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resigned the position. In ten years he built more than one hundred and fifty houses in Denver, among them two blocks of substantial residences on Irvington place, where he now resides. On severing his connection with the tramway company he engaged in the cattle business more extensively, and now, in partnership with A. C. Dake, he handles from fifteen to thirty thousand head of cattle a year, buying in Oregon and Arizona, shipping from there in the spring to Kansas, where they grass on his ranges at Morris, Dickinson County, and in the fall, selling to farmers and feeders in that state and Nebraska. He is also interested in the real-estate business. Politically he favors Republican principles. He has been a successful man in all his undertakings and, wherever known, is respected as an upright, honorable citizen.
HARLES
L. DAVIS, who resides in Boulder and is largely interested in some
valuable mines in Colorado, was born in Waukesha County, Wis.,
September 5, 1850, a son of John and Lucy (Lyman) Davis. He was
one of seven children, of whom three besides himself are now
living. They are: Mary A., wife of Alonzo Stillwell, of Boulder
County; Frank W., manager of The Ward Rose Gold Mining Company;
and Bertha E., wife of M. E. Platt, a farmer of Boulder
County.
John Davis, who was born in Massachusetts April 30, 1817, spent the first nine years of his life on the home farm in Franklin County, after which he worked in a cotton factory for fifteen years. In 1841 he went to Grant County, Wis., and took up land, on which he afterward discovered lead. For eighteen months he engaged in farming and lead mining, after which he returned to Massachusetts and for two years again worked in a cotton mill. In 1844 he married Miss Lucy Lyman, of Warren, Mass., and the next year returned to his farm in Wisconsin, where he resumed farm work and lead mining. In 1850 he removed to Waukesha County, Wis., and embarked in the mercantile business, at the same time starting a match factory, which he operated for two years. In 1852 he removed to Allamakee County, Iowa, where he purchased and ran a sawmill.
Coming to Colorado in 1863, John Davis, in partnership with Austin Smith, erected a sawmill in Ward District, Boulder County, which they ran together until 1886. He then purchased his partner's interest, and with his son, our subject, operated the mill. In 1865 he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land six miles northeast of Boulder. Two years later he returned to Iowa and brought his family to Colorado. While en route across the plains he was twice attacked by Indians, but after sharp skirmishes escaped without loss of life. On reaching his farm, he resumed agricultural work, and at the same time prospected and engaged in mining. He was the owner and discoverer of the Gray Bird mine and also owned a half-interest in the Cross Lode mine, as well as owning other valuable mining interests. The last thirteen years of his life were spent with his daughter, Bertha E., wife of Milo E. Platt, of Boulder County; and in her home his earthly life ended March 7, 1898. Fraternally he was a Knight Templar Mason. An ardent supporter of the Republican party, he did much to advance its interests in this state. Of the two hundred and forty acres he owned he had sold fourteen acres, and at the time of his death left two hundred and twenty-six acres.
As our subject grew toward manhood he applied himself to farming. In 1872 he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres one-half mile north of where he now lives. From that time until 1883 he alternately worked in his father's mill in the mountains and prospected; and during this time he discovered the Cross mine and his father discovered the Gray Bird mine, in both of which he is largely interested. He is also a stockholder of The Ward Rose Gold Mining Company and was made president in 1896, shortly after its organization. The properties include the Chief, the Rose, Tenderfoot, Little Joker, Forest Queen and Little Charlie.
April 23, 1883, our subject married Della De Backer. Afterward he settled down to farming, and acquired the eighty acres where he now lives; in addition to which he has, adjoining it, his original pre-emption of one hundred and sixty acres. Here he engages in general farming and stock-raising, in addition to his work in connection with mines. He and his wife have four children: Lucy, Frank Elmer, John Arthur and Clara Ella. Fraternally Mr. Davis is a member of the Boulder Lodge of Maccabees,
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also a charter member of Silver Knight Lodge No. 2, of the Fraternal Union. In 1891 he was elected road overseer on the Republican ticket, and filled the office for one term.
ON.
LEANDER R. WEST. As a representative of the eighth district in the
senate, Mr. West has been true to every trust reposed in him and
has rendered able service in behalf of his constituents. His
labors have been of such a nature as to will for him the esteem
even of his political opponents, while he justly stands high as a
leader of his own party in Jefferson County. In the fall of 1896
he was the Democratic nominee for senator and in spite of the fact
that the county is Republican, he received the election by a fair
majority. While some of the plans he hoped to carry through at the
time of his election have failed of fruition, owing to the fact
that his party is in the minority, yet he has accomplished much
for the people. Economy in the expenditure of the public funds is
one of his watchwords, it being his theory that money raised by
taxation should be wisely and economically expended in the
interests of the people by whom it was paid.
Senator West owns and resides upon a fine fruit farm five miles from Golden. He was born in Nova Scotia, December 21, 1843, and is a son of Enoch and Abigail (Ryan) West, of whose five children three are now living, Leander R., Gibbs and Mrs. Emma Newcomb. His father, who was born in Canning, Nova Scotia, in 1822, was the son of Elijah C. West, who, being of royalist belief, found Massachusetts an uncongenial home during the Revolutionary period and therefore migrated to Nova Scotia. The family is of English descent, the great-grandfather having been the first to come to this country. They were shipbuilders by trade, and this occupation Enoch West followed throughout his active years. He died May 22, 1891.
The subject of this sketch grew to manhood beneath the parental roof and in the midst of the rugged scenery of Nova Scotia, where he learned the trade of his people. He followed a seafaring life for five years, and during the last two of these years he was master of a ship engaged in the Mediterranean trade. In 1868, on retiring from the sea, he came to Colorado and spent a year in Denver, after which he engaged in prospecting for a suitable place to locate and visited both Utah and Nevada, but finally decided that Colorado offered the best prospects for a settler. He located on Coal Creek, Jefferson County, where he embarked in stock-raising and general farming. In 1872 he purchased his present place, where he has since engaged extensively in fruit culture, in connection with raising stock and general farm products.
July 12, 1870, Mr. West married Miss Zipporah Hiltz, daughter of Alexander Hiltz, of Nova Scotia. Five children were born of their union. Enoch C., the eldest of the family, is married and resides in Jefferson County, where he is engaged in farming. George A., also married, resides on the homestead, of which he is the manager. Emma is the wife of William E. Cole, superintendent of Arapahoe ditch. Abigail and Leander A. are still at home.
OHN
R. LEWIS. As a mechanical genius, the gentleman named above was
without a superior, and followed that line of work in different
sections of the United States, Canada and South America. Beginning
as a boy without means, he availed himself of every opportunity
for advancement, and step by step ascended the ladder of success
until he was given charge of making the tools used on the Kansas
Pacific Railroad. His work was in Denver, but he lived upon his
farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Arapahoe County, sixteen
miles south of that city, on section 18, township 5, range 66.
Mr. Lewis was a son of Robert and Esther (Ashworth) Lewis, and was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, August 31, 1841. He was reared in a town in the vicinity of Manchester, England, where he attended school; and, although intellectually bright, he had no taste for study, preferring rather to ramble about in the woods admiring nature and making friends with the untamed inhabitants. At an early age he became an apprentice to the trade of a machinist, and after becoming a skilled workman, he moved to Montreal, Canada, at the age of twenty-three years, and was there employed in the Grand Trunk Railway shops. It was in that city that he met Miss Emma Clara Mayo, and their acquaintance ripened into something more than friendship, and they were married in Port-
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land, Me., December 4, 1866. In the latter city our subject became identified with the Portland Machine Company, by whom he was sent to Aspinwall, South America, to fit up the engines for the railroad across the Isthmus. About one year later he returned home, and subsequently moved to Farmington, Me., where he resided until he located in Denver, Colo., and entered the employ of the Rio Grand Railroad. A short time afterwards a tool room was built in that city, and he was placed in charge of the manufacture of all the tools used by the company. Subsequently he was called to accept a similar position with the Kansas Pacific Railroad, in which capacity he served with credit to himself and to the company until his death. He purchased a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of land in Arapahoe County, upon which he and his family moved in the spring of 1883, and which is still the family residence.
As a boy he had a great love for natural history and would watch animals in their native homes for days at a time, making a careful study of their nature and habits. Later he skinned and mounted animals and acquired a very handsome and valuable collection. While in South America, he helped to prepare many specimens for the Smithsonian Institute of Washington. He left a large variety of unmounted skins of birds, amounting to several hundred, when he died, and also a large collection of mounted ones, which are dearly treasured by his family. He left many keepsakes, resulting from his mechanical skill, which are the works of a master. Politically he was a member of the Republican party, but was by no means a politician. Socially he was in early life a member of the Amalgamated Society of England, and later of St. George Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Montreal, and of the Colorado State Grange. His death occurred May 10, 1894, and he lies buried in the burial ground on the family estate. He was a man of slight statute, five feet and seven inches in height; weight, one hundred and forty pounds, and with his black and wavy hair and honest blue eyes, he never failed to make a good impression, although rather reserved upon forming an acquaintance. However, once his friend, always his friend, and he could boast of innumerable ones in the various cities in which he had lived.
Mrs. Lewis was born in Birmingham, England, and was a daughter of Henry and Clara (Bolton) Mayo, the former of whom was among the first engineers brought from that country to work on the Grand Trunk Railroad in Canada. He continued as an engineer on that road until a short time before his demise. For some time they lived at Belleville, Ont., and then at Montreal, where Miss Mayo became acquainted with our subject. She possesses an amiable disposition, and is dearly loved by a large circle of friends, who sincerely sympathized with her in the loss of her husband. Their happy union was blessed by the birth of four children. John Henry, who was born in Portland, Me., and now resides on the farm with his mother, married Emma Retter Hawkey, who died in January, 1891; Charles Robert, born in Portland, Me., is a plumber by trade, and is in the employ of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad; Walter Mayo, born in Farmington, Me., lives at home; and Esther Clara, who was born in the city of Denver, is a student in the Denver high school.
ETER
ANDERSON, who is one of the most successful business men of Fort
Collins, has been a resident of Colorado for many years. He was
born near Hannefas, Norway, October 17, 1845, a son of Andrew and
Sarah (Peterson) Anderson, natives of the same locality. His
father, who was principal of schools and engaged actively in
educational work, died in 1850 and two years later the widowed
mother brought the five children to America, taking passage on the
sailing vessel, "Shaufnau," Captain Nelson, and arriving in Quebec
after a voyage of nine weeks. From Quebec she went to Chicago and
thence to Whitewater, Walworth County, Wis., where she died at the
age of sixty-five years. Her children are still living, viz.: Mrs.
Ida Blodgett, of Oconee, Neb.; Gilbert, who is engaged in the
clothing business at Whitewater; Mrs. Mary Dahlen; Peter; and
Andrew, who served in the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry during the war
and is now president of the First National Bank of Columbus,
Neb.
The education of our subject was acquired principally in Whitewater. He was employed in farming until fourteen, when he began an apprenticeship to the harness-maker and saddler's trade. On the completion of his term of service, in 1863, he went to St. Louis. In the spring of
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the next year he entered the government service as a saddler. For some time he was stationed at Chattanooga, Tenn., and from there he went to St. Joe, Mo. Soon afterward he started for Colorado, traveling across the plains with ox-teams from Marysville to Denver, and spending two months on the way. He arrived in Denver in December, 1864, and was employed by the government as a saddler, with shop on Larimer, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets, until the spring of 1865, when he returned, via ox-team, to Nebraska City.
His second trip to Colorado Mr. Anderson made in November, 1865. He came to Larimer County in January, 1866, and took up a pre-emption claim near Fort Collins. After proving up he took a homestead. In 1866 he started a ditch about one and one-half miles above his residence, he and Joshua Ames, now of Iowa, digging the ditch themselves; it is registered as Josh Ames Ditch No. 25. Later he put in another ditch, he and eleven other starting the Larimer and Weld County ditch, of which he was at one time president, and which, as now enlarged, is the largest ditch, not only in the county, but north of Denver. He is still interested in this ditch. For a time he had William Lindenmeier as partner, and on dividing the land, he retained three hundred and sixty acres in one body, all tillable land. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. At one time he was extensively interested in the cattle business. He raises large quantities of alfalfa, and in 1897-98 fed twenty-six hundred head of lambs. Besides this place, he owns a farm in Weld County. In 1888 he started in the implement business. He carries all kinds of implements, representing the John Deere Plow Company the Deering Harvesting Company, and carrying a full line of machinery for farm work. He erected a building, 30X170 feet, two stories and basement, in which he carries his stock of implements, also seeds of all kinds for Colorado soil.
The business which Mr. Anderson carries on is very extensive in all of its branches. He handles coal, hay, grain, potatoes, wagons, carriages, bicycles, in addition to agricultural machinery of all kinds. Owing to the increase of business, he was obliged to enlarge his quarters, and added a warehouse and storeroom in the rear of his old building. The structure was designed especially to meet his wants and is very conveniently arranged, the cellar being fitted up for the storage of potatoes, while the other floors are devoted to implements, wagons, buggies, etc. Each succeeding year has witnessed an increase of the trade, which now amounts to thousands of dollars yearly.
Mr. Anderson is a director and vice-president in the First National Bank of Fort Collins. He was one of the organizers and a director of the First National Bank of Columbus, Neb., of which his brother, Andrew, is president. His first marriage took place in Wisconsin and united him with Miss Mary Severson, a native of that state; she died in Colorado, leaving a daughter, Cora. The second marriage of Mr. Anderson was solemnized in Colorado, his wife being Annie (Anderson) Kraplin, a native of Norway. They are the parents of three sons, Paul, Lester and Howard.
Fraternally Mr. Anderson is connected with the Woodmen of the World; the Home Forum, of which he was the first president; the Eastern Star, to which his wife also belongs; Collins Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master; Collins Chapter No. 11 of winch he is past high priest; DeMolay Commandery No. 13, of Fort Collins, of which he was a charter member and the first eminent commander; and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S. Politically he is a Teller silver Republican. He is one of the trustees, and president of the board, also chairman of the board of stewards of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is identified with the Larimer County Sheep Growers' Association and the Wyoming Stock Growers' Association and was at one time connected with the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association.
OSEPH A. SCHERRER. This well-known ranchman of Elbert County was born in Riverside, Iowa, in 1858. He is the son of Joseph and Tessa (Cheerheart) Scherrer, both natives of France. His father, who emigrated to America in early life, engaged in farming in Iowa for some years, but after a time removed to Denver. The last years of his life were spent in that city, retired from business cares, and there he died in April, 1885. Politically he voted the Democratic ticket. He and his wife, who died a year before his death, were the parents of eight
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children now living. They are named as follows: Jacob, who was formerly engaged in the real-estate, loan and stock-mining business in Denver, but now resides in St. Louis; Alexander V., who is engaged in the stock business and lives in Denver; Mary, who is the wife of Frank Scherrer, of Windsor, Colo.; Josie, who married Harry Gard and resides in Los Angeles, Cal.; Rose, wife of C. B. McClure; and Tessa, Mrs. H. C. Chwanky; and Minnie, wife of S. A. Doll, all of Los Angeles.
Joseph Scherrer, the remaining member of the family, came to Colorado when a small boy with his parents, who soon returned to Iowa in order to educate their children. He attended the public schools of Riverside, that state, and at the age of twenty-three started out to try life for himself. His first venture was in a store, then he farmed in Iowa during the next few years. In 1882 he came to Denver and engaged in the commission business with his brother for a few years, and in 1886 came to Elbert County and located on the ranch he now occupies. From a small beginning he has steadily advanced by industry and frugality until to-day he owns one of the finest ranches in the vicinity, and furnishes an example worthy of emulation. He handles principally cattle and horses, and puts up several hundred tons of hay each year, furnishing work to a large number of men. He has a large cattle range, and his farm is supplied with a reservoir that enables him to irrigate one hundred acres of land. He is a Republican, but his life has been too much filled with business to engage in politics.
ICHOLAS
O. COLE came to his present home near Morrison, Jefferson County,
in 1878, and began to cultivate the land, in addition to which he
took up another farm as a timber claim. Here he has since engaged
in general farm pursuits. Since 1894 he has operated a threshing
machine during the season. In the spring of 1898 he purchased a
sawmill on the divide in Elbert County and this he has since run.
Politically he is a Democrat. For seven years, during the '80s, he
held the office of road overseer and he also served as a member of
the school board for one term.
The son of David and Margaret (VanAsdoll) Cole, our subject was born in Wyoming County, Pa., August 8, 1843, and was one of eleven children. Seven are now living, as follows: Charles O., who resides at Otsego Springs, Mich.; Harriet O., wife of William Mowry, of Wyoming County, Pa.; Mary A., Mrs. William Cole, of Susquehanna County, Pa.; John L., of Wyoming County; Nicholas O.; Nelson A., who lives in Pine, Jefferson County, Colo.; and Levantia, who is the wife of Sylvester Bush, of Scranton, Pa.
David Cole was born in Cooperstown, N. Y., October 12, 1807, and when a boy was bound out to Nicholas Overfield, with whom he lived until he became of age. He was married in December, 1828, and afterward bought a tract of timber land near Meshoppen, Pa., where he built a house and improved a farm. On that place he and his wife lived happily together for sixty-four years. Of their eleven children two sons were sacrificed on their country's altar during the Civil war, Benjamin V. falling in the battle of Antietam, while Philip H. died of typhoid fever on Morris Island. The father died May 2, 1893.
At twenty-one years of age our subject started out in the world for himself. He spent nine months on a trip through Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois, after which, returning home, he carried on the home place while his four brothers were at the front in the Civil war. In the fall of 1865 he came to Colorado, arriving in Bear Creek Valley March 6, 1866. After having operated rented land for four years he began to farm land of his own. In 1867 he pre-empted eighty acres and took up another eighty acres as a homestead. During the winters of 1870-71 and 1871-72 he engaged in hunting buffaloes on the plains and during that time killed more than three thousand of them. One day he counted more than fifty that he had killed while standing in one place. During these winters he had many exciting experiences with Indians.
April 28, 1875, Mr. Cole married Miss Emma Drake. Afterward they opened a boardinghouse in Daily district, in Clear Creek County, and at the same time he engaged in mining. In 1876 he became engineer for the St. Johns Company and moved to St. Johns. In the spring of 1877 he returned to the Bear Creek Valley, where he cultivated a rented farm. From that place, one year later, he came to the farm he has since owned and operated. He and his wife are the parents of six children, namely: David M., who
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manages the threshing machine for his father and is a capable young man of twenty-one years; May E.; John W., who assists in running the sawmill; Winifred, Ben C. and Nicholas O., Jr.
DA
NOYES BEAVER, M. D. One of the well-known physicians of Denver,
was born in Rhode Island, near Fall River, Mass., April 28, 1859,
and is a daughter of Alfred and Lucina (Sanford) Noyes, natives
respectively of Nashua, N. H., and Canandaigua, N. Y. The Noyes
family is of direct English descent, the first of the name in
America coming from England in the latter part of the seventeenth
century. One of her ancestors participated in the battle of Bunker
Hill and other memorable engagements of the Revolution. The
grandparents, Micajah, Jr., and Eliza (Chamberlain) Noyes, had
four children who attained years of maturity, two sons and two
daughters. Of the sons Alfred, the father of Dr. Beaver, was a
resident of Detroit, Mich., for many years. He served in the
Mexican war for two years, during which time he was wounded on
five different occasions. Though an invalid for years, he is still
living. His wife, who is also living, bore the maiden name of
Lucina Sanford, and was the youngest daughter and thirteenth child
of Rev. Philip Sanford, of Canandaigua, N. Y., who was of English
descent. Mr. Sanford chose as his wife Phoebe Castanoe (spelled in
France Castaneaux), daughter of Raymond Castenoe, who was the
youngest son of the Marquis of Castenoe, the companion-in-arms of
General Lafayette. Ida was the only child born to Alfred and
Lucina Noyes.
Until twelve years of age the subject of this article studied mainly under the tutelage of her father, a scholarly and educated gentleman, although for four terms (two years) she attended a country school. Shortly before she was sixteen she began to teach, and for three summers was thus employed, the autumns and winters being spent in the high school at Detroit, Mich. In September, 1878, she was appointed principal of the union school at Elsie, Mich., which position was given her on account of her reputation as a disciplinarian. Her older pupils in the higher grades, some forty in number, were nearly all country school teachers. As a teacher she was unusually successful.
After one year at Elsie she entered Michigan University, taking the Latin scientific course. She remained there only one year, but by examinations passed nearly half of the junior work. Overstudy undermined her health, and she left school. After recovering she began teaching. In her vacations she worked in the editorial rooms of the Christian Herald at Detroit, with a view to entering the journalistic field. Her work there consisted in reading proofs, writing book reviews, furnishing local and state news, and contributing each week either a story, essay or editorial. She continued to contribute articles to the Christian Herald and other journals, while teaching.
She was employed in the city schools of Detroit, principally the Tappan, about five years. One of the principal features of her work in Detroit was her participation in the abolishment of a notorious saloon and using the building for a Sunday-school, which grew to such proportions that a church was organized and Wesley Chapel built, which is now merged into the Preston Methodist Episcopal Church of Detroit. In the little mission that owed its existence principally to her energetic work, she labored successively as assistant superintendent, infant class teacher and recording steward. She was the first lady church official in the history of the Methodist Episcopal denomination in Michigan. Her primary class grew from eleven to one hundred and fifty, and her noble, self-sacrificing work bore abundant fruit. Constant work caused her health to fail, and hoping a change would bring needed recuperation she went to Florida, thence to Cuba and the Bahama Islands. Though so ill as to be confined to her cot much of the time, she continued writing and contributed to Detroit papers. On one of her trips she met Benjamin N. Beaver, whom she married in Detroit, September 2, 1884. They established their home in Dayton, Ohio, where Mr. Beaver was a wealthy manufacturer. Site devoted her leisure time to benevolent work and was a prime factor in the founding of the Bethany Home, and also a home for working girls. She became interested in the Woman's Christian Temperance work about this time and served as president of the local and treasurer of the district Y. W. C. T. U. She was elected by unanimous vote recording secretary, in 1886, of the Ohio state W. C. T. U. An address delivered by her during this time was so forcible and elo-
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quent that she was invited to deliver addresses throughout the state. An address delivered at Canton, Ohio; was listened to by William McKinley, who complimented her and encouraged her in the work. During this time, for a period of two years, she was employed as editor of a department of the Dayton Daily Herald.
Her fondness for study led her to enter in 1887 the Union Biblical Seminary at Dayton, Ohio, where she studied Hebrew, theology and Greek. Her average in Hebrew was ninety-eight, Greek ninety-six, ancient history ninety-six and theology ninety-eight, this being the highest in the class, of which she was the only woman member. Her study of the classics being unusual for a wealthy married woman attracted considerable comment, but its influence for good was far-reaching. Business reverses caused her to discontinue study and aid her husband in his office, and in time she superintended his five-story building used as a sash, door and blind factory. This she did satisfactorily, gaining the good will of the workmen, who called her the "little boss" and filling this position until the concern passed into other hands. In September, 1889, she accepted the position of preceptress of Midland College, at Atchison, Kan., and remained there for a year, being much beloved by pupils and faculty, who refused to accept her resignation at the end of the year.
On account of ill health, Mrs. Beaver came to Colorado and, desiring to continue medical studies begun elsewhere, she entered the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she passed the two years' examination in the medical department. In the fall of 1890 she went to Chicago and entered the senior class of the Woman's Medical College, a department of the Northwestern University, from which she graduated a year later. For two months she was interne at the Hospital for Women and Children in Chicago. Returning to Denver, she opened an office in June, 1891, and here she has met with phenomenal success as a physician. In the spring of 1894 she took a post-graduate course in New York City.
In the fall of 1894 Dr. Beaver was elected an officer in the East Capitol Hill Women's Republican Club. Later she was appointed a member of the state board of charities and corrections for a term of six years, and also a member of the state board of pardons for two years. After having served for two years as a member of the state board of pardons, she was retained in the office by the Democratic governor, Governor Alva Adams. Representing the board of charities and corrections, she was sent as a delegate to the national conference at New Haven, Conn., and the following year was appointed by the governor to visit state institutions and insane asylums in Ohio and Michigan. In the summer of 1895 she made a trip to Europe and attended the international convention of the W. C. T. U. in London, also the international prison congress at Paris. She traveled through Scotland, England, France, Germany, Belgium and Holland, visiting medical schools, hospitals, prisons and insane asylums. For years, and until the death of the loved national leader, she numbered Frances Willard among her friends, and has also been intimately associated with other women of prominence in reform work. Her life has been a very busy one, and now, in its prime, she can look forward hopefully to many years of continued usefulness in the large field to which she has been called.
LYDE
O. SECREST, A. B., superintendent of schools of Jefferson County,
was born in Senecaville, Guernsey County, Ohio, August 22, 1871,
and is of German descent .The family, however, has been identified
with American history since an early period in the settlement of
this country. He is a son of Henry G. Secrest, and a brother of
Luther C. and Thompson E. Secrest, whose sketches appear on page
1099. The youngest of the family is the subject of this sketch. He
graduated from the Senecaville high school in 1887 and then
entered the sophomore class of Scio (Ohio) College, from which he
graduated in 1890 with the degree of A. B. Upon completing his
education he turned his attention to educational work. His first
position was that of superintendent of schools at New Akron, Ohio.
In the fall of 1892. he became principal of the Lathrop schools at
Golden, where he remained until he accepted the principalship of
the Ralston high school. In the fall of 1897 he was elected county
superintendent of schools on the joint Republican and silver
Republican ticket, and took the oath of office the second Tuesday
in January, 1898, for a term of two years. He introduced the
system of a comparison of work among teachers of the county,
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and has instituted other improvements tending to advance the standard of scholarship and the thoroughness of work done by teachers. He has actively promoted the district normal institute, which comprises the counties of Gilpin, Clear Creek and Jefferson, and a meeting of which was held in Golden. In promoting the County Teachers' Association he has rendered efficient service. He is also identified with the State Teachers' Association and the National Educational Association. Fraternally he is connected with the Woodmen of the World. He has been Sunday-school superintendent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a member, and has frequently lectured before Epworth Leagues and Christian Endeavor societies.
AMUEL
BROWN. Among the representative farmers of Douglas County, Colo.,
the name of our subject stands out prominently as representing a
good citizen and enterprising business man, and a farmer of the
first class. He resides on section 14, township to, and range 66
west, six miles east of the town of Greenland, and his homestead
consists of six hundred and twenty-five acres. He was born in
Greenup County, Ky., June 11, 1832, and is a son of William and
Mary (Warnock) Brown.
Mr. Brown was reared on his father's farm and his opportunities for education were only such as afforded by the pioneer school; upon reaching manhood, he left the parental roof and went to Lee County, Iowa, where he remained but a short time, when he went to Scotland County, Mo., and his first six mouths in that county were spent teaching school; after returning home a few mouths, he began working on the Ohio River. The next few months were spent engaged in farming in Jackson and Cass Counties, Mo., but in 1854 he moved to what is now Lynn County, Kan., where he took up a tract of land and began farming. In the following year he was wedded to Martha Hobbs, by whom he reared two children: Melvin G. is on a ranch in Douglas County, Colo., and he is the father of five children; Mahala J. is the wife of James Buckner of North Carolina, and they are the parents of six children. Our subject was a resident of Kansas fourteen years, during which time he was a member of the state militia; he went to that state with James Montgomery, a leader of the Free-Soil party, who was later colonel in the Rebellion; during the Civil war when Price and his band of Confederate robbers kept plundering the people of that state, the state militia, under the leader, Samuel Pleasanton, succeeded in driving Price out. In the spring of 1863 he went to Fort Scott to superintend a sawmill, but later returned to Lynn County and purchased a farm, carrying on general farming and dealing in cattle. In the year 1867 Mr. Brown was unfortunate in losing his wife. In 1868 he sold out, and on May 1, he and his family, with a party of about seventy other white settlers, moved to Colorado, arriving there on the 23d day of the following month; the settlers made the journey with one team of horses and the rest Texas wild cattle, their conveyance being a covered wagon, which afforded their only shelter from the storms that overtook them on the way. The journey was slow, as they were often molested by the Indians, and then they were often delayed by their ox teams; they being wild it required many hours to yoke them; at night, the people slept within a circle formed by the wagons and the men would take turns in watching for the Indians.
Arriving in Colorado, our subject stopped at Castle Rock a short time, but soon after moved to Divide, where he found employment in a sawmill; at first his salary was $50 per month, but was later increased to $3.50 per day. At first his family lived in their covered wagon, but later they moved into the log house erected by our subject, where they remained one year. During the winter of 1868, two of the mill hands were killed by the Indians, and after that a man was left on guard, but by the following spring the Indians had ceased to molest the mill, and had left that section of the country. In December of that year, he and his children started back to Kansas; they drove through the deep snow to Eagle Tail, Kan., from which point they took the train for Kansas City, and resumed their journey to Kansas. After getting located in Kansas, he took a trip to his old home in Kentucky; spent several months back in Colorado, and then visited the ruins of the Chicago fire. Returning to his home in Kansas a short time, he moved to southwestern Missouri, where he bought a herd of cattle, and after keeping them about a year, he sold them for horses, which he later shipped to Colorado.
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He then bought logging teams and engaged in logging at Divide; there he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land and began farming. A few years later he drove to Texas, passing through forty-one counties of that state, and buying horses, he drove them to the northern part of the state, where he disposed of them; after spending the winter in the Indian Nation, he went to San Antonio, Tex., where he bought about one hundred horses and drove them through to Colorado, where he traded them for the land he now owns. He has since devoted the most of his time to agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Brown formed a second marriage with Mrs. Jane Cormack, nee Keene, a native of Tennessee, and by her first marriage she reared three children, namely: John P., who is married and the father of two children; Mrs. Nancy Ritchie; and Mrs. Emma Lawrence, who is the mother of five children. Our subject was reared a Whig, and later became a Democrat, but is now an ardent Populist. In 1869 he was elected sheriff of El Paso County, Colo., served as justice of the peace of Linn County, Kan., and was a candidate on the Populist ticket for highway commissioner of Douglas County, Colo., but was defeated. Fraternally our subject became a member of the Paris Lodge No. 22, A. F. & A. M., of Kansas, but when he left that state he obtained a demit. Mr. Brown has made two trips to the southwest, one by wagon and the other by foot, visiting the ruins of the Aztecs.
ILLARD
TELLER. The Teller family was represented in the United States in
an early day, the first of the name in this country having
emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam, and in the rapid growth
of that substantial Dutch municipality they bore an important
part. William Teller, the progenitor of the family in America, was
a farmer and a man of sterling traits of character, if tradition
may be accepted. He and his descendants adhered to the Protestant
faith.
John Teller, father of the subject of this article, was born and reared in New York state. He was married, in Allegheny County, to Miss Charlotte C. Moore, daughter of Willard Moore, of Rochester, N. Y. She is now ninety years of age, and lives at Morrison, Ill., ministered to by her children and rejoicing in their usefulness and success. Since 1862 her home has been in Illinois. Her family comprises eight children, all living. The husband and father died at eighty years of age. In religion he was identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Originally a Democrat of the pioneer type, in 1848 he declared himself in favor of free silver, and he never swerved in his advocacy of bimetallism. Prior to and during the war he sustained Abolition principles.
The subject of this sketch acquired the rudiments of his education in the public schools, after which he attended Alfred University, Rushford Academy and Oberlin College, graduating from the classical course of the last-named institution in 1858, with the degree of A. B. He began to read law in Angelica, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar at Buffalo in 1859. Opening an office at Olean, N. Y., he remained there for two years, and then came as far west as Morrison, Ill. After three years in that town, he crossed the plains in 1864, settling in Central City, where he began the practice of law.. The country was new, and the large number of companies engaged in mining caused considerable legal business, a share of which he secured.
The rapid increase of their practice led the Teller brothers to remove their office from Central City to Denver in the fall of 1877. their partnership, formed in 1864, continued until 1882, when Senator Teller became a member of the cabinet. About the same time Mr. Orahood was admitted into partnership, and in 1893 E. B. Morgan became a member of the firm, and so continued until July 1, 1898, when he retired. Teller & Orahood have carried on a general law practice, making, however, a specialty of corporation and mining law, and have acted as attorneys for the Union Pacific Railroad since 1872. Their practice is probably one of the largest and most lucrative of those in the United States court.
In Olean, N. Y., in 1862, Mr. Teller married Miss Weltha A. Gleason, of that place, and a member of an old Massachusetts family. His attention has been concentrated upon his practice, to the exclusion of any connection with clubs or fraternal organizations. A logical thinker, forceful speaker and broad-minded man, he has won his success by native talents as well as by the
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exercise of determination and perseverance. Being an exceptionally strong man mentally, with force of will, he has won his way in spite of obstacles that might have discouraged a man of less perseverance. Only his intimate friends know how valuable have been his services to his party. As a lawyer, it has been his rule in life to identify himself thoroughly with his clients' interests, and his loyalty to their welfare was never questioned. Laborious and patient in the conduct of his cases, he has exhibited, alike in professional practice and private affairs, the self-reliant spirit and strong individuality that mark his character.
ALKELD
SMITH, manager of the lands belonging to the Union Live Stock and
Investment Company of Denver and one of the thrifty farmers of
Lakewood, Jefferson County, was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, May
23, 1850, a son of Samuel and Mary Anna (Western) Smith. He was
one of eleven children, five of whom are now living, namely:
Cuthbert, whose home is in Australia; Mrs. Sarah Bolton, also of
Australia; and Thomas, who lives in the same country; Elizabeth
D., wife of Rev. J. D. Buglass, of Stockport, England; and
Salkeld.
The father of our subject was born in Stockport, England, about 1794, and was descended from an old and respected Yorkshire family. He was the son of a clergyman in the Church of England, but did not sympathize with the views of the state church and became a dissenting preacher. Failing health obliged him to give up much of his work and he removed with his family to the Isle of Man, where he spent the remainder of his life. He continued, however, to preach to the last, in spite of poor health, and his death occurred five minutes after he came from the pulpit, after preaching, as usual, to the people. He had a brother, Salkeld, who was a lieutenant and was one of three who took the gates of Delhi during the Indian mutiny, meeting his death there.
Under a private tutor, Rev. B. F. Clark, the subject of this sketch finished his education. At fourteen he began to work in the office of the Mona Herald of Douglas, one of the oldest newspapers on the Isle of Man. The work, however, confined him more than he liked, and after one year he left and apprenticed himself to the millwright's trade, at which he served for five years, and then became a journeyman millwright. In 1870 he crossed the ocean to America and settled in Chicago, where he worked for three years on Canal and Twelfth streets, in the employ of Heeney & Campbell, stair builders. In the spring of 1872 he came to Colorado and established himself in business on the corner of Sixteenth and Arapahoe streets. His first work was the building of a stairway in the residence owned by David H. Moffat. He continued in the business until 1879, when he disposed of his interests and bought his present ranch of one hundred and sixty acres. The land was at that time a tract of wild prairie, with no improvements whatever. In the nineteen years that have since elapsed he has shown what can be done in the cultivation of the orchard interests of Colorado. He has made a special study of the blight and has in a great measure mastered its disastrous effects. On his place between twenty and thirty acres are planted in fruit, and his orchards are among the best in the county. In addition to the management of his land, he has since 1888 been manager of the lands (more than one thousand acres in cultivation) owned by the Union Live Stock and Investment Company of Denver, and his superintendence of this valuable property has been most efficient.
In 1876 Mr. Smith married Miss Martha A. King, of Denver. She was a daughter of Wilson E. King, who came from New Hampshire as far west as Waupaca County, Wis., shortly after his marriage. Mrs. Smith was reared and educated in that county, from which place she came to Colorado and for some time was a teacher in the Arapahoe street school, then the principal school in Denver. She is a woman of broad information and culture, and not a little of her husband's success is due to her wise counsel and active co-operation. They are the parents of three children: Samuel W., a graduate of the Manual Training School of Denver; Clarence S., also a graduate of that school; and Martin W., who is attending the school from which his brothers graduated. The education of the sons has been greatly promoted by the care and oversight of their mother, who has aided them in the acquirement of knowledge and has spared no pains to advance their interests. She is an active worker in the cause or prohibition in both Jefferson and Arapahoe Counties. The family have a city resi-
