USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 5
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The Mitchell family is well known in Denver, where the family home has been maintained for many years. Mr. Mitchell is prominent in club circles of the city and is a past president of the Denver Club, while with the Denver Country Club he also holds membership. He and his wife occupy an enviable social position and their sterling worth has gained for them the goodwill and warm friendship of those with whom they have come in contact. There have been no spectacular phases in the business career of Mr. Mitchell, but by steady progress he has worked his way upward since making his initial step in banking circles in Freeport when a youth of eighteen years. From each experience he has learned the lessons therein contained and has put these lessons to practical account in the conduct of the interests entrusted to his care. More and more largely his responsibilities have increased and today he is at the head of one of the strongest financial concerns of the west, a position to which he has justly attained by reason of his unqualified trustworthiness, his business integrity and his unabating energy.
ELROY NEWTON CLARK.
Elroy Newton Clark, whose high professional standing is indicated in the fact that he is now and for many years has been general attorney for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad system, has for twenty years been a resident of Denver and brought to the starting point of his professional career in this city valuable experience gained from active practice in Chicago. He was born at North Hero, Vermont, July 22, 1860. His father, Ransom L. Clark, was a native of the Green Mountain state and a representative of an old New England family of English descent, the ancestry being traced back to the early settlement of Connecticut. Ransom L. Clark was a successful farmer of Vermont and was active in the public life of his community, serving as sheriff of Grand Isle county. He died in 1890 at the age of seventy years and was long survived by his wife, who passed away in 1912 at the age of ninety. She, too, was born in Vermont and belonged to an old New England family of English lineage. She continued her residence at the old home in the Green Mountain state to the time of her demise and there she reared her family of eight children, five sons and three daughters.
Elroy N. Clark was the seventh in order of birth in that family. His early life was spent upon the home farm to the age of fourteen years, at which time he started out to provide for his own livelihood. He had begun his education in the district schools of his native county, after which he attended a preparatory academy during the winter months, spending four winter seasons at the Barre Academy at Barre, Vermont. He next entered the State University of Vermont in 1880 and was there graduated in 1885 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He pursued his law course in the University of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and won his LL. B. degree upon graduation with the class of 1892. Following his graduation from the Barre Academy he taught school for a time. After his graduation from the University of Vermont he became principal of the public schools at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and while pursuing his law course in Georgetown he was employed in the department of the interior at Washington, D. C. Through his teaching and government service he thus earned the money with which to meet his college and university courses. After qualifying for the bar he opened a law office in Chicago. Illinois, in 1892 and there remained in active practice for six years. He was admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia in the former year and he concentrated his efforts and attention upon general law practice in Chicago until March, 1898, when he came to
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Denver and entered the office of the Hon. E. O. Wolcott, assisting in the work of general conveyancing and also in general law practice. After eighteen months he was assigned to railroad work, at which time he looked after the litigation of the Burlington and of the Denver & Rio Grande systems. In 1906 he became general attorney of the latter and has since remained in that position. There are few men in the west who are his peers in connection with railway law, for his knowledge is most comprehensive and exact and his ability has given him a place of leadership in this field. His high professional stand- ing is attested by all who know him and he is a valued member of the Denver Bar Asso- ciation. the Colorado Bar Association and the American Bar Association. In addition to his professional activity he has other business connections, being a director of the Rio Grande Junction Railway Company, also of the Western Realty Company and of the Provident Loan Society. He is likewise chairman of the board of directors of the West Side State Bank. He counts the many friends he has made in his professional career as one of his most valuable assets.
When, on January first, 1918, the United States Government took over the control and operation of the railroads. Mr. Clark was retained as the chief of the legal department of the railroad system which he had so long represented and has been called upon by the Federal Railroad Administration to perform important service beyond the scope of his immediate interests and in connection with matters of vital interest to the state.
At Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on the 1st of July, 1901, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Alice Babcock Calkins, a native of New York city and a daughter of Frank Calkins. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have one daughter, Ruth Moulton, who was born in Denver, November 14, 1906.
Mr. Clark gives his political support to the republican party, of which he has always been a stanch advocate. He belongs to the University Club of Denver and he is often found in those gatherings where leading men are met in the discussion of vital problems. From the age of fourteen years dependent upon his own exertions, he has worked his way steadily upward through his persistent efforts, utilizing each opportunity that has come to hand and from the first recognizing the fact that industry is just as essential in a professional career as it is in trade circles. He has been a close and discriminating student of law and especially of railroad law and has most carefully safeguarded the legal interests of the corporations which he represents.
EDWARD W. WELLS.
Edward W. Wells is superintendent of the Colorado Free Employment Agency at Pueblo, in which connection he is doing an important work in bringing together those who need assistants and those who need positions in the business world. Cities are fast coming to realize the importance of such work as a preventive of vagrancy and a factor in the promotion of that industry which makes for substantial and honorable citizenship and manhood.
Mr. Wells is a native of Pomeroy, Kansas. He was born April 5, 1873, a son of William and Alice (Cullison) Wells, and the family removed to Pueblo on the 22d of September, 1875. The father was employed as a sawyer in a sawmill here from that date until 1881. He continued to make his home in Pueblo until his death, which occurred in October. 1884, and his wife has also passed away.
Edward W. Wells pursued his education in the public schools and the Central high school of Pueblo and afterward took up the study of stenography, being employed in that way for a short time. He then turned to mechanical pursuits, becoming a machinist, after which he engaged in railroad work and later as fireman and engineer on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad for eight years. He afterward resumed work at the machinist's trade, then became a clerk in Fred Mullett's cigar store, and subsequently was called to public office, being made deputy county clerk, a position which he filled for five aud a half years. He afterward spent two years in the city engineer's depart- ment. On the 20th of January, 1917, he was appointed to the position of superintendent of the Colorado Free Employment Agency for a two years' term and is making an excellent record in this position. He has closely studied conditions and his work is proving highly satisfactory. This is a state position, his appointment coming from Denver. On May 1. 1918, he was also made an examiner of the United States Free Employment service, which is run on a cooperative plan. The office is a tangible evi- dence of the fact that the state is closely studying sociological and economic conditions and putting forth every effort for individual and public benefit.
On the 10th of June, 1893, Mr. Wells was united in marriage to Miss May O. George, Vol. 111-3
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of Pueblo, and they have a son, Frederic C. The parents are members of the Congrega- tional church and Mr. Wells is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Junior Order of United American Workmen, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire- men & Enginemen and the Order of Railway Engineers, and is a member of the Southern Colorado Pioneers Association. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party, which finds in him a stanch advocate. He stands for all the progressive forces of the community and is interested in everything that is a matter of civic virtue and civic pride.
LUCIUS MONTROSE CUTHBERT.
The legal profession of the state of Colorado, noted for its high ethical standards and uniform excellence of membership, is proud of the record made by Lucius M. Cuthbert, whose affiliation with the members of the profession and accomplishments in business and legal circles comprises a record of dignity, honor and energetic performance of duty. For the period of a quarter century Mr. Cuthbert was prominently identified with the development of his chosen state and city, holding a position of great esteem in legal spheres and as executive head of some of the largest corporations in the Rocky Mountain region. He was also active in all movements of a scientific and a philosophical nature, being connected with the American Archaeological Society in research work.
Lucius M. Cuthbert was born August 17, 1856, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Rev. James and Julia Elizabeth (Turpin) Cuthbert. He was descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors, the first of whom there is definite record being George Cuthbert of Castlehill, Inverness, Scotland. The family name was originally George, which, with the patronymic, became MacGeorge. Cuthbert (635-687), Bishop of Hexham, and later Bishop of Lindisfarne, and afterwards honored as Saint, was of this family. On account of his personal merit and excellence he acquired the name of Cuthbert; Cuth, in the Albanick or Erse language, signifying "skill" and Bert, meaning "illustrious." The family thus acquired the name of Cuthbert from the surname of the bishop. The family went to Inverness from the kingdom of Northumbria, in the north of England, about the year 700 A. D. On account of the services they rendered in the consolidation of the Albanicks and Picts into the Scottish nation, the lands of Drakies, Muckovy and Castle Hill, Inverness, were granted them for military service in vassalage or fee, as a royal holding from the king, with a fortified castle.
George Cuthbert, the paternal ancestor mentioned above, commanded the royal forces of the Town of Inverness at the Battle of Harlow. A. D. 1411, against the rebellious Donald, Lord of the Isles. As a recognition of this meritorious service King James II of Scotland granted to him "a fess gules in a field d'or" as an addition to the former armorial hearing of the family and for a crest a hand in a gauntlet and for a motto, "Nec minus fortiter," with two wild horses for supporters. The second in the ancestral line was John Cuthbert of Castlehill, 1458, and following him came William Cuthbert, also of Castlehill, 1478, to whom a charter was granted by King James III, July 23, 1478, of all the lands of Auld Castle Hill. The next in the line is George Cuthbert, 1548, the great-grandson of William. The fifth is John Cuthbert, Baron of Castlehill, 1592; a charter uniting all the lands of the family of Castlehill into a free Barony in favor of John Cuthbert was granted August 19, 1592, by James VI of Scotland. including the right of sitting in the Assembly of the States of the Kingdom. Next came William Cuthbert. Baron of Castlehill, 1624. who married Janet Mackenzie, and following him John Cuthbert, Baron of Castlehill, 1625, who married Mary, daughter of George Cuth- bert of Drakies, and who received a charter from King Charles I of England dated August 1, 1625. In the order of descent the next was George Cuthbert, also Baron of Castlehill, who married Magdalen Fraser, daughter of Sir James Fraser of Brae. After him came John Cuthbert, who married Jean Hay, only child of Right Reverend H. Hay, last Episcopal bishop of Moray, Scotland. There were four children born to this union- George, Lachian, Alexander and James, the latter being the paternal ancestor.
James Cuthbert was born in 1716 and died in 1794. He came from Scotland to the American colonies in 1737, landing at Charleston, South Carolina, on October 20th. He resided at Edisto island, then at Beaufort, South Carolina. His first marriage was with Mrs. Patience Hamilton of Edisto, of which there was no issue, and his second union was with Mary Hazzard (1718-1794), daughter of Col. William Hazzard and widow of Edward Wigg of Beaufort. Of the three children born to the latter wife-John Alexander, Jean Hay and James Hazzard Cuthbert-the last-named was the great-grandfather of Lucius M. Cuthbert.
1541065
LUCIUS M. CUTHBERT
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James Hazzard Cuthbert was first married to Sarah Barnwell and secondly to Fanny Furze. His children were: Edward, George and Lucius Cuthbert. The last was married twice; first to Anne Barnwell and secondly to Charlotte Fuller, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Middleton) Fuller, the mother being descended from the noted Middleton family of South Carolina. The children born to the second marriage were: Fanny. Elizabeth, Lucius, Thomas, Charlotte, Rosa and James Hazzard Cuthbert, the last-named being the father of Lucius M.
James Hazzard Cuthbert was an eminent divine and was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1830 and died in 1894. He married Julia Elizabeth Turpin, daughter of William Henry and Marle Antoinette (d'Antignac) Turpin, the latter a daughter of Chevalier Jean Louis Baptiste Chamberon d'Antignac, a cadet of a noble French family whose seat was in the neighborhood of Auvergne, France. The children born to this union were: James Hazzard, Mary d'Antignac, Middleton Fuller, Sophy d'Antignac, Jessie Lachian and Lucius Montrose Cuthbert.
Also, on the paternal side, Mr. Cuthbert was descended from Edward Middleton, member of the grand council of the province of South Carolina in 1678, and assistant judge of the province in 1682; Arthur Middleton, grandson of the latter, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and Col. Thomas Fuller, member of the pro- vincial congress from South Carolina in 1775. In the maternal line, Mr. Cuthbert's great- grandfather was Baron Jean Louis B. C. d'Antiguac, an officer of the First Musqueteers of the King of France, who came to America in 1776 to assist the American forces in the Revolutionary war. He raised a regiment of light horse for the continental service, under special permission of the Continental congress and served throughout the war, at his own expense, with great distinction.
Lucius M. Cuthbert, after receiving his primary education in the usual fashion, entered the preparatory school of the Columbian University (now George Washington University), at Washington, D. C., and was graduated from the academic department in 1876 with the degrees of A. B. and A. M .; and from the law school of the same univer- sity in 1878 with the degree of LL. B. Having quickly acquired excellence in the knowledge of law and recognized as singularly talented in the profession, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the District of Columbia in the same year of 1878. His first active legal work was done in Washington and there in the capital city he spent three years, becoming accustomed to his adopted vocation and perhaps unlearning many of the academical theories in favor of practicality.
Early in the year 1881 Mr. Cuthbert resolved to cast his lot among the hardy and democratic people of Colorado. His decision to make his home in the great west, on the edge of the Rockies, was actuated by many factors, not the least of which was the opportunity awaiting the trained mind and skilled hand in the new country.
In June, 1881, he arrived in Denver and until the autumn of the year practiced with Luther S. Dixon, of the firm of Dixon & Reed. Then he became an assistant in the office of the late Sen. Edward O. Wolcott, under whose able tutelage he remained for two years. At this juncture, 1883, he formed a partnership with Henry T. Rogers, which partnership continued until July 1, 1908, when Mr. Cuthbert retired from the practice of his profession to assume other tasks. At the time of dissolution the firm was the oldest in the city of Denver.
Mr. Cuthbert was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Colorado in 1881 and to the bar of the supreme court of the United States in 1898. He was a member of the American Bar Association and was a delegate to the universal congress of lawyers and jurists held in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. He was also a lecturer on Roman law in the legal department of the University of Colorado. Not only did he become a man of high reputation in his major profession, but, as mentioned before, in scientific and archaeological work he became widely known. In 1876 he was a member of the United States Geological Survey under Dr. Elliott Coues and in these interests he came to Colorado for the summer and autumn of that year. He was also vice president of the Colorado branch of the Archaeological Institute of America.
After his retirement from the practice of law, Mr. Cuthbert became interested in oil properties, which were at that time in the first stages of development in Colorado. In 1908 he was elected president of the United Oil Company and in 1909 was also elected the executive head of The Inland Oil & Refining Company, positions which he held until the time of his death. These two companies, with oil fields and refineries at Florence, in Fremont and Boulder counties, were among the largest incorporated in the Rocky Mountain region.
During his life Mr. Cuthbert's business success was closely paralleled by his happi- ness in family life. He was married October 24, 1900, to Gertrude Hill Berger, second
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daughter of the late Senator Nathaniel P. Hill, one of Colorado's foremost statesmen and citizens. Three children were born to this union, namely: Gertrude, born in Denver, July 25, 1901; Alice Middleton, born in Denver, August 25, 1902; and Lucius M., Jr., born April 6, 1904, who died August 16, 1906. In the maintenance of the home and in business as well Mrs. Cuthbert hore her part with characteristic dignity and sagacity and after the passing of Mr. Cuthbert has succeeded in carrying forward his wishes and ideals as expressed in his life.
In fraternal matters Mr. Cuthbert took a great interest. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and one of the organizers of the Pan-Hellenic Club. He was at one time president of the Denver Club and a member at the time of his death. He also held membership in the Denver Athletic Club, University Club and Country Club; the Chey- enne Mountain Country Club, Colorado Springs; the Union and University Clubs. New York city; and the Metropolitan Club, of Washington, D. C. In politics Mr. Cuthbert was accustomed to follow the republican party.
The death of Lucius M. Cuthbert occurred suddenly, on December 11, 1915, and in the passing of this man of sterling character, great accomplishments and distinguished pedigree the city and state suffered a distinct and irreparable loss-a loss, however, which to a certain extent was alleviated by the general and grateful acknowledgment of the valuable work he had performed and the beneficial influences of his life's activities upon community and commonwealth as well as his personal influence for good upon the individual.
DWIGHT H. ELDER.
Dwight H. Elder, one of the best known representatives of the lumber trade in Denver, is representing the Douglas Fir Lumber Company as manufacturers agent and is also distributor for the Troy Trailer Sales Company. Forceful and resourceful, he never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose if it can be accom- plished by honorable methods. In his entire career there is no esoteric phase and nothing that seeks concealment or disguise. On the contrary, his interests measure up to high commercial standards and his life is illustrative of what may be accomplished through indefatigable energy intelligently directed. Mr. Elder is a native of Huron county, Ohio, born April 25, 1881. His father, Edwin T. Elder, was a cheese manufacturer until 1884 and conducted a chain of factories devoted to that purpose. He married Ella H. Hackett, a native of Indiana, and both are still living. They became the parents of four children: Blanche, who is a resident of Burlingame, Kansas; Mabel, a registered pharmacist in the Methodist Hospital at Des Moines, Iowa; Laura, who is a graduate of St Luke's Hospital of Denver, where she is now night superintendent; and Dwight H.
The last named was a young lad of but seven years when his parents removed with the family to Burlingame, Kansas, where he pursued his early education in the public schools. He afterward continued his studies in Washburn College of Topeka, Kansas, and was there graduated in 1900. He started upon his business career as a shipping clerk in the J. Thomas planing mill, of Topeka, in 1901 and remained for a year in that position. In 1902 he was made manager of a retail lumberyard at Belvue, Kansas, and thus acquainted himself with another phase of the lumber trade. In 1903 he became identified with the Central Sash & Door Company, which bought out J. Thomas, and in this connection he gained still broader knowledge of the business, spending two years in that position. He next became a traveling salesman and later he spent a year in Oklahoma, being connected with the United Sash & Door Company in 1905. In 1906 he again entered into connection with the Central Sash & Door Com- pany and in 1907 he came to Denver, where he opened the western office of the Ameri- can Sash & Door Company of Kansas City. He continued with that corporation for eight years, but ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he severed his relation in 1915 and started out in his present line as lumber manufacturers agent, representing the Douglas Fir Lumber Company and acting as distributor for the Troy Trailer Sales Company. He conducts business under his own name and has already built up a trade of large and gratifying proportions. He handles various kinds of lumber and he has also secured a liberal patronage as agent for the Troy Trailer Com- pany, manufacturers of auto trailers at Troy, Ohio.
On the 1st of February, 1907, Mr. Elder was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Badsky, of Kansas. He is well known in Masonic circles, holding membership in Park Hill Lodge, No. 148, A. F. & A. M., while in Guthrie, Oklahoma, he took the degrees of the Scottish Rite, attaining the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of El Jebel
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Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Denver. He turns to tennis and football for recreation and he has membership in the Denver Knot Hole Club. which he organized as a local club for the entertainment of visiting lumbermen. He belongs also to the Civic and Commercial Association and is actuated by a public spirited devotion to the general good that prompts his active aid and cooperation in all well defined plans and measures that have to do with the upbuilding of the city, the extension of its trade relations, its improvement and the advancement of its civic standards. Moreover, at the same time he has made for himself a creditable place in business circles and is a typical representative of the progressive spirit of the west.
SAMUEL D. NICHOLSON.
Samuel D. Nicholson, president and general manager of the Western Mining Company, with offices in the First National Bank building of Denver, was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, February 22, 1859, a son of the late Donald M. Nicholson, who was a native of Scotland and in early manhood emigrated to Canada, where he arrived during the '40s. There he continued his residence throughout his remaining days and success- fully followed agricultural pursuits. He was one of the pioneer residents of the section in which he settled and contributed much to its substantial development. A devout Christian, he held membership in the Presbyterian church and passed away in that faith in 1904, at the age of seventy-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Mckenzie, was born on Prince Edward Island and was of Scotch lineage. She died at Bedford, Massachusetts, in September, 1917, at the age of eighty-four years. Their family numbered thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, of whom nine are living.
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