Yuma County, Colorado
Photographs

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Yuma County Pioneer Photographs: 

Herman and Rosa (Katrola) Brand, Waverly

 


Herman H. Brand married Rosa Katrola March 10, 1891, recorded in Denver.

July 13, 1900 "To Mr. and Mrs. Herman Brand, Saturday, July 1, a bouncing baby girl."
1914 "Herman Brand, the honest, straightforward German farmer, has made us one of the best county commissioner the county ever had. Herman Brand is no politician seeking to perpetuate himself in office by fawning flattery and holding out favors to would-be politicians. He talks straight from the shoulder and conceals nothing. His political life never extended beyond the office ho has so faithfully managed the past term. He is a true son of the soil. He has made good as a pioneer farmer, business man and county commissioner.
February 23, 1917

MISSING IMAGE BrandHerman1926Oct14.jpg

June 1927 "Mrs. Herman Brand returned on the early morning train Thursday of last week from a two weeks visit with her mother at Friend, Nebraska."
MISSING IMAGE BrandHerman1941Mar13.jpg

Herman is buried in Yuma # 48448454, with Rose 1875-1955 # 48448458.

MISSING IMAGE BrandHerman1943July29a.jpg

Herman Brand arrived in the U.S. from Germany on April 1, 1880, at the age of 18. After several years of working in Ohio and Denver, he came to Yuma County in 1887. In April 1891, he married Rose Katrola, and three years later he purchased the original acres of the now Mekelburg farm.
Rose and Herman had five children: John, Henry, Kate, Mary and Wenzel, who was born in 1911 and lived on the farm all of his life, raising cattle, pigs, sheep, corn, wheat and various other crops. Wenzel never married or had children but was close to his nieces and nephew, Doris, Shirley and Don Rutledge, who lived across the road.
Upon Wenzel’s death, the homestead and grassland was passed to great nephew Michael Mekelburg, who had worked closely with Wenzel on the farm during the last years of his life. Michael carried on the family farming traditions until his death in 2007, after which the farm was purchased by Mekelburg Farms, LLC, which is owned by Leon and Doris Mekelburg’s family, comprising Randy, David and Tom Mekelburg, Deb Higgins, and Michael's children Ashley, Cody and Alex.
In September 2009, great-great-granddaughter of Herman Brand, Cassidee Gleghorn and her husband Jed purchased the homestead acreage from Mekelburg Farms, LLC, and have a home there where they raise cattle and horses. The big red barn that was once used as a dairy barn is now used for horses, and the granary and chicken house are still in use as well.

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