Auntie Jen's Family Trees: Relatives in Silverton, Colorado?!

So I decided to take some time today to fill in some blanks on my tree. I'm still somewhat laid up with my back, and limited on my abilities. I started on trying to find information of Mark's 2nd great grandfather, William Schulling. I know he is from Ireland, but I don't know much else about his past. I did find some info on Ancestry and Family Search, but couldn't get much before him coming to the U.S. Sometimes it's possible to find out info through other family members so I started looking at his children and his wife, Mary Francis "Fannie" Munday.

She was married once before to a John William Alexander and had one child, Ernest Alexander. I came across Fannie's will on Ancestry, but she died after William Schulling, so there was no mention of him. Although the mention of her first son caught my attention. It stated something along the lines of "If he can be found..." Now that is interesting. This is where I started chasing a rabbit. Ernest married Carrie Bell in 1902 in Texas, but then divorced in 1913 in San Juan, Colorado. Now, there is a town that rings a bell. You, see I lived in Colorado for a short time. Delta, Colorado to be exact. The areas is so beautiful. We traveled quite a bit to the different towns exploring the mountains ranges; one being the San Juan Mountains. So I abandoned my research on Ernest to find out more about Carrie Bell. She was born in Indiana to Daniel Preston Bell and Mary Patrick. Turns out between 1880 and 1885, they traveled to Colorado and settled in Durango. Eventually, they moved to Silverton, Colorado in the San Juan Mountains. Holy Cow! Talk about small world! It's about a 2 hour drive from Delta to Silverton going through the town of Ouray in the San Juan mountains, over the road known as Red Mountain Pass or Million Dollar Highway. A two lane road winding through the mountains with no guard rails. Not for the faint of heart. Once you get to Ouray it takes about 45 minutes to get to Silverton. The first map shows La Platt County and the San Juan Mountains. The second map shows the path through the mountains we took from Delta to get to Silverton.

A little history about Durango and Silverton

"The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company formed Durango along the banks of the Animas River in September 1880 to serve the San Juan mining district. Lots of silver (and later, even more of gold) was being discovered in the mountains ever since gold fever struck in 1872 and resulted in the settlement of mining towns like Silverton, 50 miles north. Durango had a more tolerable climate and a good supply of water and coal for operating the smelters to pull precious metals out of the ore. Hundreds of gold miners had camped out in this area in 1860, but within a year of its founding in 1880, Durango had a population of 2,400 and really began to grow. People arrived from many countries to work in the smelters and mines and on the railroad. By the turn of the century, Durango had become a vacation destination, with the creation of the San Juan National Forest in 1905 and Mesa Verde National Park in 1906. The population of the city of Durango doubled to 4,686 by 1910." ~ Durango, CO - Official Website

"The Brunot Agreement between the Utes and the US government in 1873 opened the San Juan Mountains to mining by removing 3.7 million acres (about 5,780 square miles) from the Ute Reservation in western Colorado. Miners first made their way into the San Juan Mountains in 1860–61, but it was not until 1869 that valuable minerals were discovered and not until 1871–72 that mine development took place. With completion of the agreement, the San Juan Mountains saw a mining rush that resulted in many towns being established in 1874 and 1875, including Silverton." ~ Brunot Agreement - Colorado Encyclopedia

Tracing the Bell family
At this point in time, the earliest I found the Bell family was 1885 in the Colorado State Census. So they settled right about the time Durango was founded. The government heavily advertised the settling of the San Juan area, so the Bell's probably decided that's what they should do.

1885 State Census

In 1900, Daniel Preston was listed as living in Durango, San Juan, Colorado with some family running a boarding house and by 1910 he was listed in San Juan County, Colorado as being a Quartz Miner along with his son. Finally the proof he was a miner. There just might be more records available through the historical societies.

1900 US Fed Census

1910 US Fed Census

By 1940, both Daniel Preston and wife, Mary, had passed away. But what I found so fascinating is they are actually buried in Silverton. Mary passed away first in 1921 so she was the first buried there. After she passed, Daniel Preston went to live with his daughter Carrie in Denver. But when he died in 1937, he was buried right next to his wife in Silverton in Hillside Cemetery. There a few Bell's buried in the cemetery including their daughter Anna Leota.

Hillside Cemetery

Daniel Preston and wife, Mary, Headstones

There are no more active mines in Silverton anymore. It is now a tourist town in the warm months. During the winter, traveling to Silverton is not easy in the mountains because of the snow. We were fortunate to travel there while we lived there back in 2008. Little did I know, Mark had family buried there. Now the next time we visit Colorado, we will have to travel back to Silverton with a whole new appreciation. These are pictures from our visit. We stopped to put our feet in the nice cold water. This is either Animas River or Mineral Creek. I'm unsure where we stopped to put our feet in. One day though, we will return and we will put our feet in the water again. And hopefully do some research while there.