James William Denver (October 23, 1817 – August 9, 1892) was an American politician, soldier, and lawyer. He served in the California state government, as an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in two wars, and as a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from California. He served as secretary and Governor of the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

during the struggle over whether or not

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

would be open to

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. The city of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, is named after him.

Early life and career

James W. Denver was born near

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the northwesternmost Administrative divisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, Virginia, Frederi ...

. His father was born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, while his mother was of English descent. He attended public schools and moved to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

with his parents in 1830, settling near Wilmington. In 1841 he taught school in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and in 1844 he graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. He was admitted to the bar and practiced law near

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southwestern Ohio, it is east of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton and is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area as well as the Miami Valley region. As o ...

. He moved to Platte City, Missouri, in 1845, where he continued his law practice and acting career. In 1847, during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, he recruited a company for the 12th U.S. Volunteer Infantry and was commissioned a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, serving under General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

. After the war in 1850, Denver traveled to California, where he became a trader. Denver killed newspaper editor Edward Gilbert in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

on August 2, 1852. Later that same year, he was elected to the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

. He was later appointed as

Secretary of State of California The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeho ...

. In 1854 he was elected to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

as a representative from California, serving from March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1856. On April 17, 1857, President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

appointed him as

Commissioner of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

. On June 17, 1857, Denver was appointed by Buchanan as Secretary of the Kansas Territory. In December 1857 he was appointed as Territorial Governor. On the day that Denver assumed the territorial governorship, citizens in the territory voted on the

Lecompton Constitution The Lecompton Constitution (1858) was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas. Named for the city of Lecompton, Kansas where it was drafted, it was strongly pro-slavery. It never went into effect. History Purpose The Lecompton ...

, which opened the territory to slavery. The vote offered a choice only between full slavery and limited slavery in the territory and was thus largely boycotted by Free-Staters who were in favor of

abolishing slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

. The pro-slavery constitution passed by an overwhelming margin. Later it was discovered that several thousand votes were cast fraudulently by "

Border Ruffian Border ruffians were Proslavery thought, proslavery raiders who crossed into the Kansas Territory from Missouri during the mid-19th century to help ensure the territory entered the United States as a Slave states and free states, slave state. ...

s" who had crossed into the territory from

in order to cast pro-slavery ballots; this scandal became known as

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

. (The vote was overturned by a subsequent election in August 1858, and Kansas was later admitted to the Union, in 1861, as a free state.) In November 1858, while Denver was still serving as territorial governor, William Larimer, Jr., a land speculator from Leavenworth, planted the townsite of " Denver City" along the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sou ...

in Arapaho County in western

(the present-day state of

). Larimer chose the name "Denver" to honor the current territorial governor with the intention that the city would be chosen as the county seat of Arapaho County. Denver retired as territorial governor in November 1858, was reappointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and served until his resignation on March 31, 1859.

Civil War and later career

A few months after the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

in early 1861, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

commissioned Denver a brigadier general in the volunteer army on August 14. In November 1861, he was ordered to report to Fort Scott in Kansas and in December, he assumed command of all Federal troops in Kansas. During March and April 1862 he commanded the District of Kansas until he was transferred to the District of West Tennessee. On May 16, 1862, Denver assumed command of the 3rd Brigade/5th Division under Maj. Gen.

William T. Sherman William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

in the midst of the

Siege of Corinth The siege of Corinth, also known as the first battle of Corinth, was an American Civil War engagement lasting from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. A collection of Union forces under the overall command of Major General Henry H ...

. The very next day Denver's brigade participated in the fight for Russell's House. Though his brigade suffered no casualties in this engagement it was nonetheless one of the two brigades leading the attack. On May 27 General Sherman again selected Denver's brigade to be one of the leading units in an attack against the Double Log House. Denver and Morgan L. Smith's brigade successfully stormed the

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

turned block house. During this engagement Major General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

was present on the battlefield and indicated his approval of the handsome manner in which the troops behaved. After the fall of Corinth, Denver continued in command of his brigade, serving on garrison duty in Mississippi. During the early stages of the

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaigns were a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi ...

Denver was in command of the 1st Division, XVI Corps, until his resignation from the Union Army on March 5, 1863. After the war, Denver practiced law in Washington, D.C., and

Wilmington, Ohio Wilmington is a city in Clinton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 12,664 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Micropolitan statistical area, Wilmington micropolitan area ...

; he and his family lived in the Rombach Place while residing in Wilmington. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1876, 1880, and 1884. He was mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential nominee in 1876 and 1884, although his name was never offered into formal nomination. Denver reportedly visited

, Colorado, in 1875 and 1882, but complained that his visits received little affection from the residents of the city named after him.Robert L. Brown (1985) ''The Great Pikes Peak Gold Rush'', Caldwell, Ida.: Caxton, p.64 He died in Washington, D.C., in 1892 and is buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery in

. His son, Matthew R. Denver, was a U.S. Congressman from Ohio from 1907 to 1913.

References

External links

Denver's papers at the University of KansasGuide to the James William Denver Papers
at The Bancroft Library * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Denver, James W. 1817 births 1892 deaths 19th-century American lawyers American duellists American people of Irish descent American people of English descent American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Bleeding Kansas California state senators Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Governors of Kansas Territory History of Denver Kansas Democrats Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Missouri lawyers Ohio Democrats Ohio lawyers People from Platte City, Missouri People from Wilmington, Ohio People from Winchester, Virginia People of Kansas in the American Civil War Politicians from Xenia, Ohio Secretaries of state of California United States Army officers University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni 19th-century members of the California State Legislature 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Early life and career

Civil War and later career

References

Further reading

External links