Denver, History of Colorado, BIOS: KILPATRICK, James G. (published 1918) *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00015.html#0003643 September 30, 1999 *********************************************************************** "History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. (1918) Vol. II p. 264, 266 photo, signature p. 265 JAMES G. KILPATRICK. The material development, the moral progress and the civic affairs of Denver, all profited by the efforts of James G. Kilpatrick, who for many years was a leading business man and honored citizen of Denver. A native of Ireland, he was born in County Armagh, May 2, 184S, a son of James and Sarah (Gass) Kilpatrick. His ancestors for generations lived in Ireland and in his native country James G. Kilpatrick acquired a good common school education. He was a youth of eighteen years when he came to the United States in 1866. In May of that year he became a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, and secured the position of bookkeeper in a notion house, becoming an employe of his uncle, James Gass, and there he remained for two and a half years. In. 1869 he purchased land near Pleasant Hill, Missouri, and turned his attention to farming, but a little later he sold the property and removed to Baxter Springs, Kansas, where he entered commercial circles, and found a more congenial field to which he was evidently more adapted. He was employed as clerk and bookkeeper for about a year at Baxter Springs and then entered into relationship with Guren & Hunter and soon bought an interest in the firm. engaged in dealing in dry goods and general merchandise. A year later the firm of Hunter & Kilpatrick succeeded to the business, the junior partner remaining in the firm for about a year. They then sold their interests and in July, 1872, Mr. Kilpatrick removed to Denver. Throughout the period of his residence in this city he remained one of its representative merchants and business men. His original position was that of clerk in a dry goods store, but gradually he worked his way upward. After a short time he became bookkeeper for the firm of Smith & Doll, furniture dealers, with whom he remained for a year and a halt. In 1874 he entered into partnership with Robert Brown, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and established a furniture store conducted under the firm style of Kilpatrick & Brown. This relationship was maintained until 1884, when Mr. Kilpatrick became sole proprietor of what was the first large retail and wholesale store in the state. A man of executive force, administrative ability, unfaltering enterprise and unwearied industry, he built up the business to extensive proportions until the wholesale trade covered a wide territory. The house remains today one of the foremost commercial enterprises of the city. The business was continued under the style of Kilpatrick & Brown until the death of Mr. Kilpatrick, when the James G. Kilpatrick Furniture Company was organized, with Mrs. Annie L. Kilpatrick, the widow, as president and Julian T. Clarke, her brother, as vice president and general manager. A further change in organization has led to the adoption of the firm style of the Kilpatrick-Spengel Furniture Company, which exists today. This is the oldest furniture house continuously in business in Denver and has ever maintained a place in the front ranks of the commercial interests of the city. An extensive stock of medium-priced and high grade furniture is carried, displaying the output of leading manufacturers of the country. The substantial business methods established by Mr. Kilpatrick have ever been maintained and the house has ever borne the unsullied reputation which became associated with it under his guidance. In Denver, on the 28th of July, 1873, Mr. Kilpatrick married Annie Laurie Clarke, of East Haddam, Connecticut, a daughter of Jonathan Tillotson and Emma (Webb) Clarke, of East Haddam, and a descendant in the maternal line of the Willard family, the ancestry being traced back through eight generations to Colonel Simon Willard, one of the founders of Concord, Massachusetts. James G. Kilpatrick passed away in the city of Denver October 17, 1895, at the age of forty-seven years. A contemporary biographer has said: "Mr. Kilpatrick is remembered as a merchant of great enterprise, a progressive and public-spirited citizen, contributing in large measure to the advancement and prosperity of the city, and as an exemplary man in business and in all relations of life." At the time of his demise he was president of the Denver Athletic Club and was a devout member and active worker in the Central Presbyterian church, in which he served as a trustee. He was a member of the building committee of both the club and the church and supervised the erection of both buildings. By reason of the integrity of his business methods he left an untarnished name as well as a most substantial fortune. He exerted a marked influence for good and his example is one well worthy of emulation. Mrs. Kilpatrick survives her husband and resides in a beautiful home at No. 1541 Logan street, in Denver. She has given evidence of her ability in business and enjoys great popularity in Denver's social circles, and through a residence in Denver of forty- five years has ever been classed with those women who have done much tor the upbuilding of the state and the upholding of its social and moral status.