JOSEPH R. POWELL, vice-president and secretary of the Long's Peak Coal Company, and a prominent citizen of Erie, Weld County, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., December 14, 1845, a son of John J. and Eliza McG. (Risdon) Powell. He was one of six children, of whom, besides himself, two daughters survive, namely: Caroline, wife of H. L. Krigbaum, of Scranton, Pa.; and Mary A., Mrs. W. M. Darling, also of Scranton.
A native of Burlington, N. J., born March 17, 1813, John J. Powell served an apprenticeship to the brick-layer's trade in Philadelphia when he was a young man, and after his marriage, which took place in Mount Holly, N. J., he settled with his young wife in Brooklyn, N. Y. While there he erected the first gas works built in the city of New York. Afterward he erected gas works in every seaboard town from Maine to Georgia. At the breaking out of the war he embarked in business at White Sulphur Springs, Va., where he arched a number of tunnels. On his return to Scranton, Pa., to visit his relatives he was obliged to remain there, not being permitted to go south of the Mason and Dixon line; and his outfit, which he had left in Virginia, was confiscated. It was not long after this that he contracted rheumatism, which prevented him from re-engaging in active work. He lived retired until his death June 3, 1871. His father was a native of New Jersey and a successful contractor and builder.
When the subject of this sketch was about fifteen years of age his father lost all he had through confiscation. The son, obliged to begin in the world for himself, secured employment as a fireman on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. At twenty years of age he was running a passenger engine on the same road, being one of the youngest engineers on the system. February 14, 1866, he was united in marriage with Miss Alice Van Valkenburg, a native of Bradford County, Pa., and the daughter of Rev. R. J. Van Valkenburg. In 1868, with his wife, he came west, traveling by rail to Cheyenne, and thence going by stage to Blackhawk, where he secured work as an engineer. Previous to coming to this state he had gone to Omaha, where he was promised an engine, but after waiting for two weeks without securing work he returned to New York, and after consulting his wife they decided to come to Colorado.
For a time Mr. Powell continued engineering and mining on his own responsibility, but when the Colorado Central Railroad was built into Blackhawk in 1872, he made application for and was given a freight engine, which he ran for two weeks, and was then given a passenger engine. In 1873 he retired from railroading and began prospecting, which he continued until 1882. During the latter year he came to Erie and entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad and during the five years that followed he worked for the company at Erie, Rock Springs, Carbon and Como, where he held the position of chief engineer of the company's mines. At Erie he embarked in the hotel business in 1887, continuing in that business until the summer of 1891, when he commenced to prospect for coal. In partnership with William Nicholson, in June, 1892, he leased his present property and immediately began to sink the shaft of the Long's Peak Coal Company, which he has since operated with Mr. Nicholson, the latter being president, while he is vice-president and secretary. In December of the same year, when the United Coal Company bought an interest in the company, Edward P. Phelps was made treasurer. The company is now sinking another shaft about one mile south of Erie, which promises to develop some of the best coal in this region (sic).
Fraternally Mr. Powell is connected with Garfield Lodge No. 50, A. F. & A. M., of Erie, of which he is the present master. He is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which denomination in America his maternal ancestors were among the founders. His mother was a cousin of Dr. Adam Clark, author of Clark's Commentaries. Mr. and Mrs. Powell became the parents of four children, namely: Harry A., deceased; Alice M., wife of W. J. Breckel, who is engaged in the jewelery (sic) business at Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Emma R., wife of C. M. Morning a railroad man, now holding a position in the office of the superintendent of the Burlington & Missouri Railroad at McCook, Neb; and Richard T., deceased.
Source: http://www.memoriallibrary.com/CO/1898DenverPB/pages/pbrd0349.htm
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