History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 45

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

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HALSTED L. RITTER

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Denver Bar Association. He belongs to the Denver City and County Bar Association, the Colorado State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

On the 14th of July, 1897, Mr. Ritter was married to Miss Grace L. May, of Indian- apolis, Indiana, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alva C. May, of that city. They have two chil- dren: Elinor May, who was born in Denver in 1900 and is now attending Wellesley College near Boston, Massachusetts; and Thurston, who was born in Denver, March 26, 1902, and is attending the Manual Training high school of Denver.

Mr. Ritter is a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Phi Beta Kappa, college frater- nities. He is well known in Masonic circles, having attained the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite. He is a member of the Interlachen Golf Club and is president of the So- cial Service Bureau of Denver and a trustee of the Denver Federation of Charity and Philanthropy. His religious faith is indicated in the fact that he is a member of the First Congregational church and he does everything in his power to promote moral progress and development in the city. In politics he is an independent republican. He is chairman of the lawyers' bureau of the Civic and Commercial Association and there is no phase of civic welfare which does not elicit his attention and cooperation. He stands for all that is best for the individual and for the community at large and his efforts in behalf of public progress and improvement have been far-reaching and resultant.

GEORGE W. FISK.

Greeley, the progressive and fast growing city of Colorado, can boast of one man who has not only a state and nation-wide reputation, but enjoys international fame as an artistic violin maker. Some of the greatest artists of the world have recognized his work and highly commended his ability and talent and many are the testimonials which give high credit to Mr. Fisk. He seems to have rediscovered the art of violin making which flourished in the Italian school of about two hundred years ago and seems to be gifted with the delicate touch of those great makers in creating new instru- ments and adjusting old ones. Moreover, Mr. Fisk is not only an artist in his line, but is a practical business man who has built up a sound trade, also handling violin acces- sories. His dealings have always been most honorable and he is sincere and true in his opinions, which are often asked of him by the profession. In the course of many years of experience he has acquired a judgment upon the qualities of violins which is prac- tically infallible and generally considered so.

George W. Fisk was born in Bennington, Vermont, May 30, 1838, a son of Richmond and Lurana (Matteson) Fisk, natives of that state. The father was an agriculturist and was also engaged in the lumber business and achieved material success along both lines. Richmond Fisk was one of the earliest settlers in 'Greeley, where he located in 1870, having been one of the organizers of the Union colony, the originator of which was N. C. Meeker. After the company was organized H. T. West was entrusted with the commission to move out to Greeley and look over the ground and report upon condi- tions here. At the last meeting in New York in the winter of 1869-70 Mr. Fisk resigned his position as one of the locating committee on account of poor health and Henry T. West, now ninety-three years of age, living in Idaho, was appointed in his place on the locating committee. After settling in this city Richmond Fisk here lived retired until his death, which occurred in October, 1877, his widow surviving him until October, 1886.

George W. Fisk was largely reared and educated in Hoosick Falls, New York, whither his parents had removed about 1848. After completing his education he worked in dif- ferent localities along mechanical lines and so continued until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted with the Second Vermont Infantry, serving as a musician and remain- ing with the colors for about a year. He was then discharged and again took up his trade, perfecting his mechanical skill and efficiency in the east until 1870, when he came to Colorado with his parents. At this period, however, he did not remain long, but returned to the east, where he continued until 1876, when he again heeded the 'call of the west and returned to Greeley, where he has resided ever since. covering a period of over forty-two years. Mr. Fisk has always been imbued with a love of music and in his younger days was a very successful player on the violin. He also was a very skillful pattern maker and an experienced wood carver and worker. In 1876 he engaged def- initely in the manufacture of violins and has ever since followed this line. His extensive mechanical experience and his native talent combine in making him one of the most sought after violin makers. There is not the least part of the work which he leaves to others, but he makes all of the instrument himself and at this writing is working on his one hundred and sixty-third violin. When he first started out he sold his instru-

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ments for seventy-five dollars and since then has received as much as three hundred dollars, the price which he now generally commands. He has not only made instruments for local and American artists, but for many from other countries, and all those who have bought of him are high in their praise of his instruments, which excel on account of their clearness of tone, their resiliency, their power and also because of the liquid sweetness so peculiar to the Italian violin of the historic epoch. His instruments are never sold through stores but only direct and it is certainly a great credit to Mr. Fisk and his work that he has never needed to advertise himself but that people have come to him simply on account of the merit of his instruments. The material which Mr. Fisk uses for making violins is the very choicest and most carefully selected and he has some woods on hand which he purchased in 1884 and uses only material which is properly sea- soned and which he has tested out entirely to his own satisfaction. Part of the tools which he uses in the manufacture of his violins are self-designed and made by him.

Among the many flattering testimonials which Mr. Fisk has received may be mentioned one from Fritz Thies, of Denver, Colorado, who says: "* * * You have made an exquisite piece of work, and in the future I shall not send any fine instrument to Hill in London, England, to be repaired." Ferdinand Stark, the celebrated virtuoso of San Francisco, writes: "Had the greatest success of my life tonight. Played several solos for artists, and on the violin you made for me. That violin turned out to be one of the finest ever made-not only in Colorado, but perhaps in the world! No one be- lieves that the violin was made in Colorado. I wish you could hear it. It is a wonder! If you could hear it, I am sure it would make you feel as Admiral Dewey did when he took Manila." David E. Fisher, first violinist with the Grand Opera Company, New York, writes: "It affords me great pleasure to write you with regard to the violin which you made for me. As you' know, I took it right from your shop and played the Seventh Concerto by De Beriot and the Legend by Wieniawski upon it, at a concert in your town. I must say it was one of the greatest surprises of my life. The tone and ease with which it played, was wonderful for a new instrument that had never been used." In the Denver Daily Tribune appeared the following from Edouard Remenyi, the Hungarian virtuoso: "Among the thousands of 'fiddle makers' in Europe and America Mr. George W. Fisk, of Greeley, Colorado, is one out of only four real violin makers that I have found in my travels over the world. His workmanship is well nigh perfect. * * * The violin he made for me is a beauty and has a grand, mellow, magnificent tone. Mr. Fisk will back up all I have stated of him." Shortly before his death, Remenyi wrote to Mr. Fisk, addressing him thus: "I have just a few hours in Denver. I have seen your violin, Stradivarius Format, at the home of our friend, Jervis Joslin. I played on it, and it is an excellent instrument, magnificently made. The workmanship is well nigh perfect. I say now, unhesitatingly, that you are not only the best living violin maker in America, but in the world." Elbert Hubbard, whose tragic death came about with the sinking of the Lusitania, said of Mr. Fisk: "One man I met at Greeley was worth going miles to see. 'Old Man' Remenyi told me of him years and years ago. 'His name is George W. Fisk,' said the Old Man, 'and he makes violins to the glory of God, just as Stradivarius did. I used to play a "Strad," then a woman who loved me gave me a Joseph Guarnerius, but now I play a Fisk.' So I went to see Fisk at Greeley. He has a little bit of a shop and works all by himself. He knows nothing but violins and the great men and women who played violins and loved them. Fisk plays, too, and when he sells a violin he always sheds tears at part- ing with it and tries to buy it back. He works just a month on each instrument, and never lets a violin leave the shop until it is at least a year old. To see Old George Fisk close his eyes and caress a violin makes you think of the times of long ago, when all the days were May days and sorrow was unguessed. There is a man who has found his work." To mention one more celebrity among those who paid high testimony to Mr. Fisk's work, George Lehman, one of the foremost solo and quartette violinists of America, gave his opinion that he had never seen or heard a new violin which pleased him so much as one of Mr. Fisk's make, although he had visited all the violin shops of note in Berlin, Paris and other capitals. Six new instruments of his make were used in a concert program of Ferdinand Stark, and the Colorado Springs Gazette wrote in 1899 the following on this occasion: "During the performance something was happen- ing on the platform, though few were aware of it. Six new violins were being tried, and judging from the smiles of the orchestra and an old gentleman in the front row, the trial was satisfactory. The violins are the work of the old gentleman ahove men- tioned. He is an American, lives in Greeley, Colorado, and his name is George W. Fisk. He is an enthusiast in his art, is modest, unassuming and a most interesting talker. He has produced so far about one hundred violins, which are scattered over the whole musical world-Wilhelmj has one, Remenyi had another-how proud the old man was

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of his violins-Stark plays on one every day. Kneisel and Ysaye admire them. They are American made, and what is more to the point, Colorado made. The city of Greeley is proud of George W. Fisk."

George W. Fisk was married on the 23d of January, 1861, to Miss Lucy E. Ames. who passed away, after twenty-five years of happy married life, in June, 1886. On the 28th of December, 1887, Mr. Fisk was again maried, this union being with Miss Katherine L. Moody, and to them were born two children, one of whom died in infancy. The other, Eugene Moody Fisk, was born August 10, 1891. After receiving a suitable pre- paratory education he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he graduated as one of the honor class, and he has for the last four years been em- ployed in the engineering department of the Western Union Telegraph Company at New York city.

Mr. Fisk now gives his allegiance to the democratic party, but in former years followed the standards of republicanism until Woodrow Wilson was first nominated. Although he has always been busy and occupied with his exacting work, he has found time to take part in the public life of his community and has served as trustee of Greeley. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order and the Odd Fellows lodge. In former years he owned a quite valuable ranch in the neighborhood but has sold this property. He is living at No. 710 Twelfth street, in the same house which his father built in 1870, and his office is located at No. 714 Twelfth street. Although in his eighty-first year, Mr. Fisk is very active and fully able to cope with his extensive busi- ness. He has always taken a deep interest in the moral and intellectual progress of his community and his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Both have made many friends in Greeley and are popular in the social circles of the town, extend- ing on frequent occasions the hospitality of their home to those who have the pleasure and honor of their more intimate acquaintance.

EDWIN LYMAN DUNHAM.

Almost a half century has come and gone since Edwin Lyman Dunham established his home in Colorado and through the intervening period he has been an active factor in the development and progress of Greeley, where he now makes his home, and also in the conduct of the interests of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in this state, in which connection he has again and again been called to high office. He was born in Mansfield, Connecticut, on the 3rd of April, 1845, and is a son of Jonathan Lyman and Abigail H. (Eldridge) Dunham, the former a native of Mansfield, Connecticut, while the latter was born in Willington, Connecticut. Both were descendants of old Puritan families that were founded in America by ancestors who came to the new world on the Mayflower. A representative of the family was Chancellor Walworth, of New York, who made an effort to secure a share in the estate of Queen Anne, one of the wives of Henry VIII of England, basing the claim on the fact that the maternal ancestor of the Dunham family was a descendant in a direct line from the queen. He failed to secure any portion of the inheritance, however, on account of finding that a page had been cut from the church record which contained the marriage of one of the descendants in the line, so that the legality of the marriage could not be established under the English law. A great-great-grandfather of Edwin Lyman Dunham was one of six brothers, all of whom were over six feet in height, and all were members of General Washington's bodyguard in the Revolutionary war. They all survived the struggle with England and reached an advanced age, each living to be more than ninety years of age, while one of the brothers was one hundred years and twenty days old at the time of his demise. All of the ancestors were noted for longevity and there were various members of the family during the Revolutionary war period who served as soldiers or officers in the American army. Jenathan Lyman Dunham, father of Edwin Lyman Dunham, was a farmer by occupation and followed that pursuit in the east until 1870, when he came with his family to Colorado, establishing his home in Greeley, where he took up the occupation of farming and at different times owned several small tracts of land. Both he and his wife have now passed away. They were consistent members of the Presbyterian church and enjoyed the high esteem and goodwill of all with whom they came in contact. They had two sons, the brother of our subject being Sylvester Clark Dunham. He became a lawyer by profession, but edited the New Britain (Conn.) Record during the period when he was preparing for the bar. He married Mary Malinda Austin and they had one son. The death of Sylvester Dunham occurred in October, 1915, and he was laid to rest in the Hartford, Connecticut, cemetery. Dur-

EDWIN L. DUNHAM

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ing the last fourteen years of his life he had been a prominent figure in insurance circles as the president of the Travelers' Insurance Company and was a leading factor in the business life and development of New England. His widow survives and yet makes her home in Hartford, where her son is also living. He is a graduate of Yale College and, like his father, has become a prominent official of the Travelers' Insurance Company.

During the first thirteen years of his life Edwin Lyman Dunham was a pupil in the public schools of Connecticut, after which the family removed to Rootstown, Ohio, where he continued his studies, becoming a pupil in Mount Union College. The family then returned to Connecticut and Edwin L. Dunham began learning the machinist's trade, to which he devoted five years in Southington, Connecticut. He afterward joined the Union Colony of Colorado and came to Greeley in 1870. Here he turned his atten- tion to farming, but did not find the occupation congenial, and after two years he became a factor in the commercial development of the new city by establishing a jewelry business. Through individual study he learned to do jewelry repairing and has con- tinued in this line of business from that date to the present, covering a period of more than forty-five years. He has made a most creditable name and place in commercial circles and has become the proprietor of a well-appointed jewelry house, in which he carries a large and carefully selected line of goods. Not only has he won respect and honor by reason of his success and his straightforward business methods, but also owing to the prominent position to which he has attained as a representative of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has long been a valued member of the order and since 1877 has continuously occupied some office in connection therewith. He advanced through all of the chairs in the local lodge and became grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment of Colorado, serving in that capacity in 1887 and 1888. He has also been grand master of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, so serving in 1897 and 1898. He was grand representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge during the years 1900 and 1901 and he has done much to further the interests of the organization and to uphold its high standards.

On the 8th of March, 1871, in Greeley, Mr. Dunham was united in marriage to Miss Annie Gilmore Scott, a daughter of Dr. James S. Scott, who was the first regular physician of Greeley, removing to this state from Ohio. He figured prominently in connection with framing the laws of his native state, having for several years been a member of the Ohio legislature. He died May 16, 1881, at the age of eighty years, and was laid to rest in Greeley cemetery. On the morning of the day of his death he had been in attendance at a sick bed and in the afternoon passed away of pneumonia. He was notable in this community for his religious zeal and enthusiasm and was one of the founders of the First Methodist Episcopal church, in which he served as steward, while in every part of the church work he was deeply and helpfully interested. His daughter, Mrs. Dunham, was born in Steubenville, Ohio, March 5, 1850, and there attended the public schools. Her mother died when she was about eight years of age, and was buried in Zanesville, Ohio. Her father afterward married again and came to Colorado in September, 1870. To Mr. and Mrs. Dunham has been born a son, Charles S., whose birth occurred in Greeley on the 29th of December, 1871, and who here resided until he had attained his majority. He then entered the Dental College at Cincinnati, Ohio, from which in due course of time he was graduated, and he also studied in New Orleans. Later he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where he practiced his profession for a quarter of a century and there passed away on the 23d of March, 1917. He had married Elizabeth Dirque, who was born in Paris, France, and at his death his remains were interred in the Linn Grove cemetery in Greeley.

Mr. Dunham has long held membership in the First Presbyterian church and was organist for twenty-three years, while his wife has also been very active in church work and has held various offices in different church societies. Mr. Dunham was a trustee of the church for nine years. While now seventy-three years of age, he is still very active in musical circles in Greeley, playing the double bass viol in the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, an organization of forty-four members, that was organized and conducted by Professor J. C. Kendall, supervisor of music in the State Teachers College. This orchestra gives weekly concerts, but they are not a body of professionals, for many of the members are connected with the student body of the State Teachers College. Throughout his entire life Mr. Dunham has manifested the deepest interest in music and has done much to further musical taste and talent in the city where he has so long resided.

His contribution to the world's work has indeed been of value as a merchant, as a musician and as a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He

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has for thirty-seven years been in attendance at the annual meeting of the grand lodge of the order and no representative of the fraternity in Colorado is held in higher regard or more justly deserves the esteem and goodwill of his brethren than does Edwin Lyman Dunham.

GEORGE HAMBURGER, JR.

George Hamburger, Jr., is the president of the George Hamburger Tool & Supply Company of Denver. It is true that he had the benefit of his father's experience and advice in the initial stages of his business career, but in enlarging and controlling his interests many a man of less resolute spirit would have failed. Thoroughly conversant with all the practical features of the business and imbued by an enterprising spirit, combined with initiative, Mr. Hamburger has carried forward the interests of the house, which is today one of the important concerns of the kind in Colorado. He is a native son of Denver, born October 8, 1885, upon the site of the present plant of the George Hamburger Tool & Supply Company. It was there that his father erected his home about 1881 and there the family resided until 1891, George Hamburger, Sr., came to America in 1869, settling first at St. Louis, Missouri, where he was engaged in the harness business and also in the butchering business, having thoroughly mastered both trades. In the fall of 1872 he removed to Colorado, making his way direct to Denver, where he immediately entered upon the harness and saddlery manufacturing business, in which he continued until 1891. He then sold to the Denver Saddlery Company, which business from a small start was developed to the leading harness and saddlery house of Colorado. In 1891 Mr. Hamburger retired from active connection with manufac- turing lines and devoted his time and finances to real estate until 1893, when he estab- lished the Hamburger & Eckert brewing and bottlers supply business, in which he continued for three years. He then reentered the real estate and investment field, in which he continued successfully until his death, which occurred on the 1st of April, 1917, when he was sixty-nine years of age. In the meantime, in connection with his son and namesake, he established the George Hamburger Tool & Supply Company, which was incorporated October 8, 1910, with George Hamburger, Jr., as the president and his father as the secretary and treasurer. George Hamburger, Sr., married Elsie Madlung, a native of Alsace-Lorraine, who came to America in early life and settled in Denver, where she met and married Mr. Hamburger. They became the parents of three children, of whom one died at the age of six years, while the daughter, Lydia, is now the wife of Harry H. Post, residing at No. 801 York street in Denver.

George Hamburger, Jr., the other member of the family, pursued his education in the public schools of Denver. in the Manual Training high school and in the University of Colorado, from which he was graduated as a mechanical engineer in 1907. After his graduation he followed that profession for a short time and afterward became asso- ciated with the Henry Ford Automobile Company of Denver, after which he entered into connection with the Automobile General Supply Company as manager. He was next associated with M. L. Foss in the hardware tool supply business, with which he was active for two years, and it was this step in his business career that was the initial force in the development of his present interests. As stated, he became associated with his father in the organization of the George Hamburger Tool & Supply Company and on the 23d of February, 1912, the business was reincorporated with Mr. Hamburger of this review as the president, his wife, Mrs. Maude Hamburger, as the vice president, and his father, George Hamburger, Sr., as secretary and treasurer. Since the death of the father, Mr. Hamburger has been both president and treasurer, while Mrs. Hamburger is the vice president and secretary. The Hamburger Tool & Supply Company is largely of a wholesale and jobbing character and is one of the largest in the Rocky Mountain states, the business extending over Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. The firm employs on an average of five traveling men and a large corps of clerks and office help. They carry supplies for machinists, auto garages, novelty shops and bicycle shops and a general line of mill supplies and also handle a complete line of metals and hardware. The store covers a floor space of thirty by one hundred and fifty feet and the building is three stories in height. They also have a warehouse at Twenty-second and Arapahoe streets of equal size. In addition to his activities as president and treasurer of the Hamburger Tool & Supply Company, Mr. Hamburger is executor of his father's estate and is very thorough, painstaking and exact in its adminis- tration. He possesses an inventive turn of mind and has ever been most studious along the lines to which he has directed his attention.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 45

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