USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume III > Part 78
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Dr. Davis, who was the eldest of the family, pursued his education in Martins- ville, in Franklin and in Indianapolis, Indiana, after which he attended the North- western Christian University, now Butler College, at Indianapolis. He next took up the study of medicine under the late R. T. Brown, professor of science in the university. and under Dr. R. N. Todd and Dr. James Bigelow. During his student days he acted as storekeeper at the insane asylum in Indianapolis, Indiana, and following his gradua- tion on the completion of his medical course in March, 1871, he entered the drug business and was thus engaged until 1875. He then became a student in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York and was there graduated in March, 1876. He afterward returned to Indianapolis and became a city physician at the Indianapolis Dispensary, while from 1877 until 1879 he was superintendent of the Indianapolis City Hospital. On leaving that position he came to Colorado largely for the benefit of his health, arriving in this state on the 14th of January, 1880. In the beneficial climate here he was soon restored, and finding Denver much to his liking, he concluded to
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make it his future home. He at once entered upon the active practice of his profession, in which he has since continued, and soon won a prominent position among the leading physicians and surgeons of the city, a position which he has retained to the present time. He has at different intervals gone east for further professional training. In 1877 he took a course in the New York Post Graduate Medical School and in 1887 in the New York Polyclinic. In 1887 he became professor of dermatology and genito- urinary diseases in Gross Medical College, continuing as such after the merger of this institution with the Denver University, becoming the Denver and Gross College of Medicine. When this college became a part of the State University Dr. Davis continued in that chair. About 1916 he was made an emeritus professor. However, he still con- tinues his lectures at that institution. He is dermatologist to St. Anthony's, Mercy and the Children's Hospitals and also to the City & County Hospital of Denver. At one time he was president of the Colorado state board of health and has also been honored with the presidency of the Medical Society of the City and County of Denver. He belongs to the American Medical Association, the American Urological Association, the Colorado State Medical Society, the City and County Medical Society of Denver and was surgeon general of the Common Brotherhood, was assistant surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad from 1881 until 1885, was vice dean and treasurer of Gross Medical College from 1887 until 1902 and is a member of the Alumni Association of the Indiana Medical College, also of New York University, and was for years a mem- ber of the Marion County (Indiana) Medical Society.
Dr. Davis has been married twice. In Indianapolis, in 1872, he wedded Miss Laura B. Bramwell, a native of Indiana and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Bramwell, who have passed away. Dr. and Mrs. Davis became parents of two sons, one of whom has departed this life. The living son, Dr. John Bramwell Davis, is associated with his father in the practice of medicine, with offices in the Metropolitan building in Denver. He is a graduate of the University of Denver, in which he completed a classical course in 1892, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree, and is a graduate of the Gross Medical College of the class of 1899. He married Jean La Due and they have a daughter, June, whose birth occurred in Denver in June, 1906. Dr. William H. Davis was again mar- ried in Denver, February 14, 1894, his second union being with Mrs. Alice Shoemaker, a native of Jamaica, who was reared, however, in Canada.
Dr. Davis was made a Mason in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1873 and became identi- fied with the Knights of Pythias in Indianapolis in 1871. His religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the Ascension Episcopal church. The career of Dr. Davis is one well worthy of thoughtful consideration and of emulation. He worked his way through school and college and whatever he has achieved or enjoyed has come to him as the result of his perseverance and well directed energy. He is numbered among the five oldest physicians in Denver in years of continuous connection with the pro- fession in this city, and enjoys a large private practice in his specialty. He is known as a whole-souled, generous-hearted man, ever ready to extend a helping hand to the young physician, while his work with the student body is of a most valuable and beneficial character. He has ever held to the highest professional standards, has kept in touch with the trend of modern professional thoughit and progress, and at all times his work has been of great worth to his fellowmen.
THOMAS BARNES BURBRIDGE.
Thomas Barnes Burbridge, of Denver, a leading representative of the mining industry in Colorado, was born in Logan county, Kentucky. December 12, 1861, a son of the late Thomas B. Burbridge, who was likewise born in Kentucky and belonged to one of the old families of that state of Scotch descent, although the progenitor of the family in the new world came to America in early colonial days. Some of the family participated in the Revolutionary war and in the War of 1812, while his uncle, General Stephen G. Bur- bridge, was a Civil war veteran and an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln and U. S. Grant. Thomas B. Burbridge, Sr., was a banker. farmer and horse breeder who won substantial success in business and became a very successful citizen. He died in the year 1867 at the age of fifty-two years. His wife bore the maiden name of Susan Henry and was a native of Christian county, Kentucky. She, too, belonged to one of the old families of that state, but her ancestors came from France. Mrs. Burbridge passed away in 1914 at the age of eighty years, her death occurring in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
Thomas B. Burbridge was the fourth in order of birth in a family of six children, five sons and a daughter. He was educated in the public and high schools and in the
THOMAS B. BURBRIDGE
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Kentucky Military Academy at Hopkinsville, from which he was graduated with the class of 1881. In 1894 he became interested in the Orpha Belle mine on Bull Hill at Cripple Creek. He patented the property and developed it into a large producing mine, which he sold in 1897. During that period he resided at Cripple Creek, and since 1910 he has been a resident of Denver. He is now a director in the Cresson Consolidated Mining & Milling Company, one of the largest producers in the Cripple Creek district. He is also sole owner of the Sunshine, Mattie Williams, Coriolanus and Last Chance mines of the Cripple Creek district. and is operating the American Sisters mine at Lawson, Clear Creek county, Colorado. The latter is a silver mine, while the others are gold producers. He is a director of the American Bank & Trust Company of Denver. His business interests are thus extensive and important and he has won a place among the important representatives of mining and financial interests in this state.
Mr. Burbridge has been twice married. In September, 1882, he wedded Mrs. Leonora White Armstrong, a daughter of Leonard and Martha White, of Norfolk, Virginia. Both have now passed away. Mrs. Burbridge was a widow who had two daughters whom Mr. Burbridge adopted. These are: Norma, now the wife of Benjamin F. Hill, a resident of Cripple Creek, and Pattie, who is the widow of J. E. Dwelle, also residing at Cripple Creek. For his second wife Mr. Burbridge chose Mrs. Anna (Kaub) Sigel, a daughter of Frank Kaub, who was a pioneer of this city and resided at the northeast corner of Seventeenth and Champa streets, where the Railroad Exchange building now stands, in the very heart of the business district of the city.
Politically Mr. Burbridge is a republican and fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Denver Lodge, No. 5, A. F. & A. M. He has also taken the degrees of Denver Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M .; Colorado Commandery, No. I, K. T., and Rocky Mountain Consistory. No. 2, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is likewise a member of Denver Council, No. 1, R. & S. M., and is a life member of El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His membership relations extend to the Denver Club and the Denver Country Club and to the Cripple Creek Club. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church. For recreation he turns to outdoor sports, greatly enjoying hunting. golf. fishing and motoring. He resides at the Brown Palace Hotel. He holds membership with the Denver Motor Club and also with the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, the latter connection indicating his deep interest in the welfare and progress of the city. He is likewise a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. His career is one characterized by notable success, resulting from the wise utilization of his time and talents. He has made most judicious investments in mining properties, closely studying every phase that has to do with the business and its development, and he has come to readily recognize the value of mining properties. His purchases therefore have been wisely directed, and he has come into possession of some of the most valuable mines of the Cripple Creek and other districts.
CHRISTIAN BERGSTROM.
For fifty-two years Christian Bergstrom has worked at the forge. That which is essentially different in his career from that of many fellow workmen is that through- out the entire period he has remained a student of those things which have to do with development and improvement along the line of iron working. As he has studied he has progressed and today he is reaping the reward of his labors, yet Mr. Bergstrom early realized that the attainment of wealth is not an end for which men may nobly strive. As he expressed it: "Money is nothing and only seems desirable while we are gaining our experiences, but it cannot buy any of the things that go to make life worth living." Mr. Bergstrom's library, however, indicates that he has acquired many of those things which go to make life worth living. He has enriched his mind not only with a knowledge of that which bears upon his chosen life work but also through the acquirement of broad general information. In a business way he is listed as the president manager of the Bergstrom-Brewster Company, engaged in automobile manufacturing and repairing.
He was born September 20, 1852, a son of John and Georgiana (Danielson) Berg- strom, both of whom were natives of Norway, whence they came to America in early life, settling in Wisconsin in 1852. The father became a well known blacksmith and iron founder and for many years engaged in business at Neenah, Wisconsin, where the son learned the trade. The father afterward removed to Oregon and later went to California in the early '70s. There he successfully conducted business for many years
CHRISTIAN BERGSTROM After Fifty Years at the Forge
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and in the later years of his life he resided in Wisconsin, returning to that state to spend his declining days. He passed away at Neenah, where his wife also dled, just prior to the outbreak of the Civil war. In their family were six children, one of whom died in infancy. The other five are all yet living and each one has passed the age of sixty years. These are: Diedrick, who is president of the Bergstrom Paper Manufac- turing Company of Neenah, Wisconsin, where he has become a wealthy and influen- tial citizen; George, who is president of the Bergstrom Stove Company of Neenah and has served as mayor of that city for several terms; Charles, who is president of the Bergstrom Motor Company of Neenah; and Mrs. Marie E. Beckwith, now a widow, living in Tacoma, Washington. The four brothers have all become heads of important business enterprises.
Christian Bergstrom of this review was the third in order of birth in the family and continued in school until his thirteenth year bnt uever went beyond the grades. It has ever been a life regret with him that he did not have an opportunity to pursue a college course, for while he is now well educated and well versed upon many subjects, he has gained his knowledge by night study and by broad reading of the best literature. He never missed an opportunity to purchase good hooks and make himself thoroughly familiar with their contents. His opinions have come to be accepted as authority upon many questions and he has been called upon to address large audiences. He was chosen one of fonr speakers to canvass his district in California prior to the nomina- tion and election of President Mckinley. His studionsness has remained a habit of his lifetime and thoronghness has characterized everything that he has done.
At the age of fourteen years he began learning the trade of a blacksmith, machin- ist and iron worker under the direction of his father, with whom he continned to work until his twenty-second year, when he removed to San Jose, California, whither hls father followed him a few years later. There Christian Bergstrom resumed work along blacksmithing and iron molding lines and remained in the business there for fifteen years. He next went to Visalia, California, where he continued for an equal period, and for two years he was instructor in mechanics at the Preston School of Industry at Ione, California. In 1906 he arrived in Denver, where he entered the employ of the Denver Omnibus & Cah Company for blacksmithing work, continuing in that connection for two and a half years. Then, with the total sum of ninety-six dollars as his capital, he embarked in business on his own account, opening a small shop, which later developed into the Bergstrom & Sons Motor Company. This was organized in 1916. The business has since grown and prospered and in June, 1918, the extent of the trade demanded a reorganization of the business and increased facili- ties. The Bergstrom-Brewster Company was then organized and they engage in the manufacture of automobile bodies and anto wheels and do commercial work on autos. They also have a general repair shop and employ a large force of men. Mr. Bergstrom is the president of the company, with C. C. Bergstrom as vice president, and R. L. Brewster as secretary and treasurer. The Rocky Mountain News of May 21, 1916, writing of Mr. Bergstrom, said: "Mr. Bergstrom devoted his spare hours to reading mechanical literature and to a study of all the problems connected with the line of work in which his forefathers had engaged and which he planned to follow. The student- worker purchased the periodicals he read and mastered and one by one added them to his library shelves. He studied out for himself the mechanical principles which later he was to apply to his labors in the field of invention and the mechanical sciences necessary to a full understanding of his work. Many of the Bergstrom inven- tions brought him fame and money. Meantime, he continued work at his forge. His only letup at hard physical labor was the two years he served as a professor of mechanics in the Preston Industrial School of California. There is a change in the kind of work Mr. Bergstrom turns out today from that he was first taught to do when he entered his father's shop in Neenah. He no longer shapes iron shoes for horses, but welds together different parts for repairing and constructing automobiles. The forge which he now uses, like all of the other costly implements in the well equipped factory conducted by Bergstrom & Son, is run by electricity. An electric blower capa- hle of raising the furnace temperature to four thousand degrees, furnishing a heat suf- ficient to melt wrought iron, has taken the place of the old-fashioned hand bellows with which Mr. Bergstrom learned his trade. Mr. Bergstrom is the inventor of an automo- blle spoke tenoner which is used by automobile factories in a number of eastern cities. He also has a patent pending for a shock absorbing and load weighing automobile spring."
In May, 1879, Mr. Bergstrom was married to Miss Ella A. Williams, of San Jose, California, who there passed away on the 19th of November, 1894. She was a daughter of J. M. and Harriet (Noble) Williams. They had five children, three of whom are yet
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living. C. E. Bergstrom was born in San Jose, California. Cuthbert C. Bergstrom, who is now vice president of the company, was educated in Denver. He married Miss Mabel Thode and they have one child, Beverly Grace. Ellian A. Bergstrom, born in San Jose, married Miss Mabel De Ford, of Denver, by whom he has one child, Lois Yvonne. Those deceased are Edna N. and Alice. For his second wife Mr. Bergstrom chose Miss Louisa Franks, of San Jose, California, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Franks, of Ohio. This marriage was celebrated April 20, 1897, and Mrs. Bergstrom passed away in Ione, California, in October, 1905.
Mr. Bergstrom is a member of the Central Presbyterian church. His political alle- giance is given to the republican party and he strongly endorses its principles. His has been an active and useful life and from his experiences he has gained many valuable lessons. He has many friends who esteem him highly because of his sterling worth and many admirable traits of character. His history illustrates what can be accomplished through perseverance and determination and proves that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously. He has no false standards, puts a true valuation on the things of life and judges men by their worth and not by their wealth. He displays many of the sterling traits of his Norwegian ancestry, combined with American enterprise and progressiveness, and he stands today as a high type of American manhood.
ADOLPH JOSEPH ZANG.
Time gives the perspective which places every individual in his true position in relation to the community of which he has been a part, and in the instance of Adolph Joseph Zang time serves to heighten the regard in which he is held, for it is recognized that his labors have been a most important element in the upbuilding of the city of Denver and of the state at large. For many years he figured prominently as a banker and mine owner and, following constructive lines, he built up business interests of extensive proportions. He also acquired large property holdings and was at the head of the Zang Realty & Investment Company.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Zang was born on the 14th of August, 1856, a son of Philip and Elizabeth (Hurlebaus) Zang. The father was born in Aschaffen- burg, Bavaria, Germany, and coming to America in 1853, established his home in Philadelphia, but the following year removed to Louisville, Kentucky, where he founded a brewery in 1859, conducting it for ten years under the firm style of Zang & Company. He then removed to Denver, where he established the Rocky Mountain Brewing Com- pany, and during the period of his residence in this state he recognized and utilized the opportunities offered by the natural resources of Colorado. He became one of the founders of the Vindicator Consolidated Gold Mining Company and he further- more contributed to the early development of the state through his cooperation and support of many of its pioneer industries.
His son, Adolph Joseph Zang, after acquiring his early education in a private school in Louisville, Kentucky, conducted by Professor Heilman, went. to Germany. where he spent two years in further study. He made his initial step in the business world in connection with the firm of J. Dolfinger & Company, of Louisville, dealers in queensware, and his business enterprise and capability contributed much to the suc- cess of the undertaking. Attracted to Denver, he became a resident of the city in 1882 and entered into business in connection with his father. Their interests in the brewing business, however, were sold to an English syndicate in 1889, but the firm insisted that Mr. Zang remain in the capacity of president and general manager and he so continued until 1912. However, he was extending his efforts in many other directions as the years passed and his investments showed the soundness of his judgment and gave proof of his belief in Denver and her future. He was one of the organizers of the Schirmer Insurance & Investment Company, which later developed into the hanking house conducted under the name of the German American Trust Company of Denver, now the American Bank & Trust Company. He was instrumental in developing this into one of the foremost financial institutions of the west and served as one of its lirectors from the time of its organization until his death as well as the first vice president. He was one of the founders of the famous Vindicator Consolidated Gold Mining Company, operating large and heavily producing properties in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado, and at the time of his demise was its president. The town of Goldfield owes its establishment to Mr. Zang, who was its founder. Extending his activities in mining, he became one of the directors of the Cresson Consolidated Gold
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Mining & Milling Company and one of its largest stockholders. He did much to assist in the legitimate development of the mining industry, not only in Colorado but through- out the west, and was never afraid to back his judgment by the investment of his own resources. He made extensive purchases of land in the state and founded the Zang Realty & Investment Company. He was the owner of one of Colorado's model farms, comprising four thousand acres and situated only a few miles from Denver. This was devoted largely to the breeding of pure blooded horses, for Mr. Zang was a true lover of the noble steed and his horses were exhibited throughout the entire country, win- ning many blue ribbons. He imported from France a number of the finest animals that could be purchased, among them a Percheron stallion which won prizes at practically every large horse show in France and the United States.
On the 29th of March, 1881, Mr. Zang was married to Miss Minnie Louise Vogt, a daughter of William F. Vogt, a jeweler of Louisville, Kentucky, and became the parents of the following named: Philip Adolph, who is mentioned at length on another page of this work; Adolph Frank, vice president of the Vindicator Consolidated Gold Mining Company, secretary of the Cresson Consolidated Gold Mining Company, secretary of the Adolph J. Zang Investment Company, director of The Rare Metals Ore Company and treasurer of The Ferro Alloy Company; Gertrude, the wife of Charles Leedom Patter- son; Minnie Elizabeth; and Louise Adelgunda, the wife of John Henry Morrison.
The family circle was broken by the hand of death on the 28th of September. 1916, Mr. Zang having been taken suddenly ill while on a trip of inspection to the Vindicator mine. His death was the occasion of the deepest regret because of his wide acquaint- ance and his many admirable traits of character. He was a Scottish Rite Mason, an Elk, a life member of the Denver Athletic Club and was a member of every civic and commercial organization of Denver, all of which profited by his cooperation and his public spirit. One of his most marked characteristics was his love of literature and his taste along that line was most discriminating. His library was equaled by but few private collections in the United States, either in its size, its range or in its intrinsic value. A contemporary writer said of Mr. Zang: "He was essentially and before all else a devoted and home-loving man, domestic in all his tastes and neglecting no oppor- tunity to cultivate the beautiful things of life. He was a true and liberal philanthropist, never making known his beneficiaries but giving freely to charities of all kinds. He was most democratic in his attitude toward all men, a man of imposing stature, lovable and genial to an extreme and loyal not only to his friends but to the world."
JAMES C. STOVALL.
James C. Stovall is the president of the Stovall Agency Company, Incorporated, gen- eral agents for the Aetna Life Insurance Company and the Aetna Accident & Liability Company at Denver. Through the steps of an orderly progression that has brought him into connection with commercial and financial interests he has come to his present position as one of the leading representatives of insurance in this state. A native of Missouri, he was born in Jameson on the 15th of March, 1879, and is one of the eight living children whose parents were William T. and Rosalie (Handy ) Stovall. The father, who is now deceased, devoted his life to banking and to the produce and grain business. He was very active and prominent in those connections, contributing much to the busi- ness development of the community in which he made his home.
James C. Stovall is indebted to the public school system of his native city for the early educational advantages which he enjoyed. He afterward attended William Jewell College of Liberty, Missouri, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1899. He later engaged in the banking business in his home town in Missouri, being for seven years connected with the Bank of Jameson, a state bank, with which he gained his initial experience in that field. In 1907 he removed to Colorado and organized a bank at Pierce. He became a prominent and leading factor in the business development and upbuilding of the city, being active in the organization and control of the Pierce Supply Company, the Bank of Pierce and the Pierce Hardware & Lumber Company. At length he disposed of his banking in- terests to Gordon Jones and in 1910 removed to Denver. For two years he was with the Little Guarantee Company in the real estate business and in 1912 organized the Stovall Agency Company, Incorporated, of which he has since been the president. his associates in the undertaking being his brothers, Robert G .. Jerome S. and Joseph K. Stovall. They maintain an accident and health department in connection with the
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