W. HENRY SMITH.
Mardos Collection
W. HENRY SMITH.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 437
vice of the owner was sought, not only in matters relating to the public welfare, but in private matters, by those who placed implicit confidence in his judgment. In 1897 he sold his ranch, since which time he has lived retired in Fort Logan. A man of liberal nature and large heart, he has spent a large amount of money in the development of Jefferson County, and has been the moving spirit in public enterprises, supporting them with his time, his influence and his money. He and his wife became the parents of four children, but only two are living, namely: Clark S., who resides with his parents; and Hattie M., the widow of W. J. Watson.
ILLIAM HENRY SMITH, attorney-at-law, of Denver, was born in Wellsboro, Tioga County, Pa., and was orphaned by his father's death, Lambert Miles Smith, when he was an infant. The groundwork of his education was laid in the classic academy in Wellsboro, and continued in the State Normal University at Mansfield, Pa. He read law under Hon. Henry Warren Williams, one of the judges of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. In 1864 he entered upon the practice of his profession in his native county, where he remained for six years.
Removing to Philadelphia in 1870, Mr. Smith there found a larger field for legal practice, and soon acquired note as a trial and consulting lawyer. The years that passed brought him success and an enviable reputation, but for some years he suffered greatly from a local facial trouble, to alleviate which he closed his labors in Philadelphia, in 1888, after which he traveled for a time hoping to find relief from a dryer climate and higher altitude. He first located in Lincoln, Neb., and engaged in general practice, in connection with which he delivered two courses of private law lectures for the benefit of the university students of that city and state. Attracted by the success of these lectures, he was tendered and accepted the position of dean of the College of Law of the University of Nebraska by the Regents. He organized a successful legal department besides continuing his private practice. He remained at the head of the College of Law for two years, delivering courses of lectures upon contracts, commercial law, constitutional law, private corporations, common law pleading, and upon historical legal topics. Among the members of his law faculty were Chief-Justice Maxwell, ex-Chief-Justice Reese, Hon. James M. Woolworth, of Omaha, Hon. W. Munger, United States District Judge for Nebraska, Hon. J. M. Webster, Hon. John C. Watson and Professor Wilson.
At the close of the university year of 1893, Mr. Smith again visited Denver. After an experimental sojourn for some months, the beneficial effects of the climate caused him to resign "his position as dean of the College of Law in the Nebraska University. Since September 1, 1893, he has been steadily engaged in the practice of his profession in Denver and has built up a reputation for breadth of legal knowledge and depth of general information. He was employed as special counsel for the city and has had entire charge of the case of the City of Denver vs. the Denver Union Water Company, which has become so famous, the actual trial of which lasted over one year in the district court. Though never a candidate for office, and with no desire for positions of public trust, he is nevertheless very firm in the political beliefs and principles of the Republican party, in the faith of which he was reared. In religious connections he is identified with the Central Presbyterian Church as a member and officer. His experience in the law, covering a wide range of practice, has made him familiar with the doctrines of general jurisprudence. During the first year of his residence in Denver he delivered a course of lectures upon Pleading, comparing the common law and code systems of practice.
ON. DUNCAN DRUMMOND, ex-senator and at present a member of the board of county commissioners of Clear Creek County, is a resident of Dumont. He is an active and influential worker in the People's party, for two years has been a member of the state executive committee of the same and has attended every convention of importance. He has lived within the borders of Colorado since the year which witnessed its admission to the sisterhood of states, and from that time until the present he has been interested in its development and progress, and in material ways has aided in the grand result of to-day.
Though his home is in Dumont, Mr. Drum-
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. mond is constantly called to different parts of the county, as his services as a practical machinist and builder of stamp and other mills are in great demand. For two years after he came to this state he was superintendent of machinery in the mill of the Pelican Mining Company of Georgetown, and since leaving their employ he has built mills and hoisting plants in numerous places. He erected the Drummond mill at Dumont and the Specht mill, which is situated here; of the former he is also manager and part owner. It is a thirty-five-ton mill, with concentrator, modern machinery and equipments, all run by steam-power. Mr. Drummond is interested in the Ohio Gulch Mining Company at Dumont. This concern controls about twenty mining claims, all of which were discovered by our subject. He thoroughly understands everything pertaining to mines, mills and machinery, and is considered an authority on the subject.
The Drummond family, as is well known, is one of the old Scottish families, from which many noted men have sprung. Our subject's father, Robert, and grandfather, John, were both natives of Glasgow, Scotland. The father was a manufacturer in that city and in 1866 brought his family to the United States, settling in Chicago, Ill. His wife, whose maiden name was Agnes Fraser, was born at Berwick-on-the-Tweed. Her brother, David R. Fraser, of Chicago, is senior member of the influential and wealthy firm of Fraser & Chalmers, manufacturing machinists. Mr. and Mrs. Drummond both died in Chicago. They were the parents of seven children, six of whom are living. One son, Ralph, was a victim of the frightful "cold-storage" building fire at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. He had been placed in charge of some machinery exhibits there, and was unfortunately in the building at the time of the fire, in which nineteen men lost their lives. He was last seen in the tower, from which he had started to descend, when the structure collapsed, falling into the sea of flames below.
Duncan Drummond was born May 21, 1854, in Glasgow, and was educated in the public schools of Chicago. At the age of fifteen years he commenced serving an apprenticeship to his uncle, Mr. Fraser, as a machinist. In 1876 he came to Colorado, and, as previously stated, has been actively engaged in affairs related directly or indirectly to mining ever since: He was elected in 1895 to fill out the unexpired term of Senator Robert Turner, deceased, and in 1896 was elected county commissioner of Clear Creek. He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian Church. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, and Ancient Order United Workmen, the lodges of these three organizations with which he is associated being in Idaho Springs.
Rev. Samuel W. Wolcott, the senator's father, was for some time a missionary in Syria, and for many years officiated as pastor of a Congregational Church in Ohio. He was the author of over three hundred hymns, and was a man of marked ability and rare gifts. His son, our subject, served for a few months in 1864 as a private in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Regiment, and in 1866 matriculated at Yale College, but did not complete the course in that institution. In 1871 he graduated from the Harvard Law. School, and came to Colorado, settling in Denver, of which city he has since been a prominent citizen. He was first elected to the United States senate to succeed Thomas M. Bowen (Republican), and took his seat March 4, 1889. In 1895 he was reelected, his term to expire March 3, 1901. He is one of the Republican leaders of his state, and has wielded a powerful influence in public affairs. May 14, 1890, in St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, N. Y., he was united in marriage with Frances, daughter of the late James H. Metcalfe, of that city.
Writing of Senator Wolcott, Stanley Wood says that "he is a man of impulse, yet with a keen sagacity that guides and controls his impulses in such a manner that, while his actions lose nothing in spontaneity, they are seldom, if ever, mal apropos. He has the courage to express his opinions, the gratitude to reward his friends, the firmness to pursue and punish his
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