History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 25

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

USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume II > Part 25

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Richard Wensley, their only child, spent his early life in Albany and supplemented his public school education by a course in a business college. He afterward secured a position in connection with the lumber business in Albany, where he remained for several years. On the expiration of that period he removed to New York city, where he engaged in the manufacture of shoe blacking, but eventually he decided to try his fortune in the west, which had had strong attractions for him from his early boyhood. He arrived in Denver in January, 1893, and after looking around secured a position with L. M. Bogue, who was then engaged in the manufacture of plumbers' lead pipe and similar products. He obtained the position of office boy and from that minor position steadily worked his way upward, each forward step bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. He gained valuable experience, winning promotion, and learned thoroughly the lessons which each new position brought. At one time he drove a delivery wagon for the firm, but his responsibilities were increased from time to time and finally he was able to purchase an interest in the business and later took over the entire plant, which as the result of his able management and progressive spirit has been enlarged and rebuilt. This is a close corporation. Mr. Wensley is now the sole owner of the Bogue-Wensley Lead Company and is its president. This business has grown to large proportions under his wise direction and as the result of his inde- fatigable energy. Something of the growth of the trade is indicated in the fact that he now has forty-five employes. In the conduct of the business he manufactures plumbers' lead pipe, heating apparatus, tinners' supplies and hardware specialties and the worth of his output ensures a ready sale on the market. He is thoroughly pro- gressive, is persistent in purpose, straightforward in his dealings and indefatigable in energy.

RICHARD WENSLEY

174

HISTORY OF COLORADO

On the 1st of July 1903, Mr. Wensley was united in marriage to Miss Maude Beau- champ Walker, of Denver, a daughter of Dr. Joseph R. Walker, a well known physician, who is now in the government service and is the oldest member of the Red Cross Society. Mr. and Mrs. Wensley have one child, Maude Emeline, who was born in Denver in 1904 and is now attending the Wolcott School for Girls.

Mr. Wensley is a republican in his political views. He belongs to the Denver Athletic Club, the Denver Country. Club, the Lakewood Country Club and the Civic and Commercial Association. He likewise has membership in the Rotary Club and the Denver Motor Club. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in Masonry he has taken the degrees of the York Rite and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church. His life has ever been actuated by high and honorable principles and the manly course which he has followed has gained for him the unqualified confidence and regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact. Moreover, his career should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

CHARLES T. AUSTIN.

Charles T. Austin, special representative at Denver of the Mutual Benefit Life Insur- ance Company, was born in Detroit, Michigan, on the 19th of October. 1862, a son of Edmund and Ann (Spurway) Austin, both of whom were natives of England. The father was born in London and came to America in 1849, settling first at Brooklyn, New York, but soon afterward removed to Detroit, Michigan, when that city was a small town. There he resided to the time of his death. He was a building contractor and was quite successful, many of Detroit's representative buildings and historical land- marks having been erected by him. He was an intimate friend of Zach Chandler. A member of the Baptist church, he was a devout Christian and a man of the highest integrity and personal worth. He possessed a fine tenor voice and for years sang in the choir of the First Methodist church. In politics he was a stanch republican and he was very active as a supporter of the principles of his party and as an advocate of all those interests which are of civic worth. He served for a year as a member of the city council during the early '70s, but while he was never active as a candidate for office he took part in much campaign work, belonging to glee clubs and musical organ- izations that sang in the wigwams and aided much in furthering the cause of the party. His wife was a native of Devonshire, England, and came alone to America on a sailing vessel soon after her future husband crossed the Atlantic. They were sweethearts in England and she made the trip in order to become his wife. They were married in Brooklyn, New York, and to them were born eleven children, seven of whom are still living. The mother, however, has passed away.

Charles T. Austin was educated in the public and high schools of Detroit and when a youth of fifteen years started out to provide for his own support. He was first employed as a messenger boy by the firm of Gillette & Hall, grain merchants connected with the board of trade of Detroit. He continued with that firm for three years and after leaving the position he did not sever his connection with the grain trade but became a representative of the firm of Yeaton, Walker & Company of Detroit, with whom he continued for three years. In November, 1882, he removed to the west, arriving about the middle of that month in Denver. His elder sister, Annie Austin, was at that time a teacher in the Ebert school. Otherwise Mr. Austin had no acquaintances in Denver but was an entire stranger here and he had to make his way upward through dint of perseverance and through individual merit. His first position was that of cashier and bookkeeper for Birks Cornforth, a wholesale and retail grocery house on Fifteenth street. He con- tinued there as cashier for three years and afterward went to Sterling, Colorado, where he was employed as bookkeeper by the Sterling Merchandise Company. He continued with that house for some time and also rode the range in that section of the state for about two years, at which time cattle grazed on the open range. He has spent much time among the cowboys and range riders and many of the happy recollections of his boyhood days center around that life. He became an expert horseman and he can relate many an interesting tale concerning pioneer times in Colorado. At length he returned to Denver and entered the employ of Skinner Brothers & Wright, clothing merchants at Sixteenth and Lawrence streets. He occupied the position of cashier and bookkeeper and continued with that house for about five years. He next entered the employ of the Colorado National Bank, filling various clerical positions in the institution as he was

175

HISTORY OF COLORADO

advanced from time to time until he became assistant receiving teller. Subsequently he became paying teller of the Peoples National Bank, with which he continued until 1893, when the bank suspended. Immediately afterward he reentered the employ of the Colorado National in a minor position and subsequently he took charge of the accounting department of the McNamara store for the Colorado National Bank, the store now being the property of the Denver Dry Goods Company. He was with the Denver Dry Goods Company for ten years and in May, 1894, he was one of the organizers and became a director and secretary and treasurer of the company. In association with Dennis Sheedy and W. R. Owen, he became one of the main factors in the upbuilding of that institution, which owns and controls one of the largest department stores in the west. At length he resigned his position and severed his financial connection with the business in 1904. He had contributed in marked measure to the results achieved. The business was estab- lished on a small scale and through the efforts of Mr. Austin and his associates had been built up until its net assets amounted to a million and a quarter dollars. At length Mr. Austin became interested in gold mining in Nevada but lost quite heavily in that venture, for his mining properties near Goldfield did not prove profitable. In November, 1910, he again came to Denver, where he immediately entered upon his present business as special representative of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company in connection with G. A. Newkirk. In this business he has been very successful and has in force several million dollars in insurance which he has individually written, so that he is on the honor roll among the company's leading writers in the United States, having held that position for eight consecutive years. He became connected with the company because of his firm belief in it as one of the best and most thoroughly reliable insurance companies in the United States. Through his business operations in the insurance field he has largely recovered his fortunes lost through his mining operations and is today on the high road to substantial prosperity.

On the 20th of June, 1890, Mr. Austin was united in marriage in Denver to Miss Virginia Cooley, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and a daughter of Dr. John R. C. Cooley. The latter was a physician and surgeon, who rendered military aid to the Confederacy during the Civil war. His wife was Virginia Wyatt, who came from Petersburg, Virginia. Both were representatives of old families of that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Austin have been born two children: Jessie Virginia, now the wife of Joseph H. Weiner, a resident of Denver; and Charline Elizabeth, the wife of Albert J. Towar, of Detroit, Michigan, who is now a lieutenant in the United States service.

Politically Mr. Austin is a republican, active as a worker in behalf of party prin- ciples yet not a politician in the sense of office seeking. He was on one occasion elected county treasurer but was cheated out of the position. Fraternally he is connected with Elks Lodge, No. 17, and with South Denver Lodge, No. 93, A. F. & A. M .; with Colorado Chapter, No. 29, R. A. M .; Denver Commandery, No. 25, K. T .; Denver Council, No. 1, R. & S. M .; and El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Denver Motor Club, with the Kennicott Duck Club, the Salesmanship Club, the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, and with St. Mark's Episcopal church-connections that indicate the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct. His has been a life of intense activity and he has every reason to be proud of what he has accomplished in the business field. He displays salesmanship of high order, combined with notable enterprise, keen business discernment and the ability to readily read men. The results that he has accomplished are indeed gratifying and place him in the front rank among business men of the state.

FRANK G. SCHLOSSER, D. D. S.

Active among the successful representatives of dentistry in Denver is Dr. Frank G. Schlosser, who was born in Green Village, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, September 9, 1859, his parents being Dr. Noah and Sarah Katherine (Maxwell) Schlosser, both of whom were born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and the latter was a descendant of Molly Pitcher, the famous heroine of Revolutionary war days who upon the death of her husband, who was killed in action, took his place at the gun. The father of Frank G. Schlosser was a prominent member of the dental profession in the east and ranked very high as a practitioner in Pennsylvania and later in Denver. He removed to this city in 1883 and opened ah office, continuing actively in the profession until 1888. His death occurred in 1909, when he had reached the notable old age of eighty-seven years. His wife passed away in Denver in 1914 when she, too, was well advanced in years.

176

HISTORY OF COLORADO

They were married in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and to them were born five chil- dren: Frank G., of this review; Elmer E., who is an attorney at law practicing in Denver; G. A., of Denver; and Mrs. L. E. Spangler and Mrs. Alwida D. White, also of Denver.

In his youthful days Frank G. Schlosser was a pupil in the public schools of Penn- sylvania to the time when he entered the State University. He studied there for one term and then entered the Chicago Dental College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1884, after receiving thorough training in preparation for the profession. He came to Denver in 1885 and has since built up a large and successful practice. He holds to the highest professional standards and is a member of the Denver City and County Dental Society and was dental examiner for the city of Denver in 1890 and 1891.

On the 9th of May, 1888, Dr Schlosser was married to Miss Ella K. Brown and to them were born three children: Russell K., a graduate of the Denver Manual Training high school; Amy Ella, residing in Denver; and Katherine S.

Dr. Schlosser is very prominent as a representative of the dental profession and that he has prospered as the years have gone on is indicated in the fact that he is the owner of a fine home in Denver and other valuable property.

WILLIAM SMEDLEY, D. D. S.

For more than half a century Dr. William Smedley has engaged in the practice of dentistry and with the passing years has kept in touch with the trend of modern progress which has characterized the profession. He dates his residence in Colorado from 1870, and Denver has numbered him among its honored residents throughout this period.

He was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1836. His parents were Ahiah T. and Agnes Few Smedley, of Quaker lineage. His mother passed away in 1899, at the notable age of ninety-three years, and the father's death occurred when he was but thirty-nine years of age, death resulting from a "neglected cold." In early life he attended school, public and private, in his native state and afterward became a student in the Foxboro English and Classical School of Massachusetts. He then taught school in the east for a few years. From his childhood his health had been poor, and so, with the primary purpose of regaining his health, but moved also by the pioneering spirit, he crossed the plains in 1862, going from Omaha to Oregon in a prairie schooner drawn by an ox team. After one year in the far west he returned to Pennsylvania and took up the study of dentistry, graduating from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1866. He began practice in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1870, when he again sought the healthful climate and opportunities of the new and growing west. He arrived in Denver on the 25th of September, 1870, where he has since continuously practiced his profession. His course has been characterized by notable progress.

On the 4th of July, 1872, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, Dr. Smedley was married to Miss Mary Ellen Vickers, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paxson Vickers. Her father was a prominent business man, somewhat active in politics, and at one time a member of the Pennsylvania legislature.

Dr. and Mrs. Smedley have five children, all born in Denver. The eldest, Annie V., is the wife of D. F. Garrison, the cashier of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. Wil- liam Paxson is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery, and an ex- president of the Denver Dental Association, and also of the State Dental Association. Chester Earl was graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, and later graduated from the law school of the Denver University, since which time he has become a well known attorney of Denver. He was a member of the state legislature during the session of 1913. Victor Clyde is a graduate of the dental department of the University of Pennsylvania, and has also served as president of the Denver Dental Association. Agnes M., graduated from Colorado College, is the wife of Dr. Max Giesecke, who is a graduate of the dental department of Denver University. Dr. Smedley's sons, William P. and Victor Clyde, and his son-in-law, Dr. Max Giesecke, are engaged in the practice of dentistry with him under the name of William Smedley & Sons.

Deeply interested in his profession, he has read broadly and thought deeply and has kept in touch with the latest scientific researches and discoveries. He has always stood for the highest ethical principles and greatest scientific advancement of the pro- fession and to that end has aided in the organization and work of dental associations,

y= Smedley-2.2.5 .

Vol. II-12.

173

HISTORY OF COLORADO

recognizing the fact that such associations are preeminently adapted to stimulate and educate their members and to raise the standard of the profession.

He is a valued member of the Denver Dental Association, of which he was the first president. He was the first president of the Colorado State Dental Association and is now (1918) and has been since 1890 its treasurer. He is also a member of the National Dental Association. He is today the dean of the profession in Colorado.

In politics, though a lifelong republican, he does not hesitate to support the best men irrespective of party. He was for seventeen years the president of the board of directors of North Side School District, No. 17, before the consolidation, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion and one who has done much for tlie furtherance of its interests. Fraternally he is connected with Union Lodge, No. 7, A. F. & A. M .; Denver Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M .; Colorado Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; and El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has been an active member of the Colorado Humane Society for over twenty-five years, in the work of which he has felt a deep interest. He was one of the early members of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, now the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, and in January, 1911, was made an honorary member. He is a member of the Denver Philosophical Society and a life member of the State Forestry Association. He is a member of the Colorado Mountain Club and has climbed most of Colorado's highest peaks.

Such a career illustrates the fact that old age need not suggest idleness nor want of occupation. In spirit and interests Dr. Smedley seems yet in his prime. There is an old age which grows stronger mentally and morally with the years and which continues to give for the benefit of others out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience. Such is the record of Dr. Smedley.

"Though the snows of winter are on his head,

The flowers of spring are in his heart."

DANIEL A. CAMFIELD.

The days of chivalry and knighthood in Europe cannot furnish more interesting or romantic tales than our own western history. Into the wild mountain fastnesses of the unexplored west went brave men, whose courage was often called forth in encounters with hostile savages. The land was rich in all natural resources, in gold and silver, in agricultural and commercial possibilities, and awaited the demands of man to yield up its treasures; but its mountain heights were hard to climb, its forests difficult to pene- trate, its densest tracts seemingly uncultivable because of the lack of water. The estah- lishment of homes in this beautiful region therefore meant sacrifices, hardships and ofttimes death but there were some men brave enough to meet the conditions that must he faced for the purpose of reclaiming the region for civilization. Such an one was Daniel A Camfield, whose name is inseparably interwoven with the history of Colorado. He figured most prominently in connection with the development of its irrigation system, and because of the extent of his business affairs and his wide acquaintance his life record cannot fail to prove of interest to the readers of this volume. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, November 26, 1863, and was there reared and educated. He made his initial step in the business world as an employe in a grocery store of Providence and when a youth of eighteen years he took a trip to the west to see the country. It was not by design or plan but by accident that he came to Greeley. He liked the climate and people and so sought work in this locality. He secured a position as a farm hand in what is known as Pleasant Valley and on attaining his majority he took up govern- ment land and in one way or another-by claim from the government, hy purchase or trading-he acquired a large tract in the Crow Creek valley. Even then he saw visions of the future greatness of the section and started in to bring water to his land holdings, knowing that the soil was naturally rich and productive and that the only need was irrigation. His early days were fraught with the struggles of pioneer life, such as come to any man in a new country, but while most people secured one hundred and sixty acres or a half section as the basis of their labors, Mr. Camfield acquired thousands of acres and to the development of the immense tract devoted his thoughts. his time and his energies. His holdings reached nearly fifty thousand acres and gradually he enlarged the scope of his irrigation operations far beyond the limits of his own land and became largely responsible for the reservoir development of the Platte valley from Greeley to the Nebraska line. The irrigation enterprises with which he was connected and in which he was long the moving spirit would probably amount to between ten and fifteen million dollars. The execution of his plans involved the irrigation not only of parts

179

HISTORY OF COLORADO

of Colorado but also of Wyoming and New Mexico. His labors were therefore instru- mental in the reclamation of thousands of acres which are now highly productive and annually produce most substantial crops, adding greatly to the wealth of the state and to the resources of the country at large. In addition to his work in that connection Mr. Camfield was interested in many large business enterprises of a widely different character. When Greeley needed better hotel accommodations he purchased the old Oasis Hotel, which he remodeled and to which he made additions until he converted it into the present modern Camfield Hotel, a well appointed and popular hostelry. Not long afterward he built the Farmers Trust building, directly opposite the hotel, and he became one of the organizers of the City National Bank. He was also part owner of the Tribune-Republican Publishing Company and various other business interests profited by his cooperation and benefited by his sound judgment.

In 1887 Mr. Camfield was united in marriage to Miss Lottie Atkinson and they resided on one of Mr. Camfield's ranches for a number of years but afterward took up their abode in Greeley. They became the parents of four children: John E., Elizabeth, Edna and Gladys.

The life record of Mr. Camfield was one of continual effort. He was indefatigable in his labors and as the result of his unfaltering effort, his sound judgment and judicious investments his holdings constantly increased. His business responsibilities, however, became so great that it began to tell upon his nervous system and at times he suffered from acute indigestion, which was probably the cause of his death, which occurred when he was on a business trip in New York city, November 9, 1914. He was then but fifty-one years of age. It seems that he should have been spared for many years to come, for his labors were proving of the greatest benefit and worth as a feature in the state's development. He had the opportunity and the capacity to do a piece of work which was of vital significance to mankind and he utilized the opportunity to its full extent. The value of his service will be recognized for generations to come. His wealth was most honorably achieved. He always followed constructive measures and was never known to take advantage of the necessities of another in any business trans- action. His path, therefore, was never strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes and in fact the entire countryside benefited by his labors, and today many of the most productive regions of Colorado have come to their present fruitfulness as the direct outcome of his enterprise and his wide vision.

JACOB CALVIN JONES.

Jacob Calvin Jones is numbered among Colorado's honored pioneer settlers, having arrived in the state in 1860. In the years which have since come and gone he has borne his part in promoting the agricultural development of the state and also has done much in behalf of public progress, especially while serving as mayor of Englewood, in which city he makes his home. He was born in Danville, Pennsylvania, September 21, 1838, a son of William and Elizabeth (Abel) Jones. The father was of Welsh parentage, while the mother was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. William Jones became a boot and shoe manufacturer and also devoted a part of his time and attention to farming. His father- in-law lived to the notable old age of one hundred and twelve years.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 25

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