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 16
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Mr. Guggenheim's interest in the develop- ment of Colorado, and his many philan- thropie acts, have made him a host of friends and rendered him very popular in his adopt- ed state. Among the many and most notable of his gifts to the state may be mentioned the Simon Guggenheim buildings at the State School of Mines, Golden ; University of Colo- rado, Boulder ; State Agricultural College, Fort Collins; State Normal School, Greeley.
Simon Guggenheim was married Novem- ber 24, 1898, to Miss Olga Hirsh, and they have two sons.
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CHARLES JAMES HUGHES, JR.
H UGHES, CHARLES JAMES JR., United States Senator, born February 16, 1853, in Kingston, Caldwell county, Missouri, died January 11, 1911, in Denver, Colorado, was the son of Charles James (lawyer) and Serena C. (Pollard) Hughes. His an- cestors were Kentuckians and Virginians. He received the degree of A. B. from Rich-
regular practice of the law at Richmond, Missouri, removing to Denver in February. 1879, which became his permanent residence. He formed a partnership with General Bela M. Hughes, a relative, and they continued in the practice of the law until General Hughes retired.
Although engaged in the general prac-
CHARLES JAMES HUGHES, JR
mond (Missouri) college in 1871, and during 1872-73, was a law student at the University of Missouri, which later honored him with the degree of L.L. D., which was also eon- ferred upon him by the University of Den- ver. He taught school for a time, and then was appointed professor of mathematies, a position which he held until 1877, in Rich- mond college. Ile then entered upon the
tice, Mr. Hughes made a specialty of mining and corporation law. He rose rapidly in his profession, and soon became identified with some of the most difficult and extensive liti- gation known in the west. He was most thorough in the preparation of all his cases. Hle was always the student, and sought the essence of things, delving into the principles that underlay the great points that were in-
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volved. He had no superior as a mining law- yer, and is generally coneeded to have been the greatest in this line of litigation. Mr. Hughes was an attorney in the celebrated Durant, Emma, and Aspen mining suits. At this time was raised the paramount issue in mining law, over the apex and side-line questions. Mr. Hughes finding that many of the points then eoming up for adjudication had not been settled by any prior litigation, and that no precedents had been established for the guidance of courts and attorneys, be- gan an exhaustive research into mining laws and mining history. He espoused the apex theory, which held that the mine owner had the right to follow the mineral vein wher- ever it dipped, even if beyond the side lines, as surveyed on the surface. In his argu- ments on the points raised in these great eases, the mass of facts and data he had eol- lected and arranged were presented with such mastery of logic and eloquence, both in the Colorado eourts and in the supreme court of the United States, that the latter court, in rendering its decisions, followed in the main the outline he had set forth. Mr. Hughes was employed in the Smuggler-Molly Gibson litigation, and was the attorney for the Ibex Mining Company (Little Johnny) in its suits, and others involving the title to many of the most valuable mining proper- ties in the west. The rewards for his ser- vices in these big mining suits were large, and thus Mr. Hughes laid the foundation for the fortune that he accumulated. He became the general counsel for the First National Bank, the Denver Tramway Company, the Denver Union Water Company, the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company, and through these and others, represented the interests of millions of dollars of in- vested capital.
He was a democrat, and always loyally championed the interests of his party. In 1888, he was defeated for presidential elec- tor in Colorado, but was elected as such in 1900, but was defeated for that position again in 1904. Ile always took a deep inter- est in the conventions of his party, and was prominent in its councils. Mr. Hughes was a delegate to the national demoeratie con- ventions of 1904 and 1908. Twice he refused the nomination of his party for governor of Colorado, but was always a willing and elo- quent speaker for the democratic party in their state and national eampaigns.
From 1889 until his death he was a mem- her of the state board of eapitol managers, which ereeted the handsome and costly capi- tol building. Sinee 1892, he was also pro-
fessor of mining law in the law department of the University of Denver. During 1903- 1906, he delivered lectures on mining and ir- rigation law before the Harvard Law School. His lecture on the evolution of mining laws was one of the most profound, and by some considered the ablest, of this series of ad- dresses.
Mr. Hughes was the unanimous choice of the democratic state convention that assem- bled in Pueblo in September, 1908, for the position of United States senator to succeed the Honorable Henry M. Teller. On Janu- ary 20, 1909, he was elected Unitd States senator for the full term of six years. Sen- ator Hughes then withdrew from his law practice during that period, thus losing re- tainer fees in the sum of nine hundred thou- sand dollars, that he might give his full time and attention to the interests of the people of Colorado. He soon became established as a strong debater in that august body, and was recognized as one of the ablest and read- iest speakers in the senate. His speech in the senate on conservation is regarded by some as the most powerful that he delivered in that body. But few senators were present, yet as he progressed and began to marshal facts and data as to the injury done the western states and then, in his masterly method, dis- eussed the basic principles, the members soon returned to their seats. Before he had com- pleted his speech of four hours, the senate floor was crowded, many members of the house honoring him by their presence. His speeches on the interstate eommerce bill, the tariff, income tax, exeise tax and other im- portant measures, were masterly, eloquent and patriotic. His untimely death was a loss that Colorado deeply mourned, for Charles J. Hughes Jr. was one of her ablest and noblest sons.
Senator Hughes was a member of the American Bar Association, the Ameriean In- stitute of Mining Engineers, the State His- torieal and Natural History Society of Colo- rado, and the Colorado Southern Society (president) ; also the following clubs: Den- ver, University, Denver Country, Denver Athletic, Demoeratie (Denver), El Paso ropolitan and Columbia Golf and Chevy Chase (Washington).
Senator Hughes married, September 1, 1874, at Richmond, Missouri, Miss Lucy S. Menefee, daughter of Lafayette S. Menefee, of a prominent southern family. To them were born the following ehildren, now liv- ing : Gerald, Berrien and Lafayette Hughes, and a daughter, Mrs. W. W. Woodruff, Jr.
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JOSEPH CHURCH HELM
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JOSEPH CHURCH HELM.
FELM, JOSEPH CHURCH, jurist, born June 30, 1848, in Chicago, was the son of Ruggles and Sarah (Bass) Helm. His grandfather was Woodhull, son of Henry Helme, the first American ancestor, who set- tled in Rhode Island. Through the maternal line, he is descended from the Ruggles family. Judge Helm's ancestors on both sides assisted in the war for independence in the daysof the Revolution.
He spent his boyhood in Canada and Iowa, and at the age of 13 enrolled in the civil war for four years, his earlier services being that of a drummer boy. In 1861, he enlisted in the 13th U. S. Infantry, and served through the war in that regiment and the 6th Infantry, First Army Corps; also known as Hancock's Corps, General Hancock being its commander; Armies of the Tennessee and the Potomac. He participated in some of the hardest fought battles of the war, including Chichasaw Bayou, Champion Hills, Jackson, Vicksburg, Colliersville, and others. He was also a prisoner on Belle Isle.
After the war, he entered the Univer- sity of Iowa and was in charge of the public schools of Van Buren and Little Rock, Ark. in 1870-3. Returning to the law department of the University of Iowa, he was there graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1874; honorary LL. D. 1890. He was admitted to the bar in 1875, and began the practice of law in Colorado Springs, where he became associated with Judge E. A. Colburn. He was a member of the House, 1877, and the Senate, 1879, of the General Assembly of Colorado, from El Paso county. In 1880 Judge Helm was elected to the Dis- triet bench, and two years later, a member of the Colorado Supreme Court, to which he was
re-elected in 1891, and was chief Justice, 1889-1892.
Judge Helm resigned from the Supreme Court in 1892, and ran for governor on the republican ticket. It was just at this time that the Populist movement was in the as- cendency, and Judge Helm, who had always carried the state on the republican ticket in normal political conditions, was defeated for governor by Davis H. Waite. Returning to the practice of the law, he continued in the same, except when temporarily appointed to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Bench, 1907-9.
Judge Helm has been tendered the posi- tion of Commissioner of the U. S. General Land Office and U. S. Assistant Attorney General, but declined the same; he has also been highly endorsed for other important federal appointments, among them Secretary of the Interior and on the U. S. Circuit Bench; but Colorado has been so much out of touch with the national adminis- tration in political affairs that it has been difficult for any of her favored sons, to re- ceive the consideration that otherwise would have been accorded them.
Judge Helm has made the record of a gal- lant soldier, and an able jurist, and in re- suming the practice of the law, has become attorney and counselor in some of the most important litigation and for some of the most important corporations in the state and the west.
In Sept., 1881, he married Miss Marcia, daughter of George H. Stewart, of Colorado Springs, descended from a distinguished family. Judge Helm is a member of the Denver Club, Denver Athletic Club, A. Lin- coln Post, G. A. R. and is a Master Mason.
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C
CHARLES DENISON HAYT
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CHARLES DENISON HAYT.
H AYT, CHARLES DENISON, jurist, born in Poughkeepsie, New York, May 20, 1850, was the son of Henry Delevan and Jane (Berry) Hayt. He is descended from a eolo- nial and patriotic aneestry. His grandfather, Samuel Hayt, married Sarah Delevan, daughter of Timothy Delevan, who married a Miss Close. Timothy Delevan, his great- grandfather, born in North Salem, N. Y., May 27, 1738, died in Patterson, New York, January 19, 1803, was one of the patriots of the American Revolution. He was Ensign, Seventh Regiment, Fredericksburg preeinct, elected March 11, 1776; was elected May 28, 1778, seeond lieutenant in the company com- manded by Captain David Waterbury, in the Seventh Duehess County Regiment, New York Militia, Colonel Henry Ludington ; was reported as first lieutenant, July, 1779, in same company and regiment. The whole Hayt family was in the war, ten of the eleven brothers being in the revolution, and the other brother was later killed in an Indian war.
Judge Hayt's father engaged both in freighting on the Hudson River and in farm- ing. The son, Charles D. Hayt, who later became Chief Justice of the Colorado Su- preme Court, was educated in the State Street High School, at Albany, which he attended in 1864, and then became a student in Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mas- saehusetts, in 1867. He studied law in Poughkeepsie. In 1871, he eame to Colo- rado, on an investigating trip, and then went east, but returned to Colorado, loeating in Walsenburg in 1874. He was elected County Judge of Huerfano county, in October, 1874, and held that office until 1877. Judge Hayt was postmaster at Alamosa, 1878-1881. He was appointed distriet attorney of the Sixth Distriet, Colorado, 1881, and in the fall of that year was elected to the same office, which he held until January 1, 1883. This distriet then ineluded twelve counties in the southern part of the state, and during his term he eondueted a vigorous and success- ful prosecution of all violators of the law. In November, 1882, he was elected judge of the Sixth Judicial District, Colorado, and entered upon the duties of that office in Jan-
uary, 1883, which he held until January, 1889. The ability that Judge Hayt had shown as county judge of Huerfano county, dis- triet attorney and judge of the Sixth Dis- triet had made his name and splendid record so well known, that he was nominated for the supreme court by the republican state convention, for a term of nine years, and was elected to that offiee in November, 1888. He was chief justice of Colorado for six years, including the administration of Gov. Waite. Although Bryan had carried the state for the presideney, in 1896, by a major- ity of 135,000, yet the year following Judge Hlayt, on the republican tieket, was only de- feated for the Supreme Bench by a majority of 3,500 against him. On January 11, 1898, he retired from the supreme court, and has sinee been engaged in the practice of the law. and is now the senior member of the legal firm of Hayt, Dawson & Wright. He has not been a candidate for any office since his name was prominently mentioned as the suc- cessor of Judge Hallett, on the retirement of the latter from the United States Distriet Bench in Colorado.
Judge Hayt is a member of the Denver Club and the Traffie Club, Denver; the Elks and Masons, and the Sons of the Revolution.
He married Miss Julia A. Palmer, at La Veta, Colorado, October 3, 1878. She was the daughter of Andrew Jackson Palmer of Georgia, who was in the Mexican War under General Scott from the beginning to the end. Her mother was Ella Petterson Palmer. Mrs. Hayt's great-grandfather, Jesse Palmer, en- listed in the army of the American Revo- lution from the State of North Carolina, and drew a pension during the latter years of his life for the services rendered in aid of the colonies. Mrs. Hayt was well known as a singer and a leader in church and social eireles when residing in the southern part of the state, a position she still holds since Judge Hayt has made Denver his permanent home.
They have two children, Miss Ella Palmer Hayt, prominent in Denver musical eireles, and Charles D. Hayt, Jr., who is en- gaged in the practice of the law in Alamosa, this state.
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MOSES HALLETT
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MOSES HALLETT.
HALLETT, MOSES, jurist, born in Galena, Jo Daviess county, Illinois, July 16, 1834, was the son of Moses and Eunice (Crowell) Hallett. Judge Hallett's grandfather, and his ancestors in the paternal line, were sailors, ex- cept his father, who, a native of Massachusetts moved to Missouri in 1820, and engaged in farming. In 1826 he removed to Jo Daviess county, Illinois; he died in 1859. In his pa- ternal line, Judge Hallett was of English de- scent. His mother, a native of Massachusetts died at the old family home in Illinois in 1864. His father, a member of the Illinois state militia, was in the Black Hawk war in 1832.
Judge Hallett attended the public schools of his native town and received his academic education in Rock River Seminary, and later as a student in Beloit College (Wisconsin). At the age of 21 (1855), he entered the law office of E. S. Williams, Chicago, and early in 1858 was admitted to the bar and immediately be- gan the practice of the law in that city. Com- ing to Colorado in 1860, he engaged in mining in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties. Preferring his profession to that of mining, he removed to Denver, and resumed the practice of the law. He formed a partnership with H. P. Bennet, which they continued under the firm name of Bennet & Hallett until Mr. Bennet went to Congress in 1863. Judge Hallett was appointed Chief Justice of the Territory of Colorado, April 10, 1866, pursuant to popular demand and a joint memorial of the legis- lature passed in February, 1866. Colorado wanted one of its own citizens appointed to this position, and so rapidly had he won the confidence and esteem of the people, during a residence of six years, that President John- son, on receiving the memorial that had been signed by the governor, gave him the ap- pointment. Thus Judge Hallett began his long, honorable and distinguished career as a jurist in the territorial period which he con- tinued many years after Colorado had become a state. Although known best as the jurist, vet he rendered valuable services in the early days as a member of the Territorial Council (Senate) in 1863-65.
In 1870 Judge Hallett was reappointed by President Grant to the Territorial Supreme Court, and again in 1874, serving until Colo- rado became a state. In 1877, President Grant appointed Judge Hallett to the U. S. District Court for Colorado, which position he filled with dignity, distinction and honor until he retired from the bench, May 1, 1906. During his term in the U. S. Court, many intricate and new questions, especially relating to mining laws and their interpreta- tion, came up for adjudication. Leadville,
Aspen, Creede, Cripple Creek, in the charac- ter of their veins and deposits, with new fea- tures of metalliferous mining, presented intri- cate problems for both the bench and the bar, and precedents had to be set along new lines of interpretation, to meet the condi- tions peculiar to the geological formation in these new mining camps. Probably no western jurist has exerted a greater influence in mining jurisprudence than Judge Hallett. During his term on the U. S. District bench, the Denver & Rio Grande, and the Colorado & Southern came directly under his super- vision in the appointment of receivers, and matters were further complicated by labor troubles and strikes that followed in connec- tion therewith. With firmness and tact and judicial acumen, he handled these difficult problems. Out of labor difficulties he brought peace and quiet, and from a chaotic financial condition, the railroads were established on a paying basis.
Judge Hallett is a member of the Uni- versity Club, and the Masonic fraternity. Since 1892, he has been professor of Ameri- can Constitutional Law and Federal Juris- prudence in the University of Colorado, which institution conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. in 1893.
Judge Hallett married Feb. 9, 1882, Miss Katherine Felt, daughter of Lucius F. Felt, a merchant of Galena, Ill. For many years she was connected with the social and church life and work in this city and state. She was educated in New York City, and was of that splendid type that exalted womanhood in Colorado. Her most active work was per- formed in connection with the Episcopalian Church, of which she was a devoted member, and St. Luke's Hospital, this city. Mrs. Hallett passed away Sept. 19, 1902, and, in honor of her memory, Judge Hallett erected the Katherine Hallett Home for Nurses at St. Luke's Hospital.
Judge and Mrs. Hallett have one son liv- ing, Lucius, who married June 14th, 1909, Miss Genevieve, a graduate of Wellesley, and daughter of Dr. Oscar J. Pfeiffer of Den- ver.
During a later period, in addition to at- tending to his large private interests, Judge Hallett has been for several years executor and trustee of the estate of George W. Clay- ton, who left a large fortune for the establish- ment of the George W. Clayton College for orphan boys. After carefully and success- fully handling this large property, Judge Hal- lett has turned it over to the city to carry out the wishes of the donor, and the build- ings are now nearly completed.
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JOSEPH ADDISON THATCHER
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JOSEPH ADDISON THATCHER.
T HATCHER, JOSEPH ADDISON, banker and capitalist, was born at Shelbyville, Kentucky. July 31, 1838. His grandfather, John P. Thatcher, came to this eountry from England in the early part of the eighteenth century, settling in Virginia. His father was John Pemberton Thatcher, born in 1789 and died in 1853. His mother was the daughter of W. H. and Patsy Hickman, an old Cava- lier family, prominent in Colonial days of the Old Dominion state.
Early in the nineteenth century, John Pemberton Thatcher, then a young man, crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and, like hundreds of other young Virginians took up a residence in the Blue Grass state. When the second war with England was declared, he organized a company of volunteers, serv- ing as captain in the war of 1812.
Joseph Addison Thatcher was given a good common school education, and in 1853, the year of his father's death, he went to Independence, Missouri, where he secured employment in the dry goods store of an uncle. He remained in Missouri for about seven years, working at Independence.
In the spring of 1860, Thatcher, who had inherited the pioneer spirit and the restless desire to advance his condition, brought a trainload of provisions and mining supplies across the plains and located at Central City. The years he had spent in mercantile pur- suits in Missouri were the best possible train- ing for the young man.
For two years he engaged in mercantile business at this pioneer Colorado settlement and then he received an offer from Warren Hussey to enter his bank. In a short time Mr. Thatcher was made manager of Hus- sey's bank, an institution which under his direction, was very successful.
In 1870 he purchased the Warren Hussey Bank at Central City and organized the pri-
vate bank of Thatcher, Standley & Com- pany and in 1874 he organized the First Na- tional Bank of Central City, taking over the bank of Thatcher, Standley & Company.
Mr. Thatcher was president of the First National Bank of Central City from its or- ganization in 1874 to 1884, when he moved to Denver and joined with other prominent Coloradoans in the organization of the Den- ver National Bank.
For a number of years this institution was ranked with the leading banks of the west. It is one of the permanent monu- ments to the business integrity of Denver and Colorado, and the place it has achieved is due in large part to the wise and prudent management of President Thatcher.
In addition to occupying the presidency of the Denver National Bank, Mr. Thatcher is also interested in the First National Bank of Central City, and is one of the largest stockholders in the Columbia Land and Cat- tle Company and The Portland Cement Com- pany.
With all his business activities( Mr. Thatcher has yet found time to cultivate a taste for the gentler arts. He is a lover of outdoor life, a devotee of art and music, be- ing a discriminating critic in both.
He has published one book entitled "A Colorado Outing," which is widely read and enjoyed by those who are in sympathy with the subject. For years Mr. Thatcher has been a patron of the best musical organiza- tions in Denver, contributing liberally to their support.
For recreation Mr. Thatcher enjoys tra- veling better than anything. He has made many trips to Europe, traveling through the southern Continental countries and in Egypt.
Mr. Thatcher was married in 1865 to Miss Fanny Kintley, of St. Louis, at Central City.
He is a member of the Denver Club and of the Colorado Scientifie Society.
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WILLIAM GARRETT FISHER
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WILLIAM GARRETT FISHER.
FISHER, WILLIAM GARRETT, member
of the firm of Daniels & Fisher, pioneer merchants of Denver and Leadville, was born at Cambridge, New York, July 11, 1844, died at the Gilsey house, New York City, April 7, 1897. His body is buried at Fairmount ceme- tery, Denver, Colorado.
His father was Garrett Wendell Fisher, a leather manufacturer, born 1810, died 1847. His mother was Eunice Sherman Fisher, daughter of Lemuel and Sarah Carswell Sherman.
As a boy, young Fisher attended the dis- trict school and was sent to Washington County academy, there to be fitted for Wil- liams college. He had begun his course at the academy, when the civil war broke out. That mighty confliet was to change the whole tenor of his life.
Immediately upon the war breaking out Mr. Fisher announced his intention to en- list in the war for the Union, he carried with him a mother's blessing and the mem- ory of a mother's tears.
Fisher was mustered in at Albany, a member of the famous Black Horse cavalry, which was subsequently disbanded, as the government felt that the cavalry branch of the army was too numerous. He re-enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Twenty- third New York Infantry, serving until the close of the war.
The four years' conflict had transformed the boy to man's estate. The war, also, had enlarged his perspective, had made him com- petent to gaze upon big undertakings un- afraid. He made up his mind that the west was the land of opportunity, and after re- ceiving his final discharge, he turned his face toward the setting sun. A residence of four years in Iowa City and again he was on the move. This time for Denver, the straggling village in the shadow of the foot- hills, which he was to help make the Queen City of the Inter-Mountain country.
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