DAVID PATTERSON.
Mardos Collection
DAVID PATTERSON.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1069
Here lead runs sixty-five per cent gold one and a-half ounces and silver twenty-six ounces to the ton.
April 6, 1872, in Georgetown, Mr. Lewis married Mrs. Mary Ann (Fichler) Morton. She is a native of the vicinity of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, and came to America with her parents. In 1860 she and her brothers came to Colorado from Iowa, where the family had been living. In the great flood of 1864, in Denver, when Cherry Creek overflowed the country, she narrowly escaped death, but was rescued by some soldiers. By her first marriage she had a daughter, Alice Anna Morton, who is the wife of J. W. Mattern, an experienced mine authority. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have a son, William J., who attends to much of the actual superintendence of the Doric mines.
AVID PATTERSON, a well-known and prosperous ranchman of Deer Trail, Arapahoe County, owns the largest ranch in this vicinity, and is a self-made man, who has worked his own way since he was twenty years of age. He was born in Forfar, Scotland, May 8, 1844. His father, Charles Patterson, a farmer by occupation, was born in 1805 in the same vicinity, but five miles from where the son was born. The mother, Elizabeth (Laing) Patterson, was also born near there in 1815, and is still living. Of their ten children David is the only son living, one son having died in Scotland at about forty-five years of age. Of the daughters, Jean is the widow of Archibald Campbell, of Scotland; Elizabeth is married and lives in New Zealand; Diana is married and living in Edinburgh; Isabelle is the wife of Joseph Belford, of Broughty Ferry, Scotland; Agnes is married and living on a sheep ranch in New Zealand; Mary and Margaret are deceased.
Mr. Patterson was educated in the public schools of his native country, and remained there until he was twenty years old, when he went to Argentine Republic, South America, and for five years was in the stock business in that country. He then returned to Scotland and there remained until 1872, when he came to the United States, locating first, for a time, in Lincoln, Neb., then settled in Huerfano County, Colo., in 1874. In the spring of 1877 he moved to Arapahoe County, south of Byers, and in 1878 located on the ranch where he now lives, about ten miles northeast of Deer Trail. He is extensively engaged in the sheep and cattle business, and all the improvements on the place have been made under his personal supervision. He also owns property in Denver.
Before leaving Scotland, in 1872, Mr. Patterson married Miss Margaret Edwards, whose father was a farmer there. She died in Denver. Their three sons and three daughters are as follows: David, Jr., who is on a stock farm in Montana; James, Ollie, Jessie, Margaret and Libbie, at home. Mr. Patterson is a member of the Twenty-third avenue Presbyterian Church of Denver. In politics he is a strong Republican. For years he has been a member of the school board. While still in Scotland he joined the lodge of Masons.
OHN E. BIRD, who owns three hundred and twenty acres of land situated on the Greeley road, near Loveland, Larimer County, was born in New Orleans, La., a son of John and Rebecca Anna (Bird) Bird. His fattier left the south in 1844, when his son, our subject, was two years of age, and removed to Port Madison, Iowa, where he engaged in farming and in carriage manufacturing. Later he also purchased stock and engaged in raising some of the fine grades. Politically a Democrat, he was made a justice of the peace and held the office for several years. He died when sixty-four years of age.
The early years of our subject's life were spent on a farm in Iowa, and his education was obtained in common schools. In youth he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed in conjunction with farming. He also taught school successfully for eight terms of three months each. His health failing in this sedentary occupation, he was advised to go west. In the spring of 1880 he came to Colorado and for two months worked with George Little at Loveland. Next, going to Breckenridge, he engaged in carpentering and mining for three years. While he was very successful as a miner and made large profits, yet he invested in mines that proved unprofitable and so lost heavily. With but little money left he turned his attention to agriculture. In 1883 he rented the Darrow (now Allen) farm, where he remained for five years, and then, in 1888, purchased a farm from William Bean. He is now engaged in
1070
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. farming and stock-raising, and through diligent application has won a large measure of prosperity. He is known as a man of sound and careful judgment in agricultural matters, and by perseverance has achieved a success that he richly deserves. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' Irrigating Ditch Company, of which he is treasurer.
Politically Mr. Bird is a free silver Democrat, and in 1897 he was appointed a delegate to the silver Democratic convention. However, he is not a seeker for office, and the interest that he takes in public affairs is only that of a public-spirited citizen.
DWARD D. KREUTZER, who is a well-known business man of Sedalia, Douglas County, was born in Fischbachau District, Miesbach, Germany, March 29, 1847, being a son of Peter and Margaret (Baer) Kreutzer. His father, who was a soldier for eighteen years, rose from the ranks to be a corporal and later was promoted to the gendarmes. Upon resigning from the army, he was employed in another department of government service, but in 1848 his sympathies were on the side of the Revolution. For this reason he was captured, sent to a fortification and kept under surveillance for two years, notwithstanding the fact that he had taken no part whatever in the uprising. On being liberated he applied for a government position, but was rejected, owing to his revolutionary sympathies. He continued, however, to reside in his native land until his death.
Leaving school at fourteen years of age, our subject began to learn the manufacture of fancy rattan for chairs. He continued in that occupation in his native country until 1867, when he crossed the ocean and lauded in New York. There he made his home with an uncle, William F. Roth, under whom he learned the cigar-making business. For a year he worked without wages, but afterward he started a cigar store on Eighth avenue, his uncle furnishing the capital. However, the close confinement to the shop told on his health, and he was obliged to seek another occupation. Selling out, he went to Pennsylvania and learned the machinist's trade in Corry. The factory there was closed down and he went to Titusville, where he was employed by Charles Fette, a master workman, with whom he completed the trade. After a year with him he secured wages in the employ of Charles Miller for three years. While in Titusville he aided in starting a singing society known as the Concordia and was chosen to sing in the choir of the Spiritualist Church. It was while acting in this capacity that he formed the acquaintance of Miss Jane Keppel, who was a member of the same choir. They were united in marriage February 16, 1873.
In 1874 Mr. Kreutzer came to Denver. Soon afterward, he was joined by his wife and her father, John Keppel. He had a letter of introduction to a Mr. Hoffer, a prominent butcher of Denver, and through his influence secured a clerkship in a cigar store. After a few months he started across the Snowy range with a company of men, who were the first to cross Gore range with a wagon. They camped there one night, and it was while there that he received from the Indians the nickname of the Dutch general. He was looking for a location for a colony and found a desirable place, but as it was one hundred and twenty miles from a postoffice, no one would consent to go and the proposed colony had to be abandoned. He resumed work at his trade and later was employed in a bakery and hotel.
Coming to Douglas County in 1875 Mr. Kreutzer took up a pre-emption ten miles west of Sedalia, and later homesteaded a claim. At this writing he has four hundred and eighty acres, a part of which was willed by his father-in-law. During the fourteen years spent there he was twice burned out, the second time by lightning, and as he carried no insurance, the loss was a heavy one for him. In addition, he was burned out in Denver in 1876, without insurance, and lost all of his furniture and clothes. January 17, 1880, when he had secured a fair start, he was accidentally shot in the knee, and was laid up for four and one-half years. During the first two years of this time he could do nothing, and this was a serious setback to him, for he had begun to see his way clear to success. As soon as he began to convalesce, he commenced to work at his trade. He was poor, and of course could not get credit. At that critical time, when friends were few and discouragements many, Mrs. L. B. France (now deceased), a friend of his wife, became his surety for $400, and with this he started to manufacture cigars, which his wife sold.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1071
While he was still sick, some one jumped his homestead. There was at first talk of an appeal to congress, but that idea was abandoned. Mr. Kreutzer wrote the man to come to Sedalia and see him. This the jumper did, and when he learned the circumstances, ascertained the poverty of the family and his long illness, he was so affected that he burst out weeping and declared he would give up the place. After recovering the place he made it his home until 1890, when lightning struck and destroyed the crop. He then went to Denver, where he worked at his trade and later manufactured cigars on the ranch, selling them in Denver. In 1891 he moved to Sedalia. The last time he was on the ranch he tried three crops and lost all, having spent $600. Feeling it was useless to attempt the work of farming longer, he has since given his attention to cigar making.
Eight children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Kreutzer. Of these two died in infancy. Minnie, the oldest of the family, was born in Titusville, Pa., and married John Cell, of East Monitou, Colo. William R., the fourth child, is in the employ of the United States as a forest ranger under Colonel May; and John Elmer is in the employ of H. H. Metcalf. George C., a fourteen-year-old lad, is working with his father. Margaret B. and Agnes B. are five and three years of age respectively. The children have been given good advantages and are a credit to their parents. Politically Mr. Kreutzer is a Republican. He has been a candidate for justice of the peace, but was defeated. He has long been active in educational matters and for twelve years served as secretary of the school board of District Nos. 5 and 7. Mr. Kreutzer and his wife were in younger years actively identified with the Spiritualists and were married by Mrs. Watson, pastor of the Spiritualistic Church of Titusville, they being the second couple she had united in marriage.
ETER CHRISTENSEN, who for the past twenty years has been numbered among the enterprising merchants of the town of Morrison, Jefferson County, is one of her most substantial citizens. For fifteen years he served as a member of the school board and in many ways has manifested his concern in educational affairs.
Since the Morrison Water Company was organized he has been president of the same, and in fact he is always to be found using his influence in favor of progress and improvement. He stands well with the Odd Fellows' society, being a trusted member of Morrison Lodge No. 82. His right of franchise he uses in behalf of the nominees of the Fusion party.
Our subject was one of three children whose parents were Louis Erasmus T. and Christina Christensen, natives of the province of Schleswig, Germany. The father was born in 1806 and in his youth learned the trade of a shoemaker. He continued to follow this calling during the greater part of his life. Having purchased a small farm of twenty acres he then gave much of his time to gardening, of which he made a success. His death occurred in 1876. The only daughter of this good man is Anna M., wife of Peter A. Petersen. Christian, the younger son, is engaged in the dairy business in the town of Evergreen, Jefferson County, Colo.
Peter Christensen was born in Schleswig, Germany, January 20, 1839. When he was sixteen years of age he apprenticed himself to the trade which had been followed by his father. Subsequently he pursued the occupation up to 1870, in his home district, but at that time he concluded that he would come to America, Reaching New York City in August he proceeded to Chicago, and a few weeks later went on to Iowa, where he had some friends living. There he worked at his trade for several months, but in September, 1871, he drifted to Colorado, and from that fall until the spring of 1875 he was employed as a journeyman. On the 1st of April of the last-named year he came to Morrison and opened a shop. Three years later he bought a small stock of shoes and boots and embarked in the retail trade in connection with his regular line of business. He met with success and gradually added to his stock and number of customers until he now does a thriving trade. He is accommodating and reliable and makes friends of all his patrons. His stock is large and varied, comprising all kinds of boots and shoes, rubber goods, etc. In 1878 he purchased his present business site and in 1890 the frame building which was occupied by his store was destroyed by fire. This unfortunate occurrence took place in June, but by the following September Mr. Christensen had erected a good
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. stone structure on the spot and has since used the building for his store purposes. His prosperity is the result of his constant and unremitting attention to his business and his earnest wish to give his customers the best possible value for their money.
Mr. Christensen has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Cecelia Jensen prior to their marriage, which took place in Denver, December 15, 1871. Three daughters and two sons were born to them, namely: Jennie C., wife of Asa Lewis; Dora C., who is teaching in the Villa Park school, near Denver; Erasmus C., a farmer; Peter P., a teacher in the schools of Jefferson County; and Anna M., a young lady, at home. The wife and mother departed this life November 21, 1887. The lady who now bears the name and shares the fortunes of our subject was formerly Mrs. O. Drake, widow of John L. Drake, a pioneer of Bear Creek district. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen's marriage was solemnized November 26, 1896.
ILLIAM S. BLAINE is a member of the board of aldermen of Black Hawk, Gilpin County, representing the third ward, and was chosen by this honorable body to serve on the school board as well. He is a master mechanic and has the reputation of being an expert in everything connected with machinery. He comes from the same family as did Hon. James G. Elaine, whom many able critics esteem to have been the most brilliant statesman and profoundest legislator who has been prominent in the history of this nation during the past half-century. The native genius and talent of the Blames have descended, in no small degree, to the subject of this article.
Archibald Blaine, father of W. S. Blaine, and a second cousin of Hon. J. G. Blaine, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and in 1843 removed to the vicinity of Iowa City, Iowa. He was occupied in farming during the greater part of his life and was universally respected and liked by those who knew him. He died when William was a youth of fourteen years. The mother of W. S. Blaine was Miss Elizabeth Cox in her girlhood. She was a native of Indiana and died in Iowa when her son, our subject, was only seven years old. His brothers and sisters are James B., of Council Bluffs, in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company; John D., city clerk and recorder in Cedar Rapids; Otis E., who is an engineer in Leadville, Colo.; and Mrs. Flora Woods, of Iowa Center, Iowa.
The birth of William S. Blaine occurred in Solon, Iowa, in 1863. When he was about sixteen years of age he went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and commenced serving an apprenticeship to the firm of Whiting Brothers Manufacturing Company. He continued with them for three years, and in the meantime went to night school, where he made a specialty of mechanics. Subsequently he was employed four years by the Elkhorn Railroad at Missouri Valley, Iowa, in their machine shops, and in 1888 he went to Los Angeles, Cal., where he acted in a similar position with the Southern Pacific. In June, 1888, he came to Colorado, and during the next four years was master mechanic in iron and silver mines in Leadville. By this time he had gained a wide-spread reputation for his ability at handling pumping machinery. From 1892 to 1894 he was superintendent for the Chicago & Aurora Mining Company of Leadville, after which he worked for the R. Jenning Juniata Mining Company a year or more. In September, 1895, he was sent for by Commissioner of Mines Harry A. Lee, who urged him to take charge of pumping out the water from the Sleepy Hollow and Americus mines at Black Hawk. Sixteen men had been drowned here and in order to recover their bodies the mines had to be pumped to the bottom. Mr. Elaine started in the undertaking, bringing with him from Aspen a large pump and by working three months night and day the water was lowered so that fourteen bodies were found, but it was not until the following July that the other two were taken from the mine, as it had been necessary to pump it to the bottom of the shaft, seventeen hundred feet.
Having completed his contract, Mr. Elaine's services were sought for by the Bobtail Gregory Mining Company, who employed him to take entire charge of all of their machinery. The pumps which he operates keep the water down in half a dozen mines, among these the Gold Coin, Americus, Sleepy Hollow, Fick, Cook and a number of others. Mr. Blaine has invested considerable time and money in mining on his own account, his special favorite being the Mountain City and Tierney on Bobtail Hill.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1073
Initiated into the Masonic Order in Black Hawk Lodge No. 11, A. F. & A. M., Mr. Blaine is now connected with Central City Chapter No. 1, R. A. M., as well. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In his political preferences he is a Republican. He married in Missouri Valley, Iowa, in 1886, Miss Patience Van Hoesen, who was born in Winterset, Iowa, and they have one child, James G. Mrs. Blaine is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
UGUST NEUMAN. Among the foremost tillers of the soil of Elbert County is the gentleman whose name heads these brief lines, who is of that sturdy German extraction. His homestead, which ranks among the best in this community, is located on section 14, township 9, range 63 west, near the town of Elbert. He was born in Holstein, Germany, June 2, 1832, and is a son of John Henry and Elizabeth (Moring) Neuman.
August Neuman spent his younger days assisting his father in his blacksmith shop and attending the common schools of his native town. At seventeen years he began to serve an apprenticeship to the blacksmith trade. In 1848 he decided he would rather be a soldier, but as he was rejected from the army he resumed his former occupation. At twenty-two years of age he was drafted into the army, and as he had changed his notion about becoming a soldier he refused to serve, and consequently, in 1854, he departed for the United States. After a voyage of thirty-three days he landed safely in New York City and immediately set out for the city of Chicago, where he remained one year, when he went to Davenport, Iowa. In 1860, in company with four others, he left Davenport and drove to Central City, Colo., the trip consuming a period of nine weeks. From 1861 to 1865 he prospected from Central City to New Mexico and return. In the winter of 1861 our subject, who was with a party of about eighty-five men, stopped in what is now Gunnison County, Colo., where they had discovered "pay dirt," and while there it snowed about twelve feet deep, and had it not been for the game they caught the whole party would have probably starved to death, as their provisions were very low. The party then started for California Gulch, where they replenished their supplies and returned and worked their discovery.
Finding that it would not pay to work it, our subject returned to Central City and later left for Montana, where he spent two years mining. He then returned to Central City, where he followed mining until 1870. In 1878 he bought two hundred and eighty acres of farming land, and has since added to his first purchase from time to time, until he now owns five hundred and sixty acres in all. He is engaged in farming and stock. raising, and is one of the prosperous and well-to-do members of his community. He enjoys the well-merited confidence of his community, and is doing his share toward the building up of his adopted country.
August Neuman and Miss Teresa Folster, of Central City, were united in marriage May 10, 1870. She was also a native of Germany and came to Colorado in 1867. Three children were born of this marriage, namely: Albert, who is a painter and decorator; Theodore, who is assisting his father on the ranch; and Emma, who is a graduate of the State Normal School and is now engaged in teaching. The wife and mother died in September, 1883. Our subject is a Republican in politics and votes uniformly and conscientiously with that party. His first vote was cast for Hayes in 1876.
EORGE H. KIMBALL came to Colorado 17, in the spring of 1866, crossing the plains in a "prairie schooner" and locating at Spanish Bar, just above Idaho Springs. A few months later he came to Golden, where at first he worked as a carpenter, but soon embarked in contracting and building, and this occupation he has since followed. He has had contracts for many of the most substantial and important buildings here, among them the School of Mines, and the first building of the Industrial School. He superintended the erection of the high school of Golden, and the additions to the south side school; was foreman in the building of the Jefferson County courthouse and has built many of the finest residences and stores in Golden. In 1897 he was unfortunate in breaking a limb by falling when at his work, but the leg was set and finally healed, so that he is now able to be about once more.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Mr. Kimball was born in Centerville, Allegany County, N. Y., in December, 1835, the son of Chester and Victoria (Williams) Kimball, natives respectively of Vermont and New York. His father, who was a cabinet-maker by trade, engaged in the manufacture of furniture in Centerville, where he died at the age of sixty-five. His wife died in 1844, at the age of thirty-three years. She left three children, the eldest of whom, L. W., was captain in the One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Infantry during the war and is now engaged in the nursery business in Boulder, Colo; George H. was second in order of birth; and the youngest was Mrs. Julia Potter, who died in Golden.
When our subject was a boy of nine years his mother died, and afterward he lived with his aunt, Mrs. Higgins, upon a farm. His education was obtained in the Centerville public schools and Rushford Academy. He was united in marriage, in Centerville, in 1861, with Miss Ann Eliza Veazey, who was born in that place. Afterward he engaged in farming until the fall of 1864, when he enlisted in Company C, First New York Dragoons, which was first an infantry regiment, but was afterward mounted. He took part in the engagements in the Shenandoah Valley under Sherman, until the surrender of Appomattox. At Sullivan Station, after the battle of Five Forks, he was wounded in the hip by a rifle ball. He was mustered out of the service at Rochester, N. Y., July 18, 1865. Shortly after his return home he moved to Colorado. He and his wife had four children, but only two attained mature years: Mrs. Belle McGowan, of Denver; and Mrs. Emma Fenn, who died in Denver in November, 1897. Mrs. Kimball is a member of the Presbyterian Church and assists in its various enterprises.
Upon the organization of the town Mr. Kimball was made president of the board of trustees. He was a member of the first board of aldermen, and some years later was appointed to fill a vacany (sic) upon the board. During his sixteen years of service upon the school board he was treasurer a part of the time and also president. He has held the position of chairman of the Republican county central committee at various times, and has represented his party as delegate to county and state conventions. He is a supporter of the white metal and belongs to the silver branch of the Republican party. T. H. Dodd Post No. 3, G. A. R., which is next to the oldest post in the state, numbers him among its charter members and he has been its commander. He has held the position of assistant quartermaster general of the department of Colorado and Wyoming. Until his lodge surrendered its charter he was identified with the Patriotic Order Sons of America.
James Harvey Eggleston was born in the state of New York, and in childhood went to Ohio, where he followed farming after attaining maturity. He subsequently moved to Greenup, Ky., thence to Covington, Ky., where he resided for two years and followed his calling. In 1856 he settled upon a tract of government land near Manhattan, Kan., which he cultivated, but two years later returned to Ohio and located in Cincinnati, where he dealt in butter and eggs bought on the Western Reserve. In 1860, the time of the Pike's Peak gold fever, he went to Colorado by means of two ox-teams, the journey requiring thirty days. In connection with several others he engaged in mining for a brief period, after which he hired a man to take his place. He engaged in freighting until the spring of 1861, when he went upon a ranch at Cache la Poudre, taking up a piece of government land. In 1866 he sold out to his son, Alson Howard, and returned to Bainbridge, Ohio, where he resided until his death in 1884. He was united in marriage with Eliza Howard, a native of Connecticut, and five children were born to them, but only one is living, the subject of this sketch.
Alson Howard Eggleston was but one year old upon the death of his mother, after which he was taken to the home of his grandfather, Freeman Howard, in Portage County, Ohio. He resided there until he was twelve years of age and attended the district schools. He then went to live with his father at Greenup, Ky., and continued with him in the various states in which he
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1075
lived until the fall of 1861. When the latter was engaged in mining, our subject was employed as cook in the camps and acted as such until he located in Cache la Poudre. In 1861 he went to Junction City, Kan., and in the spring of the following year offered his services to the government, which were refused owing to his youth. However, he was accepted as a teamster at Fort Union, N. Mex., but returned to Kansas a few months later. He was then permitted to enlist in Company E, Second Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, and served faithfully for three years, lacking six days, participating in a number of important engagements. He met with many thrilling adventures, but always exhibited great daring and coolness in the face of danger. At Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Ark., he received a severe wound upon the right hand, but fought on with unflagging energy. He was present at the taking of Van Buren and Fort Smith on the Arkansas River, in the former engagement being knocked from his horse by a piece of flying shell; he was stunned, but in a few minutes he pluckily regained his saddle and was up with his comrades. He received his honorable discharge in 1865, and then went to Leavenworth, Kan. There he was married and resided until July 26, 1866, when he and his wife started for their present home, making the journey with one span of horses. Upon reaching his destination, he purchased the estate of his father and began farming, his specialty being the dairy business, in which he has been more than ordinarily successful. Besides the original tract of one hundred and sixty acres, he acquired an equal amount from the government by pre-emption, which he now owns. He is a man of great industry and enterprise, and has improved his farms to such an extent that they are unsurpassed in that section. He is a man of excellent character, is very popular and numbers many friends.
August 24, 1865, Mr. Eggleston married Miss Eliza Cook, of Leavenworth, Kan., whose acquaintance he formed through her brother, who was a member of the same company as he; he was left upon the field of battle badly wounded and upon the following day his life was brought to a close by a rebel. This happy union was blessed by twelve children, namely: George H., who died at the age of twelve years; Clara Ann, who became the wife of Charles Austin and lives in Douglas County; Alice M., the wife of Benjamin Hudson, of the same county; Sadie Lorette, the wife of George Kelty, of Douglas County; Eva W., who married Anson Brackett, of Douglas County; Earl A., a resident of Douglas County; Mary A., the wife of Edward McCasland, who lives in Douglas County; Kate, Earl and Henry, who are at home with their parents; and Dora and Charles, both deceased.
Our subject has always been an ardent Republican and cast his first vote for Lincoln, while in the service. In 1884 he was elected county commissioner, and served with such satisfaction as to gain the re-election three years later. He was general road-overseer for two terms, deputy county clerk for the same length of time, and was also elected justice of the peace, but as the duties of that office proved uncongenial to him he soon relinquished it. He is a member of Castle Rock Lodge No. 27, A. O. U. W., of which he has been master workman; and of the J. G. Blunt Post, G. A. R., of which he is past commander, has been chaplain, and is now serving as adjutant. In religious attachment, he is a faithful member and a class-leader of the Methodist Episcopal Church, having attended the church of that denomination since childhood. He takes an active interest in Sunday-school work, and has been superintendent.
OL. F. F. OSBISTON, of Idaho Springs, was born January 23, 1843, the seventeenth in a family of twenty-two children, eight of whom attained maturity and six are now living. Robert lives at Sydney, New South Wales, and is editor of the journal of the Institute of Bankers. The other brothers and sisters are still living in England. Their parents, Samuel and Ann (Long) Osbiston, were natives respectively of Derby, Derbyshire, and Norfolk. The father ran a flour-mill in Norfolk until shortly before he died, when in his sixty-fifth year. The mother died in 1878. The grandfather, Thomas Osbiston, was born in Derbyshire and removed to Norfolk, where he carried on a farm. The family name was originally Oshaldistone and was shortened to its present form at the time the clan removed from the southern part of Scotland to the country further south.
In his boyhood Colonel Osbiston attended the
1076
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Snettisham grammar school. After finishing his studies he obtained a position as a clerk in the London and Westminster Bank, remaining there from 1861 to 1864. That year he came to the United States as the secretary of an English mining company. Proceeding to the present site of Reno, Nev., in their interests, he soon was made superintendent of the Washoe Mining Company. Gaining valuable experience in the next few years, he became secretary and assistant superintendent of the Yellow Jacket, on the Comstock lode, of Gold Hill and Virginia City, near Gold Hill, Nev. Later he was the confidential agent and mine expert of the Bank of California (under Ralston & Sharon), then operating numerous mines. At the end of three years the Bonanza firm of Mackey, Flood, Fair & O'Brian appointed him superintendent of the Savage mine of the Comstock lode. Subsequently he held similar positions in the Gould and Curray mine and in the Best and Belcher mines. In 1879, the colonel, in company with Messrs. Mackey, Rosener and Roberts, purchased the Freeland mine at Freeland, Clear Creek County. He was installed as manager and the firm was incorporated as the Freeland Mining Company. In connection with the mines a concentrator and a smelter were operated at each mine, and everything was conducted under the most approved modern methods. The Freeland mine, which was bought for $235,000, produced about $3,000,000, under the energetic and able management of our subject. He controlled the Hukill, now the Stanley mine, for a number of years, selling out his interest in the same in 1892, after he had taken out nearly $1,000,000 worth of ore. He and his brother-in-law, Horace White, of New York City, own the Freeland Extension mine property, one of the finest in this section. The development of the Freeland mine was of great general benefit to this region, bringing it into prominence as it had never been before, and from that time to the present its growth and prosperity have been truly wonderful.
Colonel Osbiston has been a recognized leader in the Republican party for many years. In 1882 he was elected to represent Clear Creek County. in the state legislature and served in the fourth general assembly. In 1884 he had the honor of being a presidential elector, standing by Blaine and Logan, and four years later he was similarly singled forth, that time using his influence for Harrison and Morton. While living in Nevada he was a member of Governor Blaisdell's staff, having the rank of colonel. Later he held the same office under Governors Bradley and Adams, though they were both Democrats. At another time he was appointed to a like post of honor on Gay. J. B. Grant's staff, but declined. He has maintained unflagging interest in the welfare of Idaho Springs since casting in his lot here and has served as a member of the town board and the school board several terms. In July, 1898, he was a delegate to the International Mining Congress in Salt Lake City.
Initiated into the Masonic fraternity in Reno, Nev., in 1873, Colonel Osbiston became a Royal Arch Mason in Virginia City the following year, and in the same city was made a Knight Templar in 1877. He retains his membership with the same lodges. Religiously he is an Episcopalian. In 1871 he married Miss Frances Hinman, in Virginia City. She is a native of Beloit, Wis. The only child of this marriage is Bessie, wife of Oscar Lachmund, superintendent of the Kilton Sampling Works, of Idaho Springs.
Learning the tinner's trade Mr. Kelton followed it for a year or more, and afterward worked at other occupations. In 1870 he went to Kansas and from there to New Mexico, where he remained one year. Then coming to Colorado, he farmed government land near Trinidad for a year, but was cheated out of his crops, so made noth-
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