Portrait & Biographical Record

Mardos Collection

HON. JAMES B. ARTHUR.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
275

that he had entered from the government, Mr. Paulding sold it and bought a better piece of eighty acres, and there made his home until 1886, when he started for Colorado with his family. They drove all the way, and in their two wagons carried supplies for camping and housekeeping. They had intended to go to Routt County, Colo., but stopped in Denver, and finally did not leave the vicinity. They like the country and are succeeding in all their undertakings, being engaged mostly in gardening.

ON. JAMES B. ARTHUR, a pioneer of '60 in Colorado and now the secretary and treasurer of the Consolidated Plaster Company of Denver, is one of the most prominent and successful citizens of Fort Collins, of which city he has served as mayor and in other public positions of trust. He was born in County Londonderry, Ireland, in March, 1835, of Scotch lineage, his grandfather, Arthur, having been a native of Scotland and an active member of the Presbyterian Church in that country. The father, James Arthur, was born in Ireland, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death, when past fifty years of age. He was three times married, and by his union with Mary Booth, a native of County Tyrone, and whose family were, like his own, freeholders, he had five children, three of whom attained years of maturity, namely: James B., of this sketch; John, who joined our subject in Colorado and was accidentally killed on the Cache la Poudre April 15, 1878, by a runaway team; and Jane, wife of William Jessup who died in what is now Hoboken, Pa. There are two daughters living of another marriage, Rozetta, of Allegheny City, Pa., and Grace, who is married and lives in Pittsburg.

     In 1849, when fourteen years of age, Mr. Arthur started for America, and, crossing the ocean, joined his sister in Pennsylvania. His voyage on the sailer "Cathnes-shire," from Belfast to New York City, was an eventful one, not only because it was his first glimpse of the world outside of his own parish home, but more especially on account of shipwreck. The vessel was wrecked on Barren Island, thirty miles from New York, and remained stranded on a sand-bar until the tide went down. The passengers were rescued by a tugboat from New York.

     In Pittsburg the boy found employment in the grocery of Matthews & Bros., where he remained for eighteen months. He then secured work as cabin boy on a steamer on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and later was promoted to be a clerk. His boat plied the waters of the rivers between Pittsburg and New Orleans in winters, while the summers were spent on the great lakes. He was finally made baggage master and placed in charge also of express packages on the boats that were run in connection with railroads, on the Sandusky, Toledo, Buffalo and Detroit lines. Quitting the lake trade in 1858, he came west as far as Nebraska City, making the journey via the steamer "Morning Star" from St. Louis to St. Joe, Mo., and on the steamer "Florence" from St. Joe to Nebraska City. He joined his brother John in that place and remained there until the Pike's Peak excitement drew so many to the mountains of the west. Determining to seek his fortune in Colorado, in the spring of 1860 he came across the plains with two yoke of oxen and a wagon, on the south side of the Platte, to near Fort Kearney, then going on to Denver. He met friends, discouraged and returning east, but he refused to act on their advice and turn back. He had an abundance of provisions for a year and was determined to see the country for himself.

     Landing in Denver June 10, he proceeded from there into the Gilpin and Clear Creek districts, and from there went via Bear Canon to Boulder. While in the mining region, observation taught him that mining was not always a success. He decided the best thing for him to do would be to cut and make hay and haul to the mountains. This he did, locating his claim on the Cache la Poudre, where the land was well adapted for his purpose. There were then only two tents in the valley and about six houses. The neighboring village of LaPorte was as large as now, but its inhabitants were French and Indians. The valleys of the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson were ruled by the Claim Club prior to the formation of the regular government. This unique organization had a president, vice-president, secretary and justice of the peace, and all matters of controversy were first submitted to the justice and from him taken to the president, whose decision was final.
   9

276
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

     Below we give a copy of the patent for his land which Mr. Arthur still has in his possession. On the back is the following endorsement:

Claim 63

Book A

Page 32

Club Record

J. B. Arthur

160 Acres,

Colona City, N. T.

July 25, 1860.

WILLIAM G. GOODWIN,

Fees $1                         Recorder.

     The N. T. stands for Nebraska Territory.

Within the document is the following:

J. B. Arthur claim 160 acres

Claim 63

Book A

Page 32

Club Record

Commencing at a point or stake marked the N. E.. corner of the claim of I. S. Cole, running thence south 1/2 mile, crossing the Cache la Poudre River to a stake, thence east 1/2 mile crossing the Cache la Poudre River to a stake marking the southeast corner, thence north mile to a stake, thence west to the place of beginning.

     Fees $1.

     Taken July 17, 1860, according to regulations. Recorded July 25, 1860.
WILLIAM G. GOODWIN,
               Recorder.
     The hay that he cut Mr. Arthur hauled to Central City and Blackhawk, ninety miles distant, using at first two yoke of oxen, but later three and four yoke and several wagons. He had none of the modern improvements to assist in his work, and was forced to cut all of his hay with a hand scythe. Prices were high, and the expense of living was considerable. Bacon was as high as forty-five cents per pound, and other things in proportion. In 1862 and 1863 he made a private ditch from the Cache la Poudre and later enlarged the ditch. He also introduced other improvements, thus increasing the value of the farm, which in 1880 he sold. In 1863 he went to Missouri and bought a bunch of cattle, which he drove across the plains and embarked in the stock business. Later he drove from Oregon and Idaho to Wyoming, where the cattle lived on the range. In 1883 he closed out the open range business and settled in Fort Collins, where he had built a residence the previous year and planted trees on the place. He still owns large tracts of land, having one ranch three miles east, and another eight miles southeast of Fort Collins; one at Arthur's Bridge on the Cache la Poudre, twelve miles east of Fort Collins, and a large stock ranch on the Larimer River bottom in Larimer County.

     Aside from his stock and farm interests, Mr. Arthur has been identified with many important business enterprises. he is a director in the Poudre Valley Bank, which was changed from a private to a state bank; also a director in the Empson Packing Company at Longmont. He bought and opened the gypsum quarries and beds at Red Buttes, Wyo., also the plaster beds in that place. About 1890 the company had mills erected, where they manufactured under the name of the Rocky Mountain Plaster, Stucco and Manufacturing Company. In 1893, at the World's Fair in Chicago, they had an exhibit of the products of the quarries in the manufacturers' building, Wyoming exhibit, and received the highest award for the same, also a diploma and medal for other exhibits. In 1896 they added machinery, and then began the manufacture of the best grade of cement plaster in the world. The capacity of the mills is eighty thousand pounds a day.

     October 11, 1892, the Buckhorn Plaster Company at Loveland, Denver Gypsum Company and Colorado Springs Plaster and Cement Company were incorporated under the name of the Consolidated Plaster Company, with Mr. Arthur as vice-president. Later the number of mills was reduced by moving the Denver Gypsum Company's mills to the Buckhorn quarries in Larimer County. The Colorado Springs business was destroyed by fire, and its interest was purchased by Mr. Arthur. On the death of the first president, J. C. Helm succeeded to the office, Mr. Arthur became secretary and treasurer, and A. Wild was made vice-president and manager. The capacity of the two Buckhorn mills is now one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds per day and a fine quality of hard rock cement is the product. Shipments are made to California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washington. At Red Buttes the company owns two hundred and

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
277

sixty-six acres on section 21, south of the Union Pacific Railroad, and furnishing an inexhaustible supply of gypsum.

     In Bay City, Mich., Mr. Arthur married Miss Mary Kelley, a native of Ireland, whose parents were settlers in Buffalo, N. Y., while her brother was captain on the lakes for many years and was a resident of Bay City. For about six years Mr. Arthur resided in Greeley, where his wife had a sister living. There he contracted heavily in stock, at times having as many as four thousand head on hand. He was appointed by Governor Evans a member of the board of commissioners to perfect the organization of Larimer County, establishing voting precincts and serving until after the first election. The county was divided into three commissioners' districts, one of which elected a commissioner for one year, another for two years and the third for three years, so that an entire change would not be necessary at one time. At that time was established the precedent, which still holds, that the oldest commissioner, in point of service, shall be chairman of the board the last year of his term. After one year he was elected to succeed the one-year man, and three years later was re-elected, being the nominee of his party, the Democratic, endorsed by the Republicans, and elected without a dissenting vote. About the time his second term ended, he removed to Weld County. For two terms he was a member of the town council, and from 1893 to 1895 served as mayor of Fort Collins. Fraternally he was made a Mason in Fort Collins and served as past master of Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., is also identified with Cache la Poudre Chapter No. 11, R. A. M.; DeMolay Commandery No. 13, K. T., which he joined at Greeley, but is now a member in Fort Collins and past eminent commander of the commandery; and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S. He is identified with the Episcopal Church, in which he holds the office of vestryman.

ILLIAM E. JOHNSON. "There is a tide in the affairs of men" and of localities as well "that, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." Such a tide came in the history of the Cripple Creek mining region and in the life of Mr. Johnson, when, in 1892, he conceived the idea of building a railroad there from Florence. The idea, once formed, was soon carried out. He incorporated the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad Company, and, with his associates, built the road, running the first train into Cripple Creek July 2, 1894. From that time Cripple Creek prospered and is now the greatest gold camp known, notwithstanding claims to the contrary by others. In 1896 he retired from the active management of the road, though still remaining a director, and since then he has been interested in the working out of a new line running from Florence south to Custer County. At the time of his location in Florence, in 1889, it was a mere cross-road, and it was due in no small measure to his enterprise that it has grown to a thriving city of four thousand.

     The Johnson family is of English-Scotch descent. The grandfather of our subject was the proprietor of a sawmill in Wentworth, N. H., and engaged in manufacturing lumber there. The father, Proctor K Johnson, who was born in New Hampshire, followed the millwright's trade in Massachusetts, but in 1857 removed to Iowa and located at Iowa Falls, Hardin County, where he engaged in bridge building on different railroad lines, finally becoming contractor in the construction of bridges in different states. He died in Iowa in 1879. His wife, whose maiden name was Clarinda Ellery, was a descendant of the family to which belonged William Ellery, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. She was a daughter of Abraham Ellery, a farmer of Hopkinton, Mass., where she was born; she died in Colorado in 1897, leaving two sons, Wilbur Kossuth and William Ellery, both of Denver.

     Born in Hopkinton, Middlesex County, Mass., October 26, 1857, the subject of this sketch was only six months of age when his parents removed to Iowa Falls, Iowa, and in 1863 they went from there to Fostoria, Ohio, returning, however, to Iowa Falls in 1866. His education, begun in the public schools, was extended by a course of study in the Iowa State University at Iowa City. May 6, 1878, he started from Iowa Falls, in company with three other young men, with teams and supplies, for Colorado, arriving here on the 4th of July. Going direct to Alamosa, he obtained employment in an engineering corps as a surveyor for a projected road to Pagosa Springs. In November he went to Canon City, Fremont County, where he resided the most of the time

278
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

until 1886. Meantime he incorporated the Canon City Water Company and built the water works. In 1886 he took a position with the Colorado Coal and Iron Company, the then leading company of the state, and had charge of all their business in Pitkin and Garfield Counties, opening coal mines and building the Aspen and Western Railroad, which, though quite difficult of construction, was useful only in forming a short line to the coal mines.

     In 1885, in company with several other gentlemen, Mr. Johnson incorporated and founded the Florence Oil and Refining Company, of Florence, Fremont County, this being one of the first companies formed in the state to produce oil on a commercial scale. It still continues in business, and, with one other company, furnishes all the oil used in six states. When Cripple Creek began to attract attention in 1892, Mr. Johnson, as before stated, turned his attention to the building of a railroad to that point. May 27, 1885, he married Miss Emma Adelaide Mulock, who was born in New York state. A prominent Mason, he is identified with the Knights Templar at Canon City and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S., at Denver.

LBERT E. PATTISON. Numbered among the members of the legal fraternity in Denver are many who rank as the peers of the best representatives at the bar of any other city, whether it be east or west. In this list of able attorneys mention belongs to Mr. Pattison, who has his office in the Ernest & Cranmer building, and who has for the past fifteen years given especial attention to railroad and corporation law, being a recognized authority in that department of the profession. He possesses a mind of great breadth, with the executive force and ability necessary to the successful consummation of important plans. In addition to his private practice he is dean of the faculty of the University of Denver law department and has been an important factor in enlarging the work accomplished by that school.

     At the time of the religious persecutions in Scotland the Pattison family left that country and settled in Belfast, Ireland. From there, in 1730, Adam Pattison came to America, establishing his home in Colerain, Mass. He had a son, Jonathan Stuart, who was born in Massachusetts and in early manhood removed to New York, establishing a permanent settlement in Chautauqua County in 1809. Next in line of descent was Albert H. Pattison, a native of Chautauqua County and, like his forefathers, a farmer by occupation. By his marriage to Sophia McDonnell, a son, Albert E., was born in Chautauqua County, February 10, 1846. The latter spent his boyhood days upon the home farm and received his primary education in the district schools. At the age of thirteen he entered the Fredonia Academy, where he remained a student for three years. Before he was ten years old he decided to be a lawyer, and all of his subsequent study was with that object in view. Realizing the need of a broad knowledge, he spent one year in study at St. Lawrence University, in Canton, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and afterward was for four years a student in Hamilton College at Clinton, Oneida County, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1868, with the degree of A. B.

     In the office of Sherman & Scott, at Forestville, Chautauqua County, N. Y., Mr. Pattison commenced the study of Blackstone and began to gain an idea of the intricacies of the law. Later he was in the office of Kiron Carroll, at Rome, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar there in April, 1869. He began professional practice as a member of the firm of Murray & Pattison, at Dunkirk, N. Y., where for five years he conducted a profitable practice, meantime gaining a reputation as one of the rising young lawyers of the town. January 25, 1870, at Cleveland, Ohio, he married Miss Emma A. Paddock, of that city.

      Seeking a larger field for professional activity, Mr. Pattison removed to Buffalo in June, 1874, and there he had a large and lucrative practice for eight years, when his wife's ill health led him to seek another location. He came to Denver in June, 1882, and at once opened a law office, since which time he has gained a large clientele and a reputation as one of the best attorneys in the city. Though reared in the Democratic faith he allied himself with the Republican party in 1880 and has since voted that ticket. He has never been a politician nor an office seeker, and the only position he ever accepted was that of member of the supreme court commission in 1888, but this he resigned a year later. He is a mem-

279
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ber of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and holds office as a vestryman. He and his wife have two children: Myron Adams and Lucia Ella, the latter a graduate of the University of Denver.

OHN COOKE, who is a well-known contractor and builder, has engaged in business in Denver since 1879. He has had the contract for many important public buildings here, including among others the Ernest & Cranmer, Boston, Cooper and Enterprise buildings, Woodward block, Hayden, Dickinson & Feldhauser's block, the brickwork on the Union depot after the fire, Pioneer building, McCarthney and McClintock blocks, Pettit block, the Hyde Park, Ashland, and Logan Avenue schoolhouses, also several additions to schoolhouses and other buildings, the town hall in Elyria, St. Leo's Church, the Highlands Congregational Church, Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company's building on Seventeenth and Blake streets, the Denver Packing Company's building on Blake street, Barth block, Denver Paper Mill, Griffith Wheel Works, and the majority of the car shops for the city cable company, on both the north and east sides; also the residences of Lewis E. Lemen, M. D., Colonel Dodge and Charles Hallock. For fifteen years he has been engaged in the manufacture of brick, having a brick yard covering two and one-half blocks of McKee's addition to East Denver and another yard, covering one and one-half blocks in Ashley's addition, adjoining City Park.

      The Cooke family originally resided in England, but removed to Cork, Ireland, where were born our subject, his father, William, and grandfather, Michael. The last named, who was a contractor, built lighthouses and barracks for the English government, and William was also extensively engaged in the same line of work for many years. He still resides in Cork and is quite hale, notwithstanding his seventy-seven useful years. His wife, Ellen, was a daughter of John Collins, who was born in Cork, of English and Scotch descent, and engaged in farming there. She died at forty years. Her four sons and two of her four daughters are living, namely: John; Michael and Mrs. Ann Sullivan, both of Denver; William, a contractor for the British government in Cork; Ellen and James, of Denver.

     The model national school in a suburb of Cork, which was one of four schools of the kind in Ireland, was the scene of our subject's boyhood studies. He graduated from it in 1861 and began to learn the stone mason's trade under his father, assisting on government works during his apprenticeship of five years. Then, going to England, he finished his trade on the British government docks at Carduff. In 1869 he came to America and settled in Elmira, N. Y, where he built residences, blocks and schoolhouses, some of the finest buildings in the city. He also built the town hall in Hornellsville, fifteen stores in Mansfield, Tioga County, Pa., and rebuilt the burned district after a fire in Corning, N. Y. From the east he came to Denver, where he has since been busily engaged in contracting and building. Among his important contracts here was that for the Grant smelter smoke stack, three hundred and seventy-two feet high, the tallest stack in the United States. For work of that character he had been trained by his father, whom he had often assisted in building lighthouses, and he was therefore prepared to fill the contract to the letter and do successful work.

     Mr. Cooke built a residence for his family at No. 2150 Lafayette street. In this city he married Miss Margaret McCarthy, of Corning, N. Y. They are the parents of five children: William, Mary, John, Jr., Eugene and Ellen. Politically Mr. Cooke is a Democrat. He is a director in the Brick Contractors and Manufacturers' Association and has held the same position for three terms in the Master Builders' Association.

RNEST GUEBELLE, who owns a beautiful home at Villa Park, a suburb of Denver, is an esteemed citizen. He is an example worthy to be followed by the youth of the rising generation, for few of them, it is to be hoped, have greater obstacles in their pathway to overcome than he did until late years. He was always ambitions, industrious and enterprising, and to such men success is sure to come sooner or later, as they truly deserve.

     Born in Belfort, France, August 2, 1863, the gentleman of whom we write is the second child of Charles F. and Emilie (Tobler) Guebelle. The others are: Mina, wife of Leon Bailley, of New York City; Mathilde, formerly a teacher in the public schools of Rochester, N. Y.; Camille,

280
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

employed as a clerk in the Buffalo (N. Y.) postoffice; and William, principal of a public school in a suburb of New York on the Hudson River.

     The senior Guebelle was born in 1831 in Cernay, France, and there received a superior education. He learned the business of manufacturing ornamental and carved combs (handwork) when he was a boy, and followed the trade independently for a few years. As every able-bodied man in France is required to spend a certain length of time in the army, he served his time, and by his ability and efficiency rose from the ranks to be a commissioned officer. During the Crimean war he distinguished himself by his bravery and won the highest praise from his superiors. He died in 1867, while still in the service of his country. He was a Catholic by birth, according to the usage of the communion, but died strong in the Protestant faith. He had acquired considerable property, among which were two vineyards of value.

     Soon after her husband's death Mrs. Emilie Guebelle came to the United States with her two younger children, the other three remaining with relatives in France. Going to Rochester, N. Y., the plucky little woman rented a house, which, it seems, was the first one erected in the city, as the corner-stone bore the date of 1812. A lady of finished education, she had little difficulty in securing pupils in the best families in the place, and soon she was busy from morning until night, giving instruction in German and French. Later she established a school of her own and employed other teachers. Her death occurred in 1891.

     When his brave mother sailed from France to the unknown land and life she had planned in the west, Ernest Guebelle was left with his grandfather, Henri Tobler, who for half a century was an employe of a woolen-cloth mills in Cernay, and for years was superintendent of the plant. Four years. having rolled away, Mrs. Guebelle sent for her children. Ernest was but nine and his eldest sister only two years his senior, but together they started on the long trip to their loved ones across the ocean. They left Antwerp on the Star line ship "Fatherland" bound for Philadelphia. On the voyage the ship passed through two storms, one of her boilers becoming disabled, and thus it was seventeen days ere she reached her destination. At Harrisburg, Pa., the children had to change cars, and, as they could not speak English, they waited in the depot for thirty-six hours before a German, making himself understood, put them on the right train. On reaching Elmira they were obliged to stay over night, and a kind-hearted German hotel-keeper, seeing the little ones in the depot, took them to his hotel and kept them until they were ready to depart, then refusing any payment. Recently, when on a visit east, Mr. Guebelle endeavored to find the good samaritan hotel man, but was unsuccessful in his efforts.

      In the public schools of Rochester Ernest Guebelle received a good education, completing his studies in Benjamin's high school, a private institution of learning. There the youth paid his way by sweeping and general janitor work. He apprenticed himself to the printer's trade in a German newspaper office, but stayed there but ten or eleven mouths, then accepting a position with the Judson Steam Governor Works. He was employed on piece work, and was so active and ambitious, that the superintendent once came to him and told him not to run his machine so rapidly, as it shook the whole building. At this time he also had a Sunday newspaper route, and averaged $2 per Sunday in this manner.

     Having heard much about Denver and the west, Mr. Guebelle decided to come here, and arrived in this city July 3, 1879. He went to live with an uncle who kept a saloon at the corner of Nineteenth and Larimer streets. The lad attended bar for a month, but the business was not at all to his taste, and he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. As he had to work six months without wages he continued to live at his uncle's, and in return for his food and shelter he cleaned the saloon every morning early, and attended bar at noon. When the six mouths dragged to an end he was given $4 a week, and he then boarded himself. Later he received $6 a week. Toward the close of the second year he secured a place as janitor in a Good Templar lodge (doing this in addition to his regular work), being paid $10 a month for his services. The third year his wages were $8 a week, and the following year he worked up to $3.50 per day. In 1885 he opened up a shop of his own on West Colfax avenue, and here he has built up a large and remunerative trade.

      In 1893 Mr. Guebelle bought a tract of ten

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
281

acres six miles west of Denver, on the Denver, Lakewood & Golden Railroad. There he erected a lovely residence, and is making of the place an ideal suburban abode. The lady who charmingly presides over this home was formerly Miss Lilly M. King. She was born in Wisconsin, and became the wife of Mr. Guebelle July 23, 1881. The two children of their union are: Beatrice, now attending the manual training school, and Ernestine, who is still in the public schools. In political matters Mr. Guebelle is not partisan, and in all concerns which bear upon the welfare of the people he strives to be well posted, liberal and unbiased in judgment.

REDERICK MILHEIM, a respected citizen of Arapahoe County, is a worthy example of what may be accomplished by an industrious, ambitious young man, in spite of great discouragements and difficulties. The years have swiftly passed since the day when he landed in Colorado with barely $100 and with the great drawback of physical disability, as he had recently lost an arm through an accident, it having been caught in a machinery-belt and torn off. His was not the kind of nature that allows itself to be overpowered by trials, though this was surely sufficiently serious to justify a person in despairing. He bravely nerved himself to face the battles of life and everyone who has ever known him rejoices in the prosperity which he now enjoys as the fruits of his manly struggles for a home and competence. His example may well be an inspiration to those of the on-coming generation.

     The present home of Mr. Milheim is located on section 18, township 1 south, range 66 west, his postoffice being Brighton. From its original condition of barrenness and desert-likeness he has made the place a garden spot. The land is well watered by a fine system of ditches, and bountiful harvests reward the owners' care each year. From the time the Fulton ditch was started Mr. Milheim was one of the most interested advocates of the plan, and has always held stock in the company since. He is a member of the German society Sons of Herman, and has filled many of the offices in Koerner Lodge No. 4, of Brighton. He also holds membership with the Odd Fellows' society, belonging to Fidelity Lodge, of Brighton. Politically he is independent at present, though he formerly was a Democrat and later a Populist.

      The birth of Frederick Milheim occurred near Berne, Switzerland, on her (sic) father's farm, November 17, 1846. His parents, John and Mary Milheim, both died when he was quite young. At the age of sixteen our subject and his younger brother, Alexander, came to the United States, and for a few months they found employment on farms in New Jersey. Frederick Milheim then proceeded to Niagara Falls and thence to Allegan County, Mich., during the Civil war. Soon afterwards he entered the employ of the United States government as a teamster, being regularly enlisted. He served in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, and once, when on the Tennessee River, about sixty-five miles above Chattanooga, he and his detachment of comrades were captured by the Confederates. He was not kept long imprisoned, however, and was finally mustered out of the service February 28, 1865, at Chattanooga.

     Returning to Michigan, he joined a company of men who were preparing to cross the plains to the west. In April they left St. Louis, Mo., and at the close of two weeks traveling reached Omaha. There Mr. Milheim hired out to a party to drive an ox-team across the plains, he to receive $35 a month. The journey was not only long and trying in ordinary ways common to that method of traveling, but was particularly dangerous that year, as the Indians along the way were on the war-path. As he was working at wages, our subject was not spared when there was a specially hard or hazardous undertaking on hand, but at length the wearisome plains were left in the background, and Denver, their goal, came within sight, upon the 6th of August. For a few months Mr. Milheim was employed in a bakery, after which he farmed for a neighboring ranchman He assisted in the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, working as a hewer of ties and in tunnels, etc., for a period of two or three years, and was later employed by the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha. Going back to Allegan County, Mich., he worked in a shinglemill for a few months, and there it was that the great misfortune of his life came to him, the loss of his arm. Four months he suffered untold agonies, but his splended constitution gradually

282
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

recovered from the shock. He was given numerous opportunities in a business way, but he longed to return to Colorado, the state of promise and assured future, and again, in 1872, he came to its hospitable borders. Emile Riethman employed him for the following four years to herd cows for his dairy. In various occupations, always industrious and making the best use of his earnings, the years passed until, in 1879, he bought eighty acres of wild land, his present homestead. Yet for two or more years he was enabled to make but few improvements upon the place and was absent, engaged in the cattle business in Wyoming, for the most part. After his marriage he settled down here and set about making changes on the farm, which enterprises resulted most favorably within a few years. He has been aided faithfully in all his plans by his loyal wife, and frankly owns that he owes much of his success to her.

     It was upon November 14, 1883, that Miss Emma Hagus, daughter of Andrew Hagus (see his sketch elsewhere in this work) became the bride of Mr. Milheim. Four children grace their union, namely: Fred A., Josephine, Clara and Benita. They have a pleasant home and enjoy the friendship of a large circle of acquaintances.

AMUEL DAVID HOPKINS, M. D., of Denver, is a specialist in the treatment of nervous and mental diseases and a contributor, in these departments, to the medical journals both of the east and west. Soon after coming to this city he became assistant to Dr. J. T. Eskridge in the chair of nervous and mental diseases, medical department University of Colorado, and in addition held the chair of instructor of medical chemistry and urinary analysis in the university. In 1896 he accepted the position of lecturer of nervous and mental diseases in the University of Denver, and one year later he was made associate professor of this chair, continuing until January, 1898, when he resigned. Dr. Hopkins was born in Catasauqua, Lehigh County, Pa., and is the son of William P. Hopkins, known as the "iron king of the Lehigh Valley." The latter was born near Neath, Glamorganshire, Wales, March 24, 1832, the son of John and Anna (Powell) Hopkins, and when quite young was orphaned by his father's death. From eight years of age he had been employed in rolling mills. At the age of eighteen he went to Staffordshire, and afterward, in Workington, he made the first sheet of tin ever manufactured out of puddled steel. For this he received a watch from his employer, with this inscription: "Presented to William Hopkins for meritorious services by James Spence, Workington, January 1, 1859." In 1860 he took passage on the sailing vessel "Middlesex" and after thirty-nine days landed in the United States. For four years afterward he worked in the sheet-iron mills of the Allen Wood Company at Conshohocken, Pa.

     June 29, 1863, Mr. Hopkins enlisted in Company F, Forty-third Pennsylvania Militia, and with his company was sent to join the Army of the Potomac. While away from home two of his children died, and for this reason, through the kindness of Governor Curtin, he was honorably discharged and returned home August 13, 1863. Afterward he resumed work with his former employers, but in April of the next year he removed to Catasauqua, where for twenty-five years he was general superintendent of the rolling-mills, and during that time manufactured the first plate and the first sheet ever rolled in the Lehigh Valley. In 1882 he built a large rolling-mill at Fullerton and became its superintendent. He was also a large stockholder in the Catasauqua Manufacturing Company. In February, 1890, he resigned in order to organize the Slatington Rolling Mills, of which he is general manager and the principal stockholder. He superintended the erection of all the machinery, in the mill, which has nine furnaces, and furnishes employment for one hundred and thirty men. For twenty-one years he owned part of the stock in the Union Foundry and Machine Company. He invented the water shield for the cooling of the front of furnaces, but never had the invention patented.

     In Wales, in 1855, William Hopkins married Elizabeth Thomas, daughter of Thomas Thomas, a tailor in that country. She died in 1888, leaving five children: John W.; Louis P., who is engaged in business with his father; Winifred and Elizabeth, at home; and Samuel B., M. D., of Denver. The family are identified with the Presbyterian Church and are highly respected by the people of Catasauqua. In politics Mr. Hopkins is a Republican.

     Under a private tutor the subject of this sketch