David Thomas Denny was a member of the Denny Party

Denny Party

The Denny Party is a group of white pioneers credited with founding Seattle, Washington because they settled at Alki Point on November 13, 1851.A wagon party headed by Arthur A. Denny left Cherry Grove, Illinois on April 10, 1851...

, who are generally collectively credited as the founders of Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Though he ultimately underwent bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

, he was a significant contributor to the shape of the city. Roger Sale, in his book Seattle, Past to Present, described him as having been "the pioneer to turn to if one had a plan that would be 'good for Seattle', and one needed a respectable tone and a willing investor."

Early life and journey to the Oregon Country

Denny was born in Putnam County, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. With what would become known as the Denny Party—named after Denny's older brother Arthur Denny—he traveled west by covered wagon

Covered wagon

The covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...

 in 1851 to Oregon. Along with John Low and Lee Terry, he traveled by boat to the future site of Seattle, arriving September 25, 1851. As Low went to reconnoiter with the rest of the group, and Lee Terry headed south on Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

 in search of tools, David Denny—too young at this time to stake a land claim in his own right—was briefly left as the sole member of the group at Alki in what is now West Seattle

West Seattle, Seattle, Washington

West Seattle comprises two of Seattle, Washington's thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an independent town in 1902 and was annexed by Seattle in 1907. Among the area's attractions are its saltwater beach parks...

.

Marriage to Louisa Boren

On January 23, 1853 he married his sister-in-law Louisa Boren, also a member of the Denny Party, in a civil ceremony performed by "Doc" Maynard

David Swinson Maynard

David Swinson "Doc" Maynard was an American pioneer and doctor, and one of Seattle's primary founders. He was an effective civic booster and, compared to other white settlers, a relative advocate of Native American rights...

, the city's first non-Indian wedding; they were to have eight children. He proved to be adept at languages, and (unlike some of the settlers) maintained generally good relations with the natives of the area.

1853 land claim

The Dennys' 1853 land claim—640 acres (2.6 km²), standard for a married couple—ran from what is now the Seattle Center

Seattle Center

Seattle Center is a park and arts and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington. The campus is the site used in 1962 by the Century 21 Exposition. It is located just north of Belltown in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood.-Attractions:...

 grounds (the area where they first settled) east to South Lake Union

South Lake Union, Seattle, Washington

South Lake Union is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the south tip of Lake Union.The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Denny Triangle; Interstate 5 on the east, beyond which is Capitol Hill; Aurora...

; its south boundary was present-day Denny Way. In 1882, the Lake Union and Lumber Company established a sawmill (the city's largest) on this land near the southwest corner of Lake Union

Lake Union

Lake Union is a freshwater lake entirely within the Seattle, Washington city limits.-Origins:A glacial lake, its basin was dug 12,000 years ago by the Vashon glacier, which also created Lake Washington and Seattle's Green, Bitter, and Haller Lakes.-Name:...

; Denny bought the mill in 1884, renaming it the Western Mill. The following year, he cut a weir from Portage Bay

Portage Bay

Portage Bay is an arm of Seattle, Washington's Lake Union and is part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Its western limit can be said to be the Ship Canal Bridge, which carries Interstate 5 over the water; North Passage Point Park and South Passage Point Park sit on opposite shores between the...

 at the northeast corner of the lake to Lake Washington

Lake Washington

Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and...

. This allowed logs to be floated from that larger lake to Lake Union, so that the entire area of Lake Washington became a catchment for his mill. Denny operated the Western Mill until 1895; his employees and their families were among the first settlers of the South Lake Union area.

Seattle's first cemetery (1861) was on Denny's land. In 1876, the bodies were relocated to Washelli Cemetery, which is off of Aurora Avenue North in north Seattle and part of the Evergree-Washelli Cemetery. The Dennys donated what became Lake View Cemetery

Lake View Cemetery (Seattle)

Lake View Cemetery is a cemetery located on Seattle, Washington, Capitol Hill just north of Volunteer Park. It is named for its view of Lake Washington to the east. It was founded in 1873 as the Seattle Masonic Cemetery.-Notable interments:...

), on Seattle's Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington

Capitol Hill is the most densely populated residential district in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the center of the city's gay and counterculture communities, and is one of the city's most prominent nightlife and entertainment districts....

, and the Dennys donated the more central 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) tract as the site of the city's first park, now called Denny Park

Denny Park (Seattle)

Denny Park is a park located in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It occupies the block bounded by John Street and Denny Way on the north and south and Dexter and 9th Avenues N. on the west and east.- History :...

 in their honor.
Another donation to the city became the site of the Civic Auditorium (later remodeled as the Opera House and now McCaw Hall) and several other buildings that now form part of Seattle Center.

Public offices

Active in public life, Denny served as probate judge, King County

King County, Washington

King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....

 Commissioner, a member of the Seattle City Council

Seattle City Council

The Seattle City Council is committed to ensuring that Seattle, Washington, is safe, livable and sustainable. Nine Councilmembers are elected to four-year terms in nonpartisan elections and represent the entire city, elected by all Seattle voters....

, a director of the Seattle School District

Seattle Public Schools

Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...

, and regent of the Territorial University of Washington, predecessor to the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

. He was an advocate of woman suffrage (which was won in Washington the 1880s, though later rescinded) and the temperance movement

Temperance movement

A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...

, and opposed the Anti-Chinese movement in the mid-1880s.

Business success

In the early 1880s, Denny was one of Seattle's wealthiest citizens, his fortune estimated at US$

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

3 million. His interests went well beyond his original land claim and Lake Union: he farmed in the Duwamish River

Duwamish River

The Duwamish River is the name of the lower of Washington state's Green River. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway.- History :...

 valley and plat

Plat

A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....

ted Seattle neighborhoods, including the Ravenna Park

Ravenna Park (Seattle)

Ravenna Park and Cowen Park comprise a single contiguous recreation and green space in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle, Washington in the United States...

 area. In 1890, he moved his family from an already large home at Dexter and Republican Streets to a mansion at the foot of Queen Anne Hill

Queen Anne, Seattle, Washington

Queen Anne Hill is a neighborhood and geographic feature in Seattle, Washington, northwest of downtown. The neighborhood sits on the highest named hill in the city, with a maximum elevation of . It covers an area of , and has a population of about 28,000...

, and the next year he founded the Rainier Power and Railway Company, providing the first streetcar service from Downtown to the University District

University District, Seattle, Washington

The University District is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because the main campus of the University of Washington is located there. The UW moved in two years after the area was annexed to Seattle, while much of the area was still clear cut forest or stump farmland...

. The streetcar line ran from 3rd Avenue and Yesler Way in today's Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington

Pioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of Downtown Seattle, Washington, USA. It was once the heart of the city: Seattle's founders settled there in 1852, following a brief six-month settlement at Alki Point on the far side of Elliott Bay. The early structures in the neighborhood...

 neighborhood downtown to NE 55 Street and 22nd Avenue NE (northeast of the University), and included the purpose-built Latona Bridge, dedicated July 1, 1891, replaced in 1919 by the present day University Bridge.

Bankruptcy

But his fall was as dramatic as his rise: in the years from 1888 to 1895, two of David and Louisa Denny's children died, and they suffered such a major financial reversal in the Panic of 1893

Panic of 1893

The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...

 that they lost everything, including their nearly new mansion. Adding insult to injury, among the creditors who forced him into bankruptcy was Dexter Horton and Company, the bank where his brother Arthur was senior vice president. Their only salvation was that in their years of wealth, they had given their daughter Emily a tract of land in Licton Springs

Licton Springs, Seattle, Washington

Licton Springs or North College Park is a neighborhood in the informal Northgate district of North Seattle. It is bounded by Interstate 5 to the east, beyond which is Maple Leaf neighborhood and the Northgate Mall; Aurora Avenue N to the west, beyond which is Greenwood; N 85th Street to the south,...

 (in what is now northern Seattle), to which they now retreated.

Last years

In 1899, at age 67, Denny took a job overseeing improvements on the Snoqualmie Pass

Snoqualmie Pass

Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 through the Cascade Range in the U.S. State of Washington. The elevation of the pass summit is , and is on the county line between Kittitas County and King County...

 road (the route now taken by Interstate 90

Interstate 90

Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...

), during which he sustained an injury when an inattentive worker cut his head with a careless backswing of his ax. He bandaged his own wound and returned to work. The next year he was in the same area at Keechelus Lake

Keechelus Lake

Keechelus Lake is a lake and reservoir in Washington state, USA. It is the source of the Yakima River. Keechelus Lake is the western lake of the three large lakes near Interstate 90 and north of the Yakima River in the Cascade Range, the other two being Kachess Lake and Cle Elum Lake...

 helping a mining company look for gold. But he lived only a few years longer, and died at Licton Springs in 1903. His wife, Louisa Boren Denny, lived until 1916. They are both buried at what is now the Evergreen Washelli cemetery near Licton Springs, land that they once owned and lost in the bankruptcy.

Legacy

The named legacy of David Denny and Louisa Boren includes two schools in the Seattle Public Schools

Seattle Public Schools

Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...

 school district: Denny International Middle School and Louisa Boren Middle School, both located in the West Seattle neighborhood.