Genealogical Index to the Records of the Society of Colorado Pioneers
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GENEALOGICAL INDEX TO THE RECORDS OF THE SOCIETY OF COLORADO PIONEERS Bette D. Peters, Extraction Chairman Mary Crackel Jane Johnson Transcribed by Ruth Moore THE COLORADO GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY P. O. BOX 9218, DENVER, CO 80209 1990 INTRODUCTION This genealogical index of the records of the Society of Colorado Pioneers, although it is not large and is not a subject index, supplies vital statistics for the nineteenth century, a period during which data is not readily available. It is not meant to be a substitute for documentation. Instead, the data included can serve as a guide for locating primary or secondary source materials or collecting preponderant evidence. The collection of the records of the Society of Colorado Pioneers, in the Manuscript Collection, Western History Department of the Denver Public Library, consists of the Register and Volumes 1A, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Volume 1A was acquired on 19 October 1950 and the Register and Volumes 1-4 on 6 February 1959. An unalphabetized index to the secretary’s original Register of members of the society, including genealogical data, was compiled by Maria Davies McGrath in the 1920s. McGrath was a Colorado pioneer historian and member of the Colorado Pioneer Women’s Society and Pioneer Men and Women of Colorado Society. Copies are held by the Genealogy and Western History Departments of the Denver Public Library, and the Stephen Hart Library of the Colorado State Historical Society. This new Genealogical Index includes all of the pioneers listed by McGrath with additional genealogical data, plus an everyname index to the entire collection of Register and Minute Books. The original 58 page hand-written secretary’s copy of the Register of the Society of Colorado Pioneers contains the names of nearly 1200 pioneers, their date and place of birth, date of arrival in the Colorado gold region, and place of residence at the time of admittance into the Society. Subsequent secretaries of the society added dates and places of death when known. The earliest entry in the Register is 1872 and the latest 1922. In 1940, the Register was saved from destruction by Mrs. McGrath and given to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Draper for safe-keeping and preservation. The Drapers arranged for it to be placed in a handsome 14 ½” and 16 ½” blue leather case lettered in gold leaf. Volume 1A, a 256 page blue cloth-bound book with blue leather corners and spine, contains the Organization, Proceedings, Constitution, By-Laws and Roll of Members of the Society of Colorado Pioneers. Minutes of meetings 5 February 1872, 14 February 1872, March 1876 and 5 December 1884 are on pages 14 to 73; and the minutes of meetings 13 January 1941 to 27 February 1943 are on pages 83-121. The Constitution, adopted 14 January 1872, appears on pages 3-5, and the By- Laws on pages 6-7. The Articles of Incorporation, filed for record 14 July 1884, appear on pages 64-66. Miscellaneous receipts for expenditures and accounting notations for the years 1872, 1876 and 1881 are attached to page 256, together with an undated list of officers and members giving arrival dates and occupations or other personal items about some of the men listed. Lists of members compiled at the time members paid their dues, are found on pages 7-13, 29, 30, 39-49, and 75-79. In some cases dates and places of birth, arrival dates, and residence are given. Many names appear to be the personal signatures of the members, as opposed to those which were entered into the Register by the secretary. Pioneers of the St. Vrain and Lower Boulder Valley Societies are listed on pages 134- 138. Pages 124-133, 140-238, and 240-255 are unused. Volume I contains the Minutes from 16 January 1885 to 24 June 1896; 432 pages. Volume 2 contains the Minutes from 25 June 1896 to 2 October 1905; 401 pages. Volume 3 contains the Minutes from 1 November 1905 to 2 May 1914; 200 pages. Volume 4 contains the Minutes from 1 June 1914 to 28 December 1940; 397 pages. The Genealogical Index to the Records of the Society of Colorado Pioneers is an everyname index. Names are recorded as they were spelled, except where researches determined the correct spelling of a surname. For example, the entries for Reithmann, Riethman, Riethmann and Reithman were initially recorded separately. After research showed the first spelling to be correct, the latter three spellings were discarded and the page numbers extracted for each were assigned to Reithmann. In other cases, the secretary’s spellings, if obviously incorrect, were changed at the time of extraction. A common surname – for example, Jones – occurring with no given name, no initials, and no designation as to sex is indexed as ”Jones, --.” If a surname occurs with “Mr.” or in a list of “Messieurs,” as opposed to a list of Madams” or Mesdames,” it is indexed as “Jones, --, Mr.” There might also have been an L. Jones, L. W. Jones, Leonard Jones or Leonard W. Jones. Unless other entries suggested these were not all the same Jones, “L”, “L. W.” and “Leonard” were entered under “Leonard W. Jones.” The Clips and Photograph collections in the Western History Department, which contain miscellaneous references to Society members pre-1900, were particularly helpful in identifying members and determining the spelling of their names. Problems often arose in deciphering handwriting. Several resources were available to assist in identification. The most frequently consulted were Maria Davies McGrath, Men Who Arrived in What is Now Colorado Prior to January 1, 1861 and Women Who Arrived in What is Now Colorado Prior to January 1, 1861. Colorado Pioneers in Picture and Story by Alice Polk Hill (1915) and Henrietta Bromwell’s The Real Pioneers of Colorado and Fifty-Niner’s Directory: Colorado Argonauts of 1858- 1859 were also indispensable. Full citations for these works can be found in the Bibliography. The General Index in the Western History Department and the collections of Denver City Directories in the Social Science/Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library were other invaluable resources. No names were omitted because of difficulty in their identification. Titles were not used except abbreviations for Reverend (Rev) and other religious titles, and Miss for unmarried females. Filiations used are “dau” for daughter, “sis” for sister, “sis-in-law” for sister-in-law, “hus” for husband, “bro” for brother, and “bro-in- law” for brother-in-law. Each of the six volumes is represented in the index as follows: * Designates the original Register of the Society of Colorado Pioneers kept by the Secretary. The * is followed immediately by the page number. There is no colon or semi-colon between the asterisk and the page number(s). An example is *34. 1A Book 1A. A colon separates the volume designation and the page numbers. An example is 1A:4, 10, 325. The remainder of the volumes, Books 1, 2, 3 and 4, are designated as 1, 2, 3 and 4, each with a colon separating the volume designation and the page number(s). Examples are 1:3, 2:5, 3:7, and 4:9 Other descriptors are Benevolent Payments, Membership Status, Memorial, and Officer. Examples are as follows: Benevolent Payments 90-175 is a notation that the person received monthly financial assistance and is mentioned frequently between pages 90-175 only for that reason. If the person is cited for other reasons, the page number(s) is recorded separately. Membership Status, other than regular membership, could be Life or Honorary, and appears under the member’s name. Memorials were written by Society members upon the death of one of the members. They were submitted to the local newspapers and were recorded in the minutes. Memorials are noted within parentheses with the page number following. Officer’s names appear on nearly every page of the records throughout his term of office, usually observing only his absence or attendance. No page numbers are provided in the Index; however, since an absence or attendance may be significant to a genealogist, Appendix B lists the officers by year, book and page for easy location in the records. Special abbreviations are used for salient genealogical data: DOB Date of Birth POB Place of Birth DOM Date of Marriage POM Place of Marriage DOD Date of Death POD Place of Death INT Interment Data: Place of Burial Date of Burial Name of Mortuary ARR Date of Arrival in Colorado SPO Sponsor for Membership Applicant (One who could verify the arrival date of the prospective member.) REG Date of Registration as a Member RES Residence at Time of Registration Following is an example where data has been entered in every category. The example is fictitious as no one entry in the Index represented all the categories. Martin, John Joseph Son of Marvin A. Martin Life Membership *32; 1A:3, 5, 6; 3:Benevolent Payments 175-190; 4:322i, 345(Memorial); Officer 1884, 1886-1890 DOB 3 Mar 1846 POB New York, NY DOM 20 Jun 1865 POM Denver DOD 4 Mar 1896 POD Denver INT Fairmount 7 Mar 1896 Walley and Robbins SUR wife and 3 children ARR 15 Dec 1859 SPO John McAllister REG 3 Jan 1881 Removed from records, reinstated 1883 RES Sacramento, CA BACKGROUND: THE SOCIETY OF COLORADO PIONEERS From the time they began to penetrate the western reaches of the North American continent, traders and trappers, members of military, and surveying expeditions to the Rocky Mountains knew of the existence of gold in the head streams of the Arkansas and South Platte rivers. California-bound prospectors by the 1850s, wending their way across what had once been denounced as the Great American Desert, unfit for habitation by man and beast, panned for gold along the way.