Kit Carson County, Colorado
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Kit Carson County Pioneers:

Harrison L. and Nellie Clark,6 South 43 West


In 1865 Erie County, New York, Harrison is 2, with parents Lewis S. and Louisa. Clark.
In 1880 Erie County, Harrison is farming, single, 18, boarding with the Sophia Irich family.
In 1900 Cedar County, Nebraska, Harrison L. Clark born July 1863 in New York, married sixteen years to Nellie Sep 1864 Pennsylvania, have Ethel Sep 1887 , Ellis July 1885, and Walter June 1895, all three in New York.

Opal(Clark) Smith wrote a wonderful story about Harrison and Nellie
Nellie worked for an invalid cousin, and there she met my father Harrison Clark. They were married in 1884 in Springville, NY. That year, Harrison was working for his brother, Harvey, and he got his board and room with wages so long as that brother lived in part of the house with his parents, Lewis and Louisa. They had Nellie come and live with them. Grandma Clark was a wonderful, gentle lady. Nellie loved her like her own mother. She gave Nellie a small soft pillow and all her life Nellie used that pillow. She thought she could not sleep on any other pillow and she was very particular about that pillow. She never allowed us children to play with it, or treat it carelessly, except if we were sick. It was a treat to be allowed to lie on it. It was strictly "tabo" for us to have it. I suppose she used it every night of her life, for I know if she ever left home, she always took her pillow along with her night gown. I know she used it the night that she died.. .
A year later Harrison rented a farm and they started keeping house. Their first son was born July 1886, and they were proud of their Ellis Leroy. Ethel May was born 2 years later. About that time, they were attending revival meetings, and were both converted. Nellie kept her faith clear and bright all her life, but Harrison backslided and for many years he was not a Christian. Walter was born in 1894 and when he was about 4 years old they moved to Nebraska. The life was a hard pioneer struggle. Cold winters and the house where they lived had a cellar for the kitchen. It was dug out of the bank, with just one side boarded up. They used a ladder to go up stairs to the second floor, up above was an attic whre they had another sleeping room. Opal Lillan was born Dec. 17th 1900. When Ethel was 12 years old and Ellis 14, when they called the children to come in and see their new baby sister. Ellis looked at me and said "shucks, now there won't be an extra piece of pie". Mother always made big pies and cut them in 6 pieces, and Ellis generally got away with the extra piece..
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Prosperity came along, with lots of hard work and perseverance, and they built on an addition, so there was a nice large sunny kitchen and bedrooms. Life seemed smiling on them, but Dad felt the call to go farther west. He heard of free land in Colorado. He also heard of the wonderful water they had in Colorado, and wanted to leave the hard Alkali water where he lived, as it was affecting his kidneys. It was hard for Mother to again pull up and leave a comfortable home for in New York, they had just completed a wonderful new large farm home when they moved to Nebraska. I remember after Dad came home to Nebraska, after he had made a trip to Colorado to see what the conditions were there, he brought a small bottle of water back with him and had each of us taste it so we could see how good and pure the water was. I was 5 years old then and in March of 1906, after he had gone ahead, with the stock and furniture, and belongings, he sent for Mother to come on with Ethel, Walter and I. We went to Burlington, and when we got to the shabby little town, the wind was so strong we had to hold to posts to keep from being blown away as we walked from the depot to a hotel where we stayed till Dad sent a "two-seated buggy" to take us out to the homestead, 18 miles north of Burlington. It was a bitter cold day when we made the trip. We had to cover our heads with a buffalo robe to keep from freezing, and there was a poor road, hardly more than a trail that led over the prairie. The driver pointed his long buggy whip toward some cow manure and said "now there is buffalo chips". That is what we use for fuel. After that Walter and I used to walk around and try to distinguish which were buffalo chips and what was just plain cow chips!! We didn't realize that the word buffalo came from the fact that the cattle ate the buffalo grass. It was the wirey kind of grass that kept the chips together so they were like large flat pancakes. Later we used to take large lumber wagons and go out on the prairie and pick up loads and loads of chips and stack them close to the kitchen door, so our winter supply of fuel was handy. Every little sod shack had its pile of buffalo chips close by.... .
Dad built a big frame house, and it was a landmark over the country. It had a story-and-a-half with a stairway, and a large kitchen built on a well. There was a large frame barn, and a frame corncrib and grainary combined with an alley-way between where he kept the grain drill. Dad always took good care of his farm supplies and implements and didn't let them stand out in the weather. He had a well dug, and the water was truly the best in the world. I often wish after some now. People came for miles around to get water and take it in barrels to their sod shacks. It was the only well for some distance around for a while. Dad bought a herd of cattle, but the rancher took advantage of his ignorance and he got a poor bunch of animals. Some were "locoed" a result of eating the loco weed that came up first in the spring. They were so drugged that they wouldn't eat anything else. It was one of the problems of the rancher to get rid of the loco weed, and they carried a sharp shovel around to dig up the weeds. I have heard it said that the loco weed was the same as the Marijuana that the Mexicans smoke, and that our young citizens smoke for a thrill. It made the cows hesitate to attack a rider on a horse. The cattle had long horns at first, which made them double dangerous.. .
I remember after we moved into our house, one day a herd of wild range cattle were following the cow trail which led near our house - they plodded along with their heads down - going down to the Launchman creek for water, I suppose--when suddenly on of them raised his head and saw the strange spectacle of a framehouse near by. They gave a bellow of terrror and a stampede followed, it was a laughable sight to see those cattle run frantically, bellowing and bawling and their tails lifted high in fear and long horns clashing!.
. Later the homesteaders moved in, they fenced their 160 acres with new posts and barbed wire. Walter and I used to like to walk along the fence. One day I noticed a lot of small round pellets around a post. I asked Walter what it was, and he told me it was B.Bs. and if I would pick up a lot of them he would make a gun to shoot them. So, I started following the fence posts and I confiscated every tin tomato can I could find. Soon I had the entire fruit shelf in the cellar filled with tomato cans full of my precious B.Bs. waiting for Walter to do his gun making stunt. One day Dad was in the cellar looking for nails, and he picked up one of my tomato cans. I remember his grunt of disgust as he looked at it. He tossed it out doors, and then picked up another, with the same result, until all my hard earned ammunition was out on the ground. I was heartbroken, and at the supper table I blurted out "Papa throwed out all our B.B. shot" and the family began investigating. Of course they landed on Walter after he admitted his part in the affair, and how the family laughed! I didn't know until after supper when Mama took me aside to talk to me, that the ammunitaion came from the numerous Jack Rabbits that infested the land..
. We lived on the homestead until I was 14, then Dad sold it to Ellis, and we moved to Sterling, Colorado, where I went to school. Ethel lived at Sterling too Later we went back and stayed during the summer in Ellis' homestead house, where he used to have the post office called "Morris and a little country store. About the time we were packed and ready to move to Colorado Springs, where I planned to attend high school, I was suffering an attack of appendicitis, so our moving was delayed. Later that winter I went to the Happy Hollow School where Lola Reneau was teaching the 9th grade. Dorothy and Gladys Nohr, Estelle Straughn and I were in the class. Lola Reneau boarded with us, in the little two-room house where Ellis and Amy had lived. In the front room we had two beds - just room for them to be placed foot-to-foot. We cooked, ate and used the other room for living. It was close quarters, but Lola found it preferable to living in a 2 room soddy with a large family of children. The next year I went to McPherson, Kansas to school and Dad and Mother moved to Canon City to live, so I then went to school in Canon City and married there..

1910 Goff notes in the Burlington newspaper "H.L. Clark and son Ellis were Burlington visitors Saturday."

In 1910 Kit Carson County, Harrison 46 and Nellie 45 have Walter 15 and Opal 9. Ellis is the next household, 23, living alone.
In 1912 Harrison and Ellis were witnesses for a land claim of Mary Johnston, all of Morris Colorado.
ELLIS
Ellis proved up two quarters in 8 and 9, 6S 43W in 1913.
Ellis Leroy Clark was married when he registered for WWI, with four children, born July 30, 1886 in Collins, New York.
In 1920 Kit Carson County, Ellis and Amy B. have Verle L. 8, Ada B. 6, Cora L. 4, aLola M. 2, and Bessie M. nine months.
Ellis and Amy are in the 1925 census of Phillips County, Kansas, with Verle 14, Ada 12, Lucile 10, Lola 8, Bessie 6, and Nellie 4.
In Kit Carson County in 1930, they have Ada B. 17, Lucile C. 15, Lola M. 13, Bessie M. 11, Ethel N. 9, and Robert E. 4.

In 1940 Jefferson County, Colorado, Ellis is a laborer on roads, 53, Amy B. 51 Iowa, with Ethel N. 19 and Robert E. 14, both born in Colorado.

1946 Arvada, Colorado.

ETHEL
Walter H. Wilcox is a "drugman" in Burlington in 1900, born June 1853 Illinois, with Mary M. Aug 1860 Illiois. They hae Nellie J. Feb 1886 Illinoisa Charly S. June 1889 Colorado, William W. July 1891, Eva M. Aug 1893, and Earl D. Jul 1898.

1910
Charlie and Ethel are in Colby, Kansas in 1910, no children.
1912 Burlington "Mrs. Charles Wilcox and little daughter of Goodland, arrived Thursday morning for a few days visit with Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Wilcox and other relatives."
Charlie Seward Wilcox registered in Sterling Colorado, born June 13, 1889 at Burlington Colorado, He was a barber, working for James H. Jay.

In 1920 Sterling, Colorado, Charles S. Wilcox is a barber, 30, born in Colorado, with Ethel, 31. They have Neva 8 Kansas and Charles 5, Colorado.
Joseph W. Walker, 26, is a boarder, also a barber.
Charles Seward Wilcox was buried July 12, 1926 at Riverside Cemetery in Sterling.

Ethel is widowed in 1930 Sterling, a home baker, 41, and Charles 16 is with her.
Neva E. Martin born Jan 11, 1911 in Kansas, died April 26, 1974 in Napa County California.

Ethel Wilcox married R.E. Michaelis July 3, 1930, recorded in Boulder County.

WALTER
1910 "Mr. Walter Clark expects to go Colby Kansas this week where he has a job awaiting him."


Walter proved up a quarter in section 8 in 1920.

Harrison proved up one quarter in section 18 in 1913, and another in 1914.
Harrison Luzerne Clark was born July 8, 1862 in Centerville, Pennsylvania, married Nellie Marietta Himes (September 234, 1864 in Ridgeway, New York) , married March 15, 1884 in Fort Scott, Kansas. Harrison died July 20, 1928 in San Diego, California, Nellie died November 9, 1944. Harrison 1862-1928 is buried in Canon City # 113181817. They had Opal Clark December 17, 1900, who married George Hedly Smith born June 1, 1900 at Rockwell Texas.

WALTER
Walter S. Clark married Helen G. Miser Nov 25, 1924, recorded in Kit Carson County.

1956 "Walter S. Clark, 61, Coeur d'Alene resident since 1934 and chinchilla raiser here, for several years, died Monday at Fullerton, Calif. Mr. Clark succumbed after suffering a heart attack while he was visiting with relatives there. Born at North Collins, N.Y., he moved here from Burlington, Colo., and worked as a carpenter for a number of years. He was a veteran of World War I and a member of the Eagles here. Survivors are his widow, Helen G. Clark, at the family home, 15th and Best; two daughters, Mrs. Nell E. Carnie, Cheney, Wash., and Mrs. Lillian M. Mayor, Fullerton, Calif.; a sister, Mrs. Opal Smith, San Diego, Calif.; two granddaughters, Anita and Marilyn Mayor at Fullerton; and several nieces and nephews, including Charles Wilcox, Coeur d'Alene. "Helen Gertrude Clark, age 92, a resident of Coeur d'Alene Convalescent Center, Helen was born March 15, 1901, in Seneca, Kan., to Charles and Emma Miser. She married Walter S. Clark in Burlington, Colo., on Nov. 25, 1924. They moved to Coeur d'Alene from Burlington in 1934. She was an artistic homemaker and creative conservationist. She enjoyed gardening and reading and was a student of the Bible. " # 16572015 1901-1993.
Helen's father Charles Ellsworth Miser 1871-1944 is buried in Burlington "Charles Ellsworth Miser was born at Annapolis, Ohio, Nov. 15, 1871. He lived with his family until at the age of 23 he moved to Pawnee City, Neb., in August, 1895. There he married Emma E. Edgerton on Nov. 30, 1898, and she preceded him in death March 24, 1937. To this union were born ten children, all of whom are living except Margaret Geraldine, who passed away in 1934.
From Pawnee City he moved to Burlington in the fall of 1910 where he homesteaded and lived until the time of his death July 3, 1944, at the age of 72 years, seven months and 18 days.
While a young man he was converted and baptized into the United Brethren Church of Pawnee City. He was a kind and loving father, an honorable and upright citizen respected by all who knew him.
He leaves to mourn his passing the following children: George E. Miser and June B. Starkey of Aberdeen, Idaho; John E. Miser, of American Falls, Idaho; Helen G. Clark of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Lorena V. Kennedy of Kimberly, Idaho; Edith M. Wells and Hallie L. Winfrey of Burlington; Mary E. Winfrey of Nevada, Mo., and Albert H. Miser, who is with the armed forces overseas. Besides these he leaves 23 grandchildren, one brother, five sisters, and a host of friends.
Funeral services were held Friday, July 7, at the Penny Bros. Mortuary, with Dr. H. I. Woolard delivering the funeral sermon.
Burial: Fairview Cemetery "

Helen's mother is also buried in Burlington 1875-1937.
"Emma Elizabeth Edgerton was born at Pawnee City, Neb., in the year 1875, and departed this life March 24, 1937, at the age of 61 years, 3 months and 22 days, following a short illness caused by a heart attack. She was united in marriage to Chas. E. Miser in 1898 at Pawnee City, Neb., where they made their home until coming to Burlington, Colo., in 1910. To this union were born ten children who are living except Margaret Geraldine who passed away in 1934. At an early age she was converted and baptized into the United Brethren Church. She took an active interest in the work of the church, being especially useful in the Sunday School. She was a kind and loving wife and mother, loved and respected by all who knew her. She leaves to mourn her passing, her husband, Chas. E. Miser, nine children, Mrs. R. J. Kennedy, Eden, Idaho, Mrs. W. S. Clark of Coeur d'Alene, Ida., George, Albert and John Miser, all of Aberdeen, Idaho, Mrs. Everett Winfrey of Aberdeen, Idaho, Mrs. Clifton Winfrey of Burlington and Mrs. Ole Starkey of Aberdeen, Ida. Three brothers and three sisters, Mrs. Eva D. Rafter, Mrs. Sadie Plummer, Mrs. Ella Jacobs, Clyde Edgerton, George Edgerton, all of Puyallup, Wash., and Lafe Edgerton of Pawnee City, Neb. Besides these there are twenty grandchildren and a host of friends. "

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