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John Wauler Mahan
John Wauler Mahan, secretary-treasurer of the Mahan Jewelry
Company of
Colorado Springs, was born in Paoli, Indiana, in 1867 and comes
of Scotch-Irish
ancestry. His father. Samuel Mahan, was also a native of Paoli,
Indiana, born in
the year 1826, and in the place of his nativity he was married
to Miss Sarah
Dougherty, a native of that place. She died in the year 1901 and
is still
survived by her husband, who yet resides near his native town.
John Wauler Mahan was reared in the vicinity of Paoli, Indiana,
upon the old
home farm, and attended the country schools. Between the ages of
sixteen and
twenty-one years, he took up the profession of teaching, which
he followed in
the rural schools, but on attaining his majority he turned his
attention to
commercial pursuits by learning the watchmaker's trade in Paoli
and since 1889
he has been continuously engaged in the jewelry business. He
arrived in Colorado
in 1895, at which time he took up his abode in Boulder, and a
year later he
removed to Leadville, where he opened a store, continuing there
until 1902. In
the latter year he became a resident of Pueblo, where he worked
at his trade for
two years, and in 1904 he removed to Albuquerque. New Mexico,
where he was
employed at the jewelry trade for one year. On the expiration of
that period he
became a resident of Ouray, Colorado, where he lived for a year,
and in 1906 he
made his way to Colorado Springs, where he worked for the
Johnson Jewelry
Company until 1914. He then bought an equity in the business and
the firm name
was changed to the Mahan Jewelry Company, with Mr. Mahan as
secretary, treasurer
and manager. He is now active in control of the house and the
business is one of
gratifying and extensive proportions. He is thoroughly familiar
with every phase
of the business and of the work connected therewith and is well
qualified to
assume executive control over the undertaking. He is likewise
secretary and
treasurer of the Elliott-Johnson Investment Company of Colorado.
On the 25th of February, 1889, at Paoli, Indiana, Mr. Mahan was
united in
marriage to Miss Ella Hollingsworth and to them have been born
four children.
Dwight Hollings-worth was born in 1891 and was an instructor in
military service
at Austin, Texas; he was commissioned second lieutenant, having
in eleven months
risen from the rank of private and is in the aviation branch of
the service. The
others are: Judith, born in Brandenberg, Kentucky, in 1893;
Frank W., who was
born in Leadville, Colorado, in 1901; and James Samuel, born in
Pueblo, Colorado
in 1904.
Mr. Mahan's military service covers connection with the Reserve
Watch of
Colorado. He affiliates with' the Presbyterian church and he
gives his political
allegiance to the republican party. He belongs to the Chamber of
Commerce and is
interested in all of its projects for the general good. His has
been an active
and useful life marked by steady progress, bringing him to a
prominent position
in commercial circles of Colorado Springs.
Source: Stone, Wilbur Fiske,
History of Colorado, volume III. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke
Publishing Company, 1918.
Contributed by Joy Fisher (Dec08)
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