Mesa County CO Archives Biographies.....Smith, George 
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Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net March 23, 2006, 1:08 pm

Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado

     An Englishman by birth, and passing his life from the age of ten to that of

twenty-one in the coal mines of that country, George Smith, of Grand Junction,

brought to the land of his adoption the knowledge and skill acquired in that

experience, and has put it to good service in developing the coal mining

interests of the section in which he has cast his lot, being among the pioneers

of that industry here and one of its most intelligent and successful promoters.

 He was born in Yorkshire England, on January 25, 1858, the son of James and

Ellen (Coffin) Smith, natives of Derbyshire in his native land, although they

now live in Lancashire, where the father is engaged in mining coal.  Mr. Smith’s

opportunities for schooling were limited, as he was obliged to go to work in the

mines at the age of ten and pass the rest of his minority at hard work.  He

remained at home until he was twenty years old, and in January, 1880, came to

the Untied States, reaching Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, with a capital of two

dollars.  He at once went to work in the coal mines on the Monongahela river,

and in December of the same year returned to England and was married.  In April,

1881, he brought his wife to this country, which he had determined to make his

home, and came direct to Colorado.  He found employment in the mines at

Louisville and Erie until February, 1883, then took up his residence at Grand

Junction, at that time a village of about five hundred inhabitants, which he has

seen grow to a city of ten times that number.  For a while he was employed by

the railroad company, and in the winter of 1883-4 opened the Brook Cliff, the

first coal mine opened in Mesa county.  In 1888 he sold this to the little Brook

Cliff Railroad Company, which constructed a railroad to it and began a more

extensive development of its resources.  While he owned the mine he supplied the

Grand Junction coal markets, hauling his product in wagons a distance of twelve

miles, which he found a profitable business although very laborious.  When the

broad gauge railroad was built to Grand Junction he opened the Mt. Lincoln coal

mines at Palisades, and after operating them successfully for a number of years,

sold them to a Denver firm in 1893.  He then started an enterprise in coal and

real estate business in which he has been very successful.  In 1892 he began the

construction of what is now known as the High-Line Irrigation Ditch, in

partnership with Alexander Strouthers and C.W. Baldwin, for the purpose of

watering the high lands.  They built twenty-four miles of the ditch, and in the

enterprise Mr. Smith lost all he had accumulated.  At present the construction

is being enlarged and carried forward under the state irrigation laws.  In the

fall of 1899 he opened the Cameo coal mine for a corporation he had formed known

as the Grand Junction Mining and Fuel Company, of which he is one of the owners

and the manager.  The fall before he was elected and he was made chairman of the

committee on corporations and railroads.  He was the author of a law authorizing

the merging of all branch railroad lines under one corporate name, and under its

provisions the re-organization of the Colorado Southern was made possible, and

the people secured the benefits which have flowed therefrom.  He has also served

one term as under sheriff of Mesa county, and two terms as secretary of the

board of inspectors of the state coal mines.  In connection with the commercial

interests of the city he is a member of Chamber of Commerce and one of its

directors; and in politics is chairman of the Republican city committee.  He was

married in 1881 to Miss Jennie Sutton, who died in 1888, leaving no children. 

On June 28, 1899, he married a second wife, Miss Edith A. Bylis.  They have two

daughters, Vivian and Edith.  In fraternal relations he belongs to the Modern

Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias.  Mr. Smith is an enterprising,

progressive and broad-minded citizen, deeply interested in the welfare of his

city, county and state, and always willing to bear his full share of the burdens

of promoting them. 

Additional Comments:
From Progressive Men of Western Colorado.  Chicago:  A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905

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