USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 108
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He possessed an unusually well balanced mind, and his unswerving honesty and keen sense of justice fitted him for dealing with the intricate problems that make railroad management a fine art. These qualities, added to the kindly courtesy of his manner, inspired confidence in all who had business dealings with him, and the prosperity of the Colorado & Southern Railroad was due in large measure to his wise handling of important questions.
Generosity and unselfishness marked his private life-envy he knew not. The rare quality of modesty-that modesty that like charity "vaunteth not itself"-sim- plicity and straightforwardness in his words and actions united to form a char- acter that impressed itself on all who knew him. He was a generous supporter of every worthy cause and a liberal contributor to all the charities of the city.
His social instincts made him a member of numerous clubs-the Denver Club, the Denver Country Club, the Denver Athletic, the Chicago Athletic Club, the El Paso Club of Colorado Springs and several railroad clubs in New York city. He was a son of the American Revolution and a charter member of the well known Kenwood Club of Chicago. He had no ambition to enter public life although he took the keenest interest in all questions affecting national and civic prosperity. The two hobbies with which he indulged his leisure, were the collecting of choice books and the perfecting of his extensive collection of coins.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
On the 23d of November, 1881, Charles Lincoln Wellington, of St. Louis, and Martha K. Fatzinger, of Chicago, were married at the Church of the Incarnation, in New York city, by the Rev. Arthur Brooks. Two sons were born to them, both of whom died in infancy.
"His life was gentle; and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, 'This was a man.' "
JOHN THAMS.
John Thams has played a leading part in connection with events which constitute the story of Denver's business growth and development. He was born in Germany, August 7, 1854, and is a son of John and Margaret (Thede) Thams, who were also natives of that country and have long since passed away. The father there followed the occupation of farming.
John Thams was educated in Germany and came to the United States when seventeen years of age, arriving in 1871. He landed at New York but did not tarry long in the east, making his way to Grand Island, Nebraska, where he continued until 1874. In that year he became a resident of Laramie, Wyoming, and was identified with mining in- terests in that section of the country until 1876, when he turned his attention to the business of breeding, raising and selling horses. In the fall of that year he established his home in Denver, where he remained until 1879 and then removed to Leadville, where he resided until 1886, but in the meantime controlled business interests of importance in hoth cities. He became the proprietor of the Old Elephant Corral, one of the historic landmarks of the city, figuring in Denver's development for forty years, constituting for a long period the connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. It was erected in 1858 by Jim Carlisle, James MeNassar and Charlie Blake and extended from Wazee to Blake street, while its western boundary was Fourteenth street, then known as Ferry street. It was called the Elephant Corral because of its size. Its commodious accommodations and the enterprise of its owners soon attracted a very large share of the patronage and the Elephant Corral became the rendezvous for the pioneers and a market for live stock that was known throughout the west. In the days when gambling consti- tuted a feature in the life of every western frontier town the Elephant Corral had its gambling house, where men played for big stakes. Live stock dealers brought hither their cattle, horses and mules and the Elephant Corral was the scene of many a famous auction sale. The corral was the home of the stage lines of that time and headquarters for the freighting outfits. There were walls of concrete originally about eight feet high and after- ward several additional feet of brick were added on top of the concrete. Loaded wagons could be driven inside this enclosure and were safe from depredations of outlaws and petty thieves. Horses, mules and oxen were brought for exchange or sale to the corral and when the place was leased in 1872 by D. K. Wall he also took up the sale of wagons and harness and conducted a profitable business there for twenty years. Choice cattle were also included in the stock transactions and at one time two hundred thoroughbred bulls were held there. being the first shipment of fine breeding stock to Colorado in any large numbers. In 1886 John Thams purchased the property and in 1902 he erected a barn fifty by seventy-five feet, two stories in height above the basement, to replace the old cor- ral, but the name, Elephant Corral, was retained. His business was a continuation of the old business on the old site but in a new building and under the changed conditions of a new century. Today he has a well built and well developed plant there for the conduct of his business, which includes the sale of heavy draft and driving horses and mules, car- riages, wagons, carts, harness and implements and the Deering harvesting machinery. .
In 1886 Mr. Thams was united in marriage to Miss Jane Rose Monalian and to them have been born two daughters and a son. Adelaide Virginia is at home. John, Jr., who was born in Leadville, July 10, 1888, pursued his education in the public schools of Denver and in Miss Street's private school, which was then located on Pennsylvania avenue but has passed out of existence. He is a progressive and enterprising young man, now in business with his father. He belongs to the Denver Athletic Club, to the Civic and Commercial Association, to the Knights of Columbus and to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of the Roman Catholic church. The third member of the family is Gertrude Julia, a student at Sweet Briar College. The family is widely and promi- nently known in Denver and occupies an enviable position in social circles.
JOHN THAMS
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Mr. Thams, in addition to his business at the Elephant Corral, is the administrator for the Beer estate and has become the owner of valuable farming property, including the 7-N ranch, situated fourteen miles from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and comprising five thousand acres of land. It contains seventeen hundred acres of timber land and practically the whole land is underlaid with coal. Upon it he keeps his surplus stock of horses, cattle and mules, which are always on sale. Mr. Thams enjoys an unassailable reputation as a business man and his personal qualities have made for popularity as the years have gone by. His well developed business interests have brought to him a most substantial measure of success and he has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world. whither he made his way when a youth of seventeen years. For forty-seven years he has resided in America and it has been through the utilization of the opportunities offered in this country that he has gained his present enviable position as one of the rep- resentative business men of Denver.
GEORGE C. TWOMBLY.
George C. Twombly, deputy district attorney for Morgan county in the thirteenth judicial district of the state, and a resident of Fort Morgan, was born at Brush, in the same county, on the 28th day of December, 1889, a son of Hurd W. and Katie (Ewing) Twombly, the former born near Dover, New Hampshire. The mother died when their son George was but five years of age. The father came to Colorado in company with his father about 1860, when a youth of eleven years. They came across the country with ox teams and later trailed cattle from the Missouri river to Colorado. They took up their abode between Denver and Fort Lupton, where the grandfather of George C. Twombly engaged in the hay business. He met an accidental death, being killed by a train in Denver. Hurd W. Twombly later removed to Greeley and was elected sheriff of Weld county, which position he filled for two terms. At that period Weld county included most of the territory in the northeastern part of the state, running to the east line. He afterwards removed to Brush, Colorado, purchasing and improving several tracts of land and extensively engaging, for a number of years, in stock farming. He has served his county a number of terms as county commissioner, and represented his district two terms in the state legislature. He has retired from active farming and now resides in Brush. He is one of the honored pioneer settlers of the state.
George C. Twombly was reared and educated at Brush, acquiring his common and high school education there, and was graduated from the high school with the class of 1908. He spent one year in the liberal arts department of the University of Denver and then entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied for a year. Returning to Denver he entered the Denver Law School and was graduated with the class of 1913. The same year he passed the required examination for the bar and was admitted to practice on the 25th of November, 1913. The following year he removed to Fort Morgan and for a year was employed in the law offices of Robert M. Work. At the expiration of that period he and Mr. Work formed a partner- ship for the general practice of law, which relation still exists. Mr. Twombly was appointed deputy district attorney, under Robert M. Work in January, 1916, and is acting in that capacity at the present time. The firm is widely known in that section of the state and enjoys a large and liberal clientage, connecting them with much of the im- portant litigation heard in the courts of that section. Mr. Twombly, though a young man, has been exceptionally successful from the beginning of his career and has given ample proof of his ability to handle intricate and involved legal matters.
On the 21st of August, 1917, Mr. Twombly was married to Miss Alma Melzer, a daughter of Charles and Alma (Straub) Melzer, who were natives of Evansville, Indiana, which was also the birthplace of Mrs. Twombly. Mr. Melzer brought his family to Colorado in 1904, settling in Denver and building a residence at 6701 East Colfax avenue in that city, where the family still resides. Mr. Melzer departed this life July 25, 1905. To Mr. and Mrs. Twombly has been born one child, George C. Twombly, Jr.
Mr. Twombly and his wife are Presbyterians in religious faith. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree and has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to Fort Morgan Lodge, No. 1143, B. P. O. E., and is a member of Beta Theta Pi, a college fraternity, and Phi Delta Phi, a legal fraternity. Mrs. Twombly is a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and a graduate of the University of Denver, of the class of 1914. Mr. Twombly is active in local public affairs and is now serving his city as a member of the city council. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party,
GEORGE C. TWOMBLY
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
but while interested in political affairs and recognizing the duties and obligations of citizenship, he is not a politician in the popular conception of that term. His preference is to concentrate his time and energies upon his profession. Mr. Twombly holds to the high ethical standards of his profession and enjoys the full confidence and respect of his professional colleagues and contemporaries. He is a member of both the district and state bar associations.
JAMES W. ESPY.
James W. Espy, president of the Espy Ice Company and manager of the Con- tinental Coal Company of Denver, was born in Greene county, Ohio, October 12, 1859, a son of James and Magdalene ( Brown) Espy, who were also natives of Greene county, where they spent their entire lives. The father was engaged in carpentering and was also a well known farmer. To him and his wife were born three children: Josiah B., now residing in Columbus, Ohio; David, deceased; and James W., of this review.
The last named pursued his education in the country schools of Greene county and afterward worked upon his father's farm, early becoming thoroughly acquainted with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. He continued on the old homestead until he reached the age of twenty-two years, when he went to Monmouth, Illinois, where he established a transfer business which he successfully conducted for four years. He then sold out and returned to Ohio, settling in Springfield, where he carried on business for a year.
Attracted by the opportunities of the growing west, Mr. Espy came to Denver on the 13th of March, 1887, and several days later secured a position with the Continental Oil Company, with wbich he remained for a year. He next entered the employ of the Denver Stamping Works Company and was in that connection for seven and a half years. After resigning the place he established a retail coal busi- ness on his own account and conducted the yard for three years. He then sold out and entered the employ of the Nave McCord Wholesale Grocery Company, with which he was associated for two years. He afterward took charge of the yards of the Continental Coal Company as general manager and has been one of the efficient and thoroughly loyal representatives of that corporation since 1908. He also or- ganized the Espy Ice Company, of which he was elected president, and has since directed the business along substantial and growing lines. The vice president of the company is Mrs. Viva Barber, of Riverside, California, with James Reimer Espy as the secretary and treasurer. The business was incorporated in 1913 and they now utilize five wagons for city delivery service.
On the 19th of May, 1881, Mr. Espy was married to Miss Laura Green, of Hamilton county, Ohio, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W. P. Green, also of Hamilton county. They have become parents of three children. Mrs. Viva Barber, born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1882, was educated in the Denver high school, from which she was graduated with the honors of the class. She now resides in Riverside, California, and has one child, Dorothy Barber. James Reimer, born in Monmouth, Illinois, in 1884, was educated in the schools of Denver and still re- sides in this city. He married Miss Pearl Moore and they have two children, Bernice Lucille and James Bruce, both born in Denver. The third member of the family is Mrs. Lela Brown, who was born in Springfield, Ohio, but acquired her education in the public schools of Denver. She is the wife of Harry H. Brown and they have one child, Laura Jane.
In his political views Mr. Espy has always been a republican and gives unfalter- ing allegiance to the party but does not seek nor desire office. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. His record commends him to the respect and confidence of all who know him, for individual effort and sterling worth have placed him in the creditable position which he now occupies in the business circles of Denver.
ERNEST E. CALKINS.
Ernest E. Calkins, president of the Morgan County Abstract & Investment Company of Fort Morgan, has in this connection built up a business of large and gratifying propor- tions, and in all of his operations has been actuated by a spirit of enterprise and progress.
0
ERNEST E. CALKINS
Vol. III-52
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
He is yet a comparatively young man, so that the future probably holds much in store for him. He was born in lowa Falls, Iowa. January 1. 1881, a son of Emerson R. and Sabra (Thompson ) Calkins, who were natives of New York and of Wisconsin, respectively. The father was a farmer by occupation and removed to Iowa immediately after the Civil war. in which he had participated, having enlisted in the Eighth Wisconsin Battery of Light Artillery, with which he served for three and a half years, holding the rank of sergeant when mustered out. He participated in a number of hotly contested engage- ments and made a most creditable military record. When the war was over and he made his way to Iowa he took up his abode in Hardin county, near Iowa Falls, where he purchased land which he at once began to cultivate and improve, transforming it into a valuable tract, upon which he lived until 1904, ranking throughout that period with the representative and prosperous farmers of the community. He then retired from active business life and removed to Iowa Falls, where he and his wife still make their home, being numbered among the valued and respected residents of that place.
Ernest E. Calkins pursued his education at lowa Falls, being graduated from Ells- worth College of that place with the class of 1900. Thus well qualified for life's practical and responsible duties by liberal educational training, he turned his attention to the real estate business in Forest City and was connected with interests of that kind for a year. In September, 1902, he returned to Iowa Falls and accepted a position as book- keeper and stenographer in the First National Bank, where he was employed until the fall of 1905. At that date he removed to Larimore, North Dakota. to accept the position of as- sistant cashier in the National Bank, which position he filled until 1908, when he came to Fort Morgan and worked for the Great Western Sugar Company for a year. He was also in the city clerk's office at Fort Morgan until the fall of 1909. when he purchased an interest in the Morgan County Abstract & Investment Company, of which he remained secretary until 1911. He was then elected to the presidency of the company, which has offices at No. 305 Main street. Frank L. Evans is the secretary. The company is doing an extensive business in the field of real estate and Mr. Calkins displays marked adaptability and enterprise in carrying on the interests of the firm.
On the 14th of June. 1906, Mr. Calkins was united in marriage to Miss Ethel R. Evers, and to them was born a son. Horace R., whose birth occurred March 2, 1907. and who is now attending school. Mr. Calkins came to Colorado on account of his wife's health, but she passed away in December. 1909. In November, 1911, he was again married, his second union being with Cecyle A. Seybold. and to them has been born a son, Kenneth S .. on the 18th of July. 1912.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr Calkins is also numbered among the exemplary representatives of the Masonic fraternity. He likewise has membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. All along he has taken a most helpful part in Liberty Loan campaigns, Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. drives and other war measures and has effectively served on committees, in every way promoting and supporting the just cause of democracy in "making the world a better place to live in." His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and at one time he was a candidate for county clerk and recorder on the progressive ticket, but was defeated. He has not been a politician, however, in the sense of office seeking, preferring to concentrate his efforts and activities upon his business affairs, which have been wisely directed, so that he has made steady progress. He is a well known figure in real estate circles in Morgan county and his success is the merited reward of his labors. It has been won so honorably that the most envious cannot grudge him his prosperity, and he always finds time and opportunity to aid in the advance- ment of progressive measures for the general good along the lines of social, intellectual and moral progress.
BYRON ALBERTUS WHEELER.
Byron Albertus Wheeler, who for many years has been a prominent figure in professional and political circles in Colorado, leaving the impress of his individuality in many ways upon the history of the state, was born at Prairieville, now Waukesha, Wisconsin, January 30, 1842. His father, Trueman Wheeler, was born in the state of New York, while the mother, who bore the maiden name of Irene Whittier, was born at Greenville, near Montpelier, Vermont, a daughter of Henry Whitcher-the name being a frontier perversion which was later changed to Whittier. In his youthful days Trueman Wheeler learned the wheelwright's trade and later became
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a pioneer wheelwright in what was then the territory of Wisconsin. He settled in Waukesha and afterward became a resident of Fond du Lac, building the first saw- mill at that place. Later, while engaged in the construction of the first grist mill in Fond du Lac or that part of the country, he was killed by the falling of a dead limb from the tree that he was chopping down, out of which was to be made the last of the framework for the grist mill. His death occurred ahout 1845 or 1846. His wife passed away five or six years later and thus their children were left or- phaned at an early age. They had two sons, Lucius Nathan and Byron Albertus. The former entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church before attain- ing his majority, hecame a presiding elder and the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him. Soon after the Civil war he was sent as a mis- sionary to China, which was largely the scene of his life work. He established the first printing house for the Methodist church in the city of Peking and he died in Shanghai in April, 1893, while still serving the church, principally as superintendent of missions.
Byron A. Wheeler acquired a common and high school education in Fond du Lac. Wisconsin, but left for service in the Civil war before completing. the high school course. In his hoyhood he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Fond du Lac Freeman, one of the first abolition papers of Wisconsin, on which he worked for some years. He was also connected with the Fond du Lac Commonwealth and the Omro Herald. While thus employed he entered the first high school of that city, newly established, and later he taught a term of school in the country town of Byron, Wisconsin, at the age of seventeen years and another term during the following winter in the village of Rosendale, where he had one assistant. Two weeks before the close of this second term the homhardment of Fort Sumter oc- curred on the 12th and 13th of April, 1861, and ere the smoke from the guns had cleared away he enlisted as a member of Company I, First Wisconsin Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. By a patriotic act of the school board he received pay for the full term.
Dr. Wheeler served throughout the first four and a half months of the war, during which time he participated in but one hattle-that of Falling Waters, West Virginia, in front of Martinsburg, with a regiment casualty list of twelve. This battle gave the Union forces possession of Martinshurg and Harpers Ferry. The following winter was spent in teaching school at West Rosendale, Wisconsin, and he then reenlisted as a member of Company I of the First Wisconsin Cavalry, in which he served until the end of the war, being honorably discharged July 19, 1865. This regiment is on record as having participated in more engagements than any other Wisconsin regiment, chief among which were the battles of Chickamauga. Resaca and the engagements around Atlanta. The command took part in forty-five battles and four hundred and seventeen major and minor engagements all told. Dr. Wheeler entered the army as a private and though he refused several oppor- tunities for promotion, he was discharged as ordnance sergeant of the regiment. He was never wounded but had many narrow escapes. A shattered silver watch, treas- ured as a family heirloom, gives mute evidence of the nearness of death from an exploding shell.
On the 20th of August, 1865, one month and one day from the time he was discharged from the army, Dr. Wheeler married Frances Amelia Noyes, the wed- ding ceremony heing performed by his brother, Rev. Lucius N. Wheeler, in the Methodist Episcopal church at Byron Corners. Nine children were born of this marriage, seven of whom reached adult age and were educated in Denver. The family record is as follows. Mable Louvan, born January 18, 1867, died August 28. 1868. Maude Loreine, born September 19, 1870, was married May 30, 1894, to Amos L. Miks and their children are: Mona Leslie, who was born June 24, 1895. and in May, 1917, became the wife of Lieutenant Friend Ruttencutter, by whom she has a son, Paul Richard Ruttencutter, born July 24, 1918; and Dorothy Irene Miks, who was born October 28, 1898, and on the 29th of October, 1916, became the wife of Lionel Brackenbury. Mary Edna Wheeler, born June 12, 1873, was married to Charles Henry Hilton, Jr., later a colonel of the coast artillery in the regular army. They secured a legal separation and in May, 1918, she became the wife of Clarence C. Cram. Her children are: Helen Irene Hilton, born October 25, 1892; and Donald Brooks Hilton, who was born July 7, 1896, and is now a first lieutenant in the coast artillery of the regular army and is at present with the expeditionary forces in France. Pearl Beatrice Wheeler, horn April 14, 1875, was married June 25, 1910, to Oscar Henry Dorr. Merle Bethuel, born April 14. 1875,
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