Denver County, History of Colorado, BIOS: GAYLORD, Paul B. (published 1918)
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"History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. 
Clarke Publishing Co. (1918)  Vol. II

p. 144, 146-147
photo p. 145



PAUL B. GAYLORD.

	Paul B. Gaylord, of Denver, needs no introduction to the people 
of Colorado nor indeed to the people of the entire United States, for 
his name is known in insurance circles from coast to coast. Much has 
been written of him and more has been said and the story is always an 
inspiring one, for it is the story of achievement in the face of 
difficulties such as confront few men. for at times these difficulties 
have loomed large. An analyzation of his career shows that he has never 
allowed worry or discouragement to become a factor in his life, robbing 
him of that energy which should go into the accomplishment of a purpose 
and not into regret over existing circumstances. Where the path of 
opportunity has seemed closed he has marked out others and has 
ultimately reached his desired goal. He was born in Independence, Iowa, 
June 14. 1858. Whether the name of the town had anything to do with his 
career is impossible to determine, but the spirit of independence has 
always been his. His parents were Edward H. and Sarah (Rich) Gaylord. 
The father was born in Ohio and in the early '40s went to Iowa, 
traveling across the country and settling near Independence. He was 
employed in various ways, being at times, farmer, contractor, stockman 
and circus proprietor. In 1859 he came to Denver but returned eastward 
and located at Junction City, Kansas, where he engaged in stock raising 
for a number of years. In 1875, however, he again made his way to 
Denver and took charge of the Wall Purcell stage-coach lines, 
continuing to act in that capacity until his death, which occurred in 
1887. During the period of the Civil war, however, he put aside all 
personal interests and considerations, for his duty to his country he 
felt was the dominant thing at the time, and he enlisted in the Sixth 
Iowa Cavalry, becoming captain of one of its companies. Later he was 
detailed to buy horses for the army and he continued in that service 
with the commission of captain until the close of the war. His wife 
removed to Iowa in her girlhood and they were married in that state. 
She, too, passed away in Denver about 1887. Their family numbered six 
sons and daughters: Fred, who is now a prominent merchant of Junction 
City, Kansas; Hal, who is proprietor of the Kansas City Journal; Anna, 
living in Denver; Mrs. Sedgewick Rice, whose husband is a colonel in 
the United States army; Mrs. Harry K. Brown, of Denver; and Paul B.

	The last named was the second in order of birth. After attending 
the public schools of Junction City, Kansas, he became a postal clerk 
on the run between Kansas City and Denver. At the age of nineteen he 
took up his abode in Denver and became a collector on the Denver 
Tribune, but the paper soon passed out of existence and he sought 
employment elsewhere, becoming connected with the firm of Porter, 
Raymond & Company, engaged in the real estate and insurance business. 
Here he found a congenial field and one that in the course of years has 
also proven profitable. He set to work to thoroughly master every phase 
of the business, acquainted himself with insurance in principle and 
detail and eventually bought out his employers. T. C. Henry said of 
him: "I have known Paul Gaylord from his veriest boyhood. Twenty-five 
years ago he was on the Denver Tribune when I owned it. His steady 
advancement and splendid success are based, I know, upon his personal 
worth. He possesses that rare quality difficult to define-character." 
This character soon made for him a place in insurance circles and when 
the Continental Trust Company of Denver decided to establish an 
insurance department one of the officials inquired the way to do this. 
Another answered: "The best way is to see Paul Gaylord"; but another 
immediately added: "No, the best way is to get Paul Gaylord." and this 
suggestion was at once acted upon. He established the insurance 
business of the Continental Trust Company, was made vice president and 
a director and in the course of time developed an insurance business 
for the company of which not only the corporation but Denver was proud. 
He continued in charge of the insurance and real estate interests of 
the bank until it was merged into the Interstate Bank, when Mr. Gaylord 
again took up the insurance business independently and now has the 
finest insurance offices and best business of this kind in the entire 
west. The secret of his success is not hard to find. The thoroughness 
with which he under takes everything insures complete mastery of the 
situation and the overthrow of any difficulty or obstacle in his path. 
He has not only built up a business of mammoth proportions, but he has 
done much to advance the interests of insurance men throughout the 
entire country. He has been very active in a work that has recently 
reached its culmination in the adoption of a uniform blank in insurance 
circles. It was said that about ten years ago when he needed office 
held he faced the task of filling out many varieties of accounts 
current, and he felt that there should be some relief from such a 
condition. There were not only many forms of accounts current, but the 
daily reports and endorsement blanks were no better and Mr. Gaylord 
turned to the National Association of Insurance Agents for cooperation 
and brought the matter to the attention of the convention, which 
appointed a committee to consider the problem and work out a solution 
therefor, Mr. Gaylord being made a member of this committee, which made 
its first report at St. Paul in 1908. The first work of the committee 
had to do with the policy form. Samples of the form were submitted that 
would fit in the ordinary typewriter and could be manifolded with the 
daily report and the agent's record. The committee also submitted a 
form of accounts current, both for graded and flat commission agencies, 
and a standard form of endorsement blank. The typewriter policy 
attracted immediate attention and companies began to adopt it in states 
where it was legal. The matter of blanks was referred to the joint 
conference committee, comprised of company managers and a committee of 
agents appointed by the National Association. In an article in the 
Insurance Report there was a tribute to Mr. Gaylord for his efforts in 
this way, in which it said: "The culmination of years of effort to 
secure a uniform accounts current is reached in the approval by the 
national board of the form advocated by the National Association of 
Agents, to go into effect next January. It is interesting to know that 
the effort to adopt uniform forms originated with a Denver local agent, 
Paul Gaylord. Mr. Gaylord devoted many years of patient and energetic 
work to educate both the agents and the companies on the value of the 
plan." In a further tribute to Mr. Gaylord for his efforts in this 
connection the American Agency Bulletin said: "The forms adopted by the 
national board are different from those originally approved, but the 
companies are required not only to meet their own needs, and those of 
the agents, but of the insurance departments as well. and the new blank 
has been drafted with these various needs in view. The main object-
uniformity in all agencies and for all companies-has been obtained by 
concerted efforts through the agents' organization. Few agents perhaps 
realize how much time has been given and how much money has been 
expended in this effort, nor can they realize how necessary it has been 
to constantly agitate the matter in order to secure the results, which, 
now that they have accrued, are recognized as of great value, both to 
the companies and to the agents."

	On the 30th of October. 1889, Mr. Gaylord was married to Miss 
Kate Seymour, of Denver, a daughter of Colonel J. F. Seymour and a 
niece of Senator Jerome B. Chaffee, both prominent in Denver. Mr. and 
Mrs. Gaylord have become parents of two children. Paul Lindley Gaylord, 
who was born in Denver in 1891. was graduated from the high school at 
Denver and from St. Matthew's Military Academy of Burlingame, 
California, and is now a lieutenant in the United States army. Ellen 
Seymour, born in Denver, July 4, 1893, is a graduate of the Corona 
school and the Dwight School for Girls, in New Jersey, and is the wife 
of George K. Thomas, of Denver, by whom she has one child. Katherine 
Edith, who was born in Denver.

	In his political views Mr. Gaylord is a republican and 
fraternally he is connected with the Masons, the Woodmen of the World, 
the Sons of Veterans and other organizations. He is also identified 
with the Sons of the American Revolution and with the Pioneers' Society 
of Denver and the Denver Club. He has often been spoken of as the best 
loved man in Denver and the following lines were written to 
characterize him:

"When you think you're feelin' glum, 
Smile!
When the world seems on the bum, 
Smile!
Trouble?-ain't no such a thing
For the feller who kin sing.
Let's make Happiness our king-
Smile!"

	It has been his spirit of good nature that has brought Mr. 
Gaylord the high regard. the friendship and love of many with whom he 
has come in contact. He has been termed a prominent, popular and 
philanthropic citizen of Colorado and Denver has perpetuated his name 
in a prominent thoroughfare. Gaylord boulevard. It was through his 
efforts that Denver was given Cheesman Park, which originally was 
called Congress Park, so named by Mr. Gaylord and later became Cheesman 
Park, and many tangible evidences of his public spirit and devotion to 
the welfare of his adopted city may be cited. Mr. Gaylord has recently 
turned his attention to the oil fields and is president of the 
Interstate Exploration & Oil Company. Some there are who think of Paul 
Gaylord as a rich man. It is true that he has accumulated a substantial 
amount of this world's goods, but he is richer still in his 
friendships, richer still in his honor and his good name. It is much to 
be called "The man with the smile." for in this is told the story of a 
predominant characteristic that may well cause others to pause and 
consider whether the worry or the smile is most worth while.