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Chagres (now Colon), the Peruvian government encouraged the manufacture of silk of all kinds, which induced Mr. Chamberlain to engage in the manufacture of silk. He introduced the mulberry into that country from the United States, obtaining the eggs of the silk worm from France. He sent to his father, who was a mechanical engineer and inventor, for a small machine for reeling and twisting the silk from the cocoons. His first experience was personal and individual, three hundred miles inland, and was successful. The Peruvian government becoming interested, contracted that the business was to be established in Lima, and there the Jesuit convent was placed at his disposal, but the climate was not suitable for the scheme, being too near the ocean. In 1847 he severed his connection with this industry. Were it not for extending this narrative to undue length, we could chronicle many incidents of his Peruvian life and experience that would be highly interesting.
The all-important event of this period was his marriage to Miss Frances R. Allen, a young English lady, whose parents then resided in Lima. At that date the Protestant Church was not tolerated in the country, and there were no clergymen other than Catholic, so he availed himself of the right and privilege of an American in a foreign country and solicited the aid of the United States minister plenipotentiary, a Mr. Jewett, and July 28, 1846, they were, by the power and authority invested in him, declared husband and wife. Miss Alien was born in Birmingham, England, and was a daughter of Jabez Smart Allen, and a granddaughter of John Allen, both glass manufacturers. Her father made a circuit of the globe and located in Lima, there managing a glass manufactory until 1854, when he located in Chicago. Later he settled in Onawa, Iowa, where he died. Her mother was Catherine Arnold, of Henley, on the Avon, England, whose father, John Arnold, was a manufacturer there. She died in Denver, where she had joined her children.
In 1848 Mr. Chamberlain became associated with two other American residents of Lima in a mining venture, in the noted silver mining section of Cerro de Pasco, situated in the heart of the Andes. They purchased a small steam engine for raising water in the shaft of an abandoned mine. This mine had been formerly operated by the Spaniards, the native Indians working the pumps by hand, and was abandoned by them, their pumps proving inadequate for the purpose. The machinery now purchased had to be carried across the Andes to the eastern slope, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, on the backs of mules. They were the first to use steam for that purpose, although in later years it became common, and they were sanguine of reaping a fortune, as the reports of the richness of the mine led them to expect that water was the main difficulty to be overcome. But a few months of hard work and heavy expenditure served to prove the mine worthless. With the expectation of being permanently located in Pasco he had taken his family there by the only means of transportation then possible, mule back, carrying the bedding and provisions necessary for one hundred and fifty miles of mountain trail, of which Colorado experience gives no conception. Disappointed and crippled in finances, but with the sanguine disposition of early manhood, with health and energy unimpaired, he became enthused by the glowing accounts of new gold discoveries in the states, and in the early spring of 1849 took passage for California. The life experienced in those early days in California is too well known to need mention. He remained there less than two years and had in a measure retrieved his misfortune of the Cerro de Pasco venture. He remained in Lima until the spring of 1852, when he took passage with his family for the United States, by way of Panama. While residing in Lima three children were born, Helena, William J., and Fanny. The latter died in Denver in 1863, while the two former still reside in Denver. Having reached the states, he spent some weeks with his parents in Boston, but as idleness was not congenial to his nature, having completed their visit, they started westward, making a tour of the states, the only stop of any length being made at Niagara Falls until they reached Chicago. Here they remained until the fall of 1855.
Two young men made a tour through Chili and other countries in 1847 with a daguerreotype outfit, and while in Lima met Mr. Chamberlain. At that early date the sun picture was a marvel and he became greatly interested in the process. Having many leisure hours, from the nature of the business in which he was then engaged, he was induced to purchase an apparatus and mate-
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rial from them to use as a recreation. For the outfit and instruction he paid several hundred dollars, a large slim for such things in these days. By improving his leisure hours in practice, he soon became quite proficient, and being greatly interested in the art, he decided, upon his arrival in Chicago to make it his business and hung out his sign on Lake Street. The chemicals used in the daguerreotype business are decidedly unhealthy, and they, with close application to the business, so affected his health that he found it necessary to retire altogether from the work. About that time he became acquainted with parties from the New England states who had formed a company to locate a township in northwestern Iowa. The agent sent to locate and report on this subject gave such promising accounts of the country that he decided to make a trial of pioneer life, so in the fall of 1855, in company with his brother-in-law, John L. Lay, and wife, started with teams and outfit for Iowa. Mr. Lay became the inventor of torpedoes used in the Civil war and one was used to destroy the "Albemarle," in the James River. The location of the new colony in Iowa proved to be unfortunate, as their lands bordered the Little Sioux River, which overflowed every spring, and their buildings and fences were destroyed by prairie fires. He battled with these adversities until 1859, when he decided to leave Iowa and seek a home elsewhere. The Pike's Peak excitement of that date is well remembered, and with a suitable outfit he started for this land of promise. This was the spring of the great stampede from Colorado; hundreds of returning emigrants gave such discouraging reports that many were induced to turn back. But with him there was no turning back; his Iowa experience propelled him on, but, instead of Denver as the goal, he pushed on to California with a small number of the original party, and arrived there in the fall without mishap or adventure. He returned from California in the winter of 1860, intending to take his family back with him in the spring. His family had now increased to five by the addition of Kate and Walter, and his wife was in such poor health that she was not able to stand the fatigue of travel, so he decided to come to Denver that spring, bring his family later, spend the winter in the city, and the following spring travel overland, by Salt Lake City, to California. In due time the family arrived and after the winter's sojourn, improved health and other considerations, decided him to make Denver their permanent home. As previously mentioned, the daguerreotype foreshadowed his future line of business, he having been very successful with it in Chicago. But the march of invention is ever onward, and the ambrotype and tin-type had advanced to the front and were the pictures of the day. He opened his business in Denver in the fall, having spent the summer in Middle and South Parks. Soon the improved picture, the photograph, came into prominence, and this opened the way for the production of views of our mountain scenery, and while continuing his business in Denver he devoted his personal attention every summer to obtaining view negatives in every part of the state, thus laying the foundation for extensive production of Colorado views of the grandest scenery to be found, and which are prized souvenirs in homes the world over. In 1881 he disposed of his business and has not since been engaged in active operations of that nature.
Mr. Chamberlain was the father of six children. Helena, Mrs. Robert James, lives in Denver; W. J. is a member of the firm of W. J. Chamberlain & Co., ore brokers, of Denver; Fanny died here in 1863, at the age of twelve years; Lucy died in Iowa when four years old; Kate, Mrs. Frank Dillingham, resides in Denver; and Walter A. lives in Boulder and is manager of the W. J. Chamberlain Company's sample works there. Politically Mr. Chamberlain is a Republican and a strong silver man.
ON.
JAMES F. GARDNER, a retired farmer and stock-raiser of Castle
Rock, Douglas County, was born near Attica, Wyoming County, N. Y.,
November 2, 1833, and is a son of Neadham Adolphus and Mehitable
(Moulten) Gardner. His paternal ancestors were of Scotch stock.
His grandfather, Flinton M. Gardner, was born in Broomfield,
Mass., and served in the war of the Revolution. Our subject's
father was also born in Broomfield, but soon after his marriage
removed to the vicinity of Attica, Wyoming County, N. Y., his
father going there at the same time. Both engaged in farming and
continued to reside there until death.
In 1856, when twenty-two years of age, the
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subject of this sketch went to the territory of Nebraska and settled in Burt County, forty-five miles north of Omaha, where he secured a squatters' claim to government land. After he had been there for two years he entered government land and gradually built up a comfortable home. His trip to Nebraska was made with Col. John B. Folsom, grandfather of Mrs. Grover Cleveland, and William B. Beck, brother of the late Senator Beck of Kentucky, each of whom took up government land near his own. The trip was made by railway to Des Moines, Iowa, and from there by stage to Council Bluffs (then called Kanesville), Iowa. At Omaha Mr. Gardner hired out to William N. Byers, now of Denver, to go on a surveying expedition and went up the Platte and Elkhorn Rivers in Nebraska, remaining in the employ of Mr. Byers for four months. Meantime Mr. Folsom and Mr. Beck had laid out a town called Tekamah, and near there Mr. Gardner located his land, remaining there for three years.
During the early days of the Pike's Peak gold excitement, in 1858, Mr. Gardner fitted out a Mr. Lowry for the trip across the plains, furnishing him with a double ox-team and a wagon. In the winter Mr. Lowry sent back such glowing reports that Mr. Gardner decided to join him. He started March 15, 1859, with an ox-team, driving through with William B. Beck and George M. Chilcott, who afterward represented Colorado in congress and in the United States senate. They spent two months on the road, and arriving in Colorado, engaged in prospecting on Clear Creek. Mr. Beck was an old California miner, and, having a plan for a machine that would help to save the gold, he and Mr. Gardner had constructed such a machine in Tekamah and had hauled it in their wagon, together with sixty pounds of quicksilver, which was to be used with the machine. They found a suitable place to use the machine and there set it up, but after working for a few days they found they had neither gold nor quicksilver, they left the machine standing and never used it again. From the last reports of the machine, some one had put it away as a relic.
This closed Mr. Gardner's experience in mining. In September and October, 1859, he was very low with typhoid fever. In November he secured employment with Thomas A. Bayaud, who was engaged in the manufacture of lumber in what is now Douglas County. This brought Mr. Gardner to the locality where he has since resided. In June, 1860, he fitted out a team and began to haul lumber to Denver, which business he followed for a year, doing fairly well. Buying another team, he took a contract for logging to a mill, and during the year he was thus engaged he took a squatters' claim on Cherry Creek, near the present site of Franktown. There he made his home until 1863, when he sold the claim, and again began contracting for logging for the same mill he had been with before. He continued in that occupation until August, 1864, when the mill was closed, on account of the Indian outbreak. He was obliged to give up his contract, as two men who drove his teams for him refused to continue, on account of the danger. It being especially urgent that some shingles be gotten out to close a contract, Mr. Gardner went with his team to get a load about one mile from the mill. When about half way back he was attacked by Indians, and would have been captured and doubtless killed had not the hands at the mill, seeing his danger, rushed to his rescue and frightened the red men away. Most of the families in the neighborhood, fearful of an attack, moved away, Mr. Gardner taking some of them to California ranch, now Franktown. Having some horses running loose, he went to look for them, fearful lest they would fall into the hands of the Indians. He could not find the horses but found a man on foot, who had been at the mill and was hurrying along, as Indians were near. He took him up on his horse and they rode rapidly toward the ranch. When within one-half mile of it, the Indians thought best to give up the chase, but had the distance been any greater, both men would undoubtedly have been captured. As it was, the man who had been walking was undoubtedly saved by the kindness of Mr. Gardner. At the camp there were about sixty men and fifteen women. They organized a military company, of which Mr. Gardner was chosen the commander. He applied to the governor for arms, which were furnished. They also built a stockade of logs, eight to twelve inches in diameter, and extending a depth of eight to nine feet above the ground. In that stockade they remained from August until November.
While there Mr. Gardner was sent for by
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Colonel Shoup, of Denver, who made the proposition that if he would enlist the men into a regiment, such as preferred to go could do so, and the others could remain to guard their homes. Mr. Gardner enlisted the men and took them to Camp Wheeler, where they remained until December, serving one hundred days, with himself as commissary sergeant. In December, 1864, on being mustered out, he returned on a visit to New York state, where he remained until July of the following year. He then came back to California ranch and bought the land, with the large hotel. The travel along the road was enormous, sometimes as many as one hundred teams going by in a single day. He was successful in the hotel business, which he followed until 1867. In the meantime he acted as agent for the Denver & Santa Fe Stage Company. On renting out his hotel, he embarked in the mercantile business, which he continued for ten years. Afterward he engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1884. In 1882 he received from President Arthur a commission as Indian commissioner for the confederated bands of Ute Indians, and was one of five who settled the Indians on their reservation. The work was completed in a year and he then resigned. In October, 1883, he was appointed Indian agent with headquarters at the reservation in Utah, where he remained for three years.
January 13, 1867, Mr. Gardner married Miss Helen J. Knox, of Douglas County, a native of Champaign County, Ill., and a daughter of John and Barthena (Lyons) Knox. She accompanied her mother to Colorado in girlhood and has since made her home in Douglas County. She has five children, the eldest of whom, Grace, married Martin Tchudy and resides in Park County, Colo.; they have two children, Frank and Alfred. Frederick J., our subject's oldest son, is married and lives at La Junta, Colo.; Lilian M., wife of Daniel J. Murphy and mother of two children, lives in Denver; Lacey married Ernest Gooding and resides in Castle Rock; and Edith H., the youngest of the family, is with her parents.
Though reared a Democrat, Mr. Gardner early espoused the cause of the Republican party. While in Tekamah he served as city clerk for a year. In 1862, when Douglas County was organized, he was appointed the first county clerk and served for a year. In 1863 he was elected county treasurer. At the expiration of his term he was elected to the territorial legislature and served for two years, after which he served one term as county treasurer. In 1872 he was again elected to the legislature, and in the fall of 1876 was chosen state senator, which position he filled for four years. From 1888 to 1892 he was again a member of the senate and in 1896 was elected to the lower house. During his service in the legislature he took part in the election of United States senators seven times. He also served as chairman of a number of important committees and as a member of others. In point of years of service he is next to the oldest of all those who have served in the legislature, and his service has been as efficient as it has been long.
ALTER
M. PRIEST, who served as sheriff of Douglas County for two terms,
and whose home is on Craig ranch, near Castle Rock, was born in
Louisville, Ky., September 4, 1854, being a son of Temple G. and
Ann (Nailor) Priest. His father, who followed the carpenter's
trade, was employed as head foreman and pattern-maker for Dennis
Long, a contractor in Louisville. The son grew to manhood in his
native city and received a fair education in the public schools.
In youth he learned the blacksmith's trade and this occupation he
followed for a number of years, first in Kentucky and after 1878
in Colorado.
July 22, 1885, Mr. Priest was united in marriage with Miss Sarah J. Van Tilburg, of Castle Rock, but a native of Macon County, Mo., where she was reared and educated.
The first presidential vote cast by Mr. Priest was in 1876, when he supported Rutherford B. Hayes. Since that time he has been stanch in his allegiance to the principles of his chosen party and has always voted for its men and measures. He keeps well posted concerning the issues of the age and favors the principles of protection of home industries, and the expansion of territory, for which his party stands. In 1891 he was nominated for sheriff by the Republicans of Douglas County, but was defeated by two votes. Two years later he again became his party's candidate and this time he was successful, being elected by a majority of ninety-seven. He was again nominated for the office in 1895 and received a majority of ninety-eight. He was again nomi-
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nated in 1897, but defeated, since which time he has given his attention to ranching. Fraternally he is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Castle Rock.
ENRY
W. WILCOX, M. D., is a rising young physician and surgeon lately
located in the pretty town of Silver Plume, Clear Creek County. He
possesses an excellent education, and by experience in the world
of business gained that general knowledge which is so necessary to
success in any given line of commercial or professional work.
Since coming to Colorado he has become a member of the State
Medical Society, and in other ways has manifested his purpose to
keep thoroughly in the progressive spirit of the times.
Dr. Wilcox comes from a good old New England family. From along line of earnest, industrious, self-respecting and respected forefathers he has inherited their essentially good qualities of mind and heart, as well as of physical strength and business ability. His ancestors have been connected with the Congregational Church for generations, and he was brought up in that rule of faith. His grandfather Wilcox was accidentally killed. The parents of the doctor are both living at their old home in Middletown, Conn. The father, Walter S. Wilcox, was born in North Colebrook, Conn., and from his early manhood until he retired, a few years ago, was engaged in machinist's work. He is now in the decline of life, having reached the age of threescore and ten years. His wife, also a native of Connecticut, was Miss Martha Smith, daughter of David Smith, a farmer. Some of her Smith ancestors were in the American navy during the Revolution.
The birth of Dr. H. W. Wilcox occurred in 1868. He is the only living child of his parents, one other having died ere reaching maturity. He was educated in the grammar and high schools of Hartford, Conn. When he started out in the business world he embarked in life insurance, being employed by the old standard Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company for five years, as private secretary of the medical directors. In 1893 he came to Colorado and in the following year he entered the medical department of the University of Colorado. In 1897 he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and the same summer he succeeded Dr. Pennock in practice in Silver Plume. He devotes all his time and attention to medicine and has been very successful. In his political preferences he is a Republican. He enjoys the sincere friendship and respect of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance, wherever he goes. He married Dr. Sara S. Comacher in October, 1898.
HOMAS
JEFFERSON KING, who is a retired farmer living in Castle Rock,
Douglas County, was born near Bedford, the county seat of Trimble
County, Ky. His parents, Richard and Nancy (Williams) King, were
natives respectively of Virginia and Kentucky, and were married in
the Blue Grass state. The father, who was a farmer, owned a farm
of two hundred acres, and upon that place his ten children were
reared. The fourth of the family was the subject of this sketch.
When he was a boy there were no free schools in his locality. He
was born March 9, 1826, and at that time advantages were few in
comparison with those of the present day. However, he learned to
read and write, which was more of an education than many others
obtained in that day. When he was twenty-one he rented land and
began farming, in which way he secured his start in life.
April 10, 1851, Mr. King married Miss Mary E. Evans, who was born in Floyd County, Ind., and was about six years of age when her parents moved back to their native Kentucky. There she was reared, being given such advantages as were within the means of her father, Charles Evans, and her mother, whose maiden name was Sena Palmer. About two and one-half years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. King, in 1853, moved to Atchison County, Mo., and there he bought eighty acres of land, later adding to the property, which they improved and out of which they evolved a valuable homestead.
On account of poor health and because of the troublous war times, in 1863 Mr. King decided to move to Colorado. He drove across the plains with an ox team, spending six weeks on the road. Landing north of Denver, near Golden, he spent the winter there, and after was at Arvada for two years, cultivating land. He then moved below Denver on the Platte, and after three years in
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that place came to Douglas County, in 1863, taking a homestead on Cherry Creek. After seven years during which time he had improved the land, he traded it for his present home. He has always been a pronounced Democrat, but has never been active in local politics. With his wife he held membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Missouri, but as that denomination is not represented in this locality, they have identified themselves with the Methodist Episcopal Church south. They are the parents of six children. Their older daughter, Mary E., was first the wife of Holly Warner, by whom she had two children; she is now the wife of Alexander Bird, of Mount Rose, and four children have been born of this union. The other children of Mr. King are: John S., at home; William R., a farmer residing near Pendleton, Ore.; Charles E., who died at twenty-six years; Bellzora, who married David A. Jennings and died, leaving three children; and Thomas J., who is second lieutenant in Torrey's Rough Riders, in the war with Spain.
REDERICK
A. WILMARTH, M. D., county physician for Douglas County, local
surgeon for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company, and a
successful practicing physician of Castle Rock, was born at
Milford (now Hopedale), Mass., June 30, 1861, and is a son of Dr.
Jerome and Abbie (Munyan) Wilmarth. His boyhood days were spent in
the town of Upton, where he attended the high school, graduating
in the class of 1878. From childhood it had been his ambition to
become a physician. However, after completing his high-school
course, he entered the Massachusetts Agricultural College at
Amherst, and spent three years in study there, when failing health
obliging him to leave. For three years he was employed in the
straw shops at Upton, and during that time he regained his health.
In 1884 he entered the medical department of Harvard University,
from which he was graduated in 1888, with the degree of M. D., and
subsequently he spent one year in the city hospital at Worcester,
which privilege he earned by a competitive examination.
After practicing at Upton for a year, Dr. Wilmarth removed to Milford, where he assisted his father in practice. Three years later he was obliged, by poor health, to temporarily retire from the profession. A year later, in 1894, he came to Colorado and for two and one-half years he remained in Denver, recuperating. In March, 1897, he settled in Castle Rock, where he established himself in the general practice of his profession. Since coming here he has been surgeon for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway and also county physician. While in the east he was a member of the Massachusetts State Medical Society, but resigned on leaving the state. At this writing he is identified with the Denver and Arapahoe Medical Society.
September 11, 1838, Dr. Wilmarth married Cola L., daughter of Lambert and Mary (Brown) Gillis, of Denver. She was born in Victor, N. Y., and took the trained nurses' course in the hospital at Worcester, where she became acquainted with Dr. Wilmarth. One son has blessed the union, Frederick Jerome, who was born in Milford, Mass., November 3, 1889.
Though trained in youth in Republican principles, Dr. Wilmarth is now independent in politics, and supports the best men and the best measures, regardless of party. He was reared and confirmed in the Episcopal faith. While in Massachusetts he was made a Mason in Grafton and is still identified with the fraternity, being a member of Montgomery Lodge, F. & A. M., of Milford, Mass. Among the charter members of this well-known lodge was Paul Revere, whose signature on the charter is one of the few in existence. As a physician Dr. Wilmarth is skillful, efficient and painstaking, and has justly earned a reputation for reliability in his chosen profession.
AN
BUREN KELSEY, who served as the first sheriff of Weld County, from
1863 to 1865, is one of its substantial citizens and pioneers. He
owns a well-improved ranch on section 7, township 2, range 66, and
his postoffice is Fort Lupton. In the early days of this county he
helped in the organization of schools, and for years was one of
the members of the board of education. In other ways he assisted
in placing this region on a safe and sure basis of prosperity and
is justly entitled to a place among its representative men.
Born in Perryville, Ashland County, Ohio, April 20, 1839, our subject is one of the seven
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children of James and Sophia (Cowan) Kelsey. His father was a native of Ireland, born in the neighborhood of Dublin, and the mother, though of Irish parentage, was born near Pittsburg, Pa. The surviving brothers and sisters of our subject are all living west of the Mississippi River at present. William, Sarah and George are in Kansas, and John is in Montana.
The boyhood of Van Buren Kelsey was passed quietly upon a farm in Ohio until, in 1859, when he was twenty years old, he became infected with the gold fever. He left home with a company who were provided with two horse-teams. They went to Cincinnati, and followed the general course of the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers as far as Boonville, Mo. In Johnson County, Kan., one of the party, Jonas Brantner, bought a herd of cattle, and young Kelsey assisted him in driving them across the plains. They arrived at Cherry Creek about July 10 and camped some five miles above Denver. For the next three years our subject continued in the employ of Mr. Brantner, and by strict economy had saved enough of his earnings to enable himself to go into business on his own account. Having bought a herd of yearlings he came to Weld County and led a pastoral life for the next five years. In 1866 he took up a claim within five miles of Denver, but later sold this land to John Castor. It is now a part of the McCool ranch. In 1860 he and Jonas Brantner commenced work on the Brantner ditch, the first one made in Arapahoe County, and it still goes by the name it formerly bore. In 1876 Mr. Kelsey purchased his present ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, the boundaries of which homestead he has since increased to two hundred and forty acres. The land is watered by the Platteville Irrigating Canal and is fertile and productive. The owner has been occupied in general farming and stockraising, and has given some time and attention to the dairy business as well. His success he has wrought out by himself, without outside assistance, and he is entitled to much credit for his excellent judgment and management.
Politically Mr. Kelsey is a Democrat. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Brighton Lodge No. 78, A. F. & A. M. He was married November 30, 1868, to Miss Laura G. Bailey, daughter of Lawrence Bailey, and a native of Muskingum County, Ohio. Her father was born in Vermont. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey was blessed with seven children, all of whom are living. They are named as follows: Helen A. W., Charles B., George O., Kate I., Sophia, Wheeler and Camile.
ENRY
SEIFRIED, cashier and principal owner of the Bank of Georgetown,
is one of the most successful men of the state and is highly
esteemed in the community. He was born in Chicago, Ill., forty-six
years ago, and came to this state in the fall of 1876. His father,
Francis Seifried, was born near Frankfort, Germany, as was also
his mother, Magdaline Hammelman. They located in Chicago about
1850, and are both living. Four children blessed their union:
Henry; Frank, who is in the real-estate and loan business in
Denver; Emma, who lives in Chicago; and William, who is with Baker
Brothers of that city.
Henry, who is the oldest of the family, attended the public schools of Chicago, and after completing the grammar school took a commercial course in Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College of that city. In 1866 he went into the Merchants, Farmers and Mechanics' Saving Bank as bookkeeper, and was promoted to the position of head bookkeeper, in charge of real estate and loans. After remaining there ten years he resigned and came to Georgetown, where he bought the foundry and machine shops, now the Union Iron Works, of Georgetown, and remained with the company as president until 1879. In 1882 he started the Bank of Georgetown, incorporated it as a state bank, and brought it up to its present state of perfection. He is the principal stockholder in the institution, and has worked hard to place it on its present solid footing. It was the only bank in the city that was able to pass over the panic of 1893 without a stop or refusing to meet the demands made upon it. It does a general banking business, and he has held the position of cashier since its organization.
Besides his banking interests, Mr. Seifried is also engaged in the real-estate business and represents some of the leading old line insurance companies. He also owns and operated some good mines. He was one of the organizers and developers of the American Sisters mine at Clear Creek, one of the largest properties there, con-
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sisting of six lodes, which are now being operated. He is a director in the First National Bank of Idaho Springs, and has built several business and residence properties in Georgetown, and also owns real estate in Denver. In Pocahontas, Ill., he married Miss Cora Johnston, a native of Ohio. They have two children living: Marguerite and Ruth. In politics a Republican, Mr. Seifried has served Georgetown in the capacity of alderman, treasurer and mayor, each one term. He was made a Mason in Chicago, joining the National Lodge, A. F. & A. M., but transferred his membership to Georgetown Lodge No, 48, where he has held the post of treasurer fifteen years. He is a member of the American Bankers' Association, and spares no effort to add to the stability of his business. He is an attendant of the Presbyterian Church, of which his wife is a member.
IMON
WEST, the owner of a valuable ranch situated five miles southeast
of Longmont, Boulder County, was born in Sweden, September 21,
1849, a son of Nels and Christina (Nillsen) West. He was next to
the youngest of five children, the others being Nels, Andrew;
Mary, who still resides in Sweden; and Peter, who lives in Todd
County, Minn. His father, who was a prosperous farmer of Sweden,
was born in 1812, and attained the age of eighty years, dying in
his native land.
Our subject remained at home and assisted in the cultivation of the home farm until his thirtieth year. In 1880, having heard of the bright opportunities offered in America, he decided to cross the ocean. He took passage on the steamer "Erie," and after a voyage of thirteen days landed at old Castle Garden, New York. His ticket had been bought through to Cheyenne, Wyo., so he continued his journey westward, arriving at Cheyenne and from there proceeding to Longmont, where he secured employment with Nels Baller as a farm hand. After two years in that place he rented land and for one year engaged in farming there. Next he went to Clear Creek Valley near Arvada, where he rented land from Gust Baller and farmed for one year. On his return to Longmont he farmed for one year and then came to his present location, the old Robinson place, of three hundred and twenty acres. After three years of successful farming here, he bought the property, for which he paid $1,000 in cash and gave his note for $5,000. His crops continued good and in the course of five years the land was paid for and he was on the road to independence. The succeeding years have brought him enhanced prosperity, and he now ranks among the well-to-do farmers of his county. His success is especially commendable when it is considered that he came to this country without friends or money, and was so poor that he had no place to sleep except a bed of straw. Honesty and integrity won him many friends and his industry and perseverance pushed him forward to independence and success.
In 1883 Mr. West married Miss Anna Nielsen, a native of Sweden and his sweetheart in the old days there. After he was in a position to support a wife, he sent back to Sweden for her and she joined him in Colorado. They became the parents of four children, three of whom are living, namely: Fred, Oscar and Rosa N. One daughter, Hilda, is deceased. The surviving children are being given every advantage their parents can provide, it being their father's desire that they may have good educations and not be forced to struggle against poverty as he did. In religion he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church.
HRISTOPHER
TREZISE. The popularity of a man in this county is pretty well
estimated by the votes he receives when a candidate before the
people, and judging by this standard Mr. Trezise is one of the men
in whom is placed the highest degree of confidence and respect. In
1895 he was made the nominee of the Democratic and People's
parties as county treasurer, and was elected along with county
judge, county superintendent of schools and sheriff. The oath of
office was taken by him in January, 1896. He was re-elected in
1897, the second term to expire in 1900.
He was born August 22, 1852, in Cornwall, England, four miles from Land's End. His father, William Trezise, was also born there and was a miner, becoming chief engineer of the mines. He died at the age of sixty-nine. He married Miss Elizabeth Daniel, a daughter of Thomas Daniel, of the same vicinity. She died in England, leaving a family of fifteen children, ten of whom grew to maturity, and eight of
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whom are now living. Christopher was the thirteenth child. Four of the family are in Colorado, while a brother and two sisters live in Nevada.
Mr. Trezise was reared and educated in Cornwall, after which he entered on the life of a miner, working in the mines of his native country until 1872, when he came to America, and secured work in the iron ore mines of Dover, N. J. The next year he went to the copper mines in Michigan and worked a year, and then started for this state, reaching Central City May 20, 1874. Most of the time since coming here has been spent in prospecting and superintending mining operations. The company of which Mr. Trezise was one leased and developed the Old Colony mine, on the Prize lode, and operated it awhile, and is now interested in the Champion mine in the Nevada district, and the Mountain Rose mine in Gregory district.
In 1889 Mr. Trezise was elected assessor for Gilpin County and served from January, 1890, until the same month in 1892. In 1891 he was the Democratic nominee for treasurer, but was defeated by about sixty-four votes, and the rest of the ticket also failed. He refused the nomination in 1893, but two years later allowed his name to be placed on the ticket with the result that he was the only man on it to be elected. While in Nevadaville he was a member of the board of aldermen, and also served as treasurer for two years. He is a member of Rising Sun Lodge No. 2, Order of Red Men, the Sons of St. George, Select Friends and Knights of Pythias.
ILLIAM
B. NEELEY, secretary of the Boulder and White Rock Ditch Company,
of Longmont, was born in Lancaster, Schuyler County, Mo., July
13,, 1853. He is a son of R. S. and Judy D. (Jones) Neeley,
natives respectively of Ohio and Virginia. After having spent his
early years in Ohio, in 1845 R. S. Neeley removed to Missouri,
where he took up government land and embarked in farming, later
engaging in the stock business, and also operating a sawmill and
factory. He became a man of prominence and had a wide acquaintance
throughout his part of Missouri. On the organization of Schuyler
County he was elected the first sheriff, and the first lawsuit in
the county was tried in his house. His life in Missouri was one of
activity and was rewarded by a large degree of success. In 1879 he
disposed of the larger part of his interests in that state and
removed to Colorado, where he now resides near Alamosa, Conejos
County, in the San Luis Valley. He is now somewhat advanced in
years and for this reason does not perform the manual labor to
which he was accustomed in younger life; however, he still
superintends his large ranch and attends to all business matters
personally.
The family of R. S. Neeley consisted of seven sons and one daughter, all of whom are living. Of the four born to his first marriage, William B., the youngest, was only eighteen months old when his mother died. She was a daughter of John Jones, who was born in Virginia and spent much of his early life there, but became a pioneer of Indiana, thence removed to Missouri, and still later, in 1863, settled in Colorado. For some time he carried on farm pursuits, but afterward lived in retirement, in Boulder County, where he died at seventy-six years of age. Much of his life was given to the work of a pioneer, and he was one who was well fitted, by nature, for the responsible and arduous tasks incident to frontier life.
The boyhood years of our subject were spent in Missouri. He received such educational advantages as could be obtained in the public schools of his home neighborhood, and to the knowledge there obtained he added by self-culture, thus acquiring sufficient education to fit him for practical business life. When eighteen years of age he came to Colorado, and during the two succeeding years was engaged in teaming and freighting, then a common and profitable occupation. In 1874 he settled in Boulder County and there purchased a tract of eighty acres. This land he cultivated and improved, making of it a valuable farm. He remained there until 1890, when he came to his present home, Longmont. About 1877 he was made general superintendent of the Boulder and White Rock Ditch Company, and has been connected with the company in this capacity ever since, a longer time than any one in the state has held such a position. As secretary of the company he attends to its collections and his services are of the greatest value to its president, J. J. Beasley, as well as to the stockholders and other officers. The ditch is about thirty miles long and through it much
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of the land in this section has been made profitable. In addition to his other interests, he is financially interested in the Farmers' Milling and Elevator Company and the Farmers' National Bank and is a stockholder and director in the Longmont Electric Light and Power Company.
The marriage of Mr. Neeley took place in Boulder in 1879, and united him with Miss Mary C. Caywood, who was born in Iowa and accompanied her father, W. W. Caywood, to Colorado in 1866. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Neeley consists of four sons: Robert W., James G., William R. and Elbert E., all of whom are living, The father of Mrs. Neeley, W. W. Caywood, was a native of Kentucky and removed from that state to Iowa in 1855. There he resided until 1866 and then came to Colorado, of which state he remained a resident until his death in 1888. While in Kentucky he married Katie D. Newman, and the family resulting from this union consisted of five sons and five daughters.
Fraternally Mr. Neeley is connected with the lodge and encampment, I. O. O. F., in which he has been an officer, and he is an honorary member of the Daughters of Rebekah and Ancient Order United Workmen. Personally he is a genial, affable gentleman, whose uprightness of life and energy in business have won for him a host of friends.
EN.
GEORGE WEST, editor of the Colorado Transcript, president
of the Association of Jefferson County Pioneers and
ex-adjutant-general of the state, was born in Claremont, N. H.,
November 6, 1826, the descendant of English ancestors. His father,
Aaron, who was a native of Claremont, followed farm pursuits, and
during the war of 1812 served as sergeant. His death was the
result of an accident and occurred when he was fifty years of age.
He married Elizabeth Leslie, who was born in New Hampshire and
died in Boston, Mass., at the age of eighty-five. Of their ten
children seven attained maturity, George being the only one of the
family in Colorado. He was reared in Claremont until seventeen and
then, in 1843, went to Boston, where he worked in the composing
room of the Boston Cultivator. For three years previous he had
served at the printer's trade on the National Eagle of Claremont.
He was prospered in his work in the city and in 1853 became one of
the proprietors of the Boston Stereotype Foundry, now a large
business concern of Boston.
When the Pike's Peak excitement spread over the country he was among the first who determined to come west. In the spring of 1859 he organized a party of eight members, called the Boston Company, and they journeyed westward together. Reaching St. Joe, they traveled from there with ox-teams and arrived at the point where Golden now stands, June 12, 1859. He is the only one of the company left here now. He assisted the others in building the first house in Golden, a log structure of two stories, which, weather-boarded and painted, is still a comfortable house. Soon after settling in Golden he established the Western Mountaineer here, it being the first regularly published paper in the place. In the spring of 1860 he returned to Boston, disposed of his business interests there and bought a printing press, which he brought via mule-train to Colorado. In the spring of 1861 he sold the Western Mountaineer to a gentleman who took the plant to Canon City. He turned his attention to freighting, and made three trips between Denver and the Missouri River.
In the spring of 1862 he enlisted in the Second Colorado Infantry, and was made captain of Company H, receiving his commission from the war department. The regiment was ordered to St. Louis, where it was consolidated with the Third Colorado Infantry and made the Second Colorado Cavalry, his command becoming Company F. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged at Fort Riley, Kan., and returned to Golden. During his period of army service occurred one of the most important events of his life. In 1863 he was ordered to Colorado by General Blunt to recruit for his regiment, and after attending to these duties, he did not neglect another important, but more personal matter. He was united in marriage with Miss Eliza M., daughter of Judge T. P. Boyd, of Golden. In January, 1864, his wife joined him at Sedalia, Mo., and remained with him at the front until the close of the war, being engaged in hospital work during much of the time.
After returning to Colorado, Captain West became city editor of the Rocky Mountain News at Denver. In November, 1866, he founded the Colorado Transcript at Golden, which he still
