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 23
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Mr. Curtis has three children, Mrs. Charles B. Whitehead, Mrs. Wm. N. MeDear- mon, Mrs. Wm. E. Porter.
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ERASTUS F. HALLACK
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ERASTUS F. HALLACK.
H ALLACK, ERASTUS F., lumber mer- chant and manufacturer, was born in Bethany, Genesee county, N. Y., May 30, 1832, remaining there until 21 years of age, and receiving his education in the local schools. Then starting west, he located in St. Charles, Kane county, Ill., where he en- gaged in the carriage manufacturing business in company with Stephen March, continuing for ten years, and in which he was successful and prosperous. Removing to Highland, Doniphan county, Kansas, in 1863, he there established himself in the same business, which he closed out in 1865. He then started for Denver, in charge of an ox train of twenty- five wagons, loaded with corn, each drawn by three yoke of oxen. Selling the corn on com- mission, and returning to Kansas, he came again to Denver in 1866, with a mule train of corn, this time owning the corn, which he sold at a good profit. Soon after, he engaged in the lumber business with Dr. J. H. Mor- rison. The latter retiring in 1868, Mr. Hal- lack, with his brother Charles, formed a partnership under the name and title of the Hallack Brothers Lumber Company.
In 1877, Charles and J. H. Howard be- came members of the firm, and the business was continued under the name of Hallack & Howard. E. F. Hallack retired from the firm in 1879, and organized "The E. F. Hal- lack Lumber & Manufacturing Company." In 1886 he purchased the land and opened a branch lumber yard called the Texas Lumber Company at 40th and Franklin Streets. The E. F. Hallack Lumber & Manufacturing Com- pany, in 1890, erected a large mill at 23rd and Blake Streets. The year previous (1889) he started the Hallack Paint, Oil & Glass Company, which in 1905 was sold to J. G. McMurtry, and is now known as the Me- Murtry Manufacturing Company.
In 1891, The E. F. Hallack Lumber & Manufacturing Company was consolidated with the Sayre-Newton Lumber Company, and operated under the name of the Hallack- Sayre-Newton Lumber Company, until 1898, when the Hallack interests were sold to the Sayre-Newton Lumber Company. In 1898, the Texas Lumber Company was enlarged and the name changed to the Hallack Lum- ber & Supply Company. Mr. Hallack passed away Dec. 6, 1897, and in his death, the com- munity lost a valued citizen, a man of deep sympathies and generous charities. He was one of the incorporators of the Rocky Moun- tain Construction Company, which was later merged into the Denver Union Water Com- pany. He was broad and liberal in his views, and the Unitarian Church was his special interest.
Mr. Hallack married in 1868, Miss Kate Gray of Bethany, New York. Three children were born to them, but only one, Minnie Gray Hallack, now Mrs. W. N. W. Blayney, grew to maturity. Mrs. Hallack, a descend- ant of a prominent colonial family, is a mem- ber of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution and has been Regent of the Colorado Chapter D. A. R. From the pioneer days to the present, she has been a leader in the social life of the city. She first came to Den- ver in 1868. The Union Pacific was finished only to Cheyenne, and from there to Denver she made the trip in a stage coach, with hos- tile Indians on all sides. The first preten- tious residence in Denver was the old Hal- lack home at 19th and Lincoln Streets, then outside the town. It had the first bay win- dow and the first winding stairway in the city. It was then the show-place of Denver with its two fountains on the lawn, but is best remembered by the old-time hospitality that was here dispensed, and where were wont to gather those prominent in the early life of the city.
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CALDWELL YEAMAN.
VEAMAN, CALDWELL, lawyer, born in Elizabethtown, Hardin county, Ken- tueky, May 24, 1849, is the son of Stephen Minor and Lucretia (Helm) Yeaman. It is not a common name in this country, and all
the children of this marriage was Samuel Courtland Yeaman, born in 1772, who, in 1798, married Priscilla Minor, a grand- danghter of General Otho Williams of the army of the American Revolution, and a
CALDWELL YEAMAN
who bear it here are at least supposed to be connected with the same family. Some trace the lineage to John Yeaman, mayor of Bris- tol, England, who lost his life because of his loyalty to Charles I. His great grand- father, Moses Yeaman, married Sarah Clark, niece of Abraham Clark of New Jersey, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from the latter state. Among
daughter of John Minor, a colonel in the War of 1812. Stephen Minor, born 1799, eldest child of Samuel Courtland Yeaman, was the father of Caldwell Yeaman, the sub- jeet of this biographical sketch. Stephen, his father, after finishing his legal education, removed to Kentucky, where he became prominent in the practice of the law in that state. He married Lucretia Helm, whose
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brother, John L. Helm, was twice governor of Kentucky. The Yeaman and Helm fami- lies, and their descendants, have been emi- nent as lawyers, jurists, statesmen, educa- tors and divines, in Kentucky and other states. Lucretia, wife of Stephen Minor Yeaman, was a granddaughter of Thomas Helm, of Virginia, who served in the war of the American Revolution, in which he was severely wounded. After his discharge from the service, he emigrated to Kentucky, where he was compelled to build a stockade and fort to protect himself and family from the Indians. The children of Stephen Minor and Lucretia (Helm) Yeaman, all dis- tinguished in their several professions, were : John Helm Yeaman, baptist minister, who, after years of ill health, died at the age of about forty, at Henderson, Kentucky ; George Helm Yeaman, author, lawyer, states- man, and diplomat, congressman two terms from Kentucky, resident minister to Den- mark, five years, where he negotiated the first treaty, although it failed of ratification, with that kingdom for the purchase of the islands of St. Thomas and Santa Cruz; Rev- erend W. Pope Yeaman, lawyer in his early career, and later an eminent Baptist divine, a leader of advanced religious thought, prominent educator, and especially distin- guished as an orator, died 1904; Harvey Yeaman, a brilliant and distinguished law- yer from Kentucky, who died at Trinidad, Colorado, in 1876; Malcolm Yeaman, Hen- derson, Kentucky, for many years a leading lawyer in the southwestern part of that state; and Caldwell Yeaman, lawyer and jurist, distinguished in the practice of his profession, and also for many years promi- nently identified with the history of Colo- rado.
Judge Caldwell Yeaman, after an aca- demie education, studied law with his two elder brothers, and was admitted to the bar in 1871, beginning the practice of his pro- fession in Henderson, Kentucky. At the end of the year, he removed to Kansas City, re- maining there until 1876, in the spring of which year he joined his brother, Harvey, who had come west for his health, and lo- cated at Trinidad, Colorado. There they formed a law partnership, under the firm name of Yeaman & Yeaman, and continued their practice until his brother's death in August, that year. Judge Yeaman at first contemplated returning to Kansas City, but was induced to remain at Trinidad, and soon became one of the leading lawyers of the state, a man of affairs, and especially in Colorado politics. Without any solicitation on his part, he was nominated in 1878 by
the democratic state convention for attorney general, but was defeated as the state was then overwhelmingly republican. In 1882, he was elected, by a large majority, judge of the Third Judicial District, Colorado, com- prising the counties of Las Animas, Pueblo, Huerfano and Bent, to which the legislature afterward added the counties of Fremont and Custer. He entered upon his duties as district judge in January, 1883, serving the full term of six years, inaugurating reforms and making such a splendid record for abil- ity and impartiality, that he was urged to accept another nomination for this office, many republicans also pledging him their support. Judge Yeaman declined the re- nomination, but, in the meantime his name remained prominent in state politics. In the fall of 1888, he refused to permit the use of his name, at the state democratic con- vention, for the gubernatorial nomination. However, this same convention offered him the nomination for the supreme court, but he declined to run for that office. Retiring from the district bench he resumed the prac- tice of the law in Trinidad, in January, 1889.
In 1890, without solicitation on his part, he was nominated by his party for governor. He made an able and dignified canvass of the state, in company with Judge Platt Rogers, the nominee for lieutenant-governor. He was defeated, but greatly reduced the republican majorities. In January, 1891, Judge Yeaman received the support of the democrats of both branches of the Colorado legislature for United States senator, against Henry M. Teller, when the latter was re- elected.
Judge Yeaman and State Senator Charles C. Parsons of Leadville formed a partner- ship in Denver, under the firm name of Yeaman & Parsons, in the spring of 1891, continuing until January, 1894, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. In January, 1895, he formed a partnership with Frank E. Gove, now state senator, the firm name being Yeaman & Gove. Judge Yeaman was the third president of the Colorado Bar Asso- ciation, occupying that position from July, 1899, to July, 1900. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Denver Club, and the Denver Country Club.
In 1879, Judge Yeaman married Miss Adelaide, daughter of Preston Roberts of Independence, Missouri. Mrs. Yeaman comes from an old and distinguished fam- ily, and her father was one of the prominent capitalists of western Missouri. Mrs. Yea- man is a lady of rare accomplishments, and one of the leaders of Denver society.
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LUCIUS MONTROSE CUTHBERT
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LUCIUS MONTROSE CUTHBERT
C UTHBERT, LUCIUS MONTROSE, law- yer, born August 17, 1856, in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, was the son of the Rev. James Hazzard (D. D.) and Julia Eliza- beth (Turpin) Cuthbert. His father, the Rev. James H. Cuthbert, born in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1830, died 1894, was an eminent divine. His mother, Julia E. was the daughter of William H. and Marie An- toinette (d'Antignac) Turpin. Mr. Cuth- bert is descended from an illustrious and distinguished ancestry, prominent in the colonial history of this country. His great great grandfather was James Cuthbert, son of John Cuthbert, Baron of Castle Hill, In- vernesshire, Scotland, who came to South Carolina in 1737, and settled at Beaufort in that state.
On the paternal side, Mr. Cuthbert is de- scended from Edward Middleton, member of the Grand Council of the Province of South Carolina, in 1678, and Assistant Judge of the Province in 1682; Arthur Middleton, Gover- nor of the Province of South Carolina, in 1719 and 1725; Arthur Middleton, grandson of the latter, who was a signer of the De- elaration of Independence; and Colonel Thomas Fuller, member of the Provincial Congress from South Carolina, in 1775. In the maternal line, Mr. Cuthbert's great grandfather, Baron Jean Louis B. C. d'An- tignac, an officer of the First Musqueteers of H. M. the King of France, came to Amer- ica in 1776, to assist the American forces in the Revolutionary War. He raised a regi- ment of Light Horse for the Continental service, under special permission of the Con- tinental Congress, and served throughout the war, at his own expense, and with great distinction.
In 1869, Mr. Cuthbert entered the Pre- paratory School of Columbian University, Washington, District of Columbia (now George Washington University) ; and was
graduated from the Academic Department of the University in 1876 with the degrees of A. B. and A. M .; and from the Law School of the same University in 1878, with the degree of LL. B. He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in 1878; to that of the Supreme Court of Colorado in 1881; and to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1898. In June, 1881, he came to Colorado, locating in Denver, and became an assistant in the law office of the late Edward O. Wol- cott, where he remained from 1881 until 1883. He continued the practice of law in Denver, uninterruptedly from 1883 until 1908, when he retired from active practice.
In 1908, he was elected president of The United Oil Company ; and, in 1909, president of The Inland Oil & Refining Company ; po- sitions which he still holds. These two com- panies, with their oil fields and refineries, at Florence, Fremont County, and Boulder County. are the largest oil industries in the Rocky Mountain region.
Mr. Cuthbert is a member of the American Bar Association, and was a delegate to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jur- ists, which was held in St. Louis in 1904. He is also a lecturer on Roman law, in the Law School of the University of Colorado. He is vice-president of the Colorado branch of the Archaeological Institute of America.
He is a member of the Denver, University, Denver Athletic, and Denver Country Clubs, Denver; Cheyenne Mountain Country Chib, Colorado Springs; Union and University Clubs, New York; and the Metropolitan Club, Washington, District of Columbia.
Mr. Cuthbert married, October 24, 1900, Gertrude, second daughter of the late United States Senator, Nathaniel P. Hill (q. v.). They have two children: Gertrude, born Denver, Colorado, July 25, 1901; and, Alice Middleton, born Denver, Colorado, Au- gust 25, 1902.
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WINDER ELWELL GOLDSBOROUGH
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WINDER ELWELL GOLDSBOROUGH.
G OLDSBOROUGH, WINDER ELWELL, electrical engineer, born in Baltimore, Maryland, October 10, 1871, is the son of Washington Elwell and Martha Pierce (Laird) Goldsborough, and is descended from an ancestry distinguished in the colonial pe- riod. Early in 1600, his American progen- itor, Robert Goldsborougli of Goldsborough Hall, Yorkshire, England, settled on Kent Island, Maryland. Among his more illustri- ous ancestors were Geoffrey Goldsborough, Bishop of the Church of England in 1400; Joshua Reynolds, the famous artist ; Robert Goldsborough, member of the First Conti- nental Congress; and Charles Goldsborough, Governor of Maryland. His father, Wash- ington E. Goldsborough, lawyer, born in Feb- ruary, 1843, was the son of Griffin Washing- ton and Annie (Reynolds) Goldsborough, married Martha Pierce, daughter of Wil- liam and Wilhemena Elizabeth Cadwalider (Goldsborough) Laird.
W. Elwell Goldsborough, their son, at- tended Wright's University School, Balti- more, Maryland, and Cornell University, from which he was graduated in 1892, with the degree of M. E. In 1892-1893, he was employed as an electrical engineer, by the Colliery Engineer Company, Seranton, Penn- sylvania. He has risen rapidly in his profes- sion, and held many positions, requiring the greatest executive ability, and the exereise of thorough technical training and knowl- edge. He was professor of electrical engi- neering, Arkansas University, Fayetteville, 1893-1894; held the same position at Purdue University, Indiana, 1893-1904, and was also director of Electrical Engineering, at the lat- ter university, 1898-1904; he was business manager of the engineering department, J. G. White & Company, engineers and contract- ors, New York and London, 1904-1907 ; first vice-president and general manager, Denver Reservoir Irrigation Company, 1907-1909; general manager, Laramie Water Company, and president, The Goldsborough Company, civil, mechanical, electrical, mining, hy- draulie, and irrigation engineers, 1910-1911; consulting engineer, Edison Electrical Illu- minating Company, Baltimore, Maryland,
1894-1895; and chief, department of elec- tricity, St. Louis Exposition, 1902-1905. He has read papers before prominent scientific and engineering societies, and contributed articles to the leading scientific and engineer- ing journals.
Mr. Goldsborough is also an inventor, with four United States patents to his eredit, covering inventions relating to are lamps, and direct and alternating current motors. His research investigations have included are lamps, electrical machinery, and trans- formers. He was a member of the jury of awards, Buffalo Exposition, 1901; member, superior jury, International Jury Awards, St. Louis Exposition, 1904. During his ca- reer, he has been interested in military mat- ters, being major of the corps of cadets, Cor- nell University, 1892; major, First Regiment, Arkansas National Guard, 1893-1894; and commandant of cadets, Arkansas University, 1894. He is or has been a member of the following societies and organizations: Mem- ber and past vice-president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers; member, Institution of Electrical Engineers, England ; Franklin Institute, Philadelphia ; Interna- tional Association Testing Materials; Society for the Promotion of English Edueation; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Indiana Academy of Science; International Electrical Congress at Chicago, 1898, Paris, 1900, St. Louis, 1904, and vice- president of the latter; member, committee National Electrical Light Association, on Are Light Photometry ; ehairman, executive committee, Electric Railway Test Commis- sion, 1903-1905. He has been decorated with the Order of the Crown (Italy). He has traveled extensively, including China.
Mr. Goldsborougli is a member of the fol- lowing clubs : Denver Club; University, Transportation and Country Clubs, Denver; and New York Southern Society.
He married, at Lafayette, Indiana, Deeem- ber 20, 1899, Miss Charlotte Poole Wallace, and to them have been born two children : Winder Elwell, who died in infancy; and Laird Schields.
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FREDERICK OZNI VAILLE
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FREDERICK OZNI VAILLE.
VAILLE, FREDERICK OZNI, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, July 28, 1850, is the son of Henry Robert, and Sarah Wil- kinson (Lewis) Vaille. He is a descendant of Isaac Allerton, who came over in the May- flower in 1620, settled at Plymouth, and was deputy Governor of that Colony. William Lewis, another ancestor, from London, landed in 1635, and in 1640 was a resident of Boston, then known as Roxbury. In this line, he is descended from Barachiah Lewis, a lieutenant in the early Indian wars, and David Lewis, a captain of militia in 1802. From the land- ing of the Mayflower, through the Colonial period, his ancestors were prominent in the military and official history of New England. His father, Henry R. Vaille, born July 24, 1809, died 1885, a leading physician and sur- geon, was a graduate of Williams College and of the Berkshire Medical College of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and also studied in Paris. His mother was the daughter of Jason and Ruth (Wilkinson) Lewis.
Frederick O. Vaille attended the public schools in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Williston Seminary, graduating from the lat- ter in 1870. He then entered Harvard Col- lege, from which he was graduated in 1874 with the degree of A. B. In 1875, in part- nership with Henry A. Clark, he compiled and published "The Harvard Book," a work that is well known, consisting of a large im- perial quarto of two volumes.
After having been in the employ of Ginn and Heath, publishers, Boston, he came to Denver, July 20, 1878, and in that year in- augurated the telephone system in Colorado. Soon after his arrival, Mr. Vaille began pre- liminary preparations for opening a branch exchange of the Bell telephone. Some were incredulous, doubting the practical use of this invention. A few short lines were con- structed to exhibit the instruments and ex- plain the system. Then followed the amus- ing feature of the amateur system of tin cans and other contrivances attached to. strings with which both old and young tried the ex- periment for themselves. In 1879, Henry R. Wolcott interested himself with Mr. Vaille in the enterprise. Although many still doubted, after obtaining 125 subscribers, Mr. Vaille launched his enterprise, opening his exchange over Conrad Frick's Boot and Shoe Store, No. 380 Larimer street, Feb. 20, 1879. The Western Union Telegraph Co. about six months later, started a rival system, by in- troducing the Edison Telephone in Denver,
with an exchange in the old Broadwell house, corner of 16th and Larimer, where the Tabor block was later erected. The double ser- vice in Denver was not popular, and in 1880, the Bell absorbed the Edison, and the Western Union retired from the field. The Colorado Telephone Co. the successor of all the in- terests of the system in Denver and the state, was organized Jan. 1, 1881, with Henry R. Wolcott, president, and Frederick O. Vaille' general manager. The new company es- tablished its office in the old Tabor Block, 16th and Larimer streets.
While in charge of the Telephone Co., Mr. Vaille also organized the District Messenger service in Denver, and the first Electric Light Co., and was for a year the Manager for the Colorado Electric Co., constructing the ori- ginal electric lighting plant for Denver.
A telephone switchboard was invented by him in 1882, the same being patent No. 262,261.
Mr. Vaille continued as manager for the Telephone Company until March 1, 1884, when he removed to Lexington, Massa- chusetts, and engaged in farming until his re- turn to Denver in 1893.
He is interested in real estate and other investments. He is President of the Temple Engineering Co., which developed the Tem- ple-Ingersoll Electric Air Drill, named from its inventor, Mr. Robert Temple. He was also Vice-President of the Denver Savings Bank for a few years.
Not only has Mr. Vaille been prominent in the promoting of important business en- terprises, but he has found time for athletics. He is interested in tennis and still plays (1911) a strong game. He devotes much time to the development of a suburban ranch, and finds delight in camping and hunting expeditions to the mountains. He has trav- eled extensively, but is loyal to Denver, and is one of the sturdy and public-spirited private citizens, upon whom the city's pro- gress and prosperity depend.
He married in 1879, in Cleveland, Ohio, Miss Harriett Agnes Wolcott, a sister of Henry R. (q. v.) and the late Sen. Edw. O. Wolcott (q. v.) of Colorado. Their three children are, Harriett Wolcott Vaille, Mrs. Otis Weeks, and Agnes Wolcott Vaille.
Mr. Vaille is a life member of the Arch- aeological Institute of America and of the Denver Athletic Club; also a member of the Denver Country Club and the University Club, Denver.
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JOHN MILLS MAXWELL
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JOHN MILLS MAXWELL.
MAXWELL, JOHN MILLS, jurist, born March 23, 1849, in Mansfield, Ohio, is the son of George Milton and Martha (Mills) Maxwell. His ancestors were promi- nent in the colonial period, and took an active part in the American Revolution. They were also pioneers in Ohio, moving from Conn. to Mansfield, at an early day. His father, George M. Maxwell, was a Presby- terian minister of prominence, an educator of national repute, and, for several years, was president of Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati. His maternal grandparents were Col. John and Deborah (Wilson) Mills, his grandfather Mills, a business man of Marietta, being one of the founders of Marietta Col- lege, from which his son-in-law, George M. Maxwell, and three of the latter's sons were graduated.
Judge Maxwell's grandmother, Deborah (Wilson) Mills, was the daughter of Martha (Spencer) Wilson; granddaughter of Gen. Joseph Spencer, a surgeon in the American Revolution; and, great granddaughter of Maj. Gen. Joseph Spencer, who was ap- pointed Brig. Gen. in April, 1775, by special act of Congress, which rank he held in the Continental Army, until his appointment as Major General in 1776. Gen. Spencer was in the siege of Boston, after which he accom- panied the army to New York.
Judge John M. Maxwell received his early education in the public schools of Cin- cinnati. At the age of 16, he entered Mar-
ietta College, graduating therefrom in 1872, with the degree of A. B., and from which in- stitution he also received his Masters degree. He then read law in the offices of Stevenson and Maxwell, in Cincinnati, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1875. After practicing his profession two years, he came to Colorado in 1877, first locating in Boulder this state, thence removing to Leadville in 1879. He soon became prominent as an attorney, and also one of the leaders in the Republican party. Temporarily, he was the private secretary of Governor Peabody in 1902, and was then appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals in 1903, remaining on the bench of that court until 1905. On the consolidation of the Court of Appeals with the Colorado Supreme Court, Judge Maxwell became a member of the latter body from 1905 until 1908. After his retirement from the state bench, he resumed the practice of the law.
Judge Maxwell is a thirty-third degree Mason; is Past Grand Master of the Colorado lodge, and is likewise Past Grand Commander of Knights Templars in this state. He is an Elk, and holds membership in the Denver and University Clubs.
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