ROATCAP, Daniel S; 1905 Bio, Montrose County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/montrose/bios/roatcapds.txt --------------------------------------- Donated September 10, 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Daniel S. Roatcap Born and reared in Page county, Virginia, the parents of Daniel S. Roatcap, of Montrose county, who lives on a good ranch of three hundred and twenty acres five miles west of Olathe, which he has redeemed from the waste and made fragrant and fruitful with the products of cultivation and comfortable with the appointments of a good home, were pioneers in four states of the growing West, and added to the productive energies which have aided in the development of each. The father, John Roatcap, and the mother, whose maiden name was Rachel Coffman, were reared in their native county, and began their married life there as prosperous farmers. They moved to Illinois in 1843 and settled on the virgin prairie of that great state, and there they founded a new home, which, however, they left in 1855 for a still newer one on the frontier of Missouri. In both states they farmed and in the latter the father also conducted a flour-mill until it was destroyed by fire, the disaster occurring in 1868. The next year they moved to Kansas where they remained until 1880, when they came to Colorado. The first three years of their residence in this state were passed at Lake City, and in 1883 they changed to Delta county, where the father died in 1888 and the mother in 1898. Their son Daniel was fifteen years old when the family settled in Missouri, and in that state he finished his schooling and began life for himself as a farmer. He remained there until 1874, then moved to Kansas, where he continued farming until 1881. In that year he became a resident of Colorado, and in the neighborhood of Lake City found profitable employment in the lumber industry until 1883, when he located the place on which he now lives and which has ever since been his home. All the land in the region was then uncultivated, its chief product being wild sage brush, and the conveniences of civilized life were few and hard to get. The soil was arid too, and no systematic attempt at irrigation was practicable. The conditions for successful farming were therefore very unfavorable and home comforts were of the most primitive and meager character. But he persevered in his undertaking, and combining with other determined home-seekers, like himself who had come to stay, their united efforts were employed in constructing a ditch in 1884, and then the yield of the land began to grow generous and profitable. In 1885 he set out a small orchard, to which he has added from time to time until he now has fifteen acres of fruit trees in good bearing order, which have never failed in a good annual crop, especially the peach trees, since they began bearing. The revenue from this branch of his industry alone has been seven hundred dollars to one thousand dollars a year for a number of years, and it is steadily increasing in amount. He also has one hundred and twenty acres in alfalfa, and when there is sufficient water he gets from this three crops a year, the yield being three hundred to four hundred tons a year. On April 3, 1862, he was married to Miss Barbara A. Smith, a native of Virginia, the daughter of Noah and Mary (Gouchenour) Smith, who were born in that state and moved to Missouri in 1856. The father died there in 1879, and four years later the mother came to Colorado, where she died in 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Roatcap have had ten children, David H., John W., Joseph S., Noah D., Mary A., James A., Oliver M., Emma E., Archie H. and Charlie A. Of these the two daughters and two of the sons are dead. Fraternally the father belongs to the Odd Fellows and the United Workmen, in political faith he is a Democrat and in church membership he and his wife are connected with the Church of Christ in Christian Union. =================================================== 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.