https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/487/Families-J.pdf 5cb9855edfe322ce49340c2a3f8251d6 PDF Text Text very ill and died on Aug.ust 29, L922. George moved the family out to Stratton in June 1923. They lived 1 mile south of Stratton. At that time their neighbors were John Gerke and Pautler dairy farm. They shipped the furniture and other belongings by train and moved out here in a Model T touring car and Ford truck. Circles painted in colors on telephone posts were the highway signs. Free range was the law and only fields were fenced. There were many acres of grass land and cattle roamed freely. It was not unusual for some farmers to come by looking for their cattle and if it was meal time they were always invited to come in for a meal. Later George moved his family three miles east and one and a half south of Stratton. George's son, George, drove a team of horses and a wagon and took the children to school. Later on they drove a car. Aunt Tres went to high school and Leona, Irene, Mildred, George and Dorothy went to grade school at Stratton's St. Charles Catholic Grade School. In 1926 George became ill and had an operation for cancer in Denver at St. Joseph Hospital, and the day he was to come home, he died from a blood clot. There were 11 children in the family and three are still living. Frank (10-12-1899 to 85-1961) married Catherine Colgan. They had 2 children. One died as an infant. Helen (1901 to 1968) married John Harrison. She taught school in a country school in Stratton. They moved to Missouri. They had 5 children. Mary (8-26-1902 to 6-11-1957) married Joe Kloecker and lived in Denver. They had 5 children. 1 son died. Gertrude (3-27 -L904) married Tony Beller. They had 5 children and still live in Denver. Theresa (8-19-1907) maried Raymond Bush and had 4 children. ISEMAN FAMILY F335 Febr. 1924 brought Ralph and Josie Iseman to Kit Carson County with their children Clarence, Loraine, Agnes and John. Ralph had been out from Burlington, Ks. to look things over earlier. So with the George Bailey and Hill families they loaded their household items on two immigrant cars on the train. They drove out in a Model T car. The windows were ising-glass. The weather was very cold and they kept warm with a heater that had something like charcoal briquettes inside. The trip took five days. They stayed at the Collins Hotel in Stratton until the Austin place was available. Ralph always said that his ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch. How right he was. In reality Pennsylvania Dutch means German born. The first Iseman of Ralph's family to enter America was Peter and he came from Germany in 1749. Those first Isemans spelled their name many ways: Eyseman, Eisaman, Eiseman, Isaman. Westmoreland Co., Pa. has many of Peter's descendants and most of them spell their names Eiseman. The ones from Freeport, Pa. spell their name Iseman. Ralph's father and mother, John Andrew and Evaline Nancy (Hill) Iseman, were born in Freeport, Pa. One of Ralph's distant cousins lives outside Freeport on Iseman Rd. Ralph was the seventh generation of Isemans in America. John Ralph Iseman was born in Guthrie Co., Iowa in 1890. Ralph married Josie Thene Updegraft 23 Jan. 1912 in Burlington, Ks. Josie was born in Burlington, Ks to Sidney Denton Updegraft and Susan Lane Dawson Loraine, Agnes, and John were born in Burlington, Ks. Wayne and Maxine were lives there. George (10-10-1910 to 7-12-1950) married Tbila Boul and they had 4 boys. Pauline died at the age of 3 from measles and is buried in Blue Hill, Neb. Irene (8-25-1912 to 1976) married Walter Halloway and lived in Denver. They had 5 children and 1 died as an infant. Walter still lives in Denver. Leona L924 to L946. chtenbach. Millicent Luebbers, daughter of Gertrude and Willard, Walter and Wilford Huppert and their mother Twila, sons and wife of George. After the death of their father Uncle Frank and Aunt Tres took care of the younger children until they were able to be on their own. My Aunt Tres had started a business known as the T V Booties after they had moved to Denver awhile. by Betty Jean Brachtenbach lius Wood. Neil died in 1985. Loraine still lives in Burlington. Agnes married Leonard Beeson. They live in Burlington and are still involved in farming and cattle south of Bethune. John married Ellen Bemis, a Kansas gal. They live in Burlington, Ks and farm in the area where Ralph and Josie first lived. Wayne still lives and farms south of Bur- lington. Maxine married Jake Chandler. They are both retired and living in Denver. Josie died 9 Sept. 1974. Ralph died on his 96th birthday 27 Oct.1986. Both were real pioneers. Their friends and family loved and respected them. Ralph spent the last 6 years of his life in the Grace Manor Nursing Home. His determination and out look on life was an inspiration to all. by Lenora Sexson JACKSON, DEWEY AND REVA (BRALY) F336 13 Nov. 1893. Their children Clarence, Two boys died as young men. They lived in Denver and moved to Lag Vegas, Nev. in 1981 where Raymond died in 1985. Theresa still (5-25-LgL4\ married Val Kordes and has 5 children and farmed in Stratton area. Mildred (1916 to 3-19-L924) died of sugar diabetes and is buried in Stratton. Dorothy (12-19-1919 to 5-19-f96f) married Coy Pearson. No children. The family of George and Mollie that still reside in Kit Carson County are their daughter Leona Kordes and her daughters Patsy Eisenbart and Betty Bra- selling cattle and fishing. Ralph and Josie's family was so important to them. Clarence married Allie Jean Beck. He still owns land south of Stratton. Allie Jean and Clarence are retired and live east of Colorado Springs. Loraine married Corne- born south ofStratton. Ralph and Josie lived and farmed on the Austin place, Glaze place, Collins Ranch and the Beveridge Ranch from Memories of the family include the time spent hunting the driest, most productive spot for cow chips, loading the wagon, getting them all home, keeping the pile dry and removing all the ashes that hot fire created. The fun basket dinners after church and Sunday school at First Central included fried chicken, rhubarb pie, lemonade!!! The Ladies Aid and sewing clubs provided needed social contact for the women in the neighborhood. From these activities beautiful quilts were created and close friendships developed. There were the local ballgames on Sunday afternoon for the old and young to enjoy. In the 30's there were very few fences. Most of the cattle ran free and the crops were fenced. The grasshoppers were terrible. The poison was placed around the fences because the grasshoppers even ate the fence posts. You never left leather harnesses out because in a few hours there was nothing left but the metal. You could take a clear drinking glass and coat it with smoke from a kerogene lnmp, to protect your eyes as you looked directly at the sun, and see the grasshoppers flying through the air. In 1946 Ralph and Josie moved to Burlington. Josie babysat with grandkids and Jeanne Zick. Josie loved to sew and make quilts. Many a wedding dress, Raggedy Ann, and quilts are prized possessions of her descendants. Ralph kept busy buying and J. Dewey Jackson's first residence in Kit Carson County in 1925, shown with his 1916 Reo truck, 1925 Fordson tractor and a new Ford car J. Dewey Jackson was born north of Phillipsburg, Kansas in 1898, the 5th of ten children born to William A. Jackson and Betty Mae (Bales) Jackson. He walked to school 2t/z miles. While still at home he took a correspondence course on Basic Electricity out of Chicago, Illinois. He rode a horse to Woodruff, Kansas, 19 miles for 8th grade examinations. To help the family income he did trapping; then skunks were worth $20 a piece. When he started his one year of high school, his mother gave him a gold pocket watch to encourage him not to start smoking. This prized possession was pawned several times thru the years to buy life's necessities. The winter of 1917 he went to Kansas City, Kansas, worked as a street car conductor, and attended Sweeny Automobile School. Summer of 1921 traveled to Canada where he was a jack of all trades: helped paint a church, built a school house, hauled logs, and then summer of 1922 helped build a wooden elevator at Sturgis, Saskatchewan. In 1923 back to Alma, Nebraska to rent a garage for one year. Then in L924he traded all the shop supplies for half of the cost ($10 A.) on his first purchase of land in Colorado. His dad �paid for the other half of WVz30-7-47 inKit Carson County. Dewey came to Colorado to start farming on March 1st 1925. His first home was a hole in the ground with a tent over it. Heat was a brooder stove. One month of this and he built a wooden shack. He broke sod for himself and others with a Fordson tractor; main crop was corn. In 1926 he took C.A. Monroe and older boys to Cheyenne Frontier Days in his Reo 3/ T truck; it would haul 100 bu. On return trip, they drove the Fall River Road; curves were so sharp one had to back up to make the curve. Later he rented a place Vz mile north of S. Fork Republican. He cooked for corn pickers and others when Hank Howell, owner of a corn sheller, was shelling corn. In June 1930, Dewey married Reva Grace Braly. They lived north of the river in a 2 story tar paper house. Here the three oldest children, Virgene, Paul and Betty were born. Here Reva had to kill her first rattle snake. After the flood in May 1935 they moved up on a hill north 1/z mile. Lost in the flood was a hog shed and hogs, cattle, side of cement tank and windmill pushed over some and other damages. The fall of 1935 they moved 2t/z miles west where a third girl Mary was born 1936. In spring of 1937 they moved again on north 3 miles where the two older children started school at Boger School #12. Then in 1939 they had another girl Anna Belle. By now farming was done by horses or an International high wheel row crop tractor with steel wheels. He sold wheat crop, went to Vona Bank for a loan, was turned down, so on to Stratton Bank. Ray Calvealy, banker at Stratton, approved a loan so Dewey has banked there ever since. In 1940 he made dov,rn pa5noent on 5 quarters. Then spring of 1942 they moved to location L4-7-48, From here the kids walked about a mile to attend the (Adobe) Plainview School #64 on 22-7-48. After planting a lot of trees on their building sit€, the home place was nomed Shade Lane. Traded 4large Pigs for a piano so the girls could take lessons from Ruth Vincent and later the Catholic Sisters in Stratton. Basic crops were corn, certified coes, Fremont cane and Wichita wheat. He also raised beef cattle; milked up to 12 cows by hand. In 1956 Dewey won the Skelly Award and Reva was named outstanding home maker of the county. Both were 4-H leaders for 5 years or more. Dewey was very active in Farm Bureau, served on school board, helped organize the new phone system and many other community or county activities. They both enjoyed traveling for a few years after all the kids were out on their own. Then in fall of 1961 after death ofa son's wife, they helped raise three grandchildren for 10 years till their son remarried. They slowly phased out of cattle and, having rented the farm, had their main farm sale in February, 1972. Then in the fall of L977, they moved to a house they purchased in Burlington, Colorado. In October 1978 they had another sale to sell extra items and to clean up the farm. They still enjoy visiting with friends and family, Dewey at the coffee shop with the guys, and Reva busy with her yard work, fancy work, church and club activities. by Mary (Jackson) McCaffrey JACOBER FAMILY F337 John and Marie (Matteis-Matthies) Jacober were part of the Germans who came to this country by way of Russia. John was born March 12, 1866, in Tirraspolftrispol, Russia, and Marie was born Dec. 22, 1868, in Geidetown, Russia. Their obituaries list Glueckstahl, So. Russia as their birthplaces and Tirraspol is listed for both of them on their Petition of Naturalization dated Oct. 30, 1909. When the ancestors of John & Marie went to Russia, Catherine was Empress. She wanted to settle the Ukraine with German farmers so she promised them free farms, less taxes and freedom from military service for 100 years. The land there was somewhat like our Great Plains but had better water, timber and deeper soil. Years went by, Russian Emperors changed, the 100-year military exemption expired and the Russians started calling the young German men into their troops. At that time John was a young farmer with a wife, having married Marie on Nov. 10, 1887, and two small children. He was taken into the military for a year's service and was attached to a cavalry regiment located at Odessa. Since he was handywith blacksmith tools he was made farrier, or horse shoer, for the regiment and several times shod the saddle horse of the Royal Duke. After serving five months, with no bad marks against his record, he was told he would be granted a month's furlough at the end of his 6-month service. Just before his furlough he received a letter from a cousin who had migrated to the United States and was living in the Dakotas. He told John the U.S. had given him 320 acres of land, and that he had raised 2,000 bushels ofwheat that year. John began to visualize himself on a farm in America, sowing the seed by hand from a sack over his shoulder, harrowing it, cutting it with a sickle or cradle, llamping it out with horses on a hard clay bed or pounding it with a flail, and winnowing it by dropping it from an upheld pail. Farming was certainly not an easy task in those days. Finally, unable to get the thought ofa farm in America and 2,fi)0 bushels of wheat out of his mind, he wrote to his wife, Marie, to sell their farm and everything else she could. She followed his instructions, and when he arrived for his furlough all their possessions had been converted into money except for the few bundles of personal belongings they could carry. That night, after farewells to friends and relatives, they took their two small children, Anna, 3 years, and Louise, I year, and left. They traveled only at night for fear of being caught, and after passing through a forest and over a river arrived in Austria. While waiting for a train, an official, sensing that they were running away, arrested John, put him in jail and took half of his money. At the next stop the same thing happened, and Marie, with the two small children, spent the night on a bench outside the jail. The next morning the chief military officer came by, saw her and the children, and sent his orderly to inquire as to what had happened. When he learned the story, the officer made the jailer release John, return all his possessions and money. The orderly was then instructed to accompany John's fanily to the station and see that they got safely on their way. After a long journey they arrived in Hamburg, Germany. They sailed for New York aboard the ship "Warl" on March 24, 1892, and after arriving there April L2,1892, spent three days in a day coach to Burlington. They reached Burlington at 3:00 in the morning of April 15, 1892. Not knowing the English language they were unable to communicate with anyone. About noon that same day, Frank Mann heard of their situation and with T.G. Price, who could speak German, went to the depot and arranged to take them to the Settlement. There they found friends who located work for John and a place for the family to stay. John went to work for the railroad. They built a sod house and plastered it with native lime. Every Saturday Marie would get fresh lime and whitcwash the walls so the house would always look fresh and clean. The floor was plastered with a mixture of clay and straw, which when dry became so hard it could hardly be broken with a hatchet. John moved with his family to Denver in 1895 and worked in the smelter at Globeville until 1898. At that time they moved to Brighton and had a truck garden until 1905 when they moved back to Kit Carson County. They homesteaded 320 acres, which included 240 acres in the N 1/z E r/z SW %, Sec. 27, T. 6, R. 44 and 80 acres in the NE % NW % and NW % Ne % of Sec. 34, T. 6, R. 44, about 17 miles north of Burlington. With the help of neighbors they hauled rocks and soon had a stone house and barn built. John then bought a horse and a set of harness. After he borrowed a rod breaking plow and Henry Goebel loaned him another horse, he was ready to start working his American farm. Though it took several years of hard work, John finally one day saw his dream of 2,000 bushels of wheat come true. In addition to their two daughters who came with them from Russia, Anna, born in Tirraspol, Russia Oct. 11, 1888, and Louise also born in Tirraspol, Aug. 5, 1890, there were three sons born after arriving in the United States. John, Jr. was born Mar. 3, 1893, and Ralph Oct. 24 L894, both in Burlington, and Christian "Chris", born Dec. 15, 1897, in Globeville, Colorado. When World War I started two of their sons, John and Ralph went into the service. John died shortly afterward aboard the USS Pocahontas near Brest, France, Sept. 29, 1918. Ralph was wounded at the Battle of Metz near Paris, France, and received his honorable discharge in Feb. 1919. John had not married before he went to war so Ralph took over his homestead when he returned from service. In L922 Chris started working John & Marie's homestead and they moved into Burlington a short time later. On Oct. 8, 1934, John passed away and Marie followed him on Dec. 15, 1950. Both John and Marie set good slamples to their descendants as good citiz- ens and faithful followers of God. They became official American citizens on June 15, 1910 and were a true credit to their adopted country. In addition to their two sons who served in World War I, they had grandsons serving in World War II, andthe Korean War andgreatgrandsons in Vietnnm. None of John & Marie's children are living. Anna passed away Feb. 7, 1981, Louise March �16, 1918, John, Jr. Sept. 29, 1918, Ralph Oct. 8, 1970, and Chris May 15, 1967. by Alice M. Jacober JACOBER - OUTHET FAMILY F338 Christian "Chris" Jacober, son ofJohn and Marie (Matteis-Matties) Jacober, was born 15 December 1897, in Globeville, CO. and on 14 Septembet 792L, in Burlington, CO. was married to Bessie June Outhet, daughter of John William and Mary Annora "Nora" (Broadsword) Outhet. Bessie was born 18 June 1903 in Y 'ma County, Colorado, near Hale. Inl922 Chris took over the operation of his parent's homestead about 17 miles north of Burlington. He and Bessie continued to farm there until 1951 when they moved into Burlington. While they were on the farm they were blessed with five children: John Chris "Jake" born 10 Sept. 1922; Dortha Viola born 20 May 1925; Edwin Chris born 20 August 1927; Darlene Josephene born 10 Sept. 1929 and Elmer Jnmes born 7 November 1931. The children all attended Columbine School District # 3 about a mile or so southwest of their home. Their lunchboxes were syrup buckets which they also sometimes used for playing kickball on the way home. Lunch might even consist of syrup sandwiches when times were hard. When they were fortunate enough to get a bucket of jelly or jnm with the bright emblem on it, they all wanted that one for their lunchbox. With the depression, the onslaught of the "dirty 30's" and five children to feed, it was hard to keep food on the table; but by working together and working hard, they persevered. There were times the old chickens had hardly enough fat on them to even make soup, but the family stuck together. The boys did some trapping of skunks, muskrats, coyotes and sold their fur. A good skunk or muskrat fur would bring $4.50 to $5.50 and an average skunk about $2 to $2.50, a jackrabbit about 25 cents. John worked at CCC Camp when he was about 16 years old and Ed worked at the farm ofFloyd Jacobsen. When World War II started Chris and Bessie's son John and their son-in-law, Clarence "John" Schlosser, Jr, both served in the Navy. Following in the Navy tradition, their other two sons, Ed and Elmer and another son-in-law, Ben Nix, served in the Navy during the Korean War. Two of their grandsons, Steve and Ed Schlosser, also served in the Navy in the Vietnnm War. In 1951 Chris and Bessie moved into Burlington as all three boys were still in the Navy and the two girls both married and away from home. They bought a small house in the east part of town. Chris worked part time at one of the elevators in town. When Ed and Ebner returned from the Korean War, Blmer married Vivian Sailer and Ed maried Alice Barnhart. Dorothy had married Clarence "John" Schlosser, Jr. and Darlene married Ben Nix of Texas. John, "Jake", spent 20 active years and 10 inactive years in the Navy and during that time he married Patricia Travis of Massachusetts. Chris and Bessie lived in their home in Burlington until November 1959 when they moved to Lakewood, CO. near Ed and Elmer's families. Chris enjoyed woodworking projects and was official "master of the barbecue" at family gatherings. In November 1963 they moved into a small house in Wheat Ridge, CO. and were living there when Chris died very suddenly on May 15, 1967. Since Chris passed away Bessie has lived with her son Ed's family and now resides with He is a Lutheran. Mr. Jacober has proven to be a proficient and resourceful farmer and rancher, and his efforts have been rewarded with a great measure of success. by Janice Salmans JAMES FAMILY them near Westcliffe, CO.; Dortha and "John" also live in Westcliffe; John "Jake" and Pat live in Wheat Ridge, CO.; Darlene F340 and Ben in Edgewater, CO.; and Elmer and Vivian in Lakewood, CO. by Alice M. Jacober JACOBER, RALPH F339 Ralph Jacober is owner and operator of a fine farming and ranching property seventeen miles northwest of Burlington, where he specializes in high grade Shorthorn cattle, with registered bulls and raises feed, corn, sorghums, and wheat. Mr. Jacober's farm is located thirteen miles north and four miles west of Burlington and was homesteaded by his brother, John. Mr. Jacober was reared in ranching and farming. He worked with his Shiloh Baptist Church. Photo taken many years aftcr building was abandoned. father prior to entering World War I. Mr. Jacober served with the 28th Division in France. Following his discharge in May of 1918 he returned to his father's farm and then took over his brother's homestead nearby. His brother was a victim of the flu epidemic of 1918. Here Ralph has lived and reared his family since that time. He has put up all the buildings on the farm and has planted trees and lawn. Ralph was born on October 24, 1894, in Kit Carson County to John and Mary Mathies Jacober, ranchers. His parents were born in Russia, his father in 1864 and his mother in 1868. They were married in Russia in 1887, and ceme to the United States in 1892. In 1894, they took a homestead north of Bur- Summer fun, about 1929. Marie Jones, Virginia James. Helen Jnmes and Reta Jnmes. O.R. and Gertrude James O.R. and (Ollie) James and wife Gertie and Cleo, Lola, Rollo, and Virginia moved from- Washington, Kansas to lington. Ralph Jacober attended public schools in Kit Carson County. Mr. Jacober manied Miss Bthel Goebel, their four children the daughter of Henry and Mary Chandler Rock Island Railroad Goebel, on February LL,L925, in Burlington. Mrs. Jacober's father was born in Germany and came to Wilbur, Nebraska, from there with his parents in 1875. In 1891, his parents - they purchased a farm Vona. Two years later came to Kit Carson County and took a homestead northeast of Burlington. Mr. Goebel went to work at the age of twelve years for Mr. McCurtis, owner of the Spring Valley ranch north of Burlington. In a few years, he beceme foreman. In May of 1901, he married and in 1916, he acquired a ranch of his own. Here he remained until 1951, at which time he sold out. He was well known in his area and engaged in the buying of livestock, traveling widely throughout the state. He passed away in September of 1955. Mr. and Mrs. Jacober are the parents of one daughtcr, Helen Marie, who is married to Dale Young. They are the parents of two children, Bruce, born in 1951, and Gregg, born in 1954. Mr. Jacober is a member of the Farm Bureau, Colorado Wheat Growers Association, and the Burlington American Legion. Kit Carson County via "immigranf,, ss" in the spring of 1917, bringing livestock - horses, cattle, hogs, chickens, as well as- household furnishings, their destination a rented farm north of from Marvin Barnett in the Shiloh community north of Seibert. This area was nickna-ed "Suckers Flat". Why it was called that I never knew because it was and still is a very choice spot with table level land and rich black soil. The newly acquired farm was improved with a good barn and a 2 room "soddie". The fifth child was born in this house which was home to this family of seven for six years. Having been accustomed to better living conditions, the rodents etc. that went along with sod house living were a constant source of frustration for my mother. However, her Irish good humor managed to prevail and to see everyone through happily. Mother and Dad took part in community "Literarieg" in those early years. Neighbors included the Ace Harmons, Quentins, Grover Todds, Alec Todds, Mason Wilsons, Andrew Hermans, �Vic and Marvin Barnett, the Millers (George, Ord, and others) the Houglands, Teeters, Porteniers, Gerings, Jenkins, Loutzenhizers, Nelsons, Probascoes, Backs, Elmer Kings, Denver where Helen died in 1965. Buss died about 15 years later. In 1946 Ollie and Gertie James sold the farm in the Shiloh community to Walter Clinton Jones's. The North Flat School was located a few hundred feet from our house. Water for the school children was carried daily from our well house in the "water bucket", Teachers that I can remember who taught there were Madeline Ott Becker, Della Hendricks -Julia Bancroft Wnmczyk Dugan - Irene Bernice Harmon McBlair. Timm. They moved to Denver and spent the remainder of their days there. Until Ollie's death in 1962 they lived on an acreage in Lakewood. After his death, mother and Virginia moved to north Denver where they lived out their lives. Only survivors of this large family are Lola and Reta. Reta married This farming community enjoyed economic good times during the 20's as did most of the country and many new homes were built. My parents built a new frame house with a finished basement the winter of.'24 and'25. They moved into the new house in April. I was born a couple of weeks later on May 3. The James's were active members of the Shiloh Baptist Church which was located 3 miles to the west of our place. My older brothers, Cleo and Rollo along with my dad helped dig out and construct the new basement under the church. This was about 1928. The digging was done with horses. Dad, (Ollie James) served on the board of directors of the Seibert Equity for many years. He was interested in politics and was reside. Percy Lounge in 1945. They have lived most of the years in Burlington where they still by Rita James Lounge JAMES FAMILY F341 to care for sick animals. He was called out of bed many a night to take care of a neighbor's cow that was bloated or couldn't deliver her calf to pull a horse's tooth or whatever - ordoing people knew who to call. needed In 1928 my -younger brother was born my parents seventh child. He was named He nicknamed Robert and "Buzzy". William Our father at the age of 36 sitting beside the "soddie'with Virginia and Helen. j $: -;; out of that quarter eection of pasture land until it was absolutely clean. He stacked them in a pile the length of the yard but I don't think he ever did get the cows to eat them. At least the pasture was cleaned up anyway never stand sunflowers growing could -on he his land either. In 1934 my brother Rollo married Ruth - daughter ofCharlie Purvis ofCope. Theyspentthe firstyears of their married life locally and then moved to Denver where they have lived since. Rollo died in 1984. Christmas Eve of 1937 my sister Helen Purvis married Buss Reynolds (son of Walter Reyn- olds of Flagler). They were married at our home. They lived all their married life in brick. Even the roof was covered with sod instead of shingles. The roof was re-sodded every year and fresh sod would green up with the grass growing like a lawn. Buffalo grass had strong roots that held the soil firm. One room of the "soddie" was the kitchen, dining room and living room all in one. The other room was the bedroom, draped off to give us four bedrooms. The drapes could be opened for light during the day but drawn at night for privacy. One of the spaces was used most of the time like a closet except when relatives came for a visit. Cots would be placed for them. We also had a "dugout" building near the house. This building was half under and half above ground, the above ground part built of sod. Good windows gave light and this teacher's desk was placed here. The stage also had curtains to draw closed and many plays weakness and have to be helped up. Because overgrown with cactus. Dad was sure he could somehow make cattle feed out of those cactug if he could just figure out a way to get rid of the stickers. He dug by hand all the cactus ginia. We had never seen a "sod house" before but soon learned to enjoy the comfort it gave us. Two large rooms with outer walls made of sod blocks cut from the prairie and laid like quarters for hired help during cattle drives and harvest time. The schoolhouse, also a sod building, had been built on the northeast corner of the farm, not more than a hundred feet from our barn and corral. It was built with a stage a foot higher than the rest of the floor. The contribution to the community was his ability of the drought our pastures had become Our father, Ollie James, moved us to the farm he bought north of Seibert in 1919. A real change for all of us my mother, brother Cleo, myself, brother -Rollo and sister Vir- made a good workshop and also to hang hams and beef from the raftprs in the wintertime. Later the building was used for sleeping a fervent Democrat. Probably his biggest died in 1961. The fall of L929 my oldest sister, Lola went off to college at Fort Collins (Colo. State Agricultural College). She received her teacher's license 2 years later and taught school at Prairie Gem (north of Flagler) and at Progress (north of Seibert). Lola married Loren Portenier. Loren joined the navy shortly after their marriage where he spent an interesting and productive life retiring after 30 years. Loren died in 1983. Lola resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Oldest brother, Cleo died at age 25. He is buried in the Shiloh cemetery. The Depression and the "dust bowl" hit hard. Dad was hard pressed to find feed for his animals. They would get down from O.R. and Gertrude James A gathering of the Shiloh Church ladies and children. and progrsms were performed there by the students especially at Christmas time. The teachers also used this area as their living quarters. Often ate their dinners with us at our home. The schoolhouse wan heated with a regular pot-belly stove that burned corn cobs and coal. The sod school was torn down and a nice fra-e school house built in the same location. The only high school in the area wENr three miles west and half mile south from our house. After graduating 8th grade, I rode horse back to and from Shiloh school for three years then transferred to Flagler �High School for my senior year. I worked for graduated spring of my board and room Virginia and Helen also 1929. Younger sistcrs attended Shiloh High School. Virginia graduated from Flagler High in 1934 and Helen from Seibert High in 1937. Our father was a horse and cattle breeder. He used the free range to run the cattle so the "L-Dismond" brand was selected. Cleo and I spent many days riding the range to keep the cattle from roaming too far away. Our father took out a hundred year leaee on a school section that he fenced in. A deep well with windmill was added to pump water into two large tanks. The cattle would be herded into the corral around the water tanks to be fed extra food when necessary. This corral was also used at branding and dehorning time. Most of the herd were shorthorned some however had to have their horns sawed off. In 1925 our family moved into a newly constructed frame house with a good basement. The "soddie" was torn down. Where the sod house had gtood a grove of trees were planted. To the south of the yard was a large garden space. Dad would plow with a one horse walking plow in the early spring and our mother would take it from there raising all the vegetables (except potatoes) that we would need to last through the year. Potatoes were planted in the fields. Mother always managed to work in some flowers along with the vegetables, usually zinnias and cosmos. She took great pride in her garden and definitely had a greenthumb. Soon after the new house was built we enjoyed the convenience of a telephone. Our ring was "one long and four shorts". Everyone on the party line would be sure to listen in whenever the phone would ring and sometimes several people would be in on the conversation before it was over. by Lola James Portenier JAMES, CHESTER AND WINIFRED F342 Chestcr and Winifred James were married September 22, 1943 on Winifreds 22nd birthday, in Stratton, Colorado. We lived in Kanorado, Kansas until March L7, 1944 - lt was a cold, windy, snowy day when we decided to move 41/z miles North of Peconic. Colorado. We had a 1941 white (Coyote catching) Ford car and we loaded it down We stopped at the post office in Kanorado and picked up 500 baby chickens we had ordered. The baby chickens went in the back seat (along with the lemp and mirror), We had a big old white sow, and she went in the trunk of the car - we had to stop every once in awhile to open the trunk and give her some air - We headed the Ford North of Peconic and to work. - went Lyle Jn-es, Chester's father, having our best int€rest at heart, told us to get some milk cows and milk - but youth being as it is, that was not what we wanted to do - We bought 1100 turkey poults and start€d in the turkey business - we learned a lot - a whole lot, even our neighbors learned a lot. Between disease hail storms and hungry coyotes we did manage to raise a few and sold them in a Back Row: Diane W. James, Carlyle J"-es, Debbie Brown Jnmes, Heather James. Front Row: Chester James, Winifred Jones, and Cody James. Turkey Co-op at the Kit Carson County Fair Grounds. The people of Kit Carson County realized the need of a hospital, people hauled loads of wheat to town to help finance the building of our local hospital. A telephone line was badly needed and the Beaver Valley Telephone Company was formed - 110 miles of line was built - the poles were stock-piled at our place and cross arms assembled. The neighbors worked hard on that line - it was a big help to the community - This line was later sold to Mountain Bell Telephone Co., for 91.00. The oiled road north of Peconic was helped along by the farmers in the community by hauling gravel, the county laid the oil. We were privileged to live in a very industrious community and that holds true today - "The Happy Hour" Home Demonstration Club was started in 1935. Today it is one of the larger clubs in the county and "Community Pride" is one of the main could be. I say we because it takes involvement of the whole family - We feel 4-H to be one of the finest programs for youth there is. I was a 4-H leader for quite a few years. We worked hard, (No more than many other farmers), farmed hard too - hooking 2 John Deere D Tractors together to pull large machinery - We hauled our entire cattle herd to Nebraska for pasture during the drouth in 1955. We were blessed with 2 children our son, Carlyle and daughter Diane. Carlyle and his wife Deborah Brown James have two children, Heather and Codey. They live 6 miles east and 472 miles north of Burlington on the "home place". Diane graduated from Colorado State University in 1986. She majored in Ag-Journalism, and is Associate Editor of the High Plains Journal, Dodge City, Kansas. We moved into Burlington in 1972. Winifred and Chester James projects. We purchased Sheep from the Jolly Ranches at Deertrail and Hugo, Colorado running one band of 1500 one year and 2 bands later on We ran them on wheat pasture from October until March - Sheep were good to us - The old adage being "Sheep make more money accidentally than cows do on purpose". The Sheep bought the Angus Cow Herd. Later on, we crossbred using Limousin Bulls and then Chianina Bulls. This 3 way cross worked well for us, producing a large, black calf. In 1975 under the management and hard work of our son Carlyle and his wife Deborah. We started holding a Club Calf Sale in November. The Sales proved very successful - had buyers coming from many States and quite a few winners on the Big Show Circuit. Our daughter Diane was successful many times in the Show Ring with our calves. We held these Sales until 1985. Our children were enrolled in 4-H about all the years they JAMES, LYLE AND BLANCHE F343 Lyle James was born at Beaver Crossing, Nebraska. His parents were Bert and Emma (Brewer) James. In 1894 Lyle and a sister Bessie along with their parents came by covered wagon to their homestead, the SW L3-6-42 in Grant Township, about 18 milee north of Kanorado, Kansas. Seven more sons were born to this pioneer family: Harold, Jesse, Earl, Howell, Lowell, Delph and Curtis. This made them enough for a baseball team, which they enjoyed playing together. They broke the ground and farmed with horses and mules. Bert Jnrnes was quite a horse lover and trader. The fanily went to a country school known as the Kemp school, or �.' :r' :'1.1' "1]:,:j' ,'.'. 'l:;-,::l1l;,1.:;1;...'.y:,,,, ..;, ra,,, t.a :,:]ll- ., rrll The sod house on the Lyle James homestead was built in 1915. The young man in the picture is Blanche's nephew, Galen Weeden. He spent his summers helping on the farm. Lyle and Blanch Jo-es, their wedding picture taken on Feb. 25. 1914. Pleasent Hill District #49. D.O. Fortmeyer and Harold Kemp were two of Lyle's teachers. Lyle moved to Kit Carson County, Colorado when he was 22 years old and took care of some cattle for W.J. Detwiler. Blanche (Nealley) Jn-es was born in Kit Careon County, on her parents'homestead 18 miles NE of Burlington, Colorado. Her parents, Charles and Lizzie (Paul) Nealley, were married Feb. 1, 1888, at Ceresco, Nebraska. Soon after that they started by emigrant train for Haigler, Nebraska, which at that time was as far west as the railroad co-e. They drove a wagon loaded with their possessions and drawn by a pair of mules across country to their homestead in Kit Carson County, Colorado. Blanche had an older sister Haidee who was born in Nebraska. The Nealleys first home was a frnrne house and they had Jim Knapp dig them a well, which was dug by hand. Their first place was located on NW 26-6-43, and some trees Nealley section, ag at one time four Nealley families owned and lived on 160 acres of it. They all sold to Charles Nealley later on. Haidee and Blanche went to school 1 % miles west of where they lived. It was a sod school house and believed to be in SE 34-6-43. Blanche's first teacher was Eva White. Charles retired from farming and moved his family to Kanorado in 1919. Lyle and Blanche drove their teem and buggy to Burlington on Feb. 25, 1914, and were married at the Court House. At this time Lyle was living on 22-6-43 on the place that Orrin and Cellestia Mesch had formerly lived. Lyle and Blanche continued to live there till the fall of 1916, when they moved to their homestead located on NW L-7-43, where Terry James lives now. They had built a 2-room adobe house, a barn, and had a well and well house to start out with. Later they added one more room on the house. We can still stand there today that they planted. In remember several of the hired men that worked for Lyle. They slept in the bunk 1898, they moved to SE 35-6-43 where Greg Jo-es now lives. This section is known as the house. We also boarded several of the school teacherg in our home. Most of them walked w M ', t\fi, rc ;'.-j-r*. Lyle and Blanch James family taken April 1, 1945 when Marvin was home on furlough. L to R: LiIa, Orma, LyIe, Marvin, Blanch, Elna and Chet. Lyle and Blanch Jsmes, taken in 1962. almost 2 miles across the pasture to ow small one-room school, District #66 known as Tip Top. On one occasion Lyle rode our horse "June" to check the cattle and break the ice in the water tank two miles north. The horse stumbled and fell and Lyle suffered a broken leg. His first thought was that he would freeze to death as there was a deep snow and bitter cold. Finally "June" put her head down and Lyle layed across her neck and was able to get back on good enough to ride home. The Dr. cnme out and set his leg and he spent 6 weeks in bed that winter. Lyle would take the tenm and wagon and go to town for supplies - usually it took 2 days to make the trip. He usually went about once a month. We raised a lot of our own staple foods such as meat, butter, potatoes, eggs, chickens and garden products. He would bring large quantities of flour, apples, oats, �prunes, raisins, baking powder, soda and spices from town. Lyle was partial to Black Angus cattle and kept a good sized herd. He fattened quite a few head most winters. We can remember getting up about 2 AM to start driving those big critters to the stock yards in Kanorado. They were then loaded on freight cals and shipped to market at Kansas City or Omaha. Lyle rode in the caboose to accompany them to market, which I'm sure wasn't very comfortable. Blanche had a pump organ which she chorded on and enjoyed. It had a frame with a mirror in it. One day while we were gone a hired man evidently aimed his gun at himself in the mirror and pulled the trigger, as there was a hole through the mirror when we returned. He never did confess he was guilty though. Our recreation took place mostly in the school houses in the area. They would have school progtams, box and pie suppers, plays, debates, parties and ball games. As a family we always looked forward to going to Sunday School every Sunday. We first went to Happy Hollow school house, then in later years to The Gospel Hall north of Kanorado. Lyle played a lot of checkers with his brothers and neighbors in the winter time. The 4th of July celebrations in Kanorado and fair time in Burlington, were fun times we enjoyed and usually spent all day, getting home late to do our chores, Our folks built a new house on the farm in 1929, and we really appreciated the electric- ity and all the modern conveniences. Then in 1945 they moved to Burlington to take life a little easier. They bought a large home on 10th St., then in 1959 they built a new smaller home on Senter Ave. They traveled quite a lot over the years and spent 13 winters in the Ft. Myers, Florida area. Lyle and Blanche had five children: Orma Turner, Elna Johnson, Lyla Enyart, Chester E. and Marvin W. Marvin passed away May 5, 1980, at Parker, Colorado. Burlington is the home address for the rest of the family. Lyle and Blanche celebrated 50 years of married life on Feb. 25, 1964. Lyle passed away of a heart attack on July 4, L964. been a radio minister, founding the daily Bible Fellowship Hour in Fresno, California previous to their coming to the Smoky Hill Area. Theyhad originally come from Western Coldwater, except for two years of grade Nebraska. While they were in Colorado the Janzen's actively supported several missionary families whom they knew personally. school. which were attended in the New Eden Along with several others, particularly Bernice Eberhart, they helped organize the Smoky Hill Sunday School. Nick and Bobbie enjoyed working with the people of the Smoky Hill area. Later Nick also filled the pulpit occasionally for Dr. Henry Beatty at the Burlington Methodist Church. Nick's severe illness brought the Janzen's three year stay to an abrupt halt. The family moved back to Fresno, Calif, in March of 1950 so Nick could have the medical attention he needed after brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Marilyn was the only one of the family who stayed in the area. She became the bride of Russell Scott, a neighbor, in August, 1949. They have three sons, Steve, Doug, and Tim. Steve and Darlene and Tim and Debbie and boys farm around Smoky Hill, and east of Burlington. Doug lives in Houma, Louisianna, with his wife Mary and children. Nick died in Fresno in Oct. 1950. After several years, Bobbie remarried and now lives in Reedley, Calif. Francis and his wife Waneta, Vernon and his wife Shirley live in Fresno and Gracie and John in Clovis, California. Manyhappymemories are enshrined in the lives of the Janzen's family of their stay in the Smoky Hill Area. Bobbie says she misses the wheat fields, and she comes to visit when she can, Vernon comes back every summer to help Russell and Marilyn harvest wheat. by Mrs. Ted Eberhart JARNAGIN - LIPSETT FAMILY F345 Blanche passed away November 30, 1982, of a broken hip and complications. In those times farming was a lot of hard work. They made do with what they had by raising livestock and grain crops. There were many good years along with several lean Colorado. by Elna M. Johnson JANZEN, NICK AND F3,44 Nick and Amanda, better known as "Bobbie" Janzen came to Burlington, Colo. in March, 1946 with their family, Marilyn, Vernon, Francis and Gracie. All of the children except Marilyn, who was attending college in Calif. were enrolled in the Smoky Hill School. Nick was the manager for some of the Albert Kirschmer farms. Nick had school. Jean D. Lipsett was the second of four children born to Sheldon Butler and Hattie Fern Johnston Lipsett in Buffalo, Ok., on Oct. 15, 1926. When she was four years old the family moved to Ashland, Ks., where she attended school. Dean graduated from Coldwater High School in 1941 and ventured to California, where he was employed in an arsenal for two years. He enlisted in the Navy, in May of 1943 and was sent to Farragut, Id. for basic training. Shortly thereafter, he was sent to Port Hueneme, Calif. Dean and Jean met at a barn dance at Protection, Ks. They both continue to enjoy dancing after 43 years of marriage. Dean and Jean were married on Sept. 15, 1943, at a Baptist Church in Ventura, Calif. After two weeks of marriage, Dean was sent overgeas on a 21 month tour of duty to Pearl Harbor and the Gilbert Islands. Jean remained in Calif. for several months, living with her uncle Paul Johnston and family. Much of her stay was spent touring Calif., and Mexico before she returned to Erie, Ks. and her job as a telephone operator. Dean was attached to the 907th U.S. Naval Air Base and shipped out to the atoll of Tarawa. 45 miles from the coast of Calif. His company was shipped on a tanker, that was used for refueling other naval ships. After the takeover of Tarawa, the men explored the atoll, and many of the nearby atolls, which became connected at low tide. The natives found on the atolls were able to speak fluent English and were supplied with cases of food from the U.S. When Dean returned from his overseas assignment in June of 1945, he had a brief furlough in western Ks. He and Jean then made their home in Corpus Christi, Tx., where Dean was assigned to the Naval base as a Storekeeper Disbursement clerk. Jean continued working as a telephone operator. On Feb. 2,L946, Dean was discharged from the Navy and they moved to Coldwater, Ks. In 1947, they moved to Arapahoe, Co., where Dean and his brother, Byron, broke out a quarter section of sod for Simon and Fishman. A family friend, Bill Chance, and his girl friend, M'Lee Isenbart remained in close years. As a pioneer family they saw many changes in their life time and were thankful they could be a part of the history of Eastern AMANDA N. Dean Jarnagin was born to Engiver and Edith Johnston Jarnagin, at Coldwater, Ks. on Sept. 5, 1923, and attended school in Dean and Sheldena Jarnagin Sept. 15, 1943. contact with Dean and Jean. Miss Isenbart's relative, C.L. Hickman, leased land 11 miles south of Seibert, to Dean and Bill. The following year, 1948, Dean and Jean bought their home place 3 miles south and 4 mi. west of Seibert, from Heye Wilkinson, which they still own today. Their first tractor was an F-30 International with an 8 ft. oneway. At that time, they thought they were really getting the farming done in a hurry. Their farming operation eventually became much larger, and they were soon planting and harvesting over 3000 acres of wheat a year. They have two children, a daughter, Sheldeana Marie (1954), and a son, Kevin Jay (1958). Sheldeana lives in the Los Angeles, Ca. area with her two sons, Christopher (1973) and Michael (19?5). She worked in the computer field for an engineering construction firm in Pasadena. Kevin married Shirley Brachtenbach from Stratton, and they have �two sons, David (1978) and Ryan (1981). They are engaged in farming and ranching operations in the Seibert area. In 1958, Dean and Jean purchased a home in Seibert, which had been built by G.W. Klockenteger, the then banker of Seibert. Jean and friends Vivian Hatfield, Lou White and Stan Strode, spent many hours stenming off paper, painting and hauling plaster until the house was remodeled. Dean missed the excitement of the remodeling, as he was the field manager of the Colorado Springs Production Credit Association. Dean was also kept busy driving and delivering LP gas and doing custom farm work for others in the JENKINS, HAROLD AND STELLA F347 In March 1906, Harold Jenkins, a curlyhaired farmer and sometime well driller, married Stella Gardner, a pretty little school teacher. In 1908, a son, Dale, was born. In 1909, the little boy died. In 1910, Harold and Stella sold everything, left families and friends in Nebraska to homestead their half section of land in what was to become Shiloh community, 20 miles Dean was hired by Matt to mix and carry northeast of Flagler in Kit Carson County, Colorado. They built a L2' x 14' frame "shanty." The following year they built a 14' x 16'"soddy" attached to it. wa"s a great asset in helping them get started "shanty" but the "soddy" was really a snug little house with window seats a foot deep, the thickness of the walls. A frame roof was area. They beceme acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Matt Simonson, who operated a ranch 14 mi. southwest of Seibert. For a short time "mud" for Sig Viken to stucco the old schoolhouse in Flagler, which was being converted into an apartment building. Matt in the cattle business, in 1949. by Sheldena Jarnagin JEFFRIES - GUY FAMILY F346 Horace Greeley said, "Go west, young man, go west," so in the 1890's Leroy and Ada Jeffries did just that. They moved all the way from western Kangas to the bleak eastern Colorado plains. At about the same time a dashing young man, Harrison Guy, came out of Nebraska and met Leroy and Ada's daughtcr, Anna. This meeting culminated in marriage. Harrison and Anna homest€aded near Seibert and out of this union came five boys and one girl who left a distinctive mark on the small towns of eastern Colorado. Leroy, the first born was an outstanding basketball and track star. Garland (#2) was also a prolific basketball player and an outstanding softball pitcher and in 1932 led Seibert to the district basketball tournament. Jay (#3) followed in his older brother's footsteps by excelling in everything he undertook. Ventan (#4) died at an early age in the influenza and diphtheria scourge of the early 1920's. Robert (#5) was the youngest of the boys and carried on the Guy tradition in grand style. Then, "Lo and Behold," along came a girl, Ada May (#6). She was the baby for many years and Harrison even reserved a seat on the school bus for her. Today in 1986 there are four of the Guy family left. Leroy is retired from thorobred horse training and lives in Phoenix. Garland is retired from Ford Motor Co. after 35 years of service and is really enjoying life by raising, breeding and racing thorobred horses in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Robert lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and baby Ada May and her husband, Merle, live in Phoenix where they also race horses in Arizona and NewMexico. The Guyfamilyhas come along wayfrom Grandpa and GrandmaJeffries and the Hotel and Poolhall in Seibert. Colorado. by Ada may Midgett There was nothing wrong with the covered with tar paper and a layer ofsod. The inside was plastered with native magnesium which had an interesting texture and was naturally white and was calcimined as needed to keep it that way. It was lived in until 1924, then used for a wash house and storage. High on the list of priorities in living on a homestead was breaking ground a - with walking plow and the lines from the horses tied over one shoulder and around the waist planting the crops and hurrying to fence -the fields before crops cAme up and the "critters" began visiting. And then the well drilled. Neighbors helped build the windmill to pump the water and dig and cement a cistern for storage. People with no wells of their own would come to get water in barrels and tanks on wagons until they had wells. With a garden and some livestock to care for, Stella usually stayed home alone while Harold made the frequent two-day trip to town alone for supplies like lumber for building; tubing, pipes and rods for the well; posts and wire for fencing. Of these times Stella said, "There is no sound lonelier than a coyote howling on the prairie at night." When Henry's tin lizzie became available a few years later, it was the answer to many pioneers'prayers. However, before that in 1911, Harold and Stella and Stella's parents from Nebraska went by teem and buggy to visit relatives in La Junta, Colorado. While Harold farmed and built barns and shops and graineries and huntedjack rabbits, Stella helped him where she could, raised a garden and taught school in a sod school house four miles away, driving "old gray Pete" morning and evening. The livestock increased. With more ground planted, crops were larger. So life became, if not easier, at least more abundant. Then in 1914, a long wished for baby arrived, a girl named Lila. Somewhere about this time, shortly before or after WW I, Harold and Ed Gering got phones and strung the wire on fence posts. In 1917, Harold and Stella rented their place to Bill Gering and sold out to him and his brother, Ed. Then they moved to Washington state. Harold and his brother, Charlie, had a Maxwell agency in Garfield. A second daughter, Myrle, was born there. The auto business wasn't great, so the brothers sold out and moved to Spokane where Harold and Willard opened the No-Tie Mattress Works. That wasn't great either so the Jenkins family moved back to the homestead. InLg24, a third daughter, Maxine, was born, complet- ing the family. The family weathered grasshoppers, dust storms and depression and Harold set up a 6-volt, wind-powered electric system while the girls went through ten years of schooling at Shiloh. Lila graduated from high school at Seibert and Myrle and Maxine at Flagler. Harold's health had been deteriorating, and by 1942 he couldn't take care of the farm so they moved to a smaller place near Littleton for four years, then to Arlington, California. Harold's health was bett€r in the lower altitude for several years. He and Stella ran a variety store in Cucnmonga from 1948 until 1955, when he becnme so ill they moved to Los Angeles to be closer to Myrle and Maxine and their families. Harold died just a few weeks later months to the day short - four of their fiftieth anniversar5r. Stella was quite ill for a while after Harold's death. When she was better, she went to work as a practical nurse caring for the elderly-ill. She was taking care of a sick "old lady" when she had a stroke in 1963 at age 77. She had a fair recovery but had hardening of the arteries and went down hill pretty fast. She died in 1973, age 86. Lila (Jenkins) Nodacker had 3 children. The youngest died of a brain tumor in 1966, shortly before his tenth birthday. Her remaining son has a son, her daughter has a daughter and a son. Lila died in 1973. Her husband lives in San Diego. Myrle (Jenkins) Kappmeyer had one son. He has two sons and one daughter. Myrle lives in Yucaipa, California with her husband. Maxine (Jenkins) Thompson started working for Western Union in January 1943. She is still working for them and is the only instructor in the Western United Statps. She is a widow and lives in Reno, Nevada. Much of this information was obtained from a personal history written by Stella Jenkins. by Myrle (Jenkins) Kappmeyer JENSEN, THOMAS AND EMMA BAILEY F348 Thomas and Emma Jensen cane to Colorado with their four oldest children, Leslie, Oliver, Goldie and Orpha from Decatur County, KS. Thomas and son Oliver came by covered wagon in the spring of 1910. They plowed some of the land and put in epring crops and made a dug-out for temporar5r living. Mrs. Jensen and the other children came by train. The rest of their belongings and livestock were shipped by train. Mr. Jensen and Oliver met the others at Seibert by wagon. Leslie and Oliver drove the livestock to the homesite on foot. Alma, Leon, Letha, and Marion were born in the years after the move to Colorado. All of us children but Letha and Marion attended the Pleasant Valley adobe school, and the younger children attended the North Flager School, one mile east of our home. My dad purchased one quarter and homesteaded another quarter of land. They lived for a time in the dug-out. Later a close neighbor, the Tandy Todds, moved away and the family lived in their sod hous€ until their �own sd house was completed. This home was located fourteen miles north and four west of Seibert. Later it was gituated in the Pleasant Valley School District No. 40. My father was a cattleman, farmed wheat, barley, and corn and feed crops. The open range joined on the south with many water holes made an ideal place for grazing cattle. They also raised hogs and chickens, sold eggs and cream to help buy groceries and needed items. Dad did some blacksmith work for himself and to help out the neighbors, and that activity made him a little cash too. At harvest time Dad and the older boys operated Alms Jensen Lammey, died in Commerce Tennessee Pass, down the western slope to City, Co, in October, 1983. Sister Goldie is in the Grace Manor Nursing Home in Burlington, CO. The rest of us and our families live in Colorado, except for Leslie's family Glenwood Springs and from there to Grand Junction. members who live in Idaho, Washington, and cattle, fruit orchards, and the majestic moun- California. by Orpha Jensen Goodrich JOIINSON FAMILY F349 a threshing machine and a header crew, exchanging work many times with the neighbors, and doing some custom threshing. Living this far from market was a big chore. They hauled the grain and other products to sell by team and wagon, bringing back groceries and needed itcms. They would leave home early in the morning, returning home late at night. They usually went to Siebert as it was the closest town. The old timers burned cow chips, cobs, wood and some coal, but mostly cow chips. Most used cook stoves which cooked on top, baked, and heated water at the seme time and heated the kitchen. They used small heating stoves in the other rooms. The school was the center of entertainment. Literaries, box and pie socials were held, and also Christmas progrnms with treats for the children. In 1913, the Shiloh Baptist Church was built and was the church center of the community. Later the men organized a baseball tenm, with the men and boys playing ball and the women folk coming for the entertainment. Some private dances were held in the homes. Sleigh rides, taffy pulls, and parties were enjoyed along with visiting in the various homes. The women of the conmunity enjoyed getting together in harvest time to help with the cooking for the men. During the grain cutting time, the men liked to play croquet at the noon hour while the horses rested. In 1918 the influenza hit about every home. Sometimes all in a family would be in bed at the same time. Then the neighbors would help out with the chores. Some lost loved ones, but our fanily was one of the lucky one8. The winters were long and very cold, with blizzards lasting three days, and some times the feed crops becnme very scarce too early in the spring. Later in 1918 until the 1920s were better years. My dad bought both a touring car and truck, which made marketing much easier as well as attending recreational activities. The 1930's brought the dust storms and no crops, the time called the "dirty thirties". Our early neighbors were Ace Hatmons, Mason Wilsons, Jim Millers, Delbert Todds, Burr Borings, Harold Jenkins, Fred Landaus, and later the Gene Teeters and Ord Millers. One very early neighbor \pas Calvin Hembrees who had the first etenm engine plow in the neighborhood. There were not many organizations at this time. Dad belonged to the Seibert and Flagler Equity Coop. Vernie and Marion served in World War II, with Marion serving overseas. Dad died in January, 1930, at the age of 62 years. Mother died in May, 1971, at the age of 92. Leslie, who lived in Idaho, died in 1975; his wife Viola dicd 5 years later. Our sister, All of this country was like heaven to us dryJand farmers all the rushing streams, - lush full flowing rivers, hay meadows, fat Asa and Elberta September, 1965: This story of our "courting" will seem really corny to the youths of today, but keep in mind there was no radio, television, movies, nor even easy transportation to help'us learn the ways of the world. For myself, even books weren't easily available. My formal education consisted of the first three grades, so I would have had a hard time reading, let alone understand anything. So bear with me now as I recall eome of our experiences. September, 1911: I was 22 years of age. My father, Richard Martin Johnson and my oldest sist€r Katie Murray and her husband, Tom, chartered a Rock Island Emigrant boxcar at Goodland Kansas, and in it we put all our belongings and headed off to Hotchkiss, a small town on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies. Another sister, Minnie Foust, husband Joe, and their children Mabel and Tilman lived there as well as some of our Kansas neighbors, who had moved there earlier. In those days an emigrant car was used to haul household goods, livestock and machinery across country. Only the persons needed to care for the livestock were allowed to ride in the emigrant car. Since I would be helping my brother-in-law Tom with his stock, I was permitted to ride in that car. My mother, sister, and the children rode in the passenger car, We were three days and nights on the trip. What interesting sights and spectacular scenery we saw! Being a "high and dry, short grass country boy, my eyes bulged with excitement and wonder. The "emigrantg" who for some reason didn't haul barrels of water in their boxcars had to unload their livestock at every regular water stop. Fortunately, all we had to do was refill our barrels of water at the stops to keep our 6 horses and one cow satisfied. Besides the stock, we had a few chickens, our household possessions, beds, dressers, a tains, it was a feast for the eyes and soul. We finally "landed" at Midway, between Hotchkiss and Paonia. I don't think there is even a post office at Midway an5rmore. Father and Mother moved in with my sister Minnie Faust and her husband, Joe and their two children. Katie and Tom pitched their tent between the homes of the Mclntires and the Potts', and for a couple of months I shared the tent with Katie and Tom. We knew the Mclntire family as they had been our neighbors in Kansas. In fact they were the ones who promoted and encouraged our move. We were not acquainted with the Potts family. The Mclntires had a daughter, Maude, who was 17 or 18 years of age and even though I was still single, I was not interested in courting her as we had practically grown up together and she seemed like a sister to me. The Potts' had a daughter, Elberta. However, from bit^s of conversation with the Mclntires, mostly from Maude, I got the impression Elberta was about 12 years old. Even though she looked too big for a 12 year old, I had seen a few girls who were large for their age, so it didn't even enter my mind that she might be available for courting. Much later it dawned on me that it just might have been Maude was interested in me and didn't want me to know that Elberta was really 16! One day Elberta was visiting at the McIntire home, and when she started home she suddenly remembered she would have to pass by where I lived. She was barefooted, and although in those days girls wore their skirts well below their knees, she wasn't about to take any chances that I should see her bare legs, so she sashayed quite a distance out of her way to avoid me. Somehow, I did manage to visit the Potts' home at intervals. In fact I got pretty well acquainted with Mrs. Potts. It so happened that she acted as midwife for my sister, Katie, when one of her children was born, and came by daily to care for things. I didn't have work at the time so I helped out with the household chores and with the other Murray children. by Opal Joy JOHNSON FAMILY F360 sewing machine and cookingutensils. We also packed in some farm machinery, most of which proved to be of little vdue to us in an irrigated country, such as the Hotchkiss area was. At Pueblo, Colorado we trangferred to the Denver and Rio Grande line which would take us through the mountains via the Royal Gorgeto Salida. Thiswas a steady, slow climb so I got off and walked alongside the train 'till we crme to the Royal Gorge suspension bridge the firet I'd ever seen. The engineer- involved in that project boggled my ing work mind. After leaving the Royal Gorge, we followed the Arkansa! River to Leadville, crossed Aea and Elberta Johnson I soon found out what a wonderful person Mrs. Potts was, and my esteem for her has endured. The winter months crept by, and in March, 1912, my sister, Melinda, accompanied me on a train trip back to Kansas to visit our brother Joe and family who lived in CIay Center. I might add here that I was the 5th child of 15 born to my parents. I had 9 sist€rs and 5 brothers. I needed work and the good man Nels Nelson, with whom I had worked before �traipsing off to Colorado, needed help so I ended up staying in Kansas. Meanwhile, things had not gone well for the Murrays in Colorado. In December, 1911, fire had destroyed their home, then in May, 1912, the Potts' family lost their home and possessions when the North Fork of the Gunnison River flooded. The Murrays deci- ded to return to Kansas and Mr. Potts wanted to locate in the Denver area. The two families rigged up covered wagons and left Midway on the 19th of June, crossed the Continental Divide and arrived in Canon City the Fourth ofJuly. They then separated, the Murrays taking the route to Bird City, Kansas while the Potts family went on to Dodge City Kansas, for a visit with Mrs. Potts'brother, Henry Smith. Aftpr their visit there, they went back to Denver, where Mr. Potts decided he liked the suburb town of Littleton. That's where they made their home. Fall of 1912: Mr. Nelson's harvest was all completed, and no immediate work available, so sister Melinda and I boarded the train again. This time we went to Seibert, Colorado where we visited our sister Pearl Thorson and her husband, Thalmer. With their two children Benny and Marvin, they lived on their homestead 18 yz miles north and 1 % miles east of Seibert. I'd made up my mind that after our visit I wanted to go to the South Park area or to Gunnison to find work and a place to call my home, but Pearl and Thalmer could talk fast€r than I could, and succeeded in talking me into staying there, and filing a homestead claim. Before I could file, though, I had to find a suitable, unclaimed piece of property, which proved to be quite a task, as nearly all homestead land had already been filed on. I think it was about 1909 that Congress passed a bill a single individual could file for a halfsection claim. It was established that a family needed a full section. A section is a piece of property a mile square, 640 acres. Therefore, I, as a single man, could file for 320 acres. 640 acres should support a family, or so Congress members determined. There were scattered pieces of disconnected land we looked at that was still available but I didn't like the inconvenience that would cause in trying to do anything with it, so we kept looking and inquiring around. Finally we found a 7z section 18 miles north of Seibert. The east side of it bordering on what later was named Highway 59 and the north side near the Washington County line. Although this parcel had already been filed for by an Earl Simmons, we found out his claim could be contested since he had not complied with the homestead requirements. However, ws nlse !6alned that contesting was time consuming, anywhere from 90 to 180 days. We learned that if Mr. Simmons would sell his relinquishment, we could then file without a contesting period. Somehow we found out that the person who had a claim on the south side on Simmon's parcel was a relative of Simmons. We contacted him and he, in turn, contacted Earl Simmons who was willing to sell the relinquishment. I don't remember how much I paid. It couldn't have been much, as I didn't have much money. Anyway, I went ahead and filed my claim. I might add here that I later beco-e well acquainted with this relative of Mr. Simmons. His ntme was Keep Lee. He had a twin brother named Quit! Can you believe it! The story they told was the their mother already had several children and when along ce-e these twins she decided they'd "keep" them, but "quit". They proved to be neighborly and were a lot of help to me. Building an adobe shack was the next step after filing, and I located it as near as I could to the center of the half-section so as not to wake up gome morning on someone else'g property. This shack was 14 feet long and 10 feet wide. It had one small window in the south and one in the west. The door was made of floor boards. There weren't enough boards for the floor so it remained dirt. I packed it down good. Then I built a fence to keep out the livestock that ranged freely over the prairie. I'll skip ahead a little now to tell you what happened to my shack. It was Spring, 1915. Mother nature blessed us with a three-inch rain accompanied by a strong north wind. I didn't realize what was happening even though I was confined most of that time inside that shack. Suddenly I heard a loud cracking noise and before I could even think what was happening, the North wall began to buckle. Well, my bed and bedding were against that wall and did I ever fly into gear to get that out of the way and where it would be protected. Nothing else in there could be harmed so I took off, hoofed it a mile north to the Wrape home. by Opal Joy JOHNSON FAMILY F351 Asa Elberta qlohnson I had worked offand on for them and they, John and Belle, were like family to me. To this day I'm grateful for their kind friendship and all the help they gave me. In the few days, the Wrapes gave me a lift into Siebert where I bought lumber and stripping and soon my shack was once again my happy home. Later on you'll read how it cerne in handy for me to be able to say that my home was "part" frnme. Now getting back to Fall of 1912. Even after all of the above expenses, somehow I managed to have a little money left, and with some of it I bought a little 2 lz yeat old pony. She was black with just a sprinklilng of grey, all four feet were white, and she had a "blazed" or white face. She weighed about 650 pounds. I named her Polly and she and my saddle were my treasured companion and possession. I sure was thrilled with them. Before winter set in that Fall of 1912 I rode my pony to Bird City, Ks. where my sister Katie and family lived and I made my home with them, working around the country picking and shucking corn, and any other odd jobs I could get. By spring, 1913, I again had a little "nest egg" so I returned to my homestead. I took over Thalmer Thorson's horses and equip- my home with Katie and Tom. One day during this stay, Katie who had kept up a correspondence with Mrs. Potts since their journey across the mountains said, "Asa, why don't you start writing to Elberta Potts?" "Oh," I said, "I don't care to be writing to or courting a yolrng school girl." "Well, Bertie (as she was being called then) may still be in school," Katie said, "but she's old enough for you to correspond with." Katie didn't give me their addresses and I didn't ask for it and no more was mentioned. But one daywhen the family had all gone to town, I became curious and snooped around a bit 'till I found Potts'address. However I didn't write until Easter, 1914, when I mustered up enough courage to write a note on an East€r card. Months went by and finally I received a note from her on a Christmas card so then we started corresponding regularly. Bertie was studying German in school and in one of her letters she signed off in German. It could have been chinese or Greek as far as I was concerned. . . I didn't know what she meant, so I wrote and asked her what she was trying to tell me. She always read her letters to her parents and after reading this particular one, her father said, "well, if he can't read your writing you just quit writing." Right here I'd like to add that Bertie's handwriting was beautiful. Well. she couldn't think of what she might have written and wanted me to send that letter back so she could straigh- ten it out. She hadn't written anything she was ashamed of she said in her letter. I didn't return the letter. Bertie's two brothers Ezra and Ted could be quite mischievous and hard telling what they might add if they got hold of the letter and cause Bertie trouble so I wrote that if I ever came to Littleton again I'd bring the letter with me. June, 1915, I went Litteton, above letter in my pocket and she explained, "Why that's just my name in German, that's all." So, we all relaxed and had a chuckle. My visit there lasted about a week. Bertie and Ezra showed me places of interest in downtown Denver and a few days after that Bertie and I were permitted to go to Denver by ourselves. This was the first opportunity we'd had to be alone. I was as shy as she wds, but on the one-anda-ha]f mile walk from their home to catch the street car, I ventured to ask her ifl could hold her tender little hand and started to do so. She jerked it away saying, "It's too hot." Gee whiz, I hadn't noticed. I don't think we missed any of the sights. We toured the State Capitol building and the Capitol museum . .a whole bunch of walking. I was feasting my eyes but I was feeling like a feast for my stomach. I asked her if she'd like to stop at a restaurant, but no, no, she wasn't hungry. There was still a lot of walking after that as we went to City Park and all through the museum there. By then I was so hungry I could have eaten the part of a bear that goes up the tree last. Aromas from the eating joints and bakeries we'd pass made my mouth water. Do you think she'd stop to eat. . no. (Later, I found out she'd rather crochet, shop or play cards, then take dryest. The crops were miserably meager. time to eat). Well, when we got back to Littleton her mother had one swell dinner and did I ever relish it. Another day we were allowed to visit headed back to Bird City for the winter. This time with a team and wagon. Again I made Bertie's sister Laura Mumm and family and on the way back by golly I got to hold her hand and at last feel a little of the affection ment and farmed his place and my claim also. That summer had to be the hottest and There was nothing to harvest, so again, I �of my future life companion and helpmate. I didn't waste any more time. I popped the question then and there. She didn't answer. by Opal Joy JOHNSON FAMILY F362 Asa and Elbert Johnson A couple days later I asked her if she had mentioned my proposal. She said, "No." But she did say that if they gave their consent she'd be willing to marry me. I felt it would be easier to approach her mother first. We waited until her father was out in the raspberry patch and with a lump in my throat as big as a goose egg, I asked Mrs. Potts for her coneent. I don't remember exactly what she said, but you girls remember how grandma looked when she was pleased as punch about something, yet didn't want to let on that's the cute look she had all - well, over her face. She did say, "I hate to give Bertie up but she couldn't get a better man." That stat€ment made the goose egg in my throat shrink to the size of a pigeon egg, giving me the courage to head out to Mr. Potts in the raspberry patch. In all my younger years when I had my natural teeth I was always whistling or singing as I worked. Evidently Mr. Potts had heard me many times as we did work with each other when we were all on the western slope. I didn't realize though that thig habit irritated him. As Bertie and I made our way towards him, out of habit I was whistling. I blurted out my question as quickly as possible. He didn't even look at me, but glued his eyes on Bertie and said, rather sarcasti- cally, I thought, "I sure thought we had gotten away from this whistlin' boy!" Hi! voice softened a bit as he said "Well, I suppose you've already talked it over with your mother. Just remember, you're making your bed, so you'll have to lie in it." I took that statement as his consent and we hurried out of the patch. Now that she knew we had their consent, I got-my very first kiss from her. The first thing I did then was to buy an engagement ring. But being such a gteenhorn Kansas Jayhawker, it turned out to be the wedding band. I didn't have ertra money for another ring so it had to be put away for the wedding. That show of ignorance didn't "make points" with her father. Everything was smoothed over but Bertie never did get Littleton for our wedding. The two months went by in a hurry, and I was hoofing the 18 miles to Seibert to catch the train. I didn't town and offered us a lift home in their wagon. Before the festivities were over though, storm clouds rolled in quickly from know of agood place in townto leave myteam the north west. Many people decided not to and wagon so decided to start out walking and by chance maybe someone would come along to give me a lift. There were no travelers that day, so by the time I got to Seibert I was sure looking forward to the long train ride into Denver. I knew Mr. Potts would be meeting me at the depot, however I didn't expect to see him toting a shotgun. I spied him before he saw me so I sashayed around to try to get close enough to tap him on the shoulder or get hold of the gun. His brother-in-law Henry Smith whom I'd not yet met was with him. He had seen me sneaking up on them and since he didn't know me, he wondered if I was some kind of nut trying to rob them or something. Anyway, I finally got Pott's attention and asked him where he thought he was going with that gun! It turned out the gun needed repairs but there hadn't been time to leave it at the gunsmith shop before meeting me. We all had a good laugh and proceeded to the gunsmith's, then on to Littleton. A marriage license had to be purchased at the courthouse in Littleton. I thought Bertie and I could surely go alone to take care of that. Oh, no! Bertie's brothers Ezra and Ted hooked old Netty, an iron grey, flea-bitten mare to the single seated buggy, and Mr. Potts and the boys accompanied me. I guess Potts wanted to be sure everything was done legally and carried out to the point of no return. All arrangements were made including getting the Justice of the Peace lined up to pronounce the wedding vows at the Potts' home at 7:30 pm, Monday September 6th. September 6th. The family shoved Bertie and I out of the house early in the morning for another day of sightseeing with the admonition to get ourselves back in time to get fixed up proper for the 7:30 ceremony. We returned in time and what a transformation awaited us. Everyone in the house had set to decorate the front room just beautifully and a real banquet had been prepared. Everything was simply gorgeous. Begides Bertie's parents and brothers, others who witnessed our ceremony were Bertie's sister Laura Mumm and husband Pete and their children, also Henry and Susan Smith, her Uncle and aunt from Dodge City, Ks. The knot was tied. September 9th. My bride, with her hope chest and clothes and I boarded the train for Seibert. by Opal Joy an engagement ring. She was curious about the kind of house there was on the farm. I gaid real quick to keep from lying that it was part frame and part adobe. Fortunately she didn't ask how large it was or about the floor. Later I realized JOHNSON FAMILY how heart sick and disappointed she was when we entered that 10 ft. x 14 ft. shack with Asa and Elberta a dirt floor. When she said, "I thought you said the house was part frame", I said, "well, it is, there'e frnming around the windowe." At that point I'm sure if she could have gotten back to Seibert to catch the train she'd have gonetopapaandmo-a. . . andlookingback I could not have bln-ed her. After our engagement was settled I went back to the homestead knowing that in a couple of months I'd be going back to attempt the long drive to their homes. Townspeople generously opened their homes. I don't remember where the Wraps stayed but Bertie and I were given a room in the Clay Frankfather home. The rain and hail pounded all night three inches of moisture by morning! That was Bertie's introduction to Seibert. Finally we went to my bachelor hut to set up housekeeping. I didn't realize until much later how crude Bertie must have thought I was to bring her into such a shack. . . but she stayed by my side through thick and thin. . . and regardless of the hardships and heartaches brought on mostly by my thoughtlessness, she seemed to always keep a positive outlook. Prairie life was a terrific adjustment my bride had to make. It didn't dawn on me at the time though. She was quick to make friends. All the neighbors were wonderful. But neighbors were not close enough to visit frequently so there were long, lonely days for her. No phone either, so she couldn't call anyone. One day I hooked up a young team I'd purchased the previous year, old Cap and Midget. I seemed to call the horses old this or that, even though they were young. Anyway we took a ride over our half-section. I guess she thought I owned the whole country as about every quarter mile she'd ask whose property we were on and I'd say "ours". It seemed like endless miles to her not a tree in sight, no hill higher than a prairie dog mound, no house except the Wrap home, and a seemingly never- ending wind blowing across the flat land. I think her desolation and loneliness for the city, the mountains and greenery, and her folks was deeper than I ever dared imagine. I was so accustomed to this prairie life and had high hopes for our future, I couldn't sense any other thing. To make our "home" a little brighter and cleaner I plastered the walls. It made them cleaner but not much more interesting. While I was in Seibert one day Bertie gathered all the Farm Journal papers we hadand pasted the pages on the walls. They made for interesting reading while we ate our meals. Eventually we knew the "news" by heart. To cook on during the hot summer we obtained a perfection oil stove. One day Bertie put some "vittles" on to cook, then joined me on a errand that took us away for about a half hour. Those oil stoves had a way of playing dirty tricks. The flame wouldn't always stay in the position it had been set. It and oily smoke would creep higher. When we F363 got back to the house pages of the Farm Journal hung like black sooty webs from the walls. I think we both had a good cry before tackling the clean up chore. When we arrived in Seibert we found a Seibert Day celebration was in full progress so we took in all activities. It so happened that prizes were being given to the couple married the most years and the most newly married couple. We won a 50 pound bag of flour for the later category. Were we ever thrilled with that. My good neighbors, the Wraps, were in Another mishap occurred that first winter. For some reason our Big Ben alarm clock refused to keep proper time. On a stormy day when little work could be done outside I decided to give old Mr. Ben a good cleaning and oiling. I was ready to take the clock apart when Bertie said, "Oh my, you know what? I just remembered that Papa always boiled the clock in milk to clean it." So that's what we did for 20 minutes. Guess what we had? - clock coated with clabbered milk A no-good and whey. We probably had another good cry �then a good laugh when Bertie remem-bered that it wasn't the clock her father boiled in milk but his meerschaum pipe! Thus began our wedded life. Today is Monday, September 6, exactly 50 years later. I wish her parents could have been here to help celebrate. Her father's bark was worse than his bite. He did have a heart of gold and they both would have been as happy as larks that we'd made it to the 50 mark. We've had our troubles, illnesses, squabbles, sadnesses and financial difficul- ties (the homest€ad was lost during the depression), but the memories of the many happy times we've had and the rich rewarding experiences we have shared with our six daughters, 17 grandchildren and 3 great needed to be done. Roy and Elna were married Sept. 3, 1935 in Burlington at the Christian Church par- times. sonage. The depression was on, but somehow we managed to have groceries and our needs together. by Opal Joy JOIINSON - JAMES FAMILY F354 ltl ri:&:llsr,it9l would pick us up at school in a wagon or sled. After we got to school we walked % mile to get drinking water at Jake and Pauline Schlichenmayers home. We girls, being the oldest, helped our Dad do chores, work in the field, check cattle by horseback or whatever grandchildren far outweigh the difficult This is our Golden Anniversary and we're now looking forward to our truly golden years ,:,lir : r, Elna Mae James was born on her parents homestead NE of Burlington, Colorado. Her parents were Lyle and Blanche (Nealley) Jnmes, and Elna had two sisters, Orma and Lyla and two brothers, Chester and Marvin. The children attended school at Tip Top District #66 which was a country school one and three-fourth miles across the pasture. After doing our chores we walked to school. The weather had to be real bad before they were supplied. We lived in Ft. Collins for 3 months in the fall of 1935 and Roy worked in a dairy. We moved back to the farm north of Ruleton, Kansas where Roy farmed. At first he farmed with horses then bought a tractor in 1938. Our first wheat crop was hailed out. Our daughter, Wanda, was born Elva Asel, and Gustavis "Gus" Lesley Johnson in L924 in Goodland, Kansas in 1938. In January 1939 we moved 18 miles NE of Burlington in the Happy Hollow area. There was still open range NW of our farm for about two years before it was fenced. Over the years we built up the farm buildings and planted several trees. We also remodeled the house ae we could afford to - nothing fancy but at least it was modern. Two sons, Dwaine, and Gary, joined our farnily circle. All three of the children attended grade school at Happy Hollow, then after the country schools consolidat€d with tov,'n they went by bus to school in Burlington and graduated from high school there. Wanda lived in Germany for 3 years after her marriage to Larry Klinger. They also lived in Louieiana after coming back to the states. They have made their home in Broomfield, Colorado for several years, and Wanda workg for AT & T. Dwaine attended college two winters at Emmaus Bible College in Chicago, Ill. He also went three years to Rockmont College in Denver, Colorado, before coming back to Roy and Elna Johnson was taken in August 1985, just before their 50th wedding anniversary. Roy Johnson's patents, Joe and Annie, owned the store and Postoffice at Thurman, Colorado and Rry was born on a farm in that area 10 miles south of Anton, Colorado. Roy Burlington. Gary went to NE Jr. College in Sterling, Colorado one fall, then he went to Vo-Tech School in Goodland the nert winter. Dwaine and Gary both live NE of Burlington now with their families, and farm. We moved to Burlington on May 31, 1971 and enjoy living in this small town of eastern Colorado. We have seen many changes over the years. by Roy Johnson JOHNSTON - WEST had an older brother, Roscoe, and two younger sisters, Mae and Ruth. When Roy was 4 years old his Dad passed away of tuberculosis. Over the next several years Roy lived in Arriba and south of Karval and attended schools in Arriba, Blue Cliff, Karval and Sugar City. In 1932 Roy picked corn north of Goodland, Kansas. In 1933 and 1934 he farmed in the area north of Ruleton, Kansas and lived with his sister Mae and her Some time in the early part of the year 1904, my parents, Charles Edgar and Elva Ansel Johnston, plus my older brother, Gus, who was age three years at the time, loaded their wagon with everything they owned and husband. left Corning, Iowa. They finally stopped in FAMILY Barney lra Johnston, age L2, and his brother, Gustavis "Gus" Lesley Johnston, age 21. Flagler, Colorado, where Dad filed on a homestead, two miles west and four miles north of the water tank at Flagler. Dad built a dugout and this is where they lived the first year. The first thing after that was to dig a well. Mother said he just started digging and kept getting deeper and deeper. Finally at about sixty-five feet there was a big rock which covered the whole bottom of the shaft. In anger and disgust he slammed the digging bar down on the rock and it went right on through. He pulled the bar out and water shot up aboutthree feet. He made a few F355 more jabs and water ran him up out of the well. Water came up to fifteen or twenty feet of the surface and it stayed there. No matter how much was pumped out, the level of water never varied. The next thing of course was to build a house. Dad fashioned a sod cutter so that he could cut the sod in strips, then go along with �a spade, cutting the stips into blocks, twelve inches wide and eighteen inches long and about six inches thick, and there were the walls of our house. For a roof it was one inch by twelve inch planks bent over a ridge pole, forming a round shape. The planks were covered with heavy tar paper with a layer of sod on top ofthat to hold the tar paper down. When it was finished, it was L-shaped; the short length was the kitchen, running east and west. The long length ran north and south. It contained a parlor and three bedrooms. The parlor and bed rooms had a wooden floor, while the kitchen had a cement floor. I don't remember the size of the rooms; they were probably small. But the kitchen nowthiswag a kitchen. This is where we lived. That kitchen was the heart and soul of the Farm. A cool place in the summer and warm place n the winter, and when it rained the roof did not leak. Mother, like all farm wives, had certain days for certain chores. It so happened every Saturday was for doing the baking for the week. This was my day. And so it is even today; the odor of fresh baked bread is the sweetest odor in the world! I was born in that sod house 16 October '07, and lived there the first six or seven years of my life. There was a sister, a year or two before me, born premature, only weighing one pound at birth. She only lived a couple ofweeks. Then there cnrne a younger brother. He lived two years and died with cholera infantrrm. Dad died in 1916. A cancer had developed on his check. Mother said he was just getting on his feet when he got sick. My older brother passed away in 1972 and is buried in National City, Cdifornia; but the rest of the family still has a small piece of Colorado in the Flagler Cemetery. They are all there, lined up nice Mother, Brother, Sister and - Father, Grandma and Grandpa West, Mother's folks. Life was never easy in the "good old days" even in the city. On the farms and homesteads it was even tougher. Think about it: load our worldly goods in a covered wagon, behind a tenm of horses, travel with the sun for several hundred miles. Take a bare piece of land and make it into a home. With only a strong constitution and good teem of horses, and a whole lot of Guts, and with very little of a very important ingredient money! - Our human nature prevails; they had their lighter momentg church socials, box suppers, dances and- all kinds of other things to lighten their life. I know one of my own fondest memorieg is Mother popping a big dishpan full of popcorn. Everyone got a tin pie pan and dug in. Now there is popcorn and there is more popcorn, but there never wa!r, nor will there ever be popcorn like that . . . make up a big lunch for us. Dad would put hay and grain in the wagon, and off we would go. This was a three day trip: one day going, one day visiting, and one day going home. The older folks would have a great time bringing everybody up to date, and we kids, and believe me there was plenty of kids to go around, would have our own good times. The whole family looked forward to this trip in the fall. There was a neighbor just south of us on the west side of the road. He was of Dutch extraction and a widower. Dad and Mom were going to town in the buggy. The old Dutchman stopped them and asked my dad to find out how much the implement company wanted for a corn lister they had. So Dad said he would find out and he did. It was listed at $40. It seems that the Dutchman and Dad were going to go pratners on the planter if it didn't cost too much. On the way home the old man was waiting for them at his gate. He asked how much and Diirl told him they wanted $40. Dad got all excited and forgot Mom was right there. He pounded on the buggy wheel and said, "They can just kiss 40 times our. . " When Mom would tell about it in later years, she would say that after that the old Dutchman would hide from them. For a few years the elevator operator in Flagler had things pretty much his own way. No one had any way of holding their grain at harvest time. So when they would harvest, they had to take their grain to the elevator right away and take whatever he offered. Well, Dad didn't think this was such a good idea. So he built a barn, a nice big double wing barn. On the south end he had horses on one side and cows on the other with a hay loft. But on the north end it was a solid grainery where he could store his whole crop even if it was a bumper. He had big doors on both sides where he could drive a team of horses and a wagon right into the barn. Then he could shovel the wheat right into the bins. At this period in time we were still living in the sod house. Mother couldn't quite understand the advantage of storing the wheat until later when the price came up. Dad's life was pretty miserable for awhile. Mom felt she should have had a new house rather than a pretty new barn. Things remained about the same until the harvest that fall. Then Dad was able to show her the advantage of holding their wheat. Well, through all the trials and tribulations, the good times and the bad, I have often wondered how it would have been if Dad would have lived his normal life span. My brother would have gone his own way. I would have stayed and helped Dad and today I I. He told me one time about the time Dad proved up on the place. It seems he had to go over to Hugo to do it. He did it, and then he would have been retired into town, a farmer like my Dad. So instead, Mom had to sell the place and we moved into Denver. I started my schooling. In June, L925, I graduated from West Denver High School. Then Mother died in July, 1925. My aunt from Omaha came out and made all the arrangements for the funeral. Mother is buried next to mv dad in got drunk, Gus said. He finally got home and Flagler Cemetery. on a cold winter night with lots of good country butter. My older brother was nine years older than the next day he had the world's worst hangover. When I look back at it now, I think he had every right to celebrate. Mom ehouldn't have gotten so mad at him. There were two Thompson families living about 20 miles north of us. They were fairly close relatives on Mother's side of the family. After the hawest and while the weather was still good, we would go visiting. Mom would by B.I. Johnston JONES - HEISZ FAMILY F366 My father, Roy Eugene Jones, was born to John Lewis and Electa (Brown) Jones 28 August L872 in Richland Center, Richland Co., Wisconsin. My mother, Matilda Heisz, was born to Adam and Augusta (Naylor) Heisz 20 February 1875 in Old Omio, Jewell Co., Kansas. Roy and Matilda were manied 20 February 1895 in Belleville, Republic Co., Kansas. While residing in this area, Father worked with a threshing machine crew oqAed by his uncles, John and George Heisz. My brother, Harry Lee, was born 22 December 1895 and died 19 April 1896 at Grandma Heisz's near Courtland, Republic Co., Kansas. After his death, they moved to Arkansas in a covered wagon. They lived on top of Boston Moutain in a one room log cabin with a dirt floor. Although it was very damp and moss grew everywhere, it was so rocky not much else would grow. It was a difficult life and many meals consisted of cornbread made without salt and wild hog meat; peaches were eaten while in season. Moonshine country harbored unfriendly neighbors. I was born 30 March 1897 and weighed five pounds. Father left for Kansas the next August and Mother stayed until January. She said it wan a very hard trip, walking several days to get to the railroad at Little Rock and then the cold train ride to Kansas. We stayed with Grandma Heisz in Courtland, Kansas till James Alfred was born 2l January 1899. By November, 1900, we had treked on toSelden, Sheridan Co., Kansas, where geveral other family members had already settled. Our house was a one room dugout built into the hillside. Minnie Adella was born here 9 November 1900. Uncle BertJones moved to Canada in August, 1902 so we moved onto his place. That fall I attended Enterprise School which was one mile north of our home. Elmer Fred was born here 20 December 1903. Father and a neighbor, George Osborne, drove a tean hitched to a buggy to Colorado looking for a homestead in January, 1906. Father returned to prepare all of us for the move onto 160 acres nine miles north and four miles east of Claremont, Kit Carson Co., Colorado in October 1906. With proceeds from the farm sale he bought us a beautiful little bay pony so that Alfred and I could herd our cattle. He also bought Mother a new "Home Comfort" range. Mother drove the covered wagon and Father the header box. Mr. Osborne and his three boys had their wagon also. Father chartered a railroad car from Goodland, Kansas to Burlington loading it with the cattle, one favorite horse, machinery, and furniture. It took us three days by wagon. On the fourth day we started out to Osborne's homestead leaving two of our horses in the livery stable and returned the next day to find the stable burned to the ground taking both of them. When we arrived in Colorado, Claremont had been changed to Stratton. The land was barren with no treeg or roads. Wherever the settlers wished to go they started across the prairie. Soon trails were formed crossing the country later known as cattle trails or ruts. We camped on the north side of the draw, known as "Lost Man's Creek" in a tent while a shack was built for George Osborne, a two �Pop was away at work so Mrs. Williams cnme ::*;a to be with Mother. The mail route was sublet to Pop for 6 months. Pop built a 10 x 12 foot shack in Stratton and stayed there thru the week coming home on Saturday night. He carried the mail from Stratton to the old Tuttle Post Office, a distance of 24 miles. He made the trip both ways six days a week, never missing a trip. When Pop's term for carrying the mail was up, he brought his shack out, putting it near the kitchen door and it was used as an extra bedroom. Since Mother's health was poor she requested to return to Republic Co., Kansas to stay with her brother (Simeon) till the birth of Elizabeth Lenora, who was born 4 November 1912. Minnie and I traveled with Mother by train. She never regained consciousness from the birth and passed away 5 November 1912. Father and the boys were sent for and her funeral was held at John Brown school. She was laid to rest in McDonald's Cemetery at Courtland, Republic Co., Kansas. Father left Stratton Day 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller and the Borders children with Roy Jones driving his tenm of horses. James Alfred, Elmer Fred, Roy Eugene (father), Leona Pearl, Minnie Adella, and Mettie Love Jones. Year about 1912. room house for Fred Osborne. and a 12 x 16 foot shack on Pop's homestead with lumber bought in Burlington. We were settled by Christmas day. Pop sold our pigs to Mr. J.P. Evans (our nearest neighbor) on Christmas day since we had no feed or money. The folks let us kids ride home with Mr. Evans and spend the afternoon. He gave us each a big red apple which was quite a treat. Alta Mae was born 22 February 1907 and passed avtay 27 July 1907 while Pop and AUred were in Kansas for the harvest. From Mom'g letter to him earlier, he knew she was ill and had already started home. There was no place to buy a casket so the neighbors made one. With no minister or church available Mr. Evans gave a short service and prayer in our home. The school house was in the process of being built when we arrived in Colorado so we were able to attend school the next fall. The school term was only six months. The first year here Alfred and I herded the cattle thru the cold winter until finally they got use to the range and would return on their own. Each year a little more sod was broken with a walking plow. The new sod was sown to corn by Alfred following behind the plow. For fifty cents/acre Pop broke land for the neighbors also. In the Spring of 1908 the government shipped in wheat seed. Pop got enough to plant 18 acres and our first crop made 18 bushels/acre. Pop broke sod near St. Francis, Kansas in 1909 and returned in the fall. The kids thought it would be fun to sleep with Mom and Pop in the covered wagon the night he returned only to discover our house in flemes during the night. The neighbors helped Pop build an adobe room (14 x 20) for it us. When it rained, the roof didn't leak poured. - In 1908, the government passed an ordinance giving a homesteader the right to another 160 acres. Pop homesteaded the north quarter. The only crops planted up to this time were corn and wheat. Mother planted a garden every year but with no water Back row: Minnie Adella, Mettie Love, James Alfred, Elmer Fred. Front row: Leona Pearl standing beside father Roy Eugene Jones. it didn't amount to much. However, we seemed to always have more than we could use. Leona Pearl was born 8 October 1909 while Elizabeth to be raised by Uncle Simeon's family. Alfred married Louise Klotzbach 30 September 1919 and to this union six children were born: Eva Matilda, Lily Mae, Lila Fern, Kenneth Verne, Ronald Keith and Verla Rae. I got married 16 June 1920 to Eugene Lee Sisson and to this union one child was born: Ernest Leroy. Minnie Adella never married and was nearly blind in her latter years. She died 9 September 1951. Elmer Fred has never married and resides with me (Mettie) on the homestead place. Leona Pearl married Clarence Everett Churches 28 August 1933 and to this union three children were born: Eugene Clarence, Harold Wayne, and Donald Dee. Elizabeth Lenora married (lst) Lavern Libhart 10 December 1930 and to this union two children were born: Janet R. and Robert S.; (2nd) Mark N. Goddicksen. Father (Roy Eugene) passed away 3 October 1947 and is buried at the Claremont Cemetery, Stratton, Kit Carson Co., Colorado. by Mettie Sisson JONES, DANIEL II. F357 One by one the pioneers of Kit Carson county are passing away. One of the last to pay the debt of nature was Daniel H. Jones. He had been a resident of our county about 30 years. I have known him 25 years as well as I remember. When you first felt the grip of his hand and saw his face you were impressed with the thought that his friendship was worth having. And after that all that you would see and know of them would confirm that first impression. He was a plain, blunt man freely outspoken. I think there was as little hypocrisy about him as any man I ever knew. He was the same Dan Jones to everyone he met, no matter whether it was a beggar, or a tremp, or president, or king. He was one of the kind of men whose acquaintance wore well, The more you saw of him, the better you liked him. I worked with him when he was on the board �of county commissioners (elected in 1891) and learned to admire him for his earnestness, honesty, and unflinching adherence to right and duty. He had a tact for getting over difficult places and carrying his point, that was simply irresistable. As an instance, one of the commissioners advocated strict parlimentary usage in the board, each member should arise to speak, address the chair, and if recognized should refer to the member of the board, as the honorable commissioner from district etc. Uncle Dan sat and listened without a word and when asked what he thought about it replied about like this, "Boys, parlimentary usage is all right, but it is hard to learn old dogs new tricks, I guess we have killed enough time, lets go to work, Mr. Clerk, what is the first thing on the program this morning?" And the work commenced. He despised fraud and graft of every kind. He was optomistic and charitable. Not only did he nurture faith in God and Christ but he had confidence in mankind. He was a great believer in Eastern Colorado. I do not believe that he ever for a moment thought these plains would finally come to the front as agricultural county. He loved to live here better than any other place. During his last illness when told by his physician that he could not cure him, he quietly and deliberately got his house in order for the change he knew was near. He spoke to me about it, just as he would have a trip to Missouri, or any other place. Speaking about his suffering he said, "I suffer, of course, but there is no kick coming from me, God has been very good to me, better a great deal than I have been to him." Lately, we had a many heart to heart talks together. Good bye, neighbor, friend, comrade, brother, while I live, your memory will be dear to me. When my task on earth is done I confidently hope to have more of your companionship in the world beyond. by C.A. Yersin - lgl4 JONES, FLORY AND PERNA F358 Flory Bruce Jones came to Seibert, Kit Carson County, in 1912 from Goodland, Kansas. He left his wife, Perna and son, Bruce with her parents Cad Wallander Jones (no relative) until she had her second child. He homest€aded some land about 7 miles northeast of Seibert arriving in the spring of 1913 with their eons Bruce and Wayne, in a spring wagon. They told us in order to keep the baby warm they put a kerosene lantern under the blanket and when they got to Seibert he was quite smokey and dark. Often wonder how they lived in those days. Flory started farming and buying cows. We don't knowwhat they lived in, but Wayne can remember when they built a sod house, when he was about 6, cutting the sod from the banks of the Republican River. Bruce and Wayne went to a small country school about 172 miles N.E. from home riding a horse to school. There was a small shed they kept the horse in while in school. They added 5 more children to their family; Emily Jane born Oct. 12, 1914; Clyde Clark born July 28, 1916; James Levi born The Flory Jones family taken 1924. Back row: Emily, Wayne, Bruce, FIory holding Irma, Mother Perna, Front row: Delbert, James o16 gttd.. Dec 17, 1917; Delbert Ray born April 27, 1920; and lrma Mae born Aug l, 1922.They all went to school in Seibert and Bruce graduating in 1929; Wayne 1931; Emily 1932; and Clyde 1934. About 1920 Flory bought a 360 acre farm on Cope highway about 4 miles north from Seibert. There was a large 3 bedroom house. They built a large barn. He also rented, leased or bought more land. They farmed up to 2,000 acres and all with horses; raising mainly wheat, corn, cane, and broomcorn. One time he bought some Jennys, but they disappeared during a storm in the winter. In the spring they appeared under a bluffunder snow drift; they froze to death. They also had cows. They milked up to 20. When the children got old enough, which was about 9 or 10, each one grabbed a pail and headed to the barn to milk cows morning and night (there were no milking machines). At one time they had a dairy and delivered milk in Seibert. Mother Jones always said it was the milk cows that carried them through some of the hard times. Flory tried about everything on the farm. One time in about 1934 he bought a band of sheep. Wayne had to herd them. They only had them about a year. Flory learned to take care of his animals because there was no veterinarian around so it got so the other farmers called on him a lot to look at theirs and he had to pull many calves when the cow couldn't have them. They also had good times, too. In that big barn they had barn dances up in the hay loft. Flory liked to dance and wanted the children to dance, too. Mother Jones would make cake and pies and sell them. Everyone around would come. That big barn was also used for boxing. A mat was put in and they practiced with Flory teaching them. Flory loved to box and some times wrestle. He did most of his training by running about 4 or 5 miles every morning up and down hills. When a carnival came to town, he would either box or wrestle, which ever they wanted. He also was the main feature on some of the American Legion and other cards. One of his last fights was with Pat Andrews of Burlington, Co. about 1931 or 1932. He also taught some of the boys. Wayne was on some of the boxing cards. Beginning of the 30's, times were starting to get hard; one thing on account of the depression and so many of the banks were closing. Flory had lost some money in the bank, too. Also the crops weren't too good because of the dry weather and no rain and what was good, the grasshoppers started eating everything in sight. They would clean out a field in a day. They would have to put a pitchfork handle in the hay stack or they would eat it, too. It kept getting dryer and the dust started to blow; it got so dusty that it would turn dark in midday. When Perna set the table she would set the plates upside down and you still ate dirt. They still tried to farm but it didn't do very good. Weeds would sprout on the hollow of the cows back. The cows were dying, too. The government stepped in and bought them paying from 98 to 916 a head; if they were real bad they shot them and the best ones were shipped away. In 1932 Bruce went to Kansas City to work, Emily wentto Wichita to school, Wayne went to the fruit harvest, picking peaches and apples in western Colorado and shucked corn in Kan. In 1936 Flory decided to go to LaGrande, Oregon to a cousin, see if he could find work. He, Wayne and Jim drove a 1928 Chevy, leaving Clyde in charge of farm and family. They got a job working in a sawmill. Clyde put in some corn and when he went to cultivate it, the grasshoppers ate it to stubs. The rest of the family, Mother, Clyde, Delbert and Irma loaded a L929 Chevy and headed to Oregon, too. Their white collie dog started following so they put him on top and he came to Oregon, too. Flory died in 1950; Bruce in 1951; Perna in 1969; Delbert in 1983 and Emily in 1985. by Wayne C. Jones KAISER, BRUNO F. F359 Bruno F. Kaiser was born at Olean, Indiana, Nov. 13, 1858. He left home at the age of. 22 in the spring of the year 1884, went to Wymore, Nebr., then to Gibben, Nebr., then to Holdrege, Nebr., remaining there for � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Families of Kit Carson County Description An account of the resource Brief biographies of the founding families of Kit Carson County Colorado. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Book Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Families- J Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief history of the founding families of Kit Carson county with names starting with "J." As told in the book, History of Kit Carson County Type The nature or genre of the resource text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Salmons, Janice Hasart, Marlyn Smith, Dorothy Language A language of the resource English Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. History of Kit Carson County Volume 1 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Curtis Media Subject The topic of the resource History Kit Carson County Biography Genealogy Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a>