ABRAHAM LINCOLN FELLOWS PAPERS

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.