Seven Generations of Colorful Colorado: Drop in With Debbie, November ’19 Edition
Dear Readers,
I am a Coloradan. Well…okay…I am a Pennsylvanian at heart. After 58 years of living in my east coast state, where it is common for people to be born, live and die within the same three mile radius – well, it is difficult to shed those roots. However, I have succumbed to the lovely west; it has won me over and I’ve lived in Longmont for four years. I’m fascinated with personal stories from families who have their roots in the settling of our western state. I’ve recently hit upon a rich lode of history with Al Carr, a Longmont Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He is one of those rare individuals who can trace his Coloradan family tree back to the years before the Civil War era. Al’s children are the seventh generation in the family saga and its relationship to Colorado.
Each night as I did my research, I was immersed in one story after another of our Wild West history. Each subsequent meeting with Al, we reviewed timelines, the family tree, and historical facts and events. It has taken me down a research path of interviews, documents, books, movies, Longmont Museum’s archives and the Library of Congress website.
Al and I started meeting over a year ago, and he allowed me to pick his brain and listen to his family’s stories. Each generation passed down rich oral histories of relatives and now Al, 77-years-old, gets to tell his story. They have notes in the family Bible and photos that tell of some colorful characters. As well, some of Al’s relatives intersected with the notorious settlers of Colorado.
Let’s go back to 1859. It was the peak year of the gold rush in Colorado. Settlers were arriving to make their fortune. Denver, Cripple Creek, Pike’s Peak – men and women wanted to find and build their dreams on the veins of gold. However, many that came to our region did not find gold. They found rich soil and land where they could plant their crops and build their homesteads.
In the early 1800s, in Union County Georgia, a man by the name of Abner Chastain and his wife farmed the land. They birthed a daughter, Harriet, who lived her younger years in Georgia. There she met and married, Jeptha Ownby. Jeptha and Harriet had a son, Francis M. Ownby, and he too started his young toddler years in Georgia.
Then the country began its battle against itself – the Civil War. Jeptha joined the Confederate army. In September 1863 the Union and Confederate soldiers fought in the battle of Chickamauga. Next to Gettysburg, this battle had the second-highest number of casualties. Jeptha fought and lost his life in that battle. His wife, Harriet became a widow and their little boy, F.M. (Francis) Ownby was left fatherless. By the next year — 1864 — Sherman’s troops attacked Georgia and burned Atlanta.
Simultaneously, in the west, the small village of Burlington, Colorado became a stage coach station. Burlington was at the site where currently St. Vrain River crosses Main Street, Longmont.
The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865. When the war ended, the cry “Go West Young man” called many to Colorado’s rich lands. Abner Chastain wanted his family to have a life away from the destruction of the war. In 1865, Abner became the leader of a group called the Georgia Colony – people who were displaced after Sherman’s troops came through their state. Together, the struggling families traveled close to 1500 miles in covered wagons to reach the west. In the late 1800s, it took about three days to travel 30 miles by horse and wagon, or about 150 days to go from Georgia to Colorado.
Now settled in the west, widower Harriet Chastain Ownby married a second time to a farmer, James Blundell from Brighton, Colorado – a town about 20 miles from Longmont. James was one of the first farmers in Brighton. He too came looking for gold, but liked the rich soil of the area and knew it to be good for farming.
Five years after Harriet’s father, Abner, brought his band of Georgians to the area, another group of people also arrived. Businessmen from Chicago wanted to invest in this region we now call Longmont. They described the area near the Rocky Mountains as utopia – a place to create a beautiful town. Memberships were sold to those interested. The Chicago residents who moved here became known as the Chicago-Colorado Colony. Planners laid out the area – 60,000 acres – for the town’s site and farmlands. Longmont’s center was originally established in the area now known as 3rd and Main Street.
Abner Chastain, Al Carr’s great-great-great grandpa, became a minister in Southern Colorado. Near Fort Francisco, in the small town of La Veta, Abner, a Baptist, was the first Protestant preacher in the area. Fort Francisco, at the base of the Spanish Peaks, was one of the last adobe forts and is now a museum – about 215 miles south of Longmont.
Six years later in 1876, the Colorado Territory became a state – dubbed the Centennial State because it was 100 years after the signing of our nation’s Declaration of Independence. As our country’s history unfolded, Francis (FM) Ownby was growing into a young man. He married Sarah Francis Partain. Francis and Sarah had a daughter, Bertha Ownby.
In a country far from Longmont, Jens “Jinks” Madison wanted a better life for his family. Living in the small town of Nexo, on the Island of Bornholm, Denmark, close to 5000 miles away across the Atlantic Ocean, Jinks heard about the West. Three times he traveled to Colorado. Finally, on his fourth visit, he brought his wife, Wilhelmina, and family to settle in Longmont. He thought the rich soil would be good for farming. Jinks and his wife had a son, James Madison.
The Ownby and Madison families joined together when Bertha Ownby married James Madison. Remember, we started this story with Dr. Al Carr. Well, Bertha and James were Al’s grandma and grandpa. But let’s not get into the present-day history yet. Let’s visit a little longer with Bertha Ownby’s father and Al’s great grandpa, Francis (FM) Ownby, and his colorful connections to our western history.
Family oral history in the Carr family tells that when Francis was a young boy he knew Kit Carson. Kit died one year after Colorado became a state, but before his death he added much to our western roots. Kit Carson was famous as a soldier, trapper, western guide, and Indian agent. This American frontiersman worked throughout what is today known as Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah. Readers, wouldn’t you love to be little Francis, sitting at the feet of Kit Carson to hear his tales?
When he grew older, Francis became a cattle rancher. He also held a position as a railroad detective with the famous Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Francis’s job was to protect the passengers, employees and cargo of the railroad cars. Now, imagine this vast unpopulated frontier. Travelers were vulnerable to bandits who made their living robbing the trains.
One of Francis’s good friends was Sherriff Cyrus Wells “Doc” Shores. In the early years of Colorado history, stories are told about this well respected lawman. One such occasion, Doc assisted in arresting known cannibal, Alfred Packer. It was the harsh winter of 1874. Alfred and five men trekked through the Rocky Mountains to get to the Los Piños Indian Agency on Cochetopa Creek between Saguache and Gunnison. They hired Alfred as their guide. It was 75-miles away and they packed food for ten days. However, the excursion lasted two months and the only one to survive was Alfred. He later confessed to eating his traveling companions to survive, but with many different versions of the story. Eventually, he was jailed and sentenced to death. Packer fought for and won a retrial. For the deaths of the five men, Packer was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Another colorful story that intersects Francis to a famous rogue is the story of Bob Ford. Outlaw, Jesse James had notoriety as a bank and train robber. Brothers Bob and Charley Ford were brought in as part of Jesse’s criminal gang. However, Missouri Governor, Thomas T. Crittenden, held secret negotiations with Bob Ford to have Bob kill Jesse James. On April 3, 1882, while Jesse was wiping dust off a picture frame in his home, Bob shot Jesse in the back of the head with his Smith & Wesson 44-caliber revolver. Both Ford brothers were arrested and charged with first degree murder. They pled guilty and were to be hanged. Hours after their sentencing, the Missouri governor pardoned both men. Charley committed suicide in 1884. Bob wandered the west.
Initially, he went to New Mexico and then moved to Creede, Colorado to hopefully find his fortune in silver mining. Creede is around 288 miles southwest of Longmont. Bob was then 28 years old. He built a home in Creede; he and his wife established the Creede Exchange, a gambling hall, on the lower floor of their home. Later, when a fire destroyed their house, the Fords opened a dance hall and bar within a large tent. Al Carr’s oral history says that Francis Ownby made whiskey in a still for Bob Ford’s bar. As an aside, legend tells that in 1892, Edward O. Kelly, a family relative of Jesse James, shot Bob Ford in the head and killed him.
And then there is Thomas Horn Jr. He was a cowboy, soldier, range and railroad detective, an American scout and some would call him a cattle rustler. Detectives and friends, Francis, Al Carr’s great-grandpa, and Tom worked together for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
Sadly, Tom lived a short life. By the age of 42, Tom was convicted of murder, hanged in Cheyenne, Wyoming and buried in Boulder, Colorado. His accusers said he murdered 14-year-old Willie Nickell in 1901.
In those years, among the western mountain range, it was common practice that cattle ranchers were involved in feuds, typically with new homesteaders, over land rights and cattle rustling – the practice of rounding up and stealing cattle. Many believe that Tom Horn was often hired as a gun-for-hire to protect ranchers’ property. Legend has it that he committed 17 killings in this role.
Willie’s father, sheep rancher, Kels Nicklell was in a feud with his neighbor, cattle rancher Jim Miller. On July 15, 1901, Tom Horn had been fishing with Jim Miller. Three days later, Willie was found dead. Depending on what researcher or legend you believe, Tom Horn, Jr. was said to be the murderer. There is much debate about whether he was guilty. Books have been written, movies made and still, the debate goes on today.
One man who believed in the innocence of Tom Horn was Francis Ownby, Al Carr’s great-grandpa. He wrote a letter to Tom while Tom was in the Cheyenne, Wyoming jail. Francis reminded Tom of his courageous service as a detective. Francis believed in Tom’s character. He said, in his letter, “Tom, I do not believe you are guilty of the crime. I am writing this in all justice to you and [the] community at large; knowing you as I do, and knowing your ability and sense, I cannot believe that you would stoop so low as to murder a fourteen-year-old boy for the small sum of five hundred dollars, when you could in all probability have made that amount in a week, legitimately.” Francis then provided his Loveland, Colorado address – box 271- and offered whatever help Tom may need. He signs the letter, “As ever your friend, F.M. Ownby” In his final parting words, in the postscript, Francis again reiterates, “My sympathies are with you, Tom, because I believe you are innocent.” Francis then sent the letter to Tom and to the newspapers.
Readers, I leave it to the historians to decide Tom Horn’s innocence or guilt. Even today, there is much debate as to whether he was the one who shot the young teenage boy. (See article link below from Washington Post) For the Carr family, it is another piece of the colorful Wild West history in their family tree. What we do know is January 10, 1906, Bertha Ownby married James Madison. They had a daughter, Ruby who was born in Longmont.
In 1934, a young man, Al Carr, Sr. moved to Longmont to practice dentistry. He met Ruby that year. “It was love at first sight,” Al Carr, Jr. said. “They met on an airplane ride”. It was at a special event at the Longmont airport, which in the 30’s was north of Longmont before there was a Vance Brand airport, which is in southwest Longmont.
Ruby and Al, Sr. married and had two children – Al and his younger brother Charles. Charles is a retired school teacher from Erie Elementary (about nine miles south east of Longmont). Al traveled to Oregon for his schooling and training as an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. There, he met Kay, a young nurse from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kay and Al moved to Longmont and Al started his medical practice in 1976. Now married 51 years, the Carrs have three children and two of their sons still live here in Longmont.
Seven generations of a family still entrenched in our Colorado history, Al and his family pass on the oral history to the next generation. It makes for interesting conversations at the family reunions. Readers, for us, we have the privilege of a more personal view into a piece of our western history.
Last month’s blog brought an avalanche of comments. Dancing struck a point of interest. A large number of readers expressed the desire to be able to dance with the freedom that we see in the Bailes de Mi Terra dance troupe. Others delighted in the photos of the colorful costumes worn by the dancers. As I often hear, readers from other cities and states expressed their envy for the programs provided by Longmont Senior Center.
Here is a delightful sampling of the comments:
Gene from Longmont: Thank you so much for your blog about the senior dancers. As someone with “2 left legs” dancing is not part of my life. But I recall seeing Flamenco dances in California and the joy they brought me. Thanks for the memories.
Ann from Harrisburg: I was never a good dancer. I always felt so uncomfortable and conspicuous. I do however love dancing and wish I could have that uninhibited abandon.
Diane from Pennsylvania: The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful costumes and all the colors. I can only imagine what the dance looks like.
Susan from Longmont: This is wonderful! I know this group….I saw them at Cinco de Mayo last year and fell in love.
Linda from Florida: How I envy your Senior Center. Even though I live in a 55+ community…we do not have the awesome activities that you tell us about in your blogs. This story about the senior dance troupe was so inspiring!
Sharron from Longmont: I want to see them dance now because it is very interesting how they got started.
Brennan from one of our southern states: I love dancing and I can’t dance. I’m horrible at it but I am the first on the floor when certain songs are played. It’s an expression of my joy.
Ann from Longmont: The dresses are so pretty and just make this so special.
Maria from York: I love reading about the interesting things older people are doing and dancing at 86! That is quite an accomplishment.
Jan from the East Coast: I love the dresses. All that color is a feast for the eyes and soul. Amazing how the dances are designed for the people in the troupe. That would take considerable concentration to create as well as knowing the dancers very well. How we need to find many more ways to bring us together. Instead of losing who we are we become more of who we are intended to be.
Until next month, peace be at your side,
Debbie Noel
We have several ways to interact with Debbie!
- Email her at DroppingInWithDebbie@gmail.com
- Register at the blog site (very bottom of the page) to have your comments viewed online
- Send your letters to:
Debbie Noel
C/o Longmont Senior Center
910 Longs Peak Avenue
Longmont, Colorado 80501
A huge “thank you” to Erik Mason, Curator of History for time invested in finding these photos courtesy of Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont, Colorado 80502
- 1973.107.022 – One of the few available photos of Burlington, which later melded into what is now Longmont. Photo is from 1865 of a young boy, George Allen, on his horse.
- 1973.107.024 – The photo captures a scene in 1872 of the Chicago Colony office (far left) next to the grocery store. Also show Sigley Hotel and Streeter & Turrell to far right, probably a drug store. This was in the area we now know as the 300 block of Main Street and 4th Avenue.
- 1996.056.004 – A scene at the Longmont Railroad Station in 1915. A passenger train is to the left of the station. The building is still owned by the railroad and located on the 100 block of Main Street and 1st Avenue.
- 1973.109.625 – This photo captures a log cabin in 1905 on the site of a gold mine. Mount Meeker is in the background.
- 1983.023.002 – Covered wagons were a common mode of transportation for families before the railroad came to Colorado. The railroad came to Colorado in 1867.
- A1997.025.007 – Originally, Burlington was a stage coach station that morphed into the town of Longmont. This photo was dated 1870. This is the stagecoach – The Longmont Omnibus & Transfer. This day’s travelers were members of the Beasley and Greenly families.
References:
Elizabeth Nosek, Colorado Railroad Museum, 17155 W. 44th Avenue, Golden, CO 80403 http://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/
Elizabeth Nosek regularly offers lectures at the Longmont Senior Center. She is the Curator of Education and Exhibits at the Colorado Railroad Museum and has been in the museum field for over 30 years.
Movies:
Dakota Lil; 1950 film starring George Montgomery as Tom Horn
Fort Utah; 1967 film, starring John Ireland as Tom Horn
Tom Horn, (based on true events) starring Steve McQueen and Linda Evans. 1980
Battle of Chickamauga; Documentary; written by Robert Housch; produced by Video Ideas Production; filmed at Chickamauga National Park
Books:
Horn, Tom; Krakel, Dean (1985). Life of Tom Horn: Government Scout and Interpreter: A Vindication. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1044-8.
The Spanish Peaks, a novel of frontier Colorado, by Jon Chandler. Published by Rodgers & Nelson Publishing Co; 1998 (based on historical characters)
Tom Horn, Blood on the Moon; Dark history of the Murderous Cattle Detective, by Chip Carlson. Published by High Plains Press; 2001.
Article that tells about Horn debate going on in recent history:
