History of Colorado; Volume III, Part 89

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918-19
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 844

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While in Leadville, Colorado, Mr. Curran was married on the 27th of November, 1881, to Miss Mattie B. Hay, who was born on November 8, 1865, in Evansville, Indiana, and abont 1878 removed with her parents to Colorado, locating in Colorado Springs. They have become parents of two daughters, both born in Denver-Fay E. and Mrs. Harry L. Carey, who resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has a son, James Curran Carey, born July 22, 1916, in Philadelphia.

During the long period of his residence in the west Mr. Curran has been an inter- ested witness of its marvelous development. He has seen many new towns spring up in Colorado as well as many large and important industries established and successfully conducted. He was identified with the Colorado Mineral Exposition during the early '80s and he has been interested in mining in Gilpin county, Pitkin, Gunnison and Cripple Creek. His military service covers connection with the Carbonate Rifles of the Colorado National Guard, which he joined on the 28th of June, 1880, and from which he received an honorable discharge dated December 1, 1883.

Mr. Curran belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, to the Sons of Colorado and to various other business and social organizations, including the Lake- wood Country Club, the Advertising Club of Denver, the Real Estate Exchange, the Denver Civic and Commercial Association, the Denver Motor Club, the Denver Art Asso- ciation, the Denver Athletic Club and the Rotary Club. These connections are an indi- cation of the nature and breadth of his interests. He cooperates in all activities for the benefit of the state and city and in the promotion of its civic interests, and is the champion of many projects which have had to do with the improvement of the state and of the west in general. His business interests have made him widely known. He first came to Colorado in 1876 and through much of the intervening period has lived within the borders of this state. He has become widely known throughout the west and his splendid qualities and genial nature have made for personal popularity wherever he has gone.

ALVA A. SWAIN.

Alva A. Swain, secretary and treasurer of the Colorado Editorial Association, and financially interested in the publication of several Colorado newspapers in various parts of the state,-which he manages from his office in the Ernest & Cranmer building, Denver,-was born in Bartholomew county. Indiana, March 25, 1874. His father is John R. Swain, an oculist, born in North Carolina and who traces his ancestral line back to the Albemarle settlement in North Carolina, which was made in the seventeenth century. He is now living in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Swain's mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah A. Wheeler, was born in North Carolina and is now deceased.

Alva A. Swain is one of a family of four children. He pursued his early education in the common schools of Dana and of Newport, Indiana, but left school at an early age and became self-sustaining. In 1895 he went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he was shipping clerk in a wholesale hardware store. His health broke down and he came to Denver in 1897. For three years and a half he was confined to his bed, but he won the fight with the aid of Colorado's wonderful climate and his own will power. During this time he did nothing that would retard his recovery and eventually regained health and strength and was once more able to start out in the business world. He then worked on various newspapers in humble capacities, even carrying a newspaper ronte at thie age of twenty-five years and soliciting subscriptions for the same. He was connected

ALVA A. SWAIN

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with the Denver Republican in 1899. Sixteen years after this humble start, however, he was one of the large stockholders of the paper, copies of which he had carried. On the 23rd of March, 1900, he opened the Denver office of the Colorado Springs Gazette and on the 1st of March, 1903, he became one of the purchasers of the Pueblo Chieftain, Pueblo, Colorado, which is one of the strongest and most influential papers of the state, and at the present writing in 1918 he is one of the principal stockholders of the Pueblo Chieftain and other leading newspapers of Colorado.

His advancement has not been made by leaps and bounds but by orderly progres- sion, resulting from the wise utilization of time, talent and opportunity. He proved his fitness for newspaper work, especially in the field of executive control, and he is today one of the most prominent representatives of journalistic interests in the state.

On the 2nd of July, 1900, Mr. Swain was united in marriage to Miss Flora E. Bague, of Terre Haute, Indiana, and their children are: Albert Carlisle, fourteen years of age, and Newton Ruel, twelve years of age, both in school. Mr. Swain had one child, John Frederick, who died at the age of twenty-two months.

In fraternal relations Mr. Swain is a Mason, having membership in Henry M. Teller Lodge, No. 147, A. F. & A. M. He is also identified with Union Lodge, No. 1. 1. O. O. F., of Denver, and with the Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 41, of Denver.

In newspaper circles he figures prominently and is the secretary and treasurer of the Colorado Editorial Association, a member of the Denver Press Club and a member of the board of directors of the National Editorial Association. It was the Colorado Editorial Association which originated the action for the investigation of print paper price conditions and the regulation of price, a movement which later became national in its scope. The Colorado Editorial Association, largely through the efforts of Mr. Swain, has grown from a small organization to one of a membership of more than four hundred.

Aside from his newspaper interests, Mr. Swain has land holdings and is also interested in mine and oil properties.

In politics Mr. Swain is an active republican and has reported every political, religious, industrial and other public convention held in Colorado since 1900 and is the oldest reporter in service in the state. He has also reported nine regular and six special sessions of the Colorado general assembly. He has attended many national con- ventions and was publicity agent for the republican party for twelve years. He has traveled over the entire United States, studying new laws in other states and either endorsing or discouraging their adoption by Colorado as his judgment dictated their value, or otherwise. He has been on the secret advisory board of every governor of Colorado since 1901. He was the author of the first story ever written on the subject of government control of natural resources and he made the first newspaper fight in Colorado for local option and for prohibition. He has been influential in the choice for appointment of more men to public office in this state than perhaps any other resident of Colorado, but he has never received one cent from the public treasury and he has been offered a place on nearly every board and republican state ticket. He is now director of publicity for the entire state of Colorado outside of Denver for the Liberty Loan campaign and the War Savings work and other phases of war work.

Mr. Swain is an active member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal church, South, and is serving as chairman of its board of directors. He was secretary of the building committee that erected the new house of worship at Sixteenth and Ogden streets, which is one of the most beautiful churches in Denver. He is lay leader of the Southern Methodist Episcopal church in Colorado.

Mr. Swain is a picture of robust health and of splendidly developed physical and mental power. Getting up from a sickbed on which he had lain for three and a half years, he has in the intervening period of eighteen years accomplished great things. He is a firm believer in the gospel of hard work and usually spends the hours from nine A. M. until midnight at his office and yearly makes many trips throughout the country. His manner is keen and decisive; his face, framed in its iron-gray hair, is kindly and affable, and his character has ever been such a one to which the world instinctively pays deference. He is actuated by high and honorable motives in his business life and his public service, and the value of his opinions, as held by his fellow- men. is indicated in the fact that he has been a regular attendant at all conferences of the governors of western states. He has studied broadly and deeply the questions which are to the business man and the statesman of vital import and his insight is all the keener from the fact that he has no personal interest as an office seeker, to be promoted. The range of his activities and the scope of his influence has reached far beyond his special field of business. He belongs to that class of men who wield a power which is all the more potent from the fact that it is moral rather than

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political and is exercised for the public weal rather than for personal ends. Unselfish and retiring, he prefers a quiet place in the background to the glamour of publicity, but his rare aptitude and ability in achieving results make him constantly sought after and often brings him into a prominence from which he would naturally shrink were less desirable ends in view.

JEAN MIGNOLET.

Jean Mignolet, who is the Belgian consul at Denver, was born in Antwerp, Belgium, on the 17th of June, 1858, a son of August and Marie ( Duysters) Mignolet, both of whom now have passed away. The father was at one time a colonel in the Belgian army. Their family numbered four children, two of whom are deceased.

Jean Mignolet pursued his education in a commercial university of his native country, from which he was graduated when eighteen years of age. He then entered the shipping business, to which he devoted a few months, and at nineteen years of age he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, spending three or four years with the Credit Lyonnais of New York in the position of assistant cashier. On the ex- piration of that period he made his way westward with Lake City, Colorado, as his destination and was there connected with the Thatcher Brothers, bankers. His arrival in Denver was in the year 1888 and through the intervening period he has been identified with several banks of the city, acting at one time as cashier of the Federal National Bank. He was with the Hamilton Bank when it was merged into the Federal Bank and he is now identified with the savings department of the Fed- eral National Bank. Long experience has made him thoroughly familiar with the banking business in its various phases and his efficiency is acknowledged by all of the officials of the institution.

Mr. Mignolet was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary Maxwell, of Denver, and they are well known in the social circles of the city. He is a Mason of high rank, belonging to Union Lodge, No. 7, A. F. & A. M., and Colorado Commandery, No. 1, K. T. He is also a member of El Jebel Temple of the Mystic Shrine and his religious faith is indicated by his connection with St. Paul's Episcopal church. He is a lover of music and spends many a pleasant hour with his flute. Since 1894 he has acted as Belgian consul for Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. His interests are broad and he keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress along all those lines which affect the general welfare of the people at large. He has received the high distinction of Knight of the Order of Leopold and Knight of the Crown of the Congo for the part taken in the defense against the attacks on the Congo and for twenty-five years' connection with the consular service. The French gov- ernment recognized his literary efforts, conferring upon him the distinction of making him an officer of the Academie. In this connection it is of interest to note also that Mr. Mignolet organized in Denver the Alliance Francaise and that he was the first delegate to act in Denver. Through his activity in war work he raised thirty thou- sand dollars for the Belgian flour fund, fifteen thousand dollars for the Allied Perma- nent Blind Fund through the sale of his flag pin, nine thousand dollars for the Queen Elizabeth Belgian Babies fund and he is also connected with the Fatherless Children of France organization and many other charitable war funds, all of which have been successfully promoted through his efforts.

GARDNER G. BREWER.

Gardner G. Brewer is one of the pioneer merchants of Denver, having come to this city May 24, 1860, and is now living retired in the enjoyment of a competence which he has richly earned and well deserves. He has witnessed the growth of the state of Colorado from a wilderness and the progress of the city from a small hamlet to a metropolis. Moreover, he has by his activities contributed to its growth, for he has ever been a public-spirited citizen, giving his support to efforts to uplift the general welfare.

Mr. Brewer was born October 16, 1833, in Boston, Massachusetts, a son of Henry A. and Elizabeth M. Brewer, the former a native of Medford, Massachusetts, and the latter of Boston. The father was a merchant and was quite successful in that line of business. He came of Revolutionary stock, as did his wife, the Andrews family being Vol. III-42

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counted among her ancestors. To them were born seven children, two of whom sur- vive, Gardner G. and Caroline P.

Gardner G. Brewer graduated from the Boston grammar schools and after having completed his education engaged for a number of years in the fancy goods business in his native city. The undeveloped west with its vast opportunities, however, held great attractions for him and on May 24, 1860, he came to Denver, then a small hamlet. With L. N. Greenleaf he entered the mercantile business and successfully conducted one of the first stores of the city. This partnership continued until 1886, or for twenty-five years, when Mr. Brewer went into business by himself. For five years he successfully continued in the sale of toys and fancy goods, enjoying a good trade on account of his reliable treatment of customers. His goods were always well assorted and of the latest designs and he therefore secured a patronage which made his one of the foremost businesses of the kind when he sold out to Morse & Smith and then retired. He has since made his home in Denver, where he has many friends and takes the deepest interest in the development of his city, giving his aid readily to move- ments for the promotion of the general welfare. His friends speak of him in the highest terms of praise and he is esteemed on account of his high qualities of character.

His sister. Caroline P. Brewer, who was born in Boston, December 15, 1843, mar- ried Ephraim W. Smith, of Massachusetts, June 24, 1868, and they celebrated their golden wedding on the 24th of June, 1918. Mr. Smith came to the west in 1887, locat- ing in Denver, where his wife had preceded him in 1881. To them the following chil- dren were born. Theodore G., born May 8, 1869, at Chelsea, Massachusetts, occupies the important position of vice president of the International Trust Company of Denver. He married Minnette Butterfield, November 14, 1894, and to them was born a son, Howard Clinton Smith, November 8, 1895. He wedded Marie Lawrence and they have a daughter, Minnette L., born November 27, 1917. Herbert H. Smith, horn January 22, 1876, is also engaged in the banking business, holding a position in the trust depart- ment of the International Trust Company of Denver. On June 17, 1895, he married Eleanor Havens and they have a son, Gilbert Havens Smith, born April 29, 1902.

Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim W. Smith occupy an enviable position in the social circles of the city, being connected with numerous movements for the promotion of the general welfare and war service work. They are very prominent in the community, where they have many friends who entertain for them the most sincere regard.

ISAAC B. BILLS.

Isaac B. Bills, who has been actively identified with general agricultural pursuits in Weld county for almost three decades, owns and operates an excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 33, township 7, range 66, three miles west of Eaton, where he now makes his home. His birth occurred in West Virginia on the 2d of September, 1860, his parents being Joseph and Emaline (Reynolds) Bills, the former a native of Pennsylvania, while the latter was born in West Virginia. When but four years of age Joseph Bills accompanied his parents on their removal to West Virginia and in that state he continued to reside until his death, successfully following farming throughout his active business career. He passed away on the 30th of September, 1888, and was long survived by his widow, who died in December, 1902.

Isaac B. Bills was reared and educated in the state of his nativity and remained under the parental roof until he had attained the age of twenty-six years. After leaving home he spent two years in work by the month as a farm hand in Kansas and in eastern Colorado, coming to this state in 1889. In 1890 he took up his abode in Weld county and during the following two years was in the employ of Governor Eaton. Subsequently he cultivated rented land for a period of six years, at the end of which time he purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 33, township 7, range 66, to the improvement and operation of which he has devoted his time and energies continuously since. Later he bought another tract of land com- prising the northeast quarter of section 10, township 6, range 66, on which he likewise made excellent improvements and which is now being cultivated by one of his sons. In 1916 he purchased an attractive modern home in Eaton, where he has since lived, going to his farm, three miles distant, each morning and returning to town at night. A farm hand in his employ lives on the place with his family. Mr. Bills took up his abode in Eaton because his wife's health had become impaired on the farm and in order that his children might enjoy the advantages of the city schools. Since 1902 he has devoted considerable attention to the feeding of sheep and also makes a

MR. AND MRS. ISAAC B. BILLS

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specialty of raising potatoes and all kinds of farm products. He is also a stockholder in the First National Bank and the Potato Growers' Company of Eaton and has long heen numbered among the prosperous. progressive and representative business men of his community.

On the 27th of April, 1893, Mr. Bills was united in marriage to Miss Nora White, a daughter of Samuel and Evangeline (Henderson) White, both of whom were natives of Ohio. Her father was a farmer by occupation and after devoting many years to that pursuit in Ohio he removed to St. Marys. West Virginia, where he resided to the time of his demise, which occurred in April, 1917. He had served for four years in the Union army as a member of the Forty-second Ohio Infantry and it was a wound received in action that ultimately caused his death. His widow still makes her home at St. Marys, West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Bills are the parents of three children, as follows: Howard L. who cultivates one of his father's farms and who married Miss Edna Harris, by whom he has two children, Walter and Harold; Ellis S., at home; and Carl B., who is attending school in Eaton.

Politically Mr. Bills is a democrat, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America. His life has been upright and honorable in every relation and he well deserves the confidence and esteem accorded him

GEORGE H. YOUNG.

George H. Young, living in Evans, is an honored veteran of the Civil war whose loyalty to the country was tested on many a southern battlefield. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, February 12, 1844, and is a son of Will H. and Sarah M. Young. The father was a native of West Virginia.

In his early youth George H. Young became a pupil in the public schools of his native state and after mastering the branches of learning therein taught he took up the work of bookkeeping, being employed in a grocery store in Columbus for three years. On the 2d of August, 1862, he enlisted in the army as a member ot Company A of the Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, loyally defending the Union until mustered out on the 19th of August, 1865. When Kirby Smith tried to take Cincinnati he participated in the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, and was wounded in the left arm. He was then sent back to camp and eventually he went to South Memphis and on to Duck Port, where he assisted in digging a canal. He arrived in Vicksburg at the time of the siege and afterward proceeded up the river to Memphis. The railroad men were under Sturgis. The troops suffered defeat at Guntown, Mississippi, and Mr. Young was taken prisoner on the 10th of June. 1864. the lieutenant being killed at his side. He was sent to Andersonville and suffered all the privations and hardships of southern prison life until exchanged in the spring of 1865.

On the 30th of March, 1869, in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Young was united in marriage to Miss Martha Mills, who passed away January 15, 1883, leaving six children. Grace E., who was born January 29, 1870, is the wife of Harry Wolpert, by whom she has a daughter. Grace, seventeen years of age. Cora Lena, who was born in Columbus, Ohio, on the 29th of March, 1872, gave her hand in mar- riage to Aleck Stoer, by whom she has a son, Clyde. Sarah Maria was born in Evans, Colorado, on the 2d of September, 1874. William Dwight, born December 5, 1876, married Miss Etta Robinson, by whom he has two sons and a daughter living, while one son died at the age of eight years. Dwight R., eldest son of Wil- liam D. Young, is in the marine corps and has been stationed at Santiago de Cuba since June, 1917. Edna Mabel, who was born in Evans on the 2d of July, 1879, is the wife of Theodore Ennes, by whom she has a son, Harold. Martha Elizabeth, born in Evans on the 7th of January, 1883, died when six months old. On the 27th of June, 1889, Mr. Young was again married, his second union being with Miss Lydia C. Herriott, by whom he had the following children: George P., who is in the Signal Corps service and is stationed at Colorado College; Charles Clifford, who was born in Evans, August 3, 1892, and died on the 14th of August, 1892; Edwin H., whose hirth occurred in Evans. April 8, 1894, and who passed away April 12, 1910; and Benjamin Uel, who was born in Evans, April 6, 1897, and is now pur- suing a course in electrical engineering in the University of Colorado as a senior student.

GEORGE H. YOUNG

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The family home has been maintained in Evans for some years and Mr. Young has engaged in merchandising. He is also the owner of property in the city and is one of the highly esteemed residents of the town. In his fraternal relations he is an Odd Fellow, having been identified with the order since 1866. Politically he is a republican and when in prison cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He is a mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic and thus still maintains pleasant relations with his old military comrades. Mr. Young is a survivor of the Sultana and a life member of the organization. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church. His has been an active career and at all times his course has been marked by fidelity and loyalty to duty, by progressive citizenship and by enterprise in busi- Less. He has now passed the seventy-fonrth milestone on life's journey but is still engaged in merchandising and such a record should put to shame many a man of less resolute spirit who has grown weary of the struggles and trials of business and would relegate to others the burdens that he should bear.

THOMAS JEFFERSON O'DONNELL.

Thomas Jefferson O'Donnell, lawyer-orator-publicist, is the offspring of a union between members of two great Irish families, who met and mated in America. His father was a political refugee by reason of occurrences in the O'Connell eman- cipation campaign, and his mother, Amy O'Connell, was of the same family as the great emancipator. The father's family belonged to that immediate branch of the O'Donnells which has given distinguished citizens of that name to several countries, and still occupies a notable place in the life of the country, of whose history it is so considerable a part.

The father settled in Mendham township, Morris county, New Jersey, in the first half of the last century. The son was born among the hills there. June 2, 1856. He attended the public or district school, as it was then called, until twelve years of age, when he entered the classical school of William Rankin at Mendham, a noted institution of New Jersey at the time. There he remained until 1873, when he entered the office of the Morris Republican, Morristown, New Jersey, as writer and business manager. In 1877 he founded the Morris County Chronicle, which was successfully published at Morristown until its founder removed to the west. His newspaper associations led him into connection with the New York press, and from 1875 until he went to Colorado, he did much writing for the Sun, Herald, and other New York newspapers. In 1876 he entered the law office of Colonel Fred A. DeMott, a leading lawyer of Morristown, and there began to fit himself for the bar Colonel DeMott died in 1878, and Mr. O'Donnell concluded his studies in the office of George T. Werts, afterward governor of New Jersey.

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History of Colorado; Volume III, Part 89

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918-19 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 844

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918-19
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 844