An 1880s Victorian Mansion in the Colorado Rockies: The Estemere Estate at Palmer Lake

by Edwards, Daniel

  An Architectural and Social History of a Unique 19th Century Mansion

  Chapter 1

  Dr. W. Finley Thompson, Founder of Palmer Lake and the Man Who Built Estamere (1883-1890)

  Dr. William Finley Thompson[3]

  William Finley Thompson was born in Randolph, a small town east of Akron, Ohio, on 13 September 1840. After spending his youth in Pennsylvania and New York State, he began his dental career in Cincinnati in 1860 at the age of 19. From there, he worked as a dentist in Logansport, Indiana; Leavenworth, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; and Chicago until he reached Portland, Oregon, in 1873. Dr. Thompson was a founding member of the Oregon State Dental Society in Portland and was elected its second president in March 1874.

  Thompson probably developed his professional skills as an apprentice to an older dentist. It is unclear whether he benefited from any college or other professional education as a young man. Since he was interested in furthering his education and obtaining professional credentials, Thompson registered at the Medical College of the Pacific (MCP) in San Francisco in the summer of 1874. Although he was a medical student, Thompson also continued seeing dental patients in Portland and in San Francisco, where he moved in 1875. In a short period of four months—from November 1876 to March 1877—Thompson managed to receive three degrees: an M.D. from MCP, a D.D.S. (doctor of dental surgery) from the New York College of Dentistry; and another degree from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York.

  Dr. Thompson and his family left New York for Europe in the summer of 1878. They may have gone first to Paris, but by December, Thompson had reached England and registered as a dentist with the government. The following year Thompson assumed a position with the National Dental College in London, where he delivered a series of yearly lectures on operative dental surgery from 1879 to 1881. He also treated patients at the National Dental Hospital that operated as a private charity and provided free services to the poor and disadvantaged.

  Once in London, Thompson joined the dental practice of Dr. Arthur Baxter Visick. Their office was on Brook Street in Grosvenor Square. Thompson was interested in developing new methods of treatment and became an advocate for the experimental procedure of replanting teeth. He delivered a paper on that topic before the International Medical Congress in London in August 1881. Thompson’s college lectures were published in book form in 1881, and his lectures and articles appeared in dental journals in America, England, France, Germany, and Italy from 1879 to 1883. Thompson also developed his own set of dental instruments that a British company manufactured and sold under his name in England.

  Thompson at Palmer Lake

  Although he was only 42 years old and had been in England less than four years, Thompson decided to retire from his profession. He and Dr. Visick sold their London practice, and both came to Colorado in the fall of 1882. Whatever Thompson’s initial intentions of settling in Colorado might have been, he and Visick bought land and platted a town they called Loch Katrine at a site about 45 miles south of Denver in December 1882. The proposed town was near the station of Divide on the Denver & Rio Grande Railway (D&RG) narrow gauge line connecting Denver with Colorado Springs. Loch Katrine, situated at an elevation of 7,255 feet and near a lake framed by forested hills, was soon renamed Palmer Lake, in honor of Gen. William Jackson Palmer, the founder and president of the Rio Grande. Thompson retained 6.5 acres of land in Palmer Lake upon which he built his private home that he named Estamere.

  Thompson and the D&RG made an agreement regarding rights-of-way for a water line and the use of water from North Monument Canyon in August 1883. The agreement specified that the railroad granted Thompson

  the right to the use of a sufficient quantity of water necessary for domestic uses for the house to be built and intended to be used as a hotel [later, the Glen House that opened in 1884] and the barn of W. Finley Thompson at the town of Palmer [Lake]… [P]ermission is granted to W. Finley Thompson to use the surplus water for two small fountains on [his] premises… and also sufficient for irrigating the land now under cultivation on said premises. It is understood that any surplus water carried through the pipes over and above what is now required by the D&RG and shall be needed in the future (and except that previously granted for domestic purposes at the house and barn of W. Finley Thompson) is to be equitably distributed for domestic purposes to the houses and dwellings on the Palmer townsite…[4]

  Ad for Dr. Thompson’s Dental Tools.

  When Thompson prepared to make additions to his estate in early 1887, he and the railroad negotiated another agreement to sort out the respective water rights, ditch rights, and rights of way between the two parties to ensure that the D&RG would continue to have an adequate supply of water for its operations at Palmer Lake, while Thompson would have rights to a dependable supply of water for the town and his personal residence.[5] This agreement also referred to the fact that the railroad previously had given Thompson the right to connect a private pipe to the railroad’s pipeline to provide water for Estamere.

  From 1883 to 1889, Thompson devoted his efforts to creating a vacation and health resort at Palmer Lake. He owned most of the land in the town and set up a number of companies to raise funds for building town infrastructure and promoting new settlement. He worked with religious groups and sold the land that became the site of the Rocky Mountain Chautauqua, whose summer educational programs attracted hundreds of people to the town from 1887 to 1910.

  Thompson was a real estate speculator, constantly buying and selling property in the Palmer Lake area. He often bought and sold portions of the same property within a period of a few days.

  W. Finley Thompson led the efforts to incorporate the town of Palmer Lake in 1889 and was elected its first mayor. He then launched an ambitious project to build a hotel-cum-sanitarium, The Rocklands Hotel, at Palmer Lake for the treatment of people suffering from asthma and “consumption” (tuberculosis). His vision was to create a world-class health resort that would rival those in the Swiss Alps and would bring wealthy American and European “invalids” to the town for treatment. He believed the elevation, climate, and other environmental features of Palmer Lake would give it a competitive advantage over existing health resorts in Europe. He pursued that business model, and he was convinced it would ensure the future economic prosperity of his town. He traveled to London in the fall of 1888 to raise money for this effort.

  In 1884, Thompson wrote a pamphlet entitled Palmer Lake and its Environs, as a Health and Pleasure Resort to promote the town, the environment, and the Glen House Hotel as all being wonderfully suited as a location for a sanitarium.

  Ada Mary Thompson Becomes the Owner of Estamere

  Finley Thompson deeded Estamere to his wife, Ada Mary, on 24 March 1888. Ada was to remain the owner of the house and its adjoining property for three and one-half years. There are several possibilities that may explain why Finley did this. The date is significant, because on that very day (24 March), Finley filed his plat, “Thompson’s Resubdivision” of Blocks 46, 47, 49, 50, and 52-54 in Palmer Lake, with the El Paso County’s Clerk and Recorder’s Office in Colorado Springs.[6] This plat (#350) created a new Block 80 on which Estamere was located. The plat included a thoroughfare called “Thompson’s private road” that was to be subject to closure at any time.

  It is likely that this replatting took place when the expansion of the house (“Estamere III”) had been completed or was nearly complete. Finley may have “given” the house to his wife to express his affection or for some other personal reason. By this time, Ada already was the owner of other sections of land in Palmer Lake and Glen Park. It also was not uncommon in those days for husbands to buy property and place it in their wives’ names, probably for sound business reasons. Finley may have had such a reason for putting Estamere in Ada’s name. He already was heavily in debt and had borrowed thousands of dollars, and repayment of those promissory notes was due during the next two or three years. He may have believed that if he were unable to repay those loans and h
ad to default or declare bankruptcy, there was a chance he could save Estamere if it were not held in his name.

  For some unknown reason, Ada Thompson sold the Estamere property to Tamzin R. Murphey on 22 November 1888. (Finley Thompson was still continuing to develop Estamere as of July 1888 as a D&RG waybill shows that he had 3280 pounds of cement delivered to Palmer Lake that month.) Tamzin was the wife of Jacob M. Murphey, a Denver realtor, who had done previous deals with Dr. Thompson at Palmer Lake and to whom Thompson gave power of attorney after he left Palmer Lake. Tamzin sold Estamere and other town property back to Ada Thompson 10 months later (September 1889) for $10,000. The Thompsons transacted hundreds of property deeds during their years at Palmer Lake as well as executing numerous trust deeds and promissory notes.

  The Thompsons Leave Palmer Lake

  The Rocklands Hotel and the Palmer Lake Sanitarium opened in July 1889, but Thompson’s days in the town were numbered. For years, he had borrowed large sums of money to finance his lifestyle and investments (probably in the stock market and risky business ventures). By the summer of 1890, his debts had piled up. He was unable to satisfy his creditors.

  Since publishing his biography of Dr. W. Finley Thompson in 2008, Dan has found new details regarding Thompson’s departure from Palmer Lake. Sabin, in her history of Palmer Lake, wrote:

  …the spring and summer of 1890 [Thompson] spent away from home in a fruitless attempt to get new financial backing for his projects in Palmer Lake. In the fall he returned, called a gathering of the townspeople at the Estemere [sic] and confessed the situation. Bankruptcy proceedings were imminent and a few days later Thompson disappeared. His wife and daughters left town at the same time.[7]

  In a footnote, the book’s editor said he believed Thompson left in 1891, as his wife, Ada, signed a deed in Colorado Springs that August. Ada did return to Colorado briefly in 1891, but there is no evidence Finley did.

  According to newspaper accounts in 1890, Thompson went to New York in late spring “for business and pleasure” and returned to Palmer Lake in July, bringing with him two men described as “New York City capitalists.” In fact the men—Dr. Frank Abbott and Dr. E.F. Kayne—were dentists, and Abbott had been dean and a faculty member of the New York College of Dentistry in 1877 when Thompson received his degree. It is certainly plausible that Thompson had persuaded the two to visit Palmer Lake in hopes they would invest in The Rocklands Hotel and Sanitarium or assist Thompson financially in some other way.

  In late July, a newspaper noted the regret of all at the proposed departure of Thompson and his family to New York City, and said, “The doctor has entered into business arrangements there.” This statement may mean that after they reached Palmer Lake, Drs. Abbott and Kayne decided they did not want to invest any money in the town. Or, that Thompson really was interested in a business opportunity in New York and had invited the doctors to come west to his home (Estamere) where they could reach a final agreement on a business proposition in New York or Mexico. But if Thompson were really facing bankruptcy (although he never filed for bankruptcy in Colorado), how could he have contributed financially to the deal? Even though Thompson had not worked as a dentist for eight years, was the plan that he would join the practice of the other two dentists in New York? If that was the idea, however, why did Thompson travel to Mexico in 1891 and 1892? Had the three men invested in mining properties in Mexico? There is no record of Thompson practicing dentistry in New York after he left Palmer Lake.

  When word spread that Thompson was going to leave Palmer Lake,

  A citizens’ meeting was held [02 August] to determine the most appropriate manner in which the people could show their appreciation of Dr. W. Finley Thompson and his estimable family on the eve of their departure for New York City, their future home. It was decided to tender a reception at the Cliff House [a small hotel] this evening [04 August] in their honor, but upon being advised of the arrangement, Dr. and Mrs. Thompson, with characteristic hospitality, insisted upon receiving their friends at their own beautiful home, the Estamere House. Palmer Lake owes its existence and prosperity to the efforts of Dr. Thompson…[8]

  Here is an account of the Thompsons’ “last hurrah” at Estamere on 04 August 1890:

  The reception at Estamere House last evening was a brilliant social event. About one hundred guests were in attendance. The house was beautifully decorated with palms, ferns and flowers. Dr. and Mrs. Thompson received the guests, assisted by their daughters, Misses Estella and Lucille. Elegant refreshments were served and some excellent solos were rendered by Mrs. Neale, Mrs. Rathburn and others.

  The event of the evening was the presentation of a handsome gold-headed cane to the doctor by members of the town council of Palmer Lake. Mayor Judd made a few appropriate remarks befitting the occasion and was followed by Hon. R.H. Gilmore [president of the Glen Park Association] in a neat presentation speech, outlining the history of Palmer Lake and the many obstacles that were encountered and bravely overcome by the doctor in placing Palmer Lake on its present substantial footing, where it is known of and its beauties praised throughout the known world.

  The doctor responded in a few feeling remarks, thanking the members of the council and his many friends for the regard manifested to himself and family. After expressing many wishes for future happiness and prosperity, good night and good-bye was said to the founder and promoter of Palmer Lake and his excellent family.

  [9]

  It seems clear, then, that Dr. Thompson did not “confess” that he was unable to meet the financial obligations he had incurred. (What man of dignity and presumed wealth would admit that publicly in those days?) Nor did he suddenly “disappear” from Palmer Lake, as everyone knew he and his family were about to move to New York City. We still do not know, however, just what Thompson did once he reached New York, or what business interests he may have had in Mexico. November 1892 found Thompson in the city of Durango, where he probably took part in ceremonies celebrating the opening of the Mexican International Railroad’s line from the Texas border to Durango. A few days later, Thompson became ill and died of typhoid fever on 16 November at the home of the U.S. Consul General. He was buried in Durango’s historic Panteon de Oriente (cemetery) the following day.

  Pamphlet written by Thompson in 1884.

  [Estemere’s deeds and plats are on the DVD.]

  Very early photo of the Glen House, which became the cornerstone of The Rocklands Hotel, across the street from the Estamere Estate. Note the gazebo in Deer Park on the far left—it was later added to the rock wall surrounding Estamere.

  Thompson’s obituary, published in Denver’s Daily News on 27 November 1892, contained many inaccuracies, as did his obituary in the New York Times. Dean H. Martyn Hart, quoted in the Daily News obituary, first met Thompson in England in 1878 and later visited the Thompson family at Estamere.

  Brochure for The Rocklands Hotel, 1895; Officers of the Colorado Hotel & Sanitarium Co, 1889.

  Note the names of Gaddes and Kipps, who are referred to in Chapter 2.

  More items related to this chapter are on the DVD.

  Chapter 2

  Estamere’s Early Residents and Visitors

  (1883-1898)

  The Thompson Family and Its Guests at Estamere (1883-1890)

  Estamere’s first residents were Finley Thompson’s family, consisting of his mother, sister, wife, and three daughters. Finley’s mother, Mrs. Clarissa Thompson, was born in Connecticut in 1812 and married William Thompson in Ohio in 1839. After her husband’s death around 1850, Clarissa lived with her children in Butler, Pennsylvania, the state of New York, and then in Cincinnati where Finley began his practice of dentistry. Clarissa later stayed with her daughter, Clarissa “Nettie” Berry, in Leavenworth, Kansas, and St. Louis.

  Nettie Thompson probably followed her brother, Finley, to Leavenworth in 1864. There she met and married William H. Berry Jr. in April 1866. Berry, originally from Boston, was a prosperous merchant who ran a wholesale boot and shoe
business in Leavenworth. In 1874, he moved his business to St. Louis. Berry, however, was an alcoholic, and in late 1880 or 1881 became so ill that he was unable to continue working and was sent to Boston to be cared for by relatives. Clarissa and Nettie Thompson, adrift, with little means of support, joined Finley in Colorado early in 1883 and settled in Palmer Lake.

  Clarissa Thompson died at Monument at the age of 88 in 1900. Nettie Berry lived in Palmer Lake for 45 years and died in Colorado Springs in 1930 at age 85. Both Clarissa and Nettie are buried at Monument Cemetery.

  Thompson’s wife, Ada Mary Kimberly, was born in Baltimore in 1851. After her father died, her mother remarried. She took Ada and her brother to Illinois and then to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Ada’s step-father, Napoleon J. Bond, was a merchant and adventurer who arrived in Denver in May 1861 and soon struck gold in Buckskin Joe, Colorado. After setting up a bank there and being elected a member of Colorado Territory’s first legislative assembly, Bond set off in pursuit of more gold at strikes in Montana and Idaho. By 1870, he had returned to Council Bluffs where he worked as a grain merchant. There, his step-daughter, Ada Mary Kimberly, met the Omaha dentist, Dr. William F. Thompson. The two were married the following year. Ada and Finley Thompson had three daughters: Mary Estelle, born in Council Bluffs in 1872 (died in 1955 in Glendale, California); Ada Lucile, born in Portland in 1874 (died in 1917 in New York City); and Jessie Eugenia, born in San Francisco in 1876 (died in 1913 in Long Beach, California). There are no documented photos of Mrs. Thompson.