The Kokomo Cemetery

The town of Kokomo was abandoned by the time the Climax Molybdenum operation took over the property it sat on. Every once in a while, I run across a new piece of information or a photo from Kokomo, and I'm always intrigued. The town was known as a "wild west" sort of place, the opposite of its tamer neighbor, Robinson. Located high above what we know now as the Copper Mountain Resort, it was once the home of the "highest" Masonic Lodge (in elevation) in the United States.

Big enough to maintain its own cemetery, but not big enough to survive the ups and downs of a mining based economy. In the sixties, the Climax operation wanted to use the land as a reservoir, and what was left of the town was covered with water. Thankfully, they moved the bodies from the cemetery to other nearby locations, and Breckenridge's Valley Brook got most of the deceased buried there.  Today, I stumbled across a record indicating who was transferred to Breckenridge, and who was buried in other locations. It indicated what I thought to be true; that Valley Brook was indeed the designated cemetery.

A Map of A Portion of Valley Brook Cemetery
Image ©Jen Baldwin, Ancestral Journeys, 2013

One of the great benefits from this piece was that it also listed the next of kin for each person that was being moved!

Here's a transcription of the body of the document:

Page 1:

"IN THE DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR

THE COUNTY OF SUMMIT AND STATE OF COLORADO

Civil Action NO. 2299

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF THE

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF THE 

COUNTY OF SUMMIT, STATE OF COLORADO, 

ACTING AS A BOARD OF HEALTH, FOR THE 

VACATION OF KOKOMO CEMETERY, SUMMIT

COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO.

Received for filing in the office of the County Clerk and Recorder of the County of Summit and State of Colorado, a statement of the names of deceased persons who are buried in other than the Kokomo plot of the Breckenridge Cemetery, and a copy of the map showing the place of burial of deceased persons in the Kokomo plot of the Breckenridge Cemetery. 

Signed

Zelda C. Ashlock

County Clerk and Recorder"

Page 2

"IN THE DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR

THE COUNTY OF SUMMIT AND STATE OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 2299

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF THE
COUNTY OF SUMMIT, STATE OF COLORADO,
ACTING AS A BOARD OF HEALTH, FOR THE
VACATION OF KOKOMO CEMETERY, SUMMIT
COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO.

STATEMENT OF LOCATION OF BURIAL OF
DECEASED PERSONS

A statement of the names of deceased persons who were buried in any other cemeteries except the "Kokomo Plot" in the Breckenridge Cemetery, the location of the burial , and the name or names of the next of kin requesting the same, are as follows: "

The names listed are:
Pomeroy, Henry
Olson, Carl
Olson, Carl Jr.
Bryant, Joe
Bryant, Elizabeth
Colcord: Daniel, Catherine, Elizabeth, Willson, Clifford, Aurilla
Lindsey: William M., Sarah A., Jesse M., Samuel
Taylor, Margaret E.
Williams, O.E.
Anderson: Gustave, Carrie, Hilma, Harrison

"Respectfully submitted

Andrew F. Cassidy

Licensed Mortician

Leadville, Colo."

The map, also found with these documents, includes a list as well. A list of who was buried in the "Kokomo Section" at Valley Brook; this is information that many have told me is "unknown," and is just one of the reason's why this find is so exciting for me. Among the many "Unknowns" on the list are the following:

Farnham, Edward C.
Farnham, WM and Frank
LaFontaine, E.S.J.
LaFontaine, Katrina
Swanson, Carrie
Swanson, Gustaf
Winters, Anna, Andrew, John, Andrew
Mattson, Andrew
Sullivan, Son of M/M G.W.
Sullivan, DA of M/M G.W.
Lawrence, Winfield
Morison, R.
Swallow, William Penn
Chevan, Mr.
Chevan, Catherine
Anderson, Anna S.
Anderson, Axel
Thomson, C.R.
Thomson, W.A.
Cook, Baby
Pflum, Thos. F.
Walsh, Peter
Johnson, Anna
Recen, Katy
Creiner, Lt. Chas.
Hauser, Leo Frank
Hauser, Ida
Colcord, Blanche
Dowd, Mary
Dowd, James Wm
Dowd, Catherine
Colcord, Rose, Laura & Son, Josephine
Bush, Hazel
Colcord, Chas.
Dowd, Mary M.
Recen, Henry A., Catherine, Lilly, Katy