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general manager. He has other mining enterprises under foot, and owns a one-fourth interest in the Freiberg mine at Gold Hill, which is in active operation. He is a member of Columbia Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M., and is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically he is a Democrat. May 29, 1884, occurred his marriage to Emma Kaiser, in Monroe, Iowa. She is a native of Paris, Ill., and by her marriage she has become the mother of one child, Margaret M.
AVID
KERR, who is one of the pioneers of Louisville, Boulder County,
and is sometimes called the "father" of the village, was born in
Madison County, Ky., December 28, 1833, a son of Caleb and Edith
(Stewart) Kerr. He was one of twelve children, two of whom are now
living, namely; Leannah F., widow of Joshua Stewart, of Santa Fe,
Mo.; and David. The father, a native of Estill County, Ky., born
May 1, 1805, married in that county and settled upon a farm, both
cultivating the land and following the carpenter's trade. In 1830
he removed to Independence, Mo., where he bought a farm. After
some four years he secured a government contract as mail carrier,
in which capacity he was retained for twenty years, carrying the
mail from Independence to Warrensburg, Harrisonville, Westport and
Liberty, and later from Westport to West Point and Harrisonville,
and from Kansas City to Platte City and Weston. He carried the
first mail from Independence and Westport ever carried into Kansas
City. He continued to reside in Missouri until his death, which
occurred in Bates County. His wife, a native of Madison County,
Ky., was born March 30, 1809, and died in Cass County, Mo., April
26, 1890.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, George Washington Kerr, was born in Virginia and settled in Kentucky the same year that Henry Clay went to that state, the two being intimate friends. He built the first frame house ever erected in Richmond County, Ky. By trade a millwright, he followed that occupation, together with carpentering, and also owned a farm. The maternal grandfather, David Stewart, was a native of Scotland and accompanied his parents to this country when a child. He devoted his active life to farming and stock-raising.
The major part of his education our subject acquired through reading and observation, as his advantages in boyhood were limited to a brief attendance at school. January 6, 1859, he married Miss Mary A. Clark in Kansas City, Mo. From that time on he not only supported his own family, but assisted his father's family, for his father had become almost blind, and at fourteen the responsibility of the support of the others practically devolved upon his young shoulders. In 1861, with a wagon and two yoke of oxen, accompanied by his wife and son, he came to Colorado, making the journey in about six weeks.
He arrived at California Gulch June 3, and afterward worked for three weeks in the mines, then went to Buckskin Joe's, where for some months he engaged in freighting. In the spring of 1862 a man arrived there from Missouri with a drove of milch cows and a dairy outfit, and our subject bought him out. At the same time he purchased land three miles from the town. Establishing himself in the dairy business, he had soon worked up a good trade. In the fall of 1862 he removed ten miles below Canon City, on the Arkansas River, where he wintered the cows. May 1, 1863, he went to Ralston Creek and ran a dairy into Blackhawk and Central City. In the fall of 1864 he came to his present location, bought a squatter's claim and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land. This he improved and later bought one hundred and eighty acres more. He was prosperous and continued in the cattle and dairy business, besides having charge of extensive general farming interests. In 1878 he discovered and developed the first coal land in this section. Through this discovery sprang the thriving village of Louisville. In 1881 he embarked in the mercantile business in Louisville, but the venture was a very unfortunate one financially; however, he possesses remarkable recuperative powers and soon recovered from the loss. He is a strong Jeffersonian Democrat and an ardent supporter of his party. Fraternally he is connected with Columbia Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M.
Mr. and Mrs. Kerr became the parents of eight children, of whom four are now living. They are named as follows: James P., superintendent of the Louisville Mining Company; Leannah F., wife of John Mayhoffer, a farmer in this locality; Edith M., wife of Daniel McNeill, superintend-
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ent of a mine in Glen Rock, Wyo.; and Mary A., wife of David Allen, bookkeeper for the United Mining Company.
HOMAS
C. KELSEY, who has made his home in the pretty town of Boulder
since 1881, has been no small factor in its beauty, from an
architectural point of view, as under his supervision many of the
finest and handsomest public and private buildings have been
erected. He thoroughly understands his business, having worked at
it in all of its branches from his youth to the present time. His
methods of carrying out to the letter every detail of the
contracts winch he makes with others is one of the chief secrets
of the success which has attended him, for he thereby inspires
confidence and genuine respect.
The Kelseys have long been numbered among the best citizens of the United States. Originally from England, they settled near the Long Island Sound in Connecticut, and followed agricultural pursuits, for the most part, an occasional member of the family engaging in a sea-faring career. Some of them were soldiers in the war of the Revolution, and the great-grandfather of the subject of this article was one of those heroes. Grandfather David W. Kelsey was a native of Connecticut, and was a farmer near the city of Hartford. He, also, was a participant in the colonial struggle for freedom from the mother country's rule, and he lived to an advanced age.
The parents of our subject were Hon. David P. and Elizabeth (Wilcox) Kelsey. The mother also came of good old Revolutionary stock, as her Grandfather Wilcox, who was of Scotch descent, was a soldier in that war. Mrs. Kelsey was born in Connecticut, as was also her father, Joseph Wilcox. She died at the ripe age of eighty-three years. Hon. David P. Kelsey carried on a farm not far from Hartford, and from his early manhood until shortly before his death he officiated in one public position or another. Besides being a justice of the peace and holding other county offices, he served with credit in the house and senate of the state. He died in 1880, when about seventy-five years of age. Of the nine children which blessed his marriage but four are now living.
The birth of Thomas C. Kelsey occurred in Hartford, Conn., May 20, 1830. His education was obtained in the public schools and in 1848 he commenced serving a three years' apprenticeship to a carpenter in his home town. In 1852 he began taking contracts on his own account, and thus has been in the business for almost half a century. In 1855 he started out west and in the following spring located in Louisiana, Pike County, Mo. In that vicinity he was occupied in building and contracting for several years. The courthouse of the county and many of the finest residences there stand as evidences of his handiwork. In 1872 he settled in Denver, becoming superintendent of the firm of McPhee & McGinnity. In 1875 he resumed independent work and took contracts and executed the same for numerous large churches, business blocks and residences in the city. Since he came to Boulder perhaps the best examples of his skill are the Masonic Temple; the high school building, and the residences of S. A. Giffin; Mr. Rowlands, A. T. Henry, etc. He was awarded the contract for building all the depots and warehouses of the Colorado & Northwestern Railroad here and complied with all of the wishes of the company.
Before leaving his old home in Connecticut, Mr. Kelsey married Miss Aurelia A. Smith, a native of that state, and daughter of Samuel Smith, a farmer. Since 1864 Mr. Kelsey has been affiliated with the Republican party, and when he was a resident of Louisiana, Mo., he served as an alderman. He is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias, belonging to the Uniform Rank.
OHN
PETERSON, who is engaged in farming in Arapahoe County and is the
owner of two farms of one hundred and sixty acres each, was born
in Drammen, Norway, January 2!, 1846, a son of Peter and Johanna
Gulbransen. When he was a child of four years his mother died and
three years later his father, who was a farmer in Norway, was
taken away by death, leaving him and his brother and sisters
orphans and alone in the world. His brother, Nicoli, a sailor, was
afterward drowned in the North Sea; his sister Augusta lives in
Norway; Josephine is married to Martin Johnsen, and lives in
Elyria; and Torra, now Mrs. Hansen, lives in Drammen, Norway.
When a boy our subject attended the national schools of Norway. At the age of thirteen he began life as a sailor and for thirteen years he fol-
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lowed the seas, visiting many remote ports and seeing much of the world. Among others, he has been all over the West Indies, recently the seat of the Spanish-American war, and also visited the East Indies, also Calcutta, in Asia; Alexandria, Egypt; Brazil; around the Horn to Peru; Valparaiso, Chili; around Cape of Good Hope and African ports. In all this sea-faring experience he was never ship-wrecked. He also sailed on the Great Lakes for three seasons. On coming to America in 1872 he eventually permanently settled in Detroit, Mich., where he spent ten years working mostly for the Canada Southern Railroad. In 1882 he came to Colorado, where for five years he worked in the Grant smelter in Denver. In 1886 he purchased the farm where he has since resided.
The marriage of Mr. Peterson occurred December 5, 1874, and united him with Bertah Johansen, who was born in Norway November 28, 1854. They are the parents of a son, Burton Gilbert Nicoli, and a daughter, Jennie Louise. Three sons died in Michigan. In politics Mr. Peterson is stanch in his support of Republican principles, but has never taken an active part in political affairs. He and his wife are interested in the public schools and the latter is now serving as president of the school board of their district. He gives his attention closely to the improvement of his land, which he has fenced and cultivated, and upon it he has built a neat and comfortable dwelling for his family.
ON.
DAVID H. NICHOLS, ex-lieutenant governor of Colorado. This
sterling old pioneer of Boulder County is very well and favorably
known, not only in this section, but in other parts of the state.
He has taken an active part in the founding of Colorado and in its
marvelous development, and has fortunately lived to see the
wonders which he and his early associates achieved. During Boulder
County's pioneer history he served as sheriff here, and in the
territorial legislature of 1864 and 1865 he took a prominent part.
In 1872 and 1873 he was again a member of that honorable body,
having been elected as the candidate of the Republican party, and
served as speaker of the house. Then for one term he was
lieutenant-governor of Colorado, and as president of the senate
had the honor of opening the first session of the legislature in
the new capitol building.
Mr. Nichols is of Scotch-Irish descent, though his paternal grandfather, Alpheus Nichols, was a native of Vermont, and his maternal grandfather, David Hopkinson, was born in New Hampshire. His parents were Ethan H. and Portia (Hopkinson) Nichols. They removed to the vicinity of Prophetstown, Ill., in 1836, and on the farm which he had commenced to improve there the father died during the following year. His widow, surviving him many years, died in Bozeman, Mont., in 1879. Of their thirteen children, five sons and two daughters attained mature years. Ezra H., one of the number, enlisted in the Mexican war in Captain Stapp's company from Warren County, Ill., and died at Castle Perote, Mexico.
The birth of Hon. David H. Nichols occurred March 16, 1828, in Hardwick, Vt. He is the eldest surviving member of his father's large family, and with them started for the Illinois prairies in 1836. He went as far as Buffalo, N. Y., in wagons, thence by boat to Toledo, and from there on in wagons. The father built the first house south of the Rock River, between Rock Island and Dixon's Ferry at Prophetstown. When our subject was a lad of about twelve years he went to Jo Daviess County and worked in the mines, after which he was employed in the Wisconsin pineries during the winter season and rafted logs down the Mississippi River in the summer, selling the same. Thus he continued to do up to 1846, when he commenced to feel the need of a better education, and earnestly took up several lines of study. He attended school in Warren County for four months, and then went to Shurtleff College at Upper Alton, Ill., for six years longer. His zeal and persistence were rewarded, and though his health became impaired by his close and confining study, knowledge has ever been its own reward to him. For about a year he taught in Warren County. About this time he married and settled down upon a farm in Whiteside County, near Prophetstown.
In the spring of 1860 Mr. Nichols started for Pike's Peak with two wagons, two yoke of oxen, three yoke of cows and needed household goods. He crossed the Mississippi River at Albany; went to Nebraska City, thence up the Platte
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route and down to Boulder. Here he opened a blacksmith shop and conducted the same for about eighteen months. In the meantime he bought a ranch on the outskirts of the town and became interested in improving the place. He built a log cabin on the site of his present handsome residence, and before he moved into it he had made the eighty-rod ditch through his land, connecting it with the Boulder Creek. There was not a tree or shrub on the place, but as soon as Mr. Nichols had set out some they began growing at a wonderful rate, and in a few years the beholder could not have believed that his little paradise of greenery was the same desert-like, barren-looking property of yore. A friend in Illinois sent him a tiny branch of willow, about six or seven inches long, in a large envelope. He planted it, and to-day it is a tree of fine proportions. He has carefully trimmed it every year, and people from all parts of the county have carefully treasured a small branch thus cut off, have planted and attended to it, until a large tree rewarded their efforts. From the one tiny slip originally planted here, countless thousands of flourishing trees, in all parts of the state, have been grown. At this time Mr. Nichols has forty acres of land in his home place, which is one of the thriftiest and most beautiful ranches in the county, and all this is due to his care and cultivation.
In Monmouth, Ill., the marriage of Mr. Nichols and Miss Elizabeth Adkinson was solemized September 5, 1848. She was born in Virginia and went to Illinois with her parents at an early age. The three children born to our subject and wife are: Ezra H. and Horace A., who are engaged in raising cattle in the Grand Encampment in Wyoming; and a daughter, Franc P., who is at home.
On the anniversary of his birth, the year that he attained his majority, Mr. Nichols was initiated into the mysteries of Masonry in Monmouth Lodge No. 37, A. F. & A. M., at Monmouth, Ill. He is now identified with Columbia Lodge No. 14, A. F. & A. M., in Boulder, in which he has passed all the chairs, and he also belongs to Boulder Chapter No. 7, R. A. M. For years he was connected with the Odd Fellows' society. Formerly he was captain of Company D, Third Colorado Cavalry. For a period of nineteen years he was a member of the board of penitentiary commissioners. He served as chairman of the board of commerce and for a time was secretary of the board. The Boulder County and Colorado State Associations of Pioneers numbered him among their active members for many years, but he does not often attend their meetings now. Frequently he was sent as a delegate to territorial and state conventions of the Republican party up to 1890. He attended the silver congress held in Washington a few years ago, and at this writing is a strong advocate of the People's party. When the university was located here he and Mr. Maxwell were influential in securing and keeping the institution, and deserve great credit for their enterprise. When the Colorado Central Railroad was built through the valley he acted as agent for the company at Boulder for three years.
ERDINAND
EBERT, who owns a ranch comprising twelve hundred and eighty acres
and situated in Arapahoe County, was born in Brunswick, Germany,
October 20, 1823. In 1851 he crossed the ocean to this country in
the new ship "Caparnicus," that anchored after a voyage of
forty-eight days. He settled in Iowa, where he engaged in farming
for seventeen years. In the spring of 1868 he came to Colorado and
has since made his home on his present property, where he has a
ranch stocked with many cattle and horses. The place is located
fourteen miles east of Denver, on the north side of the Kansas
Pacific Railroad.
June 27, 1858, Mr. Ebert was united in marriage with Miss Kate Roeder, a native of Germany. She came to the United States in girlhood with her mother, and was living in Iowa at the time of her marriage. They became the parents of three sons and three daughters. Ferdinand F., the oldest son, has spent his life principally with his parents, with the exception of five years in Salt Lake. He was educated in the schools of Arapahoe County and has assisted his father very greatly in the management of the ranch. The second son, George W., resides in Salt Lake City; and the youngest son, William J., assists on the home ranch. The daughters are: Mary, who married Herman C. Behrens; Annie, wife of B. Speier, of Denver; and Helena, at home.
In early life, after coming to this country, Mr.
