Where Were They? The Day Standard Time Began

Where were they?  A real question, worthy of evaluating. In the past, we have relived a blizzard and extreme heat. Today, our moment in history is a human development; that of "standard time."

White Pine Cone, White Pine, Gunnison County, Colorado Newspaper
30 Nov 1883, Page 3
Part of an article explaining the change to Standard Time.

18 November 1883. The railroads in the United States and Canada adopt "Standard Time" to unify the schedules and routes across the continent. Starting at exactly noon, we divided into time zones using hour differentials; the same system still in place today. The idea did not necessarily change life as a whole for the average American, it took some time for the effects to spread. The idea of daylight savings time was first concocted by Benjamin Franklin, during his time as Ambassador in France, in 1748, but was not instigated until the 1900's. (Source on all above facts: http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/d.html.)

So, where were they?

Where were my ancestors when standard time went "live"? Were they about to board a train? Were they out in the wilderness and had no idea this was even happening?

Let's find out.

My usual suspects will make their presence known once again: Oscar F. Brown and Eilert Heerten. I've also decided to try to include some folks that were in more urban environments.

The date in question is 18 November 1883. Oscar was 51 years of age, had a wife and four kids, with two more to come later. They were living in Richland, Nebraska, having given up the homesteading life, and Oscar was serving a two year term as a State Senator. We can assume from his "in town" political activity that the family knew of the adoption of standard time. The railway had been in Richland since 1866, and in 1879, they had a grocery store (http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/colfax/richland/). The town was well on its way by 1883.  I wonder if and when the State Senate made the switch? From what I've read, it started with the railroads, and took some time for the rest of society to catch on, so did governments switch earlier than the rest of society? Would the Brown's have adapted to the new system to make life more seamless for Oscar in his public office, or did he just adjust from his personal to professional life?

Eilert's whereabouts during this time are a little more uncertain. We know he was in Illinois in 1875, and in Nebraska by 1890, but those in between years are a little gray. For the purposes of this post, I'm going to assume he was already in Keya Paha County, Nebraska, since its only a few years off.   

From what I have been able to find, the Nebraska Northeastern Railway Company and the Burlington-Northern San Francisco (BNSF) currently run routes near Springview, the county seat. Both of these also run near Ainsworth, in neighboring Brown County, which is where the Heerten family is buried. However, the railroading history in the area began in 1883, with the arrival of the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad (in fact, the town of Ainsworth was named after one of the rail construction engineers); which may seem relatively late to most for the first train. I would have to guess that since the rails were not a significant part of life for the north central area of Nebraska residents, then neither was the designated change to "standard time" in late 1883.

What about those that resided in the cities, or in major transportation hubs? Did it make a bigger difference?

In 1883, the McGowan family was living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Patrick worked in the steel industry, and Elizabeth, or "Lizzie", was at home, pregnant with their first of ten children, who would be born Mary Ann.  Knowing little about the steel industry in 1883, I can only assume that they had ties to the railroad system for shipping their material out from their factory or, at the very least, a distribution center of some sort. So, again, I think that my 2nd great grandfather Patrick would have been aware of the new program, and that it affected his work life in some way. (Of course, I've just created a whole new line of research for myself, haven't I?)


How long, I wonder, did it really take for standard time to gain a foothold in every day life.  It must have felt very unnatural to some, to start watching the clock, versus just watching the sun. Did some folks fight it; just absolutely adamantly refuse to adapt? Or did they shrug it off, downplaying the impact on their routines and way of life. It would have mattered, eventually, even in the most basic ways. Churches, government offices, schools, stores and markets. They all would have had to adopt the idea at some point.

Do you think your ancestor welcome standard time with open arms, or did they argue that it was unnecessary and unnatural?

Perhaps, only time will tell...

Going Adventuring!

There are fewer things in this world that my husband and I enjoy together than "going adventuring!"  Generally speaking, we pick a road, an area, an interest we have not explored yet and just go. Pack a few snacks, the camera, and the rain gear, and we hit the road. Of course, now we're taking the little one, too, which adds a whole new element.

On Mother's Day, 2012, we went adventuring. I loved every minute of it; snow, rain, wind, sun and all.

Since we're still fairly new to Breckenridge, Colorado, we stayed local. Hoping to find "old stuff", we turned onto Tiger Road and just kept going. Thanks to the Atlas of Colorado Ghost Towns, Volume II by Leanne C. Boyd and H. Glenn Carson, (Cache Press, 1985) and The New Summit Hiker and Ski Touring Guide by Mary Ellen Gilliland (Alpenrose Press, 2002), we had a vague idea that there was something out there to see. Old mining camps and towns such as Swanville, Parkville, Preston and Royal Tiger awaited us. We just had to find them.

The map in the Atlas we brought along wasn't excellent, but it gave us a rough idea. We stopped at a few places, walked into the woods a bit. Found a washed out bridge and for our daughter, some very cool rocks. We kept going.

Eventually, we had to turn back for home. On the way in, however, we had seen some leftover mining features that we wanted to explore, so we had those to check off the list first. Our first stop, we hit the jack pot. It was such a great little alcove of history!

(All images are Copyright Jen Baldwin, Ancestral Journeys, 2012. 

Thank you for asking permission before use.)

There was a wooden structure on top of the tailing pile you could see from the road. It looked to us like an entrance to a mine, but we did not climb up to explore further.

Immediately adjacent to the tailing pile, were these pieces. Appears to be an old water wheel and possibly some structure that was put in place to keep everything together. Hard to tell, and I'm certainly no expert.

About 100 yards down the trail, was this, just off in the trees, very close to the stream. 

And right next to that... a sluice? Also, someone had come along before us and collected all these nearby artifacts and laid them out for all to see. Pieces of porcelain, metal, old shoes and glass. Interesting to look through. 

One of the pieces still had identifying marks on it. 

We kept walking. Very quickly came upon this "dump" of tin cans and broken dishes. It went on forever! The pics below are the "more interesting" items we stumbled upon. 

Broken pieces, some with marks, and some with existing color. The blue piece was some kind of rough pottery. 

There were piles of these little guys. They looked like the bottoms of bottles, broken apart. We had no idea what they were... best guess was possibly some kind of explosive used in the mine?  One side was flat, obviously, the outside of the container, and they were all broken in the same way and the same rough size.

One of the more distinct pieces of porcelain with its pattern still very clear and the colors distinct. 

This can was interesting because you can still make out some of the lettering on it... two words, the second of which is "ALBERT"

More walking led to this gem; a small cabin or mine opening in the woods. Sat right alongside the road we were walking on. 

Two rooms, and a very intentional flat roof, which made us think it was a cabin intended for human shelter. It was very low, however, so perhaps it was an entrance to a mine? 

Square tin can, versus the round ones that were certainly more prominent. 

Two pieces that my husband was able to fit back together. You can tell which side was exposed and which was laying against the ground. Notice one piece has a small gold 8 stamped on it. 

Another piece with good color. Not sure what the metal next to it is. 

Two pieces laying nearby each other, obviously from the same pattern/dish. 

On the way home, finally, we saw a moose munching in the bushes. Do you see him? 

Neither my husband nor I are incredibly knowledgeable about the lives of miners in the late 1800's in Summit County, Colorado, however, we are working towards learning more. According to one of our area trail maps, this could be a "mine dump" area, which would indicate to me that this is where various people brought their garbage - it certainly looks that way - and I've read about these sites before. What a fascinating journey into the daily lives of the predominant culture in this area! 

If you have knowledge of any of these items, or expertise in this time frame, we would certainly love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment below or send an email/message. 

All in all, we had a fantastic day. I invite you to "go adventuring" and get lost exploring your own regional history.