SHINDLEDECKER, George W., b. 1848; 1905 Bio, Montrose County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/montrose/bios/shindledeckergw.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. --------------------------------------- George W. Shindledecker A Pennsylvanian by nativity, and the son of parents born and reared in that state, but who moved to Wisconsin in his childhood, and having grown to manhood in their new home, the subject of this sketch, who is one of the progressive ranchmen of Montrose county, saw service in useful labor and acquired knowledge from experience in two states before he came to Colorado in 1869 at the dawn of his young manhood. His life began on October 11, 1848, and he is the son of William and Sarah (Drake) Shindledecker, who took up their residence in the wilds of Wisconsin in 1854 and remained there until the death of the mother in 1892. Two years later the father came to Colorado and in 1895 died in this state. After leaving school their son George worked on the home farm in Wisconsin until he reached the age of twenty, then, in February, 1869, came to Colorado and located in Boulder county, where he went to work on a ranch for his brother-in-law. He remained in that county until the autumn of 1874, then went to Iowa, and during the next four years he was engaged in farming on his own account in that state. In 1878 he moved to Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1879 returned to this state, selecting the vicinity of Boulder as his residence. Two years were passed in profitable farming there, and at the end of that period he moved to Denver, and soon afterward to Pueblo, where for four years he ran an engine. From there he changed his base of operations to the St. Charles, and after farming here for a year moved to Delta county, locating on Rogers mesa, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land on which he lived until 1889, improving the property with buildings suitable for his use, cultivating the land and planting an acre of it in fruit. He sold the place in 1889 and during the next three years he rented property on California mesa, then in 1892 he bought the place where he now resides. This was unimproved when he made the purchase, and its present state of development and fertility is the result of his continued and systematic labor. He has eleven acres of orchard, eight of which are of his own planting, and the yield from this branch of his enterprise is extensive and remunerative, he having realized an average of six hundred dollars a year for some years from it. His principal crop besides the fruit is hay, and of this he harvests about one hundred and fifty tons annually. The ranch comprises one hundred and sixty acres, of which sixty acres are in alfalfa. Until 1903 he was also extensively engaged in raising cattle for the markets, but since then he has raised only enough for his own use. He was married on January 7, 1875, to Miss Eveline Rhyno, a native of Madison county, Iowa, the daughter of William and Sarah (Nunn) Rhyno, the father born in Virginia and the mother in Indiana. The father died on December 17, 1903, and the mother now lives at Boulder. Mrs. Shindledecker died on October 2, 1903, leaving two sons, William and Bert, who are both at home, the elder being twenty-eight years old and the younger twenty-five. The father belongs to the Knights of Pythias and is a zealous Democrat in political faith. =================================================== 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.