History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 106

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791

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TELLER, Henry Moore, U. S. Senator, was born in Granger, Allegany county, N. Y .. May 23, 1830. Ilis paternal ancestors came from Holland and were among the early settlers of New York state. His father was a farmer, born in Schenectady, N. Y., in 1800, and his mother a native of Vermont. The son received a good academic education and worked on the farm during the summers, teaching school winters. His academic course completed, he took up the study of law in the office of Martin Grover, and was admitted to the bar in Jan., 1858, at Bingham- ton, N. Y. Shortly afterward he removed to Morrison. Whiteside county, Ill., where he practiced his profession until 1861, then came to Colorado, and, locating in the very center of the gold mining region at Central City, he soon became a leading influence at the bar and among the people. lle was one of the projectors of the Colorado Central railroad. drafted its charter, and in 1865, in connection with W. A. Il. Loveland, presented it to the territorial legislature and secured its adop- tion. For five years he was president of the road. During the Indian disturbances of 1863 he was appointed major-general of the territorial militia and served two years. At the beginning of his career, politically, he was a democrat, chiefly because that was the faith of his father, but when, in 1854, the republican party was organized, he united with it and has ever since advocated its prin- ciples. He held no office until 1876, when, upon the admission of Colorado as a state. he was elected to the United States Senate by the First General Assembly that convened Nov. 1. 1876. This being the first representa- tion of Colorado in the Senate, under the rules he and Mr. Jerome B. Chaffee, his col- league drew lots to determine their re- spective terms. In the first drawing Mr. Chaffee drew the term of two years, and Mr. Teller a blank. On the second he secured the slip which covered the four months ending March. 1877, and Mr. Chaffee that expiring in March, 1879. December 9, 1876, the Gen- oral Assembly re-elected Mr. Teller for the full term of six years, from March, 1877. In 1882 President Arthur appointed him secre- tary of the interior, to succeed Samuel J. Kirkwood. Secretary Teller went out with President AArthur's cabinet. March 3. 1SS5. and the following day again took his seat in the Senate, having been elected to succeed Hon. Nathaniel P. Jill. He was re-elected in

SEAVEY, Mason M., merchant, was born in Oxford county. Me .. Dee. 10, 1839. Ile remained there until fourteen years of age: spent some time in mercantile pursuits and then went to Joliet, III., where he lived until 1859, when he came to Goklen, Colo. Here he was engaged in gardening for a short time and then became a merchant; in the mean- time he went to lowa and returned with a load of general merchandise. He was also in the freighting business, and on one of his trips two of his teams were captured by Indians. In 1864 he enlisted in the 3rd Colo. [591 without opposition in his party, for the

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term expiring in March. 1897. He served as and again resumed his practice and mining chairman of the committees on pensions, operations, having during his residence in the state become largely interested in mining property. Removing to Aspen in ISSS, he devoted himself to his profession and, in the spring of 1893, was appointed judge of the court of appeals, in which he is making au excellent record. patents, mines and mining, and as a member of the committees on claims, railroads, judi- ciary, appropriations, privileges and cher- tions, and public lands. He is one of the leading advocates of the free coinage of sil- ver, and is an authority on all questions re- ferring to the public lands. Ile is an effective debater, and possessed of strong mental and moral endowments. Senator Teller was mar- ried at Cuba. N. Y., June 7, 1862, to Har- riet M., daughter of Packard Bruce, a well- known farmer of Allegany county. They have three children, all born in Central City. Colo. In 1856 Alfred university conferred on Senator Teller the degree of LL. D. At the close of his present term he will have served eighteen years in the Senate and nearly three years as secretary of the interior. He is indisputally the leader of the republican party in Colorado, and the most trusted and influential director of that force in the Senate which believes in and supports measures for the restoration of bimetallism. Among his constituents he is universally popular, there being no division of sentiment in either of the political organizations as to his great efficiency in the upper branch of the national legislature. In 1894, on his return to Denver from a long and brilliant campaign in the in- torest of free coinage in the Senate, he was accorded the most brilliant reception ever tendered any person in this state. As sec- retary of the interior he was one of the great- est that has occupied that office in the last half century. Many of the more important events in his long and useful career have already been narrated in the preceding voi- umes, to which the reader is referred for fur- ther details. At this writing (1895) his name is frequently mentioned in different sections of the Union as a proper candidate of the bi- metallie forces for the presidency in 1896. A fine steel portrait of Senator Teller appears as frontispiece to Volume II.

THOMSON, Charles I., judge of the court of appeals, was born in Newburg, N. Y., March 3, 1838, but when two years of age was taken by his family to what is now Ashland county, Ohio, where he remained until fifteen years of age, and worked on his father's farm, after which he entered Oberlin college. Upon the completion of his education at that institu- tion, began the study of law at Tithin, Ohio, and was admitted to practice in 1865, at the city of Independence. Mo. He subsequently removed to Kansas City, where he followed his profession until 1878, at which time, hap- pening to be in Denver, he took a trip to Leadville, and was so pleasantly impressed with the outlook that he located and remained in that eity until 1884. In that year, his wife's health having become much impalred, he be- gan traveling in search of renewed strength, and continued it for two years, at the expira- tion of which time he returned to Colorado

THATCHER, John A., banker, was born near Newport. Pa., Aug. 25, 1836, where he was raised and educated. The authentic chronicles show that Mr. John A. Thatcher was one of the original, legitimate merchants in Pueblo, perhaps the first to engage in that trade, certainly the founder of the present noted firm of Thatcher Bros. Prior to his arrival on the scene. in 1862, there were a few traders and saloonkeepers, but no regu- lar stores with well-assorted stocks. From an humble beginning, with a single wagon- load of merchandise drawn by oxen, the goods displayed for sale in a rough log cabin, with dirt roof and floor, he has in the fullness of years, by the proper exercise of superior na- tural talent for business, become one of the wealthiest men in the state, not by the pro- digions advance of realty, which has been so large a factor in the fortunes of some of our millionaires, though this may have formed a part. A large portion of the reputed great wealth of the Thatcher brothers, John A. and Mahlon D., is the fruitage of judicious en- gagement in various lines of commerce, in- dustrial enterprises and banking, that through capable management have been very remun- erative. He came West in 1557. and during the next five years was a resident of Holt county, Mo. In 1862 he pushed on to Colo- rado, remained a short time in Denver, and then took a stock of merchandise to Pueblo. opened a store and continued it in his own name until 1865, when he was joined by his brother. Mahlon D., who became a partner in the business. Since then they have risen to great positions, as already hastily set forth. They are types of men who are well calcu- lated to win success from any condition of life. In Jan., 1871. having accumulated the requisite surplus from trade, they opened a bank with $50,000 capital, which they oper- ated until June following, when it was con- verted into the first National of Pueblo and the capital increased to $100,000. Owned in the main and wholly managed by the Thatchers, with John A., president, and Mahlon D., cashier, it was continuously pros- perous, strong and useful to the public. With the lapse of years, they embarked in a suc- cession of productive ventures, Mahion D. is a large stockhohler, a director and a mem- ber of the executive committee of the largest smelting establishment of the place. They established branch banks at various points in the mountain mining districts: became stock- hollers in irrigating canals; encouraged the founding of manufactures, the building of additional railways, the development of the

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city and county in manifold ways. Colorado been appointed by President Johnson in Jan., has many very wealthy men, andamong them 1868. He discharged its duties until May. the Thatcher brothers are held to be in the 1869. and then resigned. In 1875, after the first rank. As to the value of their posses- passage of our enabling aet, he was elected a sions it is not our province to inquire. It is member of the constitutional convention, which probably true that public judgment has placed them where they belong, as stated above. It is also true that they have been unanimously accorded to be useful citizens, for it is attested by all their contemporaries and by their works.

THATCHER, Joseph A. See Vol. 111, page 211.

THATCHER, Henry C., first chief justice of the supreme court of the state of Colorado, was born in Perry county, Pa., April 21. 1842. The progenitors of the Thatcher family on this continent emigrated from England fifty years prior to the revolutionary war, and took part in that historie struggle for inde- pendence, both in the army and navy. After some years' attendance upon the common schools of that section. Henry C. passed two years at the academy in Juniata county, and afterward entered the Franklin and Marshall college at Lancaster, whence he was graduated with high honors in the class of 1864. During the next year he taught school, and likewise studied law under Essington Hammond in Hollidaysburg. Ile then entered the law de- partment of the Albany (N. Y.) university. and at the end of the year was graduated with the degree of LL.B .. and was almost immediately thereafter admitted to the bar by the supreme court of that state. He then returned to Hollidaysburg and there remained three months, then took his departure for Colorado, whence his two brothers, John A. and Mahlon D., had preceded him, and were engaged in business in Pueblo. He arrived at the latter place Oct. 31, 1866. In Jan., 1867. he opened an office there and began the practice of law. In 1874 he formed a partner- ship with Mr. Charles E. Gast, under the

sumed. Judge Thatcher was prominently identified with the legal affairs of the Pueblo & Salt Lake and the Pueblo & Arkansas Val- ley railways, and eorporator and legal ad- viser in numerous other important corpora- tions. Although attached to the republican party. he was in no sense an active politician. The first public office held by him was that of U. S. district attorney for Colorado, having

framed the present constitution and, as chair- man of the committee on legislation, a member of the committee on judiciary, on public and private corporations, and on congressional and legislative apportionments, was one of the most earnest and useful members of that body. He was a man of scholarly attain- ments, well versed in law. In disposition he was rather quiet, almost to taciturnity; in- flexibly honest, reserved and thoughtful, yet extremely genial and pleasant with his friends in social intercourse. He was natu- rally studious, industrious and perseveringly determined to reach the depths of every proposition submitted to him for considera- tion. lle was highly respected by all who knew him, and profoundly admired by his associates on the bench who, more than any others, appreciated his knowledge, his sin- cerity and earnestness in seeking out the truth. Judge Thatcher died March 20, 1884, in San Francisco, whither he had gone on a pleasure trip with his family. The remains were brought to Pueblo and interred with impressive ceremonies. Memorial services were also held in the supreme court room at Denver by the Denver Bar association. Judge S. 11. Elbert said of him on that occasion: "As a citizen he was active, publie spirited and faithful. Every good work, every insti- tution for the advancement and elevation of his fellow men received his encouragement and support. Purity in public life and purity in politieal methods found in him a zealous advocate. lle was a most excellent judge, pure, conscientious, clear sighted and learned, careful, painstaking and laborious. He never wrote a slovenly opinion. His statement and argument were always elear, logical and ac-

firm name of Thatcher & Gast, which contin-, curate, above all, incorruptible." Judge Wil- ned until the fall of 1876, when, the state having been admitted into the Union, Mr. Thatcher was nominated by the republican party for judge of the supreme court and elected by a very large majority. This change necessitated his removal to Denver, the state capital, where he resided until the expiration of his term in 1880. Under the constitution. by virtue of his having drawn the short term of three years, he became chief justice of that trimmmal. On his retirement from the bench he returned to Pueblo, where the pre- existing partnership and practice were re- ber F. Stone said: "Few men possessed more kindness and liberality in disposition and character. There was no such thing as mal- ice in his nature. While his reputation was known to the people of the country at large, his real character and the many excellencies, the brotherly kindness, constancy in friend- ship, genial humor and attractive companion- ship of his inner life, hid to the many by the ditlidence of his nature, was known fully to the limited few who, as his intimate friends had come to know him thoroughly and frater- nally." Judge Win. E. Beck said: "He was en- dowed by nature with a comprehensive mind, which had been well cultured and disciplined by education and mental exercise. Gifted with good judgment and strong practical senso he had risen to a leading position at the bar. and the force of his character and at- taiments have left their impress upon the fundamental law and upon the jurisprudence of the state. He gave valuable assistance in

FARM RESIDENCE OF FRED. KOHLER, 1 1/2 MILES S. E. OF BOULDER.

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framing the one and shaping the other, as intendent and resident physician of the hos- the records of the constitutional convention and the opinions of the supreme court bear conclusive testimony. His public services have been alike valuable to the state and honorable to himself. As the first chief jus- tice of the state his opinions command respect for the research and ability displayed in their preparation, as well as for the soundness of the conclusions reached."

THATCHER, Mahlon D., banker, was born in Perry county, Pa., Dec. 6, 1839, and edu- rated in Martinsburg, that state. Ile came to Colorado in 1865. For the remainder, it has been related in general terms in the bi- ography of his brother, John A. Ilis resi- dence in Pueblo is the finest and costliest in southern Colorado. Ilis influence among the capitalized forces and productive interests of the commonwealth is co-extensive with the great financial triumphs he has achieved. Intimate personal acquaintance with these brothers ripens into deep admiration of the qualities that have produced the results we have briefly enumerated. They have had no part in politics, except to exercise the duties of good citizenship; have not aspired to nor held office. Business, and business alone, has occupied their thoughts and governed their acts in the broad field of human endeavor, wherein he who is keenest to foresee and seize upon the unceasing round of opportuni- ties gathers the cream of the harvest. They have sown nothing to the winds, therefore have reaped no whirlwinds.

THOMBS, Pembroke R., physician, was born at Yarmouth. Me., Dec. 1, 1840, and was primarily educated, after the usual course in the public schools, at Waterville college. In the spring of 1859 he went to Chi- cago and entered the Rush medical college, whence he was graduated in the spring of 1862. Soon after being awarded his diploma he entered the Federal army as assistant sur- geon of the SOth Il. infantry. In the spring of 1864 he was promoted to be surgeon of that regiment, and continued as such to the close of the war. In June, 1565, on being mustered ont, he returned to Chicago, and soon afterward received from the govern- ment a staff appointment as surgeon of U. S. where he engaged in gold mining until the fall volunteers; was assigned to Murfreesboro. of 1861, Ile then enlisted in company L, Ist regiment, Colo, volunteers, in which he served three years and four months. He was ap- pointed postmaster at Pueblo, March 22. 1866, and also followed stock raising and moreban- dising some ten years. In 1867 he was elected treasurer of Pueblo county. In 1878 he was dlected to the House of the Second General Assembly of the state. In 1850 he went to Gunnison county, and named and assisted li establishing the town of White Pine. Feb. 3, 1853, he was appointed by President Arthur register of the U. S. land office at Gunnison. After four years and three months In this office, the last two under President Clove- land, he returned to Pueblo (SSD) and helped Tenn., as post surgeon, where he remained until June, 1866, when, finally quitting the service, he went back to his old home in Maine. In Aug., 1866, he came to Colorado, and In October settled in Pueblo, opened an otlice, and began the practice of medicine and surgery. With the basis of a very thor- ough education in the medical schools, sup- plemented by six years' constant experience in the army during the war, combined with a natural aptitude for the profession, Dr. Thombs soon acquired a large practice. May 1, 1879, the legislature having provided for the founding of a state asylum for the in- sane, Governor Pitkin appointed hits super-

pital, which position he has continued to fill with very decided ability and success, from that time to the present, through successive re-appointments. Under his management and the constant exercise of his well-trained skill, it has been made the model institution of its class in the West. During the twelve years of his administration some remarkable cures have been effected, and all the reports indi- cate that this important asylum has been ex- tremely well conducted in all its departments. We can not now recall a single instance when scandals or serious grievances have occurred. This fact is mentioned for the reason that such complaints have at one time or another been charged against perhaps a majority of such asylums in the United States, often without adequate reason, no doubt, but oftener from just grounds. Dr. Thombs seems to be peculiarly well fitted for the great trust placed in his charge. There is certainly no trust committed to human hands which re- quires such tender, careful, patient skill and forbearance as that involving the welfare of men and women bereft of reason. Ilis long retention in the office and the good effects following his ministrations, testify to his capabilities more completely than the finest panegyric that could be delivered.

THOMAS, John J., was born in Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 27, 1839, and was educated in the public schools. In 1846 the family settled on a farm in Pike county, III., where they re- mained until 1854, then moved to Rockport, Mo. In the spring of 1857 he was employed in the quartermaster's department U. S. A., and accompanied the 2d dragoons, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnson commanding, acting as escort to U. S. engineers ordered to sur- voy the south boundary line of Kansas. ITe returned to Fort Leavenworth, and there. July 17, 1857, outfitted for Salt Lake in con- junction with the Mormon war expedition. In 1850 he returned again to Fort Leaven- worth, and rode the first of the California pony express of that year, from Box Elder to the South Platte crossing. In April, 1S60. he came to Denver and camped on Cherry creek. but soon after went to Breckenridge,

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to organize and build the Pueblo artificial ice across the Mosquito range to Buckskin Joe factory, of which he is now vice-president, district, Park county, where he opened a sup- treasurer and general manager. as well as the principal owner. In 1889 he was elected to the board of county commissioners, and dur- ing the succeeding three years these officers instituted more improvements in the way of grading and improving roads, and building fine iron and steel bridges, than had been done in the previons history of the county. Mr. Thomas takes a deep interest in the propagation of fish, and in 1887 established the large Pueblo fisheries. As will be seen by the foregoing hasty sketch, he has had an extremely active and somewhat adventurous life, and has also borne an important part in the development of useful industries in the city of his adoption, as well as in the govern- ment of the county and among the law makers of the commonwealth. ply store. In 1868 he moved the stock back to California Gulch and reopened the same at Oro City. After 1865 the placer mines of Park and Lake counties were only ordinarily productive, the richer deposits having been worked out. Therefore the respective popu- lations dwindled away until only a few hundred remained. Mr. Tabor was a care- ful merchant, but generous hearted and help- ful to the needy. His standing and credit were good among the wholesale merchants of Denver. Each year witnessed a decrease of settlers. This state of things prevailed until 1877. when the mineral deposits (car- bonate of lead) previously discovered began to give promise of great extent and value. He then moved his merchandise and house- hold to the present site of Leadville, and there established himself. The further his- tory of this movement will be found in Vol- ume 11. pages 436-437. The almost bewilder- ing, caused him to be known as the most re- markable exemplification of luck ever wit- nessed in the Rocky Mountains, for no man that ever lived here has made money so rap- idly. Everything he touched turned to gold. lle was the Midas of the camp, whose lead every one eagerly followed. deeming it the infallible road to fortune. He bought on his own account, and with others, a large number of valuable claims, which yielded very large returns. He bought interests, also, in the San Juan region, in New Mexico, Arizona and Old Mexico. His possessions of mining and other property were larger than those of any other man in the state. When the city of Leadville was organized he was chosen mayor and gave considerable attention to the institution of the government and needed public improvements. He built a fine opera house, established the Bank of Leadville, pro- moted the construction of water works and gas works; encouraged the formation of an efficient fire department, and of several mili- tary companies, in short, was associated with every movement of a public nature, and with almost numberless private corporations. So extensive was his popularity with all classes. so potential the influence of his name, it seemed as if no enterprise could be under- taken with hopes of success unless he were in some way connected with it. llis wealth was estimated at millions. Riches poured in upon him from every direction. It was a spectacle wholly unprecedented in our an- nals. flis fame spread over the world; no American was more widely renowned. Seores and Imindreds of press reporters, correspond- ents and magazine writers told the story of his dazzling career. In ISTS he was elected lieutenant-governor of Colorado, and at the session of the General Assembly following

TABOR, Horace A. W., ex-Senator and prominent miner, was born in Orleans county. Vt .. Nov. 26, 1830. The somewhat remark- able career of H. A. W. Tabor, the promi- ing success of his first engagement in min- nence to which he attained with sudden and great wealth, and the part assigned him by public opinion at home and abroad. have made him the most notable figure in the an- nals of the state. It is the object of this re- view to present, first, the material salient points of his life, and, second, a fair analysis of his character. His education was simply that which most boys in his condition re- ceived, all his parents could afford to give him-fair knowledge of the rudimental branches taught in a country school. After- ward he learned the trade of a stonecutter. which he followed until twenty-five years of age. In 1855, having married in the mean- time. he moved with his family to the plains of Kansas, took up a tract of land and en- gaged in farming. Strongly imbued with principles antagonistic to the demands of the slave-holding propaganda, which undertook to implant its doctrines and institutions there, he unhesitatingly identified himself with the free soilers, and by them was elected to the Topeka legislature in 1857. As is well known, that body was dispersed by Federal troops, commanded by Col. E. V. Sumner, acting np- on orders from the war department. In the fall of 1859 Mr. Tabor abandoned Kansas, where he could scarcely make a living, for the Rocky Mountains, passing the next win- ter in Denver. In the spring of 1860 the dis- covery of gold-bearing placers on the Upper Arkansas induced him to follow the multi- tude then rushing in that direction. Halting at the month of Cache creek, but not finding the object of his search in paying quantities, he located finally in California Guleh, when, securing a claim near the "Discovery." he worked it with satisfactory results until 1865. As his gains increased he purchased a stock of miner's supplies and opened a store. carry- ing on both pursuits. In 1865 he sold out the presided over the Senate with unexpected dig- mine, and with a capital of about $8,000 moved nity and knowledge of parliamentary prae-

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History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 106

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company Publication date: 1889-95 Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co. Number of Pages: 791

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791