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 13
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He married first, September 15, 1851. Frances E., daughter of Robert Russell, at Sanquoit, New York. They had three child- ren. He married, second, January 8, 1885, her cousin, Mrs. Celia Maltby, and of this marriage, was born a son, Frank HI. Waite.
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ALBERT WASHINGTON McINTIRE
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ALBERT WASHINGTON McINTIRE.
McI NTIRE, ALBERT WASHINGTON, governor of Colorado, born Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, January 15, 1853, was the son of Joseph Philips and Isabel (Wills) MeIntire. His grandfather, Thomas MeIn- tire, was engaged in the transportation busi- ness in Maryland, in which enterprise he was associated with his brothers. While he was serving as an officer with the volunteers, in the wor of 1812, their property was de- stroyed when the British burned Washing- ton. His paternal ancestor in America imi- grated from Ayreshire, Scotland, coming to this country about 1745. His maternal an- cestor came from Belfast in 1790, and from England, at an earlier date. Both his pater- nal grandfathers fought on the American side in the revolution, and his maternal grandfather was state's attorney in Penn- sylvania.
Albert W. MeIntire prepared at Newell Institute, a private academy at Pittsburgh, and when sixteen years of age, entered Yale college, from which he was graduated with the following degrees: A. B., 1873., and LL. B., 1875. In June of the latter year, he was admitted to the Connecticut bar, and in the following November, to the bar in Pitts- burgh, and after practicing for about a year in the latter, he removed to Colorado, locat- ing in Denver, in 1876. He settled in 1880, in the San Luis valley, Colorado, engaging in mining and stock ranching, where he estab- lished a ranch of 4,000 acres. From 1883 to 1886, he was county judge of Conejos coun- ty, having been nominated by both republi- cans and democrats ; and, although a repub- lican, lie was elected by both parties to that office. At the end of the three years, he de- clined a re-nomination, returning to his law practice and the management of his large
ranch interests. He adjudicated (1889-91) the water rights of the Twentieth district. Gover- nor Rontt appointed him judge of the Twelfth district in 1891, and he continued in that position until he was nominated for governor in 1894, by the republican state convention. He was elected, defeating Governor Waite, who had been renominated. The great cry by the republicans in this campaign was "re- deem the state," in the attacks made upon the Waite administration. His plurality was nearly 20,000, and he served during the bi- ennial term of 1895-97. The tenth general assembly, which convened under his admin- istration, met January 2, 1895, and was the first to occupy the legislative chambers in the new capitol, where all sessions have since been held. The most important event in the general assembly was the re-election of Ed- ward O. Wolcott to the United States senate. There had been so much turmoil and agita- tion during the Waite administration, that by a quiet conduct of public affairs, Governor MeIntire enabled the state to recuperate from the excitement and bitterness of the past two years. The main disturbing in- fluence was the silver question, which later split the republican party, and raised issues and dissentions, that threatened the politics of the state for years to come.
Governor MeIntire was a scholarly gen- tleman, and well known linguist. He could either speak or read German, Spanish, French, Latin and Greek.
He married, first, July 16, 1873, Miss Flor- ence, daughter of William Sidney Johnson of New York City ; married, second, June 26, 1899, Ida Noyes Beaver, M. D. He removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in February, 1899, and to Puget Sound, Washington, December, 1900, and now resides at Everett, that state.
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CHARLES SPALDING THOMAS.
T HOMAS, CHARLES SPALDING, gov- ernor of Colorado (1899-1901), lawyer, born December 6, 1849, in Darien, Georgia, was the son of William B. and Caroline B. (Wheeler) Thomas. Although born in the south, he is of northern ancestry, his parents
a preparatory school in Connecticut, she in the meantime having removed to Michigan, where she died in 1866. In 1869, Mr. Thomas removed to the latter state where for some time he was employed on a farm, beginning the study of law at Kalamazoo. Entering
CHARLES SPALDING THOMAS
both being natives of Connecticut. The fam- ily is of Welsh origin, and intermarried with the English. His mother was the daughter of Amos H. Wheeler of Bridgeport, Connec- ticut. His youth was spent in Macon, Geor- gia, where he received his earlier education in the private schools. His father died when Charles S. was but four years of age. When fifteen years of age, his mother sent him to
the University of Michigan, he was grad- uated from the law department of that insti- tution with the degree of L.L. B. in 1871, and in December, that year, removed to Colorado, entering the law office of Sayre & Wright, then a leading law firm in the west. Later, he opened a law office for him- self. and in 1873, formed a partnership with Thomas M. Patterson, continning until the
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election of Mr. Patterson as territorial dele- gate in 1874, when it was dissolved. Mr. Thomas was city attorney of Denver in 1875- 1876, and in 1879 resumed his partnership with Mr. Patterson, Mr. Thomas removing to Leadville, where he remained until 1885, attending more the mining litigation of the firm in that great mining town. In the lat- ter year, he returned to Denver and in 1890, dissolving with Mr. Patterson, he became the senior member of the law firm of Thomas, Bryant & Lee, which continued until 1893. The firm then reorganized as Thomas, Bry- ant & Malburn, and has since been enlarged, the present (1911) name being Thomas, Bry- ant, Malburn & Nye.
Mr. Thomas has made a specialty of min- ing litigation, with his general practive of the law, and from the time he opened an office in Leadville in 1879, he has been a prominent figure in the most important min- ing suits in Colorado, and throughout the west. From the hard struggle of the young lawyer, he advanced by degrees to more hui- crative practice, but with the expensive min- ing litigation that came with the great min- eral discoveries in Leadville, Aspen, Cripple Creek, Creede and other parts of the state, the services of Mr. Thomas were and are still sought in all the most important and diffi- «ult mining litigation. From this source, he soon acquired a well-earned fortune, and is now in the prime of life in the practice of his profession.
He was a faithful and earnest worker and supporter of the democratic party in Colorado, when it was a republican state, and loyally bore more than his share of the burden, in finally bringing about those vie- tories that placed his party in power. In 1884 he was defeated for congress on the democratic ticket. For twelve years he was national democratic committeeman from Colorado (1884-1896). In 1898, he was nom- inated by his party for governor and was endorsed by the silver republicans and popu- lists and was elected by a large majority.
No governor of Colorado ever came into office facing so many state financial diffi- culties as were forced upon Governor Thom- as. The state institutions were sadly in need of money, the revenues having run far behind. Through his recommendations, and the measures he advocated, there was the be- ginning of a retadjustment of the state's finances, and the outline planned for more efficient revenue laws. Governor Thomas, although in hearty sympathy in all efforts to raise revenues sufficient to support the institutions of the state, yet advocated econ-
omy in its use and expenditure. During his term of two years, there was not time to carry out all his views, but it was due to his executive ability and influence that a good start was made that placed the state income upon a basis commensurate with its needs. Politically speaking, it is not always a popular thing to encourage the enactment of revenue laws, but Governor Thomas, see- ing the necessity of having it done, pos- sessed the nerve and courage to endorse that policy, and made his view of the condition of affairs so plain, that 'he received the en- dorsement of the masses of the people both as to the rectitude and wisdom of his admin- istration.
Governor Thomas believes in good, strong and effective platforms upon which candidates should stand and be elected. Al- though a consistent and ardent democrat, yet, when in his opinion, his party is in error and fails to meet and carry out a policy for the best interests of the people, he is quick and ready to criticize it therefor.
Governor Thomas has for many years been prominent in the national councils and conventions of the democratic party. Among other strong traits, he is also a fair, quick and skilled parliamentarian. At the na- tional democratic convention held in Kan- sas City in 1900, he was the temporary chairman. His address was eloquent and pa- triotie, dealing with the issues of the day in an able and logical manner.
During the session of the eighteenth (1911) general assembly of Colorado, he was a candidate for the United States senate, to fill the vacancy caused by the lamented death of the late Senator Charles J. Hughes Jr. Governor Thomas stood with the high- est in the number of votes received for that high office, but owing to party dissentions, there was no election. He is a member of the University and Denver Athletic Clubs, Denver, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Governor Thomas married, December 29, 1873, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Miss Emma, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Fletcher of that city. During his term as governor, Mrs. Thomas, as the first lady of the state, filled that position with dignity and grace. Governor and Mrs. Thomas occupy a posi- tion of high social standing, and whether in public or private life, their beautiful Denver home is known for its hospitality. Five chil- dren were born to them: Helen (wife of William P. Malburn), Edith, Charles S., Hu- bert F. and George K.
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JAMES BRADLEY ORMAN
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JAMES BRADLEY ORMAN.
O RMAN, JAMES BRADLEY, governor of Colorado (1901-02), railroad builder and financier, born in Muscatine, Iowa, No- vember 4, 1849, was the son of John and Sarah Josephine (Bradley) Orman. He worked on his father's farm and attended the public schools during his youth, and when twenty years of age came to Denver, in 1869, depending upon his own energy and exer- tions to push his way up in the world. Den- ver was then the center of railway building and activity, and with shrewd business fore- sight, he anticipated the need of horses and draft animals for the completion of the rail- roads then in course of construction toward this city. Together with his brother, Wil- liam A. Orman, he bought and sold horses and mules at a good profit. In the fall of 1869, the Orman brothers were awarded the contract for the construction of the old Kan- sas Pacific (now a part of the Union Pacific system) from Sheridan, Kansas, to Denver. This work, satisfactorally performed, was but the beginning of Mr. Orman's long and successful career as a railway contractor and builder in Colorado and the west. He has constructed more miles of railroad in Colo- rado than any other man in the state. He has been awarded and filled many contracts with the following roads: Kansas Pacific, Denver and Rio Grande, Colorado Midland, Canadian Pacific, Oregon Pacific, Elk Moun- tain, Texas, Santa Fe and Northern, Florence and Cripple Creek, Crystal River, Colorado and Northwestern, Denver, Northwestern and Pacific and other railroads. Mr. Orman has also constructed some of the largest irrigat- ing canals in the west. As he began to accu- mulate wealth, he made large investments in Pueblo, Denver and Trinidad real estate, also possessing valuable holdings in Huerfano county coal lands. His business houses and palatial home, which he erected in Pueblo, identified him with that city as one of its most progressive citizens. He was interested in, and for five years, was the president of the Pueblo Street railway, of which he was one of the organizers in 1879. He also be-
came interested in the Bessemer irrigating ditch and additional coal properties in Pit- kin and Gunnison counties, and mines in Cripple Creek. The government canal near Montrose was built by him, and he became the president of the Bankers' Consolidated Mines, near Ouray, and the Oro Hondo mine in Lead City, South Dakota.
Mr. Orman, early in his career, became a dominant figure in Colorado polities, as one of the leaders of the democratic party. For several terms he was a member of the Pueblo city council, and in 1880 was elected a mem- ber of the Colorado legislature, being re- elected in 1882. He was a candidate, in 1883, for the short term in the United States sen- ate (to fill the unexpired term of Henry M. Teller, who had resigned and been appointed secretary of the interior), and received the unanimous vote of the democrats in the legis- lature. The democrats were in the minority, but he received their solid vote, and from two to five republican votes, receiving on one ballot, twenty-seven votes and within three of an election. He declined the democratic nomination for governor in 1888 and 1890, but in 1900 accepted, also being endorsed by the populists and silver republicans, and was elected. During his term of two years, he gave the state an honest, conservative and business-like administration. In 1892, he was a delegate to the national democratic convention, and in 1897, was elected mayor of Pueblo. When mayor of Pueblo, and gov- ernor of Colorado, he followed and carried out those principles that had made him a successful business man.
Governor Orman is a thirty-second degree Mason, and prominent in that order. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church and are among the most prominent in social and church work in Pueblo.
He married, September 27, 1877, Miss Nellie, daughter of William P. Martin of Pueblo. Two children were born to them: Frederick B., graduate of Princeton uni- versity, and engaged in business in Pueblo; and Edna A., who died.
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JAMES HAMILTON PEABODY
JAMES HAMILTON PEABODY.
PEABODY, JAMES HAMILTON, was born at Topsham, Orange county, Ver- mont, August 21, 1852. His father was Cal- vin Peabody, farmer, born at Salem, Massa- chusetts, May 26, 1798, died at Pueblo, Colo-
rado, April 22, 1879. His mother was Susan Lucinda Turner, born at Tunbridge, Ver- mont, March 16, 1828, the daughter of Charles and Lucinda Turner.
The first of the house to arrive in Ameri-
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ea was Lieutenant Francis Peabody, born in 1614. He was a resident of St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. He was one of the leaders of a band of sturdy colonists who left the mother country to found a new nation in the land of promise over seas.
When twenty years of age Mr. Peabody left his native state and came to Colorado, reaching Denver October 20, 1872. He en- tered the mercantile business immediately, and in 1874 formed a partnership under the firm name of Peabody Brothers, dry goods merchants. The next year, 1875, he went to Canon City, becoming associated with James McClelland in the dry goods and clothing business. Under his direction the business prospered so that in 1878 he was able to buy out his partner's interest. Thenceforth until 1885 it was continued under the firm name of James H. Peabody and Company. In that year he disposed of his mercantile interests and organized the First National Bank of Canon City. He was elected president of the institution and continued at its head until 1908, when his extensive business interests in Denver demanding his entire time, he dis- posed of his bank stoek and retired from its management.
While Governor Peabody is more widely known through his connection with polities, and his service to community and state in various offices, he has also a splendid name as one of the prominent business men of the state. A partial list of his activities in a business way shows the active and intelligent interest he took in the development and growth of the cities in which he has lived. He organized the Canon City Water Works Company and was its seeretary until the plant was sold to the city. He also organ- ized the Canon City Electric Light & Power Company and was its president until it was sold to the Colorado Light & Power Com- pany.
While Governor Peabody has been essen- tially a business man, he has always taken an active interest in politics and the business of government. Shortly after he went to Canon City he was made city clerk, and two years later, in 1880, he was made city treas- urer. From 1882 to 1890 he served as a city alderman, and during part of that time, from 1885 to 1889 he was county clerk and recorder of Fremont county. The es- teem in which he was held by his fellow townsmen is evidenced by the fact that con- currently with his other positions he served as president of the school board from 1883 to 1890.
For an interval of several years he re-
tired from politics to devote himself entirely to his increasing business affairs, but in 1898 his neighbors again called upon him and he was made mayor of Canon City. He served for two terms and was still in that office when the republican state convention, meeting at Denver in 1902, named him to head their ticket in the general elections of that year, and he was triumphantly elected governor, although in 1900 the democratic candidate had received a majority of about 15,000 votes.
Shortly after his induction into office labor troubles, which had been brewing for some time, broke out at Cripple Creek, Clear Creek, Telluride and the southern coal fields in Las Animas county. Business became un- settled and numerous outrages were perpe- trated. In his determination to preserve or- der General Peabody ordered the national guard into the field in the several districts and kept them there until the end of the troubles. At the conclusion of his first term he received a renomination from his party and won re-election at the polls after show- ing to the satisfaction of the entire state that thousands of fraudulent votes had been counted against him in Denver county.
Governor Peabody's part in the mem- orable contest which he waged at that time for the preservation of an undefiled ballot, won for him the grateful commendation of all right thinking people. It was Governor Peabody's action which broke up the long- existing crooked election conspirators and landed more than a score of them behind prison bars. Since the election of 1904 an honest eount has been the rule in Denver.
After receiving his certificate of elec- tion from the legislature Governor Peabody resigned the office on March 17, 1905. Since that time he has devoted himself to his business interests.
Governor Peabody was married March 19, 1878, to Frances Lillian Clelland, daugh- ter of James Clelland of Canon City. They have one son and two daughters: James ('lelland Peabody, Cora May Peabody and Jessie Anne Peabody.
Governor Peabody is a member of the Denver Club.
In the Masonic order, Governor Peabody has long been an active member, has filled every eleetion office in both subordinate and grand bodies: has been a member of the jurisprudence committee of the grand lodge for a period of twenty-five years and is a thirty-third degree inspector general honor- ary of the Scottist rite.
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JESSE FULLER McDONALD
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JESSE FULLER McDONALD.
McDONALD, JESSE FULLER, mine op- erator, former Governor of Colorado, was born June 30, 1858, at Asthabula, Ohio, son of Lyman M. and Caroline Bond McDonald. His mother was the daughter of Benjamin and Caroline Bond. His earliest American an- cestors were Robert Cushman, who came from England and settled at Plymouth, Mass. in 1621, and James McDonald, a native of Scotland, who settled in Maine in 1750. His ancestors on both sides served with distinc- tion in the Colonial, Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The McDonalds are a long-lived race, his father, born in 1831, living to the age of 79.
At the age of 21, Gov. McDonald, having enjoyed the advantages of a sound, practical education, received in the public schools and an academy in his native state, started west and joined the rush to Leadville. From that year, 1879, down to the present, he has called the Cloud City his home, except for two years, 1905-1906, when as governor of his adopted state, he resided at the capital city.
In 1884 he formed a partnership with George M. Robinson as civil and mining engi- neers. It proved a profitable association for both.
In 1887 he became general manager of the Robinson Consolidated Mining Com- pany's properties, a position he held for ten years. His mining interests at the present time are large. He is owner of the Penrose mine, the Harvard and others. In addition to his mining ventures, he is vice-president
of the American National Bank at Leadville, and Manager of the Eli Mining & Land Com- pany.
The high regard in which Governor Mc- Donald is held by those who know him best is testified by the fact that for three successive terms, from 1899 to 1905, he was, as a Re- publican, elected mayor of the Democratic city of Leadville. From the Lake county district, also Democratic, he was elected state senator in 1902, but through operation of partisan politics, he was not permitted to retain his seat. Political justice was meted to the party which decreed his sacrifice then, for at the next session of the legislature he was, as lieutenant governor, elected to the presi- dency of the body to which he had been elected. A few months later he succeeded to the governor's chair and gave to the state of Colorado an administration that still stands as a model of business capacity.
In 1910 Governor McDonald was called to the chairmanship of the Republican party organization. In the face of many adverse circumstances he won victory for a con- siderable number of his party's candidates for office.,
Gov. McDonald married April 26, 1890, Miss Flora S. Collins. They have no children living.
He was given the honorary degree of Min- ing Engineer by the Colorado School of Mines in 1905.
Gov. McDonald is a Mason, Knight Tem- plar, thirty-second degree Scottish Rite, Shriner, and member of the B. P. O. of Elks.
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HENRY AUGUSTUS BUCHTEL
HENRY AUGUSTUS BUCHTEL.
B UCHTEL, HENRY AUGUSTUS, clergy- man, chancellor of the University of Denver, and former governor of Colorado, born near Akron, Ohio, September 30, 1847, was the son of Dr. Jonathan B. and Eliza
(Newcomer) Buchtel, grandson of Solomon and Maria (Reber) Buchtel, and great grand- son of John Buehtel, the progenitor of the family in America, who in 1753, came from Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania. This
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John Buchtel, the American ancestor, was a man of learning, an astronomer, and was imbued with progressive ideas. John R. Buchtel, a cousin of Governor Buchtel's father, built and equipped Buchtel college, at Akron, Ohio.
In 1848, Dr. Jonathan B. Buchtel, the father of the subject of this sketch, removed from Akron, Ohio, to Indiana, first settling at Elkhart, and later at South Bend, where the future governor of Colorado received his early education, mostly in private schools. After a year's study at Asbury (now De Pauw) University, he spent several years in business. For some time he was foreman of the country order department of a whole- sale drug house in Chicago, and subsequently held a partnership in a wholesale and retail grocery business at South Bend, Indiana. Meanwhile, having become more and more interested in religion, and deciding to enter the ministry, he resumed his work at the university and was graduated in 1872. His career is shown in outline as follows: A. B. Asbury (De Pauw) 1872; A. M. 1875; or- dained minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, 1872; missionary to Bułgaria, 1873; pastor, Greencastle, Indiana, 1873-6; Knightstown, Indiana, 1876-9; Richmond, Indiana, 1879-82; La Fayette, Indiana, 1882- 1885; Evans chapel, Denver, Colorado, 1885- 1886; Trinity church, Denver, Colorado, 1886-91; Central Avenue church, Indianapo- lis, Indiana, 1891-6; Calvary church, East Orange, New Jersey, 1897-9; chancellor of the University of Denver since January 1, 1900; governor of Colorado, 1907-9.
While preaching in the east in 1899, he was recalled to Colorado, to become chancel- lor of the University of Denver. After a vigorous and systematic campaign, he raised $260,000, clearing the property of all mort- gage incumbrances, but all floating indebted- ness was not wiped out until the total amount secured was one-third of a million dollars. At this writing, November, 1911, the total amount of the gifts of the friends of the university since Chancellor Buchtel came into service, aggregates two-thirds of a million dollars.
The University of Denver is the pioneer school of higher learning in Colorado, having as many graduates as the University of Colo- rado and the State School of Mines com- bined. Since the beginning of his adminis- tration, the annual attendance was greatly increased.
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