Yuma County, Colorado
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This page contains a running list of new pages, page updates and on-line data added during the last couple of years starting with the most recent change. Lee Zion died in the summer of 2008, so the majority of the site is his work.


December 2023


We are still dealing with medical issues -

Added quite a bit to the Horlocker family page. Besides the daughter soloist at the first public performance of "The Stars and Stripes Forever," the daughter tried for attempted murder in Nebraska, the noted artist daughter, another daughter and husband managed a rubber plantation in British Guyana.

Added pages on the Nieweg and related Speth families of Yuma.

November 2023


We are still dealing with medical issues -

But working with the Colorado and Arizona GenWeb - if you have a domain name registered, make sure that your family knows how to renew it !

One of the Kit Carson County families connected to Yuma County was the Jens Larsen family of Idalia - confusing, because there was also a Jens Jensen of Brush.

May 2023


We are still dealing with medical issues -
One interesting early politician of Yuma - Granville Pendleton and his cousin Edwin Pendleton of Walsenburg and Trinidad.

March 2023


With a lot of work - and still some tweaking to come, Colorado GenWeb is at a new domain.

Added James and Mary Moyerof Yuma - early farmers and civic leaders.

February 2023


Almost everything is in place for the switch to a new domain.
It is cogenweb.org/yuma, and operational right now.

One new page is John S. Mosby, the Confederate "Grey Ghost", who was in northeast Colorado to enforce Federal bans on fencing.

January 2023


The Colorado GenWeb state coordinator died last year, after a long siege of her husband's illness and death. Her children have no way to renew the internet domain. So the project has to be moved. It still will be cogenweb, but .ORG instead of .COM. Of course all the links have to be changed, and data moved. So that is January's task.

Did some family pages from Robb - but those are on the .org site, when the switch is turned on.
You can see them now at www.cogenweb.org/yuma.

December 2022




Added a page on George Gardner of Cope - his daughter Ione was my mother's favorite teacher.

November 2022



With family health issues, have not added anything in the past three months, but have answered queries.

July 2022



Did some family pages for early Yuma claimants - most didn't stay past 1895. Lovely wife and I both tied up with medical procedures this last quarter.

April 2022


Did some family pages for a township in Logan County, and another in Kit Carson County over the last three months.

Added to the Fred Conover page, and added one for William H. Conover.

December 2021


Fred Shafferwas an 1895 Yuma newspaper editor, son-in-law of Ben Ward. Fred later was reputed to be an investment con man, and ended up as a publicist in Yolo County, California. His Yolo biography said Ben Ward was the chief scout for Buffalo Bill.

November 2021


Katherine Wolcott was an early Yuma teacher and homesteader.

October 2021



Edgar and Alice Orr of Yuma. Too early for newspapers, but Edgar died about the same time their daughter Leo was born in Yuma County.

John L. and Nancy Lewis of Yuma, children William Dollins, Earl, Earnest, Josie (Myers), Emit, Pearl (Scrivner), Edmon, John Jr., Sarah (Delaney).

James and brother Isaac Hendrie of Wray

September 2021


Evalina (Buttrey)(Johnson)(Mitchell) Box, lived a few years in Wray with her son Sheriff Billy Johnson.
Sheriff Johnson arrested James E. Boyd and a lady barber for adultery in 1905.

Added a page on the Lovitt family. They didn't live in Yuma County very long, but their young daughter Beulah was one of the first burials in Wray Grandview Cemetery.

Two more Yuma newspaper editors, Fred C. Brobst, who started the Pioneer, and then sold to William J. Goodspeed.

Clara Ensminger was a photographer in 1891 Yuma, homesteading five miles west, in Washington County.

August 2021


Added some pages on early Yuma Pioneer editors - Thomas Webb Williams, Edmund J. Picard, Josiah C. (Jess) Williams, L. B. "Kirk" Heath, Martin L. Grisell,
A. Burt Jessup, and
J. Holland Starbuck.

July 2021




Corrected broken links, such as files that had not been uploaded to the web.

Added an article on the 1915 Yuma school building.

June 2021




Added some pages on teachers in Pleasant Valley, thanks to Bev Tracy.

May 2021



Lost a great state coordinator when Gail Kilgore passed away.

Confirmed that George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry passed through the Eckley area going north towards Fort Sedgwick. Jimmy Brophy years ago had found a sword in a pasture with markings of the 7th.

March 2021



Thanks to the Oregon Genealogical Forum, Eckley School Annuals 1944, 1945, and 1947.

December 2020



Added pages for Thomas Spooner of Yuma and Ralph C. Spooner of Wray.

Added pages for three Reichert brothers of Bryant - none stayed long in Yuma County.

November 2020



Still coping with isolation. Added a page on George M. Hitt of Magee - later he was the Phillips County sheriff.

October 2020



Still coping with isolation. Added a page on Earl and Viola Sutter of Eckley.

August 2020


Coping with isolation - no major additions. Last one was the Adamson families of Wray and Eckley - Betty, dying in Augusts, was in my Yuma High School class.

Febuary 2020

Just a few family pages of Wray residents in 1910.

January 2020

Ginny contributed an extensive history of the Bonny family and area.

December 2019

Richard Birnie contributed a great article and photos of the restored Eckley Fire Truck.

November 2019

Steve Bullard sent a great photo of Benson Plymate and his wife.

October 2019


Added a page on William and Minnie (Colby) Noble

September 2019


Added a page on the Frank and Lucy Dunkin family of Waverly. Lucy's sister Daisy Hubbard was with them for only a short time.

August 2019


Bad hail on July 29, totalling the roof and siding and windows on the farm house.
Added a few family pages

July 2019


My sister Patty (Monk) Spellman passed away July 17, three months after her husband Bob. She lived in the Pleasant Valley area until the last three months.
Earl Gay family of Yuma, Frank Gay family of Hughes.

June 2019

Charles and Edward Rawson families of Eckley
Valentine Lippert of Wray

May 2019


My sister Patty Monk Spellman is now living at Hillcrest Care Center in Wray.

Harold E. and Clara (Aageson) Gardner of Yuma

April 2019


Chief Silver Star White Eagle Nielsen of Eckley
An odd man - came to Eckley in 1968, died in 1974.

My sister's husband Bob Spellman died suddenly in April - the seventh of the nine Spellman kids of Laird.

Joe and Mildred Simmering of Yuma

March 2019


The Peden siblings of Witherbee -
Anna Peden Barbour, William E. Peden, Buford Peden.

February 2019


John and Cora Dresen of Bryant

January 2019


Steve and Gertrude (DeFigh), Mattie DeFigh of Wray

My gggfather Paul Sides - born Napoleon Cote in Quebec. His daughter Mary (Sides) Monk owned a quarter a half-mile from the Pleasant Valley Church.

John and Mary (Cassidy) Watson of Eckley

John and Lura White of Steffens

December 2018



Mary Chesem of Wray - no relation.

Josephine (Chezem) Oman's family

Another relative - Eric and Anna (Wiklund) Roden

Jennie Woodward - mother of Cynthia Monk - died in Yuma in 1927.

November 2018



Although she was never in Colorado - her cousin Olaf Oman lived in Wray - there's really no secure place for a file to be stored except in COGENWEB.
Babe Wallace owned the only piano in Dawson City - the Klondike.

October 2018



More family pages from the Vernon area, township 2 South 45 West

September 2018



Stephen M. Reece - Yuma's first veterinarian - Daughters married Lindgren and Gimeson.

Added some family pages for families in a township west of Vernon.

August 2018



Sam Weaver of Kirk and brother Tom Weaver of Wray.

Gave up on Rootsweb and its Freepages, so put some of my Monk and Woodward family on the site.
Ruby Woodward married Jess Dickson of Yuma.

July 2018



John and Hannah Johnson of Yuma, daughters Anna Hobson, Margaurite Farley and Martha Tecker

June 2018



William and Martha Koons had at least four sons in the Yuma area.

April 2018



Arlene Glenn sent a nice boyhood photo of Arlo Loutzenhiser.

Albin D. Mitchellof Wray - was there only a few weeks, but was a colorful character.

March 2018


Dick and George Hughes of Armel - some great photographs.

John Smith, Julia Parsons, Joseph Graham, and Homer Carlyle familes of Wray.

Ray and Matilda Moore of Landsman

Speirs family of Robb and Wray

February 2018


Julius Sampson of Wray - brother-in-law of Ed Carl
Bert Redford of Yuma. A barber 1902-1905 who maintained a wife in Brush and one in Nebraska.

January 2018


A nice Yuma Pioneer article on the 1958 school district consolidation.

Dallas Riedesel sent another nice Kirk school photo.
And the Kirk track practice

And a "Big Ed" Johnson campaign stop in Kirk.

Added family pages from a township north of Wray, mostly sandhills. Some people claimed land, but didn't stay long enough to be listed in a census or the newspapers currently on-line.
Michael and Catherine Shea of Yuma - Sons Patrick and Denis and John

December 2017


Thanks to Matt Vincent - story about Jim and Mildred Vincent

Arthur Short family of Wray - daughter Barbara's work with NASA helped bring back Apollo 13.

George Short family of Wray - operated an ice house on Crystal Lake west of Wray.

November 2017


Sarah Southwell of Abarr

Solomon and brother Dan Biddinger of north of Wray

Manson Lammey of Eckley and Yuma.

Atto B. Cook - Yuma school principal 1910-1912

October 2017

James Turvey family of Kirk and Stratton - kids of Eckley

Everett Hamilton family of Hyde - only stayed a few years.

September 2017


John Newbanksfamily of Wages

Fred and Emma (Dibble) Earl of Happy Valley.

Added a few pages on Mildred families, such as Vena Degener, who seems to have used a maiden name when claiming land.

August 2017



Added some family pages to the Heartstrong area - one sad story was Dorrell Elroy Gilmore, born in Heartstrong, killed in March 1945 in Germany - only months before the European war ended May 8.

Another was Bert Butler - born 1918 near Vernon - moved to Missouri, and died in the Battle of the Bulge.

Emmit Graves - buried in Yuma, lived for a short time southwest of Yuma.

July 2017



Jerry and Ida (Thurman) Percy of Heartstrong

History of the Yuma County Cattlemen's Association feeding contest

McColreyfamilies of Eckley - married with Crosby and Underdown families.

Winfield Kirk family of Yuma - a niece and a daughter died in Yuma County.

Emma (Markwad) Redhouse of Brownsville

June 2017



Have been adding some Kit Carson County pages.

GeorgeBingaman and Voda Jellison of Wray and Yuma

May 2017



Benjamin Deslarzes claimed land in Logan County, homesteaded in Yuma County, lived in Holyoke.

Ollo Vaughn family of Joes

Benjamin and Martha (Uline) Edwards of Eckley. Martha's nephew Willis Uline was cited for valor in the 1898 Cuba campaign, served through WWI, and retired from the Army as a colonel.

April 2017



Ed Bowles family of Wray. Prominent ranchers of Wray and Littleton, long before the railroad came through Yuma County.
Frank Carson family of Wray.
Franklin Armstrong family of Wray.


Abbott family of Yuma. Prominent attorneys and historians.

Dr. Lafayette Blanchard of Kirk. Married at least seven times, sent to Leavenworth for counterfeiting in 1909, awarded a patent in 1916 for detecting counterfeit. Practiced medicine in Stoneham, Peetz, Brandon, Eads, and Kirk, Colorado
William Elliott family of Waverly
John McCarthy family of Eckley

March 2017


Ewing family of Red Willow and Burdett

Forbes family of Eckley and Yuma

Minton, Montgomery, Felt, Ault, Veal, Taylor, Sigler, Alonzo Scott, Joe Scott, Eli Scott, the Remley sisters, Chester Porter, Paynter, Jasper Myers, Mattern, Marker, Leasure, John Jack, Elmer Henderson, Hazlett, Lucy Hayes, Claude Harmon, Hammel, Fred Hamilton, Deselms, John Conover, Marvin Coin, Coast, Brunabend, Bridges, Bender, Cackler families of Alvin

Rightsell family of Wray.

February 2017


With my pc crash in November, lost most of the alphabetical index page, rebuilt it slowly. People didn't notice - guess they use the Freefind utility on the main page.
With that rebuilding, added a page on the Shawfamily of Yuma. Related to the Bingaman, Reahm, Carson, and Haverland families.
Frederick Young family of Joes - came after 1920 - sons were partners in ranching.

James and Raymond LaTurno of Yuma. Jim was a painter, suit salesman, farmer.
James S. Jewell of Yuma. Daughter married LaTurno.
Sybil McClung of Yuma. She was married to William Jewell for a few years. Sister Minerva Peters, brother James Pixley
John and Ellen (Copeland) Pittsenbarger of Yuma. Son Lloyd married Minerva Peters' daughter Nina.

Dickinson brothers of Joes - Oscar had a drug store about 1930, Roy didn't stay long enough for a census.

Martin Barker of Kirk - didn't stay long enough for a census or newspaper mention.

January 2017


Lewis "Dutch" and Jessie Jones of Kirk - son LeRoy lost in the Pacific WWII.

High Plains Manor, Yuma - history written by Matt Vincent

Allen Smerchek contributed a photo including the grounds of the Wray Depot and Flirtation Point.

December 2016



Alex Halden - from Scotland - was a tinner - working on tanks and windmills - in Yuma 1887-1914.

Peter and Estelle (Myers) Cuney of Wray, arriving in the 1880's.

November 2016



John and Ida Griffin of Eckley and Wray. John had a newspaper in Wray, was a Justice of the Peace, patented a calf weaner, a postmaster in Eckley, and a railroad station operator. He died in 1897. Niece Bertha Herring born 1896 is with Ida in 1900, in Lincoln Nebraska in 1910, died in Idaho in 1918 in the flu epidemic.
William and Mariah Stoner are buried in Hyde, son Ezra in Hyde, grandson John in Yuma, Grandson Frank had a hardware store in Yuma in the 1900's, and great-grandson Seward Stoner was a pharmacist at Dakan Drug.

Ellen (Sullivan) Geis is buried in Yuma with her brother's family, although she only lived for a short time in Washington County.

October 2016


Daniel and Alice Jackson came to Wray in 1886, daughter married Ben Daniels.


Added pages on early Wray - Peter Campbell was the land office register, brother William was the state Surveyor-General - together they were the C-C Land and Cattle Company - the See-Bar-See - which laid out the town of Wray.
Peter's daughter Margaret Campbell was the second wife of Fred D. Johnson.



Harry Fisk of Wray, who married a Crenshaw girl - Elbert Crenshaw was a Yuma bank president for a couple of years.

Fred's first wife was the widow Mary (Chamberlain) Newell. Mary's son Art Newell was elected captain of the 1900 Colorado Agricultural College football team (now Colorado State University).



September 2016


Added a page on the Carl and Laura Carlson family - although they didn't stay long, they had an interesting life.

Added the Kempton / Minard families - from Nova Scotia, Canada - didn't stay long enough for a census.

Added some family pages from the Wauneta area - some of the Merrill children were students of my mother.

Others were Arnold, Atwood, Bain , Cheney, Collins, and a dozen other.

August 2016


Thanks to Jerry Wilcoxen for the 1946 and 1947 Wray senior class photos.

Henry and Hattie (Roggen) James of Yuma - the town of Roggen was named for Hattie's brother, Nebraska Secretary of State in 1885.

John and Elizabeth Heiserman of Yuma were well-off - banking, merchants, farmers.
His brother Louis J. Heiserman, a liveryman in Wray and Yuma, died young.


Added a page on Emma Bishop of Eckley and Yuma, her Blank children, and marrying the Lloyd Pryor and Gigoux families.
Added teachers Edgar and Alice (Dougherty) Prescott to the Waverly school page.

Edward L. Hover and Chloe B. Wilson of Eckley only stayed until his claim was proved up.

July 2016


Thanks to the East Yuma County Cemetery Board, Vernon's Glendale Cemetery in alphabetical order.

Woodbury family of Yuma - long-time publishers of the Pioneer. Henry's uncle Roger was owner of the Denver News of the 1880's - Woodbury branch library in Denver and Woodbury Hall on the CU Boulder campus named for him.
Oren Kirkbride was an attorney in Eckley in 1930, but didn't appear in newspapers...
His son married a Davison.

The Seipel brothers only owned land in Pleasant Valley in 1920, and only one was on a Yuma County census.

Added a page on John Glantz - just him, not his many siblings in Yuma County.
And the Cayou families of Eckley.
Added a newspaper clipping about Elmer Beehler - the inventor of the backspace key on a typewriter - and on your computer.

June 2016


Twenty years ago Steve Jones of Yuma won the U.S. Open golf championship.

Added a page on the Charles Alexander family - although he homesteaded in Washington County, he lived in Yuma.

Added some pages from the Laird area. One was Jonas Fahringer, who was the land surveyor for much of Colorado. He claimed land in Yuma County before the railroad was built.
Another was the Wolfe family. One daughter headed the Denver Land Office in the 1920's. A son, W.E. Wolfe, claimed land in Yuma County, then worked for the Guggenheim mining smelter in Pueblo when the Guggenheims were battling the Rockefeller for control of the mines, then came back to Wray, owning Olive Lake Ranch and a store in Wray.

May 2016



Added a number of pages of land claimants in 3N 48W - north of Yuma. A great many of these were cash claims, not homesteads, and in the 1890-1891 years. A half-dozen, at least, were masons or carpenters.
One was Eugene Bellingar, another Lyman Leland.
Most of these land claimants didn't stay in Yuma County even long enough to be on the 1900 census.

April 2016



John Wilkes Moore - another Civil War vet - and son worked at the Yuma Pioneer - moved to Denver, where the son was convicted of throwing a preacher down some stairs, and arrested for counterfeiting payroll checks.

Another John W. Moore homesteaded north of Wray.

Harry Moore worked on the Rattler, Pioneer, Gazette, and Brush Republican.

Added a page on the Burrell and Carl families of Wray.

Ezra Hull - another of the Civil War vets - he brought his mother-in-law at age 84 to file her homestead claim.

Added a page on the Lund family - Niss Lund claimed land northwest of Yuma, probably because his son Henry was nearby in Washington County - Henry ran a hardware store in Hyde, dying of typhoid fever in 1888, buried in the Hyde cemetery.

Amos Mills of northwest of Yuma - he and daughter Lavina claimed land - they went back to Omaha, taking an adopted boy back with them, destitute there in 1899.

John Lund of Bryant - not related to the Niss Lund family.

March 2016



Woodard and Morton families of Yuma and Otis

Bussear and Willcox and Butcher families of Yuma and Otis

The Nelson sisters of south of Yuma - Maggie's son William Hambaugh worked at the Pioneer in the 1890 era, and Sarah married Neal Peterson. None stayed in Yuma County long enough to be counted in a census, but were an interesting family. Clarence Peterson, a young boy when in Yuma County, developed the Star ammunition reloading system in San Diego.

Henry and Laura Haworth of Joes.

Artie McKee of Lansing - killed his wife in 1920, spent 15 years in the state penitentiary, then went to Arizona with another paroled inmate who had murdered his sister-in-law.

Terwilliger family of Brownsville -

Added some articles on the Yuma Bakery - the nice photos might be because the wife was a Coston of the Wray photography studio.

February 2016



Lantz family of Yuma - Maynard and Hannah were great-great-grandparents of Cory Gardner.

James Cox family of Waverly

Henry and Clara Heldman of north of Wray - she was killed by a falling log near Kremmling in 1925.

David J. Smith family of Eckley

Harry and Malinda Shadley - Harry died in Eckley, homesteaded in Washington County

William P. "Doc" Hisington of Eckley and Wray - his two wives Doris Jordan and Gertrude Adams both taught at my Pleasant Valley school - thirty-five years apart.

Loutzenhiser family north of Yuma - only stayed five years

Stanberry and Gossett families of Schramm

James Pratt donated the land for the Kirk cemetery. Son Reuben Pratt was 6'9", "World's Largest Marine", appeared in some Studebaker advertisements.

Added a Yuma Pioneer history of the Kirk Cemetery.

William and Fannie (Murray) Gerdts of the Arickaree - probably the wealthiest people in 1930 Yuma County.

Ray Morgan of Pleasant Valley and Wray - was the county clerk in the 1930's - brother Harry, aunt Cassie Heaton.

J.B. Byars Store in Yuma - a regional chain merged into J.C. Penney in 1929

Updated the Joseph Shockley page - one daughter was a guerrilla fighter in WWII Phillipines, and he wrote an interesting article about hauling wheat from Pleasant Valley to Yuma in the 1890's - before Yuma had a grain elevator.

Added a page on Mary Neifert - she homesteaded north of Wray, and six sons located in Yuma County.

John and Edus Spanjer of Bryant - then ran a grocery store in Haxtun.

William Chapman family of Pleasant Valley and Eckley

Eight Bennett families of Abarr, and Muirheid and Gilberson families of Yuma

Charles and Marie Pariset of Eckley - he was born in Alsace-Lorraine.

Niewegfamily northwest of Yuma - three children died young

Sam Moser of Yuma - his son Levi ran the flour mill in the 1920's with Roy Chilcoat.

January 2016


Added a page on a 1927 Yuma production of "The Follies"

With the digitization of some issues of the Yuma Pioneer, there is a lot of information available. Please do not ask me to take images from that site to put on this one.

A page on the Boyd family of Pleasant Valley.
Charles A. Lindbergh worked in Colorado and Wyoming for J.B. Wray Vaughn - yes, he was born in Wray - 1924 to 1926 with the Mile-Hi Flying Circus.
Austin Edwards and Lewis Brady families of Pleasant Valley.

One article mentions author Kent Haruf's directing a play in Yuma in 1985, with a cast including Cory Gardner and Don Brown. Kent didn't live to see Cory elected to the U.S. Senate or Don named Colorado Agriculture Commissioner.

December 2015


Added a couple of veteran burials, thanks to Arlene.
Did family pages on a township in Logan County, so don't think we're slacking off.

November 2015


Added a page on Middleton Wages - the first postmaster of Wages.

Dallas Riedesel sent a nice photo of a Kirk area club meeting1952.
Dallas also sent some great photos of the 1929 Beecher Island reunion - they're about half-way down the Beecher Island Photo page.

And a handwritten baby shower invitation - early 1940's

Jerry Hickey sent photos and a nice description of the trip by the Turner and Hickey families from Bukovina (Austria-Hungarian Empire at that time) to Yuma.

October 2015


1950's Sunday School Class photo added to the Wages Church page.
Karyn Schmidt also sent a photo of Buffalo Grass School students.
One teacher was Muriel (Stenson) Arnold.

Three unconnected Slocum residents - none stayed very long in Yuma County.
Added pages from another township south of Wray, including the George Andrews family, Charles Arthur, Irving Barker, Mary Bartholomew, the Bashford family, Elbert Bowman, Jacob Brown, FreemanBullard, the Christiansen family, Isaac Conner, Luther Dalrymple, the Derbin / Darbin family, Jasper Dillon, the Douglass family, the Drommond family, the Flaherty family, the Galbreath family, John Galbreath, the Gates family, the Grout family, the Heye family, the Holloway family, the Horwood family, George Johnson, the Kerley family, the Latuchowski family, Morgan Lewis, the McGinnis family, the McPherson family the Mitchem family, the Morrell family, the Norris family, the Nutter family, the Plymate family, the Randolphfamily, the Rosencrans family, Sam Seward, the Tabor family, the Tremblyfamily, LizzieWright, Diah Young.

September 2015


Added pages from the township south of Wray, including Josephus Brown, Corliss family, Corrin family, Sharrow Cox family, Dines family, Eaton family, Edmonds family, Emenhizer family, Farrell family, Faulkner family, Jake Fisher family, Fronk family, Gaskill family, Glaser family, Goodman family, Hamlin family, Haws family, Humphrey family, John Johnson family, Avery Johnston family, Wesley Johnston family, Sarah Jones family, John Joy family, Kellar family, Elizabeth Kennedy, Klugh family, John Long family, Markham family, Mayer family, Mary McCollum family, Frank McCoy family, Metsker family, Mokie family, Morton family, Nienaber family, Nordahl family, North family, Olmstead family, Packer family, Penton family, James Porter family, Arthur Rice family, Edwin Richards family, Martin Sheridan family, John W. Smith family, Sperry family, John Starnes family, Sam Strong family, Theobald family, Thomas family, Turman family, Vaughn family, Adelbert White family, Charles Whomble family, Whyte family, William Willis family, Margaret Wilson family, Wimmer family

August 2015


Added a page on George Theobald - built the Yuma flour mill, including an electric generating plant and a well.
Added a page on Walla Andrews of Wray.

Added some biographical information to Mason J. Wagey- not only was he an elevator operator, he claimed land south of Wray. Added quite a bit to the Baugh page. They were related to the Brown family of Eckley and Gilstrap of Armel.

Thanks again to Arlene - added some anecdotes to the John Eckman page, including a description of Willis Buel and Earnest Bugbee in the Commercial Hotel in Yuma about 1890. "long range program - building up an anticipatory immunity to the hazards of snakebite."

In 1925 Charles A. Lindbergh flew into Wray, giving people airplane rides.

July 2015


Added a page on Walter Joy of Waverly - only lived to age 25.
Thanks to Arlene Glenn, a newspaper account of a 1921murder-suicide south of Eckley. Arlene sent another article about the Sheedy / Flynn / Wilms inter-related families of Yuma. Dr. Wilms was the first coroner of Washington County, when the town of Yuma was in Washington County. William Sheedy was a bank president.

Dr. Fred W. Wilms of Yuma - one daughter married James Sheedy
Added some information to the Hayward - Currie page.

June 2015


Added some family pages from the southeast corner of Yuma County -
Booze, Cathcart, Cowger, Crews, Hayward, Macfee, McIntyre, Miles, Mittan, Slayton, Stillwagon, Walin, and Wipple.

May 2015


The Goodloe family lived in Yuma, Washington, and Kit Carson Counties.

William Hesp and two sons farmed for a few years 1918-1921 west of the Pleasant Valley church.

April 2015



Added a page on the Dermond family of Waverly. Lucille, who died in 1983, never had a phone or electricity or television, living in her parents' dugout three miles south of our place. Her parents died in 1930, and she lived in their dugout for forty years, driving a Model A to Yuma for supplies.

Thanks to Judy Freeman, some nice photos of the Charles and Alpha Kern family of Kirk.

Judy also included a nice photo of the Kirk school. Can anyone identify the make and year of the vehicles?

And thanks to Dallas Riedesel for three pages from the 1931 Kirk annual.

The Suderman and son-in-law Warkentin families of Joes -

Barth - Griffin - Tolbert families of Yuma

Ross DeWester and parents of Pleasant Valley

March 2015

Albert Troyer scored the very first touchdown for the University of Nebraska on Thanksgiving Day 1890, developed orange varieties in Alabama and the Black Sea area of the Soviet Union in the 1930's - arrested by Stalinists and never seen again. And he almost certainly homesteaded near Idalia, Colorado.
Thanks to Arlene Glenn, two pages from the 1944 Yuma High School annual, one of officers, and one of some seniors.
August and Louise Boesel of Logan
Stoermer and Busing families of Wages and Yuma intermarried.
Frank and Grace Thormann married in Wray in 1923 - Yuma school superintendent in 1940's. Son Charles served in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam, sang for a Betty Grable dance.
Early History of Yuma written by John Abbott in 1918.

February 2015

Dallas Riedesel sent scans of a letter from WWI France from William Liming of Kirk.

William Horlocker Civil War Army Captain, silver miner, built the Commercial Hotel in Yuma, in which the 1887 fire started - burning a full block.
Daughter Zora was the featured contralto at the first performance of John Philip Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever in 1897,
daughter Viola attempted to poison her employer's wife in Nebraska in 1899,
daughter Leta was an art teacher in Los Angeles -one of her paintings hung in the South Dakota Governor's mansion - and in Los Angeles she was a friend of Reginald Owen (Scrooge in 1938's A CHRISTMAS CAROL),
daughter Bertha went with her husband and two children to British Guiana for two years...

Added a 1900 map of the southern part of the county -Hand-drawn,

Added some pages from Armel -McPeek, Penn, Romine,

Added some family pages from the Jaqua area - Azariah Moore, Wiley, Remley, Shirley

Added two pages from Wages - George Wilkinson and Williams (Neiman) families - ran the Wages store for a while.

January 2015

Asa Beam was named the postmaster at Lansing - south of Beecher Island - in 1889.  He was  killed one night in 1892 outside his door, shot in the chest and back with different calibers of ammunition. 

George and Hannah Liming - thanks to Dallas Riedesel for the great photos.

Added family pages from Idalia  - Steffy, Aeschelman, Prey, Hoffstadt, Bartscht, Steadman, Jewell, Waughop, Jelsma

And from Jaqua - Benkelman (same family as the Nebraska town namesake), Benson, Brooks, Browning, Doege, Flanigan, Gilfry, Gilstrap, Haney, Jaqua, Kirkland, McCulloch, Oldaker, Ostrander, Plummer, Shumaker, Sparks, Swander, Tegner, Whipple, Wilkening.

December 2014 

Kent Haruf - arguably the best Colorado novelist  - passed away November 30.  His father Louis, a Methodist minister, and mother Eleanor, lived  in Fleming, Paoli, Holyoke, Wray, Yuma, and Canon City.  My mother Jennie was teaching at Wages when Louis preached there in the early 1940's, and during gas rationing she lived in the lean-to on the Wages store, and couldn't leave on weekends.  So she attended Louis' church, on the northeast corner of the intersection - school on the southwest - store on the northwest corner.  Many years later Jennie was reading to Special Ed students at Lone Star School, when Kent was teaching English there.

Thanks to Lois Ross Blacker, added three great photos of the 1934 Beecher Island reunion.

Thanks to Stephen Schneider, added some nice photos to the G.W. Davisson page.

Added some pages on some Waverly settlers - Bartholet, Beer, Bitterman, Charles Bond, Cabeen, Carls, Creidler, Draper and Carr , Fleschauer, Franzmeyer, Geisler, Almond Hall,  Hirsch, Holder, Honey, Horton, Itten, Kasakavitz, Konigsbrugge, James Magee, Mathiesen, McConnell, Moyer, Nickolaus, Oldham, Plageman, Pomranka, Ridle, Charles Riley, Russell, Schatz, Schiesser, Schwerer, Scofield, Scribner, Shaffer, Slawson, Sollberger, Trunde, Van Emon, and Zimmerman.   Many of these immigrated on the same ship, from the same village in Bukovina, (then Austria).

November 2014 

William Diss - grew up in Wray - probably the most prominent CPA from Yuma County

Added some pages on the Dixon family of Waverly, daughters married into Good  and  Lemon Brown families of Wray

and a page on the early Gardner settlers - Cory's being elected to the Senate this month..

and Ty Blach's progress with the San Francisco Giants - thanks to Rollie Deering.

and a page on the Rezzer family of Fox.

October 2014 

Added some Armel pages - Busby and Bodle families - Burman Bodel was an actor, and his wife appeared to know everyone in Hollywood.

Added some information on the Kisling family - a daughter married Ralph Weekly.

Added some Mildred family pages - Ashley, Beaver, Brant, Custer, Eckhout, Gibson, Gilmore, Hazard, Kenney, Lamb, Miller, Nash, Nixon, Piper, Pitts, Rowley, Sigwing, Stephenson, Sturgeon, Sweazy, Tatum, Thielke, Vogan, Warriner,  Wernet, Whitmore, Willis.

September 2014 

Thanks to Shirley Neznanski, a program for the 1929 Yuma County High School graduation

Also from Shirley, three more photos for the Sunnyside school page

Added some more photos of the Rubin family - they were in Delta County, but close to the Kolk family of Eckley.

Added a page on the Murrain siblings - Bill Murrain of Vernon/Yuma, Ollie Adams of Waverly, Nellie Rutledge of Waverly, Bessie Doyle of Shields

Added a page on the Hardy brothers of Bryant and Laird.

August 2014 

Added a page on the Madeley family.  Born in Liverpool, England, an early Yuma real estate agent and land claimer, then moved to Portland, Oregon.

 

July 2014 

Thanks to Pauli Smith, the Moberly page is really enhanced with nice photographs.

 

 

June 2014 

Added some pages to the Robb section- the Sechrist family was prominent in Robb, Wray and Vernon, William Fitzgerald was a Civil War veteran  dying in 1894, and a page on the Bunn family.

Added a page on the Means family of Idalia.  Although they didn't stay long, one son was a U.S. Senator for a short time.

Months ago I'd posted a dozen pages on Witherbee families (far northeast part of the county) and just now realized I hadn't put them on the index.  But Freefind or Google would have still found them if anyone was searching, so I don't feel too guilty. 

One of those is Zanetta Belden- daughter of William Orville Belden buried in Holyoke.  She married Edward Shafer of Holyoke, they moved to Fruita and Paonia, and Zanetta died in 1908, leaving three young children.

The Ellis family lived north of Eckley, and then in Eckley.  As I recall, Tommy was about my age, and a pretty good left-handed pitcher.

May  2014 

Added a few articles to the Newell page - his daughter married William L. Gilmore, a surveyor in Wray in 1886 - and was the cashier of the Bank of Wray in 1887.  You might enjoy the article about buffalo hunting.

George and F.W. Reed started an 1888 bank in Yuma - the building on the northwest corner of 2nd and Main.  George was a Nebraska state representative, then a Colorado state representative 1888-1889 - his district encompassed Weld County - extending to the Nebraska border.  He proposed a bill to create Webster County, but an amendment changed the name to Yuma County.

Added another newspaper article to the Mattie Silks / Cort Thompson page

April  2014 

Bev Trcy sent great photos of the Armel church and store

Arlene Glenn and the Yuma Museum sent a great Kirk sod school photo - 1906 - help with the names, please !

And a one-page history of Eckley written by Dick Gillespie, from the Yuma Pioneer of 1960.

March 2014 

Added quite a bit of material on the Sylvester  / Casey  / Johnston families of Waverly/Pleasant Valley

and although the Caldwell family was in Logan County, their relatives the four Buzzell families were in Yuma County.  One son, Clell, was the local sponsor of Henry (Hank) Aaron's first professional baseball assignment  in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

February  2014 

Added some census information to the Friedhofer family of Kirk.

Bertha Payne of Idalia killed by a freak car accident in 1919.   Father-in-law William Payne killed in an 1884 Deer Trail shooting, and his widow and sons moved to Idalia. Nancy Masimer sent photos, including  great ones of the interior of the Idalia saloon and a staged photo, and others of a pair of tractors

Oliver Callaghan - had a meat market in Yuma, claimed land at Weld City, shot and killed in 1896 in Park County.

D. Stallsworth provided two great photos of the French Barn / Kentucky Stables in Yuma

And a clear photo of men in front of a restaurant in 1925 - downtown Yuma

Added a 1922 magazine article about T.B. Groves of Wray

Added a page on the Salisbury family of Laird

Added a page on the Upchurch family of Idalia - "Wilford Upchurch was considered to be one of the best saddle bronc riders in the territory."

 

January  2014 

Evedene Bennett added a story about the Bennett family in Idalia/Kirk - with a story of her being delivered by Doc Garcia.

Dallas Riedesel added a 1944 Yuma County High School graduation program.

And a student grade list from Rock School 1901

Dallas also sent an article on the 1932 arrest of Eli Mace in Kansas for passing counterfeit money. Eli  and his nephew Marion Cooley robbed the Brush bank in 1916, too, and his father was arrested for brand altering in 1905.  Marion's father was George Cooley.   Less criminal was William Mace's family.

Family pages from the Heartstrong area were Binford, Brunt , Criss , Delinger , Endsley , Felker , Albert Hansen , Jessup, Kouba, Marron, McMains, Ness, Slagle, Suedmeyer, Taylor, Winters, Worley

Family pages from the Brownsville area were Bates, Botteron, Colton, Confer, Foot, Frain, Gambill, Hagan, Haley, Hastings, Helton, Ingraham, Lagrange, Lydiatt, Nicolay, Shipley, Stephens, Woods

Family pages from the Fox area were James Baker , Jenison Brower , Dunn , Flach , Higdon , Kindred , Sarah King , Koss,  Langmaid , Leuch , Moore , Orfield , Pounds , Prill , Vanderpool , Van Matre, Wheeler 

Have started including some FindAGrave identification numbers along with burial notes.  If FindAGrave deletes that record,  you'll have to search for the replacement.  I won't try to maintain the links, but the FAG number will inform you that there was a record at one point.

December  2013  -

A couple near Beecher Island was convicted of murdering the wife's sister - to collect insurance  Gerrit and Wonterje Van Wyk. 

Charlotte Pardoe contributed a history of the  Yuma Nazarene Church.

Dallas Riedesel added a nice history of the ranchland on the Arickaree by Daniel Shields.

Family pages from the township north of Robb  were Adams, Barr, Beechley, Blake, Bosler, Brownlee, Buster, Courtney, Cunningham, Day, Fitch, Forsythe, Frantz, Haws, Kohl, Lundy, Maxwell, Parker, Rose, Shroyer, Smithson, Underhill, Weeks

Family pages from Steffens  were Alloway, Conover, Getchell, Ingle, Names, Stine

Family pages from the township west of Vernon  were Dickson, Hadlock, Ruffin Marley, Morey, Rock, Scherupp, Weaver, Webster

November  2013  -

Yuma's  John Marley ,  didn't stay long, but married in Yuma, made a lot of money ranching, and his son Kemper became a billionaire in Arizona.  A daughter's sister-in-law married Charles Goodnight - developer of the chuckwagon, and the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail.

He married a daughter of  Sarah Scott, who claimed the land between the Yuma cemetery and the railroad.

Another daughter of Sarah married George Dobler ,  who had  a store in Yuma, town trustee, helped start a 'reading room'.

Yuma's  Nicholas Walrod ,  whose daughter was George's first wife, and they claimed land near each other.

Yuma's  Ingle family - Ralph was a blacksmith and baseball player, married Katie Nicol, daughter of the Yuma Restaurant people, cousin of the Landauer families

 Idalia  - Peck and Mitchell John Mitchell was a Civil War veteran - he and Margaret homesteaded by Idalia - went to Cripple Creek, then a pharmacy in Littleton with son Arthur - son John Earnest Mitchell was Littleton District Attorney - son-in-law A.F. Peck   had a hotel and store in Idalia, was a state representative. When his  and Sarah's buildings burned they moved to Wray, then Littleton.

Yuma's  Scott Brownlee , although not a pioneer, is an Emmy nominee

Family pages from the Steffens area southwest of Yuma- were Brooks, Belle Brooks, Champion, Clines, Dewey, Durnil, Farmer, Felker, Hansen, Hoar, Keller, Logan, Rawlings, Reams, Robison, Rodenbaugh, Ryan, Sheets, Sprout Steffens, Tanner, Thompson, Tweed, Wood,

October  2013  -

Dallas Riedesel sent great photos and posters of WWI company H, including   Marcus Graves of Kirk

Eckley's Albert Whitney had a sad ending.

Family pages from the 3 North 43 area a little northeast of Wray - were Bascue, Baugh, Cadwallader, Chartier, Clifton, Daum, Eatinger, Hall, Heath, Heberlee, Loar, Musick, Odell, Post, Rath, Rhoads, Schles, Scudder, Workman

September  2013  -

Added an obituary for the son of  Sam and Caroline Weaver of Kirk

Dallas Riedesel sent a certificate for perfect attendance in 1907 from District 82. Marcus Graves of Kirk

Added a page on   Isaac and Napoleon Peters    of Beecher Island. One blog said Napoleon was a musician and played with John Sousa.

Added a page on   Foster and Guilford Chute   of Lansing  Foster was a renowned fruit expert in Florida, went home to Nova Scotia and organized the apple industry.  Went to Argentina to establish the sale of Nova Scotia apples in Buenos Aires.

Added a page on   Herbert and Mary Ellis   of Lansing  - I suspect Mary was related to the Chutes - Herbert was a druggist, and they were in La Jara in 1900, Limon in 1920.

Added a page on   Al and Lillian Kester   of Lansing    His first wife died in Nebraska in 1886 -he then married Lillian, had nine kids, and they divorced in 1906 - he took the kids to Houston, never remarried, and died there in 1921.

Added a page on   Wray Hospital     I was born in that building, one grandmother died there when it was a nursing home, and Mom's sister died there..

Added a page on   Mustain's Grocery     of Yuma, closing in 2013 after a hundred years in business.

Family pages from the Logan  area south of Beecher Island - were Browning, Claridge, Collins, Crabb, Demmon, Fletcher, Fuller, Goosman, Grist, Knotts, Limback, Line, Mauck, McClun, McClung, Meese, Meyer, Moberly, Nelson, Nichol, Rawalt, Rebell, Spicer,  Welch.

August 2013  -

Added a page on   Bethany Church south of Yuma  In the 1950's they shared a minister with Pleasant Valley E.U.B., and a parsonage on South Ash in Yuma.

Added a page on   Charles and Frank Reeck of Beecher Island   Arrived there in 1876 !.

Added a page on   George and James Bond  of Lansing. James said he was a caterer at the Ulysses S. Grant home, and went with him on some trips.

Added a page on   The lots of Lott kids  of Lansing. John, born 1826, might be the oldest in Grandview.

Added a page on   Joseph and Jennie Fox  of Wages. Another family that didn't stay long enough to be on a census.

Added a page on the  Carle family  of Ford. Lewis was postmaster there for a couple of years.

Added a page on   Arch and Emma Tilton   of Wages.

Added a page on   Calvin Byrd  of Yuma.

Added a page on   Milo and Cora Burge   of Wages.

Added a page on   Thomas and Sarah Mitts   of Wages.

Added a page on   Charles and Nellie Givens  of Wages. Another family that didn't stay long enough to be on a census.

And a bunch of Bryant families Basford  , John Brown  , Brier  , Callom  , Edie , Monsen , McMahon , Nobles, Nordholm,  Putt, Rigby , Sawyer, Ruberg, Rinn, Schauer

On the "links" page - added one for the cemetery lists for Cheyenne County, Kansas.

July 2013  -

Added two school photos to the page on  Lorimer  family of Wray

Added a paragraph to the  Neikirk page giving more detail on the Wilson and Welch families.

June 2013  -

Added a page on  Candacy Ford  of Ford. -- Yes, she was THE Ford.  One daughter and five of her sons, a brother and a niece, came to Yuma County

Added a page on the  Bernhardt  families of Wages and Wray.

Added a page on  Joseph Rutzer  of Ford.

Thanks to Lois Blacker, added another photo to  the  Pleasant Valley school,  This one is especially appreciated, as my father is in it.

May 2013  -

Thanks to Lois Blacker, added a page on the  Pleasant Valley school, which her mother Elsie Wheeler taught in 1923, a photo and information to  Vernon's businesses where her parents Max and Elsie Ross had a hardware store in the 1930's, a short page on the Ross and Wheeler families, and 1943 Wray High School photos.

Added a photo to the history on  1930's rural schools ,   In this page is a description of the Thomas School by Ralph Walchle, who also provided the photograph.

Added a page on the  Timberlake  family of Weld City.  They lived on the Phillips County border, and he was Phillips County school superintendent and later U.S. Congressman.  He hosted one of the first Old Settlers Day celebrations.

Added a page on the  Parke  family of Weld City-

Added a page on the  Heinrichs  family of Kirk-

Added a page on the  Varney  family of Weld City and Yuma-

Added a page on the  Turney  family of Weld City and Yuma-

Added a page on the  Baxter  family of Kirk-

Added a page on the  Nikkel  family of Kirk-

Added a page on the  Williams  family of Ford-

Added a page on the  Southards  family of Kirk-

Added a page on the  Lamar  families of Wages. Earnest was a Salvation Army Major for many years in New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, and Norfolk, Virginia.

Added a page on the  Gill  family of Wages and Minnie Gill who married Earnest Lamar

Added a page on the  Mayo  family of Wages

April 2013  -

Added a page on Elizabeth Keen of Yuma - She wasn't a pioneer, but probably the most travelled of any resident.  In 1930's China, she worked one evening as a "taxi dancer" in a Shanghai bar.

Mrs. Lois Blacker donated postcards of Wray Flirtation Point , View from the cliffs , and a 1911-1914 view of Vernon

She also contributed a book with many photos - one of which includes the grade school I attended  Pleasant Valley

Added some photos to the Kirk school athletics page, thanks to Dallas Riedesel..

Added a  page on the  Joslin  family of Wages

Added a  page on the  Schmidt  family of Wages

Added a  page on the  Baker  sisters of Wages

Added a  page on the  Gerstenschlager family of Wages.

Added a  page on the  Knabe family of Wages.

Added a  page on the  Hinman family of Wages.

Added a  page on the  Holland family of Wages.

Added a  page on the  Yates family of Wages.

Added a  page on the  Clarkson  family of Wages.

March 2013  -

Added a page on the  Brugh  family of Friend /Idalia- They didn't stay for a census.  Two sons, at least, went to school at Friend.  One, Spangler Brugh, moved back to Nebraska, became a doctor, and his son Arlington Sprngler Brugh moved to Hollywood.  You know him as Robert Taylor - yes, the one who married Barbara Stanwyck.

Revised the  page on the  Silvius  family of Heartstrong.  Thanks to Don Silvius for the scans of some nice photos

Added a  page on the  Old Settlers  celebrations in Eckley.

Added a page on the  Ball  family of Yuma- Ended up a prominent banking family in Las Vegas, Nevada

Added a page on the  Williams  family of Weld City- One of the early cash-claims

Added a page on the  Varney  family of Weld City-

Added a page on the  Turney  family of Weld City-

Added a page on the  Shockley  family of Weld City- where the Pleasant Valley church is now located

Added a page on the  Pitt  family of Weld City-

Added a page on the  Lewis  family of Weld City-

Added a page on the  Conner  family of Weld City-

Added a page on the  Bedea  family of Weld City-

Added a page on   Roudy Cole  of Weld City-  He got a patent in 1907 for a "Moving Picture Machine"

Added a page on the  Ward  family of Yuma-

Added a page on the  Barnes  family of Laird

Added a page on the  Werning  family of Laird

Added a page on the  Scofield  family of Kirk-

Added a page on the  Heinrichs  family of Kirk-

Added a page on the  Stevens  family of Vernon

 

 

February 2013  -

Added a page on the  Kolk  family of Eckley - they came from the Netherlands.  A grand-nephew living there sent some photographs.

Added a page on the  Beach  family of Eckley. As my wife says "Everybody in Yuma County is related."

Added a page on the  Silvius  family of Eckley.

Added a page on the  Higgins  family of Happyville and Abarr. Four brothers and one sister came to Yuma County

Added a page on the three  Fowler Sisters  of Laird.

Added a page on the  Mealey  family of Laird.

Added a page on the  Houtchens  family of Laird.

Added a page on  Nell Bullard  of Wray

January 2013  -

Added a page on the  James and Mary Lay  family of Wray . - Son Elza Lay was the planner for Butch Cassidy's robberies - they rode together for ten years.  Elza reformed after a prison term in New Mexico, and ended up in Los Angeles..  He was much closer to Butch than anyone else, but as one descendant said

"Who would go see a movie called 'Butch Cassidy and Elza Lay !'"

Updated the Bowden page of Pleasant Valley. - including photographs of young Chester and his infant son Walter

Added a page on the Castle family of Waverly. - one daughter homesteaded, then she and her sister worked fifty years for the Sinton family and their dairy in Colorado springs.

Added a page on John Y. Eckman of Weld City. - the first Old Settlers Day was held at his ranch in far north Yuma County. 

Added a page on John's stepson Raleigh Wilson . - he enlisted in the WWI Army with a Wages address, and had a long career as a circus clown.

Added a page on the Hjelm family of Weld City. - Her husband died soon after their son was born, but she proved-up the claim, and the son became a prominent doctor in Akron, Ohio.

Added a page on  William Granville Logsdon and Charles Logsdon of Weld City. - Would like some confirmation that this Charles Logsdon is the one that ended up in Abilene, Texas.

Added a page on the enterprising 'Alf' McNichols of Weld City - He also hosted an Old Settlers Day celebration, and his son Bert was the organizer of the Yuma Cemetery.

Added a page on the  Isaac McGee family of Weld City. - most probably the source of the McGee / Magee precinct name.

Added a page on the  Benjamin Metz family  of Waverly and Weld City . - two sons were fine baseball players for Yuma - and one later played for a company team in Trinidad.

Added a page on the  Newell  family  of Wray . - He built the first business in Wray - the Sod Hotel, and later operated it.

Added a page on   Nell Bullard  of Wray . - Long-time editor of the Wray Gazette - obituary from the Denver Post

Added a page on the  Spelts family  of Ford . - early members of the Pleasant Valley church, with many of the family buried in the cemetery.

Added a page of 1899  Wray School History.

December 2012  -

Added a page on Leona Kent of Pleasant Valley. - she didn't stay long enough to even appear on a census.

Added a page on Seborn Elliott of Pleasant Valley.   Seborn is buried in next-door Phillips County, but none of his descendants remained.  His clan included the Herbough / Herbaugh, Hatheway/Hathaway families

Added a page on Abraham Brower and clan of Pleasant Valley.

Abraham was born in 1814 - so might be the oldest recorded burial.  According to the newspaper article, he was buried on the farm next to ours, but I never heard of it.  And like Seborn Elliott, none of his descendants remained in Yuma County.

Added a page on Commons family of Pleasant Valley. They, too, left -

Added a page on Mary and Paul Routon of Pleasant Valley. Mary, a widow, homesteaded.  Her son Paul, settled next to her and died at age 28.

November 2012  -

Added a page on the Edman Family of Eckley.

and a page on the Gardner Family of Eckley. Their daughter married Minor Edman.

and a page on the Cowan Family of Eckley. After Minor Edman died, his widow married Jesse Cowan..

and a page on George Weed and Ida Allbert of Yuma. After George Weed died, his widow married the Governor of Kansas.

October 2012  -

Added a page on GoldStar Gordon P. Bullock - born in Wray in 1920 - moved to California with parents Guy and Anna BANCROFT Bullock  Gunner on a 1943 Pacific flight.

Added a page of a 1901 Birthday party in Wray. One of the young ladies assisting at the party was Ann Bancroft.

Added a page of 1900  Wray students - all grades..

Added a page of   the strange story of William Doling and Elizabeth Lovejoy..

September 2012  -

Added a page of World War II Rations - from Dallas Riedesel .

Added a page on Daisy Buchanan of Yuma .

Added a page on the Nelson family of Yuma .

Added a page on the Co-operative Creamery Yuma .

And my mother-in-law passed away September 1 - she would have been 100 in November.

August 2012  -

Added a page of 1913  Rebekah meeting .

Added a page of 1923  Wray City Council.

Added a short article on the 1902   Vernon Methodist church.

 

July 2012  -

Added a page of 1909  County High School..

Added a page of 1903  teachers from six counties..

Added a page of 1908  County Fair .

June 2012  -

Put another version of   Yuma Cemetery Listing. this one is in location order, so you can see who's buried next to whom.

Added a page with a few names of Wray  people in 1917 who contributed to the    Y.M.C.A..

Added some more info to the page on the Condon family..

May 2012  -

Put another version of   Grandview Cemetery Listing. - Wray - this one is in location order, so you can see who's buried next to whom.

Added a page with a few names of Wray young people in 1922 at a   Card Party.

Added some info on Harold Nathan Funk to the   Funk family of Wray .  Harold was a WWII and Korea pilot - Navy Cross, DFC.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County

April  2012  -

Thanks to Charlotte Smith and the East Yuma Cemetery District   Grandview Cemetery Listing. - Wray

Started a page on the  Funk family of Wray

Added a photo of a  crop outside Yuma. with some of the 1910 buildings

March 2012  -

Added a photo of  Eckley train depot.

Added photos of  Wray in 1954. including two aerial views.

Started a page on   Ken and Ethel Powell   of Wray.

Added a page on  the  First National Bank   of Yuma about 1920.

Added a page on  Albert and Mary Fieber Pagel   of Yuma .

February 2012  -

Added a 1912 list of teachers from six counties   - those attending a "Normal" training in Wray.

Started a page on the  Sullivan family   of Wray.

Added a photo of   Water standpipe- Yuma .

January 2012  -

Must be January, 'cuz Dallas has sent some more photos

Added a 1928 photo of Kirk High School students 

Added a 1928 photo of Kirk Elementary students 

Added a 1930's photo (this one is a duplicate, but has the handwritten names) of  Kirk students 

Added a list of Wray Teachers 1909 

December 2011  -

The primary creator of Bugs Bunny, Foghorn Leghorn, and the Tasmanian Devil

 lived in both Wray and Yuma -  Robert McKimson 

Added a 1922 list of School Boards 

Added a 1922 list of Eighth Grade graduates 

Added a 1917 list of draftees 

Added a 1899 list of Wray absences  

November 2011  -

Added more photos to the page on 1930 Yuma resident  David E. Berkey 

Added a 1914 "perfect attendance list" for Yuma elementary students 

Just to keep it even, added the Wray graduation of 1899 

AND 1900 

Even Eckley eighth grade graduation of 1923 

Added the Wray graduation of 1906 

Added the Yuma graduation of 1912 

Added the Laird eighth grade graduation of 1914 

Added a 1912 article on Center Precinct 

October 2011  -

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County. - beginning to be more females with WWII nurses and WAC's - removed one from Yuma cemetery - he had the same name as a Logan County WWII veteran.

Added photos of 1920-1930 Yuma resident  David E. Berkey 

Added an obituary for an adopted granddaughter of  Mattie Silks  and a rocking horse given to Sam Shafer by Cort Thompson

September  2011  -

Added a page on George Armstrong Custer   YES THE LITTLE BIG HORN ONE, and his Yuma County experiences..

Added a page on the storied madam  Mattie Silks   and her Yuma County experiences..

Added a narrative on 1930's rural schools by  Jennie OMAN Monk , .  I waited until her death to make it public.

August  2011  -

Added 1929-1939 Kirk basketball photos , thanks to Elva Rainey

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County. with the death of cousin "Sonny" Josh

Thanks to Janet Ann Newbanks, 1950's photos of   Pleasant Valley get-togethers.

Thanks to Janet Ann Newbanks, 1930s photo of   Wages Church. HELP with any names !

Added a 1920's ranch photo to the William Romkee page, thanks to Dallas Riedesel

Thanks to Janet Ann Newbanks, added photos to  Pleasant Valley Church.

Thanks to Dave Smith, 1902 wedding photo of   Thomas and Olive (Stallings) Smith.

Linked to two Yuma Pioneer articles about the Yuma Cemetery beginnings. - reached from On-Line Data  page.

July  2011  -

Thanks to the West Yuma Cemetery Board, updated listing of the   Yuma Cemetery .

Dallas Riedesel has generously volunteered to look up names in the Kirk Panther high school yearbooks from the late 1930's  dallas1056@comcast.net

Added a 1936 teacher photo to the Kirk place page, thanks to Dallas

June  2011  -

Added a photo of   Men and Mules working .

Added a photo of   B.M Wear Real Estate - Yuma .

Added two photos to   Yuma Main Street (Weld Avenue) .

Added three photos of   Yuma 1920's-1930's rainwater .

Added a photo of   Yuma Lutheran Church .

Added some description to a street scene  Wray Kiowa Street .

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Added Wray 1913 view.

May 2011  -

Added more photos to the Hanson Friend family

Added more articles to the Kirk place page, including a diary of the 1906 trek from Waverly Kansas to Kirk

Added an article about the Idler Cemetery near Kirk

April 2011  -

Added a photo of the farm northwest of Yuma of Frank Ewart.

Added a photo of the farm near Wages of John and Mary Felderman.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

March 2011  -

Added a photo of a Yuma Methodist Sunday School Class.

Added a link to my grandmother Cynthia Ann WOODWARD Monk  of Waverly and Pleasant Valley

Added a photo of the Methodist Ladies Aid Martha Washington tea.

Added a photo of the James Brophy family of Eckley/Waverly

Added a search engine to the main page.   It might necessitate some work - we'll see.  I suspect it won't index the  material in the USGenWeb Archives.

Added an article to the Dr. James Garcia family of Idalia

Added three photos of Yuma garages.

Added a photo of the Yuma flour mill.

February 2011  -

Might well name it "Dallas Riedesel Month" with all the photos he's given us!

Added photo of Ervin Riedesel.standing by Joe Strick's Twin Cities tractor.

Added photos of the Conrad family of Idalia

Added photos of the Elliott family of Wray

Added photos of the Groves family of Wray

Added photos of  the Dr. James Garcia family of Idalia

Added photos of  three WWI Kirk soldiers

Added photos of  William (Wilhelm) Friedhofer of Kirk

Added an unknown "Wray group"

Added some description and better pictures for Albert Graham - Thanks to Robert Guy of Oshkosh, Nebraska

Added photos of  Chester and Effie Bowden of Waverly. You might try playing the video clip.

January 2011

Added Wray Sod Hotel 1886.

Lee Zion's mother-in-law passed away mid-January.

And also my mother Jennie Monk - who I'll always contend was the last of the "homestead kids"

Added some pictures for Albert Graham - will add more photos and information when time permits

Added some pictures for Chester Long - after the 1930 snow storm

December  2010

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Unpleasant discovery that usgenweb has changed the names of almost all its Archive material for Yuma County.  If a link doesn't work, please let me know - and in the interim use the usgenweb menu.

November 2010

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Changed email address for contributor Stephen Schneider stephen1959@windstream.net and added his Davisson pioneers to the Surname Registry.

October  2010

Added a downtown Wray  postcard .

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

September 2010

Added a history of the Pleasant Valley Church at its 100th anniversary.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Updated the Researchers Surname Registry. with the Shumaker and Donaho names

August 2010

Added two photographs and diploma for Gold Star Howard McCalmont

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Added a map to Bryant school district.  School was a little west of Clarkville

July 2010

Updated Gold Star Bobby Workman

Updated email on the D. B Cumley family

Updated Gold Star Howard McCalmont

June 2010

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Added list of  South Bryant students 1929.

May 2010

Added a surname to the Migrations page.

Added an article on the Yuma livery stables.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Added a little information to James Dudgeon of Idalia

May 13 - Roberta "Birdie" MONK Holsclaw passed away.  Her father William Woodward Monk was born and grew up north of Eckley.  Her mother Arliss was one of the first certified genealogists in Colorado, and they both did research, writing, and lecturing for many years.. 

April 2010

Added photographs of the Idalia Flour Mill.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Updated the Researchers Surname Registry.

 

March 2010

Added a book on the Ida Hutton family of Kirk

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Added a photo of James Dudgeon of Idalia

February 2010

Yuma County has digitized old tax rolls - available in Treasurer's office - added that info to Resource page

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Added more photos to the Hanson Friend family - Thanks, Kimble !

Updated the Researchers Surname Registry.

January 2010

Added photos of the CB&Q train depot in Yuma and a train by the Yuma water tank in 1886

Added photos of downtown Yuma Weld Avenue

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.   Added some photos and newspaper clippings to GoldStar Dee Friend Martin

Added photos of the Hanson Friend family and house near Clarkville.

Added photos of the Ford Church near Clarkville.

Added photo of Yuma church, residences, and standpipe.

Added a listing of burials in St. John's Cemetery near Idalia.

Changed the link (Geocities closed !) to the Kirk Cemetery at http://reocities.com/Heartland/creek/3120/CO/yuma/kirkcemetery.htm

December 2009

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

November 2009

Revised the description of the memorial marker for the Talley grave.

Corrected some links - needed because of the changes in the ColoradoGenWeb site structure.

October 2009

Moved this site to the Colorado GenWeb server, after a series of hacker disruptions on the previous server.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

September 2009

Added photos of the Beehler Electrical in Yuma and KGEK Radio - the third station in Colorado

Added a photo and obituary for Edward Olsen a Gold Star Veteran.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

August 2009

Added photos of the Shaw families (on the Arickaree north of Joes) to our Pioneer photos.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

 

July 2009

Added a page for Houston Graves, a Confederate private killed in Arkansas in 1862, and the burial site unknown. A marker is next to his son's grave in the Kirk cemetery.

Added a photo of Sipple Oil of Yuma.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

 

June 2009

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

 

May 2009

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

 

April 2009

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

One inquiry regarding a photo from the 1920 Landowner directory, with a compliment on the original patent maps.

March 2009

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

February 2009

Added one surname, new email address on another.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

January 2009

Added a history of the community of Friend courtesy of the Wilcoxen family.

Added photographs of the 1930 Idalia Grade School and High School students.

December 2008

Added one surname, and updated email address on another.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

November 2008

Agreed to take on Kit Carson County - if you have Kit Carson roots you might consider adopting it.

Changed the Colorado Genweb logo - the designer of the logo has withdrawn permission to use it

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

October 2008

Added a history and photo of the Independence School (between Wray and Eckley) to our School photos.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

September 2008

Added photos of the Cox family (southeast of Yuma) to our Pioneer photos.

Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

August 2008

Added photos of Brownsville (south of Yuma) and Dr. Brown to our Pioneer photos. Updated veterans list.

July 2008

We are saddened by the untimely death of Lee Zion, the creator of the Yuma and Washington County web sites.  Lee, with his talent and generosity, built one of the best genealogical and historical resources in the nation.

June 2008

Jun 12 - Updated the Researchers Surname Registry.

Jun 2 - Added a Clarence and Edith Cassens page to our Pioneer photos section.

May 2008

May 26 - Added a class photograph from the Yuma High class of 1925.

May 26 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County. Added a photo of CPT Palmrose's military marker to his Gold Star page.

May 23 - Added three photographs of M.J. Wagey elevators to our Unknown Photos. Your help would be appreciated!

May 16 - Added the Beecher Island townsite to the land patent map of T2SR43W.

May 10 - Added a photograph of the 1910 Gummer School north of Yuma.

May 9 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

May 7 - Added my Beecher Island pages from the defunct YCHS website.

April 2008

Apr 17 - Added a circa 1915 postcard showing the interior of the Yuma Mercantile Co to our photo collection.

Apr 15 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

March 2008

Mar 20 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Mar 14 - Moved these pages to a new home. Still updating links so if you spot any that are broken let me know!

Mar 6 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

February 2008

Feb 27 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Feb 21 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Feb 19 - Updated the Researcher's Surname Registry.

Feb 14 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Feb 7 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

January 2008

Jan 14 - Received Obits from Wray and Yuma Vol 31 (1999) from Pat Oestman.

Jan 3 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Jan 1 - Updated the Researchers Surname Registry.

December 2007

Dec 27 - Updated the Researcher's Surname Registry.

Dec 21 - Added a postcard photo of an early Yuma school to our Pioneer photos collection.

Dec 13 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

November 2007

Nov 30 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Nov 15 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.
               Added a photo to Capt. Clayton Palmrose Gold Star page.

Nov 7 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

October 2007

Oct 27 - Added photos of the John Riedesel 1898 rock house to the collection.

Oct 24 - Added a new photo to our unknown collection that we need your help with.
               Please look at: WWI Soldiers in Vernon.

Oct 16 - Updated the list of Veterans Buried in Yuma County.

September 2007

Sep 29 - Updated the list of Veterans Buried in Yuma County.

Sep 18 - Updated the Researcher's Surname Registry.

Sep 15 - Added a Gold Star memorial page for Capt. Clayton E. Palmrose, US Army.

Sep 13 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

August 2007

Aug 30 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma County.

Aug 27 - Added an index to the obits in Marion Knowles (Knowles Morturary) 1918-1932 Scrapbook.

Aug 26 - Screened these pages for broken links and added my alternate email address

Aug 6 - Added the Hosea and Ethel (Chase) Cotterell Davis family of Armel to our Pioneers section.

Aug 4 - Added the Leslie and Malinda Chase family of Armel to our Pioneers section.

Aug 2 - Added photos of the Sarah Hicks and Russell Hicks families to our Pioneers section.

Aug 1 - Added two more Eckley photos to our vintage photos section.

July 2007

Jul 28 - Added a Burr and Olive (Stuck) Glenn Family page to our Pioneers section. Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma Co.

Jul 19 - Updated the list of Veterans buried in Yuma Co.

Jul 10 - Updated the Researcher's Surname Registry.

Jul 9 - Added a circa 1915 Sam Soper Restaurant, Eckley, photo and added a photo to the 1924 Eureka school, Eckley page.

Jul 5 - Added a circa 1935 Wray Main postcard to our photo collection.

This page was created and copyrighted by Lee Zion.