Morgan-Pueblo County CO Archives Biographies.....Jewel, James E. 1847 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 December 27, 2008, 7:18 am Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1919) JAMES E. JEWEL. There are many points of interest in the life record of James E. Jewel, a well known attorney at law of Fort Morgan, a prominent breeder of registered Holstein cattle in Morgan county, a veteran of the Civil war whose loyalty to his country was not only manifest on southern battlefields but has also been evidenced in his attitude toward public questions throughout his life. Ohio claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Montgomery county on the 19th of October, 1847, his parents being Aaron W. and Susanna (Peck) Jewel, who were natives of Miami and of Montgomery county, Ohio, respectively. The father was of Welsh lineage, while the mother was of German descent. Aaron W. Jewel was a carpenter by trade and followed that pursuit until he reached the age of thirty-five years, when he turned his attention to farming and also took up the practice of law in Iowa. He removed to that state in 1854, settling at Brandon, in Buchanan county. It was after his removal to the west that he studied law. He also entered land there and developed and improved a farm, devoting his remaining days to its further cultivation. In his law practice his clientage connected him with most of the important cases that came up in the southern part of the county. He died upon the old homestead in March, 1886, and is survived by his widow, who now resides at Vinton, Iowa, at the notable old age of ninety-three years. In the family were nine children, eight of whom are living. James E. Jewel was reared and educated in Buchanan county, Iowa. His early school privileges were very limited, being confined to about six months' attendance at a district school. After he had attained his majority, however, he continued his studies, working his way through an academy and through Western College, while still later he attended Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa. He took up the study of law in the State University at Iowa City and was graduated there with the class of 1877. Locating for practice at Independence, Iowa, he followed his profession at that place from 1877 until 1900, when he removed to Chicago, where he continued until September, 1901. At that date he became a resident of Fort Morgan, Colorado, where he engaged in farming and in stock raising and also in the buying of wool and sheep. He purchased eight hundred acres of land under the Morgan ditch and at that time was the largest landowner under the ditch and the largest owner of water rights. With characteristic energy he began the development and improvement of his ranch property and his labors soon wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the place. In 1908 he opened a law office and has since actively and successfully followed his profession. He has ever prepared his cases with great thoroughness and care and has displayed marked ability in presenting his cause to the courts. In 1910 he sold his land under the Morgan ditch, which he had purchased at from twenty to twenty-five dollars per acre, for one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre. In 1913 he bought one hundred and sixty acres under the Bijou ditch and has improved it at a cost of ten thousand dollars. It is now stocked with pure bred Holstein cattle and Berkshire hogs and is the best improved farm in northeastern Colorado, lacking in none of the accessories and conveniences found upon the model farms of the twentieth century. He also makes a business of feeding cattle during the winter months. In 1908 he lost twenty thousand dollars in feeding sheep, but undeterred by this he has continued his efforts and his success has placed him among the foremost stock raisers of his section of the state. His property interests also include a fine modern residence at No. 123 East Platte avenue, in Fort Morgan, which he erected at a cost of ten thousand dollars. On the 5th of March, 1871, Mr. Jewel was married to Miss Mahala Roszell, a daughter of Hiram and Mary (Dole) Roszell, who were natives of Kentucky. The father was of French ancestry and devoted his life to farming. In early manhood he removed to Indiana and in 1848 went to Benton county, Iowa, where he carried on farming throughout his remaining days, his death occuring in 1883, while his wife passed away in 1880. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Jewel were four children. Fred B., born June 25, 1872, was engaged in the hotel business in Missouri and in the fall of 1918 expected to take charge of and operate his father's farm, but on his way from Missouri by automobile he and his wife were stricken with the influenza, and died at Marshall, Missouri. Jed Lake, born August 26, 1875, is engaged in the laundry and newspaper business in Chicago and is said to have the finest laundry in the United States. Ray W., born January 3, 1883, is engaged in the wholesale oil and gas business at Pueblo, Colorado. Helen M., born March 11, 1891, is at home. Mr. Jewel has a most interesting military record, for on the 27th of October, 1864, when he was a youth of but seventeen years, he enlisted at Dubuque, Iowa, as a member of Company C, Twenty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which command he was engaged in active duty until transferred to Company C of the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, which regiment had reenlisted. He then served until the close of the war and was. mustered out with a most creditable military record on the 18th of December, 1865, at Mobile, Alabama. He was engaged in the two days' fight at Nashville, Tennessee, under General Thomas, was also in the siege of Mobile and took part in the siege and capture of Spanish Fort and of Fort Blakely, the latter being captured after General Lee's surrender. Mr. Jewel is a stockholder and the president of the board of directors of the Farmers Union Cooperative Creamery Company of Fort Morgan and is a stockholder in the Farmers Union Elevator & Mercantile Company. He likewise belongs to the Farmers Union and fraternally is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Grand Army of the Republic. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is allied with the more progressive wing of the organization. He has voted for every republican since President Grant was a candidate for office in 1868. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church and he has been identified therewith since reaching the age of nineteen, or for fifty-one years. He is supporting a student in a preparatory school in China. Throughout his entire life his aid has ever been given on the side of progress and improvement and his persistent purpose has enabled him to accomplish excellent results not only for the advancement of his individual interests but for the benefit of the public fortune and welfare. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, esteem him as a man of genuine worth. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF COLORADO ILLUSTRATED VOLUME IV CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1919 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/morgan/photos/bios/jewel121nbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/morgan/bios/jewel121nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cofiles/ File size: 7.6 Kb