History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 43

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

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"D. H. Moffat."

During that time and for twenty years previous, Mr. Weston was confidential advis- ory engineer to Mr. Moffat, on mining and railway matters.

Mr. Weston is now engaged on what he hopes to be the magnum opus of his life, the securing of an outlet to the north, by connecting the great Yampa coal fields of Colorado, with the Union Pacific Railroad, for the estimated thirty nine billion tons of high grade coal in the twelve hundred square miles of that region will be available by the con- struction of about eighty miles of railroad from Encampment, Wyoming, the present terminus of a railroad that connects with the Union Pacific main line at Walcott, Wyoming. Such an extension would carry the line through the center of the anthracite and bitu- minous field to a connection with the Moffat road in Colorado. Mr. Weston, after being discouraged or turned down by the head of every department of the administration, finally was able to reach President Wilson who gave Mr. Weston his personal assurance that the project should receive full investigation,-which is now being done.

The people of the western states want that coal for industrial purposes as well as for their comfort.

In April, 1883, in St. Mark's church at St. Helier, on the Island of Jersey, England. Mr. Weston was united in marriage to Miss Emily Eliza Stirling, youngest daughter of Thomas Stirling Begbie, Esq., a ship builder and ship owner of London. Mr. Weston returned with his bride to the new world and they resided in Ouray until 1888, when they removed to Denver, which constituted a more advantageous field in which Mr. Weston could follow his profession of mining engineering. Mr. and Mrs. Weston have a son and a daughter. The son, Guy S. Weston, is a mining and mechanical engineer with more than sixteen years of actual experience; the daughter. Adele, is the wife of Sydney Van Nostrand Este, manager of the bond house of Sweet, Causey, Foster & Company, of Deuver.

A contemporary writer has said of Mr. Weston: "He has been an ardent sportsman all his life and is well known as a fine horseman, a dead shot and a scientific fly fisher- man. Commencing April 10, 1875, he wrote a long series of articles to the English Field, over the nom de plume of 'Will of the West,' the series being entitled Field Sports of Kansas and Colorado. These articles treated of grouse and quail shooting, bison hunting,

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antelope hunting on horseback with greyhounds, coursing, etc. In December, 1877, he began another series to the same paper, entitled Silver San Juan, which treated princi- pally of duck shooting and fly fishing, and these articles induced hundreds of British sportsmen to visit Colorado."

J. BEN WILLIAMS.

J. Ben Williams is numbered among the typical young men of the west-men who are bending every effort toward the development of business interests and projects, actuated by the laudable ambition of attaining substantial and honorable success. He is directing his labors in the field of insurance and has made for himself a creditable place in this connection. Denver numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in this city on the 12th of August, 1888. His father, James Williams, was born in England and after crossing the Atlantic to the new world made his way to Denver, where he entered the insurance field as a representative of a number of English com- panies. He was united in marriage to Miss Ella S. Parish, a native of the state of New York.

J. Ben Williams, the only child of that marriage, spending his youthful days under the parental roof, began his education in the public schools of Denver, and mastering the lessons of successive grades, was steadily promoted until he entered the East Denver high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1907. Later he went to Huerfano county, where he spent five years, during which period he was successfully engaged in farming over one thousand acres of land, which he brought under a high state of cultivation and from which he annually gathered good crops. At length, how- ever, he determined to sever his connection with agricultural interests and returned to Denver, where he has since made his home. Here he started to follow in the business footsteps of his father by entering the insurance field and became general agent for the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company of London, England. He has his offices at No. 607 First National Bank building. He has already built up a business of gratifying proportions and it has come to be widely recognized that few men are as well informed concerning insurance of every phase as Mr. Williams.

In 1912 occurred the marriage of J. Ben Williams and Miss Julia Harrison, a daughter of Meyer Harrison, a prominent insurance man of Denver. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and while he is a stanch champion of its principles he does not seek or desire office, neither is he connected with clubs or lodges. He is an active, energetic man who is concentrating his attention upon business affairs and by reason of his undivided attention is meeting with notable and well deserved success.

ALEXANDER BELL COWAN.

There is in the Western Union Telegraph service perhaps no one more popular or more highly esteemed than Alexander Bell Cowan, general manager of the Mountain division. A man of extreme modesty, it is his genial disposition, his uniform courtesy and kindliness as well as his marked business ability and efficiency that have gained him popularity with the officials and employes of the corporation which he represents. Mr. Cowan was born in Mount Zion, Illinois, March 2, 1861. His father, John D. Cowan, was a Presbyterian minister and teacher. A native of Tennessee, he removed from that state to Kentucky and afterward became a resident of Illinois, where he passed away during the boyhood days of his son Alexander. The mother bore the maiden name of Mary A. Bell, and after losing her first husband she became the wife of Bartley G. Henry, of Decatur, Illinois, where she is now living.

Alexander Bell Cowan is the only surviving child of his mother's first marriage. He pursued his education in the public schools of Illinois and of Evansville, Indiana, completing his studies in the latter place in 1877, when a youth of sixteen years. He then entered the railway service as a telegrapher and has been with the Western Union Telegraph Company for thirty-six years. He entered the employ of the company at Quincy, Illinois, in 1882, as an operator and there remained until 1894, acting as manager of the Quincy office from 1886. He was then transferred to Chicago as an operator and through the intervening period he has been continuously advanced until he was made superintendent of the Chicago district and so continued until December, 1916. He was

ALEXANDER BELL COWAN

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then transferred to Denver as general manager of the Mountain division, having under his jurisdiction the six states of New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Utah. When it was known that he would leave Chicago a number of his business associates planned a farewell dinner, which was held in the Auditorium Hotel on the 20th of November and, according to the Telegraph and Telephone Age, was "one of the most enjoyable affairs ever given to a departing comrade by the Chicago fraternity. It was attended by a most cosmopolitan body of telegraph men from the west, including representatives of all the departments of the company, railway telegraph superintend- ents and several visiting Western Union officials. The gathering was highly expressive of the regard in which Mr. Cowan was held and the satisfaction which the organization feels in the advancement of one of its members. Aside from the excellent meal fur- nished, there was music especially written for the occasion and various toasts were responded to. A number of managers from important offices in Mr. Cowan's territory were present, old friends of his, who were given seats of honor. The officials of the commercial, traffic and plant departments of the western territory were all there and the gathering was a notable and inspiring one." Mr. Cowan is rapidly winning equal popularity among his Denver associates and as the executive head of the Mountain division has the interests under his charge most thoroughly organized.

In 1884, Mr. Cowan was united in marriage to Miss Eliza L. Gaushell, a daughter of Francis Gaushell, of Quincy, Illinois. She is very active in Red Cross, club and society circles, in church work and in charitable projects and by her activities along these lines is shedding around her much of life's sunshine. Mr. and Mrs. Cowan have three children: Francis B., born May 15, 1885, at Quincy, Illinois; and Mary E. and Annabel N., who are their mother's active assistants in church and charitable work and in the social circles in which they mingle.

The family attend the Episcopal church. Mr. Cowan was formerly a member of the Illinois Athletic Club of Chicago and he belongs to the Denver Club. Efficiency has. ever been his watchword in anything that he has undertaken. A contemporary biog- rapher said of him: "Personally Mr. Cowan is universally liked and stands high in the respect and esteem of his employes. He is courteous to all-messenger or magnate alike-and is just and fair in all his dealings."

JOHN SANDBURG.

Among the younger men who have risen to positions of prominence in the business. and financial life of Denver, there are few if any better known than John Sandburg, president of the Bankers' Securities Company. Mr. Sandburg's connection with high class investment issues has brought him into prominent relations with the financial world, where his standing is high, for his studies have been broad and comprehensive along that line. A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Sandburg was born in Wilcox on the 22d of August, 1882, a son of S. P. and Anna (Kraus) Sandburg, both of whom are natives of Sweden and are now residents of Denver, where the father is living retired after long and active connection with business interests.

John Sandburg acquired a public school education, but his opportunities in that direction were somewhat limited, as he early began to earn his living hy working in the coal mines, being thus employed to the age of fourteen years. He then took up the work of a machinist and millwright in Colorado, having come to this state in 1897, at which time he established his home in Denver. He worked, however, in various places. in the state until 1908 and then hecame identified with mercantile interests at Eaton, Colorado, where he successfully carried on business, building up the largest store of the kind outside of Denver. He conducted the store for three years and then turned his attention to other interests, becoming the promoter of the Lovella Ditch, Reservoir & Irrigation Company, which constructed the Lovella ditch and reservoir. This com- pany was named in honor of his daughter. At a later period he returned to Denver and became president of the Bankers' Securities Company, which handles only municipal paper. He is also the president of the Midwest Coal & Iron Company and owns the controlling interest in both of these corporations, which rank among the foremost busi- ness enterprises of the state. Mr. Sandburg is a man of marked executive force and administrative ability and his efforts and interests have been most carefully and wisely directed. He has the power of coordinating seemingly diverse interests into a unified and harmonious whole and he readily and quickly discriminates between the essential and the nonessential in all business transactions.

In 1904 Mr. Sandhurg was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Anderson, a native :

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of Des Moines, Iowa, and to them have been born two children: Lovella, now twelve years of age, attending school; and Wanda, a little maiden of five summers.

Mr. Sandburg is identified with the Democratic Club, which indicates his interest in the political questions and issues of the day. He has always been a stanch supporter of the principles of the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and he has done everything in his power to promote its success. He turns for recreation to hunting and fishing and greatly enjoys those sports. He is a self-made man and cer- tainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. If one could turn back the hourglass of time to the opening years of the last decade of the nineteenth century one would find John Sandburg among the young lads working among the coal mines of Penn- sylvania, for he thus began to provide for his own support when a boy of but nine years. He is absolutely self-made and as the architect of his own fortunes has builded wisely and well. Indefatigable energy and industry constitute the broad basis upon which has been built the foundation of his success. Working his way steadily upward, he has recognized and utilized opportunities that others have passed heedlessly by and his sound judgment has pointed out the path of safe investment, so that he is today at the head of two very important business corporations of Denver, in which connection he controls interests of great extent and magnitude.

JOSEPH R. MASON.

Joseph R. Mason, an experienced restaurant man of high qualifications, is success- fully conducting the dining room of the Annex Hotel at Sterling, Colorado, and has already succeeded in winning the approval of the general public and traveling fraternity. He was formerly part-owner of the Rex Café at Greeley and as such established a reputation for high class service, which has followed him to his new sphere of activity.

Joseph R. Mason is a westerner by birth and inclination, Longmont, Colorado, being the place of his nativity. There he was born October 17, 1890, a son of M. R. and Mary B. (Whitlock) Mason, natives of Springfield, Illinois. In 1885 the family came to Colorado, locating near Longmont, where the father acquired landed interests, and there he has ever since been engaged as a successful agriculturist. He has owned different farms but always has considered Longmont his home. His wife is also living.

Joseph R. Mason was reared and educated in Longmont and after completing his education took up the baker's trade. He spent four years in this line with the Long- mont Bakery, thoroughly learning all the practical details of the business. Moreover, he delved into culinary art and became a chef of considerable reputation. In that capacity he was employed by the Brown Palace Hotel of Denver for three years. For two years he was in the same capacity with the Mozart Hotel in Denver and in those years was considered the foremost in his profession in the city. He was then employed for four years in connection with railroad eating houses and in 1910 came to Greeley, Colorado, finding employment along his lines of trade in various places. He continued so until March, 1917, when he established himself in the restaurant business in partnership with E. W. Friend. This relation was continued until November 9, 1917, when Mr. Mason acquired the interest of his partner. Later he sold one-half of his holdings to M. E. Miller, the firm name becoming Mason & Miller. They conducted one of the finest restaurants in this part of the state and naturally did an enormous business. Their patronage was of the highest class, yet their restaurant was so conducted that its prices suited any purse. Mr. Mason must in large measure be held responsible for the great success which the firm achieved there in so short a time, for he is a master in his line. More- over, he believes in giving the public its money's worth and this principle now guides him in the conduct of the dining room of the Annex Hotel at Sterling.

On July 25, 1911, Mr. Mason was united in marriage to Miss Grace Mulford, a daugh- ter of Charles and Sarah P. (Dailey) Mulford, natives of New Jersey, the mother born in Bridgeton and the father in Greenwich. The latter followed the milling trade in that state, but in 1884 sought the opportunities of Colorado and came here with his family, buying land in Weld county. He successfully operated his farm until his death, which occurred January 12, 1905. His widow yet survives and makes her home on the family farm. Mr. and Mrs. Mason have one son, Ray Mulford, who was born in May, 1912. Mrs. Mason is a loyal and true daughter of Colorado, having been born, reared and educated in Greeley and having been married there. She is now making her home in Sterling and has many friends here and is popular on account of her pleasing social qualities.

Politically Mr. Mason is a republican, but his business interests are so exacting that he has found no time to participate actively in public life although he is ever ready to

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promote or support measures undertaken for the general welfare. Through his business activities he has in no small measure contributed toward public welfare and well deserves credit for this. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.

The dining room of the Annex Hotel at Sterling is very popular and increasingly so, on account of the new management, and there come men of the city and men of the road, men from far and wide, professional and business men. Although Mr. Mason has had charge for only a few months, he has already demonstrated his ability in the conduct of this enterprise and Sterling and the Annex Hotel are to be congratulated in having secured a restaurant man of his experience and knowledge. His worth is acknowledged by all his. patrons and he is fast making friends in his new surroundings.

DANIEL AUSTIN MALONEY.

Daniel Austin Maloney, attorney at law of Denver and secretary of the Knights and Ladies of Security, was born in Georgiaville, about seven miles from Providence, Rhode Island, June 29, 1863, a son of Michael and Mary (Coen) Maloney, both of whom were natives of Ireland but in early life came to the new world. The father was a trial justice of Rhode Island and was active and prominent in public affairs, giving stalwart support to the republican party. Both he and his wife have now passed away.

Daniel Austin Maloney pursued his education in the schools of his native town and of Providence, Rhode Island, and after removing to the west continued his studies in the law department of the State University at Iowa City, Iowa. He there won his profes- sional degree upon graduation with the class of 1896. In the same year he was admit- ted to the bar of lowa and there continued in practice for thirteen years or until 1909, when he was admitted to the Colorado bar. He was for a time associated in practice in Iowa with G. A. Ewing as a member of the firm of Ewing & Maloney and later has practiced alone. He now has a good clientage which connects him with much important litigation and in all of his professional work he is forceful and resourceful, his correct analysis ena- bling him to give due prominence to each point in his case. Aside from his law prac- tice he is district manager for the Denver district of the Knights and Ladies of Security.

In 1896 Mr. Maloney was united in marriage to Miss Rose Rickey, of Washington county, Iowa, and they have become parents of a son, Thomas Eldon, who is twenty years of age and who was graduated from the South Side high school of Denver with the class of 1918. The family hold membership in St. Francis De Sales church. Fra- ternally Mr. Maloney is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Wood- men of the World and with Denver Lodge, No. 41, K. P., of which he is a past chancellor, and he has also been representative to the grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias for eight consecutive years-a fact indicative of his prominence in the order.

EMMA T. WILKINS.

Colorado was one of the first states to recognize woman's political and legal equality with man and many important offices in the state have heen filled by women who have most creditably discharged their duties. As county superintendent of schools of Lari- mer county Emma T. Wilkins is making a most excellent record, doing much to stimu- late the development of the schools and advance the high standards of education endorsed by the public. A native of Grenloch, New Jersey, she was born March 12, 1876, a daughter of Thomas J. and Martha (Scott) Wilkins, who were also natives of that state. She was born in the same house as her father, who became a farmer and truckman of New Jersey, where he carried on business until 1878 and then removed to the west for the benefit of his health. He located near Timnath, Colorado, where he purchased land which he improved, and later added to his holdings and engaged in the cattle business. He was very successful as a farmer, but ill health always proved a bar to his progress along business lines. He died September 9, 1900, after a long illness, and is survived by his widow, who yet makes her home in Fort Collins.

The daughter, Miss Emma T. Wilkins, was reared and educated at Timnath. After completing the first two years of high school work in a private school in Timnath she continued her education in the Fort Collins high school and later entered the Colorado State Teachers College at Greeley, where she was graduated with the class of 1898. She then took up the profession of teaching, which she followed for three years in the rural schools of Larimer county and for one year in the high school at Windsor,

MISS EMMA T. WILKINS

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Weld county. She afterward devoted six years to public school teaching in Fort Col- lins, from the first to the sixth grade, there remaining until elected to her present posi- tion as county superintendent of schools of Larimer county. She was chosen to this office in November, 1912, and has been reelected at each succeeding biennial term or on three different occasions, thus receiving the public endorsement of her excellent service as head of the school system of the county. She has also been a member of the state board of examiners, which meets in Denver four times annually for the pur- pose of examining applicants for state teachers' certificates and institute licenses. She was called to this office in 1912 and is also on the state examining board which examines all applicants for graduation at the State Normal School at Gunnison, Colorado, and the State Teachers College at Greeley. In December, 1915, the state board of education presented her with the Colorado certificate for eminent service and she indeed ranks among the most prominent public school educators of the state, holding to the highest ideals and continually promoting her efficiency through broad reading and study.

Miss Wilkins is a member of the Empire Grange and also the Cache la Poudre Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She likewise has membership in the Woman's Club of Fort Collins and she has devoted considerable time during the past year to the young ladies' auxiliary of the Woman's Club. Her political endorsement is given to the democratic party and her religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. She resides with her mother at No. 300 South Meldrum street, while her office is in the courthouse at Fort Collins. She keeps in close touch with all of the schools of the county and her practical ideas and methods have been a strong force in their development and progress.

FRANK F. KING.

That the material growth and upbuilding of a city is in large measure due to real estate activities is generally conceded and in that line of activities Frank F. King has contributed toward the progress of his city, being engaged in the real estate business in Denver, with offices in the Brown building. Not only is he one of the most successful real estate operators in the city, hut his reputation is of the very highest and his word has become as reliable as his bond. Moreover, his activities have extended to other parts of the state. He has been connected with some of the largest deals in high class real estate and his transactions place him with the foremost firms of his kind in the city. The name of Frank F. King can be seen on realty signs placed on many residential properties of the highest class and he handles a large amount of the choicest vacant property in the city and county. His eminent position in his line is due entirely to his natural qualifications, his intuitive business insight, his unswerving integrity, his mastery of real estate problems and his quality of recognizing opportunities wherever they are presented.

Frank F. King was born in Perry, Pike county, Illinois, and is a son of Howard and Mary W. (King) King. The father, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, removed to Illinois as a young man, becoming a pioneer settler of Pike county, and later in life engaged in the mercantile business in Perry, Illinois, being quite successful in his business projects. The mother, a native of New Jersey, also went to Illinois in early life and there she was married to Mr. King, where they continued to make their home during the early part of their married life. To them six children were born, of whom Frank F. King was the fourth in order of birth. He attended public school in Pike county and later rounded out his education by a high school course, graduating from the high school at Springfield, Missouri. He then entered mercantile life, holding a position in Springfield. At a later date he was connected with a large establishment. the Neostyle Company, manufacturers of office supplies and equipment, whose head- quarters were in New York city. After thoroughly familiarizing himself with the busi- ness he hecame traveling representative for this large firm, organizing branch houses and promoting their business in various sections over the rest of the world, with head -. quarters in London, England. This work took him to practically every part of the globe and he made two complete trips around the world, completing the last one in 1908. At that time he was actively engaged for his firm in Tokio, Japan. From Japan's capital he sent in his resignation and made his way directly to Denver, Colorado, where his services found immediate employment by the well known real estate firm of W. T. Craft & Company. His natural ability, his vast experience and his high quality of salesmanship stood him in good stead and for five years he remained with this firm as a salesman. In 1913, however, he resigned, recognizing the vast opportunities then presented and

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 43

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