And ever near us, the unseen, the dear immortal spirits tread.
For all the boundless universe is life...there are no dead!

ALLHOFF, BEN – Died 1901 - Stomach Complaint

No Marker - Died Sept 19, 1901

On a Thursday afternoon at about 2:00 o'clock, Ben, who had been sick two weeks, was lying in the sun on the west side of the Trembath Boarding House and appeared to be suffering untold agony with stomach complaint.  Shortly after saying he did not want to be moved to his room, he was discovered to be missing and about an hour later was found in the outhouse where he had fallen head first into the vault.  Ben, about 35 years old, had worked as a helper at the Kendrick-Gelder Smelter.  Burial took place from the undertaker's the next day.

 

CASTLE, HARRY W. - Killed in 1913 Snowslide Near Buffalo Boy Mine

No Marker - 1873 - Dec 5, 1913 - Age 40 Years

 

The first heavy snow of winter brought with it the fatal snowslide which swept Harry Castle to his death.  It happened about three-fourths of a mile from the Buffalo Boy Mine.

 

Shortly after their noon meal, Harry, an old time resident of the county, and his partner, George Lugg, left the Buffalo Boy headed for town.  Unexpectedly, a heavy snowslide came crashing down the mountain, passing by Lugg, about thirty feet behind Castle, but engulfing Harry, who was on Norwegian (long) skis.  In an instant, he was swept to his death in the bottom of the gulch.

 

Lugg made a quick trip for help to the Garry Owen Tunnel and awakened the men of the night shift.  True to the old Colorado spirit of bravery and loyalty when a fellow being was in danger, each one responded to the cry for help.  At once the men faced the storm with its attendant hardships and dangers to rescue Harry, if still alive, or to recover his remains if death had claimed him.

 

All that afternoon they worked unceasingly until dark, when they were relieved by the men who had come off the day shift.  Those men worked all night, but to no avail.  The next morning the night shift resumed the search, and at about noon, Harry's dead and frozen body was recovered near the bottom of the gulch.  Coroner McLeod in Silverton was notified and he transported the body to town.  A brother of the deceased who lived in Vermont was wired, and he asked that the body be held until he wired further instructions.  It is not known if those instructions were ever received; Harry was finally buried at Hillside January 17, 1914.

 

On January 5, 1916, a little more than two years after Harry's snowslide death, Dollie and Harvey Bennett were killed in a slide which ran in the same path as the slide which had killed Harry.

 

CANNON, LESLIE ROGER – Died 1945 –Fell from Shenandoah-Dives Mine Skip

Son of Leslie Arnold Cannon and Flossie Erma "Peggy" Malloy Cannon (Sturdevant)

Brother of Maxine Cannon Murray, Margie Cannon McFadden

May 21, 1928 - May 25, 1945 - Age 17 Years

An accident at the Shenandoah-Dives Mine saddened the entire community.  Leslie, who had just turned seventeen, was riding the mine skip from the 400 level to the upper mine workings, and fell to his death.  He suffered a cranial fracture and numerous other broken bones and injuries, including a punctured lung. When he fell, the boy was alone in the skip, an elevator-like device.

 

Born at Harmon, Oklahoma, Les moved to Montrose, Colorado with his parents when he was four and to Silverton in 1935. His father, Leslie Arnold Cannon, was born in El Paso, Texas; his mother, the former Flossie Erma "Peggy" Molloy, was born in Seiling, Oklahoma.  After his parents divorced, the father moved to California, and in 1941 Peggy, Les' mother, married Robert R. Sturdevant, a miner, in Silverton.  At the time Les died, the family lived at 805 Empire.  He was an earnest, hard working boy of high character, had many friends and was a favorite in the community.

 

Survivors were his mother, Mrs. Peggy Sturdevant, and sisters, Maxine and Marjorie Ann Cannon of Silverton; also his father, Leslie Arnold Cannon of Hydesville, California, who came to Silverton for his son's funeral.  Also coming from out of town was his aunt, Mrs. Cora Byrd from Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The funeral was held at the Congregational Church, Rev. Dan Percell of Durango officiating. Pallbearers were Art Candelaria, Bill Burke, Clee Robinson, Robert Nelson, Joe Salazar and Howard Hill.  Honorary pallbearers were Lynn Murray, Bill Maguire, Jr., Layton Melburg, Carl Peterson, Gerald Glanville, Lynn Hadden, Norman Klements, Clyde Todeschi, Richard Maes, Gerald Swanson, and James Drobnick, all young friends of Les.  Burial was at Hillside where, 46 years later in 1991, his mother, Flossie Erma "Peggy" Malloy Cannon Sturdevant, was buried beside him.

 

FAY, ED – Died 1937 – Blood Poisoning

(1) - Mar 1867 - June 22, 1937 - Age 70 Years

His tombstone was donated in 1987 by Tom Savich

 

Ed died of blood poisoning which developed earlier in the year from a slightly injured finger.  He was very well known in San Juan County and in his thirty plus years of residence had been employed as a cook by nearly all the larger mining operations.  In 1917, when he was head cook at the Sunnyside, he trained his 14 pound tomcat to share his saucer of milk with mice!  Ed's reputation as a wonderful cook was so widespread that his services were always in demand.   ­One of his specialties was pie, any kind, and when he served you pie, you were supposed to eat the whole thing or he'd get mad.

 

The jail, not in use since 1921, was home to twelve to fifteen elderly men for several years.  They were wards of the county and Ed Fay cooked for and looked after them.  Among those wards was Al Phillips, known to everyone as "Buffalo Bill" because that was who he resembled.  When the jail was closed to those county wards, "Buffalo Bill" was sent to the state asylum at Pueblo where he soon died.  When Ed Fay was cooking for the county poor in the jail building, the town kids would hang around the place until he gave them a piece of pie, or sometimes a quarter!  Ed usually wore no shirt and was covered with flour from head to foot.

 

Born at St. John, Quebec, Canada, Ed became a naturalized American citizen in 1926.  He came to America through Detroit, Michigan in 1889, and before coming to Silverton in about 1904, he operated a restaurant in Durango where he was reported to have accumulated a small fortune by featuring a very cheap but wholesome and delicious meal.  He located a mining claim on Boulder Mountain, near Silverton, and spent all available funds and a great deal of time in its development

 

Survivors were a sister in Canada and a brother in Germany who was a Catholic priest.  Burial was at Hillside.

 

GIACHETTO, CAMILLIO – Died 1939 – Pneumonia, Influenza

Feb 23, 1884 - Jan 6, 1939 - Age 54 Years

His tombstone was donated in 1998 by Tom Savich

Camillio, a stone mason and miner, was found in his cabin on a cold Friday, suffering from the last stages of pneumonia and influenza.  He was rushed to the hospital where Dr. Quinn treated him, but it was too late and Camillio died that evening. There was a serious outbreak of twelve cases of flu in town, and half those cases also developed pneumonia. On the day of Camillio's death, a young mother, Marcia Orton, also died from the same deadly disease.

 

Born in Drusacco, Italy, he came to Silverton in 1900 and worked at mining and in the building and plastering business.  He became an American citizen in 1915.    At the time of his death Camillio was working a lease on the Mystery Gold Mining Company property near Silverton.  ­His only known survivor was a sister in the land of his birth.  His funeral was held at the Maguire Funeral Chapel and burial was at Hillside.

 

INGELLS, HENRY

No Marker - Died Apr 22, 1891 - Age 35 Years - Henry died while shoveling snow on the Silverton Railroad. Shovelers were paid $1.00 a day for their work.  He had been working in the area about two weeks, was a widower and his two children were living with his father and step-mother in Calhoun County, Illinois.  No other details were recorded.

 

KELLY, JOSEPH PATRICK "BOXCAR" - Died 1944 - Alcoholism

Aug 16, 1892 - Dec 25, 1944 - Age 52

Boxcar died of alcoholism at 1134 Blair Street.  To be as well known as he was, very little was known of his life history.  His interesting nickname came from one of his favorite modes of transportation, hopping boxcars.  Born in Leadville, Colorado, his mother died when he was three months old and his father when he was five years old.  His early training was in the Catholic school at Leadville, then he migrated to the San Juan in about 1919 and was considered one of the top miners.  He was a friend to all, so had a host of friends in return, all of whom would miss him.  He had no known living relatives, and was survived in Silverton by his female companion, Ollie Stout Helms.  His funeral was held at the Maguire Funeral Chapel, George W. Conklin presiding.  Pallbearers were Jack Gilheany, Johnny Jenkins, Joe Dresback, Sam Eccher, Earl Clifford and W.O. Lowe.  Burial was at Hillside, where his long time friend, Ollie Helms, was later buried beside him.

 

MITCHELL, EVALINA MARIE - Died 1907

Daughter of Jack H. or R. and Sadie Gertrude Herferman (or Herfernan) Mitchell

Sister of John H., Jr. and Infant Boy Mitchell

Granddaughter of Albert and Mary Richardson Mitchell

 

(16) - May 13, 1907 - July 10, 1907 - Age 2 Months

Her marker,  shared with her sister and brother, was donated in 2004 by Joanne B. Hendrick of Norman, Oklahoma.

 

This little girl, the second child of Jack and Sadie, had been plagued with digestive problems since her birth, and died at the family home, 213 13th Street.  Her funeral service was held at the home, with burial taking place at Hillside.  She was the second child of the Mitchells to die within a year; her older brother, John H. Mitchell, Jr., died August 30, 1906, at the age of eight months; her younger brother died a few days after the father’s death in 1910.

 

Evalina's parents, Jack and Sadie Gertrude Herferman Mitchell, were married at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Silverton in March 1905, when Jack was twenty-seven years old and Sadie was twenty-one.  Jack, Sadie and the three babies born to them were all destined to die in the next six years.  Jack died in 1910, Sadie in 1911, and their babies died in 1906, 1907 and 1910.

 

MITCHELL, INFANT BOY - Died 1910

Son of Jack H. or R. and Sadie Gertrude Herferman Mitchell

Brother of John H., Jr. and Evalina Marie Mitchell

Grandson of Albert and Mary Richardson Mitchell

 

(16) - Died Sept 14, 1910 - Age 2 Hours

His marker, shared with his sister and brother, was donated in 2004 by Joanne B. Hendrick of Norman, Oklahoma.

 

This unnamed boy, third child of Jack and Sadie, lived only a couple of hours.  He was born prematurely at seven months, and his mother's illness from pneumonia contributed to his death. A brother of this child died in 1906, a sister in 1907.  Just five days before this baby's birth, his father also died, and eight months later his mother died after a long bout with tuberculosis.  The entire family, with the exception of the mother, is buried at Hillside.  Sadie, the mother, died and was buried in Brooklyn, New York.

 

MITCHELL, JOHN JR. - Died 1906 - Meningitis

Infant Son of Jack H. or R. and Sadie Gertrude Herferman Mitchell

Brother of Evalina Marie and Infant Boy Mitchell

Grandson of  Albert and Mary Richardson Mitchell

 

(16) - Dec 12, 1905 - Aug 30, 1906 - Age 8 Months 18 Days

His marker, shared with his sister and brother, was donated in 2004 by Joanne B. Hendrick of Norman, Oklahoma.

 

Little John died in Eureka of meningitis, from which he suffered two weeks.  He was the firstborn of Jack and Sadie and lived longer than their other two children, a boy and a girl who died in 1907 and 1910.  Jack and Sadie, the parents of this ill-fated family, died in 1910 and 1911.

 

MITCHELL, JOHN H. (or R.) "JACK" - Died 1910

Husband of Sadie Gertrude Herferman

Father of John, Jr., Evalina Marie and Infant Boy Mitchell

Son of Albert and Mary Richardson Mitchell

 

(16) - June 15, 1879 - Sept 9, 1910 - Age 31 Years

Near the Gooch, Nelson (Nilson), Crane graves

His tombstone was donated in 2004 by Joanne B. Hendrick of Norman, Oklahoma

 

Jack's time on earth ran out at Miners Union Hospital in Silverton, where Dr. A.L. Burnett noted he died of lobar pneumonia and delirium tremens.  Jack's wife, Sadie, was seven months pregnant, and prematurely gave birth to a little boy five days after her husband's tragic death.  The new baby lived less than three hours and was the third child of the couple to die within four years.

 

Jack had lived in the Silverton area seven years, and worked as tram man at the Black Prince Mine.  Born in Alexander County in southern Illinois, near Cape Girardeau, Missouri, he was the son of Albert and Mary Richardson Mitchell.  On Wednesday evening, March 1, 1905, Jack and Miss Sadie Gertrude Herferman were married at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Silverton.  At the time of their marriage, both Jack and Sadie lived in Eureka where Jack was employed by the Sunnyside Mining Company.  The newlyweds made their home in Eureka, where their first child, John, Jr., was born the following December 12th.  The little boy died of meningitis when he was eight months old.  Their second child, a little girl named Evalina Marie, was born May 5, 1907 and she died at their Silverton home, 213 13th Street, when she was two months old.  Their third child, born prematurely five days after his father's death, also died; all three children are buried in unmarked graves at Hillside.

 

Jack's survivors included his wife, Sadie, in Silverton, and in Tamms, Illinois, his mother, three  brothers and a sister.  The funeral was held at Prosser's Undertaking Parlor on a Sunday afternoon, and as the cortege slowly wended its way to Hillside Cemetery, the many friends of the parting man felt the sting of sorrow that death imparts to all.

 

With her entire family lying forever at Hillside Cemetery, Sadie Mitchell returned to Brooklyn, New York, where she was born.  There, on May 11, 1911, at the age of twenty-seven years, she died of tuberculosis ... just eight  months after her husband's death. Sad indeed was the story of her life.  She was a very young woman when devastating hardships and misfortunes of life were heaped upon her.  In addition to the pain, agony and desolation of losing three babies and her husband in less than six years, Sarah herself was very ill during most of her years in the Silverton area.  Worry, despondency and illness hastened her own demise. Her many Silverton friends, grieved to learn of her death, prayed the young loving husband, wife and three babies, were reunited in the realm above.

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