Mardos Collection
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sided here for twenty-four years. He married Miss Belle Montgomery, and they had four daughters, the eldest of whom died in infancy. Two of the daughters are now residents of Colorado. The eldest of these, Mrs. Lillian French, went to Forestville, Chautauqua County, N. Y., at the age of sixteen and there fitted herself for a teacher and taught several terms, when a young man who had been in the habit of carrying her dinner basket for her thought it would be better, for their mutual welfare, if they were united. Accordingly he went to New York for her and she returned with him to the beautiful Rocky Mountain region; they now reside at Hayden, Routt County, Colo. Maud, a younger sister of Mrs. French, married John Griswold, of Forestville, N. Y.; and the youngest sister, Louie, lives in Boulder County, Colo.
The fifth daughter of Daniel Mathewson was Sally A., who married Gordon Putnam, who is engaged in the fruit raising business at Brocton, Chautauqua, N. Y. Elijah Mathewson, a farmer, lives near Fredonia, N. Y.; Ransom A. Mathewson, the youngest of the sons, is a teacher, surveyor and experienced cheesemaker, at Sinclairville, N. Y.; he is married and has one son. Celestia, the sixth daughter and youngest child of Daniel Mathewson and the namesake of his wife, died in infancy.
ATRICK HENRY BALFE came to Denver in 1879 and eight years later embarked in the plumbing business, opening a shop at No. 515 Sixteenth street, the present site of the Kittredge building. While carrying on business there he erected three stores at Nos. 1540-48 Stout street, and in 1890 removed his headquarters to No. 1540, where he has his office, show room and shop. He has been given contracts for plumbing, gas-fitting and sewerage in many of the most substantial public buildings and private homes of the city, among them being the residences of C. B. Kountze, D. Sheedy, William B. Berger, Dr. Blickensderfer, John F. Campion, C. S. Morey, Dr. F. J. Bancroft, J. V. Dexter, T. S. Hayden, D. G. Miller; A. B. Daniels, William H. James and Edward Raymond; Colorado National Batik, Denver Dry Goods Company building, Steele block and Hughes block.
Reference to the Balfe family history is made in the sketch of L. H. Balfe, presented on another page. Patrick Henry was the oldest son and the fourth child in a family of eleven children. He was born in Courtown Harbor, County Wexford, Ireland, September 21, 1853. When a lad he went to sea in the coasting and fishing trade, and at the age of fifteen, in 1868, removed to Dublin, where he spent two years. In 1872 he came to America via Dublin to New York on the steamer "Egypt," and at once began an apprenticeship to the plumber's trade with Dougherty & Cain, whose shop was located on the present site of the Spring Garden Bank, Philadelphia. After two and one-half years he started in business for himself, opening a shop at Eighteenth and Oxford streets, Philadelphia, and meeting with such success that he later opened another shop at Junipar and Arch street.
In 1879, having decided to go to Australia, Mr. Balfe traveled via railroad across the United States, and, viewing the country as he traveled, he was so pleased with the prospects that he decided to stop at Denver and investigate the opportunities here. This he did, the result being that he decided to locate here. He at once secured employment, working for a time on the Windsor Hotel, later as foreman for what is now the firm of Johnson & Davis, and in 1880 taking charge of the work at Idaho Springs. On his return to Denver he entered the employ of Holme & White, for whom afterward he became foreman, in full charge of the business, at a salary of $5 per day. His next venture was for himself, and the results have been such as to prove his capability as a business man as well as his efficiency in his trade. Besides the management of his business he is interested in mining and real estate, and has built five stores and five houses. For some three years he had a wholesale plumbing supply house in Ogden, Utah, during the days of the "boom" there, and he still owns real estate in that city. He has had contracts in Colorado Springs, Manitou, Palmer Lake and Twin Lakes, and in every place his work has given satisfaction.
In Denver Mr. Balfe married Miss Elizabeth F. Langan, who was born in St. Louis. They are the parents of five children now living: Thomas F., Edward J., Patrick Henry, Jr., Nora L. and Elizabeth M. In national politics Mr. Balfe is a silver Republican. He has been active in his party, which he has represented as
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. delegate in county, city and state conventions and on local committees. Not only has he traveled all over this country, but he has also made three trips to Europe. In the fall of 1884 he crossed the ocean, spending five months abroad; again in 1891 and 1896 he visited Europe. He is interested in the Capitol Building and Loan Association of Denver. Fond of athletic sports, he is an active member of the Denver Wheel Club and was the first to compete against the Denver Athletic Club, in which competition he won medals. He is connected with the Knights of St. John, the Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. During 1881-82 he was master workman of the Knights of Labor for Colorado, and at this writing he is a member of the executive committee of the Master Plumbers' Association. Since becoming a contractor he has always employed union men and paid the regular scale of wages, his honest and honorable manner of treating his employes having won for him their regard and confidence, while at the same time the skill and dispatch with which he has filled his contracts have made him popular among the people with whom he has done business. He has recently returned (1898) from an extended trip through Old Mexico and the south, and moved to his new home which he purchased at No. 2337 Grant avenue.
EORGE W. DATZEL, foreman of the South Broadway machine and blacksmith shops of the Denver Consolidated Tramway Company, was born in Warren, Ohio, August 16, 1862, and is the son of Peter and Pauline (Bear) Datzel, natives of Germany. His father, who came to America in early manhood, followed the trade of a carriage blacksmith for a time, and later established a carriage and wagon shop in Warren, Ohio, continuing the management of the same until his death. His widow still makes her home in Warren. Of their ten children six are living, George being next to the youngest of the family and the only one in Colorado.
The education of our subject was limited to a few years' attendance upon the public schools of Warren. In 1878 he went to Cleveland, where he was apprenticed as a paper-hanger, but the occupation was not congenial, and as soon as an opportunity came he made a change. For three years he was an apprentice in the Vulcan Iron Works, and at the expiration of his time he went to Willoughby, where he worked as a machinist for three months. His next location was in Wellsville, Ohio, where he was employed in the Cleveland and Pittsburg shops as a machinist for five years.
Coming to Colorado in April, 1887, Mr. Datzel was employed as a machinist in the Colorado Iron Works, but after nine months resigned his position and entered the printing business with a brother-in-law, T. A. Macklind, under the firm name of Macklind & Datzel. They opened a job office in the Titus block on South Eleventh street, but after five months the business, though profitable, not proving congenial, the partnership was dissolved and he resumed work as a machinist. In 1889 he accepted a position as machinist in the tramway cable shop on Colfax avenue and Broadway, and two years later, on the completion of the South Broadway shop, he was transferred to it. For a time he was night foreman, but since August of 1894 he has been general foreman of the machine and blacksmith shops. In addition to his daily duties he has made a number of inventions, among them a wrecking truck for the transportation of cars with broken axles, a most useful contrivance, only six inches high, which does away with the necessity of removing the car from the track, Mr. Datzel was married August 17, 1886, to Miss Florence E. Macklind. This union was blessed with one child, Florence Cecil. Fraternally Mr. Datzel is connected with Colorado Lodge No. 1, K. of P., and Silver State Camp No. 19, Woodmen of the World.
ELSON K. SMITH, who died December 26, 1894, at his home in Boulder, was one of the honored pioneers of Colorado, and for eighteen years was a resident of the county-seat of Boulder County. He was very active and aggressive in the organization of the county and state and was thoroughly respected and admired by his associates and acquaintances. From the time that the Republican party was formed until his death he was an ardent and fearless defender of its principles. For two terms he served as county commissioner of Gilpin County, and in 1875 was mayor of Blackhawk, resigning the following year on account of his removal to
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Boulder. From 1866 to 1869 he was assessor at Blackhawk and for years he was a director in the National State Bank of Boulder.
The birth of N. K. Smith occurred September 16, 1810, in Genesee County, N. Y., he being the sixth in a family of eleven children born to Amos Smith and wife, who before their marriage was Sarah Purdy. Both were natives of New York state and of old eastern families. N. K. Smith lived in the Genesee Valley until he was sixteen years of age, when he went to Sandusky, Ohio, and there his father died. About 1833 Nelson K. Smith settled in Cortland County, N. Y., and during his residence in that region he was married to the lady who faithfully shared his joys and sorrows until death separated them. In 1835 they went to La Porte County, Ind., and thence to Waukesha County, Wis., in 1837. Mr. Smith took up some government land near Vernon and improved the property. For the first six weeks of their stay in that district, Mrs. Smith was the only white woman in the county, as far as was known. In 1850 our subject started overland for California, with ox-teams, and at the end of three years returned, by the Nicaragua route. He had been occupied in mining and desired to go back to the Pacific coast, provided his family could accompany him.
In 1854 Mr. Smith and his dear ones set out on their long journey across the plains, but, owing to the Indian troubles and the Mormon scare, the little party abandoned their first plans and took up their residence in Carroll County, Iowa, for a few months. Finding that there was little hope of their being able to safely cross the great western plains and mountains for years to come they returned to Baraboo, Wis., where Mr. Smith carried on a store up to 1860. Then, once more, the family started for the west, this time with the intention of stopping in Colorado, and the plan was carried out. In Blackhawk, Mr. Smith engaged in mining for a short time and kept a tavern at Smith's Hill, between Golden and Blackhawk. He was connected with the building of the toll road along Clear Creek to Blackhawk, in 1863, in company with his brother and W. A. H. Loveland. In 1870 he constructed the water-supply system of Blackhawk, the pipes being of hollowed logs and the water being brought from Dory Hill. In his pioneer days here he was also engaged in the manufacture of lumber and in various other enterprises. In 1876 he moved into his comfortable residence at the corner of Thirteenth and Hill streets, Boulder, he having just completed the building of the house. He was a devoted member of the Baptist Church, and nobly followed the teachings of the Golden Rule in all his intercourse with his fellowmen.
In 1832 Nelson K. Smith married Miss Helen M. Campbell, a native of Cortland County, N. Y., and a daughter of Benjamin S. and Sarah (Kies) Campbell. The father was born in New Hampshire and in the early '30s moved to Cortland County, N. Y., where he engaged in farming and served as sheriff. He lived to the ripe age of seventy-two years, and his wife also departed this life at that age. Both she and her father, John Kies, were from Connecticut. Time maternal grandfather of B. S. Campbell, Hugh Argyle, was born in Scotland, and was related to the fatuous Argyle family there. Mrs. Smith, who is now in her eighty-sixth year, is the only survivor of a family that originally numbered eleven children.
The marriage of N. K. Smith and wife was blessed by the birth of seven children, namely: S. Emma, widow of Captain Tyler (see his biography printed upon another page of this work); Lucian K., a resident of Aspen, Colo.; Francelia, Mrs. J. P. Maxwell, of Boulder; Medora, wife of Maj. D. D. Leach, an attorney of Oklahoma; Rodolphus, whose home is in Weld County, Colo.; Jennie, widow of Dr. G. A. Clark; and Nina, Mrs. E. J. Temple, of Boulder. Mrs. Clark also dwells in this city. Her husband, after his graduation from Rush Medical College, of Chicago, practiced in Madison and Indianapolis and in 1874 came to Colorado. For a year he was occupied in professional work in Blackhawk, and from 1875 until his death, in 1880, lived in Boulder.
For a lady who is eighty-five years of age, Mrs. Helen Smith is remarkably well preserved; and she knits beautiful lace without the aid of glasses. At the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, some of her knitted lace was placed on exhibition in the Colorado exhibit. A portion of this, an infant's dress, and ten yards of three-inch wide lace, was so beautiful and truly artistic and like a delicate cobweb, that the authorities, of their own accord, removed the exhibit to the
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Manufactures Building, to compete with the lace of the world. The result was, that the premium medal and diploma was awarded to Mrs. Smith. She uses very fine thread in much of her work, some of it ranging from No. 130 to 140 and 150. She estimates that she has knitted over six hundred yards of lace, altogether. Since she was sixteen years old she has been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ILLIAM H. GARDNER, who owns and occupies one of the handsome suburban homes of Boulder, was born in Buffalo, N. Y., October 24, 1849, a son of Thomas and Mary E. (McNaughton) Gardner. He was one of eight children, five of whom are living, namely: William H.; John, a farmer living in Dent County, Mo.; Lucy, wife of Otto Kindred, also of Dent County, Mo.; Charles, who is engaged in mining in Old Mexico; and Samuel, a roll turner in the Illinois Steel Company's works at South Chicago, Ill.
A native of London, England, Thomas Gardner was born in 1820. His parents dying When he was a child, he was taken into the home of his grandparents. At twelve years of age he shipped on board a vessel as cabin boy, and for twenty years followed the sea. During this time he was a member of two whaling expeditions. He applied himself to his calling, and by successive promotions was made first mate. About 1846 he settled in Buffalo, N. Y., where he followed carpentering. In 1865 he migrated to Springfield, Ill., and followed the carpenter's trade some three years. Thence he went to Decatur, where he was employed as patternmaker in a rolling mill. He spent a short time in Kansas City, and then removed to Chicago, in both of which places he was employed at pattern making. He died in South Chicago, March 1, 1898. While his education was limited, he was a great reader and few men had a broader fund of information at their command than did he. In public affairs he took the interest of a progressive and patriotic citizen.
In his fifteenth year, in February, 1864, the subject of this sketch left home and enlisted in an independent company at Buffalo, N. Y., that was attached to the Twenty-seventh New York Light Artillery. Two weeks later he was sent to Washington, D. C., where the company remained nearly five weeks. From there he was sent to the front, and after a few days took part in the battles of the Wilderness. His next engagement was at Spottsylvania Court House, after which there were many skirmishes and minor engagements; then came the great battle of Cold Harbor and the subsequent forced march to Petersburgh, where he took part in an important engagement June 17, 1864. Later he participated in the Fort Fisher battle, the Weldon Railroad engagement and many skirmishes. His last important battle was at Petersburg, April 2, 1865, where he received a flesh wound in the right arm. Orders were received to dispatch the regiment to Alexandria, and from there he went to Washington to take part in the grand review. He was mustered out of the service at Buffalo in July, 1865.
After his discharge Mr. Gardner went to Springfield, Ill., and there remained until the spring of 1866, when he started across the plains for Denver. An uncle who had charge of the Wells Fargo & Company's interests at Denver had written him to come to Colorado and take up land near Denver. On reaching Leavenworth he found the government was forming a train for New Mexico, and he joined the expedition as a driver, going through to Fort Union and Albuquerque, and from there to Fort Bliss, Tex., where he remained about one year, driving an ambulance in the government service. From there he went to Forts Riley, Harker and Hayes. In the winter of 1869 he drove a team, hauling supplies from Fort Dodge to Camp Supply, and during the entire winter did not sleep indoors a single night.
After a short visit to his parents in Decatur, Ill., in the spring of 1870, Mr. Gardner again started for Colorado. The fall of the year found him in Greeley, and then he went to work at logging on the Cache La Poudre River, sixty miles west of Fort Collins. In the spring he secured employment in a sawmill. After some eighteen months he embarked with his father-in-law in the business of tanning buffalo hides, and continued in that occupation for three years, when he sold his interest. Going to Sunshine, Colo., he engaged in mining and at the same time accumulated a number of cattle. In 1886 he drove his cattle to Badger, Wyo., where he took up a cattle
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