John Albert Thatcher

The name of Thatcher is an honored one in Colorado. It is inseparably interwoven with those events which have made history in the state, for John Albert Thatcher and his brother, Mahlon D., were among the most prominent merchants and financiers of Colorado, while their brother. Henry Calvin Thatcher, was the first chief justice of Colorado. Each in his own way bore a most important part in furthering the work of progress and development in the west. Possessing broad, enlightened and liberal-minded views, faith in himself and in the vast potentialities for development inherent in his country's wide domains and specific needs along the distinctive lines chosen for his life's work, the career of John A. Thatcher was a most active one, in which he accomplished important and far-reaching results, contributing in no small degree to the expansion and material growth of the nation and from which he himself derived substantial benefit.

Mr. Thatcher was born in Pfoutz Valley, near Miller's Town, in Perry county, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of August, 1836, his parents being Henry and Lydia Ann Thatcher, whose family numbered seven children, of whom John A. was the eldest, the others being: Elvina; Mahlon D.; Mrs. Frank G. Bloom, now of Trinidad, Colorado; Mrs. M. H. Everhart, of Martinsburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania; Henry Calvin; and Dora. Of these, Elvina, Henry Calvin, Dora and Mahlon D. are all deceased.

John A. Thatcher acquired his education in the public schools of Tuscarora, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, in the Tuscarora Academy and in the Airy View Academy, conducted by Professor David Wilson at Port Royal, Pennsylvania. His father would have given him the privilege of attending college, but he preferred to go west and start upon a business career instead of going to college. On the 1st of April, 1855, the family removed from Newport, Perry county, Pennsylvania, to Martinsburg, Blair county, and in the fall of the following year John A. Thatcher took up the profession of teaching there in connection with a rural school in Lorberry township, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. Attracted, however, by the opportunities of the west, he made his way to Holt county, Missouri, in 1857 and for five years was engaged in clerking, thus acquiring comprehensive knowledge of mercantile life and methods. At the time of his arrival there Oregon, the county seat of Holt county, and Forest City, on the Missouri river, were both flourishing towns, but with the outbreak of the Civil war they were made the subject of raids by organized bands of thieves and desperadoes and the resulting conditions led John A. Thatcher to make a change in 1862. Accordingly he packed his stock of merchandise in a mule wagon and started for Colorado.

It was on the 15th of September, 1862, that Mr. Thatcher reached Denver, where he remained until December of that year and then took up his abode in Pueblo, where he spent the winter. In the spring he again went to Denver but after a few months returned to Pueblo, having dissolved partnership with his former business associate, James H. Voorhees. They divided their stock of merchandise and with his share loaded in a wagon drawn by ox teams Mr. Thatcher started for Pueblo on the 14th of August, 1863. He was a resident of his adopted city for exactly fifty years and his life work was one of intense activity, constituting an important element in the growth and progress of the state in which he lived. He opened the first general store in what is now Pueblo and three years afterward was joined by his brother. Mahlon D., who entered into partnership with him. Their business relation was maintained for many years and they extended their efforts into various fields, which made their name a conspicuous one in connection with the substantial business development of the west. In 1870 they organized a private bank and after conducting it for eight or nine months converted it into the First National Bank of Pueblo on the 17th of April, 1871, capitalizing the institution for fifty thousand dollars. Three years later, or in 1874, the capital stock was increased to one hundred thousand dollars, the Thatcher brothers personally holding the majority of the stock. The bank steadily grew and is still controlled and managed by members of the Thatcher family. Further extending his efforts, John A. Thatcher became an officer and director of the Pueblo Savings & Trust Company, was also interested in the First National Bank of Denver, and in the International Trust Company of Denver, besides various other financial institutions and mercantile enterprises in Otero and Bent counties, in Trinidad, in Lake City and points in southern Colorado. He became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Grand Opera House block in Pueblo and he made extensive investments in real estate, ranking for many years as one of the largest taxpayers of this city. He was also closely connected with the live stock interests of the west, having vast ranches in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, upon which he pastured great herds. The Trail, the official organ of the Society of the Sons of Colorado, said of him at the time of his death: "John A. Thatcher was a most vital factor in the making of the Pueblo of today. To tell of his life would be to write the history of that city. From the day of his arrival to the present time his genius was discernible in every forward step which the 'Pittsburgh of the west' has taken. In securing capital for local enterprises, in establishing factories and foundries, in developing agriculture and stock raising in the Arkansas valley and in successfully completing irrigation projects he devoted his time and invested his money with immense returns both for himself and for the community in which he lived. . . . The secret of his financial success lay in his close application to business and his love for hard work. It is safe to say that no clerk in his employ kept longer hours, devoted his time so absolutely to the routine of his duties, or had so sure and so keen a grasp upon the work before him as had this veteran banker. On the hottest summer day he might have been seen at his desk in the First National; ou the coldest day in winter he arrived at the bank ahead of his clerks and got to work long before they put in an appearance. He lived a life of unremitting industry. He won his wealth by his own shrewdness and ability, frugality and thrift. Could he have lived but a few months longer he would have seen the greatest fruits of his success in the opening of the handsome new bank building at the corner of Fifth and Main streets in Pueblo."

It was on the 17th of April, 1866, that Mr. Thatcher was united in marriage to Miss Margaret A. Henry, the second daughter of Judge John W. Henry, a distinguished jurist of Colorado of the early days. They became the parents of five children, Lenore, John Henry, Lillian, Albert R. and Raymond Calvin, but the elder daughter and the second son have passed away. Mrs. Thatcher is a very active worker in the Red Cross and in other movements which are claiming public attention at the present time, and associated with her daughter, Mrs. Forest Rutherford, and sons, John Henry Thatcher and Raymond C. Thatcher, she presented a fully equipped field ambulance to the Fifteenth Ambulance Corps in memory of her husband on the 10th of September, 1917.

Mr. Thatcher was devoted to his family and found his greatest happiness at his own fireside, counting no personal effort of sacrifice on his part too great if it would promote the welfare of his wife and children. He built what is perhaps the most beautiful residence in Pueblo, occupying an entire block of ground, Mrs. Thatcher giving to the place the name of Rosemount. He passed away on the 14th of August, 1913, after a residence of more than a half century in Colorado. He was a man of generous impulses and possessed a kind, charitable heart. He was very loyal to his old-time friends and associates and was always ready to lend a helping hand wherever needed. In spite of the demands made upon his time and thought by the exactions of his multitudinous business interests, he found it possible to keep in touch with his former companions, and, in his quiet way, relieved many a case of suffering and rendered timely aid to many an old pioneer. He had a happy faculty of saying a kindly word at the right time, of offering assistance when most needed, and of smoothing out rough places in the paths of those less capable of withstanding misfortune than himself. John A. Thatcher was the most approachable of men but was not easily imposed upon. He had sound common sense to an eminent degree and was quick to detect fraud. But his experience in the world of finance and public affairs did not harden his sensibilities Few of the wealthy men of today possessed so large a circle of friends and acquaintances, and fewer still were so well liked by all with whom they associated. In the course of his fifty years of continuous residence in Pueblo, John A. Thatcher made a record that will endure the closest scrutiny, and it is much to be doubted if he made a single enemy. While his memory is honored as that of one of the foremost hankers and business men of the state, it is cherished by his associates because of his friendly spirit and his many likable qualities. He was a man of quiet tastes, systematic in all that he did, never seeking publicity but faithfully performing his duties day by day. He was a devoted member of the First Presbyterian church, a valued representative of the Southern Colorado Pioneers' Association, a member of the Sons of Colorado and a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Colorado, of which he was honorary president at the time of his death. Well may his life record serve as a source of encouragement and inspiration to others, and for years to come his memory will remain as a blessed benediction to all who were closely associated with him.

Source: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, History of Colorado, volume III.  Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918.

Contributed by Joy Fisher (Dec08)