Denver County, History of Colorado, BIOS: DODGE, David Child (published 1918) *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00015.html#0003643 September 3, 1999 *********************************************************************** "History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. (1918) Vol. II p. 100, 102-104 photo p. 101 COLONEL DAVID CHILD DODGE. The close of a most useful, active and honorable career came on the 19th of July, 1918, when Colonel David C. Dodge passed from this life. He had been one of the builders of Denver; one of the promoters of Colorado's development and greatness. For many years he had figured most prominently in connection with railroad construction throughout the west and his labors were far-reaching and most beneficial ' in their results. The attainment of wealth was not the end and aim of his work. He was actuated by a patriotic purpose of doing the best that he possibly could for the state and for the great western empire and he was continually striving to promote Colorado's welfare along many lines. His title was a complimentary one. His friends, recognizing his ability for leadership and the qualities that placed him above the great majority of his fellows, called him Colonel. He remained an active factor in the world's work to the last, although he had passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey. His keen mentality was undimmed and to the end he gave out of the rich stores of his wisdom and experience for the benefit of others. He had for years figured prominently in connection with railway building, with agricultural Interests and with other business projects in Denver and the west. His interests long kept him a central figure on the stage of activity in Colorado's capital, where he was numbered among her most honored residents. Colonel Dodge was born in Shirley, Massachusetts, November 17, 1837, and was a descendant in the eighth generation oŁ the first American settler of the name. Two brothers, Richard and William Dodge, came from England and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, about 1638. From them are descended almost all the Dodges in America, David C. Dodge among the rest. His parents were Levy and Susanna Ann (Woolley) Dodge, both natives of New England, their entire lives having been passed near Ayer, in the Old Bay state. The mother was a descendant of Joshua Bentley, one ot the two American patriots who rowed Paul Revere across the Charles river on the memorable night when he made his famous ride in 1775 and "spread the alarm through every Middlesex village and farm" that the countryfolk might be up and to arms. His great-uncle was Dr. William Bentley, a noted scholar and linguist and a minister of the Unitarian faith at Salem, Massachusetts. His father was for many years actively engaged in farming. In the family were six children. Colonel Dodge being the youngest and last survivor. Colonel Dodge was a little lad of but three summers when he became a pupil in a country school taught by his oldest sister. Later he specialized in mathematics and physics as a student in the Lawrence Academy at Groton, Massachusetts. Although his textbooks were put aside when he was but fifteen years of age he had already acquired a thorough knowledge of algebra, trigonometry, theoretical surveying and other advanced branches of mathematics that proved of great worth to him in his later career as a railroad builder. In 1853, when a youth of fifteen years and three months, he left home and made his way westward to central Illinois. Here he remained until 1856, during which period he was employed in the engineering department of the Fox River Valley Railroad at Elgin, Illinois, and also was connected with the Wisconsin Central Railroad. In March, 1856, he removed to Clinton, Iowa, where he became connected with the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad in the position of general freight and passenger agent and also acted as paymaster for the road from 1857 until 1862. In January, 1864, he was sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and spent several months in the commissary department of the Union army during the Civil war. From June until October, 1864, he was in the quartermaster's department at Memphis, and there narrowly escaped being taken prisoner when the house in which he was quartered, was raided by the Confederate General Forrest's cavalry. During his connection with the army, he was brought into close personal contact with General Thomas and the acquaintance thus founded, ripened into a warm personal friendship and mutual regard. Returning to Iowa in October, 1864, he became general agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, at Nevada, Iowa, which town was at that time, the western terminus of the road. Later, upon the completion of the road to Council Bluffs, and the extension of the Union Pacific Railroad to North Platte, Nebraska, he was made general agent for the Northwestern lines, with headquarters in Denver, arriving in that city in June, 1865. He occupied that position until 1870, when he resigned and accepted a similar appointment with the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, which had completed its line to Denver, in August of that year. When the Denver & Rio Grande was completed, and opened for traffic, to Colorado Springs in 1871, Colonel Dodge became its first general freight and ticket agent. This position brought him into close association with General William J. Palmer, then president of the road, and the two men became fast friends-personal, as well as in a business sense, and this mutual attachment became a potent factor in the upbuilding of the west. To this personal partnership, if such it may be termed, General Palmer brought financial sagacity and ability, and Colonel Dodge a practical knowledge of the details of railroad building, and a rare executive capacity. These two men constructed the Rio Grande system, extended it to Ogden, Utah, and made it an important factor in the development of Colorado and the west, as well as in transcontinental traffic. The Rio Grande Western furnishes another striking example of the constructive genius, and efficient management, of Colonel Dodge, for many years its vice president and general manager. This road was later sold to, and consolidated with the Denver & Rio Grande and with one or both of these lines. Colonel Dodge had been continuously connected for thirty years. In 1885 he went to Mexico to manage the affairs of the Mexican National Railway. He became its second vice president in 1887. By the completion of long links and much extension the road developed into one of the two main trunk lines between Mexico City and the United State's border. With his return to Colorado he entered upon the work of improving and making the Rio Grande & Western a standard gauge road and lived to see the fulfilment of his dreams through the extension of railway lines into all sections of the state. An incident in connection with the retirement of Colonel Dodge from his many years of railroad building and management may here be cited as an interesting sidelight showing the character and fairness of the man, and his willingness to share the fruits of his success with those who aided in bringing about a realization of his business ideals. When the sale of the Denver & Rio Grande had been consummated, one million dollars of the amount received was, at the wish and suggestion of General Palmer, cheerfully approved of by George Foster Peabody and Colonel Dodge, divided among the former employes of the system, from the humblest to the most exalted, and in amounts proportionate with the years of service and the importance of the service rendered-a just and generous recognition of loyal assistance, a graceful acknowledgment, too often withheld by our successful men. In 1901, Colonel Dodge concluded to retire from active life and for some time was not identified with any railway enterprises, but indolence and idleness were utterly foreign to his nature and in 1902 he began the erection of the magnificent Shirley Hotel, which is one of the finest hostelries of the west. He was afterward the head of the Shirley Investment Company and devoted much of his time to the hotel business. He also became active in the construction of the plant of the Great Western Sugar Company at Loveland, the plant of the Western Packing Company at Denver and of the Denver Union Water Company. He also owned extensive and valuable realty holdings not only in Denver but throughout Colorado, his possessions including the Shirley stock farm, adjacent to Port Logan and not far from Denver. This is one of the most valuable and splendidly equipped dairy farms in the state. In 1908 Mr. Dodge became associated with the extension of the Moffat Railroad from Denver to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, one of the most important engineering feats ever accomplished in the mountain regions of the American continent and one of the most beautiful scenic railroads in the world. He was planning for the reconstruction of the Moffat Road and for tunnel building almost with his last breath. The Denver Times said of him: "An adequate delineation of Colonel Dodge's Colorado career cannot be written in a few lines, nor can his value to Colorado and to Denver be summed up. Interested in everything that stood for the west and its good, he spent his entire life in laying the foundation of the great prosperity now enjoyed by the Rocky Mountain section. His fight for fair rates was only one of the great struggles he began for the benefit of Colorado-it will be the only one he did not complete, however. Colonel Dodge's strength of character, his world views on all subjects, his kindness, his Intense Americanism made him a power felt and revered throughout the country. Quiet, undemonstrative, shunning the frivolous and bending every effort always toward the common good of his state and his fellow citizens, he had a circle of friends that spread around the globe. Among them he numbered famous generals, pioneers and frontiersmen, bankers and leaders in every walk of life." Colonel Dodge cared nothing for society in the generally accepted sense of the term. He was a lover of home and his interest centered there. In New York city, in 1859, Colonel Dodge was married to Miss Emily K. Oatman, who passed away in Denver in 1897, and to them were born two children, Mary, deceased, and a son, George B. Dodge, who was born in Iowa and passed away in Denver, leaving three children: Lieutenant D. C. Dodge, who is now with the American army in France; John B. Dodge and Mrs. Carroll T. Brown. In 1899, in Normal. Illinois, Colonel Dodge was again married, his second union being with Miss Nannie O. Smith, who was long a successful teacher in the East Denver high school and who survives him. A highly cultured woman of keen mentality and innate refinement, this union proved a most happy one and Colonel Dodge found in her a willing helpmate in full sympathy with his hopes and aspirations. Her years of labor in educational work had developed in her a broadness of vision and the ability to visualize the details of complex business problems, with the result that during their entire wedded life, he made her his closest confidant. His business plans and undertakings were discussed with her, and it is difficult, it not wholly impossible, to correctly gauge the exact extent to which her sound judgment and counsel may have had part in aiding his success, even as it is likewise difficult to measure the extent of her influence in shaping the mind and moulding the character of the students under her guidance during her school work, and who have become the active men and women of today. A further exemplification of perfect confidence in her business judgment and sagacity was given by Colonel Dodge when he named her, in his will, executrix of his estate. Mrs. Dodge has also taken a quiet, though none the less earnest, interest in literary work and other activities of the day. As a writer, she has contributed articles to the press, on subjects of interest, that have attracted favorable notice. She is the author of a most interesting treatise on the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy-(published by The Wahlgreen Press, Denver, 1916)-which for careful analysis and sound reasoning, coupled with lucid expression, shows a comprehensive grasp of a perplexing cryptogram. Colonel Dodge held membership in the Unity church. He was deeply interested in all that concerned the welfare and upbuilding of the west and there are few who have contributed in greater measure to advancement and development in Colorado and that section of the country than he. The importance of his labors cannot be overestimated, for railroad building is the one indispensable feature in opening up vast areas to development and settlement. His work cannot be adequately measured until the projects which he instituted have reached their full fruition in the state's development. Colonel Dodge passed away in Denver after an illness of only four days, on which occasion the Rocky Mountain News of July 20, 1918, wrote: "Amid the hills which kindled the fire of lifelong enthusiasm in the heart of a master builder, whose material accomplishments were the fulfilment of great dreams, spun for the commonwealth he loved as he loved no other, Denver will say farewell today to a devoted friend. For Colonel David Child Dodge, patriarch of big accomplishments, is dead. At the hour of four o'clock the last rites over the earthly body of this man who has spanned the ravines and climbed the steep mountain sides of the Rockies with railroads, and in whose shadow he is to lie, will be held. But the man of life, vigor and friendship will not die. His friends, who through pure affection for his sterling views of life christened him 'Colonel' Dodge, will carry his memory. The miles of railroads that stretch across the state will long remain a monument to a true vision and a sound judgment." "When the history is written, Of the good state Colorado, With the names of Hunt and Palmer, Men who gave the state its greatness, D. C. Dodge's name will ever Stand among them for his wisdom; For his worth so quiet, useful, For his judgment, sane, impartial, For his kindness, strong and manly. And if in the distant future Men should cease his name to mention, Still the work he did so wisely, Will remain to bless the people. Better far than shaft or statue Made of bronze, and raised for glory. For it helps mankind, his brothers, Blesses state and town and city.