Pueblo County Biographies

Pueblo County, Colorado
EDWARD C. MATTES

Contributed by Karen Mitchell.

Edward C. Mattes is vice president and treasurer of the Pueblo Automobile Company and one of the enterprising, alert and energetic business men of that city. An eminent American statesman has said that the strongest forces in American life are the men who have been reared in the east and who have sought the opportunities of the west for the exercise of their dominant qualities. Here they are largely untrammeled by convention or circumstance and the natural resources of the country furnish an excellent chance for adaptability and initiative. The place which Edward C. Mattes has made in commercial circles of Pueblo is indeed a creditable one and his native state has reason to be proud of his record. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of June, 1856, his parents being Charles F. and Lydia (Piatt) Mattes. The father was for many years actively engaged in business in Scranton, where he continued to make his home until called to his final rest. There he reared his family, numbering four sons and three daughters, and both he and his wife have now passed away. Their fourth child was Edward C. Mattes of this review, who supplemented his public school education by a course in a private school. He was then living in a county where the steel industry was a predominant factor in business life and engaged in steel and iron work. Thus he was engaged until his removal to the west in 1882, at which time he made his way to Pueblo. He entered business circles in this section of the country as an employe of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, with which he was for seven years identified as a representative of the train service department. Then from 1889 until 1894 he was engaged in the real estate and insurance business and later he was for several years in charge of extensive mining properties. The next change in his business career brought him to the Pueblo Automobile Company, of which he is now the vice president and treasurer, but he was not at once chosen for the official position. He at first had charge of the office and later became financially interested in the business and was elected the second executive officer. This is probably the largest business of the kind in the west. The company handles the Cadillac and Dodge Brothers passenger and commercial cars and also the Reo and Federal trucks. They have an extensive plant with large floor space and something of the volume of their business is indicated in the fact that they employ thirty men. They handle all lines of automobile goods and accessories and their trade has steadily and continuously increased until it has now assumed very extensive proportions. On the 13th of October, 1890, at Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Mattes was united in marriage to Miss Jeanette Sinclair. In his political views Mr. Mattes has always been a stalwart republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, and while he has never been an aspirant for office, he has always stood loyally in support of the principles in which he believes. He belongs to the Minnequa Club and to the Commerce Club of Pueblo and his religious faith is indicated in his membership in the Presbyterian church. He is a man of genuine personal worth, as is attested by the warm friendship extended to him by Pueblo's leading citizens. In his business life Edward C. Mattes has been a persistent, resolute and energetic worker, possessing strong executive powers, keeping his hand steadily upon the helm of his business, and strictly conscientious in his dealings with debtor and creditor alike. Keenly alive to the possibilities of every new avenue opened in the natural ramifications of trade, he passed over the pitfalls into which unrestricted progressiveness is so frequently led and was enabled to focus his energies in directions where fruition was certain. If a pen picture could accurately delineate his business characteristics, such might be given in these words: a progressive spirit, ruled by more than ordinary intelligence and good judgment; a deep earnestness impelled and fostered by indomitable perseverance; a native justice expressing itself in correct principle and practice. History Of Colorado Illustrated Volume II Chicago The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1918

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