[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 27, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 THE LEGACY OF WINFIELD SCOTT STRATTON

                                 ______


                            HON. JOEL HEFLEY

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 1994

  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, on July 30, alumnae and friends of the Myron 
Stratton Home will honor the memory and accomplishments of Winfield 
Scott Stratton, founder of the Myron Stratton Home, and a man who gave 
so much to Colorado and Colorado Springs specifically. In honor of that 
event, I ask that the address of David P. Strickler, former trustee and 
attorney of the Myron Stratton Home be printed in the Record. These 
remarks were originally made at the founders day event on July 22, 
1924, and they present the fascinating account of Mr. Stratton's 
legacy.

  [Address by D.P. Strickler at the Kiwanis Club Lunch, September 2, 
                                 1942]

          Winfield Scott Stratton and the Myron Stratton Home

       Winfield Scott Stratton was born July 22, 1848 in 
     Jeffersonville, Indiana, and died September 14, 1902, in 
     Colorado Springs. He was the son of Myron Stratton and 
     directed in his Will that his Home be created, maintained and 
     named the Myron Stratton Home as a memorial to his father.
       Winfield Scott Stratton obtained his education in the 
     public schools at Jeffersonville and from the Academy located 
     in that city. He learned the carpenter trade in his father's 
     ship building yards under the tutorship of one, Christian 
     Hein, and became an expert draftsman.
       When twenty years of age he, like so many other young men 
     of that time, left his home to seek his fortune in the West.
       Shortly after arriving in Colorado Springs Mr. Stratton 
     erected a carpenter shop where the Stratton office is now 
     located, which is 117 East Pikes Peak Avenue, and engaged in 
     general contracting, building some of the principal buildings 
     in the city in the early days.
       Mr. Stratton prospected for 17 years in the San Juan, 
     Leadville, Breckenridge and other points and although during 
     this time located several mining claims, none of them ever 
     amounted to anything until on the 4th day of July, 1891 he 
     located the Washington and Independence claims in the Cripple 
     Creek Mining District. He named the claim ``Independence'' 
     because he discovered it on the 4th of July.
       During the time he was unsuccessfully prospecting he 
     studied metallurgy, under Professor Lamb at Colorado College, 
     and attended the School of Mines at Golden. He named one of 
     his mining claims ``The Professor Lamb'' in honor of his 
     instructor.
       After he made his strike in the Cripple Creek District he 
     built the first building at the School of Mines that had ever 
     been given to it and a resolution of the State Legislature 
     thanking him for this donation is part of the records of this 
     state.
       The Independence claim proved to be very rich and with the 
     money that he obtained from the sale of ore from this claim 
     he first repurchased his old carpenter shop property which he 
     had lost in the Yera Teba venture.
       He operated the Independence claim from 1891 to 1899, when 
     he sold it to the Venture Corporation in London for two 
     million pounds, or approximately ten million dollars in our 
     money at that time. The late Verner Z. Reed held the option 
     from Mr. Stratton on this property and obtained approximately 
     one million dollars from the Venture Corporation for the 
     transfer of his option to them.
       Shortly following the receipt of this ten million dollars 
     from the English Syndicate as a purchase price for the 
     Independence claim, Mr. Stratton launched into a development 
     program in Colorado Springs. Those associated with him have 
     told me Mr. Stratton believed that it was the duty of anyone 
     who had made a fortune in any given place to use his money in 
     the development of that community and that he was exceedingly 
     critical of those who had made a fortune in the Colorado 
     hills and went to New York or other eastern places and played 
     the stock market.
       He purchased the ground upon which the City Hall is now 
     located and offered it to the City upon condition that the 
     City build a new City Hall and that is the reason we now have 
     our present City Hall building. The old City hall stood where 
     the Utilities Building now stands and the second floor was 
     used as a City Hall and the ground floor as a fire 
     station.
       He also approached the County Commissioners and offered 
     them a generous price for the old Court House property on 
     condition that they would build a new Court House, and that 
     is the reason we now have our Court House building. The old 
     Court House was located where the Strang Garage now stands. 
     Because of the generous price paid for this property by 
     Stratton, the County was enabled to build the present Court 
     House without the issuance of any bonds.
       He purchased the property where the Post Office is now 
     located and offered it to the federal government for 50c on 
     the dollar of its value on condition that the federal 
     government would build the present Post Office building, and 
     that is the reason we have our present post office. He did 
     this, although at that time the post office was located in 
     the Independence Building and the government was paying him 
     rent therefor.
       He purchased the street railway company for $500,000 from 
     Mr. Eaton and his associates and then spent one and one-half 
     million in reconstruction of the system and in the purchase 
     and development of Stratton Park.
       He did all these things within a four year period of time, 
     because he passed away within about three and one-half years 
     after he obtained his purchase price from the sale of the 
     Independence Mine.
       Naturally, Mr. Stratton had suffered many privations in his 
     17 years of unsuccessful prospecting in the mountains of 
     Colorado and this, I think, caused him to have a particular 
     feeling for those who had not been as fortunate as himself.
       It is quite evident that Mr. Stratton was exceedingly 
     critical of the manner in which the public maintained its 
     unfortunates. This appears from that portion of his Will 
     which reads as follows:
       ``It is my special desire and command that the inmates of 
     said home shall not be clothed and fed as paupers usually are 
     at public expense but that they shall be decently and 
     comfortably clothed and amply provided with good and 
     wholesome food and necessary medical attendance, care and 
     nursing to protect their health and insure their comfort.''
       Thus by example he set a standard to improve the condition 
     in life of those who are so unfortunate as to make it 
     necessary for them to resort to public aid.
       Mr. Stratton stated in his Will as to those who are 
     qualified for admission as follows:
       ``Those who are by reason of youth, age, sickness, or other 
     infirmity, unable to earn a livelihood, and who are not, by 
     reason of disease, insanity, or gross indecency, unfit to 
     associate with worthy persons of the condition in life above 
     named.''
       I know there have been various rumors that Mr. Stratton 
     intended this Home only for miners and also that he did not 
     intend this Home for children, but it will be noted that he 
     says in this clause of the Will, ``Those who are by reason of 
     youth * * * unable to earn a livelihood'' as well as those 
     who are unable to earn a livelihood by reason of age.
       The interest of Mr. Stratton in the welfare of unfortunate 
     children is also shown in another provision of his Will 
     reading as follows:
       ``I direct my said Executors to pay to the Trustees of the 
     `Institute for the education of Mute and Blind' located at 
     the City of Colorado Springs, in the County of El Paso and 
     State of Colorado the sum of $25,000.00 out of the proceeds 
     of my estate, in trust, however, for the following purposes; 
     and sum shall be invested by said Trustees in good and safe 
     interest bearing securities, interest to be paid thereon to 
     said Trustees annually or semi-annually as they shall direct, 
     and such interest shall be paid by them to the Superintendent 
     of said Institute and by him annually distributed among the 
     pupils of said Institute as rewards for such excellence in 
     scholarship or demeanor, or both, as may be prescribed or 
     required by the said Trustees.''
       It will also be noted that Mr. Stratton made no restriction 
     whatever as to the occupation of any applicant. It is my 
     thought that if he had restricted applicants to a given 
     occupation he would have specified that of carpentry rather 
     than that of mining, because he certainly was a carpenter.
       Mr. Stratton's Will further provides that applicants shall 
     be actual residents of the State of Colorado at the time of 
     their application and that applicants from El Paso County 
     shall have preference over applicants from any other part of 
     the state.
       The children are educated at the Ivywild School up through 
     the 6th grade and at Cheyenne School from the 7th grade 
     through High School. The Home rules provide that any child 
     that has made a grade equivalent to the average grade of his 
     class shall be entitled to a collegiate education if he so 
     desires, provided in the judgment of the Trustees the child 
     is qualified to profit by such higher education, and several 
     have taken advantage of this rule.
       The Cheyenne School orchestra has won the rating 
     ``Superior'' in the State High School music contests for 
     years. Thirty-four of its thirty-six members were residents 
     of the Myron Stratton Home at the time of the last contest.
       The people of the Cheyenne School District have always been 
     most gracious and hospitable in their association with the 
     children from this Home. How much this means to these 
     children may be somewhat gained from an item in the October 
     issue of ``The Myron Stratton Home Tellitall'', a paper 
     published at the Home and edited by its graduates and sent to 
     all graduates. This item reads as follows:
       ``Many of you older alumni will remember the heartbreak of 
     trying to make social adjustments when the Home first started 
     the children to the public schools. That seems to be a 
     condition that has been completely overcome during the last 
     ten years; for this year Douglas Potter, one of our Home 
     boys, is Student Body President of Cheyenne Mountain High 
     School.''
       The religious education of the children is provided for as 
     follows: the children of Protestant parentage who are too 
     young to attend Sunday School alone are taken in Home busses 
     to the United Brethren Church for Sunday School. The children 
     of Catholic parentage are taken in Home busses to Pauline 
     Chapel in Broadmoor. When the children arrive at an age when 
     they can alone attend a church of their own selection they 
     are permitted to do so. The aged residents are taken in Home 
     busses to whatever church they may desire.
       The education of the children in thrift and in the value of 
     money is provided for as follows; the children are not given 
     any spending money. Work is provided to enable them to earn 
     their spending money. Each child is required to save one-half 
     of his earnings, thus the child has a material savings 
     account when he leaves the Home.
       Mr. Stratton provided in his Will for the payment of 
     approximately one-half million dollars in legacies to 
     relatives and the rest of his estate should go to the Myron 
     Stratton Home to be expended for the erection and equipping 
     of the Home and for its endowment fund. The residue of his 
     estate applicable to the erecting and equipping of the Home 
     and for the creation of the endowment fund for its 
     maintenance was appoximatley $4,300,000 and this amount has 
     been increased to approximately $6,500,000 at the present 
     time. The Will provides that the Trustees shall maintain the 
     Home solely out of the income. This for the evident purpose 
     of assuring the maintenance of the Home for all time, for if 
     the Trustees would have the right to go into the principal 
     for operating expenses it would only be a question of time 
     when there would naturally be no Home.
       I am sometimes asked how the youngsters at the Home get 
     along in after life. Practically all of them have made a 
     success in life, and their patriotism has been amply 
     demonstrated by the fact that there are now about 50 in the 
     armed forces of the nation, approximately all of whom have 
     volunteered.
       You older folks will remember the storm of protest that 
     went around with the announcement that the Home would be 
     located at its present site. The ground of the protest was 
     that the Home would gather together the so-called 
     ``riffraff'' children of the community and that such so-
     called ``riffraff'' would contaminate the other children of 
     the community by reason of their necessary association with 
     them. Almost thirty years have now passed away since that 
     announcement was made so that it can be fairly said that the 
     record is now made up. As Al Smith would say: ``Let us look 
     at the record.'' This record shows that the children from the 
     Home have accomplished as much on an average as have the 
     average of the children of these objectors. Furthermore, it 
     seems that these children from the Home are perfectly willing 
     to spill their blood in the diseased and reptile infested 
     ``fox-holes'' of the South Sea Islands in order that these 
     objectors and their descendents may continue to enjoy the 
     American way of life. But no matter. Let us, ``Judge not, 
     lest we be judged.''3
       It is the purpose of the Trustees of the Home to maintain 
     it as a Home and not as an institution, because they believe 
     from the terms of the Will that that was clearly the intent 
     of the testator. We think his intent has been carried out as 
     nearly as can be and still operate such an organization. I 
     beleive the credit therefor is not due to the Trustees but is 
     due principally to the fact that Carl Stratton Chamberlin, 
     nephew of Mr. Stratton, who knew his uncle's wishes, and who 
     was for such a long time Superintendent of the Home, and to 
     the further fact that Lucy A. Lloyd, the present 
     Superintendent, was trained under him as assistant 
     superintendent for 11 years prior to Mr. Chamberlin's death, 
     and is in full sympathy with this viewpoint.
       It is sometimes claimed that bequests of a charitable 
     nature are made for the purpose of restitution to the public 
     by those who have made large amounts of money in questionable 
     ways. This certainly cannot be claimed as against Mr. 
     Stratton. First, for the reason that he made his money, not 
     by taking anything away from anyone else, but by adding to 
     the wealth of the nation through the production of gold from 
     the natural resources of the country. It also cannot be 
     claimed for the reason that Mr. Stratton's deeds show him to 
     be exceptionally philanthropic during his lifetime. During 
     the panic of 1893 some jobless men were marching through the 
     country under Coxey and Browne on to Washington to demand 
     redress. Mr. Stratton made an arrangement with the Salvation 
     Army by which the Salvation Army was to house, feed and 
     clothe the unemployed and he was to pay all bills therefor. 
     He expended over $83,000 one winter in such a manner. He 
     always supported the Salvation Army of Colorado Springs, the 
     free lance philanthropic ``Parson'' Uzzell of Denver, and the 
     missionary priest, Father Volpe, of the Cripple Creek 
     District, by large donations of money. He was the largest 
     single contributor to the building fund of ``Parson'' 
     Uzzell's tabernacle in Denver. One of his favorite ways of 
     providing for those who had become incapacitated in industry 
     by reason of accident or who had become too old to be able to 
     obtain employment was to purchase surreys, teams, harness and 
     feed, and a tourist license, thus enabling these people to be 
     self-supporting by their own efforts.
       Mr. Stratton was also very considerate of his employees. As 
     soon as he acquired his money he set his two foremen up in 
     the contracting business and gave them all of his 
     construction work. Knowing that they did not have the means 
     to pay the payrolls and material bills, he paid such bills 
     and at the conclusion of the work gave them as their profit 
     10% of the total cost of such building constructed. It is 
     sometimes said that cost plus originated with World War I, 
     but Stratton practiced this with his foremen long before 
     World War I.
       When he returned from Europe he gave $50,000.00 to each of 
     his two key employees and bought homes for others. He always 
     paid the best of wages, but he was exceedingly particular as 
     to the quality of work done.
       Some of these same stories that Karshner conceded were 
     untrue also appeared in the book entitled ``Timberline'' 
     written by Gene Fowler.
       Frank Watters in his book entitled ``The Midas of the 
     Rockies'' states that he has thoroughly investigated the 
     record evidence with reference to this story and pronounces 
     it untrue. Mr. Watters, however, makes other statements in 
     his book which are not founded in fact. However, some of the 
     statements made in his book are based upon stories told him 
     by servants and some other people of an irresponsible nature. 
     Mr. Watters seemed to believe these stories. I think this is 
     because he was a very young man and hence had not lived long 
     enough in the world to realize that it is a trait of human 
     nature that all people like to be important and that this 
     includes people of lowly station in life as well as those who 
     have gained prominence and therefore very often people who 
     are associated with men of prominence in the capacity of 
     servants are prone to magnify their own importance by telling 
     tall stories and thereby bask in what might be termed a 
     reflected glory.
       I think Mr. Watters also falls into error in his conclusion 
     that Mr. Stratton was an eccentric. I think the very facts 
     that he gives as grounds on which he draws such conclusions 
     prove the opposite. For example, he gives as one of his 
     reasons that Mr. Stratton purchased bicycles at the height of 
     the bicycle craze for all the girl employees in the laundries 
     in town, although at that time he owned the street car system 
     and would, by reason of such purchase, lose their custom upon 
     the street railway. It is true Mr. Stratton purchased these 
     bicycles but he did it solely because the pay which these 
     employees were receiving was, in his judgment, insufficient 
     to enable them to ride his street cars, and he thought they 
     should not be required to walk back and forth from work after 
     their long hours of labor in hot, stuffy rooms. Personally, I 
     cannot see anything eccentric about that. It seems to me that 
     this shows him to be a man of practical commonsense in the 
     exercise of his instinctive philanthropy.
       Mr. Watters also, in his book, uses another illustration in 
     his effort to prove that Mr. Stratton was eccentric. This 
     illustration is the fact that although he was a 32nd degree 
     Mason, he built a Catholic Church in Cripple Creek for a 
     Catholic missionary priest by the name of Father Volpe. I can 
     see nothing eccentric about that, for the reason that Father 
     Volpe put in his entire time and spent every dollar he could 
     collect in relieving the distress of the unfortunate in the 
     Cripple Creek District, and Stratton knew that every dollar 
     he gave to Father Volpe would go to help some ``poor devil,'' 
     and none of it be taken out for the operating cost of some 
     governmental bureau.
       To call Stratton eccentric because he, being a Mason, and 
     yet desired to aid a Catholic priest in his philanthropic 
     work, is just as foolish as it would be to call Father 
     Flanigan eccentric because he appeared before the Protestant 
     Ministerial Association in Omaha and requested them to 
     appoint a minister to take charge of religious instruction of 
     the boys of Boys Town of Protestant parentage, and Boys Town 
     to pay the salary of such minister. This, I think, proves but 
     one thing, and that is that both Stratton and Father Flanigan 
     are too broad-minded men to have religious prejudices; and 
     nothing more.
       It takes neither courage, magnanimity nor courtesy to 
     assassinate the character of the dead. It only takes a 
     realizing sense of personal immunity. I understand that some 
     of these people claim to be Christians. They could learn a 
     better lesson from the pages of heathen mythology. I do not 
     contend that Mr. Stratton was a saint. I am sure Mr. Stratton 
     himself would not have so contended, for certainly he was not 
     a hypocrite. He had the same virtues and the same weaknesses 
     which were usually associated with men who spent much of 
     their time in the hard, lonely and discouraging life of the 
     prospector, and it is my observation in life that such men 
     are more likely to listen to and heed the cry of distress on 
     the part of the unfortunate than are they who live in smug 
     complacency, and spend much of their time in the atmosphere 
     of religious demagogry.
       It is also my view that Stratton's deeds were far more 
     consistent with the precepts of Him who said, ``Suffer little 
     children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is 
     the Kingdom of Heaven,'' and who also said ``Let him who is 
     without sin cast the first stone,'' than most of those who 
     have been so active in their criticism of Stratton.
       It is also my belief that Stratton's deeds and memory will 
     live long after the memory of such critics and their 
     criticisms will have passed into oblivion.
  In conclusion, I wish to honor the memory of the Stratton Home 
trustees who dedicated their lives to this unique home and to the 
present trustees under the leadership of Carl Ross, who oversee one of 
Colorado Springs' landmark institutions.

                          ____________________