A Little R&R

Colorado Railroad Museum.
Image: Jen Baldwin, 2014

Once in a great while, I actually get to just do something for fun.


However, with my family and our mutual interests, this often leads me to a historical or genealogical discovery anyway. Camping trips often include exploring nearby cemeteries (hubby doesn't have to ask anymore, he just pulls in), weekends include museums and historic towns, you get the idea. This past weekend, we decided to enjoy some warmer temperatures and mad a jaunt to Golden, Colorado, home of Coors Brewing, the Colorado School of Mines and enough historic buildings to keep just about anybody happy. They also happen to have the Colorado Railroad Museum. All three of us were anxious to spend the day in t-shirts, so off we went.


It started out innocently enough. Lunch, a walk around the historic core of the downtown of Golden. Then back to the Colorado Railroad Museum. We had passed it once, and it looked amazing, so there was no stopping us! I've been wanting to explore this site for a while, as they house the Robert W. Richardson Railroad Library, "one of the most comprehensive railroad research and reference collections in the United States."(1)  Who doesn't love trains? I sure do, I grew up with them, and still own some of my tracks and engines from the display in the basement.

Historic restoration in progress; watching #50 take a turn
around the yard was a great experience.
Image: Jen Baldwin, 2014

The Depot Museum was great, but the real action was outside in the Railyard. Their collection is quite massive, and includes several steam engines, a rotary snowplow, and some unusual work horses made out of pickup trucks. The Cornelius W. Hauck Restoration Roundhouse Facility was quite interesting for the adults in the group, and we watched for several minutes as a crew of men worked on a smaller engine, I think diesel. We were happily surprised later in the day to watch as they moved the engine out of the roundhouse for the first time and took a little tour of the yard. The energy was palatable, and it was quite obvious it had been a while since the last time it ran under its own power.


So what does all of this have to do with genealogy? As great as it was, I could go on and on about this museum, and I have multiple photos I could share. One of the real highlights for me occurred when I was waiting for admission to be paid, and was wondering through the stacks of rail history books they sell in the gift shop. On a nearby table, there was a basket marked "free," so I took a chance. Inside, I found one copy of the April 1899 "The Colorado Road, Colorado and Southern Ry" schedule, map and time table. It's a reproduction, of course, printed in 1978, but the information is invaluable to someone like me. Since so much of my research is focused on Summit County, finding the timetable for the Denver to Breckenridge and Leadville route was incredibly exciting. And then I realized there was maps inside!

Are you still trying to figure out what the big deal is? Let me provide an example. I find little bits and pieces in the local newspaper all the time, "Mr. Westerman traveled to Denver today to discuss his mining operations and other business." "Mrs. Hamilton ventured with a party of three other ladies for a day of shopping in Leadville this week." You see these mentions all the time in the society and "local happenings" columns in the newspapers. Now I can tell you, in 1899, it would have taken Mr. Westerman seven hours to get from Breckenridge to Denver on the railroad. SEVEN. It would have taken Mrs. Hamilton just over three to get to Leadville, with 12 stops in between the two towns and two significant mountain passes. (These are real life examples, by the way.)


Learning that Mr. Westerman traveled to Denver for business is one thing, realizing that he would have been gone at least three days - two days for travel and one for actual business doings - is quite another. The detail of a personal timeline for these individuals just upped to the level of minute.


This past week, I've been toying with making Breckenridge a true One Place Study for me; and if I can gain the support of the local historical organization, it may happen sooner than I originally planned. An in-depth study of the community, its people and this particular time frame would benefit greatly from a timetable such as this, and the information you can find in it. Far beyond just a schedule, this is an incredible piece to have in my arsenal.


And to think, all I had to do was peek in a basket on the free table.

"The Colorado Road" map from the Colorado & Southern Ry.
Image: Jen Baldwin, 2014

Timetable for the Denver to Breckenridge and Leadville Route, and return.
Colorado & Southern Railway, reproduction 1978.
Image: Jen Baldwin, 2014

(1) Colorado Railroad Museum brochure

1884 Snow Plow

Living in Summit County means you have to deal with snow. Sometimes, a lot of snow.

One of the heaviest winter's recorded was that of 1898-1899. The piles were massive, trains and supplies were stopped, and many of the mountain's small communities were cut off for weeks at a time. From the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance's website:

A record snowfall hits Breckenridge and residents are forced to dig snow tunnels to get around town. Rail service resumes on April 24th, after a 78 day blockade.

Miner's cabin in snow. Colorado, taken between 1882-1900.
Photographer: W.H. Jackson
Source: Denver Public Library Digital Collections

 So, it was a tough way of life. Miner's were known to build doors and/or window's into the roofs or upper eaves of their cabins, and then use that as their primary entrance during the winter. There was no real reason for them to continually shovel around the ground level entrance; that was certainly a lot of work, and removed helpful insulation from around the home.

There were some folks who were determined to do something about the labor intensive task of keeping town streets clean of snow. If you look at any of the photos from that era of our high country communities, you will see snow piles lining the streets, at times as high as two story buildings! That is a lot of shoveling. Not only where the streets and residential areas a concern, but the railroad tracks became extremely important in this matter. If the train could not get through the snow, and avalanches over tracks and trains were common occurrences  burying both, then supplies, mail, passengers and other necessities were unavailable.

I recently came across a patent record issued in 1884 by a resident of Red Cliff, Colorado. One Mr. John Q. Day issued Patent No. 299750 for a "Snow-Plow".  His design requires the machine to move along the tracks, and;

"...The snow is gathered on the curved mold-board n ... and is shoveled or scraped therefrom into the wheel groves by the shovels..." 

Partial Image from Patent No. 299750
United States Patent Office

If you have not included a patent search in your own genealogy process, I highly recommend it. You can do this easily through Google (what else?), by using the Google Patents Search. Filters include filing date and type of patent. In the past, I have found a few connected with my family tree, including one for a design of a head lice remover.

Even if you don't find one submitted by an actual family member, you can certainly find other ideas from their neighbors, giving you a great look at the problems they experienced in every day life, and the solutions they were trying to come up with.

I do not know if this snow-plow was ever used by any railroad companies, but I do not think it would be difficult to find out. It does, however, make for a very interesting topic around the dinner table!

Have you had any success searching patents? Do you have any interesting stories? I would love to hear them.

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...