History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 67

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

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RALPH A. CABLE.

Ralph A. Cable is ably filling the position of postmaster at Windsor, to which office he was appointed on the 16th of December, 1915, and is also identified with commercial pursuits as a member of the Cable Brothers Merchandise Company. His birth occurred in New Boston, Missouri, on the 14th of December, 1876, his parents being J. C. and Frances F. (Stone) Cable, the former a native of Frankfort, Kentucky, while the latter was born at New Boston, Missouri. The maternal grandfather of R. A. Cable resided on a farm near New Boston, Missouri, for sixty-five years and when he died there were five generations of the family living in the neighborhood. He settled on the place when a young man of twenty-five years and continued thereon until he passed away at the notable old age of ninety-one years. J. C. Cable, the father of R. A. Cable, devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits near New Boston, Missouri, until 1902, when he came to Colorado, taking up his abode at Brighton, where he was engaged in the hotel business until 1906. In that year he came to Windsor, Weld county, and here embarked in general merchandising in partnership with his three sons, M. T., J. S. and Ralph A., establishing the Cable Brothers Merchandise Company, under which style a profitable and growing business has since been conducted. Mr. and Mrs. Cable and their sons are all active in the management of the enterprise and are well known and highly esteemed as representative residents of their section of the state.

Ralph A. Cable, whose name introduces this review, was reared and educated at Chillicothe, Missouri, and after putting aside his textbooks turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, being employed as a clerk in that connection for a period of seven years. At the end of that time he became associated with his father in the conduct of the latter's store at Windsor, this state, and has since remained a factor in its successful control. On the 16th of December, 1915, he was appointed postmaster of Windsor and since assuming the duties of the office on the 14th of February, 1916, has discharged them with capability and fidelity. His office is of steel equipment and one of the best appointed and most modern in the state.

Iu September, 1899, Mr. Cable was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary J. Adamson, by whom he has four children: Vaughn H., Alonzo R., Frances M. and James P. The three first named are attending school. . Mr. Cable gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and while residing in Brighton, Colorado, served as town alderman for one term. He has also served in that capacity at Windsor and enjoys an enviable reputation for trustworthiness and ability as a public official. His religious faith is that of the Christian church and his upright and honorable life has commended him to the confidence and esteem of those with whom he has come in contact.

KARL BURGHARDT.

Karl Burghardt, secretary of the Patterson-Burghardt Construction Company of Denver, was born in Lanesville, Connecticut, December 8, 1872, a son of the late E. H. Burghardt, who was a native of Massachusetts and belonged to one of the old families of that state of Dutch origin founded in the new world in colonial days. Among the ancestors were those who aided in the founding of Albany, New York. E. H. Burghardt was a mechanical engineer and followed that profession throughout his entire life. In 1883 he removed westward to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he remained until his life's labors were ended in death. He married Emma Louise Fairchild, a native of Massa-

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chusetts and a representative of an old New England family of English lineage. Among her ancestors were some who participated in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Burghardt died in the old home at St. Paul, Minnesota, January 5, 1916, at the age of sixty-eight years. In the family were two sons and a daughter: Karl, of this review; Elizabeth; and Arthur W., a structural engineer and contractor residing in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania.

Karl Burghardt pursued his education in the public schools of his native state and of St. Paul, Minnesota, until he had completed a high school course in that city, after which he entered the University of Minnesota. On attaining his majority he started out in the business world independently, being first employed as a draftsman at the Gillette-Herzog Iron Works of Minneapolis. In that plant he learned the trade of structural steel engineering and was employed along that line in connection with lead- ing firms, including the Minneapolis house and the L. Schreiber & Sons Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. His efficiency and faithfulness is indicated in the fact that he was with only two firms until he entered business on his own account. On the Ist of Janu- ary, 1900, he arrived in Denver and for six months was associated with the steel works of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company at Pueblo. He then returned to Denver and became associated with M. J. Patterson, forming the M. J. Patterson Contracting Company, which later became the Patterson-Burghardt Construction Company. Their business is exclusively steel construction work and railroad bridges and is among the largest of the kind in the state.

On the 3d of June, 1896, Mr. Burghardt was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss E. Blanche King, a native of Cincinnati. Politically he maintains an independent course and fraternally is connected with Albert Pike Lodge, No. 117, A. F. & A. M. He also belongs to the Denver Athletic Club and to the Lakewood Country Club and he and his wife are members of the Congregational church. Mrs. Burghardt is very active in Red Cross work and in charitable and philanthropic movements. They have one son, Fairchild King, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 25, 1897, and is a student of engineering in the University of Colorado. Mr. Burghardt turns to motoring, bil- liards and golf for recreation but his efforts and attention are most largely. concentrated upon his business and entirely through his own efforts he has worked his way upward since making his initial step in the business world when a young man of twenty-one years.

JOHN S. BROUGHTON.

John S. Broughton, president of the Colonial Amusement Company, has more than made good in the motion picture business since starting out in Denver in this connection four years ago. He has today one of the best paying theatres, on Curtis street and has built up his business by enterprising methods and close study of the popular taste. He was born in London, England, November 9, 1861, and is a son of the late John R. Broughton, who was born in England and was a blacksmith by trade. He spent his entire life in his native country and there passed away March 19, 1917, at the age of seventy seven years, his birth having occurred in 1840. His wife bore the maiden name of Sarah Gent and is still living, being yet a resident of London.

John S. Broughton was the eldest in their family of six children, three sons and three daughters. He acquired his education in private schools of London and afterward served an apprenticeship in mechanical lines in the employ of the British government. After completing his term of indenture he came to America, arriving on this side of the Atlantic on the 19th of April, 1882. He first made his way to Cleveland, Ohio, and after a short sojourn there, decided to come still further west. Selecting Colorado as his destination, he arrived in Denver in 1884. In 1887 he went to Colorado City, where he entered the employ of the Colorado Midland Railway. Later, he went to Mexico, where he engaged with the Mexican Central Railway, remaining there during the ensuing four and one-half years. Returning to Cleveland, in 1898, he entered the employ of the Upson Nut Company, as a machinist, later becoming general superintendent of the business, as well as a stockholder in the corporation. This association was continued for sixteen years during which period the adoption of numerous devices invented by Mr. Broughton, had proven important factors in a substantial expansion of the business.

In 1914, Mr. Broughton again became a resident of Denver where he has since continued to make his home and is now numbered among the progressive business men of the city, and where within a short time following his arrival, he acquired ownership of his present business. This he has since developed into one of the leading amusement

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places in Denver. He has also secured a fifty year lease on his present building and fifty feet adjoining and expects immediately after the close of the war to erect one of the finest motion picture theatres in the west.

Mr. Broughton was married on the 29th of December, 1886, in Denver, Colorado, to Miss Frances E. Horne, a native of Oswego, New York, and a daughter of the late Henry and Anna (Walters) Horne, of the Orkney islands, Scotland. They became the parents of two daughters: Frances, the wife of Joseph Shillinsky, a resident of Cleve- land, Ohio; and Hazel, the wife of Max Tyler, also living in Cleveland.

During the first period of his residence in Colorado Mr. Broughton was for eighteen months a member of the Colorado National Guard, his association with the company covering the years 1895 and 1896. Later the company disbanded. Mr. Broughton became a naturalized American citizen in 1890 and cast his first presidential vote for President Mckinley, since which time he has voted with the republican party.

As a member of the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Broughton has achieved both honor and distinction, all of his Masonic affiliations being in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a member of Lakewood Lodge, No. 601, A. F. & A. M .; Lake Erie Consistory, Scottish Rite masons, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree; and also holding membership in Forest City Commandery, No. 40, Knights Templar. He served as prelate for six years, having been successively elected to that exalted position, and was later elected and served as eminent commander. He takes deep interest in the order and is a close student of the mysteries of Masonic lore.

Mr. Broughton is a self-made man who came to America empty-handed. He earned his first money at teaching in his native land, for which he received the small stipend of two cents per day, the custom being at that time for the head teacher to select five of the best boys of the class to teach the class for one day during the week. At the age of twelve years, therefore, he began teaching and soon had the entire room to himself. For this service he received twelve cents per week. He was ambitious and energetic, and the favorable reports which he heard of American opportunities led him to come to the new world to try his fortune. Here he has made steady advancement, utilizing the means at hand, and each year has seen him a step in advance of the place he had attained the previous year. His continuous progress has been the result of close application and the wise use of the opportunities that have come to him, and today as president of the Colonial Amusement Company he is conducting a profitable and grow- ing business, presenting to the public attractions which are of such a nature that make his patronage in excess of that given to any other moving picture house of the city.

AARON JAMES EATON.

One of the most prominent and successful of the business men of Colorado is Aaron James Eaton, who is a capitalist of the town which bears his name. He was born at West Bedford, in Coshocton county, Ohio, April 3, 1857, and is a son of ex-Governor Benjamin H. and Delilah (Wolfe) Eaton, who were likewise natives of Coshocton county. The father was a school teacher, following that profession in Ohio and Iowa in young manhood. He removed to the latter state during an early period in its development and purchased land in Louisa county, which he at once began to improve. For twenty years he was the owner of that property, but after carrying on general farm work for some time he rented his place and returned to Ohio. At a later period he- again became a resident of Iowa and in 1866 he drove across the country to Colorado, bringing with him three yoke of cattle and a yoke of cows, while Mrs. Eaton drove a small span of mules to a light wagon, containing their bedding and cooking outfit. The yoke of cows he drove, furnished them with milk on their journey. He located near Windsor, Colorado, where he and his brother-in-law, James Hill, took up government land, to the further development and improvement of which he directed his energies throughout his remain- ing days, having an extensive tract of thirteen hundred acres. He, too, came into prom- inence as a man of marked business ability and enterprise. Not only did he concentrate his efforts and attention upon the furtherance of his personal interests, but he also made valuable contribution to the public welfare by his cooperation in well devised plans and measures for the general good. Recognition of his public spirit came to him in 1885, when he was elected governor of Colorado, in which position he served for one term, giving to the state a businesslike and public-spirited administration. He then returned to the farm for a time and finally removed to Greeley, Colorado, where he erected a nice residence which he occupied throughout his remaining days. His first wife had died during the infancy of their son, Aaron J., and the father afterward married again prior

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to coming to Colorado. He had turned his attention to mining after his first visit to this state but the venture did not prove very profitable. It was then that he returned to Iowa and while residing in that state he was married a second time. His death occurred October 30, 1905. His second wife, Mrs. Rebecca Eaton, was born in Covington, Indiana, November 6, 1839, and there she grew to young womanhood. She became the wife of Benjamin H. Eaton at Wapello, Iowa, in March, 1865, and a year later they started across the trackless prairie for Colorado, arriving in Weld county in 1866. Mrs. Eaton passed away in San Diego, California, April 23, 1914.

Aaron James Eaton was reared and educated in Greeley and became the active assistant of his father in the building of ditches and in the cultivation and improvement of the farm. Later he turned his attention to general merchandising in Eaton, Colorado, where he entered into partnership with James Hill. This association was maintained for two and a half years, at the end of which time Mr. Eaton purchased his partner's interest and continued in business alone until April, 1895, when he sold out. Since then he has been devoting his time and attention to the improvement and sale of his land and has at different times owned various farms in the state. He is still the owner of ten quarter sections adjoining the town of Eaton and he yet has in his possession the half section which he preempted and homesteaded when twenty-one years of age. This has been numbered among his possessions for forty years, as he is now sixty-one years of age. In 1904 he removed his family to Los Angeles, California, on account of the health of his children, who there attended school, and he maintains his home at No. 2419 Soutlı Flower street in that city, his family being still there. Mr. Eaton, however, returned to his business interests in Eaton, Colorado, but as often as these interests permit he goes to Los Angeles to be with his family.

On the 1st of January, 1885, Mr. Eaton was united in marriage to Miss Minnie L. Goodan and to them were born seven children. The first born, John B., died at the age of two and a half years and one died in infancy. Ernest and Ethel were twins. Ethel died at the age of one year and Ernest attained his majority, his death occurring in Chicago in 1914. Ralph is engaged in farming about two miles west of Eaton. Eliza- beth, twenty-one years of age, and Harry, are with their mother in Los Angeles. The death of Ernest Eaton was a sad blow to the family. He was born in Eaton, March 13, 1893, and there remained until the removal of the family to Los Angeles in 1904, after which time many of the summer seasons were passed by him in Colorado. In 1911 he finished the high school course in Los Angeles and the next year accompanied the others of the family in a leisurely trip around the world. In the fall of 1912 he enrolled as a student in Leland Stanford Junior University and while he was a sophomore there the first signs of the disease from which he suffered made their appearance. Thinking that the outdoor life of Colorado might prove beneficial, he returned to this state and worked upon farms for a time that summer, but increasing weakness soon caused him to put aside labor. He was afterward taken to the Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, where he was under the care of an eminent specialist, but all that science and wealth could do did not avail to restore health to him. His death was the occasion of deep and wide- spread regret not only in Colorado but also in Los Angeles, where he was so widely known, and in Chicago, where he made many friends even during the period of his illness there. He had been received into the church at ten years of age and his life was characterized by the utmost beauty of spirit, by a kindly manner and the highest ideals. Years will come and go ere his memory ceases to be a potent factor in the lives of those with whom he was associated.

"I cannot say and I will not say That he is dead .-- He is just away! With a cheery smile and a wave of the hand He has wandered into an unknown land And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be since he lingers there."

The religious faith of Mr. Eaton and his family has always been that of the Congre- gational church, His political allegiance is given to the republican party and fraternally he is connected with the Masons, holding membership also with the Order of the Eastern Star. He has served on the town board of Eaton, is a stockholder and director of the First National Bank and was for years its vice president. When he first became identi- fied with the business interests of Eaton a petition was circulated for a postoffice and Mr. Hill, his partner, was appointed the first postmaster, and when he sold his interest in the business Mr. Eaton was appointed his successor in the postoffice, serving under

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President Cleveland, notwithstanding his republican affiliation. He continued to occupy that position for eight years. He did a business amounting to a million dollars during the time when engaged in general merchandising here. His interests have been most extensive and important and the town of Eaton largely stands as a monument to his enterprise and progressiveness. His plans are always most carefully defined and promptly executed and he seems to recognize immediately any avenue opened in the natural ramifications of trade. He has also passed over the pitfalls into which unre- stricted progressiveness is so frequently led and has focused his energies in directions where fruition is certain, In his business life he has ever been a persistent, energetic and resolute worker, possessing strong executive powers and strictly conscientious in his dealings with debtor and creditor alike. Keeping his hand steadily upon the helm of his business, he has won a success which today ranks him among the men of wealth in Colorado. He still has large holdings and interests in this state, to the direction of which he gives his thought and attention, and his activities have been of a character which have contributed in no small measure to general prosperity and progress.

WILLIAM J. BROWN.

William J. Brown, who fills the position of postmaster of Rocky Ford, Colorado, was born in Livingston county, Missouri, on the 5th of October, 1870, and is a son of B. C. and Amelia (Grace) Brown. The father was successfully engaged in farming in Livingston county and was also an honored veteran of the Civil war, serving the Union cause in that conflict. Both he and his wife have now passed away. Their family numbered three sons, of whom our subject is the eldest.

William J. Brown received his early education in the rural schools near his father's farm and later attended high school and a business college. He assisted his father in the cultivation of the home place until seventeen years of age but after attaining his eighteenth year turned his attention to the mercantile business, clerking until he was twenty-two years of age. At that time he entered business independently in Missouri and conducted a store there until his removal to Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 1903. Here he successfully carried on a grocery establishment until appointed postmaster on the 27th of June, 1913. He has since ably discharged the duties of this office, promptly and faithfully serving the public.

As a companion and helpmate on life's journey William J. Brown chose Miss Minnie L. Humphrey. They have a son, Charles E., who married Ethel Paul, by whom he has one child, William J. Brown, Jr.

Mr. Brown is a democrat and has always faithfully supported the policies of that party. He has attended county and state conventions and for ten years has been chairman of his precinct. Fraternally he is a Chapter Mason, an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. He is greatly interested in the development of his district and is a member of the Industrial Club, while he has also served as councilman of his town for three terms. Public-spirited and thoroughly patriotic, he has given much help to war service work and is chairman of his district in the War Savings Stamps department. He is also a director and manager of the Arkansas Valley Fair Association, faithfully administering this office. He has many friends in Rocky Ford, all of whom speak of him in the highest terms of commendation.

HOMER F. BEDFORD.

Homer F. Bedford is well known as the postmaster of Platteville and as the president of the Weld County Commercial Club, an organization which is doing active and effective work for the welfare and upbuilding of Weld county. He was born in Balltown, Missouri, March 16, 1880, and is a son of John F. and Eliza A. (Summers) Bedford, who were also natives of that state and were of English lineage, their parents having come from England. The father is a barber by trade and has also followed farming and carpentering. For the past thirty years he has engaged in the barbering business and is now conducting a shop in Evergreen, Colorado. He came to this state in 1898, at which time he took up his abode in Denver, and throughout the intervening period, covering twenty years, has resided in Colorado. His wife is also living.

Homer F. Bedford was educated in the public schools of Missouri, being

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eighteen years of age when his parents removed to Denver. He afterward learned the printer's trade, which he followed in Denver until 1908, when he removed to Platteville and established the Platteville Herald, which he continued to publish for six years. He was appointed postmaster in January, 1914, and has since occupied that position, making a most creditable record in office. He has also served as police magistrate for two years and was town clerk for a year. He has likewise been secretary of the Commercial Club of Platteville for the past nine years and he was one of the organizers of the Weld County Commercial Club, which comprises all the clubs in the county. He has served as its president for the past two years and in that connection is doing much important public work. He is likewise a stockholder in the National Alfalfa Products Company and is now building a mill for that company at Platteville.

In June, 1904, Mr. Bedford was married to Miss Stella V. Cornell and to them have been born two children: Amy A., born in May, 1905; and Lloyd E., born January 29, 1907.

Fraternally Mr. Bedford is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs and also with the Woodmen of the World. Politically he is a democrat and his religious faith is that of the Christian church. He is a public-spirited man who takes a most active and helpful interest in everything pertaining to the betterment of town and county and the worth of his work in this connection is widely acknowledged. Moreover in business affairs he is capable, enterprising and progressive and as an office holder he is most loyal to the trust reposed in him. A resident of Colorado from his eighteenth year, he has been closely identified with public interests in Weld county, where he has a large circle of warm friends, who speak of him in terms of high regard.

RICHARD WARREN CORWIN, A. M., M. D., LL. D.

Dr. Richard Warren Corwin, a distinguished physician and scientist of Pueblo, was born in Binghamton, New York, May 24, 1852. He spent the greater part of his boyhood in Narrowsburg and when a youth took up the study of taxidermy in New York city. He pursued a preparatory course in Port Jervis, New York, and later secured the appointment of taxidermist to Cornell University. It was while connected with that institution that he acquired his literary education. He has ever been a man of studious hahits, delving deep into one branch of knowledge after another and reaching a point of efficiency in any line to which he has directed his labors. In 1874 he was appointed curator of the museum of the Michigan State University and while preparing for the medical profession in that institution he supported himself by teaching com- parative anatomy and microscopy. After his graduation, on the completion of a thorough course in medicine, he accepted the position of interne in St. Luke's Hospital of Chicago, with which institution he was connected for two years, and thus he gained that broad and valuable experience and training which can be secured as quickly in no other way as in hospital work. In 1896 the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him by the University of Denver.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 67

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