Shumate, Hon. John T.; 1852 Bio, Pitkin County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/pitkin/bios/shumate.txt --------------------------------------- Donated August 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Hon. John T. Shumate To many men in this country, where the citizens are sovereigns, the capacity for wise and serviceable administration of public trusts and performance of official duties is given in such large measure, and is so readily adaptive to conditions, that it is recognized without difficulty by their fellow men, and as long or as often as circumstances will permit it is gratefully employed in behalf of the general welfare. The career of Hon. John T. Shumate, of Aspen, Pitkin county, now judge of the district court for the ninth judicial district of this state, embracing the counties of Pitkin, Garfield, Routt and Rio Blanco, affords a striking illustration of this fact. He became a resident of Colorado in 1877, and during the twenty-seven years of his subsequent life here he has served the people well and wisely in important official stations nearly all of the time, all of the offices to which he has been chosen being in the line of his profession as a lawyer. Judge Shumate was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, on September 22, 1852, and is the son of Dr. Bailey and Anne E. (Weaver) Shumate, who were also natives of the Old Dominion. The father was descended from independent and liberty-loving families of French Huguenots who, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685, sought in Virginia an asylum from persecution in their native land on account of their religious belief. The fugitives soon became prominent in colonial affairs, and when the iron hand of England began to weigh heavily on the land of their adoption, they ardently espoused the cause of American independence and fought valiantly in the war of the Revolution. Dr. Bailey Shumate was born in Clarke county in the beautiful and historic valley of the Shenandoah, and after receiving a good academic education entered the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which in due time he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then practiced his profession in Fauquier county, Virginia, for many years, retiring at length to his plantation there, on which he passed the remainder of his days. He was prominent in public affairs and frequently represented his county in the legislature, being in the course of this service several times a member of each house of the assembly. His wife, the daughter of William Weaver, a prominent planter, was descended from German ancestors who, in the seventeenth century, founded Germantown, Virginia, a settlement now extinct. On her mother's side the Judge's mother was related to John Marshall, chief justice of the United States, and her paternal ancestors were also soldiers in the Revolution. Of the offspring of Dr. and Mrs. Shumate three sons and one daughter are living: W.B.G. Shumate, formerly probate judge of Fauquier county, Virginia, but now a planter residing on a part of the old family homestead; Edward J. Shumate, manager of the freight department of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Washington, D.C.; Bettie, the wife of Lucien Holtzclaw, also living on a portion of the old homestead; and the Judge. The last named was graduated from Norwood College in Virginia in 1873, and then completed the law course in the University of that state. In July, 1877, he became a resident of Denver, Colorado, and entered the law office of Hon. Thomas W. Patterson. Within the same year he was admitted to the Colorado bar and began the practice of his profession in Denver. The next year, to serve his turn in one of the leading industries of the state, he moved to Leadville and engaged in mining. In March, 1880, he began mining at Pitkin in Gunnison county, and in the spring of 1884 took up his residence at Ouray, where he served some fifteen months as clerk of the district court under Judge M.B. Gerry. In July, 1885, he again turned his attention to mining with headquarters at Aspen, and in 1886 moved to Glenwood Springs, then a hopeful hamlet of tents clustered around the wonderful healing springs and amid the rare natural beauties and vast mineral resources which have made it renowned throughout the world as a resort for tourists and transformed it into a progressive city of growing industrial activities and beautiful homes. Soon after his arrival at the Springs Mr. Shumate was appointed deputy county clerk and recorder, but a little later he resumed the practice of law. In 1887 he was elected city attorney of Glenwood Springs and also county of Garfield; and during the same year he was appointed receiver of the Untied States land office at the Springs, but declined the position. From 1888 to 1890 he served as a member of the city council, being elected as the candidate of the Democratic party, to which he has always given a firm and faithful allegiance. Again in 1895 he was chosen county attorney for a term of three years; and in 1896, while still holding this office, which he filled to the end of his term, he was elected to the lower house of the state legislature as the candidate of his party, endorsed by the National Silver party and the Populists. The next year he was chosen by the Democrats and Silver Republicans district attorney of the ninth judicial district, which comprises Pitkin, Garfield, Routt and Rio Blanco counties, and in 1900, as the candidate of the Democratic party, he was chosen judge of this district, an office he still holds. In the early part of the year last named his increasing practice at Aspen obliged him to move to that flourishing center, and there he is now living. In the fraternal life of his section he takes an active and helpful interest as a Freemason and an Elk. He was married in 1887 to Miss Sara E. Churchill, daughter of Samuel Churchill, formerly a prominent merchant of Avon, New York, but later a resident of Aspen, Colorado. Mrs. Shumate also comes of old Colonial and Revolutionary stock, some of her ancestors having come over in the "Mayflower." Her father was a direct descendant of Josias and Elizabeth (Foote) Churchill, of Weatherford, Connecticut, who were married in 1638. He was a Union soldier in the Civil war. His wife, whose maiden name was Jemima Duell Jackson, was of Quaker and Huguenot descent. Four children have been born to the Judge's household, Churchill, Ruth and Bailey, who are living, and John Edward, who died when nearly seven years of age. In his long professional and official career the Judge has won a high reputation as an able attorney and counselor and a public servant of exceptional ability and fidelity. He and his wife move in the best social circles and in all the relations of life exemplify the best attributes of American citizenship. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. 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