History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 47

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

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HON. H. W. LAKE.

This gentleman was born in the town of Tully, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Sept. 25, 1832, and remained on a farm with his parents until he attained the age of nineteen years; he was the eldest of four children, and attended the district school in the winter and worked on the farm during the summer, and finished his education at Homer Academy, afterward teach- ing at that institution for a brief period. In the fall of 1855, he came to Omaha, Neb., with a younger brother, when there were but a few houses in that town, and removed, in a

short time, to the present town of Brownville, Neb., and engaged in the real estate and lum- ber business; purchased one-fourth of the town site and assisted in laying out the town, and erected a saw-mill and ran it for six years; afterward came to Gilpin Co., Colo, in 1860, crossing the plains in a private convey- ance with his family, stopping at Black Hawk, and engaged in mining and milling for a pe- riod of sixteen years; was elected to the first State Legislature of Colorado. In the fall of 1868, he sold out his interest at Black Hawk and removed to Leadville, purchasing one- fourth interest in the Water Company ; subse- quently became one-third owner, and is Sec- retary and Treasurer of that corporation. Mr. Lake gives his entire attention to that busi- ness, and performs an amount of labor that would break down a man of less hardy consti- tution. Mr. Lake is married, and has two children-a son, grown, who assists his father in the arduous duties pertaining to the Water Company. Mr. Lake attends quietly to his own business affairs, never seeking for notoriety nor caring for official honors, and his success in life demonstrates the wisdom of his course.

LOUIS C. LEONARD.

L. C. Leonard was born at Strongsville, Ohio, June 14, 1857; received his education at the high schools of Lockport, N. Y .; after finishing school, was connected with his uncle in the mercantile business in New York and Philadelphia until 1874, when he went to Louisville, Ky., to take a position in the larg- est lead and oil manufactory there. In Sep- temher, 1876, he accepted a position with Dan- iels, Fisher & Co., of Denver, as book-keeper in their wholesale house, where he remained until June, 1878, when he received a call from H. A. W. Tabor to come to Leadville and take charge of his books in his general store, which was accepted; in February, 1879, he was made Private Secretary to Hon. H. A. W. Tabor, and placed in charge of the books and finances of Borden, Tabor & Co. (now the Chryso- lite Consolidation). In October of the same year, Mr. Tabor's business increasing to such an extent that his entire attention was given to his private interests until July, 1880, when active work was commenced on the Governor's

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Matchless Mine, when he was also appointed General Manager of this property, which, since this time, has proven the largest bonan- za Mr. Tabor has ever had. Mr. Leonard to- day fills the greatest position of trust and re- sponsibility of any young man in the State; during his residence here, Mr. Leonard has held the position of Deputy County Treas- urer; was the First Assistant Chief of the Fire Department, having held the position for two years; and we also see his name prom- inently connected with the Leadville Stock and Mining Exchange, and several prominent mining interests of the State, having made a nice little fortune in his mining interests and "stock deals." Mr. Leonard was married December 8, 1880, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss Anna M. Burkhardt, of Louisville, Ky. Surely, there is no future brighter than that of Mr. Leonard, the youngest mine manager in Colo- rado.

CHARLES LEITZMANN.

Mr. Leitzmann was born in Erfurt, Russia, in February, 1838; he emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of fourteen years, and settled in Milwaukee, Wis .; he learned the trade of blacksmithing in his father's shop, and, at the age of twenty years, started out for himself, spending the first few years in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas; he crossed the plains with an ox team to Colorado in the spring of 1860; he located in Gilpin County, where he worked at his trade and engaged in mining; in 1863, he opened a large shop in Black Hawk, with A. W. Dow & Co .; during the time he lived in Black Hawk, he held the office of City Treas- urer two terms, and that of Alderman one term. He came to Leadville in March, 1879, and opened a larger shop, having since added another in an opposite part of the city; he made the first wagon manufactured in Colo- rado. Mr. Leitzmann has spent a vast deal of time and money prospecting, but unsuccess- fully. He was married, in 1865, to Miss Rosa Fuerst, of Nebraska, and has a son and daugh- ter, aged respectively fourteen and twelve years.

NIELS LARSEN.

Niels Larsen is a native of Denmark; was born near Copenhagen in April, 1841; he re-

ceived a common-school education and learned the blacksmith's trade in his native country, and came to the United States in 1864; he spent one year in Michigan, working at his trade and in the machine-shops at Grand Rapids; he then came to Colorado; he worked a time at his trade in Golden, then went to Central City; from this time on, he has de- voted his time to prospecting-first in Clear Creek County, meeting with moderate success. He came to Leadville in May, 1878; here he discovered the Highland Chief and made some good investments; he received $125,000 as his share from one of his first sales, i. e., the Shamus O'Brien Mine. Mr. Larsen sent ten men, fully armed and equipped for prospect- ing, to the Ute Reservation in the summer of 1880, where they located some claims which have proven to be very valuable, for one of which he was offered $30,000 a short time ago. Mr. Larsen is considered one of the leading mining men of Leadville, and is largely inter- ested in various other enterprises, among which may be mentioned the Leadville Abstract Office. He was married, in July, 1880, to Miss Jennie Gransbury, of New York State. Mr. Larsen is now operating the Big Chief Mine, one of Leadville's leading mining properties.

THOMAS J. LAWS.

T. J. Laws was born September 12, 1840, in the State of Indiana; he was educated at, Eureka College, in Illinois. In 1862, he en- listed in the Seventieth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, in which he served six months. In 1864, he came to Colorado and engaged in farming and stock-raising, subsequently engaging in the livery business at Longmont for five years, during which time he filled the office of Town Clerk of Longmont for two years. In 1878, he removed to Leadville, where he still re- mains engaged in mining and freighting. He was married, in 1871, to Miss Mattie Manners, daughter of Judge Manners, of Longmont; has one child, a son, eight years old.

JOHN LAW, M. D.

Eminent in the ranks of the medical pro- fession of Leadville may justly be named the subject of this sketch; since his advent here, he has had an extended and lucrative practice,

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which he acquired by his acknowledged skill and ability; there is no physician who is less pretentious and assuming than Dr. Law, but his constant and untiring labors in his call- ing entitle him to great praise. He was born at Burlington, Iowa, in 1844, shortly afterward removing, with his parents, to Northern Illi- nois, near Galena; his parents still reside in that State, where his father is an able and re- spected medical practitioner. In 1864, he went to Idaho Territory, where he remained about two years; he then returned home and studied medicine with his father; in the fall of 1866, he entered the Chicago Medical Col- lege, graduating from there in the spring of 1868; he remained and practiced medicine there until 1871, when he came West and settled at Alma, in Park County; he there engaged in mining for a year or so, and then commenced to practice his profession. He came to Lead- ville in the spring of 1878, where he has since remained; he has held many offices of trust, with honor and credit to himself; he was a Trustee of Alma for several years, Superin- tendent of Schools, Justice of the Peace, and Judge of the County Court, which office he resigned on coming to Leadville. In the fall of 1879, he was elected Coroner of Lake County, which office he still holds. The Doc- tor has always been a Republican, and takes an active part in politics without regard for personal reward; he is largely interested in min- ing, and is the owner of some very rich prop- erty; what spare time he finds outside of his medical duties he devotes to mining.

CHARLES J. MOORE.

Mr. Moore was born in Lancashire, En- gland, in 1848, where he received his educa- tion as a civil and mining engineer. At the age of seventeen, he made a voyage around the world, visiting the Australian gold mines en route. Mr. Moore came to America in 1871. Since that time, he has been constantly in active engineering occupations in various portions of the United States, in railroads, mines, bridges, and many other responsible operations requiring skill and ability; this work has been performed in the States of New York New Jersey, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico, creditably and suc-

cessfully. Mr. Moore first visited Colorado in January, 1872, as Engineer to an Emigration and Settlement Company owning a large tract of land in the San Luis Park, in the southern part of Colorado, and northern portion of New Mexico; at the end of 1872, he returned to New York and engaged in general engineer- ing practice, coming back to Colorado from the State of Iowa, and settling in Leadville in April, 1879. Mr. Moore holds a commission as United States Deputy Mineral Surveyor, and is considered one of the ablest members of that corps. He has done a large amount of business in surveying for United States pat- ents, and examining and reporting on mines and mineral properties for interested pur- chasers in the Eastern States. Mr. Moore has a strong faith in the permanency of the mineral deposit in the Rocky Mountains; he is President of one promising mining com- pany, a Director in another, and interested in several good mining properties in Lake County, the result of careful investigation and development on his part. When Mr. Moore took up his residence, in the early days of Leadville, he did not leave his æsthetic tastes behind him, but took with him his very large and well-selected library of classical music, for which he is passionately fond; bis residence also contains many excellent publi- cations and works of art of a high character, together with Chinese and Japanese bric-a- brac, such as one would not expect to find in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, nor else- where, except in the homes of the cultivated in Eastern cities; his office contains the larg- est and best-selected library of works on en- gineering to be found west of the Missouri River. He is a member of the New York So- ciety of Practical Engineering, Western So- ciety of Engineers, Past Master of New York Public Health Association; he is also member and supporter of the Presbyterian Church.

J. S. MILLER

The subject of the following sketch is the senior member of the large and enterprising drug firm of Miller & Co., whose place of business is at 308 Harrison avenue. Mr. Miller was born in 1853, at Owasso, Mich. He received a common school education at the

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town of Fentonville, in the same State. He was engaged, for a short time, in the drug business, at Detroit, Mich. During the years 1875 and 1876, he attended the Literary De- partment at the University of Ann Arbor, Mich. In the spring of 1877, he came to Col- orado, from Detroit, in company with one of the parties whom Mr. Stevens had induced to emigrate here. During the summer and fall of that year, he worked in California Gulch, afterward working in the Harrison Reduction Works. About that time Leadville commenced to attract more than ordinary attention as a mining camp, and on the 12th of February, 1878, Mr. Miller engaged in the drug busi- ness, associating with himself Mr. Geegge; their place of business was then on Chestnut street. He remained with Mr. Geegge one year, when he opened a house on Harrison avenue, in his own name, which was soon after destroyed by fire. In spite of this misfort- une, he succeeded in again entering the same business, at his present stand. Through his energy and natural business tact, Mr. Miller has built up, from a very small beginning, a business that is unrivaled in his line in Lead- ville. His able management has been the direct cause of the success of the firm. He devotes considerable time to mining, in which his lahors have been well rewarded. The gentlemen composing the firm are public-spir- ited and have done much toward the progress of Leadville.

JACOB S. MILLER.

Mr. Miller is one of Sheriff Tucker's popu- lar Deputies, having served in that capacity since the spring of 1879. He was born in Bloomington, Ill., and lived at New Albany, Ind., until 1867, and then moved to Boone- ville, Mo., where he resided until 1875. He received a common school education, and is a butcher by trade. Since 1875, he has followed his trade throughout different parts of Colo- rado and New Mexico; he came to Leadville in the spring of 1878, and was there em- ployed by Tucker & Pierce, as a butcher, until he entered the Sheriff's office.

T. J. MOYNAHAN.

Mr. Moynahan was born in County Kerry, Ireland, in 1848; he received a common-

school education, and then engaged in the hardware business. He left his native coun- try, and arrived in America in 1869; he en- gaged in the gas-fitting and plumbing busi- ness, at both Jersey City, N. J., and Kansas City, Mo., until 1875, when he came to Colo- rado and located at Boulder, and engaged at the same business; he came to Leadville in 1878, where he has since resided. He is pro- prietor and owner of the large machine-shops, and deals in machinery, mining-pumps, etc., at 133 East Chestnut street; he has met with great success in his line of business here, and is a gentleman well worthy of the same.

J. ERNEST MEIERE, M. D.

Among the first physicians who arrived at Leadville may be classed Dr. J. Ernest Meiere, and who, at this time, ranks as one of its most competent and efficient doctors. He was born in the year 1831, at New Haven, Conn., his father at that time being a Pro- fessor at Yale College. The subject of this sketch was private Secretary to the Hon. Lewis Cass, during his term in Congress as United States Senator. In 1855, the Doctor entered the United States Navy, and in 1858 was appointed Consul at Vera Cruz. In 1861, he was married, at Washington City, to a daugh- ter of Admiral Franklin Buchanan, President Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas both being present at the wedding. In that same year, he resigned his commission in the United States Navy, and joined the Confederate serv- ice, serving aboard the Merrimac, and was at- tached to that boat when blown up at Hamp- ton Roads; he afterward served in the army of Virginia, and took part in the battle of Drury's Bluff; he was twice taken prisoner by the Federal forces, and once made his escape from prison, at New Orleans, by digging and tunneling out. At the close of the war, he returned North, and graduated at the Univer- sity of New York. In 1868, he was appointed Contract Surgeon in the United States Army, and stationed at Washington. In 1873, he came to Colorado, but in 1874 returned East. In 1878 he again returned to Colorado, and came direct to Leadville. He has held the office of City Physician, being Leadville's first one, as he was appointed early in 1879; he, at

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present, has a lucrative practice, having no su- perior here as a surgeon; ever since the erec- tion and founding of St. Vincent's Hospital, he has been connected with it as their physi- cian, and in a city like this, where so many homeless ones meet with accidents, the Doctor has met with flattering success in his numerous surgical operations.

JOHN D. MONROE.

Among Leadville's prominent citizens may be classed John D. Monroe, a gentleman of an energetic nature, and a most indomitable will. He was born in the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1846, and there received a common school education; when twenty-two years of age, he came West, and settled in Jackson, Mich., where he was engaged in business for two years; he then removed to Detroit, and served as a policeman for four years. In April, 187.7, he arrived in Leadville, and prospected and mined on Fryer Hill, discovering some very rich property, and at the same time ac- quired valuable property in the city; from the sale of mines and city lots, Mr. Monroe has realized upward of $75,000; he is still largely interested in locations that have every prom- ise of proving valuable. He was greatly in- strumental in building up Leadville; he erected several fine buildings, and a portion of the Grand Central Theater, on Second street. He was twice elected Alderman of the city of Leadville, and is deservedly popu- lar. In 1879, he, together with his family, spent six months in traveling through Europe; he is a person of keen observation, and while an Alderman was always working for the best interests of the city; he is very liberal, and subscribes generously to all worthy solicita- tions. Mr. Monroe is at present devoting all his time and attention to mining, being largely interested in several rich mines. He located the Wax lode, adjoining the famous Long and Derry Mines.

JOHN McCOMBE.

Jack McCombe, as he is familiarly known in Leadville, has been one of the fortunate ones since his advent here, his labors and hard- ships having been justly crowned with success. John McCombe was born in 1851, in Killain House, in the town of Ederry, County Kings,

Ireland. He received a common school edu- cation up to the age of fourteen, after which he spent two and a half years in college, afterward being employed by the Bear Navi- gation Company, and then turned his hand to farming for one year. In 1873, he left his native country for America, and in June of that year landed in New York, with but 4 shillings and 6 pence. He then found his way to Buffalo, where he worked as a common laborer in splitting wood on the docks. Dur- ing the summers of 1873, 1874 and 1875, he sailed on the lakes; the winter of 1873, he was employed by Sutherland, of Detroit, and the winters of 1874 and 1875, he drove on the street-cars of Detroit, and part of the time acted as conductor. During the year 1876, he broke on the Grand Trunk Railroad, in Canada, and in the fall of that year, se- cured the position of freight-train conductor. In the month of April, 1877, Colorado classed him as one of her citizens. He worked for wages for about one month, in Leadville, and then secured contracts for sinking shafts in Fryer Hill. During that summer, he did some prospecting, and discovered the Cres- cent and Evening Star Mines. In the spring of 1878, he discovered and located the Maid of Erin, as well as the Little Darling, Big Chief and Castle View Mines. In the sum- mer of this same year, he purchased one-third of the Big Pittsburg, and discovered the Lit- tle Champion and the Monte Christo Mines, together with several others. He also pros- pected in the Eagle River district, and dis- covered the North Star, the Dix and Campbell lodes, all valuable properties. In the spring of 1879, Mr. McCombe was elected Alderman of the city of Leadville, by a flattering major- ity; in the fall of 1880, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Lieuten- ant Governor, but through a combination of circumstances, which were unfavorable to the nomination of any Leadville man for that position, was defeated in the convention; in the spring of 1880, he was nominated by his party for City Treasurer, but declined the honor and had his name withdrawn. Mr. McCombe has accumulated considerable wealth, having sold in the year of 1878, his interest in the Evening Star for $8,750, in

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the Monte Christo for $5,000, in the Big Pitts- burg for $6,000, Little Champion for $5,000, Little Darling for $5,000, and in 1879, the Maid of Erin for $43,500. At present, he has his remaining interests in the Big Pitts- burg and Castle View, bonded for $600,000. In the spring of 1880, he made a visit to Eu- 'rope, traveling through all the principal countries. While there, he married a daugh- ter of Rowan Macombe, the poet, of Castle View, and shortly after returned to Leadville. He has valuable property at Soda Springs, which he has acquired since his return; he has built a block of business houses on East Third street, and a pleasant home on East Seventh street. This year, he discovered the McCombe lode, in Frying Pan Gulch, and the Parnell lode, on Printer Boy Hill. John McCombe is classed among Leadville's best prospectors. He is unstinted in liberality; his hospitality is proverbial and he is pos- sessed of many sterling qualities.

J. S. D. MANVILLE.

Mr. Manville was born near Muncie, Lycom- ing Co., Penn., in March, 1845, and at the ; early age of sixteen ran away from his home and enlisted as a private soldier in the Eighty-fourth Regiment of Pennsylvania Vol- . unteers; was transferred to the Sixth United States Cavalry, in 1862, and in 1864, re-en- listed in the Veteran Reserve Corps, and served until the end of the war. In 1866, he attended the Commercial College, in Pough- · keepsie, N. Y. For a short time he was en- gaged in the lumber business at St. Louis, Mo., and from there removed to Central City, Colo., in August, 1868, and was employed by Roworth Bros., as a clerk, until 1873, which firm he bought out and continued the hard- ware trade until 1877. At this date, he came to Leadville, and formed the copartnership of Manville & NcCarty, and has been engaged in the hardware business ever since, in which trade they have been very successful. Mr. Manville is President of the Water Company, and owns one-third interest, which yields a handsome revenue. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and regarded as one of Leadville's enterprising citizens, being always in favor of all measures for the promotion of

the morals, health and prosperity of the city. He is unassuming, and does not care for fame, but is ambitious to leave the world a little better than he found it .. He is happily mar- ried, and is recognized as a genial, public- spirited gentleman, and will be classed among the useful and cherished citizens of his adopt- ed State.

F. CHARLES MATER.

F. C. Mater is one of Colorado's pioneers, and the leading wholesale and retail grocer of the city of Leadville. He is a native of Germany, born in Cassel June 20, 1836. At the age of seventeen years, he came to Amer- ica, and located on a farm in the State of Ohio, where he followed farming for five years, then went to Leavenworth, Kan., where he re- mained two years. He came to Colorado in the spring of 1860, and engaged in mining in California Gulch. In 1867, he embarked in the mercantile business, with Eastern par- ties, at Cash Creek; at the end of two years, he started in business for himself, with a very small capital, which he has increased, by strict attention to business and close economy, to his present extensive wholesale and retail trade. He was one of the first to build a store in the present city of Leadville, help to organize the town and was a member of the first City Council. In 1864, Mr. Mater served through the Indian difficulties as a regular, in the Third Colorado Regiment, and was engaged in the Sand Creek fight. He helped organize Lake County, and served one term on the Board of County Commissioners. He was Postmaster for eleven years at Granite and Cash Creek, and two years Justice of the Peace. He was married, to Miss Frances E. Markle, at St. Joseph, Mo., the 23d of Janu- ary, 1868, and has four children who are now being educated at Denver.

SAMUEL C. MCINTYRE.

S. C. McIntyre, mining manager, was born in Carroll Co., Ohio, in 1850. At an early age, he removed to Hebron, Ind., where he re- ceived the educational advantages of the pub- lic schools; at the age of twenty-one years, he embarked in the drug business, in Hebron, which he continued three years. He then came to Colorado; he only remained a few

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months, in Denver, when he took a trip, pros- pecting through Wyoming and Utah, return- ing to Colorado in the fall. He then engaged in mining, in Summit County, for two years, and then returned to Indiana. In 1879, he came to Leadville, as business manager for Peter Finerty, with whom he still remains, having general management of property to the amount of $300,000 or $400,000.

HON. SAMUEL MCDOWALL.

Samuel McDowall, attorney at law and member of the Leadville bar, is a native of Scotland. He was born November 25, 1838, a son of S. McDowall and cousin of Samuel McDowall, Esq., of Kirkcowan, Scotland. He came to America, with his parents, when but two years of age, and settled in Cayuga County, N. Y. He received his education at the public schools of Cayuga County, and at the age of sixteen years went to Chicago, where he worked by the month, driving team and teaching school, for a livelihood, for sev- eral years. At the age of twenty-two years, he was married to Miss Mary McEldowney, and in the following year embarked in the mercantile business, in which he continued until 1869. He was then engaged as corre- sponding clerk by the firm of Heath & Milligan, manufacturers of white lead and colors, for two years. He was then employed by the Silsby Manufacturing Company, as Western Agent; he remained with this firm seven years, during which time he read law. He then came to Colorado, arriving in Leadville in March, 1879; in October following, he was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he has since held. He was also elected a mem- ber of the Republican County Central Com- mittee, and also received the nomination from the Republican Convention for Mayor of the city, in 1880, but was defeated. During the rule of martial law, he was appointed, by the military authorities, Judge of the Provost Mar- tial Court. He was admitted to the Leadville bar in January, 1881. He was President of the Masonic Relief Association, which was organized during the early history of Lead- ville, for the relief of brother Masons. He is President of the Leadville Caledonian Club, and a man of considerable literary ability.

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 47

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