Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 23

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1530

USA > Colorado > Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present > Part 23

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In 1884 Mr. Rockwell went to Aspen as the general western attorney for The Colorado Coal and Iron Company, at that time the fuel depart- ment of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He had charge of the building of branch roads into the coal mines, and acquired extensive areas along the coal belt, all of which property, by con- solidation, is now owned by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. He represented, as attor- ney, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Com- pany and its coal company in the fight against the Midland Railroad and its fuel company, for the possession and occupation of the mountain passes, which resulted in the Colorado Coal and Iron Company gaining the mountain pass and `the coal lands at the accessible points for which both companies were contending.

During the seven years spent in Aspen Mr. Rockwell not only developed coal interests and represented railroad companies, but also gave considerable attention to the practice of mining law. On his return to Denver he devoted him- self principally to mining and corporation law.

Later, in 1893, he went to Cripple Creek and assisted William E. Johnson in securing the right of way for building the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad, which has a record for making the largest profits, in proportion to mileage, of any road in the country, and being the only railroad built in the United States during the

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panic of 1893. Besides representing various companies as attorney in charge of their Cripple Creek mining interests, he has also personally acquired properties in that district. He has been attorney for the Gold Coin and The Woods Investment Company and allied mining companies from their inception to the present time, and they have become the third wealthiest among all of the mining companies of the state. This, too, has been accomplished without any serious and expensive litigation, although hundreds of con- flicting interests were engaged in suits, all of which were settled and placed in combination, which has made these people among the richest in the country. Also for several years he repre- sented at Cripple Creek not only the railroad, but the other numerous and large Moffat-Smith min- ing interests, comprising several of the largest mining companies in that district, having pur- chased, patented and consolidated many of the most valuable claims for their several mining companies. That this work was accomplished so successfully is due largely to the attorney who had the control and direction of these vast enter- prises.

Mr. Rockwell was personal attorney for Hon. A. N. Rogers, whom Judge Hallett, in October, 1879, appointed umpire commissioner to settle the dispute between the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Denver & Rio Grande Rail- roads over the right of way through the Royal Gorge. The commission was composed of Hon. A. N. Rogers, umpire; George E. Gray, of Cali- fornia, for the Denver & Rio Grande; and Gen. Sooy Smith, of Chicago, for the Santa Fe Road. Mr. Rockwell wrote the umpire's report that was adopted by Judge Hallett, and on which Jay Gould paid $875,000 by wire within two hours after the report was handed down and approved. This very important matter was so satisfactorily handled by Mr. Rockwell that all of Mr. Rogers' large mining companies' business was, until Mr. Rogers' death, left in Mr. Rockwell's hands.

Politically he has always been a strong Repub- lican. He cast his first presidential vote for General Grant. While in Aspen he served as district attorney, and made the first conviction for murder in Pitkin County, although prior to that time there had been no less than twenty-four murders and no one hung or in prison. What is known in politics as the Teller-Hill fight for the United States senatorship started in Mr. Rockwell's office in Central City, where the in-

side committee representing the Republican party assembled and received from Senator Chaffee the Washington reports of this coming senatorial fight. This committee adjourned to meet the next morning at the office of Teller & Orahood to meet Senator Teller in person on his arrival from Washington. These citizens again met in the afternoon, and as the result of the meeting some left the office and declared for Henry Wol- cott for Governor, the others refusing to support Henry Wolcott because he was put forth as the representative of Senator Hill, and at this time was formed the nucleus of the two factions which led to the bitter senatorial fight, and became the bitterest political feud known in the state of Colorado, and thus originated the Teller-Hill factions in Colorado politics.

In reviewing the character and careers of suc- cessful men, much interest is felt in analyzing the secret of their power. In the life of Mr. Rockwell a close observer will note that, while he has been gifted by nature with keen intellect and acute mental faculties, and while he was fortunately situated in youth in being able to gain a thorough knowledge of mining, yet his remarkable success is due as much to his indus- try and indomitable perseverance as to any other quality. He has the force of will to carry to a successful issue the plans he inaugurates or those represented by his clients, and his familiarity with mining and mining law has made his serv- ices of inestimable value to those companies which he has represented.

ON. LEWIS C. ROCKWELL. In the list of prominent attorneys of Colorado who wielded powerful influence both in territorial - - and state history mention belongs to the name of L. C. Rockwell, formerly a successful and able lawyer of Central City and Denver, but now de- ceased. From the time of his settlement in Colorado until his death, thirty-four years later, he was especially prominent in mining suits, and

was retained as attorney in many cases where vast amounts were involved. It is said that at the time of his death he had the distinction of having tried more mining cases, settling more intricate mining questions, and reported in the reports of the territory and state of Colorado, than any other attorney or firm of lawyers at the bar.

The boy hood days of Mr. Rockwell were passed in Schoharie County, N. Y., where he was born

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in 1840. He was fifteen years of age when the family settled in Beloit, Wis. He studied law in the Chicago Law School and was admitted to the bar. Upon coming to Colorado in 1862, he be- came connected with his brother, W. S. Rockwell, in Central City, and when, two years later, his brother returned to Wisconsin, he succeeded to the law business, remaining in Central City until 1882. Meantime his practice grew to such an extent that his removal to Denver was rendered necessary. On going to that city he opened an office in the Tabor block, where he continued his practice until his death, in 1897. For many years his home was on Grant Avenue, that city. Through the practice of his profession, which brought him large fees, and through his invest- ments in mines and real-estate, he accumulated property valued at $150,000, among his holdings being twelve hundred acres of land and valuable water rights on the Little Thompson, in Weld and Larimer Counties, including some of the most extensive and valuable water rights of Colorado. At the time of his death his oldest son, Har- vey E., was a law student in his office.

Active in public and political affairs, Mr. Rock- well was frequently chosen to represent the people in positions where breadth of knowledge and sagacity of judgment were imperative qualifica- tions. He was a member of the constitutional convention that convened in July, 1876, at the time Colorado was admitted into the union of states; and served in the first state senate, and did much toward laying the foundations of the new state upon a firm and stable foundation. Many new constitutional provisions then en- grafted into the Colorado constitution by these vigorous western minds have served other young and growing states well in later years. This constitution stands as a lasting monument to the memory of every man who had the fortune to be a member of that illustrious body, of which Mr. Rockwell was a leading mind, and a member of its celebrated judiciary committee.

He left a wife and family, Mrs. Lulu Alvord Rockwell and seven children, five of whom were boys and two girls, all inheriting his vigorous constitution and intellect.

Mr. Rockwell met a violent death from a kick over the heart by a young horse, from which he died at the end of a week, at the age of fifty-seven -in the vigor of his life and prime of his useful- ness in this world of activity; mourned by friends

and all who had the pleasure to have known him and share his generosity and many deeds of kind- ness.

ON. WILLIAM S. ROCKWELL. The life which this narrative sketches began in

- Schoharie County, N. Y., in 1824, upon a farm owned and occupied by his father, Lewis Rockwell, who was of English and Scotch descent and was a native of New York, ouce a member of its state senate and a prominent man in public affairs. In 1847 the family removed to Wiscon- sin and settled four miles from Beloit, on a farm that is still known as the Rockwell place. The son, who forms the subject of this sketch, had previously been given his choice between attend- ance at a law school and the gift of a farm, fully stocked. He rejected the latter and entered the Albany Law School, where he took the regular course of lectures. Immediately after graduat- ing, in 1847, he opened an office in Beloit, Wis .. where he engaged in practice in partnership with Matt S. Carpenter, who in after years became the celebrated United States Senator Matt S. Car- penter, of Wisconsin. On the removal of Mr. Carpenter to Milwaukee, Mr. Rockwell continued alone. For a time he served as state's attorney of Rock County and also as a member of the state legislature. He was one of the originators of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, the plan for which was conceived by a Mr. Johnson, and the records were kept in a black trunk in Mr. Rockwell's office. Subsequently the company was reorganized and the records moved to Milwaukee, and in time the now cele- brated Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany was evolved from that small beginning.

In the spring of 1848 Mr. Rockwell married Miss Lorena Vasseller, who was born in New York state. Her paternal grandfather emigrated from Prussia and settled in the Mohawk Valley iu New York. In his native country he had been a landed baron and bore the title of "von," but his estates in Prussia were confiscated by the Ger- man government on account of his activity in the first revolution. He abandoned his title and property, and forbade his children seeking to re- gain his estates, or even speaking the German language. Coming to this country he became a citizen of the United States. His son, Elias, fa- ther of Mrs. Rockwell, was a farmer and lived in an adjoining county to Schoharie.

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After fourteen years in Rock County, Wis., in 1861, Mr. Rockwell came to Colorado, hoping to recover from the distressing results of the finan- cial panic of 1857. He regained his independ- ence and paid his entire indebtedness. In time he became one of the most prominent members of the Colorado bar. He was one of the original attorneys for the Bobtail Gregory claims, in which he was succeeded by his brother, Lewis C., and his son, J. E. The latter now has in his pos- session a check for $1,250,000, given to the own- ers of the Bobtail Gregory properties and ad- jacent claims, this being the largest mining deal that had ever been made up to that time. He was retained as attorney in many noted murder cases and none of his clients were ever hung for murder, and were generally acquitted.

When the Civil war closed, Mr. Rockwell became a member of the firm of Pratt, Rockwell & Ferry, in Kansas City, Mo., who were gen- eral counselors for the Missouri River and Fort Scott Railway Company and resident counsel for the Kansas Pacific and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy roads.

Mr. Rockwell spent one season in Wyoming seeking mines and while there was retained as at- torney by many of the prominent mining com- panies to go to the legislature to draft a mining code, and in 1869 he was elected to the first ter- ritorial council. At the request of Col. W. H. Bright, then of Wyoming, he drew up the now celebrated female suffrage bill. On the com- pletion of his work there he returned to Wis- consin, where he remained several years, in order that his children might have good educa- tional advantages. On again coming west he settled in Denver and carried on a general prac- tice in that city, where he continued until his death, in March, 1881, at fifty-seven years of age. His wife died of pnuemonia in Denver in 1890. They left two children, J. E. and Ella L., 110W living in Denver.

As might be expected of a man of Mr. Rock- well's temperament, he kept himself well posted concerning the issues of the day in which he lived. In politics he was a stanch Democrat and on that ticket was a candidate for Congress, but was defeated by the Republican candidate, Jerome B. Chaffee. He was a warm admirer of Stephen A. Douglas, whom he supported and with whom he stumped the state of Wisconsin in the presi- dential campaign of 1860. Having once identi- fied himself with any measure or movement, he

held to its principles with sincerity and honesty. He was a man of broad comprehension and infor- mation, a clear reasoner, fair and conscientious, and firm in his matured judgment. Throughout his honorable career as a lawyer he adhered at all times and under all circumstances to the fundamental principles of the rights of the people and equality of all men before the law. The years that have passed since his death have not dimmed his memory in the hearts of those who appreciated his true worth and his giant intel- lect.

ENRY R. PENDERY, a prominent attor- ney of Leadville and an active professional man of this city since 1879, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849, a son of John L. and Catherine O. (Rockey) Pendery. His father, who is a man of exceptional ability, was born in Ohio, and for some years engaged in the practice of law in Cincinnati, where he was a successful attorney and also served as United States com- missioner. In 1857 he removed from Ohio to Leavenworth, Kan., and formed a partnership with Judge Brewer, which connection continued until his partner was chosen to serve on the su- preme bench of the state of Kansas. He re- mained in Leavenworth until 1878, when he came to Colorado and settled in Leadville, forming a partnership with L. M. Goddard, judge of the su- preme court of Colorado. In additon to his pro- fessional work he acquired important mining interests, and owned the Judge Pendery mine, from which he took ont thousands of dollars in silver. He afterwards engaged unsuccessfully in mining in Joplin, Mo. On his return to Colorado he became interested in the mines of Cripple Creek, through which he has gained another fortune. On his father's side he descends from a Maryland family; his paternal grandmother, whose maiden name was Mary Ludlow, was the first white female born in Cincinnati. Our sub- ject's mother was born in Cincinnati, to which city her father moved from Lancaster, Pa.

The only child of his parents, the subject of this sketch was given excellent educational ad- vantages and was carefully trained for a life of usefulness and honor. For a time he was a stu- dent of Phillips' Exeter Academy in New Hamp- shire, where Ben Butler, Daniel Webster and George Bancroft were educated. This school he entered in 1866, and from it he graduated in 1869 and entered Harvard College the same year,

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graduating in 1873. Returning to Leavenworth he studied law in the office of Pendery & God- dard. In the fall of 1874 he entered the law de- partment of the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, where he carried on the study of law. He was admitted to practice at Leaven- worth, and continued there until 1879, when he came to Leadville. At first he was in partner- ship with Pendery, Goddard & Taylor, and later was junior member of the firm of Pendery & Pen- dery, after which he practiced alone until 1887. He was then appointed register of the United States land office at Leadville, which position he held until August 1, 1892, since which time the firm title has been Phelps & Pendery. His firm has built up a large practice and stands .ex- ceptionally high.

Judge Pendery (for by this title our subject is best known) is a Democrat in politics. He served as county attorney for Lake front 1893 to 1895. In Masonry he is past master of the blue lodge, a past officer of the chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and generalissimo of the Knights Templar, also a member of the Mystic Shrine. In 1876 he married Sarah L. McGee, of Leaven- worth. They have a son and daughter: John M. and Catherine Agnes.

EORGE ADDISON NEWTON, whose por- trait is here presented, was the founder of the Newton Lumber Company. He was born in Ripon, Wis., June 20, 1851. His early years were spent in Ripon and Spring Grove, Wis., and Freeport, Il1. He completed his education in Racine College. In 1871 he removed, with the other members of his family, from Freeport, Ill., to Denver, Colo. He was there engaged in the Colorado National Bank until he attained his majority, when, in 1872, he removed to Pueblo, commencing business as the Newton Lumber Company on the present site of the Grand hotel in this city. For more than twenty years, and until his death, he was closely identified with Pueblo's welfare. He extended the business of the Newton Lumber Company to Colorado Springs, Colorado City, Florence, Canon City, Rocky Ford, Gillett and Cripple Creek. He also organized and was the president of the Sayre- Newton Lumber Company in Denver. He was also a director in the Western National Bank of Pueblo.

Throughout the entire state, in every locality where his business called him, he won friends by

his energy and uprightness. He was a man of genial disposition, and there were few who en- joyed the esteem of associates and acquaintances to the same extent as did he. After an illness of only four days his death occurred, suddenly and unexpectedly, December 13, 1892, at the age of forty-one. Three children, a son and two daugh- ters, survive him. The son, who is his father's namesake, is now actively connected with the Newton Lumber Company and represents the fourth generation who has engaged in the same line of business.

HITNEY NEWTON was born in Monroe, Wis., April 5, 1858. He removed with the family to Freeport, I11., in 1868, and again to Denver, Colo., in 1871. He attended the Denver public schools in their infancy, from 1871 to 1875. In the latter year he entered Cor- nell University and was graduated from that in- stitution in 1879. For a year and a-half after graduation he was connected with the banking business in Denver and Breckenridge. His father, Ezra A. Newton, had been extensively engaged in the lumber business in Fond du Lac, Oshkosh and Monroe, Wis., and Freeport, Il1. His brother, George A. Newton, had started in the same line in Pueblo in 1872. Fate seemed to have ordained a family occupation, and in 1881 he joined his brother in Pueblo. Upon the death of his brother, in 1892, he became the head of the Newton Lum- ber Company.

In December, 1881, he was married to Miss Mary Rose Quigg, of Ithaca, N. Y., by whom he has five sons. In politics he is a Republican, but business engrosses so much of his time that it prevents active participation in public affairs. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar and a Shriner.

HOMAS A. STODDARD, C. E., M. D., who is one of the most eminent specialists of Pueblo, has engaged in practice in this city since the spring of 1891, and has his office in the Central block. Added to native alertness of mind and quickness of perceptive faculties, is the broad and thorough information he has ob- tained through study under the best scientists of Europe and America and through habits of close observation. The reputation which he has gained is by no means only local. Frequently he lias been invited to read articles bearing upon the medical profession, before the conventions of the fraternity; and often he has furnished papers for

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medical journals published in England, Canada and the United States, and both his addresses and his published articles have attracted wide and favorable comment.

The Stoddards are an old and honorable Scotch family. Adam Stoddard, who was a man of cul- ture and classical learning, was tutor to one of the Georges of England. His son, Fanning Stoddard, was born at Blair Athol, Scotland, and emigrated to America in early manhood, settling in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he engaged in the mercantile business. He married Elsie Fra- ser, who was born in Inverness, a great-grand- daughter of the twelfth Lord Lovett. Capt. Thomas Stoddard, son of Fanning and Elsie Stoddard, was born in Halifax, and was captain of schooners and barques engaged in the fruit trade from the Mediterranean to New York and Nova Scotia. The vessels which he commanded were owned by himself. While in the Mediter- ranean, in a fight with Moorish pirates of Gib- raltar, his thumb was cut off by a scimiter and his life was for a moment in deadly peril, but was saved by his brother, who gave the enemy a deadly blow with a hatchet. The sword used by the pirate is now in our subject's possession. At another time Captain Stoddard was wrecked off the coast of Nova Scotia, and with others was lashed to the rigging, but in the intense cold of the air and water, all were frozen to death, with- in one hundred and twenty miles of home. After having often and long traversed the stormy ocean he found his last resting place beneath its waves.

The mother of Dr. Stoddard was Elizabeth Hyson, who was born in Halifax and died in Nova Scotia in 1892. Her father, Michael Hy- son, a native of Germany, settled at Ship Harbor, Nova Scotia, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. His life was prolonged to the unusual age of one hundred and three years, and was finally brought to an end by accident; he slipped and fell on ice, and died from the effects of injuries received. Our subject was the young- est of a family of four sons and one daughter, all of whom are still living. He was born in Hali- fax, August 22, 1857. When ten years of age he left home and began to work for his board, be- ing permitted to attend school during a part of each year. He worked his way through the high school in Pictou, and after graduating, be- came a student in Dalhousie College at Halifax. Here, as before, he defrayed his expenses by his work. After two years in college he began to

teach, and for six years was principal of the Bridgewater school.

As soon as he had saved an amount sufficient to render such an undertaking possible, he en- tered the medical department of the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1886, with the degree of M. D., after a thorough course of four years. In 1883 the degree of C. E. had been conferred upon him. His first professional practice was in Halifax County. As a young, inexperienced physician, he encountered all the obstacles incident to such a position, and it re- quired all his energy to enable him to tide over those early years of financial distress and anxiety. However, success came to him at last, as it al- ways comes to the thorough, painstaking and capable. In 1888 he removed to the city of Hali- fax, where he had a large and constantly in- creasing practice. For two years he was physi- cian to the Halifax dispensary, which, in ad- dition to his private practice, kept him constantly busy. His health finally became undermined, and, for the purpose of recreation and further professional study, he took a trip to Europe. The study of gynecology he there pursued with Dr. Bantock of London and August Martin of Berlin, the two most eminent gynecologists in the world. He also spent some time at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin and with Leopold in Dresden. After remaining abroad for one year he returned to America, in April, 1891.

It became apparent at once, however, that the damp and foggy atmosphere of his ocean-girt home was detrimental to Dr. Stoddard's health, and in the spring of 1891 he came to Colorado, where the high and dry climatic conditions proved beneficial from the first. Opening an office he engaged in practice. In 1894 he went to New York City, where he took a post-graduate course in gynecology at the Polyclinic. On his return to Pueblo he engaged in the specialty of gyne- cology, and is now gynecologist to St. Mary's Hospital and Sanitarium, besides which he has a large private practice. He is a member of the British, Nova Scotia and Colorado Medical Socie- ties; the Pueblo County Medical Society, of which he has served as secretary; and is an honorary member of the Texas State Medical Society. Politically he is a Democrat, and in religion is connected with the First Presbyterian Church of Pueblo. While in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, he was made a Mason in 1878, but he is not active in the fraternity at present. He is identified

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Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 23

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1530

Author: Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1530