USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 53
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 53
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built of adobe. He resided in Greeley and Evans until the fall of 1873, when he removed to Boul- der and opened a marble-shop, continuing the same until October, the same year, when he removed to Denver, and in the spring of 1874, in company with W. E. Greenlee, purchased the Denver Marble Works, where they have since con- tinued the same under the firm name of Greenlee & Co., at their present place, 316 Larimer street.
CHARLES R. DAVIS.
Prominently connected with the milling industry of Colorado for the past decade, Charles R. Davis has done much to promote the commercial and manufacturing interests of Denver. He was born in Charlestown, Chester Co., Penn., and is de- scended from an old and influential Welsh family. His father, Isaac Morris Davis, was an officer in the American army during the whole period of the last war with Great Britain, and was stationed at Marcus Hook. He died in Phoenixville, Penn., in 1877, in the eighty-second year of his age, full of years and highly respected by all. Mr. Davis' grandfather, Dr. Roger Davis, was an eminent physician of his time in Chester County, with a practice embracing several connties, making his long round of visits on horseback after the manner of those days, with his saddle-bags filled with medi- cine strapped behind him. He was a member of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania in 1809-10, and of the Twelfth Congress of the United States, from 1811 to 1813, voting for the early measures of the war of 1812. The subject of this sketch received a common-school education, and at nine- teen began life for himself in Warsaw, Ill., as pro- prietor of a merchants' flonring-mill and general merchandise store, in company with W. S. Spencer, a prominent citizen of that place. Purchasing his partner's interest in the mill three years later, he continued alone for six years, when the mill was destroyed by fire. Removing to St. Louis, he pur- chased a half-interest in the Planters' Mill-a large merchants' mill. After operating it a year in com- pany with the late William T. Hazard, he sold out
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and returned to Warsaw, where he built an exten- sive mill, which he operated until 1869, in com- pany with Hervey Tufts.
In 1869, he came to Denver, and became con- nected with what was known at that time as the Whittemore Flouring Mill. Having an experi- ence of many years in the milling business, and possessing a spirit of enterprise, he set to work to improve its facilities and increase its capacity. In 1875, he removed the original frame mill build- ing, and built the present fine brick structure on the corner of Curtis and Eighth streets, West Den- ver, adding an eighty horse power engine and boiler, and equipping it with all the modern improve- ments necessary for the production of the best grades of flour. On coming into entire posses- sion of the mill, in 1876, he doubled its capacity, to meet the demand of business which had kept pace with the growth of the city. In the past ten years, great improvements have been made in milling facilities and machinery, and what would have been considered a first-class mill ten years ago, would cut a poor figure now. Mr. Davis, fully alive to this fact, has kept up with these im- provements, and is now obliged to again double the capacity of his mill. He is putting in mag- nificent machinery of the best Eastern manufac- ture, and the West Denver Mills are as finely equipped, and present as imposing an appearance, as any west of Chicago, while the superior brands of flour manufactured have become very popular, both at home and in the principal Eastern mar- kets. Mr. Davis is a public-spirited man, in favor of all measures calculated to advance the best in- erests of the city and State.
J. CULVER DAVIS, M. D.
Dr. J. C. Davis, an eminent and skillful physi- cian, is a native of Dutchess County, N. Y. Re- ceiving an academic education, he read medicine with his father, Dr. J. I. H. Davis, and then he- came a faculty student in Castleton Medical Col- lege, Vermont, graduating in 1847. He then held the position of Assistant House Physician of the
Vermont State Hospital for a time, when, not con- tent with previous attainments, he attended two additional courses of medical lectures. After a brief practice in Burlington, Vt., he was called by the illness of his father to take charge of his ex- tensive practice. In 1850, he went South and located among the plantations of the Lower Brazos, in Texas, but his health failing he removed in 1855, to Galveston, Texas. In 1857, he went to Monterey, Mexico, passed a rigid examination, through an interpreter, and was licensed to prac- tice. Fifteen months later he removed, by reason of ill health, to the elevated plateau of Zacatecas, where he was obliged to pass an examination and write a thesis in Spanish. Practicing here until October, 1860, he was appointed, by President Buchanan, United States Consul, and held this office until 1866, when his practice had increased to such an unrivaled extent that he was com- pelled to resign his position and devote his entire time to his profession. In 1870, he was chosen by the authorities as Civil Governor of the city during an uprising. This position was conferred upon him by reason of his being a foreigner, and non-partisan, as well as for his known executive ability. An outbreak by 650 prisoners was quelled by about twenty men, by sharp and deci- sive measures, preventing a massacre, and returning the insurgents to prison with a loss of seventeen killed and thirty-five wounded.
In 1876, he returned to New York, and was at once appointed Visiting Surgeon to the Northeast- ern Dispensary, of that city. In June, 1879, he removed to Denver, owing to the ill health of his wife, who is a daughter of the late William B. Bradbury, the musical composer. Dr. Davis was a member of the New York and County Medieal Society, and of the Neurological Society; and an honorary member of the Associeda Medica de San Luis Potosi, of Mexico. He was Attending Surgeon of the Hospital " Del Cobre" for several years, and for many years Consulting Surgeon for the Hospital De San Juan de Dios. He has written a number of papers in the Spanish language
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on medical and surgical subjects, and some very useful papers in his own language, among which are "Clinical Observations of Abscess of the Liver, and its Treatment," " An Easy Method of reducing Prolapsus of the Rectum," " Microscopical Studies on Abscess of the Liver," etc. Dr. Davis is wide awake to the interests of his chosen profession, and has taken an active part of late toward reme- dying the sanitary condition of the city.
EDGAR H. DREW.
Mr. Drew was born in Lowell, Mass., where he received a liberal education, and, at the break- ing out of the war of the rebellion, entered the army as drummer boy of his father's regiment, his father being Colonel of the regiment. He remained in the army three years, serving in various capacities, and then returned to Lowell, Mass. In 1864, he went to Boston, and for the four succeeding years, was engaged in the whole- sale dry-goods business; thence removing to New York, he continued the same business until 1872, when he removed to Lawrence, Mass .; but, three years later, believing the West offered better inducements for the dry-goods business, removed to Denver, Colo., in the spring of 1877, and formed a partnership with M. J. McNamara. He is an active and energetic business man, and has had an extensive experience in the dry-goods business. Since embarking in business in Denver, he has devoted himself zealously to the advance- ment of his trade, in which he has attained successful results.
SAMUEL A. DRUMB.
Born in Ashland, Ohio, February 8, 1846, Mr. Drumb received an academic education and began life for himself in 1866, as a telegraph operator for the Atlantic and Great Western Railway Com- pany. One year later, he accepted a position in the service of the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraphı Company, and during the succeeding four years was stationed at various places in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. He then entered the employ of
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway as freight agent, and was stationed on the line of that road in Texas and the Indian Territory for seven years, during which time he was also agent for the Adams Express Company. In the fall of 1878, he came to Denver and formed a partnership with Louis Latham, in the produce and commission business, in which he has met with flattering suc- cess.
CHARLES DONNELLY.
This gentleman is of Irish parentage. He was born in the county of Antrim, Ireland, in 1831. On attaining the age of manhood, he emigrated to America, and settled in Chicago, Ill., where for eight years he was engaged in the transfer and live-stock business. He then moved upon a farm about twenty miles distant from that city, and after four years experience in farming, turned his atten- tion to selecting a permanent home in the West. In the spring of 1862, he removed to Denver with his family, and has since that time been chiefly engaged in mining, and has large interests in several valuable mines at Leadville, among which may be mentioned the O. K. Mine, near the Little Pittsburg, and the Big Chief, adjoining the Morning Star.
GEORGE DANE.
George Dane was born in the parish of Van- dover, Victory Co., N. B., February 16, 1835, and remained there till his twenty-first year. Going to Minnesota, he remained till March, 1860, when he started for Pike's Peak, coming with a company as cook, and walking the entire distance. Reaching Denver in July, he spent some time in traveling over the Territory before making a permanent location. He served in the civil war in Company E, First Colorado Volun- teer Infantry, under Capt. Anthony, and was discharged December 1, 1864. In the spring of 1865, he engaged in freighting, and, in 1869, located a homestead and engaged in stock-growing, in which he has continued, with good success, to the present time. Mr. Dane was married, March
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26, 1869, to Miss Lizzie L. Clark, and has one son.
JUDSON H. DUDLEY.
Mr. Dudley has been closely identified with the history of Denver for the past twenty-two years. He was born in Caynga County, N. Y., April 8, 1834, and began his education at Mexico Academy, Homer, N. Y., and afterward pursued a course of study at Central College, McGrawville, N. Y. Upon attaining the age of manhood, his attention was directed to the rich mineral resources of the Rocky Mountains, as the most propitious place for obtaining a competency and a permanent home. He started West in 1857, and, after spend- ing several months in Nebraska, again, pursued his journey, in company with a small party, arriv- ing on the town site of Denver October 20, 1858. He was prominent among the pioneers for his activity and energy iu devising methods for the progress of the settlement, and assisted in the organization of the Auraria Town Company, of which he was Vice President and acting Man- ager. Subsequently, he joined others in organiz- ing the Denver Town Company, and became largely interested in its prosperity. At the break- ing-out of the war, in 1861, he was appointed, by Gov. Gilpin, Quartermaster and Commissary, with the rank of Major. In 1871, he became interested in the celebrated Moose mine, in Park County, and was the manager of the mine and its reduction works at Dudley for five years. Although he has been largely interested in all measures requisite to the advancement and rapid development of the Territory and State, his attention has been chiefly directed to mining, in which he has acquired a comfortable fortune.
HON. GEORGE G. DARROW.
George G. Darrow, one of the leading real-estate men of Denver, is a gentleman of much experi- ence not only in civil life, in which he has occupied several public and responsible positions, but in military affairs as well, in which he won for him- self considerable distinction and has a record of
which he is justly proud. He was born in Indi- anapolis, Ind., July 5, 1843. At the age of thirteen, he entered a printing office in that city, working at that until the beginning of the war, when he enlisted in the Eleventh Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, Company C, and re-enlisted in Company H, Fifty-fifth Indiana Volunteers, and again in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Regiment, Company C, in 1864. In February, 1865, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant and Recruiting Officer for the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteers, and soon after- ward was promoted to the captaincy of Company A of that regiment. September 7, 1865, the war having terminated, he was mnstered ont of the service. Returning to his native city, he engaged in the grocery business until 1866, when he received the appointment of Second Lieutenant iu the Fourth Infantry, United States Army, and was sent to Fort Sedgwick, Colorado. He remained in the regular service about a year and from that time, 1867, until 1869, was engaged in business. From the latter date until 1871, Capt. Darrow resided in Indianapolis, whence he removed to Fort Wayne, Ind., making that city his home until 1874. He then removed to Richmond, Ind., remaining there until 1876, and from there to Cincinnati, Ohio. Here he raised a company of sixty-five men to go to the Black Hills, but soon returned to Sidney, Neb .; bought one-half interest in the Sidney Telegraph, shortly after purchasing the remaining interest and pub- lishing this paper until 1879. In the fall of 1877, Capt. Darrow was elected County Judge of Chey- enne County, Neb., serving until May, 1879, when he resigned, and has since resided in Denver, engaged in the real-estate business. He married Miss M. A. Crampton, daughter of Dr. Jesse P. Crampton, of Anderson, Ind., in June, 1866.
HON. LORENZO DOW.
This gentleman was born July 10, 1824, in Ox- ford County, Me., and graduated in 1849 at the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. He spent
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three years, from 1850 to 1853, in California. In 1857, Mr. Dow located at Topeka, Kan., and was elected Mayor of that city in 1859. The year previous, he had been admitted to the bar. He was also elected one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of that State under the Leavenworth Con- stitution. During the war of the rebellion, he was engaged, under Government contracts, in the man- ufacture of a new kind of ammunition-a water- proof and combustible cartridge of his own inven- tion. In 1863, Mr. Dow visited Europe, and on his return to the United States, introduced the Lesehat diamond drill, now in general use, and in- vented machinery for using the same in deep boring. In 1869, he went to the United States of Colombia, and opened the " Dique," a canal one hundred miles long, connecting the Magdalena River with the ocean at Carthagena. In 1870, be went to Venezuela, and established the " Inocupia" Company, one of the most successful mining cor- porations in South America. In 1877 and 1878, he erected reduction works at Gladstone, San Juan, Colo., with capital procured mainly in London, England. In the winter of 1878-79, Mr. Dow was located in the city of New York, engaged in procuring capital and the necessary funds for the proposed irrigating canal near Denver. He is at present a resident of the Coloradoan metropolis, and one of the most public-spirited and valued of her citizens.
AARON H. DUNNING.
Mr. Dunning was born in Cornwell, Vt., No- vember 24, 1842, and received a common-school education. Ilis father was a miller; and, when young Dunning had reached his fifteenth year, he had sufficiently mastered the trade to enable him to go to Malta, Ill., and engage his services as a miller. Ile remained there until 1859, when he went to Black Hawk County, Iowa, where he remained in a mill until 1862. Hle then enlisted in the Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was in the army until September of 1865, when he was mustered out of the service. He then returned to Cedar Falls, Iowa, and went to
milling, but was compelled to leave there on account of poor health. Purchasing a horse, he crossed the Plains in the saddle, arriving in Denver in July, 1867. He engaged in milling, and has been actively employed in that business ever since. He owned and operated the Butte Mills, on Boulder Creek, from the fall of 1872 to 1875, and also the Star Mills for about one year. He was engaged in mining for about one year, and, in connection with his other business, has been slightly engaged in stock-raising. He is now operating the Golden Gate Mills, in this city, and is known to be one of Denver's enterprising busi- ness men, always looking toward improvement and progress. He was the first man in Colorado to introduce the system of dampening wheat before grinding, which gives a superior quality of flour, and in greater amount from the grain, than can otherwise be obtained. He has also invented a new method of transmitting the power from the water-wheel, which is about two hundred and eighty feet from the mill, by means of a four- inch iron shafting, which takes the place of iron cables which were formerly used, and is much superior. It was introduced by Mr. Dunning at a large expense, but has proved a success, and given him one of the best powers in the State.
GEORGE DUGGAN.
George Duggan, Chief Engineer of the Fire Department of Denver, was born December 12, 1845, in Hastings County, Canada, and received a good common-school education. He remained on a farm until he was twenty-four years of age, when he came to Denver, arriving in the spring of 1870, and, for about two years, was engaged in working in a briekyard, after which he went to plastering and laying brick for about three years and a half. In the fall of 1875, he was elected Constable for Arapahoe County, serving for two years, and was Deputy Sheriff a portion of the years 1877 and 1878. He was re-elected Con- stable in the fall of 1878; and, in 1875, was elected Assistant Chief Engineer of the Fire
bb Lathrop M.D.
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Department. In July, 1879, he was elected Chief Engineer of the Fire Department ; and, in the fall of 1879, he was unanimously re-elected. Mr. Duggan takes a great interest in the department, which owes much of its prosperity and efficiency to his able management.
WILLIAM DOUGLAS.
William Douglas, of the firm of Douglas & Co., wholesale and retail dealers in crockery, is of Scotch birth, his native place being the his- torie Montrose. He was born in 1851, his parents removing, when he was yet very young, to the United States, locating in Brooklyn, L. I., and removing thence to Boston, Mass. Mr. Douglas received his education in the common schools of these two cities. In 1864, he removed to St. Joseph, Mo., and went to work for his brothers, who were engaged in a grocery business. They had a branch house in Denver, whither Mr. Douglas came in June, 1865. Here he remained, in the employ of his brothers, until the firm was dissolved by death. He then clerked for W. B. Daniels & Co. for a year, at the expiration of which time he opened a crockery house. This business he has continued until the present time, his house being the oldest in that line in the city.
JESSE DURBIN.
Mr. Durbin was born near Baltimore, Md., Oc- tober 25, 1827, and received an academic educa- tion. In 1842, he began the mercantile business in Cumberland, Mo., continuing until 1845, when he removed to Sandusky. Ohio, and was engaged in business up to 1849. In the mean time, he was engaged in the building of the Erie & Mad River Railroad, the pioneer railroad of Ohio, and was resident engineer of the northern division of this road for some time. In 1849, he began preaching the Gospel in the Methodist Episcopal Church, subsequently filling the charges at Republic, Bu- cyrus, Norwalk and Worcester. In 1854, he was compelled, by a bronchial difficulty, to give up preaching. In the spring of 1855, he embarked
in the banking business at Worcester, Ohio, in which he continued until 1863, when he removed to Canton, Ohio, and engaged in the drug busi- ness, still retaining an interest in the business of Durbin, Wright & Co., of that city. In 1874, he removed to Denver, and purchased the drug busi- ness of Walter Cheesman, one of the oldest in the the State, and has since continued in the wholesale and retail drug business, having now one of the largest drug houses in Colorado.
ASA C. DOBBINS.
Mr. Dobbins was born at Retreat, Burlington Co., N. J., April 2, 1849. His boyhood days were spent upon a farm. He received a common- school education, and when about fifteen years of age, began the activities of business life as clerk in a store. In October, 1866, he entered the service of the United States at Philadelphia, Penn., and was assigned to duty in Company K, Third Battalion of the Seventeenth Infantry. He joined his regi- ment at Galveston, Tex., and, in November, left Galveston with his company for San Antonio, Tex. His company was soon afterward placed in the Thirty-fifth Infantry. Leaving San Antonio in May, 1867, after a long and tedious march of over six hundred miles, they reached Fort Bliss, Tex., and in the following September, was ordered to Fort Craig, N. M., when his term of service ex- pired and he was discharged with the rank of cor- poral. Returning to New Jersey, he spent one year in study, after which he entered the United States Signal Service at Washington, D. C., being one of the first who served in that department after its organization, which had for its object the observation and reporting of storms by telegraph, for the benefit of commerce and agriculture, and the establishment of a system for obtaining the climatology of the country. In October, 1870, he was placed in charge of the signal station at Cheyenne, W. T., where he remained on duty until December 1, 1877, after which he was assigned to duty at Saint Mark's, Fla. On ac- count of failing health, he was relieved from duty
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at that station, and ordered to assume charge of the station at Denver, Colo., on December 8, 1878. The Denver station was established in November, 1871. Mr. Dobbins has served efficiently in the United States Signal Service for the past ten years, devoting himself studiously to observations in that department. He is an active member of the Bap- tist denomination, having united with the Baptist Church at Vincentown, N. J., in November, 1869. He was married, March 22, 1872, to Miss Emma J. Eames, who came to Denver with her father, who was one of the pioneers of Colorado.
HON. ALBERT H. ESTES.
A. H. Estes, owner and proprietor of the Went- worth House, of this city, is a man whose life has been as remarkable as it is commendable, and in which we see the fruits of honest, persevering industry. He left home, when a boy in his twelfth year, and since that time, has carved his way through the world, hence he has been the architect of his own fortune. He was born in Bethel, Oxford Co., Me., Sep- tember 24, 1825. He received a common-school education, and worked on a farm until 1850, when he concluded to seek his fortune in California. He remained in that State for about four years, after which he returned to his native State, and in the fall of 1856, was elected to represent his native county in the Legislature. During the fol- lowing winter, he was a member of the Committee that framed and presented the famous Maine liquor law, which was afterward ratified by a two- thirds vote of the people, and sustained by the Supreme Court of the State. He served for about one year, during the late war, as Captain of Com- pany E, of the Tenth Maine Infantry. The balance of the time, from 1862 to 1866, he was engaged in shipping, and in various kinds of com- mercial business. In . 1864, he removed to New York City, where he continued to reside until he came to Colorado, in the late spring of 1870. During his first year in this State, he was engaged in mining at Empire, near Georgetown, in which he was very unsuccessful, and in the spring of
1871, he removed to Denver, leaving most of the money he had been years in accumulating, in the mines. But, notwithstanding the fact that he had lost his money, he still retained his credit, and by the aid of his friends, was enabled, in May, 1873, to purchase the furniture and lease the old Went- worth House. This proved to be a grand success. The public found in him a careful and good man- ager, and this, coupled with the amiable and courteous disposition of both himself and Mrs. Estes, secured them a host of warm friends, and the Wentworth House soon became one of the most popular hotels in the city. As his custom in- creased, he continued to improve his facilities for entertainment, and in the spring of 1879 erected the new Wentworth House, in addition to the old one, which has very largely increased his facilities for accommodating his increasing custom. He now has one of the best-arranged and finest hotels in the city, and has, as he deserves, a large patron- age. Mr. Estes is regarded as one of Denver's most enterprising citizens. He is a leader in the temperance cause, and is always in favor of all measures for the promotion of the morals, health and prosperity of the city. He does not aspire to fame, but is ambitious to leave the world a little better than he found it.
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