George B. Ross-Lewin, cashier of the First National Bank of Denver, was born in the city of Rochester, N. Y., March 28, 1857, and is of Irish parentage, but of Welsh descent. The first of the name in the United States was his grandfather, Francis Burton Ross-Lewin, who settled in Rochester and made that city his home until his death. The father, W. H. Ross-Lewin, was born in the north of Ireland and accompanied his parents to Rochester, where, on attaining manhood, he embarked in the mercantile business and continued a successful and extensive business luau until his retirement. In 1889 he removed to Chicago, where he has since made his home.
From an early age the subject of this sketch displayed an aptitude for commercial affairs. On the completion of the studies of the grammar school, at the age of sixteen he entered upon his active business career. His first situation was that of clerk in a Rochester bank, where he remained for a number of years, by his fidelity and ability winning merited promotion to the position of teller. He continued to make his home in Rochester until 1881, when he came west to Colorado, arriving in Denver June 19. His first position here was that of collection clerk in the First National Bank. May I, 1886, he was promoted to the position of assistant cashier, and in the discharge of the duties of that office was so conspicuously successful that in 1891 he was made cashier.
In addition to his connection with the bank, Mr. Ross-Lewin is treasurer of all the companies of which Mr. Moffat is the president, as well as a number of other concerns, among them being the Denver Consolidated Tramway Company, the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad Company, Victor Gold Mining Company, Metallic Extraction Company and the Anaconda Mining Company, the prosperity of all of which he has promoted by his sound judgment and acute intellectual powers. He is vice-president and one of the directors of the Bimetallic Bank of Cripple Creek, and is also vice-president of the Bank of Victor. He is a member of the Denver Club, and in political faith adheres to the policy of the Republican party. In Cincinnati, Ohio, he married Miss Elizabeth Closterman, whose father, Henry Closterman, was a manufacturer in that city. They have an only child, Elizabeth.
The state of Colorado owes much of her prosperity to a number of wide-awake business men representing various interests, and among these the bankers of Denver have done much to promote enterprise and give security to investors. It requires just the class of men that Mr. Ross-Lewin represents to conduct vast enterprises, which by their phenomenal success made Colorado famous among her sister states and attracted millions of eastern capital. It requires tact as well as business ability to successfully manage the affairs of one concern, and it is rare that one man has been equipped by nature to ably conduct a variety of enterprises to the satisfaction of all concerned.
Mr. Ross-Lewin owes much of his success to his early training and to those precepts given him by his parents, from whom he also inherits the energy of the Celt and the thrift and perseverance of the old Welsh ancestors, which, properly applied, lead to success.
Source: Portrait and biographical record of Denver and vicinity, Colorado : containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present : together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States.. Chicago: Chapman Pub. Co., 1898.