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 35
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JOSIAH NEWHALL HALL, M. D.
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JOSIAH NEWHALL HALL, M. D.
H ALL, JOSIAH NEWHALL, M. D., born in North Chelsea, Massachusetts, Octo- ber 11, 1859, was the son of Stephen A. and Evalina A. (Newhall) Hall. He is descended from the early colonial families, his lineage in the paternal line coming from William Hall, of one of the Puritan counties of Eng- land, who came to this country, in 1652, and settled in Medford, Massachusetts. Dr. J. N. Hall's grandfather, William Hall, born in Medford, Massachusetts, served in the war of 1812. His father, Stephen Augustus Hall (1825-1896), born in North Chelsea, Massa- chusetts, was a farmer, following that occu- pation until 1849, when, allured by the gold excitement in California, he sailed for that region, via Cape Horn. After engaging in mining and prospecting for three years, he returned via Panama, dying in Massachu- setts, at the age of seventy-two. Dr. Hall's mother, Evalina Newhall, born in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, is descended from a family which settled in that colony in 1640. Her father, General Josiah Newhall, commanded a regiment of Massachusetts troops in the war of 1812, after which he was commis- sioned a brigadier general of Massachusetts militia. While holding that rank, General Newhall commanded the troops at the re- ception of General Lafayette, and at the ded- ication of the Bunker Hill monument. There were three children beside Dr. Hall; Mrs. William B. Brooks of Amherst; Alfred S., who remained at the old homestead, and Mrs. S. S. Harriman.
Dr. Hall attended the Chelsea high school, and has received the following degrees : B. S., Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1878 ; M. D., Harvard University, 1882. He is a member of the Boylston Society of Harvard, the honorary medical society of the univer- sity. In 1882-1883, he was honse physician of the Boston City Hospital. He came to
Denver in February, 1883, and in June, that year, settled in Sterling, Colorado, where he was engaged in the practice of his profes- sion nine years, and was also mayor of the town in 1889; and was also physician for the Union Pacific and Burlington railroads at that place. Removing to Denver in 1892, he has since made this city his residence, and built up a large and lucrative practice. He was a member of the State Board of Med- ical Examiners, 1889-1895, and secretary and president of that body. He was also a mem- ber of the State Board of Health, 1889-1911, of which he was elected secretary and presi- dent, but resigned from the latter board in July, 1911.
Dr. Hall's specialty is diagnosis. He is a contributor to many medical journals, espe- cially upon diseases relating to the heart and lungs. Dr. Hall wrote the section on Gun- Shot Wounds, Burns and Scalds, in Petter- son & Haines', a text-book of Legal Medi- cine and Toxicology, 1903. He was profes- sor of medicine in the Denver-Gross Med- ical College, and is physician to the Denver City and County, St. Joseph's and St. An- thony's hospitals, and to the Mercy Sanita- rium.
Dr. Hall is a member of the following societies : American Medical Association ; Medico-Legal Society, New York; American Therapeutical Society ; American Cliniolog- ical Society ; Colorado State Medical Society (president, 1900), and the city and county medical societies of Denver. He has attained a high degree of eminence in the practice of his profession.
In 1885, at Sterling, Colorado, Dr. Hall married Miss Carrie G. Ayres, a native of Mississippi, and descended from an old and prominent southern family. They have two sons, Sigourney and Oliver.
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WARWICK MILLER DOWNING
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WARWICK MILLER DOWNING.
D OWNING, WARWICK MILLER, law- ver, born January 14, 1875, in Macomb, Illinois, is the son of James M. (born June 5, 1849, died JJuly 12, 1908) and Ella Mar- garet (Summers) Downing. The first Amer- ican ancestor of this family was Thomas Downing, who came from Bradnitch, Eng- land, about 1700, and settled near Downing- ton, Pennsylvania. Other ancestral lines eame about the same time.
His father was engaged in the real estate business. His mother was the daughter of Nathaniel and Margaret (Parsons) Summers. His ancestors, in both the paternal and ma- ternal lines, Richard Downing and Warwick Miller, were patriots and served in the Amer- ican Revolution.
Warwick M. Downing was graduated from the East Denver High School in 1891,
and from the Law School of the University of Michigan, in 1895, with the degree of LL. B. He has resided in Macomb, Illinois ; Washington, District of Columbia, and Downington, Pennsylvania. He first came to Denver in 1889.
He has been assistant city attorney of Denver, and also special counsel for the city. He has also served as attorney for the State Land Board, and is now a member of the Denver Park Board, a position which he has held for seven years, having been appointed in 1904.
Mr. Downing married, October 12, 1897, Emma Aimee, daughter of John E. Leet, who for many years has been connected with the Denver press and engaged in real estate business.
Mr. and Mrs. Downing have two children, Richard and Virginia.
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JOHN M'EWEN FOSTER, M. D.
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JOHN M'EWEN FOSTER, M. D.
F OSTER, JOHN M'EWEN, M. D., born in tions: Professor of otology, University of Nashville, Tennessee, January 11, 1861, is the son of Turner Saunders (born 1822, died 1898) and Harriett (Erwin) Foster, daughter of James and Margaret (Caldwell) Erwin. The father, Turner S. Foster, was a lawyer, but his son, John McEwen, the sub- ject of this sketch, followed the medical pro- fession.
Dr. Foster attended the Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, and the University of Tennessee, Sewanee, Tennessee. He was graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Tennessee in 1891. He re- sided in New Orleans from 1883 to 1885, and first came to Colorado in September, 1889, and, later, after completing his medical course, came to Denver, making this city his permanent residence, where he has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession, also filling the following posi-
Colorado; eye surgeon, St. Luke's Hospital ; ear and throat surgeon, St. Joseph's Hos- pital; consultant eye and ear, Mercy Hospi- tal, Denver ; eye and ear surgeon, Colorado Midland, and Colorado and Southern rail- ways; examiner for eye and ear, Board of Examining Surgeons, United States Pensions, Denver. He is a member of the American Academy, Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngol- ogy ; American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Societies; American Medical Association, Colorado State Medical Society, and the Medical Society of the City and County of Denver. He limits his practice to ophthalmology, otology and laryngology. He is a member of the Denver Country Club.
Dr. Foster married, at Memphis, Tennes- see, December 29, 1885, Miss Bessie, daugh- ter of Captain W. D. Bethel, of that city. They have three children, William Bethel, Pinckney Bethel and John McEwen.
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ALFRED CREBBIN
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ALFRED CREBBIN.
C REBBIN, ALFRED, British diplomatie service, born in Bradford, England, Feb- ruary 22, 1853, is the fifth son of David John and Barbara Crebbin. His father, born in June, 1812, died April 23, 1875, was prin- cipal of a private school. His mother was the daughter of James and Margaret Long.
Alfred Crebbin attended a private school, and also had private tutors. He first en- gaged in business, at Bradford, England, with John Priestman & Company. For two years (1882-1884) he was in the Canadian Northwest, and for two years (1889-1891), he resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In August, 1892, he came to Colorado, and,
sinee July, 1907, he has been the British vice-consul in Denver. Mr. Crebbin is also the American manager for the British In- vestment Companies, which have extensive interests in this country.
He is a member of the Denver Club, Den- ver Country Club, Denver Athletic Club, Denver Artists' Club, Overseas Club, and the Colorado Scientific Association.
Mr. Crebbin married, in Denver, June 13, 1900, Marie Agnes, daughter of John J. Ken- ney, Liverpool, England. They have three children, Barbara Marie, born in May, 1901; Alfred K., born in January, 1903, and Harry, born in January, 1905.
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MILTON SMITH
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MILTON SMITH.
S
MITH, MILTON, attorney, was born in
New Jersey, January 31, 1866. His father was Samuel D. Smith, a merchant of that place, born in 1840, and died 1902. His mother was Hannah A. Bevans Smitlı.
Mr. Smith was given the advantage of a splendid education. After leaving the com- mon schools of his native town, he entered the academy at Ellenville, New York, where he prepared for Cornell University. He was graduated from that institution with the degree of Ph. B., in 1887.
Mr. Smith selected the law as his pro- fession and was admitted to practice two years after leaving college. The same year he started west and arrived at Denver in November, 1889.
As a young man, Mr. Smith took a keen interest in the politics of state and nation. He enjoyed the friendship of leaders of the democratic party of New York and New Jersey, and it was but natural that upon his arrival in the Centennial State, he should affiliate himself with the party of Jefferson. For the last twenty years Mr. Smith has occupied a commanding position in the de- mocracy of Colorado, serving for most of that time as chairman of the state central committee.
With him politics was a diversion-a game to be played hard for the several months each two years, when he undertook control of his party's interests. But it could never be said of him that his devotion to politics interfered with his progress in his profession.
The law was always Mr. Smith's first concern and even in the hottest part of the political campaign he was ever the hard student, jealously guarding the interests of his elients, as well as the political fortunes
of his party's candidates. During a politi- cal campaign, Mr. Smith used to average eighteen hours' work a day. In those months he would keep a force of half a dozen ste- nographers busy from early morning until midnight. Rising before six o'clock, he would be at his office before break of dawn and have much of his private business cleared away before he appeared among the first at democratic state headquarters.
In preparation for the arduous labors that filled his long hours, Mr. Smith observed the strictest rules of training. He was able to go through with the heavy self-imposed tasks, because he kept himself physically fit.
After holding the position of state chair- mau for twelve years, Mr. Smith felt he could not longer afford to divide time with his constantly growing law practice, and in 1908 he relinquished the position of active head of the organization, but his services have been in constant demand and the chair- men succeeding him have sought his counsel on all questions of importance.
In all the years of his active participa- tion in polities, Mr. Smith has never cared to hold office. The only public position he has ever filled is that of county attorney, an office he has held for the last three years.
In his private practice, Mr. Smith is coun- sel for the Colorado Telephone Company, the Continental Oil Company, the Aetna Life Insurance Company, and many other large corporations. He is also attorney for and one of the organizers of the Denver Reser- voir and Irrigation Company, an enterprise which will add millions to the wealth of Denver.
Mr. Smith is a member of the University Club, the Denver Athletic Club, the Colorado Golf Club and the Denver Democratic Club.
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SAMUEL BERESFORD CHILDS, M. D.
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SAMUEL BERESFORD CHILDS, M. D.
C HILDS, SAMUEL BERESFORD, M. D., born in East Hartford, Connecticut, November 5, 1861, is the son of Seth Lee (born 1811, died January, 1888) and Juliette (Wood) Childs. Of colonial ancestry, his family was represented on the American side in the days of the Revolution. His father, formerly of Canada, came to Ver- mont, and later removed to Connecticut, where he was a prominent physician, prac- tising his profession about fifty years, and he was also state senator. Dr. S. B. Childs' mother was the daughter of the Reverend Luke Wood of Vermont.
Samuel B. Childs attended the public high school (1875-1879) at Hartford, Con- necticut. He has received the following de- grees : A. B., Yale, 1883, and M. D., New York University Medical School, 1887. Dr. Childs practiced his profession in Hartford from October, 1888, until July, 1905. He came to Denver, in 1906, and resumed his practice in this city. Dr. Childs has made a specialty of the X-ray in his profession, dur- ing the past ten years. He was one of the first to use the X-ray in the treatment of leukaemia. He has written a number of arti- cles for medical societies and journals, on ap-
plication of the X-ray in diagnosis and treat- ment. Dr. Childs is the Roentgenologist at the St. Luke's, Mercy, City and County and Children's Hospitals, Denver. He was pro- fessor of anatomy of the Medical Depart- ment of the University of Denver, from 1901 to 1910, and in 1910 was elected to the same position on the faculty of the University of Colorado.
Dr. Childs is also interested in outdoor sports and athletics. While at Yale he played on the 'Varsity ball team. He is a member of the University Club, Denver; American Medical Association; Denver Clin- ical and Pathologilal Society, of which he was president in 1910; Colorado Yale Asso- ciation (president in 1911) ; Denver County and Colorado State Medical Societies.
Dr. Childs married, first, in September, 1890, at West Hebron, New York, Henrietta, daughter of John Willett. She died, Novem- ber 5, 1906. They had two children, Sam- uel Willett, died 1893, and John Wood, born 1896.
He married, second, September 2, 1908 at Henderson, Kentucky, Anne, daughter of Edmund Lyne Starling. They have one child, Samuel Beresford, Jr., born in 1910.
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HARRY C. JAMES
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HARRY C. JAMES.
JAMES, HARRY C. prominent in the min-
ing and business interests of the state, president of the United Metals Mining and Milling Company, vice-president of the fam- ous Yak Mining, Milling and Tunnel Com- pany of Leadville, director of the Denver National Bank and also of the Denver Gas and Electric Company and the Portland Ce- ment Company, is a native son of Colorado, having been born at Georgetown, this state, August 15, 1868.
He is the son of the Hon. William H. James and Margaret A. (Haddock) James. Mr. James' father was born in 1831 at Monmushire, Wales, and died Jan. 5, 1903, at Denver, Colo.
The James family, father and son, are in- separably connected with the mining history of Colorado, for at the time of Mr. James' birth, his father was actively engaged in operating mines in the famous pioneer min- ing district of Georgetown, and was later a partner and associate of former governor James B. Grant and Edward Eddy in the promotion and operation of the Omaha and Grant Smel- ter, of which Mr. James was manager.
Mr. Harry C. James is of Welch and Irish extraction, his earliest ancestors to settle in America, were Henry James who came from
Wales and located in New York in 1813, anp on his mother's side, Thomas Haddock, who came to New York from Ireland in 1812.
Mr. James was educated at the Denver High School and the University of Michigan, but did not remain long enough at school to graduate, returning to Colorado to assist his father in business and commercial life.
Mr. James was connected with the Shredded Wheat Company in its early days with Mr. H. D. Perky but soon sold out and returned to his chosen profession, mines and mining; but a man of his capacity for large business enterprises is always sought after to assist in guiding other concerns, as his di- rectorship in some of the largest and most successful corporations of the state demon- strates.
Mr. James is prominent in the club and society life of the capital city, holding mem- bership in the Denver Club, the Country Club, the Colorado Golf Club and the Oasis Club. He is also a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity.
Mr. James married Miss Carrie May Davidson, daughter of Calvin C. Davidson of Denver on June 8, 1892. They have three children, Evalyn, Edna and William H.
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THOMAS BEALE STEARNS
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THOMAS BEALE STEARNS.
STEARNS, THOMAS BEALE, mining en- gineer, scientist and machinery manufac- turer, was born at Brooklyn, New York, October 3, 1859, son of Joel Wilder Stearns, born 1827, and died 1896, a manufacturing stationer and senior member of the firm of Stearns & Beale, of New York City. His mother was Elizabeth (Beale) Stearns, daughter of John and Maria P. Beale.
Mr. Stearns is a direct descendant of Thomas Stearns, who came to America from England, and settled at Watertown, Massa- chusetts, in 1640. Most of Mr. Stearns' an- cestors were ministers or lawyers, one hav- ing been Archbishop of York.
Thomas B. Stearns attended the private schools of Brooklyn, afterwards going through Brooklyn Polytechnical School and the School of Mines at Columbia University, from which he was graduated in 1881 with high honors and the degree of E. M.
In 1882, he came to Colorado, locating in Denver, and engaged in business of min- ing and thereafter in engineering, contract- ing and manufacturing in connection there- with.
Mr. Sterns has diverse business interests ; he was president of the Colorado National Life Insurance Company ; is vice-president of the Mountain Electric Company, and presi- dent of the Stearns-Roger Manufacturing Company, engineers and manufacturers of
machinery. This latter business occupies most of his attention, as most of its work is in connection with mining, Mr. Stearns having himself designed and superintended the erection of some of the largest treatment plants for ores in the Rocky Mountain re- gion, notably the Portland mill at Colorado Springs, power stations of Denver Electric Company, chlorination concentrating and cyanide plants at Florence and other places.
Mr. Stearns has never felt that his knowl- edge of mining was complete, new ideas and processes being continually discovered, and he has always extensively studied and in- vestigated the chlorination treatment of ores, the smelting of ores and the mining of ores.
Aside from his numerous business inter- ests, Mr. Stearns is especially prominent in all social functions and club affairs and is a member of the University Club of New York City, of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is also a member of the Denver Athletic Club, the Denver Country Club and is especially honored by having been the president of both the Den- ver Club and the University Club.
Mr. Stearns was married at Brooklyn, New York, in January, 1886, to Lillian, daughter of James M. Burt of Brooklyn, New York. They have four children, Burt, Elizabeth, J. Porter and Lillian Stearns.
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LESTER BURBANK BRIDAHAM
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LESTER BURBANK BRIDAHAM.
B RIDAHAM, LESTER BURBANK, born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1872, was the son of J. G. (born May, 1831) and Jane (Burbank) Bridaham. Of Dutch origin, his ancestors had resided in Virginia for sev- eral generations, his grandfather serving in the Continental army from that state. The Burbanks, his mother's family, are of Eng- lish descent, and inter-married with May- flower lines. Thus, through both his Virginia and New England ancestry, he has a lineage reaching to prominent colonial families, in the north and south.
Mr. Bridaham was educated in the public schools, at Cumberland, Maryland, and early in life started out to make his own way in the world.
He came from Maryland to Colorado, in 1887, locating in Denver in 1896, where he formed the Davis-Bridaham Drug Company, which still continues, having grown into a large and prosperous business. Mr. Brida- ham became the vice-president and general manager, the position he still holds, and under his guidance it has become the largest wholesale and jobbing drug house between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast. He has also successfully engaged in other enter- prises, and is vice-president of the Title Guarantee Company of Denver. In the so- cial and philanthropie life of the city he has been prominently identified, and is a director
of the Associated Charities Society of Den- ver. He is also a director of the Chamber of Commerce, and was active in bringing about those influences, along with others. that resulted in the erection of the fine, new building for that body, and widened its sphere of usefulness.
Mr. Bridaham was a prime mover in the organization of the Colorado Traffic Club, of which he has been president. As a busi- ness man, he had observed the unfortunate differences and misunderstandings that ex- isted between the railroads and shippers, and saw the necessity of blending the com- mercial interests into more harmonious work and activity. The result of this idea is the Colorado. Traffic Club, one of the strongest and most influential in the west. In addi- tion to the organizations mentioned, he is also a member of the Denver Club; the Den- ver Country Club, of which he has been viee- president; the Denver Athletic Club; the Mile High Club, Denver; The Chemical Chub of New York; the Denver Credit Men's As- sociation, of which he has been president, and the Colorado Manufacturers' Associ- ation, of which he has been vice-president.
Mr. Bridaham married, September 1, 1898, Miss Alice Gano Beesley, of Cincinnati, Ohio. They have one child, Lester Burbank Bridaham, Jr., now twelve years of age.
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ELMER ELLSWORTH WHITTED
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ELMER ELLSWORTH WHITTED.
WHITTED, ELMER ELLSWORTH, law- yer, born April 11, 1861, in Williams- burg, Johnson county, Indiana, is the son of John D. and Susan ( Watson) Whitted. He was graduated from De Pauw Univer- sity, Greencastle, Indiana, in 1887, with the degree of A. B. and also received that of A. M. from the same university in 1890. He was admitted to the bar in 1890, coming to Denver that year, and since that time has been engaged in the practice of law in that city. Mr. Whitted has rised rapidly in his profession, making a specialty of corporation and railway law, and is now recognized as one of the leading attorneys in Denver and the west. Mr. Whitted has been counsel in some of the most complicated railway liti- gation, in which leading western railroads have been involved. From 1894 until 1898, he was assistant general counsel for the
Union Pacific and the Denver and Gulf rail- road companies. Since 1899, he has been the general solicitor for the Colorado and South- ern Railway Company, and general counsel for the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway Company since 1905. He is now (1911) also attorney for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway Company, in Colorado and Wyoming. Mr. Whitted was professor of law at the University of Denver four years (1895-1899). He is a member of the American, Colorado, and Denver Bar Associations, and the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and also of the following clubs : Denver Club, University Club, Denver, and the Denver Country Club.
He married in 1904, at Denver, Colorado, Miss Genevieve, daughter of A. M. Ghost of that city.
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JOHN CLARK MITCHELL
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JOHN CLARK MITCHELL.
M ITCHELL, JOHN CLARK, banker, was until 1883, when his marked ability won him born at Freeport, Illinois, February 29, 1860, son of James and Catherine (Clark) Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell's father was born in 1810 and died in August, 1874. He was engaged in the banking business and we find his son in 1878, when but eighteen years of age, en- gaged in clerical work in a bank in Free- port, so that his vocation is a natural one, following as he did in his father's footsteps. Previous to this he had received a common school education in the public schools of his native city. He continued in this position for two years and in 1880 he heeded the call of the west and came to Colorado, set- tling in Alamosa, and doing work as a book- keeper for Field & Hill, who were engaged in the general merchandise and freight for- warding business following the construction of the Denver and Rio Grande railroad and were located at Alamosa when Mr. Mitchell joined them. He was employed at this but a short time, as in the same year he again returned to his chosen work and accepted a clerkship with the Bank of San Juan at Ala- mosa.
Remaining in Alamosa but a year, he went to Durango in 1881 as assistant eashier in the Bank of Durango and continued there
recognition and he was appointed assistant cashier of the Carbonate Bank at Leadville and served in that capacity until 1890.
In 1890, having been connected with banking institutions in Colorado for ten years, he left Leadville and came to Denver and was cashier of the Peoples' Bank for five months. He then was made treasurer of the firm of E. H. Rollins & Sons and con- tinued with them for six months, when his knowledge of the banking business was rec- ognized by his being offered and accepting the honor of being cashier of the Denver Na- tional Bank of Denver, which position he still occupies.
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