Yuma County, Colorado Photographs

Yuma County Pioneer Photographs:

Charles Varney, 38, a manufacturer, born at Sandwich, New Hampshire to Daniel P. and Patricia Varney (his second marriage), married Carrie A. Leland at Grafton on July 9, 1864. She was born at Grafton Massachusetts about 1832 to Royal and Margaret Leland. This is Carrie's first marriage.

Royal Leland died July 9, 1861 in Grafton, Massachusetts, age 71.

In 1880 Clay County, Nebraska, Charles Varney is 54, born in New Hampshire, with Carrie 48 in Massachusetts. Alice B. is 20, a teacher, Edward W. is 12,a nd Frank is 8, all three born inMassachusetts. They have two hired men.

 

March 15, 1889 "Albert Turney and family, from Washington County, came up Saturday and remained over Sunday with father Varney.  Mr. Turney is one of the leading republicans in the new county of Yuma."

 

Alice claimed in 5 n 46 - so she must be C.C.'s daughter

 

November 1887 "work on Albert Turney's well is at a standstill at the depth of 238 feet, owing to the drill owners having the misfortune to break a cog wheel, and will have to wait until a new one can arrive from Indiana."

Albert N. Turney married Alice B. Varney on January 11, 1888, recorded in Washington County, Colorado.

Holyoke December 1888 "Albert Turney, of Weld City, was up Tuesday."

August 1898 William Fall was claiming land, and listed as witnesses John Y. Eckman, Rinda Eckman, Albert N. Turney, and William Bingaman, all of Yuma.

 

September 2, 1898 "Two more prairie fires have been reported this week.  One in the neighborhood of the Turney ranch, where several miles of range grass was burnt, and the other was at the O. H. Johnson ranch, where about one iles of the range was destroyed."

 

September 1898 "Representative-elect Turney visited his ranch, twenty-five miles north of Yuma, the first of the week."
 

October 1898 - \

June 1899 "Mrs. A.N. Turney entertained Yuma's little folks Thursday afternoon in honor of the seventh birthday of her little daughter, Edith.  During the afternoon lunch was served.  The little ones who attended enjoyed an excellent time."

 

October 1899 Among those with perfect attendance at the Inteermediate Department in Yuma schools were Bertine Turney and Vera Turney.

 

March 1900 Turney and two other board members, visited the school.

May 4, 1900 "A.N. Turney has another little girl at his home, born Friday, April 20.  Both mother and child are doing well, and Albert was generous with cigars and candy.  Better late than never."

 

In 1900 Yuma, Albert is a stock raiser, born October 1864 in Illinois, married 12 years to Alice B. January 1865 Massachusetts. Bertine Nov 1888, Vera July 1890, Edith June 1892, and baby Beth April 1900 were all born in Colorado.

March 30, 1900 Yuma "A.N. Turney is painting his residence."

July 1900 "R.M. Crenshaw has purchased the A.N. Turney residence."

 

August 3 1900 LEAVES YUMA

Hon. A.M. Turney and his estimable wife and family left Yuma the fore part of the week for Loveland, their future home.  Mrs. and Mrs. Turney and the little folks will be greatly missed.  They were good workers in church and social circles.  Mr. Turney was for eight years treasurer of Yuma county, and represented this representative district in the Twelfth General Assembly, where his course was considered consistent.  They have purchased a residence property in Loveland.

 

 

In 1910 Loveland, Albert is a farmer, with Alice and the four girls. Alice E. is the Beth, age 9.

In 1920 Loveland, Albert is still farming, 55, Alice 55, and Elizabeth A. 19.

 

1922 Estes Park "The hummingbird nest on the limb of an aspen tree in back of the A.N. Turney cabin, which has been visited by several hundred visitors, is indeed a beautiful object. Weighing about two ounces and resembling a walnut in size, it looks for all the world like a knot on the tree, where it is concealed. One enthusiastic admirer described it as 'an exquisite cup less than two inches across, of felted plant fern and dandelion seed down, covered so perfectly with moss and lichens and spider webs as to appear a mere protuberance on the limb, and lined with a layer of the finest down.' The fledglings are just ready to fly away."

1924 Estes Park Colorado "Frank L.Varney, clerk of the West Side Court of Denver, arrived Wednesday to visit with his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Phelps, who have spent the past week at the Heights."
"Mr. and Mrs. Glen Draggo and daughter Mildred, and Mrs. A.N. Turney of Loveland, spent Sunday at the Little White Store."
Albert Nisley Turney 1864-1927 is buried in Loveland.
 

August 19, 1937

March 15, 1951

July 19, 1918 "Mr. and Mrs. Roland Colwell, who spent two weeks at the P. O. Colwell and A. N. Turney homes, returned yesterday to their home in Scottsbluff, Neb. They were accompanied home by Mrs. Colwell's sister. Miss Beth Turney, who will visit there for some time."

1936 Windsor, Colorado items in the Greeley newspaper "Thanksgiving Day dinners wore given by Windsor residents, some of which, are no follows: "Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Colwell entertained that day Mr. and Mildred, Mrs. A. N. Turney, Mrs. Mary Colwell, Ruth Colwell, all of Loveland, and Tom Colwell of Greeley. Their son, Kenneth Colwell, who went to Denver with the Colorado university band, did not get home in time for the dinner, but will spend the week end here."

1938 " Dinners honoring mother on Mother's day were given in many of the homes in Windsor and community Sunday. Mr. and Mrs; R. L. Colwell entertained at their home that day, Mrs. Mary Colwell of Loveland, her daughter, Miss Ruth Colwell, and Mrs. Colwell's mother, Mrs. A. N. Turney."
Alice B. (Bunker) Turney 1860-1951 is buried in Loveland # 37465514.

Edith Turney married Marvin Morgan on August 20, 1914, recorded in Weld County.

March 10, 1920 "Mr. and Mrs. M.J. Morgan of Trinidad are the proud parents of a baby girl, Eldora Grace, born Thursday March 4th. Mrs. Morgan will be remembered as Miss Edith Turney.

Linton L. Walker married Beth Turney in Loveland December 27, 1925.

Beth Walker is in Denver in 1930, married to Linton Walker 37, a car salesman, with John A. 1.
Beth 1900-1938 is buried in Loveland, with Lenton L. 1892-1944  

Original Yuma Pioneers: Albert and Alice Turney By MATT VINCENT Thousands of settlers followed the path of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad into northeastern Colorado in the early 1880s, seeking fertile ground, greener pastures and a place to put down roots. It was by definition a mass migration. Between 1880 and 1890, the state's population more than doubled, rising from roughly 200,000 residents to more than 423,000. Within 20 years it doubled again. Lured by the promise of cheap land in what was billed as the state's "rain belt," immigrants came from across the eastern U.S. and from many foreign counties, chiefly Germany, England, Sweden, Russia and Italy. By 1910 an estimated 17 percent of Colorado's population was rural and foreign-born. As this wave of homesteaders flooded the eastern plains, communities popped up like weeds in fresh-plowed ground. To better serve the growing population, to issue legal documents, to collect taxes, to provide contracts, the state had to expand local government. In northeastern Colorado the effort began with the creation of Washington County, using portions of previously established Weld and Arapahoe counties. The small railroad town of Akron became its county seat in 1887. Before the ink had dried on a new state map, however, officials in Denver realized Washington County was not enough - at least not for residents in distant communities like Yuma, Eckley, Wray, Waverly and Vernon. Two years later under the administration of Colorado Gov. Job Adams Cooper, 13 more counties were added, which is how Yuma, Morgan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Kit Carson and other counties were put on the map. To run a government required qualified manpower so temporary appointments were made until elections were in November. For Yuma County and its new county seat in Yuma, Cooper appointed three commissioners (W.R. Field, James S. Hendrie and A.M. Bullard), a county clerk (George F. Weed) and a county treasurer (Albert N. Turney), along with a handful of other pioneers to fill vacancies for county judge, assessor, surveyor, school superintendent and coroner. The first Yuma County Clerk, George Weed and his wife, Ida, are credited for the homestead claims and original platting of Yuma. We don't know a whole lot about the other Yuma pioneers, though. In the case of Turney, that's very unfortunate because he alone may have had the greatest impact on the future of Yuma and other small communities across northeastern Colorado. Albert Nisley Turney was born in 1864 near Galesburg, Ill., and received his education at Knox College, the same institution, ironically, attended by Gov. Cooper prior to the Civil War. In the summer of 1886 at the age of 22, Albert stepped off a westbound train in Wray and began looking for work. With his drive, determination and ambition, he found employment quickly. Within a few months he had saved enough money to file a claim on 160 acres of ground in nearby Phillips County. In January of 1888 he married Alice Varney in Wray and the newlyweds quickly added an adjacent quarter to their holdings. Two decades later Albert and Alice were said to have one of the finest cattle herds in northeastern Colorado. The young couple moved to Yuma in 1889 where Albert accepted the governor's appointment to become Yuma County's first treasurer and recorder. His friends and neighbors kept him in office for three more terms during a critical time when the region was booming. It was during this time that his reputation for honesty and integrity became known. In 1897 Albert announced that he was stepping down from public office to pursue other interests. But community leaders encouraged him to run for higher office. With some reluctance he agreed, winning the State Representative seat and becoming the first - but certainly not the last - politician from Yuma. Contemporaries claimed he was the best lawmaker to ever represent the eastern plains, an opinion that was clearly supported by area newspapers. "Even those who do not agree politically with Mr. Turney speak in the most generous manner of his abilities and character," wrote the editor of the Fort Morgan Times at the turn of the 19th Century. Added the Brush Mirror in 1899: "He is a man of good business and executive abilities and unquestionable integrity and universally respected by those who know him." Throughout the homestead era, farmers and ranchers had grown weary of being treated like second-class citizens by Front Range lawmakers. Albert fought for change during the 12th General Assembly and became an advocate for rural residents and his constituency. His most important contribution may have been one that we take for granted today. During his short tenure in the General Assembly, Turney crafted and introduced what became known as the "The Road Bill." It was signed into law in May of 1899, paving the way for the construction of an improved wagon road from the eastern border of Colorado near the North Fork of the Republican to the South Platte near Fort Morgan, a commercial venture that would connect rural communities and commerce for years to come. Turney's Road followed the old CB&Q railroad and years later would become U.S. Highway 34. And to borrow a popular phrase coined by the late Paul Harvey: "And now you know the rest of the story." Much to the dismay of local residents, Albert and Alice left Yuma in 1900. They moved to the Loveland area where they eventually got involved in the booming tourism industry in the foothills and mountains to the west. Albert died in 1927. Alice passed away in 1951 at the age of 91. Both are buried in the Loveland Cemetery.

This page is maintained by M.D. Monk.