Frederick J. Bancroft

Paul Frenzeny and Jules Tavernier, Denver from the Highlands, 1874

He came to Colorado on June 1, 1866,[1][9] and set up a medical practice in Denver.[4] At that time, Denver had only been a city for seven years.[12] Bancroft, considered to be "one of the most prominent physicians" in Colorado by the obituary reported by the San Francisco Chronicle,[1] was, for several decades, the "default physician-in-charge" for the city.[4] From 1866 to 1869, he was the Arapahoe County physician. He was a physician in the city of Denver between 1872 and 1878,[4] during which time, the dry climate and a widespread vaccination campaign of Denver citizens significantly reduced the threat of smallpox in the 1870s. Because children were sent to school when they were ill, there was a problem with typhoid fever, whooping cough, and scarlet fever in the 1870s. Bancroft advocated fining parents who sent their sick children to school.[13]

He was one of two physicians on the staff of St. Vincent Hospital, which became Saint Joseph Hospital in 1876.[4][13] From 1872 to 1876, he was the president of East Denver's Board of Education.[4] Bancroft was one of the founders of St. Luke's Hospital and was on the staff until a few years before he died.[10]

His private practice clients included Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific Railroads, Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway, and the Wells, Fargo and Company Stage Lines.[13] [14] He became National Association of Railway Surgeons vice president.[14]

In the late 1870s, he and the Denver Medical Association created the public health system for Denver, Colorado to improve the health of its citizens.[15]

Mattie Silks ran the most successful brothel in Denver from 1877 to 1897

A key public health risk was the spread of syphilis. Bancroft estimated in 1872 that due to the prevalence of prostitution, "probably every third man who reaches the age of twenty-five has acquired ... syphilis" from the brothels in the city. Bancroft, with the Denver Medical Association, advocated licensing, stipulation of allowed services, and testing and examinations of the city's prostitutes. The proposed program was to be managed by physicians and police. The city decided instead to outlaw prostitution and fine prostitutes. In 1875, the Denver Medical Association's physicians decided that management of prostitutes was a solely a police matter. Bancroft continued to advocate a licensing system, as well as making abortion an attempted murder crime. Denver, though, was not ready to relinquish its "sex-drugs-and-gambling lifestyle" from the gold rush days.[13]

In the 1870s, tuberculosis became more prevalent in the city. Bancroft noted in a March 1873 report to the city council that, of tuberculosis deaths that he reported, 75 of 79 were ill before they sought treatment in Colorado. He had also noted in the 1870s that Denver's citizens had injuries or illnesses due to livestock being driven through and penned on the city streets, sewage and other debris on the city streets, and outhouses placed too close to wells.[13] He stated in a couple of annual reports that the contamination is a significant public health issue and could result in a typhus[13] and tuberculosis epidemic,[16][lower-alpha 1] he cautioned the city council. Although there were earlier attempts, it was not until 1880 that Denver began construction of a sewer system.[13][lower-alpha 2]

In 1876, he was elected president of the Denver Medical Association. He was a member of the American Medical Association.[14] Bancroft was elected president of the Colorado State Medical Society in 1880.[18] The following year he helped found the University of Denver and Colorado Seminary Medical Department.[18] His name was linked in the 20th century with Dr. Florence R. Sabin as "creators of the humanitarian healthcare tradition" in Colorado.[4]

In 1876, he was the first president of Colorado's State Board of Health,[4] which was then called the Territorial Board of Health. The board was created when Governor John L. Routt signed legislation into law creating the nine-member board to investigate public health issues and recommend resolutions. It had an annual budget of $500,000.[16][lower-alpha 3] The Colorado State Board of Health was established on March 22, 1877, with Frederick Bancroft as its president. It had limited responsibility, such as gathering statistics about sewage disposal and water supply. Bancroft also advocated for research into what altitudes were best suited for children's development mentally and physically. Because of their limited role in advocated public health issues, members resigned and waited until the end of their terms to leave their posts. There were no members and the board failed to exist on June 1, 1886.[16]

Bancroft wrote about climatology,[7] specifically how certain diseases were affected by climate, which garnered national attention.[1] He discussed the healthful benefits of recuperating in the state, which is "said to have been responsible for more people moving to Colorado than any other single factor."[13]

Bancroft, who believed in the importance of pasteurized milk,[5] operated an 800-acre dairy farm about 5 miles southwest of Denver[5][19] in the Bancroft community, which became part of Lakewood in 1969.[6] Lambert Dairy[20] was located near the intersection of Morrison Road and Harlan Road.[21] The sanitized milk that was produced at Lambert Dairy was supplied to St. Lukes Hospital, where many of his patients were victims of diphtheria and typhoid. Bancroft believed that there was a connection between their illness and the ingestion of unpasteurized milk.[20]

Some of the farm land was donated by his son, George Bancroft, for the construction of a one-room school that was named "Bancroft School".[21] The Bancrofts also donated land in the area for Midway School.[22] Herndon Davis made a painting of the farmhouse in 1941; it is displayed in the Western History section of the Denver Public Library.[23]

Bancroft was a founder and president of Agricultural ditch beginning in 1875. It was an important irrigation canal for the Denver region.[19] After having played a key role in 1868 in the development of Denver's Grand Army post, Bancroft became department commander for Colorado and Wyoming.[14] He was Denver's pension examiner.[14] Bancroft helped to improve the Denver schools and from 1872 to 1876, he was president of East Denver schools.[14] He assisted in the administration of Jarvis Hall, founded by his wife's father, and the Episcopalian girls' school, Wolfe Hall.[19]