2020 Colorado Trip

With 2020 going the way that it has, I haven't been able to do too much on my family history research. However, I have been able to travel with my dad to Salida this week to enjoy the scenery of the Arkansas Valley as well as take care of our ancestors' graves in Buena Vista. We had this trip planned since Christmas of last year. We're both very glad that we were able to go as there were several things that could have derailed our trip. On Tuesday morning, we went to the Mount Olivet cemetery in Buena Vista to perform some much overdue upkeep on our ancestors' graves. Below are the pics from our small project.

This is the gravestone our family had put in place when I lived in Colorado back in 2009. The story my grandpa told me was that their daughter, Ann, was supposed to have purchased and placed a gravestone following Nathaniel's death in 1926. Ann lived in Colorado Springs and lived the closest to Buena Vista. However, Ann never had a gravestone in place, and the task then fell to her daughter, Virginia, who also spent her life in Colorado Springs. After Virginia passed away (she never had any children), my Grandpa always had a desire to have a gravestone put in place. When I moved to Colorado in 2008, he told me that he would help pay for a gravestone. I took my grandpa up on the offer, and we placed the gravestone (pictured above) in 2009. 

This is part of the upkeep that me and dad did on their graves. Above is a picture of Fannie's grave. Her grave was outlined with stones that have become covered up over the past 100 years. We took some time to uncover and place the stones above ground as well as add a few additional stones. 

This is the other part of the upkeep that we performed on their gravesite. Above is a picture of Nathaniel's grave, which was unmarked and was a settled depression in the ground where he is buried. We purchased and placed paver stones to outline where Nathaniel is buried.

Above is a picture of the final product.

This morning, we stopped at the Salida Public Library to look up the local newspapers to see if there were any additional death notices for Nathaniel. Back in 2016, I had found a death notice in 'The Salida Mail' published May 4, 1926. I was hoping to see if the other Salida Newspaper, 'The Salida Record' would have published anything regarding his death. The Salida Library was very helpful in helping us locate what we were looking for. They have original newspapers for both 'The Salida Record' and 'The Salida Mail', and we were able to find death notices for Nathaniel in both newspapers. They are pictured below.

'The Salida Mail', May 4, 1926. I had found this article back in 2016, but was happy to find it again. This article details his funeral and lists his children that attended his funeral. Along with Ann, who was living in Colorado Springs, another daughter, Rachel (Ray), was there. She moved to Grand Junction in 1920 and had actually buried a daughter just one month previous to Nathaniel's passing away. Ray and her family moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1931. Also there was one of his sons, Ed Dodge, who was living in Avon. Ed (his full name was John Edward Dodge), was the only son who stayed in Colorado. He lived in an around Buena Vista for most of his life. He lived in Avon for a time during the 1920's, but was back in Buena Vista by 1928. He later lived in Fairplay, where he passed away in 1934.

'The Salida Record', May 4, 1926. This is what I was hoping to find this morning. I cannot tell how excited I am to have another piece of information on Nathaniel. Reading this death notice, I think there is one line that is missing. The middle sentence should probably read: 'He was born at Augusta Maine, [and came to Colorado] in the eighties.' He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1906 & 1924. Each was a two-year term. He resigned from his position in January of 1926. He also ran for Justice of the Peace in 1908, 1910, 1914 & 1920, losing each time. He was also a Judge in Buena Vista during much of the 1880's.

It is interesting how each newspaper published different information on Nathaniel. One focused on his funeral, the other reported on his death and gave a brief obituary on his life. Each article helps paint a picture on his life and add to the information and research I am able to share.

There are several other editions of 'The Salida Record' that I would like to come back and look through. Because of the articles I have found in 'The Salida Mail', I would hope that looking through 'The Salida Record' would someday be possible. Because of the current status of everything that is going on, the librarian was only able to allow me to search through a specific edition of the available newspapers. If conditions were normal, I would be able to take the time to search through 'The Salida Record' and compare them to the articles that I have already found in 'The Salida Mail'. At any rate, the librarians at the Salida Library were very helpful in our search today.