CLASS OP 1874

Charles F. Caswell, associate justice of the supreme court of Colorado, died of paralysis at his home in Denver, November 21, after a very brief illness. No better obituary notice can be given here than the following proclamation of Governor Buchtel, announcing Judge Caswell's death:

"The Hon. Charles F. Caswell, a judge of the supreme court of Colorado, died on Thursday morning, Nov. 21, 1907, at eight o'clock. Judge Caswell was the son of Cornelius E. Caswell, a farmer of Strafford, N. H., and Betsey Thurston Chase. He was born at Strafford on • May 10, 1851. He was a student at the Franklin Academy and at the Northwood Seminary, where he was prepared for Dartmouth College. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1874 and was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Subsequently he studied law in Lynn, Mass., and was admitted to the bar in 1877. He practiced law for four years in Massachusetts and then came to Colorado in 1881. He first resided in Middle Park in Grand county, where he engaged in the practice of his profession and was also interested in mining.

"In 1884 he went to Grand Junction, where he resided continuously until he was elected to the high office of justice of the supreme court in the fall of 1906. During all the years of his life at Grand Junction he was engagedin the practice of his profession. During almost the entire time he served as county attorney of Mesa county. He had a very large clientage. He was attorney for 'all the railroads and for other large corporations in Grand Junction. He was one of the pioneer fruit growers in Mesa county and greatly enjoyed visiting his fruit farm as a relief from the exacting demands of his law practice. He was chairman of the Mesa county delegation to the state convention of the political party with which he was identified, every year during his residence in Grand Junction. He was twice a delegate to national conventions.

"He was a delegate to the national convention in June of 1904 at which Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for the presidency. He was then a member of the committee which was appointed to notify President Roosevelt of his nomination.

"He was married May 7, 1891, to Miss Jessie Tenney Gray, a daughter of Judge Bariillai Gray of Kansas City.

''Judge Caswell was known in all the courts of Colorado as a lawyer of exceptional strength. He was a man of grave demeanor and marked personal modesty. He was intensely loyal to his friends. At the time of his election the Grand Junction Sentinel, voicing the sentiment of the people who knew him best, made the following accurate estimate of him as a lawyer: 'You could never think of Judge Caswell in his practice .in the courts as a pettifogger. He had the highest ideals regarding the practice of the great profession of the law and endeavored to live up to those ideals.'

One of his associates of the supreme court says of him :

He was always clear in thought, and vigorous and clear in expression. One marked element of his character was the tact that under a somewhat dignified and severe exterior he carried a gentle heart. He was always considerate of the rights of other, and was careful to avoid saying anything which would wound the feelings or give pain to other people He loved animals. He had a very high sense of duty, had been under the doctor's care for several months and felt that he ought to go away or a rest He talked about going to Grand Junction for a visit, but his sense of duty kept him steadily at work in the supreme court on account of the crowded condition of the docket. He was known in political conventions and in courts and in business as a man whose word could be relied on. He kept his pledges. The impression he made in every court where he practiced was that he took a very high view of his profession. He was never known to make any effort to deceive the court. He was thoroughly honest in the expression of his views. He had a lawyer-like grasp of his cases and presented all his cases in a strong way. He had the. rare faculty of stopping when he was done. The members of the supreme court greatly appreciated his counsel, as he seemed always eager to ascertain what was right in the complex questions which come to the supreme court.'

"The death of so distinguished a jurist and so eminent a public man is a distinct loss, not only to his personal friends, but to the whole state. Funeral services will be held at the family residence, 801 East Fourteenth avenue, in Denver, on Saturday, Nov. 23, 1907, at 3 p. m.

"It is, therefore, ordered that all state offices shall be closed on Saturday, Nov. 23, during the entire day from 10 a. m., and that the flags at the statehouse shall be carried at half mast for four weeks, that is, until Thursday, Dec. 19, 1907."

Secretary, Dr. C. E. Quimby, 44 West 36th St., New fork.