HERBERT J. THOMPSON.
Mardos Collection
HERBERT J. THOMPSON.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1079
ing out of the venture. Coming to Denver he worked in and about this city, and also in the mountains; later herded cattle for some years in El Paso County. His next experiment was the purchase of sheep, which he pastured on his present property of one hundred and sixty acres. At this writing he gives his attention largely to general farming, although he also engages in stockraising to some extent.
In June, 1878, Mr. Kelton married Mrs. Adelgunda (Ulo) Maul, who was born in Saxony, and came to this country in girlhood. In politics Mr. Kelton always voted the Democratic ticket until the campaign of 1896, when he favored the gold standard and cast his ballot for President McKinley.
ERBERT J. THOMPSON, former treasurer of Weld County, and one of the prominent agriculturists of northern Colorado, is a native of Wisconsin, having been born in Thompsonville, Racine County, August 27, 1858. He is of Scotch ancestry. His grandfather, Robert Thompson, emigrated from Scotland to America about 1815, settling in Munson, Conn., but in 1838 removed to Racine, Wis., and became one of the pioneers of that section. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and was actively and prominently identified with the growth and development of Racine County. His family consisted of five sons and four daughters, our subject's father, John, being seventh in order of birth.
The latter was born in Connecticut, and at the time of his parents' removal to Wisconsin was about sixteen. His education was acquired in the public schools of Munson and Madison, Wis., and until attaining his majority he assisted in the carrying on of the home farm. He then purchased a place of his own, but in 1871, desiring to take advantage of the fertility of Colorado, he became a member of the Union colony and removed to this state, settling four miles northwest of Greeley. He there engaged in improving a tract of two hundred acres, which under his judicious management is now one of the most valuable properties in this region. In 1891 he retired from active business life, and placed his property under the management of his son-in-law, Max Gerry. He has been twice married, first to Mary Lombard, a native of Connecticut, who became the mother of four children: Herbert J., of this sketch; William O., a resident of North Platte, Neb.; Ellen, who died when four years old; and Mary, Mrs. Max Gerry.
Herbert J. Thompson received his early education in the public school of Thompsonville, and on his removal to Colorado completed his studies at Greeley. He assisted his father in the management of his property from an early age and remained with him until the spring of 1881, when, in company with his brother, William O., he purchased a tract of three hundred and twenty acres two miles northwest of Eaton, and in 1884 acquired the sole ownership. Since then he has added from time to time until the present, now being the owner of four hundred and eighty acres, the larger part of which is leased to tenants. On the remainder he carries on general farming, and the prominent position which he has attained among the farmers of northern Colorado is due to his untiring energy and correct business methods. He is also interested in the buying and fattening of lambs for the Chicago markets, wintering on the average two thousand five hundred. He was one of the organizers and first directors of Larimer and Weld reservoir, one of the largest in the state, and is also a stockholder in the Greeley National Bank.
Since attaining his majority, Mr. Thompson has been active in political matters, and a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He has served four years as road supervisor and two terms as a member of the board of school directors, and was secretary of the latter body. In 1889 he was nominated - and elected by a flattering majority - treasurer of Weld County, and on the expiration of his term re-elected for a second. During his incumbency of the office, his administration of its affairs was such as to cause entire satisfaction to the general public. He clearly demonstrated the possession of executive ability of a high order and as an appreciation of the high regard in which he is held he has recently been nominated, by the Republicans, as candidate for the state legislature. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World; and is also a member of Forest City Lodge No. 31, K. of P., Poudre Valley Lodge No. 12, I. O. O. F., of Greeley; and Camp No. 130, Woodmen of the World, of Eaton.
47
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. February 3, 1885, Mr. Thompson married Fannie M., daughter of Charles C. Searing, of Westchester, Westchester County, N. Y. To them have been born six daughters: Helen H., Hattie, Frances M., Amy, Martha E. and Grace.
ONATHAN P. KELLY, who owns and occupies a ranch of four hundred acres four miles north of Sedalia, Douglas County, was born in the town of Wayne, Ashtabula County, Ohio, and is a son of Cyril and Abigail (Folsom) Kelly. His father, who was a stone mason, moved to the town of Green, Trumbull County, in the same state, and there were passed the boyhood days of the subject of this sketch. He was born January 19, 1829, and was a young man of twenty years when, in 1849, he went to Kane County, Ill. There he learned the carpenter's trade and was fortunate in receiving wages from the start of his apprenticeship.
While in Kane County, March 27, 1851, Mr. Kelly married Miss Esther M. Berry, who was then living in Kane County, but was born in Erie County, Pa., a daughter of Henry and Deborah (Miller) Berry. In 1860 Mr. Kelly crossed the plains with an ox-team, and after a journey of six weeks arrived in Denver on the 20th of June. In that city he worked at his trade during the summer, and in the fall of the same year he took a squatter's claim to one hundred and sixty acres, comprising a part of his present farm. In September, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Colorado Home Guards, for six months. His company and another were left to guard Denver, while the remainder of the regiment was sent to the front. At the expiration of the six months he was offered a commission in the Second Colorado Infantry, but as he had a wife and two children to care for he thought it best to refuse. Returning home he gave his attention to his farm and the hauling of wood to Denver, and was prosperous from the first. In the early days he was known as a skillful hunter, and by the aid of his rifle he provided deer and antelope for his family.
Reared in the Whig faith, in 1852 Mr. Kelly voted for John P. Hale, the free-soil candidate for president. Four years later he voted for John C. Fremont, and in 1876 for R. B. Hayes, since which time he has continued to support Republican candidates. At one time there was a postoffice (known as Keystone) on his ranch, and he served as postmaster for two years. When a child he attended the Methodist Episcopal Church, his parents being identified with that denomination, but during his residence in Illinois he joined the Baptist Church, to which he has since belonged. He and his wife became the parents of four children. The oldest son, Everett B., who was born in Kane County, Ill., married Miss Amy Houghten, by whom he had one child. By occupation he was a miner. He died on Decoration day of 1898, at Anaconda, Colo., of heart disease. The second son, William C., who was born in Kane County, married Miss Lillie Snyder and is living on his father's farm. The third son, Walter, who was born in Colorado, died at two years of age and is buried in the family cemetery, on the home farm. The only daughter, Emma, is the wife of Berlin F. Roberts, of Anaconda, a miner, and they have one child, Esther.
A native of Golconda, Pope County, Ill., the subject of this sketch is a son of Joseph Linder, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, but emigrated to America and settled in Golconda, Ill., where he engaged in business for many years. He died there when seventy years of age, having long survived his wife, who died when our subject was fourteen. There were three sons and one daughter in the family, J. H. being the youngest of the number. His brothers are both in Colorado, J. V. being in Jefferson County and D. C. in Denver. The sister, Barbara C., is the wife of Charles Hacker, and they reside at Golconda.
After having attended the public schools for a number of years, our subject was apprenticed to
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1081
the tinsmith's trade in Golconda and served a term of three years, from fourteen years of age to seventeen. In 1877 he went to Indiana, but remained there for a short time only, soon going back to Golconda, where he carried on business as a dealer in ice. In 1882 he came to Colorado and settled in Golden, where for a time he was employed as a clerk in a hardware store. In 1887 he bought out H. S. Van Gorden, and with a partner, under the firm name of Parker & Linder, carried on business for a year. He then bought out the other member of the firm and carried on the business alone, but when Mr. Parker had regained his health he again became financially interested in the concern, and the name was changed to J. H. Linder & Co. In 1895 Mr. Parker sold his interest a second time and Mr. Linder has since been alone. He has a warehouse in connection with the store, and carries implements of all kinds, also manufactures articles from tin and sheet metal, and in addition carries on a plumbing and heating business.
Politically Mr. Linder is a Democrat. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows. His marriage occurred in Golden and united him with Miss Hattie K Sherick, a lady of amiable disposition and a lifelong resident of Colorado. She is a daughter of W. W. Sherick, who settled in the Gilpin district in 1860, but since 1878 has resided in Jefferson County, where he is engaged in farming and fruit-growing.
RNEST L. BICKFORD, M. D., is one of the successful young physicians of the Boulder County medical fraternity. He has been occupied in the practice of his profession in Longmont for the past five years and has won the respect and good will of all who know him. He is a member of the Boulder County Medical Society, the Whatcom County (Wash.) Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He keeps thoroughly abreast of the times in all discoveries and new methods adopted by his professional brethren, and while he is sufficiently conservative he is not out of the march of progress in his chosen field of labor.
Dr. Bickford is one of the two children of I. F. and Calista Hale (Hall) Bickford. The father was born in Rochester, N. H., and in 1859 went to Minnesota, where he was one of the pioneer farmers. During the war he was a soldier in a Minnesota regiment. He continued to live in that state until 1894, when he removed to Seattle, Wash., and has since been engaged in a mercantile business there. His mother was a Miss Hayes before her marriage, and her ancestry dates back to the early Puritan colony in Massachusetts. Mrs. Calista H. Bickford was born in Massachusetts, and conies from good old Revolutionary stock. Her mother, a Miss Hale prior to her marriage with Mr. Hall, was a relative of the celebrated Nathan Hale, who was a spy in the service of the American army during the war of the Revolution and was unfortunately captured by the British, and as the important papers which he had in his possession left no doubt as to his object in venturing within the lines of the enemy, he was hung, with small ceremony. The heroic young man's last words were these, that have thrilled the souls of thousands of patriots since, "My only regret is that I have but one life to give for my country." Both the Halls and the Hales can be traced back to the first settlement of Massachusetts.
The doctor was born in Fairmont, Martin County, Minn., April 1, 1866, and with his brother, Arthur F. who is now a merchant in Seattle, Wash., grew to manhood. He attended the public schools and the high school at Winnebago, after which he graduated from a Minneapolis business college. The following year he engaged in teaching school, and next took up the study of medicine under Dr. Fred Hunt, of Fairmont. After he had mastered the elementary department of medical work and science he entered the Missouri Medical College, and three years later, in 1890, received the degree of Doctor of Medicine, upon his graduation. His initial steps as a physician were taken in Fairhaven, Wash., where, in addition to conducting a general practice, he was on the surgical staff of St. James Hospital. In 1893 he came to Longmont and at once entered upon a career that has been most gratifying. His office is conveniently situated in the town, being on Main street.
Dr. Bickford is a member of Longmont Lodge No. 29, I. O. O. F., and is a past officer of the encampment at Columbus, No. is. He is also a Knight of Pythias, belonging to Fairhaven Lodge No. 56, and is medical examiner for the Pacific circle, Woodmen of the World, of which
1082
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. he is a member. Since his college days be has been a member of the alumni association of the Missouri Medical College. Politically he is identified with the Republican party.
In 1892 Dr. Bickford married Miss Belle Dearle, in Fairhaven, Wash. She was born in London, England, and is a daughter of Edward Dearle. The doctor and wife have two children, Ernest D. and Pansy May.
The boyhood years of our subject were spent largely in Meadville, Pa., and his education was obtained in public schools. For a few years he was employed in a foundry at Meadville, Pa. In 1856 he went to Louisville, Ky., and for ten years carried on a gold pen manufacturing business, but his health became so poor that he was obliged to close out the business and seek a more healthful climate. Coming to Colorado, he settled at Central City, where, as soon as his health improved, he began to prospect and mine, becoming the owner of interests in between fifty and sixty mines. After the $100 act was passed in 1878, he went to Golden, and for ten years conducted a mercantile business. He had a fine residence in the town and still owns property there.
In 1878 Mr. Hill came to Weld County, where he took up government and railroad land and began farming and stock-raising. He is now one of the largest stockmen in the county, having a large number of fine horses, cattle and hogs. On settling at his present place he built a ditch from the Highland ditch to his farm, a distance of seven miles. He also owns Pleasant Lake of fifty acres, winch he uses for private irrigation. The property which he now possesses represents his unaided efforts, for he came to Colorado a poor man and without assistance from others he has pushed his way forward to success. His prosperity shows that a poor man can attain a competency in this state, and become well-to-do, influential and successful, if he has energy and perseverance.
Politically Mr. Hill has never identified himself with any party, but votes for the best man for the place. Since 1860 he has been identified with the Masons and Odd Fellows; in the former lodge he is past master and in the latter he has become identified with the encampment. He was united in marriage in 1862, with Miss Elizabeth Tipton, an estimable lady, who shares with him the regard of acquaintances.
In the city of London our subject grew to manhood. The advantages he received in the way of an education consisted of only three or four weeks' schooling in his early years. While he was yet a small lad he began to assist his father in the store, also made a little money as newsboy, and was engaged later in the marketing of fruits and vegetables in Victoria Dock road, near the Thames iron works. In 1871 he set sail for America. For a year after arriving here he was employed in the paper mills at Hyde Park, Mass. He then went to Kinsley, Edwards County, Kan., where he engaged in the stock business, pre-empting a homestead of two hundred and forty acres, upon which he erected suitable buildings and made other improvements. Afterward he gave eighty acres to his father and eighty to
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1083
his wife, reserving the remaining eighty for himself. Upon his part of the estate the father still resides.
While in Kansas Mr. Key was a prime mover in locating the county-seat of Edwards County. In the fall of 1873 he came to Blackhawk, Colo., where he was a feeder in the Fullerton mills, but in less than three years he was made superintendent of the mills on North Clear Creek, and there he remained for nearly twenty years. He was actively engaged in operating the Lone Star mine and the Robert Emmett mine of Chase Gulch, in both of which he was moderately successful. In 1893 a partnership was formed with Mr. Olden, John Beattie and our subject, the Gilpin mill being the outcome. Mr. Olden is a fine mechanic and the building was erected mainly by him, while the practical management of it is left in the hands of Mr. Key. About two years after this partnership was formed, Mr. Beattie sold his interest in the business to Mr. Jenkins, and the company have so continued to this time. This is a fifty-stamp mill and is run by steam power, having two engines and steel boilers of eighty-horse power. This enterprise is conducted on the most unproved methods, and no trouble or expense is spared to make the work first-class in every respect and obtain the best possible results. They use the plate amalgamation and bumper concentration, and it has run continuously since it was built in 1894, giving perfect satisfaction. They put in a siding from the Gulf Railroad, which greatly facilitates conveying the different kinds of ore to their mill. The success of the Gilpin mill is due to the untiring and well-directed energy of its manager, John Key, whose shrewd business foresight is well recognized in the community.
Mr. Key married Miss Maria Elizabeth Farming, who, like himself, was a native of London. The ceremony which united them was performed in St. Thomas Church of that metropolis. Four children, now living, have been sent to brighten their home: Harry Richard, Emma Elizabeth, William James and Raymond Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Key are communicants of the Episcopal Church. He is an ardent Republican and formerly took an active part in all political affairs until his steadily increasing business required his entire time and attention. He was elected alderman of Blackhawk one term, and was mayor pro tem to fill a vacancy. He was also a member of the school board one term, and lent valuable aid to the cause of education. He is a member of Blackhawk Lodge No. 11, A. F. & A. M.; and has been a member of the Odd Fellows for upwards of twenty years, serving as past chief of the encampment. He is an open hearted, liberal citizen, a man of sterling worth, and is deservedly popular throughout the county.
AMUEL R. HUFFSMITH, a representative and prominent farmer and stock-raiser, carrying on operations on section 26, township 5, range 6, Weld County, was born January 15, 1846, in Monroe County, Pa., and is a son of Adam and Sarah A. (Rees) Huffsmith, also natives of Pennsylvania. His father, who engaged in farming in Pennsylvania until his removal to Iowa in 1852, resided in the latter state until 1864, when he located in Colorado, one year after our subject came here. He conducted a hotel in Denver for some time, and then settled on a farm northwest of that city, which he later sold. His next home was near Evans, in Weld County, where he followed farming and stock-raising until his death, which occurred February 22, 1889. In his family were six sons and six daughters, and all reached years of maturity with the exception of two daughters. The sons are: Samuel R., of this sketch; Peter, who is engaged in the implement business in Greeley; Milton, who died in Minnesota; William, residing in Evans with his mother, who is now seventy-eight years of age; Albert, also a resident of Evans; and Charles, the editor and proprietor of the Evans Courier.
The subject of this sketch spent the first five years of his life in Pennsylvania and then was taken by his parents to Delaware County, Iowa, where he made his home until 1863, in the meantime acquiring such an education as the district schools of the locality afforded and obtaining an excellent knowledge of agricultural pursuits. With his sister Emma and her husband, Daniel Westover, he came overland with an ox-team to Colorado, arriving in Denver, July 3, 1863. The following August he enlisted in Company G, First Colorado Cavalry, under Colonel Chivington, and remained in the service until the close of the war, being most of the time stationed on
1084
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. the frontier in New Mexico and Colorado, though a portion of the command was ordered to Missouri. He saw a great deal of hard service, And the most severe engagement in which he took part was the battle of Sand Creek, Colo., with the Indians. When hostilities ceased he was honorably discharged at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., November 18, 1865.
At the close of the war, Mr. Huffsmith located in Pottawatomie County, Kan., where he engaged in farming. He was married there, December 7, 1869, to Miss Rachel C. Gillespie, a native of Pittsburg, Pa., and a daughter of Mathews A. and Martha A. (Carnahan) Gillespie. Seven children were born of this union, four sons and three daughters, namely: William R., who is now conducting the home farm; Milton B., a resident of Denver; Edward, who operates the farm of his grandmother Huffsmith; Jennie, wife of Colin Caddow, an expressman and employe of the Electric Light Company of Denver, Colo.; Maude, Harry and Rachel A., who are residing with their parents.
Mr. Huffsmith remained in Kansas until the fall of 1878, when he came to Weld County and at first operated rented land. Having accumulated some capital, in 1881 he purchased his present farm of eighty acres, and to general farming and stock-raising has since devoted his attention with good success, keeping from fifty to one hundred head of stock. Formerly he was quite extensively interested in the raising of horses. He was one of the organizers of the Evans cheese factory, being in reality the originator of the same, and he does a large dairy business, keeping on hand for this purpose twenty head of cows.
Mr. Huffsmith has always taken quite an active and prominent part in public affairs, and originally supported the Republican party, but is now independent in politics. He served as a delegate to the different conventions of his party, and for two terms most capably filled the office of justice of the peace. Fraternally he is a member of Prosperity Lodge No. 109, I. O.O. F., of Evans; and W. T. Sherman Post No. 23, G. A. R., of which he is past commander, and which he has represented a number of times in the grand posts. At one time he also held membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has provided his children with good educational advantages, sending them to school in Evans and Greeley, and he has most efficiently served as president of the school board most of the time since coming to Colorado. For the success that he has achieved in life he deserves great credit for from an early age he has made his own way in the world unaided, and by his perseverance, enterprise and good management he has become quite well-to-do.
In November of 1898, Mr. Huffsmith was elected county commissioner for a term of three years, having received his election on the silver Republican ticket.
D. ELLIS, alderman of Idaho Springs and proprietor of a fine livery and feed stable, came to this state August 4, 1864, and for many years engaged in teaming to the mountains. He began driving before he was large enough to harness his own teams and has been most industrious all his life. He was born in Adrian County, Mo., the son of Amos and Mary R. (Chitwood) Ellis. Amos Ellis was born in Shelby County, Ky., and moved to Adrain County, Mo., where he followed his trade of shoemaking. In 1864 he came to Idaho Springs and began gulch mining. He died in 1896, while on a visit to West Virginia. His wife, Mary (Chitwood) Ellis, was born in Ralls County, Mo., and moved with her parents to Kentucky. She now resides in Idaho Springs. There were children as follows: John and Milton, who were killed in the war; Sarah, who resides in West Virginia; Amanda, who died in Missouri in 1897; Hiram, who lives in Castle Rock, Colo.; Henry, in Idaho Springs; Jane, who died in Pueblo; and I. D., the youngest and subject of this biography.
Mr. Ellis was born May 11, 1856, and came to this state with his parents when he was eight years old. They crossed the plains with an ox-train and were three months on the way, coming through Omaha and up the Platte, reaching Denver July 1, 1864, and the 4th of the next month stopped at Idaho Springs. He secured his first work and began it the next day, driving a horse on the Seaton mine. He went to school during the winters, and after a long time began driving freight teams. He drove a bull-team from Cheyenne to the mountains before the railroad was completed to Denver. Later he worked in livery stables until 1886, and then bought out Turner's
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1085
livery business, which he has since conducted. He also conducts a feed, grain and hay store and handles coal and wood. His coal sheds are two blocks west, on a siding of the Gulf Railroad, while the offices are on Miner street and First avenue. His livery stable is in the basement of the same, where he also has his feed and sale stable. He is still engaged in hauling; has now three four-horse teams through this, Gilpin and Boulder Counties, engaged in heavy hauling, such as lumber, ore and freight.
In this place Mr. Ellis married Miss Mary R. Batchelder, who was born in Canada, and is a daughter of Charles Batchelder, now of this city. They have one child, Nettie. Mr. Ellis is a member of the board of aldermen, serving first from 1895 to 1897, and in 1898 was again elected. He is chairman of the committee on streets and alleys, public buildings and the cemetery, and a member of other committees. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is finance keeper of the Knights of the Maccabees. He was a member of the chamber of commerce from its organization. Politically he votes with the People's party.
Mr. Owen was born in October, 1846, in Lexington, Miss., and remained there until the war began. He left school in the spring of 1862 to enlist in Company A, Thirty-eighth Mississippi Confederate Volunteers, and was in the siege of Vicksburg and a number of other engagements. He was captured eleven times, but made his escape each time except once, at Vicksburg, where he was kept until paroled. The last year he was scout under General Forrest and surrendered with him in Alabama. He was orderly sergeant of the company in Vicksburg, and later was mounted scout, as captain of from twelve to sixty men. He was slightly wounded at different times during the engagement, and when he surrendered it was with the determination that his gun would be taken up by him again only in defense of the stars and stripes. After the close of the war he borrowed some money and began a mercantile business at Durant, Miss. He was very successful there and also in Lexington and Crystal Springs, In 1873 a number of the banks failed and he was obliged to go down, as did so many others during those panicky times. He settled up his affairs and six years later the story of the great discoveries at Leadville determined him to come to this state and try to repair his ruined fortune. Accordingly he started for Denver, but came instead to Idaho Springs, where he went to work about the mines in order to learn all about mining. In fifteen months he had made over $2,000 and he then brought his family and settled down there and engaged in mining and prospecting. He developed the Dove's Nest on Seaton Mountain, and spent over $80,000 before he took out any ore, and also managed the Silver Glance. He is now manager of the Sun and Moon Mining and Milling Company located on Seaton Mountain, and owns and controls the Gum Tree Mining Company. He is a practical miner, studying his mines and knowing to a certainty just what to do. The Gum Tree mine pays the highest wages of any mine in this county, which fact is fully appreciated by the many men in his employ. He owns some valuable mining property.
In Lexington, Miss., Mr. Owen married Miss Fannie Thurmond, who was born in Kemper County, that state, and whose father, Thomas Thurmond, owned a large plantation which is now in her possession. She was related to the statesman, Allen G. Thurman. They have two
1086
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. children: Mary, a graduate of Wolfe Hall, Denver, in 1885, and B. P., a practical miner in charge of Gum Tree mine. The daughter is a zealous member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Owen is an Independent silver man, was one of the original members of the chamber of commerce, and chairman of the committee on mining for many years. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. They have a beautiful residence on High street, and he owns ten acres in the corporation which some day will make a fine plat.
The Kellys are an old Virginian family. James, who was born in the Old Dominion, as was his father, engaged in farm pursuits and owned a plantation near Morgantown, Monongahela County. He married Jane Dale, of Virginia, a descendant of English ancestors, and among their children was Matthew, born in West Virginia in 1802. In an early day he removed to Ohio and from there went to Decatur County, Ind., in 1839, settling upon a farm, where he died at eighty-six years of age. His wife, Charity Howard, was born in Elizabethtown, Pa., and died in Indiana at the age of seventy-six years. Her father, Stephen Howard, removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio, where he died. During the war of 1812 he served in the American army.
Matthew and Charity Kelly had twelve children, eight of whom attained mature years, and several are still living, the doctor being the oldest of all. Two of the sons enlisted in the Civil war, Stephen as a member of an Illinois regiment and David with a company of Indiana soldiers. James was born in Ohio on the last day of 1826 and in 1839 accompanied his parents to Indiana, where he lived on a farm in Decatur County. After completing the common-school studies he taught in a primitive log schoolhouse in Decatur County for two years. Meantime he began the study of medicine with Dr. Swem, of Greensburg, and in 1853 he entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1854 with the degree of M. D. After graduating he settled in Webster County, Iowa, where he practiced his profession. There he remained until 1860, when he decided to come to Colorado. He outfitted at Topeka, Kan., and made the trip with an ox-team, reaching Denver June 11 of that year. He practiced for a year in Idaho Springs, and in 1861 removed to a farm on Clear Creek, Jefferson County, where he stocked his place with one hundred head of cattle. It was his intention to devote himself to stockraising, but so many calls for attendance upon the sick came to him that he finally decided to remove to Golden and open an office, which he did. His practice soon extended all over his own county, and into Clear Creek; Arapahoe and Gilpin Counties. To facilitate his work he found it advisable to open a drug store, and this he has conducted since 1866. For some years he has not engaged in active practice, but a few families who have long had him as attending physician still insist upon his presence during illness, finding his ministrations more satisfactory than those of a stranger could be. The most of his practice, however, he has relinquished to his son, John Perry, who graduated from the State University medical department in 1881 and is said to be one of the finest physicians in this part of the state.
On the Republican ticket, in 1866 and 1868 Dr. Kelly was elected treasurer of Jefferson County. Several times he has been elected mayor of Golden and he also served as alderman until he refused further nomination. He was made a Mason in Homer, Iowa, and is now a member of Golden Lodge No. 1, A. F. & A. M., of which he has five times been past master. He also belongs to Golden Chapter No. 5, R. A. M., in which he is a past officer; and is identified with Colorado Commandery No. 1, K. T., at Denver, and El Jebel Temple, N. M. S. His son, John Perry, is a thirty-second degree Mason and also belongs to the state and national medical associations.
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