HON. JAMES P. MAXWELL.
Mardos Collection
HON. JAMES P. MAXWELL.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 319
in real estate in various parts of the country from Vermont to Colorado.
In Orange County, N. Y., in 1884, Mr. Bradley married Miss Margaret Brodhead, who was born and reared in that county, a daughter of Capt. Edgar Brodhead, who graduated from Annapolis Naval School, served for many years in the United States Navy and is now living retired in Orange County. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley have two children: Mary, who was born in Boulder in June, 1886; and Herbert N., born in Boulder October 12, 1888. Though reared a Democrat, Mr. Bradley has always supported Republican principles, and cast his first vote for Gen. U. S. Grant. While in business at Rupert he became a member of Morning Flower Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in which he filled all the chairs. After he had been living in Colorado for some time, and during a trip east, he took the chapter degrees at Manchester, Vt. He became a charter member of the chapter in Boulder and later took the commandery degrees there, being the first to do so after its organization.
ON. JAMES P. MAXWELL. Since the admission of Colorado as one of the states of the Union, the name of Senator Maxwell has been closely identified with its history. Elected to the first session of the state senate in 1876, after having ably represented his district in important territorial positions, he drew the long term and served until 1880. In the second session, in 1879, he served as president pro tem of the senate. He was prominently connected with early legislative acts and took a warm interest in securing the appropriations for the state university. In 1877 he had the distinction of placing in nomination for the United States senate. Hon. H. M. Teller, who then began his long and distinguished connection with public affairs. Elected mayor of Boulder in 1878, he served for one term of two years, resigning in 1880, after which he held the office of county treasurer for two years. He was again elected to the state senate in 1896, as the candidate of the silver Republicans and Democrats, and was the recipient of a large majority in a county that usually gives a majority to the People's party. At the close of the eleventh session he was elected president pro tem of the senate for the next session.
Three miles from the foot of Geneva Lake, at Bigfoot, Walworth County, Wis., the subject of this sketch was born in June, 1839, a son of James A. and Susan V. (Clark) Maxwell, and a grandson of Col. James Maxwell, who was a pioneer of Walworth County, a merchant by occupation, a member of the territorial legislature and colonel of the Wisconsin state militia, dying in Wisconsin at eighty years of age. His brother, Philip Maxwell, M. D., was one of the prominent physicians in the early days of Chicago.
For some years James A. Maxwell was a large land holder, a successful merchant and a prominent man in the public affairs of Walworth County, but removed from there to Sauk County, and from there came to Colorado in 1860. He assisted in the construction of the Boulder and Blackhawk wagon road, which he operated for a time, but sold to the railroad company on the building of the railroad through the canon. In early days he also engaged in the sawmill business in Boulder. He was a consistent and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. One Thursday evening in 1892 he attended the regular weekly prayer-meeting, walking three-quarters of a mile to the church. He seemed in his usual health at the meeting and when it had closed he walked home, where he sat down in a rocking chair, with his feet on the fender, a paper in his hands, and his glasses on. In that position he was found, dead, the following morning. He had passed peacefully away, at the close of a service in the church he had helped to organize, and in his home, surrounded by every comfort, and apparently without any pain. He was twice married. His first wife, Miss Clark, accompanied her parents from New York to Indiana, thence to Wisconsin, where she remained until her demise. She was the mother of six children, viz.: Emma, Mrs. H. H. Potter, of Sauk County, Wis.; James P.; Charles A., of Boulder; Ophelia, Mrs. George H. Rust, who died in Boulder; Ellen, wife of William Hill, of Missouri; and Augusta, wife of J. V. Pierce, of Kansas City.
In 1854 the subject of this sketch entered the Lawrence University at Appleton, Wis., where he was graduated in 1859 with the degree of A. B. In 1860 he joined his father, who had preceded him to Omaha, and together they journeyed with horses over the plains, reaching Denver
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. June 10, after a journey of six weeks. They went to Central City and Nevadaville, thence to Lump Gulch and engaged in placer mining. In 1860 our subject was elected sheriff of Gold Dirt district, serving for one year, and then for a similar period engaged in lode mining at Leavenworth Gulch. In 1863, with Captain Tyler, his brother-in-law, he embarked in the lumber business on South Boulder Creek, putting up a null, and engaging in the manufacture of lumber of all kinds. This lumber he sold in Blackhawk, Central City and Cheyenne. Also, in partnership with his father, he operated, by water power, a mill at the mouth of Four Mile Creek. In 1867 he moved from South Boulder to the mouth of Four Mile, three miles from Boulder, and from there in 1870 he came to Boulder. For several years, as deputy United States mineral and land surveyor, he made surveys of the public lands of the state. In 1872 he was elected to the territorial legislature from Boulder, two years later was re-elected, and in 1876 was made a member of the first state senate. From 1882 to 1888 he engaged in government surveying in western Colorado, and from 1888 to 1893 he acted as state engineer, under appointment by Governors Cooper and Routt. As state engineer he had charge and control of the irrigation of the state, and the appropriations made for public improvements by two legislatures, amounting to about $200,000 each term, of which amount, by economical expenditures, he returned about $100,000 each two years. Appropriations for bridge building, road construction and reservoir building were made at his discretion and under his supervision. He gave personal oversight to every contract and its completion, and such roads and bridges asked for, but not deemed actual necessities by himself, were not built.
For the past ten years Mr. Maxwell has been engaged in the cattle business, and owns ranches and real estate. He laid out Maxwell's addition of fifteen acres on the mesa, a fine site, and was vice-president of the Mapleton Company that laid out forty acres. With others, in 1888, he began the construction of the Silver Lake ditch, the highest ditch of Boulder canon, covering about two hundred acres of his land; irrigation has made of this section a valuable fruit tract. He is president of the Silver Lake Ditch Company, and through his efforts an abundance of water has been given to this property. He has also stocked Silver Lake with fish and is making of the lake and surrounding country a fine resort. For fifteen years he was president of the Steamboat Springs Company, that laid out Steamboat Springs in Routt County. He is still interested in mining and prospecting in different parts of the state. Besides his other interests, he is the owner of Maxwell block, on Pearl near Twelfth street, Boulder.
In Gilpin County, Colo., Mr. Maxwell married Miss Francelia O. Smith, who was born near Milwaukee, Wis. Her father, Nelson K. Smith, was long a resident of Wisconsin (see sketch elsewhere in this work) and came to Colorado in 1860, engaging in the sawmill business, in manufacturing enterprises and in the construction of a toll road from Golden to Central. He died in Boulder in 1896. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are named as follows: Clint J., who is in charge of his father's ranches and also carries on a stock business; Mark N., who is a druggist in Boulder; Helen M., who studied German and music under the best instructors in Germany; and Marie O., wife of Prof. Charles R. Burger, instructor of mathematics in the East Denver high school.
Fraternally Mr. Maxwell is connected with Boulder Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M., in which he is past master; Boulder Chapter No. 7, R. A. M., in which he is past high priest; Mount Sinai Commandery No. 7, K. T., in which he is past eminent commander, and was grand commander of the grand commandery of Colorado for one year; the consistory in Denver and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S. For some years he acted as president of the state forestry association and is now a member of the State Historical Society. For several terms he has held the office of president of the Boulder County Pioneer Society and he is also identified with the Society of Colorado Pioneers.
SAAC LAMB BOND, M. D., a resident of Boulder since 1871, came to Colorado in that year with the Chicago-Colorado Colony, which located Longmont, but instead of making the new town his permanent location he settled in Boulder and has since made this city his home. He engaged in the practice of his profession for only five years after coming west, and is now re-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 321
tired from active participation in professional work or in business. For one term he acted as mayor of Boulder. He took no active part in politics until populism sprang up; he opposes this doctrine with all his intellect and influence, giving his support to Republican principles and working for their success.
The Bond family was founded in Massachusetts about two hundred years ago, coming there from England. The doctor's father, George S., was a son of George Bond, a farmer of Worcester County; he was born in Brimfield, Hampden County, but was reared in Leicester, Worcester County, where he has since resided, being now eighty-three years of age. He married Eliza Lamb, who was born in Worcester County and still lives there, being now eighty years of age. She was a daughter of Isaac and Abigail (White) Lamb, natives of Spencer, Worcester County. Her father, who was born in 1765 and died in 1853, took part in the Revolution and later was major of militia. Her grandfather, John Lamb, was born in Massachusetts in 1727 and died in 1796; he was a son of Jonathan Lamb, a native of Boston, who settled in Worcester County in 1726 and served as a lieutenant in the early colonial wars. Jonathan's father, Joshua, came from England to Massachusetts and held the rank of colonel in early wars.
The family of George S. and Eliza Bond consisted of two children, the older being Mrs. Maria Kent, of Worcester. The younger, who forms the subject of this sketch, was born in Leicester, Mass., March 31, 1841. He received his education in the Leicester Academy and the State Normal School, from both of which he graduated. He then taught school at Holyoke, Mass., for three years, after which he took up the study of medicine with Dr. Blodgett, of Holyoke, and later studied in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, from which he graduated in 1866, with the degree of M. D. Opening an office in Worcester County he continued in practice there until 1871, when he came to Boulder. After five years here he retired from practice on account of poor health and since then he has engaged in mining, farming and banking.
In 1887 Dr. Bond organized the Boulder Electric Light Company, of which he served as president for eight years and which has had a very successful history. In 1884 he assisted in the organization of the Boulder National Bank and served as its vice-president from that time until 1891, after which he acted as cashier for two years. He is still connected with the bank as a stockholder. He has dealt extensively in mining properties and has also engaged in mining. As an irrigation farmer, he was interested in the building of some of the first ditches in the St. Vrain Valley, and was president of a number of the companies. Much of his land lies in Boulder County and consists of improved ranching property.
The marriage of Dr. Bond, solemnized in New York City, united him with Arabella, daughter of James and Anna (Watson) Coates, and a sister of the present postmaster of Boulder. She possesses many admirable qualities and is a lady of refinement. A stanch Republican, Dr. Bond has been a member of the state central committee, was chairman of the county committee 189496, served as mayor of Boulder in 1891-93, and was his party's candidate for state senator in 1892, but was defeated by the Populists. He has done much to advance the welfare of his party, among whose members he is very popular.
The grandfather of our subject, William Wilson, was born in Virginia, and took part in the Revolution when a young man. Many years later, in 1824, he removed to Missouri and settled upon a farm near Glasgow, Howard County, where he lived retired until his death. The youngest of his large family was William A., a native of Augusta County, Va., and in early life a merchant, but later a student of law with his brother,
.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Gen. John Wilson, who had preceded the family to Missouri and had served in the war of 1812. William was admitted to the bar in Saline County and opened an office in Marshall, where he was a pioneer and prominent attorney. For years he was clerk of all the courts there. When the Civil war broke out he was somewhat advanced in years, but enlisted in the state militia and was made lieutenant-colonel of a regiment, serving until the close of the war, but the exposure of camp life caused his death soon afterwards. He was then about fifty-seven years of age. Fraternally he was a Mason.
Our subject's mother was Mary E. Reeves, a native of Todd County, Ky., and now living in Marshall, Mo. She is the descendant of English and Scotch-Irish ancestors, who early settled in Virginia. Her father, Col. Benjamin H. Reeves, was born in Augusta County, Va., but about the close of the eighteenth century, when in infancy, he removed to Kentucky with his parents. His father had served in the Revolution and he took part, as a captain, in the war of 1812, being of the greatest assistance to the cause in Indiana and Kentucky and relieving Zachary Taylor when the latter was besieged near Lafayette. During his residence in Kentucky he was for many years a member of the legislature. In 1818 he removed to Missouri, where he was a member of the constitutional convention, later state senator from his district, and afterward lieutenant-governor of the state for one term. He was one of the commissioners appointed by the president of the United States to locate the Santa Fe trail. Both while in Kentucky and Missouri he was active in the skirmishes with the Indians, and during the Iowa Indian war he was colonel of a regiment. He died in 1849, at the age of sixty-two years. Politically he had been an ardent supporter of Henry Clay and the Whig party.
The family of which our subject is a member consisted of seven children, he being third in order of birth. One brother, Benjamin H., was a captain in a Missouri regiment during the Civil war and is now a resident of Denver. Our subject was reared in Marshall and received his education in the Masonic College, from which he graduated with the degree of A. B., in 1858, when less than seventeen years of age, being the youngest member of his class. He studied law under an uncle, Judge Abiel Leonard, who was at one time judge of the supreme court of Missouri. In 1860 he was admitted to the bar at Marshall and in the spring of the following year came to Denver, making the trip overland with teams. After a few weeks he proceeded westward to California and located in San Francisco, where his uncle, Gen. John Wilson, was a prominent attorney. The uncle and nephew practiced together for two years, then the latter went to Virginia City, Nev., and embarked in the newspaper business as city editor of the Virginia City Union, at the same time that Mark Twain was city editor of the Enterprise. After one year he went to Austin, Nev., where he was the first editor of the Reese River Reveille, a paper that is still being published. Resigning his position a year later, he went back to San Francisco and resumed the practice of law. His father dying in 1867, he returned to Missouri to look after the estate, and opened an office in Marshall, where he practiced until 1872.
Coming again to Colorado in 1872, our subject located in Pueblo, where he practiced for a year. He was among the earliest settlers in the San Juan mining region and located at Del Norte, which became the county seat. In 1875 he was elected the first member of the territorial council from the San Juan country, comprising five or six counties, and served during the last session of the legislature of the territory, being chosen as president of the body. In 1876 he was a delegate to the national Democratic convention at St. Louis that nominated Samuel J. Tilden for president, and during the ensuing election was one of the Democratic candidates for presidential elector voted for by the legislature of Colorado. During the same year he was nominated for judge of the fourth judicial district, but declined the nomination. In 1880 he was tendered the Democratic nomination for governor, in the convention held at Leadville, but refused to accept. Six years later he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for state senator from the San Juan district and was the only one on the Democratic ticket elected, the district being Republican. His term of service covered the years 1887-90, during which time he introduced many bills of importance. In 1887 he opened an office in Durango, where he has since resided. At the convention in Chicago in 1896 he was elected a member of the Democratic
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