Moffat County, Colorado GenWeb Project




MOFFAT COUNTY, COGENWEB PROJECT BIOGRAPHIES N - S
Extracted from "Progressive Men of Western Colorado" generously donated by the 'Museum of Northwest Colorado', email musnwco@cmn.net Transcribed by Shelley Barnes shellbbco@prodigy.net
NAME	BIOGRAPHY
NORVELL, James LaFayette	The subject of this brief review, who has wrought in many fields of labor during the twenty-two years of his residence in this state, has in each demonstrated his ability to meet every kind of responsibility and perform with success and credit all kinds of serviceable duties. He was born in McMinn county, Tennessee, on November 20, 1861, and is the son of Asbury and Nancy (Cox) Norvell, who were born and reared in Tennessee and lived there until the death of the father in 1897, since which year the mother has made her home in Colorado. The father was a prominent farmer in his native county, and was also active in local politics as a Republican. He filled a member of county offices from time to time, and to the end of his life was an influential and highly respected man. The son James L. received a common-school education and worked with his parents on the home farm until he was twenty years of age. In 1882 he became a resident of Colorado, after passing a few months in various occupations, at and around Dixon, Wyoming. On his arrival in this state, in the fall of the year last named, he located a ranch near Craig which he improved and sold. He then took up a homestead, and while developing and improving that, and conducting on it a flourishing stock industry, operated a stage line between Steamboat Springs and Lay, continuing the latter until 1890. Since then he has given his attention to ranching and cattle interests, and in addition to the mercantile business, being the founder of the J. L. Norvell Mercantile Company at Hayden, of which he owns three-fourths of the stock. He now lives in Steamboat Springs. During his early years in the West Mr. Norvell experienced many hardships and privations. The conditions of life on this far frontier were hard to bear at the best, and his lack of capital rendered them additionally grievous in his case. But he was not made of the fiber that yields to difficulties. He felt within him the forces fitted to win success, and he steadfastly pushed his way over every obstacle toward his present substantial and pronounced prosperity. Since 1902 he has devoted a large portion of his time, in connection with his other enterprises, to the Christian ministry under the government of the Congregational church, and is accounted a man of great usefulness in this department of public work. Politically he is an earnest Republican, but while giving his party the benefit of his best services as a citizen, he has not been an offensive partisan or an office seeker in any sense. Seeing clearly and feeling deeply the needs of the community in which he had cast his lot, he has worked zealously for its welfare and been potential in promoting its best interests. On December 31, 1902, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Hamilton, a native of Iowa. They have two daughters, Ruth L. and Edith M. In this and other Western states, nature is provident in furnishing opportunities for successful enterprise, and Mr. Norvell is one of the sterling citizens the section who has the clearness of vision to see her bounties and energy to seize upon them and use them to his advantage, at the same time turning them to the lasting benefit of the community in which he lives. Through out his life here he has been earnest and effective in making the most of his time and labor, and in doing this he has been of signal and appreciated service to every element of progress and improvement in his section of the state. Scarcely any higher tribute can be paid to a man's worth than to establish the fact that he has made all his chances subservient to his own advancement and the enduring welfare of those around him, whether his course has lain along the points and pinnacles of great affairs where history holds her splendid march, or amid the ordinary pathways of life where plain and simple duty lifts her daily voice. And this may be truthfully said of Mr. Norvell, that wherever he has been he has manfully met the requirements of his station.
PITCHFORD, George E.	George E. Pitchford, of Routt county, who owns and occupies a good ranch of three hundred and twenty acres, which is located on Williams fork, and which he took up in its state of primitive nature and has redeemed from the waste, improving it with good buildings and making it one of the attractive and profitable county homes of the section, is a native of Bates county, Missouri, born on March 26, 1874, and the son of William and Mary (Utley) Pitchford, who were born and reared in Illinois, where they were successfully engaged in farming for an number of years, after which they moved to Missouri, and there carried on the same business until death ended their labors, the mother dying in 1877 and the father in 1878. It does not appear who cared for the helpless young orphan, the last born of the three living children of the family, but at the age of nine years he began the battle of life for himself and had almost no schooling for the struggle before him, having attended the common schools but a very limited time. Six children were born to the parents, of whom only Naomi, Charles and George E. are living. George E. began life as a youthful hand on the farm and has adhered to the vocation of patriarchs ever since. In 1886, when he was but twelve years old, he moved to Kansas, and there he continued farm work until 1892, when he came to Colorado and joined the great army of farmers and stock men in this state. He was employed on a ranch until 1900, when he located the ranch he now occupies, taking up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and afterward adding one hundred and sixty more by purchase. His principal industry is raising cattle, but he also raises first-rate crops of hay, grain, vegetables and small fruits, and he conducts every phase of his enterprise with close attention to details, vigorous management and an enlightened intelligence. In political affiliation he is a Democrat and in fraternal life belongs to the Masonic order. On October 29, 1902, he united in marriage with Miss Phoebe Frame, a native of Illinois. They have one child, Ruth E. By his sterling worth as a man, his energy and progressiveness in business and his enterprise and public spirit in matters of interest to the community, Mr. Pitchford has won the cordial regard and good will of his fellow citizens, among whom he is generally accounted one of the most representative men in his portion of his county. Starting in life with nothing, he has secured a comfortable competence for himself, and through his won struggles has learned to properly appreciate the difficulties and misfortunes of others. Grateful for is opportunities, he has shown at all times a willingness to multiply so for as lay in his power the chances for his fellows who are striving to work their way upward, at the same time endeavoring to make all the industries of his adopted state not only worthy of her greatness and power, but as fruitful of good to her people as possible.
RANNEY, Charles A.	Charles A. Ranney, or Routt county, living in the neighborhood of Craig, is a younger brother of Frank B. Ranney, of the same neighborhood, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this volume, in which the family history can be seen. Mr. Ranney was born on May 1, 1867, in Belding, Ionia county, Michigan, and there received a high-school education, the conditions in his case not opening to him the way to anything beyond in the line of schooling. He was, however, diligent and studious and acquired sufficient knowledge and had sufficient self-confidence and force of character to begin teaching school at the age of seventeen. He followed this important vocation six years in his native state, then came to Colorado in 1890 and taught school at Craig four years. From 1899 to 1903 he conducted a drug store at Craig, and in the year last named he traded the store for the ranch he now owns and manages located on Fortification creek, twenty-six miles north of Craig. It comprises of two hundred acres, of which about three-fourths can be cultivated. Hay and cattle are the most important products on the place, but grain, vegetables and fruit are also raised in quantities. Mr. Ranney, although not an active partisan, is a loyal and firm Republican in political faith. He was married on May 1, 1902, to Miss Josephine Bassett, who was born in Arkansas but reared in Colorado. Mr. Ranney is a progressive man and has a voice of influence in the local affairs of the county, aiding always in the promotion of enterprises of value and helping to give the proper trend to public sentiment in reference to public improvements.
RANNEY, Frank B.	The parents of Frank B. Ranney, Edwin and Eliza (Button) Ranney, were natives of Massachusetts and New York respectively, and were reared amid the scenes and inspirations to industry and thrift characteristic of New England and the adjoining country. Soon after their marriage they moved to Michigan, and there they became prosperous and respected citizens, accepting cheerfully the hardships of frontier life and doing their part faithfully in developing and building up the new country in which they had cast their lot. The father was a cooper during his earlier manhood but passed his later life in farming, dying on the place which was hallowed by his labors and improved by his diligence and skill where his wife also died, she passing away in 1865, and he thirty years afterward in 1895. They had a family of seven children, all of whom are living, Charles, Albert M., Frank B., Cora, wife of Archie McLachlan, of this state (see sketch elsewhere in this work), Edwin J., Marcia A. and Lowden. Their son Frank B., the fourth born of their offspring, came into the world on September 21, 1854, in Kent county, Michigan, confronted with a destiny of toil devoid of much apparent opportunity for seeing any of the world beyond the confines of his home neighborhood, and no real chance for extended schooling. The situation of the family, in an undeveloped country, wherein the conveniences of life were scarce and difficult of attainment, and even the necessaries were not always easily procured, laid upon every able hand the burden of its own support, and accordingly at an early age he took his place in the ranks of useful labor and began to earn his living. He assisted his parents in whatever they found for him to do until he reached the age of eighteen years, then, learning the trade of a carpenter, he worked at it and in a sash and blind factory until 1883. In that year he came to Colorado and located in the vicinity of Craig, where he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, taking up one of the first six ranches settled upon in the region. This ranch has ever since been his home, the object of his attentive and skillful care and the seat of his expanding ranches and stock industry. The improvements on it have all been made by him and the state of productiveness in which it is now is the result of his labors and wise management. It is considered one of the best ranches in the country, and its excellent crops of hay, grain, vegetables and fruit justify the opinion. His cattle industry is not extensive, but is sufficient in volume for his own needs, farming being his main reliance, and in this hay is his principal product. He is a prosperous and progressive man, a stanch Republican in national politics and a Master Mason in fraternal affiliation. On May 1, 1898, he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes Sturdevant, a native of Fort Collins, this state. Both are held in great respect and good will by the people throughout a large extent of country around them and have a widening influence in the industrial, commercial and social life of their home community.
ROSE, William H.	More than sixty years have passed since the birth of William H. Rose, at Buffalo, New York, on January 1, 1844, and more than twenty-five of them have been passed by him as one of the producing and distributing forces in the development and progress of Colorado. He received a common-school education, supplemented by a course at a good seminary located at Alden, in his native county, and at Wyoming, New York. On August 4, 1862, at the age of eighteen, he enlisted in defense of the Union in Company B, One Hundred and Sixteenth New York Infantry, and by fidelity and gallantry rose to the position of corporal and later to that of sergeant in his company, which was in active service to the close of the Civil war. Mr. Rose participated in many memorable campaigns and battles, among them the Gettysburg campaign, after Stewart's cavalry in October, 1862, the expedition to New Orleans under General Banks in November, 1862, the siege of Port Hudson in May, June and July, 1863, the Red River expedition in 1864, the battle of Donaldsonville July 13, 1863, and the various movements under General Sheridan in Shenandoah valley in Virginia. In 1864 he was wounded in one of Sheridan's fights on Opequan creek, and in consequence of this passed some time in hospitals at Baltimore and Philadelphia, during which he studied civil engineering. Since becoming a resident of this state he has taken part in quelling several Indian outbreaks. After the close of the Civil war he returned to Buffalo, New York, and for two years practiced his profession of civil engineer in the employ of the Buffalo & Philadelphia Railroad. In the spring of 1868 he moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, and in the line of his profession laid out the Wilber addition to the city. There he was also employed professionally by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. In 1872 he moved to Prescott, in that state, and there he served as county surveyor until 1878, when he took up his residence at Kansas City. In March, 1879, he came to Colorado and located at Leadville, where he opened an office as a civil engineer and United States deputy mineral surveyor and became interested in handling mining properties. He remained there until 1882, then moved to Craig for the purpose of prospecting for gold, which he found, but not in paying quantities. So turning his attention to ranching and raising stock, in the spring of 1883 he pre-empted the ranch on which he now lives. To his first claim he has added until he now owns six hundred and twenty acres, all of which he has improved. His ranch was the first taken up in the Bear river bottom where Craig now stands and he built the first log cabin in the Craig valley. He has since coming here been actively engaged in general ranching and raising cattle and horses, and has served three terms as county surveyor. He is also agent for the Craig Townsite Company, United States commissioner. In aiding all undertakings for the improvement of the section in which he lives he has borne a cheerful and helpful part, assisting especially in building the Highline or South Park to Leadville owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. Always interested in the mining industry, he still owns mining interests at Leadville. Fraternally he belongs to the order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, and in political affairs supports the Republican party. He was first married on September 12, 1869, and by the union became the father of four children, Howard, Jessie, Minnie and Pearl, all of whom are deceased. He was divorced from this wife in 1878, on account of incompatibility and temperament, and on December 16, 1891, married a second one, Miss Julia La Reaux, a native of New York state. Mr. Rose's parents were Walter and Eunice (Farnham) Rose, natives of Massachusetts and New York respectively. The father was a merchant for many years at Buffalo, New York, and afterwards a farmer. He was a whig in political faith, and both parents were Presbyterians in church membership. Their offspring numbered seven, five of whom are dead. Horace was killed in the second battle of Bull Run; Curtis died of injuries received at the battle of Antientam, although he lingered until 1895; Emily A. died in 1885, Delia L. in 1893, and Martha J. in 1874. Mr. Rose and his sister Helen M., wife of Orlando Coe, are living. The father died in 1865 and the mother in 1893.
ROSS, William H.	A native of the province of Ontario, Canada, where he was born near the city of London on April 22, 1850, and having been engaged in farming, lumbering, mining, following the life of a sailor on the great lakes, charcoal burning and various other occupations, William H. Ross, of Routt county, with a fine ranch and a flourishing cattle business on Fortification creek, not far from Craig, brought to his present occupations and experience gained in a variety of pursuits and association with men in a number of different places. His parents were Peter and Louisa Ross, natives of Canada and successful farmers in that country, where the father died in 1884, and the mother in 1900. They had a family of nine children, all of whom are living, Mary, Rebecca, Margaret, Elise, Albina, Charlotte, Sarah, Stephen and William H. There was not much opportunity for William to secure an advanced education, and at the age of fifteen he entered actively on the work of the farm at home in the interest of his parents, remaining there until 1865. He then moved to Michigan where he engaged in lumbering, farming and mining on the shore of Lake Superior, and also was employed as a sailor on boats plying between Duluth and other points on the lake. In 1879 he came to Colorado and located at Central City. Here he was occupied in teaming and cutting cord wood until 1887, when he moved to Aspen, and there devoted two years to prospecting and burning charcoal on his own account. In 1889 he located is present ranch on Fortification creek, taking up homestead and timber claims and thus securing three hundred and twenty acres of good land. This place he has greatly improved and much of the land he has brought to a high state of cultivation. He has abundant water for proper irrigation, being the owner of the Little Bear ditch. His crops are good, comprising all the products common to the neighborhood, but hay and cattle are his chief dependence. When he located here the whole country was still wild and game was very plentiful. There was but little in the way of convenience for comfortable living in the region as settlers were few and only meager progress toward development has been made. Now the whole expanse smiles with the products of cultivated life and pleasant homes and waving fields gladden the observer. In working out this change Mr. Ross has been an important factor, and he has his reward in having become one of the most progressive and prosperous ranchers on the creek. While not an active partisan he supports the republican party in national politics. On August 7, 1902, he united in marriage with Miss Hattie Thornton, a native of England.
SCOTT, Frank	While the lessons of adversity are not always salutary, sometimes calling into vigorous action the splenetic humors of human nature which lie near the surface and are easily wrought upon, in most cases there is no more salutary discipline for the young and scarcely any better stimulus to the development of manly character and self- reliance than to be thrown on their own resources with the world before them and their only capital within. This well known fact is aptly illustrated in the career of many thousands of American citizens, among them Frank Scott, of Routt county, a prominent and successful rancher and cattle man who lives near Pagoda, and is one of the leading men in his business in that part of the state. He came to Colorado soon after attaining his legal majority, and since his arrival has been connected in a serviceable way with several of the leading industries of the state, aiding in their development while advancing his own fortunes through their aid. Mr. Scott was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on July 12, 1837, and is the son of John and Mary Scott, who were also natives of New York state, where they passed their lives and were finally laid to rest in the soil which was hallowed by their labors. The father was a land agent, a veterinary surgeon and at last a farmer. He was a democrat in politics and a man of influence in his neighborhood. Their son Frank assumed the burden of making his own way in the world while he was yet a mere boy. He attended the district schools when he had opportunity during his boyhood and received a limited education. In 1853, when he was but sixteen years old, he left his native state and made is way to Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he passed two years in different occupations, then located in Lawrence county, Kansas, and there he worked first as helper on a saw-mill and alter as engineer for the same. In the fall of 1858 he became a resident of Colorado, wintering at Denver, and in the ensuing spring going to the mountains to begin a career in prospecting and mining. This was continued through the summer in this state and Mexico, and about all he got out of it was experience in hard labor and privations, being obliged on one occasion to go without other food than meat for a period of fifteen days, and the meat was nearly all wild game. In the autumn of 1859 he returned to Kansas, in 1860 went to St. Louis and afterward to Pittsburgh. From there he went to Washington, D. C., and when the Civil war broke out he found employment with the government as a blacksmith, he having learned the trade in his wanderings. After fifteen months' service in this capacity he opened a sutler's store at Alexandria, Virginia, and made good profits out of sales to the soldiers. After the close of the war he conducted a store and restaurant for awhile, then engaged in farming, and later sold out all his property and opened a blacksmith shop, which he carried on two years. In 1884 he again came to Colorado and located at Denver, where during the next two years he worked at his trade in a shop of his own. In 1886 he changed his base of operations to the vicinity of Evergreen and there conducted a hotel and blacksmith shop for a period of two years, being very successful in both lines of enterprise. Selling out there he moved to Pine and continued blacksmithing there one summer at the end of which he gave up the shop and went to work for the Morris Mills near Pine. In 1890 he returned to Evergreen and found occupation until midsummer when he bought the improvements on a part of the ranch which he now owns and occupies. He had added to his original purchase until he has three hundred and twenty acres, of which one hundred and forty are under cultivation. The ranch is one of the most desirable on the Williams Fork, and on it he has large herds of cattle and raises abundant supplies of hay and grain for their proper maintenance. As a public- spirited citizen Mr. Scott performs his share of service to is community by helping along the development of every worthy object for the advantage of its people. In political faith he is an unwavering Democrat, in social duties of citizenship he is faithful and elevating in his aspirations and his example.
SHAVER, Frank E.	Frank E. Shaver, of near Axial, one of Routt county's most successful and prominent ranch and cattle men, came to the state at the dawn of his manhood and at once entered into the spirit of its industries and became an active working force among its people. His life began in Chautauqua county, New York, on October 17, 1866, and there he received a good education, especially for business. In 1887 he left his father's home and all the blandishments of social life to make his way amid the wilds and discomforts of the far western plains of Colorado, courageously braving the hardships and privations and daring the dangers of the lot he had chosen. He reached the neighborhood in which he is now living in the spring of the year and, although a young man just past twenty-one years, soon afterward entered into partnership with John A. Hall in the cattle industry. He was associated with Mr. Hall in this great business until 1890, when he bought all the interests of the company which he did not then own. Since that time he has conducted the enterprise alone and by his vigor and skill of management, his close attention to every phase of the work and his excellent business capacity, he has built up one of the leading cattle trades of the section. His ranch comprises one thousand acres and seven hundred acres of the tract are under good cultivation. He has in addition to this six hundred and forty acres under lease. The ranch, which is located twenty-two miles northeast of Meeker, yields large crops of the general farm products suitable to the region and generously supports a cattle industry of commanding proportions. It follows as a matter of course that a man so successful in the management of his own affairs, and so prominent in the business circles of his county, cannot escape taking a leading part in the public life and local affairs of his portion of the state; and in this respect Mr. Shaver has never sought to shirk his responsibility or fall short of his due service to the people around him. Although a firm and loyal Republican in national politics, he gives attention to the material, moral and educational interests of the county without regard to political considerations; and while influential and helpful in all undertakings wherein those interests are vitally involved, he is held in high esteem for the wisdom and public spirit with which he uses his influence. Mr. Shaver was married on November 12, 1892, to Miss Belle Wilkinson, a native of Minneapolis. They have had four children one of whom, a daughter named Frances, died in January, 1894. The other three, Margaret, Florence and Harold E., are living and still brighten the homestead with their presence. The parents of Mr.. Shaver, Edward and Louisa (Van Gaasbee) Shaver, were natives of the state of New York, where the father died on February 23, 1904, and the mother is still living, making her home at Jamestown. There were four children in the family, Florence, wife of E. H. Sherman, who died in 1897; Martha, wife of Lynn Mead; Jessie M., wife of W. K. Cooper; and Frank E. Their father was for many years profitably engaged in the lumber and oil industries.
SHAW Brothers	The Shaw brothers, John, Graham O. and Herbert, whose ranch of five hundred and sixty acres, located in the neighborhood of Pagoda, Routt county, is one of the best improved, most highly cultivated and most productive in the region, containing along with other improvements a number of trees which are said to be the oldest and largest in the county, are natives of Pender county, North Carolina, where John was born on October 13, 1855, Graham O. on March 27, 1862, and Herbert on September 9, 1865. They are the sons of Daniel and Elizabeth Shaw, who were also born and reared in North Carolina, and were prosperous farmers there. eight of their children are living, Ada, James, Edwin, Daniel, Annie, John, Graham O. and Herbert. The mother died in 1866, and the father in January 1895. A portion of the ranch on which the brothers live and which they re successfully and vigorously operating, was taken up by graham in 1889, and he was joined in the enterprise by Herbert in 1890 and by John five years later. Additional land was purchased and the operations have been enlarged from time to time until these enterprising gentlemen conduct one of the largest and most flourishing industries in their line to be found on Williams Fork whereon they are so pleasantly and advantageously located. John Shaw was educated in private schools in his native state, but his opportunities for attending school were neither many nor long continued. At an early age he was obliged to make a hand on his father's plantation and perform a man's share of the labor. Her remanded at home so occupied until 1882, when he came to Colorado and located at Boulder. He engaged in ranch work and quarrying, helping to get the stone of which the county court house was built. He afterward leased a ranch in the vicinity and continued farming there until 1895, when he joined his brothers on Williams Fork. He is a democrat in politics and takes an active part in the campaigns of his party. He is also cordially interested in the welfare of the county, as are his brothers, and they omit no effort they can make to push forward its progress and development. Graham O. Shaw attended the common schools and also the college at Greeley, this state. He came to Colorado in 1882, when he was twenty years of age, and after spending a year at Denver variously occupied, moved to Longmont in 1883, and there he operated a baling outfit for the George Coffin Company one year, then became associated with Mr. Coffin as a partner in the business, remaining with him until 1889. In that year he severed his connection with the enterprise and located a portion of the ranch now belonging to him and is brothers. Like his brother John he is a Democrat in political faith, and, like him, he takes an active and serviceable interest in the affairs of his party. Since 1900 he has been one of the county commissioners of Routt county. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, and is ardently devoted to the interests of the order. Herbert Shaw came to this state in 1885, and in 1890 became a partner of his brother Graham in the ranching and cattle business which the three now conduct. On September 9, 1900, he was married to Miss Sadie Turner, a native of Ray county, Missouri. His political affiliation is with the Republican party, and he is devoted to its welfare. Hay and cattle are the staples produced on the ranch of the brothers; but they also raise large quantities of grain, vegetables and small fruits. They are men of fine progressive spirit, commendable breadth of view and loyal devotion to the section in which they have cast their lot. They are also prominent in all local affairs, and are held in high esteem for their wisdom in counsel and their energy and diligence in action where the best interests of the county are concerned.
SPENCER, Walter	As owner and editor of an influential newspaper in Routt county, as one of the leading teachers and superintendents in the public schools for a number of years, as agent of a strong and well patronized fire insurance company, as deputy county assessor and as postmaster of his home town since 1902, Walter Spencer, of Craig, Routt county, this state, has been and is now of signal service to the people of Colorado in several useful lines of public service and private effort, and has won the reward of his fidelity in the high standing and lasting esteem which he enjoys among them. Wherever his services have been required he has been found ready and capable, and in performing them he has shown commendable enterprise and breadth of view. He is a native of Dickenson county, Kansas, born on November 19, 1874, and there he received a good common school education, which was supplemented by a high school course at Las Animas, this state, and one at the State University at Boulder. He taught school in Routt county nine years and served several as principal of the schools at Hayden. In 1903 he took charge of the Routt County Courier at Craig as editor and has since conducted it with vigor and enterprise, earnestly advocating at all times the best interests of the county and state contributing to the awakening, concentration and direction of a healthy public sentiment in favor of their advancement. His office has a good jobbing outfit which does a large business and has a high reputation for the character of its work, it being considered by many the best of its kind in the county. Mr. Spencer also represents the Liverpool & London Globe Fire Insurance Company, which has a considerable patronage in the surrounding country. For some time he has served the people of the county well and wisely as deputy county assessor and since 1902 the citizens of Craig as postmaster. In political affiliation he is a Republican and, being a man of strong convictions, he gives his party earnest and helpful support. His interest in the fraternal life of his community is shown by an active and appreciated membership in the Masonic order, the order of Odd Fellows in lodge and encampment, and the order of Woodmen of the World. On September 13, 1899, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Brown. They have two children, John N. and Dorothy A. Mr. Spencer is the son of Sylvester N. and Lydia J. (James) Spencer, who passed many years in profitable farming. The mother died on February 28, 1899, and the father now has his home at Craig. He is a stanch Republican and a highly respected citizen.

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MOFFAT COUNTY, COGENWEB PROJECT

BIOGRAPHIES N - S

Extracted from "Progressive Men of Western Colorado" generously donated by the 'Museum of Northwest Colorado', email musnwco@cmn.net

Transcribed by Shelley Barnes shellbbco@prodigy.net

NAME

BIOGRAPHY

NORVELL, James LaFayette

The subject of this brief review, who has wrought in many fields of labor during the twenty-two years of his residence in this state, has in each demonstrated his ability to meet every kind of responsibility and perform with success and credit all kinds of serviceable duties. He was born in McMinn county, Tennessee, on November 20, 1861, and is the son of Asbury and Nancy (Cox) Norvell, who were born and reared in Tennessee and lived there until the death of the father in 1897, since which year the mother has made her home in Colorado. The father was a prominent farmer in his native county, and was also active in local politics as a Republican. He filled a member of county offices from time to time, and to the end of his life was an influential and highly respected man. The son James L. received a common-school education and worked with his parents on the home farm until he was twenty years of age. In 1882 he became a resident of Colorado, after passing a few months in various occupations, at and around Dixon, Wyoming. On his arrival in this state, in the fall of the year last named, he located a ranch near Craig which he improved and sold. He then took up a homestead, and while developing and improving that, and conducting on it a flourishing stock industry, operated a stage line between Steamboat Springs and Lay, continuing the latter until 1890. Since then he has given his attention to ranching and cattle interests, and in addition to the mercantile business, being the founder of the J. L. Norvell Mercantile Company at Hayden, of which he owns three-fourths of the stock. He now lives in Steamboat Springs. During his early years in the West Mr. Norvell experienced many hardships and privations. The conditions of life on this far frontier were hard to bear at the best, and his lack of capital rendered them additionally grievous in his case. But he was not made of the fiber that yields to difficulties. He felt within him the forces fitted to win success, and he steadfastly pushed his way over every obstacle toward his present substantial and pronounced prosperity. Since 1902 he has devoted a large portion of his time, in connection with his other enterprises, to the Christian ministry under the government of the Congregational church, and is accounted a man of great usefulness in this department of public work. Politically he is an earnest Republican, but while giving his party the benefit of his best services as a citizen, he has not been an offensive partisan or an office seeker in any sense. Seeing clearly and feeling deeply the needs of the community in which he had cast his lot, he has worked zealously for its welfare and been potential in promoting its best interests. On December 31, 1902, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Hamilton, a native of Iowa. They have two daughters, Ruth L. and Edith M. In this and other Western states, nature is provident in furnishing opportunities for successful enterprise, and Mr. Norvell is one of the sterling citizens the section who has the clearness of vision to see her bounties and energy to seize upon them and use them to his advantage, at the same time turning them to the lasting benefit of the community in which he lives. Through out his life here he has been earnest and effective in making the most of his time and labor, and in doing this he has been of signal and appreciated service to every element of progress and improvement in his section of the state. Scarcely any higher tribute can be paid to a man's worth than to establish the fact that he has made all his chances subservient to his own advancement and the enduring welfare of those around him, whether his course has lain along the points and pinnacles of great affairs where history holds her splendid march, or amid the ordinary pathways of life where plain and simple duty lifts her daily voice. And this may be truthfully said of Mr. Norvell, that wherever he has been he has manfully met the requirements of his station.

PITCHFORD, George E.

George E. Pitchford, of Routt county, who owns and occupies a good ranch of three hundred and twenty acres, which is located on Williams fork, and which he took up in its state of primitive nature and has redeemed from the waste, improving it with good buildings and making it one of the attractive and profitable county homes of the section, is a native of Bates county, Missouri, born on March 26, 1874, and the son of William and Mary (Utley) Pitchford, who were born and reared in Illinois, where they were successfully engaged in farming for an number of years, after which they moved to Missouri, and there carried on the same business until death ended their labors, the mother dying in 1877 and the father in 1878. It does not appear who cared for the helpless young orphan, the last born of the three living children of the family, but at the age of nine years he began the battle of life for himself and had almost no schooling for the struggle before him, having attended the common schools but a very limited time. Six children were born to the parents, of whom only Naomi, Charles and George E. are living. George E. began life as a youthful hand on the farm and has adhered to the vocation of patriarchs ever since. In 1886, when he was but twelve years old, he moved to Kansas, and there he continued farm work until 1892, when he came to Colorado and joined the great army of farmers and stock men in this state. He was employed on a ranch until 1900, when he located the ranch he now occupies, taking up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and afterward adding one hundred and sixty more by purchase. His principal industry is raising cattle, but he also raises first-rate crops of hay, grain, vegetables and small fruits, and he conducts every phase of his enterprise with close attention to details, vigorous management and an enlightened intelligence. In political affiliation he is a Democrat and in fraternal life belongs to the Masonic order. On October 29, 1902, he united in marriage with Miss Phoebe Frame, a native of Illinois. They have one child, Ruth E. By his sterling worth as a man, his energy and progressiveness in business and his enterprise and public spirit in matters of interest to the community, Mr. Pitchford has won the cordial regard and good will of his fellow citizens, among whom he is generally accounted one of the most representative men in his portion of his county. Starting in life with nothing, he has secured a comfortable competence for himself, and through his won struggles has learned to properly appreciate the difficulties and misfortunes of others. Grateful for is opportunities, he has shown at all times a willingness to multiply so for as lay in his power the chances for his fellows who are striving to work their way upward, at the same time endeavoring to make all the industries of his adopted state not only worthy of her greatness and power, but as fruitful of good to her people as possible.

RANNEY, Charles A.

Charles A. Ranney, or Routt county, living in the neighborhood of Craig, is a younger brother of Frank B. Ranney, of the same neighborhood, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this volume, in which the family history can be seen. Mr. Ranney was born on May 1, 1867, in Belding, Ionia county, Michigan, and there received a high-school education, the conditions in his case not opening to him the way to anything beyond in the line of schooling. He was, however, diligent and studious and acquired sufficient knowledge and had sufficient self-confidence and force of character to begin teaching school at the age of seventeen. He followed this important vocation six years in his native state, then came to Colorado in 1890 and taught school at Craig four years. From 1899 to 1903 he conducted a drug store at Craig, and in the year last named he traded the store for the ranch he now owns and manages located on Fortification creek, twenty-six miles north of Craig. It comprises of two hundred acres, of which about three-fourths can be cultivated. Hay and cattle are the most important products on the place, but grain, vegetables and fruit are also raised in quantities. Mr. Ranney, although not an active partisan, is a loyal and firm Republican in political faith. He was married on May 1, 1902, to Miss Josephine Bassett, who was born in Arkansas but reared in Colorado. Mr. Ranney is a progressive man and has a voice of influence in the local affairs of the county, aiding always in the promotion of enterprises of value and helping to give the proper trend to public sentiment in reference to public improvements.

RANNEY, Frank B.

The parents of Frank B. Ranney, Edwin and Eliza (Button) Ranney, were natives of Massachusetts and New York respectively, and were reared amid the scenes and inspirations to industry and thrift characteristic of New England and the adjoining country. Soon after their marriage they moved to Michigan, and there they became prosperous and respected citizens, accepting cheerfully the hardships of frontier life and doing their part faithfully in developing and building up the new country in which they had cast their lot. The father was a cooper during his earlier manhood but passed his later life in farming, dying on the place which was hallowed by his labors and improved by his diligence and skill where his wife also died, she passing away in 1865, and he thirty years afterward in 1895. They had a family of seven children, all of whom are living, Charles, Albert M., Frank B., Cora, wife of Archie McLachlan, of this state (see sketch elsewhere in this work), Edwin J., Marcia A. and Lowden. Their son Frank B., the fourth born of their offspring, came into the world on September 21, 1854, in Kent county, Michigan, confronted with a destiny of toil devoid of much apparent opportunity for seeing any of the world beyond the confines of his home neighborhood, and no real chance for extended schooling. The situation of the family, in an undeveloped country, wherein the conveniences of life were scarce and difficult of attainment, and even the necessaries were not always easily procured, laid upon every able hand the burden of its own support, and accordingly at an early age he took his place in the ranks of useful labor and began to earn his living. He assisted his parents in whatever they found for him to do until he reached the age of eighteen years, then, learning the trade of a carpenter, he worked at it and in a sash and blind factory until 1883. In that year he came to Colorado and located in the vicinity of Craig, where he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, taking up one of the first six ranches settled upon in the region. This ranch has ever since been his home, the object of his attentive and skillful care and the seat of his expanding ranches and stock industry. The improvements on it have all been made by him and the state of productiveness in which it is now is the result of his labors and wise management. It is considered one of the best ranches in the country, and its excellent crops of hay, grain, vegetables and fruit justify the opinion. His cattle industry is not extensive, but is sufficient in volume for his own needs, farming being his main reliance, and in this hay is his principal product. He is a prosperous and progressive man, a stanch Republican in national politics and a Master Mason in fraternal affiliation. On May 1, 1898, he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes Sturdevant, a native of Fort Collins, this state. Both are held in great respect and good will by the people throughout a large extent of country around them and have a widening influence in the industrial, commercial and social life of their home community.

ROSE, William H.

More than sixty years have passed since the birth of William H. Rose, at Buffalo, New York, on January 1, 1844, and more than twenty-five of them have been passed by him as one of the producing and distributing forces in the development and progress of Colorado. He received a common-school education, supplemented by a course at a good seminary located at Alden, in his native county, and at Wyoming, New York. On August 4, 1862, at the age of eighteen, he enlisted in defense of the Union in Company B, One Hundred and Sixteenth New York Infantry, and by fidelity and gallantry rose to the position of corporal and later to that of sergeant in his company, which was in active service to the close of the Civil war. Mr. Rose participated in many memorable campaigns and battles, among them the Gettysburg campaign, after Stewart's cavalry in October, 1862, the expedition to New Orleans under General Banks in November, 1862, the siege of Port Hudson in May, June and July, 1863, the Red River expedition in 1864, the battle of Donaldsonville July 13, 1863, and the various movements under General Sheridan in Shenandoah valley in Virginia. In 1864 he was wounded in one of Sheridan's fights on Opequan creek, and in consequence of this passed some time in hospitals at Baltimore and Philadelphia, during which he studied civil engineering. Since becoming a resident of this state he has taken part in quelling several Indian outbreaks. After the close of the Civil war he returned to Buffalo, New York, and for two years practiced his profession of civil engineer in the employ of the Buffalo & Philadelphia Railroad. In the spring of 1868 he moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, and in the line of his profession laid out the Wilber addition to the city. There he was also employed professionally by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. In 1872 he moved to Prescott, in that state, and there he served as county surveyor until 1878, when he took up his residence at Kansas City. In March, 1879, he came to Colorado and located at Leadville, where he opened an office as a civil engineer and United States deputy mineral surveyor and became interested in handling mining properties. He remained there until 1882, then moved to Craig for the purpose of prospecting for gold, which he found, but not in paying quantities. So turning his attention to ranching and raising stock, in the spring of 1883 he pre-empted the ranch on which he now lives. To his first claim he has added until he now owns six hundred and twenty acres, all of which he has improved. His ranch was the first taken up in the Bear river bottom where Craig now stands and he built the first log cabin in the Craig valley. He has since coming here been actively engaged in general ranching and raising cattle and horses, and has served three terms as county surveyor. He is also agent for the Craig Townsite Company, United States commissioner. In aiding all undertakings for the improvement of the section in which he lives he has borne a cheerful and helpful part, assisting especially in building the Highline or South Park to Leadville owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. Always interested in the mining industry, he still owns mining interests at Leadville. Fraternally he belongs to the order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, and in political affairs supports the Republican party. He was first married on September 12, 1869, and by the union became the father of four children, Howard, Jessie, Minnie and Pearl, all of whom are deceased. He was divorced from this wife in 1878, on account of incompatibility and temperament, and on December 16, 1891, married a second one, Miss Julia La Reaux, a native of New York state. Mr. Rose's parents were Walter and Eunice (Farnham) Rose, natives of Massachusetts and New York respectively. The father was a merchant for many years at Buffalo, New York, and afterwards a farmer. He was a whig in political faith, and both parents were Presbyterians in church membership. Their offspring numbered seven, five of whom are dead. Horace was killed in the second battle of Bull Run; Curtis died of injuries received at the battle of Antientam, although he lingered until 1895; Emily A. died in 1885, Delia L. in 1893, and Martha J. in 1874. Mr. Rose and his sister Helen M., wife of Orlando Coe, are living. The father died in 1865 and the mother in 1893.

ROSS, William H.

A native of the province of Ontario, Canada, where he was born near the city of London on April 22, 1850, and having been engaged in farming, lumbering, mining, following the life of a sailor on the great lakes, charcoal burning and various other occupations, William H. Ross, of Routt county, with a fine ranch and a flourishing cattle business on Fortification creek, not far from Craig, brought to his present occupations and experience gained in a variety of pursuits and association with men in a number of different places. His parents were Peter and Louisa Ross, natives of Canada and successful farmers in that country, where the father died in 1884, and the mother in 1900. They had a family of nine children, all of whom are living, Mary, Rebecca, Margaret, Elise, Albina, Charlotte, Sarah, Stephen and William H. There was not much opportunity for William to secure an advanced education, and at the age of fifteen he entered actively on the work of the farm at home in the interest of his parents, remaining there until 1865. He then moved to Michigan where he engaged in lumbering, farming and mining on the shore of Lake Superior, and also was employed as a sailor on boats plying between Duluth and other points on the lake. In 1879 he came to Colorado and located at Central City. Here he was occupied in teaming and cutting cord wood until 1887, when he moved to Aspen, and there devoted two years to prospecting and burning charcoal on his own account. In 1889 he located is present ranch on Fortification creek, taking up homestead and timber claims and thus securing three hundred and twenty acres of good land. This place he has greatly improved and much of the land he has brought to a high state of cultivation. He has abundant water for proper irrigation, being the owner of the Little Bear ditch. His crops are good, comprising all the products common to the neighborhood, but hay and cattle are his chief dependence. When he located here the whole country was still wild and game was very plentiful. There was but little in the way of convenience for comfortable living in the region as settlers were few and only meager progress toward development has been made. Now the whole expanse smiles with the products of cultivated life and pleasant homes and waving fields gladden the observer. In working out this change Mr. Ross has been an important factor, and he has his reward in having become one of the most progressive and prosperous ranchers on the creek. While not an active partisan he supports the republican party in national politics. On August 7, 1902, he united in marriage with Miss Hattie Thornton, a native of England.

SCOTT, Frank

While the lessons of adversity are not always salutary, sometimes calling into vigorous action the splenetic humors of human nature which lie near the surface and are easily wrought upon, in most cases there is no more salutary discipline for the young and scarcely any better stimulus to the development of manly character and self- reliance than to be thrown on their own resources with the world before them and their only capital within. This well known fact is aptly illustrated in the career of many thousands of American citizens, among them Frank Scott, of Routt county, a prominent and successful rancher and cattle man who lives near Pagoda, and is one of the leading men in his business in that part of the state. He came to Colorado soon after attaining his legal majority, and since his arrival has been connected in a serviceable way with several of the leading industries of the state, aiding in their development while advancing his own fortunes through their aid. Mr. Scott was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on July 12, 1837, and is the son of John and Mary Scott, who were also natives of New York state, where they passed their lives and were finally laid to rest in the soil which was hallowed by their labors. The father was a land agent, a veterinary surgeon and at last a farmer. He was a democrat in politics and a man of influence in his neighborhood. Their son Frank assumed the burden of making his own way in the world while he was yet a mere boy. He attended the district schools when he had opportunity during his boyhood and received a limited education. In 1853, when he was but sixteen years old, he left his native state and made is way to Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he passed two years in different occupations, then located in Lawrence county, Kansas, and there he worked first as helper on a saw-mill and alter as engineer for the same. In the fall of 1858 he became a resident of Colorado, wintering at Denver, and in the ensuing spring going to the mountains to begin a career in prospecting and mining. This was continued through the summer in this state and Mexico, and about all he got out of it was experience in hard labor and privations, being obliged on one occasion to go without other food than meat for a period of fifteen days, and the meat was nearly all wild game. In the autumn of 1859 he returned to Kansas, in 1860 went to St. Louis and afterward to Pittsburgh. From there he went to Washington, D. C., and when the Civil war broke out he found employment with the government as a blacksmith, he having learned the trade in his wanderings. After fifteen months' service in this capacity he opened a sutler's store at Alexandria, Virginia, and made good profits out of sales to the soldiers. After the close of the war he conducted a store and restaurant for awhile, then engaged in farming, and later sold out all his property and opened a blacksmith shop, which he carried on two years. In 1884 he again came to Colorado and located at Denver, where during the next two years he worked at his trade in a shop of his own. In 1886 he changed his base of operations to the vicinity of Evergreen and there conducted a hotel and blacksmith shop for a period of two years, being very successful in both lines of enterprise. Selling out there he moved to Pine and continued blacksmithing there one summer at the end of which he gave up the shop and went to work for the Morris Mills near Pine. In 1890 he returned to Evergreen and found occupation until midsummer when he bought the improvements on a part of the ranch which he now owns and occupies. He had added to his original purchase until he has three hundred and twenty acres, of which one hundred and forty are under cultivation. The ranch is one of the most desirable on the Williams Fork, and on it he has large herds of cattle and raises abundant supplies of hay and grain for their proper maintenance. As a public- spirited citizen Mr. Scott performs his share of service to is community by helping along the development of every worthy object for the advantage of its people. In political faith he is an unwavering Democrat, in social duties of citizenship he is faithful and elevating in his aspirations and his example.

SHAVER, Frank E.

Frank E. Shaver, of near Axial, one of Routt county's most successful and prominent ranch and cattle men, came to the state at the dawn of his manhood and at once entered into the spirit of its industries and became an active working force among its people. His life began in Chautauqua county, New York, on October 17, 1866, and there he received a good education, especially for business. In 1887 he left his father's home and all the blandishments of social life to make his way amid the wilds and discomforts of the far western plains of Colorado, courageously braving the hardships and privations and daring the dangers of the lot he had chosen. He reached the neighborhood in which he is now living in the spring of the year and, although a young man just past twenty-one years, soon afterward entered into partnership with John A. Hall in the cattle industry. He was associated with Mr. Hall in this great business until 1890, when he bought all the interests of the company which he did not then own. Since that time he has conducted the enterprise alone and by his vigor and skill of management, his close attention to every phase of the work and his excellent business capacity, he has built up one of the leading cattle trades of the section. His ranch comprises one thousand acres and seven hundred acres of the tract are under good cultivation. He has in addition to this six hundred and forty acres under lease. The ranch, which is located twenty-two miles northeast of Meeker, yields large crops of the general farm products suitable to the region and generously supports a cattle industry of commanding proportions. It follows as a matter of course that a man so successful in the management of his own affairs, and so prominent in the business circles of his county, cannot escape taking a leading part in the public life and local affairs of his portion of the state; and in this respect Mr. Shaver has never sought to shirk his responsibility or fall short of his due service to the people around him. Although a firm and loyal Republican in national politics, he gives attention to the material, moral and educational interests of the county without regard to political considerations; and while influential and helpful in all undertakings wherein those interests are vitally involved, he is held in high esteem for the wisdom and public spirit with which he uses his influence. Mr. Shaver was married on November 12, 1892, to Miss Belle Wilkinson, a native of Minneapolis. They have had four children one of whom, a daughter named Frances, died in January, 1894. The other three, Margaret, Florence and Harold E., are living and still brighten the homestead with their presence. The parents of Mr.. Shaver, Edward and Louisa (Van Gaasbee) Shaver, were natives of the state of New York, where the father died on February 23, 1904, and the mother is still living, making her home at Jamestown. There were four children in the family, Florence, wife of E. H. Sherman, who died in 1897; Martha, wife of Lynn Mead; Jessie M., wife of W. K. Cooper; and Frank E. Their father was for many years profitably engaged in the lumber and oil industries.

SHAW Brothers

The Shaw brothers, John, Graham O. and Herbert, whose ranch of five hundred and sixty acres, located in the neighborhood of Pagoda, Routt county, is one of the best improved, most highly cultivated and most productive in the region, containing along with other improvements a number of trees which are said to be the oldest and largest in the county, are natives of Pender county, North Carolina, where John was born on October 13, 1855, Graham O. on March 27, 1862, and Herbert on September 9, 1865. They are the sons of Daniel and Elizabeth Shaw, who were also born and reared in North Carolina, and were prosperous farmers there. eight of their children are living, Ada, James, Edwin, Daniel, Annie, John, Graham O. and Herbert. The mother died in 1866, and the father in January 1895. A portion of the ranch on which the brothers live and which they re successfully and vigorously operating, was taken up by graham in 1889, and he was joined in the enterprise by Herbert in 1890 and by John five years later. Additional land was purchased and the operations have been enlarged from time to time until these enterprising gentlemen conduct one of the largest and most flourishing industries in their line to be found on Williams Fork whereon they are so pleasantly and advantageously located. John Shaw was educated in private schools in his native state, but his opportunities for attending school were neither many nor long continued. At an early age he was obliged to make a hand on his father's plantation and perform a man's share of the labor. Her remanded at home so occupied until 1882, when he came to Colorado and located at Boulder. He engaged in ranch work and quarrying, helping to get the stone of which the county court house was built. He afterward leased a ranch in the vicinity and continued farming there until 1895, when he joined his brothers on Williams Fork. He is a democrat in politics and takes an active part in the campaigns of his party. He is also cordially interested in the welfare of the county, as are his brothers, and they omit no effort they can make to push forward its progress and development. Graham O. Shaw attended the common schools and also the college at Greeley, this state. He came to Colorado in 1882, when he was twenty years of age, and after spending a year at Denver variously occupied, moved to Longmont in 1883, and there he operated a baling outfit for the George Coffin Company one year, then became associated with Mr. Coffin as a partner in the business, remaining with him until 1889. In that year he severed his connection with the enterprise and located a portion of the ranch now belonging to him and is brothers. Like his brother John he is a Democrat in political faith, and, like him, he takes an active and serviceable interest in the affairs of his party. Since 1900 he has been one of the county commissioners of Routt county. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, and is ardently devoted to the interests of the order. Herbert Shaw came to this state in 1885, and in 1890 became a partner of his brother Graham in the ranching and cattle business which the three now conduct. On September 9, 1900, he was married to Miss Sadie Turner, a native of Ray county, Missouri. His political affiliation is with the Republican party, and he is devoted to its welfare. Hay and cattle are the staples produced on the ranch of the brothers; but they also raise large quantities of grain, vegetables and small fruits. They are men of fine progressive spirit, commendable breadth of view and loyal devotion to the section in which they have cast their lot. They are also prominent in all local affairs, and are held in high esteem for their wisdom in counsel and their energy and diligence in action where the best interests of the county are concerned.

SPENCER, Walter

As owner and editor of an influential newspaper in Routt county, as one of the leading teachers and superintendents in the public schools for a number of years, as agent of a strong and well patronized fire insurance company, as deputy county assessor and as postmaster of his home town since 1902, Walter Spencer, of Craig, Routt county, this state, has been and is now of signal service to the people of Colorado in several useful lines of public service and private effort, and has won the reward of his fidelity in the high standing and lasting esteem which he enjoys among them. Wherever his services have been required he has been found ready and capable, and in performing them he has shown commendable enterprise and breadth of view. He is a native of Dickenson county, Kansas, born on November 19, 1874, and there he received a good common school education, which was supplemented by a high school course at Las Animas, this state, and one at the State University at Boulder. He taught school in Routt county nine years and served several as principal of the schools at Hayden. In 1903 he took charge of the Routt County Courier at Craig as editor and has since conducted it with vigor and enterprise, earnestly advocating at all times the best interests of the county and state contributing to the awakening, concentration and direction of a healthy public sentiment in favor of their advancement. His office has a good jobbing outfit which does a large business and has a high reputation for the character of its work, it being considered by many the best of its kind in the county. Mr. Spencer also represents the Liverpool & London Globe Fire Insurance Company, which has a considerable patronage in the surrounding country. For some time he has served the people of the county well and wisely as deputy county assessor and since 1902 the citizens of Craig as postmaster. In political affiliation he is a Republican and, being a man of strong convictions, he gives his party earnest and helpful support. His interest in the fraternal life of his community is shown by an active and appreciated membership in the Masonic order, the order of Odd Fellows in lodge and encampment, and the order of Woodmen of the World. On September 13, 1899, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Brown. They have two children, John N. and Dorothy A. Mr. Spencer is the son of Sylvester N. and Lydia J. (James) Spencer, who passed many years in profitable farming. The mother died on February 28, 1899, and the father now has his home at Craig. He is a stanch Republican and a highly respected citizen.

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