Jefferson County (Jefferson Territory)
The Jefferson County was a county of the out of the US law Jefferson Territory , which consisted of 28 November 1859 to 28 February. 1861
history
In July 1858, gold was discovered along the South Platte River in the Arapahoe County , Kansas Territory . This discovery sparked the Pikes Peak gold rush . Many residents of the mining area felt separate from the distant territorial governments of Kansas and Nebraska , so they voted on October 24, 1859 to form their own Jefferson Territory. In the following months, the Jefferson Territory General Assembly voted to organize 12 counties: Arrappahoe County , Cheyenne County , El Paso County , Fountain County , Heele County , Jackson County , Jefferson County, Mountain County , North County , Park County , Saratoga County and St. Vrain County . Jefferson County was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson . Golden City served as the county seat of Jefferson County and the territorial capital from November 13, 1860 through June 6, 1861. The county encompassed much of what is now Jefferson County , Colorado.
The Jefferson Territory never received state support. On February 28, 1861, United States President James Buchanan signed a bill that organized the Colorado Territory . On November 1, 1861, the Colorado General Assembly organized 17 counties, including Jefferson County, for the new Colorado Territory.
County territory
According to historical records, Jefferson County covered an area bounded by the South Platte River to the east, the 40th parallel to the north, Bear Creek to the south, and 10 miles west of Bear Creek to the west. The county thus encompassed a territory of today's Jefferson County, Adams County , Denver County , Boulder County , Clear Creek County and Gilpin County . The townsite of Highland on the eastern edge along the South Platte was outside its boundary. The county's boundaries were set out in Section 10 of the General Act of the Territory of Jefferson .
County seat
The Jefferson Territorial Legislature certain after a long debate Arapahoe City to district town ( county seat ) of Jefferson County. However, when the decision was made, the city had already been left, so elections were held as to which city it should be. On January 2, 1860, the nearby town of Golden became the new county seat because it got more votes than the rest of the parishes in the county and due to the fact that it was the most populous city. According to the Western Mountaineer (newspaper), which contained all of the county elections, Arapahoe City was their only existing rival. At the same time, 22 voters from Golden City led a protest against the government for the city of Baden , a paper town site . After a second election on July 2, 1860, Golden City finally became the county seat.
Communities
The Jefferson County parishes included four established cities and other area settlements. The first city was Arapahoe City, which was established in 1858 along Clear Creek east of North Table Mountain . The second and most populous city was Golden City. The other cities were Mt. Vernon and Golden Gate City . They were near the canyon entrances. Other populated areas were Bergens Ranch and Hendersons Island . In 1861 Baden-Baden was officially settled as Apex . Of the cities in Jefferson County, only Golden remains to this day. All other parishes except Arapahoe City and Apex were populated in 1859.
Elections and elected officials
The first official to serve in Jefferson County was JT McWhirt, who was appointed presiding judge of Jefferson County by Governor Robert W. Steele in December 1859 . When the first election was held on January 2, 1860, locals presented the Miners Ticket from favored native candidates, including McWhirt as presiding judge, Theodore Perry Boyd and Asa Smith as associate justices, Walter Pollard for sheriff , Eli Carter as recorder , Harry Gunnell as Clerk County Court, Daniel L. McCleery as Assessor, George B. Allen as Treasurer , JF Rhodes as County Attorney, and Golden City as county seat. The ticket won the election. The second election in the county took place on July 2, 1860 and was made a permanent county seat by Golden City. The third and final Jefferson County election was on October 22, 1860. It was held because two deceased officers had to be replaced, EW McIlhany became the new sheriff and John F. Kirby the new recorder.
Secession and "Ni Wot County"
With the Jefferson Territory functioning outside of US law, some lively discussions were held about Jefferson County's legitimacy, and in early 1861 the citizens of Junction, Mt. Vernon, and the Bergen District voted to secede. They formed their own acted outside of US law Ni Wot County . As a result, Governor Steele and other loyalists who lived near Mt. Vernon also split off from those counties and created a proper town at Apex, where they relocated Jefferson Territorial offices. All of these circumstances came only marginally through the Rocky Mountain News , as secessional activity was well underway elsewhere in the United States at the same time .
County dissolution
When the Colorado Territory was organized in 1861, both Jefferson Counties and rebellious Ni Wot Counties resolved their differences and surrendered to the federal government, which reunited them into what is now Jefferson County , Colorado.
Individual evidence
- ↑ An Act Defining the Boundaries of Counties and for other purposes . In: Provisional Laws and Joint Resolutions of the General Assembly of Jefferson Territory . General Assembly of the Territory of Jefferson. November 28, 1859. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
- ^ An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Colorado ( PDF ; 18 kB) 36th US Congress. February 28, 1861. Retrieved November 26, 2007.