John F. Campion
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons7

John F. Campion

Canadian-American executive in mining and sugar production (1849–1916)

John Francis Campion (December 1849 – July 17, 1916) was a wealthy Canadian-American who made his fortune in mining and sugar production. He was also an executive and investor in banking, railroad, insurance, and other businesses.2

From Wikipedia’s article on John F. Campion (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born 1849, died Jul 17, 1916.1

About

Campion ran away from school as a teen to join the Union Navy during the American Civil War. After the end of the war, Campion became a miner and became an expert on the geology of mining. He fought to maintain possession of his mining interests early in his career, and he became increasingly successful, founding the Ibex Mining Company in Leadville, Colorado in 1891. Two years later, an ore stream was found at the mine that made him a fortune.

He was a co-founder of what is now called the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and was president of the board of trustees until his death in 1916. He donated his rare collection of native gold, which is among the best in the world.

From Wikipedia’s article on John F. Campion, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

John Francis Campion was born in December 1849 on Prince Edward Island, Canada to Helen (née Fehan) Campion and Michael Brevort, a shipbuilder and legislator. His grandparents, John F. Campion, Sr. and Elizabeth Campion, were Irish immigrants who settled in Price Edward Island in 1823. The family had been wealthy landowners in Ireland and England.

Campion was the eldest of four children born to Helen and M. Brevort Campion. He was followed by George F., born in 1849, Mary Ellen, born in 1854, and Elizabeth Margaret, born in 1857. By 1862, the Campions moved to Sacramento, California, when John and George returned to Canada and attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

From Wikipedia’s article on John F. Campion (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: businessperson.4

Campion was vice president of the Denver National Bank and an officer of the Carbonate National Bank of Leadville. He was president of the Northwestern Terminal Company and vice president of the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway (also called Moffat Road). He was president of the Big Horn Mining and Cattle Company.

After 1900, Campion made a second fortune growing sugar beets. Campion and Boettcher partnered on the formation of the Great Western Sugar Company, and brought sugar beet agriculture to Colorado. They also co-founded the Ideal Cement Company. He was vice president of Denver's Seventeenth Street Building Company. Campion was an owner of the Leadville Light and Power Company.

From Wikipedia’s article on John F. Campion (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • Born1849, Prince Edward Island5

Campion married Nella "Nellie" May Daly, the daughter of Thomas Daly, Capitol Life Insurance Company founder, in Denver on April 15, 1895. By 1900, they lived in Denver at a house built at 800 Logan Street in 1899. At the time, it was one of the few houses in the city to have electricity, which ran off its own onsite power plant. They also had a residence at Twin Lakes near Leadville, where Campion had business offices.

Nellie was mentioned in the Colorado representative women of 1914:

A very beautiful woman, a gracious hostess of many brilliant social functions, and a fine mother, whose charming personality has made her well beloved, both in her beautiful home and in social life. Mrs. Campion is very benevolent and there are few large charitable enterprises in Colorado in which she is not a prominent factor.

Campion and Nellie had four children: John F. Jr., born in 1896, Helen Margaret, born in 1899, Mary, Phyllis born in 1901, and George Roland, born in 1902.

Campion died on July 17, 1916, in Denver, Colorado. He is buried in the Campion mausoleum at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

From Wikipedia’s article on John F. Campion (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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