Portrait and biographical record of Denver and vicinity

Biography of Prof. Warren Ezra Knapp of Denver

Portrait and biographical record of Denver and vicinity, Colorado

Warren Ezra Knapp, educator and superintendent of public instruction for Arapahoe County, Colorado, was born in Westmoreland, Oneida County, New York, on 22 January 1850, the eldest child of Jairus S. Knapp and Harriet A. (Kellogg) Knapp. His paternal ancestry descends from Oliver Pickett Knapp of Connecticut, through Ezra Abbott Knapp of Oneida County, and traces further back to Saxony and Scotland. His paternal grandmother, Sophronia (Waters) Knapp, was a daughter of Elijah Waters of Connecticut. His maternal line descends from Deacon Warren Kellogg of Hartford, Connecticut, and further from Abraham Kellogg, with direct descent from a passenger of the Mayflower. Professor Knapp’s siblings included Leonard Kellogg, Harriet Antoinette (wife of Newell DeRoy Lee), Edwin Abbott, Helen Maria, and Alice Emeline. In 1876 he married Sarah F. Cochrane of Ithaca, New York, daughter of Robert and Eliza J. Cochrane. Of their five children only Evelyn survived to adulthood.

Biography of J. Sidney Brown of Denver

J. Sidney Brown

J. Sidney Brown, merchant of Denver and president of the J. S. Brown & Bro. Mercantile Company, was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, on 10 June 1833, the son of Reuben Brown and Betsey Horton (Hill) Brown. His paternal ancestry traces to Henry Brown, who settled at Salisbury, Massachusetts, about 1639, and through Moses Brown, a Revolutionary soldier born in New Hampshire in 1750, and Reuben Brown, born in Vermont in 1797, who later removed to Ohio. His maternal ancestry descends from Gen. Robert Sedgwick, early colonist of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and a major general under Cromwell, as well as from the Hill and Bushnell families of Vermont and Ohio. Reuben Brown’s wife, Betsey Hill, was connected to Gen. Charles W. Hill of Ohio, Rev. Horace Bushnell of Connecticut, and Judge James Campbell of Michigan. J. Sidney was one of five children, with siblings Junius F., Adelia, Hannah, and Charles H. He married first Irene Sopris of Indiana, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Allen) Sopris, with whom he had five children; and second Adele Overton, daughter of John and Lucina (Otto) Overton, with whom he had another family. Through his wives, his descendants also trace to the Sopris, Teller, Otto, and DuBois families, each with Revolutionary or early colonial lineage.

Biography of Ralph Talbot of Denver

Portrait and biographical record of Denver and vicinity, Colorado

Ralph Talbot, attorney of Denver and president of the city’s fire and police board, was born in Fayette, Howard County, Missouri, on 17 August 1850, the son of Dr. John A. Talbot and Alice (Daly) Talbot. His paternal line traced to John Talbot of Talbot County, Maryland, a region named for the family, while his maternal grandfather, Laurence Daly, was an Irish immigrant who settled in Kentucky before moving to Missouri as a teacher. Dr. Talbot, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, practiced medicine in Fayette until his death in 1858; his wife died in 1871. Of their nine children, eight survived to adulthood, with Ralph the fourth son. In 1881 Ralph settled in Denver, Colorado, where he built his legal career. He married Fannie (Jewell) Hardin of Missouri, daughter of Dr. Thomas J. Hardin and ward of her uncle, Governor Charles H. Hardin. They were parents of five children: Alice, Ralph Jr., Charles Hardin, Robert, and Laurence Daly.

Biography of Albert W. McIntire of Denver

Portrait and biographical record of Denver and vicinity, Colorado

Albert W. McIntire, governor of Colorado from 1895 to 1897, descended from a family with deep roots in American history. His earliest known ancestor in this country was a Jacobite immigrant from Ayrshire, Scotland, who settled in Delaware. From him came John McIntire, a Delaware native whose business was destroyed by the War of 1812, and Thomas McIntire, a farmer and officer in that war who later moved to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Thomas’s son, J. P. McIntire, built a successful career in Pittsburgh in the cooperage and coal shipping trade, while Governor McIntire’s maternal line traced to James and Mary (Thompson) Wills of Belfast, Ireland, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1790. Born in Pittsburgh in 1853, Albert McIntire pursued education at Yale, established a legal and judicial career in Colorado, and rose to the governorship, where he served during a period marked by labor unrest and legislative reform.

Biography of Hon. James Benton Grant of Denver Colorado

Portrait and biographical record of Denver and vicinity, Colorado

Hon. James Benton Grant, the third governor of Colorado and the state’s first Democrat elected to that office, was a prominent figure in both public life and business. Born in Alabama in 1848, he pursued higher education in the United States and Germany, specializing in mining and metallurgy before settling in Colorado in 1877. His career combined political service, including his 1883–1885 governorship and leadership roles within the Democratic Party, with business leadership, most notably as vice-president of the Omaha and Grant Smelting and Refining Company and as a founder of the Denver National Bank. Grant also contributed significantly to education, serving on Denver’s board of education for many years, and maintained active involvement in civic and patriotic organizations.

Biography of Hon. Job Adams Cooper of Denver Colorado

Hon. Job Adams Cooper of Denver Colorado

Hon. Job Adams Cooper, governor of Colorado, 1889-91, was born near Greenville, Bond County, Ill., and is a son of Charles and Maria (Hadley) Cooper. In Galesburg, Illinois, September 17, 1867, Mr. Cooper married Miss Jane O. Barnes, daughter of Rev. Romulus E. Barnes, one of the early Congregational home missionaries of Illinois.

Biography of Hon. John Long Routt of Denver Colorado

Governor John Long Routt, 1876

Life for John Long Routt began in Caldwell County, Kentucky, April 25, 1826. Early orphaned by his father’s death, the boy was taken to Illinois by his mother and attended the public schools there. In 1862 he raised Company E, of the Ninety-fourth Illinois Infantry, which was mustered in at Bloomington with himself as captain. He married Martha Haggard, who was born in Clark County, Kentucky, of Welsh descent. He became the last territorial and the first state governor of Colorado, also governor in 1891-93.

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