Denver, History of Colorado, BIOS: BAXTER, JOSEPH N. 	(published 1918)
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"History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. 
Clarke Publishing Co. (1918) Vol. II

p. 436, 438
photo p. 437




JOSEPH N. BAXTER.

For almost forty years Joseph N. Baxter has engaged in law 
practice in Colorado and stands today as one of the leading 
representatives of the profession In Denver. His knowledge of law is 
comprehensive and exact and his devotion to his clients' interests has 
long since become proverbial. Mr. Baxter was born on the 10th of April, 
1856, at sea, while his parents were on a trip from Japan and China to 
Boston on the bark Z. D. His father, Captain John Baxter, was a Cape 
Cod sea captain, who engaged in trade with Japan and who passed away in 
the year 1866. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eleanor Santord 
Nickerson, was a native of Massachusetts and a representative of one of 
its oldest and most honored colonial families. She, too, has passed 
away. The ancestry in the paternal line is traced back to Thomas 
Baxter, who in 1679 married Temperance Gorham, a daughter of Captain 
John and Desire (Howland) Gorham, the latter a daughter of John 
Howland, of Plymouth, who was one of the passengers on the Mayflower. 
John Howland married Old Tilly's daughter. The phrase, "slow as Old 
Tilly," was originated because of him. Sarah Tilly was his wife and 
their daughter became the wife of John Howland. Thus it is that Joseph 
N. Baxter of this review can trace his ancestry back to four Mayflower 
passengers. One of his ancestors. Captain Thomas Baxter, fought in 
Captain John Gorham's Company in the battle of Narragansett and in the 
big Swamp Port fight and in recognition of their services they were 
awarded that part of Maine called Gorham, so named in honor of the 
Captain. Joseph Sanford, a great-great-grandfather of Joseph N. Baxter, 
was at the battle of Abraham's Heights and helped to carry Wolfe off 
the field and heard him say: "I die content." He was also a soldier in 
the Revolutionary war.

In the acquirements of his education Joseph N. Baxter attended 
the Boston Latin School until 1871 and in the fall of that year entered 
Harvard College, where he pursued a four years' course, being graduated 
with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1875. Having determined to make the 
practice of law his life work, he then entered the law school of Boston 
University and won his LL. B. degree in 1876. By the supreme court at 
Boston in June of that year he was admitted to practice and remained an 
active member of the profession there for three years. In 1879 he 
removed westward to Denver and was admitted by the supreme court to 
practice in the courts of Colorado. For a time he followed his 
profession as a member of the firm of Bullock, Baxter & Dickson, which 
was succeeded by the firm of Baxter & Wrigley and later by the firm of 
Baxter & Fillius. At the present time, however, he practices 
independently and he has been connected with some of the most important 
mining cases tried in the state.

A notable case with which he was identified is reported in 83 
Federal Reports, page 790, and 28 United States Circuit Court of 
Appeals Reports, page 85. It was the case of Joseph N. Baxter vs. 
Margaret Billings. The latter made a contract with Mr. Baxter and T. D. 
W. Youley for services on a contingent fee of one-half of a recovery on 
a claim against the owners of the Emma mine at Aspen, Colorado. Mr. 
Youley died in January, 1887, and Mrs. Billings went on with Mr. Baxter 
as attorney for ten years. He recovered for her over five hundred 
thousand dollars, of which, according to the terms of the original 
contract, he should have received one-half. Mr. Baxter, however, could 
not recover that amount owing to a decision that the death of Mr. 
Youley ended the written contract, which was for the professional 
services of both and the death of one ended the contract, although the 
defendant, Mrs. Billings, went on with Mr. Baxter for attorney. She 
recovered as much as both attorneys might have recovered had Mr. Youley 
lived, but the decision was rendered against Mr. Baxter. It has been a 
matter of comment by the legal profession from Maine to Oregon, many 
opposing the decision that was rendered. While Mr. Baxter has argued 
many cases, he has lost but few. No one better knows the necessity for 
thorough preparation and no one more industriously prepares his cases 
than does he. His course in the courtroom is characterized by a 
calmness and dignity that indicates reserve strength. He is always 
courteous and deferential toward the court, and the officers and 
lawyers connected with the proceedings. He examines a witness carefully 
and thoroughly but treats him with a respect which makes the witness 
grateful for his kindness and forbearance. His handling of a case is 
always full, comprehensive and accurate. His analysis of the facts is 
clear and exhaustive; he sees without effort the relation and 
dependence of the facts and so groups them as to enable him to throw 
their combined force upon the point they tend to prove.

In Salem, Massachusetts, on the 13th of June, 1878, Mr. Baxter 
was united in marriage to Miss Edith M. Shedd, a daughter of Henry P. 
Shedd, of Boston, Massachusetts, She is a descendant of Peregrine 
White, the first white child born after the landing of the Pilgrims 
from the Mayflower. It was at the house of her great-grandfather, 
Daniel Shedd, on the site of the postoffice on Milk street in Boston 
that the Mohawks dressed for the Boston Tea Party. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Baxter have been born six children: Beatrice, the wife of Louis H. 
Ruyl, of New York and Hingham, Massachusetts; Harold, who married Helen 
Alexander, a daughter of Captain J. L. B. Alexander, of Phoenix, 
Arizona, and who is now a sergeant in the Twenty-third United States 
Volunteer Regiment of Engineers, engaged in active duty in France; 
Edith, the wife of J. Jefferson Tyndall, of Birmingham, Alabama; 
Shirley, who is a registered nurse of the Naval Corps of the United 
States Navy at Mare Island, California; Alice M., an artist in New York 
city; and Josephine, a graduate of the Girls' Latin School of Boston 
and Sargent's School of Cambridge and now engaged in research work in 
Denver, Colorado.

Mr. Baxter's military training covers service as a member of the 
Governor's Guard of Colorado in 1880 and he was one of the organizers 
of the Denver City Troop of the National Guard of Colorado in 1897, 
becoming second lieutenant and acting captain of Troop B. In politics 
he has always been a stalwart republican and was lieutenant colonel of 
the Boys in Blue Campaign in 1880 in support of U. S. Grant. It was in 
the same year that he was elected the first city attorney of Gunnison, 
Colorado. He was for years secretary of St. Luke's Hospital and was a 
member of the board of managers for about thirteen years. He drew the 
will that made this hospital possible. Fraternally he Is well known in 
connection with the Odd Fellows. He has held all the chairs in 
Washington Lodge, No. 72, I. O. O. F., which was afterward consolidated 
with Denver Union Lodge, No. 1. He was also captain of Canton Rogers, 
No. 13, of the Patriarchs Militant, and he has been venerable consul in 
the Modern Woodmen camp and holds membership with the Sons of the 
American Revolution. He is well known in club circles, belonging to the 
Rocky Mountain Harvard Club, of which he was the organizer, the old 
Cactus Club, the Denver Athletic Club, and the Denver Whist Club. He is 
also identified with the Society of Colonial Wars as well as with the 
Sons of the Revolution, His religious faith is that of the Episcopal 
church and he has been vestryman and clerk of the vestry of St. John's 
Church in the Wilderness. He gives his support and cooperation to all 
plans and measures that tend to promote the welfare and upbuilding of 
his community, his commonwealth or his country. He is forceful and 
resourceful in every work which he undertakes and his efforts have ever 
been tar-reaching and resultant. In the practice of law he has made for 
himself a prominent position and while he continues in general practice 
he has always specialized in mining cases and there are few, if any, 
more thoroughly Informed concerning the principles of jurisprudence 
that bear upon mining interests. He has conducted many important cases 
and won many verdicts favorable to his clients. The success which he 
has won indicates the measure of his professional attainment.