1905 Bio, Kilduff, Thomas; Rio Blanco County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/rioblanco/bios/kilduft.txt --------------------------------------- Donated April 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Thomas Kilduff A bachelor, yet earnestly interested in the welfare of his county and state, and always willing to contribute his share of effort and material aid to their advancement, Thomas Kilduff, of near Meeker, Rio Blanco county, Colorado, has been a potential force in the progress and development of the commonwealth and enjoys in a marked degree the respect and confidence of its people among whom he is known. He has been a resident of the state nearly thirty years, and during the whole of that time has been employed in adding to its commercial and industrial wealth and promoting the comfort and welfare of its citizens. He was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1855, and remained with his parents until he reached the age of eighteen, having the usual experience of country boys in his locality, slender school opportunities at the district schools and plenty of hard work on the farm. In 1875, at the age of twenty, he came to Colorado, and locating at Alma, formed a partnership with his brother in conducting a hotel at that place. This lasted until July, 1877, and was a profitable enterprise. At the time mentioned the partnership was dissolved and he moved to Fairplay and again engaged in the hotel business, but sold out at a profit at the end of a year. He then moved to Kokomo, where he devoted a year and a half to retail merchandising with good success. In the summer of 1880 he transferred his business to Leadville, and there he conducted it for another period of a year and a half on a profitable basis. In 1882 he changed his base of operations to Aspen, but carried on the same business, continuing it at that point until 1885. Tiring then of mercantile life, he took up a pre-emption claim in the vicinity of Meeker, and he still owns and operates the ranch of one hundred and sixty acres which it included. He has since, however, become a partner of the Baer Brothers, and works with them as manager of the properties belonging to the firm, which comprise three thousand five hundred acres, of which two thousand can be cultivated. Cattle are raised by this firm on a scale of great magnitude and enormous crops of hay and grain are produced. In 1903 the yield of hay was one thousand eight hundred tons from five hundred acres of land. The properties have good water supplies, the soil is fertile and productive and the tillage is first class in every particular. Under the management of Mr. Kilduff the results have increased in magnitude and improved in quality, and the enterprise of the firm is now one of the most imposing and profitable on the Western slope of the state. Mr. Kilduff is an earnest working Odd Fellow, and in politics a faithful supporter of the principles and candidates for the Democratic party, not now and then, but every day in the year and by every proper means. He is considered a typical and representative stock man of Rio Blanco county, and has the universal respect and good will of all classes of its citizens. His parents were Patrick and Ella (Laughlin) Kilduff, natives of Ireland who emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1867, on February 16th, and the mother in 1892, on February 12th. Five of their seven children survive them: Susan, wife of Eugene Crawley, of Bradford, Pennsylvania; Mary, wife of Fred Schultz, of Buffalo; Edward, living at Alma, this state; Thomas, and Ella, wife of William Sill, of Bradford county, Pennsylvania. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project 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.