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 14
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In the fall of 1906, the republican party of Colorado, in an emergency, and when in need of a strong man to lead their ticket,
offered the nomination for governor to Chan- cellor Buchtel after the regular nominee had resigned. As a preacher, lecturer, and chan- cellor of the University he had often can- vassed the state, and was well known as an orator. He made a vigorous and memorable campaign, and was elected by a majority approximating 20,000. Governor Buchtel was inaugurated in Trinity Methodist Epis- copal church, which was built while he was pastor. He concluded his inaugural address with a prayer which was followed by the Lord's prayer. The following are the princi- pal events of his administration: all appro- priations for the biennial period, as well as all deficits of former administrations, were paid in full, and the administration turned over to its successor a cash surplus of three hundred thousand dollars. The sixteenth general assembly of Colorado, which was con- vened during Governor Buchtel's term, made a splendid record in the wholesome laws that were enacted. Indeed, every pledge of the republican party was fulfilled in the record of the sixteenth general assembly. No other general assembly in the history of the state can boast of having kept all the promises made during the political campaign. The laws enacted which are of special importance are as follows: a pure food law, a law pro- viding for the inspection of building and loan associations, a civil service law, laws establishing state employment agencies, a ju- venile court, and detention houses for child offenders, one of the best local option laws adopted by any northern state, a law to pro- vide labor for prisoners on public highways, and a meat and slaughter-house inspection law, as well as enactments regulating bank- ing, insurance and railroads. Retiring as the chief executive of Colorado, January 12, 1909, Governor Buchtel devotes his entire time to his duties as chancellor of the Uni- versity of Denver. He is also one of the leading speakers in the Chautauqua field. In 1884 and 1900, respectively, his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary degrees of Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Laws.
He married, at Greencastle, Indiana, Feb- ruary 4, 1873, Miss Mary, daughter of Wil- liam N. Stevenson of that city. They have two sons, Dr. Frost Craft Buchtel and Henry Augustus Jr. who died in 1901, and two daughters, Emma (Mrs. William G. Lennox) and Mary.
Mrs. Buchtel comes from a distinguished American ancestry, and during her hus- band's term as governor, she honored and dignified the position she held as the first lady of the state.
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JOHN FRANKLIN SHAFROTH.
SHAFROTH, JOHN FRANKLIN, governor of Colorado (1909-1910, re-elected for 1911-1912, congressman first distriet, Colo- rado, 1895-1904), lawyer, born in Fayette, Howard county, Missouri, June 9, 1854, was the son of John and Anna (Aull) Shafroth. John Shafroth was born September 3, 1810, in Switzerland, and when a young man came
were born six children: Sophia, William, Laura, Louisa, Carrie, and John F. Shafroth, the latter being the future congressman and governor of Colorado.
John F. Shafroth was edueated in the publie schools of his native town, and then attended the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with degree of B. S.
JOHN FRANKLIN SHAFROTH
to this country, settling first in St. Louis, where he remained three years. He then re- moved to Rocheport, Missouri, and at the end of a year, located in Fayette, which became his permanent residence, where he died, May 8, 1866. For twenty-five years, John Shaf- roth was a prominent merehant and one of the leading citizens of Fayette. November 9, 1840, he married Anna Aull, and to them
in 1875. In 1909, his ahna mater conferred upon him the degree of L. L. D. Entering the law office of Samuel C. Major, at Fay- ette, he was admitted to the bar in 1876, and soon thereafter formed a partnership with him, continuing the practice until October, 1879, when Mr. Shafroth eame to Denver. Soon after his arrival in this eity he formed a partnership with Judge A. W. Brazee, and
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about two years later became a member of the law firm of Stalleup, Luthe & Shafroth. In 1887, Mr. Shafroth was elected city attor- neney of Denver on the republican ticket, and was re-elected in 1889, serving a contin- uous period of four years. When Mr. Luthe, one of his law partners, was elected district attorney for the second district in 1882, Mr. Shafroth was appointed his chief deputy, a position which he filled with marked ability for three years. It was while serving in the office of the district attorney, that Mr. Shaf- roth developed into the forcible and logical speaker and orator for which he has since become distinguished. His first term as city attorney was ably conducted and easily as- sured him a re-election. In 1887, he formed a partnership with Judge Platt Rogers, the firm later becoming Rogers, Shafroth & Gregg.
In 1894 Mr. Shafroth was elected to con- gress on the republican ticket, in the first Colorado district, defeating Lafe Pence, who had been re-nominated by the populists. It was a spirited campaign, in which he won by a vote of forty-seven thousand seven hun- dred and ten to thirty-four thousand two hundred and twenty-three for Mr. Pence. In 1896, he left the republican party, and as- sisted to organize the silver republicans, be- ing dissatisfied with the republicans on the silver and other questions. In the campaigns of 1896, 1898 and 1900, he was re-elected to congress as a silver republican. In the cam- paign of 1902, he ran for congress as a dem- ocrat again Robert W. Bonynge, republican and on the face of the returns, Mr. Shafroth receiving forty-one thousand four hundred and forty votes, and Mr. Bonynge thirty- eight thousand six hundred and forty-eight, the latter contesting the election on the charge of election frauds in the city of Den- ver. Three days after examining the ballots, which he and his opponent had stipulated should be sent to congress to be opened for the first time. Mr. Shafroth found evidences of fraud and not wishing to retain a seat tainted with either fraud or the suspicion of fraud retired. It was a memorable scene in the house of representatives, when Mr. Shafroth arose in that body, briefly ex- plained his position in the matter, resigning February 15, 1904, and the day following Mr. Bonynge was sworn in as a member of con- gress.
In 1904, he was the democratic candidate at large for congress on the democratic tiek- et, but was defeated by Franklin E. Brooks, republican, of Colorado Springs, yet he re- ceived a large vote, polling one hundred and
twelve thousand three hundred and eighty- three as against one hundred and twenty-one thousand two hundred and thirty-six for Mr. Brooks. In 1908, he was nominated by the democrats for governor and was elected, de- feating Governor Jesse F. McDonald, repub- lican by a vote of one hundred and thirty thousand one hundred and thirty-nine to one hundred and seventeen thousand three hun- dred and seventy. He was re-elected gov- ernor as a democrat, in 1910, defeating for- mer state senator, John B. Stephen, republi- can,
During the session of the legislature in 1911, in which the election of a successor to fill the unexpired term of the late Senator Charles J. Hughes, Jr., was held, he refused to enter the contest for United States Sen- ator, although his name was prominently mentioned for that position.
Governor Shafroth married, October 26, 1881, in Fayette, Missouri, Miss Virginia, daughter of John and Eliza Morrison, her father being one of the most prominent cit- izens of Howard county, Missouri. Her great-grandfather, William Morrison, came from Wales, and soon after his arrival in this country, settled in Jessamine county, Kentucky, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Alfred . Williams, formerly of Virginia. Their son, Alfred W. Morrison, the grand- father of Mrs. Shafroth, was born Novem- ber 25, 1802. When a small boy, his father died, and his mother married Lawrence J. Daley, an accomplished teacher. In 1820 they removed to Howard county, Missouri, where Alfrew W. Morrison was for ten years county surveyor, also sheriff, and in 1851, was appointed state treasurer of Mis- souri to fill a vacancy, and was then elected for three terms to that position. The Shaf- roth, Morrison, Talbot, Ward, Sebree, and other prominent families of central Missouri are intermarried, and occupying high posi- tions of honor in the army, navy, and public life. Mrs. Shafroth is a cousin of Admiral Sebree, recently retired. Of this same family was the late Ralph Talbot, regent of the State University of Colorado, and Thomas Ward, United States District Attorney, for Colorado, and manager of the Denver Times.
Governor and Mrs. Shafroth have the following children: John F. Shafroth, Jr., graduate (1908) in United States Naval Academy, now ensign on United States Bat- tleship Virginia ; Morrison Shafroth, gradu- ate of Michigan University, 1910, admitted to practice law in Supreme Court of Colo- rado in 1911; William Shafroth, now attend- ing Michigan University.
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HENRY MOORE TELLER.
T ELLER, HENRY MOORE, United States senator, secreary of the interior, born at Granger, Alleghany county, New York, May
liam (second), had a son William (third), the father of William (fourth) whose son, Isaac Teller, M. D., was an eminent physi-
HENRY MOORE TELLER
23, 1830, was the son of John and Charlotte ( Moore) Teller. The family is of Dutch ori- gin, Senator Teller being the seventh in descent from William Teller from Holland, the first of the name in this country, born in 1620, coming to New York in 1639, settling at Fort Orange, where the King of Holland appointed him a trustee to a traet of land. He married Mary Dusen, and their son, Wil-
cian in New York City, with an office at the corner of Chambers street and Broadway. He died while in active service of the colonies as a surgeon in the American revolution. He married Rebecca Reisen, born in Brooklyn, New York, of Dutch parentage. Of this mar- riage was born Remsen Teller, about 1769, who became a resident of Schenectady, New York. He married Catherin (of Ballston
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Spa, New York), daughter of David and Sarah (DuBois) McDonald, the latter a daughter of Colonel Louis DuBois, of the revolutionary war. Their son, John Teller, born in Schenectady, New York, February 15, 1800, married Charlotte, born in Ver- mont in 1808, daughter of Willard Moore, born in Vermont, the latter removing to Ballston Spa, New York, thence to Allegheny county, that state, about 1821, later settling in Rochester, New York, in 1840. John Teller settled on a farm in Allegheny county, New York, thence to Girard, Erie county, Pennsylvania, and after a ten years' resi- dence there removed in 1862 to Morrison, Whiteside county, Illinois, where he died in 1879, his widow surviving him many years.
Their son, Ilenry M. Teller, worked on the farm and attended the common schools, and later, by teaching, earned the money that enabled him to attend Alfred university and Rushford academy. Then teaching school again for a short time, he entered upon the study of his profession in the law office of Judge Martin Grover, Angelica, New York, and on January 5, 1858, was admitted to the bar at Binghampton, that state. Locating at Morrison, Illinois, he began the practice of the law, continuing from 1858 until April, 1861, when he crossed the plains to Colorado, opening a law office in Central City. Three years later he was joined by his brother, Wil- lard, and together they established the law firm of H. M. and W. Teller. During the Indian troubles in 1863, he was appointed by Governor John Evans major general of the Colorado militia, but resigned from that po- sition after serving two years. Senator Tel- ler was one of the projectors of the Colorado Central railroad, drafted its charter in 1865, and with W. A. II. Loveland, presented it to the legislature, secured its passage by that body, and was president of the road for five years. He also became interested in mining and other enterprises, in addition to his reg- ular practice in the legal profession.
Originally, Senator Teller was a demo- crat, the same as his father, but when the republican party was organized, he became one of its adherents. After the admission of Colorado as a state in 1876, he and Jerome B. Chaffee were elected United States sena- tors, Teller drawing the short term of three months, that expired in March, 1877. He was then elected for the full term of six years (1877-1883). Although a new member, he was at once placed in most active work, being on the committee of privileges and elections that was sent to Florida to investi- gate the frauds of 1876; and in 1878 was made chairman of a special committee to in-
vestigate the charges of election frauds in the southern states, concerning which he made a careful and elaborate report. He also, as chairman of the committee on civil service and retrenchment, rendered faithful and efficient service.
In April, 1882, Senator Teller was ap- pointed secretary of the interior by President Arthur, filling that position with marked ability, until the expiration of the presiden- tial term, March, 1885. The day following. he again took his seat in the senate, succeed- ing the Honorable N. P. Hill. He was re- elected to succeed himself in 1891, and again in 1897, his work and influence in the sen- ate increasing with each session of that body. being either chairman or a member of most responsible committees. He was especially considered and recognized as an authority on public lands, and other questions relat- ing to the west. He became the champion in advocating the free coinage of silver, believ- ing that the demonetization act of 1873 had not only proven disastrous to Colorado, but to the entire nation as well. After the de- feat of the free silver issue in the republican national convention held in St. Louis in 1896. Senator Teller and his followers left the convention hall. The reception that he re- ceived on his return to Denver from that con- vention, was even more brilliant than the one given him on his return in 1893, after his long and able battle in behalf of free silver. This led to the organization of the silver re- publicans in Colorado. In 1897 he was re- elected to the senate as an independent and silver republican, and in 1903, as a demo- crat, thus serving four terms in succession, 1885-1909. This with his prior record in the senate, and as secretary of the interior, lengthened Senator Teller's long and dis- tinguished service at Washington to a term of thirty-three years, and gave him recogni- tion as one of the leading statesmen of this country. He is now a member of the mone- tary commission. In 1886, Alfred university conferred upon him the degree of L. L. D. He ranks high in masonry. For seven years he was grand master for the state, and the first grand commander, Knights Templar. Col- orado, and attained the honorary thirty-third degree in 1866, of the Scottish rite, and be- came an active thirty-third degree in 1882, and is now one of the oldest thirty-third de- gree Masons in the United States.
Senator Teller married, June 7, 1862, in Cuba, New York, Miss Harriet M., daughter of Packard Bruce, a farmer of Alleghany county, that state. They have three children, all born in Central City, Colorado : Emma A., John Harrison and Henry Bruce.
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JEROME B. CHAFFEE
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JEROME B. CHAFFEE.
C HAFFEE, JEROME B., United States senator, born in Niagara county, New York, April 17, 1825, died in Salem Center, Westchester county, New York, March 9, 1886, was descended from Thomas Chaffee, the imigrant ancestor, who came to New England, where in 1635, he was living and owned land in Hingham, Massachusetts. His grandfather, Otis Chaffee, born in Westmin- ster, Vermont, and married Abigail (died September 18, 1851, aged eighty-four) daughter of John Abby, fought in the revolu- tion, serving under Major Elkanah Day with the Westminster militia, which marched on the alarm of October 17, 1780, when Royal- ton, Vermont, was burned by the Indians, and his name appears with the rolls of other companies. He is also said to have served in the war of 1812, and died in Sackett's Ilarbor, where he is supposed to have been killed in the battle in that place May 29, 1813.
Senator Chaffee was the son of Warren (born in Vermont January 22, 1797, died in Adrian, Michigan, July 27, 1863), and his first wife, Elizabeth (daughter of John Otto) Chaffee, whom he married in Angelica, New York. Warren Chaffee was a farmer and for a time lived in Lockport, New York, and later removed with his family to Adrian, Michigan.
Jerome B. Chaffee, the son, married in Adian, Michigan, September 24, 1848, Mir- iam Barnard, daughter of Warner M. and Mary (Perry) Comstock, of that place. She was born in Lockport, New York, September 28, 1829, and died November 11, 1857, and was buried in Adrian. Four children were born of this marriage, three dying in in- fancy, and the fourth and youngest, Fannie Josephine Chaffee, born in Adrian, January 16, 1857, so well known in her girlhood in Colorado, married Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., son of the famous general and President Ulysses S. Grant. They formerly made their home in New York City, but since 1893, resided in San Diego, Califoria, where Mr. Grant is a lawyer and also engaged in real estate business. Five children were born of this marriage : Miriam, Chaffee, Julia Dent, Fannie and Ulysses S. Grant, the fourth. It was in the beautiful country home, Salem, New York, given by him to his daughter, Mrs. U. S. Grant, Jr., that Senator Jerome B. Chaffee died of acute laryngitis.
Senator Chaffee received an academic
education in the Lockport (New York) schools, and moved to Adrian Michigan, in 1844, where he taught school, and was a clerk in a store. For about three years he engaged in the mercantile business at Li- gonier, Indiana, and returning to Adrian, was employed in a bank, and for a time was in the service of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad Company. About 1856, he was a banker at St. Joseph, Missou- ri, and in 1857, was secretary and manager of the Elmwood Town Company, in Kansas. In 1859, he formed a partner ship with Eben Smith, who had recently returned from California, and was building a quartz mill in Leavenworth, to take to Colorado. Mr. Chaffce came in February, 1860, and Mr. Smith followed with the mill, in May, that year. They began operations in Lake Gulch, Gilpin county, with the Chaffee & Smith stamp mill. Senator Chaffee then became generally interested in mining, organizing and becoming one of the largest owners in the Bobtail Company. He was interested in the Caribou mine, in Boulder county, and was one of the principal owners of the Little Pittsburg Consolidated Mining Company. He, Eben Smith and others bought the bank- ing interest of Clark, Gruber & Company, and organized the First National Bank of Denver, of which he was president until 1880.
Senator Chaffee was a republican, and a leader in politics. He represented Gilpin county in the legislature in 1861-3, being speaker of the house the latter year. Under an enablying act of congress the people or- ganized a state government in 1865, and Mr. Chaffee and Governor John Evans were elected United States senators. The state- hood bills of both 1865-6 and 1867-8. were vetoed by President Johnson, and Chaffee and Evans prevented from taking their seats in the senate. In 1870 he was elected terri- torial delegate to congress, and re-elected in 1872. After Colorado's admission as a state in 1876, Jerome B. Chaffee and Henry M. Teller were elected United States senators, Mr. Chaffee drawing the short term, which expired March 4, 1879. Although he lost heavily in the Grant-Ward failure in New York, yet Senator Chaffee left a large for- tune. He was buried in Adrian, Michigan, beside his wife and three children. He was one of Colorado's greatest leaders, and his name is indelibly written in the history and founding of the state.
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NATHANIEL PETER HILL
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NATHANIEL PETER HILL.
HILL, NATHANIEL PETER, United States senator, born in Orange county, New York. February 18, 1832, died in Den- ver, Colorado, May 22, 1900, was descended from a highly connected Colonial family of New York state. His grandfather, Captain Peter Hill (1751-1795), was captain of a min- ute company for Hanover precinct, Ulster county, New York, in 1775. He was in com- mand of his company, with two lieutenants and sixty-five men, on duty at Fort Constitu- tion, February 13, 1776, and was at Fort Montgomery, October 6, 1777. Senator Hill's father, of the same name, was an extensive farmer and served as representative in the general assembly of New York, and was county judge for several years.
Senator Hill, the third of seven children, was reared on the old homestead, three miles east of Montgomery, which was first occupied by his grandfather, Captain Peter Hill, in 1779. After his father's death, he later suc- ceeded his brother, James K. Hill, in the management of the farm, at the same time at- tending Montgomery Academy. He was grad- uated from Brown university, Providence, Rhode Island, in 1857, and was professor of chemistry there, 1859-1864, but before grad- uation, having made such progress in his fa- vorite study, that he had been appointed as- sistant to the professor in chemistry. In July. 1860, he married Miss Alice Hale, born in Providence, Rhode Island, in January, 1840, who died in Denver, July 19, 1908. Her family is of the same heroic New England stock as Nathan Hale, the patriot, who re- gretted that he had but one life to give his country. Mrs. Hill will always be remem- bered for her patriotic and philanthropic work in Denver. She is best known as the creator of the kindergarten system in Den- ver, and for the aid she gave in the building of the home for the Young Women's Chris- tian Association. For twenty years she was the Colorado regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. Senator and Mrs. Hill have both passed away, but in the social and all those higher spheres of life, that stimulate true manhood and womanhood, their names will be cherished in Colorado. Three child- ren survive them: Crawford Hill (q. v.), Mrs. Franklin Price Knott and Mrs. Lucius M. Cuthbert.
Senator Hill's high record for proficiency
in chemistry and metallurgy at Brown Uni- versity, influenced certain capitalists of Prov- idence and Boston to seek his services, and at their request, he came to Colorado in 1864, to investigate the mineral and agricultural re- sources of the Gilpin grant. Before return- ing he visited Gilpin county, where he was impressed with the wasteful methods, then used, in the treatment of Colorado ores. Then he conceived the founding of the great re- duction and smelting works which were later established in this state, that successfully treated the refractory ores. He again visited Colorado twice in 1865, and then made two trips to Europe, investigating the methods used at Swansea, Freiberg and other places, in the treatment of gold and silver ores. Sat- isfying himself of the feasibility of smelting the products of the Colorado mines, in a trip to this state in 1866 he returned east, and Boston and Providence capitalists quickly subscribed two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars for the Boston and Colo- rado Smelting Company, which was organ- ized in 1867. The company began smelting in Black Hawk in January, 1868. The business grew and prospered, the plant enlarged, and in 1873, a branch was established at Alma, Colorado. Products now being received from all parts of the mining west, the capi- tal stock was increased to one million dol- lars, and the larger establishment built at Argo, in the suburbs of Denver. He became interested in the United Oil Company, which handled the larger part of the oil output at Florence, Colorado. He was president of the Colorado Smelting and Refining Company, the Denargo Land Company, and many en- terprises, linked with the development of the west and was the owner of the Denver Republican.
Senator Hill was a republican, and soon became a leader in his party and although a man of wealth, began a fight on monopolies. He was mayor of Black Hawk in 1871 ; mem- ber of territorial council, 1872-3; and was elected United States senator for six years, his term beginning March 4, 1879, when he succeeded Jerome B. Chaffee. In the senate he became prominent as a leader. After his retirement from that body, because of his learning and ability President Harrison, in 1891, appointed Senator Hill one of the three members of the international monetary com- mission.
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GEORGE M. CHILCOTT
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GEORGE M. CHILCOTT.
C HILCOTT, GEORGE M., United States Senator for Colorado (1882-1883; Terri- torial Delegate, 1867-1869, to Congress), was born in Trough Creek Valley, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1828, and died in St. Louis, Missouri, March 6, 1891. He was reared on a farm and attended the country schools. His parents removed to Jefferson county, Iowa, in the spring of 1844, where he worked on a farm for about two years. Later, he taught school and studied medicine, until the spring of 1850. Mr. Chil- cott was elected sheriff of Jefferson county, on the whig tieket, in 1853, serving one term. Removing to Burt county, Nebraska, in 1856, he was elected that same year, from Burt and Cummings counties to the lower house of the legislature, as a republican. He started for the "Pike's Peak Country" in 1859, arriving in Denver in May, that year, He then became a prospector during the sum- mer months. In the fall, he was elected from the town of Arapahoe, to the constitutional convention, which met in Denver. Return- ing to Nebraska, he brought his family to Denver early the following year. A part of 1860, he spent on Cherry creek, where he had an interest in a saw mill, and in October, removed to Pueblo county. One of his early and most trying misfortunes, in the pioneer days, was the theft of his team, wagon, and other property, by a friend whom he had im- plicitly trusted. Left penniless, he worked for wages on a farm for a time to get a start. In 1861-1862, he engaged in ranehing, and in 1863, settled twelve miles east of Pueblo, on a farm of his own. Mr. Chilcott was a mem- ber from Pueblo, of the lower house of the Colorado Territorial legislature, in 1861 and 1862, the same being the first and second sessions of that body. In 1863, he was ap- pointed by President Lincoln, register of the United States land office for the district of Colorado, the office first being located in Golden, and later in Denver. After holding this position four years, he was elected a member of congress in 1866, under the state organization, but owing to the veto messages of President Johnson, Colorado was not ad- mitted as a state, and Mr. Chilcott was de- nied a seat in congress. In 1867, he was elected to congress as a territorial delegate, and served one term, exerting a wide influ- ence in behalf of the good of this region. Through his influence, the postal law, which was excessive on printed matter from the east, was repealed, and he also secured an appropriation for the payment of the militia that had served in reeent Indian campaigns.
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