ABRAHAM LINCOLN FELLOWS PAPERS
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The collection includes twenty small field diaries containing handwritten notes and observations Fellows made during various irrigation projects. Specifications and proposals for some of these projects also form a portion of the collection. Business and personal correspondence as well as descriptive travel narratives are also included. Eleven boxes of glass plate lantern slides and photographic prints complete the collection.
This series includes twenty handwritten pocket diaries containing Fellows' field notes and observations for various projects along with occasional personal notations. Also included are descriptive narratives written by Fellows while working in Colorado and Idaho. Limited records contain specifications and proposals for irrigation projects. Business correspondence related to Fellows' position as hydrographer and State Engineer of North Dakota, as well as his partnership in Field, Fellows, and Hinderlidder Engineering Firm also form a portion of the series.
Personal correspondence comprises the bulk of the series. Also included are a brief biographical sketch and additional biographical information contained in a qualification statement, which Fellows completed while applying for a job as valuation engineer. Poetry written by Fellows, newspaper clippings and a tribute to a friend, James K. Cummins, complete the series.
Formats include glass plate lantern slides and photographic prints. Photographs are either loose or mounted in four photograph albums. Many images are undated and unidentified. The bulk of the glass plate slides and numerous photographs relate to Fellows' work. The series also contains four folders of loose photos of the Ausburn, Brink, McCoy, and Fellows families, some of which are combined in the photograph albums. Glass plate lantern slides are individually wrapped. Subjects are grouped together and separated within the PhotoBoxes by numbered dividers.
Dates
- 1892-1934
ACCESS:
The collection is open for research.
OWNERSHIP:
Records are the physical property of the Denver Public Library.
PUBLICATION RIGHTS:
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Abraham Lincoln Fellows was born in Kennebunk, Maine November 1, 1864, the son of Congregational minister, Franklin Ebenezer Fellows, and Jane Eliza (Stiles) Fellows. He attended a number of elementary schools in Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut before pursuing a general college preparatory curriculum at Norwich Press Academy, Norwich, Connecticut. Fellows next attended Yale University, where he earned a BA degree with an emphasis on mathematics and engineering in 1886. Upon graduating from Yale, Fellows taught mathematics and German for two years at Sigler's Preparatory School, Newburg, New York.
After moving to Colorado, Fellows worked for the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company from 1887 to 1897. He advanced from chainman to chief engineer while concurrently serving as County Surveyor and Superintendent of Schools. For the next two years, Fellows served as Colorado's Deputy State Irrigation Engineer. From 1898 to1902, he served as Resident Hydrographer with the U.S. Geological Survey. He became District Engineer with the U.S. Reclamation Service in 1902 and left that position in 1905 to accept a job as State Engineer of Irrigation in North Dakota. Resigning this position in 1907, Fellows returned to Colorado, where he became secretary, general manager, and partner of Field, Fellows, and Hinderlider Engineering Company in Denver. From 1910 to1918 Fellows served as engineer on the Denver Public Utilities Commission. He was elected commission president for two of those years. From 1918, until his retirement in 1934, Fellows was the senior irrigation engineer for the U.S. Department of Engineering, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Among his many accomplishments, Fellows is remembered for his exploration of the Grand Canyon of the Gunnison River in 1901. He was instrumental in the Uncompahgre Valley Project of the U. S. Reclamation Service from 1901-1905 and helped with the acquisition of a water plant for the City of Denver in 1918. Active in surveying, Fellows helped determine the boundaries of National Forest lands in Colorado and of the Mesa Verde National Park. Fellows also authored and edited numerous government publications and papers. He was a member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
Fellows married Blanch Irene McCoy December 20, 1905, in Webster, Pennsylvania. The couple had two daughters: Ella Jane (October 25, 1906) and Dorothy (June 28, 1915). They also had a son: John Lincoln (November 3, 1908). A Congregationalist and Mason, Fellows enjoyed hiking and working with the Boy Scouts. He passed away at age 78 December 23, 1942 at Denver, Colorado.
Extent
2 boxes (1 linear feet)
11 photo boxes (2.75 linear feet)
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
PROVENANCE:
Dorothy Fellows Haines donated a portion of the collection in 1962 and additional materials in 1980.
SIZE:
Number of Boxes: 2 (1 linear foot)
Number of PhotoBoxes:11 (2.75 linear feet)
LOCATION:
WH134
PROCESSED BY:
Janice Prater
September 2012
REVISED AND ENCODED BY:
Dennis Hagen
January 2014
PROJECT MANAGER:
Abby Hoverstock
- Albumen prints. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Black-and-white negatives. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Card photographs. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Collodion prints. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Engineers -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fellows, Abraham Lincoln, -- 1864-1942 -- Archives.
- Hydraulic structures -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Lantern slides. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Letters. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Personal papers. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Photograph albums. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Photographic prints. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Surveyors -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- ABRAHAM LINCOLN FELLOWS PAPERS
- Date
- January 2014
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository