USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume III > Part 15
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desire to hew out his own destiny and to begin at once, he left the parental roof and entered the great metropolis of the nation, which had long been the object of his budding ambition, but without any other hope or prospect, than that on his arrival he would be able to make his way among the jostling thousands. As his governing impulse inclined toward banking, he finally secured a place as runner or messenger in the New York Exchange Bank, and forthwith began its duties. This was his Alma Mater. There were no telegraphs or telephones, no district messenger service in those days, therefore the position upon which he entered was an extremely arduous one, and being also intrusted with large sums of money to meet its exchanges with other institutions of like character-now managed through the Clearing House-it was not only fatiguing, but oftentimes dangerous. It is sufficient proof of his earnestness and the strong tenacity of his will, as well as of his deter- mination to build to a finish what he had undertaken, to say that he remained with the bank until 1855, giving eminent satisfaction, and winning promotion to the then very important and responsible post of assistant teller, equivalent under present methods, to that of assistant cashier.
In the meantime an elder brother had emigrated to the then new State of Iowa, toward which the tide of emigration was strongly drifting, and at the date mentioned wrote David H. to join him there, where a place as teller in the bank of A. J. Stevens & Co., had been secured for him. Accepting the invitation, he turned his face westward toward the wilderness of the border, and in due time assumed the new duties assigned him in the city of Des Moines. While there the keenness of his perceptions and his distinctly well ordered methods attracted the attention of Mr. B. F. Allen, a prominent capitalist, who, having in 1856 decided to open a bank in Omaha, tendered young Moffat the position of cashier, which was promptly accepted. Thus at the age of seventeen, five years after yielding to the impulse of his boyhood, we find this aspiring youth installed as cashier and manager of Allen's bank in Omaha, intrusted with large sums of money, and invested with cares
Bem. FiKle
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and responsibilities, which at the present day are not placed upon tender years. He retained this position four years, during which his mind rapidly expanded ; he grew in experience and knowledge, and mastered the details of the system of State banks then in vogue. In 1859 the bank went into liquidation, settling with all its creditors in full.
In the spring of 1860, when the tumultuous tide of Pike's Peak emigration began to impel thousands toward the Rocky Mountains, Mr. Moffat, inspired by the conviction that his further destiny lay in the same direction, formed a partnership with Mr. C. C. Woolworth, of St. Joseph, Missouri, in the book and stationery trade, and loading an assorted stock of such goods into a wagon, with two or three companions he crossed the plains, driving his team, and on March 17th of the year mentioned, opened the house of Woolworth & Moffat on Ferry street, Auraria. These goods being in great demand, they were soon disposed of at extravagant prices. Woolworth renewed the supplies from his base on the Missouri River as often as required, and afterward estab- lished a much larger and stronger house in New York.
Printing paper for the "Rocky Mountain News," the "Miner's Register" at Central City and other daily and weekly journals was added to the stock, and for some years nearly all such publications derived their supplies of "print" from this establishment. I have in my private library a number of volumes of books that were brought across the plains in the "early sixties," by this firm. In a few years this modest beginning grew into one of the largest and most profitable mercantile institutions of the city.
Not content, however, with the rapidly multiplying gains of this particular trade, but restlessly seeking new channels for the broader exercise of his talents, he began to study the extensive commerce of the plains, when he soon discovered that by purchasing certain staples, as sugar, coffee, bacon and the like in large quantities during periods of scarcity, considerable sums could be made. In these transactions which sometimes involved the entire stocks of such supplies in transit, his sagacity found ample fields for development, and the fruitage thereof
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added some thousands to his capital. He bought and sold at exactly the right time, and was never caught at a disadvantage but once, and that was when the Indians attacked one of his trains and burned it. A claim against the government was entered, but it has not been paid.
The stalwart and robust figure of the present era, president of the First National Bank, and also of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and the supreme director of both, was, in the years we are considering, but a fragile stripling, slender as an aspen, pale and emaciated, almost cadaverous, and while enjoying excellent health, bore the outward appearance of one whose life would be of brief duration. During the first ten years of his residence in Denver his weight did not at any time exceed one hundred and ten pounds, and for the greater part was only ninety-six pounds, but his constant activity indicated a man of exhaust- less energy and the keenest foresight in the direction of his business affairs. He was universally known, and as widely admired for the uniform amiability of his disposition, pleasing manners, his kindness and charitableness, traits which the great success of after years has in no wise impaired.
The United States postoffice was given space in his store, and he officiated as assistant to the Postmaster, Mr. S. S. Curtis ; acted also as local agent for the Western Union Telegraph Co., receiving and trans- mitting by stage, messages from and to Julesburg, before the extension of its line to Denver. In 1868 Mr. Clarence J. Clarke became a partner in the firm, which continued in business until 1870, when it was sold to other parties.
Mr. Moffat, in addition to his duties as cashier of the First National, was actively associated with the construction of the Denver Pacific, Kansas Pacific (Colorado division), the Boulder Valley, the Denver & South Park, the Golden Boulder & Caribou, and the Denver & New Orleans (now Denver, Texas & Fort Worth) Railways, and one of the principal financiers in all those enterprises. During the Indian wars occurring under the administration of Governor Evans, he was appointed Adjutant-General of Territorial militia, aided in dispatching
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troops to the field, and in supplying them with military stores. He was appointed Territorial Treasurer in 1874 by Governor Elbert,* serving two years, which, by the way, is the only political office he has ever sought or held; was one of the projectors of the Denver Water Com- pany in which he was a director down to 1889, and is now president of the Citizens' Water Company.
While he is interested with others in farming lands and city real estate, he has never been a speculator in either, and but to a small extent an individual holder of such property. Not from any lack of faith in realty, but because his inclinations do not take that direction. While for the past eleven years he has been one of the largest owners and operators of gold and silver mines in the State, down to 1879, when he became associated with Mr. Chaffee in the Little Pittsburgh mines at Leadville, he had not been identified with any such ventures here or elsewhere. Since that time, however, he has been more exten- sively interested than any other person in the development of mineral deposits on Fryer and Carbonate Hills, and later a prominent factor in the great mines of Aspen, giving each much personal supervision. Having taken up the pursuit more from the force of circumstances than desire, he brought to bear upon this as upon every other branch of business in which he has seriously engaged, the methods that made it successful, therefore his pecuniary rewards from these sources have been commensurate with the effort. What he has done toward the regeneration of the Rio Grande Railroad, and the splendid results of his masterly designs in that direction, are fully set forth in the chapter relating to that subject.
The cardinal virtues of his character are generosity, amiability, charitableness, and a natural desire to aid the advancement of worthy purposes. The list of his unpublished benevolences will never be known. While in yielding to these admirable impulses he has some- times met with disappointment and ingratitude, many of the rich and prosperous men of to-day unreservedly acknowledge that but for the
*One of the more important events in our Territorial history. See Vol. II., page 159.
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aid he rendered them in important crises when success or failure hung trembling in the balance, they must inevitably have gone down under the pressure. I think the same is true of most of our bankers, yet one hears more frequently of the instances wherein Mr. Moffat and Mr. Kountze have granted such favors, because of the many dark and gloomy periods through which the older of the business houses have passed. At this time capital is abundant, the lines of trade are firmly established, values enlarged, property rights and titles rendered secure by perfected laws, banking regulated by Congress and the State, but twenty years ago there were but two national depositories, only a few merchants, scarcely any manufacturers, all things immature and un- certain, hence the credits extended were rather more upon confidence in the personal integrity of the borrowers than the extent and value of their securities.
Mr. Moffat's success as a banker lies in his instinctive aptitude for the profession. The impulse that led him to the foot of the right ladder when only twelve years of age, was strong enough to force him to the topmost round, and when most boys were taking their primary lessons in school, he had mounted to the middle. There is little doubt that had his tastes inclined to trade, the same prevision would have led to equally eminent ends. One can scarcely imagine that he would have failed in anything to which his native skill was positively turned. When he entered the great metropolis, crowded with seekers for positions, his instincts pointed in but one direction. He had no thought of engaging in a store or a factory, but went immediately to the center of finance, and having secured a foothold, he made his way unerringly.
When chosen cashier of the First National, every merchant knew that the institution upon which so much depended was in safe hands, for he was known to be a prudent man ; that every detail would receive personal supervision and direction ; that no serious losses would be sustained. From the day he assumed its management, its power increased. He kept aloof from political intrigue, from speculation and
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hazardous ventures. He knew every entry in the ponderous ledgers, the value of each piece of paper discounted, the standing of every patron. The transparent clearness of his mind, his sharp, unhesitating conceptions struck at once to the root of every proposition presented, leading to the easy dispatch of business without irritableness or friction. Polite and agreeable, even when refusing concessions that could not be granted, the disappointed applicant was not depressed by the feeling that he had been snubbed and humiliated.
Many times since 1880 he has been urgently importuned to become a candidate for political honors. In 1886, while in New York, when the politics of Colorado were being animatedly discussed by the press of that city, he was approached by a representative of one of the leading journals, with the remark that great pressure would be brought upon him to become an aspirant for the office of United States Senator to succeed Thomas M. Bowen. He replied, "Nothing is further from my ambition than political preferment. I have not been bred in a line of life that would fit me for the duties of a public man or legislator. I have another ambition that I intend to follow undeviatingly, which is to be successful in business. All my experience and inclinations are in that direction, and I shall not be induced to sacrifice it for the pursuit of politics. On this point my mind would not be changed, even if a certificate of election to the United States Senate were to be tendered me on a gold platter, which I am not conceited enough to count among the possibilities of the present or future."
Although an interested spectator of political combinations, he has rarely taken an active part in them. Great financial trusts have been placed in his hands, and it is to these his energies are conscientiously devoted. The pinnacle of his aspirations stands above and beyond the wild tumult of place seeking. In all the years he has lived in this com- munity, no tarnish has dimmed the luster of his fame. He is neither sordid nor selfish, but innately generous and sympathetic. For his friends he will make great sacrifices, of which there are many illustrations of a characteristic rare among men of affluence. Toward his enemies
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he may be bitter, but is not implacable. In such a life as he has led there have been irreconcilable differences with men, but no fierce quarrels. While commanding scores and hundreds of subordinates in banking, railroading, mining and other enterprises, he has their esteem and respect, for he is never imperious, unjust or domineering, hence no man is served more faithfully than he. Nature equipped him munifi- cently for dealing with great problems involving millions of money, with mental faculties for penetrating the subtlest details, and with the nerve to execute them, and though rapid, he is never rash or precipitate. Though wealthy, he has never been charged with covetousness. His habits are as simple and unassuming as when he had nothing. He does not accumulate millions from inordinate love of gain. It is an inspi- ration that impels him to master any undertaking worthy of his engage- ment in it, and in later years has been more of a pastime than the impulse of acquisitiveness. His record is of his own making. "He coins fortune like a magician, and spends it like a man of heart." No man has been heard to say, " I made him," a conceit often coarsely ventilated in public when the lights of politics and finance are under discussion between drinks. He is distinctly and pre-eminently the author of his own destiny, a fact at once patent and incontestible. It is extraordinary that he should have achieved so much with so little of public criticism. " Wealth too often breeds avarice and suspicion," envy, jealousy and all uncharitableness.
Though widely popular, he has become so without artifice or effort. He does nothing for effect. The influence it may have upon the public mind or upon the press is never considered, for he is never on "dress parade." While he has given great sums to charity, no brass bands or reporters have been summoned to proclaim the beneficence. There are no "sandwiches of two blessings with a curse hidden between them." Al- though well advanced, unless he shall "fade suddenly from the ranks of men," his career is yet far from its zenith. He is only fifty-one at this writing, and his robust physique indicates many years of reserve power. When we consider the place from which he started, and the height to
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which he has risen, we find both a lesson and an example for the growing generation of young men. In drawing the portraiture it may be said that the blemishes, the little scars and weaknesses which are a part of every human life have been omitted. It is the business of the prudent artist to leave them out. He may do so, and yet produce a faithful likeness. Had Mr. Moffat been so unwise as to enter the slimy pool of politics, it would have been the province of the opposition to throw calcium lights upon them, to multiply, exaggerate and manufacture a new character for him, such a portrait as might be held up to public detestation, a distorted abortion, a hideous caricature in which there is neither truth nor decency. That which is here defined is an epitome simply of the estimation in which he is held by a very large majority of his fellow beings. It is the judgment of the people as they have weighed and determined. It is not a romance, there is not a shade of heroism in it, yet it is the magnificent record of a boy who made up his mind to succeed by the conscientious expenditure of the qualities within him upon honorable purposes. which while it has rendered him illustrious, has neither cheated not wronged others.
The first assistant cashier of the First National, was a bright and capable young man named George W. Wells. He died in April, 1874, and was succeeded by
George W. Kassler. This estimable gentleman, one of the noblest of the guild, was born September 12th, 1836, in Canajoharie, New York, one of the old Dutch towns on the West Shore Railroad ; was educated in the public schools, and at the age of eleven became a clerk in a store; at fifteen he went to Cooperstown, and there served a year in a like capacity ; subsequently entered the postoffice in that town, remaining until 1857, when he came west to Omaha, taking a position in the banking house of L. R. Tuttle and A. U. Wyman, both of whom were afterward treasurers of the United States at Washington. It was here that the acquaintance and lasting friendship between himself and Mr. Moffat began, an attachment deep seated and devoted, that has endured all the tests of time and intimate personal contact, and here that he
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became familiar with the profession to which his maturer years were given. Early in 1860 he came to Denver, arriving in April, and imme- diately entered the bank of Turner & Hobbs as cashier. The firm continued in business but a little time after the outbreak of our civil war, when they closed the house and returned East to look after their affairs there. Mr. Kassler was then offered, and accepted the position of accountant and general assistant to Major John S. Fillmore, paymaster in the United States Army for this department, and was frequently employed in paying off troops. In 1862 he was appointed assistant cashier of the United States branch mint in this city. Two years later he resigned and opened a book and stationery house on Blake street, to which was added fire insurance. After the death of Mr. Wells in 1874, he became assistant cashier of the First National Bank. When Mr. Moffat was elected to the presidency in 1880, after the retirement of Mr. Chaffee, Kassler was chosen cashier, a post for which he was admi- rably fitted. No bank or other depository of public trusts ever possessed a more faithful or self-sacrificing officer. In general characteristics he closely resembled the late Wm. B. Berger of the Colorado National, rigidly upright, unremittingly industrious, affable to all, universally beloved. When in 1879-'So his chief began to interest himself in mining and other vast projects that frequently called him from the city, the entire charge of the bank fell to Mr. Kassler. He was elected city treasurer in 1873, but retired at the close of his term. The long con- tinued strain at length so undermined his health as to compel surrender and retirement. When the Merchants' National was consolidated with the First, the long sought opportunity was afforded. Thus the bank lost one of its noblest servants, whose life is one of the brightest and best examples of unselfish duty of which we have any record. Mr. Kassler, by the fortunate investment of his savings in real estate and other valuable securities, realized a comfortable fortune. He was an earnest admirer of our public schools, was for many years a member of the Board of Education for School District No. 1, and aided to the extent of hi; ability their rapid progression to the proud position they
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have attained. After a long. illness, he departed this life Sunday morning, July 20th, 1890.
Samuel N. Wood was born near the village of Jordan, Western New York, in May, 1844; was educated in the public schools, and at an early age entered the great drygoods house of Price & Wheeler in the city of Syracuse. At the age of twenty so great was the confidence of the firm in his capabilities for business, he was appointed cashier and intrusted with the care of its funds. He was quick, active and alert, evincing somewhat remarkable qualities for accuracy and swiftness in the dispatch of whatever he had to do. Two years afterward he removed to Madison, Wisconsin, and was appointed teller in the First National Bank of that city, where he remained three years. In 1870 he came to Denver, with the view of making this city his permanent abiding place, and as a beginning was elected assistant cashier of the Colorado National, discharging its duties until 1877, when he went to the then recently established mining town of Deadwood, Dakota, as resident partner of the firm of Stebbins, Wood & Post, whose extensive interests he managed with marked success for a single year and then organized the First National Bank at that place, becoming its cashier and manager. In 1881 he returned to Denver and organized the Merchants' National, with the following directors: Henry R. Wolcott, A. W. Waters, D. C. Dodge, William M. Bliss, and S. N. Wood. Mr. Wolcott was elected president, and Mr. Wood cashier. This bank was consolidated with the First National at the beginning of 1882, when he became cashier by the resignation of Mr. Kassler, a position he has continuously occupied to the present date. He is recognized as one of the most accomplished men in his profession.
George E. Ross-Lewen, present assistant cashier, was born in Rochester, New York, March 28th, 1857; educated in the common schools; began his apprenticeship in a bank in 1875; came to Colorado June 19th, 1881, and has been with the First National up to date; was elected to his present position May Ist, 1886.
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CHAPTER VIII.
THE COLORADO NATIONAL-THE KOUNTZE BROTHERS AND THEIR ANTECEDENTS-WM. B. BERGER-THE CITY, UNION AND GERMAN NATIONAL BANKS AND THEIR OFFI- CERS-THE FAMOUS FORGER SHERIDAN ALIAS STUART, AND HIS MARVELOUS CAREER.
The Colorado National Bank was organized in August, 1866, by the Kountze Brothers. Its first officers were, Luther Kountze, pres- ident, Joseph Goodspeed vice-president, and Charles B. Kountze cashier. The history of this enterprise, first in the amount of capital it now commands and in the extent of its vital force by reason of its con- nections, though second in the order of its inception, contains elements that entitle it to something more than mere incidental reference.
It was the second of five private banks founded by four brothers, - Augustus, Herman, Luther and Charles, whose capabilities for the acquisition of fortune, its concentration under their joint control, and the measures adopted for its retention in the family undivided and unimpaired, are not infrequently suggested as in some degree a counter- part to the early beginnings of the renowned Rothschilds, and who seem destined to achieve something at least of the fame on this con- tinent that is accorded to those imperial financiers in Europe.
The record of their embarkation in life, and the magnitude of their accumulations, is an interesting illustration of what has been accom- plished through the wise admonitions of a noble father, who taught "equally by example and in word," the soundest maxims of morals and of trade, and personally enforced the acceptance and practice of the system which he had impressed upon their plastic minds as essential pre-requisites to the attainment of the highest aims.
Je Towork
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Christian Kountze was a native of Saxony, now a part of the German Empire, but when he left it, while yet a young man, an inde- pendent principality. He was an earnest and consistent Lutheran, as his ancestors had been before him, from the establishment of the Reformation in 1524. He was a plain, but eminently practical man, profoundly learned withal, a deeply cultured student of mankind, of ancient and modern history, of the arts and sciences, and the various schools of philosophy; credited with the most exalted character, whose word once passed, or whose pledge given, was adhered to with resolute fidelity, whatever the sacrifice involved. He had a genuine love for goodness, for purity of mind and heart, and his life was a signal man- ifestation of these virtues. He was admired, loved and revered by his fellow men for the grand qualities of his nature, his integrity, unvarying kindness, candor and truthfulness. Such is the testimony that has come down to us from those who knew him.
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