Colorado Territorial Governor, Politician, Physician. The father-in-law of Samuel Hitt Elbert, Colorado Territory Governor from 1873 to 1874, he founded the Illinois Medical Society, researched the cholera epidemic of 1848 and 1849 and was instrumental in developing congressional quarantine laws to prevent the spread of this disease. Railroad investments made him wealthy and allowed him to become politically influential. By 1852, he was on the Chicago City Council and founded the Illinois Republican Party where he not only ran for Congress but also became a friend of Abraham Lincoln. He was also one of the founders of the University of Denver and Northwestern University, where he chaired the Board of Trustees until his death (the college town of Evanston, Illinois, named in his honor). Appointed Colorado Territorial Governor by President Lincoln in 1862, succeeding William Gilpin, he created the Denver Seminary, which is now Denver University; he was trustee until his death. After the Congressional investigation of the infamous Sand Creek Indian Massacre in late 1864 caused him to lose his federal appointment as territorial governor, he then applied his vision and capital to developing and financing rail service into and throughout Colorado. Denver's claim as the commercial capitol of the Rocky Mountain Empire was then substantiated due to his energetic efforts, making Denver grow from a settlement to a city. The City of Evans, Colorado and Mount Evans, a 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado with the highest paved road in North America, was named for him.
Colorado Territorial Governor, Politician, Physician. The father-in-law of Samuel Hitt Elbert, Colorado Territory Governor from 1873 to 1874, he founded the Illinois Medical Society, researched the cholera epidemic of 1848 and 1849 and was instrumental in developing congressional quarantine laws to prevent the spread of this disease. Railroad investments made him wealthy and allowed him to become politically influential. By 1852, he was on the Chicago City Council and founded the Illinois Republican Party where he not only ran for Congress but also became a friend of Abraham Lincoln. He was also one of the founders of the University of Denver and Northwestern University, where he chaired the Board of Trustees until his death (the college town of Evanston, Illinois, named in his honor). Appointed Colorado Territorial Governor by President Lincoln in 1862, succeeding William Gilpin, he created the Denver Seminary, which is now Denver University; he was trustee until his death. After the Congressional investigation of the infamous Sand Creek Indian Massacre in late 1864 caused him to lose his federal appointment as territorial governor, he then applied his vision and capital to developing and financing rail service into and throughout Colorado. Denver's claim as the commercial capitol of the Rocky Mountain Empire was then substantiated due to his energetic efforts, making Denver grow from a settlement to a city. The City of Evans, Colorado and Mount Evans, a 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado with the highest paved road in North America, was named for him.
Bio by: Fred Beisser
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