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CAPTAIN JOSIAH W.
MCINTYRE.--The subject of this sketch was born March 15th,
1839, at Villanova, New York. His school days were spent in the public
schools, the High school at Erie, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated,
subsequently taking a thorough business training at a commercial college
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On August 30th, 1862, he enlisted
as a private in Company C of the 16th Pennsylvania Volunteer
Cavalry and served unit l1864, when he was discharged on account of
disability. He was wounded under the left eye at the battle of
Shepardstown, Virginia, and taken prisoner, but was exchanged shortly
afterwards and sent home. On recovering from his wound he rejoined his
regiment and did valiant service for the Union. The wound under the eye
gave him a great deal of trouble and, owing to unskillful treatment while
he was prisoner, resulted in producing total blindness in 1885. In 1866,
Captain McIntyre moved to Missouri, where he studied law and was admitted
to the bar and elected County Judge of Caldwell county in 1870, in which
office he served two full terms. He came to Fort Collins (Larimer CO,
Colorado, USA) in April, 1878, and that city has since been the family
home. After losing his sight, Captain McIntyre resumed his study of law in
the law department of the University of Michigan, graduating therefrom in
June, 1889 with the highest of honors conferred by that institution. He
was the first blind man to graduate in the United States with the degree
LL. D. He was married to Lucy N. Richards, September 13th,
1862, who with one son, Clyde, of Michigan, survives him. He died on the 6th
of October, 1892. Lucy N. Richards was born November 11th,
1844, in Erie county, Pennsylvania. Her parents were of Puritan blood and
revolutionary stock. She was educated in the public and academic schools
of that day and began teaching school at the age of 17 years. She married
Josiah W. McIntyre, in September, 1862, just before he left for the front
as a volunteer, in the Civil war, parting with her young husband with
smiles instead of tears, not because her heart was not breaking, but
because of the great cause in which he had enlisted. Seven children were
born to Captain and Mrs. McIntyre, only one of whom Clyde, survives. Mrs.
McIntyre was a character member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
of Fort Collins, organized in 1879, and still retains her membership. In
1910 she received the State W. C. T. U. banner for the best local
evangelistic work. Her whole life has been devoted to the work of
uplifting humanity and she has long been a recognized leader in church and
mission work and reform movements. She became a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church when ten years of age, and has since led a consistent
Christian life. She is a bible student an ardent lover of books and her
home at 137 Matthew street contains an excellent library. |
