Jerome B. Chaffee

Jerome Bonaparte Chaffee
United States Senator from Colorado
In office November 15, 1876 – March 3, 1879
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Nathaniel P. Hill
Personal details
Born	April 17, 1825(1825-04-17) Niagara County, New York
Died	March 9, 1886(1886-03-09) (aged 60) North Salem, New York
Resting place	Adrian Cemetery, Adrian, Michigan
Political party	Republican

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

Biography

He was born in Cambria, Niagara County, 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.

Chaffee died March 9, 1886 at the Grants' home in Salem Center, Westchester County, New York. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Adrian, Michigan [1].

References

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Chaffee, Jerome Bunty, accessed 9 December 2005
• The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. (1929) Vol. VI New York: James T. White & Co. pp. 199-200.
• Who was Who in America, Historical Volume. (1963) Chicago: Marquis Who's Who

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Allen Alexander Bradford	Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado Territory 1871 – 1875	Succeeded by Thomas MacDonald Patterson
United States Senate
Preceded by none	United States Senator (Class 3) from Colorado 1876 – 1879 Served alongside: Henry M. Teller	Succeeded by Nathaniel P. Hill

Persondata
Name	Chaffee, Jerome Bunty
Alternative names
Short description	Entrepreneur and United States Senator from Colorado
Date of birth	April 17, 1825
Place of birth	Cambria, New York
Date of death	March 9, 1886
Place of death	North Salem, New York