Mardos Collection
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 761
She is the daughter of John T. Smith, a pioneer freighter on the plains, and now a resident near Holton, Kan. The three children of Mr. Dunn are: John, Charles J., Jr., and Kate. While not radical in politics, his sympathies are with the principles of the Democratic party. He is a charter member of the Carpenters and Builders' Association and is now the secretary of the organization. He is identified with the Knights of St. John, a flourishing beneficiary association of the United States. He is also a member of the Woodmen of the World, Denver, Camp No. 1.
REDERICK W. KOHLER, who for two terms was one of the commissioners of Boulder County, is a prominent and influential citizen of Boulder City. He stands high in business, fraternal and political circles and has a host of sincere friends throughout this section of the state. He is public-spirited, and a great friend to education, as, for twenty years, more or less, was made manifest, for during that period he served on the school board. He has reached the highest degree in Masonry, being a member of the commandery and the Mystic Shrine of Denver. He is identified with Columbia Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M., of Boulder. He is a stanch Democrat, and was elected on that ticket to the office of county commissioner in 1885. After serving three years another person took his place, and three years later, he, in turn, stepped down to make way for his predecessor, who had been again elected to the position.
A native of Saxony, Germany, Mr. Kohler of this sketch was born October 24, 1832. He is one of the eight children of Frederick and Christina Kohler, and with his sister, Joanna, Mrs. Edward Bader, alone survives at this writing. His father was a man of considerable prominence in Germany and for many years filled a public office, similar to that of justice of the peace in the United States, only more responsible. He died at a good old age on the old homestead, where he had been reared and had followed agricultural pursuits in mature life.
The boyhood of our subject passed quietly on the family estate, and in 1849, when in his eighteenth year, he came to the United States to seek his fortune; landing in New York City he proceeded direct to Pennsylvania, where for seven years he worked for one man in Tioga County, as a farm hand. At first he was not able to speak any English, and his year's wages amounted to but $100. Year by year, however, his earnings increased, until he was paid $14 a month, then considered very good remuneration. The young man was industrious and economical, and at the end of the seven years he had saved $600. He determined to go to California and enter the lists with the gold-miners. Accordingly, in 1856, he crossed the plains and began prospecting in the mountains of Calaveras County, Cal. He met with success and deposited his money until he had $1,800 in the Adams Express Bank, which, on account of the name, he naturally supposed was connected with the old, reliable Adams Express Company. One morning, however, he found that the sign of the bank had been taken down and the bank closed, while the proprietors had disappeared with his hard-earned cash. Mr. Kohler did not give way to despondency, as many a man would have done, but bravely returned to the mines and worked with redoubled energy. In 1862 he started on his way to Colorado with a goodly sum of money, the result of his long and thrifty labors.
Settling in Boulder County, Mr. Kohler bought a quarter-section of land from three brothers, paying $800 for the property. The land was situated but a short distance from Boulder, and when the government survey was made it turned out that there had been misrepresentation, and in consequence of this and legal technicalities, Mr. Kohler lost the farm. He was more successful the next time, as he bought a quit-claim deed, on which he afterward filed as a homestead one hundred and sixty acres. Here he made many improvements, and has since dwelt in peace and prosperity. From time to time he bought additional land, until he now owns between seven and eight hundred acres. The land is very fertile and abundant harvests reward the owner's toil. In the latter part of the '60s Mr. Kohler invested somewhat extensively in a mining venture known as the Conning Tunnel, in Gold Hill. After four years of heavy expense the project was abandoned. When the Boulder National Bank was established our subject became a stockholder and was made a director.
June 4, 1868, Mr. Kohler and Rosetta Viele,
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. of Boulder, were married. Of their three children two survive: Frederick W., Jr., employed in the Boulder National Bank; and Charles B., an able agriculturist and business man, now fitting himself to take charge of his father's estates, whenever desired.
NDREW J. CAMPION, secretary and general manager of the Sigel-Barnes Live Stock Commission Company, of Denver, was born in Rutland, near Springfield, Mass., July 4, 1860, being the son of James and Margaret Campion. When he was six years of age he was taken by his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his primary education was obtained in the public schools. After three years in that city the family removed farther west, locating in Lafayette, Ind., where he had such educational advantages as the district schools afforded. In 1882 he came to Colorado and for eight months was in the employ of Herman & Hirsch, but on the failure of that firm he returned east as far as Chicago. However, in a very short time he came back to Colorado, and in the spring of 1883 he secured a position with Henry Grimm, of Denver. Later he was a commercial traveler, representing Joseph Metzler, and in 1884 became a bookkeeper for H. H. Mills at the stockyards, which position he held for three years.
On the organization of the Burkhardt Packing Company, Mr. Campion and Mr. Mills were the chief stockholders in the new concern, but after three years the partnership was dissolved, and the name of the firm was changed to the Colorado Packing Company. Some time afterward the B. & M. Packing Company was organized, and a year later Mr. Burkhardt sold his interest in the company. At this writing Mr. Campion is secretary and manager of the Sigel-Barnes Live Stock Commission Company, at the Union Stockyards. He is an experienced stockman and in matters relating to cattle interests his judgment never errs. He is a member of the chamber of commerce and is identified with other local interests of the city where he resides. In June, 1890, he married Emily Kaub, daughter of Prank H. Kaub, one of the oldest engineers of Denver, and they have a pleasant home at No. 2343 Stout street. One daughter blessed this union, Patricia Marie Campion.
APT. ALONZO COAN, a worthy citizen of Boulder, gained his title in the Civil war, in which his services were distinguished for unusual bravery and gallantry. But a youth at the time of his enlistment in the summer of 1861, he rose step by step from the ranks through all the grades of promotion until he was commissioned captain of his company. Five years of his early manhood was the tribute of patriotism which he paid to his beloved country-five years of active campaigning, of the hardships and privations which are the common lot of the soldier in the field, and since the war he has stood high in the Grand Army of the Republic. He has been commander of Nathaniel Lyon Post No. 5; has been an aide on the department staff and has occupied a similar position on the national commander's staff. In 1896 and 1897 he was assistant adjutant-general of the department of the Colorado and Wyoming, having the rank of colonel.
The captain's parents were Abraham and Mary (Abbott) Coan, natives of Penobscot County, Me., and New Hampshire, respectively. The former was a son of Capt. Elisha Coan, a sea-faring man, who was for years engaged in trading with East Indian ports. He was a native of Cape Cod, Mass., and at an early day located on Castine Bay, at the month of the Penobscot River. While the war of 1812 was in progress he was in the merchant marine service, and at one time his ship was detained at Havre, France, owing to the French embargo then prevailing. The Coans were of English descent, members of the family having settled at Cape Cod several generations prior to the time of Capt. Elisha Coan. Abraham Coan owned and cultivated a farm near Exeter, Penobscot County, Me. This place he cleared from the heavy forests of beach and maple trees that covered it, and passed his last years in the comfortable farm house which he had built upon the homestead. He lived to be sixty years of age. His wife, who attained the allotted age of mankind according to the Psalmist, "three score and ten," was the daughter of John Abbott, a New Hampshire farmer. The seven children of Abraham and Mary Coan were: Elisha, who died on the old farm; Col. W. B., who died in Massachusetts; Julia, Mrs. James R. Simpson, of Lawrence, Mass.; Samuel, who died at the beginning of the war, in Maine; Gilman R.,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 763
whose death occurred in Massachusetts; Albert, who died in Lawrence, Mass.; and Alonzo. Col. William B. enlisted in the Seventh New York Regiment, of which he was a sergeant, and later in the war raised a company for the Forty-eighth New York, being commissioned a colonel for meritorious services. Albert served for three years as a non-commissioned officer in the Twelfth Maine.
Capt. Alonzo Coan was born in Exeter, Me., June 6, 1842. After he had graduated from Exeter Academy he engaged in teaching, and when Fort Sumter was fired upon, in April, 1861, he at once offered his services to the Union. He was refused at that time, but in the following August was mustered into Company H, Fifteenth Maine Infantry, at Augusta. He was sent to Ship Island and joined Butler in his expedition against New Orleans. Subsequently he served under General Banks in the siege of Port Hudson, and went on the Texas expedition in 1863, capturing Brownville on the Rio Grande and at Corpus Christi and Matagorda. After that the Red River campaign followed and the battles of Sabine Cross Roads and Pleasant Hill. Captain Coan helped construct the dam at Alexandria on the Red River, in order to enable the gunboats to go down the stream. After the fight at Marksville he was ordered to Virginia, and was sent by boat to Washington, where he arrived in July, 1864, at the time of Early's raid toward that city. He was sent to follow up Early under the command of General Wright, until Wright was relieved by Sheridan. In the spring of 1864 he and his regiment veteranized in Texas, and afterwards, when in Virginia, they were all granted a thirty-days' furlough and returned to Maine. After the battle of Winchester they reassembled and went with Sheridan up and down the Shenandoah Valley in that campaign. At the close of the war Captain Coan participated in the grand review at Washington, and was then sent to Georgia and South Carolina. He acted in the capacity of quartermaster-sergeant, sergeant-major, second lieutenant of Company H, first lieutenant of Company K, and finally captain of Company H, of the Fifteenth Maine Infantry. In South Carolina he was provost-marshal of the sub-district of Georgetown, and later was made the judge of the provost-court of the same locality. Afterwards he was an aide on the staff of Major-General Ames, with the rank of captain, until his superior left the service, when he returned to his own company. In August, 1866, Captain Coan was honorably discharged from the service.
For a year or more the captain was engaged in business in his native state, but in 1867 he came west to Missouri. Settling in Maysville, DeKalb County, he embarked in the manufacture and sale of lumber, and also dealt in real estate until the Centennial year. In April he came to Boulder, since which he has been extensively engaged in mining enterprises of this state, Arizona and New Mexico. The Keystone mine, near Magnolia, is operated by him. The Livingstone, near Sugar Loaf, consists of seven claims, owned by the Livingstone Gold Mining Company, of which he is the vice-president and secretary. The Logan he operates alone, and the Morning Star, at Ward, is carried on by a company. All of these mines are very valuable and in full operation. Since he became a voter the captain has been a faithful Republican. From 1894 to 1398 he was alderman from the second ward in the Boulder City council, and for three years has acted as chairman of the finance committee. He is public-spirited and devoted to the best interests of the people, as they realize. Fraternally he belongs to Columbia Lodge No. 14, A. & A.M.
The marriage of Captain Coan and Etta, daughter of Manford Lancaster, was solemnized in DeKalb County, Mo., July 12, 1875. Her father was a native of Kentucky, and was an early settler in DeKalb County. Edith, the only daughter of the captain and wife, graduated from the University of Colorado in 1897 and is the wife of George A. McClure, of Boulder. Ralph, the only son, is a student in the preparatory department of the same institution.
ILO E. PLATT, who is engaged in stockraising and farming in Boulder County, was born in Dallas County, Iowa, October 12, 1861, a son of Isaac and Elmira (Gould) Platt. He was one of twelve children, of whom nine are living, viz.: Lee, John, Jerome, Milo E., Mary, Lurinda, Eva, Emma and Laura. His father, a native of Richland County, Ohio, born in 1834, grew to manhood in his native locality, and from there migrated to Dallas
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. County, Iowa, where he married. In 1874 he removed from there to Colorado with the intention of making this state his permanent home, but after following farm pursuits in Boulder County until 1886, he removed to Rapid City, S. Dak., where he is now engaged in farming and stockraising. His father, Richard Platt, was born in Ohio and became a successful agriculturist of that state; while his father-in-law, Jonathan Gould, was a native of New York.
In the schools near his childhood's home our subject obtained a fair education. At the age of eighteen he secured work as a farm hand and five years later began as a firmer for himself, on the place where he still resides. Here, for twelve years or more, he has raised stock and such cereals as are adapted to the soil. January 1, 1885, he married Miss Bertha Davis, and five children comprise their family, viz.: Pearl, Frank, Edward George and Mary.
Politically Mr. Platt is independent and votes for the man whom he considers best fitted for office, without regard to his political affiliations. He is a friend of the free school system and has served as a member of the school board since 1889. Fraternally he is connected with Boulder Tent No. 4, Order of Maccabees. He is also actively identified with the Boulder Valley Grange.
Dr. Rice can boast of at least two thoroughly patriotic ancestors, for his father's maternal grandfather, Everett, was a hero of the Revolutionary war, as was also Great-grandfather Judd, the grandfather of our subject's mother. The doctor's parents are Brainard and Electa (Judd) Rice, natives of New York state. The Rices originated in Connecticut, and representatives of the family were early settlers in Jefferson County, near the outlet of Lake Ontario. Grandfather Leander Rice was born in that region as was his son Brainard and grandson Charles, of this sketch, Leander Rice married a Miss Philura Everett, of New England birth and daughter of the Revolutionary soldier above mentioned. Mrs. Electa Rice is a daughter of Philetus Judd, who was born in New England, and in boyhood went with his parents into New York state, subsequent to the colonial struggle for independence, in which his father had participated. Brainard Rice was a farmer in former years, but has been a merchant in Riverview, N. Y., for many years now, He held the position of collector in the custom house there for one term about a decade ago, under a Republican administration, but aside from that has not figured in public life to any extent. His eldest son, Albert B., is a resident of Riverview, N. Y., as is likewise the only daughter, Mrs. Jessie Harris.
The birth of Dr. Charles Rice took place at Cape Vincent, Jefferson County, N. Y., January 8, 1868. He received good educational advantages in his native state and pursued his higher studies in Ives Seminary, and Watertown (N. Y.) high school. Then, having determined to enter the field of medicine, he read with Dr. Spencer of Watertown for about two years. In 1887 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City, graduating from that celebrated institution in 1889, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He at once started on a post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic College, in order to more thoroughly qualify himself for the serious work before him. Then it was his privilege to practice under the trained preceptor whose advice, instruction and encouragement had heretofore been almost invaluable to the young man. Two years were most profitably spent under his guidance, after which Dr. Rice felt fully qualified to enter upon an independent career. Going to New York City, he opened an office on West Fifty-seventh street, and was successfully engaged in practice in that locality for a period of some four years. An attack of bronchitis
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