Pueblo County Biographies

Pueblo County, Colorado
WILLIAM F. DOERTENBACH

Contributed by Karen Mitchell.

WILLIAM F. DOERTENBACH William F. Doertenbach is conducting business in Pueblo as a furrier and substantial success is attending his efforts. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 17th of January, 1866, and is a son of Carl F. and Carolina (Hower) Doertenbach. The father was a native of Germany, born in 1832, and the mother's birth occurred in 1834. After living in Ohio for a time Carl F. Doertenbach removed to Wisconsin, and became the first mayor of his town. He engaged in the meat and packing business and at the time of the Civil war he joined the army, serving as a non-commissioned officer. Both he and his wife have passed away, the father dying in 1867, while the mother survived for about a quarter of a century and passed away in 1891. They were the parents of two sons and three daughters. William F. Doertenbach, the youngest of the family, pursued his education in the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio, and in the Ohio Business University. He started out in life on his own account as cabin boy on a lake steamer when but thirteen years of age. He became an able seaman on the Great Lakes when a youth of seventeen, gradually working his way upward in that connection, but later he left the water to become connected with the trade of furrier, entering the employ of the firm of Benedict & Ruddy. In 1887 he came to Pueblo, Colorado, where he entered the employ of S. H. Stevens, taxidermist and furrier. In 1896 he embarked in business on his own account and has become quite successful in this connection, building up a trade of large and gratifying proportions. He carries a very attractive line of goods and his reasonable prices, honorable methods and earnest desire to please his patrons have gained to him a business which is most enviable. On the 14th of November, 1885, Mr. Doertenbach was united in marriage to a Miss Hayden, a Canadian by birth, and to them have been born three children, Alice C., Miriam H. and William F. In his political views Mr. Doertenbach is a republican and served as a member of the thirteenth general assembly. He was also a member of the civil service board of Pueblo and was reelected to that office serving for a second term or for a period of six years. He has ever been most loyal to the duties devolving upon him in any relation, loyalty being one of his marked characteristics. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the Modern Woodmen of America and he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel of the Uniformed Rank of the Woodmen of the World and a major of the Knights of Pythias. He was one of the organizers of the Commerce Club of Pueblo, in which he has held office. His interest in military affairs was indicated by his joining the National Guard of Colorado in 188S. He rose from the ranks to the position of major. He organized a company in Pueblo, went to the Philippines at the time of the Spanish-American war and returned with the rank of captain. The experiences of his life have been varied. In his boyhood he served in a print shop and as a messenger with the Western Union Telegraph Company. From a humble position he has steadily worked his way upward, ever broadening his knowledge by reason of his reading, his observation, his rententive memory and his experience. He has become an authority on taxidermy and there are few better informed concerning the animal and bird life of this section of the country than he. He is ever alert and enterprising, interested in all matters of general concern, public-spirited in citizenship and progressive in business. History Of Colorado Illustrated Volume III Chicago The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1918

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