USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 47
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 47
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tion, for which the people of the State are in- debted to Mr. Chaffee, was the bill authorizing a treaty with the Ute Indians, for the cession of a portion of their reservation, thus opening to set- tlement the rich mineral country known as the San Juan. He also introduced and advocated the passage of an important resolution, changing the rules of the House, so as to give the Territories a representation in the Committee on Territories, thus establishing a precedent for permitting dele- gates to participate in the business and councils of other committees. Mr. Chaffee was the first Del - egate to avail himself of the privilege conceded to report a bill directly from a committee to the House. He also drafted and secured the passage of a bill for enlarging, defining and confirming the power of Territorial Legislatures. The num- ber of post offices in Colorado was increased during his first year in Congress, and through his in- strumentality, from ninety to over one hundred and fifty, and corresponding mail facilities supplied them. He was largely instrumental in providing the present mining code, and carrying the same through Congress. Under the new State organi- zation, he was again elected United States Senator, and took his seat with Hon. H. M. Teller, in De- cember, 1876, drawing the short term, which expired March 3, 1879, when he declined a re-elec- tion. Among other Legislative acts of great interest to the State, which were introduced by him in the Senate, was a bill authorizing a further treaty with the Ute Indians for more concessions from their reservation, which is not yet concluded. Also a bill authorizing the miners to cut and re- move timber upon the public domain for domestic use. Another law, which has done much toward developing the mineral resources of Colorado, owes its origin to him, and that is, that work to the amount of $100 shall be performed every year to entitle the owner of a claim to hold the same, many good strikes being the result of the labor thus expended. He also introduced a resolution of inquiry into the manner of operating the Union Pacific Railroad and its branches, and made a
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speech on the same, which was largely copied in the press of the country, and awakened an inter- est in the public mind which has already com- pelled the Company to correct many abuses here- tofore practiced upon the people of the country. In politics, Mr. Chaffee is a pronounced Republi- can, and has been a Delegate in every Presidential Nominating Convention, beginning with that of 1844, which nominated J. G. Birney at Buffalo, N. Y., as a candidate of the Liberal party. Ac- customed as he is to enterprises of great magni- tude, he is, in business, distinguished by great breadth of views, quickness of perception and promptness of action, which enable him to com- prehend almost instantly plans of the greatest moment, and at once put them into execution. The possessor of a fortune second to none in Colo- rado, he employs it in developing the resources and promoting the interests of the State, which owes to him, and to which he in turn owes, so much of material prosperity.
HON. HENRY A. CLOUGH.
Judge Clough is one who has been identified with the city from its infancy, having honorably discharged the duties of several offices of public trust conferred upon him by the people during that time. He was born in Caroline County, Md., March 18, 1839. His early years were spent in study in the common schools of his native county, after which he served an apprenticeship to the printing business in the office of the State Rights Advocate, published at Centerville, Md. From 1862 to 1864, he taught school at Ross- ville, Caroline Co., Md., and during that time prepared himself for the practice of law, un- der the direction of Thomas J. Keating, the present Comptroller of Maryland. He was ad- mitted to the har in March, 1864, and in the fall of the same year removed to Colorado. In 1865, he was appointed Clerk of the District Court of the First Judicial District of Colorado Territory, and served in that office until September, 1869, when he resigned the office to accept that of Pro-
bate Judge of Arapahoe County, to which he had been elected. He served as Probate Judge until 1873, being re-elected for a second term in 1871. After Mr. Clough's election to this office, the Legislature, at the instance of the bar of Denver, greatly increased and extended the jurisdiction of the Probate Court of Arapahoe County, and un- der his administration it first assumed importance as a court of civil jurisdiction. The business greatly increased, nearly all the cases within its jurisdiction being litigated before that court. In 1872, the Legislature passed an act requiring the listing and sale of certain lots, the title of which was claimed by the city of Denver for the use of pub- lic schools. The title to these lots had long proved a fruitful source of controversy and entered largely into the local politics of Denver. Judge Clough is justly deserving of praise for the ener- getic and faithful manner in which he discharged the trust and duties required by this act of the Legislature. The sum of nearly $40,000 was realized from the sale of these lots and paid into the school fund. He did much arduous labor in correcting and re-arranging both the records of the District and Probate Courts and was generally regarded as a faithful and efficient public officer. Both upon the occasion of his retiring from the office of Clerk of the District Court and that of Probate Judge, the bar passed resolutions highly complimentary to his integrity, ability and effici- ency in the discharge of his official duties. Since his retirement from the office of Probate Judge he has been engaged in the active practice of his pro- fession, maintaining an excellent reputation for his legal ability and knowledge of the common law. In 1876, he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for Judge of the Second Judicial District, of Colorado, but was defeated with the rest of his ticket. As a Democrat, he has taken an active part in all political matters during the past ten years and has achieved a very considerable reputation for shrewdness and ability in that respect. He was married in 1873 at Jefferson City, Mo.
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HON. DAVID A. CHEVER.
Mr. Chever is of English parentage. His father's family emigrated to the United States in the early history of the country, and settled in Massachusetts. David A. was born in Salem, Essex Co., Mass., October 24, 1824. In 1834, in company with his brother, Charles G. Chever, he sailed on a voyage round the world with their father, who was the owner of a vessel. After his return at the end of twenty months, he attended the public schools of his native towo until the age of sixteen, when he made a voyage in his father's ship, before the mast, to the East India Islands, and upon his return at the end of ten months was commissioned midship- man in the United States Navy, October 19, 1842, and remained in that position until the close of the Mexican war, when he resigned and went to California, leaving his home in Massachusetts in October, 1848, and arriving in California March 28, 1849. He was extensively engaged in mining until 1854, when, leaving that State, he went to Northern Wisconsin, and was for five years man- ager of W. B. Ogden's lumber mill. In the spring of 1859, he started for Pike's Peak, and in July arrived in Denver, where he concluded to locate. He immediately began operating in real estate, and has continued in that business up to the present time. During his residence in Denver, the offices of public trust conferred upon him are a token of the confidence of the people in his integrity as a public officer. In 1873, he was elected County Commissioner of Arapahoe County. In 1864, he was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature on the Republican ticket, and at the time of the war served in the capacity of Adjutant General. During the years 1875-76, he served as Postmaster of the city of Denver.
CHARLES G. CHEVER.
C. G. Chever, one of the pioneers of Colorado, is a native of Massachusetts. He was born in Salem, in that State, September 13, 1827. Leaving his native State in 1849, he went to California, where he resided until 1859, being principally engaged in
mining during that time. He came to Denver from the city of Oroville, Cal., August 18, 1859. In 1861, he was elected County Clerk and Re- corder, and discharged the duties of that office efficiently for six years, after which he engaged in real estate investments, and has since continued to operate extensively in real estate and in the im- provement of his own property. He also acts as agent for other parties in large real-estate trans- actions. He has been identified with the interests and progress of the city from its infancy.
JOB A. COOPER.
J. A. Cooper, cashier of the German National Bank, was born in Bond Co., Ill., Nov. 6, 1843. He is of English descent, his father coming from England in 1820 and settling in New York, from which State he emigrated to Bond Co., Ill., in 1840, being among the early settlers of that part of the State. The subject of this sketch left the farm at ten years of age, to attend school at Knoxville, Ill., where he remained five years, going from there to Knox College, Galesburg. There he continued as a student until, in 1864, he entered the volun- teer service of the United States, as Second Ser- geant of Company C, One Hundred and Thirty- Seventh Illinois Infantry. He was in Mem- phis when Gen. Forrest made his raid upon that city in August, 1864. On the muster- out of his regiment, near the close of the war, he returned to college, graduating in 1865. He then began the study of the law in Greenville, Ill., and was admitted to practice in 1867. In 1868, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Bond County, for four years. In May, 1872, he came to Denver and formed a law partnership with Hon. A. C. Phelps, which continued for ahout a year. He then engaged in the insurance business until April, 1876, when he was elected Vice President of the German National Bank, and at once took an active part in the management of its affairs. In December, 1876, he was chosen cashier, and still acts in that capacity. He has shown himself an efficient, capable manager of the finances of
Ludliff
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the institution, and demonstrated his eminent fit- ness for the position he occupies. He was elected to the City Council in the spring of 1876, re-elected in the fall of 1877, and served as Presi- dent of the Council. He has been Treasurer of the State University at Boulder, since its organi- zation under the State Government, in 1876. He was married, September 17, 1867, to Miss Jennie O. Barnes, of Galesburg, Ill., and has four chil- dren.
GEN. WILLIAM L. CAMPBELL.
Gen. Campbell is one of Colorado's pioneers, who has ever been ambitions to develop the rich resources and further the useful enterprises of his State, and to that end he has devoted his time and labor. He was born in Schenectady County, N. Y., October 8, 1829, and, after receiving a good common-school education, entered Union College, New York, graduating in the Engineering Depart- ment in 1849. He then adopted the profession of civil engineering, and, for about four years, was engaged on railroad surveys in his native State, the most important of which was the Rutland and Washington route. In 1853, he went to Ohio and was there engaged on various railway surveys until 1855, when he became one of the Division Engineers on the Erie Canal, where he continued until 1858. His health failing, he accepted the agency for the Butterfield Overland Stage Line, in Arizona, where he remained until the spring of 1860. The Pike's Peak excitement, then attract- ing his attention, he came to Colorado, and has been more or less engaged in mining ever since. He first engaged in gulch and placer mining at Idaho Springs, and gave his exclusive attention to the mine until 1863, when he was elected Sheriff of Clear Creek County, and served onc term. In 1870, in company with Frederick A. Clark, he bought out the Colorado Stage Company, and established lines between Denver and the sur. rounding towns. They continued operating these for about three years, when they sold out and Mr. Campbell formed a partnership with J. F. Sey- mour, and bought the famous "Slide Mine" at
Boulder. After working this for about a year, they sold out to the American Consolidated Gold and Silver Mining Company. Mr. Campbell then continued mining and dealing in mines until Jan- uary, 1877, when he was appointed and com- missioned United States Surveyor General for the District of Colorado, by President U. S. Grant, which office he held until the winter of 1879. He is still engaged in mining interests, and also in stock-raising. Gen. Campbell is an industrious, honest and generous-hearted man, and one of Col- orado's most enterprising pioneers.
JOHN A. CLOUGH.
J. A. Clough, of Denver, Colo., was born in Car- oline County, Md., Nov. 26, 1826. He received a common school education, after which he fol- lowed teaching for about three years ; he then fol- lowed farming and stock-dealing in his native county until 1862, when he sold his farm there and moved to the adjoining county of Queen Anne, where he was engaged in farming and stock-dealing until 1872, when he sold most of his land and came to Colorado, arriving in Denver May 19, 1872. For a short time he took charge of the Denver City Stock Yards, then owned by S. F. Jones. He then associated himself with Jacob Scherrer and P. S. Oatman, purchased the Stock Yards, and bought and sold stock under the firm name of Scherrer, Clough & Co., until October 1, 1873. The firm was then dissolved by the withdrawal of Mr. Oat- man, and a new one of Scherrer & Clough formed, which continued the same business until June 1, 1876, when this firm was dissolved, and Mr. Clough has since continued the business " with various persons, it requiring a second party to suc- cessfully conduct the business ; one is to purchase the stock from the herds, and the other to attend to the selling of them at the yards. Mr. Clough was the first man to establish the present retail system of selling stock to butchers just as they need them, and he is now largely supplying the Denver, Leadville, Georgetown and Central mar- kets. In 1878, he handled over 4,500 cattle,
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2,000 calves and 1,500 hogs, and, for 1879, his sales are considerably larger, having operated a part of the year with J. P. Mallon, of Golden, and Hon. H. Gahbard, of Agate. In July, 1879, in company with his son, N. H. Clough, who has been engaged in butchering extensively since 1872, he fitted up a large building and organized the "Colorado Packing Company " which is now put- ting up in large quantities a superior quality of corned beef, which is said to excel any canned beef in the market, because of the cattle being killed and canned fresh from the herds, thereby avoiding being bruised and fevered in shipping. Mr. Clough is one of Denver's live business men, and has done much for the city, by supplying her markets with good beef.
RODNEY CURTIS.
Mr. Curtis was born in Broome County, N. Y., January 17, 1839. He'received a good public school and seminary education which he supplemented with a course in Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College of Chicago, Ill. In 1859, he went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and for about a year was engaged in the grain trade. In the spring of 1860, in com- pany with his brother, C. M. Curtis, he came to Colorado, and soon after their arrival in this State they purchased a ranch near Denver, which they continued to farm up to the spring of 1864, when the pay clerk of the United States Mint, James D. Clark, absconded with about $37,000, and Rod- ney Curtis was appointed to this position in the Mint ; in 1869, he was promoted from pay clerk to chief clerk, and on January 7, 1876, he was commissioned by President Grant, melter and refiner in the mint, which position he still occu- pies. Mr. Curtis has been twice married, first to Miss Dell C. Goss, of Denver, and from this union he had three children, two daughters of whom are living. His present wife was formerly Mrs. Sarah L. Housh, of this city. Mr. Curtis is one of the Colorado pioneers, and is also one of Denver's best citizens. He has done much toward improv- ing the city. In 1867, he and Clarence J. Clarke
laid out an addition to Denver, known as Curtis & Clarke's Addition, and, in 1873, built one of the best business blocks on Larimer street, now known as the State Building. Mr. Curtis' reputa- tion is that of a prompt and careful business man, and by strict integrity and persevering industry he has amassed a comfortable fortune. He has a tall graceful figure, is a man of easy address and has that happy faculty of winning and retaining the friendship of all who know him, Social, generous and just, he is, in the strongest sense of the word, a man.
BENJAMIN F. CHEESMAN.
Although not one of the earliest pioneers of Arapahoe County, Mr. Cheesman was among the first settlers of Colorado, having settled near where Greeley now is in July, 1860. He was born in the State of New York May 18, 1827. His father was a farmer, which vocation Mr. Cheesman adopted and has followed successfully all his life. In 1855, he left New York and went to Winona, Minn., from which place he came to Colorado. Soon after the great flood of 1864, he left his farm, near the present site of Greeley, and bought a ranch in this county, twelve miles north of Den- ver, on the Platte. As a farmer and stock-raiser, and a stirring business man, he has been well and favorably known. He was married, in 1855, to Miss Maria Vandervart. Mr. Cheesman owns property in Denver, where he spends the winters, living on his farm during the summer seasons.
GEORGE CROSSON.
Mr. Crosson is one of the few men who have made prospecting and mining a success. Born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1826, he lived there until 1851, when he went to California and successfully engaged in mining, in that State, and at Vancouver's Island. In 1859, he returned to Ohio and began farming, but, in 1870, was employed by a party of capital- ists to- visit Colorado, to examine a mine near Idaho Springs. He was so well pleased with the rich prospects here, that he disposed of his inter- ests in Ohio, and came to Colorado in 1878. He
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discovered what is known as the Crosson District, on the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad, and is one of the owners of the " Uncle Robert " mine, in that district. He is also the discoverer and owner of a number of other mines, in this State, some of them showing fine assays. A trustworthy and reliable gentleman, familiar with mining in all its forms, he has contributed in no small degree to the development of Colorado's mining resources.
JAMES A. CHAIN.
J. A. Chain, senior member of the wholesale and retail book and stationery house of Chain & Hardy, was born December 23, 1848, in Columbus, Ohio, removing, in 1860, to Central Illinois, and entered the employ of a mercantile establish- ment as clerk. In 1868, he entered Illinois College, where he remained, as a student, until failing health compelled him to abandon his studies, and, accordingly, in 1870, after leav- ing college, he came to Colorado, where he spent the first year in herding cattle on the Plains. In 1871, his health being partially re- stored, he established the book and stationery business, in which he was shortly afterward joined by Mr. S. B. Hardy, his present partner. Their business, which, at the outset, was small, has kept pace with the rapidly growing city, of which it is undoubtedly the leading house in their line of business. It is safe to say that everything can be found in their establishment at 414 Larimer street, to which they removed in 1875, that can be found in the largest houses in the Eastern cities. Mr. Chain was married, March 23, 1871, to Miss Helen Henderson, a lady of cultivation and refine- ment, whose prominence in art circles merits more than a passing notice. A native of Indianapolis, she accompanied her father's family to California. Fifteen years of her life were passed amid the grandeur and beauty of California scenery, her home being at the foot of Mount Diablo, where, in the presence of Nature's grandest works, those tastes were formed which lead her in her art work, although devoting her attention to other subjects,
to turn from them willingly and find her greatest delights in transferring to her canvas the beauty and sublimity of the " everlasting hills." Return- ing to Indiana, she became a student in the Meth- odist College, of Indianapolis, finally graduating from the Illinois Female College, at Jacksonville. During her residence in Colorado, Mrs. Chain has been occupied mainly in painting the mountain scenery of the State. She was the first lady to visit the Mount of the Holy Cross, which she did in 1877, makiog sketches of this grand and re- markable scene, which have several times been transferred to her canvas. A pupil of the cele- brated landscape painter, George Inness, of New York, she follows the free, bold method of her distinguished preceptor ; first laying in, in black and white, the whole plan of the picture, and then proceeding to develop every part at once, so that, at all times, during the progress of the work, every part of the picture fits into every other part and every object retains its proper relation to all the rest, until the picture stands out a harmonious whole.
CHARLES D. COBB,
C. D. Cobb was born in Columbus, Johnson Co., Mo., June 15, 1844. Mr. Cobb enjoyed, in early youth, only such limited school privileges as the " border " afforded. When eleven years of age, he was placed in the Irving Institute, at Tarrytown, N. Y. It was the desire of his friends that he should here prepare for college and eventually enter Yale; but, after two years, yearning for the freer air of the Western prairies, he returned home, disap- pointing this expectation, and, save a short term, subsequently, at the Benton Grammar School, in St. Louis, enjoyed no other educational advan- tages. At the breaking-out of the war, in 1861 (being then seventeen years of age), when Mis- souri was arming as a neutral power, he was ap- pointed an enrolling officer, with rank of Captain ; but, on the passage of the ordinance of secession, and merging of the State guard into Confederate troops, withdrew and returned to his home, and, soon after, took up his residence in Lexington,
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then a Federal military post. Coming thence to Denver, in 1863, and serviug an apprenticeship to business in the houses of H. Burton and John H. Martin, he soon won the confidence and esteem of the community by his integrity and ability. An incident of his personal experience, occurring about this time, which may be recorded as of some public interest, illustrative of life in Denver in those early days, was his shooting and capture of a midnight garroter, who attacked him near the corner of Seventeenth and Champa streets. The robber fell just in front of the Hon. Amos Steck's present residence, on Curtis street, was taken to jail, recovered, and finally escaped ; but the mo lestation of citizens was not so common for some time thereafter. In 1867, with Mr. Martin's assistance, he became associated with Col. Robert Wilson, under the firm style of Wilson & Cobb, in the post tradership and Government contracting at Fort Fetterman, Wyoming, in which he was entirely successful. He was married in 1868 to the daughter (now deceased) of Hon. R. G. Buck- ingham, and has four children. He returned to Denver in 1870, and engaged in the business of fire insurance, in which he has again been success- ful, the firm of which he is a member (Cobb, McMann & Co.) doing by far the largest business in their line in the State. Mr. Cobb is President of the Denver Board of Underwriters, a member of the Board of Education, and a prominent Odd Fellow, in which Order he has held nearly every office within their gift, including that of Grand Patriarch of the State. In politics, he affiliates with the Democrats, who have several times hon- ored him with important nominations. He is an active member of the Episcopal Church, in which body he holds several important trusts indicative of their confidence and esteem.
U. S. CLARK, M. D.
Dr. Clark was born in Byron, Fond du Lac Co., Wis., June 4, 1847. He spent his early life there until seventeen years of age, having the advantages of a public school education. He then enlisted in
Company B, Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry, and served one year, after which he returned to Wisconsin and entered Ripon College, continuing his studies three years in that institution. He then read medicine one year in the office of Dr. B. A. Wheeler, when he entered the Homeopathic Medical College of Cleveland, Ohio, graduating from that institution in the spring of 1873. He came to Denver soon afterward, and practiced medicine in company with Dr. Wheeler for two years. Removing to Boulder City, he continued in practice for a short time, then returned to Denver, and has since established himself in a lucrative practice. He was married in September, 1872.
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