Mardos Collection
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 475
youngest of the family; and Ann, also a resident of Denver. At the age of fourteen our subject left school and became an apprentice to a pharmacist, with whom he remained for four years. He then went to Liverpool, where he was manager of a pharmacy and assistant to a physician for eight years. After spending fifteen years in Liverpool, he crossed the ocean in 1885 and settled in Central City, where he has made his home since November of that year. For eighteen months he was an employe of John Best, whom he bought out and has since engaged in the drug business.
OBERT O. OLD, of Georgetown, Clear Creek County, is one of the wealthiest mine owners of the state, and has probably done more in the way of developing the mines in this county than any other person or corporation. He has been a resident of the state for almost forty years, and has been closely identified with its upbuilding. His ancestors were pure Saxons and were in England before the time of the Norman Conquerors. His grandfather, Robert Old, was born in Dorsetshire, England, and was a miller of that place until he entered the British army under Wellington, serving as his aide-dc-camp in the battle of Waterloo. He died in England in the ripeness of age. His son, the father of our subject, Thomas C. Old, was also born in Dorsetshire, and was a glove manufacturer there. He later moved to America, and died at the age of eighty-four years, in Vineland, N. J., where he had been living in retirement.
His wife, Ann Orchard, the mother of our subject, was a native of Wiltshire, England, and a daughter of Joseph Orchard, who was supervisor of internal revenue for the English government. He died in Bath, England, as did also Mrs. Old, in her seventy-eighth year.
Robert O. Old is the eldest of thirteen children and was born in Yeovil, Somerset County, England, October 28, 1829. One brother, Thomas S., lives in Georgetown, and a sister lives in England. The remainder of the family are dead. One brother, John William, served through the latter part of the Civil war in the Third Colorado Cavalry, and died in that state in 1865.
Mr. Old first lived at Buckland, St. Mary, Somerset, and later at Broadway Hill and Bath. He received the greater part of his education at Broadway Hill and this was supplemented by a course at the grammar school at Ilminster. In 1847, when but little past seventeen, he came to America by way of Bristol and Liverpool, landing in New York City after a voyage of four weeks. He at once obtained employment as clerk in a drug store and learned the business of an apothecary. He also began the study of medicine, but after a short trial found it was a profession he did not care for and abandoned it.
After a two years' stay in New York Mr. Old went west on a prospecting tour, with a view to buying land. He spent the winter in Michigan, but went from there to the Green Bay district in Wisconsin, where the country was so bleak and bare that he was discouraged from his purpose. Locating in Chicago, he opened a book store on Clark street and conducted it for two years. He then opened a similar store in Elgin, running both stores for a year, when he closed out his business in Chicago and gave his entire attention to the store in Elgin, which he continued for another three years. In 1857 he took a trip through Nebraska, and was so well pleased with the country that he returned to Elgin, disposed of his business there, and moved to Nebraska, locating in Cass County, on the Weeping Water, near Avoca. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of government land, which he improved and cultivated for two years, but was burned out - house, fences and all - by prairie fire. In the spring of 1860 he crossed the plains, arriving in Denver July of that year. He bought land at Canon City, and became one of the company that laid out that town. He opened a general merchandise store, which he conducted until the guerrillas captured the Southern, or Arkansas, route, and so cut off immigration, resulting in general ruin. He then went one hundred miles into the mountains to the mining camp of Montgomery, which he helped to open, and with a partner built and carried on a store of the same class, the firm being known as Old & Fowler. He also engaged in mining there, but not to any extent. Later he moved to Summit County, where he mined on Gold Run and Stilson Patch one season, but as this was not satisfactory he returned to Denver in the fall of 1864, engaging in wholesale and retail merchandising. He was located on Fifteenth and Wazee streets, where he continued nearly two years. At the expiration of that time
19
476
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. he went to London and organized the British and Colorado Mining Bureau. Their headquarters were in the Bartholomew House, opposite the Bank of England, London, and the bureau was in operation until 1872, when he closed it. In 1868 he located in Georgetown, and shipped ores from that place and Central City to the Johnsons in London, Lewis Brothers in Liverpool, Bath & Son in Swansea, Wales, and to the English bureau, from the Terrible, the Briggs and the Gregory mines. He then organized the British and Colorado Mining Bureau, he being the resident director in Georgetown.
In March, 1870, Mr. Old, in connection with the bureau, sold the Terrible mine, situated at Silverplume, in Griffith district, of which he assumed the management for two years. In 1872 he published the Colorado, U. S. A. devoted to the mineral and other resources of the state, putting out thirty thousand copies. Four years previously he had published a similar work of twenty thousand copies. He now began discovering and developing mines for himself, and bought the Dunderberg and other mines, operating them for a time and then selling them to a New York company, in 1879. He next turned his attention to the development of the Mendota group of mines, and has operated them ever since. In 1868 he began the Victoria tunnel, which is now eighteen hundred feet in length, and through it he does the greater part of his mining for the Mendota, East Mendota, Fulton, Frostburg and Norman mines. These are known as the Mendota group. He is also interested in many other mines, principally in this county, and is the owner of the Vulcan mine in Central City, which is now operated by parties who have leased it from him.
He is now running a tunnel eight by eight feet and two hundred feet in length to strike a group of half a dozen lodes, known as the Great Western group, on Democrat Mountain. He has acquired considerable property and made some money in his mining operations, a large per cent of which he has used in developing his numerous interests, furnishing employment to a large number of men continually.
Mr. Old married Miss Ellen Harvey, a native of Bath, Somerset, England, and they have three children, viz.: Carrie L., a graduate of a ladies' seminary in Bath, England, and now the wife of E. H. Park, an attorney of Denver; John William, a graduate of the Georgetown high school, and the School of Mines at Golden, and now his father's assistant; and George Harvey, also with his father in the mines. The family have a beautiful home at the foot of Republican Mountain and Silver Gulch, which Mr. Old has improved. It is an ideal situation with a lovely grove. Some small fruit is raised on the place.
Mr. Old is president of the Light and Power Company of Georgetown, and is largely interested in real estate in Denver. He is a member of the People's party and has attended a large number of silver and mining conventions. He was made a Mason in Elgin in April, 1855, and after was a member of Denver Lodge No. 5, until he was demitted. For three years he was president of the board of education of the Georgetown public schools. He has been a member of the Association of Colorado Pioneers since the first year of its organization, and is a charter member and now the president of the Clear Creek Pioneer Association.
ON. JOSEPH MANN. The life of Judge Mann has been one of active identification with public affairs. Since coming to Golden in 1868 he has engaged in the practice of his profession, the law, and has also filled various offices of trust and responsibility to which he has been called. In 1869 he was elected probate judge, which position he filled for four years, and afterward he served as a justice of the peace. In the fall of 1879 he was elected to the state legislature and for two years was a member of the lower house. For nine years, during the '80s, he filled the office of county attorney. He has been a member of the city council of Golden and has filled other local offices, always discharging their duties with fidelity.
A native of Maryland, Judge Mann was born in Hancock, Washington County, February 7, 1824, a son of John H, and Elizabeth (Warford) Mann. He was one of seven children, five of whom are living, namely: James, a prominent farmer of Hancock, Md.; Rebecca, widow of Denton Oliver, also of Hancock; Joseph; Abigail, widow of William Reamer, of Baltimore; and Rachel, widow of Rev. Mr. Thrush, of Lewistown, Pa. The father was born in Pennsylvania about 1790 and after attaining manhood he re-
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moved to Maryland, where he opened a hotel and also engaged in the mercantile business. He acquired large landed interests and became a man of much influence in his community. He filled the office of county commissioner and was a stanch Democrat in politics. His death occurred in 1841.
When a boy our subject attended the Hancock schools. Later he was a student in Marshall College at Mercersburg, Pa., where he graduated in 1844. He then went to Bedford, Pa., and took up the study of law under Job Mann, an uncle, who represented his district in congress for a number of terms. In the spring of 1847 he was admitted to the bar under Jerry Black, then district judge and later attorney-general. Afterward he practiced law in Bedford for two years. In the spring of 1849 he removed to Iowa and settled at Anamosa, where for sixteen years he was one of the most influential attorneys of the town. In 1850 he was elected school fund commissioner and the next year was chosen district attorney; in 1852 was elected county judge and continued in that position until 1857, when he was elected to the state senate on the Democratic ticket. He retired from office in 1861 and resumed the practice of law. During the last year of his service he was a member of the special session called after the firing on Fort Sumter.
In 1865 Judge Mann crossed the plains with an ox-team and arrived in Denver in July, after three months of travel. He camped in Denver for three weeks, and then came to Golden. Leaving his team with a friend some five miles south of the town, he went on to the mountains, where he spent three years in mining and prospecting in the Argentine mining district, discovering five lodes in 1863. In the fall of 1866 he returned to Iowa to dispose of his property and from there went on to Boston, where he had an assay made from the five lodes, the result showing that they ran from forty to two hundred ounces in silver. He spent the winter in the east and returned to his mine in the spring. In 1868 he came to Golden and began the practice of law here.
May 3, 1851, judge Mann married Miss Caliphurnia O. Peet, who died on Christmas day of 1867, leaving an only son, Warlord J., now a stock-raiser in Eagle County. November 6, 1872, Judge Mann married Miss Mary E. Young, of Golden He became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Bedford, Pa., October 15, 1846, and, in point of years of connection with the order, he is the oldest Odd Fellow in the state. He has filled all the offices in the grand lodge, and for twenty years has been treasurer of Golden Lodge No. 13, and is treasurer of Jefferson Encampment, also a member of Canton Jefferson, Patriarchs' Militant. In 1854 he was made a Mason and is now identified with Golden Lodge No. 1, A. F. & A. M.
As a citizen Judge Mann has favored measures for the benefit of the people and the advancement of his town and county, giving his influence to all projects of a public-spirited nature, and favoring plans that promote, directly or indirectly, the progress of his city and the welfare of the people.
RED S. ROCKWELL, live-stock agent for the Burlington Railroad, is also engaged in the cattle business as a member of the firm of Ballantine & Rockwell, his partner being the general manager of the Union stockyards of Denver. A resident of Colorado since 1877, he has had varied interests in this state, having been proprietor of a freighting outfit, contractor of a mail route, a pioneer ranchman and a successful cattle dealer. In company with W. C. Needles, F. Walworth Smith and Judge Ballou of Leadville, in 1881 he spent three months in looking up a suitable location for a ranch, and finally found an ideal spot in Plateau Valley, Mesa County, flanked by the Grand Mesa and Battlement Mesa, and lying in the Ute reservation. On the removal of the Utes, in the fall of 1881, he stocked the place he had previously selected, and as other settlers came in they were of mutual assistance in the building of corrals. After six years there he sold the cattle and removed to Denver, his present place of residence.
The Rockwells are an old family of New York. Our subject's father, Silas, was born on a farm owned by his father, Chester, in St. Lawrence County, N, Y., and was reared to agricultural pursuits. His principal occupation was the raising of Blackhawk and Morgan horses, of which breeds he was the pioneer in the state. He was a strong Abolitionist and during the campaign of 1860 spoke in the interests of Lincoln and antislavery in many towns of the state. The excitement of the campaign exhausted his nervous system and brought on a fatal illness, which
478
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. terminated his career before the triumph of the principles he espoused. He was then forty-four years of age. In religious belief he was a Presbyterian. His wife, Cornelia (Booth) Rockwell, was born in Rutland County, Vt., and resides with her only son, in Denver, enjoying excellent health for one of her years. Her only daughter is the wife of John D. Sibley, of San Francisco.
Born near Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1852, the subject of this sketch was eight years old at the time of his father's death. The family soon removed to Lake Geneva, Walworth County, Wis., where he attended school for three years. Later they went to Milan, Rock Island County, Ill., and he went to school there and for a time worked in a wholesale book and stationery store at Davenport, Iowa, also was with the Davenport Democrat for a year. His health became so poor that a change of occupation and climate was rendered necessary. In 1869, with two other boys, he started overland to Nebraska, being so weak at the time that he was seldom able to sit up. When he reached Thayer, he already felt benefited by the pure air and delightful climate. His friends returned, but he remained and build a sod house one hundred miles from Beatrice, the nearest town. Though too young to homestead the place, he improved it and afterward sold the claim. For six months he worked on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad engineering corps, of the first railroad west from Beatrice to Orleans, Neb.
With health regained, he returned to Iowa and entered the employ of the Rock Island Railroad Company at Council Bluffs, his mother and sister joining him there. He was check clerk at the freight depot under S. S. Stevens, general agent, for whom he later became western live-stock agent. A business trip for the railroad company brought him to Colorado in the fall of 1877, and he was so pleased with the outlook here that he secured a leave of absence in the winter and came to Denver. He started a freight outfit between Denver and Leadville, running eight mule teams on the road at the same time, but discontinued the work when the Denver & Rio Grande road built to Malta in 1880. Later he started to Leadville transfer, handling the merchandise between Leadville and Malta. During 1880 he hauled the plant of the Fairwell Mining Company, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds in weight, over the Continental divide to Independence, doing the most of the hauling at night when the roads were frozen and driving the mules tandem a part of the way. At the suggestion of the citizens of Independence and Aspen, he was sent to Washington, D. C., to secure the establishment of a mail route, and he was successful in the undertaking, putting on the first stage line and having the first contract for the mail route between Leadville, Aspen and Ashcroft, via Independence. The winter of 1880-81, when he had the contract, was one of the most severe ever known in the mountains. Frequently he and his partner, George H. Bicknell, carried the mail on horseback, and sometimes, when the roads were impassable, they were obliged to walk. In 1881 he sold the stage line and went into the Ute reservation, where he located a ranch on the removal of the Indians. In the spring of 1882, having organized the Grove Creek Ranch Association, he went to Utah to buy cattle, and put in four thousand head the first year, besides bringing some fine bulls from the east. The family lived there for six years, the ranch being meantime improved with buildings. Through his instrumentality the postoffice of Plateau was established and he was appointed the postmaster. In 1887 he sold the cattle and moved to Denver, in order to educate his son. He still owns the ranch there.
In 1887 Mr. Rockwell was made live-stock agent for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. When the building of the Rio Grande Southern was started, he and Messrs. Rouse and Black formed a construction company and took the contract for seventeen miles of the heaviest work, extending the line from Durango westward. The contract was filled in six months and the company then dissolved. During the building of the Denver, Lakewood & Golden Railroad, Mr. Rockwell was superintendent of construction between Denver and Golden. In September, 1893, he accepted a position as live-stock agent for the Burlington road. He has the reputation of having marketed the best bunch of yearlings ever sold in Denver. His judgment in respect to cattle and horses is unsurpassed, his long experience and keen judgment having greatly aided him in this line. He is a member of the National Stock Growers' Association, and politically he is a Republican. In Galesburg, Ill., he married
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Miss Nellie A. Roberts, daughter of Rev. H. P. Roberts, a Congregational minister and for years professor of theology in Knox College. She was educated in Galesburg, Chicago and Boston, and is one of the most intellectual women and finest pianists in Denver. She is a member of the musical society here, also of the Woman's Club. They have an only son, Robert Blanchard, now a student in the Denver high school.
HARLES A. MARTINE. In the fall of 1895 this worthy citizen of Georgetown was nominated and elected by the Republicans of Clear Creek County to serve as one of its commissioners. He had the honor of being the only man on the ticket who was elected, and is now the efficient chairman of the board. Mr. Martine is a man of superior education and practical attainments and is a valued member of the Colorado Scientific Society and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Fraternally he is a member of the Colorado Commandery of the Loyal Legion.
Many generations ago the Martine family resided in France, but they were Huguenots and during the dreadful persecutions of that fated and devoted band of believers, they fled for protection to the neighboring province of Bavaria, Germany. There they prospered, gained a foothold and from their ranks many a noble man has sprung, giving added lustre to the name by his achievements among the world's great minds. The father of our subject, John George Martine, was born in Bavaria and always dwelt in that section of the German empire. He was a successful manufacturer of china, owning extensive works, and turning out exquisite specimens of ware. He married a Miss Schwartz, who came from one of the old German families of Bavaria.
C. A. Martine was born in Germany October 14, 1839, attended the government schools, and after completing the ordinary curriculum of studies entered the University of Munich. Graduating from that renowned institution of learning in 1857 Mr. Martine decided to seek his fortune in Mexico, but changed his plans, on account of the revolution then in progress in that land. Instead, he came to the United States, arriving in New York City in August, 1857. For a few years he was a member of the faculty of Columbia College, as an instuctor (sic) in chemistry. In 1861 he entered the engineer corps of the United States navy and continued therein until the close of the war, being mustered out in the autumn of 1865. He was senior engineer, with the rank of master, on a vessel in the North Squadron. He twice took part in the bombardment of Fort Fisher. His services on behalf of his adopted country were gallant and worthy of commendation, and justly found honorable mention in the annals of the navy.
In 1866 Mr. Martine came to Colorado, attracted hither by mines and mining operations which have since made it world famous. In May of that year he located in Central City and at the end of a twelvemonth he removed to Georgetown, where he has since made his home. To him is due the honor of having been the first to put into use a practical system of ore sampling and stamping in Colorado. He built a mill, or rather remodeled the Pelican from a gold to a silver mill, and turned out the first silver bars ever made in this state. This was effected by the amalgamation process, but in course of time, the ores being less suitable for this method of treatment, he gave it up and shipped large quantities of ore to the markets of England and Germany, until about 1877. The next three years he shipped the ore to St. Louis, Chicago and Pueblo. For the past eighteen years he has devoted himself exclusively to mining. During a period of nearly thirty years he operated the McClellan mine in this district at intervals, and since 1880 has worked it continuously. The McClellan group of mines is situated in a seventy-acre tract. A tunnel strikes the lode at a depth of about one thousand feet. The ore, both of silver and lead, is very rich, high-grade ore, in large and paying quantities. Mr. Martine is one of the owners of the Kirtley mine, a good producer of high-grade ore.
AMES G. MAXWELL, M. D., a man of intellectual attainments and one who has a thorough knowledge of the intricacies of the medical profession, has acquired a goodly practice in Elizabeth, Elbert County, where he has been located since May 1, 1898. His early success reflects great credit upon his energy and general ability as a physican and surgeon, also his ability to win the confidence of his fellow-citizens. He
480
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. is a son of James and Margaret (Paul) Maxwell, and was born near Toledo, Ontario, Canada, on a farm, August 16, 1868. The Maxwell family is of Scotch ancestry, and as far back as there is any authentic record lived in Scotland. Our subject was reared on a farm and obtained a preliminary education in the district schools. At the age of sixteen years he moved to a farm near Brockville, Canada, where he entered the Brockville Collegiate Institute. Soon after his graduation from the latter institution, with the class of 1892, he moved to Colorado, where he taught in the public schools of Douglas County for one year, showing much ability as an instructor. His leisure moments were spent in diligent study of medicine with his brother, W. J. Maxwell, M. D., now deceased. In 1894 he was matriculated at the State University at Boulder, where he took a medical course and was graduated in 1897. He then obtained a position as house surgeon in St. Luke's Hospital, in Denver, which he held for one year, beginning May 1, 1897. He then located at Elizabeth, where he now has a large and remunerative practice. He has a thorough and profound knowledge of his profession as a result of years of assiduous study, which, combined with the practical experience gained in the hospital at Denver, well qualify him to treat the most complicated of cases with a high degree of success. He is kind and gentle inspirit, cheerful in the companionship of his patients, and strives to make them his friends as well as patients. Religiously he is and always has been a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church. He is a member of Elizabeth Camp No. 304, W. W., of which he is medical examiner.
Dr. William J. Maxwell, a brother of James G. Maxwell, and a successful physician and surgeon of Castle Rock, Douglas County, Colo., was called to his eternal reward at Tucson, Ariz.; October 11, 1897. He was a man of excellent qualities and was held in the highest esteem by a large circle of acquaintances. Dr. Maxwell was born in the township of Kittley, Ontario, and was reared upon the farm, obtaining his early training in the common schools: At the age of sixteen years he attended the Athens high school, Ontario, after which he was engaged in teaching for three years. In the year of 1875 he became a student of medicine at Queen's College, Kingston, from which he was graduated four years later with honors. Immediately thereafter he began practice at Bishop's Mills, and subsequently moved to Toronto, where he had charge of a good patronage for one year, when, in 1890, he went to Colorado, thence to New Mexico and Mexico, where he sought to locate. As the climate in the latter states did not agree with him, he returned to Colorado and located at Castle Rock, Douglas County, where he was successfully engaged in practice until his demise. He was a conscientious Christian and a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which passed suitable resolutions at the time of his death and caused them to be recorded in the records of the church, The Castlewood Camp, W. W., of which he was also a member, adopted resolutions as a token of the esteem in which he was held by that body.
LLIS F. OLDEN, an honored veteran of the Civil war, is a well-known citizen of Blackhawk, Gilpin County. He is the president and one-third owner of the fifty-stamp mill here, and with the company is also concerned in general mining operations. He is an expert millwright and is considered an authority on machinery and everything relating to the construction of stamp mills, etc. From the first he has been one of the prime movers in the establishment, building and operation of the Gilpin stamp mill, and to his ability and executive talent its success- must be attributed.
The history of the Olden family to which the subject of this narrative belongs can be traced back to the early colonial days of the United States. With William Penn, who was of the same faith, they came to these shores from England, and made homes in Pennsylvania. An old mansion near Bound Brook was built by the Oldens and called the Olden Manor-house. The great-grandfather of our subject was a participant in the Revolutionary war. Grandfather Thomas Olden was a commissioned officer in the war of 1812, and subsequently was a revenue collector for the state of New Jersey. He was born in Princeton, N. J., and was a farmer and tanner by occupation. He took his family to Fayette County, Pa., and there spent the rest of his life.
The parents of Ellis F. Olden are Robert Lawrence and Mary A. (Cram) Olden, natives of Princeton, and Morristown, N. J., respectively.
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The latter was a child of Matthias Cram, whose ancestors came to this country from the northern part of Ireland. He was keeper of the New York city prison during the war of 1812, and afterward lived in Fayette County, Pa. Robert L. Olden moved to Illinois in 1839, and up to 1848 lived in Union, Madison and Macoupin Counties. Subsequently he owned and carried on a homestead in Madison County, near Alton. Both parents died in Illinois, the father when in his seventieth year. Eight of their nine children grew to maturity, but one by one they have each been summoned to the silent land, until the sole survivor of the family is the subject of this sketch.
E. F. Olden was born near Uniontown, Pa., March 9, 1838, and received a common-school education. From his boyhood he had access to all kinds of tools and as it came natural to him to use them he was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade in Alton, when he arrived at a suitable age. Having mastered the business, he became a contractor, and was thus employed when the war broke out. One of the first to volunteer in the Union cause, he offered his services April 11, 1861, and was mustered into Company B, Twenty-second Illinois Infantry, for three years, at Belleville, St. Clair County, by General Grant, Sent to Missouri, he took part in the battle of Bellemont and several lesser engagements, and at the battle of Stone River, December 31, 1862, was captured with apart of his regiment. They were taken almost to Mobile, Ala., and were then sent on to Libby Prison, Richmond, and confined there until March, 1863. At last freed on parole and sent to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, he was exchanged and rejoined his regiment at Salem Pike, near Murfreesboro, June 10, 1863. He was mustered out and honorably discharged soon afterwards by special order of the secretary of war. Returning to Alton, he resumed his former work of contracting and building. From 1864 to 1873 he engaged in stair building in St. Louis. In the last-named year he came to Colorado and for some years vibrated between Central City and Blackhawk, while he erected mills and prospected and mined. The year 1887 he spent in Mexico, where, as usual, his services were in demand as a millwright.
In St. Louis, Mo., in 1873, Mr. Olden married Miss Minnie E. Ferguson. She is a native of Ireland but has lived in the United States for years. Four children bless the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Olden, namely: Jessie, Ethel, Ruth and Robert. The family reside in a pleasant home on Tremont street, Denver, and, the children are receiving their educations in that city. Mr. Olden is a stanch Republican and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is an Odd Fellow and belongs to the encampment.
In addition to his connection with the bank, Mr. Jenkins is secretary and general manager of the Gilpin Mill Company, whose mill, completed in 1894, has a capacity of fifty tons a day and is the most modern stamp-mill pattern, with concentrating machines against the battery. Since this was introduced it has saved millions for the county.
The marriage of Mr. Jenkins, in Central City, united him with Miss Elizabeth Davies, who was born in Liverpool, England, and came to Central City with her father, L. P. Davies, a druggist of this place. They and their son, Walter W., reside in the old home which Mr. Jenkins' father built on Third and High streets. Mrs. Jenkins is a member of the First Baptist Church in Denver.
The principles of the Democratic party receive the support of Mr. Jenkins and he has been very prominent in party councils. For one term he represented the first ward in the council of Central City, where he served as chairman of the finance committee. In the fall of 1896 he was elected to represent Gilpin County in the state legislature, being the Democratic nominee, indorsed (sic) by the silver Republicans. He received four hundred and sixty-eight majority, which was large for this county. In the eleventh general assembly he worked on the bank and insurance,
482
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. fish, forestry and game committees, and had the honor of placing in nomination for the United States senate Hon. Henry M. Teller, who received ninety-four out of ninety-eight votes in the joint assembly. The bill for building and loan associations he was active in having passed. He favored the Crowder bill, pertaining to fish, forestry and game. At present he is a member of the county central committee and a member of the school board. Fraternally he is past master of Central Lodge No. 6, A. F. & A. M., and a member of Central Chapter No. 1, R. A. M.
Henry Boyer was the youngest of the family and the only one who makes his home in Colorado. His early years were spent on the farm and his education was received in the public schools until he was eighteen, In the spring of that year, in 1855, he went to Dover, LaFayette County, Mo., where he learned the carpenter's trade and this occupation he followed until the war broke out. In the spring of 1861 he entered Waltman's brigade and, later was in Shelby's, taking part in the battles of Carthage, Springfield, or Wilson's Creek, and Lexington. The brigade was camped at Osage and was ordered back to the river. Here he was taken sick and was confined to his bed, being unable to go south with his company; the Federals took possession of the place. He made arrangements to come to Colorado in the spring of 1862, as soon as he was able to travel. He crossed the plains with oxen, driving over the Platte route, and reaching Denver in August. He came on to the mountains as far as Gilpin, where he rested a day or two and then pushed on to Idaho Springs, reaching there in the fall. He began work for an old gentleman called Bill Russell, with whom he stayed for three months, and then went down the creek to Floyd Hill and worked there until the creek froze up. From there he went to Blackhawk and spent the remainder of the winter of 1862-63, then to Empire, where he stayed until the next fall. Going to Denver, Mr. Boyer was employed in the Rice sash factory, but soon gave up the work to drive a team through to Salt Lake City. Owing to the severe storms that overtook them, they were unable to reach their destination until the following spring. That summer was spent in Highland Gulch and in the fall of 1864 he returned to this state, stopping in Empire and soon after coming to Georgetown, where he assisted in building the water wheel in the mill at the head of Sixth street. He also helped build the mill at Empire, and in 1865 engaged in prospecting and mining near this city. He discovered, one of the first silver mines at East Argentine, and was very successful in his mining venture but soon sold out and for two or three years worked at his trade in Georgetown. He then started a sash and door factory and made all of that class of goods that was used here. In 1870 he started in the furniture business and soon after added undertaking. His is the oldest house of that kind in the county and has been most successful. He has a good building, 31x140 feet, where he carries on his business, the first floor devoted to furniture and the second to undertaking.
In this city Mr. Boyer married Miss Anna Landsdowne, a native of Philadelphia. They have buried three children: Frank I. died at the age of three years; and in 1888, Etta, aged eleven, and Lulu, aged two, were called home. The five remaining children, Ernest, Bertie L., Charles, Edith and Ella, reside in Georgetown. Mr. Boyer is a Democrat and served the city as alderman for three terms until April, 1898, and is filling his third term as coroner of Clear Creek County. He is a member of Lodge No. 12, A, F. & A. M., Royal Arch Chapter No. 4, Commandery No. 4, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
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