Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 58

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1530

USA > Colorado > Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present > Part 58

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The Wells family is of English descent. Our subject's grandfather, Joel Wells, was born in Vermont, whence he removed to New York state, then to Ohio, and from there to southern Illinois, finally settling in Rock Island, where he died. His son, Huntington, father of our subject, was

born in Vermont, and accompanied the family in their various removals. Locating on the present site of Moline, Ill., he, with others, laid out the town that has since become famous as a manufacturing city. This was about the year 1843. On account of failing health, in 1850 he went to California, where he hoped the delight- ful climate would enable him to regain his strength, but he soon afterward died, aged forty- four years. He and his brothers and several cousins had served in the Blackhawk war. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Letitia Long, was of southern birth and lineage, her father, Reuben Long, coming north and settling in Illi- nois. She died in Moline when forty years of age. Of her seven children only two are now living, Reuben Calvin and Mrs. Sickles, of Den- ver.

In Moline, Il1., where he was born September 26, 1833, the subject of this sketch remained until nearly seventeen years of age. April 1, 1850, with a horse and mule train, he started for California, traveling through Iowa and crossing the Missouri at the present site of Omaha. At that time a Mormon settlement occupied the present site of Council Bluffs. He journeyed along the north side of the Platte to Fort Lari- mer, then crossed to the south side of the river, but after several hundred miles again crossed and continued to follow the course of the stream. From South Pass he went into the Salt Lake district, where he rested for a short time. Resuming the journey, after a few hundred miles he came to the Humboldt, which he followed to its sink. He traveled fifty miles across the desert, then crossed the Sierra Nevada range, and finally reached Hangtown (now Centerville), Cal., on the 12th of August. From there he went to Sacramento, and soon began to mine on the Yuba River. His father died in 1851, but he remained in the far west two more years, return- ing to the east in 1853 via the Nicaragua route to New York City. On his return to Moline he became bookkeeper in the office of John Deere, the celebrated plow manufacturer, and there he continued for some time. In the spring of 1859 he started to Pike's Peak, but on the westward journey constantly met parties of disconraged prospectors returning, and none of them had any good words for the mountain regions. However, he continued his journey and spent the summer

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prospecting in the mountains, but in the fall went back to Moline, where he was afterward with Deere & Co. and other firms.

Coming to Colorado a second time in 1869, Mr. Wells settled in Golden, where he has since re- sided. He was here at the organization of the city and, as a member of the last board of town trustees rendered valuable service in making the change, but afterward he refused to serve as trus- tee longer. In 1888 he was elected to represent the seventh (now the eighth) senatorial district in the senate on the Republican ticket, and took an active part in the sessions of 1889-91, the sev- enth and eighth general assemblies. While in the senate he introduced several bills that became laws, and served as chairman on the committee on education and educational institutions. In 1889 he voted for Edward O. Wolcott for United States senator, and two years later assisted in the re-election of Henry M. Teller. For a short time he served as trustee of the State School of Mines, to which he was appointed by Governor Pitkin. He was married in Moline, in 1859, to Miss Hen- rietta Warner, a native of Pennsylvania. They are the parents of one child, Mrs. Ellen Moody, of Golden.

ON. BENJAMIN H. EATON, ex-governor of Colorado, has for years been one of the most prominent citizens of the state. Com- ing here in 1859, during the first days of the Pike's Peak gold excitement, he has since wit- nessed the remarkable development of this sec- tion of the country and has himself contributed thereto. In the three industries that have ever been foremost in the state-mining, agriculture and irrigation-he has achieved unusual suc- cess; and not in these alone, but in public affairs as well, his name has stood for all that is aggres- sive; keen and enterprising. His election to the highest position within the gift of the common- wealth is sufficient proof of his prominence as a citizen.

The Eaton family is of English lineage. The first of this branch in America was Benjamin Eaton, who crossed the ocean in early life and settled in Boston, there marrying a lady of Quaker faith. His son, Benjamin, who was for years a sea captain, removed to Kentucky on re- tiring from ocean life, and thence went to Ohio, where he spent his last years. Next in line of

descent was Levi Eaton, who was born in Harri- son County, Ohio, and spent the most of his life as a farmer in Coshocton County, that state. By his marriage to Hannah Smith, a native of Har- rison County, there were born eight children, of whom six attained mature years, namely: Mary J., who is married and resides in Colorado; Benja- min H., of this sketch; Aaron S., a well-known retired farmer of Greeley, Colo .; Rebecca R., who is married and lives in this state; Elizabeth E., wife of Henry Paul, M. D., of Denver; and Albert L., of Colorado.

Upon completing his education, the subject of this article taught school for a time in Ohio. In 1854 he removed to Iowa, where he taught in Louisa County for two years. Then, returning to Ohio, May 1, 1856, he was there united in mar- riage with Delilah, daughter of James Wolf, and afterwards spent two years in that state, princi- pally as a farmer. His wife died May 31, 1857, leaving a son, Aaron J., who is now a prominent agriculturist of Weld County. In the spring of 1858 he went, for the second time, to Iowa, but a year later, when the tide of emigration turned westward toward the mines of the mountains, he joined a party and crossed the plains to Colorado. Here, and in New Mexico, he prospected and mined and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1864 he returned to Iowa and in Louisa County married Miss Rebecca J., daughter of Abraham Hilf. Crossing the plains with his wife, he settled upon land between Greeley and Fort Col- lins, and embarked in the raising of stock. He soon became one of the most prominent men of his section. Prosperity rewarded his efforts and proved the wisdom of his judgment. In the early days of his residence here he endured all the hardships incident to frontier life and endured them bravely, as one who sees victory and pros- perity ahead. In addition to his ranching pur- suits and mining interests, he early became an extensive contractor and constructor of canals and waterways, through the building of which he greatly advanced the agricultural interests of his county. As the years passed by he en- larged his possessions until he came to be recog- nized as the most extensive farmer in the state, and his activities continued unabated until more recent years, but he still superintends all of his properties and gives personal attention to his large moneyed interests.

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The connection of Mr. Eaton with public af- fairs dates from the '6os. In politics he has al- ways been an adherent to Republican principles and stands firm and stanch for the policy and platform of his party. In 1866 he was elected to the office of justice of the peace, which position he held for nine years. He also held the office of county commissioner for six years, during four of which he officiated as chairman of the board. In 1872 he was selected to represent his district in the territorial legislature, in which body his tal- ents commanded attention. In 1875 he was elected to the territorial senate, where he served for one term, meantime doing effective service on various committees. Step by step he had ad- vanced in influence until 1884, when he was nominated, as the one best fitted to make the race of the party for governor. He was elected by a fair majority and filled the executive chair for two years.

Since his retirement from the governor's office, Mr. Eaton has carried on his ranch, also built one of the largest reservoirs and canals in the state, erected the mill at Eaton, a town that was named in his honor; and until 1890, also gave consider- able time to mining interests, but these he sold in the latter year. Fraternally he is connected with the Knight Templar Masons. By his second marriage he has a son and a daughter, namely: Bruce G., who resides in Eaton and assists in the management of his father's extensive inter- ests in this place; and Jennie B., wife of John M. B. Petrikin, the postmaster at Greeley.

ILLIAM S. BAGOT, B. A., M. B., M. D. By the most thorough preparation in Europe and by subsequent supplemental study, Dr. Bagot · is entitled to be placed in the front ranks of the medical profession of Colorado. He is now professor of clinical gynecology in the University of Denver, attending gynecologist to St. Joseph's, St. Luke's and Arapalioe County hospitals, consulting surgeon of the Cottage Home hospital, and in his private practice makes a specialty of abdominal surgery and the treat- ment of diseases of women.

The Bagot family was founded in England at the time William the Conqueror came over from Normandy and they fought in the battle of Hast- ings in 1066. During the reign of Henry II

(1172), Sir John Bagot of Bagotsbromley, County Stafford, England, went to Ireland, where he became the owner of vast estates. Later his descendants removed to different parts of the Emerald Isle. They were leaders among men and possessors of large landed properties. A number of villages and streets were named in their honor. Among their representatives were many prominent lawyers and physicians. The genealogical record cau be traced back, in a di- rect line, to 1171. The doctor's grandfather, Thomas Neville Bagot, owned the Ballymoe es- tates in the west of Ireland, County Galway, and was a typical Irish gentleman, witty, brave, kind, and fond of sports.

Charles Augustus Bagot, the doctor's father, was the next to the youngest son in the family. He was educated in Trinity College, Dublin, and followed the profession of law in Dublin until his death. His wife, Frances Louisa, was a daugh- ter of Dr. Alexander Kerr, of Dublin, and is now living in County Kilkenny. In her family there are three sons: Bernard William, who resides in Virginia; George Hinds, whose home is in New South Wales, Australia; and William Sidney. The last-named was born in Dublin and was given the best educational advantages that city afforded. In 1885 he graduated from Dublin University with the degree of A. B., and two years later he graduated with the degree of M. B. From 1887 to 1891 he was assistant physician in the Rotunda Hospital, and on retiring from that position he opened an office in Dublin and en- gaged in practice until 1892. Failing health ren- dered a change of climate necessary and he made preparations to go to Australia, via the United States. On his way he stopped in Denver, where Dr. Eskridge and other physicians prevailed upon him to locate permanently. He reached the city in May, 1892, and in July opened an of- fice in the California block, but three years later removed to his present quarters in the Stedman block. Shortly after coming here he accepted the position of professor of obstetrics and abdomi- nal surgery in the University of Denver, later took the chair of gynecology and is now professor of clinical gynecology. While in Europe he con- tributed frequently to current medical literature, and since coming to this country he has written articles for professional journals. He is a mem- ber of the Colorado State, and the Denver and.

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Arapahoe County Medical Societies. While in Rotunda Hospital he received a special certificate in gynecology, and he was prizeman in clinical medicine at Meath Hospital and Dublin Infirm- ary. During his residence in his native land he was fellow, member of the council and of the publication committee of the Obstetrical Section, Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland; the ob- stetrical and gynecological member of the com- mittee of reference for the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland; fellow of the British Gyne- cological Society and member of the Dublin Bio- logical Club.

HILIP MIXSELL, a prominent citizen of Idaho Springs, built the first custom stamp mill in this place, and for a decade has ope- rated the same. The mill is kept busy day and night and uses both the amalgamation and concen- tration processes of treatment of ore. When the Mixsell mill was started it was one of ten stamps, but has since been increased to thirty stamps, and runs from eight to ten hundred tons every month. Its success proves the rare good judgment of the owner, who, when he embarked upon the enter- prise, was laughed at for his sanguineness and be- lief in the future of his mill. His success has worked wonders for Idaho Springs and vicinity, and has brought into prominence its ores and resources. Mr. Mixsell is a mining expert and his services and opinions are being constantly de- manded in various portions of this and adjoining states. From these different points considerable ore has been shipped to his mill, and numerous stamp mills have been modeled after his own.

The parents of the above-named gentleman are Philip and Sarah (Diehl) Mixsell, of Northamp- ton County, Pa. The father was born in Easton, May 12, 1819, while his wife was born November 26, 1818. He received a college education and succeeded to the large lumber business which had been established by his father in Easton. Later he removed to Philadelphia, where he was simi- larly occupied, his sales extending to all parts of Northampton and Lehigh Counties. In time he became one of the wealthy and influential men of his day, and among his intimate friends and business associates were Asa Packer and Mr. Baldwin, of the Baldwin locomotive works. The panic of 1857 was of serious financial damage to his business and he retired from active life. His .

death took place in Philadelphia in 1868. His father, who was of German descent, died in Easton at the age of ninety-eight years.

Mrs. Sarah Mixsell was a daughter of Jacob and Rosina Diehl, the former born October 5, 1769, and died September 28, 1851, and the latter born December 26, 1776, and died January 3, 1837. The Diehls were of German lineage, and belonged to the rank of the nobility prior to the Reformation, when they espoused the doctrines of Luther and were exiled, about 1600, after one of their number, an aunt of the then Baron Diehl, head of the house, had been beheaded. On being exiled from Germany the family came to America, the land of religious liberty, somewhat prior to William Penn, to whom they were related. Grandfather Diehl, whose home was in Easton, was a hero of the Revolutionary war. Of the six children born to Philip and Sarah Mixsell, one, Harry, died young. Anna M., deceased, mar- ried Col. Peter Penn Gaskell Hall, who was colonel of a regiment in the Union army during the Civil war. Howard, master-at-arms, and in the United States navy all through the Civil war, died of yellow fever in Panama in 1868. Amelia, Mrs. Penn Gaskell Hall, resides in Philadelphia. Virginia, Mrs. De Lancey H. Londerback lives in Chicago; her husband is the promoter of rapid transit in that city, building the Lake Street El- evated, the Union Loop and a number of other large enterprises.

Philip Mixsell, of this sketch, was born Nov- ember 8, 1851, in Philadelphia, and was educated there in the public schools. In 1860 he became a messenger boy in the old United States telegraph office, and within three years had learned the business of an operator, and was given a position, being then the youngest operator in the employ of the company. After the consolidation of two companies under the name of the Western Union, he became one of their employes, and continued to live in Philadelphia for several years. Gradu- ally he worked his way upward from one position to another, until he was in very responsible places. Among them were the train dispatcher's office at Phillipsburg, N. J., and New Hampton Junction, N. J., Col. R. E. Ricker, superintendent and engineer of New Jersey Central office; master mechanic's office, Elizabethport, N. J .; Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway office; Crestline, Ohio, dispatcher's and division headquarters;

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Missouri Pacific Railway, Jefferson City, Mo., and dispatcher's office, North Missouri Railway, Mo- berly, Mo. At the time of the great strike among the telegraphers he went to Philadelphia and took a position with the Franklin Telegraph Company in Old Town Building, at the corner of Third and Chestnut streets, where the first Sterns Du- plex instrument was perfected and used. Then, for two years, he was located in the Continental Hotel in Philadelphia.

In 1868 our subject came to the west and was an operator at various stations along the Union Pa- cific. Soldiers were then guarding the stations from Omaha west, but at Bitter Creek he was simply supplied with ammunition and guns and told to take care of himself. At last his health broke down and he returned to his old home and later went to Chicago and St. Louis. The Asso- ciated Press commanded his services at two ses- sions of the Missouri legislature, he representing a St. Louis paper. He became manager of the telegraph office in Central City for the Western Union. A few months later the Caribou mine was discovered and he conceived the plan of building a telegraph line to Nederland and Cari- bou. Having done so, he organized a larger company, with Senator Teller, Col. W. H. Bush and J. H. Pickle, and constructed the first line to Boulder City, connecting with the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Company at Cheyenne, for eastern and western business, and having branch lines to Sunshine, Gold Hill and Salina. Two years afterward these lines were sold to the West- ern Union and Mr. Mixsell turned his attention to mining. His first experience in this direction was with the Hattie mine, above Central City, in Spring Gulch. From that time until 1878 he mined and worked at stamp mills.

Mr. Mixsell has always been an ardent Repub- lican. When W. A. H. Loveland, president of the Colorado Central Railroad, ran for governor on the Democratic ticket, he took a leading part in the campaign. For three years thereafter he was agent of the Idaho Springs station, and then oc- cupied a similar position at Central City. When he returned to Idaho Springs a few months later, the News of that town had just been fairly started by Benedict & Hollis. He purchased the paper, which he managed three years, and then, selling out, he devoted himself exclusively to mining and milling. He discovered the Clarissa mine in

1874, in Virginia Canon, and has operated it ever since. He is the proprietor of the Blue Bell group; the United States Tunnel Company, in Hukill Gulch, and the Mixsell tunnel are opera- ted by our subject, who is largely interested in them. Of the United States tunnel it may be said that it is the largest project of the kind in the state, and Mr. Mixsell is its manager and an extensive stockholder.

In Manitou, Colo., the marriage of Mr. Mixsell and Miss Lizzie MacGee was solemnized in 1891. Mrs. Mixsell was born in Cumberland, Md., and her parents were natives of Scotland. The two children of our subject and his estimable wife are named Philip and DeLancey.

ON. SAMUEL M. BREATH. Numbered among the most prominent citizens of Boulder is this worthy pioneer of Colorado. - He has long been connected with the development and progress of this portion of the state, and has truly done his full share in establishing the county upon a safe and substantial basis. Time and again have his fellow-citizens honored him with high and responsible offices, and never has he in the slightest degree neglected such trusts. Three terms he acted in the capacity of commis- sioner of Boulder County, once while the Civil war was in progress, at which time county bonds were issued for the purpose of raising and equipping a company for the service. In 1865 and 1866 he was a member of the territorial legislature of Colorado, and in the sessions of 1881 he served for a third term in the legislative body of this commonwealth. In 1872 and 1873 he was probate and county judge of this county, acquitting himself with distinction. The welfare of the people has always been dear to his heart, and he has often allowed his personal interests to suffer, while he discharged what he believed to be his duty toward the public.

Though over fourscore years of age (his birth having occurred October 5, 1817, at No. 50 Lom- bard street, New York), the judge is still active and sound in mind and body. His paternal grandfather, John Breath, was a native of the Highlands of Scotland, while his maternal grand- father, Abraham Leggett, was a native of Eng- land. The former, after his marriage, settled in New York City, where he engaged in merchan-

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dising, and Mr. Leggett was likewise a merchant of the metropolis for many years. He held the office of major in the Revolutionary war, and had charge of a portion of the United States navy in southern waters. The parents of the judge were Capt. James and Elizabeth (Leggett) Breath. The father was a fine scholar, an expert math- ematician and graduated from a theological seminary, with the intention of entering the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. However, he did not follow out that course, but became in- terested in the merchant marine service. He owned two vessels which were engaged in trading with the East Indies, and one of these ships was lost at sea. When his six sons were growing up around him, he concluded to remove inland, as he preferred that they should not become at- tached to a sea-faring life. Therefore, in 1818, he settled in the then far west, Illinois. He owned a very large tract of land twelve miles east of Edwardsville, and there he died at the ripe age of seventy-three years. His wife, who was born in New York City, departed this life, while on a visit to her daughter at Danville, Ky. Of their nine children, the judge, who was the youngest, alone survives. One son participated in the Black Hawk war.

The Breath family settled in Illinois when the judge was an infant, and when he was eight years old he was sent back to the eastern metropolis in order that he might attend school, as the schools in Illinois were very poor at that time. He remained in the city for three years, and then, returning home, he worked on his father's farm near Marine, Ill., until he was eighteen years of age. In 1845 he engaged in mining in the Galena, Ill., and the Grant County, Wis., lead mines, and was thus employed for about a year. From that time on he resided chiefly in Alton, Ill., first being connected with a lumber company and later with a grocery.

In 1859 he started for Colorado with a large stock of merchandise of various kinds, tools, machinery, etc. He fitted out five large wagons, with five yoke of oxen to each, and proceeded up the Platte and North Platte Rivers from Omaha, Neb., choosing that route in order that better grazing might be found for his cattle. The trip was made very successfully, and in June the little party reached Boulder. The judge put up . a 16x32 tent here for a store, and embarked in

business, but in the same fall everybody left for other fields and he went to Golden City. There he erected a substantial log store and continued in business until about the time of the Civil war, when the government bought all the supplies he had, for the equipment of soldiers. In 1862 he returned to this vicinity, buying a large ranch on South Boulder River, about ten miles from the county-seat. This place he carried on for several years, also turning his attention somewhat to- wards mining and prospecting, in Ward district. While in Golden he had sold goods to a stamp mill, and was finally obliged to take the same in payment of the debt. He removed it to Ward, where it was the first mill in operation. Later he opened the mine now known as the Ni Wot (an Indian name meaning left hand) and within a few months had taken out $50,000 worth of ore. Then, following the example of many others, he put up a fifty-stamp mill, the finest in the state at that time. It was erected at a cost of $125,000, by the Ni Wot Mining Company of New York, and was burned down in November, 1866. The judge and two friends owned a three-fifths in- terest of the $500,000 stock of the company. When a new mill had been built and everything was again in working order, the judge resigned his position as superintendent of the concern, owing to the fact that they had mined down to the "refractory" ore, for which there was then no efficient method of treatment. The next few years he was interested in various enterprises, conducting a mercantile business on Pearl street, Boulder, for two years; prospected and mined for an eastern company in Caribou and other localities and homesteaded in Nederland Park, owning three hundred and twenty acres in that district. He has improved property in Boulder, and was one of the first to build upon the mesa, now the most beautiful residence part of town. Breath's subdivision, a tract of eight acres, was laid out and is now all built up with good homes.

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Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 58

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1530

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1530