Jerome Bunty Chaffee (April 17, 1825 – March 9, 1886) was an American entrepreneur and United States Senator from Colorado. Chaffee County, Colorado[1] is named after him.

Jerome B. Chaffee
United States Senator
from Colorado
In office
November 15, 1876 – March 3, 1879
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byNathaniel P. Hill
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado Territory's At-large district
In office
March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875
Preceded byAllen A. Bradford
Succeeded byThomas M. Patterson
Personal details
Born(1825-04-17)April 17, 1825
Niagara County, New York
DiedMarch 9, 1886(1886-03-09) (aged 60)
North Salem, New York
Resting placeOakwood Cemetery, Adrian, Michigan
Political partyRepublican

Biography

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He was born in Cambria, New York. He moved to Adrian, Michigan in 1844 and worked as a teacher until starting a dry goods business in the late 1840s. In 1852, he moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, and later to Elmwood, Kansas Territory where he started banking businesses and engaged in land speculation.

 
Chaffee grave

In 1860, he moved to Colorado to invest in mining. He was one of the founders of the City of Denver, Colorado, and founded the First National Bank of Denver in 1865. Chaffee entered politics and helped organize the Colorado Territory, serving in its first legislature as speaker. He was the territorial delegate to the United States Congress starting in 1870.

In 1876, after Colorado was admitted to the Union, Chaffee was elected to the United States Senate. He served for the duration of his term, until 1879, but did not seek reelection due to poor health.

In 1884, Chaffee was elected state chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

His sole surviving child, daughter Fannie Josephine (1857–1909), married Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., a son of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. The couple had five children, including Ulysses S. Grant IV.

Chaffee died March 9, 1886, at the Grants' home in Salem Center, New York. He is buried in Adrian Cemetery, in Adrian, Michigan.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 74.
  2. ^ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

References

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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from Colorado

1871–1875
Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
none
U.S. senator (Class 3) from Colorado
1876–1879
Served alongside: Henry M. Teller
Succeeded by