KNOWLES BIOGRAPHIES
Joseph C. KNOWLES (1842 - 1920)
Descendant of Knowles
Progenitor:
Richard Knowles (1614 - 1675)
Massachusetts #01 (Barnstable Co.)
(based on: Portrait &
Biographical Record of Denver & Vicinity, printed in 1898)
(from the Mardos Collection at the Denver Memorial Library)
JOSEPH C. KNOWLES - While many men have come to Colorado with the hope that they might gain wealth from its hidden stores of gold and silver, an equal, or perhaps greater, number have come here, hoping that the dry, pure air and delightful climate might bring them the health and strength that are worth far more than all the metalliferous mines of El Dorado.
Among the latter class may be mentioned Mr.
Knowles, a well-known and successful citizen of Denver. Prior to coming
here he had been engaged in farming in Michigan, but his health became so poor
that during the last four years of his residence there he was unable to work an
entire day. With his wife, herself an invalid, and their two children, he
started west in the fall of 1878, scarcely knowing what his destination would
be. Traveling slowly, as their strength permitted, they reached Lewis, Iowa,
forty miles from Council Bluffs, in October, and as the weather was cold and
roads rough, they stopped there for a time. From the time he left Michigan
he began to grow stronger. In February, 1879, they resumed their westward
journey, but on reaching the Missouri could not secure transportation. The
river was frozen over and he risked crossing it on the ice, which was
accomplished successfully. Continuing the journey along the Platte, they passed
long, lonely stretches of land, where for a hundred miles not a house could be
seen. Added to the loneliness was the danger, for the Indians had been
exceedingly troublesome the previous year and white travelers were still in
great peril in crossing the plains. At one time the supply of hay gave out
and he was obliged to leave the family and ride horseback fifteen miles in order
to secure some feed.
March 23, 1879, he arrived in Denver, strengthened in body, and able to take up
business pursuits. He had with him the finest team ever seen in Denver at
that time, and also two unbroken colts, and ever since then he has always kept a
span of fine horses, his fondness for equine flesh being one of his noticeable
characteristics.
The Knowles family is of English and Welsh descent. The grandfather of our
subject was Seth Knowles, a native of Connecticut and a Revolutionary soldier,
who about 1812 settled in Livingston County, New York, and founded the town of Springwater, which he named on account of its numerous springs. His son,
Girard (aka Jared) Knowles, was born in Connecticut in 1800 and was one of twenty-one
children that attained mature years. From Livingston County he moved to Canadice, Ontario County, where he engaged in farming.
Girard died while on a
visit in Wisconsin in the 1860s. Twelve children were born of his marriage to Diana
Farwell, a native of New York and of Scotch descent.
One of the youngest of Girard and Diana's children and the only one to come
to Colorado was Joseph C., who was born in Springwater, New York, September 4,
1842, and was eight when the family removed to Canadice. The next year he went
to make his home with the family's nearest neighbor, Mr. Macomber, a shoemaker,
who taught him the trade and cared for him during the twelve years he was an
inmate of the house. In 1862 Joseph attempted to enlist in the army, but was
rejected on physician's examination. In 1863 he removed to Albion, Michigan, and
the next year bought a farm two miles east of Albion, where he engaged in
farming until his removal west.
On settling in Colorado, Mr. Knowles began freighting between Denver and
Leadville. Later he decided to engage in merchandising in Leadville, but the
altitude was too high and he was unable to remain. He then bought one hundred
and sixty acres nine miles from Denver, where Irondale now stands, and two years
later started a dairy; but after twelve months he sold out and located nearer
the city, buying a farm on which he engaged in the dairy business and general
agricultural pursuits. Since then he has dealt in farm and city property. About
1882 he disposed of his farm in Michigan; but he still owns ranches in different
parts of Colorado. In 1885 he bought land at $50 an acre, which he later sold at
$250, and also a tract at $55 which afterwards brought him $800 an acre. From
boyhood he was interested in fruits, and in Colorado he has been an experimenter
in orchards, having set out the first orchard in Platte Valley. He has set out
about twenty acres in orchards, and one of his orchards is considered the finest
in the state. Its trees are capable of bearing six to eight barrels of fruit and
have to be propped up in order that the weight of the fruit may not break the
branches. The fruit problem was an enigma at the time he came here and he spent
considerable money in experimenting, but has found that all fruits will grow
here except pears, which cannot be raised. In addition to his orchards, he has
on his ranch a fine residence and two artesian wells. In 1893 he bought the
Knowles building, 60x125, four stories in height, and adjoining the Gettysburg
Panorama, on Champa near Seventeenth street, one of the most desirable corners
in the city. He is also interested in mining. Politically he is a silver
Republican.
In Calhoun County, Michigan, Mr. Knowles married Miss Eliza A. Dart, who was born
in Barnstable, England. After the death of her parents, Burwick and Ann
Dart, which occurred when she was small, Eliza came with an uncle to America and grew to
womanhood in Michigan.
She is the mother of six children, the eldest of whom, Mrs. Clara Adell Leggett,
died in Colorado. The others are Mrs. Evora Mabel Bowen, of Denver; Chloe Anita,
Arthur Seward, Isabelle and Eva Viola.
