James William Denver

James William Denver (October 23, 1817 – August 9, 1892) was an American politician, soldier, and lawyer who served in the California state government, as an officer in the United States Army in two wars, and as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from California. He later served as secretary and Governor of the Kansas Territory during the violent sectional struggle over whether Kansas would be open to slavery, a period known as “Bleeding Kansas.” The city of Denver, Colorado, is named in his honor. As a member of the Democratic Party representing California, he contributed to the legislative process during one term in office, serving in Congress during a significant period in American history and representing the interests of his constituents.

Denver was born near Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia, on October 23, 1817. His father was born in Ireland, and his mother was of English descent. In 1830, when he was still a boy, his family moved west to Ohio and settled near Wilmington. He attended public schools in Ohio and, as a young man, briefly taught school in Missouri in 1841. Returning to Ohio to pursue a legal education, he enrolled in the Cincinnati Law School and graduated in 1844. That same year he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law near Xenia, Ohio. In 1845 he moved to Platte City, Missouri, where he continued his legal practice and also pursued an interest in acting.

With the outbreak of the Mexican–American War, Denver entered military service. In 1847 he recruited a company for the 12th U.S. Volunteer Infantry and was commissioned a captain, serving under General Winfield Scott in the campaign against Mexico. After the war ended, he went to California in 1850, where he engaged in trading and quickly became involved in the political life of the new state. On August 2, 1852, while in California, Denver killed newspaper editor Edward Gilbert in a duel, an event that attracted considerable public attention. Later in 1852 he was elected to the California State Senate, marking the beginning of his formal political career in the West. He was subsequently appointed Secretary of State of California, further entrenching his role in state government.

In 1854 Denver was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from California, serving in the Thirty-fourth Congress from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857. During his single term in Congress he participated in the legislative debates of a nation increasingly divided over slavery and sectional issues. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1856. On April 17, 1857, President James Buchanan appointed him Commissioner of Indian Affairs, bringing him into the federal executive branch at a time when Indian policy and western expansion were central national concerns.

Denver’s most prominent territorial service came in Kansas. On June 17, 1857, President Buchanan appointed him Secretary of the Kansas Territory, and in December 1857 he was elevated to Territorial Governor. On the day he assumed the governorship, citizens of Kansas Territory voted on the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution, which offered only a choice between full slavery and limited slavery and was largely boycotted by Free-State supporters who favored abolishing slavery. The constitution passed by an overwhelming margin, but it was later revealed that several thousand fraudulent ballots had been cast by “Border Ruffians” who crossed from Missouri to vote illegally, a scandal that became part of the broader conflict known as Bleeding Kansas. A subsequent election in August 1858 overturned the result, and Kansas would ultimately be admitted to the Union in 1861 as a free state. While Denver was still serving as territorial governor, William Larimer Jr., a land speculator from Leavenworth, laid out the townsite of “Denver City” on the South Platte River in Arapaho County in western Kansas Territory (in what is now Colorado) in November 1858, naming it for Governor Denver in hopes of securing designation as the county seat. Denver retired as territorial governor later in November 1858, was reappointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and served in that post until his resignation on March 31, 1859.

During the American Civil War, Denver again entered military service. A few months after the war began, President Abraham Lincoln commissioned him a brigadier general of volunteers on August 14, 1861. In November 1861 he was ordered to Fort Scott, Kansas, and in December he assumed command of all Federal troops in Kansas. He commanded the District of Kansas during March and April 1862 before being transferred to the District of West Tennessee. On May 16, 1862, in the midst of the Siege of Corinth, he took command of the 3rd Brigade, 5th Division, under Major General William T. Sherman. The next day his brigade took part in the engagement at Russell’s House, leading the attack alongside another brigade, though his command suffered no casualties. On May 27, 1862, Sherman again selected Denver’s brigade as one of the leading units in an assault on the Double Log House, a fortified structure that Denver’s and Morgan L. Smith’s brigades successfully stormed. Major General Ulysses S. Grant was present on the field and expressed approval of the conduct of Denver’s troops. After the fall of Corinth, Denver continued in brigade command and performed garrison duty in Mississippi. During the early stages of the Vicksburg Campaign he commanded the 1st Division, XVI Corps, until he resigned from the Union Army on March 5, 1863.

Following his resignation from military service, Denver returned to the practice of law. He maintained a legal practice in Washington, D.C., and in Wilmington, Ohio, where he and his family resided at the Rombach Place. Remaining active in Democratic Party politics, he served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1876, 1880, and 1884. His name was mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential nominee in both 1876 and 1884, although it was never formally placed in nomination. Denver reportedly visited the city of Denver, Colorado, in 1875 and again in 1882, but he complained that his visits attracted little public attention or affection from residents of the city that bore his name.

James William Denver died in Washington, D.C., on August 9, 1892. He was interred in Sugar Grove Cemetery in Wilmington, Ohio. His family remained involved in public life; his son, Matthew R. Denver, later served as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1907 to 1913.