Pueblo County, Colorado
JEROME BYRON WHEELER

Contributed by Jean Griesan

Jerome Byron Wheeler was born in the city of Troy, New York on September 3, 1841. He was the son of Daniel Barker Wheeler and Mary J. (Emerson) Wheeler. Both parents were of English descent, born in New England, and possessed marked intellectual strength and excellence of character. His mother was a second cousin to the famed Ralph Waldo Emerson, of Concord.

In his early youth, his family moved to Waterford, Saratoga County, New York, a small town four miles north of Troy. He was here educated at the public schools, and at fifteen, became a clerk in one of the village stores. Later he was employed in one of the factories at Waterford. In the midst of his early practical training, during which he had already shown an ambition and self-reliance commensurate with his marked energy and capabilities, his business career was interrupted by the War for the Union.

Jerome was anxious to enlist when Sumter was fired upon, and was impatient that he could not enlist because he was not of age. He enlisted on September 3, 1861 in Troy, New York, on his twentieth birthday. His regiment, the 6th N.Y. Cavalry, Company D, was mounted a few months later at Cloud Mills, Virginia. He proudly marched to the front with his regiment. The service of this regiment was a brilliant one, lasting until the end of the war. Jerome was with the command in all of the great campaigns of the Army of the Potomac and with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, at Gettysburg and Appomattox. Enlisting as a private, his business ability was soon recognized, and he was promoted successively to sergeant in the quartermaster's department, second lieutenant on the staff of Colonel Thomas C. Devin, acting quartermaster of his regiment, first lieutenant, brigade quartermaster, and then, before the end of the war, to captain and brevet major. The young quartermaster won an enviable reputation by his services in the field. He displayed dash, ability, and determination in all his work, repeatedly attracting the attention of general officers who did not know him, and was complimented many times in official reports, especially by Colonel Devin, who was greatly attached to him. One comment was “Lt. Jerome B. Wheeler has as usual rendered valuable services, not only to the command, but to the whole division.” It is said that after an engagement or forced march, Quartermaster Wheeler was usually the first man to bring up his trains of supplies for the relief of the half famished men. His service as a staff officer was without a flaw. Wheeler was promoted from major to colonel, but because of breach of discipline during the final days of the war, the promotion was withdrawn, although he received commendation for bravery. His disobedience to orders consisted in his leading a supply train through Confederate lines to an encircled and starving regiment. His commanding officer thought the expedition too hazardous to be undertaken, but Major Wheeler, on his own initiative, successfully accomplished the mission. The 6th N.Y. Cavalry received its muster out in September 1865, and the young officer returned to Troy, without a dollar in the world, but with an honorable discharge and a reputation which had preceded him, and promptly gained a position of employment.

Accepting the position offered, he became a bookkeeper in Troy. He had not been there very long, before he decided to seek employment in New York City. He found a position with a friend in his regiment, John F. Barkley, where he worked in a small grain business. While he didn’t make much money, he did learn the business, and was able to obtain better employment as a clerk at Holt & Company, who were flower and commission merchants. This connection was made for him through General Devin to the owner, Robert S. Holt. He threw himself completely into the work, and was rapidly promoted, until he was admitted to partnership. He remained with this company until 1878.

On May 5, 1870, Jerome married Harriet Macy Valentine in Manhattan, New York County, New York. She was the daughter of David C. Valentine and Charlotte (Macy) Valentine, having been born on January 16, 1847 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She was the niece of Roland H. Macy, the founder of the Macy Department Store in New York City. Jerome and Harriet, sometimes known as “Hattie,” lived in New York City. They had four children. Clarence, a son, was born about 1873. He died young, sometime after 1880. There was another son who died young as well. Elsie Wheeler was born on January 12, 1875, and Marion Wheeler, another daughter, was born on September 14, 1877. These two daughters lived on into adulthood. The Wheelers were affluent, having three servants living with them in Manhattan, New York in 1880.

In 1879, Harriet’s brother, Robert M. Valentine, died. Robert had been a partner of the firm of R. H. Macy & Company. Jerome was the executor of the Valentine estate. Through this death, Jerome became connected with the great uptown dry goods firm of R. H. Macy & Company. Mr. Wheeler joined with Charles B. Webster, the senior partner of R. H. Macy & Company, in the purchase of the entire business of the firm. In R. H. Macy & Company, Mr. Wheeler became exceedingly successful. One of the best known and most progressive retail dry goods firms in the city, the house transacted an enormous business and brought large profits to its proprietors. This is the well-known Macy’s department store that is still thriving in 2006 and which runs the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade every year through the streets of New York City. During these years, Jerome came to know intimately many of the prominent men of the time.

Wheeler might have remained with Macy’s all his life had not his wife, Harriet, suffered a severe attack of bronchitis. Her doctor prescribed a trip to Colorado, hoping that sunshine and a dry climate might benefit her health. The head cashier of Macy’s had a relative living in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and she gave Wheeler a letter of introduction. At the time, Manitou Springs was known as “The Newport of the Rockies.” So, in 1883, Jerome and Harriet went to Manitou Springs. They both fell in love with Manitou Springs. From the first, he had a strong desire to improve the town and he gave generously toward its improvement and was most charitable in his gifts to individuals. Shortly afterward, they had a mansion in Manitou Springs built for their family, called Windermere Cottage, and this was their summer residence. The house was surrounded by extensive and attractive grounds and was one of the most attractive places in the town.

The relative living in Manitou Springs turned out to be Harvey Young, a famous western artist who combined painting and prospecting. He had a railroad car fitted up as a studio and was allowed to attach it to a train that took him into the heart of Colorado’s scenic wonderland. He painted the beautiful Colorado landscapes and sold them to wealthy art connoisseurs.

Young not only sold Wheeler several paintings but induced him to purchase controlling interests in two silver mines, located in the new mining camp at Aspen, then a rough frontier settlement of about six hundred inhabitants. Mining interests were then at a low ebb. Mr. Wheeler bought a controlling interest in two mines, without looking at them, as an act of friendship, and gave a share of his holdings to the friend in whose behalf he had made the investment. There was no railroad into Aspen in those days, all transportation being routed by stage coach from Leadville over miles and miles of narrow corduroy road. On his first trip through the country, Wheeler was fascinated and caught the mining fever. Within a year, he acquired major interests in mines that turned out to be rich in ore.

The following year, the possibilities of Aspen having gradually dawned upon him, he returned to Colorado with his friend, Robert S. Holt, for a careful and serious inspection. The result was that he bought an abandoned smelter and an interest in the Spar mine and then organized The Aspen Smelting Company, with a capital of $150,000, in partnership with Charles B. Webster and Robert S. Holt, and entered upon the energetic development of Aspen.

One problem which confronted Mr. Wheeler at the start was the question of fuel supply. It was necessary at that time to bring coke one hundred miles from Crested Butte on the backs of mules. Coal having been discovered at Jerome Park, however, suitable for coke, thirty-five miles from Aspen, Mr. Wheeler purchased land there, opened a coal mine, and in 1884 built coking ovens, the most costly ever erected in Colorado, and from them has since obtained a continuous supply of excellent coke for the smelting works. This investment insured the success of The Aspen Smelting Company.

With wise judgment, Mr. Wheeler added to his investments by the purchase of an interest in many of the mines at Aspen, some of which afterward proved among the bonanzas of the camp. He had an interest in the Aspen Mine, one third of which, before it began to pay, was sold for a load of lumber, but which, in January, 1885, reached a rich deposit of silver and yielded 500,000 ounces of the metal in six weeks and for a while produced as high as $225,000 monthly. He also became an owner in the Emma Mine, which produced $411,000 in fourteen months, and in the Spar, Vallejo, Hidden Treasure, Mollie Gibson and many others, all of them paying properties. Largely through the stimulus given to enterprise by Mr. Wheeler's investments, and in part by the compromise of 1888 in the litigation in which the mines were involved, the output of the camp sprang from $850,000 in 1887 to $7,500,000 in 1888 and continued at the rate of many millions a year. With the prosperity of the camp, Mr. Wheeler rose to a position of great financial strength.

For six years, Mr. Wheeler made the 2,000 mile trip from New York to Colorado several times a year, in order to retain his connection with R. H. Macy & Company. Burdened with business cares, he was finally confronted with an ultimatum from his physician, who declared that he must abandon either Colorado or New York. Fascinated with Colorado, he chose Colorado, and on January 1, 1888, retired from his New York firm and devoted his undoubted abilities to his Western investments.

Even though the Wheeler family lived in Manitou Springs, Jerome loved Aspen too. Wheeler expended money with a free hand in civic improvements in the now booming mining town of Aspen. It was deemed that Aspen have a fine opera house and a grand hotel, and Wheeler cheerfully signed up for the project. He wanted to move to Aspen. So in 1888, he had built a beautiful two-story brick house with a finished attic level in Aspen’s west end. It was Queen Anne in style with a steeply pitched complex roof, asymmetrical massing, and decorative shingled gable ends. Despite his plans, Harriet did not want to leave Manitou Springs, and the family never lived in the house. The Stallard family moved into the house in 1905 and eventually purchased it in 1917. Ultimately, the house was purchased by the Aspen Historical Society in 1969, where it is still a magnificent piece of architecture. It is called the Wheeler/Stallard House.

Jerome was responsible for building the opera house there as well. The opera house was begun in 1888 on a prominent downtown corner. It was completed in 1898. Designed by early Denver architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke, utilizing a mix of Romanesque and Italianate style architectural elements, the primarily hipped roof building has walls of peachblow sandstone. Rounded arches define window and door openings on the first and third levels. Retail spaces were located on the first floor, professional offices were on the second, and the opera house occupied the entire third floor. It was known as the Wheeler Opera House. The opera house was gutted by two fires in 1912, and the opera house stayed closed until 1947. It was partially refurbished in 1947 and reopened. It was fully restored in 1984, and the Wheeler Opera House is still used today in Aspen.

Jerome Wheeler also built the famed Hotel Jerome. It was a three-story red brick hotel, occupying a prominent corner location in downtown Aspen. Completed in 1889, the building features numerous round arch window openings and an unusual parapet, with brick work forming four rows of small square panels. The hotel was designed to rival The Savoy in London, which was about to open as Europe’s most luxurious and modern hotel. The interior was richly appointed in the decorating trends of the era, such as elaborate wall coverings and handmade Colorado tile. The Jerome boasted 92 guest rooms, 15 bathrooms, indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, steam heat, and an elevator. The building was also one of the first west of the Mississippi River to be fully lit by electricity. With the advent of the Pullman sleeping car on the railroad, train travel was the new “rage,” and the Hotel Jerome became a Mecca for touring Grande Dames, Eastern bigwigs, stage and opera stars, and congressional speakers. Hard times fell on Colorado a few years later, and the hotel was hard-pressed to stay open. However, the Jerome was still a vital part of the community of Aspen. During the early 1900s, many of Aspen’s elite couples lived at the hotel, as it was cheaper to live there instead of maintaining their large Victorian homes. The hotel continued on with frequent renovations, and today, Hotel Jerome remains as one of the top hotels of the world, as cited by Conde Nast Traveller magazine in 2002.

But there was yet more to be done for Aspen. Railroad facilities were needed. Largely through his active influence, The Colorado Midland Railway Company was induced to extend its line to Aspen; and this railroad, begun in 1886, was in 1888 finished to Aspen and Glenwood Springs. Mr. Wheeler made an investment in the company, became its first vice president, and was its earnest and untiring promoter. The benefits which this railroad conferred on Aspen were huge.

At an early day, Mr. Wheeler established The J. B. Wheeler Banking Company at Aspen and also founded The J. B. Wheeler Banking Company at Manitou Springs in 1889. He aided actively to develop the Glenwood Hot Springs on the western slope of the Front Range as a resort. Surrounded by noble mountains, possessing an inspiring climate and springs of great medicinal value, this beautiful spot is a favorite for all. He also engaged in land operations at Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah.

Manitou Springs’ citizens remembered Wheeler as a man of sandy complexion with a neatly trimmed beard, who always wore a shirt with a soft collar. People frequently referred to him as “the man with the little round hat.” His daughter explained that this was his garden hat. She wrote: “It had a turned-up brim and was similar to the type worn by small boys in my childhood. To this, he added an old coat and a very baggy pair of trousers. I recall that his appearance distressed my mother to the limit.” He made several fortunes during his residence in Manitou Springs.

By 1889, he now had his bank in Manitou Springs and one in Colorado City (near Colorado Springs). He built the Wheeler Block in Manitou Springs, in which stood El Parque, a three-story building with dance hall on the top floor. In this building, he established the Bank of Manitou which operated successfully for several years.

In Manitou Springs, he paid the way of many a young artist studying in Europe. He supported families that had no claim on him except his sympathy. He contributed to charity and civic appeals with a lavish hand. Wheeler’s dynamic energy awoke Manitou from its quiet existence. Some of the things he did for the town, as recalled by old-timers, were contributing $50,000 toward the building of Manitou Boulevard. He presented a town clock to be erected in the little triangular park in the center of town. He furnished the volunteer fire department with hose carts and 500 feet of hose, and it was known as the J. B. Wheeler hose, hook and ladder company. He built a bowling alley and a magnificent conservatory. He kept a stable and fine horses and carriages, and used to drive through the Garden of the Gods to Colorado Springs.

Wheeler organized the Manitou Mineral Water Company, a company that shipped a rail carload of mineral water and ginger champagne daily for a number of years. It went to all the principal cities in the United States. He also formed a glass company in Colorado City to make bottles for the mineral water plant. It was located in the foothills where sand for bottle-making was plentiful. Known today as the Bott Addition, this part of town was then referred to as Glass Town. The plant burned down a few years after and was never rebuilt.

The Wheeler home was famous for its hospitality, and Colonel Wheeler’s acquaintance among men of importance throughout the country for many years brought to Manitou Springs the most notable among scholars, financiers, and artists. He was of a kindly disposition, trustful to his fellow men, and possessed of vision that does notable things. With J. A. Hayes and Louis R. Ehrich, he laid out the Old North End addition of Colorado Springs, and he personally built a handsome home on North Cascade Avenue in Colorado Springs.

Even by 1898, Jerome maintained a business office in New York, and continued to have large interests in the city. He maintained membership of several important clubs in New York, including the Union League, Goethe, Manhattan, Lawyers' and Commonwealth. Additionally, he was a member of Army and Navy clubs of New York. He was also, by virtue of his descent, an interested member of The New England Society. Jerome remained in touch with many member of his old 6th New York Cavalry from his war days.

The 1900 census shows Jerome and Harriet Wheeler living in Manitou Springs with Harriet’s mother, Charlotte (Macy) Valentine, a widow. Also living with Jerome and Harriet was their grown daughter, Elsie, with Elsie’s husband, Daniel Rupp, and their eight year-old daughter, Marion Rupp. Three servants, a butler, a cook, and a nurse maid, completed the household. The Wheelers’ other grown daughter, Marion, was living in Rock Island, Illinois with her husband, Hiram S. Cable.

The 1910 census shows Jerome and Harriet in Manitou Springs, still living with their daughter, Elsie, and her family. It is believed that Marion Rupp, daughter of Daniel and Elsie, died young. The house had two young grandsons for Jerome and Harriet in 1910. Horace was nine, and John Jerome was three. There were two female house servants to attend to the family.

During a disastrous flood in 1913, Wheeler was attending a reunion of his regiment in Gettysburg. Hearing of the flood damage, he immediately wired $10,000 for the rebuilding of streets and to repair other damage caused by the flood.

Wheeler bought two blocks of ground in the center of Manitou Springs, intending to build a beautiful home out of marble which was to cost a million dollars, the marble to be taken from his quarry at Aspen. There was a small bungalow on the property and this was to be torn down to make way for the marble structure. But before the “dream castle” was started, Wheeler’s luck had turned. The demonetization of silver spelled doom for his silver mines, and here was the beginning of Wheeler’s reverses.

His banks were forced to close when the output of silver was cut off. Those in Manitou Springs, Colorado City and in Aspen folded up, but Wheeler paid out dollar for dollar before he quit the banking business.

This loss of fortune did not crush Wheeler. He took it on the chin, always believing he would stage a comeback. Other miners had started out on a grubstake and ended up millionaires. Wheeler was a man of means, backed by accumulated wealth. It is said that he put six million dollars into the mine investments at Aspen alone. He spent $100,000 to help build the Midland Railroad at a time when Aspen was without rail transportation. To Colorado, the demonetization of silver was a severe blow. With Jerome Wheeler, it was the same way.

It was the characteristic of Wheeler that he thought of others before himself. He had seen to it that Manitou Springs and other parts of the state, including Aspen, where he had erected a fine hotel and opera house, benefited by civic improvements. Lastly, he set out to build his million dollar marble home. But fate decreed that this location should also go to civic interests. The beautiful Manitou Post Office is now located on the spot.

The famous Mollie Gibson mine in Aspen, which was fabulous in its output, was the main contention in the lawsuits which later were fought against Wheeler. His daughter, Elsie Wheeler Rupp, who was a pal of her father from childhood and was with him until his death, contributed much information regarding Wheeler’s misfortunes, which have been corroborated by Manitou pioneers. The story of these lawsuits, according to his daughter, was the story of Wheeler’s cruel betrayal by men he had thought his good friends; a tale of bribed witnesses, and at least one unfair judge. She is convinced that if it had not been for these lawsuits, Wheeler would have been able to pull out of the depression. His indomitable courage and his optimism convinced the man to the last that he would eventually achieve a comeback.

While Jerome was busy with his business and civic improvements, Harriet was busy with her own work. She was president of the Anne Hathaway Shakespeare Club of Colorado Springs and of the Woman’s Society of All Souls Unitarian Church in Colorado Springs for several years. Her obituary stated that “she was always a valued member of any society to which she belonged as she was a woman of high ideals, splendidly educated and widely read with ever refined tastes.”

Little by little, Jerome slipped into a quieter existence in Manitou Springs. However, he still was active in the community. The Colorado Springs newspaper gives the following article of a lecture to be given by Jerome Wheeler.

“Col. Wheeler To Tell of Civil War Experiences
Jerome B. Wheeler, late colonel of cavalry, U. S. A., will speak tonight at All Souls Unitarian church on “The Unwritten History of the Civil and Spanish Wars, and Personal Experiences in Civil Life.” Colonel Wheeler, for many years a prominent citizen of Manitou, has been actively identified with the growth and prosperity of that town, and is well-known throughout this state, where he has been engaged in mining since 1889.

Colonel Wheeler enlisted as a private in the Sixth New York cavalry, September 3, 1861, his twentieth birthday and continued in active service in the army until September 5, 1865. During this term of service he was promoted through the various ranks to that of colonel. For this reason he is peculiarly well-fitted to know the “inside stories” of the Civil war, which will add to the interest of his lecture tonight. He has many interesting anecdotes and stories to tell of the famous participants in that war as well as incidents of the war itself and the circumstances attendant upon it. I

n 1866 Colonel Wheeler entered mercantile life in New York city and until 1889 was a joint owner with Charles B. Webster of the famous house of R. H. Macy and company. During this time he came to know intimately many of the prominent men of the time, and his talk will include stories of them.

He is a member of the New York chapter of the Loyal Legion, which includes in its membership only officers of the army and navy during the Civil war. Members of the G. A. R. and other patriotic orders have been invited to hear Colonel Wheeler tonight.”

Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, Sunday, March 23, 1913 I

n 1916, Harriet contracted pneumonia, from which she would never recover. Here is an article from the Manitou Springs newspaper reporting the pneumonia.

“Mrs. Jerome B. Wheeler is Dangerously Ill With Pneumonia.
Mrs. Jerome B. Wheeler is lying at the point of death at her home here with pneumonia. Her many friends will be sad to learn o her dangerous condition. Mrs. Hiram S. Cable, her daughter in Rock Island, Ill., has been summoned by telegram and her daughter, Mrs. Rupp, who only recently arrived from California, is with her. The critical stage of her illness has been reached.”

Manitou Springs Journal, Manitou, El Paso County, Colorado, Friday, April 28, 1916

The Manitou Springs newspaper had the sad duty to report her death just a week later.
“Mrs. Wheeler’s Death Came Yesterday.
Following an illness of one week and two days with pneumonia, the death of Mrs. Jerome B. Wheeler occurred Thursday at noon, at the family residence, corner of Canon and ____ avenues. With the passing of Mrs. Wheeler into the great Beyond, this good and splendid woman has departed this life, leaving a large group of completely devoted friends in the Pike’s Peak region, to mourn her going.
She is survived by her husband, Colonel Jerome B. Wheeler and two daughters, Mrs. Hiram S. Cable and Mrs. Daniel H. Rupp. Mrs. Cable, whose home is in Rock Island, Ill., was in Manitou early in April with her little adopted son, (is) on her way to California. Mrs. Cable is ill at the present time and was not able to come back when summoned by telegram to Mrs. Wheeler’s bedside but Mr. Cable was by which by telephone with Mrs. Wheeler’s family every day during last week. Mrs. Rupp also spent the _____ in California and arrived home the _____ week in April but was seized with pneumonia (?) the day she arrived and has been in bed ever since. Both of Mrs. Rupp’s boys, Horace and Jerome, are in the hospital in Colorado Springs, tho not seriously ill and the sympathy of the entire community goes out to Colonel Wheeler and the family in an hour of such dire distress.

Mrs. Wheeler belonged to the well know R. H. Macy family of New York city of which only Mrs. R. H. Sutton, Mrs. Bacon and her daughter, Lady Parker, wife of the famous novelist and member of parliament, Sir Gilbert Parker, are now soul survivors. Mrs. Wheeler and Lady Parker are cousins. The Macy-Vantine (Valentine?) stores of New York are known all over the world. Colonel and Mrs. Wheeler began coming to Manitou from New York city every summer more than 30 years ago, when Colorado Wheeler became president and the largest stockholder of the Manitou Springs Mineral Water company. For the last 12 years Mrs. Wheeler has made her home in Manitou permanently. She was president of the Anne Hathaway Shakespeare club of Colorado Springs and of the Womans society of All Souls Unitarian church at the time of her death. She was always a valued member of any society to which she belonged as she was a woman of high ideals, splendidly educated and widely read with ever refined tastes.
Mr. and Mrs. Cable will arrive from Rock Island tomorrow and funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon from All Souls Unitarian church in Colorado Springs at 2 o’clock. Colonel Wheeler, accompanied by Mr. Cable, will take Mrs. Wheeler’s body to New York city for burial in the family lot in beautiful Woodlawn Cemetery and a short service will be held in New York city by the survivors of Mrs. Wheeler’s family.
The pall bearers will be: Alfred C. Pearson, Dr. D. P. Mayhew, Rev. Seth C. Hawley, H. Russell Wray, Chas. B. Seldomridge and E. E. Nichols.”
Manitou Springs Journal, Manitou, El Paso County, Colorado, Friday, May 5, 1916
Note: The copy quality on Mrs. Wheeler’s obituary was very poor. Every attempt to make out the words of this article was made, but it cannot be certain that it is completely accurate as it was not totally readable.

Several other obituaries were found in the nearby Colorado Springs newspaper and in the New York Times.
“The funeral of Mrs. J. B. Wheeler will be held from All Souls Unitarian church this afternoon at 2 o’clock. The pallbearers will be Alfred Pierson, Dr. P. Mayhew, Rev. Seth C. Hawley, Henry Russell Wray, Charles B. Seldomridge and E. E. Nichols. Interment will be in New York.” Colorado Springs Gazette, Saturday, May 6, 1916
“Mrs. Harriet Macy Wheeler, wife of Jerome B. Wheeler, formerly a member of the firm of R. H. Macy & Co., of this city, is dead at her home in Windermere, Manitou, Colo., where she had lived for the last ten years. She was a sister of the late R. M. Valentine, formerly a partner in Macy & Co., and before her marriage in 1870, had lived in Nantucket, Mass.”

The New York Times, Saturday, May 6, 1916

Harriet (Valentine) Wheeler was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx County, New York. It is a beautiful cemetery with large lawns, trees, and memorials. It is 400 acres in size.

Jerome Wheeler spent his last days in the Manitou Springs that he loved. His daughter and her two sons were then living in the nearby Ivywild neighborhood. He planned a big Thanksgiving dinner for them in 1918, but the dinner was never held. Serious illness intervened and he died at St. Francis Hospital on December 1, 1918. He was buried in New York by his wife. Following this are the two obituaries found in the Colorado Springs newspaper and the Manitou Springs newspaper.

“COL. J. B. WHEELER, PIONEER IS DEAD. Former Capitalist and Civil War Hero is Victim of Pneumonia.
Col. Jerome B. Wheeler, a pioneer of Manitou and former New York financier, died at 11:30 o;clock last night at a local hospital. He was taken there from his home suffering with double pneumonia which quickly followed a slight cold. He was 77 years of age. His daughters, Mrs. D. H. Rupp, 214 East Second street, Ivywild, and Miss Mary Wheeler, with whom he lived, were with him, as well as Hiram S. Cable of Rock Island, Ill., a son-in-law who arrived only yesterday morning. His wife died two years ago.
Colonel Wheeler lived an active and full life. At one time and another he was engaged in many business interests both in the east and the west. In 1889 he built a summer home in Manitou. The house was surrounded by extensive and attractive grounds and has been one of the most attractive places in the town. In 1893 he made Manitou his permanent home and has since lived a quiet retired life there. He made several fortunes during his residence in Colorado Springs.
Colonel Wheeler was born at Troy, N. Y. He went into the Civil war as a private, was promoted to the rank of captain, and then was made a major in the Sixth New York cavalry, acting a regimental and later a brigade quartermaster. At the close of the war he was brevetted colonel of cavalry. His rise in the business world was meteoric. He started to work as a bookkeeper, became a clerk and then a partner in the firm of Holt and company, flower and commission merchants. In 1879 he joined Charles R. Webster of New York in buying the business of R. S. Macy and company, a large department store, which is still in business in New York.
He organized the Aspen Smelting company in this state, was one of the first directors of the Colorado Midland railroad and was president of the Croesus Gold Mining and Milling company, and president of the Rock Hill Consolidated Gold and Silver Mining company of Leadville. He was a member of the Union League and Army and Navy clubs of New York.
Funeral arrangements have not been made.”

Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, December 2, 1918
“Jerome B. Wheeler.
Col. Jerome B. Wheeler of this city passed away at a Colorado Springs hospital Sunday night, aged 77 years. Thus is removed one of Colorado’s most distinguished citizens and notable commonwealth builders. His career was notable in big successes and in features of business adventure that extended across the continent. Colonel Wheeler was attacked by pneumonia last Friday and on Saturday was taken to a hospital. Death came at 11:30 o’clock Sunday night. He is survived by two daughters, two sisters and two grandsons. The daughters are Mrs. D. H. Rupp, now living in Ivywild, and Mrs. Hiram S. Cable of Rock Island, Illinois. The sisters are Miss Mary Wheeler, who made her home with him, and Mrs. Josephine Howard of Chicago. The young grandsons are the children of Mrs. Rupp, Horace and Jerome.
Colonel Wheeler was born at Troy, New York. Early in the Civil War he entered the Union service as a private, but soon arose to a captaincy and later became major of the Sixth New York cavalry. For a time he was acting brigadier quartermaster of that regiment. He had a hard service and at the close of the war was brevetted colonel of cavalry.
Entering business in New York, Colonel Wheeler met with rapid success. Starting as a bookkeeper he became a clerk and finally a partner with the firm of Holt & Co., flour and commission merchants. In 1879, in company with Charles B. Webster and one of the Macys, he purchased control of the R. S. Macy & Company dry goods house, now the family Macy department store. Ten years later he sold out his third and came to Colorado, having become interested in mining enterprises at Aspen, then in its great boom.
Quickly there was no name better known in Colorado than that of Colonel Wheeler, because of the extent of his enterprises. He bought a beautiful tract of land in the heart of Manitou, which for many years was the show place of the town, and where he continued to make his home until the end. From here his activities extended throughout the country. He founded the Grand River Coal & Coke Co., helped finance the Colorado Midland railroad and was one of the first directors; also he was the founder of the Manitou Mineral Water company. He built the Jerome hotel and the Wheeler opera house at Aspen. He established private banks at Aspen, Manitou, Colorado City and elsewhere. In fact a quarter of a century ago his name was connected with every notable enterprise in this region. With J. A. Hayes and Louis R. Ehrich he laid out the North End addition of Colorado Springs and he personally built the handsome home now occupied by Mrs. C. C. Hemming on North Cascade avenue. Colonel Wheeler married Harriet Macy Valentine of New York, who was of the Valentine family, famous importers. She died two years ago. Their home has been famous for its hospitality, and Colonel Wheeler’s acquaintance among men of importance throughout the country for many years brought here the most notable among scholars, financiers and artists. He was of a kindly disposition, trustful to his fellow men and possessed of vision that does notable things.
For a number of years Colonel Wheeler has been in quiet retirement. His daughter, Mrs. Elsie Rupp, was at his bedside when death came. His son-in-law, Hiram S. Cable, a banker at Rock Island, arrived Sunday, but Mrs. Cable was unable to come.
The body was cremated at Denver Wednesday morning at 11 o’clock, and at the same hour funeral services were held at St. Andrews chapel.”
Manitou Springs Journal, Manitou, El Paso County, Colorado, Friday, December 6, 1918

Despite his death, Jerome Byron Wheeler was not quickly forgotten. In 1948, the town of Manitou Springs was proposing to place a memorial plaque in honor of Wheeler on their town clock. Wheeler had himself purchased the clock for Manitou Springs many years before. The article in the newspaper about this plaque follows.
“To Honor State’s Forgotten Pioneer, Manitou Springs And Aspen Owe Much To Jerome Wheeler,” by Ellen O’Connor
“The proposed placing of a bronze memorial plaque on the town clock in Manitou has brought out of historical fog the story of Colorado’s forgotten pioneer, Jerome B. Wheeler, once part owner of the noted Macy department store of New York city. Wheeler did as much for Colorado as Stratton, Moffat, Creede or Walsh, yet because he shunned the spotlight his generosities have remained unknown. The famous Mollie Gibson Mine, the Jerome hotel and opera house at Aspen were among Wheeler’s developments. He paid the way of many a young artist studying in Europe. He supported families that had no claim on him except his sympathy. He contributed to charity and civic appeals with lavish hand.

The thing that might have given a measure of publicity to Wheeler never saw the light of day. Along with the development of silver mines Wheeler bought a marble quarry near Aspen and planned to build a million dollar home in the heart of Manitou Springs. But his dream of dwelling in marble halls never came true. The demonetization of silver was the beginning of Wheeler’s reverses and his fortune was swept away before the stone was cut from its quarry bed. It was with reluctance that Mrs. Elsie W. Rupp of Ojai, Calif., the only survivor of the Wheeler family, supplied the facts for the story of her father. Like him she shunned notoriety, but was finally persuaded by Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Crosby of Manitou, and other friends, that his story was a missing chapter in the gold and silver era of Colorado’s glamorous and tragic chronicle.

WIFE’S ILLNESS BROUGHT FAMILY TO COLORADO
Wheeler might have remained with Macy’s all his life had not his wife suffered a severe attack of bronchitis. Her doctor prescribed a trip to Colorado, hoping that sunshine and a dry climate might benefit her health. The head cashier of Macy’s had a relative living in Manitou, and she gave Wheeler a letter of introduction.
The relative turned out to be Harvey Young, famous western artist who combined painting and prospecting. He had a railroad car fitted up as a studio and was allowed to attach it to a train that took him into the heart of Colorado’s scenic wonderland. He painted landscapes that were later purchased by General Palmer, Dr. Bell, Verner Z. Reed and other connoisseurs of art.

Young not only sold Wheeler several paintings but induced him to purchase controlling interests in two silver mines, located in what was then the undeveloped mining town of Aspen.

There was no railroad into Aspen in those days, all transportation being routed by stage coach from Leadville over miles and miles of narrow corduroy road. On his first trip thru the country, Wheeler was fascinated and caught the mining fever. Within a year he acquired major interests in mines that turned out to be rich in ore.

He owned a controlling interest in the famous Aspen mine which in 1891 paid $525,000 in dividends. He was a large stockholder in the Della S. mine, the Bushwhacker and many other mines. I

n 1885 Wheeler and his partner, Charles Webster, and Henry Holt organized the Aspen Mining and Smelting company and Wheeler was made president. Associated with other capitalists, Wheeler helped build the Colorado Midland railroad. He also organized the Grand River Coal and Coke company. Being president of the company and owning much of its stock, Wheeler developed this investment until it was producing 2,000 tons of coking, domestic and steam coal. Meanwhile, Wheeler expended money with free hand in civic improvements in the booming mining town of Aspen. He built the famed Jerome hotel, the opera house, a band and mountain tramway. He began the development of a marble quarry near Aspen and bought a large ranch in the White River country.

BECAME INTERESTED IN MANITOU PROPERTY
At this time Wheeler’s investments had become so widespread that in 1888 he withdrew from Macy’s to become a mining and business capitalist of Colorado. He now had a bank in Manitou and one in Colorado City. He built the Wheeler block, in which stood El Parque, a three-story building with dance hall on the top floor. In this building he established the Bank of Manitou which operated successfully for several years.

Wheeler’s dynamic energy awoke Manitou from its quiet existence. Some of the things he did for the town, as recalled by oldtimers, were contributing $50,000 toward the building of Manitou boulevard. He presented a town clock to be erected in the little triangular park in the center of town. He furnished the volunteer fire department with hose carts and 500 feet of hose, and it was known as the J. B. Wheeler hose, hook and ladder company. He build a bowling alley and a magnificent conservatory. He kept a stable and fine horses and carriages, and used to drive thru the Garden of the Gods to Colorado Springs.

During a disastrous flood in 1913, Wheeler was attending a reunion of his regiment in Gettysburg. Hearing of the flood damage, he immediately wired $10,000 for the rebuilding of streets and to repair other damage caused by the flood.

Wheeler organized the Manitou Mineral Water company, a concern that shipped a carload of mineral water and ginger champagne daily for a number of years. It went to all the principal cities in the United States. The building of red sandstone is still standing tho not in use. He also formed a glass company in Colorado City to make bottles for the mineral water plant. It was located in the foothills where sand for bottle-making was plentiful. Known today as the Bott addition, this part of town was then referred to as Glass Town. The plant burned down a few years after and was never rebuilt.

Wheeler bought two blocks of ground in the center of Manitou, intending to build a beautiful home out of marble which was to cost a million dollars, the marble to be taken from his quarry at Aspen. There was a small bungalow on the property and this was to be torn down to make way for the marble structure.

But before the “dream castle” was started, Wheeler’s luck had turned. The demonetization of silver spelled doom for his silver mines, and here was the beginning of Wheeler’s reverses.

His banks were forced to close when the output of silver was cut off. Those in Manitou, Colorado City and in Aspen folded up, but Wheeler paid out dollar for dollar before he quit the banking business.

This loss of fortune did not crush Wheeler. He took it on the chin, always believing he would stage a comeback. Other miners had started out on a grubstake and ended up millionaires. Wheeler was a man of means, backed by accumulated wealth. It is said that he put six million dollars into the mine investments at Aspen alone. He spent $100,000 to help build the Midland Railroad at a time when Aspen was without rail transportation. To Colorado the demonetization of silver was a severe blow. With Jerome Wheeler, it was the same way.

It was the characteristic of Wheeler that he thought of others before himself. He had seen to it that Manitou and other parts of the state, including Aspen, where he had erected a fine hotel and opera house, benefited by civic improvements. Lastly, he set out to build his million dollar marble home. But fate decreed that this location should also go to civic interests. The beautiful Manitou Postoffice is now located on the spot.

LAWSUITS OVER MINE RUINED WHEELER

The famous Mollie Gibson mine in Aspen, which was fabulous in its output, was the main contention in the suits which later were fought against Wheeler. His daughter, Elsie Wheeler Rupp of Ojai, Calif., who was a pal of her father from childhood and was with him until his death, has contributed much information regarding Wheeler’s misfortunes, which have been corroborated by Manitou pioneers. The story of these lawsuits, according to his daughter, was the story of Wheeler’s cruel betrayal by men he had thought his good friends; a tale of bribed witnesses, and at least one unfair judge. She is convinced that if it had not been for these lawsuits, Wheeler would have been able to pull out of the depression. His indomitable courage and his optimism convinced the man to the last that he would eventually achieve a comeback.

Wheeler spent his last days in the Manitou he loved. His daughter and her two sons were then living in Ivywild. He planned a big Thanksgiving dinner for them, but the dinner was never held. Serious illness intervened and he died at St. Francis hospital December 1, 1918. His wife died in 1916.

Manitou oldtimers remember Wheeler as a man of sandy complexion with a neatly trimmed beard, who always wore a shirt with a soft collar. People frequently referred to him as “the man with the little round hat.” His daughter explains that this was his garden hat. She writes: “It had a turned-up brim and was similar to the type worn by small boys in my childhood. To this he added an old coat and a very baggy pair of trousers. I recall that his appearance distressed my mother to the limit.”

BACKGROUND OF CULTURE

The background of Manitou’s forgotten pioneer is one of culture, brilliant military achievement and financial security. Jerome B. Wheeler was born in Troy, N. Y., September 3, 1841. On his father’s side the ancestors of Daniel Barker Wheeler were of Norman origin and represented in the baronage of England. His mother, Mary Jones Emerson, second cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a descendant of Thomas Emerson, who in 1886 had a grant of Bradbury, County Durham, where he built a market cross on which was cut the Emerson crest.

Wheeler attended public school in Waterford, Saratoga county, where his family moved during his childhood. Before he was 21 years old, Jerome Wheeler enlisted as a private in the Sixth New York Cavalry, which was then being recruited in Troy. The regiment was mounted a few months later at Cloud Mills, Va. From then until the close of the Civil war he remained with his regiment at the front, participating in the Peninsula campaign and all the battles of the Potomac, riding with Sheridan in the valley and taking part in the last battle of Appomatox Courthouse.

Shortly after his enlistment he was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the staff of Col. Thomas C. Devin, with whom he remained thru the latter’s successive promotion to the command of brigade and division until the war ended. Gen. Devin frequently mentioned him in his reports as having conspicuously distinguished himself in the field: “Lt. Jerome B. Wheeler has as usual rendered valuable services, not only to the command, but to the whole division.”

Wheeler was promoted from major to colonel but because of breach of discipline during the final days of the war, the promotion was withdrawn, although he received commendation for bravery. His disobedience to orders consisted in his leading a supply train thru Confederate lines to an encircled and starving regiment. His commanding officer thought the expedition too hazardous to be undertaken but Maj. Wheeler, on his own initiative, successfully accomplished the mission.

After the close of the war Wheeler married Harriet Macy Valentine in 1870. Her uncle, Roland Macy, founded the Macy department store in New York City. When Macy died Wheeler became executor of the estate.

Jerome B. Wheeler went to Manitou in 1883. He fell in love with Manitou and decided to make it his home. From the first he had a strong desire to improve the town and he gave generously toward its improvement and was most charitable in his gifts to individuals.

That Manitou residents should present the old clock, rejuvenate its rusty, worn-out works with new electric movements, and mark it with a memorial tablet is a gesture that expresses the town’s sentiment that the name Wheeler will not be forgotten. Like the pendulum of the clock, the life of Jerome B. Wheeler marked a great epic in the colorful heyday of Colorado’s mining history.

The Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, Sunday, May 9, 1948

SOURCES:
1. Federal census records from 1850 from Albany County, New York.
2. Federal census records from 1860 from Saratoga County, New York.
3. Federal census records from 1860 from Providence County, Rhode Island.
4. Federal census records from 1870 and 1880 from New York County, New York.
5. Federal census records from 1900, 1910, and 1920 from El Paso County, Colorado.
6. Federal census records from 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 from Rock Island County, Illinois.
7. “Wheeler, Jerome Byron,” “Leslie’s History of the Greater New York, Biographical, Volume De Luxe” by Daniel Van Pelt, published about 1898?, by Arkell Publishing Company, New York.
8. International Genealogical Index record for marriage of Jerome B. Wheeler to Harriet Macy Valentine in Manhattan, New York, provided online at the Latter Day Saints website at www.familysearch.org.
9. International Genealogical Index record for birth of Harriet M. Valentine in Nantucket, Nantucket County, Massachusetts, provided online at the Latter Day Saints website at www.familysearch.org.
10. Information on the Wheeler/Stallard Museum provided online by the Aspen Historical Society at http://www.aspenhistory.org/wsh.html.
11. Information on the Wheeler/Stallard House, Wheeler Opera House, and Hotel Jerome from the Directory of Colorado State Register Properties in Aspen, Pitkin County, provided online at http://www.coloradohistory-oahp.org/programareas/register/1503/cty/pt.htm.
12. Historical timeline for the Hotel Jerome provided online at Hotel Jerome’s website at http://www.hoteljerome.com/timeline.html.
13. Historical timeline for the town of Aspen provided online by the Aspen Historical Society at www.aspenhistory.org/timelink.html.
14. “Directory of Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, and Colorado City for 1888,” provided online by the Old Colorado City Historical Society at http://history.oldcolo.com/history/research/director/CD88Tran.html.
15. “Colorado City Bank,” The Manitou Springs Journal, Manitou Springs, Colorado, Friday, June 15, 1889.
16. “Col. Wheeler To Tell of Civil War Experiences,” Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, Sunday, March 23, 1913.
17. “Mrs. Jerome B. Wheeler is Dangerously Ill With Pneumonia,” Manitou Springs Journal, Manitou, El Paso County, Colorado, Friday, April 28, 1916.
18. “Mrs. Wheeler’s Death Came Yesterday,” Manitou Springs Journal, Manitou, El Paso County, Colorado, Friday, May 5, 1916.
19. Obituary for Mrs. J. B. Wheeler, Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, Saturday, May 6, 1916.
20. Obituary for Mrs. Harriet Macy Wheeler, The New York Times, Saturday, May 6, 1916.
21. Description of Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx County, New York, provided by Interment.net, Cemetery Transcription Library, provided online at http://www.interment.net/data/us/ny/bronx/woodlawn/index.htm.
22. “Col. J. B. Wheeler, Pioneer Is Dead,” Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, December 2, 1918.
23. “Jerome B. Wheeler,” Manitou Springs Journal, Manitou, El Paso County, Colorado, Friday, December 6, 1918.
24. “To Honor State’s Forgotten Pioneer, Manitou Springs and Aspen Owe Much To Jerome Wheeler,” by Ellen O’Connor, The Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, Sunday, May 9, 1948.
25. Marion (Wheeler) Cable tombstone reading from Chippiannock Cemetery, Rock Island County, Illinois.
26. Death certificate information on Elsie (Wheeler) Rupp from the California Death Index, provided online at http://www.vitalsearch-ca.com/gen/ca/_vitals/cadeygen.htm.



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