USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume IV > Part 2
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JOHN FRANCIS CAMPION.
John Francis Campion, a Denver capitalist whose success had its foundation in the rich mineral resources of the state, to the development of which he brought energy, persistency of purpose and keen discernment. became well known through business con- nections all over the west. It is said that what a man does and what he attains depends largely upon his opportunities, but the well balanced man mentally and physically is possessed of sufficient courage to venture where favoring opportunity is presented, and his judgment must determine the real value and worth of every opportunity. Not all days in the career of John Francis Campion were equally bright, but he managed to turn threatened failures into victory and dispersed the clouds of defeat with the sun of prosperity.
Mr. Campion was born on Prince Edward Island in December, 1849, a son of M. B. and Helen (Fehan) Campion, who were also natives of Prince Edward Island and were of English and Irish lineage. For many generations the family had been exten- sive landowners in England. The first representative of the name in the new world was John Francis Campion, Sr., who crossed the Atlantic with his wife and children and settled on Prince Edward Island. where he and his wife lived to an advanced age, the former passing away at the age of seventy-five, while the latter reached the seven- tieth milestone on life's journey.
M. Brevort Campion, who was one of their family of nine children, four sons and five daughters, became a successful shipbuilder and owner, building his own vessels in his own shipyards, and as captain he was able to sail any craft. He not only figured prominently in connection with the commercial activity of the island but was also a recognized leader in political circles, first as a supporter of the liberal party and after- ward of the conservative party. He was chosen to represent his district in the Prince Edward Island parliament and he was especially prominent in the administrative affairs of the island. The last twenty years of his life were passed in Colorado and he became a leading citizen of Leadville and was also widely known throughout the state. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Helen Fehan, was a daughter of Dr. Fehan, a prominent physician on Prince Edward Island, who lost his life one stormy winter's night while crossing the Northumberland strait, which has a width of nine miles.
To Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Campion were born four children and as a member of that household John Francis Campion spent his youthful days as a public school pupil in his native locality and in the Prince of Wales College at Charlottetown, to which he re- turned in 1862, his parents having previous to that time removed with their family to California. The brothers, John F. Campion, then seventeen years of age, and George Campion, a youth of fifteen, anxious to participate in the Civil war in the United States, ran away from college and attempted to enlist in the American navy, but because of his youth the younger brother was rejected. After passing the necessary examination John F. Campion was accepted and assigned to a position as assistant quartermaster. He was on duty on the ship Dolphin and carried to General Sherman the first dis- patches he received at Savannah, after completing his famous march to the sea. With difficulty and danger the boat proceeded to the entrance of the Savannah river, there being many sunken vessels in the harbor, while a great conflagration raged along the wharves, immense quantities of cotton being then in flames.
JOHN F. CAMPION
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Following the close of the war John F. Campion returned to California on a visit to his parents, who were then residents of Sacramento, and turning his attention to mining, he became interested in the development of the rich mineral resources of the west as miner, prospector and mine owner. In 1868 he discovered the White Pine silver mine but after making a fair start in its development lost all that he had in that venture, amounting to about five thousand dollars. He afterward took up mining at Eureka, Nevada, where he developed and sold valuable properties and won substantial fortune through his operations there. Subsequently he went with his father and brother to Pioche, Nevada, where he continued mining, becoming the owner of the Pioche- Phoenix, a valuable silver property. He organized the Pioche-Phoenix Mining Com- pany but was compelled to make a hard fight for the property, as other claimants attempted by force to assert their alleged rights. Mr. Campion, however, succeeded in holding the mine until the courts awarded him formal possession thereof.
After disposing of his interests in Nevada, Mr. Campion went to the new mining camp of Leadville, Colorado, in April, 1879, and there bought, developed and sold various properties, also retaining valuable interests in that district. He became the owner of the Bison, Reindeer, Elk and Ibex mines, the last better known as the Little Johnny. He began the development of all these properties, naming them for animals. The Ibex became one of the richest mines in the west and has given out great fortunes to many of its operators. Mr. Campion was the general manager of the Ibex Mining Company, was also president of the Napite Mining Company of Breckenridge, a director of the Carbonate National Bank of Leadville, the vice president of the Seventeenth Street Building Company of Denver, vice president of the Denver National Bank, vice president of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway Company (Moffat Road), president of the Northwestern Terminal Company and president of the Big Horn Min- ing and Cattle Company. Thus he extended his efforts over a broad field, contributing in substantial measure to the material upbuilding of the state. In business matters his judgment was seldom, if ever, at fault and his keen discernment enabled him to readily recognize every difficulty as well as every opportunity of a situation. Avoid- ing the former and utilizing the latter to the best possible advantage, he built up his fortunes along substantial lines, employing constructive methods, so that his path was never strewn by the wreck of other men's failures.
In the year 1895-6 Mr. Campion erccted a palatial home at No. 800 Logan street and there installed a happy family. It was on the 15th of April, 1895, in Denver, that he wedded Miss Nellie May Daly, a sister' of Thomas F. Daly, and their children are: John F., Jr., born June 26, 1896; Helen; Phyllis; and Roland, born September 12, 1901. John F. Campion, Jr., prepared for college at Exeter and left Dartmouth in his junior year for service in France, where he is a member of Company C, Three Hundred and Second Heavy Tank Battalion.
Mr. Campion was a member of various clubs, including the Denver Club, the Den- ver Athletic Club and the Denver Country Club. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Colorado Museum of Natural History, of which he was chosen presi- dent and in this connection directed one of the most interesting attractions at City Park. While engaged in mining at Breckenridge he formed the acquaintance of Pro- fessor Edwin Carter, who had made a splendid collection of the fauna of Colorado, including the bison and many other rare specimens of natural history. This most valuable group of Rocky Mountain wild animals was in danger of loss by fire, or want of attention, being stored in the cabins of the owner. Mr. Campion, assisted by Joseph A. Thatcher and others, obtained the old Carter collection, and made it the nucleus for the museum at City Park. He was also a patron of art, being president of the Municipal Art League, and that his interests extended into other lines is indicated in the fact that he was a trustee of Agnes Memorial Sanitarium. Any man of generous impulses and broad views can give money away to worthy objects, so while Mr. Cam- pion's contributions to charity and benevolence were real and creditable, his signal service was in the vigor he lent to the pioneer era in making this region habitable and in bringing its resources to light. Such careers are too near us now for their significance to be appraised at their true value, but the future will be able to trace the tremendous effects of their labors upon the society and the institutions of their time. The possibilities of high position afforded in the United States to industry and fidelity have never been better illustrated than in Mr. Campion's case. Starting out in the world without special advantages, he came to be possessed of wealth and of high social position, with a mind enriched by books and art and a constant mingling with men and women of the highest education and accomplishments. He came to be possessed of almost everything that men covet as of value and this was won through his unaided exertions. It is well, too, that so successful a life should have found time
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
for the finer things which our self-made men are so prone to overlook-aid in money and personal attention to schools, collection of rare objects of beauty from all over the world and the artistic adornment of his city and of his home. His career was an illustration of the fact which Carlyle has expressed: "The obstacles in the paths of the weak become stepping stones for the strong."
WILLIAM RILEY CALLICOTTE.
William Riley Callicotte ranks among the great men of the state and nation, and yet it is but a comparatively small circle that knows intimately how vast his labors have been in the preparation for and in the esponsal of notable reform legislation. As national delegate of the National Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union much of his time is spent in Washington. It was the farmers union committee, of which he is one of the most active members, that brought about the establishment of the Bureau of Markets; that fought side by side with others and most effectively for the parcels post, now long in operation. It was also his committee that secured the amendment to the anti-trust law exempting farmers and labor unions from its drastic provisions. The establishment of the National Children's Bureau was the work of the Farmers Bureau and other evidences of the important work performed could be cited. Mr. Callicotte is now and has for many years been vice president of the National Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union, with a membership of three million. For years he has been closely studying problems that have to do with agriculture and those engaged therein.
His early training was that of the farmbred boy. He was born upon a farm near Franklin, Johnson county, Indiana, July 12, 1847. His father was John Bailey Callicotte, while his mother bore the maiden name of Elender Thomas. The son pursued his education in the schools of Clarinda, Iowa, but at fifteen years of age entered the army, serving until he was eighteen in the Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantry and the First Missouri Engineers. As an engineer he assisted in laying the bridges for Sherman's famous march to the sea. It was when on this mission that he was among those who captured Captain Charles S. Thomas, of Georgia, now United States senator from Colorado and a close friend of Dr. Callicotte. The latter was at Shiloh, also participated in the siege of Vicksburg, was present at the capture of Atlanta and at the capture of Savannah and of Raleigh, at the battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, and at the capture of Fort McAllister. After witnessing the surrender of General Johnston to General Sherman he returned home at the age of eighteen years and after the death of his parents he reared and educated his younger brothers and sisters, three of whom are now engaged in teaching. Dr. Calli- cotte also followed the profession of teaching and in the early days supplemented his efforts in that field by acting as county surveyor. For ten years he successfully taught school in Iowa and in 1880 came to Colorado. He was for four years principal of the high school at Leadville and for six years he was city and county superintendent of schools at Aspen, Colorado. Under Governor Waite he was called to state office, serving as fish and game warden for two years, and during all this period he was likewise engaged in farming, while later he entered the business of fish culture, which he still follows. His activities in behalf of farming interests and the agriculturists of the country have been of the most far-reaching importance. In addition to his labors as vice president of the National Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union, he assisted in organizing the National Farm Federation, which includes all federated farm organizations of the United States. The headquarters are in Washington and as the representative of the organization Dr. Callicotte framed the billl "for the conservation of food and the pro- duction of live stock." This is about to become a law and will save animals to the nation by drastic measures. Approximately nine hundred thousand head of cattle now allowed to perish by the neglect of owners will be saved. This will compel stockmen to 'see that herds on storm-swept plains are more properly looked after in the future.
In state legislation Dr. Callicotte's work has been just as effective. The pure seed law and the present herd law were drafted by him. The first bill for the initiative and referendum in this state was drafted by Michael Lorenz, private secretary to Governor Waite, and Dr. Callicotte. The first great fight in this state for the Australian secret ballot was initiated by Dr. Callicotte in 1886. It will thus be seen that his studies and labors have covered a broad scope and that he has taken the initiative in bringing about many reforms which are now recognized as of great value to commonwealth and country. But the work that has been nearest to his heart is as an officer of the State Bureau of Child and Animal Protection. This position he has held for nearly fourteen years and he has traveled over the state many times seeing that the law for the physical Vol. IV-2
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
examination of school children has been properly complied with; also educating teachers in the methods of detecting defective children; seeing that parents provided for the care and cure, if possible, of defective children. He organized the first classes in moral and humane education at the Teachers College in Greeley and seven years ago the first class in this course was graduated. Prompted by the keenest interest in his fellow- men and in the welfare of every individual, he has supported all those interests which he has believed to be for the physical, mental and moral benefit of the race. His studies and researches have been most comprehensive and his labors have been promoted along scientific and humanitarian lines.
Dr. Callicotte was married in Iowa to Miss Duly A. Aiken and to them have been born the following named: Alta Pearl, now Mrs. John Funk; Maud E., now the wife of Roy D. Maxfield; Jesse D., a farmer at Carbondale; and Willard Ellen.
In the career of Dr. Callicotte may be found many of the characteristics which were manifest in his Huguenot ancestry. Fleeing first from France to England, later repre- sentatives of the family crossed the Atlantic to Virginia, thus founding the American branch. The same spirit which caused his ancestors to seek religious liberty has led Dr. Callicotte to seek liberation for all those people whose opportunities and chances are in many ways curtailed by environment, by inherited tendencies or by oppression. His labors have been largely of a constructive character, seeking not only to do away with the old but to institute new methods and measures, reaching out along continually broadening lines. The citizens of Colorado and the statesmen at Washington have come to regard him as authority upon many problems which he has presented to public attention and in many instances his advanced opinions have become crystallized in state and national legislation.
FRANK S. BYERS.
Frank S. Byers has for almost six decades been a resident of Colorado and two years ago was chosen for the honored position of president of the Society of Colorado Pioneers. A son of William N. Byers, mentioned elsewhere in this work, he was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1855, and was therefore but a little child when he came to Denver with his father on the 7th of August, 1859. During his youthful days he attended the common schools of the town, for Denver was then a western frontier village, and also worked in his father's newspaper office. In 1867-68 he car- ried the pony route of the Denver News, attending to his duties after school and was one of Denver's first news carriers. The money which he earned he saved and this he judiciously put into the cattle business with John Evans, thus launching forth upon a business line in which he later became very prominent. He afterward had the benefit of instruction in the Agricultural College at Lansing, Michigan, in 1870-71. In 1868, however, he had entered the live stock and cattle business, begin- ning by gathering cattle on the Arkansas river in connection with Governor Evans and William Dailey. He was the first settler, with stock to remain, in what is now Grand county, then a part of Summit county, where he went in June, 1874, with cattle. With the passing years he took a very prominent and active part in the development of that region. He served as county treasurer and also as commis- sioner of Grand county and he carried the first mail into the county in 1878. He aided in the organization and was the first president of the Bank of Grand County, which was the first financial institution in that civil division of the state. At the present time he is largely living retired, deriving a substantial income from well placed investments.
Mr. Byers has been married twice. In 1877 he wedded Elizabeth McQueary and for his second wife he chose Mary W. Sullivan, of New York, who was teaching in Denver, their wedding being celebrated January 1, 1885. Mr. Byers has one child, Grace, who was born in July, 1880, and is the wife of H. C. Boston, of Fort Lupton. They have become the parents of a son, Byers C. Boston.
The name of Byers from pioneer times has been most closely associated with the history of development and progress in Colorado and has ever stood as a syno- nym for that which is of value and benefit to the individual and to the community at large. Frank S. Byers has for twenty-five years been active in humane work. He succeeded his father on the board of the Humane Society and for ten years prior to that time was a volunteer agent of the society. He is now its first vice president and for the past fifteen years has been officially connected with the State
FRANK S. BYERS
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
Humane Society, taking his father's place in May, 1903. He is also a member of the State Board of Child and Animal Protection and he is continually reaching out a helping hand to alleviate the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. For six years Mr. Byers has served as a director of the Pioneers Society, has been its first vice president and in 1916 was elected to the presidency. He has a great fond- ness for horses and holds the state pole record and also most of the running race records of the track, being an active and prominent member of the Gentlemen's Driving and Riding Club.
No feature of Denver's history in its more salient points is unfamiliar to him and with many events which have contributed to its progress and upbuilding he has been closely associated. He is a worthy scion of an honored race, while his life record is measured by individual accomplishment and not hy the acts of an- cestors.
DAVID J. VAN BRADT.
Among those who are successfully practicing at the Fort Morgan har and whose ability places them in the front rank of the leading lawyers of their section of the state is numbered David J. Van Bradt, a Canadian by birth and a loyal son of his adopted country. He was born in Canada, December 10, 1872, a son of Milton and Anna (McGuire) Van Bradt, who were also natives of Canada. The father was a farmer whose ancestors came from the Mohawk valley of New York and were obliged to leave their home there at the time of the American Revolution. They went to Canada, where land was purchased. Milton Van Bradt became a farmer of that country and there carried on the work of the fields for many years, or until 1914, when he retired from active agricultural life. He now resides at York, Haldi- mand county, Canada, but in 1915 was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away in February of that year.
David J. Van Bradt was reared and educated in Canada, attending the public schools until he reached the age of twelve years, after which he worked upon his father's farm to the age of sixteen. He then determined to devote his attention to music and at eighteen years of age left home, going to Buffalo, New York, where he taught music and also worked his way through college. He likewise pursued a high school course in Buffalo and later attended the Buffalo Law School. He com- pleted his studies in the latter institution in 1896 and afterward was employed in a law office for two years. He then took up the practice of law on his own account in Buffalo and there resided until January 2, 1908, when he came to Colorado, making his way to Fort Morgan, where he entered into partnership with his brother, Irving Van Bradt, who had removed to this state in 1905. The partnership relation between them was continued until January 9, 1917, when their professional connection was dissolved, the brother having been appointed to the office of assistant attorney gen- eral. Since that time Mr. Van Bradt of this review has practiced alone and he is accorded a liberal clientage, to the interests of which he is most loyal. He has wide and comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence and is seldom if ever at fault in the application of such principles to the points in litigation. His careful analysis, the thoroughness with which he prepares his cases and the earnest- ness with which he presents his cause before the court combine to win for him most gratifying success and he is now accorded a place among the leading members of the har of this section of the state.
On the 13th of September, 1899, Mr. Van Bradt was married to Miss Odelia Bal- lard, a native of Hamburg, New York, and to them have been born four children: Milton Irving, born July 14, 1900, who, in March, 1917, volunteered in the aviation section and since then has been in the First Aero Squadron, having gone to France for active service in August, 1917; Harriet E., horn July 28, 1901; Catherine, who passed away in February, 1903; and Eimon, born February 13, 1904.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally Mr. Van Bradt is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with the Homesteaders. He also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, having membership in Lodge. No. 1143, of Fort Morgan. He and his family occupy a pleasant home at No. 916 Lincoln street which he owns, and in addition he has farming interests comprising one hundred and sixty acres of valuable farm- ing land in Morgan county. At all times he is a patriotic and loyal citizen and at
DAVID J. VAN BRADT
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
the present time he is serving as county attorney, having been appointed to the office in January, 1913, since which time he has been the incumbent in the position. He served as deputy district attorney from January, 1913, until January, 1917. He has also served as government appeal agent in the selective draft since the begin- ning of the war and has devoted at least half of his time to that work without compensation, even paying his own expenses. He is putting forth every effort in his power to advance the interests of his country in this great world struggle, actu ated by the most patriotic spirit and by the highest ideals.
HON. GEORGE CONRAD FAHRION.
Many there are who would accord to George Conrad Fahrion the place of prom- inence among the citizens of Elbert 'county. For thirty-seven years he sat upon the bench of the county court and, although a democrat, was never defeated in a county which has a normal republican majority. The record of no other county judge in the history of the state can parallel this, and the fairness and impartiality of his decisions constitute an unblemished record. Judge Fahrion was born in Leonberg, Wurtemberg, Germany, in April, 1832, and came of that fine stock of Germans who preferred to live under the flag of a free country rather than under the military rule of the fatherland. He was seventeen years of age when he came to the new world and in 1860 he made the trip by team across the plains to Colorado. Here he soon took advantage of the opportunities denied him in his native land and homesteaded some of the best land in Elbert county. He had been educated at Stuttgart, Germany, and throughout his life he remained a student of books and of events and was a close and keen observer of men and their motives. He came to Colorado when they needed men to fight for the Union cause and he soon enlisted. His service was largely along the Mexican border and he rendered valuable aid to his adopted country there. Today his widow is on the government pension roll, a tribute to his valor and honorable career as a soldier in the Civil war.
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