USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 60
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 60
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made a second voyage to Europe, taking with him seventy tons of Colorado ore for experimental treatment at Swansea. Returning in the spring of 1867, he organized the Boston & Colorado Smelting Company, and at once came to Colorado as a permanent resident. It is not the purpose of this sketch to recount the history of the grand enterprise of which Prof. Hill has since been the head and front, and a full account of which will be found in the historical part of this work. We give the following extract from the columns of the Syracuse Courier of January, 1879, written by one who is evidently well acquainted with Prof. Hill and his work in Colorado: " From time to time he created and organized these works (meaning the Boston and Colorado Smelting Works), putting in whatever money of his own he had saved, and drawing on these East- ern capitalists for such sums as he thought it safe and profitable for them to invest. Of course, his uniform success is due mainly to his splendid attain- ments in science and practical knowledge of his business, his superior executive abilities and his pluck and perseverance. But all these would have heen of little avail if he had yielded to the theo- ries and influences which seemed to take possession of everybody in Colorado during Prof. Hill's ear- lier life in that region. All the miners, learned and unlearned, were looking for bonanzas; but, till the recent silver discoveries, they were not to be found in Colorado. But promising gold mines, and, after a few years, still more promising silver mines, were discovered in all the mountainous re- gions of the then Territory. Still, none of them were rich enough to yield profit in spite of the enormous cost of labor, provisions and fuel, super- added to the proverbial ignorance and extravaganee of the mining superintendents; and the conse- quence was, every mining stock company organized in the East, and absorbing fabulous amounts of eapital, proved a total or partial failure. From the first, Prof. Hill took in the situation and enter- tained the true theory. He neither indorsed, nor invested in, any of these speculative projects, and
yet he had the sagacity to discover that the pro- ducts of these mines could be purchased at a profit to the producer, when they were worked with fair economy, and reduced and separated with still greater profit through his system of smeltiug. He established his first works at Black Hawk, and purchased all the valuable ores brought to his estab- lishment at their true value, according to assay. This arrangement was highly advantageous to the miners, as they could thereby prosecute their busi- ness with very little capital. Besides this advan- tage, it enabled each and all of them more nearly to determine the real value of their claims. The construction of the railroad connecting these moun- tains with the Eastern States, soon after, gave a great impetus to this smelting business. Several other smelting concerns were established in various parts of the States, although none of them achieved any such success as Prof. Hill's."
The works were removed to Denver during the year 1878, and the thriving suburb of Argo established, where they cover about seven acres of land. The Company started with a paid-up capi- tal of $250,000, which has since increased until they now employ in the business fully $800,000, while the products have increased from less than $300,000 in 1868, to over $2,250,000 during the year 1878. To the information, discretion and energy of Prof. Hill is due the success which the establishment has attained. He continued to devote his entire attention to his important and arduous business affairs, taking no active part in political matters until the spring of 1879, when he was brought forward as a candidate for the position of United States Senator, and, after one of the most active and able contests in the politi_ cal history of Colorado, was elected. His Con- gressional career has been confined to the extra session of Congress, convened in the spring of 1879, to consider the appropriation bills, and which, therefore, afforded little opportunity for the introduction of general legislative measures. Senator Hill, however, introduced a bill making the branch mint in Denver a coinage mint, with
-
D. W.SMEDLEY DENTIST.
W. W. GOODRICH ARCHITECT.
DES CRATES BEFESSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
BANK
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
MOME INS CO. NEW YORK
UNITED STATES DEPOSITORY
WASHINGTON MC CLINTOCK'S BLOCK. Corner Larimer and 16th Streets. DENVER, COL.
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every prospect of success when Congress shall meet in regular session. He also introduced a bill for the encouragement of irrigation, by allow- ing any person to enter all the Government land that he will irrigate, up to 640 acres. This measure, if successful, cannot fail to result in the reclamation of a large part of the arid lands of the State. On the financial question, which possesses such an interest to the people of Colo- rado, he is a firm believer in the bi-metallic standard, and uses all his efforts to promote that end. Although Mr. Hill has accumulated an ample fortune, he has done so through the steady prosecution of legitimate business enterprise, and not by any lucky turn of Fortune's wheel or the exceptionally fortunate issue of any speculative schemes. Cotemporaneous, therefore, and pro- portionate to his own success, has been that of others engaged with him in business, as also the prosperity of Colorado's most important industry, and of a large number of men to whom his vast enterprises have furnished remunerative and steady employment. Whether in business, social or political life, Senator Hill is an example of the refined, courteous and honorable gentleman, resorting to none of the deceptions and intrigues so common in politics, and doing what he does from motives of exalted principle.
GEN. FRANK HALL.
The subject of this sketch was born in the city of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., N. Y., March 4, 1836. Three years later, his father died, and he was sent shortly afterward to reside with relatives in the small town of Southville, on the Housatonic River, in Litchfield County, Conn. At the end of five years, having meanwhile mastered the com- mon-school branches, he returned to New York and entered Kingston Academy. Completing his studies at this noted institute, at the end of two and a half years, he took up his residence in the the city of Syracuse. In the winter of 1858-59, he went to St. Louis, and, in the spring of 1860, crossed the Plains, in company with three others,
with an ox team and a full outfit of miners' sup- plies. Locating on Spanish Bar, Clear Creek County, the party engaged in mining with varying success for two years, when Mr. Hall removed to Central City, and became a quartz miner on the Gregory lode. In the winter of 1863, he became associated with O. J. Hollister in the publication of the Black Hawk Mining Journal, and there began his editorial career, which he pursued with untiring devotion down to December 1, 1879. In the fall of 1864, he was elected to the Territorial Legislature, and while in this service was appointed Territorial Secretary by President Johnson, and assumed the duties of the office May 2, 1866. He was twice re-appointed by President Grant, and retired April 1, 1874, after eight years' faithful service. In 1865, he purchased a half interest in the Miner's Register at Central City, and a year or two later took editorial charge of the paper, which was continued until 1877, when he removed to Denver, and entered the office of the United States Marshal as Chief Deputy. On the 10th of June, 1878, he became managing editor of the Daily Times, from which position he retired December 1, 1879, to open the Great Western Mining Agency. in association with Prof. J. Alden Smith, State Geologist. Mr. Hall has been identified with Colorado in a conspicuous manner for many years, and has seen it grow from a sparsely settled Territory to a rich and prosperous State. One of its leading journalists, it was his duty to study the possibilities of the new West in which he had taken up his abode, and to-day there are few men better acquainted with its many characteristics. Closely connected with politics, he has done much to mold public sentiment, while to the advance- ment of its mining and commercial interests, he brought a practical knowledge which has proven highly valuable. As acting Governor of the Ter- ritory, his upright, straightforward and intelligent conduct of public affairs gained for him the confi- dence of the people. For years he was virtually the chief executive officer, and in 1868, the Gov- ernor being absent in Washington, he presided
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over the Legislature, wrote and delivered the an- nual message, and performed all the duties per- taining to the executive office. In the following year, a destructive Indian war visited our borders, and upon him fell the responsibility of utilizing all the slender means at his disposal for the protection of a wide and illy guarded frontier. Slight as was the assistance given him by the General Govern- ment, he succeeded in a most admirable manner. Throughout the State Mr. Hall is well known and popular. By his probity and ability he has gained the respect of a large circle of his fellow-citizens, and this feeling is as warm among the new-comers as it is among those who knew him during the dark days of the Territory. When he retired from journalism to enter a new field of endeavor, the regard in which he was held by his newspaper brethren was manifested by many kindly expres- sions of regret and hearty God-speed which were very complimentary. Few men are more thor- oughly acquainted with the past and present of the State or more hopeful of its future than he. He has labored long and well in its interests, and bis faith was born of knowledge. Mr. Hall is at pres- ent residing in Denver, and is the Adjutant Gene- ral of the State.
REV. HORATIO S. HILTON.
The Rev. Horatio S. Hilton, now Pastor of St. James' M. E. Church of Denver was born in Exeter, Me., July 23, 1843. When but a few years of age, he was taken by his parents to Bloomington, Ill., where he was edu- cated at the Northwestern Illinois College. In 1863, he removed to Minnesota, and finished his education with a theological course at Hamlin University, then located at Red Wing. He was married, in 1868, to Miss Lncilia Shaw, and, about two years later, became a member of the Minnesota Conference. His first charge was at Ilomer, Minn., where he remained about two years. After having charge of a number of dif- ferent congregations in Minnesota until 1878, he came to Denver in August of that year. Since
coming here, he has had charge of St. James' M. E. Church and of Evan's Chapel, discharging the duties incumbent on him in a manner highly creditable to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his congregations.
GEORGE H. HIGGINS.
Geo. H. Higgins, of Littleton, was born in South Boston, Mass., January 19, 1846. His father was a large contractor, and built many of the fine blocks which adorn that part of the city. In 1850, his father removed to New York City, where, during the course of twenty years, he erected a large number of fine residences and business blocks, and super- intended the building of the Grand Central and the Grand Hotel. George H. was raised in New York, receiving an academic education, and, at about the age of seventeen, entered the large carpet manufacturing house of E. S. Higgins & Co., of which his uncles were members. There he became familiar with the various departments of the carpet business. His health failing, he came West and spent two years in Iowa and Minnesota, but not finding the relief he sought, he decided to try the climate of Colorado. The. first four years of his life in Colorado were spent mainly on a ranche, in search of health. Having sufficiently recovered to engage in business, he, in June, 1877, started a general merchandise business in Littleton, in which he still continues. Mr. Higgins was married, October 8, 1868, to Miss Helen T. Tilton, of Charleston, Me., and has one child.
JOHN HITTSON.
The live-stock business, especially the breeding, rearing and marketing of cattle, is a subject of uni- versal interest, not only in Colorado, where it is sec- ond iu rank among the industries of the State, but with the laborer, the professional and the business man, in whatever locality, it is a subject of deep inter- est, because upon its prosperity depends, in a great measure, their own. Prominent among the men who have engaged largely in this branch of busi- ness in the West and Southwest, and chief among
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the stock-raisers of this State, is John Hittson. He is a native of Tennessee, and was born October 11, 1831. When he was six years of age, his parents removed to Monroe County, Miss., where Mr. Hitt- son remained until 1851, going from that State to the eastern part of Texas, where he followed farming and stock-raising until the close of the rebellion, and then began driving cattle to Colorado, where he has annually marketed about 8,000 head. He also furnished cattle for several Government posts in Arizona. In 1872, he determined to make Col- orado his permanent home, and with that object in view purchased what is now known as White Ranche, near Deer Trail, where he brought his fam- ily the same year. Since coming to Colorado, he has combined sheep-growing with cattle-raising, and has one of the finest flocks of Merino sheep in the State. Mr. Hittson was married, in 1851, to Miss Brown, of Henderson, Texas. To this union there have been born ten children, of whom nine are yet living. As has been stated, Mr. Hittson is one of the most extensive stock-dealers in the State, and is thoroughly familiar with all the minutiæe of cattle and sheep raising. Many years of active business life on the frontier have given him an insight into the cattle trade possessed by but few men, and from which he has realized a handsome fortune.
JOHN R. HANNA.
Mr. Hanna has been a resident of Denver since 1871. He was born on the 17th day of October, 1836, in Cadiz, Ohio. After receiving a public- school education, he attended for awhile Franklin College, at Athens, Ohio. At the age of eighteen, he went to Mercer, Penn., where, a few years later, he engaged in the banking business, in which he continued until 1870. His health failing, he removed to Colorado, and spent a year on a farm, locating in Denver in 1871. In the spring of 1872, he obtained the charter for the City National Bank, of which he was elected cashier, and is still occupying that position. Mr. Hanna has been onnected with the American Bible Society, as ac director, during his residence in Denver. He was
one of the incorporators of the Colorado College, in Colorado Springs, and has been its Treasurer ever since. He is also Treasurer of the Fireman's Relief Association and the Riverside Cemetery. He was married in 1861 to Miss Ione T. Munger, of Penn Yan, N. Y. In social circles, Mr. Hanna is known for his urbanity, his retiring, unassuming manner and his consideration for others. In edu- cational and religious matters, he is an active, earnest worker, while in the financial world he occupies no secondary place for unswerving integ- rity, perfect reliability and as a safe, conservative manager, as is evidenced by the popularity and success of the moneyed institution of which he has the immediate control.
JOHN W HORNER.
J. W. Horner, attorney at law, is a gentleman whose professional success is to be attributed to his own earnest, persevering efforts and indefatigable application to business, rather than to any fortuitous circumstances or brilliant coup d'etat on his own part. Indeed, patient, untiring industry has always been the most important feature of his character, mark- ing not only his maturer years and professional career, but his early life as well. He was horn on a farm in Baptisttown, Hunterdon Co., N. J., Feb- ruary 27, 1837, enjoying, during his minority, the meager advantages of the common schools of the neighborhood. At the age of twenty-one, he set out to fit himself for college, and accordingly left for Trenton, N. J., to attend the academy in that city. In the course of a few weeks he was promoted to a position as teacher, with a salary of $500 a year, a handsome sum in those days for a boy just off the farm. He remained there during the year, and, with the start thus obtained, left for Hamilton, N. Y., where he entered Madison University as a student, and pursued the regular course of study, graduating in 1863. The second year in college, he was absent two terms out of the three for the purpose of teaching, and yet, at the beginning of the third year, was prepared to go on with his class. After graduating from college, he became Principal
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of the Mauch Chunk (Penn.) High School and Su- perintendent of the schools of the borough, which position he held for two years, being employed during the three-months summer vacations by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, as Civil Engineer in charge of a corps of men in survey- ing and building the Lehigh & Susquehanna Rail- road. He also, in the mean time, began reading law in the office of Hon. Allen Craig, a prominent lawyer and popular politician of Pennsylvania, and made considerable progress in his studies. His health becoming impaired by close and continued application to books, he determined to leave the East, and, declining a position as Assistant Super- intendent of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, he drifted West to Colorado in 1865. Going at once into the mountains, he passed two years in prospecting and mining, being connected with several mining companies. Early in 1867, he returned to Denver and resumed the study of the law with Messrs. Charles & Elbert. He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and at once opened an office with Gen. Bela M. Hughes, to whose kind and almost paternal advice and assistance he attributes much of his early success. In 1872, he formed a partnership with Judge E. P. Har- mon, which continued until August, 1876. Dur- ing the greater portion of this time, Victor A. Elliot, now Judge of the District Court for the Second Judicial District of Colorado, was associ- ated with them in practice. For the past two years, Mr. Horner has been practicing alone. At the very outset, he took a high position among his legal brethren and entered at once upon a lucrative practice, which has continued to increase and he now enjoys as large and profitable a practice as any attorney in Denver. Although engaged in general practice, commercial law has received his special attention, and it is conceded that he stands at the very head of the bar of the State as a commercial lawyer. His success in this branch of the law is due largely to his self-control and the fact that, having no political aspirations, he has no friends to make nor foes to fear, but mainly to his
unwearying industry, his unswerving integrity, his unremitting perseverance and his strict adherance to the interests of his client. So well known has his perseverance, ability and success in the collection of doubtful accounts become that many who find themselves the objects of his professional attention, imitate the example of Davy Crockett's coon and " come down " at once. His influence with the court and jury, results mainly from the fact that he never resorts to deception in matters of law or fact, and his opinion is uttered with the air of firm conviction on his part, which commands attention and produces a corresponding effect upon his auditors. Besides his legal practice, his rela- tion to the agricultural interests of the State has been important and intimate. He has interested himself largely in farming and is the owner of several fine farms in various parts of the State, but principally in Jefferson and Arapahoe Counties. Probably no professional or business man in Den- ver takes so great an interest in agriculture as Mr. Horner, and that this interest has not been with- out its reward is apparent from the fact that, dur- ing the past year, no less than ten thousand bushels of wheat of the finest quality have been produced on his various farms. Ile early manifested his confidence in the ultimate growth of Denver by investing largely in landed property in the city, and the present prosperous condition of the real-estate market fully vindicates the soundness of his views in this regard. Mr. Horner is a leading member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a Trustee for many years. He has always been a liberal contributor to its enterprises, and to his efforts and support, as much as to any other cause, is Denver indebted for the building of the Central Presbyterian Church, one of the proudest ornaments of the city. He does not by any means confine his encouragement to his own denomination, but all movements for the good of the community are embraced within the circle of his support. He is a man of fine social qualities and domestic tastes, and finds his highest enjoyment in the home circle, surrounded by wife and children.
Job. P. Machabut Nic, og. Com,to
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DAVID HILL.
Mr. Hill was born in Mercer County, Penn., in 1829. At the age of seventeen, he engaged in run- ning a canal-boat, and such was his industry and econ- omy that before he had attained his majority, he was the captain of his own boat. At twenty-one, he sold out and emigrated to Davenport, Iowa, when that city contained a population of but 1,500. The first seven years, he was successfully engaged in buying and selling stock, after which he followed the livery business for fifteen years, and was identi- fied with the growth of the city to a population of 25,000. In 1873, failing health compelled him to visit Colorado, where he derived so much benefit, that he twice returned to his old home in Iowa, confident that his health was sufficiently re-estab- lished to admit of his remaining there, but was as often obliged to return to Colorado. He has con- tributed to the upbuilding of Denver by the erec- tion of several buildings, including the Denver transfer barn. In the spring of 1878, he bought out the Transfer Company, and continued to run the transfer and livery business until May, 1879, when he sold out to Marrs & Brown, by whom it is still continued. Since then, Mr. Hill has con- fined his attention to general business and looking after some real-estate interests, which he has at Leadville. He was married in Davenport, Iowa, in 1854, to Miss Amanda J. Blair, of that city, and has three children.
HON. JOHN HARWOOD.
John Harwood, of Littleton, Colo., was born in Mount Vernon, N. H., August 15, 1801. He is descended from an old New England family. At the age of twenty, he went to Dunstable, now Nashua, N. H., where he worked about three years, and from there went to Lowell, Mass., then a small place, where he learned the carpenter's trade. On the 26th of November, 1829, he married Miss Mary Campbell, of Windham, N. H. They have now been married over fifty years, and are both hale and hearty, and have the appearance of being much younger than they are. They have had
three children, one of whom, Mrs. R. S. Little, of Littleton, is now living. One son, Dr. H. J. Har- wood, a prominent physician, was Assistant Sur- geon of the Tenth New Hampshire Volunteers, with Gen. Butler, when he was first sent to For- tress Monroe, and died at Norfolk, Va., in 1863. After his marriage, Mr. Harwood lived two years on a farm in Chester, N. H. Then after spending four years more in Lowell, he settled at Nashua, purchasing the farm owned by Mr. Baldwin, for whom the Baldwin apple was named, and which had been in the Baldwin family for more than a hundred years. Mr. Harwood was a member of the City Council of Nashua, and twice represented his district in the New Hampshire Legislature, besides occupying various other offices of trust. He remembers distinctly the last war with Great Britain, and the stirring scenes transpiring in the vicinity of his early home. He came to Colorado in 1871. He is the owner of the Harwood House in Littleton, which he purchased and made impor- tant additions to in 1877. Since coming to Colo- rado, Mr. Harwood has lived in the quiet enjoy- ment of the fruits of a well-spent life.
NELSON G. HURD.
Perhaps the youngest merchant in Denver is Nelson G. Hurd. He was born in Illinois, in the year 1859. His education has been ample, and his business training excellent. The latter was received in his father's wholesale grocery store, where he was employed until the opportunity of conducting business on his own responsibility pre- sented itself. He is now established at the corner of Fifteenth and Glenarm streets, in the fancy and staple grocery line, employing several clerks and wagons for the delivery of his goods. He is doing a really fine business, which has improved steadily under his careful management. Mr. Hurd is yet unmarried, and freely avows his preference for the Republican party, although he has not yet earned in years the right to become an active member of that organization. Those who admire pluck, and approve of the motives that lead young men to
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