History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 24

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

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RUSSELL W. FLEMING.

Russell W. Fleming, of Fort Collins, was born in Bainbridge, Georgia, June 7, 1879, a son of William O. and Georgia (Williams) Fleming, who were likewise natives of that state. The father was a lawyer, serving also for some time on the bench. He was a soldier of the Confederate army throughout the period of the Civil war. He died in the year 1882, while his widow, long surviving him, departed this life in 1914.

Their son, Russell W. Fleming, was reared in Georgia. He was admitted to the bar when nineteen years of age, after which he entered upon practice in his native state and remained a member of the Georgia bar until 1904. Leaving home. he made his way to Colorado and chose Fort Collins as the place of his location in 1906. He then opened a law office and through the intervening period of twelve years has continued in practice in Larimer county.

JOHN W. HUNTER.

It seems that Weld county, Colorado, is fortunate in its public officials, for practically all of the officers ever elected to public positions have not only turned out to be honorable and painstaking, hut exceedingly efficient and result-bringing in their administration of public trusts. Among these is John W. Hunter, clerk of the district court of Weld county. He was born May 21, 1863, in Centerville, Iowa, a son of Jasper Newton and Elizabeth A. (Hodge) Hunter, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Illinois. The father was an agriculturist by occupation and from his native state removed to Centerville, Iowa, at an early day. In 1865 he went to Nebraska, where he continued to engage in farming until 1885, when he came to Colorado, locating near Grand Junction and engaging in agricultural pursuits and the raising of live stock. He successfully continued in that occupation until his life's labors were ended, on Novem- ber 10, 1904. He was an honored veteran of the Civil war, having served for about one year with the Thirteenth Iowa Infantry. His widow survives him and now makes her home at Grand Valley, Colorado.

John W. Hunter was reared and educated in Nebraska. his parents having removed to that state when he was only two years of age. When he was old enough he began to assist his father in the work of the farm and subsequently continued in the same line for a number of years. In 1889 he came to Denver and later took up land in Weld county six miles from Greeley, where he continued in farming until 1900, being quite successful in his labors. In that year he accepted the position of deputy county assessor and was so engaged for one term. At the end of that period he took up contracting and building and followed that trade with good results until January, 1913, when he was appointed to the position of clerk of the district court. which he has since held. He has proven himself a trustworthy and efficient official, standing high in the regard of the public and the court, his painstaking and systematic work finding merited appreciation.

On December 31, 1889, Mr. Hunter was united in marriage to Miss Hattie M. Myers and to them were born two children. Frank H. was born January 31, 1891, and died February 5, 1918, shortly after his birthday. He was engaged as a farmer and carpenter

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in Paul, Idaho, and there he passed away. Carl C., the other son, was born September 26, 1892, and after receiving intensive training with the United States Coast Artillery at San Francisco, was made sergeant and is now in France.

Politically Mr. Hunter is a democrat and has given to his party his unquestioned support. He stands high in local councils of democracy and has served as chairman of the democratic county central committee. For twenty-four years he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has held all the chairs in the lodge. He and his wife reside at No. 1325 Seventh street, Greeley, and many are the friends who partake of the hospitality of their pleasant home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have been much interested in mental and moral development and are ever ready to support measures for the uplift of humanity.

THEODORE L. MEIER.

Theodore L. Meier is at the head of one of the important commercial interests of Denver as the president of the O. P. Baur Confectionery Company, conducting business at No. 1512 Curtis street. He is very enterprising and progressive and has been active in the upbuilding of a business which is now the most widely known confectionery establishment in the west. Mr. Meier was reared in Louisville, Kentucky, and there pursued his education in the public schools. When a youth of fourteen he was appren- ticed to a confectioner, with whom he learned all phases and branches of the trade, and on completing his apprenticeship he sought larger fields in which to test out his efficiency in the line in which he had been trained. He was afterward employed in the leading confectionery establishments of Boston, New York and other eastern cities. Hearing favorable reports of the west and its wonderful opportunities, he concluded to seek his fortune in this section of the country and accordingly in the fall of 1878 he arrived in Denver, where he immediately found employment with the firm of Caldwell & Baur, who were pioneer confectioners of the city and had built up the leading business in their line. They were then located at the corner of Sixteenth and Lawrence streets. The business had been originally established during the early '70s and the present busi- ness is an outgrowth of that pioneer establishment. Several years after Caldwell & Baur had been conducting business Mr. Baur withdrew from that connection and established an individual business on Larimer street. Mr. Meier accompanied him and at that point the business developed rapidly and grew to such proportions that it necessitated a removal to the present location at No. 1512 Curtis street. This removal was made in 1892. During the latter '80s Mr. Meier had become a member of the firm, the business being then conducted under the style of O. P. Baur & Company. That name was retained until Mr. Baur's death, when the business was incorporated, Mr. Meier becoming the president, with Mrs. Marie Baur as vice president and J. J. Jacobs, who has been with the company for fifteen years, as secretary and treasurer. The O. P. Baur Confectionery Company is doing by far the largest business of the kind in the state, The company employs on an average one hundred and twenty-five people engaged in the manufacture of the entire product put out by the establishment. Their store is attractively and tastefully arranged and furnished and every effort is put forth to please the patrons. They manufacture high grade confectionery of a variety seldom found outside of New York. They have ever maintained the highest standards in the quality of their output and their candies have proven so uniformly satisfactory that their business has now reached most gratifying and substantial proportions. Mr. Meier through thorough pre- liminary training and long experience is splendidly qualified to carry on an extensive business of this kind. He closely studies the trade and its wishes and his efforts have been so directed that prosperity in large measure has come to him. He is also a director of the Home Savings & Trust Company of Denver.

In this city, in 1892, Mr. Meier was united in marriage to Miss Edna F. Ervin, a native of Obio, and they have one daughter, Doris, who is the wife of C. F. Mulconnery, a resident of Denver. There are also two grandchildren.

Mr. Meier is much interested in political and civic matters and he takes an active and helpful part in charitable work in the city, constantly extending a helping hand to those who need assistance, seeking to ameliorate hard conditions for the unfortunate and shedding around him much of life's sunshine. Fraternally he is a Mason and has attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and he has membership in the Chamber of Com- merce and in the Lakewood Country Club. His ability has brought him prominently to the front in business connections, while his personal qualities are those which

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make for popularity among a large circle of friends. For forty years he has been a resident of Denver and throughout this entire period has occupied an enviable position in its business circles.

CHARLES A. FINDING.

Activity along many business lines, coupled with keen sagacity, sound judgment and determination to make the best possible use of his time and opportunities, has brought Charle's A. Finding to the place which he now occupies as a wealthy, influential and respected man whose success is manifest in his investments in real estate, for he is the owner of some of the most valuable business property in Denver. He was born in St. Ives, England, February 22, 1850, a son of Joseph and Eleanor (Tomlinson) Finding. The father was a native of England and there learned the carpenter's trade, after which he engaged for many years in carpentering and building. Both he and his wife have passed away. They were the parents of nine children, but only two of the number are now living, the other surviving member of the family being a sister of Charles A. Finding, who makes her home in Rochester, New York.

The youth of Charles A. Finding was largely devoted to the acquirement of an educa- tion. He was but seven years of age when brought by his parents to the new world, the family home being established in Newark, New York, where he pursued his studies. After his schooldays were over he entered the Bank of Monroe in Rochester, New York, in the capacity of bookkeeper. He was at that time seventeen years of age and he remained in the bank until he reached the age of twenty years. He then developed tubercular trouble and for the benefit of his health removed westward to Denver in 1870. In the bracing climate of this city he soon recovered and for years has been a vigorous, healthy man. He did all kinds of work in the early days of his residence here, carefully saved his money and at length, through industry and economy, he was placed on the high road to success. As prosperity attended him he made judicious investments in real estate and he eventually became the owner of the Railroad block, one of the first fine office buildings erected in the city. It is a ten-story stone structure from which he derives a very gratifying and substantial income. In all business affairs he has dis- played sound judgment, readily discriminating between the essential and the nonessen- tial, and, moreover, he has displayed the power of uniting seemingly diverse elements into a harmonious whole productive of very gratifying results.

It was in 1873 that Mr. Finding was united in marriage to Miss Martha Silverthorn and to them has been born a daughter, Mrs. D. F. Miner. Mr. Finding is a member of the Denver Athletic Club. He is widely known in this city, where he has now made his home for forty-eight years. Denver bore little resemblance to the present metro- politan center at the time of his arrival. It was a straggling western frontier town but it seemed to offer him possibilities for health and for business advancement. Both were soon secured here and Denver won a valued citizen who has made most substantial contribution to her upbuilding and her welfare.

STEPHEN MAURICE EDGELL.

Stephen Maurice Edgell, vice president of the Great Western Sugar Company of Denver, was born October 26, 1884, in St. Louis, Missouri, a son of the late George Stephen Edgell, who was also a native of St. Louis and a descendant of an old New Eng- land family early represented in New Hampshire and Vermont. The founder of the family in America was of English birth and came to the new world about 1636. Among the ancestors were those who participated in the struggle for American independence. George Stephen Edgell, the father, became a banker of New York city and for many years was president of the Corbin Banking Company which was founded by Austin Corbin, the maternal grandfather of Stephen M. Edgell of this review, who also founded the first national bank established in the United States, this being located at Davenport, Iowa. Austin Corbin became a man of national reputation by reason of the extent and importance of the business interests which he controlled and developed and which con- stituted an essential factor in general advancement. He was for years not only a lead- ing figure in financial circles but was also well known in railway connections as the president of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company. George Stephen Edgell died in New York city in October, 1915, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife bore the

STEPHEN M. EDGELL

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maiden name of Isabella Wallace Corbin and was born in Brooklyn, New York, represent- ing one of the old families of New Hampshire of French Huguenot lineage and a descend- ant of Dr. James Corbin, who served as a surgeon in the Revolutionary war and in recognition of meritorious aid rendered to his country received from the United States government a large tract of land in the township of Newport, in Sullivan county, New Hampshire, which has since been in possession of the family and which has been con- verted by Austin Corbin into a game preserve. Mrs. Isabella Edgell still survives her husband and is living at Newport, New Hampshire. By her marriage she became the mother of three children, namely: Corbin, a lawyer by profession, located in New York but now with the American Red Cross; Stephen Maurice, of this review; and George Harold, who is professor of fine arts at Harvard University.

After attending the Cutler school of New York, Stephen M. Edgell continued his education at Harvard, being graduated on the completion of the academic course with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1907. He then entered the employ of the American Sugar Refining Company at Jersey City, New Jersey, as a day laborer and studied the sugar business in all of its departments in order to thoroughly familiarize himself with every phase and branch of the trade. He also spent a year in the factories of the Great Western Company and six months in the Brooklyn refinery and after leaving Brooklyn removed to Greeley, Colorado, in 1908, where he accepted the position of assistant manager of the Eaton, Greeley & Windsor factory. There he remained for five years, during the greater part of which time he acted as manager. He then became one of the directors of the company and, locating in Denver, entered the sales department. The following year or on the 26th of April, 1915, he became third vice president of the Great Western Sugar Company and has since filled that position, at the same time remaining a director of the Great Western Railway Company.

On the 10th of December, 1914, Mr. Edgell was married in Warwick, Rhode Island, to Miss Elsie Aldrich, a daughter of United States Senator Nelson A. Aldrich, and they have one son, Nelson Aldrich, who was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, October 29, 1915; and a daughter born in Denver on June 30, 1918.

Mr. Edgell gives his political endorsement to the republican party. He is a member of the Harvard Club, Racket and Tennis Club of New York; also belongs to the Denver Club, the Denver Country Club, the Lakewood Country Club, the Denver University Club and the Denver Motor Club. Along the lines indicated he takės his recreation and his religious faith is evidenced in his membership in the Episcopal church. While he is today connected with most important buisness interests, for which he has become thoroughly qualified by earnest study, close application and personal effort, he regards business as but one phase of life and does not allow it to exclude his active participation in and support of other vital interests which go to make up human existence.

JOHN G. NEWMAN.

John G. Newman has led a quiet but nevertheless busy and useful life and wherever he is known he commands the respect and confidence of those with whom he is brought in contact. He constitutes one of Sweden's contributions to the new world. He was born April 6, 1874, a son of Peter J. and Christine Newman. The father was a farmer by occupation. The mother died when her son John G. was but six years of age, leaving also two daughters: Ida M., who became the wife of Andrew Pearson, a farmer living northwest of Ault, by whom she has one daughter, Lily H. C., now eighteen years of age; and Selma A., the wife of Leonard Anderson, of Tacoma, Washington.

John G. Newman was a little lad of but nine years when he left his native country and came with an uncle to the United States. His educational opportunities were those afforded by the public schools of Sweden and America and when a youth of but twelve summers he started out to provide for his own support and as the years have passed has since depended entirely upon his own efforts. He may truly be called a self-made man and deserves all the credit which that term implies. He began work as a farm hand north of Greeley, which occupation he followed for two years. He then went to work. at the age of fifteen years, as a section hand with a railroad gang with which he was connected for about three years, when he became foreman of a section gang. He continued in that line for about ten years or until 1899 and then took up farming west of Greeley which he followed for about a year. At the end of that time he established his residence on his present farm two and one-half miles northwest of Ault. and he is also owner of a farm of one hundred and sixty acres east of Ault.

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He arrived here a stranger and has made for himself a most creditable position in public regard. After cultivating a tract of rented land for a year he purchased one hundred and sixty acres, which he now devotes to the raising of potatoes, hay and sugar beets and also to the feeding of hogs and sheep. Both branches of his business are proving profitable and he concentrates his efforts and attention upon activities along those lines.

In 1906 Mr. Newman was united in marriage to Miss Anna C. Rydberg, who was born in Sweden. She has several brothers and sisters, including: Alida, who became the wife of Arthur Bostrom, of Eaton; Lily, at home; August; Carl; and Reuben.

Mr. Newman is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity. He belongs to the Ault Exchange and both he and his wife are active members of the Swedish Lutheran church, Mrs. Newman taking a particularly helpful interest in various branches of the church work. The career of Mr. Newman has been that of an enterprising and successful business man. When opportunity has permitted he has traveled considerably over the country, visiting California, Idaho, Washington and also various points in the east. His efforts and energies, however, have been mostly concentrated upon his business affairs and he is today numbered among the alert, energetic and progressive farmers of Weld county.

THOMAS J. MONTGOMERY.

Thomas J. Montgomery, engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business at Fort Collins and actuated in all that he does by a spirit of enterprise that never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose, comes to Colorado as a native son of Illinois, for his birth occurred in Macoupin county of the latter state on the 20th of September, 1849. His parents were John and Mercy (Loveland) Montgomery, natives of Illinois and Connecticut respectively. The father took up the occupation of farming in Madison county, Illinois, where he was born, but when he attained his majority he removed to Macoupin county, where he purchased land and developed and improved a farm, continuing its cultivation throughout his remaining days. He also received a section of land from his father and was one of the most prominent and extensive agri- culturists of Macoupin county. He died in December, 1891, having for more than a quarter of a century survived his wife, who passed away in February, 1864.

Thomas J. Montgomery, spending his youthful days under the parental roof, was early trained to the work of the fields during vacation periods. His education was acquired in the public schools of his native county and he early began working on the farm with his father.

In the spring of 1866 he removed to the west with an uncle, locating first at Golden, Colorado. There he engaged in clerking in the store of Mr. W. A. H. Loveland, with whom he remained until 1867, where he also maintained a telegraph office in his store. In the spring of 1867 he was called to Fort Sedgwick, Colorado, as an operator for the Western Union Telegraph Company. He was later transferred from Fort Sedgwick to Mud Springs in the western part of Nebraska, and he continued there until fall, when the telegraph station was abandoned at that point and he was again called to Fort Sedgwick. being placed in charge of the office known as the old California Crossing. about fifty miles from Julesburg. Three months later he secured a position as night operator at what was known as Alkali Station but is now Paxton, Nebraska. In the spring of 1868 he was transferred to Cheyenne, then the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad, and remained there in the employ of that corporation until the winter of 1870, when he returned to Illinois. He then remained at home for a time or until 1877. During these years he worked for awhile as telegraph operator for the old North Missouri Railroad Company, now known as the Wabash Line. In 1877 he again became a resident of Colorado, going to Longmont, Boulder county, where he was assistant agent for what is now the Colorado & Southern Railroad. He occupied that position until October, when he was sent to Fort Collins, then the terminus of the Colorado Central. He opened the office at Fort Collins and continued to act as station agent and telegraph operator until July, 1881, when he resigned in order to turn his attention to the grain, feed, coal and farm implement business, entering into partnership with A. J. Ames and David Patton under the firm style of Ames, Patton & Montgomery. At the fall election of 1881 Mr. Montgomery was chosen county clerk and recorder of Larimer county, at which time he disposed of his interest in the business to his partners and on the 1st of January, 1882, assumed the duties of his new position. He continued in that office until January,

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1886, having in the meantime been reelected. With his retirement from the position he turned his attention to the live stock business, in which he engaged for four years, and on selling his stock ranch he again took up his abode in Fort Collins, where he embarked in the real estate, loan and insurance business, in which he has since been engaged.

In February, 1874, Mr. Montgomery was married to Miss Addie Eberman and to them were born two sons but the elder, Thomas, died in June, 1880, at the age of six years. The younger, Hugh L. Montgomery, is now assistant to the general man- ager of the American Gas & Electric Company of New York city. The wife and mother passed away in October, 1892, and in January, 1899, Mr. Montgomery was again married, his second union being with Helen E. Lunn, who was called to her final rest in November, 1904.

Mr. Montgomery has always voted with the democratic party and in 1902 he served in the special session of the legislature of the thirteenth general assembly. He is well known as a loyal representative of the Masonic craft, belonging to the lodge, chapter, commandery and Eastern Star, and in his life he exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the order. He has long made his home in the west and has ever been interested in its upbuilding and development, much of which he has witnessed. Colorado has indeed found in him a loyal supporter and one who has put forth every effort in its behalf.

RICHARD WENSLEY.

Occupying a central place on the stage of commercial activity in Denver is Richard Wensley, president and sole owner of the business which is conducted under the name of the Bogue-Wensley Lead Company. In this connection he has become one of the foremost manufacturers of lead pipe and plumbers' supplies, heating and tinners' tools and supplies in the west. His business is located at Eighteenth and Blake streets, where he has a most modern and substantial manufacturing plant and office building, housing a business whose growing importance has placed it among the foremost com- mercial concerns of the city. Mr. Wensley is likewise well known as a representative citizen, deeply interested in the welfare and progress of Denver and cooperating heartily in many well defined plans for its further promotion. He was born in Albany, New York, on the 12th of August, 1872, and is a son of Richard and Emeline (Schoonmaker) Wensley, who were likewise natives of the Empire state, where they spent their entire lives. The father engaged in contracting and building and was for a long period actively and prominently identified with building operations in New York, where he is still living at the age of seventy-six years. His wife, however, died in Albany in 1877, when but twenty-six years of age.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 24

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