Portrait & Biographical Record

Mardos Collection

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
135

Neurological Society and the American Neurological Society. Later he was elected a member of the American Climatological Society and the American Medical Association, with all of which he still retains his connection. He also belongs to the New York Medical-Legal Society, the Denver and Arapahoe County Medical Society and the Colorado State Medical Association (president of the last-mentioned) and also president of the El Paso County Medical Society. Dr. Eskridge has devoted the best years of his life to the noble work of alleviating the sufferings of his fellowmen and his scholarly research, indefatigable labors and invaluable experience make him an authority on subjects relating to his profession. His fame is far-reaching, and his carefully prepared articles for publication are always eagerly sought for and thenceforth quoted. Toward the young and aspiring physician he has proved a sincere friend and adviser.

AVID H. MOFFAT. He who contributes to the commercial prosperity of a place; who, by his judgment and foresight, assists in the development of its resources; in whose hands large financial trusts are placed and safely, faithfully guarded; such an one may justly be called a public benefactor. To this class belongs Mr. Moffat, president of the First National Bank of Denver, and long one of Denver's most progressive and distinguished citizens. It would be impossible to write an accurate history of Denver and omit mention of his connection with the city, which has been his home since 1860, and the scene of his financial successes. The supremacy acquired by Denver over other towns of the mountain states is due in no small measure to his business acumen and sagacity, for he used his influence to bring railroads to the city and to introduce manufacturing enterprises and business projects that would be of permanent value to the place.

      The success attained by Mr. Moffat is especially deserving of mention when the fact is considered that he left home at the age of twelve years, with little money, to begin the battle of life for himself. He went from Orange County, N. Y., where he was born July 22, 1839, to the city of New York, and there, by a strange providence, he found employment in the line of business for which he was best fitted by nature. He was given a place in the New York Exchange Bank as messenger boy, and this apparent chance determined the occupation of his life. He was quick to learn, and his increasing knowledge of the banking business was recognized by the president, Selah Van Duser, who promoted him to a clerkship in the bank.

     In 1855, having received an offer of employment in Des Moines, Iowa, he went to that city and there for a time was teller in the banking house of A. J. Stevens & Co. While connected with that bank he made the acquaintance of B. F. Allen, of Des Moines, who, recognizing his financial talents, offered him a more lucrative position in Omaha. Going to that city, he took charge of the Bank of Nebraska, as cashier. At the end of four years he closed the bank, paid its indebtedness in full, and divided the surplus among the stockholders. He then left at once for Denver, making the trip in a wagon drawn by mules and loaded with a full supply of provisions. When he reached his destination, he found on the banks of the Platte River a settlement of a few thousand people, the most of whom were prospectors. In partnership with C. C. Woolworth, he opened a book and stationery store, which was carried on for six years. In those days gold dust was the medium of exchange. Interest rates were very high, and there was a profit in the purchase of bullion and its shipment east.

     When Mr. Moffat came to Denver he was a slender youth, weighing only one hundred pounds, and bearing the appearance of one in delicate health. However, he was much stronger than his appearance indicated, and as he became older he increased in weight, being now a man of splendid physique and robust health, two years after he came to Denver he established a home of his own, being united in marriage with Miss Fannie A. Buckhout, of Saratoga, N. Y., by whom he has a daughter, the wife of J. A. McClurg.

     April 17, 1865, the comptroller of treasury authorized the organization of the First National Bank of Denver, and it was opened for business May . The original stockholders and directors were: Austin M. and Milton K Clark, Bela S. Boell, Jerome B. Chaffee, Henry J. Rogers, George T. Clark; Charles A. Cook and Eben Smith; the officers being: J. B. Chaffee, presi-
   2

136
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

dent; H. J. Rogers, vice-president; and George T. Clark, cashier. The private banking business of Clark & Co. was merged into the new institution, which was located on Blake street, then the business center of the city. No especial success rewarded the investments of the stockholders until 1867, when Mr. Moffat was elected cashier, but after that there was an immediate improvement and from that year the bank enjoyed a steady and increasing prosperity. It now has a capital of $500,000, with a surplus larger than that, and deposits amounting to $13,000,000. During the panics that engulfed so many banks throughout the country it retained its credit unimpaired, meeting every demand on time.

     Besides being connected with Mr. Chaffee in the bank, Mr. Moffat was, with him, interested in real-estate and mining operations. They owned the Caribou mine, near Boulder, the Breece iron mine, in Leadville, and the Henrietta, also in Leadville. They also purchased Senator Tabor's stock in the Little Pittsburg Consolidated Mining Company, of which Mr. Moffat became vice-president and from which he derived a large income. In addition, they together owned nearly a hundred mines in different parts of the state.

     In projects for building railroads Mr. Moffat has always borne an active part. In 1869 he cooperated with Governor Evans in building the Denver Pacific Railroad from Denver to Cheyenne, thus securing a connection with the Union Pacific. After silver was discovered at Leadville he took part in organizing a syndicate that built the Denver & South Park Railroad, one hundred and fifty miles long, and which at one time yielded larger profits then any railroad of its length in world. Upon the construction of the Boulder Valley Railroad he was chosen treasurer of the company and himself built the extension from Boulder to the Marshall coal banks, in Boulder County. For years he held the responsible position of president of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, of whose stock he was a heavy owner, but in 1891 he resigned the position. He was largely interested in the building of the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad, connecting Cripple Creek with Florence, and one of the most profitable lines in the state.

      During the administration of Governor Evans, Mr. Moffat held the office of adjutant-general. For four years he was territorial treasurer. In the organization of the Denver City Water Company he took an active part and was for years its treasurer. Other local enterprises have received his warm support and active assistance. Perhaps no trait of his character is more worthy of admiration then his generosity. In great financial crises he has helped many men to brave the storm and retain their financial credit, who, without his aid, would have succumbed to the tempest. The amount of his gifts no one knows, unless it be himself; but they must amount to thousands annually. Fitz-Mac, in an admirable character sketch of Mr. Moffat, says: ''His friendship takes not so much the smiling as the helping turn. I speak not of what he gives away in charity, but in a straight business way he has helped more men then any other man in the state. That would be little to say of him now because he is the richest man in the state, but it could have been truly said of him long before he became the richest man; and actually was widely said.'' Great riches bring great responsibilities, but, did all our men of wealth possess the helpful, practical sympathy that has made Mr. Moffat a man among men, there would be less of the socialistic spirit prevalent in our country, and anarchism would be relegated to the dark ages, or to unenlightened countries, where it might hope to find followers.

ON. HORACE A. W. TABOR. The old adage, ''Truth is stranger than fiction,'' finds exemplification in this, the most famous of the men who crossed the plains in 1859 and became the pioneers in the development of the mining resources of Colorado. For years newspapers chronicled his successes, reporters wrote glowing descriptions of his triumphs in this modern El Dorado, and people, both in this country and throughout the entire civilized world, were attracted by the spectacle of a man who rose by such rapid bounds to the pinnacle of fortune and under whose leadership, like that of Midas of old, every path became a road to fortune.

      The record of the life of such a man has more than temporary or local interest, and it will therefore be the biographer's effort to present it in full, so that the reader may understand the circumstances and characteristics that contributed to his success. Horace A. W. Tabor was born in Orleans County,

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
137

Vt., November 26, 1830, and in early life acquired habits of industry and perseverance. His parents being poor, he had meagre educational advantages and was forced to supply by observation and experience the knowledge that most boys gain in school. In youth he learned the trade of a stonecutter, which he followed in Vermont until twenty-five years of age. In 1853 he came west as far as Kansas, where he settled upon a farm. While he failed to gain financial success there, he gained a position of prominence among the Free Soil party, and when Kansas became a state he was elected a member of the Topeka legislature in 1857, but that body was dispersed by Federal troops, acting on the orders of the war department.

     His experience in Kansas offered little inducement to Mr. Tabor to remain there, and when rumors of the discovery of gold in Colorado reached him he resolved to join the Argonauts westward bound. He spent the winter of 1859-60 in Denver, and in the spring started for California Gulch (now Leadville), he and his wife making the trip in a "prairie schooner'' drawn by oxen, After six weeks of travel he reached his destination in April, and at once began prospecting and mining. The mining camp was then in the zenith of its prosperity and when the season was over he had $5,000, a fair fortune, as it seemed to him then. When cold weather rendered mining impossible, he opened a grocery store, but in the spring resumed mining, and at the end of his second season he had a total sum of $15,000. In 1865 he sold out his mine and moved to the Buckskin Joe district, in Park County, where was then a booming camp, but is now a wilderness. He opened a store there and also served as postmaster. When the Printer Boy mine was discovered in California Gulch, in 1868, he moved back there and opened a store at Oro City, also officiated as postmaster. For a long time his life was only ordinarily successful, but in the spring of 1879 the tide of fortune changed.

      In Fairplay, Park County, were two shoemakers, August Rische and George T. Hook, who, being poor, applied to Mr. Tabor for assistance in their search for carbonates. Mr. Tabor had always been kind and accommodating, as many a poor miner knew, and he generously aided these two men. They went to the apex of Fryer HilL and began digging late in April. Many laughed at their credulity in imagining any hidden wealth there, but they worked patiently, undisturbed by ridicule or sneers. Early in May, at a depth of twenty-six feet, they struck a vein and discovered what has since been famous as the Little Pittsburg mine. During the first half of July the yield from the mine was $8,000 a week, and soon the mine was producing seventy-five to one hundred tons of ore daily. The three partners purchased neighboring claims. In September Mr. Hook, who had gained a fortune from the intermediate sale of ore, sold his interest to his associates for $90,000, and soon Mr. Rische disposed of his interest to J. B. Chaffee and David H. Moffat for $262,500. In November the New Discovery, Little Pittsburg, Dives and Winnemuc properties were merged into the Little Pittsburg Consolidated Company, with a capital of $20,000,000, and the production of the mines from the spring of 1878 until April 1, 1880, was $2,697,534.91 for receipts of ore sold, and $4,246,239.81, actual yield. Afterward Mr. Tabor sold his interest to his partners for $1,000,000.

     Meantime the other interests owned by Mr. Tabor became important and extensive. He bought about one-half of the stock of the First National Bank of Denver, purchased the Matchless mine at Leadville, and bought a one-fourth interest in the mines of Borden, Tabor & Co., the receipts from which were $100,000 a month. In company with Marshall Field, of Chicago, he acquired possessions that yielded millions. The Matchless, which he bought for $117,000, yielded him a net income of $2,000 a day, and for a time its returns amounted to $100,000 a month. He owned the Alaska, Adelphi, Acapulco and Victory mines in the San Juan country, and was the sole owner of the Red Rogers and the Saxon. He bought interests in mines in Arizona, New and Old Mexico, and became the wealthiest man in the state. No other man in the state has ever made money so rapidly. It seems almost as if everything he touched turned into gold, and the reports of his phenomenal career spread all over the world.

     It has been said that no man in the state made money so rapidly as Mr. Tabor. With equal truth it may he said that no man did more for the upbuilding of the state. He did not remove to foreign lands, there to dazzle nobles and royalty with his wealth, but devoted it to the advance

138
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

merit of his state. He was especially interested in the growth of Denver. February 1, 1879, he purchased the Broadwell corner, on Sixteenth and Larimer streets, for $30,000, and at the same time paid $40,000 for a block of ground and a residence on Broadway. In the spring of 1880 he built the Tabor block, of sandstone cut at Clough's quarries in Ohio. March 8, 1880, he bought the corner of Sixteenth and Curtis streets, and at once made preparations for the building of an opera house to equal or surpass the finest in the country. A Chicago firm was employed to draw the plans, with instructions to visit the best theatres in America and Europe and erect a building that would be above criticism in every respect. How well the contractors succeeded all residents of Denver know. September 5, 1881, the house was formally opened to the public by Emma Abbott's opera company. He purchased the corner of Arapahoe and Sixteenth streets, and offered it to the government as a site for a postoffice, which was afterwards erected there. Other lots he also bought and improved, thus adding to the prosperity of Denver. He was also interested in Leadville, of which he was the first and second mayor. He built an opera house there, aided in securing the water works and gas works, and was a factor in the securing of the fire department.

     In 1878 Mr. Tabor was elected lieutenant-governor of the state. When Henry M. Teller became a member of President Arthur's cabinet, Mr. Tabor was chosen to fill his unexpired term of thirty days as United States senator. He was a candidate for election to the office, but his opponent, Judge Bowen, was elected by a majority of one vote. As chairman of the state central committee, he conducted the Republican campaign of 1886 with success. In 1891 he was chosen president of the Denver Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade. His present position as postmaster of Denver was tendered him in 1898. There was a time when his friends hoped to see him elected the chief executive of the state, and had he been chosen for the position undoubtedly he would have done his utmost to advance the welfare of his adopted state.

      Although unfortunate investments, the most of them in other states, have deprived Mr. Tabor of almost his entire property, it has not robbed him of the esteem of the people among whom he has lived for so many years. When the last remnant of his property was gone, he was not deserted by his acquaintances. Through the medium of Senator Wolcott, he received the appointment of postmaster; everyone, no matter of what political belief, rejoiced that this honor should be conferred upon one who had done so much for the advancement of the state, and who had, through so many years, been an important factor in the development of its resources.

RADFORD H. DUBOIS, president of the State Sanitary Board, has been very successfully connected with the mining interests of Colorado. Coming to Colorado in 1877, he, with Gen. John A. Logan, Governor Routt and J. V. Holcomb, hired a large carriage for the season and, amply provided with provisions, set out for the mining regions of the state, In July of that year they arrived in Oro. In February of the next year Leadville, three miles below Oro, was located and named. At the suggestion of J. J. DuBois, the only brother of our subject, the original name of Stabtown was changed to the more pleasing and appropriate appellation of Leadville. After some months among the mines, in November, 1877, General Logan and Mr. DuBois returned to Illinois; but in the spring of the next year the latter again went to Leadville, where he engaged in mining. With three others he located the Maid of Erin, which has produced nearly $6,000,000 and paid dividends to the amount of about $3,000,000. This mine is still being worked and is one of the most famous in the world. After some time, by consolidation, the Henrietta and Maid Consolidated Mining Company was incorporated in 1884. The same gentlemen also discovered and located the best portion of the Crystallite, that has since become famous, but their interest in this they soon sold. In addition to other mining interests Mr. Dubois is vice-president of the Hill Top Mining Company, which is in active operation, and owns the largest lead-producing mine in Colorado.

      Tracing the record of the DuBois family, we find that Louis Dubois was born in France, but on account of religious persecution fled to Holland, where he married. In 1624 he came to America and was one of the original twelve

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
139

patentees of Ulster County, N. Y., where he bought a large tract of land at New Paltz. His Son, Jonathan, had a son, Cornelius, who was a captain in the Revolution. Next in line of descent was Mathelsohn, a large land owner. His son, John B. DuBois, our subject's father, was born near Kingston, Ulster County, and engaged in the mercantile business at Libertyville until his retirement, when fifty-two years of age. For years he held the office of supervisor. His wife was Mary Hand, who was born in Libertyville, and died in Denver in 1895. Her father, Abel Hand, was born in Connecticut, removed to New York and carried on a mill at Libertyville, later going to Palatine Bridge, the same state, where he died. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He had only two children, sons, and they reside in Colorado, J. J. being proprietor of a ranch six miles east of Denver.

     Born in Ulster County in 1853, our subject attended the Libertyville school and New Paltz Academy, then was a student in the Illinois University at Champaign, remaining there until the close of the junior year. Later he engaged in business in Decatur, Ill., where he remained until his removal west. In 1885 he became interested in ranching, purchasing a tract one-half mile from the city limits, and at once proceeded to improve its seven hundred and fifty acres, which he irrigates from the High Line ditch, beside having artesian water in every field. General farm products are raised here, also standard bred horses, several of which have made world's records, and Jersey cattle.

      Politically Mr. DuBois is a Democrat. He made his headquarters in Leadville until 1885, when he removed to Denver. Under the administration of Governor Mclntire he was appointed president of the state sanitary board, and when Governor Adams became chief executive he was again chosen for this responsible position. In Denver he married Mrs. Eva (Speer) Moore, the first girl born in Lawrence, Kan., of which her father, John Speer, was one of the most prominent pioneers, also editor of the abolition paper that excited the wrath of the slavery supporters. In his family there were eight children, the eldest of whom, John, a married man, was murdered August 21, 1863, and the second son, Robert, who it is supposed was murdered, was buried on the day his older brother was killed.

     The third son, William, is a railroad man in Wichita, Kan.; Mary, Mrs. Wood Neff, died in Topeka in 1886; Eva was next in order of birth; Rosa died when a young lady; Hardin lives in Denver; and Joseph was accidentally killed by a playmate when seven years of age. Mrs. DuBois was educated in the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, and when a young woman was married to Charles D. Moore, who was born in Bridgeton, N. J., and grew to manhood in Kansas, but in 1881 removed to Robinson, Colo., where he was manager of the Robinson mine until his death in 1886. He left one daughter, Edna. The year after her husband's death Mrs. Moore came to Denver, where afterward she was married to Mr. DuBois. She is a member of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, and a lady of fine mental endowments, whose superior attributes of character attract many friends.

     Hon. John Speer, father of Mrs. DuBois, was born in Armstrong County, Pa., December 27, 1817, of Scotch descent on both sides. One of the ancestors, Donald Cargill, was a leader of the last struggle against Charles II, and was beheaded in 1661. John Speer emigrated from Ireland in 1792 and settled in South Carolina, but his antislavery opinions made the neighborhood unpleasant and he removed to Mercer County, Pa., where he purchased a farm now owned by descendants. His son, Capt. Robert Speer, learned nail manufacturing in Pittsburg, and followed the trade until steam power took the place of hand work. In 1830 he removed to a farm in Armstrong County, where he died at ninety-five years. His wife, Barbara, was a daughter of Adam and Nancy Lowrey, who were born in Ireland, of Scotch descent.

     When twelve years old John Speer secured a horseback mail route, to help pay for the land his father had bought. The route extended from Kittanning to Carversville, a distance of seventy-five miles through a ragged, rough country, and sixteen miles of which was a most dreary wilderness. He gave the name of Rock Springs to one place in the wilderness. After following this work for some years he became a printer's apprentice, at which he served for three years in Indiana, Pa., meanwhile continuing his private studies of grammar, mathematics and the sciences. For four months he was employed on the Kittanning Gazette. In 1839 he began the publica-

140
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tion at New Castle, Pa., of the Mercer and Beaver Democrat, a Whig paper, which supported General Harrison for president. In 1840 he was employed on the Portsmouth Tribune, and also made a trip through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, later taking a flatboat trip to New Orleans. In 1842 he established the Harrison Gazelle, a Whig weekly, at Corydon, Ind., but soon returned to Ohio and assisted in the editing of the Mount Vernon Times, after which, in September, 1843, he established the Democrat Whig at Medina, Ohio. The office was destroyed by fire in 1848, but was soon re-established, and he continued to publish the paper until 1853, when he declared that the Whig party had outlived its usefulness. On the passage of the Kansas and Nebraska bill he went to Kansas, locating at Lawrence September 27, 1854, and on the 15th of October publishing the first number of the Kansas Pioneer, which in January, 1855, was changed to the Kansas Tribune. In November of that year the paper was moved to Topeka and published there by Speer & Ross until 1854, when it was sold to the junior partner. Afterward Mr. Speer engaged in dealing in lumber, but in December, 1859, bought the Lawrence Republican, which he conducted until September 4, 1362. January 1, 1863, he revived the Kansas Tribune at Lawrence, and this he conducted until August 21, 1863. On that day the plant was destroyed by Quantrell's band, who went up to Lawrence intending to kill or capture John Speer, its editor. In November the paper again started and he continued its editor until 1871, when he retired temporarily. From October, 1875, to March, 1877, he was again connected with the paper as its editor. Since his retirement from editorial work he has devoted much of his time to literary work, for which his wide travels, extensive experience and vigorous style of writing admirably qualify him. In 1864 he was a delegate to the convention at Baltimore that nominated Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson for president and vice-president. At one time he was state printer of Kansas. He was a member of the house of representatives of the first free state legislature, from 1862 to 1866 was United States collector for the state of Kansas, and in 1864 was elected to the state senate.

      In Corydon, Ind., July 14, 1842, Mr. Speer married Elizabeth D., daughter of John and Martha (Withers) McMahan, the latter a descendant of Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, the former a relative of the Hardins of Kentucky. She was educated in a Catholic school near Bardstown, Ky., and was a woman of exemplary character, and in religious belief a Methodist. The night when the Tribune office was set on fire, her son, John M., was shot down in cold blood, and a younger son was either murdered or burned to death in the office; the house, too, was set on fire, but she prevented it from being destroyed. She died April 9, 1876.

T.-REV. J. P. MACHEBEUF is remembered by all who knew him as a talented bishop, a tireless worker and a genial friend. He was born in Rione, France, August 11, 1812, and was ordained to the priesthood on Christmas of 1836. For three years he was in charge of a parish near Clermont, after which, in 1839, he came to America. He spent a short time in Cincinnati, where he made a study of the English language and became familiar with its use. January 1, 1840, he was ordered to Sandusky, Ohio, where he built the first church in the place, it being a fine stone edifice, and he also founded an academy in the same city. In 1844 he visited his old hone in France and on his return to the United States brought with him ten sisters of the Ursuline order, introducing into this country one of its finest body of teachers.

     In January, 1851, Father Machebeuf left Sandusky and joined Bishop Lamy at New Orleans, from which place they went to San Antonio, and thence traversed the entire breadth of the state of Texas, accompanied by a guard of soldiers. On their arrival at their destination, Santa Fe, the people of that place gave them a brilliant reception, showing every courtesy to their new bishop, Lamy and his vicar-general, Machebeuf. The frequent absences of the bishop on missionary tours left the charge of the diocese almost wholly upon his vicar-general, who faithfully discharged every duty. Afterward, for six years, he was pastor of the Albuquerque parish, and besides his duties there, he visited all the military posts on the frontier of New Mexico. In 1858, when there was a partial organization of Arizona, Bishop Lamy was made ecclesiastical administrator of Arizona, and Father Machebeuf was sent to take possession of the missions established by

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
141

the former missionaries at different points. These missions had been under the bishop of Sonora, Mexico, whom Father Machebeuf was obliged to interview. After considerable delay he reached the Villa de Alamos, where he met the bishop and conferred with him in regard to the matter. On his return to Santa Fe he was enabled to report to Bishop Lamy that his mission had been most successful. In 1859 he was again sent to Arizona, this time to take charge of all its missions. After a short time Bishop Lamy ordered him to return to Santa Fe, and on doing so he learned that the bishop had been granted by the Pope jurisdiction over what is now the state of Colorado. He was asked to come to Colorado, and, in company with Father J. B. Raverdy, in September, 1860, left Santa Fe for Denver, where they arrived the last of October. In 1866 he was made vicar-apostolic, and in 1868 he was consecrated a bishop in the Cincinnati Cathedral. He remained a resident of Denver until his death, August 10, 1889.

     Of the results of the bishop's work in Denver, too much cannot be said in praise. Without doubt he was a man, not only of great piety and deep faith in God, but also of unusual executive ability and determination of will. His church, on Stout street, in Denver, was the first brick house of worship built in the state. In his diocese there are eighty or more priests, ninety churches, one hundred and twenty or more stations, a large number of academics and parochial schools, many hospitals, an immense Catholic population; and all this largely due to the pioneer work of the great-hearted Bishop Machebeuf.

EORGE B. ROSS-LEWIN, cashier of the First National Bank of Denver, was born in the city of Rochester, N. Y., March 28, 1857, and is of Irish parentage, but of Welsh descent. The first of the name in the United States was his grandfather, Francis Burton Ross-Lewin, who settled in Rochester and made that city his home until his death. The father, W. H. Ross-Lewin, was born in the north of Ireland and accompanied his parents to Rochester, where, on attaining manhood, he embarked in the mercantile business and continued a successful and extensive business luau until his retirement. In 1889 he removed to Chicago, where he has since made his home.

      From an early age the subject of this sketch displayed an aptitude for commercial affairs. On the completion of the studies of the grammar school, at the age of sixteen he entered upon his active business career. His first situation was that of clerk in a Rochester bank, where he remained for a number of years, by his fidelity and ability winning merited promotion to the position of teller. He continued to make his home in Rochester until 1881, when he came west to Colorado, arriving in Denver June 19. His first position here was that of collection clerk in the First National Bank. May I, 1886, he was promoted to the position of assistant cashier, and in the discharge of the duties of that office was so conspicuously successful that in 1891 he was made cashier.

     In addition to his connection with the bank, Mr. Ross-Lewin is treasurer of all the companies of which Mr. Moffat is the president, as well as a number of other concerns, among them being the Denver Consolidated Tramway Company, the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad Company, Victor Gold Mining Company, Metallic Extraction Company and the Anaconda Mining Company, the prosperity of all of which he has promoted by his sound judgment and acute intellectual powers. He is vice-president and one of the directors of the Bimetallic Bank of Cripple Creek, and is also vice-president of the Bank of Victor. He is a member of the Denver Club, and in political faith adheres to the policy of the Republican party. In Cincinnati, Ohio, he married Miss Elizabeth Closterman, whose father, Henry Closterman, was a manufacturer in that city. They have an only child, Elizabeth.

     The state of Colorado owes much of her prosperity to a number of wide-awake business men representing various interests, and among these the bankers of Denver have done much to promote enterprise and give security to investors. It requires just the class of men that Mr. Ross-Lewin represents to conduct vast enterprises, which by their phenomenal success made Colorado famous among her sister states and attracted millions of eastern capital. It requires tact as well as business ability to successfully manage the affairs of one concern, and it is rare that one man has been equipped by nature to ably conduct a variety of enterprises to the satisfaction of all concerned.

     Mr. Ross-Lewin owes much of his success to

142
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his early training and to those precepts given him by his parents, from whom he also inherits the energy of the Celt and the thrift and perseverance of the old Welsh ancestors, which, properly applied, lead to success.

REDERICK J. BANCROFT, M. D. The eminence attained by Dr. Bancroft in his profession, and his high character as a citizen, have won for him a place among the most influential of the physicians and surgeons residing in Denver. The fact that he has been called to many positions of trust, professional, military and educational, testifies to the recognition of his ability by others. During the long period of his residence in Denver he has aided in the carrying out of progressive enterprises for the benefit of the place; his most valuable service probably being his articles relating to the climate of Colorado written in the early days, by which, directly and indirectly, he added more to the permanent population of Colorado than any citizen of the state.

     The descendant of early settlers of New England, Dr. Bancroft was born in Enfield, Conn., May 25, 1834. His literary education was received in the academy at Westfield, Mass., and the Charlotteville (N. Y.) Seminary, and upon leaving school he began the study of medicine. In February, 1861, he graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo, N. Y., and in April of the same year he opened an office in Blakely, Pa. About that time the war broke out, and after six months of private practice, in November he enlisted as a surgeon in the army, being detailed by the surgeon-general of the state to take charge of the Church hospital in Harrisburg. In the spring of 1862 he was ordered to the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, at Hilton Head, S. C., and in May became medical attendant of the troops on Pinckney Island, Seabrook's and Elliott's plantations, in South Carolina. His next appointment was to take charge of a small portion of the Fourth and Seventh New Hampshire Regiments, in transit from Hilton Head, S. C., New York quarantine, which troops were infected with yellow fever. Afterward ordered to Philadelphia, and assigned to the Third Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, he served as examining surgeon of recruits until the spring of 1863, when orders came for him to fit up a hospital for Confederate prisoners, at Fort Delaware. He attended to that matter, then rejoined his regiment, the Third Pennsylvania Artillery, at Camp Hamilton, Va., in May, 1863. In June he was appointed post surgeon at Fortress Monroe by General Dix and remained there until the close of the war. While there Jefferson Davis, the vanquished Confederate president, was brought to the fort, but Dr. Bancroft's nativity as a New England man being objected to, another physician was summoned to attend Mr. Davis. With two other officers, Dr. Bancroft was detailed to investigate the past management of military hospitals near Fortress Monroe.

      On resigning from the United States military service, at the close of the war, Dr. Bancroft returned to Pennsylvania, where he took a course of lectures in the University of Pennsylvania. In April, 1866, he came to Denver, where he has built up a large practice. For several years he was surgeon for the Wells Fargo stage lines, and later was surgeon for the Denver Pacific, Kansas Pacific and Rio Grande Railroads, being connected with the last named company as chief surgeon from 1871 to 1887. He is to-day chief surgeon of the Rio Grande Western, Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf, and the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railways. He was elected president of the Denver Medical Society in 1876; he became identified with the American Medical Association; was vice-president of the National Association of Railway Surgeons; served as examining surgeon for pensions from 1868 to 1885; held the office of city physician 187277, 1878-79; was the first president of the state board of health, holding the office for two years, and later was secretary for a year. He became identified with the medical department of the Denver University, having assisted in its organization and has been an active worker ever since. He was elected to the chair of fractures and dislocations and holds that position at the present time.

     In 1875 he was made president of the Agricultural Ditch Company, which position he held until 1887, and was re-elected in 1897 and 1898. During his service as president of the board of education in East Denver, 1872-76, he was instrumental in advancing the interests of the public schools and promoting the standard of scholarship. An Episcopalian in religion, he was a member of the standing committee of that denomination in 1878-