175 10 1803 https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/486/Families-I.pdf 9b412aea385e5ea613ab0a5ee19ba7fa 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 � 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- I Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource A brief history of the founding families of Kit Carson County whose names begin with an "I." 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> 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/489/Families-K.pdf b29b172411ae7573d0a7becfcd69a715 PDF Text Text 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 �1 and one-half years. Heard there was government land in Colorado to be had so he started to Colo. in August, 1886, in company with Scott Ready, Wm. Van Osdol, Wm. Stout and Ed Hoskin, by B & M R. R. to Wray, Colorado and took a tree claim and then returned to Holdrege. Later in the fall Kaiser, Ready, Osdol, and (Shorty) Stout left Holdrege by covered wagon for Colorado. After driving over the prairie for about ten days, they stopped at Wray, then drove south to the soddy store. There a man by the name of L.R. Baker, who had a claim nearby, helped them locate. Mr. Kaiser located on Sec. 10-9-44, which was l-t/z miles south of the first Burlington. Only a sod house was in sight at that time, and it was on Sec. 15-9-44. He had to go about 18 miles to the McCrillis ranch to get his mail. He built a sod house on the northeast corner of his claim, and proved up on his claim in the summer of 1887, by paying $1.25 per acre. He received a patent signed by President Benj. Harrison. He built a sod shanty for his anvil and did blacksmithing in Burlington. When the two towns consolidated, and when he got title to his land, he moved to old Burlington, then he moved in 1888 to present Burlington, Lot 28 in block 30. In December, 1888, he returned to Olean, lnd. and married LauraI. Thum of Versailles, Ind., on Jan. 13, 1889, and after a few days returned to Burlington and the house he built there. The house he built is still standing. They lived there for seven years and on Nov. 24, L892, a daughter was born. They nemed her Anna M. Kaiser. On Dec. 25, L892, they had the first Christmas tree in Burlington, which caused considerable comment. Mr. Kaiser reports that very few crops were grown at that time; mostly sheep and cattle were kept on the free range. The land is still owned by the daughter now Mrs. Anna Smith of Versailles, Ind. Mr. Kaiser was elected county treagurer in Nov. 1893 and served for two years. (The house built by Mr. Kaiser is now owned by San and Lucille Hendricks.) (Written in 1935) by Della Hendricks KALB, ADA F360 Ada Kalb cane here in 1905. She was working for Mr. Wtherall as a printer when he told her of the homesteads here. She and her mother sat all night in the Hotel Emery with no rooms, the windows out, and the weather very chilly. Mr. Witherall cnme with a one-horse buggy and took them to Bur- lington to sign up for homestead. On the way he stopped to milk and ate dinner from the lunch they had brought along. He charged ten dollars for locating them. They made a dugout on the hillside with doors on the lowest side. She sometimes had to walk seventeen miles to get the horses for work. There was no rifing machinery then. One neighbor worked a bull and a mule. When still in her eighties she was seen doing her own farming, with a tractor and she drove a Model T Ford car. Her sons, with their families lived on the homestead near her, and they finally had to take her car away form her because it was dangerous for her. One son has passed away and Kenneth retired and moved to Missouri. by Dessie Cassity KENNEDY AND DUNHAM FAMILY F36r In the early 1900's, Elizabeth and William Kennedy ca-e by box car, with their worldly possessions and took up a homestead south of Cheyenne Wells. There was no water to be found so they moved north west ofCheyenne Wells. They had three boys here, Frank, William and George. The mother passed away when George was 15 yrs. old.; with there being three younger children, the three boys started working out, sometimes they got a $1.00 and other times worked for a place to sleep and meals. George worked for Buss Dunlap, Bert Loaper and Tom Taylor. The father passed away in a short time and George had to help care for the younger children who were boarded out in other homes. George worked in helping build the Loveland Pass, in the boom oil fields of Texas and in 1929, he returned to Burlington area and worked for Warren Shamberg, Joe Eastin, and Mr. Bruner, who ran the Foster Lumber Yard, as well as renting the Alvia Bacon farm. He rodeoed at the fairs and helped entertain in the Sun. Afternoon shows. In 1931, he rented Mr. Bruner's farm south of Vona and took a cow herd on shares. In 1932, he and Irene Dunham were married, hard times and dirty dry years had hit. In 1936, they bought a farm South of Seibert, This was beautiful grass country and Oh! how nice it was to get away from the dirt. They had a daughter. Many back-breaking days were spent with Irene picking up cow chips with the wagon for fuel. George was gone from home quite a bit working for the WPA. When he was quite young he contracted the disease of arthritis and the work was doubly hard for him. Times got better and they accumulated a nice herd of cattle along with the ranch. In 1966, due to ill health of both, they sold the ranch, and bought a home in Burlington, and moved there in 1976. George worked at different things until 1980, when he passed away. Elizabeth still lives and enjoys her yard work, daughter and grandsons when she gets to see them. by Irene Kennedy KENNEDY ACKELSON FAMILY F362 Thomas E. Kennedy and Bessie Ackelson met in Yuma County, Colorado, around 1905. They were married March 8, 1908, at Wray, Colorado. Bessie Ackelson cnme to Yuma County at the age of seven with her parents, Willian and Susan Morgan Ackelson, the youngest of eleven children. She was born in Winterset, Iowa on April 24, 1884. Traveling by covered Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Kennedv in 1930 at their Stratton home. wagon, her parents migrated from lllinois to Iowa, then Nebraska, and finally Colorado, an area being settled. During the winter months the family would go to the Arkansas River, taking their livestock. Before her maniage she carried mail by horse and buggy to Fox, Colorado. She also filed on a homestead which adjoined her parents home. She had a small two room house built on it. Our parents lived here for five years, and it was here that their eldest child, Hazel, was born. Thomas Edwin Kennedy came to Yuma County around 1905. His birthplace was Cora, Smith County, Kansas, on August 23, 1882. His parents, John Kennedy and Almetta Morgan Kennedy migrated to Kansag from lllionois. He was one of eight children. We recall him telling about playing hockey on ice nearby and he enjoyed playing baseball. He had an excellent knowledge of horses, and we remember the many "horse trades" that he made. You never knew for one day to the other when one would be gone, with a different one replacing it. A desire ofhis early life was to some day own a motorcycle, but he never did own one. By 1916 or so, however, he did purchase a Ford Model T automobile, but he never farmed with a tractor, preferring to use horses or mules. In 1913, the family moved to a homestead that our father filed on, which was seven miles northwest of Stratton. The first "homestead" house was a two story freme covered with black tar paper. It was here that Helen was born in 1915. We left Colorado to reside in Arkansas for one year, about 1920 or 1921. Our father purchased cattle there and shipped them to Colorado by immigrant car where they were sold. It was very difficult life than we were accustomed to, and father soon learned he didn't like chasing cattle in the brushy hills there, so we returned to the open plains ofthe Old Homestead, as we're used to hearing it called. This house burned about 192L or 1922. Mother was home at the time, but she was alone, so most of our possessions were lost. The present house was built in 1923 by a close neighbor, Mr. Malone, who was a carpenter. He built several of the homes still being occupied in Stratton. It was in this home that Tom and Zelma joined the family in 1923 and 1925. The barn was built about 1928. When it was completed, a dance was held in the hay loft. Since Father practiced "diversified" farm- ing, the crops were usually fed to the livestock. Some of the livestock were sold, which provided the cash we had to spend and save. A big part of the food we raised were beef, pork, chicken, milk, butter, cream and eggs. Some eggs and crearn were sold and provided money for most of the staple �groceries. Mother canned all kinds of food items, including beef, chicken, fruit and vegetables. In our memory no food ever tasted as good as the biscuits, pies, cakes, cookies or the roast beefor pork that Mother prepared on the old "Home Comfort" range. We had many chores to do, gathering corn cobs from the pig pens to burn in the stoves, bringing coal into the house, filling kerosene Inmps, washing the cream separator, gathering eggs, 6illrilg cows and feeding the calvee. Living on the homestead was filled KINDRED, CORA AND EARL F363 with daily activity. The family lived on the farm until 1938. Since Father was a lifetime Republican, in 1937 he decided to become a candidate for breaking through the fences and drinking all the water. Duane, Leo, and Dale were born at home on this farm. The boys went to school at Blakeman, 2 miles west of their home. For awhile they had a white horse that Leo and Dale rode while Duane walked; after the horse died they all walked. Perhaps the horse didn't appreciate their wanting a spotted horse and getting Mother's blueing bottle to make a spotted horse, so he gave up the ghost. The country school of Bethel was the meeting place for Sunday School and Church for the neighborhood. It was near where Eddie Herndon now lives. Neighbors were Bordon, Scheierman, dear mother, Father's helpmate, passed away in 1945. After Mother's death, Father lived with his daughter, Helen, and her husband, Eddie Kerl, until his death in 1950. We feel we grew up having a good life. We were taught to work hard, to be honest, and to help others. We were always encouraged to get an education. Our parents were strong advocates ofgood schools, and Dad served on the Idlewild School District Board. We received our elementary education there. It Brantley, Wilson, Hodge, Dunlap, Kalb, was a typical rural school of the times - grade 1 through 8. We had to leave home to attend high school. Hazel graduated from Burlington, while Helen, Tom and Zelma all The first grandchildren, their twin sons, Dona]d T. and Ronald E., were born March 8, 1943. All have resided in the California area for the past forty years. Paul died in 1974. Helen and Eddie Kerl have resided in Stratton since their mariage in 1937. She worked for the Co-op for forty years, retiring in 1975. Since their retirement they are very active in many activities. Tom, Jr. served in the Naw in World War of them a half section of land. Later, her mother and sister, Rose, owned and lived in the house where Allen Greenwood now lives. Leo still farms and land that was Anna Hughes', that Marie Greenwood now owns. Earl and Cora farmed and had livestock and persisted through all the hardships of early settlers. It was always interesting to hear their stories about the blizzards, floods, and the way neighbors helped each other at birthings and deaths, barn buildings, and harvesting crops. It was still open range then and they told of the problem of horses County Commissioner from the second district. He was elected and served two termg. At this time they purchased a houge in Stratton. A few years later the farm was sold. They made their home in Stratton until our graduated from Stratton. Hazel taught school for twelve years in Kit Carson County. She and her husband, Paul Gagnon, moved to the BayArea of California. here and bought quite a bit of land, and nearly all of her brothers lived in or around Stratton at one time, as her father gave each Earl and Cora Kindred taken in 1970. Coraand Earl Kindred came to Kit Carson County in 1921 from Smith Center, Kansas. They, along with Leonard and Kate Calvin, shared a railroad box car to bring their belongings to Stratton. They had purchased a farm three miles east and four south of Stratton, next to a half section that Cora's father had given her. Her father had come out Wood, Bassinger. During the depression and "Dirty thirties" and after Leo's dad was laid off of WPA because he owned land, he and a neighbor, Ed Stevens, went to Castle Rock, Colorado, and got work helping build a new school house. Earl later got a job working for a farmer south of Castle Rock and was able to move his family there. Leo says they moved everything in the back of an old Model A Ford truck even the milk cow and a crate of chickens. When moisture began to fall again, they moved back to the farm and continued to farm there. The war came and Duane was in Australia for four years and, a baby girl, II. He maried Betty Blancken in 1946, residing in Flagler, Colorado. Diana, the first granddaughter, was born January 20, 1950; Karen Kay was born Auguet 31, 1951; Larry Gene was born April 15, 1953. Tom died in 1973. Betty gtill livee in the home there. After graduation from Stratton High, Zelma attended school in Denver where she also worked. She married L.G. Eubanks, and they resided in New Mexico. Their children were Gar5r, born December 15, 1974, and Debra, born March 19, 1951. Debrawas lrilled in a car accident in May, L970.7*lma died in 1980. Surviving Thomas and Bessie Kennedy are two daughters, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren. by llazel Gagnon and Helen Kerl ar;'-l'";,S rf' .,.-..4-zl Earl and Cora Kindred farm southeast of Stratton. They built these improvements in the 20's. The man is Earl Kindred with sons, Duane and Leo. �in that area worked together to put up a Earlene, was born to complete the family. In 1947 they sold the farm and bought the Rose Bud Court in Loveland, Colorado. This was during the time before Esteg Park was telephone line from Stratton to this area. The farmers pooled their labor and set and strung the wire for Mountain Bell and then later sold the line to Mountain Bell for $1.00. Mountain Bell then serviced the line. It has now been torn down and underground wiring has been built up very much and lots of vacationerg stayed in Loveland in order to fish and relax along the Big Thompson Canyon. Earl would work at the sugar factory dwing the winter. In 1951, the Hughes family made good use of the Court and had a farnily reunion, withJim, put in. While on this farm many good things happened to us. We were successful in Clarence, Ray, Ida, Anna, and Rose all farming and ranching. Some of our neighbors that we enjoyed visiting with were the Walt Herndons, Kenneth Scheierman, Herb Scheierman, Walt and Kenneth Kalb, Francis Grubbs, Bill Drietz, Leroy Herndon, Howard Rouse, Fred Storrer, Louis Pickards, Shelby Taylor and Louis Werner. In 1968 we coming. They later sold the court and bought a small acreage in Qampion, a small town south of Loveland. Mom Kindred was active in American Legion Auxiliary and received honorable mention at a national meeting for her work of making lap robes and such for the hospitals. Until her eyesight failed, her hands were hardly ever idle, for she loved to crochet and make quilts. They celebrated their 50th anniversary while living s1 Qnmpion, and we had an open house for them at the Loveland Methodist Church. After several years, they decided that it would be nice to live nearer Duane and Leo, and sold their acreage, and bought a home in Stratton, which was very enjoyable for all of us, and they had a chance to get to know their grandchildren and great-grandchildren who lived here. They enjoyed their comfortable home and neighbors, the Al Kittens and John Hasarts, and usually had a wonderful garden. In 1979. all of us kids and their friends joined them in celebrating their 60th anniversary in the newly completed Fellowship Hall at the Stratton United Methodist Church. Cora died in 1981 at the age of 82. Earl died in 1982 at the age of 88, after living in this mind-boggling era, spanning having only horses for transportation, to taking a trip in a jet plane, and from the time when records were kept with a tedious quill pen, to the coming of the mighty computer. Duane married Netha Hansen, daughter of John and Cora Hansen, and they live in Stratton. Dale is married to Roberta Guy, daughter of Mabel and Gerald Guy. They live in Spokane, Washington. Earlene married Bill Smith and lives near Loveland. (I nm married to Leo, and we own a farm 5% miles south of Bethune. We have a daughter, Carol, who lives at Sterling, Colorado.) had a farm sale and moved to Stratton, Colorado. We purchased the A.J. Dischner home, where we still live. We raised and educated our children in the Stratton Public School. All of them graduated from Stratton High School. After moving to tov"n Duane and Jack Titsworth built the Burlington Commercial Feedlot. Duane later went to Duane and Netha Kindred. 1986 Duane was the first son born to Earl and Cora Kindred. He was born on the farm southeast of Stratton in t922. He attended grade school at the Blakeman School south of Stratton. One of his teachers was Edith Powers Hasart. He attended high school in Stratton. In 1941 he volunteered for the service by joining Co I in Burlington, Colorado In 1941 Co I mobilized and he was shipped to Texas with the unit. Duane spent 5 years in the service of his country, serving in the Pannma and Southwest Pacific. He was discharged in 1945. After being discharged, he returned to Stratton where he did custom trucking and later went into farming with his brother Leo. I was the daughter of John and Cora Hansen. I wag born in Oakley, Kansas. In 1935 I moved with my parents to a farm south of Firstview, Colorado. I attended my first five years of school at the Firstview School. My parents moved to Stratton, Colorado in 1941. I finished my grade school at the Pious Point School. My teachers at this school were Caroline Husenetter and Ruth Gulley. I graduated from the Stratton High School in 1948. by Maxine Kindred KINDRED, DUANE AND NETHA F364 On June 1, f948 Duane and I were married at the EUB Church in Stratton, Colorado with Rev. Erickson officiating. Charles Sholes and Claudine Stoner were our attendants. We had a wedding dance at the Legion Hall. The music was furnished by Mr and Mrs Howard Gall and Clarence and Nadine Pottorff. Our first home was the little house just north of the Church of God. It was at one time the parsonage of the Church of God when Rev. Hooper was the minister. While we Duane and Netha Kindred's wedding day, June 1, 1948 were living there our first son, Dennis was born. In 1951 we sold this house and moved to the ranch of W.J. Garner. Duane and Leo farmed together on this farm. While we were living on this farm another son, Gary was born in L552. A daughter, Janis was born in 1955. While living on this farm we saw many changes being made in the country. When we first moved to this farm there was no electricity. REA csme to the area in 1952. What a sight to see the lights. Driving around the country side everyone had a yard light. It looked like a big city. In 1960 the farmers work for the Stratton Equity Coop. He worked there for 15 years as a feed truck driver. He retired from the Coop in 19&1. I presently am working at the Coop as a receptionist. I have worked for the Coop for 18 years. We have been blessed with two lovely daughters-in-law, Roberta, wife of Dennis and Mary Anne, wife of Gary and a son-in-law, Jerry, husband of Janis. Two grandchildren, Brian and Bridget, are children of Gary and Mary Anne. We will celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary this year, 1988 on June 1st. Through the last 40 years let me relate some the things and happenings, old and new that have come and gone while we were married. They will not necessarily be in order, but just as they come to mind. Consolidation of school into district R-4, eliminating First Central, Pious Point, Blakeman and schools north of Stratton. Needing school buses, Carlos Dillon and Bob Eberhart were the first bus supervisors and owners; Dirty 50's; Bonny parn; new high school; '60 snow storm and the mud that followed. Our children missed 32 days of school due to this storm and mud; black rust in the wheat 1961; closing the Stratton Locker Plant; new grade school; fire that destroyed the feed mill at the Stratton Coop; new Coop Hardware; moving the Coop lumber yard to the new Coop Hardware location; new elevator at the Coop; Interstate I-70, street signs; GPI Motel; new Catholic Hall, Church and Parish; new Legion Hall; new Church of God; new Fellowship Hall at the United Methodist Church: new swimming pool; new library; remodeled Collins Hotel now is Twin Oaks; new First National Bank; Doughnut Shop; new Post Office; the old school gym remodeled into a bowling alley and restaurant, Dairy Delight. Some of the old buildings that once were are now into something else. Red and White Store is Gambles; McCheseny Grocery is Bob Miller; Wolfrums Service Station, (Vacant); Lutheran Church is Jostes home; Seventh Day Adventist Church became the Library; Nazarene Church is Berry home; Spurlin Creemery is the Coop Hardware; Toland Creamery is Kenny Pottorff fertilizer; Hor- nung Realty and Batt Realty are Road Runner; the first sale barn that was in downtown Stratton is the Storage Barn; �Collins Hotel Annex, that was once called the Selby House is the Park Malone home; Homer Shoe Shop and Toland Cafe are B&B Drug; Al and Lil's Bar is the Brandin lron; Zurcher Garage is Jim Leoffler Garage; Cassidy Station is J&B Automotive; Sam Adair Station is Pottorff Fertilizer; Snell Grain is the Coop. I am gure there are many more that have come and gone and that have changed hands and been made into other services. Just as the service station that Del Kordes has run for many years that all may have forgotten was once the Lee Zurcher station where you saw stuffed northern animalg that he and his brother shot and had stuffed and were put on display at this station that many children loved to see. The Medical Clinic is another addition. by Netha Kindred the Dillon Hardware. People were anxious to get their name in line for the machinery orjust parts that were not available during the war. New- elevator bins were going up in all the towng as crops were good and wheat sold for $2.85 a bushel. Wheat harvest meant leaving your truck parked in a long line down main street, perhaps for days, until rail cars csme in; otherwise you made your own wheat pile on the ground. I could watch the Kit Carson Memorial Hospital being built from my window in the County Treasurer's office where I worked under Steve Rockwell and Ssm Travis. The new slab facing was added to the courthouse also. The new sale barn was built on the north edge of Stratton and the old one, practically in the center oftown, was torn down. Bonny Dam was under construction so Burlington was building and booming also. The spring of 1953 we had a beautiful crop ofwheat so Leo and Duane bought a fabulous KINDRED, MAXINE AND LEO F365 new self-propelled combine from Dillon Hardware to replace some old pull combines. But, the rains didn't come and very few bushels were raised that year or for quite a few following. They did some custom cutting in various areas where there was a little more moisture. Leo and Duane both had to find other ways to make a living. We had Federal Crop Insurance, and they had to scratch a little seed in the dry powdery soil to qualify for the payments. The winds blew as they always seem to during a drought and the dust was so dense a lot of days one could hardly see across the street. During the years when no crops were raised, Leo worked at various jobs to keep food on the table along with the dust! Carlos Dillon owned- the school buses at that time and Leo drove a bus. He usually drove the southwest route, but ifhe had to go north, I always worried on the dirty days as the "Rocket" passenger train went through town about evening bus time. he also worked at the Coop station and elevator. This was during the era when an individual from the community went to the homes of property owners to the Crouses by driving a beet truck during the "good" beet years . . and also the muddy ones when it was virtually impossible to get the beets out. Later on, he started driving a school bus for the Bethune district, where our daughter was attending school. After she was older, I also drove one of the buses a lot of the time on regular routes, and to ball games, and special trips. We have tried to figure how many years Leo had drive a bus - with the interruptions here and there. We decided that at least twenty-five years had been spent this way, as he had picked up some Bethune students from the time they started to Kindergarten through graduation. Our daughter graduated inl977, and went to Sterling for college. We were happy for her to seek out her destiny, but we missed the hours of her playing the piano. However, driving the buses gave us the opportunity to continue our interest in young people and school activities. Most Sundays found us at church in Stratton and visiting Leo's parents before their death, or perhaps Netha and Duane, as they live in Stratton. The years of doctoring and coping with the rheumatoid arthritis that Leo has had for twenty-five years began to take their toll and he retired from the school buses in 1985 and has not experienced very good health since. We are still living on our farm, but it is beginning to be time for us to retire from that also. As I nm qryi1i1g this, we are happily looking forward to Carol's marrying the man of her dreams, Monte Keil of Crook, Colorado. She is the office manager at the Superior Fertilizer Company at Crook and they will live on a farm east of there. So we will have new things to interest us with this addition to our lives. I am looking forward to pursuing some of the project that I've never made time for previously. Leo passed on May 31, 1987. by Maxine Kindred assess them for county taxes, and Leo did that for several years under Assessor Park Marine and Leo Kindred. My husband, Leo, was born on his parents farm southeast of Stratton and I have told in my parents (Galen and Emma Stoner) story how I cnme to this vicinity. We were married in 1947 by Rev. Erickson at the Evangelical Church. Leo and his brother Duane farmed together on what was known as the Collins Ranch, owned by Bill Garner. We lived in town in the house just north of where the Coop manager's houge is now. This was during the post WWII time when prosperity and building was in evidence ever5nrhere. The new Legion Hall was built and for awhile roller skating was held there as well as dances and other activities. The big Catholic Church replaced their small one and the Evangelical Church (now Methodist) was remodeled under the guidance of Rev. Bayles, Mrs. Ray Calverey, Vena Scheierman, Adeline Sawyer, and others. The Foster Lumber was a proud and busy business then, as was Guthrie. Even household property was taxed then. Two different years we went to Loveland, where he worked at the sugar beet factory during the fall campaign. We would stay in one of his folks' kitchen units, at their motel. Our first child, Everett, was ill during these years and died in 1956. The summer of 1956 we stayed in Colorado Springs while Leo helped Clifford Messenger, my brother-inlaw. build a house. Leo then worked at the sugar factory in Loveland that winter. There was finally enough rain for crops in 1958. Our daughter, Carol Anne, was born in April 1959 and that fall Leo realized his dream of getting out of town when we moved to a farm 5% miles south of Bethune. Naturally, that was the winter that it never quit snowing until we had at least thirty inches on the level. At that time, most farmers did not have the large equipment to take care of livestock or to get to town. During these years irrigation wells went down all around us (no permits were required), but for various reasons we stayed with dry land farming and running cows and calves. Leo had a self-propelled swather and did quite a KING, CLARENCE F366 The Clarence King family lived south of Bethune from 1915 to 1919, then moved 1 % miles west of Levant, Kan. We went back through Kit Carson County often. In May L927.we moved back south of the Kit Carson County Line, 20 miles straight south of Bethune. Clarence had 10 children, Orvis King, born Nov. 9, 1914, Levant, Kan., Morris M.'King, born July 11, 1916, Levant, Kan., Delores L. King Schroeder, born April 23, 1918, North of Cheyenne Wells, Co., June Y. King Jones, born Oct. 10, 1920, Levant, Kan., Max L. King, born Jan.26, 1923, Levant, Kan. died Nov. 3, 1949, Mary K. King Fuhren, born June 6, 1925, Levant, Kan,. Ord L. King Moore, born Jan. L9, L927, Levant, Kan., Wanda F. King Barnett, born March 29, 1929, North of Cheyenne Wells, Carrol C. King born April 10, 1931, North of Cheyenne Wells, Co., Verlyn F. King, born July 7, 1933, Cheyenne Wells, Co. died Feb. 19, 1969. We bought m{rny groceries in Burlington lot of custom swathing for our neighbors. and Stratton. Went to Dentist, Dr. Flatt, Doctors, Dr. Remington, Dr. Robinson, and After wheat drilling was done, he would help Dr. Hayes. My sister-in-law, Martha Schroe- �summer of 1933 Maynard raised enough feed to last al'nost 2 wintprs. He had an old bull, was born Sept. 1, 1916 and Wilda was born by Mar. 1935 the bull wouldn't eat dusty thistles, so he fed the bull horse manure and molasses. A little gtass grew in July and he Early in 1919, George King went to Denver to be on the Jury, he got the flu and died in Denver. He was about 37 years old. World loaded some old cows and gtandpa's bull and came by our old dusty place and said "I'll get him in to that Burlington sale ring and if Ray McDaniels opens his head just once, he's War I was over and the prices of livestock and gonna own that bull." Maynard was having a hard time getting the furniture down the stairs into the basement, so he said, "When I leave here I hope they take me out feet first." We knew Herndons, Dudley Swaneon, Fred Storrers, Guy McAr- hurs, all the Schlossers, Roy Taylor Tom Taylor. The adobe school and cracker box school, Fred Mathis family, Joe Eastons, The Knapp family, Bill Meads, Bill Smiths Pete The Clarence King Family. Seated, L to R: Clarence L., Nettie E., Verlyn F. King. Standing, L to R: CarroII C., Wanda F. Barnett, Delores L. Schreoder, Mary K. Fuhrer, June Y. Jones, Orda L. Moore, Morris M. King der King passed away in Burlington, age 20, April 1939, with too much sugar in her blood, the doctor couldn't do much about it. Tom Johnston was a real good sheepman. I helped Tom drive sheep 4 t/z d.ays to May Valley, must north of Lamar in Sept. 1930, a wonderful trip for a kid of 14 yrs old. Tom died June of 1939. In 1915 Frank Daily was drilling a well for Ted Stubbs near N. Smokey Hill River, 1 % miles west of the Tom Johnston sheep ranch, a big rattle snake was hid in Ted's dugout, so Boydes, Legter Piersons, So- Allens, John Boggs, Bill Kelly, Fuzzy Walstrom, Fred Nortons, Cage Bunch, Art Low, Charlie Barr, Jim Ausbern, Charlie Smelker, Bill, Alfred, and Mont Pfaffly, Lashers Magnisons, Sedmans, Rollie Smith, Willis Perkins, Charlies Perkins, the Airs Family, Ora Welmans, Art Welmans, Clif Beeson, Ed Beeson, Frank Beeson, The Nazarene Church L2 miles south and 1 mile west of Bethune. The Holstine family, Allen Jenkins, Lee Raines, Bill Schaal and many more. Bill Eslinger didn't speak to good, he said, "I tharmed with a tharmall thour years and didn't raise a thing." Feebe Simpson was like a grandma to me. Harold King stayed with her a lot. Harold done a lot of shop work on everything. He drove us in to Cheyenne Wells just after the March blizzard in 1931 and almost bit his pipe stem in two when he drove by the poor old lady froze stiff about 40 feet from the road, her name was Terall. Harold looked in Daily wouldn't sleep in there. The dog throwed the snake upon Ted under the covers, Ted got the shotgun and said, "I'll shoot the dog." The dog jumped aside and Life Magazine and read where Jim Gurnhart was going to have a mock funeral for himself and said to my mom, "Are you going to Jim's funeral?" She said "well I didn't know he died." and Harold said, "Well he ain't." We went from Yoder and visited Bertha Ted shot holes in his lard bucket and his King, Harold King, Leo E. Kings, Bud Kings, water bucket. Dorthea Humphrey, E.R. Mills, Charles There were lots of stills running in the years of no whiskey. The Andrews, Hightowers and Clarence Brannon, Ray Schlosser played the fiddle for dances. A lot of people went to the Nazarene Church and First Central School to Sunday School. We went from 1929 until 1931. They had Grange in a school about 10 miles south of Bethune. My brother and I passed the 8th grade the spring of 1929. I was about 12 years and 10 months. Mills, Bverett Allman, Doc Burds, Bud Mathews, Duane Taylor, Pete Schlicken- meyer, and Victor Sponsel. by Morris King KING, GEORGE in 1918. grain were down and the wind and dry weather was a problem. Aunt Bertha's children were well behaved and were not bad to drink liquor. There were many bad years for all the people. Bertha King married Ray Knapp. Virgil Bud King and Dorothea were born about 1924 and 1926. In the spring of 1928, Grandma Simpson died. She didn't have many livestock left and others had the so-e troubles. Harold King bought a 640 acre nearby. He could fix almost anything from a pocket watch to a 40 horse on the draw bar tractor, which would weigh about 7,(M) to 10,000 lbs. Mabel King married Ed Mills, about 1930. They worked for wages and did OK. When Charles was born, they got a place 3 miles south of Burlington and milked good Holstein cows and delivered and sold milk in glass bottles. Joyce Mills was born there at Burlington, too. Charles Mills'wife is one of Art Lowe's children. They have been farming in Kit Carson county, south of Vona for a long time. Charles and his family farm wheat, sorghum, corn, and have a feed lot and sell Grade A milk. Ed Mills also spent three years proving up on 640 acre homestead southwest of Hartsel, Colo. Les King married Alpha McCracken, in about 1939. Les worked for wages at farm work, and lived in rented places in the county and in Eade. Their daughter Becky King Morgan has one girl and two boys and lives in Denver. Their son George, helped his father a lot, moved away and is back again. Jim King (born Jan. 18, 1943), has a wife and two boys. Elmer (JUly 28, L944) has a wife, a girl and two boys, and operated King Sale in Burlinton. Leo D. King (June 28, 1945) is with Farm Bureau. has a wife and home north of Lamar. Bertha King is married and has a son and a daughter and lives near Casper, wyo. Tom King has a home in Eads, a wife, two boys and a girl, Bob lives south of Lamar, has wife, two boys and a girl. Les King died in July 1961, and Alpha lives in Eads. Leo E King and V.R. Bud King went into the Army all through World War II. Leo married Charlotte Munstdr. Leo worked at different things, one of which was the trash hauling, Charlotte does official office work. F367 Bud married Mildred and they live in too. I wanted to play the guitar and sing over the radio. I did sing and play a little. I went to a rodeo or two, was that something, it is still my number one show. We broke many horses to work and drove eight head a lot. I worked for A.J. Pfaffley, Guy Thoman, O.C. Dunlap, Leon Smelker and Burt Loper, all in Kit Carson County. M.W. Dunham and Mr. Herrington would ride after horses near Back about 1906, George King an older brother of my father, Clarence King, home- Burlington. He still has his grandma Simpson's place. Their boy Richard was born in Burlington, and a little girl died of Polio. Bqd worked at selling cars and trucks for marty Charlie Peterson and Tom Johnstone's north of what I knew as the Grandma range. Maynard said Johnstone would ask them in for dinner, but Charlie would come to the corral gate and talk and talk, never Simpson place. I helped at farm work and worked out some even say get down and rest your saddle. Maynard saw a sheep herder a mile over there then Maynard rode down in N. Smokey, there was a coat and a dinner bucket, he got offthe horge and had dinner right there. The steaded a northeast 160 acres, 5 miles south and 2 miles west of Bethune in Kit Carson county. Albert and Mrs. Simpson, also her brother, Malin McNare, homesteaded or had land 1 mile west and 2 or 2Vz miles north of where George King's buildings were. Doyle Roberson lived one mile east and 7z mile In the early 1920's, Mrs. Simpson's only child, Bertha married Uncle George King. Not long after, he built his one room sod house. He had a big barn and many head of livestock. Harold King was born, then Mabel King, and then Les King on July 13, 1913. One small boy died no-ed Elmer King. Leo years. Wilda married Joe Humphrey in 1937. The twins Larry and Gary were born in 1938. Ronnie was born in Casper, Wy. Bonnie is a musician and travels all over. Keith Humphrey is a good worker even though one leg is short. Joe's family moved many howes in Wyo. Jack and Kathy were both born in Casper. Jack died in Casper and Wilda and Joe are gone now too. Ronnie died in a truck accident. Dorthea King maried Claud Humphrey in 1944. Claudia Humphrey, the next sister, a third sister and a brother lived in Burlington in the 50's and early 60's. Claud died a few �the children. The Kings still have land near Uncle George's place. by Morris King ltl ':: !:i:r: KLASSEN, ABRAHAM AND KATHERINE &'rl, ,! r,:. F369 Abraham and Katherine Wiebe Klassen 4 _p11t 9f Bqtha King's family. Back row, L. to R.: Claud Humphrey, Mildred King and their little girl, Ed Mills, V.R. "Bud" King, Leo E. King, Charlotte Minster King, Wilda King Humphrey, and small boy, Joe Humphrey, Harold King. Front row, L. to R. Mabel King Mills, Dorothy King Humphrey, Humphrey boy, two of Dorothy's girls, Bertha King, and Dick King. years ago and Ed Mills died in 1984. Aunt Bertha died in 1964 and Harold in Sept 1971. Harry Roberson has been gone some time now, but Dorthy and Doyle are still southwest of Bethune. A Garner boy has some of the King Place. I knew a lot of the cousin's neighbors. Our cousins played a lot of music with our family. The Hightowers played the fiddle too. They were at many gatherings, fish fries, harvest, threshing, hauling feed, and shucking corn. We'd go to Burlington and Eads to the fair and rodeo's. One of America's finest sports I think. Neighbors I knew were: Chandlers, A.V. Harding, many young Smelkers, Schaals, Perkins, Taylors, McMahans, Jim and Richard Ausborn, Clarence Brannen, (who played fiddle for many dances), and Charlie and Geo. Bar, and their bunch. Aunt Bertha could Jan. 19, 1892, Greeley, Co. and I don't know when Bill King was born. Marie died sometime in 1892, Henry died in 1884. The six children were taken to their Uncle Lambert and Annie Brooks' home, six miles west of Colby, Kan., about 2 miles east of the William Waters home, who owned the town of Levant. The 4 older ones were soon working out. Lois and Herman moved northeast of Seattle, Wash. with their Aunt. Bill King lived many places and raised a family. George M. King homesteaded a good 160 acres, 5 miles south and 2 miles west of Bethune, Co. He did well, but died in 1919, leaving his wife Bertha with came from Margenau, South Russia. They came to Marion County, Kansas in 1876. Abraham and Katherine were connected with the Mennonite Church and left Russia to flee from religious oppression. They needed more room so moved to Flagler, Colorado in 1883. Due to a drought they moved to Kirk, Colorado in 1896. Their children were: Marie Klassen Muncy, 18921972; Emma Klassen Elmers, 18gg -; Helen Klassen Heinrichs, 1896-1978: Frank W. Klassen, 1888-1975; Henry Klassen, 18941952; Cornelius K. Klassen, 1880-19b4; Mar- garet Klassen Braun, 1890-1971; Anna Klassen Burkard, 1876-1959; Katherine Klassen Nikkel, 1883-1970; Johannes Klassen, 18851887; Agnes Klassen, 1887-1901; Jake W. Klassen, 1882-1955; Abe W. Klassen, 18281951. Daughters-in-law: May Dulmer Klassen, 1895-1979 and Emma Dulmer Klassen, 1892-1986. Son-in-law: Peter A. Braun, 18881963. Marie, Katherine, Helen and Emma all taught in the early schools in the northern parts of Kit Carson County. These were schools north of Bethune, Stratton, Joes, and Burlington. Emma taught in the Murphy and Brownwood schools in t923-24. Frank. Henrv and Peter Braun all farmed. Abe'was a blacksmith at Kirk, Colorado. Jake was a rancher and Cornelius farmed and ranched north of Vona. tell many stories of neighbors and fun they had. Harold looked at the paper one day and eaid "Aunt Nettie, are you going to Jim Gernhart's funeral?" She said "I didn't know h?dlf,ieT7-'r"E EAsn't", He said. It was one of his mock funerals. I think I left out some important parts and didn't name enough people. The Kings have owned land almost 100 vears. by Morris King KING, HENRY F368 Henry M. King, my grandfather, was born about 1836 and lived on a small farm near Greeley, Co. He enlisted in the Army April 17, 1861, discharged Aug. 6, 1861, at Pittsburg, Pa. He enlist€d again in 1864, discharged Aug. 3, 1865, at Atlanta, Ga. He came to Kellerton, Iowa and married Marie Dun- ii.':l.il bar. Henry and Marie had 6 children. George M. King, born April 27, 1882, Kellerton, Iowa, Laura M. King, born Oct. 14, 1883, Kellerton, Iowa, Clarence L. King, born Aug. 22, L886, Kellerton, Iowa, Lois A. King born May 3, 1889, Kellerton, fowa, Herman A. King, born This picture was taken in front of Gtandmother Klassen's sod house about late 1913 or early 1914. Back Row: Marie Klassen Muncy_, Emma Klassen Elmers, May Dulmer Klassen, Helen Klassen Heinrichs, Frank W. Klassen. Middle Row: Henry Klassen, Jake W. Klassen, Abe W. Klassen, Peter A. Braun, Cornelius K. Klassen. Front Row: Katherine Wiebe Klassen, Margaret Klassen Braun, and Emma Dulrner Klassen holding baby Paul C. Klassen. �The father, Abraham C. Klassen was born Cornelius Klassen was a pioneer resident in 1852 and died in 1900 and mother, of Kit Carson County having lived here for 62 years. In the early years he helped build and died in 1941. the Rock Island Railroad. He rode horseback from Yuma to Hugo, from Limon to the state of Kansas, helping with roundups and eating in chuckwagons. As foreman of the Wm. Lavington Ranch, located six miles north of Vona, Colorado, taking care ofthe cattle and sheep, breaking bronco horses, and buying calves from the homesteaderg were Cornelius's duties. He rode many miles over eastern Colorado and the settlers would invite him to Katherine Weibe Klassen was born in 1854 by Edith M. HugleY KLASSEN, CORNELIUS F370 Jack and Helen Klaseen hunting rabbits on the Republican River on Ned and Prince in 1938. August 8, 1912, Emma Dulmer Klassen and Cornelius K. Klassen in their buggy on their honeymoon trip to t-ireir ranch home five and one-half miles north and one and one-half west of Vona, Colorado, near the Republican River Valley. Loyd Klassen in Merchant Marines in 1943. This ie a picture of Emma Dulmer Klassen and her children, except Mabel. Back Row: Paul C. Klassen, Deitrich A. Klassen, Edith Mae Klassen Hugley, Ervin E. Klassen, Doris L. Klassen Klooz, Loyd J. Klassen. Front Row: Helen M. Klassen Smart, Emma Dulmer Klassen, and Cornelius C. Klassen (Jack). Taken during the 1981 reunion in California. eat a meal. Emma's folks were very hoepitable people, so he was invited to eat and to go to box suppers and church socials. They, no doubt, sold some calves to him. Emma was nineteen or twenty when she fell in love with her cowboy. Cornelius had taken out a claim here in about 1910, so there was already a nice little house and some other buildings, a windmill and big wooden corrals with a snubbing post in the center of one. Here he �The Cornelius and Emma Klassen family in 1935 or 1936, this was taken on the farm north of Vona. Back Row: Paul C., Deitrich A., Ervin E., Doris L., and Edith Mae. Front Row: Mabel T., Jack, Emma (mother), Cornelius (father), Loyd J. and Helen M. i,*t* .,a,..l.l.l ,$ ,.:.,l|,,',i,.,"" ,, was able to take care of the livestock and break the wild horses. The weekends he would spend with his widowed mother and younger sisters and brothers. He suffered some years with arthritis. ',1:tl s s $ st $ t Ford car of C,K. Klassen in 1920. This is a picture of Cornelius and Emma Dulmer Klassen taken in 1911 or 1912, in August or September. Note the large turnip and the fence made of adobe brick. Moving storage tank back to school section after a big storm. Dick and Jack Klassen and their team, Ned and Prince in 1936. Loyd Klassen P.F.C. U.S. Army, 1946, and Bill Corwin E.N.C., U.S.N. and Joan 14 months. q-._*1 h.Fh.n 'k-, n aA Cornelius K. Klassen and his horse Stinger, about 1912. ".,\" - i, l',& q,--'- :\ Deitrich Klassen. conductor on Rock Island Railroad, he worked 40 years for the railroad. �Clarence Klooz. She died at the age of 93 on January 20, 1986. by Edith M.Ilugley KLASSEN, EMMA DULMER F371 Memories Cornelius K. Klassen born August 11,, 1880 in Hillsboro, Kansas and Emma Dulmer, born April 8, 1892, in Garfield, New Jersey, were married on August 8, 1912, at my folk's home 14 miles north of Vona, Colorado. We had just had the house built. It was made of adobe bricks. So this was a big event! The pastor, Charles Ashley, drove out form Vona Paul Klassen, U.S. Marines, 1946. Dick Klassen, U.S. Army and Mabel Klassen, Ensign in U.S.N.R. in 1943. Glenda, one son, Richard (Richy), four granddaughters, one set of twin grandsons. Mabel and William (Bill) Corwin live in Gig Harbor, Washington. They have two daughters Joan and Katherine, two grandsons, one granddaughter. Loyd and Opal live on their farm home about 15 miles north of Vona, Colorado, and one mile east. They have four daughters and three sons, five granddaughters and three grandsons. The daughters are Diane, Marsha, Terri Jo, Virginia Lee; the sons are Bruce K., Verl L., and Troy J. Helen and Herb Smart live in Diablo, Washington. They have two daughters and two sons, three granddaughters. Their daughters are Barbara J. and Joanne E., the sons are Robert L. and Douglas F. Jack and Audry live in Ojho, California. They have one daughter, Emily Lou and two sons, Jack Ryan and Russell Paul, one granddaughter and one grandson. Cornelius passed away on July 1, 1954 of arteriosclerosis and a cerebral hemorrhage. Many of this family served their country throughout the Second World War. Ervin eerved in the Navy and was on the cruiser, Phoenix on December 7, L94L, but survived the holocaust of Pearl Harbor when the Japanese warplanes attacked the home base Ervin Klassen in 1943. Cornelius and Emma Dulmer were married in 1912. They had 9 children and lived on the ranch five and one-half miles north and one and one-half west of Vona, Colorado down near the Republican River Valley. Their children include Paul and Joyce who live in Joes, Colorado. They have one son Darrel, and two daughters, Linda and Jary Lee, two grandsons and three granddaughters. Dick and Esther live in Goodland, Kansas and have two daughters, Pamela and Sally, three grandsons and two granddaughters. Dick retired from working on the Rock Island Raihoad. Edith Mae and Earnest Hugley have one son, Cornelius Claud (Jim), two daughters, Patricia Jo and Janet, three grandsons and three granddaughters, and two geat grandsons and one great granddaughter. Ervin and Vera have three daughters, Debra, Susan and Carolyn, and twin grandsons. Doris and Clarence Klooz have three daughters, Barbara, Beverly and of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Ervin received a Purple Heart. Dick served in the Railroad Engineers in Alaska. Mabel T. Klassen Corwin served in the Navy Nurse Corps. Paul served in the Marine Corps. Loyd served in the Army on the Pacific front. Helen Klassen Smart was a Cadet Nurse. Jack joined the Navy Air Force after the war, Mother's sons-in-law who served were Willinm Corwin who was in the Submarine Corps, Clarence Klooz was a Marine and served in the Pacific front. Herbert Smart served in the Army in the Europe Front. There were no war fatalities in this family group, a blessing for which we are all thankful. Mother was about a nine star Mother, and a lot more. Emma made quilts by hand for each of her children and for each of her grandchildren. The folks were charter members of the Vona Baptist Church. Mother's life and testimony have been a great blessing to her family and friends. Mother was usually humming a tune while she worked. Mother spent her last years in Sacramento. California with Doris and to perform the wedding ceremony. Cornelius and I got our license from Burlington a couple of weeks before. We got our pictures taken at Stratton, Colorado, too. We were surprised to have relatives from Hillsboro, Kansas, come to our wedding. My father went to meet the train in Vona. He had a team of horses and a Spalding Spring Wagon with two seats. We just invited the immediate families on both sides to the wedding since that is all we had room for. Everyone had a good time though, the Dutch and the German. We got lots of gifts. We bought some furniture for our house which had two rooms, a small cellar and a porch. We sent an order to Montgomery Wards for a pretty cast iron stove with a warming oven and a reservoir that held about three gallons of water, linoleum for the kitchen floor, a kitchen cabinet, and a bedroom set. We had homemade carpets which I had made. We also bought a table and chair and a few other things. It came to Vona by freight from Denver. Dad hauled it home with his team and wagon. This was all exciting at this time. Vona was new on the map in those days. Mr. S.L. Howell filed on the West side of town and H.K. Haines the East side. There was always lots going on at our ranch with the cattle and horses around. The colts were so cute. My folks would stop by quite often since we were half way to Vona, Our ranch was 6 miles north and a mile and a half west. About this time the First Baptist Church of Vona was organized. Before that we held meetings in the Boger School. The minister, Ira J. Calahan, would drive out and preach. We had good crowds. Later we drove to Vona. Later on my sister Sadie Iler taught school in the Boger school. I remember the picnic ll miles north and 1 east of Vona. It was in a gxove of trees on a timber claim. We had a good crowd. They played games like baseball, foot races, horse shoe pitching, jumping rope and other games. Each family brought dinner. We enjoyed the day. The fourth of July was usually a happy time. There were quite a few roads graded over the country. Each land owner had to pay a tax to work on the grading and plowing of roads. It was easier to get around. Most all the ranchers would plow fire guards too, in case of fire, so the grass couldn't burn up. There had been a fire in the sandhills some years earlier. Mrs. Frank Boger who lived near Hell �miles we had a central station. There was one at Vona, then 12 miles north, then at the Charley George Place, then at Mrs. Coleman's Place and at Kirk, Colorado. As the years went by we had other babies. Our family grew to include besides Paul and Deitrich, Edith May, Ervin, Doris, Mable, Lloyd, Helen, and Jack. We built a room on the north side of the kitchen and made the porch larger. Dad did most of the work. Henry came down from :i.;r:i li,:l,l: 'i.-i.i Kirk and helped him. The material was .rl.:: hauled from Vona. The school district rented a little sod house 7z mile west where Paul and Deitrich went to school. We had pretty good .:I'i:: crops. The grass was good too. We would irrigate from the storage tank when it would run over. We had some fruit trees and a strawberry patch. We all enjoyed the berries with the rich cren- from the cows. About this time we got a washing machine. Dad bought it from Harlin Haines Hardware in Vona. I could get a big washing out in half a day with a little help! Later the new Murphy School was built. It was in the center of the school district. There were lots of people and farms and ranches in the country by this time. Cars were in style by this time. Dad had the first Model T Ford in Kit Carson County. We even made a cover of light weight canvas to keep it clean. We all enjoyed riding in it. We didn't have too many good roads yet, mostly cattle and horse trails. The driver had to watch out for loose sand. The above was written by Emma Klassen after she turned eighty years old. She wrote much more. Still living in the area are her son Lloyd Klassen, grandsons Bruce Klassen and Troy Klassen and grand daughter Virginia Johnson. Emma died on Jan. 20, 1986. She was 93 years,9 months, and 11 days old. Edith May Hugley KLASSEN, MARY DULMER F372 In December of 1909 we left for Out West. Nick Brownwood had made trips to Colorado with groups of men to interest them in homesteading. He bragged about the country and had no trouble getting men to travel to see the area. My father, Cornelius Dulmer, was one of them. It was in June when the land was green and beautiful. Dad thought it was Cornelius and Emma Klassenn August 8, 1912' a beautiful place and wanted to own the land that he could get by homesteading. Several Creek said she could read the paper by the light of the flames shooting up over the hills! To go north from our ranch we always had two big hills to climb. We called them the Spark Hills. We always had to go 4 miles north to the school section Dad had leased for several years. We fenced it in and had a well drilled. The well was deep. We had a big storage tank to have a supply ofwater for the Iive stock. On August 29, 1913, Paul was born. My mother was at our house. Dad rode with the teo- and buggy to get the doctor. They got back in time. The work was different then. We had the baby to feed, bathe and play with. He was a good baby. Henry Klassen brought Grandma Klassen over to see the baby. Bv this time the Brownwood Store was open for business. Nick Brownwood did the hauling for supplies with a team and wagon. Edith, my sister, worked in the store. They bought creo- and eggs. There was a new school built a half mile west of their store. It was called Elfis, Colorado. It was 15 miles north and 1 west of Vona. We had a mail route north of Vona 20 miles. Mr. August Carlstead was our mail carrier. He drove a team and buggy. Our baby Paul was growing. On May 25, 1916, Deitrich was born. Dad drove to Flagler to get Dr. McBride. They got home in time. I had an oven full of bread baking. The doctor sure thought the house smelled good. Later on I had help again. Dad herded the cows and broke the horses. He had help. Telephones came in style by this time. They run the lines on the fences, about every 12 of the Dutch families decided to go along. We had to be there in six months. We arrived on December the 9th, 1909. We had a special car on the train for all ofus to travel on and bring our belongings. We arrived in Seibert at eight o'clock in the morning. It was 28 degrees below zero! All of us went over to a big hotel there and had a hot breakfast. Myron, my brother, was there. He had a spring wagon with a closed top and side curtains. There were other spring wagons there to take us to my sister Edith Brownwood's home, many miles to the north. We travelled all day, stopping whenever we could to watm ourselves at peoples' houses on the way. Edith's house was a two-room frame house with no insulation. The walls weren't completed. It was very cold. There were many of us to sleep �in that little two room house. Later Nick built Mother and Dad, May and Frank Klassen a much nicer home and opened a store called are dead now and leave fond memories for us the Brov,rnwood Store. We all stayed in with Edith until the men had houses built for us to cherish. to move into. I want to tell you about the comet. Well, it was so beautiful out there outside in the cold. You know, you could see for miles and miles, which we weren't used to, coming from New Jersey. There were no trees around us and the prairies were so flat. But on the tenth ofJanuar5r, I looked out one evening an here was this comet called Halley's Comet. It was just beautiful!There was a large head to begin with and out from that streamed a long, huge tail. Oh, it was so beautifuMt seemed to light up the whole sky. That was January 10, 1910. It showed for several nights. Then, all of a sudden it was gone. It cerne back in June with an eclipse of the moon and this comet. That was the most gorgeous sight I have ever seen. It kind of made a hissing noise. Later on after she married Frank Klassen he would tell about this comet that they had stayed up all night to watch. He lived near Joes then. Later they met and were married. Well, when they began to build for us on our land, Dad and Nick and the others built our barn first. They partitioned off part of the barn for us to live in until they could get the house built. We had to make the adobe blocks. We had to fir a place where a horse went around and around to mix the mud or adobe. There was a lagoon close to the place to use the water to mix the mud for the adobe. We had forms to fill with this mixture. We made these adobe blocks by the hundreds. Just one after another. It only took them a short time to dry with the wind and the hot sun. Our house had two bedrooms and a big living room and kitchen combined. He made a pantry and clothes closet and a place for a milk separator. We had a warm place. It didn't get cold in that house. Mother kept plants in there all winter. We brought some furniture with us and we ordered some from the mail order house. We had to help Dad with the cows. I was 14 and my sister Emma was 17. We'd stack feed. Clean the barns. We used to help put up fences. We did everything around there. Of course, there would be cows to watch the cows always wanted to get into the cornfield. I'd be the one to ride herd. Myron gave me a big black whip which I always was thankful for. As I rode along watching cows I'd kill rattlesnakes. I killed with the whip. The whip had a swirl handle and all I had to do was snap it at their heads. Sometimes I'd be on the horse and some times I'd be off, but I killed lots of snakes. Then we had meetings at the Brownwood schoolhouse. People from here and there and everywhere would meet and get acquainted. We had socials. On Sundays we would have youth meetings. Sometimes we'd have a visiting preacher come and hold services. This is how Emma met Cornelius Klassen. Later I met Cornelius's brother Frank and we were manied. Frank had a homestead near Kirk where we lived until our oldest son Robert was ready for school. Then we traded the Kirk homestead for the one that my Dad had improved and owned. Our children went to the Brownwood School until we had to sell our belongings and leave, since the bank foreclosed in 1925. By then we had Robert, and twins, Philip and Phyllis, and Miriam and Deane. Deane was a baby when we left the farm and moved to Denver. by Phyllis Klassen Rehmer KLIESEN FAMILY F373 Joseph Conard Kliesen was born on Febru- ary 5, 1906 and grew up on the family farm near Wright, Kansas. Loretta Schaffer was born March 3, 1910 and was raised in nearby Speawille. J.C. and Loretta were united in marriage June 22, 1931 and moved to a farm south of Dodge City, where they lived for 14 years. They had two sons: Leon, born Januar5r 2L, L932 in the hospital at Dodge City; and Roger, born at home during a dust storm October 27, 1935. Both attended country school at Rickland Valley as young boys. In the spring of 1946 they moved to Stratton, Colorado with all their belongings in a car and a pickup with a horse trailer. Their first home, which had been the old telephone office, was located south of the Collins Hotel (now Twin Oaks). This twobedroom home was purchased for $4000 and was one of three in town at that time with an indoor bathroom. At that snme time, they purchased 80 acres for $3000, which now is the Stratton Golf Course. They lived on a farm northeast of Stratton for a year and moved to their present residence on 340 Colorado Avenue in September of 1960. This house was built by J. W. Borders, and originally had a maternity ward on the second floor. Leon attended school in Stratton, after moving with his parents, and attended the Abbey School in Canon City his junior and senior years of high school. In May of 1951 he married Dorothy Drietz at St. Charles Catholic Church in Stratton. They have two sons, one daughter, and six grandchildren: Darrell and family of Ft. Morgan; Dennis, who lives in California; and Jody and family of Denver. Leon passed away June 19, 1981. Roger graduated in 1954 from Stratton High School. After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving from January 1955 to December 1956 on the U.S.S. Wisconsin. During his tour of duty, he spent time in Denmark, Spain, Scotland, England, South America, Cuba, Haiti, and New York City. After returning home, he attended Northeastern Junior College and was a member of the NJC football team. On August 2, 1958 he married Marcia Peters of Burlington at St. Charles Church. Soon after their marriage, Roger and being the new elementary school. At the time they moved out of the "soddy", Roger and Marcia had two daughters: Kendra, born November 13, 1959 and Moira, born October 7, 1960. Soon to follow were another daughter, Trina, born May 17, 1962, a son, Wade, born November 2, 1963, and their youngest daughter, Dana, born August 1, 1966. All five children graduated from Stratton High School. They now have one grandchild, Sheena Hawks. Kendra married Bryce Monasmith from Burlington on August 23, 1980. She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in March of 1986 with a B.A. in secondar5r math and currently teaches at Bethune High School. Bryce taught and coached at Stratton High School for three years. They now reside in Burlington. Moira was very active in the Future Homemakers of America while in highschool, serving as a State President and a national officer for two years. She manied Bob Hawks from Flagler June 6, 1981. She graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in occupational therapy in 1983 and now works for the East Central BOCES as an occupational therapist. Bob and Moira presently live in Burlington with their daughter Sheena, born May 10, 1985. Trina married Russ Benson from Flagler September 5, 1981. She graduated from NJC with a degree in cosmetology in 1983 and now works at the Hair Gallery in Stratton. Russ and Trina live north of Stratton. Wade is currently attending the University of Southern Colorado. He is pursuing a degree in industrial arts. Dana graduated from NJC in 1986, where she was a member of the volleyball term. She currently is a student at UNC majoring in special education. J.C. and Loretta have enjoyed their 40 plus years living in Stratton and they and their farnily remain close to the community and its people. by Loretta Kliesen KNAPP - BARKLEY FAMILY F374 My Grandad, James Harvey Knapp, cnme to McDonald, Kansas, in a horse and ox drawn covered wagon with his parents, John H and Lucy E. Knapp from Winchester, Illinois in 1885. After helping his parents establish their Marcia moved seven and one-half miles south of Stratton, where they farmed, milked cows, and lived in a sod house. In December of 1960 they moved into a new home built just a few feet away from the old "soddy". This home is their current residence. Roger decided to sell the milk cows in 1962 and bought Angus beefcows. In 1966 he started breeding his cow herd by the procedure of artificial insemination (A.I.), which was somewhat revolutionary at the time in commercial beef cattle. By 1972, all the breeding was completely done by A.I., and a herd bull hasn't been owned since then. Roger served on the Stratton School Board from 1965 through 1983 and during that time the school saw many changes - one Right: James Harvey Knapp, Left: Son John W. Knapp (Hans). Taken 1943. �.laii:rr. , ,llr:tri dren: Virginia Mae Kelley, Duane Arnold tt Kelley, Junior Darrell Kelley, Kenneth Lloyd Kelley, Ronald Lee Kelley, Marvin Gerald Kelley. In January they started to school in Seibert. That spring we had to move our fences so the county could grade up the road, which now is road nineteen by our house. At this time there were still roads thatwere more or less just trails. lai:'r::'1. Grass was good for the cattle and we Right to Leff John W. Knapp (Hans), James Harvey Knapp, and Jap Willin-s. Drilling well in Wyoming. Picture taken 1920. home at McDonald, Kansas, he worked at various jobs that were available. In 1887 he walked to Kit Carson County and chose a homesite 15 miles northeast of the present Burlington, Colorado. The Rock Island Railroad ca-e into being the following year. In these years he dug many wells with a shovel. October 1, 1889 James Harvey Knapp married Celia Hester Barkley of McDonald, Kansas and lived on the homesite he had school. It was now 1906 that he purchased the Penfold Property, now 489-15th Street in Burlington. The house is presently owned by his daughter Lucy A. (Knapp) Russmann. The family lived here during the winter; come spring they moved back to the ranch, and all the children had jobs to do. Grandma Knapp died September 1, 1920 from cancer; leaving a couple young children. Grandad later manied her sister Della, loved and known to the familv as Auntie. by Iva Gross selected, then known as a pre-emption. Their first home was a little dugout, but it was "A Home in The West". After the railroad was built. Jo-es and Celia made several trips during the winter to Pueblo where Jnmes would work in the F376 LucyA. Knapp (Russmann, ClydeA. Knapp, Cora Zella Knapp, Jomes Harvey Knapp Jr., Zuella M. Knapp (Homm), John W. Knapp, Nettie V. Knapp (Homm), Donald W. Knapp, and Elsie M. Knapp (Schutte). The Knapp's moved to several different locations and they always had to build a house and dig a well. There houses ranged from a little dugout to a 2 room sod house with dirt floor and finally a frame home. Celia served as the Post Master of the Goff Post Office for some time. Grandad Knapp followed the Well Drilling Business all his life. From digging with his shovel, then a derrick with a pulley pulled by a horse, then to a well auger which resembled an auger in the carpenter's brace and bit, (pictured is his well drill). He drilled many water wells as well as oil wells in Wyoming. It has been related that he drilled the first town well for Burlington. My Dad, John W. Knapp (Hans) drilled the first town well for Burlington. My Dad, John W. Knapp (Hans) drilled with him for many years, then later on his own. Jgmes H. Knapp raised lots of cattle and his ranch was well known of over the country for his fine herd. Jemes H. Knapp was elected Kit Carson County Sheriff in 1906 and served thru 1910. It was at this time he moved the family to town so he could be cloee to the Sheriffs Office, also so the children could go to a better Seibert. by Ruby Knapp KNODEL FAMILY F376 Gottlieb and Christena Knodel and seven children started the trip on November 20, i,ffiaN& smelters and Celia cooked for the laborers. To this union there were 9 children born; farmed mostly wheat and feed. Fields blew pretty easy in the fifties and we had many a dirty day with schools being dismissed. It was one ofthese days January 1, 1956, when we were blessed with a baby girl, Janice Marie Knapp. The "Flagler News" man came to our farm and took pictures of Fay listing some of our land to keep the land from moving. All our children graduated from Seibert High School. The school bus came by our door for twenty-five years. The spring of 1958 we planted a large six row windbreak on the north and west sides of the buildings. The wind break took a lot of hoeing and replanting of trees for several years. We did some remodeling in 1958 and added a new addition in 1966. Through the years with seven children, twenty-one grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren we've had no great excitement but a good life south of The Knapp hackberry tree, Nov. 1985 I remember, when in October, L947, we, Fay and Ruby Knapp, bought the Ned and Grace Clark farm located eight miles south, three miles east and one-fourth mile south of Seibert. Ned and Grace Clark homesteaded here about 1914 and lived in their sod house till they built the house we now live in. On a trip back from Iowa, Ned brought back a small hackberry tree in his suitcase. They planted the tree south of the house by the stock tank. This tree was thirty years old when we bought the farm and is now a graceful seventy years old. December, L947, we moved to the farm from McDonald, Kangas, with our six chil- 1906 to America. I em Eva Knodel Schaal. We came from Josephdorf, South Russia. My sister Mary was 16 years old, Edward, 13 Gottleib, 10; David,8; Eva 6; Benjo-in 4; and Gustave, 2. We went by train to Bremen, Germany, and spent a week there for physical examinations, shots and so on. Then we were loaded on a freighter ship; that's how poor people traveled. It took us 16 days and nights to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It was a tiresome trip when you don't see nothing but water and sky. Gottlieb and David got scarlet fever and were real sick. We never saw them for days. The rest of us never got it. Dad took us kids on deck on nice days and the sharks swam along the ship to grab anything that was thrown overboard. Sometimes the sea was really rough and the waves splashed against the port hole or windows. Mother prayed aloud that the Lord be merciful if it's His will to bring us to shore safe. Finally one clear day word spread all over the ship, "We can see the Statue of Liberty". Soon we landed in New York. Another physical for health's sake. Mother was expecting her eighth child and got sick there and was put in the hospital. Our Uncle John and Dora Knodel and their children were on this trip with us so we went on by train to Burlington, Colorado. We left Mother and Dad behind to have the baby. When we cnme to Burlington, Dad's cousin, Peter Knodel was there to meet us in the wagon. That night nearly everything was moved out of the kitchen to make beds on the floor for us fourteen visitors with our feather ticks which we brought with us. I want to say this: we called this cousin Uncle Peter and his wife �Aunt Christena and they were worthy of hauled to the elevator in town. The oats were being called that. Who would do such a good deed for so many people at once today? Dad and Mother came a week later with baby Andrew but he died. A month later we moved in an old house belonging to a family nemed Martin Stahlecker, total strangers but shocked by hand after being cut with a binder. The corn was picked and shucked by hand and piled in long ricks to be shelled by a custom cornsheller, Jim Weaver, and again ground and then hauled to the elevator in really good Christian people. Uncle John's moved into a granary at Uncle Peters until our soddy, one room, was built on our town in a lumber wagon pulled by two horses. Fred later bought a Hart Parr tractor with which to farm. hospital bill took everything Dad had. Here we were a family of nine and nothing to go on. But the good people which were poor too, shared. They brought food to keep us until we moved in our soddy and dad went to work for a big rancher to help support the rest of Daisy. Bessie married George Stubbs, Flora married Henry Drager, Rosa married Bus Rhule, and Bertha married Clifford Hines, all men from this locality. homestead. We were terribly poor and that us. The worst ofall happened after a couple of weeks that we left Uncle Peter: their six children got scarlet fever and three died inside of a week. The other three got well; they were Ted, Lydia, and Emil. The school with the neighbor help. Corn was piled on the All the Klooz children graduated from Burlington High School except Bessie and Claude served in the armed service in World *war I in 1918. Clarence, Lawrence, Ra5rmond, and Earl served in World War II and all returned safely home. Flora and Bessie still reside in this area. The rest live in different parts of this state with the we're all older we realize with a grief and heartache that must have been on Uncle Peter and Aunt Christena. No one will every exception of Clarence and Raymond who live in California. Fred Klooz died of a heart attack in 1929 leaving his wife, Flora, to rear young children and manage the farm. The family moved into know. Burlington. Flora died in 1964. was closed and no one else got sick. But since The first years were awful, drought, no rain but gradually things picked up. Oh how homesick the folks used to be for Russia. They left a paradise, everything grew there because ofthe rich soil and plentiful rainfall, fruit of all kinds and grapes, the very best. But never enough to own a home because each farmer had a few acres, just enough to make a living. Our parents have been gone for years. Mother died in December, 1935, at the age of 66 from sugar diabetes. Dad died in 1940 at the age of 71 from cancer of the bowels. Mary died at the age of 44 due to heart trouble in 1941. Brother Gus died due to cancer of the lungs in 1967 at the age of 62. Sister Lydia died due to hardening ofthe liver in 1954 at the age of 46. Brother David died on March 6, 1982 at the age of 83. Brother Ed died on February 22, 1983 at the age of 88. Sister, Eva Schaal, lives in Loveland, Colorado with her husband Bill. by Fern Gramm KOOZ, FRED by Flora Klooz Drager KORBELIK FAMILY F378 The Fred Klooz family arrived in Kit Carson County in a 1914 Model T touring car at Burlington on August 1, 1919, Colorado Day. They settled on a farm two miles north of Burlington. The family consisted of wife, Flora, and children Bessie, Daisy (now deceased), Flora, Rosa, Bertha, Clarence, and Lawrence. Raymond and Earl were born in Burlington. Claude, Fred's son from previous marriage whose mother died, came in a railroad car on the Rock Island line with the horses and milk cows to water and feed them as it was a three day journey from the home at Farna-m, Nebraska. The farm grew wheat, oats, and corn. The wheat was hawest€d with a push binder called a header which was done by six horses. The cut grain was elevated into a header barge and hauled away and put into a stack to be threshed later by a thresher and a crew and helo from neiehbors. The crain was Carson County to stay. They moved to Section 16-9-42 and it was their home for many years to come. This is where their son, Harvey Lee was born in 1937. The crops were poor in the 30's due to the drought and the hungry grasshoppers and rabbits. Adolph found summer employment in various areas. He worked for a farmer near Holyoke and while there one day they were blessed with a nice rain at home. So Rose went out with tractor and grain drills and sowed the millet seed into damp soil! (Yes, it made a short crop.) Another summer, Adolph, along with a group of local men helped with wheat harvest near Imperial, Nebraska. Their house was destroyed by fire on January 26, 1938. The dense smoke awake- ned Vernetta and her screams awakened them. Harvey was a baby asleep in his crib. They got the children into the car and Rose hurried them a half mile to the neighbors, Fred and Mildred Schaaf. From there she drove another half mile to Harold and Minnie Schmidt's for help and back home. There was no phone in the area at that time and the severe cold and high wind made the fire too far along to save the house. Somehow, Adolph managed to pitch a cream separator out the west window and also tried to pull a mattress Hauling water from the creek to mix concrete for the basement of the house. 1931. Adolph and Rose Korbelik F377 sold weighed 400 lbs. and they got $2.75 for it (total). They rented a tractor for use in drilling wheat that fall. Soon csme the beginning of the dust years, remembered as the dirty 30's, and also as the "depression years" nationwide. Farmers tried very hard to stop the fields from blowing. The government was paying 25 cents per acre for working the ground with a lister. Adolph listed many acres in our community, which eventually helped pay off the new International tractor he had purchased at a cost of $1,025.00. In 1934, in the fall, they were back in Kit In 1931, Emil Frank Korbelik and Catherine Marie Korbelik came to Kit Carson County, Colorado from Milligan, Nebraska with their six song: Emil, Jim, Sylvin, Arvil, Lee and Adolph, with Adolph's new bride, Rose. They made their new home on a half section of land which they had purchased southeast of Burlington, now part of the Green Valley community. They arrived two days ahead of the "Big Blizzard" of 1931. What later beco-e the barn was the first building they built there and was where they lived until the basement of their house was finished enough to move into. So the "barn" was where the family also survived the blizzard. Adolph and Rose rented a farm 16 miles north of Kanorado. Kansas in 1933. Their daughter, Vernetta, was then 2 years old. They lived in a sod house there, which was a new experience for them. The landlord had a herd of Angus cattle, which they cared for for half the calves born. The first calf they through a window, not realizing it was on fire and guffered severe burns on his hands. His parents were still living two miles east so they lived there for a few years together. Adolph's father passed away in November, 1938. Ray and Persis Mangus lived and farmed about a mile north with their four sons: Glen. Jack, Dale and Leslie and their two daughters: Ona Jean and Ina Lea. Vernetta rode to school with the Mangus children in their buggy in good weather and horses and wagon sled when the snow was too deep. During these depression years, cattle grazed on free range and were herded on horseback, usually by the "kids". Cow chips were gathered for fuel. Rabbits were hunted for feed for hogs. Grasshoppers and dust storms and drought made survival a struggle. Russian thistles were harvested and stacked for feed for cattle. by Rose Korbelik �Harbor, but happened to be out at sea at the time of the attack. Alois was wounded in the battle of the Solomon Islands and hospitalized for a time at Guadalcanal. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States of America a few days after the President declared war on Japan. Everyone in our country was issued "War Ration Books" of stamps to be used in buying sugar, flour, shoes, fuel, etc. during the four year war. Harold Schmidt and Adolph sponsored a dance at the Armory in Burlington in honor of our local servicemen who were leaving for war duty. Adolph and Rose helped organize the Green Valley 4-H Club in 1944 and were active as 4-H leaders, Rose for five years and Adolph for 17 years. Rose was a charter member of the Green Valley Home Demonstration Club. In May, 1948, the Green Valley Home Demonetration Club painted the basement walls and hung pretty curtains in the windows in the schoolhouse. They also built a much needed storage cabinet in the basement. That summer there was much of the interior finish work that needed to be done in the new Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital. The club was happy to be of Korbelik'e "barn" houge. L. to R.: Emil Korbelik Sr., Emil Korbelik Jr., John Kucera (Roge's father)' Jim Korbelik, Bill Koca, Catherine Korbelik, Helen Kucera (Rose's sister), Rose Korbelik, Adolph Korbelik and Darlene Koca in front, 1931. KORBELIK FAMILY F379 or pitching horseshoes, children played together and the ladies visit€d. Musical talent in the community made dances and suppers together a treat. Neighbors visited often in the evenings or played cards together. Children enjoyed vieits listening to the grownups tell stories of their experiences or of the "old days". Our community remembers the first big tornado, June 8, 1941, when the George BlomendaN farm wae taken and it plowed its ugly path through the McCullough farm where it tore the baby from Mrs. McCullough's arms and left her badly injured. (The assistance. Rose remembers they were applying an oil finish on the doors and shellacing chairs. Later on there was landscaping to be done. Rose attended the groundbreaking ceremony and broke ground in the southwest area of the hospital for the evergreen tree which the club donated in memory of their deceased member, Julia Broadsword. Years later the hospital was enlarged. There was an addition to the south and so the plantings there were removed. by Rose Korbelik KORBELIK FAMILY F380 baby was found unharmed). Because of flooded roads, Mrs. McCullough had to be transported milee out of the way to get to a Korbelik family moving to Colorado, 1931. doctor. The tornado continued its devastation into Kangas and past Ruleton before it lifted. The family was happy to be relocated back to Section L6-9-42 (Road 57 and S) in March, 1942. They had replaced their house, which they lost by fire, with one which they found south of Kanorado. It was just a ehell and they had to plaster the walls and remodel. They were then only a mile and a half from the brand new Green Valley school. Their son, Hawey, start€d his first year in school in the 1942-43 term in the Green Valley school. Their daughter, Patricia Jane, was born then in March 23. 1943. By this time, the depression had broken up Firgt Korbelik home built in Colorado, later beco-e the barn after their house was built. Adolph and Rose Korbelik These were hard years but they were also years that created warm memories of close friends and togetherness. Neighbors helped each other and got together regularly for basket dinners where the day was spent with the men and boys playing ball in the pasture the family with Jim returning to Nebraska, Sylvin and Arvil working their way west and settling with jobs in California, Lee working his way through electrician school and finding himself settled in Washington. Emil moved to Burlington and Adolph remained to beat the depression and build his farm. Our United States had been at war since December 8, 1941 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared war on Japan, after the Japanese Air Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th. Rose's younger brother, Alois, was in his third year in the Naw at the time. He was stationed at Pearl Emil Frank and Catherine Marie Korbelik with granddaughter Vernetta Korbelik, 1936. �Green Valley School in 1944. In 1948 she reigned as homecoming queen and graduated a$ valedictorian from Burlington High School. She went on to Colorado A&M (now CSU), was attendant to Kit Carson County Queen when Bonny Dam was dedicated and aleo Engineer Queen Attendant at Colorado A&M. She transferred to Barnes Business College in 1951 and latpr studied under Florence Keeeler School of Dance and Fred Astaire Studios in Denver. She then taught dance for Fred Astaire Studios, sang and did dance exhibitions with her dance partner, _# Korbelik's new houee built in 1942. Bob Tate. She earned her private pilot's license in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she also met and married Eno Mallet in 1960. They had four sons: Rick Anthony, Todd Joseph, Gary James and Christopher Jnmes. The family moved to Arnold, Missouri in 1963 where Eno worked for the Defense Mapping Agency in St. Louis. That was home for 15 years during which time Vernetta was involved in civic, community and church affairs. She held office on the parish council, taught third grade in School ofReligion, organized and led The house that burned on January 26, 1938. the second metropolitan 4-H Ctub in Jefferson County, which rapidly grew to second largest in the country. She served on County Adolph and Rose Korbelik Council and was awarded outstanding leader of the year in 1976 by the President of the Rose worked for a time in the Kit Carson County Clerk's office. Adolph was a charter member of the Isaac Walton League. He was Co-Op Board member fot 25 years, Farm Bureau member and officer. school board member and officer 17 years. He helped organize and establish the Green Valley Telephone Association in 1948. Their phone system was sold and became part of the S&T Telephone Cooperative Association in 1955. He helped otganize and establish REA electricity in Green Valley. John Guthrie and Eddie Johnson hooked the wiring to their house and their lights were turned on at noon March 4, L952. In 1947 they bought Section 17-9-42 and planned to build a house there some day. They planted a few rows ofpine tree seedlings for a windbreak the next year. The new house was built in 1974 and ready to move into on Christmas Eve. They, with their family, enjoyed a special Merry Christmas! They continued to raise Hereford cattle and stayed with the cow-calf operation until their retirement a few years ago. Life got better but things still happened. In the early 60's, Adolph experienced another tornado. This time he was in it. Caught working in the field, he held tight to the one way plow he was using, while lying as flat as he could in a furrow as, first, the front of the tornado hit, then the eye and, finally, the back. Finding himself still alive, he made his way to his pickup as tennis ball size hail began to hit. He found the pickup with one glass left in it. As he started for home the hail claimed that glass too. When the family helped him into the house they found him bleeding from the hailstone pelting and in shock but alive, thank God! Rose and Adolph say, "Thinking back to the 30'swhen some families moved awayfrom the "dust bowl" area, we were tempted to do 80, too. Ifwe could have found a buyer for the stack of millet we had, we might have left, also. Wethank God we didn'tfind the buyer". Vernetta graduated from eighth grade in University of Missouri for work in Career Education and for getting it recognized by the schools and as an approved 4-H project in the State of Missouri. She was a charter member of the Arnold Chapter of the National FISH organization started by combined efforts of five churches in the Arnold area. She served there as counselor for five years until she moved back to the Green Valley community in Kit Carson County in 1978 to finish raising her four sons. She went into partnership in Western Engravers and Designers in 1976 and took sole ownership of the business along with her move to Colorado Adolph Korbelik farnily. Back row, L. to R.: Vernetta, Rose and Adolph. Front: Patricia and Harvey, 1946. in 1978. Rick graduated from Burlington High School in 1979 and went on to the University of Southwest Louisiana as did Todd one year later. Todd graduated with honors in Business Management and is presently Night Audit Manager atthe Downtown Holiday Inn in Denver. Rick moved to Denver in 1987 and went into business with his mother. Gary graduated from Burlington High School in in sports, dramatics and many other activities during his four years at Burlington High School. He received a scholarship to Colorado School of Mines but after one semester decided to enlist in the Air Force. Four years being able to finish raising her own sons in her home Green Valley community and to watch them do well and graduate from her he spent in the Air Force, most of the time being in Texas. He was honorably discharged in the rank of S/Set. in 1959. During 1959 he worked on the construction of the East elevator at The Kanorado Co-Op. In October of 1960 Harvey was united in marriage with Connie Still. They had five children, two of which died in infancy. Susan Marie is now the wife of Russell Corliss and they live northwest of Bethune. Williem lss is engaged in farming and ranching with his parents. David Dean is presently a freshman same Burlington High School. at Burlington High School. 1984, attended University of Southwest Louisiana and went on to graduate with honors from Colorado Aero Tech in 1986. He now works for Continental Airlines in Den- ver. Chris is now a freshman at Burlington, is also following in Gary's footsteps as a drummer. Vernetta is feeling great satisfaction in by Rose Korbelik KORBELIK FAMILY F381 Adolph and Rose Korbelik Harvey went eight years to Green Valley School graduating in 1950. Harvey was active Harvey, Connie and family started farming with Harvey's parents in the early 1960's. The family farm has expanded and is still in operation southeast of Burlington. The emphasis being on successful farming and raising quality type cattle. Harvey and Connie are most proud of raising three wonderful children who all have a great sense of community spirit which has been instilled in them through active involvement in their schools, their 4-H and FFA work and their church. Youngest of three children, Patricia �Jane, known a Patsy in early years, was one of the luckiest kids I know. Growing up on a small eastern Colorado farm with a beautiful big sister and a big brother whom she worshipped, in a home full of love, is not KORBELIK - STILL FAMILY F382 everyone's good fortune. The Korbeliks were not rich but Patsy never felt deprived. She was happiest in blue jeans, barefooted and riding her pony, Stardust, pigtails flying. She went to school eight years at Green Valley School, which had a Korbelik enrolled every year of its existence. Don Gilbert and she were the last eighth grade graduating class. She attended and graduated from the old Burlington High School in 1960. The old one-room Green Valley schoolhouse offered students much personal attention. Recesses were spent playing ball, Kick the Can, Fox and Geese, plus, and all ages played together. Green Valley and Smoky Hill had a track meet one year, thanks to organization by Dorothy Baney. Willa Zick, County Supt., used to bring "outside readers" to the country schools. She remembers Catechism and summer school in the basement of the old Catholic Church in west Burlington. Saturday late afternoons and evenings were spent in Burlington doing the weekly shopping. While the neighbors visited at Red Front Grocery, then on Main Street, the kids sat at W-B Drug reading comic books, which could be bought for a dime. The family would grab a bite of supper at Carpers Cafe and then take in a picture ghow at the Midway, hoping they'd be the lucky "Bank Night" winners. Women's Lib wasn't needed on their farm. Mom drove the tractor, helped work cattle and helped Dad whenever he needed it, and Dad, in turn, helped Mom when needed, too. The kids grew up doing the sayne thing. Pat remembers the sound of hundreds of baby chicks, purchased from Mrs. Stewarts Hatchery in Goodland, all in boxee in the living room and remembers rubbing and drying baby calves in the kitchen if they were unfortunate enough to be born during a blizzard. The whole farnily was very involved in Green Valley 4-H Club and the Annual Kit Carson County Fair was a highlight every year. There were basket suppers, minstrel shows, and skits put on by the HDU club. In 1961 she moved to Goodland, where she met and fell in love with James Allnman from Wallace, Kansas. They married in June 1962. Jim is now owner of and self-employed at Jim's Independent Mechanic Shop in Goodland and Pat is employed by Goodland CoOp as Grain Accountant. They have three children. Their oldest daughter, Terri, graduated from college with a degree in Animal Science and Industry and is currently a freshman in Veterinary School at Kansas State University. Their second daughter, Cindy, is married to Mike Weaver and resides in Dillon, Colorado. Mike is employed in lift maintenance at the Keystone Ski Resort and Cindy is teller at a bank in Frisco, Colorado. They will become parents in September! The youngest, a son, Monte, has graduated from NWKA Vo-Tech in Communications Technology and is employed by Northern Telecom, home-based in Dallas, Texas. Katy Korbelik, came to farm in 1931. by Connie Korbelik KORDES, TONY AND ELTZABETH F383 Tony Kordes was born in St. Anthony, Indiana on September 5, 1878. His parents were Valentine and Phelomena Kordes. He moved to Nebraska in March of 1907. He farmed for an aunt and uncle for a while. Elizabeth Reining Kordes was born in Harvey and Connie Korbelik on their wedding day, October 29, 1960. Hawey Korbelik and Connie Still were married October 29, 1960. The sun was shining at the wedding but as they started on their honeymoon trip it began to snow, complete with white shoe polish whipping in the wing window off the car. Reaching Limon, the muffler fell off the car, there's Harv under the car trying to fix it. Back on the road again they were stopped by a patrolman for having a headlight out. They were maried five years or so before Connie realized Harvey could use some Ferdinand, Indiana on February 7, 1888 to Herman and Sophia Reining. It was in Lawrence, Nebraska that Tony and Elizabeth were married on February 16, 1909. They had six children. Tony did not have enough to farm in Nebraska so he sold the land he had there and moved to Colorado in 1930. They put everything they owned on a train and stayed in a hotel when they got to their new farm. He had bought 3 quarters for $30 an acre. There was lots ofland to rent and grandpa and the boys raised corn and feed for the cows and had lots of hogs. Before he came to Nebraska he worked in a foundry in Kentucky for a year. He played the harmonica in a band in Indiana but I don't remember him ever playing it for us profanity - or vise versa - raising pigs can do that! One sow they owned had a favorite trick of lifting the yard gate off its hinges and plowing up the lawn. Loading the fathogs can when we were growing up. In September of 1950 they sold their farm be a trying experience! around the house and her crocheting. I guess all the grandkids will always remember her most for her angel cookies, her flowers and her beautiful crocheting. Elizabeth died on July 22, 1985 at the age of 97. The last summer of her life she was still making fancy work for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Each great grandchild has at least They were blessed with three children, Susan, Bill, and Dave. Susan had a passion for her blanket as a child. If Connie tried to wash her favorite, Susan would be found under the clothesline - blanket in one hand and the other thumb in her mouth. The only child who had to be convinced that Linus (off of Charlie Brown) didn't really take his blanket to school! BiU is a goer. When he was two, he disappeared. Looking eve4mhere - checking stocktanks, creeks - no Bill - finally someone spotted Sparky, the family dog, in an adjoining sugar beet field. Heading in that direction, we found first one shoe, a sock, another shoe, another sock - as Billy had run out of them in the tailwater mud. About 3/t of the way across the field, there we found Bill. Had it not been for little Sparky's trick ofjumping straight up in the air, we would never have seen Bill in those towering beets! Dave, with the help of his much older brother and sister, developed an early use of words and questions. When he was first starting to talk, he was out helping Grandpa Korbelik fix pasture fence. Grandpa warned him to be careful of snakes. Davey replied, "Don't worry Grandpa, we've been over this 'territory'before." As a three year old, he also caught on to the phrase, "Dad, let's drag main!" Actually, it didn't work any better for Davey than it did for his brother and sister. Though there have been a few sorrows, including the loss of their daughter, Sharon, by Rose Korbelik parents, R.A. and Frieda Still, came here in 1923 and Harvey's grandparents, Emil and to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, there have been endless joys in their married life. They are both proud of having long time roots in Kit Carson County. Connie's grand- and moved to a new home in Stratton. Grandma kept busy with beautiful flowers one piece she made when she was 97 years old. Tony was the most perfect grandpa anyone could have. He loved to play with the grandkids, and I know we remember the hand clapping games he used to play. We never could get to be as fast as he was. I still remember the aroma of his pipes when you would come in. He walked downtown to play cards with his friends everyday, even when his rheumatism w{Nl hurting him very much. He always had a smile or was laughing about something. Until a week before he died he still was walking downtown to see his friends. He always had a pony beer before he walked home. Tony and Elizabeth attended Mass everyday or a communion service as long as they were able. Tony died in November 22, 1970 at the age of 92. He used to tell us grandkids that he would catch turtles of all sizes and make turtle soup. He always would tell us kids something and then laugh about it and we were never really sure whether to believe him or not. Grandpa and grandma celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with all the children and most all the grandkids there. Ferdie lives in Stratton. Sophie married Ervin Wolf and lives in Burlington, Colo. They have 6 boys. Delbert lives in Stratton and has 3 children. He married Wilma Schmidt Bruckner. Val lives in Stratton and �grass. Dad also farmed a quarter of wheat land for his dad and rented land from Pat Doughtery from Lincoln, Nebraska for many years. Denny (5-14-194f) is married to Kathleen Hoffman and they have4 kids, Scoot, Wendy, Kelly and Tony. Denny workg for IBM and lives in Denver. Betty (L-22-19,14) is married to Larry Brachtenbach and they had 3 children, Laura, Dee and Matthew. Laura and Dee died as young girls. They farm in the Stratton alea. Beverly (L-26-L947) ig married to Gene Beattie and they have 2 children, Troy and Aaron. They live in Seattle, Washington. Patsy (8-13-1951) ie married to Mike Eieenbad and they have 4 children, Brandy, Clint, Ryan and Jill. They farm in the Stratton area. Valerie (7-21-1955) is married to Ron Thyne and they have 4 children, Denise, Ronda, Clay and B.J. (Bradley). They live in and work in Wray, Colorado. We had a good life on the farm when we Tony and Elizabeth Kordes at their 50th wedding anniversary, L to R: Ferdie, Val, Del, Tony, Elizabeth, Dorothy, Sophie and Joe. has 5 children. He maried Leona Huppert. Dorothy lives in Denver and has 4 children. She maried Richard Schreiner. Joe lives in Goodland, Kansas. The family that still lives in Kit Carson County are Ferdie, Sophie, Val and Del. Grandchildren are Larry Wolf, Jerry Wolf, Patsy Eisenbart and Betty Jean Brachtenbach and their children. Grandpa was really a hard worker and the age of 70 would come out and help my dad shock feed and could stay way ahead of everyone else helping. by Betty Jean Brachtenbach KORDES, VAL AND LEONA F384 My mother and dad both moved to Kit Carson County from Nebraska. Dad came from Lawrence, Nebraska in 1930. He was born January 27, 19L4. His parents were Tony and Elizabeth Kordes. He has two gigters and three brothers. My mother, Leona Huppert Kordes, was born on May 25, l9L4 in Blue Hill, Nebraska. She came to Stratton with her father and brothers and sisters in June, 1923. Her mother had passed away in August of L922, from sugar diabetes. There were two boys and 9 girls in her family. She attended St. Charles grade school and to the tenth grade in high school. Her father died in 1926 after they had been here three years. Mother and Dad were married in January 16, 1940 in St. Charles Catholic Church. They moved to a farm west of Stratton and rented it from Fritz Kruse. Their son, Denny and daughter, Betty Jean, were born while living there. They then bought a farm from Dick Kruse northwest of Stratton. They raised wheat, corn, feed and had cattle and hogs. Three more daughters wete born, Beverly, Patsy and Valerie. Dad bought five more quarters west of their home place. It was farm ground and some grass. Eventually he broke it all out and raised wheat. All of us took our turn running the tractor for Dad and helping with the gummer work. Dad and Uncle Ferdie worked together on some of their farming. My dad has always been an avid card player and likes nothing better than to get into a good challenging card game. He also enjoys very much the greyhound dog races. He also likes to travel whenever he gets a chance to. Dad always tried to teach us kids the true value of a friend. Mother is always happy at home doing her fancywork or just making a home for all of us to come to. She is a very important part of the ladies sewing circle at St. Charles Catholic Church in Stratton and has quilted on Wednesday afternoons at the church hall for many years. She also helps arrange the Taken at Val Kordes' place the day of grandma's funeral. Back row: Denny, Beverly. Front row: Mom, Betty, Patsy, and Valerie. flowers for the altar every week. In 1980, they sold the home place to Terry and Shelly Hornung and moved to Stratton into a new home. They enjoy living in town and having friends drop in and being so close to church. After they moved to town Dad rented the rest of the land out to Patsy Eisenbart and her husband Mike. In 1986 he began to sign it all up into the conservation reserve progrnm and is drilling it all back to were growing up. Even when times were hard somehow Mom and Dad seemed to make holidays special. They gave us a set of values that we have been able to call on during our lives. We will always be forever grateful for our parents. by Betty Jean Brachtenbach KOUNTZ FAMILY F386 James R. Kountz, wife Emma and three daughters, Hazel, Betty, and Pauline, moved to Kit Carson County in 1920. They were late arrivers but still found many hardships. Mr. Kountz visited the county the summer of 1919 and found such relief from his hay fever and asthma that he purchased a ranch 15 miles south of Flagler, consisting of a four room house and small horse barn and a good well. He returned to Crawford County, Kansas, sold most of his livestock and prepared to move. In March of 1920, he loaded his horses, Model T. Ford, and family and moved to the southwest corner of Kit Carson County. He soon found that the Model T Ford could not get over the hill at the "brakes" south of Flagler except in reverse, so until the road was changed, they backed over the hill. Shortly after arriving and getting settled, he went to Denver to purchase cattle and in a few days returned home with a herd of sheep. This was a profound shock to his family. By fall, he had built a sheep shed and suitable corrals to handle sheep. Through the years he algo accumulated a small herd of cattle, two more daughters and two sons Allie Jo, June, James R., and Richard - Hazel and Betty started school at Texarado school, about 3 miles across the prairie from their home and one by one all the children attended this country school. For many years, a herd of wild horses many of them locoed, tore up fences and watering tanks. During the depression and drought these disappeared but the Kountz's prospered and remained on the ranch. Through drought, grasshoppers, hail, and severe winters, Mr. Kountz continued to love Colorado. Many hired men and sheep herders �later, his health failing and age a handicap, he eold his livestock and moved to Seibert where he passed away in 1947. by clune Pottorff KRAMER STAHLECKER FAMILY Lutheran Church. We are members of Immanuel Lutheran Church and Bill served on the church board for five years as V. Chairman in the late 1950's. Theresia taught Sunday School for many years and also served as Tri-State Conference A.L.C.W. Sec. of Education for one term beginning in 1967. Theresia also is active in her local A.L.C.W., serving as an officer through the years. In 1969, she had a heart attack, While the kids were home, Bill and Theresia were leaders for the Settlement 4-H Club. We are active Farm F386 Bureau members, attending the Settlement Farm Bureau Community organization until it was disbanded. We always had a Christmag progrrm with skits and "readings", singing and treats. Theresia performed many humerous readings and skits for her community and church. In 1981, Theresia was selected as Kit Carson county "Heart Mother of the year". In 1983, Theresiawas asked to prepare the program for Church Women United. Theresia and sisters Martha and Lydia wrote their families'story about the Stahlecker and Dobler families. by Theresia Kramer The Bill and Theresia Kramer farm north of Bethune, Colorado showing Bill and his tenm of Mules, Jack and Jerry. KREOGER FAMILY F387 Louis Kreoger was born on November 21, 1881 in Smith County, Kansas, in a dugout. The water in Kansas was poor and scatce, so in 1902 Louis cnme to Colorado with his dad, \{illinm, and his brother Charles. They drove their cattle and brought all of their belong- ings, including their dog. They lived in a dugout northeast of Burlington for a while, and William eventually bought a farm nearby with a sod house on it. Lou homesteaded some land on the Repub- lican River near Hale, Colo. He did this because it was easier to raise good hay on the river bottom, and they hauled the hay with a teem and wagon back to the farm northeast September, 1985, the new home of BiIl and Theresia Krn-er north of Bethune, Colorado. This house replaces the home that burned on April 13, 1985. William (Bill) Kramer and Theresia Stahlecker were married in 1928, at Mosca, Colorado. "The boys ceme and got us girls back to Bethune." Bill bought the Reinhold Weiss homestead in the mid'20s. We lived in the small house with 2 rooms down stairs and 2 attic rooms up stairs for 19 years. InL947, we felt we could build a bigger house that we are still living in now. We have lived on the snme farm all our married life. This house burned to the ground on April 13, 1985, due to a gas leak. Everything was lost except the clothes on our backe. A new home was built on the old site and we moved in on September 22 the same year. We have three children, Norman who married Betty Lillich, Irene who married Gilbert Hilt, and Doris who married George Bartchenger. We had our good years and bad years. In the dirty thirties and again in the fifties we were back eating jackrabbits and beans, grinding our own wheat and corn, picking up cow chips to burn and carrying out ashes. We got electricity in 1949 and 1950. This was a real blessing. In 1978, we celebrated our fiftieth Wedding anniversary at Immanuel of Burlington for the cattle and horses. On April 20, 1909, Lou manied Mary Ann Broadsword, born February 28, 1885. They lived on the snme place with Lou's father for a while. Lou and Mary lived in the sod house and his father, William, moved in a small green frame house to live in. Two sons were born to Lou and Mary in that sod house. Carl was born March 7,tglz, and Julian was born September 20, L914. Later they built a frame house where they lived for several years. In 1925 Lou bought a place 13 7z miles north of Burlington along what is now Highway 385. In 1926 Lou moved his family there. He and hig wife Mary lived there for about forty years. Lou farmed and raised cattle until he was about 80 years old. In 1965 Lou and Mary moved to town and lived in Grace Manor because of failing health. They had a lot of good years mixed in with bad ones of hail, drought, grasshoppers and such. They made it through the hard years of the 30's and the 50's. Louis Kreoger died on April 15, 1968 at the age of 86. Mary Broadsword Kreoger died on July 4, L977 at the age of 92. Carl and Julian farmed with their father, and in spare time and lean times they also worked outsome. Julianworked in ldaho four different summers. They both worked for other farmers in the area from time to time. Carl and Julian were both in the army during WWII. Carl was in the Pacific, spending some time in the Phillipines. Julian start€d out in North Africa and worked his way north to Germany. After the army Julian moved to Denver where he married Helen Pitt in 1951. He worked for Gates for a while, then International, and finally the Post Office, where he remained until he retired due to his health. Julian died in July of 197?. Carl remained in Kit Carson County and on March L, L952, he married Doris Keeler, born December 8, 1920. Doris had been teaching at the Broadsword School 14 miles north of Burlington. They moved to a farm 12 miles north of Burlington where Carl farmed for many years. Carl and Doris had two daughters. Margaret was born September 20, 1954, and Marilyn was born October 16, 1956. Margaret moved to Denver where she married Tim McCandlegs in 1977. Theyhave two sons, Danny and Kevin. Marilyn remained in Kit Carson County and took over the family farm in 1979 when Carl and Doris moved to town and semiretired. Carl still stayed active in farming, helping his daughter keep things running. In 1983 Marilyn married Roy Schlichenmayer and they are now engaged in farming north of Burlington and also north of Bethune. by Marilyn Kreoger Schlichenmayer KREOGER FAMILY F388 William Kreoger was born September 5, 1854, at Starr Garr, Germany. He was the youngest of the family of three, his parents passing away when he was around 8 years of age. In L872, he cnme to America aboard a ship as a stowaway, landing in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. In 1878, he moved to Smith County Kansas near Kirwin, where he took a homestead. He married Emma Hoft in 1879. to this union three children were born in a dug out, Louis in 1881, Charles in 18&1, and Louisa in 1888. Emma died at the birth of Louisa and three months later Louisa died. Emma had a daughter from a previous marriage, Katherine Coles. Katherine received a head injury from a pump handle accident after she was grown, and later was entered in the State Mentd Hospital in Topeka, Kansas. William continued caring for her until her death in 1945. In 1889, he married Elizabeth Penicost and in 1896 she died. After the death of his wife and with a desire to find better water, he and his sons came to Colorado in 1902, and settled 14 miles northeast of Burlington, where they lived in a dug out for several years. Later he bought adjoining land with a sod house and other improvements. He with his two sons drove their herd of cattle out from Kansas (200 miles). In later years he sold his cattle herd to his sons, who then developed a Black Angus herd. Louis and Charles held a cattle partnership for 64 years. Having disposed of his herd, and to supplement his income, he ran a medicine wagon selling Baker Products. His route covered the area north ofBethune and ldalia, and many a night was spent at his customer's �Coop which was located at the north end of Main Street. Shoveling coal was his main task. He also worked for his sister, M5rrtle, and husband, Tom Hall,61 ths llalls Hatchery. Maybe this is why he never was fond of chickens while I was growing up. Bill was offered a football scholarship to CU at Boulder, but was unable to take advantage of it because he was needed on the farm. He graduated in 1938. On July 22, 1945, he married Helen Charlotte Wilson, from near Lindon, Colo- rado, at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Burlington. To this union were born two This was taken for Charles and Ethel Pearls Kreoger 40th Wedding Anniversar5r. Back row: M5ntle Kreoger HalI, Ethel Kreoger Stewart, William C. Kreoger, Ella Kreoger Runge, Eilene Kreoger Lightle. Front row: Charles and Ethel Pearl Kreoger. home. He helped otganize the Equity at Burlington and was a charter members. He played an accordian and played for many a dance. He told of early dances where there were very few women, so the men tied ribbons on their sleeves and danced as women. The women that were there were very tired as they never got to sit a dance out. He endured many hardships, but there were good times too, and he lived to be almost 98 years old. Louis was married to Mary Ann Broadsword, April 20, 1909, and lived most of their lives on a farm north of Burlington. Two sons were born to this union, Carl and Julian. Charles was married to Ethel Pearl Inman, October 7, 1908, at Goff, Colorado, by H.A. Rankin, Justice of the Peace. Charles had homesteaded the quarter of land with the dug out when he became of age. A few years later the second homestead act came out and he homesteaded an adjoining quart€r of land. Here he built a two room frame building which they lived in until they could build a sod house. The sod house had three rooms with plaster on the walls. The Goff post office was at this site for a short time. For several years after the post office was moved, they would find coins in the dirt where they had fallen through the wood floor. About 1925, they built a modern frame house which they lived the remainder of their lives in. Claude Hall did the carpenter work. age 20 died in 1930, Ethel died in 1974, was married to Calvin Stewart, Myrtle married Thomas Hall and resides in Kennewick, Washington, William died in 1984, was married to Helen Wilson, Ella died in 1972, was married to Harvey Runge, Eilene was married to Harold J. Lightle, June 8, 1956, and stiU resides on the old homestead. In 1976 a new house was built and the old frame house moved to Bethune. Harold and Eilene had two sons, James and Jerry who were raised on the old homestead. Eilene Lightle passed away on September 26, 1985. by Eilene Kroeger Lightle children, Katherine Mar5l, on March 25, 1949, and Charles Louis, on August 29, 1951. Their first home was on the farm ofhis grandfather, William Kreoger. In 1950, they built a brick home on the land they had purchased from Frank Moose. Thiswas one andone half miles west of their first home. During their early years of marriage, Helen taught school in Kanorado, Kansas, Hale, Colorado, and Broadsword School. They also ran the dance hall and were the owners of the town of Hale, Colorado, from the spring of 1946 to November of 1948. At the dance hall, Bill was his own bouncer. Helen helped run the concession stand and was the postmaster. Being an adventurous person, Bill drilled one of the first deep irrigation wells north of town. This well later led to two more and convincing his father, Charles, that he needed one. He enjoyed collecting and restoring antique tractors. Bill's life centered around his family and doing for others. He helped to organize the Kit Carson County Association for Retarded Citizens, which later led to the development and incorporation ofthe East Central Activities Center. He served on numerous local, state and national committees and offices for the retarded citizens. Recognition csme his way from several Colorado Governors for work with the retarded, and from the Colo- rado Association for Retarded Citizens as outstanding contributor to the handicapped. Helen has taught Special Education in elementar5r and secondary levels for the past seventeen years. KREOGER, WILLIAM c. F389 William Charles Wilbert Kreoger was born in a sodhouse, on the homestead of his parents, Charles and Ethel Pearl Inman Kreoger, on September 13, 1920, 14 miles north and 2 miles east of Burlington. He farmed many years with his father using horses and later they used a Farmall tractor with lugs. As a young boy he trained his Bill and Helen were members of the First Christian Church, where he served as elder, both were 4-H leaders, and members of the Rebeka Lodge. Bill joined the I.O.O.F. Lodge nearly fifty years ago so that he could take his Grandfather to the meetings. He served as secretary ofthe Broadsword School Board for seventeen years. In August of L974, Bill and Helen, built a brick home and moved to Burlington. Their daughter, Katherine, and husband Richard Lundien, now live on the homeplace north of Burlington. They have three daughters, Katrina Marie, born December 27, 1973, in favorite dog to pull his wagon. During his early years at the Broadsword School he often told how his older sisters, Meade, Kansas, Annea Jane, born May 28, 1978, in Burlington, and Rylana Lydia, born March 12, 1982, in Burlington. On September Ethel, Pearl's mother, Martha and stepfather, Aaron Gaines, came to Colorado in 1907, and homest€aded a quarter of land a Ethel and Myrtle, would bundle him up, place him in the bottom of the buggy and cover his head with a blanket. It was the 30, 1984, Bill passed away. mile northeast of Charles' place. Aaron never covering ofthe head that made him unhappy. proved up on his homestead and left in 1908, Tbo years of High School were spent at moving to Republican City, Nebraska, and Happy Hollow School. He and Dale Guffy would ride their horses across country to the school. Burlington High School was the site eventually back to Kirwin, Kansas. Charles farmed until he was 80 years old and his eyes began to fail him. He enjoyed farming the land and had a special feel for his cattle. He and Pearl were married 59 years. There were six children in the familu Cecil, of his last two years and his main extracurricular interest was playing on the football team that went to the state playoffs. To earn his room and board he worked at the Equity by Katherine Lundien �The Kruse's, Dick and Margaret, were the parents of Fritz, Peter, Elmer, Hilda and Lilah. They moved to Stratton, Colorado, from the Syracuse, Nebraska, area in March, L926. Elmer, Matilda and son Keith moved to Stratton, Colorado, in March, 1932. Dick and son Peter managed a meat market in Stratton. After the death of his brother, Peter, Elner helped his father in the meat market and also worked for his brother Fritz in the filling station. Fritz had come to Stratton in 1919 and first farmed; later he operated a filling station and was a substitute rural mail carier. Elmer and Tillie in their later years worked in the Stratton post office as clerks. Their son, Keith, graduated from Stratton High School in 1946. He and his family reside in Omaha, Nebraska, where he teaches school. Four generations taken in 1951. L. to R.: Willinm C. Kreoger, Katherine Kroeger Lundien, Charles Kreoger, William Kreoger and Charles Louis Kreoger. KRUSE FAMILY Nebraska, where she now lives. Dad has F39O passed on. The exodus of the Kruse family from Nebraska started when my uncle Fritz Kruse and another uncle, John Harms, migrated to Colorado to farm and raise wheat as wheat prices after the first World War were high. They farmed ground on what later was the George Leoffler farm. In 1926 my grandparents, Johann Dietrich (Dick) and Margaret Kruse moved to Stratton because my grandmother had asthma which could be somewhat alleviated with the drier climate. Moving with them were my uncle Pete and aunts Lilah and Hilda. My After retiring from the post office Elmer and Tillie remained in Stratton until poor health prevailed, and they felt a move back to Nebraska closer to their son would be wise. They chose Syracuse as their home. Elmer passed away March 15, 1986. Tillie stil resides in their home in Svracuse. Nebraska. by Tillie Kruse by Keith Kruse KRUSE, DICK FAMILY KUEKER, ELMER F392 F391 uncle Pete and grandfather then start€d a slaughterhouse and meat market which was open until about 1934. Their slaughterhouse was on a sit€ which was close to the place where Jim and Susie Carnathan nowlive weet of town. My aunt Hilda was in high school and aunt Lilah etill was in grade school in 1926. Hilda married George Claussen and lived on a farm somewhat north of Stratton. thig was the farm where Valley Kordes lived after the Claussens moved to Loveland in the 1940's. My Aunt Lilah graduated from high school in 1934 and was on the famous high Elmer C. Kruee, P.O. mail clerk, November, 1971 school girls'basketball team that I think was state chempions and even defeated gome semi-professional teams from Denver and Kansas City. As I recall from stories, Stella Sholes was the super star of the tenm. Another star player was Helen Bardwell. My aunt Lilah married Wayne Campbell. Neither of the aunts had any children. My uncle Pete died in 1932 and my aunt Lilah died in Elmer Kueker 1953. My parents moved to Colorado in 1932. Dad start€d working with his brothers, operating the meat market and slaugherhouse. In the mid-thirties Fritz and Dad opened a service station and fuel delivery Elmer F. Kueker came to Colorado with his parents, Henry and Bertha, brother Arthur and sisters, Ella, Ester and Clara. Sister Adela died. They cnme to Colorado in 1915. In 1917 the family moved to the Flagler area. Children attended a country school over the service. Dad started working with the postal service in 1940. I graduated from Stratton High School in 1946. I worked for Roy and Gladys Herberger at the Stratton Press for one year and then left to work for the Goodland Daily News. My father and mother moved to Syracuse, line in Lincoln County. Elmer worked for Matilda H. Kruse, P.O. Clerk, November, 1971 others, a necessity to survive in this early day; one employer was the Reece family south of Flagler, where he attended school at Second Central for a time. Ebner was confirmed in the Zion Lutheran Church on June 15, 1919 at Flagler by Pastor Bierwagen. In 1919 the �family moved to Southern Colorado, return- ing to the Flagler area in 1924. When the family returned to Flagler, Elmer then attended Flagler High School, where he graduated in 1927. He was a valued tackle on the football tenm and served as class presi- dent in his sophomore and junior years, writing the class prophecy for his graduating class. Elmer attended Concordia College in Sew- ard, Nebraska for a year. On January 12, 1938, Elmer married Natalie Blanken in the parsonage at Arriba, Colorado. Two children, Lawrence and Lucille were born, both dying at an early age. Natalie gave loving care to her aging parents and after their passing, Elner Association. Elmer was a Kit Carson County Commis- sioner in 1959 when a new grandstand was dedicated at the Kit Carson fair grounds. Elmer served faithfully as a county commissioner, representing the county at many meetings taking him far from home and conducted his share of direction of county business to the best of his ability. For many years, Elmer worked to have the State of Colorado assume care of Hwe. 59, becoming a reality just now in 1987. Elmer and "Tollie" moved to Flagler when his health began to fail, ending many years of farming northwest of Flagler. and Natalie occupied the D.F. Blanken homestead, where they lived until retirement when they moved to Flagler. The bitterness of World War II was felt in the Kueker family when Elner's brother, Arthur, lost his life on the coast of France on June 14, 1944. He had enlisted in the army in March, 1942 shortly after the war started. He was a member of the 90th. Divieion. Elmer was vitally interested in affairs of the communityand county, giving aid to most who required his help. Through this unselfish part of his nature, he served the community in many ways. He eerved as president of the Zion Lutheran Congregation for 24 years. He served ae a 4-H Club leader for 14 years, served as a board member of the Flagler Farmers Cooperative Association, often as president, for 24 years. He was elected County Commissioner for his district by his friends, neighbors and electorate, serving faitMully in this capacity for 12 years. In the early 40's, Elmer saw a need and started working toward getting electrical posrer for rural communities. Working through the Flagler Farm Bureau in 1942, a need for such an improvement of rural living was discussed. A committee consisting of Elmer Kueker, Arthur Gaines and Roy Bader were appointed by the Kit Carson County Farm Bureau to look into the possibility of obtaining this service for the area. Much work went into the promotion of electrical power and in 1945, a "sign up" time was reached. Elmer was elected secretary-treasurer on the board of directors of the local REA. When K.C. Electric was organized in 1948, Ebner continued in this capacity. At this time, Elmer wrote a check, which was probably the largest ever written for K.C. Electric in the nmount of $550,000.00 for the purchase of Inland Utilities distribution system in Lincoln, Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties. Elmer continued to serve on this board for many year8. Elner served on the board of directors of the Colorado REA, as vice president in 1954 and '55 and as president in 1957, perhaps serving other years not known. When the hospital was built in Burlington, working through the Farm Bureau, Elmer helped promote a progrnm of donated wheat to aid in financing the building. Other organizations participated in this program. Since the largeet donation ca-e from the Farm Bueau, this organization was requested to be present at the laying of the corner etone. Elmer attended this event and an open house at the hospital in 1968. Promotion of FFA in the Flagler School system was another of Elner's interests. This has become a vital part of the school system. He as also active in the Colorado Shorthorn the Flagler Country Club. For the past twelve years he has been a 4-H leader. He is a member of the Lutheran church and serves as superintendent of the Sunday school at Flagler. Mr. Kueker has been very active throughout the years in community and school affairs, and his nnme has been synony- mous with progress and community improvements. by.Ianice Salmane KUKUK, F. \ry. by Lyle W. Stone F394 F.W. Kukuk was born Aug., 1876, and died June 10, 1936. He was born in Germany, a son KUEKER, ELMER FREDRICK F393 Elmer Kueker, one of the leading farmers and ranchers of Flagler, is owner of the KarLyn Farm. Mr. Kueker specializes in Shorthorn cattle, nearly all registered, and raises hogs for sale and home use. His brand is Reverse K Slash Reverse L. Some years ago, Mr. Kueker went into the egg production business and had three thousand DeKalb laying hens, all housed and individually caged. Eggs are shipped to the Denver Market. Mr. Kueker came to Kit Carson County at the age of nine years with his parents, who rented several farms in the area. He went into farming on his own in 1938 when he bought his present place. About half his farm is in pasture and the balance planted in wheat. Ehner Kueker was born on November 14, of Fred William and Carolyn (Boehm) Kukuk. In 1906, he came to Colorado, settling on a homestead southeast of Burlington. He lived there until 1913, when he moved to town and built the blacksmith shop. He also ovmed the lease on Sunset Camp, at the southwest corner of town. During his residence in Burlington, he served the town as mayor, and councilman, and gave honest efficient service throughout the years. by Janice Salmans KVESTAD, BIRGE F396 1905, in Red Bud, Illinois, to Henry and Bertha Hartman Kueker. His parents were married in Illinois. Ebner attended public schools in Kit Careon County. He married Mise Natalie A. Blancken, the daughter of D.F. and Marie Eisenberg Blancken. Mrs. Kueker's parents were married in Missouri and homesteaded the present Kueker farm in 1903. Here Mr. and Mre. Blancken reared their nine children, three of whom still live in the area. Mr. Blancken engaged in the cattle bueinese. His brand was L Cross H. Mrs. Kueker, recalls that early cattle shippers made her parent's ranch their headquarters when bringing cattle from outlying districts. From here they took their cattle to the railroad station at Flagler for shipping. Mr. and Mrs. Kueker have no children. Elmer Kueker has served as county commissioner for three years. He was instrumen- tal in organizing the Rural Electrification Asgociation in Kit Carson County and has served on its board since its inception. He is a member and former president of the Colorado Rural Electrification Association and a member of the Farm Bureau. He has served for the past five years on the board of the Flagler Farmers Co-operative Association and helped organized the Flagler Rural Fire Department in 1947. This is said to be one of the first rural fire depadments to be organized in the state of Colorado. He is a member of the Colorado Cattlemens Association, Kit Carson County Cattlemen's Association, Flagler Soil Conservation Board, and Mr. Bert Kvegtad. In Memory of Birge Kvestad, commonly known as Bert was born April 25, 1886 in Noaa Hardanger Norway, to his parents Ommund and Synva Noaa Kvestad. Bert came to Anerica in 1903 making his home in Iowa for five years then moving to Vona, Colo. here he homesteaded in 1908. Bert was united in Holy Matrimony to Roxie Orcena Gray, April 12,L924 by Rev. W.T. Gatley in the Methodist Church in Burlington, Co. They made their home on the �l,':lil r'i]::t:',tl KYLE - RIESBERG FAMILY 1ir,.111 ;:; :lt:.]:l;::l. ',:il ' ,i:llir il. ,:U:ii, :t:: .ia'f F396 .. ,:1.:r.'rril,. ,:,,: .:.:aai:..:,: ... ...: :',:.ra.,:.. "' ,l :,."';lrl' ' ::a:a:, tr,,,.'i':r'" :1.'.',,tt'' rrtll'l :l.1rl a::i .:t1,1 ::ll:1 ,tli:: Bert Kvestad's homestead in the fall of 1909. Rocking K Herford Ranch, north of Vona until Roxie passed away on July 10, 1956. In the spring of 1957 Bert sold the ranch to the Harris Brothers, and taking his car he returned to Norway to visit relatives and friends. He traveled on the ship Oslofjord Den Norske Amerikalinje (The Norwegian American Line). Following is an excerpt from his own words in a Dairy: "I remember just before our ship left New York - there was a lot of hustle and bustle and moet of the passengers throwed thousands of colors "Streamers" to the relatives, friends or wellwishers on the pier below. So it looked as our ship was "Spider Bound" in colors. Sure pretty and very impressive. Then as the ships motors started and the tugboats begun to pull and push - the ships band played 'The Star Spangled Banner'and after we was out from the pier and turned out the band struck up 'Ja Vi elsker ditta Londe'- It was all so fittin we floated right past the and trilling - and asI could see as well as feel Statue of Liberty, going home for some the queer emotions Leaving home for- others. I remembered -when the big ship "Titanic" went down (In 19f2) with 1,513 lives - it was one of the biggest tragedies of all times. - We also bought a big book and later saw a motion picture show on this sinking, So I have a "Deep" feeling on this matter. - I inquired if we would go near the fatal "Spot" - Oh yes - said the officer - The Spot is marked we got quite close and we will let you know. It was Iater in the afternoon when we heard the Fatal Spot. A quarter or half a mile to our left - I was on the top deck the weather was cloudy windy blustry rough sea and bitter I looked at the spot no humans cold And- as we passed, (almost) I could hear the Titanic's band playrng 'Nearer My God To Thee'- and as we sailed into the their cries for help could-last long out there dark night - just ahead. Life aboard was most interesting and well organized, we had church - Picture shows - dancing Coming home we missed a hurricane -by 10 mi. it rolled some out of their beds - but I really wished we had come closer - we might got a real triller out of it. There was "Only" three meals, each one an Event yes - they in itself with every thing - atOh4:30 P.M. in served coffee and "Bullion" the Garden Lounge. There was flowers and plants all around so it looked like a city park. The coffee was awful strong so I put in a "Liberal" amount of sugar and a lot of thick cream, The Bullion was nothing but a sickly looking greasy water with a few tears floating on top. One evening my waiter come with a I looked Lobster on a fine big Silver Tray - and ugly at them large claws and long legs head and body, but the waitcr said "This is food for the Gods" So I tried to eat some but it was the worst I ever tasted and I said "I am not dead yet take it away" later I found out that Russian Caviar was no better. I hope you enjoyed this little voyage with me." Bert then returned to American in October 1957 and moved to Stratton, Co. where he lived until 1975. Then due to failing health he could no longer live by himself. Bert chose to live with his friends Mr. and Mrs. D.C. Malone. They made their home in Denver, Co. for the summer of 1975 and moved back Loyal and Emma Kyle. It was the year 1918 when three Kyle brothers Thomas, Charles and Loyal came to Flagler, Colo. from a homestead south of Kimball, Nebraska, to make their homes north of Flagler. Thomas was a bachelor and remained so all his life. He had been in the Flagler area earlier when he homesteaded in the Shiloh community, sold it and returned to Kimball. Charles crme as a single man and later married Rachael Hardwood. Loyal came with his wife Emma, whom he met at a dance in a little school house and married Sept. 27, 1913 at Kimball, Nebraska and it is these two people, my parents I will write about. Loyal was born July 16, 1890, in Frontier County, Nebraska to Alexander and Theresa Kyle, and Emma Riesberg was born Nov. 22, 1893 at the now historical site of Pawnee Buttes in Weld County, Colo. to Frederick and Mary Riesberg, her parents who had come from Germany. Loyal and Emma decided to come to Flagler in April 1918, Loyal driving a four horse drawn wagon loaded with their belong- to Stratton for the winter of 1975-76. Bert then spent his last eight months at the ings to a place approximately 16 miles northeast of Flagler. Emma with two little Burlington Rest Home. He went home to be with the Lord, March 18, 1977 while at the Kit Carson Memorial Hospital in Burlington. He had attained the age of 90 years, 10 girls, Mamie age three and Mildred age one, came in a model-T driven by a 14 year old months, and 21 days. by Janice Salmans neighbor boy a few days later. Loyal had drawn a map for them but when they went to cross the Arickaree Rivet they got stuck in the sand, finally got backed up and Emma sat the two little girls on the bank and spread out blankets she had brought along and they got across. Loyal returned to Kimball on horseback to bring a herd of horses. He got back with the horses only to have them get away during the night and he was never able to find them. In 1922 they bought unimproved land 13 miles northeast of Flagler and built a small �cement house and barn. The family in a few years needed more room so a basement house was built, all the neighbors helping. They worked long hard hours struggling to provide for their family, farming with horses, fighting the grasshoppers and the blowing dirt, picking up cow chips to burn in the stove, washing clothes on a washboard, but as time went on progress was made and a tractor and machinery purchased, a new house was built and rural electricity available. Loyal had worked in the 1930's during the real depression years for W.P.A. which was a govern- ment progrnm that built bridges, da-s, buildings, etc. He was in a cave-in on one of the dems; he did survive from a broken back; he lay many months in a full body cast. These were probably the most difficult years for the family, the dirt blowing so bad that Emma would hang wet sheets over the windows to try and prevent dust in the room for those that were ill with pneumonia. Millie and I did finish, I graduated in 1926, and she in 1929. Millie is retired from the telephone service having 55 years of service. She is a golfer and enjoys living in Escondido, Calif. I worked for the telephone 18 years and finally retired to get married. Art and I were married on April 5,L942,so we will be having our 45th wedding anniversary this year. We both belong to the Trinity Lutheran Church on Seventh Street and try to be as active as we can. by Mrs. Arthur J. Lange LANGENDOERFER, ERNEST F398 There were eight children in the family, Mamie, Mildred,Evelyn, Lois, Robert, Thomas, Kathryne, and Imogene. All the children attended school thru the eighth grade at Liberty which was a half mile north of the farm. It was at the school where "Lit€raries" were held, people in the community putting on plays, singing,jigging, rattling bones, playing musical instruments, giving readings or sharing some talent they had. Other social things in the community were box and pie suppers, ball gamsg and going to someone's house for Sunday dinner. The teacher of the school usually stayed at the Kyle home since she could walk to school and get the fire started each morning. Loyal and Emma retired from the farm in 1955 and moved to a home in Flagler. Loyal became ill in 1960 and was in ill health until 1967 when he died. Emma was confined to a wheelchair the last few years of her life with arthritis and she died in 1977. Their son Thomas (Tom) and wife Delores now live on the farm. by Kathryne Daniel LANGE FAMILY Ernie was born on his family's homestead 5 miles west of Idalia in 1917. His descendants were from Weingarten, Germany, and settled in Missouri in the early 1800's. His grandparents homesteaded south of Idalia in 1887. His parents, William and Mnmie (Helling) Langendoerfer had three sons: Harold, Ernie, and Alvin; one daughter, Florence, and raised an "adopted" cousin, Stan Voss, orphaned by the flu epidemic of 1918. The fanily raised wheat'and hauled it to Burlington to sell. It took one day to prepare the wagon for the trip, one day to go and one day to come home. The wagon hauled 55 bushels ofwheat. In 1925, the Langendoer- fers bought a Ford Model-T Truck, which also canied only 55 bushels of wheat, but at a speed of 25 MPH on the level and 5 MPH on the hills, they could make three trips to Burlington in one day, quite an advantage over the tenm and wagon. Ernie married Hazel Homm in 1941 and together they ran a general store in ldalia before moving to the Bar-T ranch in 1943. His father had purchased 2080 acres from Bertha M. Bently, a wealthy Nebraska investor, for $4.00 an acre in 1939. The Republican River bottom land had been heavily damaged in the 1935 flood, which contributed to its depres- F397 Bart and Emily Rice Hoschouer cnme from Friend, Nebr. to Colorado in 1900. They homesteaded southeast of Holyoke, Colo. in Phillips County. They built a two room sod house and other buildings. Dad farmed corn, and wheat. There was a lot of free prairie in those days and we always had cattle. We had many prairie fires, sand storms, rattlesnakes (lots of them), and a tornado once in a while, to say nothing of the blizzards. It was rough going as my mother and dad worked hard. We would pick up the most anowheads and there was a large bucket we'd throw them in. When we sold the farm, we left the anow heads. I have regretted that many times. My dad always said he wanted to have a good education for his family, so we cnme to Burlington. We lived in the house where the late Mable Parkes lived. We later bought a home in east Burlington. My oldest sister, Sylvia eloped with her boy friend and lived in Nebr. Albert quit school and found a job on a farm. Clifford, Clarence, and Glen did get to junior class, then quit and found jobs. sed value. Dad and Mother began by repairing and rebuilding the ranch. The one-room bunk house served as their first home until they built a ranch house the following year. They rebuilt a cattle shed that had burned down, moved in a large barn, built corrals and fences to accommodate the 100 head of cattle they acquired to start their business. They began farming 25 acres of dryland feed, hayed the salvagable meadows for winter feed, and cleaned flood-stricken land oftrash to regen- erate growth. They bred with registered Hereford bulls and saved the quality replace- ment heifers to build their cattle herd. In 1952 they drilled one of Kit Carson County's first irrigation wells and went from farming 30 acres of poor dryJand corn to 300 acres of top producing irrigated corn. Dad told folks he raised "corn, cattle, and kids" on his ranch. The three daughters, Sharon, Beverly, and Sandra were born between 1944 and 1948. Having no sons in the family, we all were enlisted to help with the work, but Mother worked side by side with him. Dad kept a hired family all the time and had neighbors help at roundup and haying time, the big events of the year. We bought and built a sheep herd in the 50's, but bobcats became a vicious predator, killing a large number of the herd. Friends and neighbors hunted and killed the wild animals over a few years time, but not before we were forced to sell the surviving part of the herd. By early 1960's we had &illed three irrigation wells, and broke out 200 acres of pasture land, infested with soap weed, to plant irrigated grass. It was an innovative idea that later became popular for heavy cattle grazing. We also began to cross-breed our Herefords to Shorthorn and Angus bulls. We saw positive results in the feedlot performarce of those cattle. Soil conservation was important to Dad. He put in dnms and terraces and worked at the projects faithfully. He and I would ride the ranch to check cattle and the dams. He was faithful and meticulous about greasing windmills, filling backscratchers, and providing salt for the cattle. In 1971 Dad and Mother moved to a new home they built just outside of Burlington, and Dad became active in feedlot and salebarn management. They sold the ranch to my husband and me, and Dad bought and sold cattle. He always laughing called himself a "bullshipper". He was a devoted Christian who took time to live and grow in his faith. He taught us to trust God's timing for our lives. He died of a heart attack in 1986, and we know it was in God's perfect timing. by Sandee Strobel, daughter LAVINGTON, WILLIAM IT. F399 During the latter part of the nineteenth century stories of gainful opportunities and adventure began to reach the eastern part of the United States. Those stories appealed strongly to ambitious, restless young men. One of these young men was my father, William Henry Lavington. He was born March 5, 1859, near Liverpool, New York, the son of Charles C. Lavington and Elizabeth Price Lavington. He was educated in the Syracuse, New York, area and atten{ed Fulton Academy. About 1881, at the age of 22, my father decided to move west and seek his fortune. He arrived in Fremont, Nebraska, where he farmed for 2 years. Following this he settled near Kearney, Nebraska, and spent three more years farming and teaching school. by then he had accumulated enough money to form a grading contracting business which he operated in Nebraska for two years. He had acquired equipment, horses and worlrmen ready for any grading needed. In 1888 he returned to Syracuse, New York, where he was married on March 14, 1888, in North Syracuse, to Louella Isabel Van Heusen. She was born August 30, 1864, at Pitchers Hill, Salina, New York, the daughter of Captain Stephen Van Heusen and Rachel Delong Van Heusen. After their marriage they returned to Nebraska where they soon learned that the Rock Island Railroad was planning to extend their line west across Colorado. It was af that time that my father moved his entire opera- � 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- K Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief histories of founding families of Kit Carson County whose names begin with "K.' 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/491/Families-L.pdf 109740d5deb8a224545b821dea71a0df PDF Text Text cement house and barn. The family in a few years needed more room so a basement house was built, all the neighbors helping. They worked long hard hours struggling to provide for their family, farming with horses, fighting the grasshoppers and the blowing dirt, picking up cow chips to burn in the stove, washing clothes on a washboard, but as time went on progress was made and a tractor and machinery purchased, a new house was built and rural electricity available. Loyal had worked in the 1930's during the real depression years for W.P.A. which was a govern- ment progrnm that built bridges, da-s, buildings, etc. He was in a cave-in on one of the dems; he did survive from a broken back; he lay many months in a full body cast. These were probably the most difficult years for the family, the dirt blowing so bad that Emma would hang wet sheets over the windows to try and prevent dust in the room for those that were ill with pneumonia. Millie and I did finish, I graduated in 1926, and she in 1929. Millie is retired from the telephone service having 55 years of service. She is a golfer and enjoys living in Escondido, Calif. I worked for the telephone 18 years and finally retired to get married. Art and I were married on April 5,L942,so we will be having our 45th wedding anniversary this year. We both belong to the Trinity Lutheran Church on Seventh Street and try to be as active as we can. by Mrs. Arthur J. Lange LANGENDOERFER, ERNEST F398 There were eight children in the family, Mamie, Mildred,Evelyn, Lois, Robert, Thomas, Kathryne, and Imogene. All the children attended school thru the eighth grade at Liberty which was a half mile north of the farm. It was at the school where "Lit€raries" were held, people in the community putting on plays, singing,jigging, rattling bones, playing musical instruments, giving readings or sharing some talent they had. Other social things in the community were box and pie suppers, ball gamsg and going to someone's house for Sunday dinner. The teacher of the school usually stayed at the Kyle home since she could walk to school and get the fire started each morning. Loyal and Emma retired from the farm in 1955 and moved to a home in Flagler. Loyal became ill in 1960 and was in ill health until 1967 when he died. Emma was confined to a wheelchair the last few years of her life with arthritis and she died in 1977. Their son Thomas (Tom) and wife Delores now live on the farm. by Kathryne Daniel LANGE FAMILY Ernie was born on his family's homestead 5 miles west of Idalia in 1917. His descendants were from Weingarten, Germany, and settled in Missouri in the early 1800's. His grandparents homesteaded south of Idalia in 1887. His parents, William and Mnmie (Helling) Langendoerfer had three sons: Harold, Ernie, and Alvin; one daughter, Florence, and raised an "adopted" cousin, Stan Voss, orphaned by the flu epidemic of 1918. The fanily raised wheat'and hauled it to Burlington to sell. It took one day to prepare the wagon for the trip, one day to go and one day to come home. The wagon hauled 55 bushels ofwheat. In 1925, the Langendoer- fers bought a Ford Model-T Truck, which also canied only 55 bushels of wheat, but at a speed of 25 MPH on the level and 5 MPH on the hills, they could make three trips to Burlington in one day, quite an advantage over the tenm and wagon. Ernie married Hazel Homm in 1941 and together they ran a general store in ldalia before moving to the Bar-T ranch in 1943. His father had purchased 2080 acres from Bertha M. Bently, a wealthy Nebraska investor, for $4.00 an acre in 1939. The Republican River bottom land had been heavily damaged in the 1935 flood, which contributed to its depres- F397 Bart and Emily Rice Hoschouer cnme from Friend, Nebr. to Colorado in 1900. They homesteaded southeast of Holyoke, Colo. in Phillips County. They built a two room sod house and other buildings. Dad farmed corn, and wheat. There was a lot of free prairie in those days and we always had cattle. We had many prairie fires, sand storms, rattlesnakes (lots of them), and a tornado once in a while, to say nothing of the blizzards. It was rough going as my mother and dad worked hard. We would pick up the most anowheads and there was a large bucket we'd throw them in. When we sold the farm, we left the anow heads. I have regretted that many times. My dad always said he wanted to have a good education for his family, so we cnme to Burlington. We lived in the house where the late Mable Parkes lived. We later bought a home in east Burlington. My oldest sister, Sylvia eloped with her boy friend and lived in Nebr. Albert quit school and found a job on a farm. Clifford, Clarence, and Glen did get to junior class, then quit and found jobs. sed value. Dad and Mother began by repairing and rebuilding the ranch. The one-room bunk house served as their first home until they built a ranch house the following year. They rebuilt a cattle shed that had burned down, moved in a large barn, built corrals and fences to accommodate the 100 head of cattle they acquired to start their business. They began farming 25 acres of dryland feed, hayed the salvagable meadows for winter feed, and cleaned flood-stricken land oftrash to regen- erate growth. They bred with registered Hereford bulls and saved the quality replace- ment heifers to build their cattle herd. In 1952 they drilled one of Kit Carson County's first irrigation wells and went from farming 30 acres of poor dryJand corn to 300 acres of top producing irrigated corn. Dad told folks he raised "corn, cattle, and kids" on his ranch. The three daughters, Sharon, Beverly, and Sandra were born between 1944 and 1948. Having no sons in the family, we all were enlisted to help with the work, but Mother worked side by side with him. Dad kept a hired family all the time and had neighbors help at roundup and haying time, the big events of the year. We bought and built a sheep herd in the 50's, but bobcats became a vicious predator, killing a large number of the herd. Friends and neighbors hunted and killed the wild animals over a few years time, but not before we were forced to sell the surviving part of the herd. By early 1960's we had &illed three irrigation wells, and broke out 200 acres of pasture land, infested with soap weed, to plant irrigated grass. It was an innovative idea that later became popular for heavy cattle grazing. We also began to cross-breed our Herefords to Shorthorn and Angus bulls. We saw positive results in the feedlot performarce of those cattle. Soil conservation was important to Dad. He put in dnms and terraces and worked at the projects faithfully. He and I would ride the ranch to check cattle and the dams. He was faithful and meticulous about greasing windmills, filling backscratchers, and providing salt for the cattle. In 1971 Dad and Mother moved to a new home they built just outside of Burlington, and Dad became active in feedlot and salebarn management. They sold the ranch to my husband and me, and Dad bought and sold cattle. He always laughing called himself a "bullshipper". He was a devoted Christian who took time to live and grow in his faith. He taught us to trust God's timing for our lives. He died of a heart attack in 1986, and we know it was in God's perfect timing. by Sandee Strobel, daughter LAVINGTON, WILLIAM IT. F399 During the latter part of the nineteenth century stories of gainful opportunities and adventure began to reach the eastern part of the United States. Those stories appealed strongly to ambitious, restless young men. One of these young men was my father, William Henry Lavington. He was born March 5, 1859, near Liverpool, New York, the son of Charles C. Lavington and Elizabeth Price Lavington. He was educated in the Syracuse, New York, area and atten{ed Fulton Academy. About 1881, at the age of 22, my father decided to move west and seek his fortune. He arrived in Fremont, Nebraska, where he farmed for 2 years. Following this he settled near Kearney, Nebraska, and spent three more years farming and teaching school. by then he had accumulated enough money to form a grading contracting business which he operated in Nebraska for two years. He had acquired equipment, horses and worlrmen ready for any grading needed. In 1888 he returned to Syracuse, New York, where he was married on March 14, 1888, in North Syracuse, to Louella Isabel Van Heusen. She was born August 30, 1864, at Pitchers Hill, Salina, New York, the daughter of Captain Stephen Van Heusen and Rachel Delong Van Heusen. After their marriage they returned to Nebraska where they soon learned that the Rock Island Railroad was planning to extend their line west across Colorado. It was af that time that my father moved his entire opera- �tion to Colorado. My parents were emong the first inhabitants of what is now Flagler, Colorado. Soon my father sold his contracting business and opened the first general store in Flagler in a tent. Later the store business was moved into a new frane building. My mother assumed part time management of the store thus giving my father time for other activities. During 1889 to 1894 my father served as Kit Carson County Commissioner and he was Postmaster of Flagler from officers training school at Camp McArthur in Waco, Texas, until the end of the war in 1918. In 1921 I graduated from the University of Colorado in geology, a profession I followed until I retired in 1962. I was married to Marguerite Deidesheimer in Denver on December 28, 192t. We became the parents of two sons. Marguerite died in 1945. by Charles S. Lavington 1889 to 1894. By now the Homestead Act had been extcnded and many homesteaders from farther east were moving into the area and much building was being done. The need of LAYMON FAMILY F400 The dateline was from Springfield, Colorado, and the pictures were of Springfield and Holly, Colorado and Elkhart, Kansas. It was written by the person who wrote the movie "Grapes of Wrath." I really remember that Sunday April 14, 1935, real well. I had been in Kansas shearing sheep and was on my way home to Stratton. I had to stay all day at Beloit, Kansas and didn't get to Stratton until Tuesday. I got as far as Stockton and my cousins whom I stopped to see were scooping dirt out of their house with a scoop shovel at midnight. Monday is my birthday and I will be 84. Stratton sure changed a lot since I went there 50 years ago. I was there almost 20 years. I building material was the main reason for my father to open a lumber yard. He was also involved in building a brick veneer hotel as My dad and I moved to the Stratton area the first part of January, 1935. We lived in the basement part of the house west of town land men and homesteaders needed to place to live while they could provide homes for which is now the Grasser place. Nels Moody by Clarence Laymon February 14, Valentine's Day. He went into the beer parlor Shorty Bush and Joe Riley were operating. I did other things and then LENGEL, ELIZABETH GUTTING themselves. Up to this time cattle grazing was the principle industry for most of the land was virgin soil. Gradually small tracts of ground were plowed and cultivated to produce food for the people and animals, thus eliminating the need for provisions to be brought in from the east. During the years my father had acquired a herd of cattle which he gtazed on a large ranch north ofVona. He later bought a ranch south of Flagler where he raised sheep. Earlier a bank had been established in Flagler but in 1910 it suffered difficulties. It was saved by the intervention of my father and other stockmen. With the assistance of money from Denver and the reorganization of the business, the bank survived and it is a strong thriving business to this day. My father was elected president and he remained in that office until his death. About 1930 my father sold the store and lumber yard but he continued to oversee his cattle and sheep business. Both ofmy parents were active in community affairs. My mother served on the school board several years. She died in Flagler, July 25, 1936. My father died in Glendale, California, March 12, 1940. My brother, Leon E. Lavington, the eldest child in the family, wae born in Flagler in 1889. He was the first child born in the town and later became the first mayor when the town was incorporated. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1915. After graduation he returned to Flagler and established a Ford Agency which he operated until about 1942. After retiring from private business he served as state purchasing agent, later state auditor and state treasurer. He was a candidate for governor in 1946. He was married to Marjorie Dixon of Denver and they becnme the parents of three children. Leon died in Denver in 1961. My sister Anna N. Lavington, was born in Flagler on June 20, L892. She maried Clyde Seal of Flagler, and they became the parents of three daughters. They later moved to California where Mr. Seal died. Anna remained in California and in 1943 she married Arthur Lockwood, a former Flagler business man. She died in California in 1982 at the age of ninety. I was born in Flagler April 5, 1898, and qthe only living member of the W.H. Lav- ington farnily. I attended grade school in Flagler and graduated from high school in Colorado Springs. I enlisted in the armed services in the last year of WWI and attended was still living there and Nels was an alcoholic. I and him went to Stratton on saw a dirt storm coming and drove my car up by the beer joint. Nels was very intoxicated but Shorty and Joe got him in my car and I got him home before the dirt storm struck. When Moody came up through the basement door he hollered, "God, Clarence, come here. Did you ever seen anything like this?" You couldn't see the windmill and it wasn't more than 60 feet to it from the house. have been on the Western Slope of Colorado for thirty years in July, 1985. F401 I, Elizabeth Gutting, was born in Patterson, New Jersey on Jan. 31, 1866, and went to Omaha with my parents when 5 years old. In the spring of 1880, father, Chris Gutting, came to Colorado and built a little frame house and dug a well. I went to Haigler, Nebr., from Omaha bytrain, then traveled by wagon When I moved there the first part of to Kingston (near Armel) and then hired a January the water tank never froze and it was nice weather until February 14. From then on it blowed nearly every day until Decoration Day. Then came a big rain and washed out the railroad bridges at Bethune, Vona and Seibert. There was no trains for a week or so, but Stratton got no rain that time. As long as Moody was there I had plenty of company . . . Fred Wagoner, Joe Adkins, Fred Hyman, and all of the drunks. Finally Nels moved to Edgewater, Colorado, on the team and wagon to bring me across with a few supplies. The country seemed so strange to me, so outskirts of Denver. There were several rabbit drives when they killed rabbits by the thousands. May Tatcher moved in during March, 1936. My father was a veterinary and when the sale bam got started he was appointed the veterinarian to inspect the livestock that was sold through the sales at Stratton, Burlington, Flagler and Limon. All hogs that was not to be slaughtered had to be vaccinated for hog cholera and I did not care for the job of holding the pigs while he vaccinated them, but I did it. As far as I know he was the only licensed veterinary in Kit Carson County at that time. I, Frank Seelhof and his brother, Walter, and Ray Bey went coyote hunting one Sunday. The coyote was going northwest. There was a small patch of green thistles and the coyote went to run across it. He jumped about 4 feet high and went northeast. Our dogs all came back, so we went up to see why they quit. Walter Seelhof saw a big rattlesnake and shot it with a 22 rifle and snakes came from ever5mhere. All four of us killed 185 rattlesnakes that day. The Stratton paper had it right; if I remember they said 185; Burlington's paper said 135. But I think 185 was right. It has been 45 years ago this October since that happened (written May 15, 1985). There is a piece in the Kansas City Times about the Dust Bowl day of April 13, 1935. very few settlers and homes to be seen; although the rolling hills and the closeness to the river made this part of the country much more attractive than the high plains south of the river. I took a pre-emption and a timber claim in what was then Arapahoe county. My father and I planted together. That clump of trees you can see yonder is my father's claim, which I still own. There were plenty of antelope and gray wolves in the vicinity, and the coyotes would howl so mournfully, that it made me feel lonely, but I kept busy and forgot to be lonely. I kept house eight years for my father. We used homemade bedsteads, table, and cup- board, but bought our stove, and chairs in Flagler and brought them overland. I had no clothes line and I would hang the clothes on a J rcca plant - soap weed, which grows so plentiful in the sand. Mail was brought from Jauqua, Kans., and from Cheyenne Wells, Colo. to the Landsman post office, where we got our mail. I was well acquainted with the man, Munsinger, a homesteader in the middle of the Bar T cattle range, who had so much friction with most everyone around him, homesteaders as well as cattlemen. He kept the community fearful of just what he would do next. I knew Mr. Allen, the Bar T foreman, whom Munsinger shot; I spoke to Mr. Allen that morning when he was passing on his way to fix fence and he was carrying no visible firearms then, but at the trial that followed the murder, it was claimed a gun was found by his side, thus helping to establish the pleas of self-defense on the grounds of which Munsinger was freed. My father and I were questioned about the visit with Mr. Allen as to whether or not he �had carried a gun. Our replies being in favor of Mr. Allen, aroused the ire and enmity of Munsinger and he had our little home burned to the ground in revenge. We lost everything, including the keepsakes of my deceased mother. Then father and I built a sod house, and startcd all over again. It may sound heartless, but the community wae relieved to hear of Munsinger's death. He and Mace Old Bill - kept the community in fear as to where they were, what they were doing and who would be the next victim of their revenge. After living with my father for 8 years, I married J.L. Lengel, and he filed homestead papers on the land on which we are now living. We raised a family of seven children and gave them a good education. I boarded the men that built the Emerson ditch; a project headed by a company in and managed by a man in Kansas. The plan was to use this ditch for irrigation purposes, taking water from the Republican River and using it on the farms of eastern Colorado and Kansas. But the project did not extend beyond the Colorado-Kansas boundary line. This ditch is just a short distance north of our home. It took two days to make the trip to the nearest railroad, to market our wheat and hogs; we had nothing to travel in except our wagon, to go to Burlington for supplies, which is 22 miles from here. some home made furniture and dishes. At that time a branch line of the Union Pacific from Kit Carson to La Junta was later discarded. The ties from this old road bed were used by the settlers for posts, corrals, and shacks. I engaged in the cattle business homestead. Our sod has been displaced by a cement block horse, and other buildings have been displaced by ones of frnme and stone. with mybrother-in-law, Herman Homm, and was out on the prairie much more than I was in my shack. Many nights I have camped on the lone prairie while watching the herd and have had to endure all kinds of storms. There were numberless herds of antelope on the plains when I came here, a few buffalo, plenty of coyotes, and a few gray wolves. In variety of fruits. But the terrible hailstorms we have had the last few years have broken the summer of 1889, we had 11 head of calves killed one night by the wolves, and in the summer of 1894, one of my horses was bitten by a gray wolf. The bite of a wolf was considered as dangerous as the bite of a rattlesnake so the animal was always under treatment until it got over the effects of the bite. In 1888, while riding with the 111 ranch outfit with head quarters near Wray, the foreman and I rode into the hills north of the Arickaree river, and there we saw five buffalo. This was about the last bunch seen in this country. We did not molest them, but learned later that there had been six in the bunch, but one had been killed, by a man living west of their trail, earlier in the day. I think that the severe winters of the early years helped to exterminate the antelope and We have endured the hardships subsequent to pioneering, having endured the severe storms in summer; the blizzards of winter; the losses of livestock and other disappointments in the years past, but we buffalo in this country more than anything else. Even after we came, we had such terrible blizzards and such cold winters when the ground would be covered with snow from November to early spring. There was nothing fared as well as most pioneers and are glad to have been, to some degree instrumental in the development and economic life in this for the wild animals or stock to live on, people did not learn until experience taught them, that one had to prepare food and shelter for the livestock in order to keep the herd safe. So when there was no food. water and shelter for the wild animals, they just starved or froze to death. When riding one day I noticed an area. We are now alone in the large frame home, in which we reared our family but we are blessed with happiness and appreciation of pioneer days. by Janice Salmans LENGEL, JONATHAN L. F402 I was born in Pennsylvania in 1861 and came to Kansas in 1879, then came over into Colorado in 1881. I did not stay long, but returned to Kansas and stayed there a while. In the fall of 1887, I returned to Colorado, at a place known as Big Springs, about eleven miles north of town. Kit Carson was a prairie town on the U.P. Railroad and consisted of a store, a saloon, a livery barn, and a few shacks. I worked for the "77" outftt for some time, and worked for different small cattle owners. This was quite a cattle country in the early days and many a bunch of cattle have I trailed across the country to winter headquarters in Kansas cornfields. We would drive the herds from Big Springs to Hoyt, which is north of Seibert, and we would water and rest. We would then drive down the Republican River into Kansas and to our destination. In 1888, I took a homestead near Rush antelope standing up against a bluff, I wondered why it did not run, but kept riding toward it. When I got to it I found that the poor thing had been frozen and was still standing in an upright position, although dead. I saw thousands ofbuffalo bones on the prairie where the buffaloes had either died or We planted an orchard down by the Emerson ditch and at one time had one of the finest orchards in this country. We had a the trees and destroyed our orchard so much that we get little benefit from it. We have worked hard to build our home, and to educate our children. We have endured the hardships that went with pioneering, and had experiences that were lessons for the future, broadening and mellowing our lives. But in all my experiences I do not remember anything so tragic and far reaching as the past few years have been for everyone. It has been hard on the young folks just starting out. I have always loved the outdoors, the great plains, and the great herds of cattle roaming the prairies. My faithful cow pony and I have enjoyed many a communion with nature. There was some fascination in the care-free, romantic life of a cowboy. I like to be alone to think of the beauties of nature and to ride wherever I wanted to go. One time while riding across country I stopped at a ranch home and asked for water for myself and pony. I was told that the well was too deep to haul water by man-power. There was a yoke of oxen near but I had never handled oxen so I would not try them now and my pony was unfit for such work. I decided to travel on and take my chance at the next place. I came to a dugout a few miles farther on and stopped to ask for a drink. What was my surprise to see W.M. Hollowell, later a surveyor of our county come out to greet me. I knew him in Indiana and did not know that he was in Colorado. Needless to say, I enjoyed a visit as well as a drink of water for myself and pony. The west did not seem so far away after all. by Jayne Hubbell LENNEMAN FAMILY F403 killed by hunters. Buffalo bones are very heavy and when we gathered them, we had to sell them for $4.00 per ton, later, we got as high as $14.00 per ton for them. Of course, that was when they got scarce on the plains. I never saw any Indians in Colorado, but saw them in Kansas, and during the time of the Indian scare at Fort Wallace, the town of Grinnel was used as a fort, and the people from the country came there for safety. The town was surrounded byguards and lookouts, and I was one of the guards who kept watch. We had no trouble, with the exception of the fight with the soldiers, there were no other fight that I heard of. The Indians had a bad name and the people were easily frightened. In 1893 my brother-in-law and I dissolved partnership. I sold my relinquishment and moved north of the Republican river. Here, I bought a relinquishment, built a sod house, plastered it with native lime and put in a floor, dug a well fourteen feet deep to good clear water and again started in as a cattleman and as a farmer. I married Miss Elizabeth creek, south of Kit Carson, and built a shack Gutting and she filed papers on my relin- out of old railroad ties and furnished with quishment and we are living on this original Homestead Days My father, Frank Antone Lennemann, age 29, died June 9, 1910 in Orleans, Nebraska, of an appendectomy. My mother, Lena (nee Mary Magdalena Willy) age 22 was left a widow with two small children, my sister Regina (2 years) and myself Leona (6 months). My father and mother were renters on a farm north ofOrleans. The corn crop was maturing abundantly. Mother, with help, assumed the responsibility to see the crop harvested and the correct rental of returns properly paid. Then faced with the reality that the future held no hope for her to continue living on the farm without a husband to manage farm responsibilities ehe moved into town to do domestic work and readjust her life. She had manied at age 19. My father (7 years her senior) had fallen in love with Mother when she was only 15 years old and he had waited for her parents to give their consent to her marriage when she becaure 19 years old. Her one hope had been to be a good wife, a good mother, and a �Willy, a bachelor, who had gone to Stratton, Colorado, to homestead land under the Government's Homest€ad Act of 1909, wrotc to mother informing her that the adjoining west acreage, to his own assigned land, was being returned to the Government for reassignment. He asked mother if she wished to sign up for this acreage. Mother at age 23 took the challenge. The Homestead Act required the applicant to actually live on the land only a part of each year. Mother took us children by train to Stratton where Uncle George met us and took us in his buggy to the homestead 12 miles north of Stratton. Mother's acreage was divided from Uncle George's by a narow prairie-grass-road. His homestead cabin housed his living necessities. His barn sheltered his cattle, horses and his farming equipment. His windmill watered his garden and sustained his cattle. We lived in a similar one-room cabin-shelter with rag rugs covering the grass floor. Our table, Picture of my mother Mrs. Lena Lennemann taken about 1906. Regina and Leona Lennemann. Taken in the Rectory of St. Charles Catholic Church 1914 when Mother was housekeeper for the priest during months when she did not have to be on the homestead. helpmate to her husband. This hope was now suddenly altered by my father's sudden death. Mother, as a child, had attended school only partway through the fifth grade when she stopped going to school in order to remain at home to help her own mother raise a family of eight children on a rented farm. In those days there was no law requiring parents to send children to school. Therefore, mother had never signed a check and she knew little about business transactions. She now assumed her duty of supporting us two children. She learned to handle business as a dedicated responsibility. In 1912, mother'g oldest brother, George chairs, stove, bed and dresser were all under this one-roof -shelter. Our water supply was from Uncle George's windmill. Periodically Regina and I barefooted pulled a large milkcan in our wagon over the grass pathway to the windmill. One day we encountered a rattle snake in the pathway. We abandoned the wagon and ran screaming back to the cabin and mother. Uncle George's barn provided "keep" for mother's horse and buggy and we shared in planting a garden. Sometimes at night the howl of the coyotees awakened us. Mother then took from a redvelvet-lined leather case a pearl handled revolver which she told us our father had purchased before his death when he took his cattle to sell in Kansas City, Missouri. Mother pointed the gun to the sky and we heard the shot. The coyotees were quieted and we slept. On each Saturday Mother's horse and buggy took ug the twelve miles over the prairie road (now Highway 57) to Stratton. Regina and I wore our gunbonnets until we were a half mile from Stratton. Mother then took from under the buggyseat a hatbox. We traded our bonnets for lovely white straw hats with blue and pink velvet ribbons with forget-me-not trimmings. We then road into town and stayed overnight with the O'Neil family in order to attend Sunday Mass at St. Charles Catholic Church. I loved Granny O'Neil. Once as I sat on her lap I asked her "Where did all your wrinkles come from?" She hugged me and replied that each wrinkle was a part of her love. After Mass and dinner we returned home. One Sunday as we were driving home a black and churning storm cloud frightened mother. With a vocal prayer she directed the horse toward the Anthofer's home and paddled the horse with the reins. The horse dashed forward, stumbled on the turf, the buggy jerked and I, sitting in the middle of the seat, bounced forward over the buggy dashboad. I fell directly between the horse's back feet and the buggy wheels. The Anthofers recognizing us and seeing the accident ran with children our own ages. Mother explained the sadness of death when the young Collins boy (son of the Collins Hotel Manager) fell from a tree and died. Mother wept as we stood with mourners and she explained that he would never return to play again. I was learning the realities of life. One summer the homest€aders organized a picnic celebration. Children partook in the program. I was only four-and-half years old. I stood on a rag rug (center ofthe crowd) and quoted: "Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a dinmond in the sky." Muchto my mother'g delight I remembered all the words. When mother took us back to Orleans, Nebraska. to visit our relatives we traveled part way on a cattle and freight train and we sat in the caboose. I can still remember the sound of the whistle at crossings. The engine smoke and dirt blew in our faces and our clothing from the open window in the summer. Mother insisted we be clean-faced and tidy when we stepped from the train. Her handkerchief served as our washcloth. Uncle George had been a bachelor. One day he returned from a trip and introduced to us his new bride, a former school teacher, as Aunt Agnes. Soon Regina and I watched men digging the earth for they were building a new house near Uncle George's windmill. We soon walked over wooden floors and through rooms which would now be home to Uncle George and Aunt Agnes. In 1915 mother had lived the required time on the land. The land was now hers. She could return to Nebraska. She said "goodbye" to wonderful friends - Alice Connor, the O'Neils, the Colgans, the Anthofers, the Knockels, the Pughs, the Garners, and many others who had befriended her. She loved them with a grateful heart for these homesteaders had helped her complete a challenge. They had been her friends and now she was leaving, but she would never forget them. Mother had gone to school only partway through the fifth grade. Her determination had been her education. The memory of my father's love had sustained her. Her faith had been her constant companion. Mother passed away March 23,L971. Today the homestead, with Mr. and Mrs. Larry Brachtenbach as tennants, provides two-year scholarships to help teenager attend Notre Deme and Carmelite Catholic high schools in California where Mother passed away. This is possible because of "THE HOMESTEAD DAYS." Poem which I wrote about my mother - My Mother - Magdalena There was never a happier bride than she . . . A girl of nineteen - sweet as could be/ out and picked me up. I was crying but As the sun shone in Nebraska's April sky . . . Surely no sadness ahead could lie/ A happy year passed without a regret. . . And a blue-eyed child with ringlets was sent/ To enrich their happiness and bless their love . . . Surely this child had been sent from above/ So proud of this first-born baby was unharmed. Mother tightened the reins of the horse to stop the buggy.We all reached the house as the storm broke. During winter months mother kept house for the Catholic priest, Father Alphonse Keifer, in the St. Charles Church Rectory. Regina Louise/ . . . Sometime later to little Regina God gave . . . A plump blue-eyed sister: Leona Marie/ These two babies were Mother taught us to be helpful in household duties. We also learned to play and associate she . . As she watched it with young motherly glee/ And to honor the heavenly Model of Queens . . This baby was baptized the pride and delight . . . Of this happy couple whose future looked bright/ Six �months sped by and then came a cross .. . As she wept at the deathbed and faced the loss/ Of her beloved husband as she heard him say . . "Take good care of the girls." as he passed away.l Then followed a period of heartache and sorrow. . For in sadness of death there is no tomorrow/Lingering memories of one who has been taken away . . . Will cling forever with the one who must stay/ Prayer and faith brought Magdalena healing grace. . When at age twenty-three with the future to facel She journeyed to Colorado to live on homestead land . . . Her brother, George, was there and he lent a hand/ In helping her establish a nearby prairie home . . . Where all nature nestled under heaven's dome./ New friends were sincere, helpful and kind . . . Thus the prairie life she did not mind./ When under a trillion stars, the umbrella of night . . . Prairie coyotees howls caused moments of fright/ Or when lightning and thunder crashed a stormy sky . . . Magdalena taught her daughters on prayer to rely/ After three years of homesteading the land was her own . . . So she and the girls returned to Nebraska to make a home./ The girls she enrolled in a parochial school . . . To educate them in the Christian rule./ But one o-bition burned in her mother-heart . She must never fail, she muet fulfill her part/ To rear the girls in the very best way. . . And hold true to the promise she made that sad and on at intervals when they needed an English teacher and none happened to be available from 1947 until 1964. I always enjoyed it . . . particularly the fact that I learned to know so many of the young people who have grown up to be worthwhile citizens now. After Kenneth's death, I stayed on in Stratton and married Jim Clark. Jim had just returned from his tour of duty with the Navy and purchased the Stratton school buses. He At the close of World War II, Kenneth Lepper and I moved to Stratton to go into farming. He had the opportunity of going back to his job in Texas, which was a stationary engineer for the Natural Gas Company, or to break all ties and come to Stratton and start farming, which was what he always wanted to do. Of the land that my father had purchased, we choose and bought the one from him which was known as the Al Simon place. It is 2 miles north and 1 east of Stratton. Al Simon had moved off of it and Dad purchased it; then we bought it from my father in 1946. From that time on we lived there for 16 years until Kenneth passed away in 1961. Chris and Yvonne Schwieger and girls moved down from Arriba at that time and started farming out of here as their headquarters, having remained on there ever since. Yvonne is now operating the place since Chris's passing away. We as farmers here learned to love the country and really appreciate Eastern Colorado. And we liked it better than Western Kansas. and we were never alone because so many people from Western Kansas had moved out here and bought land and etarted farming in this part of the country. So far as we are concerned, it has always remained home to us. I taught school in the Stratton schools off scrubbed on a washboard. Washing machines by Lucile Clark sold, helped to buy groceries. Leshes left Kit Carson County, in 1936, and moved to California. Later, in 1943, they moved of to Oregon. Harve, Paul, and Loren, along with their families, still live in Oregon. Hazel and her husband live in California, Ralph and his wife live in Boulder, Co., Dale and his wife in Florida, and Frank and his wife in Arizona. Irwin and Dutch both passed away in 1972. LESIIER, W. F. F406 to Denver. That cream check, along with eggs by Isaphene Leshers LEWIS FAMILY by Miss Leona M. Lennemann F404 to have one, or into wash tubs with laundry were 'hand powered'. Also, the wringer had to be turned by hand. After the washing was hung out on clothes lines to dry, ironing was done with'flatirons', which were heated on the cookstove. Not a pleasantjob during the summertime. Everyone helped in milking the cows. Milk was seperated by'hand powered' seperator. Cresm, in five and ten gallon crerm cans, was taken to town where it was sold, and shipped - FAMILY There were lots of Mouths to feed and it was a big job with no modern conveniences. Wash day was another big job for a family of that size. Water had to be carried in from the water barrel at the windmill. and heated in a wash boiler on the range (cook stove). After the water was hot, it was poured into the washing machine, for those fortunate enough operated the school buses until 1972 when he sold out and the school bought them to put them in with their system. After that we have been spending our winters in Arizona and coming back here for summers and traveling in between. Traveling being our hobby, we do a great deal of it. But when it is all said and done the Stratton area is our home and we still always think of it as such and we will never change that address. day./ For through the years that were passing too fast . . . She must faithfully continue to accomplish the task/ Which was bestowed with love on her alone to do . . . A mother's task veiled by a father's blessing too. LEPPER AND CLARK young roosters were used for fryers to eat. W. F. and Susie Lesher's 50th Wedding Anniversa- ry in 1955. On March 30, 1905 Willaim Frank Lesher and Susan Harriet Manges were married in Agra, Kansas. Frank heard about homestead land in Colorado. In the spring of 1907 he went to Colorado and filed on a quarter section, Section 26 - Township 11- Range 46. In the fall of 1907 they chartered an immigrant car on the railroad and moved their belongings, including livestock, machinery and household, to Stratton, Colorado. They hauled their belongings 16 miles south and 3 miles east of Stratton by team and wagon, and there they set up a tent to start life in their new home. They had their baby, Hazel, who was about a year old with them. By Thanksgiving they had a sod house built, later a sod barn, a cave dug and had a well drilled. They made several moves back to Kansas and then back to the Homestead. They finally came to stay in Colorado in 1916, until they moved to California in 1936. The Lesher family consisted of 8 boys, 'each of whom had a sister'. Hazel, the eldest, was born 1906; Ralph in 1908; Irwin (Skin) in 1910; Harve in 1912; Allen (Dutch) in 1914; Dale in 1918; Frank in 1921; Paul in 1924; and Loren in 1929. They all attended school at First Central, Dist. #29. They also went to Evangelical Church, held in the school house. Susie always raised a large garden and did a lot of canning, pickling and made her own sauerkraut. In the spring she set the incubator and raised young chickens for food, as well as young pullets for next years eggs. The F406 My parents, John H. Lewis and Evelyn Burton Lewis; my brother, Russell E. Lewis; my grandparents, Ernest and Alla Wright Lewis; and my aunt, Helen Lewis csme to Burlington in 1934 from Nebraska, originally from Bedford. Iowa. The house at 350 12th St. in Burlington was purchased in 1935 and remains in the family to this day. This house was built about 1906 and homes in that era were without insula- tion plus the upper story had no heat. It was "hot water bottles" and "heated bricks" in the winter time. We spent many months remodeling this house in the 1950's and since. An interesting point is Ernest and Alla Lewis celebrated their 50th wedding anniversar5r plus John and Evelyn Lewis celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary while living in this house, plus my Aunt Helen married Laurence Pugh in this snme house. An attraction ofthe Burlington area during those times were the advertisings from the land agents to "buy your land in Kit Carson County, put in a crop of wheat, and the first crop will return enough to pay the land off'. The recommended farming mode was to pulverize the soil, no clods, which would result in better crops. What it did was help produce the dust bowl, watching the earth go by at 40 miles per hour on its way to Texas and on out to sea. After planting many acres in wheat and corn throughout the 1930's, without harvest success, Ernest and John decided to stop the no-win farming program, no government subsidies in thoge days, and starbed the "Lewis Dairy". Everyone helped with the daily operation of the dairy (no days offl which included feeding and milking the cows, �bottling the milk in glass milk bottles, storing the finished product overnight at the icehouse and delivering the milk the next morning before school . . . 40 hour work weeks are a piece of cake compared to that work. Milk was 100 a quart, delivered, and this was an improvement over farming. Soon after the dairy was started the rains LEWIS, DWIGHT AND ESTHER F408 came, the drought lessened, farming practices improved, resulting in good crops. There were a number of bumper crops during the 1940's which turned some farmere into country gentlemen. Hail storms took the place of dust - as the current problem - and could blast the field on one side ofa road and leave the other side untouched. This had a sobering effect on your financial status, resulting in liquidation for one family and a good living for the other. Ernest and Alla Lewis had 8 grandsons and no granddaughters; talk about discrimination. John and Evelyn had 3 sons, Russell, Homesite of Dwight and Esther Lewis Dean and Duane. Helen and Laurence Pugh had 5 sons, Allan, Owen, Evan, Steve and Bryan.Russell was lost in a truck accident on June 8, 1949 when we were following the wheat harvest in Oklahoma. Steve Pugh was lost in another accident in Oklahoma on December 2. L978. We miss them. John finished his working career as a tinsmith, learning this new trade at age 55; he quit working at age 70. Evelyn taught 22 years in the Burlington School System. Helen and her family moved to Hanison, Arkansas in the early 1950's. Duane is a basketball coach at Alameda High in Lakewood. Dean has been a special agent for Northwestern Mutual Life for 24 years in Grand Junction, Colorado. Life Goes On! by C. Dean Lewis LEWIS, ALYCE MARGARET DISCHNER r.407 Alyce Lewis was born in Lindsay, Nebraska, grew up and graduated from the Stratton High School in the dust bowl days of Eastern Colorado in 1937. She was a telephone operator and supervisor in Manitou and Colorado Springs, Colorado during the war year8. She was united in mariage to Marshall Maurice Lewis of Nacogdoches, Texas in 1945 in Colorado Springs, Colo. They lived in Nacogdoches, Brownwood, and Dalhart and Meridian, Texas for nine years. In 1953 they moved to Stratton, Colorado and bought the Gamble Store which they operated for eleven years. It was during this time that she attended the University of Northern Colo- rado and received her BA degree. She taught school in Stratton from 1961 to 1964. She also worked with kindergarten youngsters during this time. They sold the bueiness to a cousin, Eugene Jostes, and moved to the lovely North Platte Valley of Nebraska and made their home in Bayard, Nebr. She taught school in Bayard and in rural schools in Nebraska for nineteen years. She was president of the Morrill Country Teachers Association and of the Bayard Teachers Assn. She taught music and was church organist for 24 years. We moved to Stratton in September of 1960. We came from Sharon Springs, Kansas. Linda, Jim and Bob are the children. We lost Bob to cancer in 1976. Alyce Dischner Lewis During these years she had the good Linda is married to Harold Miller from Flagler and has two children, Bill and Cindy. They live in Hudson, Colorado. fortune to travel in 1969 and 1975 to Europe with the Foreign Study League. Each trip lasted six weeks and she studied the Humanities. She has been to the Costa Del Sol in Spain, to Hawaii twice, Africa twice and on a Carribean Cruise. In 1984 over the Christmas holidays she toured the Holy Land in Israel and Egypt. In 1985 she went on an inspirational tour of Fatima, Portugal, Lourdes, France, Spain, England and the shrine at Knock. Ireland. While teaching she becnme interested in art and began study with various teachers. She hoped this would come in handy when she was ready to retire from teaching. Mike died May 20, 1983 and with two large store buildings empty in 1986, she started the Art and Craft Mart as her new career. She displayed, handled and sold crafts and arts for the area craftspeople and artists. This venture evolved into the present Lewis Gallery in 1987 when she sold the buildings at 424 Main Street in Bayard. Hobbies are reading, crafts, music and photography. She was Does Musician for the Scottsbluff Drove #21 for nine years. She now teaches music and tole painting. She attended the Halsey Autumn Workshop at Halsey, Nebraska the past five years and has studied under such artists as Gwen Middleswart of Bridgeport, Ne., Amy Sadle of Columbus, Ne., Pat Hall and Nancy Jim is married to Kathy Lempp from Stratton and they have three children, Kris, Brian and Kim. We were one of the first to put down irrigation. I believe it was in 1963. We bought our place from Al and Mary Wy. September of that year received his honorable discharge in Texas. They made their home in Texas for nine years. One Thanksgiving in 1952 Mike was fascinated with the pheasant hunting in the area and always marveled at the wide open spaces of the plains. We moved to Colorado and purchased the Gamble Store from Grace Hyde in 1953. They operated the business until they sold it to Eugene Jostes in 1963 and they moved to Bayard, Nebraska and purchased another Neibauer of Scottsbluff, Rose Edin of Staples, Mn., Charles Rogers of Lakewood, Co., and Barbara Schaffner of Torrington, At present she has a one woman art show at the Country Club in Scottsbluff, Ne. Although she has sold some of her work, she has never received any awards probably because she hasn't entered any competitions. by Alyce Dischner Lewis Kitten. We planted a windbreak of trees to the north. Dwight and I planted it. Then every Saturday it was the boy's job to water the trees. Then came the weeds and all of that hoeing. We very seldom grounded the chilit was "go hoe the trees." dren - by Esther Lewis LEWIS, MARSIIALL MAURICE F409 Marshall Maurice Lewis was born in Denton, Texas January 2, 1913 to Catherine Martine and Charles Wllliam Lewis. His family lived in East Texas around Cleveland, Texas until the family moved to Nacogdoches when the children were old enough to attend Stephen F. Austin College. "Mike" had two years of college and taught school for a short time. In 1941 he entered the service and spent four years in the Canibean. His rank was that of Staff Sargeant. He married Alyce Dischner Lewis in Colorado Springs in 1945 and in �hood including going to town with Dad, sneaking outside while Mom was napping, playing the piano, playing on the playground and in the treehouse, herding sheep, learning how to ride a bike (thanks to Jan and Shan!), riding horses and Frisky, our dog. When we were little we visited our relatives and grandparents in Oklahoma every summer and Christmas. We always went swimming at Crrmberland Cove on Lake Texoma. Both grandparents, Jim and Nina Poole and JC and Berniece Long, had fishing ponds in their backyards. What fun was spent fishing. I still remember the first fish I caught! My Grandpas are gone now but I thorough- ly enjoy my Grandmas who traveled to Colorado together for a visit the summer of '87. They're special ladies! My first and dearest teacher was Mrs. Esther Daum. She was like a gecond Grandma to me. I mowed her lawn when I was older and enjoyed spending time with her. I'll always treasure her. I nm a member of the United Methodist Marshall "Mike" Lewis Gamble Franchise. He sold the business to retire in 1977. He died May 20, 1983. by Alyce M. Lewis LIMING, ROBIN AND KRISTY F4lO Church in Burlington. I was in MYF and always enjoyed the trips we took. We went se-ping in the mountains, traveled to Texas, and went snow skiing a couple of times. I made a lot of friends. I went to school at Bethune. Dad is superintendent there. I was involved in volleyball, basketball, track, FBLA, FHA, drnma and speech. In 1981 I earned a second place medal in my poetry division at the State Speech Festival in Fort Lupton. That was quite a moment. I still enjoy volleyball and participate by officiating at local schools. I graduated from high school in 1983 receiving the honor of being nemed valedictorian. I also received the President's Scholar- ship at UNC. I've always loved horses and have been involved in the 4-H horse program. In 1981 I was Kit Carson County Fair and Rodeo Queen. And what's better was that my best friend Penny (Ziegler) Aeschliman was the lst Attendant. We always rode together, so why not go to rodeos and parades together! It wae a time I won't forget. For my junior and senior prom my escort was Robin Liming. He's still my escort and very best friend today. We were married October 1, 1983. We have such fun together! We live southeast of Kirk, Colorado. We water ski, golf and enjoy hunting. We farm and own land in Kit Carson County. We have hogs and share horses. I'm thankful for this ru $o' $ ,-,e' life! ri{ by Kristy Poole Liming 1 : S i1*r $ Kristy and Robin Liming, September of 1987. My life began March 25, 1965 at Ardmore, Oklahoma. Although my parents, Ja-es and Nora Poole lived in Bethune, Colorado, Mom attended her Granny's funeral in Oklahoma. The timing was such that I'm an "Oakie." My name is Helen Kristy (Poole) Liming. My brother is David Poole. My sisters are Janet Cure and Sharon Green. All are maried and each have two kids. I have many fond memories of my child- LIMING, WILLIAM MELVIN AND IJAZEL MYRTLE HAGAN F4l1 Willi"m, or Bill as he was known, was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on March 30, 1891, and was of English and Irish descent. His mother was Elma Smart. His father, William Bainbridge Liming, was the son of George Washington Liming and Hanna Malvina Murphy, both of Ohio, near Cincinnati. Their children The Bill Liming family, (back row) Bill and Hazel with children (left to right) Melba, Alma, Marvin, Robert and our dog, old Queen our belovedAirdale. Our neighbors, Bill and Susie Thompson's car, taken in 1928. were Mary Jane (Mollie) Hitchcock, William Bainbridge, Matilda Olive (Tint) Harman, Elizabeth Street and George T. Liming. May (Liming) Wixon researched George Wash- ington Liming's ancestry and traced it to John Liming I who cnme to America from Yorkshire, England, in 1665 on the "Nevis Merchant" ship from Dover, England, and was married in 1680. The older Limings were farmers in Ohio. George Washington Liming and his familymigratedto Lawrence, Kansas, and in 1907 cqme to Colorado and homesteaded 1 mile south and 3 miles west of Kirk. He and his family made adobe bricks and built their house a home that knew many - with all of our families. happy get-togethers Grandmother would spend hours playing games and running with the grandchildren, and Grandfather had a long white beard, sparkling eyes, and was always very kind to all he knew. Dad had two brothers, George Jemes (Dock) and Bert. Bert died in infancy. Dad and Dock were raised by their grandparents, George and Hannah Liming. Dock married Bessie Taylor and they had seven children Melvin, Hazel, Clarence, Frances, Gladys, Juanita and James. They lived near Kirk until the late 30's, when they moved to Dearing, Kansas. Dad had four half sisters - Emma (Herrin) White and Ruth (Herrin) Braizer (his mother's daughters from her marriage to Mr. Herrin), and Melvina (Liming) Wise and Nellie Bain Payne (his father's daughters from his marriage to Nell Dod- dridge Liming). Dad also had two step brothers - Milton and William Doddridge, and one step sister - Visa (Doddridge) Heberlein. Previous to 1907, several of the men folk came to Colorado an homesteaded (or applied for a homestead) and built dugouts on their respective lands. Then in 1907, they formed a caravan of covered wagons to move their animals and belongings to Colorado. After traveling from Lawrence to Topeka, Kansas, in near impassable trails due to heavy rains and mud, and seeing their animals losing weight that would be vital for them to keep in order to face a winter on the plains of Colorado, they decided to put the animals on the train. They told about slipping the "boys" Liming, - Bill andOraDock Milton and Bill Doddridge, Street, and possibly others on the train with the animals. There -was a wagon box turned upside down that the boys hid under so the brakeman wouldn't see them when he made his rounds. I guess the food didn't keep too good and the boys developed dianhea, which �created quite a problem as you can imagine. Visa Heberlein tells me that she, her mother, and sister Melvina came by train at a later date. Her memory of seeing her first sunset on the plains is still very vivid, in contrast to coming from an area dense with trees. When Dad was 18, his father got typhoid fever while working in the sugar beets in Brush, Colorado, and died. At the time of his death, the family was living in a dugout. His stepmother, Nell, remained on the homest€ad and with courage and a lot ofhard work, Nell and the boys built a sod house, and then the house east of Kirk where Melvina Wise now resides. Dad was in World War I and served in Company C-110 Infantry as a Private. In July of 1918, he wae wounded and gased in the Aragon Forest in the Battle of Aragon. He was discharged October 5, 1918. In 1919, after getting his Patent Deed, he built a dugout on his land and helped his grandfather farm. Hazel Hagan was born to Robert McDonald Hagan (Mack) andElizabeth (Edwards) Hagan on June 10, 1902, in Waverly, Kansas. She was one of 11 children - Pearl Smith, Cecil, Johnny, Hazel Liming, Ralph, Lela, Lester, Ray, Delilah, Merle and Betty Avers. Her father's descendants have been traced to John Graves (1703-1804) on his mother's side, and to his father, Elijah Hagan, from Guilford, Missouri, on his father's side. Mom moved to Colorado in 1907 in a covered wagon and buggy with her parents. Their first stop in the Kirk area was at Rufus and Ellen Graveg' home. Then the families went together to Ike and Emeline (Robert McDonald Hagan's mother) Gleaves for supper. Mack moved his family into a dugout that another family had left, and then homesteaded there. He worked as a sod cutter and layer and also did carpentry work. Later they moved to Kirk where he had a butcher shop and sold sandwiches. In 1929' they moved to Missouri and remained there until his death on Feb. 13, 1946. Elizabeth then stayed with family until she moved into Heinrich's Nursing Home in Burlington until her death in 1965. Mom went to Boone School, working during the summers ag domestic help. She maried Dad in 1920, and devoted her life to her husband and children. On April 6, 1920, Dad married the girl that he had picked out to be his wife when she was Hazel Hagan. To still playing with doUs - born this union 4 children were - Alma Van De Weghe, Robert, Melba Rehor, and Marvin. Their lives were filled with happiness, LINDLEY, WENDELL CLARK r.4t2 Wendell Clark Lindley was born April 23, 1910 to Luke and Pearl Lindley who lived with their two small daughters on the homestead northwest of Stratton' Wendell lived all his life in the Stratton area except for the first three years of his life when his family was in Arizona and Calhan, CO. He greatly appreciated his neighbors and friends, and enjoyed talking with them. He wanted to be helpful when he could. Wendell is to be remembered by all who knew him by his long beard and it was said that he never cut his hair. He always wore a hat. Young and old alike knew him as "whigkers". He walked very where and always relied on a friend to come along and pick him up and take him to where he wanted to go. In January 1979 he suffered a stroke and severe exposure in cold weather. After leaving the hospital he made his home at Grace Manor Care Center. He regained most of his speech and was able to get around in a wheelchair. During the last 10 months of his life his health declined and another stroke csme in February. He died June 22, 1982. He was 72 years old. His mother died in 1948 and his father in 1965. His brother Kenneth still survives and lives in New York. \^c, ri He was laid to rest 6y his parents and sisterg in the Claremont Cemetery, Stratton, fields on "snipe hunts"), the first hot lunch progrem overseen by mothers and featuring those ever-present peanut butter cookies, 4H box socials, Saturday night on Main Street in Burlington, and the 4-H square dancers who went to Fort Collins. The Lindseys fought the dirt for awhile through the 1950s, but when Joe becnme ill with cancer, his health finally forced a move to Amarillo, Tex., in 1955. He died February of 1957 and Muriel, Joy and Hap moved back to Burlington, Lucky had attended Parks Business College in Denver and married. Muriel sold the home place to Ed Rainbolt in the late 1960s. (Ed, too, was also a Protection childhood friend of Joe's.) She moved to Burlington, later to San Jose, Calif., where she still resides. Lucky Jeanette Gipe and her husband, Karl, live in Burlington where he is a mechanic at John Deere. Their daughter, Debbie, lived in Burlington; son Ken, Beaver, Okla.; and Lee, Washington state. Muriel Joy Hudler, too, resides in Burlington with her husband, Rol, publisher of The Burlington Record. Their oldest son John (and wife Chris) is in business with them and their youngest, Ad, works for a large city newspaper in Fort Myers, Fla. Janeen Louise (Hap) Schrader and her husband Dave are the parents ofsix children: Eric, Endie, Derek, Emily, Cord and Ward. The family lives in Eagle, Idaho, where Dave is an insurance broker. The Lindsey girls'lives are still entertwined with the Smoky Hill residents and their happy memories of the community. by Bernice Eberhart Colorado. by Florence McConnell LIPFORD, CARL W. F4t4 LINDSAY, JOE AND MURIEL F413 Stationed at Camp Carson, Colorado Springs, during World War II, Joe Lindsey was farming before he got out of the service, being a partner of Howard Mountain, who had been a childhood friend in their hometown of Protection, Kans. In Colorado Springs, Joe met Muriel Ward Burghard and her three daughters, Lucky, Carl William Lipford was born to Lena and John William (Jack) Lipford on March 1, 1910. at their homestead in the Shiloh neighborhood twenty miles northeast of Flagler. He grew up on the homestead with two older sisters, Hetty and Blanche, until the family moved into Flagler a few years later. A brother, John Thomas, born in 1912, lived only a few months. He attended the Flagler School, as well as one year at Shiloh, and graduated with the class of 1928. He attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Then he transferred to what is now Colorado State University at Ft. mixed in with trials and hard work known to that era. Shortly after their maniage, they purchased a one- room school house and moved it to their land, partitioned it and made it their home. As time went by, Dad turned the farming over to the boys and he and Mom bought a restaurant in Joes in 1948. They kept the restaurant until 1957 when they sold it to Rex Shafer. They then moved to West Plains, Missouri, but their ties were in Colorado, so they come back to the farm. Daddy passed away on April 29, 1973' and Mom stayed on in her home until ehe had a stroke in May, 1982. She has reeided at the Grace Manor Nursing Home in Burlington since then. Joy and Happy, and began his arduous campaign to make them his own family. After his discharge, he lived in Wichita, Kans., for awhile before he and Muriel were manied but by Alma Van De Weghe purchased and a new way of life had begun. InL942, Carl joined the Air Force where he served until 1945, and was stationed in Texas, would have to include the pinochle parties at the schoolhouse (while the kids roo-ed the much of the time. he continued farming operations with Moun- tain, buying the farm on the Correction Line from him in 1948 and moving his'girls'out to batch in a machine quonset/shed the summer of $59 while they built their home. The adjustment wasn't an easy one for the displaced city gals, who discovered soon after classes start€d at Smoky Hill that their pretty especially when dregees just would not do - the boys and you played tag football with crawled under the merry-go-round to tell jokes. So, off came the skirts and hems were put in the "new" blouses, new jeans were Special memories of life at Smoky Hill Collins which he attended for two years. There he was a member of the Advanced R.O.T.C. which was a cavalry unit at that time. After he returned to Flagler he was employed at the Flagler Equity. On Decembet 29, L937, he was united in marriage to Margie Jane Ellis, daughter of Herbert L. Ellis and Anna M. Ellis of Flagler in a home wedding atthe home of the groom's parents with members of both families present. The couple made their home in Flagler. Jane first worked in the telephone office and then began working for the First National Bank. After returning from service, he was em- �ployed at the Lavington Motor Company as a mechanic. In 1947, he received an appoint- ment as mail carrier and continued with that until he was stricken with a heart attack on Oct. 11, 1960 while preparing the mail for delivery. Burial was in the Flagler Cemetery. Survivors included his widow, Jane; his father, Jack Lipford; his sister, Blanche Carper; and a niece, Jacqueline Spiars. Preceding him in death were an infant brother, his mother, Lena, and his sister, Hetty McCormick. He was a member of the Congregational Church and active in Lions Club. He was also a member of the Volunteer Fire Department and the American Legion, serving as presi- dent the year that the Legion building was planned. by Blanche Lipford Carper LIPFORD, JACK AND LENA F4l6 Bethel community, farming. Lena, born Jan. 3, 1878, wae the daughter of Sylvanus and Mary E. (Moore) Bragg. Her father was in the drugstore business as well as farming and cattle raising. Lena and her brother, Tom, were born to this union. After her mother,s death, her father remarried after several years, with seven children being born in that family. After completing public school, she attended an academy at Columbia, Missouri, for a year. When she was 16, she inherited some money from her mother's estate and bought an organ. The organ came west with the Lipfords and is now owned by Gus and Vella Vassios of Flagler. The Lipfords and their two daughters possibly made the move to Colorado for Mrs. Lipford's health. A son, Carl W. was born in 1910 and in 1912, a second son, John Thomas, was born on June 8, but lived onlv until October. A Dr. Wheeler, who had moved to Colorado for his health had homesteaded south of Cope, delivered both Lipford sons. The Lipfords lived like the other homesteaders, with a lot of hard work for all members of the family. Hetty was her father's helper while Blanche helped with the household chores although both did the farm chores typical of the era. After moving to the homestead, they found they were closer to Flagler, so came to Flagler for their trading like others heading across the prairie in the -straightest line possible. When telephones cnme to the area, it was transmitted bv the fence wires but was an improvement oir not having a phone. When the family acquired a surrey with "a fringe on the top", it made the trips across the prairie more comfortable. In the fall of 1915, when Hetty was ready for high school, the Lipfords rented a house, between 5th and 6th on Navajo (now remodeled and moved to Main Street). They moved J.W. Lipford god house in Shiloh community and Lena Lipford and children near house. Harveste in back row, neighbor children in front. John William (Jack) Lipford and his wife, Lena, with their two daughters, Hetty and Blanche, were among the group who came from Shelby County, Missouri, and home- steaded in Sucker's Flat in 1908. Jack had come with friends in the fall of 190? to file on the homesteads and returned the spring of 1908. The men csme first to begin the sod homes with the women and children follow- ing a few weeks later. Like others they chartered an immigrant car, along with Walter Currys, and brought their household furnishings. In the Lipford's case, they brought only chickens and purchased their livestock after they reached here. Jack had been born on Dec. 8, 1878 in Boardley, Kentucky, to John William Lipford and Mary Henrietta (Hewitt) Lipford. Hig father died when he was only 6 months old and he and hig mother then made their home with his mother's sister and husband, Jacob and Missouri (Hewitt) Curry and their son, Walter. Upon Jack's mother's death when he was 21/z,he was raiged by the Currys, who moved to Shelby County, Missouri, to avoid any claims other relatives might have on him. It was some years before he knew he had been orphaned and when he was 18, he began using the Lipford ne-e. On Dec. 29, 1897, he and Lena (Moore) Bragg were married at the home of her uncle, John Moore, and made their home in the LITTLE, ROBERT Last Sunday, at noon, word was received that Robert Little, the nineteen year old son of Mr. and Mrs. F.P. Little of this city, had met death by accidental drowning in the Corliss lake north of town. th9_ unfortunate young man in company with Willie Trude and Hescoe Murphy left a day or two prior to the accident for a few days outing at the lake. It seems that it was the intention of the party to run a seine across the lake and the boy decided to test his ability as a swimner before doing so. On his way to the opposite side he was seized with cremps and sank before the eyes of his companions. Burt Corliss, who was with the boys, swnm to the young man and reached him just as he was going down the third time and succeeded in towing him quite a distance nearer to the shore, but in the struggle Mr. Corliss became too exhausted and in order to save his own life was compelled to release his hold on the drowning man. A boat was procured and the body recovered lying on a bed of moss which in summer rises within a few feet of the surface. An automobile party left as soon as the sad news was received and returned with the body which was taken to the undertaker. The funeral services were conducted bv Rev. C.A. Yersin, pastor of the Christian Church, at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning; Pearl Shannon, Hescoe Murphy, Ben Buchele, John Gates, Wm. Wilcox, Vernon Coak- ley, six of the unfortunate young man's friends, acting as pall bearers. by Myra L. Davis to town on Oct. 15, 1915, the day the cornerstone of the new brick school building was laid in Flagler. After living in town during the school year for two terms, the Lipfords returned to the homestead and Blanche sta*ed high school in the new Shiloh Center scbool where thev offered the first year of high school. After a few weeks, the family sent her back to Shelbyville, Mo., where she stayed with relatives and completed her freshman year. In 1918, the Lipfords moved back to Flagler from the homestead, soon buying the house on Srd and Ouray, which remained their home for the rest of their lives. After they moved to town, Mr. Lipford worked for W.H. Lavington in his store and also owned a clothing store for awhile in what is now the Pool Hall on Main Avenue. In 1923, he became manager of the Flagler Equity Co-operative Assn., which he managed until his retirement in 1952. Among the activities of that business was a flour mill. operated by Joe Eckert, which ran for many years. Coal was also sold. Jack helped organize the Fire Department in 1920 and was a member until 1946. He also was a member of the Masons, IOOF Lodge, Modern Woodmen of America and the Eastern Star. Lena Lipford passed away suddenly on June 1, L944, of a heart attack. Jack continued to make his home in Flagler after his retirement. He passed away on July 26, 1963, at the age of 84 years. by Blanche Lipford Carper F4l6 LIVINGSTON - SHORT FAMILY E4t7 In February 1920, Earl and Verna (Short) Livingston moved from a farm near Alexandria, Nebraska to a farm southwest of Seibert in Kit Carson County, with their two small daughters, Vera and Viva. They stayed with Verna's parents, Mr. and Mrs. T.J. Short. while -waiting for the Conley family to get moved out of the place where they were to live-. Everybody was having the flu so moving took longer. They farmed, milked cows, raised hogs and chickens. The cream and egg money lielped eke out a living in the dust bowl days of the 1930's. - Two more daughters and a son joined the family; Eloise, Rose and Bill. The children all attended school at Rock Cliff and then Seibert High School where all were graduated. The family was active in the Rock Cliff Sunday School as long as they had services there. During the 30's when money was scarce, Earl put a hitch on the front ofthe car q"9 t!" 9ld $ay lsam pulled us to Sunday School, the gas was saved for the long trip to Seibert for groceries. Later, when Rolf efff no longer had Sunday School they attended at Second Central. Earl was Sunday School superintendent at Rock Cliff for many years. �Verna was active in the Rock Cliff Helpers Ladies Aid and served as President and Secretary. In L922 Rock Cliff school district pur- chased three school busses. At that time there were almost 60 pupils, with 14 beginners that year. Earl was one of the drivers for the new busses; much of his school route was a trail across the prairie. He drove the bus for several years and when he was busy in the field Verna would drive the bus. Later Earl served on the School Board for many years. Earl worked on Farm Progromg for many years. He measured acreages all over Kit Carson County, and also traveled the county as Assessor. calf, and one car left friends and relatives, to embark on an exciting new adventure. They drove into a blinding, choking duststorm. It took another trip to bring the horse, other cars and another truck load of belongings. Claude and Genevieve had an eighteen month old daughter, Claudia Ann. Then in 1951 two babies joined the family. Jeanetter Jeanne born to Claude and Genevieve, and Gary Joe born to Joe and Pauline Long. A few years later, Pnmela Sue was born to Joe and Pauline. The families were made to feel welcome in the community. There was soon participation in the Friendship Circle Extension Club, and the non-denominational Sunday School. In 1958, Earl and Verna moved into Seibert and Bill and Rogene took over the farm. Verna passed away in December 1965. In February of 1970 Earl sold out and moved to California. In March of 1970 he and There were community dinners held in the school lunchroom. Most entertainment all Viola Goff were manied. He remained in California until her death in December 1979. Now at the age of 95, Earl is back at the farm with Bill and Rogene. next time they reversed the food brought. The children played their running games and had a lot of fun. Warm, close friendships were formed. by Vera Gottshall After Claudia and Jeanette started to school, Genevieve took her turn as the lunchroom helper. All mothers took turns helping the cook with the hot lunches. When the sod was broken up many arrowheads became visible, and looking for arrowheads became a fascinating activity, in the LONG - BELL FAMILIES winter was the Saturday night pinochle parties. Half of the families brought sandwiches, the other half brought cakes. The F418 The Longs and Bells Enter Smoky Hill Community The westward expansion continued in 1950. The Long family pushed west, since farm land for erpansion in northwestern Oklahoma was impossible to find. The pre- vious generation had moved from Pennsylva- nia and Kentucky, through Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas into Oklahoma. Addison Joseph Long and his eon-in-law, Claude Martin Bell drove through western Kansas and eastern Colorado looking for a tract of land to lease. A man driving a tractor in a field suggested that they could contact A.G. Kirschmer in Burlington, Colorado. Nine miles southeast of Burlington, Addison and Claude leased twenty-eight quarters of land, 4480 acres, from Mr. Kirschmer. It consist€d of 2320 acres of summer fallow, 1840 acres of wheat and 320 acres of pasture land. Along with the lease, a purchase was made of tools, equipment, and machinery. The exciting acquisition was a D-7 Caterpil- lar and the machinery it pulled. It tilled a seventy foot swath. Addison gold his farmland at Fairview and Longdale, Oklahoma to finance his son Joe Arthur Long and his soninJaw Claude Bell in this farming venture. Claude sold his automobile and tractor repair garage, and Joe graduated from Oklahoma State University, then moved to Colorado to form this three-fanily partnership. In March of 1950 the three men began their farming operation known as the LBL Ranch. The LBL was also their cattle brand. The women, Addigon's wife Dollie May Long, Claude's wife, Genevieve May Long Bell and Joe's wife, Pauline Edwards Long, began to pack and sort and prepare for a farm and home sale. On March 1, the caravan, a truck with home furnishings, a pick-up with a cow and fields and along the Smoky riverbed. The partnership lasted for six years, until the leased land was sold, and each family LONG, WILLIAM MELVIN F4r9 I was born in Harrison county, Mo., December 10, 1864 and spent my youth near Blue Ridge, Mo. In 1887, another party and myself came by covered wagon and settled in the northwest corner of Kansas, in Sherman County. In 1889, I moved into Colorado and took a homestead. I lived in my covered wagon until a sod house was built, and the lumber for the roofing and frame were hauled from Haigler, Nebr., along with other supplies needed. Water was hauled from Sand Creek several miles away and often we had to get water from holes which held water. I plastered my house with native lime, sometimes these soddies were plastered with clay, most of them had dirt floors, very few of them having wooden floors. I never saw any buffalo, but the day I went to Jacqua for supplies, the last buffalo seen in Kit Carson County was chased across my yard and killed a little further north, and I enjoyed a steak from this one. T.G. Price, a pioneer judge of this county, had one of the heads of the last two buffalos killed here. We saw plenty of antelope and some wild horses. I remember we drove to Denver in July, 1888, following the trail west from the divide between Haigler and Burlington and through the Hash Knife, which was north of Limon killed in a car accident at the age of L7. and east of Deertrail. 1rys samped the evening before on the Arickaree river, and planned to go to Lusto Springs the next evening, for we wanted to be near water. So we drove to a point below the low-lying hills, and got ready to camp. We began to pitch our tent and then we noticed someone riding toward us and waving. We had not seen another rider all Addison remarried Inez Richardson and they moved into Burlington. In 1960 the Bells moved to town, and in the man came up to us and we were told a continued to farm independently in the area. Irrigation farming was introduced to the community, and Joe and Claude went into irrigation. Addison stayed with the dry land wheat farming. Genevieve taught in the Smoky Hill School for two years, 1958-60. Dollie Long died in 1965, and Pamela Sue was 1970 they were divorced. He continued to farm until his death in 1983. Genevieve taught in the RE6J district for 18 years and retired in May 1986. Claudia entered Oklahoma State University for three semesters, then entered Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from there as a registered nurse, moved to Salmon, Idaho where she worked in Steele Memorial Hospital for eight years. She has lived in Colorado Springs since and works as a critical care nurse in the Intensive Care Unit of Penrose Hospital. Jeanette married Clord D. Meyer of Bethune, and attended Arizona State University for one year. She and Clord graduated from the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo. They divorced after 15 years of marriage. Jeanette has worked since 19?2 as Communications Coordinator in the Marke- ting Department of the St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in Pueblo. Joe and Pauline moved to Stroud, Oklahoma in 1981. Pauline worked in TG&Y store until it closed. Joe drives a refrigerated reefer truck in a seven state area. Their son Gary Joe and his wife Corrine, operate a carpet cleaning business in Prague, Oklahoma. They have three daughters, Jessica. Cn-ela and Chelsea. by Bernice Eberhart day, so we wondered who the rider was approaching us in this manner. As we waited, herd of five thousand Texas longhorn steers were being driven to Montana for grass and were watering at Lusto Springs, and our camp was right in their path. We quickly moved and gave the herd plenty of room. I shall not soon forget the sight of the vast herd passing us, and how grateful we were to be warned in time to move out of the way of the dangerous path of such a herd. It took us four or five days to drive to Denver to file on homesteads. Folks drive it now in that many or less hours. Mr. Long was a pioneer teacher in this county and the third county judge of Kit Carson County. He moved to Stratton in 1917 and operated a hardware store there until his death. His wife, Jennie was also a pioneer teacher and preceded him in death. (Your scribe liked to visit with Judge Long as we were both from Harrison County, Mo. and knew many of the ssme people near Blue Ridge.) by Della Hendricks �LOUTZENHISER - WILDMAN FAMILY I.420 The day of the sale a terrible wind hit about LOVTZENIIISER, DONALD mid morning. People that weren't already there had trouble traveling, as it was like a snow blizzard except it was dust in the air. The sale warl well attended though. Prices F42l were extremely high as the inflation of World War I wag still in effect. A week or so after the sale a big snow blizzard. hit and everything cnme to a halt. By the time the roads were again passable, a depression had set in and the bottom fell out ofthe financial world. Everything snm6 t 'mHing down. E.T. and Edith decided not to make the move to Colorado at this time. The farm was restocked and farming was as usual for a few years. In L924F,.T. started to farm in Kansas and Colorado both, as the older boys were able to handle most of the farming in Kansas. [n December of 1928 the family moved to Colorado, all except one son Donald, who came later. By this time the family had grown to nine children: Lester, Donald, Clair, Everett, Irene, Vera, Rex, Millard and Lila. E.T. rentcd a farm near by with improvements on it and moved the family into the rented house until one could be built on their section. A bad depression start€d in 1929 or there about, and last€d all through the 30's, along with one of the worst droughts that start€d in 1934 and last€d until 1939. Late in 1935, Edith had become partially paralized, and the doctors in Denver, ColoErnest Talmage Loutzenhiser and Edith Glynn Wildman. They were married November 25, 1908 and moved to the Shiloh community north of Flagler in December of 1928. rado, discovered it was caused by a tumor on the brain. In an attempt to remove it by surgery, she didn't recover. On January 11, 1936, she went to be with her Lord and Savior, of whom she was a faitMul follower all her life. She was buried in the Flagler cemetery. Ernest Talmage Loutzenhiser, better known as 8.T., was born July 28, 1885, at Bridgeport, South Dakota. When he was two weeks of age, his parents, John and Mary (Nichols) Loutzenhiser, and two older sons, Ramie and Orie, traveled by covered wagon to Jewell County, Kansas. There he attended school and grew to manhood. November 25, 1908, he married Edith Glynn Wildman (born May 4, 1886). They set up house keeping on one of his father's falms. After ten yearg or so of farming, four sons and two daughters, they decieded a vacation was needed. So, somewhere along the line after World War I and the Armestice was signed on November 11, 1918, they bought their first new car, a Model T Ford. E.T.'s brother, Ranie, and his family had moved to Yuma County, Colorado a few years earlier, so the family decided to go to Colorado to visit them. While they were in Colorado, it only seemed natural to think of a new territory to move to. While they were looking around, they purchased a section of land eighteen miles north-east of Flagler, Colorado, in Kit Carson County. This section of land was decided on because it was level, the Shiloh School was on it, which taught the first eleven grades, and the Shiloh Baptist Church was acrogs the road on one corner. Sometime later, March 31, 1920, E.T. and Edith billed a farm sale so they could move to Colorado. The neighbots cAme in and had a farewell oyster supper for them. During the course of the evening, the remark was made by someone, "Why should you risk taking them kids to East€rn Colorado! If a winter blizzatd didn't get them, a rattle snake would". Times were rough during the 30's. By the late 30's improvements were built on the section. By this time the oldest sons were married and on farms of their own. Along with the help of his sons and daughters at home, E.T. got into the purebred Duroc Jersey Hog raising business. This turned out to be a real success and the family took great interest in this adventure. He won his share of the grand chnmpion ribbons at the Colorado State Fair and also at Lincoln, Nebraska State Fair one year. E.T. held a pure bred gilt and boar sale every spring during these trying years, which turned out to be a great thing for many farmers in Eastern Colorado to get started raising a better class of hogs. On May LL, t947, E.T. married Ruby Leona Gearing. By then all of the children were married or out on their own. E.T. and Ruby continued living on the farm. In the early 1950's R.E.A. built power lines to the farm area, which made them more modern. In the fall of 1956, E.T. entered the Flagler Hospital for exploratory surgery. It was found he had a large gallstone that was causing a bile blockage. He was later moved to a hospital in Denver, Colorado, where he passed away on December 2, 1956. E.T. was buried beside his first wife Edith in the Flagler Cemetery. by Donald Loutzenhiser Donald Loutzenhiger. fall of 1954. Donald Loutzenhiser and Laveta Thelma Gattshall were married February 23, 1933, at St. Francis, Kansas. Donald was twenty-two and Laveta twenty-one. Everybody that ever got married had to set a wedding date. We discovered my birthday was February 22 and Laveta's was February 24, so we settled for February 23. A bad depression had set in a few years earlier, but that didn't drmpen our spirit. We set up house keeping on a rented 160 acre farm just across the road in Washington County, about 21 miles north-east of Flagler, Colorado. We had an unusually wet spring and corn planting time was a little late. When thatjob was out ofthe way, I plowed ten acres witha team of mules and awalking plow. This was planted to millet on the fourth day of July. After the millet seeding was done, we went to Seibert, Colorado, to celebrate the 4th. Seibert has always been famous to remember certain days. We didn't receive much rain that summer, especially in the early fall. The millet crop was great, the corn was fair, but the prices had fallen to nlmsst, nothing. I think around twenty-five cents a bushel, but others remembered it being lower than that. The next spring, 1934, we moved three and one-half miles east of Flagler on a farm owned by Alfred Hartzler, he being Laveta's grandfather. There were two living quarters there and grandfather wasn't getting any younger, so we were able to see that he had transportation to town and elsewhere. By then a long nation-wide drought had set in and along with the depression, people didn't have much income. Our first child, Duane, was born May 30, 1934. In those days doctors made house calls and cnme out to the farm. The drought lasted into the late 30's. With the help of the good �Lord and the government programs, people seemed to survive. There were days when the air was filled with duet so thick it was so dark the chickens went to roost about 12 o'clock noon. The spring of 1935, there wasn't much wind blowing. One day the sky began to turn red about midday and a good manY PeoPle thought the end of time had arrived. The red dust from down Oklahoma way was passing through. It was so bad with dust in the air, it was terrible to see where to turn corners you were familiar with. On May 30, 1935' a terrible flood hit Kit Carson and Washington Counties, maybe others too. The storm hit northern Kit Carson County and Southern Washington County during the daylight hours, later after dark, it hit the town of Flagler. Several people lost their lives in the flood swollen streams. People didn't realize just how bad a storm had struck, being no weather reports like we have now. Our oldest daughter, Darlene, was born July 21, 1935, while we were living out east of Flagler. The jack rabbits and grasshoppers seem to thrive in dry weather. The rabbits were more like flocks of sheep, so rabbit drives were organized. People didn't have a lot to do in the way of farming, so everybody came out to help herd the rabbits toward a holding pen in the center of the area being covered. Lots ofrabbits were destroyed. Lots ofpeople were using rabbit for food also. In the spring of 1936 we moved to a rented farm twenty-two miles northeast of Flagler in the Shiloh Country. The Shiloh Baptist Church was close by as well as the Shiloh School. It was close to church services and school for the children. Our third child' Josephine, was born November 15, 1937. In the late 30's the drought began to taper off, and things began to look up. Price-wise, things were still low. When World War II was declared on December 7, L94L, prices began tn rise and inflation set in. All wars seem to do this. In 1942 we bought the present farm we still own, twelve miles north and three east of tractor less. as I had rented the farm to the oldest son Duane. by Donald Loutzenhiser F422 Arthur Lowe personifies the pioneer spirit that promoted the gowth of this County. Arthur's roots in Kit Carson County were established long ago. He and his twin brother, Archie Merril, were born January 18, 1897 near Augusta, Wisconsin to Edward Augustus and Harriett Elizabeth (Cooper) Lowe. There were four older children in the family; Beatrice (Lowe) Braddy, Kenneth, and twins Vern and Vernice (Lowe) Thomas. In 190? the family immigrated to Kit Carson County where you could acquire a tract of land from the government under the Homestead Act of 1812. Arthur's sisters were teaching schools near Augusta, Wisconsin at the time, so they stayed in Wisconsin to finish their school term. Vern stayed behind to ride the Jersey Milk train with the family belongings. Arthur, Archie, Kenneth and their parents rode the train to Stratton, Colorado, where they rented rooms to stay in temporarily until Vern arrived. They bought some lumber which they loaded on their wagon, along with their belongings, hitched their team ofhorses to the wagon and headed twelve miles south and four miles west of Stratton. There they pitched a tent and staked out a quarter section of land to start their homesteading. The Homestead Act of 1812 provided that anyone who was either the head of the family, twenty-one years of age' or a veteran of fourteen days active duty in the military service, and was a citizen of the United not to States, could acquire a tract ofland by settling on- it for a exceed 160 acree - Edward Lowe and his sons built a cook shack near the tent with the lumber they had purchased. They began to plow the land and put in crops. They also cut sod blocks from the surrounding prairie with which to build a house for the family. Within a month, the walls of the sod house were ready for a roof. LOWE, ARTHUR MYRON period of five years. They carefully tore down the cook shack and used the lumber for building the roof. Arthur's sisters, Beatrice and Vernice, came to Colorado as soon as their school terms were completed. It was nearly a year before a well was drilled for water. In the meantime, their water had to be hauled by a team of horses, pulling a wagon loaded with four water barrels, from a farm located two miles southeast of their homestead. Arthur and Archie attended the Nutbrook School which was three miles east and one mile north of their home. They also attended the Jones School located three miles north of the homestead. Some of their teachers were Annie Matson, Bessie Lightfoot, Hope Root, and Beatrice Lowe. Arthur and Archie worked for a neighbor herding sheep. One winter an unexpected blizzardswept the area and sheep piled up in the gulleys and ravines trying to find sheltpr. When the storm subsided, the boys helped dig the sheep out of the snow banks. Many were dead, however, the boys earned one dollar for every live sheep they dug out' In some places they found twelve to fifteen sheep piled on each other, all smothered to death in the deep snow. In early 1918 Vern, now married, left to work in the Portland Gold Mines at Victor and Cripple Creek, Colorado. Arthur soon decided he would like to try his luck in the gold mines and went to Cripple Creek where he worked in the mine and lived with Vern and his wife. In August of 1918, Kenneth was called to the service and Arthur came home to enlist in the Navy. He did not weigh enough so had to wait for the draft, which placed him in the Army. He was sent to Carnp Fort Lewis, Flagler. Crops were real good through the fortiee and early fifties. The fall of 1946 we purchased a home in Flagler so the children could attend school, there being no schools north of the old Flagler school district open that fall. We found out the Eummer of 1951 Laveta had cancer. It was too lat€ for a hysterectomy surgery to eave her life, and we lost her on May 28, 1954. She was buried in the Flagler cemetery. January 9, 1955, I married Irene Nola Host€tler. She had lost her husband, Charles, from a heart attack in 1953. We were blessed with a son, Gregg Kent, on September 27, 1955. We were saddened again in June of 1957 when we learned Irene had breaet cancer and surgery didn't save her. We lost her February 16, 1958, and she was buried in the Flagler cemetery by her first husband, Charles. Gregg was three years old then. October 16, 1958, I married Nyla M. Asher. I don't know how time got away so fast' it didn't seem long before he was out of school and on his own. Nyla and I moved to Burlington, Colorado, the spring of 1980 so I could be close to a golf course. The idea being to play more golf and run the farm Art and Thelma Lowe and fanily. L to R. Elva, Alvin, Art, Paul, Thelma, Judy, Velva, Ladeen and Velma. �Washington to train for the infantry. He expected to be sent to France. However, the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1919, so he never left the United States. His discharge was delayed for three months when he got the mumps. Arthur was now past twenty-one and he and some other young men decided to look for land near Trinidad, Colorado. He bought a section of relinquished Homeetead land for $1000.00 near Model, Colorado. He cut sod blocks and built a house ten feet by fourteen feet. He also dug a cistern and worked for neighboring farmers cutting and stacking hay. On June 29, t920, Arthur went back to Stratton and manied Agnes Marie Radspinner, daughter of Arthur and Lucy Radspinner. They were married in Burlington, Colorado by Judge Boger and witnesses were Audrey M. Glaze and Frank Whitmore. Arthur took his new bride to the soddie house near Model where they lived for a time. They moved to Swink, Colorado, where Arthur worked with the sugar beets until the season's crop was processed. Their first child, Cecil Alvin, was born January L9, L922, in Swink. Arthur moved his family to Colorado Springs while Alvin was quite small. Here he operated a street maintainer and on May 16, 1923, Vehna Lorene was born. In August of that same year, the family moved back to Swink and in September they went back to the homestead at Model, where they lived until they returned to Kit Carson County in 1926. For about a year they lived with and helped Arthur's parents, who by now had built a lovely wood frame home. The old soddie house was now a barn. (This farm is now owned and operated by Arthur's daughter Ladeen and her husband Charles MiUs.) By the spring of 1927 Arthur had located a farm to rent. This farm was twelve miles south and four miles east of Stratton, Colorado, near the First Central School. It was about one mile from Agnes's parents farm. Arthur worked this farm and again he cut sod from the surrounding prairie with which to place around the outside of the farmhouse to keep it warm in the winter. He took a team of horges and wagon, and with his family, went out on the prairie to gather cow chips for winter fuel. Arthur took his wife and children to the First Central School house every Sunday morning to attend church cnme to live with the family and help make a home for the seven of them. During that year of 1931, the children had chicken pox, measles, mumps and whooping cough. Vernice also got the mumps and was very ill. On May 22, 1932, Arthur was greatly blessed when Thelma Arnetta (Nielson) Armstrong became his wife and the mother of his four children. She was no stranger to the family as she had taught at First Central for four years. Among her teaching duties was music teacher for all the grades. Thelma's first husband had died in a tragic drowning accident in 1928, just three months after their mariage. grand children and great grand children gathered in Burlington to celebrate with Arthur and Thebna on their 50th wedding anniversary. raised hogs there until 188?, when the hogs all got cholera and died. Things got bad for Grandpa and he was about to give up. The Government had land for homesteading in Colorado, so my Dad and his older brother (Oscar) got on their bicycles and followed the Republican River and cow trails till they got a couple miles south of Hale, Colo. At that time there was no Hale or any towns close. When the boys left my Grandpa had told them "Now boys, I've lived in the swsmps and by ponds with mosquitoes all mylife, and I wish you would find a place higher up." Well they did a real good job of that, when they went south of Hale and got in those hills and that old yeller dirt. There they staked out by Velva Lowe Pickard LUNDVALL STAFFORD FAMILY F423 My Dad (Emil Lundvall) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 18?2, and came to this country in 1875 with his parents (The Nels Peterson family) 5 brothers, 1 sister, and an uncle. They settled in Holdridge, Nebr. There were so many people in Nebraska with the nn-e of Peterson, that Grandpa had trouble getting his mail, so he changed his name to Nels Peter Lundvall and his brother took the neme of Carlson. They farmed and Alvin and Velma start€d school at First Central while living on this farm. Then Arthur moved his family to a farm one mile east ofFirst Central School on the Correction Line. This was a much larger farm with a nice house, big barn and chicken house on it. Arthur was able to get cattle, hogs, chickens and turkeys to raise. The A/L became his registered brand and the farm becnme known ag the AIL Ranch. Twin daughters, Elva May and Velva Fay, were born on this farm on October 6, 1930. When they were seven months old tragedy struck the family. Their mother Agnes became ill and died in Denver General Hospital May 4, 1931. Arthur was left a widower at the age of thirty-three, and with four small children. Arthur's sister Vernice and her son Donald Wooley by their Dad'e 1916 Ford truck. Photo was taken at the old homestead. Arthur and Thelma, together with their family, withstood the drought and depression years, the dirt storms, blizzards, bad times and good times. On July 22, L933, Arthur and Thelma had their first child, Margaret Ladeen. Their first son Paul Arthur was born August 1?, 1936, and daughter Judith Elizabeth was born on September 10, 1943. In 1948 they moved to their home in Burlington, Colorado, and Arthur retired from farming a few years later. The A/T, Ranch is now owned by son Paul. In 1982, all seven children, along with services. Arthur's neighbors were very kind. Mrs. Lloyd Megal, who lived a quarter mile east, came to help the family every day. Soon Virgil and Archie Lundvall and friend Donnv Rudolf, Axel, Emil and Oscar, The Lundvall Brothers. some quarters for the family, and rode on to Lamar, Colo. to file on them. My Dad was only 15 and too young to own his, but Oscar filed on his and they got applications for Grandpa and the other boys. Dad and Oscar had no money and ran across a man in Lnm61 that had 20 acres of onions that needed to be weeded and taken care of, and he offered them a percentage if they and 2 Japanese families would take care of them. They got credit at the general store for food and clothing, and lived in a tent that summer until the onions were harvested. They made enough money that summer to pay the grocer and have a few dollars in their pocket. Before leaving they made a verbal agreement to work for this man the next summer in Greeley, Colo. They then rode their bicycles to the quarters they had staked out, and on to Holdridge, aniving there about Christmas. �The next spring my Dad and Oscar went to Greeley to work. My Grandpa and two of the other boys hitched up the oxen and loaded the wagon with supplies and groceries, which was mainly beans, cornmeal, scorched corn and coffee. They used the scorched corn with the coffee to make the coffee go further. I'm not sure what kind of house they built but I think it was sod. The next year (1889) my homestead in 1928, but he was a gardener and we moved a lot of places where new ground had been plowedup. All of us kids would work in the garden, and sometimes go with him to peddle garden truck. He was known for his watermelon days when he would give free melons to all the people that ceme. The drought came and then the gras- Grandma came out. She had raised some broom corn and had about 30 turkeys, so they built a crate on the wagon to put the turkeys shoppers, and just about everyone left the homesteads. By 1934 most of the Lundvall's were gone. One person now owns what 12 people owned back in the homestead days. in. Once again they started to the homestead, but along the way they hit a rut and the crate by Virgil Lundvall broke and turkeys got out. They couldn't catch them so started on without them. Soon they noticed the turkeys were following behind the wagon. They were catching grasshoppers and taking care of themselves. The oxen were so slow the turkeys had no trouble keeping up with them. railroad wan coming up the Republican River and some post offices were built. Some of these were the Jaqua, Hale, Bonnie, Hermus and the Tuttle. These were built about 8 to 10 miles apart, and all were the same with a 9 ft. rock wall then about 4 ft. of board and the sloped roof, which made them about 15 feet high. I don't know if the government or the postmasters built them. The railroad never cAme thru, but little towns were springing up and more settlers were coming. Kanorado was one of the fastest growing little towns, but if you needed supplies you either had to go back to Holdridge or to Lemar. On one trip to Lnmar, one of Dad's oxen got sick and died. He bought an old black horse for $8.00 and put it with the oxen, but that didn't work. The horse would take 2 steps and have to wait on the oxen to catch up. They stopped at some willows and got some branches and made some shafts so they could drive each the horse and the oxen a half a day. Later on my Dad bought another horse from Bill Cody. I asked Dad why he ever fooled with the oxen and he said, "Because the oxen were easy to keep. They never strayed far and ifthere was a storm they would come home. You had to have a fence for horses or they would stray or some one would take them and you'd never eee them again." In 1905, my Grandpa Stafford and his brother Rube came to homestead. While they were improving and starting to dig the basements, a fella by the name of Bud Hill came by and asked if they had filed on the land. Rube said, "No, but we are going to Wray and file in the morning." The next day when they went to file they found out that Bud Hill had filed on uncle Rube's earlier that day and beat him out. Rube told Grandpa Stafford, "Well, if they are going to be that crooked and mean out here I'm just going back home." Rube caught the train that afternoon and went back to Decatur, Illinois. Grandpa Stafford had a family of 6 children and went back to the homegtead to build. He dug a hole in the bank, the north, east and south walls were dirt. On the west, he nailed boards and tar paper, leaving a door and 2 emall windows. He had two 10 ft. x 10 ft. rooms, but it was very dark and not much air could get in or circulate. Dad married my Mother, Flora Mae Stafford, in 1911. They had six children. Ethel, Thelna, Violet, Virgil (myself), Archie, and Lillian. Dad mortgaged and lost the organized the first M.E. Church in Burlington. Our supplies were either freighted in from Haigler, Nebr. or gotten at the small store at Lo-born, Kans. (now called Kanarado). We could not always get what we wanted, so just had to be content with what we could get. My husband worked in Denver for a while, then went east to work for the Foster Lumber Company and while he was away I stayed on the homestead with the children. His wages were the means of getting what supplies we needed, so we did not suffer the hardships of a great many other pioneers who could not get LUNDY, MARTHA GILMORE F424 In 1899, my Dad cnrne back and improved on his homestead. There was a rumor that the teachers in this county. Rev. Frank Thomas I was born in Putman County, Ind., in July 1856, and spent my girlhood and young womanhood in that state; then after my marriage to Charles L. Lundy, we came west with our two small children to visit my mother and sister, who were then living in Beaver City, Nebr. That was on May 20, 1888 when we arrived in Beaver City. My husband had been ordered west for his health and he came on out to Colorado, and liking the looks of the country, he drove to Denver and filed papers on his homestead. He then returned to Beaver City in March 1889. We came out and settled on our homestead. We built a sod house and otu goods were shipped to Denver work and had not the money to get the needed supplies for themselves and their children. We would have such terrible storms during the winter and it was always a worry when our husbands or children were out on the prairies for fear of a storm coming up suddenly and causing them to lose their way home. It was so easy to get lost for there were no fences to follow, no trails, no landmarks of any kind. It has always been a wonder to me that more people were not frozen to death on the prairies. I remember Rev. Thomas telling of his first meeting in the new town of Burlington, being in or very near a saloon building, and when some of the converts becgme happy over their religion and some of those in the saloon becnme loud from too much tippling, there was quite a loud babel of voices. But it was not long until the little frame building was put up and the first M.E. Church held and on down to Burlington. Water wag hauled from Carlisle, the place now known as Peconic Siding. The railroad dug a well there, and the people of the surrounding country would go there for the water. It was six miles from where we lived, and we hauled water with a team and wagon and barrels. Later we had a well dug and had water hauled up by a windlass. A short time after we were settled, a sod school house was built and our children were sent to school. At first school was held just three monthe in the year, as we were always afraid of our children getting lost in the storms that would come up suddenly. In the early fall and spring we would have terrible dust storms and in winter it would be the blizzards. My children had to go so far that I was glad they concluded to have school in good weather only. picked up a hunter's knife and steel on the prairie and we always thought that some hunter had been skinning a buffalo and happened to leave the knife laying beside the carcass, as there was quite a pile of bones at the place where the knife was found. And it was no unusual thing to pick up Indian arrow heads on the prairie. My husband returned to Colorado and helped to transcribe the county records aft€r the county was organized. He worked in the office of county clerk for many years. He served one term as county clerk and recorder. When we first came to Colorado there was no cemetery anywhere near us, and the dead were laid to rest in a corner of the homesteads. Finally someone donated an acre of ground and a neighbor lady and myself went There was no church or Sunday school; this round the community and into Burlington was a missionar5r field of the Methodist Church, so my brother-in-law, Rev. Frank Thomas, was sent here as the first minister. He preached in school houses and little churches all over this county, and helped to organize many a Sunday school in the little communities scattered over these broad prairies. When the visiting preachers would come to the community, I was the one who always entertained them, and kept them overnight and we would enjoy their visit, for we got glimpses of the old home and news of the outside world so far removed. Although I was a Presb5rterian, I acted as Sunday school superintendent of the M.B. Sunday School for some years; our preacher was Methodist, and one of the teachers was of the Christian faith. We used to have some good natured arguments, but we all did what we could for the furtherance of this new field. My brother, Jarree T. Gilmore, was one of the pioneer meetings there. I did not see any buffalo, but my boys and solicited funds enough to put up a woven wire fence around the plot so our dead would not be molested by coyotes or badgers that always dug holes in the soft earth that was on the graves. by Martha Lundy MAGEE, C. L. AND VERA F426 Clarence Lauck Magee was born Sept. 19, 1889 at Cleveland, Tenn. His family moved to Ida Co., Iowa in 1899 and it was there that he grew up and attended school. He went to his brother "Zan" who lived in Washington and intended to finish high school there but � 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- L Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief histories of the founding families of Kit Carson County whose names begin with the letter "L." As found 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/503/Families-M.pdf 4ea46e06dcbc7a3b313b92d21582fb03 PDF Text Text The next spring my Dad and Oscar went to Greeley to work. My Grandpa and two of the other boys hitched up the oxen and loaded the wagon with supplies and groceries, which was mainly beans, cornmeal, scorched corn and coffee. They used the scorched corn with the coffee to make the coffee go further. I'm not sure what kind of house they built but I think it was sod. The next year (1889) my homestead in 1928, but he was a gardener and we moved a lot of places where new ground had been plowedup. All of us kids would work in the garden, and sometimes go with him to peddle garden truck. He was known for his watermelon days when he would give free melons to all the people that ceme. The drought came and then the gras- Grandma came out. She had raised some broom corn and had about 30 turkeys, so they built a crate on the wagon to put the turkeys shoppers, and just about everyone left the homesteads. By 1934 most of the Lundvall's were gone. One person now owns what 12 people owned back in the homestead days. in. Once again they started to the homestead, but along the way they hit a rut and the crate by Virgil Lundvall broke and turkeys got out. They couldn't catch them so started on without them. Soon they noticed the turkeys were following behind the wagon. They were catching grasshoppers and taking care of themselves. The oxen were so slow the turkeys had no trouble keeping up with them. railroad wan coming up the Republican River and some post offices were built. Some of these were the Jaqua, Hale, Bonnie, Hermus and the Tuttle. These were built about 8 to 10 miles apart, and all were the same with a 9 ft. rock wall then about 4 ft. of board and the sloped roof, which made them about 15 feet high. I don't know if the government or the postmasters built them. The railroad never cAme thru, but little towns were springing up and more settlers were coming. Kanorado was one of the fastest growing little towns, but if you needed supplies you either had to go back to Holdridge or to Lemar. On one trip to Lnmar, one of Dad's oxen got sick and died. He bought an old black horse for $8.00 and put it with the oxen, but that didn't work. The horse would take 2 steps and have to wait on the oxen to catch up. They stopped at some willows and got some branches and made some shafts so they could drive each the horse and the oxen a half a day. Later on my Dad bought another horse from Bill Cody. I asked Dad why he ever fooled with the oxen and he said, "Because the oxen were easy to keep. They never strayed far and ifthere was a storm they would come home. You had to have a fence for horses or they would stray or some one would take them and you'd never eee them again." In 1905, my Grandpa Stafford and his brother Rube came to homestead. While they were improving and starting to dig the basements, a fella by the name of Bud Hill came by and asked if they had filed on the land. Rube said, "No, but we are going to Wray and file in the morning." The next day when they went to file they found out that Bud Hill had filed on uncle Rube's earlier that day and beat him out. Rube told Grandpa Stafford, "Well, if they are going to be that crooked and mean out here I'm just going back home." Rube caught the train that afternoon and went back to Decatur, Illinois. Grandpa Stafford had a family of 6 children and went back to the homegtead to build. He dug a hole in the bank, the north, east and south walls were dirt. On the west, he nailed boards and tar paper, leaving a door and 2 emall windows. He had two 10 ft. x 10 ft. rooms, but it was very dark and not much air could get in or circulate. Dad married my Mother, Flora Mae Stafford, in 1911. They had six children. Ethel, Thelna, Violet, Virgil (myself), Archie, and Lillian. Dad mortgaged and lost the organized the first M.E. Church in Burlington. Our supplies were either freighted in from Haigler, Nebr. or gotten at the small store at Lo-born, Kans. (now called Kanarado). We could not always get what we wanted, so just had to be content with what we could get. My husband worked in Denver for a while, then went east to work for the Foster Lumber Company and while he was away I stayed on the homestead with the children. His wages were the means of getting what supplies we needed, so we did not suffer the hardships of a great many other pioneers who could not get LUNDY, MARTHA GILMORE F424 In 1899, my Dad cnrne back and improved on his homestead. There was a rumor that the teachers in this county. Rev. Frank Thomas I was born in Putman County, Ind., in July 1856, and spent my girlhood and young womanhood in that state; then after my marriage to Charles L. Lundy, we came west with our two small children to visit my mother and sister, who were then living in Beaver City, Nebr. That was on May 20, 1888 when we arrived in Beaver City. My husband had been ordered west for his health and he came on out to Colorado, and liking the looks of the country, he drove to Denver and filed papers on his homestead. He then returned to Beaver City in March 1889. We came out and settled on our homestead. We built a sod house and otu goods were shipped to Denver work and had not the money to get the needed supplies for themselves and their children. We would have such terrible storms during the winter and it was always a worry when our husbands or children were out on the prairies for fear of a storm coming up suddenly and causing them to lose their way home. It was so easy to get lost for there were no fences to follow, no trails, no landmarks of any kind. It has always been a wonder to me that more people were not frozen to death on the prairies. I remember Rev. Thomas telling of his first meeting in the new town of Burlington, being in or very near a saloon building, and when some of the converts becgme happy over their religion and some of those in the saloon becnme loud from too much tippling, there was quite a loud babel of voices. But it was not long until the little frame building was put up and the first M.E. Church held and on down to Burlington. Water wag hauled from Carlisle, the place now known as Peconic Siding. The railroad dug a well there, and the people of the surrounding country would go there for the water. It was six miles from where we lived, and we hauled water with a team and wagon and barrels. Later we had a well dug and had water hauled up by a windlass. A short time after we were settled, a sod school house was built and our children were sent to school. At first school was held just three monthe in the year, as we were always afraid of our children getting lost in the storms that would come up suddenly. In the early fall and spring we would have terrible dust storms and in winter it would be the blizzards. My children had to go so far that I was glad they concluded to have school in good weather only. picked up a hunter's knife and steel on the prairie and we always thought that some hunter had been skinning a buffalo and happened to leave the knife laying beside the carcass, as there was quite a pile of bones at the place where the knife was found. And it was no unusual thing to pick up Indian arrow heads on the prairie. My husband returned to Colorado and helped to transcribe the county records aft€r the county was organized. He worked in the office of county clerk for many years. He served one term as county clerk and recorder. When we first came to Colorado there was no cemetery anywhere near us, and the dead were laid to rest in a corner of the homesteads. Finally someone donated an acre of ground and a neighbor lady and myself went There was no church or Sunday school; this round the community and into Burlington was a missionar5r field of the Methodist Church, so my brother-in-law, Rev. Frank Thomas, was sent here as the first minister. He preached in school houses and little churches all over this county, and helped to organize many a Sunday school in the little communities scattered over these broad prairies. When the visiting preachers would come to the community, I was the one who always entertained them, and kept them overnight and we would enjoy their visit, for we got glimpses of the old home and news of the outside world so far removed. Although I was a Presb5rterian, I acted as Sunday school superintendent of the M.B. Sunday School for some years; our preacher was Methodist, and one of the teachers was of the Christian faith. We used to have some good natured arguments, but we all did what we could for the furtherance of this new field. My brother, Jarree T. Gilmore, was one of the pioneer meetings there. I did not see any buffalo, but my boys and solicited funds enough to put up a woven wire fence around the plot so our dead would not be molested by coyotes or badgers that always dug holes in the soft earth that was on the graves. by Martha Lundy MAGEE, C. L. AND VERA F426 Clarence Lauck Magee was born Sept. 19, 1889 at Cleveland, Tenn. His family moved to Ida Co., Iowa in 1899 and it was there that he grew up and attended school. He went to his brother "Zan" who lived in Washington and intended to finish high school there but �Fairview Cemetery at Burlington. Barbara Ann graduated from Burlington High School in 1942. In 1948 she manied Melvin D. Butterfield. He served as County Clerk and Recorder from 1950-59. They have three children, Kerry Lee, Dea Ann and Lonny Jack. They moved to Denver in 1959 and have lived at 10845 Morrison Road, Denver, Colorado 80227, for 20 yrs. Melvin ig retired from the Real Estat€ Profession. Nathale graduated from B.H.S. in 1943 and entpred Nurses Training at Corwin Hospital in Pueblo, Colorado and graduated in 1946. In 1945 she married Roger W. Foster of Port Washington, Wisconsin who was stationed with the Army in Pueblo. They made their home in Waukegan, Ill. where he was a Physical Ed. teacher. Roger is retired and they make their home in Eagle River, Wigc. Nathale works as an R.N. in a Nursing Home in Phelps, Wisconsin. They had three children, Steen, who was killed in Cembodia in 1970, and Eileen and Gwen Natalie. Ellen Jessie graduated from B.H.S. in 1947. In L947 she married Floyd D. Winfrey (class of '47) who was the son of James and Jessie Winfrey of Burlington. They had two chilThe Magee family taken in 1943. Standing: Nathale, Ellen and Barbara. Seated; Clarence L, (Jack),Marlyn, and Vera. they needed him to work so he returned to lda Grove, Iowa and finished his senior year and neighbors of the Harbigon's in Salina, Kansas. The Kerrs operated a cafe and there she met Jack. Vera needed to return to Salina and gradauted along with his sister, Polly. Both were valdictorians of the class of 1910. His parents had moved to Colorado and homesteaded south ofSeibert, in 1907-08. He and his sisters remained in Iowa to finish school. "Jack" as he was known, attended Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa and completed a course in law. Jack ovrned and operated a dairy bar to support himself and his sister Jack drove her back in his Model T Ford. Orville remained to help with the harvest. He met Freda Mae Dittmer, daughter of Berton and Lillie Dittmer of Seibert. Freda and Orville were married in L924. They lived in Flagler, Colo. before moving to Loveland, Colo. Orville died in 1980 and Freda died in Polly as they attended Drake University, finishing in 1915. He became ill with a ruptured appendix the last weeks of school 1923 in Salina, Ks. They returned to Seibert and did not receive his diploma. He worked in Iowa and passed the Bar before coming to Colorado to be with his family. At the beginning of World War I he was drafted and inducted into the Army but failed the physical and was discharged in 1918. In 1919 Clarence came to Seibert, Colorado. He took the Colorado Bar Exarn. and passed. He began practicing law in the office of G.W. Klockenteger. Mr Klockentcger moved to the state of Washington as business was slowing down and Jack remained to practice law and purchased the law books. Vera Iona Harbison was born April 30, 1905 in Salina, Ks. She was the daughter of William Sedgwick and Olive Addie (Richards) Harbison. The mother Olive died April 8, 1916 at 32 yrs. of age, after giving birth to her eighth child on March 16, 1916. The father made a home for the older children, Orville, 14, Eula 13, Vera 11, and Vernon 6 yrs. old. Evelyn, not quite 2 yrs., went to live with an Aunt. The new baby, Willard, was raised by another Aunt who was expecting her 5th child at the time. After graduating from the Eighth grade in 1919, she began the ninth grade but was needed at home and was not encouraged to continue school. In 1922 she worked in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Neal, who owned a Drug Store in Salina, Ks. In the summer of 1923. Vera cane to Seibert with her brother Orville to visit Mildred and Jim Kerr. who were former 1987. Jack and Vera were married on Aug. 17, and lived in the Magee home with Jack's brother Bruce and father Coleman. Their first daughter, Barbara Ann was born June 2, L924. In 1925 they purchased a home one block east of the Church. On Oct. 24, L925 Nathale Olive was born. Jack was appointed Deputy District Attorney in Jan. 1929. They moved to Burlington and rented a house from Mr. Fred Kukuk, just behind the ice plant, for $25. a month. Jack practiced law in Mr. Sidney Godsman's office. Their third daugh- ter, Ellen Jessie, was born July 12, 1929. Jack was elected County Judge and took office in Jan. 1933. The County Judges office was in the basement of the Courthouse. During this time he was appointed Attorney for the Federal Land Bank. He served one term as County Judge. Marlyn Vera was born August 19, 1936. Jack returned to private practice and had his office above the Midway Theater for many years, later moving to an office in the Ha-mond Building on the second floor. Jack took an active interest in community affairs and was appointed to fill a vacancy on the school board in 1936 and was re-elected for several terms, ending in 1948. Jack loved his yard work and raised many flowers. He was a member of Rotary Club and held the office of Sec. for many years. Jack belonged to the Masonic and Odd Fellow's Lodges. Both Jack and Vera were members of Eastern Star, Rebeccas and American Legion. They were active members of the Methodist Church. Jack died Jan. 10. 1950 and is buried in dren, Michael and Ruth Ellen. Floyd died in 1978 in Independence, Missouri. Ellen still lives in Independence and is bookkeeper for her son's Tire and Auto Supply Store. After Jack's death, Vera remained in Burlington with Marlyn, working at the J.C. Penney Store. In Jan. 1952 Vera and Marlyn moved to Denver where Vera worked as a housekeeper for Mrs. Shay and Marlyn lived with Dr. and Mrs. Hicks, as live-in help while finishing her sophmore year at East High School. In June, Vera went to Salina, Kansas to work and Marlyn went to live vrith Vera's sister and husband, Evelyn and Howard Kite at Auburn, Nebraska. At one time the Kite's farmed the Guthrie Farm north an east of Burlington. In 1936 Evelyn Harbison spent the summer with Jack and Vera. Evelyn met Howard Kite while attending the Methodist Church and they both sang in the choir. They were married in 1937 and still live in Auburn, Nebraska. In the summer of 1953 both Marlyn and Vera returned to Burlington and on Aug. 10, Vera married Mr. Raymond Reeve. Vera and Raymond moved to Loveland, Colorado in 1959. In February of 1975 Raymond died and in September 1975 Vera moved to Denver to be near her daughter Barbara. In 1987 Vera made her home with Barbara and Melvin Butterfield. Vera died on March 25. 1982 from Cancer. Marlyn Vera graduated from B.H.S. in 1954. In 1954 she married Jimmie Lee Hasart, son of Jacob and Nettie (Adolf) Hasart. who farmed north and east of Stratton, Colo. They have two sons, Jerold and Lester. by B. Butterfield and Marlyn Haeart MAGEE, COLEMAN AND NANCY F426 Coleman Lauck Magee, son of Jesse Bent- ley Magee Jr. and Catharine Star Lauck Magee, was born Oc/". 22, 1848 near St. Clairsville, Ohio, on a farm that was homesteaded by his grandpatents, Elizabeth Cole- �man and Jesse Bently Magee Sr. in 1788. There he grew to manhood and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church which was located near his home. On Feb. L7,L875 he was united in marriage to Nancy Mitchell Jacob, who lived near Wheeling, West Virginia. She was the daughter of Alexander Mitchell Jacob and Mary Julia Woods and was born Oct. 1, 1853, Wheeling, West Virginia. Her father was Deputy Sheriff in 1847-48. He was interested in politics and was a State Senator 1870-73, and was in the Civil War. Coleman and Nancy lived on a farm near ,.r*i...,l,,. Wheeling for a few years. They had 7 children. Their first son Alexander Jacob was born in 1876 on this farm. Jessie Catherine was born in 1878 at Cherry Hill, West Virginia. Julia Woodg was born 1880 in St. Clairsville, Ohio. In 1882 they moved to Ida County, lowa and lived on a farm in Blaine township, later moving to Silver Creek Township. On Jan. 1, 1883, son Frank was born at Silver Lake, Iowa. In 1883 Coleman and Nancy moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, where he worked in a foundry. Robert Bruce was born in 1885 and Clarence Lauck was born in 1889. Mary Mabel (Polly) was born Jesse Bentley Magee Jr. in 1891. The last 3 children were born in Cleveland, Tennessee. In 1899 they moved back to Ida Grove, Iowa. The father Coleman and son Frank moved to Colorado in 1907 and took up homesteads 4 miles south and Yz mile westof Seibert, Colorado. The mother Nancy and son Bruce csme to Colorado in 1908. Frank and Bruce proved up their homesteads and Coleman signed over his homestead to Frank. Jessie came to Seibert in the winter of 1911-12. She taught at Tinsley School. That winter 16 inches of snow covered the prairie and a Mr. Mullen lost 1500 head of cattle. Traine were blocked for 3 days and in Catherine Star Lauck Magee the town of Seibert, feed was exhausted. The Hendricks family were neighbors of the Magees. In 1915-16 a home was built in Seibert, Frank and Nancy stayed on the farm and Coleman and Bruce lived in town. Clarence, known as Jack, crme to Seibert in 1919 after finishing school at Drake Univ. and working a few years in Ida Grove, Iowa. Coleman died on Nov. 27, 1934 in Seibert, Colorado. All the fanily were affiliated with the Methodist Church in Seibert. Nancy Magee was able to pursue her art during the years on the farm. She painted many pictures oflife on the prairie by capturing the subjects of sod houses, howling coyotes and other scenes. When visiting her children she painted pictures of Washington's Crater Lake and farm scenes on visits to Tennessee and [owa. In 1934 Frank and Nancy left the farm and went back to Ida Grove, Iowa to work. This was due to the depression and the drought that occurred during thie time. Nancy died in Ida Grove, Iowa on Sept. 26, 1937. by Barbara Butterfield & Marlyn Hasart MAGEE, FRANK F427 In early days, there were two established Magee ranch south of Seibert, 1920's ranches on Sand Creek, six miles west and three south of Seibert. Colorado. A family by the name of Hawthorne lived on one gide of the creek, while on the west side Frank Magee sitting in front of his "soddy" south of Seibert. lived a family named Glasiter. Frank relates, "we homesteaders hauled water from what was known as the'Hawthorne well'. There was a faucet in Hawthorne's backyard where we would get the water." The Magee farnily arrived in the month of January of 1907 and built the first sod house in that neighborhood which was located four miles south and a half mile west of Seibert. Later, there was one frame house built in the neighborhood; otherwise, sod houses were built by the homesteaders. Before the arrival of homesteaders, Hawthorne went over on Shanty Creek and dug a well by hand. It was an open well, 120 feet deep, on government land. It was named "Shanty Creek", because an old shanty had been built there to be used by cowboys for shelter when in that territory. Provisions were kept there, possibly some canned goods, a cot and a supply of cow chips for fuel. Whoever used the shack lagt was to replace the chips before leaving for one never knew what the weather conditions, or time of night, might be when the next occupant would arrive for food and sheltpr. There was a cistern dug on higher ground above the "Hawthorne well" and it was to serve as a supply tank. A windmill pumped the water from the "Hawthorne well" into this cistern. It was then piped to the Hawthorne yard. There was a tank on lower ground where the water was controlled by a float valve. Here the Hawthorne cow 6avnp wat- ered their cattle before the homesteaders anived. Homesteaders filed government claims all around this Hawthorne Ranch, the well still being on government land. In fact, the homesteaders were so thick that Hawthorne could not run his cattle herd an5rmore and they all hauled water from the neighborhood well. None of the homesteaders had funds to hire a well dug on their own slqimg. Frank and others had to dig cisterns and hauled water from this well to fill them. Hawthorne told the neighbors that if they would take care of the windmill and pump, keeping the mill oiled and repaired, that they could have dl the water they wanted. Maggie Hawthorne finally filed "homestead rights" on the land on which the well was located to protect rights to the well. The land was finally sold to a fellow by the name of "Erickgon". The well eventually was ruined by a big flood that c'rne down the creek and the well caved in. "That was the end of the Hawthorne well." Frank chuckles and says that "going to the well on a Sunday morning was about as good �as going to church", since everybody was there and one would get to see all the neighbors. And in case someone had left the water on and it all drained out, making the cistern dry, there was a "prayer meeting in reverse", and sometimes they would all have to stay a half day to get a barrel of water. If Hawthorne hadn't let the neighbors get water, they just couldn't have stayed since none had money enough to dig a well on their claims. "The water wag hauled in banels in lumber wagons with a gunny sack over the barrel top to keep the water from splashing out as they drove home over the rough prairie trailg." An acquaintance of Frank's used to say, "this isn't farming country", and he was right! He said a person could raise crops here by tillage, or as we commonly call it, summer fallowing. But Frank laughs, "they forgot to tell us it took some rain along with it". When questioned about prairie fires, studied art while attending classes of high education in a private school, while her father lived in Wheeling, West Virginia. Her father had been elected to the "legislature". Those were the only art lessons she had taken, but Frank says, "during all those years she never lost interest in art". Many are the beautiful pictures of wildlife which she painted, proving the wider appreciation and understanding of the arts. Her collection of early day one-room sod houses on the virgin prairie proves she had been a keen observer, with an instinctive feeling for color and composition. The collection is naive, but sincere and highly individualistic portraying the early life of the settlers of these prairies. Today, these sod houses are mere memories and just a few dry clods of grass rooted in earth are left to tell the tale ofwhere they were standing. Some ofthe sod houses looked so desolate, pictured on the snow-covered Max Mason, custom farming. Frank recalls his first memory of one was in January of 1907. "The fire broke loose at the prairie. However, the collection will be a memorial to the lonesome, difficult lives of Arkansas-Missouri countryside. He had at night was red, like a quarter circle. It burned to within seven miles of Seibert. the early day settlers and record their feeble attempts to improvise a shelter from nothing more than the virgin soil of the prairie. Of all the pictures, which fascinated, there and had enjoyed the creeks and told of caught of a horseback rider, picturing a wild and furious storm about to break with giant thunderclouds forming a menacing background while the wind made a vicious onslaught on man and beast, madly blowing the mane and tail of the horse, while the flying scarf was secured tightly about an upturned coatcollar. Grass on the terrain was buffeted madly about as the waves of any storm-ridden sea. The man rested a gun across the pommel of his saddle. Wild ducks, buffaloes, fish, deer and forest scenes lived in perfect surroundings by the masterful stroke of her hand. Frank's mother was over 50 years of age when she did most of her paintings; like the beautiful collection of pictures which Grandma Moses painted, the pictures of Mrs. Magee portrayed the everyday scenes about her in a beauty and serenity all their own. Her pictures were not frivilous, as her daughter Polly recently remarked, but had a subdued passion and beauty of living. It is certain the and jellies by his mother or visiting grandmothers. While living there the family home burned so at that time the Mason's moved to a couple of farms south of Stratton. Max's dog, "Sock," was grudgingly allowed to be south railroad, down by Kit Carson. The sky There wasn't too much of a breeze and the fire stopped in the vicinity of a place called 'The Cox Ranch'." Another recollection of a fire was when one startcd on the Rock Island railroad around Seibert and burned eouth to the Union Pacific railroad tracks before being burned out. The only way to fight a fire was from the edge. One didn't dare to get in front of a prairie fire or behind it. Oft times a critter would be killed and split open to make it wider and two horseback riders would drag it between them to snuff out the fire. Again, another fire spread from the rail tracks to the north tracks. It was said there was nothing to do with the stock except move them out of the country to get fed. Later the railroade maintained fireguards, which were several plowed furrows. Frank said "it sure would surprise you how fast that little Buffalo grass would burn!" He also recalls a few wild horses. 18 or 20 miles south of Seibert, in what was known as the breaks. The most drastic storm Frank recalls was the one wherein the Towner school bus tragedy occurred. It was a huge blizzard with high winds and temperature readings of 12 degrees below zero. He said he never went outside to do his chores, as he didn't consider it safe to go from one building to another during ablizzard. Frank's sister, the late Mrs. Jesse Magee Gray, an early day teacher, and also later the County Superintendent of Kit Carson County, came to this country in the summer of 1911. She had been an Iowa school teacher. Her sister, Polly, a young lady, was here. Both wished to teach school. Since Polly hadn't taught before, it was natural she should take the teacher's examinations before teaching. However, it was unique, so it seemed for Mrs. Gray, to do so coming to an undeveloped country to teach in a "soddy" after the standards oflowa schools. Jesse taught in the "Flint Sod House School" on the Flint homestead; Polly taught southwest of the Magee homestead. One outstanding thing should be noted in this article on the Magee history and that is the fact that Frank's mother was a real artist, as well as a well-educated person. She had is one favorite. It was a wonderful scene helped his parents raise hundreds ofchickens swimming with water moccasins and smelling a strange odor and realizing they were in danger. The family had enjoyed picking wild berries and fruit which were made into jems moved to Colorado. Max had many pets through the years badger, monkey, - fox, animals raccoon, and he enjoyed such as horses, pigs, cattle and dogs. Max attended country school south of Stratton and attended Stratton High School, graduating with the class of 1952. He enjoyed riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle to La Junta to attend La Junta Jr. College. After attending school he went custom harvesting and started working in the oil fields at Sterling, Colorado and oil fields near Kimball, Nebraska. In 1956 Max married his high school sweetheart, Margaret Jean Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Oscar Smith. The Grandma Moses had, as quoted, "So that people will know how we lived". couple's first home was La-ar and later Liberal, Kansas. In the spring of 1957 Max had the pleasure of working on an oil rig which was on land previously owned by his grandfather, William Lawrence Mason, near Beaver City, Oklahoma. by Marily;n Hasart family. On January 25, L959, Margaret same thought was prevelant in her mind as On December 6, 1957, James Lee joined the Maxine was born. This family lived briefly in MASON, CLIFFORD MAX F428 Max Mason, a Lincoln County and Kit Carson County rancher and farmer, died as a young man nearly 46 years of age on October 15, 1981 after a two and one halfyear courageous battle with cancer. He was born in Beaver City, Oklahoma, on November 21, 1934, and moved from there to Pea Ridge, Arkansas, with his parents, Clifford and Averil (Swiger) Mason. During his childhood in Arkansas many memories of an interesting home and childhood terrain were imprinted on Max as he retold his children many stories of his childhood. As a young boy he had enjoyed swinging on vines in the timbered Denver while Max attended Colorado Barber College and then moved to Fort Collins where Jean finished college at Colorado State University as a mother of three with Linda Lea joining the family on August 8, 1960. The family lived there for three years while Max barbered for the College Barber Shops on Laurel and College Avenue. In 1962 the Mason's moved to Arriba and enjoyed farming and Max continued to barber, owning and operating his own barber shop for ten years. While residing there, Max also sold feed for Ralston Purina and raised swine. Jean taught home economics at Arriba Junior-Senior High School for five years and kindergarten for one year. In 1967 Carol Lynn, the Mason's third daughter, was born on her father's 33rd birthday, November 21. During the summers beginning in 1959 Max and his custom cutting partner, Clifford Hughes of Seibert, went to Oklahoma to cut �s&, Jean Mason family in 1986: Seated, Carol holding Michael Mason; Jean holding Jayme Mason; Standing: Jim Mason, Bill Mason, Marla Mason, Michael McPhilomy holding Matthew, Don Mason, Margaret McPhilomy holding Michael, Blake and Linda Hemmert. wheat. This operation continued for 22years. Max stayed home the summer of 1969 to await the anival of his second son, William Dean, who was born June 28. When the swine operation became too large, the family bought their present home site and moved to Seibertwhere Max excavated a basement and poured his own walls with some help from his son, Jim. Mar and his three older children enjoyed many hours of pleasure working with sheep, swine, cattle, horses and farming operations. When the Masons raised registered swine they gave iron shots, ear-notched, and maintained a quality sanitation program. On January 29, L974, the Mason's were thrilled to have their third son, Donald Eugene, join the fanily. Don spent his first five years in the care of his dad and some excellent babysitt€rs, but mostly enjoyed the family shop, combine, and tractor in the company of his father. In 1979 Max's biggest challenge in life seemed to be of little concern as he carried on farming routine, but he was disabled in 1980 and continued chemotherapy treatments on a monthly basis. His love of people and God sustained him in his last months of life as he had time to reflect on his brief but complete life. He had served as school board member and president for six years for HiPlains Schools, was a member of the Masonic Lodge, El Jebel Shrine, and United Method- ist Church as chairman of the board and enjoyed Men's Breakfast as a cook and Christian layman. Margaret graduated from CSU in 1981 with a degree in Home Economics with a concentration in Human Development and Family Studies. After marrying Michael McPhilomy of Aurora, she started a home day care. The McPhilomy's have two sons, Michael James, born on June 8, 1983, and employed by the downtown Broker Restaurant in Denver. Blake is a professional musician and has been in the Minneapolis and Denver area band circuits. Jim is married to Marla Jean McGriff of Seibert and they have two children, Michael James, who arrived July 12, 1978, and Jayme LeeAnn, born January 3, 1981 on her mother's birthday. Carol, a 1986 graduate of Hi-Plains H.S., is a student at Adams State College in Alamosa and currently studying education. Bill, a 1987 senior at Hi-Plains H.S., is studying Criminal Justice at Metropolitan State College in Denver. Bill was active in Honor Society, FFA, and sports at Hi-Plains H.S. Don is a Jr. High student at Hi-Plains H.S. He is active in camping, bicycling, shooting sports, basketball, and other teen activities. Jean is employed bythe Hi-Plains H.S. and teaches Home Economics, is acting H.S. librarian, teaches a reading class, and keeps busy with United Methodist Church work as lay conference delegate for four years; Youth Fellowship sponsor; and is church pianist. Jean also is FHA sponsor, and was the sponsor of both the 1981 and 1987 class. by Jean Mason MATTHIES ELLSWORTH FAMILY F42g In the spring of 1906, Frederick Matthies and Roysten Ellsworth were married at Mike is employed by Boyd Distributors and Norton, Ks. The following year they came to Colorado to claim a homestead adjoining Roysten's parents. Their homestead was Southwest of Burlington, on the SE t4 of Sec. sells commercial turf equipment. 18-11-44. Matthew Allen, born on March 29, 1986. Linda married Blake Hemmert of Burlington on July 4, 1981. Linda is currently Fred continued working for the Rock Island railroad for several vears. This meant Fred August Matthies and Raysten Sophia Ellsworth. Married April 3, 1906 at Norton, Kansas. he had to be gone several days at a time and then he would be home a few days. It took five hours to make the trip to town one way by wagon. Roysten, a neighbor, or her father would take Fred to town, so he could catch the train. Many times they would leave home in the wee morning hours, in order to catch the 8:30 train. At times Fred would walk home arriving in the early morning. During the spring of 1909, Roysten said she planted over 300 cabbage plants, lots of potatoes, and pumpkins as well as many other vegetables. Early fall they would take some of the cabbage, pumpkin and potatoes to Cheyenne Wells and Burlington by wagon to sell. On one trip, they sold 1795 pounds of potatoes for $17.90. At that time, one hundred pounds of sugar cost 95.80. They bought 10 bu. seed corn and nine bushels ofcane seed for $23.25. Fred and Roysten had nine children: Harold, Paul, August, Elsie Medaris, Clara Hicks, Okie, Charles, Bessie Boyd and Leonard. They lost three sons: Okie passed away at age 5, Paul and August died in Dec. of 1932 from pneumonia at the ages of 24 and.2L years. Fred passed away in 1934, after suffering a stroke. Roysten remained on the farm and raised her children. The family milked cows and shipped the cream on the train to creameries at Phillipsburg and Concordia, Kansas and sometimes Denver. by Shirley Matthies �MATTHIES - SCHAAL FAMILY MATTHIES, LEONARD F4g2 F430 Leonard Matthies and gome of their saddle horees. The adobe garage in the background is still being ueed. Early threshing days on the Matthiee farm. Leonard and his brothers. brothers-in-law and neighbors. Leonard Matthies, youngest son of Fred- rick and Roysten Matthies, was born in sod house, 19 miles southwest of Burlington. Mrs. In the fall of L947, Leonard Matthies and Shirley Schaal were married. We lived on a farm southwest of Burlington. In 1962, we bought the farm Fred and Roysten had homesteaded. This farm had been in the family since 1907. When Leonard's oldest brother, Harold and wife, Della retired in 1968 and moved to town, we bought their farm, the former Ellsworth homestead, belonging to Leonard's grandparents. We milked cows during our early mariage years and shipped the cream by railroad. We also raised chickens and sold the dressed chickens to the local grocery stores and the hospital for several years. We raised seven children: Frederick. Everett, Carolyn Martell, twins Gene and Dean, Betty Ganser and Allen. In 1949, there was an epidemic of polio and Frederick contracted this disease at age 3 months. He spent several weeks every summer at the Children's Hospital in Denver, until he was about eighteen, for surgery and treatments on his leg and foot. by Shirley Matthies MATTHIES, AUGUST AND CHRISTINE F43r August and Christine Matthies homesteaded, NW% of Sec. 29-10-45, two miles south of Beloit. The Matthies Brothers had a hardware store in Beloit. When the railroad by-passed Beloit they moved their store to Claremont. August and Christine had five children: Fred, Emma Dunham, Carl, Lena Sy and Mary Whitlew. Around 1906 or 1907, August and Christine and children, except Emma and Fred, moved to Washington County, Oregon. Will and Emma Dunhn- later moved to Oregon also. Fred stayed in Colorado and at the age of twelve he worked for the Lang sheep ranch. Later, he worked for the Rock Island railroad with the bridge building crew. by Shirley Matthies Ed Clark was the midwife that attended the birth of Leonard. The midwife would go to the home about the day the birth was expected. Sometimes they would have to live several days or weeks with the family that was Harold and Ines McArthur expecting a new member to arrive in their grew up and spent her childhood years family. The thirties brought dry, dusty weather. In order to have feed for their cows, the family moved their cows from the farm southwest of Burlington to a farm near Anton, Colo. They drove the cows by riding saddle horses and they also walked as the weather had turned cold. They would stay overnight with the nearest farm family, after bedding the cows attending the neighborhood country school. Her parents moved to the First Central down for the night. It took three days to move the cattle to Anton. Leonard was eight years old when he made this trip on foot and horseback. Part of the family stayed at the farm near Anton while the children went to school there. Some of the older children stayed on the farm south of Burlington. They all moved to the farm south oftown as soon as the rains cn-e and the grass improved. Leonard always enjoyed working with the horses. When he was nine years old, he had four head of horges hitched to a wagon to go to the field about 3/ of a mile from home, to 'weed'the feed. The horses spooked and took off on a run. The road was very rough and Leonard bounced out of the wagon. The rest of the family was harvesting wheat in a community south and west of Bethune, Colorado in 1920. She attended First Central School and graduated in 1929. After leaving home, she met Harold McAr- thur at a "literarie" gathering in the local school house. These were fun and educational social events for the people living in the area. Harold McArthur was born on October 29, 1910 in Bellaire, Kansas. He was one of twelve children. Harold grew up and attended the country school north of Bellaire where he finished the 8th grade. The McArthur family came to Bethune, Colorado in May of 1926. They purchased land and lived 17 miles south of Bethune. Harold and Ines were manied on January 6, 1932. Their first home was in Bellaire, Kansas where they lived for a short time before moving to Burlington. Harold worked on road construction and he and Ines tried t6 farm in the dirty '30's. He worked for Jack Chalfant who owned the John Deere dealership in Burlington for one and a half years. In 1938 an opening for a John Deere dealership beceme available in Flagler, Colorado. nearby field and saw what happened. When Harold and Ines made their home in they caught the horses about three miles from home, the little dog was still in the wagon, barking loudly. Leonard was "out" most of Flagler for the next eight years. In May of 1945 Mr. Chalfant was ready to give up the John Deere dealership in Burlington and asked Harold if he would like to purchase the business. Harold acquired the business and in the summer of 1945 they moved back to Burlington. the afternoon. Leonard's father passed away from a stroke when Leonard was six years old. by Shirley Matthies When the Montezuma Hotel burned it went up for sale and it was purchased by Harold and Ines along with four other parties. McARTHUR - DUNIIAM FAMILY F433 Ines Dunham was born on the farm southeast ofBurlington on July 29, 1910. Her parents were Maynard and Bessie Thomann Dunham. Ines was their first child. Along with her sister Irene and brother Lee. she Ines was asked to help run this business consisting of the hotel and apartments, dining room, bar and beauty shop. Good managers were hard to keep so she kept the books andmanaged the hotel until Mr. Albert Crouse bought their interest five years later. Harold and Ines lived on 8th and Martin in the old Valine house until 1966 when they had a new home constructed for them on Pomeroy Street. Both Harold and Ines have enjoyed their �lifetime as residents of Burlington and Kit Carson County and have participated in many community activities and organizations. Ines is active in the Burlington Garden Club, Inter Sese, and the Rebecca Lodge. She is now helping with the Sod House picture display at "Old Town." Harold was active in the Lions while in Flagler and is a member of Rotary in Burlington. He was elected mayor of Burlington and served 12 years in that capacity. He has been a member of the Kit Carson County Hospital Board for 25 years and helped organize Dynemiq Dimensions, Inc. by Ines McArthur McARTIIUR PIERSON FAMILY F.434 When I was twelve I broke my leg. It was a bad break with the bone breaking the skin. They put me in bed and called the doctor. The girls held me down and the doctor pulled my leg, reaching through the bed fra-e and using his foot against the mattress for leverage and pulled the leg into place. They used boards for a splint and wrapped it up and made me crutches from broom handles. One year, when the grasshoppers were bad, we spread poisoned bran (treatcd with arsenic and flavored with banana oil and mixed at the county fairgrounds in Bur- lington) to kill the hoppers. We buried some of the bran and later the cows pawed it up and ate it. All our milk cows died. a terrible loss. For recreation the family attended the "Grange" dinners, the country dances, box suppers, and "literaries" held at the school house with all the family attending. As a young man I participated in the local rodeos at Kit Carson, Cheyenne Wells, Seibert, Stratton and all the town around. They charged a gate fee and paid the riders $3.00 ifthey rode and $1.50 ifthey got bucked off. for 20 years. He was president of the N.E. Stratton Telephone Co. as long as it existed, served on the board of the Kit Carson County Cattlemans Association and was president for several terms. He served 12 years on the board of the Arickaree Ground Water Management District. In 1946 Ernest was elected County Commissioner, 2nd District, for Kit Carson County and served until 1958. Projects completed during his term were; 194748, Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital; 1953-54, Remodeling of The Kit Carson County Courthouse. 1958, Built the grandstand at the Kit Carson County Fairgrounds at a cost of $48,000. Ernests latest project is the building of the "Old Town" in Burlington and he is chairman of this project. by Erneet and Mary McArthur McARTHUR, KENNETH P. Ernest McArthur and Mary Pierson were married on July 18, 1935 in the Courthouse at Burlington. We moved 14 miles south and 2 miles east of Burlington and lived in this basement home for 2 years. Our firet child, F436 Kenneth was born there. The dirt was so bad in the 30's that "blow dirt' covered the basement house and the cattle feed. Then we moved to the O.C. Dunlap place south of Bethune. Elaine, Mary Ellen, and Betty were born there. We milked cows and raised chickens and had a garden. We bought only "neceggities". From 1936 to 1939 Ernegt worked for the county in his spare time. He put in the intersections on the county roads that they were building with a four horse scraper. They paid $6.00 a day and it took most of that to feed the horses. It was hard work but he was glad to get the job. He would go to work at 7:00 in the morning and quit at 6:00 in the evening. Mary would have the cows milked Mary Pierson and Ernest McArthur on their wedding day, July 18, 1935. Photo was taken on the north end of Main Street, (14th St.) in Burlington, juet south of the old depot. My parents, Guy Franklin McArthur and Margaret May McArthur, came from Smith County, Kansas. They cnme to Colorado in March of '26 with nine children, Clifford, Harold, Ernest, Russell, Faye, June, Guy Jr., Dean, and Dave. Three older children remained in Kansas. We cnme in a solidwheeled chain drive "Little Car" truck. They loaded up their belongings and family and drove 250 miles and eet up a tent in Bethune, Colorado, behind Corbit's Lunber Yard and stayed there until late April and then moved 17 milee eouth of Bethune. Bethune was about the snme size as Burlington at that time. Dad bought the place for $15 an acre. The ground was sod so they started plowing sod. They raised corn and wheat, hogs and sheep, about 150 ewee. when he got home. We moved 16 milee north of Bethune in 1946. We bought the place from Mark Jay in March. The cattle were hauled up in a truck and the driver dumped them out at night and they scattered all over the area. The cows couldn't find their calvee and they got all mixed up with the neighbors cattle and we lost three cows. The place was in bad shape from the flood of 1935 on the Republican River. Our family grew up here. They attended school in Bethune, Colorado. Ernest and Mary and the children worked very hard to bring their farm and ranch into a very nice and productive home. This place was known as the Cor Ranch (Six Mile ranch). The house is the old house constructed ofrock in 1895. Ernest remodeled this house and built a beautiful rock fireplace in it. Their son Kenneth and his wife, Beverly, and their family live on the home place north of Bethune. Mary and Ernest moved to Burlington, Colorado, in 1982. Mary's hobby over the years has been quilting for herself and others. Through the years she has been active in the Cowbelles, Republican Women, Hospital Aurilliary and Home Extention club since moving to town. They are members of Hope United Church of Christ north of Bethune. Ernest served on the Bethune School Board Kenneth and Beverly McArthur, Wedding Day, October 1957. In December 1936 my parents, Ernest and Mary (Pierson) McArthur, had a baby boy; nemely myself. We lived south of Bethune, Colorado until 1946 when the family moved north of Bethune to the old "Cox FLanch" on the Republican River. I graduated from Bethune School in 1954 and decided to join the Navy "to see the world" and was fortunate to do just about that. My last several months before discharge were spent in Norfolk, Virginia and it was here that I met my future wife. Beverly Jean Geel was born in September 1935 in Chatanooga, Tennessee to Charles Lambert and Ella (Bush) Geel. After living in Tennessee and New Jersey, the family settled in Clarence Center, New York and it was here she graduated from high school in 1953. After college, she followed her family to Norfolk, Virginia where her father worked for the U.S. Navy. Needless to say, this is how an "easterner" and "wegterner" met and were married in Ithaca, New York in October 1957, just three �days after my discharge. We packed our belongings in a 1954 Buick and started on our trek to Colorado. I had a tearful bride on my hands as we crossed the vast expanse west of the Mississippi since she had never been further west than New York. We spent our hone5nnoon on the ranch, Bev getting acquainted with my family and myselfenjoying a reunion after being gone for four years. We then settled in Denver, Colorado where I worked for Thompson Rnmo-Wooldridge and Bev at the University of Colorado Medical Center. In 1960. we decided to continue our journey weet and ended up in Sunnyvale, California where I was employed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, and Bev worked for an orthopedic surgeon. In 1964, we were blessed with the arrival A gathering of neighbors beside Pleasant Meadow School, summer 1938. everyChing onto a box car and shipped it to Vona. My grandmother, cousin Winnie, and sister Eva stayed with an aunt until we got to Vona. It took us two weeks to get there as it rained a lot and we had to stay in peoples machine sheds for up to three days till the gtorms passed. The road we cnrne on was the Golden Belt Highway and it was marked with a gold belt around a telegraph pole about one mile apart. The highway was one mile north of Vona which later wasrmoved and beco-e of our first child, Patricia Lynn. Kenneth Charles was born one year later; and this certainly made for a bustling household. We were findingcity life very confining and hectic at this time, so in 1970 we returned to Colorado to farm with my Dad. Our third child, Elizabeth Anne, was born one month highway 24 through Vona. After we got to following this move. In addition to learning to farm all over again, I have spent many hours in community Vona we telegraphed Grandma, Eva and Winnie and they came on the train to Vona. My grandmother had bought a 320 acre and church activities. I was a member of the School Board at Bethune for 12 years, on the Equity Coop Board in Burlington for six, and have been active in 4-H, most recently managing the sale at the Kit Carson County Fair. I em currently a trwtee at Hope United Church of Christ and very active in the relinquishment 15 miles south of Vona. The old shack we moved into was tar-papered and had a wood floor and was about 12 foot square and quite drafty. When we got to our new home, my pa killed a rattlesnake before my sister Ora and I got out of the wagon. In the Grandpa W.E. McAuley, 1938. next two years we killed three or four Gideons International. Bev has been active in 4-H. and has served rattlesnakes a day during the summer. My cousin Winnie filed on a 160 acre homest€ad joining Grandma's. Later on my in many capacities at the Hope Chwch, in addition to being an active member of the pa bought a relinquishment of 320 acres joining grandma's land too. The first winter we were here it stormed early in the fall and snowed about three feet. It was frigid and bad Gideons Auxiliary. She has also become quite a "farmer" and an invaluable helpmate. Patricia graduated from Bethune School in 1964 and attended Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas receiving her degree in Social Work in May of 1987. She is currently working for Kit Carson County as a Social Caseworker. Kenneth graduated from Bethune in 1965 and is currently pursuing a degree in Anthropology and Archeology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. * r I' Elizabeth is a Senior at Bethune this year and plans on attending college in the fall. Dad has since "retired" and he and Mom presently live in Burlington. We can still drive around the ranch and see the many hours ofhard work and sacrifice that they put into making "McArthur Ranch" a place to be proud of. We currently live in the two-story stone house built in 1898 which they lovingly cared for over the years. It is our hope and desire that we can carry on their tradition and that our children can say "we are proud ofour heritage." i by Kenneth McArthur lli ' ji;is:';. ' McAULEY, W. DON F436 W. Don McAuley was born on March 30, 1905, in Phillips County, Kansas on a farm 9 miles north of Phillipsburg. On September 4, 1911 when I was six years old we arrived in Vona, Colorado from Phillipsburg in a covered wagon. My pa Bill and grandmother Margaret, my two sisters, Eva 14 and Ora 13 Harvesting barley, summer '43. and a cousin Winnie Kivett, 24, all traveled together. My mother had passed away in the spring of 1910. We began our trip in two covered wagons. My pa drove one and Eva drove the other. Our wagon was pulled by a span of mules and Eva's was pulled by two horses. When we got to Logan, Kansas one of our horses died so we unloaded the household things and tore down the wagon and loaded all winter. We had to buy feed for one cow and three horses and haul coal from town to heat and cook by. My first year of school I walked two miles to school and was in first grade. But the next year they built a new school house, Rosedale, one mile further west so for the next seven years I walked three miles to school. My pa took the train back to Phillipsburg on business in the winter of 1911 and got stuck down there because of the blizzard. On his return he had to shovel snow offthe tracks so the train could go. When Pa finally got to Vona he had to walk 15 miles to our home. While Pa was gone our neighbor Henry Case made it to town and got us horse feed, coal and food. It was a long hard winter and many cattle died of starvation. We stayed on and homesteaded with our neighbors: Henry Hinds, Emery Helderman, George Lettmann, Henry Rose, Bill Goff, Orley Cockran, Al Gallion, and Charlie Duncan. We allhad to remainon and improve the place for three years, then go to Hugo where the land office was located and get the title to the land. Later in 1918 Pa bought 160 acres from Henry Hinds who left his homestead. About 1915 Oriska store was six miles east and one mile south of our home so we did some of our trading there. Herman Martin was the storekeeper in those early days. Many times when hunting for horses I would stop in and buy lunch. Pa had many horses and it was free range and there were very few �fences so our horses could be far away. The winter of 1918 and 1919 we had Spanish flu epidemic and my cousin Winnie died of it and I was quite ill with it. In 1918 my sister Eva married Clem Rose and moved to Iowa. In the spring of 1920 we had a cow killer blizzard. Whole herds of cattle were piled in fence corners dead. Four hundred head drifted into seven lakes south of Eads and drowned. My grandmother in 1921 passed away at the age of 89. My other sister Ora married Clarence Rose and moved to Iowa. My two sisters married two brothers. Every year Pa and I farmed with horses and raised cattle. After picking our own corn, I got jobs of picking corn for our neighbors. In the late twenties and early thirties we had a plentiful corn crop and rabbits were abundant. We had rabbit hunts in our own corn fields. We killed aroundtwo thousand rabbitg on one hunt. In the mid-thirties I shot up to 50 rabbits a day and skinned them and got paid twenty cents a hide. The money helped pay the taxes and put food on the table, when there was very little corn to pick. On January 30, 1937, Gladys Simonson and I got married. We raised cattle and barley and I sold barley seed all over the county. In 1940 we bought 960 acres that joined our land for $1,500. In 1941 Pa died at age 83. Gladys and I continued to live on the ranch. December of 1945 we were blessed with a son Richard Lee. In March of 1948 we sold the ranch and land and two weeks later we sold all of our livestock. We moved to Flagler to take care of Gladys' stepmother and I helped Gladys' father Matt Simonson do chores during the winter. At harvest I drove a combine for Glen Boyington for twenty six days straight. In the spring and summer of 1949 I worked for Matt on the ranch. In the fall of 1949 we moved to Missouri and stayed until the spring of 1951. Seibert area. Dex started working for my Dad, Horace Boger, in about 1948. He was a kind and honest man and we enjoyed having him around. I was just a small child when he first came to work here and he always took time to pay attention to me. He was one of my favorite people. I remember on one occasion, he helped me put my initials in fresh cement that my Dad and he had poured for a sidewalk. As I recall, my Dad wasn't too pleased when he noticed it but never said anything about it. Dex ate dinner with us and, once in a while, ate supper with us. A couple of these meals are well remembered. The first is still recalled by my mother and she finds it amusing now, but sure didn't at the time. Dex had only been working here for a few days and my mother fixed hash for dinner. When we were all seated for dinner, I picked up the dish ofhash and asked, "Well, is this dog food?" My mother was embarrassed, but it kept Dex laughing all through dinner. One of the times that he ate supper with us ig memorable for me. I was in the living room when he called me into the kitchen and gave me a pearl that he found in his oyster soup. I thought that was really great and always watched for one in my soup hoping that I would find one, but I never did. One time, Dex and a friend of his went into a gypsy tent at the county fair to have their fortunes told. When they came out, he found that his wallet was gone. He told us about it and said it was alright and good enough for him because he had no business going in there. When Dex was at home, he spent many hours working with his flowers and yard. When his health failed he moved into Seibert and later to Greeley where he passed away in March of 1970. He was a dear friend of the family and we missed his friendly presence. We left because we were ill and homesick. We moved back to Flagler and took care of Gladys' stepmother till the spring of 1952. The summer of L952 we bought our farm north of Seibert from Earl Bigelow. That fall we moved into an old house on the place and start€d building a new home, where we have lived ever since. We raieed cattle and in 1959 built a slaughter house and stad€d custom butchering which we did for seventeen years. Retiring in 1976, Gladys and I have enjoyed many vacationg and fishing trips all over the United States. Here on the home place our son Dick and his wife Linda built a new home in 1983. We enjoy them and our three grandsons Lance, Eric and Kurt living beside us. On Sunday, January 25,L987, we celebrated our SOth wedding anniversary at the HiPlains School with our family and many friends' r.\,-\Qto. Looce diec lh " by W. D. McAuley by Joyce Miller McBRIDE, DR. F438 Dr. McBride was born in Mankato, Jewel county, Ks., on Oct. 19, 1885, the son of Robert H. (an attorney) and Mary Young McBride. He graduated from the Kansas City College of Medicine and Surgery in 191?. He arrived in Seibert in the spring of 1918, to begin his practice and continued to serve this area of eastern Colorado until his retirement in 1962. By 1925, he had established a small emergency hospital in Seibert. When the depression years of the 30's forced a change in plans for a new hospital, he purchased a hotel building in Flagler and remodeled it into a nine bed hospital, which he opened in the fall of 1937. At the time it was opened, McBLAIR, DEXTER F437 Dexter McBlair was born October 2, 1898 at Glen Elder, Kansas to Mr. and Mrs. Charles McBlair. His boyhood days were spent around Cawker City and Glen Elder, Kaneas where he attended school. He lived for a time at Clifton, Colorado before moving to Seibert. He spent most of his life in the the Flagler Hospital was considered to be the best equipped hospital between Colby and Denver. For more than 25 years, this private hospital performed a most important and unique gervice for this area until economic conditions forced its closing in 1963. Dr. McBride's years in medical practice began when the country was emerging from the horee and buggy days and continued into the atomic and jet ages with the practice of medicine making revolutionary changes. Dr. McBride was one of those doctors, who were able to tie the old in with the new, serving a rural area with a general practice and employing the latest methods and procedures. His practice spanned three generations of families he served. In 1952, he was the subject of a Denver Post Empire Profile, which described his years as a doctor on the eastern Colorado plains. The article com- mented that the family operating team, which worked together for so many years following World War II, when his step-son Dr. John Straub, returned to take over the operation of the hospital, was believed to be unique in medical history. The team consisted of Drs. McBride and Straub, Mrs. Marie Straub, a registered nurse and Mrs. McBride and Douglas Straub, both trained in operating room procedure. "Because we had our hospital," Dr. McBride said, "and because a hospital, nowadays, means plasma, oxygen, penicillin when you need it, we were able to carry on when the Flagler air tragedy struck our town on Sept. 15, 1951." (of the twenty persons killed in that disaster, seven were adults, thirteen were children. And nine of those children Dr. ushered into the world. With one exception, all persons injured by the low flying plane that day, if they lived an hour, are still alive, thanks to prompt hospital care.) In September, 1918, Dr. McBride and Dr. J.V. Beachley of Stratton organized the Kit Carson Medical Society. For twenty years Dr. Mac was the secretary. It was reorganized in 1935, renamed the Eastern Colorado Medical Society, comprising Cheyenne and Lincoln as well as Kit Carson counties. In 1952, Drs. McBride and E.W. Reid of Flagler and Dr. Frank L. Bergen of Burlington are the three survivors of the original society. Before them, the eastern Colorado short-grass country was pioneered by Drs. Paul B. Godsman and C.A. Gillett both of Burlington. Dr. McBride's first wife died and he married Mrs. Zeta Straub of Flagler, she had two sons and a daughter. The boys were: Dr. John Straub and Douglas Straub the hospital manager (in 1952) and the girl was Mrs. Lloyd Moore (later of Denver, who took nursing training at St. Lukes before her marriage). Dr. John Straub's wife, Marie was also a registered nurse. And as Mrs. Zeta McBride said: "if you're not a nurse when you marry a doctor, you soon get to be one." Dr. McBride had a son and a daughter by his first wife. The son, Robert is an accountant in Las Vegas, and the daughter Annabelle, is a registered nurse and married a Lt. Robert Campbell, a navy doctor in Winthrop, Mass. In Sept. 1967, Dr. McBride was one of several doctors in the state presented a 50year gold pin by the Colorado State Medical Society at their annual convention. On October 4, 1967, Dr. McBride passed away at only two weeks away from being 82 years of age. by Straub �McCAULEY, THOMAS McCAFFREY, FRANCIS AND ALBERTA J. F439 F440 Thomas John McCauley, seventh child of Jordan Mason and Bessie McCauley, was born March 12, 1939, near Sallisaw, Sequork County, Oklahoma. Times were very hard in eastern Oklahoma, so the family moved to Walsh, Colorado in 1948. Thomas finished school in Walsh and attended La-ar Junior College, graduating with an A.A. degree in Business Administration in 1960. After laying out of college to work for another year, Thomas received his B.A. degree in Business Administration from Panhandle State University, Goodwell, Oklahoma, in 1963. While at Panhandle, he met Trulene Garrison and they dated off and on for several years. Thomas took a job as middle school teacherprincipal at Taloga School, a rural school near Elkhart, Kans. in 1963. He taught there two years before coming to Burlington to teach in 1965. Trulene had taken a school position teaching first grade in Garden City, Francis McCaffrey family 1956, Ieft to right: Bobbie, Kenny, Wayne, Hazel, Francis, Darrell, Neva and Junior Francis William McCaffrey was born Februar5/ 4, 1907 at Seneca, Kansas. The oldest of six children born to Richard D. and Sarah Gregg (Clark) McCaffrey. Francis attended school in Kansas, and cnme to Otis, Colorado area with his folks, brothers and sisters in L920. Shortly after coming to Colorado, Francis becnme a member of Bethany Church south- west of Otis, Colorado. Francis worked at the sugar factory in Fort Morgan till his mariage to Alberta Lorraine Preyer on May Lg, L927. Francis and Alberta lived eouthwest of Otis on a farm. Here the five sons were bornl Francis L. 1927, Darrell H. 1929, Richard W. 1931, Kenneth J. 1932 and Robert E. 1934. Alberta died March 28, 1936, leaving Francis with five small sons to raise. The youngest was less than two years. After numeroun housekeepers to help raise five onerous boys, Grandma Sarah McCaffrey, Francis'mother, lived with them to care for the family. Francis married Hazel (Wilson) Back July 3, 1940. In fall of 1940 Francie, Hazel and fanily moved l07z miles north of Vona where they raised Francis' five sons and Hazel's daughter Neva. All the kids attended Boger country school #12 and all graduated from Vona High School. Francis and Hazel lived here till 1959 when they moved into Flagler, Colorado. Francis continued ranching and farming till his death June 9, 1973. All five sons still farm or ranch in Kit Carson County. Francis Jr. married Neva Back; they reside in Burlington. Darrel married Pauline Boese Harrison; they live south west of Vona. Wayne married Fern Pickard; they live on the home place north of Vona. Kenneth married Ethel Tubbs; they live west of Seibert, and Bob married Mary Jackson; they live north of Seibert. On April 19, 1976 Hazel manied Wayne Tubbs and they reside in Flagler. by Robert McCaffrey Kansas. She moved to Juneau, Alaska in 1965, where she taught first grade for four years. Trulene moved to Burlington in 1969 to teach first grade. She and Thomas were manied July 8, 1972. Thomas received his M.A. in Business Education from Western State College in Gunnison in 1966, and his PH.D. in Vocational Administration from Colorado State University in 1982. Trulene received her Master's degree in Reading from Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas in 1966. There are two children in the family;Truitt Jon, born Feb. 10, 1976, and Tryth Amber, born June 23,L978. Thomas was very instrumental in getting cooperative Vocational Education started in Burlington High School in 1970, and this has been his driving force ever since. Thomas is currently Vocational Director for Burlington High and the East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services serving all the schools from Burlington to Bennett, as well as Kit Carson, Karval, Hugo and Bennett. Trulene is teaching flrrst grade at Burlington Elementary School. The McCauley's are active members of the First Baptist Church in Burlington. Tom is very active with the Gideons International, many vocational and educational organizations, and enjoys working with youth as well as adults. by Trulene McCauley Their original plan to stay in Colorado for 4 years was changed when the decision was made to purchase the farm they moved onto from Lyle James. That was home for the McClellands for 33 years, until they moved into town. Their children are Leslie, who died in 1965, Peggy Scott, a teacher in the Kremmling Schools, and John, who is working in the Burlington area. The whole family was a part of the Smoky Hill activities. There was 4H in which both Bob and Wanda dedicatpd time and energy and enthusiasm for many years. One year at the County Fair a special day was dedicated to honoring Bob for his 4H leadership and devotion. At the F irst Christian Church Food Center they put a sigrr above the door that said, "Bob McClelland eats here!" Bob has also been one of the instructors for "Gun Safety", which is so very important for those learning to handle guns. An award-winning square dance team represented Smoky Hill in competition for 6 or 7 years. The club members were one solid family group as they competed at the County Fair. They were there to cheer for each other or to protect one another if they saw the need. The Smoky Hill Gun Club was an impor- tant part of the community. The trap was located on the banks of the Smoky. Many a Saturday or Sunday afternoon was spent there enjoying tall tales and competing with each other. The McClelland family has many memories of school activities, including Christmas progrrms, and Spring track meets. Other memories include the Sunday School, the 4H Club, the Friendship Circle Extension Home- makers Club, pinochle parties and square dancing. Friendships begun there have lasted through the years, even though the people have scattered. Many of those families are now living in Burlington. by Mrs. Ted Eberhart McCOMBS, JAMES B. F442 James Bluett McCombs was born in Hen- derson, Henderson County, Kentucky, on Nov. 2, 1852 and lived there until 21 years of age. There were no public schools in Ky., in those days only privatc schools where the teacher was fortunate enough to get enough students to earn $3 to $5.00 a month and the parents to furnish the books. My mother taught me at home. ln 1872, my family moved to Kansas. In McCLELLAND, BOB AND WANDA I.44l In the spring of 1946, Wanda and Bob McClelland came across the stat€ line from Sherman County, Kansas to live in the Smoky Hill neighborhood. Their first social event was a charivari given them by their fanilies and friends from back home. Their mattresg had a new home in a tree and the outhouse seat was greased with axle grease. The newlyweds had a ride in a hastilyprepared cart. 1874, the grasshoppers came and ate every- thing including the fork handles, if left in the fields. In those days, the homesteaders hunted buffalo for meat, so I went on one trip with a man nnmed Bruce Cuthbertson and I killed my first buffalo on the head of Landsman Creek in Colorado. We got a load of meat and drove back to Kansas, arriving the day before Christmas, 1875. In 1887, I came to Colorado first locating at Friend, near where Idalia is today. On April 1, 1888, my brother Tom, my sister Maude and myself took up government lands 1% miles southeast of where Seibert now stands. On the newly acquired land, we �engaged in farming, raising cattle and horses, and general ranching, and although many hardships and privations wan our lot in common with all pioneers, we forged onward in a rest home in Wichita. Myrtle wag the youngest daughter of Charles Albert and Rebecca Ellen Bradshaw. Her oldest sister Minnie was Amy McCon- nell's mother and Myrtle was an aunt of Amy's but was also a sister-in-law having Central vicinity, south of Seibert and Flagler. Ellis McConnell was born March 18, 1888 near Creswell, Kentucky. He moved from Kentucky in 1905 to Decatur Co., Kansas. In her early years Myrtle was also a teacher. One of her pupils who remembers her best was Helen (Kennedy) Kerl. After his first wife's death he left Kansas and came to Colorado. He met Ethel Clark and they were married May 11, 1924 at the Baptist Parsonage in Vona, Colorado. This young couple lived on her homestead south of Flagler along with her mother who partnership with A.V. Jessee, in the lumber by Florence McConnell passed away in 1933. Ethel was a teacher of the Sunday School and coal bwiness, which, in 1915, we sold to B.E. Roller. During W.W.I, I managed the Caley Lu-ber Yard for 1 year, while the owner did his bit in the army. My experience is that you have to work if you get any0hing in this old world, and the McCONNELL. CLARK FAMILY and onward with grim determination. My brother took the SW% of 2-9-49, my sistcr the NE%, and I took the SE% of 3-949. We always raised plenty of root crops such as beets, turnips, and potatoes. They make good feed for milk cows as well as humans. In 1907, I moved to Seibert, and went into fellow that is trying to get something for married brothers. I.444 nothing is going to come out at the little end of the horn. In Novembet, L92L, Tom and I went to California to vigit Maude, who had moved there some years before. Tom died there quite suddenly. Soon after, on May 3, L922, I returned to Seibert and remained. Although now, well past the scriptural three score and ten, and nearing the four score period, my mind is clear and alert. . . . Taken from the Della Hendricks youth group for many years. During their years living in Second Central neighborhood their home was a favorite spot for young folks. Their nephew Jim lived with them two years in the early forties and went to high school at Second Centra]. Having not been blessed with children they cared a great deal for the neighbor children, taking care of them whenever needed. One special person was Bunnie (Short) Elliot. Through their last years Bunnie and Jim took care of them. They farmed the land until 1947 when they retired and moved to Loveland, Colorado. There they continued to live with Ellis passing away in 1966. Ethel remained alone in the home until forced to enter a nursing home because of failing health a few years scrapbooks later. She passed away May 7,L974. They are both buried in the Loveland Cemetery. by Janice Salmans by Florence McConnell McCONNELL BRADSIIAW FAMILY r'443 Ellis and Ethel McConnell Ethel May Clark was born August 22,t887 in Beatrice, Nebraska. With her parents, Ethel lived at Selden and Goodland, Kansas in her girlhood. She graduated from Goodland High School. Her family came to Colorado in 1913 and lived near Stratton where she served in the Stratton Poet Office and also worked in the Stratton State Bank until its closing. In 1913 she homesteaded in the Second J McCONNELL - HILLYARD FAMILY F.445 In the year 1904, James and Rebecca McConnell, loaded what earthly possessions they had and alongwith their six children and several other families, Harvey Hughes, Henry Wilsons and Dick Jones migrated all the way 1,'. Ernie and Myrtle McConnell E.A. Ernie McConnell was born February 18, 1896 in Marion, Kentucky. Atayoungage he cnme with hie family to eastern Colorado where hie parents homesteaded. The year of L924 he met and courted Myrtle Bradshaw. They were married in May of that year. They continued to live and farm in Kit Carson County. One daughter Shirley was born. She and her mother suffered from allergies and things were very bad in the early 30's go Ern decided to move his family. They moved to Springdale, then Fatteville, fukansas. Here he got a job in the Veterans hospital where he worked until his retirement. Their health failing, their daughter moved them to Wichita, Kansas to be close to her and her family. Myrtle passed away inAugust 1986, atthe ageof92 years. Ern still survives The Jo-es McConneII family. Front row, L to R: Ellis, father Jnnes, Ernie, mother Rebecca holding son Jack. and Bill. Back row: Shedrick and DelI. �from Marion, Kentucky. These families were grandfather's homestead from the estate. He then remodeled the house, making it modern, and he continued to live with his parents, Then in 1952 Jack decided to run for County Assesgor. He won and served two terms. He and Amy purchased a small home in Burlington where they continued to live for years. While in Burlington Amy enjoyed a wide circle offriends and belonged to various women's clubs and enjoyed working part time all cousins. They all settled on homesteads in Kit Carson County. Their oldest son was old enough to file a claim. Their youngest son was six years old. They farmed and raised their family through some very rough years and enjoyed the company of several grandchildren. There was only one grandson with the McConnell name. Afier the war he purchased their homestead from the heirs. Ja-es passed away in 1936. Rebecca went to live with her oldest son, where she died in in the Burlington City Library. They were both active in the Odd Fellow and Rebecca Lodges. They both enjoyed reading and loved books. After retirement and tiring of city life they moved back to their farm south of Vona, 1937. They are both buried in the Claremont Cemetery, Stratton, Colorado. The Jones settled not far from the McConnell homesteads while the Henry Wilson and Harvey Hughes family settled in the Bethel Community. Every Sunday the McConnell home wae a gathering place for all the families. Colorado. He enjoyed farming and spending time caring for his small Polled Hereford cow herd. He also enjoyed spending time walking in the creek with his three grandchildren when they cnme to visit. In 1981 they held a sale, and as health was failing moved to Stratton, where they purchased a small home across the street from by Florence McConnell McCONNELL PETEFISH FAMILY Jack and Amy McConnell and son Jim. I.44(d the high school. Their last years were spent in this home. Jack enjoyed his garden and yard where he spent many hours and he also liked to build furniture. Their home was furnished with many pieces of furniture that he had made through the years. They enjoyed going to the Senior Citizens Center, and going to the grandchildren's various school activities. Jack went to be with the Lord in 1983. Amy continued to live alone in their home. Then in August of 1984, no longer able to stay alone, her son moved her to his farm to a small trailer house. She continued to attend church, and remained active in the American Legion Auxiliary and Senior Citizens, Farmerette Club as well as attending her grand- children's events. She had a dear friend that always cnme and took her to church, especially Ladies Aid and Jack and Amy McConnell in 1971. grew to young womanhood on the family farm at Bethune, Colorado. She boarded and Jack and Amy McConnell on their honeSnnoon. E.R. Jack McConnell was born in Marion, Kentucky, December 20, 1898. At the age of nine he came with his parents to eastern Colorado, where his father homesteaded on a quarter ofland, 13-10-47 now owned by his grandson, Jim. Jack, as he was known, was educated in Grandview and Nutbrooke schools. Amy Belle Petefish was born February 7, 1901 in Vona, Colorado. She was the oldest daughter of Snm and Minnie Petefish. She worked her way so she might graduate from Burlington High School. She then went to Greeley, Colorado where she attended Greeley Teachers College receiving a teacher'g certificate. Her firgt teaching job was at First Central. Who should she meet teaching there but Jack McConnell. They started courting for a time and were married May 3, 1924. They moved to their first home, a little green house on his father's homestead, where their son, only child, Jatnes Elvin was born October 2L,1926. After the death of his father, his mother went to live with the oldest son; they moved to the big house. He continued to farm and Amy taught school at the Grandview and Nutbrooke schools. Not being able to forsee the future, one of her little first grade students became her daughter-in-law in 1955. Jack farmed with horses, then with a tractor. They enjoyed the radio in early days. They were thrilled as everyone else to have electricity come in 1950. Their son went to service after graduation, and when he cnme home he purchased his Quilting. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in their son's new home south of Stratton, in 1974. The enjoyed fifty-six years of marriage. They are both buried in Claremont Ceme- tery, Stratton, Colorado. by Florence McConnell McCONNELL UNDERWOOD FAMILY F447 W.E. McConnell was born at Princeton, Kentucky, Dec. 5, 1891. At sixteen years of age he came with his family to a homestead southwest of Stratton. He was not old enough to file a claim for a homestead so he purchased a place south of the Underwood homestead. They had a daughter named Susie whom he met and courted. Susie Bessie Underwood was born October 13, 1893 in Oberlin, Kansas. She was a school teacher. She met Bill as he was known and they were manied May 4, 1920. �and she would make him custard. His early school years, through the eighth grade, were attended at Nuttbrooke and Grandview schools. He rode a horse to school. He tells about having to take bean sandwiches in his lunch. The other kids thought this was great and would trade their sandwiches for Jim's bean sandwiches. Money being scarce and no transportation to high school, he spent a year at home. Then he went to live and work for an aunt and uncle south ofFlagler, Colorado where he attended two years of high school at Second Central. -'&4 At this time Jim rode his horse from his parents'home twenty-two miles across open prairie to his uncle's home. He then returned home and used his folks car, a 1937 Chevy, and hauled the neighbor children to town to high school for a small fee so he might finish his high school. He graduated with the class of 1945. Early in his senior year, he was drafted into the service. After graduation he entered the U.S. Army to serve his country in World War II. He was discharged after the war ended in 1946. He came home from service and purchased his grandfather's homestead. He purchased L to R: Bill and Susie, Cousin Everett and lgabelle, and Brother Ellis and Ethel McConnell. Following their marriage, they lived three years in Salem, Oregon, where their first daughter Agnes was born. They returned to Colorado on their place where they made McCONNELL WILSON FAMILY F448 their home. Another daughter Violet was born. They attended grade school at the Grandview and Nut Brooke schools. Both girls stayed in town and attended Stratton High School where they both graduated. The oldest daughter Agnes married a local boy, Ebner Boecker, and they made their home in Denver. She worked for the Federal Center. Violet married a F.B.I. man and lived in several different stat€s. They enjoyed the birth of five grandchild- ren. Jim and I recall the year 1960, the year of the big snow. Uncle Bill and Aunt Susie were snowed in for three long months. Jim rode a horse in to see about them. Even in those days they had a large enough food supply that he only carried groceries to them twice during this time and then it was only On October 2L, L926 in a small green house on his Grandfather's homestead, James Elvin McConnell was born to E.R. "Jack" and Amy McConnell. When only a small boy he helped his father farm with horses, and they always milked a bunch of cows. At the age of ten years he was driving a teem of horses. He recalls the rough times he and his family endured during the dirty thirties. He remembers going in a wagon and team of horses to town to get supplies. As a very young boy he recalls his trips down to see his Grandmother McConnell. She would tell him to go gather the goose eggs his first tractor, a 1932 John Deere tractor, and started farming and ranching. His parents continued to live with him until 1950 when they moved to Burlington. Jim recalls the year 1950 when electricity came to our part ofthe country. A close friend taught him the electrician's trade and they started wiring all the farm homes for electricity. He also worked on a sewer gang, putting in the first sewer system for the town of Stratton. He often jokes about waiting for the little neighbor girl to grow up. This she did and when she finished high school in 1955, Florence Denise Wilson and Ja-es Elvin were married, The times were bad when the dry years in the early fifties forced Jim to go to the city for employment. He worked as a electrician, making $3.00 an hour. Both missing the farm, flour, coffee, and sugar. We had been snowed in nine days and we went down to see about them and Aunt Susie fixed the most delicioug dinner with all her canned goods she had. Then in 1963 they had gone to Kansas to visit an aunt and on their way home in a blinding rain storm they met their untimely death. They were both killed in a head on crash near Levant. Kansas. Joint services were held and they are buried in Claremont Cemetery, Stratton Colorado. The daughters still own the land and rent it to Jim. by Florence McConnell Garrett, Denise, Jim and Raymond and Donna McConneII. 1984 �school and graduated from Stratton High r:ill.a'l -3ili:' :rt:l School. For a period of several years Jim suffered bad health. In 1973 he underwent open heart surgery. He was one of the very first people in the county to undergo this surgery as it was relatively new. :]r'.,.: .':;;;, .'lrji:lr', He continued his farming plus his mail 4r.,.] , carrier career. He has seen many changes take place in the farming industry. He grew up learning to farm with horses, then to tractors without cabs, then being able to purchase a new tractor with a cab. He also saw the beginning of irrigation, having put down an irrigation well on his present farm. He went from ditch irrigation to sprinklers. He recalls many times as a boy and young man working and helping the neighbors thresh their grain. He was forced to retire from his mail "l:ll: carrying job in 1984, having served twentyseven years as a carrier south of town. Through his life of sixty years and her life of fifty years they have made a wide circle of friends. He has always had an active interest in politics serving as a Republican Precinct ' a't.tl'l $ ;i. Committeeman for twelve years. He also ' ,&:uti, ti:' worked a few years as a deputy assessor, After retiring from his job, he could not sit still so he studied to be an EMT, helping get the ambulance service started in Stratton. He has also served as an active fireman. He has been an active member of the American Legion Post 138 receiving his forty year membership card. He is also a Mason, belonging to the Burlington Lodge A.F. and A.M. No. 77. He served all the chairs, to his term as a Master. He also belongs to the Rocky Mountain Consistory. Florence has spent her years in the home, taking care of her family and working beside Jim on the farm. She loves to cook, sew, do things for her family. Her favorite season on the farm is spring when the baby calves arrive. She has belonged to various clubs throughout the years. She has been a member of M.S.A. Federated Woman's Club, serving two different terms as President. She has been a member of the American Legion Auxiliary for thirty years. In 1980 their children hosted a Silver Wedding Anniversary celebration for them. Through the years of their married life they have traveled, taking several long trips. They Wedding picture of Denise and Jim McConnell, April 22, 1955. they gave up the city to return to the farm. In 1957 Jim worked at a local factory building Colorado Caynpers. In the year 1960 a chance of a life time dream ca-e along for Jim, and he took the exnm to become a Rural Mail Carrier. He received the appointment September 3, 1960. They moved to town. After a year or so in town, Florence got ajob cooking at the school, a job she held for five years. In 1965 they decided something was missing from their life and so they adopted their first child, Raymond Frederick on March 7, 1966. Then in December, another son Garrett Lee cnme to make his home. Three years passed and January, 1969, a baby sister Donna Denise arrived. In 1970, wanting their children to grow up on a farm, they built a new home just two McConnell family; Garrett, Jim, Raymond, Denise and Donna. 1973 miles south of Stratton, where they still reside. Their children have all attended grade have taken their children on several trips, their favorite was a trip to Disneyland, and one year to the Grand Canyon. They have traveled to all parts of the state that they dearly love, Colorado. Florence was born in her Grandmother Wilson's home on January 22, 1937. They moved three times during her childhood. She attended Grandview her first three years, where Amy McConnell, Jim's mother was her first school teacher. She also attended Nuttbrooke school and then in her eighth grade the school districts consolidated and school buses were purchased and the children were bussed to town. She went all four years of high school in Stratton and graduated in 1955. The year 1981 they hosted an exchange student from Denmark who spent six months in their home. The next year a student cnme from Columbia, South America. These students became their host children. Jim enjoyed the companionship of his father-in-law Elvin "Boots" Wilson for twenty three years. They spent many hours �together walking through the fields admiring their crops. They shared a lot of farming wild yellow roses. experiences through the years. Jim and Florence recall lots ofstories about family especially his nieces and nephews. He managed to take care of himself all his Kit Carson County. They now reside only life until he euffered a stroke and spent the miles from where they were both born. Jim especially remembers a lot about the early history. They have both grown up remembering and seeing great things in the County take last months of his life in a rest home in Wray. He passed on to eternity in September 1955. He is buried in the family plot in Claremont Cemetery in Stratton, Colorado. shape. Sheck never married. He enjoyed his by Florence McConnell by Florence McConnell McCONNELL, SHEDRICK McCORMICK, HETTIE LIPFORD F450 F44S Mary Henriette (Hetty) Lipford was born in Shelby County, Missouri, on June 5, 1899 to J.W. (Jack) Lipford and Lena (Moore) Lipford, their first child. In 1908, ghe came with her parents to a homestead in the Shiloh neighborhood, 20 miles northeast of Flagler, where she continued with her schooling at the first school that the new settlers built in the area. Later she attended Flagler High School in its new building for two years. After the family moved into Flagler, she was employed in the dry goods department of the Wilson Brothers General Store on Main Avenue. Later she started an apprenticeship in the undertaking business at the Shaw Mortuary. In 1928, she was married to Carl McCormick of Colorado Springs, where she continued in the undertaking business, working at the Decker Mortuary. In 1930 she received her embabning license and in 1940, a funeral director's license. Later the McCormicks moved to Pueblo where her husband's wholesale distributing business wag located. In the mid-50'e she began having health Shedrick Garrett McConnell Shedrick Garrett McConnell, the oldest son of Jnmes and Rebecca McConnell was born January 20, 1886 in Princeton, Kentucky. He cnme to Colorado with his parents in 1907. Being of age he was able to homestead. He homesteaded one-half mile from his parents. The house and barn still stand on his place. His nephew, James owns the land now. In the early days he farmed with horses. He went to college in Greeley, Colorado to get a Teacher's Certificate. Timeg were so rough that he had to carry a pistol with him while at college for protection. He came back to the county and taught school at the sod school at Bethel. His niece by marriage, Denise Wilson remembers him passing by their home in his Star car. Quite a car in its day. Later he served several years an County Earl and Nellie Burk. A sod school house was built 1% miles on grandfather's homestead, this was where she got her first start of education. Neighbors were few and far between, but they enjoyed one another when they chanced to meet. As time went by William married in 1919 and in 1923 Roscoe and Grandfather Houlton were lost. The district moved the school to another location and built a frame building. My greatgrandmother went there to finish the 7th grade. When the district was consolidated, problems and died in 1958. Burial was in the Flagler Cemetery. what was then Smokey Hill school was built. There she finished her school days in 1924. by Blanche Lipford Carper In that time she had met Earl Burk, my great-grandfather, they married in July of 1925. So started an all new life. Earl cnme to McCRARY - BURK FAMILY F46l Marion Fredrick McCrary and Dora Lav- ina Houlton started their married life in Storm Lake, Iowa. They decided to go west and find a homestead with 2 son's, Williem Ernest and Roscoe Marion. Their Grandfather Houlton also went with them. They loaded an emigrant car in 1904 and proceeded to Selden Kansas, unloaded there and resided for a few months. Marion traveled by team and wagon to Colorado where he homesteaded % section of land. He built a 2 room native sod house. The family moved out in March of 1906;they then began to build sheds for their horses and cows and plowing the ground to put in the crops. My great-grandmother, Nellie M. McCrary, was born in the spring of 190? on a bright sunny Sunday morning, April 21. Assessor. Marion began to work for other homesteaders The family always had a tradition that the graves were decorated on Memorial Day. They always picked wild flowers. He picked Grandfather Houlton and William took care of the live stock and farming. for a small wage to help out at home. Colorado in 1923 from Nebraska. His folks had bought a wheat farm here. They met at an ice cream social at a Smokey Hill school party. After they married they bought a small farm south ofthe school and continued on for 17 years there. Theynowhave one daughter, Helen (Burk) Scheierman, she also went to Smokey Hill school until a tornado went through the area in June of 1941, destroying the school building. She then finished her school days at Burlington High school in 1944. In 1945, they then decided to sell their farm and in 1946, they had a farm sale and moved to Burlington. Earl worked at odd jobs and helped to build the Memorial Hospital. He also did some work for the city. In Spring of 1948 they moved to Loveland and worked for the sugar factory till he got in an accident. After that he worked for a contractor. In Fall of 1950, they came back to Burlington where my great-grandfather worked for the city for 20 years and retired. He now works at odd jobs carpentering and helping friends and family. by Nellie (McCrary) Burk, submitted by Launa Kay Cooper �McCURDY, C. Iry. AND BERTHA (IIOGSETT) F.462 C.W. McCurdy was a Scotch-Irish decent, born September 19, L872.He was the young- ffirl FRESH AND CURED MEATS FRESH OYSTERS, POULTRY & GAME IN SEASON HICHEST MARKET PRICE PAID FOR HIDES Advertisement for C.W, McCurdy in Burlington paper. est of a large family of boys. He was born near Roseville,Illinois and grew to manhood there. He married Bertha (Hogsett). She was born December 18, 1880. They were manied near Shenandoah, Iowa December 22, 1898. To this union two children were born, a son, Leslie McCurdy and a daughter Mildred McCurdy (mother of Winifred James). They lost their only son, Leslie, from pneumonia when he was 18 years old. The death of their son weighed heavy on their hearts all of their days. The family lived in Iowa, near Red Oak and Shenandoah. They later moved to Lincoln Center, Kaneas, where he had a meat market and then moved on to Burlington, Colorado where he opened a meat market on main street, next door to the Record Printing Office - later he moved to a farm Southwest of Burlington. Farming with horses was a tedious task, and when you had 4 to 6 horses hitched to a disk you had the inevitable "Runaway"! More than once someone got a leg cut, and the women were supposed to fix them up, at least "Patch em" until someone could get Dr. Gillette and his good wife Viola. They had a small black and white rat terrier dog, named Trixie, they had brought him with them from Iowa, and that little dog hated rattlesnakes. Trixie had been bitten so many times on the head that his head wag permanently enlarged and he was completely deaf. He didn't seem to mind, he still went after any snake he saw. Prairie Fires were always a threat. What fences they had usually had "gunny" sacks wrapped around the wire near the corner posts - when smoke appeared on the horizon - water in buckets and crenm cans was hauled by wagon - jugt in case - It was coming on through! "Charley", as he was known, was a very pleasant, personable man with his easy smile and copper hair and mustache. Charley had a Model T Ford, and was he proud of it - he knew he could always back up the hills, when he couldn't make it going forward! He would stop by a neighbors house, who rarely got to town, to see if they needed any supplies. He usually ended up with a long list and then when he brought the supplies back - they quite often forgot to pay him - He felt he had helped, but his wife was most unhappy! Money was hard to come by! C.W. McCurdy Meat Market in Burlington, CO. 1905 ln L927 the family moved to Matheson, Colorado where Charley opened a General Store, but this was a short lived venture and in 1930 Charley and Family were preparing to move East of Stratton, Colorado. Charley was repairing the windmill when his canva{r glove caught in the windmill gears breaking his little finger - the wound was a small thing but Blood Poisoning set in and then Lock Jaw. He died at his daughter, Mildred Esch, home on April 4, 1930. His wife Bertha died June 30, 1947, in Goodland, Kansag. Written by his granddaughter Mrs. Chester (Winifred) James. McDONALD FAMILY F463 McDonald ranch Steers for the meat market. The McDonald Ranch was known as the CorRanch. It was firstowned byaMr. Tuttle until 1889 when he deeded a % section to Harry Cox. Mr. Tuttle died in 1892 and Harry Cox died in 1928 or 29. Hie wife, Marie L. Cox leased the place sometime in the 1900'g to John Davis. Morton Davis leased the land after the death ofJohn Davis. Jerry Guy and family lived there from 1933 until March 1, 1935. A Mr. Earl Radcliff lived there for some time and worked for Mrs. Cox. Mrs. Radcliffe was a school teacher in the area and Bud Wood remembers her as being his teacher when he was in the second grade. The Radcliffs lived on the McArthur place and then on the Kennedy place. Frank McDonald homest€aded in Mildred, Colorado just north of Eckley, Colorado in �& ii"'0"'trf""HtT;"J*1T,H.";'il""fr Jt:T;'j family to Colorado in 191.1. They lived in Mildred for 20 years before moving his family to the Bill Mace place east of the Cox ranch in 1929 or 1930. The family consisted of Sylvia, Goldie, Opal, Bertha, Hawey, Clarence, Marion and Rufug. In the early spring of 1935, Frank and his family leased the Cox ranch from Mrs. Cox. They were there just a month or so before the flood of 1935. The McDonalds bought the ranch in 1942 and they farmed and bought more ground to join to the ranch. Frank McDonald died December 13, 1955 and his wife died in the spring of 1955. Clarence lived in Denver several years and then came back to help Harvey and Rufus farm. Their sister Sylvia, who helped care for the home with Bertha passed away on September 22, Lg70 and Clarence passed away on August 8, L977. Harvey and Bertha moved to Yuma, Colorado in 1984. Goldie lives in Denver, Colorado. Opal lives in Iowa and Marion lives in Yuma, Colorado. Rufus still lives on the home place and with the help of his nephew, Verlin, son of Clarence, still takes care of the ranch tending the hogs, cattle and farming wheat, corn and alfalfa. Harvey McDonald told this story to Bud Wood. by Edward (Bud) Wood McKINLEY FAMILY F464 W w The Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital built under Willi"- McKinley's supervision while on a year's sabbatical from Burlington Public Schools new chapter in our lives. By the end of that chapter, we had come to be known most as "Mr. Mac" and "Jo". At this writing, Mr. Mac is gone and this account by me, Jo, from my 83 year-old's vantage recalls the things that felt important to us as they happened. We entered the Flagler community in 1925 with conviction, from our own experience, that education of the young was among the most important of human endeavors. Teach- ing youth to prepare for their lives, to seek out and develop every available opportunity to enrich their own lives and the lives of others, was a life pursuit which neither of us ever doubted. The early years in Flagler were good to us. Mac focused on recruiting a faculty of high quality, improving school attendance, gaining accredited standing with universities and colleges, and generally developing his special style of teaching the pursuit of excellence that touched many lives and endeared him to his students. Together we worked to involve the community more closely with the schools and to develop the spirit of cooperation and to enhance community pride. There were many wonderful people and life was rewarding. Athletics increased in popularity and became a focal point for all, especially as our young athletes won recognition at county, district and etate levels. One of the most memorable events was the Girls'State Basketball Championship and the memoryof the quality of that group of young people lingers on. Some difficult times made deep impresWilliam W. McKinley, superintendent of many schools sions too. An auto accident with Mac and part of the girls' basketball team was too near to tragedy for comfort. It also damaged our new car! Dr. Williams cnme to our house late at night to be sure Mac's neck was not badly injured and many friends rallied with transportation and help to repair our car. Even hard times beco-e good ones when shared with good people. The market crash of '29, followed by severe drought and awful dust storms, tested the stamina of everyone. The blizzards what - storm fear they could produce! I recall one when we worried for six days about one bus driver before hearing he was safe. Most drivers lived in town and we could check that William McKinley in the classroom On a hot day, in early August of 1925, the McKinley family began its 40 year history in Kit Carson County. William W. and Josephyne A. McKinley, with their infant son William (Jr.), left their roots in Fowler, Colorado, and drove to Flagler. We were young and ambitious and eager to begin this the children were home, but one driver was a senior in high school and lived some 20 miles from town. The phones went out after qerlves rrom rlauoween lesf,rvlf,les. rrevloug mischief such as putting a cow in a bell tower and, hazardously, blocking the highway with farm equipment were displaced by a wholesome fun-filled Halloween carnival. held in the theatre building and sponsored by the Woman's Club with help from other organizations and attended by both youth and adults. The carnival's guccess was gratifying to us all. In Januar5r, 1935, we left Flagler and our friends there and moved to Burlington where Mac had accepted the position of superintendent of schools. Besides the school and community activities recalled above, Mac and I had ensured that we would always be busy. We had added two more sons, C. Robert and J. Richard. Some years later we had our fourth and final son, James, and I wisely decided to make do without a daughter. Instead I taught the boys to do dishes and some of them to knit and my penchant for crafts led me to many happy hours of teaching and sharing handwork. The difficult 1930's continued and the dust storms with them. I recall one sudden storm catching about 200 neighboring schools' people at an event in Burlington. Burlington responded sharing homes, supplying food - and, not the least, providing and blankets good companionship to the stranded. The years in Burlington were good. Mac and his faculties developed a school system with high standards and high success. Well prepared teachers with strong ideals and athletic progr4ms designed to develop the young people as well as to win proved to be something in which we all could take pride. And then there was social progress. A new gymnasium with kitchen and hot lunch room, meeting rooms, music rooms and a stage was built as a WPA project. It provided work for residents and became the site for many community as well as school activities. The drought ended and the future began to look bettcr and then came another major time. World War II brought some prosperity but left us with the loss of many of our talented youth. Some teachers moved to better paying positions and there were increased opportunities in business. All ofus, in Kit Carson County and the whole country, were involved in the war effort. One of the most gratifying times for us was the episode of community spirit activated by the building of Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital. Mac had been active in snmpaigning for the hospital, especially while he was president of Rotary. When Rotary voted to sponsor the project and the people of the whole county responded and helped get it done, it was a major highlight for our family. Without government subsidy, our county pitched in and every citizen and organization helped in some way. Hours of labor with shovel and hammer, or needle and thread were donated. Donations by the "10 Acre Club" and other clubs and individuals furnished rooms dedicated to beloved relatives and friends. Service clubs contributed freely. Some I can recall include landscaping by the Garden Club and cooking facilities supplied by the Inter Se Se and Past President's Clubs. his last passengers were delivered, but before we could hear that he was home. In town the The School Board granted Mac a year intended for a banquet were unceremoniously but gratefully divided among those short of food. One exemple of our maturing community sabbatical and allowed him to supervise the building of the hospital. We, he and I, felt a deep satisfaction from the effort when the hospital was open and providing care. After a year (academic 1948-49) in Wray, supplies got so low that seven turkeys �we decided to return to Burlington and Mac joined the Burlington Building and Supply Co. (BBS). There was a growth period and the new company built several nice homes, the new Montezuma Hotel (carefully designed not to burn as the previoue one had), school buildings (in Flagler too), and a face lift on the court house. When the droughts of the fifties affected the building boom, Mac decided to return to In the "dirty thirties", the dirt blew so hard, it would get into the creeks and strenme and just make mud. The cattle would try to get a drink and get buried in this mud, with only their heads sticking out. Lloyd would get a rope and put it around the cow's head to pull her out. One winter, Lloyd raised his 75 head of cattle by feeding them on wheat and rye pasture, 35 acres of wheat and 17 acres of rye, with some corn stalks too. They were 'i'j& t.* He was very proud his real love - teaching. but building lives was always of the buildings, the real action. He and I always agreed on that! We spent three years in Bethune and five more in Flagler, where several of his earliest former students had asked Mac to return "to do for our kids what you did for us." Those years were less hectic, but gratifying and always were blessed with a supportive community and a forward looking school board. The Flagler alumni dedicated the football field as "McKinley Field" on a cool autumn evening that remains a highlight for our family. All four sons, Mac and I were all together during a tribute to all that Mr. Mac L... *r. \, &: $.1- r. . W;*,*a,,, had stood for and taught and exemplified. Those later years I spent deeply involved clubs, church and in community affairs Lloyd and Georgia Megel taken in front of groups. out here in Colorado. They moved south of Stratton and lived there until the thirties. Dave and Eugena finally moved into Stratton where they spent the rest of their lives. Lloyd went to school at First Central. and knitting sponsoring china painting We decided to retire one year early and Mac resigned at Flagler, but then we changed our minds and decided to finish one last year in education. We spent a very nice final year in Stratton where Mac finished as he had teaching in the classroom. After- 40 years in a county that had grown from "no fresh vegetables" in the grocery begun stores to super markets rivaling the city ones, we went to Arizona. Those 40 years were happy developing years for the communities .as well as for us and it is a joy to visit friends of many years and be aware of the growth of our "prairie home". by Josephyne A. McKinley MEGEL, LLOYD AND GEORGIA F466 Lloyd and Georgia Megel's SOth Wedding Anniversary taken at home gouth of Vona. Dave and Eugena Megel came from Marysville, Kansas in 1906, in a covered wagon with their family, Olive, Laura and Lloyd. Lloyd and Laura were four years old. Dave originally cn-e from Bogton where his family were all tailors. He worked for the railroad Armstrongs in early 1930's, by Lloyd's Star Car. Lloyd and Frank Whitmore took singing lessons together. Years back when we were young we'd go to all the dances at Smokey Hill and other schools. Lloyd played the violin, or fiddle. Back then you didn't have to have a driver's license, but the car had to be licensed. The neighbor boys were hard up allowed to graze on the wheat in the spring until the wheat began to joint, then removed to other feed. The wheat had been damaged by a severe hail storm, but we averaged 11 bushelg per acre at harvest time. Once it w{ur so dry, we had to sell out and we only had 11 cows left. So in the spring, when the cows calved, we'd go to town and buy another calf to put on the cow with her calf. To do this Lloyd would put a harness strap around the necks ofthe calves and then a swivel and a rope between both calves. We ended up with 11 cows and 22 calves this way. We built the herd back up in this manner. Our sons Dewayne and Jerry were both in the army. Lloyd passed away on July 29, 1983. I still live on the farm south of Vona. My son, Larry and his wife Nancy, live here also in their own home, with their three sons: Mark, Michael, and Anthony. Larry is a teacher and he taught his first school 20 miles north of Burlington. by Georgia Megel MESSENGER, EARL AND LUCY (WOODJ66 and they couldn't afford one, so they'd borrow ours and off we'd go. Lloyd and I, Georgia Lonzona Armstrong were married in Wray, Colo., in 1929. My sister Cora was married at the seme time to Guy Petefish. We lived with Lloyd's folks l year, then we moved to the McFeeder place for about 1 year. Then back north to my folk's homestead, while they moved into our house. Then back north to a place south ofStratton called the Dick Reisch place. Then to a place south of Bethune. We had 6 children. We lost our flrrst two babiee, a girl and then a boy. My doctor was Dr. Bergen. Out sons, (Larry) Lawarence, Dewayne and Jearold (Jerry), and daughter Carol, were all born in Stratton. Larry and Dewayne were delivered by Dr. Cavey, Jerry by Dr. Hewitt, and Carol by Dr. Keen. Marvin was born at home, south of Vona, delivered by Dr. Hewitt. Marilyn was born in Flagler and delivered by Dr. Straub. We have 17 grandchildren, and 9 greatgrandchildren. We farmed and raised cattle and kids. Whenever someone asked what we did in our spare time, we said, "just raise kids and cowg". Lloyd made wind chargers and sold them to make extra money and that helped us get by. He also worked on the railroad and had hie own threshing machine. Once a Melvin Rogers came by and Lloyd welded his leg back together. That is he welded his braces. He had broken his leg, I guess from a fall from a horse years before, and the brace was falling apart. Jean, Clifford, and Dorothy Messenger, year 1937. Children of Lucy and Earl Messenger. Earl, was born the 31st day ofAug., 1895, to Isaac D. and Lulu P. Messenger in the small trading post town of Cattlee, Cherokee Nation, Okla., and in the spring of 1896, was moved to Loveland, Co., and then to Kit Carson Co. Colo., in the spring of 1901, where he was nurtured to manhood on the old Messenger homestead 21 miles NE of Stratton. His formal education start€d in an old sod building located just south of the Repub- �hone5rmoon, Earl moved his bride onto the homestead to reside until 1939 (Earl's parents had moved into town). It was here their 3 children were born: Norma Jean, Clifford Wayne, and Dorthy Darlene. After the tough and lean years of the 1929 depression and 4 years of drought (1935-39), he gave up the farm and moved into Stratton where he worked with the county road crew for 4 years, 2 years for the electric power company, 2 years again for the county under County Commissioner McArthur. In 1948, he became the manager of the American Legion Club in Stratton and served there for 10 years. On May 27, L948, his beloved Lucy died of cancer after many months of illness. During the next few years all ofthe children married Home of Earl and Lucy Messinger at Stratton, Co. and moved away. On Wednesday, Dec. 17, 1958, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Elsie Proctor and shortly thereafter moved with his bride to Colorado Springs, Colo., where he worked and resided until his death, Jan. 9, 1973. He was buried in the Claremont Cemetery, Stratton, Colo., beside his wife, Lucy. After Earl's death Elsie moved back to Stratton, and resided there close to her children until she passed away May 30, 1983, and wae buried beside Earl. Earl had worked hard all the days ofhis life and was still actively engaged in a good work until his final illness. He had empathy for all who suffered and was a charitable man. He taught his children well to be thrifty, honest, and to do an honest day's labor for a honest day's pay, to do good to all and to honor their parents, by C.W. Messenger MESSENGER, ISAAC D. Earl and Lucy Messinger in 194?. lican River and the old "Wood" ranch, with his classmates; Gladys Quinn, Ethel Whipple, and Louella Hitchcock. He went to school at the old "Tuttle" School through the 9th grade and Yz of the tenth grade before duties at home demanded his time. Earl shared his parents with two brothers, Archie and Ernest, and five sisters: Stella, Clara, Hazel, Mar5/, and Eva. They all grew up, married, and moved away form thie home except; Ernest, who moved to Stratton when his parents did in 1926, and Ernest, who was killed by lightening Aug. 29, 1925. Earl went to the Army on Oct. 2, 1917, and served until May 1919, in the European theatre of England, France, Belgium, and Germany, as a horseshoer for the Cavalry. Upon returning to the farm he helped his father in the building of a new 2-story, L2room home, a garage, shop, a large rambling hog shed, and a new chicken houge. Lucy, a daughter of Henry H. and Rachel Wood, was raised within 2 miles of the Messenger homest€ad with 6 brothers: Art, Harvey, Ted, Earl, Ralph, and lvan. Even though she lived close by for 15 plus years, it wasn't until Aug. 8, 1926, that she and Earl were married, when they were both 30 years old. When Earl and Lucy returned from their West Virginia to Benkelman, Nebr., then went by stagecoach to Bird City, Kansas, where we left Mother with relatives, then my brother and I came by wagon train to Colorado, where we went to my brother's claim northeast of Brulington. He ceme out in the fall of 1885. There were no crmps, towns, or roads; we angled across the prairie from Bird City. I saw no Indians, but there were plenty of buffalo, wild horses, and antelope. We found my brother's claim and lived with him for about a year. In 1887, I took a pre-emption and a homestead beside my brother's claim, 15 mile northeast of Burlington. I proved up on the pre-emption, but let the homestead go back to the government. About 30 years ago I took another homestead in Township 6 in Range 46, Burlington was then situated on the old townsite. and all the water used was hauled from Lostman Creek, a distance of 10 miles, and the haulers charged 25 cents for a 3 gallon pail of water. Folks did not waste water then. Everything used then was freighted in from Haigler, Nebr., Wray, Colo., and Cheyenne Wells. Colo. My brother hauled water until I got located, and then we put down a "company" well in Sand Creek, hauling up the watcr by windlass, and we had plenty for all purposes and for everyone. the fellow who had a good well was the richest man in the community. I worked as a blacksmith for years; in fact, that was my trade when I came west. After taking out the pre-emption and homestead, I would live on it the required time each year, and the rest of the time I worked for companies in different places. I worked for the Colorado City Water Works for some years and also for the Pueblo Street Car Company. During the time I was living on my homestead, I helped by brother put down a few of the drilled wells around Burlington and other places in the county. He had a well- I.467 drilling outfit which he purchased after he Born 1866, in West Virginia, I lived in West Virginia until young manhood, then came to Colorado in the spring of 1886. My mother and a brother and myself cane by train from had been here for awhile. I remember when the Countywas new, that so many people were starving; they had no fuel or clothes when winter came on, and no way of getting anything, for money was very 1952, Stratton, Co. Ira and Lulu Messinger with children, Mary, Eva, Earnest, Stella, Clara and Hazel. "Archie" wae killed by Iightening in 1925. �scarce. Word of this predicament got to Denver, and the store owners there made up a large shipment of clothes, shoes, and whatever was needed to help keep the people warm. The Trinidad coal miners mined coal free. A committee was appointed to distribute these supplies and the people were taken care of until the severe winter weather was over. I know that many people were saved by this timely help. The County Commissioners shipped in three carloade ofwheat and loaned it to the farmers for seed wheat. This was to be paid back when the crop was raised, and was the means of starting wheat raising, in this county. But even with the help given, the winter was so severe that a number of people froze to death and many cattle and horses were lost and died from exposure. It was really dangerous to get far away from home, for one never knew when a storm might arise that would turn into a blizzatd, and as there were no roads to follow, and no fences to use as a linemark, it wan so easy to become confused and wander until exhausted and then to sleep the sleep that meant "another person frozen to death". So we always tried to make it to some farm house before dark or ifthe weather got suddenly cloudy which was likely to mean a storm, It is rather hard to express in writing all the hardships endured by those people who cnme west seeking new homes and often times a better livelihood. Many a man has come here and settled down with his family and lost all he had in trying to make a go of farming, for I know that year after year no crops would be raised, the cattle died, ofdisease or exposure. When a man lost everything he had no way of leaving, so just had to stay and make the best of it. A number of settlers, especially those coming in north of the Republican River, had quite a bit of trouble with the big cattle companies. Of course, the cattlemen resented the intrusion of farmers fences, and small herds, and they tried different ways to scare the people out. I remember that one of the foreman of the "Bar-T" Ranch tried to make a settler by the nnme of Munsinger move off his homestead. He tried many ways, but the settler stayed. Then the foreman, and one of the cowboys went to Munsinger's home and was going to run him out. But they did not figure that Munsinger was a fighter too, so he met those two men with a shotgun and gave them fair warning to get off his land and stay off. However, the foreman would not heed the warning, so Munsinger shot him dead and then shot the heel off the cowboy's boot. By that time, the cowboy was heading towards home and safety as fast as he could. There MESSINGER FAMILY F468 Pioneers To Kit Carson County John W.J. Messinger, a tailor by trade, immigrated to this country about 1765, when a young man of twenty, to make a home in the wilderness, settling in York County, Pennsylvania, where he bought a farm. He married Miss Catherine Goswiler, daughter of John Goswiler of Cumberland County, Pa. John and Catherine Messinger had ten children: Mary, Henry, John, Jacob, William, Catherine, Susannah & Bostorra (twins), Daniel and Margaret. These items were recorded on page 542 of Biographical Sketches in the History of Perry County, Pa., and, on that same page, under the heading of John Loudon was the following: In these early times, the Indians were very numberous, and their depredations troublesome. At one time when some children were going to school they saw a party of Indians, and on reaching the schoolhouse told their teacher, who did not seem to fear any trouble, for he told them to recite one lesson, and then he would let them go home. In a few moments the "redskins" were upon them, and, though the teacher begged for mercy for the children, they were all mercilessly killed and scalped but one, who escaped to tell the horrors of the tale. Wm. Messinger, a son of John W.H., was born in 1787 in Cumberland County, Pa., according to a biography ofhis grandson, J.J. Messinger. His wife was Barbara and they had six children: Elizabeth, John, Hannah, Sarah, Barbara and Susannah. Several times in the f/fstory of Perry County he is referred to as Captain and it mentions that he ran the first store at Grier's Point, once a postoffice, which is located in Rye Township of Perry County. Another item mentions that he built the chop and sawmill east of Keystone about 1835 and the Preseott, Kansas, historian, Florine Norbury, in her article, The Way It Wos, wrote that Wm. visited his son, John, his grandson, John J. and his great grandson, Jesse, in the year of 1886 at Barnsville, Kansas, when he was 97 years of age. John Messinger was born on the 6th of May, 1823, in Perry County, Pa., and he married a Miss Sarah Kell who was born on the 28th of February, 1821, in Perry County, Pa. They had four children: Levi Frank, John Jefferson, Emily and Sarah. In 1860, the John Messinger familymoved toTexas and, inthat same year, they took up residence in Neosho County, Kansas. At the outbreak of the Civil War, John, who was farming Section 20 of Bourbon County, Kansas, entered the state militia and was stationed at Barnsville, Kansas, in Captain Lounsberry's company. In 1865, he sold his farm and opened a store in Barnsville. John Jefferson Messinger was born on the 14th of December, 18b1, in Clinton County, Illinois. Although some of his youth was spent in Clinton County, much of it was in Barnsville, Kansas, and in 1871, at the age of 20, he took over the operation of his father's store. On October 3, l8?b, he married Miss Susan Ann Pierce, whose family had traveled by covered wagon from Kentucky to Illinois, back to Kentucky and back to Illinois before settling in Neosha County, Kansas,and, during these travels, Samuel and Ann (Johnston) Pierce had nine of their total of twelve children plus one adopted girl. John and Susan Messinger had five children: Martha, Cora, JesseThronton. Evaand John S. In 1882, John was one of the first settlers in Hume, Bates Co., Missouri. He hauled the first load ofstone and constructed a two story building which housed the City Hall, an Opera House and a gristmill. This building was still standing in 1982 at the Centennial celebration of Hume. John Jefferson Messinger sold all his holdings in Hume, loaded the family including his wife, Susan, his unmarried son, Jesse, his unmarried daughter, Eva, along with some personal effects and one prize high-spirited horse on the train with a destination of Kit Carson County, Colorado, about the year of 1906. The journey went well except for the horse which died of nervous prostration on the freight car and may have been an omen for the future of this family on the homesteads of Eastern Colorado. by John (Jack) W. Messinger was a bit of excitement at the time, but nothing was ever done to Munsinger, for most everyone felt he was jusified in doing what he did, for he had already stood quite a bit of abuse from the cattlemen around him. (This life hietory was asgembled by Bessie Gunthrie, as a W.P.A. Project in about 1933, directly from Isaac. Received from Henry Hoskin, Kit Carson County abstract office in Burlington, Sept., 1985, by Clifford W. Messenger.) by Clifford Messenger Windmill, storm cellar and cement block house with hardwood floors built on the J,J. Messinger homeetead by J.J' and Jesse Messinger about 1908 at Seibert, Colorado. 3 miles west and 10 miles rorrth of Seibert. �MESSINGER FAMILY F469 Weibert State Bank and slivers into store buildings across the street. The general store they had bought from Fred Probasco was one damaged by the lst storm. This building had a hall above the store with an outside staircase. The hall was used for lodge meetings-the Royal Neighbors and Modern Woodmen to which my mother and father belonged. Later they boWht a store on the south end of the business block and on the west side of the street. I gtarted school in a two-story white frame building on the southeast edge of Seibert. About 1918 a new red brick two-story building was built for grade and high school. It was here that I began my lifelong friendship with Bonny Gaunt. We lunched together often either at school or at our store. For dessert we always had a nickel Hershey bar. Jack and I were expected to help in the store, especially on those busy Saturdays when many of the farmers came to town to do their shopping. On the Fourth of July we always had a stand built outside the store, and we kids sold candy, gum, pop, and especially fireworks. We were one of the few Catholic families in Seibert. A priest from Stratton came to our house and said Mass one Saturday each Maxine and Jack Messinger children of Mary C. Hughes and Jesse T. Messinger about 1918. The John J. Messingers, son Jesse T., and daughter Eva M. came to Seibert, Kit Carson County, Colorado, in about 1907 and homesteaded on a section of land twelve miles southwest of town. Early in 1910, Mary Cecelia Hughes had finished teaching a fourmonth school in weetern Kansas when she and a friend of the Megsingers, Ethel Durbin from Fulton, Bourbon County, Kansas, decided to visit the Messingers in Colorado and file on land for a homestead. Mary (called Mae by most of her friends) met the bachelor Jesse Thornton Messinger. A courtship ensued then letters were exchanged between the two, a proposal by Jesse, and Mae Hughes returned to Colorado for the wedding on August 22, Lgt}, with Eva Messinger and Ethel Durbin as witneeees, and with Rev. Raber officiating. I was born in the cement block house of my grandparents south of Seiberg with only them and my father in attendance as recorded on my birth certificate July 18, 1911. I was christened Margaret Maxine Messinger by the Rev. Geo. P. Fenske on the 29th of August, 1911. I don't remember much about my life on the farm, but I've seen pictures of my brother John (Jack) William and me in front of the block house which our grandfather had built on the homestead. Jack was born there with the assistance of Dr. Blomberg on June 19, 1913. Our parents had moved into the elder Messingers'house when they had moved to California. Later our family moved into the town of Seibert. We first lived in the Clarence Bell house north and west of the main street of town. A tornado that turned day into night caused the chickens to go to roost, then lift€d the hen house, leaving them roosting, but twisting the hen houge to bits. Several years latcr another tornado lifted Kliewer'g lumberyard into the air and drove a two-by-four into the bathtub of living quarters in the month. For an altar he used the round dining table that I now have in my kitchen. My junior high school years in Seibert were filled with parties, picnics, and studies. Mr. and Mrs. MacArthur came from Chautauqua Park in Boulder to teach Math, English, and History. He was principal while Jessie Magee-Gray was assistant principal. The two science teachers, Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Slattery, took us on interesting field trips-especially to Crystal Springs, a wonderful picnic area between Seibert and MESSINGER HUGHES FAMILY F460 James Wells emigrated from England to America about 1695, and settled on the site which is now Baltimore, Maryland. His son, Capt. Richard Wells, born in 1715, served in the Revoluationary War as a rifleman in Captain John Nelson's Company. He was married 3 times and had 24 children, one of whom was George, born in 1745in Baltimore, Md. George had 2 wives and many children amoDg whom was William, born on the 20th of Feb., 1765, in Bedford County, Pa., who had 3 wives and many children, one of whom was Ann Wells, born in 1800 in Ohio. Another William Wells, who was closely associated with this family in Howe's Historical Collec' tions Of Ohio, Yol. II, pages 141-144, was kidnapped as a child by Indians after his parents were killed and he was raised by Little Turtle of the Miami Tribe. He became an Indian brave but abandoned them and joined the white forces when he foresaw the futility of resistance. He was a spy for General "Mad Anthony" Wayne and acted as interpreter between the white forces and the Indians when a treaty was signed at Fort Greenville, Ohio, in the summer of 1795. The first mentioned William Wells established the city of Wellsville, Ohio, married Ann Clark, and one of their off-spring, the afore mentioned Ann Wells married Oliver P. Shearman, born about 1800 in Ireland, and one of their children, Mar5r S. Shearman, born on the 26th of Sept, 1825, in West Virginia manied William H. Green, born on the 27th ofJuly, 1838, at Plattsburg, Clinton County, Missouri. William Green's family in Flagler. America goes back to an estate granted by Academy at Leavenworth, Kansas, which was about 30 miles from Kansas City, Kansas, Tobacco, Md. One of the interesting stories of this family concerns Alice Green, who In the fall of 1926, I enrolled in St. Mary where my maternal grandmother Anna Hughes lived. At the end of my senior year I was awarded a scholarship to St. Mary Junior College, but because of the Crash of '29, I could stay only one semester. After trying various occupations and gaining more college credits through correspon- dence courses and extension work from Teachers' College at Greeley, Colorado, in 1931, I took the Teacher's examinations administered by Della Hendricks, Kit Carson County Superintendent. I received a teachers'certificate which allowed me to teach a couple years with a chance to renew it for another two years. I later upgraded my certificate. My first teaching experience was in a oneroom school near Landsman Creek and Spring Valley Ranch north of Burlington, Colorado. I renewed my contract each year for three years. In 1935, I decided to teach at the Tuttle School north of Stratton, Colorado. While in this district I renewed my acquaintance with Earl Radcliff who was living on the Pugh Ranch. He later became my husband. by Maxine Messinger Radcliff Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, at Port married Prince Iturbide of Mexico, whose father was Emperor in L822-23. In 1864, Maximillian was crowned Emperor of Mexico with the assistance of French troops. In the meantime, Alice Green Iturbide gave birth to a boy named Augustine de Iturbide and subsequently, Carlotta, the wife of Maximillian, kidnapped this child to act as heir apparent for Maximillian. Alice Green lturbide petitioned Sec. of State Seward under Abraham Lincoln for help in recovering her son, and, failing to receive help from the Ameriean government, she went to France and petitioned Napoleon III who withdrew the French troops from Mexico, and Maximillian was defeated by Juarez and the Republic of Mexico was re-established. Williem H. and Mary S. Green had 2 children: Anna E., born on the 22nd of Sept., 1861, and Teresa. Anna E. Green married John S. Hughes, born on the 8th of December, 1858, in Pulaski County, Kentucky. His grandfather, born about 1775 in Wales, came to this country from Ulster, Ireland, and settled in Virginia. He was interested in farming and tanning and was also a dealer in slaves. Later, he continued west and purchased a farm of 900 acres at Wolf Creek, Russell County, Kentucky, after which he went to Tennessee and married Miss Sarah Thomas, thought to be a childhood sweetheart. They returned to the farm in Kentucky where he left her in the care of slaves and returned to Kentucky a �townspeople. Kate Hutchens ran the hotel and her niece played a piano in the lobby. She fit entirely around the piano etool. The movie house, cat-a-cornered from the hotel, ran Saturday afternoon matinees of Tarzan and Tarzans' Son in silent black and white pictures which never ended and the cowboy pictures, featuring Wm. S. Hart, Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix fighting Indians, outlaws, rustlers and upholding the rights of the popular moral majoritieg of our day allowed my friends and I to emulate their activities by going to the Roller Lunber Yard where Mr. Roller allowed us to use wooden lathes for horses and we carved guns of wood with an appropriate firing mechanism to shoot rubber rings cut from inner tubes with which we shot up the town without any adult superviaion. Mae Messinger and her mother, Anna Hughes at the Jesse and Mae Messinger home in Seibert, Kit Carson County, Colorado, in 1924. Car ig a 1922 Willys Overland Sedan with a 4 cylinger motor. year later. This union produced l0 children of whom the oldest was Thomas Hughes, Jr., who fought in the Mexican war after which he married Mary Jane Turpin and settled in Fulton, Bourbon County, Kansas, where he was a blacksmith, an Inn keeper and a horse dealer. This couple had 3 children: John S., Rosa and Elizabeth. John S. Hughes married Anna Green as previously noted and they had 8 children: Mary Cecelia, George, William, James, Agnes, John S., Leonidas & Arthur Wayne. Mary Cecelia becnme a country school teacher and, in pursuit ofthis occupa- tion, she and her friend, Ethel Durbin, went to visit the Messingers on their new homestpad southwest of Seibert, Kit Carson, Colorado. There ehe met Jesse Thornton .Messinger and they were married on the 22nd of August, 1910. They settled on a homest€ad claim of their own just north of his parents' claim. The documentaries of the Messinger, Hughes and their related families has been done to show the various cultures which with my mother and there I met Dorothy composed the background of our family as well as many other families which came together to make Kit Carson County one of the integral parts of this gEeat nation of ours. Rockwell. Dorothy and I were married on the 1lth of March, 1936. She did not have the background of Seibert but her ancestry could be traced to the Vikings of Norway, Ralph de Rocheville of Normandy and Britain, Wm. Deacon Rockwell who came to America in 1620, Josiah Rockwell who was killed and by John (Jack) W. Messinger MESSINGER, JOHN AND DOROTHY Jack Messinger and his pet coyote in front of Messinger residence at Seibert, Colorado about 1928. F461 3rd. Generation John (Jack) W. Messinger was born on the 19th ofJune, 1913, on my parents homestead, 3 miles west and 10 miles south of Seibert, Kit Carson County, Colorado. Mysister, Maxine, had been born 2 years earlier on this same homestead without a doctor in attendence. My Uncle Walter Caywood, who had filed on a homest€ad 5 miles south of Seibert, becnme very ill during the harsh winter of 1913-1914 and, eventually, went to St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver where he died ofcancer on the 22nd of February, 1914. His wife, Cora Messinger Caywood, and their three children moved to Denver after which my grandparents gave up In the early days in Seibert, my parents operated cream stationg where they bought cream and milk from the farmers, test€d it for cream content by placing small bottled with long necks, filled partly with milk and a small nmount of acid in a rotary rack, then turning a handle which swung the rack and bottles with enough speed that the centrifugal force separated the cream from the milk with the acid forming a line between so they could accurately assess the amount of butterfat in each can and determine the proper payment to the farmers. Later, the Messingers opened a general merchandise with living quarters in the rear, and lastly, they bought the A.V. Jessee store on the west side of main street. Here, I remember the plug tobacco which was cut by a hand-operated tobacco cutter; the giant wheels of cheese which were cut in wedges by a giant cheese cutter; the caddies of cookiee with lids, when removed, were replaced by a metal and glass display front and fit on a cookie rack; the liquorice stick and the jaw breakers in the candy case; the big barrels of pickles with slime over the top but which came out as delicious morsels for the early settlers. In 1933, my parents separated and I went to Kansas City, Kansas, their homestead and moved to Denver. A few years later my parents, my sister and myself moved from the homestead into the town of Seibert where I remained until the early part of 1933. I will try to reminisce on my memories of that time: Seibert was a typical small western town with a one block long gravelled main street bordered with wooden eidewalks which were covered by overhanging wooden roofs extended from each business place. After the armistice of WWI, some of the younger men about town shot holes through these roofs and hung a straw replica of the Kaiser with a cabbage head in the center of main street and proceeded to try to shoot it down into a bonfire underneath; unable to do this they cut the Kaiser down and let him burn to the delight of the scalped by Indians, Josiah, Jr., who was captured but returned by friendly Indians, Oren Porter Rockwell, a nephew of her 2nd great grandfather, who was the body-guard of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young during the early days of the LDS Church and the account of his exploits as the first Marshall of Satt Lake City is more exciting reading than Marshall Dillon and Dodge City; a second great grandfather who froze to death on the prairies of Minnesota and a great Uncle, Alonzo Rockwell who was the first postmaster at Hale, Yuma County, Colorado, in 1890, so I do believe that she understands the life and times which make all of us perpetual citizens of Kit Carson County, Colorado. by John (Jack) W. Messinger �MESSINGER, JOIIN THORNTON F4B2 2nd of August, 1899, in Hume, Bates County, Missouri, and, in 1901, this family moved to Canon City, Fremont County, Colorado, where Walter Caywood became quite famous for his leather work and his custom-tailored saddles through the year of 1906. Another son 2nd Generation was born in Canon City by the name of Arthur Bernard on the 26th of September, 1903. In 1907, this family joined the Messing- Jesse Thornton Messinger was born on the ers on the plains south of Seibert, Kit Carson 16th of January, 1879, in Hume, Bates County, Missouri. He came to Kit Carson County, Colorado, about 1906 with his parents, J.J. and Susan, and his sister, Eva. John J., the father, filed claim on the SE% of Sec. 24,5 L0 R 70 and, on this slaim, the family built a fro-e barn in which they lived until they built a cement block house with hardwood floors which was an unheard of luxury in those early days. The house faced east but, more importantly, the kitchen door was on the south side and all outside activities revolved about this doorway; a deep well was dug about 50 feet to the south and a windmill was assembled here; a root and storm cellar was between the house and the windmill and, of course, the proverbial outhouse was on the west side far enough away arl to not pose any problems except during the prevailing west winds. Eva, the unmarried daughter, filed claim to the SW% of the same section; however she did not remain on her homestead land for long for she was enticed away by Asa Lemuel Bryant who married her on April 23, 1911, and they settled in Lem's hometown of Island, Kentucky. Another daughter of J.J. and Susan Messinger was Cora Ellen, born on the 27th of August, 1877, at Barnsville, Bourbon County, Kansas, and married Walter Leander Caywood on the 20th of October, 1897. Mr. Caywood was a traveling artistic photographer as well as a creative artist in leather desigl. A son was born to Walter and Cora Caywood by the nnme of Russell Eric on the County, Colorado, by filing aa claim on the SE%, NZz SW, SE SW of Sec 28 T 9 R 49 which was 5 miles south of the town of Seibert on Colorado highway #59, a gravel road which had been a part of the old Kit Carson Trail, named after the famous Indian fighter. The Messingers and the Caywoods proceeded to build a sod house on this claim. The top layer of soil which was held together by the short buffalo grass was cut in slabs. A cutter sled with a three-sided blade was used to cut pieces about a foot wide and three inches thick. These were taken up in lengths easy to handle and laid up as walls without mortar of any kind. A roof of rough boards was covered with slabs. This made a structure with thick walls, warm in winter and cool in summer. This sod house had the luxury of a wooden floor. Mary Pauline Caywood was born at this sod house on the 8th of January, 1909. Two silos were dug by hand, using a courtship, Jesse Thornton Messinger and Mary Cecelia Hughes were married on August 22, 1910, at Seibert. Two children were born of this union: Margaret Maxine Messinger was born on 18th of July, 1911, at Seibert, and was delivered by her grandmother, acting as a midwife, with the help of the rest of the family. Her birth certificatc was signed by her father, Jesse Thronton Messinger, as the party in attendence. John (Jack) W. Messinger was born on the 19th of June, 1913, at Seibert, but his birth was aided by Dr. A.M. Blumberg, who became quite famous for establishing the out patient clinic of the American Medical Center in Denver, which was associated with the National Jewish Hospital. This birth signalled the end of the beginning of the third generation of Messingers in the History of Kit Carson County, Colorado. by John (Jaek) W. Messinger MEYER - ADOLF FAMILY F463 bucket, pulleys and rope pulled by a horse to remove the dirt and clods after which the walls were plastered. (In 1986, this sod house was still standing, disheveled with no roof, but, as a monument to the care and craftsmanship of these early homesteaders.) Early in the spring of 1910, an event took place at the Messingers which was to change the life style of the fanily. Ethel Durbin came to Colorado from Fulton, Bourbon County, Kansas, to visit Eva Messinger who had been a friend of hers in Kansas. She brought a young school tcacher by the name of Mary Cecelia Hughes with her. After a whirlwind Picking corn, Conrad Meyer at the reins and Norman on the barge, The early 1800's were very rough for the people of Germany. There were ware and other political events that effected the lives of the common man. Femine came to many parts ofthe land and the poor and young were among its victims. The land was controlled by the nobility and there was no chance to obtain land to farm and exist. Catherine the Great of Rusgia sent out a call for settlers. Many moved to Russia. Life wae satisfactory until the Ruesian government changed the system in 1871. At this time military duty was changed to compulsory service. They lost their rights and were to change their nnrnes to conform to Russian forms of spelling. The only solution was to leave. The messages of opportunities in the United States spread. The first immigrants used visas, the others used forged documents. So the German settlers moved again, this time acrogs the ocean to America. Eastern Colorado and many other areas looked like a good place to settle and raise their families on a farm. Conrad Meyer came to America in 1902 from Russia at the age of thirteen with his Cora Caywood, Susan Pierce Messinger, J.J. Messinger, Pauline Caywood, Bernard Caywood, Russell Caywood, and Marine Messinger in front of Cora and Walter Caywood's sod house built about 1908 at Seibert, Colorado, 5 milee south of town on Colorado Highway #59. older brother George. His mother, stepfather and brothers, Alec and John and sisters Anna and Marie, had come over earlier and settled at Herrington, Kansas. The following year he went with his brothers to Sugar City, Colo- rado to find work. He later went to Denver and worked for the Rio Grande Western �Railroad. The Willhelm Adolf family also came to America in 1904 from Russia. Margaret, Willhelm's wife, was the midwife for the Settlement area. Their eldest daughter, Margaret, then at age seventeen, stayed with them awhile where they settled north of Bethune, which became known as the Settle- ment. Later she moved to Denver to frnd work to help support the family. Conrad Meyer met Margaret Adolf in Denver during that time and they decided to get married May 7, 1910. They rode the train from Denver to Bethune, then got a horse and buggy from the livery stable. Conrad had dressed light and later commented how he froze going all the way out into the Settle- ment. They were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church north of Bethune, in the old rock church. In later years it was replaced by a new building. They returned to Denver to live. In 1916 they moved to the farm 9 7z miles north of Bethune with their small son William. They had five more children; Reuben, Clord, Norman, Alma and Mabel. Alma died as an infant and William died when he was twenty-three years of age from pneumonia. They made their living on the farm, raising wheat, corn, cattle, hogs, and chickens. Draft horses were used to pull the machin- furs of rabbits, skunks, badgers, raccoons, and other small animals were sold for supplies. Lye was bought, then mixed with craklins and water. Craklins was the refuse from cooking fat to make lard. This mixture School was located 2 miles south of the Meyer homestead and later was within a mile of the home. Children had chores to do every morning before going to school. Checking the traps, feeding the animals, milking. School lunches consist€d of whatever you brought from home to eat. Children didn't go past the grade of eight unless taken to town to school. They were needed at home to help with the work. Times were hard and you made do with what you had. Neighbors weren't any better off either. Everyone helped each other when the need arose. No pay involved, one day's work for one day's work. We had our good times, too. Sunday afternoons during the summer everyone would go to baseball games. In the winter we would go to the school programs and box socials. The box was auctioned off and the money was used for school supplies. The buyer of the box ate the box lunch with the one that made the lunch. Home remedies were used for most ailments, and people hardly ever visited a horses were harnessed up to the header; this machine would cut the wheat with the straw with molasses and bran for grasshoppers. machine separated the wheat and straw; the wheat went into a wagon box. This was pulled by a ten- ofhorses then scooped by hand into the granery bins. Lat€r some of it was loaded back into a wagon and hauled to town to be ground into flour. Some was sold and the rest This was usually sparingly strung along fence rows, so the livestock couldn't reach it. Wood wae not plentiful; therefore, houses were built out of mud and prairie grass. This is called adobe. The roof was made of lumber. The adobe houses are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Many are still lived in today. The kitchen stove provided heat as well as cooked the meals. Cow chips and corn cobs were gathered and used for this purpose. The Meyer family grew up as members of Immanuel Lutheran Church, located two miles from home. Immanuels helped estab- and elevate it up on canvas rollers onto a header barge. When the barge was full one person would fork it down while another person arranged it in a neat stack and rounded the top so the rain would run off when it rained. This was latcr threshed out by a big threshing machine and crew. The kept for planting in the fall. The flour was brought back home all sacked up to be used for baking bread, etc. Corn was raised for livestock feed and the rest was sold. The corn was husked by hand, using a hook fastened onto a piece of leather that fit neatly inside the palm of your hand. The ears of the corn were thrown on the wagon, hauled home, and put into corn cribs. Cattle were branded and those to be sold were put into a cattle drive and herded to Bethune to a stockyard, loaded on the train and shipped out to be sold. Hogs that were to be gold were hauled in horse drawn wagons. The money was used to pay taxes, and purchase supplies. dimina Kuhl was born in Nemaha County, Nebraska in 1897 and grew up in Johnson County, Nebraska with her parents, 5 brothers and 3 sisters. Frank and Ida were manied June 9, 1915. They farmed in Nebraska for a while and realized there was no opportunity for expansion. So in 1919 Frank, along with a number of other farmers who had been contacted by a land agent, came out to Colorado on a train and looked at the prospects of purchasing land here. Many of the men chose to eettle around the Yuma area and many chose this area. In 1920 Frank, Ida, their daughter, Helen, and their foster son, John Willinmson, started a new life, one ofjoy and one of hard times, like so many back then. The Michals had 6 children - Helen Larine, Florence Eula, Eunice Elizabeth, David Junior, LaVern Henry and William Norman. They also raised a foster son, John. Helen married George Jones and has 5 sons: Florence married Alfred Dorsey and had 1 son; Eunice married Jimmy T. Shaw and has 1 son; David married Gwenn Henningsen and has 2 sons and 3 daughters; LaVern married Barbara Kennedy and had 2 sons. has remarried and has 2 daughters; and Norman married Vivian Schaal and has 1 son and 2 daughters. The first house the Michals lived in was on a hill west of the present home place. They then purchased a two room house from from Russia. Reuben married Amelia Beringer of St. Francis, Kansas. They still live on the farm one mile south of the home he was born and raised in. Clord married Clara Beringer, sister to Amelia. Shortly afterward Clord was inducted into the Army and sent to the South Pacific to fight for the United States during WWII. When discharged, he farmed on the old Bauer place, two miles East ofwhere he was born and raised. After sixteen years, they moved to Bethune. Clara became the Postmaster in 1962. She retired in April were paid 91.00/day. Farming was done with horses and nules and their main crops were dry land corn, wheat, oats, barley, and pinto beans. To go to town there were trails across the pasture as there were no fences to start with. Some trips took two days if they were hauling grain in a wagon because you couldn't get it all unloaded and then reloaded with coal and supplies to get back home before dark so they would have to stay overnight in Flagler. The open range on the west side of Kit Carson 1985. The present Postmaster is Kathy (Adolfl Witzel, Willhelm Adolfs great grand stacked to be fed to the livestock during the daughter. Norman and his wife, Doris, live on were valuable in a number of ways; Fresh meat and eggs. Eggs that weren't uaed during the week, were gathered from the storage area cdled the cellar and sold. Milk was separated and the cream also was sold. Trapping was another source of income for the familv. The brothers and 3 sisters. They settled in Pawnee County, Nebraska. Ida Louisa Willu- a mile from the church on a farm. Their pilents were Germans that also immigrated lish Salem Lutheran Church west of St. Francis. Amelia and Clara Beringer grew up Hay was stacked teepee style to dry. When was wasted. Butchering day was a busy one to cook and fry everything up for storage. Meat was fried and put into crocks. Fat was fried and poured over the meat for storage. This kept the meat from spoiling. Chickens Frank Michal was born near Prague, Czechoslavakia in 1890 and came to the United States in 1899 with his parents, 2 Shorty Lebiedzik on the present home site and lived in it until 1938 when they moved in a house that had been Hans Windel's and was located south and east of the Huntley place north of Flagler. Van Goodwin helped move it and some of the Michals' neighbors helped to join the two houses together and dry, it was hauled in from the field and winter. Gardens supplied vegetables and were canned and stored in cellars. Nothing F464 was their soap. doctor. Chemicals weren't used then. Paris green was mixed with water and sprinkled on potato vines for bugs, and arsenic was mixed ery and wagons. At wheat harvest time, MICHAL - KUHL FAMILY the home place and Mabel lives in Burlington. Conrad and Margaret celebrated their 50th wedding anniversar5r in 1960. Conrad died in April, 1974 at age 85. Margaret died in January 1978 at age 90. by Clara Meyer County and into the east side of Lincoln County was shared and cattle were individually branded so the owners could keep track of their own. As crops were planted in broken out land, fences were put up to keep the cattle out and then roads were built into town. Homesteads were much closer together out here in the early 1900's. Most people left during the early 1930's during the terrible dust storms and then the flood of 1935 drove a lot more away. Some of the old neighbors weteZack, Joe and Frank Eckert, Tom Potter, Joe Ostrowski, Paul Andre, John Holter, Charlie Holden, the Lewis's, Oliver La Rue, Charlie Haeseker, Mike Andrewjeski, Abe Sparks and Tom �graduated from there in 1964. The following year, I attended Northeastern Junior College at Sterling. In 1965, I moved to Burlington where I worked for several years. While working in Burlington, I met Mrs. Frances Parsons. She was many years older than I, but we shared an interest in antiques, animals, and plants and I always enjoyed visiting with her. Another older person that I enjoyed visiting with was Carl Riekoff. I met him while working for Sherm Jarrett at his insurance office. Carl lived in the Courtney building and would stop in to visit almost every day. He would tell stories of his early railroad days and once in awhile he would bring me flowers that he had swiped from Mrs. Courtney's garden. In 1971, I met my husband, John Miller, while he was alsoworking in Burlington. John was born March 4, L943 in Denver, Colorado to Lyle and Nell Miller. He grew up at Cope, attending school at Cope and Arickaree. He also attended four quarters at NJC. He joined the army in 1966 and served in Germany and Viet Nnm. At the time of our wedding, he had just Frank and Ida Michal and their family in 1944 when they drove to Burlington to a gtudio: Back row: Florence, Eunice, David, Helen. Front row: LaVern, Frank, Ida, and Norman Kraft. Literary meetings were common and held in schools. Some of these were held at TVin Lakes (which was 2 lagoons west of the old Joe Eckert Place). Revival meetings were held at the old country schools or eometimes in tpnts. The first telephones were neighborhood phones that consist€d of a wall crank phone that was wired out to the barbed wire fence. This way neighbors could talk to each other. The first tractor Michals had was a John Deere Model G purchaeed new from Harold McArthur when he was still in Flagler. The Michal children went to school at White Plains and Dazzling Valley. David also went to Sunny Slope north of Arriba. All 6 graduated from Flagler High School. The three girls boarded at the Fred Garrett's home in Flagler and David and LaVern at the Nels Jorgensen's to finish their high school education. By the time LaVern and Norman were that age, there were school buses. Cowchips, cobs, coal, kerosene lamps, gas lamps, wood ranges, Saturday night "shared water" baths, milking cows by hand, etc. was dl part of growing up. It was a good life and it was a rewarding life. Frank passed away in 1955, Ida in 1961, John in 1972 and Florence in 1973. Helen lives in Chico, California, Eunice also lives in Chico, David livee on the home place north of Flagler, La Vern in Enterprise, Alabama, and Norman in Flagler. by David J. Michal MILLER, JOHN FAMILY F465 Our family has just recently moved back "home" to Kit Carson County after spending the last four years in the Kirk area. We have moved north of Vona to the place my grandfather, Frank Boger, homesteaded in 1896 and are enjoying getting back to the graduated from training for the State Patrol. Since the patrolmen weren't told where they would be stationed until after their training, we didn't have time to find a place to live before our wedding. We were married on the eve of August 28, L97L and afterwards we drove in a down pour of rain all the way to Denver. Early the next morning we began to frantically search for a place to live in the Littleton area where John would be working. We finally found an apartment that would be available in two weeks. Since we were short on funds, we spent the next two weeks (our hone5moon) living with another rookie patrolman and his family. After a short time, we were able to transfer to Elizabeth. a much nicer location for a John, Joyce and Holly Miller at the Kit Carson County Carousel, 1985. peace and quiet of country life. I was born to Horace and Opal Boger on December 20, 1945 at Flagler, Colorado and grew up here on the farm enjoying the farm animals and the outdoors. My closest friends during those years were Linda Schreiner and Emma and Marion Joy. We always looked forward to the days when we could get together and play. In 1957 some of us got the idea of starting a 4-H club in our area and asked Fred (Fritz) and Fern Moffitt to be our leaders. We soon had a meeting at their home to get organized and chose a name for our club. We chose the name Happy Hustlers, much to the disappointment of one of the boys who wanted to call it the Hairy Bee Club. We started out having the meetings in the members homes and eventually moved the meetings to the Church of Christ building 13 miles north of Vona. We always had a good time and there was never a dull moment with Fritz around. A couple ofevents we especially looked forward to were Halloween and our annual hayrack ride and wienie roast. Our leaders and parents went all out on Halloween to create a spook room. They also went to a lot of work in the summer to prepare our hayrack ride which was held in Joy's blowout. My family spent a few winters in Arvada and I started school there. When I was in the fifth grade I started to school at Vona and couple of country folks. We lived there for two years then moved back to Kit Carson County in 1974. Though we missed the forest and hills of the Elizabeth area, we were glad to be back. John went to work for RPM Industries and worked for them for several years before they moved out ofthe area. Since then, he has worked for the Stratton Equity Co-op. Our daughter, Holly Jo, was born at Goodland, Kansas on January 17, 1975. We moved from Stratton to Vona shortly after she was born and she attended kindergarten and first grade at Hi-Plains Elementary in Vona. She attended second through fifth grade at Liberty and is now back at Hi-Plains for sixth grade. One of our favorite things is the Kit Canon County Carousel. I have enjoyed being a member of the Carousel Association for several years and Holly also enjoys helping out occasionally. All of our family enjoys history and Holly and I are currently interested in geneology, crafts, and oil painting. John enjoys reading, sports, and hunting. Elk hunting I've found is a year round project as John and his brother plan their trip for six months and then re-live it for the next six! I will close our story with a favorite verse of mine author unknown. "Let's light the Inmp of -memory/and feel it's glow so warmAMe'll dream awhile of yesterday/and childhood on the farm." by Joyce Miller �MINER, FRANK the flu. I started High School in 1912 and F466 My father, Frank Miner gotto Flagler from Minnesota in December 1906. He arrived in Flagler with all property such as horses and cows and machinery on an immigrant train. He came with a group of men from the gnme locality in Minnesota. In the group was Tom Wright, Otto Bronelle and Fred Miner. Mr. and Mrs. Hodgekins and daughter and her husband, the Lnmbertsons. Win and Ellen McQuat (brother and sigter) and perhaps others. I can't remember. They all filed on claims close by. Elaine Briggs (Posie) was also in the group, and also Tom Wright's wife Esther. The day that my father got to Flagler was the snme day that Dr. H.L. Williams got there. The Miner family c4me by train from St. Peter, Minnesota on January 3, 1907. It was a cold day but very little snow. My father met the train with a big lttmber wagon and a team of horses. The family consisted of Leslie, 13 years old, (born March 19, 1894). Dorothy, 12 years old, (born October 14, 1895) Marjorie, 9 years old, (born October 15, 1898) Stanley, 6 years old, (born Jan 23 1901) and Virginia 2 years old, (born January 20, 1905). My father was 40 years old (born May 24, 1867), and my mother Charlotte Briggs Miner was 33 years old (born April 1, 1870). The family were all born in Nicolett, CO. Minnesota near St. Peter, Minnesota. My father homesteaded on a claim South West of Flagler. He and the other men of the group had built a shack on one of the claims and the women and children slept in the building until my father completed the very livable "dugout" that we lived in. The dugout ,was 24 feet long and about 2O feet wide dug into the south exposure ofa hill. The roofwas covered with eoa and in the Spring it becnme partly covered with grass and weeds. My mother had made a large rag carpet-blue and graduated with the first class that ever graduated from Flagler. 1916. My class consisted of Gilbert Robb, Ray Thompson, Robert Greenleaf, Clark Alexander, Atwood Knies, Agnes Quinn, Mabel Seal, Lydia Schwyn and me, Marjorie Miner. We graduated May 16, 1916. My brother Leslie was ill with inflamatory rheumatism and "leakage of the heart" and he did not go to High School but worked at various jobs. My brother Stanley passed away May 16, 1916 what was then diagnosed as Brights Diseage. My sister Virginia went to high school and graduated 1922. The Miner family moved into Flagler from the homestead after proving up on the homestead. Also want to say, we only lived in the "dugout" a short time. My father built a large sod house just north of the dugout where we miles away. "Before school started my father went back to Kit Carson County, near Beaverton and with the help of Willis Perkins built a nine by twelve sod house for me. Drum, a dog, belonging to Harry Loomis, dug a hole almost through the sod in front of my soddy before I moved in. When it was time for school to start, I rode the Rock Island Railroad train from Denver to Stratton. Mr. Perkins let my father borrow a tenm and wagon to meet me at the station. After my trunks, bed, etc. were loaded, a drenching rain started so we had to stay in Stratton overnight. The next day after a drive of some twenty miles we came past Beaverton, and on to the Willis Perkins place. For some reffron we slept at the abandoned Dickey Place, and that night I was new bait for all the hungry insects in this house. By morning my face was a mass of ugly red bites and I looked horrible. That afternoon a whole buggy full of children came to the house to lived the last year of our time on the see the new teacher! homestead. "When I anived at the school - also. built of sod - I found the blackboard to be three boards about four feet long. At one time, they had been painted black. There was a small heater in the middle of the room, and the walls were unpainted." Ruth Ganett play the piano beautifully and people from miles away used to get together and sing. Victor Mitchell, another My mother, Charlotte Miner, died Dec. 9, 1954. My father Frank Miner died Sept. 2, 1959. My brother Leslie died Feb. 24, 1938. At the time of this writing the only members of our family are Virginia Miner Blackford and Marjorie Miner Allison. by Marjorie Allison homesteader, came to these song fests. Before MITCHELL, RUTH NAOMI GARRETT their homest€ading days were over, they were engaged, and in the fall of 1914, they were married in Denver, Colorado. I nm their oldest daughter. F467 by Helen Mitchell McDowell MITCIIELL, WILLIAM VICTOR white and had it woven before we left Minnesota so we had that on the ground F468 :a::a',.1':, flood. After the old Majestic range was placed in the middle, the beds in three corners and the dining table and chairs in the other corner; we were very well fixed and very comfortable. Leslie, Dorothy and I (Marjorie) went to gchool at Mt. Pleasant School. The men had built a small building and the first year we borrowed books from a nearby school. Some of my books had been used by Gilbert and Pearl Robb who were also early settlere. We had several different teachers, one was Nellie Norburn. The last teacher I had was Ida M. Cassidy. She was a sister of Mr. Gibson who published the Flagler Progress. Mrs Cassidy was an excellent teacher Our 8th grade class consigted of Fred Joels, Lawrence Buck, Agnes Stellar, Gertrude Gibson, (She was Mrs. Cassidy's niece) and me, Marjorie Miner. Jennie Tressel was the Co. Superintendent, and we took a very hard co. exam. We all passed, due to the coaching of Mrs. Cassidy. My sister Dorothy went to Flagler and stayed with the Ora Bodwell family and went to High School, some of her classmates were Winnie Anderson, Robert Weller, George Quinn and Nathaniel (Than) McBride. On February 28, 1911 my sister Dorothy passed away after complications following Ruth Garret's sod school house Ruth Naomi Garrett was born September 22, 1889 in Denver, Colorado. Her parents, John Fletcher Garrett and Rachel Asquith Fitts homesteaded near Cuba. Kansas before moving to Denver where John Garrett was a minister, and later the District Superintendent of the Free Methodist Church. In 1911, at a time when few women went to college, Ruth Garrett graduated from Denver University. However, this accomplishment did not satisfy her. She wanted land.. .Her f.ather and grandfather had homesteaded in Kansas and her great grandfather was one of the earliest white settlers in Indiana, and later in the Illinois territory. Though unaccustomed to the hardships of prairie life, she took a homestead in Kit Carson County. Following is an account of some of her experiences as she wrote them shortly before her death in 1973: "My father had gone out from Denver to Kit Carson County to preach. He knew I wanted to homestead and found a quarter section ofland open for filing; I was fortunate to get a job teaching the school some two Victor Mitchell on homestead 1911. William Victor Mitchell was born in Ohio on September 25, 1886. His parents were David Leroy Mitchell and Sarah Aricula Johnson. His great, great grandfather, Samuel Mitchell, came to America in 17?1 from Derry County, Ireland, and settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He fought in the American Revolution. After the war, he moved his family to the western Virginia frontier, and later in 1813 settled in Ohio in the newly opened Northwest Territory in Preble County. The Johnsons, the nsme was originally Johnston, had come to Ohio by the way of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Kentucky in �the early 1800's. Victor's father died when he was three years old, leaving his mother in very difficult circumstances. When he wag thirteen, having finished the eighth grade, he went to work supporting himeelf. In 1910 he cnme to Kit Carson County and filed on a homestead. This haff section of land was twelve miles south of Bethune, but he received his mail at Beaverton which was six miles northwest of his homestead. He built a house of sod on this land and lived there until he proved up on the pl,ace in 1914. In the fall of that year he married Ruth Naomi Garrett whom he had met while she was living on her homest€ad some three miles away. They lived first in Weld County, Colorado where their first child, Helen Gail, and Victor followed her in 1974. They are buried in Rushsylvania, Ohio. by llelen Gail Mitchell McDowell MONROE FAMILY F469 until 1935. In 1921 a son, Marvin Victor, was born. Another daughter, Alice Jean, was born in 1932. Dr. Remington cnme all the way from Burlington, about twenty five miles, to make house calls after these babies were born. The Mitchell land lay in the Norton School district. Here both Helen and Sarah started to school. Later the land was transferred into the First Central District which boast€d a high school. Victor Mitchell drove a school bus some years and Ruth taught school at various times to try to supplement the poor farm income. There was church and Sunday School at the First Central School. The Mitchells were usually there having many times driven a \pagon or buggy the long six miles to attend. Drought was a constant companion of the Kit Carson County farmer, and there was always just enough moisture to tempt him to Btay "one more" year. It was a great "next year" country, but the rain rarely came. There were blizzards that howled down unexpectedly and left all marooned for days in a solid white world. Finally there were the dust storms that cnme in the thirties and tore away the top eoil and the spirit of those who had hoped to make the prairie bloom. In 1935 the Mitchells gave up and moved to Ohio. There, through hard work and perseverance, they soon owned their own farm again. Three of their children, Sarah, Marvin and Jean live in Ohio. Helen lives in neighboring Kentucky. Ruth died in 1973 homestead. Mom passed away on May 18, 1930. Vernon and Orval of the boys went to the service, Vernon to the Navy and Orval to the Army. ffi'' On Oct. 31, 1931, Pop married Cleo Roxie (Elsey) Inman. She was born the oldest daughter of Ernest E. and Mary M. Elsey, June 11, 1904 at Lineville, Iowa. Papa and Cleo resided on a farm 2 miles north of Vona until 1960, when they moved into Burlington. (This farm land is now owned by Raymond Elsenbart (1987). Cleo had four children of her own: Jo-es C. Inman, Paul G., Frances (Foxworthy-Gonsalves), and Doris (Kerr). was born in 1915. In 1918 during World War I the MitcheUe moved back to their homest€ads and began farming them. Early in the spring they piled into their new Model T touring car and headed back to Kit Cargon County. There in May, their second daughtcr, Sarah Grace was born. Mrs. Guthrie, a wonderful Scotch lady from Burlington came to manage the household during that period. There was no well at this place and water had to be hauled in. Soon a new survey determined that their new house, made of rough lumber and covered with tarpaper' was on another man's property; this was above what came to be known as the correction line. Victor set to work building a sod house on the south side of this correction line. The sod was cut from the west quarter section of land and for years it was possible to see where the sod had been taken. The tarpaper covered house was moved to the new location, a deep well was drilled and the family lived in this soddv wheat was thrown upon the barge by the header, and then thrown off by hand to a stack, where it was later thrown by hand into the threshing machine. The Lloyd brothers helped work the harvest many years. All ten of these children were born at the Nine children were born to this union: Vaughn Dean, Jean Marie, Chester Lee, Helen Rena and the twins Bonnie Kaye The Monroes: Everett, Ira, Chester Alvin (Pop), Vernon, Raymond, Orval. (Sitting), Grace, Edna, Neva, Irene (Toots), Inez. Chester Alvin Monroe was born to Rhoda Monroe on March 26, 1885, in Milo, Iowa. Shortly after his birth he was taken to the home of his relatives living in Washington County, Kansas and remained there until 1905. The winter of 1904, he spent working on the large Lavington Ranch near Seibert. He returned to Ks. where he was united in marriage to Anna Alkire, on Aug. 22, 1905' Anna May was the daughter of Isaac Richard, and Mary Ann Alkire, and was born on May 22, L885 in Haddam, Kansas. In 1906, Chester and Anna and their baby Vernon cq-e by wagon to Colorado. He homest€aded 5 miles north and % mile east of Vona, Colorado. Chester's mother also took a homestead just east of the folk's place. Ten children were born to this union: Vernon Orin, Gracie May (Maag)' (Mick) Everett Roy, Ira Earl, Raymond Arthur, (Wheeler) and Ronnie Faye. Three children died in infancy and Chest€r Lee passed away at the age of 19, in 1960. The Vona school that year dedicated its school annual to his memory. Papa had a real interest in farming and raising cattle and belonged to the Colorado Cattleman's Assn. He was a member of the Farmers Equity Union of Vona, a chairman ofthe board ofthe Vona-Joes Telephone Co., and a member of the school board a number of different times. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Vona, and had a keen interest in the rebuilding of the church after it burned down. The picture of our family was taken at one of our many reunions. We had 107 members of the family present at this reunion. On Memorial Day we always try to get together in the Vona Lion's Hall or park for a picnic. Papa passed away Dec. 4, 1,965, in Burlington, and at the time of his death his family consisted of 13 children, 4 step-children, 53 grandchildren, and 59 great-grandchildren. On April 1, 1987, Edna, Ira, and wife Gertrude, Orval and Mick's wife Isabelle, were recorded by a video carnera, by Edna's son Brad, and we were able to see it instantly on the TV, while we were recalling this story. by Edna Doughty myself, Edna Alice (Doughty), Geneva (Neva) Belle (Wasson-Finley), Orval Ward, Roxie Irene (Crist), and Inez Gertrude (Standley-Youngren). At one time, Papa went back to Kansas to get work; he left Mom to care for the homestead, children, and the chores. One day when she went after the cows she tied Vernon to the iron boiler so he wouldn't get lost, but it wasn't long before he broke the handles off' Another time, when she went after the cows, Gracie pushed the baby, Everett (Mick) off the stove. He received a severe burn from this incident. In about 1919, I think, Chester and the older boys built an adobe house on the homestead. Rawley Scott, Bert Kvestad, and others helped also, maybe even Cornelius Classen. The basement was dug and the dirt mixed with water in a pit around the house. A horse was ridden around in the mud to mix the adobe and it was set up to form the walls with a mud fork. Ira recalled the days when wheat was put up with a header and header barge. The MOORE FAMILY F470 George Moore, who was born at Blue Rapids, Kansas, on Aug. 21, 1884 and Marga- ret Edwards, born at Loomis, Nebr., on June 12, 1885, were married on December 14, 1910 in Washington, Kansas. As young children, both had accompanied their families to Washington County, Kansas, in covered wagons in the late 1800's. Dad was a barber and Mother a telephone operator at Morrowville, Kansas. They moved to a farm near Washington, Kansas, in 1913. Two children, Mildred and Muriel were born. In October, 1919, they moved to eastern Colorado, hopingthe change in climate would benefit Muriels'health. The family made the trip in a Model T Ford touring car, pulling a small trailer, bringing our dog and cat with us. The rest of our belongings were shipped by rail to Seibert. They farmed and raised �cattle, hogs, chickens, etc. In the fall, Dad hauled grain to Seibert with tesm and wagon and brought home coal by the ton and all staples flour, sugar, etc., by the 100 lbs. or by case.-The neighbors would group together and go to Canon City after a Model T truck load of apples in the fall. Each family raised their own beans, potatoes, popcorn, etc., and butchered their own meat. We never used cow chips for fuel but I picked up tons ofcorn cobs for fuel. We lived in a 2-room soddy with a sod roof that had a big "pig-eared" cactus, red and yellow, blooming every spring. The sod would deteriorate and need replacing often. I rode a horse to school, attending Fremont through the 8th grade, and then riding to Shiloh, 7 7z miles each way three years to high school, graduating from Flagler High School in 1929. My brother, Paul Moore, was born in July of 1926 and my brother, Muriel, died in October, 1927, from asthma and heart trouble. We made our own entertainment. We attended church and Sunday School at Shiloh. Rev. W.J. Petersen of south of Seibert, was our minister for years. The schools had "Literaries" during the winter with debates and programs. At Christmas there were progrnms and treats and gift exchanges. When the candles were lighted on the Christmas trees, the men stood near with pails of water to dowse the fire in case one should start. Radios were few and TV as yet unknown. My parents had a sale in 1945 and spent the winter in Texas. In the spring of 1946, they bought a home in Flagler and enjoyed their retirement and gardening. My father served as Justice of the Peace for the community for a number of years. My father passed away in June of 1969 and mother in September of that year. by Mildred Moore Miller Carl Franklin Morgan, son of Elroy Clifton and Mary (Hall) Morgan, was born in a rock house north of Dorrance, Kansas. He was united in marriage to Mary Eddings Crayne, daughter of Thomas Elbert and Minnie (Eddings) Crayne of Tasco, Kansas, on October 22,19L9. In March of 1922, Carl, Calvin and Ralph Humrich (Ralph was married to Carl's sister, Rosie) decided to move south of Bethune, Colorado. It took them one month to move the 150 miles because they could go no more than five miles a day. They pulled a cookshack and had 35 head of livestock, horses and mules. At Colby, Ks. they encountered a bad blizzard that was blowing across the plains. They went on the highway (only dirt then) and through the main streets of towns. Goodland, Ks. had the cobblestone street that is still in use today. The men took the train back to get their wives and children and to begin their new life in Colorado. They milked the cows, sold the cream for 30 cents a gallon and used this money to purchase groceries. (This was a trade and the people in the Burlington area still say, "do my trading"). Carl purchased some hounds for the purpose of hunting and made a good living from selling the coyote pelts for $9.00 a piece and skunk pelts for 91.50. The three men killed over 100 coyotes one winter. During this time their three children were born, Doyle, Gene and Bonnie. Mr. Kemp came in a big Packard car and he was looking for a family to live on 1,659 acres of grassland 25 miles northeast of Burlington. This place was originally the Jim Barnett place (grandfather to Iva Stephens and Don Teman). Carl accepted the opportunity and moved his family. The sunflowers were so high you could hardly see the tworoom house but couldn't miss all of the rattlesnakes. Carl farmed the land with 8 head of horses until 1930 when he bought a McCormick-Deering tractor at the Ted Anderson sale, MORGAN FAMILY F47l The first car they owned was a Baby Overland. They later bought a second hand Model T for 9125.00. The new Model int924 sold for $590.00. The Great Depression, October 1g29, triggered by the stock market crash caused an unemploSnnent of 12 million. More than 37,000 banks and corporations failed by 1931. The drought came at the snme time and the wind blew so hard the dirt clouds darkened the sky. Times were very difficult for the whole area. One time Carl recalls that he didn't have enough money to buy groceries. A neighbor (Ralph Clark, father of Della statler) cnme with several horses that he wanted pastured and he paid in advance. What an answer to prayer. Big gane hunting was a big excitement each fall. Carl always took his sons hunting. A hunting party was formed with friends and neighbors. Some years the women joined in - it was a special time. Thinking of other special times: Mary played the guitar, Carl the mouth-harp, Doyle, Gene, Bonnie and Mary sang. They were asked to sing at the Farm Bureau Carl and Mary Morgan at their home in Burlington, Colorado, taten for their 65th wcdding anniversary, October 22, Lg8/- meetings and school programs. They entered an amateur conteston KMMJ in Clay Center, Nebraska and won first place. Carl served his country during World War I until the armistice ended the war on November 11, 1918. Doyle and Gene also served time during World War II on the front line in Germany and France. Mary wrote them every day. The war walr over in 194b. What a happy day for the Morgan's when the boys cnme home. In February of 1963, the purchased their home in Burlington and leftthe days of trying to make a living from the land. They are especially glad when the blizzards come and they have no cattle to feed or milk. But the plains of Colorado are home to Carl and Marv and they have enjoyed 64 years in the areal by Kathryn Anderson Morgan MORROW - TAYLOR FAMILY F472 My parents, Sam Morrow and Gertie W. Taylor, were married in Wayne, Nebraska. Their wedding announcement was printed in the local newspaper as follows: "fn Wayne, by Judge Hunter, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 1899, Miss Gertie W. Taylor to Mr. Sa-uel Morrow. This is the kind of notice the Tribune delights in publishing, next to the arrival of kids, and we heartily congratulate this estimable young couple on the wise move they have made. The groom is well known here as being a sober, industrious and energetic young m{rn, and the bride is more than usually cultured and attractive. Mav they have a long and happy life is the sincere wish of the Tribune ." At the turn of the century, Israel Morrow and two of his sons, Frank and gem, came together in covered wagons with mule teqms and a few cattle. All homesteaded in the snme area, 18 miles northeast of Burlington. My parents homesteaded the 160 acres which is still owned and farmed by the youngest son, Sam. Daddy's possessions were a teqm of mules, a moldboard plow, a few household items and 9100. Mother and Rell (10 mos. old) came later by train to Kanarado, Ks., and spent a week at Germann's Hotel until the sod house was livable. When they arrived it wasn't completed on the inside so Mother hung sheets over the eating and cooking area to keep out the dirt. When the house was finished with windows, plaster, wallpaper and wooden floor, it was very cozy and comfortable in the winter and cool - warm in the summer. The cookstove was alwavs used. Fuel was coal (when we could afford ii), corn cobs (ifavailable) and the always - cow chips! Though we always had chickens, Mother said the cows were our security for meat, butter and fuel, milk and cream to sell. Daddy would take his mule teqm and go help neighbors for 50 cents a day or exchange work or machinery (as everyone was in the same circumstances). The homestead was covered with buffalo gass so tall that Mother made Rell wear a red bonnet so she could keep track of him. Daddy, using his mule team and moldboard plow, walked, turning the sod and working the soil to plant the garden and crops ofwheat and corn. This was dry land farming, trusting in the Lord to eend rain. What faith! Daddy's pride and joy were his registered Percheron mares and stallions. These, along with other horses and mules, made good reliable power for all the farm work. �MORTON, LeROY AND Id.AZEI l E47g LeRoy and Hazel Morton moved in 1940 to take over the farm of Mrs. Mary Morton, LeRoy's mother. This farm was just southeast of the Pond Creek school house. Their daughter Judy was one year old and Juanita was born there in 1943. Judy attended the Pond Creek School until it closed and then she went to Smoky Hill. Juanita also attend- as Daddy died March 18, and buried at ed Smoky Hill. The Mortons were involved in all of the social activities, especially the Sunday School and Hazel belonged to the Friendship Circle Extension Homemakers Club. LeRoy was a brother of Jane Morton Matthews and both families were active in the Smoky Hill Community. The farm was sold to the Elbert brothers in 1952 and then the Mortons moved into a house they had purchased in Goodland, and moved into Burlington locatcd at 340 9th St. Another daughter, Kimberly was born while. theylived in Burlington. Theybuiltthe Dairy Queen and operated it for about four years, then moved to Englewood, Colo. in 1956. All three of their daughters live close to them in Englewood, and they now have 7 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. LeRoy and Hazel were both employed at the Gates Rubber Company and have recently retired. They are thankful for good health and they continue to help raise the coming to help plow a fire breaker strip. Winter Beaver Valley Cemetery. This was a shock to everyone and a tragedy for Mother who was made sure the wintcr food supply was bought early. The 100 # bags of sugar and 50 lb bags of flour were in cloth bags. These were left with five children: Rell 16, Ted 13, Mate 11, Sam 8, and Gertrude 5. Life was never the sa-e. But Mother rose above the loss and the spring crop was planted with the kindness of neighbors, especially Ralph Clark. Rell be- generations. They treasure their time in the Smoky Hill The Morrow Fr-ily: Aunt Sarah Love, Gertrude Morrow, Gertrude, Sam Morrow, Rell Morrow, Ted Morrow, So- Morrow, Mate Monow and dog, Ring. There were many anxious times: not enough rain, the possibility of hail to ruin the crop, rattlesnakes, or prairie fires. When a fire was spotted, Daddy would take his fastest 1snm, put the plow in the wagon, and take off blizzards were very dangerous. Everyone carefully chosen so the material matched, because it was used to make clothing for the family. When Rell was 8 years old he was bitten on the shin by a rattlesnake. He ran the r/z mile home, Daddy made a crigs-cross cut to make it bleed, then they headed for the doctor in horse and buggy. Rell recovered and lived to be 79 years old. Life was very primitive: water was carried to the house in buckets, water was heated in the water reservoir on the back of the cookstove. Baths were taken in the largest wash tub in front of the cookstove, everyone using the seme water! There were outdoor toilets, Searg Roebuck catalogs for toilet paper, feather mattresses, or cornhusk mattresses which were filled fresh each fall. The neighborhood tclephone was on the barbed wire fence, which worked fine until a fence was repaired causing a short. Each family had their own ring and you could count the clicks and know how many were "rubbering" (listening in). The school houge was used as the center of community events: occasionally a Sunday School during the summer (no church). When school was in session there would be programs, usually with a box supper. The young folks had to make their own entertainment barn hay lofts made good places to have a dance, singing "Skip to My Lou", etc. No music usually. These were pioneer days requiring detcrmination to live, the cooperation of all family members and neighbors. You knew you had to work, for you had to pay as you went - there were no charge accounts! In January 1917, Daddy and Mother went via train to the Stock Show in Denver and left the children with dear Hannah Staulgreen. This was their first and only trip for pleasure Community and try to attend the Annual Picnic whenever they can. by Bernice Eberhart ceme a man overnight. Daddy had bought a new Titan tractor and had never driven it. The neighbors tried to get Mother to return it but her answer: "No, if Snm thought we needed it, we still need it", which was true. As years passed, we all shared in the work. Money gained from the sale of cream and milk was made to stretch enough to supplement the food from the farm. As many as 20 cows would be milked by hand. At harvest time, 3 meals a day were cooked on the cookstove for 12-15 men. This lasted L-2 weeks, depending on the crop. There wan no time to "goof off'. About 1920, the sod house began to fall apart. Due to the high wheat prices of WW I, Mother was able to tear down the soddy and replace it (in the same spot) with a large good but not as warm as frame house - verythe house the soddy. While was being built, we lived in two empty granaries, which was quite an experience! During WW I, teachers were scarce so Mother went back to teaching (always her joy) at Plainview School 2 1/z miles avtay, where all 8 grades were taught. She took us along, except Rell and Ted. Mother taught most of the time up to 1928. She also did private tutoring. On Nov. 16, 1945, Mother passed away at home surrounded by 20 members of her loving family and friends. by Sam Morrow MOSS - BAXTER, FLORA BELLE r'474 In 1911, Flora (Flo) Bell Moss arrived in Flagler by train with family members. Her father, Judson, and older brother, Roy, had preceded them, bringing the family belongings by horse and wagon. Other members who came were her mother, Carrie; brother, Orson; and sister, Bess; her husband, Art Strong, and son, Maynard, adopted after sister Edna's husband had been killed in a buzz-saw accident. The Moss family homestead was several miles southeast of town. The Art Strongs homesteaded near town. At the Mosses, after digging several dry wells, water wag finally located some distance from the house. In later years when Flo was asked what modern convenience she would miss the most (expecting her to say washing machine, refrigerator or other appliance) she surprised us by answering "Running water in the house" which we took for granted. - Sometime during the years they home- steaded, Judson Moss worked for the Sinton Dairy in Colorado Springs. He was in charge of the milking barn. Carrie and Flo also worked there as cooks. Before moving to Colorado, their homes were in and around Belvidere, Illinois, where Flo taught school a short time - which she did not enjoy. �better pianist. On August 11, 1914, Flo was married to G.M. Baxter. George Gibbs was the officiating minister and Art and Bess signed as witnesses. Bess and Mr. Winegar supplied the music. Among the 40 guests were the Gibbs, Winnie, Nina and Dewey Anderson, Aubrey Walker, Alma Weller, Hazel Searcy, Iva Reynolde, Claude, Opal and James Gw1rn, Mabel Seal, Agnes Quinn, Opal Parke, Marjorie Miner and Flo's family. George's family was unable to attend becauge of the distance from their home in Kansas. Flo took her piano to the soddy on her homestead where the young couple lived. She continued to give lessons at her parents' home in Flagler. Music played an important part in her life. She enjoyed classical, semi- : ,:i:llii:at:,i: .irtti :ilridlillr',,ti Flo (at left in picture) with one ofher many Congregational Church Choirs 1950 or 51. Others in the picture are: Back Row: Alice Fruhling-Liggett, Lee and Louise Lavington, David Rowden, Cecil Jackson. Front Row: Nettie Deniston, Mabel Eberhart, Doris Rowden, Tom Creighton, Bill Deniston. classical, religious and popular music. Her repertoire of ragtime pieces (committed to memory) was the highlight of many informal gatherings. Her talent was much sought aftcr for dances, school activities, community progrnms, funerals, etc. She even accompan- ied Chautauqua several different years as well as providing background for the silent movies at the Flagler theater. For countless years she helped with graduation, music festivals, homecomings, even during the school day, she accompanied choruses and glee clubs if an accompanist was not available in the school. Her most important musical contribution was to the Flagler Congregational Church where she was pianist and organist from Januar5r 1926 to September 1971. (A Hnmmond organ was purchased in memory of her husband, George, who died in 1948). As a young lady in Belvidere, she had played pipe organ at the Baptist Church where she was a member. In 1922, Bess died and shortly after this the Moeses and Art Strong (an early manager of the Flagler power plant) returned to Illinoig. Flo loved to travel and made several trips back to see her family. She planned extended family trips, the most memorable being to the World's Fairs in Chicago in 1934 and New York in 1939 (included in this trip was Canada and much of the East coast), and the West coast in 1941. Another adventure was a Colorado mountain trip in lg28 along the Front Range. In later years, she enjoyed many trips with Jean and her two granddaughters who made their home with her Flo in 1942 or 43. Flo, George and Jud around 1918 in the yard of home 12 mileg southeast of Flagler. Another job was at a local sewing machine factory where she put eyes in needles. Flo wae born at Belvidere on December 25. a Christmas baby, which may explain why -she always loved the holiday preparations. All her relatives and friends looked forward to her packages as each held a generous sampling of her delicious candies for which she was well known. She graduated from Belvidere High School in 1909. One of 1890 the great joys of her life was music. She started chording on the piano and pump organ, later playing by ear at an early age. This gift continued to add much to her musical ability. Her entire family was musical, especially her sister, Bess, who was provided with piano lessons which were then taught to Flo thus getting two lessons for - the price of one! Flo later rode the electric train to Chicago where Bess had moved after marrying Art Strong to help her give piano lessons. This collaboration continued in Flagler where the two sisters continued teaching piano. One program has been saved listing the music pupils of Mrs. Strong and Miss Moss for a recital at Seal's Hall on April 25, 1913. Their pupils included Helen and Opal Parke (daughters of Mrs. George Gibbs) Agnes Quinn, Retta Epperson, Mabel Seal, Gertrude Gibson, Winnie Anderson (Mrs. Aub- rey Walker) Flo and Bess, and Mr. W.W. Winegar (violinist). The program consisted of readings, vocal and piano solos and duets. Both Bess and Flo continued to give piano lessons until her death and Flo into - Bess the 1950's. The sisters provided entertainment for many community functions. Flo felt that Bess (who had played pipe organ at both a church and a theater in Chicago) was the from 1954. In September 1971, her health began to deteriorate following surgery. She died at the Limon nursing home after a six month stay. She was born on Christmas day 1890, and died on the Fourth ofJuly 1975. Although she was a devoted wife and mother, her 60 years of musical contributions to the communitv were incalculable. by Jean K. Mudd MOSS, LEE AND REBA F476 Reba (Oliver) Moss was born at Elder, Ks., daughter of Cyrus and Minnie (Sweet) Oliver. Brothers and sisters were Ross, John, Irma, Alma, Marie, Merle, Reba, Gertrude, Marjorie, Nedra, Garold and Joe. Reba's father came to their homestead 12 mi. N. between Seibert and Vona by covered wagon. The mother and 8 children came bv train. �They raised corn, and barley to feed the horses, cows, pigs, and chickens. Milked cows, separated, milk - fed the calves, and pigs, and had lots of cream, and butter, for home use. The youngsters helped cut corn with a knife for winter feed, for stock. They raieed lots of watermelons, and would cut corn a while, then eat watermelon. Neighbors were Pearl Bancrofts, McBlairs, Frank Bogers, Fred Martins. They drove teo- and wagon to visit in each other's homee. The children attended Bancroft school SW of their home, and also Boger school, with 8 grades, east of them. They walked 5 mi. to, and from school every day. Some of their teachers were Elizabeth Wrenn, Mrs. Broadstreet, John Husband, and Mr. Wagner (who had an artificial leg). When he was tagged to be'JT', he held his artificial leg straight out and hopped. There was lots of entertainment - ciphering matches, literary meets, music eve4nnrhere, and a barn dance at Olivers every Saturday night. Mr. Oliver played the violin. And for the younger set there was baseball, ante-over, fox and geese, black man, last couple out, drop the handkerchief, or playing in the sand creek and digging down to water. While a group was playrng one day, Reba sat on the side of the tank, and fell into the freshly pumped cold water. The other children ran around the house screaming. There was Sunday School, and Church at the Boger and Shiloh schools. The preacher cn-e with I tenm and buggy from Erie, and spent the night at Olivers. During the 1918 flu epidemic, there were 14 family members in bed at one time (including Irma, and little son who had come to visit). Nedra was unconscious for 10 days. When she awakened she eaid, "Daddy, what'd I do with my clothes last night?" Garold served in WW I. Roes had the flu when his call came and he could not go. The mother did not knit for WW I, but was an excellent seamstress. Mr. Oliver died in 1938, and she in 1941. Reba married Charles Lee Moss 11-281923. They lived in an adobe house, on the Oliver place, on Hell Creek. They had one daughter, Rosalee (Moss) Loutzenhiser. They moved to Flagler in 1957. Lee's parents came from South Dakota about the same time as the Oliver fanily. Lee's health failed and he died 8-24-1969. by Lorris Wickham MOUNTAIN DRAGER FAMILY F476 School during the busy harvest season of those times, she met Jesse Edwin (Ed) Mountain, one of a dozen wheat harvesters eating every day at the kitchen dinner table. He had just been discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps and arrived from San Diego to drive a wheat truck for his brother for the bumper crop of 1946. Ed was born in Buffalo, Oklahoma, later moving to Colorado with his parents and eight brothers and sisters and attended schools in Rocky Ford, Ordway, and Canon City. He joined the U.S. marine Corps in 1943 serving in the Asiatic-Pacific area. Evelyn and Ed were married in Trinity Lutheran Church in Burlington on July 23, 1950. Evelyn taught school in Bethune, Kanorado, and Burlington retiring in 1960 to rear a family. Ed worked at Burlington Building and Supply as a cement foreman and farmed wheat. Ed Mountain Cement Construction was formed in 1963 and prospered during the prosperity and growth of Burlington in the 60's and 70's. The wheat farm 10 miles south of Peconic was purchased at an auction in 1968, one of life's "greatest moments" for Ed as he had farmed it since 1947. Being selected "Young Mother of the Year" of the Rocky Mountain States that same year was a highlight for Evelyn. Ed continues with the cement construction and wheat farming. He is retired from the Volunteer Fire Department after 26 years of active services and has 24 years of perfect attendance in the local Lion's Club. Evelyn has been equally active in several service, educational, and social organizations. When her "baby" went to the first grade Evelyn went back to teaching now in her 16th year at Burlington Middle School. Trinity Lutheran is the family church. Three daughters, Roxie Ann, Candi Sue, and Sandee Jo, always their "pride and joy", filled the home with love and adventure. All three girls graduated from Burlington High School, their home away from home! They were active in all varsity sports, drqma, plays, band, flag corps, choir and cheerleading. As youngsters, Mom was a leader for their Girl Scout troops and Sunshine 4-H Clug. County Fair was always an exciting week. The girls all won their share of medals with the Burlington Competitive Swim Team. All three feel they've had the "good life" of a traditional "hometown" including Grandma and Grandpa Drager out on the family farm to love them and share experiences. They still laugh aboutthe Easter they spent on the farm hunting Easter baskets and eggs nmong the haystacks and barns like Mom used to do. Roxie and Candi are graduates of UNC and teach school in Limon and Springfield, respectively. Sandee is an elementary educa- tion major at Fort Hays State University graduating in May, 1986. Evelyn Drager Mountain was born in Burlington, the oldest of four children of Henry and Flora Drager. She attended Smoky Hill, a ten year school, and harbors fond memories of school plays, track meets, baseball games, box suppers, basket dinners, and Saturday night square dances. Education continued in Burlington High School graduating with the claes of 1947. She was awarded a "joint honor" Scholarship to Colorado The local lake at Bonny has brought countless summer weekends of family fun and togetherness boating, skiing, and fishing the past dozen years. In conclusion: We all love living in a little town, Where you wave your hand and say "hello." For every house in a little town, Is more than a house. it's a home! by Evelyn and Ed Mountain MURPIIY, COLEMAN AND MATTIE wrLMorH F477 The Coleman Murphy family taken August 21, 1955: Father Coleman, Mother Mattie, Florence, Lionel, Loyd and Loren. Seated: Awetta, Dale, Twila and Troy. Coleman Elmer Murphy was born, April 26, 1886, at Rexford, KS, in Thomas County, to Herbert J. Murphy, born October 18, 1862 in Randolph County, West Virginia, and Almeda Bell (Gower) Murphy, born December 20, 1862, in Tucker County, West Virginia. Coleman's father died, July 29, 1893, at the age of 31 years and was buried in the corner of their farm at Gem, KS. At the age of 7, Coleman became "head of the household" and helped his mother raise three other children, a sister Mina Evelyn (Minnie), and brothers: Albertis (Bert), and Floyd Edward. Almeda, Coleman's mother, filed on a tree claim two miles west of Kit Carson County, when she first came west in 1887 or 1888. Coleman, his Uncle Ellis Murphy and Lonnie Christie, came to Colorado by team of horses and wagon to look around. They then stayed all night in Seibert. Coleman and Ellis Murphy, Lonnie and Mitchell Christie, all came back and filed for homesteads in November, 1907, through the U.S. Land Office at Hugo, CO. They all homesteaded south of Seibert near the correction line. Mattie Bell Wilmoth, born April 11, 1887, at Kearns, West Virginia, to Charles Wyatt Wilmoth and Lousia A. (Murphy) Wilmoth, born October 30, 1868. On February 21, 1895, Mattie's mother died at the age of twentyseven, leaving Mattie only seven years old, who also helped raise a fanily at an early age, sister Lou, brother Harvey and baby boy Arthur, who died in infancy. Her sister, Lousetta, married an uncle of Coleman's, Ellis Murphy. They came to Kansas but returned for a visit to West Virginia, and Mattie returned to Western Kansas with them. Mattie and Coleman were married March 3, 1908 at Seibert, CO, by a Preacher Seibert. To this union were born five boys and five girls: Florence Alveretta, Lionel Floyd, Lena Sylvia, Loyd Harvey, Grace Elaine, Loren Arthur, Troy Ellis, Twila Arleene, Dale Herbert, and Arvetta Rose (Betty). Mattie filed on a homestead just across the University and later transferred to Colorado State Teachers College graduating with a B.A. and a life teaching certificate. road from Coleman's claim in either late November or early December of 1907, through a county judge at Burlington, but I Mountain wheat farm north of Smoky Hill can find no records of this in Burlington. She did not prove up on this. Coleman and Mattie While helping Frieda on the Howard �moved into their soddy on the homestead, April 1, 1908. The frame house was built approximately 1919 and is being torn down now. They occupied the homestead until they held a farm sale in 1950, having sold their farm to W.B. Weaver of Larned. Kansas in December 1949. Coleman then moved to Flagler, Colorado where they built a home and resided until their deaths. Coleman purchased the pool there in 1950 and operated it. Due to his son Troy's health, he gave up farming and went into the pool hall with his and later was owner, Mattie died April 16, 1969 and Coleman remained in the home, until health caused him to go to the hospital, and after a two months stay in the hospital and the Prairie View Nursing Home in Limon, he passed away July 6, L974. Both are buried in the Flagler Cemetery at Flagler, Colorado. Lena (Murphy) Patterson, Grace Elaine Murphy, Loren Arthur Murphy and Florence (Murphy-McCart) Gibbs are all deceased. Lionel resides at Safford, Arizona, (Betty) Arvetta Rose Randall atTalihina, Oklahoma, Loyd and Troy both at Flagler, Colorado, Dale at Goodland, Kaneas and Twila Gorton at Seibert, Colorado. by Twila Gorton MYRICK - JESSEN FAMILY F478 road that year, for this day was her birthday. In Castle Rock, Keith owned his own concrete contractor business and before their marriage, on May, 29, t970, Yvonne was working at Porter Memorial Hospital, in Englewood, CO., as a Licensed Practical Nurge. Now they were about to live their dren-s of becoming ranchers. A small herd of cattle was purchased from Len Beeson and then Brenda Jean was born on Feb. L2, L975. Nine months later the Myricks moved to the Walter Herndon place, one mile west. This was their place of residence until Sept., 1980, when they moved back onto their ovm property, "the old Husenetter place", residing in a mobile home. Robbie attended K-6 at Stratton Elemen- tary and 7th grade, (at the time of this writing), at Stratton Junior/Senior High. She is an accomplished flutiest and enjoys mar- ching and concert band, volleyball and baeketball. Her plans for the future are to be a "secretary/receptionist". Brenda attended K-5, (at the time of this writing), and she is already an accomplished clarinetist and is looking forward to sports in Junior/Senior High School. Her future plans are still in the making. by Yvonne Myrick Keith won second place,($lO), for'Iongest beard', In the spring of 1974, George 'Keith' Myrick and a friend, Charles Miller, left on a journey from Castle Rock, CO., to southeast of Stratton, CO., to make the "old Husenetter place" livable. During the week a blizzard hit, but they kept up the work and at the end of the week, Keith was able to return to Castle Rock, where his wife, Yvonne Carol (Jesgen) Myrick and daughter Robbie Cay, were waiting his arrival. April 24, 1974, was spent moving from Castle Rock to the ranch/farm of Stratton. Robbies first birthday was celebrated on the cattle and we were always afraid, but they never took after us. Our first teacher was Eva White. Later she married a man from south of Kanorado and continued to make her home in this new country. After a few years she died and was buried in the Kanorado Cemetery. When papa and mamawould go to town for the monthly supplies in the wagon, my sister and I would be left at home to look after things. We always kept our eyes peeled for tramps who sometimes roamed around the country, begging for eats. We were always afraid one would come but none ever did. One thing we always did when mama was gone was to get into her mincemeat jar and pick out all the nice large raisins and eat all we could andthen finish up with brown sugar, which we seldom had otherwise. The raisins in those days were so much larger than they are now, and were real good, especially seasoned by the mincemeat. The next time mama went to bake a pie she missed the raisins but didn't say anything and just smiled because she knew her little girls didn't take them to be mischievous. but had to do something to while away the long hours that they had to spend alone. NEALLY FAMILY NEALLY FAMILY Charles Neally andLizzie Paul of Ceresco, Nebraska, were married February 1, 1888, and soon started by train from Haigler, Nebraska, which at that time was the farthest west the railroad cnme. There they unloaded their belongings and loaded a wagon drawn by a pair of muleg that they had bought and One time when I was about ten years old and was going to look for eggs, I saw a man F47g drove across country to the land they had homesteaded in Kit Carson County, Colorado. Here they had to build their home. At first they just put up a shelter to cover them till they could build a house. They had a neighbor, Jim Knapp, come and dig them a well. It had to be dug by hand in those days. Colorado CentenniellBicentenniel Celebration Stratton, CO. August 1, 1976. Keith holding Brenda and Robbie standing in front of Yvonne Myrick. Waiting for coetume and beard judging. Robbie won first place, ($15), on costume and we were always coming across some of their Most of the homegteaders built houses of sod but the Neallys built a freme house. A little later Charlee'father and two sisters and their husbands came out and homesteaded. They just stayed here long enough to prove up on their homesteads. When they left they sold out to Charles. They soon got three or four milk cows and another horse so as to make a three horse team, as they put the horse with the mules. Then they were able to break some ground and do a little farming. Then they began to get stock cattle to run on the open range. The old McCrillis Ranch line fence was on their west and north and the riders rode the fence every day so they had no trouble with their cattle. The Neallys got their own land fenced in as soon as they could. There were lots of wild antelope on the prairies at that time. Many settlers killed them for meat. In due time two daughters were born to this family. In 1898, they moved over to his brother Harry's place, which was the E. % 356-43 where they lived for several years. When we were old enough we went to a school about a mile and a half west of us. Haidee and I nearly always walked. Knapps didn't have their land fenced like we did and F480 coming down over the hill. I didn't think anything about it as I thought it was a neighbor coming, so I went about my business. About this time he saw some men and all at once he turned and took offover the hill as fast as he could go and that was the last I saw of him. Then, when the next week'g Kansas City Star came out, there was an item about a women down in Kansas who was hunting for her husband who had left home. We often thought about that man and wondered if it could have been him, but we never heard anything more about him and never heard if the woman ever found her husband, but.it gave us something to think about for a long time. We had very little sickness in our family, but some families suffered from smallpox and diphtheria. Doctors were so far away, so if anything went wrong we were doctored vrith home remedies and always got better. Our friends, the Reischs, had smallpox and we would take their mail and some food supplies to help them out. We were very careful and would circle around their place at a safe distance until we attracted the attention of the family. Then we left the things where they would find them and hurried on our way so as not to get the disease ourselves. I remember one time mema had to go to town to the dentist. She had 21 teeth pulled that day and then had to ride that long way home jolting in the lumber wagon. I sat on the floor of the wagon and rested my back between her knees. At first we didn't go to church as there was none around. After the Wallet Post Office and store were established and people went there for the mail, it becnme a meeting place for the people. Here a minist€r would come sometimes on Sunday, and we would have a � 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- M Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief histories of founding families of Kit Carson County whose names start with "M." 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/504/Families-N_O.pdf 2bb51e52a33f0af35b9262c16c590140 PDF Text Text moved into their soddy on the homestead, April 1, 1908. The frame house was built approximately 1919 and is being torn down now. They occupied the homestead until they held a farm sale in 1950, having sold their farm to W.B. Weaver of Larned. Kansas in December 1949. Coleman then moved to Flagler, Colorado where they built a home and resided until their deaths. Coleman purchased the pool there in 1950 and operated it. Due to his son Troy's health, he gave up farming and went into the pool hall with his and later was owner, Mattie died April 16, 1969 and Coleman remained in the home, until health caused him to go to the hospital, and after a two months stay in the hospital and the Prairie View Nursing Home in Limon, he passed away July 6, L974. Both are buried in the Flagler Cemetery at Flagler, Colorado. Lena (Murphy) Patterson, Grace Elaine Murphy, Loren Arthur Murphy and Florence (Murphy-McCart) Gibbs are all deceased. Lionel resides at Safford, Arizona, (Betty) Arvetta Rose Randall atTalihina, Oklahoma, Loyd and Troy both at Flagler, Colorado, Dale at Goodland, Kaneas and Twila Gorton at Seibert, Colorado. by Twila Gorton MYRICK - JESSEN FAMILY F478 road that year, for this day was her birthday. In Castle Rock, Keith owned his own concrete contractor business and before their marriage, on May, 29, t970, Yvonne was working at Porter Memorial Hospital, in Englewood, CO., as a Licensed Practical Nurge. Now they were about to live their dren-s of becoming ranchers. A small herd of cattle was purchased from Len Beeson and then Brenda Jean was born on Feb. L2, L975. Nine months later the Myricks moved to the Walter Herndon place, one mile west. This was their place of residence until Sept., 1980, when they moved back onto their ovm property, "the old Husenetter place", residing in a mobile home. Robbie attended K-6 at Stratton Elemen- tary and 7th grade, (at the time of this writing), at Stratton Junior/Senior High. She is an accomplished flutiest and enjoys mar- ching and concert band, volleyball and baeketball. Her plans for the future are to be a "secretary/receptionist". Brenda attended K-5, (at the time of this writing), and she is already an accomplished clarinetist and is looking forward to sports in Junior/Senior High School. Her future plans are still in the making. by Yvonne Myrick Keith won second place,($lO), for'Iongest beard', In the spring of 1974, George 'Keith' Myrick and a friend, Charles Miller, left on a journey from Castle Rock, CO., to southeast of Stratton, CO., to make the "old Husenetter place" livable. During the week a blizzard hit, but they kept up the work and at the end of the week, Keith was able to return to Castle Rock, where his wife, Yvonne Carol (Jesgen) Myrick and daughter Robbie Cay, were waiting his arrival. April 24, 1974, was spent moving from Castle Rock to the ranch/farm of Stratton. Robbies first birthday was celebrated on the cattle and we were always afraid, but they never took after us. Our first teacher was Eva White. Later she married a man from south of Kanorado and continued to make her home in this new country. After a few years she died and was buried in the Kanorado Cemetery. When papa and mamawould go to town for the monthly supplies in the wagon, my sister and I would be left at home to look after things. We always kept our eyes peeled for tramps who sometimes roamed around the country, begging for eats. We were always afraid one would come but none ever did. One thing we always did when mama was gone was to get into her mincemeat jar and pick out all the nice large raisins and eat all we could andthen finish up with brown sugar, which we seldom had otherwise. The raisins in those days were so much larger than they are now, and were real good, especially seasoned by the mincemeat. The next time mama went to bake a pie she missed the raisins but didn't say anything and just smiled because she knew her little girls didn't take them to be mischievous. but had to do something to while away the long hours that they had to spend alone. NEALLY FAMILY NEALLY FAMILY Charles Neally andLizzie Paul of Ceresco, Nebraska, were married February 1, 1888, and soon started by train from Haigler, Nebraska, which at that time was the farthest west the railroad cnme. There they unloaded their belongings and loaded a wagon drawn by a pair of muleg that they had bought and One time when I was about ten years old and was going to look for eggs, I saw a man F47g drove across country to the land they had homesteaded in Kit Carson County, Colorado. Here they had to build their home. At first they just put up a shelter to cover them till they could build a house. They had a neighbor, Jim Knapp, come and dig them a well. It had to be dug by hand in those days. Colorado CentenniellBicentenniel Celebration Stratton, CO. August 1, 1976. Keith holding Brenda and Robbie standing in front of Yvonne Myrick. Waiting for coetume and beard judging. Robbie won first place, ($15), on costume and we were always coming across some of their Most of the homegteaders built houses of sod but the Neallys built a freme house. A little later Charlee'father and two sisters and their husbands came out and homesteaded. They just stayed here long enough to prove up on their homesteads. When they left they sold out to Charles. They soon got three or four milk cows and another horse so as to make a three horse team, as they put the horse with the mules. Then they were able to break some ground and do a little farming. Then they began to get stock cattle to run on the open range. The old McCrillis Ranch line fence was on their west and north and the riders rode the fence every day so they had no trouble with their cattle. The Neallys got their own land fenced in as soon as they could. There were lots of wild antelope on the prairies at that time. Many settlers killed them for meat. In due time two daughters were born to this family. In 1898, they moved over to his brother Harry's place, which was the E. % 356-43 where they lived for several years. When we were old enough we went to a school about a mile and a half west of us. Haidee and I nearly always walked. Knapps didn't have their land fenced like we did and F480 coming down over the hill. I didn't think anything about it as I thought it was a neighbor coming, so I went about my business. About this time he saw some men and all at once he turned and took offover the hill as fast as he could go and that was the last I saw of him. Then, when the next week'g Kansas City Star came out, there was an item about a women down in Kansas who was hunting for her husband who had left home. We often thought about that man and wondered if it could have been him, but we never heard anything more about him and never heard if the woman ever found her husband, but.it gave us something to think about for a long time. We had very little sickness in our family, but some families suffered from smallpox and diphtheria. Doctors were so far away, so if anything went wrong we were doctored vrith home remedies and always got better. Our friends, the Reischs, had smallpox and we would take their mail and some food supplies to help them out. We were very careful and would circle around their place at a safe distance until we attracted the attention of the family. Then we left the things where they would find them and hurried on our way so as not to get the disease ourselves. I remember one time mema had to go to town to the dentist. She had 21 teeth pulled that day and then had to ride that long way home jolting in the lumber wagon. I sat on the floor of the wagon and rested my back between her knees. At first we didn't go to church as there was none around. After the Wallet Post Office and store were established and people went there for the mail, it becnme a meeting place for the people. Here a minist€r would come sometimes on Sunday, and we would have a �church service. Jim Knapp wan our close neighbor and friend. He dW nearly all the wells around the countryside by hand. He would be gone from home long periods at a time, but would get back whenever he got a chance and the family never knew when to expect him. One time he arived home late at night when all the children were in bed so they were not aware of it. The next morning early after they awakened one of them said: "Thete's a man in bed with mama." He had about two weeks growth of beard and the children did not recognize him at first. One time a big man hunt was on. Several horseback riders rode onto the place and said they were hunting for a man who had robbed the Zollinger home. Father left with the men. I only knew Jim Rhoades and Jim Barnett who were in the group. After much circling around, the man wag tracked down in the creek bed near the Wallet Store. Word was sent to Burlington for the sheriff to come aftpr him. It was later learned that this man who had robbed the Zollingers was a one time acquaintance of the Zollingers. He knew the Zollinger family when they had lived in Michigan. He had heard that the Zollingers had become wealthy after arriving in Colorado, so had decided he would come and get some of it. It must have been quite a disappointment to find how little they had, but he took what little cash they had. As he was armed the family wag afraid to refuse him. NEALLY FAMILY F481 Mr. Munter was at the Zollinger home at the time and as soon an he could get away he hunied to his home to see if his family had been molested. He told his wife and older children that night but when the younger ones started to school the nert morning he told them to tell the teacher to be on the lookout for the man as it was feared he might still be in the neighborhood. This robber had the Zollinger place well located in his mind by the way the wind was blowing and planned to get away as soon alt Sometimes we would have a new white dress for the occasion. I will never forget the free lemonade. It was in a big barrel on Main Street. As there were no paper cups then, they had a big tin cup fastened on a chain so it wouldn't get away, for the people to drink from. Sanitation was something we didn't think of then. Everyone could drink all they wanted until the barrel finally ran dry. On one of these occasions, when I was about six years old, was a day I'll never forget. I got separated from my parents. I knew they had planned to go to the races which were held just north of the railroad tracks, so that was where I headed in search of them. I was just a few feet from the track when a man on horseback rushed up in front of me and got me back just before a train went by. I finally made it to the races and was standing by the bleachers looking for them. All of a sudden I heard an awful crack and down went the bleachers. Many of the people had their legs hurt, but no other serious damage except to a baby that was in a buggy in the shade and it wae killed. Just the people who could afford the price of a ticket were seated. The ones that had been standing all felt that it was their lucky day. After the accident I finally found my parents. As time went by my father had increased his number of cattle and as they had all their land fenced they didn't have much trouble with them getting mixed with the range cattle, and they didn't have to herd them. They raised mostly white faces. They were nice looking cattle with nice long horns. They began to raige more feed crops, mostly millet so they always had plenty of feed when the weather was so bad they couldn't forage for themselves. The prairie fires in those days were very bad and would travel for twenty five miles at times. The men would have to plow furrows all night and if the wind changed sometimes the fire would jump the furrows. I, myself, remember one fire that came within twenty five feet of our barn before it could be stopped. Many hardships were there in those days but the ones who stayed put were the ones whopaid for their land and made comfortable homee for their families. His youngest daughter, Blanche - 1962. he had robbed them. But while he was tormenting the family the wind changed directions and he wasn't aware of it, so he lost hie way completely, thus enabling the neighbors to pick up this trail and capture him before he left the county. He didn't bother any other fanily. About the main recreation in those early days was for several families and neighbors to get together and go in lumber wagons to the Spring Valley Ranch and spend the day fishing. The Jim Knapp, WiI Reisch and Charles Neally families usually went together as they were close neighbors. Henry Goebel was the manager of the Spring Valley at that time and they always enjoyed visiting with him. On one of these fishing trips the men caught a large turtle, so when they got back to the Knapp home, Mrs. Knapp cooked the turtle and made turtle soup for all. The children didn't care much about it, but it was a change in the menu for the adults. The Fourth of July was always a big event in our lives, because we would go to Burlington where a big celebration would be held. NICHOLS, EUGENE AND DOROTIIY F4A2 existed. Dorothy was born in Arlington, Ks. Aug. 20, 1913 to John and Mary Teeter. Her father ran a hardware store. The family later moved to a farm and ranch near Ulysses, Ks. which he bought from his parents, Henry and Margaret Teeter. This ranch is still in the Teeter family with the fourth and fifth generations living there now. Gene and Dorothy are graduates of Mos- cow High School. Gene attended Salt City Business College in Hutchinson, Ks. one year and also began farming, breaking out a lot of sod and planting wheat. The first two crops made 28,000 bushels with a price of 33 to 18 cents a bushel. Dorothy took the Teacher's Examg, and taught in a country school 8 miles from her folks home in the next school district - salary $50.00 a month. These were years when folks were losing their property, etc. but life went on and love wins. We were maried Feb. 10, 1934; a family wedding at my grandparents in Ulysses, Ks., our favorite pastor performing the ceremony. Mother and Grandma fixed a big supper for' all present. Gene had rented an improved farm near Woods, Ks. After we painted and papered the house, we moved in the day my school was out. We thanked God for my bridal shower, our wedding presents, our parents' cast off furniture and the Montgomery Ward's catalog, also for the homemaking abilities our parents had taught us - we had a comfortable home. Selling our extra eggs and crenm kept us in food and whatever else we really needed. We were both raised in a large fanily and we loved children. Our four children are Richard (Dean), Karen Louise, Sharen Jean and John Henry. Dean married Dorothy Loutzenhiser of Flagler. They are farmers and ranchers near Walsh, Co. Their four children are Pamsls Sue (now Mrs. Max Smith) of Walsh; Patrica Ann (Mrs. Jim Haffner) of Walsh; Robin Jay (married Gina Wells) of Garden City, Ks.; Barbara Kay (Mrs. Gary Burson) of Walsh. Dean and Dorthy have seven grandchildren, making us gteat grandparents. Karen married Robert Best of Stinett, Tx. and have sons, Byron Dale of Emporia, Ks, Rodney Hale of Wichita, Ks. Karen lives in Walsh, Co. where she teaches in the Walsh High School. Sharen manied Raymond Miller of Denver. They now live near Two Buttes, Co. where they farm and ranch. Ray had a son Raymond Joseph Jr. who is married and lives in Loveland, Co. and a daughter Gail (Mrs. Wm. Barocsi) Long Beach, Ca. They made Ray and Sharen grandparents and us 3 more The Eugene (Gene) V. and Dorothy M. (Teeter) Nichols family (four children) came to Kit Carson County in Feb., 1950 from Meade, Ks. They settled on a farm and ranch great grandchildren. Their daughter Debra Jean married DeWayne Britton of Pritchett and now live in Lubbock where they attend college. Jenelle Louise is a junior in high rado, on Duck Creek. John Henry married Zerelda Eddy of Lamar. Their sons are Lance Anson, 8th they bought from the Fred Pages in 1948, located 8 miles northeast of Flagler, Colo- Gene was born in Texas County near Tyrone, Ok., July 3, 1909. His parents, Ralph and Bertha Nichols, had a homestead there. They moved to Moscow, Ks, to start their three older children in a good school. His parents ran a hardware store and sold machinery in Moscow. Gene's grandparents, Henry and Frances Fuller, lived on a farm, part homestead, near Liberal, Ks, before the railroad or Liberal school and Justin Ty is in 3rd grade in Springfield, Co. grade, Jason Roy, 6th, Michael Lane, 3rd, in the Arriba-Flagler Schools. The family farms and ranches on their place and our home place. The children of Gene and Dorothy all graduated from Flagler High School. Dean and John are graduates of CSU in Fort Collins. Karen is a graduate of PSU in Goodwell, OK. Sharen is a graduate of Parks �Life on the farm consisted of helping with the farm work, driving tractor, shocking wheat, shucking corn, milking, 4H, County Fairs, PTA,and walking to echool. In terribly bad weather, Claude took the children to gchool with a te'm and wagon, with bailg of straw in it. They always had homemade bread and summer Bausage sandwiches in their symp bucket for lunch. Tillie was a wonderful cook, baking a batch of bread weekly, and in earlier years twice a week, sharing her bread with family, friends, and neighbors. She made peppernuts at Christmas, grapenut ice cream, and peanut bars. They did their own butchering, canning the meat, and making summer sausage every winter. Ti[ie also did all the sewing for the family, making over clothes to fit the children. Claude and Tillie provided a happy home for their children. They loved to sing together as a family. The community could always hear Claude sing as he plowed the fields, or took a wagon load of wheat to town. "Work for the night is coming", was his favorite. He was also a story teller, enjoying this fellowship with friends. Claude was always plagued with hay fever, asthna, and decided to move the family to California in 1945. They moved to Redmond, Calif., where his sist€r Beeeie lived. Later they accepted an offer of a friend, Elmer Fasse, to lease his farm in Burlington, Colo. moving in 1948. This move accounted for the fanily separation. They moved to Burlington after a few years. They had 23 grandchildren. Claude died on Dec. 15, 1966 and Tillie Gene and Dorothy Nichol's 4fth wedding annivereary in their farm home, February L0,L974. Front row: died 14 years later July 23, 1980. Gene and Dorothy Nichole. Back row: John, Karen, Sharon and Dean. by Dorothy Penny Business College in Denver. The family has been very active in 4-H, Farm Bureau, Baptist Church and its organizations, school and community activities. Gene loves his horses and likes to plant and care for trees. Dorothy is a 50 year member of HD Clubs and likes to quilt, embroidery and sew. We moved to the outside edge of Flagler, July 1, 1982. We still have a cow-calf Nebraska on December 12, 1910. Her parents were Maggie K. and Frank H. Wilson. They manage. We have always owned some cowg and horses. We both have more time now for grandparents on her mother's side were Mary Rodaway from England & Jurgen F. Kramer Center and to shut-ins. We celebrated our 53rd Wedding Anniversary this year and have truly been blessed with a gpeat family. wagons to Nebraska City. Her grandparents on her father's side were Mr. and Mrs. Morris NOWAK, JIM AND RUTH F484 Ruth M. Wilson was born at Lexington, operation which the John Nichols' family lived on a farm north of Lexington. Her volunteer work and visits to the Senior from Germany. They traveled by oxen and F. Wilson from Scotland and lreland. Ruth started to school at the age of five. She went to a little country school and walked one mile each day to get there. At the age of ten she moved with her parents to Stratton, Colorado. They home- We look forward to their visits and our reunions. We are proud of their accomplishments. by Eugene Nichols steaded on a farm seven miles south of Stratton. The building where she attended church and Sunday school with her parents, NIDER - WOLTERS FAMILY F483 Claude Clarence Nider wag born to John and Eldora Harvey Nider, Feb. 15, 1893 near Fairbury, Neb. He attended the University of Nebraska. On January 14, L920, he married Mathilde Wolters, daughter of Henry and Johanna Wolters, born May 3, 1896. To them eight children were born; Maxine, Lucille, Arleen, Dorothy, Louis, Bette, Dale, and Marilyn. Claude was in farming all his life. He brothers and sisters was made of layers of sod with a dirt floor. Claude and Tillie Nider in 1950. worked for the AAA working out of Fairbury, Neb., to supplement his farming there. He had a stenm engine and separator, separating for the farmers in this community. When he would bring the rig home, he would start pulling the whistle, alerting the children for their run to meet him, to ride the rest of the way home. While harvesting, his wife Tillie and the children would run the farm and see that the chores were done. Ruth helped her father who was a carpenter as well as a farmer, make "Doby Blocks" to build their house. To made a doby block you plow a large circle ofsod leaving a ten foot circle in the center where you stand to lead horses around the circle to mix the doby. You keep putting straw and watcr in the mud until it is mixed up smooth like mud pies. Then you put it in a box 18-12 inches, smooth off the top,lift up the box very carefully and go to the next block. Leave the blocks dry a week and turn them over. After a few weeks they are ready to start building. You mix up �more mud to put them together with. Takes a lot of blocks and hard work. Ruth attended school with her three brothers and three sisters in a country school which was heated with a "pot belly stove". There were forty students and one teacher, who had all eight grades. The students all were required to help the teacher with cleaning the school, carrying out ashes and carrying in wood and coal. Classes staded at nine o'clock, at 10:30 we had a fifteen minute recess. Twelve o'clock to one was lunch time. School let out at four o'clock. We were taught reading, writing and arithmetic to the tune of a "hickory stick". Ruth got up early in the mornings along with the rest of the family. After breakfast, while mother packed school lunches, she would help carry in fuel and water for the day, feed chickens, calves and pigs, then walk two miles to school. As Ruth gtew older, she worked in the fields hoeing, plowing, shocking grain, putting up hay, pulling weeds, and shucking corn. Times were hard so when Ruth was thirteen ghe started working out in the summers. She saved her money for high school, and worked out in the summers while attending high school at Stratton. Sounds like a hard life but had wonderful parents, brothers and sisters and we had a very happy homelife. After graduating from high school in May 1929, Ruth went to work on a big ranch up on the Republican River about twenty-five miles northeast of Stratton. The hours were long and the work was hard, as washing, ironing, housecleaning and everything was done by hand. Day began at five in the morning and ended at ten p.m. The pay was $6.00 a week plus room and board or five cents an hour. On February 16th 1931 Ruth was united in marriage to James R. Nowak at Goodland, Kansas. They lived on a ranch north of Stratton where Mr. Nowak was employed. Wages were $45 per month and living quartere. Ruth and her husband had three sone munity activities. When Ray and Bob joined the Navy, she joined the Navy Mothers and is still a member. Besides being a homemaker and mother, Ruth worked as a waitress and bartender for thirty-two years. Ruth now lives with her son Bob at 1916 Miner. She has another son Ray and wife Jessica and grandsons Mike and Richard who live in Lakewood. So after seventy-four years and all my mileage you can see why I am walking with a cane but still get by on my own power. by Ruth M. Nowak NOWAK, MAX AND MARGARET F485 Passenger train Eight came steaming into Burlington on Thanksgiving morning of November, 1910. Coming, aboard that train, to their new home in Kit Carson County were Margaret Ann and five of the six Nowak children. Margaret's husband, Max, and the couple's oldest son, Archie, had come several load of hay to town to sell and was returning to his homestead. He agreed to take the Nowaks to their new home for one dollar. Margaret Ann and her daughter accepted this offer and were then taken to the depot to collect the children, suitcases, trunks, and boxes of canned and dried fruits and vegetables that they had been busily preparing at the old home in Seneca, Kansas, while Max and Archie were in Colorado building a two room house of adobe and sod. Taking a trail which angled northwestfrom Burlington, Mr. Mace and the Nowaks traveled out through the settlement to the long established ranches on the Republican River. It must have been rather warm for November since the children remember running along beside and behind the hayrack exploring the countryside as the group slowly journeyed to their new home. Max, the son of Bohemian immigrants, was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1863. As a young boy Max moved with his family to the Seneca, Kansas, area. It was here that he received his formal education and learned the trade of a stone mason, MargaretAnn McQuid was born in Seneca, Kansas, in 1865. She was mainly of Irish ancestry. Her grandparents had immigrated to Canada in the 1840's and had then monthe earlier to stake out a homestead in the Tuttle community about fifteen miles northwest of Bethune. Due to miscommunications, Margaret Ann and the five children got off the train in Burlington while Max was left waiting for them in Stratton. After some migrated to Nemeha County, Kansas, in anxious moments Margaret Ann surmised Then, because of a farm related injury, Max returned to doing construction work such as what had happened. Consequently she either sent a telegram to her husband or used the railroad telephone to call him. Margaret Ann was given instructions to try to find transportation to the homestead, so she and my mother, Katie, who was the oldest child, went to the various livery barns in town, leaving the younger children to guard the family belongings at the train depot. At one of the barns Margaret Ann and Katie met a man by the nnme of Frank Mace who lived near the river north of Bethune. Frank had brought a 1857. Max and Margaret Ann were married in St. Mary's Church located in St. Benedict, Kansas, on May 8, 1894. They spent the next sixteen years farming in the Seneca area. plastering, stone masonry, and building cisterns. Due to Max's asthma, in 1910, a doctor advised the Nowaks to move to Colorado. Max had a sister, Vic Pike, living in the Tuttle community, and there was land available to homestead in the area, so the decision to relocate in Kit Carson County was made. Soon after the change of residence another sister, Ma4r LeRoy, homesteaded nearby. Even though the homesteaders of that era and a daughter. In July 1934, Ruth, her husband and two small sons Richard and Raymond packed their things in a Model A Ford coupe and moved to Newburg, Oregon. We stayed in cabins along the road at night for $2.00 per night. You had to furnish your own bedding, cooking utensils, towels, etc. The cabins weren't very clean and some were full of bed buge. While in Oregon we lived in a house without heat, water or lights; had to carry water up the hill side from a spring; boiled hops and made yeast to make bread; had lots of good fruit and fish. Jobs were hard to find and it rained dl the time, eo after a year we returned to Stratton, Colo. and back to work on the same ranch. In September, 1936, we moved to Limon, Colo. and lived in a house north of Limon. The rattlesnakes were go bad that one of them hung itsef in the coil bed springs. So back to Stratton in January, 1937. The dust bowl was eo bad that on July 4, 1937, Ruth and her husband Ja-es and three emall sons again packed up and moved to ldaho Springs. Times were hard in Idaho Springs, as Janes was a mill man. While the children were growing up Ruth was active in schools, P.T.A., church and Sunday School, Cub Scouts and other com- Mar and Margaret Ann Nowak with grandchildren. L. to R.: Doris Meade Gulley, Leslie A. Davis, Stanley Davis. Russell Davis and Jackie Meade Smith. �settled on land that had been the range for the ranches (Pugh, Wood, Davis & Corliss) along the Republican River, the Nowak children reported that no animosity was ever ehown. In fact, they all soon beca-e a part of the Tuttle community. The children attended the Tuttle school which at that time was located near the present-day Harvey Wood ranch. The school also served as a community center for Sunday school, for of German descent and her father's people were Scotch-Irish, living at Harisonville, Mo, Some paternal ancestors came from Kentucky. Clara graduated from high school in 1931 at Birch Tree, Mo., and from the University of Kansas at Lawrence in 198b. She taught English and Latin and other subjects at various Kansas high schools. In 1942, she asked for a release from her contract to start working for the Air Force to help win WW II. In 1944 she transferred to Washington, D.C. and worked in the Pentagon until the summer of 1946. She saw Gen. Eisenhower ride triumphantly into the Pen- church on occasion, for dances, for Christmag programs, for literaries, and for other affairs. All of the Nowak children graduated from the Tuttle school. After finishing school all of these children worked at one time or another tagon Concourse after the Allies won the war. She decided to return home to Arkansas, for ranches or businesses in the Tuttle, Hermas, and Kirk areas. The children were Katie, Archie, Alice, Helen, Gilbert, and Jnmes. Katie married Rosser Davis, and they lived in the Tuttle area until 1942, when they moved to Burlington. Katie passed away in 1967. Archie, who left the Tuttle community as a young man, eventually settled in Oregon. It was there that he died in 1974. Alice became the wife of Vida Davis. The couple farmed in the Kirk area for many years and moved to Englewood upon retirement. This is where Alice etill resides. Helen exchanged marriage vows with Gilbert Meade. The Meades lived most of their adult lives in Kirk where Helen passed away in 1977. Gilbert Nowak lived and worked in the Stratton and Tuttle communities before joining the U.S. Navy during World War II. After his discharge, Gilbert lived in Denver until his death in 1956. Jnmes worked on ranches in the Stratton area. He wed Ruth Wilson of Stratton, and in 1937, they moved to Idaho Springs where Jemes died in 1978. In 1937, Max and Margaret Ann moved from the Tuttle community to a Collins Hotel apartment in Stratton. Margaret Ann passed on in 1940, and Max died in 1945. They are both buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Stratton. where her parents had moved in 1g31. Clara's father worked as a Frisco depot operator for many years. Clara has one sister and no brothers. Clara then taught school at Swifton, Ark., and boarded in her sist€r's home 2 years. Then Clara taught in the Hulbert-West Memphis H.S. two years, in Arkansas. After her maniage in 1949, Clara had to help take the Senior class to Galveston and New Orleans in June. She made hotel Frank and Clara Nusser on wedding day, April 17, 1949 ley. Wanda taught kindergarten in the Catholic school at Floresville, Texas for 3 years. Then Wanda taught in a public school in San Antonio, Texas one year. Then she taught third grade at Concordia Lutheran Church School in San Antonio where she is still teaching in 1987. Wanda married Wil- by Russ Davis lia- P. Moody of San Antonio in June 1g82. Their son, Matthew Henry Moody, was born December 2, Lg8l. He will probably be very spoiled as both sets ofgrandparents will help NUSSER, FRANK H. AND CLARA I. spoil him. Sherry worked in Public Health at Myrtle Beach, S.C. She then received a grant to F486 The girls and their father Frank H. Nusser was born at Plevna, Reno County, Kansas on October 26, 1903. He graduated from Plevna High School in 1924. For several yeare he had farming interests with his mother and two sisters. Frank was one of eight children born to German parents, his mother having been born overseas and his father in the U.S.A. Frank was the youngest of five boys and three girls. Frank ceme out to Stratton in 1946 to farm on his brother Martin's two sections, one NE and one South of Stratton. Frank raised wheat by dry farming for 32 years. Frank married Clara lrene Bricken on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1949, in her sister's T\r'ine Shirley and Sherry, 3, with Wanda, 7, and mother reservations and rented a Greyhound bus for the trip. She didn't arrive in Stratton until June 17, 1949. Clara taught in the Blakeman country school that winter. She taught at Seibert one year but quit because the Nusser's first daughter was born October 19, 1952 Wanda Eileen Nusser. In 1956 on March -9 the Nussers beca-e the proud parents of twin daughters, Shirley Ann and Sherry Rose. Sherry was Valedictorian and Shirley was Salutatorian of their Senior class. Wanda and Sherry graduated from U.N.C. at Gree- home with her parents present, also her sister, her brother-in-law and their son Jan and daughter Kay as witnesses. Frank and Clara were married by the Methodist preacher of Swifton, Arkansas. Clara was born December 22,LSLB in Black Rock, Arkansas. Her mother's parents were attend the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she received her Master's Degree. Then she worked about 18 months at the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation of North Dakota, setting up the first program of Public Health and Nutrition in the reservation. Sherry applied for a release from national Public Health so that she could work as a nutritionist for the state of Texas at Lubbock where she is still stationed in January 1987. Shirley Nusser attended Valparaiso University in Indiana for one year, then worked and took classes in Greeley. Later she worked in Colorado Springs. Shirley joined the Air Force in January 1983, taking training at Lackland A.F. Base, later at Keesler A.F. Base at Biloxi, Miss. She then transferred to Whiteman A.F. Base in Missouri where she is still stationed in 1987. Clara Nusser is the elder child born to James A. and Rosa W. Moser Bricken. The other child, Edythe Elizabeth, wag born on October 19, 1919. Edythe attended one summer at a college in Memphis,Tenn., one year at the University of Kansas at Lawrence �and one year at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where she met and married Dudley Bullard of Swifton, Ark. They had one other son, Sjon, after Clara was married in Edythe's home. Dudley taught for many years at Swifton where he finally retired. As principal, he depended on his wife for any substitut€ teaching. When Clara taught there, she once had George Kell of the Detroit Tigers as her subgtitute. by Frank Nugser ORMSBEE - DAVIS FAMILY F487 Vi (Davis) Ormsbee in the 1920's. Hap with baby daughter Donna in front ofthe Busy Corner Drug Store. Notice the old Montuzuma Hotel in reflection in the window. the terrible red streak was just the coke syrup from the rim ofthe barrel. In those days coke had to be mixed from a syrup at the soda fountain. For most of Hap's life, he worked in law enforcement. He was a warm, friendly man - salty and outspoken, an unfailing champion of people, causes and principles he believed in. As a very young man, he served as undersheriff in the county. In the late 1930's Hap as in the first class of cadets to originate the Colorado State Patrol - then called "The Colorado Courtesy Patrol." In those days you went where the job was, so Hap was stationed in various cities around the state while Vi stayed in Burlington and taught school. Their summers were spent with their daughters, Donna and Bonnie, wherever Hap was stationed at the time. It was in the winter of 1938 that Hap rode a motorcycle for over ten hours through a severe snow storm to reach Bur- E.G. "Hap" Ormsbee in the 1920's. " . . it came to me that those old hardbitten patriots (Jefferson, Adams, Franklin laid the very foundations upon which our houses, schools, churches, yes, even our government stands today. If there is a crack or crumble in any of those old foundations, I'm sure with the little patience and time' those cracks will be reinforced and covered over and be just as strong and sturdy as they were the day Betsy Ross cut up a pair of somebody's old red drawers and sewed the first stitches in Old Glory . . So, I'm sure that if you will take along your patience and education and blend in a great big hunk of integrity, well, I know you will make it okay." This quote was taken from a speech given by Earl G. "Hap" Ormsbee to the graduating high school seniors. The precepts he was impressing upon those young folks "Patience, Education, and a Big Hunk of Integrity" were concepts that he and his wife "Vi" lived and worked with throughout their lives. Hap's parents, George and Mae (Luther) Ormsbee, moved from Smith County, Kansas to a ranch south of Burlington and, later, into town. Vi's Great-Grandfather, John Glass, lington. You see, the inoculation for di- Hap Ormsbee in 1962 when he was Sherriff of Kit Carson County. and Grandparents, E.G. Davis Sr. and Leah, came to Colorado from Wales by way of Macon County, Missouri. They settled on a ranch near the Republican River in 1887. Vi's father, Griff, grew up there. Hap and Violet May Davis were married on August 2L, L928, in Arriba. For several years after their marriage, Hap operated the Busy Corner Drug Store in Burlington. It was located on the corner of 14th and Senter streets where Standish Drug later stood and Marion Shoe Store now stands. The day his baby daughter, Donna, rode her kiddy-car down the basement steps and landed in a "Coke" barrel will never be forgotten. When Hap rushed down the steps and grabbed her up, he found a terrible steak of red running across her stomach. When Donna and Hap reached the daylight it was discovered that phtheria had just been invented and many had not taken advantage of its benefit. His youngest daughter, Bonnie, along with others in the county had contracted the disease. After he resigned from the Patrol, he was with the Division of Internal Security of the Federal Government until World War II ended. After the war, the family returned to Burlington. For awhile Hap owned a liquor store and Vi taught in the elementary school. As Sheriff of Kit Carson County, he especially tried to guide young people in the right direction for he knew the future ofour county and nation would depend on them. The proof of his ability is that he was one of the few Democratic candidates ever to be elected in Kit Carson County. Vi's grandfather Davis was a member of the first set of Kit Carson County officers and served as County Commissioner. Her father later served as sheriff as well as being a business man. Vi also believed in "Patience, Education and a a Big Hunk of Integrity". She taught school for many years. Her initial �position was teaching Reading in grades 3-8 in Stratton. She taught two years in a rural school where one of the duties listed in her contract wag to keep the etudent'e horses tied in the barn. One of her early salaries was for tional Tech School at Goodland, KS. in 1979, and graduated with a Kansas license in Cosmetology. Afterwards she returned to Omaha and worked as telephone operator at Teem Telephone Co. for a few months; also worked at Dellen Laboratories as Vetcrinary Technician. In 1981 she moved back to Denver, CO. and worked as hairdresger for one year at Michael of the Carlyle. After mariage Dennis andJean made their home in Burlington, CO. and both work at Orth's Dept. Store. He works as Aest. Manager (Buyer of men's wear), and she is also Asst. Manager (Buyer of ladies apparel and Clerk). Their son, Sterling David, was born August 12, 1986. Dennis enjoys sailing, goose and duck hunting, and yardwork. Jean enjoys sailing, English and West€rn horse riding, sewing, teaching dogs obedience, and training and judging show dogs. $800 a year. After Hap and Vi raised their two daughters, she went back to college and earned her M.A. in Adminietration and Supervision of the Elementary school. She did additional work in Special Education at the graduate level. Vi wae the first president of the Burlington Education Aesociation. She was a member of the Burlington Women's club and Garden Club, and served on the Burlington Public Library Board. Vi was a charter member of the local chapter of the Association for Children with Learning disabilitiee and served on the stat€ advisory board after she retired from teaching. Even though her chapter was at least a three hour drive each way, she never missed the monthly board meetings. One month she beco-e ill enroute home and finished the trip from Limon in an embulance. Even after urging from the state president to stay home and regain her strength, she was back again for the next meeting, "rearin'to go". Her only by Dennis Orth Dennis and Jean Orth, Jan. 15, 1983 ORTH, HELMUTH AND FRANCES comment was, "Listen young man, these meetings are important and you can't talk me out of being here. Besides I have a lot of fun." "Patience, Education, and a Big Hunk of Integrity". Yes, Hap and Vi were the children of their pioneer forebears. If the pioneers of the future can live by these precepts, and not fall victim to the, "Why not? Everyone elee does." trap - "Well, I know you will make it (LAMPE) F489 okay." Hap died on July 13, 1963, from a stroke. Vi died June 23, 1975, from heart failure. They have four grandchildren: Robbie Fearon is a teacher, Mike Vance is a farmer, Shelley Laudenschlager ig an attorney and Wade Laudenschlager is a pharmacist. Their three great-grandchildren are: Kacy Fealon, Annie Vance and Griff Vance. by Bonnie R. Laudenschlager ORTH, DENNIS AND JEAN Sterling David Orth, t year old F488 Dennis Deloy Orth was born in St. Francis, KS, on March 10, 1949, to Helmuth and Frances (Lampe) Orth. He has one sister, JoEllen (Mrs. Tim Beattie). Dennis attended elementary school in St. Francis until fifth grade, then moved to Burlington, CO. with his family, and graduated from Burlington High School in 1967. He attended Northeastern Junior College, Sterling, CO., for two years, graduated in 1969, with an L.A. degree in General Education, then continued his schooling at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO., graduated in 1972, with a B.A. degree in Education. In 1973 he and a friend traveled four months, January to April, in Europe through Greece, Turkey, Austria, Germany, Holland, France, England, and Belgium. For three years, 1973-76, he worked for his father at Orth's Dept. Store in Burlington. In 1977, Dennis, a cousin, and friend traveled for three months, January to March, in South America through Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Jnmaica, and Bahamas. After the trip, he worked again at Orth's Dept. Store. In 1979 he went to Baha, Mexico, and sailed with his sister, JoEllen, and Tim Beattie for three weeks along the coast on Tim's 44 ft. boat. Dennis manied Jean Yvonne Heider on Januar5r 15, 1983, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Burlington. She was born Septem- ber 16, 1951, to Lou and Vera Heider, in Omaha, NE. She attended St. Paul's Lutheran School, grades 3-8, and North High School in Omaha, graduated in 1969. After graduation Jean attended the University of Neb. School of Technical Agriculture for two years at Curtis, NE. and received a certification in Veterinary Technology. She moved to Denver, CO. and worked for three years at the Golden Animal Hospital in Golden, CO. also worked at the Westminster Veterinary Clinic four years, L974-78, before moving to Burlington, CO. in 1978, and worked at the Burlington Industrial Bank for eight months. She attended the Northwest Kansas Voca- Helmuth and Frances Orth Oct. 23, 1984. Helmuth Karl Orth was born July 4,L922, son of Karl and Elizabeth (Heinie) Orth on a farm southwest of St. Francis, KS. He was the fourth child with three brothers: Richard, Oscar and Herbert, and two sisters: Alinda (Mrs. Ted Burr) and Waunita, all of whom are deceased. Helmuth was baptized and confirmed at Salem Lutheran Church northwest of St. Francis. He attended the Walker countrv school and graduated from the St. Francii High School in L942. He farmed with his father and brother-in-law, Ted Burr, until he was called to serve his country for eighteen months, 1946-47. Most of that time was spent in Germany. When he returned, he farmed again. On April 4, 1948, he married Frances Lampe at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. �Francie. Frances Emma La-pe was born December 16, 1923, to Henry and Lydia (Walz) Lampe on a farm twelve miles west and two south of St. Francis. She was the fourth child with two eisters: Ella (Mrs. Bus Johnson) and Nina (Mrs. Harold Raile), and two brothers: Leland and Harvey. She was baptized and confirmed at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, fourteen miles southwest of St. Francis. She attended parochial school here, also Pleasant Hill and East Gurney schools, graduated in 1937. Later she earned her High School diploma by correspondence. Frances went to Denver, CO. after gradua- tion and worked for Montgomery Ward and Co. in the Mail Order transferring office. She later worked at Stapleton Airport as a Roto- Bin-Clerk, where they modified B-29 airplanes during the war. Her brother, Leland, was in the service and when Harvey was called to serve his country, she went back home to help her parents with the farmwork. After marriage, Hehnuth and Frances built a new home and lived at 521 S. Scott in St. Francis. They have two children: Dennis Deloy, born March 10, 1949; and JoEllen Sue, born November 2, L95L. Helmuth worked as a Laboratory Technician for the Bureau of Reclnmation from 1948 to 1951, while Bonny Dam, Hale, CO, was being built. It was completed in 1951. He then worked for P.M.A. until 1953, when he and Frances decided to go into business for themselves. They built and operated the Dairy King and two and one-half years later built the A.&W. Rootbeer, leasing it out. In the Spring of 1959, they sold both establishments and moved to Burlington, CO. In August they opened Orth's Skogmo Store, now Orth's Dept. Store, which they still own and operate. Their son Dennis, and wife Jean, are in the business with them. Dennis married Jean Yvonne Heider of Omaha, NE. They have one child, Sterling David, born August 12, 1986. JoEllen maried Timothy Beattie of Aukland, New Zealand. Helmuth and Frances both like, to play bridge, and enjoy fishing and golfing. Frances was the "Lucky Ace" to get the first "Holein-One" on Burlington's new golf course, July 31, 1973. No one will beat that! They both enjoy traveling, and have traveled the U.S. from East to West, North to South, including Hawaii, nine foreign countries and islands, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Africa, Canari Islands, Bahama Islands, Germany, Canada, and Mexico. They have been to some beautiful places, but still like the Good Old U.S.A. by Frances Orth OSTROWSKI, JOSEF AND FRANCES F490 1909 Homeetead Days ofJosefand Frances Ostrowski and family in Kit Carson County, Flagler, Colorado. Josef Ostrowski and Frances (Groffin) Ostrowski were born and raised in Jarnova, Poland. Josef learned the plumbing trade in Jarnova. Theycnme toBoston, Mass. in 1887, then on to the southern states to find work. They worked in the cotton fields picking cotton in Miesissippi, Alabo-a and Texas for several years. Later the family moved to St. Paul Minnesota where Josef worked with a plumber, digging trenches and laying pipe. He came to Flagler, Colorado in 1909 and took a homestead 1872 miles northwest of Flagler in Kit Carson County. His wife Frances and their two youngest sons, Vincent, age l0 years old and John, aged 12 years old made the trip to Colorado July 4, 1910 to their new home. Joeef worked in Denver during the winter months to buy a team of horses and two cows, also what machinery he needed to farm with. Josef and Frances lived on the farm until Frances passed away in 1935. Josef passed away in 1941. Vincent, the youngest son, spent his early years helping his father improve and farm the land. His father suffered a stroke while working in Denver in he early days, which left his arm paralyzed. Vincent married a neighbor girl, Cecilia Andrewjeski, on November 3, 1931. They bought the home place and raised their 5 children there. They have retired now and their sons Robert and Js-es have taken over the farm. by Cecilia Ostrowski Lorraine manied George A. Simon, son of George R. and Ruth Simon of Seibert on November 17, 1946. They moved from Flagler in 1955. Marian lived with D.V. Rowden fanily and graduated from Flagler High School. She died of leukemia in 1951. Fred and Agnes farmed with her father for five years before they bought what was to become Otteman's Cash Store in 1950. The brick building on Main Street in Flagler was built in about 1911 and has housed not only a store but the Flagler News, the Flagler Post Office, and later the First National Bank of Flagler. The building had apartments upstairs that many young couples started out in. The apartments are now closed and the bank has moved into their own building. The USDA Soil Conservation Service now is housed in the building. Fred continued to develop the locker and meat business by building the slaughter house in South Flagler in 1963. All four of their children, Gail, Carl, Marla and Mark, became familiar with the business, helping in all phases. Daughters, Gail and Marla, became school teachers and son, Carl,. graduated with a degree in Business Admin- istration and is the Business Manager at LaJunta Medical Center in Lalunta, Colorado. After Fred closed out the grocery business OTTEMAN FAMILY F491 Frederick A. Otteman and Lillian Rathert were married in Colorado Springs, May 19, 1921. Mr. Otteman was an immigrant from in 1978 and concentrated on the meat business, son Mark graduated from Colorado State University and joined his father in the family business becoming the third generation Otteman to become a Flagler businessman. When Fred died of cancer in 1980, Mark bought the family business and continues to Germany and his wife was born and raised in Kansas. They moved to Flagler soon after their marriage. They owned farmland in both Lincoln County and Kit Carson County. This land was rented out for farming. Mr. Otteman became a Flagler businessman when he opened a bakery with a partner by the nnme of Mr. Werner. Mr. Otteman had suffered a sunstroke at an earlier age and became a familiar sight walking downtown from the family home on Main Street carrying his black umbrella. The fanily was very active in Zion Lutheran Church in Flagler. Mrs. Otteman was a renowned cook and baker and during the 30's when the bakery closed, she maintained her family by baking in her home. operate it. Agnes worked as Public Health Nurse for Kit Carson County for thirteen years before she accepted the new position in 1979 with Centennial Mental Health Center to provide Elizabeth died in infancy. Daughters, The horse was so was the rider. It was 5fi) miles from -Peru, Nebraska to They were parents of four children. Mary Lorraine and Marian, not only helped their mother in the kitchen but delivered the baked goods to homes in Flagler. Son, Fred, also helped his mother in the kitchen. During the 30's Mr. Otteman bought seed wheat for his renters to plant back when they failed to raise enough for seed. The mother died in 1941, leaving a young family. The father died in 1943, leaving the youngest, Marian, still in high school. Lorraine and Fred had graduated from Flagler High School by that time. Lorraine entered St. Lukes Hospital School of Nursing in Denver. Fred (algo Frederick A. Otteman) joined the Navy during World War II and served in the Pacific aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Colohan as an Electrician's Mate. After the end of the war, Fred married Agnes Huntzinger, daughter of Sidney V. and Gerda Huntzinger on December 2, 1945. Fred's wife, Agnes, and sister, Lorraine, both graduated from St. Lukes Hospital School of Nursing in 1946. the geriatrics nursing for the Center for Region V, a position she still holds in 1986. by Agnes Otteman PAGE, FRED AND AGNES F4S2 jagged Flagler, Colorado, and Fred Page with all his property tied behind the saddle had followed the trail by the Rock Island Railroad to Rice's place in Flagler. There he had applied for a homestead, was to bring his bride - a school teacher also from Nebraska Agnes Black - and on that Blank - Page and that bleak prairie, write the story of their family. They would shove three homestead shacks together, plaster the out- side and build a house and a home for themselveg and the five children of their marriage - Betty, Margaret, Avis, Agnes and Don. But if the prairie and the structure of their house was bleak, their home was fun, warm, cultured and varied. Fred had been a semi-orphan, living with anyone who had work to do in exchange for board and room. He was immensely proud of his wife and family and constantly reminded them how lucky he felt to have them. Far � 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- N&O Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Briefs histories of founding families of Kit Carson County whose names start with "N" and "O." 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/505/Families-P_Q.pdf 1d2cd9f4732e71f40080e30b3e7ad2e7 PDF Text Text Francie. Frances Emma La-pe was born December 16, 1923, to Henry and Lydia (Walz) Lampe on a farm twelve miles west and two south of St. Francis. She was the fourth child with two eisters: Ella (Mrs. Bus Johnson) and Nina (Mrs. Harold Raile), and two brothers: Leland and Harvey. She was baptized and confirmed at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, fourteen miles southwest of St. Francis. She attended parochial school here, also Pleasant Hill and East Gurney schools, graduated in 1937. Later she earned her High School diploma by correspondence. Frances went to Denver, CO. after gradua- tion and worked for Montgomery Ward and Co. in the Mail Order transferring office. She later worked at Stapleton Airport as a Roto- Bin-Clerk, where they modified B-29 airplanes during the war. Her brother, Leland, was in the service and when Harvey was called to serve his country, she went back home to help her parents with the farmwork. After marriage, Hehnuth and Frances built a new home and lived at 521 S. Scott in St. Francis. They have two children: Dennis Deloy, born March 10, 1949; and JoEllen Sue, born November 2, L95L. Helmuth worked as a Laboratory Technician for the Bureau of Reclnmation from 1948 to 1951, while Bonny Dam, Hale, CO, was being built. It was completed in 1951. He then worked for P.M.A. until 1953, when he and Frances decided to go into business for themselves. They built and operated the Dairy King and two and one-half years later built the A.&W. Rootbeer, leasing it out. In the Spring of 1959, they sold both establishments and moved to Burlington, CO. In August they opened Orth's Skogmo Store, now Orth's Dept. Store, which they still own and operate. Their son Dennis, and wife Jean, are in the business with them. Dennis married Jean Yvonne Heider of Omaha, NE. They have one child, Sterling David, born August 12, 1986. JoEllen maried Timothy Beattie of Aukland, New Zealand. Helmuth and Frances both like, to play bridge, and enjoy fishing and golfing. Frances was the "Lucky Ace" to get the first "Holein-One" on Burlington's new golf course, July 31, 1973. No one will beat that! They both enjoy traveling, and have traveled the U.S. from East to West, North to South, including Hawaii, nine foreign countries and islands, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Africa, Canari Islands, Bahama Islands, Germany, Canada, and Mexico. They have been to some beautiful places, but still like the Good Old U.S.A. by Frances Orth OSTROWSKI, JOSEF AND FRANCES F490 1909 Homeetead Days ofJosefand Frances Ostrowski and family in Kit Carson County, Flagler, Colorado. Josef Ostrowski and Frances (Groffin) Ostrowski were born and raised in Jarnova, Poland. Josef learned the plumbing trade in Jarnova. Theycnme toBoston, Mass. in 1887, then on to the southern states to find work. They worked in the cotton fields picking cotton in Miesissippi, Alabo-a and Texas for several years. Later the family moved to St. Paul Minnesota where Josef worked with a plumber, digging trenches and laying pipe. He came to Flagler, Colorado in 1909 and took a homestead 1872 miles northwest of Flagler in Kit Carson County. His wife Frances and their two youngest sons, Vincent, age l0 years old and John, aged 12 years old made the trip to Colorado July 4, 1910 to their new home. Joeef worked in Denver during the winter months to buy a team of horses and two cows, also what machinery he needed to farm with. Josef and Frances lived on the farm until Frances passed away in 1935. Josef passed away in 1941. Vincent, the youngest son, spent his early years helping his father improve and farm the land. His father suffered a stroke while working in Denver in he early days, which left his arm paralyzed. Vincent married a neighbor girl, Cecilia Andrewjeski, on November 3, 1931. They bought the home place and raised their 5 children there. They have retired now and their sons Robert and Js-es have taken over the farm. by Cecilia Ostrowski Lorraine manied George A. Simon, son of George R. and Ruth Simon of Seibert on November 17, 1946. They moved from Flagler in 1955. Marian lived with D.V. Rowden fanily and graduated from Flagler High School. She died of leukemia in 1951. Fred and Agnes farmed with her father for five years before they bought what was to become Otteman's Cash Store in 1950. The brick building on Main Street in Flagler was built in about 1911 and has housed not only a store but the Flagler News, the Flagler Post Office, and later the First National Bank of Flagler. The building had apartments upstairs that many young couples started out in. The apartments are now closed and the bank has moved into their own building. The USDA Soil Conservation Service now is housed in the building. Fred continued to develop the locker and meat business by building the slaughter house in South Flagler in 1963. All four of their children, Gail, Carl, Marla and Mark, became familiar with the business, helping in all phases. Daughters, Gail and Marla, became school teachers and son, Carl,. graduated with a degree in Business Admin- istration and is the Business Manager at LaJunta Medical Center in Lalunta, Colorado. After Fred closed out the grocery business OTTEMAN FAMILY F491 Frederick A. Otteman and Lillian Rathert were married in Colorado Springs, May 19, 1921. Mr. Otteman was an immigrant from in 1978 and concentrated on the meat business, son Mark graduated from Colorado State University and joined his father in the family business becoming the third generation Otteman to become a Flagler businessman. When Fred died of cancer in 1980, Mark bought the family business and continues to Germany and his wife was born and raised in Kansas. They moved to Flagler soon after their marriage. They owned farmland in both Lincoln County and Kit Carson County. This land was rented out for farming. Mr. Otteman became a Flagler businessman when he opened a bakery with a partner by the nnme of Mr. Werner. Mr. Otteman had suffered a sunstroke at an earlier age and became a familiar sight walking downtown from the family home on Main Street carrying his black umbrella. The fanily was very active in Zion Lutheran Church in Flagler. Mrs. Otteman was a renowned cook and baker and during the 30's when the bakery closed, she maintained her family by baking in her home. operate it. Agnes worked as Public Health Nurse for Kit Carson County for thirteen years before she accepted the new position in 1979 with Centennial Mental Health Center to provide Elizabeth died in infancy. Daughters, The horse was so was the rider. It was 5fi) miles from -Peru, Nebraska to They were parents of four children. Mary Lorraine and Marian, not only helped their mother in the kitchen but delivered the baked goods to homes in Flagler. Son, Fred, also helped his mother in the kitchen. During the 30's Mr. Otteman bought seed wheat for his renters to plant back when they failed to raise enough for seed. The mother died in 1941, leaving a young family. The father died in 1943, leaving the youngest, Marian, still in high school. Lorraine and Fred had graduated from Flagler High School by that time. Lorraine entered St. Lukes Hospital School of Nursing in Denver. Fred (algo Frederick A. Otteman) joined the Navy during World War II and served in the Pacific aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Colohan as an Electrician's Mate. After the end of the war, Fred married Agnes Huntzinger, daughter of Sidney V. and Gerda Huntzinger on December 2, 1945. Fred's wife, Agnes, and sister, Lorraine, both graduated from St. Lukes Hospital School of Nursing in 1946. the geriatrics nursing for the Center for Region V, a position she still holds in 1986. by Agnes Otteman PAGE, FRED AND AGNES F4S2 jagged Flagler, Colorado, and Fred Page with all his property tied behind the saddle had followed the trail by the Rock Island Railroad to Rice's place in Flagler. There he had applied for a homestead, was to bring his bride - a school teacher also from Nebraska Agnes Black - and on that Blank - Page and that bleak prairie, write the story of their family. They would shove three homestead shacks together, plaster the out- side and build a house and a home for themselveg and the five children of their marriage - Betty, Margaret, Avis, Agnes and Don. But if the prairie and the structure of their house was bleak, their home was fun, warm, cultured and varied. Fred had been a semi-orphan, living with anyone who had work to do in exchange for board and room. He was immensely proud of his wife and family and constantly reminded them how lucky he felt to have them. Far �from having the stereotyped upbringing we hear of the times, he taught his girls they could be anything they were willing to work @\t lilnitril frtuttx uf Arnlriru, to be. itro sll to nfion tlrrr yrurrrlt r$ull romr, 6nrting: I especially remember his sitting down at the head of the table, looking from face to face about it thoughtfully and saying, "How lucky is the man who can come home to this at the end of a day's work." Agnes, despite the grinding hard work of a ranch wife, the extremely meticulous care of a son with cardiac anomaly (who did far better than anyone dared to let them hope) maintained an atmosphere of joy and some time for music, literature and fun. This couples' interests were their family, Agnes'family, their ranch, and their community. They backed everything they felt was good for the community school, - church, recreation grounds, the country club (twelve farnilies who would eat and spend the day together once monthly 100 - sometimee persons). He the Democratic party, she the Republican. They were interested in friends and neighbors. The doctor's family, the teachers, the bankers, the immigrants who talked with a brogue and dressed funny, the new neighbors from Missouri that were so abrasive no other neighbors dealt with them, the "old maid" who struggled to farm alone, the man who advertised for a wife and got one as socially inadequate as he, the man who had had both legs cut off by a train yet was cheerful and independent. WHEREAS' a Certlffcate of the Reglster of the Land ofice at liuGo, 0oLORADot hs bosn deposilod In tho General Land ofrce' wh€reby it app0a,3 that' pursuant to the Act of Congro$ of ]{ry 20r 1862, ,'To S€cure Homcsteads to Actual Settlerc or tho Publlc Domaln"' and tho act! supplemontal th€f€tor the chlm of FilED TJ. PAGE har beon ostlbllsh€d rnd duly consummatodr In conformlty to law, for tho NORIHEAST QIJaRTER oF s€cTl ON Nl NE- TEEN I N TOWNSHI P EI GHT SUUTh OF RANGE FI FTY WEST Of IhE $I XTIT PRI NCI PAL ME- Bl0tAN, 0oLoRAoo, 0oNrAtNlNG oNE nuNDRE0 SIxTY A0riES, accordlng to the 0fficlal Plat of tho Survey of the.sld [rnd, returned to the GEIIERA! tAt{D OtFlCE by the Suneyor-ienenl: t{ow Kllow YE, That there ls, therefore, gnnted by the UNITED STATES unto th€ sld chlmant thc tnct of Land abovo dsr$lbsdi T0 IIAVE Al{D T0 tloLD the said tract of [and, with the appurienances lhereof' unto tho sld claimant and to the holrs and assigns of the sid claimant forever; subject to any vested and accrued wat6r rlghts for mining' agrlcultuml, manrfacturlnt, of oth€r pu.poselr and rights t0 ditch$ and resenolrs ussd In connection wlth such wator righls' a! may bo recognizod and acknowledgod bytho local customs' laws' and decislons 0f courtsi and lhero ls resened from tho lands hereby granted' a tight of way theroon for dltche8 0r canals conrtructod by tho authorlty of the United Statos, This couple who met in a graveyard at Peru, Nebraska, have met at one in Flagler, Colorado. I miss them when it's Sunday night calling time. I miss them when it storms and we'd be out rounding up the cattle. I misg ll{ TESTIM0I{Y WHERE0f' l, them when I'm disappointed and want a warm place to relax or when I'm proud and know if I brag it's o.k. a little, - they'll brag too. But that is not strange we are only allowed two parents apiece. rJ I LL I Alrt fi. TAFT Prcsldent 0t tho Unltod Siat$ of Amorlm, havc caused theso letisn to bo mrdo Pddf, ud th! sed oflts Crn.nl lr"i{ n6.. lo hci!ruto.Rr./ - GIYEN undor my hand, rr tho clty of Ytuhlngton, llvEt{TY'tlfTll In the yoar of our Lord ono thou&nd day of by Avis Bray M.D. the 'UI.Y nlne hundred and TWELVE Unitod states the one hundred rnd rnd of tho Indeosndonco of thc THIRTY-SEVEi{TH' PAGE, FRED J. AND AGNES F493 One of the reasons life was far simpler in the very early 1900's was that the range of choices in career planning (or any other planning, for that matter) was extremely limited. Therefore, when Margaret Agnes Blank, a native of Creighton (Knox County) Nebraska decided that it was time to improve her teaching skills with a college education her decision as to the location of the college was already made. Nebraska had only one state supported college and it was at Peru on the Missouri River south of Nebraska City Peru State Normal as teachers colleges were then called "Normals." She, as many others, had taught in one room country schools after completion of the 10th grade and had then gone back and finished high school. Now she was ready for an education that would make it possible to teach in "town" schools. In college at Peru she met a young man, a native of Peru, also attending but part-time as he was an orphan and, in addition to himself, was supporting a younger sister. By the year Agnes graduated, 1907, they were RECoRDED, Paton'rumber 286091 Fred J. Page Land Patent. engaged - but not in the near future for he, Fred Joseph Page, was leaving the same week of her graduation to go to Flagler, Colorado in order to look over possible homesteads. He found one about five miles northeast of town and promptly took out papers to improve and claim. She, in the meantime, taught in such "city" schools as Fremont and others in Nebraska, all the time saving (as this Scotswoman would always do) for the day they would marry and need start-up money very badly indeed. Meanwhile, back at the ranch between 1907 and 1913, Fred "improved" the 160 acre claim and built a 12 x 16 structure in which he "batched" when not going back to Nebraska to visit Agnes. Most of his time, however, was working (a) on his own place from early morning darkness to late evening darkness or (b) for neighbors, working the same hours for one dollar a day. He was pretty much a stand- by hired hand for the Robbs, Schwins, Kliewers and others - known, Among other reasons, for his strength and endurance. By the spring of 1913, Agnes had the magnificent sum of 9265 saved and they were married at Creighton on March 8th of that year. The Creighton newspaper carried the story under the heading, "Blank-Page Nuptials." Fred, whose sense of humor owed little to sophistication, would comment in future years that he had looked for a wife but drew a Blank. The honeymoon was the train ride from Creighton to Flagler where fellow homesteader Aubrey Walker, with tea- and buggy, met them at the station and drove them to the farm-house Fred had rented (the "improvements" on the homestead did not �yet include a livable dwelling) for his bride. This house, 3% milee due west of town still stands and is now owned by Monty Strodes. On arrival, the new Mrs. Page joined the Congregational Church - Fred had been a charter member a few years earlier and also, at that time. President of the Christian Endeavor, the young people's society. In their leased home, Bethayne (Betty), now Mrs. Lloyd Robinson of Sandpoint, Idaho, was born in 1914 and Margaret, now Mrs. Fred Nemoede of Cambria, Calif., was born in 1915. Shortly after Margaret's birth the house was completed on the homestead and they moved to what was to become their permanent home until 1949. This home, by the way, was built in the following manner: first, Fred's original bachelor shack, 12 x 16, was attached to an identical structure on their long, i.e., 16 foot sides. Then a kitchendining area was added across the east end and a bedroom across the west end and an attic above. Pretty basic but fully as good as most and somewhat better than others as far as livability was concerned. The building no longer stands. Here, however, Avis was born in 1917, now Dr. Avis Bray of Concordia, Kansas, and Agnes was born in 1919, now Mrs. Clair Loutzenhiser of Flagler. Not content with leaving well enough alone, thing holding this farm together is mortgages and baling wire and I think I just ran out of baling wire." It is difficult to find the slightest trace of self-pity there. In the 1940's crme war. came rains for the parched earth and came reasonable prices for cattle, land and farm products. They, like all of the others who had stuck it out. who had persevered, reached financial security bordering, in retrospect at least, prosperity. At the closing of the 1940's they moved into town, travelled a good deal and lived in comfort. Fred raised a garden that came near to supplying the entire town of Flagler. Agnes was on the Library Board until her death and they were in countless card and supper clubs. Fred, who had been born 2-10-85, died just two days before Thanksgiving in 1967. Agnes insisted on staying on and living alone, died on September 21, 1969. She had been born on 10-29-85. Their wish, now fulfilled, was to be buried side by side near old and dear friends in the Flagler Cemetery. by Donald Page PAINE, MARY F494 Paine, and her daughter, Bertha Gulley, and her family. My Grandma Paine never forgot her first morning on the prairie. She awoke early and went outside for a look at the country she was to call her home. She had never seen a mirage, as she had always lived in wooded areas. On this morning the mirage was very clear; trees and water appeared on the horizon. She had not noticed them the evening before and thought what a pretty place this was. She went back in the house to eat her breakfast and then went back outside to find that the trees and water had di- sappeared and only the sage, tall prairie grass and soap weeds remained, stretching into the far horizon. She wrote ofthis to her youngest daughter, Mary, in Missouri. Upon reading it, Aunt Mary burst into tears and said, "I knew poor old Ma would go crazy if she went way out there!" Far from going crazy, Mary soon becane known as a dear little old lady who knew a lot about cures and medicine. She had cures for most ailments such as, 6amphor for nervousness to different teas for "Summer Complaint". She assisted at the birth of many ' babies and with all childhood diseases. Grandma seemed to have a little ESP, although that erpression was unheard of then. Her daughters often told of their Donald (now of Placerville, Calif.) was born inL924. All five attended first through 12th grades in Flagler. Incidentally, Avis becnme the only female graduate of Flagler High School to go on to become an M.D. The Pages were unique in some respects. First of all, they were Democrats and while this did not actually qualify as a disgrace, it did prove unorthodox in the extreme. Secondly, Fred did not like to farm at all - his mother getting out of bed one night at involved 400 to 450 head of Herefords and around 75 Percherons and riding (Quarter) horses. Going back to the subject of Democrats for a moment, while it would be untrue to state that all Flagler Democrats could be wild geraniums reaching out as far as the road. This patch of ground, when in bloom, was a solid orange-red. Grandma never midnight and starting to dress. She explained that a neighbor lady, who had a three day old baby, had just died and she was going to get the baby. When they ask her how she knew, she said that the woman's soul had just passed over the house crying, "Take care of my baby", and that is just what she did. I spent many days with Grandma while my mom helped Dad with field work. She always had plenty of time for me and was never anything but kind. By then she was in her sixties and had given up most of her doctoring. My mother, Bertha Gulley, took her place in tending the sick. In Grandma's yard there grew a patch of love was raising Hereford cattle and Percheron horses. Farming was only a necessary evil to help keep mortgage payments made. From their basic 160 acre homestead, a ranch close to 5,000 acres evolved, some of it, of course, leased land. Peak production years probably wanted any of these flowers picked. She was as proud of them as she would have been of a garden of tame flowers. Not many flowers counted on one hand, you could count them on two hands with a finger or two left over. From up north there were the Ja-eses and Moores. Cloeer in were the Walkers, the Pages, the Robbs. In town, the Borlands and, later, the T. Guards and finally the one, the only and the inimitable Leroy Cuckow - and if you weren't already on somewhat shaky ground even being a Democrat, having Cuckow among your number pretty much were planted and grown in those days. However, the prairie was beautiful in the early summer with the wild pink phlox growing all over the sandhills, the clumps of purple sweet peas, the white sand lilies, and the tall spikes of bluebells. The blue-gray sage added it's fragrance to the land. Grandma and I would take longwalks and pickhugh bouquets. Mary Paine died on March 2,L935, during the "dust bowl" days. Inside our homes, dust fixed you. The 1930's with the double-wha-my of drought and depression, touched this family just as hard, but no harder, than countless other farmers and ranchers. They, like the others, lived nlmost devoid of cash income and hung on by the skin of their teeth for a very simple reason: there was virtually nothing else that could be done and pride in self-reliance would not tolerate quitters. But there were unusual aspects to those terribly, terribly hard days. There was damned little self-pity. People laughed, they cared for and about each other. There was a tremendous "we're all in the same boat" attitude among the people. Hardships could actually produce humor - I remember how frequently Fred quoted a neighbor's statement that "the only Bertha Gulley and her mother, Mary Paine, at the home of Opal Boger at Vona in 1930. covered everything; the food, furniture, clothing, etc. After the wind stilled, about My grandmother, Mary Eliza Castor, was born in Dublin, Indiana on March 28, L846. Before her 18th birthday she was a wife, a mother, and a widow. At the age of nineteen sundown, we would sweep down the walls and curtains and shake out the bedcovers getting as much ofthe dust as we could onto the floor then sweep it up into piles and scoop it out. At the time of my Grandma Paine's death, we had to hold a sheet across her bed to keep the she married Dr. John Paine. He was a country doctor and his practice extended many miles, centering around Hutton Valley, Missouri. After their marriage, Mary often accompanied him on his calls to visit the sick. Many times she remained in the patient's home to care for them. Dr. Paine died in 1900 and in 1909 Mary came to the Stratton area with her son, Oscar dust out of her eyes and mouth. At her funeral, the dirt was terrible and we could hardly see to leave the cemetery. She was buried at Kirk beside her two sons Oscar and Claude. by Opal Boger �PAINTIN, GAROLD AND JEAN F495 Garold is a native of Stratton but I was transplanted from Towner, Colorado to Bird City, Kansas and rural Cheyenne County, Kansas then back to Seibert, Colorado before my parents, Lawrence and Clara McGriff put down roots. Garold and I were married in the First Methodist Church at Colorado Springs, Colorado August 20, L949. Garolds parents, George and Agnes Paintin and my parents had instilled the knowledge ofhard work in both ofus. They gave us their blessings. Our first home for our ranching career was the little two room house across the river east Tony married Susie Knodel, daughter of Ruth and Lawrence Knodel of Burlington. They are the parents of Christina Elizabeth, Kathleen Renae, and Lisa Ann. Marilyn married David Cranmer of Colorado Springs and they have a daughter, Julie Marie and a son, Williem Scott. We are enjoying the privilege of being grandparents and look forward to years to come. by Jean Paintin PAINTIN, GEORGE AND AGNES F496 of the Paintin parents on the Elzy Newby property. We had no electricity or running water but we did have a battery operated radio. There were no clothes closets except the two nails on the back ofthe door. I vowed to change that. My knowledge of the carpentry trade began with the process of putting my closet together. Dad Paintin appeared and gave me some help along with some good advice. He said "it is never to expensive, if you do it yourself'. Garold served in the U.S. Army for two in the Army attached to the Air Force. Our daughter, Marilyn Sue was born while we the England Air Force Base at Alexandria, Louisiana. We cs-e home in February 1956. While we were traveling with the Army the cattle prices were down and the dirt wae blowing here. Joe Paintin had taken our 'cattle to his place north of Burlington. He put up thistles and anything else available for a feed supply but eventually had to sell most Waterwas piped in from the adobe wellhouse easier. A traveling salesman cnme with a new Home Comfort cookstove. This beauty was soon installed in the new kitchen. A new gas engine Deluxe Maytag washing machine caught Dad's eye. This machine served the Leo and Agnes Paintin Wedding picture, Oct. 14, were gone. We moved a mobile home in to be close by to help. After his death January 16, 1908, Hill City, Kansas. 1957, we purchased the home place and George Edward Paintin and Agnes Elizabeth Garner began their life together October 14, 1908 at Hill City, Kansas. Their first four years were spent near Morland, Kansas. Letters came to them from Agnes' brother, Joe Garner and his wife Susie. They had come to Colorado in August 1911 and settled on a claim ten miles north and two miles west of We started their music education early. Tony decided two years was long enough for him but Marilyn continued studying piano and organ with Lola Kechter for nine years. The flute was her band instrument. She participated with music in Church and school. She continues enjoying music by teaching. Marilyn and Tony both loved horses. Several years were spent as members of the Country 4-H Club. We were all members of the original Stratton Roping Club. I enjoyed the Stratton Homemakers Extension Club membership. Our carpentry skills learned over the years were put to use when we built our new home in 1977. catalog. Nothing was wasted. Quilt tops were made from new scraps and used material was made into braided rugs. This machine lasted her a life time. Trees were planted in the early years. Water was carried to them to insure their life. Some are still standing today. A large garden was planted yearly with the surplus being preserved for winter use. Butchering, curing and canning their meat was an annual event. to a gink with an outside drain to make life of them. two years. were purchased at the Fuller General Store in Stratton or from the Montgomery Ward and Doris. Leroy died at birth. About 1919 they had outgrown the little sod house so a new four room adobe house was built. A new kitchen with a basement was added in 1929. were there. Six weeks later we were sent to after each event. Marilyn and Tony are both graduates of the Stratton High School. Marilyn also went on to graduate from Northeastern Junior College at Sterling, Colorado. She received the Jack Petty's award to help her thru the sewing machine made the job easier. Supplies The family grew to a total of ten children. Joe was their first born in Colorado followed by Ivan, Gladys, Leona, Leroy, Wilda, Garold Force Base at Mineral Wells, Texas. He wae fire in June 1963 made us count our blessings Aydelot, come to stay in with them. Mending was a never ending job. A prized possession of a new twelve dollar treadle Prairie chicken and cottontail rabbits occa- to Ft. Ord, California, then to Wolters Air Mother Paintin moved to Stratton. Our son Tony Ray was born April 6, 1957. A car accident with injuries to Garold and Marilyn in September 1959 and a disastrous from the cook and heating stoves. She worried about leaving the small children alone so she had a neighbor girl, Cora sionally changed the menu. When a new supply of lard was rendered any from the previous year was made into soap. years. He was inducted May 24, 1954 and sent Dad Paintin's health had failed while we Uncle Joe and Aunt Susie helped them get settled. Work began before dawn and ended at dusk. George returned to Kansas in the fall to pick the corn crop they had left behind.Agnes stayed behind to keep the chores done. She had to milk the cows, feed and water horses, pigs, and the chickens besides doing her everyday outside chores of getting in wood, cobs, water and carry out the ashes Stratton. They wrote of property that was available for reclaiming which joined them to the east. Along with their small daughter Eva and baby son Guy, they let their pioneer spirit guide them to Colorado in the summer of 1912. Most of their possessions along with the chickens were in one covered wagon and the other carried their beds and clothing. They trailed their milk cows behind. As they approached the property, they were impressed with the view. Behind them to the east was the dry Republican River and to the west were slightly rolling hills covered with knee high grass. They settled on the reclaimed quarter section of land. The property had a good well, a two room sod house, a lean-to barn and one scrawny tree. They traded one covered wagon to the fellow that held the claim on the land and he headed back east. family faithfully for years. A big red barn with a hayloft replaced the little lean-to barn. Their cattle herd started with a variety of breeds but progressed to be predominantly Black Angus. They carried the Quarter Circle Triangle brand. A herd of horses were kept for work and pleasure. At one time Dad sold horses to the U.S. Cavalry for extra money to pay the property taxes. After a long life of ranching and enjoying his children and grandchildren, Dad went to his heavenly home Januar5r 16, 1957. Mother went to join him on November 25, 1961. The original quarter section ofland grew to 1440 acres and was purchased by Garold. Their beginning created ten children, twenty four grand-children, forty five great grand-chil- dren and four great-great-grand-children thru May 1986. by Jean Paintin �PALMER, EUGENE AND SYLVIA helped start Dakota Bible College at Ar- lington. Eugene taught classes and Sylvia took classes. During his ministry at Lamar, Nebraska, their son, Eugene Rogeray Palmer was born Jan. 30, 1946. During his ministry (ROGERS) F4g7 at Burlington their son, Paul Andrew Palmer was born April 13, 1948, at Vona at the home of Harry and Amelia Howell with Dr. V.M. Hewitt the attending physician assisted by his wife, Edith Hewitt. We moved back to Vona in June 1948 and again Eugene preached for the Vona Church of Christ. He also did other jobs: section crew, plumbing jobs, ran the creem station, and they operated the Vona & Joes Telephone Exchange in Vona for several years until it went dial in 1958. In 1951 Eugene started working with the Colorado Dept. of Highways with the survey crew and retired from it in L972. Eugene Palmer family. L. to R.: Rogeray, Sylvia, Eugene, and Paul. Taken on their 25th Anniversary open house celebration on August 28, 1966. January 3, 1955, we had the misfortune of losing our frnme house in Vona and all its contents by fire without any insurance. Vona didn't have any fire truck then but within a few days they purchased one. By pick and shovel and wheel barrow, Eugene dug a basement and built a concrete block house, even making the blocks. He did this mornings Eugene Raymond Palmer and Sylvia June Rogers met at a Tri-County Christian Endeavor Rally at the Flagler Congregational Church in June, 1940, and were married at the Church of Christ Church - Christian in Vona, August 31, 1941, where he was ministpr. Sylvia and younger sister, Beulah, and their parents, Claude W. and Jane (Brennan) Rogers moved from Syracuse, Nebraska March 6, 1925. Claude came by immigrant car on the Rock Island Railroad and family by p$Fenger train to Flagler to take up residency at their farm at Saugus west - 6inmiles of Flagler but one mile over Lincoln County north of the R.R. where there had formerly been the Saugus General Store and Saugus Post Office. Her mother died May 29, 1930 of cancer. Her father remarried July 30, 1931 to Hester Holmes. They had five children: Claude, Marilyn, Paul, Donna, and Betty. The children attended the Arriba School. The family all attended the Arriba Christian Church. Sylvia recalls one bad dust storm of this and evenings and days off work from the highway. He never worked a bit on the house on Sundays. That day was for the church and family. Starting in Sept. 1981 Sylvia served as a school bus driver for four school terms on a north route from Vona. Starting Dec. 1, 1981 Sylvia also started driving the Senior Citizens'Bus, "The Road Runner," for Vona and Seibert. Both of our sons are married and living in Nebraska. We have three granddaughters and one grandson. We made a home for Sylvia's dad his last ten years of his life with us, ending July 22, 1984, at the age of 91. Note: Eugene passed away 1986. by Sylvia Palmer PANGBORN, HERSCHELL NAPOLEON AND JANE ELVINA BLAKE F498 Herschell and Jane Pangborn were married the eleventh day of September, 1867, in Maquoketa, Iowa. To this union were born While our boys were growing up we had our own milk cow, pigs, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, cats, calves, and a dog. The boys were in 4-H with rabbits and gardening projects. They also had paper routes intown- Denver Post and Grit. They helped with the chores and activities around the home and church. three sons and two daughters. Their youngest child, RoyJason, was born in Aurora, Nebras- They enjoyed the church, Vacation Bible blacksmith. He was born March 29, 1842, and died in Flagler in 1919. His wife, Jane, was born the second of March, 1849, and died in Flagler in 1925. Schools, camps, and rallies and all the sports in school besides band. After graduating from high school they each attended Platte Valley Bible College at Scottsbluff, Nebraska. After Eugene retired from the Highway Dept. he held ministries at Meeker and Mesa, Colorado, and Deming, New Mexico, from 1972 through L977. In January, 1978, he started serving the Vona church again and continues now in that capacity. He has also enjoyed gardening. He has two lovely large well-producing apple trees he started from seeds he plantpd in a flower pot one day while area when echool was let out early. The school bus had stopped at the R.R. crossing at Arriba and just start€d to move to cross when Sylvia saw the light of an approaching passenger train, No. 8, from the west and hollered at the bus driver. He stopped in time to avoid being hit. Seconds do make a difference sometimes between life and death. Be watchful! She recalls her worst work of childhood days was shaking and picking gray beetles off potato vines into a pan of distillate. She and Beulah piled up several gallons at the ends ofthe patch during the eeason. It was worth it; they did have a good crop. Sylvia worked at the Soil Conservation Office in Hugo a number of years aftcr graduation from high school. Eugene was the oldest of seven children born to Eugene Allen and Jessie Maria (Parsons) Palmer at Stamford, Nebr. His father was also a minister of the Christian Church. He died in 1928 and his mother in 1963. Eugene and Sylvia moved to Blunt, South Dakota, March I, 1942, to minister and eating an apple. The amazing thing to us is the difference in the fruit from these two trees, both are very good but different in color and shape. The Pangborn Ranch at Thurman, Colorado. ka, October 16, 1886, and when he was a young boy, the family moved to Colorado and settled first in Thurman, Washington County, Colorado, and later in Flagler, Colorado. Herschell was a farmer and a by Mrs. William E. Pangborn �Roy and Faye originally resided in Thurman and then later moved to Flagler, Colorado, and stayed with Roy's mother to help out after the death of his father. In 1924, they moved to Burlington, Colorado. Roy Jason Pangborn was born October 16, 1886, at Aurora, Nebraska, the youngest child Hergchell and Jane Pangborn (seated). TWo of their children, Addie and Roy Jason (standing). PANGBORN, ROY JASON AND FANNY zooI( F499 of Herschell N. and Jane (Blake) Pangborn. He had two brothers and two sisters. In 1906, he went to work for the Rock Island Railroad as fireman. He continued in this work for two or three years until the wreck of the Rock Island Flyer near Omaha. He did not return to this job after the wreck. Roy was a skilled mechanic and in October of 1918, shortly after his marriage, he enlist€d in the Coast Guard Artillery as a mechanic and served until his discharge on January 21, 1919. Roy worked as a mechanic in Flagler and again later in Burlington for the Anderson Motor Company and the Victory Garage. He played the violin and enjoyed music. He died of a heart attack in 1953. Faye Pangborn Ferguson was born Fanny s -v outing in 1928. garden, and tended a herd of milk cows, as large as 21 head at one time. Each of the family members had their own jobs. Faye and her sisters were responsible for milking the school. Faye always enjoyed learning and her favorite subject was math. She used it too! In her mid eighties, she could still tell you down to the penny the balance in her checkbook. She was a good manager. She was very frugal and never wasted anything. She was a good neighbor and friend and always shared what she had with others. Her garden was a good sanmple of this. Her green thumb and hard work always produced a bounty of fruits and attest to her ability and are cherished heirlooms of the family. She also enjoyed crocheting and took up china painting in her later years. Music has always been a part of Faye's life. Her second husband, Maurice E. (Mack) Roy and Fanny (Faye) Pangborn were united in marriage at Hugo, Colorado, June 27, L9L7 .They grew up together and attended the same country school. To this union was born one son, Willinm E., on July 23, 1919, in the sod house of Faye's parents, Jonathan and Barbara 7,ook, aI Thurman, Colorado. F500 French, and German origin. They lived on a farm, planted wheat, corn, applique work and colorful, artistic quilts enjoyrng an evening of music in the 1950's. PANGBORN, WILLIAM E. AND ELEANOR M. PENNOCK Colorado. The second youngest of nine children born to Jonathan S. and Barbara (Reber) Zook, Faye was raised in a sod house with her two brothers and six sisters. The family was Amish Mennonite and of Swiss, vegetables, which she canned. There was always plenty for her friends and neighbors. Her family looked forward to the harvest of sweet corn and homemade jellies and jams. She was an excellent cook, and for a few years worked at Beatty's Cafe in Burlington. Faye was well rounded in her abilities. Her home was adorned with beautiful flowers. She was an excellent seamstress and applied this skill though her efforts while working in the Sewing Room during World War II. Her Mack and Faye Ferguson and BilI Pangborn by Mrs. William E. Pangborn homestead in Thurman, Washington County, cows and separating out the cream. The crenm was then sold. The children attended a one room country Roy and Faye Pangborn with their son Bill on an and raised chickens and hogs. Mack passed away at the age of 88 in August, 1980. Faye continued residence at her home for another couple years. At 92 years old, she now resides in Grace Manor Nursing Home in Burlington. Zook on April 14, 1895, on the family barley, and oats, raised chickens, had a family '.\ over forty years. For many years, they farmed Ferguson was a musician, and together with her son, Bill, the three of them spent many an evening singing and playing their various instruments. Faye was proficient at the mouth harp, ukelele, and guitar. Mack and Faye purchased an acreage north of Burlington during the war and built their home with the help of Bill when he returned from the service in 1945. Their "place" was their pride and joy, and they lived there for Bill and Penny Pangborn, newlyweds, 194?. William and Eleanor (Penny) Pangborn were married in Denver, Colorado, on June 23,L946,and settled in Burlington, Colorado, where Bill was employed as a pharmacist for Weinandt and Brown Drug Store. When the opportunity arose, Bill and Penny purchased Joe Brown's interest in the store, and they, in turn, sold out in 1958. Bill was employed by Standish Drug for eight years prior to opening his own store, Pangborn's Pharmacy, on February 4, 1966. Pangborn's Pharmacy located at 347 L4th Street, Burlington, Colorado, began as a family business and remained one. In 1975, following college graduation, their son, Thomas William (Tom), born May 15, 1951, returned to Burlington and expanded the electronic section into a full service Sound Center/Radio Shack. The business prospered and on April 1, 1987, twenty-one years after it began, Pangborn's Pharmacy, Photo and Sound Center, Inc. was sold. Their eldest child, Marcia Mae (Marcie) Smith, was born on July 14, 1949, and married John A. Smith on June 29, 1974. They own their own video production business, Media Resources, Inc., and reside in Littleton, Colorado. William Earl Pangborn was born in Thurman, Colorado, on July 23, 1919, the son of Roy Jason and Fanny (Zook) Pangborn. The family resided in Flagler, Colorado, until Bill was five years old. ln L924, they moved to Burlington, where Roy was employed as an auto mechanic. Bill was raised in Burlington and graduated with the Burlington High School Class of 1937. In school he enjoyed his studies and participated in dramatics. He also took part in the sports program and particularly enjoyed basketball. In later years, he became proficient at tennis and bowling. Prior to joining the service in 1941, Bill owned and operated a duck pin alley in Holly, Colorado. He served with the 440th Signal Battalion �attached to the 5th Air Force during his four years in the South Pacific during World War II. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1945, Bill PANKRATZ - HINTZ FAMILY attended and subsequently graduated from Capitol College of Pharmacy in Denver, Colorado. It was at this time that he met his future bride. Bill is a dedicated pharmacist, seldom completed a holiday meal without a call from someone needing medicine, but he never complained. He loves his work, and has F501 enjoyed the association with the people in the trade area. Bill's main passions are his work, his family, and sports! The entire family bowled, in the lung. and his business sponsored many teams over Dad and a few friends were in the process the years. He is a loyal fan of the Denver Bronco football team and has had season tickets for many years. Bronco season is always the highlight of every year, and the games are a fun family event. His other of building a duplex when on October 26, 1968 I was born. The three of us lived in a house on 17th Street until the duplex was finished. Three years later on May 12, 1971 Lorna was born. When I was six years old we moved a mile north into a house. I remember in the Spring of.L977 we had a terrible snow storm that left hobby, photography, was incorporated into his business, but he still is able to apply his skill on the family vacations. Eleanor Mae Pennock was born in Ft. Collins, Colorado, November 18, 1924, to us without electricity for about four days. The snow drifts were taller than some of the Arthur E. and Iola M. (Oglesby) Pennock. They had three daughters and Eleanor (Penny) was the middle child. When she was in high school the family moved to Walden, Colorado. They spent two years there, and in 1942, returned to Ft. Collins where Penny completed her senior year and graduated from Ft. Collins High School with the Class of L943. She attended college in Ft. Collins at Colorado A&M and worked parttime at Walgreens Drug Store. During summer break, Penny returned to Walden and spent the summer working in the local drug store there. In 1946, she met Bill Pangborn, married, and moved to Burlington. In her youth, Penny was an avid tennis player. She was also an accomplished pianist, Orin and Norma Pankratz, taken spring 1977. :,,.:'ai .,- having the rare distinction of possessing "perfect pitch". However, once she married and had a family, she had little time to continue these interests. When the children were growing up, she took up sewing and became proficient at it, much to the delight of her daughter. Penny worked at Weinandt and Brown Drug with Bill and later as a checker at SaveU Market on Rose Avenue. When Pangborn's the restoration of the Kit Carson County Carousel. The four of us helped with the Flea Market fund raiser held at the fair grounds. We helped sell and take tickets and sell souvenirs. As a family we also spent many hours opening and closing the carousel. Dad helped take the paintings down and he and Bob McClelland put them back in their places after they had been restored. In 1977 Ray Crouse painted original oil paintings of Lorna and I each on our favorite carousel wonderful parents and successful business people. They have much to be proud of. Their next challenge is their retirement, and we have the feeling they will work by Marcie Pangborn Smith that walking across the windbreak was not a wise idea because I fell in on top of one of the trees and we weren't sure how I was going to get out. All in all Lorna and I enjoyed the storm because that meant no school for a few days and that was definitely okay with us. Dad was a member of the Lions Club and every summer they held a fishing party out at Hale Ponds. So every summer, we looked foreward to a day of fishing with all the other families. The only things I hated was putting the worm on the hook, so I let Dad have the honor. One year, Lorna caught the largest fish, a sucker. In 1975 Mom was a member of the Kit Bill made an excellent team. They are dancing and golf, travel, work parttime, and enjoy their family and friends. trees in the windbreak next to our house. We had to put sheets over all the doorways to the livingroom so that the heat from the fireplace would keep us warm. The fireplace was used to cook and roast many, many marshmallows and served as a light in the evening. Most of the time was spent playing games and when things cleared up outside Lorna and I enjoyed playing outside in the snow drifts. We found Carson County Centennial, - Bi-Centennial Committee. Their main project was starting Pharmacy opened its doors for business in 1966 she worked side by side Bill and the kids, clerking, keeping the books, and managing the office. She was a very positive force behind the business, and together, she and together at enjoying it equally the same. They plan to remain in Burlington, resume square Extension Agent in Goodland when they met in 1964. They were manied a year later on June 12, 1965 - the year of the South Platte flood in Colorado - in Canton, Kansas at the First Baptist Church. For the first year they lived in Flagler where Dad taught Industrial Arts and Mon taught 6th grade. In 1966 they moved to Burlington. Mom had the position of Home Economics Extension Agent and Dad started to build a custom building business. That fall he started teaching Industrial Arts at the Bethune School. He was teaching there when he died November 11, 1978 from a blood clot Lorna (right) and Karla (left) Pankratz, taken spring 1977. My father, Orin Owen Pankratz, was born March 21, 1935 in a sod house south of the Smokey Hill School in Kit Carson County. The dust in the area kept everything covered for the first many months and you couldn't see the light of day. When he was about five years old his family moved to Kanarado Kansas. My mother, Norma Jean (Hintz) Pankratz, was born May 22,1939 in McPherson, Kansas. Dad was teaching Industrial Arts at the Flagler School and Mom was the animal. I was on the giraffe and Lorna was on the deer. In 1983 and 1984 Lorna and I helped out in hosting the American Carousel Association and the National Carousel Association. by Karla Pankratz �PARKE, MABEL WALTERS HUDSON F502 Mabel Walters Hudson Parke was manied to my uncle, Bert Hudson, for slightly less than a year, but she remained in the Hudson family until her death at age 90, in 1982. Bert (who "was known as one ofthe best threshers or custom harvesters, in eastern Colorado") and Mabel had a baby son who died from some kind of fever when he was only 3 weeks old and then within a month Bert also died (of "consumption") or tubercolsis) in 1921. Sixty years later when Mabel told me about this, she got tears in her eyes, saying it was such a shock to lose both of her dearest loved ones, that there were many things she couldn't remember from that period. Other- wise she had a exceedingly sharp memory up to the last. The very characteristics that made Aunt Mabel somewhat unyielding, no doubt were the same traits that made her able to survive the double deaths, and later, to get ahead financially in the man's world of ranching and farming. Mabel was practical, conservative and self-disciplined! And apparently she felt the need to amountto something, to shoulder her responsibilities and to be socially acceptable in the community. A few examples of her outstanding traits are the following: As an adult, she disciplined herself to practice the piano until finally arthritis prevented her from doing so. If a thing worked or wasn't worn out, she used it. whether or not it was old fashioned! (Thus she was able to leave quite a legacy to Burlington's Old Town.) When she was 21 and still single she had the courage to take out a homestead, having "to spend the night there six months of the year for five years in order to prove up on it," which she did by riding her pony several miles from her parents place, returning daily to help at home. "I had a telephone, the barbed wire type, so I was not completely alone . . One time after a bad storm at night the water in the creek was high and I wasn't able to cross it, so had to remain in my little shack until the water went down . . . I used to ride all over my homestead . . Whenever I would see a sunflower growing I would always get off my pony and pull it up so they would not spread so much ." When Mabel was a small girl with no nearby neighbor children, she made the best of it by playing with her dog, kitty and five dolls that she had accumulated over the years. "I would line up the family on a chair and pretend we did lots of traveling. I had quite an imagination . . . Grandma Walters gave Cornelia to me . . . Christmas 1895 . . . and cracked a chunk out of her head. Mama cemented it in some way and it is still holding 88. Mabel was born at her grandparent Shaw's home but she grew up in the "Flat-top," a large two-story house with a flat roof that her father had built. It later became a landmark in the county, used for giving directions. Mabel didn't go to a school, because there were none close by, so her mother, a school teacher, taught her at home through the first eight grades. "When I was ready for high school my parents sent me to Pennsylvania to live with my mother's parents. Here I remained until I was called home by the illness and death of my mother. I did not return to Pennsylvania to finish my schooling but went to Denver to take a business course." After nursing her mother during her final illness, Mabel lived with and cared for her widower father for many years, first at the ranch, then in Burlington at the north end of Main Street (562-14th) and finally in Wray, CO., where they had a dry goods store and where she met Cliff Parke. In 1937 Cliff and Mabel were married, living in Burlington, traveling extensively, and having a happy interesting life together until Cliff died in 1954. From then on Aunt Mabel was on her own here and there, often glancing at -herhustling watch, never wasting any time because she managed her ranch, did her own office work, was active in Garden Club, Cattleman's Association, Cowbelles, and the Methodist church. She had many friends much younger than herself, kept up with world affairs, had a good sense of humor, was generous with her friends and, last but not least, she had Brownie,- her much loved cat that lived to be more than 20 years old. "In 1975 she still has her own cattle, drives her own car. takes care of her own business and lives alone." She was 83 at the time of this quote and things were much the same, four or five years later when she entered the rest home as a "matter of practicality", since she Aunt Mabel came by her "do or die" pioneering spirit quite honestly, since she was the only child of W.A. (Albert) and Leila (Shaw) Walters. Both Albert and his neighbors, the Dana Shaws (parents of Leila) were homesteaders, south of Burlington, by 1887- 1911. slowed down by arthritis. However, she continued to conduct her own business - but she didn't enter into the home's recreation as they thought she should. They called me in to try to convince her to do so, but I told them "As long as she can conduct her own business, she has more than enough to keep her busy, keep her mind active, and to stay in touch with people. When she can no longer run her own affairs, then we'll worry about recreation. The problem never came up again, as she had a massive heart attack several months later. She died as she Iived - with decisiveness and no dilly-dallying around. And that's the way she wanted it! by Georgeanna Hudson Grusing, using excerpts from material written and gathered by Mabel's close friend, Avis Bader Schritter. . . . I got Dorothy at the OId Methodist Church when they had a Christmas tree in 1899 and Billy Boyles was Santa . . . Angelina was a rag doll. She wore out. . so Mama took pity on me and gave her a black stocking face which she still has (1968)." The happy couple is Frank Homer and Lona Fay Parmer, Woodston, Kansas, date approrimately PARMER - JOHNSON FAMILY F503 The parents of Ben F. Parmer were Frank Homer Parmer, born November 19, 1890, in Osborne County, Kansas, and Lona Fay Plumb, born February 3, 1893, in Russell, Kansas. They were married in Russell, Wedding picture of Ben F. Parmer and Mildred Helen Johnson at home on the ranch, April 1937. Kansas. Frank used his dray service to unload freight from railroad cars and haul it to the stores in Woodston, Kansas. In 1914 Frank and Fay loaded the children, Robert and Maxine, into a truck to relocate in Colorado. In 1915 they occupied a homestead 20 miles northeast of Burlington in what became the Happy Hollow School District. They lived in a two-room frame house which was moved onto the homestead. Later two more rooms were added. Sons, Ben and Don, were born in the home. Most of the food was either grown in the garden or raised on the farm. During the winter beef was kept in a cold building. [n the summer milk and butter were stored in cool water. Corn was cut off of the cob and dried. Other food was preserved by �received a teacher's life certificate from Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley. She came to eastern Colorado to begin her teaching career at Mount Pleasant, a oneroom school a few miles southeast of Hale. Her brother, older than she, drove her down in a car. She taught for five years at different schools, one in Kit Carson County. Mildred attended church at the Gospel Hall, 16 miles north of Kanorado, Kansas, where one night she accepted the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior. Ben and Mildred met at the Gospel Hall. They were married on April 23, 1937, in the home of Ben's parents, A severe snowstorm on their wedding day nearly delayed the ceremony. Immediately after saying their vows, Ben's younger brother, Don, and Mildred's younger sister, Elsie, followed suit and also were married. This was during the Depression and in an area that was part of the Ben F. Parmer with his daughter, Tony Helen Parmer, on his paint stallion after shooting 25 rabbits in one day's hunt. The two coyote hides were caught previously, winter 1940. infamous Dust Bowl. At that time most young couples moved in with their parents. However, Ben, having determined not to do this, took his wife to his home where he had bached for six months. He followed the Biblical instruction to leave father and w&g March 31, 1930, at the age of 60 years. Alna was born Novembet 20,1877 , in Ryd Almenoryd, Sweden. There is a mystery surrounding Alma's family. Her father began a trip in 1885 to the United States on board a ship but did not anive in New York. He apparently died at sea. He had planned to bring his family to America. At the age of eleven Alma sailed from Liverpool, England, g{.,:::.::.]:ti' Evangelists Ben F. Parmer and Joseph Balsan sharing an evangelistic crusade in Hartun, Colorado. June 1954. on a Cunard Line stenmship and arrived in New York on September 6, 1889. She went by train to Bertrand, Nebraska, to stay with her uncle, S.M. Alveen and family. Alma moved to Greeley, Colorado, when she was 18 years old to work as a uniformed maid. Alma was known in the community as a practical nurse. She cared for ex-governor George curing and canning. Frank started farming with 160 acres and built up his holdings to 1600 acres before retiring in 1946. During the first few years dl of the farming was done with horses. Frank was Fmong the first in the community to get a tractor. Then both the tractor and the horses were used. Frank and Fay moved to Burlington in 1947. From 1953 until his death of a heart attack on April 22,1968, Frank held public office as either Justice of the Peace or Police Magistrate. Fay had family dinners on Easter and Christmas. She crocheted tablecloths, pillowcases, dresser scarves, and afghans for her children and grandchildren. She taught Sunday School and visited people in the community. In later years she operated a card and gift business out of her home. Much like artist Grandma Moses, she learned how to paint when older, first by number, then by taking oil painting classes. She painted at least one scenic picture for each child and grandchild. One of her paintings is hanging in the Limon Bible Chapel, Limon, Colorado, in her memory. Fay died of a heart attack on May 25, L967. Mildred Helen Johnson's parents were Charles and Alna Johnson who immigrated from Sweden. Charles Johnson was born November 21, 1869, in Kronoberg, Sweden, and came to America at the age of 18 years. Charles married Alma Peterson and they lived in Weld County working on several farms. Charles died of cancer of the spleen on Carlson's mother, who lived west of Greeley, for several years. Alma died of a heart attack on October L7,1954. Gustaf, Mildred and Elsie were the offspring of Charles and Alma. Gustaf died of spinal meningitis in December 1938. Ben F. Parmer, his full name, was born August 29, 1916 on his parent's homestead. He walked Yz mile to the Happy Hollow School which at first was a one-room school. Later another room was added. As an eleven year old boy, he also attended evangelistic services there, and one night after going to bed, he trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. When he was about 13 years old, he and his younger brother built an adobe house in which they slept. It had a door, two windows, a cement floor and plaster walls. It was about 8 ft. by 11 ft. inside, just large enough for a bed, a table and a few things. Ben hunted, trapped, and raised fowl and animals. He kept some of them in adobe houses. At the age of 17 he shucked 4,000 bushels of corn in one year, picking as much as 100 bushels in one day. He was known as one ofthe best hand corn huskers in the area. While continuing to help his father farm, he rented 240 acres ofhis own in 1935. The next year he moved to a farm 3%miles from his parents and rented 320 acres. Mildred Helen Johnson was born November 21, 1909, near Pierce, Colorado,and grew up in the area around Greeley. As a child she helped her father on the farm by hoeing beans and picking bugs off of potatoes. In 1930 she mother and cleave to his wife. The house was a very modest three-room cement basement with cold running water, furniture in two of the rooms, and was lit by kelossns Inmps. Ben built a cave with an entry-way at the bottom of the stairs in which to store canned meat, vegetables, fruit and dairy goods all produced on the farm. Hogs and cattle were butchered and the meat cured. Thus most of the food except flour and sugar was prepared on the farm. The first few years on the farm were sometimes discouraging because of poor crops, hail, dust storms. During some of the worst dust storms, so much dust filtered into the house that they swept the dust into a scoop shovel and emptied it into a pail in order to carry it out. During the first few years, the farming was done with both horses and tractors but tractors gradually replaced horse power for farming. Ben and Mildred participated in special school programs and box suppers held at the local school which also functioned as the community center. A box supper consisted of a lunch made by the girls and ladies which was put into a decorated box that was auctioned off to the men and boys. After the auction the girl or lady who prepared the lunch and the buyer ate it together. This was an exciting time when the bidding kept going up and up on some boxes and people were guessing whose box it was. The proceeds went to various projects, usually for the school. After a few discouraging years Ben and MIIdred began to prosper. Ben began buying land in 1942, eventually purchasing his father's homestead. He once owned about 10.000 acres. He ran a herd of commercialgrade Hereford cattle, as many as 500 head a year. His herd was known as one ofthe best in the area, often topping the market. Ben's brand was, and still is, -)7. Mildred did not do much field work but took care of chores such as raising chickens, milking cows, and gardening. By 1948 they wanted to devote more time to the work of the Lord so they built a house in Burlington and operated the ranch with hired help. In 1964 the farm equipment was sold and the land leased. For many years the ranch has operated under the name of Happy Hollow Ranch and is still in �the Parmer family. In February 1949, Ben founded the Burlington Gospel Church. The congregation had grown to about 100 by the time he resigned from his responsibilities. Ben then devoted more time to the Limon Bible Chapel, Limon, Colorado, a church he founded in 1967. He traveled extensively conducting evangelistic crusades from one to three weeks at a time in many states, holding several of them in a tent. For many years Ben accepted speaking engagements over a wide area; for example, during 1972 he spoke in over 50 churches in twenty-one states. Ben began a weekly Sunday radio progrnm entitled the FAMILY BIBLE HOUR on KLOE in Goodland, Kansas, in April 1965. As of January 1988, em6ng the many radio stations that carry the FAMILY BIBLE HOUR, about half are 50,000 watt stations, some of which reach foreign countries. Ben continues to speak at several $ills snmps in the summer and still accepts requests to speak in many states, as well as fulfill many other pastoral functions. Mildred was a faithful partner in these endeavors as well as providing leadership in Bible studies for women in the community. During the last 14 years of her life she remained active in helping with a church youth group, a boys and girls Bible club, daily vacation Bible school and a summer Bible gnmp. For many years she served others by Street and Frank Street which were named after Ben's parents. Ben has long been held in high esteem by all who have known him in the community for his great interest in the welfare of its residents, and for his many activities in the personal furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whom he accepted as his personal Savior early in life. Mildred was held in high esteem by many who knew her throughout a large part of the country, and several spoke of her as a model Christian lady. Children born to Ben F. and Mildred Helen Parmer are Tony Helen, Judy Ellen and Paul B. Tony lives in Kansas City, Missouri. She has a master's degree in social work, is licensed and certified, and specializes in family counseling and psychotherapy. Judy married Phillip Sandley and they have three day dinner for Ben's mother and her family which Mildred hosted each year until her mother-in-law passed away. She was a commendable homemaker, excellent cook, and willingly helped others in the community. Ben and Mildred celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 23, L987. Mildred was hospitalized in Denver but their sales and service business. Judy also does volunteer work, especially in the schools. Paul lives in Burlington, Colorado. He attended Bible College and is active in the Lord's work. This includes leading a youth group and a boys and girls Bible club weekly during the school year. In the summer he speaks at several Bible camps and daily vacation Bible schools. He is in demand as a guest speaker at churches in various states. by Tony llelen Parmer PAUTLER, ARTHUR AND SUE F504 George Pautler made his first trip to Kit Carson County in 1911. He arrived by train from Crofton, Nebraska, to Burlington. He contacted a land agent in Burlington by the name of Winegar, who had an automobile. He had for sale a Yz section, 320 acres, 5 miles northeast of Stratton. The land had very modest improvements, an adobe 4 room house, 2 sod buildings and a freme grmdy, plus a very dilapidated barn. George signed a contract for the property and deposited corner where now Kenny Pottorff has a fertilizer plant. The hotel was raised in the Pautler Farme, Inc. Headquarters, 1987 Arthur Pautler and Sue Keller were homes. Included in this development are Fay F506 George and Louisa, his wife, and four children moved to Stratton in February 1913, landing here by train a few days before March lst. They could not get possession ofthe land until March 1, so they stayed at what was then the Commercial Hotel, located on the married August 2, 1938 and located on the farm 5 miles northeast of Stratton where they still live. The great depression was going on at that time; the means for a livelihood were adjacent to the Parmer Addition of fine PAUTLER, GEORGE $1000 as earnest money. He boarded the train Happy Hollow School District. For over Rockies Bible Camp and Conference and was chairman of its board. There is a seven-acre park in Burlington for which Ben donated the land. It is nnmed the Ben F. Parmer Municipal Park. It is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, park along highway I-70 between Kansas City, Kansas, and Denver, Colorado. The park is also adjacent to the high school which was built on land the Parmer family once owned and farmed. The park and high school are by Arthur Pautler the same day for Nebraska. twenty years he actively served on the board children. He also helped found Colorado Greeley, Co. The years ofthe 1940's were good years for farmers, then in the 1950's it was dry windy and dusty, and farming again was questionable. However about that time irrigation was economy reached a much higher level. Gary and Tim operate the farm at present. Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital in Burlington. The chapel in the hospital is dedicated to the memory of Mildred Helen Colorado Springs, Colorado. Most of these years he was president or treasurer. At times the Children's Home cared for fifty needy wife Janice and son Christopher live in Kansas. They own and operate an electronics 1987, in Burlington. After nearly a year of illness, Mildred died on September 12, L987 , of cancer while in the of the Christian Home for Children in grandfather) purchased in 1913, Leon Pautler, who lost his life in a tragic auto accident at the age of 35 in 1985, Timothy Pautler and his wife Elizabeth and their three daughters live in the house that Art and Sue lived in for 45 years, at present it is the Pautler Farms Inc. headquarters, and Paul Pautler with his introduced into the country and the farm children decorated her room and held a small reception for them which included staff and visitors. A public reception was given by their children and their grandchildren on May 9, Parmer and named after her. Years earlier it had been built by her husband. In the past Ben served as president of the Denver, Co., and four sons, Gary Pautler who with his wife Arlyne and two sons live on the original farm which George Pautler (his daughters, Philippa, Judith, and Rachel; and one son Phillip. They live in Mulvane, extending hospitality to ministers, mis- sionaries and many other house guests, some of whom stayed for weeks at a time. She also entertained on special family occasions. A prime exnmple of this was the annual birth- family of six children. Two daughters, Angela Pautler Beaner now of Billings, Mont., Elizabeth Pautler Meierotto now living in hard to come by. A dollar per day was about all one could earn working for neighbors in the busy season. The first two winters, Art worked for the Great Western Sugar Co. at Brush Co. during the sugar campaign. Somehow Art and Sue struggled through these times and in 1942 things took a turn for the better. Average rainfall brought a good crop ofbarley and feed. A loan was secured from Farmers Home Administration which made it possible to purchase ten milk cows and a small Model A John Deere tractor. It was from then on that times gradually got bett€r. It was here that Art and Sue raised their late 1920's. Skelly Oil had a service station on that corner until Pottorff removed se-e and put the fertilizer plant there. The four Pautler children ranged in age from 5 to 1 year. Two more were born later in the adobe house, for a total ofsix children, Louis, Arthur, Francis, Clara, Oswald, and Mary. Two years later George built a nice barn, 60'x40', which was enough to stall eight horses and stations for twelve milk cows. Milking was one of the main sources of income for many years. In 1918, the adobe house was replaced with an eight room, two story house, but still not modern. The outhouse was still the nain stay. Besides the milk cows, there were always about 100 other cattle. A car load of cattle were fattened each winter plus about 100 head of hogs. That is where the corn crop went. Corn was the main crop, some wheat, but that had second place; all dry land farming. The operation was truly family oriented. The four boys all worked on the farm. The three older boys did not go to high school, as they were needed on the farm. The entire labor was done by the family. The first dust storm hit on Thanksgiving �day, 1926. It was quite severe and we hardly knew what to make of it. It had been a summer with below normal moisture and the land was in condition to blow. However, the spring of 1927 was wet and a good crop of barley, oats, and corn were raised. Things went well until the 30's. No comment. Louisa passed away in 1937 and it is possible that the drought and low income was a big part of her problem as she was a very nervous person and could not adapt to the miserable conditions. Also because of the bad financial times the children, who were now adults, were forced to leave home and find was employed with the Rock Island Railroad, which he helped build in 1889. He had this land sowed to wheat, but he did not live to see a crop harvested. He died within a year from a kidney problem. They had the Cook Shack parked across the road from us, so they could have some water nearby. He could tell us interesting tales of life in those early times. We were in Colorado nine years at that time, and he would always mention thirty-three years ago, which went back, ofcourse, to 1889. Nice people. We worked and we kids went to school, and life went forward as always. I was 21 years old in 1929 and the future looked rosy. But by the employment elsewhere. In the 1940's when things returned to normal, George and the oldest son, Louis, lived on the home place and did very well. Louis married in 1948 and he took care of George until he passed away in 1970. Most of the land is still in the family and goes under the name of Pautler Farms. Inc. Arthur and Sue Pautler are owners and Gary and Tim, two of their sons, run the operation. headed for the severe drouth and dust storms of the mid-thirties. Our mother died on Easter Sunday of 1937, which was the worst blow of all. However, that year it began to rain again and we raised some feed for our livestock and the grass cErme back in two or three years so our economy improved. by Arthur Pautler gone from home by 1940, so my father and I end of the year the country was in an economic panic and worse yet, we were ourselves. Arthur married in August of 1938, and in early 1939, moved on the farm on which he and Sue now live and which they F506 bought a few years later. I did not become mature enough for marriage until I was 40 I was the oldest of six children. In 1913, our parents came from Nebraska and moved to years of age, which was in 1948. Catherine was 42 years of age at the time of our marriage. We were married a short 29 years when she Stratton. The house on this farm was fairly large and the walls were of adobe and about two feet wide; with walls so wide it was cool passed away. We were retired and living in a farm about seven miles northeast of in summer and warm in winter. We had two sod buildings and a Granery, also a frame barn and other sheds. all ofwhich were on the land when we came. Our father shipped a car from Nebraska, consisting of four horses, one cow, also a surry, wagon, furniture, and even some farm machinery, and a number of other items. In the fall of 1914 my brother, Arthur, and I enrolled in the district school, which was only Vz mile west of our home. There were ten students in all attending school. Our teacher was a young man by the name of Grover Tyler. In 1915, Father built a large barn with hay loft and in 1918, he built a new two-story house which pleased our mother and us kids very much. Very little land was fenced or farmed, so most of the livestock grazed on the free range. Father raised corn, feed and some small grains. We milked cows and fed hogs and sold some cattle off grass in the fall. It was not until 1918 that my father put cattle in the feed lot and fed them corn. We children were assigned the task of gathering corn cobs which were used for fuel in our home. Within 3/s mile east of our home was a hand dug well about 3% feet in diameter, and wells were dug to the 200 foot level before water could be had. There was a wagon trail from this well that made a bee line to Stratton. I have often wished I could know more about the history of this well. It was no longer in use when we came to Colorado. In 1922, a Mr. and Mrs. Ed Clother from Central City, Nebraska, very suddenly came on the scene, bringing a crew of three men who had a Coop Shack and a Rumley tractor, with a six bottom prairie breaker, and broke up some 300 acres of sod, which Mr. Clother had homesteaded and purchased while he pleasant. Paul and Janice now live in Greeley, Colorado. They have a little boy named Christopher Leon. Although they do not live in Kit Carson County anymore, they do enjoy occasional weekend visits with both sides of family who still reside in or near Stratton. One week of vacation time is spent during wheat harvest in Kit Carson Countv. by Paul Pautler My younger brothers and sisters had all operated the farm as well as we could by PAUTLER, LOUIS She attended a trade school in Denver and received a certificate in medical assisting. Janice then went to Lamar Community College in Lamar, Colorado and graduated in 1985 with an AAS degree. Paul and Janice met shortly after Paul got out of the Navy, but did not date until a few years later. They were married November 30, 1985, one ofthe coldest days ofthe year. The temperature recorded five below zero. The next Monday they flew to Jamaica where the temperature was 85 degrees, much more PAUTLER, TIM AND ELIZABETH F508 Stratton for 4Vz years at the time of her death. My father lived with us for 23 years until his death in 1970. I have my gardens on the old farm and in the sand land my brother and boys have north of Stratton. by Louis Pautler PAUTLER, PAUL AND JANICE F507 Paul John Pautler was born March 21. 1958, in the hospital at Burlington, Colorado. He is the sixth child of Art and Sue Pautler. He grew up five miles northeast of Stratton on the family farm. Paul attended St. Charles Catholic School until it closed, and then went to the Stratton Public Schools. He graduated in 1976. Paul joined the Navy in October, 1976. He was an electronics technician. He earned the rank of 1st Class Petty Officer, submarine qualified. Three and half years were spent aboard the USS Drum (SSN 677), where he was attached to the reactor controls division. Paul's job was to maintain and run the nuclear power plant. He was discharged September 1982. He then went home and helped his parents build their new home on the farm. Janice Christine Simon was born August 22, L963, at Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. She is the sixth of nine children born to Con and Serena Simon. She grew up on the family farm 16 % miles northwest of Cheyenne Wells. She attended the public schools in Cheyenne Wells through her sophomore year. On her 16th birthday, her family moved to the family farm, one mile north of Stratton. She graduated from Stratton High in 1981. Tim Pautler Family: Tim, Liz, Jesica, Kylee, and Nichole Tim Pautler. son of Art and Sue Keller Pautler and Elizabeth Stegman, daughter of Jerome and Dorothy Katz Stegman, were married August 2, 1975. We made our first home 5 miles northeast of Stratton in a mobile home on the Art Pautler farm. Tim worked with his father until December, 1975, when he went into partnership with his brother Gary forming Pautler Brothers. Art, semi-retired, and the two brothers took over the operating of the farm. Tim and Liz began their family in March of L977. They have three daughters, Jessica, Kylee and Nichole. The girls stay busy with chores, school activities.4-H. Girl Scouts and swimming during the summer. They all enjoy helping their dad with tasks around the farm. �In January of 1980 Liz went into a partnership with her sister-in-law. They purchased the local clothing store. For the first two years He is a sub-contractor building houses. Ralph has a son Brad who will graduate on May 17, 1987 from Ottawa University, Ottawa, Kan- they did very well, then due to the failing sas. He also has a daughter Theresa who will farm prices the business began to decline. So in the fall of 1984 the business was liquidated. Liz once again was a full time housewife. On March 9, 1983 we moved into the house that Art and Sue had lived in for 45 years. What a change! This is where the Pautler Brothers headquarters are. Tim serves on the District Soil Conservation board, is a member of the Knights of Columbus. and serves on the Church Council. Liz is active in 4-H as a leader, is a member of M.S.A., helps the local Girl Scouts, and is on the Home Ec Advisory Council. by Elizabeth Stegrran Pautler PEARCE, CARMIN A. F509 Carmen Pearce was born in Scotland county, Missouri, Jan. 20, 1856. In the year 18?9, he was married to Alice Valentine, and to this union was born a son Arthur J. Pearce. Mr. Pearce was married a second time on the 20th day of Jan. 1886, and to this union four children were born; Grace Pricilla, Edna Blanche, Tina, and Carl W. Two of the children Grace and Tina died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Pearce came to Colorado in 1886 and located on a farm, four miles south of Burlington. Mr. Pearce was of the sturdy pioneer stock that won and transformed the wild west into a land of homes. He was a lifeIong member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a charter member of the Burlington church, and for many years a member of the official board. He helped to build the old parsonage and church, and was active in all affairs of the church. Having made his home in this community, he was known to all. by Janice Sahnans PEERY - WATSON FAMILY FSlO turn twenty-one on April 12, 1987. She is employed at a down town Denver bank. In the spring of 1945, Joe was helping one of our neighbors Kenneth Leighty and family moved from Johnson, Kansas to Flagler. Kenneth and family had purchased the house where Bob and Linda Perry and boys recently moved. While Joe was here with a load he decided he liked the country and purchased the farm from C.M. Smith, realtor. C.M. Smith was Jerry Smith's grandfather and had his business where Jerry is now located. In Sept of 1945 Joe moved his family to Flagler. Minnie about had a heart attack when she saw the place he'd bought. There was not a building you could call a house. Joe promised he would rent a house in town. There was not a house to rent. Anyway we lived in a granary that winter. We also spent the winter trying to drill a well one mile west of the old improvements. We spent the whole winter putting casing in the hole. There was no water as Joe had thought. (The casing is still in the hole as far as I know.) In Kansas if Joe and his brothers decided they needed a new well, they started drilling and had water by evening or at least by the next day. We were told there was probably no water to be found on the place except where the line across where the old well was. Joe wouldn't hire a well driller. Anyway several years after Joe had passed away the old well just had to be replaced. I hired a driller; he drilled one test hole and was satisfied he had water. He bored the home bigger and there is a good well about % mile from the old well on top of a hill where my renter wanted it. It is good water also at about 180 feet. Joe passed away suddenly May 18, 1965 of a massive heart attack. After Joe's death Minnie was very fortunate to get a job in Burlington at the Social Services Dept. The late Elmer Kueker, county commissioner, saw to it that someone from this end of the county got the job. Minnie moved to Burlington in August of 1968 and was employed there for nearly 16 years. After retiring in March of 1984 on account of health reasons, she moved back to Flagler in January of 1985. by Minnie E. Peery Joseph H. Peery born at Franklin, Nebras- ka and Minnie E. (Watson) Peery born at Jetmore, Kansas were married October 5, 1935 by the Methodist minister Roxie T. Powell at Ulysses, Kansas. They lived the first 10 years of their married life at Johnson and Syracuse, Kansas. Joe was engaged in farming with his brothers Howard and Vincent and their father Ernest A. Peery. Joe and Minnie became the parents ofthree sons. Lloyd, born Sept.6, 1936, is a Senior Electrical Engineer for AT&T. He and his wife Marilyn live in Middlesex, New Jersey. They have a son and three daughters. Warren, born May 2L, L942 is a diesel mechanic and also has his own semi-truck. He occasionally drives it but usually has a driver. He and his wife Judy live in Burlington, Colo. They have a son Joe, twenty-one, in the army in Calif. They also have a daughter Melody a junior at the high school in Burlington. Ralph, born October 7, 1944 lives with his wife Debra at Kiowa. Colo. Orin Penny Estella Penny PENNY - NESMITH FAMILY F51 1 Orin Painter Penny, was born Oct. 30, 1893, at Richmond, Mo. His life story is that of a young man, who by his own efforts, rose to a position of influence and trust among his associates and friends. He came to Burlington in 1916 and was employed in the hardware store of the late N.R. Brown. He enlisted in the Navy in World War I in 1917 and served until the close of the war. After his discharge he returned to Burlington, where his former employment awaited him. In 1920, he and C.H. Parke bought out the Tipton and Upton Hardware store which they conducted under the name of Parke and Penny until 1922, when Mr. Penny purchased Mr. Parke's interest. In 1934, he took his brother, Parvin, into the business and the firm was known as Penny Brothers. It was located on the N.E. corner of Main and Lowell St. Besides the hardware, implement, furniture, and undertaking business, Mr. Penny had successfully conducted a farm 6% miles south of town. He sold the undertaking business to Bill Hendricks in 1940. During his years of residence here he had contributed liberally to every venture that would help the Burlington community. He served as major ofBurlington in 1932 to 1934, and was a member of the local Masonic Lodge, Odd Fellow Lodge, and of Arthur H. Evans Post No. 60 of the American Legion. His business ability was unquestioned, and his deep devotion to his family and friends was perhaps his outstanding characteristic. On October 20, L920, he married Estella Nesmith. She had come to Colorado from �Atwood, Kansas, where she was born on September 11, 1889. She moved to Burlington in 1910 with her grandfather John Ratcliff, with whom ehe lived after her mother died. She attended Businese College and State Normal College. Three children were born to this union, John Curtis, Gene Willard, and Estella Eileen. Estella belonged to the Methodist Church, was a member of Eaet€rn Star, Inter Sese and was a member of the Library Board. She was a charter member of P.E.O. Orin passed away August 7, 1946, and Est€lla passed away January 23, 1972. Their home in Burlington was used for 11 years as the Burlington Museum. by Gene Penny PENNY. NIDER FAMILY Gene Willard Penny was born in Burlington, Colo., Feb. 7, L925, to Orin and Estelle Nesmith Penny. He had an older brother John, and younger sister Eileen. Gene received his early schooling in the Burlington Public Schools and finished at St. John's Military School in Salina, Kansas. After finishing high school, he joined the U.S. Navy during World War II, and was sent to school at Colorado College, and St. Mary's College in Calif. He was discharged in May 1946. After his father's death in August 1946, Gene took over management of the farm operation, and cattle business, located.6l/z miles southwest of Burlington. Gene has served on the Burlington School Board, town council, and the fire district. He is a past president of Rotary, past commander of the American Legion post, and past Master of the Masonic Lodge. He served as chairman of the F5l2 Burlington Country Club for 5 years, a director of Plaine Development Co., and member of Colo. Cattle Feeders, and Cattlemen's Assn. Gene's first love has been his farming and ranching business, building and teaching his family the same love. He was the first farmer to plant sugar beets in the area. He had given much time to the development of the sugar beet industry and irrigation in the county, putting in one of the first irrigation systems in this area. The Penny Ranch includes dry land, irrigated land, and a cattle feeding operation. On May 28, 1950, Gene married Dorothy Nider, daughter of Claude C. and Mathilde Wolters Nider. Dorothy was one of eight children. Born at Dille, Neb., on May 24, 1926. She attended school, and graduated in thie community. The family moved to Raymond, Calif., because of her father's health, two years later moving to Burlington, Colo. Dorothy's work at this time was in banking, At this writing, their son Kevin married Jeana Waters, from St. Frances, Kansas, on August 2, 1980. Jeana graduated from Hays State University in 1981, the same year as Kevin. They have two daughters, Noelle Page born May 3, 1983, and Abbey Lee born June 11, 1986. Gary married Teresa Errington from Goodland, Kansas on Feb. 18, 1984. She graduated from Manhattan, Kansas in 1983, with a Business degree. Norman was manied to Susanne Kreis of Kent, Wash., in 1987. Susanne graduated from Kent Meridian High School in 1975 and is now employed by The Wall Street Journal in Los Angeles, Ca. In 1968, our family started keeping exchange students from foreign countries, which through the years has brought learning, communication, and hopefully a better understanding of our country and we of theirs. We started with a Rotary exchange fellow from Switzerland, which in turn led to five others from that country, another from France, Australia, and one from Guymas, Mexico. As a family, we enjoyed trips to the mountains, fishing, skiing, hiking. Other trips were to Disneyland, and trips to visit relatives in Fresno, Houston, Seattle, Chicago. We enjoyed picnicing, boating, and water skiing at Bonny Dnm. 1ry" have spent many hours watching our children in their activitiee; football, baseball, basketball, twirling, and band . . . This is our life. by Dorothy Penny PETEFISII BRADSIIAW FAMILY F513 working in Burlington for the Bank of Burlington, which ended when their children Dorothy and Gene Penny at their wedding in 1950. were born. Five children were born to Gene and Dorothy. Norman, Gary, Gregory, Kevin, and Julie; all receiving their schooling in Burlington. Norman received his degree at CU in Businese and currently is working for Investors Daily in Los Angeles. Gary attended CSU, studying Agri-Bus, Greg received his AA at Sterling in Agri-Bus, Kevin attended Samuel Edward Petefish was born June 4, 1876 in Clyde Polk County, Iowa. From his obituary we learned that San went to Colorado with his widowed mother in 1887, at the age of eleven years. His mother died three vears later. He CSU, transferring and graduated with a degree in Agri-Bus, from Ft. Hays State University at Hays, Kansas. These three boys are agsociated with their father in the family ranching and farming businees. Julie attended Ft. Hays University in Hays for 2 years, then attended and graduated from the Hays Coemetology School in 1985, and is currently working in Denver. Dorothy's life has been taking care of her family and their interests, which took so much of her time in earlier years. Dorothy is Gene and Dorothy Penny in their backyard, 1983. amember of PEO, holding all offices, therein. She has a love for sewing, baking, painting, bridge, creating for a senee of accomplishment and sharing. Everyone in this community knows her love for golf and its association, and shares this interest with her husband. Gene and Dorothy have loved their community of Burlington; a very fine place to raise a family where their friends care and share for each other. They are members of the United Methodist Church, both working actively in this area. So-uel Petefrsh �returned to Iowa for one year, but again went to Colorado, naking his home with Charlie, his oldest brother and guardian. He remained in Colorado until sixteen and again returned to lowa to work. After one year he went back to Kit Carson Co. where he spent the remainder of his life except for the year 1912 which was spent in Denver becauee of his wife'e health. Sam wrote a letter to his sister tclling about a ranch job he had one half north of Claremont. The lettcr was dated December 12, 1898. After he returned to Colorado he worked at the old Bar T. Ranch and later at theJohn Pugh Ranch where he methis future wife Minnie. She was teaching school at the Tuttle School. Sn- married Minnie Est€lla Bradshaw, daughter of Charles Albert and Rebecca Ellen Bradehaw. To this union four children, Amy, Grace, Roy and Guy were born. After marriage they located on a homeetead 10 miles west of Burlington. The home is still standing and is located one mile west of Bethune, Colo. The Richard Guy family reside there. In 1912 she became ill and he took his family by wagon to Englewood, Colorado where she passed away in 1914. After his wife's death he along, with his four small children, Amy 13, Grace 12, Roy 10, Guy 8, cnme back to the family homestead. Here the children attended school and MiIIard and Sylvia Petersen on their Golden Wedding Anniversary, September 25, 1968. Millard and Sylvia Petersen on their wedding day, September 25, 1918. about a year and then moved to Haxtun, Colorado in the spring of 1920. Alma, mom's sister, had lost her husband and they moved to Haxtun and rented her place and farmed there for a year. They enjoyed a bountiful harvest and in the fall of 1921, they moved to Flagler. There they bought a quarter of land from Jack Molste and started up their farming once again. They planted both grain and feed crops and in the middle of the summer, a flash flood ca-e and washed out all the grain and feed and they lost a lot of their livestock at the snme time. They were quite disheartened by this experience, but they salvaged what they could, traded their quarter of land for 3 houses in Flagler which they fixed up for sale family to Littleton, Colorado where they spent the remainder of their lives. Son Roy had a dreem of a better life and he left the Minnesota where he married and went into the dime store business where he owned two stores for many years. Son Guy married Cora Armstrong and they moved to Englewood, Colorado. He was killed at an early age in a construction accident. Sam still has one grandson Jim McConnell, who was born in Kit Carson County and he and his family reeide south of Stratton, Colorado. by Florence McConnell PETERSEN FAMILY F6l4 Millard Petersen Millard and Sylvia Carie became husband and wife Sept. 25, 1918 at Hardy, Nebraska. Mom and Dad, following their marriage in 1918, lived on a farm in the Ruskin area for helped their father. He was a Methodist and a twenty-five year member of Knights of Pythias Lodge. In the years before his death he was road overseer in the county for some years. His children married and started homes of their own. He enjoyed his grandchildren. He passed away suddenly while on the job, in June of 1929 at the age of 53 years. Both Snm and Minnie are buried in the Fairview Cemetery, Burlington, Colorado. A long time friend and co-worker, Floyd Swogger, who resides in Stratton, Colorado still talks about the time he worked on the road with Snm. His oldest daughter Amy, married and resided in Kit Carson County, all of her 84 years. Grace married Peck Evans and lived here until hard times forced Peck to move hie county to seek work. He got a job working in a dime store. He later went to Minneapolis, a lasting maniage of over 50 years. Mr. and Mrs. Millard Petersen, wedding portrait. Millard had immigrated to America from Hjoring, Denmark in 1907 at the age of 10. The Petersen family of nine settled in Ruskin, Nuckols County, Nebraska. Millard adapted quickly to the new customs and the way of Americans and soon learned the English language quite well. His father had much more difficulty in learning English so he depended quite heavily on dad to be his spokesman. Dad had to translate the Danish into proper English expression in order to get many of the business transactions set out as they were supposed to be. Sylvia was born in Unionville, Missouri on August 19, 1895, the youngest of the family. Her mother died 3 years later so she and her older sister, Alma, went to live with an aunt in Malvern, Iowa. In 1917 Dad was invited to a party at mom's brother's place in Superior, Nebraska and itwas there that Mom and Dad first met. The courtship soon c rlminated into and traded them off, one at a time. They traded one of them for a cafe which they operated for some time and then traded the going business for another house, which they again remodeled and fixed up to sell. It took many jobs to get back on their feet following the flood. Dad undertook speculating in livestock and worked at the Mosier Elevator for some time, taking whatever job he could get. He then went intocustom sod breaking and custom farming. A little bit later, his brother, Arthur, moved out from Nebraska and joined him, helping him farm for about 3 years and then Arthur moved back to Nebraska. In November 1923. their first child was born. Dr. Neff, assisted by Mrs. Agnes Page, brought a son, Lowell Eugene, into the world. Mom and Dad were quite happy with this but their joy was short lived, for the baby died soon after. Dad continued in custom farming and whenever he had a little money to set aside, he would buy up option on different land around that was available for sale and speculated considerable in land. He broke out several hundred acres south of town in the immediate areas just north of Wild Horse. Norman Millard Petersen, a second child, �Millard Petersen was born to them on February LL, t925. Again, Mrs. Agnes Page assisted Dr. Neff in this birth. In 1928, Millard became a citizen by earning his naturalization papers, as did Sylvia. Because ghe had married an alien, she had been a citizen of Denmark for 8 years without actually realizing it. This procedure of naturalization began when he filed a declaration of intention called "The First Paper." Then he had the normal process that he had to go through to prove his lawful residence in the country and within the state. He had to prove that he was able to read and write and speak English. This was quite an experience for Mom to go through the same process, even though she was born in America to U.S. citizens. It was just one of those quirks of the law. On January 18,t929, another son, Richard Owen, was born to Mom and Dad. Again, Mrs. Page was called to help. A heavy snow storm was in progress at that time and many anxious moments were spent while waiting for Dr. Neff and Mrs. Page to come. by Richard Petersen Then in October 1929 with the news of the stock market crash, hundreds of banks folded. Among them was the Farmers State Bank, here in Flagler. Many people went broke and Mom and Dad were among the many who ended up with that problem. Some went bankrupt, some moved away, and others stuck it out and faced a bleak, debt ridden future. The assets of the Farmers State Bank were sold. One of the buyers hired Dad to make whatever settlement that he could make in a reasonable manner of the various notes and receivables that he had purchased at the sale. This was a great opportunity for Dad because jobs were scarce. This job took Dad to many different states and he spent much time away from home. But this was a means by which he could earn that much needed money to pay off his debts and feed his family. Mom and Dad were living in the Bernard house at this time, and to help fill in as far as income and to break the loneliness of Dad being gone so much, Mom took in lady school teachers and they had room and board there with Mom while Dad was off on this job. On December 30, 1930, Dr. Williams, PETERSEN FAMILY F515 assist€d by Jenny Beaman, delivered Lawrence Grant Petersen into the world. It was a joyous occasion and Dad ceme home very excited about the birth of his new son. It tore at his heart, having to be away from his family for so long, so in the fall of 1931, Dad gave up his job of collecting and working out settlements in order to be home with his family. New road work had begun on both North and South 40. Dad had an opportunity to place 2 trucks on, so he bought 2 fl u mp trucks The Petereen Tlucking business. and began hauling dirt, gravel, and rock for the road beds and fills for the bridges. This construction work was a Godsend for the people of this area and various communities adjacent to it. Jobs were terribly scarce but this did provide many needed jobs for a lot of people in the area. A new dentist, Dr. William O'Brian, was coming to town. He was moving into the Bernard house so the folks moved up to the Sherman property in the east part of town. Dad bought several cows, so we milked cows and tried to raise a few calves. But with the drought that was prevailing at the time, there was no feed and it was terribly erpensive to buy feed. The government came out with a program at which they would pay for the cattle if they were destroyed, but in doing so, you could not utilize the meat. I know of one morning when I came downstairs for breakfast and saw Mom and Dad sitting at the table, holding hands as they were crying. I really didn't understand a great lot about it and I wondered why the tears. They spoke very little about it but I did gather what was going to take place. They had decided they would have to go into the prograrn because they couldn't buy feed for the cattle. They were going to have them destroyed and the government had people designated throughout the different areas to come around to destroy the livestock and to be sure that they were destroyed. This was sure disheartening for Mom and Dad as well as many others in the area who went into the program. It seemed like one plague after another first the drought that we were in at that time and then an infestation of grasshoppers throughout a tremendously wide area. Many states were affected by it, especially here in eastern Colorado and western Kansas it was quite evident ofthe devastation ofthis. They had thought out ways to control them and had elected on a mixture of arsenic, bran, banana oil, and saw dust. Dad was given the job of hauling many, many loads of saw dust from the mills at Sedalia to Burlington, Cheyenne Wells and Kanorado and Goodland, Kansas and even as far east as Colby, Kansas. This program was instituted and was quite successful for several months. This was a pretty steady job for Dad. Dad saw the potential of a trucking business so he applied for the necessary permits and began a truck line here in Flagler. The folks moved from the Sherman property to the Madole house which they had just purchased. This house, being no different than the others, seemed to require some changing and some remodeling which was done in the spare time that they had from their trucking business. Mom helped Dad a lot, driving a truck on many occasions. The long, hard hours took their toll. Mom and Dad both required major surgery and due to the failing health of Dad, they sold the truck line to Van Goodwin in 1940. by Richard Petersen PETERSEN FAMILY F516 Millard Petersen As Dad recovered from his operation and gained his health back, he operated a sale barn for a short time and later bought the Epperson place just southwest oftown. There he kept his kids busy milking 25 cows, feeding out several bucket calves and utilizing the separated milk to fatten out a bunch of hogs. It too had long hours but it was of a different nature and not so binding. The family was all together and it was a good life. Norman graduated from high school in Norman Millard, Millard, Richard, Sylvia and Lawrence Petersen, 1939. 1943 and soon thereafter enlisted into the armed services. A week before he was to have �brick and stone mason. They thoroughly enjoyed this mountain home. by Richard Petersen PETERSEN FAMILY F617 The flooding of Buffalo Creek, 1922. The Petergen family. Standing L. to R.: Dovi Lynn, Virginia Mae and Lawrence, Richard and JoAnn, Mike Petersen. Seated: Roy Lee, Gayle Laureen, Millard, Sylvia, Janice Jo and Kris Delynn Petersen. been inducted, Norman and Cleveland Heid were both killed in a tragic auto accident near Rexford, Kangas. Disheartened by this loss, Mom and Dad sold the farm to Steve Leighty of Canon City and a short time later, they purchased Pearl's Garage in 1944. They changed the name to M&S Motor and obtained a Chrysler-Plymouth franchise to go along with the service station, cafe and garage operation. We move into the back of the garage where there were sleeping rooms and it was quite a comfortable place, cool in the summer and warm in the winter due to the adobe construction of the building. It was while we were there that a head-on train crash occurred in Flagler right in front of the depot during a also took his soh away from home. This too left its mark on Dad's hedth. Mom and Dad welcomed their first grandchild, Michael Lawrence Petersen. born to Richard and JoAnn on January 9, 1953. And then another welcomed time was Lawrence's discharge from the Army on July 1, 1953. On July 5, 1953, Lawrence was married to his fiance, Virginia Mae Dragoo. They lived at Flagler on the farm until moving on to Cheyenne, Wyomong. Dad's health had deteriorated to the point that it was necessary to get out of the garage, if at all possible. So he sold the garage to Rhynold Fager and William Bresser who operated it for the next 9 years. As Dad's health began to recover, they heavy snow storm. We slept through all of the noir,e and the commotion and didn't learn of it until early morning when many people cane in to drink coffee and discuss and talk traveled some. In their travels, they came about the incident. build a summer mountain cabin. They went back to purchase the land and then made plans of their new cabin. Before very much was done in the line of Richard graduated from high school in 1946 and then went to work for Dad in the garage and in the construction of a new cafe and motel units. Dad was needing a new show room for his new cars and a better shop for his mechanics. He converted the cafe portion into a showroom and then tore out the walls of the sleeping rooms in the rear, making that area into an enclosed shop and then continued on, building a new cafe across the street and an ll-unit motel. Lawrence graduated in 1948. It was a little different now for the folks having no one in school anymore. It was at this time that Richard took notice of a young lady, JoAnn Moody. After 2 years of courtship, Mom and Dad inherited a new daughter-in-law on June 30, 1950. Dad's dedication to the garage and car business involved many long, tiring hours and his health again was deteriorating. Lawrence's induction into the U.S. Army in 1951 took not only one of his help away but upon an attractive location near Grant, Colorado. After talking about it for some time, they decided it wold be a nice place to construction, there were two additions to the Petersen family. Dovi Lynn was born to Lawrence and Virginia on April 11, 1955 and Kris Delynn was born to Richard and JoAnn on May 28, 1955. This was a very exciting time for the parents as well as for the grandparents. They talked considerably as to what it would be like to have grandchildren up there to share with them when they got the mountain cabin built. They started their construction and completed a 7 room mountain cabin, completed with a guest house 3 years later. There was an interruption to its construction when Dad fell off my truck, breaking his leg. Mom and Dad built this cabin completely by themselves with the exception of a large fireplace that was put up by a professional Buffalo Creek leaves evidence of flood in L922 northeast of Flagler. Millard Petersen On June 27, L956, Roy Lee was born to the family of Lawrence and Virginia, this making grandchild number 4 for Mom and Dad. It was an exciting time for them as they witnessed the growth of the families of their kids and, of course, increasing numbers of grandkids. Grandchild number 5, Janice Jo, arrived July 12, 1959, also making child number 3 for Richard and JoAnn. Mom and Dad couldn't remain idle and in 1961, completed the purchase of the George Simon property here in Flagler and proceeded with the plans for remodeling it into their new Flagler home. They remodeled it entirely by themselves and made several changes to their liking and ended up with a beautiful home which they lived in until they left this world. September 1, 1961 was the first day in he life of Gayle Laureen Petersen, born to Lawrence and Virginia. She was the folks'6th grandchild and 3rd child for Lawrence and Virginia. In 1963, Dad went back into the garage which he operated with Lawrence and me and it was quite a time for him as business trends had changed and it was quite a thing after 9 years away from it to step right in where he had remembered thing leaving off. Dad's health continued to deteriorate and in 1965, he and I reached an agreement of purchase of the garage from Dad and Mom with me taking possession on January 1, 1966. As Dad recuperated, they would take short trips here and there but it was difficult for them to be gone any length of time. His health had deteriorated to the point that he just could not exert himself very much at a �time and continued to deteriorate until February 1971 when Dad passed away, just a few days short of his 74th birthday. Mom continued living in the house, taking care of the yard, the flowers and the garden. She enjoyed her many hours spent there, keeping the place beautiful both inside and out. She belonged to different card clubs and enjoyed these times. She enjoyed her many friends who co-e to visit and then as Mom's strength weakened, she was not able to get out as she had before and her eyesight began to fail. It was hard for her to go anywhere but she really enjoyed her visits from her many friends that she had gotten to know over the many years that she lived in Flagler. On January 1, 1981, Mom passed away. It was a sad time for the entire family but it was a joyous time in a way for we knew that Mom knew her Lord and Savior and we knew that peace now would abound. We continued on in our lives, holding many, many fond memories of Mom and Dad, of our childhood years, and of the years following up when Mom and Dad nurtured us in giving us counsel, giving us wisdom, giving us help and, above all, giving us love at all times. by Richard Petersen PETERSEN, LAWRENCE F6r8 The Lawrence Petersen family. hospital. In 1955 Lawrence and Virginia moved to Virginia's home place, the old Schwinn place, and began farm life there. The drought prevailed and it was fruitless in trying to farm when there was no rain. The dust storms co-e and it seemed impossible to get a dollar ahead. Lawrence and Virginia left the farm moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming where Lawrence took a job driving for Western Auto Transport. The name was changed a little later to Commercial Carriers. He joined up with Deb Coryell, hauling new cars all over the western United States. Business was good and because of this, Lawrence purchased 2 trucks of his own, hiring a driver to run one while he drove the other. A short time later there was a slow down in the automotive business and hauling came to a near etandstill in many areas. They returned to Flagler doing some trucking and farming. He bought a bulldozer and began working on soil conservation prograrns. He worked at this for 2 years and then learned to fly and became a spray pilot. He flew for Nelson Stake and Fred Hilt in their spraying operations. Virginia completed her nurses training at the University of Southern Colo- him to retire. Virginia accepted the offering of a job €rs m{rnager of The Pioneer Valley Housing Development as well as managing the housing program at Arriba. Lawrence took an interest in locksmithing and worked and studied to become a certified locksmith. It is probably as much a hobby as it is a business for he is quite intrigued by the many styles and makes of locks, especially the older ones. Lawrence and Virginia will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary July 5, 1988. Dovi Lynn, their oldest daugher, married Robert Beal and live in Flagler with their 2 children, Jini Theresa and Robert Lee Beal. Bob drives an over the road truck for a transport company out of Cheyenne, Wyoming and is gone much of the time. Their son, Roy Lee and his wife Paula live in Durango, Colorado. Roy is the manager of the John Deere Industrial Store. Roy has 1 son, Randall Lawrence. Lawrence and Virginia's youngest daughter Gayle Laureen and her husband, Steve Pease also live in Durango where they are both employed. by Richard Petersen rado. Lawrence was also working for the U.S. Postal Service but resigned this position to go into business for himself in aerial crop spraying. He purchased 2 airplanes and began his spraying business. One of his pilots crashed one of his planes and a short time Lawrence and Virginia Mae Petersen Lawrence Petersen was born and raised in Flagler. Upon his discharge from the U.S. Army July 3, 1953 was joined together in marriage to Virginia Mae Dragoo on July 5, 1953. Virginia had moved here with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Dragoo, from Springfield, Colorado in March of 1946. They first lived on the Fred Page farm 2 miles east after, the other one was destroyed by a small twister that hit where the plane was parked west of town. Discouragement didn't seem quite the term to use since "mother nature" had pounded them so heavy. Virginia had finished her nurses training and had begun working at the Burlington Hospital. Later, an opening came at the Lincoln Community Hospital. With less miles to travel, she took the job opportunity. Ruthie Jenkins came to their family as a foster child, living with them and 3 miles north of Flagler. They were until her graduation from high school 2 years engaged in a hog farm operation. 1954 was a dry year and the beginning ofa 3 year drought later. for this area. Like many others they had to turn to other sources of livelihood to make ends meet. Virginia worked at the local Virginia continued on with her nursing practice. In 1977 Lawrence purchased the Flagler Pool Hall which he operated for the next 2 years. Lawrence's health failed, forcing PETERSEN, RICHARD F5t9 In reviewing my maried life of 38 years to my good wife, JoAnn, our first source of livelihood was in trucking and salvage business and working part time for my dad at the M&S Motor Co. We moved to Grangeville, Idaho in July of 1951 for a short time working for my father-in-law, Bert Moody, in housing construction and remodeling. We returned to Flagler in January of 1952. I went to work for dad at the M&S until late summer of 1953 when we purchased the old LeRoy Cuckoo building on Main Street. We opened a glass and sporting good shop with a small auto repair shop and parts store. A drought had just begun and for 3 years there was little or no crops and likewise little or no business. In 1956 I accepted the J.I. Case dealership. Wow. what a time to take that on. I learned AEA �thought about building a new station across the interstate. We owned the property on the Denmark and his Mother was born in Wisconsin and was German and English seeking the necessary arrangements, we built a new gervice station with 2 service bays and descent. Charley was oldest son of Rudolph & Mary Peterson. Charley, his brother Edgar, and his parents moved to Kanorado, Kansas, where they homesteaded on 160 acres. They southwest corner of the interchange so fuel islands set up to serve both farm and truck diesel and 3 grades of gasoline. We left the old M&S building and moved to our new one celebrating open house July 23, L979. We were affiliated with the A.{A and Allstate Motor Clubs as their towing and service agent. Our good friends and Canadian family, Ken and Made Foss, from Pierceland, j ).,: ...'a:,.:a:: :l ,r', *.1 x , ::$ Richard and JoAnn Petersen a lot about the facts of business and lack of business in a short time. Had it not been for Saskatchewan, Canada drove down from Pierceland and blessed us with their presence at our open house. We leased out the old M&S Motor building to Mark Amos who operated a welding and machine shop until it was destroyed by fire in August 1985. My wife and I operate the station and between that, our 3 kids and 7 grandchildren and church, our time is pretty well taken up. The Lord and life has been good to us and we have been blessed. Mike, the oldest of our 3 kids, lives in Flagler. He has 2 boys, David Michael and Lance Allen. Mike owns and operates the Flagler Auto Salvage and is employed by the town of Flagler as town marshall. Kris, the second in line, lives in my friendly banker, I shudder to think of what could have happened at this crucial Flagler with her 3 children, Patrick Owen, Meggan Justine and Jonathan Dane. Kris, a registered nurse, has been employed by the time. Drought still in effect and sales almost nil. We put the truck to work hauling scrap iron, years. Our youngest daughter, Janice, and her ued on with trucking and some farming until May of 1963 when I went into business again with dad in the M&S Motor Co. Two and a half years later we purchased the business taking possession on January 1, 1966. We had ance Agency. coal and fruit. We closed out the Case dealership in the spring of 1960. We contin- Lincoln Community Hospital for several husband Dan Lackey, live in Elkhart, Kansas where they are both employed. Dan is the service manager for the John Deere and Ford dealership and Janice is the office manager of the Morton County Farm Bureau Insur- by Richard Petersen the Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge dealerships along with the Massey Ferguson farm equipment line. The Massey Ferguson business wan housed in my building uptown. In early 1969 we moved Massey Ferguson down PETERSON FAMILY F520 to the M&S Motor building. In October of 1969 Continental Oil approached me to buy the M&S. They were looking for a location on which to put up a large service station along Interstate 70. They bought an option on the property which Charley E. Peterson was born in Mt. Etna, Iowa, on April 30, 1884. His Dad was from covered wagon set in the ground on the side of a hill. Years later there was a lovely home built on this site. In the year of 1909 (when Charley was about 25 years of age), he went by himself to where he homesteaded about 20 miles south of Burlington. He lived there as a bachelor for about thirty years. He had several hired hands helping him during that time. He married my mother, Mary Neus- chwanger Hicks, on April 25, 1933. She lost her husband, Russell Hicks, in March 1928, from measles that turned into pneumonia. I was only 4 at that time and I remember my Mother telling me how sick I was with the measles at the same time. Charley's sister was married to my Mother's brother, Dave Neus- chwanger so that was the way they got acquainted. Archie was 21 so he wasn't home long and went to work for the Matthies family that lived just 1 % miles north of my stepdad's place. Since Charley was a bachelor for a number of years, he was capable of doing his own cooking. I was the youngest girl in a family of nine and was 8 when my Mother married Charley, so I did not know much about cooking or how to clean a chicken so Charley taught me how to cut up a chicken and get it ready to cook. There were four of us girls and all of us learned how to milk cows and do all the chores there are on a farm. There were also five brothers, but it wasn't long before the two oldest ones left home to work for other people. My brother, Wayne, was a joy for all of us but at age of 12 he was working about 3 lz miles from home and when he was bringing the horse home, he wrapped the rope around his wrist and the horse got spooked and he was dragged. He died a few hours later in Burlington Hospital. Charley was known for training ofdogs and for raising horses and trading them. He was known as "horse trader" in Kit Carson County. I remember Charley telling about the dog he had trained before we were living at his place that could go after either the horse or cow that he would pick out by name, or he would just bring in the milk cows and would become due upon the completion of the overpass at the interchange. Everything looked so promising that they would exercise their option that I began phasing down leave rest of the cows in the pasture. I remember one dog he trained so well that he could holler out of the bedroom window to bring in the milk cows and when Charley got up, the cows were there ready to be milked. During the 30'g when we had the dust storms so bad, the jack rabbits were so thick, and were taking most of the farmer's crops so Charley formed several rabbit drives. I remember one drive he had, a dust storm came up so fast and in the middle of the afternoon it got as dark as night, so all the people at the hunt had to stay at Charley's place until the storm was over. During a few of these storms we were caught at school so our teacher (Mrs. Wigton) kept us at school and we played dominoes. The stove door had to be open so we would be able to see. Charley everything in preparation to vacate the premises so they could put up the new station. Shortly before the option matured, the Colorado State Highway Department traded the property between the M&S and the highway to another party and in so doing, moved my property from first to second access and Continental Oil didn't want it then and declined and surrendered their option. This was a great disappointment to us for we had looked forward so much to have and operate a new station. Since we had resigned our dealerships for Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge and Massey Ferguson in preparation for the new station, we had to drop back and see whether to pass or punt. We operated the garage and station as best we could. Our son, Mike, graduated from high school in 1971 and Kris graduated in 1973. Janice was soon to have her graduation in 1977. We first live in a dugout which consisted of a Charley and Mary Peterson taken with their dog Tippy in front of schoolhouse that Charley bought and remodeled. They lived in it until they moved to Brulington. and my Mother lived on the place that Charley homesteaded until Charley was not able to keep up with farm work and my Mother had ill health. It forced them to move to town, where they bought a house just west of the park in Burlington. They were living �business in the care of some of his eight children and came and stayed with one of his two boys. One day, he borrowed a team and buggy from one of the boys and startpd out south of Bethune looking for a suitable homestead site. He always claimed that he found some blue grass growing right north of the Smokey River, 19 miles southwest of Bethune, and with this great find, he said this is it, and claimed this land as his homestead. Sometime during the snme year of 1909, another of Bill's sons, Martin, homestead a half section just northwest of his father's homestead. They both put up sod houses and sheds at first and drilled their own wells with a homemade drill. In 1910 or 1911, Bill's mother, Elizabeth Pfaffly and her daughter, Amelia, cane to Colorado and each homest€aded one mile north of Bill's. They each had their own ,._,:: "-*;_ -i This was taken close to chicken house on the place where Charley homesteaded. Front row; Nellie Carroll, Mabel Hawkins, Charley and Mary Peterson, Pearl Matthies, Archie Hicks. Back row; Viola Sullivan, Albert. Harold and Kenneth Hicks. there when my Mother had a heart attack and passed away at home on October 17, 1964. Charley lived there until 1968, when he entered Grace Manor Nursing Home. During that time he fell and broke his hip and spent a few weeks at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver. He passed away from pneumonia in hospital at Burlington on March L4,L977, at age of 94 years. There were seven of us children left. My oldest sister, Nellie, died from cancer on May 3, 1951, at age of 37. She had two girls and one boy. Viola married Robert Sullivan and live in Montrose. They have one girl and two boys. Mabel who married George Hawkins and live in Le-ar. They have two boys. Archie married Clara Matthies and live in Colorado Springs. They have one daughter and their son Roy and family live in Burlington. Harold manied a girl from Oregon and they live on a farm near McMinnville, Oregon and they have one son. Kenneth married a girl from Cheyenne Wells and they are living in Sterling. They have one girl and two boys. My youngest brother, Albert, went to high school in Meeker and married a girl from there. They had three sons but youngest one drowned after they moved to Canada' He has recently retired in 1984 and is living at Nakusp which is about 200 miles from Kamloops, BC. I married Charles Matthies in April 1945, and have lived in several places but have been in Colorado Springs for about 30 years. We have one daughter and two sons. by Pearl llicks Matthies PFAFFLY FAMILY F62r Jnmes Buchanan Pfaffly, born December 27, 1856, of Swiss parents near Columbus, Ohio, was the first Pfaffly to come out west to Colorado. When he was two years old, his parents, Elizabeth and John Pfaffly, moved with Jim and older brother, William Dexter, from Ohio to Wathena, Kansas, where they, and three more brothers grew to manhood. In 1879, when Jim was 22 years old, it's said that his mother sent him after a pound of coffee and she never saw him again for over a decade. He thought Wathena was too crowded and should be thinned out,so he came to Colorado looking for work, and the first place he went was Leadville. When he got off the train, the first thing he saw was a man get shot down in the street, and he had a notion to leave, but he decided to stick around for awhile, and maybe see if some of that gold couldn't find him. For the next ten years, Jim and his adventuresome spirit roamed the northwestern Unitcd States and Canada. On Christmas day in 1890, he married Maria Field in Omaha, Nebraska, and four years later, he moved his wife and two young daughters, Erma and Gladys, back to Colorado. They located in Seibert, where Jim beca-e the foreman of the track work on the Rock Island Railroad. In 1901, after seven years on the railroad, he decided he wanted to homestead, so the family moved to about 1% miles southwest of Bethune. where Jim remained until his retirement in 1916. His daughter, Erma, met and married Frank Cordonnier in Wathena, Kansas,and after moving back to Bethune, she was the postmistress there for a good many years. The other daughter, Gladys, married Jess McFarland, of Stratton, and after mostly raising their large family here, they moved to Washington state. The next Pfafflys to come to Colorado were the sons of Jim's older brother, William Dexter Pfaffly. Julius Ceasar Pfaffly (Jude) and James Edward Pfaffly (Ed) came out from Wathena around 1907. Jude homesteaded about three miles southwest of Bethune on what is now the Doyle and Harry Roberson place. Ed homesteaded about two miles southwest of Bethune on what is now called the "old" Dvorak place. He got married in Stratton and they had three children in Colorado. In 1909, the boys'father, William Dexter Pfaffly (Bill) came to Colorado. Having lost his wife in 1890, he left his blacksmith "soddy" not far from a common dividing line, and there they lived for the next five years until they had "proved-up" on the land. They always told about the vastness of this Great American Desert known as eastern Colorado, and Ed Pfaffly proved it at least once. He set out one day from his homestead near Bethune with his trusty dog and teoto go to his father Bill's homestead to get some straw. A blizzard came up when he was nearing Bill's and before he knew it, he could not see where he was or where he was going. Although he had been able to see his father's place earlier, he lost it in the blinding snow and missed his mark. He must have been about, Yz mile east of Bill's when his teem of horses fell into the Smokey and were highcentered. Struggling to loosen the horses, he took one horse and leading it, followed the dog, who he figured knew where he was going. Unknown to Ed, at the time, the dog was going east, farther and farther away from Bill's. After walking for what seemed an eternity, Ed found a fence and followed it looking for a place to shelter. He found a place, and although their nnrnes are unknown, the people took him in and then he found he was three or four miles east of Bill Pfaffly's homestead. Around 1912, when Ed had proved-up on his homestead and gotten title to it, he used his land as collateral to buy a steam engine and a plow, and he went to breaking up sod for other people. Business wasn't very good for very long, and he lost the tractor, the plow, and the land. He said to heck with eastern Colorado and moved his family back to eastern Kansas. His brother, Jude, stayed long enough to prove-up on his homestead and also ended up going back to the Wathena area. By 1914, Bill Pfaffly and his son Mart, had proved-up on their land down by the Smokey. Mart moved in with his father and together, they built a good little barn, mixing all the concrete by hand. Bill went back to Wathena, to see if his daughter, Ida, and another son, Alfred Joseph (A.J.) wanted to come out to Colorado to live. Ida and Alfred had been living on the Pfaffly home place in Wathena. Ida said she wasn't going anywhere unless there was a decent house to live in. She said she wasn't going to live in any "soddy" with the bed bugs, so the idea of one of the fust pre-fab houses was formed. They started to cut lumber for a house and a very large barn. When the boards were all cut for the exact size of the house and barn, the lumber was loaded on a train and shipped to Stratton, �where it was then hauled by wagon and tea-s out to the Bill Pfaffly homestead. The Pfafflys sold their 40-acre farm near Wathe- na, and Ida and Alfred cnme to Colorado with their father. They built a cement mixer and started to build the house in 1917. It was finished in 1918, and construction of the big barn was gtarted. Around this time, Alfred bought his first car, a 1916 Model-T Ford, which was used for many purposes; later on, he used it to haul kids to the First Central School. In 1918. A.J. parked his Model-T in the barn and took the train back to Wathena. In December of that year, he married Sarah Elizabeth Beutler at her parents'he6s irr flrrm[olt, Nebraska. His mother loaned them some money so they could buy the west half of Bill's homestead section. In 1919, A.J. brought his bride and their belongings by train back to Colorado. One of their wedding gifts was a Washburn upright piano, which has survived and is still in good working order in 1987. Sarah, who came from the forested lands of eastern Nebraska said she had never seen such a desolatc place. There were no trees, only grassland and rolling hills as far as the eye could see. They bought the half section just west of Bill's, which had a house on it, but before they could move into the little house, brother Martin got sick and decided to go back to Kansas so he could be close to a doctor. Ida decided to go with him, so A.J. and Sarah moved into the big new house with Bill. It was quite a house for it's day, and lots of people talked about it being a mansion on the plains. Construction on the big new barn was completed in this year of 1919. In 1920, Sarah and A.J. had a son, LaMonte Alfred Pfaffly, and a year later, their daughter, Mary Elizabeth was born. In the early twenties, A.J. bought a threshing machine and a 2-cylinder tractor and did a lot ofcustom threshing around the country. Things were starting to look up and then World War II came along and farmers started getting better prices for their products, but then, some of our boys had to go into the service. La Monte had to stay with his father, who was crippled, to help him farm, so he never got to go, although he was in the National Guard for awhile. In 1947 A.J. and Sarah moved to Burlington. A.J. passed away in 1958. In 1948, LaMonte married Mary Jo West, of Hale, Colorado, at the "big" house on the Pfaffly farm. They had three children, Laurence Wayne, Glenda Jo, and Terance LaMonte. In 1982 "Monte" and Mary Jo moved to Burlington so they could be near Monte's mother, Sarah, and help care for her. Sarah passed away in Burlington on Oct. 2, 1986 at the age of 91 years old. Larry has two boys, Darell Wayne and Allan Dale and lives with his wife, Brenda, in Hannibal, Missouri. Daughter Glenda Jo, is married to Martin Bauman of Stratton, and has step-children Denise Newman, and Devin Bauman, and daughter, Erin Michelle. Terry, after going to college, moved back to the farm with his wife, Carol Moore, of Manasquan, New Jersey, in 1975. They had two children: Jason Joseph and Brianne Emily. In 1978, Terry went into partnership with his father. Times are also trying for farmers in this day and age, and Terry decided, as some of his ancestors did before him, that eastern Colorado may not hold the key to his future. He is currently using his college education at a nursery in Palisade, Colorado. The farm is still a Pfaffly farm, and even though there is no longer a Pfaffly living on {rny farm in eastern Colorado, one of LaMonte's grandchildren may one day decide to carry on the challenge and move back to Grandpa William Dexter Pfaffly's homestead. He also broke up some prairie. They had by Mary Jo Pfaffly cows, hogs, horses and a Jack and they raised a lot of mules to sell. They milked cows and had some chickens and a large garden which they used for fresh and canned food, as did most of the farmers around this area. Times started to get hard. Just trying to gurvive was uppermost in the mind. Most people say the worst times were in the 30's, but Uncle Jim, who was now living in Bethune with his daughter, Erma Cordonnier, said the droughts started in 1923, and that was the worst. For recreation in the twenties and thirties, they had picnics and ice creq- socials with neighbors. Prices were low for cattle and hogs and then the drought and the dirt storms were fierce. Pfafflys had to send their livestock up north on the river to be boarded where some food was available; or else there wan no hope for an animal. Father Bill got sick and they took him to Colorado General Hospital in Denver where he passed away in September of 1934. When LaMonte was 17 years old, he went to work for John Sedman on what was called the old Bridegroom place, or it was also Birdie Kellog's place until the dirty 30's ran him out. He got 75 cents a day which was good wages for then, and he worked from sun-up to sun-down as a farm hand, Around 1938, when people started growing PIERSON, LESTER F522 Lester Pierson and his wife, Buelah Mae (Weston) Pierson, came to Burlington, Co. by immigrant train from Fremont County, Iowa. The farm wasn't big enough to support their family and there was no land available around them. They arrived in March, 1921. Six children came with them, Eva, 10; Lester, 8; Paul,6; Mary,4; Alice, 2; and baby Helen. Grant and Gene were born in Colorado. They moved Southwest of Burlington for 1 year and then moved to a place they purchased 15 miles south of Burlington. Lester traded his place of80 acres in Iowa and $7,000 difference for 320 acres here. They lived on this place till they moved to Burlington in 1948. Their daughter, Mary and husband Ernest McArthur, own the home place so it has been in the family for these years. Mary started to school at District #20 "Fairview" School and went there for her first 8 grades, then she completed her education at "Smokey Hill" School. It was a 10 grade school. Alice died from a ruptured appendix, Paul something again, or were able to grow died in 1934 in a runaway team accident. something again, La Monte came back home Gene, age 9, died of blood poisoning from a wood splinter in his foot from jumping into the wagon. Lester died at the age of 67. Mary and started farming with his dad,A.J. They bought a 1929 - 3236 International tractor. married her neighbor, Ernest McArthur. Mary's parents, Beulah Pierson died on January g, L974 at the age of 82 and Lester Pierson died on July 1, 1985 at the age of 101. by Ernest and Mary McArthur PISCHKE FAMILY F623 Gustave Adolf Pischke was born June g, 1874, in Mecan, Wisconsin, to Daniel and Wilhelmina Laper Pischke. Daniel and Wilhelmina had come to America from Germany in 1845. Daniel was a bridge builder and contractor in northern Germany, and bought a farm after coming to America. Ida Johanna Strube was born May 31, 1881, in Chicago to Williem and Augusta Gomoll Strube. Her father was a mail carrier, delivering at first with a horse and cart. Augusta helped support the family by working in a factory making button holes in men's suits. In the early 1900s, Gustave Pischke had a painting business in Princeton, Wis. Ted Pischke, Gustave's brother, had a livery stable and jitney business. He met the trains and took people to their hotels. A pretty young lady from Chicago (Ida) wanted to go to the Shade family, who had a boarding house. Ted told her he knew of no people by that name. She showed him a letter with the name on it. The name was pronounced Shoddy, the German way. After all this discussion about the name, Ted asked her for a date, and through him Ida met Gustave. Gustave and Ida were married March 1?. 1904, at the home of her parents in Chicago. They went immediately to Princeton, where he continued his job and profession asr a painter. He farmed a little also. Their first two children were born in Princeton, Ruth on Jan. 9, 1905, and Lewis on April 25, 1906. They moved to Chicago for three years where Gustave became ill. Their second son, George, was born there on Sept. 28, 1909. They moved to Auburndale, Flor- ida, for eight years, hoping to cure what Gustave thought was asthma. Another daughter, Evelyn, was born there on Oct. 18, 1914. They moved again, this time to South Dakota for several months. Ida helped out by cooking for threshers in that state. The family next moved to Stratton, Colorado, where their last child, Alice, was born on Feb. 18, 1921. After living here for two years and with no improvement in his health, Gustave with his sister, Ottelia, took a trip to Raton, New Mexico, where he died shortly, May 23, 1922, at age 47. His death was the result of tuberculosis. The family remained on the farm at Stratton until 1928, when they moved to Burlington, Colo. Lewis died in Burlington on May 21, 1932, of tuberculosis. Ida lived in Burlington until her death on Aptil21, L972. Ruth was married to Albert Wells on Sept. 25, L927; George was married to Aldine Farnsworth on Dec. 1, 1935; Evelyn was married to C.H. Bollwinkel on May 4, 1938; Alice was married to Charles C. Bovles on July 1, 1945. by Marilyn Wells Zimmerman �POOLE, JIM AND NORA F624 summer school. We went four summers back home in Oklahoma and attended Southeast- ern Oklahoma Statp University where Jim received his Master of Teaching graduate degree in 1964. The next summer was spent at Southern lllinois University and the summer of 1966 was spent at Oklahoma University. The children were good travelers and liked people. Therefore summer school was an enjoyable experience. Occasionally Nora would become weary of trying to keep the children quiet so Jim could study. She must have succeeded since the grades were always good. (Can't resist bragging a little so everyone would know I did a good job!) The summer at Southern Illinois was very hot but very beautiful. We stayed in a new dormitory along with many other families. It but the studies were was a good summer daughter Jessica who is 4 and Mick who is 2. Kristy and her husband Robin Liming from Kirk have no children. An interesting story about the two babies Sadie and Dex is that they were born on the Friday the 13th, February 1987. same day - David is in the Air Force, Presently stationed in Homestead, Florida, where he is training to be a fighter pilot in F-4 Phantoms. Janet and Bill farm and ranch near Bethune. Jan taught kindergarten in Burlington for four years. Sharon and Mike live in Simla where Mike is co-owner of their supermarket. Kristy and Robin farm near Kirk and in Kit Carson County. They raise horses and hogs. Jim has been superintendent of Schools in Bethune for 24 years - since 1964. It has been a good life here and we look forward to many more good years. very tough! At the Knowles school Jim had the privi- by Nora Poole lege of setting up their Industrial Arts department from scratch. It was fun getting all new equipment and designing the shop. He also enjoyed drawing plans for the school teacherages. I think he considered it more fun Nora and Jim Poole 198?. POTTORFF, CALVIN D. (C. D.) F625 than work. Our move to Bethune was not much of a change as far as climate was concerned. However, the challenge of being school superintendent was exciting and still is! We had to become used to the winter weather, if that is possible. As of this writing we are spending our 24th winter here and have mixed feelings about snow. Blizzards were new to the family. The good memories we have of them were when Mrs. Esther Daum would come to our house. Her house was not heated very well when the electricity went off so we would persuade her to come to our house. She would enjoy our warm fireplace and entertain us with stories of her early teaching days in Kit Carson Christmas 1966, Nora, Jim and children, Kristy, David. Janet and Sharon' Jim and Nora Poole with three small David, Janet, and Sharon children moved to -Bethune in August 1964. Jim had accepted the position as superintendent of schools in Bethune. Kristy was born March 25, 1965. Both Jim and Nora were raised at Cumberland, Oklahoma and graduated from Madill High School. Nora'g mother Berniece liveg in Madill and Jim's mother Nina livee in Cumberland. Both fathers died in 1982. Jim received his undergraduate degree in 1960 from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma. Nora and Jim then moved to several construction jobs in Oklahoma and Kansas where he worked for Dresser Engineering Company. They then moved to Knowles, Oklahoma where Jim started his career in education. That area was our home for 3 years. During this time Jim taught, became principal and acting superin- tendent. Every summer from 1961 through 1966 we would pack up the kids and dog and go to County and East€rn Kansas. The unpleasant memories of blizzards are well known to anyone who has had to decide whether or not to have echool, shoveled snow or pushed it around with a tractor. Jim and David have dug out the school with shovels and a small tractor many times. It was "a great day" when the school bought a scoop tractor and snow blowers. Nora has been very involved in raising the children, church work, Young Mothers and school activities. She enjoyed sewing for herself and the girls and always had a vegetable garden. Since the kids have gone she spends lots of time working in the yard and flowers. When David, Janet and Sharon were teenagers they farmed for Dale Hanna in the summer. Perhaps driving huge four-wheel drive tractors was not the usual job for teenage girls but Janet and Sharon enjoyed it very much. Kristy farmed only briefly for Dale when one of the other girls was off on vacation or some church triP. all 1983 was a very busy year for Nora three girls were married. A family friend suggested it made Jim a good friend of the local bankers (and others)! Presently we have Mr. and Mrs. C.D. Pottorff Calvin Pottorff is one of the leading farmers in Stratton, Kit Carson County, Colorado, where he and his sons own and operate an 8,960 acre farm under the "C.D. Pottorff and Sons". Main crops are wheat and milo. His brands include Bar X, his Kansas brand, and X Upside down F, his Colorado brand. Mr. Pottorff was reared on his parents farm. His first place on his own was a farm near Dodge City, Kansas. In 1933, he bought a cattle ranch near Healy, Kan., where he ran a herd of about five hundred head of cattle. In 1944, he bought several large wheat farms near Stratton, which he and his sons now operate. Calvin D. Pottorff was born July 16, 1890' in Ford County, Kansas, to William H. and Rosie Recknor Pottorff. His birth place was a sod dugout on his parents homestead. His parents, who were married in Iowa in 1877, came to Kansas via covered wagon and six adorable grandchildren. David and his wife Janet Miller from Seibert have two homesteaded fifteen miles southwest of Dodge City. Calvin attended the "Third daughters, Sara who is 5 years old and Sadie is one year old. Janet and her husband Bill Cure from Stratton have two sons, Luke who is 3 and Dexter who is 1. Sharon and her husband Mike Green from Simla have one site of the Boot Hill Cemetery. Calvin spent his boyhood days herding cattle, his father herded the town cows. In those early days every family owned a cow. Calvin recalls large Ward" school there, which was built on the �herds of cattle coming into Dodge from Texas for shipment and remembers that train robberies were not all that all uncommon. Mr. Pottorff owned one of the few large steam STRATTON, COLORADO. FRIDA\" ALCUST 19, I92I COLLINS HOTEL threshing machines and stenm plows in the area and with it helped to put in many of the town'g streets. Calvin maried Miss Emily Belle Anderson CAFE In October 1966 we sold the farm and purchased the old Collins Hotel. What a AN D surprise when we moved into the hotel! There LUNCH ROOM the daughter of Thomas F. and EllaRobineon Anderson, on Sept. 25, 19L2, in Dodge City. Mrs. Pottorffs parents were married in Now Open Wayndotte County, Kansas, in 1891, and she, herself, was born in what is now Kansas City. Mrs. Pottorff attended Kansas State Teachers College at Emporia, and taught school in FRANK A. THALER, MCR. former Mable Murray; Helen who is married former Darlene Taylor; Earnest, whose wife is the former Vanetta Langston; Doris who is now Mrs. Gene Thyne; Harley, who married the former June Kountz; Lela, who is married to Ed Wilkinson; Kenneth whose first wife is the former Marlyn Corwin, and now is married to Nancy Schwindt and Robert who married the former June Wittig. Mr. Pottorff served on the board of the livestock commissioners in Kansas City for sixteen years. He is a member of the Farmers Union, the Seibert Odd Fellows, and the Colorado Wheat Growers Association. Mr. happened in its early years came with the stayed one summer for his health. Others who certificates for long and distinguished service in Home Demonstration Club work. She has been a member since 1924 and was organizer and charter member of the Stratton Homemakers Club. She has also been a 4-H Club leader for many years, and all of the Pottorff children have been 4-H Club members. Mr. and Mrs. Pottorff are the parents of eleven children, and they have thirty-eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Their children are Neva. who is married to Albert Wasson; Bill, who is a member of the to Joe Mclean; Loren, who married the many memories and lots of stories that llig Dinner 50 Cents A S5.25 Meal Ticket for $4.50 Winnie Cook; Homer, who married the were 80 small roons, each with a sink and there were 20 more doors with small closetsized rooms behind them. Little of the original furnishings were left, but there were hotel. One story said that Jack Dempsey stayed at the hotel at one time, as well as Paul in the Stat€ of Colorado to be awarded eight-man Wheat Administrative Board of Colorado, and who married the former engineer. Prices Reasonable Better Food and Service Wayndotte and Ford Countieg. Her parents brought their family to Dodge City in 1910. In 1959, Mrs. Pottorff was one of two women graduated from Colorado School of Mines in the fall of 1987 and resides in Ogden, Utah where he is employed as a mechanical The newspaper carried the Collins Hotel Cafe ads for many years. January 8th 1947 was the scene of the wedding of June Kountz, Flagler and Harley Pottorff, Stratton. After a short hone5rmoon we were at home on a little farm one-half mile south of Stratton, where we remained until 1966. In addition to farming, we had a dairy and raised four children: Connie (1949), Sherri (1952), Ed (1958), and Todd (1964). Connie married Will Volskis in 1973. She works for a Denver area airline and Will is employed as a chemist. They have one son Brandon. In 1971 Sherri married Van Lupher. Van's parents were living in Stratton at the time, after residing in Grand Junction for many years. Sherri and Van now live in Aurora where Sherri works as a beautician and Van is a general manager of a large vending machine company. They have three children: Brad, Travis, and Eric. Ed graduated from CSU in 1980 and finished his graduate degree in Hydro Geology in 1987. He currently lives in Reno, Nevada where he works as a geologist. Todd Harris, founder of Rotary of Chicago. He registered: Babe Ruth, Paul Whiteman, Marion Davies and Colorado Governor Johnson. This hotel was considered the best one between Kansas City and Denver. It had hot and cold water and electricity which were real luxuries at that time. One unique and interesting fact was that wires were strung in the attic so cowboys who came there could hang their blankets and sleep there. These wires still remain today. A beautiful sunken garden made it a favorite honeymoon hotel, also. The first month after we bought the hotel we worked extremely hard getting it cleaned up and ready for pheasant season which was almost right upon us. Harley painted all the rooms upstairs, the lobby, and the hallway down stairs. This took 80 gallons of paint and a truck load of carpet. We filled all those rooms that year at pheasant season at $3.00 per room. Around 1969 we remodeled for the first time. The south half was converted into motel units. In L977 we renovated the north end and made those units into 1 and 2 bedroom apartments. Some of these apartments were rented as offices and now house the Senior Citizens Center, The East Central Council of Governments and the Colorado East Community Action Agency. Harley and I converted what had been the Pottorff is well verged in all phases of farming. Ernest Pottorff POTTORFF, HARLEY AND JUNE F626 Cleaning up and remodeling on the old Colling Hotel . . now the Tbin Oaks. TVin Oaks Motel, Stratton, in 1988. Note the beautiful oak trees on the right, trademark for its present name. �Indiana. John B. Scotton was of English Old Hotel Kitchen into our personal living quarters. As this is written in 1988, we are excited that the Stratton Centennial observence will commemorate this building we chose to put so much into as one of the features on its commemorative belt buckle. descent whose father, Judge John J. Scotton (mill and land owner in Indiana) was second cousin to Queen Victoria. Katie Scotton was five years old when her mother died of small pox. Their father, Dr. Charles Greiss, a wounded veteran of the Civil War, was unable to care for the five children, and they were placed in an orphanage in Cincinnati, Ohio. Katie Greiss Scotton, whose name in German was Kathe, corres- by June Pottorff PRATT FAMILY During the 1880's, settlers from the eastern states began to arrive in eastern Colorado. In the year 1887, Rueben and Martha Kline came to Colorado from Marion county, Iowa. They came to what is now Yuma County and the little town of Kirk. They thought it to be the prettiest country they had ever seen; as they were emong the first settlers, the virgin prairie had never seen a plow and the knee deep prairie grass waved in the gentle breeze. Rueben Kline became the postmaster in 1890. The mail came from Claremont (which is now Stratton), to old Tuttle where it was picked up and brought to Kirk for local distribution. The first Kirk post office at its present location was far from fancy. It was literally run out of the bottom drawer of a chest of drawers brought from Iowa by Mrs. Kline in the covered wagon that was pulled by the oxen teams. During this period, many began carrying buffalo bones found in the area to Haigler, Nebraska, trading them for flour and staples. Haigler, Nebraska and Bird City, Kansas were the trading centers for the people of this region, as the Republican River was hard to get across with the wagons to get to Stratton or Burlington. James A. Pratt and Lina came to Colorado with her parents Rueben and Martha Kline in the year of 1887 and took up a homestead which part of the town now sets on. As the area began to fill up with more settlers, Mrs. Pratt taught school and they ran a store in Kirk. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt had three children: Rueben, Harlan, and Muriel. Harlan moved to Kit Carson County in the 1920's, where he married Nora Bolin. Nora's folk, Charlie and Bertie Bolin, came from Missouri in the early 1900's. Harlan and Nora had two children: Harold and Glen, who were born and raised up in Kit Carson Cunty, NW of Stratton where Harlan farmed. Harold Pratt was mauied to Wilda Paintin whose parents were George and Agnes Paintin. cane to Colorado from Kansas in the early years of the nineteen hundreds. Harold and Wilda farmed and ranched in Kit Carson County. They raised three boys; Randy, Ricky and Larry. At this time in the year of 1987, Harold and Wilda are both retired and living in Lamar, Colorado. by Harold and Wilda Pratt PRATT - SCOTTON FAMILY ponded with her relatives in Germany. A r527 F528 Early-Time Stories of Maynard and Katheryn Scotton Pratt As of 1988, Maynard Pratt and Katheryn Scotton Pratt together represent 140 years in Children having fun, Edgar on tractor seat holding Lois and Ellen on fender. 1930. letter from Uncle Johann Hauck in Permasans, Germany dated June 8, 1896, tells ofher grandmother's death and Katie's inheritance of 72 Marks, or 917.14 (a dollar was 4 Marks, 20 Pfennig in 1896). Katie met and married John B. Scotton in Indiana where she worked after leaving the orphanage. by Lois Havens Kit Carson County. They came with their parents, brothers, and sisters to the county in the early part of this century, and as the other members of their families left one by one, Kate and Maynard stayed behind to make a home and to provide for their five children. This says alot about their character. They held on through all the hardships and hard times - through the dirty 30s dustbowl, the grasshopper plagues, the devastating hail storms, and the hard, cold winters. I cannot recall my parents ever complaining about the dirt stacked high between window and screen after a dirt storm, the fences being covered by dirt, or having to start over year after year when the rains didn't come. As the other PRATT - SCOTTON FAMILY F529 neighbors moved away and others came to try their luck in farming, our parents stayed and saw it through. When it finally began to rain in the late 1930s, it also brought the hail storms. One particularly heavy hail storm came through one year that nearly wiped out all the wheat fields in a mile-wide strip northeast of town. We drove by the fields to see how bad the dn-age was to our parents'crops. The wheat fields, which were full of flowing, waving grain that looked to be the best of the crops since it had begun to rain, were bare stalks. The leaves and heads of grain had been pounded into the ground. The destruction, which took less than an hour, represented months of cultivating and planting - wheat that once was beautiful waving grain, was now bare stubs. I can remember wondering how my father still had the faith in the land and the will to plant again. But plant they did, again and again. They saw the county change from a grassland to a dust bowl, and then to an oasis. During the 1950s, the farmers around Burlington began irrigating quarter (or more) sections of ground by pumping the water from the Ogallala aquifer. And another era in Kit Carson County began. But that is only 35 years ago. We prefer to document the earlier history of our family by recording some of the events of the first half of the 20th century. Kit Carson County became the lifelong home of Maynard Pratt and Katheryn Scotton Pratt, each coming to the county when they were young - Maynard was seventeen years of age and Katheryn was eight. Our mother's parents were John Brecken- ridge Scotton and Katie (Kathe) Greiss Scotton, who were married in 1891 in Marion, Loading corn on trailer on farm northeast of Burlington. Maynard Pratt and children, Edgar and Ellen. Nine children were born to John and Katie, but only five came to Kit Carson County with their parents. Two babies died in infancy, Elmer died at the age of seven, and Charles was killed at the age of 23 in a farming accident in Gem, Kansas, while he was working his way to Colorado to join the family. Rachel, Glenn, Dorothy, Katheryn, and Geneva cnme with their parents from Bentonville, Arkansas in 1915 in a covered wagon pulled by 2 mules. The mules'n4mes were Kate and Maude. John Scotton swapped a 320-acre wooded farm with a 2-story house in Arkansas for 160 acres of grassland on the Smokey Hill River. Our mother remembers the beautiful waving prairie grasses and the abundant wildflowers as far as the eye could see when they carne across the prairies to Colorado. The family spent the first night in the Prairie School house. They then moved to the "Jones place" which had a cement house where they lived until John could build a sod house on the 160 acres. It took about a month for Henry Fanslau and John to build the "soddie." John plowed up forty acres of the grassland to grow feed and corn. Since the prairies had no trees, the only means that the Scottons had of heating the two-room soddie was with dry cow chips. �Kate and the family gathered them by the wagonfull. The chips furnished a hot fire but er, Flora, had died. His father, Ernest Pratt, was already living in Burlington, but Virgil also burned fast, so a large supply was always remained with Pleasant and Ellen, and they raised him as though he were one oftheir own. Pleasant brought a tenm of horses, two cows, and four sows, and all their household belongings on an "immigrant car" on the Rock Island Railroad. Ellen and the children needed. When the children found cow chips bhat were not quite dry enough, they turned bhem over so the sun would dry them faster. Kate and her brother and sisters walked 3 7z miles to attend grade school in a sod house donated by Nellie Burk'e grandfather, H.D. Holton. They then attended the Prairie View lchool before the Smokey Hill echool wag built. The teachers at Prairie View were Jessie Clark and Clarence Kennedy. The children later went to the new Smokey Hill School where there were clasges for the first bhrough the tenth grades. The teachers for Smokey Hill were Mr. and Mrs. Elvis Berry Rhoades (Mary) and Taylor K. McKane. McKane's brother-in-law was superintendent. Kate quit high school at Smokey Hill in 1923 to herd cattle on the free range, riding l saddle horse named "Min," Rachel moved Katie moved to Santa Ana, California, taking Glenn and Geneva with them. Dorothy married Harry Pettibone of Kanarado, Kanras, later moving to California with their two :hildren, Clarice and Jerald. Our father's parents were Pleasant Green Pratt born in Johnson County, Nebraska, rnd Ellen Johnson Pratt, both born in Otoe County, Nebraska. Pleasant Pratt's fanily were of lrish and English descent, according bo Kenneth Pratt, family genealogy expert, rho has researched records from a church in 0ngland and found ancestors back to the t2th century. Ellen Johnson Pratt's parents immigrated from Sweden in 1881 with two :hildren and settled in Nebraska. Ellen was lhe second of four more born here in America. Many of her mother's parents'relatives ceme irom Sweden to Nebraska. Many settled rround Syracuse in an area that was known rs the Swede Section. The Jacobsons of Burlington are also of the same descendants rs Ellen Johnson Pratt. by Lois Havens came on a passenger train, and Pleasant rode in the immigrant car to take care of the FAMILY F530 When hard times hit Nebragka in 1921, ;hey came to Kit Carson County with their lour children: Maynard, Victor, Esther, Doris, and their nephew Virgil, whoee moth- by the Citizen State Bank of Waterville, Kansas. Foster Farms of Rexford, Kansas bought the farm in 1939 and Maynard purchased the farm from the Foster Farm Estate in 1962. Pleagant rented the Bushart place, a grassland farm east of Burlington which is now known as the Rosser B. Davis family farm. Pleasant also rented the Reed section east of Burlington for farming. A third son, Kenneth, was born on the farm east of by Lois llavens PRATT - SCOTTON FAMILY Burlington. In August of 1922, our father Maynard, and Victor, his brother, were plowing a field one F53t mile west of their home. Both boys were riding on the tractor. When Maynard got off to open the gate, lightning struck the tractor killing Victor. In 1923, the family moved to a farm southeast of Smokey Hill. In 1925, they moved to Arapahoe to the Bill Howard farm where they lived until Pleasant died in 1933. After losing her husband, Ellen moved back to Syracuse, Nebraska, with her chil- dren, Doris and Kenneth, where they lived with her aging father, John Johnson. Esther married John Owens and moved to Oklahoma City, and Virgil married Ruth Murphy of Cheyenne Wells and later moved to the Colorado Springs area. When her father passed away in 1936 in Nebraska, Ellen moved to Colorado Springs area with Kenneth and Doris. She passed away in 1966 in Colorado Springs and is buried with Pleasant and Victor in Burlington. Kenneth attended Denver University after five years in the service during World War II, graduated with an engineering degree, and worked for Mountain Bell, and retired in Denver where he and his wife Jewel (nee Jones from Idaho) still live. Doris married Robert Higgins and they raised their family for the most part in Albuquerque. After Bob's death, Doris reMaynard Chesley Pratt and Katheryn May Scotton were married in L924 and lived at Smokey Hill school where Maynard was the bus driver and janitor at the school. From there they moved to Arapahoe and rented the Tom Howard place. First child, Edgar arrived while our parents were living northeast of Arapahoe and Kate made the long trek on dirt roads to Burlington in a Model T Ford where Edgar was born at the home of Mrs. Boyles. Ellen was born at the 2-room farmhouse near Arapahoe. In this vast grassland which was gradually becoming farm land, rattlesnakes were very common. Our mother recalls a time when on wash-day she had gone outside the house and left baby Edgar inside. When she returned, she found a rattlesnake in the home on a pile of clothes near Edgar. Maynard worked at Ordway picking cantaloupe and at an alfalfa mill. He also worked for Lloyd Jacobson (a relative of Ellen Johnson Pratt's mother) and Jack Chalfant Vlaynard Pratt, 19, worked as bus driver and anitor at Smokey Hill School, 1923. Maynard, Kate and their two children moved to the Adna Chapman farm in 1928 and rented from him until it was purchased animals. tired in Durango where she now lives. PRATT - SCOTTON Chapman farm. Henry's wife, Frances, is also a relative of Ellen Johnson Pratt's mother. in Burlington. It was there that he met Henry Genthe who lived on the Chapman farm northeast of Burlington. Henry was moving, and he suggested to Maynard that he rent the Maynard Pratt and son, Edgar, at Arapahoe farm, 3 horses and a mule pulling a disc, 1926. After moving to the farm in 1928, Maynard continued to work for Jack Chalfant on his farm and at his repair shop in Burlington - the Victory Garage, for 50 cents a day. When the rains were scarce and the county had become part of the vast dust bowl of central America, our parents moved in the fall of 1934 to Santa Ana, California and later to Sanger, California. Kate's parents were in Santa Ana and they had hopes of a better living in California. But the farming fever never left our father, and they came back to Colorado the following spring, to the same farm northeast of Burlington. The house wag just as they had left it, and they simply moved back in as though they had never been gone. Maynard worked for Foster Farms on the Republican River and Blondie Bollwinkel was the boss of the crew As children, we can remember the big flood of 1935 when the banks of the Republican River overflowed, causing severe demage along the river. Later we had a cloudburst in our neighborhood that washed out all the lister rows in the fields. Our house looked as though it were sitting in the middle of a huge lagoon; the roof leaked and we placed buckets and pans under the leaks to catch the rain. Water ceme in the kitchen door. Our mother swept it back out with a broom. After the storm passed, we children had great fun wading and playing in the cow lot. Maynard and Blondie Bollwinkel were partners in farming for several years before Blondie and Evelyn Pischke were married and moved to a farm of their own, also northeast of Burlington. Besides working together, Maynard, Blondie, and other neighbor farmers went deer hunting in the Rockies during the 1940s. Lois was born on the Chapman farm and �Well, needless to say, the fire was soon discovered and extinguished with the help of the neighbors before too much da-age was Ruby was born in Burlington at the Farnsworth home. The fifth and last child, Orville (Pete), was born on the farm in 1935. A German farnily nn-ed Shultz lived east of us before the Abe Ratzlaff family moved there. The Arnsmeiers lived on farther east and Mr. Arnsmeier died of a heart attack one day trying to push a car from a snowbank. Other neighbors were Howard and Raymond Kite northeast of us; John and Anna Buol with sons Kermit, Martin, and Russell, to the west of u8; the Hansens with two song Russell and Charles across the road from the Ratzlaffs; and two Winslow families southeast of us by the railroad tracks. The principal crop for Kit Carson County during the 30s and 40s was wheat. This was done. by Lois Havens PRATT - SCOTTON FAMILY F533 also before the days of the combine' The farmers would get together with one threshing machine, hire as many men as they could find, and help each other thresh their grain. The grain was cut in the fields and hauled to the threshing machine. This operation \ilas hard work and it took a large crew of men to keep the process moving from field to thresher. And. of course, all these men had to be fed. Our mother was a great cook, and she cooked and served the most bountiful, sumptuous meals which included fried chicken or roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade bread and pies, with the rich farm creom and butter that we all enjoyed in those days. We girls helped with the meals, but when it came time for the men to come in for dinner, we had to retire to the bedroom - especially if we were wearing shorts, because this was unbecoming for your girls. One day when the threshing crew wan in our home eating, one ofthe hired men spat on the floor. Needless to say, we were short one man from the harvest crew from that day on. by Lois Havens PRATT - SCOTTON FAMILY F532 We stayed in contact with the people in the Smokey Hill area since our parents had both lived there at one time. The Smokey Hill area was well populated, with many families that are now gone. Among those living there in the 1930s were the families of Lester Beveridge; the Bartles with a son and daughter, Loyd and Cleo; Henry Fanslau; M.S. McCrarys with children, Will and Nellie; the Henry Dragers with Evelyn, June, and Kenneth; the Arnold Elders: the Carlsons with Beth, Doris, Bud, Inez, and Bonita; John and Mary Murphy ar.rd family; the Frank Murphy family; the Bassetts with son Earl; and the Bill Kelleys with Anna and Doris. Tillie Gord Maynard Pratt and Blondie Bollwinkel, partners in farming and good hunting buddids. Taken near Williams Creek, Colorado, 1940. In addition to the dances, there were neighborhood get-togethers on Sundays and holidays with pot-luck dinners at someone'g home in the Smokey Hill area. There were always huge amounts of luscious food, all kinds of desserts, and homemade ice cream. In our childhood, it was very unusual for children to stay overnight with other children. My mother relinquished her rule this one time and allowed me to stay at the home of Nellie McCrary Burk and Earl Burk (a "newcomer" from Nebraska) with their daughter, Helen. When we were napping, we heard a loud wind that became a roar at times. There had been a tornado that passed quite closely to the Burk home and had demolished several farms as well as the Smokey Hill school house. One farm had lost all their livestock and buildings. The house was in shambles with walls and windows gone, but there was a bowl of fruit sitting on the windowsill that was completely untouched. The mattress on the bed had been lifted and an accordion deposited beneath it. There were stories of people having seen straw sticking out of telephone poles and machinery that was carried aloft by the tornado and deposited several miles away, completely intact and undo-aged. We attended rocky mountain oyster fries in the Burlington area at different farmhomes. There were always lots of people there; the men would fry the "oysters" and the camaraderie would go on long into the night. Childhood pranks were not lacking in the also lived there and later moved to Kanarado Pratt family or with our friends in Burlington. One time when we Pratt children Evelyn. We attended many Saturday night dances at the Smokey Hill School and we all learned at a very early age to square dance as well as were still quite young, we were playing in the with her children, Leland, Jerald, and to waltz, schottische, and two-st€p. The music was a piano and violin, and someone would call the square dances. The long drive there and home again never seemed far because of the good times that were shared by all. haymow with some neighbor children. We were experimenting with that mystical little stick, the match. We caught some gtraw on fire and ran to the house, vowing to each other that we wouldn't tell anyone that there was a fire (that way our parents wouldn't think we did it!). We weren't concerned with the barn burning down, just about the licking we were going to get if our parents found out. Katheryn Pratt on the farm northeast of Burlington. The elevated road that runs by our farm northeast of Burlington was Highway 40 (becoming Highway 24 when it was later moved south of the tracks) during the 1930s and because of the hard times, there were many bums that walked past on this road. Some would stop and ask for a handout, and some would ask for something to do in exchange for a handout. Although we never had any trouble, our mother always cautioned us to come into the house when we saw a bum walking along the road. Hallowe'en was usually a time when the teenagers pulled more pranks than should have been allowed. But in those days, the members of the community felt that kids were kids and that they would eventually grow up to be responsible law-abiding citizens. But a couple of times during World War II, the teenagers pulled more pranks than the townspeople cared to absorb. Mr. Shook, who owned a store in northeast Burlington, shot at some boys who attempted to push over his outdoor toilet and they had to have the buckshot removed from their behinds at the local hospital. One activity that was a major achievement for the Hallowe'en regulars was the pushing over ofthe 3-holer that belonged to the Catholic Church. But that almost ended in disaster as well when several of the kids almost fell in. Another year some boys got a goat in the town marshall's car. The goat promptly proceeded to eat up all the upholstery, and by the time the marshall returned to his car, the seats were nearly gone. And by �some strange circumstance, a piece of farm machinery from a farm implement dealership mysteriously appeared on the school grounds. And, of course, Mr. Beezley's Midway Theatre was always peppered with eggs, rotten, if possible. Shivarees (a derivative of charivari, mean- ing headache) reflected the unwritten rule that newlyweds must have on hand enough refreshments for the participants of their shivaree or suffer grievous circumgtances, Shivarees were special affairs that took place geveral weeks after the married couple had settled into wedding bliss. All who wanted to join into the festivitieg met at home of the newlyweds where they were quickly roust€d out of bed and made to perform certain feats. The groom always had to push his bride down Main Street in a wheelbarrow. While this and other mischief was going on to keep the bride and groom occupied, more mischief was being performed in the living quarters of the newly married couple: The bed was "short-sheeted," clothes were tied in knots, salt shackers were emptied and filled with sugar, and sugar bowls were filled with galt, toilet paper was strewn all about, and the labels were removed from the cans of food. But it all ended in good spirits with the groom handing out cigars to all the men and candy bars to the women and children. The 1940s brought World War II and the war brought good prices for the farmer. It was also raining more and the farmers were able to make a good living. With the war, we also had rationing of tires, gasoline, and eugar. Since the farmers were rationed more tires and gasoline than the town folk, suddenly the farm kids were looked upon in a different light by the town kids. The farm kids were now the ones who had the cars and the gasoline to drive to a dance in neighboring towns when there wasn't one in Burlington. by Lois Havens PRATT - SCOTTON FAMILY F534 But along with the good fortune and better living standards the war brought, we also had the tough times, for our brothers and friends were going off to war. This left the farmers without their help to keep the fields cultivated and the crops planted and harvest€d. Our mother and we three girls helped in the fields as much as we could while our brother Edgar went to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. It was the saddest day ofour lives when we said good-bye to him before he was shipped overseas, not knowing whether we would ever see him again. Because our young men were all overseag fighting for our freedom and democracy, we were more than willing to help in the fields, grow Victory gardens, save and roll tinfoil into balls, and stamp the tin cans flat for the war effort. The story that materialized later was that all the tinfoil and tin cans were never recycled, it was just a way to get the nation involved in patriotism and to help keep the morale high. The entire Burlington area celebrated the end of the war with great elation and joy. A bonfire thirty feet in dinmeter was built at the Children of Maynard and Katheryn Pratt, L. to R.: Lois holding OrviIIe, Edgar holding Ruby and Ellen, 1936. intersection of Main Street and Senter. All manner of things were thrown into the fire. The men were throwing their shirts into the fire and when Mr. Beezley, owner of the Midway Theatre, refused to take his off and throw it in, several people "helped" him remove it and throw it into the fire. Jerry Penny, with the help of his buddies, pushed his car into the fire and let it burn. The celebration lasted until the wee hours of the morning. Our soldier brothers and friends came home one by one - Kermit Buol from a prisoner-of-way semp in Germany, and Edgar from Japan after serving as supply sergeant for the U.S. Air Force. World War II marked the end of the first fifty years of the twentieth century. This was also the beginning of a long period of prosperity for the farmer. By 1950, farm homes for the most part had running water, indoor pl rmfint, electricity, telephones, and central heating that didn't burn coal or cow chips. The farmers had cars, tractors instead of horses, and farm machinery that made farming a breeze compared to the "old days." Now in 1988, times have changed again and the farmers are meeting new difficulties, experiencing hard times but for different reasons: low commodity prices, extremely high production costs, and federal government regulations which stifle the farming industry. The supply of irrigation water from the Ogallala aquifer may be gone in twenty years and the supply of oil in the world will be depleted in twenty-five years. But the farmers of today who have perseverance and faith in the land will survive. But just as Maynard and Kate Pratt and the other early settlers of Kit Carson County did, these farmers will also find ways to overcome the difficulties that will face them in the future. by Lois Havens PRICE, WILLIS F635 Willis L. Price was born at Liverpool, New York, June 28th, L874. He spent his childhood in that vicinity and graduated from high school at Syracuse, New York. He then entered the Syracuse Medical College, having a great desire to become a physician, but in his second year of college life, his health began to fail and he was compelled to give up his educational career. In the spring of 1900, he came to Flagler, Co., where his cousins, W.H. Lavington and W.E. Weller, were Iocated. He spent the first summer on the Lavington ranch north of Vona, and after partly regaining his health, he took the position of teacher in the school in District 19, the school house then being located just east of Flagler, after which, he held the position of principal of the Flagler school for 2 years. The next two years Mr. Price spent as manager of the lumber yard owned by Mrs. Cornwell, later Mrs. S.A. Johnson. In the fall of 1906, he was elected county treasurer, serving one term. During this term of office the court house burned at Burlington, and Mr. Price broke in the window of his office and saved all the treasurer's books except one. But in doing so he becn-e so excited, and inhaled so much smoke that on his arrival home a physician was called. He rallied and was in pretty fair health until the following May, when he broke down again. He went back to New York and on Oct. 7, 1907, he was married to Florence Reese. They returned to Burlington where they resided until May, 1909, when they returned to Flagler. During the summer of 1909, he and his cousin, W.H. Lavington, built the Flagler Hotel, and a little later they erected an elevator here, which Mr. Price managed during the fall and winter. In the fall of 1910, he became associated with the Flagler State Bank, and was chosen as cashier. He served in this capacity until �June, 1918, when his tuberculosis had so impaired him, that he gave up active management of the bank. He was then elected vice president of the bank, a position he held until his death. The bank had been converted into the First National Bank of Flagler. Wiilis and Florence were the parents of two children; Jeanette and Willis. Mr. Price was a conscientious christian man, and devoted a great deal of his time in religious work, and work for the uplift of humanity. He was a member of the I.O.O.F. and Masonic lodges of Flagler. Friday morning, Nov. 3, 1922, Mr. Price was making his daily trip to the bank, but stopped at the Lemon blacksmith shop to visit with friends. It was presumed he felt uneasy and was taken with a fit of coughing. He start€d for home (a short distance away) and when reaching the yard called for his wife. She rushed to his side, medical aid was summoned to no avail and Mr. Price passed away. by Janice Salmane PROAPS, SIIEPARD L. F636 homestead with her husband. Edward Proaps, son of S.L. Proaps, was in World War I in the Army where he met Miss Carolyn Wittner, an American Red Cross nurse in France, who became his bride September 10, 1919, at Hugo, Colorado. He was an American soldier boy wounded by shrapnel. He cn-e home in the spring of 1918 with an honorable discharge. They raised two sons, Jackie and Lloyd. Both served in World War II; Jackie lost his life over Japan. Roy Proaps, son of Shepard and Mary Jane Proaps, was born August 31, 1888, at Logan, Kansas. In the spring of 1906 he came to Colorado with his parents to a homestead north of Flagler. He was married to Catherine Ruby at Wray, Colorado, January 15, 1914. There were 5 children born to this couple: Edna, Esther, Elma, Harold, and Sherman. The earlier part of his life was spent in the vicinity of Flagler and Thurman farming. In the fall of 1936, he and his family moved to the valley where they made their home Grandpa and Uncle Bob Proaps drilling a weII He lost his wife April26, 1913. On the 19th ofFebruary, 1918, he was united in a second marriage to Rose Ann Smith of Flagler. He and his son Robert drilled manv water wells with a team of horses. around Ordway and Rocky Ford. Robert H. Proaps, a son of S.L. Proaps, was born March 22, L893, at Logan, Kansas. He married Caroline A. Martin, October 18, 1916, in Genoa, Colorado. He farmed in the Genoa area for a short while and was in the well drilling business with his father for many years. He was a talented rhusician. He played many a night at the Flagler Hotel in years by Dorothy Ilarwood PROCTOR, SIGEL AND LULU gone by and all around the country. He moved to California in 1934 with his family and passed away on February 24, L984, at F538 Napa, California. by Dorothy Harwood PROAPS, SIIEPARD L. F637 ?,r:.i;.,- -. The Proctor twins first year at Smelker School: Front row: (l tn r) Ivan Smelker, Faye and Fern Proctor, ? Austin. Back row: Theodore and Westley Smelker, teacher Miss Anioner, and Jess Hardin. My parents, Sigel and Lulu Proctor, came west from Norton, Kansas in 1916. They traveled in an immigrant wagon to homestead 16 miles south-west of Stratton. My twin sister, Faye Byrne, and I, Fern Penick, were born on that homestead claim in a sod Edward Proaps in service, 191?, lower right. house. Mother said they built the barn first, Children Frank Proaps, when a young man, lived in and around Flagler for many years. He was the mail carrier on the star route to Thurman, Colorado. He was born near Centerville, Washington, on August 30, 1877. He moved partitioned it off with the horses on one half and they lived in the other half while they put up a two room sod house; later they added another room. This house was very cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and the Shepard L. Proaps to Flagler, Colorado, when his dad moved there. He was married to Bertha Cross, July 11, 1900. Three children blessed their home. Ella Proaps Dowd was born July 4, 1881, in Jewell County, Kangas to Shepard L. and Mary Jane Proaps. When but a gmall child, she moved with her parents to Phillips County, Kansas where she attended public school and was married to John Dowd, August 21, 1900. She was well known around Flagler, having lived north of town on a Shepard L. Proaps was born April 6, 1853, near Granville, Ohio. He was married December 18, 1871, to Mary Jane Judd who was kidnapped in Illinois in childhood and then raised in Montana. They moved to Colorado in 1906 and took up a homestead north of Flagler. There were twelve children born to this couple John, William, Charles, Frank, Albert, Ella, Mae, June, Sherman, Edward, Roy and Robert. windows were deep which served as a wonderful desk for the children's school work. Later a frame house was built with a full basement, running water and other super-great conveniences! Father drilled his own well with the help of neighbors and later helped with several others in the county. He worked hard in the field and chores; he had no sons to help him. However he always took time for my sister and I, to answer our questions, tell funny stories, and play games. We attended a one room small school �house, thru the 8th grade and went to High School in Stratton. When we first started to school in the first grade, we walked the 2Vz miles when the weather permitted. Our mother always sent our faithful dog along with us to school because she worried about the rattlesnakes. He would run along ahead of our path and sniff out the snakes, grab them and shake them to death. In the early spring he was kept busy. In those days we had what was called'free range'or'open range'. My father had several head of cattle; they could travel miles in the summer of 'fly time' as it was called. Sometimes it was my job to keep track of them and bring in the milk cows at night. That meant riding the range several hours a day and I enjoyed this assignment on my fast and gentle cutting horse. Sometimes all the milk cows were not found by dark and I would return without them. This meant my father had to get a fresh horse and go back for them; he was always understanding even tho it was sometimes late in the night before he got home again. My parents' days started early and they were long; Mother made her own soap, helped with the chores, churned butter and sold eggs. was She raised chickens and turkeys. always planned to have our first fried chicken on the 4th of July; what a treat! She planted It a huge garden and worked long hours in the summer in it. She always canned fruit and vegetables, made sausage and cured hnms from the butchered beef and pork. My father usually had help to butcher the animals and the helper always took meat home for his pay. Mother cooked on a coal-stove, sometimes it was with cow-chips; she made all our bread try his luck once again. He bought wheat land and enjoyed seeing Kit Carson County develop into the wheat area it is today. After suffering several strokes, he was a big care for Mother, who was by now making all the decisions and working long hours again. Our father passed away in 1968, at 78 years of age. Mother remained active and alert, living alone and keeping her yard and flowers. She loved working in the yard and driving her car for her pleasure and taking others to Burlington to the doctor's office orjust shopping and lunch. Her sense of humor was always there except for her last year when her arthritis made some of her days painful and kept her inside. She was 91 years when she passed away in 1981. There were struggles and hard times on the farm but she always referred to those times as her happiest years. My twin sister and husband now reside in Englewood, Co. I live in Cheyenne Wy. which has been home to me for forty years. I'm retired from Civil Service here. We continue to have our interest in wheat. tho I'm sure our parents never dreamed how depressed the market would be and how the property tax would double and triple. With time all that will change, too. by Mrs. Fern Penick returned to Stratton by team and wagon in April of 1910. Frank brought his family back to his homestead by immigrant train in April of 1910. Fred stayed on the J.W. Borders homestead northwest of Stratton while he to. The tin sided shack still stands on the F639 homestead. Our mother, Alta M. Miles, daughter of Louis Edward and Cora Ann (Scott) Miles, born October 17, 1904 in Tonganoxie, Kan- and ironing with 'flat' irons; she worked constantly! In the early days everyone more or less sas, was 1 of 9 children. Alta's mother passed away December 14, 1911 when Alta was 7 made their own amusement; Bocial life centered around church and the school house years old. Alta came to Colorado from with card playing, picnics and dinners; and barn dances which lasted until almost sunup at times. There were programs and box suppers and fun get togethers at the school Lawtence, Kansas with her father and younger sister, Ruth, in 1913 by covered wagon drawn by a tee'n of mules. Alta and her family lived on the Hell Creek River northeast of Stratton near Kirk. Alta attended school at the Hell Creek School. U.S.D. #53. Fred & Alta met at a "Barn Dance" and were maried November 13, 1919 at Stratton, Co. The evening they were married Fred picked Alta up in a sled as there had been a big snow and they could not use a car. They got stranded in town and had to spend the house and at church. Some days in the winter we were very much snowed in and isolated with no telephone in the earlier times. [t was necessaq/ for my father to drive a wagon and team of horsee to town for supplies. In deep snow it took 3 night at the "Collins Hotel". Walter, the oldest child of Fred and Alta was born in the little tin-sided shack. Ap- However, they managed to stay on the farm L to R: Clyde Pugh (Fred's brother) and Fred and Alta Pugh standing in front of tin sided shack on homestead in the summer of 1978. home place and moved to Stratton; my father's health was failing and taking life easier seemed the thing to do at that place and time. He soon realized he missed the Our father, Freddie Harrison Pugh, son of Jameg Kay and Zilpha Eliza (Craft) Pugh, born January 28, 1889 in Dighton, Kansas, was 1 of 13 children. Fred came to Stratton fields and needed to be in touch with his past. He had so much faith in the land, he had to from Grinnell, Grove County, Kansas with several years after the dust quit. It was sometime in the early forties they sold the Fred's sister, Daisy. Fred returned to Kansas to pick up his personal possessions and sided with tin cans. Later he built on a lean- and all our meals, not to mention the washing or 4 days. He was always glad to arrive home cold and hungry and we were glad to see him and have some goodies to eat again. The depression in the early thirties, grasshoppers and the drought were all difficulties, but the dust bowl days, as I recall, were my parents most trying times. It was at this time they discussed, for the first time, having a sale and leaving the farm. Forever highlighted in my memory was a day when a big black cloud of dust came rolling in just as Mother finished two long days of work cleaning our house. She sat down and cried. too tired and depressed to hang all those wet sheets to the windows and doors again. their homesteads northeast of Stratton in November of 1909. Frank was married to built a house on his homestead, Section 9 Township 7 South, Range 46 West of the 6th Principal Meridian. Fred's first house on the homestead was a little fra-e shack which he PUGH - MILES FAMILY Fred and Alta Pugh in front of convertible owned by son Louis, home visiting from California. Taken at 412 Iowa after building their home here. Frank Louis Beattie and thev filed claims on proximatcly late 1920 or early 1921 Fred built a big two story house on the homestead. This house had now been moved and added onto and is on the Gerald Lempp farm. Fred was a farmer, also having a threshing machine and corn sheller which he traveled from place to place with before his marriage to Alta. Fred had an unfortunate accident in 1915 when the steam engine blew up and he was thought dead for sometime. Fred and Alta had good crops and good luck until the beginning of the depression in 1929 when everything seemed to go wrong as it had with many others. Their crops failed on account of no rain, no snow, dust storms and etc. They lost most of their corn crop in 1934. Fred always did Blacksmith work for all the neighbors. In the spring of 1940 Fred started working in the W.O. Pickerill Welding Shop �for a few years. Later Fred opened a Blacksmith and Welding Shop of his own which was located Vz block west of Colorado St. on 2nd St. Later he moved his shop to their residence at 412 Iowa St. where he worked until his retirement. Fred also spend many years in different fields sharpening one-ways. In Fred's earlier years he did the calling at the Square Dances and enjoyed playing his harmonica. Alta always helped on the farm, raised big gardens and canned their fruits and vegetables. Alta sewed nearly all the clothes for herselfand the children and pieced quilts and had quilted them. She took in ironing and did wallpapering to help out and worked as a cook at the "Stratton Cafe" and for several years was a Stanley Home Products dealer. Alta was a sewing and cooking 4-H leader for several years and she belonged to the Helping Hand Club, Home Demonstration Club and Ladies Aide. Fred & Alta had 12 children - (7 sons & 5 daughters) - as follows: Walter Freddie born September 8, 1920, married Aileen McCorkle August 19, 1941 and have 9 children - (5 sons & 4 daughters), 26 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Walter now divorced resides in Goodland, Kansas. Ernest Ja-es born February 13, L922 and served in the Marines from 1944-45. From his lst marriage he has 2 children - (1 son & 1 daughter), 7 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. From his 2nd marriage he has 1 daughter and 3 grandchildren. From his 3rd marriage he has 2 daughtcrs and 4 grandchildren. From his 4th marriage he has 1 son and 2 grandchildren. His 5th marriage gives him 3 sons and 3 grandchildren. Ernest and Linda reside in Byers, Colorado. Louis Joseph born September 20, 1922 served in the Navy from 1941-1946. He maried Martha Fishley November 24, L945 and they have 1 daughter. Louis now divorced resides in Stratton. Colorado. Rosalie Pickerill born Api122,1925, married William (Bill) Wayne Pickerill October 25, L94L. They had 1 daughter who lived only a few hours and have 2 sons and 4 grandchildren. Rosalie & Bill reside in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Orville Albert born September 21, 1927. Orville died in a house fire April L9, L947 at the age of 19 in Limon, Colorado. Evelyn Margie born December 2, L929 being stillborn. Virgil Harrison born February 23, L932 served in the Navy from 1951-1955. He married Canell Stull September 2, 1953. They have 2 sons and 1 grandchild. Virgil married Janice (Vanderloop) Davlin November 4, L967. They had 1 son who was killed in a car accident August 11, 1983 at the age of 14 in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska. Virgil & Jan reside in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska. LavinaAltaborn October 27, L933, married Ervin Carl Decker June 30, 1950 and they have 3 children (1 son & 2 daughters) and 8 grandchildren, 2 of these died in infancy. Lavina married Earl Rankin in 1969 and they have 2 children (1 son & l daughter). She married Duane Hall, September 29, 1976. Lavina & Duane reside in Anchorage, Alaska. Orilla Marie born April 27,L93l,married Don Doyle Harless October 21, 1956. They had 1 son who was killed in a car accident April 4, L976 at the age of 18 in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado and they have 5 daughters and 7 grandchildren. Orilla married Floyd Jestes July 17, 1982. Floyd adopted the 2 youngest girls in 1983. Orilla & Floyd reside in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. Hazel Greeta Viola born June 24, 1936 passed away November 3, 1936 of double pneumonia. Grace Maxine born January 22, 1940 married Terry Kiefer July 20, 1958. They have 4 children (2 boys & 2 girls) and 7 grandchildren. Grace married Frank Mahaffey September27,L982. Grace & Frank reside in Goodland, Kansas. Jodell Elaine born January 9, L944 maried John Westen Fox June 3, 1962. They have 2 children (1 son & 1 daughter). Jodell married Robert LeRoy Musgrove May 8, 1974 and they have 1 daughter. Jodell now divorced resides in Wichita, Kansas. Fred & Alta's total number of grandchildten - 44; great grandchildren - 74; great great grandchildren - 5. All the children except Jodell spent part of their childhood days on the homestead. Fred moved his family into Stratton during the winter months starting in 1939 so the children could go to school then back to the homestead during the summer months. the winter of 1943-44 the family moved into town permanently living in two different apart- ments on Colorado St. then moving to a house on New York Avenue across from the old Foster Lumber Company Fred built their last home at 412 lowa St. in 1947 where they resided until February 5, 1983 when they both entered the Cheyenne Manor Nursing Home in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado and remained there until the time of their deaths. All 9 children returned home in 1969 to help celebrate Fred & Alta's 50th wedding anniversary and again in 1974 to help celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary and once again in 1979 to help celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Fred & Alta spent 63 loving years together. Fred & Alta were members of the Stratton United Methodist Church. Fred passed away May 23, 1983 at the age of 94. Alta passed away December 31, 1984 at the age of 80. Grace & Jodell hope to keep the home at 4L2lovta, Stratton, Colorado in the family by purchasing the shares of the other 7 brothers and sisters. This story was written by 3 of the girls Rosalie, Grace & Jodell with the help of their dear cousin, Blanche (Beattie) Dove. by Jodel Musgrove PUGH, JOHN John and Jane Pugh. his apprenticeship in the coal mines, but decided this was not to be his life. He went to Liverpool, planning to book passage to Canada or Australia; however, there was no steamer leaving for weeks and there was one leaving for New York the next day. John arrived in America in September of 1878. (It would be 33 years before he returned to Wales, with his oldest daughter, Leona, to visit his mother.) In America, he first went to a Welsh settlement in Pennsylvania, only to find that this was a coal mining community, so he went on to Iowa, where he found work on Jane's father's farm. John worked here as a farmhand for five years before he went to work on the Springer ranch in New Mexico. It was here that he learned the cattle business that was to be his way of life. He had not forgotten the little girl in the cornfield; he returned to marry Jane Richards in the Bethel Church, Columbus City, Iowa on February 22, L886. After their marriage, Jane and John went to Springer, New Mexico, where John had been working. Homestead land in eastern Colorado was available that year; and, on October of 1886, the Pughs decided to come to Colorado. Travelling with Mr. and Mrs. Jones, they came by railroad to Wray, where they bought F640 Jane E. Richards, born in Columbus City, Iowa, August 13, 1864, was one of seven children of John and Ann (Arthur) Richards. Her father, a Welch immigrant, had returned to his farm in lowa after serving in the Civil War. One autumn day in 1879 Jane and a group of schoolgirls went to her father's cornfield to meet the young immigrant from Wales - John J. Pugh. Many years later, Jane recalled that she "would never forget his shoes, for they had such thick soles. They made him even taller and his native trousers were so thick .-.-. his mother must have thought America a very cold country to have spun them so thick." John Pugh was born in Llanidloes, Powys County, Wales on Dec. 25, 1857. His father had been killed in a coal mine accident and his mother had remarried. John completed a horse and wagon. An early "northeaster" forced them to stop in Friend (near ldalia) where there were a few soddies. The first night, the horses broke loose from their tether. After three days walking to find the horses, it was decided to leave the women in Friend while the men went on to stake the claims. Here on the Colorado prairie, just before Christmas (Dec. 22, 1886) Leona Alice Pugh, the first white child in Kit Carson County was born. John staked his claim on the "divide" nean the Republican River. At this time it was as bleak on the river as on the upland; however, the grass was taller and water was available. He made a dugout about 10 by 14 feet, added a roof, and a window, a door, and went back to Friend to get Jane and his new baby. Jane Pugh later wrote (1911); We placed our all in 320 acres of land. We built a barn, chicken house, pig pen, and hand dug a well. We broke �land for corn fodder, and for several years, we had hopes, sometimes high and sometimes low. Again, was the vast wilderness of land, sky, Bun, wind, and mirage, our nearest neighbor was seven miles. After the railroad cnme through in 1900, settlers began coming and life was not so lonely. Then a wave of financial adversity struck and a great many left the best way they could. Many more would if they could (myself, for one), but we stayed put. We had considered ourselves good farmers in the east (Iowa), but dry land farming was different. We concluded we must have something besides hope to live on and turned in the direction of stock raising. We had gathered a few cows and could see the possibility of a living, as grass was plenty and good quality. It was a great deal of hard work, but we were young, well, and strong. Sometimes we thought it all a mistake. No church, no school, few neighbors, but quite congenial. Yet we couldn't see beyond. We, like many others, were obliged to go with out coal for years, and had only the bare necessities of life. Looking back, I find it has been worth the while. It has the means to bring out the best all that is in one, had fascination, independence, sorrows, and joy. John bought his first cow for thirty dollars; the second was a gift from Jane's father and a third was traded for plowing ten acres for a neighbor the Pugh Ranch was on its way. In 1891, the- Pughs bought the Tuttle Ranch on the Republican River, later adding the Six Mile and the Cox ranches to their holdings. house was built and just in time - Laura Helen was born in November of 1905 in the "big house". Twelve children, four died as babies, what a heartbreak pioneers endured! The Pughs were a h"ppy, close family. The children roamed the hills, looking for Indian beads, trinkets and arrow heads. They played in the "willows" and in the meadows. They played and they worked, the girls helped in the fields and in the house and the boys did a man's job. On April 13, 1913, tragedy struck. John Pugh had a stroke. He died April 23. Jane was left with six children under eighteen and a ranch to run. This she did, with the help of her family untilLg24.In 1937 Leona, who had been living in Iowa, lost her husband and returned to Colorado. Leona and Jane made their home together for the next twenty-five years. This was the "Grandma and Aunt Onie" I knew as a child. Grandma had long white hair held up by combs. She spent her time reading and writing and she loved the old hymns. In her bedroom was a big high feather bed that no one ever sat on. A quilting frame often took up most of the front room. There was always peppermint candy in the cupboard. Jane Pugh died October 18, 1961, at the age of 97. Her legacy was love. by Betty Roehr LLEWELLYN AND Landholdings included Six Mile (sold to Harry Cox in 1890) and Tuttle Ranches). By TRESSIE REBECCA 1913 the Pugh Ranch consisted of 2,000 acres; the herds numbered some 1400 head of cattle, (R.EZZEIr-) 80 to 100 horses, and a large number ofhogs, F541 (from obituary ofJ. Pugh, 1913). The brand The Pughs were active in the community. They were involved in the organization of the Tuttle school in 1890, a district about fifteen miles long. The first school was an old sod riding, shooting and roping in the best traditions of eastern Colorado boys. When World War I came along, he enlisted in the Air Force, with his mother's permission since he was under 18, and served until the armistice. Tressie Rebecca Rezzer was born in Beaver County, Oklahoma in 1905 to Will and Laura Rezzer. Will Rezzer,afarmer of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction, had migrated to Oklahoma with his mother, and Laura E. Reid of Scots and Irish descent, met and married in mines at Minden Mines, Kansas, and had followed her family when they had moved on however, he lost his herd with roving buffalo. raised. Ranch was located 18 miles northeast of Stratton in the valley ofthe South Fork ofthe Republican and Spring Creek. Lloyd grew up Oklahoma. Laura had "worked out" from the PUGH, LLOYD was P/9. John farmed, but it was an adjunct to the stock business; he fed most of what he parents, John J. and Jane E. Pugh. The P/9 age of twelve in the boarding houses near the (Tuttle first saw land while with U.S. Cal- vary. He returned in 1870 with cattle; Loyd and Tressie Pugh Lloyd Llewellyn Pugh, one of 12 children, was born October 4, 1898 in the sod house that was the predecessor of the proud Victorian home built in 1902 by Lloyd's to Oklahoma. Two children, Tressie Rebecca and Orville Winfield, were aged two and seven when the family moved by covered wagon to a quitclaim south and east of Kirk where Will built a soddy that still stands today. Tressie attended Clark school through eight grades and, there being no high school available, found a job working in the Joes store. She also farmed along with her brother and drove wheat trucks (Model A variety) to the elevator in Stratton. Her father, Will, contracted diabetes prior to the wide spread house with no window. William Arthur Richards (Jane Pugh's brother) taught the first three month term for $25.00 per month. Later, both Gladys and Mabel Pugh taught in the Tuttle School. Both Jane and John were active in the establishment of the Congregational Church in the Tuttle Community. John had a good voice and loved to lead group singing. The first Sunday School was in the home of Mr. E.G. Davis. Jane taught Sunday School. As the Pugh Ranch grew, so did the family, twelve children were born to John and Jane. Leona was not yet two when Arthur Lewis was born in July, 1888. In 1890 Evan Albert was born, but he lived only six weeks. In 1891 the family moved to the Tuttle Ranch. The house had been an army fort and the walls were three feet thick with an outside door in every room. It was here that John Jay (189f) was born. In 1893 the Pughs had another ilaughter, Mabel Ann. Two years later, Mary Gladys was born. The next year, John Jay who was five, died of cholera infantile. The little fort must have been filled to overflowing rs Lloyd Llewllyn and Richard Luther joined t'he family. Three years later, in 1903, Clara Amy was born. The next year a new large ' .+: 4 P:.ia Old original Pugh ranch; Lloyd the babe in arms . . before 1902 �use of insulin and died in 1932. Lloyd and Tressie were married March 7, L927. at Grant Methodist Church in Denver. Lloyd and Tressie set up housekeeping on the old Colonel Osborn place on the Kirk High- Lodge and Eastern Star, Boy Scouts, and the Kit Carson County Fair where Lloyd had charge of the horse barns during the 1940's all benefited from their labors. Tressie was -a committeewoman for the Republican Party way and, after a year there, moved to the location of the old Pugh Ranch, and established the XT Cross. A son, Robert Lloyd, was born in 1928. The Dirty Thirtiee began a little later for the valley, but by 1932 the grass was exhausted and Cressie Seal and Lloyd rented pasturage around the Limon Breaks to run for many years. In 1948, Swede Hornung and Lloyd built and operated the brick sale barn about 500 head of cattle through the summer. served as mayor of Stratton during the early Fall's arrival marked sale time for the cattle and they were loaded out on the railroad in Limon at 4 a.m. for Kansas City. Lloyd and Tressie's second son, William John was born the next day, September 8, 1932. Conditions improved through some leased grasslands closer to home but the drought really didn't break until Memorial Day, 1935, when 24 inches ofrain fell in less than t hours. Lloyd and Tressie awoke to find the house entirely surrounded with water lapping at the front doorstep. The Flood of 1935 deciminated the ranch including 40 head of cattle, all the corrals and fences, the hogs and pens, all the machinery and ruined the meadow hayfields. The snakes were particularly bad that summer, having washed down river to be caught in the willows and cottonwoods that lined Spring Creek. Lloyd and Tressie weathered the depression by trading eggs and cream for staples, marketing cattle during intolerable markets and butchering beef for the local butcher shop when prices were down. Laura Marie, born in 1938, completed the family. The late Thirties and early Forties brought better days. To quote Tressie's words, "We didn't have any money but we could get credit!" They used that privilege wisely and expanded the operation to nearly double the size of their holdings. About 500-700 cattle were wintered over in an average year. Late winter through spring was calving season and fence repair time. The fences crossing the creeks were particularly vulner- able and had to be restrung and weighted after almost every flood. Weaning the calves one slept during the fall was a sad time - nocalves were much that first night as the little penned in the corral separated from their mothers. Branding, beginning with the roun- dup and marking all the yearlings, was a community effort, shared by representatives the Woods, of most of the nearby families Corliss, Daffer, Whipple, Lucas,- Belt. Haying time brought large crews who boarded and slept at the ranch until the job was completed - usually about two weeks. The stacker, mower, bucks, rakes and wagons were powthe pitchered by horses - unfortunately, forks weren't! One of the fond memories of childhood was riding the stacker and being thrown onto the top ofthe stack. Second best was riding on top of the hay wagon as the horses, Beauty and Bette, plodded down the lane to the barn. Fall roundup for market meant either the long cattle drive to town to the railroad or trucking out the livestock to the various sale barns in the area. Despite the isolation of living on the ranch, Tressie and Lloyd were active members of the community and involved in all facets of its development. The Colorado Cattlemen's Association and its auxiliary, the Cowbelles, the American Legion and Auxiliary, Masonic north of the railroad tracks in Stratton. In 1951 Lloyd and Tressie built and moved into the first modern brick home in Stratton and "livin' in town". Lloyd served on the Board of Directors for the First National Bank and began a life of civic service. He 50's when a modern sewer system was installed and later as police magistrate. They both have been very active in the Evangelical United Brethren Church, now the United Methodist. Travelling has always been a "Pugh" characteristic and Lloyd and Tressie upheld that fine old tradition. Europe, Africa, Alaska, and every state in the nation as well as lots of Canada and Mexico beca-e places of fond remembrance. They owned one of the first sampers on the nation's highways and spent most of the winters in sunny climes nineteen of them in Port Isabel, Texas. They celebrated their fiftieth anniversary with their friends in Port Isabel in March of 1977 and again in June with their Colorado friends and relatives. Lloyd passed away on October 8, 1983, four days after his 85th birthday and is buried in Claremont Cemetery near Stratton. Tressie continues to live in their home in Stratton. by Marie Pugh Idler received a Golden Award (50 years) for animation from the Motion Picture Cartoonists Guild in 1987. He is retired and lives in New York City. He has also been doing fine art for many years and some of his paintings are being shown in some of the Madison Avenue galleries. Lorraine moved to California in 1939 where she first worked for an advertising agency, and then, first radio, and then television production in both Hollywood and New York City until 1978 when she retired. Ben Pyle died in 1970 at the age of 82. Maude Pyle Campbell lives in Leisure World at Long Beach, California. She is 95 years of age and still very active in bridge tournaments and other activities. Denver Pyle, the youngest of the three children, attended grade school in Bethune, and junior and senior high school in Boulder, later studying at the University of Colorado for two years. He supported himself and his education by playing the drums in the college band. After leaving the university, Denver became restless and decided to give Gene Krupa some competition in the drumming world. The gigs were few and money was tight. He soon hocked his drums and hit the road, hitchhiking. He worked as a roust-about in the oil fields of Oklahoma, a shrimp fisherman out of Galveston, and followed the wheat harvest from North Texas to Canada. After working for Mid-Continent Petroleum in Tulsa as a still cleaner, he hit the road again and hitchhiked to Hollywood to see his brother and sister in 1940. Soon after he arrived he worked for NBC as a page boy and tour guide. He tried to enlist but was rejected by the PYLE, DENVER F642 Ben H. Pyle, his wife Maude, and two children Lorraine age 4 and Willis age 3, moved to Bethune in 1917. They came by train from Smith Center, Kansas, and settled on a homestead located 9 miles south of Bethune, which they farmed until 1919, when they moved into Bethune. They built a house and Ben went into the real estate business. Denver was born in 1920. Until the new school was built, all three children attended school in the first white one-room schoolhouse and then the second one built later on. The whole family remembers those days in Bethune as very happy ones, and will always remember this as "home." They survived the great depression, always managing to have enough food and clothing as well as a home. Ben also managed a grain elevator in Bethune at this time. In 1933 the family moved to Boulder so the children could attend the University of Colorado. Maude Pyle had a boarding house for students and Ben worked with a grain company. Lorraine returned to this area in 1935 when she taught at the one-room school north of Burlington. She remembers staying with the William and Martha (Stutz) Schlichenmayers when their twin sons Roland and Raymond were born. The babies were so small they were put in shoe boxes and kept warm on the oven door. Wilis Pyle went to Hollywood, California in 1938, where he became an animator for the Walt Disney Studios for many years. He Army. He signed up as a Cadet Midshipman for the Maritime Commission and carried his 4F card throughout the South Pacific on his tour of duty. Following World War II he became inter- ested in acting. His first part in the play, "Out of the Frying Pan," was in a girls drama school in need of some boys for the play. The director encouraged him to study acting whereupon Denver took her advice and signed to study with Josephine Dillion, the teacher that launched Clark Gable. Following parts in several theater productions his first big part came in "The Man From Colorado" with Glenn Ford and Bill Holden, which was released in 1946. He made 4 motion pictures with John Wayne as well as many others. The advent of television helped his career immeasurably. "Tammy," "The Doris Day Show," "Grizzly Adams," and "The Dukes of Hazzard" were among the more popular roles he became known for. Following "The Dukes of Hazzard" series he no longer accepted personal appearance contracts. Instead, he and his wife, Tippi, whom he married in 1983, have travelled back and forth across the United States using 'Uncle Jesse' to raise millions of dollars for childrens'charities. His fee? A clean room, an airline ticket, or sometimes at his own expense. As he says, "A hug from a Special Olympic contender is a lot more rewarding than an envelope full of money." He feels as though he has accomplished what he set out to do. He has worked with most of the great actors of his time, and has �collect the eggs. Since I was the fastest runner, I always gathered more eggs than anyone elee and it made my brothers and sisters angry". Gladys met George in Flagler the year the Stratton School Dietrict shut down. Both were avid hunters and loved to dance. "Those were the only real types of entertainment in those days, and we used to dance until the wee hours of the morning. George always made sure they played the song, "My wild Irish Rose". It was his favorite song and he would always sing along with it. I also remember th6f, nlmsst, eysrybody rode horseback because automobiles were etill scarce in our atea." They were united 3 years after George returned from the service and Tony Dischner Kr:ti. was a witness at their wedding. The very next 1 day, Gladys took over duties as Postmaster and George as clerk and mail carrier of the Stratton Post Office, a position they held from 1922-1935. "In those days, the postmaster had to be of the snme political party as the President. We were lucky to have 3 Republican Presidents in a row before Roosevelt became president and we were replaced. I also remember the Post Office being constantly harassed by the Ku Klux Klan", Gladys says. After the Post Office, George held various jobs at the Lumber Yard, Snell Grain Elevator and the Rock Island Railroad, while Gladys began teaching. She taught in the Country Schools for 10 years and another 17 years in Stratton as an Elementary Teacher. She often jokes, "It took me 13 years to get out of the 1st grade". Many of the long-time residents ofStratton were once pupils ofhers, as a walk down the street attests to by the warm greetings she receives. The love and support of friendship is a very treasured gift ,:1.:' s .:' , f'j! t,{.1 j : to her. From this union 3 children were born; The popular character actor, Denver Pyle, spent his early years in Bethune. become one of the top character men in the businees. by Bonnie Witzel Lynn, Sheila, Cheryl Roehr; Brenda, hus- QUINN - PUGH FAMILY Betty Jo, Patrick George and Mary Margaret. In 1963 tragedy struck the Quinn's when their son, Patrick, was lost in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains near Westcliffe. Search efforts were unsuccessful and his fate was uncertain until 14 years later when his remains were found. Upon retirement, George and Gladys continued to live in Stratton, cherishing God, their Church, Family and Friends. George and Glady's family now includes: 2 daughters, Betty Jo and husband Paul Roehr of Fort Collins, Colo.; Mary Margaret and husband Norman Sandy of Granby, Colo.; 6 grand-daughters, Laura, husband Jim Pool, band Al Courtney; Lisa Sandy; one grandson, Brian Sandy and three great grandchildren. George passed away on March 13, 1984, at the age of 88 after a lingering illness, while F643 George Edward Quinn and Mary Gladys Pugh were maried in Cheyenne Wells, Colo., on January 2,1922. They lived all of their 62 married years in Stratton, Colorado. George and Gladys (right) at Eads, CO with good friende Jim and Ruby Hollowas (left) display their results of a successful day of their favorite sport, goose hunting. Back in those days, there was no limit to the "mount taken. George Edward Quinn was born on June 1, 1895, the llth of 13 children born to Michael First Lieutenant. and Anna Boyd Quinn, early pioneers from lreland who came to Eastern Colorado with bhe Rock Island Railroad. George lived in Flagler all of his childhood years and attended echool there. He joined the Army in May of 1917, and was commissioned as 2nd Lt. before serving in the 157th Regiment Infanbry Division in France in World War I. He was honorably discharged on October 3, 1919, as Mary Gladys Pugh Quinn was born October 14, 1895, the 6th of 12 children born to John and Jane Pugh, both of Welsh origin. Gladys was raised on the Republican River and attended school at Tuttle, 18 miles north of Stratton. Gladys recalls many fond memories of her childhood days; "Mother used to pay us I penny for every egg we gathered; so all of us kids would run home after school to Gladys continues to live in good health at her home in Stratton. by Mary Quinn Sandy �prairie while she did her washing. Of course, she had to keep a sharp lookout for snakes; there were many of them on the prairies. And there were thousands ofwild range cattle that would flock around our little sod shack at night and dig their horns into the walls and bellow. Then we would open the door and yell at them and when they were running away @.{ the noise oftheir hoofs sounded like thunder. Hundreds of antelope furnished meat for the settlers who were then coming in. There were plenty of coyotes, too. After proving up on this claim, they took T I a pre-emption one quarter of a mile south of Flagler and nearer to town. Anna's husband lived at home with them and helped more with the work, still doing his work as section foreman on the railroad. They went into the cattle business; the older children and Anna were running the ranch until the oldest son got old enough to help. Often times they would hear the wind blowing ahead of a blizzard and would go out at night and get the cattle rounded up and home before the blizzard struck and the cattle started to drift. Anna remembered one time an awful blizzatd, came and snowed them in their hundred men. Anna's husband, Michael dugout south of town. Her husband shoveled the snow back into the house and burrowed his way out. When the snow melted there was about a foot of water on the floor, and the children had to stay on the bed and chairs until we got the floor dried up. As time went on they were able to improve their place and when the children got older Quiirn, was Walking Boss, Bo they stayed in qnmp until our contract was finished. some years. After her husband's death she George and Gladys at their window in the Stratton Post Office, and later of Denver; Mary Green (Mrs. Charlies) Denver; Jim Quinn, Stratton; Jo Quinn, Lincoln, Nebr. There were two other women with small children and over one Anna's husband then became Section Foreman with headquarters in Flagler, so we then located on a claim two miles north of where the town now stands. We built a one room and house and as the walls were Gladys Pugh homestead houae "Quovadis" on the Arickaree River north of Stratton. QUINN, ANNA F644 Anna Quinn was born in Ohio on September 7, 1858, and cnme to Iowa with her parents when six years of age. She lived in Iowa twenty-two years, then came to Kansas in 1885. On March 28, 1888, they arrived in Kit Carson County and made eernp at the place where Flagler is now located. They had come west with the P.J. Murphy Grading Outfit to build the grade for the Rock Island Railroad from Goodland, Kansas to Colorado Springs. They unloaded the mules, horses and grading outfit at Kit Carson (Cheyenne County), Colorado, having shipped to that point via the Union Pacific Railroad. They then went overland to our location, Flagler, Colorado. Nothing before them on the stretch of lonesome prairie but one home where Grandma Doughty's girls later taught school after the settlement start€d and taught throughout the county for some years. They had no idea of the hardships they would meet, so were unprepared for blizzards or storms and had but one ton of coal with the outfit and were thirty milee from where they could get more. The men pitched camp, eetting up the tents, and feed racks, etc. Anna had five emall children, Margaret Epperson (Mrs. George), Flagler; Bess Miller, Stratton unplastered we were bothered terribly with the prairie fleas; they were so plentiful here they moved into town and lived there for stayed with her children for awhile, but she enjoyes her own little apartment now, and still gets a lot out of life. There were other children born to Anna and her husband; Bill Quinn, Sterling, Co.; Agnes Quinn, Cheyenne Wells, Co.; Hugh Quinn, also of Cheyenne Wells; George Anna, on the claim while her husband bached Quinn, Stratton, Co.; Grace Heid (Mrs. George), Burlington, Co. Mary Korbelik is the daughter of Grace Heid. All the other in town. On Saturday night he would walk children are deceased. in early days. Anna's five children lived, along with two miles to claim carrying the weeks supplies on his shoulder. We had no horse nor vehicle at that time and had but two milk cows. They were lariated out on the prairie and often times they would break loose and I would need to walk miles over the prairie looking for them, leaving the children alone in the sod shack. The town of Flagler began to be built by this time; a few shacks, a sod school house and a tent grocery store. Anna's two older girls, then being of school age, walked to town to school. Many a day of worry she put in, for the terrible blizzards would come up so suddenly and she would fear the girls would get confused in direction and become lost on the prairie; So she would leave the three small children in the shack alone and go out to meet the girls. She never stopped to think that she, too, could easily become confuged and lost as well as the girls. Anna caried water one-quarter of a mile from a well on the creek, always using buckets as we had no other means of hauling it. When washday crme, she would take her washing and wash boiler to the well, dig a hole in the ground, and make a fire with buffalo chips, set the wash boiler over the fire and do her washing. Often times she took her baby along and set the little fellow on a quilt on the by Mary Korbelik QUINN, MICIIAEL AND ANNA ISABEL BOYD F545 Michael Quinn was born April 13, 1842 in Tipperary, Ireland. There were ten children in his family. In the 1850's Michael's father decided to come to America. He and the two oldest boys went to Toronto, Canada. Later, his mother followed, bringing with her the other children. She had become ill on the long voyage from Ireland and died of pneumonia soon after they arrived in Toronto. Michael's father brought his large fanily to Wash- ington County, Iowa, where he worked on the railroad. He later filed a homestead claim and, with the help of the older children, he raised his family. Michael, one of the younger children, enlisted for service in the Civil War in Muscatine, Iowa in 1861. After the war, Michael (Mike) was not ready to settled �some stretch of prairie where Grandma Doughty lived with her son and his children. The railroaders had no idea of the hardships they would meet and were not prepared for the harsh Colorado climate. The grading contract was completed that fall and the Quinn family was still moving, one winter in Goodland, Kansas, and then to Limon where William Frances was born in 1889. Mike was made Section Foreman for the Rock Island and the Quinns finally settled down on a a little woman all spunk and gumption and rawhide and sharp tongue, who would have gone out and butchered a range steer, any one's steer, and dragged it home by the tail before she would have fed her family coyote meat. But when he talked about how they built the railroad, Mike Quinn was listened to with attention and respect. Mike died April 29, L929, at the age of 87. After his death, Anna lived in Flagler in an apartment, later moving to Denver. She died December the children lived on the claim while Mike by Betty Roehr homestead two miles north of Flagler where they built a one room sod house. Anna and batched in town, walking home each week with the week'g provisions on his shoulder. They had no horse, but they did have two cows. (Later, the children delivered milk to the people of Flagler). By 1890, the 165 miles of track had been completed. The town of Flagler was beginning to build as few houses, a sod school and a tent grocery store. Anna wrote in 1943: My two older girls walked to school. Many a day of worry I put in, for the blizzards would come Mike Quinn and Anna Boyd. down; and, for the next decade, he was a maverick. It was during this time that his love of railroads began. Mike traveled the United States and Mexico and was in Ogden, Utah when the golden spike was driven in 1869. Anna's parents, James Boyd (June 9, 1827) and Mary Jane Reid (htg. 27, 1837) were both born in County Down, Ireland. James had come to New York with his three brothers. Mary Jane, who had been his sweetheart in Ireland, came to New Jersey with her aunt. She and Michael were married in Urban, Ohio on August 5, 1855. It was here that Anna Boyd was born Sept. 7, 1858. The Boyds moved to Illinois then to Iowa in 1864, when Anna was six years old. The Boyds had nine children. On May 6, 1878, Anna Boyd and Michael Quinn were maried in Washington, Iowa. Mike farmed for seven years; and, it was here that Joanna Margaret (Maggie) was born in 1879. The next year, Stephen Andrew was born, but he lived only one year. Two more little girls were born in Iowa: Ellen Elizabeth (Bess) in 1882 and Mary Anastasia in 1883. Two years later, James Michael was born. At this time Mike decided that farmingwas not to be his life. The Quinns had a sale and Mike left his family in Iowa while he went to find a new home. Anna and the four children joined him in Kansas and the next two years were spent in construction camps int he summer and near Hanington, Kansas in the winter, where Mike worked in the railroad yards. PhiUip Joseph was born in a covered wagon in a construction camp. In the spring of 1888, the Quinns came to Colorado with the J.P. Murphy grading outfit. Mike was to be the grade foreman of the outfit that would build grade for laying track for the railroad through eastern Colorado. They ceme by Union Pacific to Kit Carson, unloading the mules and the grading equipment and went to the camp at Bowerville (1 7z miles east of Flagler). the c'mp consisted ofover one hundred men, Anna and her five children. and two other women. The women cooked for the men and the children played around the camp, sometimes riding the mules. There was no town then, not even the beginning of one, nothing but the lone- up so suddenly and I would fear the girls would become lost. I would leave the three small children in the shack alone and go out to meet the girls. I carried water one quarter mile from a well on the creek, always using buckets. I would take my washing and wash boiler over to the well, dig a hole in the ground and fire with buffalo chips, set the boiler over the fire to do my washing, drying the clothes on the grass. Often times I took my baby along and set the little fellow on a quilt. Between 1891 and 1900, six more children were born: John Samuel, Grace Ruth, George Edward, Agnes Annabel, John Paul, and Hugh Robert. Two babies, John Samuel and John Paul, died as infants. Thirteen children had been born to Michael and Anna, three died in infancy and ten would live out their lives in Colorado. After proving up on the homestead claim, the Quinns took up a pre-emption on quarter mile south of Flagler. This was nearer town and Mike lived at home. They bought some cattle and Anna and the children ran the ranch while Mike was working. In the time span between 1899 and 1920, the older children married. The Quinns moved to town where they lived in the railroad section house. The children had all attended school, and George and Hugh played on the high school basketball teams. George enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917. Hugh, the youngest, was seventeen years old. Mike was now 78 and spent much of his time in the blacksmith shop. Hal Borland, in "Country Editor's Boy" wrote about the Flagler Blacksmith shop in the 1920s: Among them were old-timers who had been in that country when it was young, before the railroad was built. Mike Quinn qualified because he helped build the railroad. And 15, 1943 at the age of 95. RADCLIFF FAI\IILY F546 Earl Radcliff was born near Hale, Colorado, in Arapahoe County, on Nov. 15, 1893. He was a farmer and rancher by location and avocation. One of his early teachers was Nellie Grabb who lived north of Burlington, Colo. During the 1930's, he was feeding Hereford cattle on the Pugh Ranch north of Stratton, Kit Carson County, Colorado, when the awful flood of May 1935 hit, and took many of his Herefords downstream and ruined the hay land for many yeEus. He stayed here through the winter and beceme better acquainted with Maxine Messinger, the teacher at Tuttle School. By spring he had decided to move back to the Radcliff homestead near Hale, Colorado. During the summer of 1936, Earl worked in Denver in the building trade while Maxine was on leave from teaching. He asked Maxine to marry him and a Christmas wedding was planned. Maxine was then teaching at the Newton School on Highway 51 about 25 miles north of Burlington. On Dec. 23, 1936, Earl and she were married in the rectory of St. Charles Church at Stratton, Colo., Kit Carson County, with Jesse Messinger, Bonny Gaunt, and Mrs. Gaunt as witnesses. Earl continued to farm and raise cattle near Hale. Some of these years were poor for farming following the "dust bowl years". When the plans were made for the building of Bonny Dam, Earl and Maxine decided to sell everything on the Radcliff farm-including the buildings-and move to Denver in November, 1943. By this time four of their daughters (Earline, Helen, Sue, and Bonny) had been born in Burlington Hospital with Dr. Robinson in attendance. Four more daughters (Carmine, Kathy, Mary, and Jane) were born in St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. Earl worked for Eaton Metal Products Company for fifteen years then he retired. He passed away in Denver on June 15, 1965. Mike was a veteran of the Civil War. He was full of stories about the old days, at least half of them true and all of them rich with Irish wit and Irish brogue. When he told a whopper, most of his listeners knew what it was. As the one he told about how he used to be a great foot racer, how he kept in trim by running down coyotes, which he butchered to keep his family in meat. That was a wheeze, first because nobody could picture Mike, a big, brawny, white-mustached and with a geme leg that needed a cane, as a foot racer; and second because everyone knew his wife, by Mrs. Earl Radcliff � 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- P&Q Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief histories of founding families of Kit Carson County with names starting with "P" and "Q." As told in the book, History of Kit Carson County Volume 1 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/506/Families-R.pdf 3f7a7c086e720bfd6d5aec4c65f4190a PDF Text Text some stretch of prairie where Grandma Doughty lived with her son and his children. The railroaders had no idea of the hardships they would meet and were not prepared for the harsh Colorado climate. The grading contract was completed that fall and the Quinn family was still moving, one winter in Goodland, Kansas, and then to Limon where William Frances was born in 1889. Mike was made Section Foreman for the Rock Island and the Quinns finally settled down on a a little woman all spunk and gumption and rawhide and sharp tongue, who would have gone out and butchered a range steer, any one's steer, and dragged it home by the tail before she would have fed her family coyote meat. But when he talked about how they built the railroad, Mike Quinn was listened to with attention and respect. Mike died April 29, L929, at the age of 87. After his death, Anna lived in Flagler in an apartment, later moving to Denver. She died December the children lived on the claim while Mike by Betty Roehr homestead two miles north of Flagler where they built a one room sod house. Anna and batched in town, walking home each week with the week'g provisions on his shoulder. They had no horse, but they did have two cows. (Later, the children delivered milk to the people of Flagler). By 1890, the 165 miles of track had been completed. The town of Flagler was beginning to build as few houses, a sod school and a tent grocery store. Anna wrote in 1943: My two older girls walked to school. Many a day of worry I put in, for the blizzards would come Mike Quinn and Anna Boyd. down; and, for the next decade, he was a maverick. It was during this time that his love of railroads began. Mike traveled the United States and Mexico and was in Ogden, Utah when the golden spike was driven in 1869. Anna's parents, James Boyd (June 9, 1827) and Mary Jane Reid (htg. 27, 1837) were both born in County Down, Ireland. James had come to New York with his three brothers. Mary Jane, who had been his sweetheart in Ireland, came to New Jersey with her aunt. She and Michael were married in Urban, Ohio on August 5, 1855. It was here that Anna Boyd was born Sept. 7, 1858. The Boyds moved to Illinois then to Iowa in 1864, when Anna was six years old. The Boyds had nine children. On May 6, 1878, Anna Boyd and Michael Quinn were maried in Washington, Iowa. Mike farmed for seven years; and, it was here that Joanna Margaret (Maggie) was born in 1879. The next year, Stephen Andrew was born, but he lived only one year. Two more little girls were born in Iowa: Ellen Elizabeth (Bess) in 1882 and Mary Anastasia in 1883. Two years later, James Michael was born. At this time Mike decided that farmingwas not to be his life. The Quinns had a sale and Mike left his family in Iowa while he went to find a new home. Anna and the four children joined him in Kansas and the next two years were spent in construction camps int he summer and near Hanington, Kansas in the winter, where Mike worked in the railroad yards. PhiUip Joseph was born in a covered wagon in a construction camp. In the spring of 1888, the Quinns came to Colorado with the J.P. Murphy grading outfit. Mike was to be the grade foreman of the outfit that would build grade for laying track for the railroad through eastern Colorado. They ceme by Union Pacific to Kit Carson, unloading the mules and the grading equipment and went to the camp at Bowerville (1 7z miles east of Flagler). the c'mp consisted ofover one hundred men, Anna and her five children. and two other women. The women cooked for the men and the children played around the camp, sometimes riding the mules. There was no town then, not even the beginning of one, nothing but the lone- up so suddenly and I would fear the girls would become lost. I would leave the three small children in the shack alone and go out to meet the girls. I carried water one quarter mile from a well on the creek, always using buckets. I would take my washing and wash boiler over to the well, dig a hole in the ground and fire with buffalo chips, set the boiler over the fire to do my washing, drying the clothes on the grass. Often times I took my baby along and set the little fellow on a quilt. Between 1891 and 1900, six more children were born: John Samuel, Grace Ruth, George Edward, Agnes Annabel, John Paul, and Hugh Robert. Two babies, John Samuel and John Paul, died as infants. Thirteen children had been born to Michael and Anna, three died in infancy and ten would live out their lives in Colorado. After proving up on the homestead claim, the Quinns took up a pre-emption on quarter mile south of Flagler. This was nearer town and Mike lived at home. They bought some cattle and Anna and the children ran the ranch while Mike was working. In the time span between 1899 and 1920, the older children married. The Quinns moved to town where they lived in the railroad section house. The children had all attended school, and George and Hugh played on the high school basketball teams. George enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917. Hugh, the youngest, was seventeen years old. Mike was now 78 and spent much of his time in the blacksmith shop. Hal Borland, in "Country Editor's Boy" wrote about the Flagler Blacksmith shop in the 1920s: Among them were old-timers who had been in that country when it was young, before the railroad was built. Mike Quinn qualified because he helped build the railroad. And 15, 1943 at the age of 95. RADCLIFF FAI\IILY F546 Earl Radcliff was born near Hale, Colorado, in Arapahoe County, on Nov. 15, 1893. He was a farmer and rancher by location and avocation. One of his early teachers was Nellie Grabb who lived north of Burlington, Colo. During the 1930's, he was feeding Hereford cattle on the Pugh Ranch north of Stratton, Kit Carson County, Colorado, when the awful flood of May 1935 hit, and took many of his Herefords downstream and ruined the hay land for many yeEus. He stayed here through the winter and beceme better acquainted with Maxine Messinger, the teacher at Tuttle School. By spring he had decided to move back to the Radcliff homestead near Hale, Colorado. During the summer of 1936, Earl worked in Denver in the building trade while Maxine was on leave from teaching. He asked Maxine to marry him and a Christmas wedding was planned. Maxine was then teaching at the Newton School on Highway 51 about 25 miles north of Burlington. On Dec. 23, 1936, Earl and she were married in the rectory of St. Charles Church at Stratton, Colo., Kit Carson County, with Jesse Messinger, Bonny Gaunt, and Mrs. Gaunt as witnesses. Earl continued to farm and raise cattle near Hale. Some of these years were poor for farming following the "dust bowl years". When the plans were made for the building of Bonny Dam, Earl and Maxine decided to sell everything on the Radcliff farm-including the buildings-and move to Denver in November, 1943. By this time four of their daughters (Earline, Helen, Sue, and Bonny) had been born in Burlington Hospital with Dr. Robinson in attendance. Four more daughters (Carmine, Kathy, Mary, and Jane) were born in St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. Earl worked for Eaton Metal Products Company for fifteen years then he retired. He passed away in Denver on June 15, 1965. Mike was a veteran of the Civil War. He was full of stories about the old days, at least half of them true and all of them rich with Irish wit and Irish brogue. When he told a whopper, most of his listeners knew what it was. As the one he told about how he used to be a great foot racer, how he kept in trim by running down coyotes, which he butchered to keep his family in meat. That was a wheeze, first because nobody could picture Mike, a big, brawny, white-mustached and with a geme leg that needed a cane, as a foot racer; and second because everyone knew his wife, by Mrs. Earl Radcliff �were laid to rest in Claremont Cemeterv in Stratton, Colorado. by Clara Argabright RAGAN, BURT F548 Burt Ragan taken about 1888 or 1889 soon after coming to Colorado. Earl and Maxine Radcliff and eight daughters at Eaton Metal Christmas party in 1952. RADSPINNER, ARTHUR AND LUCY Burt Ragan was the son of Collin and Katherine Ragan, who resided in Lancaster, Iowa. He was born March 31, 1868. Because of the death of his mother when he was four years old, he made his home with his F547 I was born in So. Dakota on Feb. 12, L907 and the folks moved to Colorado in March 1910. Doctors advised my Dad to move to a higher climate because of his asthma, so he decided to homestead in Eastern Colorado on 160 acres about 15 miles south of Stratton where, with help of neighbors, he built a sod house, then in later years built a nice frame house. Must have been about 1918 but I can't say for sure. The family cnme by train on the Rock Island railroad and lived in the sod house until the new house was built. We even had Carbide lights, such an improvement over the old kerosene lamps. Their five children were: Nina Henrietta - married Howard Hightower, Laurence - married Arthur Lowe, Lillian Agatha - married William Underwood, Clara Louise - married Gilbert Argabright. After the children were all married and in homes of their own and because of Dad's health, they sold the farm in 1937. They bought a house in Stratton where they resided until 1960 when it became necessary for them to move to the Rest Home in Burlington. Dad died in Oct. 1960 and Mother passed away Nov. 21, 1964. They Grandma and Grandad Radspinner. Taken August 16. 1950 in front of their Stratton home. Vivian Ragan holding dolls and wearing fur muff and scarf, fall of 1920. PQO �Lila and Homer Ragan about 1916. Part of the Ragan family taken in 1947. Back row, L. to R.; Helen Nelson, Fred and Vivian Kiefer, Mary Ragan, John Rule, Burt Ragan, Dorothy Jones, Lila Rule, Walt Jones, Ferrell Jones. Front Row; Kiefer children, Virginia holding Bill, Terry, Kathie, and Sheryl. Seated, Gary Kiefer and Kerwin Jones. grandparents, W.A.H. and Catherine Ragan. The Ragans were of Irish heritage. When sixteen years of age, he cnme by horseback to Oberlin, Kansas. The next year, at seventeen years of age, he walked into Colorado, traveling with a wagon train. At Burlington, then a small village, he learned that a large ranch to the north, on the Burt Ragan, left, taken while associated with the Stock Grower State Bank - around 1920. i,,.t:ta:i:lt:. r..i:.:. I, t:r!&iltl:r: f,rttili: Burt Ragan and daughter Cora riding their horses. Taken about 1906 or 1908. Burt Ragan, County Clerk about 1916. Notice the safe and ledgers to the right. Left to Right: Burt Ragan, Sr. and Burt Ragan Jr., Ethel, Adella Ragan, Burt Jr., Ethel, Burt Jr. and Cora. Burt Ragan - while serving in the Colorado State Senate. 1932-1940. �Republican River, needed cowboys' The next grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren. The next day he was hired by the Republican Cattle Company, owned by a group from England. In later years, this ranch was known as the Bar T Ranch. In time, Mr. Ragan beca-e the foreman of the ranch, which was at that time the largest made her home with her grandparents until she reached adulthood. Also raised in the Ragan home was Dorothea Nees Jones, daughter of Mary Ragan. Now, in January of 1987, Lila Rule and Vivian Kiefer, the two remaining children are happy to contribute this brief history of their father, Burt Ragan. A Postscript to Burt Ragan: night he camped on land that later became part of his home place and ranch. ranch in eastern Colorado. His ambition prompted him to attend Franklin Academy, in Franklin, Nebraska, for two winter terms of four months each. Burt, as he beca-e known in the community, rode in the last big round up in eastern Colorado, which extended from the Arkansas River on the south to the Republican River on the north: these are over a hundred miles apart. There were no fences and very few settlers. He also did freighting from Haigler, Nebraska to the ranches along the Republican River the first winter he was in Colorado. Burt was married to Adella Austin on March 18, 1892 in Friend, Colorado. At that time Adella's parents owned and operated the general store in Friend, which was located a little way south and west of the present town of ldalia. Nine children were born to this union, three dying in infancy. Mrs. Adella Ragan passed away February 2, L920, during the flu epidemic. In the fall of 1899, Mr. Ragan was elected to the office of County Clerk and Recorder of Kit Carson County. He resigned his position with the Republican Cattle Company to take over this new work. He served one term in this office. In 1903 he was selected as Assistant Postmaster of Burlington, and served one year in this capacity. He then returned to his home ranch to pursue his life as a cattleman. Burt moved back to Burlington in the fall of 1912, where he became identified with the Stock Growers State Bank for the next 16 years. He sold his interest in the bank in the spring of 1929 to devote his time to land brokerage and selling insurance. The many friends who were associated with Mr. Ragan, knowing of his unusual ability of understanding the many needs of this section of the state, decided he was needed in the State Senate. He was elected to that office in 1934 and re-elected in 1938, serving two four year terms. Because of his age and farming interests, he refused to run for a third term. Mr. Ragan was initiated into the Masonic Lodge No. 77, A.F. and A.M. of Burlington in 1904. He advanced to the 32nd degree. He had been present€d with his 50 year pin in the spring of 1954. During his long years of public service, Burt was always mindful of individuals needs, and in the depression years often gave a helping hand. On March 17, L926, he was united in marriage to Mary L. Nees at Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. When health permitted, Mr. Ragan worshipped in the First Christian Church. The six children of Burt and Adella Ragan who reached maturity were Cora Ragan Abbott, Ethel Ragan Stokes, Burt M. Ragan, Lila Ragan Rule, Homer E. Ragan, and Vivian Ragan Kiefer. At the time of his death on November 19, 1954, he was the grandfather of twelve One granddaughter, Helen Stokes Nelson, In reviewing the story of our Dad, a few more incidents came to mind which we thought should be included. As there was no school facility in the area, neighbors united and built their own on lots donated by Mr. Ragan, using native rock, adobe, cement and lumber. They built a one room school building and a small pony shed. J.T. Conger, a stone mason by trade, was a great help. Until this was ready, classes were held in a room of the Ragan home. Jenny Jones of Kirk was hired to teach the neighborhood children, including the Ragan, Evans, Conger, Milhoan, Mace, Grnmm and Richards families. Later JennyJones manied Ed Davis. They built the Davis Garage in Stratton. In the early 1900's Mr. Ragan was chosen as Justice of the Peace for the District where he lived. During this time he performed several marriage ceremonies. Both of the Ragan sons served in the service of our country, Burt Jr. in World War I, and Homer in World War II. This addition to our fathers story is submitted March 31, 1987, the anniversary of Dad's birthday. by Vivian Kiefer RAINBOLT, EDWIN F549 In the fall of 1945 Frank Rainbolt came to Burlington to visit some friends, the Glen Robbins, and to look for some land. He had sold his cattle and was looking for some land to invest in. He found that he could buy more land for his money in this area and bought a section northwest of Burlington. At this time Edwin and Ben were still in the service. The following spring of 1946 Richard Burd and Edwin got a couple of combines and cut their way from Protection, Kansas to Burlington, harvesting the first crop on the section Frank had purchased the year before. After harvest Edwin returned to Protection and in October married Norma Brown from Burdette, Kansas. Little did Norma know what she was getting into when they set out with all of their possessions loaded in a truck to live on the farm north of Burlington. By the time Norma arrived in Burlington it had been snowing for about two days and snow was piled everywhere. It was almost dark and they got about a mile north of the airport and buried the truck in a snowbank. Edwin and Norma walked back to town and got the last room at the hotel. They were stranded there for three days with it snowing most of the time. When the snow finally ended there was 28 inches on the level. Hap Rainbolt finally cnme acrogs country on a tractor to take Edwin and Norma out to the farm. The next day, with the help of Harold McArthur and a scoop tractor they pulled the truck out of the snow bank and back to town. It remained there for a couple of weeks, For the next two months the only transportation they had was a tractor. That left Norma pretty much housebound, which was pretty difficult for a former city girl. In March of 1947 they bought the old Bogart Ranch southeast of town, there to set up housekeeping and begin farming. In 1948 they began their family with the birth of Steve. Patricia followed in 1949 and Tom was born in 1955. Bogarts had homesteaded the place in the early 19(X)'s building the adobe house that is still on the place. It was built in 1910 along the Smoky River. Several changes have been made on that sturdy house and they are still making it their home for Steve, Judy and daughters Amy and Darla. The purchase down payment was $2000, and Edwin and Norma settled down to make it their home. When Steve and Patricia reached school age, they attended the Smoky Hill School. Among their teachers was Hazel Fromong, who still lives in Burlington. Raymond Woods was one of the janitors and lived at the school apartments. When the school was consolidated in 1958 the kids began attending the Burlington School. The Smoky Hill School was the center of many other community events, such as a Sunday School, parties, square dances, gun shoots and last but not least, the Smoky Hill 4H Club. In May of 1966 the family was saddened by the death of Norma. This brought many changes, but Edwin took on the added responsibilities of raising the kids by himself, and farming at the same time. Following high school graduation in 1967 Steve and Patricia went on to school. Patricia attended a business college in Denver and while there met and married Bill Shipman in December of 1967. They moved to Ohio where they live with their two children, Christopher and Stephanie. Steve went to NJC for a year and then transferred to Aims Jr. College in Greeley. In 1970 he joined the National Guard, then in 1971 he married Judi Hammer and moved back to the farm. Tom graduated from NJC then went to CSU where he graduated with a degree in farm and ranch management. From there he went to work for the Federal Land Bank. He has been in several different offices, including Burlington. In 1986 he married Carolyn Gasparovic and was transferred to the GreeIey Office. In 1976 Edwin was married to Neva Price, a friend he had known since the early years in Protection, Kansas where they both grew up. Edwin has turned the farm over to Steve and Judi and they continue to carry on with the family farm. Their two daughters, Amy and Darla are both in school in Burlington. by Bernice Eberhart "s\3:iills �RAMOS - KLOTZBACH FAMILY F560 My Great Grandparents, Leonard Klotzbach and Eva Holden Klotzbach, came from Washington. They csme to Kit Carson in 1910 with four kids (Louise, Ann, Leo, and John) and homesteaded north of Stratton for ten years. They then bought a farm three and a half miles southwest of Stratton. In 1920 Ann married Jesse Pugh and they moved to Oregon. Five years later, after having five kids, she died. In 1940 John and Louise also moved to Oregon. a year later Leonard and Eva moved into Stratton. In 1945, they too moved to Corvallis, Oregon. Eva died four years later and Leonard died in 1951. Leo stayed at the farm southwest of Stratton and was married to Leola Isom in 1938. A year later Leola's mother moved to Kit Carson from Arkansas by herself and lived with Leo and Leola. Leo and Leola had five kids between 1938 and 1942. Four had died in infancy and one, Lolita, survived. They sold stead. While proving up on his homestead, he built a three room sod house, a barn and dug a well. In 1910, he returned to Norborne, Missouri Burlington at age 64. Richard and Lelita moved from the farm in 1961 to Limon. Then in 1964 they moved back to Stratton where Richard opened up a Chiropractic Office at the north end of Main Street. They then had six kids (Dick, Mike, Jim, Tom, Ron, and Dan) between 1964 and 1973; Tommy died in infancy. Dad's office is now further south on Main Street, Dick and Mike are going to school and living in Denver, and Jim, Ron, and Dan are going to school in Stratton. by Jim Ramos READE FAMILY F66r James H. Reade was born at Hagerstown, Maryland on June 19, 1859. Emma Swatts was born at Kingston, Missouri on January 24, 1868. James H. and Emma were married on September L7,1882. To this union were born three children, Cledith, Zola and Beatress. Jemes and his parents, trying to escape the Civil War, came by covered wagon west to Missouri and settled near the town of Norborne, Missouri. In the early 1900's, the Homestead Act was passed. The Federal Government was giving away free land in the West. James and his nephew Emmitt Reade heeded the call to "come West, young man, come West." They left Missouri to homestead in Eastern Colorado. How they finally wound up in the FlaglerSeibert Area is very vague. We have in our possession a post card dated January 10th, 1913, from the Department of Interior, Hugo, Colorado for the patent of his Homestead. He filed on a quarter section in the year of 1909. From the little information that we have, it took three years "to prove" on the Home- F563 where he made arrangements to have his personal property shipped west by immigrant car on the Rock Island Railroad. This consisted of one team of horses, four cows, one wagon, several pieces of farm machinery, a wife and two children. The second house and barn still exists on the place. James and his family lived in the FlaglerSeibert area the rest of their lives. James and Emma were charter members of the First Baptist Church in Flagler. He was a member of the IOOF Lodge. James H. died in 1927. Emma made her home with her daughter, Zola Bryan. At the time of her death, she was 98 years young. All are buried in the Flagler cemetery. by Pauline F. Radebaugh READY FAMILY the farm in 1961. Leo and Leola were divorced in 1964, which is the same year that Lolita was married to Dr. Richard Ramos. Leola and her mother then moved to Burlington and Leo moved into Stratton. Leo then died in 1978 and Leola's mother, known as "Gram", died in 1983. Leola still lives in REAVIS, CLIFFORD E. F552 Born 1854 in Jackson County Ohio, parents -emigrated into Illinois when Mr. Ready was about a year old, and he was raised there. "I came to Colorado on July 4, 1886, with Bruno F. Kaiser, Wm. VanOsdal, Wm. Stout and Ed Hoskin (father of H.G. Hoskin, former State Representative from this District) on a "land excursion" which was put on by the Burlington railroad. We came from Illinois to Holdrege, Nebr. and then overland by covered wagon and a team of mules which belonged to me. We were located on tree claims by L.R. Baker (later lynched for murder) and then took out pre-emptions. We then returned to Illinois, and in the fall of 1886 came out and lived on our pre-emptions, which in each case joined the tree claims. At that time, a person could hold three quarters of land and prove up on it. I held my tree claim then homesteaded it. Mr. Kaiser's claim was about three miles south and west of Burlington, so we built a dugout soddy, then we lived with him for the winter. We hauled water from the Republican River, twenty-three miles north of us. When it was too stormy to go that far, we used water in the lagoons, and once in awhile we were fortunate enough to find a spring, and then we would have good water until someone else claimed it. We saw some buffalo, plenty of antelope and wild horses, coyotes and rattlesnakes. I was the only one in the bunch that had a team, so I did the breaking and plowing for those who wanted the tree claims plowed or crops started. Kaiser was a blacksmith, Stout a carpenter; VanOsdal did not stay long, he soon sold out and went east. We had plenty of discouragements; I went hungry and thirsty too lots of times, but everyone had a good time, and we were contented. We had a very severe winter in 1886, and our only fuel was "buffalo chips". But we were comfortable in our little dugout. by Winfield Scott Ready Clifford E. Reavis in front of the Second Central School bus, a Dodge Brothers Dodge which he drove in 1924 and 1925. The George Cook and Clifford E. Reavis families moved from Smith Center County, Kansas, to Flagler, Colorado, the 16th of April, 1916. The Cook family numbered twelve, George and Nora Cook with ten children. The children were Vernon, Lois, Vinnetta, Ruby, Christine, Howard, Marvin, Forest, and Arroll. The oldest daughter, Estella, was married to Clifford Reavis. It was a long journey for the two fanilies. The Reavis family consisted of Clifford and "Stella" with three small children, Verland, Bernadine, and 6-month old Maxine. One mode of travel was a Model T Ford touring car. The Reavis family, plus Arroll Cook, who was the same age as Bernadine, rode in the car. The rest of the Cook family drove a covered wagon, except Vernon, the oldest boy, who rode a train with the livestock. The Reavis family went into the restaurant business located on the Main Street of Flagler. Vinnetta Cook worked for them in the restaurant. The Reavis family moved to the Smith farm north of Flagler (a two-room house) after about 3 years in the restaurant. Clifford farmed and drove a school bus into Flagler. While here, Eugene Reavis was born in July 1919. The next residence for the Reavis family was on the Ranny Place southeast of town on the Republican River. The next move was to a farm two and one-half miles south of Kipling Railroad Crossing. While living there, the Reavis children attended Second Central County School until Verland and Bernadine went through the eighth grade. It is recalled that one winter the snow was so bad the bus could not get through. Clifford Reavis was driving the school bus at this time. The 6th, ?th, and 8th grade children stayed at the school with the teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Mathews. until the �bus could run again, which was about a month. It was necessary for them to stay with their studiers because county exerns were given in the spring. The school bus was not like the buses we think oftoday, but an openair Dodge-like panel truck. The only protection from the elements were curtains made of heavy canvas that dropped down on the sides and tied. To keep children warm were many comforters to cover them and soap stones which were heated in the oven and wrapped up for their feet. For entertainment we went to the school and had a school progrem and a box social followed. The girls and ladies all brought box lunches for two people. The boxes were gayly decorated with anything available to make them attractive. The men would bid on them and the purchaser would eat with the person that brought the box. When the Reavis's lived in the Second Central area, they went to barn dances held at the Wheeler Barn. Cliff Reavis would play the fiddle, someone played the piano, and sometimes there would be a banjo or mandolin. Square dancing, round dancing, and polka and other country dances were enjoyed. At midnight, the ladies served homemade cakes and coffee, and the kids (many who had been asleep on benches or floor) were bundled up and all went home. The mode of travel might be horseback, a wagon, maybe a car, and sometimes even a sled drawn by horses. On Sundays the men would get together and have a rabbit hunt, since the rabbits were so abundant. They could get 10 cents for a pair of rabbit ears. The women would have a quilting bee while the men were hunting the rabbits. Verland and Bernadine stayed in town for their first year of high school. The rest of the Reavis family moved into town in 1927. While residing in Flagler, the Reavis's had a grocery store just north of the Lavington Ford Garage. Verland, Bernadine, and Maxine all graduated from Flagler High School, and Eugene went through grade school. Bernadine and Maxine played on the basketball tenm that won State Qfuampionship in 1930 under the guidance and coaching of Mr. Bill McKinley. Upon Maxine's graduation in 1933, she was awarded a scholarship to Colorado State Teachers College, and the Reavis family moved to Greeley, and Bernadine attended college at Colorado University in Boulder. All three older children were teachers and Gene worked and retired from American Airlines in San Diego, California. Verland taught in Pueblo, Colorado, and Coos Bay, Oregon; Bernadine taught at Tesarado School, south of Flagler, and in Adams REED FAMILY F554 C.D. Reed, the first president of Burlington Rotary Club, was born in Montezuma, Iowa, on May 17, 1893. At the age of eight, Cece moved to Colorado and located at Fountain, Colorado, where his dad opened a general merchandise store which he operated until his death in February of 1906. In the fall of that year Cece with his mother and sister moved to Colorado Springs where he entered the 5th grade. He attended grade school and high school graduating in the class of 1912. After high school, Cece went to New York for a year and worked for the New York Telephone Co. In September of 1913 he returned to Colorado Springs and enrolled in Colorado College where he received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Degree in 1917. He graduated just in time to get in the Army for the conflict overseas and put in two years in World War I. He attended the third Officers Training Camp and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in Field Artillery. He went overseas in 1918 and back to the United States in 1919 and was discharged that year. Soon after discharge he went to La Junta to work for the Intermountain Railway Light and Power Co. but soon decided he wanted to get into business for himself and picked the Ford business as a place to start and worked Ada Rehn (Kalb) at age 2 in 1886 for the Ford dealer in La Junta. He was married to Marie Moore on December 23, 1920 and in April of 1921 they moved to Burlington where he took on the Ford agency. To this marriage two children were born, Cecil David Reed, Jr. and Mary Janice. During the years in Burlington, Cece was quite active in civic affairs and other business ventures. He served as Mayor, president of the Chamber of Commerce, president of the hospital board during the time of its construction, commander of the American Le- gion, master of the Burlington Masonic Lodge and the usual honors and duties that befall the average businessman in a small community. There were 13 other Ford agencies that he either helped start or helped train the personnel that operated the agencies. He also was active in the formation and operation of other businesses in town and in agriculture. Emma Rehn. Ada Kalb's mother REHN - KALB FAMILY F555 County; Maxine taught in Las Animas and for 25 years in Englewood, Colorado. Clifford Reavis died August 5, 1965, and Estella Reavis died January 19, 1984. All four children are among the living, retired citizens. by Bernadine Reavis Kreiling Ada Rehn was born in Stanford, Nebraska, March 4, 1884. She homesteaded 6 miles south and 2 miles east of Stratton. Colorado in 1906. Her mother, Emma Rehn, lived on the homestead while Ada worked in Denver part time and then ran the Stratton Hotel in Stratton, Colorado. There she met Ed Kalb. They were married in Canton, Kansas, on January 18, 1913. Ada returned to the homestead in the summers and spent the winters in Canton. In the spring of 1917 she returned to her homestead and made her home there until her death in 1970. Ada and Ed had two sons: Kenneth, born December 31, 1913 and Walter born in 1916. Kenneth and his wife Dora were married 1920: Kenneth and Walter KaIb with their cousins, Ruth and Alton l4aricle. in a cart built in 1918 �moon thru New Mexico, Teras and just over the border into Mexico, we returned and made our home in the frnms house David grew up in. We lived there the next 24 years. The gang came to chivaree us. Someone took Betty in ajeep to the pasture to hide her. To compensate for not getting the treats right away, they ate everything they could. David {} had hung deer meat to dry on the windmill. We had cooked it for 3 days and still couldn't eat the tough stuff - but they did! We had the last laugh!! We had two children, Vickey Lynn, June 26,1951 and Ray Deon April 11, 1954. In the 1950's, when our children were a baby and 3 yr. old, we were having dirt storms day after day. It would sometimes blow all day then lay at night. We had to hang wet blankets at the #,'r'1* ffil ,I windows and sometimes over the babies basket for health reasons. It was literally hazy with dust in the rooms. After one such day, when the wind had quit, our little one was over by the east door with a toy truck playing in the mound of dirt that had sifted into the 'll:,14t t..,:,1;.;-" ::$': 3l e':i:1: ,.,,,1'll- .. :'l?;4&{. room past the rags, that had been stuck in the cracks. Ada Kalb's rock house built in the 1950's January 18, 1946 and Walter and his wife Faye were married on May L7, L942. Walter and Faye have two children, Ronni Sue and Cary. Ed Kalb died November 29, 1945. Kenny and Walt attended school at West Bethel. In the late 1950's, at the age of 70, Ada built a rock house. She used her Ford tractor and a trailer to gather native white rock which she used for the house. It has four rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs. She did the work herself with some help from Dora, who handed rocks up to her. Ada lived on this sit€ until her death on December 2L,1970 at the age of86. She was truly a "pioneer woman". by Dleanor Herndon David lived in this home with a small addition to the north and west sides, until he was 45. He had 4 brothers and 1 sister. As he was growing up, he loved to work with horses, breaking many over the years. He and his brothers Orlen and Floyd drove a horse, pulling a homemade box type wagon to Prairie Gem school. When he later went to High School in Seibert, he rode a horse cross country 3 mi. to a point 4 mi. N of Seibert to catch a bus. 1 or 2 years he boarded part time with Paul Bramletts, who ran the Grocery Store and Locker. David worked in the store and also helped with the slaughtering and processing. The first half of his senior year, he was out of school a lot picking corn. He managed to get the needed grades to graduate, but was unable to attend the graduation due to the measles. While a senior, David met Betty Lou Hughes, a freshman who had moved to Seibert with her family in May of REID - HUGHES FAMILY 1945. Betty was born to Thelma Theadora F566 David Vinton Reid was born July 1, 1928, to Lewis and Lillian (Schermerhorn) Reid, 7 mi. N. and 2 mi. W of Seibert. He was born, assisted by "Doc" McBride, in the frnme home Reids had made from shipping crates that ceme in on the railroad. Sod had been put in all the outside walls for insulation. (Hobbs) and George Sylvester Hughes, at their home near Kismet, Ks., Mar. 22, L93L. She, her three sisters, 1 brother and parents moved to Masters, then to Greeley. Betty attended 2 years of school there. Her family moved back to Sublette, Ks. area where they were employed on a farm and ranch by Edwin Silas Gleason. Betty went to Banner country school, where she completed the 8th grade. Several of those years she would be taken to school in the morning, clean the school room after school for $.25, then walk the 3 mi. home, going to the pasture to take the cows or sheep home. When the menfolk were busy it was her job to milk the 7 cows. Later she had a horse nrmed "Patsy", that made the 3 mi. more pleasant. In May 1945, due to Mr. Gleasons purchase of land 5 mi. S. of Seibert, Betty, her parents and brother Clifford, moved to Colo. Betty completed 4 years ofhigh school and graduated Valedictorian of her class. We, David and Betty were married Dec24, 1949, in Colorado Springs, at the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Checking cattle on horses raised by David Reid on right of picture. Son-in-law Norman Eagleton is on the left. Elder J.D. Curtis performed the ceremony. David's brother Orlen and Dorthy Akers, a friend, stood up with us. After the honey- At this writing, Vickey, her husband Norman Eagleton and family, (Dawn, Carma and Jason) have joined in the family owned farming and ranching operation. Ray, his wife Julie (Nau) and two sons, Christopher Deon and Michael Ray are living in Glendora, Calif. Ray is employed in his Omni Chrome business owned with other partners. They build and merchandise Lasers in Chino, Calif. David and Betty have been active in 4-H, Church, Cattlemen's and Cowbelle's, ColoWyo. Polled Herford Assn., Western Polled Herford Assn., David served on the school board for 12 years, Arickaree Ground Water Board, Romoca Management Board, and the Kirk Cooperative Store Board. David holds the priesthood office of Elder in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, of which Betty, their two children and 3 of the grandchildren are baptized members. We have served many years as District Youth leaders, and Local Youth leaders, both have taught Church school (Betty for 35 yrs.) and Skylark leader for 25 yrs. We were presented the World Church Distinguished Youth Service Award, denoting 20 or more years of serving youth. We will be the 1989 National Western Polled Herford Standard of Perfection Show Honorees. We have farmed, raised and shown cattle throughout our married life. Our goal, once we decided to stay in Co., was to try to acquire a quarter of land a year, establish tree belts to improve the landscape of the area and to raise the best cattle we possibly could. In Aug of 1973, we moved to the house on land we purchased 4 mi. N of Seibert, on Hwy. 59, (the location of the Old town of Ho5rt, so we're told). In August 1986, we moved into the sawed Cedar Log home that David's parents built in 1950, in Seibert. We continue farming and ranching and enjoying friends and relatives coming for visits. by Betty L. Reid �REID SCIIERMERHORN FAMILY and turkeys a year for about 10 years. They remember going out as a family to hunt rattlesnakes around prairie dog holes, just to kill them, they used sticks, hoes, or whatever was available. Lewis and Lillian would go to the Eads F557 David and Betty Reid's 25th wedding anniversar5r on December 24, L974. L. to R.: LiIIian Reid (David's mother), David and Betty, Thelma Gleason (Betty's mother). Lake once or twice a year and bring home as many "carp" as the back of the car would hold without a seat in it. They would sell a few and salt the rest down to eat later. Sometimes the Reid family was joined by their neighbors, the Ernest Akers fanily and together they would go to the Republican River to play in the water. They would catch bullfrogs. Fried frog legs would be added to their picnic. If a leg happened to jump out of the pan, they would grab it, wash it, and back in the pan it would go. Before electricity came in, Lewis would spend time in the winter whittlin' wooden propellers to mount on poles on the house and barn. He used generators out of old cars to go with the propellers. When the wind blew he had good lighls. For years they butchered beefand hogs and supplied many of the Seibert residents until Bramletts Locker Business was established. We always had ice to cool the meat and for Lewis McKinley Reid, son of Alexander Campbell and Sadie Ann (Mote) Reid was born June 29, 1896, at Altamont, Missouri. Alexander came by wagon to Colorado, in 1905. Lewis, his three sisters and mother, cnyne by train in 1907. They homesteaded on a farm 8 miles north and 2 miles west of Seibert. In 1919, the Reid family moved 1 mile south of their first home, where Lewis continued to farm with his mother, after the death of his father, in 1920. Lillian Eleanor Schermerhorn was born Oct.24,1903, in Phillipsburg, Ks. to Phillip Gordon and Mary Ella (Tree) Schermerhorn. In 1921, she moved with her parents and family to a two-room "soddy", 5 mi. north and 3 mi. west of Seibert. She and her family lived in several different places in that area during the next few years. Lillian graduated from Seibert High School in1923. She taught school at Shiloh, Je-es, and West Haven Schools from 1923-1926. While teaching at West Fair Haven, she boarded with the Sadie Reid family. One of Lillian's contracts was signed by J.A. Boren, President and Lewis Reid, Sec. Her contract was for District #8 in Kit Carson County, to teach from Aug. 31, 1925 thru May 1926, at a salary of $100.00 per month. While boarding with the Reid family she met Lewis and they were united in marriage June 27, 1926. This union was blessed with seven children; five sons and two daughters. One daughter preceded them in death. Their children were: Orlen Wayne, 1927, David Vinton. 1928, Floyd Elvin, 1933, Roger Landon, 1936, LaVada Ilene, 1938, and Raymond Rex, 1946. Their sons and daughter were later married, Orlen to Irene Fuller, David to Betty Lou Hughes, Floyd to Margaret Williamg, Roger to Barbara Hoakenson, LaVada to Muirl Robinson, Rex to Peggy Hanson, Lewis' sisters married: Mae to Dan Sears, Suzi to Roy Cruickshank, and Opal to Ed Woods. Lewis and Lillian lived in a freme house that was built partially with shipping crates that cqme in on the railroad. For insulation they put sod in the outside walls. Some memories in the life of the Reid's are of hatching, herding and raising a couple thous- homemade ice cream, as we had a large ice pit. Ice was taken from the pond, or made from snow, and put in this pit. We surrounded it with straw. It would keep until late summer. Lewis and Lillian were active and really enjoyed the community country club. The group took turns once a month, getting together at a different home for the noon meal. They would spend the day playing horseshoes, other games or just visiting. Leland L. Reinecker, He served as Erecutive Officer of the Bank of Burlington for 38 years. October. Housing was scarce. They rented the furnished house belonging to Ervin and Ruby Hoyt at 489 Eighth Street, now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Guy McArthur. In the spring of 1944 they bought a little house across the street which they remodeled and modernized (it did not have a bathroom). They lived there for two years, at which time Lewis, Lillian, their 6 children, their they purchased from Thornton and Hazel spouses, and most of their grandchildren are Thomas the house at 509 Tenth Street. This would be their home for thirty years. Their son Norman was born in September, 1946, two months after they moved in. Leland was born May 18, 1913 in Quinter, Kansas. His parents were Leslie and Ellen (Brubaker) Reinecker. He has three brothers and two sisters. His father died when he was seven years old. The family lived on a farm baptized members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Lewis held the office ofteacher. then later priest. He was serving in this office at the time of his death in 1958. Four of their sons and their son-in-law are in the priesthood of the church, all of the immediate family are actively working in the church. In 1949, they moved into Seibert due to Lewis' failing health. Even then they established a good sized fruit orchard, owned and operated a Dairy Delite and maintained a large chicken business. They built a cedar log home in Seibert, near the school and water tower. They resided there until their deaths Lewis in 1958 and Lillian in 1986. They gave meaning to the phrase "As a day well lived gives joyful sleep so a life well lived gives joyful death." by Mrs. David Reid and the children attended country schools. After graduating from Quinter High School in 1931, Leland began working at the first National Bank in Quinter. On May 29, 1936, Leland married Dorothy Flora, daughter of Norman and Lizzie (Delp) Flora. Dorothy was born August 7, 1916 on a farm southwest of Quinter. She has four brothers and five sisters. She graduated at Quinter High School in 1934. They came to Colorado in 1937, living in Colorado Springs until January 1938 when Leland went to work for Charlie and Don Collins and Frank Jelinek at the Kit Carson REINECKER FAMILY F558 Leland Reinecker anived in Burlington in September of 1943, having accepted a job as Cashier at the Bank of Burlington. It was war time and John Ellis and Bob Montgomery were leaving soon to enter military service, at which time Leland took over the responsibilities of managing the bank. George D. Tubbs Sr. of Denver was president of the bank, and E.L. Weinandt, P.L. Bruner, and John Boggs were directors. Leland's wife Dorothy and daughters LeEtta and Mary Sue came to join him in State Bank in Kit Carson. During the five years they lived there, their two daughters were born at Eads, LeEtta in 1938 and Mary Sue in 1941. They lived in Lomar one year prior to coming to Burlington. During the years of World War II, Mr. Reinecker and the bank helped with the war effort by the handling of ration banking, the selling of bonds and providing financing of war production. Mr. Reinecker served as U.S. Savings Bond Chairman for Kit Carson County for 38 years. Following the war there were good times and years of drought, with rapid changes in agriculture and the economy of the area. There were many farm sales when families left the area. Then came the development of �deep well irrigation and the growing of sugar beets in Kit Carson County as well as improved production of corn, wheat, and beans. There was the development of commercial feed lots and the growth of the livestock industry. Mr. Reinecker and the bank tried to provide the financial backing necessary for his customers to remain in business. The family enjoyed the Rock Island passenger service of the 1940's, 50's and 60's. The last Rocket went through Burlington on October 16, 1966. One year there was a derailment of several cars loaded with new automobiles just west of the Co-Op Elevator. Leland helped organize and conduct an auction to sell the more than eighty damaged automobiles. Mr. Reinecker served on the Burlington School Board during the years when the Elementary and High School buildings were built. The Reinecker's three children graduated from Burlington High School. LeEtta graduated from Denver University, earning a degree in business. She lives in Denver with her husband Carl and four children, Charles, Michael, Mark, and Kristen. Mary Sue graduated from the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley with a degree in Home Economics. She lives in also one of Grandmother and Grandfather George Reinemer. by Mrs. Cliff Suffield RHOADES, HARLEY AND ESTHER F560 From covered wagon to jet planes is a far cry so far as modes of travel are concerned, yet Harley Rhoades, has experienced this marvelous advance in transportation. He was only 4 months old when his parents traveled by covered wagons from their farm in Rush County, Kansas to their homestead, the S.W. Vt, L9-6-42, in Kit Carson County, Colorado, northeast of Burlington. The fam- ily consisted of: father, mother, a daughter, Clara, (two years old), and Harley. Harley traveled through 7 European countries by jet air plane. In 1903, it took seven days with team and wagon to make the 210 mile trip, from Kansas to Colorado, and in 1961, it required 5 hours and 45 min. to fly from New York City to Glascow, Scotland, by jet. the home place until September, 1952, when they bought a home in town. Harley became a well known wheat farmer and was successful in the cattle business. The ranch is now in the 4th generation of management. Harley is best known for his happy disposition and his generosity, and willingness to accommodate his friends, in every possible way as well as his public spirit. He served 12 years as a county commissioner, and two terms as president of the Fifth District County Commissioner's Association. He also served about 12 years as the Sec-Treas. ofthe County Commissioner's Alumni Assn. He has been a prominent and active member of the Republican party, a member of the Bur- lington Rotary Club, President of the Kit Carson County Cattlemen's Association, which office he held for twenty-five years. He served five years as a member of the Colorado Fish and Gamg g.nrmission, and is the only member of the history of the commission that didn't miss a single meeting in the entire five years. The project of which he is most proud is his part in opening the Federal International Parks Highway No. 385, that reaches from Regina, Canada to Old Mexico. He was a board member of the C.P. school board. This school is in Denver, for the Cerebral Palsy and handicapped children. Harley's father was primarily a cattleman and when Kansas became so thickly settled, fencing and farming left little free range, so They have from 80 to 100 children in attendance. Kit Carson County Hospital was also built during the time he was a county Norman graduated from Western State he pushed further west, where there was College in Gunnison and served four years in the Navy. He is a banker, having worked six plenty of free range and grassland. The native buffalo grass was very nutritious and made especially fine feed for the cattle. The elder Rhoades usually ran between 80 to 100 head of cattle. Kanarado, Kansas was the family Market and trading place, it being nearer to commissioner and he deserves much credit for the building of this fine institution. He donated $4,000, which was his salary for four Burlington with her husband Phil Woodrick and sons Steve and David. years at the Bank of Burlington and seven years at the Saratoga State Bank in Saratoga, Wyoming. He, with his wife Beverly and daughters Kelly and Jill moved to Denver in 1986 where he is employed at Gates Rubber Company in the Credit Union. For recreation Leland spent much time playing golf. He helped with the organization of the golf club and the building of the new grass greens course. Mr. Reinecker served as Executive Officer of the Bank of Burlington for 38 years. In 1981 he received an Award from the Colorado Bankers Association for 50 years ofoutstand- ing service to banking. He and Dorothy are enjoying their retirement years in their home overlooking the ninth green ofthe golfcourse. by Dorothy Reinecker REINEMER FAMILY F559 My grandfather, George Reinemer, and his son George homesteaded in 1894 in Kit Carson County. George, the son, went back to Missouri, married and moved to Califor- nia. My grandparents are buried in the Flagler Cemetery. My father, Chris Reinemer, also took out a homestead. His brother Gus also homesteaded and remained in the area, farming. He is also buried in Flagler Cemetery. About 1918 my parents sold their homestead and moved away. My brother, Alvin, sister Lenora, and I were born on Dad's homestead. We moved around in Oregon and Idaho until around 1920 when we stayed at Nampa, Idaho, on an irrigated farm. My dad had a large oval landscape picture of his homest€ad which he kept. I now have that picture and them than Burlington. More land was acquired until they owned seven quarters, and in due time they "proved up" on their homestead. Harley says they burned some coal, but one oftheir chores was to gather cow chips for fuel. In the fall they would rake up the chips into piles, then with team and wagon they would haul them home. Harley went to Beaver Valley school and walked 2Vz miles there and back every day. The children would cut across the prairie years as commissioner. Through the years Harley's inspiration was his wife, Esther, who was a true helpmate. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary December L4, L977 and 60th wedding anniversary on Dec. 14, 1987. They have thoroughly enjoyed their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Son, Ray and wife Sara Lee; daughter, Helen; grandchildren, Gary and wife Kendra, daughters, Karah and Kolby; Judy and husband Larry, Larae and Logan; and Bobby and Jay Rhoades. by Ray Rhoades since there were few fences and roads in those days. They seemed to develop a keen sense of direction and in spite of the storms, there were no records of anyone becoming lost. But Harley remembers many of the children in the cold winter weather would arrive at the school crying because their hands and feet were so cold. Today's mothers would be stricken with the thought of their children walking2l/z miles to school. Even a few blocks here in town seem too much and the parents usually take them by auto. When Harley was 9 years old, the family rented the farm and moved to Nampa, Idaho, where they lived for three years then moved back to their home here. The father died when Harley was 15 years old, leaving him to take over the management of the farm and care for the mother and the rest of the children. He was in the eighth grade at the time, and his teacher consented to tutor him in the evenings so he could finish the grade with his class. He not only completed the grade but graduated with the highest honors. On Dec. 14, L927, he married Miss Esther Barnhart. They have one son, Ray, and one daughter, Helen. They continued to live on RHOADES, JAMES AND MYRTLE F56r James Edward "Jim Ed" Rhoades was born Feb. 14, L875, the first child of David and Hannah Rhoades of Alexander, Kansas. His father fought in the Civil War. On November 23, 1898 at LaCrosse, Kansas he was married to Myrtle Irvin who was born on March 16, 1882. Eight children were born to this union; Clara who married Jesse B. Jemes; Harley who married Esther Barnhart; Lester who married Hazel Baker Esther Hender- - Lola Winfrey; son; Reuben who married Walter who married Velma Rice; and Fern who married Lowell Cowan. One daughter, Florence, died in 1909 at the age of 12 of pneumonia. A baby son, Ernest, died in 1916 of whooping cough at 3 months of age. It was in the spring of 1903 when James Rhoades and his brother-in-law. Frank Irvin came to Colorado to look the country over, and they apparently liked what they saw, as �October 8, 1903 Mr. Adams sold his property storms. there. The squlue part of the present home was then in eristance as well as a stone well house, sod barn, sod chicken house and a 48 ft. well which is still at the original site. After moving to the Adams place, Lester and every Sunday morning the men of the neighborhood would meet at a knoll r/z mile northeast of the Rhoades homestead to look for their cattle. In times past, the Indians had met at the same knoll to scan the prairie for buffalo and then go down into the sand creek and creep up on them. After people started fencing their land with barbed wire, Jim Ed and his neighbors got together and fixed a telephone line on the barbed wire fences. To help pass the time on long winter evenings, Jim Ed, Jim Barnett, and Charles Neeley, who was the father of Mrs. Lyle (Blanche) Jo-es and Mrs. Haidee to Jim Ed, and the Rhoades moved over and Reuben were born. There were no schools in the area but one soon built about 3 miles to the east of them, the Beaver Valley School. Clara and Harley attended school there for 4 months of the year, during the summer. Later the Happy Hollow School district was organized and a school house was built 3 miles to the west, so the children attended both schools alternately. Wedding pictures of James Edward and Myrtle Eva (Irvin) Rhoades, 1898. in the fall of that same year, Jim Ed, his wife Myrtle and 2little children left Rush County Kansas in a covered wagon, traveling the 210 miles in 7 days which was something of a record at that time. Clara was about 2 years old and Harley was just a baby about 4 months old. He was placed in a hammock under the wagon with the hammock hung on coupling poles so he'd be in the shade. Travel had to be carefully planned to allow time for the horses to rest and find grazing and water. There were no highways, and adequate provisions had to be carried not only for the trip but to meet any unexpected emergencies along the way. The present site of the Harley Rhoades farm was then occupied by another homesteader, Link and Mary Adams. Mary was a sister to Henry and Charley Teman. Jim Ed homesteaded a few hundred feet across the road south of the Adans on SW % L9-6-42. He bought an old school house and moved it onto his homestead. They carried water from the Adams homestead. The Adams family lived there a shorttime and on It was all open range country in those days Because of a severe drought, sometime around 1909 to 1910. Jim Ed and brother-inlaw, Charles Shryack, who was married to Myrtle's sister Minnie, went to Idaho by train to look over the irrigation land they had heard about. Jim bought 40 acres, 6 miles south of Nampa, Idaho. He then rented his homestead in Colorado to Mr. and Mrs. James Barnett, parents of George Barnett and Mabel Teman, for three years and moved his family to Idaho by train. Walter was born while in Idaho. Before three years had gone by, Jim Ed had decided he did not like the irrigation and the big mosquitos that went with it, so he sold out to Charles Shryack and the family returned to Colorado. The homestead is located 22 miles northeast of Burlington and 17 miles from Kanorado, Kansas and is still in the Rhoades family now owned by Harley and his son Ray. Gary Rhoades and his wife Kendra Weeden, would play a game of checkers over and family are now living there. Gary is a great Grandson of Jim Ed and a grandson of Walter 9. They took wagon loads of hogs to Burlington. It was cold when they left home Harley. The sand creek running through the property originates in Bethune and goes to the Republican River about 10 miles to the northeast of the homestead. Jim Ed and Myrtle raised barley, corn and feed for the livestock. They had Holstein milk cows and horses. They battled drought and dust the telephone. At those times the children had to be very quiet so they could concentrate on the plays. There was no radios or phonographs, so the highlight of many evenings would be Charles Neeley playing his violin over the telephone lines and everyone would take their turn at the receiver listening. Tunes of the day included "Red Wing", "Casey Jones", and "Turkey in the Straw". They only went to town once or twice a year. Food items and staples were in barrels or sacks or "cut offa chunk", and ofcourse, stick candy. Jim Ed passed away in February of 1918 at the age of 42 years. He came down with the measles and it went into pneumania. When he died, the homestead consisted of 1,120 acres. It now encompasses 8,000 acres. Harley remembers one particular trip to town when he wae about 18, Reuben, 14, and early that morning, and the ground was frozen. After unloading the hogs, they loaded the 3 wagons with coal and started the long trip home. In the meantime the ground had thawed, the horses were tired from the already long trip, and the heavily loaded wagons kept miring down in the mud. Part way home a snow storm set in and it was getting dark. The two older boys had some anxious moments and thoughts before they got home. They were never happier to see home and never hungrier. No doubt there was a very relieved mother waiting up for them. Myrtle stayed on the homestead till October 1927 when she manied Rell Morrow and moved to a farm a few miles southeast of the Rhoades place. They lived there till 1949 when they rented their farm to Clarence and Sarita Chandler and moved to Englewood, Colorado. She passed away August 19, 1960. Both James and Myrtle Rhoades are buried in the Beaver Valley Cemetery. by Lola Rhoades RHOADES, REUBEN AND LOLA F662 Reuben Edward Rhoades, the 4th child of James and Myrtle Rhoades was born on his father's homestead 23 miles northeast of Reuben and Harley Rhoades with their hounds and some of the coyotes hides, 1927. Burlington, Colorado on Dec. 22, 1907 and has lived in Kit Carson County all his life except for about 3 years when they lived in Idaho. He started his first year of school in Idaho and in Colorado he attended the �all helped out by milking cows or any other odd jobs they could do. Reuben quit school when he was 15 to shuck corn. Wages were 3 cents a bushel and 50 bu. a day was a good days work. For enjoyment he and his brothers played baseball in the summer and their sport for the winter was hunting coyotes with hounds in their spare time. They would skin them and sell the hides. When Reuben was 16 he went back to Idaho with his Uncle Charley and Aunt Minnie Shryack, and they thought he would stay with them and finish his schooling but before time for school in the fall, he had gotten homesick for family and Colorado so he boarded a train and came home. He stayed on the farm helping his mother and the other boys. Their mother remarried in the fall of L927 to Rell Morrow. In December of that same year Harley married Esther Barnhart and Reuben and Walter stayed on the farm with them for several years. In 1932 Reuben bought a farm consisting of 480 acres from Ralph Graybil for $5,500. It was located about 3 miles east of his fathers homestead. Sec. 26-642. Wedding picture of Reuben and Lola Winfrey Rhoades, April, 1936. Beaver Valley and Happy Hollow schools. Tressie Lola Winfrey, the 6th of 9 children born to James W. and Jessie Winfrey was born on her father's homestead about 25 miles north of Burlington on Jan. 9, 1920. She has lived her entire life in Kit Carson County. She attended school for 8 years at the Cook School - Dist. 86 in Yuma County, 2 years of high school at Happy Hollow and 1 year at Idalia. Reuben's father passed away in Feb. 1918 at the age of 42 following a bout with the measles and pneumonia. Reuben was only 10 at the time, Clara was 17, Harley 15, Lester 12, Walter 6 and baby Fern just 11 months, but with their mother's help and coaching, they were able to stay on the farm and they On April 12, 1936 Reuben and Lola Winfrey were married at the Christian Parsonage in Burlington by the Rev. J.T. Burlington where they still attend. Reuben loved good cattle and in 1932 he bought his first Registered Polled Hereford cow from Frank Brannon at Rozelle, Kansas. Over the years he built up a nice herd of registered Polled Herefords and was the second Polled Hereford Breeder in the state of Colorado. He helped otganize the Western Polled Hereford Association in 1947 and served as both secretary and sales manager for several years, Reuben and Lola were both 4-H leaders of Plainview 4-H. In 1955 Lola had the honor of being chosen as Top Homemaker of Kit Carson County in the top Homemaker pro- gram sponsored by the Western Farm Life Magazine's home department. They put their first irrigation well down in 1955 and another in 1963. Their five children attended school at Beaver Valley, Plainview and Burlington. Two sons Joe and Doyle served time in the U.S. Armed Forces, Joe in Germany in 1965 and '66 and Doyle in VietNam in 1966 and '67. Doyle later enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1973 and spent 2 Yz yearc aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. The oldest son Paul was manied to Karon Deines in 1958. so Reuben and Lola Coulter and immediately moved to his farm. had a house built at 259 Cherry St. in Burlington and moved into it in May of 1959, turning the house on the farm over to Paul We refer to the 30's as the "dirty thirties" and the dust bowl days, so money was scarce and and Karon. They have 1 daughter, Lori, who is a legal secretary at Pryor, Carney and like most farmers they milked cows and depended on the cream check for grocery money. Things started getting a little better in 1937 and that year they raised a fairly good wheat crop. When the softball league was organized in Burlington, which was probably about 1937 or 38, "Happy Hollow" was one of the teams and Reuben played on that team for several years and later on he played on Ted Backlunds team called "Teds'Trojans". In 1938 or '39 a Sunday School was organized at Beaver Valley and Reuben and his family attended regularly till about 1954 when they quit having services there. They then started going to the Gospel Chapel in Johnson law firm in Aurora, CO. Joe is married to Valerie Rainbolt and lives in Burlington and has 2 children, Evonne and Coy. Doyle is married to Wendy Heyen and lives in Seward, Nebraska and has 4 children, Kimberley and Dustin; and 2 daughters from a former marriage, Lori and Shawna who live in California. Thelma is married to Dennis Clark and lives in Highland, Maryland and has 6 children; Jason, Joanna, Julia, Justin, Jonathan and Joy. Jean is married to Ron Weisshaar and they live in Burlington and have 4 children; Willie, Jeron, Tressie and Tyson. Reuben is still engaged in farming and drives out to the farm during farming season. Lola keeps busy making quilts for her children and grandchildren. by Lola Rhoades RICHARDS FAMILY F663 William Arthur and Wife Sara Richards The Reuben Rhoades Family, Standing: Joe, Reuben, Paul and Doyle. Seated: Thelma, Lola and Jean Rhoades, Dec. 1972. William Arthur Richards, also known as W.A. or Bill, was born in Coal Valley, Illinois, May 28, 1862. When a small child, his parents moved to Columbus City, Iowa where they farmed. During his growing years, Williem helped with the farming and went to school. Sara Daniels, who lived on a neighboring farm, became his wife. She was born December 11, 1866. They were married December 23, 1885. They were Welsh; both of their families cn'ne from Wales in the mid 1880's. In the late summer of 1886 William, Sara's father Henry Daniels, and four friends came to the great western country which was being opened to homesteaders. They came to explore with the possibility of locating in the new country. They came to Wray, Colorado �Davis, one of the pioneer families. There were no ministers, so there were not any church services on Sunday until a few years later. Rev. Petcr Rasmusgen and Mrs. Mary Bevier were two of the early preachers. The early settlers had to go to Wray for supplies, two or three neighbors going together for the sake of safety. The trip took four days. They bought supplies to last several months. Mail was brought to the Tuttle Post Office, by horseback or team and buggy, from St. Frances at first and later from Stratton and Bethune. The settlers had trouble with wild horses that would come and take away their horses. Mr. Richards followed the thieves one time, but was able to retrieve his two horses, after about three days. Sometime after 1895 Mr. Richards bought out a homesteader on the South Fork of the Republican River, which is now known as the Homm Hereford Ranch. Cattle, haying and farming were the means of making a living. Three more children were born to the family; Esther Lois, January 13, 1897. Esther William A. Richards and wife Sara. Their wedding picture taken December 1885. by train. Jim Dugeon, a Locator, met the men and the drove them in two covered wagons across the Plains some sixty miles or so south and some west. After looking things over, William decided on a place to stake his claim. It was on Spring Creek, which is now a part of the Tom Price Ranch. On September 16, 1886 he filed on a pre-emption and timber claim in Section 9 Twp. 6 Rge. 45S. After staking his claim, Mr. Daniels and William went to Iowa to get their families and bring them to their new home. Soon after their arrival back in Iowa, Williem snd $ars'. first child was born, a little girl, Edna Mae, November 28, 1886. In February 1887, both the Daniels and Richards families co-e by train to Wray. In an emigrant car they brought a span of mules, died of whooping cough in March 1898. Henry (Harry) Samuel, June 15, 1898; Sara Ann, December 7, 1900. William's wife Sara and the mother of his children passed away December 18, eleven days after little Sara was born. A wooden casket was made at the home in which the body was placed and then taken to Stratton for burial. After Edna and Ruth married, Mr. Ri- chards sent his little five year old daughter, Sara Ann, to Iowa to be cared for by her grandparents, John and Ann Richards. by Elva Richards Powell RICHARDS FAMILY F664 John and Mayne Richards On July 5, 1889, John Arthur Richards was born while the family still lived in the dugout in the Tuttle community. When John was seven or eight years old, the family moved to the South Fork of the Republican River. John attended school in the new rock school house which was built on an acre of land donated by Burt Ragan. The school district becane known as the Ritizus School District No. 48J. The district served pupils in both Kit Carson and Yuma counties. Mayme Ann Anderson was born at Husted, Colorado, August 28, 1891. Husted was a labor camp, which was located where the Air Force Academy is now near Colorado Springs. In her early childhood, the family moved to Iowa, but when she was about ten years old the family cq-e back to Colorado and settled in the Idalia area. She attended school in Idalia. Mayme and John were married December 21, 1910, at Wray, Colorado, When John was fourteen, he was exnmining an "unloaded gun", however, the car- tridge went off and the bullet lodged in the left leg below the knee. He was taken to the doctor in Burlington. The doctor did not remove the bullet and said it would not cause any trouble because it was lead. John always limped because one leg was shorter than the other. In the early 1900's the ranchers would take their cows with the little calves after they were branded, to summer pasture, open range. The cowboys and chuckwagon would follow the herd. It was very slow, taking most of a week. The chuckwagon and one or two cowboys would stay with the herds during the summer. The herds were brought back in the fall. The calves were bigger so the herds moved faster in the fall. During the early years of the Kit Carson Fair, John would bring three or four of his saddle horses to the Fair to enter them in the Relay Races. They were a fine string of horses in which he took a great deal of pride. John had some mighty nice buggy tenms as well. a mare, two cows and some household furniture. Upon arriving in Wray, they John and Mayme got their first car, a model T Ford, in 1917. John tried to drive his car as he did his horses, but it wouldn't stop when he hollered "Whoa!" John finally proved-up on his homestead which was about two miles west of the ranch purchased a covered wagon which was to become their home for several weeks. Aft€r traveling three or four days, they reached the place where they would make their home. They continued to live in the covered wagon until a dugout was finished (so called because it was dug out from a gide of a hill). When finished it was eleven by fifteen feet, plastered with native lime and it had a good wooden floor. Two children were born while living in the dugout; Ruth, January 23, 1888 and John, July 5, 1889. In 1890 a two-room and a mile north of the river. He built a two room sod house and a lean to, as well as a barn and a chicken house. He sold the homestead when the ranch was sold and it has become part of the ranch pasture. After the ranch was sold, John and Mayme lived on Bill Andrews's place for seven years. Burdine was born there August 25, 1926. The three older children were born on the ranch. sod house was built. Harry in 1920, David in 1912 and Elva in The first Election was held in the fall of 1888. William was one of the clerks who took 1,911. the Election returns by train from Bethune to Kiowa, the county seat of Elbert County. The voting Precinct was No. 88. The school district was organized in 1890. The first school was held in an old vacant dugout with one window. Mr. Richards wag In1927 John and Mayme moved from the Andrews place to the Burt Ragan place which is on the River. They lived there seventeen years. Robert, the last of the five children was born May 9, 1929. It was during this time that a very severe drought started. In the early 30's John did not have enough feed for his cattle. The Unitcd the teacher. He taught the first t€rm ofthree months for $25.00 a month. In 1892 a echool house was built. The desks and benches were all homemade. Mr. Richards taught a total of six terms in Kit Carson county, two of which were in Vona. Sunday School was in the home of E.G. States Government destroyed cattle because the farmers did not have feed for them. John and Mayme Richards, wedding picture December 21, 1910. Twenty six of John's cows were killed. He was paid thirteen dollars a head for them. It was during this time that he gave twenty-five �little weaning pigs for five bushels of apples. It seemed outlandish but there was no feed for the pigs. In the 1930's, depression years, Dad took an appointment with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration helping to administ€r the corn-hog progr4m. This was the forerunner of the present A.S.C. It was during the 1930's that John traded a truck load of horses, probably ten or more, for a new John Deere tractor. Times were changing, horses were being replaced for farming and transportation. After the drought cnme the dust storms. Black clouds of dirt cnme billowing over the hills and across the land. It was hard to breathe and many animals died of dust pneumonia. Wet sheets were hung over the windows to keep out some of the dust. to the weary A blessed re11ef, When upward lre pass To the kingdom of peace. hThen comes I^lhen free from the woes, That on earth we must bear, We'll say Good Night here And Good Morning there. --Wm. Richards Then came the flood after the dust storms. It was the last of May 1935, when twenty six inches of rain fell during the night, up and down the river it seemed to rain the hardest. The next morning the river was a mile from the south bank at the Ragan place to the north side. You could see cows, calves and horses floating down the river. The water was rolling which made it impossible for any of the animals to get out of the water. John lost fifteen cows and one horse in the flood. Not only was livestock washed down the river, huge chunks of fields and large trees were washed away. Trees would go into the water and not be seen for a quarter mile or so. The rain had stopped by morning. When the water receded sandbars had replaced the fields, all bridges across the river were gone for miles and miles and many roads washed out or gone. It was devastating. Grasshoppers were another menace. John fashioned a tin tank twelve feet long, eighteen inches wide and eighteen inches high in front. The back side ofthe tank was probably three ONCE A FRIEM - ALWAYS A FRTEND Frlends, what are they for? They do so much, and then some nore. Not only just for now' But they will always be somehow There; for always and forever, Cause a friend will not sav never' Because lf that friend is true, always be right there for you. There is so much ln a friendLy snlle, Even if it only lasts for awhile. Friends and dreams go hand in hand. For friends are dreams across the land. He will You will alvays have a place in my heart; l,le will never, ever grou apart. And behind the sefting sun, After all ls said and done, A friend to ne You wlLl aluavs be. --Kristi Raeann Homm Great-Creat Crandaughter of lJilliam A. Richards Hermes soon after it was established in 1908 until 1916, when she went to Grand Island to take a Business Course. Her first employment was with Carpenter and Schaffer Mercantile in Colby, Kansas. Ruth married Walter Andrews in December, 1905. They made their home on a farm and raised ten children. Harry, Arthur, Otto, Mabel, Albert and Melvin are all deceased. The living are Marvin, Dale, Elmer and Evelyn. John married Mayme Anderson in December, 1910. John remained a farmer all of his life. Their children are: Elva, David, Harry, Burdine and Robert. Harry married Ethel Reynolds in May, 1926. Harry attended school in Ft. Collins and St. Joseph, Missouri. He became a Veterinarian, primarily for small animals. Their children are John and Jane. Sara married Paul Smith. Two children were born to this union: Harry and Helen. Sara was a Bookkeeper for many years from which she retired a few years ago. Mr. Richards loved poetry and he has many short writings, which he left. by Elva Richards Powell Once a friend Always a friend. feet high to serve as a backboard. The grasshoppers would hit the backboard and fall into the tank which had several gallons of water and a gallon or so of kerosene. This tank was put on the front of a haybuck, and John would go out early in the morning and Mr. Richards sold the ranch to Elmer Scherrer in 1919. He made his home primarily with his son, John. The last few years he lived in Burlington. As long as his health permitted, he did volunteer work at the Kit Carson Memorial Hospital. Mr. Richards was 85 when he passed away in 1947. Bdna married William Andrews in February, 1904; however, the marriage did not last Iong. She then became Postmistress of Visibility was zero during these dust storms. The storm usually "rolled in" in mid-afternoon and lasted for a couple of hours, quite frequently it seemed. was used as a dance hall for several years. Music for dancing was usually provided by local fiddlers with Mr. Richards chording on a pump organ as accompaniment. Mr. Art Hill and his wife Daisy played for the dances many times, and there were others. RICHARDS FAMILY F566 "harvest" the grasshoppers. The yield was Iowa, at Burlington, as does her daughter, Helen Gerdner. Her son H€ury Smith makes good. his home in Arizona. John and Mayme Richards Much has been written about whatmen did In 1938, after going through the experience In June 1964 a meeting was held in of the flood, John and Mayrne purchased the Wise or also known as the Chase place. It was in the early days, but little has been said in later years) to organize a Telephone about the women's role in the settling of the West. I remember the days when the men on higher, flat ground. They stayed on the Ragan place until 1944 when they moved to the Wise place. Having lived on the river all of his life, John never got used to the flat lands, but the river had changed so much, it wasn't the same. John and Mayme lived on the Wise place until his death, January 2, 1959. Mayme continued living on the place a few years, then went to the Burlington Rest Home. Mayme passed away May 18, 1966. by Burdine Homm and Elva Powell RICHARDS FAMILY F565 William and Sara Richards Sara grew up in Iowa, married and had two children; Helen and Harry. Sara still lives in Claremont (which became known as Stratton Company. This new line was to be known as the Claremont and South Fork Telephone Company. W.A. Richards was elected as one of the directors. A line would operate from the C.S. Wellman Ranch south to Claremont and then to correct all the river ranches north of town as far as the W.A. Richards Ranch near Landsman. About 1905 Mr. Richards opened a general store as The Ranch Supply Company, which operated for several years. Along with the store the Hermes Post Office was established September 11, 1908. Mail was brought to the Post Office from Burlington by horse and buggy three times a week. Mr. H.O. Brown was one of the carriers from Burlington. Mail was distributed from Hermes until it closed November 15, 1919. A two-story rock and frame building housed the Post Office and Store. The Store and Post Office were in the lower part which was rock. The second story, which was frame, were stacking hay on the lower end ofthe Bar T, several miles from home. They didn'tcome home for dinner because of the distance and the time it would take them. A neighbor lady, Ginny Burrious who lived quite close, would come and go with my mother and us kids to take dinner in the old Model T to the hay field. Some of these deeds have been long forgotten, but were very important. Another important task of the pioneer woman was the role of mid-wife. Doctors were few and were not always available. It was left to the women in the neighborhood to perform the task. Mom went and did all she could at times like these. Mrs. Charlie With, a neighbor a few miles south, would also come and help. I remember one time when they cnms home very discouraged. The baby had died and the husband was very unhappy, thinking that more should have been done. It was all very sad. The husband made a homemade coffin and the baby was buried on the �RICIIARDS - LEGEL FAMILY F567 Harry was born February 6, 1920 at Hermes, Colo. Was the third child of John and Mayme Richards. He grew to manhood in the area, with his folks two brothers and two sisters. The teacher usually boarded at our folk place. Family intertainment was mostly literary, box and pie suppers all held at the school house. He loved horses, broke many horses for people around the country, picked corn and milo with team and wagon. His Dad bought a John Deere D tractor in 1932. That helped farming, but they still farmed with horses too. He remembers going through the Depression and Dust Bowl days. They would have big rabbit hunts starting at the Republican River, everyone would walk with clubs and John and Mayme Richards. farmstead. The pioneer woman was called upon many times to act as nurse. Mom told many times about the times she stayed with a neighbor lady, named Mrs. Wilson, who lived a couple of miles north. Mrs. Wilson eventually died of cancer. Mom and other neighbors stayed and helped doctor her, often staying for three or four days at a time before her death. Another thing that happened at our house that is well remembered was the time when one of our neighbors, Alvin Bardwell, came to visit. Bardwell was a bachelor who lived with his brother and sister, Earl and Helen a couple of miles up the river. It was in the spring and had rained for about three days. The roads were very muddy; Alvin came sticks working about 500 rabbits into a large pen. They would put kids in the pen to kill the rabbits. The coyotes were all killed off, that's why there were so many jack rabbits and they were destroying the crops for the farmers. Living through the terrible flood of 1935, seeing cattle, horses, bridges and debris going by, they were thankful they were on high ground. His folks lived just south of the Republican River one half miles on the Bert Ragan place and the water came up to their house. On April 1942, Harry was called to serve his country in World War II. He saw lots of combat action, 33 months overseas in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany with the 439th AAA, BN. and was discharged October 1945. He is a life time member of V.F.W. post 6491 in Burlington. August 3, 1947, Harry married Ruth Lengel who lived west of the Bonny Dam, one mile west of Highway 385. They were married on her folk place, Joe and Mary Lengel. Ruth attended school Dist. 93J "Newbon School" for her first eight grades and graduated from Burlington High School in 1945. After graduation Ruth taught first four grades of school in Smoky Hill one year and two years at Ritzius School 48J. After we were married we lived on his folks place and farmed with his Dad for three years. Our oldest son Ray Louis born June 8' 1948, our second son Roger William born February 21, 1951. When he was two we bought a section, 640 acres. It was the Bill Andrews homestead place, 21 miles North of Burlington. Katherine Alene born June 2, 1953, Charlotte May born July 23, 1954 and Donald Gene born March 26, 1956. The three oldest children went to Ritzius school til 1960. They then moved our district t,o Burlington. The children helped on the farm finishing their elementary and high school in Burlington. April 1954 we put in an irrigation well, flooding 250 acres, raised corn, feed, alfalfa and wheat. We milked cows, sold cream and eggs for many years. We are still raising cattle and hogs. ln t976-77 we put two sprinkler systems which made it a lot easier, raised soybeans and sunflowers one year. We have survived droughts, grasshoppers, and hail storms. In the blizzard of February 1982, we lost eight cows from snow getting into their lungs and hogs smothered in hog sheds. On Friday December 13, 1962 our Ford tractor tools and garaLge were destroyed by fire. Katherine married Wes Adolf November 6, 1971. They now live in Joes, Colo. where he works for Y.W. Electric. She works part time at the Joes Post Office. They have two daughters Jamie and Kimberly. Roger married Suzy Gartrell September 28, L974. They now live four miles west and south of Idalia, Colo. Ranches and farms 1,800 acres of irrigation and grassland runs about 300 head cows. They have four children Chad, Brad, Duane and Darla Kay. Roger has always liked horses and rodeos. he built an arena so they could have rodeos, the neigh- riding in on his horse just before dinner time. He was invited in and stayed and ate dinner. After that he complained he didn't feel well and asked if he might lie down for a little while. When he didn't get up, Mom went into the bedroom to check on him and found him dead. Dad sent Hubert Powell to take his saddle horge home and to notify his brother Earl. From there Hubert went on to the Art Pugh Ranch (the Kenneth McArthur place) to a telephone where he called the Coroner (at that time Orin Penny). The roads were so bad that Dad had to take a team ofhorees and pull the a-bulance in to get the body. In 1936, Dad traded for his first tractor. It was a Model D John Deere on steel. He traded a truck load of horses for it. Our school in District 48-J (Ritizius) (Rock School) was never more than a mile from where we lived. Dad got most of his education here, as well as most of his children. My Dad was always a gteat promoter and believer in education and served on the school board of 48-J for many years. by Elva Powell The Harry Richards family; Standing L. to R.; Katherine, Roger, Donald, Ray and Charlotte. Seated; Ruth and Harry. August, 1969. �bors and friends all enjoy it on Sunday afternoons and evenings. Donald married satisfaction gained in meeting challenges and hardships. Susan Weyerman July 30, 1977. They now live in Idalia, Colo. where he hauls water off gas wells around Idalia. He bought 480 acres west of ldalia, farms and irrigates that. They have three boys Andy, Jeffery and Kyle. Ray married Sue Boren June 3, 1978, and now live 2 miles North of Burlington on Highway 385. They own and operate their own business by by Editors ROBB - HUNTLEY FAMILY selling Lockwood Sprinklers and under ground pipe. Ray bought 320 acres of his grandfather John Richard's place. He farms and operates that. They have four children Gianina, Jim, Landon, and Tyler, Charlotte married Tom Myer February 13, 1982. They now live in Wray Colo. She owns and operates the Charlotte's Beauty Salon, Tom works for a farmer and rancher North of Eckley, Colo. They have two daughters Shanon and Starla. Ruth worked at Grace Manor Nursing Home for three years in 1969-1972. Her family and now their 15 grandchildren keep her busy, She enjoys outside work, chickens, gardening, yard and flowers. On August 1, 1987, our children and grandchildren gave us a real nice 40th Anniversary Party with 200 relatives and friends attending to help us celebrate. by llarry & Ruth Richards F569 Arthur Delmar Robb was born near Emden, Shelby County, Missouri, on February 22,L892, the eldest son of James and Maggie Robb. In 1901, the Robb family moved to Colorado and took up farming near Flagler. Mr. Robb attended elementary schools in the Flagler area and received his secondary schooling at Fort Collins. Freda M. Huntley was born on July 21, 1889, in a dugout on the homestead of her parents located eight miles north of Flagler. She was the first child born in the Flagler community. As a young woman, Freda filed her own homestead claim about 15 miles northwest of Flagler. On August 29, 1917, Freda and Arthur were married. They farmed Freda's homestead for the next six years during which time their three sons, Lester, Dale and Delmar, were born. ROBB - HIGHTOWER FAMILY F568 Ja-es Thomas Robb was born on December 22, 1865. Maggie Hightower was born seven years later on February 2, L872. Both grew up in Shelby County, Missouri, where they net, courted and wed on February 19, 1890. They established their first home on a farm near Emden, Missouri, where they resided for eleven years. Believing that the new country of the West In 1923, the Robb family moved to Bethune where Arthur taught school for two years. Returning to Flagler, the Robbs engaged in business briefly before Arthur resumed teaching in the Flagler School and in the country schools of Shiloh, Mount Pleasant and White Plains, all north of Flagler. In 1935, Arthur became the Flagler postmaster, a position he held until his retirement in 1962. The Robbs were loyal and active members of the First Congregational Church members of the Flagler Congregational where Arthur sang in the choir and Freda participated in the Ladies Aid. In addition, Arthur belonged to the American Legion and the IOOF while Freda was active in the Rebekahs and the American Legion Auxiliary. Arthur Robb passed away on September 2L, 1973. Freda continued to reside in the family home until her advanced age required her to enter the Hugo Community Nursing Home where she lived until her death on May 10,1983. In keeping with the best tradition of their families'pioneer heritage, Arthur and Freda devoted their lives to public service and the betterment of their communitv. Church. Additionally, Maggie was one of the founding members of the Flagler "Country by Editors offered better opportunities for a young family, they purchased a farm near Bovina in the fall of 1901 and in 1904 homesteaded adjoining land five miles northeast of Flagler. The Robbs were one of the oldest families in the Flagler area. Both were active in community school activities. Perhaps as a consequence, their three oldest sons devoted all or a part of their lives to the teaching profession. Both were faithful and active Club." In their later years they were unable to meet the demands of farming and moved to Flagler, where they made their home in 1941. James and Maggie lived in perfect companionship for almost 65 years, leading productive lives, raising a family, and enjoying the respect and friendship of the entire community. Ja*es passed away quietly on February 9, 1954, at the age of 89. Maggie died a year later, on July 29, 1955. They left behind five sons and a daughter: Arthur, Gilbert, Pearl, Shelby, Chester and Ella (Huntzinger). The life of a pioneering fa-mily offered little in the way of material comfort. Life was enriched by family and friends and by the impetus and growth. Mr. Roberts was unquestionably its leading citizen. Because of his reasoning powers and his common sense, people far and neat came to him for that advice and help, which he gave so willingly and gladly to his fellow man. In 1889, the second daughter, Inez was born, in Beloit. She was a good, bright, and dutiful child. As she grew older, she beca-e quite proficient in music. She lived with her family near Stratton. Mr. Rogers was instru- mental in the upbuilding of Stratton, Co. where he located in the spring of 1893. Inez attended the State Prepartory School at Boulder, from which institution, she was compelled to leave because of heart trouble. Thinking a lower altitude would be beneficial to her, Mr. Roberts moved the family to Rogers, Ark. Inez attempted to pursue her studies in the Academy there at Rogers. Again, her heart trouble checked her ambition, and she stopped. Finally, on March 31, 1908, she realized the end w{u} near and she died with a smile on her face. Father, mother, and three sisters were left to mourn their great loss. On May 19, 1915, Jr. J.T. Rogers, himself passed into the great beyond, at the age of 63 years, ? months, and 26 days. His was a remarkable, helpful life. A life long friend paid him this tribute: "He was the truest friend I ever had. I loved him as a brother. He was kind, generous, and faithful. He never refused a favor that he could possibly grant. He was the central figure in politics in Kit Carson County. He was not a hide-bound politician, but always stood for the man most capable to fill the office for which he was candidate. He believed in clean politics and would not countenance for one moment, fraud of any kind. He would work always for the best interests of the community in which he lived, and no saloon could be established where he had controlling vote." "He did everything possible to advance the educational interest of town and county, and was loved and respected by old and young alike." by Janice Salmans ROCKWELL, STEVE AND THELMA LOPER F57r Elizabeth, Grampa's mother, was born June 27,1879 and died February L9,1927 (from an enlarged heart, the doctors said). She married George Edwin Rockwell on October 20, 1903 when he got out ofthe Army, ROBERTS FAMILY F570 J.T. Roberts was born at London Mills, Ill., Sept. 23, 1851. Here, he spent his happy childhood days, and in the spring of 1866, he moved with his parents and family to Seward County, Nebr. He was married at Seward, Nebr. to Miss Letitia Murphy, Jan. 13, 1885. As time passed they welcomed to their home four daughters; Hazel, Inez, Suzanne, and Roberta. He and his relatives took claims near Beloit, Colorado, in the spring of 1887. He founded the town of Beloit, and gave it it's having served in the Spanish American War in the Philippines. They were married in Great Bend, Kansas and immediately moved to South Bend, Washington where they lived next door to Ed's (everyone called him Ed instead of George at that time) oldest sister Flora Turner. Ed and Betty had 8 children, 4 died at birth: Edwin, born 1905, one born on June 28,19L2 and one on April 12,19L5. These are the three that are buried in the cemetery in South Bend. There was a girl born in Great Bend on January 1917. She is buried in the cemetery at Great Bend. Mildred, Scott, Steven and Al are the living children. John Steven was born in South Bend. �ROSE, CLAUS F673 Claus and Gertrude Rose came to Stratton early in 1919 with their three children, Justus, June and Maye. I was four at this time and remember little of the move from Nebraska. My father, a real estate broker, had joined the Collins firm, at that time located on the west side of Colorado Avenue in the Linford Building. A short time later the office was moved to a location on First Street. Later Charles S. Wall and Claus Rose established their own real estate business at the corner of Colorado Avenue and Main Street. This office was maintained until my father left Stratton in 1947. Mr. Wall had died in the meantime. My father was on city council, school board, was a charter member of Rotary Club, County Treasurer of Kit Carson County for eight years, and a member of what is now the United Methodist Church in Stratton. Our Family photo taken at Steve and Thebna's 45th Wedding Anniverscry. L. to R back row: Ray Rockwell, Jay Rociwell. Second row: Carol Rockwell, Thelma, Steve, and Jan Rockwell. Third Row: DeEtt, Joe, and Jim Rockwell. Washington on June 27,1910,57 minutes to midnight, his mother's birthday (he was probably born in the hospital). He, too, attended the country schools he and his brothers and sisters had attended in Kangas, and at District 14 north of Great Bend, he made 1st and 2nd grades in the same year and could spell down in spelling bees and beat in arithmetic matches; the 8th grade girls would cry. He graduated in L927, the same year Scott did as Scott was sick and missed one grade. He lived on the farm south ofStratton, and on March 18, 1939 married Thelma Loper, born on October 2,LgL7, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Loper. Thelmawas the oldest of six children. Mary, Joann, Oliver, Gladys and Marie. Thelma's father and mother were married in 1915. They lived near Saint Francis and then moved to Stratton. After several years on the farm south of Stratton, Steve, as he is known, moved to Burlington, Colorado in 1939 and worked in the County Treasurers office, latcr being elected to that office, which he left to become Administrator of the new Kit Carson Hospital in 1948. Thelma worked at the hospital also. They lived in an apartment in the hospital basement. They retired on May 23, 1980, and bought a home at 391 Cherry Street in Burlington. Steve and Thelma had two boys, Jay Steven was born on May 23, L940. Jay married Janet Kay Bules on June 11,, 1966. They had two sons, Joe Steven was born on December 9, 1967, and James Dead was born on July 29, 1969. Steve and Thelma's son, Ray Allen was born on December 28, 1943. Ray manied Carol Lee Vallier on August 23, 1965. They had two daughters, Shannon Rae was born on December 14, 1968 and DeEtt Tara was born on July 17' 1971. Thelma Rockwell passed away. by Shannon Rockwell ROGERS, ORVILLE F672 Orville Rogers homesteaded at Bird City, Kansas. He traded his homestead for a printing press and started lhe Hearld of Independence at Bird City. Later he moved his printing press to Colorado and printed the Carlisle Reporter, Carlisle was on the SE Section 29-8-42. When the railroad came through it missed that town a mile. In April, 1889, he was publishing the Claremont Journal and when the county officials were appointed, they gave J.F. Murray's paper the Boomerang all the county news. At some early date he published the Kit Carson News at Vona, and went from there to Denver and started a suburban paper called The Brooklyn Blade. In May 1890, he was publishing the "Rain BeltFarmer" on the homestead of W.D. Bean on the SE of Sec. 20-10-43 in a soddy. This publication was the local voice of a new movement, the "Farmers Alliance". We saw two issues of the Rain Belt Farmer. Instruction to farmers were given and even instructions were given to the house wives in their cooking. "The Farmers Alliance would take no advertising from townsmen", was their declaration. The Ad.uocate was quoted in his paper and thanked for their greeting. Orville was a Spanish American War veteran and was with the army of occupation at Havana until the Cuban Republic was established. Orville also published the first newspaper at Claremont: the Clarernont Journal. He died at his brother's home in Lamar, Mo., on Jan. 15, 1936, of a paralytic stroke. by Della Hendricks father was never too busy to serve in anyway to assist people in time of trouble or heartache. He always knew what to say to ease the suffering. I remember a time when I had been severely burned, hearing his foot steps in the hospital corridor. I knew then I could prevail. He was that kind, loving, strong man. We could always tell when he was on his way home. He whistled as he walked along. At one time as a youth he sang in his church quartet as first tenor. He had a beautiful voice. Any successful man has a special helpmate, his wife. This was our mother. Always fust and foremost her husband, children and grandchildren. She had an enchanting smile and ready sense of humor, a heart full of love and understanding. In those early times our mother often went to sit with a family of a departed loved one. There were no mortuaries in the area at this time. She administered to any needs of the deceased after the undertaker had gone. She and Mrs. Williams were often asked to sit the late night shift. She also often satwith a comatose individual. When the family first came to Stratton, Mother did her laundry when a movie was in progress upstairs in the Linford Building. Someone had strung an electrical line from the movie house to our house. Mother had the only electric washing machine in town. Later our house became the telephone office. Mother was very busy with her house, her family, Ladies Aid, and she was one of the founding members of MSA Club. She was a member of the now Methodist Church in Stratton. I remember her stripping her flower garden so that there might be some kind of flowers at someone's funeral. In 1921 our family was blessed with the birth of a cherished little boy John Boyd. He was a loving little one who charmed and dominated all our lives for six short years. He died ofan accidental gunshot wound on April 29, L927. Our family has grown. I hope Claus and Gertrude could be proud of all their grandchildren: Justus Rose's children: Claus Raymond, F B M, Dallas, Texas; and daughters Joan, Trudy, Frances, and Delores; June's children: Marci Levi and Jerry Scofield; Maye's children: Claus James Hume, Judge of the State Court of Appeals of Colorado; Ralph Edward, Dean of Graduate School, Cameron University, Lawton, Oklahoma; June Guy, teacher at HiPlains School, Seib- �ert, Colorado; and Larry Joe, machinist, living in Loveland, Colorado. by Maye Blodgett ROWLEY FAMILY F674 He joined the C.C.C. When he left there, he and Marian Rivers were married. They moved to Camas, Washington where they were both drowned in a boating accident on the Columbia River in 1940. They have a daughter, Catherine, still living in Canon City, Colorado. I (Ralph) was born in Allen, Kansas, on June22,1913. After leaving school, I worked for various ranchers and farmers in Kit Carson County. Alta Sesler of Seibert and I were married in 1936, and we farmed until the war broke out. We then moved to California and I worked in the Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California. We then moved back to Seibert and farmed for a few years before moving to Denver, where we opened and ran service stations and auto repair shops until we both retired. Our children are Mary of Eastlake, CO; Charles of Lakewood, CO; and Beverly of Denver. Eva (Rowley) Walker was born in Allen, Kansas June 3, 1915. In her senior year of high school, 1933, she married Murray Walker of Seibert. She graduated from Seibert High School through a correspondence course with Professor Brown. Murray worked at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver for many years. Murray passed away December 9, 1975. Of this union 2 children were born: Michael of Awada, CO; and Linda, of This picture was taken about 1944. Back row: Pearl (Johnson) Rowley, Delberts wife, Lillian (Redwing) Rowley, Hollis wife, Alta (Sesler) Rowley Ralphs wife. Front row: Delbert Rowley, Hollis Rowley, and Ralph Rowley. Our father, Ernest E. Rowley, spent his life as a dryland farmer in Kansas and Colorado. He passed away December 18, 1939. Our mother, Mae (Castle) Rowley, moved to Denver before WWII and worked in sewing factories that had contracts with the govern- ment to make items used by the various Armed Forces. After the war she retired to take life easier. She passed away September 9, 1976, at age 90 years. Galena (Rowley) Dimmitt was born July 6, 1903, in Allen, Kansas. She married Dillman Dimmitt in 1924. They moved to Seibert from Stratton in 1929. Dillman had the White Eagle bulk plant for a time before moving to Limon and running Camp Pershing Restau- rant, Service Station and Cabins. They moved to Denver and Dillman worked for truck lines. Of this union, 3 children were born: Dillman, Jr., who resides in San Diego, CA; Dorman, who lives in Glendora, CA; and Darlene who lives in San Diego, CA. Galena is still very active and lives in San Diego, Ca. Edward was born March 31, 1905, in Allen, Kansas. As a young man he worked at various places in Kit Carson County. He went to the State of Washington and worked in a paper mill until he returned to Denver and went to work for a trucking company until he retired. Edward passed away November 2, 1984. James was born November 27,1911, in Allen, Kansas. He also worked for various farmers and ranchers in Kit Carson Countv. Westminster, CO. Glenn Rowley was born in Allen, Kansas, August 19, 1917. Glenn worked at various jobs in Seibert and Denver and he and Cecil Gates were married in July 1935. During World War II, Glenn went to Alaska to work for the U.S. Government. Upon returning, he went to work for a truck line in Denver, where he worked for 25 years. Glenn, Cecil and their daughter, Marlys, and family now live in Gulf Bteeze, Florida. Delbert was born after the family came to Kit Carson County, on February 16, I92L, north ofStratton, Colorado. After graduating from Seibert High School, Delbert joined the CCC Camp at Hugo and joined the Navy in January of 1940. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor and was there on the day of "Infamy". He mauied Pearl Johnson of Denver in 1943. After the war, he returned to Denver and like his brothers before him. went to work for a truck line and is still employed by one. Delbert and Pearl have 4 children: Glenn of Boulder, CO; Randy of Santa Rosa, CA; Carol of Golden, CO; and Nancy of Denver, CO. Hollis was born north of Stratton. CO. on May 21, 1922. He worked at various jobs prior to WW II. He joined the Army paratroops in L942 and was there for the duration of the war. Hollis maried Lillian Redwing of Vancouver, WA and they had 2 daughters: sharon of Vancouver, WA; and Kathy of San Diego. Hollis now lives in Conroe, Texas. by Ralph L. Rowley The Rowley family taken about 1962. Back row: Glen Rowley, Ralph Rowley, Edward Rowley. Front row: Eva Walker, Mae Rowley, Galena Dimmitt, and Delbert Rowley. Promised Land) Colorado. They arrived in Stratton on November 19, 1919. Their high hopes were to get Homestead Land. Dad had been convinced by his brother-in-law, Jim Edmunds, that there was still Homestead Land available; but by November 1919, there was none left in this area. The Rowley Caravan consisted of 3 wagons, t horses, 1 milk cow, household belongings, some farm equipment and the 6 children: Galena, born in 1903; Edward, born in 1905; James, born in 1911; Ralph, born in 1913; Eva, born in 1915; and Glenn, born in 1917. After a time in Stratton looking and trying to get Homestead Land, they rented the farm 9 miles north of Stratton, known as the Henry Slagle place. Their neighbors were the Lee Dimmitts, Ben Hemlins, Ben Degerings, Jim Edmunds, Milo Mitchems, Frank Beatties, B.K. Mosses and Russell Oldsons. It was on the Slagle place I was born, February 16, 1921. Our brother Hollis was born May 2L, L922. The children of school age went to the 1room Spring Creek School. That is, the ones who were not needed for the work on the farm. The summer of 1922 we moved to a place 8 miles S.E. of Stratton where our neighbors were the Harry Robinsons, Charlie Bloom and his sister Mable Bloom, Elmer Hulls, Frank Yellick, Bertha King and Henry Roush. South Pius Point was the 1-room school which Ralph, Eva and Glenn attended. The ROWLEY FAMILY F575 11 Year Trek To Seibert, Colorado Our father and mother, Ernest E. and Mae (Castle) Rowley, left Allen, Kansas in late October 1919, with 6 children for (The teacher was Goldie lverson, and later Queenie Ferris was their teacher. They later were moved to the North Pius Point School where Edith Powers was the teacher. In the Summer of 1927, we rented a place 6 miles south of Bethune known as the Brennan Place. Our new school was North Star and the teachers were Ruth Pishke and Alta Wolf. Our neighbols were the Jake Wolfs, Wayne Glazes, Ralph H rmricks, Charlie Perkins, and Andy Perkins. �When Ralph and Eva graduated from the 8th grade, they attended lst Central School, 12 miles south of Bethune. Mrs. Wolf became a teacher at lst Central and they rode to school with Mrs. Wolf. We then moved to the town of Stratton in RUDY, BENJAMIN AND AGNES r.677 1929 for 1 year, and in 1930 we moved to what I call "My Home Town" - Seibert. We made, our home in one of Jess Miller's Cabins, on the west side of town, for some time. We lived in various places in Seibert during the dust bowl years of Kit Carson County. by Delbert T. RowleY RUDNIK, EVERETT AND BERNICE In the back row are Ben Rudy and Wayne Barber along with their beet workers from Mexico. F676 F,i Bernice Emelea Hansen was born to John and Rosie Hansen of Seibert, Co. on Nov. 27, 1937. At an early age, the family moved to Vona where I, Bernice, attended school. I $ Ben and Agnes raised these vegetables from their garden in 1953. married Eldon Clark Misner December 8, 1951. After our marriage, Eldon spent 18 months in Korea and I worked at the Kit Carson County Hospital in Burlington, Colo- rado as an aid, and I particularly enjoyed working the OB Ward. To this union three daughters were born: Darlene Bernice December L4, L954; Star Lynn December 19, 1956; and Eldona Valerie Jo November 14, 1958. Eldon worked for the Colorado State Highway. He was operating a snow plow on Loveland Pass when he went over an embankment and was killed Dec. 11, 1958. On December 9, 1959, Bernice married Everett Rudnik of Cope, Colorado. A son was of Burlington in 1983. Steve farms and Darlene works with office computers. Star graduated in 1975 and maried Larry Burgess of Texas in 1980. They live in Grand Junction. Star owns and operates a beauty shop, "A Cut Above," and Larry is a real estate agent. Jo graduated in 1977 and married Jay Satterwhite of Illinois in 1979. They have two daughters and live in Rochester, New York where they are assistant pastors at Rochester. by Bernice Rudnik to North and South America. This migration continued until 1914. Among these emigrants was John Phillip Rudy, father of Benjamin. John Phillip was born September 27, 1881, Saratov Province, Volga Region, Russia. In the spring of 1891 at age nine, John Phillip sailed to America with his parents, John Peter and Katherine Daubert, and two younger brothers, John Peter and Jacob C. Upon arrival in the United States, they settled at Otis, Kansas, near the Conrad Moore family whom the Rudys had known in Russia. John, Katherine, and their sons farmed at Otis, Kansas, until 1894 when they purchased and moved to an established homestead at Ashley, Oklahoma (near Alva, Oklahoma). Phillip continued farming the "homeplace" with his father and on December 29,L902, at age 2O married 16 year old Mary Moore, born to us on October 11, 1960, Flint Eugene. In 1963, we moved to Northglenn and lived there for four years. While there I took a correspondence course and in 1964, graduated from American School in Chicago, Ill. We then moved to Burlington October 15' 1967. Bernice worked in the office of the hospital and Everett, in May 1968, became the owner of B&B Electric. Then he owned Donut King for two years. In 1979, Everett built his own business, Everett's Paint and Repair. Everett has restored two special cars: a 1923 Star and a 1929 Pontiac. Burlington High School became a big part of all of our lives. Darlene graduated in 1973 and married Steve Scott had protected the Germans from being drafted. As a consequence, hundreds of German families, mainly from the Volga Region, left Russia in the 1870's to migrate daughter of Conrad Moore. Born to this union at Ashley, Oklahoma, were Benjamin William, Albertha, and John Wesley. Ben started farming with his father in Oklahoma. On February 14, 1925, Ben married Agnes Laurel Kellnms, who was originally from Newton Stewart, Indiana. Four children were born to Ben and Agnes; Charles Phillip Rudy now living in BurA sample of beets gtown on the Ben Rudy farm. Mr. Rudy is one of 11 farmers in Kit Carson County who pioneered the sugar beet industry in the county with the advent of deep well irrigation. The immigration manifesto issued by Catherine the Great on July 22, L763, promised many things to the Germans who migrated. Some of the promises were: free exercise of their religion, freedom from taxation, and for the whole time of the immigrants'stay in Russia, they were not to be drafted into military service against their will. The manifesto added the very important statement that all the promises made to the immigrants applied also to their children and descendants, even those born in Russia. By 1871 a series of reforms by Alexander II abolished the special colonists status that the Germans had enjoyed up to thattime and put them on the seme legal status as the Russian peasants. When the new military service law was proclaimed on January I, L874, it eliminated the military draft exemption that lington, Colorado; Loyd Eugene Rudy living in Ojai, California passed away on September 28, 1984; Marjorie Lou Chambers passed away on March 13, 1960; and Karen Kay Baber living in Steilacoon, Washington. Ben and Agnes continued farming the homeplace until January, L952, when they moved to Colorado. In the spring of 1947, Ben and Agnes started farming in Colorado on two quarters of land purchased from Lester Basher and located SE1/4, Sec 32 and SW 1/4, Sec. 33. R45W, T9S south of Bethune. From 1947 to 1952, Ben and Agnes were involved in dual in Oklahoma and in Colorado. farming - hauling farm equipment such This involved as tractors, combines, plows, etc. by truck approximately 400 miles between the two states. At first Ben's family lived in rentals in Burlington, Colorado, during the working season. Then Ben and Agnes bought property at 142 12th Street and built a small onebedroom house adjacent to an existing garage. In 1951, they bought a half section farm �located, N1/2, Sec 3, R44W, T9S, west of Burlington in a three-way trade/purchase finally, Agnes became the landowner leasing her farmland to a new generation of farmers. that roamed the country. They were taken to by Agnes L. Rudy The corrals being built high to keep the horses from jumping out. The horses were branded and turned out on the range, and between J.N. Smith, Roy Sprague, and Ben and Agnes Rudy. The little house in Burlington and the two quarters south of Be- thune were a part of this trade/purchase. Ben and Agnes continued farming the land south of Bethune for five years, leasing it from Roy Sprague. As well as the Bethune land, Ben and Agnes also leased five quarters near the Correction Line, owned by Earl Geis, and four quarters just across the county line in Cheyenne County, owred by Milton Rudy. During this time Agnes supported Ben's farming endeavors by cooking three large meals each day during the summer work season for the hired crews. The noon meal was prepared, taken to the field and served there. This involved considerable planning and organizing by Agnes and required round trip drives up to 70 miles on unpaved county roads. Ben was always a conscientious farmer and was always eager to try new products and new procedures. The high yield of irrigated crops fascinated Ben and he was one ofthe pioneers of deep well inigation in the Burlington area. He had his well drilled January 22, 1955, at a depth of 310 feet and had the foresight to file his water rights in Kit Carson County. This filing proved to be wise because the water table did drop and some other wells could not be used to capacity. The method of irrigation used was ditch with aluminum siphon tubes. At one time he used a portion of his farmland to plant test plots of DeKalb seed corn. Sugar beets arived on the scene in 1956 and again Ben was nmong the first area farmers to plant sugar beets. To help the farmers cultivate the young beets, men from Mexico were bused to Colorado. Most of these Mexican workers spoke no English. They worked ten hours a day, five days a week, weeding and thinning the young beet plants with both short- and long-handled hoes. Each farmer was allotted three workers and had to provide accommodations for them. Ben and Wayne Barber shared their workers so the fields could be worked faster. An unused chicken house on the Rudy farm was cleaned and converted to housing for the six Mexican workers. The workers were very pleased with the accommodations because there was electricity and running water. Every Saturday during the hoeing season, Ben took the Mexicans in the back of his pickup to town to shop for their groceries, gifts for families, etc. On Sunday he drove the Mexicans to the local Catholic Chwch to attend mass. Ben was a member of the Methodist Church, a member of the Burlington Equity Co-op, and an active resident of the community for seven years before his death in 1959. Agnes has continued to manage the halfsection farm since Ben's death raising such crops ns wheat, corn, pinto beans, milo, and sugar beets; as well as upgrading the ditch irrigation to gated pipe and then to the present circle irrigation system. She has also purchased, improved and sold other property in the area. Time has completed a cycle Ben and Agnes started farming by leasing- land, they purchased land and did their own farming; RUEB FAMILY F578 Justin Rueb and Evangeline Schawe were married in 1944 at Speawille, Kansas. They lived on a farm 8 miles north of Dodge City, Kansas for 5 years. In August, 1949, Mr. & Mrs. Justin Rueb (Sam and Vangie) and their three young sons, John, Bill, and Pat moved to Colorado to a farm that they purchased from Lee Batterson, located 5 miles west of Stratton, Colorado. This is in the Vona School District with mailing address Vona, Colorado. The Ruebs rented farm land in the area owned by Fred Doll of Wright, Kansas. They were looking forward to living near Highway 24 and attending the Catholic Church and school in Stratton. A barn was built shortly after their arrival and the house remodeled in 1952. During this period many of our acquaintances from Kansas had already moved here, including an aunt of Vangie, Mrs. J.C. Kleisen (Loetta) and Francis Rueb (Tick), Sa-'s brother. Tick and Dorothy and family later moved to Nebraska. Children born in Colorado were, Elaine, Stan, Robert, Mark, and Justin Jr. All attended the Stratton schools and graduated from the Stratton High School. Sam and Vangie are still living on the farm. Four children are married. John to Arlene Weingardt, Bill to Paula Moser, Pat to Rita Pickard, and Mark to Kathy Jesson. There are seven grandchildren. the large corral built at Crystal Springs. There were cabins and corrals at this place. when needed were broken to ride. Crystal Springs, named by Ezra M. Lyon, my father-in-law, one of the early settlers of the community, is located on Sec. 4-9-50. It is an ideal place for a stock ranch, as there is an abundance of water and good grazing. There were no towns, no railroad, and mail was brought from Hugo by anyone going that way. Supplies also came from Hugo. Our amusements were horseback riding and dancing. The first settler to file on a homestead was J.R. Miskelly, who filed on the land known as Crystal Springs. The place is now owned by a company who are converting it into a pleasure resort. The second settler was Wm. Matthias; the third, Dick Moore, and I, Simon Rumming, was the fourth. I filed on a pre-emption in the fall of 1884. After quitting the cattle business, I settled down on our homestead, a short distance from the Crystal Springs property, built a reservoir and do-, and had plenty of water for all purposes. We organized a school district in Nov. 1887, and in order to hold the district we had to hold school at least three months. Miss Lyons taught for five years and Mr. Barney Killian of Kiowa, Elbert co., was the Co. Supt. of Schools at this time. Addie and Mollie Doughty, daughters of Ben Doughty, were just small girls, when they came here. Their mother had died and they assumed the duties of caring for the younger children, but that didn't deter them from fitting themselves for teaching and enduring the hardships of pioneer schooling in this county. Among the early settlers who found homes by Vangie Rueb RUMMING, SIMON H. F579 Born in 1854, in Hampshire, England. Came to Colo. in 1873. I, Simon H. Rumming started from Chicago early in 1873, with a group of people who were westward bound. When the covered wagon train reached Iowa, we began gathering a herd of cattle, buying up as we went along, so by the time we reached our destination we had quite a herd. Of course we could not move very fast so we did not reach Colo. Springs until the latter part of the summer of 1873. We came up the Platte River to Fort Morgan and then across the country to Colo. Springs. I saw my first buffalo on the Platte River in Neb., so we lived on buffalo meat while crossing the plains. We encountered a few Indians, but none that were not friendly. I hired out to the Stanley Bros. while in Chicago and helped them drive their cattle across the plains. Later on I went to work for the Pugsley Bros. called the KP outfit, and who had herds of cattle from the Republican River to the Arkansas River. They also had a large herd of horses. The outfit consisted of 20 cowboys, cooks, and chuck wagons. I worked for them from 1884 to 1887. I had charge of the horse herd, and it was my work to gather horses from the wild herds in the community were Jim Howell, B.F. Houtz, J.W. Hunt, Stephen Strode, F.H. and C.H. Lyon, and "Grandma" Eliza Doughty. We organized a Sunday school and church meetings in the school house. J.W. Hunt was our Sunday School Superintendent for some years and C.W. Smith, a "Holiness" missionary was our first preacher. Later he taught school in our district. Taken from early day writings. by Janice Salmane RUTTER, JACK AND MARY F680 Jack Rutter and Mary DeGraffenreid manied in Kansas City, Kansas April 11, 1947, Jack being the second son of the late D.B. Rutter and Myrtle of Plains, Kansas. Jack grew up on the farm and upon graduating from Plains High School was inducted in the U.S. Army in 1943, serving his country in the States and the Pacific and was discharged in April 1946. Soon after his discharge, Jack enrolled in the National Trade School in Kansas City, after two years, he completed his schooling in Architectural Drafting. At this time, he married Mary DeGraffenreid of Ulman, Mo., a small rural town 165 mi. S.E. of Kansas City, located in the resort area of Begnell Dam and Lake of the Ozarks. Mary �belongings, cattle, and horses to a farm 4 mi. W. lN. of Plains, Ks., which later they bought. In 1925, a son, Jack David was born. Clark and Jack attended school at Plains, Ks. Clark moved to Bethune, Co. and farmed for many years. After being in service during World War 2, Jack attended school in Kansas City, married and moved to Burlington, where he was in the Auto Parts and farming business. David "Bat" Rutter passed away in 1949 and Myrtle moved to Burlington the s'me year. She has enjoyed living in Bur- lington, always having her familyclose by and a host of friends. Her life has been centered around the church and is a charter member of the Burlington Christian Church. She enjoys the Senior Citizens Center and the fellowship with those that attend. Burlington has been good to us and she saYs, "I appreciate you all". by Jack Rutter Susan Rutter. Gottfried Weiss Farm north of Bethune, where we made our home. Dust and dry years were upon us. For the next three years Jack attended Infantry School in Ft. Benning, Ga. and Artillery School in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Another baby girl, Amber Kay was born Sept. L2,7952. In 1958 Jack went to work for King Motor Co. and was salesman for 15 years, so we moved to Burlington and built our present home where we now live. Jack was under sheriff for 9 mo. She is presently self-employed as a Building Contractor. Our children were born in Burlington and attended school in Bethune and both graduated from Burlington High School. Susan lives in Liberty, Mo' and has thee children, Chris, Hannah and Asher. Amber lives in Colo. Spgs., and has three children, Tabitha, Deidra, and Tarah. Living and being a part of Burlington has been a real blessing to us through the years. We are charter members of the Burlington Christian Church. Presently both teach and work in the music department, Jack having been a part of the Harmonaires, a male quartet, since being in Burlington. Singing for funerals for Amber Rutter. Hendricks Mortuary and other clubs and churches throughout the states and others, has probably been the highlight of his life. by Mary Rutter is the first daughter and third child of four' of Louie and Cora DeGraffenreid of Ulman, Mo. My father was a farmer and owned real estate in Lake Ozark. My grandfather, Geo. Riley DeGraffenreid was a road construction foreman on the Bagnell Dam. He also owned the White House Hotel built in 1932, which was the first business in Lake Ozark after the building of the Dnm. From Kansas City we moved to Sedan, Kansas where Jack was employed at the Fesler Implement Co. Later we moved to Burlington, Co. where Jack was employed at Sim Hudson Motor Co. Then Jack went into businees with Asa Calvin, which was known as Calvin and Rutter Auto Supply. At this time Jack was in the Army Reserve and was attached to Co. I. Colorado National Guard and served with the unit in Burlington as Company Commander. At this time our first daughter, Susan Carol was born June 18, 1949. She purchased land south of Burlington and in 1952 we bought the RUTTER, MYRTLE V. F581 Myrtle V. Rutter born Dec. 30, 1889 at Brumley, Mo. to Tom and Rosa Bond. One of 10 children they experienced good times and bad times, with many mouths to feed and send to school. Her father was a freighter, that hauled freight by team and wagons from Brumley, to Bagnell, Mo., which was a shipping point on the Osage River. She grew to womanhood in Brumley and operated the telephone office at the time. In 1910 she married David "Bat" Rutter and immediately moved to Pretty Prairie, Ks., where he was employed by Collingwood Grain Co. In 1912' a son was born to them. This young man was no-ed Champ Clark. In 1915, they gathered their family together, and moving their SAILER, CHARLES LESTER F682 Charles Lester Sailer was born April 20, 1898, in Whitewater, Kansas, to Charles L' and Sarah Brooks Sailer. He attended public schools in Kansas. He married Miss Mertie Lattimore, the daughter of James and Leona Logan Lattimore on April 7, 1926. Mr. and Mrs. Sailer were the parents of four children: Wayne, Dean, Marjorie and Vivian. Wayne married the former Shirley Schlickenmayer, and they are the parents of three children: Gary, Gail, and General Dean who served in the U.S. Marines Corps 1951-52. He married the former Ione Lynn, and they are the parents of a son, Bryan. Marjorie is married to Dean Stewart, and they have a daughter, Maridean. Vivian is married to Elmer Jacober, and they are the parents oftwo children: Dale and Beverly Sue. Charles Lester has farmed near Burlington since 1948, when he came here from Kansas and bought his present farm eight miles north. He farms eight hundred acres with wheat his main crop. Mr. Sailer built all the main buildings on his farm and has a comfortable home surrounded by trees. He has engaged in farming all his life, starting on his own in Pratt County, Kansas, in 1.909. In Kansas, he raised wheat, corn, and feed and also had cattle and hogs. His brand is Arrow X. Mr. Sailer has farmed during two dust eras, one in Kansas and one in Colorado. Mr. Sailer is a member of the Farm Bureau, of the Eastern Colorado Wheat Growers Association. and the First Methodist Church. He has known many hardships in his years of farming but has overcome them all with courage and hard work. Mr. Sailer is a creditable addition to the farming industry of Kit Carson County. by Janice Salmans � 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- R Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief histories of founding families of Kit Carson County whose names begin with "R." 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/507/Families-S1.pdf 39153db5a87895bc8fd144a359c2297a PDF Text Text belongings, cattle, and horses to a farm 4 mi. W. lN. of Plains, Ks., which later they bought. In 1925, a son, Jack David was born. Clark and Jack attended school at Plains, Ks. Clark moved to Bethune, Co. and farmed for many years. After being in service during World War 2, Jack attended school in Kansas City, married and moved to Burlington, where he was in the Auto Parts and farming business. David "Bat" Rutter passed away in 1949 and Myrtle moved to Burlington the s'me year. She has enjoyed living in Bur- lington, always having her familyclose by and a host of friends. Her life has been centered around the church and is a charter member of the Burlington Christian Church. She enjoys the Senior Citizens Center and the fellowship with those that attend. Burlington has been good to us and she saYs, "I appreciate you all". by Jack Rutter Susan Rutter. Gottfried Weiss Farm north of Bethune, where we made our home. Dust and dry years were upon us. For the next three years Jack attended Infantry School in Ft. Benning, Ga. and Artillery School in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Another baby girl, Amber Kay was born Sept. L2,7952. In 1958 Jack went to work for King Motor Co. and was salesman for 15 years, so we moved to Burlington and built our present home where we now live. Jack was under sheriff for 9 mo. She is presently self-employed as a Building Contractor. Our children were born in Burlington and attended school in Bethune and both graduated from Burlington High School. Susan lives in Liberty, Mo' and has thee children, Chris, Hannah and Asher. Amber lives in Colo. Spgs., and has three children, Tabitha, Deidra, and Tarah. Living and being a part of Burlington has been a real blessing to us through the years. We are charter members of the Burlington Christian Church. Presently both teach and work in the music department, Jack having been a part of the Harmonaires, a male quartet, since being in Burlington. Singing for funerals for Amber Rutter. Hendricks Mortuary and other clubs and churches throughout the states and others, has probably been the highlight of his life. by Mary Rutter is the first daughter and third child of four' of Louie and Cora DeGraffenreid of Ulman, Mo. My father was a farmer and owned real estate in Lake Ozark. My grandfather, Geo. Riley DeGraffenreid was a road construction foreman on the Bagnell Dam. He also owned the White House Hotel built in 1932, which was the first business in Lake Ozark after the building of the Dnm. From Kansas City we moved to Sedan, Kansas where Jack was employed at the Fesler Implement Co. Later we moved to Burlington, Co. where Jack was employed at Sim Hudson Motor Co. Then Jack went into businees with Asa Calvin, which was known as Calvin and Rutter Auto Supply. At this time Jack was in the Army Reserve and was attached to Co. I. Colorado National Guard and served with the unit in Burlington as Company Commander. At this time our first daughter, Susan Carol was born June 18, 1949. She purchased land south of Burlington and in 1952 we bought the RUTTER, MYRTLE V. F581 Myrtle V. Rutter born Dec. 30, 1889 at Brumley, Mo. to Tom and Rosa Bond. One of 10 children they experienced good times and bad times, with many mouths to feed and send to school. Her father was a freighter, that hauled freight by team and wagons from Brumley, to Bagnell, Mo., which was a shipping point on the Osage River. She grew to womanhood in Brumley and operated the telephone office at the time. In 1910 she married David "Bat" Rutter and immediately moved to Pretty Prairie, Ks., where he was employed by Collingwood Grain Co. In 1912' a son was born to them. This young man was no-ed Champ Clark. In 1915, they gathered their family together, and moving their SAILER, CHARLES LESTER F682 Charles Lester Sailer was born April 20, 1898, in Whitewater, Kansas, to Charles L' and Sarah Brooks Sailer. He attended public schools in Kansas. He married Miss Mertie Lattimore, the daughter of James and Leona Logan Lattimore on April 7, 1926. Mr. and Mrs. Sailer were the parents of four children: Wayne, Dean, Marjorie and Vivian. Wayne married the former Shirley Schlickenmayer, and they are the parents of three children: Gary, Gail, and General Dean who served in the U.S. Marines Corps 1951-52. He married the former Ione Lynn, and they are the parents of a son, Bryan. Marjorie is married to Dean Stewart, and they have a daughter, Maridean. Vivian is married to Elmer Jacober, and they are the parents oftwo children: Dale and Beverly Sue. Charles Lester has farmed near Burlington since 1948, when he came here from Kansas and bought his present farm eight miles north. He farms eight hundred acres with wheat his main crop. Mr. Sailer built all the main buildings on his farm and has a comfortable home surrounded by trees. He has engaged in farming all his life, starting on his own in Pratt County, Kansas, in 1.909. In Kansas, he raised wheat, corn, and feed and also had cattle and hogs. His brand is Arrow X. Mr. Sailer has farmed during two dust eras, one in Kansas and one in Colorado. Mr. Sailer is a member of the Farm Bureau, of the Eastern Colorado Wheat Growers Association. and the First Methodist Church. He has known many hardships in his years of farming but has overcome them all with courage and hard work. Mr. Sailer is a creditable addition to the farming industry of Kit Carson County. by Janice Salmans �SALMANS FAMILY F583 Herschel ran the farm and Gene Elsev worked here part-time until 194?. Life on this farm meant happy times as well as hard work. Week-ends were times of social gatherings and meals with neighbors and friends. Some of them were: the Harris', the Clappers, the Pickards, the Brownings, the Burds, the Briggs, the Davises and the Kvestads. They shared meals, attended dances, and played cards. Bert and Roxie Kvestad drove in the yard one day and Bert said "Let's go for a "ride". Herschel inquired if a suitcase was needed but Bert didn't "tink so", they would just buy what they needed along the way! They ended up in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. They had many such times together until 1956 when Roxie becarne very ill. Gwen sat with her in the hospital until her death. Bert acted like and was treated like a grandfather in this family and therefore the mention of him in our story. Many people even thought him to be a family member when in fact he was not. Herschel and Gwen joined the St. Charles Catholic Church in 1964 where Herschel belonged to the Knights of Columbus. He also belonged to the Vona Lions Club and served on the Vona School board for about 12 vears. Gwendolyn belonged to the Vona Worthwhile Homemakers Club and cooked at the it{,.';:r..,.:. Herschel and Gwendolyn Salqrans and sons Gary and Lyndell. March ZO, rg49. Herschel Harold Salmans was born April 10, 1911 in Burdett, Ks. to his parents Walter Wm. and Hattie Sarah Salmans. He was the youngest of 5 children: LoRee Dorthy, 1901, Harry LeRoy, 1905, Irene Leona, 1907, and Lucille Sarah Henrietta, 1909. Herschell grew up in Kansas and was very active in sports at Bazine High School where he graduated in 1930. On Aug. 9, 1939 Herschel married Gwendolyn Laree Riley of Gove, Ks. They lived at Dighton, Ks. and moved on to Jetmore and lived there until 1943 when they bought the C.A. Monroe farm, 5 mi north of Vona, Colo. The house was built around 1919 or later by Mr. Monroe and some of his sons out of sod and was later stuccoed on the outside. When Gwen and Herschel moved into the house you could see the rooffrom the inside and down thru the floor boards to the basement. They made aceiling, and putdown a linoleum on the floor. A neighbor, Mr. Lester Yonts, helped Herschel cut an archway in between the kitchen and a living room, There were only four rooms in the house and they had to carry in all the water they used. On Mar. 20, 1945 their first son, Gary Gail was born weighing 10 lbs. and was delivered by Dr. V.M. Hewitt. Two years Iater on Sept. 9, another son Lyndell Lee, was born, weighing in at 13 lbs. They were both born at home. On the sa-e day Lyndell was born, Herschel and some neighbors, Billy and Roy Hanis and Bert Kvestad were putting up feed when Herschel was bitten by a rattlesnake and taken into Vona to see the doctor. After some cutting and pouring on of kerosene, it was decided to take him to the hospital in Burlington. Wilma Wilkerson (Woller) came out to help Gwen with the children. Gwen's mother Anna Riley was called and told "Herschel is in the hospital and we have a new baby boy!" Vona School. On April 9, 1969 Herschel died of a heart attack. Gwen moved to Stratton and on Mar. 20, 1971 she married Mr. O. C. Malone, in the home of Gary Salmans. In 1964 Gary Salmans had married Diane Werner and they made thier home in Stratton, Co. They had two sons David Dean, 1965 and Michael Marc, 1971. Gary worked at the Foster Lumber Yard, drove a bus for the Stratton School, worked in his own Shamrock Station, and later purchased his garage called Gary's Wrecker Service. In 19?8 Gary was killed in an auto accident, just 3 miles from the farm North of Vona. Diane remarried Al Kloeckner in 1980 and later moved to Mosca, Colorado. In 1966, Lyndell Salmans married Janice Wolkensdorfer and they made their home in Canon City, Colo. where they lived until Herschell Salmans death in 1969, when they moved to the farm North of Vona, and are now living and raising three children. James Jay 1969, Tronette Lee 1972, and Herschell Harold 1975. Lyndell farms and raises wheat and cattle. by Janice Salmans SALMANS WOLKENSDORFER FAMILY F584 Lyndell Lee Salmans was born Sept. 9, L947 at Vona, Colo., to Herschel and Gwendolyn Salmans. Lyndell attended the Vona School for 12 years and graduated in 1965. He was active in all sports and later attended the National Electronics Institute in Denver, Colo. On Nov. 5, 1966, Lyndell was united in marriage to Janice Wolkensdorfer. We moved to Canon City to a farm. This farm belonged to Lyndell's grandfather, Walter Salmans. Lyndell worked those 12 acres parttime and also worked for Canon Con- crete. I worked in a Beauty Salon and in lg6? I purchased in partnership a shop we called "Cut'N'Curl", on Main Street. When Lyndell's father passed away in 1969, we decided to move back to the farm North of Vona, and help his mother. At this time we adopted a son, James Jay born Nov. 1, 1969. Two years later we had a baby girl, Tronette Lee, May L4, L972, born on Mother's Day. On March 5, 19i15, we had our last son, Herschell Harold Salmans, (nnmsd aftet his grandfather). Raising children on the farm can be both very trying and rewarding. It takes a lot of beef, hemburgers, and pizzas to feed them. It's getting harder to accomplish this when a box of cereal at the store is $3.29 and a bushel of wheat is only worth $2.76. Our children attend the Hi Plains Schools, which are consolidated schools. Lyndell belongs to the Vona Lions Club and has served as President of this organization. We are active in the St. Charles Catholic Church in Stratton. From 19?1 to lg?b I owned the Beauty Bonnet Salon in Stratton, and belonged to the National Hairdressers Assn. Lyndell served on the Hi Plains School Board for 5 years. ln1977, Karen Smith of Burlington, wrote a letter to newspapers about the plight of farmers. It stemmed a growing ebb of concern and developed into the organization of the "P.A.A." (Partners in Action for Agriculture). Some of the people involved in the beginning were: Karen & Larry Smith, Sandee & Roland Strobel, Shirley & Vern Bauer, all of Burlington, Florine & Elvin Bauer, Seibert Patsy & Mike Eisenbart, Stratton, Janice & Lyndell Salmans, Vona, Carolyn & Darreld Dizmang, Mary & Phil Schlnmal, Ben Duell, all of Goodland, Ks. At one meeting we held in Goodland, over 1,200 people attended, including Newspeople from Radio and Television J. Evans Goulding, Colo. Commissioner of Agriculture, Kansas State Senator, Richard Gannon, Mrs. Frances Carper, a representative ofSenator Floyd Haskell, were among the guest speakers. "Farmers Seek Immediate Relief'was in the headlines, and our theme was "We farmers as business people, have a right to fair prices and fair terms." At least for a time we were given some respect for our profession. We even participated in a "Tractor Cade" and drove our tractor (a 560 IH), right up to the steps of the State Capitol Building in Denver. We turned a few heads at this unusual sight: chickens, goats, etc. and all kinds of farm equipment on the Capitol grounds. We were proud to be a part of it all. In 1983, Lyndell and I decided to remodel this old sod house of ours, and put in a bathroom. We had done without one in the house all these years. A neighbor, Joe Gurley, did the carpentry work. Every day Joe would build something, and everynightLyndell, the kids, and I would tear out another wall. We hauled several truckloads of dirt out of the house. We thought about how hard C.A. Monroe and his sons must have worked to haul all this sod in to build this house. But when we had finished, it was well worth the effort. We are still living here in 1982, and pray to continue to do so in the years ahead. by Janice Salnans �mother came from before she moved north of Burlington. During his life my dad was a farmer, blacksmith, school board member, road boss and worker, raised and sold purebred shorthorn bulls, and was a painter. During his later years when he couldn't do much else, he ...,. aa)):.:. ::):'- t*i, l',i" r',!r.; ;;,, ..; '4. repaired furniture. He is 88 years old now and still plans to "paint the roof of his house one trr t:ltt more time", We lived through dust storms, droughts, grasshoppers and crop failures. We ate wild duck, wild rabbits, lambs quarters, cooked wheat, and other things too, of course, including lots of "home-grown" food. But I don't look back on life as unhappy or deprived. If we were poor we didn't know it. Our parents made little things fun for us. Like taking us to a pond in the pasture to play in water after a rain, or my dad drowning out baby prairie dogs for us. They made cute pets, and nobody worried about rabies then. I remember once three other families, Mr. and Mrs. Gerdes, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Schaal and Mr. and Mrs. Roy McCarl were visiting. Each family had two girls the ages of my sister and me. My dad put 4 boards across a large wooden roller he had so we could all 8 teetertot at once. Simple, but oh, what fun. My mother had a big garden every year. In The Salmans fanily home when it was first bought in 1943. 5 miles north and 7z miles east of Vona, Co. SANDSTEDT. DILLON FAMILY jewelry. He is married to Zelka Herencic, whom he met while a manager of a McDonald's in Chicago. ln L977, they left Chicago F585 Carlos K. Dillon and Pauline Sandstedt were married at Burlington, Colorado, on April 9, 1939. Carlos was working at Reed Motor Company, and Pauline at King's Variety Store. In 1943, they moved to a farm near Carlos' parents, two and one half miles west of Bethune and one forth mile north of Hwy 24. During 1944 their daughter LoRayne was born, and they left the farm to live in Stratton to open their own restaurant in North Platte, Nebraska. The sold the Eagle Inn in 1981. LoRayne lives in Rockford, Illinois, where she manages a temporary help service which provides employees for both the office and the plant. She nor Jack have children. Carlos and Pauline live in an earth home outside Grant, Nebraska. They are active in the community there, and Carlos keeps his business interest alive through selling gold and silver coins. by Carlos Dillon and operated the hardware business they had bought from Barney Johnson. Their partners in the business were Phyllis and Bob Eb- erhart. On May 7, L947, a new building on Main Street housed the fullline hardware and furniture business. In 1949, Massy Harris implements and parts were added. In 1950' they purchased five GMC buses to operate the Stratton School District R4 routes. Bill Wolf, Leo Gagnon, Charles Rhea and Alvin Menke worked in the shop and were the bus drivers. The hardware was sold on February 15, 1953, to Ralph and Dean Grubbs. They retained ownership of the buses. Carlos and Pauline built a home two blocks south of Highway 24in 1949. They lived there until their move to Denver in 1960. Their second child, Jack, was born in 1954. In Denver, Carlos owned and operated his own businesses. LoRayne was graduated from Littleton High School in 1962. She attended one ye{u of college in Mexico City and one year at Mills college in Oakland, California. Carlos, Pauline and Jack moved to Oakley, Kansas, in 1967 and ultimately to North Platte, Nebraska, where Carlos sold machinery for Lepp and Osterloh. Jack was graduated form North Platte High School. Jack currently lives in Madrid, Nebraska, where he designs and builds fine silver SCHAAL FAMILY F586 San Schaal Jr. I have been asked to write something about my parents, Sam and Ruth Schaal. They lived 8 miles north and west of Burlington. My dad, Sam S. Schaal Jr., was born in 1899 and was raised north of Bethune. My mother, Ruth Church was born in Nebraska, but soon moved to Colo. and was raised south of Stratton where she graduated from First Central School. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Church had a country store by First Central for awhile. My parents met in 1925, while she was teaching school in his neighborhood, and they were married in 1926, and Lila beca-e the parents of 6 children Taylor, Opal Beeson (died in 1969), Leonard Schaal, Bob Schaal (died in 1979), Garry Marvin Schaal, and Glenn Schaal (died in 1968). Strangely enough, Opal married Clark Beeson in June of 1947,and I married Duane Taylor in October of 1947, both young men who lived in the same neighborhood our the garden there was a "vine-hougs" g frame covered with screen. Vines were plantgrew and covered it, and they around ed all the sides and top of it. Some things in the garden were off limits, but we could pick wonder-berries, ground-berries, holly hock seeds, and sometimes carrots and tomatoes and have a "picnic" in the vine house. I don't have much actual history as far as dates, but during the years my dad told lots of stories about the younger days of him and his brothers and sisters. Some were pretty ornery, but perhaps less harmful than the drugs and alcohol of today. One story he told me was of a party a group of young people had. There were more people than chairs so the parents sent some one to the chicken house to bring in some orange crates to use for chairs. Soon the people sitting on the orange crates were scratching and itching from chicken mites on the boxes. Soon everyone else was itching and scratching, too. Another time he told of a widow neighbor lady asking him and his brother John, when they were about 12 and 14, to come to her house and "tramp" sauerkraut for her. They did, and she gave them sauer-kraut to take home in appreciation for their help. They took it home, but wouldn't eat it. When he was about 13 and his brothers John and Jake 15 and 16, they decided to go swimming in a pond that was covered with ice. They had to chop a hole in the ice, and just chopped it big enough to dip in. His brothers didn't want him to go as they were afraid they would all get into trouble with their parents if they found out, but he insisted so they let him. Each jumped in the hole, but a 30 second dip was long enough, and he never begged to go again. by Lila Taylor �raised about 180 turkeys and sold them to Norbest each fall. Until the mid-40s we used horses to haul feed into stacks and out to cattle, to cultivate small plots and to handpick corn. Frank and Dash were Dad's favorite team of grays; Molly and Queen were mother and daughter; Queen's foal Tom and SCHAAL FAMILY F687 Sam Schaal, Jr. One time he and 3 other young men were playing cards at the home of Ed Knodel, a friend and neighbor, who later became his brother-in-law. They decided that the two who lost would go to the nearby home of a neighbor who was hard to get along with, and take and butcher a chicken and they would cook and eat it. The two who lost went out to Ed's chicken house and killed one of his chickens and went out to a field to pick the feathers, before taking it to the house. Later, Ed discovered one of his chickens wag missing, and worse yet, it was his only laying hen. Wedding receptions were very informal, and everyone went. At one, two young men, Fred Schaal and Fred Schlichenmayer slipped into the kitchen and took all the cakes. I never did hear what happened when there were no cakes for the reception. That evening when they got home, several young bachelors found a cake in their car. A bunch ofguys would get together for hair cuts. They would save the hair and put it in a cloth sugar sack. They would sew the sack shut and drop in on the road. Someone coming along would see it and stop, thinking they had found a full sack of sugar. When he was batching on his farm north of Burlington he went to the Frank Chandler home one butchering day. Some of the Chandler children put the pig tail in a sack in his wagon for him to find when he got home. He took it to town and since it was near Christmas had Ned Brown, a store owner gift wrap and address it to the Chandler family, and mailed it. When it came, the Chandler children argued as to who could open it, but when they did it was their pig tail, come back home! A few days after my parents got married, my dad went to Burlington and parked his car in front of Ned Brown's hardware store. While he was doing his other shopping, Ned Brown, a friend and a guy who liked jokes, and his hired man tied a baby bed to the top of my dad's car. When my dad came back he warl very embarrassed and tried to get it off, but it was wired on very securely, and he couldn't get it off in a hurry. So he jumped into his car and went home. Later on, when I ce-e along they were glad they had it. by Lila Taylor The Rev. Herbert and Doris Schaal's 30th Wedding Anniversary. (June 1894). Covenant of Holy Baptism, administered Apr. 7, 1929 by Rev. Chris Maedche in Hope Congregational Church with Dorothea Schaal (Schlichenmayer) and Albert Strobel as my godparents. For more details about our distinctive Germans from Russian heritage and our Swabian ancestors, see my history about our parents, Jake and Emma Schaal. My early memorieg include our family and home, our life and work on the farm and with livestock; our enthusiastic involvement in the life and fellowship of our Church; our frequent contacts with grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and extended family; and of course the Great Depression! Terms like crash on Wall Street, national economy, GNP, and balance of trade meant nothing to us children. Our realities included low or no prices for corn, wheat, hogs and cattle; the silent tears of weathered farmers and ranchers when Govt. agents condemned and shot a portion of their livestock; the recurring years of drought and crop failures; the fierce duststorms that blotted out gun and sky and made us gxope our way home from school with wet rags tied over mouths and noses; and endless, relentless dusf encroaching everywhere; the weary despair of failed farmers and helpless anger offoreclosed ranchers; the weathered boards, sagging gates and creaking hinges of abandoned farmsteads - these were the starck tangibles of our Depression childhood! We had many happy experiences, too inspiring worship, good music and singing, and warm fellowship in our Church; enjoyable visits to and from relatives and neighbors; the good smell of fresh - turned earth when we plowed our melon and squash Baschtan and vegetable garden each Spring; busy windmills pumping fresh, cool water for our household, livestock and gardens; a wide variety of homegrown vegetables to go with our eggs, milk and butter; getting to stay home from school to help butcher (killing and dressing two hogs and a beef, quartering them and cutting the meat, making Bratwurst, SCHALL - KIEL FAMILY blackJerry became ournextlgam; and finally we had Dick and Dan, big gentle grays that pulled hugh barge-loads offeed with ease and Leberwurst and Pressmagen, enjoying hearty F588 Schaal - Strobel and Kiel - Ilunt I am a native of Kit Carson County and a second generation descendant of Germans from Russia. Born Nov. 2, 1928 in a sod house north of Burlington, I was the second and youngest child of Jake and Emma (Strobel) Schaal. My parents named me Herbert Raymond and dedicated me through the Metzelsupp' with Eienuhr in it, trimming hams and bacons, putting them in cure and later smoking them); watching calves and occasional colts frisk around their mothers; riding horses and working cattle; hunting jackrabbits and trapping coyotes, plucking, cleaning and cooking wild ducks that got in the way of our Iver Johnson 12 gauge. Routine chores and work weren't always fun, but knowing they were essential to our survival and progress, we did them with a sense of accomplishment. We milked up to 21 cows by hand and sold the crearn, feeding the skim-milk to calves, pigs and chickens. We kept the shucker wagon alongside when we picked corn. Whitey was oul cow pony, hard riding but tireless when working cattle. We sold her colt Benny to Uncle Albert Strobels. Brother Ted and I attended Emerson School 4 mi. NW of our home. On cold mornings our parents took us; after school we walked home. Sometimes we rode Whitey, but when Emerson School burned down, its horse-barn hosted our classes until a new school was built. We tried bicycling but the roads were so rutted and frozen that walking was easier. Teachers were the Rombergs, the Lightseys and my favorite, Luella O'Hare. Our recess play included pump-p,'-p-pullaway, prairie softball, kick-the-can, and in the event of snow, fox and goose. Our Mother's tragic death on Oct. 13, 1936 (caused by a household fuel explosion) was a hard blow to our family in this period. Bro. Ted finished 10th grade at Emerson, then stayed home to help Dad. In 1940 I won the county spelling contest. In May I competed in the State contest and got to meet Governor Ed C. Johnson in the Brown Palace Hotel. At age 11 I entered Burlington High School. My classmates were considerably older, so I had stiff competition. When I graduated in 1944, I received the first Bausch & Lomb Science Award in BHS history for my research in physics and chemistry. (Forty years later our son Jim won the snme B & L Science Award upon his graduation from Billings Sr. High in Montana!) I was offered an engineering scholarship to the University of Colorado, but WW2 and essential food production kept me from taking advantage of it. My brother was inducted into the Army, and our already - ailing Dad couldn't do the farming and ranching alone. On Aug. 27, L944 Elnora Knodel, Donald Schaal, Leo Schaal and I were confirmed in Hope Church by Rev. Daniel G. Schurr. Ours was the last class required to memorize many Scripture passages and the entire catechism in the German language. Personal Bible study and prayer, intense involvement in Christian fellowship, and United Youth Camp at La Foret led to my awareness of God's call to full-time Christian ministry. In Sept. 1951 Arnold & Viola Strobel and I began our studies at Yankton College in S. Dakota. New intellectual and spiritual challenges awaited us, and we made many new friends. Among these friends was Doris Ruth Kiel, a fellow theology student. Her paternal great- great-grandparents had come from Hamburg, Germany to Illinois in 1856. Wm. (the father) fought with the Union Army in the Civil War; his son Adolph (Doris' greatgrandfather), too young to bear arms, worked as a Govt. harness and saddle maker. Adolph brought his family to Lake Preston, S. Dak. in 1902 and ran the area's leading harness shop. His son Wm. with wife Magdalena (Hupfer) homesteaded near Cottonwood, SD in 1908. Doris' father, Raynond William �Kiel. was the second of their eight children. Doris' maternal great-great-grandparents were all Quakers who came from England to the U.S. 1828-1836. Succeeding generations moved westward from Pennsylvania to Indiana to Illinois & Iowa and then to S. Dakota. by The Rev. Ilerbert Schaal SCIIAAL - KIEL FAMILY salvage, then as pa5rmaster over 440 men. We continued to serve Zion Church in Norfolk, often making extra 150-mile trips for Christmas and Easter cantata rehearsals and to prepare the confirmation class. Herb completed his graduate courses that fall and winter, in Spring 1956 receiving his B.Th. degree with special honors and recognition for bilingual ministry. That June we were called to the pastorate of First Cong'l Church in Crook, CO.; there I was ordained into the Christian ministry on Nov. 23, 1956. Our second son, Dwight Timothy, was born Mother's Day, May 12, 1957 at Logan County F689 (Schaal - Strobel and Kiel - Ilunt Doris' mother, Ruth Lillian, was the seventh of Jesse L. and Sallie L. (Stanley) Hunt's nine children. Grandpa Jesse and his father Reuben built the first Quaker meeting houses in South Dakota. Doris was born Jan. 7,t932 in Highmore, SD, the second child of Raymond and Ruth (Hunt) Kiel. When she was ?, they moved to Custer in the Black Hills. Doris finished elementary and high school there, gladuating in the Spring of 1950. Their family was very active in Custer Community Church. Moving up through other responsibilities, Doris was then elected to lead S. Dakota's Pilgrim Fellowship as state president. Her family suffered several tragedies through fire. Her infant sister died in a fire that destroyed the Grandparents Kiels'home in 1935; in L942 the family home in Custer was struck by lightning and burned to the ground; in 1948 the fanily's elevator and feed store was nearly destroyed by fire; in 1950, after a busy Easter Sunday, the Kiels' beloved Community Church burned to the ground during the night. Doris entered Yankton College that fall; in Spring 1951 her family moved to San Leandro, CA. Doris worked in a Bay area cannery that summer, expecting to continue college out there. But she decided to return to and one of the new Yankton after all students that fall -was Herb Schaal! They were no more than casual friends at first, but mutual participation in some classes, in college choir and two of its tours awakened their appreciation and deeper friendship for one another. We (Doris & Herb) were married June 3, 1954 in First Congregational Church at Yankton, the ssme week that Doris graduated with her B.A. cum laude. We spent our honeymoon summer serving Immanuel Cong'l Church in Rocky Ford, CO. and Hospital in Sterling, CO. We had served our dear people at Crook for only 2 Yz years when our Mission Board petitioned and sent us to take over the work in Argentina. We went by train to New Orleans where we boarded the freighter DEL ALBA on Dec. 19,1958. The 51-day voyage was trying because we were in cramped quarters with our two little boys and there was no lounging area. We steamed up the Amazon to Belem, then back out around the NE tip of Brazil to Sao Salvador. Then for three precarious days and nights our ship lunged and wallowed in a raging storm off Cap Frio. Monstrous, foaming waves thundered across our decks and drove salty brine through gasketed portholes. We grew so used to compensating that we staggered when we stepped onto terra firma in Rio de Janeiro. Our ship unloaded 4,000 tons of wheat in Santos, then ran into a port strike in Monte- video where Uruguayan marines occupied our ship for 7 days. Finally arriving in Buenos Aires, we experienced yet another rude introduction to South American bureaucracy, corruption and rapacious customs officials. I was superintendent of our Mission and the Evangelical Congregational Church in Argentina and president and head professor of its Instituto de Teologia for 13 years' Our seminary and headquarters were in Concordia, Entre Rios, 500 km. N of Bs. Aires. It would take volumes to tell even a part of our work and the vast area we served. In brief, however, we fulfilled five major areas of responsibility: 1. Supervision & development of mission (18 new churches & chapels, 12 parsonages, large conference hall, acquisition of property for new HQ and seminary during our years there). 2. Education & training of pastors for Argentina & Brazil (in seminary, conferences, retreats). Pastoral ministry to 21 native pastors & parishes and to "seminary parish" of 15 congtegations (the latter with the help of our attending the World Council Assembly in senior students. 4. Six major regional conferences & evan- Theology. September brought us back to Yankton; we lived in a college duplex and Doris worked as assistant program director at Station WNAX. Herb worked at sale barns gelizations per year, plus, many local evangel- Evanston, Ill. as delegates from our School of and a lumber yard and did his senior studies. On weekends (from Sept. '54 thru May'56) we served Zion Cong'l Church in Norfolk, NE 75 mi. away. For Herb's graduation Doris presented him with their first child, Mark Edward, born Pentecost Sunday, May 29, 1955. Herb received his B.A. magna cum laude with major in theology. He worked that summer and fall for the Army Corps of Engineers on the construction of Gavin's Point Da-, first as foreman of lumber izations. 5. Denominational liaison with UCBWM in New York and ecumenical liaison with many denominations and confessions within Latin America and around the world. We used mostly German and Spanish in our work, with an occasional English service for the Anglicans and for Britishers'funerals. We read and understand Portuguese, but our occasional work in Brazil was better served in German. For 4 years we were also the houseparents in Concordia seminary; Doris planned and prepared meals for 18-19 people in an antiquated kitchen with the help of a maid. Foods were basic, shopping was complicated and our life was Spartan and time- intensive. Without any vehicle the first 2 years, we got around the city on foot and bicycle, traveling the country congregations and other provinces by train, horse-drawn wagons, with primitive colectivos (buses) where they existed and when roads were passable, and crossing the large rivers by canoe, motor-launch and ferry. Our daughter Patricia Ruth was born Sept. 29, 1959 in Sanatorio Concordia with a midwife attending. When she was 17 days old, we carried her in a willow basket by train and then wagon to a large evangelization in the country. Doris trained our seminary choir and directed its German, Spanish, Portuguese and English anthems and spirituals at such events. It often rained in torrents and we walked ankle-deep in mud. There was little privacy and no indoor toilets. We "roughed it" and people appreciated our family coming to the remotest areas to share God's love and our lives with them. After a 6-yr. term we came home for deputation and furlough. Dad-Grandpa Jake welcomed us to his new home on the farm' Doris was the homemaker; Mark, Dwight & Patty attended school in Burlington; Herb preached and gave mission presentations in Colo., Wyo., Nebr., Iowa, Ohio, Calif., Ore. & Washington. Our third son, James Andrew, was born Dec.27,1965 at Memorial Hospital in Burlington (the only Kit Carson Co. native of our children!) When he was 4 mos. old, we returned to Argentina for another term. This time we flew, stopping in Panama to visit cousins Florence, Scotty and children. Spa"tan living, rigorous travel, lampant inflation, political turmoil & 5 revolutions, and too much work made our life difficult and oft times dangerous. Nevertheless, we look back on those years when we served 20,000 people in over 100 congregations in 7 provinces of Argentina as the most significant period of our ministry and mission work thus far. We returned to the U.S. in July 1971; Herb did 6 more mos. of deputation for the Mission; the family stayed with Grandpa Jake and the children attended Burlington schools. In Jan. L972 we moved to Lodi, California to serve Ebenezer Cong'l UCC. The children experienced culture shock, but adjusted successfully and were fully involved in schools and our Church. During our happy years in Lodi, Mark, Dwight & Patty all graduated from high school with honors (Patty the valedictorian of her class of 450) and Jim from 8th grade with honors. Dad Herb joined son Mark with Tanya Lokteff in marriage on July 15, 1978 in Sacrnmento. A year later he joined son Dwight with Karen Seifert in marriage on July 28, 1979 in Lodi. Patty and her fiance Steve Browning are planning their wedding for Nov. 14, 1987, probably in Lodi. Doris, Herb & Jim moved to Billings, Montana in Aug. 1980 to sewe Pilgrim Cong'l UCC. Our whole family cnme to help Jim celebrate his graduation (with honors) from Billings Sr. High in June 1984. Jim was accepted by Deep Springs in California, and we also felt drawn back to the West Coast. In June 1985 we moved to Sacramento where we enjoy being near our families here and in the Bay area. Mark was with Soil Conservation Service for some years and is now working toward his M.B.A. degree. Sanya, Adam & Sophia are our only grandchildren thus far. �Dwight is a flight systems engineer with Sperry Corp. in Phoenix and his wife Karen the accounting supervisor for a development bank. Patty was Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship's area secretar5r for 5 yrs., then moved to Seattle in Sept. 1986. Her fiance is with Gooddeeds Mission to Unreached People. They recently sent a contingent of teachers to the People's Republic of China to help that country with its education and to provide a Christian "presence" (no overt evangelization is allowed). After Deep Springs Jim plans to continue his studies with the tentative goal of teaching higher math and physics at university level. He's been teaching calculus to the newest "Deep Springers" this year. Herb, elected a nonpaid Corporate Member of our United Church Board for World Ministries in 1983, helps assess mission needs and challenges around the world. The Board meets periodi- cally to analyze and plan global mission strategy. Doris and Herb hope to continue working as partners in full-time Christian mission and ministry wherever the Lord leads them. To God be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done! by The Rev. Herbert Schaal SCHAAL - KNODEL FAMILY twenty-five head of cattle twenty-one miles, the first day, riding on horseback. Dan was eleven years old at the time. They corralled the cattle at the old railroad Stockyard that night in Stratton. The following day, they arrived at their destination. They made their living by farming wheat and raising cattle, they also had some chickens. The house that they lived in had five rooms, it had no electricity or plumbing. They remodeled this house later on. To this day, the house still stands, and it is being lived in at the present time. Dan's grandfather, Matthew Schaal, lived with the family, south of Stratton for four years until he died on December 1, 1948. On December 10, of that snme year, the last child was born to this family, Leon James. The family had many hard times, in the 1950's; they had several bad dust storms; they were about as bad as the 1930's! They didn't raise any wheat for four years because of these dust storms. After these terrible dust storms, the years got better; they eventually got electricity and wat€r. All of the children have remained in Stratton, except for Ivan, who now lives in Denver. Dan married Alberta Lang on May 22, L965, and they have remained here in Stratton. They have two children, Alice and Gary. by Alice Schaal F590 My grandparents, Matthew Jacob Schaal, born north of Bethune, Colorado, on May 2, 1903, and Lydia Christine Knodel, also born north ofBethune, Colorado, on July 18, 1908, were united in marriage on April 15, 1931. Both were of German descent, their parents migrating to America from Russia. SCHAAL - STROBEL FAMILY F59r Matt and Lydia lived northwest of Burlington, Colorado on a small farm near the Landsman Creek, in 1931. They had two children while living here. Ruby Darlene, born November 30, 1932 and Daniel Lee, born February 4, 1934. They raised wheat and cattle while living there. They lived at a place called Prosser, trailer hitch. When they returned, they moved ten miles north and one mile east of Bethune, Colorado on Dan's grandmother's farm, where his brother Ivan Lloyd was born, October 1, 1940. They farmed with horses and tractors on their farm. They raised wheat and corn, and milked about eight cows. They lived here until May 1945, and then moved eight miles south of Stratton, Colorado on a small farm. Dan Schaal and Paul Knodel moved about forests. They were often pillaged, plundered and ravaged by invading French armies, especially during the time of Napolean. Catherine the Great, a German princess manied to Czar Peter III. beceme the Czarina of All The Russias after her husband's death. Of strong will and character, she developed her huge empire with political wisdom and economic genius. In July 1763 she issued an edict of invitation to immigrants from west-, ern Europe, offering them an array of inducements to settle and develop the regions along the Volga River and the vast, untnmed steppes of southern Russia. Thousands of Germans responded and in only four years established 104 pioneer colonies along the Volga. Catherine died in 1796 and was succeeded by Czar Alexander I. A few German colonies had sprung up near the Black Sea as early as 1781, but when Alexander issued a new invitation in 1801, thousands of new immigrants from southern Germany trekked overland with carts and wagons or floated their families and meager possessions down the Danube in "Schachteln" (box-boats), establishing new colonies around the Black Sea and in Bessarabia between the rivers Dnjestr and Pruth. The Schaals and Doblers were among the founders of Teplitz, the Strobels and others of Beresina. Many of the Russian Empire's promises to these immigrants were never fulfilled, and in time their civil liberties (administration of their own schools, freedom from conscription Our Granddad Snmuel Schaal, 17, and his Washington on a small piece of land in the country. Matt worked in an orchard and Lydia helped pick and pack strawberries and brought home in a wooden apple box on the and princes who controlled the lands and next older brother Matthias, 30, emigrated from Gnadental in Bessarabia to South Dakota in 1888. "Right after the New Year in 1891" they came to Burlington via Denver by train. (See Granddad's historic account, eolicited and published by the Burlington Record in July 1951). Granddad worked all 1929 Model A, with a two-wheel trailer she layed an egg every other day! They were people chafed under the increasing restrictions and heavy taxation of the feudal dukes World War I. behind, carrying their possessions. They returned to Colorado in May 1939. Dan brought back with him a banty rooster and hen from his aunt. He was five years old at the time. The hen took the trip very well; culture. These creative, freedom-loving etc.) and religious freedoms began to be taken from them. The colossal magnets of civil and religious freedom, of new land to be homesteaded, and of other opportunities awaiting them in America drew hundreds of thousands of Germans from Russia to the United States from the early 1870s until the outbreak of In late March, 1938, they moved to the state of Washington. They arrived at Washington the first of April. They travelled in a also thinned beets. and eastern Germany, the Swabians and their Bavarian neighbors were independent and "laid back" in character, not easily regimented, sure of their own identity and values but also appreciative of other people and their Jake and Emma Magdalena Schaal sometime after their wedding. (Schaal - Schmidke and Strobel Dobler Our parents, Jake Schaal and Emma (nee Strobel), were both natives of Kit Carson County, the children of Germans from Russia who emigrated from South Russia to South Dakota in the 1880s, then came to eastern Colorado to homestead NW of Burlington in what is still known as "the Settlement". Their ancestors were Swabians (descendants ofthe ancient Celts and cousins ofthe lrish) who lived for centuries in the forests and highlands of southern Germany. In contrast to the Hessians and Prussians of northern over this area and in the Denver ore smelters for several years, in 1892 taking a homestead I lz m| WNW of the present-day Hope Congregational United Church of Christ. Samuel Schaal and Rosina Schmidke were married on Nov. 24, 1895, their wedding solemnized by Pastor Gerhard Janssen in the original rock and adobe Immanuel Lutheran Church. Our Dad, Jake Schaal (born Jan. 4, 1897 and baptized Feb. 28, 1897), was their first child and our Uncle John (born Feb. 2?, 1898) their second. Rosina helped some neighbors who were ill with typhoid or typhus, contracted the fever herselfand died July 30, 1898, leaving her 1,8 and 5 month old boys motherless. Little Jakob and Johann were loved and cared for by their grandparents Samuel and Anna Schmidke until their father Samuel married again. �Grandpa's second union was with Dorothea Bauder, their marriage solemnized Jan. 15, 1899 by Pastor Janssen in Immanuel Church. Their union was blessed with eight children: Sam Jr., Fred, Helen (Knodel), Carl, Rudolph (died in infancy), Dorothea (Schlichenmayer), George, and Louise (Holmes). Life on our High Plains has always been rigorous and most early settlers were poor. Yet by reaaon of their strong personal relationship with God, their hard work and frugality, and their real sense of community (neighbors helping neighbors), the people of Friedensfeld (Field of Peace as the Settlement was first nemed) developed an oasis of diligent agriculture, growing numbers of diverse livestock, modest homes and tidy homesteads, good rural schools and a strong Christian community centered around the Immanuel Lutheran and Hope Congregational churches. Most of them spoke English, Swabian and High German until WW2. Our forebears had not accepted "Russification" in the Old Country, yet they incorporated many Russian words and terms into their Swabian dialect, and this linguistic mix made their oft-repeated legends and stories absolutely fascinating. They knew the Scriptures, the classic German hymns and American gospel songs, studying and singing them in their homes as well as in their churches. They farmers' ranchers, were many-talented mechanics. builders, craftsmen, blacksmiths, In time some of them and their descendants became professionals in education, business, Christian ministry and mission, engineering, architecture, journalism, music, government and service industries. When our Dad was 15, he and his classmates were confirmed in Immanuel Church by Pastor M.P. Jensen on Apr. 5, 1912. In that same year Grandpa Samuel bought the Wm. Yale place and had sons Jake and John live and work there. In 1915 Grandpa bought the Sherman Yale place from whence the longtime Yale, Colo. postoffice had served its patrons over a large area. In 191? he sold his homestead to Frank Kra-er and moved the rest of his family to the Sherman Yale place where they now built a large barn with haymow and a spacious two-story house. Grandpa, our Dad Jake, John S. and Sam Jr. also bought three half-sections of land on Mozeman Creek 7 mi. north of Burlington as the future farms of the three boys. Dad Jake operated huge "one-lunger" (10 inch piston, 12 inch stroke) Advance-Rumely "Oil Pull" tractors with matching multi- bottom plows for his father and for Harry Degering. He broke out many level tracts of prairie on their own and neighboring ranches. On his, John's and Sa- Jr.'s respective halfsections he broke out 200 acres for cultivation and left 120 acres (including the draws and dry creek-holes) for pasture. The U.S. became involved in WWI and many of Kit Carson County's young men were drafted or enlisted. Jake enlisted in the U.S. Army on Aug. 27, 1918, trained at CanP Lewis, Washington and served as a medic with Field Hospital Company 252 of the 13th Sanitary Train Regiment. The war ended before his outfit was shipped to Europe, and Jake was honorably discharged on Apr. 5, 1919 at Ft. D.A. Russell (near Cheyenne), Wyoming. He returned home and began to a frame barn with build up his farmland haymow in 1919, then a-sod and adobe house, a garage attached to the original shack and giranary, and other buildings. by The Rev. llerbert Schaal SCHAAL - STROBEL FAMILY F692 Schaal - Sehmidke and Strobel Dobler Our maternal great-grandparents and grandparents emigrated from southern Russia to South Dakota in 1885 (Jacob Strobel Sr. and family from Neu-Beresina and Christian Dobler Sr. and family from Teplitz). In 1890 they came to Kit Carson County and helped establish the new Friedensfeld settlement. Our grandfather Jacob Strobel married Katharina Dobler in 1893; in time their union Theodore, was blessed with five children Emma, John, Albert and Emil.-Our mother, Emma Magdalena Strobel, was born Aug. 10, 1896 in the family home 1 % mi. ESE of Immanuel Lutheran Church. She was baptized Sept. 13, 1896 by Pastor G. Janssen. When she was 13 72, Emma and her classmates were confirmed in Immanuel Church by Pastor M.P. Jensen on March 28, 1910. Jake Schaal and Emma Strobel were married June 26, 1921 in the original frame edifice of Hope Congregational Church, their wedding solemnized by Pastor Karl Haem- melnann. The happy couple established their home on Jake's farm, and their first son, Theodore B., was born the next year (March 21, Lg22). They were hard-working and progressive, sharing every task and fully involved in the fellowship of their Church and of their extended families. Emma's brother John, a skilled carpenter, found good work in California and Jake, Emma and little Teddy joined him there from Fall 1924 until Summer 1925. Jake helped John and his crew build Union Ice Co. plants in Woodland, Watsonville and Stockton. Emma was the housekeeper, cook and senmstress. They enjoyed the climate, exotic foliage and flow- ers, abundant fruit, magnificent scenery (including ocean beaches and giant redwoods) and the relatives who lived in northern California. When they returned home, a good harvest awaited them. Dad bought a new Fordson tractor and various implements to accelerate the mechanization of their farming operations. Then they bought a new 1926 Chevrolet truck which served faithfully for over 25 years, never incurring a ticket with its top speed of a little over 30 mph! In 1928 it and the similar trucks of Jacob Strobel and John Dobler Sr. hauled the brick and other building material from the railroad out into the Settlement for the beautiful new Hope Church building. Jake and Emma's second son, Herbert R., was born Nov. 2, 1928. The stock market crash of 1929 did not immediately affect our farm economy, and various families (including our parents) upgraded their transportation with Model A Fords or newfangled 6cylinder Chevys. Then began those seven terrible years of unrelenting drought and crop failures. Fierce winds tore the precious topsoil from under the dwindling vegetation and turned many days into choking duststorms that blotted out sun and sky. The dark dirt raged down from the Dakotas and Nebraska; the yellow dust whistled up from and our own soil Oklahoma and Texas - back and forth, the accompanied the torment mixture settling in weeds and thistles, filling road ditches and burying endless miles of fences to the top wire! Dad fought back; he forged heavy chisel points out of Army truck springs, tempered and bolted them to the beams of our Case lister. Pulling them with a John Deere "D" tractor, be ripped out huge clods and left deep furrows on the contour and acrosswinds, greatly reducing soil erosion and capturing some of the sudden rains that fell even in those dry years. We cut and and stacked russian thistles and the few stalks of cane and corn that grew. In our own shop and without power tools, Dad desigrred and built a large hammermill with long, wide throat and cylinder. We ground the thistles and stover together, sometimes adding a little alfalfa, and our cows produced good milk from this depression feed. Farms were being foreclosed, people were in despair and many moved away to the irrigated valleys and orchard regions of Colorado, Washington, Idaho and Oregon. Many of us stayed, hoarded our little cream checks to pay our land taxes, and rejoiced when we had a small barley crop in 1939 (still cut with our Massey-Harris header). In 1940 we had a fair crop of wheat and some rye which we harvested with our first Minneapolis-Moline 12 ft. pull - type combine. That same summer we bought a new M-M Model "[J" tractor and an 8 ft. M-M oneway to work our stubble. This equipment, plus a new J. Deere 12 ft. rod weeder for cleaning summer- fallow, gave us a fresh start in farming. Increasing rainfall and better crops enabled us to pay off our land and machinery and to purchase some adjoining land. The hardest blow to our family came Oct. 13, 1936 when our mother suffered fatal burns in a fuel explosion and passed away eight hours later. She had been a full partner with Dad in their mutual endeavors, a diligent, loving wife and mother, a real friend to her neighbors and an untiring worker in our Church. It was a terrible loss to us all, but Dad carried the heaviest burden of grief and loneliness, of parenting us boys and continuing our family's contribution to Church and community. Our loving and ever-present Lord, our Church and many wonderful relatives and friends helped us survive our loss and forge ahead in Christian faith. World War II came and people began to prosper with good crops and prices, with better machinery and larger operations. Herb graduated from high school and Ted was inducted into the armed forces. Jake and Herb continued their beef and grain production and bought an adjoining half-section from Grace M. and Margaret Camp. When Ted returned from service and married Ebna Gramm, they began their life and work together on that former Camp place. Our family continued to work and worship together. Both Dad and Ted served on Hope Church's board and diaconate, at times conducting services and giving the messages when there was no resident pastor. They were (are) dedicated stewards in God's Kingdom and Christ's Church, giving generously of �their time, talents and resources. One of SCHAAL, SAM Dad's special gifts to Hope Church was a new Baldwin organ in 1966 as a memorial to his beloved Emma (our mother) on the 30th anniversary of her passing. Herb felt a strong call to Christian ministry and left for Yankton College and its School of Theology in South Dakota. That decision was difficult for him, for he knew that Dad would be alone FAMILY F694 with all the livestock and farming, with housekeeping and all the ranch maintenance. But Dad and Teds' did much of their work together, and when Dad's health failed he liquidated his cattle and leased his ground to Teds'. Dad had a new home built on his farmstead in the early 1960s and enjoyed it for about ten years. He flew to Argentina in 1970 and spent six months with Herbs', visiting their various mission fields, seeing many different peoples and cultures, experiencing a revolution and even more excitement when his New Yorkbound airliner turned back to Buenos Aires because of a bomb threat! Jake's health declined further until his lower body became paralyzed in 1975. Teds' near Burlington and Herbs'in Lodi, California alternated in giving their Dad total care for three years. Jake was then in Grace Manor from Aug. 15, 1978 until his passing on Sept. 8, 1986 at the age of 89 years, 8 months and Four generations of Schaal's. Standing; Sam Linda, Ruben, Aaron and Warren Schaal, June 7, 1986 4 days. We celebrate all that God has given us a goodly cultural and spiritual heritage, honest, loving Christian parents, good times lington with her husband, Wayne Parrish, along with the hard, many opportunities to share God's love with others, and the privilege of leaving a good sxnmple to those who will follow in our steps! Joel and Jonathan. Diane and Edward are by The Rev. Herbert Schaal SCHAAL, RUBEN, JR. AND LINDA F593 In the late 1880's Matt Schaal immigrated to the U.S. from Russia with his two brothers, John and Snm, settling first in South Dakota and later making their homesteads N.W. of Burlington. Matt was married to Eva Bletzer and to this union came Ed, John, Bill, Mary, Matt, Dora, and Gottlieb. Ed married Regina Frank and had two children before Regina was tragically killed in a fire on their farm. The children were Ruben and Mabel. Ed eventually remarried and had four more children, Luella, Ray- mond, Melvin, and Rolland. After farming for a few years Ed moved the family to Idaho during the Colorado dust bowl ofthe 1930's, ultimately settling in Washington State. Ruben served in the army during WWII and married Erna Christina Weisshaar, daughter of John and Lydia Weisshaar who were from Bethune but had moved their family to Oregon in 1935. Ruben and Erna lived in Oregon during their first years together, having three children, Ruben Jr., Kathleen, and Shirley. In 1953 Ruben moved the family to Colorado, after having purchased a farm N.W. of Burlington once owned by his uncle John Schaal. Ruben and Erna were later divorced and Ruben even- tually had a second family, Diane and Edward. Kathleen now lives N.W. of Bur- and their two children, Tandi and Brandon. Shirley lives in Burlington with her husband, Stanley Shumate, and their two children, also now living in Burlington with their Mother. Lettie. Ruben Jr. was raised on the farm with Kathleen and Shirley, attending the Emmerson School House located one half mile West of their farm under the direction of Virginia E. Felch until they began going to Burlington's schools when Ruben was in the 9th grade. After graduation in 1967, hejoined the U.S. Navy and was Honorably discharged following two years of service. He married Linda McKinney, a California native, in 1971 and in 1972 they obtained the financing to purchase the necessary equipment to pioneer what is now known as Schaal Drilling Com- pany. They have since constructed and equipped over 1000 water wells for farmers and businesses in the Colorado and Kansas area, in addition to servicing domestic, irrigation, and municipal wells. They have two sons, Warren, born in 1975, and Aaron, born in 1976. Today Ruben and Linda continue operating Schaal Drilling with the active participation of Warren and Aaron. Perhaps the following poem written by Linda commemorating the company's 10th anniversary in 1982 best expresses what living in Burlington, Colorado has meant to the Ruben Schaal Jr. family; There are many fine professions that a man might chose to seek, but none of them could offer him a challenge so unique - for it has been a pleasure serving this community, providing top notch service through the drilling industry - growing with you farmers, our neighbors and our friends, has shown us more than anything where life really begins - We're proud to live in Burlington, we're proud of what we do! We say in all sincerity, we're proud to work for you! by Linda Schaal Schaal Sr., Herbert Schaal. Jake Schaal holding Herbert's son Mark. Ilomestead Days on the Plains Burlington was a little town of about 180 or 200 people, a quarter of a mile from the railroad depot when we came down from Denver. We could not see the town. as we arrived about 2:00 a.m. and we stayed in the depot until morning. There was not one building from the Montezuma Hotel up to the depot on the east side of main street, and not a building north ofthe two story structure on the corner on the west side up to the depot. The cowboys staked their saddle horses out there. South of the Montezuma Hotel were the following buildings: Frank Mann's Butcher shop, Henry Stoll Hardware, Maynard Cooke Drug store, J.W. Penfold Grocery store, Charlie Lamb Grocery store, John Hiller saloon. East of that was a livery barn and Kaiser's blacksmith shop. On the west side of main street (14), north of the location of Mrs. Wilson's dress shop was the Odd Fellow Hall, the Post Office, a bank and some other buildings. That was the whole townsite. One block west of main street, in the half block where the Hendricks mortuary is now located, was T.G. Price's cow corral. I bought a horse from him while he was located there. Mr. Price was clerk of the district court for many years, and county judge one term. The courthouse set out there all alone. The Burlington Lumber Yard was located where the Foster yard is now. Burlington had a nice brick schoolhouse, considering the size ofthe town. In 1893 Robert Campbell and J.W. Penfold built a flour mill, located just east of the depot. Mr. Canpbell was one of our early county clerks. They hired a miller from Kansas City, Mr. Edshes. He made four grades of flour - High Patent, Victor, Baker and Cowboy. There was the poor families' flour, 75 cents for a 48 pound sack. The bread looked like whole wheat, but it was good bread and many mothers taught their daughters how to bake, for you could not buy a loaf of bread in the store. All thev had was soda �crackers in wooden boxes as big as an egg case. They weighed them out to you in paper sacks. We never thought we would have as many stores in Burlington as they have today. So much for Burlington. In the spring of 1892, I took a homestead, and built a shanty on a claim. I bought a team of oxen, one cow and four heifers and started a little farm on my own. We felt happy when we could call a piece of land our own. The boys had a little song: "I got some land from Uncle Sam, And I em, happy as a clnm. When I cnme here to get my start, My neighbors they were miles apart. But now there is one on every claim, And sometimes they want all the same. O Sweet Colorado land On my dug out roof I stand And look away across the plains And wonder if it ever rains, And turn around and weed my corn And think I'll never sell my farm. Settlement to the Dartnell place, and to the Stetler and Burt Ragan places, and then across the railroad at the Equity elevator (the old one at the north end ofmain street or 14th street). From the church in the Settlement we made a road across to Claremont, now Stratton. There was not one farm until we got within two miles of town. Claremont had one store on main street. Jim Roberts operated the store. He had the post office, drugs, dry goods, grocerier and a little hardware, all in one building. He sat in a wheelchair as he could not walk, but his head was all business SCHAAL, SAM F696 Ilomestead Days on the Plains homesteaders. One was Rev. Hackenberger from the Missouri Synod. He lived northeast of Burlington. The other lived over near Kanorado. They called him Preacher Willis. I never met him, but I knew Rev. Hackenberger. We met in Burlington quite often. We had five ox teams in the Settlement Mr. Stutz, Mr. Knodel, Mr. Hefner, my brother Matt, and myself owning teams. The reason we used oxen was because they were easy to feed when you worked them, needing no grain. We fed them cane or corn fodder. That's all they needed. They are tame and don't stray like horses, and nobody had money to build a fence for pasture. Horses sold high and you had to feed them grain when you worked them. After I had some land broke out on the homestead, I took my little stock down to the river for feed. E.G. Davis, father of the Davis brothers, Louis, Ed, Rosser and Morton, would keep them with their cattle for so much a month until fall. Mr. Davis was one of our first county commissioners and was re-elected in 1893. In the spring of 1894, after I had put in some cotn and feed on my homestead and took my stock to Mr. Davis, I went to Denver in the hope of finding work, but conditions had not changed. 1894 was a very dry year in eastern Colorado. I looked for work in western Kansas and Nebraska. I would work on ranches and do anything I could get. In the fall I went home to the brother's and my homestead to spend the winter in peace and rest. The fall of 1894 several of the homesteaders left that I knew. They moved to other stakes but we had no place to go, and worked hard for what we had, so we stayed, knowing that God feeds the sparrow and would take care of ug if we trusted Him. He did take care ofus or I wouldn't be here today. antelope would run around in bunches, from 15 to 30 head in a bunch. Yes, folks, we had quite a few of them in the early years. People would go out at lambing time and catch little ones and raise them on cow's milk and tame them. E.G. Davis had a pair, a billy and nanny, for two years or more. I saw them myself. There was also a pair in Burlington. The nanny was a little shy, but the billy At noon his wife would come after him and pushhim home fordinner and bring him back to the store. I suppose she did the same thing in the morning and evening. He must have had a good wife. He had one man clerk to help him in the store and as he was the only dealer in town he could order farm implements - a plow, wagon, or anything you wanted. Give him your order and in two weeks you would have it, and you paid for the article when you Selder as cashier. That was the first good bank in Burlington. Later Winegar and Weare organized the Kit Carson Land Com- and to get trade from the Settlement he would pay 1 or 2 cents more for a dozen eggs and sell a sack of flour 5 cents cheaper than Burlington, and that would do it. You may ask how he got around if he could not walk. Well, he could wheel that chair around pretty got it. I got John Deere gang plows and a Moline wagon from him and saved $10.00 each. We had two ministers here who were and Claremont, and he told me how the would come right up to you. I saw them a few times, walking up and down the sidewalk, when I came to town. I can't remember any more who owned them or how long they had them. The country didn't settle up much during the nineties. In 1901 Gottlob Amman and family (Albert Amman's folks) cane. Grandfather Amman brought a little sled with him that a blacksmith in Nebraska made to clean small corn down in the lister furrows. The runners were four feet long, made out of 2 x 8's with four knives, two long ones in front and two short ones behind. That was the best thing made to clean corn and cane before the weeder cane out. The Ammans later went back to Nebraska. good. by Lila Taylor FAMILY In those days there were only three farms on the road from the Settlement to Burlington. We cut across country from the Five farmers lived around Claremont Wellman and Kern east along the railroad; Fuller on the north, and Hobert and Chalmers on the northeast. by Lila Taylor SCIIAAL, SAM FAMILY F596 Homestead Days on the Plains In the spring of 1895, the county commissioners shipped in spring wheat and gave every homesteader six bushels to sow. No one had a drill, sowe sowed itbyhand and plowed it under and harrowed the ground. It came up, looked like it might make wheat, then the first of June we got a rain and hailstorm that cut it to the ground and that was the end of that. Then we started to raise cattle and corn and cane for feed. It didn't take much machinery - a walking lister, a walking cultivator and a little seed was all you needed. You could plant 10 or 1.1 acres with one bushel of corn and you had two or three months to shuck it. The cobs made good fuel for the stove and in the fall the stalks made good pasture when the ground was covered with snow. By this time we all had horses and let the ox go for beef. In the spring of 1899, the John Ziegler familycame down from Tripp, South Dakota, and gettled 7 Yz miles southwest of our church. His father bought land for him and he later took a homestead. He was for many years the only farmer between the Settlement Also in 1901, A.W. Winegar and Henry G. Weare came out and organized the Stock Growers State Bank in Burlington, with W.S. pany and tried to get people from Iowa and Nebraska out here to buy land. The year 1908 was a dry one again. Corn got about three feet high and dried up and did not make good feed. We had a hard winter. It started to snow the day before Thanksgiving and kept it up until we had 18 inches ofsnow on the ground on the level and three to four feet in the yard. Our cattle didn't get out of the yard for a month. We cut all the corn and put up thistles but that feed went fast and the snow stayed on. That was the first time we had to make a sled to go to town. By January 1909, we saw that we had to eell part of our cattle to get the rest through. We could not buy feed for money. Buyers came from eastern Kansas and offered us three cents a pound for steers and two cents a pound for cows and they weighed light. Big cows brought $18.00 a head, but the buyers knew we had to sell or let them die. so we had to take it. by Lila Taylor SCHAAL, SAM FAMILY F697 Homestead Days on the Plains 1909 and 1910 were fairly good, but 1911 was like last year and this spring. Had to feed until May. We had two small elevators, Band and Abbott, but they didn't get much in, and the railroad was awful slow. Corn was 90 centg and a $1.00 bushel, and we would gladly pay it if we could get it. When they got a car, they sold it out five bushels at a man so that everbody got a little. But finally spring got around the corner and stock could get out and �help themselves. I think if we had had machinery 50 years ago like we have today, we would have done a lot better. Farming has improved a lot in the last 50 years. I would like to mention something about and sold the cream and eggs to buy groceries. The skim milk was fed to the baby calves and pigs. Geneva had turkeys in 4-H. She won several State trophys with them. We dressed them and sold them at Thanksgiving and Christmas. She also took sewing and beef fattening. Clyde's 4-H projects were breeding beef, beef fattening and a catch it calf. In 1968 Geneva married Dan Hudson. They have two children, Babette and Justin and live in Aurora, Co. On 1979 Clyde the mail. They had mail service in Burlington, but I think it was in 1891 that Yale Post Office was established. Sherman Yale was our first mail carrier and Mrs. Yale was the post master. The Post Office was in their house. They were good people. Mrs. Yale was kind of a family doctor and had some medicine. If anyone had trouble they would go to her for advice. We had a cow which was bitten on the front leg by a rattlesnake and the leg swelled up badly. The cow couldn't walk, so I went to Mrs. Yale and she said to take lard and turpentine, half of each, and rub it on the cow's leg several times a day. In a few days the cow was all right again. Mrs. Yale had the Post Office from 1891 to 1908 and Mr. Yale carried the mail for about 12 years, three times a week from Burlington to Goff Post Office, then to Landsman Post Office, then to Yale. That was a long route for horse and buggy days and the roads that we had. Latcr the Yales put in a little store and it would help in busy times, for you wouldn't have to go to town. Mr. Yale was a county commissioner after he quit carrying the mail. In 1909 we got our first daily mail route out of Bethune. Jesse McFarland was our first mail canier with horse and buggy. He had two teams, one at the Ed Stahlecker place where he would change teems every day to make the round trip. That made it better for us. We didn't have to go so far to get the mail. In 1912, I bought the William Yale place and in the spring of 1915, I bought the Sherman Yale place. Our first children were boys and the homestead was too small, and there was no land around us to buy. In 1917 I sold the homestead to our neighbors, Frank Kramer. and moved to the Sherman Yale place where we are still living with our son Carl and family in our own house, if God willing, the rest of our lives. I forgot to mention that we had five cattle ranches of good size - the John Pugh ranch, the Harry Cox ranch, the Bar T, and the Jim Cook ranch, all on the Republican River, and the Ed McCrillis ranch on the Landsman, now the Spring Valley ranch. From 1910 to 1921 this part ofthe country was well settled up and the land plowed up with big and little tractors. A.W. Winegar and F.E. Winegar did their share in bringing people in from the east. This covers the firet 30 years of my life around Burlington, as nearly as I can remember it, and I will come to a close now. Taken from the Burlington Record, July 19, 1951. Mr. Schaal passed away January 19, 1959. by Lila Taylor SCHAAL, TED AND ELMA F598 I was born Mar. 21 L922 in a sod house 77z miles north of Burlington, Colo. was the first child of Jake and Emma (Strobel) Schaal. I have one brother Herbert born Nov. married Teresa (daughter of Harvey and Taken on Ted and Atna's 40th wedding anniversary, Clyde, Teresa, Brian Craig, Braden Schaal, EIma, Ted Schaal; Geneva Babette, and Justin Hudson. 3, 1928. I went to Emerson school 4 miles northwest of our home. Two teachers taught 10 grades in the two rooms. The most kids attending were about 32, some came from quite a distance. Most of the time I rode horseback till my brother started school and there were more kids in this area, then in bad weather about 4 families car pooled. Some- times I had a trapline and caught a few coyotes, badgers and skunks, also shot jackrabbits, skinned these animals and sold the fur. That was the only spending money farm kids could earn. On Sat. I would help my Dad pick corn by hand with a team of horses and wagon. Farming was done altogether with horses until 1926 when my Dad bought a new Fordson tractor with steel wheels. They also bought a new Chev. I ton truck. Then the dry thirties came with dust storms. We still used horses to cultivate corn and pull the header barges beside the header in the wheat harvest. I remember driving the header barges when I was so small they put a box in the wagon for me to stand on. The teams of horses had more knowledge of where they were suppose to go then I did or I couldn't have handled them. I was 14 when my mother died, Oct. 13, 1936. I completed the 10th grade at Emerson the following spring. After that I stayed at home and helped my Dad full time on the farm. By 1939 we got our first combine, a M&M pull type. All the grain was unloaded by hand with scoop shovel, into grain bins on the farm. In 1945 I was inducted into the Army, first in the infantry, then transferred to MP duty. I received my Honorable Discharge and was glad to get home. On March 2,L947 I married Elma Grnmm, at her parents home, by Rev. Macon. We moved to the Camp place 3/+ miles from my home. We lived in a little white frame house. Had no running water, no phone, or electricity. We got R.E.A. in 1952. In 1959 we built a brick house and had electricity and running water. Geneva Louise was born Feb. 10, 1949. Clyde Joseph on Nov. 1, 1951. They went to Emerson school till 1959. Then the country schools consolidated with the Burlington school and the school bus picked up the children. ln 1954 Ted's Dad had surgery, then we did all the farming with two tractors. No baby sitters, so we made the pickup into a covered wagon for the two children to play in and be in the field where we worked. We also had a good dog that stayed with them. The fifties were dry years, also dust storms. We bought baby holstine calves and fed them on a bottle. We milked about 13 cows by hand, separated Jean Brenner). They have three sons, Brian, Craig, and Braden. They live on the place where Ted was born but in the new house Grandpa Jake built in 1959. Elma was born May 16, 1923 in a four room adobe house. where her brother Lawrence lives now. Her parents are the late Gottlieb and Lydia (Stutz) Gramm. I have three brothers; Loyd, Lawrence and Edmund, one sister Esther Corliss. I went to Prairie View School twelve miles north of Bethune. I remember some of the dark dust storm clouds coming up and the teacher would dismiss school. We would run the 1-% miles home trying to beat the dust storm. This was during the dirty thirties. Many farmers lost their farms, then had farm sales and moved to the western states to try to make a better living for their families. For fuel and heat in the homes it was wood stoves but wood is scarce in this country so people bought coal and burned corn cobs. I remember the family going to the pasture with a team ofhorses and wagon pick up cow chips to heat our home. For entertainment we sang around the piano and played g'mes around the big kitchen table. On Sunday the family went to the Congregational Church 11 miles north l miles east of Bethune. That is where we still go, now known as Hope United Church of Christ. In Dec 1946 I was working at the Montezuma Hotel in Burlington, Co. During the night it burned. I saw the roof go down. All our belongings burned, but everyone got out. It was rebuilt into apartments and stores. We have continued farming and cattle ranching, upgrading our cow-calf herd that we and our son Clyde have. We have stayed with dry land farming and have had to get newer and bigger machinery and tractors to raise feed for our cattle and wheat for grain. We thank God for the good health we have. We'll enjoy doing things on the farm as long as our health permits. by Ted and Elma Schaal SCHAAL, WILLIAM AND LEONA F599 As the New Year dawned in 1899, William Fredrick was born to Matthew and Eva (Baltzer) Schaal. At a very young age Bill, "batched" and herded cattle on the open range. As a young man, he worked for many of the cattle ranches. In 1920, he married Leona Sharp. Leona was born at Jasper, Missouri and was raised near Kansas City, Kansas. After attending two years of college, she cnme to Colorado to teach school. One year, she taught school north of Bethune. After Bill and Leona were married, they ] �and August, rode in the cars. The cars were parked on the siding at Muskogee and unloaded there. The parents with daughter, Clara, and son, Kenneth came in a Model T. Ford. It took two days to make the trip and they were plagued with flat tires on the trip. The house they moved into was a small house with no modern conveniences. The house was not far from the siding where the cars were parked. Clara and Kenneth were very disappointed in their new home. In Nebraska they had a nice house which was a modern home with inside plumbing. The morning after they arrival they woke up to a raging blizzard. Henry and Anna Scheierman moved to the First Central Community in 1926. Henry lost the land he had purchased in the economic crash of 1929 and the drouth of the 1930's. He Bill and family members branding cattle. The branding irons were heated in the topsy stove in the background. lived on a farm north of Bethune until the summer of 1926, when they bought a farm 10 miles south and one mile east of Bethune, where they lived and raised their children. Seven children were born to William and Leona Schaat Wilma, Gladys, Jeanne, Donald, Betty, Shirley and Virgil. Donald passed away at the age of nine months. Bill and Leo raised sheep for many years and always had a herd of cattle and many horses. In the early years of their farming, it was necessary to have several horses for farming. To do the wheat harvest, it would take 6 horses to pull the header and two horses for the header barge. Later, the wheat would have to be threshed. 'The threshers are coming' meant the women folks hurried always managed to make a living by milking cows, keeping hogs, and by churning butter to sell and selling cream. In 1940 they moved near to Stratton, and in L942 they purchased a home in Stratton. Henry passed away at Longmont, Colorado on October 25, L943. Anna continued living in Stratton until she broke her hip in the mid 1960's. After a stay in the hospital at Burlington, she moved to Grace Manor Jack and Lois Schafer Oct. 25, 1986. SCHEIERMAN FAMILY F60l Nursing Home where she spent the last years of her life. She passed away in late August 1971. In October ofthat year she would have been 100, but she never wanted to be 100. by Mabel Scheierman around baking pies in the wood burning stove on a hot summer day. This was before the time when every home had a deep freeze so this meant catching a fat hen to bake or some young frying chickens. William and Leona Schaal retired and moved into Burlington in 1972. SCHEIERMAN GARNER FAMILY F602 Kenneth Scheierman came to Kit Carson County at the age of 6 years with his parents by Shirley Matthies in the spring of 1922. He enrolled in North Pious Point with Leonard Calvin as the SCHAFER, JACK AND LOIS F600 Jack has been a life time resident of Yuma County, with farming and community work as his main interest. After his wife's death he married Lois Henry. Jack enjoys his large flock of peacocks and their fascinating ways. Lois likes to cook and give of her time to family and friends. Lois compiled a family cookbook for the Corliss family which she really enjoyed. Jack and Lois like to divide their time between their family and traveling. Their children are Douglas Schafer, Jaklin Schafer, Clifford, Gay and Kendyl Henry. Leroy, Cindy, Nicholas and Daniel Henry, Melvin, Peggy and Amber Henry, Robert and Martha Henry Maxey, Jamie and Jeffrey Kroll. Jack Arnold was born to Clyde and Stella Mae Allen Schafer on July 19, 1928 at Wray, Colorado. Lois Marie Corliss Henry was born to Sherman Henry and Grace Messing Corliss on August 9, 1935 at Burlington, Colorado. Jack and Lois were married at Burlington, Colorado on October 25, 1986. They make their home North East of Kirk, Colorado. by Lois Schafer teacher. The school was located a quarter of a mile from their first home. Five years later Henry and Anna Scheierman. Henry and Anna Scheierman were German Russian immigrants. They were both born in Russia. Henry's family came to America first settling in south central Nebraska. Mr. Scheierman helped the Thaut family come to America. Henry was engaged to be married but was jilted a few days before the wedding was to be. Mr. Scheierman and Mr. Thaut decided their children Henry and Anna should marry. They were married September 19, 1892 at Hastings, Nebraska. They had ten children. but two of the ten died as infants' The Scheiermans came to Kit Carson County because their five sons all wanted to farm. They Iived on a small farm near Sutton, Nebraska, and there was not much available farm land in that locality. Land was much cheaper in Kit Carson County, Colorado. Henry started buying land in Kit Carson County in 1919 from Joseph A. Collins, a realtor. Henry was a horse and mule buyer in Nebraska, and he shipped several car loads of horses to Colorado as payments on land. In 1922 they moved to Colorado by immigrant cars. They loaded one car with household items and another car was loaded with 8 mules and some milk cows. Sons, Herbert Kenneth and Mabel Scheierman. �the family moved to the First Central School District where he finished grade school and high school graduating in 1933. Kenneth had perfect attendance which meant he was not absent or tardy for seven years. Kenneth recalls that in 1936 money was short. In September he and Vaughn Taylor decided to catch skunks and keep them alive until the furs would be at their prime, about the middle of November. They sold them at that time to Clarence Collins for $.45 each. They tried to get $.50, but he wouldn't give them any more. Both mothers were glad to see the project go. Spending money was also received by picking up bleached bones offthe prairies and selling them. Times have really changed in values of land. Kenneth started to farm on his own in 1936. The first land he purchased was the George Hodge place which he purchased for $2.50 an acre in 1940. He has continued farming in the area south of Stratton. Ken's first marriage ended in divorce in 1951. He was awarded custody of his small daughters, Beverley and Betsy. In 1952 he married Mabel Garner who was a native of this county. She was born on her parent's ranch north of Stratton, attended grade school at Solid Center 7 years. She rode a horse to school which delighted in dumping operation for about 35 years. Checking baby calves has been one ofthe highlights for them each spring. Kenneth also says there is nothing prettier than a nice green field of wheat in the fall and early spring. Kenneth has had a goal to leave the land in as good or better shape than he found it. by Mabel Scheierman SCHEIERMAN, HERBERT FAMILY F603 {_ 1 -e ffi- \ 1936. After graduation she attended Business College in Colorado Springs for six months, and then began working in The First National Bank in Stratton. One of Mabel's earliest recollections was the time she was lost and the neighbors gathered to help search for her. Her Grand- home and put them in a pen, and they needed to do the evening chores so told Mebel to go look at the chickens while they milked. Evidently she had not remembered them bringing them home as her uncle found her late at night on the prairie Iying down with her dog. She remembers going home to a 1':r. a Herb and Vena Scheierman, 1937; Eleanor and Shirley in 193?; Herbie and Lynn, 1944. .'. --.,; tlii;',r, house full of people and being made over by everyone in their relief to have her safe at home. The Scheierman's lived in Stratton for 7 years, but in 1959 built a new ranch style house at the farm and moved to the country. Even though they lived in the country, they continued to be community minded. KenL neth served his church as a member of its i? Board of Trustees for forty years. He served i the Stratton Equity Coop Ln its Board of ,/ Directors for 24 years. He even tried politics ) and was elected County Commissioner on the I Republican ticket in IE6 and served five consecutive terms making a total of 20 years. Mabel has served her church as treasurer for 45 years and has been active in many other roles in the church. She enjoyed a number of years serving on the state level the Women ofthe Church ofGod. She served as secretary, president and missionary education director. She also served on the National Board of the Women of the Church of God and served on the Executive Committee so she flew to Indiana three times each year for these meetings. She to served the Republican party as Vice Chairman and then Chairman. Kenneth and Mabel have really enjoyed the cattle and have operated a cow/calf Vena as she cared for the two girls and often suffered from gallbladder attacks. In the fall of 1937 there was no grass or feed for the cattle so Herb and Vena and the girls moved to Denver. They lived in an upstairs apartment on Kalamath Street. Herb went to drycleaning school and later rented a drycleaning shop on East Jewel. They lived in an attached apartment. Herb did the pressing and Vena the hand finishing. Each year as spring came around Herb would dream of the farm. In the spring of 1939 they moved to a place 2 miles east of Stratton on Highway 24. (Vena didn't want to move away from electric lights and running water.) They lived there 3 days place livable and 3 tramps came - thefirst day.wasn't the They moved into Stratton to Herb custom farmed. A son Herbert Lee was born Sept. 11, 1939 in Stratton. In November 1939, Herb and Vena bought her parents' high school in Stratton and graduated in er's home. Her parents had brought them take out to Vena. He had a rubber tired wagon. These were long lonely weeks for what is now the Pansy Thomason house. her many times but no broken bones. When she didn't ride, she walked. She attended mother Hampton had given her some bantam chickens which had been at her Grandmoth- milkhouse. He had his own milk cows and would take the cream to Cheyenne Wells or First View and sell it and buy groceries to In 1947 Herbie and Lynn were walking under the eaves in the rain, needed another rain hat, so Herbie made hers by tying a washpan on her head. Herbert Scheierman and Vena Hughes were married October 12, 1931 at McCook, Nebraska. The remainder of that winter they made their home with Vena's parents, Harve and Rosa Hughes, 11 miles S.E. of Stratton, Colorado. The next spring they rented and moved to the Charlie Geist place 23 miles So. of Stratton in Cheyenne County. Herb farmed and ran cattle. The cattle roamed over a wide area it was all open range. - asLou A daughter, Shirley was born there on Sept. 11, 1932 and another daughter, Eleanor Sue on Nov. 2, 1936. During the "dirty thirty's" Herb took the cattle to pasture 12 miles south of First View, Colo. where there was better grass. He rented pasture from Bob Geary and lived in their homestead and moved onto it. It had a large two story frame house with running water (cold only) and a "path". In later years they remodeled the house, including hot water, electricity, a bathroom and finishing the upstairs. They also built a two car garage with a milk house, a new barn and cattle shed. They also added 11 more quarters of land to the 2 they bought from Hughes. Shirley attended Kindergarten in Denver and first grade in Stratton. Then she went to East Bethel for second grade. She and Eleanor then walked 1-3l miles to West Bethel until 1945 when the family lived in Stratton that winter to care for Vena's father. From then until the fall of 1950 when the school buses began picking up the country kids, Herb and Vena took the children into Stratton everyday to school 22 miles roundtrip, morning and evening. The years that followed their move to the Hughe's homestead were good years in most ways, with the usual number of joys and sorrows hailstorms and good crops - good and bad-cattle prices and too - dirt storms much rain. Another daughter, Ruth Lynn was born on August 5, 1943. In thinking back over those years many incidents come to mind. Some of these follow. (From here on the elder Herbert will be referred to as Herb and the younger as Herbie) One day each week Vena took the children to Louis and Helen (Deakin) Adkins. Vena did kitchen work for Helen in exchange for Shirley's piano lesson. Herbie was about 2 years old, being very good, standing by a low window watching the cattle. No one saw him take a wick from a "Daisy" fly killer which was behind the curtain. Soon he became violently ill. Vena took the children home and laid him on a blanket under a shade tree where it was cool. Eleanor was sent to the chicken house for eggs and Shirley to the house for milk Vena felt that he had been poisoned. She wrapped a towel around him and began forcing eggs and milk down him in a few minutes Helen's car came -speeding up the hill. She had found that the "Daisy" fly killer had been disturbed and the wick was gone. Immediately Herbie was rushed into Stratton to Dr. Keen where he and his nurse, Mrs. Borders, gave him weak �on her name was Cannibal. Every gate and barn door had to be tied or a snap put on it eggs had diluted the poison and saved his life. After going back home, Herbie was laid on the or Cannibal would open it and get out and let the cattle out. When Aunt Wilsie was teaching the girls to knit, Herbie knit a scarf for Herb said, "There's no sense waving goodbye to them; they're going along". So John just let them crawl on himself. (Guess he didn't appreciate Herb's humor). Later, when they were in a field shocking feed (miles from anyone) John asked, "Mr. Scheierman, where cows. Cannibal. Lynn about age 8 and Herbie age 12 were riding the horses in the pasture, making them jump the creek. Lynn's horse tired of the warm while he went to the house for help. The doctor put the arm in an airplane cast. One day Herb said to Vena, "Don't look now, but perfect record; you've been late every morning". Vena was thankful for the good, Iocal help that Herb hired. Clarence Brown mustard water and kept him for observation for several hours. Dr. Keen said the milk and straw in the barn, Shirley and Eleanor watching him, while Vena helped milk the Another time, Vena, the kids and the dog started up thru the field in the car to get the mail. About % mile away from home the car died and couldn't be started. It refused to run. They all got out, walked the remaining 3/a mile, got the mail and walked back home. When Herb came home, Vena told him the car had quit and he said, "Are you out of gas?" Right away Herbie, age about 5, spoke up, "Oh, no, I filled it." Herb asked how he he got the filled it. Herbie showed him - the faucet. garden hose and turned on Needless to say, it took a while to drain the water from the gas tank. When Shirley was in second grade she attended East Bethel school which was 4-Vz miles from home. One day it was so muddy that Herb couldn't go get her in the car and the mud was so deep that the horse became exhausted and wouldn't go anymore. So there was no way to go get Shirley. Herb was sure the teacher would take her home with him but Vena worried that he would leave her at Herb would alone, thinking the schoolhouse be there soon to get her. Mr. Patterson, the teacher, lived at the George Hodge place two miles from the school. He did take Shirlev she remembers how hard home with him it was for her to- keep up with his fast pace in the mud. It was a long night for Vena, wondering where Shirley was' Shirley's and Eleanor's experiences riding a horse to school usually met with disaster Iike the time (mentioned in the West Bethel Story) when Marion Maricle waved his lunch sack and scared Clarabell, she dumped them off. Eleanor told Shirley, "I'm crippled for life". So Shirley ran as fast as she could to get help. The only thing crippled was Eleanor's pride. Shirley and Eleanor spent much time playing dolls and paperdolls. They had some bought paperdolls but most were cut from Sears and Wards catalogues. Vena made beautiful dresses for the dolls. As they got older, Shirley preferred to read and embroider. She made beautiful pillowcases, etc. She also helped Vena in the house, while Eleanor, Herbie and Lynn seized every opportunity to escape to the outdoors. Shirley had two parakeets. One of them nibbled on a picture frame and died of lead poisoning - theallother the mourned for its mate by pulling feathers out of its breast. The summers (for Eleanor, Herbie and Lynn) were spent playing with the "Brown Kids". They were the children of Clarence and Catherine Brown. Clarence worked for Herb. Their children were Paul, Vivian, Bruce and Loren. They played "cowboys and Indians", "cops and robbers", rode horses and bicycles and made a playhouse called "Lardy's Cafe". The robbers rode horses while the "bankers" and "sheriff' were on one time Lynn (who was the youngest foot - hence she had to be the sherifO said, as she -ran around the corner of the barn waving a toy pistol "They wobbed another bank." One summer Herbie got a horse (Part Shetland). The first time he tried to get on her she turned around and bit him on the shoulder, leaving a terrible welt. From then game and threw her off. She received a broken shoulder and was suffering from shock. Herbie laid her down on the grass and covered her with a saddle blanket to keep her may one urinate?" Herb replied, "Any ole place you want to." John told Vena, "Mr. Scheierman is sure enthusiastic about this feed hauling". John wasn't so enthusiastic and soon moved on. There were numerous other strange temporary workers. As Herb fired one hired man he said, "You have a Lynn is walking the corral fence". She was walking on top of the 2" corral boards; the worked for them for many years, so did Norma Zogg and in later years, Alfred cast hadn't slowed her down. One of the family pets was a small white dog part Pekinese and part terrier - named FuzzWuzz He lived many years. Another pet was a crow named "Blackie". They snipped Einspahr. his tongue hoping to teach him to talk. He didn't talk, but he did learn to sit on the side of the hammock and ride in the breeze. When the kids played hide and seek, he would fly over the place where each one was hiding' He became fond of eggs, so had to be done away with because he raided the chicken house. When Eleanor and Lynn would get out their miniature doll furniture to play house, Herbie always set up a Second Hand store where they could buy and sell furniture. He always dreamed of having a shop like the one it was a shoe Hubert Hubel had in Stratton - much to and harness repair shop with fascinate a little boy. One of Herb's favorite slang expressions was "Holy Mackerel". After being to a baptismal service at church, Lynn was baptising her doll. She said, "Holy the Father, Holy the Son, and Holy the Mackerel." Another time she and Loren Brown were playing cowboys on a hot day and pretending to "die". Soon Lynn lay down under a tree and said, "Let's die in the shade." As Shirley became high school age she informed Vena that there was no way she (Shirley) could euer get a boyfriend as long as Vena had paper drapes in the living room (they were a fad) and a coal stove in the kitchen. It didn't seem to bother the boyfriends, just Shirley. Eleanor was the accident prone one. It was she who always spilled dinner on her new Easter dress or tore her new jeans crawling thru the fence to get the milk cow. How does a milk cow know when you want to go somewhere and are in a hurry? They always went to the far end of the pasture and leaned on the fence to get as far away from home as possible. Another aspect of the farm life was the various temporary hired men that showed up. The family often wondered where Herb could find such "odd" creatures. One shaved his head and took whole pieces of chicken off the platter to feed his dog. Vena put a stop to that, fast. He also ate gravy on his chocolate meringue pie. Another was an Indian named John. He was direct off the reservation and evidently didn't know much about a farm. His hair was jet black and very oiled down. The kids and Vena were afraid of him. He ate lots of salt on his pickles. One day as Herb and John were going to the field, there were many flies inthe pickup cab, John was waving his hand trying to keep the flies off of himself. During the early years, Herb and Vena milked as many as 19 cows. Often Venawould have them all milked by the time Herb came in from the field. One particular morning when Herb went to the barn, a stray Tom cat had killed the baby kittens. Herb killed the Tom cat and lined all the dead cats up in a row just inside the barn door. When Vena opened the door to help milk, there lay the dead cats. Needless to say, she wasn't very happy with Herb. After milking, Herb and the kids loaded the dead cats into "Bobby", the pickup, and headed up thru the pasture to dispose of them. On the way a rabbit jumped up and the dog gave chase and ran in front of the pickup and Herb ran over him. So they just threw the dog in with the cats and hauled them all away. A special family tradition is spending Christmas day with the Whitmore family. Vic Whitmore is Vena's sister. Their family consisted of Floyd, Vic and twin sons, Loren and Doren. In the years since Herb and Vena moved from Denver, they have never missed spending Christmas together. There have been years when sickness or distance kept various members of the families from coming but Vena and Vic have always been there. In 1987 all of Vena's and Vic's families were there including the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren a total of 35 people. The absence of Herb and Floyd who have passed away is especially felt at this time of year. Herb and Vena planned for each of the children to have a college education. Shirley attended York College, York, Nebraska; Eleanor went to Colorado A&M College in Fort Collins, Colo. and received a Secretarial Training Certificate; Herbie went to Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo. and has a bachelors and masters degree; Lynn attended Westmar College, LeMars, Iowa, where she received her bachelors degree; she has a masters from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Tragedy struck the family when on September 1, 1963, Herb and his sister-in-law, Mabel Scheierman were involved in a headon automobile accident. Mabel was seriously injured and Herb died later that day. For the next \-t/z years Vena remained on the farm, while renting out the ground. In April 1967 she moved into a new home she designed and had built in Burlington, Co. She is still living there at 1538 Senter, Burlington, Colorado. Vena's family consists of daughter Shirley and husband, Norman Zogg, Goodland, Kansas, and their two daughters, Janet Beth (Zogc), born Dec. 29,1952, and husband Bob �Churchwell, and three children, Clinton Michael, born Sept. 20, L976, Matthew Ryan, born August 11, 1978, and Raelyn Alaine, born July 31, 1981, and Patricia Lynn (Zogg) born Nov. 19, 1957 and husband Jim Dorsch and children Cassandra Ann, born Dec. 11, 1980 and Jared Keith, born Nov. 13, 1982; daughter Eleanor and husband, LeRoy Hern- don, Stratton, Colorado, their son Edwin Dean, born Sept. 6, 1959, and wife Trudy and children Jesse Edwin, born August 21, 1982 and Amanda Lynn, born Sept. 7, 1984, daughter Carol Lou, born April 6, 1963, and daughter Kathryn Sue, born Dec. 4, 1971; son Herbert Lee and wife Verna Lee (Edwards), Fountain, Colorado; and daughter Ruth Lynn Johnson, Castle Rock, Colorado and son Jay James, born Sept. 15, 1975. by Eleanor Scheierman Herndon SCHERR, JOE F604 Married on April 21, 1931 in Collyer, Kansas, Joseph M. and Marcelline M. Scherr headed west to settle south of Seibert, Colorado. Joe was a farmer and rancher by heart and blood but never found suitable work at this time in the area, so the couple decided to try their luck in sunny, hot Arizona. After six months trial period on a large working cattle ranch, the couple decided their hearts lay in Colorado, farming and ranching on their own. In April 1935 with the help of their dear friends, George and Irene Bancroft, a small two-wheeled trailer with all their worldly possessions, thirty-six dollars in their pocket and a precious three year old daughter, Joe and Marcelline Scherr settled thirteen miles north of Seibert and started the Scherr Farm-Ranch. Joe borrowed $640.00 to invest in eight milk cows, a used 10-20 McCormick tractor, and a second hand six foot Sanders one-way. The Scherr farm was on its way to becoming the successful operation it is today in 1987. Joe and Marcelline reared four lovelv children: Patricia Scherr Brock, Madefinl Scherr Mills, Eileen Scherr Woods, and Stanley Joseph Scherr. Sixteen beautiful selling meat to the Denver and surrounding markets. In the early days of the cattle industry in the West, the rancher who had the bottom land along a creek of live water had access to in California, Florida and Indiana. Their Jacob felt the need for better grazing for his cattle and since Denver was growing and the lands extending out from the foothills had grandchildren followed. Today the girls are spread throughout the United States living children, many married with families of their own, also live throughout the States. Stan Scherr, his wife Cindy, and their children, Eric, Tiffany, and Steven, live on the Scherr Farm and continue raising the cattle and wheat that were the love of Joe's life. by Cindy Scherr SCHERRER, JACOB the surrounding hills of lush buffalo grass. already been settled, he looked farther eastward. He and his brother, Alexander, a cattle rancher near Agate, made several trips horseback into this area and found the hills and draws of buffalo grass as high as their horses' bellies. It was a good place to establish a ranch headquarters. To market their livestock they had to be driven a distance to a railroad stockyards and shipped east since the railroad was not built into Kit Carson F605 County until 1887. The Bar-T was a landmark ranch for manv years. It served as a start for many settlers One of the earliest cattle ranches in what walled barn built by T.J. Conger, a stone mason, for hay storage and protection from winter storms. The wooden part of the barn burned in the 1930s but the rock wall still Bar-T is now known as Kit Carson County was located in the northern end of the county along the Republican River and Landsman Creek. It was the Bar-T known for the brand Often the bar went over the back of the -T. critter with the T below on the right flank. A 5000 acre ranch, it was established in the early 1880s by Jacob Scherrer. It was a busy working ranch and source of employment for many pioneers and early settlers to this area. Born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1838, Jacob came to America with his parents when he was nine years old. They first settled in Iowa and started farming. In the late 1850s he started out on his own and made his way to the west and settled in Boulder, CO. He started his own freight company which provided meat and provisions to the mining camps in Colorado and Utah. He was also engaged in cattle ranching in Montana, and before Colorado became a state he was living in Denver and raising cattle, butchering and who could work there. Jacob had a large rock stood for many years serving as a wind break. Jacob planned for his sons to eventually take over the ranch and other homesites were built. One built a large rock house with, of all things, large picture windows that gave a pretty view of the river bottom lands, a cellar under the house, which could be reached from the kitchen, and electric lights provided by its own light plant. He also had built a large rock silo for forage storage. The silo is still standing. The Bar-T was sold by Jacob to his son, Jacob G. Sherrer, in 1911. He kept it until 1925 when he sold it and moved closer to Denver. They wanted to have access to schools for better education of their ten children. Jacob Garfield had maried Annette Milhoan in Burlington in 1908. Annette also ran the Hermes post office until it was abandoned. The Hermes post office and store and cream station was located across the river from the Bar-T headquarters. It handled mail for the ranchers in that area and mail being brought by wagon or horseback from Benkleman, Nebraska. The Hermes ranch was purchased by Dr. Elmer Scherrer, Jacob's son, for his son Henry. However, Henry died quite young and so the ranch was sold to William and Helen Scherrer in 1928. The house and barns were actually in Yuma County but much of the ranch land and pasture laid in Kit Carson County. Dr. Scherrer was the son ofJacob Sherrer Sr. and William was the son of Alexander Scherrer. brother to Jacob. There is little trace of the original Bar-T now except for the faint outlines ofthe adobe house, some remains of the rock wall of the barn and, of course, the rock house and silo in the pasture to the east. The rich bottom hay lands were turned into sand bars by the 1935 flood. The channel of the river was changed, cutting into the original hay fields. Most of that has been since covered with growth of cottonwood trees and may in long years to come be reclaimed as farm ground again. The Scherrers had obtained water and ditch rights for irrigation and the Holland Sherr Ranch. 1987. �ditch still has priority over the later irrigators and ranchers above and below the Bar-T. bY Regina WhiPPle SCHICK - ADOLF FAMILY F606 Ernest Frederick Schick and Leah Barbara Adolf were united in marriage on January 7, 1938 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, north of Bethune, Colorado. Ernest was born to Frederick and Irene LeFevere Schick on August 6, 1914 at Newberg, Oregon. He was baptized in the First Christian Church in Newberg, attended grade school at Fernwood District and high school at Newberg, Oregon. Ernie was active playing football and baseball besides helping his father on the farm and with the prune and walnut drying. I was born to Gottlieb and Barbara Stahlecker Adolf on January 24, t917 and was raised on a farm in the so-called "Settlement", north of Bethune. I attended the first eight grades in a one-room adobe schoolhouse known as "Schaal School' District #22" which was located by the Sam Schaal farm house. During the Dust Bowl Days of the '30's, I moved with my parents, along with mY brothers Gottlieb, Herman, and George and Leona (who were newly married) to Newberg, Oregon in the spring of 1935. My parents had a sale and kept some furniture, etc. which we Ioaded onto a 1929 model Chevrolet truck and our 1932 Chevrolet four-door car. George and Leona took their 1928 two-door Chevy, pulling a trailer with their belongings. So away we went: "Oregon or bust!" My Dad rented a small acreage at Springbrook, Oregon near Newberg. We all found jobs picking berries, walnuts, filberts, and prunes, or whatever jobs were available. I did some housework for $15.00 a month, and later got a raise to$20.00 a month with every other Sunday off. I also worked in the cannery. While I was picking walnuts one day, a young fellow came strolling through the orchard. He stopped and chatted awhile. That stroll led to dating and later to our marriage. In October of 1937, my parents, brothers Gottlieb and Herman, and I moved back to the farm in Colorado. George and Leona stayed in Oregon a year longer, and then moved back to their farm north of Burlington, Colorado. George and Leona, her parents Henry and Lilly Fanslau, and Ernie came back for a visit the following Christmas. Ernie then decided that he wanted to marry and take me back to Oregon with him. We hustled around to get ready for a wedding in less than two weeks. In the meantime, Ernie decided to go into farming with Gottlieb' They rented a farm known as the old Lou Bramier place southwest of Burlington. I went back to Oregon with George and Leona, her folks, and Ernie, to bring back Ernie's belongings and his 1931 black Graham Coupe. On our way back to Oregon, we stopped at Wamsutter, Wyoming for the night. It was a small place with a gas station, grocery store, and a few cabins. We rented two cabins. It was a bitter cold January evening. The water pipes were frozen up and we had to melt snow in order to clean up. We had a few groceries with us so that we could do our own cooking. Leona decided that we would have pancakes for breakfast, but we had no milk. George then melted some snow and Leona made the pancakes with snow water. Our Honeymoon? After a month's stay with Ernie's family, we came back to our newly rented farm for a year. Gottlieb got married to Mabel Gramm in July of that summer. The four of us Iived together on that farm for the rest of the year. My Dad bought a 160-acre farm for us for $800.00, which at one time belonged to my great grandparents, Christian and Fredericka Adolf. It was located across the road from the congregational Church, north of Bethune, Colorado. We had some very tough times during our first few years of marriage. Ernie, not being used to the cold Colorado climate, came down with rheumatic fever and was laid up for part of the first winter. Barbara was born at the home of her Ernest and Leah Schick with children Barbara, Marilyn and Dean on Christmas day 1948 J Errries parents at Newberg, Oregon. it was a very cold, windy day' at the home grandparents, Gottlieb and Barbara Adolf, north of Bethune, Colorado on November 14, 1938. She was delivered by her Great Grandmother Margarette Adolf. She came down with smallpox at three months and lost all of her black hair. The second winter Ernie had an accident while hunting jack rabbits with Gottlieb and Herman one evening after dark. He was hospitalized for two weeks with cgt up knees �and legs, due to running through a barbed wire fence while riding on the fender of a car. Then again, we had lots of cold and snow. No one could travel with the car until the roads were opened up. Besides, we had lost all of our hogs from cholera and calves from blackleg, along with crop failures from dust and hail storms. We managed to hold on with the help of a neighbor, who let us have cows milk for the use of pasture and others who let us use their horses to do our farming. The boys had to break these horses for farming which resulted in some pretty exciting rodeos at times. We had many runaways. At one time, the horses ran through the garden fence and ruined our garden. We also picked cow chips to use as fuel in our potbellied stoves to keep us warm during the cold winter months. Fortunately, we always had plenty to eat for our family. Living on the farm, we had our own meat, eggs, milk, cream, and produce from our gardens. Marilyn was born on March 20, L942 at Burlington, Colorado. Times were beginning to get a little better by then. We later bought another farm, known as the Frank Kramer farm, also located in the Settlement. Dean was born at Burlington, Colorado on June L9, L947. We moved onto the Kremer farm shortly thereafter. In 1960 we started to build a house on 377 Pomeroy Street in Burlington. We moved into it in the fall of 1962, still live in it and "Settlement", north of Bethune. Colorado in May of 1908. My mother, Barbara Stahlecker, was born December 24, L885 in Tripp, South Dakota to Martin and Katherina Stahlecker. She moved with her family to north of Bethune, Colorado at the age of eight. Ernie's father, Frederick Schick. was born November 14, 1886 at Baudle, South Dakota. He moved to Newberg, Oregon at eighteen years. Ernie's mother, Irene Lefaiwe Schick, was born September 5, 1896 in New York to Ernest and Louise Lefaivre. She moved with her parents to Newberg, Oregon in the year 1900. Ernest and Louise were both born in Paris, France. by Leah Schick SCHLICHENMAYER BREITLING FAMILY F607 Comfort stove and make a whole oven full of popcorn. Christina died 31 August 1984. Cooking was done with "stokamich". This was the manure and straw mix that accumulated in corrals during the winter. In the spring it was cut into squares and allowed to minister at Church, Jacob and other elders of the church read from the "Bredight Buch". This contains sermons that were simply read to the congregation. Jacob died on B0 September 1937. Their 12 children were: Emma. Jacob (Jake), William (Bill), Reinhardt (Sport), Bertha, John (Johnny), Alvina, Sechart (Stub), Tafield (Shorty), Garfield (Dick), Harold, and Leona (Sis). by Robert and Linda Coles Jacob Schlichenmayer and Christina Breitling. Jacob Schlichenmayer born 28 November 1873 in Birsula, Bessarabia, S. Russia was the son of Jacob and Margarete Schlichenmayer. In 1889 his family decided to migrate to the United States. Unfortunately for Jacob he was of military age and therefore couldn't obtain an official passport to leave Russia. In order to escape Russia and avoid a military Parents and Grandparents service, Jacob and Gottlieb Bauder obtained forged passports from a Jewish forger. The passport was good enough to get them out of Russia but not into Germany where they were supposed to rejoin their families and continue on to America together. They were held at the border for several days because of the passports and because they lacked the money to pay for their passage to America. The German officials didn't want any penniless immigrants coming into Germany that would be wards of the state. Finally a telegram to My father, Gottlieb Adolf, was born November 3, 1891 at Anaba, Michaelsfeld, South Russia to Wilhelm and Margarette Adolf. He arrived in this community, the money. Unfortunately the money came too late and they were unable to accompany their parents to America. They finally managed to depart on a later ship and joined their parents Barbara and Richard Briggs and - Angela Jennifer Atlanta, Georgia; Marilyn and Fred Tafoya and Fred III Denver, Colo- Lesa rado; Dean and Eulalah Schick - Lori, Lindi, and Lacy Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. remember nights when Christina would put a rag on a broom handle, clean out the a large family. During the absence of a After moving to Burlington, Ernie still Our Family Christina was apparently a very tough lady. She rarely wore shoes, even in winter she usually did her chores barefoot in the snow. She was also a very popular midwife throughout the settlement. Many of the parents and grandparents of today's residents got their first whack on their fannvs wasn't tolerated was egg fights. Jacob always had a large garden that was necessary to raise farmed for a few years. We then rented the farm out, and Ernie drove a school bus for four years and also worked for a couple of Above all, the good Lord has blessed us daughter, Madelyne Anderson. lerated with good humor. One thing that relatives and friends at our new home. We must admit not all our days were tough luck. There were many more good and happy days then bad ones, especially with the children. We enjoyed attending their school activities and taking them on trips. both with good health and a wonderful and loving family. These were the "Days of our Lives," thus far as of July 1, 1986. their llth child, Harold, and the death of their first child, Emma Anderson, in a trolley car accident, Christina began nursing and raising both her own child and her grand- cooking and/or heat. Jacob continued raising their children and was apparently an easy going parent. When the cousins and family would all gather on weekends, fights and roughhousing was to- bitter cold day, with an open house for visit Ernie's mother, brother Harry, and received the patent on his homestead in 1902. Jacob and Christina had 12 children over a period of 28 years. In 1918 with the birth of dry for 6 months before it was used for Our children honored us on our 25th wedding anniversary on January 7, 1963, a sisters Louise, Helen and Rose, and their families along with many old friends. On 30 December 1897, Jacob was married to Christina Breitling, daughter of Phillip Breitling and Karolina Strobel. Jacob became a citizen of the United States and from Christina. Her children will alwavs also still own our farm. farmers. He later got his own truck and hauled beets and grain. After Dean graduated from high school, I worked at the Ben Franklin Store for 13 years. Since our retirement, we have traveled through most of the good old USA, a trip into Canada, and into the Baja of California. We enjoy camping and fishing in the mountains, and also travel to Oregon more often now to in Colorado. SCHLICHENMAYER. WEISS FAMILY F608 R.O., the fourth child of Jacob Schlichenmayer and Christina Breitling, grew up on the Schlichenmeyer home place in 1903. "Sport" was frequently involved in the usual Bremmen contacted their parents to send Robert and Anna Schlichenmaver. �boy games including his favorite baseball. They played on several different diamonds; one was near the present Ruben Meyer place, another was on his brother Bill's place, a third was at the Daffer place north of Stratton. As he grew older another summer occupation was helping his Uncle Fred Schlichenmayer on a threshing crew that traveled throughout the settlement area. Anna the second child of Martin and Lydia (Schmidke) Weiss also grew up on the family SCHLICIIENMAYER, JACOB AND MARGARETE KIENZLE F609 farm and went to schooljust "down over" the hill. School included the usual "3 R's" that was made more enjoyable when they had "cyphering" contests. During recess and dinner time the girls played baseball, basketball and a winter sport called "Fox and Goose". Another pastime included playing Margarete continued to live on their homestead raising their children until 1928 when she had a stroke and was bedfast until her death in 1931. Jacob and Margarete had 9 children, all of who survived to adulthood. They were: Jacob, Christina (Gilruth), Gottlieb, Margreta (Adolf), John, David, Carolina (Boll), Fredrick, and Elizabeth (Metcalf). by Robert and Linda Coles SCHLICHENMAYER, LENA WEISSHAAR F6rO "Jacks" but they used stones instead of rubber balls. A favorite family or school outing was to go to the dunes and arrowhead hunt. Another good place to arrowhead hunt was the "blowouts" that grew rapidly during the 1920's and again in the 1950's. After leaving school Anna had her first job away from home working and living at Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Woods. Sport and Anna met at a "crowd"; these were gatherings held on Sunday nights at different homes where singing, guitar playing, and the like was enjoyed. Sport was the proud owner of a blue Chevy Roadster at the time and he still had the same car on their wedding day of 29 June 1935. Sport and Anna first lived on the "Bill Stutz" place north of Bethune for one and one half years. Their first daughter, Geraldine was born there in 1936. Moving to the "Johnny Weisshaar" place (the old Phillip Breitling homestead of Sport's grandparents" about 1937, three more children were born Phyliss, Lee and Ray. Finally they purchased and moved to the Bill Weisshaar place. Two more children were born there, Dale in 1947, and Linda in 1950. Ray's death in a car accident in 1962 left their family at five children. Sport began farming with horses and later added an Oliver tractor which he bought from his brother-in-law Herman Adolf. He later purchased Internationals owning both an "M" and an "H", Sport quit farming with the help of "horse power" when Page of a team called Dick and Page died. Page's death was a very difficult time for two small boys Lee and Ray. The next years were spent raising children through both good and bad times including the "dirty 50's" and the bad grasshopper years in the early 60's. Sport took special pride in his fine Hereford cattle for many years. He also enjoyed his dairy herd, of which he could say that, there wasn't one of them that he couldn't sit down and milk without benefit of stanchion or hobbles. The children began to leave home to marry and raise their own families in 1956 when "Gerry" was married followed by the rest of the children. Sport continued farming and enjoyed his grandchildren until his death on the 20th of May 1977. Anna continues to live in her home where she does many crafts but takes special pride in her quilts. She has made special quilts for all her children and is presently making one for each of her grandchildren as they graduate. by Robert and Linda Coles -&, Margarete Schlichenmayer nee Kienzle in 1921. Jacob Schlichenmayer was born 3 May, 1848 in Hoffnungstal Cherson, Russia to Jacob and Barbara (Erlunbuch) Schlichenmayer. He was married to Margarete Kienzle on 1? October 1872 in Hoffnungstal. Margarete was born in Hoffnungstal on 16 December, 1852 to Gottlieb and Christine (Hohn) Kienzle. After having grown up and married in the German enclaves of S. Russia, Jacob and Margarete began to consider Immigration to the United States. During the 1870's to 1890's conditions were changing in the German areas of Russia. Many of the families had originally come to Russia as members of religious groups lured by free land, religious freedom and freedom from military service. By 1890 all this was changing and Jacob's sons were becoming old enough to serve in the military. Faced with the imminent draft of their oldest son, Jacob, the family decided to join the migration of German Lutheran families to the plains of the Midwest and Western United States. Choosing the area north ofpresent day Bethune, Colorado, they departed Russia in 1889, because of delays only eight family members traveled together sailing from Bremmen, Germany. Their oldest son. Jacob (born 1873) was unable to accompany the family because he had already reached military age in Russia. After many difficulties and adventures young Jacob eventually rejoined his family in Colorado. Upon arriving in the United States they traveled to the settlement by train in time for the birth ofan 8th child. Fredrick on the 4th of May, 1890. Soon after arriving in the United States, the family applied for a homestead and Jacob applied for citizenship. Jacob lived long enough to "prove up" on his homestead and died in 1900 after the birth of their 9th child. Elizabeth in 1895. Lena Schlichenmayer, celebrating her 100th birthday on June 1, 1986. Magdalena (Lena) Weisshaar Schlichenmayer was born at Talmage, Nebraska, on June 1, 1886. Her parents, John Frederick Weisshaar and Christena Margareta Wilhelm Weisshaar migrated from Germany to the southern tip of Russia. From there they left the village Lichtentaal through the Port of Odessa on the Black Sea in 1885 bound for the United States and settled in Talmage, Nebraska. In 1887 Lena at the age of nine months moved to a farm near Idalia. Colorado with her parents. In 1901 the family moved south to a farm 13 miles northeast of Bethune. The farm had a house on it with two rooms. One room was made ofsod and the other room was made of stone - both being very large. The sod room had the kitchen and dining area in it and also some of the children slept there. It was partitioned off with curtains. The rock room was partitioned off into sleeping rooms with curtains also. The floors were all of sand and dirt wet down to compact them and then swept. Later as the family increased another rock addition was added to the first rock room to be used as another bedroom. Years later an adobe house was built. They also built a barn and granary of stone and a frame �water running through it, milk and butter '.' :, ' llt, ,,f , l .,i1, :*,,, ; ,111' ::if . ri'l,'r$' were stored there. Butchering was done in the winter and hung in a safe place to stay frozen. In order to preserve it for use in the summer it had to be cured by smoking, drying or frying down and then stored in the lard in a large stone jar. No glass jars were available, therefore canning was out of the question. Cabbage was shredded and pressed into stone fr jars to make sauerkraut. Cucumbers and several other vegetables were pickled and stored in stonejars. Corn was dried and stores in sacks then hung on nails in a dry location. The Settlement was nearly all German nationality. Immanuel Lutheran Church was the center oftheir life and was attended every Schlichenmayer family, 1986. Standing L. to R.: Lawrence, Rudolph (Rudy), Vernon, George. Seated: Pete, Lena, and Freda Schaal. granary. Adobe was used for mortar to build the stone buildings. Life was extremely difficult for the family. They had one horse and a neighbor had one. They would work together so they had a "team". They used this team to break the prairie with a plow in order to plant crops and a garden. The women would hitch the team to a wagon to go to the river to wash clothes. They would take barrels along to bring back water for drinking, cooking, some washing, and also for the livestock. Besides the horse, a few cows, some hogs and chickens were added to their possessions. After the crops were harvested the men would leave the women and children on the farm and would go to Denver to seek employment to earn needed cash. As soon as the weather started clearing in the spring they would return home to tend to their farming. There were no trees available, therefore mainly cow chips and corn cobs were burned for heat and cooking. For light, lamps were used that burned coal oil or kerosene which cost about ten cents per gallon. Water was carried in from outside. All water had to be heated on the stove to wash dishes, clothes, and for bathing. For beds, ticking was purchased in town and was sewn into a mattress cover which was then filled with soft corn husks. All sewing was done by hand. Shoes weren't well fitted or particularly well made and not many stockings were owned so the children went barefoot as soon as the weather permitted even to school. Stockings were black or brown and didn't wear well nor Iast long. To make soap, the tallow, cracklings and the lard would be warmed and mixed with lye. This mixture was then cooked until done, then poured into a square pan and allowed to set and dry. After it was dry, it was then cut into squares and used for all types of washing. Fresh foods were available from the garden during the summer but preserving for winter use presented a different side. After the well house was built with a tank inside and fresh Sunday and all religious holidays except for illness or bad weather. Lena married Gottlieb Schlichenmayer on January 20, L907 in the Immanuel Lutheran church and began their married life about three miles northwest of where she grew up. This was on a homestead that was secured on December 9, 1913 under President Woodrow Wilson. Life afforded them many of the same problems as had been met by Lena's parents. They lived in a small two room adobe house until 1915 when they then built a four room adobe house. Both houses still stand although the later one has had rooms added on and is the home of her son, Lawrence. In 1919 a drive-through granary was built and in 1920 a big red barn. In 1916 they purchased their first motor driven vehicle - a Model T Touring car with kerosene lamps in front and rear plus magneta head lights. The rear lamps had red glass. In 1924 a Model T truck was purchased. On Decembet L4, 1929 they purchased their first power washer which was a Maytag. The Guarantee Bond states that the motor or magneta were warranted for one year but the spark plugs were not covered. Up until that time the washing was done in a tub on a washboard and later by a hand-powered washing machine. Lena and Gottlieb became the parents of ten children - Freda (Schaal), Frederick, Hulda (Bauder), Pete, Bernard, Elmer, Lawrence, Rudolf, and Vernon. Gottlieb passed away on September 10, 1946, and as of January 1988, four of her children are still living Lawrence, Rudy, and Vernon. - Pete, She has 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren. Pete has been employed as an auctioneer for 54 years. He and his wife, Jean (Messen- ger), reside in Bethune. Rudy lives in Burlington and has been employed by the Yersin's at the Red Front Market for 34 years, besides being a piano and guitar music teacher. Lawrence remains on the familv farm and Vernon is in Nebraska. In 1986 Lena celebrated her 100th birthdav with a reception at Immanuel Lutheran Church. At that time she had been a member of the church for 85 years. In April of 198? following the death of her son, George, she moved to Grace Manor Care Center in Burlington where she celebrated her 101st birthday. by Jean Schlichenmayer Lena's sisters and brothers at her 100th birthday celebration. Seated L. to R.: Mary Weisshaar Adolf, Lena Weisshaar Schlichenmayer, Margaret Weisshaar Stahlecker, Freida Weisshaar Fisher; Anna Weisshaar Adolf, Standing: Freida and William (Bill) Weisshaar, Jake and Carrie Weisshaar, Karl Weisshaar. �SCHMIDKE, SAM AND ANNA HAUSER F6ll Sam Schmidke was born in the Black Sea area of S. Russia in 1848. He married Anna Magdalena Hauser (b. Borodina, S. Russia) whose parents were Christian Hauser and Anna Magdelina Kubler. He and his family were part of a great migration that swept through Europe in the 19th Century. Following the precedent set by Catherine the Great of Russia in the 1760's, Czar Alexander I again invited Germans to settle about the Black Sea on land recently taken from the Turks. He promised the Germans land, religious liberty and exemp- tion from military service, in return for settling this unused land. His recruiting agents were especially successful in Southwestern Germany. Many poor German peasants in Baden, Bavaria, and Wurttemberg, suffering from the ravages of French armies during the Napoleonic Wars, were ready to move. Taking a pair of beasts, a few farm tools, and what little cash they had, they traveled more than a thousand miles to the Black Sea. Having seen armies destroy all other property, they sought land. Land hunger took them to Russia and latter brought them to the Hi-Plains of Colorado, Kansas, the Dakota's and Nebraska. In Russia, the German colonists were determined to remain German, to keep their religion and the German language. They succeeded in their goal but the years in Russia had a major influence on them. Desiring land they became and largely remained farmers, living in one or two street villages and going out each day to farm their land. They suffered considerable hardship in Russia. Their early homes were not much more than huts with windows and they faced many epidemics including cholera, smallpox, measles and typhoid. The "German Russians" didn't become a part of Russian life, keeping contact with their neighbors to a minimum. The father was almost a dictator in their own households; everyone worked hard and education was neglected. By the 1870's and 1880's things were changing in Russia. The Russians were beginning a program of forced as similation beginning by introducing Russian schools taught by Russian teachers. They also began taking away many of the Germans special privilages including their exemption from military service. When faced with these problems plus the lack of land for their children to begin new farms on, the Germans in Russia began to look towards the Great Plains of the United States for new opportunities. In American the Homestead Act and large blocks of land given to railroads made land cheap and inviting. By 1893 Sam and his family had decided to leave Russia and begin the long journey to the United States. The trip began with an overland journey to Bremmen, Germany, followed by crossing the Atlantic ocean on the ship Traster departing April 11, 1893 and arriving in N.Y., N.Y. at Ellis Island on 25 April 1893. After successfully completing the inspections at the "Island of Tears", they began traveling again. This time the destination was North Dakota. Arriving there they again decided to move, this time to Colorado in 1894 where they made their permanent home. In many ways this was not an easy life for contented to stay at home, and when we did go visiting we enjoyed real visits, something which people now-a-days know nothing the new immigrants. About the only thing that didn't change from their Russian homes At first, the wagon was our only means of transportation, Iater we got a two-wheeled road cart and then a spring wagon. I lived with my parents on the homestead until 1914, when I was married to Charles F. was the climate and their religion. While they still tended to congregate in groups of coreligionist in Colorado, just as they had in Russia they could no longer maintain the tight knit exclusive groups they once had. The Homestead Act which required each family to live five years on its own 160 acres effectively destroyed their village culture. In addition, since the land was free to all, they might have an Irishman, Dane or native-born American for a neighbor and this brought change. Compulsory education taught in English and the predominately English- speaking towns forced them to learn English and again introduced new ideas to the young. Almost immediately what was unthinkable in about. Schneider, who came to Colorado in the year 1908. He took a homestead, built a soddy, and lived there with a brother until he made proof and got title to his claim. We went to Kansas and were married and lived there five years. Then we moved back to Colorado, and I kept house for my mother and brother. I am still using some of the pieces of furniture that we used in Illinois, and shipped out here in 1890. We are now living on a homestead taken by one of my brothers in later years. Russia began to happen in America: the settler's children began to marry outside the German community. Dealing with all these changes the death of six of their children in infancy and bad crop years led to the early death of Sam in 1900. Anna continued to live in her home with her younger children until her death on August 3, 1923. Sam and Anna had six children who survived past infancy. Lydia Weiss, Samual, John, Emma Dabbler, Rosina Schaal, and Margaretta Stahlicker. by Della llendricks SCHNEIDEWIND, FREDRICK FAMILY F613 by Robert and Linda Coles SCHNEIDER, MARGARET HAWTHORNE F612 I was born in Durham, England, July 23, 1875, and came to the United States with my parents when five years of age, (1880). We lived fifteen years in Illinois, then decided to come west. Father and my elder brother came out in 1889, and father took a pre-emption, built a sod house, dug a well, and prepared the home for the rest of the family, who came in June, 1890. Seibert was little more than a few shacks, a store or two, a post office, and a depot, but it was where we got our mail and supplies that we did not bring with us. School was held in a little sod school house, that was built on a claim of one of my brothers. We had regulation desks and used books that we brought with us. Our amusements were few. Once in awhile, we would have a church services, which was usually held in the waiting room of the depot. There was no regular preacher, but when a missionary minister or evangelist happened to stop for a day or two, we would enjoy church services. Sometimes, we would have dances in the depot waiting room, or at a home that was large enough to accomrnodate Earl Schneidewind Fredrick John Schneidewind, son of Adolph and Fredrica Schneidewind, was born June 1, 1895 at Feuersville, Missouri. He was baptized and later confirmed in the Lutheran faith April 4, 1909 in the Feuersville Lutheran Church. Mr. Schneidewind lived on a farm near a small crowd. After the school house was Feuersville until 1915 at which time he built, we sometimes had dances there. We moved to Basine. Kansas. Here he met and married Dora Lena Koch worked hard all week to be permitted to ride the work horses on Sunday. Of course, there was plenty of open prairie on which to ride. We did not go out much; folks seemed to be October 22, 1925 in St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Basine. They lived on a farm southeast of Basine until 1934 when thev �moved to a farm near Bethune, Colorado. Later they moved to a farm near Stratton, Colorado, where they remained until they retired and sold the farm, bought a home in Stratton and moved there in Oct. 1967. In August J.971 they sold their home in Stratton and moved into the Burlington Rest Home. Mrs. Schneidewind passed away on January 24.1973. This couple was blessed with one son, Earl Eugene. He attended school at the Nutbrook School. He rode a horse to school. He became very ill, and died in October 1944 of a ruptured appendix. Fred lived to the age of87 years and passed away September 18, 1982. The family are buried in Claremont Cemetery, Stratton, Colorado. by Florence McConnell SCHULTE, JOSEPH AND CLARA suffered pain much of the time. Joe sustained an extremely severe broken leg while riding Peggy and her daughter Shirley and son on the draw-bar of the tractor. The tractor struck a hole in the road causing Joe's leg to slip off the draw-bar and breaking it. Joe was many months getting well. The twins were 15 years old at the time and worked in their father's place. Another time Joe lost his voice when a fire broke out and he yelled and yelled for help causing him to loose his voice for Patricia and husband Dan Witzel reside on a farm east of Stratton and have 4 sons: James, Kelly, Ryan and Scott. Barbara and husband Dave Hornung reside on a farm northwest of Stratton and have 7 children: Danny Fox reside at Haysville, Kansas. Andy, Chris, Brian, Darren, Marci, Greg, and Joni. Chris passed away on June 1, 1986. Yvonne has continued to stay on the farm. several days. Joe keeps busy selling corn, alfalfa, feed and grass seed. He has sold Pop-Up Campers for pickup trucks. Clara keeps busy croche- ting and looking after the family. All the children are married except Larry and Danny. They still make their home on the farm. In the Schulte family there are an excep- tional number of twins. Brother Henry had twin girls, sister Margaret had twin boys, Joseph had twin boys and his son Jerry had twins 1 boy and 1 girl, brother Raymond had twin girls, brother John had twin girls and his son had twins 1 boy and I girl. Brothers by Yvonne Schwieger SCOTT - JANZEN FAMILIES F616 Bernard and Clarence didn't have twins and Joe's sister Sylvana is a nun. F614 by Joe Schulte Joseph Herman Schulte was born on June 11, 1919, one of eight children in Spearville, Kansas. He grew up on the family farm near Spearville. On February 2,1932 Joe enlisted in the Army and was discharged on December 10, 1945. While Joe was stationed in Holstein, Texas he met Clara Richter of Hostyn, Texas. Clara was born on January 5, t921. On June 13, 1945, Joe and Clara were married. Joe was transferred to Cheyenne, Wyoming where they lived until he was discharged. This was the first time Clara had been away from home and she got along fine by keeping busy and finding work. After being discharged, Joe and Clara went to live in Dodge City, Kansas. In April Joe and his bride moved to Kit Carson County to a farm that was known as the W.T. Schaal place. Joe's father had purchased this land prior to Joe's discharge from the service. It consisted ofthree quarters (480 acres) offarm ground 8 miles north and 3 miles west of Bethune, Colorado. Twin boys, Larry and Jerry, were born on August 28,L946. A daughter, Josephene, was born on November 28. 1949 and died in infancy. Another son, Anthony (Tony) was born on December 29, 1950 while they lived on this farm. During January of 1954 the family moved to the Cates or the Leo Dishner farm, located 8 miles north and 3 miles east of Stratton, Colorado. This ground had also been purchased by Joe's father in 1944 for around $80 an acre. Two more children were born to Clara and Joe, Daniel on November 6, 1954 and at last a little girl, Linda, born on November 1, 1956. Joe kept busy fixing up the farm by mending and erecting new buildings and the house on this place making it a nice farmstead. He farmed inigated and dry land crops and feed for his cattle. Livestock was a part of this family's labors. Clara always had chickens and had eggs to sell for years. They also milked and sold cream during those early years. Joe was forced to retire due to emphysema, aggravated by the dust from the farm. Clara has had many health problems and has SCHWIEGER, CHRIS AND YVONNE F615 RusseII and Marilyn Scott wedding 8/16/1949 Chris William Schwieger was born in a sod house 9 miles north and 1 west of Arriba. Colorado in Lincoln County to John Schwieger and Pauline (Geisick) Schwieger. Chris was an only child. His father was born in Cook County, Illinois and later the family moved to Martin County, Minn. He came to Colorado in the early 1920's. His mother Pauline (Geisick) Schwieger was born in Frunk, Russia (a German settlement) and came to the United States in the early 1900's. They settled around Fort Collins, Colorado. When Chris was 2% months old his mother died and he then made his home with an Uncle William Schwieger and Aunt Gertrude (Bolick) Schwieger. William Schwieger came to Arriba in 1904 and homesteaded 4 miles north of Arriba. There Chris grew to man- hqod attending country schools north of Arriba and last years were in Arriba. Yvonne (Quinn) Schwieger was born in Limon. Colorado. She has 3 brothers and 1 sister. Yvonne's father was J.D. Quinn who was born in College Mound, Mo. and came to Colorado in 1919. Her mother was Eva (Cox) Quinn who was born in LaTour, Mo. She moved with her parents around 1914 to Chester, Montana where she finished school and was a school teacher for two years. Then the family came to Limon, Colorado around 1920. Yvonne Iived around the Limon area till 1940 when her family moved to a farm south ofArriba. In 1943 she graduated from Arriba High School. A few years later she was married to Chris and they resided on farms north of Arriba. Chris and Yvonne became the parents of 3 daughters Peggy, Patricia and Barbara. They were all born in the Flagler Hospital in Flagler, Colorado. In 1962 we moved 2 miles northeast of Stratton. Colorado in Kit Carson County and continued wheat farming. Our girls graduated from Stratton High School. Scott farnily Christmas 1972 Steve, Doug and Tim - Marilyn, Russell, Levi T. Scott was born in Oakley, Kansas February 12, 1889 and Ruby Vail was born in Hume, Missouri October 7, 1896. They married in Hume on March 29, 1915. They Iived on a farm there for 2 years, before moving on to Hartford, Ottowa, Michigan Valley, and finally Plains, Kansas, in 1930. Two children were born. Wanda Mae in Hartford, Kansas and Russell in Michigan Valley, Kansas. They both attended schools in Plains, Kansas. Following World War II and Russell's discharge from the Navy Air Corp. late in 1945, Ruby, Tommy (as L.T. was called) and Russell decided to look for some new farm ground. They traveled around several areas, particularly in Colorado. On an overnight stay in Burlington, they made an acquaintance with Walter Hammond, a real estate agent, who showed them around. They were looking for level land and found a farm to their liking called "The Biddle Place" 13 miles southeast of town. They moved early in 1946; Tommy and Russell farming together for several years raising wheat, feed and cattle. Russell used to drive by the Janzen's, �until his death in March of 1983 at the age little Cinderella girl who was always busy with the meals and mending and commanding Edna and Waneta to help out with cleaning the house. Our mother went to live with the Lord when Ruth was only 9 years old. This left a great responsibility of taking care of her two Nebraska. They had 4 children all born on the of 94. Russell and Marilyn still reside in Burlington as do their sons, Steve and Tim. Steve married a Burlington girl, Darlene Misner. Tim also married a Burlington girl, Debbie Beechley. They live on Tommy's farm with their two sons Nicholas and Michael. Russell also farms 3 miles South of Smoky Hill School house. Another son, Doug, and family younger sisters. She learned to cook real well and did a commendable job taking care of the home for about three years. Then Dave farm, Marilyn, Vernon, Francis, and Gracie. Iives in Houma, Louisiana. married Goldie Binkly. Dave often said he also new to Burlington and neighbors 2 miles west, in his new'46 maroon Chevy on his way to town. Marilyn was in college in California at the time and home in the summers. Marilyn's parents were Nicolie P. Janzen born June 9, 1905 at Henderson, Nebraska and Amanda Flaming born January 23, 1911 at Jansen, Nebraska. They were married January 26, 1928 near Elsie and Madrid, They lived and farmed there until 1941 when they moved to Reedley, California and later to Fresno, California. Nick was also an ordained minister. In 1945, on a trip back to Nebraska, Nick and Bobby (as Amanda was called) stopped in Burlington, where they heard about Albert Kirschmer, who was building a huge elevator in town and was looking for someone to manage a large farm southeast of town. In February of 1946 the Janzen family moved, except for Marilyn who was finishing high school in California that spring. She attended college in California. She and neighbor Russell Scott dated in the summers and were married on August 16, 1949. They began farming on their own soon after, renting land southwest of town and buying their first farm, known as "The Heinz Place" 8 miles east of Burlington in 1952. Three sons were born in Burlington, Stephen, Douglas, and Timothy. Steve married Darlene Misner, a local girl. Doug married Mary Chauvin from Houma, Louisiana where they reside. Tim married Debbie Beechley, a local girl. Steve and Tim farm south and east of Burlington. Tim and Debbie have 2 sons, Nicolas and Michael. Mary and Doug have 2 children, Amy and Timmie. Ruby Scott passed away in 1951, Tommy Scott in 1983, and Nick Janzen in 1951. Bobby and the rest of the family moved back to California in 1950 where they still reside. by Russ and Marilyn Scott SCOTT, LEVI F617 Levi or "Tommy", as he was usually called, and Ruby Scott, with their son Russell came from Plains, Kansas in late 1945 in search of farm land. Russell had just been discharged from the Navy Air Corp following World War II. They bought a farm in the Smoky Hill Area known at that time as the Buettel Place. They moved to the place in the early part of 1946. Ruby became involved in a Home Demonstration Club with ladies of the community. Russell enjoyed the Smoky Hill Gun Club. They often attended functions at the school house. Ruby died in Feb. 1951 of a heart attack. Russell married a neighbor's daughter Marilyn Janzen. Marilyn's parents came from California about the same time as the Scotts came from Kansas. Russell and Marilyn were married in August 1949. They rented a farm and moved southwest of Burlington. Some years later Tommy married Hulda Koenig from Hutchinson, Ks, and they continued to live on the Scott farm. They later moved I mile east on to the Elmer Rose Farm, which they later purchased. In the mid 60's they moved into Burlington and Russell farmed for his father. Huldah passed away in 1974 and Tommy remained in Burlington by Mrs. Ted Eberhart raised 6 children and a young wife, since they had three children within the next ten years. The first was LaVilla Fern. Four years later a son was born, and named Glenn David. SEALOCK, DAVID B. F618 Dave B. Sealock came from Jennings County, Indiana, near a little town called Scipio. He had four sisters and two brothers. He came to Denver in 1908 and worked on a dairy farm for two years. Then he and his older brother, Bill, decided to file a claim on a homestead. They started out early one nice day in March or April, across country, with a team and wagon. They headed for Stratton, which included a store, a post office, and a few other places of business. The nice day didn't last long before they ran into a howling blizzard. so bad they couldn't see where they were going. They had to keep going to keep from freezing to death. Finally they came to a small town which looked like heaven to them, and they were warmly accepted by the town of Bennett. Dave and Bill waited out the blizzard and were on their way again in a couple of days, still trying to pick their way across country and deep drifts of snow. They arrived at Bill's homestead site, and started building a little house of adobe blocks. When spring came they plowed a spot of ground and planted their first crop of potatoes. The newly plowed virgin soil was rich. Next came time for turning and plowing the sod and preparing it to plant corn. It was a long and hard task, but at the end of the day Dave walked across the grass Iand for two miles north to his homestead on the Republican River, just 12 miles north and 2 west of LaVern Janane was the last to join the family. Dave and family moved to Stratton after surviving the great flood on the Republican in 1935. There we lived until 1952, when we moved to Colorado Springs. Dave was a wonderful Christian man and he went to meet his Maker, the Lord Jesus, September 30, 1977, and is greatly missed by his entire family, but we can't be sorry for his great promotion to a Heavenly Land he had looked forward to for many years. Ruth married Harold McFatridge and they had three children: Alvin, Eileen, and Jack. Edna married Roland Hernbloom, and they had one son, David. LaVilla married Wayne Clark. They had five children: Danny, Bonnie, Lonnie, Shelly, and Randy. Glenn married Sarah Kellough. They had three girls: Cindy, Sarah Beth, and Kathleen. LaVern married Dan Lawrence and they had 3 children: Ronnie, Jannett, and Dean. by Edna Hernbloom SEAMAN - HENRY FAMILY F6l9 Stratton. There he built a small shack, started farming, and looked for a suitable gal to become his wife and helpmate. The country was very sparsely populated, and he had to look far and wide for entertainment to go to. Seven years later Dave met and fell in love with a beautiful neighbor girl who lived about 6 miles away. Her name was Ethel Thomas. In the meantime, another family had built a two story house across the road from Dave's little humble abode. He purchased this and there he took his beautiful wife and set up real housekeeping. About a year later a pretty blue-eyed blonde baby girl, whom they named Ruth May, came into their lives. Then the next year they were all blessed with another blue-eyed baby girl with auburn hair and they named her Edna Martha. Last but not least, here came a redhead with big blue eyes named Waneta Elaina. One Sunday morning their mother dressed the 3 girls up as they were going to church as usual. As Waneta came out of the house we saw she was all black from her chin to her toes because she had layed flat across a black boiler bottom that had been heated over an open flame of the kitchen stove. Ruth was the Avirene and Earl Henry's house homesteaded by William Seaman. William Seaman and Emma Florence McHenry, both natives of Missouri were united in marriage on August 5, 1890. Eight children were born to them in Missouri. They were Pearl, Chester, Dave Emmett, Orval, Florence, Avirene and Bertha. In 1906 the family moved to Oklahoma. They did not stay but a few years there. It seemed the children were sick much of the time. Emmett. the fourth son died with diptheria in Oklahoma. Father heard of homestead land that could be taken in Colorado. He left immediately to see about it. He filed on land 16 % miles north and 1 mile east of Vona in the summer of 1909. It was not long until father and mother began to prepare to move. They decided to ship some of the necessary things by railroad car. Among the things they �pulled by two horses and a boy at the back to guide the plow. Rattlesnakes were also plowed up. No church was near home. We went to Sunday school at schoolhouses. The vehicle we went in was a two-seated spring wagon drawn by two horses. Our school was two miles west of home. On nice days we walked. For lunch we took bacon and jelly sandwiches. Some days we took a little fruit. If a storm came up, some of the older brothers would come after us in a wagon. In 1916, a school was built near the Seaman home. It was made of cement. The neighbors did most of the work. The first teacher was Helen Klassen. I finished the eighth grade there. Our neighbors in the early 1900's were these families: Alva Crist, Elmer Finley, Ira Crist, and Ernest Elsey. These families visited each other quite often as there weren't places to go except for a few school programs. My grandmother Permelia McHenry also homesteaded land joining my fathers. A little one room house was built there. My sisters, Florence, Bertha and I took turns staying with her at night. Water was hauled to her in a barrel. After she proved up, the little house was moved next to our home. It is still there. Grandma died October 20. L520. Now just a little about my life. I taught school 5 years. The first one was West Bethel, south of Stratton. The year was 1920. There were 16 pupils ranging from first grade to eighth grade. I married Earl Eugene Henry who originated from St. John, Kansas, on December 22, 1925. We spent most of our married life in my old house which we bought in 1939. There were 640 acres of land at $5.00 an acre. All together I lived there 60 years. Earl and I lived together for 49 years. He died suddenly of an heart attack, January 10, L974. Our children are Lois Ione Grauerholz, who lives in New York State, and Ralph Orin who died with leukemia on May 17, 1977. Roy Robert lives near Joes. Colorado. Alma Jean Hutton lives near Kirk, Colorado, and a niece, Norma Ellen Pickerill, Iives in Littleton, Colorado. I raised her from when she was Earl and Avirene Henry and children, l. to r. Ralph' Roy, Lois, baby AIma and Norma. brought were two horses, some machinery, furniture, which wasn't much, beds and ber 4, 1984, looks about like it did 60 years ago. bedding, dishes, and cooking utensils, twelve hens and one rooster and a black and white dog which we called Lee. Two boys went with the railroad car to look after the things. The rest came on the train. Sometime in the near future a well was drilled by Charley Packer. Horses were used for power. A windmill was soon put up. The drinking water was caught in a barrel. Then 1909, my seventh birthday. We stayed in a hotel a night or two. Some one told father, a widow by the name of Mrs. Winn, had a sod one room house we could use. We stayed there several months. It was 20 miles north erected, a few buildings were built, including an adobe barn and chicken house which were used several years. A large barn was built in 1925 and several other buildings, which are Walter Devores. boys found work to do. That helped some. We We arrived in Seibert on November 26, of Seibert, close by the Frank Maag's and In the spring of 1910, a two room house was built. It was made of lumber and covered with black tar paper. The lumber was hauled from Seibert. In a few years two rooms were added to it on the east. The house is 30 feet by 30 feet with a four way roof and weather boarding put all around. Father had carpenter Mr. Charley George and Bud Johnson to oversee the work. This house today Decem- the water was carried to the house in buckets. After the house was built and windmill still there. It was hard going for a time. Two of the ate jackrabbits some. But it wasn't too long until we had meat, milk and vegetables. We burned cow chips for heat. Finally we could get coal. It had to be hauled from Vona with team and wagon. For years our light was from kerosene lamps. The chimneys had to be cleaned every day. Some of the ground was plowed up to be planted. It was done with a one furrow plow, three weeks old. This old house has many memories to me. There were three deaths in it, four funerals, four weddings and seven births. Four of my children were born in it with Dr. Hewitt attending. I said good bye to it August 22, 1977. by Avirene Seaman llenry (See photo next page.) �Winter of 1889, a total of 130 dozen eggs and 138 pounds of butter were sold. One winter in the Nineties, corn was so cheap that is was used for fuel instead of coal. which was "high". The old diary also mentions some gay social gatherings in those pioneer days, among them were spelling schools, visiting at the Sigafoos home, dinner at Johnny Fleming's and later there was Bible School and "preaching" by Reverend Lead at the Wallet school. Very often there was square dancing on Saturday evenings, at which the whole !t *I ? countryside was represented. At these gay dances the music consisted of mouth harps, a fiddle and perhaps an organ. by Wm. A. Davis SHAW FAMILY The Bethel School south and east of Stratton, 1920. SELENKE FAMILY housekeeping. On his claim, he proceeded to F620 build a large one-room sod house, which boasted of a floor, a ceiling of wood and Andrew Selenke married Frances Zieglet June 18, 1929 in Park, Kansas. They resided in Grainfield, Kansas until they moved to a farm northeast of Flagler in April 1946. They retired in 1952 and moved to a 5 acre place on the north side of Stratton. Andy was born in Odessa, Russia on Oct. L4,1904, and moved to the USA when he was 4 years old. He died in Sept. 1980. Frances was born April 11, 1906 in Collyer, Kansas and died in Dec. 19?5. Both of them died at plastered, whitewashed walls, unusual features for a sod house in those days. There, with his team of mules and the plow, he broke the virgin sod and planted a crop. That fall it was harvested and sold, providing enough their home in Stratton. F622 There followed a succession of good and poor years during which the herd of cattle grew little by little. About 1897, the Shaw's wished to be farther from the Kansas line in order to take advantage ofthe free range laws; so the family of four, including Minta and Ruby, moved seven miles farther into Colo- rado, Sec. 6-8-42. Here on the windswept prairies they built a home. They worked and live in the home previously built by Mr. toiled through drouth as well as prosperous years, rearing a family of four children: Minta, Ruby, Fred, and Jessie. In 1907, Ruby and Freddie died ofscarlet fever leaving their surviving family to carry on. Some good years following and prices increased. Mr. Shaw's major operations Shaw. This house, under her capable hands, was soon converted into a real home. tion of cattle and mules. In 1917, he sold money to enable him to return to his old home in Illinois about a year later. There he married Cora Jane Lyman on February 23, 1888. Together they returned to Colorado to included diversified farming and the produc- Frances was a homemaker and loved to The first summer they were married, "Sommy", as Mr. Shaw was called, and a neighbor drove his mule team to Denver (a in the Kit Carson County area. He kept 4 or 5 day trip) to work on the state capitol gradually grown to several thousand acres, the family resided until 1918, when they moved to Burlington and built a new home Both ofthem worked hard to raise their 12 children - Edmund Selenke, Sister Regina Selenke, Pius Selenke, Serena Simon Best, mules was overworked and too heavily loaded with rock, so he quit the job and went to Erie. There he worked on a farm until the early fall of 1889. when he returned home. The follow- Selenke, Rita O'Hayre, William Selenke, Pauline Pesek, Rose Selenke, and Mary ing Spring when the Rock Island Railroad was under construction, he worked on the grade for that, as well as doing his own farming. Like a true pioneer woman, Mrs. on Senter Avenue. Mr. Shaw became the President of the Stock Growers State Bank, a stockholder in the Esch Lumber Company, and also increased his land holding in Kansas as well in Colorado. In 1930 he passed away. Mrs. Shaw followed only three years later. There's was a life full of joys, hardships, sorrows and later prosperity. The left a rich heritage of memories to friends and to their surviving daughters, Minta Coleman of BurIington, Colorado and Jessie M. Davis of Goodland, Kansas sew. Andy was a farmer/rancher. After he "retired", he liked to trade and went to sales livestock on his place in Stratton until his death. Frances Torline, Albert Selenke, Caroline Sheldon. Serena owns the home in Stratton and Pius and his wife Lillian live on the farm in Flagler. All of their other children live elsewhere except Caroline who died in 1951. Andy and Frances had 30 grandchildren and some of them live in Kit Carson County. by Patty Borego SHAW FAMILY building, then under construction. After working a few weeks he felt that his team of Shaw's role was to stay at home during these absences, and care for the few head of stock and the garden. These were lonely days for her, since she had been accustomed to a large busy family preceeding her marriage, yet she was happy and always busy. An old diary which was kept by her, gives the following interesting information: chickens, pigs, and cows were the sources of revenue when crops failed to grow. Some years they provided enough income to pay F621 taxes on the land as well as enough for On March 20, 1987, Solomon Presley Shaw filed a claim for a homestead about five miles northwest of Lamborn, Kansas, the name of this town was later changed to Kanorado. He shipped his goods from Donovan, Illinois, to sold for 6 cents per pound. In December, 1889, 18% pounds of butter were sold for L2Yz cents per pound. Four chickens were sold for 22t/z cents each, also on the day the Fort Wallace, Kansas, the nearest railroad station at that time. From there he drove his team of mules across country to his homestead, hauling his few possessions, such as a plow, tools and a few bare necessities for provisions. In 1888, 12 pounds ofbutter were last of the corn crop was shucked, and a load was hauled to Lamborn and sold for 15 cents per bushel. A year later the price of butter was increased to 15 cents, while eggs went from 10 cents to 15 cents per dozen. Corn increased to 25 cents per bushel. During the several hundred mules to the American and French Governments for use in the armies of World War I. On this farmstead, which had Written by Minta Coleman. The above story was written several years ago and was published in "Kit Carson County and its Cattlemen" Jessie (Shaw) Davis died in 1977 and Minta (Shaw) Coleman died in 1978. Surviving decendents are Jessie's sons and their families. Jack Presley Shaw married to WilmaDaise. Theylive in Goodland, Kansas, and their daughter, Cheryl Ann Schremmer lives in Hoisington, Kansas with her husband, Eugene, and their three daughters, Kristi, Danah and Jackie Sue. William Shaw Davis, his wife Evelyn Domingo Davis with their daughter, Jessica live in Goodland, Kansas. Eugene Griffith Davis and his wife Evelyn Lohr Davis live near Burlington, Colorado. Donald Griffith Davis, their son, �married Deborah Downen. They live on the old Shaw farm with their three children, Jason, Summer and Tyler. Judy Davis, drawn tight around the head, as the bats would swoop from the rafters ofthe stage on their nightly prowl. SHERMAN FAMILY F625 daughter of Gene and Evelyn married Melvin Wagoner. They live, with their daughters by Evelyn Sherman Heather and Nicole, in Colorado Springs. Gene and Evelyn's third child, Jane married David Eves they have two sons, Joshua and Jesse, and live in Denver. SHERMAN FAMILY F624 by William A. Davis Lester and Evelyn Sherman SHERMAN FAMILY F623 Lester and Evelyn Sherman Lester Bryan Sherman, born November 10, 1896 and Helen Evelyn Sutton, born May 4, 1915 at Flagler, Colorado, ventured into their May-September marriage in L942. "Sherm and Evelyn" settled in Stratton, Colorado the first year of their marriage, and for the greater number of their thirty years together until Sherm died in May of 1972 they lived in eastern Colorado. Sherm had been born in Windom, Kansas and grew up a "trader." His father, Fred, taught him well. Sherm cut his teeth trading with the Gypsies who traveled the country in the early 1900s. Sherm's dad related that a neighbor asked if it was alright to trade horses with Sherm, not wanting to "take advantage" because he was so young. And Fred would reply: "Sure, trade with that boy, and the quicker you send him home with only the halter, the better I'd like it." It was the neighbor that went home with the halter, and trading set in Sherm's blood! Throughout the early 20s, Sherm traded in cattle. He had an eye for judging weights and would travel the country each week buying cattle, trucking them to a rail yard nearby, and shipping to the open market in Kansas City, Omaha, Nebraska, or to Iowa feeders. When Sherm weighed cattle in, he would set the weights on the scale, and most always LaBoe, who had lived at the tower since Greager had built it on the highest point of the eastern Colorado plains met her match in Sherm. It was always believed she had traveled with a circus, but Sherm could outballyhoo her. Ripley's Belieue It or Not had featured that six states could be seen from the top of The Tower, and Sherm, "on the bally," would tell people that if they looked hard they could see a man waving a red flag at the Wyoming border, a blue flag at the Nebraska border, a white flag at the Kansas border, etc. None believed this tall tale, but they did love the "telling." Sherm and Evelyn secured the lunch stop of the Greyhound bus line and each day the buses (always full with many service men going home or back to camp) stopped and had to be fed within thirty minutes. Sherm developed the original He worked "Colonel Saunders" method with Edna Smithburg, the -waitress, and Audrey Kenney, the cook, to perfect a complete hot chicken and barbequed beef menu ninety people could be served a - dinner complete in less than thirty minutes sit down at 75 cents a plate! It was a circus - Sherm would "cry" the menu as the people -alighted, LaBoe would be selling tower miniatures from her stand. Sherm and ofworking along side ofthe gandy dErncers on Evelyn seating the diners, tending the register, and in between selling Mother of Pearl jewelry with MOTHER, initials, and names written in gold wire on the face. Sherm and LaBoe always vied to see who could outsell the other. Lester I. (Jerry) Sherman recalls the last cattle drive he went on with Sherm. Jerry joined the men on his pony, Sonny Boy, and they herded from northwest of Flagler crosscountry east to the north of Bethune a three day drive. The cattle were bedded -near taught Mary and Jerry (Evelyn's children - water at night and driven during the day. Lunch and supper was carried to the riders, they were accurate. Sherm's tales were born in the many experiences of his trading, traveling and working with people. From his stint in the 20s the railroads, he had a little dittie that he adopted upon their marriage): tic-a-tum-tic-a-tum-te. "Hi-tic-a-tum Hi-tic-a-tum - tic-a-tum tie-de-ay. - embellished - his love of Sherm's tales talking. His mother claimed she named him appropriately, using the Bryan thinking of the orator and statesman, William J. Bryan. His sisters claimed he should have been an evangelist, and many friends teased that you h,new his name when you heard his "first beller" (referring to a disparaging interpretation of his initials, L.B.S.) In 1943, during World War II Sherm and Evelyn leased The Tower at Genoa. Tires and gas needed to travel and trade were rationed, and this was a unique alternative for the family's livelihood. What an experience! They opened the restaurant, manned the gas pumps, and set up living quarters in the old dance hall. They strung spreads as room partitions, and lowered the stage's curtain to cut off the draft. At night, the covers were Lester and Evelyn Sherman "I remember when we moved to Burlington in the mid-40s and lived in the old Montezuma Hotel." "The night it burned, Dad and Mom woke us up and the room was full of choking misty smoke." "We were carried down the stairs, and my great concern was that we were leaving the Christmas presents under the tree." "Out in the cold street later, we watched the pheasant hunters in the bright red underwear jump from the balcony porch." Pete and Laurice Kamla opened their restaurant so we could get in from the cold,' and we spent the night in the jail house, sleeping in borrowed clothes because we had lost everything in the fire." "It took our mother a long time to get over the loss of all our belongings." We had just sold our home in Burlington and our furniture, clothes and keepsakes were stored in our rooms or the basement of the hotel." Sherm and Evelyn loved to dance to the old favorites Dust", "Josephine", "Dark - "StarBall", Town Strutters "South" they - in fact had met in the 1930s at a dance. The big bands often played the Tracadero at Elitch's Gardens in Denver, and they frequently loaded a car full of friends to go. When Sherm was buried from The Church of God in Stratton in 1972, Merna Carlin played "Stardust" as Albert Goss, Jim Hasart, Tom Price, Tom Conarty, Bill Fehrenbach, and Albert Gwyn carried his coffin from the church. When Sherm purchased his first thoroughbred horse, Lady Silver, from R.M. Eskow in Greeley in the late 40s, he was "hooked" on thoroughbreds. Evelyn was initiated into the racing circuit, she said: "from the back end". Training started at 4:30 a.m. out to the barns, feeding and watering, -grab a quick He recalled, "Dad made me foreman and the governor's overcoat wouldn't have made me a vest pocket, I felt as big a man as any on breakfast at the track kitchen while discussing the day's races, past performances, and then back to the barns. Eve says she became "a stall expert!" Sherm went on to train and race his horses for many years. Evelyn retired to manage a bed and board motel and rooms in Stratton, going on the circuit occasionally as an observer only. Carrying the trading spirit to his last days, it is said that Sherm made a trade with Billy Bob Hendricks not long before he died. If Billy Bob would throw in certain extras on the burial, Dad would buy one of the best coffins Henricks Mortuary had. That sounds that drive." so possible! but breakfast was prepared on an open fire. Jerry and Mary attended various schools in eastern Colorado. Wherever the pasture was good, the family moved to the nearest town so the stock could be tended. The Collins Hotel in Stratton was called home when Mary entered the first grade in Stratton. Mary remembers: "It was fun living in a hotel." We had the big halls and stairways to play in." "The dining room and coffee shop was very nice at the Collins back then, tables covered with white clothes, big pitchers of ice tea and water on them, and flowers in vases." by Evelyn Sherman Evelyn Sutton Sherman lives in Flagler, Colorado at the time of this writing. She usually can be found in Tombstone, Arizona with her sister, Betty Austring, during the winter months. Lester Ivan (Jerry) Sherman has lived for many years with his family wife, Lois, and children Kathie, Scott and Brett in Durango, Colorado, and Mary Evelyn Sherman Carter with her family husband, Everette L. (Joe), and daughters, Leslie and Darlene, in Fort Collins, Colorado. by Evelyn Sherman �SHIELDS, GEORGE F626 We paid no attention nor thought until too late. I might have helped ship out some prehistoric bones, but it's too late now. by Dessie Cassity I do not write of George with any contempt or meaning to ridicule. To me George Shields was an interesting character, even if he was eccentric. The Indians are said to have a proverb, "Do not criticize any one until you have worn his moccasins." And this saying is credited to the Quakers, whether true or not, the Mr. saying, "Mary everyone is a little bit queer except you and I, and sometimes I think you are a little queer." Be that as it may, we do not wish to leave George out of Stratton history. We give Mr. Guy Brown credit for some of these incidents related here, as he lived in the hotel and George lived SHOLES, CHARLES AND TESSA F627 Tessa Sholes feeding her flock of chickens in Esbon, Jewell County, Kansas, 1880. Our mother's family came from Canada, Ohio, Indiana, and then Kansas. She was born in Lebanon, Smith County, Kansas, just across the street. 1887. The two towns are about eight miles apart. They were married in Mankato, Kansas, 1907, coming to Colorado in 1909. Moving to Colorado was the result of the Homestead Act by the Federal Government which gave a person 160 acres of land. Our father was granted a patent April 5, 1913 to SW1/4, Sec.13, Twp.10, Rng.47, signed by President Woodrow Wilson. The Homestead Act granted an individual the deed of trust to 160 acres of land if the person improved the land by living on it for five years. The government provided another way for the Mr. Collins had purchased a new hot water heater and, having plenty of hot water, invited George to come over and take a good hot bath, which he did. George dressed and went out in the cold. He took a severe cold and blamed it on the bath. Said his mother Iived to be eighty-four years old and never took a bath. Mr. Brown spoke up and said, "Maybe if she had taken baths, she would have lived to be one hundred." It was reported he went to the junk yard every day, picking up such articles as he thought might be worth something or as suited his fancy. His home soon became clogged with such things, but he hated to part with anything. One man came to buy a part of a mowing machine, but George wouldn't sell. Mr. Brown tried to buy a laundry stove, but no, George didn't want to sell. Taking over seven silver dollars, Mr. Brown again tried to buy the stove. George said, "Well, I'll Iet you have it, if you'll sell it back to me sometime." One time they went over there at dinner time. George wasn't in the kitchen or dining room, but had a plate with some grub and was seated in one of his most cluttered rooms enjoying his dinner. One thing about him, he always took the part ofwhat he thought was the underdog. If he thought anyone, poor, old or neglected, was being abused, he was never afraid to voice his opinion. He often wrote articles for the newspaper. At one time, it was said, people subscribed for these articles and never read the rest of the paper. At least they were read first. I never heard of his being dishonest. His dress was just as eccentric as the rest of his way of living. Where he got such clothes and styles we never knew, but it all was a part of George. We wondered what period of time he was living in or who his style adviser was. He would wear a red vest, a frock tail coat, both in about two sizes too small. It was like Mr. Brown said, "George gave flavor to our living and no one else has ever taken his place." individual to obtain land at this time. A Wedding picture of Charles E. and Tessa Sholes. 1907. of Stratton. Charles Eugene Sholes is the eighth generation of John Sholes I, born in England, 1676, coming to America as a sea captain and locating at Groton, Connecticut. In the fourth generation they gradually started moving west through New York, South Dakota, Iowa, and then into Kansas. Our father was born lr -::*--; I I 3 t He bought junk from the farmers and old out-moded machinery, thus helping the farmer. Also, in 1936, after the drought and dust bowl era, George paid out twelve hundred and fifty dollars for bones to people of eastern Colorado buying five carloads, one at Stratton, two at Burlington, two at Cheyenne Wells, one at Flagler, also one at Eads. He reported he shipped twelve carloads or two hundred and fifty tons. So George was a help in ways. The bones we picked and sold from our farm were much earlier, probably 1920. After that we had no bones. I have often wondered if they were buffalo bones or what. person could pay the government a certain amount of money and live on the land a fewer number of years. Our parents built a home, broke the ground, raised crops, and planted trees according to the requirements. Our grandfather, DeMott Sholes, on June 16, 1910, filed a claim in Colorado, to homestead and was granted a patent to SEI/4, Sec.14, Twp.10, Rng.47. The County road divided the two places and they were located one mile west and nine miles south Sunday School at Nutbrook School Our parents came to Stratton from Kansas by Rock Island Railroad and not by covered wagon. They sold most of their belongings before coming to Colorado, except what they were able to bring on the train. After coming to Stratton, they lived in town until a home and other buildings could be constructed on the land. The house was a frame. four-room �building with tar paper on the outside. The inside walls were wooden boards and wallpapered by our mother. Carpets and rugs covered portions of the wooden floors. The sod roof was cut from the native prairie, buffalo grass, cut into squares and placed on the roof of the house. The sod would require removing because of erosion and needed to be replaced each fall. Before a well was dug on our farm, water had to be hauled by horse and wagon in wooden barrels from our grandfather's home a mile away. It took a number of years to complete construction of all the buildings on the farm. After the house, came a chicken house. then the barn which was a large building with a hay loft, stalls for the horses on one side and milking stalls for the cows on the opposite side. Next were built metal grain bins for seed for the next year's planting and feed for the animals during the winter. The smoke house was a smaller building where meat was cured by means of dense smoke from a fire of hickory or other types of wood. The milk separator and work bench were also in this building. A cellar was dug as a storage place for potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, canned vegetables and fruits for winter meals. Next a cistern was dug and lined with cement to hold rain water and used to keep food cool by putting the food into containers and hanging by ropes over the water. Longhorn cheese was one of the favorite treats that was made at home. To make this cheese, rennet was put into sweet milk to form curds and a yellow color. After the whey was poured off, it was placed in cheese cloth and hung to drain. When this was completed, the cheese was put into a gallon can with both ends cut out and two boards cut to fit inside of the gallon can with clamps on the outside that could be tightened some each day until all the moisture was gone and then it was left to cure. Building was a continuing activity. Schools needed to be built for the children to attend during the week and church on Sunday. Sunday School and church were held when a pastor was able to get there. The pastor's transportation was by horse and he would stay with one of the families in the surroun- ding area overnight. Sundays were picnic days when neighbors could go to each other's home for dinner and friendship. Ball games for the boys and men in the afternoon were enjoyed. In the winter it was more difficult to get together because of transportation and cold weather, but neighbors and families gathered for the holidays. Mrs. Herb Griffith (Adah) was our mother's sister and her family had homesteaded a few miles from our home. We remember how Mother and Aunt Adah would send messages to each other by tying tea towels high on the windmills. The wind could be depended on to blow so they could see how many were tied to the windmill. A dark- colored towel indicated help needed. Other messages were "going to town" and "baby born." Telephones had not come to the country yet. Another experience firmly embedded in the minds of my sisters, Wava and Sarah, is while they were attending Nutbrook School. Our land was2-l/4 miles from the school and they had to walk to school when it was nice. Father had walked with them a few times to make sure they knew the way he expected always go. However, one day they :::- " decided the way was too far, so they started to cut across a field of cane and after they were into the deep part of the field they lost their sense of direction. After wandering around in the cane not knowing which way to go they finally came out of the field at the same place they started. Frightened, tired, and dusty they went the way our father told them to go and arrived at school at recess. Enough for shortcuts! To supplement the income our father years, but we have reconstructed these years to the best of our knowledge and according to the dates that we do have and the records we have been able to acquire. by Stella Sholes Arends SHORT - BUELL FAMILY worked for the railroad at the coal chutes. The engineer would stop the train so the engine was next to the water tank and coal F628 chutes so the men could refill the engine with water and the bin with coal - their source of energy in those days. No Amtrak at that time! Because of this railroad work our family lived in Limon, Colorado, for a few years before moving back to Stratton to continue working at the coal chutes. Moving into Stratton permanently in 1922, our first home and lots were on Kansas Avenue, later bought by the county for the location of the County Garage to store road equipment. The house was moved to its present location on Wyoming Avenue on the west edge of Stratton. While still living on the farm Father was foreman of the Poll Tax or Head Tax. This was a tax imposed by the County or State on each person. The assessment was $2.50 per person. At this time the men could pay the tax by working a certain amount of time on the roads in exchange for payment, usually done over weekends. This is how the roads were maintained in good condition and new roads built as they were needed. Father spent many years working for the County Commis- sioners. Some of the Commissioners he worked for were Ira Dunn, I.D. Messenger, and Ray Bowers. He operated tractor-pulled maintainers (like large graders) to build new roads, to repair and keep in good condition, and remove snow until his death. We have been told the James May family now lives on the home place and have a beautiful brick home. Electricity, telephone, and paved roads are enjoyed. Charles E. died 15 January 1935, and Tessa L. died 17 September 1956. A son, Charles D., died, 22 April 1973. He was a paratrooper in World War II and served in Japan. When he returned to Stratton, he was a contractor and builder. He built the Stratton Post Office, Trinity Lutheran Church in Burlington and many homes in the area. A daughter, Athalia I. died 15 May 1987. She married Ade Brachtenbach, they farmed north of Stratton, raised three daughters, and retired in Stratton. All are buried in Stratton cemet- Mr. and Mrs. Jim Short on the homestead. Texarado School was built on the northeast corner of their farm. eries. The living children are: Wava who married Roy Clifton and they moved to Oregon about 1940, where they worked and raised their family. Wava resides at Hebo, Oregon. Sarah married Cecil Campbell. They lived in the Stratton area, raised their family and farmed. Sarah worked in the school lunch program and in the manufacture of Stratton Mobile Homes. She now lives in Julesburg, Colorado. Stella married John Arends. They moved to the Denver area to raise their family and John was a farmer and livestock dealer. Stella lives in Brighton, Colorado. Our parents did not leave us a written history or dates of their pioneering West Marion C. Short, taken in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1942. My parents, Martha Ann Buell of Harlin, Kentucky, and James Samuel Short of Cumberlin Gap, Virignia were married at Ewing, Virginia, in 1887. My sisters were Laura, Minnie and Pearl. Brothers were Oscar, Marion, Millard and Samuel. Sister Laura married Jim Fields and remained in Detroit, Kansas. The rest of the family moved to Colby, Kansas. I (Lena) was born there in 1909. Dad, Oscar and Marion came on to Colorado and each "proved up" on a homestead. They had to go to Kit Carson County �mother went to help out. She delivered many babies. Brother Sam bought us three girls a saddle horse. We all loved to ride. Each year we acquired more livestock. We began milking more cows and selling cream. Our brand was diamond reversed S. The men farmed their land, but kept pasture land too. The land was covered with buffalo grass, which was very good pasture. Mother made soap. The pork was cured with salt. The sausage was fried, put in three gallon stone jars and covered with hot lard. We put cucumbers down in salt brine. When we wanted to eat them, just soaked the salt out. Green beans we strung on needle and thread, and hung them up to dry. We had a potato patch, garden, dairy products and meat, so bought few groceries. We bought flour and sugar in 100 pound sacks. They were of printed material and plain. Mother made us girls dresses and sunbonnets from them. We picked up cow chips for fuel. Dad cleaned out sheepsheds and brought the large chunks home, this kept a longer fire than the cow chips. worked for the D&RG Railroad until he retired. My parents moved to F lagler in L924 so I could attend Hi-school. In 1927 Mother and I joined the Baptist church. Most of the family joined, later my husband Parker became a member, also our five sons. I married Parker Weatherly in 1929. He sold his fried pie shop in Arkansas City, Kansas. We moved to Ft. Collins for a year then back near Flagler. We farmed there until 1948, moved into Flagler, managed the M&S Cafe, then bought the Flagler Dray. We have 5 sons. Duane, Floyd and Lloyd (twins), James and Douglas. I am proud ofmy pioneer background. Dad taught us the value of being truthful, keeping promises and doing for others. Mother taught us about the love of God and the need of prayer. We led a happy life. Worked hard but always had time to visit a neighbor or go for a horseback ride. Now (1985) Sam and I are the only ones Iiving on the Shorts'that once Iived on the old homestead. by Lena (Short) Weatherly We had many neighbors, mostly from Texas. They moved on, except the Burris Lena, Marion and Pearle Short in the city park at Ft. Collins, Colorado, Sept. 2, 1929. office and file on which land they wanted, and Iive on it for a certain period of time. Then go back and they were given the title to the homestead. Dad's land was fourteen miles south of Flagler, Oscat's a mile east and Vz south of there. Marion's land was 18 miles south of Flagler and one east. They came back to Colby and in January 1910 they, accompanied by Millard and Sam, drove two covered wagons, loaded with household goods, a plow and other machinery, some pigs, chickens and a dog. They led the milk cow behind one wagon. When they got to the homestead there were no buildings or fences. Mack Newsom lived about a mile north. There were empty sheepsheds and an old house he no longer used. Dad and the boys lived there until they got some buildings done. There was a dry sand creek near by, only had to dig about four feet to water. First thing they dug a well. Then dad plowed sod and they built a sod house. They put several small windows together on the south side with a wide ledge underneath, where later mother kept her flowers. They dug a small cellar. This house was cool in summer and only needed a cookstove for heat in winter. Mother, Minnie, Pearle and I came out on the train in May. I was seven months old. Marion and Oscar each built a house on their land. A while later Marion built on to his house and started a country store. He named it "Loco" after the loco weed that was so prevalent there. About 1915, Marion became postmaster of the Loco post office, he took it over from Charles Davis and moved it into one corner of his store. He married Susan Laws. They had one son, Howard. Dad bought a well drilling rig. Sam missed a lot of school in winter to drive the horses on the rig. The saddest time for my family was when brother Millard got rattlesnake bit and died. This was in July 1910; he was fourteen. We had a lovely corn crop that fall, but the hail ruined that. Then Dad, Oscar and Marion went to Kansas to work to get money to continue farming. When a neighbor was ill family. They had two sons, Dick and Bill. They lived about a mile north and % west of us. There was a spring on their land. John Stranger's lived over the hill west of us. They had four younger children same age as my brother, two sisters and myself. Bill, Minnie, SHORT, BEN AND BESS F629 Carl and Clara. Laurents' had children our age also. Julia, Lewis, Elizabeth and Evalena' Birchfields had two girls, Leola and Lorena. Other neighbors were Newbys, Alexanders, Mack Newsoms, Vinzs and later Bill Vassios, Jim Kountz and Pete Vassios. Dad donated the north east corner of his land for the Texerado school to be built on. This was the center of activities for the community. There were programs, dances, box suppers, "Literaries" and sometimes church. Oscar. Marion and Sam were all in the Army in World War I. Sam also served in the Marines. About our families: Laura became postmistress at Detroit, Kansas: This position she held until she retired. They had five children. Oscar married Frances Beauchamp. They have two living children. They moved into Flagler. Later they moved to Washington, D.C. Oscar was a government guard there until he retired. Then they moved back to their home in Flagler. After Marion returned from the Army he, Sue and Howard moved to Ft. Collins. He went to college there one year, was on the Police force six years. Then moved to Albuquerque New Mexico where he was a Prohibition Officer and later an investigator. He worked there until he retired. Sam married Lucille Mahoney (her parents managed the Flagler Hotel). They lived in Ft. Collins 15 years. In winter he worked in the sugar factory and farmed in summer. They moved to Utah in 1944. Sam worked at the Navy Base during World War II. Then he started farming. He raised tomatoes for the canning factory and ran a dairy. They have 5 children. Sams' moved back to Flagler in 1962. Minnie married Enos Reynolds in Ft. Collins. They moved to a farm near Holly. They had two children. They were divorced. Minnie and children moved to Abilene, Kansas. Later she married Harry Davis. They had one son, Harry was an interior painter. Pearl married Carl Foust. He had two sons, age four and two. They have one daughter. They lived in Denver. Carl Bessie Coonrod and Bennie Short on their wedding day, January 5, 1911. My husband, Ben H. Short, and I both lived at Mahaska, Kansas when we were young. We were married January 5, 1911. He had come to Colorado the fall before where he and his brother, Joe, had filed on homesteads, Joe taking the east half of the section and Ben the west half. They and Joe's wife, Ruth, and small son, Kermit, rented a small house a few miles north of their homesteads where the four of them lived while Ben and Joe built a sod house on Joe's land, where he and his family took up their abode. Then Ben went back to Mahaska for the winter. Quoting from my diary: "Following a two months honeymoon spent in the old homes at Mahaska, Ks., we arrived at Seibert, Colo., �was predicted, I nearly froze my fingers picking strawberries so as not to have them {a& th freeze. Now I buy frozen strawberries! All the rest of the Short family later moved to Colorado. Ben's parents were Thomas J. and Clara Short. Their oldest son was Earl M. His wife was Inez and their sons were Robert '& *'. :ll:r,e and Leigh. Earl worked at the elevator in Seibert for many years, and later became Kit Carson County Judge. The other members of the family were Harry, Schuyler, Maude, Verna and Alice. Harry and his wife, Bessie, had one daughter, Marguerite. Schuyler married Zola Wrenn Cruickshank. Maude's husband, Ross Lowe, worked at the elevator in Seibert when they lived here, from 191b17. Verna's husband was Earl Livingston. Alice married Odbert Martin in the spring and died 5 months later, at the age of 22. Some of our neighbors in those early days were Rob and Mollie Barss, Harley and Suda Kimball, Glen and Ruby Bright, Conleys, i. .:i,,.,,:lt:"q*;],r --*'# - .dlci Our family on our farm. On the horse, Shirley, Harley, Peg, Alice, Paul and Art. Bessie holding Larry and Bennie holding Bunnie. Monday, March 13, 1911, at 8:30 a.m. Took a livery rig for our new home, arrived at 5:00. for the first time entered a sod house. We slept in board shack, 8 x 10 ft., on our claim-our future home." Our homestead was 12 miles south and 4 miles west of Seibert. We slept in the shack on our claim, and ate our meals with Joe and Ruth until the men could build a small one room house on our place. Ruth and I had a garden between us where we raised and canned all kinds of -:.,, t,f ..,... :: The homestead of Tom and Clara Short in 1913. vegetables. We so seldom got to town to buy groceries, and didn't even know about frozen vegetables. One autumn day when a storm Bakers, Hendricks, Stones, Westovers, Helveys, Dowse's, Conartys, Tilburys, Karkers and Lowrie's. A little later we had Frank and Hazel Van Waning, Floyd "Chub" and Ruby Evans, Percy and Goldie Norton, and Ellis and Ethel McConnell, and many more as the years went by. Quotes from the pages of my diary: 1911. March 29 - Bennie went to Seibert for lumber for our new house. April 16 - Began housekeeping on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1911. April 22 - Auto passed our prairie home. Aug. 18 - I went to town to meet Grandma and Aunt Nell. Drove 16 miles alone. (In bugg:y.) Sept. 11 - Dowse's barn burned. Oct. 38 - We left Seibert at 4:40 p.m. to go back to Kans. 1912: January 10 - Our sweet little baby girl was born. We named her Shirley Ruth. April 8 - Arrived at Seibert at 9 o'clock. Rob there to meet us. July 14 - Bennie & I went to the first meeting of the new Sunday School in the Manafee house, 4 miles away. 24 present. Dec. 25 - Our first Christmas away from our parents & brothers & sisters, our first one in our own home. Had such a merry time. Rob, Earl & Inez & T.R., Harry, Joe, Ruth, Kermit & Virgil and Kimball's here. Had good dinner. Bennie and I spent our evening writing letters home, also eating ice cream and cake and reading our Christmas letters and cards. 1913: Feb. 15 - Bennie and Kermit slept with Grandpa in his soddie on a bed of straw. March 14 - A terrible blizzard. a terrific wind and driving snow, but thermometer didn't go very low. Part of the roof of Joe's house blew off leaving large cracks for dirt and snow to blow in. They had to come to our house and stayed all day and night and all next day. Everything in their house got into terrible shape. We had to make bed on floor. It was simply terrible. I stepped out and it almost blew me away. Tore off our windmill wheel. Blew over all the feed stacks and scattered feed far and wide. March 22 - Bennie got home at noon. Had exciting news about a murder in Flagler. Hotel landlord shot by cook's husband. Jealousy the motive. May L2 - We went to Hendricks and saw big gas tractor plowing, turns 8 14-inch furrows. May 21 - Had big accident-our cupboard The short Family, taken on Tom and clara's Golden wedding Day, March 13, 1928. Earl, Ben, Tom, Maude, Verna, Joe, Schuyler and Harry. Seated, Clara. (dry goods box nailed to wall) fell to the floor, breaking some of my choice pieces, wedding gifts. May 26 - Cattle branding day. Our brand H 4. June 24 - Bennie and I went tc town with Father in car. Certainly enjoyed the trip. First time I had been to Seibert for 14 months. July 17 - A little boy met with sad �accident, getting arm shot off. They brot him to Father Short to take to town in auto, made SIMON FAMILY nant.) A day when everything went wrong for every one ofus. Bennie took the car and took Joe to hunt a hired girl. He didn't get any. The car broke down and Joe walked home, arrived at 5 p.m. Beenie had to get a team to haul the car to Flagler and leave it for repairs. Didn't get home until noon next day. Earl's came up and brought their Uncle Jim Harris for Bennie to take to Seibert to the train, then had to take him back home again. Rob borrowed our buggy and we had no way to go My father, Eligius (Al) Joseph Simon was born in Ast, Kansas near Andale, August 27, 1897. About 1917 his father moved the entire trip in 30 minutes. Sept. 7 - (At this time, both Ruth and I were eight months preg- after Mother until Mollie came along at nearly dark (with the buggy). I rode home with her, taking Kermit and Shirley, and then went for mother. Was rather frightened riding around on the prairie after dark, afraid I would lose the trail. We all felt so blue and worried. The damage to the car is expensive. Sept. 28 - Baby boy was born at 6:30 a.m. Named our boy Harley Harrison. Oct. 2 Bennie went after cows in the evening and I got Shirley to sleep, then lay her in the dark counting my blessings. My future looks bright and I think I shall now be perfectly happy. 1913: Oct, 21 - Mr. Short and Bennie to Burlington with Rob to get his naturalization papers. Now. 27 - Thanksgiving Day. We and Joe's all took dinner at Earls'. We have so much to be thankful for, our home, our health and our babies, and our friends and our prosperity. Dec. 31 - This is the last day of the year. Such a full year it has been. When we look back and reflect, we have been blessed with health and content and love, lifes greatest blessings. Our prayer is that the coming year may be no less kind to us, and may we be deserving of the kindness our heavenly Father bestows upon us. We raised our family on our homestead, living through horse and buggy days, Dust Bowl days, and the Big Depression of the early thirties. We had four boys and four girls. We always took them to Sunday School and Church. They went to Second Central to School. Part ofthem went to college. They all married real nice mates and raised nice F630 family to Stratton by train and car. They bought land Vz mile north and' lVz mile east of Stratton. My father and grandfather helped a construction company build a house, barn, and planted trees. His family left Kansas because of tornadoes. My mother, Rose M. Gilligan was born in San Francisco May 17, 1900. Her mother, Catherine Meagher, a widow, was interested in real estate and bought land Vz mile north of Stratton about 1918. They also came by train. Grandmother Meagher moved because of the earthquakes. My parents were married in Cleveland, Ohio on August 18, 1920. Grandfather Simon moved to Idaho but my parents returned to Stratton. They had six children - Catherine, Joe, Margaret Anne, Con, Don, and Jerry. Jerry the youngest was born in 1929. My folks went to Chicago with Jerry. The rest of us were cared for by Grandmother Meagher. Dad and Mom worked in Chicago to pay bills, buy cattle, etc. Jerry stayed in Chicago with Aunt Ann, Mom's sister, for 3 months and then came back to Stratton to be with us. The folks went through the droughts, grasshoppers, and dust storms. My Mom and Dad continued to work. The folks built a filling station in Stratton which Mom operated a good part of the time. My dad worked at anything for a wage - W.P.A., railroad section, town marshall, and at the light plant. Grandmother Meager died in 1926. We lost the farm around 1940. Grandmother Simon helped the family keep 2 quarters of land. My medicine shows, card parties, and dances. As a family we always loved picnics. All the neighbors would congregate in the early years and play baseball west of the house. We always had papers, magazines, and books to read. My parents enjoyed traveling mostly the Southern and Western states. Dad died of a heart attack in 1965 and Mom died of cancer in 1983. Catherine was Chief Pharmacist at the V.A. Hospital in Philadelphia when she died in 1973 of cancer. Don had died in 1942 as a result of an automobile accident. I, Margaret Anne, retired after 33 years of working as a nurse. I am living in Lakewood, Colo. Joe, Con, and Jerry helped my Dad on the farm, always. They were able to buy land of their own eventually. Joe lived on the home- place and farmed until he died of leukemia in 1979. He also worked parttime at the postoffice. Con always worked on the farm. He married Serena Selenke in 1956 and moved to Cheyenne County 6 miles north of Firstview. They had nine children - Ellen, Patty, David, Louise, Barbara, Janice, Ted, Ann, and Karen. Some of them continue to live in Cheyenne and Kit Carson County. Con died ofa heart attack in 1977. Serena is remarried to Bob Best and lives in Stratton. Jerry married Joan Craig and lives in Lakewood, Colo. He taught exceptional children for 30 years and is retired. They have five children - Tim, Theresa, Kimberly, Kevin, and Brigid. At present, my nephew, Ted Simon lives on the Meagher-Simon fatm Vz mile north of Stratton. The picture is the farm in the early 1920's. parents were eventually able to buy the remainder of land from their families. We always had plenty of good food. Mom canned a lot of fruits, vegetables, and beef. My Dad loved to hunt and trap and so did my brothers. We were active in Stratton functions - Stratton Day, school functions, families. Shirley married John F. Matthews. Harley married Eleanor McGriff. Viola (Peggy) married Earl Pursley, and Alice married Burr Keller. Paul's wife is Katherine Jackson, and Lloyd (Art) mamied Jane Allen. Bernice (Bunnie) married J.C. Elliot and Larry's wife is Juanita Towner. one son, Art, passed away of heart attack, same as his father did. We moved to Seibert in 1948 to the Boyd Roller house where I still live. My husband and I were the oldest members of the Seibert CO-OP, going in when it first staded in 1931. He was also on the Second Central school board for many years, member of Farm Bureau, IOOF, Town Council and the Cemetery Board. He supervised the planting of evergreen trees surrounding the cemetery. He was the Mayor of Seibert and at the time of his death on July 8, 1957. If I live until my birthday, September 10, 1986, I will be 100 years old. by Bessie Short Simon Home in 1920's, % mile north and' lVz east of Stratton. by Margaret Anne Simon �SIMON, CON AND SERENA F631 My Dad, Con, was born in the original Simon Homestead. 3 miles northeast of Stratton an June 2,1926. He attended school through the 8th grade at St. Charles, and then attended high school in Stratton. He helped his parents with the farming, until he went to work on the oil rigs to make money to pay off his farm. In the early 50's, he and his brothers, Joe and Jerry, purchased the land and home which is still ours in Cheyenne County. Together they farmed and ranched in Kit Carson and Cheyenne County. My Mom, Serena Selenke, moved with her family to Flagler, Colorado from Grainfield, Kansas in 1946. After graduating from high school in Flagler, she attended nurses training at Mercy Hospital in Denver. She then worked at Kit Carson County Hospital in Burlington. During a dirt storm on January 14, 1956, my parents, Con and Serena, were married at St. Charles Church in Stratton. Dad brought Mom to Cheyenne County in May of that same year and lived the rest of his life in Cheyenne County. Our home was 6 miles north of Firstview, Colorado. They had nine children: Ellen in'56, Patty in'57, David in '59, Louise in '60, Barbara in '61, Janice in '63, Ted in '65, Ann in '67, and Karen (myself) in'68. Through the years, my Dad and his brother Joe were able to purchase more land in Kit Carson and Cheyenne County. My Mom continued to work part-time as a registered nurse at St. Joseph Hospital of the Plains in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. On September 13, L977 my dad died while working on the farm. My two brothers, David and Ted, were able to continue farming with the help of their sisters and mother. In August of 1979, we moved to Stratton where my Grandparents, Rose and Al Simon used to live, about 1/z mile north of Stratton. My Mom then went to work at the Kit Carson County Hospital in Burlington until 1983. On May 28,of the same year, she was remanied to Robert Best of Stratton. She and Bob reside in Stratton. Currently, Ellen lives in Denver and works for an oil company. Patty and her daughter Andrea live in Stratton. Patty works at the Kit Carson County Hospital as a registered nurse. David lives north of Firstview where my entire family grew up with his wife Coleen Witt of Cleveland. Ohio. He farms the land in Cheyenne and Kit Carson County. Louise is married to Dan Mills of Stratton and lives on a Dairy farm south of Vona. They have two sons, Andy and Brad. Barbara is living in Stratton and does various jobs including farm work. Janice lives in Greeley, Colorado and is married to Paul Pautler originally from Stratton. Ted lives in Stratton in my Dad's parent's home, about Vz mile north of Stratton. He farms with David. Ann in attending college and in majoring in Agriculture Business. Karen (myself) is attending Stratton High School and helps on the farm when needed. by Karen L. Simon SIMPSON FAMILY F632 I hear from V.S. Fitzpatrick that a history of Kit Carson County is being compiled, and Fitz (as I have called him most of my life) suggested I write to you. I was born in Kit Carson County north of Seibert on a farm in 1918. My sister Marian was born there in 1916; our brother V.L. in 1923; and little sister Lela Mae in 1929. Our parents were V.L. (Verson) and Louise Simpson. My dad went to that country to homestead a place for his mother. Marian and I graduated from Seibert High School in 1935. by Jane A. Gearhart SLISE FAMILY F633 Sod busters were intruders in the West 60 or 70 years ago but even the ranchers copied them after awhile. Some 75 years ago the Wild West had been tamed. Cattle and sheep outfits had their snug ranch buildings on rivers and creeks but usually ranged their cattle on the vast public domain. Few people foresaw any change in this way of life. Then, throughout the first two decades of this country, came a new wave of immigration. The open land erupted with sod shacks and houses, barbed wire fences crisscrossed the vast plains, old roads and trails were blocked off, and channeled onto section lines. The dry land farmer had anived. Whether these were for the better or worse depended upon the point of view. If you were an old timer, you agreed with the Indian, who grunted to the plowman, "Ugh, grass wrong side up." The first step in the new life was to find a suitable place of unclaimed land, or to buy a relinquishment from a former claimant. The claim had to be filed and a fee paid at the land office. Government requirements were fairly simple. First, one had to build a fairly habitable house. Then he had to live on the land for a period of three to five years. The land had to be improved to the sum of 91.25 an acre. But on farming homesteads 20 acres had to be plowed and planted. The old timers termed the new comers "Wrinkle Bellies" as they predicted the homesteaders would soon starve out. But their world was changing. Now prophet could predict that between 1910 and 1920, new methods of dry land farming and an increase in rainfall would usher in the "age of wheat." I, Margaret Slise, am the granddaughter of a pioneer Kansas family. My Berry grandparents immigrated from southeastern Iowa in 1866 by oxen team and covered wagon, and located in Doniphan County, Kansas. My father, John Harvey Berry, was born at Hiawatha, Kansas, in 1871, and farmed in Nemaha County when a young man. He married Marie Rose Probst on March 2, 1906, oflndianapolis, Indiana, in that city. She had immigrated to this country from Germany with her parents at the age of three in 1881 along with two brothers and two sisters. I was born on the farm of my Berry grandparents near Goff, Kansas, April 18, 1907. In August of that year, my father filed on 160 acres ofland to homestead in Eastern Colorado, in northwestern Kit Carson County, 20 miles northwest of Flagler, on the southwest quarter of section seven, township six, range 51, just south of the Washington County line and just east of the Lincoln County line. Our adjoining 160 acres was the northwest quarter of section 18, in township six of range 51, which my father filed on in about 1911, by contesting first before he could file a claim to homestead. There was an old dugout on this 160 acres. In March of 1908 my father loaded an immigrant car out of Goff, Kansas, with farm machinery, wagon, buggy, harness, household goods, one runty pig and a few chickens, and shipped the freight car to Flagler, Colorado. Dad had a big team of draft mares ready to bring out to Colorado too, when advised the horses would not do well in this high altitude. Thus, he sold the team for 9300 and bought another team, a smooth mouth grey mare and a five year old bay mare, at a farm sale at Colby, Kansas. We could drive these horses to our buggy. The grey mare died in the winter of 1912 so we did not have her too long. by Margaret Clistie Berry Slise SLISE FAMILY F634 Upon arrival in Colorado, Dad moved our belongings to a close neighbor's, Henry Guhr, a bachelor, and stayed with him while putting up the house and barn. He borrowed a sod cutter from another neighbor and put up a sod house of two rooms, 14x32 feet. A well was dug by Sam Proaps, to a depth of 144 feet to good water. Dad also put up a sod barn of 16x32 feet and later a granary, also of sod. During this time, Mom and I had gone back to Indianapolis to spend the time with her parents until the house was finished and ready to move into. We arrived in Flagler on the morning passenger train on May 1, 1908. Thus, I have been a resident of Eastern Colorado for nearly 68 years.r I can remember a lot of incidents and have forgotten a good deal too. My two sisters and a brother were born in the homestead soddy. Later in 1916 an addition was added to the house making a nice three room house which was quite comfortable even through severe winters. Other later farm buildings included a small chicken house 8x12 feet, and an outhouse. The sod blocks were cut in a low grassy place on the land and hauled by a team and wagon to the building site. By then Dad made a sod cutter, a sort of sled pulled by a teaof horses. Dad, being a blacksmith, fashioned the cutter. The sod was cut l4-inches wide and four-inches thick in long strips, and then a sharp spade was used to cut it into l8-inch lengths, which were then turned out and upside down to cure. The blocks were laid up brick style with a twelve-inch board through the walls for support, and window and door openings allowed for. A plate was put on top of the walls for the roof rafters. twelve-inch �boards nailed on, covered with tar paper and sod put on the roofgrass side up. The inside walls could be plastered to keep out mice and sparrows, or even snakes which were numerous around the place. The floors were of twelve-inch boards. About 1914 Dad dug a cellar under the kitchen and bailed the dirt out with a box sled with one horse hitched on a chain. It was my job to lead and attend to the horse. In 1914 a school district was formed and a sod building built 1% miles west of us. I started to school in 1915 as a second grader and completed the eighth grade at this Twin Lakes School. The school got its name as two big lagoons full of water from snow melt in the spring were close by on each side of the road. This school was located just over the line inside Lincoln County. Dad bought a black mare, a three year old, named Nell, from August Kalisch in about 1911. She was a mean one of Mustang ancestry, a good work horse, but a kicker. One time Dad drove a team and wagon to Bird City, Kansas, to work in the grain harvest, driving Nell and Sadie. On the way coming home. Nell took a notion to kick. So she splintered both end gates out of the wagon box. One summer she was bitten by a rattlesnake and was as docile as a kitten to doctor. Being a blacksmith, Dad shod a lot of horses in homestead days and also sharpened plow shares. He hauled flour to the Thurman store one winter from Flagler and kept his own horses shod. Mom generally drove the buggy and horse, either Maud or Sadie, to Thurman, seven miles northwest, about every week for groceries and the mail, to get a letter from home folks back East. The postoffice was a soddy too, which stood just north of the Thurman store. A Mrs. Campbell was the postmaster at the time. Once the old gray mare, Maud, stumbled and fell down, so I sailed right over the dash board of the buggy behind her. This old mare was so slow and gentle that nothing frightened her. by Margaret Clistie Berry Slise SLISE FAMILY F635 A few people were driving automobiles by this time and expected to have the right-ofway on the roads. One car drove up behind our buggy and hooted and tooted for the buggy to move out of the wagon track, but Mom kept right on and finally the car had to pull out around. Boy, was that fellow mad! Another time I was at school and Mom came driving by. I was up on top of the outhouse removing a board to get inside as the door got accidentally braced shut. I thought for sure I would be punished when I got home from school, but Mom either did not see me or recognize me. I used to have a dog sled team and had a lot of fun driving Niger and Rover. We had a lot of snow in those days and one time when I was probably nine or ten years old, the dogs took aftcr a rabbit going straight for a barbed wire fence. I laid back so I cleared the fence safely; however, Dad was watching and was scared I would get my head cut off. a farm northeast of Genoa, in the Union I also drove those dogs to a coaster wagon and it was fun to go for the mail a quarter or a mile away every day. We had a rural route delivery in 1916 out of Flagler with Ray Thompson being the first carrier; however, he left for France not long after to fight in World neighborhood, thus ending our homesteading days. This is December of 1975 and I now live by myself on 160 acres two miles northwest of War I. farming and caring for a few head of live- We used to have some severe blizzards often lasting from one to three days. About March 20,t9t2, my father nearly perished in a bad one that caught him on the way home so he unhitched the horses and led them, supposedly going in a northwesterly direction. He thought it was odd the wind kept changing directions. As he was getting tired and weary, he laid down and began to feel warm and knew he was freezing to death. He thought of Mom and we three small girls - the youngest was six weeks old, so he struggled on again. A lull in the storm revealed the house light was just up on the hill so he made it home. Too weary to remember until later that he had just tied the horses to the windmill tower, he went back out to put them in the barn. The next day he went to get the load ofhay and found where he had travelled in a circle when he became lost in the swirling snow. In about 1910 Dad bought a Jersey cow, 18 years old, for $50. She gave a lot ofgood rich milk. I took a notion to milk her one day but all the milk went on the ground. Dad sold the cow later for $51. We had milked her for two years and got two calves, besides all the nice milk, cream and butter. We had a lot of dry, Iean years and not much crop raised some times; only feed for the horses. We generally raised a garden, potatoes, corn, beans and plenty of pumpkins. By careful management, we got through the winters with some coal and several tons of cow chips to burn for fuel. We had a few hogs and a cow once in a while. We had a lot of good neighbors, and men exchanged work in harvest and threshing. When we had grain to sell, Dad borrowed a wagon and I drove one team and he the other, to Flagler several times, a 40-mile round trip for a 12-year old girl. We brought back coal, groceries and other supplies from trips to town. I once rode a wiry, young mare about 25 miles to gather a threshing crew as the Genoa in Lincoln County and I am still stock.2 I was married in February of 1940 at Goodland, Kansas, to John Elmer Slise of Genoa, a man of homestead pioneers, who came to Colorado from Minnesota and Iowa. We established our home northeast of Genoa in the Arickaree community where we farmed and ranched and started our family. We became the parents of two daughters, one of whom is Mrs. Philip (Lois) Scott, who with her husband, reside south of Lindon, Colorado.3 The younger daughter, Velma, and husband, Rodney Eccleston, with their son and daughter, reside now in Leon, Iowa. My husband and parents are now deceased, with Dad being 94 at the time of his death in March of 1966. and Mom was 85 when she passed away in August of 1963. Both Mom and Dad are buried in Loveland, Colorado, where my sister, Pauline (Polly), who is Mrs. K.S. Gurwell, lives. My youngest sister, Norma, Mrs. Verlie Holmes, lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and brother Wesley, is in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he pursues his vocation of mechanics.a lThis was written in December of 1975. zShe gave up farming the land in 1986; however. she continues to live on the farm (1987) and continues to care for livestock. sAfter this was written, the Scotts became the parents of two daughters, one of whom was stillborn. aWesley died in January 1986 in Augusta, Maine, where he had gone a few weeks earlier to be with his only child. He is buried at Winthrop, Maine. by Margaret Clistie Berry Slise sLoAN, E. H. F637 threshers would be at our place the next day. It took about 14 men to do bundle threshing. I recall that in about 1919 during spring rains that our sod roof leaked and to keep the beds dry, the binder canvasses were stretched over the beds, possibly the result of the roof leaking when we kids played on the house top in the summer. by Margaret Clistie Berry Slise SLISE FAMILY F636 Those were the good old days and I have a lot of happy memories of those days along with the memories of such things as the Ethel Sloan pictured at right, at the dedication of the new Burlington Library in 1959. Everett Hurst Sloan was the oldest son of Matthew H. Sloan and Ethel Grier Sloan. He prairie fires, including the horrendous one was born on November 18, 1907 near Andov- near Thurman in about 1915 or 1916. and the er, Kansas. He had one brother. Harold Sloan, and two sisters, Dorothy Wolf and devastating tornado which took the lives of friends, also near Thurman in August of 1924. My parents, sisters and brother and I moved from the homestead to 13 miles northeast of Limon in Lincoln County in March of 1925, and then three years later, to Edna Hudson both of Wichita. Kansas. Everett learned at an early age what work and responsibility was all about. He grew up on the farm and worked with horses in his early days. At 8 years his dad put him on a �Wesley School of Nursing in Wichita, Kansas. She graduated and was a Reg. Nurse. She met Everett while a student working in the hospital. She was a member of The United Methodist Church in Burlington, active in circle work. She was a volunteer and helped the Burlington Library during the time of its building program. Ethel belonged to Zonta, International and Burlington Garden Club serving as President of these organizations and being a charter member of Zonta. At one time she was a member of Inter Sese. She loved to bowl and enjoyed playing cards. Ethel passed away July 5, 1978 after a long illness. On February 24, L979 Everett married Stella E. Ciboski. They enjoyed these years by traveling and sharing activities and friends. Everett passed away on January 16, 1986 following a short illness. by Everett Sloan Sloans Motel, Burlington, Colorado built by Everett and Ethel Sloan. also filled these pits in after the oil well was finished. He farmed during the dry years and finally started a cow herd near Eldorado, Kansas. Everett Sloan married Ethel W. Miller on February 2L, 1932 at her home in Winfield, Kansas. To this union were born three children: Robert L. Sloan and twin daughters, Virginia and Carolyn. In the Early'30's Everett and Ethel bought a farm with the The office of the Sloan Trailer Court with Ethel Sloan about 1948. corn binder which was pulled by three horses and had to cut 40 rows before coming home for lunch. Later he and his brother ran a steam engine threshing crew. Everett enjoyed hunting, fishing and trapping, but had to do this on his own time as his father didn't approve of these activities as he always had things for Everett to do. He and his friends trapped to earn money by selling the furs to buy books and school clothes. Everett went to a one room school near the farm and graduated from Andover High School in 1926. He bought his first car, a Model-T-Ford with fur money for $20.00, which he used to run his trap line. Times were hard when he used his horse team in the oil fields near Wichita to dig slush pits for salt water. He WILMA MILLER F638 This was a time in Burlington, when completion of Bonny Dam brought a lively business to the trailer court and laundry. Everett built Sloan's Motel on the NW 7+ of help of his mother. This place was 2 miles east of the Cessna Air Craft plant. He also leased some land. As the years went by they built a complete farm near Wichita. Everett had 135 head of herefords and sent them to the flint hills for grazing in the summers and in 1944 the acreage. Ethel became the manager and operator of the motel while Everett continued to expand the farm operation. Three farms were acquired over a period of time. One SE of Burl., one NE of Stratton, and 10 quarters SW ofBethune. Dry land wheat was raised until irrigation became popular. Water wells were drilled on all three properties and corn was planted. The Stratton farm also supported a cow-calf operation expanding combine that came to Wichita, Kansas. In the war years he customed combined wheat from Oklahoma to the Dakotas. In 1948 he leased into a pig farrowing operation. Ethel watched all this develop into more than Everett could handle. Two farms were sold until all that remained was the 10 quarters SW of Bethune. Everett unloaded the first self propelled "Good fishing" Everette Sloan, in middle with two fishing buddies, Dallas Stevens and son on the left and Bill Flatt on the right taken in 1960. SLOAN, ETHEL land in Colorado and bought a trailer court in Burlington, Colorado and this became home. They built a motel on this property. Along with his farming wheat and later irrigated corn and sugar beets Everett and Ethel were busy working and raising their family. In 1963 they sold the motel, which carries the family name "Sloans Motel" to the Knapps and purchased two sections of land. At this time they built a home on 165 South Cherry in Burlington, Colorado. They subdivided and sold the Kansas Farm known as Sloans Addition of Wichita, Kansas. Everett and Ethel continued to farm and were able to travel now that they had sold the motel. Their son Robert married Cleta Marie Speicher and now live in Wray, Colorado. They have two sons and one daughter and two grandsons. Their daughter, Virginia married Wayne Hecht and they reside in Denver, Colorado, and have three children, two boys and one girl. Daughter Carolyn married John Hansen Jr. and live west of Bethune, Colorado. They have two daughters and one grandson. Ethel was born on September 26, 1908 at Grenola, Kansas. Her parents later moved to Winfield, Kansas where she graduated from High School. She entered nurses training at In 1963, the Motel and Trailer park was sold and a fine residence was built on the SW corner of the property, behind the motel, opposite the machine shed located there. This home contained every convenience that Ethel had done without until now. She enjoyed a real home at last and the pride of her yard and flowers. Ethel was always interested in getting involved when her time would allow. She sang duets with her close friend Fern Pray, was a member of the Home Extension Club there. After moving to Colorado, she joined the First Methodist Church and was an active member. As club president of the Zonta International, in1958, she led the ceremonies to provide and place a time capsule in the corner stone of the newly constructed Public Library, an honor that gave her much pride and pleasure. The Garden Club was greatly enjoyed by Ethel with roses being her favorite flower to raise. Ethel donated time to the hospital and made tray favors for the patients. She belonged to a bowling league and a Pinochle Club. At the Methodist Church she helped to cook and serve many funeral and wedding dinners and made items for the annual bazaar. Ethel passed away after suffering a stroke �two years before, of heart failure and other complications on July 7, 1978. After seven brothers, Ethel was the only girl born to Daniel P. and Clara Belle Wise Miller, on Sept. 26, 1908 at Grenola, Ks. The Miller's were a hard working, close knit, family with strong religious background who later moved to Winfield, Kansas. It was here that Ethel attended grammar and high school where she graduated inL927. She enrolled in Wesley Hospital School of Nursing at Wichita, where she graduated as a registered nurse after 4 years in 1931. Ethel met Everett Hurst Sloan during nurses training years and they were married at her home on Feb. 21,L932 after which she moved to Kechi, Kansas to live on his farm there. To this union a son was born, Robert Lee on Mar. 4, 1933 and twin daughters, Virginia Lou and Carolyn Sue on May 20, 1936. The years were spent at Everett's side working hard to build a farm and ranch operation. Ethel lived a life of abiding faith in God that was enriched weekly as she attended Selzer Methodist Church' Ethel raised a garden and canned vegetables for winter food. With Robert's help, she milked the cows and separated the cream to churn into butter to sell in town. Beef was raised for fteezer meat and canned and was a major source of income. Chickens were raised for meat and eggs with the excess being sold to bring in necessary income. Good times were shared with family and neighbors on all special occasions and sometimes just for fun and to laugh was therapy for the soul. Later years found Everett was gone to work his leased land in western Kansas and Colorado. Ethel was left in charge of the farm and three children. In 1945, she joined Everett on the custom combining trail as a chief cook for the family and 5 hired men. They lived in a trailer home and traveled from Texas to North Dakota on an acreage in Burlington, Co. in 1948. It was here that her family moved their home and settled first car, a Model-T Ford, with tur money tbr $20.00, which he used to run his trap lines. Times were hard when he used his horse team in the oil fields near Wichita to dig slush pits for salt water. He also filled these pits in after the oil well was finished. He then farmed during the dry years and finally started a cow herd near Eldorado, Kansas. Everett married Ethel Wilma Miller on Feb. 21, t932, at her home in Winfield, Kansas. As the years went by they leased and bought land, where they farmed and raised cattle and pigs. In the war years he took his custom combining crews from Oklahoma to the Dakotas. He leased land in Colorado in 1948, and bought a trailer court. They built a Motel on this property, and also farmed raising wheat and later irrigated corn and beets. The motel still carried the family name, which was sold in 1963. After thirty one years of marriage Everett finally built his bride her dream home. They both enjoyed their home and took pride in keeping it looking nice. He continued to farm through custom helpers and leased out the rest. On February 24,1979, he married Stella E. Ciboski and they enjoyed each others company until his death on January 16, 1986. He passed away at the High Plains Health Center in Burlington, with internment in Fairview Cemetery along side of his wife, Ethel Wilma Miller Sloan, who had preceded him in death July 7,1978, by Carolyn Sloan Hansen SLOAN, SAM AND GERTRUDE F640 down. by Carolyn Hansen Gertrude Mae (Kious) and Samuel Wesly Sloan. Taken at the home of Bill and Lorris Wickham at a birthday party about 1946. homesteaded 9 mi. SE of Stratton. 1912 to West Plains, Mo. Two years trying to eke out a living amidst rocks, he dashed into the house demanding, "Gertie, you see any moss growin'on my back? Get ready; we're going back to Colorado!" To Flagler on the train with 'a suitcase under each arm' to a farm 9 mi. SE on Sand Creek. Lived a mile east of town at one time, and delivered milk, butter, and dressed chickens. The train killed 3 milk cows. Their home south of Flagler was an old sod house. Farmed oats, barley, spring wheat, corn, feed crops, and alfalfa. Killed a 6 ft. diamondback rattlesnake. Had cattle, horses, mules, hogs. Soil and early farming techniques poor so grain crops considered good at 12 bu. per acre. Sam built and maintained most of the first graded roads in west end of county under George Huntley, county commissioner. Most young fellows of community worked for him. Son Orris, with U.E. McBride in 1915 built the road from county line west of town, to river bridge east. It became Golden Belt Road, Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean, then highway 24. $5.00 a day working 4 of McBride's mules, and 4 of his own. Orris and Winona went to school at Sunnyside - cart and burro. Later with Dorris and Christina Galer to Second Central brggy, enclosed with isinglass, and horses. Neighbor Sol Stone built cement barn for Sloans, and later the house 150 yards west across the school district line, so children SLOAN, EVERETT HURST F639 Everett was born November 18, 1907, the eldest son of Matthew Hurst Sloan and Ethel Grier Sloan. An older sister Dorothy married Floyd Wolf of Andover, Kansas. His next younger brother was Harold Leroy Sloan of Mesa, Arizona and youngest sister was Edna May who married Vernon Hudson of Wichita, Kansas. Everett grew up on the family farm, near Andover, Kansas, worked with horses in the early days. Later he and his brother ran a steam engine threshing machine crew. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and trapping. He and his friends trapped for fur to buy books and clothes for school and spending money. He learned at an early age what work was all about. He attended school in a one-room school house near the farm and graduated from Andover High School in 1926. He bought his This photo was taken at the home of Orris and Margaret Sloan at Selden KS. Orris'86th birthday and Lorris' 71st Birthday July 13, 1986. Samuel Wesley Sloan 2-15-1874 - 2-121950. son of John Fletcher and Samantha Ellen (Nebergall) Sloan. Gertrude Mae (Kious) Sloan 8-7-1880, first female White child born in Sheradan Co., Ks., daughter of George Lewis and Ida (Bayles) Kious. Sam, with parents, came from lll. to Nebr., then to Sheridan Co., Ks. by prairie schooner. Sam and Gertrude were married 8-11-1898. Children: Orris Benjamin 1900, adopted Winona Manuel 1903 - 1977, Dorris Christie Beatrice 1911, Lorris Ida Agnes 1915, Clarice Margaret Rosa 1917. Lost 2 infant sons. Traded their farm at Selden, Ks. in 1907 for horses, and cows, and in the spirit of adventure could go to Flagler school. Bad winters Will Lana, bus driver, used a sled and Sloan's mules. Heated soap stones and heavy comforters and 5 gal. cream cans of soup for the bus children's lunch, heated in the home ec room. Many young people lived with Sloans to attend Flagler High School. Hired men summer and winter for the farming, stack, and general chores. Orris had a header and neighbors helped each other harvest. Chilson, and Schifferns from Arriba irad threshing machines and made the rounds. Neighbors helped each other butcher, and the women canned vegetables, fruits, and meats. Gertrude was an excellent cook and an efficient practical nurse. She cared for the ill and delivered most of the neighborhood babies alone, or assisting Dr. H.L. Williams. The 1917-18 flu epidemic she, and Sam both went from home to home caring for the sick. Close friends, Mrs. Plopper, and daughter Glayds, �were among those who died. Sloans supported community and school never missed a basketball game when Dorris played (State champions in 1930). Good times for families: Literary, Box suppers, Pie socials, Sunday School, and Church at Second Central (Aunt Rose Stone taught children, Joe Short adults, and Rev. Adna Moore preached). Sloans helped establish the Fla- gler Baptist Church - company for Sunday dinner, and holidays, Farmers' Grange with County Agent and Home Demonstration Agents bringing new ideas, County Fair at Burlington, Medicine Shows (Chautauqua), rodeos with young fellows of communities participating. Sam and Orris got their calls for WWI in 1918. but the Armistice was signed prior to their date to report. 'Suitcase farmers' from Ks. and Nebr.. plowed up acres and acres of grass land. Dust bowl days ofthe 1930s brought a real "Grapes of Wrath' - air so full of red Okl. dust, a kerosene lamp was used at mid-day. Farmers took out loans, banks closed. Russian thistles were used to feed stock. Some hay was trucked in. Stock so ravenously hungry they ingested baling wire and died. Government bought cattle for almost nothing - shot and Arlene P. Ciboski Colburn. buried them. Stronghold farmers were forced to leave their homes. Sam and Gertrude went to Flagler - took a cow, and team ofhorses. He plowed gardens Kenneth N. Ciboski. - all the kids in town rode on his wagon. He bought land south of the railroad and built their home, and some small houses. He was always ready for a trade - horses, cows, land - often got'stuck'with locoed critters, and once got 2 settin'hens, and a goat to come out even. he, and his brother Tom from Selden, Ks., started to the Stock Show in Jan. 1950 - he became ill, had surgery, and blood clot took his life. Buried in the Flagler Cemetery on his 76th birthday. Gertrude became a resident at Good Samaritan Home, Simla, and died 9-4-1961, laid to rest beside her husband. Sam never met a stranger; his usual greeting to all he met on the street, "Hello, Kiddio!" Stella E. Sloan by Lorris Wickham SLOAN, STELLA E. F64l Wanda F. Ciboski Dalton. Phillip Ciboski and Stella E. Esslinger were married on May 4, 1933 in Norton, Kansas. Phillip and Stella went on a short honeymoon to Denver, Colorado and then on May 8, they made their home near Goodland, Kansas. They lived on the farm 20 miles north west of Goodland and struggled on this farm for 9 years during the dust bowl days and depression years from 1933 to the fall of 1942. President Hoover was President at the time and in 1934 President Roosevelt took over. A lot of banks had closed and hard times had taken over. President Roosevelt took over Steila E. and Phillip Ciboski, taken in Goodland, Kansas about 1948. and he closed the banks and got things rolling. In order for us to survive and have monev Everett H. Sloan to buy shoes for the children I milked 10 cows and separated the milk for the cream. I dressed 25 pound turkeys and sold them for $2.50 each, and sold eggs for 30 a dozen. We raised a bumper crop of corn in the fall of 1933 and sold it for 110 a bushel and we �Wanda F. Dalton and Arlene P. Colburn. In the fall of L942 we sold all our machinery. We had 2 cows left and a few chickens, and several pigs. We were forced out or else buy the farm so we moved to Denver, Colorado and purchased a home on 2630 South St. Paul. We bought a Chewolet car for $?50.00 the fall of L942. We could have sold it several times on account they couldn't get too many cars at that time because of the war. We could have gotten $1200 to $1500 for it but we could not sell it as we would not have had a vehicle to drive. Stella worked as a waitress in Bauer's uptown Denver and Shaners Bros. In 1946 we sold the home on South St. Paul and bought a business at Canon City, Colorado. Then in 1948 we sold the business, Fawn Hollow, in Canon City and bought a package store called Kenneth was a freshman in high school, Wanda was a seventh grader and Arlene was outstanding ability and salesmanship. These awards were received in 1952, 1955 and 1957. Stella also received a Max Factor cosmetics citation. Stella waited tables for another 8 hours after putting 8 hours in at the drug store. She started selling Compact Sweepers in 1958 and sold them until 1978. Phillip Ciboski passed away and she worked for a living. She was a widow for 10 years before she remarried. Stella began working for the Everett H. Sloan family in Burlington where she cared for Ethel Sloan until she passed away. On February 24, 1979 Stella E. married Everett H. Sloan. They made their home at 165 South Cherry in Burlington, Colorado. Stella and Everett enjoyed trips to the Flying X Ranch in Wheatland, Wyoming and also went south to Brownville, Texas and Port Isabell, Texas. On January 16 Everett H. Sloan passed away sary cake in 1937. It was an angel food consisting of five layers. I started with a dish pan and ended with any angel food cake pan. It took 30 dozen cases of egg whites. The cook stoves in those days were great and I used some cobs from the corn crop we raised in 1933 and the fall of 1934. My mother used a bouquet of soap weeds from the pasture which were beautiful for the family picture of their 25th wedding anniversary. Phil and Stella were blessed with three healthy children. Kenneth N. Ciboski, married. Arlene does volunteer work besides caring for her family. Dr. Colburn has received the MRI Scan. The images produced are of such amazing clarity that physicians abdomen and other organs and tissue masses. for 10 years. She received 3 citations for cheaper and we could not afford to buy coal any longer. We burned two grates out of the cook range that winter of 1933 and early 1934. We got hailed out 8 years out of the 9 years that we farmed. We sold the cows that were ready to calve for $5.00 each. There was no grass, no rain and no feed. The land right along the highway by Goodland sold for 250 and 500 an acre for the tax deed. I baked my parents'25th wedding anniver- Arlene Ciboski (Colburn) is married to Dr. Ralph M. Colburn Jr., twirler of Manhattan College in Manhattan, Kansas and was supervisor Hostess for TWA before she are able to pin point brain lesions and Stella also worked at Higdon's Drug Store finally decided to burn it for coal as it was Wichita. They have two girls, Kendra Lynn and Marla Nicole. After one year in Springfield we moved back to Goodland, Kansas. My husband and Ken farmed the Brinkmeier place and I waited in the first grade. Arlene and Dr.Colburn and girls. she is employed in the City building of City Liquor Store in Springfield, Colorado. tables. Wanda Dalton language. It is a very difficult language to know. His oldest daughter has studied Russian and had had 2Yz years of law at K.W. University where she graduated. Dr. Kenneth Ciboski is a Professor of Political Science in Wichita where he also teaches Russian and takes 30 college students to Russia every Christmas. He is married to Barbara Bell and after a short illness. Stella Sloan has 10 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. They are: Brian Dalton of Columbus, Ohio; Geri Dalton Bester of Frankfort, Germany; Kent, Sheila and Craig Dalton of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; Kendra and Marla Ciboski of Wichita, Kansas; Rebecca, Sara and Catherine Colburn of Oregon, Wisconsin. The great grandchildren are; Michael and Brent Bester of Frankfort, Germany where their father, Tim Bester, is a surveyor in the Armed Service; Ryan Michael Dalton, son of Brian Dalton who is employed at Seafood Co.; and two step-great grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Sloan. Wanda Ciboski is married to L.R. Dalton and reside in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. L.R. worked for Fiedestia Co. and is now employed by Unlimited Co. and Wanda is employed by a large loan company. They have five children, Brian and Geri Kay are married and have children. The twins, Kent and Sheila Jo are working and attending college, and Graig Francis is in high school. Kenneth Ciboski earned two degrees, one at Washington State and one at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. Kenneth earned straight A's in the study of Russian Languages. He feels that if you want to get along with the Russians you have to speak their identify problems of the spinal column, heart, Dr. Colburn is a neuro radiologist specially trained in magnetic resonance imaging. He is the medical director of Turville Bay Center and one of the staff physicians who design monitors and interpret MRI Scans. Dr. Colburn is a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School. He was a medical resident at Boston City Hospital and Harvard Medical unit, the Edwards Mallenckrost Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine of St. Louis, Missouri, and at Anchorage, Alaska. He was a former Director of Medical Imaging at St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center of Madison. Currently he is also Chief of Medical Staff at Stoughton Hospital, Stoughton, Wisconsin. Dr. and Mrs. Colburn have three girls, Rebecca Arlene, sophomore in college; Sara Noelle, sophomore in high school; and Catherine Demours, 8th grade. by Stella Sloan SMELKER - BUNCH FAMILY F642 Myrtle Violet Smelker, the oldest child of Charles and Luella Smelker, was born January 23, 1900. Myrtle had eight younger brothers so she always had to help her mother with the household and other chores. One Christmas she remembered finding presents ofhair ribbons, pencils, and tablets. She and brother Victor went to Sunday school south of the Smelker homestead, which was the first school they attended. Myrtle taught school in some of her early years. Myrtle married Cage Bunch on October 18, 1920. To this union seven children were born; Lyle 1921, Charles 1922, Oris l924,Roy 1926, Erma 1928. Arlene 1930 and Duane 1931. They moved to Boulder in 1947 and to Longmont in 1960. Myrtle and Cage were old time square dancers and belonged to several clubs and enjoyed dancing their remaining days. Myrtle died on December 8, 1986. Cage died in August 1987. by Mary Ann Smelker � https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/507/Families-S2.pdf 3d3afced18134822d12da16990cb0982 PDF Text Text SMELKER - HAZEN FAMILY F643 brother-in-laws - n O'Holloran and Tru- man Hazen, we-,c l^rst in March 1907. They carne on an emigrant car which required an attendant with a car when stobk was shipped. Charlie started preparing for his family by building a frame building on their homestead thirteen miles south and two west of Stratton. The building was fourteen by sixteen and is still part ofthe house. This part ofthe house is now the kitchen which was built in 1918 and added on to again in 1976. It is now the home of Ivan and Wilma Smelker. The women and children came later by train. They were Luella and her four children, Myrtle, Victor, George and Leon who was the baby; Luella's Mother Eliza Hazen and her three children, Irene O'Holloran, Ina, and 15 year old son Leonel; and Irene O'Hollorans' two children John and Florence. Victor remembers seeing his grandfather T.W. Smelker for the last time, as he came to Yankton to see them off on the train. Luella, George, Charles, Leonel and Ina and their mother Eliza. Truman home- steaded 10 miles south and r/z mile west of Stratton. George, Charlie, Leonel and their mother Eliza homesteaded close by. The Hazen family were vivid horseshoe players. At many family gatherings they would play all day long. Children also had their own peg and horseshoes and would play amongst themselves. Truman married Ethel Jones in 1916 and lived there til moving to town in 1945. They had no children. Truman was a great baseball fan and played for Beaverton, which was 12 miles south and 3 miles east of Stratton. They are both buried in the Stratton cemeterv. Mother Eliza Hazen is buried in Colorado Springs. George and Leonel moved back to Minnesota and Charles to Idaho. by Mary Ann Smelker Victor remembers very well aniving in Omaha, Nebraska, as he and John were told to keep hold of hands. They got caught around a lamp post and wouldn't let go. Eliza Haze, the grandmother, had to come back and rescue them. SMELKER MAGNUSON FAMILY F644 Upon arriving in Stratton, Colorado, in April 1907, Luella and her small brood, her Charles V. Smelker and Luella Hazen Smelker with daughter Myrtle in 1901. Charles Virgil Smelker and Sadie Luella Hazen were married in South Dakota. They lived in Worthing and Wagner, South Dakota. where their four oldest children were born. They were Myrtle 1900, Victor 1901, George 1904, and Leon 1906. the five youngest children were born in Stratton, Colorado. They were Wesley 1909, Delmar 1911 (died as a baby), Theodore 1914, Ivan 1918, and Dean 1921. While living in South Dakota, they rented the farmed land which was part of the Sioux Indian Reservation. As more and more families were going to areas where one could homestead, they decided to go also. With a flip of a coin they decided to go to Colorado. Charlie and his mother and sisters were much welcomed by all waiting their arrival. Charlie had been busy helping others build their houses on their own homesteads, as he was at his best doing carpenter work. He, in years to come, helped build wood and sod houses and dig @-*n*nc.o .e," . wells to supplement their income. They did not have a well on the Smelker homestead until 1914. They hauled water with an old horse called "Fritz" and 2 barrels for all those years. Before 1914, they hauled from the Minor Warren Homestead, r/t amile north. Before that well was dug, they hauled from the old Wagner ranch which was 4 miles north of the Smelker homestead and % mile east. A.V. Harden was a well driller in early days. He was a cousin to Luella Smelker and cnme to the Stratton area in 1907. Wes Bryant, Charlie Smelker and his son Victor hunted coyotes as a past time and extra income. They used a model T car to chase them down over the open prairies. They used a 22 rifle to shoot them. The Charles V. Smelker children: Myrtle, Victor, George, Leon, Wasley, Theodore, Ivan and Dean. Theodore J. Smelker family around 1957: Helen, Sharon, Ted holding Teddy and Loren Helen Marie Magnuson Smekler about 1920 �Shannon. Some of Helen's schoolmates at Lone Star included: Ethel Kasten, a classmate; Esther Kasten, Zella Wilson, Maxine Coe, Earl Coe, Edna Chinburg, Bernice Nelson, George McNeill, William McNeill' Fred Krei, Glade Larsen, Delmer Calloway, Floyd Calloway, and Dorothy Calloway. In 1931, at 12 yrs. of age, Helen moved with her family to a farm L6r/z mi. southwest of Bethune, CO. The farm was located on the NW% of 36-11-46 at the south edge of K.C. County; this is now State Land. Helen grew up on the farm along with her other sisters, Violet (Bunch), Ila (Hobgood), Vivian (Stjernhotm), and Dolores Magnuson. Helen was a great help to her mother during these years with her younger sisters and the farm, as her father had become ill and was hospitalized, at Ft. Lyons beginning in 1935. She attended school and graduated from First Central in 1936. While a high school student, Helen had been a newspaper correspondent for "The Call", a Burlington newspaper at that time. Some of Helen's schoolmates at First Central included: Lylah Ayres, Dale Lesher, Ivan Smelker, Inez Perkins, Edgar Geist, Sarah Mitchell, Estelyn Whitmore, June McArthur, and Lunette S. among Wedding picture of Elmer O. Magnuson and Mary Thomann Magnuson, October 24, l9l7 purchased some ground on his own. This included the EVz of LO-I2-47, which he purchased in the late 1940's from the Homesteader Nellie P. Flanery. This is Ted's family farm today, and is centrally located between Stratton and Kit Carson, in Cheyenne County. There was nothing, except for a windmill, on this piece of ground when Ted bought it. In 1948, along with his brothers and other friends, they built a big wooden grainery building on the place. After completion they threw a big celebration and dance, where Ted helped with the music by playing the fiddle. Around 1951, Ted purchased and moved the old Oriska School House in, and set it by the grainery. Oriska School had been just north of here 3 mi. in Kit Carson County. While still living at Cheyenne Wells, Ted and Helen had a second child, a boy, Loren Dee, born Feb. 15, 1952. In 1953 Ted moved his family from Cheyenne Wells out to the farm. The old Oriska School House became their new home for a year, while plans were underway to build a new house on the place. Again, with the special carpentry skills of brother Victor, who inherited his skills from his father, Charles, and with the help of a man by the name of Ralph Carrell. others. Among some of Helen's teachers were: by Terri Smelker Griffeth, Jennie Tressel, Campbell, Thelma Armstrong, and Otis O. Ross. Ted Smelker and Helen dated and loved to Theodore J. Smelker was born Dec. 13th, 1914, to Charles Virgil Smelker and Luella Sadie (Hazen) Smelker at their homestead 12 mi. south, 2 mi. west and again 1 mi. south of Stratton, CO, which is now the Ivan Smelker Place. Ted's given name at birth was John Theodore Smelker, but disliking his name, he later changed it to Theodore John. He was 1 of 9 children, who included, the eldest and only sister, Myrtle (Bunch), and 7 brothers, in order of birth and including Ted are: Victor, George, Leon, Wes, Delmer (who died in infancy), Ted, Ivan and Dean. They all grew up on the Smelker Homestead and attended the Smelker School by their home. Ted was said to have been babied a lot by his Mother and by his older sister, Myrtle, whogave him most everything he wanted. For many years he was known to family and friends as "Mama's Pet" which was later shorteneC to "Pet". He quit school after the 8th Grade and for a while helped out on his parents' farm, but being independent, as he was, he set out on his own and worked many odd jobs around, including some time spent on a ranch up by Canon City. His younger brother, Ivan, was also able to get work on the ranch, and when he arrived, Ivan was informed by Ted, that he was not to call him "Pet", on the ranch he was known aB "Ted, NOT PET!" In the 30's, Ted also worked at the CCC Camp out north of Cheyenne Wells for a time. He began dating Helen Marie Magnuson in 1936; she was a Senior at First Central High School at that time. Helen was originally from the Burlington area, and was the first of 5 girls born, Sept. 28, 1918, to Elmer Otto Magnuson and Mary (Thomann) Magnuson. Her baby book showed she was a big baby, weighing 10 lbs. at birth. Helen attended the Lone Star School, in Burlington's District 25, up until March 1931. County Superintendent during some of this time was Della Hendricks, also her teachers included Mona Danforth, Leonard Ziemann and Geneviene attend the many dances held in the area at that time. Dances were held at Smokey Hill' Perry Taylor's Place, Thomas Taylor's Place and Peter's Barn. In June 193?, Helen moved to Colo. Springs, where she stayed with her Uncle Arnold and Aunt Vera Thomann, where she attended and graduated from Flowers Beauty College. Ted put on many miles between the Springs and the First Central area courting Helen, and in July got himself a Model A Coach, which he was very proud of. On Sept. 3rd, Ted and Helen became engaged. Helen began her beauty career working for Mildred Wynne at a Beauty Shop in the Springs, and Ted, after working many odd jobs around, moved to Victor, CO., to be closer to Helen and to work in the gold mines there. It was a surprise to most everyone, except their parents, when the news of Ted and Helen's marriage leaked out about 3 weeks after the fact, and was printed in the newspaper. They had been married on Dec. 18, 1938, at Fountain' CO., witnessed by Ted's cousin, Orie Hightower, and Alma (Stone at that time) Hightower, both of Colo. Springs. In their newspaper write up of the secret marriage, "The Call", extended their good wishes for Ted and Helen's future success and happiness, but felt that they had somehow "slipped" in their training of the bride, (during her high school yrs). As they quipped in the paper, "She was always a good reporter and well knowing a newspaper loves a SCOOP, we wonder why she didn't let us in on the secret. Good Luck, Helen!" Ted and Helen lived, and both worked in Victor, CO., for a short time, then moved to Cheyenne Wells, CO., where Ted helped manage the Shamrock Filling Station and farmed in partnership with Art Milheim. They had their first child on Aug.22,L94L, a girl, Sharon Lee (Rhoades), born at the hospital in Burlington. During this time Ted was always looking into land purchases and deals. He wanted to farm! He traded his share of the filling station to Art for some land and SMELKER MAGNUSON FAMILY F645 who lived southeast of Stratton, and with the help of some of Ted's other brothers, and some good neighbors, like Ed Peters, Harry Pike. and Oris and Willard Blankenbaker, Ted and Helen's brand new home was built in 1953. The family lived in the basement of the house for a time, while doing the finishing touches to the upstairs. There were many a good time had by family and friends from all around the area, as Ted and Helen had lots of get-togethers in their basement. A story is still being told about a neighbor, Hary Pike, who hung by his heels from the basement rafters at a party. On Aug. 28, 1956, Ted and Helen's family was complete with the birth of another beautiful baby boy, Theodore Ray (Teddy), who was born at K.C. County Memorial Hospital in Burlington. Ted and Helen, now with their familY, Sharon, Loren, and young Ted, worked side by side during those years building up their farm and cattle operation, and supported many community affairs. In 1963 the family was struck with tragedy, when Helen's health began to fail. She knew something was wrong and within a few months, doctors discovered that she had cancer. Helen died at the early age of 45 yrs, on Feb. 29th, Leap Year, 1964, at the Burlington Hospital. Sharon, age 22, and husband, Bob Rhoades, who were attending college at Ft. Collins, CO., moved back home during that summer to help her dad with the family farm and to help with her 2 younger brothers, Loren now 12, and Teddy only 7Yz yrs. old. During Ted's bereavement he depended a great deal on his buddies and neighbors for support. Harry and Ethel Pike helped for many years in the raising of Loren and �SMELKER - VICTOR FAMILY F646 Coyote hunting,1923: Victor and Charles Smelker and their friend, Wes Bryant Victor Delos Smelker was born in Worthing, South Dakota, on December 26, 1901. He moved with parents, Charles Smelker and Luella Hazen Smelker, to Stratton, Colorado, in 1907. He has many memories of living his Mother Luella smelker with her 8 children: wes, Leon, George, victor, Dean, Myrtle, Ivan, and red in the late 1960's hospital in Denver. Ted and Helen's children are all married now with families of their own. Sharon and Bob Rhoades, live at Benkelman, NE., where Bob has built up a Veterinarian business and Sharon works at the Benkelman State Bank. They have 3 children, Keri, now married to Rich Ham, with 2 children of their own. Adrienne and Jonathan. Sharon and Bob's Theodore J. Smelker in the earlv 1930's at his parents homestead Teddy. Even after they moved to Kit Carson, their home was a special place for Loren and Teddy to visit and stay during their school years at Kit Carson, CO. On Nov. 23, L964, Ted married A. Larie (Beecham) Bauman, whose children were: Martin, Cordella (Pickerill), Rollan, and Sylvan. In the 1970's, Ted developed heart trouble and underwent 2 open heart bypass surgeries. He returned to his home after these operations and continued to work along with his sons, not as physically strong as before, but determined to stay active and be involved. Upon semi-retirement in 1978, Ted and Larie moved to Stratton, CO. Ted was in the process of turning over the farm to his boys, but since farming and ranching were always an important and rewarding part of his life, he drove out the 22 mi. most every day from Stratton, where he would spend long hours driving tractor. In the later half ofthe year, 1981, Ted was not feeling good and spent most of the month of December in the hospital. After Christmas, he was sent to St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver for tests. Ted suffered from a combination of ailments besides his heart trouble. which included diabetes. And on Jan. 14th, 1982, Ted had a fatal heart attack and died at the other children are Dana, who is a senior in College, and Brett a senior at Benkelman High School. Loren and Terri (George) reside at the home that Ted and Helen built in 1953. It has changed face since then, and is a wonderful home for our family. We have 2 boys, Ryan and Kyle who both attend grade school at Stratton Elementary. Ryan is in the 3rd grade and his teacher is Mrs. Karen Topp; Kyle is in kindergarten and Mrs. Betty Smith is his teacher. We also have a little girl, Amber, who is 3/z yrs. old and will go to Preschool next year. Young Ted and Trina (Bussen) live just south of the Home Place about a Vz mile. They have 3 little girls: Kylie, who is in 2nd grade at Stratton and has Ms. Barry for a teacher; Cassie who is 2 yrs. old; and Chelsea who is a baby at 8 months of age. Loren and Ted run the family farm that was passed on to them and worked so hard for, by their parents. The boys work together, sometimes still, with a well known "Smelker Argument". They are implementing new ideas and working toward the growth of our family farm together! by Terri Smelker early years on the eastern Colorado plains. One of his early recollections when he was about eight, was of getting up early and looking for the horses, walking r/z mile one way then the other and didn't ever know where they might be. Vic said some days he bet he walked 30 miles. His father couldn't go and would always send Vic. Their four horses they farmed out. Sometimes folks would keep them a few days which helped, but other days would always have to look for them. Vic ran his legs off some days as those horses would go four and five miles. Once as he was walking out in the open prairie, a coyote was coming straight at him, it didn't even see him and came right on. It scared Vic to death, but the coyote later saw him and turned off. Vic went to school no more than 3 or 4 months a year. The first school was a mile south of the homestead and he would alwavs walk. School was a one room soddie. Later the Smelker School was built close to the Smelker home. Vic always wanted to go to school more, but it seemed there was always feed to pick and the like. He usually went from Christmas time until spring work started. Myrtle went to school fulltime, until she got to the 8th grade. Vic caught up with her. Both of them took the 8th grade Supt. test to pass. He passed . . she didn't and he said his mother was mad. Their teacher was a Mrs. Austin. Vic was always gifted in Math. Around his fifth year he could put all down he took on. Other kids complained he didn't study, so the teacher took him on and he beat her. He got in a year of high school Algebra while in school, which was easy for him. His father wasn't near the farmer as he was a carpenter and builder. Vic worked with his father building and doing carpenter work, from whom he learned very much. In 1918, when he was 17 years old, he went to Victoria, Kansas, and worked for some Germans named Brungardt. He said they had very good meals all the time and good lunches in between. He went with his Uncle George and Leonel Hazen, who also worked in Kansas one summer at harvest time. Before this he would work for neighbors during the summers, usually for 750 a day. In 1923, Victor started working for the Denver & Rio �Grande Railroad from Salida to Colorado Springs, along the Arkansas River. Victor married Joyce Melton in 1929 while living in Pueblo, where he had worked for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. In 1930 they moved to the Nutbrook place, 10% miles south and 1 mile west of Stratton. In 1932 they moved to the Horstine place 9% miles south and 1 mile west of Stratton. In 1938, they moved 9 miles south and % miles west, where they still own farm ground. Vic and house on the Warren homestead was of sod, being replaced with a two story house made of lumber in 1919. Both houses were built by Minor with relatives and friends helping. Minor also being a trapper sold furs of badgers, skunks and rabbits. Means oftransportation was by a team of horses and wagon or buggy. The travel to and from Stratton took all day. When traveling in the winter, bricks were heated to take along for extra warmth. Cow chips were burned for heat. In the early years of our parents, George and Wilma, recreation was horse back riding, Joyce moved into Stratton in 1964. The sons and daughters of this family are Dorothy, Ralph, Carl and Elsie. They attend- ed Grandview, Nutbrook and Stratton schools. The family lived, farmed and grew up at the above mentioned places. These were not always easy times with drought and depression times, but there were always good times with family and friends. Vic worked as a carpenter while farming most of his working years. Then later building homes in the Stratton area. In Pueblo, he was a bridge foreman on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. House built on Minor and Emma Warren's farm in 1919; 1952 picture. other children Verla, Velma, Lela (died in infancy), Lola, Myrna, Franklin, Twila, Una and Arva were born. All the children wire born at home with Mrs. Deere, a midwife, being present for five of the children and Dr. Cavey for the remaining four. Minor and a very good cook and known for her hard work and tidy habits, she enjoyed working. Not just the enjoyment it brought but being able Emma Warren continued to live at the homestead also until their death, Minor in to give her children and grandchildren special 1955 and Emma in 1962. Besides farming during the 1930's, George, with his team of horses and wagon worked for WPA, helping things. Dorothy married Walter Clark and lives in Limon. Ralph lives in Stratton. Carl married Mary Ann Stegman and lives in Colorado Springs. Elsie married Richard May and lives in Stratton. Vic and Joyce live in Stratton at present and will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in 1989. They have 12 grandchildren build roads and bridges in Kit Carson County. He also participated with other farmers on rabbit roundups to reduce the and L3 great grandchildren. by Mary Ann Smelker SMELKER - WARREN F647 the first year farming on the Cohorn farm where Vivian was born. In 1925 they moved to the original Warren homestead where the Joyce worked at several restaurants in Stratton after her children were grown. Being FAMILY swimming in creeks because of a big rain and Saturday night dances held in homes, school houses or haylofts, the latter being a family affair. In 1923 George and Wilma hiked up Pikes Peak, facing rain, sleet and hail. It took six hours to go up and three hours to come down. They were married in 1923 and spent Minor and Emma Warren's 50th wedding anniversarv in 1950. overpopulation of rabbits. Highlights of the years were family's gathering at Christmas time at Charles and Luella Smelker's home. The day was filled with aromas from a Pot Luck Dinner, elders playing cards and laughter of children playing games. This tradition was carried on for many years. In 1949 water was piped into the house and in 1951 much to everyone's delight electricity became a reality. An addition was added in 1952 making it possible to have a bathroom inside. Oh, how nice not having to go outside to the "priwy" on a cold winter night. In 1969 an irrigation well was dug. George and Wilma continued to farm until George's death in 1971. Wilma remained on the homestead until 1974. She moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where she made her home with her daughter Twila until her death in 1986. The eldest daughter, Vivian, passed away in 1987. by Verla Martinez and Twila Smelker SMELKER, MR. AND MRS. CHARLEY Sod house on Minor and Emma Waren's homestead in 1908. F648 Mr. and Mrs. Charley Smelker came out here from Yankton. South Dakota. When they were in South Dakota they lived on a rented part of the Sioux Indian Reservation. Mr. Smelker came with an emigrant car. They required an attendant with a car where Our grandparents, Charles and Luella Smelker, with children, Myrtle, Victor, George, (our Dad) and Leon moved from South Dakota to a homestead 16% miles southwest of Stratton, Colorado in 1907. Our other grandparents, Minor and Emma Warren and children, Myrtle, Wilma, (our Mother) and Loring (Bud) moved from stock was shipped. Mrs. Smelker cnme on the train in April, 1907. They built a frame building on their Bonesteel, South Dakota, to a homestead 16 miles southwest of Stratton, Colorado in 1908, arriving by immigrant train. The first George and Wilma Smelker about 1963. homestead thirteen miles south and two miles west of Stratton. The building was �fourteen by sixteen. Mr. Smelker learned to build sod houses, and helped Tom Kelly, who built a sod house on what we knew as the John Fisher or later as the Albert Peters place. He also helped Mrs. Woods and her two sons who were east of Tom Kelly, and Mike Bell, who built a soddy on what was later the Parks place. Mrs. Woods was a mother-in-law of the two men, Kelly and Bell. While they were living there, the Kelly's had two babies die, and Mike Bell lost one baby. Mrs. Smelker helped to made a casket. Charley made the frame and box and Mrs. Smelker lined them first with cotton batting and then white silk, lid and all. I asked where they bought white silk, it it was a wedding dress or what? She said she didn't know. but thought he bought it. If he did, it was real silk in that day. The kind of thread spun by worms, not synthetic as we have now-a-days. She said Mrs. Lowe. the mother of Art Lowe of Burlington helped her with one casket and she couldn't remember who the other one was who helped. One she blind stitched around the top, keeping the stitches hidden, and the other they got brass tacks and used them to hold the silk in folds. They looked very pretty when done. The graves were dug a mile south of Smelkers' on a hillside southeast of the sod school which was just a mile south of them. Prayer was held at the graves. While Mike Bell lived here, there was a Sunday School at this sod school south of Smelkers. Mr. Bell was the superintendent, and gave Vick Smelker and his sister, Myrtle, a Bible for coming regularly to Sunday School. Smelkers, Kellys, Bells and Woods all walked, so the horses could eat on Sunday, as they had nothing to feed them but the prairie grass. And these same horses had to put in the crops. They would turn them out an hour or so at noon for their feed. There was a sod school eleven miles south and on west of Stratton, south of what was then Nutbrook. Harry Greenwood and one of these Woods boys went to school together there. One of the Woods boys, Uhl, worked for Carl Harrison's father. The Smeklers later built a lovely, commodious farm home. The lvan Smelkers live on the farm now, and have raised their family the Cheyenne Wells cemetery. Anna Belle still lives in Cheyenne Wells. by Mary Ann Smelker SMELKER, IVAN F650 Ivan Smelker, eighth child of Charles and Luella Smelker, grew up on a farm south of Stratton. He attended first through eighth grades at the Smelker School, and ninth through twelfth grades at First Central graduating in 1936. Ivan married Wilma Schaal in 1938. A family of five children were born, Gerald, Gladys, Charles, Doyle and Dolores. Ivan and Wilma first lived on a farm south of Bethune for four years. Then they moved to the Harry Greenwood farm south of Stratton and in 1948 moved to the Smelker homestead where they still live. Ivan and Wilma both grew up on a farm, having farmed all their married life which is going on 50 years. Wilma as a mother, helped on the farm doing every extra job from milking cows to driving a truck. Ivan, always a farmer, has served many years for public service. He has served as a School Board member, FHA Committee, and ASCS Committee. Gerald graduated from high school in 1957. He served in the Marines for three years. He married Lela Synder in 1961 and they have four children. At present, he is an auctioneer and they have their own sale at Wellington, CO. They live in Fort Collins, CO. Gladys graduated from high school in 1959. She married Harry Norman and they have four children. At present, they have their own construction company and live at North Platte, Nebraska. Charles graduated from high school in 1962. He attended college at Fort Collins and Pueblo graduating in 1967. He married Gloria Hoffman in 1967 and thev have three children. After college, he joined the Army Air Force and served two years in Viet Nam as a helicopter pilot. At present he is farming at Columbus, New Mexico. Doyle graduated from high school in 1963. He went to college at Sterling, graduating in 1968, and then finished college at Fort Collins. He joined the National Guard and had his basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas. He married Christine Lacey in 1971 and they have five children. They live on a farm south of Stratton. CO. Dolores graduated from high school in 1963. She attended Beauty School in Denver graduating in 1964. She worked at B & B Drug and First National Bank in Stratton. She married LeeRoy Rehor and they have three children. At present they live on a farm south of Joes, CO. by Ivan Smelker SMELKER, LEON F651 Leon Smelker grew up at his family homestead south of Stratton and attended school at the Smelker School. He was born in South Dakota in 1906. In the 1930's he worked for the Zurchers for 91.00 a day and dinner. Leon married Alice G. Milheim in July 1931, at Burlington, Colorado. They Iived on the Nutbrook place lUYz miles south and 1 mile west of Stratton when their first child Carol was born. There were 2 more daughters in the family, Joan and Elaine. Joan died in 1945. Elaine lives in Denver and Carol lives in Florida. In 1940, Leon being very industrious and needing to make a living for his family, bought a binder and later a corn picker. For some years he custom bound feed and picked corn for many farmers in the area. In 1942, Leon and Alice bought the Gilmore place 16 miles south and 2 miles west of Stratton, where they worked side by side until retire- there. Mr. and Mrs. Smelker are both deceased. by Dessie Cassity SMELKER, DEAN F649 Dean Smekler, ninth child of Charles and Luella Smelker, grew to manhood at the Smelker homestead, south of Stratton. In 1941, he married Anna Belle Winters of Cheyenne Wells. To this union four children were born; Lercy 1942, Delmar 1944, Cheryl 1947, and Ruth 1953. Dean and Anna Belle lived with Luella Smelker for sometime, then Dean went to the Army in 1944. After getting out of the service, he worked in Cheyenne Wells for his brothers Wesley and Ted. He later went to work at the Cheyenne Wells Lumber Company. He worked there until he retired. Dean died March 16, 1984, and is buried in The Ivan Smelker family October 1987. Standing; Charles, Gladys, Delores, Doyle, Gary.Seated; Ivan and Eilma Smelker. �two-story, brick schoolhouse that was where the elementary school is today. After graduating from Colorado Woman's College, I was the fashion writer in the advertising department of the Neusteter's store in Denver until my marriage in Aug. of 1945 to Lt. Kermit J. Buol in the chapel of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Denver, and Burlington again became my home. Here, we have raised our family; John, Denise Nettleton, and Diana Wiggins. They too received 12 years of education in the Burlington schools, and went on to Colorado State University. The 5th generation is now sharing the legacy of those early homesteaders. The tune of the old-time fiddler and the sing-song call of the square dance rise from :@ %b** Charles and Luella Smelker and sons Ivan and Theodore in 1922 ment. In November 1941, while Leon was who were of legal age, all filed for homesteads pi"f.i"g corn, he got his arm caught in the on land they "proved-up on" north of the then young town of Burlington. cor.t picker. Vail Derby helped him get it out Returning from 18 months of service with fv tuii"g the braces oif tnu snap rollers. His getting the U.S. Army in World War I, Edmond After roller. second the was-into aim hi- to the house, his wife Alice, pu1 on a Osgood Smith, the youngest of the family, resumed his farming interests. It was several tourniquet and his brother Ted took him to Burlington to the hospital. He was there 11 years later that he was to meet a young "schoolmarm" from Arkansas. It was a long J"y, *il"h cost $87.0b. trip to town by horse and wagon. Other times iJpon retiring Leon and Alice moved to he was able to borrow his brother Myron's 19?3. in Alice died where Color"ado, Littieton, R-orn and Sn" i* l,rri"a in the Stratton cemetery. Leon Ford Model-T to go "sparking"' later moved back to the farm, where he still lives. by Mary Ann Smelker SMELKER, WESLEY F652 Wesley Virgil Smelker, 5th child of Charles V. and Sadie Luella Smelker, was born May 9, 1909, on his parents homestead near Stratton, Colorado. He married Dorothy Grace Freeman, of Kit Carson, Colorado, on July 30, 1929. To this union was born one son, Gaylord Wesley. Wesley and Dorothy farmed near Kit Carson until 1935 at which time they moved with son Gaylord to Cheyenne Wells. He was in business at the Shamrock Garage and Farm Supply for 21 years. Wesley died September 20, 1968. Gaylord married Mary Ethel Byers, of Cheyenne Wells. They live in Canon City. by MarY Ann Smelker FAMILY F653 Born June 29, 1853 at Friendship, N.Y., my grandfather, Moses T. Smith, "came West" from Wyoming, Iowa in 1906 to settle on land in eastern Colorado, where he "broke sod" to farm, and raised livestock. Grandmother, Ella Collins Smith, joined him in 1910, and those of the family of six sisters and brothers, on a Saturday night. Time and the winds have taken their toll, but my birthplace still stands, a silent reminder of those Iong ago days. When the yucca sends forth its blossoming spires in June, and summer carpets the pastures with tenacious wildflowers, echoes of the past speak softly to this daughter of the prairie. by Dorene Smith Buol SMITH - GANGWISH FAMILY F664 educated near Gurdon, Arkansas, Grace L. Smith was encouraged to come to Colorado by her sister, Emma Dickey, who lived in Burlington, so she declined an offer of a chair in mathematics to bring "readin','riting and 'rithmetic" to frontier children, teaching one term at the Ritzius school before taking a school in the German settlement. On May 8, 1923, Smith and Smith were wed at the Methodist parsonage in Burlington by the Rev. Gatley. On a wintery, snowy March day in 1924, in the bedroom of an adobe house on the homestead. I was ushered into the world by Dr. E.J. Remington. A short time later, my dad was appointed by the U.S. Postal Service to be the first rural carrier north out of Burlington, and he became the proud owner of his first car. We moved into town, where we shared "Grandma" Boyles'house until we would move into our newly-built home on 9th St., where my brother, Leland, and I grew up in a neighborhood where there were vacant lots for digging caves or a game of "work-up", and kids to join in playing "kick the can" and other games on a summer evening. There were family get-togethers and vacation trips to visit relatives, and sometimes I was allowed to go to "the farm" for a week or so, where I would help with "the chores". SMITH - BUOL the ashes of the big barn built in the 30's, once a countryside gathering place for good times Cousins went to country schools where we often attended programs and box socials, and they lived with us at various times to go to High School. At the age of 6, death left Jeanette Smith Stahlecker motherless, and she was raised in our home. After 33 years carrying the mail, my dad retired in Nov. 1958. and he died in 1961. My mother died in March 1982, a few days before her ninety- Leonard and Geraldine Smith sitting in their front yard with Leonard's sheep dog Rex. Aren't many a. shade here. You should see their home lr;T: Leonard O. Smith was born March 17, 1923, four miles from his present home south of Flagler, Colorado. He is the only child of N.A. and Etta C. Farmer Smith. His parents came to the Flagler area from Jetmore, Kansas, in 1918. Until 1925 they lived four miles southeast of the present ranch. After World War I, they moved to Ordway, Colorado, and then to Sugar City, Colorado, where they farmed and ran a hardware store and creamery. In 1938 they moved back to Flagler to what is now the south ranch. At first they ran sheep, then changed to yearling cattle. Leonard was educated in the public schools of Sugar City and Flagler, graduating from Flagler High School in 1941. After graduation, he went into partnership with his father on the ranch. Geraldine Margaret Gangwish was born October L7,1922,in Roseland, Nebraska. She moved to the Arriba community at the age of second birthday. Later that year, my brother six months. Here she grew to womanhood and graduated from Arriba High School in 1940. was killed in an accident. For all 12 years, I went to school in the old, Colorado Springs and later worked in the She then attended Blair Business College in �ordinance depot at Camp Carson. Leonard and Geraldine were married on Sunday, September 17, L944, at the country home of the bride's uncle and aunt. Camping and fishing were a favorite of theirs, so naturally they took a long honeymoon trip to the mountains around Glenwood Springs, Colorado. In 1946 they ordered a boat from the Speigel catalog and it came to the depot in town. People thought they were nuts to have a row boat ties on top of their car! Especially in eastern Colorado! Boating and fishing are still a favorite pastime, and their children Robert and Renee sure like to water ski. Leonard is known for his work in soil conservation and water development. Thru the years, he has steadily developed grass and water resources on his land. From 1960 to 1965 he built 45 dams, 122 miles of terraces, and developed six springs. During the 70's and 80's Leonard has completed two great plains contracts and continued his management of range and cropland by building more dams, adding more terraces, and completing a stockwater pipeline of more than five miles to five different tanks. he has altered the management of his rangeland to achieve maximum grass production with minimum erosion and believes in and practices stripcropping and stubble mulching methods of farming. Leonard has received the Outstanding Cooperator of the year award in the Flagler District twice, in 1961 and 1979. Leonard and Geraldine love trees. Seems like they plant a few trees every year somewhere on their ranch. (I should say a bunch of trees!) Geraldine's dream is to have the Republican River that runs by their house lined with trees. Her dream is coming true. There are a few starting, thanks to tender loving care and a fence to keep the cows out. When they moved to their home in 1944 there weren't any trees. They have planted thousands of trees over the last 40 years. Their home now is an ggOasis On The Plains". After a brief illness in 1981. Leonard is taking things a little easier. With the help of at Vona, Colorado. Their children were George Richard Payne born 1933, William Albert Payne born 1935, and Donald Gordon Payne born 1940. George died May 1G, 1966. Laura married second Merle N. Jones on March 13, 1971, at Ustich, Idaho. Laura now lives at Bosie, Idaho. 2. Gordon Alfred Smith was born March 12, 1919, at Loveland, Colorado. Gordon married Donna Doris Clark in 1946 at Kuna, Ada co., Idaho. Donna was born Lg26 at Weber, Kansas. Their children were Leila Christine Smith born 1945, Jerry Lee Smith born 1947, Danny LeRoy Smith born 1952, and Mickey Leon Smith born 1953. They now live at Meridian, Idaho. 3. Bert Jr. Smith was born March 24, L922, at Stratton, Colorado. His nickname is June. He is single and now lives at Meridian, Idaho. 4. Bobby Lee Smith was born September 20,1925, at Vona, Colorado. On Feb. 14, 1950 he married Charlene Mary Hudson, daughter of Charlie and Mary Hudson. Their children are Cherie Bobbeth Smith born 19b1 and Calvin Neal Smith born 1953. 5. Goldie Laverne Smith was born April 1, 1940, at Boise, Ada County, Idaho. Goldie married Lawrence Eldon Gray on May 27, 1956, at Meridian, Idaho. Lawrence was born Jan.20,1936, at Boise, Idaho. Their children were Tammy Jo Gray born 1958 and Robin Michille Gray born 1960. by Linda L. Ljunggren Brandt SMITH, ASBURY F656 Asbury Smith was born in Ohio. Moving through Wisconsin and Illinois to settle northeast of Tobias, Atlanta Precinct, Saline County, Nebraska, in June 1884. Asburv Smith died Sept. 30, 1899, at the age of ?b years, 9 months, and 15 days and is buried at the Atlanta Cemetery, N.E. of Tobias, Nebraska. On the 1850 U.S. Census Asberrv Smith is living in Benton township, Hocking County, Ohio. Descendants say Asbury was a farmer and preacher. On his gravestone we find "Rev. A. Smith". Asbury Smith was converted at 18 years of age and was a member of the United Brethren church when he died. Asbury Smith's first wife was Rosanna Thompson (Rose Ann) who was born in Ohio. Their children were Nathaniel. William. Joseph, Mary, and Margaret. Asbury Smith's second wife was Hannah Jerussa Truesdale who was born Mav L834. in Pennsylvania. Their children were Salmon Peter Chase Smith, James Attaberry Smith, Albert M. Smith and maybe a daughter Aburn Smith. After Asbury's death Hannah lived with her son, Salmon Smith, moving to near Stratton, Colorado, with her son's familv between 1907 and 1910. Hannah J. (Trues- dale) Smith's parents were born in New Jersey according to the 188b Nebraska State Census. Hannah died January 2g, Lgt2, at Vona, Colorado, and is buried at Stratton. Kit Carson Co., Colorado. 1. Nathaniel H. Smith born about 1845 in Ohio is listed on the 1850 U.S. Census with Asberry Smith at the age of 5 years. I assume he died at an early age. 2. William R. P. Smith born Januarv 22. 1848, in Ohio. 3. Joseph A. Smith "Joe" born July 20, 1850, in Ohio. 4. Mary E. Smith "Molly" born about 1854 probably in Ohio. 5. Margaret Flora Smith "Flora" was born August 28, 1856, in Hocking county, Ohio. Margaret died April 10, 1926, at Friend, Nebraska, and is buried at Exeter. Saline County, Nebraska. Margaret married Samuel Trimmer October 9, 18g5, near Tobias, Saline County, Nebraska, by Rev. John Thornburg. Samuel was born about 1853 in Illinois and died about 1918. In 1885 Margaret was living with her brothers William and Joseph. In 1899 she was living at Seneca, Kansas, moving back to Western and Friend, Saline County, Nebraska. Her obituary lists her his son-in-law, the work gets done and there's still time for fishing. At the writing of this paper, Mom and Dad are headed for Alaska to fish for a couple of months. Catch a big one for me! Love you Mom and Dad! by Renee Loutzenhiser SMITH, ALBERT JOSEPH F656 Albert Joseph Smith, son of Salmon Peter Chase Smith and Laura Alice Cook, was born Oct.24, 1894, at Tobias, Nebraska. He came with his parents to Stratton, Colorado between 1907 and 1910. Only July L5, 1914, at Burlington, Colorado he married Gladys Delight Underwood, daughter of William and Mary Underwood. Gladys was born Oct. lb, 1896, at Norcater, Kansas. Gladys now lives at Medirian, Idaho. Albert died June 7, lgb6, and is buried at Meridian, Ada Co., Idaho. They had five children: 1. Laura Mary Smith was born May 14, 1915, in Stratton, Colorado. Laura first married George Richard Payne Jan. 1, 1932, Left to right: Samuel P.C. Smith, Ernest F. Smith, Laura A. (Cook) Smith, Eugene H. Smith, Albert J. Smith, Len Smith, Grace B. (Smith) Underwood, and Hannah J. (Truesdale) Smith. �children as Ira Trimmer of Friend, Nebraska; Enos Trimmer of Regina, Sask, Canada; and Mrs. Harvery Mather of Imperial, Nebraska. 6. James Attaberry Smith born March 10, 18?0, at Illinois and died July 31, 1941. James is buried at Luther, Oklahoma. On Nov. 22, 1892, James married Anna Kassebaum' daughter of William Kassebaum and Katie Crowl. Anna was born 1869 in Illinois and died 1935. Their children were Rev. William Asbury Smith, Mrs. Harold (Mildred M. Smith) Beleele, Charles A. Smith, Clarence A. Smith, Verne L. Smith, Glen Smith, Daisy Smith, Rollie Raymond Smith, and Mrs. Shadrick William (Lucy Lorene Smith) Vails. 7. Albert M. Smith born about L872 in Illinois. Albert married Anna Clark, daughter of William J. Clark, May 29, 1898, near Tobias, Saline County, Nebraska. They lived in DeWitt, Nebraska for a number of years. In 1926 Albert was living in California. In 1941 Albert was living at Lakeside, California. 8. Salmon Peter Chase Smith "Samuel" born Feb. 15, 1865, in Wisconsin. Salmon married Laura Alice Cook. 9. Aburn Smith is listed on the 1885 Saline County, Nebraska School Census as the daughter of Asbury Smith. She is six years of age. Next to Asbury Smith's gravestone is a small stone marked A.S. This may be Aburn's gravestone? by Linda L. Ljunggren fought in WW I in France and was wounded on Sept. 1, 1918. On Feb. 25, 1925, at Mankato, Jewell County, Kansas, Len married Viola Almeda Brown, daughter of Nelson Houston Brown and Clara Hannah Hoyt. Viola was born Nov. 13, 1902, in Clay Center, Clay Co., Nebraska, and is now living at Fullerton, Nebraska. After their marriage they lived a short time near Vona, Colorado where their first child was born. Moving back to Clay County, Nebraska where they lived for several years. Len was a farmer. They F657 Asbury Lindley Smith, son of Salmon Peter Chase Smith and Laura Alice Cook, was born August22,1896, near Tobias, Saline County, Nebraska. He was named after his two grandfathers. His nickname was Barry. He changed his nnme to Len Smith. Len Nebr. Their children were Tracy Ray Holmstedt, Gena Lee Holmstedt, and Edwin Lee Holmstedt. They live on a farm north of Genoa, Nebraska. 8. Orville Leroy Smith born April 23,L946, at Aurora, Hamilton Co., Nebraska. Orville was in the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam where he was wounded. Orville married Kathleen Kay Hopkins on July 5, 1969, at Grand Island, Nebr. Their children were Jimmy LaVern Smith and SherryAnn Smith. by Linda L. Ljunggren Brandt lived a few years in Hamilton County, Nebraska before moving to a farm north of Genoa, Nebraska. Upon retiring Len built a house for them in Fullerton, Nebraska. Len died April 4, 1978, at Fullerton and is buried at Fullerton cemetery. Their children are: SMITH, MR. AND MRS. E. R. F658 1. Bertha Mae Smith born January 25, 1926, at Vona, Colorado. Bertha graduated in 1944 from the Edgar H.S. in Clay County, Nebraska. Bertha married Lloyd Dean lJunggren, son of Rudolf Emil Ljunggren and Ida Marie Bieck, on January 15, L92L, at Mankoto, Kansas. Lloyd was born Jan. 15, L921, at rural Harvard, Hamilton Co., Nebraska. They live about 9 miles south of Aurora, Hamilton County, Nebraska. Their children are Louise Kay Ljunggren, Linda Lee Ljunggren, Rogene Mae Ljunggren, Roger Gene Ljunggren, Dale Lavern Ljunggren, Carol Ann Ljunggren, Connie U.S. Navy. He married first Ava May Woodward on Aug. 9, 1946, at Mankato, Kansas. Their children were Joann Marie Smith and Melvin Earl Smith, Jr. Melvin married second Mrs. Fern James on May 15, L97L, at Fremont, Nebraska. 3. Claire Lavern Smith born May 29,7929, at Fairfield, Nebr. Claire was in the U.S. Army. He married Sheryle Lee McCoig on June 19, 1955, at Fullerton, Nebraska. Sheryle was born Nov. 7, 1935, at Silver Creek, Nebraska. They had one child Wayne Lavern Smith. They live at Fullerton, Nebraska. 4. Shirley Louise Smith born October 31, 1931, at Fairfield, Nebraska. She married Donald Iven Ljunggren, son of Rudolf Emil Ljunggren and Ida Marie Bieck, on May 20, L947, at Mankato, Kansas. Donald was born June 23, \924, at rural Harvard, Hamilton Co., Nebraska. Their children are Gary LeRoy Ljunggren, Danny Rae Ljunggren, Alan Dale Ljunggren, Gale Lynn Ljunggren, Shirlette Yvonne Ljunggren, and Sherrie Christeen Ljunggren. They live at Dell Smith joined the Asbury Lindley Smith - Len He was wounded in U.S. Army during W.W.I. France in 1918. 1958, at Central Oity, Merrick Uo., Nebraska. William was born Nov. 17, 1930, at Fullerton, Jean Ljunggren, Larry Dean Ljunggren, and Joyce Ann Ljunggren. 2. Melvin Earl Smith born Feb. 15, L927, at Fairfield, Clay Co., Nebr. Melvin was in the SMITH, ASBURY LINDLEY Smith came to live near Stratton, Colorado between 1907 and 1910 with his parents. His mother died when he was 17 years ofage. Len Smith joined the U.S. Army in 1917. He Rapids, South Dakota. 5. Irvin Lee Smith born January 14, 1933, at Fairfield, Clay County, Nebraska. Irvin was in the U.S. Air Force. 6. Ivan Dean Smith born Sept. 25,L934, at Clay Center, Clay County, Nebraska. Ivan was in the U.S. Army. Ivan married Norma Arlene Sharman on August 31, 1957, at North Star, Nebraska. Their children are Lonnie Len Smith, Lynette Jo Smith, Rhonda Rae Smith, and Wanda Kay Smith. 7. Norene Marie Smith born Sept. 4, 1936, at CIay Center, Nebraska. She married William Alexander Holmstedt on Feb. 19, E. Rowland and Myrtle D. Smith on their Golden Wedding Day, Nov. 12, 1952. E. Rowland Smith & Myrtle J. Schlegel were married 12 Nov. 1902 in Omaha, NE. They immediately took the train to the Sand Hills of Cherry Co, NE where he was to settle the estate of his brother Clarence. Later they returned to Omaha where he was a contractor and home builder. Here 4 children were born to them: Theodore, Harold, Esther and Ida. Esther passed away in Nov. 1909 from whooping cough and pneumonia. In May 1910 they went back to a cattle & horse ranch in the Sand Hills 12 miles northeast of Whitman where they built and lived in a sod house for 10 years. Here Glenn, the last child was born. There were no schools or churches for many miles so with a growing family it was necessary to have a school. In the meantime Sunday School was held in their home to which some neighbors occasionally came. My father was instrumental in getting a sod school house built about a mile from our house and we kids walked to school in all kinds of weather, always watching out for rattlesnakes. My brother Harold had a great imagination and kept us entertained with his stories as we walked. Mv father also succee- �ded in persuading business people to help in getting school books and desks, also coal for the heater in the middle of the room. The teachers boarded at our house and walked to school as we did. My mother was a gentle, soft spoken lady but was brave and a hard worker. She was born and raised in the city so country living was entirely new to her. Her blind father lived with us most of the time. He always turned the old wooden wash machine and churned the butter to help Mamma. She had to cook and wash for all of us besides the teacher and one or more hired men, so was a busy person. We didn't have corncobs so we burned cow chips which Grandpa picked up, tied by a long rope with one end fastened to him and the other to a yard fence post, pulling an old wash tub along to hold the chips. Grandpa Smith stayed with us part of the time. He was crippled from having tangled with an angry cow in his younger days. We lived about 12 miles east of a group of lakes where my father put up hay every summer. He had a complete haying outfit and raised lots of horses so with a haying crew he made a good living during summers. We had many meals of delicious roast wild duck shot around these lakes. We also caught frogs in the creek near the house and enjoyed the fried frog legs. Mamma's mother came to visit us one summer and while there suffered a stroke. Her right side was paralized and she couldn't talk. She remained in this condition the rest of her life. During 1919 my father sold his land and cattle and moved the family to Colorado for Less Collins had built around 1918. and lived there until my father passed away in July 1961 and Mamma in May 1962. He lost his eyesight in Nov. 1953. They had no electricity or water in the house until they moved to town. My parents were always devoted Christians and took great pleasure in starting Sunday Schools in various school houses, also supporting the preachers who came from town to preach on occasions. After moving to town they faithfully attended the E.U.B. Church which is now the United Methodist Church. My father taught Sunday School class many years, even after he was blind, sang in the choir, was Lay Leader and Annual Conference Delegate several times. Mamma was a worker in Missionary Society and Ladies Aid, holding offices in both. She was also Financial Secretary for the Church several years. My brother Theodore passed away in 1975 leaving his wife Laura, five children, nine grandchildren and two great grandsons. Glenn and wife, Lylas live in South Dakota and Texas, have 2 children, 7 grandchildren and one great grandson. I married Edmund Boecker and we have one son Dale and wife Vicky. He is in the Air Force, stationed now in Abilene, Texas. We still live in Stratton. by Ida Boecker SMITH, J. OSCAR high school facilities. We had 2 covered wagons, the old Buick car, and 100 head of horses in our cavalcade. My brother, Theodore, a cousin, and the last school teacher F659 drove the horses, and my father would drive ahead every day in the car to find a place to Grandma and my brother Harold. During Ellen Smith, from Yale, Oklahoma. Proving up on a homestead about 15 miles north of Bovina occupied the Smith family through the years with education for the four children a major goal despite sacrifices entailed. Very active in 4-H, Oscar received many honors and several trips to state fair and Chicago's International culminating in receiving a Union Pacific Railroad scholarship, making college realistic. When he chose Colorado A. and M. after graduation from Arriba High in 1926, he fully intended to become a "county agent". Dorothy, born near Union, Nebraska, at the historic family home of her father's parents 6 miles from the Missouri's banks, moved at age 7 with her parents, Carl and Blanche Cross, to a large farm 13 miles north ofArriba where she attended country schools, completing high school at Arriba in 1929. Determined to use a joint honor scholarship received at graduation to study home economics because it seemed those offering would always be useful, she enrolled at Colorado A and M, too. Destiny permitted only one year in college together. Awareness of one another stemmed from local church activities and led to a five year courtship, culminating in marriage in October, 1932, just as the country was entering the FDR era. Oscar was teaching a country school in northern Lincoln County, picking up pupils on the way at the magnificent salary of $125 per month. Oscar's teaching, living on a farm, gathering a herd of cattle, some hogs, much poultry and gardening, plus being very involved in community life made for a busy lifestyle. Under the aegis of Dr. John Unger, Oscar, with 1500 acres under his farming direction, four children, and a full time teaching job, was regarded as more essential at home. In July, 1944, at a time when farming was a dubiously fragile endeavor due to rust and hail, men teachers were almost non-existent and family needs were escalating rapidly, Oscar and Dorothy were asked to assume positions in Arribas school system. Looming was the prospect of years of high school at a distance of 20 plus miles. For the next six years, mathematics and shop and the The next years were busy with some farming, raising cattle, and accumulating more land. We lived through the dust storms and the Depression when some of the cattle sold for $12 a head. All 3 ofus graduated from High School at First Central and went to college. They bought a house in Stratton which In 1910 at age one Oscar ca-e to Colorado with his parents, Robert Bevly and Minnie experiences with sickness and school days. Suddenly the United States was plunged into war and rationing of every type! Each night the kitchen became a tire shop to keep Oscar on the road to school. Men began to leave to serve the various armed forces: but, these years, my father would butcher cattle and sell the beef to Dack's Meat Market in Stratton for 9 cents a pound and take out half of it in groceries. largest real estate transaction consumated in recent years was completed when E.R. Smith sold his entire holdings comprising 6,880 A. of deeded land and 3000 A. of leased land to a syndicate of eastern investors." time. superintendent of Hugo Public Schools, Oscar's teaching skills were honed. The four blessed children arrived in 1933, '36, '38 and '40, respectively, adding the usual family spend the night where there was feed and corrals to accommodate the horses. It took 24 days for the trip, approximately 270 miles, including a 10 day stop-over near Wray, CO, during and after ablizzard.. He bought a half section of land 18 miles south of Stratton on the county line and built a sod house there which we moved into in March 1922. Both Grandpas came to Colorado to live with us and both passed away in the 20's, as did During the late 30's my father went into the sheep business so needed lots ofpasture land. He bought many acres and leased other land and ran a herd of 1000 sheep. During World War I[ it became too hard to find men to work on the ranch so he sold sheep, cattle, and land and moved to Stratton in 1944. According to The Burlington Record of Jan. 6, 1944: "The school, and the younger boys in upper elementary, making that decision established the family in the Stratton community to this Dorothy and J. Oscar Smith, 1973. John Oscar and Dorothy Smith and four children, Gordon Cross, Margaret Jean, John Robert, and Richard Carl, came to Kit Carson County from Arriba in Lincoln County in June, 1950, because Stratton Public School, then involved in consolidation processes, insisted that Oscar and Dorothy establish two new school programs: shop and home economics. Emotional because Gordon was a senior at Arriba High, Jean entering high English programs were the couple's "jobs". This choice led to a lifetime of championing the interests of young people and promoting their educations. Then came the Stratton move! With cooperation and help from the four children, Oscar and Dorothy met the demands of organizing and teaching in their respective departments and kept up with the children's activities. In addition to shop, Oscar taught math and Dorothy handled an added subject, usually advanced English or Spanish. During the ensuing years Oscar became principal and later superintendent of Stratton Public �Schools, a position he held for 17 years. Under his direction the initial portion of the current high school facility was conceived and built. He was highly instrumental in establishing the BOCES cooperative throughout the area schools. Because his master's studies were in guidance and counseling as well as school administration, he became alert to the educational needs of those having developmental disabilities. His caring and insistence brought about establishment of the East Central Colorado Regional Board for Developmental Disabilities, lnc. and the organization of the school in Burlington which serves a four county area. He was also an original officer of the mental health organization and the Centennial Mental Health Center. When the high school was designed, the help of home economics professionals was used in designing that department which became a model within small schools of Colorado. Dorothy rose to meet the challenge of having this facility and was successful in motivating her students in ways that led them to many honors and outstanding accomplishments. Stratton Chapter of Future Homemakers of America had four state officers during those years. She sponsored the classes of'54,'58,'62 and'71, and now enjoys homecoming reunions greatly. Supervising home economics student teacher sent by CSU. Fort Collins, and UNC, Greeley, became annual experiences. In addition to her classroom duties, Dorothy was school librarian many years. With assistance from able student volunteers, she organized the original elementary school library. These varied activities for both Oscar and Dorothy led to a constant process of continuing education. Summer school was an almost every year occurrence for one or both. Usually the choice was CSU in Fort Collins, but on occasion it was University of Denver for drivers education under auspices of AAA for Oscar and library science for Dorothy, or University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, for some other concentration. Seeing both parents receive simultaneous masters degrees in August, 1959. ceremonies at CSU remains a family highlight. Each Smith young person chose college. Gordon graduated in 1955 from CSU with a general science background and later re- ceived his masters from the University of West Virginia, Morgantown. A viral disease biologist with the U.S. Department of Public Health with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and Fort Collins, he and wife Elly live in Loveland. They have two grown sons. Jean completed her home economics education at CSU after her marriage to Max Mason. They have three sons and three daughters. Jean is a home economics teacher at Hi-Plains High, Seibert, and Max was a custom farmer. Max's death in 1981 brought much sadness following his long bout with cancer. Robert chose Colorado School of Mines, Golden with petroleum engineering as his emphases, joining Shell Oil Company upon graduation in 1960. Now in upper echelons of drilling management, he and wife Judy, daughter of Tom and Gladys Conarty, Stratton, live in Spring, Texas, a Houston suburb. They have a son and two daughters. Richard also chose Colorado School of Mines and petroleum engineering. Following her graduation from St. Lukes School of Nursing, in Denver, Richard and Margene, daughter of Marge and Ugene Brown, Stratton, married; they have four daughters and a son. Currently, they live in Hobbs, N.M. where Richard SMITH, L. D. (BUNT) F661 manages drilling operations for Chevron Oil Company. When they retired from guiding young people, Oscar in 1974 and Dorothy in 1975, the Smiths had accumulated 73 years in careers they sincerely loved, with most of those years spent in Kit Carson County. Retirement gave Oscar opportunity to become a farmer once again, to play more golf, become more active in Masonic Lodge, to carpenter by remodeling the Stratton home and the Lincoln County farmhouse, to travel, to attend church, mental health and East Central school meetings, and to garden, one of his favorite hobbies. The sixteen grandchildren have had to rise to the challenges of having parents whose professions demanded their cooperation and involved frequent moves about the USA and in Richard's instance to Kuwait on the Persian Gulf and Singapore. Attending baptisms, birthday celebrations, high school and college graduations, weddings, and holiday celebrations as well as greeting the arrival of great-grandchildren have made a family network that all enjoy and treasure. The October, 1982, golden wedding observance for Oscar and Dorothy found the total family hosting the affair at home base in Stratton. Involvement in Stratton civic and United Methodist Church activities, being a committee member of Kit Carson County Carousel Association since the 1975 restoration beginnings, directing with others the relocation and restoration of Stratton Public Library are a few ofthe activities Dorothy has chosen to engage her energies since Oscar's sudden death April 4, 1983. As co-chairman, she found evolvement of this book, the Kit Carson County Centennial History, the 198588 focus of many, many hours on countless days. by Dorothy C. Smith SMITII, JOSEPH A.F660 Joseph A. Smith "Joe", son of Asbury Smith and Rose Ann Thompson, was born July 20, 1850, in Ohio. On the 1850 U.S. Census Joseph was one month old and was living with his parents in Benton twp., Hocking county, Ohio. In 1885 Joseph was living with his brother, William R.P. Smith and sister, Margaret F. Smith, in Saline county, Nebraska, and in 1899 Joseph was Iiving at Claremont, Colorado. About 1910 Joseph married Mary Murray. Mary was born about 1870 in Illinois. On the 1910 U.S. Census Joseph and Mary are living in Kit Carson County, and Joseph is a Post Master. Joseph lived his last eight years in Chicago, Illinois. Joseph died March 31, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois, and is buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. by Linda Lee Ljunggren Brandt L.D. (Bunt) Smith, taken at his home north east of Vona in the late '60's. L.D. (Bunt) Smith was born in Hutton Valley, Missouri in 1887. He was five years old when his father married for a second time and the kids were placed in other homes. He went to live with a cousin's family and lived with the Marion Hines family until he came to Colorado with N.O. Gulley and Oscar Paine in 1909. His homestead was in the sandhills north of Stratton and he lived there into the 1970's. Oscar Paine and his mother, Mary, were Bunt's closest neighbors and friends. Bunt always said that Mary Paine was the only mother he ever had. Bunt loved to tell stories and one of his favorites was about Oscar Paine. One evening Bunt was visiting at the Paine home and he and Oscar were sitting by the stove discussing a fight that Oscar was having with a neighbor over their land that was to be resurveyed. The neighbor had threatened to shoot Oscar. Oscar's mother had set a bucket of honey that had sugared on the stove to dissolve. She had left the lid on and it got too hot, so the lid blew off with a bang. Oscar was sure that he had been shot and jumped back, upset his chair and fell to the floor. Bunt loved to tease him and never let him forget it. After a few years in Colorado, Bunt married a widow lady, Ada Glen. They enlarged Bunt's little house by adding a little room on the south. With it's south windows, it made a nice living and dining room. Ada kept the little house very neat and clean with white curtains and tablecloth. In this very tiny bedroom, I remember a huge feather bed, with a white bedspread, that filled up most of the room. Ada always wore a white apron covered with embroidery. They milked a large herd of cows and the yard was covered with poultry: chicken, ducks, geese and turkeys. Bunt had seldom gone out in crowds �Delore, but Ada loved to dance and Bunt found himself going to dances and other Co., Nebr. Their children were Mrs. Samuel Alexander (Cora Madge Cook) Lofquist, events. I first remember Bunt and Ada together at a Christmas dinner at my Grandma Paine's house. He ceme ahead of Ada saying that she had sent him over to help with dinner until she got there. In 1939, Ada passed away of a heart attack and after three years Buntwas married again. Bunt's second wife, Bettie Taylor, was born in Holden, Missouri in 1895 and received her education in Missouri. She taught school for four years at Kirk and also for four years at the Kechter school and also taught at the Boger School. Bettie was an outdoor person who loved horses, ice skating and swimming. She also enjoyed collecting dolls and making clothes for them and the dolls of the little girls she knew. Although they had no children of their own, Bettie and Bunt enjoyed kids and liked having them visit. Bettie liked to show them how to do things like crocheting and playing music. One of the outbuildings contained many books, games, and musical Havila Vide Cook, Mrs. Salmon Peter Chase (Laura Alice cook) Smith, Mrs. Robert Davidson (Minnie Bell) Renie. and Jesse Willis Cook. by Linda L. Ljunggren Brandt SMITH, M.T. FAMILY F663 "1.."::..r rtndf ._ .* toys. Bettie and Bunt worked hard all of their lives and were always ready to help anyone that needed it. They lived a simple life on the farm without electricity or an indoor bathroom and Bettie cooked delicious meals on her wood-burning cook stove. Bunt continued to do much of his work with his team of Buckskins, Judy and Star. In later years, we kept his horses during the winters and enjoyed watching him come with his team and wagon with the others, Silver and Flicka following behind. In 1959, they bought a home in Yuma and spent their winters there, but Bunt was always eager to get back to the farm in the spring. Over the years we shared many holidays and visits with them and always enjoyed their friendship. Bettie passed away in May of L974 and Bunt in September of the same year. by Opal Boger SMITH, LAURA ALICE COOK F662 Laura Alice Cook, daughter of Lindley N. Cook and Mary James, was born Feb. 8, 18?6, in Missouri. Laura married Salomon Peter Chase Smith in 1893, in Saline County, Nebraska. They came to live near Stratton, Colorado, between 190? and 1910. Lauta died on June 2,tgL}, at the age of37 and is buried at Stratton, Colorado. Laura's grandfather, Daniel Janres, was born 1806 in North Carolina. Daniel married Eve Fifer on March L5, L832, in Jennings County, Indiana. At the time of their marriage they were both living in Geneva Twp. About 1850 they moved to Folker Twp., Clark Co., Missouri. Daniel died in 1862 and Eve in L872, and. they are both buried at Bethleham Baptist Church Cemetery, rural Luray, Mo. Their children were Samuel James, Mrs. William Lewis (Maranda M. James) Spencer, Amos James, Allen James. Solomon James, John James, Mrs. Lindley N. (Mary James) Cook, Willis James, and Mrs. Franklin S. (Eliza Jane James) Cook. The Cook ancestors were Quakers, starting \ Laura Alice (Cook) Smith. with Peter Cook and Elinor Norman who came to the U.S. in 1713 from England. Peter Cook died enroute to the U.S. and his familv settled in Pennsylvania. Isaac Cook, son of Peter Cook and Elinor Norman, was born L702 in England. Isaac married Mary Houghton, daughter of John Houghton and Ann Gregg. Isaac moved his family to Craven County, S.C. Eli Cook, son of Isaac Cook and Elinor Norman, was born L74l in Pennsylvania. Eli married Martha Hawkins, daughter of James Hawkins and Martha Hollowell. t772 in S.C. Eli moved his family to Preble County, Ohio where he died. Eli Cook, son of Eli Cook and Martha Hawkins, was born L794 in S.C. Eli married Elizabeth Denney, daughter of Lazarus and Susanna Denney, in 1881, in Ohio. In 1836, Eli moved his family to Salem Twp., Henry County, Iowa, where Eli and Elizabeth both died in 1874. Joel Cook, son of Eli Cook and Elizabeth Denney, was born L822 in Preble County, Ohio. Joel married Charlotte Thornburg, daughter of Jacob Thornburg and Rachel Hammer, t842, in Henry County, Iowa. In 1864, Joel Cook moved to Folker Twp., Clark County, Missouri, where Joel died in 1878, and is buried at the Bethlehem Baptist Church cemetery, near Luray, Mo. Charlotte died 1908 in Lee Co., Iowa, and is buried at Keokuk, Iowa. Their children were Mrs. Hugh (Martha C. Cook) McClellan, Lindley N. Cook, Mary Jane Cook, Franklin S. Cook, Mrs. John Perry (Aldora Cook) Clifford, and Mrs. George (Adda Cook) Banghart. Lindley N. Cook, son of Jel Cook and Charlotte Thornburg, was born 1845 in Salem, Henry Co., Iowa. In 1870, Lindley married Mary James. Mary was born Jan. 31, 1849, in Indiana. They moved to Kansas sometime before 1882. Mary died in 188? at Fort Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas. After Mary's death, Lindley moved the family to Western, Saline Co., Nebr. in the Fall of 1892. In 1895, Lindley moved to Spring Ranch Twp., Clay County, Nebraska, where he died in 1924. Lindley is buried at Fairfield, Clay Moses Thomas Smith came to Colorado from Wyoming, Iowa to homestead. He "proved up" on his homestead and then wrote for other members of his family to come as they became of age. His wife EIla Collins Smith had remained in Iowa with the children who were still in school and came later after they had graduated from high school. His daughters, Maye and Elva came first, taking homesteads. Later, Amy, Myron, and Ed came, also "proving up" on homesteads. One daughter, Dora remained in Iowa and married there. Elva's homestead wasn't far from her father's. She carried her water from his place and also from Walter Clarks, a close neighbor. She also carried the mail by horseback and sometimes with horse and buggy from one small post office to another. I remember her telling that one morning she had been to get water and then went to carry the mail. When she returned, her water pail was empty. Later she heard that some Indians had been seen going through the country and they evidently had stopped at her little house and helped themselves to her provisions. Elva also taught school in Kit Carson County. At that time qualifications for teaching weren't very high as at one time there were only three teachers in the Burlington community with high school educations. They were Nellie Grabb, Nellie Miser, and Elva Smith. The other teachers had not graduated from high school. Elva went beyond high school having attended a Teach- ers' Normal Institute in Davenport, Iowa. She also attended Teachers' College in Greeley, CO. when the campus consisted of one building. One of the schools Elva taught was the Bauder School northwest of Burlington and boarded at the Spring Valley Ranch with the Henry Goebel family. Another school she taught was the Cook School. She also taught in District 38 before the school was named "Happy Hollow". (The name Happy Hollow was started by a teacher named Edna Swanson). Elva married Ed Bartman in 1913, who also had a homestead a short distance away. The story of their live has been submitted by their oldest daughter, Louise Wagner. Maye Smith was a seamstress and did sewing for other homesteaders. She married H.B. Morgan, who was a carpenter and later became a rural mail carrier on a route south of Burlington for a good many years. He was the first mail carrier out of Burlington. Amy Smith married Ellis Clark who had a homestead near by. Together they started the country store and post office at Morris which was located about 16 miles north of BurIington, one east and two back north. Myron Smith homesteaded about 11 miles north of Burlington. Myron answered the call to serve his country in the army during World �War I. He was stationed in France. When he heard that he had a new niece born into the Bartman family, he wrote requesting the baby be named Jeanette after a girl he had met over there. That baby was already named Edna by the time his letter arrived. He later married Ruth Bowman of Goodland, KS. They had two children - a son, Kenneth, and finally a baby daughter who they named Jeanette - now Jeanette Smith Stahlecker. Ed O.K. Smith homesteaded about 15 miles north of Burlington. He married Grace Smith a school teacher. They later moved to Burlington where he carried mail on route 3 northwest of Burlington. His slogan was "the mail must got through." Sometimes when stuck in impassible roads, he'd take the mail sack and walk to the next farm to deliver the mail. The mother, Mrs. Smith passed away at the homestead in t922. Here is a little ditty I can remember Grandpa Smith singing about homestead days. (I thing the tune was "Irish Washer Woman") How happy I feel when I crawl into bed, The rattlesnakes rattle all over my head. The dear little centipede, point of all fear, Crawls over my pillow and into my ear. Hurrah for Kit Carson (county), the home of the free The home- of the coyote, the bed bug, and flea. moved to Colorado with them. Samuel was a farmer. Samuel died Dec. 16, 1928, in Colorado and is buried at Stratton, Colorado. Samuel and Laura had six children: 1. Albert Joseph Smith born Oct.24, t894, at Tobias, Nebraska. 2. Asbury Lindley Smith (changed his name to Len Smith) born Aug. 22, L896, at Tobias, Saline Co., Nebraska. 3. Grace Bell Smith born May 28, 1898, at Tobias. Nebraska. 4. Ernest Theodore Smith born Dec. 18, 1900, at Tobias, Nebraska. Ernest married Mrs. Opal (Endicott) Hailey, daughter of Andy Endicott, on April 29, 1953. Ernest died Nov. 2, 1964, and is buried at Meridian, Ada co., Idaho. They had no children. 5. Un-named baby daughter born July 1, 1905, at Glenville, Clay County, Nebraska. 6. Eugene Harris Smith born March 1, 1907, at Glenville, Clay County, Nebraska. Eugene married Nettie Carpinter onDec.24, 1942, at Vancover, Washington. Nettie was born Oct. 11, 1910, at Gooding, Idaho. No children. Eugene now lives at Ontario, Oregon. by Linda L. Ljunggren SMITH, WILLIAM R. P. F665 We'll sing of its praises, we'll sing of its fame As we work together on our "Government claim." by Edna Bartman Stahlecker SMITH, SALMON PETER CHASE F664 William R.P. Smith, son of Asbury Smith and Rose Ann Thompson, was born January 27, 1848, in Ohio. On the 1850 U.S. Census William is 2 years old living in Benton twp., Hocking County, Ohio with his parents. In 1885 William is listed on the Nebraska State Census in Saline County, Nebraska. At the time of his father's death, Sept. 1899, William was living at Claremont, Colorado. William never married. He was a farmer. William died November 7. 1909 and is buried at Claremont cemetery, Stratton, Colorado. by Linda Lee Ljunggren Brandt SNYDER, LYLE AND PEARL F666 The Oasis Cafe and Service Station in Vona. Photo courtesy of Myrtle Anderson. The two men are Tom Burian and Maynard Edmunds. I, Pearl Marie (Hoffner) Snyder, was born in Pratt, Kansas, and my husband, John Lyle Snyder, was also born in Pratt. I graduated from Pratt high school in t924, and Lyle graduated from the same high school in the class of 1928. We were married in Pratt at the First Baptist Church, on the 12th day of November, 1934. The Reverend B.E. Mills performed the ceremony. From here, we moved to Kirk, Colorado and Iived on a farm until around 1955, when we moved into Vona. Here we took over the Oasis Cafe. The Oasis Cafe sat by the side of the road at Vona, and was a place for friends to meet and visit and make friends. It was a stopping place for people that got stuck in snow storms and floods. On one occasion we had a very bad snow storm, and had 17 trucks stranded all night, each truck had 2 men,34 men in all, and some people in cars. We called our help in, but they couldn't get there even by tractor. One of our help came in though she had to walk, that was Wanda Miller. We had several snow storms that stopped the traffic. The Oasis stayed open when needed to be. I recall one evening, when it rained so long and hard the road was closed west of Vona. Cars could not get through. One car washed over in a ditch. The cafe was crowded with people going to ball games. About 9:00 P.M. the roads were opened to go south of Vona, to another road going east and west. We had a lot of enjoyment by having banquets and special dinners for the school and community. We had several times when people would come in hungry and have no money to pay, but they got food and were thankful for it. One time, a man came in hungry, but had no money. He was a stranger going to Flagler to get work, so we gave him his meal, and a farmer came in and understood his condition. and said he would take him to Flagler and give him a job. The stranger took the job and worked all summer for the farmer. The farmer was Frances McCaffery. Frances S"muel P.C. Smith had been rabbit hunting. Salmon Peter Chase Smith, son of Asbury Smith and Hannah Jerussa Truesdale, was born Feb. 15, 1865, in Wisconsin. (Nickname would work late and on his way home would stop and eat at the Oasis. He would help several men get on their way by giving them Samuel). Moving through Illinois Samuel came to Atlanta precinct, N.E. of Tobias, Saline County, Nebraska, in June 1884 with money and paying for their lodging in Stratton. his parents. Near Tobias, Nebraska, on June 18, 1893, Samuel married Laura Alice Cook. daughter of Lindsey N. Cook and Mary James. In 1905 and 1907 Samuel was living near Glenville, Clay County, Nebraska. On the 1910 U.S. census Samuel was living in Precinct Six, Stratton, Kit Carson County, Colorado. After the death of Samuel's father his mother lived with Samuel's family and Pearl and Lyle Snyder's 52nd Wedding Anniversa- ry, Nov. 12, 1986 at Grace Manor Care Center. One very cold night four dark men came in hungry and cold. The cafe was full but they came in and asked if they could eat and move the table over to the furnace so their feet would get warm. We tried to accommodate all our customers by making them as comfortable as possible regardless of whether they were local or from a visiting town or their �creed or color. Another time a young man came in without a coat and his shoes weren't very good, there was a window broke out ofhis car, and he was cold. He was going to Kansas after his wife. He had no money and only wanted coffee. Maynard Edmunds gave him some money to eat with and we wrapped his feet in an old plastic table cloth and gave him a sweater. Harvest was always a very busy time and it usually lasted 2 to 3 weeks. Joe Doughty, the manager ofthe grain elevator entertained 29 Elevator mErnagers to a T-bone steak dinner once. We had several bus loads of school students from other states, who would call ahead and make reservations for hamburgers and ice cream. The train crews always tried to make their dinner stop at the Oasis if possible. We made doughnuts and long Johns, for which truck drivers would give us orders a week in advance for a dozen to take home. We had customers from neighboring towns come to order our doughnuts and Long Johns. Then, coffee was 100, pie 15 0, we served 2 piece chicken lunch for $1.00, 4 pieces for $2.00, and a childs plate for 250, and hamburgers for 250. That was back in the good old days. Our waitress' did their part in making the business a success by giving good service, and their friendliness made customers welcome. The sign on our door read "Through Our Doors, Walk The Finest People on Earth, Our Customers". Lyle ran the Oasis Service Station and also drove a school bus for years. We celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary at the Grace Manor Care Center in Burlington, on November 12, 1986, where Lyle is staying. I still reside in our home in Vona, Colorado. often for sing fests. The Doblers came to America in 1885. They had 16 children. Eight of their children died in infancy and the other eight survived to come to America. Grandpa was a carpenter by trade and built mostly wagons. They also farmed in Russia. In Russia they lived in villages. Their farm ground was further away and referred to as "on the stepp." They had to bring their machinery home every evening or it would be stolen by the Russians. They probablyonly had a plow and a harrow. There were no pastures close by so the villagers hired a herder for each type of livestock. Mother told us they would start out for the pasture and they would call out that the sheep herder or goose herder was leaving. The other villagers would turn out their stock and the herders would take them out to pasture for the day. Again in the evening as the herders would arrive back at the village with their herds, they would call out that they were back. The other villagers would take their own stock and lock it up for the night. If they did not lock everything up it would all be stolen through the night. The villagers hired Russian women to hoe their fields and gardens. When these women came to work they had their hoes over their shoulders and would come singing all the way. Grandma would cook a big pot of borsht or vegetable soup for them to eat. She would take the pot out in the yard and set it on the ground, give each woman a spoon and they would sit around the kettle and eat out of the pot. Mother was 11 years old when they ceme to America. She was the second youngest of the surviving 8 children. They were on the ship 14 days with several other families. Her mother was sick all the way and also most of the children. It must have been a chore to care for them all. by Janice Salmans When they came to America they could not speak English. They were hungry, very homesick and cried a lot. Their father was out STAHLECKER DOBLER FAMILY F667 of money. Another German farmer came along and gave them bread, cheese and sausage. He helped them to a hotel and helped them to the train. They moved to Scotland, So. Dakota. They moved into a small house. Everyone had to work except the Our forefathers immigrated from Germany to Russia in the late 1700's or the early 1800's. The Stahlecker grandparents came in 1873 when their oldest son was only 2 or 3 years old. They had 11 children. Great Grandma accompanied them. Great Grandpa had passed away already. Great Grandma lived to be 92 years old. She was blind, crippled, and bed fast. When she needed more care than Grandma would give her, they came to live with our family. We had more girls to help with her care. Great Grandma passed away at our house. After she died, Grandma went back to her own house again. Our father was born in Columbus, Nebraska in 1876. He was the fourth oldest child in their family. They moved to Scotland, So. Dakota. Most of the children were born in Trip, So. Dakota. They moved to Bethune, Colorado in 1893 and boughtthe farm 3/ mile north of the Lutheran Church from A.W. Adolfs father. There were two houses on the farm they bought. When other new settlers came to Colorado, they would move in the little house until they had their own homes established. This little house was occupied most of the time. Our Grandpa loved to sing and people would meet at their house quite youngest son. Grandpa and Mother worked 3 or 4 miles from the house and had to walk. One of Mother's chores was to twist straw in tight bundles to fire the Russian oven built of adobe. This oven was used to cook. bake and heat the house. It was fired up once a day and stayed warm through the day. Mother would get very homesick and would go to the straw stack, twist straw, cry for home and fteeze. She got Sunday off after chores until evening chores. She would run home and back so she could be home longer. Then she started working for another family who had 3 children. She did housework and babysat. She was confirmed there. Her mother passed away in 1889. She was sickly but it was mostly from being homesick for her family who were scattered all over and homesick for Russia. In 1890, they came to Colorado on the train to St. Francis, Kansas. From there they loaded everything in the wagon and came to the "settlement" north of Bethune, Co. Grandpa Dobler homesteaded the 7+ of land where Hope United Church is now. They built a dugout that had a dirt floor, very small windows and little else in it. Mother planted geraniums and said they bloomed nicer here than anvwhere else. They wanted to worship. so they gathered in Grandpa's house and he would read the sermon for the services there. Once in awhile, a minister would come and hold services for them. He would do the baptizing, marriages and any other services he could for them. In 1892 they built the rock church. Each member had a certain amount of rock to haul for the building of it for a donation. They got their own minister and named it Immanuel Lutheran Church. Here in America they had to work. Several of the men worked for some of the large ranches along the Republican River. Some of the girls went to Denver to work for the rich Jewish families. Mother worked for an elderly couple. To keep her busy she had to beat eggs for an hour with the fork (the only egg beater they had then). She used these well beaten eggs for cakes or noodles and other dishes also. Thursday afternoon was their time off. Some of the German girls would go shopping, mostly window shopping together. They enjoyed one certain streetcar. It went up a hill, a while mule was hitched to the streetcar to pull it up the hill. At the top of the hill, the mule was unhitched and put on the back of the streetcar to coast down the hill. At the bottom of the hill the mule was hitched up and the process repeated again. My folks were married on September 11, 1898. They had 11 children. They started their married life in Grandpa's little house. Dad was sick before their wedding day. That morning they had a blizzard. The minister came to the house and performed the marriage there. Dad's illness was typhoid fever. They were quarantined for 6 weeks. What a honeymoon! Dad worked for different places. He tried to farm. He quit this and started to work for the railroad. They lived in Burlington at this time. Here one sister, age 2Yz years old died of diphtheria. Dad also had this illness but he recovered. Mary was born here. Next they moved to the "Norman Meyer place." This is % mile south and 1 mile west of Immanual Lutheran Church. While they lived here, 5 of us children were born. I barely remember the sod house we lived in. The house, the buggy shed and the barn were all under one roof. It had a sod roof. When it rained the roof would leak. Pots and pans were all put out to catch the water. Mother would sprinkle the floor with water before she would sweep to help settle the dust. Saturday was the day to "mop" the floor. We kids had to go to the pasture and get the yellow lime dirt from the prairie dog holes. We would pick some grass bushes, tie them tightly together and use them to brush the lime mixed with water over the floor. When it dried, it would help seal the floor and lighten the house. I was 4 or 5 years old when they built a "modern" house. It was made of adobe. had no clothes closets, a shingle roofand a wooden floor. The kitchen was papered with an oil cloth so it could be washed off. The bedrooms were white washed with lime. Lime was bought in chunks. Mother would put a few chunks in a tub and pour water over it. It would boil up like lye. When it was dissolved, she put it in an airtight container. It would keep for a long time this way. If it got hard it could not be used again. They could get blueing, the lime would not eat it up, and use it to tint the lime. This was used to paint the walls and ceiling. Then the blueing was mixed with water and applied with a corn cob in what ever width vou wanted for the borders. �The cob was rolled in the blueing and then lightly on the wall below the ceiling. It made a nice design border. Mary loved to do this so much that at times she had borders around the doors, windows, and above the moP boards too. The lime was also used to kill mites in the chicken house and the milk house. We girls had to help with farming because we only had one older brother and us 5 girls until the next brother was born' We walked to school in the spring and the fall when Dad needed the horses for farming. In the winter we had one horse hitched to a buggy and could ride to school. There was a barn at the school and all the horses were unhitched and stayed in the barn until it was time to go home. We had to go 2Vz miles to school then. Later we moved 4 miles north of Bethune and had to go SVz miles to school by walking, riding in the buggy. When I was in ?th grade we moved to Mosca, Colorado. A bus took us to school in town. It was a four room school with more children in one room than we had in the whole school in the country' It was an 8 grade school. It was a big adjustment for me to make. The first school here had five or six big boys in it besides all the other children. But the teachers were strict and made them behave even if it meant punishment. Our parents would back up the teachers on the discipline. If we got a spanking at school, we'd for sure get another one at home too. Dad would buy material in bolts to make our clothing. All of our dresses were made from the same pattern but had different trim so we could tell them apart. If one of us grew out of the pattern, Mother would take a newspaper and cut out a larger one. The dress always had another girl to grow into it. We had two dresses for school to change once a week and one dress for Sunday. We had to change into our good dress right before we were ready to go and out of it as soon as we got home so it wouldn't get dirty so fast. Our underwear was all home sewn too. A bolt or two of flannel for winter was bought and flower sacks provided the material for summer underwear. Wash water had to be carried in and out again. We heated it on the range in a wash boiler. We had a tub, wash board and home made soap to work with. The clothes were rubbed on the board to clean them. The white clothes were boiled to get them clean. The dark clothes were rubbed twice then rinsed and hung out on the line to dry. If we ran out of clothes line we would use the barbed wire fence. If we smaller kids would get them in, we would sometimes have small holes in them from the barbs. In the winter it froze the clothes and it was hard to get all the washing over with in one day. Then came the washing machine! It had a handle to push back and forth and up and down to agitate the clothes. The lid had an attachment with four knobs that moved back and forth also. It had a wringer to turn by a handle, no more hand wringing. After the hand crank machine came the gas motor and then the electric motor on the washer. Now, we even have an electric clothes dryer. Mother had a wangle iron. It had a roller like a rolling pin only longer and no handles. Then a 2x4 board with one handle and curves on the underside. She would roll this over the roller back and forth until it was straight. We had a set of irons, usually three and one handle. These were heated on the range. When one was cold, it went back on the range and got another hot one again. Next came the gas iron and then the electric iron and now no iron material. In Russia they had feather beds. Here they had strawsacks. This was a sack made as large as the bed with a slit in the middle and a couple of ties. It was filled after harvest with nice straw every year. It was laid on boards in the bed to keep it up. The ties were untied to fluff up the straw and then tied back up again. We used a small quilt to cover the slit and then a sheet or a blanket next and the rest of the bed covers. After more corn was being raised, the soft corn husks were used in place of the straw. We small kids had to go a long way to pick up the soft husks when corn was harvested. We would put them in a gunney sack and gather enough for three or four beds. Sometimes they would snap corn, pile it up at home and shuck it there. Then came bed springs with the mattress, innerspring mattresses and now waterbeds. Stoves-Russian ovens. Grandpa Adolf was the only one here to have one of these. Next came the black cast iron stove. You could buy polish to make it shine. Then came the granite range. It was an improvement because it could be washed off after use. When the coal oil stoves came to cook and heat with, we had no more fuel to carry in and ashes to carry out. Then came the gas ranges, propane ranges, electric ranges and now the microwaves. At first when little corn was raised we had few corn cobs to use for fuel. We would feed the hogs ear corn. When they had eaten it off we would pick up the cobs out of the pig pen. Some of them were very messy and we would throw them outside to dry out and burn later. These would burn longer than the clean cobs but smelled much worse. We all burned cow chips then too. We would put a double box on the wagon and take along a lunch to eat and head out to pick up cow chips wherever we would find them. If no one was ahead of you, it didn't take long to fill the wagon, but sometimes we would have to go as far as to the river. We had few sheds then and the cow chips needed to be kept dry to burn. So we would build a shed with them. We used the bigger ones for the outside walls and fill the middle with the smaller ones and heap them up to make a rounded top. Then we would take fresh cow manure and plaster it over this. It would stay dry all winter. When we needed to use some of these cow chips, we would dig a hole in the side, take what we needed and cover the hole with a blanket to keep out the snow. We would also go along the railroad tracks and pick up coal that was scattered when they fired the steam engines. If a train would come along and a good hearted fireman was on he would throw a few shovels full out so we had more to pick up. Coal could be bought if we could afford it' As more corn was raised less cow chips were burned. Everyone raised a garden. They had big 50 gallon vinegar barrels to store some food in. supplres. A rol or mears v and milk was drunk a lot. We also had corn mush to eat. AII the bread was baked at home. We butchered beef in the winter when it would keep longer. Pork was also butchered and the hams and bacon were cured and sausage was made. Mother would also fry it up and put it in a crock, cover it with lard and use it later. We also ate a lot of jackrabbits, young pigeons and sometimes we had frying chickens in the summer. We had to butcher these in the morning to serve at the noon meal so the meat would not spoil. Later we canned meats and vegetables. Then came the deep freeze for longer storage and now food is available as you need it over the counter. by Theresia Kramer STAHLECKER KRAMER FAMILY F668 William "Bill" Stahlecker was born February L7,1907 north of Bethune, Colorado to Gottlieb and Minnie Stahlecker. He was one of eight children; Clara, Otto, Gottlief, William, Emma, Bertha, John, and Anna. They attended a one-room rural school. The means of transportation was walking even though the distance to school was 3% miles. At certain times of the year, they stayed home to help with the farm work. At an early age, Bill stayed home from school and worked for an uncle and later for a close neighbor. In 1929, Bill and his father and brothers built an adobe house and other farm build- ings 7 miles north and 2 miles west of Bethune. Bill and Amelia Kramer were married in October 1929 and lived there several years until they moved 8 miles south where there was more farm ground and pasture. The dust storms of the 1930's came and farming became next to impossible. The only thing that grew were the thistles and even they were picked up and blown away. I remember helping my mother sweep up pans full of the fine dust that had sifted into the house during a storm. Some families stayed and struggled through those years while other moved to Loveland and other cities and found work there. Bill and other men worked for the W.P.A. and helped build roads and bridges. These men would have to milk their cows mornings and evenings to have cream to sell in town so they would have enough cash for groceries and other essentials. The summer of 1942 brought about more changes. Gottlieb and Minnie left the farm they had homesteaded and moved to the Paul Stoltz place for a few years before they finally moved to Loveland in 1945. Bill and Amelia, bought the homestead from Gottlieb and his three brothers and moved there with their family; Clarina, George, Willard, Margie, and Iva. (Ivan and Jean were born in 1943 and 1948.) There were usually two barrels, one filled Gottlieb still had some sheep at the farm and he would come and shear them with a Dad used a stomper to stomp the kraut down in the banel. but Bill remembers that he had to wash his feet clean and go in and stomp it down by foot. Beans and potatoes were raised. We also milked a bunch of cows. We drank separated milk and sold the cream and some eggs to buy flour and sugar or other hand clipper. It was fascinating to watch the wool clipped off all in one piece from one sheep. It would be rolled into a tight ball, fastened with twine and then it would be sold. This was an annual event that occurred each May. The first few years on grandpas' farm, we with dill pickles and one with sauerkraut. �carried buckets of water into the house for cooking, bathing, and laundering. R.E.A. brought electricity to the area in the late 1940's. Before then, we had a windcharger which made electricity and the excess was stored in batteries and used when needed. There were some good wheat crops. I remember helping serve noon meals to the thrashing crews. Neighbors always helped each other. Later on, combines did the work more efficiently. The fall crops of coes and grain were cut by a binder. It cut the stalk and tied it into bundles. The kids would go out the next day and pick up these bundles and set them into shocks. (They look like Indian teepees.) They would be hauled into the yard later and the corn was picked by hand. This was before many farmers were able to buy cornpickers and combines. Chores for the children included helping with milking, feeding pigs, baby calves and chickens and the gathering of the eggs. We brought in cut up fire wood and corn cobs to burn in the coal stove for cooking and heating. When there was extra money, we would get some coal to burn. There was no furnace to heat the place, only the stove in the kitchen. The other rooms in the house were cold in the winter. A few years alter, propane heat was purchased for the Iiving room. I also remember the two and three day blizzards we had. January 1, 1949, Uncle Chris Kramer and dad left to take Lorena Kramer to school in Colorado Springs, they got as far as Genoa and had to stay there for the duration of the storm. George, Willard and I managed to milk the cows and the other chores while mom worried and prayed. I am sure she did plenty of both and were we relieved when dad got home safe on the third day. The Stahlecker homestead is still being lived in by the third generation. George and his wife Janie along with their two boys, Jerry and Tim have done some remodeling to the inside as well as the outside. The original barn is still standing but has been patched up some. Some of the other buildings have crumbled and have been replaced, but the homestead still gives me a nostalgic calm and joy when I am there. by Clarine Stahlecker Fergus STAHLECKER WEISS FAMILY close was advantgeous as they helped each other build their homes and farm buildings. Some of the buildings and houses were built of adobe bricks which consisted of straw mixed with mud, dried into bricks and then built up into walls. The outside walls were then stuccoed. The original houses are still standing and still being lived in. Gottlieb & Minnie had 8 children, they were Otto, Clara, Gottlief, William, Emma, Bertha, John, and Anna. Fred & Jakobine had 5 children. The children grew up together very closely. They went to school and played and worked together. All of the children, even the girls had to stay home from school and help with the farm work. Some ofthem obtained 8 years of schooling, while others did not. Cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens were raised on the farm plus several kinds of crops and many garden crops were grown. The Stahleckers were self-sustaining farmers with very little bought from town. Fruit and Vegetables were canned. Watermelons were pickled in salt brine and then eaten in the fall and winter. It was a treat to eat grandmas' home-made bread spread with thick, rich cream and sprinkled with sugar. Lambs and beef were butchered and canned in jars. Ham and bacon were preserved in barrels of salt brine and the sausages were smoked in the smoke house. The families first car was a Ford probably bought in 1913 or 1914. Before then, they traveled everywhere in horse drawn wagons. They were faithful in attending the Ger- man Lutheran Church 11 miles north of Bethune. I remember a dust storm darkening the sky one Sunday before church was over. We drove with the car lights on and got as far as my grandparents where grandma cooked dinner and we ate using the light of the kerosene lamps. Grandpa and grandma retired from farming in 1945 and moved to Loveland Colorado where they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. All 8 children were present along with 35 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. by Clarine Stahlecker Fergus STAHLECKER, ROBERT AND MILDRED F669 My grandfather, Gottlieb Stahlecker, was born in 1878 to Martin & Catherine (Juengling) Stahlecker. They lived for a time in South Dakota before moving to the area north of Bethune, Colorado known as the German Settlement. The parents had come from Russia in the 1800's but Gottlieb and his brothers and sisters were born in Nebraska and South Dakota. Sisters Minnie & Jakobine Weiss arrived as young ladies from Russia and immediately they were admired and courted by two of the Stahlecker brothers, Gottlieb and Fred. The couples were married on August 24, 1902 in a double ceremony. They then home steaded t/q mile apart; 6 miles north and 1% miles west of Bethune. The purpose of living so together, We picked up prunes from the ground after the trees had been shaken. Then there was filberts and walnuts to pick (crawling on west ground now). Later we both worked in the cannery. I peeled twenty two bushel of pears per day but the supervision said it was not enough and unless I could do better would lose my job so I did not return. We got a job in a dairy. Robert milked 15 cows by hand and did field work and cared for sheep and angora goats. The pay was $50 per month. In October of 1936 we decided to return home to our little 160 acre farm north of Bethune. We were lucky to get most of our furniture right away as we attended a community sale where a family who were leaving were selling all of theirs. Later we needed horses with which to farm so Robert went to a horse sale and bought a bunch of wild horses. Two of them were beautifully matched bay horses which we hoped would make a team to be proud of. But this was not to be. What we did not know but found out later was that they were rodeo horses aged four and six years old, they never tamed down. As soon as the harness was on the they thought it was time to perform! Our good friend who delt in livestock bought them and probably returned to the rodeo circuit. We had paid 9100. for them which was a lot of money in those days. One horse was so mean that whenever someone came into the barn he laid back his ears and began kicking. We finally got a good four horse team broke out of the herd and sold the rest. Using this team and a one row lister Robert planted the corn. We raised some very good corn crops. They were good years! We built several adobe buildings. Using loose soil, straw and water having the horses trample it into an even mixture, and using a six tined fork it was laid up in layers. One layer upon another. Each layer was allowed to dry some before another was added. These buildings were durble and cheap but hard work to build. In 1943 we adopted a nine year old boy John Dennis. He remained with us until he was sixteen when he purchased a car and went out on his own. One year a tornado came thru it went around the buildings but when it came to the hay rack it lifted it neatly over the fence and dropped it several times (gouging a large hole in the ground each time) and finally landed F670 Mildred (Fanselau) and Robert Stahlecker were married December 11. 1934. We moved into our two room adobe house, which Robert had built the year before. It was the year of the horrible electric storms which brought dust like walls of dirt which even got into our homes and we sometimes breathed thru dampened wash cloths. It had not rained all summer nor snowed that winter and deciding the grass may have died we left in March of 1935 for Newberg, Az. smashed in the field. We enjoyed the radio programs and listened to the various plays ect. each day. A far cry from our modern T.V. pictures. We shucked the corn by hand with a team of horses and wagon with high boards on one side that would stop the ears of corn when we threw them. We usually had about twenty four head of cattle. The cows kept their calves and when they were fat in the fall we sold them. They were mostly Herefords and I always thought Colo., Ok., and Dakotas we were glad to find their pretty white faced calves were so cute. We also raised broiler chicks in a "batterv" (a brooder with shelves) They also *ete s.t"h cute fluffy little things. When they first cnme berries (crawled all day on hands and knees) next picked cherries from trees as high as telephone poles (shakey business!) picked hops, our field had 1,000 pickers working from the hatcheries in Missouri. We also had hogs and turkeys. We bought another 160 acres of grass land in about 1940 so we broke the rest ofthe other and had more to farm, (about 140 acres of There were so many people there from any kind of work. First we picked straw- �farm land). We always raised feed for the cattle and stacked it to use the next year in case of a crop failure. Later we got a little John Deere tractor (G.P.) which made the work easier and still later a small John Deere combine. We were brought up to fear debts so never went into debt and never regretted it. It was a good life - lots of laughs and a few tears. In 195? we decided to move into town. I worked as a baby sitter and was very happy doing that. I met many fine people and shared a lot of love with lots of kids. Robert worked for Great Western Sugar Company for seven seasons, helping to establish the receiving depot here in Burlington. He also did carpenter work and a Iot of painting both interior and exterior. We have lived here in Burlington now for nearly thirty years and think it's the best place in the whole wide world! Our parents were Henry and Lily Fanselau and Fred and Jacobine Stahlecker. by Mildred Stahlecker STALGREN, CHARLES AUGUST AND IDA MARIE F671 Wyo. on account of Mathilda's health. She had tuberculosis. Mathilda passed away 5 Feb., in 1892. Claus farmed the boys out in the country at Pine Bluffs, Wyo. Emil and Herman to widow and son, Johnson and Gus to an old couple, C.L. Johnson. He went to visit them often. One time he rode horseback from Cheyenne to Pine Bluffs to give Gus a horse, saddle and a22 caliber rifle. Hannah had tuberculosis in her hip and Claus sent her to a hospital in Chicago for about a year. They cured her hip, but her leg never grew. Claus married Ida Marie Jonsdotter Lett, 5 Sept. 1892. She was born 8 Dec. 1860 in Stenbrohult Parish, Sweden, and came to the U.S. 18 July 1883. Her parents were Jon Germundsson and Cathrina Pehrsdotter. She married Charles Lett and had two daughters, Hilda Irene, born 11 Dec. 1886 and Julia Wilmona, born 3 Feb. 1890. Mr. Lett died about the same time as Mathilda. The new family lived in Cheyenne, Wyo. They brought Emil and Herman to their home in Cheyenne and Gus still stayed with C.L. Johnson. Claus quit the tailor bench in man and Gus would drive the ole horse and buggy 3 miles to school. Claus took out his final papers to become a citizen of the U.S., 24 Nov. 1893, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Maude Olive was born on this place, 18 May 1893 and Ann Margaret was born 10 Oct. 1894. The family lived there about 3 years. Then Claus took a homestead 4 miles north of Salem, Wyo., about 18 miles north and west of Pine Bluffs. The improvements on this place were: three sons, Wm. Jr., Richard and Robert. Ida Lorraine married Raymond Wright and had thirty acres under cultivation. Also, Iots of married Mathilda Sophia Nilsdotter, who was born, 28 Oct. 1859. While they lived in Sweden, they had three children; Gus, born 1 Jan. 1881, Emil, born 29 Sept. 1882 and Hanna Sophia, born 26-27 Aug. 1884. When Claus lived in Sweden, he was a professional tailor and had his own shop. The family left Sweden, Mar. 23, 1888 and anived in Bradshaw, Nebr., 8 Apr. 1888, to stay with Mathilda's uncle and family. They soon moved to York, Nebr., where Claus worked as a tailor. He took out intention of becoming a citizen of the U.S. in York, Co., Nebr., the 17th of Sept. 1888, and changed his name to Claus A. Stolgren. Herman was born 9-10 Apr. 1890 in York, Nebr. In 1890, they moved to Cheyenne, World War I and II. He married Ruth Fithian, 28 May 1925. She had one son, Mark and they had a daughter, Darlene. Ruth passed away in 1927. Roy died 14 Apr. 1884, in Burlington, Colo. Darlene and Mark preceded him in death. Jo married Wm. Frailey and lives in Toole, Utah. They had he had bought near Tracy, Wyo. (just a U.P.R.R. siding). They raised cattle and milked cows, sold butter and eggs. Cattle prices raised about that time, so they were doing O.K. Emil, Hilda, Julia, Hanna, Her- building, 4 rooms, stable, 150' Iong, sheds, windmill and 160 acres, fenced. There were Claus August (Charles August) Stahl was born in Appelhuit, Hjalmeryd, Jonkoping, Sweden,30 Apr. 1858. His father was Gabriel Magnusson Stahl, who was a soldier, and his mother was Maria Christina Jonasdotter. He and had two daughters, Alice and Lois. He was a tailor and lived in Denver, Colo. He died 7 June 1972. Irene married Earl Moore Harding and lived in Seattle, Wash. Theyhad two daughters, Helen and Betty. Irene died 4 Apr. 1976. Julia never married, lived at home and died 10 Apr. 1920. Maude was a teacher and married Elbert Nider. He passed away in 1915. She married Tom Burke and they were later divorced. She came home to care for her mother in 1943. After her death. she stayed there with her two brothers, Emil and Roy. She died 5 Apr. 1950, in Denver, Colo. Anna married Charles Pratt and lived in Omaha, Nebr. They had four children, Dorothy, Clayton, Bonnie and Emil Donald. She died 9 Apr. 1951. Roy served in both Cheyenne, about 1893, and moved to a place a frame house, two rooms, 16'x24', out The Charles August Stalgren Family taken in 1904. Back row: Emil, Julia, Irene, Gus, Herman and Maude. Front row: Ida Lorraine, Charles A., Roy, Ida Marie, Pearl, Hanna and Josephine shops. He had one son, Harold. Gus died 3 July, 1975. Emil served in World War I and after the death of his father was both brother and father to his brothers and sisters. Emil spent most of his life working with horses and cattle. He died quietly at home, 21 June 1958. Hanna never married and stayed at home, doing most of the family's sewing. She passed away, 6 Dec. L922, at home. Herman married open county and good grass for cattle raising. Three children were born on this place, Roy Robert Benjamin, 3 Aug. 1897, Josephine Marie, g Sept. 1898 and Ida Lorraine, 15 Aug. 1899. Claus built that place up to a regular ranch and was doing real well, till the bad five children, Marjorie Marie, born 24 Nov. 1921; Katheryn Joan, born 31 Aug. 1925, died 30 Sept. 1926; Joyce Elaine, born 12 Jan. 1928; Bill Ray Frank, born 26 Oct. 1929; and Jacky Leigh,24 July 1938. Both Ida and Raymond were killed in an accident,4 Jan. 1948. Pearly married Clifford Chittem and lived in Denver, Colo. They had one son, Boyd. She died 8 Sept. 1969. Charles August Stalgren passed away, 9 Sept. 1907 and Ida Marie, 27 Jan.1944. They are both buried in the Beaver Valley Cemetery in Kit Carson Co., Colo. Julia, Maude, Emil, Hanna and Roy are also buried in the Beaver Valley Cemetery. bv Bill R. Wright winter killed off all the southern cows he had bought the fall before. In 1900, the family moved to Sterling, Colo. and then to Weskan, Kans. They didn't stay there very long. They moved 4 miles north of Goodland, Kans., in a covered wagon. They rented the old Russell Ranch and raised cattle. Pearl Ethel was born there, 5 July 1903. Then they moved to eastern Colo., north and little west of Kanorado. Hanna filed for a homestead there. They established residence, 15 Dec. 1905. She had to file in Hugo, Colo. They were spelling Stolgren with an a now, Stalgren. They built a sod house on this place. It had six rooms and was well furnished. They also built a frame barn, L6'x24',shed 10'x60', chicken house, granary 26' and,40', adobe milkhouse, well windmill and pump, two tanks and frame coal house. There were 2th miles of fencing and 70 acres broken out. They raised barley, corn, cane and wheat. Some good years, some bad. The children that were school age, went to the Plainview School in Kit Carson County, Colo. Gus married and lived in Denver, Colo. working for a railroad in the maintenance STALGREN, EMIL F672 "When you ask me to recall the bygone days when I was a young cowpoke, the one thing that comes to my mind are the short nights. I know that I'll never forget them. They stand out in my mind so vividly and were so much a part of my youth, that it has always been a wonder to me that in all the western stories I have read that no one ever spoke of the short time that a cowboy could spend in that wonderful bed roll. Yes, the ground was hard and sometimes it was cold and sometimes it was wet and raining or snowing, but it was always the same - I rolled up and that was the last thing I knew until it was morning." These words were spoken by Emil Stalgren. Emil Stalgren was born Sept. 29, 1882, in Sweden. He arrived in this country with his parents, Charles August and Mathilda Sophia Stalgren in 1888, along with his brother Gus and sister Hanna. They stopped first in �York, Neb., but in a short time went on to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Here Emil's father opened a tailor shop. Matilda passed away 2L Jan., 1892. Later his father remarried and they lived different places in Wyoming until Emil was Roy enlisted Oct. 23, 1918, at Burlington, Colo. to serve in World War I. He was a private in Co. D, 2nd Army Artillery Park Co., in the United States Army. He served at Ft. McArthur, Calif. He got the flu, while in the army and they thought he was going to about 17 years old, when they moved to Sterling, Colo. and shortly thereafter to die, so they put him in the tent with the critically ill. Not knowing he was that sick, Wallace, Kans. Here he learned much about how to care for himself and how to mix with the outfits and cowpunchers. He learned a Iot about horses and decided he liked them. He Roy thought they put him there to take care was roping, branding, herding and doing many other things when he should have been going to school. He did not like the pay and so he decided to go back to Wyoming. He came to a settlement called Pine Bluffs and was soon working for a man by the name of Parker. He got $30.00 per month, meals included. The Old Texas Trail went through Emil's stomping ground and he thought he was on the last drive. This was a drove of 5,000 that were being taken to Montana and they were moving and grazing slowly along. This trail meandered over a trail that was about 20 miles wide so there would be a little grass to eat on the way. He left Wyoming in 1906 and came to Kit Carson County, Colo., where the rest of the family had homesteaded. Emil was both brother and father to his brothers and sisters after the death of his father in 1907. He was a good neighbor and loved his fellow men, especially little children. Emil was inducted into the army in the spring of 1918 and served with the calvary. He received his discharge, March 14, 1919. There was a period when there was a rodeo at the Stalgren's every Sunday afternoon. The cowpunchers were always welcome at the Stalgrens and they liked to stop in. Everyone behaved. It seemed no one ever doubted Emil's ability to keep order. Just a little remark from him and everything was right again. He had a way with people of any caliber of mentality or character. On June 21, 1958, Emil's brother Roy, with whom he lived, went to town to get groceries and returned home, and not finding Emil in the kitchen as usual. looked in the bedroom. He was lying on the bed. Emil Stalgren was dead. He was buried in the Beaver Valley Cemetery, the cemetery he had helped start and had helped care for since he was a young man. Many of his relatives lay there waiting for him. by Bill R. Wright STALGREN, ROY of the others. Instead of dying, he got well. He was honorably discharged Dec. 16th, 1918. ln L922, to fill the need and make some money, while doing it, Roy, Frank Anderson and Fred Teman and his wife, bought horses locally and drove them to Utah. The Mormons, in Utah, were in need of horses, both riding & draft. A wagon was equipped with a canvas top, similar to the pioneer covered wagons, to carry the supplies and a stove for Mrs. Teman to cook on. Archie Anderson went along as far as Flagler where, by then, the horses were "trail broke". Archie then returned home and the herd moved on. Little details are known ofthe difficulties ofthe trip but one can imagine there were many. Upon arriving in Utah, the horses were sold, including the ones they were riding. Frank stayed in Utah several years and the others came home on the train. Roy & Ruth Fithian were married, Mar. 28, 1925, at Goodland, Kans. She had a son, Mark. They lived on a farm in NE Kit Carson, Co., Colo. & Sterling, Colo. A daughter, Darlene, was born, in 1925. Ruth died in 1929 and Darlene went to Iive with Ruth's aunt, Charlotte Cromwell in Lincoln, Nebr., who owned & lived in the Cornhusker Hotel. On Oct. 24, L942, he was again drafted to serve in the army, during World War II. He was inducted at Denver, Colo., and was a private with the Detachment Medical Department SCU #1758 at Camp Hale, Colo. He was discharged the 19th of Feb. 1943. He came back to Kit Carson, Co., Colo. to farm and live with his mother, brother Emil and sister Maude. Roy was generous to a fault with everything he owned. In his concern with his neighbor's welfare, it always came before his own. Roy's stock of groceries was unsurpassed by any home in the neighborhood. Canned goods of every size, shape and description were included in his horde. One of his theories behind this was that, in case of a three day blizzard, the neighbors could get groceries from him, when they couldn't get all the way into town. Uncle Roy fell and broke his hip on the 17th of March, 1981. He spent the next three years in hospitals and the Grace Manor Nursing Home in Burlington, Colo. He passed away, Saturday, Apr. 14, 1984 and is buried in the Beaver Valley Cemetery in Kit Carson, Co., Colo. F673 "On the deal," Whenever you heard these words, you knew Uncle Roy was around. His favorite comment to just about anything. No one was ever sure just what it meant, Roy Robert Benjamin Stalgren was born in Salem, Wyo. on Aug. 3, 1897. He came to Kit Carson, Co., Colo., with his parents, brothers & sisters in 1906. He was the youngest son of Charles August & Ida Marie Stalgren. The family was originally from Sweden. Before going to Colo., the family had lived in Nebr., Wyo. and Kans. Roy went to school at the Plainview School in Kit Carson Co.. Colo. Roy loved to drink coffee. Many, many cups were consumed everyday. If the coffee was not hot, then cold would do fine. A Karo syrup bucket, filled with water and coffee, in the morning and hung on the exhaust of his tractor, took care of his needs during the day in the field. The last words Roy spoke, before his death were, "I would like a cup of coffee, please." by Bill R. Wright STAPP, LEONA PUGH F674 I really nm proud ofthe distinction ofbeing the first white child born in Kit Carson County. My.parents, John and Jane Pugh, held the torch high as they answered the challenge to make for themselves a home on the vast expanse of prairie land. On coming to Wray, Colorado, November 16, 1886, from Springer, New Mexico where my father worked as a foreman on a large cattle ranch, they took advantage with many others of the privilege of filing on Pre-Emption and Homestead claims. The ones they chose are about 12 miles north of Stratton. On their arrival in Wray, my parents and friends, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, joined purses and bought a team of horses and wagons to haul the lumber for the necessary finishing touches for a sod house and started out on the 75 mile trek. A terrific storm (snow) forced them to stop in Friend, a post office between Wray and Stratton. There were two or three houses there. (Later when Idalia was organized it was abandoned.) One family living there would give shelter to weary travelers. So here we stopped. The first night the horses broke loose from their tether and it took three days of walking before they were found. By this time mother and Mrs. Jones felt it best for them to stay in Friend, so the men went on. In the meantime I opened my eyes to the beautiful Colorado sunshine on December 22. 1886. I have always listened many times to my mother telling of the three long days when father would have to go to Wray for provisions. And one time they had to put the little colt right between the mares to save him from the gray wolves. As time went on the water situation became so acute they were forced to leave the little old Soddy on the Homestead, and were fortunate in finding an opportunity to buy the famous old Tuttle Ranch. our home for many years. It is still in the family as my brother Lloyd owns it now. My brother Arthur and I roamed the hills for many a treasure find in Indian beads, trinkets and arrow heads. I loved the excitement of the fall round up, and the breaking of the young horses, both to the saddle and harness. The days in early fall when I went with the folks to pick up buffalo chips for our winter fuel wasn't one bit interesting, but I do remember what a hot fire they made with gobs of ashes to carry out. The first Christmas that I remember was such a thrill. We youngsters climbed out of bed way early and found in the stockings we had hung up the night before, a big shiny apple, an orange, popcorn ball and a big stick of striped red and white candy. Another thing that's so vivid was the fear of prairie fire when the grass dried up in the fall. One time a big one came rolling in from the south. It burned two ofour big haystacks in the big meadow. Several of the men came in at noon completely exhausted. Mother fed them all. When they left to meet the force farther north, father hated so to leave us all alone. There was danger ofhidden tongues of fire that would revive and creep down through the south hills. He told us to have wet sacks or anything we could use to beat the flames if they did come. Those dreadful things did come. We fought like demons and �Lester married Dixie Eachus; they raised blocked their path. The men returned about midnight and we were rated real heroes too in helping mother save the Place. four boys: Clifford, Gerald, Robert and David. They lived in Denver where he worked When I became eligible I took uP a homestead claim right close to my father's land, proved upon it. Then, when I tnarried the young man in Iowa, they bought it' And we used the money to build our own home there. where I lived until his death. at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal for a long time. Then in 1954 they moved to St. Louis, and I spent in Llanidloes, Wales, in 1911. It was his first visit home since leaving as a young man to come to America. My father's death in 1913 was indeed a greai shock, as mother was left with the iesponsibility of a big ranch with only young ones to help her, but a valued helper and friend, Bill Lucas, stood by and she weathered the storm. while in Butte, Montana. Then they moved Missouri, where he was a maintenzlnce man at different plants. Lawrence was most always a truck driver. He married Martha Stallsworth in 1950. They worked as managers of a hotel for a Another highlight was the six weeks father The last item in my story is full of good things as mother and I live so comfortable herJin Stratton close by my brother Lloyd and sisters, Mabet Guy and Gladys Quinn. I enjoy to the fullest every activity in our E.U.B. Church and have a wealth unsurpassed in wonderful friends. by Leona Alice Pugh StaPP wagon). the Navy for a while. bY DorothY Harwood 191?; Mildred M. 1921; Lester I. 1924; and Lawrence W. 1928. AII but Vernon got most of their education at Sunny Slope School north of Arriba. Dad was a small farmer who farmed with horses, raised wheat, barley, oats, corn and STEGMAN FAMILY F676 . . also hogs and some some beans and cane cattle. So we had our meat, milk, cream and butter. One evening as we were out pulling and picking beans after school, Mother ran onto a rattlesnake all coiled under a vine. That put a stop to our evening work. Mother raised a garden and chickens so we had some fresh vegetables to eat. Also she canned quite a lot and had plenty of eggs and fryers. She baked most of our bread; a loaf of boughten bread then was a treat. STEDMAN - PROAPS FAMILY William A. Stedman at work on drayline (middle to Marion, Oregon. They have 4 children, Letha, Diana, Cherry and Billy who was in F675 : We butchered a hog once in a while to have meat and lard. They'd make a brine of brown sugar, salt and smoke flavoring for curing the meat, using a big wooden barrel to put it in. We made our own sausage and Mom canned this in jars in the oven. We would pick up cowchips for firewood but would take out more ashes than the fuel put in the stove. They were a real quick hot fire. Also one winter I remember burning corn on the cob; corn wasn't worth too much. We used kerosene lamps to read, study and sew by at nights and a kerosene lantern to chore by if we didn't get the chores done before dark. Times were hard but we always had plenty to eat and were clean and had a roof over our head. Wayne and I began our schooling in a little sod school house 14 miles north and 2 miles west of Arriba in 1923. Then Wayne, Mildred, Lester and I finished our schooling at Sunny Slope. In 1937 the folks moved to Hugo, Colorado, where Dad had work on W.P.A. After that they moved to Ordway in 1942 where Dad *oiked as drayman and with the railroad until his passing from a sunstroke in 1946. Coal schutt where Dad worked 1943 (Bill Stedman). William (BiIl) Stedman was born at Ionia, Kansas, October 2, L884, and Miss Jennie June Proaps was born near Logan, Kansas, June 15, 1886. They were united in marriage at Bogue, Kansas the 21st day of April 1907. He was working as a citY draYman in Stockton, Kansas, at the time of their marriage, moving to Colorado and taking up a homestead north of Flagler in 1907. Here their family began. Vernon L. was born in 1910; Wayne A. 1914; Dorothy M. Mother passed awaY in 1951. Wayne, our oldest brother, worked out a lot. In his later years he worked as a miner at the big open pit at Butte, Montana, until he contacted black lung and could work no more. Then it was me, Dorothy, finishing my schooling and ready to try my wings. I met Frank Harwood at Sunday School one Sunday in 1933. We went together for quite some time and in August of 1934 we began our home together and have been together for almost 53 years, raising 4 children. Mildred, our sister, graduated in Hugo in 1938. She married a serviceman, Harland Meade, from Kentucky. They lived at Fowler and Ordway where he did a lot of trapping beside holding down a job. In 1954 they and their two children moved to Albany, Oregon. Jerome Stegman at Homecoming in 1975 Jerome Stephen Stegman was born in Kansas, May 22,1913. He was the ninth child of George and Elizabeth Stegman of Offerle. His grandparents migrated from Pfiefer, Russia. His grandparents were German-Russian. He grew up in this same area. Jerome helped his father on the farm working with horses. He helped raise broom corn and make brooms. He also helped in a nursery. In 1934 he married Josephine Katz. They farmed near Offerle. In 1946 they moved south of Stratton on a farm near the Cheyenne County line. The children attended First Central School. The home they moved into was made of sod. Electricity and telephones were not available in the area until several years later. The children felt they lived so far from civilization that they would never get to meet anyone. Farmers and neighbors formed baseball teems. These teams played in pastures where ball diamonds were set up. Some years were very good, as far as crops, but there were also very bleak years with dust storms and drought. Wheat was the major crop. Later when the irrigation wells were installed, corn became important for ensi- �lage. For quite a few years they raised turkeys and chickens. One of the fun times was when neighbors would get together to butcher chickens, another was driving cattle to the dipping vats. Jerome always had a large herd of cattle. Milking cows and selling cream helped provide for food and groceries. Large gardens were planted and much canning was done for winter foods. One of the sad times was when the two story barn burnt during the night in the fall of 1949. The light of the fire was seen for miles. Many neighbors came to help. In 1950 Jerome and Josephine built a home in Colorado Springs. Later they sold it and moved back to the farm. In 1951 Josephine was killed in an auto accident and was buried at Calvary Cemetery at Stratton. They had seven children. In November, 1952, Jerome married Dorothy Katz. They lived on the farm south of Stratton. Jerome was the first person to have an irrigation well in that area, which is pumping at the present. Mail was delivered three times a week from Bethune. One winter the children stayed in town for two weeks so they could attend school, as the roads were impassable due to the blowing snow. In 1963 Jerome felt the pressures of many problems. He decided to retire from farming and built a home in Stratton. They moved into their home in February, 1964. Jerome started driving the school bus and worked as a janitor at the Catholic Church and School. Dorothy and the children helped him in his work. He also worked for area farmers. never losing his love for cattle and the good earth. In 1976 Jerome underwent a triple by-pass. After his surgery, Jerome regained his strength and gradually went back working fulltime. Three family reunions were held, with the last being held July 18, 1982, being the greatest. It was held in Colorado Springs. All of the children were there. Thev came from California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon and Canada. On Saturday, July 18, 1982, the reunion started with a dedication and service. A dance followed in the evening. Sunday morning was started with everyone going to Mass, followed by a pancake breakfast. The afternoon was spent taking pictures and saying goodbyes. Mary and Carl Smelker were the host for this reunion. In October 1981, Jerome lost the tips of two fingers on his right hand and again in 1982 lost the tips of two fingers on his left hand. It was during a routine checkup that the doctors discovered that he was again to have major surgery. This operation was extremely taxing on his physical strength, and he never fully recovered. Jerome and Dorothy traveled to many sports events in which their children participated. Jerome was always a sports enthusiast. he played baseball in his early days and later umpired for many games at Stratton. Jerome passed away on March 26, 1989, after a two week illness. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery. Dorothy still lives in Stratton. She is a teacher's aide and a bus driver for the Stratton School. Children of the Stegman family are as follows . . . Mary Ann Smelker married Carl Smelker on October 18, 1950. They live in Colorado Springs and have five children and six grandchildren. They own Smelker Concrete Pumping, Inc. Kenneth Jerome married Patricia J. Lillv August 30, 1975. Kenneth has three children and two grandchildren. Pat and Kenneth are both working in insurance. They own Surety Life. Their hobby is raising Paint horses. They are both involved in community functions. Andrea Geraldine married Claude Maxon in 1966. They have operated several businesses and owned several. At the present, they are taking life easy and enjoying their home in Fullerton. California. Constance Josephine married David Baker in 1961. They live in Indian Hills, Colorado. They have three children. Connie and David both love the outdoors. Elizabeth Kathleen, better known as Kathy, married Glen Leavitt in 1966 in Las Vegas where they have lived all their married Iife. They have both worked in various clubs. Kathy and Glen love to hunt and going out in the hills camping. Virginia Lee married Allan Dobler in 1g64. They have five children. At present they live in Seneca, Missouri where they are managing a chicken farm. They follow their children in sports. They also like to rodeo. Patricia Kay is living in Oklahoma City at present. Pat has 2 sons. Joe Howe, whom she married in 1979, passed away May 18th, 1982. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery. Pat plans to return to Colorado in the spring of '88. At present she is attending college. Colleen Marie married Ray Stutzman in 1966. They lived in Denver and later moved to Oregon. They have two daughters. Colleen loves to garden, can foods, and grow flowers. Both Ray and Colleen love to fish. Robert Morris married Lynette Allen in 1967. Bob and Lynette have four children. At the present, they live in Washington. Bob is in the construction business. Linda Dianne married Johnny Johnson in 1969. Linda attended Pikes Peak Institute of Medical Technology in Colorado Springs. Linda is employed as an office manager for a transport company. They have two children. The family is active in outdoor sports. George Steven married Michele Bilak on September 12, 1981, in Genessee Park in Colorado. George worked as respiratory therapist in many Denver hospitals before moving to East Rochester, New York. He works in Highland Hospital as a therapist. Michele works at Delco Products Division of General Motors. They have three little girls. Delmar Eugene married Linda Borden in 1976. Del has kept busy even with his disability. He spent long months in body cast and braces. He also underwent extensive surgery on his back and hip. Del and Linda live in Colorado Springs. Linda works in a rest home and Del runs an advertising paper. They have three children, one girl and two boys. high school days. They also played softball for summer recreation. They have four daughters. They live south of Stratton where {grome lived. They have cattle and sheep. Their joys are horses and dogs. Elizabeth Ann married Tim Pautler in L975 at Stratton, Colorado. Tim is engaged in farming. They live north of Stratton. Thev are active in many community projects. They are parents ofthree daughters. Both Tim and El?abeth graduated from Stratton High. Cynthia Josephine married Jay Robinson in 1985. They live in Fountain, Colorado. Jav works for a landscaping company. Cindy graduated from NJC, Sterling, Colorado. Cindy works as a secretary. They are blessed with two children. Rita Fracyne married John Kadaw in 1983. Rita and John both graduated from the University of Northern Colorado. Rita now works in the Weld Library District. They have a darling boy and are expecting anothei. They both enjoy hunting and fishing. Jeanine Marie married Billy Hornung in 1985. Both of them graduated from Stratton and attended UNC in Greeley. Jeanine attended and graduated from Colby Community College in June, 1984, with an associate degree in practical nursing. She graduated with Phy Theta Capa honors. Billy and Jeanine live north of Stratton. Thev are involved in ranching and farming. They have a son, Louden. Jacqueline Elaine was born on Februarv 29, 1964. She was born on her Uncle Bills' birthday, which is quite unique. She was an outstanding basketball and volleyball player. Jackie attended Adams State in Alamosa. Colorado. She played college basketball for four years. In 1983 her team went to Nationals. Jackie is teaching in Elizabeth, Colorado, in the high school. She enjoys cooking and sports. Bernard Jerome was born in 196b. He attended Stratton Schools where he was active in wrestling. His greatest challenge was to go to state competition. He was district champion all four years. In his junior year he placed third at state. His senior year, he placed fifth. Bernie attended Colby Community College his freshman year. He graduated from Sterling NJC in the spring of 1986. That fall entered the army. He is stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He plans to enter college when he returns home. Juleen Reanee was born October 6. 1966. She graduated from Stratton High. She was active in sports and many school activities. She was FHA president for two years, and chosen to National Honor Society her sophomore year. She attended McCook Community College, where she played basketball for two years. Juleen studied child care. She graduated in 1987. Juleen is working as a nanny in Colorado Springs. Though many of Jerome's children are living throughout the country, they will Theresa Marie was married to Mark Amos always have many happy memories of their lives in Stratton. Nineteen of the children have graduated from the Stratton school district. They have always felt proud to call Stratton their home town. Washington County. They have two children. Theresa loves being a mother and housekeeper. She also likes to garden and grow flowers. Stephen Jerome married Connie Livingston in 1974. Steve and Connie alwavs loved sports and participated in many during their by Dorothy Stegman in 1973. Mark was in the army at that time. They lived in Buffalo, Wyoming for a while, later moving to Flagler, where he had a welding shop. In 1985 the welding shop burned. Mark is now a state patrol officer in �STETLER, GRANT F677 I was born in Carey County, Ohio, Sept. 25, 1863, and spent my boyhood days there with my parents on a farm. Hearing the stories of the wonderful West and the opportunity of owning your own home, I decided to take my chance with the others who had immigrated into the new country. So I left my home in Ohio, and came by train to Benkleman, Nebr., then to Bird City, Ks., where an older brother was living. I came with the intention of taking a homestead in western Kansas, but soon learned that all desirable land had been taken up there. So I left my trunk with my brother and took a few supplies with me. A man bythe name of Mack Criger and I walked into Colorado, arriving on March 8, 1887. We enjoyed the trip across the plains eager to get to our destination and learn what the new land looked like, and where we would be located. It took us two days to walk from Bird City to a home owned by Bevelheimer. He was then living on the original townsite platted for Burlington, but from which the town later moved to a site 2 miles east. The night we reached the Colorado line, we were footsore and very weary. We stayed overnight with a Mr. Van Horn and family. There were blisters on our toes and the kind old lady let us bathe our feet and rub them with coaloil. I have never forgotten her kindness to us and how cheered we were to continue our journey. We both took pre-emptions joining and filed our papers at Kiowa, then decided to return to Bird City for supplies. Having no conveyance, we again set out on foot. We walked all day and came to a farm house that night, and asked for a bed. But evidently they didn't like our looks, for they told us they had no place for us to stay. So we just kept walking and walked all night. We followed the angling trail across the prairie to a place where the road forked. One trail leading east and the other angling northeast. We got started on the wrong trail and had walked some miles when we discovered our error. So, as there was no other mark by which we could find our bearings, we looked at Polaris to guide straight north to the angling road, or trail and finally arrived at Bird City. In Bird City, we bought some lumber for our house, a breaking plow, a team of mules, and a wagon. Then we put in some food supplies; consisting of flour, lard, salt side meat, and beans; and bedding, and dishes. We then drove back to our locations in Colo., and build a sod house on the line between the two claims. Criger located on the NE % of 178-44, and I on the SE % of 8-8-44. This was a substitutional little shack with a good roof and a wood floor. We lived here until we could prove on our claims. We had a home made bedstead, and used boxes for cupboards and chairs. Our mail was brought from Ft. Wallace, to Eustis, Kansas, then brought to Colo. by farmers or the stage. The mail sack was left at the home of Jim Anderson, a homesteader near us. We would take the mail sack in the back room of his home, dump the mail on the floor, and get ours out. Then return the mail to the sack, and whenever we met a man whom we knew had received mail. we told him, then he'd go to Andersons to get it. Water was hauled from Lost Man Creek until I dug a well 140 ft. deep. We then had water as long as we stayed there. While I was in Bird City, I met a James Knapp, who at that time was digging the well in the public square, in the town. Later he came to Colo. and dug a number of wells on the ranches around Burlington and for a number of years after procuring a well drilling outfit, he drilled wells and erected windmills for the STEVENS - CALL AND STEVENS - SPURLIN FAMILIES F678 settlers. When buying supplies for our new home, we made an error by purchasing a gasoline cook stove instead of a little "topsy" or cook stove, for when we got to Colo., we discovered we couldn't get gasoline here. So we dug a hole in the ground outdoors and built a fire with buffalo chips, the only available fuel. We were obliged to cook in this manner until we could purchase a cook stove some weeks later. My team of mules and a breaking plow made my living for me, for I got work among the early settlers breaking the ground for tree-culture claims and planting young trees. A number of people came from Skidmore, Mo. and took tree claims, and we got the job of breaking the ground and planting the trees. When I first came here, I brought some of fathers tools. that he used in his blacksmith shops in Flat Rock, and in Carey, Ohio. Among them a brace and bit, a square, and some other pieces. I have used them since and they are pretty well worn now. I also have a stove poker my father made for me when I was a lad. We were thrilled when we learned the Rock Island was coming through here, in Oct. and the grading begun the following April, in 1888. I helped dig the railroad well at Flagler. Fay and Alberta Stevens in the late 1920's in Benkleman, Nebr. My dad, Virgil Fay Stevens Sr., moved to western Kansas with my grandparents. The I watched the little towns grow from tents to their present size. I have seen people come, homestead was just north of Bird City, Kansas. In those days, it was not unusual to stay a short time, and go on, too discouraged see Indians pass by. My mother, Alberta Call, to stand the battle a bit longer. But there was born and raised in Geneva, Kansas. She were always a few who stayed on, endured the was 18 years old when she graduated from hardships, and have been foremost in the progress and development ofthis area. They were the real pioneers and only a few are left. By working at different jobs, I saved enough to return to Ohio, and in Jan. 1889, I was married to Etta M. Slaymaker. We returned to Burl by the new Rock Island and at once got a relinquishment, on which was a small dugout, having a floor made mostly of knotholes. What a home for a bride! We lived here until the next summer when we built a two-room house with a commodious cellar underneath. I dare say that of all the nice homes we've had since, none thrilled us as much as when we moved form the dugout, to the soddy. We got a man by the name of John Trout, to dig a well for us and gave him a cow in payment. Water was brought up by a windlass. Later we put up a windmill, built a stone milk house, and made butter, for which we always got 25 cents per lb. We lived here for about 20 years, and sold out in 1907. We came to Burl, where we bought a hardware store and retired after some years in this business. We are now living in our own home in Burlington, Colo. In May, 1937, Grant Stetler passed away. by Janice Salmans school, and moved to western Kansas to teach at a small country school. This is where she met my dad and they were married. They farmed and raised cattle until the drought of the 30's and the depression forced them off the farm. While living on the farm they had four sons, Virgil Jr., Norman, Dean and Dallas. After leaving the farm they moved to Benkelman, Nebraska, where my two sisters Sharon and Connie were born. I started school in Benkelman and went through the seventh grade. Dad had a garage where he made farm equipment. In 1947 we moved to Walla Walla, Washington, where some of dad's brothers were. None of us liked it there so we came back and settled in Burlington where dad helped his brother, Henry, build the Steven's Motel, the first large modern motel and 24 hour restaurant which was located on Rose Avenue. Dad also contracted other buildings, such as the old Save-U market, and built houses until he became ill. He passed away in 1960. My mother still lives in Burlington and celebrated her 80th birth- day in April, 1987. When I moved to Burlington in 1947 I was in the 8th grade. Tony Consbruck was the new principal. The whole school was in one building. When I was a sophomore we used to go to Stratton, usually in an old Model A Ford, or anything that would run. I met a Stratton girl, Doris Spurlin. Her folks ran a dairy and the Hollywood Creamery. We were married in September of 1953, after Doris graduated from high school. I graduated in 1952 and was working for "Jack the Cleaner". �I ran his delivery route to Stratton, Vona and Seibert. Doris had moved to Burlington with two girl friends and worked as a telephone operator. In January 1954, Doris and I, my brother Dean and his wife Freda, went to Fort Benning, Georgia. Dean and I were in the first NCO (Non-Commissioned Officers) school, class #1 at the Fort and trained with regular army and officer candidates. In 1958 Dean, Freda and their two children, Doris, and our two daughters Dana and Debbie and I moved back to Burlington from Brush. We purchased "Jack the Cleaners" and became partners in business at the D&D Cleaners located at 470 14th Street. Dean later moved to Flagler and operated an additional cleaning plant. After settling in Burlington we had three daughters, Diane, Devona, and Dee, and a son Derek. In 1975 we purchased the business from Felzien Cleaners and moved to a new location at 260 14th Street. In February, 1987, we have been in business 28 years. We have always liked Burlington and Kit Carson County. We know many people all over the county and are very glad we stopped times we had to buy hay and grain that the government had purchased and shipped in. A great deal of it was unfit for the stock to STILL, R. A. AND FREDA eat. Quite a few of the farmers sold their cattle to the government to be killed, rather than buy expensive and oftentimes spoiled F680 feed. When we came to Colorado, there was a great amount of open range, where you could graze your cattle and horses, which helped out considerably during those dry years. However, not everything was on the dark side; there were also good times to be had. These were neighborhood gatherings, visit- ing, card parties and house dances. Almost every weekend there would be a dance at someone's home, Some danced and others that didn't care to dance, played cards. The music was furnished by some of the neighbors. This usually consisted of a piano, violin, and guitar. Each family brought along some food and around midnight, refreshments of sandwiches, cake and coffee were served. A collection was taken to pay for the music. here years ago and decided to raise our family Along in the 40s, things started changing here. All our children graduated from Burlington High School. Two of our children now reside in Burlington. We have six grandchild- for the better. The crops were better and also the prices for the crops. In March 1936, Ethel Kreoger and I were united in marriage. I had a 1929 Essex car and about $40.00 in cash. I had the promise of a job on a farm northeast of Holyoke, about fifteen miles north of Wray; a rod went out the side ofthe engine. But as luck would have it, a couple of men who knew my cousin at Holyoke, came along and picked us up and took us the rest of the way to my cousin's place. I worked on this place for a few months; we then rented a farm north of Burlington. In t942. we left the farm and moved to Denver, where I worked for Remington Arms, making ammunition. We also spent a year in New Jersey, where I had a part in the making of the atom bomb. R.A., Frieda, and Andrew Still during the 1920's. After the war we moved to Hale, Colo., But faithfulness and honesty showed all where I ran the Hale Store and was Postmast- your love was true, and who would ever dream er from the Spring of L947 until August 1948. what all would come. From a horse and buggy courtship to airplane's awesome flight, you've traveled through your life in many ways. ren. Our granddaughter will be the third generation attending Burlington Schools. by Dallas Stevens STEWART FAMILY F679 We moved to a farm southwest of Stratton and lived there until February 1984. After moving there, Ethel taught school for several years. Two years were at the Nutbrook School, located 10 miles south and one mile west of Stratton. Three years were spent Calvin and Ethel Stewart on March 1970 on their 35th wedding anniversary. On March 10, 1932, from Gage Co., Nebraska, came the Stewarts H.R. and Hattie, with their three sons: Calvin, Lamar and Dean to a place 9% miles north of Burlington to what was known as the Tyler place. We arrived at the time the banks were going broke and the drought and dust storms were starting. The fall of '31 Dad came to Colorado and leased the place where we were to live, across the road from land he had purchased previously. The land owners were to do some building, including a house and some work on the barn. However, on arriving at the place, Sixty years is a long time for two to live as one "Surely, this won't last," was said by some. one miles south and one mile west of You've seen such endless changes throughout your married life together, faced it all so unafraid. You both pulled out of Stockton that cold day long ago, one by rail, the other by Model Stratton. T. I were married 38 years; we had 3 daughters: Sandra Lincoln, Marianna, Fla., Patricia You set out in your new life determined and with love to make your life as good as it could be. You've seen a lot of good times Contrasted to the bad; The dirty thirties'darkened skies of dust. at the Smoky Angle School, which was twenty I also spent several years working for the railroad and Kit Carson County. Ethel and Webb, Bethune, Colo., and Sharon Harper, Cedar Hill, Texas. In 1974 Ethel passed away; in 1976, I married Jewell Tatkenhorst. Jewell passed away in 1983. I rm now married to the former When chickens roosted early and night came at midday. The strength that pulled you Betty Miller. through was love and trust. For those whose faith together gets them My brother, Lamar, is living in Denver and brother, Dean, still resides on the home place, through those bad times, rewards are bound to come, and yours came, too. north of Burlington. we found nothing had been done. So we There have been quite a few rough times moved into a sod house that was on the place, until such time as Dad could get a house built and a great many good times. I guess you need the bad times to really appreciate the good for us. ones. The first few years were tough going, as the crops were short and prices low. We were farming with horses at that time, as were quite a few others, and at times it was touch and go as to whether we were going to get feed enough for the horses and cattle. Several Over Sixty Years and "Still' Going Strong by Calvin YY. Stewart Those fields of golden harvest seemed magical at times. The magic, though, was hard work, Mother Nature and you. And speaking of hard work, we can't forget the cows, the milking and to town you hauled the cream. Kanorado was then booming, a busy little town; a hotel, movie house, a growing dream. We want to thank you Grandma. and Grandad, thank you, too. You made us each feel special and always a part. �finishing high school in Flagler, Colorado. And memories you gave us. Too manY, here, to count. Because you have always been Second Central provided grades through ten, all attended junior and senior years in Flagler High School; Donna attended Flagler school a few years longer, Lyle graduated from Flagler High School in 1944. This time in history was an unusual young at heart. Good cooking, Christmas stockings, whistles and bubble gum, sleighrides, laughter, teats, memories we all share. With our congratulations for your shared sixty years, we give our love to you both 'cause we care. And this is so little in comparison to all you have given us. Your grandchildren and great-grandchild- time for many, upsetting many of life's ambitions and plans. After a summer at home, he entered the Army. After training, his outfit was put aboard a Liberty ship, headed for the Pacific area. Japan surrendered and these troops were among the first ren, This poem was written in honor of R.A. and Freda Still's sixtieth Wedding Anniversary, in 1983. Freda passed away in September, 1984. This poem is being placed in this book in fond memory of Grandma, by her Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren, and R.A. who still lives in their home (north of Kanorado) over 60 years and "STILL" going strong. troops arriving there. After sailing into Nagasaki Harbor, the journey was extended to Nagoya where troops were put ashore. The first permanent outfit was at Koyoto. After a few months, all were shipped to Kochene Stadium at Osaka where men transferred to various parts of Japan. Lyle was transferred to a Signal Corps outfit in Kobe. In 1946, he was shipped back to the states and discharged in November, 1946. On January 24, L948, Lyle married Laura by Susan Corliss Elizabeth Howe of the Bovina area. She STONE, LYLE W. AND LAURA F68l Solomon W. and Rose A. Stone, Lyle Stone's grandparents Lyle W. was born September 22, L926 in a sod house built for his parents, Conrad L. & Minerva (Sloan) Stone, when they were married. His father, Conrad "Connie" was a son of Solomon W. & Rose A. Stone. In this same house, Joyce Elizabeth was born February 10, 1929. The Connie Stone family then moved to the old Moss homestead to live for a time. Here, Dorothy A. was born on the fourth of July, 1930. Connie bought some land south in the range area and built there Conrad and Minerva Stone Family sist€rs Joyce, Dorothy and Donna - LyIe and his a three room adobe house, barns, and necessary buildings to raise livestock. At this place, Donna M. was born on March 7, 1936. Lyle and his sisters, Joyce, Dorothy and Donna attcnded school at Second Central, attended school in Lincoln County, graduating in Genoa in 1945. After a try at farming on the family homestead, their last $50.00 went for seed wheat. The crop was lost that winter in blowing dust. They then moved to Denver where Lyle attended Western Television and Radio Institute. A little over two years later they returned to a home they had built in the Town of Flagler; a shop was established in July, 1951. Plans were to continue in school at Chicago, but comfort of living again in Flagler was too great. By driving school buses, combines and other odd jobs, the business was able to succeed. Laura and Lyle were proud parents of Marvin Lyle, Connie Lee, Peggy Joyce, Lenny Ray, Kelvin Eugene and Laura Beth. AII children attended Flagler Schools. Marvin attended Otero Junior College, Colorado State University, Washington State University and received a doctorate. He now is a professor at Oklahoma State University. Connie Lee attended Mesa College at Rangely one year and two years at Otero College at La Junta. He is now serving as a technician at the family shop. Lenny Ray attended college at Otero Junior College, served a time with the United States Air Force in the "cripto" area and now serves as a communi- cations technician in the family shop. Peggy Joyce lives on the Island of Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands. She attended Colorado * State Teachers College at Greeley, where she received a B.S. degree and a Masters at the University of Hawaii. She is now employed by Social Services on Moloki. Kelvin Eugene attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs and Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley where he received a B.S. degree in Chemistry. He is now chief chemist for the City of Colorado Springs. In 1956, Lyle was elected to the Board of Directors for the Town of Flagler, serving there until 1968. He then was elected mayor and served until 1972. Of this time, a most remembered problem would have been with man's best friends, the dogs. Laura, among all other duties of raising a family has served the business as bookkeeper and general manager through many years, a momentous task. In 1987, the family business has been in operation for 36 years. In conclusion, Flagler Lyle and Laura Stone and family �has been a good place to do business and especially to raise a family. by Lyle TV. Stone STONE, SOLOMON WESLEY F682 Stone, Solomon Wesley, arrived in Kit Carson County in 1914 after a grueling trip from Beverly, Kansas. He was accompanied by his son, Conrad Lyle Stone, known to most as "Connie". Other members of the family, along with household and other equipment, arrived later in Seibert by train. The family first located on the "Cardwell Place", south of Seibert where the family lived until moving to a tract of land Solomon had purchased, some 12 miles southeast of Flagler. A great amount of effort to improve this plot of ground was seen in the next few years when a row oflocust trees was planted, a large area of garden, shrubbery and trees near the homesite. Most who knew them, will recall the row of trees reaching over a half mile, the steep magnesia cliffs and winding incline of the road from the east approach. This location was a welcome change from the at Time, Pike County, Illinois and died July 4, L94L, at Flagler. Rose (Anderson) Stone was born November 12, 1863, at Newton, Iowa and died September 13, 1944, Flagler. Children of Marice Briand and Laura Lenore Briand (Stone) were Joyce Evelyn, Virginia Lenore, Maurice, Hal Burdette, Sol Lewis (Peterson) and William A. Stone were Raymond (died young), Bruck William, Rose Evelyn and Frances June. Children of Minerva Anna (Sloan) and Conrad Lyle Stone were Lyle Wesley, Joyce Elizabeth, Dorothy Anna and Donna Mae. Children of Marjory (Taylor) and Solomon W. Stone were Judeth Roann, and of second marriage to Ida B. (Reynolds), Conrad who died at birth. Conrad Lyle b. Aug. 31, 1898 (Beverly, Ks), Farmer and Stockman, lived most of his life in Flagler area, Colo. Owned ranches and farms south of Flagler, trained as a barber, practiced in Flagler a time. Died at Hoxie, Ks, Jan26,1965, married by Rev. Adna W Moore at Flagler on March 11, 1925. Minerva Anna Sloan b. July 26, 1900 (Selden, Ks), died March 24, 1978 at Hugo, Colo. Loved home and family above all else, played basketball as a youth, enjoyed School Sports and Community affairs. Children: a. Lyle Wesley b. Sept. 22,1926, Telecommunications. Lifetime in Flagler area. Married Jan.24,1948 (Limon). Laura Elizabeth Howe b. March 4, L927 (Genoa, Co), Accountant, Bus Mgr & Homemaker. Children: (1) Marvin Lyle b. June 22, L950 (Denver, Co). Doctorate in Engineering Sciences, Prof at man to Illinois where he engaged in farming. At the onset of the Civil War, joined the 99th Ill. Infantry and after many encounters, became ill at the Battle of Vicksburg from ting. No Children. unsanitary conditions at the front and later died in St. Louis, Mo., when his son, Solomon was only one year old. Solomon, his Mother and three brothers moved then to near Ft. Scott, Kansas, where his mother homesteaded, later marrying a minister who had also homesteaded there named Cardwell. The family then moved to Lecompton, Kansas, where Solomon grew to manhood. On April 20, 1887, Solomon married Rose A. Anderson at Ellsworth, Kansas. The couple spent some time at Topeka where Solomon was engaged as a stonemason in the building of the State Capitol building there. He later bought a farm at Beverly, Kansas, where his children, Alma Elizabeth (died young), Laura Lenore, William Anderson, Conrad Lyle and Solomon Wesley was born. (The youngest son of the youngest son was called Solomon for four generations!) Other members of the Stone family had homesteaded south of Seibert and reported good country, accounting for Solomon's move to Kit Carson County. Here he engaged in farming, construction and road building. He plastered many local homes, ran the concrete for the Flagler water tower, built a few rock buildings, ran sidewalks and curbs in Flagler. He operated a road-building crew when Kit Carson County improved the rural roads in this area. He was known as "Uncle Sol" and she as "Aunt Rose" to all who knew them in the area. They were active in the First Congregational Church in Flagler and the Second Central Sunday School. Solomon Stone was born August L4, L862, F683 and Maryn Kay. Children of Nettie Jo general flat rolling country about it, an oasis of greenery in a normally dry and sometimes dusty land. Solomon Stone was the son of Solomon of Bloomfield, Indiana whose father, also Solomon, had moved there from North Carolina. Solomon of Indiana moved when a young STONER, EMMA AND GALEN Oklahoma State University, Married Dec. 31, 1970, to: Bonnie Jean Flowers b. Feb. 19, 1950, Computer Op, Archaeologist, Accoun- (2) Connie Lee b. May 30, 1951 (Denver), Radio and Electronics Tech. Married Aug. 21,1976. Debra Jean Hobbie b. June 15, 1958, Homemaker, active in comm affairs. Children: (a) Robyn Kelly b. June 7, 1979 (b) Collin Lee b. November 29, 1980 (c) Apryl Denise b. June 7, 1982. (3) Lenny Ray b. May 25, 1952 (Denver), Radio and Electronics Tech. Served USAF- SAC Cryptology, Comm Married Aug 27, L972 to: Nola May Parker b. July 8, 1952, Degree in Education, teaching, active in sports. Children: (a) Randal Dean b. May 26, 1972 (b) Christopher Lee b. Nov. 23, 1973 (c) Laurie Ranae b. May 12, 1981. (4) Peggy Joyce b. Aug 13, 1953 (Flagler). Masters Deg in Voc and Rehabilitation. Lives in Hawaii (Moloki and Oahu) Works Soc. Services. Married Aug 15, 1975 to: Arthur Patrick Saguid b. Jan 4, 1951 (Oahu, Hi), Masters Deg in Spec Ed Children: (a) Tiani Elena Christina Saguid b. Oct 15, 1982. (5) Kelvin Eugune b. May 23, 1956 (Flagler), Degree in Chemistry, wks & lives in Co. Springs, Co, Chief Chemist, city laboratory. Married on Dec 27, 1980 to: Lucy Alene Shawcroft b. July 8, 1955, Col Grad. Children: (a) Daniel Kelly b. Aug 19, 1983. (b) Thomas Earl b. Nov 4. 1984. (6) Laura Beth b. June 5, 1962 (Flagler), Accounting, Homemaker, Sports Inst. Married Sept 20, 1981 to: Rick Ray Pelton b. Sept 24, 1961, Col Grad, Farming, Mechanic. Children: (a) Tyler Anthony b. Aug 25,L984. by Lyle Stone Emma and Galen Stoner. My parents, Emma and Galen Stoner, moved to Colorado in the spring of 1942 from Morton Co., Kansas, where the Stoners and Milburns were early settlers. The "dirty thirties" had already driven the rest of the Stoners to leave. When Gerald "Jiggs" Halrvard went to the Army, my folks moved to his ranch in Cheyenne County. After my school year was finished in Houghton, Kansas, my father brought me and another load ofthings up that long road north ofFirst View (from which you are supposed to get your first view of Pikes Peak if the atmosphere is just right). I thought that he had brought me to the end of the world when I saw all those miles of green pastures, which have now nearly all been plowed for farming. My parents ran steers on this ranch. Even yet then in the 40's, Dad, with the help of neighbors, drove the steers to First View to load on the train to take to the Kansas Citv market. Dad would ride along in the caboose. I had some contact with Stratton that first summer through one of our neighbors, the Gerald Clines. I came along with the Cline boys, Phillip, Lyle, and Dewaine, to C.E., a youth group at the Evangelical Church which is now the United Methodist. Sometimes we picked up Bernadean Rose and Elsie Leiber on the way. Rev. Kayton was the minister, usually called "preachers" then. As the previous year had been the last year for high school at First Central, we high school students in the Smoky Angel district were given our choice of going to Stratton, Cheyenne Wells, or Kit Carson. Attending Stratton or Cheyenne Wells would have meant living away from home during the week, so we (perhaps we thought we did the choosing) chose Kit Carson. A car load ofus, Faye and Rex Piper, the Clines, Mary Anne Blankenbaker, and John Fleming, would meet a bus on Highway 59 which had picked �up kids north of Mt. Pearl School. Mr. Floyd Mills drove the bus and would drop off the grade school kids at Mt. Pearl and end up with a load of high school students to go into Kit Carson. Since we lived at the end of the line, my sister Carolyn and I spent nearly four hours a day on the bus. Claudine attended grade school at Smoky Angle. These were the rationing times of World War II. School activities of boys' basketball games, band concerts, bond rallies and school plays went on. Sometimes Dad could spare enough gas for us to go to a "picture show", as movies were called then, in Cheyenne Wells. There was a grocery store in First View where Mother got things sometimes, but "trading" was done in Cheyenne Wells or Stratton. It was not unusual for kids to get excused at noon to go buy groceries to bring home on the bus. I worked in a grocery store in Kit Carson for a time after I graduated. People would gather at the store in anticipa- for the Gibson Store chain has kept my brother, Ronald, on the move; at present he and his wife Evelyn and their family Iive in Dodge City, Kansas. He tells of making business calls to the East and having some people think he is playing a joke on them when he tells them to send it to Dodge City. They say, "Oh, there isn't really such a place." I married Leo Kindred, son of Cora and Earl Kindred of south of Stratton. We bought a farm 5% miles south of Bethune from John Robinson twenty-seven years ago and it is still our home. We have a daughter, Carol, who lives at Sterling, Colorado. by Maxine Kindred STORRER, FRED AND HARRIET tion ofthe produce truck's arrival. It doesn't seem that there was ever enough meat or cheese for the ration coupons, people had. It was not an enjoyable time to be a store clerk behind the counter, writing down what F684 neighbors, Dudley Swan and his mother, had fuel but no food. So they moved together that winter. As often stated, no problem came of them living together. It was survival for both. Harriet Storrer's daughter Ella, can remember seeing her shed many tears long after Grandma Swan passed on. In 1917, Mrs. Storrer was taken seriously ill. Her doctor, neighbor, Mr. Storrer and two younger babies took the train to Kansas City. from Topeka to Kansas City, thinking she was dead, but they took her to St. Joseph's customers knowing. When the war was over and Jiggs Hayward returned to the ranch, myparents moved into Stratton and Dad worked at the Coop station for awhile before buying the Tom Kennedy Hospital and after six weeks stay, she came home. After many, many illnesses during her lifetime, they lacked going on three days of celebrating sixty years of marriage together before Harriet Storrer passed away. Fred and Chester have also passed away, Chester before Harriet, and Fred after her. The picture shows Mr. and Mrs. Storrer in front oftheir adobe house in 1944. The other one is Mr. Storrer with the horses that he farm north of Stratton. Even though history books do not make record of the "dirty fifties" as they do the "Dust Bowl thirties", the drought and blowing dirt prevailed throughout eastern Colorado and western Kansas, burying farm buildings and fence to the top wire, and denying farmers their livelihood. Dad worked some at the Stratton Coop shop with Roland Hernbloom, and later as a propane delivery man. He served on the Stratton School Board at the time of the reorganization when the small country schools were closed. As I recall it had to be workgd out with the state to allow the buses to pick up and transport students to the St. Charles Academy before the reorganization was voted in. Mother was always active, helping on the farm, teaching Sunday School, and helping in 4-H. The folks sold their farm in the late fifties and move into Stratton where Dad worked for the Coop. He retired after having a mild enjoyed so. There were many hard times. Crop failures etc., but all in all a good life that brings heart attack in 1969. They became Fred and Harriet Storrer in front of sod home in 1944. friends and loved ones closer together, known only by those who experienced pioneer days. Chester made his home in Denver along with his wife Hazel. Ella also made her home in Denver with her late husband, Henry Lebsack, where they both retired from the railroad. Bill and his family later settled in Golden and Cloyd and his wife, Ruby, and family made his home in Ft. Worth, Texas. Bill Storrer manied Venora Wertz in 1940. Venora was born to Henry Wertz and Mable Sheppard. Henry and Mable were married in 1904, lived in Leoti, Kansas, where they farmed with a team of horses and had a mile to walk to school. If the weather was too bad, they were kept home from school. Henry and Mable had seven children, Vernon, Claude, deceased, Cecil, deceased, Gladys, deceased, Lorraine, Venora, and Earl. Henry and Mable moved in 1936 to Johnstown, Co. with the three younger children. The two older boys moved to Sharon Springs and started farming. In Johnstown is where Venora met Bill Storrer and they got married. Later they moved to Lafayette, where Bill worked for the pleasure of going to Hawaii. We celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1976 at the St. Charles Hall. My father died in 1979, and since then Mother has made her home in Burlington. She enjoys good health and is very active in church and senior citizen activities. Carolyn married Ralph Tryon and they live in Fort Collins, where they own and operate Paramont Laundry and Cleaners. My sister Claudine, is married to Clifford Messenger, son of Earl and Lucy Messenger, and they are presently living in Phoenix. Being a manager to the snow storms. In 1911, it was another hard winter and because of Harriet's sister in Kansas City, they had food, but they had no fuel, and the When arriving in Topeka, Kansas, the doctor informed them Mrs. Storrer had passed on. Another doctor on the train asked to examine her and found a bit of life. Mr. Storrer went people wanted, then getting it from the shelf, and supposing to know which certain customers were to have gome "under the counter" cigarettes added to their sack without other "snowbirds", living in Parker, Arizona in the winter. They had a camper trailer in which they lived and visited relatives during the summer. Most summers they set up the trailer in our back yard on our farm south of Bethune, and Dad would help Leo withwheat harvest. They took a number of trips and had Fred Storrer and Harriet Johnson were married in Kansas City, Mo. August 22,L906. In 1909, they homesteaded south of Bethune, in the WVz of Sec. 28, Range 11, Township 45. To this union four children were born: Chester, William, Cloyd and Ella. Fred came ahead and built a one room sod house and then met Harriet and they could only make it to Billy Lang's place where they had to stay for three days, at which time the cowboys were coming there for refuge. It was a sad time as people were losing livestock due Fred Storrer with his horses in 1944. International Harvester. They moved to Denver in 1941, where their first of many daughters was born. Shirley was born in 1941, is married to Milo Mcllhargey, and they live in Nampa, Idaho, and have five children, Jim, Pam, Bill, Tracy and Scott, and three grandchildren. Bill, Venora and Shirley moved to the farm south of Bethune (the Storrer homestead) and started farming with �Fred Storrer in 1945. This was the year that their second daughter was born. Linda was born in Stratton, where she now lives with her husband Bill Swanson, and they have three children, Darla, Mitchell, and Wendi. In 1948, Bill and Venora moved to the Ayers farm where Bill still farmed with his folks until they retired and moved to Denver. In 1951, number three daughter Betty was born in Goodland, Kans. Betty lives in Golden and has a daughter Veronica and twin daughters, Tabatha, and Tonya. On the farm, Bill and Venora spent winter nights making chili and playing pinochle with the neighbors, and having branding days or getting together to clean chickens, hunting, baseball games or fishing at Bonny Dam, and Iots of fish fries. Vicki, daughter number four, was born in 1960 in Burlington. She now lives in Golden with her husband, Doug Wheeler, and son John. Bill bought the old Chapman garage in Bethune, called it the Hiway Garage, where he ran it until 1963 when he moved to Denver. In 1964, a son (finally) was born to them. Lee Fredrick Storrer lives in Golden where he is a plumber. Bill is now retired from Jefco County. Cloyd Storrer and his wife Ruby have three daughters, EIla Jean, married with two boys and one girl, Judy, married and has one boy and one girl, and Joy, married and has two children. by Linda Swanson STRICK FAMILY Furniture Store, located on the end of Main Street, for about five years. He then started working for Hinkhouse Bros. and after twenty-one years is still working for Bill. After moving to Burlington, I worked for a while as a waitress in the Montezuma Hotel Restaurant. After our son, Richard Anthony, was born in 1963, I then worked at the Grace Manor Nursing Home. Then I decided to stay home and care for children of other working mothers. It is now over nineteen years later and I still have a Licensed Day Care Home. During this time our youngest daughter, Letha Josephine, was born in November of 1968. All three of our children attended and graduated from the Burlington Schools. Now Cindy with husband Bob Peter, and children Robert and Stephanie, work and live in Greeley, Colorado. Rich, after going to the University of Northern Colorado (U.N.C.) in Greeley for three years, still lives and works there. Letha Jo works and lives in Aurora, Colorado. Pete and I plan to just enjoy ourselves, our kids, and our grandkids for the rest of our lives. by Dorothy Strick STROBEL FAMILY F686 Germans From Russia F685 I am writing this story in Burlington in April 1980, for the benefit ofour children and relatives that are interested in the history of our relatives from Russia. Ninety-five years ago this spring, my father, Jacob; his older brother, Christian; and a younger brother, John; Ieft Russia for the United States of America. They came with their Uncle Phillip Breitling, uncle by marriage, and his family. Having lived near the Black Sea area, they left Russia and settled in Scotland, South Dakota. Because of financial problems, my grandfather, Jacob Sr.; a son, Gottlob; and a daughter, Carolina; stayed behind in Russia with three married Pete and Dorothy Strick and family Peter Anthony Strick was the eighth of ten children born to Tony and Josephine Strick daughters, Christina Gramm, Gottlebina Lucas, and Kathrine Haas. After aniving at Scotland, Dad and his brother hired out to farmers. Chris, being the oldest, received $100.00 per year; Dad, being 17 years old, ofKirk, Colorado. Pete grew up and attended school in the Kirk community. Dorothy Ann Marshall was the seventh of nine children born to William (Bud) and Letha Marshall of Cope, Colorado. Dorothy attended country schools until the community consolidated and then finished grade and high school at Cope. Pete and Dorothy were married in 1959 and after several moves in the first two years, we moved to Burlington in the fall of 1961. Our first home in Burlington was a basement received $90.00 and John, the youngest, received $80.00. After one and one half years, the brothers saved enough money to help their father financially, so that in the fall of old. In 1962 we bought our present home on 356 8th Street. Of course, in all these years we have added a lot of improvements to our home. At one point we had it practically In the spring of 1890, a number of families decided to come to Colorado to file on apartment on 18th Street. At that time our oldest daughter, Cynthia Ann, was one year rebuilt. When first moving to Burlington, Pete worked a few months for Charly Sholes Construction Co. He then worked for Neils 1887, my grandfather and the two unmarried children left Russia and came to America, also settling in Scotland, South Dakota. The next three years the Strobels worked on farms and in other businesses. Chris operated a creamery that used a steam engine to furnish power to run its machinery. My father collected the cream from farmers in the vicinity of Scotland three times a week and delivered it to his brother's creilnery. homesteads. These families came as far as St. Francis, Kansas, because this was as far as the railroad had been built. (This taken from the Weekly Reuiew, March 6, 1890, St. Francis, Ks.: "A special train came in Sunday and one coach was loaded with Russians and Mon- day's freight brought in several carloads of stock and goods. They numbered about 75 persons in all, and we learn that their destination is near Landsman, Colorado. They, at present are located at Dr. Water- man's old drug store building and are preparing to move. We are sorry they are going so far from our city, for that class of citizens always makes successful farmers. They are from Scotland, South Dakota and state that the reason for leaving that area was on account of the cold weather. One of them says they have to feed their cattle and livestock from Oct. 1, to May 20. They will find quite a change in that respect, for in this country stock hardly require shelter at all.") From St. Francis they came by wagon to the vicinity of Yale, Colorado which was approximately 18 miles northwest of Burlington. When this part of Kit Carson County was settled, most of the people were of German descent. They settled in an area approximately 1 mile square. This community became known as the Settlement. These people had a deep reverence for God and had a desire to worship God. They held Sunday worship services in their homes until about 1892 when they organized and built a church out of native sandstone. The church known as Rock Church, which was the beginning of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church. My parents were members of this church. However. in 1911 a new church organization came into being, The German Congregational Church. A building was erected and called the Hope Congregational Church. My parents then became members of this church. Dad attended the Congregational Church while in Scotland, S.D., and this was one of the reasons for joining the new church. These two churches contributed much to the spiritual aspect of life in this community. Both churches are still active at this time. Here grandfather, Chris and my father, each filed homesteads. which consisted of one-fourth section ofland or 160 acres. They tried to make a living on these homesteads, but because of drought and sometimes hail, they were unable to make ends meet. Therefore my father went to Denver in the fall of 1890, and worked in a smelter until spring and then tried farming during the summer. One winter he worked on a dairy called London Dairy which was located a mile north of the present Stapleton International Airport. My father's job was to take care of the horses that were used to pull the milk wagons that delivered the milk to the residents of Denver. Because my father was a lover of horses, he would get up at 2 o'clock in the morning, feed, curry comb, harness and hitch up the horses to the milk wagons so that they were ready to go at 4 o'clock. Then the drivers of the milk wagons would take off for Denver and return at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when again my father would take care ofthe horses. Dad received 925.00 plus room and board per month on this job. One fall, dad hauled silver ore from a mine near Montezuma, Colo. to the railroad station. From there it was transported to the smelter in Denver. On Jan. 6, 1893, my father was married to Katerina Dobler. (The Doblers c'me to Colorado the same time the Strobels did.) In 1894, after Theodore, my oldest brother, was a few months old, Dad and mother went to Denver one more time. Dad worked in the �smelter again along with his brother, John. Mother and uncle John's wife kept house in the apartment they rented and picked strawberries in their spare time. In the spring of 1895, when they were ready to return to the farm north of Bethune, uncle Andrew Baltzer, who had also gone to Denver to work, offered my folks his team and wagon for their transportation home, because he could stay and work a month or two more. It took the folks three days to get home. After that farming got to be better and dad and mother had accumulated a small herd of cattle, also raising some corn and wheat. In 1913, the folks raised their first good winter wheat crop and thereafter wheat crops were usually quite good until about 1931-1932 unless it was attacked by smut. Wheat for seed had to be treated for smut, a fungus which made the kernels turn black and useless. I knew of two treatments for smut: house and the water for the tank in the corral where animals watered. We were the first family to have running water and a bath tub in the house in the settlement. The first light plant in the settlement was installed by the John Ziegler family (parents of my wife Magdalena,) in 1917. In 1918, we purchased our first light plant, a 32 volt battery set. Up to this time our only source of light was the Kerosene lamp. Our brother John, who was mechanically inclined, set up the plant, and did the electrical wiring of the house and out buildings. At that time, mother got an electric double tub washing machine. We also put an electric motor on our cream separator. Up until then they were all powered by hand. In 1925, we bought our first truck, a one was a formaldehyde and water solution Chevrolet 1 ton, complete with box and a wood cab, for $840.00. With it we could haul 65 bushels of grain, compared to 55 to 60 hauled by wagon and two horses. If a triple and the other a copper sulphate and water solution. We used the formaldehyde solution with very good results. Early seeding also bu., and pulled it by four horses. It took approximately 12 hours for a round trip to helped the problem. After we started to summer fallow, we seeded earlier and the smut treatments could be discontinued. by Albert Strobel STROBEL FAMILY F687 German Children The names of the children of Jacob and Katerina Strobel are as follows: Theodore, Nov.4, 1893; Emma, Aug. 10, 1896; John, Jan. 6, 1899; Albert, July 26, 1904, and Emil, Dec. 2, 1908. Until 1921, our sole power was horses. They did all the field work and the transporting of wheat and other commodities such as butter, cream, and eggs to market. Sometimes dad would butcher hogs and deliver the carcasges to town. In 1915 on July 4th, we bought our first car, a model T Ford, which made traveling to town much easier and faster. We would buy our gas in 55 gallon barrels for 11 cents per gallon. The cost of our first car was $545.00. The Ford Motor Company made a statement that if it would sell a half million cars in 1915, it would refund $50.00 to each customer. Ford box was used we could haul between 75 to 80 Burlington. We harvested our wheat with a header pulled or rather pushed by six horses. The header would elevate the cut wheat straw into a header box 8'x 16'mounted on awagon and pulled by two horses. After the header was full, it was unloaded by hand and the wheat stacked into stacks. About a month or two later, a threshing machine would come hauled by horses and wagon from five to eight miles away. Later in the 1920's we hauled ice with our truck. In 1928, dad bought a Willis tractor, which pulled a three row lister or a three or four bottom plow. This made the farming easier. In about 1929, the depression hit our part of the country. During the depression, the price on corn was as low as 12 cents per bushel, wheat 25 cents per bushel, two year springer heifers $12.00 to 15.00 per head,40 to 50 test cream 5 gallons for $2.00, and eggs as low as 4 cents per dozen. These are some of the things I vividly remember. The drought commonly called the dirty thirties, also started about that time and lasted until about 1938, when we started raising more corn and wheat again. At that time people started to summer fallow for wheat which made a big difference in the yields. Continuous cropping yields were from 12 to 15 bu., where summer fallow yields were from 30 to 40 bu. per acre. My brother Emil, and I bought two second hand combines, in 1943, one a 12' Baldwin and the other a 10' International Harvester. However the grain was still unloaded by hand into the granary and then again loaded by hand to be taken to market. approximately 50 to 60 bu. of corn per day if he worked from ten to twelve hours. Then later, the corn was shelled with a corn sheller. Later in about 1945, Henry Daum, an elevator man in Bethune, came up with an auger elevator, ten feet long and five inches in diameter. This elevator was driven by a one and one half horse gas engine, which moved the grain more easily. On April 25, 1931, just before the drought and dust bowl years, Lena Zeigler and I were married. We had a rough time during the 30's. We have six children: Arnold, April 26, 1932; Viola, Dec. 17, 1933; Alvin and Calvin, Jan. 21, 1936; Arthur, Jan.22,1941; and Roland, Feb. 21, 1942. We always had enough to eat as we raised our own very: potatoes, squash, and plenty of watermelon, along with cream, butter, milk and eggs. In 1923, we received over 20 inches of rainfall and therefore, had 150 acres ofcorn thatyear by Albert Strobel into the vicinity which was powered by a steam engine. It took about 12 men to make up a threshing crew. The crew consisted of one separator man, one engineer, one water- man, from four to six pitches, (who put the straw in the machine), two grain haulers, and two cooks to feed the crew. Harvesting corn was done by hand. It was husked and thrown or tossed into a wagon pulled by two horses. It was then hauled to cribs and unloaded or piled in long piles. One man could pick and the average yield was 35 bushels per acre. John, Emil, and I bought a used corn sheller from Granville Hutton. We reconditioned it and did custom shelling for three years. We charged two cents for husked corn and five cents for snapped corn per bushel. The cobs were used for fuel along with cow chips and coal. The later we could buy for $8.00 to passed the half million car mark and dad received a refund of $50.00. Dad bought his first car from Griffith Davis, the Ford dealer. In 1921, dad bought our first tractor, a $10.00 per ton. In about 1940, dad and mother, Emil and we ourselves, each bought our first propane gas ranges, which made cooking and baking much easier. comparison to the later models. However, it relieved the horses from a lot of work. Around 1916, dad and mother built a new house. The material used for the walls was adobe about 18 inches thick. The outside was covered with tongue and groove drop siding and painted. The house included the following rooms: kitchen, dining room, front room or parlor as it was called at the time, three bedrooms, another room for a pantry and a bathroom. In 1917, dad put running water to the house and corral. Water at that time was pumped by windmill into a 5'x 7'supply tank which was put into the top of a 10' x 10' hexagonal building. The supply tank was 10 feet off the ground and provided running water for the by Albert Strobel Titan 10-20. It was a clumsy machine in butter from spoiling. We also used it to make good old homemade ice cream. The ice was STROBEL - DOBLER FAMILY F689 My parents, Jacob Strobel and Katherina Dobler were born and raised in Russia in villages some 50 miles inland from Odessa, a port in the Black Sea. Their ancestors immigrated from Germany about 1810, and thus spoke German, and never Russian. They came by covered wagons by way of Poland where they had to spend the winter. My STROBEL FAMILY F688 There wasn't much leisure time. However in the winter. we would hunt rabbits and prairie chickens. Sometimes we would go ice skating at the two small dams along the Republican river. One was located by the Rosser Davis ranch and the other at the Sherman Corliss ranch. In the winter we would get ice from the above ponds or dams and store it in ice cellars or caves to be used in the summer to keep meats and milk and great-grandfather was born there that winter. In the spring they resumed their journey to the Black Sea area, which was all virgin prairie. Those that survived endured many hardships. Villages were finally established and the prairies plowed and began growing wheat and other grains. The srrrplus they hauled by wagon to Odessa and sold and exchanged for other goods they needed. Cattle, swine, poultry and sheep were also raised. The wool from the sheep was all home spun and woven into fabrics for clothing, etc. In the year 1885, when my father was 17 years old, he and an older and a younger �& there was no well at the new homestead, they had to bring water in barrels for the horses from the first farm home. Later that year my father had a well put down and a windmill erected. It was not until 1913 that Dad had his first good wheat crop. That spring his older brother Chris sold out and moved his family to N. Dak. Brother Theo went along with his uncle, but after a year or so felt called to the Christian Ministrv and enrolled in Redfield Seminary, S. Dak. From before the turn of the century and a decade into the 1900, churches and schools were built in this vicinity north west of Burlington in which my father took an active part. Before the churches were built, worship services were conducted in my Grandfather Dobler's farm home. My brother Theo and Bill Dobler were the first to go on to higher education, beyond the 8th grade. Brother Threshing grain sorgum with corrugated threshing rock on Jacob Strobel farm about 1928. Grandfather Dobler rented a farm house near Scotland to house his family of 8 children. The older children worked for farmers in the area and other businesses. Grandfather Dob- ler managed a grain elevator in Scotland. In 1890 both the Strobel and Dobler families came to Colorado after hearing that homesteads were available here in Kit Carson County, and also the climate was milder. Here again the land was all virgin prairie. My father along with others, came from the Dakotas by train to St. Francis, Kansas, where the railroad ended, and from there with horses and wagons to the Yale area some 18 miles northwest of Burlington. They worked for ranchers along the Republican River, but especially at the Cox Ranch (the now McArthur Ranch). My father helped dress native rock to build the ranch house, dated 1898;, also the barns and rock walls for corrals. My father also worked in Denver digging ditches for water lines etc; at the Globe Smelter, and then hauled ore by wagon from mines in the Montezuma area west of Denver. Street cars were then drawn by a Jacob and Katherina Strobel on their 50th Wed- ding Anniversary. January 8, 1943. brother along with an uncle and family left Russia and came to America. An eight day boat ride on a German built ship and manned by mostly German sailors, so they could at Ieast converse in their native tongue. They landed on Ellis Island, where the U.S. government maintained an emmigration station, near Liberty Island - site of Statue of Liberty. (The Statue of Liberty was unveiled the following Oct, 1886). From there they traveled by train to Scotland, S.D. where they worked for farmers in the area. It took them over a year to earn and save enough money so they could help their father and remaining family come to America also. About the same time the Christian Dobler family had come to America. My mother often related that they were on board ship over the Christmas and New Year holidays, and took 19 days from Bremerhaven to New York, as they encountered stormy seas. They settled in Scotland, S.D. area also. This is where my father and mother first met, and never in the old country. My horse and had a place where the horse could stand when the car would coast down hill. My father and mother were married Jan. 8, 1893, as were my mother's sister Christina and Pete Knodel, double wedding. That fall in November my oldest brother Theodore was born and to better support his new family, Dad again went to Denver the next spring and took along his wife and new son. This time he worked at the London Dairy, headquarters werejust north ofthe Stapleton Airport. They milked about 200 cows on an average, but my father was the hostler and cared for the horses that were used to deliver the bottled milk to Denver and bring bran, etc. for the dairy cows: also alfalfa haying along 1st creek where he was the stacker. My father finally homesteaded in the year 1906, north and west of Bethune. I am the youngest in the family and was born on the new homestead, Dec. 1908. My older three brothers, Theo, John and Albert and sister Emma (Mrs. Jake Schaal) were born where my parents lived for about 15 years, about 6 miles S.E. of the new homestead, but never obtained title to the land. The new homestead was all buffalo and gramma sod. So that spring of 1906, Dad and brother Theo plowed about 20 acres with walking plows and prepared it to plant corn and feed, and, as Theo served churches in Colorado and Dakotas and on the west coast for 50 years, the last 10 as interim pastor. Bill taught in schools around the state until he retired. I attended Prairie View School Dist #22 and graduated from the eighth grade in 1924. Brothers John and Albert also attended Prairie View School through the eighth grade; my oldest brother Theo and sister Emma, about through the sixth grade. We boys continued farming the original homestead and other land my parents had acquired before they retired; each ofus boys got 2 quarters to begin farming. Sister Emma received equivalent in cash and livestock. She married Jake Schaal in 1921. In 1986 she had a fatal accident when she attempted to kindle a fire in the cook stove with tractor fuel and the can exploded. Brother Theo married his school mate at college the same year, lg2L. Brother John married Margaret Weisshaar in 1927. In 1936 they went to Calif. where he worked at construction, concrete and carpentry. Albert and I married sisters, Lena and Anna Ziegler in 1931 and 1933 respectively. Albert and I remained through the depression and dust bowl years of the thirties. The ensuing years also had their ups and downs, but as deep well irrigation developed over the years and crops and feed for livestock became more stable, the economy was boosted consi- derably. However, the considerable drop of the water table due to the deep well irrigation poses problems as well and will require prudent management of our natural resources. Hopefully all who use and benefit from the use of these resources, directly or indirectly, will be willing to help conserve them for future generations. by Emil J. Strobel STROBEL - DOBLER FAMILY F690 In 1885 my grandparents, the Jacob Strobel Sr. and the Christian Dobler families came to America from Russia and settled in Scotland, South Dakota. Each family had 8 children and they worked mostly on farms. The Jacob Strobel Sr. family consisted of Katherine (Haas), Christina (Gramm), Gottliebena (Lukas), Christian, Jacob (my father), John, Gottlieb, and Carolina (Baltzer). The Christian Dobler family consisted of �electric lights which were run by a flywheel generator so when you came to corners or slowed down you had to race the motor to be llt.af r:l:ri lii:l i:r, ,r:,r,. .,,,1 able to see. The dash and tail-lights were kerosene which you had to light with a match when it got dark. My first ride in an auto, however, was in 1909 in an International with solid rubber tired buggy wheels and goggles had to be put on because there was no windshield and we were going the amazing speed of 15 m.p.h. Jacob Strobel plowing to plant potatoes with Prince and Jim. Spring 1928. Dora (Strobel), Christina (Knodel), Kather- ine (my mother) Strobel, John, Theresa (Leupp) Christian, Mary (Stahlecker) and Leopold. In 1890, after the Rock Island R.R. was built through Kit Carson County and homesteads were available, a number of families loaded their meager belongings, livestock and furniture in railroad cars and arrived in St. Francis, Kansas. From there they loaded wagons and came to the vicinity of Yale Post Office (later Sam Schaals farm) about 14 miles north of Burlington. It was known as the Russian-German settlement. My father, Jacob Strobel Jr. homesteaded S.E. rA L4-745 but never took out the patent or proof of it. Grandfather Strobel Sr. homesteaded just north of our Dad. Because of the drought, grasshoppers, etc. it was hard to make a living so many including Dad went to Denver to work on a dairy farm and sent his wages of $25 per month home for the others to live on. This was in 1891. Later he worked in a silver ore smelter for $2.50 per 12 hour shift. In 1893 Jacob Strobel married Katherine Dobler and built a house about 16'x 26'with sandstone. sod roof and wall to wall mud floor. My mother would go over the floor once a month or so with a thin mixture of yellow clay and wheat chaff which made the floor real hard. They put down a well but no windmill so had to draw water by windlass. (160'deep and the bucket held 7 gallons). This took a long time to water 10 or more cows and horses. Theodore. their first child was born in 1893. In 1896 Emma Strobel was born and manied Jake Schaal in 1921. I, John Strobel was born in 1899 and married Margaret Weisshaar in L92l .In 1904 Albert was born and married Lena Zeigler in 1931. In 1908, when Emil Strobel was born, there was a big snow storm with about 2 feet of snow and no help could get through so my Dad was the midwife with help from our L2 year old sister Emma. Emil married Anna Zeigler in 1933. My first recollections were in 1903 when Jacob Strobel Sr. (my grandfather) would go to Burlington with eggs and butter in exchange for groceries in a t horse-top buggy and usually brought us each a small piece of candy which we eagerly awaited. We had a large lake just south of our farm. John and Bill Wahl who lived 1 mile southwest and farmed ground north of us would haul their feed past the lake. One would get off the wagon and we would see a big black cloud of smoke because they used black powder. Then there was a big bang and thousands of ducks would rise. That was the time of Ducks Unlimited!In 1906 John Wahl was killed by lightning. Bill Wahl married Katy Adolf (A.W. Adolfs sister). In 1904 Dad added another room and wooden floors in all the house. Later that same year, we, Mother, Albert and I, went by train to Denver to visit Mother's brother Chris Dobler, wife Sophie and son Art. Enough money was had by then to buy a new 2 seater spring-buggy and a new Delavel cream separator. In 1906 because there was not enough land to farm and pasture on 160 acres, our Dad homesteaded a quarter (S.8. % 7-7-45) about 5 miles northwest of our farm with open range to the Republican River. There were problems with loco weed and the cattle and horses would eat it and become almost worthless. A week before Christmas in 1906 we moved to the new homestead and in 1907 built a new 24 x 50 adobe barn which is still used today by my nephew Leland Strobel and wife Lee. It was a dry year in 1908 and Dad cut about 35 loads of russian thistles for feed. Other feed should have been mixed with it but there was little to be had. Until 1912 we had only implements of a walking plow, Iister, harrow and cultivator. We used a threshstone which was cut out of rock and had a corrugated surface about 3'wide and 22" high. This was pulled by 2 horses over a circle of grain on the ground. All the wheat, millet and beans etc. were threshed in this manner. Dad would then winow it in the evening wind to separate the chaff from the grain. In 1912 we bought our first John Deere gang plow for 955, a McCormick 5'mower for 945 and McCormick rake for $37. Plowed about 35 acres for fall wheat and sowed about 30 acres of wheat between corn rows with a l-horse drill. So in 1913 we had our first good wheat crop getting about 1500 bushels. Ernest and Carl Fisher threshed it for us. The price of wheat was 700 a bu. but with the European War, the price later went up over $3 a bushel. Then the government pegged the price at $1.90 for a number of years. Dad bought a new Ford for $545 in 1915. It had In 1914, my brother Theodore went to Redfield College in South Dakota to study for the ministry. In the fall of L922 I bought a Harley Davidson motorcycle and went to California to visit relatives. West of the Rockies there were no roads, only ruts and old railroad beds. In Salt Lake I found that roads were still worse going west so I crated my motorcycle and shipped it ahead to Lodi and I continued on by train. I did construction work for 4 years returning home each summer except 1 for the harvest. During the fall of 1923 Christian Dobler (my grandfather) was killed by a bull while bringing home the milk cows. I returned to Colorado in 1926 and built a small house and other buildings and in December 1927 married Margaret Weisshaar (daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Schaal) Weisshaar). In 1928 my cousin Emil Strobel from Lodi and I decided to have a carload of fine Calif. grapes shipped by rail in an iced car to Colo. to sell at the county fair. However, they got delayed and didn't arrive until a week after when folks had bought most of their supply. The cost ofthis adventure was $1565. The ice got low so had to buy more and after a week only sold half. We sent the car back to Denver where a fruit dealer bought them all. Our getrich scheme got us enough to pay for the grapes, freight and an extra $100 for Emil. I got enough for the gas going back and forth. No money maker after all but a good experience. "Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only more intelligently." Then followed the 1929 crash, depression years and the dust storms. In 1934 the government destroyed 12 ofour cattle because ofthe lack of feed. For this we were paid $174. In 1936 our only child Esther was born and left for Calif. again with my parents Jacob and Katherine Strobel but then returned within a week because of the death of my sister Emma Schaal who died in a fire. We returned once more to Calif. and built a house trailer and I worked for a construction co. We always had our house with us when we traveled. We built our present home in 1941. From our hillside we can see the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. I worked 30 years in construction which took us all around California, Nevada and Hawaii. In 1969 we went to Europe for three months to visit all the relatives on both sides who did not venture to America. In 1956 our daughter Esther was married to Stanley Wethern and they have 4 children, Stephen (married to Jeannine Zukoski), James, Karen and Kathy. I have been retired about 20 years and Margaret and I come back to the old farm and community whenever possible. As I celebrate my 87th birthday today, I think of the wonderful miracles and inventions that have been developed in my lifetime from horsepower to space travel. We live in the present, we dream of the future and we �:/|l.t learn truths from the past for in youth we it learn and in age we understand. :at by John L. Strobel STRODE, WILL ff ,ri' ,:::rrt: ;. t a F69r Mr. and Mrs. Will Strode were both among the early homesteaders of eastern Colorado. Mr. Strode, who passed away Jan. 15, 1965 at the age of 89, came to Colorado with his parents in 1886, when he was 11 years old. The family lived along the Republican River, not far from the Crystal Springs Ranch. Mrs. Strode's father came to Colo. in 1887. He came from Seward, Nebr. to Cheyenne Wells. He then walked from Cheyenne Wells to Flagler seeking a location for his family. He met Will Strode's father who helped him file on a homestead about 17 mi. N. of Flagler. His wife and daughter (Mrs. Will Strode who was then 5 years old) and son Frank, 3, came by train from Seward to Akron, where he met them. Mrs. Strode recalls many early-day experiences. The family came to town only once a month, bringing a load of grain and taking back provisions. Mrs. Strode and her mother would frequently walk to Arickaree and back for the mail, the round-trip being 10 miles. When Mrs. Strode's brother was small, they would take him along in a small "express wagon." Mrs, Strode's parents, Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Neff and their family moved to Flagler in 1901 and lived for several years in the house that is now standing, just north of the library. Mr. and Mrs. Will Strode were married there in 1902. L.J. Neff was a brother of Dr. Oscar S. Neff who was one of the pioneer doctors of eastern Colorado. by Janice Salmans STUTZ, FREDERICK FAMILY F692 Great grandmother Baltzer (Dorothy Sattler) came from Grosz Liebetal. Both Grand- father Frederick Stutz and Grandmother Maria Baltzer Stutz were born at Plotsk, Bessarabia. The family resided at this village except for one short stay at Mareslienfeld, in the same province. In November of 1889, the family traveled to Odessa, having gone by horse and wagon, staying overnight at Ackerman with relatives, and ferried over the widened mouth of the river. Grandmother Stutz became very ill as the family travelled by train through Austria and Germany. After passing through Berlin, they arrived at Bremen. From here they sailed for America aboard the steamship, "Saale", landing in New York after 9 days on the ocean. This was in the latter part of November. They moved to Scotland, Dakota Territory, only remaining about a month, before moving on to Colorado along with the other group that was also headed in that direction. Crist and Jacob Strobel. Otto Winter, Frederick Stutz (our grandfather), Christ Baltzer, August Adolf, Sr., Christian Grandma and Grandpa Stutz, Martha, Nettie and William, Grandma Doblers people. Dobler (our dad's family), John schaal, and Matthew Hefner were in the group. In the spring of 1897 the Stutz family travelled back to Scotland, Dakota Territory, after being in the area for a short time. They travelled 3 weeks, using horses instead of oxen. Following a 1 year stay, they returned to Colorado, again by covered wagon, when Grandfather Stutz suffered an eye ailment which threatened blindness for him if they remained in the Dakota climate. Our mother, Magdalena and her older brother drove the cattle. They crossed the Missouri River on the ferry at "Running Water" both trips. The trip back to Colorado again took 3 weeks. The cattle were shipped via rail and Frederick Stutz, an older son, accompanied the cattle. William Stutz, born Sept. 8, 1898, was just 2 weeks old when they began the trip. They arrived at their Colorado home in the middle of October, 1898. They spent the winter with the Andrew Baltzer family, which was located just east of Immanuel Lutheran Church north of Bethune. Grandfather Stutz worked for the ranchers along the Republican River for 25 cents per day. The family consisted of Frederick (who died at age 2t), Maria, Ida (who died in infancy), Ida, Edmma, Lydia, Wilhelmina, Magdalena, Annetta (who died at age 15), and Martha. Grandparents Stutz passed away in 1928 and 1929, respectively. by Art Dobler STUTZ, WILLIAM F693 I will try and say a few things about the early days. I was born in Scotland, South Dakota, September 8, 1898. My folks were Fredrich and Maria Stutz. Shortly after I was born my folks picked up what little they had and set out for Colorado in a covered wagon. It took three weeks to make the trip. They homesteaded eight miles north of Bethune, Colorado. We were at the south end of "the settlement;" from there to the Rock Island Railroad it was all open range. There were lots of cattle and horses that were owned by a few ranchers. My folks made their home on this open prairie. There were only a few antelope around, no buildings, houses or barns. I remember the first sod house we lived in. It had a dirt floor, but it was home. There was a dug well in the Landsman River two miles east of our place; that is where my folks hauled their water from with banels. There was no wood in that country so the only fuel was cow chips. I remember we had to go out and pick them up by the wagon loads and haul them home for the winter fuel supply. To go to Burlington or Stratton was, "as the crow flies" about 14 miles either way, no square corners. After dark or in a snow storm it was very easy to get lost. As I grew up I remember walking the wooden sidewalks in Burlington. Also, you couldn't just go to the store and buy a bottle of milk or a loaf or bread. In about 1906 my folks built an adobe house with a shingle roof and wooden floor. Going to school was not in heated cars, it was all on foot. Most kids had to walk two miles or more. The teachers did their own janitorial work and they were paid $35.00 a month for everything. In about 1908 or 1910 a lot of homesteaders settled in this country; they lived in frame shacks and hillside dug outs. I went to school with a lot of their children as long as they could stay. They didn't have enough clothes or shoes and some of them nearly froze to death but they still walked to school. There was no government help, no food stamps, you were on your own. A lot of the people had to leave or else they would starve, but a few stayed. Like I said we walked two miles to school but later on we got a school only one mile from home. I got my daily jogging in from home to school, I got to the point where I couJd run the full mile to school. My good wife and myself both graduated from adobe schools. We did our milking in the corral, there was no fancy milk barn. The cream had to be skimmed by hand and churned to butter. Some of the butter was molded in one pound �tl of the corn stalks. The weeds wouldn't even sprout. In 1933 I sent some hogs to Denver. Good hogs brought $2.25 per hundred. In 1934 I sold my cattle to the government for $12.50 per head. In 1935 there was no feed and the grass had all blown away so we had an auction and sold what was left on the farm. We went to Elizabeth, Colorado in 1935 and to Denver, Colorado in 1937, then the war started. We made our home in Denver but things were not good in the city either. If you could get a job they usually paid about 30 cents per hour. Thanks to the good Lord for providing us with food and clothes and our menu which was beans and bacon rind. I worked on government buildings doing heavy construc- tion like building hangers. Later on I went back into the livestock business which I enjoyed. I had a brokers license which meant I could buy and sell This is our farm home where the Stutz family grew up about 1916. anything in livestock. I handled thousands of head of cattle, hogs, sheep, horses and even a few goats. I stayed with that until the Denver Stockyards closed. I went to LaJunta, Pueblo and Salida every week and a lot of times to Stratton. My good wife worked in green houses for over thirty years. We have enjoyed our years in Denver after all the bad years we had. We raised a family of three boys and two girls, they all have their families and their own homes now. remember my dad went to Burlington several times for feed. He would come back with maybe one sack ofcorn and three bails ofhay. Later on our family got a buggy and that made things a little easier. Then in 1913 and 1914 a few autos and steamers showed up and I got to ride in some of them. When the Model T came along my family got their first one in 1915. From 1916 crops got better and things went along pretty good, but the slump started in 1929. If you think times are bad now stop The Stutz farnily ready to go to church in 1913. and think what our folks went through. I left the farm in 1919 and worked for the Bethune Lumber Company. I got into the grocery business for a few years after that. When I left the grocery business I became manager of the Bethune Lumber Company for several years. We had a good baseball team in Bethune. I was the second mayor of Bethune and member of the school board. We got the town water works in and a few sidewalks built. I was also on District 24's school board while I was on the farm until the time we left. After I left the Bethune Lumber Company, I started buying hogs in Bethune. There were lots of hogs in the country at that time. I bought from one to three carloads a week. Most of them were hauled in wagons and I shipped them to Pueblo and Denver. All I took my two youngest sisters and the teacher to school. The teacher, Lea Wellman of Stratton, took the photo about 1912. cubes and sold at the grocery store. I remember my folks had a wooden churn in a frame with a crank on it. Later the cream stations started up. That helped, because then we could sell the cream. As I grew up things changed a lot. We made our living by selling cream and eggs. We had our dry years when we were not able to raise any feed. In 1911 and 1912 we had a lot of snow and everyone had to use sleds. I the shipping was done by rail at that time. I bought two car loads that were driven in on foot. One load came from 1 7z miles northwest of town from Mr. Negus and one load from Mr. Ardueser I % miles south of town. I played the saxaphone with the Burlington We have been retired for several years now. We now make our home in Denver, Colorado. by William (Bill) Stutz, age 89 SUTTON FAMILY F694 I Remember, Sutton In recounting the many events, people and locations while putting together this history, I've revisited a period of my life that was most receptive and sensitive. Growing up in Flagler, the second daughter in a family of six children was a happy time. You might keep in mind that my "I remembers" in certain areas are surely shaded with the vagarities of childhood and years, but I have tried to "remember" with fact. My mother, Mary Emma Sutton, in 1983 celebrated her ninety-first birthday in Flagler, the beloved town she called home for most of her years. In 1907, my father, Willie (Bill) Sutton, homesteaded about six miles south of the Kipling Railroad Crossing. I believe the W.H. Lavington ranch bordered dad's property on the south. From Athens, Ohio, dad came west seeking better climate and adventure. As a young man, dad had worked in a flour mill in Hume, Missouri for an uncle, was an band. apprenticed barber, and for a time was a street car conductor in Kansas City, Mis- and in 1929 we moved back to the farm and everything was pretty steady. Prices on grain and livestock started up. By 1930, however, everything went lower. The prices of cattle and hogs started coming down. This was the time of the dirty thirties, the wind blew and there was no rain. 1932 and 1933 were worse and the dust bowl came in 1934. The wind was so hot and dry that even the leaves blew off souri. In Athens, Ohio he had traveled with In 1927 I married Alvina Schlichenmayer a doctor learning a great deal of country doctoring. Wanderlust caught him early in life. Grandmother Blakely said of dad: "He used to disappear regularly from home. When I wanted to find him, I'd go over the state line into Kentucky, call at a few horse ranches, and I'd find him at one of them." On one trip, grandmother recalled, "I discovered Willie �dinner cook, and Mike Conarty was the fry cook. We lived in a white house across the alley east of the cafe. Dad was a charter member of the Odd Fellow Lodge; he had joined in Ohio. He had a shaving mug made in Kansas City, Missouri in 1905 with his name and the three gold link emblem of the Lodge on it. He invited John Verhoefftojoin the Lodge, and John received his 50 year pin a few years before he died. Many of mom and dad's family eventually moved from the Flagler area and they adopted Gene and Mattie Ellsworth as family. They had homesteaded south of Seibert in the early 1900s. We children called Gene and Mattie uncle and aunt (as did manv in the community). Their sod house was buili with two foot thick walls, with an east and south window, a door in the south side awav from the elements. The floor was dirt, packei until it seemed to be cement. Aunt Mattie had rag rugs which she had braided on this floor. The soddie was as clean as a pin. To the north of the soddie they had a two room frame house. The furnishings in this little house were lovely - all the "treasures" Mattie had brought west from home. We girls were allowed to go in and look at the hand-painted china, ceramic and crystal lamps - but look only. Often we sat in the little house listening Taken at the homestead of Gene and Mattie Ellsworth south of Seibert, July 4, 1933. L. to R.: Helen Evelyn Sutton Sherman, Charles McDaniel, Ellamae Sutton McDaniel, Willie Sutton (back), Leslie Sutton (front), Mattie Ellsworth (back), William Lester Sutton (front), Gene Ellsworth (back), Mary Emma Sutton and Betty Sutton Austring (front). riding two horses, Roman-style (one foot on the back of each horse), going lickedy-split down the track." She would drag dad home, but it would be only a short time before he ran to the horse farms again. Dad was a trueborn horseman. This love and trust of horses brought him many years of enjoyment and occupation. My mother's parents, the Christopher family, came from Ames, Iowa and homesteaded near Flagler in 1910. Willie and Emma met through their family contacts, and in 1911they married. The first three girls of the Sutton family, Ellamea, Blanche, and myself, Helen Evelyn, were born at the old homestead ranch. My brothers, William Ivan (who died before he was one year old), Leslie Ivan, and William Lester were born after my parents had moved from the homestead closer to town. Our youngest sister, Betty Ruth was born in 1928. Life on the homestead was hard. demanding strengths to make a good life out of very scarce resources. Dad's health had not made the recovery he dreamed the west would bring, and he was homesick for the green fields of his home area. In the spring of 1917, he bought a 4-door Overland touring car and with reliable transportation, dad and mom headed back east to Hume, Missouri, selling the homestead and seeking some relief from the prairie life. The old adage, "you can't go home," rang brue when John Verhoeff came to visit in Hume the fall of 1917. John had shipped cattle to the Kansas City stock yards and braveled on to visit us. It was so good to see his old neighbor, and the humid climate back home had only brought back old health problems, so dad decided to give the west rnother try. The Sutton family headed back ;o Flagler and ever after Dad would remark, 'This country has water that is 99 percent pure, and air that is the cleanest in the world. I love the prairie." by llelen Evelyn Sutton Sherman SUTTON FAMILY while Mattie and mother visited. Aunt Mattie was an excellent cook. She could always have a delicious meal ready in no time at all. She joked that the chicken that met us at the gate was the one on the table for supper! by Mary Carter SUTTON FAMILY F696 F695 I Remember, Sutton Mother recalls when the Flagler town site was called Bowserville. Bowser being derived from the family who lived about one mile east of the township's present site, on the north side of the Rock Island tracks. Today, at this location, there stands one lone tree, and it was at this spot, mom recalls, "We used to walk down the tracks and have such nice picnics. The school picnics were often held at Bowserville, and then later when the Stewart family moved onto the property, we still had our picnics there; we children all over the pasture playing games." I've often wondered how our area in eastern Colorado so far removed from the locale of its namesake was so named. Henry Morrison Flagler, born in Hopewell, New York, was a stock holder of the Rock Island Railroad. Flagler was the promoter of the railroad that spanned the 100 miles of water and islands to Key West, Florida. He also built luxurious resort hotels in St. Augustine, Palm Beach, Miami, and other cities in Florida. Perhaps, when the railroad came to this part of the country, the event was so welcomed that the man responsible was honored. Shortly after my family returned to Flagler in late 1917, or early 1918, dad bought a cafe on street level in the Odd Fellows Lodge building. Cora Sweet was his pastry cook. Hetty Lipford was a waitress, Jim Quinn was I Remember, Sutton In about 1919 dad sold the cafe and bought Lavington's store. Noah Wold was the meat cutter and Hetty Lipford came to clerk in the dry good and notions section. The store, to my eyes, was quite large, stocked with bulk groceries. The barrels of potatoes, onions, pickles, and crackers seemed huge, standing above my seeking eyes, and tempted hands! There were cookies and candies to delight my heart, and oh, the huge round of cheese sitting on its own cutting block made my mouth water. Great wedges were cut from the round by a knife attached to the cutting board. Bananas came in huge bunches that hung from a ceiling hook. Kerosene was dispensed from a banel in the back store room. Jams came in half gallon buckets. One brand name was Delicious, and yes, it truly was! The store was heated by a large round heater with a big water tank on the top. In the twenties, gypsies roamed the country. They would come into the store, and from the age old tales that preceded them, every- one watched them carefully, thinking they were going to carry it all away. My dad had no such problems. Earl Brown had another store in Flagler. It was located where the present laundromat is now. Earl had a parrot in a cage kept on the sidewalk during the day in front of the store. All we children loved to hear its typical answer to our "Polly want a cracker?" �In 1925 dad sold his store and we moved that living room. After returning from Den- on Highway North 40. The windmill still ravages of cancer, he died at home in December of 1941. Saturdays were always "in town" days, and bo the Buchanan farm, two miles east of town stands there. It was here that I became a farmer. At ten years of age, I learned to milk cows, and help with the farm chores. Not long after, dad taught me to drive a team of horses to the "go-devil" (a weeder), and I was able to drive the team to the header barge during harvest, and the hay rack, tripping the lever and dumping the load even with the pattern rows my dad had made as he went first time around the field. Dr. Thomas retired about this time, and we bought his pony, Bonnie, buggy and harness-' ThJwhole family enjoyed her so much and later her colt, Betty Blossom, and then her colt, Princess. All the ponies had birthday parties, and mom would allow them to come onto the porch of the house we were living in, and have a taste oftheir birthday cakes baked special for the event. Dad taught all we children to ride at an early age. Many families in town owned milk cows in the '20s. We pastured the town cows and my brothers, Leslie and Lester, would take turns riding our ponies, driving the cows to pasture every morning, returning with them in the evening for milking time. Wilbur (Peanuts) Schumaker liked to help them because he could ride one of the ponies. My mother heard from "Peanuts" not too many years ago. He sent her a birthday card from his home in Fountain Valley, California. The main street of Flagler was a busy place in the '20s. The town offered most services that were needed and community life centered around the hub of the town. Art Watters had built a hotel in the early 1900s. It still stands, The Flagler Hotel. Art's brother' Tom, built a hotel in Goodland, Kansas around the same time. Both establishments were complete with outstanding dining rooms, and were the meeting places of the community. by Mary Carter SUTTON FAMILY ver where surgery and care failed to stop the everyone dressed in their best. We always had to visit William's Drug Store. I remember that the post office was next to the drug store. My brother, Leslie, had a pheasant dog that he loved to pull in his red wagon to main street. Leslie and Tippy would sit in the wagon and often Leslie would fall asleep' Mrs. Straub, the postmistress, would pull the wagon into the post office, and Tippy would not make a fuss as he knew Mrs. Straub. There they stayed until Leslie would awake. One day while Leslie and TiPPY were "parked" in front of the post office Art Waters stopped to visit with my brother and his dog, and dad passing by walked up to them and said, "Go ahead and talk with Leslie, Art, his dog won't bite you." "Oh," Art replied, "He already has!" Indeed, Tippy had grabbed Art's pant leg and pulled him away from Leslie. In those days when refrigeration was "powered" by a block of ice or cold water John Dyson kept an ice house. John, my dad, and several other men traveled winters to the Republican River east of town to cut ice from the river into blocks. Hauled back to town, the blocks were then packed in straw in the ice house, and during the summer months, I remember, we children would follow Dyson's wagon down the streets gathering and munching the ice chips left from delivery. The smithy, Ed Malbaff, worked winter and summer in his shop which was east of the present American Legion Hall. Ed presented quite a show of skill with his craft. With the iions red hot, he'd expertly pound the metal into shape - maybe an iron rim for a wagon' a wheel, or a horse shoe. Ed would dunk the piece into a tub of cold water where it crackled, and spewed forth clouds of steam. Paul Detlifsen's famous painting of the blacksmith could truly have been modeled from Ed Malbaffs shoP. by Mary Carter F697 I Remember' Sutton I remember our doctors tending to the medical needs of the community. The hospital that I recall was located where the West Hotel is today. First, I remember Dr. Neff. His dedication to his profession was so appreciated. Mom said Dr' Neff could cure wilh only the soothing nature of his bedside manner and the time he spent with his patients. There was Dr. Reed, and- Dr. McBride who married Mrs. Straub, and son Dr. John Chriss who followed in his footsteps. All dedicated men tending the need of our community on the prairie. I look at the little house on main street in Flagler today and wonder how our family managed to live within its small area' especially when I think back that mom frequently turned the living room into an infirmary where she nursed neighbors and townspeople that were too ill to return to the isolation of farms. The hospital-type bed would 9o uP, and most of the room partitioned with sheets. My father was the last one to be nursed in SUTTON FAMILY F698 I Remember' Sutton Arlie Wilson's Store of the '20s was a twostory brick building on the southeast corner of the main intersection of town. This building also housed the telephone office in the upper floor. Bretlingers lived in rooms connecting and operated the telephone of- fice. Mrs. Norris lived in rooms in the northeast corner ofthe building and ran a hat shop there. She designed and made the hats herself. Hats were most popular at the time. I remember Ellamae, Blanche and I had brown broad-brimmed beaver hats made by Mrs. Norris that we considered ever so I'd like you to deliver to your aunt, Ruby (Christopher - my mother's sister). You know, she and I attended grade school together at Second Central (located south of Flagler about 12 miles)." Mr. Will Borland, who went on to become a popular author, bought the Flagler News in 1910, and I remember how we children loved to watch the paper being printed in the basement work room under Arlie Wilson's Store. The stairs to the printing room came in from the sidewalk outside and there were two big windows where we could watch, lined up on the stairwell, noses pressed against the glass. Rodeos and races were held almost every weekend in the summer time. Tom Conarty usually rode one of dad's horses. Tom and I have often remembered the excitement of those races. The two Lundy brothers who Iived west of Flagler were horse trainers. George Lundy trained several of dad's horses in gaits. I remember riding those gaited horses - as easy as sitting in a rocking chair. And the dances all over the area in the'20s and early '30s; it didn't take much to talk anyone into organizing another before the last was over! I recall winter dances the whole family would go to, driving to "Nute" Smith's ranch and dancing 'til dawn in their big hay loft. Chores were done early, food was taken along, the old soap stone foot warmers were readied, and off we'd go. We'd have a covered dish supper, the children were bundled and put to bed on benches or piles of blankets; there would be dancing, and often a big breakfast before starting home. To be found at almost every dance in barn, hall or grange was Gertrude Peterson, who we called "shimmy Liz" playing the piano. She played by ear, and could make that instrument talk. We would ask her to play a tune, we'd hum a bar or two, and she'd pick up on it with the wink of an eye. I've seen her make a piano actually move on the floor. What a dynamic artist she was! Every harvest my dad and several neighbors would drive to Canon City with dad's rubber-tired trailer towed along and bring back potatoes, cabbages, turnips, parsnips, onions, apples and cider. They would stay with the Stegman family in Canon City who used to live neighbors before moving. In the fall we often drove to Rocky Ford for what we children referred to as "melon day"' One year, Governor Carr was there at the celebration. There was always a parade with floats from businesses and surrounding towns. Melons were piled high as small mountains in the streets, and anyone could take as many as they could carry away, Foods were canned or "put down" in cellars then to meet the family needs during winter time. Too bad melons couldn't be canned! Many years the gardens produced very little with no way to get water to the precious crops. by Mary Carter SUTTON FAMILY F699 elegant. In the homesteading days there were many country schools scattered around the prairies. Some years ago, I mentioned to Opal Conarty Joy that my mother and I were to attend a fiftieth Tesdahl family reunion in Ames, Iowa. Opal said, "I'll write a letter that I Remember, Sutton I remember coming home from the events of the season, and having mom build up the �fire in the old kitchen stove, fix hot cider, all of us placing our mittens, wet clothes and shoes close to the oven door. It was so homev and cozy. Dad would come in and we wouli take turns telling about the pictures we could see in 'ol Jack Frost's icey wonderland painted upon the panes of the windows. The winter of 1929 was a fright! There were snows that closed the highways for a long time; a passenger train drifted in on the tracks with the town people carrying food to feed them. Many drifts reached l0 and 15 feet high. I remember walking from the second floor porch of the West Hotel to the ground on a sloping snow bank. Mr. Stager had to tunnel into his garage across the street from the hotel. Dad loaded his largest sled with supplies and cotton seed and drove across country to his good friend Tom McCallum's ranch 15 miles southwest of town with feed for the animals. It was a hard winter for man and beast. Recalling Tom McCallum, brings to mind that years later when the McCallum familv were debating whether or not to "lay Tom away" with is white handkerchief around his neck. They decided he would go to his rest with it, folded just so with the triangle points to the front as he'd always worn it. Dad bought a Model T Ford Sedan when we girls were a bit older. One summer when cousin Joe came from Athens to visit. we "motored" to Manitou Springs and stayed several days to take in the sights. Then it was a special event to tour Helen Hunt's grave, the Cafe of the Winds, and always, end the stay with a picnic at the Garden of the Gods. We would eat salt water taffy, and Colorado Rainbow Trout. The relatives loved the trip, and so did we. That old Model T was shinv black, and I thought it very beautiful. We hai an accordion-folding luggage rack that was attached to the running board - a feat to load and unload that! Most winters neighbors would get together and butcher two or three hogs. Dad made his own mixture of either sugar-cure, or brine for the hams and bacons. I would help fry down the sausage and pack it in large stone crocks with lard for keeping. Food somehow seemed plentiful for our large family, although it did not come without the effort of growing, processing, and storing. Why did it seem to taste so good? During this period many people dried corn. After cutting the kernals from the cob, about two cups full were put in a clean salt sack, stitched up, and hung on the clothes line with clothes pins. The sacks were turned from end to end several times a day, and in about a week the corn was thoroughly dried and stored in the pantry. When ready to use, the corn was soaked overnight and cooked for about an hour. Having our own cows, we always had real cream - Yum, fresh milk, "Delicious" in jam buckets, lowering them into the water barrels at the windmill to keep. In the early '30s, mother grew weary of farm life, and she took it upon herself to retrieve all the farm equipment that dad has loaned out over the years, sell it and buy the little house on main street in Flagler. This home is where I live todav. During part of the early '30s dad was Flagler's Town Marshal for a time and at Ohristmas he usually played Santa Claus, passing out candy on the main street and at ;he Congregational Church. If there was snow, he would hitch a team of his favorite horses to a big sled and drive down Main Street, sleigh bells ringing. The children truly thought him to be Santa and wondered whv he knew so much about them. (The advantage, or did the children think disadvantage, witlr his barbering skills. He opened a shop in Seibert one time and tended the shop a couple days of each week. In all mv stowirre years, I remember him barbering on our bac[ porch. A great many friends would have no other touch their hair. by Mary Carter During the periods when we lived on farms in the area, Dad kept cattle. He favored short horns and often said that this land should not be broken out for farming to any degree as the buffalo grass, yucca, and cactus weie there to help hold the land. The dirt storms of the 'B0s that came from living and working with families in a closely knit community.) SUTTON FAMILY F700 I Remember, Sutton Dad was substitute mail carrier in later years. Winter time he often had to use his sled to haul the mail to the farms. Manv times people on his route would call in orders for groceries, coal, kerosene, feed, or medicine bore this statement out. Dad would onlv break bottom land, and he farmed iusi enough land to provide his own live stock feed. John Verhoeff was instrumental in teaching this to Dad, and in later years when many did not have water and grass for their cattle, John did. His conservation ofland and dams built for water served him well over the years. by Mary Carter and dad would gather the supplies to deliver with the mail. He often went north, spent the night at Aaron Thompsonls pl4ss and returned via the west route the next dav. During the height of the depression Dad worked on the W.P.A. He was a county road overseer. He built two cook shacks. one for cooking and eating, and the other with bunks for sleeping. These were pulled by a team of horses to a farmer's yard near wherever the crew was working. Dad and the crew would stay five days out, returning home on weekends. The road work was done with teams of horses hitched to Fresnos (large scoop-type shovels that moved and dumped the dilt ind gravel). Wagons with collapsible sides and bottoms hauled the dirt and gravel quite a distance. Near Flagler many cement slabs, bridges, and roads built during those years are still in use. Sam Potter and Buck Fisher both worked with my dad, and Mike Conarty was prized as a crew cook. During a recent visit with Zeke Kerl of Stratton he recalled he and dad worked side by side on old Highway 24 west of Vona during the winter of 1928 and 1929. Zeke said he broke in a nice team of mules belonging to my father on this job. Colt and Sons were the contractors that winter, and later in the summer Colt's crew moved on to build the road from Estes Park to Bear Lake. - On many occasions during road work my dad would have to pull a wagon loaded with sand and gravel out of the creek bed when other teams could not manage. Dad kept good horses, fed them well, and trained the.m verv well. His love of them spanned a life time. Money was almost nonexistent for manv years. W.P.A. gave "chits" as payment fo-r work and periodically commodities were "bought" when the W.P.A. truck arrived in town. Many women worked in the mattress factory set up in Flagler. These years brought lessons of patience, tolerance, and frugality to our family as f'm sure it did to others. Everything was put to a useful purpose, especially if nature had given it. Mom managed with the scarce resources of the time, and gave with selfless abundance to those she loved. I remember Aunt Kate, who worked in a garment factory in Iowa, sent barrels of clothes for mom to make over. Mother became an expert at this, and we girls always felt our clothes were quite suitable. Dad was able to supplement his income SUTTON FAMILY F70r I Remember, Sutton The prairie was then a haven for rabbits. prairie chickens, meadowlarks, and hawks. There used to be rabbit drives in an attempt to keep what little grass there was for tle cattle and horses. A bounty of five cents per pair of rabbit ears was paid by the goveinment. There were many prairie dog towns across the land, considered a nuisance as thev took over the area with holes and mounds. Many an acre became worthless to grow grass or farm. In driving in the country, I remember that "mirages" were quite common, In the distance were lakes of water, but on arriving at the spot there would be none! In crosscountry driving the wagon ruts were quite deep and when you were driving a c6u you soon learned how to stay in the tracks. Coming to a fence there were usually .,letdowns" and you lifted the barbed wires from the turned-up nails, stood on the wire. let the driver drive over the fence, and then you'd replace the let-down. So often I would get snagged doing this. In the '20s, there were cattle and horse traders from Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota who came every fall. A Mr. Hannah from Iowa bought one of our cows, a beautiful Ayershire named Goldie, and we girls cried our hearts out as she was driven to the loading yard. Some time during the mid-twettlie. orrr family moved to the Ead's farm just south and east of town. As I had done on the Buchanan farm I helped with the outside work, enjoying this much more than the housework. One especially frustrating job I did have was filling the kerosene lampi and cleaning the chimneys. It seemed thai when they were lighted, the wick was never quite right, and up the side of the chimney wenl the black soot! The cleaning and trimming were then to be done all over again. When wash day came on Mondays, I wanted to hide. The water was heated on the kitchen range in the wash boiler, the tub filled for sudsing, clear water canied in for the rinsing and the bluing tubs, and then the �clothes were hung on the line. In winter we'd often bring in clothes frozen so stiff they'd stand alone. These were thrown on Iines strung in the kitchen until they were finally dry. And ironing! With those flat "sad" irons heated on the range it seemed no time until they cooled and with the handle were repla- ced, picking up a hot one from the top of the stove which might last while ironing one part of a starched, dampened, rolled-up garment from the ironing basket. Also in washing the cream separator, the discs had to be threaded onto a rod and placed in a little trough, run through soapy and scalding water. Turning that separator was also my chore, and if I didn't get it back together just right, the-re was a mess. Feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs was another chore I usually did. When I went out it seemed no matter what size container I took I always needed a bigger one. When mom would help me, she could simply gather the corners of her apron, pla,ce those extras in her neat holder, and carefully get them back to the house. by Mary Carter SUTTON FAMILYF702 I Remember, Sutton We cooked on a Majestic coal range, and we burned wood, coal, corn cobs gathered from the pig pen, and many a time, cow chips. When we gathered those chips, we were most careful to only seek the dried ones! They did make a nice bright, hot fire' During the heat of the summer we cooked on a kerosene stove that was moved outside most of the time so the house would stay cool. The fires used to boil meats during butchering season' cook the large batches of rendered lard with lye for soap, or process the canning were also set outside in the yard. The party line telephone was considered a luxury when I was a girl. One twist called central. and the combinations of long and short rings designated the various parties. Of course, each time a phone rang everyone knew who was on the line, and the "clickclicks" reminded us that whatever was said was being heard by everyone. Entertainment at home was the norm. We had a Stereoscope to view picture post cards in three dimensions. We also had a Victrola that played records. We had parties at home now that we lived in town. At evening parties, or just when company came with children, we would scare ourselves out of our wits by all hiding around the yard but the one chosen "It," and that one had to walk about singing, "The Stars are shining; the moon is bright; I hope I don't see any ghosts tonight," and when the hidden children were passed by they jumped out and frightened thegre-ryho ' was';It." Also, we'd play Annie, Annie Over, getting lots of good exercise while we tossed i baU from one side of a pitched roof to the other. You never saw the team on the other side, but each of yours kept the score fair when you caught the ball. Fox and Geese in the winter snow was sure to keep our blood warmed up as we ran the circled course to avoid the Fox who had been tagged to chase us through the paths in the snow. We had a piano when we moved to main street and my sister, Ellamea, took lessons and entertained us at many a party. I loved to recite and under the tutorage of Mrs. Gibbs took on many of the Aunt Hett recitals of the time. Social functions revolved around the church and the Odd Fellows and Rebekah Lodge, hay rack rides in the summer, sleigh rides in the winter, school sport (I particularly tiked girl's basketball). I remember the first talking movies at Clarence Wright's theater - the first one I saw was Monty Montana in Montana Moon. We never lacked for something to do - after the work was done. So many of the people who I went to school with remark of the good times they had at "Ms. Sutton's house." Letters then were mailed with a 3 cent stamp, post cards for a penny. Free movies were shown on the side of the building er's wagon with the bang board on. There was straw in the bottom of the wagon' The school district furnished the school bus body only and the interested persons would bid on the four different routes, which required the successful bidder to furnish a truck chassis so the bus body could be mounted which consisted of two side benches plus a small middle bench. No heaters in those days! First Central was able to attract very competent teachers. I appreciated all ofthem and their efforts. Names that I can remember are Violet and Edith Campbell and Thelma Lowe. (She was very understanding and tried to teach us good manners along with our other studies.) Prof. Frog, whose physics lessons I was able to use all oflife, I appreciate much. Fourteen students started out in 1922. By 1934 when we graduated there were eight of us: Leonard Beeson, Loraine Iseman housing Wilson's store. In summer, Flagler (Wood), Robert Bailey, Clair Barr, Marie Kiper (Lesher), Ella Storrer, Wesley Taylor, enjoyed Junior Chautauqua in the mornings. Sometimes we could stay on for the afternoon performances, or an evening show' A huge ient was set up in the block where the Flagler Seed plant is now. We'd have competitions presenting plays. For many years the county Inez Smith and myself, Parker Swann. Cloyd Storrer and Nora Wright (Johnson) were post was on the Chautauqua circuit. We all ichools continued this event. Also, the box suppers where all would gather, bringing their favorite dishes boxed in beautifully decorated boxes. These were auctioned off to the highest bidder with the monies going to some philanthropic project for a need of the community. You can believe that the "Romeo of each Juliet" was given an explicit description of the box she brought, and heaven forbid if he did not bid high enough to win the privilege of joining her for supper! Yes, it was a good childhood growing up in Flagler, Colorado and living on the eastern graduates and assisted us on the stage graduation night. I think none of us of that era will forget the dust bowl days, but we will remember the happy times and good people that helped us along the way. by Parker Swann SWANN, GEORGE AND BERTHA F704 prairie in the early 1900s. by Mary Carter SWANN FAMILY ..,r.r::j&r t:l::S, F703 '\e*.. 14""T" Growing up in Kit Carson County, Colorado is part of my life that I am thankful for. I was fortunate to have loving and under- standing parents, D.D. Swann and Nellie. We lived on my father's homestead seventeen t..,i .i. r.ll:' , ..,ir:l:l:ti:: '"'i'*\1:::.' I i; miles south of Bethune or twenty-six miles southwest of Burlington, Colorado. We farmed about a section of land for crops, plus had some pasture land for stock, horses, milk cows that were turned out overnight. There was lots of free range land at that time. Being born in 1916, I experienced the open prairies, horse and buggy days, and Model ,f ltrlr -dr ."' ""?#4 T's. I can clearly remember when people could go from our place angling northeast to Burlington without any trouble with fences. I remember people moving in to make eastern Colorado a wheat producing country in 192829. From all the plowing of the buffalo grass, we went through the dust bowl days in the early thirties and the hard times especially after the banks went broke. I attended the First Central School starting in L922. Mr. Greenwood was the bus driver that year. All twelve years we left home at 7 a.m. after chores were completed to arrive at school by 9 a.m., arriving home in the evening to do the chores around five or so. Due to the snows that first year we rode in a cornhusk- '_li:],:.rJ George and Bertha Swann My great grandparents, George and Bertha Swann, homesteaded south ofBethune in the early 1900's. My mother, LaDene Richardson, and her brother, Russell Clark, spent many summers out there. She told me how long it would take to get to Goodland which now takes only a little over one hour. When George and Bertha moved to Goodland, their son, Dudley Swann, took over the place. Their children are Parker, and Bertha Mclean of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, Elwin of Bullhead, Arizona, and Ilene Wood of � 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- S Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief family histories of founding families of Kit Carson County whose names begin with "S." As found 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> https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/17/508/Families-T_U_V.pdf df1504bf0291779a6384745335c7f6a0 PDF Text Text Akron, Colorado. It gives one a sense of belonging to know that some of your family helped settle this land. by Phyllis Wall There were six more children born with the help of a midwife Mrs. Lowe who was Art Lowe's mother. Georgia Megel said she helped mother when I was born. The six children were named Arthur Weslev. Vaughn, Vance, Shelby, Darrell Dean, ant Darlene Joy. We all went to the First Central TAGGART, VELMER MILLER F705 As a small child, I came to Flagler, Colo., in 1908 with my parents, John and Agnes Collier. We lived on a farm north of town for School our twelve years of schooling. Some of my classmates were Lewis Borden. Wanda Baetz, and maybe a Gooch child and others. Mrs. Gooch was the first cook for our hot lunches. Shelby helped and later he was the cook and some of us girls would get out of class early to help him. When I graduated in Miller. To this union, four children were 1945, I was the only one in my class, the others had all moved away. All of us Taylor children graduated from First Central. At the time, they held church services at the school and Mr. Ness was the minister. He lived about one half mile from us and one of my best friends was their daughter Charlette. It seemed so nice to have another girl around. Six older brothers were hard on an only girl, and another girl to talk to was great. Dad helped Ness' out by giving them coal and so In 1948, Thelma married Elmer T. Havs. He passed away in 1980. They had four children: Pamela Sue born in 1949; Angela when they no longer had any, he went clear over to Vona in his 1928 Chewolet truck. The truck bed was about as big as the beds in the several years. _ In t924, I graduated from Flagler High School and that same year married Ord h. born: Agnes Jane in 1925, who passed away in 1930; Thelma Lavonne "Bonnie" was born in 1927; Lawrence W. was born in 1g31: James W. was born in 1945. We lived on farms for many years, eighteen miles north and east of Flagler. Gail, born in 1951; Ronnie Gene born in f-gSg and Mark Wade, born in 1968. Lawrence joined the Armed Forces in 19b1. He was released when his father. Ord R. Miller died in 1953. Lawrence returned to the farm. In 1959, he and Shirley Simon were married. There were three children, two adopted. After James graduated from high school in 1963, he and Ruth Ann Bower were manied. He joined the Armed Services and after serving in Kansas and Alabama, they went to Germany where he was stationed as a helicopter mechanic. In 1965, their son, James D. was born. After a divorce, Jim married Verna Dunn in 1984, who has a daughter, Tana. In 1960, I married John L. Taggert and we made our home in Strasburg for lb years. He passed away in 1973. I came back to Flagler in 1975, where I still reside. by Velma Taggart forth. Dad got the coal from Stratton but pick-up trucks of today. We were good friends with the Ness' until they moved to Stratton. Our family raised cane and corn. Some of the corn was ground for corn flour. The cane was used as feed for the cows and horses. In the dirty 30's, the family raised dry land potatoes, which Dad delivered to Chevenne Wells and all around Burlington and Strat- ton. To keep the potatoes cool, Dad dug a 100 foot long cellar to sort and store the potatoes. After the potatoes weren't grown anymore, the cellar was used for setting hens to hatch chickens. Mother would carefully put several eggs under each setting hen to hatch for her own chicks. Then the folks bought two incubators to hatch the chickens. Thev sold chickens and turkeys to the Shanks CLfe in Burlington, a cafe that my uncle Lee Taylor bought in the early b0's. One day in the early 30's, my parents and I went to Goodland and on the way back we had to stop at Kanorado because of a dirt TAYLOR, PERRY AND NETTIE F706 My parents moved from Goodland, Kansas in 1914 to their homestead. In Goodland Dad had been working for the railroad, mostly around the round house. They came west in a wagon and their only son Perry Eugene was small enough to lay in a dresser drawer. Dad walked the cattle across the unfenced prairies while Mother drove the wagon. They stayed with some people (I do not recall their name) rcuth of Burlington and they came on west ;he next day. There was a small building on ;he homestead that they stayed in while luilding a two room soddie. In later years, as ;he family grew, so did the house. Thev also ruilt a sod milk house where *" goi o.r, lrinking water. The water came from a well hat I think maybe a Mr. Hardin dug. In this ,ame building there was a square tank which vas used for keeping the milk, cream and rutter cool. storm. We just pulled over to the side of the road and sat in the car until the storm was over. I remember it because I was so frightened. Another time there was a prairie fire, which came in from the south. School was turned out early and we were told to go right home. The fire came within about a milJ of our home. I still can see those flames racing across the prairie. It was a terrible sight. Eugene had to go away from home to work in the 30's. He first worked at Boone. Colorado at a bean farm. I can renember Pugene saying that bean farming was the hardest work he had ever done. He also worked at a ranch near Yuma at the Stiners ranch. In those days, the farm hand stayed with the people they worked for. They were all very nice people. On July 4th, 1936, a rain and hail storm came through near the Herman Baetz place. Part of the Baetz family was coming back across the creek and they did not make it because a wall of water hit them. LaDonna, the oldest daughter, was swept down the creek into the Landsman. Several neighbors, including Dad, looked for her but onlv found her glasses hanging on a fence. Her body was finally found later further down the creek toward Bethune. The boys hunted rabbits and when they got them home they would skin and hang tiEm out to dry. That would make the boyi some extra money for they would take skins into Stratton to sell to the creamery. My brothers also raised watermelon. They had to haul water to the watermelon patch from the well by the house. We ate a few and sold the rest. On Saturday night, the folks would have barn dances and the boys all played instru- ments and Mother fried hamburgers for everyone to buy. Dad always kept law and order. If there was a fight or a disorder, Dad would always be there to take care of things. There were always a lot of people from miles around and all in all, I think that evervone had a good time. The barn first was a cow shed and they put in a wooden floor and a pot belly stove to keep the chill out of the ro-om in chilly weather. Cowchips were used for heat. The chips were lit first after they were soaked in kerosene. Then the large pieces of coal (chunk coal) were added and after that the fine coal (slack coal) was added. The stove stayed warm for what seemed like forever. We would all help gather the cowchips and I always made sure they were good and dry before I would even kick them. Dad had Lloyd Megel put in a 82 volt wind charger with 16 batteries. It was so nice to have lights, and electric iron and a washer. This wind charger was used until R.E.A. came. Mom would always sew all our clothes. Sometimes sJre was up until midnight sewing for her family. Dresses for me and shirts foi the six boys. Mother also made the quilts for all of us; this is something she reallyenjoyed doing. I still have some of her quiltl after all these years. Our family had horses they worked in the fields even after the tractors were used bv others. We used horses on the header, cutting barley and stacking it until fall when thi threshing crew came in. One of these crews was the Blankenbaker crew, Rodney Blankenbaker's father. Mother and I would cook special meals during threshing. We used the best dishes and had more food on the table fo_r everyone, including the threshing crews. We always had meat and potatoes and peaches and cream. We butchered our own pork and cooked up sausage, after which we would put a layer of sausage and a layer of lard until the five gallon jar was full. The jar was put in the milkhouse. As we would need the sausage it was taken out and heated, what a tieat. Mother always had a large garden and all the vegetables were canned and stored awav for the wintgr. Later, Father and the boys dug a deep hole south of the house where'ice and snow was kept for our ice box. The ice box was wooden and didn't hold much food because the ice took up a lot of room. The ice in the ice hole would usually last until late summer. When we ran out Dad would go to Stratton and buy some from Mr. Wallgamont. Wesley, Vance and Darrell all served in World War II. They all came home except Vance who was shot down and killed the dav after his 24th birthday over the oil fields in Romania. Vance's death was something that I believe that neither Mom or Dad ever got over. Mother passed on in March 11. 1966 and Father in July of 1975. I will always remem- �ber the "good old days" when we lived south of Stratton on the "homestead". by Darleen Joy Taylor Pottorff in 1987. THOMAN, LEO AND LUCY F707 He passed away in 1942, and Mary in 1979. They had five daughters, Helen Smelker, Violet Bunch, Ila Hobgood, Vivian Sternholm and Deloris Magnuson. by Ines McArthur and Irene Kennedy THOMASON FAMILY F708 After the rivers and trees of eastern Early 1920's Montgomery & Thyne Garage in Stratton, Co. Kansas, arriving on the bleak, windy and cold Colorado plains in March 1921, was a shock to the young family of John F' and Pansy B. (Hall) Thomason. They had journeyed to Stratton from Baileyville, Kansas with their two young sons, Harold, age 4, and Galen, age 2. John's parents, Frank M. and MarY (McCartin) Thomason, had moved to Stratton the previous year (1920) along with their daughters, Bessie and Ada. John and Pansy Thomason added three more sons to their family after moving to Francis (1923), LaVerne (1926), Colorado - (1933). The family always lived and Melvin in the Idlewild School District, and all the boys graduated from Stratton High School. Both families farmed and raised cattle north of Stratton. John and Pansy left the farm and moved into Stratton in 1944, because their sons were in military service and other help was not available. Pansy lives in Stratton at 230 Kansas Avenue. Pansy Thomason celebrated her 88th birthday in 1985. John Thomason died in 1958. Harold (Hal) worked for several years in the Stratton Drug Store and now is the owner/pharmacist of the drug store in Cal- Leo and Lucy Thoman han. Colorado. Galen is retired from the U.S. Air Force and lives in Buena Vista, Colorado' Francis is a CPA and lives in Mclean, Among some of the first settlers to come to Kit Carson County, were Leo and LucY Thoman. They traveled from their home in Burlington, Iowa, to claim their land, 6 miles east ofBurlington, Colorado, near Peconic, at what was then called Carlisle. Traveling in a covered wagon, they left on Sept. 11, 1886 and arrived on Oct. 23. Because it was getting late in the fall, they hurried to make suitable living quarters by digging a cellar. This provided shelter from the winter and provided a home that met their needs till a house could be built, the following year. Leo and Lucy were married in April of 1885. Their five children were born here; Arnold, Bessie and Mary and two boys who died. Later they built an adobe house (just south of the Peconic elevators.) Leo helped build the Rock Island railroad. The children would pick up coal along the tracks that was spilled and sometimes the men would throw a shovel full off for them. In 1904, when the children ere very young Leo passed away, but Lucy carried on with the help of Arnold (10) and the girls. The relation in Iowa would send barrels of fruit and nuts in the fall to help out. Lucy passed away in L922, Close neighbors were the Teils, Stampers, Johnsons, and Martins. Arnold married Vera Dillon, she passed away in 1970. Bessie married Maynard Dunham, who passed away in 1964 and she passed away in 1984. Mary married Elmer Magnuson, a son of a homesteader west of the Smokey Hill school house. Virginia. LaVerne (Vern) is a dairy products distributor in Limon, Colorado. Melvin (Mel) teaches pharmacology at Temple University and lives in a suburb of Philadelphia. Pansy Thomason is the proud mother of five sons, grandmother of twenty, and greatgrandmother of twenty-two children' by Pansy Thomason W.T. and Olive Thyne in 1940 in Elizabeth, Co. a garage and Chevrolet agency, was manager of Stratton Co-op, was a Star-Route carrier for 20 years before his retirement. Ruth Thyne graduated from Stratton High School in 1929 and worked at the grocery store there. Russell D. Spurlin (1907-1967) came to Stratton with his parents Melvin (1878-1927) and Olive Dannevik Spurlin (1880-1963), 3 THYNE - BAKER AND SPURLIN DANNEVIK AND SPURLIN - THYNE FAMILIES F709 Olive Baker, daughter of John Bloss and Iona Taylor Baker Families (1886-1974) came from Beloit, Ks. in 1907. She homesteaded north of Stratton. William T. Thyne (1885-1975) son of Daniel and Sarah Thyne came from Doon, Iowa in 1906. He homesteaded 10 miles north of Stratton. W.T. and Olive met and married in 1911. To this union 5 children were born Ruth (1911-1976), Dan (1913), Bill (1921), Gene (1924-1980) and Mary Kay (1926-1979). He engaged in ranching and farming, operated a local dairy, ran brothers Dale (1902-1979), Gray (1905-1966)' Gene (1911-1971) and 2 sisters Alpha (1909) and Dorothy (1914), from Edmund, Ks. in 1919. Melvin was a drayman. Olive's father Otto and brother Will Dannevik moved with them and together they built several homes in Stratton. Some were block and some cement brick. Russ was working as a barber when he met and married Ruth Thyne in 1930. Four children were born to this union; Bob, Doris, Duane (Shorty) were born in Stratton and Donna was born in Cheyenne Wells where Russ was working at the light plant and Ruth helped her brother Dan in his grocery store there. Pearl Harbor was bombed and so Ruth's 3 brothers had to go to the service and this left the farm unattended so we moved back to Stratton to the farm. For a few months during the winter Russ worked in Denver at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. In 1949 we moved 1/z mile west of Stratton, had a dairy and delivered raw milk, later we delivered homogenized. When it first came out on the market, we could hardly talk nFo �son Derek. Duane (Shorty) Spurlin graduated in 1956, spent 2 years in army, worked in grocery store for Uncle Bill Thyne in Cheyenne Wells, worked with a bridge construction company for 15 years. He married Jeanette Mast. They have 2 daughters Charlene & Rebecca. Charlene died after heart surgery at the age of 3 years in 1978 and Rebecca died in infancy. Shorty himself, in 1945 at 8 years old, came close to death when he and a cousin, John Spurlin, were climbing a 35 ft. tree. Shorty reached the top first and grabbed a wire which sent a short circuit of 2200 volts through his body and pinned him to the tree. It was only by one chance in a thousand that he lived. Such an accident usually means instant death. Shorty and Jeanette reside in Northglenn where they are managing a 358 unit apartment complex. R.D. and Ruth Spurlin in Cheyenne Wells, Co. in 1940. Donna Spurlin graduated in 1956, worked as a bookkeeper in Denver, Nebraska, California and back to Denver where she resides with her husband Robert J. Whalen. They have 2 daughters; Sherri and Patricia and grandson Kevin. Ruth, Dan, Bill, Gene and Mary Kay went to school at Solid Center, Vz mile north from homestead. We four kids, Bob, Doris, Shorty and Donna also attended Solid Center. Later Batt Realty Co. bought, moved and remodeled it and later W.T. Thyne (Granddad & Grandma) bought it for he and Olive to live in. We kids and our kids all had family gatherings there for years, so it was a big part of our lives. by Doris Stevens TOLAND, RAY E. AND GLADYS (ANNIE) FTlO Ray Ervin Toland was born in St. John, Kansas, on December 9, 1891. He was married to Gladys Kay in Hutchinson, Kansas, on August 4, 1915. They had two Melvin and Olive Spurlin 1924 in Stratton. customers into trying it. At the same time they managed Hollywood Creamery. He also was a Star-Route carrier. Later Ruth was a cook at school lunch room. Bob Spurlin graduated in 1951, served in Korean War for 2 years, spent time in Japan, worked for Highway Dept. as an engineer for 22 years. He has 4 sons, Lonnie, Vean, Ted and Doren and one daughter, Peggy. Bob was killed in a car accident in 1979 Vz mile from home. Doris Spurlin graduated in 1953, married Dallas Stevens. They bought D&D Cleaners in Burlington in 1958. They have 5 daughters, Dana, Debra, Diane, Devona, Dee and one children: Mary Ellen (Balanga) born July 6, 1916, and Max Kay born October 1, 1920. In 1933, the Tolands moved to Hugo, Colorado, then on to Stratton in 1940. They operated the "Stratton Cafe" on Main Street until December, 1945. At this time they purchased the Toland Cream Station. With the creamery still under their direction, they opened the Collins Hotel Cafe. Ray died February 6, 1951. After his death, Gladys spent several years managing the dining room of the Grand Pacific Hotel in Bismarck, North Dakota. She returned to Stratton in 1966, where she managed the Memorial Hospital Board. He died in Decembet 4, L974. Janet Toland presently resides in San Clemente, California, near Bonnie, her husband and Janet's only grandson, Trey. Marie and her husband live in Evergreen, Colorado. by Janet Toland TOWERS, BERT F71l Bert Towers came by emmigrant train to Kit Carson County with his parents, George and Emily Towers in 1906. Bert also raised horses Iike his father before him. He was well known around Burlington for he trucked cattle for a business. I, Georgia Megel, his niece, have this newspaper article about uncle Bertie. "Centennial Race Track will not be the same when the barns start to house thorough- breds for the 1961 meeting. Bertie Towers, Centennial's night watchman, died of a heart attack Saturday night. He was 77. He lived with his wife, Opal, in a trailer behind the racing offices. Their whole life was wrapped up in 'Yuma Wray', the only race horse quartered the year round at Centennial. (The horse was named Yuma because he was born at Yuma, Colo.) Each season Yuma Wray, wearing the Towers'colors, would win a race or two at Centennial. The mare, now retired, has a yearling by Pelouse . ." In 1910, I remember the prairie fire that was started by someone camping north of Kit Carson, Colo. The wind was blowing so hard and it got away from them. It burned so much in Kit Carson County. The fire moved so fast that a horse couldn't outrun it. Uncle Bertie had left for home but father tried to get him to stay. He wouldn't and before he got home, the fire had burned the horse's mane and the tassel off his tail. Father lost feed and Uncle Bert lost a barn and 9400. by Georgia Megel TRESSEL, MISS JENNIE L. F7t2 One of the most energetic, accomplished, and colorful Kit Carson County early-day settlers was Miss Jennie L. Tressel. Her popularity can be attested to by the many times that she has been mentioned in these restaurant at the Golden Prairie Inn until her death, June 7,1973. Mary Ellen was married to Rueben Balanga on July 26, 1942, and died on January 2, L957. Max Kay served 4 years overseas in World War II; was married to Janet Dillon on May l, L947. They had two daughters: Bonnie Jo (Swann) born July 1, 1948, and Marie Kay (Wolfley) born December 11, 1953. Max worked for Inland Utilities until it was incorporated into K.C. Electric Association where he was employed for 27 years. He served two terms as Mayor of Stratton, also as Justice of the Peace, a Red Cross Instructor, and a member of the Kit Carson Countv Miss Jennie Tressel with two of her "boys", Allen Greenwood and Kenneth Hoot, at Smelker School �histories. It is quite well-established that she was a homemaker probably around the turn of the century. Besides coping with pioneer life, she beco-e an outstanding educator and schoolteacher. From 1916 to 1922 she served as Kit Carson County Superintendent of Schools. She drove a team of horses hitched to a buggy when she visited the schools in the county. In later years when the horses became old, she sold them to Theodore Greenwood. One was a beautiful sorrel and when he died. Mr. Greenwood had his hide removed, tanned, and made into a beautiful robe with dark green felt cloth lining. It is kept as a family heirloom in memory of Miss Tressel. Besides being County Superintendent, she was Superintendent of the Vona School, taught in Stratton, and in many country schools. She had "a way" with children' and they would strive to please her. Instead of punishing for wrong-doing, she had a system of giving "merit points" for good behavior and deeds accomplished. So many "merit points" would earn a prize, something small but treasured by the children. If they completed their assignment, she would let them work on crafts, - shadow pictures, sewing cards, and woodworking like little stools and shelves. They used scrap lumber and a coping saw. and these little articles can still be found in the homes, cherished by the now grown children. One of her hobbies was a stamp collection, and she helped many children to become interested in stamps. At the end of her life she bequeathed her valuable stemp collection to one ofher "girls" who had pursued the hobby. Another diversion in which she was interested and knowledgeable was Parliamentary Law. So she helped the children organize a Club, elect officers, and gather solemnly for meetings on Friday afternoon, all conducted according to strict Parliamentary Law. Miss Tressel was a genial person to have at neighborhood parties and programs. She always had a reportoire of "fun" games. As far as we know, her lone relative was a frail and sickly sister for whom she took responsibility in later years. She built a nice home in Stratton, now owned bY FloYd Borders and she and her sister lived there for a time. Then the sister died and rumor had it that the gister's doctor bills for which Miss Tressel felt responsible, finally divested her of most of her finances. Miss Tressel's final days were spent here in Stratton in a little two-room house which Mrs. Rachael McNees built in her yard for her beloved friend. She had all arrangements made for her funeral including the request that six of her "boys", now grown, be her pallbearers. She was a grand old lady. than from where they moved in Indiana. Previously, Tom and Cherie were Vocational Agriculture teachers at two different high school in southern Indiana. They were FFA Advisors and coached several judging teems. In addition Cherie coached volleyball and as a licensed volleyball official in the state of Indiana. Tom was born in Burlington, Vermont on August 11, 1961, but moved a few years later to Holbrook, Massachusetts, where his parents still reside. Cherie Renee Pizarek was born August 3, 1958 in Michigan City, Indiana, which is 8 miles from where her parents still live on a farm near LaPorfe, Indiana. Tom has three younger brothers, and Cherie has one older brother. Cory was born through a previous marriage on July 22, 1981 in Louisville, Kentucky. Tom graduated from St. Joseph's Elemen- tary School in 1975, Norfolk County Agriculture High School in 1979, and Purdue University in 1984. Cherie graduated from St. Mary's Elementary School in L972, Marquette Catholic High School in 1976, and Purdue University in 1980. Cherie returned to Purdue in 1982 to pursue certification in TRIEB, THOMAS AND CIIERIE F7t3 Thomas William Trieb, Jr. and Cherie Pizarek Trieb moved to the Burlington area on September 1, 1985 with their son, Corydon Milo Garmon. They moved here in search of a drier climate and a more rural atmosphere mond Chindlen, born May 5, L952. They live at Long Beach, California. 2. Enid Irene Underwood born Oct. 11, 1928, at Columbine, Wy. Enid married Allen Rawden on June 25, L948, They have 3 children: Donald Bruce Rawden born April 14, 1950, Debbie Christine Rawden born March 23, 1952, and Allen Dean Rawden born Sept. 16. They live in Washington. by Linda L. Ljunggren Brandt Vocational Agriculture Education with a minor in biology. Her first degree is in General Agriculture with emphasis in Agronomy and Animal Science. It was in the fall of 1983 at Purdue University that Tom and Cherie first met, as they were two of twenty- VAN DE WEGHE, ALMA LIMING nine students preparing to be student teachers of Vocational Agriculture the following spring. Tom and Cherie were manied on July 20, 1985 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Bernadette Elizabeth Trieb was born on July 2, 1987 at Swedish Medical Center in Alma Van De Liming, had four children - and Marvin. Weghe, Robert, Melba Rehor We were raised on a farm 18 miles north and 3 miles west of Stratton. The original oneroom school house used as our home was later Englewood, Colorado. She is a welcome addition to the family. The Triebs are members of St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Burlington, where Cherie teaches CCD. Tom is an officer in the Burlington Council of Knights of Columbus. Cherie is president of Modern Homemakers, very active in the Burlington Young Mothers' Organization, and a volunteer at the Colorado Welcome Center. Tom and Cherie are 4-H leaders, too. In the past they had been active in the KCC Cattleman's association, Seibert Young Far- mers', KCC Cowbelles, and St. Catherine's Altar & Rosary. Tom is presently a feedlot assistant for Busby,Inc. by Cherie Trieb F715 My parents, William (Bill) and Hazel replaced by a house moved in from a few miles away that Dad purchased from Ray Bowers. Some of the early memories I have of my parents, I would like to share with you. We had a Majestic range that furnished the heat for the whole house, plus being used for cooking and baking. Mom its intended use - and it was so good to come baked bread often home from school to hot bread with homemade butter, jelly and jams, and frequently a big pot of beans. In the summer we would pick lambs quarter (a weed) and Mom would can it for our spinach. We also always had an abundance of homemade cottage cheese. Mom grew a big garden every summer and in the fall she made sauerkraut, hominy, pickles, and canned whatever was left that wouldn't keep in the cellar. I can remember so well Dad bringing in bushels of big white ears of corn that we shelled by hand so we UNDERWOOD, GRACE BELL SMITH by Marie E. Greenwood Grace (Smith) Underwood and Ed Underwood. F714 Grace Bell Smith, daughter of Salmon Peter Chase Smith and Laura Alice Cook, was born May 28, 1898, at Tobias, Saline County, Nebraska. Grace married Edgar Underwood, son of William and Mary Underwood, Sept. 20, 1916, at Burlington, Colorado. Edgar died Dec. 24, L956. Grace died May 19, 1961. Both are buried at Billings, Montana. They had two daughters: 1. Erma Underwood born Oct. 25, 1918, at Stratton, Colorado. Erma maried Clarance Edmund Chindlen Nov. 21. 1940, at Littleton, Colorado. They had a son, David Ed- wouldn't get any bad kernels, cooking the kernels in lye water until the hulls would slip off. then washing it over and over in cold water until all the hulls were gone and we had beautiful white hominy. Same with the kraut we took the cabbage heads, removed the -outside leaves and Mom and Dad then took turns shredding up the cabbage. Dad prepared a big vinegar barrel in the cellar where we put the shredded cabbage and salt and trarnped it down with a big club Dad had made. Then, it was weighted down with a cloth-covered lid and let set to ferment. What a treat to go down in the cellar later and bring up a big bowlful. Like all of our neighbors, we butchered our own hogs and cattle, salt cured or canned the meat, and could plan on fresh liver for supper on butchering day. Generally, the neighbors assisted each other with butch- �ering. Mom also made all our clothes. Our underwear was made from empty flour sacks that she had scrubbed on the washboard to get the label washed out. Sometimes you could still see a faint "Belle of Denver" (flour brand name) on our bloomers. Mom raised ducks and picked their feathers to make feather beds and pillows and we used fresh shucks to fill ticks to sleep on. Dad loved horses and we always had horses to ride. He was one of the last people in the community to quit farming with horses. Our cows were registered Aryshires, and milking was a joint family effort. Also, every fall we went into the pasture and picked up cow chips enough to National Bank in Denver. Now that my husband and I are semi-retired, we enjoyed traveling and being with our families. Memories are continuing to be made for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. by Alma Van De Weghe VANCE FAMILY F7l6 back, we stacked them in ricks and burned them in the daytime, saving the coal for banking our night fires. For recreation and entertainment we had house dances, barn celebration. Burlingtonites built a huge burning of his shirt. In 1948 Shorty built a two story brick building just east of the Bank of Burlington. There were four apartments upstairs and the lower floor housed a furniture store which he owned and operated. The bank purchased the building in 1975 and it was torn down for horseshoe contests too. After graduating from Kirk High School, I married Kenneth Idler and we had four children Donald, Gerald, Richard and - We farmed for seven years, then Wilma Jean. due to Kenneth's death from heart disease. the children and I moved to Joes and built a motel known as the "Alma Motel". Later we moved to Yuma and had a motel called "400 K Kort". In 1961 I married Maurice Van De Weghe and we moved to Denver. Donald their expansion. The family was members of the Methodist Church of Burlington where Wreath was and is very active in the ladies groups being a life member of United Methodist Women. and his wife, Mary, and 3 children, Mary Shorty served as trustee for many years and Yvonne played the organ during the 40s. Wreath is also a life member of Burlington Woman's Club having joined in 1944.Shorty Donna, Martha Ann and Donald Jr., live in Apache Jct., Arizona. Gerald and his wife, Jane, and daughters Holly Anne, Jennifer Lynn and Susan Marie, live in Buford, Georgia. Another daughter, Kendra Jo, is married and lives in Benton, Arkansas. was a member of Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Weldon was very active in football, basketball and baseball and Shortv was a firm supporter of the High School Richard and his wife, Joyce, and sons William Allen and Charles Louis, live in Wheat Ridge, Melba and her husband, Rudy Rehor, presently live on Dad's homestead after having worked many interesting years in road as a mechanic and - Rudy Melba often cooking for the crew. Melba had construction one son, Bobby Bill Todd, who died in infancy. Marvin and his wife, Marjorie, live in Lakewood, Colorado. They had 5 daughters Constance Lee Briggs (deceased), Jo Ellen, -Marla, Janet and Julie. Marvin is a plumber and owns M.L. LimingPlumbing Co. JoEllen and her husband, Bill Dozier, and 3 children, Jeffery, Matthew and Emily, live in Lakewood, Colorado. Marla and her husband. Lance Shepard, and sons Aaron and Nathan, live in Morrison, Colorado. Janet and her husband, Tom Pratt, and daughter Rebecca, live in Los Angeles, California. Julie Liming lives in Lakewood, Colorado. Besides being wife and mother, I also had a brief career working for the Colorado back of their trucks or under the stars and didn't have a cook crew in a modern trailer to feed them. It was the same year at the age of 39 that Shorty received his draft call from Uncle Sam to serve in World War IL He failed to pass his physical due to a heart condition. Aug. 9, 1945 - VJ Day, victory in Japan, put an end to World War II and was a day of great bonfire at the intersection of Senter and 14th and burnt hats, shirts, and bras. As the crowd got into the spirit of things and became quite rowdy, Shorty closed up Shorty's Palace and went home. He took the back way to avoid the dances, played cards, or just gathered at someone's home and played yard games. Of course, we had the usual baseball and mother. Wilma Jean and her husband, Duane Glenn, live in Fort Collins, Colorado. They have two daughters Marie Reeger, - Jeanie who has one daughter, and Rayna Jo Hoschouer, who has 3 children. Robert (Bob) lives in Fort Collins with his wife, Gale, and daughter, Bobetta. Bob farmed several years in Eastern Colorado and Missouri, and then moved back to Colorado and was a plumber until his retirement from the Poudre Valley School system. they would have as many as "24 egg and cheese sandwiches to go". Thought they could never look at another egg sandwich. In those days custom harvest crews slept in the fill several hayracks. After bringing them Colorado. Richard's oldest son, Kenneth Richard, lives in Mesa, Arizona with his cooking and pie making; working together to make the business a success. These were the war years and it was difficult to get enough meat due to rationing. One harvest when the custom cutters were in for take-out orders, Booster Club. J.V. and Wreath Vance Family, 1944.L. to R. Yvonne, J.V.(Shorty), Weldon, and Wreath. Front, Dennis. On Dennis'es graduation from high school, May 1955, the dirt blew so terrible one couldn't drive across town to Baccolaureate. On prom night there was a choking dust storm. Jacob Vernon Vance and Evelyn Wreath Frank were married April 2L,1927. Both were natives of Jewell City, Kansas. Vernon became a baker by trade. He worked at and owned bakeries in Kansas and Colorado until eczema on his hands as well as economic reasons forced him to leave the business. After a few years of construction and truck driving, he came to Burlington in the fall of 1942 to work for Bert Meyers at the Burlington Bakery. When school was out the next May he moved his wife and three children from Goodland, Kansas to the Warren Shamburg house in Burlington at 1209 Senter St. This was the family home while the children, Yvonne 15, Weldon 13, and Dennis 6 were growing up. In Feb. 1945 Vernon and Wreath opened a short order cafe just north of the Midway Theatre. It was called "Shorty's Palace". Shorty was the nickname he had acquired since coming to Burlington. The establishment was complete with up to the minute furnishings including inlaid linoleum, elaborate soda fountain, glass pastry case, chromium gas-heated coffee urn, leather booths and table tops of a new plastic called Formica. It also sported an ever popular nickleodean. It became a meeting place for the young people whom he loved. Shorty and Wreath did the The family had lived in several towns before coming to Colorado but once they hit Burlington, they stayed. All of Shorty and Wreath's three children and seven grand- children graduated from Burlington High School and all nine great grandchildren live in or near Burlington and attend Burlington schools. Yvonne manied Ewald Hartman and lives 10 miles SE, Weldon married Donna Ormsbee and is chief maintenance of RE6J schools, Dennis married Dianne Pappan and they have a paint and gift shop in Burlington. Vernon (Shorty) died following open heart surgery Sept. 11, 1968. Wreath still lives at 239 13th, the home they built in 1962. by Yvonne Vance Hartman VASSIOS FAMILY F7t7 William Vassios arrived in Flagler, in 1g06, while employed by the Union Pacific Railroad. Born in Messinia, Greece, in 1882, he came to America in 1902. He left home at a very young age in order to take advantage of the great opportunities that America had to offer. His employment with the railroad �piano, violin and accordion. Visits with friends and neighbors were enjoyed throughout the year. Among them were the Carl Bledsoe, Ellis Huntzman and Clark Wright families living south in the Boyero area. At other times the family The home and garden in 1928 attended a club called the Busy Bees'. There was always a large noon meal. The kids played games of all sorts, often times softball. Men enjoyed horse shoes and cards. Women visited, exchanged recipes, and quilted. Some of these families included; Bill Strodes, Newt and Nels Smiths, Bourquins, Rowlands, Kountzes, and the John and Arch Verhoeffs. The Jim Kountz family lived,2Vz miles away. They were close friends, one of the ties being "Mom and Pop" and one of the first cars in 1920 brought him west to Kansas City, Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada. He worked very hard and soon bec€rme a foreman, of which he was proud. In 1906. Bill decided to homestead 15 miles south ofFlagler but continued to work on the railroad for several more years while getting his homestead prepared for his future. In January of 1912 Bill Vassios and Pansy Drougas were mauied in Chicago, Illinois. Pansy was born in Sparta, Greece, in 1889. She had come to America as a young girl of 16 to live with her brother and work in a candy factory in Chicago. As a bride of 19, Pansy came to live with Bill on their homestead in a two room sod house. Existence on the sparsely populated prairie was extremely different from the city and active community life to which she was accustomed. One of the hardest experiences was the fact that they were not near a church. They lived too far from Flagler and their own Greek Orthodox Church was in Denver. This meant very little spiritual and social life, since their nearest neighbors were also miles away. The language barrier was another deterrent. The hardships were many, but they managed to rear and educate their seven children: Mrs. Alex Jamison( Anna) of Greeley, Colo., Mrs. Charles Mallo (Tressie) of Fort Collins, Colo., Mrs. Peter Tertipes (Marv) of Cheyenne, Wyo., George Vassios of Limon, Colo., Gus Vassios of Flagler, Colo., Mrs. Jack McCollum (Ansie) of Dallas, Texas, and Mrs. John Coryell (Daphne) of Flagler, Colo. Around L922 the family moved from the original homestead to the Stanger place, which was only a mile from the Texarado school. Walking and riding horseback to school was not always pleasant because ofthe snowstorms that frequented the area. One of the highlighLs for the Vassios family at this time was the fact that they were able to provide room and board for the young teachers who taught at Texarado. These were pleasant years because the lives of everyone were enriched and lifelong friendships built. children of the same or close age group. The great depression of the 1930's was a hard thing for the family to survive, as it was with practically everyone else. But the family survived because everyone helped with the chores. At one time, they were milking 30 to 40 milk cows twice a day. The cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, Iambs, and huge gardens kept food on the table. Bill made weekly trips to Flagler with a team of horses and a spring wagon to deliver and sell several cans full of cream and several cases of eggs for cash. One experience that the family will never forget took place on March 17,1923. We were fearful that Bill had perished in a fierce, untimely snowstorm which came up suddenly in the middle of the morning. It caused the whole herd of cattle to drift southward, just being taken along by the strong wind and blinding snow. Bill decided to try to find the cattle and turn them around, so he took off on his saddle horse. Several hours later, when the family had almost given up hope of Bill's return, his trusted saddle horse, Maude, came up to the front door with Bill sitting motionless, almost frozen to death. Icicles hung from his eyebrows, and he could not move nor speak, but God was with him and he soon returned to normal. The cattle all perished. One of the main goals of Bill and Pansy Vassios was to educate their family. Before his death, Bill had the promise of his grandchildren that they would get a good education and finish college if at all possible. They were very proud of the fact that all ten grandchildren accomplished that feat.This confirmed their belief that all things are possible in this great country. by Daphne Coryell VONDY - PAINTIN FAMILY F718 Dr. Powell worked for dad 2 summers during his college days, and became full time help after he graduated and later became a partner. We have been quite an active and close family, we are all members of the Methodist Church. Mom and Dad have both been Sunday school teachers and mom is secretary of the administrative board. We kids have After supper, the large round dining table enjoyed various activities through the church; camp, MYF, Sunday school, Bible was turned into a study table. When studies school, etc. were finished, the evenings entertainment usually included some type of music; singing, There are five children in our family: Diane, Curt, Gail, Terry, and Holly. Diane is a graduate of C.S.U. and is manager of a branch office for Mountain View Mortgage Co. She is married to Tim McNulty and they have a son Ryan Patrick, born Feb. 11, 1986. They make their home in Colorado Springs. Curt has had an adventuresome life. He attended C.S.U. for 21/z years, worked in oil fields in Montana and land leveling and plastics factory in Arizona. Gail attended dog grooming school and joined our clinic as groomer and operated her own business for 4 years, but felt that she was becoming allergic to the pet hair. She went to work as a horse-groom at Ted Simon/ Racing stable, and later started training for her dad. Terry is a graduate of C.S.U. with a Bachelors degree in Animal Science. Through his college years he spent 3 summers at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack as a groom for Ted Simon. Now he has several head of quarter horses and thoroughbreds that he enjoys training. My father, Milton Vondy, was born in Snyder, Colorado on March 6, L927, to Lawrence and Ollie Vondy. He attended Brush schools and later graduated from Brush High School. My Mother, Doris Paintin, was born at home on December 8, 1920, to George and Agnes Paintin. She attended country school at Solid Senter; transporta- tion was her old white mare, Daisy. She attended Stratton High School, and was active in dramatics and cheerleading. Dad came to Burlington in 1952, a graduate of Colorado A&M, Fort Collins, Co. with a degree in Veterinary Medicine. After visiting with the bankers, local farmers and the county agent, he decided to move to Burlington where he established his veterinary practice which kept him very busy and still does. My mother was employed at Standish Drug Store, when she met my dad. They were married at the Methodist Church in Burlington, in 1952. Mom has helped dad in the vet business since that time. Dad and mom's first home was the apartment above Milburn Jewelry Store. Then, they bought a home on 18th Street. Later they purchased five acres from Buols and built a house, barn and small animal shelter. In 1978 they sold our home and purchased the Vern Jones home 6 miles South of Bur- lington, where a quonset building was converted to a veterinary clinic and dad had lots of room for his horses. I, Holly the youngest and most spoiled (due to brothers and sisters) am active in 4-H. MYF, and school. I enjoy working on the annual staff, being on the flag corp, snow skiing, dating, and spending time with friends, especially my best friend Karla Pankratz. I also am interested in horse racing and have a colt at the track now. All of us kids have been in 4-H with quite a variety of projects and Mom and Dad have been leaders for many years. All of our 4-H years were spent with Sunshine 4-H club. Activities dad enjoys are golfing, horse racing, raising quarter horses, being a member of the Plains Rider Roping Club, which he helped organize, the Cattlemen's Associa- tion, Burlington Commercial Feedlot, and being Republican Precinct Committeeman. Mom has been a member of Modern Homemakers H.D. Club, for 31 years and B.P.W. for 8 years. She also enjoys Plains �shack in the North West part of Stratton. He then spent his time in the garage where the Kalb Brothers Walter and Kenneth had a mechanics shop. He enjoyed visiting with whoever had time to chat with him. They looked after him in his last years as he got to where he could hardly walk before he died. He is buried in Claremont Cemetery, Stratton, Colorado. He was 88 years old. by Dessie Cassity Book & Florence McConnell WALKER FAMILY F720 The Milton Vondy Family. Back row, L. to R.: GaiI, Diane, Curt and Terry. Front row, L. to R.: Doris, Hollv and Milton. Riders Roping Club, and horse racing. One of the biggest thrills for our family, was the running and winning streak of "Five Alive" in 1980. We had a family reunion at Ruidoso Downs. Ruidoso New Mexico. where we watched Five Alive run in the first leg of the triple crown ofquarter horses, the Kansas Futurity. As sometimes happens, saddness follows happiness. We found this to be very true when later in the fall, Five Alive was taken to Littleton Large Animal Clinic for surgery to remove bone chips from his knees; this brought about one of the saddest days of our lives, because while recovering he floun- dered and crushed his elbow and had to be taste like the smell of a sweaty horse. It was said many times in the old days that John Wagner was a real wizard in handling and breaking of wild horses. The brothers were asked to corral some wild horses for a friend in Cheyenne County. They made three attempts to corral them with no success. Finally were asked again and they showed up carrying rifles instead of ropes. Their next attempt at corraling the herd preceeded about as usual until they were nearing the corral gates. A big, beautiful l Forty-fifth Wedding Anniversary of Aubrey and Winnie Walker. Seated: Nina Lou Walker Ford. Aubrey Walker, Winnie Walker Lavon Walker Fisher Keeran. Standing: Pat Ford, Betty Walker, Art Fisher. Dale Walker. sorrel stallion broke back. Fred said he thought, as he saw the big beautiful horse breaking for safety, "I would sure hate to kill put to sleep. We are still running horses and dreaming of another Five Alive.! that horse if he was mine, but he has got to be stopped." He took aim and let him have by Holly Vondy to see if he was branded. and damned if he WAGNER FAMILY F7r9 Two brothers, Fred and John Wagner, moved into Kit Carson County from Cheyenne County, Nebraska, in 1903. They brought with them about seven hundred head of horses. John took a homestead about eight miles south of Stratton, where they made their head quarters for sometime. The government land was all open, so their horses' pasture was almost boundless. There were a good many wild horses in this area at that time and they caused the Wagner brothers considerable trouble. The Brothers at last got permission form the State Govern- ment of Colorado to shoot the wild stallions when ever they were caught stealing mares. The brothers were also given permission to catch, brand and break any of these wild it. Later Fred said I rode out to look him over wasn't my own horse. Later there is not much known about John Wagner as he left the county, but Fred remained and continued to run horses for some time. Fred was known in his day to be quite a booser. But he was a kind and neighborly man. As little girls, Denise and Barbara Wilson remember hiding behind some weeds in a fence row until he would pass so he would not see them and pick them up when they were walking home from school. In the early 40's Fred moved to a quarter of land he purchased and built himself a small rock house which still stands on the property. Boots Wilson looked after Fred in those years. He would go to town and get all boosed up and then Boots would see him stopped out across the open prairie and he would go get him and take him home. He was a good neighbor, always helping ponies that they desired. Fred Wagner told me, that they tried some when needed. In a bad blizzard in November 1946, he went out to see about a bunch of cattle Boots had at his place and got down in the storm and he had to crawl to the house. He risked his life but managed to save the horse steaks from some ofthe wild horses that cattle. they killed. They never relished horse steak, He later sold his property to Boots and moved into town where he lived in a one room as it always seemed to have a sweet, sweaty Lavington Garage, Flagler, Colorado; Early 1920's to 1960. Leon Lavington was the son of W.H. Lavington, who was one of Flaglers early settlers (prior to 1900). W.H. Lavington started Flaglers first general store and later the First National Bank. Wayne Aubrey Walker, born August 24, 1886, in Worth County Missouri, was the son of Marvin E. & Susan O. Marvin Walker was the son of Warner & Ruth Ann of North Carolina. The father of Warner was Daniel Walker who was the son of Davis Walker. who was born about 1770 in North Carolina. W. Aubrey Walker was schooled at Denver, Missouri, and went to business school at St. Joseph, Missouri. The Walker family moved to Springfield, Missouri, in 1906 where Aubrey worked in the accounting department of the Frisco Railroad. In 1908, Aubrey set out to fulfill a dream, that of securing a homestead near Steamboat Springs, Colo- � 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- T, U, & V Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Description An account of the resource Brief histories of founding families of Kit Carson County whose names begin with "T," "U" and "V." As found 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 Biography Kit Carson County 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>