USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 45
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On the 15th of October, 1900, Mr. Heiser was united in marriage to Miss Rosa R.
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Reichenhach, a daughter of Hugo B. Reichenbach, a prominent merchant and Civil war soldier. In politics Mr. Heiser maintains an independent course. He believes in clean politics and has been identified with various wholesome and purifying reforms which have been growing up in the public life and thought of the community. He is a member of the Civic and Commercial Association and also of the Auto Trades Association. He has made for himself a prominent place in business circles and his marked ability is recognized by those who know aught of his career.
GEORGE BURTON GILBERT, M. D.
Dr. George Burton Gilbert, an eminent physician and scientist of Colorado Springs, was born in Thomaston, Connecticut, in 1881. His father, George C. Gilbert, was also a native of that state, born in 1858, and there he married Elizabeth W. Judd. They still make their home in Thomaston and are among the prominent and representative residents of that place. Dr. Gilbert of this review is the great-grandson of Seth Thomas, founder of the world-famous Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston. Connecticut.
Dr. Gilbert began his education in the schools of Thomaston and after mastering the preliminary branches of learning entered Yale University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1903. He determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work and after completing his literary course matriculated in Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, Maryland, where he studied medicine and was graduated in 1907. He spent some time as interne in the Hartford Hospital at Hartford, Connecticut, and in that way gained broad and valuable practical experience. He has been a resident of Colorado since 1908, in which year he took up his abode in Colorado Springs as resi- dent physician at the Cragmor Sanatorium. In 1910 he became associated with Dr. G. B. Wehb in the active practice of internal medicine. He has ever been a most close and discriminating student of his profession and has advanced steadily. His deep interest in his chosen life work and his marked ability are evidenced in the fact that he holds membership in the El Paso County Medical Society, the Colorado State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Solly Tuberculosis Society, the Colorado Springs Clinical Club, the National Tuberculosis Association and the American Association of Immunologists. His study of tuberculosis has been most comprehensive and he has come to be recognized as an authority upon that disease.
On the 6th of April, 1915, in Westernport. Maryland, Dr. Gilbert was united in mar- riage to Miss Elinor Drane, a daughter of Rohert H. Drane, and they have become parents of a son, George Rohert Gilbert.
In his political views Dr. Gilbert is a republican. He is a member of the Congrega- tional church. Dr. and Mrs. Gilbert occupy an eminent social position, which parallels the doctor's professional prominence. He ever keeps in touch with the latest scientific research and discoveries and his experience has added to the knowledge of the world along the lines of practice in which he has specialized.
WILLIAM A. WEIGELE.
William A. Weigele, owner of The Weigele Pipe Works, one of the important indus- trial interests of Colorado, was born in the town of Lafayette, Indiana, and came to Denver with his parents in the year 1880.
He received a grammar school education in the public schools of Lafayette and Denver, but did not advance beyond the grades because of the early death of his father. He found his first employment with The Denver Iron Fence Company, and remained with that firm in a minor position for two years. He then secured a position with the sheet iron works of John Young, where he continued for the same period, and was next employed by The Colorado Copper & Sheet Metal Works, where he remained three years.
At the end of that time he entered The Denver Sheet Metal Works, where he also spent three years, and throughout these periods he was acquiring a thorough knowledge of the sheet metal working business in various branches. At length he felt that his experience and capital justified embarking in business for himself, and he commenced operations in a small way at No. 3214 Walnut street.
The trade appreciated his work and services, and the business grew so steadily that he was soon obliged to seek larger quarters, and he acquired the site of his father's
DR. GEORGE BURTON GILBERT
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former bakery at No. 2949 Larimer street. The bake ovens were removed and a building erected that furnished adequate space until the further growth of the business necessi- tated still larger quarters, and the present factory buildings at Thirtieth and Larimer streets were erected.
The business had now increased to an output of twelve hundred tons of fabricated steel per annum, and the factory force consisted of thirty skilled men, and was equipped with special machinery for the manufacture of riveted steel pipe, essentially a western product, and which had become the leading specialty produced by the factory. Many large contracts for mining, irrigation and power equipment have been successfully under taken and completed hy Mr. Weigele, in Colorado and adjoining states, and Weigele pipe is well known and appreciated throughout the west.
Mr. Weigele was married to Miss Beatrice Emily Coad, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Coad, pioneer residents of Blackhawk, Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Weigele's only child, Doris, was born in Denver and is a graduate of Miss Wolcott's School for Girls.
Mr. Weigele served as a member of the city conncil under Mayor Arnold's adminis- tration, and gives his national political allegiance to the republican party, strongly endorsing its principles. He is a member of the Denver Lodge of Elks, the Denver Athletic Club, the Denver Rotary Club, and is also a director in the Submarine Naviga- tion and Manufacturing Company. the Oriental Oil Company, and the Master Farm Gate Company.
In a review of his life it is seen that there are no unusual features or spectacular phases, but his course has been marked by steady progress that has resulted from close application and indefatigable energy. He is a man of strong purpose and never gives up a plan that he has formulated. He has labored earnestly and persistently along the line of business in which he engaged, has constantly broadened his knowledge and experience, and as the years have passed, his business has increased until he is now numbered among the prominent manufacturers of the state.
WILLIAM J. MEIKLEHAM.
William J. Meikleham is the president of the Old Homstead Bread Company, con- ducting a wholesale business in North Denver. He was born in Cohoes, New York, November 18, 1865, a son of Robert and Janette (Maitland) Meikleham, both of whom were natives of Glasgow, Scotland. They came to America in early life, settling in the state of New York, and Mr. Meiklebam became superintendent of the Becker & Wheat ax factory. Subsequently he was office manager with that establishment and continued lis residence in New York until his life's labors were ended in death. His widow sur- vives and is now a resident of Denver, Colorado. In their family were seven children.
William J. Meikleham, the youngest of the family, pursued his education in the public schools of his native city and there began business, first entering upon an appren- ticeship at the jewelry trade after putting aside his textbooks when a youth of nineteen. He worked as an engraver for seven years and then took up the bakery business, which he thoroughly learned. He started business on his own account in Cohoes, New York, and there won a well deserved reputation by reason of the excellent quality of his bakery products. He was instructed in the work of bread baking by his mother, who displayed marked skill in that line. He was in business in Cohoes, New York, from 1888 until 1892 and brought ont the Old Homestead bread. This bread found great favor with the public, its excellent quality insuring a ready sale. A large business was built up there and in this Mr. Meikleham continued for a long time. On account of the health of a brother, he came with him to the west. He made his way to Highlands or North Denver, where he built and equipped the modern bakery of which he is still proprietor. The business was established by W. J. Meikleham and his sister. Miss Isabella Meikleham, who, like the mother, was a baker of exceptional ability and particularly skilled in bread making. After the death of the sister the business was incorporated and William J. Meikleham became president and general manager, with Miss Annie McGrath as vice president and his wife, Mrs. Meikleham, as the secretary. The company employs more than fifty-three people and has a large delivery force. The ovens of the bakery are of Mr. Meikleham's own design and invention. Even after his removal to the west he conducted the Cohoes bakery, but ultimately sold out and concentrated his efforts on the conduct of the Denver business, which as the years have passed has grown to large proportions. The registered trademark of the firm is the Old Homstead Bread in block letters, which firm trademark also appears on pies, cakes and crackers produced in their establishment. In 1891 Mr. Meikleham also embarked in mining in Cripple Creek
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and still owns a half interest in the Ida Belle on Tenderfoot hill and three-fourths interest in a group of mines known as the Maid of the Mist. In all he has one hundred acres of patented land in the Cripple Creek district. He likewise owns the valuable property that includes the bakery and the site upon which it stands and he has an attractive residence in Denver.
In 1895 Mr. Meikleham was married to Miss Mary McKay, of Detroit, Michigan. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and has attained high rank in the order, being a member of the Mystic Shrine. He has membership with the Lakewood Country Club and the Denver Athletic Club. He is independent in his political views and in religious faith is a Congregationalist. He has worked his way upward entirely unaided being a self-made man who deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. He has made the Homestead bakery one of the leading establishments of the kind in Colo- rado and his shipments are extensive and important. He has ever maintained the highest standards in the excellence of his products and in the methods of manufacture, and the neat and sanitary conditions of his plant win for him a trade that is constantly growing.
HERMAN F. THULIN, M. D.
Dr. Herman F. Thulin, who since 1903 has been a member of the medical profession of Denver, engaging now in general hospital practice with surgery as his specialty, was born in Saunders county, Nebraska, January 10, 1877. a son of Peter and Anna (Frostens) Thulin, who were natives of Sweden. They became pioneer residents of Nebraska, where the father engaged in farming and also in other lines of business. In 1905 he came to Denver, where he is now living retired. In the family were ten children.
Dr. Thulin, the fourth in order of birth. attended the public schools of Nebraska and also the Wesleyan University at Lincoln, and with broad literary learning to serve as a foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge he became a student in the Medical College at Omaha, Nebraska, in which he completed his course by graduation with the class of 1900. He then practiced in that city for a year and a half. after which he came to Denver, since which time he has been in active practice here. From the beginning he has enjoyed success and he is particularly well known because of his able hospital work, especially in surgery cases. He has specialized along that line and his knowledge and ability are pronounced. He is thoroughly familiar with anatomy and the component parts of the human body, the onslaughts made upon it by disease, and in times of emergency is cool and collected, thus being able to do the best possible work. He is staff physician of the National Sanitarium and he also has a large private practice.
Dr. Thulin was married October 24, 1912, in Denver, to Miss Alice Adams, a daughter of Francis and Marion (Crews) Adams, of a well known and prominent family of Law- rence county, Illinois. The father was a farmer there and held the office of county clerk and also served in township positions. The maternal grandfather was Judge William Crews, who for four terms served upon the county bench, for one term repre- sented his district in the state senate and also held other positions of prominence, honor and trust. Dr. and Mrs. Thulin occupy an attractive home on South Broadway which he owns. They are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is well known in fraternal circles, belonging to the Masons. the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fraternal Union. His life is actuated by high and worthy motives and purposes, and his practice, directed by a conscientious sense of obligation. has brought him to an enviable position among the able surgeons of the city.
ALFRED WALLIS PICK.
Alfred Wallis Pick, a mechanical engineer and expert draftsman of Denver, who enjoys a large practice, was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, October 2. 1878, a son of Alfred and Amelia ( Hobson) Pick, both of whom were also natives of England. They came to America in 1880, settling at Providence, Rhode Island, where they remained for twenty years. There the father was purchasing agent for a large file manufacturer until 1904. when he removed to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he resided to the time of his death, which occurred in 1910. The mother survives and is still a resident of Colorado Springs. They had a family of ten children: Mrs. O. S. Brewster, living in Oklahoma; William A., residing in Colorado Springs; Edith M. and Edgar I., who
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are also residents of Colorado Springs; Alfred W., of this review: Jennie L., of Colorado Springs; Henry H., deceased; and Philip A., Daisy S. and Elsie E., all living in the city in which the mother makes her home.
In early life Alfred W. Pick attended the public schools of Providence, Rhode Island, and afterward continued his education in the Providence Technical Institute and also under private instruction. He came to this state, however, before completing his course and prior to this he had some practical experience in business in connection with the Corliss Steam Enginecring Works, there learning drafting, and for one year he was also in the machine shops. In 1900 he arrived in Colorado Springs to undertake the building of a power plant for the Colorado Springs Electric Light & Power Company. He afterward conducted private work along the line of his profession and in 1901 he removed to Denver, where he secured a position with the Stearns-Roger Manufacturing Company in the mechanical engineering department. He remained with that corporation for ten years and resigned to accept the position of chief draftsman with the Vulcan Iron Works. There he remained for two and a half years, after which he established business on his own account in 1913. He has built all kinds of power plants and metal- lurgical and mining plants throughout the state and his patronage is now of an important character. He belongs to the American Institute of Mining Engineers, which shows his high standing in the profession. He is thoroughly familiar with every practical phase of the work, together with all of the scientific problems which confront the mechanical engineer, and his ability has brought him prominently to the front.
On the 19th of September, 1906, Mr. Pick was united in marriage to Miss Grace G. Briggs, of Indianapolis, Indiana, a daughter of William G. and Minerva (Greenleaf) Briggs, who were residents of Indianapolis. They have two children: William Stanley, who was born in Denver in 1907 and is now attending school; and Mary Virginia, born August 18, 1911.
In politics Mr. Pick maintains an independent course. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason and he belongs to the Kiwanis Club and to the Colorado Chess and Checker Club, of which he is a director. The latter connection indicates much concerning the nature of his recreation, for he greatly enjoys a game with the pawns. His career has been one of steady progress, resulting from the continued development of his powers through study and experience, and the profession and the public recognize his high standing in his chosen field.
CLINTON C. HOUSTON.
The name of Clinton C. Houston is widely known in labor circles in Colorado, for he is the editor of the Denver Labor Bulletin and a former vice president of the Colo- rado State Federation of Labor. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. December 22, 1865. and is a son of Washington Jackson and Emma (Craig) Houston, both of whom were natives of Virginia. They were married in the Old Dominion and afterward removed to Atlanta, Georgia, where the father had charge of the Christian church. He remained a resident of that city throughout the rest of his days, passing away there in 1874, while his wife died in Atlanta in 1906, having survived him for almost a third of a century. In their family were two children. of whom Clinton C. is the elder. the daughter being Mrs. Nettie Johnson, a resident of Illinois.
In early life Clinton C. Houston attended the public schools of Atlanta and subse- quently went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he resided with an uncle, and while there he became a high school pupil. Following his graduation he entered the newspaper field as a reporter on the Terre Haute Daily News, with which he also learned the printer's trade. After several years with the News he resigned and went to Chicago, where he continued to act as reporter and printer for several of the Chicago dailies for a number of years. He then returned to Atlanta and continued his newspaper work on the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, first as printer and later in an editorial capacity. He con- tinued to act as editor until 1906 and exerted much influence over public thought and action through the columns of the paper and also in connection with public interests. During the latter period of his residence in Georgia he was elected to the state legisla- ture, being the first candidate ever elected on the labor ticket in the entire south. While serving his state in that capacity he framed the child labor bill. which passed both houses and became a law and is now in force. Mr. Houston also founded the Atlanta Journal of Labor, which is still the recognized labor paper of the south.
In 1907 Mr. Houston removed to Colorado and was employed on various papers in Pueblo and Denver. In 1913, by reason of his thorough knowledge of labor matters
CLINTON C. HOUSTON
Vol. III-21
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and conditions, he was chosen to become editor of the Denver Labor Bulletin, which is the recognized leader of the labor interests in this state, and he has since developed the paper to its present extensive proportions, making it a valuable organ of the labor interests of Colorado. He served a term as president of the Denver Trades and Labor Assembly, and has discharged many important commissions iu connection with the set- tlement of labor disputes, being appointed to investigate such, and to pass judgment upon conditions, both by the mayor of Denver and the governor of the state. In August, 1917. Mr. Houston went to Washington as a member of a commission appointed by Gov- ernor Gunter, which secured the location in Denver of the great army recuperation camp. He was among the first men of prominence in organized labor to advocate state and nation-wide prohibition, on the ground that the saloon is a curse to the working man and has campaigned the states of New York and Ohio for elimination of the liquor traffic.
In 1887 Mr. Houston was married to Miss Mina Stewart, of Atlanta, who died in 1903 and was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Stewart. There were two children of that marriage. Everett C., who was born in Atlanta in 1891, is married and resides in his native city. He is a graduate of the electrical engineering department of the Georgia School of Technology. Gladys Houston was born in Atlanta in 1894 and attended high school there.
Fraternally Mr. Houston is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He concentrates practically his entire time and attention upon his editorial duties and has earnestly studied every phase of the questions affecting labor and capital, and his work has been of great benefit to the laboring classes. He is free from marked prejudice or bias but seeks justice and fairness in all things. He has done much to line up the forces of labor in support of the administration at this hour of national crisis and has made his paper an influencing factor in the purchase of Liberty bonds and in the support of war work along many other lines.
JESSE BLAIR GORDON.
Jesse Blair Gordon is proprietor of the West-Court Hotel, one of the best equipped and most popular hotels of Denver. To his native courtesy and geniality has been added marked business and executive ability that have well qualified him for the conduct of the West-Court, which has constantly grown in favor and popularity and has been accorded a very liberal patronage.
Mr. Gordon is a native of Greene county, Pennsylvania. He was born on the 3d of May, 1865, a son of Zadock and Mary (Call) Gordon, hoth of whom were natives of the Keystone state, where they spent their entire lives, the father there engaging for many years in the live stock business. Both he and his wife, however, have passed away. Their family numbered six children, one of whom is deceased. Those living are John W., Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan, Mrs. Frank Moore, Mrs. B. F. Patton and Jesse Blair.
In his early youth the last named attended school at Spencer, West Virginia, and after putting aside his textbooks he secured work as a farm hand at a small wage. He continued active in agricultural lines in the east until he came to Colorado in 1887. He took up a preemption claim in Phillips county and his sister, who is now Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan, also took up a claim where the town of Holyoke, Colorado, now stands. The place on which Mr. Gordon settled was a mile west of his sister's claim, but the land was too poor for extensive agricultural development and therefore after several unsuc. cessful years of hard work he sold out and in 1891 came to Denver, where he engaged in the real estate business. Just about the time that he was getting a good start in that field the widespread financial panic engulfed the country and he was compelled to seek other means of a livelihood. He entered the secret service connected with the Denver police department and was on the detective force for the next five years. So efficient was his work in that connection that he became a terror to evildoers, for he was most successful in ferreting out crime, but desiring other occupation, he at length resigned his position and purchased the Brown Arms Hotel, which he conducted for about five years. Subsequently he bought the Hotel Roslyn, which he conducted on a partnership arrangement with the owner of the property, successfully conducting the latter for four years. He was afterward connected with Gordon & Sager in the purchase of the West-Court Hotel, one of the finest hostelries of Denver, located in the central business section of the city, on Glenarm place between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, and convenient to all sections of Denver. It contains one hundred and thirty-five rooms
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elegantly furnished and has a large, commodious lobby. There is a private telephone exchange to all rooms and fifty rooms are equipped with private bath.
On the 16th of May, 1903, Mr. Gordon was married to Miss Alice M. Jones, of Denver, who passed away in 1906. On the 22d of September, 1915, he married Miss Hannah May Steelman, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Steelman, well known people of Bridgeton, New Jersey. Mr. Gordon is what is known in popular parlance as a good mixer. Social and genial, he is well qualified for the duties of host and he has, too, that business ability and keen discernment which are so essential in the successful conduct of a hotel. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, as he started out in the business world empty-handed and at times has seen the storm clouds of defeat gathering. Perse- vering, however, in the face of difficulties and obstacles, he has gradually advanced and is today occupying an enviable place in the business circles of his adopted city.
THOMAS O. ROBERTS.
Thomas O. Roberts, a highly respected citizen and successful merchant of Goldfield, was born in South Wales in 1885. His father, Thomas Roberts, Sr., also a native of South Wales, was born in 1860 and married Adeline Williams. He passed away in his native country in 1910 and his widow died in Wales in the year 1904. Two brothers of Thomas O. Roberts have served with the English army in France. One, Stanley, has been with the colors since 1914. The other brother, Herbert, served for one and a half years and was then discharged for physical disability caused by an accident in camp.
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