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Grand Lake History GLAHS Information Links |
GRAND LAKE HISTORY PLACES People of the Past Buried in the Grand Lake Cemetery Narration by Patience Kemp Compiled by Jeanette Chidley
History of Grand Lake Cemetery
The present Grand Lake Cemetery was first recorded in the county court house in 1875 as a cemetery with 10 tracts. At that time it was on the Harbison Ranch. The graves were measured from the northeast corners of each tract. None of the plots were of equal size. The beginning of the measure was a large granite stone. Tracts 1,2,5,6 and 8 have no names on the documents in the courthouse and it is not known who is buried there. Tract 3 is recorded under the name of Jones. Tract 4 is where Vesta and C. Young are buried; tract 7 belongs to the Schuster family. On tract 9 are the graves of the Harbisons and tract 10 is where the Kishner family is buried. A title search of the Harbison estate is being made to determine if the cemetery land was sold or was given to Rocky Mountain National Park.
In 1915 documents at the county court house stated that this land was the Grand Lake Cemetery. On October 8, 1917 Frank Huntington resurveyed 42 acres with “meets and bounds”. Rocky Mountain National Park was founded in 1915 and it is thought that a special permit was issued for the cemetery from the beginning. It was reissued in 1992 and has been extended to 1996. Under special use permit the town and the cemetery committee can allocate plots when needed. A fee of $50 for perpetual care is charged by the town now.
For many years the Grand Lake Women’s club has strived to clean the cemetery every spring. The late Clyde Eslick maintained the cemetery on a volunteer basis. He was also a gravedigger – probably for a fee.
There was a cemetery on the Lehman Ranch, which was on land that’s now under Granby reservoir. Those graves were moved to the Grand Lake Cemetery when Granby and Shadow Mountain Lakes were built in 1943-45. There were two cemeteries where Shadow Mountain Lake is now. The graves from those two cemeteries were also moved to the Grand Lake Cemetery.
When Mrs. Minerva Simmonds died in 1879 there wasn’t a Grand Lake Cemetery so Joseph Wescott offered a piece of his homestead which was in Grand Lake City (on the west side of the lake) for a cemetery. Someone else from Grand Lake Village (where the town is now) offered a rocky hillside where trees had burned. Wescott’s land was nicer so it was chosen. It was near the fork or near the wagon bridge on the west side of the road – about a block from the present bridge. Eliza Carr and her mother Ann Gibson were buried on the Carr Ranch, which was also on land under Shadow Mountain Reservoir. Their son and grandson had their graves moved to the Grand Lake Cemetery.
Mrs. Minerva Simmonds Sept. 10 – 74 yr. 4 mo.
This information was contributed by Patience Kemp and Jean Fischer and compiled by Jeannette Chidley.
The first grave in the Grand Lake Cemetery is either that of Alfonzo R. Warner or George W. Hertel. Both were buried in 1889. Alfonzo lived in Grand Lake nine or ten years, but George lived here longer and was in the lumber business. Alfonzo R. Warner 1848 – 1889 George W. Hertel 1824 - 1889
John “Jack” Baker was buried in 1892. The grave is aligned to look at Baker Mountain which was named for him. He came during the gold rush and explored Baker Mountain. His grave is in the same enclosure as the Young family because his daughter, Mary, married Chris Young. John “Jack” Baker 1801 – 1892 Grandfather of Chris Young Baker Mountain named for him June 30,
Christian F. Young 1856 – 1905 Vesta Young 1890 – 1904
Just south of the Young plot is the grave of Harry Randell who was murdered after a dance in the Young boathouse. They carried him back into the boathouse. Sunday school was the next morning and they had to try to clean the blood off the floor – which wasn’t quite clean by the time of Sunday school. He was stabbed in the back.
Andy Eairheart’s grave is in pure sand. The monument was put there by the Pioneer Society. He had been in Grand Lake area since the gold rush days. He had no relatives. He was a typical “old timer’. People would ask him, “What’s the weather going to be like?” He’d say, “Only a fool or a tourist would predict the weather.” He didn’t waste words and was very brilliant. He just didn’t want to go back to where his father told him what he should do for a living. He enjoyed doing math in his head. He’d come to Grand Lake and liked it here so he built boats and benches for a living. He died in 1930. Andrew A. Eairheart Dec. 25, 1850 – Nov. 11, 1930
Isaac Alden died in 1933. He came in the early 80’s. He was nearby when the three commissioners were killed. He was a staunch supporter of one of the commissioners. So he was rather frightened with the turn of events and may have gone to Montana for while until things quieted down. He spent almost his whole life here and once found some pieces of rock that assayed very well. When he realized it was good ore, he went back to stake his claim. There’d been a forest fire and he could never find the place again. He earned his living chopping wood for tourists. One of the tourists, Mr. Hannington, took him to an old people’s home in Denver when he became feeble. Isaac Alden 1843 – Sept. 8, 1933
North of Ike Alden’s grave is a big enclosure for the Johnston family. They’d been here early in their career in the mountains. They had sort of started Morrison. They had a home on the shore of Grand Lake. First at about Pitkin Street and later where Lemon Lodge is now. Bunty owned that for a long time and their cabin was used by Bunty and perhaps added to because it is still part of the biggest house near the North Inlet.
Thomas H. Johnston had come from Ireland and didn’t realize he needed to be naturalized until something about a proposal for him to be postmaster or to be on the election board came up. So he was naturalized, finally. Susan Johnston was one of the Miner family. There were several sisters who married people who stayed in Grand County. While she and Tom moved around a bit at first – to Morrison and back – he helped build the red bridge at Hot Sulphur Springs. And then they came back to the Grand Lake area and took over the homestead that the senior Holzwarth’s had started at Stillwater. They raised a fine family there and some are buried here. Jim is their son. Tom fought in the Indian Wars in Kansas before he was married. Susan lived on long after he died and her son John and son Rob helped her on the ranch, but Johnny became a forest ranger so he couldn’t help her anymore. There came a time when she sold it to the Horns and moved into town. She bought the building that had been P. H. Smith’s carpenter shop and her brother and Rob, her son, made it into a home where she lived the rest of her days. One of her sons who’d been off racing horses as a jockey finally turned up here and she had a home for him. Her father Hibbard Miner and brother Frank Miner are buried here and her only daughter Margie’s grave is here. A granddaughter, Patsy Ruth and Margie’s husband, Al Penny, are also buried on the plot. Some young Johnston children are in the row behind.
Mary Miner married Lou Coffin Lucy Miner married Rob Throckmorton, long time County Clerk and Recorder Laura Miner married Jake Pettengill, Judge, Yacht Club Commodore, etc. Hibbard B. Miner Frank Miner
Thomas H. Johnson Pvt 19 Kans. Cav Indian Wars June 14, 1914 Susan M. Johnston 1859 – 1944 James Johnston Marjorie Johnston Murdock Penny Margaret Murdock Penney 1896 - 1982 Patsy Ruth Johnston, daughter of Johnny and Beulah Dewitt Johnston 1929 – 1936 Esther Johnston
East of the Johnston plot are the Merrick’s Graves. They had some land near the Johnston ranch, but theirs was not profitable. Katherine Merrick 1886 – 1958 Benjamin Merrick 1866 – 1938
There’s a mystery here. The stone just says Matilda and nobody knows whether anybody is buried there or not. It may be a joke. It’s a beautiful stone but may not belong here.
Matilda 1882 – 1924
Joe Poulson (buried next to Matilda)
Between this stone and the Johnston enclosure are the Behrs – Mary and some sons. They also had a home in Tabernash because Mary’s husband worked on the railroad and that’s where they changed crews. But they’d stay in Grand Lake a good part of the time. Sometimes the boys went to school up here.
Ernest F. Behr 1864 – 1942 Mary J. Behr 1864 – 1942 Newby Behr
Mitchells owned 160 acres – probably a homestead – in what we used to call Mitchell’s Gulch. It’s a part of the town site – I mean it adjoins the town site – and now Tunnel Road does up through there. But they were early settlers and some of them would play violins for the dances. One of them may have been falsely accused of stabbing Randall. He was punished for it and stayed in the penitentiary for 18 months. Maybe there’s some doubt that he really did it because 18 months makes one think he wasn’t to blame. It ruined his life. His wife left him; he didn’t have contact with his children again. His hair turned white and he was really punished whether he did it or not. James W. Mitchell 1830 – 1901 Polly A. Mitchell 1835 – 1911 Benjamin Joseph Mitchell Jan 12 1863 – Nov 29, 1923
Rennie Aaron Mitchell Colorado Pvt Air Service WWI May 24, 1892 – April 3, 1957
Next to the Mitchell graves are some that are marked and some that aren’t marked. We don’t know for sure who’s buried in this section.
Making our way west, we’ve come to the Chase and Ainsley and Diger family graves. They had ranch land between Grand Lake and Granby. There are still members of the families living there. Father-James Ainsley 1876-1943 Mother-Mary J. Ainsley 1876-1959
West of these graves are the Schnoor-Schuster graves. Will Schuster and his wife and two children came here from Wisconsin. Will was very ill with tuberculosis but he managed to supervise some plumbing work that was done here in the early days. He did die a few years after they came. Mrs. Schuster (Carry) taught at Grand Lake and Hot Sulphur Springs. Later she was superintendent of schools for many years in the county. Then there came a time when she married Henry Schnoor who is also buried in this plot. Schnoor was a carpenter and had lived on Green Mountain Ranch for quite awhile. But he built many log cabins in Grand Lake. He had two daughters who lived at the Harbison Ranch. Because his first wife had left him and there came a time when one of the daughters came to live with Henry and his second wife, Carrie (Schnoor). Mamie always lived with the Harbisons. Susan or Bee, the elder daughter, is buried in this plot. Carry always had a fear of dying in the winter when they’d have to blast her grave. Sure enough that’s what happened, and they didn’t feel they could blast up here by Will Schuster and so her grave is at the other end. Henry Schnoor 1864 – 1943 William H. Schuster 1874 – 1915 Caroline D. Schnoor – 1972 – 1959 Beatrice E. Schnoor Dolloff – 1904 – 1927 Levi Grant Skinner – 1920 – 1937
West of these Schnoor-Schuster graves are the Gregg graves. Warren C. Gregg was the eldest and he had two sons – Lloyd and Raymond. Lloyd lived a good part of his life in Steamboat and Craig as he was with the highway department. Raymond sometimes lived here, but he’d go back to some of the “hill country’ in the Ozarks. Warren’s second wife is buried here. (His older son was by his first wife.) Well, his wife Mary had a lot of children and was very much depressed in 1905 to the point where she got out a gun and shot herself and all the children in the house. Warren, Lloyd and Raymond weren’t there. They lived in the famous “Spider House” (which is still standing on Main St.) Warren lived until 1933. Mother-Mary Gregg Josie, Ralph, Harold, Alec - 1905 Father Warren C. Gregg Oct. 16, 1851 – July 16, 1933 Lloyd E. Gregg 1887 – 11962 Amanda O. Gregg 1877 – 1956 Susan D. Gregg 1869 – 1940 I. P. (Bill) Gregg June 30, 1909 – Jan. 24, 1992 Raymond P. Gregg 1876 – 1953
Baby Meyers 1937
Here’s the grave of Homer Smith who was a citizen here in the ‘40s, and apparently until 1950 when he died in a plane accident. His widow married the druggist in Granby and is still there. Homer had the lumberyard here. Homer G. Smith 1908 – 1950
The oldest residents are the one who have cottages around the lake, and a little bit north and west of the graves we’ve looked at is a little wooden fence and a stone that says Stevenson. Arnie and his wife Glenn Ellen are buried there or their ashes are there. Stevensons would come out for the whole summer and fish and fish and fish. They lived where the Colorado River left Grand Lake. We have pictures of them wading out there casting their lines. I think they would’ve turned into fishes they caught so many. Arnot R. Stevenson Sept 28, 1886- Sept 19, 1950 Glenne Ellen Stevenson Aug. 30, 1894 – March 8, 1973
West of the Stevenson plot is one where some of the people named O’Mara are buried. I think they are the grandparents of Sean Patrick Casey, a four-year-old boy whose family put his gun, holster and little cowboy hat on the stone instead of a regular headstone. Sometime this past winter of 1991 a grandparent was buried in this plot. Because it was winter a lot of sand and gravel was scattered on the other graves. They’ve cleaned them up since and have beautiful flowers on them. Joseph O’Mara 1904 – 1991 Lydia O’Mara 1920 – 1989 Married August 8, 1927 Joan Kathleen O’Mara Casey – Nov. 3, 1937 – July 29, 1969 Sean Patrick Casey – March 2, 1967 – April 30, 1971
We are on the north edge of the hill where Bryant O’Donnell is buried. He died in the winter of 1990 and they put his grave here looking up at the Never Summer Range where his family had mines and where he spent one summer during the depression getting out ore. He eventually turned into a famous lawyer. I can see that his family is thinking what he’d like because they recently watered the kinnikinick and are hoping it will grow there. Mt. Bryant is named for his grandfather. His great grandfather was Governor Routt. They had mining property and even their cottage on the Lake dates before the turn of the century. Some of the buildings were brought down from the mines. His heart was in this country. Bryant O’Donnell June 20, 1925 – September 1, 1990
Here’s a nice little iron fence and a black stone that says Capitola Adams 1889-1909. I don’t know who she was unless she was Birdie. I think she was Birdie Adams and I don’t know what connection she had with anybody else, but there is beautiful kinnikinic on the grave. Capitola Adams 1889 – 1909 Daughter of Capitola Viola J. Heath Nov. 8, 1904 – Aug. 26, 1998
There is a little grave near here that says Max K. Fraughton with Barney McCoy above the name. When he was here he used that name. I think he had a criminal record.
Max K Fraughton May 5, 1994-June 19, 1932 (Barney McCoy) There was another cemetery probably before this one. When someone died in Grand Lake City, Wescott offered to give a cemetery and someone on the north side offered another place. But the relatives chose to use Wescott’s. After Shadow Mountain Reservoir was planned, these graves were moved to the present cemetery. So we have Robert Plummer who was murdered by Wilson Waldern January 1883. Lillian Nickerson who died of natural causes in 1884 and her husband Winslow who died in December 1883. Robert Plummer-murdered by Wilson Waldren, Jan. 1883 Lillian Nickerson July 1884 Winslow Nickerson Dec. 1883
Also from this cemetery and the Lehman Ranch we have Johnnie Schaffer and Rachel Schaffer – both were children of four years. Their grandmother Minerva Simmonds died in 1879. Minerva came from this little burial ground I speak of, but the children were buried on the Lehman Ranch so I think the family was trying to get out of here when the children died. Now if Mr. Schaffere really died here, he was probably buried on the Lehman Ranch, too. I wonder if there’s a mistake about his name. The babies of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Lehman are from the Lehman Ranch cemetery. There is a baby of Mr. and Mrs. Willard Miner also buried here and who died in 1884. Commissioner John G. Mills who died during the shooting of July 4, 1883 came from the other cemetery. The other two commissioners who were killed at that time were buried in Granby and Hot Sulphur Springs. Commissioner Day was buried in Hot Sulphur and the other one on his ranch in Granby. Mr. Schaffer 1883 Minerva Simmonds Sept 10, 1879 46 D 75 years 4 months Rachael Schaffer Age 4 Nov 1, 1979 Johnnie Schaffer Nov. 3,1879 Commissioner John G. Mills Shooting of July 4, 1883
Then there is the grave of Andy Myers who died in the summer of 1883 when he was struck by lightning as he dug a well east of the courthouse. The courthouse at that time was on the northeast corner of Pitkin Street and Grand Avenue. Doc Duty was killed in a snowslide at the Toponas Mine in February 1883. After the snow melted and they were able to find him they brought his body to the little cemetery. One of the others that was killed there they left up at one of the mining camps.
Andy Myers – Summer 1883 Killed by lightning as he dug well east of courthouse Doc Duty – killed in snowslide at Toponas mind Feb.1883
And these – Eliza Carr and her mother, Ann Gibson, died on their ranch which is mostly under the water of Shadow Mountain Reservoir. Ann Gibson died about six years after her daughter. But the son and grandson of these women had their graves moved up here and put up the stones. Since Eliza Carr was a cousin of my father, I think I’d like my ashes buried here. Ann Gibson 1833 – 1910
Eliza Carr had lived in Detroit with her family, but she had tuberculosis and came out to visit relatives here because Colorado was supposed to be so good for that. After she’d been here quite awhile, her husband sold his business and they all moved out here. George Carr had a farm where he raised pork and beef. I think he had a shop in Detroit, too. And so – after several years she’d gotten settled here and she’d survived until they had a nice house and barns and ranch land. Just the climate wasn’t enough and she did die in 1904. Her mother Ann Gibson had come with them and she survived longer. Eliza A. Carr 1855 - 1904
Making our way back a little bit to the Lehman enclosure are the graves of Bill Lehman and his wife Ora. Some of the plots went to their friends, Jim and Matilda Barnes. Jimmy Jr., who died in an avalanche on a snowmobile, and one cousin Arthur are buried here, too. Jim Barnes even in his old age was very athletic looking and felt he could take care of himself and he did in many situations. Once when somebody came to rob him he got the best of the robbers. He thought he always could, but he was inclined to flash a roll of bills in a restaurant or a bar and there came a time when some people way laid him. They waited for him at his house and when he came in they hit him with something so that he wasn’t able to defend himself. He didn’t die right away. They got his money, but it was sometime before he died of all the battering he got. James Robert Barnes, Jr. US Marine Corp World War II Aug 15, 1925-Mar 12, 1983 Matilda Barnes Penn 1904 – 1947 Jim R. Barnes 1893 - 1979
In the other Lehman plot we find cousins of the other Lehmans. Henry and Amelia Lehman had a ranch that’s now covered by Granby Reservoir. They sold the ranch to Knight, and I guess their son Ed had owned it a little bit in the meantime. Henry and Amelia lived in Grand Lake after they quit the ranch. They were from Germany and had several daughters who married in the county and stayed. One son stayed until he died during the War. He may have been one of the ones who got the flu. Even up here that flu epidemic took out lots of the young men. They were good citizens here.
Henry Lehman 1847 – 1919 Edward W. Lehman 1878 - 1918 Amelia Lehman 1848-1925 Teina B. Lehman 1876 - 1939 Ora E. Lehman 1889 – 1966 BPOE Nellie Leach March 18, 1882 – May 10, 1977 William J Lehman 1887 – 1946 Henry (Irv) Leach Nov. 28, 1916 – Mar. 8, 1979 Arthur E. Lehman 1882 - 1936
Lew Fontaine lived across the North Fork on the road up North Supply Creek and he was going home during the high water and his horses couldn’t make it. They drowned and he drowned.
We’re back at one of the plots people notice first and it’s right on the main driveway in. It’s the Harbison enclosure and it’s not very far from where they lived. The main road went round east of here right to their ranch. So out of their busy days of chores they took time to come over to water trees and keep their plot looking nice. There are lots of evergreen trees. Most of the pines are dying here. Harbisons came in to homestead. Two daughters, Annie and Kitty, took out homesteads adjoining each other and each put a cabin a few feet from the edge of their lots and at least in later years they used one cabin for living – bedroom and the other for kitchen-dining room. And that way they could prove on two homesteads at once. Their father died first in 1906. The two daughters lived until 1938 when they died of pneumonia within a few days of each other. Their mother had died in 1923. They raised Henry Schnoor’s daughter Mary. We called her Mamie. She didn’t choose to go live with her father when he had married again and wanted her to live with him. But she was a great help on the ranch and she preferred to stay there and help Annie and Kitty with the mowing and milking of cows and all they did. There was a son, a brother of Annie and Kitty, and he married Murnie and they lived on the ranch until about the time it was sold to the National Park. Before they died they did go out near some of Murnie’s relatives who do come back and take care of the fence and all and did take care of Murnie and Rob in later years. So some of those relatives – Harold Hawkins and some of Murnie’s relatives are buried here too. Maybe Robbie, Annie and Kittie’s brother, homesteaded some of the ranch too. Anyway they had a great many good acres up here and they worked hard on them, but the father died in 1906. His wife did the best she could, but Annie and Kitty did most of the work. Robbie would deliver milk and ice. He had to drive slowly because he was an albino, I think. His eyes were very light – almost white. So he may have helped all he was able to help. His two sisters really took on the heavy work. His wife, Murnie, did all she could and of course Mamie Schnoor who later married Red Gutchel, did a lot of the work on the ranch. It’s now owned by the National Park because they needed it for the elk.
Mrs. Hawkins, sister of Rob Harbison’s wife, used to visit them. Robbie would want to go start the motor that pumped water to the graves. Murnie would make her sister go along in case something went wrong and she could come for help. Pioneers of 1896 Annie E. Harbison Sept. 5, 1968 – Nov. 13, 1938 Kittie D. Harbison Sept. 16, 1872 – Nov. 8, 1938 At Rest Mary E. Harbison Sept. 15, 1837 – April 3, 1923 Rock of Ages
Aug. 19, 1830 – Jan. 17, 1906 Co. D 184th Reg Pa. Vol Murnie M. Harbison June 15, 1896 – March 22, 1967 Robert A. Harbison July 6, 1876 – April 16, 1971 Grand Lake Pioneers Mary A. Gudgel 1906 – 1973
Harold C. Hawkins 1905 – 1978 Viola R. Hawkins 1907 Martha Tucker Oct. 7, 1898 = August 6, 1987 Lorraine Hawkins Jones March 30, 1981
Elmer A. lively “Al” Dec. 24, 1918 – Oct. 21, 1999 Elizabeth J. Lively “Betty” July 11, 1924 – Dec. 1, 1999 Wonder what the poor folks are doing
Next to the Harbison’s is the Selak plot. Most of the Selaks lived in Granby. But for a time Frank and Rose and their family lived in Grand Lake over on the west side of Grand Lake City. I think he wasn’t very well. Anyway there came a day when he put a gun in the row boat and went out on the Lake and shot himself. So Rose did the best she could after that and raised some fine children. Frank and his brother Fred had had a stagecoach stop before there was a Granby. It was up on the mesa not too far from where the Granby airport is now. The road to Grand Lake came up past their store. They knew the miners coming up here for the mining boom of the late 70’s and 80’s would like a little refreshment like beer. But they had other things in the store. When Mary Lyons came into Grand Lake to teach, the stage driver told her she’d better buy some overshoes at the Selak store. So I know they sold overshoes there. And she was very glad she did. Because it was either late December or early January, she needed something over her shoes. Rose lived to be quite old. She didn't’ die until 1971. Her daughter Barbara lives in Granby and her youngest son is still living in Granby. I think there’s another daughter in Denver. Even though Frank and Fred had the store together, Fred gradually had more interests here in Grand Lake. He had acreage down at the edge of Shadow Mountain and had a cabin down there. Sometimes he had a little tiny store over in Grand Lake City. He didn’t marry. People thought he had money because sometimes he’d let people borrow some. When he had a quarrel with some neighbors going through his property, some of the younger members of that family took him out and hung him. And that was very sad. These young people got punished for it, and Grand Lake got punished because people were afraid to come here. It’s just too bad it happened. Frank J. Selak 1860 – 11912 At Rest Peace – Rose Ellen Selak June 8, 1876 – Feb. 13, 1971
North of that plot is the Eslick plot. Charles, one of the older children of the Eslicks, died because the team he was driving may have swerved or he may’ve been asleep. He died in 1913 at a time he was trying to help the family by earning a living. His sister Mabel died in 1918. His brother Lauren died in 1934. The parents are buried in the middle of the plot – Alfred and Georgia. She was the daughter of P. H. Smith who owned a lot of land on the main street of Grand Lake and he gave her three lots out of it. Clyde was the one of all the Eslick children that stayed here. Clarence and Claude, Clyde’s twin went to Denver. Claude is still living there. His sister Bessie stayed. She married a Lindsay. The Lindsay graves are west of these. Since there were so many plots here, they shared with their friends – Miller and Oscarson are in the same plot north of the Eslicks. Charles Eslick 1895 – 1913 Mabel Eslick 1900 – 1918 Loren B. Eslick 1907 – 1934 Clyde Henry Eslick Oct. 9, 1901 – Dec. 24, 1982 Grace Annette Eslick Feb. 28, 1911 Alfred Eslick 1868 – 1931 Georgia Eslick 1876 – 1956 Emmy Hulkenberg Oscarson Sept. 10, 1922 – Sept. 24, 1977 Thure V. Oscarson 1916 – 1994 Naomi M. Miller Jan. 25, 1930 – Mar. 15, 1985 In loving memory Arthur & Daryl
This plot is where some of the Nairs are buried. They were here mostly in the 30’s and maybe some in the 40’s and right beside them is a little boy whose parents still come in the summer. Frank Nair April 7, 1930 – April 12, 1983 Venia M. Nair Jan. 16, 1933 George Nair 1997 – 1977 Grace Nair 1901 – 1982 Doris Messinger Summers April 11, 1910 – Jan. 24, 1984 Baby Nair 1934 Wm. H. Gaetjens 1908 – 1991 Kathryn Messinger 1935 – 2001 Miles F. Messinger – Beloved Son May 14, 1964 – July 23, 1996
Some of our oldest residents are people around the Lake. And beyond that is a beautifully cared for plot of the Appelhans family. They have a bench to sit on when they come. Justin Dean Appelhans June 1, 1971 – Feb. 16, 1989
Across the road many of the graves are recent, but some of the families have been here a long time – like the Holzwarths that are way up towards the southeast end and the Spitzmillers not far from there.
Holzwarths came in and started to homestead at Stillwater very early. He’d come from Germany as an indentured servant, but he didn’t like the work he had to do so he didn’t do it. He came off on his own. But he also didn’t finish homesteading there. He went away again and had a business in Denver. Whether it was a hotel or a bar or both, I don’t know. But along came prohibition and he decided to come back to this county. But in the meantime he’d given up that homestead to the Tom Johnston. So he homesteaded then up the North Fork of the Colorado River. He and his son, with the help of his wife and daughters, acquired a lot of land; built cabins, a beautiful hotel and entertained a good many people who enjoyed the mountains. It was one of the early dude ranches. Son Johnny had the hotel partly because his sister who worked in Denver, put up the money for it. He married a fine young woman who came every summer from Kansas City and whose heart was here in the mountains. When she died, he said to me, “Anyway I always had a horse ready for her all saddled and ready.” She died suddenly of a massive stroke. Virginia Lyman Holzwarth March 5, 1935 – March 10, 1952 Caroline Pratt Holzwarth Sept. 15, `1907 – Nov. 21, 1965 Johnnie Holzwarth Nov. 7, 1902 – April 1, 1983
Here’s another one, Dorothy Peak Robertson. The Peaks have had a cottage on the Lake for so long. I can’t remember how long. And this is where she’s buried. There’s a hummingbird feeder right on the plot. This doesn’t look like a grave. It maybe just a marker. I don’t know. She died back in Des Moines in February. I don’t think they buried her here. Dorothy Peak Robertson Sept. 25, 1916 – Feb. 24, 1987
Spitzmiller graves are all in a clump here. Barbara Spitzmiller Tazer and her brother who lives way off in the East and his family are all that are left now. Gus was a plumber and did a great deal of plumbing here. And his son Gordon took over the business. So when he died, his friends made a wooden wrench to decorate his grave, and here it is. Gustav Anton Spitzmiller April 23, 1884 – Dec. 19, 1972 Pioneer Plumber Anna Victoria Spitzmiller July 28, 1891 – Oct. 12, 1977 Always Smiling Gustave Eugene Spitzmiller – Devoted Son and Brother Dec. 16, 1923 – Jan. 22, 1981 Barbara Jane Tazer 1921 – 2000 Barbara S. Spitzmiller Oct. 15, 1904 – July 5, 1987 Gordon Robert Spitzmiller March 24, 1920 – April 3, 1990 He leaves a legacy of laughter
The Rhone family was certainly prominent here for many years. Rhone graves are near here. They did a great deal for the community. Spitzmillers, Zicks, Rhones and Fred Maker really kept the town going a good many years. After WW I Henry Rhone came back to his wife who was teaching in Denver and I’m not sure whether they were married before he went to war or not. He did bring her a blue peasant dress from France, and they both came to Grand Lake to look over the opportunities here. They saw the Corner Cupboard which was the Grand Central Hotel and Restaurant which had not been used much for a good many years. He also took up a homestead up the North Fork and built himself a cabin which some architects say showed French influence because it had logs going up and down instead of horizontally. I think it’s been torn down. Anyway they did buy the Corner Cupboard from the Nickerson heirs. My father was delighted because he had the store on the opposite corner and he was glad to have more businesses there. He did what he could to encourage them. First they had a soda fountain and then they made it into a tearoom with black tables and little decorations and blue pottery. Her specialty was fudge cake. Then eventually it was more of a restaurant. Gradually they’d buy up cabins nearby and fix them up. Pretty soon they had a motel. Then they bought the hotel on the far corner and finally they had almost that entire block and the best part of two other blocks. They had a fine hotel that made people like to come to Grand Lake. But they grew old and had to sell it in pieces because nobody could buy the whole thing. Henry Wolcott Rhone 1888 – 1955 Carolyn Hosmer Rhone 1889 – 1965 John Henry Rhone 1937 – 2000 Dirk Andrew Rhone - Our Son June 29, 1965 – Nov. 18, 1967
Ruth Hosmer and her brother Bill were Mrs. Rhone’s brother and sister. They were eventually here a great deal. Miss Hosmer was here mostly after her health failed. But they both helped and often lived with the Rhones. Ruth L. Hosmer 1906 – 1965 Wilmer John Hosmer “Bill” 1898 – 1966
Carolyn Thompson taught here and had a grocery. They were long time residents.
Up towards the north end are some Wescott graves – Ralph and his wife Opal and Lauren who was the grandnephew of one of the first settlers. Gerald was the grandnephew of Joseph who was the first permanent settler. Lauren was one generation beyond that. There aren’t many of them left. There’s a brother of Lauren’s still in Denver.
Wescott Ralph A. Opal J. Feb. 13, 1905 Aug. 3, 1903 April 16, 1979 Apr. 10, 1984
Myron Wescott Jan. 18, 1865 – Nov. 16, 1933 Sonny Wescott May 21, 1942 – May 21, 1942
Ruth J. Everest 1895 – 1988 Nana’s Spirit is at peace in Grand Lake
McLaren graves are back nearer to the road. Fred was chief ranger here for many, many years. His wife died in 1966. One of his daughters died later and his eldest son died within the last year. His daughter Dorothy (Howard) still lives here. One son lives in Estes Park. All three of his sons were national park rangers and they’re all retired.
McLaren Iva M. Fred D. 1892 – 1966 1892 -
Elsie and Bill Trout lived here practically all their lives after WW I. He lost his health. He was stiff from arthritis and she was a nurse and took care of him all his life.
William Allison Trout W. Elsie Trout Iowa Oct. 14, 1900 Pvt July 17, Infantry
Other graves
Albert P. Penney Massachusetts Pvt. Marine Corp Res March 2, 1937
Baby of Mr. & Mrs. Ed Lehman
Johnnie Schaffer – Nov. 3, 1879 Rachael Schaffer – Age 4, Nov. 1, 1877 |