Wilkinson, George Sumner; 1905 Bio, Eagle County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/eagle/bios/wilksngs.txt --------------------------------------- Donated April 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- George Sumner Wilkinson The old, old story of a youth leaving his parental roof-tree and starting out in life for himself armed with nothing but his energy, determined spirit, native ability and what little education he has been able to snatch from a few brief terms of attendance at one of our country schools, and seeking his fortune in the wilderness of our vast unsettled domain, braving the dangers and enduring the hardships of an overland journey in the wake of the setting sun into the wilderness, then bravely entering upon the work of clearing that for his purposes, and while drawing out its venom extorting benefit from the vanquished enemy, making its mischievous torrents drudge for him, its wild beasts useful for food, or dress, or labor, its stubborn forces and rocks into habitation, and thus from a small beginning building up a comfortable home, is repeated and well illustrated in the memoir of George Sumner Wilkinson, of Eagle county, Colorado, who started to make his own living at the age of nine years, and has ever since done so. He was born near Hiawatha, Brown county, Kansas, on August 24, 1863, the son of Balaam and Mary (Coil) Wilkinson, natives of Indiana, who were among the early settlers of eastern Kansas, where they farmed and raised stock to the end of their lives, the father dying there in 1864 and the mother in 1873. They had five children, but two of whom are living, Mrs. Hiram J. Fulton and George S. The latter left his parents in 1877, when he was but fourteen years old, and came to Colorado, finding employment for that summer on the ranch of William Brown at Florissant, Teller county. His journey to this state was made overland with horses and wagons through Ellsworth, Kansas, to Colorado Springs, then through Ute Pass to Breckenridge, where the teams and wagons were disposed of. The trip lasted twenty-seven days, but the train encountered no hostile Indians and the jaunt was uneventful. In the summer of 1878 Mr. Wilkinson worked for wages in the placer mines, and in the fall moved to Park county. Afterward he spent three months in the employ of Borden Brothers, who conducted a feed stable on the road between Weston and Leadville, his duty being to sell feed. He next returned to Park county and devoted the summer of 1880 to logging and saw-milling, and in the fall migrated into Brush Creek valley in company with Webb Frost. Here the next spring he pre-empted and homesteaded three hundred and twenty acres of land, which he improved and sold, then bought his present ranch of two hundred acres, which has water sufficient for the cultivation of one hundred and fifty acres, and is well adapted to hay and vegetables, with some grain. He raises cattle extensively and is one of the leading ranch and cattle men of the neighborhood. When he located here there were but three settlers in the valley. He has made good improvements on his ranch, which was all in wild sage when he purchased it, and raises profitable crops. Of course, his progress has not been one of unbroken success. In the unusually severe winter of 1890 he lost at least half of his stock. But nothing daunted by the disaster, he has gone on prosperously and is now well fixed and has a place of steadily increasing value and a business of growing magnitude. On May 9, 1889, he was married to Miss Minnie McKenzie, a native of New York state. They have two interesting children, Clarence Edmund and Edna Lillian. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.