Phil Van Wert Chatfield

FAMILY LINE AND HISTORY

Phil Van Wert “Wert/Wirt” Chatfield
4th of 9 children of Isaac Willard “I.W.” Chatfield & Eliza Ann Harrington
Born: Jul 22, 1865, Florence (Cañon City), Fremont Co., Colorado
Died: Dec 2, 1883 (age 17), Denver, Arapahoe Co., Colorado; Bright’s disease
Buried: Dec 3, 1883, Littleton Cemetery in Littleton, Arapahoe Co., Colorado

Note: Wert may have been named after the town and county of Van Wert in Ohio, the state where his father, Isaac W. Chatfield, was born and raised.

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Timeline and Records

Nine children of Isaac Chatfield & Eliza Harrington:
1. Ella Clara Chatfield
1859 – 1948 (m. Josiah Appleton “Joe/Jose” Small)
2. Clark W. Charles Chatfield
1861 – 1861
3. Elmer Ellsworth Chatfield
1863 – 1962 (m. Della Chatfield, his 1st cousin)
4. Phil Van Wert Chatfield
1865 – 1883
5. Jacqueline Chatfield
1867 – 1963 (m. Frederick William “Fred” Adams)
6. Charles Henry Chatfield
1870 – 1942 (m. Nellie Belle Chamberlin)
7. Myrtle Lovina Chatfield
1873 – 1877
8. Grace Chatfield
1874 – 1874
9. Calla Mabel Chatfield
1878 – 1958 (m. Burtis Thayer Joslin)

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Jul 22, 1865: Birth of Phil Van Wert Chatfield, 4th child of Isaac Chatfield and Eliza Harrington, in Florence (Cañon City), Fremont Co., Colorado.

Aug 1, 1870: Colorado Territorial Census for Cañon City, Fremont Co., Colorado:
Chatfield, Isaac: age 34, farmer, value of real estate $6,000, value of personal property $4,550, born Ohio
Eliza: age 28, keeping house, born Iowa
Ella: age 11, at home, born Kansas, attending school
Elmer: age 7, at home, born Colorado
Vanwert: age 5, at home, born Colorado
Jane: age 2, at home, born Colorado (note: Jacquelin also was called Jane)

Feb 25, 1879: Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Arapahoe Co., Colorado (pg 4):
Brinker’s Collegiate Institute
The following pupils of Brinker’s Collegiate institute having attained, during the fall term of five months, the general average required, are admitted to honorable mention, the general average being 9 in collegiate, 8.5 in intermediate and 8 in primary—10 denoting perfect:
…Ella Chatfield…………8.89
Note: Ella is 19 years old. Her brothers Elmer and Phil Van Wert, her sisters Jacqueline and Calla, and her cousin Ida Bell Chatfield also attended Brinker Institute, a co-educational school. The four-story, brick Victorian structure, built in 1879,  served as the permanent edifice of the Brinker Collegiate Institute until 1889.

Jun 3, 1880: Federal Census For Leadville, Lake Co., Colorado:
Chatfield, I.W.: age 43, merchant, born Ohio, father born Connecticut, mother born Vermont
Eliza: age 37, wife, keeping house, born Iowa, father born Ohio, mother born Ohio
Ella S.: age 21, daughter, born Kansas, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa
Elmer E.: age 17, son, handling horses, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa
Phil Vanwest, age 14, son, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa (Van Wert)
Jacqueline: age 12, daughter, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa
Chas H.: age 9, son, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa
Callie: age 1, daughter, born Colorado, father born Ohio, mother born Iowa

Nov 20, 1881: Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Arapahoe Co., Colorado (pg 3):
LEADVILLE.
Mrs. I.W. Chatfield has been at Denver for several weeks, attending a very sick son, who is now convalescing.
Note: The article is referring to Isaac & Eliza’s son, Phil Van Wert (age 16), who is suffering from Bright’s disease.

Dec 2, 1883: Death of Phil Van Wert Chatfield (age 17), son of Isaac Chatfield and Eliza Harrington, of Bright’s disease, at the St. James Hotel in Denver, Arapahoe Co., Colorado, his parents at his bedside. The family has a home in both Aspen and Denver at the time of his death. 

Dec 3, 1883: Burial of Phil Van Wert Chatfield in the Littleton Cemetery (Lot 1, Block 13, Grave 7) in Littleton, Arapahoe Co., Colorado. His sisters, Grace (stillborn) and Myrtle (died at age four), appear to have been reinterred there at this time. Grace is in Grave 6, Myrtle is in Grave 5. There are no headstones.

Bright’s Disease
Bright’s disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It is typically denoted by the presence of albumin (blood plasma) in the urine and frequently accompanied by edema (tissue particulate).

These associated symptoms in connection with kidney disease were first described in 1827 by noted English physician Richard Bright. Since that time, it has been established that the symptoms, instead of being, as was formerly supposed, the result of one form of disease of the kidneys, may be dependent on various morbid conditions of those organs. Thus, the term Bright’s disease, which is retained in medical nomenclature in honor of Dr. Bright, must be understood as having a strictly historical application.

The symptoms are usually of a severe nature. Back pain, vomiting, and fever commonly signal an attack. Edema, varying in degree from slight puffiness of the face to an accumulation of fluid sufficient to distend the whole body, and sometimes severely restrict breathing, is a very common ailment. The urine is reduced in quantity, is of dark, smoky or bloody color, and exhibits to chemical reaction the presence of a large amount of albumin, while, under the microscope, blood corpuscles and casts, as above mentioned, are found in abundance.

This state of acute inflammation may severely limit normal daily activities, and if left unchecked, may lead to one of the chronic forms of Bright’s disease. In many cases though, the inflammation is reduced, marked by increased urine output and the gradual disappearance of its albumen and other abnormal by-products. A reduction in edema and a rapid recovery of strength usually follows.

Acute Bright’s disease was treated with local depletion, warm baths, diuretics, and laxatives. There was no successful treatment for chronic Bright’s disease, though dietary modifications were sometimes suggested.
Source: Wikipedia

May 29, 1889: Aspen Weekly News, Aspen, Lake Co., Colorado (pg 1):
All competent authorities, prominent among them being F.F. Roberts, M.D., Professor of Chemical Medicine at University College Hospital, London, Eng., say “Bright’s disease has no marked symptoms of its own, but taken the symptoms of other (so-called) diseases.” If you have headaches, fickle appetite, failure of eyesight, tube cysts in urine, gradual loss of flesh and dropsical swelling, extreme wakefulness, distressing nervousness, do not neglect such symptoms, or you will eventually have Bright’s disease or some other effect of neglected kidney disease. Take Warner’s Safe Care, the only recognized specific for this disease.

I.W. Chatfield home in Aspen

I.W. Chatfield house at the corner of Gillespie & North 3rd Street in Aspen, Pitkin Co., Colorado, the home the family lived in at the time of their young son’s death.

As I Was Told:
“Phil Van Wert (Wert) was Elmer’s closest companion—in and out of mischief often. When Wert died at age 17, the whole family was devastated.”
Source: According to Elmer Chatfield, as told by his granddaughter, Beverly Kelly
Note: Elmer was two years older than Wert.

2019. Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau.