USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume II > Part 128
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MR. AND MRS. DAVID BIRKLE
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numbered among those valued and honored citizens who have laid broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the present progress and prosperity of Weld county.
Mr. Birkle has been married twice. In 1864 he wedded Hannah Bruner and to them were born six children: Lizzie; John W., who is now county commissioner; L. S., a farmer of Weld county; Rose; Hattie; and David, who died in 1883. The wife and mother passed away November 10, 1909, and on the 29th of January, 1911, Mr. Birkle wedded Mrs. Mary Wiedmeyer, who by her former marriage had three sons: Adolph J., a farmer residing near St. Joseph, Missouri; Paul B., who is now with the colors in France; and Leo Albert, who is upon the old home place fifteen miles east of St. Joseph, Missouri. It was after the death of his first wife that Mr. Birkle returned to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he lived for seven years, and during that period he was married a second time.
In politics Mr. Birkle is a democrat and has served in some local offices, including that of town trustee. During the early days on the ranch he assisted in building a schoolhouse in his home neighborhood and was school treasurer there for eighteen years. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and fraternally he was at one time connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is widely and favorably known throughout Weld county and is held in high esteem by those among whom he has so long resided. He is now approaching the eightieth milestone on life's journey.
WILLIAM I. LUCAS.
William I. Lucas, an extensive dealer in sporting goods in Colorado Springs and president of the Continental Manufacturing Company, was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1865, a son of William B. and Sarah (Cribbs) Lucas. The family comes of Irish ancestry. The father was born in Pennsylvania in 1833 and was there reared and married, his wife being also a native of that state. He devoted his life to the occupation of farming and was called to his final rest in 1915, his widow still surviving and making her home in Pennsylvania.
William I. Lucas pursued his education in the public schools of Indiana, Pennsyl- vania, to the age of eighteen years and continued a resident of the Keystone state until 1889, when he determined to try his fortune in the west and made his way to Denver, where he resided for four years. During a part of that time he was employed by the Denver Tramway Company and in 1894 he removed to Colorado Springs, where he has since made his home. In 1898 he entered the bicycle business and later extended the scope of his activities to include sporting goods. He now handles bicycles, motorcycles and sporting goods of all kinds in a large store and has a liberal and well deserved patronage. His enterprise, energy and close application have brought him prominently to the front as a merchant of his adopted city and his business is one of extensive and gratifying proportions. He is also president of the Continental Manufacturing Com- pany and thus figures prominently in business circles of Colorado Springs.
Mr. Lucas was married in 1894 in Colorado Springs to Miss Ella Hall, who passed away in 1911, leaving a daughter, Frances, who is the wife of Ora Cohen, of Denver. Mr. Lucas is well known in Colorado Springs, where he has an extensive circle of warm friends. He holds membership in the First Presbyterian church and gives his political allegiance to the republican party and at all times stands for progressiveness in citizenship.
GEORGE G. BAKER, M. D.
Dr. George G. Baker. maintaining his offices in the Standish Hotel of Denver, has by reason of his favorable location and his marked professional skill and ability become one of the best known physicians and surgeons of Colorado, being liberally patronized by professional people and many others of prominence who have been guests at the hotel and who in other ways have heard of his highly developed powers in the practice of medicine and surgery. Dr. Baker was born at Norwalk, Ohio, De- cember 3, 1849, and is a son of Daniel Albert and Harriet Augusta (Van der Cook) Baker. the former of whom was a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York state, of Holland extraction. The parents of the Doctor were married at Lansingburg,
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New York. Subsequently they removed to Norwalk, Ohio, where the father was engaged in the banking business. Both he and his wife passed away there. They had a family of four children, namely: Dr. Fred Baker, a practicing physician of San Diego, California; Mrs. James T. Brooks, also living in San Diego, California; George G., of this review; and one who has departed this life.
Dr. Baker became a student in the Western Reserve College of Ohio, after com- pleting his public school course in Norwalk, and won the Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1871. He then took up the study of medicine in Michigan State University at Ann Arbor and received his professional degree in 1875. He first located for practice in Akron, Ohio, where he remained for thirteen years or until 1888, when he sought the broader opportunities offered by the west and came to Denver, where he has since practiced. His residence in the city now covers thirty years and throughout the entire period he has maintained high standing as a most capable phy. sician who through all the years has kept thoroughly abreast with the progress of the profession resulting from scientific research and investigation.
On the 18th of June, 1873, in Akron, Ohio, Dr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Celia Ashmun, who passed away in Denver, March 8, 1896, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. George P. Ashmun, of Akron. They became the parents of four children. Fred A., who was born in Akron and now makes his home in San Francisco, California, is mar- ried and has two children, Fred A. and George G. The second son, Harry R. Baker, living in Los Angeles, California, is married and has two sons. Philip Raymond and Lawrence Ashmun. Charles A., living in New York city, is married and has two children, Arleta Van der Cook and Charles A., Jr. Mrs. George L. Sullivan is the only daughter and makes her home in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Dr. Baker has always concentrated his efforts and energies upon his practice to the exclusion of all other lines of business and his close application, his keen discrimina- tion and his thorough study have brought him to the front in connection with medical and surgical practice in Denver.
CHARLES K. PHILLIPPS.
Charles K. Phillipps has for almost thirty years been a representative of the Colorado bar and has practiced in Denver since 1897, or for a period of twenty-one years. His marked ability places him in the front ranks among the representatives of the legal profession in the capital city. He was born in London, England, November 18, 1859, and is a son of William and Celia (Rawe) Phillipps, both of whom were natives of England, where they spent their entire lives. The father was a graduate pharmacist and conducted drug stores in London, where he was prominently known as a repre- sentative of commercial interests. He died in 1886, having for a number of years survived his wife, who was educated and married in London and there passed away in 1875. They had a family of four children: Henry M., now a resident of Pueblo, Colorado; Major W. A. Phillipps, an officer in the English army; Charles K., of this review; and Frederick, who is still in London.
In the public schools of his native city Charles K. Phillipps acquired his education and after mastering the common branches of learning entered the law office of a well known firm of London barristers, who directed his reading. Before receiving his papers permitting him to practice, however, he came to America. making his way to Greensburg, Kansas, where he resumed the study of law, acquainting himself with the principles of American jurisprudence. He was afterward admitted to practice and took up the active work of the profession in Greensburg, where he remained until 1889, when he removed to Colorado, settling at Redcliff. There he resided for four years and in the meantime was elected county and deputy district attorney, filling those two posi- tions while engaged in practice at Redcliff. In 1893 he removed to Leadville, Colorado, where he continued in successful practice for four years, when, seeking a still broader field of labor, he came to Denver, where he opened an office and is now established as one of the leading lawyers of the capital city. He is devotedly attached to his pro- fession, is systematic and methodical in habit, sober and discreet in judgment, diligent in research and conscientious in the discharge of every duty. In addition to his law practice he is serving as the secretary of the Federal Oil & Mining Company, an Oklahoma corporation, and is a director of the Federal Rubber Tire Company of Denver.
. In 1880 Mr. Phillipps was married to Miss Ada Hoadley, of London, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Hoadley and a relative of Ex-Governor Hoadley of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Phillipps have become parents of three children: Mrs. Constance Dane, who
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was born in London in 1881 and who is a graduate of the Wolcott School of Denver and the Loretto Academy of this city; Mrs. Evelyn P. Spencer, who was born in Tor- quay, England, in 1883, and is the widow of Willard Spencer, of Denver; and Mrs. Rollin Hall, who was born at Redcliff, Colorado, in 1892, and is a graduate of the Wol- cott School of Denver. There are now six grandchildren. Mrs. Dane has three children: Evelyn, Charles P. and Robert Dane. Mrs. Spencer has a daughter, Charlotte, who was born in Denver and is now attending the Loretto Academy; and Mrs. Hall has two children, Jean and Frank, both born in Denver.
Politically Mr. Phillipps has always been a republican since becoming a naturalized American citizen. Fraternally he is a Master Mason and along professional lines he has membership with the Denver County and City Bar Association and the Colorado State Bar Association. A thorough student of law, he has ever commanded the respect and enjoyed the friendship of leading members of the bar. He has never sought office, his ambition being in the line of his profession, and in his chosen life work he has won for himself a most creditable name and place.
JOHN DAVIDGE WARFIELD.
Warfield, John Davidge. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, November 14, 1880, a son of Thomas Wallace and Rebecca (Trail) Warfield, both deceased. Prior to coming to Colorado in 1909 he was agent for The United States Shipping Company at Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia, and later assistant manager of the South-American department of the Hamburg-American Line operating from New York. He is a graduate of the law department of the University of Denver, class of 1911, with the degree of LL. B., and was the same year admitted to the bar of this state, since which time he has practiced law with offices in the Ernest and Cranmer building, in Denver. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
HON. CHARLES J. LEFTWICH.
Hon. Charles J. Leftwich, a well known Pueblo contractor, was born in Nodaway county, Missouri, on the 27th of December, 1867, his parents being Berry and Sarah (Hayes) Leftwich, who were natives of Iowa. The family came originally from Pennsyl- vania. The mother was born in Indiana but was reared in Iowa. During the Civil war the father responded to the country's call for troops to aid in the preservation of the Union and was at the front for eighteen months. Obtaining his father's consent to his enlistment, he was enrolled at Des Moines, Iowa, and with the "boys in blue" went to the front. Later he was married in Des Moines, Iowa, and subsequently re- moved to Missouri. His last days, however, were passed in Tacoma, Washington, where he died thirteen years ago. He is still survived by his widow. They had a family of eight sons and two daughters, of whom the second eldest is Charles J. Leftwich of this review.
In the rural schools of his native state and of Colorado, Charles J. Leftwich pursued his education. The family removed from Missouri to Kansas during his early child- hood and afterward came to Colorado in 1881, at which time he was a youth of four- teen years. The family were pioneers of the state and he shared with the others of the household in the hardships and privations which constitute features of frontier life. His educational opportunities were largely those of the school of experience. As a boy he worked with his father until the latter left the state, and it was under his direction that he learned the trade of carpentering and building. He came to Pueblo in Sep- tember, 1898, after living for a time in Cañon City. He has confined his attention here to the building of dwellings and has erected many of the attractive homes of the city, including the Gahagen home at Thirteenth and Court streets; the McFeeley residence at 21 Court street; the home of John Finland and many others. In his building opera- tions he has ever been able to combine beauty, utility and convenience in a well balanced way and the results of his labors are highly satisfactory to his patrons.
Mr. Leftwich was united in marriage on the 17th of June, 1895, to Miss Maud A. Barnes, of Wet Mountain valley, and their children are Hildred, Lois and Irene.
Mr. Leftwich gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and has served as city building inspector for four years. He has also twice been called upon to repre- sent his district in the state legislature, having been a member of the general assembly
HON. CHARLES J. LEFTWICH
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during the eighteenth and nineteenth sessions. During the first session the attention of the assembly was given practically only to lahor and factory bills and Mr. Leftwich was instrumental in securing the passage of the public utilities hill. He stood at all times for what he believed to be right and his activity, strong purpose and patriotic spirit proved elements of public welfare. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is greatly respected by those who know him. His father was one of the earliest residents of Colorado and from that time to the present the name of Leftwich has figured in connection with the substantial development and up- building of the state. Mr. Leftwich occupies an enviable place in the business circles of Pueblo and has the entire confidence of those with whom he has heen brought in contact through trade relations as well as those whom he has met in social circles.
GEORGE YOUNG WILSON, D. D. S.
Dr. George Young Wilson, a most capable and successful dentist of Colorado Springs, where he has practiced since 1897, was born in Burlington, Wisconsin, in 1871, a son of William C. and Margaret (Young) Wilson. The father was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, born in 1843. He came to the United States in 1857, when a youth of four- teen years, in company with his parents, the family home being established in Wis- consin. In young manhood he returned to his native country for his bride, being married in Glasgow in 1868. Their wedding journey consisted of the trip to the new world. Throughout his entire life William C. Wilson devoted his time and attention to general agricultural pursuits and passed away in 1912, in Wisconsin, where his widow still resides.
Dr. George Y. Wilson pursued his education in the public schools of Burlington, Wisconsin, and after completing the course there he entered the Northwestern Uni- versity Dental School in Chicago, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895, having completed the full course. Through all the intervening years he has kept in close touch with the trend of modern thought and progress bearing upon his pro- fession and is thoroughly familiar with the latest scientific researches and discoveries which have to do with the care and preservation of the teeth. He is recognized as a most ahle dentist, his colleagues and contemporaries hearing testimony to his pro- nounced ability in his profession, which is also indicated hy the extensive practice accorded him. It was in 1897 that Dr. Wilson came to Colorado Springs and here he has practiced continuously for the past twenty-one years.
On the 28th of June, 1899, in Burlington, Wisconsin, Dr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Alice Foltz and they have a son, George Y., Jr. Their religious faith is that of the Christian Science church. Dr. Wilson belongs to the Winter Night Club and his political allegiance is given to the republican party, but while he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day, he has never been an aspirant for public office. He is not remiss in the duties of citizenship, however, for he cooperates heartily in all well defined plans and purposes for progress and improvement in rela- tion to his city, his commonwealth and his country.
WENDELL STEPHENS.
Wendell Stephens, a practicing attorney of Denver, was born in Macon, Missouri, August 25, 1882, a son of Isaac Crockett and Anna (Craven) Stephens. The father was a native of Wayne county, Kentucky, while the mother was born in Randolph county, Missouri, where they resided for many years. The father engaged in the clothing business at Macon, Missouri, becoming one of its prominent and influential merchants and continuing active in commercial pursuits there to the time of his death, which occurred in 1893. His widow survives and yet makes her home in Macon. Their family numbered twelve children, of whom Wendell Stephens is the tenth in order of birth.
After completing a high school course in his native city Wendell Stephens attended the Blees Military Academy and afterward was graduated from the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois. Thinking that the west furnished better and broader business opportunities, he then came to Colorado, making Boulder his destination. Here he entered the law department of the University of Colorado and won his LL. B. degree upon graduation with the class of 1906. He hegan the practice of law in Denver in
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connection with Clinton Reed and the association was maintained for about three years, after which he became associated with Murray & Ingersoll. In 1908 his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth, elected him to the state legislature and he served through the seventeenth general assembly and also through a special session. In 1913 he was appointed assistant attorney general under Attorney General Farrar and served in this capacity for four years. When Governor Julius C. Gunter was elected he received the appointment as his private secretary and served in this capacity for one year and ten months, when he resigned to accept a partnership in the law firm of Symes, Farrar & Stephens. Mr. Stephens is recognized as a representative and valued member of the legal profession. He belongs to the Denver County and City Bar Association and also to the Colorado State Bar Association.
On the 2d of November, 1909, Mr. Stephens was united in marriage to Miss Zelma Vida Atterbury, of Atlanta, Missouri. a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Seaman Atterbury, of Macon, Missouri. They now have one child, Charlotte Ann, who was born in Denver in November, 1912.
Mr. Stephens is a member of the Lions Club; also of Beta Theta Phi, a college fraternity, and of Phi Alpha Delta, a legal fraternity. In Masonry he has taken the degrees of the lodge and of the Scottish Rite and is a loyal exemplar of the teachings of the craft.
PETER LUDVIG THORSEN.
Peter Ludvig Thorsen, president of the P. L. Thorsen Stores Company and an active factor in the commercial development of Colorado Springs, was born in Norway in 1863, a son of Anders Thorsen, who was born in Norway, where he spent his entire life. The son was reared in that country to the age of twenty-one years and attended high school and college. He came to the United States in 1883, attracted by the oppor- tunities of the new world, and made his way to Amherst, Wisconsin, where he devoted five years to clerking in a store. He afterward went to Milwaukee and completed a course in a business college in that city. He then removed to Denver, Colorado, but soon after- ward he took up his abode in Morrison, this state, where he began keeping books and clerking in a general store, in which he was employed for a year. On the expiration of that period he returned to Denver and remained for nine months as a clerk in the department store of Daniels & Fisher. Afterward at Idaho Springs, Colorado, he estab- lished a dry goods store, which he conducted for five years and during that time took over a large department store which had previously been established. On leaving Idaho Springs he removed to Georgetown, Colorado, where he opened a dry goods store, with which he was connected for a year and a half. He next removed his stock to Cripple Creek, where he continued for a year, but his establishment there was destroyed by fire and he was carrying but little insurance upon it. He opened, however, another store on the same site as the one that had been burned but after two years sold the property. He then returned to Denver, where he continued for a while, but later removed to Boulder, Colorado, where he resided for six months and engaged in the real estate business. He next again went to Denver and was engaged in clerking for nine months. Subsequently he opened a racket store in Victor, Colorado, where he resided for a year and a half, then returned to Cripple Creek and established a racket store at that point, carrying on the business successfully for two years. In 1902 he bought out the Bazaar, a depart- ment store, and organized the Bazaar Dry Goods Company, of which he became the president and manager, carrying on the business in that connection with good success for four and a half years.
With his removal to Colorado Springs. Mr. Thorsen reorganized the New York Store, continuing the business under the name of the Colorado Springs Dry Goods Company for four years or until 1909, when he disposed of his interest in the business and again went to Denver. There he purchased a stock of dry goods and organized the P. L. Thorsen Stores Company. While in the capital city he again purchased a stock in Cripple Creek and continued the same as a branch of his Denver store. After two years, however, he sold out the Cripple Creek store and bought another store in Enid, Oklahoma, with the understanding that it was to be continued as a branch, but after three months there it was decided to remove all interests to Colorado Springs and the stock was sent here, whither the Denver stock was subsequently also removed. The Colorado Springs enter- prise was established in 1913 under the old firm name, and Mr. Thorsen now is the president of the P. L. Thorsen Stores Company. At the present time he is conducting an extensive business, his large sales bringing to him a gratifying annual return. The
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store is well appointed and tastefully arranged and everything about the place indicates his careful supervision and progressive methods. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Ranchos Orchard & Land Company.
In Denver, on the 2d of October, 1881, Mr. Thorsen was married to Miss Laura Lenore Lemen, a daughter of the late Joseph Lemen, of Belleview, Illinois, who was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Thorsen attend the Baptist church and he also has membership with several Masonic organizations, including the Knight Templar commandery and the Mystic Shrine. His life has been purposeful and his strength of character, business enterprise and determination have enabled him to accomplish what he has planned and reach a most creditable position in the commercial circles of his adopted city.
LEROY S. CARPENTER.
LeRoy S. Carpenter and his father, Daniel Carpenter, were among the pioneers of Greeley who settled in this state with the Union colony. Both were very active in the upbuilding of the community and are to be numbered among the honored old settlers who in no small measure have contributed toward the rapid development of the state. LeRoy S. Carpenter was born August 18, 1843, in Newville, Richland county, Ohio. He is a son of Daniel Carpenter, whose birth occurred in Barre, Vermont, February 8, 1796. There the father received his early education and passed his boyhood days but quite early in life removed with the family to Canada, remaining in the Dominion for a short time. Upon finding that war with England was imminent he went to Genesee county, New York, and from there enlisted in the War of 1812, first as a wagoner and later in the ranks. He valiantly served throughout the entire war and participated in a number of sanguinary engagements. He was fortunate in that he was not wounded. After peace was restored he returned to Le Roy, Genesee county, New York. He was one of six volunteers of his company to enter active service on the Niagara frontier. Shortly after the conclusion of his term of enlistment he removed to Richland county, Ohio, where he was successfully engaged in merchandising for about twenty years, while for a time he also followed farming in Iowa. He still took active interest in military affairs and was made first lieutenant of a company of the state militia while a resident of Richland county, Ohio, and by successive promotions was advanced to the rank of colonel of his regiment, remaining in that position for three years. In April, 1871, when seventy-five years of age, he came to Colorado with his sons and purchased the farm which is now operated by Fred G. Carpenter. On this place he passed his days until his removal to Greeley, where he resided for about a year prior to his death, which occurred August 29, 1884, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty- eight years. His wife died upon the home farm on the 25th of April, 1886. It was in January, 1840, that he was united in marriage to Nancy Scott, of Jefferson county, Ohio, the ceremony being performed in Richland county, Ohio. By a former marriage he had eight children, all of whom have passed away, and to his second union, with Miss Scott, five children were born, two of the number having gone to the home beyond. The three living ones are: LeRoy S .; Mattie, who married Harlan P. Bosworth and resides at Stove Prairie, Larimer county, Colorado; and Silas, who makes his home with his brother, LeRoy S. Daniel Carpenter is the only known soldier of the War of 1812 who found his last resting place in Colorado. In politics he was a whig and at one time was a candidate for representative on the party ticket. Though not elected, he ran ahead of his ticket because of his personal popularity and the high respect which was generally entertained for his character and ability.
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