Wilhelmus Bogart Robinson (1859-1937)

From the New York Call, October 8, 1918.

   One of a handful of Socialist party candidates to be featured here, physician Wilhelmus Bogart Robinson was a three time candidate for the New York State Assembly who later mounted six unsuccessful candidacies for the U.S. House of Representatives from New York. The son of Leander Van Ess Robinson and the former Catherine Rutgers Conger, Wilhelmus Bogart Robinson was born on November 26, 1859, in Manhattan. A distinguished figure in his own right, Leander V. Robinson (1830-1869)  was elected as District Attorney for Rockland County, New York in 1868, but died in office the following year. 

   As the son of a leading New York lawyer, Wilhelmus Robinson had the benefit of an excellent education, attending the Mountain Institute at Haverstraw, New York. This was followed by tutelage at a French school in New York City and later was enrolled at the Yonkers Military Institute. After deciding upon a career in medicine Robinson studied at the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital in 1885, and following graduation in 1888 relocated to Massachusetts to begin practice. First settling in Easthampton, Robinson later resided in Shelburne Falls and in the early 1890s removed his practice to Brunswick, Georgia, where he remained until 1894.

  Wilhelmus Robinson married in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1885 to Mary Elizabeth Walker (1861-1955), to who he was wed for over fifty years. The couple's long union produced five children, Wilhelmus Jr. (born 1886), Mary Curley (born 1888), George Walker (born 1889), Leander Van Ess (born 1891), and Katherine Rutgers (1892-1962). 

  In 1896 Robinson settled in Brooklyn, New York where he accepted an appointment on the staff of the 26th ward's Homeopathic Dispensary. This was followed by a four-year stint (1897-1901) on the medical staff of the 28th ward's dispensary, and during the Spanish American War was a second lieutenant in the New York Volunteer Infantry. The particulars of Robinson's service remain largely unknown, and it is uncertain if he was deployed outside the United States.

  A Democrat for a good majority of his early life, Robinson first became active in politics during his residency in Massachusetts, where he was a Democratic committeeman for the town of Charlemont. After settling in New York, Robinson was exposed to poor living and working conditions in the city while visiting patients, which eventually led to his change of political faith. He joined the Socialist Party in 1912, and thereafter became an active party worker, being remarked as an "able speaker" and "a first rate storyteller".

  Robinson made his first run for political office in 1917 when he received the Socialist party nomination for state assemblyman from Kings County's 22nd district. One of three candidates vying for the seat, he polled a respectable third on election day, garnering 4,285 votes to winning candidate James Morris' total of 5,825. Undeterred by defeat, Robinson set his sights on a Congressional seat the following year, and after gaining his party's nomination, was profiled in the New York Call in October 1918. Under the headline "Robinson Aids Party By Work And Experience", Robinson's curious first name was also mentioned, with the Call noting:

"Dr. Robinson insists he is not William, nor yet Wilhelm. He is Wilhelmus, and he wants you to understand his Dutch ancestry. He probably can look back to a longer line of American ancestors than the vast majority of Americans."

 Throughout the latter part of 1918 Robinson stumped around his district, giving addresses on his campaign platform, and on election day placed a distant third, polling 6,751 votes, far behind winning Democrat David J. O'Connell's total of 28,882. The years 1919 and 1920 brought more of the same for Robinson, as he ran another losing candidacy for the state assembly in the former year and a failed congressional bid in the latter. In 1922, 1924, 1926 and 1928 he again sought election to Congress from New York's 9th district, and in each came out on the losing end, polling around 4,000 votes at each election.
  In 1927 Robinson was dealt a third loss in his bid for an assembly seat, and in 1930 ran his last campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing out to the man who had bested him on five previous occasions, David J. O'Connell. In an unusual twist, O'Connell died a few weeks following the November election in December 1930, and a special election was held in February 1931 to fill the vacancy.

Robinson as he looked during his political career.

  In 1934 Wilhelmus Robinson retired from practicing medicine and spent the final years of his life in the town of Stony Point in Rockland County. He died at age 77 on January 31, 1937, and was survived by his wife and children. Mary Elizabeth Robinson outlived her husband by nearly two decades and following her death at 93 in February 1955 was interred alongside him at the Herbert Cemetery in Doodletown, New York

Wordsworth Bryant Matterson (1859-1929)

From the Syracuse Journal, July 26, 1929.

  Lifelong New Yorker Wordsworth Bryant Matterson is likely the only Empire State political figure to share a name with famed English poet William Wordsworth, and during a long career as an attorney in Chenango County carved a career for himself as a "shrewd and tactful" trial lawyer.  Matterson earns placement here on the site due to his being District Attorney for Chenango County, and at the time of his death in 1929 held the record for the longest term of service in that office, having held that post for three consecutive terms. The son of Menzo and Sarah Delilah (Dutton) Matterson, Wordsworth Bryant Matterson was born on July 4, 1859, in South Edmeston, New York.

  Deciding upon a career in law at an early age, Matterson enrolled at the Albany Law School and graduated in the class of 1883. He joined with his cousin, Oscar F. Matterson, in the latter's law practice in New Berlin, New York, and later removed to the neighboring town of Bainbridge to continue practice. Matterson's residence in Bainbridge saw him elected to his first political office, that of township supervisor, and in that capacity represented it on the Chenango County Board of Supervisors.

  Wordsworth B. Matterson married his first wife Ella M. Butts (1857-1898) in the late 1880s and had two children L. Lucile (died in infancy in 1888) and Warren Butts Matterson (1890-1964). Following Ella's death in 1898, he remarried on July 26, 1899, to Helena Susan Curtiss (1875-1940). The couple were wed for nearly three decades and had two sons, Curtis Dutton (1901-1974) and Clarence Hovey Matterson (born 1909).

  In 1892 Matterson won election as district attorney for Chenango County, and soon after relocated to Norwich, New York. Early in his tenure in that post, Matterson was a prosecuting attorney in the case of Edward Tracy, then on trial for the murder of his aunt Minerva. Matterson and fellow attorney D.L. Atkyns proved successful in presenting their case, with Tracy being convicted of the crime and sent to Auburn Prison. Despite this conviction, Tracy developed a record as a model prisoner, and a decade following his conviction gained an advocate in the person of Wordsworth Matterson, the man who helped convict him. Matterson would even travel to Albany in December 1905 to "plead for a pardon" for Tracy, and in January 1907, following the commutation of his sentence, Tracy was freed.

  Matterson would be returned to the post of district attorney on two more occasions, and at the time of his leaving office in 1901 had held that office more times than any other occupant. He later moved to Syracuse and joined in a law partnership with Frank Miller, and following Miller's death took on W.F. Quin as a partner. Matterson was later joined by his son Curtis, with their firm name undergoing a name change to Matterson, Quin, Higgins, and Toumey.

  A member of several civic and fraternal groups in his region, Matterson was active in the Syracuse Elks Lodge, the Chenango and Onondaga Bar Associations, and was long a parishioner in the Presbyterian Church. In the weeks before his death, he took an extended visit to his summer home in New London, Connecticut, where he died on July 26, 1929, a few days following his 70th birthday. He was survived by his wife and sons and was later returned to New York for burial at the Riverview Cemetery in Oxford, Chenango County.

From the New Berlin Gazette, August 8, 1929.

Cada Castolas Boak (1870-1954)

Portrait from Who's Who In Nevada, 1907.

  The state of Nevada is a state with meager representation here on the site, with just three political figures from that state being profiled over the past nine years. Despite being a state that consistently refuses to "play ball" when it comes to fielding curiously named folks, this author is proud to unveil the name of Cada Castolas Boak. A ten-term representative in the Nevada legislature, Boak is a rarity among Nevada political figures with his outstandingly different name, and in addition to his two-decade tenure in the legislature was a mining broker and served four years as U.S. Postmaster at Tonopah.

  A native son of Iowa, Cada Castolas Boak was born in Hamilton County on March 15, 1870, the son of William Wesley and Samantha (Payne) Boak. The origins behind the name Cada Castolas remain unknown, and during his youth, Boak attended the Webster City High School in his native county. He would undertake further study at the Elliott Business College in Burlington, Iowa, and later flirted with a career in law, taking a year-long course in Burlington. This period of study was followed by a brief residence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Boak took a "special course" in advertising and another in technology.

  After his return to Iowa, Cada Boak's fortunes arrived in the form of several pieces of mining stock that he acquired "for practically nothing." In 1904 he left Iowa to make a go of mining in Nevada, and during his first few weeks of residence in that state made the acquaintance of an executive with the Litchfield Mining syndicate, then in need of an advertising agent. Boak took on the post of advertising agent with that firm and within a short period was dispatched to Tonopah, then a hotbed of mining activity. In the months following his arrival in that area, Boak developed a controlling interest in several mining properties in the vicinity.

  By 1905 Cada Boak had heard favorable reports of gold discoveries in Nevada's Manhattan region and sent a subordinate, Howard Burr, to investigate the claims. After joining Burr, the two men discovered the "great Consolidated ledge", a substantial vein of gold. Following the purchase of this property, Boak organized the Manhattan Consolidated Mines Company, and along with having a controlling interest in the company served as its secretary and treasurer. 

  In April 1906, Boak and attorney Lewis Rogers purchased "the Antelope" mining claim at Round Mountain, Nevada, and soon after organized the Round Mountain Antelope Mining Co. In May of that year a party consisting of Boak, Rogers, and several others unearthed from a badger hole what was, at the time, called "the finest specimen of free gold on earth"-a fifty-pound rock carrying a 12X15 gold nugget "one-sixteenth to three-eighths of an inch in thickness." Boak's discovery was big news back in his hometown of Webster City, Iowa, and that city's paper later remarked that Boak would refuse a million-dollar offer to sell his find, which was later exhibited in Tonopah and Goldfield, Nevada.

From the Webster City Daily Freeman-Tribune, May 28, 1906.

  With his fortune made and his business interests secure, Boak would continue to expand his mining interests through the 1900s and 1910s, being a mining broker in Tonopah. In May 1912 he married in Volusia, Florida to Grace Elva Fuller (1878-1944), and the couple's three-decade marriage would be childless. The couple would take an active part in Presbyterian church affairs in their community, and in August 1915 Boak himself organized a sacred church musical comprising pieces by French composer Charles Gounod. This musical saw Boak direct the church choir, with Grace Boak (on cello) accompanied by two other musicians. 

  A founding organizer of the Tonopah Chamber of Commerce in the early 1920s, Cada C. Boak would garner additional press as a "good roads enthusiast" during that decade. Long an advocate for improved roadways in his state, Boak "mapped out a feasible plan" to develop a "splendid road" extending from both Goldfield and Tonopah that would eliminate not only slopes but also 31 miles of bad, flood-prone road in the vicinity of Summit Springs and the Sodaville wash. Boak's long interest in good roadways later saw him named as a national director for the Highway 50 Association, and in that capacity was

"credited in bringing the first interstate highway system to Nevada from Delta, Utah to Ely."

 While spearheading the good roads movement in Nevada, Boak was also a booster for the preservation of Lehman Caves, a natural limestone cave formation located in White Pine County. Through Boak's efforts, President Warren Harding declared the site a national monument in 1922, and in August of that year, Boak himself had charge of the flag-raising ceremonies for the official dedication of the site.

   With an extensive business career and a reputation as a leading civic booster, Boak was called to politics in 1926, when he won his first term in the Nevada House of Representatives from Nye County. His first term (1927-29) saw him chair the committee on Roads and Highways and won a second term in November 1928. The 1929 session saw Boak named to the committees on Corporations and Railroads, Federal Relations, Mileage, and Trade and Manufactures. In September 1929 Boak was appointed by President Hoover as U.S. Postmaster at Tonopah. Following confirmation in October, Boak resigned his seat in the legislature and would serve as postmaster through the Hoover administration, leaving office in November 1933.

Boak in old age, from the 1950 Nevada Legislative Manual.

    Boak was returned to the Nevada House of Representatives in November 1934 and during the 1935-37 session sat on the committees on the Judiciary, Mileage, Public Morals, and Roads and Highways. He would win a fourth term in 1936 and a fifth in November 1940. He would serve consecutive terms from 1941-1953 and wasn't a candidate for reelection in November 1952. At the end of his final term Boak was remarked as being the oldest member of the assembly (being 82 years old) and during that term was a member of the committees on Elections, the Judiciary, Rules and Legislative Functions, and Taxation.

  After the conclusion of his term Boak returned to his native Tonopah and in 1952 was an unsuccessful candidate for the Nevada senate, losing out to Democrat William J. "Billy" Frank. Widowed in 1944, Boak continued to reside in the home he had first purchased in Tonopah in 1910 and died there on August 2, 1954, aged 84. He was interred at the New Tonopah Cemetery, and in the decades following his death remains a far-from-forgotten figure in that area, with his home in Tonopah being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

From the Daily Freeman-Journal, August 5, 1954

Frost Leland Benham (1892-1931)

From the composite portrait of the 10th Arizona legislature. 

   Two-term Arizona state legislator Frost Leland Benham's time on the Arizona political stage was brief, as he lost his life in a car accident in 1931, aged just 39. During his residency in Arizona Benham not only succeeded in politics but also civic affairs, being a utility company executive in the city of Jerome. A native Hoosier, Frost Leland "Frosty" Benham was born on April 1, 1892, in Valparaiso, Indiana, the son of Frost and Tillie Benham. 

  Benham removed with his family from Indiana to Dayton, Ohio at an unknown date, and from 1911-13 attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree. In 1914 Benham relocated to Arizona and following his resettlement in Jerome (located in Yavapai County), entered into employment with the United Verde Public Utilities Company, serving as its chief clerk. He would later advance to the post of manager of that company and served in that capacity until his death. 

   "Frosty" Benham married in Tempe in July 1923 to Adah L. Turner (1898-1970), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple's brief union saw the births of two children, Marian Lee (born 1927) and Janet Ray (born 1930). In addition to his business dealings in Jerome Benham was active in the fraternal life of his community, being an Elks Lodge member, a member of the Rotary Club, and for a four-year period served as treasurer of the Associated Charities of Jerome. 

  In 1924 Benham began his political career at the local level when he was elected to the Jerome city council. He would serve on that body's license, finance, and sanitation committee, and in November 1928 was elected as one of two Yavapai representatives to the Arizona state legislature. His service in the 1929-31 session saw him named to the committees on Accounting and Business Methods; Mines and Mining; and Public Lands. He would win a second term in November 1930 and in January 1931 was named to four new committees, those being Appropriations; Corporations; Public Health and Statistics; and Ways and Means.

  In June 1931 Frosty Benham undertook a trip to Prescott, Arizona and on June 14th attended a "Smoki" ceremonial presentation in that city. This gathering, which comprised white citizens acting out Hopi Indian rituals and customs, was followed by a dance, which Benham also attended. After returning to his car Benham began the drive back to Jerome but would lose control of his vehicle "after it struck a soft shoulder on the highway". The car then flipped over, with Benham suffering internal injuries and "a fractured right shoulder and hip." He was later transported to the United Verde Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on June 16, 1931, aged 39.

  Following funeral services, Frost Leland Benham was interred at the Valley View Cemetery in Clarksdale, Arizona. He was survived by his two children and wife Adah, who, following her husband's death, remarried in 1934 to George MacTavish. The couple were later residents of California. Adah Benham MacTavish died there in October 1970, aged 72, and was interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress.

Mamon Augusta Gray (1889-1984)

From the 1939-40 Arizona legislative composite.

                                                                                                        
   Three-term Arizona state representative Mamon Augusta Gray was a native of Mississippi and a resident of Texas prior to his relocation to Cochise County, Arizona in the early 1920s. Despite serving multiple terms in his state's legislature and living to age 95, Gray's life is so obscure that his Arizona legislative database biography consists of just two lines. With such minimal information available, Gray's biography here will be brief, and this author is amazed that considering his overall obscurity, a photograph of him has come to light. 
  The son of John Tidwell and Harriett Lou Dow (Gafford) Gray, Mamon Augusta Gray was born in Union County, Mississippi on October 9, 1889. The origins behind the unusual names Mamon Augusta remain unknown at this time, and Gray himself looks to have preferred the initials "M.A.", as the majority of period legislative documents record him under just his initials. His education extended through grammar and high school and by the 1910s was residing in Port Arthur, Texas. Gray married in that town in January 1915 to Annie Shaw (birthdate unknown) and later had four children, Mamon Augusta Jr. (died in infancy in 1915), Billy G., Mark, and Eleanor.
  Mamon A. Gray and his family removed from Texas to Arizona at an unknown date, and in the 1920 census are recorded as residents of Douglas in Cochise County. He would reside here for a number of years afterward and is remarked as being a barber, as per his legislative biography. Remarked as being a "champion of organized labor",  Gray was elected as a representative from Cochise County in the Arizona legislature in late 1934 and began his first term in January of the following year. This term saw him chair the committee on Labor and serve on the committee on Public Health, and he would win a second term in 1936. 
  The 1937-38 session saw Gray again chair the committee on Labor and was a member of the committee on County and County Affairs, and Public Health. In August 1937, while still an incumbent representative, Gray was appointed by Governor Rawghlie Clement Stanford as one of three members on the State Board of Barber Examiners. His total length of service on that board remains undetermined, though notice has been found as to his being a board member again from 1947-51.
  Gray won a third house term in 1938 and from 1939-40 sat on three new committees, those being the Judiciary; Petitions and Memorials; and Suffrages and Elections. Gray would resign from the house in September 1940 and in the years following his resignation was a resident of Yuma, Arizona. The remaining four decades of Gray's life largely remain unknown, with an exception being a 1975 newspaper notice regarding his involvement in a car-motorcycle accident in Yuma. Gray later resided in Prescott in Yavapai County and celebrated his 90th birthday in 1979. He died in Prescott on October 12, 1984, just three days following his 95th birthday and was interred at the Arizona Pioneer Home Cemetery in that city.

Thanks Albert Anderson (1889-1974)

Anderson during his tenure as Mayor of Tempe.

  One of the more curious names you'll see while perusing a roster of Tempe, Arizona mayors, Thanks Albert Anderson served three terms as mayor of that city and was born, appropriately enough on Thanksgiving Day, hence his first name. A World War I veteran and prominent banker in addition to his mayoralty, Anderson was also a leader in Tempe civic affairs, heading war bond drives during WWII and was a past president of the city chamber of commerce. A native of Texas, Thanks Albert Anderson was born in the town of Brackettville on November 28, 1889, the son of George Albert (1850-1928) and Susan Arbelle (Mason) Anderson (1854-1936). One of several children, Thanks Anderson was not the only one of his siblings bestowed an unusual name, his sisters Content, Honor Glint, and Guess Eleanor having equally strange names of their own.

  Anderson's early education was obtained in Texas and in 1909 relocated to Arizona. Settling in Tempe, he soon found employment at the Tempe Hardware and Vehicle Company. He remained in their employ until 1915, and during the First World War enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was a corporal in a field artillery unit. His exact period of enlistment and area of deployment remain unknown, and in December 1917 married in Arizona to Agnes Perry (1890-1924). The couple was wed for only six years before Agnes' death at age 33, and their union would be childless. Following her death, Anderson remarried in the late 1920s and had two sons, Mason Evans Anderson (born May 1929) and John (birthdate unknown).

  After leaving the Tempe Hardware Co. Thanks Anderson entered into a clerkship with the Tempe National Bank in 1916. Anderson would be affiliated with this bank for decades afterward and succeeded to the post of assistant cashier in the early 1920s. He would serve as its cashier from 1926-31 and in 1935 saw its merger with the First National Bank of Arizona. From 1950-54 Anderson was the bank's manager and vice-president and retired in December of the last-named year.

  Thanks Anderson entered the political life of his city with his election to the Tempe city council in 1930. Following his election to that body, the other council members elected him as mayor, with his first term extending until 1932. He would be returned to the mayoral chair in 1934 and won a third two-year term in 1936, but in February 1937 resigned from office, with councilman Hugh Laird being elected as acting mayor.

From the Arizona Republic, November 30, 1954.

  Following his final term as mayor Thanks Anderson served a one year term as president of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce in 1941 and during World War II was a leading figure in war bond drives held in Tempe. He would be active in the local Masonic lodge, the Rotary Club, the William Bloys Lodge No. 2 of the American Legion, and for many years was a booster for the Arizona State University's athletic programs with the Sun Angel Foundation. 

  Anderson continued residency in Tempe through the remainder of his life and on his 85th birthday was feted with a birthday party at his home. Shortly afterward he was felled by a heart attack and died the day following his birthday, November 29, 1974, at the Desert Samaritan Hospital in Mesa, Arizona. He was survived by his sons Mason and John and was interred at the Double Butte Cemetery in Tempe.

From the Arizona Republic, December 1, 1974.

Alpha Omega Hill (1894-1952)

From the Adams County News, August 5, 1952.

  Aurora, Colorado has lucked into electing two oddly named mayors in its century-plus history, and following the write up on Allington Horatio Kramer (mayor from 1908-10), the life of Alpha Omega Hill is examined. A World War I veteran and mayor of that city, Hill and his space-age sounding name would gain further political prominence when he was elected to the first of three terms in the Colorado legislature in 1944. A native son of Effingham, Florence County, South Carolina, Alpha Omega "A.O." Hill was born in that town on October 25, 1894, the son of David S. and Minnie Hill.

  A student in the public schools of Florence County, Hill later went on to attend the University of Georgia at Athens. He signed on for service during WWI and after enlisting in the Army served overseas with the 116th Engineer Corps. Hill was part of the Allied forces that finally broke the Hindenburg Line in France in September 1918, and during this action was grievously wounded, injuries that proved so severe that he would be hospitalized for several years afterward.

  After being returned stateside for recuperation, Hill contracted tuberculosis, necessitating hospitalization at Fort Bayard, New Mexico. While recuperating in that state he made the acquaintance of former navy Yeomanette Kathryn J. Fox (1896-1980), who he would marry in neighboring Silver City in June 1921. The couple were wed until Hill's death in 1952 and would remain childless. In 1923 the couple removed to Colorado, where Alpha Hill underwent further recuperation at the Fitzsimons General Hospital near Denver, and in 1926 was finally discharged.

  In the weeks following his release from the hospital Alpha O. Hill decided to pursue a career in public service, and after removing to the city of Aurora, ran for and was elected as a justice of the peace. In the 1930s Hill entered into the post of police magistrate for Aurora, serving on the bench for an indeterminate period. Hill's residence in Aurora also saw him active in the Masonic order and local veteran's groups, being a past master of the Aurora Masonic Lodge No. 156 and a member of the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

From the Colorado Yearbook, 1945.

  Hill continued his political ascent in the early 1940s with his election to the Aurora city council, and from 1942-43 was chairman of the Arapahoe County Draft Board. In January 1943 Aurora mayor J.E. McWhorter resigned due to health concerns and Alpha O. Hill was selected to fill out the remainder of McWhorter's term by members of the city council. He would be elected to a term of his own as mayor that April, and despite serving just one term in office (1943-45), pushed through a bevy of civic improvements for his city. His term saw Aurora's first zoning and building ordinance established, a new sewer district developed, and an improved water main system built. Hill's foresight in regards to city planning and zoning was later lauded by the Aurora Democrat in 1950, which noted his developing a planning commission comprising city council members and builders, and after numerous meetings devised a plan to do away with the area's tax-delinquent land. After the completion of a parkway and a channel to carry away flood water, this former "worthless" land became home to "a large theatre, one large grocery and other stores, large apartment houses and perhaps 150 homes."

   A candidate for reelection in early 1945, the mayoral contest proved to be a heated one between Hill and his opponent, B.T. Howard. Though he was defeated in April 1945, Hill continued a steady workload right up until his last day in office, and one week after turning over the mayoral chair to Howard received praise in the Adams County News, who noted:

"The fact remains that Mr. Hill made one of the best mayors Aurora ever had--and considering the whole picture, Aurora made wonderful progress under his administration. Fortunately for our city we still have his advice and best efforts towards making Aurora a better place to live and prosper."

 While he may have lost in his reelection bid for mayor, Hill was not through politically, as he had won election to the Colorado House of Representatives from Arapahoe County in November 1944. Hill's first term saw him chair the committee on Municipal Affairs and also sat on the committees on Enrollment; House Expenses; Indian and Military Affairs; Mercantile and Manufacturing Interests; and Public Buildings. 
  In November 1946 Hill won a second term in the legislature, and during the 1947-49 session again chaired the committee on Municipal Affairs. He was elected to a third term in November 1948, and in his final term was a member of the committees on Constitutional Amendments; House Expenses; Municipal Affairs; and State Institutions. In his last year in office Hill took part in a gathering of former Aurora mayors who were guests of honor at a city official swearing-in ceremony. He was photographed at this gathering with former mayor Allington Horatio Kramer, profiled here on January 22.

Former mayors Alpha Omega Hill and Allington H. Kramer, January 1950.

  For the final three years of his life A.O. Hill battled cancer, and during that period underwent six operations in the hope of being cured of that illness. Hill died of cancer at the Veteran's Hospital in Denver on July 28, 1952, aged 58. Memorialized as a "valiant warrior" and "gallant soul", Hill was survived by his wife Kathryn, who. following her death at age 84 in 1980 was interred alongside him at the Fairmount Cemetery in Denver.

Atterson Walden Rucker (1847-1924)

From Stone's History of Colorado, Vol. IV, 1918.

  Two-term U.S. Representative from Colorado Atterson Walden Rucker is another "old-guard" odd name political figure, this author having first located his name via a copy of "Who Was Who In America" way back in 2001! A native of Kentucky, Rucker would be an unsuccessful candidate for Kansas state attorney general in 1870 and later found his business and political fortune in Colorado. After a brief stint as a criminal court judge in Lake County in the 1880s he established a law practice near Denver, and after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives returned to the practice of law in that city.

  The son of James Willis and Elizabeth (Jones) Rucker, Atterson Walden Rucker was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky on April 3, 1847. While still in his youth Rucker and his family left their Kentucky home for Missouri and after settling in the town of Lexington, became a student in the public schools of that town and St. Louis. During the Civil War Rucker cast his lot with the Confederacy, enlisting in the 16th Missouri Infantry. Just fourteen years old at the time of his enlistment, he saw action at the First Battle of Lexington and the Battle of Carthage in 1861 and in 1862 was captured by Union forces and imprisoned in Springfield, Missouri.

  One of 27 Confederate prisoners confined at Springfield, Rucker was later interviewed by the Confederate Veteran periodical on his service, noting "I helped to dig the graves of twenty-four of my comrades", and that several months following his parole in November 1862 was the only one of the prisoners still alive. After his release, Rucker wasn't "exchanged back into the Confederate ranks" and returned home to Lexington. By 1867 he had decided to pursue a law degree, and after a period of study in Lexington was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1868. 

   In 1869 Atterson Rucker and his older brother Thomas left Missouri for Kansas, and in the latter portion of that year established a joint law practice in the village of Baxter Springs. Within a year of establishing himself as a lawyer in Kansas Rucker set his sights on a lofty goal: the Attorney Generalship of Kansas. Despite being just twenty-three years old, Rucker's name was put forward as the nominee at the Democratic state convention held in Topeka in September 1870. Rucker would ultimately lose that contest to Republican Archibald Williams (who served in office until 1875), but was not through politically, as he became a Democratic candidate for presidential elector in 1872.

   Atterson Rucker married in Baxter Springs in March of 1872/1873 to Celeste Caruth (1854-1906) to who he was wed until her death. The couple would have one daughter, Ethel Rucker Dorr (1874-1952), whose birthdate is curiously mistaken as 1871 on her gravestone in San Diego, California. In 1873 Rucker and his wife resettled in Kansas City, Missouri and resided here until their removal to Lake County, Colorado in 1879. Establishing a law practice in the still-young city of Leadville, Rucker was named judge of the criminal court of Leadville in 1880 and is recorded as having held that office only briefly, as the court was declared unconstitutional by an act of the state supreme court.

From the Fairplay Flume, October 16, 1908.

  In the mid-1880s, Rucker left Leadville and relocated near Denver, where he built up a substantial "productive country estate" that became known as Rucker's Ridge. The succeeding years saw him practicing law and farming in that area and would have a financial interest in several mining companies in the state. A founding member of the Colorado State Forestry Association and a member of the Grange, Rucker's time at the bar saw him make a specialty of irrigation law and water rights controversies, and by the early 20th century his name was touted as a candidate for high political office.

  With nearly four decades of law experience and wide repute in his region, Atterson W. Rucker was put forward as a potential Democratic candidate for Governor of Colorado in early 1908. After several weeks of press backing his candidacy, Rucker withdrew from the contest and threw his support to fellow Democrat John Franklin Shafroth, who later was elected to the governorship. After bowing out from the gubernatorial race, Rucker received the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in the fall of that year, and throughout the campaign season, numerous advertisements booming his candidacy appeared in area newspapers. Acknowledged as "one of Colorado's foremost citizens", Rucker was further lauded by the Fairplay Flume in October 1908, which noted that:

"The voters of his district are interested materially in those matters that have been his great work in this state, and because of this Judge Rucker is eminently one of the best equipped men for the position of congressman to represent his district and state. If politics is business, there should be no hesitancy on the part of the voters or his district in placing their mark of approval after his name for the position."

From the Greeley Tribune, September 22, 1910.

  In November 1908 Rucker defeated two-term Republican incumbent Robert W. Bonynge by a vote of 60,643 to 57, 597. He took his seat in Congress in January 1909 and during the 1909-11 session was a member of the Committee on Insular Affairs. Just several months into his first term, Rucker, along with other members of the Insular Affairs Committee, undertook an extended fact-finding trip to the Philippines. During an excursion on Lake Lanao in that country, Rucker was severely injured when a ship's boom struck him during a storm, and those injuries proved so severe that they necessitated a stay at a hospital in Manila. 

   After recovering from his injuries, Rucker returned to his duties in the United States and in 1910 won a second term in Congress, defeating Republican James C. Burger, 40,458 votes to 37,966. The 1911-13 session saw Rucker named to committees on Indian Affairs, Irrigation of Arid Lands, and Pensions, and in the latter part of 1911 was talked of as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate, being described as a "man of weight among the national lawmakers" by the Colorado Transcript. 

  In the 1912 Democratic primary, Rucker was defeated in his bid for a third term, losing out to former Denver city supervisor George John Kindel. Kindel would go on to win the general election that November and served in Congress for one term. Rucker served out the remainder of his term and prior to leaving Washington in March 1913 was bolstered as a possible nominee for U.S. Minister to Cuba, but the idea appears to have been short-lived, as President Woodrow Wilson appointed William Elliott Gonzales to the post.

From the Fairmount, West Virginian, 1911.

  Following his return to Colorado Atterson W. Rucker returned to farming and in the latter portion of his life made a specialty of raising "pure-blooded Hampshire Down sheep", being remarked as having the only flock of its kind in the state. Rucker's livestock and wool interests saw him hold memberships in the National Wool Grower's Association, the Cattle Grower's Association, and the Farmer's Institute. He continued to practice law in Denver and, following an illness of two weeks, died at the St. Luke's Hospital in Denver on July 19, 1924, aged 77. Widowed in 1906, Rucker was cremated and his ashes later interred at the Littleton Cemetery in Littleton, Colorado.

From the Sterling Republican Advocate, July 24, 1924.

Allington Horatio Kramer (1864-1950)

From the Aurora Democrat, January 13, 1950.

   We continue our stroll through the annals of Colorado politics with a visit to the city of Aurora and Allington Horatio Kramer, a two-term mayor of that city as well as a one-term state representative from Adams County. Despite scant information available on his life, enough has been found to compile a substantial review of his life and political career, and this author was amazed to have located the above portrait of Kramer (part of an even larger picture of past Aurora mayors), which was taken just months before his death in September 1950. The son of John W. and Catherine Kramer, Allington Horatio Kramer was born in Pennsylvania on September 17, 1864.

  Little is known of Kramer's formative years in Pennsylvania, and by 1880 had removed with his family to Vieregg, Merrick County, Nebraska. He would attend school in that county and in March 1888 he married in Hamilton, Nebraska to Margaret Ellen "Maggie" Werfield (1865-1955). The couple was wed for over sixty years and this union produced two children, Lulu (born ca. 1890) and Wilbur Roy (1891-1964).

  After residing in Alliance, Nebraska for an indeterminate period, the Kramer family removed to Colorado in 1891, and afterward "engaged in farming and ranching in the San Luis Valley." By 1905 they were residents of Montevista in Rio Grande County, and Kramer's residency in this area saw him be awarded two patents, one for a "new and improved machine for topping beets" in 1905 and a "grinding device" in early 1907.  In 1907 Kramer and his family relocated to Aurora, Colorado and by the following year had built an eleven room home, where they continued to reside for the remainder of their lives.

  Following removal to the still-young city, Kramer followed a career as a business agent for the Colorado Grange and also became well known locally as an inventor, musician, and composer. Kramer's 1950 Aurora Advocate obituary denotes his "making violins from a maple tree which he grew near his home" and was even offered a band position by famed bandleader John Phillip Sousa. Despite a potentially lucrative opportunity for career advancement, Kramer declined the honor owing to his own busy work schedule.

  Just one year following his removal to Aurora, Allington H. Kramer was elected as mayor of that city in April 1908. He would serve two terms in office and turned down the possibility of a third term despite being endorsed by both parties. Kramer would be called to politics again in September 1914 when he entered into the Progressive Party primary for U.S. Representative from Colorado. He did not fare well in the vote count, polling just 3 votes, with victory going to Charles E. Fisher, who polled a meager 29 votes!

From the Wray Rattler, September 1914.

  Kramer would rebound politically in 1916 when he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the  Colorado House of Representatives from Adams County. He proved successful at the polls that November, besting Democrat H.G. Emery by a vote of 1,528 to 1,425. Taking his seat in January 1917, Kramer's one term saw him named to the following committees: Agriculture and Irrigation; County Lines; Enrollment; House Expenditures; Roads and Bridges; State Affairs and Reapportionment; Temperance; and Towns and Cities. 

  In September 1918 Kramer lost his reelection bid in that year's primary, victory going to Abraham D. Radinsky.  Following his loss, Kramer continued residency in Aurora and in 1932 was elected as its delegate to the Republican state convention that was to be held later that year. In March 1946 he and his wife celebrated their fifty-eighth wedding anniversary, being accorded a congratulatory write-up in the Adams County News. In January 1950, the 85-year-old former mayor took part in a gathering of past Aurora mayors to celebrate the inauguration of Chester E. Tupps, who'd been elected mayor the previous November. Also attending this gathering was another oddly named former Aurora mayor, Alpha Omega "A.O." Hill, then serving in the state legislature.

  Several months following that gathering Allington Horatio Kramer died at his Aurora home, two weeks shy of his 86th birthday. Memorialized as a man of "inventive mind" and an "honest, loyal citizen", he was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

From the Aurora Democrat, September 8, 1950.