Dr. Henry H Hewitt - Or the joys of research

Post by Author Angela Ranes - aka Doris McCraw 

Photo Property of the Author

Hope everyone had the best Christmas possible. This is a fill-in post to tide us over until 2023. I'm sharing some research I came across that you might find interesting.

I came across this information when I started on the journey of early Colorado women doctors after reading an obituary in a newspaper. It happened again as I finished the short book about the early women doctors buried in Evergreen Cemetery here in Colorado Springs. 

What, you may ask, happened this time? Well, I came across the name of an early doctor, not a woman, by the way, that seemed to want to keep his identity hidden. His story was intriguing, and I may have to write a fiction piece about him. But, as you know, hidden information just gets me into the hunt. I'm lucky to have access to historic newspapers and an Ancestry account. 

Prior to late November here's what I found:

Name: Henry H. Hewett

Birth: 1846 - (+or- a year or two) in New York

He may have enlisted in the Union Army at age 18 in September 1864 with the 148th New York Infantry, Company I. He was mustered out in June of 1865 in Richmond, VA.

or 

He lived in Colorado in 1860 during the early gold rush in this state, left and studied medicine in Ohio, returning in 1869

or

He was a combination miner, Doctor, Deputy US Marshal, and Deputy Provost Marshal here in the Colorado territory. From 1863 to 1866 he lived in California Gulch, Lake County, CO. where in 1860 gold was found. He then moved to Georgetown where he had some success as a miner. In 1878 he was in Leadville, Lake County, CO., and then in the early 1880s, he moved to Aspen.

The only information I have about his death was that he was injured in a stagecoach accident between Aspen and Glenwood Springs. He died from his injuries in Denver.

The last piece of information I located about Dr. Hewitt is that he was the first County Physician appointed for Lake County Colorado.  

I continued my search and in November I found out more. Most of the information I gleaned was from the Don and Jean Griswold books on Leadville, CO. 

He appeared in the Leadville papers many times as not only the law, but the doctor called in for various fights with fists, knives, and guns. 

He evidently married at some point prior to his death in the stagecoach accident. He was taken to Denver, CO. where he passed away from his injuries. I found his headstone in Riverside Cemetery in Denver CO. His birth date is 1834 and his birthplace is New York. His death date is listed as September 28, 1887.  The following link will lead to the Find A Grave website for Dr. Hewitt. Dr. Henry H. Hewitt - Find a Grave

     

Until 2023...