USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 46
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 46
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REV. HENRY BLOCH.
Rev. Henry Bloch, the minister of Temple Em- anuel, the Jewish Reformed organization in this city, came to Denver in September, 1878. He is a man of the new radical school, whose creed is an idealistic, practical Judaism ; possesses great learning, and speaks six or eight languages very fluently ; is a pleasant and convincing speaker of
growing popularity. The son of a Rabbi in Bo- hemia, Austria, where he was born the 28th of Aprii, 1854, he soon entered the Gymnasium, where he graduated at the age of seventeen. In the old historical city of Prague, where Jewish learning is flourishing, and where he heard Euro- pean celebrities expound the ancient, Oriental studies, as well as the distinguished professors of the different Imperial Faculties in the secular sciences, he visited the University, studying logic, philosophy, philology and theology. He graduated in 1873 as M. A., and as the youngest of all. Not wishing to serve as an idle soldier in the Austrian army, which he would have been obliged to do, on account of the general military law, he left home, country and an open career, to become a citizen of the great Republic of the United States. His linguistical experience soon enabled him to master the hardships of the English tongue, which he now speaks free from any foreign accent. His youth against him, he first accepted a call to Jackson, Mich., where, after two years, he removed to Peo- ria, Ill., and from there to Denver, Colo. His arrival and sojourn here are marked by an increas- ing prosperity of his congregation, and a growth of intelligent members who have joined Temple Em- anuel to assist him in his noble cause. Temple Emanuel is a brick edifice on Curtis street; and it is certain that in the course of a year, a larger one will have to be erected for want of room. Rev. H. Bloch is the youngest minister at present in his denomination.
J. O. BOSWORTH.
Mr. Bosworth was born in Lee County, Iowa, October 8, 1847, and received an academic ednca- tion, after which he spent some time in Eastman's Business College. For the next six years, he taught school in Iowa, the last two of which he held the position of Superintendent of the Schools of Afton. He came to Denver in the fall of 1872, and was for a short time engaged on the survey of the Morrison Branch of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad, after which he entered one of
John Hillson
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the Denver banks, where he remained until the spring of 1874. He was then engaged in the Land Office at Pueblo for a short time, and in Sep- tember, 1874, embarked in the drug business, con- tinuing in this until the fall of 1879. In the spring of 1878, he formed a partnership, and under the firm name of Bosworth, Babeock & Co., began dealing in assayers' supplies, and manufacturing fire brick, crucibles and scarifiers for testing ore.
MITCHELL BENEDICT.
Mitchell Benedict, of the law firm of Benedict & Phelps, was born December 24, 1837, in Mere- dith, N. Y. He received a good common-school education, and, in the fall of 1859, entered the University of Albany, and received his legal diplo- ma the 22d of February, 1861. On the 4th of the following March, he was admitted to the prac- tice of law in the courts of New York ; after which he commenced the practice of his profession at Kingston, remaining there until the fall of 1862, when he enlisted and was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company F, One Hundred and Fif- ty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, and was afterward promoted successively to First Lienten. ant and Captain. In 1863, he was appointed on Gen. Grover's Staff, remaining there until the close of the war, during which time he participated in the famous Red River expedition and the seige of Port Hudson ; was with Sheridan in the Shenan- doah campaign of 1864, and fought in the battles of Opequan, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, Diamond Point, and various other engagements. In the spring of 1865, he was appointed Provost Judge of the armies at Savannah, and was mustered out of the service July 27, 1865. After traveling through various sections, he came to Denver in the fall of 1865, and again resumed the practice of his profession ; he was appointed City Attorney for Denver in the summer of 1867, and has since been several times re-appointed to that position. He returned to his native State in 1872, and mar- ried Miss Mary C. Doolittle, of New York City. In a short time, he returned to Denver, where he
now resides, surrounded by everything tending to make a man happy-a wife, a son, and a goodly number of clients.
JOHN BAKER.
Mr. Baker, one of Denver's most successful trades- men and speculators, and for many years an exten- sive stock dealer and contractor and builder in Indi- ana and Iowa, is a native of Ohio, and was born in 1820. At the age of fifteen he left Lancaster, his native town, and went to La Fayette, Indiana, remaining 'there until 1839, in which year he went to Warren County, Ohio, where for ten years he was engaged in contracting and build- ing. At the end of that time, he returned to Carroll County, Ind., and began buying and shipping hogs, in which business he accumulated a considerable sum of money. He continued at that about seven years and then went to Oska- loosa, Iowa, and afterward to Burlington. He was well known throughout the State as the largest stock-dealer in that section of the country if not in the West. In 1865, he came to Denver and engaged in the flour and feed business three years, and then removed to Farmington, Iowa, where he remained until 1873, when he came a second time to Denver. Mr. Baker's record as a miner, a builder and a real-estate dealer is too well known to require any comment in this volume. He has recently completed the Glenarm Hotel, at the corner of Glenarm and Fifteenth streets, which is one of the finest hotel buildings in the State.
HON. JOSEPH E. BATES.
Of the many thousand men who immigrated to Colorado in 1860, there are few whose names stand out more prominently in the twenty years of Denver's history than does that of Joseph E. Bates. Born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., May 5, 1837, his youth was spent amid the pinerics of the Muskegon river in Michigan, where he was engaged in lumbering up to the time of coming to Colorado in 1860. In mining enterprises, in mercantile pursuits, and as a representative of the
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people, he has been distinguished for the energy, skill and integrity which have characterized his efforts. In 1868, he was elected a member of the City Council from the First Ward, and on the expiration of his first term was immediately re- elected. He was Mayor of the city of Denver from 1872 to 1873 and on retiring from the office was presented by the City Council with $1,000 as a recognition of the highly ereditable man- ner in which he had discharged the duties of an office to which there was no salary attached. Having been one of the foremost in organizing the fire department of Denver, the $1,000 thus received was immediately donated to the Fire- man's Relief Fund. Mr. Bates has been twice elected to represent his distriet in the higher branch of the Territorial Legislature serving to the entire satisfaction of his constituents from 1872 to 1876. He was President of the Denver Brewing Company eight years, retiring from the office in 1879. In mining investments he has been eminently successful, owning valuable mining property in Leadville. He was married in Elling- ton, N. Y., in 1861, to Miss Cordelia C. Northrop, of Brockport, N. Y.
CAPT. CHARLES A. BROOKS.
C. A. Brooks, the senior partner in the dry-goods house of Brooks, Giddings & Co., of Denver, was born in Buxton, Me., May 5, 1838. He received a good public-school and academic education, and in 1855, entered a dry-goods house in Haverhill, Mass. Two years later, he went South to Ben- ton, Ala., returning to Massachusetts in 1859. His most vivid recollections of the South are of fever and agne, with which he formed an intimate acquaintance. Going to Saco, Me., he established the mercantile firm of Brooks & Sawyer, remov- ing in 1860, to Portland, Me., where he engaged for a time in selling tea and tobacco, for Fling, Davis & Co. The war breaking out, he went to Haverhill, Mass., and, entering a company of vol- unteers there forming, was commissioned Third Lieutenant by Governor Andrews. This company
coming to an untimely end, he returned to Port- land, joined the Gorham company, and was mus- tered into the service September 24, 1861. Being assigned to the Ninth Maine Regiment, he was soon promoted to Second Lieutenant. The regi- ment was shortly ordered to Washington, and soon afterward to Annapolis, Md. In October follow- ing, they embarked on the steamer Coatzacoal- cos for Port Royal. They were nearly foundered on the voyage, but arrived safe off Hilton Head, where they witnessed the splendid bombardment of the forts by the fleet under command of Admi- ral Dupont, and participated in the land attack the same night. Sometime during the following winter, he was promoted to First Lieutenant. In March, the regiment marched to Seabrook Land- ing, and sailed on the steamer Star of the South, for Florida, and took possession of Fernandina, where they remained eleven months, return ing in April, 1863, to Hilton Head. After a short visit North, he rejoined his regiment at St. Helena Island, and in July they sailed for Folly Island. July 6, he was promoted to Cap- tain, and assigned to Company A. He was present at the capture of Morris Island, where his regiment performed good service. During the attack on Fort Wagner the next day, he was struck by a bullet, which tore through his cloth- ing, grazing his side. On the final assault and capture of the fort on the ISth of July, 1863, he was struck in the shoulder by a piece of shell, and while down, was struck by a bullet, which grazed his breast and passed through his right arm. In that assault, he led his company at the head of the regiment, losing his First Lieutenant, and nearly half his company being either killed or wounded. After a week spent in the hospital, he was sent North, and on his recovery and return, found that he had been detailed, by the War Depart- ment, as Assistant Commissioner of Musters, and assigned to duty with Gen. Alfred H. Terry, where he mustered in all the promoted offieers, and re-en- listed men in his division. Passing hastily over his subsequent military career, we will mention that he
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participated, on the 10th of May, 1864, in the bat- tle of Chester Station, Va., where, as aide to Gen. Terry, his duty was to carry orders to various parts of the field, exposed to the constant fire of the enemy. During the spring and summer of 1864 he took part in the battles of Drury's Bluff, the Seven Days' Campaign, Flusside's Mills, Strawberry Plain, etc. Going to Petersburg, he remained in the treuches until September 6, when he returned home in charge of that portion of the regiment which had not re-enlisted, and was mustered out of the service in Augusta, Me. Engaging in the dry goods business with his brother, in Haverhill, he was married December 28, 1865, to Frances Chase, daughter of Deacon Samuel Chase, of that city. Removing to Bos- ton in July, 1866, he engaged in business with Tibbets, Baldwin & Davis, importers and jobbers. In 1872, he made a visit to California, returning to Boston, where he remained until October, 1874, when he removed to Denver, and formed a part- nership with L. A. Giddings, his present partner. His wife died February 26, 1867, leaving a young son to his care. Capt. Brooks is one of the most active merchants of Denver.
HON. HENRY P. H. BROMWELL.
H. P. H. Bromwell was born in Baltimore, Md., August 26, 1823, and raised until the age of thirteen in Cincinnati and Coshocton, Ohio. In 1836, his father removed to . Clark County, Ill., then the " Far West." Judge Bromwell went to Vandalia, Ill., where he was admitted to the bar in 1853, and began the practice of law, at the same time publishing a paper called the Age of Steam and Fire. That part of Judge Bromwell's education which depended upon the instruction of others was necessarily very limited. The free- school system had not been adopted in Illinois until long after he had reached manhood, and the schools in that vicinity were few and far between. The oldest and most advanced pupils did not pro- gress beyond what is now considered the merest rudiments of a common-school education. But
possessing an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, he at a very early age became an earnest student and continues such to this day. Alone and with- out assistance, he has made himself familiar with many of the modern languages, reading intelligibly, if not speaking fluently, French, German, Spanish and Italian. The German has received his special attention, resulting in the translation into the English of many of the choicest gems of the German classics. Mathematics and the exact sciences have also claimed their share of his time and attention, his mastery of them being to a degree not often attained by professors and teach- ers of these sciences. Belles-lettres and polite literature were too fascinating to be passed by a student of Judge Bromwell's nature, and received a long course of study. He is a poet of no mean ability, and although his poems, of which he has written many, have never been published, they have delighted his many friends and such public assemblies as have been favored with a reading. " Boulder " and "The Two Processions," with many of his minor pieces, both original and adapted from the German, will call out very favorable criticism if ever given to the world. In politics, Judge Bromwell was a Whig. In 1853, he was chosen County Judge of Fayette County, Ill. He joined the Republican party on its organization in 1856, and was nominated as candidate for Con- gress and for a Presidental Elector on the Fremont ticket, in a district largely Democratic. From the outset, no hopes were entertained of the triumph of his party, and Judge Bromwell was chosen for his known ability as a public speaker, to reduce the Democratic majority and assist in carrying the State. Young, talented and enthusiastic, he made the canvass of his district, and Mr. Lincoln, who accompanied him in part of the canvass, declared, after he became President, that the speeches of Bromwell, then made, were the best he had ever heard. His end was attained; the Democratic majority was so reduced in the Seventh District that the State ticket was elected. Soon after the close of the campaign, he removed to Charleston,
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Ill., where his time was spent in the practice of his profession and in the study of the languages, science and belles-lettres. In 1860, he was selected as Presidental Elector on the Lincoln and Hamlin ticket, and canvassed not only his own district but other parts of the State. In 1864, he was elected a member of the Thirty-ninth Congress, and took his place among the "Stalwarts " who called Thad. Stevens leader. Being re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, he took a prominent part in all the stormy legislation which culminated in the attempted impeachment of President Johnson. A member of the Constitutional Convention of Illi- nois in 1869, he assisted greatly in forming the present constitution of that State, after which the admirable constitution of Colorado was largely modeled. Coming to Colorado in 1870, he was elected a member of the Territorial Council of 1874, the Constitutional Convention of 1875-76 and the Legislature of 1879. In all of these he has oecu- pied a prominent place, not for brilliant, transient popularity, but for hard, earnest work for the per- manent welfare of the people. Many measures, originated and urged by Judge Bromwell, have proved their wisdom and efficiency in practice, notably, the present election law of the State. He has always been devoted to the interests of the public schools, both in Illinois and Colorado, and was for several years President of the School Board of District No. 2, of the city of Denver. Judge Bromwell, early in his life, joined the Free- masons. Their ritual, laws and history greatly interested him. He studied Masonry for years and became what is termed the "brightest Mason " in Illinois, where he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge. Becoming satisfied that much of the " Masonic work " had been lost in the Middle Ages, after mueh study and labor, he insti- tuted the Geometrical Degrees of Masonry, known as " Free and Accepted Architects." In character, he is one of the most honorable and honest of men, while his political carcer has been marked by an uprightness of purpose and pure, high- minded conscientiousness, which gave the lie to
the common assertion that all politicians are dis- honest.
WILLIAM M. BLISS.
William M. Bliss, a prominent merchant of Den- ver, was born in Salisbury Center, Herkimer Co., N. Y., May 17, 1844. A common-school education was supplemented by a course of study at Falley Seminary, Fulton, Oswego Co., N. Y. At nine- teen he went to Chicago, and obtained a situation in the wholesale hardware and house-furnishing house of A. G. Garfield. He was promoted to salesman, and remained with the house for three years. He finished his Chicago carcer in the extensive house of Hibbard, Spencer & Co., hold- ing important positions and enjoying the unlimited confidence of his employers. Coming to Colorado in January, 1871, he entered the employ of Tap- pan & Co. the following month, as a salesman, where his present partner, Ferdinand Jensen, had been employed for two years or more. This was the oldest hardware house in Colorado, having been established in 1859 by Lewis N. Tappan, a well-known citizen of the Territory in those days. It had branches at Colorado City and Central, and had a prosperous carcer for twelve years. The business passing into the hands of John G. Tap- pan, a prominent resident of Boston, who had been its financial head, and Mr. Tappan being advanced in years and not wishing to carry on the business, he kindly offered Messrs. Jensen and Bliss an opportunity to establish themselves in a profit- able trade by purchasing the business of Tappan & Co. on credit. This offer was gladly accepted, and they started out with no capital except a good credit, a fine business training. a high order of ability, and a reputation for unswerving commer- cial integrity, upon a career which has been one of remarkable prosperity. Their business has been an extraordinary success, steadily inereasing in volume, and extending throughout Colorado and a portion of the adjacent Territories of Wyoming and New Mexico, besides which they have a large branch house in Deadwood, D. T. Their trade dur- ing the year 1879 was nearly treble that of the year
Frank Hall
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before, fully 90 per cent being a jobbing busi- ness. This increase was due not only to the general prosperity of the State and the unexampled demand for their class of goods, but to the well- established reputation of the house for fair and honorable dealing, as well as the great personal popularity of the proprietors. Mr. Bliss has given no attention to political affairs except what is due from every intelligent citizen of a free republic, but has devoted his entire energies to his exten- sive business. No more genial, whole-souled and popular gentleman is to be found in the State than William M. Bliss, and he well deserves his success.
THOMAS BISHOP.
Mr. Bishop was born Oct. 1, 1843, in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. After receiving a common-school edu- cation, he learned the milling trade with his father. He worked in the Cumberland Mills as a practi- cal miller from the summer of 1860 to the spring of 1867-nearly seven years-when he came to Colorado, and was a miller in the Trinidad Mills for one year; then came to Denver, and was en- gaged in milling for a short time, then worked at the same business in Golden, and afterward in Boulder. Was head miller of the "Harvest Queen " Mills for three years, then went into part- nership with A. H. Dunning, and is now operat- ing the Golden Gate Flouring Mills. He enlisted December 25, 1863, in Company F, Twenty-second New York Cavalry, of which he was Sergeant, and was discharged in August, 1865.
HON. JEROME B. CHAFFEE.
To write the history of the above named gen- tleman in full is to write, in a great measure, the history of Colorado. In the historical portion of this work will be found an account of some of the enterprises which owe their origin and subsequent success to his practical sagacity and indomitable perseverance. Our only purpose in this brief sketch is to present, in a connected manner, an outline of the more prominent points in his ca- reer. Mr. Chaffee was born in Niagara County,
N. Y., April 17, 1825. He received an academic education, and when quite young removed West and located in Michigan, afterward removing to St. Joseph, Mo., where he engaged in banking. In 1857, he organized the Elmwood Town Company, in Kansas, and became the Secretary and Manager. Coming to Colorado in the spring of 1860, he went at once to what is now Gilpin County, and entered upon the work of developing some prom- ising gold lodes which he had secured there, and, also, in company with Mr. Eben Smith, a skillful mining expert and manager, erected the Smith & Chaffee Stamp Mill. This enterprise proving suc- cessful, did much to revive the drooping courage of the miners in the vicinity, and gave an impetus to the mining industries of Gilpin County, which is felt to this day. In 1863, he sold his interest in the lode he was then working, but subsequently repurchased it, and consolidated it with other lodes, the whole constituting what has since been famous as the "Bob-Tail Lode and Tunnel," it's name, as commonly reported, being derived from the fact that a bob-tail ox, harnessed to a drag, made by stretching a raw-hide across a forked stick, was used for hauling the pay-dirt to the gulch for slnicing. It is not our purpose to re- count the history of this famous lode, its division and working by different companies up to 1869. In that year, a consolidation of the various inter- ests on the lode was effected by Mr. Chaffee, who became the heaviest stock-owner in the Bob-Tail Company, the best known and most prosperous mining corporation in Colorado, producing annu- ally from $300,000 to $500,000, and owning the best paying mine, the most extensive tunnels, and one of the most complete mills in the State. Mr. Chaffee has probably made larger investments in mining operations than any other man in Colorado, owning about a hundred gold and silver lodes, in various stages of development, among which are the well-known Caribou Silver Mine, in Boulder County, and various others of more or less note, in Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties, not to mention his connection with the celebrated Little Pittsburgh
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Consolidated Mining Company, of which he is one of the organizers and principal stockholders. In 1865, he purchased the business of Clark & Co., bankers in Denver, and organized the First National Bank, of which he became President, and continued as such until January, 1880. A history of this institution may be found in another part of this work, and we will only say that its career has been one of unvaried and honorable success. No institution enjoys a more unlimited confidence at home, nor a higher credit abroad. Mr. Chaffee's political career began in 1861, when he was elected, from Gilpin County, to the first Territorial Legislature, as a Republican, and be- came an influential member of that body. In 1863, he was returned to the Legislature, and was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1865, the people of Colorado organized a State Government under an enabling act of Congress, when he was elected United States Senator, with Hon. John Evans. Owing to a lapse of time under the enabling act, it required further legis- lation on the part of Congress in order to admit the State. A bill for that purpose was introduced and passed by both Houses in the session of 1865-66, and vetoed by President Johnson, and, rot being able to pass the same over the veto, it fell with the expiration of that Congress. It was introduced and passed again in the session of 1867-68, and again vetoed by Johnson, and failed to become a law by one vote in the Senate. The fight over the question became one of the memo- rable controversies of President Johnson's admin- istration, and Mr. Chaffee developed a tenacity of purpose which made him conspicuous and widely known. In 1870, he was elected as Delegate to Congress, taking his seat in the spring of 1871, when he immediately introduced a new enabling act, and labored persistently through his two terms to secure the admission of Colorado into the Union, continuing his efforts with unabating en- ergy and persistency until they were crowned with success, and Colorado took her place as the " Cen- tennial State." Among the many acts of legisla-
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