Mardos Collection
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after three years there worked for O. B. Shaw in different places in southern Kansas. In 1888 he came to Denver, where he engaged in contracting, but three years later he went to Cripple Creek, remaining there for six years. In January, 1896, he was made building inspector, but in July of 1897 he resigned the position and returned to Denver, to engage in contracting and building here with William Thompson.
Politically Mr. Helm is a Democrat, and in religious belief supports Presbyterian doctrines. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, and is an active Mason, being master of Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 96, A. F. & A. M., at Cripple Creek, member of the Royal Arch Chapter in Sedan, Kan., and the Knights Templar Commandery in Independence. His marriage, in Goodland, Ind., united him with Jessie D. Galbraith, who was born in Geneva, N. Y., and is a daughter of George Gaibraith, a farmer in Indiana. They are the parents of four children, William, George, Maggie and Robert.
GEORGE BENKELMAN. It was during the year 1862 that Mr. Benkelman came to Colorado and located a ranch on Turkey Creek. Like all the early settlers of Colorado, he experienced many hardships in his journey westward. He joined an ox and horse train at Omaha and from there followed the Platte to Fort Morgan, then crossed the plains to Denver. Nor did his hardships cease with the end of his journey. Colorado was then in its infancy. Comforts were few and of improvements there were none, but he had all the dauntless perseverance of his race and remained undismayed by hardships and reverses. Finally, as a result of his judicious efforts, he acquired a fortune. For several years he has been retired from the cattle business, giving his time to the supervision of his moneyed interests and to the enjoyments of the comforts his industry has rendered possible. Since December, 1871, he has occupied a residence on the corner of California and Eighteenth streets, Denver.
The son of Leonard and Daro (Stahl) Benkelman, the subject of this notice was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, where his father was employed as a stone cutter, mason and farmer. The family consisted of ten children, all of whom came to America, and six are now living. Two of the sons enlisted in the Union army from Michigan during the late war. Our subject is the only one in Colorado. He was fifth in order of birth and was reared on the home farm, receiving a public-school education. In 1850, at the age of twenty, he left Antwerp on a sailing vessel and arrived in New York after a voyage of forty-six days. Locating in Lancaster, N. Y., he secured work on a farm, where he remained for four years. In 1854 he went to California via the New York and Nicaragua route to San Francisco, from which place he proceeded to the Yuba River, where he engaged in prospecting and mining for eight years. In the fall of 1861 he returned east by Panama to New York City, then went west to Michigan, and in the spring of 1862 came to Colorado with a view to mining here, but instead turned his attention to the cattle business.
After one year on Turkey Creek Mr. Benkelman located in Blackhawk, Gilpin County, where he engaged in the meat business, and he also had a market in Central City. In 1870 he located in Denver and at the same time started a cattle ranch on the Middle Kiowa, in Elbert County, where he continued in business until 1876. His next location was on the South Fork of the Republican, in Cheyenne County, Kan., where he first leased land, but subsequently bought a large tract situated along the south fork of the Republican River. The most of this he still owns and now rents. On his ranch he had from ten to twelve thousand head of cattle. Shipments were made each fall to Chicago, often sending two trains of thirty-three cars. In 1883 he retired from business. He has been an active member of the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association and is now a director in the Colorado Packing and Provision Company, in which he is financially interested. Politically he votes the Republican ticket.
At Sturgis, Mich., in December, 1861, occurred the marriage of Mr. Benkelman to Miss Christine Romel, who was born near Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Germany. She was a daughter of Michael and Barbara (Frey) Romel, the latter of whom died in Germany; the former, who was a shoemaker by trade, joined his children in Michigan and died there at the age of eighty-four. All of his eight children came to America and six are
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. still living, Mrs. Benkelman being the only one in Colorado. She is the mother of three sons now living: George W., who is traveling salesman for the Colorado Packing and Provision Company of Denver; Charles A., who is engaged in mining in the Cripple Creek district; and Harry J, formerly deputy secretary of state and a resident of Denver. Another son, Frank B., an exceptionally bright and promising boy, died at the age of nearly twelve years. The family are identified with the English Lutheran Church.
WORTH BRASIE, who is a well-known citizen of Denver, formerly made his home in Minnesota and was prominent in the public affairs of Monticello, Wright County. His popularity in his county may be shown by the statement that in 1872, when he was elected clerk of courts, he was the Democratic nominee in a county largely Republican. On beginning his duties as clerk, he removed to the county seat at Buffalo. In 1880 he was again nominated for the office and this time was successful by a majority of nine hundred, while James A. Garfield, candidate for president on the Republican ticket, was elected by a majority of more than one thousand. During his last official years in Wright County, he also had a large fire insurance business in Minneapolis, under the firm name of Brasie & Bartlett. The climate of Minnesota, however, did not prove healthful and hoping to be relieved from asthma by a change of location, he decided to come to Colorado. This he did, notwithstanding the fact that in the same year (1884) he was offered the Democratic nomination, and generally endorsed by the Republicans, for the office of county clerk. Owing to the condition of his health, he felt obliged to decline the nomination.
The Brasie family was founded in America by Alfred Brasie, a native of Alsace, on the Rhine, and after coming to America was a resident of New York state, where he died. His son, Row Brasie, was born on the home farm near the Hudson River and in youth entered the army as a private soldier, but rose in rank to the position of major-sergeant under Gen. W. J. Worth. The regiment of which he was a member was the only regiment of United States troops until the time of the Seminole war. During his eight years' service in the army he participated in the Seminole war and later was stationed at Key West, Fla. His service covered two terms of three and five years respectively. On retiring from the army, he settled on a farm near Peoria, Ill., where he improved and cultivated a large tract of land. In 1880 he removed to Wisconsin and engaged in agricultural pursuits near Ripon; from there, in 1854, he went to Minnesota, pre-empting government land in Wright County and becoming a pioneer of Monticello. While there he served as county treasurer, being elected to the position on the Democratic ticket. His last days were spent in Litchfield, Meeker County, Minn., where he died in April, 1897, at the age of ninety-one. His wife was Huldah Bettis, a native of York state and in childhood orphaned by the death of her parents. She died in 1886, at sixty-seven years, leaving four sons: Henry S., a business man of Monticello; W. Worth; John A., a prominent business man of Monticello; and Charles A., who is engaged in business in Litchfield.
While his father was stationed at Key West, Fla., the subject of this sketch was born there in 1846. He was an infant when the family settled in Peoria County, Ill., and was only eight years old when he went with his parents to Minnesota, so that his young life was practically spent in that state. He received his primary education in Monticello and later graduated from the high school of Minneapolis, after which he was a student in Lombard University until the close of the sophomore year. In 1866 he graduated from Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. On completing his studies he embarked in mercantile pursuits in Monticello, and continued in business until his election as clerk of the district court in 1872. As a public official his record was one reflecting the highest credit upon himself. Accurate in judgment, conscientious in even the smallest detail of work, and unwavering in integrity, he won the confidence of his electors, and the regard of all with whom he had dealings. His first two years in Colorado were spent at Canon City, and on regaining his health he came to Denver in 1886, and has since engaged in the buying and improving of property. One of his first purchases was on Sixteenth, between Glenarm and Welton, where he tore down an old homestead occupying the site and erected a three-story building known as the Brasie block. He also built a fine row of houses
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 627
on Fourteenth street, and owns a three-story brick block on Wazee, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth streets, an excellent wholesale business location.
While in Monticello Mr. Brasie was made a Mason, and afterward he held the office of master of the lodge at Buffalo; also was connected with Zion Commandery No. 2, K. T., at Minneapolis. He has always been stanch in his allegiance to the Democratic party, whose principles, carried into practical business, he believes will conserve the best interests of state and nation. He was married in Minneapolis to Miss Susie Weeks, who was born in Maine and accompanied her father, John Weeks, to Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Brasie have an only son, N. Eugene, who is a member of the class of 1900, Colorado State University, at Boulder.
UGUST G. BURKE, who owns and occupies a farm of one hundred and thirty acres near Boulder, was born in Sweden December 14, 1835, and is a son of August G. and Anna (Stiener) Burke. He was the only son among three children, his sisters being Anna, wife of S. Swanson, a farmer of Chautauqua County, N. Y., and Sadie, who married Perry Anderson, a farmer, also of Chautauqua County. The father, who was born in Sweden in 1810, learned the trade of a miller under his father's instructions. For nearly thirty years the latter was in the employ of the government as forester, a most responsible position, that gave him charge of all the government timber.
Purchasing a grist mill, August O. Burke, Sr., carried on a milling business in his native land until 1854. He then came to America and settled in Brockton, Chautauqua County, N. Y.. where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of railroad land and began the clearing and cultivation of the property. He continued to reside on that place until his death. In addition to the management of his estate, he speculated in buying wheat and other grains, which he stored in elevators until selling them. He was an excellent business man and became well-to-do.
When a boy the subject of this sketch learned the trade of a baker and confectioner. In 1835 he came to America, sailing from Guttenberg to Boston and landing in the latter city on the 15th of November, after a stormy voyage of five weeks on the sailing vessel "Richmond." One year was spent in Dunkirk, N. Y., where he worked for his father on the home farm and in some railroad work for which his father held the contract. In 1856 he went to St. Paul, in what was then the territory of Minnesota, and for a year worked in a bakery, after which for seven months he was pastry cook for the Fuller House, then the leading hotel of St. Paul.
Afterward Mr. Burke hired as a cook for two lieutenants and the captain of a company, on an expedition to make a treaty with the Sioux Indians. This trip took him through the two Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and Arkansas, and took five months. On his return to Minnesota, he went from there to Chicago, with the intention of returning to his old home in Sweden. In Chicago he met a man who had been his schoolmate in Sweden and who dissuaded him from returning home, by telling him of the hard times in the old country. He insisted upon our subject going to Pike's Peak with him, and while Mr. Burke had just returned from the mountains, he consented to return with his friend. The two went by steam car to St. Joseph, Mo., and there bought a team of horses, with which they crossed the plains, landing in Denver after a three weeks' trip. On reaching this city, Mr. Burke had $40 in his pocket. The night after his arrival, in 1859, he played the violin, while a colored man played the banjo, for a dance given in a butcher shop on Larimer and Fifteenth streets; the dancers were men, as there were no ladies in Denver at the time. Though the price of the tickets was $5, the attendance was large.
A German who was conducting a boarding house and bakery in West Denver gave Mr. Burke employment for six months at $5 per day. In the fall of 1859 he opened a bakery on Larimer street. The brick of which he built his oven were the first brick taken from the first kiln ever burned in Colorado, and the brick for the oven alone cost him more than $300. After carrying on a prosperous business, in 1863 he sold the store for more than $7,000, but retained some fifteen lots on Fifteenth and Sixteenth and Larimer streets. Going to Central City, he invested a part of his money with a Boston company in a mine, but lost his entire investment. He then built a house and opened a bakery, which after six months he sold and built
628
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. in Nevada, where he again did a prosperous bakery business. In the spring of 1865 he came to Boulder and took up one hundred and sixty acres three miles north of Boulder. At the same time he took out his naturalization papers. In farming he was at first unfortunate, losing his first two crops on account of the grasshopper plague. With fifty cents in his pocket and his violin under his arm, he walked to Julesburg, where he secured employment at $5 per day for four months. He then secured employment in Cheyenne for eight months and finally returned to his farm and resumed agricultural pursuits. In 1880 he purchased the farm which he had rented since i877 and upon winch he has since resided.
September 14, 1860, Mr. Burke married Miss Mary J. Harding. Six children were born of their union. Carl W. the oldest, is a farmer at Lamar, Colo. Oscar A. carries on a farm in Boulder County, as does also the third son, Frank P. Kate L. is the wife of James Gallagher, a farmer of Boulder County. Reuben Y. is a teacher in the Boulder public schools; Maud is the wife of James Liverton, of Boulder. The second marriage of Mr. Burke was solemnized December 24, 1883, and united him with Mrs. Jennie Dorsy, of Boulder.
HARLES L. BURPEE. During the years of his residence in Denver, Mr. Burpee has built up a reputation for executive ability and strength of character. He is one of the prominent business men of the city, having his office at No. 1530 Curtis street, and is extensively engaged in the real-estate and loan business. Formerly, and for some years, he was president of the First National Bank of Urbana, Ill., but decided to resign that position and remove to Colorado, in the hope that the change of climate might benefit his son, who was ill.
Mr. Burpee's ancestors on the Bailey and Burpee sides, were soldiers in the war of the Revolution. He was born in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1843, and is a son of Elijah and Myra (Bailey) Burpee. When he was a child of ten years the family removed to Rockford, Ill., and there he was a pupil in the public schools. When he was twenty years of age, in September, 1863, he enlisted as a member of Company F, Seventy-fourth Illinois Infantry, and served for a period of twelve months, but on account of poor health received an honorable discharge before the war ended. Among the battles in which he participated were those of Perryville, Ky., Stone River and Murfreesboro, Tenn., and it was the exposure at Stone River that brought on his sickness. For sixty days before his discharge he was in the hospital at Murfreesboro.
On retiring from the army, Mr. Burpee went to Leavenworth, Kan., where for a year he was employed as clerk in a wholesale boot and shoe house. In 1867 he went to Chicago, and afterward, until 1873, traveled for a wholesale boot and shoe house of that city. Meantime he had married, being, in 1870, united with Miss Myra E. Cady, of Champaign, Ill. Two sons were born of their union, both born in Champaign, Ill., Fayette C. and Charles M., the latter a graduate of Denver high school, No. 1, in 1897.
In 1873 Mr. Burpee established the First National Bank of Urbana, Ill., of which he was chosen the first president, and continued at the head of the institution until 1888. Under his management the bank was very successful and gained a wide reputation for financial stability. When he severed his relations with the institution of which he had been the head for fifteen years, the board of directors adopted the following resolutions:
"WHEREAS, Charles L. Burpee, the first president of this bank, is about to retire from said office, from the board and as a stockholder of this bank; therefore be it
"Resolved, by the board of directors, that in the loss of the services, high ability and sterling integrity of its first president, to whom the financial success of the bank is in a large measure due, we suffer a loss which we deeply feel, and one which will be difficult to replace.
"Resolved, that in the more noble realm of true, manly friendship, we lose from our midst one whom we shall ever cherish in fond recollection, and to whom we give our assurance that in whatever walks of life he may hereafter wander, our highest esteem, personal regard and good wishes will ever attend him."
From early youth Mr. Burpee has been a stanch advocate of Republican principles. In 1893 he was elected a member of the board of supervisors of Denver, of which he was made president in 1895; this board is the upper legislative house of the city of Denver and its president is acting exec-
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