History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 52

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

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to formulate a policy which would be of advantage to American conditions. Upon the return of the commission to America two reports were prepared, the minority report being signed by Mr. Jones, F. J. Von Engelken, late director of the mint, now president of the Federal Land Bank at Columbia, South Carolina, and four other men. Mr. Jones held a decidedly different view from the majority of the commission members, and secured wide circulation for his opinions, both in public addresses in different cities and in articles prepared for the leading newspapers and financial periodicals. The Texas Banker of April, 1914, stated: "The senate banking committee has had published the hearings of Mr. Gordon Jones, president of the United States National Bank of Denver, Colorado. Mr. Jones, the only banker joining the minority, was a member of the American com- mission that visited European countries last year to study rural credit systems, and his views were much at variance with those who were in favor of foisting upon this country the European cooperative rural credit system." The minority report became quite an important factor in the legislation enacted by congress, commonly known as the Federal Farm Loan Act. One of the features of Mr. Jones' efforts for rural credits is the address, "Some Methods of Financing the Farmer," known as document 212 of the Sixty-third Congress, first session, which sets forth some of the methods of financing the farmer, including explanations of rural credit systems. This document, which was printed by the government in 1913, is authoritative and comprehensive, and is written by a man who studied his subject with calm thoroughness and drew his deductions from close observation of foreign systems as applicable to conditions in the United States.

Upon the organization of the Federal Reserve system, Gordon Jones was chosen a director, Class A, of the Federal Reserve Bank, District 10 (Kansas City, Missouri). Denver failed to secure one of the regional reserve banks, but Mr. Jones fulfilled the duties of his office with the same intelligence, fidelity and zeal which characterized all of his work. Many of the forms in use by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City are the product of his industry and superior skill in handling loans and credits. In 1916 the government offered Mr. Jones a position upon the new farm loan board, but this offer he refused.

These and many other smaller positions of trust are proof of the brilliancy of Gordon Jones' banking career. His record, had he lived, would undoubtedly have included more positions of national importance, but notwithstanding his early demise, more deeds and accomplishments were crowded into his years of activity than are the lot of most men who reach the three score and ten. By nature Mr. Jones was altruistic and philanthropic and was always greatly interested in the education of young people. In addition to his business duties, Mr. Jones found the time and had the inclination to accomplish much in Christian work. He took an active part in the fight for prohibition in Missouri. Orphan babies and dependent children also made a strong appeal to his sympathies and, not only giving liberally of his time and money to orphan asylums in the. communities where he lived, his custom was to devote active personal attention to finding homes for children in whom he took an interest. He was a faithful member of the Central Presbyterian church of Denver, a member of its board of trustees, and at the time of his death president of the board. Also, he was a director and vice president of the Denver Young Men's Chris- tian Association.

The family life of Mr. Jones approached the ideal. He was married February 18, 1891, to Dora Lou Cobb of Odessa, Missouri, and to this happy union there were born three children: Roma Allene, May 3, 1892, who married Richard Turner Jones of St Joseph, Missouri; Gordon. Jr., November 26. 1894, and Elbert Wharton. April 24, 1911. But, with the sweets of life, Gordon Jones tasted many of the bitters; fate seems to have played a strange part in the shaping of his career. On April 24, 1916, there came a tragedy into his life, the weight of which bore heavily upon him during the twelve months of life which were to be his. While motoring eastward from Denver with his family and son-in-law the automobile was overturned by the collapse of a rear wheel, and in a flash the lives of his son Gordon, Jr., and his son-in-law, Richard Turner Jones, were taken. He and the others of his family were rescued from the burning car, all slightly injured with the exception of the younger son. This tragic occurrence produced a shock from which Gordon Jones never fully recovered, but the overwhelming loss and sorrow were borne with a Christian fortitude, and more and more he became interested in things spiritual and in the moral uplift of his fellowmen.

Just a year afterward. April 14, 1917, Gordon Jones died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver, following a surgical operation. He met death with the courage and optimism which he had displayed in his life, and inspired his faithful wife to bear the seemingly cruel decree of Providence with the same bravery and indomitable spirit.

The death of Gordon Jones threw a veil of sorrow over the city of Denver. The Rocky

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Mountain News of April 18. 1917. stated: "During the hour of his funeral, hanks closed, business men left their desks, workers took leave of their counters, the heart of Denver's life converged for the moment toward the Central Presbyterian church to pay a rare tribute of love and respect to the memory of Gordon Jones, financier and idealist. To few men does it come to have the public praise of their life reflected so sincerely as at the funeral of Gordon Jones. In the business hours of the day, rich men and poor men. old and young, seized the opportunity to give testimony of their regard for the man who had stood so high in the affairs of the city."

In closing this brief sketch of the life of Gordon Jones the words of Chalmers are peculiarly fitting. "Do good, and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy. Write your name in kindness, love and mercy on the hearts of thousands you come in contact with year hy year; you will never he forgotten. No, your name, your deeds, will be as legible on the hearts you leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will shine as the stars of Heaven."

JOHN JAY JOSLIN.

J. Jay Joslin, president of the Joslin Dry Goods Company, of Denver, is a native of Vermont having been born in Poultney, May 11, 1829. Born of a long line of Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry, he inherited those sterling principles of character which marked the sturdy men and women who had part in the stirring events incident to our country's formative period. Thomas Joslin, the progenitor of the family in America, came from England and settled at Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1635. One of his descendants, Lindsey Joslin, grandfather of our subject, was one of the minute men of the Revolution, and as a regularly enrolled soldier in the Continental army, was present at the surrender of General Burgoyne, in 1777.

J. Jay Joslin is the second child in a family of five sons and one daughter horn to Joseph and Caroline C. Ruggles Joslin, who were married in 1825, the mother like- wise being a scion of a prominent colonial family. The lad spent his boyhood days in his native town, enjoying the educational opportunities afforded by the public school and, later supplementing this hy attending at different times, during the years 1844 to 1847, the Troy Conference Academy, exhibiting even then qualifications which fore- shadowed the success which was to be his in later life. In 1847, he put aside his textbooks and took his initial step in the commercial world hy accepting a clerkship in a store in the neighboring town of Castleton. In 1850, in response to the wishes of his father, he assumed the management of the farm, the title to the old homestead having been offered him, if he would make it his home. He did not, however, enjoy farm life and it seemed that he had heen destined hy nature for a commercial career. Accordingly he opened a store in Poultney, in 1852, and he conducted this business until 1873, having in the meantime given substantial and graceful evidence of his prosperity and his loyalty to his home town by erecting, in Poultney, the largest and finest business block then in the state. One story of this building was equipped and used as a lecture and concert hall, a natural though unusual expression of his culti- vated taste, his high ideals of mercantile life and his desire to contribute to the public good-characteristics which have continued to distinctly mark his career.

Disposing of his business interests in Vermont, he sought opportunity elsewhere and, coming to Denver in 1873, cast in his lot with the rapidly growing west. In April of that year he purchased the establishment then known as the New York Dry Goods Store, located at the corner of Larimer and Fifteenth streets. The business was continued at that location until 1879, when it was removed to a more commodious three-story block on Lawrence street, opposite the Times building. Ten years later, in 1889, the steady expansion of the business, coincident with the growth of the city, demanded still larger quarters and another move was made, this time to the present location at the corner of Sixteenth and Curtis streets, where has since heen conducted one of the most handsome and most thoroughly equipped drygoods emporiums in the west-an establishment that has long enjoyed the confidence of a discriminating public, and the reputation of which for honest values in merchandising extends far beyond the limits of the city and the state.

It is worthy of note, in passing, that in years of continuous service, Mr. Joslin is the oldest merchant now in business in Denver, and he may truthfully he termed "Denver's Nestor of Commerce." The years in their passing have removed from the stage of their earlier activity those who were contemporaries with him in the early seventies, while he alone remains, active in the work of the day.

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Mr. Joslin is of literary and scholarly tastes and as an interesting writer has contributed many articles to the secular press on subjects of current and public inter- est. He has always found time during the course of a busy life for active participa- tion in those interests which make for cultural progress and the betterment of the individual and the community. He has ever been an ardent lover of art and music and was identified, at different periods, with a number of the leading musical societies. He served as president of the Handel and Haydn Society during its existence, and when later it was merged into the Choral Union, he served as president until 1886. He was one of the earliest members of the Chamber of Commerce, known in later years as the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, and during its early existence he contributed in no small measure towards its maintenance, both from his purse as well as by personal effort, serving in various official capacities in the organization. He is a member of the Denver Riding and Driving Club, having always been a lover of good horses. He is also a member of the Colorado Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and has been a Master Mason for more than fifty years, having joined the fraternity while still a young man, in the old home town of Poultney.

In his religious tendencies, though broad and liberal in his views, Mr. Joslin has long maintained membership in the First Baptist church, of Denver. He served as chairman of the building committee during the construction of the present edifice, one of the most beautiful churches in the west, and it was through his effort and influence that the amphitheater form of audience chamber was installed, a radical though wonderfully efficient departure in church construction.

In April, 1851, Mr. Joslin was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Andrus, likewise a native of Poultney, Vermont, and to this union were born three children: Hattie A., now Mrs. F. P. Allen, of Denver; Edna, now Mrs. W. H. Milburn, of Denver; and Frank A., secretary of the Joslin Dry Goods Company, and long associated in business with his father.

Though he now stands at the ninetieth milestone on life's pathway, Mr. Joslin retains the vigor of one many years his junior. Each day finds him at his office and his wise counsel and advice still continue potent factors in guiding the affairs of the business he founded forty-five years ago, and his is the counterpart of the career of the Shakespearean character, to whom have come "the blest accompaniments of age -- honor, riches, troops of friends." Looking back over the past, he can trace his progress in such tokens as awaken only admiration and esteem, and will leave to his posterity the priceless heritage of a good name, upon which there can be found no stain.

OSCAR E. JACKSON.

Oscar E. Jackson, attorney at law and grand secretary of the grand lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is widely known as one of the representative resi- dents of Denver and is numbered among the citizens that Ohio has furnished to this state. His birth occurred at New Petersburg, Ohio, November 9, 1857, his parents being John and Elizabeth (Spence) Jackson, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The father belonged to one of the old families of the Keystone state of Scotch-Irish descent, the original American ancestor settling at Uniontown, Pennsyl- vania. He was a farmer by occupation and in boyhood removed to Ohio, where he resided until 1871. He was married in that state to Elizabeth Spence, who belonged to one of the pioneer Ohio families established in the state in 1809. Her ancestors originally lived in Virginia and were of Scotch-Irish descent. Her father was Robert Spence and he was a son of the progenitor of the American branch of the family. John Jackson continued a resident of Ohio until 187I, when with his wife and the five chil- dren who had been born to them in that state, he removed to Boulder county, Colorado, where he again gave his attention to general agricultural pursuits, in which he engaged throughout the remainder of his life. He died in Denver in 1893 at the age of seventy years. His wife, however, passed away in 1871, when but thirty-eight years of age. In the family were five children.

Oscar E. Jackson, the third in order of birth and the only son, began his education in one of the little country schoolhouses of Ohio and afterward continued his studies in the town school at Valmont, Colorado, and in the high school at Boulder, from which he was graduated with the class of 1877. In the fall of that year he entered the Uni- versity of Colorado and completed his course there with the first class that was graduated from the university, the date being June 8, 1882, at which time he won the

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Bachelor of Arts degree. His early life had been spent upon the home farm with the usual experiences of the farmbred boy and during his college days he devoted his vacation periods to work in stores and in the postoffice and also with surveying parties, thus providing the means for his college education. Subsequent to his graduation he taught school and became the first principal of the Centennial high school of Pueblo, acting in that capacity for two years. He later devoted a year to study in the Columhia Law School and in the fall of 1885 removed to Denver and in June, 1886, was admitted to the har. Through the intervening years, covering almost a third of a century, he has continued in active practice, specializing in probate, abstracts and office work. He belongs to the Denver City & County Bar Association and he has many friends among his colleagues in the profession.

On the 5th of March, 1889, Mr. Jackson was married in Longmont, Colorado, to Miss Evalyn Cole, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Samuel and Lurancy Cole, both of whom have now passed away. The father was a representative of an old pioneer family of Illinois, originally from Lawrence county, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have become parents of two sons, Lawrence O., born March 26, 1890, and John D., born March 7, 1892, hoth natives of Denver. The family home is at No. 2347 King street.

Mr. Jackson turns to fishing and camping for diversion, rest and recreation and is a student and lover of nature. Fraternally he is connected with Highlands Lodge, No. 86, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master. He was made a Mason in that lodge in 1903 and has since attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He is also very prominent in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined Union Lodge, No. 1, in 1887, and since that time he has taken a most active and helpful part in its work, filling many offices, and at present is grand secretary of the grand lodge. He was also at one time president of the Philosophical Society, of which he has been a member for more than twenty years, and for thirty years he has held membership in Unity church-associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct. He has always heen a man of studious hahits, carrying his investigations far and wide into many realms and continually adding to his rich mental stores.

HARRY T. HUGHES.

Harry T. Hughes, treasurer of the Denver Gas & Electric Company and thus repre- senting one of the most important corporations and public utilities of the city, was born in Salford, Manchester, England, January 5, 1871. His father, Edwin Hughes, is also a native of that country and in 1875 came to the United States with his family. He had wedded Mary J. Mayor, who was likewise of English birth. On crossing the Atlantic they established their home in the east. They remained for a time in New York city and then went to Providence, Rhode Island, where they resided until their removal to Denver, Colorado, where Mr. Hughes became actively and prominently identified with cattle interests, continuing in the business until about eight years ago, when he retired from active life.

Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, Harry T. Hughes acquired his education in the public and high schools of Denver and then hecame connected with his father in the cattle business in Park county and other points in Colorado. Eventually he withdrew from that connection to become a representative of the Denver Gas & Electric Company, accepting a minor position with the corporation on the 26th of December, 1893. His capability and fidelity soon drew to him the attention of those whom he served and he was advanced to the position of auditor, in which capacity he continued for a number of years. He was later called to the position of treasurer to succeed John Brady, who had passed away, having been elected to the office in November, 1916. He is now serving in that connection and as one of the executives of the company is bending every activity to constructive effort and administrative control. His years of connection with the business in minor positions had brought to him a comprehensive knowledge of every phase of the work and made him splendidly qualified for the onerous and responsible duties that devolve upon him in his present connection.

On the 20th of April, 1897, Mr. Hughes was united in marriage to Miss Mary Cady, of Chicago, a daughter of Edson Cady, and they have one son, John T., nineteen years of age, who is now in the United States army with the Three Hundred and Forty-ninth Ambulance Corps. The religious faith of the family is indicated in their connection with St. John's cathedral. Mr. Hughes is accounted one of the wide-awake, alert and notably successful business men of Denver, who has since starting out on his own

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account been a tireless worker and attacks with contagious enthusiasm everything that he undertakes. His affability has made for personal popularity and he is most highly esteemed not only in business but also in social circles.

JOHN KNUTSON.

John Knutson, connected with the management of the County Hospital at Greeley for a number of years but now practically living retired, was born in Sweden, February 19, 1858, a son of Lars and Christine Knutson. The father was a cabinetmaker by trade and spent his entire life in Sweden. The son, John Knutson, was educated in the public schools of his native country and started out in the business world when fourteen years of age. He followed the cabinetmaker's trade until he reached the age of seven- teen. In 1880 he came to the United States and made his way westward .to Chicago, where he continued to follow the cabinetmaking trade for a few years. He later turned his attention to the laundry business and at length, on account of his health, made his way to Colorado. He spent six months in Denver and in 1902 he accepted a position as superintendent of the County Hospital at Greeley. He remained in that position until about eiglit years ago, when he turned the management of the hospital over to his wife.

On the 22d of April, 1884, Mr. Knutson was married in Chicago to Miss Emma Larson, a daughter of A. Larson, who was a farmer by occupation and who died when his daughter, Mrs. Knutson, was but two weeks old. Her mother came to the United States when she was a maiden of fourteen years. She had previously attended school in Sweden and on crossing the Atlantic landed at Baltimore. Her mother became a resident of Colorado and passed away in Greeley on the 2d of February, 1894. when seventy-four years of age. her remains being interred in Linn Grove cemetery. To Mr. and Mrs. Knutson were born nine children, the first two being named Levi. The others are Isaac, Joel, Ruth, Esther, Enoch, Rhoda and Phoebe. Levi was born Decem- ber 13, 1886, in Chicago, attended the public schools until fifteen years of age and then took up the trade of vulcanizing. He proved very handy in most lines of business. heing quick and alert, and his efficiency rapidly developed. On the 13th of December, 1917. he joined the aviation corps, went to San Antonio, Texas, and is now in the training school. During the first few weeks he was promoted to the rank of corporal and after- ward to first sergeant. He married seven years ago. Ruth became the wife of Thomas Rice, a well known cattle man. Rhoda is a graduate nurse of the Omaha Hospital and is now doing private nursing. Phoebe is a pupil in the high school. Mr. Knutson gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He and his family are members of the Red Cross and are interested in many progressive movements that have to do with citizenship and public welfare.

JOHN V. E. WYATT.

John V. E. Wyatt is numbered among those who have been active in the development of oil properties in Texas and in Wyoming, and he has his headquarters in the Colorado building in Denver, in which city he has made his home since 1911. For a number of years previous he had resided on this side of the border, although he is a native of Canada, his birth having occurred in Russeldale, Ontario, on the 13th of April, 1861, his parents being William and Betsy Vanstone Wyatt. The father, a native of England, settled in Canada about 1850 and was engaged in fine stone engraving work and in the making of statues. He was very widely known as a skilled artisan. In 1864 he returned to Plymouth, England, where he continued his residence to the time of his death, which occurred in 1884, when he had reached the age of sixty-five years. His wife was born in that country, in which they were married, and she accompanied her husband on his re-emigration and passed away in 1864. She had become the mother of six children, three sons and three daughters.

John V. E. Wyatt, who was the fifth in order of birth, was educated in the public schools of Russeldale, Canada, and at the age of nineteen years started out in the business world to provide for his own support. He was apprenticed to a carpenter and afterward worked at the trade as a journeyman for three years. He then entered the contracting and building business on his own account. On leaving home at the age of nineteen he settled at Carberry, Manitoba, Canada, where he took up his first business

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venture as a contractor and builder. He was identified with building lines in Manitoba until 1884, when the Riel Indian rebellion broke out. He volunteered his service to the Canadian government, enlisting in the Northwest Mounted Police, and served for one year, during which time the rebellion was suppressed. He afterward crossed the border into the United States, settling at Crookston, Minnesota, in the spring of 1886. There he entered the undertaking business, in which he continued very successfully until 1900, when he sold his interests and took up his ahode in Minneapolis. Minnesota. He was there engaged in the casualty insurance business with the Federal Casualty Com- pany of Detroit, Michigan, and continued active in that field for two years in Minne- apolis. He was afterward advanced to the position of special executive and traveling auditor, covering a territory of thirty-six states. He continued to serve in that con- nection until September, 1911, when he came to Denver and was made state manager for the company in Colorado. His record was an excellent one and he continued to serve until April 2, 1917, when he established, financed and incorporated the Wyatt Texas & Wyoming Oil Company. This company now has extensive holdings in the oil fields of the Sourlake district of Texas and in that state at the present time has . seventeen wells and thirteen others in course of development. The wells are all paying investments and the proposition is one which yields excellent dividends. Mr. Wyatt is the president and general manager of the Wyatt Power Company at Sourlake, in which connection a plant has been established to furnish power for the development of oil wells. The firm also finances and purchases proven properties and deals only in proven fields, establishing and conducting its business upon a most legitimate basis. The business is steadily growing and already the Wyatt Texas & Wyoming Oil Com- pany has become an important factor in oil development projects of the west.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 52

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