BENJAMIN QUICK.
Mardos Collection
BENJAMIN QUICK.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 443
deputy sheriff, and the latter office he held for two terms. In 1880 he was elected county commissioner, and served from January, 1881, until 1884, being chairman of the board the last year of his service. In the fall of 1883 he was elected sheriff on the Republican ticket by a good majority and took the oath of office in January, 1884, for a term of two years. At the expiration of the time he was re-elected, serving until 1888. Since then he has served for two terms as mayor of Golden and has been a member of the board of aldermen for two terms. He is a firm friend of the silver cause and adheres to the silver wing of the Republican party. Fraternally he is connected with Golden Lodge No. 10, A. F. & A. M., in which he was made a mason; the Knights of Pythias, in which order he is past chancellor; and the Odd Fellows' lodge, in which he is past grand and which he has represented in the grand lodge; he is also a member of the encampment.
ENJAMIN QUICK, of Perry Park, Douglas County, is the owner of twenty-four hundred acres of land, nearly all of which lies in one body. He settled here in the spring of 1861 and built a log house, which is now used for a barn. In 1867 he built a better house, which is still used for a dwelling, and in 1885, from rock on his farm, he built his present substantial residence. Of the same rock he also built a stone fence around his yard. The land is splendidly irrigated, and is furnished with a large reservoir, built at a cost of $3,000. On the place are about two hundred head of cattle and twenty horses.
Born in Holmes County, Ohio, in December, 1828, our subject is a son of Benjamin and Clarissa (Priest) Quick. His father, who was both a farmer and wagon-maker, was born in Pennsylvania, whence in an early day he removed to Ohio and there married. He experienced all the hardships incident to frontier life among Indians who were unfriendly. When his son, our subject, was a child, he removed to Richland County, and later settled in Ashland County. His death occurred in 1834 and his wife passed away eight years previous to his own demise.
When only ten our subject, at his father's death, began to make his own way in the world. At sixteen he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of five years without wages. During that time his employer, who had decided to move to Missouri, asked him if he would go also. His reply was characteristic of him. He said he had started out to learn the trade and was determined to do so, and was of course perfectly willing to accompany his master on the trip. He finished his trade in Johnson County, Mo., after which he began contracting and was enabled to earn money. He had left his brother, Cornelius, back in Ohio, and in 1849 an arrangement was made that the latter should come to Missouri, bringing with him his part of the estate, $800, as well as his brother's, which amounted to the same. Cornelius started, but while on his way was robbed of all he had and reached Johnson County penniless. However, Benjamin had saved some money, and he at once invested it in the purchase of an outfit for the trip across the mountains to California. With two other men and five yoke of oxen and one wagon, they started. When they reached Steamboat Springs, Colo., the brothers, concluding that their mode of travel was too slow, took their packs on their backs and, leaving the others to follow with the oxen, they started ahead on foot. Their packs were so heavy that they left a part of their contents by the wayside, and this their partners picked up. They carried no bedding, but slept on the ground, even when the weather was cold and the earth frozen. During the last week of their journey they walked seventy-five miles a day. They reached their destination, Hangtown, Cal., two months before their partners arrived with the wagon, and meantime had made enough to pay for the entire outfit. They were fortunate as gold-diggers, and discovered the Shasta mines. However, provisions were exceedingly high. Salt was so scarce that they weighed gold against salt, ounce for ounce. Provisions were $3 per pound. They dug out more gold than they could carry; but expenses were so great that there was but very little profit. In 1852 they returned, on mules, to Johnson County, Mo., and settled in Missouri, Cornelius in Henry County and Benjamin in Johnson. The brother spent his remaining years in Henry County, where he has a son, Morris, one of the wealthiest farmers in that section.
While in Johnson County our subject married Miss Mary K., daughter of Francis R. and Sarah (Wright) Jackson, of Johnson County. She was born in Ray County, Mo., in 1858. Having sold
444
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. his farm, Mr. Quick took his family behind a good team, and with provisions sufficient for two years, started for Colorado, bringing with him a drove of fifty cattle. One day, in Kansas, he met sixty wagons returning east, whose drivers gave such discouraging reports of Colorado that he decided it would be best to return to his old home. Accordingly he sold out to his wife's brother, who now lives in Holden City, Mo, He and his wife returned to Missouri and shortly afterward drove through to Texas, where they spent the winter. However, they received such glowing reports of Colorado from Mr. Jackson that, for the second time, they determined to move there. In 1860 they drove through with a span of mules and at first they lived in an old cabin, six miles below his present place of residence. In the spring of the next year they settled upon their present homestead. Of their children, we mention the following: Sarah Frances died in Missouri; Frank died in Colorado when eight years of age; Amelia died in Denver at six years; Susan passed away when two years old. Hattie married James Skelton, of Arapahoe County, by whom she had one child, Benjamin, at present with his grandparents; later she became the wife of William Stumpf, of Pueblo, Colo.; Clara married John Cantril and died, leaving two children; Mary is the wife of Thomas Evans, of Denver, and has two children; Laura, Mrs. Milton Robinson, has one child.
Mr. Quick voted the Republican ticket until 1896, since which time he has been a silver supporter. He voted for John C. Fremont and came nearly being mobbed for so doing. He has never cared for office and has always refused offers of nomination for public positions.
EWIS B. FRANCE. This sterling citizen of Denver, who has won for himself a high place in the legal profession, is no less noted as an author, his most widely known work being the novel 'Over the Old Trail," which received deserved honorable mention in a long article or review published in the "Arena" in October, 1895. (See quotation at close of this sketch.) Mr. France was the first prosecuting attorney of Arapahoe County, filling the position with ability for a period of four years, and was the reporter of the supreme court of this state from the organization of the same until, on account of the pressure of a multitude of other duties, he resigned in 1877. He has given his attention to the general practice of law and has built up a very large and representative patronage.
The parents of the above-named gentleman were Lewis H. and Mary A. (Talbott) France. The father died when our subject was a lad of about fifteen and he was thenceforth dependent upon his own resources. He was born in Washington, D. C., August 8, 1833. He made rapid progress in his studies, both in private schools and in Georgetown College, in which institution he had spent nearly three years at the time of his father's death. He was then obliged to take up the burdens of life, his initial experience at earning a competence being as a clerk in a mercantile establishment. In 1847 he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and, having a desire to become a journalist, entered a printing office, where he served a regular apprenticeship as a type-setter for three and a-half years. He was then in the employ of Morgan & Sons, at the munificent salary of $2.50 per week at first and $7 per week toward the close of his apprenticeship. The wages last mentioned were supposed to compensate him for the work of press foreman. This task demanded ability, and would certainly command two or three times the remuneration nowadays. The four succeeding years he worked as a journeyman in various offices in the same city. Then, going to St. Louis, he was similarly employed, sometimes as a compositor, sometimes as a foreman, up to June, 1856, his wages ranging from $15 to $30 a week.
In the summer of 1856 Mr. France was offered a position as foreman on the Daily Columbian, of Cincinnati, and, having accepted the place, was promoted at the end of three weeks to the post of city editor, his associates being Albert D. Richardson and Junius Henri Browne, The company owning this journal were forced to suspend business within a few months, and thus Mr. France was once more obliged to seek employment as a journeyman. He had, however, some time before taken up the study of law, as the prospects in the field of journalism were so unpromising, and the following spring he went to Chicago and entered the law office of Joseph P. Clarkson and Lambert Tree. He remained with
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that firm until he was admitted to the bar in 1858, meantime spending a portion of his evenings in setting type in order that he might meet his necessary expenses. He opened an office in Chicago, but a few months later removed to Elgin, Ill., where he was associated with the Hon. Charles H. Morgan about a year. At length, as he was not entirely satisfied with his future prospects, he concluded to take the advice of Horace Greeley and "Go West." Coming to Denver in 1861, he found it a town of about twenty-five hundred inhabitants. In the intervening years he has witnessed the development of the place into the beautiful, enterprising city that it is to-day.
In 1863 Mr. France married Miss Rowena Hewitt, who was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., and with whom he had become acquainted during his residence in Elgin, Ill. She was a lady who was beloved by all who came within the sphere of her influence. Death entered the happy home of the family April 19, 1898, and claimed the beloved wife and mother. She left two children to mourn the irreparable loss of an always kind and tenderly affectionate parent. Talbott H., the son, who is living at home, was educated at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and is now interested in mining investments in this state. Elizabeth, the only daughter, is a talented young lady, her father's constant companion, comforter and advisor.
Though his early training was of a Democratic tendency, and his first vote was cast for Millard Fillmore, Mr. France voted for Lincoln in 1860, and has since been loyal to the Republican party. His father was assistant postmaster-general during Jackson's administration. In Elgin, Ill., Mr. France became a member of the Masonic fraternity, being then identified with Elgin Lodge No. 117, A. F. & A. M., and is now affiliated with Union Lodge No. 7, of Denver. He became a Royal Arch Mason in Fox River Chapter of St. Charles, Ill., and is now a member of Denver Chapter No, 2, R. A. M. Though reared in the faith of the Baptist Church, he is now a member of the Unitarian Church here, which he helped to organize.
The old journalistic spirit having revived in the breast of Mr. France of late years he has wielded the pen to good purpose. The following are some of his works which have been published in Denver by Chain, Hardy & Co.: "With Rod and Line in Colorado Waters"; "Mountain trails and Parks of Colorado"; "Mr. Dide; His Vacation in Colorado." The able critic, B. O. Flower, thus speaks of "Over the Old Trail," in the "Arena":
"The author of 'Over the Old Trail' has enriched our literature by a graphic picture of old-time mining life in Colorado, written with striking fidelity to the realities of those stirring, rugged and unique times, but exhibiting such fine artistic feeling that the novel is thoroughly clean, charming, inspiring, wholesome and subtly ennobling. The life described by this gifted author, in the hand of a nature less endowed with true artistic impulses and high ideals, without being one whit truer to the realities, would have been at times repulsive, if not revolting, yet from the first to the last, throughout the lights and shadows, the native humor and the deep tragedies, the genuine pathos and the heart-sickening criminality, which form the web and woof of the story, a fine, pure atmosphere pervades the whole, while the delicate hand of an artist relieves the story, even in its gloomiest pages, from all that could offend any wholesome imagination. The evident purpose of Mr. France has been to write a good story, at once true to life, artistic and so interesting as to hold the attention of all lovers of good literature from cover to cover, and in these respects he has succeeded to an eminent degree. But he has done more than this; without at any time becoming a preacher, or using the framework of fiction to emphasize some great truth, our author has succeeded in imparting a high and ennobling atmosphere to his work, which cannot fail to be helpful to all readers and especially valuable to time young, while he has also, in a delightful, artless manner, interwoven much of the finest new thought of the present day, in a way that must prove suggestive. Thus the story, while at no time rendered tedious by moralizing, contains in bright-spirited conversations, sound observations on the double standard of morals, the rights of women, and many of the great issues now up for adjustment. In the character of Dolly, the heroine, we have a noble pen-picture of the new woman with her fine new ideals and big heart aflame with love, balanced and held in poise by a vigorous brain which does great credit to the discriminating power of the author. The new woman is here
446
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. presented, not as the vicious sensationalists delight to caricature her, but as all true men and women of the new time see and know her. Dolly is a noble creation, a fine representative of the type of oncoming womanhood, which is to do so much toward redeeming the world; she is at once pure-minded, brave, strong of mind and warm of heart, impulsive and as free from prudery as she is a stranger to low ideals; and though for a time she travels a perilous pathway, to a certain degree under the psychological influence of one of that numerous class who seem framed to win the hearts of the noblest, while their own hearts are sadly wanting in moral rectitude, the danger is averted by an ignoble proposal from her lover, which opens her eyes and closes her heart to his entreaties. The character of Dolly is especially interesting as being a true characterization of the new woman whom Tennyson has so aptly described in his prophetic picture of the coming dawn in 'The Princess':
- 'The woman's cause is man's; they rise or sink
- Together, dwarfed or godlike, bond or free.
- Woman is not undeveloped man, but diverse;
- * * * * Like in difference. * * * *
- Yet in the long years liker must they grow;
- The man be more of woman, she of man;
- He gain in sweetness and in moral height,
- Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;
- She mental breadth, nor-fail in childlike care;
- More as the double-natured poet each. * * * *
- Then comes the statelier Eden back to man;
- Then comes the world's great bridals, chaste and calm;
- Then springs the crowning race of humankind.'
ICHARD BROAD, JR., chairman of the board of commissioners of Jefferson County, and chairman of the state silver Republican central committee, is the proprietor of a mercantile establishment on Washington avenue, Golden. He first became connected with the business October 1, 1887, when the co-partnership of Hammond & Broad was formed, but in 1893, upon his election as county commissioner, he sold out his interest to Mr. Hammond and turned his attention to the real-estate business. However, two years later he bought out his former partner and has since continued alone, carrying on a large trade among the people of Golden and surrounding country. In the northern peninsula of Michigan, at Superior mine, the subject of this sketch was born November 13, 1863. His father, Richard Broad, Sr., a native of England, returned to that country with his family in 1866 and remained until 1869, when he again crossed the ocean, settling in Pennsylvania. Soon, however, he brought the family to Colorado, where he engaged in mining in the Gilpin district. In 1870 he settled upon a farm on Ralston Creek, in Jefferson County, where he remained until he retired from active labors. He now lives in Golden and is about sixty-five years of age. His wife, was Mary Bunney, a native of England and the daughter of Robert Bunney, who was a machinist in his native land, but emigrated from there to America and died in Central City, Colo.
There are five children in the family of Richard and Mary Broad, and of these Richard, Jr., is the oldest. He was quite small when his parents returned to England and has little recollection of the visit there. When he was six the family settled in Colorado, in which state he has since made his home. From 1871 to 1885 he spent his time principally in assisting in the cultivation of the farm on Ralston Creek, but in the latter year he came to Golden and secured employment in the State Industrial School, where he remained until he embarked in business in 1887, being assistant superintendent of the school in 1886.
In Arvada, Colo,, Mr. Broad married Sarah Churches, who was born in Holton, Mich. They are the parents of three children, George, Grace and Margery. In political faith Mr. Broad is a stanch friend of protection of home industries and equally stanch in his advocacy of the silver cause. He was a member of the board of aldermen of Golden in 1890-91. In the fall of 1892 he was elected on the Republican ticket as a county commissioner and took the oath of office in January, 1893. He was re-elected in 1895 to serve until January, 1899. In 1895 and again in 1898 he was chosen chairman of the board. On the formation of the state silver Republican central committee, in 1896, he was chosen its chairman, which position he has since held, meantime having had charge of two campaigns. He supported Governor Adams and the rest of his ticket in 1896, and the following year the governor appointed him a member of the board of trustees for the State Normal School at Greeley, for a term of six years. At this writing he is also secretary of the school board of Golden. Fraternally he is past chancellor of Golden Lodge No. 10,
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