USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 49
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 49
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age around Cape Horn, occupying, in his case, at least, nearly six months in a sailing vessel. He remained in California until 1-56, when he re- turned to Massachusetts, and one year later emi- grated to Muscatine, Iowa. In 1860, he came across the Plains with a mule team and engaged in mercantile business in Denver, retiring after twelve years of business life. He was elected County Superintendent of Schools of Arapahoe County in 1863, serving two years, and in 1864, was elected Coroner. He served in the City Council in 1872, and has also been a member of the School Board of District No. 2. He was first chosen a mem- ber of the Board of County Commissioners in 1866, for a term of two years. He was again elected in 1873, and has remained a member of the Board continuously ever since, for the past five years as Chairman, which position he fills with credit to himself and the entire approval and satisfaction of the citizens of the county.
HON. GEORGE C. CORNING.
This gentleman was born in 1837, in Paines- ville, Ohio. His father was a large vessel owner in Cleveland, where the subject of this sketch passed the early part of his life. He was educated in Kenyon College, Ohio, and after leaving college, was employed as a clerk in a large forwarding and commission house in Cleveland, after which he en- gaged in banking. In 1868, he removed to Topeka, Kan., and established the Topeka Bank, of which institution he was President for three ycars. In 1871, he resigned his position as Presi- dent of the bank, and coming to Colorado, estab- lished the Boulder Bank. In the fall of 1876, he was elected the first Treasurer of the new State of Colorado, on the Republican ticket, and held that office until January, 1879, discharging its duties with honor and credit to himself and the party that elected him. On assuming charge of the office, he found the finances of the State in a deplorable condition, not only was the Treasury empty, but the Territory had incurred debts that the State had to pay ; the Legislature was making
appropriations, and a year must elapse before any income could be derived from the collection of taxes. In this emergency, Mr. Corning drafted a law, which the Legislature passed, making obliga- tory the registration of the State warrants, and their payment in the order of registration. The interest was made payable at the same time as the principal, and in case the warrants were not pre- sented for payment in the order of registration, the State Treasurer was to advertise them and the interest was to cease at the end of thirty days. The bill also obliged the Treasurer to use the money in his hands for the prompt payment of the public indebtedness. The effect of this, with the general good management of the State govern- ment, was such that the warrants not only rose to par, but at the expiration of his term of office they sold at a premium of 1 per cent, and although the interest was reduced to 8 per cent, they still remain at par. Since retiring from office, he has devoted his attention exclusively to mining, in which he has been more or less interested dur- ing his residence in Colorado, but recently with the most gratifying success. Mr. Corning is a fine example of the representative American ; a man of great internal resources, of large schemes which are sometimes unfortunate and sometimes success- ful, but whether they result favorably or unfavor- ably he is of the same elastic nature, not to be kept down, and whether he die rich or poor, will have been of great use in the world. He is the soul of good humor, affable and pleasant in his social intercourse, and possesses an exhaustless fund of anecdote, which renders him the most compan- ionable of associates.
EDWARD H. COLLINS.
The career of Edward H. Collins, of Denver, is the record of a busy and industrious life, and is identified with the early days of Colorado, when bold and adventurous spirits journeyed across her sandy plains and toiled over her steep and rugged mountains, unmindful of the dangers and priva- tions which their voluntary exile from civilization
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either threatened or imposed. It is not intended, in the brief sketch here subjoined, to give more than the outlines of a personal history that is fraught with the recollections of half a century. Edward H. Collins was born in Ithaca, N. Y., in 1829, and in his youth was afforded the advan- tages of an academical course of studies, partly in his native town and partly in Marshall, Mich., whither his parents had moved, and where they were then residing. Naturally quick and ambi- tious, he was soon prepared to engage in the struggles of business life, and at the age of eighteen was interested in the work of extending a telegraph line from Detroit to Chicago. He subsequently took charge of the telegraph office at Ypsilanti, remaining there a few years, and then moving to Cincinnati, where he found employment in a wholesale house, dealing in paints, oils, etc. Two years later, he was in Chicago, serving as a clerk in a lumber-yard, and picking up a knowl- edge of the business so rapidly that in a short time he went to Henry, Ill., and there, at the age of twenty-four, opened and conducted successfully, for nearly four years, an extensive lumber-yard. In 1858, he was engaged in the manufacture and sale of furniture in Chicago, and may claim to have manufactured and shipped to Denver the first lot of hard-wood chairs ever brought into Colorado Territory. In 1860, he came to Denver, or rather to the site of what is now known as Denver, and has lived in the Territory and State of Colorado to the present time, noting its progress and keeping pace with its growth. He was first engaged in transporting freight from the Missouri River to the mountains, and afterward went into the grocery line, which he abandoned in 1865. During this period he was also interested in a cracker fac- tory, and is known to have introduced the first cracker machine ever used in this State. From 1865 to 1868, he was associated with a " house and sign painter," keeping a paint-shop from which he sold painters' supplies to the trade. He was next employed in the mint as assistant melter, and remained in that position eight years.
In 1878, he opened his present establishment, No. 430 Larimer street, dealing in frames, moldings, and artists' materials, and is laying the founda- tions of the largest business ever done in that branch of trade in Colorado. Mr. Collins is now in comfortable circumstances, owning some choice property in Denver, and has valuable interests in other parts of the State. In 1872, his residence and adjoining dwellings were con- sumed by fire, and he has erected in their stead a large structure, which is leased out in stores. He is a Republican in his political affiliations, and a distinguished member of the Masonic Order. In the latter organization, he has held many honorable positions. He was W. M. of Union Lodge, No. 7; High Priest of Denver Chapter, No. 2; and Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He was married in Denver, in 1865, to Miss Mary A. Hodgson-a talented lady, who sustains a high reputation as an artist, and teacher of drawing and painting. He has lived in Denver and passed through all the stages of its growth, from a plain to a settlement, to a village, to a town, and to a large and flourishing city. He has lived through its periods of depression, and deserves to enjoy the abundance of its prosperity. His snowy beard proclaims the march of fifty winters, but the bright gleam of his eyes, the smooth brow and erect form, would indicate that his manhood's prime had scarce been reached. Blessed with affluence, a happy home, and the conscious rectitude of action, his future career will be attended by all the pleasures that checr and brighten "life's declining years."
MRS. E. H. COLLINS.
The prominence which this lady has attained in art circles in Colorado and the West, demands more than a passing notice. Especially prominent as a painter of the many beautiful native flowers, which adorn the valleys and cover the mountain- sides, she is rapidly attaining reputation as a land- scape painter, in reproducing the grand Rocky
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Mountain scenery for which Colorado is so famous. Mrs. Collins was born at Au Sable, Essex Co., N. Y., in 1839, and remained there until 1861, when she came to Denver with her brother and family, for the benefit of her health. In 1863, she returned home, but her health failing, she re- turned to Colorado for a permanent residence. She was married in 1865, and commenced the study of art in January, 1876, under instructions from Prof. W. H. Porter, of whom she received forty lessons, chiefly in landscape painting. This being all the instruction she has ever received shows that nature has done more for her than years of study for miny. She has gained the rep- utation of being the best flower painter in Colo- rado. She is now at work on landscapes, and has some beautiful copies, as well as original sketches of Rocky Mountain scenery. In June last she organized a class in painting, which has become the largest art school in the West.
BIRKS CORNFORTH.
Mr. Cornforth was born December 12, 1837, at Macclesfield, Cheshire, Eng. When he was twelve years of age, he entered the dry-goods house of Geo. A. Duncan, at Manchester, England, as an appren- tice clerk, serving a period of five years and three months, after which he became a clerk in a dry- goods house in Salford, Manchester, where he re- mained until he was twenty-one years of age. He then came to the United States, arriving at Leav- enworth, Kan., in the summer of 1858, where he engaged with his brother in the grocery business, continuing for about five years. In the mean time, he had made two trips across the Plains with ox teams, loaded with merchandise, into Colorado, and in the spring of 1863, he, with his brother, concluded to emigrate to Denver. They, there- fore, sold a portion of their stock on hand, loaded the rest in wagons, hitched on their ox teams and turned their faces toward Pike's Peak. In due time, they arrived in Denver, and again opened a grocery store, continuing until the spring of 1865. He then dissolved partnership with his brother ;
they divided the goods, and Birks loaded his share on wagons, again attached his ox-teams and started overland for Salt Lake City, Utah, and after sev- enty days of hard travel, amid hostile Indians, arrived at Salt Lake, only to find a poor market for his goods. He was compelled to sell them at a loss, and returned to Denver, and in the fall of 1865, he purchased the grocery stock of Hatton & Grill and went into business alone, in which he has been very successful, gathering a large trade, and gaining for himself a first-class business repu- tation.
C. E. CURRIER.
In tracing the career of C. E. Currier, one will find another proof that perseverance in any branch of labor, with ordinary tact and business ability, will certainly be followed by a corresponding de- gree of success. Born in the year 1830, in Hol- liston, Mass., he was afforded the advantage of a thorough elementary instruction in his youth, and commenced his business life when only eighteen years old, by taking charge of a stall in the Quincy Market, Boston. He improved the opportunity to acquire a thorough knowledge of the meat business, fitting himself for another avocation more agreeable, and to which he felt better adapted. In the year 1864, he became second steward of the United States Hotel, in Boston, and from that time to the present has been connected with hotel life in all its phases. Remaining but a few months at the United States Hotel, he was tendered the position of chief steward of the celebrated "Metropolitan," of New York City, whose pro- prietor, Mr. Leland, was closely related to him by marriage, and filled the duties of the office satis- factorily during four years of the most brilliant existence of that far-famed hostelrie. Severing his connection with the " Metropolitan," Mr. Cur- rier launched out into the hotel business, on his own responsibility, by becoming proprietor of the Turner House, in Danbury, Conn., but soon disposed of his interest there and moved to Chi- cago, where he occupied the position of steward in the Matteson House for nearly three years.
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When the Pullman Palace Car Company of Chi- cago introduced their hotel sleeping cars, Mr. Cur- rier was engaged to superintend the department of cuisine, and subsequently projected and took charge of the first dining car run on the Michigan Central Railroad. During his residence in Chi- cago, he was steward, successively, of the Bur- dick, the Tremont and the Clifton House. Mr. Currier came to Colorado in 1878, has presided as chief steward of the Grand Central, of Denver, up to the summer of 1879, when he retired to become proprietor of the Planters' House, in that city. The "Planters'" is an old and respectable hotel, capable of accommodating a large number of patrons, and situated within easy distance of the depots of the different lines of railroad. Mr. Currier has been twice married, the second time in Chicago, in the year 1879. He is a Mason, and claims perfect independence in all political and religious matters. Iu the management of the " Planters'"-which absorbs his exclusive atten- tion-he displays a suavity of manner and a so- licitude for the comfort of his guests that are certain to render his house popular with the trav- cling public, and to lead to a financial success.
FRED COMSTOCK.
Mr. F. Comstock, of Littleton, Colorado, was born in Jefferson County, New York, February 8, 1820. He began learning the blacksmith's trade when but thirteen years of age, with his father, who was a blacksmith, At seventeen, he went to St. Lawrence County to work at his trade. He was married in that county November 9, 1844, to Miss Orra Spaulding. In 1855, he removed to Deeorah, Iowa, when that thriving little city contained about thirty inhabitants. There he was engaged in hotel-keeping, black- smithing and farming, until his removal to Colo- rado in 1872. He held the office of Street Commissioner in Decorah and was Justice of the Peace at the time of leaving for Colorado. He settled at once in Littleton, where he has contin- ued the business of blacksmithing ever since. In
politics, Mr. Comstock is a Democrat, and has sev- eral times been a delegate to the Democratic Con- ventions. He has three sons-George, living in Clayton County, Iowa, Charles and Harry, of Littleton, Colo. Charles Comstock, the second son, was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., Febru- ary 7, 1850. In 1869, while living in Decorah, Iowa, he engaged for three years in surveying the line of the Davenport & St. Paul Railroad from Davenport, Iowa, to Rochester, Minn. He came to Colorado in 1873, returning to Decorah in 1875, and engaged in the agricultural implement business until February, 1878, when he again came to Colorado and settled at Littleton. He was married in Littleton to Miss Frances L. Wait, of Highgate, Vt., a daughter of N. D. Wait, now of Del Norte, Colo., aud has two children.
FRED CHARPIOT.
Fred Charpiot was born in the Department of the Doub, France, December 31, 1829. His father was a dry-goods merchant and he accord- ingly received a thorough business training. In 1851, all his father's family except him came to America, while he continued in business as a commission dry-goods merchant, two years after which he served one year in the French Army as a member of the Eighth Regiment Light Cavalry. In 1854, he came to this country, joining his parents in Chicago, where they were keeping a large French Hotel on Randolph street, opposite the Briggs House. Going to Iowa soon afterward, he lived on a farm in De Witt about a year, then removing to Dubuque, where he was engaged in business for two years. In the spring of 1858, he removed to Leaven- worth, Kan., and followed the grocery business until 1860. He then came across the Plains to Denver, the journey occupying forty days, and opened an eating-house. In 1863, he returned with his family to Europe, spending about a year, then returned to his old home in Dubuque, Iowa, and went to farming. In the spring of 1867, he . located permanently in Denver, continuing in the
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restaurant business until the spring of 1871, when he erected Charpiot's Hotel, and ran it till five years ago, when he leased it to the present pro- prietor, Mr. Riche. The reputation of the house and its owner has extended throughout this coun- try and Europe, the house being the favorite re- sort of the best class of European tourists in C'olorado, and many an old miner will long re- member with what satisfaction, after months of the frugal fare of a mining camp, he sat down to a "square meal" at Charpiot's. Mr. Charpiot has acquired a comfortable fortune, owning Char- piot's Hotel and about a dozen dwellings and other property in Denver. He has crossed the Plains over thirty times by mule-team, stage and railroad ears, and has made half a dozen trips to Europe for the health of his family and the eduea- tion of his children. He was married Jannary 16, 1855, to Miss Julia C. Riche, in De Witt, Iowa, and has two children, a son and a daughter.
JAMES A. COOK.
The career of this gentleman, while it presents but few features aside from the rugged, toilsome life of the pioneer, is the history of an active, busy, suc- eessful life. James A. Cook was born in the State of New York December 10, 1842. When about ten years of age, he went to Cincinnati with his parents, and from there to Springfield, Ill., remaining but a few years in each place. At the age of eighteen, he was employed by Frink & Co., and for a number of years was engaged in carrying the United States mail in Illinois. He also assisted in establishing the first stage line in Iowa. In 1856, he was married to Miss Clara H. Adams, of Newton, Iowa, after which he quit the employ of the stage company and with Mr. George W. Spencer laid out the town of Spirit Lake, Iowa, where he remained two years, and then with his family came to Colorado, arriving here in July, 1860. He first went to Breckenridge, where he opened the first hotel in the place, remaining but a short time when he returned to Denver, and es- tablished a fast freight line from Denver to Oma-
ha, which he continued one year, and then opened a livery stable in Denver. From that time until 1868, he was varionsly employed, part of the time as a Government contractor. He then removed to Pueblo, intending to engage in business, but, soon after his arrival in that city, was taken ill and died May 26, 1870. His wife and three sons returned to Denver, which place they have since made their home. Mr. Cook possessed great nat- ural abilities as a business man, and was well known for his honesty, integrity, and all those qualities which go to make up personal worth.
JOHN W. CLINE.
John W. Cline, one of the early settlers of Colorado and a successful farmer of this county, was born in Canada September 23, 1825. His father was a farmer, and it was but natural, as well as wise, that he should follow the calling to which he had been reared. When he was about thirty years of age, he went to Michigan and followed farming and saw-milling, until 1859, when he came to Coloaado. The first summer here was spent in mining, first at Rus- sell Guleh and afterward at Breckenridge, but in the fall of 1859, he pre-empted a piece of land seven miles north of Denver, unto which he moved, and where he has since engaged in farm- ing. He was married in Denver in 1871, to Mrs. Elizabeth Smith. Mr. Cline is well known as an honorable, conscientious man, and an extensive and successful farmer.
J. COULEHAN.
J. Coulehan, of the firm of Lee & Coulehan, dealers in agricultural implements, was born in Tulemore, Kings Co., Ireland, August 17, 1835. His parents removed to the United States when he was about three years of age, and located in Chillicothe, Ohio, but after one year here his parents removed to a farm in Grundy County, Ill., where he remained until 1852. He then went to Iowa City, Johnson Co., Iowa, and engaged in the transfer and express business with the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad
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Company, remaining there six years. In May, 1860, he came to Denver with an outfit of $1,000 worth of goods and formed a partnership with J. A. Love, and engaged in the mercantile business in the mountains and also took contracts for haul- ing lumber from Fall River to Nevada. In 1864, he returned to Denver with forty head of oxen and engaged in freighting from Iowa to Denver, after which he took a contract to take 40,000 pounds of goods from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City. After performing this contract, he went to Mill City, Nev., and engaged in the mer- cantile business. From 1865 to 1869, he was engaged in freighting from Iowa to Colorado, Nevada, Montana and Salt Lake; returning to Colorado in 1869, he engaged in the cattle busi- ness until 1875, after which he located in Denver and formed a partnership with Henry Lee, dealing in agricultural implements, in which he still con- tinnes. He was married in 1874 to Miss Katy C. Mahan, of Iowa City, Iowa.
JOSEPH B. COFIELD.
Born January 2, 1821, in Bertie County, N. C., Mr. Cofield left home when he was twelve years of age and was engaged in various pursuits until 1846. He began as store boy and afterward ad- vanced to a more remunerative position, until he had accumulated means sufficient to enable him to engage in business for himself. During that time, he learned the copper and tinsmith trade. He then removed to St. Louis and engaged in the real-estate business, residing there until 1852, when he removed to Quincy, Ill., and continued the same business until 1860. He then formed a partnership with Judge C. B. Lawrence, now of R. P. CHAPMAN. Chicago, and Edward Wells, of Quincy, Ill., in R. P. Chapman, florist, and proprietor of the Para- dise Nursery of Denver, is a native of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He was born Oct. 30, 1840, and remained at home upon the farm until he was twenty years of age, during which time he received a common school education, after which he served an appren- ticeship of three years to Mr. Goodin, in Aber- the milling and mining business. The company located in Nevada Gulch, Colo. Mr. Cofield was President of the company and came to Colorado as its Superintendent, bringing with him the second mill ever brought into the Territory. He resided at Black Hawk from March, 1861, to 1864. He also had an office at Central City. deenshire. He is thoroughly trained in all the
Having sold out his interest in the company to his partners, he resumed the business of a broker and in 1864, came to Denver, since which time he has been engaged principally in the real-estate and general brokerage business, loaning money, etc. He was married, October 22, 1852, to Amelia T., daughter of David and Sarah Turner, of Brook- ville, Canada. . He has one daughter, wife of Hon. William D. Todd, of this city.
D. F. CARMICHAEL.
Mr. Carmichael was born in Canada April 17, 1874, and during his early life there received the benefits of an education in the public schools, acquiring a proficient knowledge of civil engineering, which fitted him for the respon- sible positions he afterward filled. In 1870, he went to Omaha and was appointed Superin- tendent of the Omaha Bridge during its construc- tion, and afterward Superintendent of Bridges on the Union Pacific Railroad until September, 1872, when he came to Colorado as Superin- tendent of Construction on the Julesburg branch of the Colorado Central Railroad. In the spring of 1873, when the grade was abandoned, he went to Golden as General Passenger and Ticket Agent of the Colorado Central Railroad. When the Colorado Central was transferred to the Kansas Pacific, in November, 1875, he was made General Agent for the Kansas Pacific and its leased lines in Colorado. On July 1, 1877, the Denver Pacific became independent from the Kansas Pacific man- agement, when he accepted his present position as General Freight and Passenger Agent for that road.
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branches of horticulture, having traveled exten- sively and been engaged in over a dozen large hor- ticultural establishments in Scotland and England, including the Crystal Palace, London. He came direct to Denver, Colo., from Liverpool, England, in the spring of 1873. The first few years, he practiced landscape gardening, but more recently has been engaged exclusively in flower-culture. The taste and demand for flowers has greatly in- creased during the past few years. Previously, only the common sorts were asked for; but now many elegant conservatories have been erected and windows constructed for the culture of flowers, especially for the choicer and rarer varieties, creating a demand. He ships plants and flowers extensively all over the State; from Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the north, to Alamosa on the south, and throughout the mountain towns. Flowering plants in this Western climate of unobscured sun- shine, will repay any attention bestowed upon them. During the hot, dry months of summer they require some special care in shading and sprinkling, and, in January and February, in guarding from severe cold. Those who love and attend to them can, from a few varieties, secure a profusion of bloom throughout the entire year.
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