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 26
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included many separate tracts, one of which was supposed to be situated along the creek, was later discovered to include Beacon Hill. The Mabel M. and the Gold Dollar mining companies were then organized. At one time, J. R. McKinnie of Colorado Springs, held a $500,000 option on their Cripple Creek interests, but failed to carry out the contract for the purchase. For a time there was great rivalry between Fremont and the town of Hayden Placer, the latter laid out by Colo- rado Springs people. The first National ... Bank was removed from Fremont to Hayden Placer, and the stage lines gave the latter the preference as a stopping place. Bennett & Myers ordered Concord coaches and threaten- ed a rival line, which brought the stage com- pany to terms. In connection with D. H. Moffat, William Barth and C. G. Hathaway, they organized the Bi-Metallic Bank at Fre- mont, and the latter place became the prom- inent point, and later Cripple Creek. All the business and the better part of the resident section of Cripple Creek is on land formerly owned by Bennett & Myers. Bennett Ave- nue of that town is named for Mr. Bennett. In 1896-7 they sold their Beacon Hill hold- ings for over a million dollars.
Mr. Bennett is a member of The Denver Athletic Club, The Denver Country Club, and The Overland Country Club. Two children were born of his first marriage, his wife dying in 1893. He married, second, Miss Julie, daughter of Jerome S. Riche of Denver, in 1897. They have three chil- dren.
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JOHN CLEVELAND OSGOOD.
O SGOOD, JOHN CLEVELAND (retired), born in Brooklyn, New York, March 6, 1851, was the son of Samuel Warburton and Mary Hill (Cleveland) Osgood, and is descended from prominent families of the colonial period. His Osgood ancestors came from England in 1630 and founded the town of Andover, Massachusetts. His Cleveland ancestors came to Massachusetts from Eng- land about the same time and later settled the towns of Salisbury and Thompson, Con- nectient, on lands purchased from the In- dians. His ancestors furnished many soldiers to the Continental army during the war with England, his great-grandfather, Daniel Larned, being a brigadier general. His great-grandfather, Samuel Osgood, filled many public offices, being one of the three Commissioners of the Treasury, during the Revolutionary period, and later was Post- master General in Washington's Cabinet, being the first to fill that office. His great- unele, General Moses Cleveland, founded the City of Cleveland, Ohio, which was named for him.
He was educated in the public schools in Davenport, Iowa, and Brooklyn, New York, and the Friends Boarding School, Providence, Rhode Island, 1858-1864.
His first employment, after leaving school, when fourteen years of age, was as office boy in Providence, Rhode Island, in the office of Henry Lippitt & Company, cotton and woolen manufacturers; from 1866 to 1870, he was employed as bookkeeper by William H. Ladd & Company, commission merchants on the Produce Exchange in New York City ; from 1870 to 1874, he was employed as cashier of the Union Coal & Mining Com- pany at Ottumwa, Iowa, and from 1874 to 1877, was cashier of the Frst National Bank of Burlington, Iowa. In 1876, while still
in the bank, he also became interested in the coal mining in Iowa, to which business he devoted himself after leaving the bank. In February, 1882, Mr. Osgood made his first visit to Colorado, where he spent several months in examination of the coal resources of the state, visiting every mine opened at that time. As a result of his investigations, he determined to locate in Colorado, and organized the Colorado Fuel Company which, in 1892, acquired the Colo- rado Coal and Iron Company (which had been organized in 1880 by General W. J. Palmer and others), the consolidated cor- poration being called the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, of which he became president, and later chairman of the Board of Direct- ors. In 1903, Mr. Osgood disposed of his interest in this company, and resigned as officer and director. During his connection with the Colorado Fuel Company and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. Mr. Osgood secured the investment of over forty million dollars in the coal and iron busi- ness in Colorado, and employed at one time over 16,000 men.
Mr. Osgood's principal lieutenants were J. A. Kebler, A. C. Cass, Jolın L. Jerome, and D. C. Beaman and among others associ- ated with him in his enterprises, were Henry R. Wolcott, Edward O. Wolcott, Dennis Sul- livan, James B. Grant, W. H. James and C. H. Toll.
Mr. Osgood is a member of the Denver Club and Denver Country Club, the Metro- politan Club, Washington, D. C., and of sev- eral elubs in New York City.
Mr. Osgood's residence is "Cleveholm," Redstone, Colorado, but he spends consid- erable time in New York and in trips to Europe.
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WILLIAM B. BERGER
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WILLIAM B. BERGER.
B ERGER, WILLIAM B., banker, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 31, 1839, the son of Andrew Bart (an iron manufacturers) and Rosina (Reis) Berger. His manufacturing establishment was lo- cated at New Castle, Pennsylvania.
William B. Berger was educated in the common schools of Pittsburgh, and at the age of thirteen entered a mercantile house as clerk in that city. Subsequently, seeking relief from asthmatic affection, he passed several years in early life at Marquette, Michigan, on the banks of Lake Superior. At the age of twenty-one years, Mr. Berger went to Europe for study and recuperation, and there acquired knowledge of the French and German languages. He enlisted as a federal soldier at the beginning of the civil war, but was rejected by the medical exam- iner. He then engaged with his father in iron manufacture, but was soon obliged to seek change of climate, and became a com- mercial traveler for the firm, visiting all im- portant points in the north and west. In 1867, Mr. Berger came to the Rocky Moun- tain country for the advantages of health- ful atmosphere. First locating at Cheyenne, he there took charge as manager of the bank- ing house of Kountze Brothers & Company, continuing there for nearly two years. In 1869, Mr. Berger removed to Denver, where, continuing his business connection with Kountze Brothers & Company, he accepted a position in the Colorado National Bank, the late Charles B. Kountze (q. v.) being the founder and official head of the house in this city and so remaining until his death in November, 1911. In the Denver banking house, Mr. Berger rose rapidly through the several stations, and in 1871 was made cash- ier of the bank. He was a stockholder in the bank and took a prominent part in its management, sustaining such relations for
nearly twenty years and until the time of his death, April 10, 1890. Outside of his banking interests, Mr. Berger was a man of alert business enterprise and participated in measures of early development which made for the advancement and wealth of city and state. He was one of the founders and a large stockholder in the mercantile house of Struby, Estabrook & Company of Denver; a stockholder and director in the Globe Smelting Company ; also a stockholder in the Denver, Texas and Fort Worth (now of the Colorado and Southern railway system). For sixteen years he was treasurer of Den- ver School District No. 1. He was a busi- ness man of prudence and success-a man of untiring industry, a master of detail, and expert financier ; quiet in manner, unyielding in principle in regard to all business trans- actions, while he was a man of genial dis- position and kindly, sympathetic nature in all his business and social relations. Mr. Berger was well informed, broad and gen- erous in his views, publie-spirited and pro- gressive. He was a man of charity and given to hospitality. Mr. Berger was a prominent member and vestryman of St. John's Epis- copal church. While upon a vacation in the spring of 1890, Mr. Berger died suddenly while playing with his children on the beach at Monterey, California. He left to his fam- ily a substantial fortune and a name that is honored and revered.
Mr. Berger was married in December, 1862, to Miss Margaret Kountze of Ohio, and his wife and six children survive him. His two sons, George B. and William B., continue their connection with the Colorado National, George B. Berger succeeding the late Charles B. Kountze as president and manager of the bank, while William B. Berger, Jr., remains as eashier.
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THOMAS HALE POTTER
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THOMAS HALE POTTER.
POTTER, THOMAS HALE, capitalist, born February 25, 1840, in Solon, Cuyohoga county, Ohio, was the son of Thomas and Mary (Johnson) Potter. His parents came to Ohio with his grandfather from Belfast, Ireland, about 1838-40, but were born in Armagh. They settled on a farm near Cleve- land, but have now both passed away.
Thomas H. Potter, their son, was edu- cated in the public schools near Solon, and the Cleveland high school. He later became a student at the Western Reserve college, then at Hudson, Ohio. He did not graduate, as he left that institution to go into the civil war, and was on duty at the headquarters of General Sherman on his march to the sea, and as clerk to the chief quartermaster of the army of General L. C. Easton. After the war he was with General Myers for a year, at Omaha and then came to Colorado, in 1867, having been offered a position by Mr. Augustus Kountze, as bookkeeper in the Colorado National Bank at Denver. In 1868 he was transferred to Central City to the Rocky Mountain National Bank, which had there been established by the Kountze broth- ers. At the same time, Joshua Reynolds be- came associated with this bank, J. H. Good- speed, formerly cashier, having resigned, and he assumed control. After Mr. Reyn- olds had conducted the bank for a time, Mr. Potter became interested with him in its management. Mr. Potter afterward ob- tained a controlling interest in the bank, which he continued to run until 1907. He
now owns and controls many mining and other investments.
Mr. Potter resided one year in Omaha, and came from that city to Denver by stage coach. He is a Mason, Knight Templar, Shriner, and a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. By close attention to business, and fortunate in his investments, he has be- come one of the prominent financial men of the state.
When the late Senator E. O. Wolcott was in financial straits in his early Colorado ca- reer, it was through Mr. Potter's assistance that he was enabled to begin the practice of the law. Mr. Thomas Fulton Dawson in his "Life and Character of Edward Oliver Wol- cott," says :
"During his two months as a teacher he (Wolcott) had earned about $300, and hav- ing saved a portion of this sum he at last was prepared, although poorly, from a finan- cial standpoint, to enter upon his life as a lawyer. The deficit was in part made good by Mr. T. H. Potter, a Central banker, of whom Mr. Wolcott speaks as 'a friend sent by Providence.' "
Mr. Potter was always kindly disposed to those who are worthy, and often in his quiet and unostentatious way, has given a helping hand. From the first, he was friend- ly to Woleott, and there was cemented a last- ing friendship between them.
Mr. Potter married Miss Mary Ellen Morse of Maine. They have one son, Arthur M. Potter.
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OTTO MEARS
OTTO MEARS.
MEARS, OTTO, railroad builder and man- ager, and commonly known as the "Pathfinder of the San Juan," was born in Russia, May 3, 1841. He came to this coun- try with his parents in 1854, and spent his early life in San Francisco. In 1861, when twenty years of age, he enlisted for three
years in Company H of the First California Volunteers, and during a part of that serv- ice he was with Kit Carson in the Navajo war. He was discharged at the close of his enlistment in 1864, in the Messilla Valley, New Mexico. Mr. Mears then secured em- ployment as a clerk with Elsberg & Amberg,
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at Santa Fe, and later engaged in the retail business with Staab Brothers. After exten- sive explorations in New Mexico and Ari- zona, he came to Colorado, in 1865, and en- gaged in the mercantile business in the old town of Conejos. At that time the county included within its limits the present coun- ties of Conejos, Rio Grande, Mineral, Sa- guache, Hinsdale, Ouray, San Miguel, Do- lores, Montezuma, and Archuleta. In part- nership with Major Head, he started both a saw mill and a grist mill. As nails were an unknown article there, the timbers were mor- tised and held together by wooden pins. Lumber then sold at $80 a thousand feet, and the grist was bringing $20 an hundred pounds for flour. In 1867, he brought the first mower, reaper and threshing machine into the San Luis Valley. The Mexicans looked upon these inventions with suspicion, and continued to use their sheep for thresh- ing.
Primarily, to reach a market for his wheat and other products, Mr. Mears built a road from Poncha Pass to the Arkansas valley. This highway was the beginning of the Mears system of toll roads in the San Juan. In 1871, with Enos Hotchkiss, he organized a company to build a wagon road from Saguache to Howardsville, in San Juan county, across Cochetopa pass to Cebolla valley, and thence to the Lake Fork of the Gunnison. Mr. Mears established the Sagu- ache Chronicle to advertise the resources of the valley. The year following, he, with others, incorporated the town of Lake City, and founded the weekly Silver World. The first issue of this paper, giving an account of the mineral resources of the San Juan region, was followed by a rush of miners and prospectors to that section of Colorado.
In 1873, Mr. Bruner of Pittsburgh was appointed commissioner to treat with the Ute Indians, for a part of the land of San Juan, Ouray, San Miguel, and Dolores coun- ties. Visiting Mr. Mears at Saguache, Mr. Bruner informed him of his failure to make a treaty for the removal of the Utes. Through the influence of Mr. Mears, who acted as interpreter, a meeting was held with the Indians, the treaty signed, the Utes to receive the interest on $500,000 of govern- ment bonds. After this treaty, Mr. Mears began to construct roads through the moun- tains, and built about three hundred miles of what became known as the Mears system of toll roads. In 1876, he was a presidential elector from Colorado, and when in Wash- ington induced the postoffice department to establish a mail route over the Uncompaligre agency and Ouray county, and he was given
the contract. He sometimes broke the trails for this mail service himself, braving the fierce weather of the San Juan region. After the Meeker massacre, he assisted in the rescue of Mrs. Meeker, Mrs. Price and Josep- hine Meeker. He also conveyed eleven In- dians to Washington, acting as interpreter, and also Chief Douglas to Fort Leavenworth en route. On arriving in Washington, Mr. Mears was made one of five commissioners, appointed to make a new treaty with the Utes for eleven million acres of land which included Montrose, Delta and Mesa coun- ties. The Indians complained that the gov- ernment did not keep its promises, and de- manded cash. Mr. Mears paid them $2 each and they signed the treaty. Commissioners Mannypenny of Ohio, and Meachem of Wash- ington, filed charges against Mr. Mears, alleging that he had bribed the Indians. The matter was taken up by Secretary Schurz of the interior department, and later dismissed by Secretary Kirkwood, who suc- ceeded him. Mr. - Mears explained to Kirk- wood that the Utes would rather have $2 in cash than the promised interest on $1,800,000. Under Kirkwood's order, Mr. Mears was re- funded the $2,800 he had paid the Indians.
Mr. Mears is one of the historical men of Colorado, and in honor of his many achievements, his portrait is given a place in one of the glass stained windows of the senate chamber in the state house. He was one of the incorporators of the town of Mont- rose. He built toll roads in San Juan county, and over Marshall Pass; constructed a railroad from Silverton to Red Mountain and Ironton; also the Silverton Northern from Silverton to Eureka and Animas Forks, with a branch up Cunningham Gulch. Mr. Mears also built the Rio Grande Southern from Ridgway to Durango, connecting at both ends with the Denver and Rio Grande. He has promoted and successfully conducted many great enterprises and his history in the development of the San Juan region has won for him the well known title of the "path- finder" of that section of the state.
During a long period of twenty-one years, he has been a member of the board of cap- itol managers, and ably filled that position. He assisted in the selection of the granite quarries in Gunnison county, from which the building stone was obtained for this building, and aided in many ways in making this the handsome and beautiful structure, that has received world-wide praise. During his long service with the board, no unpleasant con- troversy has ever occurred. Mr. Mears well deserves to be remembered as one of the empire builders of Colorado and the west.
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PHILIP ARGALL
PHILIP ARGALL
ARGALL, PHILIP, mining engineering and metallurgy, born near Belfast, Ire- land, August 27, 1854, is a son of Philip and Sarah (McCallum) Argall. His father was a mining engineer, descended from an old west of England family. Educated in Ire- land, Philip Argall, began mining as a mere
lad, in the dressing works of the Cronebane mines at Avoca. Then becoming an under- ground miner, also studying surveying, chem- istry, mineralogy, and metallurgy, in the meanwhile, until Dec. 1875, when he was ap- pointed agent in charge of the mines. He prepared, in connection with Mr. G. Henry
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Kinahan, district surveyor of H. M. Geo- logical Survey, plans and sections of the Avoca mining district, and a descriptive paper, "The Geological and Mineralogical Districts of Avoca," which was awarded the prize at the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society's Exhibition in 1878. In Phillip's "Treatise on Ore Deposits," liberal quotations were made from this paper. His paper on "Ancient and Recent Mining Operations in the Eastern Avoca District," which was read before the Royal Dublin Society, was pub- lished in its proceedings for 1879. Severing his connection with the Cronebane mines, in Feb., 1879, he became the manager of the Stannic Company's Works at Swansea, Wales, which had been erected for the application of Mr. Edward A. Parnell's patents for the extraction of tin, from tin plate scrap, etc. This business was conducted at these works, together with tin and lead smelting. In severing his connection with this company in June, 1880, he was warmly commended by Mr. Parnell, for his success as well as the im- provements he had made in the process.
Mr. Argall, near the close of 1880, was appointed manager of the Glenariff Iron Ore & Harbor Company, which owned extensive mines of aluminous iron ore, in the county of Antrim, Ireland. He embodied the result of his studies of the geological formation at this place, in a paper on the "Tertiary Iron Ore Measures, Glenariff Valley, county of An- trim," which was read before the Royal Dublin Society in 1881. Resigning his po- sition at Glenariff, early in 1881, Mr. Argall was appointed manager of the mines of the Duchy Peru Mining Company, Cornwall, England, 1881-1883, and continued in the successes already attained, he soon acquired an international reputation in his profession, filling the following positions:
Manager of Antimony Smelting Works in London, 1883.
Manager Kapanga Gold Mine, New Zea- land, 1884-85.
Manager Silver Queen United Mine, So- nora, Mexico, 1886.
Consulting Engineer to the Mountcashel Iron Ore Co. and the Societe Anonyme des Plumbs D. Asperieres (France) 1886.
Manager La Plata Mining & Smelting Co. of Leadville, Colo., 1887 and 1902.
Manager of the Metallic Extraction Com- pany's Works, Florence, Colo., 1894- 1901.
Consulting engineer to the Dolores Min- ing Co., Chihuahua, Mexico, 1902-3. Expert on Royal Commission appointed by the Dominion Government to ex-
amine the zinc resources of British Columbia, 1905-6.
Doing a general business of Consulting
Mining and Metallurgical Engineer since Feb., 1905.
He is a member of the following societies: Royal Irish Academy M. R. I. A.
Mining & Metallurgical Club, London. Gold Medallist of the Institute of Mining Metallurgy, London, England.
American Institute of Mining Engineers. Fellow of the Geological Society of America Colorado Scientific Society, etc.
Mr. Argall was for some years a special contributor to the Engineering and Mining Journal (New York), and has written many articles and papers for learned societies on Sampling and Dry Crushing in Colorado. He was awarded a gold medal by Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, London. Among his contributions are papers on "Nickel, The occurrence, geological distribution and geology of its ore deposits," for the Colorado Scien- tific Society. "Notes on the Santa Eulalie District, Sonora, Mexico," Colorado Scien- tific Society; "Ancient and Recent Mining Operations, Avoca, Ireland," Royal Dublin Society; "Continuous Jigging Machinery," Institute of Cornwall; "Tertiary Iron Ore Measures of Antrim," Royal Dublin Society; "Recovery of Copper from its Solution in Mine Drainage," joint paper Royal Dublin Society; "Steps in Cyanidation," Colorado Scientific Society.
Mr. Argall came to Denver in 1892, and interested himself in cyanidation, both in the Black Hills and in Cripple Creek, and introduced those important methods which brought success out of the chaotic condition, then existing as to the treatment of these ores. He built the metallic Extraction Com- pany Mill for Mr. Moffat at Florence, the first successful Cyanide mill to treat Cripple Creek ores. In 1906 he built the Cyanide mill for the Golden Cycle Company, at Colo- rado Springs, the largest roasting cyanide mill in the world; and, still later the mill for Stratton's-Independence Mine, for which he is now the Consulting Engineer. Through hard work, patience and study, in a reserved and quiet way, he has attained a position in mining and metallurgy of the highest stand- ing, and with a record and experience that is world wide.
Mr. Argall married Miss Frances Ellen Oates, of County Wicklow, Ireland, in 1876, who died in 1903. They have the following children: Philip Henry; George O .; Frances Laura, wife of Dr. C. C. Reid; William A .; David John, Spokane; Albert Joseph, sur- geon, St. Joseph's Hospital, Denver; Hilda E .; Lillian A .; Winifred S .; and Gladys M
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JOHN GOOD
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JOHN GOOD.
G OOD, JOHN, capitalist, born John Guth, October 14, 1835, at Uhrweiler, Alsace- Lorraine, then in France, but later annexed to Germany, in 1871. He was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Kiefer) Guth. The original family name of "Guth" was changed by the subject of this sketch in 1854 to that of "Good," and since then he has been known as John Good. His cousin, John T. Good (Guth) from Uhrweiler, came to the United States in 1837, and settled in Akron, Ohio.
Jacob Guth, father of the subject of this sketch, born in 1800, died in 1886, was a large land owner and farmer, both in France and the United States. Elizabeth, mother of John Good, was the daughter of Philipp and Elizabeth Kiefer. Two of her family, Philipp, age 17, and George, age 18, both uncles of John Good, fought in Napoleon's army, and perished in the memorable retreat from Mos- cow.
John Good attended the public schools at Uhrweiler until 1854, when he came to the United States and engaged in business with John T. Good at Akron, Ohio. He was one of the pioneers of Denver, coming to this city in 1859 with his ox team and wagon. In that year he started one of the first general mer- chandise stores in Denver, its location being on Blake Street. To equip this store, Mr. Good was compelled to haul all his own freight, and made sixteen trips across the plains. One of these trips in 1859, from St. Joseph to Denver, required 90 days, when he came alone disregarding the dangers of Indian attack. He conducted the store for only a short time, as during Mr. Good's absence on one of his trips, the man left in charge of his store de- camped to the mountains, having first dis- posed of the entire stock, thus leaving noth- ing for Mr. Good to continue with. In 1859, Mr. Good having secured another start, es- tablished the Rocky Mountain Brewery Company, the first in Denver, and also in this region. It was later purchased by Mr. Philip Zang, who acted in the capacity of Mr. Good's foreman. In 1901, Mr. Good consolidated the Milwaukee and Union Brew-
eries into the Tivoli-Union Brewing . Com- pany, of which he became President and Treasurer.
Mr. Good was one of the organizers and promoters of the old German Bank, organized under the laws of Colorado, March 3, 1874. The German National Bank was the out- growth of the German Bank, securing its charter as a National bank in April, 1877. Mr. Good was made Vice-President, and also acted as a member of the Board of Directors.
He was one of the promoters and original stockholders of various railroad enterprises, including the Denver & South Park R. R., Denver & Gulf R. R., and Denver & Pacific.
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