Surgeon, newspaper founder, state legislator.
From the book The History of Colorado; (Volume 3) by Wilbur Fiske Stone
Dr. Michael Beshoar
Some names are indelibly written upon the pages of history and time serves but to heighten the fame of the individual. Such is the record of Dr. Michael Beshoar, of Trinidad, now deceased, who was one of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of Colorado, an able newspaper man and legislator. His life work was well done and he left behind him a record of which his family may well be proud, while his memory remains as an inspiration and a benediction to all who knew him.
The Doctor was born in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1833, and pursued his education in the Tuscarora Academy at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. He afterward entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1853, on the completion of a course in medicine, and later he pursued post-graduate work in the University of Pennsylvania. He worked his way through the University of Michigan and the stories of his existence and the means which he employed to make both ends meet, as humorously related by him in later years, and created laughter in all who listened to his reminiscences. Four years prior to his demise Dr. Beshoar went back to Ann Arbor to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation, and twenty-five and thirty- five year anniversary men stood aside in honor of this veteran. From the spring of 1853 until after the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861 he engaged in the practice of his profession in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and became a prominent and influential resident of that state, leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon its history. He was twice elected to represent his district in the Arkansas legislature during that period. He ever stood loyally for what he believed to be right and his position upon any vital question was never an equivocal one. He had the rare distinction of being a Confederate veteran and also a member of the Union army. With the outbreak of the war between the north and the south he enlisted in the Arkansas infantry in support of the Confederate cause and was made chief surgeon. Later he became a full surgeon of the provisional armies of the Confederate states under General Hardee and afterward was transferred to the Department of the Mississippi. In 1863 he was captured by the Union troops and after being held as a prisoner of war for a time in St. Louis was released on parole in order that he might utilize his professional knowledge to assist the sick and wounded of the Union army. He thus did active professional work for both sides, his broad humanitarianism prompting him to do the utmost in his power to relieve the sick and suffering of both armies.
When the war was over Dr. Beshoar entered upon the active practice of his profession in St. Louis and later, or in 1866, was appointed to the position of chief surgeon at Fort Kearney, Nebraska. After a brief period, however, he resigned and removed to the west, first establishing his home in Pueblo, Colorado, where he opened the first drug store between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Denver. In 1867 he established his residence at' Trinidad, Colorado. In 1868 he founded the Pueblo Chieftain, which has remained throughout all the intervening years, covering a half century, one of the leading newspapers of the state. It would be impossible to keep a man of Dr. Beshoar's ability and resourcefulness in the background, and constant were the demands for his service in various public connections. He was a member of the territorial legislature and also of the general assembly after the admission of Colorado into the Union. He
also figured again in newspaper circles in 1882 as the founder of the Trinidad Advertiser. His editorials were clear, trenchant, concise and forceful and had much to do with shaping public thought and opinion among his readers. He was a man of keen insight and of broad vision and he handled public questions from the standpoint of a man who sees clearly and thinks deeply.
In 1872 Dr. Beshoar was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Maupin and their children are: Mrs. Roy Gulley; Mrs. Bernie B. Joerger, who is a representative of the medical profession; Dr. B. B. Beshoar, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Dr. John Beshoar, a successful practicing dentist; and Bertram, assistant to the attorney general at Denver.
Dr. Michael Beshoar was the founder of the Old Settlers' Association of Las Animas County and remained its honored president until his demise. He was a Mason of fifty- four years' standing, having membership in the lodge, the chapter and the council. He also belonged to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
Throughout his active lite he remained a prominent representative of the medical profession and served at different periods as city and county physician, was at one time surgeon of the Arkansas state militia and afterward a member of the Colorado state board of health. He belonged to the Pan-American Medical Congress, was a member of the American Public Health Association, of the Association of Assistant Army Surgeons, U. S. A., was a member of the American Association of Examining Surgeons, belonged to the Colorado State Medical Society, of which he served as vice president, was at one time president of the Las Animas County Medical Society, was a life member of the American Medical Association and was a delegate from the American Public Health Association to the American Congress on Tuberculosis. He was also a member of the Association of Medical Officers of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy.
In addition to his private practice he was examining surgeon for numerous leading life insurance companies.
The Chronicle-News of Trinidad, of September 6, 1907, wrote: "Dr. Beshoar is dead. Last night while the city lay in deep midnight silence, death claimed him for his own and the great-hearted physician who had fought off the grim reaper thousands of times for others, whose whole life had been devoted to keeping the shadow at bay, answered the call. The end was as he would have wished — suddenly, yet peacefully — and through-out the length and the breadth of these United States, wherever he has been during his long and eventful life, there will be men and women who will shed a tear for his memory. In halls of learning, in the dwellings of the rich and the humble homes of the poor he was beloved and justly so. And here in southern Colorado, where he has spent a half century, doing good among the people, in the cities and over the broad mesas where the long grass waves, and deep in remote canyons where the feet of white
men seldom tread, his multitude of dark skinned friends will hear of his passing; in the pueblos and among the scattered huts of the sheep herders the answering of the call will be told and their heads will be bowed in sorrow, for he was ever and always their true, stanch friend in their greatest hours of need."
____________________________________________________________
From: Portrait and Biographical Record of the State of Colorado, 1899
HON. MICHAEL BESHOAR, M. D., a pioneer of '67 in Trinidad, has long been one of the most influential citizens of this place, with the growth and progress of which he has been intimately associated. Not alone in his profession, but also in political life and the newspaper business he has attained prominence. In 1881 he established the Advertiser, a well-known paper of Trinidad, which he conducted until 1897, and then sold. With the exception of General West, of Golden, he is the oldest editor in the entire state.
He is also, in point of years of practice, the oldest physician in Trinidad, as well as one of the oldest in Colorado.
Dr. Beshoar was born and reared near Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pa., a son of Daniel and Susan (Rothrock) Beshoar. His father, who was a native of Cumberland County, Pa., followed farming as his life occupation, and also engaged in speculating to some extent. He died in Indiana at the age of sixty-five, and his wife, in Pennsylvania, in 1848, when thirty-five years of age. Of their ten children, four are living: Michael, Anna, Hannah and Asenath. Our subject was educated in public schools and Tuscarora Academy, at Academia. At eighteen years of age he began to study medicine under Drs. Hoover and Morse, in his native county, and afterward attended the Philadelphia Medical College, Jefferson Medical College and the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, finally graduating from the University of Michigan in 1853, with the degree of M. D.
The doctor's first location for practice was at Pocahontas, Ark., where he remained for ten years. In 1861 he acted as surgeon of the Seventh Arkansas Infantry and in 1862 became medical director of General Hardy's command. After the battle of Shiloh he was transferred to the department of the Mississippi and continued to serve until the fall of 1863, when he was captured with "Jeff" Thompson and his quartermaster. He was given his liberty in the city of St. Louis under bond, and while there, a prisoner under bond, he took a post-graduate course in the St. Louis Medical College. Meantime he became convinced that the southern cause was hopeless and that surrender might as well be made at once, thus saving thousands of lives. On being released as a prisoner of war, he agreed to attend the refugee women and children at Benton Barracks, having been solicited to take this work by Dr. Madison Mills. As acting assistant surgeon he was connected with the St. Louis post hospital, and Jefferson Barracks hospital, after which he was placed in charge of the post hospital at Fort Kearney, Neb., and at the same time was made medical purveyor for all the territories.
Resigning this position in the fall of 1866, Dr. Beshoar came to Pueblo, Colo., and opened the first drug store ever established between Denver and Santa Fe. In 1868 he established the only newspaper in that town, which paper is now the well known Pueblo Chieftain. From Pueblo he came to Trinidad in 1867, however, still continuing his newspaper business in the former city. The trip between the two towns he made on horseback in one and one- half days. In the fall of 1867 he was elected to the territorial legislature (capital at Golden), but was defrauded out of his seat by the opposing party. He has made Trinidad his home since 1869 and has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession.
Politically a Democrat, on his party ticket Dr. Beshoar has been elected county assessor, county coroner, county clerk and county judge (which office he filled for seven years) and he is now serving his fourth term as county superintendent of schools. At the first state election, in 1876, he was the regular Democratic nominee for lieutenant-governor. Afterward he served for one term in the lower house of the state legislature. Prior to the war he also served two terms as a member of the Arkansas legislature. He was the first vice-president of the Trinidad Chamber of Commerce, which position he now holds. Besides his landed interests in Arkansas and Colorado he has extensive mining interests in Mexico, having purchased one of the famous old mines there known as the Temerosa mine.
The Las Animas County and Colorado State Medical Societies, American Medical Association and American Public Health Association number Dr. Beshoar among their members, and he is also a member of the Pan- American Medical Congress. Fraternally he is a member of Las Animas Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M., in which he is past master and which he represents in the grand lodge; also the Colorado Consistory, Scottish Rite, and socially he is connected with the Trinidad Club.
In 1872 he married Anna E. Maupin, and they have five children: Bonnie, who is deputy county superintendent of schools; Burnie, Ben, John and Bertram.
During the long period of his activity in the west, Dr. Beshoar has met many famous men, among them the scout, Kit Carson, who was his personal friend. Among his other friends of early days were such men as Gov. Henry M. Rector, of Arkansas, Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, "Jeff" Thompson, General Hardy, Col. Albert G. Boone, Gen. Elwell Otis, etc. Dr. Beshoar and Hon. A. H. Garland, ex-attorney-general of the United States, served in the Arkansas legislature at the same time.
The Medical and Surgical Register of the United States and Canada (1898) has the following reference to the subject of this sketch: "Beshoar, Michael; University of Michigan medical department 1 853, member American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Colorado State Medical Society, Las Animas County Medical Society, and Pan-American Medical Congress; surgical and medical director in Confederate army two and one-half years, and A. A. surgeon United States Army two and one-half years, until after the close of the late war; founder of Daily Chieftain, Pueblo, Colo., in 1868; managing editor Daily Advertiser, Trinidad , Colo. , since its foundation in 1881; member of the Colorado Editorial Association and county superintendent of schools, serving fourth term; office southwest corner First and Convent streets."
From the book The History of Colorado; (Volume 3) by Wilbur Fiske Stone
Dr. Michael Beshoar
Some names are indelibly written upon the pages of history and time serves but to heighten the fame of the individual. Such is the record of Dr. Michael Beshoar, of Trinidad, now deceased, who was one of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of Colorado, an able newspaper man and legislator. His life work was well done and he left behind him a record of which his family may well be proud, while his memory remains as an inspiration and a benediction to all who knew him.
The Doctor was born in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1833, and pursued his education in the Tuscarora Academy at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. He afterward entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1853, on the completion of a course in medicine, and later he pursued post-graduate work in the University of Pennsylvania. He worked his way through the University of Michigan and the stories of his existence and the means which he employed to make both ends meet, as humorously related by him in later years, and created laughter in all who listened to his reminiscences. Four years prior to his demise Dr. Beshoar went back to Ann Arbor to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation, and twenty-five and thirty- five year anniversary men stood aside in honor of this veteran. From the spring of 1853 until after the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861 he engaged in the practice of his profession in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and became a prominent and influential resident of that state, leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon its history. He was twice elected to represent his district in the Arkansas legislature during that period. He ever stood loyally for what he believed to be right and his position upon any vital question was never an equivocal one. He had the rare distinction of being a Confederate veteran and also a member of the Union army. With the outbreak of the war between the north and the south he enlisted in the Arkansas infantry in support of the Confederate cause and was made chief surgeon. Later he became a full surgeon of the provisional armies of the Confederate states under General Hardee and afterward was transferred to the Department of the Mississippi. In 1863 he was captured by the Union troops and after being held as a prisoner of war for a time in St. Louis was released on parole in order that he might utilize his professional knowledge to assist the sick and wounded of the Union army. He thus did active professional work for both sides, his broad humanitarianism prompting him to do the utmost in his power to relieve the sick and suffering of both armies.
When the war was over Dr. Beshoar entered upon the active practice of his profession in St. Louis and later, or in 1866, was appointed to the position of chief surgeon at Fort Kearney, Nebraska. After a brief period, however, he resigned and removed to the west, first establishing his home in Pueblo, Colorado, where he opened the first drug store between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Denver. In 1867 he established his residence at' Trinidad, Colorado. In 1868 he founded the Pueblo Chieftain, which has remained throughout all the intervening years, covering a half century, one of the leading newspapers of the state. It would be impossible to keep a man of Dr. Beshoar's ability and resourcefulness in the background, and constant were the demands for his service in various public connections. He was a member of the territorial legislature and also of the general assembly after the admission of Colorado into the Union. He
also figured again in newspaper circles in 1882 as the founder of the Trinidad Advertiser. His editorials were clear, trenchant, concise and forceful and had much to do with shaping public thought and opinion among his readers. He was a man of keen insight and of broad vision and he handled public questions from the standpoint of a man who sees clearly and thinks deeply.
In 1872 Dr. Beshoar was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Maupin and their children are: Mrs. Roy Gulley; Mrs. Bernie B. Joerger, who is a representative of the medical profession; Dr. B. B. Beshoar, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Dr. John Beshoar, a successful practicing dentist; and Bertram, assistant to the attorney general at Denver.
Dr. Michael Beshoar was the founder of the Old Settlers' Association of Las Animas County and remained its honored president until his demise. He was a Mason of fifty- four years' standing, having membership in the lodge, the chapter and the council. He also belonged to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
Throughout his active lite he remained a prominent representative of the medical profession and served at different periods as city and county physician, was at one time surgeon of the Arkansas state militia and afterward a member of the Colorado state board of health. He belonged to the Pan-American Medical Congress, was a member of the American Public Health Association, of the Association of Assistant Army Surgeons, U. S. A., was a member of the American Association of Examining Surgeons, belonged to the Colorado State Medical Society, of which he served as vice president, was at one time president of the Las Animas County Medical Society, was a life member of the American Medical Association and was a delegate from the American Public Health Association to the American Congress on Tuberculosis. He was also a member of the Association of Medical Officers of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy.
In addition to his private practice he was examining surgeon for numerous leading life insurance companies.
The Chronicle-News of Trinidad, of September 6, 1907, wrote: "Dr. Beshoar is dead. Last night while the city lay in deep midnight silence, death claimed him for his own and the great-hearted physician who had fought off the grim reaper thousands of times for others, whose whole life had been devoted to keeping the shadow at bay, answered the call. The end was as he would have wished — suddenly, yet peacefully — and through-out the length and the breadth of these United States, wherever he has been during his long and eventful life, there will be men and women who will shed a tear for his memory. In halls of learning, in the dwellings of the rich and the humble homes of the poor he was beloved and justly so. And here in southern Colorado, where he has spent a half century, doing good among the people, in the cities and over the broad mesas where the long grass waves, and deep in remote canyons where the feet of white
men seldom tread, his multitude of dark skinned friends will hear of his passing; in the pueblos and among the scattered huts of the sheep herders the answering of the call will be told and their heads will be bowed in sorrow, for he was ever and always their true, stanch friend in their greatest hours of need."
____________________________________________________________
From: Portrait and Biographical Record of the State of Colorado, 1899
HON. MICHAEL BESHOAR, M. D., a pioneer of '67 in Trinidad, has long been one of the most influential citizens of this place, with the growth and progress of which he has been intimately associated. Not alone in his profession, but also in political life and the newspaper business he has attained prominence. In 1881 he established the Advertiser, a well-known paper of Trinidad, which he conducted until 1897, and then sold. With the exception of General West, of Golden, he is the oldest editor in the entire state.
He is also, in point of years of practice, the oldest physician in Trinidad, as well as one of the oldest in Colorado.
Dr. Beshoar was born and reared near Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pa., a son of Daniel and Susan (Rothrock) Beshoar. His father, who was a native of Cumberland County, Pa., followed farming as his life occupation, and also engaged in speculating to some extent. He died in Indiana at the age of sixty-five, and his wife, in Pennsylvania, in 1848, when thirty-five years of age. Of their ten children, four are living: Michael, Anna, Hannah and Asenath. Our subject was educated in public schools and Tuscarora Academy, at Academia. At eighteen years of age he began to study medicine under Drs. Hoover and Morse, in his native county, and afterward attended the Philadelphia Medical College, Jefferson Medical College and the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, finally graduating from the University of Michigan in 1853, with the degree of M. D.
The doctor's first location for practice was at Pocahontas, Ark., where he remained for ten years. In 1861 he acted as surgeon of the Seventh Arkansas Infantry and in 1862 became medical director of General Hardy's command. After the battle of Shiloh he was transferred to the department of the Mississippi and continued to serve until the fall of 1863, when he was captured with "Jeff" Thompson and his quartermaster. He was given his liberty in the city of St. Louis under bond, and while there, a prisoner under bond, he took a post-graduate course in the St. Louis Medical College. Meantime he became convinced that the southern cause was hopeless and that surrender might as well be made at once, thus saving thousands of lives. On being released as a prisoner of war, he agreed to attend the refugee women and children at Benton Barracks, having been solicited to take this work by Dr. Madison Mills. As acting assistant surgeon he was connected with the St. Louis post hospital, and Jefferson Barracks hospital, after which he was placed in charge of the post hospital at Fort Kearney, Neb., and at the same time was made medical purveyor for all the territories.
Resigning this position in the fall of 1866, Dr. Beshoar came to Pueblo, Colo., and opened the first drug store ever established between Denver and Santa Fe. In 1868 he established the only newspaper in that town, which paper is now the well known Pueblo Chieftain. From Pueblo he came to Trinidad in 1867, however, still continuing his newspaper business in the former city. The trip between the two towns he made on horseback in one and one- half days. In the fall of 1867 he was elected to the territorial legislature (capital at Golden), but was defrauded out of his seat by the opposing party. He has made Trinidad his home since 1869 and has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession.
Politically a Democrat, on his party ticket Dr. Beshoar has been elected county assessor, county coroner, county clerk and county judge (which office he filled for seven years) and he is now serving his fourth term as county superintendent of schools. At the first state election, in 1876, he was the regular Democratic nominee for lieutenant-governor. Afterward he served for one term in the lower house of the state legislature. Prior to the war he also served two terms as a member of the Arkansas legislature. He was the first vice-president of the Trinidad Chamber of Commerce, which position he now holds. Besides his landed interests in Arkansas and Colorado he has extensive mining interests in Mexico, having purchased one of the famous old mines there known as the Temerosa mine.
The Las Animas County and Colorado State Medical Societies, American Medical Association and American Public Health Association number Dr. Beshoar among their members, and he is also a member of the Pan- American Medical Congress. Fraternally he is a member of Las Animas Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M., in which he is past master and which he represents in the grand lodge; also the Colorado Consistory, Scottish Rite, and socially he is connected with the Trinidad Club.
In 1872 he married Anna E. Maupin, and they have five children: Bonnie, who is deputy county superintendent of schools; Burnie, Ben, John and Bertram.
During the long period of his activity in the west, Dr. Beshoar has met many famous men, among them the scout, Kit Carson, who was his personal friend. Among his other friends of early days were such men as Gov. Henry M. Rector, of Arkansas, Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, "Jeff" Thompson, General Hardy, Col. Albert G. Boone, Gen. Elwell Otis, etc. Dr. Beshoar and Hon. A. H. Garland, ex-attorney-general of the United States, served in the Arkansas legislature at the same time.
The Medical and Surgical Register of the United States and Canada (1898) has the following reference to the subject of this sketch: "Beshoar, Michael; University of Michigan medical department 1 853, member American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Colorado State Medical Society, Las Animas County Medical Society, and Pan-American Medical Congress; surgical and medical director in Confederate army two and one-half years, and A. A. surgeon United States Army two and one-half years, until after the close of the late war; founder of Daily Chieftain, Pueblo, Colo., in 1868; managing editor Daily Advertiser, Trinidad , Colo. , since its foundation in 1881; member of the Colorado Editorial Association and county superintendent of schools, serving fourth term; office southwest corner First and Convent streets."
Surgeon, newspaper founder, state legislator.
From the book The History of Colorado; (Volume 3) by Wilbur Fiske Stone
Dr. Michael Beshoar
Some names are indelibly written upon the pages of history and time serves but to heighten the fame of the individual. Such is the record of Dr. Michael Beshoar, of Trinidad, now deceased, who was one of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of Colorado, an able newspaper man and legislator. His life work was well done and he left behind him a record of which his family may well be proud, while his memory remains as an inspiration and a benediction to all who knew him.
The Doctor was born in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1833, and pursued his education in the Tuscarora Academy at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. He afterward entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1853, on the completion of a course in medicine, and later he pursued post-graduate work in the University of Pennsylvania. He worked his way through the University of Michigan and the stories of his existence and the means which he employed to make both ends meet, as humorously related by him in later years, and created laughter in all who listened to his reminiscences. Four years prior to his demise Dr. Beshoar went back to Ann Arbor to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation, and twenty-five and thirty- five year anniversary men stood aside in honor of this veteran. From the spring of 1853 until after the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861 he engaged in the practice of his profession in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and became a prominent and influential resident of that state, leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon its history. He was twice elected to represent his district in the Arkansas legislature during that period. He ever stood loyally for what he believed to be right and his position upon any vital question was never an equivocal one. He had the rare distinction of being a Confederate veteran and also a member of the Union army. With the outbreak of the war between the north and the south he enlisted in the Arkansas infantry in support of the Confederate cause and was made chief surgeon. Later he became a full surgeon of the provisional armies of the Confederate states under General Hardee and afterward was transferred to the Department of the Mississippi. In 1863 he was captured by the Union troops and after being held as a prisoner of war for a time in St. Louis was released on parole in order that he might utilize his professional knowledge to assist the sick and wounded of the Union army. He thus did active professional work for both sides, his broad humanitarianism prompting him to do the utmost in his power to relieve the sick and suffering of both armies.
When the war was over Dr. Beshoar entered upon the active practice of his profession in St. Louis and later, or in 1866, was appointed to the position of chief surgeon at Fort Kearney, Nebraska. After a brief period, however, he resigned and removed to the west, first establishing his home in Pueblo, Colorado, where he opened the first drug store between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Denver. In 1867 he established his residence at' Trinidad, Colorado. In 1868 he founded the Pueblo Chieftain, which has remained throughout all the intervening years, covering a half century, one of the leading newspapers of the state. It would be impossible to keep a man of Dr. Beshoar's ability and resourcefulness in the background, and constant were the demands for his service in various public connections. He was a member of the territorial legislature and also of the general assembly after the admission of Colorado into the Union. He
also figured again in newspaper circles in 1882 as the founder of the Trinidad Advertiser. His editorials were clear, trenchant, concise and forceful and had much to do with shaping public thought and opinion among his readers. He was a man of keen insight and of broad vision and he handled public questions from the standpoint of a man who sees clearly and thinks deeply.
In 1872 Dr. Beshoar was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Maupin and their children are: Mrs. Roy Gulley; Mrs. Bernie B. Joerger, who is a representative of the medical profession; Dr. B. B. Beshoar, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Dr. John Beshoar, a successful practicing dentist; and Bertram, assistant to the attorney general at Denver.
Dr. Michael Beshoar was the founder of the Old Settlers' Association of Las Animas County and remained its honored president until his demise. He was a Mason of fifty- four years' standing, having membership in the lodge, the chapter and the council. He also belonged to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
Throughout his active lite he remained a prominent representative of the medical profession and served at different periods as city and county physician, was at one time surgeon of the Arkansas state militia and afterward a member of the Colorado state board of health. He belonged to the Pan-American Medical Congress, was a member of the American Public Health Association, of the Association of Assistant Army Surgeons, U. S. A., was a member of the American Association of Examining Surgeons, belonged to the Colorado State Medical Society, of which he served as vice president, was at one time president of the Las Animas County Medical Society, was a life member of the American Medical Association and was a delegate from the American Public Health Association to the American Congress on Tuberculosis. He was also a member of the Association of Medical Officers of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy.
In addition to his private practice he was examining surgeon for numerous leading life insurance companies.
The Chronicle-News of Trinidad, of September 6, 1907, wrote: "Dr. Beshoar is dead. Last night while the city lay in deep midnight silence, death claimed him for his own and the great-hearted physician who had fought off the grim reaper thousands of times for others, whose whole life had been devoted to keeping the shadow at bay, answered the call. The end was as he would have wished — suddenly, yet peacefully — and through-out the length and the breadth of these United States, wherever he has been during his long and eventful life, there will be men and women who will shed a tear for his memory. In halls of learning, in the dwellings of the rich and the humble homes of the poor he was beloved and justly so. And here in southern Colorado, where he has spent a half century, doing good among the people, in the cities and over the broad mesas where the long grass waves, and deep in remote canyons where the feet of white
men seldom tread, his multitude of dark skinned friends will hear of his passing; in the pueblos and among the scattered huts of the sheep herders the answering of the call will be told and their heads will be bowed in sorrow, for he was ever and always their true, stanch friend in their greatest hours of need."
____________________________________________________________
From: Portrait and Biographical Record of the State of Colorado, 1899
HON. MICHAEL BESHOAR, M. D., a pioneer of '67 in Trinidad, has long been one of the most influential citizens of this place, with the growth and progress of which he has been intimately associated. Not alone in his profession, but also in political life and the newspaper business he has attained prominence. In 1881 he established the Advertiser, a well-known paper of Trinidad, which he conducted until 1897, and then sold. With the exception of General West, of Golden, he is the oldest editor in the entire state.
He is also, in point of years of practice, the oldest physician in Trinidad, as well as one of the oldest in Colorado.
Dr. Beshoar was born and reared near Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pa., a son of Daniel and Susan (Rothrock) Beshoar. His father, who was a native of Cumberland County, Pa., followed farming as his life occupation, and also engaged in speculating to some extent. He died in Indiana at the age of sixty-five, and his wife, in Pennsylvania, in 1848, when thirty-five years of age. Of their ten children, four are living: Michael, Anna, Hannah and Asenath. Our subject was educated in public schools and Tuscarora Academy, at Academia. At eighteen years of age he began to study medicine under Drs. Hoover and Morse, in his native county, and afterward attended the Philadelphia Medical College, Jefferson Medical College and the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, finally graduating from the University of Michigan in 1853, with the degree of M. D.
The doctor's first location for practice was at Pocahontas, Ark., where he remained for ten years. In 1861 he acted as surgeon of the Seventh Arkansas Infantry and in 1862 became medical director of General Hardy's command. After the battle of Shiloh he was transferred to the department of the Mississippi and continued to serve until the fall of 1863, when he was captured with "Jeff" Thompson and his quartermaster. He was given his liberty in the city of St. Louis under bond, and while there, a prisoner under bond, he took a post-graduate course in the St. Louis Medical College. Meantime he became convinced that the southern cause was hopeless and that surrender might as well be made at once, thus saving thousands of lives. On being released as a prisoner of war, he agreed to attend the refugee women and children at Benton Barracks, having been solicited to take this work by Dr. Madison Mills. As acting assistant surgeon he was connected with the St. Louis post hospital, and Jefferson Barracks hospital, after which he was placed in charge of the post hospital at Fort Kearney, Neb., and at the same time was made medical purveyor for all the territories.
Resigning this position in the fall of 1866, Dr. Beshoar came to Pueblo, Colo., and opened the first drug store ever established between Denver and Santa Fe. In 1868 he established the only newspaper in that town, which paper is now the well known Pueblo Chieftain. From Pueblo he came to Trinidad in 1867, however, still continuing his newspaper business in the former city. The trip between the two towns he made on horseback in one and one- half days. In the fall of 1867 he was elected to the territorial legislature (capital at Golden), but was defrauded out of his seat by the opposing party. He has made Trinidad his home since 1869 and has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession.
Politically a Democrat, on his party ticket Dr. Beshoar has been elected county assessor, county coroner, county clerk and county judge (which office he filled for seven years) and he is now serving his fourth term as county superintendent of schools. At the first state election, in 1876, he was the regular Democratic nominee for lieutenant-governor. Afterward he served for one term in the lower house of the state legislature. Prior to the war he also served two terms as a member of the Arkansas legislature. He was the first vice-president of the Trinidad Chamber of Commerce, which position he now holds. Besides his landed interests in Arkansas and Colorado he has extensive mining interests in Mexico, having purchased one of the famous old mines there known as the Temerosa mine.
The Las Animas County and Colorado State Medical Societies, American Medical Association and American Public Health Association number Dr. Beshoar among their members, and he is also a member of the Pan- American Medical Congress. Fraternally he is a member of Las Animas Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M., in which he is past master and which he represents in the grand lodge; also the Colorado Consistory, Scottish Rite, and socially he is connected with the Trinidad Club.
In 1872 he married Anna E. Maupin, and they have five children: Bonnie, who is deputy county superintendent of schools; Burnie, Ben, John and Bertram.
During the long period of his activity in the west, Dr. Beshoar has met many famous men, among them the scout, Kit Carson, who was his personal friend. Among his other friends of early days were such men as Gov. Henry M. Rector, of Arkansas, Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, "Jeff" Thompson, General Hardy, Col. Albert G. Boone, Gen. Elwell Otis, etc. Dr. Beshoar and Hon. A. H. Garland, ex-attorney-general of the United States, served in the Arkansas legislature at the same time.
The Medical and Surgical Register of the United States and Canada (1898) has the following reference to the subject of this sketch: "Beshoar, Michael; University of Michigan medical department 1 853, member American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Colorado State Medical Society, Las Animas County Medical Society, and Pan-American Medical Congress; surgical and medical director in Confederate army two and one-half years, and A. A. surgeon United States Army two and one-half years, until after the close of the late war; founder of Daily Chieftain, Pueblo, Colo., in 1868; managing editor Daily Advertiser, Trinidad , Colo. , since its foundation in 1881; member of the Colorado Editorial Association and county superintendent of schools, serving fourth term; office southwest corner First and Convent streets."
From the book The History of Colorado; (Volume 3) by Wilbur Fiske Stone
Dr. Michael Beshoar
Some names are indelibly written upon the pages of history and time serves but to heighten the fame of the individual. Such is the record of Dr. Michael Beshoar, of Trinidad, now deceased, who was one of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of Colorado, an able newspaper man and legislator. His life work was well done and he left behind him a record of which his family may well be proud, while his memory remains as an inspiration and a benediction to all who knew him.
The Doctor was born in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1833, and pursued his education in the Tuscarora Academy at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. He afterward entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1853, on the completion of a course in medicine, and later he pursued post-graduate work in the University of Pennsylvania. He worked his way through the University of Michigan and the stories of his existence and the means which he employed to make both ends meet, as humorously related by him in later years, and created laughter in all who listened to his reminiscences. Four years prior to his demise Dr. Beshoar went back to Ann Arbor to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation, and twenty-five and thirty- five year anniversary men stood aside in honor of this veteran. From the spring of 1853 until after the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861 he engaged in the practice of his profession in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and became a prominent and influential resident of that state, leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon its history. He was twice elected to represent his district in the Arkansas legislature during that period. He ever stood loyally for what he believed to be right and his position upon any vital question was never an equivocal one. He had the rare distinction of being a Confederate veteran and also a member of the Union army. With the outbreak of the war between the north and the south he enlisted in the Arkansas infantry in support of the Confederate cause and was made chief surgeon. Later he became a full surgeon of the provisional armies of the Confederate states under General Hardee and afterward was transferred to the Department of the Mississippi. In 1863 he was captured by the Union troops and after being held as a prisoner of war for a time in St. Louis was released on parole in order that he might utilize his professional knowledge to assist the sick and wounded of the Union army. He thus did active professional work for both sides, his broad humanitarianism prompting him to do the utmost in his power to relieve the sick and suffering of both armies.
When the war was over Dr. Beshoar entered upon the active practice of his profession in St. Louis and later, or in 1866, was appointed to the position of chief surgeon at Fort Kearney, Nebraska. After a brief period, however, he resigned and removed to the west, first establishing his home in Pueblo, Colorado, where he opened the first drug store between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Denver. In 1867 he established his residence at' Trinidad, Colorado. In 1868 he founded the Pueblo Chieftain, which has remained throughout all the intervening years, covering a half century, one of the leading newspapers of the state. It would be impossible to keep a man of Dr. Beshoar's ability and resourcefulness in the background, and constant were the demands for his service in various public connections. He was a member of the territorial legislature and also of the general assembly after the admission of Colorado into the Union. He
also figured again in newspaper circles in 1882 as the founder of the Trinidad Advertiser. His editorials were clear, trenchant, concise and forceful and had much to do with shaping public thought and opinion among his readers. He was a man of keen insight and of broad vision and he handled public questions from the standpoint of a man who sees clearly and thinks deeply.
In 1872 Dr. Beshoar was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Maupin and their children are: Mrs. Roy Gulley; Mrs. Bernie B. Joerger, who is a representative of the medical profession; Dr. B. B. Beshoar, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Dr. John Beshoar, a successful practicing dentist; and Bertram, assistant to the attorney general at Denver.
Dr. Michael Beshoar was the founder of the Old Settlers' Association of Las Animas County and remained its honored president until his demise. He was a Mason of fifty- four years' standing, having membership in the lodge, the chapter and the council. He also belonged to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
Throughout his active lite he remained a prominent representative of the medical profession and served at different periods as city and county physician, was at one time surgeon of the Arkansas state militia and afterward a member of the Colorado state board of health. He belonged to the Pan-American Medical Congress, was a member of the American Public Health Association, of the Association of Assistant Army Surgeons, U. S. A., was a member of the American Association of Examining Surgeons, belonged to the Colorado State Medical Society, of which he served as vice president, was at one time president of the Las Animas County Medical Society, was a life member of the American Medical Association and was a delegate from the American Public Health Association to the American Congress on Tuberculosis. He was also a member of the Association of Medical Officers of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy.
In addition to his private practice he was examining surgeon for numerous leading life insurance companies.
The Chronicle-News of Trinidad, of September 6, 1907, wrote: "Dr. Beshoar is dead. Last night while the city lay in deep midnight silence, death claimed him for his own and the great-hearted physician who had fought off the grim reaper thousands of times for others, whose whole life had been devoted to keeping the shadow at bay, answered the call. The end was as he would have wished — suddenly, yet peacefully — and through-out the length and the breadth of these United States, wherever he has been during his long and eventful life, there will be men and women who will shed a tear for his memory. In halls of learning, in the dwellings of the rich and the humble homes of the poor he was beloved and justly so. And here in southern Colorado, where he has spent a half century, doing good among the people, in the cities and over the broad mesas where the long grass waves, and deep in remote canyons where the feet of white
men seldom tread, his multitude of dark skinned friends will hear of his passing; in the pueblos and among the scattered huts of the sheep herders the answering of the call will be told and their heads will be bowed in sorrow, for he was ever and always their true, stanch friend in their greatest hours of need."
____________________________________________________________
From: Portrait and Biographical Record of the State of Colorado, 1899
HON. MICHAEL BESHOAR, M. D., a pioneer of '67 in Trinidad, has long been one of the most influential citizens of this place, with the growth and progress of which he has been intimately associated. Not alone in his profession, but also in political life and the newspaper business he has attained prominence. In 1881 he established the Advertiser, a well-known paper of Trinidad, which he conducted until 1897, and then sold. With the exception of General West, of Golden, he is the oldest editor in the entire state.
He is also, in point of years of practice, the oldest physician in Trinidad, as well as one of the oldest in Colorado.
Dr. Beshoar was born and reared near Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pa., a son of Daniel and Susan (Rothrock) Beshoar. His father, who was a native of Cumberland County, Pa., followed farming as his life occupation, and also engaged in speculating to some extent. He died in Indiana at the age of sixty-five, and his wife, in Pennsylvania, in 1848, when thirty-five years of age. Of their ten children, four are living: Michael, Anna, Hannah and Asenath. Our subject was educated in public schools and Tuscarora Academy, at Academia. At eighteen years of age he began to study medicine under Drs. Hoover and Morse, in his native county, and afterward attended the Philadelphia Medical College, Jefferson Medical College and the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, finally graduating from the University of Michigan in 1853, with the degree of M. D.
The doctor's first location for practice was at Pocahontas, Ark., where he remained for ten years. In 1861 he acted as surgeon of the Seventh Arkansas Infantry and in 1862 became medical director of General Hardy's command. After the battle of Shiloh he was transferred to the department of the Mississippi and continued to serve until the fall of 1863, when he was captured with "Jeff" Thompson and his quartermaster. He was given his liberty in the city of St. Louis under bond, and while there, a prisoner under bond, he took a post-graduate course in the St. Louis Medical College. Meantime he became convinced that the southern cause was hopeless and that surrender might as well be made at once, thus saving thousands of lives. On being released as a prisoner of war, he agreed to attend the refugee women and children at Benton Barracks, having been solicited to take this work by Dr. Madison Mills. As acting assistant surgeon he was connected with the St. Louis post hospital, and Jefferson Barracks hospital, after which he was placed in charge of the post hospital at Fort Kearney, Neb., and at the same time was made medical purveyor for all the territories.
Resigning this position in the fall of 1866, Dr. Beshoar came to Pueblo, Colo., and opened the first drug store ever established between Denver and Santa Fe. In 1868 he established the only newspaper in that town, which paper is now the well known Pueblo Chieftain. From Pueblo he came to Trinidad in 1867, however, still continuing his newspaper business in the former city. The trip between the two towns he made on horseback in one and one- half days. In the fall of 1867 he was elected to the territorial legislature (capital at Golden), but was defrauded out of his seat by the opposing party. He has made Trinidad his home since 1869 and has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession.
Politically a Democrat, on his party ticket Dr. Beshoar has been elected county assessor, county coroner, county clerk and county judge (which office he filled for seven years) and he is now serving his fourth term as county superintendent of schools. At the first state election, in 1876, he was the regular Democratic nominee for lieutenant-governor. Afterward he served for one term in the lower house of the state legislature. Prior to the war he also served two terms as a member of the Arkansas legislature. He was the first vice-president of the Trinidad Chamber of Commerce, which position he now holds. Besides his landed interests in Arkansas and Colorado he has extensive mining interests in Mexico, having purchased one of the famous old mines there known as the Temerosa mine.
The Las Animas County and Colorado State Medical Societies, American Medical Association and American Public Health Association number Dr. Beshoar among their members, and he is also a member of the Pan- American Medical Congress. Fraternally he is a member of Las Animas Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M., in which he is past master and which he represents in the grand lodge; also the Colorado Consistory, Scottish Rite, and socially he is connected with the Trinidad Club.
In 1872 he married Anna E. Maupin, and they have five children: Bonnie, who is deputy county superintendent of schools; Burnie, Ben, John and Bertram.
During the long period of his activity in the west, Dr. Beshoar has met many famous men, among them the scout, Kit Carson, who was his personal friend. Among his other friends of early days were such men as Gov. Henry M. Rector, of Arkansas, Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, "Jeff" Thompson, General Hardy, Col. Albert G. Boone, Gen. Elwell Otis, etc. Dr. Beshoar and Hon. A. H. Garland, ex-attorney-general of the United States, served in the Arkansas legislature at the same time.
The Medical and Surgical Register of the United States and Canada (1898) has the following reference to the subject of this sketch: "Beshoar, Michael; University of Michigan medical department 1 853, member American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Colorado State Medical Society, Las Animas County Medical Society, and Pan-American Medical Congress; surgical and medical director in Confederate army two and one-half years, and A. A. surgeon United States Army two and one-half years, until after the close of the late war; founder of Daily Chieftain, Pueblo, Colo., in 1868; managing editor Daily Advertiser, Trinidad , Colo. , since its foundation in 1881; member of the Colorado Editorial Association and county superintendent of schools, serving fourth term; office southwest corner First and Convent streets."
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