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of land, lying principally in Weld County, and embracing the territory extending from the South Platte to the Wyoming line. Of the land twenty thousand acres lie along the river, thus furnishing an abundant supply of water for the stock. The headquarters of the company are five miles west of Merino, and shipments are made from Snyder, Colo., to various points in the east, but chiefly to Omaha. The entire management of the ranch and range is in charge of Mr. Fraser, who, though making his home in Denver, necessarily spends much of his time on the range.
The father of our subject, Henry Fraser, was born in Scotland, but removed to Ontario, Canada, and engaged in farming near Ottawa, where he died when John was five years of age. The wife and mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Wright, was born in Canada and died there when John was an infant. They had a large family of children, of whom three are living: Samuel, in Oakland, Cal.; John J., the youngest of the family; and a sister, who was formerly Mrs. J. W. Iliff, but who is now the wife of Bishop Warren. One brother, Brock, fought all through the conflict. He enlisted with the Chicago Zouaves and later joined other organizations, serving last in the heavy artillery. He was accidentally killed while engaged in the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad west of Cheyenne.
When quite young our subject left the farm near Ottawa, where he was born, and went to Henry County, Ill., where he grew to manhood on a farm. He attended the Henry County district schools and Lake Forest Academy. In the spring of 1870 he came to Colorado, where he spent a year near Pueblo, and then entered the employ of his brother-in-law, Mr. Iliff. In time he became financially interested in the business, and after the death of Mr. Iliff he became a member of the Brown-Iliff Cattle Company. In the winter of 1873-74 a large camp of Indians, principally Sioux camped around Mr. Frasers ranch, but to their credit be it said they never stole anything from the ranch nor made a disturbance of any kind. Since 1878 he has resided in Denver, where he is a member of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. In national politics he is a Republican.
In Denver Mr. Fraser married Miss Lois Morse, who was born in Berea, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and is of English descent, her ancestors, eight generations back, having been among the Puritans who settled in Dedham, Mass., in 1635. They were prominent in public affairs, serving as selectmen and in other offices of trust, and later having representatives in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars. Her grandfather, Nathaniel Morse, was born in Massachusetts and removed to Shelby, N. Y., where he died. Her father, Charles Morse, a native of Warwick, Mass., was a pioneer of Berea, Ohio, where he engaged in the lumber business until his death at forty-eight years. He married Emma Robards, who was born near Saratoga, N. Y., her parents being natives of England. She is still living and makes her home in Cleveland. In her family there are three children, namely: Lucius D. Morse, M. D., a retired physician of Atlanta, Ga.; Mrs. Laura Andrews, of Cleveland, a graduate of Baldwin University in Ohio; and Lois, Mrs. Fraser, also a graduate of Baldwin University, with the degree of B. S.
OL. WESLEY BRAINERD, president and manager of the Chicago and Colorado Mining and Milling Company, owners of Camp Talcott, at Ward, Boulder County, was born in Rome, Oneida County, N. Y., September 27, 1832, and is the descendant of a family that settled in Haddain, Conn., early in the seventeenth century. His grandfather, Jeremiah Brainerd, who was born and reared in that old town, subsequently removed to New York state, becoming a contractor on the Erie Canal.
Alexander Hamilton Brainerd, a native of Haddam, Conn., and father of the subject of this article, became a civil engineer and railroad contractor, and had the contract for a part of the Hudson River Railroad, also in 1848-50 built all the bridges on that road. Among his other contracts some were in Canada. For a time he operated car manufacturing shops in Niagara, Canada, and large iron mills at St. Albans, Vt. After his retirement from active business he made his home in Rome, N. Y., where he died in 1879, aged seventy-two years. His maternal grandfather, Col. Daniel Greene, was a colonel in the Revolutionary war and a Mason of the Royal Arch degree; he died in York state, as did, also his daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Jeremiah Brainerd. The mother of our subject was Mary Gouge, a descendant of a
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. French-Huguenot family that settled at Trenton Falls, N. Y.; she died in Rome, that state, when thirty-two years of age.
The only child of Alexander H. and Mary Brainerd that attained years of maturity was Wesley. He was educated principally in Rome Academy. At the age of fifteen he went with his father, as assistant in the construction of the Hudson River Railroad contract. Continuing there until 1850, he then went to Philadelphia, Pa., and became an apprentice in the Norris Locomotive Company's works, where he completed the trade of draughtsman and locomotive builder in 1854. For four years afterward he continued with the company as draughtsman and aided in the starting of locomotives in different sections of the United States and Canada. Next going to Georgia, he accepted a position as master mechanic of a railroad, where he remained until, seeing that war was inevitable, he returned north to Rome, N. Y., and engaged in manufacturing and milling.
At the opening of the war, in 1861, he was the captain of a local company known as the Gansevort Light Guards of Rome, which took its name from an old colonel who had been in command of Fort Stanwix. He at once raised a company for the Fiftieth New York Engineers and was commissioned captain of Company C, which was mustered into service at Elmira, and went to the front in August, 1861. Among the engagements in which he participated were Yorktown, Gaines' Mills, White Oak Swamp, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, second battle of Bull Run, Antietam Harper's Ferry and Fredericksburg. In December, 1862, he laid the pontoon bridges at the Lacy House in front of Fredericksburg, and while thus engaged he was wounded in the left arm. For meritorious service he was promoted and commissioned major. After a short time in the hospital he returned to duty and took part, in the following months, in the battles of Chancellorsville, Franklin's Crossing and Gettysburg. Receiving a second promotion for bravery, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment, his commission being signed by President Lincoln. The next engagements in which he participated were the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and the battles before and during the siege of Petersburg in 1864. In November, 1864, he was promoted and commissioned colonel of the Fifteenth New York Engineers by Governor Seymour, and continued in active command of his regiment until the close of the war, with the exception of the time (1864-65) when General Grant had his headquarters at City Point and Colonel Brainerd had command of the defenses of that place. He took part in the final assault and fall of Petersburg in April, 1865, and shortly afterward participated in the grand review at Washington, where he led the Fifteenth as their commander. He was mustered out of the service in June, 1865.
Locating in Chicago, Colonel Brainerd embarked in the lumber business under the firm title of Soper, Brainerd & Co., in which enterprise he was interested from 1865 to 1876. The firm engaged in the manufacture and sale of lumber and owned a mill, with a capacity of one hundred thousand feet a day, covering, with the adjoining yards, two blocks on Polk and Beach streets. Meantime, in 1873, he also became interested in the Brighton Smelting Works, of which he was manager, and in this way was aroused his first interest in and connection with mining. In 1876 he assisted in the organization of the Chicago and Colorado Mining and Milling Company, of which he was made president and manager. During the same year (which was the year of Colorado's admission as a state) he came west, for the purpose of developing the company's mining property in Ward district, Boulder County.
Camp Talcott (or, as it is often called, Brainerd's Camp) is one of the large as well as one of the most completely developed properties in the state. Tunnels and mines have been opened on different parts of the property of eight hundred acres. The entire tract was patented by Colonel Brainerd as a stock ranch and was afterward patented by discovering and developing mining claims, thus having a double patent on much of the land. The Colorado and Northwestern Railroad between Boulder and Ward passes the property, and at a convenient place Brainerd Station is located. The plant is undoubtedly the most modern in the state and is the first mining property to be operated by electricity in this part of Colorado.
In his travels through the mountains, Colonel Brainerd came across the natural lakes at the foot of Mount Audubon and at once saw the natural advantage for the waterpower, As early
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as 1884 he took the necessary steps to secure the water rights of the same, having in mind a way by which it could be utilized, as the path of the flume necessary to convey the water to Camp Talcolt would come via the Utica mine. He succeeded in arousing the interest of the Utica Company by the aid of John S. Reid, then manager of the Utica, who heartily endorsed the project. Finally the flume from the South St. Vrain, from the foot of the Snowy Range, to a point above Ward was constructed, with Mr. Reid as superintendent of construction of this upper flume. The flume is 2x2 1/2 feet in dimensions, and takes three hundred and fifty thousand feet of lumber; from the headwaters to the Pentstock it is taken through Ward in a pipe of seventy-five hundred feet, and here the Utica uses it. Up to this point it was jointly constructed by the Utica Company and the Chicago and Colorado Mining and Milling Company, while the latter company alone constructed it to Camp Talcott from Utica by a flume 2x2 feet, one mile long, taking one hundred and fifty thousand feet of lumber. To manufacture this lumber they put up their own sawmill in the mountains.
From the Pentstock above Camp Talcott, Colonel Brainerd calculated the dimensions and strength of the pipe necessary to carry it to the power house. It was here that his experience as machinist and locomotive builder proved most helpful, as did also his natural inventive genius, for there was no plant in existence of the type of his, and he was forced to rely upon his own brain and judgment. From the Pentstock it is taken down the hill in steel pipe, a distance of twenty-seven hundred feet, making seven hundred and forty feet perpendicular fall, thus getting a pressure of three hundred and twenty pounds to the square inch. Beginning at the top, the first twelve hundred feet is of sixteen inch pipe, No. 10 steel; the next seven hundred and fifty feet, fourteen inch pipe, No. 8 steel; and the last seven hundred and fifty feet, twelve inch, 3-16 steel; all double riveted flange joints. The pipe is fitted to the irregularities of the hill and anchored in bed rock. It was manufactured in sheets in the east and brought to Denver, where it was bent and riveted into nineteen foot lengths, and hauled from Boulder to Camp Talcott In all there were sixty-five tons of steel pipe. The pipe is connected with the four Leffel wheels, thirty-six inches in diameter, developing a maximum of twelve hundred horse power and a minimum of three hundred and fifty. A substantial stone powerhouse, 40x28, has been built and equipped with a one hundred and twenty horse-power dynamo of the three phase system, with four hundred and forty volts capacity, with five hundred and forty revolutions a minute and energized by one of the wheels which has a capacity of one hundred and fifty horsepower. There is an air column construction of one hundred and twenty pounds' pressure that acts as an air cushion.
The construction of the pipe line and the devices for regulating the flow of water are very complete and efficiently accomplish the purpose for which they are designed. Power is transmitted to the different mines, viz.: three thousand feet to the Polar Star, where is a forty horse motor; forty-four hundred and forty feet to the Coy mine, where are a fifteen horse motor and skips; and to the Left Hand mine, fifteen hundred feet up a side hill. In each a most complete electric hoist has been equipped with the three phase system. An ingenious device for dumping buckets, the invention of the foreman, is a great labor saver. When power is desired, telephone signals are given to the operator in the power house, who connects the circuit and the turning of the switch energizes the motor.
All of these properties at depths varying from seventy-five to one hundred and thirty feet show very large veins of iron sulphide, running from $10 to $500, with a fair average of about $40 ore. The veins range from five to ten feet in width. About twenty-five other properties are being equipped, having shafts of twenty feet deep. Ultimately many of these properties will be equipped with electric hoists. The plant in the power house was installed by the Mountain Electric Company, and when its full capacity is utilized, the output from Camp Talcott will be no insignificant factor in the traffic offered the railroad from Boulder to Ward.
Among the other mines that have been developed is the Moltke, which is in shape for successful operation at any time. A complete telephone system, centering at the power house, connects all the mines, and also makes connection with the residence of Colonel Brainerd and other buildings on the camp. All of the buildings are
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. modern and complete, and when it is observed that nearly all of the material for construction has been hauled from Boulder at a rate of $6 per ton, one can well imagine the energy and great amount of money it has taken to accomplish this gratifying result. All the plans are now completed for building a switch from the Colorado and Northwestern Railroad to the power house, which will take about ten thousand feet of track, on account of the height of the road above Camp Talcott.
When Colonel Brainerd first came to Ward, there was considerable prospecting, but later it fell off considerably. He, however, continued his prospecting and found that he secured rich ore, so he continued the development and discoveries, and now has over sixty different claims. He has done more to bring Ward mining and mines to the front than anyone else, by the expenditure of enormous sums in the development of claims. The most of his claims were discovered directly by himself.
In Chicago, November 17, 1858, Colonel Brainerd married Miss Amelia M. Gage, who was born in DeRuyter, Madison County, N. Y., a daughter of Eli A. and Mary (Judson) Gage, natives of DeRuyter and New Berlin. Mrs. Brainerd is a sister of Lyman J. Gage, present secretary of the treasury. Her grandfather, Justus Gage, was a pioneer of Madison County; his father came from England and settled in New England. Eli A. Gage was a merchant and manufacturer in DeRuyter, subsequently removed to Rome, N. Y., whence in 1855 he removed to Chicago and embarked in the lumber business. He died in Evanston, Ill., in 1879. His wife was a daughter of Abel Judson, who was a sea-faring man. Colonel and Mrs. Braiuerd have two children: Irving Gage, who is assistant superintendent of the mines; and Belle, who is Mrs. Emil Phillipson, of New York City.
Fraternally Colonel Brainerd is a prominent Mason. He is a charter member of the Colorado Commandery of the Loyal Legion, of which he was commander in 1894-95. For years he was active in his support of the Republican party, but he is now independent in politics and votes for the man he deems best qualified to represent the people in office, regardless of political affiliations. Personally he is a man of fine physique, in whose countenance kindness, amiability and benevolence glow. To all public enterprises of a helpful nature he is liberal and enterprising. He is exceedingly hospitable, and happy is the guest who comes beneath his roof.
While the colonel has continued in the stock business and raising full-blood cattle on his eight hundred acre ranch and farm in Nebraska, yet mining has been his principal business, and in it he has made his greatest success. Talcott Camp is located conveniently on the Left Hand Creek. The surrounding scenery is beautiful. Upon the side rise the mountains, delighting the eye with long glimpses of forests of spruce and pine, while the air of busy thrift and industry around the camp delight the eye of every practical miner.
OHN T. BOTTOM. Not alone through the high position which he occupies as an attorney-at-law, but also by reason of his prominence in the order of the Knights of Pythias, his attractive style as a writer and his eloquence as a speaker, Mr. Bottom has become well and favorably known to the people of Colorado. Upon establishing his home in Denver in 1889 he opened an office for the practice of the legal profession, and in time became the possessor of a clientele that brought influence and financial success. Reared in the faith of the Democratic party and thoroughly devoted to its principles, here as in his former home he has taken an active part in promoting party success, in winning victory for its men and measures. In 1891 he was made secretary of the Democratic central committee of Denver, and during the presidential campaign of 1892 he was made chairman of the county committee. Chosen by his party to act as their nominee in the congressional campaign of 1894, he held aloft the party standard in every part of the district, which, however, was too thoroughly Republican to make hope of election possible.. When the stirring campaign of 1896 began, with its new questions and issues that broke the ranks of the old parties, he at once took the "stump" in behalf of the silver cause, and his eloquent, earnest addresses deepened the public sentiment in favor of a new standard of money. His opinions on this subject have not been formulated thoughtlessly; they are the result of study and observation. His travels have taken him into sections of the country where once
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were thriving mining towns, now forlorn and deserted; towns that once were astir with life and activity, but that were ruined by the act of congress in 1873 demonetizing silver, thus forcing the silver mines to shut down and hundreds of miners to be thrown out of employment. Nor is the question one of local interest only, for what affects the silver unties in the first instance will eventually affect the prosperity of the state and the welfare of the nation.
Mr. Bottom was born in St. Marys, W. Va., January 26, 1860, and was an infant when his parents, Dr. Montgomery and Lavinia (Harrison) Bottom, removed to Breckenridge, Mo., where his father still practices medicine. His primary education was obtained in the public school there, and at the age of sixteen he entered Central College, at Fayette, Mo., continuing there for two years. His education was completed in the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he graduated from the literary department in 1879 and from the law department in 1881. On being admitted to the bar he opened an office in Breckenridge, earning his first fee four days after graduation. The Democrats of Caldwell County nominated him in 1882 to represent the district in the legislature, but he was obliged to decline the nomination, as he was not old enough for constitutional requirements. Though not permitted to be a candidate he took an active part in the campaign, and did all within his power to promote party success. In 1884 he was nominated for prosecuting attorney, but was defeated by one hundred and thirty-eight votes, the remainder of the ticket losing by seven hundred and fifty-seven votes. At the time of leaving Missouri, in 1889, he was chairman of the county Democratic committee, secretary of the Democratic congressional committee and chairman of the senatorial committee.
In Quincy, Ill., May 15, 1884, Mr. Bottom married Miss Lethe M. Boyer, daughter of Noah and Ellen (McCullough) Boyer. They have an only child, a daughter, Monta.
Fraternally Mr. Bottom is identified with the Masons as a Knight Templar. He is, however,, most prominent through his connection with the Knights of Pytluas. He was first initiated into the order in Denver Lodge No. 41, in which he filled the offices of vice-chancellor and chancellor-commander. In 1893 he exemplified the new ritual that had been adopted before representatives of all the lodges of the state. The next year he became a member of the Grand Lodge, and in 1895 was made chief tribune of the Grand Tribunal, in 1896 was honored by election as grand vice-chancellor, and in 1897 received the further honor of election as grand chancellor, his present office. The membership of the order in Colorado is about six thousand, and new members are constantly being added to the ranks. The lodges in the different parts of the state are frequently visited by the grand chancellor, whose entertaining and eloquent speeches do much for the advancement of the cause. In a recent number of The Pythian appears his address delivered at the eleventh anniversary of Myrtle Lodge No. 34 Colorado Springs, which is considered one of the best ever delivered upon the subject of the order, its principles, foundation and teachings. In it he traces the teachings of the order to the commands given to Moses on Mount Sinai. "Its corner stone is the solid granite rock of friendship. The columns on either side the entrance are charity and benevolence. Our teachings embrace loyalty to country, devotion to its flag, observance of its laws, love of home, love of justice, mercy and fidelity one to another." Briefly sketching the immortal friendship of Damon and Pythias, he described how the reading of this story inspired Justus IL Rathbone to found the order that marches under the banner of Pythianism. "Thirty-four years ago Rathbone breathed the breath of life in what is today America's greatest civic society. It was born in the city of Washington. The fame of the order was not long in spreading from the capitol on the historic Potomac. Like the tiny waves caused by throwing a pebble in the placid pool, its influence was felt farther and farther, touching the rock-bound coast of Maine and reaching on the other side to the city by the Golden Gate. And now we have organized a lodge amid the goldbearing icebergs of far-off Alaska. In every state and territory that protects and for protection looks to the Tri-colored flag of the Union, you will find the blue, yellow and red banner of Pythianism. The banner of the stars and stripes stands for our country. The tri-colored banner of the order of Knights of Pythias stands for humanity, it stands for all that is best in manhood and for all that is purest and loveliest in woman
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. hood. Long may it wave. The blue is emblematic of truth and expresses heaven itself. The yellow is a symbol of the great orb of day and portrays the faithfulness that should characterize our membership. The red symbolizes love and loyalty, and under a banner so expressive of lofty sentiments we should keep ourselves loyal to truth, faithful to our tenets and guide with love our lives to the end."
EORGE M. McCLURE, president of the McClure-White Mercantile Company of Boulder and the Boulder Electric Light Company, is a member of a Vermont family that came originally from Scotland. His grandfather, Samuel McClure, accompanied his parents from Scotland to America, settling in Vermont, where he engaged in farm pursuits through the remainder of his life. The father, H. B., was born in Middletown Springs, Rutland County, Vt., and became a millwright and wagon-maker, which trades he followed in his native state. Late in life he removed to Spenceport, N. Y., where he died at sixty-eight years of age. In religion he was a Baptist. His wife, Susan, daughter of Sylvanus Mallory, a soldier in the war of 1812 and a farmer of Vermont, was born in Connecticut and died in Spenceport, N. Y. She was a descendant of Puritan ancestors, who came to this country from England.
The family of H. B: and Susan McClure consists of six sons, all living, our subject being the only one now in Colorado, the others residing in Vermont. One brother, Charles, took part in the Civil war as a member of the Tenth Vermont Infantry. George M. was educated in the public schools of Middletown Springs, his native village. At the age of eighteen, in 1863, he went to Poultney, Rutland County, where he was employed by Jay J. Joslin, now of Denver. In the spring of 1873 he came to Colorado to assist in opening Joslin's dry-goods store, and in the fall of the same year he came to Boulder, opening a store here for Mr. Joslin, in connection with H. N. Bradley, now of Denver. Soon the firm of Bradley & McClure was established, and they began in business in March, 1874, at their present location, though occupying a room much smaller than the one now used.
Selling his interest in the Boulder store in 1887, Mr. McClure became one of the proprietors of a store in Glenwood Springs, and remained there for three years, when he sold to his partner, Mr. Napier, and to Mr. McLean. Returning to Boulder in 1890, he bought Mr. Bradley's interest in the Bradley-Wise Mercantile Company, and changed the title to the McClure-White Mercantile Company, of which he is president and manager, Mr. White vice-president, Mr. Davis secretary and H. B. McClure treasurer. The firm occupy three rooms, 75x125 feet in dimensions, with basement.
Mr. McClure is a director in the First National Bank. He was one of the original promoters of the Boulder National Bank about 1884, and was a director from the start until 1887. His establishment is the largest in northern Colorado and contains a full line of goods of highest grade, for the best trade. The success that has come to him is due to his energy and determination. In 1894 he and H. N. Bradley opened a dry-goods business in Denver, on Sixteenth street, continuing it together until May, 1897, when he sold his interest to Mr. Bradley, the present proprietor.
The marriage of Mr. McClure took place in Middletown Springs, Vt., and united him with Edilda M. Burnham, daughter of Albert Burnham, a native of Maine and a blacksmith in Middletown Springs, where she was born. Her death occurred at Boulder in January, 1885, Her three children are: Harry B., who was educated in the public schools and Rochester (N. Y.) Commercial College; George A. who was educated in the State University and is with the company; and Elizabeth M., who is a member of the university class of 1898.
Politically Mr. McClure is a Republican. Fraternally he is connected with Boulder Lodge No. 45, A. P. & A. M., Boulder Chapter No. 7, R. A. M., Mount Sinai Commandery No. 7, K. T., (of which he is a charter member and the present treasurer), and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S., of Denver.
EV. JOSEPH P. CARRIGAN. St. Patrick's parish, Denver, was established in 1881 by the venerable Bishop Machebeuf. Rev. M. J. Carmody said the first mass on the north side, and assembled the newly formed congregation for divine service in the old hose house on Fifteenth street. He was taken ill a few weeks
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afterwards and resigned his charge. Father Carmody was succeeded by Rev. J. C, Ahern, who changed the place of service to Platte street. During his time the present site of St. Patrick's was secured, the venerable old Bishop Machebeuf donating $1,000 towards the purchase of the five lots on which the church and school now stand. Rev. J. C. Ahern was succeeded shortly by Rev. Jeremiah Ahern.
From its very beginning St. Patrick's parish had a turbulent career. Misunderstandings there had been between pastors and people. Debts had accumulated, and, to add to the distress, the church just nearing completion was blown down by a terrific windstorm. It was a total loss on the congregation. Father John Quinn, of the Cathedral, managed the affairs of the parish for some time, however, residing on the north side. He was succeeded by Father Patrick Sheridan and Father James Conroy, both delicate priests, who came to Colorado in search of health. In the year 1883 Rev. Stephen Keegan took charge. During his pastorate the church was rebuilt and the school opened under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph. During the building of the church Father Keegan erected on the site of the present parish dwelling a frame church which he affectionately christened the "Shanty." It served its purpose well until the new church could be rebuilt. In 1885 Father Keegan left Colorado and took up his home in California, where a few years later he died.
The successor of Father Keegan was Father Carrigan, who found the new church with an incumbrance that remained from the building of the first church. Directing himself to the raising of the debt, within two years he had freed the congregation from the entire indebtedness. A year before he became pastor a school had been started, which he found feebly struggling for existence. He remodeled the church, making it large enough to accommodate both the congregation and the school, and at once the latter took on new life. There are now two hundred and seventy pupils, taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and who, at graduation, are prepared to enter high school. An academic course is being projected and will soon open, in connection with the convent, known as Sisters of St. Joseph Academy. The church is situated on Bell avenue between Fairview avenue and Wanless, but other property has been bought and in time a church will be erected on the corner of Clear Creek and Thirty-third avenue west. In the parish there are over three hundred and fifty families, to whose spiritual interests Father Carrigan ministers. His pastorate here has extended over a greater number of years than that of any other priest in Denver. In connection with the church, he has the usual societies, including the Sodality, Sacred Heart League, Holy Name and Young Ladies'.
In 1889 St. Patrick's parish extended over the whole of the north side, including a portion of East Denver, as far as the Union depot. Rev. T. J. Murphy, who was then assistant at St. Patrick's, assumed charge of what was known as the Highlands. Father Carrigan purchased the ground on which the present St. Dominic's Church now stands and formed the first parish out of St. Patrick's. The Dominican fathers now have a flourishing congregation in that beautiful portion of the north side. The next parish to be formed out of St. Patrick's was the Holy Family in the scattered portion of North Denver, surrounding the Jesuit college. The Holy Family have no church as yet, but the congregation hold divine service in the college chapel.
The Italian people having become very numerous in this portion of the city, he deemed it advisable that they should have a church of their own where they could hear the word of God and receive instruction in their native tongue. Accordingly, in 1892, the Italian church was built within the limits of St. Patrick's parish.
Born and reared in Auburn, N. Y., Father Carrigan is the son of Patrick and Anna (Shields) Carrigan, natives of Ireland, who were married n England and came to America in 1848. For many years the former engaged in business in New York. During the war he responded to the draft, but was rejected on account of physical disability. Of their nine children, four are living, Joseph being the sole surviving son. He studied in the parochial and public schools of Auburn, then for two years was under a private tutor, and later took a classical course in St. Hyacinthe College, in Quebec, from which he graduated in 1878. A few months afterward he entered Troy Theological Seminary, where he spent four and one-half years in the study of
312
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. theology and philosophy. December 23, 1882, he was ordained to the holy prieshood (sic) by Bishop McNeirney, of Albany, and was assigned to the Denver diocese. In January, 1883, he came to Colorado and was stationed successively at Breckenridge, Summit Park, Eagle and Garfield as assistant pastor, utilizing houses, depots and other buildings for religious services. In the fall of 1883 he was assigned as assistant to Bishop Machebeuf, at the Cathedral in Denver, and after fifteen months there, was made pastor of St. Ann's, now the Church of the Annunciation, where he remained for three months. From there he came to St. Patrick's parish, which at that time included all of the north side and a portion of the west side. Since coming here he has enlarged the church and school tot he present size and has built the parsonage. He has remained here constantly with the church, with the exception of a portion of 1894 and 1895, when another priest was assigned to his parish while he took a post-graduate work in the Catholic University of Washington. Alive to the interests of the church, he devotes himself closely to its welfare and has been effectual in increasing its membership and standing among the other churches of the city.
ROF. GEORGE L. HARDING, superintendent of the public schools of Boulder County, is an able educator and by years of practical experience in teaching is especially qualified to occupy the responsible position with which the people of his county of Colorado have honored him in three successive elections. The numerous and varied duties which rest upon a man in such an office cannot be laid down by rule and precedent to any great extent, but depend largely upon the character of the person, his energy and interest in the work and his desire to make his country a banner one in the commonwealth to which it belongs. Fortunately for the citizens of Boulder County, Professor Harding is devoted heart and soul to the noble work he has in charge, and under his judicious administration the standard of our local schools has been wonderfully advanced.
The gentleman of whom this sketch is written is a native of Cork, Ireland, born July 26, 1847. With his parents, Thomas and Mary (Lester) Harding, of the same isle, he came to the United States in 1861, and in the following year removed from New York, where they had first settled, to Sturgis, Mich. Both parents were of English descent, the Hardings having taken up their residence in Ireland during the time of Cromwell.
Thomas Harding was engaged in the manufacture of pumps and machinery and was interested in the shipping trade while in Ireland. He has been connected with the Studebaker Company as an employe, and has been variously occupied in a business way since coming to the United States. He and his wife are residents of Sturgis, Mich., where they have dwelt for many years and are much respected and loved. His father, William Harding, was engaged in a private banking business in Ireland, and his wife's father, George Lester, was a sea-faring man, interested in trade with the West Indies and trans-Alantic (sic) ports.
Professor Harding is the eldest of the four surviving children of his parents. In boyhood he learned the trade of making chairs, and by industry earned sufficient money to enable him to complete his higher education. In 1874 he graduated from the University of Michigan, and three years later had the degree of Master of Arts conferred upon him by his alma mater. His natural tastes lying in the direction of pedagogic work, he soon embarked upon his career as a teacher and has met with success from the first. For several years he taught in his native state, in Minnesota and in Indiana. In 1890 he resigned the position that for five years he had filled most acceptably in Middlebury, Ind., and coming to Colorado, he took charge of the city schools of Longmont. This position he resigned in 1893, as he had been elected to the superintendency of the county schools. Upon the expiration of his term he was re-elected, and again in 1897. He has inaugurated many valuable reforms and changes in our school system, and his earnest and constant aim is to elevate the standard and encourage teachers and pupils to greater efforts. He was a member of the committee that succeeded in securing the Texas Chautauqua for Boulder; is a member of the State Teachers' Association; has been president of the State Association of County Superintendents and of the Boulder County Teachers' Association. In 1892 he took the required state teachers' examination in Colo-
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