subject took a trip through the south in company with Joshua Haines, who was buying mules for the southern trade. Not only did he go through the south, but his travels extended as far as South America. After eight months he returned home, where he continued to reside until the breaking out of the war. May 12, 1861, he enlisted in the Thirteenth Ohio Artillery, and when, at the battle of Shiloh, the Thirteenth lost its guns, he was transferred to the Tenth Ohio Artillery, in which he served until August 18, 1865. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Corinth and in the battles between Chattanooga and Jonesborough. He was breveted lieutenant, but did not receive his commission, and was mustered out of the service as corporal. Among his souvenirs of the war is a medal given him by the state of Ohio, for bravery in leading a charge of men at Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, to drain the fire of the Confederates, while the army secured a crossing.
When the war closed Mr. Johnson returned to his home, but after one year he went to Mahaska County, Iowa, where he settled and engaged in farming. September 24, 1870, he married Miss Mary R. Derby, who was born in Lee County, Iowa, November 12, 1849, a daughter of Chauncey Derby, a prominent farmer of Lee County. Shortly after his marriage he determined to come west and the same year, 1870, found him in Mitchell County, Kan., where he learned the carpenter's trade. Four years later, in 1874, he returned to Iowa, where he worked at his trade in Mahaska County for three years, and at the same time purchased and operated a sawmill. In 1878 he again came west, stopping in Kansas from March to November, when he came to Colorado. Going direct to the mountains, he ran a sawmill from November to July, when he came to Denver and engaged in carpentering. Since 1882 he has resided on his small farm near Harris.
Politically Mr. Johnson is an ardent Republican. He is a member of Major Anderson Post No. 88, G. A. R., in which he has held all the higher offices and is now past commander. He and his wife are the parents of three children. Birtsel E., who was born November 13, 1871, and who graduated at the Denver high school in 1891, is now employed in the office of the Colorado News Company; William C. was born March I, 1877, and is now engaged in farming; Elizabeth Adell was born February 27, 1882.
OHN
KOERBER, a well-known dairyman and ranchman of Arapahoe County,
was born in Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, May 1, 1848, a son of
George and Margaretha (Neuner) Koerber, natives of the same place
as himself. His father, who engaged in farming, died when in the
prime of life, and left two sons and three daughters. Of these,
John, an older brother, is engaged in farming in Germany;
Josephine is the wife of John Stenline, of Michigan; Maggie
married Frank Power; and Cora is the widow of John Arnot, of
Michigan.
The boyhood days of our subject were passed in attendance upon the public schools of his native land. He was twenty-one years of age when he sailed for the United States. Arriving in this country, he settled in Michigan, where he was employed for a time in the iron mines. He spent ten years in Michigan and in 1879 came to Colorado, settling at Golden Run, where he carried on a hotel for a number of years. From that place he came to Denver in 1888. In 1893 he pur-
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chased the ranch where he now resides. He raises hay for feed for his stock, and has placed a number of valuable improvements on his ranch, including a substantial house, good barn and other outbuildings. It is one of the very best dairy farms in the country and has splendid improvements.
August 12, 1872, Mr. Koerber married Annie Schilling, a native of Germany. They are the parents of three sons and five daughters, namely: John, Jr., Walter, Anthony and Maggie, who are at home; Cora, wife of John Hughes, a farmer of Arapahoe County; Mary, Annie and Abalena, at home. Politically Mr. Koerber is liberal in his opinions. He has served as a director of his school district and in other ways has promoted the interests of his locality. Both he and his wife are members of the Catholic Church, in which faith they have reared their children.
ACOB
MACK, deceased, formerly the owner and proprietor of a large ranch
in Arapahoe County, was born in Metz, France, March 14, 1834, and
when five years of age was brought to this country by his parents,
John and Amalia. The family settled in New Orleans, where the
father and mother died of the yellow fever. Of the seven sons,
only three attained manhood; the mother and three sons died in one
day of yellow fever. Shock, the oldest son, was drowned in the
Mississippi River when thirty-three years of age; and John, who
was a soldier in the Civil war, died at fifty-three years of
age.
When a boy our subject did not have the educational advantages that fall to the lot of the boys of the present generation. His parents were poor and after their death he was obliged to fight the battles of life for himself. The information that he obtained he secured through self-culture and with the assistance of his wife, who was his helpmate in every sense of that word. At the age of nineteen he went up the Mississippi to St. Louis. He enlisted for three months in Company D, Fifth Missouri Infantry, and at the expiration of his term of service he enlisted in the Second Regiment of Missouri State militia or State Home Guard, remaining in the army for more than two years.
In 1867 Mr. Mack came to Colorado and settled on a ranch one mile from Bennett, on Kiowa Creek. Here he remained until his death, May 1, 1878. His marriage, July 20, 1858, united him with Christina Schaller, a native of Altenheim, Baden, Germany, who came with her parents to America at fifteen years of age and settled in St. Louis, Mo. Her father, Jacob Schaller, who was a weaver in Germany, died soon after coming to the United States. Mrs. Mack was educated in Germany. She is a lady of gentle, amiable disposition, especially devoted to the welfare of her immediate family, but kind and helpful in her intercourse with all. In religion she is a Presbyterian. Since her husband's death she has superintended the ranch, which is stocked with cattle and horses; and has made a number of valuable improvements. The place contains a good house, barn and outbuildings, and is three hundred and sixty acres in extent. At the time the family settled here, the nearest neighbors were from fifteen to eighteen miles distant. They themselves were poor in this world's goods, and it was only by diligent effort on the part of both Mr. and Mrs. Mack that they secured a competency. He was a Republican in politics, but was too busy with his ranch work to take an active part in public affairs.
Eight children, seven sons and one daughter, were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mack. John and Julius died in boyhood. Katie Amelia is the wife of Henry Nordloh, a stockman; George C. assists his mother in the care of the homestead. William C. died when eight years of age, and John also died when young. Fred married Nellie Bates; Henry, the youngest of the family, died when a boy of five years.
ARX
KERN is engaged in general farming four miles north of Parker,
where he owns a well-improved place on section 32, township 5
north, range 66 west. When he came to Arapahoe County he had
little capital, but, possessing an abundance of energy and
determination, he gradually attained prosperity, and his landed
possessions now aggregate seventeen hundred acres. At one time he
made a special feature of stock-raising, but of late years he has
to some extent discontinued this line of work.
Mr. Kern was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, December 9, 1832, a son of Adam and Rose Kern. He was reared on a farm and received a common
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school education. When he was about sixteen years of age his father died, and he, being the oldest son, was obliged to support the other members of the family. For this reason he was not called into military service. In 1854 he took passage on a sailing vessel and after a voyage of thirty-two days landed in New York, from which city he proceeded west to St. Louis. There for a year or more he worked at any honest occupation he could find. Going from St. Louis to Parkville, Platte County, Mo., and thence to Brown County, Kan., in the latter place he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres and made his home there until 1860. In that year he fell a victim to the Pike's Peak gold fever and came to Colorado with ox-teams, accompanying three other men.
After having engaged in mining for two years, Mr. Kern came to Cherry Creek Valley, where he worked by the month, and with the money he saved, he bought a team of oxen. From 1863 to 1869 he engaged in freighting, but in the year 1867 took up a homestead of eighty acres and turned his attention to farming and stock-raising. He was married October 30, 1869, to Miss Margaret Brenn, of Denver, who, like himself, was a native of Germany. They settled in a house built of hewed logs, and in this they still make their home, though they have boarded and plastered it, transforming its appearance entirely. They have only one child living, Lena Bell, who is with them on the ranch. Their older daughter Emma, died aged seven years. Mr. Kern was reared in the Lutheran faith and inclines toward that church. In the grange he has officiated as treasurer and steward and is now gate keeper. In political views he is a Republican, and has voted that ticket at every election since the presidential campaign of 1876.
EORGE
ATCHESON, M. D., whose office is pleasantly situated in the
Hanchett block, Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County, has a large
practice. He is particularly skillful in surgical cases and
complicated diseases, but also devotes much of his time and
attention to general family practice. Success has attended him in
all of his professional work and the high praise which he receives
from those best fitted to pronounce an unbiased verdict upon his
career is but his just due.
Dr. Atcheson, who is especially qualified, both by natural abilities and talents, as well as by careful education and training, for his chosen lifework, is a native of New York City and is now in his early prime. He was born in 1866, and since 1873 has been a resident of Colorado. His grandfather, John Atcheson, was a Scotchman, who, upon being given control of large estates in Ireland by King George of England, removed to the Emerald Isle and there passed the rest of his days. At one time he did considerable civil engineering in Canada. John Atcheson, Jr., father of the doctor, was born in Templemore, Ireland, and was a mere youth, less than twenty years of age, when he left home, in order to come to the United States. Arriving in New York City, he shipped before the mast, and was on the high seas for some two years, after which he engaged in ship-carpentering in the yards in Brooklyn and New York. His brother George was a lieutenant in the Union army during the Civil war, serving under G. B. McClellan. Afterward he was appointed Indian agent in Minnesota and in 1870 located in Blackhawk, whence he returned to the east some years later. John Atcheson joined his brother in Blackhawk and was in business with him for a period. In 1873 his family came west, and dwelt on a large ranch on Cherry Creek, in Douglas County. Mr. Atcheson made a goodly fortune in the cattle business and is now living retired in Denver. The wife and mother was Miss Jane Amelia McDonough in her maidenhood. She was born in New York City, a daughter of James and Jane (Wood) McDonough, both of Scotch descent, though the father was born in Ireland.
In a family comprising six sons and five daughters, of whom two sons and four daughters are living, the subject of this sketch is the eighth in order of birth. He was but three years old when his parents removed to the neighborhood of Pleasant Hill, Cass County, Mo., and engaged in farming. On account of malaria they concluded to change their habitation and in 1873 settled in this state. The lad attended the public schools as soon as he arrived at a suitable age, and made rapid progress in his studies. In 1887 he started upon a four years' course in the University of Denver. Upon finishing the same he entered the medical department of the institution, graduating in 1893 with the degree of Doc-
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for of Medicine. During the last year of his studies he was a nurse at the Union Pacific Railroad Hospital, and after he had been awarded his degree he was honored by being made house-physician of St. Luke's Hospital. He remained there for almost a year, receiving invaluable experience, and then accepted a position as surgeon for the White Hills Mining and Milling Company, of White Hills, Ariz. At the close of two mouths he resigned and upon April 14, 1894, he came to Idaho Springs. Here he soon built up an enviable reputation and won the confidence and respect of the citizens. He belongs to the alumni association of the University Medical College. Politically he is a silver Republican.
While connected with St. Luke's Hospital in Denver, Dr. Atcheson made the acquaintance of Miss Edle Moore, whom he made his wife June 27, 1894. She was born in Indiana and is a graduate of the training school for nurses, associated with the hospital mentioned. The young couple have one child, John George by name.
EORGE
VOLLMAR, a retired farmer residing on section 12, township 2,
range 67, Weld County, was born April 16, 1834, in the province of
Alsace, then a part of France, but now in Germany. His boyhood
days were spent in the home of his parents, Sebastian and Barbara
(Ritter) Vollmar, at Strassburg on the Rhine. At the age of
eighteen he crossed the ocean to America, landing in New Orleans
November 20, 1852, with only five francs in his possession. He
spent two weeks in New Orleans and then worked his way to St.
Louis, where he engaged in carriage making, a trade that he had
learned in Germany during his apprenticeship of three years. His
next stopping place was St. Joseph, Mo., where he engaged for
himself in wagon and plough manufacturing.
In 1860 Mr. Vollmar started overland for Pike's Peak, making the trip in company with a Mr. Caverly, and driving a three-yoke team of cattle. Reaching Denver, he found a mining town with only a few houses, and those insignificant in appearance. He left the team and went to the mountains, where he prospected, but two discouraging weeks convinced him that he knew nothing of mining and should turn his attention to something else. He engaged in cutting hay and hauling it to mining camps, in which work he continued for two years. In 1862 he took up land on section 25, township 3, range 67, where he made some improvements and remained until 1865, carrying on general farming and stockraising. On selling his claim in 1865, he settled upon his present ranch, where he owns four hundred and eighty acres of fine land, all the improvements of which have been made by himself. Here he carries on farming, stock-raising and dairying. He is a stockholder in the Side Hill Ditch Company, which waters his land; and in the Meadow Highland Ditch Company.
Mr. Vollmar has never allied himself with any party, but preserves an independent attitude in political matters. In the organization of school district No. 13 he was a prime factor, and for many years he served as president of the board of trustees. He was one of the organizers of the Platteville Building and Loan Association, of which he was for some time a trustee. A man of energy and ability, he has acquired a valuable property, in spite of reverses that he has met with and obstacles he has been obliged to overcome.
May 24, 1865, Mr. Vollmar married Anna, daughter of William and Ann Shortley. She died in 1878, leaving four children. The eldest of these, Frank, has charge of the home farm. The second, Charles L., a dairyman of Denver, was the founder of the Platteville creamery and erected the building now occupied by it. Belle, the third child, is the wife of Michael Gottwiller. The youngest, Benjamin, is now managing the separator for the Littleton creamery, near Colorado Springs. In 1881 Mr. Vollmar married Mrs. Lydia Shortley, widow of John Shortley, but she died a year later. In 1883 he was married to Agatha Birkle, sister of David Birkle, of Platteville; she died in 1886. Two children were born of this union, Lena, and a son who died at the age of six months.
HARLES KOEHLER, proprietor and manager of the Club stables, is in point of years of active business the oldest liveryman in Denver, where he has resided since September, 1869. He is of German descent. His father, John W. Koehler, was born in Hamburg and emigrated, with his wife and family, to Illinois, settling in Macon County, of which he was the
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first German resident. Establishing his home in Decatur, then a small village, he built a house in what is now the heart of the city. By trade he was a locksmith, which he followed for a time in Decatur, but later built the first brewery in the town, and this he and his son-in-law operated for some years, under the firm name of Koehler & Richards. Unfortunately, after having accumulated a fortune, he was obliged to sacrifice everything on account of the defalcation of the sheriff, whose bondsman he had been. He then removed to Barton County, where he engaged in farming until his death at sixty-three years of age. Politically he was a Democrat and in religions belief a Lutheran. His wife, Martha Koehler, was born in Germany and died in Missouri at the age of eighty years, seven mouths and seventeen days. Of their family of five sons and two daughters, all are living but one of the sons.
Charles, who was third in order of birth among the children, was born in Decatur in November, 1846, and in boyhood attended the schools of that city. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade, and after three years began in the horse business. In 1865, when eighteen, he went to Memphis, Tenn., and spent eight mouths working there. Next he was employed as wagon master for the government in Omaha until 1866, having for two years had charge of the wagon trains from Julesburg to Fort Larimer and from Reno to Phil Kearney. Often he encountered Indians, then quite numerous on the frontier. Once, at Horseshoe ranch, he was surrounded by savages in the night, when the camp was in slumber. However, he had a horse whose scent was keen, especially in relation to Indians, and he awoke Mr. Koehler by neighing. Seeing the danger, our subject immediately hitched up and started to save the train, in which he was successful. In 1866 he came through to Denver with a government train. In 1868 he resigned from the government employ and engaged in the horse business in Omaha, remaining there until he came to Denver in 1869.
In 1870 Mr. Koehler secured employment with the Denver horse railway, which he assisted in constructing, being superintendent of the work, and when the road was completed he pulled the first street car ever run in Denver. For nine years he continued with the company in the capacity of superintendent. In 1879 he embarked in the livery business as proprietor of the Telephone stables, which he remodeled from an old church on Arapahoe street. Selling out eighteen months later, he located on Curtis across from the St. James (then known as the Wentworth house). For three years he carried on a livery business in that location and then built a barn on Champa, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, where he remained for five years. In 1886 he started the Club stables at No. 1441 Curtis, where he remained for five years, removing in 1891 to his present location immediately adjoining. He carries on a livery, feed and sale stable, and has in his barn a fine livery stock.
Politically Mr. Koehler is a Republican. He is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Fraternal Union, and is a charter member and director of the Alliance Insurance Company of Denver. By his first marriage one child, Sophia M., was born. Afterward he married, in Denver, Mrs. Emma (Hummel) Steehn, who had one child by her first marriage, a daughter, Magdalene. Mrs. Koehler died October 26, 1897.
HEODORE
NOTT, of Hazeltine, is said to have the best farm in the state;
certainly the place would be a credit to any community. It is well
irrigated and kept in the best of order; the buildings are all
good and a look of neatness and order prevails that is refreshing
to the eye. Mr. Nott was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y.,
August 8, 1842, and there grew to manhood on a farm. He attended
the district schools, and afterward the academy, beginning to work
for himself when about nineteen. For about four years he ran a
stage line and carried the mail between Antwerp, Jefferson and
Ogdensburg, N. Y., and the next year conducted a livery barn in
Carthage, that state. The following four years he carried on the
same business at Antwerp. He then decided on locating in the west
and took passage, by rail, to Cheyenne, in the spring of 1869,
coming from there to Denver by stage. Here he engaged in the dairy
business, with a brother, in the vicinity of Blackhawk and Central
City, remaining about four years.
October 11, 1865, Mr. Nott married Miss Carrie P. Proctor, of Antwerp, N. Y., and in the fall of 1869 his family followed him to Colorado. After leaving his ranch in Jefferson County, he went to
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Denver and ran a dairy for three years more, and then moved into the country in Arapahoe County, thirty-two miles east of Denver, where he began raising sheep. He was extensively engaged in this business for seventeen or eighteen years, and made quite a handsome profit from it. This money he invested in Denver real estate, which was then having a boom, and when the collapse came, most of his money was lost. In 1892 he traded for one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 6, township 2, range 67, upon which he now lives. They had six children, viz.: Edward, who married and lives in Denver; Maud, who married Edward Clay, a railroad man, and has one child, Dorothy; Ernest, who lives at home; Reuben, who is married and lives in Arapahoe County, where his father formerly had his sheep ranch; Stella, who died in 1891, and is buried in Fairmont Cemetery; and Fred, who lives as home.
Formerly Mr. Nott was a Democrat, but since coming to this state he has joined forces with the Republicans. He has been an earliest supporter of superior school advantages, and has probably done more for the cause of education than anyone else in the county. He has been school director fully four-fifths of the time since coming to the state.
OWELL
H. SMITH, M. D., ex-county treasurer of Boulder County, is a
gentleman who ranks second to none in the estimation of his
fellow-citizens in Longmont, where he has dwelt for the past
eighteen years. In 1893 he was nominated for county treasurer by
the People's party and was elected by a good majority, and in 1895
he was again elected to the responsible position. He refused to
allow his name to go before the convention of 1897, and thus
served from New Year's day, 1894, to January 1, 1898, when he
surrendered the office, He was justice of the peace here for two
terms; was deputy county physician one year, in 1882, and could
have held other local positions of more or less importance had he
so desired.
Dr. L. H. Smith has had a varied and interesting career. He has not confined himself to the practice of his profession, though in later years he has given it most of his time and thought, and in whatever line of business endeavor he has engaged he has nearly always met with success as a result of his ability and perseverance. A native of Keysville, N. Y., born in 1833, he was reared in Ohio from the time he was four years of age. When he was in his fifteenth year he entered the freshman class of the Ohio Wesleyan University, of Delaware, Ohio, and as he was paying his own way and taught school for nearly four years in the meantime, he did not graduate until 1853, when he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Three years later he had earned the additional degree of Master of Arts. He continued teaching and was but six months over twenty years of age when he was made superintendent of the New Richmond (Ohio) schools, remaining there two years. Going to Cincinnati as assistant of the Third district school, later he was given the position of principal of the Corryville school. In the last-named capacity he served for two years. At the same time he was making a study of law and was admitted to the bar in September, 1858. On account of family affairs he returned to the country and resumed teaching in the Clermont County schools. Altogether he has spent eleven full years of his life in teaching. In the fall of 1860 he was employed by the state superintendent to visit all the city schools of Ohio, and was occupied in this line at the time of the outbreak of the war.
Dr. Smith was then, as he has
always been, an enthusiastic patriot. He immediately set to work
to raise a company, and within just a week from the opening shot
of the war he presented himself and men at Camp Jackson, ready for
the fray. They were mustered in April 23, 1861, as Company E,
Twenty-second Ohio Volunteers, Dr. Smith being their second
lieutenant. They were sent to West Virginia for four months, and
when mustered out the doctor proceeded to raise another company.
This little band was enlisted as Company E, Fifty-ninth Ohio
Infantry, for three years' service, with the doctor as first
lieutenant. They were with General Nelson on his campaign up the
big Sandy, then were sent into Kentucky and participated in the
battles of Pittsburg Landing and Siege of Corinth, besides many
minor engagements. The doctor was for a time quartermaster of his
regiment; then brigade quartermaster, and finally was promoted to
be brigade commissary of the First Brigade, Second Division,
Fourth Army Corps, serving as such from the battle of Stone River
until his command
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