USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 52
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 52
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of the duties of this office, he has served the Government faithfully and ably; and, while vig- orously prosecuting cases on the part of the Gov- ernment, he has always shown a just discrimina- tion in such prosecutions between meritorious cases and technical and unintentional violations of the law. Judge Decker has taken an active part in politics, having, in each of the State and National campaigns, spoken in nearly all of the principal towns of the State, and is considered a fluent and forcible speaker. His many sterling qualities, energy, perseverance and honesty of purpose, united with suavity of manner and a genial dis- position, give him a high place both in his pro- fession and in society.
MAJ. JACOB DOWNING.
Jacob Downing was born in Albany, N. Y., April 12, 1830; he was educated at the Albany Academy. At the age of fourteen, he entered the Albany City Bank, as clerk, of which Erastus Corning was President. Remained there about five years, during which time he spent his leis- ure studying Greek, Latin and law. His eye- sight becoming impaired, he was obliged to resign his position, and for two years traveled throughout the Southern States and Mexico in search of health and adventure. In 1851, his parents having moved to Cleveland, Ohio, he made that place his home for a time, taking occasional journeys through Northern Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wis- consin, and the Canadas. In 1855, he concluded to settle down in Chicago, but not finding occupa- tion congenial to his taste, again started on a tour of the Far West, and, after having visited Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas Territory, and seen consider- able of the Pawnees, Sioux, and other tribes of Indians that were then powerful on the Plains, re- turned to Chicago and devoted his time to the study of law, with the firm of Ward & Stanford. He remained here till the Pike's Peak excitement of '59, which proved too great for his adventurous spirit to resist, so he cast his fortunes with the great numbers that were traveling to that wonder-
ful spot, and started toward the great Rocky Mountains. He spent some time in and about Mountain City, and then took up his residence in the city of Auraria, since called Denver.
The times were turbulent, and the citizens were taxed to their utmost to maintain a peaceful state of affairs. Murders, duels and general lawlessness kept the people constantly excited. A vigilance committee was inaugurated, and their summary operations soon restored a quiet and serenity which encouraged the settlers to look forward to civiliza- tion and prosperity. In the fall of 1860, he was active in inaugurating a municipal government, and was elected Judge of the Municipal Court, called the Court of Common Pleas, with almost unlimited jurisdiction. He sent the first man to the chain- gang ever sentenced in Denver, which was followed by many other convictions, and in a short time it became an orderly and well-behaved community. He issued the warrant and sentenced Park Mc- Clure-who was then Postmaster-for a deadly assault on Professor Goldrick, which created great excitement at the time, as McClure had the reputa- tion of being a very desperate man.
At the breaking-out of the civil war, he raised a company of volunteers, composed mostly of hardy miners, and joined the First Regiment Col- orado Cavalry. Was engaged in the famous battle of Apache Canon, of March 26, 1862, and also in the battle of Pigeon's Ranche, two days after, where for hours he sustained the hardest of the fight, losing forty-two out of eighty men. Here he won his promotion as Major, and it was conceded by all that he richly earned the greatest laurels of the battle. He was afterward in the battle of Peralto under Gen. Canby. At Camp Val Verde, he was ordered to take four companies of Colorado Volunteers and march to Mesilla and hold the position while Gen. Carlton crossed from Cali- fornia with his column, after which he was ordered to attend a court martial at Pulvedero, to try officers and privates. Being relieved, he returned to Colorado, via Santa Fé, Fort Union, etc. At Fort Lyon he was ordered to take command of Fort
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Larned, Kansas, where he had a varied experience with the Kiowas, Apaches, Comanches, Arapahoes, Cheyennes and Sioux Indians. When relieved, was highly complimented by Maj. Gen. Curtis for the able manner in which he had managed the Indians, having, with only 150 men, protected 240 miles of the Arkansas route without losing a sol- dier or having a white person killed. Maj. Down- ing was appointed Assistant Inspector General, to inspect Camp Fillmore, Fort Lyon, Camp Wyn- koop, Fort Garland, Gaudaloupe, Fort Larimer, Fort Halleck, Camp Collins, Camp Sanburn and Camp Weld. These points embraced a then unin- habited region of about five hundred miles square. Seldom taking an escort, he had many thrilling and sometimes amusing adventures. When, in the spring of 1864, the Indians commenced killing people along the Platte River, he was ordered by Col. Chivington, theu commanding the District of Colorado, to take what men could be spared from Camp Sanburn and pursue the Indians. After two weeks' hard riding they were found at Cedar Cañon, forty miles north of American Branch, which was located about 140 miles down the Platte. They were attacked at daybreak, and, after several hours of fierce fighting, in a hand-to-hand encoun- ter, thirty-eight of them were killed, a large num- ber wounded, 650 ponies captured and their village destroyed. Afterward, being ordered to the States to attend a court martial, he returned in 1864 in time to join Col. Chivington at Camp Fillmore, en route to Sand Creek, where, as Maj. Downing expressed it, they "made a great many good Indi- ans," and although much odium has been cast upon the men who participated in this fight, yet he thinks history will sustain him in asserting that the result has been the most beneficial and perma- nent of anything of the kind ever accomplished. After Sand Creek, the pursuit was continued after the Kiowas, but without success. Returning to Denver, Maj. Downing was soon after mustered out. A commission was convened to try Col. Chiv- ington for the Sand Creek massacre, and Maj. Downing had the honor of defending him, and the
pleasure of seeing him acquitted. In 1867, the subject of our sketch was elected Probate Judge of Arapahoe County, and on the expiration of his term of office engaged in raising blooded cattle and horses. He had a ranche or farm about five miles from Denver, comprising about 2,000 acres of the richest land, and commanding one of the finest views of Denver, the valley of the Platte and the mount- ains that can possibly be found. He was married at Glen Falls, N. Y., on November 1, 1871, to Miss Caroline E. Rosecrans. She was was edu- cated at the celebrated female seminary of Mrs. Emma Willard, at Troy, N. Y., and is nearly re- lated to Judge Enoch H. Rosecrans, of New York, and to Gen. William S. Rosecrans, of the United States Army. Although Judge Downing and his wife spend much of their time on their beautiful farm, yet he is too fond of politics and excitement to remain entirely inactive. He is, therefore, occa- sionally seen in political circles as an ardent sup- porter of some friend, or the bitter antagonist of an enemy.
HON. M. M. DE LANO.
To the early settlers of Denver, the name of M. M. De Lano is familiar, and he is remembered as one of the most active representative men of the Territory fifteen or twenty years ago. For the past ten years, he has filled the office of United States Consul at Foo Chow, China, where, by his wisdom and prudence, he reflects great credit upon the government which he represents, and com- mands the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact, either socially or in his official capacity. Mr. De Lano was born in Allegany Co., N. Y., in 1827. In 1848, he followed his father's family to the then Territory of Wisconsin, where, on reaching his majority, he was elected to a responsible office in his township. During the five years previous to 1857, he was engaged in business which afforded him an opportunity to travel in the Western States and Territories, visit- ing the Territory of Kansas, where he had fre- quent opportunities of witnessing the manipulation of Kansas affairs by the " Border Ruffians." His
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business engagements alone prevented him from settling in the new Territory, and taking a hand with the Free State party. In 1857, Mr. De Lano, then a widower, married his second wife, and resided, until 1860, in Rock Island and Chi- cago. Coming to Colorado in the spring of 1860, he engaged, the following autumn, in the commis- sion business. In the fall of 1861, Gov. Gilpin appointed him to the office of Territorial Auditor, which office he filled with great credit until the appointment of his successor by Gov. Evans, in 1864. To Mr. De Lano as Auditor, and George E. Clark, Esq., as Territorial Treasurer, belongs the credit of organizing the Treasury Department of the Territory ; and by their judicious manage- ment, the scrip (Auditor's warrants) issued to cover the salaries of Territorial officers, and to meet the incidental expenses of the Territory, during their term of office, were made worth their face in United States Treasury notes. In the spring of 1865, he became the purchaser of large tracts of pine lands in what is now Douglas and Elbert Counties, together with two steam mills, and engaged extensively in the manufacture of lumber, supplying several military posts with that needful article. Mr. De Lano held the office of Alderman and Mayor of the city, his administra- tion of the municipal government proving most acceptable ; so much so that he was called upon to fill the office for two successive terms. The fire department was organized under his direction, and other public measures inaugurated. He amassed a snug fortune, but through the general depression of business, the decline in values, and the depreda- tions of Indians, he lost heavily, and despairing of change for the better, he, in the spring of 1879, sought appointment to a Federal office, and was appointed by President Grant to his present office of United States Consul at Foo Chow, China-the second port in the empire in population and busi- ness importance. It being a provincial capital, he is brought into official contact with the high pro- vincial officers, such as the Viceroy, the Governor, the General-in-Chief of the provincial army, etc.
He has taken much interest in the missionary work of the American M. E. Society, and by his good offices has enabled our missionaries to pene- trate far into the interior of the province, and establish friendly relations with the people, as well as churches in their midst. Our consular service abroad has no better representative, in every re- spect, than M. M. De Lano.
JAMES DAVIS.
Mr. Davis, of Denver, was born at Hanley, Staf- ordshire, England, Dec. 13, 1848. He received a good common-school education, and at fifteen years of age entered upon an apprenticeship in a crock- ery manufactory, serving about two years, when his father built an establishment for the manufact- ure of queensware and placed it under the man- agement of his two sons, John H. and James ; the former assumed the superintendence of the manu- factory, and James came to the United States to dispose of the wares. He made his headquarters at New York City, and, until 1873, they manu- factured and shipped large quantities of crockery and queensware, to accomplish the sale of which Mr. Davis traveled through every State in the Union ; but at this time his lungs became so af- fected that he was compelled to give up his busi- ness, and, in search of relief, came to Denver in October, 1873. He recuperated for about a year, when he had made such rapid improvement that he concluded that he could again endure the damp climate of his native country, and returned to England, but, in eighteen months' time, his health again gave way, and he immediately sold out his home and business and, for the ninth time, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and at once came to Colorado, where he could enjoy health. He settled in Den- ver, and, for a few months, assisted the City Engi- neer, after which he went to clerking in a commis- sion house, which resulted in his originating and entering the firm of L. Russell & Co., commission merchants, of which firm he is still a member. They have a house in Denver, one at the end of the South Park Railroad, and another at Lead-
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ville, and are also extensively engaged in forward- ing freight between Denver and Leadville.
GEN. KEYES DANFORTH.
The Clerk of the Supreme Court of Colorado was born in Ogdensburg, N. Y., July 22, 1841. When he was about five years of age his parents removed to Winnebago County, Wis., and in 1852, to Chi- cago. He was educated in the public schools of that city, and, on the breaking-out of the war of the rebellion, in 1861, he enlisted in the Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry, as Corporal in Company F, and from that time until the close of the war he was constantly engaged in arduous and active duty, being for the most part engaged in scouting service. Among the engagements in which he participated, we will only mention the capture of Little Rock, Ark. He was made Sergeant Major in 1863, was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1864, and to Captain the same year. In the win- ter of 1864-65, he was Adjutant General of the Third Cavalry Brigade, Seventh Army Corps, and in the spring of 1865, was ordnance officer at Pine Bluffs, Ark. From then, till the close of the war, be served as aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Paul Clayton. He was mustered out of the service in October, 1865. In 1867, he was appointed Adju- tant General of the State of Arkansas, by General Clayton, then Governor of that State, and held that office until 1871, when he removed to Colo- rado, settling in Colorado Springs, where he resided until 1874. He was then appointed Reg- ister of the Land Office at Pueblo, remaining there three years. On the 1st of January, 1877, he received the appointment as Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State, which position he has contin- ued to fill in a highly creditable and acceptable manner, to the present time.
PETER DUHAMEL.
Mr. Duhamel was born near Montreal, Can- ada, where he lived until he was eighteen years of age, when he went to Iowa, where he fol- lowed farming for a year and a half. From there
he went to Minnesota, where he bought furs of the Sioux Indians for nearly a year, and then bought a horse and came to Colorado. He bought a farm on the Platte. eighteen miles below Denver, on which he lived four years, and then, in 1864, sold out and removed to Wyoming Territory, where he remained two years, employed as a contractor, in furnishing hay for the Government. At the expiration of this contract, he returned to Colorado and re-purchased his old farm, on which he still lives. He was married in 1871, and has five children.
THOMAS DICKSON.
Thomas Dickson, an enterprising farmer of Arap- pahoe County, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1827. When eighteen years of age, he came to America, settling first in Canada, where he engaged in farming for a time, and afterward engaged in the hotel business, which he continued for about eight years. He was married near Toronto, in 1850, to Miss Mar- garet Willis. In 1865, he removed to Iowa, and again engaged in farming, which he continued six years, and then came to Colorado, locating first at Evans, where he remained two years, and then bought a farm, near Island Station, in this county, on to which he moved and where he has since lived. Mr. Dickson takes great pride in raising fine horses, owning some of the best blooded stock in the county.
THOMAS DONELSON.
Thomas Donelson, one of the carly pioneers of Colorado, having come to the Territory in the spring of 1859, is a native of Champaign County, Ohio, and was born June 20, 1824. While yet a boy, his father, who was a farmer, removed to Coles County, Ill., where Mr. Donelson spent fifteen years, receiving such education as could be picked up from a country school, in the winter, and working on the farm in summer. From there he went to Platteville, Wis., where he worked in the lead mines, and farmed until he came to Colorado. He spent one season mining,
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first on the South Boulder, and then on the Missouri Flats, after which he went back to Wisconsin and spent the winter, returning, with his family, to Colorado, in the spring of 1860. In the fall of 1861, he moved on to his ranche on the Platte, seventeen miles below Denver, where he still lives.
JESSE JACKSON DUNAGAN.
In the richest camps, there are thousands who fail where one succeeds, and happy is he who, hav- ing given the lottery an equal chance, withdraws from the game while yet the vital energies are not entirely wasted in the mad pursuit of sudden wealth. When the miner turns his back upon the seductive hill where in his fancy are stored fabu- lous treasures of gold and silver, awaiting only the steady and persistent stroke of the pick to disclose, and, with strength and courage unimpaired, takes up the instruments of honest toil to which his education and training have fitted him, one may safely predict that his career will be attended with success. Among the many who have "worked a claim," abandoning and resuming operations as their means or the season controlled them, and at last have taken up the long discarded tools of trade, to find in their use contentment and a com- petency, we may refer to the subject of this sketch, Jesse J. Dunagan, of the firm of Dunagan & Cross, merchants, of West Denver.
Jesse J. Dunagan was born in Saline County, Mo., in the year 1833, and at the age of sixteen, removed with his parents to Mills County, Iowa, where he assisted his father in the management of a farm. At the age of twenty-one, he entered upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, serving the allotted three years, and at the expira- tion of that period, continued at his trade as a journeyman for a year or more, when he bade adieu to friends and old associations, and sought adventure in the Far West. Coming to Denver in 1860, he found employment in various occupa- tions during the fall and winter of that year, and, in the following summer, set out with a few others for California Gulch, where they located a claim,
and sunk their labor and their capital in the vain attempt to reach the golden treasure which, since that time, others more fortunate have carried away. In Kent's Gulch, in the fall of 1861, and after- ward, in Central, in spring and summer of 1862, he worked the ungrateful "claims" as long as his money held out, and then mined for others until he acquired sufficient means to work his own claim. Thus the time passed, until the fall of the year 1862, when he varied the routine by hiring out in a saw-mill in Missouri Gulch, near Wide Awake, where he worked to such good advantage that in the year 1863 he was able to purchase an interest in the mill, and soon opened up an extensive and profitable business. Three years later, he sold his share of the mill, and removed to Gold Dirt, a mining camp, and carried on the carpenter trade for about a year. Thence to Cheyenne, where he engaged in business as builder and contractor, about the time the Union Pacific Railroad had reached there; and afterward to Greeley in 1870, where he resided during the winter of that year. In 1871, he removed to Evans, and remained there about five years, working at his trade, occa- sionally doing contract work, and part of the time filling the role of hotel-keeper, as proprietor of the Geary House. The latter occupation proving a paying one, he went to Longmont, and opened the St. Vrain House, which he conducted satisfactorily and profitably up to the spring of 1879, when he disposed of his interest there and removed to Denver. In connection with J. M. Cross, his present partner, he engaged in the grocery and feed business in West Denver, where they have, since their opening last March, done a very safe and constantly increasing business. During his resi- dence at Evans, Mr. Dunagan was married to Miss Lydia E. Garvin, of that town, in the year 1872. He has also enjoyed some political distinction, having been appointed Justice of the Peace in Evans, and delegate by proxy to the convention that nominated the present Governor of Colorado. He is a Mason in good standing, and a Republican of the stalwart species. Mr. Dunagan is now in
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prosperous circumstances, and can afford to take a smiling retrospect of the hard times in 1860, when sickness and loss of employment made him feel somewhat discouraged.
FRANCIS M. DAVIS.
The junior member of the firm of Ensminger & Davis is Francis M. Davis, who was born in James- town, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., November 12, 1835. His father was a millwright, and in 1854 removed to Rock County, Wis. At nineteen, young Davis went to Racine, Wis., as a student in a commer- cial college. In 1859, he engaged in the hub and spoke business in Menasha, Wis., and in 1862 was employed in Janesville, Wis., as a book- keeper. In 1865, he returned to New York, and engaged in the furniture business in his native town, returning to Janesville in 1867. In 1870, he went to Kansas, and embarked in the furniture business at La Cygne, in Linn County, of which place he was Postmaster. The following year, he organized the Farmers' Savings Bank, of which he became cashier. He has been a member of the firm of Ensminger & Davis for the past three years. Mr. Davis was married, in 1857, in Janes- ville, Wis., to Miss Cora M. A. Bemis, and has three children, two daughters and one son.
F. N. DAVIS.
The senior partner of the firm of Davis & Eaton, brick manufacturers, of Denver, is F. N. Davis, who was born in Penfield, Monroe County, N. Y., September 27, 1837. In 1844, his parents removed to Jackson, Mich., where his father died in 1849, after which he worked upon the farm and attended school until the spring of 1853. Being then sixteen years of age, he entered the employ of the firm of Hayes & Mosher and served an apprenticeship of three years at the mason trade ; during that time he at- tended school six months, and at the close of his service with the firm received $300. He then traveled as journeyman bricklayer until 1859, when he located at Sturgis, Mich., and began contract-
ing. In July, 1860, he was married to the daugh- ter of Ira Crandal, of Brighton, Ind., after which he remained a resident of Sturgis, engaged in con- tracting during the summer and buying produce during the winter, until the Chicago fire, when he removed to Chicago and became foreman on large contracts for building in that city. In 1872, on account of the failing health of his wife, he re- moved to Denver, where he engaged in contracting until August, 1878, when he formed a partnership with E. E. Eaton, for making brick, but still con- tinned contracting. He has had the contracts of many of the fine buildings which now adorn the city, and is at present engaged upon the Tabor Block. In 1878, he was elected Alderman from the Fourth Ward.
GEORGE W. DRAKE.
Among the number of pioneers who still reside in this city, and who have passed through the hardships of pioneer life, becoming familiar, by an experience of twenty years, with the unbroken wilderness and the scenes of aboriginal life in the Rocky Mountain region, in 1859, and with the wonderful change wrought by the advance of civilization, is the subject of this sketch. George W. Drake was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, November 8, 1838. He lived upon the farm until 1854, when he went to Charleston, Ill., and served a three-years apprenticeship to the mason's trade, returning to Ohio, and, in the spring of 1858, went to Iowa and spent the summer prospecting for coal at Rapid City, twelve miles above Rock Island. In the fall, he returned to Ohio, and the following spring (1859), in company with thirty others, started for Pike's Peak. At Leavenworth, Kansas, they were joined by others, making a party of one hundred men and twenty wagons. They came by the way of Fort Riley and Junction City, thence over the old Smoky Hill route. While on the latter route, they were one day and two nights without water, traveling over a dry and sandy plain. They were almost famished and well-nigh overcome with fatigue, when their
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animals began to snuff the air and quicken their pace, and by their eagerness, which rendered it difficult to control them, to indicate that they in- stinctively discerned the proximity of water, although it was four miles distant to the Republi- can River. On reaching the stage station (No. 22) their animals plunged into the river and were only saved from the fatal effects of drinking too much by being permitted to remain in the water several hours. After a journey of forty-five days, days, during which they suffered many times from heat and thirst, they arrived on the site of Denver, where they found a small town on the west bank of Cherry Creek. Soon afterward, Mr. Drake went to the mountains, and, after looking about, opened a hotel on the old Gregory road, about seven miles from Black Hawk, at a place known as Cold Spring Ranche, in company with Homer Medbnry, a railroad conductor in Ohio. He re- mained there until September 5, when he started on his return to the States, arriving in Denver on the 15th, and while there was offered his choice of lots on the east side at $I each. He then returned to Ohio, and in the following spring came back to the Rocky Mountains, and spent the summer at Cold Spring Ranche, where he erected a large two-story house. During 1861-62 he was engaged in mining. In 1863, he was agent for Gibson's Pony Express, running from Denver to the mountains. From 1864 to 1867, he was engaged in the mercantile business at Black Hawk. Mr. Drake was married, July 29, 1866, to Martha, daughter of James Brown, of Oskaloosa, Iowa. In the fall of 1867 he removed to Cheyenne, where he took a contract for sinking wells, build- ing bridges, and burning lime for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. The Indians being troublesome along the line of the railroad, they were obliged to carry their arms with them while at work, for protection. In the spring of 1870, he removed to Greeley, where the colony were just starting. There he became acquainted with N. C. Meeker, late Indian Agent, and helped build his house, the first one in the colony, being
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