Kit Carson County, Colorado
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Kit Carson County Pioneers:

Herbert M. Cooley , Flagler


The Flagler (Colorado) News Vol. V, No. 50, 3 Jan 1918, p. 4., col. 3 Will A. Borland, ed
This community was grieved last Friday when the word was spread about town that Robert Cooley had passed away on 28 Dec 1917. Mr. Cooley was a man who was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him, and while the writer had known him but two years, still I had learned to love and respect him. His genial disposition and hearty greeting had endeared him to our people and he will be greatly missed in the community.
Robert Reed Cooley was born to Andrew Sutherland Cooley and Salome Warren Cooley in Garnavillo, Iowa 14 May 1847 and died at his home near Flagler, Colo., December 28, 1917, at the age of 70 years, 7 months and 14 days, death being due to apoplexy [a sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain]. Funeral services were held at the Congregational church in Flagler on Monday morning, December 31st [1918], at 11 o'clock, conducted by the pastor, Rev. A. W. Moore. His text was found in Phil. 1-21: "To me, to live is Christ, to die is gain." Businesses of Flagler were closed during services.
He lived with his parents in Garnavillo until young manhood, when he and his father, A. S. Cooley, disposed of his property near that place and purchased a farm near McGregor, Iowa, where he was in the nursery business several years [This ambiguous quote is from The History of Clayton County Iowa, 1882].
He was united in marriage with Stella A. Owen on December 10, 1874 in McGregor, Clayton County, Iowa.
To this union were born four children: Twins Herbert Merton (Mert) and Robert Berton (Bert) on 20 Oct 1875 in McGregor, Clayton County, Iowa; Verne Alton on 8 May 1880 in McGregor, and Glenn Syren on 14 Jul 1894 in Plainview, Pierce County, Nebraska. Herbert Merton drowned in the Missouri River near Yankton, S.D., 4 Nov 1914 and Verne Alton died at McGregor Iowa, 5 Aug 1881, at the age of 15 months.
In the spring of 1886 Robert Reed and his family consisting of himself, wife Stella, and twin sons Mert and Bert moved to Plainview, Nebr, where he resided until the spring of 1910 when he migrated to Kit Carson County Colorado where he bought a relinquishment northwest of Flagler.
Robert Cooley was a true man; a man who gave almost his entire life to the service of others. For three year he took care of a helpless brother who was wounded in the Civil War [Peter S. Cooley]. This ordeal practically undermined his health, but he never complained.
Mr. Cooley is survived by his wife, Stella, and two sons, Robert Berton of Otis, Colo., and Glenn Syren of Flagler.
He is also survived by six grand-children, one of whom, Ronald Cooley, has lived with his grandparents since the death of his mother, Elizabeth Holliday Cooley, in December of 1907.
A large number of sympathizing friends and associates assembled to pay their last respects to one whom they loved, and the business houses of Flagler were closed during the services. The floral offerings were abundant and beautiful. The last remains were laid to their final rest in the Flagler cemetery. The News joins with the large circle of friend and acquaintances in extending sympathy to the bereaved wife and children in their time of sorrow.

The Flagler News, V 8, No. 22, June 17, 1920 (front page story).
Mrs. Cooley was one of the really estimable old ladies of Flagler, always quiet and greatly devoted to her home and children.
In early childhood she came with her parents to West Union, Fayette County, Iowa, later moving to McGregor, Iowa, where she was married to Robert Reed Cooley on 10 Dec 1874.
In 1886 she came with her husband and children to Plainview, Nebraska, where they resided until 1910 when they disposed of their property and came to Flagler, Kit Carson County, Colorado where they lived on a farm just west of town until a short time ago when the deceased and her son, Glenn, moved to town to property he recently purchased.
She also leaves a brother, Ernest M. Owen of Flagler, and a sister, Mrs. Lucy Shaffer who makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Groves just south of Flagler.
She is mentioned in Descendants of John Owen as 7th generation.

HERBERT

Herbert M. Cooley, 29, born in Iowa to Robert and Stella Cooley, married Jane E. Halliday on April 26, 1906 in KNox County, Nebrfaska.

1910 teachers in District No. 14, Miss Hewitt, Flagler. Mildreth Ridding, Flagler. Dora Butler, Flagler. Mr. Bert Cooley, Flagler. Mrs. Bert Cooley, Flagler. Agnes Beedy, Flagler. Elsie Haynes, Flagler. Mrs. J. A. Smith, Flagler. Claire Williams, Flagler.

Herbert Merton "Mert" Cooley 1875-1914 died in Yankton County, South Dakota, # 109021582.
" O.W. Cass, a druggist of Crofton Neb, and H.M. Cooley, editor of the Crofton Journal, were drowned in the Missouri River at 2 o'clock this morning when Mr. Cass' auto, a Ford, plunged over the side of the pontoon bridge into 12 to 14 feet of water.
O.D. Salley, barber, and L.S. Ross, jeweler, also of Crofton, were members of the party but although both experienced the terrible plunge into the river and hit the sandbar at the bottom, both managed to rise clear of the car and get to shore but hardly able to relate how; Salley especially, who was nearly drowned, is in a state of collapse over the loss of his intimate friend, Mr. Cooley.
[The bodies of Cass and Cooley were never found]"


ROBERT
Robert Berton Cooley (Bert) and his twin brother Herbert Merton (Mert) were born in McGregor, Iowa, October 15, 1875. About the turn of the 20th century the brothers moved to Nebraska. Bert was married to Carrie Louella Miller (Lou) in 1902 in Plainview, Nebr. This union produced three sons, Orville Dale, Clifford Coyne, and Robert Miller. Mert was married to Elizabeth Holliday in Knox County Nebraska and to this union two sons were born, Ronald Delos and Merton Beth.[6]

Herbert Merton was the first twin to get into the newspaper business when in 1906 he formed a partnership with a Mr Lawrence to operate the Crofton (Nebraska) Progress.[13]

About the same time the first edition of a competing newspaper, the Crofton Journal was published 7 Jun 1906 with editors and publishers Peterson & Alwine.[13]It changed hands as follows: 1907, Robinson; 1908, Needham & McCoy.[14]

On 7 Dec 1911 the Crofton Journal merged with the Crofton Progress. It is unclear whom the owner(s) of the merged newspaper were at this point but by 1913 Herbert Merton Cooley had become sole proprietor purchasing it from J.B. McCoy.[13]

Bert and Lou taught school in Plainview, Nebraska, until 1910 when they migrated westward to prove up on a homestead[nb 10] northwest of Flagler, Colorado. About two years later on January 12, 1912 Bert founded the Otis Independent[nb 11] at Otis, Colorado.

In a tragic automobile accident in 1914, Mert was drowned in the Missouri River after a car in which he was a passenger drove off a pontoon bridge near Yankton, South Dakota.[15] Bert gave up the Otis Independent and moved the family back to Crofton to assume control of his brother's newspaper and the parenting of his two sons, Ronald and Beth. But in 1916, because of a worsening allergy condition, Bert sold the Journal and returned to Colorado to resume operation of the Otis Independent, this time with two more "sons" in tow.[6]

Bert continued to operate the Independent until the fall of 1928 when, in a trade, he swapped the Otis Independent for ownership in the Monte Vista Tribune, Monte Vista, Colorado, now the Monte Vista Journal.[nb 12] Within a few months, Bert disposed of the Tribune, went to Akron, Colo., where he bought the Akron Semi-Weekly News and the Akron Reporter combining the two papers on February 28, 1929, into the Akron News-Reporter.[6]

In 1920 Flagler, Ronald Cooley is 14, with grandmother Stella Cooley 70, and uncle Glenn S. Cooley 26.

Ronald Delos Cooley was born in Knox County, Nebraska January 26, 1906, died in Denver on January 11, 1980.
He's buried in Limon # 78083101.
"Ronald Delos Cooley was born in Crofton, Nebr., 28 Jan 1906, son of Herbert Merton (Mert) Cooley and Elizabeth Holliday. Late the next year a second child, Merton Beth Cooley, was born (7 Dec 1907) shortly after which Elizabeth died of complications. Ronald went to live with his grandparents Robert Reed Cooley and Stella Owen and Beth was taken in and raised by his uncle Robert Berton Cooley and his wife, Carrie Louella Miller.
Ronald attended grade school in Crofton, Nebr, and high schools in Flagler, Colo and Otis, Colo. While in Crofton he helped his father, Mert, in his newspaper business then continued to help at his uncle Bert's newspaper, the Otis Independent, in Otis, Colo in 1911. He learned to operate the Linotype at the Independent and with his early immersion in newspapering, Ronald decided to continue in the business.
He first attended the University of Denver then the University of Colorado in Boulder Colo where he attained a bachelor's degree in journalism. While at the University, Ronald was a member of Kappa Sigma social fraternity and of Sigma Delta Chi journalistic fraternity where he served as president in his senior year.
After graduation he took a newspaper job with Smith-Brooks Printing Company in Denver. In succeeding years he also worked at the Record Stockman, the Denver Post, and one summer, at the Steamboat Springs Pilot. Eventually he returned to Akron, Colo., to work at his Uncle Bert's newspaper, the Akron News-Reporter.
In Denver he was married to his high school sweetheart, Irene Skinner, on July 20, 1935. They had two children, Luanne b. 22 May 1940, and a son, James Ronald b. 16 Dec 1943. Luanne married Larry Winkelman of Dodge City, Kan., and James married Maria Morrison of Holdrege, Nebr.
On February 15, 1937, Ronald and his cousin Dale moved to Limon, Colo., to operate the Eastern Colorado Leader as a partnership (set up by Bert). About two years later the paper was combined with the Genoa Sentinel and renamed the Limon Leader. The partnership continued until June 1, 1972, when the newspaper was sold to Norman R. Sunderland and Associates.
"During the Eisenhower administration, Ron [was offered] the job of Postmaster at Limon. Before accepting the position Ron lost a lot of sleep while pondering the multitude of details and irritations that would be a part of a postmaster's daily life. 'I got as far as the swearing-in part of it, then decided not to take it', Ron recalled" - The Denver Post, 3/4/1972, p12
Ronald served as Mayor of Limon for two terms and as a city councilman for several terms. In 1955, Ronald and Dale, were honored as "Editors of the Year" by the University of Colorado Department of journalism. He was a member of the Colorado Press Association while active in the newspaper business and served on the board of directors, as well as in many different committees.
He was a member of the Limon Lions Club of which he was a charter member, a member of the First United Methodist Church of Limon, and an honorary member of the Limon High School "L" Club. "

Merton Beth Cooley was born to Herbert Merton (Mert) and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Holliday Cooley on Dec 7, 1907, in Crofton, Neb. His mother died in 1908 from complications of childbirth.
His father was editor and publisher of the Crofton Journal so Beth and his elder brother, Ronald literally grew up in the newspaper business. On 14 Nov 1914, a car in which their father Herbert Merton was a passenger plunged off the Yankton pontoon bridge over the Missouri River drowning him and another passenger in the car. His body was never recovered.
Robert Berton Cooley (a twin brother of Herbert Merton) and his wife Carrie Louella Miller had homesteaded to a farm near Flagler Colorado in 1910 and in 1912 Bert had started the Otis Independent in Otis, Colo., 59 miles north of Flagler. Upon learning of his brother's death, Bert sold the Independent and he and his wife and two sons moved back to Crofton to take over the newspaper. They immediately took in and raised Beth and his elder brother Ronald as members of the family.
Beth was still just a small boy at this time but he was already working in the family business. "I could read upside down when I was about four or five, and I was hand-setting type before I went to school. To get the paper out, we were hand-setting type day and night. Us kids never knew anything else."
In 1916, because of a worsening allergy condition, Bert sold the Crofton Journal and the family returned to Colorado to resume operation of the Otis Independent, this time with two more "sons" in tow.
Beth attended school in Otis, graduating from Otis High School in 1927. He also proved to be a fine football player. In his younger years, Beth played trumpet in a local dance band called "The Night Hawks" and became an excellent performer.
After graduation, Beth attended the University of Colorado for a short time, later moving back to Otis to help with the newspaper. Beth married Viola Myfanwy Kyffin on May 25, 1929, in Otis and they had one son, Herbert Merton.
His Uncle Bert continued to operate the Independent until the fall of 1928 when, in a trade, he swapped the Otis Independent for ownership in the Monte Vista Tribune, Monte Vista, Colorado. Within a few months, Bert disposed of the Tribune and the family moved to Akron, Colo., where he bought the Akron Semi-Weekly News and the Akron Reporter combining the two papers on February 28, 1929 into the Akron News-Reporter. Its first edition was published on 7 Mar 1929.
Beth was an adept Linotype operator and he had a natural bent for mechanics of all kinds. Through the years he became known as one of the best repairmen on all printing machinery and was sought after by other newspapers in northeastern Colorado for repair work.
On the retirement of the original owners of the Akron News-Reporter, his Uncle Bert and Aunt Lou, Beth and his cousin, Coyne Cooley, became the sole owners of the Akron News-Reporter, which they continued to operate until 1979. All in all, Beth had worked in the weelky newspaper business almost 68 years, from a four-year-old kid folding newspapers at the Crofton Journal to the sale of the Akron News-Reporter in 1979.
In keeping with his interest in mechanics, he had a life-long love affair with the automobile (his favorite, Buick). Beth was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and a charter member of the Akron Rotary Club. He was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow.
Merton Beth Cooley died at Sterling Regional MedCenter on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1992 ae 84. Funeral services were held Friday, Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. from the First Presbyterian Church in Akron with Rev. Kyle Weir officiating. Interment followed in the Akron Cemetery with Yeamans & Gordon Memorial Chapel in charge of arrangements.

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