Mesa County

Through varying scenes of adversity and prosperity, through alternations of hope and fear, through effort and vicissitude, Jesse T. Gilliam, of Plateau valley, Mesa county, living near Collbran, has come to his present estate of worldly comfort and success, and having been tried by both extremes of fortune and never overcome by either, he has all the more enjoyment in his prosperity of today through recollecting the trials by which he secured it. He was born in Clay county, Missouri, in 1837, and is the son of John and Eliza (Clark) Gilliam, the father a native of North Carolina and … Read more

J. V. Geiger, of Mesa county, with an attractive home on a productive and well cultivated ranch sixteen miles southeast of Grand Junction and in the vicinity of Whitewater, is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born on December 9, 1860. His parents were Andrew and Mary (Mott) Geiger, natives of Germany, where their forefathers had lived for generations before them. They emigrated to the United States not many years after their marriage and settled in Pennsylvania, where they passed the remainder of their days, the mother dying in 1886, at the age of fifty-five, and the father in 1887, … Read more

John T. Gavin, living near Fruita, nine miles northwest of Grand Junction, is one of the enterprising, progressive and broad-minded citizens who have aided in pushing forward the growth and development of Mesa county at its rapid pace, and in building up its works of public improvement. He is a native of Texas, born in 1848, and the son of James H. and Sarah (Colville) Gavin. The father was a native of Ireland and came to the United States while he was yet a young man. After his marriage he settled in Texas, and in 1849 joined a party of … Read more

Thomas J. Fritzler, one of the progressive and public spirited ranchmen and influential citizens of Mesa county, living on a well improved and highly cultivated farm near the village of Snipes, was born in Iowa March 1, 1851, and is the son of Andrew and Polly (Ellis) Fritzler, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Ohio. The father came to the United States when he was but eleven years of age, braving the heaving ocean for the larger opportunities offered to thrift and enterprise in this country and found a home of hope and promise in Ohio. … Read more

R. E. Fletcher, head of the firm of Fletcher & Peugh, owners and operators of one of the leading flour-mills in Mesa county, this state, and a man of influence and prominence in the commercial, industrial and public life of the community in which he lives, was born in Pennsylvania in 1844, and is the son of William and Sarah (Hague) Fletcher, who were also born and reared in the Keystone state. The father was a skillful blacksmith there, and wrought at his craft until late in life, laying down his trust at the age of eighty-four years. The mother … Read more

John A. Fitzpatrick, of Collbran, Mesa county, is a pioneer of 1878 in Colorado and of 1880 in the portion of the state wherein he now lives; and from the time of his advent among its people he has been active and zealous in the development of the section and the promotion of the general welfare of its inhabitants. He is a native of Canada, born in 1840 in Glengarry county, province of Ontario, and is the son of Hugh and Margaret (Ross) Fitzpatrick, also natives of the Dominion, who passed their lives in that country engaged in farming. The … Read more

For nearly twenty years the interesting subject of this brief review has been a resident of Colorado and has been a potent factor in the progress and development of the portion of the state in which he has resided. He is now one of the prosperous and successful farmers of Mesa county, living on a fine ranch which he has improved and cultivated for a number of years in the vicinity of Plateau City, and is connected in a leading way with the agricultural and commercial interests of the section, and contributes to its public life the force of his … Read more

Robert Eaton, one of the leading businessmen of Debeque, Mesa county, began life with the shadow of a double bereavement, losing both his parents when he was but four years old, and has had a varied and interesting career, worked out mainly by his own efforts and capacity. He was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1850, and is the son of Joseph and Susan (Carey) Eaton. His father was a Scotchman and his mother a Pennsylvanian by nativity, and both died in 1854. The father came to this country early in the ‘forties and settled in Pennsylvania. … Read more

For the whole period of a generation of human life James L. Duckett, living four miles and a half northwest of Grand Junction, has been a resident of Colorado, and during the whole of that time has been engaged in aiding to develop the resources and push forward the progress of the state. He was born in Buncombe county, North Carolina, on August 31, 1827, and is the son of Joseph and Sarah (Hipps) Duckett, both natives of South Carolina but reared and married in North Carolina, where they passed their useful lives and were finally laid to rest beneath … Read more

A. J. Dodgion, a prosperous and enterprising ranchman and stock-grower of western Colorado, and a resident of the state since 1869 or 1870, and living now about twelve miles south of Grand Junction, near Whitewater post-office, Mesa county, is a native of North Carolina, where he was born in 1835, the place of his nativity being Haywood county, in the western part of the state, and amid its mountains and mineral regions. His parents were William and Mary (Henderson) Dodgion, the former born and reared in South Carolina and the latter in North Carolina. His father was a planter in … Read more