British immigrant Birks Cornforth (1836-1906) was one of Denver’s early settlers. In 1863, he established a wholesale and retail grocery store that operated for decades in the city.
The Russell Brothers made this photograph around 1886. Warren H. Russell (b. c. 1854- 1894) and Frederick C. Russell (1859-1924) were born to Chandler Miller Russell and Clara Howard Russell in New Jersey or New York. In 1870 the family moved to the Union Colony of Colorado (now Greeley), joining the experimental utopian farming community.
In 1882, Frederick, Warren, and Alonzo Russell worked as electroplaters and assayers in Denver. In the mid-1880s, Warren Russell earned a living as a photographer in Denver, partnering with his brother, Frederick, in 1886 as the Russell Bros. Warren spent the remainder of his career with Frank Reistle, at one of the first photoengraving businesses in Denver. On March 10, 1894, Warren died on the job when a fire broke out in Reistle’s establishment.
In the 1890s, F. C. Russell practiced carpentry, first in Denver and later in Greeley, a career he would follow for the remainder of his life. Frederick Russell died on September 30, 1924, and is buried in Greeley’s Linn Grove Cemetery.
Thank you to Jori Johnston and Aaron Marcus, History Colorado.