Bios R-T | Arapahoe County, COGenWeb

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Riedy, Henry Clement

An excellent farm property of one hundred and forty-two acres pays tribute to the care and labor bestowed upon it by the owner, Henry Clement Riedy, who is one of the substantial citizens that Ohio has furnished to Adams county, for his home is near Eastlake. He was born in Erie county, Ohio, November 23, 1865, and is a son of John and Catherine (Goodman) Riedy. The father was a stone mason by trade and was married in Sandusky, Ohio, where he reared his family of nine children, of whom Henry C. was the fifth in ordar of birth.

The public school system of Sandusky and of Erie county afforded Henry C. Riedy his educational opportunities. He pursued his studies to the age of fourteen years, after which he worked on farms to the age of tweniy-four. Thinking that he might have better opportunities in the west, he then made his way to Colorado, where he has resided since December 1, 1889. For a brief period he was employed by the Denver Union Water Company and then purchased the northwest quarter of section 6, township 2, range 67, Adams county, since which time he has engaged in farming thereon. That he is actuated by a progressive spirit is indicated in the attractive appearance of his place, which is improved with fine buildings, with well kept fences and every accessory of the model farm of the twentieth century. He worked persistently and energetically in developing his place and his success is well merited. He is also vice president of the New Union Ditch Company.

On the 17th of November, 1896, Mr. Riedy was married to Miss Mary Moller, a daughter of Detlef Moller. Mrs. Riedy was born in Arapahoe county, her people having crossed the plains and cast in their lot with the early pioneer settlers of Colorado. To Mr. and Mrs. Riedy have been bom three sons: Ralph H., Howard J. and Chauncey R.

In his political views Mr. Riedy is a democrat and, while not an office seeker, he has served as secretary of the school board. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church. He and his wife are widely and favorably known in the locality in which they make their home, their circle of friends being almost co-extensive with the circle of their acquaintance.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, pp. 529-530

Shellabarger, Hugh L.

Hugh L. Shellabarger, mayor of Castle Rock, was born in Littleton, Arapahoe county, Colorado, October 9, 1870, a son of George and Emily (Drummond) Shellabarger, both of whom were natives of Ohio. They became residents of Littleton in 1869, at which time the father homesteaded and turned his attention to ranching.

Reared under the parental roof, Hugh L. Shellabarger completed his public school education by graduation from the high school, after which he spent two years as a student in the University of Denver and also pursued a commercial course at Springfield, Ohio. For ten years he was with the Denver Union Water Company in different capacities and during the latter part of that period acted as foreman of the filter plant. Later he spent four years as representative of the firm of O'Brien & Rhoades, who were contractors and builders of water plants. Mr. Shellabarger acting as superintendent of construction on several plants in western Colorado and Arizona. In 1906 he embarked in business on his own account at Littleton, forming a partnership with his brother William tor the conduct of a grocery store at that place. In 1914 they came to Castle Rock, where they now conduct the leading grocery house of the city. They carry a large and attractive line of staple and fancy groceries and in fact their store contains everything that the market affords. They have built up a trade of gratifying proportions through honorable and progressive methods, closely studying the wishes of
their patrons and putting forth every effort to please. At the same time their prices are reasonable and thus the number of their customers is continually increasing.

In 1897 Mr. Shellabarger was united in marriage to Miss Lula Eagleton, a native of Ohio, and to tfcem have been born two children, Gertrude E. and Ruth E. The former is a high school graduate and is now successfully teaching, while the latter is still a high school student. The family attend the Methodist church and Mr. Shellabarger is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Pythias. His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic party and he has frequently been called upon to serve in positions of public trust, being a member of the town board, also a school trustee and treasurer of the school board, while for three years he was a member of the school board of Littleton. In 1917 he was elected mayor
of Castle Rock and made so creditable and satisfactory a record during his first term that his fellow townsmen again called him to the position and he is now serving for the second time. He exercises his official prerogatives in support of all progressive measures and movements, his course justifying his classification with the most valuable officials of the city as well as with its substantial merchants and business men.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, pp 305-306

STEELE, ROBERT WILBUR

Denver's history records no more illustrious name than that of Hon. Robert Wilbur Steele, whose developing powers brought him to the highest judicial position within the gift of the people of the state. He lives in the memory of his friends, enshrined in the halo of a gracious presence, as a man of marked professional ability and the highest sense of personal honor. He was born in Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio, November 14, 1857, and was the second in a family of five children, an elder sister and younger brother passing away in early life. His parents were Dr. Henry King and Mary Frances (Dunlavy) Steele. The former was born in Dayton, Ohio, April 1, 1825, and was a son of Dr. John and Cornelia (King) Steele, who were representatives of pioneer families of Ohio and Kentucky. After attending Center College at Danville, Kentucky, Dr. Henry Steele pursued a course in medicine and surgery at the University of New York and became a successful practitioner of Dayton, Ohio, to which city his father had removed
from Kentucky in 1812. The latter was a son of Robert Steele, who was one of the founders of Transylvania College at Lexington, Kentucky. Thus it was that he came of an ancestry honorable and distinguished and his own lines of life were cast in harmony therewith. Dr. John Steele cared for the sick and wounded in the Dayton Military Hospital in 1812 and Dr. Henry Steele was surgeon of the Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry and later of the Eighth Ohio Cavalry in the Civil war.

During this period the family largely resided at Dayton, Ohio, and there Robert Wilbur Steele began his education. He was not a robust, but was always a likable lad and was greatly beloved by his relatives. It was the desire to improve the condition of his son's health that led Dr. Henry Steele in 1870 to remove with his family from Ohio to Colorado. That was the year which distinctly marked the ending of the pioneer epoch and the beginning of an era of modern day development. Dr. Steele became a most prominent and influential resident of Denver, was appointed a member of the state board of health in 1879 and again called to the office in 1891. He was among the organizers of the Colorado Medical Society in 1871 and served as its president in 1875, while in 1877 he became the first dean of the medical department of the University of Denver. He passed away January 20, 1893, and the Steele Memorial Hospital has been most appropriately named in his honor.

Robert Wilbur Steele was a youth of but thirteen years when he accompanied his father to Denver and he became a member of the first graduating class of the city, completing his course in 1877. Almost from the time of his arrival in Denver he earned all of his own spending money and it was not long before he was substantially contributing to his own support. He was employed in the Union Bank in a minor capacity and also acted as collector for Dr. Williams, who was associated with Dr. Steele in practice. In those early years he spent his summer vacations upon a ranch owned by his cousins, in the San Luis valley, near Villa Grove, and the outdoor life contributed much toward the development and maintenance of his health. In his schooldays he was not a particularly brilliant scholar, set off from others by his intellectual attainments, but is well remembered by his classmates, owing to the charm of his personality and his ability as a speaker. He won the prize in the third Woodbury contest for oratory, which was held June 14, 1876, on which occasion he declaimed Webster's famous oration in reply to Hayne. Even in his schooldays he manifested a deep interest in politics,
coupled with the capacity of readily making friends— traits of character which are of unmistakable worth to the political leader. Of him at this period in his life it was written: "Sincerely democratic in his thought and attitude toward others, affable to all of whatever rank or station, just in his judgments, yet always willing to find an excuse for the weak or misguided, he had all the dangerous weapons of the demagogue, yet without any of the demagogue's disposition to use them wrongfully. He was interested, though not so profoundly as in later years, in the fundamental principles and
problems of government; he had a lively and active interest in men as men; and he was also interested in the practical problems of political organization and in the results that may be accomplished by the union and coordination of individuals in political parties." He seemed to turn naturally to the study of law, having almost intuitive interest in questions which concerned legal practice, while his oratorical ability also constituted a potent force in his chosen life work. He began his reading in the office and under the direction of the firm of Wells, Smith & Macon, very prominent attorneys
of Denver, and the next year he became a student in the Columbian University, now the George Washington University of Washington, D. C. The climate of the east, however, proved detrimental to him and in 1879 he returned to Colorado and resumed his law studies with the firm of Wells, Smith & Macon, being admitted to the bar in 1881. Not long afterward the board of commissioners appointed him clerk of the county court of Arapahoe county, of which Denver was then the county seat, and he devoted his attention for three years to these duties, during which time he completed the study
of law, history and general literature. In 1S84 he resigned to engage in the active practice of his chosen profession.

On the 28th of February, 1884, Judge Steele was married to Miss Anna B. Truax and they became the parents of three sons and two daughters: Henry; William; Frances Edwina, who died in early childhood; Robert, born in 1891; and a daughter, Jane, who is yet a resident of Denver.

It was not long after his marriage that Judge Steele formed a law partnership with William H. Malone, and he continued actively and successfully in the private practice of law until called to the office of district attorney. In 1885 he was appointed land attorney for Colorado for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company, which was extending its line through the state, and in the capacity of attorney Mr. Steele became familiar with the districts through which the line was being built and utilized his opportunity for judicious investment, acquiring large land holdings, from which he afterward derived a handsome income. Moreover, he became extensively interested in land law practice, in which field of jurisprudence he was regarded as an expert. Thus he was steadily advancing along professional lines and at the same time his interest and activity in politics was bringing him prominently to the front in that connection. In the fall of 1890 he was elected chairman of the republican central committee of Arapahoe county, at which time there were two very decided factions in republican ranks. He immediately set to work to heal the breach and with notable tact and
ability brought the two opposing sides together. He was elected to the office of district attorney and his course was generally endorsed as that of an extremely fair-minded and capable man, who. as one of the local papers expressed it, was "a prosecutor and not a persecutor."

Up to the year 1893 Colorado was the leading state among those which advocated the silver standard and, when owing to conditions which have become a matter of history sliver declined rapidly in value causing the financial failure of various banks throughout the state, the investments of the firm of Steele & Malone were not exempt from the wide disaster and suffered heavy losses. Many there were who at that time tooli refuge behind the bankruptcy law, but the standards of conduct to which Robert Steele adhered were too high to admit of such a course. We again quote from a contemporary biographer: "In the dark days of 1S93 he wrote for the relief of others a bankruptcy law that gained high repute for its mingled mercy and justice, but for himself he claimed no clemency. Men saw and respected the quality of his character and the integrity of his purpose and gladly accorded to him the one thing he asked — the time to meet their claims. Only those most Intimately in his confidence knew the burden he carried through the years, or how much strength and time tliat might well have been devoted to better things went toward the discharge of that indebtedness.
For nearly twenty years he faced his task and performed his duty and when the end came he went to the great hereafter a free man, having discharged not only every personal debt, but also every one that had been assumed by him as a result of business entanglement or association with other men."

In January, 1895, Mr. Steele was appointed to the office of judge of the court of Arapahoe county. His work upon that bench did much toward the development of his attitude toward his fellowmen. He always believed in tempering justice with mercy and he regarded the law as a safeguard and protection rather than as a means of punishment. Moreover, it was an added experience in his life which was further qualifying him for the graver and more responsible duties that were to devolve upon him in his election to the supreme court bench. At this period of his life he was not only studying legal problems but was keeping in touch with the best thinking men of the age in regard to all the questions which were paramount and vital before the people. He had always been a republican in politics but when the party became divided upon the silver question he followed the leadership of Senator Teller, not because he had the highest regard and respect for that statesman, but because he recognized the importance of the silver issue to the welfare of Colorado. He was an independent thinker and his study and intelligence convinced him that the silver problem involved fundamental principles affecting the rights and the interests of the common people. He therefore could no longer call himself a republican while the republican party plainly declared itself opposed to the maintenance of the monetary system that had been the established practice from the earliest days of the republic. A silver republican party was the necessary and logical result and in 1898 Judge Steele became a candidate for reelection to the bench, receiving also the endorsement of the people's, the democratic, the Teller silver republican and the national people's parties, receiving two-thirds of the total number of votes cast at that election. Judge Steele while serving upon the bench inaugurated what was known eCs juvenile field day. In his position as county judge he was succeeded by Judge Ben B. Lindsey, who enjoys a world-wide reputation as the promoter of a court established exclusively for juvenile offenders. Judge Lindsey freely and frankly acknowledged the value and importance of Judge Steele's services in this great work of reform. Writing to him some years afterward, he said: "You were the first judge to enforce our law of 1899, which contained the germ of the present juvenile laws." Judge Steele in the course of his judicial career rendered many important decisions which have found their place upon the state records. He delivered a dissenting opinion in the Moyer case and from all parts of the country came to him letters endorsing his position. Possibly the most notable tribute to the strength and convincing logic of the minority opinion was that of Chief Justice Gabbert, who delivered the original opinion of the court and who considered it advisable, after the minority opinion had been presented, to file an extraordinary and supplementary opinion, in which he practically admits the overwhelming truth of Justice Steele's main points. It was in January, 1900, that Robert Wilbur Steele was called to the ofiice of supreme court judge of Colorado, and when destiny brought him to a higher tribunal he had ahready received nomination by acclamation at the hands of his party as its candidate tor the office, a second term, and his reelection was generally conceded. Death, however, intervened and on the 12th of October, 1910, he passed to the home beyond. The life of Robert Wilbur Steele was dominated by the spirit of democracy— a democracy that believed that "All men are created free and equal," and it was his constant effort to uphold democracy in its highest and best sense. It permeated his actions in every relation of life and his opinions upon the bench. In this regard he stood far in advance of many of his fellows, so much so that his course at times awakened the opposition of even his associates upon the bench and led to his filing various dissenting opinions. It is said that while the decisions from which he dissented were being written into the recorded law of the state the people were gathered to the support of the standards he had raised. "His clear, authoritative and unanswerable presentation of the primitive principles of American free government was a great rallying cry that brought the
invincible hosts of democracy to his aid and swept to oblivion the structure that had been raised against his protest. Within two years from the time when his presence in the supreme court ceased, the right to defend it and the principles he maintained were reestablished and confirmed, even though in some of these cases the majority decision yet stands as the highest judicial authority. A beautiful and well merited tribute was paid to his memory by one who was long associated with him and who said: "From his ancestors of the Ohio valley Robert Steele drew his patriotism, his aptitude for culture and learning and his strong inclination toward those traits of mind and body that are most aptly summarized in the expression, 'an American gentleman.' Those hereditary dispositions were fixed and strengthened by the associations of his youthful years. His education and his environment in early Denver confirmed his democracy of thought and feeling toward everyone that shared his highly prized right of American citizenship. His work as district attorney inculcated respect for law and order and gave him practical experience in dealing with the demoralizing and disintegrating forces of modern society. In the county court he profited by the study of human nature and learned to judge motive and impulse as well as the legal issues that
were presented to him. In the activities and associations of politics he encountered the complicated problems of matching great principles of human rights and liberties to the trivial, selfish and often sordid conditions of local government. In the supreme court his mental powers, stimulated by responsibility, rose and expanded to the measure of their opportunity and proved equal to the demands that were made upon them. * * * The unfolding of his personality through the years was something more than the shaping of a material being through the incidence of events. It was rather the
progressive triumph of a master spirit, embodied in earthly form, rising ever to the level of higher opportunities and using every experience gained and power won as instruments for the achievement of better things. From the central fire of his personal integrity, the genial light and warmth of honesty, kindliness, unselfishness, gentle humor, patience, meekness, temperance, humility, and faith in the eternal righteousness of God and man, irradiated his pathway for his own blessing and for the benefit of all with whom he had to do. * * * The broadness of his mental vision and the range of his active interest were befitting to a judge who was called upon to deal with the widest variety of personal and property rights and possessions.

"He loved the free air of God's great outdoors. He loved the trees and the beautiful flowers that cover the ungardened meadows of the remote highlands; he loved the birds that build their nests where none may see or make afraid; he loved the wild, shy beasts that live on the wide upper pastures, that shelter themselves in the groves of aspen and spruce, or that lurk in the willow thickets along the mountain streams. He transferred
his kindly thought and care to the animals of the cities. He was instrumental in promoting the anti-docking laws and in establishing Denver's trafiic squad, when he saw the horses slipping on the icy pavement. He wore but two badges, that of the Loyal Legion, which indicated the honorable service of his father in the Civil war, while the other was that which commissioned him as a humane oificer to intervene in the name of the state for the protection of animals abused or neglected. But with all his interest in the world of nature, Robert Steele's chief concern was with the world of man. He
shared as best he might the burdens of the common people in the common ways of life, and gave himself freely to service in the place and the manner in which he could do the most good. He loved the children and liked to play with the little ones of his own household. His juvenile field day in the county court showed his fatherly interest was extended to the fatherless. He gave substantial proof of his Interest in the Steele Hospital and in beneficent work of that character. He was also much interested in educational matters, but was no respecter of persons along the lines of wealth and
station. Men invariably accorded to him the respect he merited but he never claimed their tribute to his mental or moral worth. He was scrupulously honest and honorable in small matters as well as large, according to the faultless guiding of an inner sense. He was temperate, walking always in the light of that reason that despises intemperance in thought, in word and in action as a folly even worse than crime. He was pure himself in word and in deed. He was brave under circumstances that would have tried the courage of any man."

Such are the words and phrases, not of empty eulogy or lavish encomium, but of the sober judgment of the men of his own day and of his personal acquaintance, the painstaking portraiture for the benefit of the men of other times and of other states, of one of whom it may be said in sober truth and exactitude: "None knew him but to love him, None named him but to praise."

To the young men of Colorado, and especially to the young lawyers of the Denver bar, Judge Steele was a model, an example, an inspiration, a friend and helper. He had a high sense of the ethics and the responsibilities of the legal profession, and scrupulously upheld its honor both as an attorney and a judge. But he also had a most kindly interest in and regard for the young men around him and he always did wTiatever he could to help them along the path he had pursued. The beautifully illuminated seal upon the certificate issued upon admission to the bar is a mark of his consideration, for he arranged its colors with his own hand, thinking that "the young men ought to have something better than a plain seal in black and white." His interest
in them they returned with something warmer and more personal than the respect due to an older and wiser man, with something more affectionate than the honor paid to the judge who was eminently successful in the profession they had chosen for their own. They loved him because he appealed to the best that was in them, as men and as Americans. He had faith in them, as he had faith in the nation to which he gave the unstinted measure of his service and devotion.

Patriotism and love of humanity were the guiding stars of his career — not rival and inconsistent objects of his regard, but harmonious parts of a resolute purpose. To those high ideals his life was consecrated, not in the formalism of a conscious statement, but rather in the expression of a lifetime of loyalty and truth. As in the county court he had guarded the interests of the widows and orphans, so in the higher tribunal he defended the inheritance of liberty. The citizens of the republic were his wards; the usurpers of the people's rights were his adversaries; freedom was a sacred trust committed to his keeping; and he recognized no other treason so vile as that of the public oflicial, in legislative, executive or judicial position, who would use the power entrusted to him for the people's welfare to betray their trust.

He held ever a supreme faith in the American republic; a glory in its historic achievements; a pride in its wealth, its resources, its strength, its prosperity, and in all the magnificent accomplishments of its civilization. He felt a steadfast confidence in its future, believing that through all its diflSculties and dangers things would come out right in the end, because he believed in the people, in their patriotism and in their love of truth and justice.

Through the distraction and the temptations of an age when the conditions in state and nation seemed to appeal as never before to the selfishness, to the avarice and to the ambition of men's natures, Robert Steele kept faith with the people and with himself. He did his full part to hand on to Americans of the future the full measure of the inheritance of freedom with which he had been endowed; and he never doubted that there would always be men of his own mould, who would carry forward his work as he had sustained the work of others, and that, amid the struggle for wealth and the strife of selfish ambition, there would always be those who would resolutely pursue the higher way, and who, guided by reason and enlightened by truth, would strive, fearlessly and unfailingly, according to the full measure of their powers and opportunities for liberty and justice and humanity.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, pp. 26-31

Stewart, Harvey

Among the venerable citizens of Jefferson county is Harvey Stewart, who from pioneer times has been familiar with the history of Colorado. He was in this state when there were only a few isolated mining camps, the work of progress and improvement having scarcely begun. In 1863 he became identified with farming interests independently and in 1880 acquired the property upon which he still resides. He has passed the eighty-third milestone on life's journey, his birth having occurred in Macoupin county, Illinois, December 31, 1835, his parents being Charles and Mary Stewart, natives of Virginia and North Carolina respectively. The paternal grandfather was of Scotch birth. The maternal grandfather was one of the heroes of the
Revolutionary war.

During his infancy Harvey Stewart was taken by his parents from Illinois to Missouri, the family home being established near Independence, in Jackson county, where he lived for twenty-three years. He came to Colorado in 1859 and made his way into the mining camps above Denver, arriving in that locality on the 28th of April. He purchased the second copy of the Rocky Mountain News, obtaining the paper while it was still wet from the press, but found nothing in it to interest him, e.xcept a hint of the discovery of the Blackhawk mine at Central City. Mr. Stewart then went to Central City and over to Spanish Bar, now Idaho Springs, where he worked through the summer, continuing there until November, when he returned to Denver and for two weeks sought in vain to obtain work. As he could find no employment he went back to Independence, Missouri, where for one year he engaged in teaching school. He then entered the Confederate army in the Raines Division and served until taken ill, when he was honorably discharged and sent home. He was detained by the authorities for a few days for being a Confederate, but after taking the oath of allegiance to the Federal government was released and in 1862 returned to Colorado, where he entered the employ of a Mr. Fisher at Fort Halleck, cutting hay for the government. He was thus employed during the first fall, after which he took up a homestead on Clear creek in 1863. There he engaged in farming for eighteen years. In 1880 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land from George Yule and took up his abode upon that tract, which has since been his home, his time and attention through the intervening years being given to general agricultural pursuits. In fact he has engaged in farming
in Colorado for a half century and more, and has contributed in no small measure to the agricultural development of the eastern section of the state.

On the 1st of December, 1867, Mr. Stewart was united in marriage with Miss Mary Patrick, who was born in Andrew county, Missouri, March 23, 1846. She was educated in the public and high schools of Fillmore, Missouri, and when a young lady of sixteen years, came with her parents to Denver. She is a daughter of John and Sarah (Cloyd) Patrick, who were both natives of Missouri. In 1863, they came to Colorado, taking
up their abode on a farm six miles below Denver. In 1865, they removed to a farm on Clear creek, in Arapahoe county, where they were numbered among the early settlers, and where they continued to reside until their demise, the father dying January 11, 1874. He was born February 15, 1818. The mother died February 19, 186C. Her birth occurred August 29, 1823. To Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were born two daughters. Minnie Agnes, born January 28, 1869, is the wife of Alexander Ritchie, and they have a daughter, Lois Minnie. The second daughter, Sarah Gertrude Stewart, was born
February 6, 1S71, and died July 6, 1909. She was educated in East Denver high school, later becoming a student at Denver University, from which she graduated, with honors, as a member of the class of 1904. In the fall, immediately following her graduation! she accepted the position of teacher of English in North Denver high school, continuing there for five years, and winning for herself high esteem in her chosen profession.

MRS. MARY STEWART

While connected with this school she had taken post-graduate courses at the University of Chicago, and also at the University of California. Her untimely death cut short a brilliant career as an educator, and brought deep sorrow to a wide circle of friends. In his political views Mr. Stewart has always been a democrat, giving stalwart support to the party, and be served for one term, about 1896, as a member of the state legislature, but the honors and emoluments of office have had little attraction for him. However, he has always kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day and has ever been able to support his position by intelligent argument. He belongs to Highlands Lodge, No. 86, A. F. & A. M.. and is also identified with Highlands Commandery, No. 30, K. T. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Christian church. It will be observed that Mr. Stewart is one of the few remaining pioneers whose advent into the state dates back to 1859, and he is a living witness of the wonderful transformation which has taken place since that time, a transformation in which he had an active part. His first journey to Colorado was made by wagon, over the old trail, and consumed many weeks in the making. Danger constantly lurked along the way, and many interesting incidents of the trip are recalled by him. Possessed of sterling traits of character and guiding his life by high and honorable principles, Mr. Stewart has ever commanded the respect and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact and his friends are many.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, pp 291-292

Sweet, Leonard A.

With the ever increasing demand for automobile housing in the city of Denver new-garages for this purpose have been established from time to time and many of these in recent years have built up a business of extensive proportions not only in housing cars but in making repairs and furnishing supplies. The Denver Garage, owned by Leonard A. Sweet, is perhaps one of the best managed and most conveniently located in the city and is patronized by many of the downtown business men and bankers of Denver. It has grown in popularity ever since the day that it was opened and its patronage is now extensive.

Mr. Sweet, the proprietor, was born in Independence. Iowa, May 1, 1876, a son of Anson C. and Ida (Blood) Sweet, the former born in the state of New York and the latter in the state of Wisconsin. The father removed to Iowa in early life and on leaving that state established his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he engaged in the dry goods business for a considerable period. In later years, however, he has lived a retired life and is now making his home in Independence, Iowa, at the age of seventy-nine years. He has, however, retained all of his interest in Colorado, where
the mother of Leonard A. Sweet, still makes her home. They had a family of three children, of whom one died in infancy. A brother, H. B. Sweet, is a resident of Sidney, Nebraska, and is proprietor of the Sidney Motor Company.

The eldest of the family is Leonard A. Sweet of this review, who after completing a high school education at Independence, Iowa, came to Denver in the latter part of the 1ast decade of the nineteenth century. Here he entered the internal revenue department as cashier and remained a trusted government employe for twenty years. At the end of that period he started to engage in business on his own account and in 1917 established the Denver Garage at Nos. 1437-39 California street. This is in the very heart of the downtown shopping district of Denver and since the day the garage was
opened it has proven a profitable business venture and is today one of the most popular establishments of the kind in the city. Mr. Sweet also maintains a repair department and carries a full line of accessories. He is now negotiating to handle a new car that will be on the market in a short time.

For a few months while holding his government position in connection with the interna) revenue department Mr. Sweet acted as assessor, by appointment, of Arapahoe county, but aside from this has never held public office and has always voted independently.

On the 6th of June, 1916, Mr. Sweet was married to Mrs. Helen Thomas, the widow of Harry Thomas, of Denver, who by her former marriage had a daughter, Charlotte Thomas, born in Denver. While a native of Iowa, Mr. Sweet has spent almost his entire life in Denver and while he has never sought to figure prominently in public connections he has become well known in the city and his fidelity to duty while in the government service as well as his enterprise in business circles have gained for him a creditable position in the regard of his fellow townsmen.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, pp. 282-283

Talbot, Richard I.

Richard I. Talbot, who is cultivating eighty acres of irrigated land in Adams county and is very successfully carrying on his farm work, was born in Louisiana, December 18, 1852, a son of James and Ellen Talbot, both of whom were natives of London, England. Bidding adieu to friends and country, they sailed for America In the year 1840 and first established their home upon a farm in Louisiana, where the father engaged in the live stock business for a number of years. In 1856, however, he removed to Missouri and was afterward drowned in the Missouri river while out duck
hunting. The mother with her family subsequently removed to Colorado, where she took up her abode in 1872, having driven across the country with team and wagon. She settled in Adams county, becoming one of the pioneer women of that district, and for many years she was an interested witness of the growth and progress of that region, in which she made her home until called to her final rest in 1911. In the family were six children, all of whom are yet living.

Richard I. Talbot was reared and educated in Missouri and was twenty years of age when he came to Colorado, where he has since made his home. In 1879 he purchased his present farm and through the intervening period has given his time, thought and energy to its development and cultivation, adding many improvements to it in the way of good buildings which furnish ample shelter for grain and stock. His fields are well fenced and everything about the place is characterized by neatness and order. The land is carefully irrigated, there being eighty acres under the ditch.

In 1887 Mr. Talbot was united in marriage to Miss OIlie Townsend, a native of Kansas and a daughter of C. Perry and Maria Reed (Moore) Townsend. C. Perry Townsend was a native of New York and with his parents removed to Illinois in his boyhood. His wife, Maria Reed Moore, was born in Marion county, Ohio, in 1839, and with her parents removed to Illinois when she was eleven years of age. In that state Mr. and Mrs. Townsend were married and there the former took up farming, going to Kansas about 1857 and arriving in Colorado in June, 1859. After a short stay in Denver he proceeded to Central City, where he engaged in mining, but later located on a ranch on the Platte river, in Arapahoe county, now Adams county,
where Mr. Townsend passed away in 1864. His widow subsequently married Hiram Van Every. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot had four children: Leland S., at home; Mabel, the wife of Clarence Burnett; Ada, the wife of Clifton Duckworth; and Mattie, who died at the age of three years. The mother and children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Talbot gives his political support to the republican party but has never been an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his time and efforts upon his business affairs, which are wisely and carefully directed. He is a man of energy and persistency of purpose who from pioneer times has been identified with farming interests in the county, and his splendidly improved ranch property is the visible indication of a life of well directed energy and tlirift.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, pp. 519-520

Tiltpn, Ralph C.

Ralph C. Tilton is the efficient cashier of the Deertrail State Bank of the town of Deertrail and is also extensively identified with stock raising in Arapahoe county. He is numbered among the substantial citizens that Iowa has furnished to Colorado, for his birth occurred in Decatur county of the former state on the 27th of May, 1888. a son of Maynard and Letha (Barr) Tilton, the former a native of Maine, while the latter was born in Indiana. For about thirty years they were residents of Iowa and in 1915 came to Colorado, now making their home upon the ranch of their son. They have but two children and the elder, Arthur, is now serving in the United States army.

Ralph C. Tilton was reared and educated in Iowa, supplementing his early studies by a high school course. He started out in the business world on his own account when a young man of twenty years, going to Nebraska, where he secured the position of assistant cashier in a bank, thus serving for three years. In this manner he gained his initial experience in the banking business and in 1912 he came to Deertrail, Colorado, to enter upon the duties of cashier of the Deertrail State Bank, in which capacity he has since acceptably and capably served. He is a courteous and obliging official and his business ability, combined with his genial manner, have done not a little to further the business of the bank and make it one of the substantial financial institutions of this section of the state. On removing to Colorado he also purchased a fine ranch of nine hundred and sixty acres and has since added eight hundred and sixty acres to the original tract. His place is splendidly improved and upon it he runs a large herd of cattle and also many sheep. His live stock interests are extensive and important and in addition to this he makes a specialty of raising alfalfa, harvesting large crops annually.

On the 29th of December, 1910, Mr. Tilton was married to Miss Edna N. Brownell, a native of Iowa, and they have become parents of two children, Ardis A. and Helen A. Mrs. Tilton is a member of the Christian church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tilton are highly esteemed in the section of the state in which they make their home, occupying an enviable position in social circles by reason of their sterling worth of character and their unfeigned cordiality. In all of his business career Mr. Tilton has displayed adaptability and keen discernment as well as unfaltering enterprise, and since starting out independently has advanced step by step, constantly gaining a broader outlook and wider opportunities.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, p. 692

Tuck, Walter E.

Walter E. Tuck, devoting his time and energies to general farming near Eastlake, was born in England on the 23d of November, 1871. a son of Alfred and Maria (Woodingham) Tuck. The father came to Colorado in 1880, making his way to Blackhawk, where he resided for a few months, and in the spring of 1881 he removed to Golden, where he homesteaded. He has one hundred and sixty acres in Arapahoe county and has carried on general farming. He has also engaged in preaching the gospel as a minister of the Methodist church for fifty years, in addition to his farm work, and his pastoral labors have been attended with excellent success. For eleven years he has been the minister at Wesley Chapel. To him and his wife were born
four children: Frances, the wife of John Alderson; Emma, the wife of John Evans; William A.; and Walter E.

The last named is indebted to District School No. 3 in the Arapahoe district for his educational opportunities and when his textbooks were put aside he concentrated his efforts and attention upon farm work, in which he has since engaged. He now has sixty acres of land in the vicinity of Eastlake, which is devoted to the production of beets, alfalfa and grain. His business affairs are wisely and carefully managed. His early experience well qualified him for the conduct of farming interests in later lite, and his practical and progressive methods are bringing him very abundant crops.

Mr. Tuck was married in Adams county on the old homestead farm on the 14th of October, 1S96, to Miss Louise C. Beigel, a daughter of Henry and Augusta Beigel. She was born in Minnesota and passed away in March, 1909. The eight children born of that marriage are Maude, Henry, Eva, Albert, Robert and Ruth, twins, Grace and Amelia. On the 17th of September, 1916, Mr. Tuck was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Dena Evans.

Mr. Tuck is an independent republican, for while he usually supports the men and measures of the republican party he does not hold himself bound by party ties. He has served as school director in his district but is never ambitious to occupy public positions. He belongs ta the Grange and is an active and earnest member of the Congregational church, in which he is serving as trustee, while of the Sunday school he is acting as superintendent. His work in this direction is far-reaching and beneficial. He does everything in his power to promote the growth of the church and extend its influence, and his labors have been a potent element in promoting the moral progress of the community.

History of Colorado, Vol. 4, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918, pp. 762-763