Fisher, Samuel C; 1905 Bio, Gunnison County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/gunnison/bios/fishersc.txt --------------------------------------- Donated May 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Samuel C. Fisher Born at Greenfield, New Hampshire, on January 4, 1846, and reared on a farm in that neighborhood, then teaching school in New Jersey for a time, Samuel C. Fisher, who is now a prosperous and progressive ranch and stock man of Gunnison county, with a well developed and highly improved ranch of seven hundred and sixty acres on Ohio creek four miles north of the county seat, for a period of nearly twenty-five years turned his back upon the vocation of his father, to which he was well trained, and devoted his energies and the special knowledge he acquired by industrious study to the development and enlargement of the mining and other industries of Colorado suffering in the venture many reverses, but at the same time keeping his courage up and his determination to win out in the race in its pristine strength and youthful freshness. He is the son of Samuel and Rhoda (Robinson) Fisher, whose lives also began in New Hampshire, where they were nearly all passed on a farm in Hillsboro county. In 1855 the father made a trip to Osawotamie, Kansas, with the intention of locating in that then unsettled section, where he was a pioneer, and while there he fought in the border warfare under old John Brown. The outlook was not promising for a peaceful and prosperous career there, and in the latter part of 1856 he returned to his native state, and there both he and his wife died in the course of years. Three of their five children are living, Samuel being the third in the order of birth and the older of the two living sons. His education was begun in the public schools at North Cambridge, Massachusetts, and concluded at the State Normal School in New Jersey, where he was graduated in 1865. After teaching school in New Jersey a short time, he became a student in the metallurgical department of Rutgers College at New Brunswick, that state, and on completing his course came to Colorado in 1867, and was soon after his arrival made foreman of a quartz mill at Buckskin above Alma, Park county, in the employ of W.H. Stevens. In the ensuing fall he moved to Central City and the next spring to Georgetown, operating a number of mills at these places for about two years. In 1869 he looked once more toward the rising sun and went to Butler county, Kansas, where he took up land intending to farm and raise cattle. But in 1870 he came again to Colorado and, locating at Georgetown, engaged in milling and freighting with headquarters at that place until 1878, during this period also doing some freighting between Colorado Springs and Leadville. In the summer of 1879 he built a toll road between Gunnison and Crested Butte, which he owned and managed thirteen years finding the enterprise very profitable, especially in the earlier years of its history. In the meantime he became interested in placer mining and sunk about twenty-five thousand dollars in this captivating but uncertain pursuit, at Dallas, Ouray county. In 1890 he took up a portion of his present ranch on Ohio creek, four miles north of Gunnison, on which he has since lived, and which he has increased to seven hundred and sixty acres, all of which is now practically well irrigated. The land was raw and unaltered when he settled on it and he has been forced to make his own improvements and build his own ditches. The last of the latter, a high-line ditch twelve miles long, has but recently been completed at a considerable outlay, and is proving of the greatest benefit to his ranch, which has a capacity of one thousand tons of hay a year and is always a sure reliance for at least six hundred. Since 1880 he has also been extensively interested in live stock, horses and cattle, but now runs cattle principally, and has about three hundred, mostly well-bred Shorthorns. Politically he is a firm but not an actively partisan Republican, taking a general and effective interest in the local affairs of his section, but with a view to the best results for the people without special reference to party considerations. On January 1, 1878, he united in marriage with Miss Carrie H. Gleason, a native of New Hampshire who came to Colorado with her mother in 1876. They have two daughters, Marjorie A. and Augusta M., the latter the wife of P.B. Anderson, and their son Andrew M. Miss Marjorie has won a commendable reputation as an artist in oil and possesses remarkable ability with the brush. She is particularly proficient in nature studies of wild animals of the Colorado hills. A recent life size painting of a coyote has added to her laurels and will no doubt prove a masterpiece. In the various pursuits in which Mr. Fisher has engaged, in this state and elsewhere, he has faithfully done his best for the general weal, and he has to his credit a long record of permanent usefulness and elevated citizenship, for which he is widely and favorably known in many parts of the state. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. 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