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Charles Tarbell
Charles Tarbell is the vice president of the Saguache County
Bank and is
thus actively and prominently identified with the financial
interests of
Saguache, Colorado, where his activities constitute a feature in
business
development and progress. He was born in Keokuk, Iowa, and is a
son of Edward
and Rebecca Wells (Lyons) Tarbell. At an early age he moved with
his parents to
Des Moines. In the paternal line he traces his ancestry back to
Thomas Tarbell,
who came from Scotland in 1647 and settled at Watertown,
Massachusetts. He is
also a descendant in the eighth generation of Rebecca Nurse, who
was one of the
martyrs of that black chapter in American history known as the
Salem witchcraft.
He is also a great-great-grandson of William Tarbell, who was
called out as one
of the minutemen by Paul Revere on the 18th of April, 1775, as
he rode from
house to house arousing the Americans with the news that the
British were
marching, preparatory to opening the first engagement that
plunged the country
into the Revolutionary war.
Edward Tarbell, the father, was born in Camden, Maine, removed
westward to
Iowa and came to Colorado in 1872, making his way to Denver.
Soon afterward he
became identified with business interests of Golden as a
contractor and
continued a resident of this state until his death, which
occurred in 1901. He
had served his country as a soldier of the Civil war. having
been a
non-commissioned officer with an Iowa regiment. His wife died in
1885. They had
a family of eight children, of whom Charles Tarbell is the
eldest. His living
brothers and sisters are: Edward F., living in Aspen, Colorado;
Harry, who is a
resident of Portland, Oregon; Mrs. Elizabeth Moffat Hartman, of
Pueblo,
Colorado; and Winfield S., of Denver. The family had known David
H. Moffat in
Des Moines, Iowa, and Mr. Tarbell's sister, Mrs. Hartman was
named for Elizabeth
Moffat, a sister-in-law of David H. Moffat.
Charles Tarbell began his education in the public schools of Des
Moines,
Iowa and continued his studies in Colorado, having been a young
lad when in 1872
he accompanied his parents on their westward removal to this
state, the journey
being made with team and wagon from Des Moines, Iowa. En route
he assisted his
brothers in driving the stock which they brought with them to
the west. After
his textbooks were put aside Charles Tarbell turned his
attention to
merchandising in Saguache and through all the intervening period
since 1874,
when he made his initial step in the business world, he has been
closely
identified with the commercial and financial development of the
city in which he
now makes his home.
In 1880 he assisted in the organization of the Saguache County
Bank, in
which undertaking he was associated with Isaac Gotthelf and
Leopold Mayer. He
was cashier of the bank for a number of years and was then
elected to the vice
presidency, which position he still fills, and from the
beginning of his
official identification with the institution he has contributed
in substantial
measure to its growth and upbuilding. He with the Gotthelf
estate owns the
Gotthelf & Tarbell Mercantile Company and his labors have been
an important
element in furthering the material progress of city and county.
Mr. Tarbell was united in marriage in Des Moines, Iowa, to Miss
Ella McBroom
and to them has been born a son. Robert R., who married Etta
O'Neil. Mr. Tarbell
belongs to the Masonic fraternity and also to the Benevolent
Protective Order of
Elks. His political allegiance has always been given to the
republican party
since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and he was
an alternate to
the national republican convention which was held in Chicago in
1908. He is much
interested in the vital political problems and questions of the
day and belongs
to that class of American manhood who, holding strong political
views,
nevertheless place citizenship and the country's welfare above
partisanship. His
activities have at all times been intelligently directed,
whether for the public
benefit or the advancement of his individual business interests,
and in fact his
business affairs have contributed to public progress as well as
to individual
success.
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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