Rolling Resources

During a recent family excursion to the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, I stumbled across this genealogy resource on wheels. How would you write the citation? 

The Fort Collins Museum of Discover is a wonderful facility that we have just recently explored. We enjoyed our first day there so much, in fact, that my parents decided to gift us with a family pass for the coming year. My daughter and I were thrilled, as there is much yet to explore.

One of the displays that caught my eye was this historic wagon.

Neat piece, isn't it? 

As I looked closer, I began to realize that there are names and dates scribbled all over the side panels. The genealogist in me got real excited, real quick. 

I did not have a great deal of time that day to ask around, but I did email the archives this week to ask about the signatures, and if they had ever been transcribed. I received the following response back from the curator at the museum:

I received your inquiry... "about signatures on the Museum's Frank Miller Mud Wagon. What an interesting notion, to follow up on the names signed on the wagon! I don't know of, and was unable to find any record of anyone transcribing them. The wagon underwent a fairly intensive conservation/restoration in 1995, and we have the report here at the Museum. The report mentions that the conservation work retained the penciled signatures, but doesn't describe them. It included several photos, but none that specifically focus on the signatures. 

From what I can tell, the signatures date from two periods. In the days before WWII, Frank Miller entertained a steady stream of guests, including many Western performers and celebrities, at his guest ranch and exotic animal zoo, Trail's End. Several sources mention that many of these visitors signed the body of the wagon. Will Rogers is said to have added his signature in pencil at this time (though I haven't found it yet). Miller gave the wagon to the City of Fort Collins in 1948 as a memorial to his son, who had died in Germany during WWII. The wagon was displayed downtown in an open-windowed brick building and many passerby added their signatures to it then. In 1978 the wagon, deteriorating from exposure to the weather in this semi-enclosed shelter, was moved into storage at the Fort Collins Museum. The wagon came back out on exhibit in 1990 in the Museum's gallery.

So the signatures would date from about 1917 to the mid-1940s, and from 1948 to 1978." 

There you have it. No transcription currently exists. A project for the local genealogical society, perhaps?

I have to share one last photograph, which is a close up of the section above one of the rear wheels. The date is 1878:

Keep Looking

This past weekend, my Aunt from Alabama traveled to Colorado for a visit. My parents, my sister and her family, myself and my family, and our Aunt, all gathered in Leadville, Colorado to create some fall memories. While there, I wanted to get back to the Evergreen Cemetery to correct a mistake I made a few years ago: insufficient headstone photos. 

Thomas Perkins was born in England, and I first discovered his headstone about five years ago. The story is a bit long, so bear with me. 

Thomas Perkins was the first husband of Mary Isabelle Daniel. Mary was born in 1868 in Cornwall, England, and is the mother of three children. She arrived in America and appears to have traveled almost directly to Colorado. Although still unclear where the marriage between them took place, they ended up in Leadville, which is the highest incorporated town in the United States, sitting just above 12,000 feet in elevation. In the late 1800s, it was a booming city, and was even considered for the Colorado state capitol at one point. The town was the epicenter of the various mineral rushes in Colorado through the late 1800s and through the 1900s. 

After Thomas died in 1900, Mary continued on in Leadville for a few years. She ran a boarding house on East 5th Street, just three blocks from where my sister lives today. For whatever reason, in 1910, she and her children traveled to Springview, Keya Paha County, Nebraska, where she married my great grand uncle, Dick Heerten. Technically, she responded to his ad in "Lonely Hearts" magazine, or so the family story goes, and they were married within minutes of her stepping off the train. They then headed out to his farm, where they raised her three children, and life appears to have progressed fairly smoothly for the couple. 

What does all this have to do with Evergreen Cemetery? 

The thing is, our family never knew about Mary and her first husband until just a couple of years ago when I managed to dig it up from the black hole of history where family stories go to die. I put the pieces together and when I finally realized the truth of the story, my family was a little more than surprised. Not only has this particular line (the Heerten's) never before had any connection with Colorado, it was absolutely crazy to us that Mary and Thomas lived in Leadville. The town where my sister and her family had moved to about twelve years ago. A town that none of us had ever heard of before that point, and a town that has since captivated us a bit with its history. 

As this story started to unravel, I went to Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville and found the headstone of Thomas Perkins. I was unsure of his birth date, and his actual death date, and was really hoping there would be more information there. With no images available online that I could identify (at the time, at least; after I found the memorial, I created a place for him on FindAGrave.com), I really felt I needed to see the headstone. And I'm glad I did. 

Headstone of Thomas Perkins, Evergreen Cemetery.
Leadville, Lake County, Colorado
Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014.

I was excited to find his marker, and several other's with the surname Perkins. I took the time to document all of the stones in the plot, and got the close up of course of the iinscriptionon Thomas' stone. 

Headstone of Thomas Perkins, Evergreen Cemetery.
Leadville, Lake County, Colorado
Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014.

My mistake came when I walked away without a clear image of the two symbols on his marker. Although relatively common, they are significant enough that I knew I needed to confirm them, leaving no doubt as to their meaning. If you are familiar, you may immediately recognize them. This is what I was determined to correct this past weekend, and I did just that when I visited the site again, accompanied by my husband and my Dad. (Great experience, to walk a cemetery with the two men in this world I love the most.)

Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014

Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014

You may know them, you may not. The top one is a bit harder to see, but it is the anchor and shield of the Association of United Workmen. The initials, A.O.U.W. are often inscribed across the symbol, as seen here.  The lower symbol is an Elk inside a shield, representing the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. Both were prominent organizations in Leadville history. 

The Elks is a great one for me, as I already know the lodge is still active, and my sister has friends who are members. I have an "in" for any future research I may want to do. The A.O.U.W. may be a little more challenging, however, as the Leadville lodge has since gone defunct, and in fact, the organization as a whole has evolved into a life insurance company. The great part for me was as we walked over to the next plot, and I found this: 

A.O.U.W. Headstone, Evergreen Cemetery
Leadville, Lake County, Colorado
Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014

I do not know if this person is affiliated in my research of Thomas Perkins in any way, but I'm grateful for them, nonetheless. Why? Because the Lodge for the A.O.U.W. is identified on their marker! "Excelsior Lodge No. 5" is inscribed along the top edge, with the A.O.U.W. symbol on the front angle. Although more ornate than the version on the Perkins stone, there is no doubt that this is the same organization. YES, there could have been more than one lodge in Leadville. NO, there is no guarantee that this was also Thomas Perkins' lodge, but it is a place to start. I almost missed it; I almost just walked on by. But for whatever reason, I didn't. I looked down and paused. I took a second look. 

And that is why I say, keep looking.  You never know what is going to be right under your feet. 

The Lodges of Central City

Two weeks ago, my family and I explored Central City, Blackhawk and surrounding areas in Gilpin County, Colorado. We had a great day, which included several cemeteries (you can read about the Masonic Cemetery here). As promised, this is a second post from that same trip, this time highlighting the many Lodge buildings still standing in Central City.


One thing I have definitely learned when exploring these communities and looking for signs of fraternal life is to look UP. So many of the buildings are now used as store fronts, restaurants and art galleries, often the only sign left is the markings on the side of the building. In this case, it was also important to look down, as the town had set signs around explaining the various buildings.


All photos ©Jen Baldwin, 2014.

B.P.O. Elks, Lodge NO. 557

B.P.O. Elks Lodge No. 557

Front door to the B.P.O.E. The building appears to currently be vacant.

Historic marker sign for the Masonic Lodge

Masonic Lodge

Masonic Lodge - the tallest building, tan.

Look up! The information I want is right there in the window.
Masonic Hall est. 1864.

A.O.U.W. painted advertisement on the side.
I missed this the first time from street level, it wasn't until I crossed the street that I saw it.

A.O.U.W. building in its entirety.

Front of the A.O.U.W. building.

Insignia built into the front of the A.O.U.W. building.

Historical marker on street level.

I.O.O.F. Building. Again, look up! I missed this from one side of the street,
identified it when we crossed to the other side.

I.O.O.F. full facade.

Brick Knights of Pythias building is the left structure.

Seemingly empty, the KofP building in Central City, Colorado. 

Central City and It's Cemeteries

The final of three posts focused on our day long family adventure in Central City, Gilpin County, Colorado and the surrounding area. We explored the Masonic Cemetery, the downtown area featuring multiple fraternal lodges, and finally the historic cemeteries of Central City. There are six cemeteries within walking distance of each other, including the Knights of Pythias, the Catholic Cemetery and the I.O.O.F.

A few select images from that afternoon of exploring to share.

All images ©Jen Baldwin, 2014. 

Knights of Pythias Cemetery

Turn around from the gate, and this is what you see.

The view of the Catholic Cemetery from the gate of the Knights
of Pythias Cemetery.

We found these wooden markers in the Central City Cemetery, one was more readable than the others. 

The Central City Catholic Cemetery

What appears to be the main gate is chained and locked. 

The human entrance is to the left of the main gate seen above.
Up and over the fence! 

My family going over the stairs. They did also have a memorial
plaque on one side, recognizing a local couple. 

The original main gate is still intact, about 20 yards inside the current
fence. The wooden frame, sign and the actual gate is all that's left. 

These are three sisters, all very young at time of death, and all had a
peeled onion in front of the headstone. 

This round brick structure is in a far back corner of the cemetery, which
covers a fairly large piece of property. There was once a cross on the top according
to one source I was able to locate. 

The original use of this structure appears to be unknown, even by the
local historical society, though there are a few theories floating around. 

We have these metal pipes with wooden stake in the Valley Brook Cemetery
in Breckenridge, also. In Breck, they are used to mark the borders of the various sections
of the cemetery, but there didn't appear to be any obvious reason for them
here in Central City. We only found them around a handful of family plots. 

Although this wooden marker is not in the pipe, it was very obvious
that's where it was intended to be. This was the only other pipe we found
with the wooden stake still in it or nearby.