John Edward Dodge (1882-1934)

WWI Draft card for John Edward Dodge - Sept 12, 1918.

Death Record for Edward Dodge. He died 9 Sep 1934 in Fairplay, Colorado.

Obituary for Edward Dodge from The Park County Republican and Fairplay Flume - September 14, 1934

One of my great-grandfather's brothers I have found from birth to death is Edward Dodge. He was born John Edward Dodge in 1882 in Buena Vista. He went by his middle name (as do my father and I). Edward was a laborer throughout his life. He worked as a laborer in Buena Vista as well as on the family farm until 1926, when his father Nathaniel T. Dodge died. After this, Edward stayed in Buena Vista (the only one of his siblings that did so) and worked in town and lived at some of the hotels on Buena Vista, including the Wilber Hotel and Bay's Hotel. From what I've found, Edward Dodge stayed in Buena Vista through at least 1930. He is listed in the 1927-28 directory in Buena Vista as a lodger at Wilbur's hotel and in the 1930 Census as a lodger at Bay's hotel. He was a laborer working odd jobs in Buena Vista. Edward eventually left Buena Vista and went to Fairplay, Colorado (45 miles northeast from Buena Vista). He died there in 1934.

Edward never married, so I wonder what pictures and records were lost because of that. When I was looking for Edward's death record, I wrote the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and asked for his death record. Because I had used his full name on the request, they didn't find his death record. I sent another request and got a call from the Dept. of Public Health. They had his death certificate and needed to verify some of the information they had. After talking with them for a minute, it was determined that it was him and they sent me a copy of his death certificate.

The picture I have is very interesting. My grandpa let me borrow some pictures he had and I found this one. The front of the picture identifies the person as Alfred Dodge. On the back the picture is dated 28 Jan 1882, age 52 years. The date and age correspond to Edward's birthdate and age. There is also a death date written on the back of the picture (1936). It is possible that this is when Alfred died or the person writing the information didn't remember exactly remember when Edward died.