USA > Colorado > Sketches of Colorado: being an analytical summary and biographical history of the State of Colorado as portrayed in the lives of the pioneers, the founders, the builders, the statesmen, and the prominent and progressive citizens Vol. 1 > Part 12
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When Senator Teller became Secretary of the Interior in President Arthur's cabinet, it fell to Gov. Pitkin to appoint a successor to Teller in the Senate, and there was intense feeling and rivalry between the several candi- dates. Gov. Pitkin appointed George M. Chilcott to fill the temporary vacancy, and at the next session of the legislature came the election of two U. S. senators. Pitkin reached within two votes of an election but could not quite overcome the strong combination of the politicians. Had not the appointing power fell to Gov. Pitkin to name a temporary suc- cessor to Teller, over which there was such a wrangle, there is but little doubt that he would have filled as well as graced the office of U. S. Senator from Colorado. Gov. Pitkin was one of the purest, ablest and most con- scientious men that ever filled that office in Colorado.
In 1862 he married Fidelia M., daughter of John James, of Lockport, N. Y., who comes from an old and well known family.
They had four children: Robert J, lawyer, Denver; and, Florence, wife of Earl M. Cranston, the law partner of her brother; and Frederick W. and Samuel, who died in infancy.
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JAMES BENTON GRANT
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JAMES BENTON GRANT.
G RANT, JAMES BENTON. The forma- tive days of Colorado's history devel- oped no finer product than James Benton Grant, miner, founder of one of the first smelters, governor, banker, "captain of in- dustry." Indeed, his activities in all lines of worthy effort, are known beyond the bor- ders of his own state. On the occasion of the visit to this country of Prince Henry, of Bat- tenburg, 1902, Governor Grant was invited to attend the "captains of industry" ban- quet given the royal guest, by J. Pierpont Morgan.
Governor Grant was born in Russell coun- ty, Alabama, January 2, 1848, and died at Excelsior Springs, Missouri, November 1, 1911. His father, Thomas MeDonough Grant, was a physician and cotton planter. His grandfather, James Grant, imigrated from Scotland and settled in Norfolk, Va., in 1746. In the Jacobite wars, the Scotch Grants fought the Pretenders, Governor Grant's ancestors being in the thick of the hardest campaigns. His mother was Mary Benton, a daughter of one of the old south- ern families.
Favored by nature and circumstances, in a lineage of purposeful, hard-headed ances- tors, and possessing advantages of education and opportunity, which he was able to ac- quire through the wealth of his uncle, James Grant of Davenport, Iowa, who, having no children of his own, undertook to educate fifteen or twenty of his nieces and nephews, whose parents being in the south, were prae- tieally penniless at the close of the war, Gov- ernor Grant came to Colorado in 1877 with an equipment that was bound to make him a leader among men.
Governor Grant was extremely fortunate in his educational advantages. He attended lowa Agricultural college; later going to Cornell. From there he went to Frieburg, Germany, where he took a course in min- eralogy.
Governor Grant went first to Central City, where he engaged in assaying and min- ing. From the beginning, he was successful, stepping naturally into a position of leader- ship in a community where rugged competi- tion was most intense. In those early days, when Colorado had her beginning, only the fittest survived, but they, tested in nature's own crucible, came out strong, tough and durable. If the battle was hard, the rewards were large. The names of the successful ones are written bold on the pages of the state's history, and that history is the rec- ord of their achievements.
It was characteristic of Governor Grant
to look beyond limitations of the field in which he was engaged, and to recognize greater opportunities of the mining indus- try. When only one year out of college he established and operated the Grant smelter. From 1877 down to the time of his death he was actively interested in the smelting industry of the west. He was vice-president of the Omaha and Grant smelter from 1882 until 1899, and then became a director and member of the executive committee of the American Smelting and Refining Company.
His southern birth and training placed Governor Grant in the democratic party, and although polities was with him only an inci- dent of his busy life, he consented to the party's demand and accepted the nomina- tion in 1882. Although his candidacy was regarded as a forlorn hope, the people ral- lied to his support, and he was triumphantly elected. During his administration, from 1883 to 1885, peace prevailed and the state prospered.
Although his smelting interests were ex- tensive enough to elaim the undivided atten- tion of any ordinary man, Governor Grant engaged in many other lines of activity. Ile was one of the organizers of the Denver Na- tional Bank and continued as vice-president of that institution from the time its doors were open in 1884 until his death. He found time to make a searching investigation of the physical condition of the Leadville distriet and to prepare an exhaustive report of his findings. This report was translated into Dutch and submitted to Holland capitalists by General William J. Palmer. The possi- bilities of the distriet, as shown by Governor Grant's report, constituted the convincing argument which induced the Dutch capital- ists to buy the bonds of the Denver & Rio Grande extension from Canon City to Lead- ville.
His survey of the Leadville district con- vineed Governor Grant that the production of the famous camps might be greatly in- creased by the construction of a tunnel driv- en through the lower levels. In 1892, he financed the Yak tunnel enterprise and work was begun after plans drawn by A. A. Blow, the well-known mining engineer. The Yak tunnel has reached a length of four miles, and will be driven two thousand feet farther.
Governor Grant married Mary Goodell, at Leadville, in 1881. They have two sons, Lester E. and James B. Jr.
Among the local clubs of which Governor Grant was a member are the Denver Club, University Club, Denver Athletic Club, and Denver Country Club.
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BENJAMIN HARRISON EATON
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BENJAMIN HARRISON EATON.
FATON, BENJAMIN HARRISON, Gov- ernor of Colorado, born near the town of West Bedford, in Coshocton county, Ohio, December 15, 1833, died October 29, 1904; was the son of Levi and Hannah (Smith) Eaton, pioneers in that state. His first American ancestor, Benjamin Eaton, emi- grated from England, settled in Boston, and there married a Quaker lady. His son, Ben- jamin, became a sea captain, after which he removed to Kentucky and later to Ohio. His son, Levi, born in Harrison county, Ohio, married Hannah Smith, and they were the parents of the future Governor of Colorado. Educated in the public schools, he became a teacher in Ohio, and removing to Iowa in 1854, he taught school in Louisa county, that state, for two years. He then engaged in teaching and farming in Ohio two years, re- turning to Iowa in 1858, and a year later he joined a party from that state, follow- ing the Pike's Peak excitement to Colorado, in 1859. After some thrilling adventures with Indians in crossing the plains, they ex- plored the regions bordering on Boulder and Clear Creeks. Mr. Eaton was a pioneer in California Gulch; a member of the second Baker expedition to the San Juan of South- western Colorado, in 1860-1861, exploring what is now Baker's Park, Silverton and other points in that region. He suffered many privations, and nearly perished of cold and hunger. Then renting land on the Max- well Land Grant in New Mexico, he remained there until 1863, when he returned to Colo- rado and entered a small farm, twelve miles west of what is now Greeley, in Weld county. To this then dreary waste he brought water from the Cache la Poudre, which was the beginning of one of the greatest irrigating systems in the world's history.
Realizing what could be accomplished by irrigation, he negotiated with the land de- partment of the Union Pacific for 25,000 acres of land contiguous to the present towns of Eaton and Greeley, at $1 an acre, on long time. He divided this body of land into tracts ranging from 160 to 640 acres, and began developing his system of irrigation,
and entered upon his career as a scientific agriculturist. In 1901, Mr. Eaton had under cultivation 16,000 acres, his annual income therefrom estimated from $200,000 to $300,- 000. He became one of the original stock- holders in the Union Colony at Greeley in 1870.
In 1864, he built the Eaton Ditch, and
within the next fifteen years he constructed the Mill Power Canal at Greeley; the Num- ber Two of the Union Colony ; the High Line, including the Larimer and Weld Canals, and others, involving nearly one hundred miles of waterway, redeeming many thousands of acres to fertile and fruitful production. At the time of his death all of his original 25,000 acres were yielding bountiful harvests. His largest work is the Windsor Reservoir and the canal of the Windsor Reservoir and Canal Company. He constructed the large flouring mill at Eaton, the town being named in his honor. In selecting the types of eit- izens representative of special lines of work in the founding and upbuilding of Colorado, the portrait of Governor Eaton was one of the sixteen chosen to fill the niches that had been reserved in the panels of the dome of the State Capitol Building. He was given this distinguished honor as the great pioneer farmer and developer of the vast irrigation systems of Northern Colorado.
Governor Eaton was a Republican, except in 1896, when he was chosen to the electoral college on the Bryan ticket. In 1866, he was elected justice of the peace, holding that office nine years ; was six years county com- missioner, four of which he was chairman of the board; elected to territorial legisla- ture, 1872, and secured passage of the law forbidding the waste of waters of the public streams ; member of territorial council (Sen- ate) in 1875; and in 1884 he was elected Governor of Colorado on the Republican ticket.
Fraternally, he was a member of the Ma- sonie order, a Knight Templar and a Shriner. In church matters, he leaned toward the Methodists.
Governor Eaton married, first, in 1856, in Ohio, Delilah, daughter of James Wolfe. She died May 31, 1857, leaving a son, Aaron J. Eaton, later a wealthy farmer and busi- ness man of Eaton, Colorado.
In 1864, he returned to Iowa, and in Louisa county married Rebecca J., daughter of Abraham Hill, and then came with her to his Colorado home. Of this second mar- riage three children were born, A. Lincoln, died at age of fourteen; Bruce G., succeed- ing his father at Eaton as one of the exten- sive farmers and wealthy men of Colorado; and Jennie B., wife of John M. Petrikin, former postmaster of Greeley and later cash- ier of the First National Bank of that city.
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ALVA ADAMS.
A DAMS, ALVA, governor of Colorado (1887-89, 1897-99, and begining third term, January 10, 1905, and serving until March 16, 1905), born in Iowa county, Wis- consin, May 14, 1850, was the son of John' and Eliza (Blanchard) Adams, he a native of Kentucky, and she of New York. His father was a merchant and farmer. In 1842
subjects. Thus, although not a college grad- nate, he has added to his snecessful business and political life, the close application of the student, and the selfmade man has become well known for his liberal culture and many attainments. Owing to the sickness of his brother, the family removed to Colorado in 1871. Young Alva, then but twenty-one
ALVA ADAMS
the family settled in Wisconsin, where he continued in the line of merchandising and farming.
Alva Adams, the son, grew to manhood on the farm, receiving a fair education in the public schools, which he has supple- mented by general study and reading in the home life, and during his early business ca- reer, being especially interested in historical
years of age, in seeking work found employ- ment in hauling ties for the Denver & Rio Grande railroad, then building south of Den- ver, which led to fortunate business connec- tions later. After a short service with the Denver & Rio Grande, he went to Colorado Springs, in the employ of C. W. Sanborn, a lumber and hardware dealer. While in San- born's employ he built a small structure
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on Cascade avenue for lumber office, hard- ware store and dwelling. This building was completed August 7, 1871, and was the first house erected within the present limits of Colorado Springs. Here he conducted the business for Mr. Sanborn until October, when he bought the stock of his employer, paying therefor $4,100, and for want of cash giving his notes for the greater part of it, at two per cent a month. Snceeeding in busi- ness, he admitted J. C. Wilson to partner- ship in 1872, and leaving the latter in charge at Colorado Springs, Mr. Adams removed to Pueblo in 1873, where he established a branch store. Disposing of his interests in Colorado Springs, he continued to enlarge the business at Pueblo, and started other stores in the San Juan region and southwest- ern Colorado.
An ardent democrat, Mr. Adams soon be- came a prominent figure in the public life of the state. His first official position was held in 1873, when he was elected trustee of South Pueblo. In 1876, when twenty-six years of age, he was elected a member of the house of representatives of the Colorado legislature, from Rio Grande county. In 1884, Mr. Adams was the democratic nom- inee for governor, but was defeated. Colo- rado was then a republican state, and the splendid record that he had made in the previous campaign induced his party again to nominate him for governor in 1886, and he was the only democrat elected. He gave the state a careful and business-like admin- istration. He declined a renomination and after the close of his first term as governor retired to private life, continuing his exten- sive and well-established business.
In 1896, as the democratic nominee, Gov- ernor Adams was re-elected governor. In 1902, he came within a close vote of election to congress, being the candidate at large against Franklin E. Brooks, republican. and was defeated by only 839 votes; Mr. Brooks receiving 85,207, as against 84,368 for Mr. Adams.
In 1904, the democrats placed Mr. Adams at the head of their ticket against James H. Peabody, who had been renominated for gov- ernor by the republicans. This eampaign fol- lowed elose on the Cripple Creek strike and war of the preceding administration of the latter (Peabody) and was one of the most hotly contested elections in the history of the state. On the face of the returns the republican state tieket was eleeted with the exeeption of Governor Peabody, who was defeated on the showing made by the
official canvass, the plurality for Governor Adams being over ten thousand. Then be- gan the memorable contest of Governor Pea- body against Governor Adams. The latter un- der the returns had been sworn in as gov- ernor, and thus began his third term as gov- ernor. Governor John L. Rontt served three terms as governor, but one of these was that of territorial governor, to which he was ap- pointed by the president. Routt was elected twice by the people, and appointed once, and thus assumed the office of chief executive of Colorado for three terms. Governor Adams was the only other thus far in the history of the state, who entered upon a third term in the gubernatorial office. In defending his right to the governor's ehair, Governor Adams faced a legislature that was over- whelmingly republican. While the repub- lieans charged that the democrats had com- mitted great frauds in the city and county of Denver, the democrats set forth that the republicans had benefitted by extensive election frauds in Huerfano and other coun- ties in the southern part of the state. In the meantime Governor Adams had delivered his third inaugural address, and was proceeding with the administration of public affairs. On March 16, 1905, the republican legislature. by a vote of 55 to 41, declared that Peabody was elected, but ten republicans in the legis- lature voted in favor of Governor Adams. who received the solid support of the demo- cratic members. Governor Peabody served but one day, resigning on March 17, and was sneceeded by Jesse F. Me Donald, the republi- can lieutenant-governor.
Governor Adams was the leading candi- date for United States senator, before the legislature at the regular session of 1911. when that body was called upon to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator ('harles J. Hughes Jr. It was a long and strennons fight in which there was no elec- tion, but Governor Adams continued his lead to the end of the session. Governor Adams is one of the great leaders of his party in Colorado, and one of the state's most gifted orators. He has travelled extensively, and in his private library of 6,000 volumes, are manv rare books.
Governor Adams married, in 1872, Miss Ella Nye, a gifted and cultured lady of many graceful accomplishments. They have one son, Alva Blanchard, born Oetber 29. 1875. a graduate of Phillips Academy, Yale col- lege, and the law department of Columbia college, New York.
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JOB ADAMS COOPER
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JOB ADAMS COOPER.
C OOPER, JOB ADAMS, late governor of Colorado and original owner of the Cooper building in Denver, was born at Greenville, Bond county, Illinois, November 6, 1843. His grandfather. Thomas Cooper, was a paper manufacturer in Kent county, England, but late in life he came to America with his family, including his son, Charles, the father of the subject of this sketch. The elder Cooper died in Yolo, California, at eighty-nine year of age.
Charles Cooper was fifteen years old when he arrived in America with his father. He learned the carriage trade at Newark, New Jersey, and when twenty-two years old he entered the lumber business in Cincinnati, Ohio. Later he removed to Greenville, Illi- nois. His wife was Maria Hadley.
Job Adams Cooper was attending Knox college at Greenville, when he enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-sev- enth Illinois Infantry. He served until he was mustered out the latter part of the same year. He was stationed at Memphis when the Confederate general Forest made his raid. After his army experience, the young man returned to Knox college, from which he graduated in 1865 with a B. A. degree. Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. He entered the law offices of Judge S. P. Moore, at Greenville, and read law until he was ad- mitted to the bar in 1867. The following year the future governor of Colorado opened a law office in his native city, but soon after- ward he was elected clerk and recorder of Bond county and served in that position until 1872, when he resigned to come to Den- ver. He arrived in Denver May 14, 1872, and was admitted to the Colorado bar September 1, 1872. Immediately he formed a law part- nership with A. C. Phelps, under the firm name of Phelps and Cooper. Afterward he
became interested in a fire insurance com- pany, but after two years' experience in this he was given a position with the German bank, which later became the German Na- tional Bank of Denver. From then on his ascent was rapid.
A few men had begun to buy Texas steers, feed them on the ranches of Colorado, and ship them to the eastern markets. Mr. Cooper was quick to see the possibilities of this business. He invested heavily in Texas cattle and became one of the biggest deal- ers. Oftentimes he shipped as many as two trainloads of cattle from Brush on one day. In 1888 he was a candidate for governor against Thomas M. Patterson, editor of the Rocky Mountain News, and was elected with a plurality of 10,000 votes. He was inaugu- rated governor January 1, 1889. On his re- tirement from the office of chief executive, Governor Cooper began the erection of the Cooper building, one of the finest business blocks in Denver. The same year he was elected president of the Chamber of Com- merce, where he remained until he retired in 1897. He built his residence at Grant street and Colfax avenue in 1888.
Governor Cooper died January 20, 1899. His body lay in state in the Capitol and was viewed by thousands of his fellow citizens. At the time of his death he was a member of the board of capitol managers.
Governor Cooper was married September 17, 1867, at Galesburg, Illinois, to Jane O. Barnes, daughter of the Rev. Romulus E. Barnes, one of the early Congregational min- isters of Illinois. Four children were born to them. They are: Olivia D., wife of Ed- ward S. Kassler; Mary Louise, wife of Lu- eius J. Storrs, of Springfield, Mo .; Charles J., and Genevieve P., wife of Dwight E. Ryland.
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DAVIS HANSEN WAITE
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DAVIS HANSEN WAITE.
WAITE, DAVIS HANSEN, governor (1893-1894) of Colorado; born in Jamestown, New York, April 9, 1825, died 1901; was the son of Joseph and Olive (Davis) Waite. His father, Joseph Waite, a native of Vermont, was a lawyer, and dis- triet attorney of Chautauqua county. He re- moved to New York with his wife in 1815.
Davis H. Waite, the son, was educated in the common schools of his native village and at Jamestown Academy, after which he be- gan the study of the law in his father's of- fice. He located in Fon du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1850, and removed to Princeton, that state, in 1851, where he engaged in merchan- dising. In 1856 he was elected as a repub- lican to the legislature of Wisconsin. In 1857 he removed to Missouri and became the principal of the Houston high school of that state. Being a union man, he left Missouri at the outbreak of the civil war, removing to Warren, Pennsylvania, and then to Jamestown, New York, where he was ad- mitted to the bar. Mr. Waite then became editor and part proprietor of the Chautau- qua Democrat, a republican newspaper, and later the Jamestown Journal. Removing to Larned, Kansas, in 1876. he resumed the practice of the law, also engaging in ranch- ing. In 1879, he was a member of the Kan- sas legislature and east the deciding vote that re-elected John J. Ingalls to the United States senate. Then removing to Leadville in 1879, he practiced law in that mining town until 1881. In the latter year, he went to Aspen, where he resumed the law prae- tice, and edited the Union Era, a reform labor paper. He was the first superintend- ent of publie schools in Pitkin county, Colo- rado.
Political questions which led to the or- ganization of the Populist party, were agi- tated in the west, and Waite became a fol- lower and a leader in the advocacy of those principles.
He was a delegate in 1892 to the St. Louis conference, that organized the peoples party, and also to the national convention of that party, held in Omaha, July 4, that year, when Weaver and Field were nominated for president and vice-president. On July 27, 1892, he was nominated for governor by the peoples party, and was endorsed by the state democratic convention held in Septem- ber. The republicans nominated Joseph C.
Helm, and a small contingent of the demo- crats, known as the "white wings", placed the name of Joseph H. Maupin at the head of their ticket, having refused to follow the endorsement of Waite. After a heated and memorable canvass, Waite was elected governor of Colorado and then followed one of the most exciting periods in the state's history, during his administration (1893- 1895). Many of his reform measures were opposed by a hostile legislature, and he called a special session. A few of his ree- ommendations were enacted into laws. Dur- ing his administration an act was passed, submitting a constitutional amendment, later adopted, which gave women equal suffrage in Colorado. At this time the silver agita- tion was at its height. In 1894, the Cripple Creek district, then in El Paso county, but now in Teller, became involved in a strike. Governor Waite called out the militia, but soon recalled them; he then suggesting ar- bitration. The withdrawal of the troops was followed by strife between the union and non-union miners. The mine owners ap- pealed to the sheriff, and several hundred deputies were sent to his aid from Denver. A fight ensued between the strikers and dep- uties, in which one of the deputies was killed and several wounded on both sides. The gov- ernor again called out the militia, and then recalled them, going to Cripple Creek, and there addressing the miners, attempted a settlement. But in the meantime, warrants had been sworn out, charging certain men with having blown up the Vietor shaft house. The miners fortified Bull Hill, and there was continued strife and agitation for some time before there was a peaceable settlement.
Governor Waite was also involved in a "city hall war" in Denver, in which the troops were called out, the question involved being the right of the governor to remove members of the fire and police board. About three hundred men were at the city hall to defend it from the troops, and the citizens were apprehensive. Matters were quieted by the supreme court taking jurisdiction, and later sustaining Waite. He was re-nom- inated for governor( but was defeated.
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