History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 42

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

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for himself, and was also interested in mining. In 1877, he emigrated to Leadville and en- gaged in the drug business, and also was in- terested in burning charcoal; had a large corral for stabling stock, also had an interest in a wood-yard. During these years, he has been variously associated in business, and owns some valuable claims in the Black Range, New Mexico. His ancestry is of French and German extraction. Mr. Brockman is a pleas- ant and courteous gentleman, and commands the patronage of the public. He was married at Joplin, Mo., in 1873.

ROBERT H. BUCK.

Capt. Robert H. Buck, United States Commis- sioner, was born in Bangor, Me., August 21, 1835, and removed to Boston, Mass., while very young; was educated at Amherst College and Harvard University of class of 1856, and was admitted to the bar. in Boston in 1857, and was engaged in practicing law until 1859, when he removed to St. Louis, and, upon the breaking-out of the rebellion, recruited two companies, forming the nucleus of the Sixth Missouri Volunteer Infantry; was elected Captain, and participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post, and left the service in consequence of physical disa- bility, renewing the practice of law in Boston in 1864; was sent to Gilpin City, Colo., in 1870, to take charge of important mining in- terests, and came to Leadville in March, 1879; was appointed United States Commissioner for District of Colorado in 1876, and still holds that appointment.

WILLIAM NELSON BURDICK, M. D.

Dr. William Nelson Burdick was born April 26, 1850, in Coldwater, Mich .; he received a collegiate education, graduating, in the spring of 1873, from the University of Michigan, and engaged in the practice of his profession in his native place. He came to Colorado in 1874, and, returning to Michigan, he remained there for a brief period; afterward came to Leadville, in July, 1878, and resumed the practice of his profession, and can now be classed as one of the most successful of prac- titioners in Leadville, having a large and lucrative practice. Dr. Burdick is married,

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and is recognized as a most skillful physician, and devotes his entire time to his profession.

WILLIAM K. BURCHINELL.

Mr. Burchinell, the present Receiver of the United States Land Office at Leadville, was born October 12, 1846, and received an academ- ic education in his native town. Upon the breaking-out of the war, though but a mere lad in years, he entered the army and served with distinction until the close of the war, participating in many of the hard-fought bat- tles. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature in the winter of 1872, and re- elected in 1873; in 1875, he was appointed to the office he now holds by President Grant, and was re-appointed in 1879 by President Hayes; he owns some valuable mining prop- erty in the vicinity of Leadville, which is being developed. He has filled the office he holds with ability and honor, and, being a gentleman of fine and prepossessing appear- ance, at once impresses one as a man of unus- ual character. Mr. Burchinell was married in 1872, and has one child.

CHARLES BOETTCHER.

Mr. Boettcher is one of Leadville's most successful merchants, which is due to his energy and strict attention to business, to- gether with his upright dealings with all classes of customers. He was born in Coell- eda, Germany, on the 8th of April, 1852, and attended school until the age of sixteen years. His parents emigrated to America in 1868, and located in Chicago, and after a short time removed to Cheyenne, W. T., where Charley, then but a youth, engaged in the hardware trade, commencing business for himself; after two years. sold out and went to Greeley, Colo., and from there to Fort Collins, where he started again in the hardware business, and, after a short period of one and a half years, sold out and removed to Boulder and com- menced business again. In 1879, he came to Leadville, and is now engaged in the same business, having one of the largest stocks in that line in the State; his place of business is on Harrison avenue, opposite the Clarendon Hotel; he also is a very large dealer in min- ing supplies, and has a stock estimated at

$100,000. Mr. Boettcher devotes his entire time to his large and growing business, and, although he takes great interest in all public affairs in which Leadville is interested, has no time to spare from his business to give to out- side matters. Mr. Boettcher has an abun- dance of that energy and pluck necessary to success, and has made his business what it is by his personal efforts. He was married in 1873, and has one child.

ALFRED BRISBOIS.

The subject of this sketch is the leading artist of Leadville in photography, and the work done in his gallery will compare favor- ably with that done by any other artist in Colorado or the East. Many of the portraits in this work were taken from pictures made in his gallery, and work is also done in India ink and water colors. Born in Chicago Sep- tember 6, 1853, he moved with his parents, at an early age, to Detroit, Mich., and attended the public schools until nine years of age; his parents then removed to Canada, and, after one year's sojourn, returned to Mount Clem- ens, Mich .; subsequently returned to Canada, where young Brisbois finished his education at L'Assumption College, Sandwich, Canada; he then commenced his mercantile life by en- gaging as clerk in a grocery store, where he continued for a short period; the following winter, he went to Detroit and embarked in the manufacture of mineral waters, but, it not proving as lucrative as he wished, he in a short time abandoned it, and served an apprentice- ship at the harness trade at the town of Windsor, Canada, for a period of three and a half years; he then visited nearly all the principal towns in Michigan, among which were Romeo, Saginaw, Pontiac and Ann Arbor, in search of employment, and, not meeting with much success, he served an apprentice- ship of two years at the barber's trade, learn- ing it at night, and worked at harness-making during the day, to accumulate sufficient funds to start in business for himself, and expe- rienced, during this time, many reverses, but struggled manfully through them all. He returned to Canada and commenced the study of photography, studying at such times as he could get when not working at his trade; after

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a period of about four months, he moved to Saginaw, Mich., and opened a gallery; in a very short time, he went to Ann Arbor, and continued the business for two months, then sold out and went to Detroit, where he re- mained for four months; the following spring, he came to St. Joseph, Mo., and worked at his profession for nearly two years; he then spent several months traveling, visiting the towns of Omaha, Cheyenne, Denver, and, on the 2d day of March, 1880, arrived in Leadville and started the business in which he is now en- gaged. Mr. Brisbois' life has of course been variegated with many of the shifting scenes which mark the career of the early Coloradoan; he is regarded as a man of superior nerve and business tact, and is held in high esteem by all those who have business dealings with him, and is receiving the patronage of the best citi- zens of Leadville; he is one of the proprietors of the Boston drug store, owning a half inter- est, and is also interested in some valuable mining property, and may be accepted as the leading artist of Leadville. He was married at Ann Arbor, Mich., September 6, 1881.

JAMES BRUCKMAN.

This gentleman was born in New York City in 1844, where he resided until thirteen years of age, when he came West with an older brother. He has resided in Nevada and Cal- ifornia some four or five years, where he was engaged in mining. His business afterward was such that it kept him traveling through- out the Eastern and Western States a great deal. In February, 1878, he came to Lead- ville and engaged in the furniture business. He soon afterward gave up that business to devote all of his time to mining. He is largely interested in mining, and does a gen- eral broker's business in that line.

PETER BECKER.

This gentleman was born July 28, 1848, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany; he came with his parents to this country when six years of age, and moved to Iowa City in 1856; it was there that he learned the trade of harness-maker; he afterward followed his trade at Chicago. His parents died at Iowa City. Mr. Becker came to Colorado in 1871, living a short time

at Denver, then removing to Clorado Springs; he resided there nine years, during which time he was engaged in the harness business. He was elected Sheriff of El Paso County, and held the office for two terms of two years each. He came to Leadville in February, 1879, and engaged in the harness business on West Chestnut street, where his stand still remains, with his main house located on East Fifth street; he has been interested in mining throughout the different mining dis- tricts of this State; he has made his business a success. Personally, Mr. Becker is an affable gentleman, and a general favorite among his acquaintances.

HON. GEORGE C. BATES.

Foremost among those who were first to locate at Leadville, may be classed the sup- ject of this sketch. Mr. Bates is justly enti- tled to the credit of having done more, per- haps, to promote the interests of Leadville and aid in creating the large influx of people to the new mining camp in the spring of 1879 than any other citizen. His pen por- traitures furnished to and published in the Detroit Free Press during the winter of 1878-79, were so generally read, copied in other Eastern papers, and relied upon as truthful, that they were the means of causing many to seek their fortunes here and thereby build up Leadville. Mr. Bates' nature is the very embodiment of affability, and as one of the profession of which he is a member, he is known as a gentleman of the old school of courtesy and politeness. In legal attainments he has no superior at the bar, and for force of expression and fine oratorical ability, we need no better evidence than that which has constantly followed him throughout his past life as a successful practitioner. Mr. Bates was born in Canandaigua, New York, a son of Phineas P. Bates, who was then a noted cattle raiser in that section of the country. Mr. Bates received a common school education up to the time he was twelve years of age. He after- ward attended Middlebury Academy in his State. He prepared for a more thorough col- legiate course by attending Canandaigua Academy. In September, 1828, he entered Hobart College at Geneva, New York, from

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which institution he graduated in 1831. He afterward read law in the office of John C. Spencer. In May, 1833, he left for Cleveland, where he remained but a short time, in the practice of his profession as a partner of the late. Hon. Stephan A. Douglas. Removing to Detroit and afterward to Monroe, Michi- gan, he became a pupil of Jefferson G. Thur- ber, one of his tutors at Canandaigua. In May, 1834, he was admitted to the bar of Michigan after passing a flattering examina- tion and acquitting himself with great credit. After some time spent in Chicago, he returned to Detroit, where he began to practice. In 1841, he was appointed United States District Attorney for the district of Michigan by Pres- ident Harrison. He held the office for a term of four years and prosecuted with great suc- cess hundreds, who as Federal officers, had become defaulters under Van Buren's adminis- tration. In the fall of 1848 he was nominated for Congress in the First District of Mich- igan, by the Whig party, but was defeated. In 1849, he was again appointed District Attorney, having resigned the same in 1845. In June, 1852, while in California, whither he had gone the month previous, he resigned his attorneyship of Michigan and remained some four years in California, and through his successful practice was in independent circumstances. He then returned to Detroit, where he was elected several successive years as Alderman of the First Ward of that city. In 1849, he was a delegate to the Whig Con- vention at Harrisburg, being the youngest member of that body. Mr. Bates always took an active part in politics, being originally a Whig and since a Republican. In 1861, he removed to Chicago and commenced the prac- tice of law in that city where he was eminently successful until the fire of 1871, when, in common with thousands of others, he lost everything. In November, 1871, President Grant appointed him United States District Attorney of Utah. In October, 1873, Mr. Bates became the Attorney of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints of Utah, by appointment of George A. Smith, which position he held until November, 1875. In 1877, on account of the bitter feuds exist- ing between the Mormons and Gentiles, he

removed his large library to Detroit, where he again resumed practice. For over forty years, he, has been a sucessful practitioner of law in nearly all the courts of Michigan and California.

KOSSUTH R. CASPER.

Among the promising young attorneys of Leadville is the subject of this sketch. He is the associate of William J. Sharman in the practice of his profession. He was born in Sullivan County, New York, where he received an ordinary. education until he was fifteen years of age. He afterward attended various schools away from his native home, and in 1872, graduated from the Albany Law School. He then practiced in New York City. Came to Leadville in September, 1879, where he has since been engaged in a successful law practice. He devotes a great portion of his time to mining and is the owner of several promising properties.

FRANK H. COLE.

Among the successful mine superintendents who have operated in Leadville, the name of Frank H. Cole appears. He was born in Westport, Essex Co., State of New York. He worked on a farm and attended school until he was twenty years of age. During his school days he attended the Westport Academy, under Prof. L. B. Newell. In 1867, Mr. Cole went to Troy, N. Y., where he accepted a clerkship in the post office department in the city. He held various positions up to that of Assistant Postmaster. Mr. Cole was connected with the office for eight years. Gen. Alonzo Alden was Postmaster -- he, who was the hero of Fort Fisher. It is true of him that at the time of the attack, he was leading his command when his horse was shot under him, and at the same time his color bearer was killed. The General caught up the standard and dashed forward to the fort, calling upon his men to follow him. The General is a relative of Mr. Cole. In January, 1874, Mr. C. went to Boulder Co., Colo., locating at Ned- erland in connection with the old Caribou Mill and Mining Company. He took charge of the chlorination department, and soon afterward the amalgamation and smelting department, and subsequently took charge of

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all the assaying for the company. He was with the firm four years. At the expiration of this time Mr. Cole went to Rosita, under Prof. P. H. Van Diest, and started the Penn. Reduction Works, where he remained one year. Here his health failed, and he was obliged to abandon his occupation. Mr. Cole returned to Boulder, where he regained his health. During this time he was engaged with the Caribou Lixiviation Works in connec- tion with the Native Silver Mining Company, located in Caribou, Boulder Co. In 1879, he went to Leadville where he accepted the position of Assayer of the Highland Chief Consolidated Mining Company, with whom he remained until the great strike among the miners in June, 1880. Soon afterward he was engaged by the Glass-Pendery Consoli- dated Mining Company as Assayer and book- keeper. He had hardly entered upon his duties when he was appointed to and accepted the position of Superintendent of the com- pany. Mr. C. has filled the office of Superin- tendent to the entire satisfaction of his em- ployers. The mine has greatly improved under his management. Mr. Cole was mar- ried, August 30, 1878, to Miss R. Marcella Ladd, of Central City, Colo.

JOHN CURRAN.

John Curran was born in Center Co., Penn., in 1846; when quite young he removed with his parents to Iowa, where he lived until 1862, engaged while there in farming. In 1862, he removed to St. Joseph, Mo., living there until 1866, when he came to Denver, Colo., and worked for George Tritch. He also worked on the Union Pacific Railroad, and spent sev- eral seasons in the San Juan country mining. In July, 1878, he came to Leadville and engaged in mining and speculations. In the spring of 1880 he was elected an Alderman of the city of Leadville from the Fourth Ward.

J. N. CHIPLEY.

Dr. J. N. Chipley is a Dentist by profes- sion: he was born in Shelbyville, Mo., in 1855, receiving a common school education. In 1873, he came to Colorado and settled in Denver, where he entered the dental office of Dr. Smedley, remaining with him three years.

He afterward attended the Dental College of Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1877. Returning to this State he practiced in Den- ver and Fairplay, coming to Leadville in January, 1878. Since then he has practiced dentistry here. He was the first Coroner of Leadville, and at the spring election of 1881 he was elected Alderman from the Third Ward. He has dealt largely in mines and in most instances with success.

MEREDITH B. CAMPLIN.

Mr. Camplin is the youngest attorney of the Leadville bar, he is a gentleman of rare talent and much promise. At present he is devoting all his time to mining. He is the Manager of the Liverpool and Globe Mines in the Cottonwood District, Chaffee County, out of which mines daily shipments of rich ore are being made. He has vast and valu- able mining interests in different portions of Colorado, all of which bid fair to make him one of our rich men. He was born at Chilli- cothe, Daviess Co., Mo., in 1858. When thir- teen years old he accompanied his parents to Abilene, Kan., and one year later he moved to the Solomon Valley, where his father was a large cattle raiser and wheat grower. Young Camplin here kept a grocery store. He here devoted his spare moments to the study of law. After five years, he moved with an older brother to Nederland, Boulder Co., Colo., and acted as Assistant Postmaster. He soon afterward assumed the management and editorship of the Colorado Banner at Boulder, and afterward ran a wholesale and retail grocery business in partership with his broth- ers, afterward branching out in the same business for himself at Ward, Boulder Co. That place was then a thriving mining camp. After selling out his business he applied him- self strictly to reading law, and was after- ward admitted to the bar in Denver. At Leadville, he was a member of the law firm of Berkly, Shackleford & Camplin. After eight months, the partnership was dissolved and he commenced practice for himself. During the winter of 1880-81 he was Assistant Prose- cuting Attorney. He married a daughter of Col. E. H. Gruber on the 28th of July, 1880. The Democratic State Convention of 1880

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nominated Mr. Camplin for Regent of the University, but he declined.

JOSEPH C. CRAMER.

Mr. Cramer is General Manager and Super- intendent of Chloride Plumbing Company; also Vice President, Superintendent and Man- ager of the Leadville Water Company, and is one of the most public spirited and wide awake young men of Leadville, and to his foresight is mainly due the splendid system of water works now in use. He came to Lead- ville when there were scarcely fifty houses in the camp. Was present when initiatory steps were taken to incorporate the town, and was at the meeting when the name was pro- posed. He was elected to the Town Board; held the office of Town Clerk and Recorder, and resigned that position to become one of the owners of the Water Works. He was born February 14, 1844, in Westmoreland Co., Penn., and ran away from home when not quite eighteen years of age, enlisting as a private soldier in the 139th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and participated in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac until May, 1864. During the hard fought battles of the Wilderness was severely wounded in the right sboulder, the ball still remaining under the shoulder blade. Was then consigned to the Veteran Reserve Corps at Washington, D. C., and the remainder of his term he served on the staff of Gen. Augur; was appointed by the Smithsonian Institute one of the Corps of Naturalists and Taxider- mists, and visited South America twice in the interests of science. After this honorable service Mr. Cramer emigrated to the Black Hills, being one of the early pioneers from there to California, where he spent several years engaged in mining. While in the Black Hills country he was wounded by a poisoned arrow shot by a hostile Indian, the scar of which can yet be plainly seen. Mr. Cramer takes an active interest in public affairs, is a prominent officer of Chloride Lodge, No. 31, and of Lake Encampment I. O. O. F. The exclusive water privilege for twenty years is a bonanza itself, and his one- third interest affords a handsome revenue, almost equal to that of a carbonate mine.

He is yet a young man-unmarried and is well known as a genial, pleasant gentleman, emphatically a self-made man with an abund- ant supply of that energy, enterprise and business sagacity necessary for success in this wide-awake Western country.

THOMAS T. CORNFORTH.

Among the number of pioneers who still reside in Colorado and who have passed through the hardships of pioneer life, is T. T. Cornforth, who was born in Macclesfield, England, in June, 1843. At the age of fif- teen years he came with his parents to America and settled in Sumner, Kan., where he embarked in mercantile pursuits. In 1861, he engaged in freighting merchandise across the plains from Atchison, Leavenworth and other points on the Missouri River to Denver, which business he continued until the spring of 1867. He then moved to Cheyenne, Wyo- ming Territory, and started a general store, which he soon sold out and opened success- ively stores on the Union Pacific Railroad, at Benton, Bryan and Wasatch, and continued them until the completion of that road. He then engaged in merchandising and mining at Sweetwater, Wyoming Territory, and con- tinued there until 1872, meeting with varied success, finally sold out and returned to Chey- enne, and became interested in Government contracts for furnishing supplies to Fort Russell. In the spring of 1874, removed to Denver, afterward removed to Georgetown and engaged there in merchandising, but his health failing he sold out and traveled in the Eastern States until he had partly recovered. In December, 1876, he moved to Deadwood, Black Hills, and commenced milling, mining and hauling ore, engaging in several enter- prises, together with running a general store, and remained there conducting these various schemes when the great fire of September 26, 1879, occurred, burning out his store by which he sustained heavy loss. He immediately rebuilt the building and re-opened his store, selling out in October, 1880. He came to Leadville and opened a store in which he is still engaged, and is meeting with some suc- cess, and is also interested in mining and milling. Mr. Cornforth is an expert in min-

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ing and has visited nearly every mining camp from the Yellowstone Valley to Sante Fe, and has had considerable experience in the hard- ships and dangers attached to an active life on the frontier. During the freighting expe- riences from 1863 to 1866, he and his party of frieghters were several times attacked by the hostile Sioux Indians, but always managed to drive them off without any severe loss of lives or property. He was married in Pittsfield, ·State of Maine, July 16, 1868, to a popular and cultivated lady, a daughter of Hon. Nel- son Vickery.

ISAAC W. CHATFIELD.

That success in life is not wholly a creation of circumstances but of that inherent power and natural ability to seize upon circum- stances and turn them to advantageous account which is denominated "tact," but in some people amounts almost to genius, is exemplified in the history of the above-named gentleman. Born at Dayton, Ohio, August 11, 1836, he spent his early life on a farm in his native county, and Mason Co., III., and received the educational advantages afforded by the public schools. The years of 1861-62 he served in the late war, holding the office of First Lieutenant. He came to .Colorado in 1863 and located in Fremont County, where he engaged in farming and stock raising for seven years. He then removed to Arapahoe County, and settled near Littleton on a farm, where. he resided for nine years. This farm, consisting of 720 acres, is still owned by Mr. Chatfield, and is conceded to be one of the best in Arapahoe County, and also in the State. He came to Leadville in the fall of 1879, and embarked in the mercantile business in connection with mining and railroad contracting, having been very successful in the several branches of his business. Mr. Chatfield owns one-fourth interest in "Smuggler Mine No. 2," an inter- est in "Late Acquisition," and interests in several other valuable mining properties. He is the owner of much valuable real estate in Leadville, of which might be mentioned the post office building, in which he owns a one half interest. He is a member of the present City Council and at one time filled the office

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 42

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080