Portrait and biographical record of the state of Colorado, containing portraits and biographies of many well known citizens of the past and present, Part 3

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

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

upon principles it should have supported, he and his followers left the convention hall, disappointed and sad at heart. Whatever disappointment he may have experienced, however, was forgotten in the gratitude he felt toward the people whom he represented and who, upon his return home, showered upon him expressions of heartiest appreciation and thanks for his steadfast support of their interests.

In 1886 Alfred University conferred upon Sena- tor Teller the degree of LL.D. In fraternal rela- tions he is a Mason and has done mnuch for the upbuilding of the order in Colorado. He has attained the thirty-third degree, Scottish Rite, and has been honored by his brethren of the Mystic Tie with many important and honorable offices. For seven years he was grand master of the state and was also the first grand commander of the Knights Templar of Colorado.

At Cuba, N. Y., June 7, 1862, he married Harriet M., daughter of Packard Bruce, a farmer of Allegany County. They have three children, Emma A., John Harrison and Henry Bruce, all of whom were born in Central City.

Of the personal characteristics of Senator Tel- ler, one of the most conspicuous is that quality which enables him to look ahead, measuring forces and their effects upon the future. He is peculiarly far-seeing, able to discern influences that will bear upon the prosperity of the people in days yet to come. As a leader he is safe, because he is cool, calm and keeu, never allowing himself to become excited and nervous, but main- taining a steady control over his own mind as well as over others. Because of the wonderful control he exercises over himself, he has some- times been called cold; but he may be compared with the ocean beneath which flows the gulf stream, the ocean itself on the surface giving little indication of the warmth of the current below. So it is with him; on the surface he is great, awe inspiring and cold, but below flows the warm and genial current of kindness, sympa- thy and love.

Perhaps we cannot better conclude this sketch than with a quotation from the pen of that versa- tile and brilliant writer, Fitz· Mac, which appeared in a recent character study of Senator Teller, published in the Denver Evening Post. "He has · this mark of genuine greatness above any man whom I know in Colorado, or perhaps any that I

personally know anywhere in public life, except Tom Reed, speaker of the house of representa- tives. He is simple. He is natural. He is with- out affectations. He is simple because it is natural for him to be simple, and simplicity indicates the calm mind and clear vision as to the relations of things, their real values.

" It seems to me that the holy spirit of patriot- ism has descended upon Teller and enveloped him and entered into his soul and sanctified his purposes. He stands before the country as the tongue of Colorado, but he speaks not for Colo- rado alone, not alone for the United States, but for the humbler three-fourths of all humanity. Soberly, bravely and ably he is fighting human- ity's holy cause for us and for all, and it behooves us as an intelligent, appreciative and generous people to hold up his honored hands steadfastly and stand by him with a courage as dauntless, as devoted as his own."

C JOHN W. ILIFF. Among the men who gained fortune in Colorado was one who was known all over the country as the "cattle king" of this state. When people by thousands were coming west during the Pike's Peak excite- ment, he decided to join the tide of emigration that moved westward. He had the sound com- mon sense to bring with him a wagon train of provisions, and these he sold in Denver at a large profit. With this money he bought a small herd of cattle, the nucleus of the immense cattle business he afterward conducted. Study- ing his chosen occupation with care and giving it his entire time, he was naturally rewarded with success. With the exception of about a year in the banking business with Hou. Amos Steck, in Wyoming, he engaged in no business but the raising and selling of stock, and as his means in- creased he increased his herds. Some cattle- men, attaining a fair degree of success, relaxed efforts and thus reduced their profits, but he seemed to grow more energetic with the passing years. He was the head and mainspring of all the work, accompanied the men on the round- ups and worked side by side with them. His possessions extended over such a large tract of land that it is said he could travel for a week, yet always eat and sleep at one of his own ranches. He had twenty thousand acres of

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

pasturage, watered by springs and creeks. From here he shipped cattle to eastern markets. At one time, during the early days, he supplied dressed beef to all the military posts along the line of the Union Pacific. He also had large government contracts and contracts with whole- sale butchers. Over the plains from Julesburg on the east to Texas on the south ranged his cattle, numbering more than fifty thousand head, of which he marketed perhaps fifteen thousand per annum. He was a man of vast wealth, with a princely income; yet his life was unostentatious and to the last he retained the simplicity of habits that marked his earlier years.

For the facts given in regard to the origin and early history of the Ayloff, or Iliff, family, we are indebted to Morant's history of Essex, Eng- land. In Austria, where one branch of the fam- ily resides, the name was Ayecliffe. From Eng- land some of the name emigrated to New Eng- gland in a very early day and with the subse- quent history of that part of our country later generations were intimately identified. From there they moved west to Ohio, where our sub- ject's father, Thomas Iliff, cultivated a farm near Zanesville. Thomas Iliff was born in Pennsyl- vania April 24, 1803, and died October 10, 1874. By his first wife, who was Salome Reed, he had ten children, of whom four are deceased. His second wife was Harriet Halcomb, who survived him twenty-four years. He was one of the most successful and intelligent farmers of Ohio and accumulated a fair property. In the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was a member, he filled offices of trust. Politically he was a Republican and a man of influence in his locality. His name was a synonym for everything that was substantial and trustworthy and his life was worthy of emulation.

The shrewd judgment of Mr. Iliff is illustrated by an incident that happened in his youth. He was living near Zanesville, Ohio, on the farm where he was born in 1831, and was about to em- bark in the world for himself. His father, wish- ing him to remain near the old home, offered to invest $7,500 in a farmi for him, but he asked him to give him $500 and permit him to go west. With that small capital he went to Kansas, where he remained for three years, until he settled in Colorado.

In January, 1864, Mr. Ilift married Miss Sarah

E. Smith, a lineal descendant of John Smith, of Pocahontas fame, and a native of Delaware, Ohio, but for some years a resident of Kansas, where she was educated. The only son born of this marriage is William S., of Denver. In March, 1870, Mr. Iliff married Miss Elizabeth S. Fraser, of whose family mention is made in the sketch of her brother, J. J. Fraser. She was born in Canada, but came to Colorado at an early age and afterward made her home with an aunt near Pueblo. By her marriage to Mr. Iliff three chil- dren were born, one of whom died when young.

In spite of the fact that his journeyings around the country brought him into frequent contact with Indians, Mr. Iliff never carried weapons, but he did not molest the savages and they in turn did not molest him. Politically he was a Republican, and in religious belief adhered to the Methodist faith. He died February 9, 1878, and was buried in Riverside cemetery at Denver. Afterward his son erected the Iliff School of Theology at University Park as a memorial to him. His widow is now the wife of Bishop Warren, of University Park.

B. DANIELS. During the '70s there was no citizen of Denver who was more in- timately associated with its business inter- ests or held a position higher in the confidence of the people than did Mr. Daniels, and his death, which occurred April 8, 1881, was mourned as a public loss. His great business ability was recognized by all, and was the chief factor in his financial success; another, and scarcely less vital force in his success, was his boundless energy, the enterprise that no obstacle daunted, the iu- dustry that the hardest labor could not diminish.

A member of an old family of New York and himself a native of that state, Mr. Daniels was reared upon a farm there, but early in life went to New York City, where he embarked in busi- ness as a ship chandler. About 1865 he came west to Council Bluffs, Iowa, but after three years settled in Denver, which continued to be his home during his remaining years. For a time he was interested in the wholesale grocery business, as a member of the firm of Daniels & Brown. Later he assisted in the organization of the Colorado National Bank, of which he was vice-president until his death. He was inter-

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ested in the real-estate business, and built a number of business blocks, among them the building occupied by the bank. He was also the head of the banking house of Daniels, Brown & Co., of Del Norte, known as the Bank of San Juan, which under his management gained a reputation as one of the strongest financial in- stitutions in the west.

Like the majority of the early residents of Denver, Mr. Daniels held important interests in the cattle business. He was one of the first to buy and improve a ranch in the San Luis Val- ley and he also owned large tracts in Jefferson County. His business affairs received his entire attention, to the exclusion of public matters, but he did not forget the duty he owed to his coun- try and kept himself posted upon the questions before the people. In politics he was a Demo- crat. His first residence in Denver stood on Curtis and Sixteenth streets, where is now the Tabor opera house, and afterward he moved to Court place and Fourteenth street, where he died.

In Council Bluffs, Iowa, Mr. Daniels married Hattie Ramsen, who was born in St. Catharines, Canada, her father having come there from Scot- land, and her mother from England. She died in 1879, when thirty-five years of age. Two of her children, Olive E. and George Sheedy, died in childhood, and the only survivor is A. B., Jr.

ON. JEROME B. CHAFFEE. From what- ever point the life and character of Senator Chaffee may be viewed, whether as the head of large and valuable mining interests, the organizer and first president of the First National Bank of Denver, or as a man of public affairs, devoted to the welfare of his state and intensely interested in its progress, it will be readily con- ceded that he was a great man. His representa- tion of Colorado in the United States senate was of such a nature as to reflect credit upon his own high order of talents and secure for him the regard of his constituents.

Born in Niagara County, N. Y., April 17, 1825, Mr. Chaffee was quite a young man when he came west to Adrian, Mich., where he taught school and afterwards kept a store. Later he removed · to St. Joseph, Mo., where he engaged in bank- ing. In 1857 he organized the Elmwood Town

Company in Kansas, of which he became secre- tary and manager. Soon after the discovery of gold in Colorado he decided to come here, and in 1860 he crossed the plains to Gilpin County, where he developed some gold lodes, and, with Eben Smith, erected the Smith & Chaffee stamp mill. In 1863 he sold the interest in the lode he was working, but afterward bought it back and consolidated it with other lodes, the whole form- ing the famous "Bob-Tail Lode and Tunnel," the name of which is said to have been derived from the fact that a bob-tailed ox, harnessed to a drag, made by stretching a rawhide across a forked stick, was used for hauling the first pay- dirt to the gulch for sluicing. Mr. Chaffee be- came the largest owner of the Bob-Tail Company, which owned the best paying mine, largest tunnels and one of the most complete mills in the state at that time. He became the owner of one hundred or more gold and silver lodes, among them the Caribou silver mine in Boulder County, and he was one of the organizers and principal stockholders in the Little Pittsburg Consolidated Mining Company.

The business energies of Mr. Chaffee found a new outlet in 1865, when he bought the banking interests of Clark & Co., and organized the First National Bank of Denver, of which he was presi- dent until January, 1880. Politically he was a Republican from the organization of that party, and he was its leader in Colorado for many years before his death. Though from 1860 to 1888 extensively interested in mining, yet the larger portion of his time was given to public affairs. In 1861 he was elected to represent Gilpin County in the first territorial legislature, two years later was re-elected and chosen speaker of the house. In 1865 the people organized a state government under the enabling act of congress and he and Hon. John Evans were elected United States senators. A bill to admit the state was intro- duced and passed by the congress and senate in 1865-66, but President Jolinson vetoed it. Again introduced in the session of 1867-68, it was again vetoed by President Johnson. This veto and the subsequent controversy are memorable events in the administration of Johnson, nor was Senator Chaffee's connection with the matter of insig- nificant importance.

When elected a delegate to congress and be- ginning upon his duties in the spring of 1871,

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Senator Chaffee at once presented a new enabling act. During his four years of service as delegate he labored hard for the passage of the act, but it was not until near the expiration of his term that he was successful. When the news reached Denver there was the wildest enthusiasm, and both parties united in praising Mr. Chaffee, for both Democrats and Republicans wished the territory admitted to the Union, each believing it would have a majority of votes. On the admis- sion of the state into the Union, Mr. Chaffee was unanimously elected to the senate, a well-merited recognition of his efforts in the attainment of the end long desired. Hon. H. M. Teller was elected as junior senator. When they reached Washing- ton, Mr. Chaffee drew by lot the long term ex- piring March 4, 1879. After his election his first effort in behalf of the state was an arrange- ment of facts relative to the question of pro rata between the Kansas Pacific and the Union Pacific roads. These he drew up and presented to the senate in a speech that attracted the attention of the ablest men of the country and proved the be- ginning of the final settlement of the question. He introduced a bill authorizing a treaty with the Ute Indians for the cession of a part of their reservation, thus opening to development the rich mining district of San Juan. He introduced a bill changing the rules of the house so as to give the territories representation in the committee on territories, thus establishing a precedent for per- mitting delegates to participate in the business of other committees. He drafted and secured the passage of a bill for enlarging, confirming and defining the power of territorial legislature. Largely through his labors an excellent mining code was passed by congress. Under the new state organization he was again elected United States senator and drew the short term, expiring March 3, 1879, when he refused further election on account of ill health. His friends were ex- tremely reluctant to accept his refusal of further nomination, but when he urged his physical inability to discharge the duties of the responsible position, Hon. Nathaniel P. Hill was placed in nomination and afterward duly elected to the office.

Beginning with the convention in Buffalo in 1844, when J. G. Birney was nominated by the Liberal party, Senator Chaffee was a delegate to every national convention of his party. During

many years he represented his state as a member of the Republican national committee. He did much for the advancement of the state, giving liberally of his time to promote progressive proj- ects and also contributing with the greatest generosity to matters for the benefit of the people. His talents were of an unusually high order, and he is remembered as one of the most eminent men that the state has ever had among its citizens.

At Adrian, Mich., in 1848, Senator Chaffee married Miriam, daughter of Warner and Mary (Perry ) Comstock. Their children were: Horace Jerome, Nellie Virginia, Edward Fenton and Fannie Josephine, wife of U. S. Grant, Jr. In his last years Senator Chaffee divided his time between Colorado and the home of his daughter at Murryweather farm, Westchester County, N. Y. He died there March 9, 1886, and lies buried in Adrian, by the side of his wife and three of his children.

EWIS E. LEMEN, M. D., president of the Colorado State Medical Society, and surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad, was born in Belleville, St. Clair County, Il1., April 1, 1849. The first of his ancestors who settled in America was his great- grandfather, James Lemen, a native of Scotland, but in early manhood an emigrant to Harper's Ferry, Va., and during the Revolution a brave defender of the colonial honor. After the war closed he was sent west by the govern- ment in order to locate lands for soldiers in the western territory. He settled in St. Clair County, of which he was one of the earliest pioneers.

Rev. James Lemen, the doctor's grandfather, was the first white child born in Illinois in the old Indian fort at Kaskaskia. Amid the pioneer influences and environments of his day he grew to manhood, and, selecting the ministry for his profession, he was ordained a preacher in the Baptist denomination. For forty-five years he was pastor of Bethel Church in St. Clair County, and in addition to his ministerial duties he also entered and improved land. He passed away when eighty-six years of age.

Born in St. Clair County, Sylvester Lemen, father of the doctor, was given better educational advantages than had been possible when his father was young. He made agriculture his prin- cipal vocation and became the owner of a valuable farm near Belleville, on which his active years

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

were passed. He was also a licensed preacher in the Baptist Church. In politics he was a Re- publican and strong in his advocacy of the Union during the Civil war. His last days were spent in Belleville, where he died at fifty-six years. His wife, who was born in Illinois and died in Denver at the age of sixty-six, was Susan K., daughter of Aaron Shook, a native of Pennsyl- vania and a pioneer farmer of St. Clair County. The family of Sylvester and Susan Lemen con- sisted of nine children, of whom seven attained mature years and six are living now, the four sons all being professional men. H. A., the eldest, is a physician in Denver, and E. C. is a physician at Upper Alton, Ill., while the young- est, Rev. T. A., is a minister in the Evangelical Church in Oklahoma.

The early years of Dr. Lemen's life were un- eventfully passed on his father's farm. At the age of sixteen he entered Shurtleff College in Alton, Ill., where he carried on his literary studies. From there he went to the St. Louis Medical College, from which he graduated in 1871 with the degree of M. D. In 1876 the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by his alma mater, Shurtleff College. After graduating in medicine he practiced in St. Louis for a year, but in 1872, owing to impaired health caused by overwork, it became necessary for him to seek a change of climate. He had heard much of the salubrious air and healthful climate of Colorado and accordingly came to this state, where he opened an office in Georgetown, Clear Creek County, and engaged in practice there until his removal to Denver in 1884. Here he was appointed surgeon for the Omaha and Grant Smelting Works, also in 1887 surgeon to the Globe Smelting and Refining Company. During most of the time since 1884 he has been surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad, and in 1885 he was appointed surgeon with the Denver City Cable Railway Company, filling the position at the present writing. He is also consulting surgeon of the Denver, Texas & Gulf Railroad; ex-presi- dent of the staff, and surgeon of St. Joseph's hospital, consulting surgeon of St. Luke's hos- pital, and president of the staff of surgeons of the Cottage Home. He is professor of clinical surgery in the medical department of the Univer- sity of Denver, for three years held a similar position in the University of Colorado, and for

one year held the chair of fractures and disloca- tions in Gross Medical College. He is ex-presi- dent of the American Academy of Railroad Surgeons and is now president of the Colorado Medical Society.

In April, 1893, Dr. Lemen was appointed health commissioner of Denver by Mayor Van Horn. In 1889 he was appointed a commissioner of the Colorado Insane Asylum, and was presi- dent of the board until 1895. With the various medical associations he holds membership, national, state, and city and county, of which last he was president for some time. His con- tributions to medical journals have made his name a familiar one to the profession throughout the country. He has been especially successful in surgery, in which department his skill is universally recognized, and his articles upon any branch of that subject are always accepted as authority. In fraternal relations he is a Knight Templar and has taken the thirty-second degree in Masonry. In politics he adheres to the prin- ciples of that body known as the silver Republi- cans. The demands of his profession have been such that he has had no time, had he possessed the inclination, to enter the political arena. The positions he has held have been those that were directly connected with his profession or with the educational interests of his community.

May 5, 1875, Dr. Lemen married Miss Lizzie, daughter of Hon. Henry T. Mudd, of St. Louis, Mo. She died in Georgetown, Colo., in 1876. His second marriage, April 12, 1882, united him with Elsie, daughter of Hon. William H. James, of the Omaha and Grant Smelting Company. Three children have been born of their union, of whom two are living, Margaret Lemen and Lewis James Lemen.

T. ESKRIDGE, M. D., president of the State Board of Lunacy, ex-president of the Colorado State Medical Society, is one of Denver's most prominent physicians. In the profession he is regarded as an authority on nervous and mental diseases and he has written one hundred and five articles upon this type of disease for medical journals in this country. A number of his contributions have been translated into other languages and copied in their medical jour- nals. He has written for "Practical Therapeu-

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tics" by Foster, "American Textbook of Ap- plied Therapeutics" by Wilson, "American Sys- tem of Practical Medicine" by Loomis and Thompson, and "American System of Medical Jurisprudence" by Haynes and Peterson. What- ever subject he treats, within the realm of medi- cal thought, is dealt with in a vigorous manner, so that it is made clear to the mind, and it is doubtless due to this vigor and terseness of style that his contributions to scientific literature are so valuable.

The Eskridge family was founded in America by Judge George Eskridge, a native of Scotland, who came to America in 1660 as judge of the king's bench in Virginia and continued to preside over the court until his death. Among his de- scendants are numerous planters, physicians and attorneys. His son, who was a planter, par- ticipated in the Revolution. The latter's son, John, was born in Virginia and took part in the war of 1812. Removing to Sussex County, Del., he carried on farming extensively there un- til his death.

Jeremiah, the son of John, and the father of the doctor, was born in Delaware and took part in the Seminole war from 1835 to 1838, and was wounded. By trade a sea-captain, he owned vessels and schooners in Chesapeake bay. Final- ly he retired from the sea and settled on a farm in Sussex County, where he still resides, quite sturdy in spite of his eighty-five years. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife, who died in 1865, was in maidenhood Mary Marvel and was born in Sussex County, member of a prominent family there. Her brother, Josiah Marvel, was recently the gov- ernor of Delaware and died during his term of office.

The subject of this sketch, the sixth among twelve children, was born in Sussex County, Del. After completing the public school studies he entered the classical institute at Laurel, Del., where he spent three years. The next three were devoted to teaching. He then studied medicine under Dr. Fowler, of Laurel, Del., and in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1875 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Afterward lie practiced in Philadelphia until 1884. For a time he was assistant demonstrator of anatomy in Jeffer- son Medical College and physician to_the_Phila-

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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 3

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