WHITSELL, Charles M., b 1858: 1905 Bio, Mesa County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/mesa/bios/whitsellcm.txt --------------------------------------- Donated September 13, 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Charles M. Whitsell, of Mesa county, comfortably located on a fine fruit ranch three miles east of Grand Junction, has been a resident of this state and of the Grand Valley since 1898. He was born in Appanoose county, Iowa, on March 19, 1858, and is a son of Philip and Mary (Stewart) Whitsell, who were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania. In 1855 they moved to Iowa and settled at Centreville in Appanoose county, where the father worked at his trade as a tailor until the beginning of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company G, Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry. He served three years in the war, one in active field service, then losing his health, he spent nearly a year in a hospital at Keokuk, and after his recovery was assigned to hospital duty at Davenport, in which he was occupied until the end of his term of enlistment. He died at Centreville in 1865, and his widow now lives in Wayne county, the same state. Of their three children two are living, Charles being the younger of these. He was reared and received a limited common-school education in his native county, and at the age of thirteen, owing to the death of his father and the moderate circumstances of the family he was obliged to begin making his own living, which he did by working on the farm of an uncle for two years, after which he went to work in the coal mines in the part of Iowa where he lived. In this line of usefulness he was employed, with a few intermissions, until the spring of 1898. He then came to Colorado and, locating in Grand Valley, found employment on the fruit farm of his cousin, James H. Whitsell, whom he aided in planting twenty acres in fruit for an equal partnership in the business. The orchard is now eight years old, and the crop of 1903 was two thousand four hundred boxes of apples, five hundred boxes of pears and quantities of other fruit. The land belongs to James H. Whitsell and Charles M. attends to the fruit business for his share in its products. He was married on September 4, 1887, to Miss Blanche Harper, who was born and reared in Appanoose county, Iowa. They have three children, Lloyd, Cora and Hallie. In politics Mr. Whitsell is a Democrat and in fraternal life he belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen. =================================================== 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.