Vader, Palmer H; 1905 Bio, Gunnison County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/gunnison/bios/vaderph.txt --------------------------------------- Donated May 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Palmer H. Vader This prosperous and enterprising ranchman who lives on a fine property of four hundred and eighty acres on Tomichi creek, nine miles east of Gunnison, has been a resident of Colorado since 1876, and during the almost thirty years of his life in the state has seen all the phases and confronted many of the difficulties, dangers and hardships of the frontier. He was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on November 14, 1857, the son of Isaiah and Lodema (Rider) Ramer, the former a native of New York state and the latter of Vermont. They were married in New York and farmed there until 1868. The father served during three years of the Civil war in the Twelfth New York Sharpshooters in the Union army. After the close of the contest the family moved, in 1868, to Green county, Iowa, and there the father became one of the extensive farmers of the Mississippi valley, owning large farms in Greene and the adjoining county of Carroll. His first wife, the mother of the subject of this review, died in 1880, and he married again, the second wife surviving him [in] May , 1901, when he died at Glidden, Carroll county, Iowa, aged eighty years. Of the first marriage six sons and three daughters were born, five of whom are living, Palmer having been the third of the nine. He was eleven years old when the family moved to Iowa, and he grew to manhood on the parental estate in that state, receiving his education in the common schools, which in the newness and unsettled condition of the country in which they lived during his minority were crude in character, meager in facilities and very limited in scope. He remained at home until the spring of 1876, when he came to Colorado, and during the first two years of his residence here he was employed on a ranch near Longmont. From there he moved to Denver and in that city he worked two years in a feed and sales stable. In November, 1880, he became a stage driver on the line between Canon City and Silver Cliff, and the next spring became a resident of Gunnison county and was employed in driving a stage from Parlin east over Alpine Pass to connect with the Denver & South Park (now the Colorado Southern) Railroad, which was then in course of construction. He continued to be so occupied until June, 1882, when the road was completed to Pitkin. He then worked for a time on a ranch, after which he kept a boarding house and later was in the employ of the Denver & Southern Pacific Railroad. In the meantime he had got together a number of cattle and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, a part of his present ranch, and in 1887 he located on this land and began to improve it as a home and make it productive for his family and the maintenance of his stock. He has made additional purchases until he now owns five hundred and twenty acres, and kept on improving until he has his ranch well watered, supplied with first rate buildings of every kind necessary for its purposes, and in an advanced state of cultivation. It yields an average of three hundred and fifty tons of hay per annum and furnishes ample feed for his four hundred cattle. While his prosperity has been great and very gratifying, it is all the result of his own efforts, heroically made in the face of difficulties and adverse circumstances, and has an additional value to him and his numerous friends because of the fact. In political affairs he supports the Democratic party warmly, and in fraternal life is connected with the Odd Fellows and the United Workmen at Gunnison. On July 11, 1882, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Maggie Stanton, a native of Muscatine, Iowa, a daughter of John and Catherine (Rush) Stanton, who were born, reared and married in Ireland, and came to the United States soon after their marriage, first locating at St. Louis, Missouri, and afterward moving to Iowa. The mother died at Muscatine, in the latter state, and the father in St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Vader have had ten children, seven of whom are living, Francis W., Hattie M., Richard I., Margaret E., Joseph D. H., Henry D. and Julia. Those deceased are Katie, John and Grace. Through all the obstructions to his progress which he has encountered Mr. Vader has steadily hewed out his way, holding firmly all the ground he has gained in his onward march to success and prosperity, and at the same time has had a far- seeing eye and ready hand for the advancement and improvement of the section in which he cast his lot. He has been constant in service to his community, and by all classes of its people he is highly respected for his sterling worth and usefulness. =================================================== 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. 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