History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 19

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 836

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FRED S. BROWN

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was associated with the wholesale grocery business for twenty six years. He started in a humble capacity but gradually worked his way upward through personal effort and ability, acquainting himself with the business in all of its departments and thus quali- fying for administrative direction and executive control. He eventually became vice president of the company and so continued until 1913, when upon the father's death the business was divided and Fred S. Brown took over the investment business, to which he has since given his attention, his father having established the Brown Investment Company, which he was conducting in addition to the wholesale grocery business. Fred S. Brown is thoroughly familiar with commercial paper and the value of all investments and his business in this connection is now extensive and important. He is also largely engaged in ranching and stock raising and his ranch of twenty-one acres in Arapahoe county is one of the best equipped for the raising of poultry and hogs to be found in the west. He has studied closely every question bearing upon the scientific development and care of hogs and poultry and has upon his place the finest breeds of both.

On the 7th of April, 1898, Mr. Brown was married in Denver, Colorado, to Miss Margaret Ganser, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. F. Ganser, of an old Illinois family. Mr. Brown's military record covers four years' service as a member of Company K of the Colorado National Guard. In politics he maintains an independent course but is not remiss in the duties of citizenship and actively cooperates in the well defined plans and purposes of the Denver Civic and Commercial Association for the upbuilding of the interests of the city in every particular. In addition to his membership in that organization he belongs to several more strictly social institutions, including the Denver Club, the Denver Country Club, the Lakewood Country Club and the Denver Athletic Club. A lifelong resident of the city, he has for forty-nine years been a witness of its growth and development, rejoices in what has been accomplished and at all times lends his aid and cooperation to movements for the public good. He has a very wide acquaintance and his pronounced social qualities make for personal popularity, while his genuine worth results in warm friendships.

JOSEPH W. MORELAND.

Joseph W. Moreland is a prominent and successful ranchman who is also general manager of the Elevator Company at Peyton. He is classed with the substantial citi- zens that Indiana has furnished to Colorado, his birth having occurred in Perry county of the former state on the 21st of October, 1866, his parents being James H. and Martha Moreland, the former a native of Ohio. They removed with their family to Olney, Rich- land county, Illinois, during the early boyhood of Joseph W. Moreland, who there acquired a common school education. In 1886, when a young man of twenty years, he removed to Leoti, Kansas, and for five years was connected with the Missouri Pacific Railroad, having charge of a track gang. He arrived at Peyton, Colorado, in 1897 and purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land, since which time he has successfully engaged in ranching. He has good buildings upon his place, engages in general farming, feeds cattle and milks twenty cows. In addition to the further development and improvement of his farm he is managing the business of the Peyton Farmers Cooperative Elevator Company, of which he is one of the stockholders. His business activities are intelli- gently directed, his enterprise is unfaltering and what would seem difficulties in the path of the weak ofttimes have served as stepping-stones in his career.

In November, 1890, Mr. Moreland was united in marriage to Miss Lorinda Miller, a daughter of R. B. and Jennie Miller. She was born in Iowa but was reared in Piper City, Ford county, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Moreland have been born eight children: Elsie, the wife of Frank Derby, residing at Lake George, Colorado, by whom she has a daughter, Inez; Tressa, the wife of John Owen, of Calhan, Colorado, and the mother of a son, Owen, and a daughter, Eleanor; Jennie, the wife of Willie Green, a ranchman of Eastonville, Colorado, by whom she has a son, Ira; Walter S., who is in the United States army and is at present in the government lumber camps of Wash- ington; James Ira, who is training with a campany of heavy artillery at Camp Funston; and Kenneth, Wayne and Jewel, all at home.

Mr. Moreland is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, belonging to Pey- ton Camp, No. 9229, of which for seventeen years he has been the clerk. He is a man in whom his fellow townsmen have implicit faith and confidence. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth and public spirit, have frequently called him to office. He has served for two terms, or four

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years, as justice of the peace in El Paso county and has fearlessly and efficiently dis- charged the duties of that position. He has been a member of the school board for twenty years and he is a champion of every movement that tends to promote the progress and upbuilding of his community. He has many friends who recognize his sterling worth, speaking of him in terms of high regard, and in his business career he has demonstrated his resourcefulness as well as liis reliability, both of which have won for him a creditable position among the ranchmen and grain dealers of his section of the state.

ELIJAH L. WEST.

Elijah L. West, who resides near Wheatridge in Jefferson county, where he took up his abode thirty-four years ago, owns and cultivates a tract of land devoted to gardening and the raising of small fruit. He is also successfully engaged in busi- ness as a merchant of Denver. His birth occurred in Richmond, Kentucky, on the 3d of October, 1863, his parents being Perry and Susan (Lauless) West, both of whom have passed away. The father served as a soldier of the Civil war.

Elijah L. West pursued his education in the schools of his native city to the age of nineteen years and then made his way to Texas, where he was engaged in farm- ing for two years. In 1884 he came to Colorado, settling at Wheatridge, and soon thereafter he purchased a tract of land which he has cultivated continuously and successfully throughout the intervening period. On September 4, 1911, he purchased the store of F. A. Burnell, the oldest hay, grain and feed house in Denver, and this he has also since carried on, enjoying an extensive and most gratifying patronage. He is widely recognized as a capable, progressive and enterprising business man whose methods are thoroughly reliable and straightforward.

On the 12th of June, 1886, in Denver, Colorado, Mr. West was united in marriage to Miss Dora E. Ramboz, a daughter of Louis and Holymphia (Le-Liever) Ramboz. They located on a ranch on Clear creek in 1864, where Mrs. West was born and reared, so that her early life was replete with the experiences of pioneer existence. By her marriage she has become the mother of six children, as follows: Maude E., who is the wife of A. E. Towner; Nora E., who gave her hand in marriage to James Franze; Claude L., who wedded Miss Jennie A. Mooney; Raymond L., who married Miss Edna A. Cummings; Howard H .; and Walter W.

. Mrs. West is also from a pioneer family of Jefferson county. Her parents were both born in France, and both came with their parents to America during their child- hood. Louis Ramboz first came to Colorado in 1859, remaining about a year. On the 11th of March, 1860, at St. Joseph, Missouri, he wedded Miss Holymphia Le-Liever and in 1864 they located on a tract of land in Jefferson county where they continued to reside until the mother's death which occurred January 15, 1886, in her forty-second year. Louis Ramboz survived until November 13, 1898, when he passed to eternal rest, aged sixty-three years. He was numbered among the earliest settlers of Jefferson county and by his progressive methods and advanced ideas aided materially in the development of the country. Among other things it may be mentioned that he brought to the section, and put into active operation, the first combined mowing and reaping machine ever used in Jefferson county. Politically he was a republican and an ardent supporter of the principles of the party.

Mr. West is justly recognized as one of the very first settlers in the Wheatridge section, the entire region being an undeveloped wilderness at the time of his loca- tion here. Not only has he been a witness to the growth and development of the community, but has also had active part in bringing about the transition. Every movement tending towards the public good, has received his active aid and assistance, particularly the securing and actual construction of the splendid public roadways for which the section is noted. He was also one of the most active workers in organizing the Wheatridge Grange, of which he became a charter member and was elected the first master, a position he has filled, at various times, to the extent of more than ten years. This was the first Grange to be established in Colorado, receiving Charter No. 1. Here also, and largely through the efforts of Mr. West, was established the first Juvenile Grange in the state, Wheatridge, No. 1, and in which his son, Walter W. West, was elected the first master and served two terms. Another son, Raymond L., after graduating from high school, entered the State Agricultural College, at Fort Collins, where he pursued a course in mechanical and irrigation engineering and has

ELIJAH L. WEST

MRS. DORA E. WEST

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won distinction in the practice of his profession. The two youngest sons are still residing at home, actively engaged in the cultivation of the home ranch.

In his political views Mr. West is a stalwart republican and his fellow townsmen have frequently called upon him for public service. He has been president of the school board of Wheatridge for five years and for four years, from 1908 until 1912, held the office of county commissioner, making a most excellent record in that connec- tion. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Arvada Lodge, No. 141, A. F. & A. M., and he is also connected with the Woodmen of the World and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious faith is that of the Christian church, of which he is a devoted and consistent member. He has gained a most extensive and favorable acquaintance during the long period of his residence in Jefferson county and enjoys an enviable reputation as a representative business man and esteemed citizen of the community.

JOHN T. FITZELL.

John T. Fitzell, conducting business under the name of the Ideal Laundry Com- pany, of which he is president, dates his residence in Denver from 1890, but later spent four years in Cripple Creek, returning to Denver in 1904. He was born in County Kerry, Ireland, May 17, 1870, a son of Thomas and Theresa (Fitzell) Fitzell. The ancestry of the Fitzell family can be traced back to William the Conqueror. In early life the parents of John T. Fitzell came to Canada, making the trip soon after their marriage. The father engaged in farming and after residing for a time in Canada removed to Colorado and is now a resident of Los Angeles, California, where he is living retired. His wife passed away in that city in 1914.

John T. Fitzell was the eighth in order of birth in a family of fourteen children. He pursued his education in the public schools of Canada and afterward started out in the business world in connection with the grocery trade, at which he was employed for two years. He then turned his attention to the laundry business and in 1890 he arrived in Colorado, where he became connected with the Queen City Laundry Company of Denver. He was with the company for two years and then entered the employ of the Imperial Laundry Company as manager. there remaining until 1900. He then went to Cripple Creek, where he became manager of the Cripple Creek Laundry, and incidentally took up mining. He won success in both branches and remained there for four years. In 1904, however, he returned to Denver and purchased an interest in what is now the Ideal Laundry at No. 2500 Curtis street. The business was organized by Otto Heries and Mr. Fitzell at the date indicated became his partner. They conducted their interests most successfully until the business outgrew its quarters, after which they consolidated the laundry with that of Sidney Culbertson, who had conducted business under the name of the Red Star Laundry. They formed what is now the Ideal Laundry and upon the death of Mr. Heries in 1915 the partners made arrangements to purchase his interests upon the settlement of the estate. Since then the business has been incor- porated and the patronage has continually increased, for the service rendered the public is highly satisfactory. The name Ideal is a guarantee of excellent workmanship. Mr. Fitzell is the president and manager of the business, with Mr. Culbertson as the secre- tary and treasurer. Since the incorporation of their business the business has more than doubled and is continually growing. Something of the vast volume of their trade is indicated in the fact that they now employ one hundred and twenty-five people. The most modern machinery has been installed and there is every facility to promote the work and make the output of the highest possible character. In the present year (1918) a large addition is being built, sixty-two and a half feet square. This makes their plant one of the largest and most modern in the city. They have fourteen delivery wagons and auto trucks, and the business is thoroughly systematized in every depart- ment.

On the 26th of April, 1892, Mr. Fitzell was married to Miss Lydia M. Lang, of Denver, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lang, of Hanover, Canada. They have become parents of three children. Grant R., born in Denver in 1895, was graduated from the manual training department of Boulder University and was with the American Beet Sugar Company until 1918, when he joined the national army. He married Miss Marina Acola in Mendon, Missouri. J. Alvin, born in Denver in 1900, is now in the Kemper Military Academy. Doris, born in 1902, is a student in the East Denver high school.

Mr. Fitzell is identified with various societies and clubs. He belongs to the National Laundrymen's Association and thus keeps in touch with everything having

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to do with the trade. He is a member of the Civic and Commercial Association and thereby cooperates in many well defined plans for the city's upbuilding and for the promotion of those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. Frater- nally he is connected with the Elks and the Woodmen of the World, and in club circles his membership extends to the Motor and Lions Clubs. Such in brief is the life history of a man who has used his time and talents wisely and well, and entirely unassisted has worked his way steadily upward from a humble position in the business world to a place where he is controlling extensive and important interests, placing him among the men of affluence in Denver.

OSCAR G. KEYSOR.

Oscar G. Keysor, devoting his attention to sheep raising at the town of Keysor, was born in Barton county, Kansas, October 5, 1878, a son of John and Anna (Schnars) Keysor. The father removed from Ohio to Kansas. The mother was originally from Pennsylvania and was descended from one of the old Pennsylvania Dutch families.

Spending his youthful days in his native state, Oscar G. Keysor largely devoted his attention to the acquirement of a public school education and when twenty years of age came to Colorado in the year 1898. He first made his way to Galatea, on the Missouri Pacific, near Sugar City, and in 1900 he homesteaded in Elbert county. His mother and his three brothers also homesteaded and at present two brothers, Oscar G. and Ora S., the latter thirty-four years of age, are partners in one of the largest sheep raising businesses in the state. The mother died on the old homestead thirteen years ago. The sons, Oscar G. and Ora S., lease many thousand acres of land for sheep raising.

On the 17th of April, 1912, Oscar G. Keysor was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Anderson and to them have been born two sons, John Willand and Robert Frederick. Oscar G. Keysor is the postmaster of the town of Keysor, which was named in honor of himself and brother.

WILLIAM M. WILDER.

William M. Wilder was throughout his life a skilled mechanic who executed. im- portant work along that line, save for a brief period prior to his demise, when he lived retired. He was born in Rochester, New York, November 29, 1846, a son of Edward and Sarah E. (Alton) Wilder, the former a native of New York and the latter of London, England. At the usual age he became a pupil in the public schools and subsequent to the completion of his course, when he was still a youth in his teens, he spent ten months as a member of Company E of the One Hundred and Eighty-sixth New York Volunteers, doing active service at the front in defense of the Union. When the war was over he returned to Rochester, where he learned the machinist's trade, at which he worked in his native city until 1871. He then removed to Newcastle, Indiana, where he continued to work as a machinist until 1888. In the latter year he came to Denver and entered the employ of F. N. Davis, a brick contractor, with whom he continued until 1891. In that year the big strike occurred, after which Mr. Wilder worked on the capitol contract. In 1893 he entered the machine shop of David & Creswell, there remaining for several years, and afterward he was employed by W. F. Altoff & Son and later by Haven Brothers. Eventually, however, his health failed and he retired from active business life. He was a very ingenious mechanic, thoroughly enjoying work at his trade, and his efficiency was in large measure due thereto. A fine example of his workmanship is the stairway in the State Capitol and he ever took great and just pride in his work which he performed to the best of his ability, and that ability con- stantly increased, as his skill and experience widened.

On the 30th of April, 1870, Mr. Wilder was married in Newcastle, Indiana, to Miss Mary M. Pence, a daughter of Cyrus P. and Catherine (Kyger) Pence. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilder: Minnie U., who became the wife of Harry L. Price; Edward, who is engaged in the grocery business in Denver; and Bessie B., who is employed in the Kesler Stationery Store in Denver.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Wilder was connected with Crocker Post, G. A. R., and thus maintained pleasant relations with his old army comrades. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party but he was never an office seeker. His

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attention was always given to his business affairs and through his close application and fidelity to the work entrusted to him he won a liberal measure of success, becoming one of the men of affluence of his community. He was thus able to leave his family in comfortable financial circumstances when death called him on the 1st of December, 1915. His demise was deeply regretted not only by the members of his household but by many with whom he had come in contact and who had come to esteem him for his genuine traits of character.

MARTIN JEROME PEASE.

Martin Jerome Pease, one of the progressive citizens of his community, is the owner of a valuable farm of nine hundred and thirty-one acres in Elbert county near Simla. He was born April 7, 1861, in southeastern Missouri, a short distance from Pilot Knob. His father, Martin Pease, was descended from one of the old families of Massachusetts. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Susan Ann Nalle, was a native of Kentucky and both were descended from old families represented in the Revolutionary war.

Martin Jerome Pease was for some years a resident of Kansas before removing to Colorado in 1911, in which year he secured his present property holdings, purchasing one of the finest farms of Elbert county. It is situated in the vicinity of Simla and contains nine hundred and thirty-one acres. It is in every respect a model place, splen- didly equipped with large and substantial buildings, and in addition to the production of crops he is also engaged in stock raising. His business affairs are wisely and carefully managed and success in substantial measure is crowning his efforts.

On the 8th of April, 1891, Mr. Pease was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Lewis, of Kansas, who is a native of Maryland. They have become the parents of five children: Lewis F., who was in Camp Kearny until discharged by reason of physical disability; Arthur, who enlisted in the Boulder University Corps; Martin, at home; Edith, who is the wife of Rex Hixson; and Marie.

Mr. Pease is actuated by a spirit of progress in all that he undertakes and in all of his relations to the community and the public at large. Thoroughly alive to the needs of the country and the opportunities of the hour, he was one of the promoters of the Liberty Loan and one of the largest subscribers at Simla. He is a director of the State Bank of Simla, is the secretary of the school board and is foremost in every movement for the advancement of his community.

ARMOUR C. ANDERSON.

Armour C. Anderson, one of Denver's leading real estate men, also active in municipal affairs as a member of the public utilities commission, was born in Mercer county, New Jersey, a son of William and Ellen (Marshall) Anderson, both of whom were born as subjects of the British isles. The father's birth occurred in the north of Ireland, while the mother was a native of Scotland, and with their respective parents they came to the United States when seven years of age, the families settling in the state of New York. Later removal was made to Maryland, where the father of Armour C. Anderson engaged in railroad contract work and assisted in building the road from Baltimore to Washington. William Anderson became prominent as superintendent of railroad construction and as a contractor and his death occurred near Washington in 1897. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in Mary- land in 1876. Their family numbered seven children, among whom was Armour C. Anderson of this review.

In early life Armour C. Anderson attended school in Prince Georges county, Maryland, and in 1881 he arrived in Colorado, taking up his abode in Denver, where he was first employed in newspaper work on the Denver Evening World and Denver Tribune. He continued on the paper for three years and then embraced an opportunity to go to Mexico with Governor Shepherd of Washington. He remained in that country for some time but eventually tired of the southern republic and in 1885 returned to Denver. Here he concentrated his efforts and attention upon the real estate business, and although he began operations along that line in a small way, he gradually worked his way upward until he ranked with the leading real estate men of the city and is now one of the large operators and individual property owners of Denver. He has valuable realty holdings in the city. His investments have been most carefully and

ARMOUR C. ANDERSON

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judiciously made and bring to him a substantial financial return. He occupies a prominent position among real estate men of the city and in 1893 and 1894 held the presidency of the Denver Real Estate Exchange.

Mr. Anderson has long been a devoted member of the Central Presbyterian church and for the past quarter of a century has been its chief usher. He belongs also to the Denver Athletic Club, of which he has been a representative for fifteen years. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons as a Knight Templar and member of the Mystic Shrine and he has likewise attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish · Rite. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and in 1910 he was elected to the public utilities commission and has since devoted much valuable service to the city. He was also a member of the state legislature for two terms under the Waite administration and gave the most thoughtful and earnest consideration to the vital questions which came up for settlement there. He was likewise one of the promoters of the beautiful Pioneer monument, assisting in laying the cornerstone when the dedicatory services were held. He is well worthy to be classed with Denver's leading and representative men.

JOSEPH WILKINSON.

For forty-four years Joseph Wilkinson, who died July 30, 1918, had been identified with the agricultural interests of Colorado. He made his home on section 33, town- ship 6, Weld county, and his career was a most active and useful one. He passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey and in a review of his record one can see that he was a self-made man whose success was due entirely to his own initiative, industry and perseverance. Such a record should serve to inspire and encourage all who read it, showing what can be accomplished by the individual. Mr. Wilkinson was born in Pennsylvania, November 11, 1840, and was a son of Will Perry, and Mary Ann (Edwards) Wilkinson. The father was a farmer by occupation and was the owner of one hundred acres of land which he carefully cultivated. His wife was born in Holland and both have now passed away.

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History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 19

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 836

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 836