FRANK E. GOVE PAPERS

Frank Edward Gove was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1865. His family moved to Denver, Colorado, when he was a child. Gove's father, Aaron E. Gove, was elected superintendent of Denver schools in 1874 and served in that capacity until 1904. Gove graduated from East Denver High School in 1884. He then attended Dartmouth University and Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C. Gove married Grace H. from Ohio.

After he was admitted to the Colorado bar in 1892, Gove joined the law firm of Yeaman, Gove and Huffman. The firm represented such companies as the Phillip Schneider Brewing Company, the Chemical Bank of New York, and the Overland Machinery Company. It also represented individuals in legal action against Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and the Adams Express Company.

In 1909, Gove was elected senator in the Colorado state legislature. He was a Democrat, but refused to vote with other Democrats to amend the Colorado State Constitution to allow direct government, or the Initiative and Referendum Amendment. Gove felt so strongly about the issue that he wrote The Initiative and Referendum, published in 1914, to explain his position. He also introduced a bill to make the act of a police officer striking a prisoner a felony.

After a legislative term of three years, Gove again practiced law. His chief clients were Climax Molybdenum, Armour and Company and Victor American Fuel Company. He was active during the coal strike that led to the so-called "Ludlow Massacre," giving speeches denouncing unions and opposing worker-friendly legislation in the state legislature.

Gove was a member of the Colorado Historical Society, the American Bar Association and the Denver Country Club. He served a term as president of the University Club. Gove died of coronary thrombosis in 1938 after only two months as a resident of Pasadena, California.