Born: Approximately 1845, New York

Death: September 23, 1917

Occupation: Mine owner/ Saloon Owner

Harry Mamlock first arrived in Leadville in 1879 by way of New York.[1]   Upon arrival he immediately began to work in the mining industry as a mining promoter.[2]   Mamlock’s first known residence, in 1880, was located 215 East 4th Street.[3]   After a few short years, Mamlock made a move to Texas in an effort to open a new business.[4]   However, his time away from Leadville was short lived and he returned to the city by 1887.[5]

Upon his return Mamlock is listed as living at 17 Union Block.[6]   The following year, he moved his residence to 230 E 6th Street.  During Mamlock’s time in the city, East 6th Street would become significant in his life as he and a business partner, William M. Peeler, started a joint venture there.  The pair opened a saloon, Peeler & Mamlock, together in 1887 at Mamlock’s original 230 East 6th Street address.[7]   Peeler & Mamlock remained on 6th Street and the business lasted for five years before they dissolved it in 1892 and Mamlock moved his residence to the Quincy Block (416 Harrison Avenue).[8]

Though Mamlock dabbled in a variety of vocations, his greatest area of interest was in the prosperous mining district known as Iowa Gulch, an area a mile south of Leadville.  It was in Iowa Gulch that Mamlock purchased and opened a very promising mine named the Doris.  Initially, the Doris was projected to be quite lucrative with “considerable high grade ore….for a time promised to make him a fortune.”[9]   However, the Doris Mine proved to ultimately be a losing financial venture for Mamlock.  Yet, in spite of losing capital, the Herald Democrat states that “Mamlock never lost his faith in the ground,” and because of this unyielding belief he “spent every dollar he could raise on the unsuccessful development of work.”[10]   Mamlock also opened the David Harum Mining Company.[11]

Mamlock never married, but he was heavily involved within the community’s fraternal organizations and the political scene.  Politically, Mamlock was a well known Independent and populist who held multiple offices and civil positions within Leadville’s municipal system.[12]   Mamlock went on to be a regularly elected delegate for the Independent party,[13]  police magistrate,[14]  city collector,[15]  served as a dependable polling judge, and was even referred to by the Leadville Daily/Evening Chronicle as the “Mayor of Iowa Gulch”[16]  due to his industrious and influential presence in the mining district.

Mamlock’s time in Leadville was rife with injuries sustained while working the mines.  In 1907, the Herald Democrat reported that “a large quantity of rock fell and was pinned fast to the floor…” and was put in a “perilous position.”[17]   Mamlock’s accident at the Doris Mine would not be his last brush with injury and danger as a mine owner.  In 1912, Mamlock fell sixteen feet while walking through the drift of a mine he was visiting.”[18]  Luckily, Mamlock sustained only minor injuries with a sprained ankle and a cut to his forehead.  A fortunate turn of events as the Herald Democrat reported that Mamlock  “fell to the bottom and alighted on his feet”.[19]   For the next few years, Mamlock’s brushes with dangerous accidents and injuries were kept to a minimum.  However, on

September 17, 1917, Mamlock suffered a “complete breakdown and partial paralysis at his room in the Quincy building.”[20]   Though the congregation of Temple Israel had dwindled from its former robust number of nearly two hundred, the Herald Democrat noted that, “[a] number of his old friends, especially those of his Jewish faith, indebted themselves in his behalf without delay and secured accommodations for him at the county hospital.”[21]   The Herald Democrat continued that “[h]is advanced years lead his friends to fear that he will not recover.”[22]   Sadly, this prediction proved true and a week later on September 23, 1917, Mamlock died.

Though interred in Leadville’s Hebrew Cemetery, Mamlock’s funeral was held at the local Masonic lodge where he was a longstanding member.  Mamlock’s funeral was executed with minimal fanfare in accordance with his preferences and Nathan H. Miller performed Jewish rites for the funeral at the Hebrew Cemetery.  The Herald Democrat reported that “[t]he Masonic lodge services were observed in the Masonic hall before the public rites at 3 and the Masons conducted their committal rites at the Jewish cemetery, where the rites of the decendent’s church were also observed….[i]n accordance with a wish of Mr. Mamlock there were but few flowers on the casket and the services carried out with solemn simplicity.”[23]   Mamlock had but one family member attend, a “Miss Clara S. Berkenwold of Milwaukee, a niece, was the only close relative in attendance…[n]o relatives of Mr. Mamlock reside here.”[24]