(Articles 95 - 104)
Transcribed by Lee Zion <mdmonk2@tx.rr.com>, October 2001.
Franklin Lewis, who is a native of Ohio, was born in 1873. When twelve years of age he went to Missouri, where he remained twelve years. He became dissatisfied with the prospects in Missouri, and in 1897, he came to Colorado, locating in Yuma county. When he landed here he had only fifteen cents in money, but his industrious spirit proved a good substitute. After two years he purchased 320 aces of land three miles east of Wray on which he engaged in general farming and stock raising in a small way. He raised good crops of wheat, corn, cane, vegetables, etc., and prospered greatly. But, after a few years his venerable mother, who was keeping house for him and to whom he ever proved a dutiful son, died, and this changed his purpose in life. The farm, on which the best friend a man ever knows died, became distasteful to him and he sold it last fall. He sold all his implements, stock, etc., only a team of very valuable horses, with new wagon and harness, which he retained. In addition to this his few years in Yuma county netted him more than $1,000 in cash. Mr. Lewis is a pleasant and industrious gentleman who has many friends. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World.
(Photo - Residence of Harry Strangways)
Among the popular and well known citizens of Yuma county is Harry Strangways, who owns a valuable ranch sixteen miles south of Wray, on the Arickaree river.
Mr. Strangways is a native of British India, in which distant country he was born thirty-nine years ago. He is a son of Gen. [George] Strangways, a gallant and distinguished British officer, now on the retired list because of his venerable age.
In 1872, when he was eight years of age, the subject of this brief sketch was taken to England, where he received a liberal education. In 1882 he made a trip to Australia, via the Cape of Good Hope. After spending nearly two years familiarizing himself with that portion of the British empire, the young gentleman came to the United States, landing at San Francisco in 1884. After spending some time on the Pacific coast, Mr. Strangways came to Colorado, where he decided to abandon the ease and luxury of his wealthy and distinguished English home for a free, exhilarating and independent life on the boundless plains of the West. He found ready employment on the range and in a short time he became an expert cowboy whose services were in demand. After a few years he purchased the valuable ranch he owns on the Arickaree in this county. He owns 480 acres of deeded land which is peculiarly adapted for the stock industry. Nearly one-half of this tract of land is composed of a fertile valley bordering the Arickaree river on one side, and with an excellent irrigation ditch running along the base of the hills on the other side. Mr. Strangways owns this valuable ditch and the prior rights to the waters of the Arickaree which furnishes him an abundance of water to irrigate all the entire valley land on is ranch. On these valley lands he grows large crops of corn, alfalfa and native hay, from which he derives handsome financial returns feeding cattle in the severe winter months. The rest of his ranch is valuable grazing land. In addition to the 480 acres of deeded land, the gentleman has 500 acres of adjoining land leased and controls an additional open range of more than 1,000 acres. All the properties are very valuable for the cattle industry, because of the never failing stream of water which runs through them, or alongside.
Mr. Strangways owns a comfortable residence beautifully situated on an elevated plateau on the side of a range of hills which form a rugged, but picturesque background, while in front can be seen a broad expanse of fertile valley with its rich harvest of corn and alfalfa being garnered, the sparkling waters of the winding Arickaree glistening in the distant sunbeams. It is a beautifully situated home and is furnished with every convenience and comfort. The value of this cattle ranch may be judged from the fact that there are seventy-five acres of alfalfa on it, from which he harvests three crops each year, amounting to about five tons from each acre.
In 1894, Mr. Strangways married Miss Mildred Thompson, an estimable Michigan lady, whose sunny disposition and industry are doing so much to cheer him in exercising the laudable ambition of life.
There are few, if any, men in this county who are more widely known than the genial, whole-souled Harry Strangways, and none enjoy a greater measure of esteem than he, because of the bright reputation he has earned as an honorable gentleman and an industrious citizen.
It is seldom a traveler finds such a well conducted hotel in a small village as that of which Idalia can boast. While the building is modest in its proportions, Carl W. Zick, the genial proprietor, makes it an inviting home for guests.
Mr. Zick is a native of New Stettin, Germany, where he was born in 1868. In 1872 he came to the United States with his parents, and the family located on an Illinois farm, south of Chicago. In 1885 they moved to Nebraska, where they remained one year and went to Goodland, Kan. After two years there they came to Colorado. The subject of this brief sketch then filed on a pre-emption claim on Lost Man's creek, twelve miles south-east of Idalia on which he has made great improvements. He cultivates fifty acres, corn and cane for his stock being his chief crops. He owns twelve horses and forty cattle, his farm being well supplied with buildings, agricultural implements, etc.
Mr. Zick is a carpenter, too, and his services in that capacity are always in demand. Nearly one year ago he purchased some lots in Idalia, on which he erected his hotel and barn. He believed that a hotel would prove a profitable investment and the result has more than justified his expectations. Mrs. Zick gives the kitchen her personal supervision and the dining room is well supplied with the substantials of life and the delicacies of the season. Certainly this hotel is a great convenience to travelers who visit Idalia and it well merits the generous support it is receiving.
In 1898 Mr. Zick married Miss Lena Homm, of that part of the county, and they have three interesting children. They are a cheerful, energetic and industrious couple who work hard to overcome the obstacles in life's journey, and the success they are achieving is well merited. Travelers who stop at the Idalia House are assured of good food, deliciously prepared.
The Pleasing Success Fred Loffel Accomplished in this County.
From poverty to affluence; from a struggle for existence to a life surrounded with every desirable comfort and increasing prosperity day by day - all achieved within a period of seventeen years by honest toil! Such has been the career of Fred Loffel, one of our leading ranchmen, who gives us another illustration of the fact that Yuma county offers surpassing possibilities to a poor man who wants to engage in farming pursuits.
Mr. Loffel is a native of Switzerland, where he was born twelve miles from the city of Berne in 1856. His energetic nature and laudable ambition could find no encouragement in his native land, where it is so hard for a poor man to earn more than a bare competence, and in 1880 he came to the United States when twenty-four years of age. Immediately after landing from the steamer he went to Illinois, where he worked on a farm for five months. Then he moved to Nebraska, where he leased a tract of land and commenced farming. He worked hard and displayed both perseverance and prudence in Nebraska, but met with only indifferent success. As a result, he became discouraged there and in 1887, he came to Colorado, locating in that portion of Arapahoe county which is now a part of Yuma county. He had comparatively nothing in the way of capital, outside of a spirit of untiring energy and a determination to succeed in his new home. He entered pre-emption, timber and homestead claims - 480 acres in all - and then prepared to face the stern realities of pioneer life in Colorado. He commenced general farming with all the extensive vigor his limited means would permit, and engaged in raising cattle and hogs in a small way. Like nearly all the pioneers in the West, he met decided hardships, which tested his courage and endurance; but he persevered, surmounting obstacles that seemed hard to overcome, and his progress up to the drouth of 1893 and 1894 was most pleasing and encouraging under the circumstances. He raised good crops and had accumulated considerable property, with a large area of productive land under cultivation when the two years of drouth covered this portion of Colorado with a mantle of dark despair. Hundreds left the county and sought homes elsewhere, but Mr. Loffel retained his Spartan spirit and refused to abandon his western hope and Swiss courage. He weathered the storm of adversity and his future prosperity has justified his judgment most amply.
Mr. Loffel now owns 1,120 acres of deeded land, besides having a lease for a long term of years on 800 acres, and his free range, in addition to all this, embraces many thousands of acres more. His deeded land, as well as that under lease, is under a good wire fence. The ranch is composed of level prairie, and the soil is exceedingly fertile, producing abundant crops of all kinds. It has an ample supply of wells from which windmills pump all requisite water supplies for stock. The gentleman shipped several carloads of cattle and hogs to the Eastern markets last fall, but he still owns 210 cattle, seventy hogs and a herd of fine horses. He cultivates 300 acres of his ranch, on which he grows fine crops of wheat, corn, barley, cane, millet and vegetables, which yield him a handsome revenue. He has a comfortable residence on his ranch as well as all necessary barns, sheds, corrals, etc., for his stock. Indeed, his ranch bears every appearance of prosperity and good management. Then gentleman has a wife and six industrious children.
Since coming to Yuma county, Mr. Loffel has displayed the attributes of a good citizen. His industry, prudence and sound judgment are freely conceded to be of a high order of merit and his integrity is above reproach, indeed, of him it can be said truly, that his word is as good as his bond, and both are gilt-edged. He has been elected a member of the school board several terms and served as postmaster at Logan for a long time.
His Ranch for Sale.
As Mr. Loffel has accumulated enough to enable him to pass the remainder of his days with less hard labor than he endured for the past seventeen years, he has decided to sell his ranch, stock, implements, etc., and retire from the cares and anxieties which he has managed with such consummate skill and financial success. This offers a grand opportunity for anyone who desires to invest in one of the best ranch properties in Colorado. It can be purchased on reasonable terms, and what Mr. Loffel accomplished on it is an index of its pronounced value to a home-seeker in the West. For particulars address Fred Loffel, Lansing, Colorado.
Among the prominent factors in the growth and progress of Wray, William Heindel, the popular builder and contractor, occupies a front rank. During his career he has erected many of the best residences and business buildings in the city, and it would be hard to find a man who stands higher in public estimation as a first-class mechanic and an honorable business man.
Mr. Heindel is a native of Illinois, where he was born thirty-three years ago, on a farm. In his infancy his parents moved to Morning Sun, Iowa, where he spent his boyhood days. At an early age he devoted his attention to the carpenter trade, although after he came to Wray, in 1887, he clerked in a hardware store for two years. For the past ten years, or more, however, Mr. Heindel has devoted his entire attention to the building trade, and he has made a record of which he may well feel proud. He did the carpenter work of Zepp's brick store, Davenport's hotel and a number of other business buildings. Among the elegant private residences he erected are those of Joseph Campbell, Mr. Blust, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Shumaker and many others. He has just completed a beautiful new home for Dr. Barr, in the western part of the city, and he recently finished the new Yuma county court house in this city.
He owns a large carpenter shop in the city, well supplied with wood-working machinery of all kinds, operated by steam power, and this enables him to complete contracts to better advantage and on more reasonable terms than those who are not aided by modern wood-working appliances.
Mr. Heindel is not only honorable in his dealings, but he enjoys a well merited reputation for honest work on all his contracts. Indeed, his fame in this respect is most enviable and, in connection with his pronounced skill as an up-to-date mechanic, this is the foundation of his most successful business career.
In addition to an attractive home in this city, Mr. Heindel owns 160 acres of choice land six miles southwest of Wray, from which he derives a handsome revenue.
In 1895 the gentleman married Miss Sophie Renzelmann, an estimable young lady of this county, and the happy union resulted in four interesting children.
One of the prosperous business industries of Wray is the jewelry establishment of J.O. Graham, occupying a portion of Dr. Barr's drug store, on Chief street. The gentleman carries a fine stock of gold and silver watches, chains, clocks, rings and, in fact, anything and everything required in his line. He keeps the finest quality of goods, as well as those less costly, and his prices will be found exceedingly reasonable. In addition, Mr. Graham thoroughly understands the jewelry business and he enjoys a large repairs patronage, as he is recognized as the leading jeweler in this section of the state.
Mr. Graham is a native of Moultrie county, Illinois, where he was born in 1872. In 1874 his parents moved to Montgomery county, Iowa, but, after eleven years they located in Butler county, Nebraska. In 1888 the family came to Colorado and entered a homestead of 160 acres seven and one-half miles south-west of Wray, Yuma county. There they engaged in general farming pursuits, but the subject of this brief sketch devoted much of his attention to acquiring a thorough knowledge of the jeweler's trade. After giving it his chief thought and study for many years, Mr. Graham commenced business in his present quarters in 1901. His genial attributes and the uniform courtesy with which he treats his customers, coupled with his well known integrity and skill in his trade have won for him a large and constantly increasing business. Mr. Graham is enterprising and public spirited, giving a cordial support to every movement calculated to enhance the moral or material welfare of city and county. The gentleman is an honored member of the local camp of the Woodmen of the World.
In 1895 Mr. Graham married Miss Rosa B. Byers, an estimable young lady, who lived near Wray, and two children have blessed the happy union. They own a pleasant home and two lots beautifully situated in the southern part of the city. The admirable qualities of Mr. and Mrs. Graham as kind-hearted neighbors and useful citizens, obtain wide recognition and they enjoy the cordial esteem of a large circle of warm friends.
(Photo - Harvest Scene on the Joseph Brower Ranch)
One of the many money making ranches of the county is that owned by Joseph Brower, twenty miles northeast of Yuma.
Mr. Brower is a native of Indiana, where he was born fifty-three years ago. After he grew to manhood he farmed in the Hoosier State, Iowa and Nebraska, but he came to Colorado in May, 1887, and settled on a government claim which is now a part of his ranch. He commenced general farming and prosperity smiled upon him. His crops were abundant, his yield of wheat going as high as thirty bushels and acre, oats forty bushels, and he has harvested fifty bushels of corn per acre, with other crops equally good in proportion. He generally grows a large quantity of cane and millet for winter feed for his stock.
Mr. Brower owns 320 acres on which his home is situated, and 100 acres only twelve miles from Yuma station. He has a comfortable residence, good barns, sheds, etc., and his farm is generously supplied with the necessary agricultural implements, including a first-class binder. His ranch is amply protected with seven miles of good wire fence, and adjacent to it is a vast area of free range on which buffalo and other native grades grow luxuriously. He owns two inexhaustible wells of pure water, with pumps operated by windmills and necessary drinking tanks for stock. The land is a level prairie and the soil is very productive.
In addition to general farming, Mr. Bower is in the cattle business. He owns four horses and 100 cattle, the stock being well bred and desirable.
Mr. Brower has been county commissioner for six years, his last term having expired about one year ago. He made an enviable record as a county officer. He has been a school director of his district almost continuously since he came to the county.
In February, 1894, Mr. Brower married Miss Adelia Moore, an estimable Yuma county lady, and the couple are highly esteemed by all who know them.
Wants to Sell Ranch
Mr. Brower has made money on his Yuma county ranch and he wants to retire from the cares, anxieties and hard work of farm life. For that reason, he offers his entire ranch, including his horses, cattle, agricultural implements and every other farm adjunct for only $6,000. This offers a special opportunity to secure a profitable ranch, well stocked, at a very reasonable figure. Mr. Brower's address is Yuma, Colo.
Among the most prosperous farmers and cattle men in Yuma county are those of our citizens who were born in foreign lands and came here to seek a new home under brighter skies and more favorable conditions. While as a rule they all prospered here, perhaps none achieved a more generous measure of success than Henry Vogel of Idalia.
Mr. Vogel is a native of Germany, where he was born in 1855. There he spent his boyhood days but when he grew to manhood the conditions and opportunities for success did not seem enticing to him. As a result, in 1876, when he was twenty-one years of age, he came to the United States to carve out for himself a new home in the Western Hemisphere. He located in Kansas first, where he worked on a farm for five years after which in 1881 he came to Colorado and found employment on a ranch in Arapahoe county fifty-five miles east of Denver. Subsequently he came to Yuma county and was foreman for the -11 (Bar Eleven) ranch for a number of years. In 189_ [last digit blurred] he went to Idalia and engaged in the stock industry near that town. The gentleman had a thorough knowledge of the cattle business which was surpassed by few, if any, and he prospered greatly. At present he owns 1,200 acres of land which is exceedingly valuable for ranch purposes. His land extends to the breaks of the Arickaree, or the Middle Fork of the Republican river, where cattle and horses find complete shelter from the storms of winter in the ravines and under the bluffs which abound among and near that stream. His ranch is composed of rich farming and grazing lands that will compare with any in the county and he controls an almost unlimited area of free range. The soil of which the most of the ranch is composed will grow any kind of farm produce, but he cultivates only about 160 acres on which he grows winter feed for his stock. He owns forty-five horses and 230 well breed cattle. Owing to the fine grazing lands he owns and controls, he winters hundreds of cattle for other stockmen who are less favorably situated in addition to giving his own herds ample care. The gentleman is a good manager, an excellent financier and he gives his stock interest the benefit of his close attention and rare good judgment, which have much to do with the marked success which is rewarding his laudable ambition. He has excellent buildings on his ranch, with and adequate supply of wells, windmills and watering tanks, as well as every convenience for carrying on the stock industry profitably.
Mr. Vogel is one of the principal partners in the mercantile firm of Payne Bros. & Vogel at Idalia, and while he does not give the details of the business his active supervision, doubtless his ripe judgment and mature thoughts are prime factors in the prosperity which characterizes the firm.
Personally Mr. Vogel is an affable gentleman and his qualities as a firm friend and kind neighbor are most pronounced. In public matters he is both enterprising and progressive, and in every measure calculated to benefit his community or the county he takes and active and generous part. His warm friends are numerous and they are as extensive as the bounds of his acquaintance.
It would be hard to find on any railway line, in any state, a gentleman who has so thoroughly ingratiated himself into public life as has C.W. Hudgel, the popular Burlington agent at the Wray station. While it may be gratifying to the gentleman to have won such a generous measure of public regard, it is more gratifying to the patrons of the railway to do business at Wray with a representative of the company in whom they place implicit confidence and for whom they entertain the highest esteem.
Mr. Hudgel is a native of Ohio and when fifteen years of age he entered the services of a railway company to learn telegraphing. In 1885, he went to Kansas and was one of the first railway men at Norcatur. In 1886 he was promoted to the position of assistant agent at Norton, Kan., and in 1887 he was appointed agent at Woodruff, in the same state. In 1888 he was appointed agent at Wray, which is now the most important station between McCook, Neb., and Denver.
From the day Mr. Hudgel took charge of the Wray station until the present time, his career has been that of an obliging and courteous gentleman. While he is loyal and true to the interests of his company, he is never too busy to treat the public with that civility and consideration which are the characteristics of a refined gentleman. As a result, his popularity with all classes and conditions in Yuma county, who know him, is most pronounced and his friends are legion.
In 1890, Mr. Hudgel married Miss Rose McLaughlin, an estimable Columbus, Ohio, lady, and a charming little daughter has blessed the happy union. They own a cozy home in this city and they well merit the genuine regard entertained for them in the community.
One of the Leading General Merchandise Firms of Wray.
While the above firm is one of the youngest general merchandise institutions in Wray, its enterprise and correct business principles have obtained a wide recognition in the city and county. The store is favorably situated on the corner of Chief and Pawnee streets, and the firm carries a large and well selected stock of dry goods, groceries, etc., which are offered at prices that command a generous patronage.
Mr. Wolf is a native of Hancock county, Ill., where he spent his childhood and boyhood days on a farm. He received a liberal education and when only eighteen years of age he commenced teaching school in southern Nebraska, which he continued for three years. In 1886, when he attained his majority, he came to Colorado and locate on a homestead in Yuma county, nine miles from Wray. In 1889 he went to Denver and acquired a proficient knowledge of shorthand, after which he obtained a position as stenographer with a Pueblo smelting company. In a short time the ability and fidelity of Mr. Wolf received substantial recognition from the company by his promotion to the position of settlement clerk, the purchase of ores being among his chief duties. In a couple of years the gentleman received another promotion by being sent to Monterey, Mexico, to take charge of a part of the company's interests at that important point, and there he remained for five years. In 1896 he returned to Denver and, after seven years in the employ of the one firm, he resigned, to accept a more lucrative position with another Pueblo smelting company. In the fall of 1900 he left Pueblo and went to Florence, Colo., where he filled an important position in the employ of the Rocky Mountain Smelting Co. In 1902 he resigned and came to Wray, where he purchased the general merchandise stock of J.W. Cloyd, and commenced business at his present location.
In July, 1899, Mr. Wolf married Miss Sadie Bullard, an accomplished and estimable daughter of the late A.M. Bullard, who was a prominent and honored farmer of this county. From his energetic and popular wife Mr. Wolf receives invaluable assistance in the business, her good taste and correct judgment making the millinery, dress goods and notions departments especially popular with the ladies of Yuma county.
Mr. Wolf is an affable gentleman, whose business transactions are governed by a keen sense of integrity, and he enjoys the full confidence of the people of the county. As a result of this and the well selected stock he carries, he has done a large and increasing business. The gentleman takes a lively interest in the city and county, and he is generous in his support of any movement calculated to promote their material or moral welfare. In addition to two valuable lots in Wray, he owns a beautiful residence property in Pueblo, also considerable live stock in registered W.W. Brand. Note their advertisement in this edition of the Gazette.