USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume II > Part 83
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and occupied that position for eighteen months. He belongs to the Illinois Bar Association and through his connection with the Colorado bar has always enjoyed in high degree the esteem and confidence of colleagues and contemporaries in the profession.
On the 6th of February, 1898, Mr. Burdick was married in Kenosha, Wis- consin, to Miss Martha J. Newby, a native of Georgia and a daughter of Thomas and Lydia A. (Woodlee) Newby, who were representatives of an old Georgia family of Scotch-English lineage.
Mr. Burdick has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party and has been a close student of the vital political problems and issues of the day. He is identified with various fraternities, including the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Red Men, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Brotherhood of America and also with several fraternal insurance orders. He has membership with the Sons of Colorado and something of the breadth of his interests and his researches is indicated in the fact that he has membership in several scientific societies-in the American Psychological Society, the American Society of Archaeology, the American Society of Psychology and in 1898 was graduated from the New York Scientific Psychological Institute. He had membership with the Knights of Labor, No. 4401, at Aspen, Colorado, when Governor Waite was master workman. He has held prominent office in the Woodmen of the World, has been a member of the grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the Knights and Ladies of Security. His position upon the suffrage question is indicated in the fact that he fathered the bill which was successfully passed, giving suffrage to the women of this state. He is a deputy chief scout of the Benevolent Order of American Scouts and has thus studied the boy problem. He has also given much thought and attention to the subject of the Indian and is a noted lecturer concerning the red man. He was a delegate to the populist conventions of 1893 and 1896 and was the author of the plank in the platform demanding the initiative and referendum, as well as the imperative mandate, subsequently called the recall of judicial opin- ions. He is a member of the Single Tax Club, of Chicago, and secretary of the Denver Single Tax Club.
A man of most scholarly attainments, he has made his life of great usefulness to the world, his broad general sympathy prompting active and helpful effort in behalf of many classes and conditions.
JOHN A. KIMZEY.
Throughout the entire period of his active business life John A. Kimzey followed the occupation of farming but is now living retired at Evans, where he occupies a pleas- ant home, enjoying the comforts and some of the luxuries of life. He was born in Perry county. Illinois, on the 18th of December, 1842, and is a son of David and Sarah Kimzey. He attended the public schools in his youthful days, completing his course by graduation when a youth of eighteen. He was not yet twenty years of age when in response to the country's call for aid to crush out the rebellion in the south he enlisted on the 10th of August, 1862, joining the Eighty first Illinois Infantry. For three years he remained with the "boys in blue" and rendered active and valorous service to his country. The first battle, on May 1, 1863, in which he participated was near Fort Gibson. He had crossed the river April 30, 1863, and on the 12th of May he arrived at Raymond, Mis- sissippi, under the command of General Logan. On the 14th he was at Jackson, Mississippi. He was slightly wounded in the shoulder at Vicksburg when climbing the breastworks there and participated in the battle of Champion Hill, where several hun- dred prisoners were taken on May 16, 1863. He also took part in several skirmishes at Meridian and for three years was at the front, faithfully doing every task assigned him, whether it took him to the firing line or stationed him on the lonely picket line. With a most creditable military record he returned to his home, having done his full duty in saving the Union.
On the 2d of January, 1866, Mr. Kimzey left Illinois for Colorado and has since identified his interests with those of the state. He crossed the plains by wagon and on reaching his destination took up the occupation of teaming and freighting until the spring of 1870, when he engaged in farming, which he followed until his retirement. For many years he has now lived in Weld county and has witnessed its wonderful growth, trans- formation and development as time has passed on. He has always borne his share in the work of upbuilding and improvement and for many years was successfully engaged
MR. AND MRS. JOHN A. KIMZEY.
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in farming, but is now living retired, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves.
Mr. Kimzey was united in marriage to Miss Tirza Wilson, of Illinois, a daughter of James and Lucinda Wilson, and their children are: Jesse C., David S., Walter S. and Sarah, all of whom are married and have families; and Ella May, who died in 1880, and Anna, who died in 1899, their remains heing interred in the Greeley cemetery.
Mr. Kimzey is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, proudly wearing the little bronze button that proclaims him as one who defended the Union during the dark days of the Civil war. He had several relatives who were in the service and each one was wounded, and all but one, Humphrey E. Kimzey, who died of diphtheria, and two cousins, named Cunningham, who also died, lived to return home at the close of hos- cilities. Mr. Kimzey has lived an upright, honorable life, his course being marked by devotion to duty whether of a public or private nature and at the age of seventy-five years he commands the respect and confidence of all who have known aught of his career.
JOHN LORENZO SCHWEIGERT.
The record of John Lorenzo Schweigert is a most interesting one. Just entering upon his thirty-first year, he has attained a very creditable position at the Colorado bar and is now assistant attorney general of the state of Colorado. He was born in Rosita, Custer county, Colorado, on June 16, 1888, a son of J. G. Schweigert, a native of Ohio, and Alice C. Schweigert, (nee Smith) a native of Nebraska.
John Lorenzo Schweigert pursued his early education in the public schools of West- cliffe, Colorado. He spent some time as a blacksmith's apprentice and in the mer- cantile business. At an early age he commenced the study of law in the office of his father, who has practiced at the Colorado bar for nearly thirty years at Cañon City, Colo- rado, and a little later he graduated from Dodd's Commercial College at that place. He served about a year in the capacity of private secretary in connection with a railroad project. In the spring of 1909 he went to Denver and resumed the study of law as a registered apprentice under Justice Morton S. Bailey of the Colorado supreme court, while serving in the capacity of his private clerk and stenographer, which association continued for eight years. He was admitted to the Colorado bar on September 1, 1914. During three years of this latter period he spent the evenings in attendance at West- minster Law School in Denver, and this institution conferred upon him the LL. B. degree, and has for the past four years honored him by a chair of instruction in its faculty. Recognition of his ability secured an appointment as assistant attorney general by Leslie E. Hubbard, attorney general of Colorado, in January, 1917.
On the 9th of February. 1916. Mr. Schweigert was united in marriage to Miss Irma Hiederer of Denver, where they reside and have an extensive circle of warm friends. They are members of Grace Methodist Episcopal church. His fraternal relations are with Arapahoe Lodge, No. 130, A. F. & A. M .; Rocky Mountain Consistory, No. 2, A. & A. S. R .; and the Woodmen of the World, Colorado Camp, No. 13. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he is a member of the Democratic Club of Denver.
Nature endowed him with keen mentality and he has improved and used his talents wisely and well, having already achieved notable distinction for one of his years, while his past record points to the future with promise of continued activity and interest.
EGBERT L. NEELEY.
Egbert L. Neeley, of Walsenburg, filling the position of sheriff of Huerfano county, was born in Waxahachie. Texas, on the 7th of September, 1875, a son of A. C. and Carrie (Wright) Neeley. The father was a farmer and stockmau, devoting his life to agri- cultural interests. At the time of the Civil war he espoused the cause of the Confederacy and served under General N. B. Forrest, joining the army when but seventeen years of age. Both he and his wife have passed away. the mother having died when her son Egbert was only two years of age, while the death of the father occurred in 1908. In their family were two sons and one daughter.
Egbert L. Neeley, the youngest child, had but limited educational opportunities. In fact, he is practically a self-educated man and has gained much of his knowledge through reading and in the school of experience, where he has learned many valuable lessons. Through his youthful days he assisted his father in farming and stock raising
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and was thus employed until seventeen years of age. He rode the range in Texas between the ages of fifteen and thirty years, much of the time in the employ of others. He then accepted a position at a smeltery in old Mexico owned by the Guggenheim interests, serving in that capacity for four and half years. On the expiration of that period he took up his abode in Walsenburg and opened a hardware store which he conducted success- fully until elected to the office of, sheriff in 1914. The election was contested and Mr. Neeley, with other county officers, was not seated until 1916. Since assuming the duties of the position his efforts have been concentrated upon the enforcement of the law, especially upon the prohibition law. He stands at all times for the interests of the public and is prompt, fearless and faithful in the discharge of his duties. His political allegiance has ever been given to the democratic party and he has been most active in supporting its interests and advancing its success.
On the 5th of January, 1905, Mr. Neeley was married to Miss Ada Coots and to them have been born two children, Arthur and Dorothy. Mr. Neeley is a Protestant in religious faith. He has membership with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the Royal Arch degree, and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is now chairman of the draft board, a member of the Council of Defense and chair- man of military affairs for Huerfano county. He is thus doing active and effective work to aid the government in this critical hour of national history. He is actuated by a most public-spirited devotion to the general good, his patriotism standing as a paramount feature in his career. He is widely known and well liked and the sterling traits of his character have endeared him to many friends.
JAMES P. WILSON.
The professions offer an ambitious man in Denver and Colorado as splendid a field of labor as mining or commercial interests and among those who have made their mark in the field of law and who have made use of every legitimate opportunity for advance- ment should be named James P. Wilson, an able attorney of the capital city. The life record of Mr. Wilson has been characterized by steady progress since he started out upon an independent career. A native of Caledonia, Wisconsin, he is a son of James and Isabelle (Mckenzie) Wilson, who were natives of Scotland and crossed the Atlantic to the new world in early life. They settled at Lodi, Wisconsin, where the father devoted his attention to the occupation of farming, and there for twenty-one consecutive years he served as town chairman. He was also called upon for other public service and in all the offices which he filled made a most creditable and satisfactory record. During the period of the Civil war he acted as a member of the Home Guard and was a stanch supporter of the Union. He passed away in Lodi, in 1900, respected and esteemed by all who knew him and most of all where he was best known. His wife was quite young when brought to the new world and was reared and educated in Wisconsin, her death occurring in Lodi in 1890. In the family were seven children, namely: James P., of this review; P. J., who was for a number of years a commissioner of Los Angeles, California; Samuel W., a merchant, also living at Los Angeles; W. J., who is deputy district clerk at Los Angeles; and three who have passed away.
At the usual age James P. Wilson became a pupil in the public schools of Lodi, Wisconsin, and passed through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school. He later entered the University of Wisconsin, in which he took up the study of law and completed his course in 1883. He then entered upon the practice of his profession in Baraboo, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1891, and during that period he served for one term as district attorney. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota caused him to withdraw from law practice there and join the rush to the new Eldorado of the northwest. Like the majority of those who went to that dis- trict, he took up the pick and shovel and he became one of the few successful mine operators of that district. He was also a leading figure in public affairs in Lead, South Dakota, where exists the largest free gold mine in the world. There he served as city attorney and president of the board of education and otherwise took an active and helpful interest in promoting public progress through ten years. Through his mining operations there he accumulated a fortune and in 1903 he sold his property interests in that district and removed to Denver. . Indolence and idleness, however, are utterly foreign to his nature and after five years of retirement from business he could no longer content himself to remain without some active business duty and resumed the practice of law, in which connection he is now well known, being recognized as one of the able and forceful members of the Denver bar.
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In June, 1883, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Julia Frances Howe, of Baraboo, Wisconsin, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Howe, relatives of Timothy Howe, formerly postmaster general of the United States. Mrs. Wilson died very suddenly in 1910, while on a visit in the east, leaving two children: James H., who was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1885 and is now a resident of San Francisco, California; and Oliver Chester, who was born in Baraboo in 1887 and is now county attorney at Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He was graduated from the University of Colorado and completed a law school course. He married Margaret Bottom, a graduate of the University of Colorado, and they have one child, Margaret A. Wilson.
In politics James P. Wilson is a republican and has always maintained an inde- pendent course, supporting men and measures rather than party yet never seeking to shirk any duty of citizenship but on the contrary cooperating heartily in well defined plans and measures for the general good. Fraternally he is identified with the Benev- olent Protective Order of Elks and is a past exalted ruler of the lodge in South Dakota in which he had membership. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and his professional relations are with the Colorado State Bar Association. Forceful and resourceful, his career has been marked by steady progress, characterized by a ready recognition and utilization of opportunities. He greatly enjoys the forensic contest and has ever realized the fact that activity does not tire but develops power and resisting force. While success is his, he remains an active factor in the world's work and is contributing to the further substantial development of the west.
SIDNEY JEWETT VARNEY.
Sidney Jewett Varney passed away on the 14th of March, 1881, in Evans, where he had made his home for a decade. His birth occurred in Summit county, Ohio, on the 29th of April, 1829, his parents being Samuel Jewett and Damaris (Hathaway) Varney, both of whom were natives of Vermont, the former belonging to a Quaker family. Their family numbered seven children, three sons and four daughters, all of whom are de- ceased with the exception of two of the daughters, one of whom is living in Seattle at the age of eighty-five years, while the other makes her home in Bloomington, Illinois, and has attained the age of eighty-two years.
In 1863 Sidney J. Varney enlisted for service in the Union army as a member of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was twice wounded and through his valor and loyalty he won the rank of sergeant. His regiment was attached to Mcclellan's forces and he participated in the Battle of the Wilderness and other engagements. He was shot in the hip at the battle of Fort Sumter and on another occasion, while reading orders to his company, was shot in the temple. His injuries and the hardships of military life greatly undermined his health, which was never fully restored after the war. He was a miner by occupation and came to Colorado in 1871, spending the remainder of his life in this state.
In early manhood Mr. Varney wedded Miss Alice Lucy Thompson, who was born in Hudson, Ohio, on the Western Reserve, July 4, 1836, a daughter of Salmon and Abiah (Cook) Thompson, the former a native of Goshen, Connecticut, and the latter of Canaan, Connecticut. It was in 1801 that the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Thompson removed with his family of sons and daughters to the Western Reserve, taking up his abode at what is now Hudson, Ohio, in pioneer times.
Mrs. Alice Lucy (Thompson) Varney, who survives her husband, is a lady of splendid qualities and characteristics. She was graduated from Rockford College of Rockford, Illinois, in the class of 1862 and afterward became a school teacher. She has always been very fond of good literature and is today a remarkably bright and intelligent woman of eighty-two years. A devout Christian, her husband was also most loyal to the Presbyterian church, in which he held membership, and when he passed away the min- ister said that he felt "as if one of the strongest pillars in the churchi had fallen." He had a wonderful personality and always tried to bring out the best in everyone. His remains were interred in the cemetery at Evans.
DAVID MONROE LEWIS.
David Monroe Lewis was one of the highly respected citizens of Weld county, a man of high ideals who ever strove not only to advance his own interests but the welfare and progress of the community as well. Those who knew him, and he had a wide acquaintance, held him in the warmest regard, so that at his death he left behind him
SIDNEY J. VARNEY
DAVID M. LEWIS
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many friends. He was born in Howard county, Iowa, in 1859, and was the eldest of the- eight children of Samuel and Margaret (Peterson) Lewis. His mother was born in Scotland. His father was early left an orphan, so that little is known concerning the history of the family.
David Monroe Lewis obtained his education in the schools of Dubuque, Iowa, but was forced to put aside his textbooks when fourteen years of age and aid in the sup- port of the family, for his parents were then in somewhat straightened financial circum- stances owing to the fact that the father was an invalid. When twenty years of age he made his way westward to La Salle, Colorado, where he took up farm work, to which he devoted four years. He afterward secured employment in a brickyard and later engaged in freighting between Meeker and Rawlins, Wyoming. From 1886 until 1892 he worked at the coal chutes in La Salle, after which he returned to farming, renting what is known as the Bradbury ranch, which he cultivated for two years. Through all this period he was carefully saving his earnings and at length he bought a farm, which he owned for a time. In 1900 he purchased the present home farm of the family, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, but afterward sold eighty acres of that tract. While em- ployed at the coal chutes in La Salle he suffered an injury which impaired his health and eventually resulted in his death. But he made every effort to improve his condition and turned his attention to stock raising and the growing of seed. Along those lines he won success. He became interested in the Farmers Union and he did everything in his. power to aid the community. He was constantly studying to acquaint himself with the most progressive and scientific methods of farming and whenever he acquired knowledge that he recognized as of practical value in farm work he was ready to assist his neigh- bors in gaining knowledge of such methods as he believed would prove to their benefit.
On the 2d of June, 1886, at Evans, Colorado, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Helen Varney, a daughter of Sidney Jewett and Alice Lucy (Thompson) Varney, of whom more extended mention is made on another page of this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were born the following named: David W., who marrried Ethel Betts and is living on his mother's farm; Glen Thompson, who married Xola Lewis, of Illinois, and follows farming two miles east of La Salle, Colorado; Margaret Alice, the wife of Howard P. Curtis, a farmer of Ohio; Lena Adele, wife of Joseph Knexborn, a farmer; Arthur- Donald; Sidney Samuel; and Kenneth Rodney. The three last named are in high school and aid during vacation periods in the work of the home farm. Mr. Lewis ever maintained a very wise course in regard to his family. His home was always filled with his friends and neighbors and he insisted that his children should bring home their friends so that he could judge for himself of the kind of people, whom they chose as associates. His table was always surrounded by some of their acquaintances, so that the family seldom ate a meal alone. During the last six weeks of his life, during his final illness, he still insisted that his children should entertain their friends just as of yore. He was a most faithful and devoted husband and father and counted his greatest happi- ness in promoting the welfare of his family. He belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party yet he generally cast an independent ballot, supporting the candidates whom he regarded as best qualified for office without paying much attention to party ties. He passed away September 7, 1913, and was laid to rest in the Evans cemetery, his death proving the occasion of deep regret not only to his immediate family but to many friends, who regarded him as a man of most genuine worth and splendid qualities. By his progressive measures he contributed much to the development and upbuilding of the community in which he lived.
ROBERT BRIDGE BONNEY.
Robert Bridge Bonney, educational director of the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, with offices in the Wyoming building of Denver, is the exponent of the modern business spirit which demands mastery of given tasks and equipment for broader service. The era is long since passed when the individual who would attain success and prominence can enter a field and progress merely through his experience. He must become a student of his business and far better is it if his studies can be planned and directed by one thoroughly competent for such work. Salesmanship, as well as mechanical and industrial activity. has been placed upon a scientific basis and one must not only thoroughly understand specific duties but also correlated interests. With an appreciation of modern demands in the business world, Robert Bridge Bonney took up
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the work in which he is now engaged and he stands as one of the foremost directors of business educational development in the west.
A native of Massachusetts, he was born in Dedham on the 25th of September, 1877. His father, Henry C. Bonney, was also a native of Dedham and came of English ancestry,. the family, however, being represented in America through several generations dating back to the early part of the eighteenth century. Henry C. Bonney was for many years connected with the American Telegraph and Telephone Company of Boston, continuing with that corporation to the time of his death, which occurred in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1907, when he had reached the age of sixty-six years. In politics he was a stanch republican, active in support of the party and its principles, and also was a stalwart advocate of plans and measures for civic advancement and development. He served as tax collector in Dedham and was also called upon to represent his district in the state legislature. During the period of the Civil war he served in one of the Massachusetts regiments and was wounded in action. He continued at the front from the opening year of the war until disabled by wounds and then returned to his home with a most creditable military record. He married Florence Bridge, a native of New Orleans, but a representative of one of the old New England colonial families of the early part of the seventeenth century and of English lineage. She died in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1888, when forty-one years of age. In her family were seven children, three sons and four daughters.
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