USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume IV > Part 77
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On the 11th of August, 1903, Mr. Knaus was married to Miss Katie Green and they have five children: Earl C., born February 21, 1905; Maxine P., November 1, 1906; Mildred L., December 11, 1908; Helen V., December 10, 1910; and Glenn E., January 6, 1912.
Mr. and Mrs. Knaus are very popular in the social circles of their neighborhood and have many friends here. A progressive agriculturist, a forceful and resourceful business man, Mr. Knaus has undoubtedly a prosperous future before him. He has ever been interested in public issues but is not a politician in the commonly accepted sense of the word, preferring to give his whole attention to his private affairs. His political persuasion is that of the democratic party. The name of the family has long been an honored one in the vicinity and Mr. Knaus of this review keeps up the tradi- tion of the reputation the family enjoys. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern
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Woodmen of America and belongs to the Grange, taking particular interest in the lat- ter institution. As a native Coloradoan he is proud of the achievements of his state and is particularly interested in his closer home neighborhood-Boulder county and the vicinity of Niwot. By developing a valuable agricultural enterprise of his own he is contributing toward the growth of his region and is not only acquiring an individual fortune but building up farm interests generally.
JAMES C. BURGER.
James C. Burger, president of The Hamilton National Bank of Denver, was born in New York city, November 21, 1866, a son of James and Elizabeth (Nicol) Burger, who were likewise natives of the eastern metropolis. In the paternal line James C. Burger is directly descended from settlers of Holland origin who established their home in New Amsterdam. His father was connected with the house of Maitland, Phillips & Company, bankers and coffee importing merchants of New York city, where he passed away in 1876, at the age of forty-two years. The mother removed to Pasadena, Cali- fornia, a number of years ago and there her death occurred in 1914, when she was seventy-five years of age. There were five children in the family: Charles R. Burger, who is now civil service commissioner in the state of California and has his home in Pasadena; William B., who lives in Los Angeles; Lester E., who has for years been with the Engineers' Corps in the service of the United States in connection with the Panama Canal; Robert R., who has passed away; and James C., who was the second in order of birth.
The last named was educated at Trinity in New York city and was a member of the old Trinity Church boys' choir during his youthful days, his family having been attendants at that church for many years. He entered business in the financial dis- trict of New York city and in 1894 removed to Denver, where he has since resided. He became president of the Union Deposit & Trust Company of Denver in 1907 and in 1910 became cashier of The Hamilton National Bank, of which institution he is now president. He is also identified with other financial institutions of the state, being now president of the First State Bank of Calhan, Colorado. and of the First National Bank of Center, Colorado. He is also a director of the First National Bank of Monte Vista, Colorado, of the Union Deposit & Trust Company of Denver and of other financial and business institutions.
On the 13th of September, 1888, Mr. Burger was married to Edith M. Brown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown, of Staten Island, New York.
Mr. Burger gives his political allegiance to the republican party and was a mem- ber of the state senate of Colorado from 1907 until 1911. He is a well known figure in Masonic circles, being a thirty-second degree Mason and past commander of the Knights Templar commandery, a past potentate of the Colorado Temple of the Mystic Shrine and imperial marshal of the order at the present time. He is a member of all the prominent clubs in the city of Denver and also of the Civic and Commercial Association.
NIMROD M. HENRY.
Nimrod M. Henry, president of the Niwot State Bank, vice president of the Niwot Alfalfa Milling Company and president of the Niwot Creamery Company, is thus prom- inently and extensively identified with important business interests of Boulder county, where for many years he was actively engaged in farming and stock raising. His well directed activity in the field of business has made him one of the substantial citizens of his part of the state. He was born in Indiana, August 29, 1847, a son of Thomas S. and Phoebe (Brown) Henry, both of whom were natives of Virginia, whence they removed to Indiana in 1846, settling on a farm, where they lived for four years. In 1850 they removed to Mahaska county, Iowa, where they took up their abode upon a farm, spending their remaining days upon that place. They had a family of nine children, six of whom are living.
Nimrod M. Henry was reared in Iowa, pursuing his education in public schools of that state, and in 1865, when a youth of less than eighteen years, he made his way to Denver. Soon afterward he secured employment as a farm hand and in 1870 began farming on his own account in Boulder county. For many years he has been
NIMROD M. HENRY
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closely and prominently identified with agricultural interests in his section of the state and while he is now leaving the active work of the farm to others, he is still the owner of six hundred and forty acres of splendidly improved land, of which four hundred acres is under the ditch. He was also engaged in stock raising until he retired. Into other fields he has extended his efforts with good results. He became one of the organizers of the Niwot State Bank, which was established in 1909, and from the beginning he has served as its president. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers National Bank of Longmont and was elected to the vice presidency of the Niwot Alfalfa Milling Company and to the presidency of the Niwot Creamery Com- pany. The different enterprises with which he is connected have profited by his sound judgment and keen discrimination.
In 1873 Mr. Henry was married to Miss Melissa Linson, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Jesse Linson, who has passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Henry have become the parents of six children: Estella, the wife of Charles Woodcock, a resident farmer of Boulder county; Luella V., who is a graduate of the Normal School at Greeley and of the University at Boulder and is now teaching; Cordie D., the wife of Frank Clif- ford; Horace H., living upon his father's farm; Jessie, the wife of Edward Chatfield, of Sulphur Springs, Colorado; and Grover C., who is engaged in the drug business at Sulphur Springs.
In his political views Mr. Henry has always been a democrat but not an office seeker. He has served, however, on the school board and the cause of public educa- tion finds in him a most stalwart champion. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has filled all of the chairs, and he likewise has mem- bership in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His wife belongs to the Rebekahs, the woman's auxiliary of the Odd Fellows' society, and she has filled all of the offices in that organization. Mr. and Mrs. Henry are self-made people who are now reaping the benefits of their earnest toil. He started out in business life empty-handed, but he early realized that industry constitutes the key that enables one to throw wide open the portals of success. His life therefore has been a most busy one and in the capable management of his affairs he has gained a place among the prosperous resi- dents of Boulder county. Moveover, the course which he has followed has always commended him to the confidence, respect and goodwill of all and he has a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance in this part of the state.
HENRY ARTHUR HOPKINS.
Among the active, well known residents of Colorado, who have had part in the development of the state, is Henry Arthur Hopkins, who though born in the state of Kansas, April 13, 1867, has spent the greater part of his life in Colorado, having been brought to this state when a lad of but seven years by his parents, Ira K. and Martha E. (Suggs) Hopkins.
Ira K. Hopkins resided for many years in Mattoon, Illinois, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, the while he was also known as an expert horse-shoer and wagon smith. He served with distinction as a member of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry during the Civil war, participating in all of the various campaigns and engagements of that organization. Following the close of the war, he located in Kansas and there had part in the development of the then new state. In 1874, he came with his family to Colorado and here became numbered among those sturdy men who braved the dangers of a frontier community in the reclamation of the wilderness. The long trip across the plains had been made by wagon and by the time Denver was reached, the scanty cash capital had been exhausted almost to the last penny, and the father cast about for some means of earning a livelihood for himself and family. The country was new at that time, and about the only means of employment were such as were afforded by nature in a sparsely settled community. However these determined settlers of the early '70s, and before, were not to be dismayed by ordinary difficulties. They had come prepared to meet and overcome privations and the greater the sacrifice, the greater was to be their reward in the winning of a state.
The first location of the Hopkins family in Colorado was at Arvada, on Ralston . creek. Having established a domicile, the father husied himself cutting wood which he hauled to Denver, where it found ready sale, though it must be said that the price was low, barely affording a decent wage for the time and labor invested. However, it helped to tide over the winter until a more profitable opening could be found.
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Mr. Hopkins later found employment in Golden, where he worked for seventy-five cents a day. However, the requirements of those early pioneers were limited to the meager necessities of a humble existence and they were able to prosper, even under such adverse conditions. In later years, Mr. Hopkins engaged in market gardening, also in farming, and hecame widely and favorably known among the early settlers. He is now living retired in California, at the ripe age of eighty-two years. The wife and mother passed to her final rest in 1916, aged eighty years.
Henry A. Hopkins came with his parents to Colorado in 1874, and recalls with much pleasure the impressions made upon his youthful mind and imagination by the long journey overland when the buffalo were plentiful and Indians were looked for on every hand. He shared in the privations of the new country, and his opportunities of every kind were limited to those common to the boys of the period. His educational advantages were those of the district school. which he attended during the winter, and at such other times as the hard work would permit. He remained with his parents, assisting in the support of the family, until he had attained the age of twenty-four. He then started out for himself, leasing a farm in Adams county, then Arapahoe county, and began the career which has made him one of the best known and most extensive farmers and ranchers of this section of the state. He is now the owner of a section of valuable land, near Eastlake and, in addition thereto, he is conducting active farm- ing operations on large tracts of leased land, making a specialty of dry farming, in which he has won not only marked financial success, but also recognition as one of the foremost exponents of dry farming in Colorado. His entire life has been an active one, and the success which he has achieved, has come as the result of untiring energy, coupled with a keen discrimination and business sagacity which has won deserving recognition among those who know him well.
In political matters, Mr. Hopkins is a republican, though he has never sought office, and reserves to himself the right to disregard the party label, when the interests of the community demand. Fraternally, he is a member of Brighton Lodge, No. 78, A. F. & A. M., while he has also attained the thirty-second grade in Colorado Consistory, Scottish Rite Masons. He also holds membership in El Jebel Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
On January 5, 1892, Mr. Hopkins was united in marriage with Miss Alice E. Johns, a native of Denver and a daughter of John and Catherine Johns, who were also num- bered among the pioneers of Colorado. John Johns came first to Denver in 1859, when he brought freight from Omaha, driving an ox team across the plains. He continued as a freighter, making numerous trips between Denver and Omaha, until he enlisted in the Union service, and was assigned to service on the gunboat squad- ron which did such effective service on the Mississippi during the Civil war. He married Catherine E. Cahill, and they came to Denver in 1868, establishing there, a permanent home. Mr. Johns became one of the early contractors and builders of the city, and his death occurred in Denver, in 1909, at the age of sixty-nine years. Mrs. Johns died in 1904, aged fifty-five years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins have been born three children, Earl H., Faye Marie and Gladys E.
JOHN W. MADDEN.
John W. Madden, who is engaged in farming and stock raising near Niwot, in Boulder county, was born in Scott county, Iowa, November 11, 1868, a son of Henry and Lucy (Van Cleaf) Madden. The father was born in England, while the mother's birth occurred in New Jersey. At an early period in the development of Iowa they hecame residents of that state and afterward removed to Nebraska, where their remaining days were spent. They had a family of thirteen children, eleven of whom reached adult age.
John W. Madden was reared and educated in Iowa and in 1890 came to Colorado, settling in Boulder county. He was married in the year 1894 to Miss Katie Budd, who was born upon the farm where she and her husband now reside. She is a daughter of Sylvanus and Rebecca (Severns) Budd, both of whom were natives of Ohio. The for- mer came to Colorado in 1860 and took up the present Madden farm as a homestead claim from the government. He built thereon a log cabin covered with a dirt roof and continued to occupy that primitive home until 1870, when he was married and huilt a frame house upon his place. In 1861 he had responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting for service in the Civil war. He remained with his regiment until
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1863 and was then mustered out, after which he returned to his farm. He and his devoted wife experienced all the hardships and privations of the early pioneers and stoutly set themselves to the task of transforming their wild tract into productive fields. As old settlers of their district they were greatly honored by all who knew them. Moreover, Mr. Budd ever took a most laudable interest in the progress and development of his district, which was recognized by his fellow citizens in his election to the house of representatives, in which he served in the year 1889, taking good care of the inter- ests of his constituents and thus rewarding the trust and confidence which they had reposed in him. His remaining days were given to agricultural and stockraising pur- suits and he and his wife continued for many years upon what is now the Madden farm, in Boulder county. They had a family of three daughters.
Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Madden lived upon an eighty-acre tract of land in Boulder county, to which he added many modern improvements. They occu- pied that place for twelve years, at the end of which time he sold the property and acquired the old Budd homestead of three hundred and eighty-five acres. Partly the property came to Mrs. Madden from her parents. This is all improved with fine build- ings and is all well irrigated. Mr. Madden gives his attention to general agriculture and is successfully engaged in the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to soil and climate. The farm presents a neat and thrifty appearance, indicating the careful super- vision of a practical and progressive owner.
To Mr. and Mrs. Madden have been born six children: Mary R., the wife of Rus- sell Johnson, now a resident of Nebraska; Sylvanus B., a student in high school; Lucy V. and Elizabeth, also attending high school; Henry W., who has passed away; and Eva G.
Mr. Madden belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also to the Wood- men of the World and to the Grange and his wife is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party. He has never filled political office but has served as a member of the school board and at all times his aid and influence can be counted upon to further progressive plans and measures for the general good.
WILLIAM H. TURNER.
William H. Turner, living on section 11, township 4. range 69, west, in Larimer county, was born at Red Oak, Iowa, July 4, 1867, a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Searcy) Turner, who were natives of Virginia and Kentucky respectively. After residing for a short time in Iowa they came to Colorado, casting in their lot among the pioneer settlers. They are mentioned at length on another page of this work.
William H. Turner was reared and educated in Larimer county save that he spent a short time at Sunshine, Boulder county. He remained upon the home farm with his parents until he had attained his majority and he rode the range as a cowboy for years. He also tried mining but finally drifted into farming and rented his present home place for two years. During that time he carefully saved his earnings until his industry and economic expenditure had brought him a sufficient sum to enable him to purchase the property. This he did in 1902, and he is today the owner of three hundred and twenty acres pleasantly and conveniently situated a mile and a half north of Berthoud. He has greatly improved the place, which is now in fine shape and is one of the excellent farm properties between Denver and Cheyenne. He has continu- ously cultivated the land and has made a business of feeding cattle, generally feeding one hundred head per year and one thousand head of sheep. He has also always raised a good many horses and is still engaged in raising Norman horses. In fact all branches of his business have been carefully and successfully conducted and he is now one of the prosperous ranchmen of this part of the state. He likewise owns a third interest in a half section of land in Weld county which his brother cultivates and he has seventeen acres of land in the town of Berthoud.
On the 30th of September, 1896, Mr. Turner was united in marriage to Miss Otie Kirby and to them were born five children: Gerald, Rebecca, William P., Louise, and Lloyd. Gerald is now with the United States army at Mare Island, California. The wife and mother passed away November 8, 1907, and on the 22d of July, 1908, Mr. Turner wedded Mary Bramhall, by whom he had one son, Joseph B., who died in infancy.
Mr. Turner is a member of the Masonic fraternity, also the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World and the Loyal Order of Moose. He likewise has membership in the Farmers'
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM H. TURNER
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Union er Educational Association and politically he maintains an independent course. His religious faith is that of the United Brethren church, while his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church. They are highly esteemed in the community and Mr. Turner is regarded as one of the prominent and representative farmers who in all busi- ness relations has been enterprising and progressive, so that he has won a substantial measure of success, while the sterling traits of his character have gained for him the warm personal regard of those with whom he has been associated.
DEWERT E. YOUNG.
The growth and development of any commonwealth is hut a reflection of the character of those men and women who had part in its building, and indicate the stern determination of purpose, the courage and industry, necessary on the part of those who faced the dangers and privations of a frontier country. Among those who have had part in the winning of the Centennial state, and who have been witness to its transformation from a wilderness, is Dewert E. Young, now a resident of Adams county.
Mr. Young is a native of the Empire state, having been born in Bath, Steuben county, New York, on the 15th of October, 1846. He grew to manhood in his native state, sharing in the excellent educational advantages afforded the youth of that section. and being reared upon the farm he acquired an early knowledge of agriculture as practiced in that older settled community. It was in 1876, that he bade adieu to friends, family and native state, and started for the west to seek health and fortune in the Rocky Mountain country. Arriving in Denver, he sought that opening which best combined opportunity with the out-door life necessary to the restoration of his failing health, and accepted a position as a sheep herder, in Elbert county, at a salary of twenty dollars per month. However, in looking back over the past, Mr. Young clearly recognizes the fact that it is not so much by a monetary standard, that his greatest reward can be measured, for not only was his health fully restored, but he also acquired first-hand information and knowledge of the sheep industry, which he soon put to practical and valuable use, for not many years had passed until the humble herder had become one of the best known and most extensive sheep growers in the western country. Within a year of his arrival in Colorado, he began acquiring a herd of his own. Beginning in a small way, with a few head, he added thereto until, even- tually, he had in his herds as many as eighteen thousand animals, and was supplying to the market as high as one hundred thousand pounds of wool a year. To care for and attend his sheep required the services of from twenty-five to thirty employes, though at no time did he relinquish the direct management of his affairs, the rapid and substantial growth of which, bespoke shrewd business judgment coupled with that degree of executive ability which revels in the achievement of high ideals.
About the year 1886 in addition to his extensive sheep raising, Mr. Young embarked in the meat supply industry hy organizing the house of Young Brothers, his brother, John V., being associated with him in the enterprise. A wholesale business exclu- sively was conducted by them, limited entirely to the handling and marketing of mut- ton and lambs, and was continued until 1911, having become, in the meanwhile, one of the largest in the west.
Mr. Young now makes his home upon his splendid ranch of three hundred and twenty acres, near Henderson, and which under his supervision, has been transformed into one of the finest farms in the state, splendidly improved with every modern equipment and device for scientific cultivation, as well as with handsome and com- modious buildings.
In 1895, Mr. Young wedded Miss Carrie E. Swan, who was born in Sturgis, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and has been a resident of Colorado since 1882, at which time she accompanied her parents, when they took up their ahode in Denver. Like her husband, Mrs. Young has also had active part in the upbuilding of the state, and will leave upon its records the imprint of her genius and character. After having laid the foundation for her education in the public schools of her native place, she became a student in Kalamazoo College, at the age of eighteen years, and there she pursued a thorough course of general study. Having a marked talent for art, she decided to make this her life work and pursued her studies at Cooper Institute, New York, and also at the Philadelphia Art School in Philadelphia. Soon afterwards came the migration to the west and within a week of her arrival in Denver she had opened an art studio and entered actively into her art work. Her skill soon brought her fame
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and many pupils and for years she was numbered among the leaders in art circles in the capital city, while in her home today, may be seen splendid and charming speci- mens of her personal work-studies from nature, comprising both still and animal life, appealing alike to the taste of the layman and the judgment of the connoisseur. Her activities in Colorado also present the unusual combination of the artistic tem- perament with keen business judgment, fer in conjunction with her art work and while conducting her studio in Denver, Mrs. Young homesteaded on four hundred and eighty acres of land fourteen miles north of the city, upon which she erected a seven room dwelling, built fences. stocked and generally improved the farm, thus adding in a substantial way to the material as well as to the educational advancement of the state. She has also taken active part in woman's work, and is a member of the Woman's Club and the Baptist church of Denver.
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