History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 79

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

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connected with Alfred I. Du Pont in the development of the uranium or pitch blende deposits of Gilpin county, which produced a large quantity of radium-bearing ores. During those years these properties produced more radium than the Austrian government produced. In 1909 Mr. Manly became connected with the Citizens' Alliance of Denver and later was for a number of years its attorney and also president of the State Citi- zens' Alliance. In that capacity he, as attorney, advised the employers, especially in the building and foundry industries, through all the strikes incident to those troublous times. It was largely through his efforts in organizing the employers and the result of damage suits and injunctions conducted by Mr. Manly that boycotts were for years eliminated and many trades in Denver were kept upon an open-shop basis.

On the 12th of May, 1891, in Denver, Mr. Manly was married to Miss Allie Blake, a native of Titusville, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Isaac E. and Agnes (Sneckard) Blake. The Blakes were of an old Vermont family represented in the Revolutionary war, while the Sneckards were French Canadians. Mr. and Mrs. Manly became par- ents of two children. Esther, who was born in Denver, March 13, 1892, passed away September 3, 1914. Marion Agnes, born in Denver, April 10, 1893, was married on the 8th of January, 1918, to Charles Edward Mitchell, of this city. Mrs. Manly is quite prominent in musical circles of the city and for many years was one of the soloists of the Trinity Church choir in Denver, of which her father, Isaac E. Blake, was the con- ductor. Mr. Blake also gave to that church its magnificent organ, which for many years was the largest in the state.

In politics Mr. Manly is a rock-ribbed republican, and in the campaigns of the party has spoken in all parts of the state. His only candidacy for office was for the state senate. He has ever stood for progress in matters of citizenship and has been keenly interested in those wholesome and purifying reforms which have been growing up in both parties and which constitute one of the most hopeful political signs of the period. He is a member of the Denver Country Club. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding mem- bership in Oriental Lodge, No. 87, A. F. & A. M., of Denver; Denver Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M .; and Rocky Mountain Consistory, No. 2, S. P. R. S., in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He was made a Mason in Union Lodge, No. 7, A. F .. & A. M., in Denver, in 1888, and became one of the charter members of Oriental Lodge, which he served as master in 1902. ' He is also connected with the college fra- ternity, Beta Theta Pi, and with the legal fraternity, Phi Delta Phi, and is a member of Tau Kappa Alpha, an honorary oratorical society, by virtue of having won the first place in the state inter-collegiate contest in 1885, and being the first representative of Colorado in an inter-state collegiate oratorical contest. He has membership in the Trinity Methodist church. His activities have indeed beeu broad and touch the general interests of society, while upon the vital questions of the day, affecting the political, economic and sociological welfare of the country, he keeps abreast with the best think- ing men of the age. Mr. Manly has a wide acquaintance with the economic resources of Colorado, particularly in regard to the mineral resources, and is a firm believer in the present and future greatness of the state, and a ceaseless and ardent advocate of its development.

JOSEPH H. BLOCK.

Joseph H. Block, of Denver, identified with oil and mining interests in the west, was born February 9, 1867, in the city in which he still makes his home, a son of a worthy and honored pioneer couple, Joseph and Louise (Smith) Block. The father was born in Alsace-Lorraine, October 29, 1829, and was a young man of about twenty years when he came to the United States in 1849. In early life he learned the butcher's trade and in October, 1859, he removed westward to Central City, Colorado, where he established a butcher shop. There he remained until 1865, when he became a resident of Denver, then a small and inconsequential town. He continued in the butcher- ing business in Denver until 1879, when he removed to Gunnison county, Colorado. He was prominently identified with many interests of pioneer times and in the early days became the founder of Elephant Corral on Wazee street. On the 2d of December, 1861, at Blackhawk, he was united in marriage to Louise Smith, a native of Switzerland, who is still living at the age of seventy-six years, but Mr. Block passed away on the 8th of February, 1910. Their children were Harry, Louis, Edward, Joseph H. and Marie L., the last two being the surviving members of the family.

Joseph H. Block acquired a common school education in the old Arapahoe and Broadway schools of Denver and through all the intervening years he has been an interested witness of the growth and progress of this section of the state. He has also

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contributed to material development elsewhere. He turned his attention to mining interests at Irwin, Gunnison county, where he remained for a period of five years and then removed to Crested Butte, where he engaged in merchandising in connection with his father. He afterward entered the insurance business and for three years he was cashier of the Bank of Crested Butte but at length disposed of his interests there and came to Denver, where he has since engaged in handling mining and oil interests. He is widely known in this connection and has developed a business of large and gratify- ing proportions.

On the 19th of June, 1895, at Erie, Weld county, Colorado, Mr. Block was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Hauck, a native of this state and a daughter of Robert Hauck. Her father was born near Berlin, Germany, August 2, 1830, and in 1855 crossed the Atlantic to the new world, becoming a resident of Wisconsin, where he followed the occupation of farming. With a party of eight others he left Rolling Prairie, Wisconsin, and removed to Colorado, arriving on the 25th of March, 1859, at the present site of Boulder, having followed the Platte River trail across the plains. He prospected for gold in California Gulch and on the "Blue" and in 1860 took up a homestead. He afterward became one of the organizers of the Longmont Farmers' Bank and the Longmont Farmers' Mill and contributed in substantial measure to the growth and progress of that section of the country. He was a member of the militia company raised in 1864 to crush the Indians who were committing depredations, and in that role he engaged in the so-called Brush massacre, mention of which is made in the general history. In Denver, on the 27th of March, 1868, he married Ernestine Lang, who came to Colorado in 1866. They had a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters, four of whom are yet living. To Mr. and Mrs. Block have been born the following named. Ernestine, who was born March 25, 1896, is now a senior in the University of Colorado, is president of the Women's League, and president of Delta Delta Delta. Josephine, who was born December 7, 1899, is senior in the Manual Train- ing high school of Denver. Mrs. Block is a charter member of the Territorial Daughters of Colorado. She was president of that organization for the years 1917 and 1918, and is also a member of the Pioneer Ladies Aid Society and the Denver Woman's Club.

The family attend the Church of Christ Scientist and Mr. Block holds membership also with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. He is a member of the Colorado Pioneer Society. His political faith is that of the democratic party and while residing in Gunnison county he served for ten years as county commissioner, was also deputy county clerk for a time and was a town trustee of Crested Butte for four years. His influence has always been on the side of advance- ment and improvement and he has ever given his aid and support to plans and meas- ures for the general good having to do with the welfare and progress of his native city and state. For more than a half century he has resided in Colorado and can speak from personal experience concerning many of the important events which have shaped its history and molded the destiny of the commonwealth.

GEORGE HENRY BLICKHAHN.

George Henry Blickhahn, of Walsenburg, who has filled the office of deputy district attorney in Huerfano county, was born in Los Angeles, California, on the 30th of December, 1887, and is a son of Judge Henry and Anna (Ayer) Blickhahn. At the usual age he began his education in the public schools and promotion brought him to the high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906. He received his professional training in the University of Colorado, where he pursued the full course of law and was graduated with the LL. B. degree in the class of 1911. He then returned to Walsenburg, where he opened an office and entered upon the practice of his chosen profession. in which he has been very successful. Through the intervening years he has made steady progress owing to his close conformity to a high standard of professional ethics, to his thorough preparation of cases and the strength and ability with which he presents his cause to the courts. During one term of court after he had been in practice two years, he defended fourteen murder cases and cleared the defendant on each occasion. He is also city attorney and has been filling the office of deputy district attorney but at a recent date has resigned his position, wishing to concentrate his entire effort and attention upon general practice, for his clientage is steadily growing in volume and importance.

On the 24th of July, 1912, Mr. Blickhahn was united in marriage to Miss Bernice Salter and they have a daughter, Mary Anna. Mr. Blickhahn is a third

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degree Mason and belongs to Walsenburg Lodge, No. 1086, B. P. O. E., of which he is a past exalted ruler. He occupied the chair of exalted ruler in 1914 and was reported to be the youngest to fill that position in the United States. He is also identified with the Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is past worthy patron, and he is a past commander of the Woodmen of the World. His military record covers three years' service with the Colorado National Guard. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is a most earnest champion of its principles. Public-spirited, he stands for all that has to do with the nation's welfare and progress and is now acting as food administrator for Huerfano county. He is also a member of the legal advisory board to the local exemption board and he represents the cus- todian of alien property. He is young and popular, a most successful lawyer, a progressive and public-spirited citizen and a man whose many sterling traits of char- acter have established him firmly in public regard.

LEWIS C. GREENLEE.

It is a well known fact that banking establishments largely reflect the spirit of a community and it is also recognized that the financial institutions of a city play a most important part in its progress and development by maintaining a liberal and helpful - yet safe and conservative policy. Such an institution is the Interstate Trust Company of Denver, through which institution many commercial and indus- trial projects have been promoted. With the policy of the bank Lewis C. Greenlee is closely associated as vice president. Mr. Greenlee, however, has not only contrib- uted toward the material progress of the Queen City of the Plains, but was for many years active in promoting its educational development, having served for seven- teen years as superintendent of the city schools. Moreover, he was city treasurer of Denver and in this official capacity guided and managed the city's finances to the entire satisfaction of the public.

Mr. Greenlee was born March 3, 1851, in Greene county, Pennsylvania, a son of the late John A. Greenlee, a native of that state, who was born in Washington county and was descended from an old Delaware family of English origin. The family was founded in America in 1714 by Michael Greenlee, who settled in Dela- ware, in which state he took up agricultural work. The father of our subject was also successful as a farmer, his property being located in Greene county, and he there made his home until his active and useful life was ended in death in 1896 at the age of eighty years. He was married to Jane Greenlee, of the same name but not a relative, who was born in Washington, D. C., and was of Scotch extraction. Her father, John Greenlee, came from that country, locating near Washington, where he followed farming until his demise. Mrs. Jane Greenlee died July 12, 1857, at the early age of thirty-five years, and was the mother of four sons and one daughter, Lewis C. Greenlee being the third in order of birth.

He received his preliminary education in the district schools of Greene county, Pennsylvania, and then entered the normal school at Edinboro, that state, from which he was graduated in 1878. Before this period, however, during 1871 and 1872 he attended Monongahela College at Jefferson, Pennsylvania, and was also graduated from that institution. His life up to the age of twenty was spent on the home farm and then he took up educational work, engaging in teaching and contin- uing in that profession in various communities until 1908. June 13, 1888, is a mark- stone in his life, for it was on this date that he arrived in the city of Denver. For two years he acted as principal of the Elmwood school and so well did he discharge his duties that he was soon elected superintendent of schools and served in that position until 1903. After all schools of the city were consolidated he served for one year as assistant superintendent and then again was elected to the position of super- intendent. He has been a potent force in educational work in the state and his city and has done much toward bringing the institutions under his charge to a high state of efficiency. That his ability was recognized is evident from the fact that he was continuously elected to the position of superintendent of schools for a considerable period. Mr. Greenlee is a forceful personality, yet has the pleasant faculty of getting along easily with his fellows, and while he exerted the necessary authority over the teachers under his direction, he was well liked by them and considered by all of them more as a friend than as a superior. In 1908 he was elected to the position of city treasurer and served in that capacity until 1912, administering the city's finances to the great satisfaction of the public. In the latter year he was chosen commissioner

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of property and served as such for one year, the office being then abolished by the newly adopted city charter. Mr. Greenlee is now connected with the Interstate Trust Company, one of the leading institutions of this kind in the state, as vice president and his administrative ability is felt in the policy of the bank.

Lewis C. Greenlee has been married twice. His first union was with Miss Mary McWilliams, a native of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, the ceremony being solemnized at that place in 1879. Mrs. Greenlee was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert McWilliams. After eighteen years of married life she passed away in Denver, June 15, 1897, at the age of forty-seven years, her birth having occurred on the 3d of February, 1850. On February 20, 1902, Mr. Greenlee was married in Bloomington, Illinois, to Miss Rachael Baumann, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Joseph W. Baumann, the former having been a well known Methodist divine in his day. Mr. and Mrs. Greenlee have an adopted son, John B. Greenlee, whom they have surrounded with love and care, bringing him up as their own child.

Mr. Greenlee affiliates with the republican party and has always taken an active part in matters of national, state and civic interest. Since coming to Denver about thirty years ago he has made the progress of the city his own concern and in the spirit of appreciation in which he adopted the new city the city has adopted him. Educational matters are still his foremost interest and he is a member of the State Teachers' Association, the Denver Teachers' Club and also the National Educational Association. Fraternally he is prominent as a Mason, having been received into the order at Falls City, Nebraska, in 1887. He is a past master of Union Lodge, No. 7, A. F. & A. M., is a Knights Templar and belongs to the Shrine. He has received the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite and in every relation of life practices the fundamental principles laid down by the Masonic organization. Both Mr. and Mrs. Greenlee are popular in Denver society and move in the best circles of the city, being a welcome addition to the intellectual life of the community. There is much credit due Mr. Greenlee for what he has achieved, as he has made his own way from an early age and by his own labors has secured the educational advantages which have fitted him for the position in life that he now occupies.

JOHN THOMAS MALEY.

John Thomas Maley, attorney at law of Denver, was born in Mayslick, Kentucky, July 21, 1887, a son of John and Ella (Fulton) Maley. The father is of Irish descent but the family was early established in Kentucky, where he was born, reared and educated. He married Ella Fulton, also a native of Kentucky and of Irish lineage. Her father was Patrick Fulton, who emigrated to France during the Irish rebellion and after- ward crossed the Atlantic, becoming an early settler and successful planter of Kentucky. During the later years of his life he lived retired and passed away at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. To Mr. and Mrs. John Maley were born five sons, John Thomas Maley of this review being the third in order of birth. The father is extensively engaged in raising mules and in cultivating tobacco in Kentucky, where he and his family still make their home. In politics he is a stanch democrat, taking an active part in furthering the interests of the political organization which he supports and doing everything in his power to promote those activities which are of civic worth. He is a man of high ideals, never caring to figure prominently in social or public activities but possessing rather a reticent disposition. He has always been careful in the selection of his friends but when once his friendship is given he is as true as steel, nothing swerving him from his loyalty to those to whom he is thus bound. He reared his children in the strict and narrow path, impressing upon them above all else the fact that they should be guided by truth in everything. His teaching was the spirit of the admonition:

"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

He has ever been a devoted father, providing well for his family and seeking ever their intellectual and moral as well as material progress. All of his sons are still associated with him in the business of stock raising and tobacco raising save John Thomas Maley, who is the only one of the family that has come to the west.

After acquiring his education in the public and high schools of Mayslick, Kentucky, from which he was graduated with the class of 1905, John T. Maley started out in the

JOHN T. MALEY

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business world. His time to the age of eighteen years had been spent upon the home farm, where his training instilled into his mind principles which have been a guiding force in his life throughout all the intervening years. For a year after leaving home he sold stocks and bonds. Removing to the west, he took up his abode at Newcastle, Wyoming, in October, 1906, and he also sold stocks and bonds in South Dakota during 1905 and 1906. He later became credit man for the Thoeming. Mercantile Company at Newcastle, Wyoming, and there remained until 1911, when he removed to Denver and entered the Denver Law School, having determined to become active in professional fields. He was graduated in 1914 and at once entered upon the practice of his profes- sion, in which he has since continued, winning a large clientage that is of distinctively representative character.

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the 18th of November, 1912, Mr. Maley was married to Miss Rose A. Bird, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of John and Anna Bird. At the time of her marriage Mrs. Maley was state superintendent of public instruction of Wyoming, being the only one ever elected to that office on the democratic ticket. Mr. Maley belongs to Phi Alpha Delta, a legal fraternity, and is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Sheridan, Wyoming. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. A stanch supporter of democratic principles, he was very active in politics while in Wyoming and served as secretary of the demo- cratic county central committee and for one term was its chairman. He continued a member of the committee up to the time of his removal to Denver. While he was the only member of his father's family to leave home, he has met with success as the years have passed and has amassed a considerable fortune, which he has largely invested in property in Denver and in Colorado, having firm faith in the state of his choice. His progress and prosperity are due entirely to his own efforts and indicate his adaptability, his enterprise and his persistency of purpose. At the bar he stands as a strong and able lawyer with whom close study and devotion to duty have spelled success.

ERNEST MORRIS.

Ernest Morris, a prominent attorney at law and one of the leading citizens of Denver, stands among those who are stalwart champions of the state, its opportunities, its possibilities and its upbuilding. He says that he was born in Prussia, Germany, by accident. His father was at the time a naturalized American citizen, having come to this country in early manhood. He was Edward R. Morris, a native of Russia, who crossed the Atlantic in an early day, wishing to seek his fortune in the new world. He became one of that band of California Argonauts who went to the Pacific coast in search of the golden fleece in 1849. The journey westward was made by way of the Isthmus of Panama and he took up his abode in San Francisco, where he first engaged in prospect- ing and mining, but later turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, and after accumu- lating a small fortune he returned to the old world for his bride. He remained a resident of Germany until 1882 and then brought his family to America, while the following year he took up his abode in Denver. Here he was identified with mercantile interests until he removed to Gilpin county, Colorado, where he concentrated his efforts and attention upon mining and the mercantile business. In 1894 he again took up his abode in Denver and practically retired from active life. He passed away in Denver at the age of seventy years, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Rosalia Lewinsohn and was a native of Germany, died in 1904 at the age of sixty-six years. They had a family of six children: Max P., who is now a resident of Vancouver, British Co- lumbia; Mrs. Theodore Marx, Mrs. Jennie Lesser and Adolph, all residents of Denver; Martha E., who is now in the surgeon general's office in Washington, D. C .; and Ernest, of this review.

The last named was born May 6, 1875, and was the youngest in his parents' family. In his early life he attended the primary school of Thorn, Germany, and after the removal of the family to the new world he pursued his education in Catholic and public schools in Park City, Utah, and for a time was a student in the old Gilpin school at Denver, while later he became a pupil in the Ebert school of Denver. He next attended the Arapahoe school and continued his education in public schools of Denver and of Central City until graduated from the high school of the latter place with the class of 1892. He also spent two years as a student in the State University of Colorado and for one year was a student in the University of Denver. He later returned to the University of Colorado, where he spent another year, and there won the Bachelor of

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Philosophy degree upon graduation with the class of 1896. He then went to the east to enter Cornell University at Ithaca, New York, where he devoted a year to post gradu- ate work in political science and law. Once more he entered the University of Colorado and this time was graduated with the LL. B. degree as a member of the class of 1898. Immediately afterward he entered upon the practice of law in Denver, where he has since remained, and he is today one of the leading lawyers of the state. He has con- ducted some of the most important litigation tried before the Colorado bar, including the famous Buffalo Bill Wild West Show case, which he successfully conducted through the lower courts of the state, also in the federal court and in the United States su- preme court, this case heing finally decided in favor of Mr. Morris after a hard fought legal battle with some of the most able attorneys in the country arrayed against him. He never seems to lose sight of any single point which has bearing upon his case and gives to each point its due relative prominence, never failing to strongly em- phasize the important point upon which the decision of every case finally depends. His clientage is today large and of a distinctively representative character and he holds marked precedence among the members of the bar of Denver.

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History of Colorado; Volume II, Part 79

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