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| Walker, J. M. (M.D.) Dr. Walker was born in Alleghany County, Va., September 29, 1847. In 1849, his parents removed to Macoupin County, Ill. He received a liberal education in the public schools in the towns of Scottville and Greenfield, Ill. In 1864, he entered the army, enlisting in Company E., Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served on year, until the expiration of his time, when he received his discharge August 26, 1865. After the war, he engaged in teaching about two years, after which he entered the Homoeopathic Medical College of St. Louis, Mo., and graduated from that institution in 1870. He began his professional life at Winchester, Ill., in 1870, where he continued to practice until leaving for Denver, Colo., in 1873, since which time, he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession in this city. On June 10, 1879, he associated with him, in the practice of medicine and surgery, Dr. Ambrose S. Everett, of St. Louis, Mo. Dr. Walker was married in Winchester, Ill., in the year 1872. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 635-636 |
| Walker, John John Walker was born in Franklin County, Me., February 17, 1833. When about ten years of age, his parents removed to Portland, Me., where he received an education in the public schools, and at the age of nineteen connected himself with Pierce's Express Company, doing business between Portland and Boston, remaining with that Company until 1856, when he came West in the employ of the United States Express Company. In 1860, he came to Colorado and entered the employ of the Central, Overland, California & Pike's Peak Express Company, with his office at Central City. In 1862, he was engaged in mining in company with Alfred Sayer at Cache Cree, and in the fall of that year served in the Quartermaster's Department of the District of Colorado, until he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Third Regiment of Colorado Infantry. In the fall of 1863, he was mustered out by reason of the consolidation of his regiment with the Second Colorado. In 1864, he was appointed Clerk of the District Court in the Second Judicial District, residing in Central City until 1866. During that time, in June, 1864, by act of Congress, a constitutional convention was promulgated, of which he was Assistant Secretary. The following year, in December, 1865, he was elected Secretary of the State Senate, and was also admitted to the bar to practice during the same year. From 1865 to 1866, he was on the editorial staff of the Register. In 1867, he purchased the Tribune in company with R. W. Woodbury, and continued in that business until 1872, when he sold out to the Denver Publishing Company, after which he engaged in the real-estate business, and in the fall of 1873 was elected Justice of the Peace, serving in that capacity until 1875. From that time until 1879, he was Deputy Sheriff of Arapahoe County. In the pring of 1879, he engaged in ming at Leadville, in which he still continues. He was married in 1866, and has a family of three children. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 634-635 |
| Walker, W. H. Mr. Walker was born in Middlebury, Addison Co., Vt., April 16, 1836. When he was quite young his parents removed to Queensbury, N. Y., where his father owned and operated a woolen manufactory for a number of years, after which he removed to Granville, N. Y., but two years afterward they returned to Vermont, and became residents of Brattleboro, where he received a common-school education. In 1853, he went to Boston, Mass, and began business as clerk in a provision house, remaining there until 1860, when he went to Buenos Ayres, South America, for the purpose of engaging in sheep business, but the prospects being unfavorable for that business, he returned to Brattleboro, Vt., and was employed upon the stock farm of G. C. Hall, engaged in raising and training thoroughbred horses. In the fall of 1861, at the opening of the war, he engaged with a sutler for one year, and was stationed at Camp Griffin, about twelve miles from Washington, after which he returned to Brattleboro, and took charge of Mr. Hall's stock farm, as manager, remaining there until February, 1871, when he came to Colorado to select a ranche for the purpose of engaging in the sheep business. Having secured a ranche thirty miles east of Denver, on Kiowa Creek, in September of the same year he engaged in the sheep business exclusively, which, by his thorough knowledge and careful management, has proved a successful business. The following spring, March, 1872, he removed his family from the East to Denver, and, after one year's residence in the city, removed to his ranche, residing there six years. He then returned to Denver, having purchased a very beautiful and desirable residence on Lawrence street, where he now resides. In 1877, he was appointed Sheep Inspector for Arapahoe County by the County Commissioners, which office he still holds, In the fall of 1878, he was nominated for Representative to the Legislature upon the regular Democratic ticket. Although defeated, he was unanimously supported by his party. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 634 |
| Wall, David K. (Hon.) Mr. Wall is well known throughout the State of Colorado, not only as a pioneer, but as an energetic, industrious and successful business man. His success is not the result of any sudden good fortune, but of year of close and faithful application to legitimate business pursuits. He was born in Logan County, Ohio, May 26, 1826. His father, Benjamin Wall, was a farmer, and, in 1835, removed to South Bend, Ind. Mr. Wall remained at home, assisting in the support of their large family, and engaged in various business pursuits until 1850, when he and his brother, John C. Wall, made their way to the gold fields of California, and after mining awhile with ordinary succeses, invested their earnings in a frontier store and pack train, packing their goods a distance of fifty miles. This proving a profitable venture, at the end of eight months they opened a store in another camp, continuing trading and freighting with excellent success until 1852, when they had accumulated a snug sum. Leaving his brother in charge of their business, Mr. Wall crossed the range into Oregon, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, and purchased a drove of two hundred hogs and set out on his return. Before he had reached the foot of the range, however, the mountain snowstorms set in, and finding if impossible to cross with the hogs, they were left behind, and after diposed of at a great loss. After a perilous journey, Mr. Wall finally reached the camp. The winter was a fearful one; the camps were blockaded and fmine seemed inevitable. A few hardy miners made perilous journeys across the range on snowshoes, returning with such necessary supplies as they could carry, for which they received whatever price they chose to demand; for example, $16 per ounce for sale, and other articles in proportion. On the opening of spring, the Wall Brothers, in addition to their mercantile business, engaged in gardening in the North Fork of the Trinity Valley, planting twenty-five acres of potatoes, and digging a ditch two miles long to obtain water with which to irrigate, and bringing their seed from San Francisco at a cost of 25 cents per pound, but they were rewarded by a bountiful crop. An incident which occurred during this summer is worthy of mention . The Indians, true to their nature, became very troublesome, and were stealing everything they could find. One day, while Mr. Wall and his brother were irrigating their crops, the Indians undermined their cabin and carried off all their blankets and clothing, but overlooked a buckskin bag containing about $2,000, in square slugs of gold, worth $50 each. Of course, they forgot the theft of the missing articles in their rejoicing over those left behind. Returning to their home at South Bend in 1854, well paid for the hardships of the few preious years, Mr. Wall was engaged in various business enterprises until 1859. THrough the depression of all kinds of business he not only lost his former earnings, but became more or less involved. He, therefore, in 1859, determined to cros the Plains again, and this time came to ZColorado, bringing with him a stock of garden seeds and farming implements, as his former experience had taught him that gardening was a profitable business in a new country. He left his sees with William N. Byers, and proceeded to a place called Arapahoe, where he found, among others, John Gregory, whom he "grub-staked" from the provisions he had brought across the Plains, thus enable Gregory to discover the famous Gregory lode, which was one of the stepping stones toward Colorado's present prosperity. Locating a claim where Golden now stands, Mr. Wall engaged in geradning and frming, and furing the summer assisted in laying off hte town of Golden. In the fall, he was joined by his brother, John C. Wall, who had assisted him during his financial difficulties at South Bend, and, in return for the brotherly act, he now made him an equal partner in all he had, consisting of a fine claim, a good rop of begetables, and an addition to the town of Golden. In July, the following year, his brother died. This was a sad affliction to Mr. Wall, and, in the early winter of 1860, he leased his garden and returned to Indiana. Returning in the spring to Colorado with his brother-in-law, H. B. Hine, they embarked in stock dealing, merchandising and express business, and the next year engaged largely in gardening. Their crop being destroyed by the grasshoppers, Mr. Wall left his brother-in-lawin charge of the business and went to Oregon, where he engaged in mercantile business, both of them meeting with success. Returning in 1864, he found Mr. Hine had removed to Denver, and some one had "jumped" his claim at Golden. Litigation followed, which has not yet terminated. From 1865 to 1867, he was engaged in business in Nebraska City and Council Bluffs. Returning to South Bend, he began the manufacture of wagons, and, about three years later, came again to Denver, continuing the wagon business alone for a few years, when, with John A. Witter, the present firm of Wall & Witter was formed. This firm is now one of the most enterprising in the State. They are largely engaged in dealing in horses and mules, have a large wagon and carriage repository, and are the owners of the most extensive stage lines in the State. Mr. Wall was a member of the provisional Legislature of Colorado in 1859, and has twice been nominated by the Democratic party for Alderman, without his consent. As he made no canvass, and his party being in the minority, he was, of course, defeated. He was married in September, 1865, to Miss Eliza Taylor, daughter of Col. L. M. Taylor, one of the pioneer merchants of South Bend, Ind. A pioneer both of California and ZColorado, Mr. Wall has had an adverterous career, filled with hardship and peril, with alternate successes and reverses. He has seen a magnificent city spring up where a score of years ago was nothing but the desolate plain, with here and there a settler's cabin ,or [sic] the tent of the adventurous miner. Through the vicissitudes which Colorado has experienced in the last two decades, he has maintained a steady faith in her ultimate destiny and is now enjoying the success he so well deserves. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 645-646. |
| Walrod, Abram In the spring of 1858, when the news of rich gold discoveries at Pike's Peak as heralded throughout the States, such a stream of immigration began to pour into the then almost unknown country, as had rarely been witnessed even in the palmiest days of the California gold excitement. Among the first to join this throng of gold-seekers, and to unite his destiny with the Far West, was the subject of this sketch. Born in Onondaga County, N. Y., on the 22d day of January, 1825, he was engaged in farming until about eighteen years of age, assisting his father, and acquiring such education as could be derived from a few months' annual attendance at the district school. In 1843, he removed to Fulton County, Ill., and after farming there two years, removed to Clinton County, Iowa, where he engaged in the same pursuit until 1849, when, in company with Maj. D. C. Oakes, he started overland to California, arriving there in the fall of the same year. After two years of successful mining there, he returned to Iowa and again began farming, following that but one yer, when he went to Glenwood, in the same Stte, and engaged in business until 1858, when the glowing reports from Pike's Peak induced him to try his fortune in the Rocky Mountains. He arrived at the present site of Denver October 10, 1858, and after prospecting along the base of the mountains, returned to Iowa early in the winter, and the following spring brought his family to Colorado. The winter of 1859 was spent in Denver, and in the spring of the following year he crossed the range to California Gulch, near where Leadville now stands, and spent the summer in prospecting and mining, returning to Denver in the fall. Mr. Walrod has followed mining uninterruptedly since coming to ZColorado, and is thoroughly familiar with all the mining country from Nw Mexico to the Black Hills. He has discovered some valuable property, among which is the "Overland" mine, in Boulder County, from the recent sale of which he has realied a handsome fortune. He was married, in De Witt, Iowa, in 1852, to Miss Emily A. Cramblet, of Fulton County, Ill. His daughter, Mary D., born in Denver, December 20, 1859, was the first white girl born in this city. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 644-645 |
| Ware, J. B. Mr. Ware was born in Somersetshire, England, May 9, 1842. When he was eight years of age, his parents removed to the United States. Soon after they landed in New Jersey his mother died, after which he went with his father to Brighton, Canada West. There he received a common-school education, and remained until he was about nineteen years of age, when he went to Bay City, Mich., and engaged in business as foreman for R. H. Stevens, of Buffalo, N. Y, [sic] rafting ship timber down the Saganaw River, in which he was engaged three years. He then learned the carpenter's trae, and, after spending three years at that, went to Rochester, N. Y., and followed his trade two years, after which he engaged in contracting and building on his own account, and continued the same fourteen years, establishing a very large and successful business. In October, 1878, ill health brought him to Denver, and since that time he has been engaged in contracting and building. Among the fine residences he has built is that of Charles Ballin. He was married, December 15, 1875, to Susan Vanderbeck, daughter of Mr. Vanderbeck, of Rochester, N. Y. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 642 |
| Waters, A. Winslow The above-named gentleman was born in Orange County, Vt., August 11, 1849, and removed with his parents to Wisconsin when he was about six years of age. He was educated in the public schools, and, upon reaching the age of seventeen years, went to Portage, Wis., where he embarked in the drug business, in company with Dr. Waterhouse, under the firm name of Waterhouse & Water. He applied himself industriously in this, his first business undertaking, with successful results; but, at the end of three years, believing a different branch of business would be more adapted to his tastes, removed to Chicago, and, in the spring of 1871, embarked in the lumber business under the firn name of Waldo, Waters & Co. The success and profitable results accruing to the firm during three years of business in that city proved satisfactory; although Mr. Waters sustained some loss individually in the great Chicago fire in the fall of 1871. He then turned his steps westward for the purpose of selecting a good business loction, in search of which he went to California, and, after traveling over the Territories, decided to settle in Denver, whither he removed in the spring of 1876. He then purchased an interest in the commission house of E. H. Tobey & Co., and, six months later, Mr. O. L. Haskell entered the firm as successor to Mr. Tobey, changing the firm name to Haskell & Waters. The firm has, since that time by energetic application to businss, obtained an extensive patronage, and is doing a very large business in a wholesale way in fruits and produce, and may be regarded as the leading firm in the general commssion business in Denver, both in financial strength and the volume of business transacted annually. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 649 |
| Watkins, Leonard A. L. A. Watkins, head of one of the oldest hide and leather houses in St. Louis, dating back to 1857, and an active, energetic business man of Denver, was born in Birmingham, England, October 2, 1831. Ater receiving a good common-school eduction, he entered the leather business, thus following in the stpes of his ancestors who had been in that business for two generations. In the spring of 1853, he came ot the United States; and after traveling over the country, and working in various localities, he went to St. Louis, and started in his present business, first as a workman for Mr. Dean, for two years, when he was taken into partnership. In 1870, Mr. Watkins bought Mr. Dean out, he retiring from business, then took his brother Fred Watkins into business, the firm thus becoming L. A. Watkins & brother. Mr. Wtkins being a sufferer from asthma, came to Denver in 1873, to try the effect of the climate, having bout concluded to retire from business, but received so much benefit, and having always led an active life, he could not remain long idle He therefore entered actively into the hide, leather, wood, fur, and sheep and wool grower's supply business, in this city, and has built up one of the largest trades of the kind in the State. He has also taken a great interest in the raising and improving of the sheep of Colorado, and for the past two yeras has been President of the Rocky Mountain Wool Growers' Association. He was elected Alderman of the Third War in 1876, and has always been a public-spirited man, taking a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of Denver and Colorado. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 648-649. |
| Webb, Oscar D. F. Oscar D. F. Webb was born in Virginia in 1837. Having received a common-school education, he was apprenticed as a carpenter, and worked at the trade several years, both in Virginia and at St. Joseph, Mo. Subsequently entering a provision house as a clerk, in the latter city, he followed that vocation until the year 1861, when he established himself in business, and carried it on successfully about four years, and then came to Colorado. Since 1865, Mr. Webb has been variously engaged. He was senior member of the firm of Web, Poole & Bro., commission merchants, and in 1868 was interested in the grocery business with other partners, disposing of his interest in the firm in 1873, and starting business on his own account. In 1875, he sold out, and resumed again shortly afterward, forming his present connection in 1877 with E. Block, and is now conducting a fancy and staple grocery, dealing also in vegetables, fruit and poultry. Mr. Webb as married in 1877, having met his future wife, Marietta V. Fore, when on a visit to this mother in Virginia. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Denver, owns real estate in the city, and, though born in a Southern State, is decidedly a Union man. He has served two years in the City Council, and one term as Coroner, having been elected in each instance on the Republican ticket. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 633-634 |
| Welch, L. B. L. B. Welch, wagon-maker and general worker in iron, was born in Tioga County, Penn, in 1833. His parents' circumstances did not permit them to give him the advantages of even an ordinary education, but compelled them to utilize his services in his father's shop at the early age of thirteen years. After learning the trade of blacksmithing, he removed to a neighboring town and started business on his own account, when only twenty-three years old, but subsequently returned to his native village, where he married and engaged in business, until the year 1854, when he removed with his wife to the State of Iowa. There he spent ten years, near the city of Davenport, working so constantly and laboriously at his trade that his health became impaired, and he determined to remove to Colorado, and, loading all their worldly effects upon a wagon, he and his wife began their long journey across the Plains, in search of health and prosperity. Arrived in Denver in the year 1864, and with his strength almost recuperated by the trip from Iowa, he began life again without capital or friends, and so prospered ince his residence in Colorado, that he finds himself to-day in comparatively easy circumstances. He has combined the business of blacksmithing with wagon-making and repairing, employs several hands, and is the owner of real estate and some interest in mining claims. Mr. Welch is a life-long Republican, a member of the Blue Ribbon Temperance Society, and enjoys the respect of all who have had business or social relations with him History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 636 |
| Wells, Ebenezer T. Ebenezer T.
Wells
Ebenezer T. Wells, former
Judge of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Colorado and of the
State of Colorado, was born in the town of Richland, Oswego county,
N.Y., May 15, 1835. His father was a merchant and the son of Rev.
William Wells of Brattleboro, Vt., who was an eminent clergyman of
the Unitarian faith and who settled at Brattleboro soon after the
close of the war of the Revolution. History of Denver, with Outlines of the Earlier History of the Rocky Mountain Country, Jerome C. Smiley, editor, (c) 1901, p. 682 |
| Wetzel, Captain Samuel E. Capt. Wetzel was born in Union County, Penn., April 27, 1840. He was educated at the Union Seminary, New Berlin, Penn., and, at the age of seventeen, entered upon the avocation of a teacher. In 1862, he removed to Bristol, Ind., and in August of the same yer, entered the Union army as a member of Company B, Twenty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, joining the regiment as a recruit, in Kentucky, in September. He took part in the battles of La Vergne, Tenn., Triune, and Stone River. For meritorious conduct in the last-named battle, he was promoted successively to Corporal, Sergeant, and Sergeant Major. On the advance to Chattanooga, occurred the battle of Liberty Gap, in which he participated. His regiment occupied the extreme right, and took part in the flank movement that occasioned the capture of Chattanooga. At the battle of Chickamauga, his regiment went into battle with 297 men and left 191 -- nearly two-third -- on the field. Mr. Wetzel being once wounded and twice captured, but finally made his escape. The Adjutant of the regiment having been captured at Chickamauga, he was appointed to fill his place, and, while acting in that capacity, re-enlisted his regiment as veterans, that being the first regiment in the Union army to re-enlist, for which they were assigned, as a mark of favor, to an independent division, and kept on duty at Chattanooga. He was afterward promoted to First Lieutenant, and then to Captain, and for some time after the close of the war, was in command of a post at Kingston, Ga. Leaving the service December 15, 1865, he returned to Indiana, and began reading medicine, but at the end of six months was married, and removed to Iowa, where he engaged in selling dry goods. In 1873 he came to Colorado, where he had previously made considerable investments in cattle, to which business he has since given his constant attention, having a herd of about 3,500 cattle. He is a member of the State Board of Cattle Inspection Commissioners, and has spent much time and labor in perfecting a system of inspection by which more complete and reliable statistics of the cattle industry can be obtained. He has been Secretary of the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association since 1875. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 637-638 |
| Wheeler, George N. George N. Wheeler, of the lumber firm of Lewis, Wheeler & Co., was born in Monroe, Fairfield, Co., Conn., November 1, 1832. At sixteen years of age, after receiving agood [sic] common-school education in his native town, he went to Stepney, Conn., and engaged in merchandising for about one and a half years. He then sold out and went to clerking in Danbury, Conn., for one year, after which he was engaged in the dry-goods business until 1869. In the spring of 1872, he came to Denver and formed a partnership with Mr. Julius C. Lewis. Mr. Wheeler is a prompt and reliable business man, and one of Denver's best citizens. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 647. |
| Whipple, W. W. Among the pioneers of Colorado, who merit more than a passing mention in the history of the new State, is W. W. Whipple, senior member of the firm of Whipple & Pierson, legal and commercial printers. He was born in Jackson County, Mich., October 24, 1837. At an early age he learned the printer's trade, and followed the same as journeman printer until the spring of 1857, when, like many other young men, he accepted the advice of Horace Greeley and came West. He left his native village and started for the Far West, arriving in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in May, 1857, and remained in Western Iowa and Nebraska until February, 1859, when hearing of the great excitement caused by the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak, he crossed the Plains, and arrived at the mouth of Cherry Creek April 10, 1859. Soon after his arrival, Mr. W. N. Byers began the publication of the Rocky Mountain News, in April, 1859, when he began his first work at the printing business in Colorado upon the first number of that paper. Soon after, he visited the mountains, and located at the then famous Jackson diggings, as they were called. He workd a placer mine successfully, and returned to Denver in the fall. He then followed his trade as journeyman printer until 1873, when he purchased a half-interest in the Central City Daily Register, in partnership with Hon. Frank Hall, now Adjutant General of Colorado, and continued the same until June, 1876. He then sold out and returned to Denver, and followed his trade until October, 1877, when he formed a partnership with R. J. Pierson, as Whipple & Pierson, book and job printers. He was married at Jackson, Mich, [sic] in August, 1867, to the daughter of Russell Ford, a pioneer of that State. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 641 |
| Whittemore, Oliver A. (Hon.) Mr. Whittemore was born March 2, 1828, in Spencer, Mass. He received a good common-school education, and, in the spring of 1847, began clerking in a dry-goods store, where he remained for about five years. In the fall of 1851, he went to Vickburg, Miss., and entered a hardware house as a clerk, remaining till the fall of 1853. He then returned to East Brookfield, Mass., and engaged with his brother in the manufacture of carriagewheels, remaining for about two years, after which he removed to Elizabethport, N. J., where he followed the same business for about two years more. In the fall of 1858, he removed to Kansas, where he was engaged in the land-warrant business until the spring of 1860, when he removed to Breckenridge, Colo., and went to trading and mining. In the fall of 1862, in company with E. T. Colton, he erected a flouring-mill at Colorado City, and the same fall removed to Denver, and was appointed to a clerkship in the Quartermaster's office, remaining there for about two years. In 1865, he built a flouring-mill in Denver, which was run under the firm nme of Whittemore & Co., until the spring of 1868. In the spring of 1869, he was elected City Clerk, and, in the fall of the same year, was appointed Clerk of the District Court, and remained in office until the spring of 1871, when he removed to Boulder, and, in company with Capt. Mullen, graded, bridged, and furnished ties for the Boulder Valley Railroad, from Erie to Boulder. In the fall of 1872, he returned to Denver, and, in the fall of 1873, was elected Secretary of the Colorado Industrial Association, holding that office until the fall of 1875, when he was elected Justice of the Peace, and, in the fall of 1877, was also appointed Police Magistrate, which office he still holds. He was elected to represent Summit County in the first Territorial Legislature in the fall of 1861, serving during the first two sessions of that body. He was also President of the first Constitutional Convention of Colorado, in the summer of 1864. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 648. |
| Williams, Edward S. (Dr.) Dr. E. S. Williams, oldest son of Absalom and Lucy M. Williams, was born in the city of Lynchburg, Va., October 5, 1819. At the age of twelve years, he was apprenticed to the jeweler's trade for seven years, four years of which he served in the silversmith's department and also at manufacturing jewelry, after which he spent three years at watch and clock-making. He soon became quite proficient in repairing and designing, and made many inventions, some of which attracted the attention of Prof. Franklin G. Smith, a distinguished teacher and lecturer on scientific ubjects, who employed him at his laboratory for several hours in the evening during two lecture seasons, to assist him in the construction of instruments and appliances for the purpose of illustrating and explaining his lectures upon scientific subjects. These lectures were food to his analytical and inquiring mind, and by following out the ideas by the aid of the illustrations, he soon attained a practical knowledge of many scientific subjects. After serving his apprenticeship of seven years, he removed to Lexington, Mo., in ZSeptember, 1839, and embarked in the jewelry business, and worked upon gold and silver plates for a dentist. In 1843, he sold out, but after making a trip East again opened business, giving more attention to dentistry, in which he continued until 1852, when he started for California. After traveling over the Plains for some distance, his family were taken ill at Fort Laramie, and when they had recovered sufficiently, he rturned to Council Bluffsm Iowa, where he remained a short time and then returned to Missouri, where he was engaged in the practice of dentistry, and also in the practice of medicine. The rebellion depriving him of his slaves and nearly all the comforts of life, in 1867 he left his farm and removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, seeking better facilities for eductaion his children. In 1871, he was elected an honorary member of the Iowa State Dental Association. In May, 1877, he removed with his family to Denver, Colo., and opened an office for the practice of his profession, and has succeeded in building up an extensive practice in his specialty, that of fine work on gold plate. He is contented and happy and in the enjoyment of perfect restoration of health since he became a resident of this beautiful City of the Plains. He was marred at Lexington, Mo., to Miss Austin, daughter of Dr. William ustin, of that city. He is an honored member of the Masonic Fraternity, having joined the order when about twenty-one years of age. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 644 |
| Williams, L. A. L. A. Williams, one of the pioneers of Colorado, was born in Monkton, Addison Co., Vt., October 4, 1834, remained at home on the farm until 1857, and then went to Iowa, where he found employment in a steam saw-mill. In February, 1859, he started across the Plains with a company of men for Pike's Peak, and bringing a steam saw-mill, the first ever brought to the Territory. They traveled with ox teams, and reached Denver on the 28th of March. On the 12th of April, they cut the first lumber in the Territory, and continued running the mill for about five years. He then purchased the farm known as the "Kirby Farm," about two miles from Denver, on Cherry Creek, and began raising stock, in which he is still engaged, and in which he has met with good success. Mr. Williams was married April 9, 1872, to Miss Mary Hacker, and has two children. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 648. |
| Williams, W. H. (M. D.) Prominent among the physicians of this city, is Dr. Williams. By diligent study and perseverance, he has acquired a knowledge of his profession which has placed him high in the esteem of his brother physician, and won for him the confidence of his fellow-men. He has been very successful in the treatment of lung diseases, to which he has given special study for a number of years. Dr. Williams was born in Lexington, Miss., November 3, 1840, and received a liberal education at Milton Academy and Madison College, after which, in April of 1861, soon after the breaking-out of the rebellion, he entered the Confederate army, serving until May, 1865. Soon after the close of the war, he entered the University of Louisiana, at New Orleans, and in March, 1867, graduated from this University with the degree of M. D. He then located at Lexington, Miss., and began the practice of his profession, and remained there until the spring of 1869, when, in consequence of ill health, he was compelled to remove to a more favorable climate, and came to Denver, Colo., where he has since resided in the active practice of medicine, meeting with marked success. In 1874, Dr. Williams was elected President of the Denver Medical Association, and, in 1876, was elected President of the Colorado State Medical Association. Dr. Williams is one of the most faithful of physicians, ever looking to the interest and progress of his profession, and among men he is, in the broadest sense of the term, a perfect gentleman. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 647-648. |
| Wilson, Clark H. Clark H. Wilson, of the firm of Wilson Brothers, stock raisers, was born in Fairfield County, Conn., July 10, 1842. When he was about twelve yaers of age, he went to New York City, where he was employed for awhile as a clerk in a store. From New York he went to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and was engaged in operating in the oil business from 1865 to 1867. He then came west as far as Iowa, and engaged in freighting in Dubuque. In 1868, he came to Colorado, and at once entered the stock business with his brother, James M. Wilson, who had come to the Territory in 1860, and had already quite a herd of cattle. Mr. Wilson hs given his attention exclusively to the cattle industry during his residence here. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 638 |
| Wilson, G. W. G. W. Wilson, Secretary of the Denver Transportation Company, dealer in coal, etc., was born Lancaster, Fairfield Co., Ohio, December 3, 1851, [sic] He remained there until fourteen year of age, when he went to Tennessee and engaged in farming and the stock business, remaining there four years. In 1870, he came to Colorado and engaged in freighting in Nothern Colorado about three years, after which he was engaged in mining in the Georgetown district two years. Then in the lumber business one year, after which he went into the San Juan country and engaged in mining until 1877, when he came to Denver and engaged in the coal business, being general agent of the Star Coal Company. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880,p. 642 |
| Wilson, James M. The business of raising stock in Colorado is receiving more and more attention each succeeding yer. From a very small beginning, it has increased in amount and importance until now it is second only to mining as an industry of the State. No firm engaged in the cattle business is more worthy of mention than that of the Wilson Brothers, of Denver. The senior member of the firm, James M. Wilson, is an "old-timer" in Colorado, having come here in 1860, and engaged in freighting between Omaha and Denver. After about six months, he bought a ranche near the city of Denver, and began farming. In 1863, he started in the cattle business in company with another gentleman and in a moderate way, until 1870, when his brother, Clark H. Wilson, having joined him in 1868, they opened a ranche on Box Elder Creek. In 1876, they removed their herd to Frenchman's Creek, a tributary of the Republican River, about two hundred and fifty miles from Denver, here they have a fine herd of some five thousand cattle. Mr. Wilson was born in Fairfield County, Conn., September 24, 1839, and, when about twelve years old, removed to Litchfield County, in the same State, and followed farming till his removal to Colorado in 1860. He was a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Arapahoe County from 1866 to 1869, and President of the Colorado Cattle Growers' Association in 1875 and 1876. He has for several years been connected with the German National Bank of Denver, of which he has been a Director since 1877. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 638 |
| Wilson, M. D., Milo Adams The following brief sketch of the life and varied medical experience of Dr. M. A. Wilson will prove of interest. Owing to ill health, he was compelled, in the fall of 1879, to leave New York City, where he had practiced for nine years, and come to Colorado. Concluding to remain permanently in Denver, this city has one more valuable acquisition to her many prominent citizens. He was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1845, of American parents, was educated at the Academy of Beaver Court House, Pennsylvania, and began the study of medicine with Dr. George McCook, of Pittsburgh, in 1863. After reading about one year, he attended lectures at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, session of 1865-65. During the year, from the spring of 1865-66, he was Senior Resident Physician of the Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, in 1866. From that time until 1868, he was employed as Quarantine Officer at Fort Caswell, Wilmington, N. C., during the cholera epidemic of 1866, and, for several voyages, as ship surgeon between New York and Liverpool. Continuing his medicl studies in Paris, Heidelberg, Vienna and London, he acquired a fair knowledge of the German language. After traveling extensively throughout Europe, he returned to Cincinnati in 1868, where he was appointed surgon to the city workhouse, physicia to out-door poor, Secretary to Academny of Medicine, etc. His oldest brother, Oregon Wilson, who had accompanied him in Europe, was then residing in New York City, and prevailed upon the Doctor to remove to that city in the fall of 1870, where he remained until 1879. During his residence there, he was at different times one of the attending physicians to nerly all of the numerous dispensaries, in their various departments; assistant clinical professor to several of the "chairs" to Bellevue Medical College; one of the attending physicians to the New York Foundling Asylum; on the corps of Health Inspectors; Assistant Surgeon of the Seventh Regiment New York National Guards, besides having a large practice. Dr. Wilson has received a thorough classical, medical and musical education, for he is also a fine violinist and musician, and is the author of several very able medical articles and translations. His varied and extensive experience in the past, his diligence in study, skillfulness, courteous and affable manners, will be, and are being, rapidly appreciated in Denver. His oldest brother was a "natural-born artist," well known throughout the East and South, and, had he not died at the early age of thirty, would have been one of America's most celebrated portrait and figure painter. His largest and finest painting, "Woman's Devotion," 6x8 feet, a true incident of the battle Winchester, Va., is now in the Corcoran Art Gallery, in Washington, D. C., having recently been placed there by Gen. W. T. Sherman, who has had it at the Untied States Army headquarters since the close of the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 649-650. |
| Wilson, William E. (M. D.) Dr. Wilson was born March 16, 1833, in Atlanta, Ga., where he attended the common schools until the age of fourteen. He then entered Emery College, Oxford, Ga., where he remained two years. Returning to Atlanta, he began the study of medicine, Dr. William B. Jones, of that city, being his preceptor. He graduated in medicine at the age of twenty years, in the Medical Department of the University of New York, receiving his diploma March 16, 1853. He then practiced one year in Atlanta, after which he attended another course of lectures in the Nashville Medical School, receiving the ad eundem degree of M. D. in March, 1855. He removed to Jacksonville, Ill., and practiced one year, removing thence to Berlin, Ill., where he practiced medicine for four years. He then located in Decatur, Ill., and continued the practice of his profession until the outbreak of the civil war, when he was commissioned Surgeon of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry Volunteers. While his regiment was encamped in Quincy, Ill., he had charge of a ward in the general hospital, and also established a regimental hospital at Benton Barracks, in St. Louis, and also at Springfield, Mo. While their headquarters remained at Springfield, he accompanied his regiment on many an expedition in pursuit of Gen. Marmaduke's cavalry, which they drove out of the State, following them, on one occasion, more than two hundred miles. At the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark, [sic] he had charge of the brigade hospital. In the summer of 1863, he accompanied his regiment on the march of Davidson's Cavalry Division from Pilot Knob, Mo., in Little Rock, Ark. On the way, they had a number of skirmishes with Gen. Price's forces, and more than a hundred of his regiment were in the regimental hospital from the malarial effects of the swamp water which they were obliged to drink, Dr. Wilson being the only medical officer in the command. At the capture of Little Rock, in attempting to cross the Arkansas River, they had a cavalry fight with Marmaduke's cavalry, in which thirty-two of his regiment were wounded in five minutes' time. During the winter of 1863-64, his regiment, having seen much active service, was allowed a rest, during which they veteranized and returned to Illinois on a thirty days' furlough. On being ordered to Nashville, the regiment being supplied with two assistant surgeons, he was detached and placed in charge of the cavalry depot hospital in Nashville, where he remained till the expiration of his term of service. During his army life, he was constantly with his regiment, and bore with the men the hardships of camp life; was in many minor engagements, and saw much arduous service. Returning, he practiced his profession in Decatur till 1872, when he came to Denver. He is a member of the Colorado Medical Society, of which he was Vice President two years. As Chairman of the Committee on Obstetrics, for two years, he made two reports on that subject, which were published in the transactions of that society. He is also a member of the Denver Medical Association. Dr. Wilson, as a citizen and a physician, occupies a high position in Denver, and in the Medical Council of the State. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880,p. 636-637 |
| Wisebart, Benjamin W. (Hon.) Following the first flood of immigration which poured into Colorado when the news of rich gold discoveries at Pike's Peak reched the Eastern States, inducing men of all classes and characters to leave home and competency for the distant plains and mountains -- all animated by the prospect of great and sudden wealth, came a class of men content to engage in the less hazardous, if not so remunerative, pursuit of a business life. Of this latter class was the subject of this sketch. Benjamin W. Wisebart was born in Louisville, Ky., September 28, 1841. After a few years' experience as a salesman and book-keeper in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Dubuue, Iowa, he came to Colorado in 1861. Locating in Central City, he opened a clothing establishment in connection with Mr. A. Jacos, which he conducted successfully for sixteen years. In 1872, he was elected to represent his district in the Upper Branch of the Territorial Legislature. As a member of that body, he introduced the bill permitting criminals to testify in their own defense; a bill to tax the capital stock of national banks, and a bill requiring judges of election to county the ballots in the presence of the voters. All of these bills were passed by the Legislature, and yet stand as a part of the statute law of Colorado. He has served several terms as a member of the City Council of Central City, and, in 1876, he was elected Mayor of the city, winning the admiration of his constitutents for the able and impartial manner in which he discharged the duties of his office. As a Mason, Mr. Wisebrt has been thrice elected Illustrious Grand Master of the Council, and has filled most of the offices of the subordinate lodges. He is of Jewish birth, a member of the Hebrew Congregation of Denver, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. A pronounced Republican, he has labored earnestly for the interests of the party he has represented in some of the most important offices of the State. Mr. Wisebart's long and successful business career t zCentral City, in this city and at Leadville, where he has valuable mining interests, has given him an extended acquaintance, among whom he is known as an honorable, conscientious and upright citizen. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 642-643 |
| Witteborg, William William Witteborg is essentially a self-made man. He was born in Soest, a town in the Prussian Province of Westphalia, on the 24th day of October, 1832. He learned the printer's trade in Germany, and after looking over the ground thoroughly, became convinced that the Old World did not present a promising field for enterprise, and decided to emigrate to America. In 1857, he landed in the city of New York as a poor immigrant, but his native energy and great business capacity helped him on. Going West a far as Indianapolis, he spent the first year in working at his trade. Having an older brother in Texas, he went to that State, for a time was in his brother's employ on the farm; but the monotonous life of the farm proving irksome to him, we find him again, a year later, in Indianapolis. The roving life of a journeyman printer, took him to New York, Louisville, St. Louis, Davenport, Milwaukee and Warsaw, where he worked in most of the German and English newspaper offices. Being without a family to care for, this nomadic kind of life was rather aggreeable than otherwise. In 1862, he settled in Leavenworth, Kan., where he was married in 1866. In 1872, he determined to attempt the establishment of a German newspaper in Denver, a hazardous undertaking, by the way, as two German papers had already been started, and after a brief and precarious existence had collapsed, and it looked as if the experiment of a German paper in Colorado were destined to meet with nothing but failure. Determined not be disheartened by the failure of others, he went to work with his usual energy, and on the 4th of May, 1872, the first number of the Colorado Journal appeared. The obstacles to be overcome were numerous, but against them all that little but spicy sheet fought its way into public favor. The great personal ability and indomitable perseverance of Mr. Witteborg, as a manager and solicitor, steadily added to its circulation, its revenue and its influence. A steam press was bought, and in 1878, the lot on Holladay street was purchased, and a one story building erected thereon. The following year this was enlarged, and to-day the two-story brick building of the Colorado Journal is an ornament to the city and a monument to the enterprise and success of the owner. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 635 |
| Witter, Daniel While Denver was still in her infancy, Daniel Witter was filled with a desire to try his fortunes in the Far West, whither he came in 1859. His youth and early manhood were passed in Indiana, where he was born in Franklin County in 1827. When he was still quite young, his parents moved to St. Joseph County. His business career was extensive and varied. He began as a school teacher, being connected with the Northern Indiana Teachers' Institute. Growing tired of this, he drifted into the book business, having a retail store at South Bend. He was married, in 1854, to Miss Clara V. Matthews, who was a half-sister of the Hon. Schuyler Colfax. Five years after this event, he bade adieu to wife, home and friends and started on his perilous journey across the Plains. His first venture, upon his arrival, was to purchase a piece of property in the Tarryall Mining District, South Park, where he engaged in mining for two years, with tolerable success. He had already become so popular in the Territory of his adoption that, when the first Legislature met in November, 1861, he was made a member of the House from his district, where he served two years. In 1862, he was appointed Postmaster at Hamilton, and shortly after was made United States Assessor of Internal Revenue, by President Lincoln, which office he held until it was abolished. About this time, he sent for his family, and made his home in Denver. He was admitted to the bar of Colorado in the year 1862, though he never practiced before the courts. Mr. Witter has been Receiver in the United States Land Office of Colorado, has been engaged in the real-estate and abstract business (making the first set of abstract books of the city and county), and has also engaged largely in cattle and sheep raising. He was the originator and Treasurer of the Denver Safe Deposit and Savings Bank, but his connection with this corporation ceased in 1877. He has been Vice President of the Denver Water Works Company since its organization, and is now engaged in superintending the construction of the new water works, which will have four times the capacity of the old works, the latter having fallen far short of the demands of the rapidly growing city. Mr. Witter is still in the enjoyment of vigorous manhood, and many years of usefulness lie before him. Always possessed of a refined and aesthetic taste, he spends his leisure hours in the cultivation of plants and flowers. His family of eight children are all living in the city of Denver. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 643-644 |
| Wolcott, Edward O. (Hon.) Prominent among the younger members of the Colorado bar, is Edward O. Wolcott. Born in Long Meadow, Mass., March 26, 1848, he is a son of Rev. Samuel Wolcott, of that place, and a brother of Hon. Henry R. Wolcott, of Denver. He received his education at Yale College, and the Harvard Law School. Coming to Colorado in 1871, he located at Georgetown, where he practiced law for several years. He was elected District Attorney in 1876, and i 1878 was chosen State Senator from Clear Creek County. He is still a member, and, during the last session of the Legislature, was active in the business of legislation, being regarded as one of the leading Republicans of that body. He was often called to the chair, and made a most excellent presiding officer. He is at present practicing law in Denver, where his professional and social standing is of the very best. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 647. |
| Wolcott, Henry R. (Hon.) Henry R. Wolcott, the acting manager of the Boston & Colorado Smelting Works, at Argo, near Denver, was born March 15, 1846, at Long Meadow, Mass., and is a son of Rev. Samuel Wolcott, a Congregational minister. He was educated in Providence, R. I., and Cleveland, Ohio, and, in 1869, came to Colorado, and for a time engaged in mining. In the spring of 1870, he became assistant manager of the Boston & Colorado Smetling Works, of which Hon. N. P. Hill is a manager, and since Prof. Hill's election to the United States Senate, has been acting manager of the works. He is gentleman of fine business and social qualities, eminently fitted for the responsible position which he occupies, as the practical head of the largest smelting establishment in America. Heary and genial in manner, he is universally and deservedly popular. He is at present a member of the State Senate, to which body he was elected from Gilpin County in 1878. He was an influential member during the session of 1878-79. Modest and retiring in disposition, his voice was not often heard in debate, but when he did speak his words and opinions carried great weight. Mr. Wolcott is a gentleman of irreproachable charcter and a high order of ability -- which have combined to render his carrer in Colorado one of honorable success. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 647 |
| Woodside, Andrew J. Mr. Woodside, one of Denver's enterprising business men, was born in the city of Buffalo, N. Y., June 25, 1848. His family removed to Davenport, Iowa, when he was four years of age. He received a common-school education and commenced his business life at the early age of eleven years by entering a dry-goods store in Davenport as a clerk. There are few gentlemen of whom it can be said more truthfully than of the subject of this sketch, that he was brought up to business from early childhood, and in his youth acquired the habits and education necessary to a successful business career. Four years later, at the age of fifteen, he enetered a boot and shoe house where he remained nine years. In the spring of 1864, he enlisted in the Forty-forth Iowa Infantry, and was discharged five months afterward. In the winter of 1870, he married Miss Mary Smith, of Davenport, and one year afterward removed to Denver, where hat once entered into business, opening a boot and shoe house in the spring of 1871. He started with a capital of $1,600, and carrying a stock of about $60,000 in 1879, a result that cannot but be most gratifying to Mr. Woodside, and toward which his early training and careful business habits no doubt largely contributed. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 645 |
| Woodward, Benjamin F. Benjamin F. Woodward, the pioneer telegrapher of Colordo, was born in Newark, Ohio, June 25, 1834. He received a common school education at Rochester, N. Y., where his father's family resided from his infancy until his thirteenth year. Thomas H. Woodward, his father, was a plow manufacturer and the inventor of several valuable improvements to the cast-iron plow of that period. The family removed to Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1847, and having friends connected with the first system of telegraph lines established in this country, he soon obtained a position with the Atlantic & Ohio Telegraph Company, afterward merged into the Western Union, and, in his eighteenth year, became manager of the Pittsburgh office of the latter Company. In the spring of 1856, or in his twenty-first year, he was offered a copartnership with William McCutcheon, Es., a wealthy wholesale grocer who had become greatly pleased with the excellent character and business qualifictions of the subject of our sketch, to engage in mercantile pursuits in the West. Although but a boy in years, he had already achieved an enviable reputation as a careful and bright business man, Mr. McCutcheon offered to furnish unlimited capital and credit, and give his young friend unrestricted control as to his choice of location and purchases. Mr. Woodward established himself in the promising city of Fulton, Ill., where he remained until 1862, marrying Helen S., daughter of Dr. William Bassett, in 1861. Failing health (asthma) obliged him to dispose of a prosperous business and seek a change of climate. An intimation to his old friend, Gen. Thomas T. Eckert, that he would like a position with the army somewhere in the South, brought a teleraphic summons to Washington, and he was appointed cipher operator at Gen. Peck's headuarters, Suffolk, Va. In the spring of 1863, he resigned his position in the army, with the intention of trying the climate of California, but being offered the charge of the Denver (Colo.) office of the Pacific Telegraph Company, who were about to construct a branch to this city from Julesburg, he was induced to test the climate of Colorado. Mr. Woodward took charge of the construction from Julesburg, west, and completed the line to Denver, opening the first telegraph office here October 10, 1863. The Pacific ZTelegraph zcompany was merged into the Western Union in 1865, Mr. Woodwrd continuing as manager. In the fall of 1867m Mr. Woodward organized the United States & Mexico Telegraph Company. Associated with him were Henry M. Porter, President; William N. Byers, Vice President; D. H. Moffat, Jr., Treasurer; and F. . Salomon, L. B. Maxwell, John Dodd and E. Spiegelberg, Trustees. Mr. Woodward was Secretary and Superintendent of the Company, and completed a line to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the spring of 1868, and the following autumn the Company extended their line from Denver to Cheyenne. In 1870, a controlling interest was purchased by the Western Union Company, and Mr. Woodward became the District Superintendent of the latter Comapny for Colorado and New Mexico, holding this position until the summer of 1875. Since that date, he has been connected with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company as superintendent of telegraph, and negotiated an important contract between that Company and the Western Union in 1876. Mr. Woodwrad was the founder of Riverside Cemetery and its first President. He has been associated prominently with most of the enterprises connected with the growth and development of this city, in which he takes great pride. The climate of Colorado has thoroughly removed all traces of his old enemy, the asthma. He is yet in the prime of life and business activity. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, pp. 638, 641 |
| Wormington, Henry The success which has attended the career of Henry Wormington is due to industry, economy and a practical knowledge of the business to which he has devoted the years of his youth and manhood. He was born in Worcestershire, England, in 1832, and brought up on a farm until his eighteenth year, when he commenced to learn the butcher trade at Kidderminster, the famous carpet-manufacturing town of Great Britain. Six years were passed as an apprentice and journeyman in the largest shop in London, when he came to the United States in 1855, and, after a brief employment in Fulton Market, New York, emirated to Iowa. By hard work, he managed to secure sufficient capital to go into business, and for several years, both in Cedar and Cass Counties, was very successful in his trade. Failing health compelled him to come to Colorado, in 1863, and from that early date to the present time he has been a permanent resident of Denver, conducting a lrge meat business in connection with cattle ranches and vegetable farms near the city, which he has acquired exclusively through his legitimate trade. In 1871, he was afflicted with a severe affection of the eyes, threatening a complete loss of his sight, and after skillful treatment at the hands of an oculist of this city, went to England, accompanied by his wifem to place himself in the hands of the celebrated Dr. Alexander, of London. He returned in a year radically cured. Mr. Wormington was married, in 1857, to Miss Anna Hopley, of Lewis, Cass Co. Iowa, and has a family of five children, the oldest of whom is associated with him in business. Mr. Wormington is a member of the Baptist Church, a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Order of I. O. O. F. He has amassed a considerable fortune, is the owner of valuable real estate in Denver and suburbs, and is conidered one of the leading meat merchants of Colorado. History of the City of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, c. 1880, p. 636 |