EASTERLY, Lewis H., b 1852; 1905 Bio, Mesa County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/gunnison/bios/easterlylh.txt --------------------------------------- Donated August 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Lewis H. Easterly While Lewis H. Easterly is prominently identified with and actively engaged in the ranch and stock business of western Colorado, and is winning a substantial prosperity in it, that line of activity does not constitute the whole of his title to esteem and consideration as one of the essential factors in the development and progress of the section in which he lives. His interest in the cause of public education here and elsewhere has been of prime importance to the people around him and has resulted in the establishment of the educational forces of his community on a broad and stable basis. His life began at Murphysboro, Illinois, in November, 1852, and he is the son of Philip and Sarah (Jones) Easterly, the former a native of Greenville, Tennessee, and the latter of Columbus, Ohio. The father was a blacksmith and machinist by trade and also followed farming. He died in 1897, aged eighty-two. His wife preceded him to the better world nearly thirty years, dying in 1868, aged thirty-seven. Their son Lewis remained at home until he reached his twenty-second year, aiding on the work of the farm and in his father's shop, and eagerly employing the limited opportunities for education at his disposal. On starting out in life for himself he taught school for six years and attended the Illinois State University in the intervals between the terms of his teaching to secure a higher degree of efficiency. In 1878 he came to Colorado and during the next three years taught school in Douglas and El Paso counties. At the end of that period he settled on the ranch of three hundred and twenty acres which he now owns and occupies, located about seven miles north of Gunnison. Here he at once began to take an active interest in the affairs of the community and to give his attention especially to the enlargement and improvement of the school facilities of the neighborhood, building the first schoolhouse on Ohio creek, along which his ranch is located, and becoming secretary of the local school board, a position he has held for twenty-five years. Being a practical teacher, he has been able to see the needs and find the means of providing them to make the school system effective, and to his enterprise and breadth of view as well as his technical knowledge in this respect the community is greatly indebted for much that is valuable in its schools. He has not, however, been wanting in attention to other interests wherein the welfare of the people is involved. He is secretary of the Gunnison Stock-Grower's Association, which has been largely augmented in usefulness and power through his intelligent efforts, and has been connected with other enterprises of value in the industrial and commercial circles in which he moves. In politics he is a Populist and Socialist, being in favor of the better principles espoused by the parties so named, and having broad views on public questions generally, and is a man of influence in all matters of public interest. On September 15, 1881, he was married at Salina, Kansas, to Miss Cynthia Husband, a great-granddaughter of Col. Herman Husband, of the First Colonial Regulators of North Carolina. The great-grandfather of the subject, Conrad Easterly, was with Washington at Valley Forge and in the campaigns before and after that winter of terrible suffering. =================================================== 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.