USA > Colorado > Sketches of Colorado: being an analytical summary and biographical history of the State of Colorado as portrayed in the lives of the pioneers, the founders, the builders, the statesmen, and the prominent and progressive citizens Vol. 1 > Part 20
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In 1882, he began the construction of the Hungarian flour mills, and installed the roller system of making flour in Colorado. He established here the first roller mills west of the Missouri river, in 1878. In 1885, the Colorado Milling and Elevator Company was organized with J. K. Mullen as general manager. In 1887, he also became the presi- dent of the company. This was but the be- ginning of extensive operations throughout the west, and establishing plants in several states. The Hungarian and Excelsior mills were bought by the company, and others gradually added, until in 1911, they were operating ninety-one mills, elevators, and warehouses, in the several states of Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Utah, Idaho and Oregon. Their business aggregates $18,000,000 annu- ally. The invested capital amounts to nearly $5,000,000. Not only has Mr. Mullen pro- moted and carried on this vast business through able financiering, and strong execu- tive force, but has also shown skill and fore- sight, in the selection of his assistants. He knows and understands men. Through ex- perience and ready discernment, he selects the right man for the right place. He has guarded iu a most successful manner against the mistake so common in the business world, of attempting to put square pegs into round holes.
During the past twenty-five years these associated companies have distributed divi- dends each year among their employees, in
such amounts as the managers thought they were entitled in the earnings. This is volun- tary, on the part of the company, but it is considered just and right that the employees should share part of the earnings. Thus friendly links exist between the company and all those who are in its employ.
In addition to the milling and flour busi- ness, Mr. Mullen has also engaged in other and large enterprises, and especially in land and cattle. He had more acres of ground under cultivation up to 1910, than any other man in the state, except Governor Benjamin H. Eaton, and was made president of the following companies : J. K. Mullen Land and Cattle Company of Lamar; Tamarack Land and Cattle Company of Logan county ; the Harmony Land and Cattle Company of Lo- gan county ; also the Platte Land and Cattle Company of the same county ; and, the River- side Land and Cattle Company of Larimer county.
Mr. Mullen is a member of the Denver Public Library Association, in which he has taken a special interest, and is in hearty sympathy with all efforts made to reach the masses in library work. He believes that books and periodicals should be easily ac- cessible to the poor. In 1910, he gave a very fine library to the Knights of Columbus, of which he is a member and Past Grand Knight, and handsomely endowed it with a maintenance fund. Mr. Mullen, himself, is a reader and student. His early education was meager, but so soon as he became a suc- cessful business man, and even before he could well afford it, he was liberal in the purchase of substantial reading matter, and has been a student, not only of business con- ditions, but of events and affairs. Ilis read- ing and study has made him a man of broad and liberal culture.
He is also a director of the First National Bank, of Denver, and the Denver Railway and Securities Company, and is identified with many prominent financial institutions and enterprises, and was one of the most influential members of the recent city char- ter conventions. He and his family occupy a high position in social and church circles.
Mr. Mullen married in Denver, October 12, 1874, Miss Katharine Smith, and to them have been born the following children : Ellen (Mrs. E. H. Wechbaugh), Mary (Mrs. F. L. Tettemer), Katharine (Mrs. J. Emerson O'Connor), Edith (Mrs. Oscar L. Malo). He and his married daughters all reside on the corners of Ninth and Pennsylvania ave- nue, in their own beautiful homes.
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JOHN FRANCIS CAMPION.
CAMPION, JOHN FRANCIS, mining, born, Prince Edward Island, December, 1849, was the son of M. B. and Helen (Fehan) Campion. His parents, native of that island, were of English and Irish an-
were born to them, of whom M. Brevort be- came a successful ship owner and builder. He built his own vessels in his own ship- yards, and as a captain was able to sail any of his own eraft. Not only was he promi-
JOHN FRANCIS CAMPION
cestry. For many generations the family had been extensive land owners in England. John Francis Campion, Sr., the American progenitor, came to this country with his wife and children and established a new home on Prince Edward Island, where the father and mother lived to a good old age, he dying at the age of 75, and she at 70. Nine children, four sons and five daughters,
nent in the commercial life of the island, but was a leading factor in its polities, first as a liberal and later as a conservative. He represented his county home in the Prince Edward Island Parliament. By nature and experience, he took a comprehensive view of all matters of public and general interest, being especially prominent in the adminis- trative affairs of the island. Residing the
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last twenty years of his life in Colorado, he was well known in this state and especially in Leadville, where he lived and died. He married Helen, daughter of Doctor Fehan, a leading physician of Prince Edward Island. Her father lost his life, one stormy winter's night, while crossing the Northumberland Strait, which has a width of nine miles.
John Francis Campion, the oldest of their four children, became a well-known mining man in Colorado. In 1862, his parents, then residing in California, sent him and his brother back to Prince Edward Island, where they attended the Prince of Wales College, at Charlottetown. But the brothers, John F., then 17, and George, 15 years of age, became anxious to participate in the civil war in this country, and ran away from college. Coming to the United States, they attempted to enlist in the navy, but only partly succeeded in their scheme. George, because of his youth, was reected, but John F., although only a little older, after passing the necessary examination, was accepted and given a position as assistant quartermaster. He was aboard the ship "Dolphin" and carried to General Sherman the first dispatches he received at Savannah, after completing his famous march to the sea. With difficulty and danger, the boat made its way into the entrance of the Savan- nah River, owing to the sunken vessels and the conflagration along the wharves, where immense quantities of cotton were burning.
Mr. Campion returned to California after the war, to visit his parents, then residing at Sacramento. He then became a miner, prospector, and mine owner. The White Pine silver mine was discovered by him in 1868, and after obtaining a fair start, lost all he had made, including about $5,000, in this mining venture. Later, he engaged in mining at Eureka, Nevada, developing and selling valuable properties, whereby he ac- cumulated a snug fortune. With his father and brother, he then went to Pioche, Nevada, where he continued in the same line of busi- ness, and there became the owner of the Pioche-Phoenix, a valuable silver mine. The Pioche-Phoenix Mining Company was organ- ized by him, but he was compelled to make a hard fight to retain possession of the prop- erty, as other claimants attempted by force to assert their alleged rights. Mr. Campion succeeded in holding the mine, until the property was finally awarded him by the courts.
Disposing of his interests in Nevada, Mr.
Campion followed the rush to Leadville, ar- riving at that new mining camp, in April, 1879. Here he continued operating in mines, buying, developing and selling, and also be- coming the owner of valuable interests that he still retains. Mr. Campion became an owner in the Bison, Reindeer, Elk and Ibex (better known as the Little Johnny), which were started by him, and named for animals. In the latter property, he and his partners possess a bonanza, which is known as one of the richest mines in the west, and from which large fortunes have been produced. Mr. Campion has been through many and varied experiences in the west and borne his share of the hardships of a prospector's life, before kind fortune smiled upon his hard struggle. He has made Denver his residence for a number of years, and in 1896-1897, built his present palatial home at No. 800 Logan street.
Mr. Campion was one of the promoters, organizers, and is the president of the Colo- rado Museum of Natural History, which is one of the most interesting attractions at the City Park. When engaged in mining at Breckenridge, he became acquainted with Professor Edwin Carter, who had made a splendid collection of the fauna of this state, including the bison and many rare speci- mens of natural history. This most valuable group of Rocky Mountain wild animals was in danger of loss by fire, or want of atten- tion, being stored in the cabins of the owner. Mr. Campion, assisted by Mr. Joseph A. Thatcher and others, obtained the old Carter collection, which was made the nucleus for the museum at the City Park.
He is the general manager of the Ibex Mining Company; president of the Napite Mining Company at Breckenridge; director of the Carbonate National Bank of Lead- ville; vice-president of Seventeenth Street Building Company, Denver; director of the Denver National Bank ; vice-president of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway Company (Moffat Road) ; president of the Northwestern Terminal Company ; president of the Colorado Museum of Natural His- tory ; president of the Municipal Art League ; trustee of the Agnes Memorial Sanitarium, and president of the Big Horn Mining and Cattle Company. He is also a member of the following clubs: Denver Club, Denver Athletic Club and the Denver Country Club.
Mr. Campion married, in Denver, April 16, 1879, Miss Nellie May, sister of Thomas F. Daly. They have the following children : John F., Jr., Helen, Phyllis, and Roland.
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HENRY ROGER WOLCOTT
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HENRY ROGER WOLCOTT.
WOLCOTT, HENRY ROGER, capitalist, born, Longmeadow, Massachusetts, March 15, 1846, is the son of Samuel (D. D.) and Harriet Amanda (Pope) Wolcott, and a brother of the late Edward O. Wolcott (q. v.), United States Senator from Colorado. Dr. and Mrs. Wolcott were the parents of eleven children. All attained manhood and womanhood, except one. In addition to Henry and Edward, the children were: Sam- nel Adams; Harriet Agnes ( Mrs. F. O. Vaille of Denver) ; the Reverend William Edgar, deceased, of Lawrence, Massachusetts; Kath- erine Ellen (Mrs. Charles H. Toll of Denver, Colorado. Mr. Toll [q. v] was formerly At- torney General of Colorado) ; Anna Louise, principal of the Wolcott School, Denver, and regent of the University of Colorado; Clara Gertrude, of Lawrence, Massachusetts ; Herbert Walker, of Cleveland, Ohio; and Charlotte Augusta (wife of Captain Francis Bates, U. S. A.).
Henry R. Wolcott was educated in Provi- dence, Rhode Island, and Cleveland, Ohio; Honorary A. M., Yale, 1896, and Colorado College, 1898. Mr. Wolcott came to Colo- rado in 1869, and for a short time was en- gaged in mining. In the spring of 1870, he became associated with, and later was ap- pointed assistant manager of the Boston and Colorado Smelting Works, that had been established at Black Hawk, and was also in charge of the additional plant, erected at Alma, Colorado, in 1873. Later, and for a number of years, after the construction of the new and larger works by this com- pany at Argo, near Denver, he was the acting manager; treasurer of the Smelting and Min- ing Company; director, Equitable Life As- surance Society; and, within a few years, reached a front rank in the business life of the west. Among his various achievements, he was largely instrumental in securing Fort Logan as a military post for Denver. It was his personal work and influence that led to the erection of the Boston Building and Equitable Building in Denver. Mr. Wolcott is a charter member of the Denver Club, and for many years was its president. For ten years he was vice-president of the First National Bank of Denver, and is widely and favorably known in finaneial circles in New York and New England. He is extensively interested in mining enterprises. Mr. Wol- cott was president of the Colorado Telephone
Company, and vice-president of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, for a number of years. His subscriptions have been liberal to all enterprises, having for their object the development and upbuilding of Denver and Colorado. Many educational institutions have felt the kindly influenee of his benefac- tions. He has donated liberally to Colorado College, at Colorado Springs; established in 1879, the Wolcott Medal for excellence in public reading, for the young ladies of the East Denver High School; and, the Miss Wolcott School of Denver was made possible by reason of his contributions and efforts.
Mr. Wolcott was also active in politics and prominent in the councils of the repub- lican party. He was elected state senator from Gilpin county in 1878, for a term of four years, serving at the same time with his brother, Edward Oliver, then state sen- ator from Clear Creek county. He was also elected president pro tempore of the senate, an official position ranking next to that of lieutenant governor. Because of this posi- tion, he was called upon, during his term, to serve as acting governor of Colorado. He thus performed the functions of the guber- natorial office, which four of his family had exercised in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Mr. Wolcott was the leading republican candidate before the state convention of his party in 1882, but elements entering into the United States senatorial question caused luis defeat, although the popular man for the place. He was defeated for governor in the state election of 1898, not because of any personal unpopularity, but owing to the chaotic conditions that then disturbed Colo- rado and the entire west. His devotion to his brother, Senator Wolcott, is one of the lovely characteristics of his life. He was his brother's friend in adversity, and none re- joiced more in his brother's brilliant success ; was his companion on the senator's last European trip, when he sought for the health that came not; and was with him to the end, when death came to him at the Riviera.
Henry R. Wolcott is a member of the fol- lowing clubs: Union, Union League and University, New York, and also the Racquet and Tennis, Brook, Lambs, New York Yacht, Larchmont Yacht (New York), At- lantie Yacht, Manhasset, Tavern (Boston), Metropolitan (Washington), and the Denver and University Clubs, Denver.
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SAMUEL NEWELL WOOD
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SAMUEL NEWELL WOOD.
WOOD, SAMUEL NEWELL, banker, capitalist, was born at Jordan, Onon- daga county, New York, May 2, 1844, son of Smith Wood, a farmer, and Rhoda (Hunger- ford) Wood.
He received a practical education at the village academy at Jordan and first en- gaged in the mercantile business at Syra- cuse, New York, and later removed to Madi- son, Wisconsin, where he secured employ- ment in a bank of that city.
In 1870 he started west and established a connection with the Colorado National Bank, becoming assistant cashier at the age of twenty-six. He remained with this in- stitution until 1877, when he went to the newly discovered gold camp of Deadwood, South Dakota. There was established in this camp the banking firm of Stebbins, Wood and Post and he became manager. A year later he organized the First National Bank of Deadwood and became its cashier and manager.
Although the years spent in the Black Hills were profitable, Mr. Wood always re- garded his residence there as merely tem- porary. He still considered Denver his home and four years later he returned to this city. The confidence Mr. Wood felt for the future of Denver proved to be his largest business asset. He knew the city was bound to grow and, with far-sighted wisdom, he staked his accumulations upon that outcome. The result was that in less than a generation he found himself a mil- lionaire.
Upon returning to Denver Mr. Wood, with Henry R. Wolcott and Colonel D. C. Dodge and others, founded the Merchants' National Bank. A year later this was merged with the First National Bank and he was made cashier, succeeding George W. Kassler.
Mr. Wood held the office of cashier with the First National Bank for many years, and always owned the controlling interest of the bank until late in the nineties, when he sold the control of the institution to David H. Moffat. All this time his personal invest- ments in outside properties were increasing and he felt that these interests should re- ceive his exclusive attention. He resigned his position in the bank and disposed of enough of his stock to turn control over to the late David H. Moffat, between whom and Mr. Wood there existed mutual sentiment of high regard.
Mr. Wood is reputed the largest individ- ual owner of real estate in the city of Den- ver, his holdings including some of the most valuable business locations in the city.
He served during the administration Governor Alva Adams as a member of the Denver Board of Public Works.
Mr. Wood has been a member of the Union League Club of New York and the Chicago Club of Chicago for over twenty years. Is also a member of the Denver Club, the Denver Athletic Club and the Den- ver Country Club.
He was married, September 30, 1903, to Miss Luella Frizell, daughter of Dr. Frizell of Butler, Mo. They have no children.
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WILLIAM ROLAND OWEN
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WILLIAM ROLAND OWEN.
WEN, WILLIAM ROLAND, merchant, came interested with the M. J. McNamara 0
born Jan. 3, 1852, in Columbus, Dodge county, Wisconsin, was the son of William and Catherine (Jones) Owen. His parents came from Wales, his father coming to this country in 1845, and engaging in farming.
William R. Owen attended the local public schools until he was thirteen years of age, and then began clerking in stores in Racine, Portage and Fox Lake, in his native state, entering upon the career that has made him the self-made and successful business man that he is to-day. In 1875, he came to Denver and entered the employ of Daniels & Fisher, then the largest dry goods house in the city, at their old place on Larimer street. After remaining with that firm three years, he went to Leadville in 1878, and started for himself, in the dry goods business. Here he also formed a partnership with T. S. Chitten- den, under the firm name of Owen & Chitten- den. He became a prosperous merchant in the great carbonate mining camp. Mr. Owen also was active in the municipal affairs of Leadville, during the chaotic conditions that prevailed during the exciting days of its wonderful mining boom. He was one of the first aldermen of that city. After five and a half years in Leadville, he sold the estab- lishment to Daniels, Fisher & Smith.
Returning to Denver in 1883, Mr. Owen formed a partnership with A. H. Weber, un- der the name and style of Webber & Owen, engaging in the retail fur business, but later sold to the Babcock Bros. In 1899, he be-
Dry Goods Company, was made treasurer and remained with this firm about four years. This company meeting with reverses in the panic of 1893, was closed out to Messrs. Sheedy and Kountze, who retained Mr. Owen as manager.
In May, 1894, Mr. Owen assisted in or- ganizing this old establishment, at the same time retaining an interest therein, into what is now the Denver Dry Goods Company. He was made the general manager, and the company has grown into the greatest depart- ment store west of Chicago. The original building has been more than doubled, now extending from Sixteenth street back to Fif- teenth. This now mammoth dry goods estab- lishment covers an area of 315,000 square feet, has 1100 employees, and transacts an annual business of $5,000,000. Mr. Owen, in addi- tion to being general manager, the position he still holds, was also elected vice-president of the company in Oct., 1900. He is the ac- tive head of this great establishment, the suc- cess of which is largely due to his executive ability, tact, and shrewd business judgment.
Mr. Owen is a member of the Denver, Country, and Traffic Clubs. He married in 1882, Miss Amile A., daughter of Joel S. Page, a leading lawyer of Chicago. They have three children: Lucy, wife of Dr. Arthur McGugan; Emile, wife of Mr. Stephen Wheeler; and, William R. Owen, Jr., who with his brother-in-law, Mr. Wheeler, is en- gaged in the fire insurance business.
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FRANKLIN GUITERMAN
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FRANKLIN GUITERMAN.
G UITERMAN, FRANKLIN, General Man- ager American Smelting & Refining Co., Colorado department, was born March 7, 1856. His parents were William Guiterman, a wholesale dry goods merchant, and Rosalie Bettman Guiterman, both natives of Bavaria, Germany.
Mr. Guiterman was educated in the gram- mar schools and Hughes high school of Cin- cinnati. His collegiate training was had at the Royal School of Mines at Frieberg, Sax- ony, Germany, where he was educated as a mining and metallurgical engineer.
In 1878, Mr. Guiterman came to Colorado and from that year down to the present time he has been a prominent factor in the mining and smelting industry of the west. His pres- ent position, which is easily the first in his profession in the United States, if not in the world, has been won by years of hard work and close study. His advance has been a steady growth ; his responsibilities increasing with the years and being discharged in the larger places with the same exactitude that characterized his earlier work.
The year of his arrival in Colorado Mr. Guiterman entered the employ of the Ter- rible Mine and Concentrating Works near Georgetown as assayer. From Georgetown he went to Leadville, where for four years he filled several positions as assayer and chemist in the mines of that district. From Leadville he went to Wyoming as inspector of copper mines there. Returning a year later he went with the San Juan, taking charge of the sampling works at Silverton.
The experience thus gained in the differ- ent mining camps of the state where he had opportunity to study and analyze the many grades of ores, stood him in good stead when he accepted the position of superintendent of smelting works at Utah. All the time he was adding to his store of knowledge supple- menting the theoretical training he had re- ceived at Freiberg.
Upon concluding his connection with the Utah smelter Mr. Guiterman engaged for a number of years in business for himself as a trained expert. During that time he was engaged to make reports upon some of the largest mining, smelting and milling proposi- tions in the country.
Mr. Guiterman finally decided to return to Colorado and accepted the position of manager of the sampling works of W. J. Chamberlain & Co. He held this position until 1894, when he became manager of the Smelters Clearing House, Denver, which was dissolved in 1895. From 1895 to 1899 he was general manager of the Durango plant of the Omaha & Grant Smelting Co., at Dur- ango. On the formation of the American Smelting & Refining Co., he was made gen- eral manager of the Pueblo plant of the com- pany, which position he held for two years, until the Guggenheim interests were em- braced in the company, when he was pro- moted to the position of general manager for the Colorado department, which position he has held ever since, having during part of that time also been assayist of the Utalı de- partment.
The commanding station occupied by Mr. Guiterman in the smelting industry requires not alone technical and practical knowledge of all classes and grades of ores and the best methods for their handling and treatment, but it calls for executive ability of a high order, a quality which has been developed in Mr. Guiterman.
Mr. Guiterman is a member of the Uni- versity club, the Denver club, the Denver Country club and the Denver Athletic club, of the Colorado Scientifie Society and the American Institute of Mining Engineers.
He was president of the Colorado society during 1909 and 1910.
In 1886 Mr. Guiterman married Mary Baylies Sproat, daughter of William C. Sproat of Taunton, Massachusetts. They have one son, Kenneth S. Guiterman.
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CHARLES W. WATERMAN
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CHARLES W. WATERMAN.
WATERMAN, CHARLES W., attorney at law, born at Waitsfield, Vermont, November 2, 1861. His earliest American an- cestor was Richard Waterman, who landed at Salem, Massachusetts, from England, June 16, 1629. In 1638 he went to Providence with the band of devoted pilgrims who rallied under Roger Williams and with him dedi- cated the new colony of Rhode Island to the cause of religious freedom.
Mr. Waterman's father was John Water- man, born March 4, 1812, died January 22, 1892. His mother was Mary A. Leach, daughter of Robert and Sarah A. Leach. He was brought up in the New England atmos- phere, trained to the idea of a serious out- look on life which holds education as man's best heritage. His father was a farmer by oc- cupation. He attended the schools of his na- tive place and was graduated from the Uni- versity of Vermont in 1885. He then entered the law department of the University of Michigan, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1889. That same year Mr. Water- man moved to Denver and entered the office of John F. Shafroth, as a law clerk.
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