Mardos Collection
 

WESTBROOK S. DECKER.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

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justly a memorable one. Solemn high mass was held in the Church of the Annunciation, of Denver, the pastorate of which he holds, and he officiated as celebrant, while other priests assisted in the ceremonies. The clergy and laity of the city tendered him a banquet at the Brown Palace hotel, at which toasts and responses were given, and two beautiful gifts were presented, representing the clergy and laity respectively.

     The oldest of seven children, three of whom are living, Father Robinson was born in Salem, Ill., the son of William and Jane (O'Hara) Robinson, natives of Ireland. His father removed from Utica, N. Y., to Illinois, thence to Wisconsin, settling on Lake Winnebago, and there engaged in farming until his death at an advanced age. His wife, who also died when quite old, was a daughter of James O'Hara, who emigrated to New York from Ireland, later removed to Illinois, and from thereto Appleton, Wis., where he spent his remaining years as a farmer.

     In youth our subject entered St. Francis de Sales Seminary at Milwaukee, and later carried on his studies in St. Vincent's Seminary at Cape Girardeau, Mo. There he was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Kendrick in 1871 and graduated the next year., He then came to Colorado and was ordained to the priesthood January 21 of 1872, by Bishop Machebeuf. For two and one-half years he was an assistant in the Cathedral, after which he went to Fairplay and built the Church of the Assumption, later working as a missionary in the mountainous districts. When Leadville was started, in the spring of 1878, he went there and organized the Annunciation congregation, afterward building a church and parsonage. At the same time he attended the Fairplay church until 1880, when another priest was appointed. The congregation at Leadville originally comprised twelve members, but grew constantly, and at the time he left it was one of the largest and best congregations in the state. In 1881 the Church of the Annunciation was completed, at the corner of Seventh and Poplar streets, a structure that has the distinction (owing to the altitude) of having the highest spire of any church in the world. A fine hospital was built, in which the nurses were Sisters of Charity; a school building with accommodations for six hundred children was erected, and also a neat parish house.

     While in Leadville Father Robinson often mediated between strikers and employers, and during the smallpox plague he visited and ministered to the sick, unmindful of the danger of contagion. His heroism was remarkable during all the trying days in the early history of Leadville; his courage was unfaltering and won him the admiration even of those who, as a rule, had no respect for ministers of the gospel. In 1889 he visited Europe and the Holy Land, devoting considerable time to those places associated with our Savior's life upon earth. In 1889 he was appointed vicar-general of the Denver diocese, to succeed the recently deceased Father Raverdy. In 1890 he was appointed pastor of the Church of the Annunciation, which he organized in 1890, building a three-story stone structure, 60x108, one floor of which is used for the church, and the remainder for the school. In the latter four hundred pupils are taught the public school branches by the Sisters of Charity, and are also given instruction in bookkeeping, drawing and music. The church is located on the corner of Humboldt and Thirty-seventh streets. It has a membership of over two hundred English-speaking families, besides one hundred others. The usual sodalities of the Catholic church have been organized and are in active operation. The growth of the congregation is remarkable and is certainly a tribute to the ability and energy of Father Robinson. The growth of the church speaks, far better than mere words could do, of the tact, tireless industry and excellent management of him who stands at the head of the congregation. 

ESTBROOK SCHOONMAKER DECKER, attorney-at-law, of Denver, was born in Tyre, Seneca County, N, Y., April 22, 1839, the son of Albert and Gertrude (Schoonmaker) Decker, natives respectively of Orange and Ulster Counties, N. Y., and descendants of Holland-Dutch ancestors, who were among the earliest settlers of Manhattan. He was reared on the home farm, for his father, in addition to being proprietor of a mercantile store, also engaged in agricultural pursuits. Primarily educated in public schools, at the age of sixteen he entered Brockport Collegiate Institute, where he was a student for three terms. When eighteen he began to teach, going west to Charleston, Coles County, Ill., and engaging in that profes-

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sion until 1861. In the summer of 1860 he taught at Milton Station, in the same county, but with that exception he was employed continuously at Charleston.

     It had been his intention to apply his earnings to his tuition in a college, where he could take a thorough literary and classical course, but the outbreak of the Civil war changed his plans. He returned to New York and taught near his native place until the summer of 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company I, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Infantry, and was mustered into service on the 22d of August. His first battles were those of Maryland Heights and Harper's Ferry. At the latter place, September 13-15, he was taken prisoner, but was soon paroled and sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, being exchanged in December. Sent to the defense of Washington, he did duty at Union Mills and Centerville early in 1863. His regiment with others became the Third Division of the Second Army Corps, under General Hancock. At Gettysburg, where he served in the Third Division, Second Corps, under the immediate command of Gen. Alexander Hayes, he was wounded, and was removed to the hospital at Newark, N. J., where he was obliged to remain for four months. Next he was commissioned second lieutenant in the Nineteenth United States Colored Troops, and in the winter of 1863-64 was on detached service on the eastern shore of Maryland. In the camp at Baltimore he acted as assistant quartermaster. His regiment became a part of the Fourth Division, Ninth Army Corps, commanded by General Burnside, the Ninth Corps forming a part of the Army of the Potomac, under General Meade. With other troops he was on duty in front of Petersburg.

      From June to November he was ordnance officer of the Third Division, Ninth Army Corps, and was later transferred to the same position in an independent command, occupying the Federal lines between the Appomattox and James Rivers. After the evacuation of Petersburg, the forces entered that city, and he was appointed ordnance officer of the district of Nottoway under Gen. George L. Hartsuff, with headquarters at Petersburg. In June, 1865, he was ordered to Brownsville, Tex., and was appointed assistant provost marshal, which position he filled until August 18, when he resigned and returned to New York.

     In the fall of 1865 Mr. Decker entered the law department of the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, and remained a student there until his graduation in 1867. He began the practice of law at Kankakee, Ill., where he remained until January, 1874. Meantime he established a home of his own, having married, August 1, 1867, Miss Katherine Worden, who lived near his childhood's home, and with whom he had been acquainted for years. In 1869, without opposition, he was elected county judge of Kankakee County, and held the position for the four ensuing years. Previous to this he had served as city attorney.

     On account of failing health it became necessary for Mr. Decker to seek a change of climate. Accordingly, in 1874, with his wife and two children, he came to Denver, then a city of about twelve thousand inhabitants. As soon as his health had improved sufficiently he opened a law office and began practice. In February, 1877, under the administration of President Grant, he was appointed United States district attorney, being the first to hold this office under the state government of Colorado.

     Public announcement was made April 16, 1880, that Mr. Decker, one of the ablest, most conscientious and efficient prosecutors the Federal government had selected for the management of its legal cases in Colorado, had resigned his office to resume the regular practice of law. He had filled the position with ability and success. Familiarity with the conduct of the office of public prosecutor in the United States court and in those of the district under the territorial regime, teaches us that for the most part the multiplication of fees was the paramount consideration. Scores of men were brought to these courts upon charges that, when investigated, could not be sustained. The greedy cormorants who had arrested these men were reprimanded from the bench and warned not to repeat the offence (sic). As the first United States district attorney, judge Decker established an honorable precedent for the guidance of his successors.

     To fill an unexpired term of one year, Judge Decker was elected district judge in the fall of 1887, and in 1888 was elected for the full term of six years, but resigned the position January 1, 1891. He has a large practice in the state and federal courts, and has the reputation of being one of the ablest attorneys in the state. Politi-

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