History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 110

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 944

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EDGAR A. HOWELL.

Edgar A. Howell, secretary and manager of the Retail Credit Men's Association of Denver, was born September 8, 1874, in Jefferson county, Colorado, a son of Cason Howell, who was born in Missouri and belongs to one of the pioneer families of Howard county, Missouri. The Howells, come of Scotch and English ancestry and among the representatives of the name were those who participated in the War of 1812. Cason Howell was reared and educated in Missouri and on removing to Colorado in 1861 took up his abode in Denver, casting in his lot with the early settlers of the city. In 1867 he removed to Jefferson county, where he still resides and where he originally homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land. During the intervening period he has successfully engaged in farming and in raising live stock. He wedded Mary Crook, a native of Tennessee and a member of one of the old pioneer families of that state of Scotch lineage. She also is living and by her marriage she has become the mother of seven children, two sons and five daughters.

Edgar A. Howell, the youngest of the family, pursued his education in the public schools of Denver, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. His early life to the age of twenty-four years was spent upon his father's farm and in 1898 he organized and established the Retail Credit Men's Association, which was incor- porated the same year. The company's business is that of furnishing to retail mer- chants a trade rating of business men and their clientage comes to them throughout the entire west. It is the only business of the kind in Colorado and was the first organiza- tion of the kind established in the United States. The company now employs on an average of fifteen people. Mr. Howell also owns farm lands and is engaged in general farming and fruit raising in Montezuma county, where he has a tract of eighty acres.

In Denver, on the 19th of December, 1898, Mr. Howell was married to Miss Grace Trimble, a native of Denver and a daughter of William G. Trimble, a pioneer settler of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Howell have a son, Chester E., who was born January 1, 1900.

Mr. Howell maintains an independent course in politics. Hc belongs to the

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Masonic fraternity, having membership in Park Hill Lodge, No. 134, A. F. & A. M. He is also a member of the Rotary Club, of the Denver Civic and Commercial Asso- ciation and of the Christian church-connections that indicate something of the nature of his interests and the rules that govern his conduct. He turns for recreation to gardening and outdoor life. He started out in the business world without financial assistance but recognized the fact that progress and advancement can be secured through earnest, persistent effort intelligently directed. He has made good use of his time and opportunities and in the establishment of the Retail Credit Men's Asso- ciation has instituted a concern that is of marked value to the business men of the west.

EDGAR A. MEAD.

Few names are as well known to the automobile trade of the west as that of Edgar A. Mead, who is the president and general manager of the White Automobile Company of Denver, distributors of the White Motor cars and trucks. This is a close corporation and the company has developed a business of large and gratifying propor- tions. Mr. Mead was born at Ledyard, New York, September 1, 1872, his parents being Alexander and Louise (Avery) Mead, who were likewise natives of the Empire state, in which they were reared, educated and married. Soon afterward they removed west- ward, settling at Greeley, Colorado, in 1878. Edgar Avery Mead, the grandfather of him whose name introduces this review, was one of the pioneers of Greeley and had come to the west with General Greeley, while Frank Avery, an uncle of Mr. Mead of this review, was a surveyor of note and laid out and surveyed the present city of Greeley. It was to that city that Alexander Mead made his way on coming to Colorado. There he established himself in the farm implement business, which he conducted extensively and successfully for many years. In the meantime he acquired large land holdings in the county and at a later period disposed of his commercial interests in order to concentrate his time and efforts upon farming and stock raising. He became one of the leading stockmen and ranch owners in that section of Colorado and still has large property holdings there, from which he derives a most gratifying annual income. He has, however, retired from active business life and for some years has spent his days in the enjoyment of well earned rest in Greeley, having reached the advanced age of seventy-eight years, while his wife has reached the age of sixty-eight years. They became the parents of eight children, but one son, Worthin Mead, was drowned near the old home a number of years ago. The others are: Mabel, now Mrs. Tracy Marsh, of Ely, Nevada; Ella Avery, of Greeley; Mildred, now Mrs. W. K. Starbird, living near Meeker, Colorado; Alexandria, now Mrs. H. N. Stronock, whose home is in Cheney, Washington; Louise, living at Greeley; and Captain Perry A. Mead, of Motor Truck Company No. 380, U. S. N. A.

The other member of the family is Edgar A. Mead of this review, who was the sec- ond in order of birth. In his youthful days he was a pupil in the Greeley high school and afterward attended the State Agricultural College of Colorado, in which he com- pleted his course in 1895. At a subsequent date he engaged in farming and concen- trated his efforts and attention upon that business for ten years. During the Spanish- American war he put aside all personal considerations and interests, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, and enlisted in the First Colorado Regiment with the rank of sergeant. He saw active service in the Philippine islands and remained with his command until the close of hostilities. After his return he engaged in the hardware business at Ault, Colorado, where he conducted a store for three years. He then sold and removed to Denver, where he organized the Mead Auto-Cycle Company. In 1912 he took up the White auto agency and continued also in the motorcycle business until September 1, 1917, when he disposed of his interests along the latter line in order to devote more of his time to the automobile trade. He is now president and general manager of the White Automobile Company of Denver, of which he was the organizer. His work in this connection has brought to him very substantial success owing to his capable management, his keen business discrimination and his sagacity. He is thor- oughly informed concerning the automobile trade in every particular and he has marked ability as a salesman. Moreover, he has surrounded himself with a corps of able assistants and thus has built up an organization that is making the White Automobile Company one of the profitable concerns of Denver.

On the 8th of February, 1902, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Mr. Mead was united in marriage to Miss Irma Hendricks, of Quincy, Illinois, and prior to her marriage a suc-

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cessful school teacher. They have become the parents of two children: Kenneth A., who was born in Ault, Colorado, on November 9, 1902; and Alice, who was born in Ault in 1907. Both children are attending the Denver schools.

In his political views Mr. Mead is a republican and while reslding in Ault, Colo- rado, served as mayor of the city, his administration of public affairs there being both businesslike and progressive. He is a member of the Optimists Club of Denver, also of the Denver Motor Club and of the Civic and Commercial Association, and he is interested in all that has to do with general progress and improvement, cooperating heartily in plans and movements for the public gocd. As a business man he is alert and energetic, watchful of all opportunities pointing to success, and these he uses wisely and well, with the result that he has made for himself a very creditable position as a representative of the automobile trade in the west.

SOREN P. SORENSEN.

Soren P. Sorensen, who for the past eleven years has conducted a blacksmith shop at Brush and enjoys a large and gratifying patronage in this connection, was born in Denmark on the 23d of January, 1877, his parents being Lars P. and Ingeborg (Nelson) Sorensen, likewise natives of that country. The father followed farming in Denmark until 1902, when he emigrated to the United States and took up his abode in Franklin county, Iowa, where he successfully carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1907. In that year he removed to Minnesota and in that state purchased a farm which he has operated continuously since and on which both he and his wife still make their home.

Soren P. Sorensen was reared and educated in the land of his nativity and there learned the blacksmith trade, at which he worked in Denmark for eleven years. In 1900, when a young man of twenty-three years, he determined to try his fortune in the new world and after crossing the Atlantic made his way to Franklin county, Iowa, opening a blacksmith shop in the town of Latimer. This he conducted until 1907, which year witnessed his arrival in Brush, Morgan county, Colorado, the removal being made for the benefit of his wife's health. Here he erected a well appointed shop and attractive residence one block from Main street and has since carried on his business with excellent success, owing to the fact that he has won a well merited reputation for superior service.

Mr. Sorensen has been married twice. In 1899 he wedded Mary Sorensen, who passed away in June, 1907, leaving three children: Ernest, Christina and Ingeborg. In November, 1909, Mr. Sorensen was again married, his second union being with Amelia Ottsen, by whom he has two children, Ida and Julia.

In his political views Mr. Sorensen is a stanch republican, while his religious. faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, belongs to the Mystic Shrine and is also identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He has never regretted his determination to seek a home on this side of the Atlantic, for here he found the opportunities which he desired and through their wise utilization has won prosperity and a place among the representa- tive and esteemed citizens of his community.

JUDGE MORTON S. BAILEY.

Judge Morton S. Bailey, who since 1908 has been a representative of the supreme bench of Colorado, is regarded as the peer of the ablest men who have sat in the court of last resort in the state. Reelection in 1916 will continue him in the position until 1927. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in Charleston, Tioga county, on the 3d of July, 1855. and is a son of John W. and Margaret (Lewis) Bailey, the former a native of Pennsylvania, while the latter was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and came to America when a girl of eight years in company with her parents, who settled in New York city. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bailey was celebrated in Pennsylvania and they became residents of Wellsboro, Tioga county, where their remaining days were passed. The father engaged in mercantile pursuits and in manufacturing. His death occurred in Wellsboro in 1892, when he was sixty-nine years of age. He had for several years survived his wife, who died in 1884 at the age of fifty-six years. They

Morton S, Barley

Saray

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had a family of twelve children, of whom Judge Bailey was the seventh in order of birth.

Pursuing his early education in the public schools of Wellsboro, Judge Bailey completed the high school course there and later entered Lafayette College at Easton, Pennsylvania, in which he completed the literary course by graduation with the class of 1880. On the 23d of July of that year he arrived in Denver and entered the law office of Markham, Patterson & Thomas, and later the office of R. D. Thompson, under whose direction he pursued his reading until admitted to the bar in September, 1882. He then took up the active work of the profession at Fairplay, Park county, Colorado, entering into partnership with Judge Charles A. Wilkin, with whom he was thus associated until December 23, 1891, when recognition of his marked ability led to his election as judge of the district court. He has since served upon the bench, now cov- ering a period of twenty-seven years. In the lower courts he soon demonstrated his ability to cope with involved and intricate legal problems and his course was character- ized by the utmost fidelity to duty and by a masterful grasp of every question presented for solution. His splendid record on the district bench led to his election to the supreme bench in November, 1908, to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Caswell, and in November, 1916, he was reelected, so that his present term will continue him upon the bench until January, 1927. While he was well grounded in the principles of common law when admitted to the bar, he has continued throughout the whole of his pro- fessional life a diligent student of those elementary principles that constitute the basis of all legal science and this knowledge has served him well in many a legal battle before the courts and in his work upon the bench. His decisions indicate strong mentality, careful analysis, a thorough knowledge of the law and an unbiased judg- ment. The judge on the bench fails more frequently perhaps from a deficiency in that hroadmindedness which not only comprehends the details of a situation quickly and that insures a complete self-control under even the most exasperating conditions than from any other cause, and the judge who makes a success in the discharge of his multitudinous delicate duties is a man of well rounded character, finely balanced mind and of splendid intellectual attainments. That Judge Bailey is regarded as such a jurist is a uniformly accepted fact. Aside from his professional connections Judge Bailey is president of the Dolly Varden Mining Company of Park county, Colorado, owning one of the most famous silver mines in the state.

On the 1st of September, 1888, Judge Bailey was united in marriage to Miss Lutie Wilkin, a daughter of Captain William P. and Harriet Wilkin. Mrs. Bailey was horn in Athens, Ohio, and hy her marriage has become the mother of four children. The eldest, Mildred, born in Canon City, Colorado, March 11, 1892, was graduated from the East Denver high school and from the State University at Boulder, Colorado, in June, 1915. Morton S., Jr., born in Cañon City, Colorado, November 5, 1895, is a graduate of the East Denver'high school and is a lieutenant in the Three Hundred and Fifty- third Regiment of Infantry, with the United States Army in France. Donald L., born in Cañon City, June 8, 1898, is a graduate of North Denver high school and is now attending the Colorado School of Mines, in which he is a junior. Wilkin, born Jan- uary 25, 1902, in Cañon City. Colorado, is a student at the Manual Training high school, Denver.

Judge Bailey has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party. He is well known in fraternal circles as a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has a life membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a past exalted ruler of Cañon City Lodge, No. 610. He belongs to the Denver Athletic Club, also to the Democratic Club of Denver, and along strictly pro- fessional lines has connection with the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the Colorado State Bar Association. A man of eminent ability, he has carved his name high on the keystone of the legal arch of Colorado and is one whose wise interpretation of the law is stanchly upholding the legal status which constitutes a most important element in stable progress and prosperity in every community.

HAROLD COLLYER HARMON.

Harold Collyer Harmon, president of the Colorado Springs Fuel Company and identified with various other corporations that have to do with the business development and consequent prosperity of the city in which he makes his home, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1868 and is a representative of one of the old families of New York,

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his grandfather, and his father, Edwin Ruthven Harmon, having both been natives of the Empire state. The latter was born in the year 1825 and in 1833 accompanied his parents to Chicago, which was then a village. It was not until four years later that Chicago was incorporated. Edwin R. Harmon was therefore reared in the embryo city of what was then considered the "west" and after attaining his majority was united in marriage to Miss Mary Louise Huntoon, who was born in Albany, New York. Mr. Harmon was engaged in merchandising in Chicago, devoting his time and attention to that pursuit throughout his entire business career. He passed away in the year 1896, having preceded his wife, who died in 1900, by about four years.

Harold C. Harmon was reared in Chicago to the age of twenty years and there pur- sued a high school course. He left his native city in 1888 and came to Colorado, settling first in Denver, where he entered the employ of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company at the mines. He continued with that corporation until 1903 and won promotion to the position of assistant general sales agent of the fuel department. He then removed to Colorado Springs and in 1903 organized the Colorado Springs Fuel Company, of which he is president, manager and owner. His previous experience had made him thoroughly familiar with the coal trade and his management of his present business interests has been wise and fruitful of results. He is also president and principal owner of the Rocky Mountain Trading & Transfer Company of Colorado Springs and is vice president of the Pike's Peak Transfer & Storage Company. His business investments have been judiciously made and in all commercial transactions he displays keen sagacity, while irresistible energy carries him forward to the goal of his hopes. On the 3d of June, 1897, Mr. Harmon was married in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Miss Mary E. Baker, a daughter of Edward H. Baker, a native of Massachusetts, who enlisted from that state as a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Harmon have become parents of three children: Helen; Edwin Baker, born in 1906; and Harold Collyer, born in 1908.

Mr. and Mrs. Harmon hold membership in Grace Episcopal church and he belongs also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Winter Night Club and the Broad- moor Golf Club. His political endorsement is given to the republican party. He was president for one term of the Rocky Mountain Coal Men's Association, in the year 1907, and he is a well known figure among the coal men of the state. His activities have been wisely and carefully directed and undaunted energy and perseverance, intelligently di- rected, have brought him to a prominent position among those who are active in the development of the coal resources of Colorado.

EDWARD R. DICKENSON.

Edward R. Dickenson, general auditor of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Com- pany, with offices in the Equitable building in Denver, was born in Oak Grove, Missouri, November 4, 1863, and represents one of the old American families of English lineage founded in the new world while this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Britain. At an early period the family was planted on the soil of Missouri and it was in that state that Charles W. Dickenson, father of Edward R. Dick- enson, was born and reared. He took up the blacksmith's trade and afterward became an early settler of Lawrence, Kansas, establishing his home there in 1865. Later he re- moved to California and was a resident of Oakland from that time until his death, which occurred March 21, 1910. when he was seventy-six years of age, his birth having occurred in 1834. He was a Civil war veteran, having served with the Union army as a member of a Missouri regiment. He was commissioned a lieutenant and for a part of the time served with the rank of major. He married Elizabeth Meadows, a native of Virginia and a representative of one of the old families of that state of English lineage. Mrs. Dickenson died thirty days after the death of her husband, passing away April 21, 1910, at the age of seventy-three years. She was born March 31, 1837, and by her marriage she became the mother of two sons and two daughters.

Edward R. Dickenson, who was the third of the family, pursued his education in the public schools of Baldwin, Kansas, and in the Methodist University of that place. He afterward took up railroad work in the employ of the Santa Fe Company at Baldwin, doing clerical work in the local freight office. From that position he worked his way upward to the construction and track department and continued with the Santa Fe system for three years. He became connected with the Denver & Rio Grande in October, 1891, and through the intervening period has been continuously with the latter road, covering twenty-seven years. His initial position with the road was a minor one, but

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step by step he has advanced until he is now the general auditor for the entire system. His progress has been continuous, for he has thoroughly mastered each task that has come to him and has thus been qualified for further duties and responsibilities.

On the 23d of November, 1886, in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Dickenson was married to Miss Rose Elizabeth Miller, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of the late F. R. and Molly (Temple) Miller, both of whom have passed away. To them has been born a son, Charles Wesley Dickenson, whose birth occurred in Kansas City, Missouri, May 31, 1888. He married Ann Elizabeth Lindsey, a native of New Jersey, and they have become parents of a son, Charles W. Dickenson, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Dickenson reside at No. 1261 Pennsylvania street. He is a home man, having no outside interests beyond his lodge connections. He maintains an independent course in politics. He has long been, however, a loyal and exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Oriental Lodge, No. 87, A. F. & A. M .; Colorado Commandery, K. T .; the Royal Arch Chapter, and El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was made a Mason in Argenta Lodge, No. 7, A. F. & A. M., at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1897. He also has membership with the Woodmen of the World. Without financial aid or influential friends to assist him he has worked his way steadily upward, making each day count for the utmost, and his persistency of purpose and increasing ability have gained for him an enviable position in railway circles.

MRS. MARTHA M. THORNE.

Mrs. Martha M. Thorne, filling tlie position of county superintendent of schools in Huerfano county, making her home in Walsenburg. was born in Rye, Colorado, on the 28th of September, 1890, and is a daughter of George and Della B. (Vedder) Wright. The family removed to Pueblo during her early girlhood and she pursued her education in the public schools of that city, passing through consecutive grades to the Central high school, from which she was graduated with the class of 1909. She afterward attended the State Teachers' College in Greeley and took up the profession of teaching, which she has since successfully followed until elected to her present office. For seven years she engaged in teaching in Huerfano county, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that she had acquired, and for part of one year she was a teacher in Pueblo. In 1916 she was elected county superintendent of schools for a two years' term and in 1918 was a candidate for reelection. She has put forth most earnest and effective effort to raise the standard of the schools and improve the system of instruction and her labors have been greatly resultant.

Moreover, Mrs. Thorne is very active in war work in Huerfano county and among the foreign population, and is doing everything in her power to raise the standard of Americanization. She is actuated in all that she does by a marked spirit of patriotic devotion to the general good and her life in its professional activities and otherwise is proving of great benefit to community, commonwealth and country.

FREDERICK DAUT.

Frederick Daut. president of the Frederick Daut Cigar Company of Colorado Springs, where he has made his home since 1909, is a worthy, substantial and respected citizen who has reached the seventy second milestone on life's journey and has lived to cele- brate his fiftieth wedding anniversary. He was born at Mayence-on-the-Rhine in 1846, a son of Frederick Daut, who spent his entire life in Germany.

Reared and educated in his native land, Frederick Daut of this review came to America in 1863, when a youth of seventeen years, and for three years was a resident of New York city. He then sought the opportunities of the growing west, removing to Muscatine, Iowa, in 1866. He became identified with the cigar trade in that place and conducted business successfully in Muscatine until 1909, when he came to Colorado and engaged in the cigar business here. In 1898 he had purchased a cigar store in Colorado Springs for his son-in-law, Harry Delano Osborne, who died in 1915. Mr. Daut pur- chased the stock in 1909 and has since conducted the store. He organized the Fred- erick Daut Cigar Company, of which he is the president and executive head, and in this connection he has been closely identified with the commercial interests of the city for the past nine years, having a well appointed establishment and carrying an excellent line of goods, for which he finds a ready sale.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 110

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 944

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 944