Rio Blanco County CO Archives Biographies.....Pierson, Henry June 18, 1848 - ?
************************************************

Copyright.  All rights reserved.

http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm

http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm

************************************************



File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net March 14, 2006, 10:25 pm

Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado

     The life of Henry Pierson, of Rio Blanco county, although passing along

smoothly for the greater part in useful labor, has not been devoid of incident

and adventure of an exciting nature, nor free from danger and privation.  He was

born on June 18, 1848, in Sweden, where his parents, Peter and Hannah (Hanson)

Pierson, were also native.  The father was a miner in his home country, and

after the removal of the family to the United States in 1878, he became a

well-to-do farmer in Nebraska, where both parents ended their days.  They had

seven children, and six of them are living, Ida, wife of Swan N. Swanson, Henry,

Anna, wife of Olaf Windel, Carrie, wife of Nelson Windel, Betsie and Ellen, wife

of Peter Windel.  Henry attended the state schools in his native land, and after

leaving school assisted his parents in providing for his living, working in the

mines with his father.  He emigrated to the United States, reaching Chicago with

but twenty-five cents in money.  In that city he was employed in paving streets

until 1863, when he enlisted in the Union army in which he served to the close

of the Civil war.  After the war he settled in Colorado, and with headquarters

at Central City and Georgetown, engaged in mining and prospecting from 1870 to

1885.  When the excitement over the discovery of gold in the Black Hills broke

out he joined the stampede to that promising field, and when Leadville attracted

the attention of the mining world as a new eldorado, he transferred his energies

to that camp.  He was also among the first arrivals at Aspen, locating there

when the village had only twenty white inhabitants.  In 1885 he bought a ranch

on Bear creek near Morrison on which he was occupied in general ranching until

1892.  He then sold that property and purchased the one he now owns, a ranch of

one hundred and sixty acres in the original body, to which he has added one

hundred and twenty acres by a subsequent purchase.  Here he has sufficient water

for the cultivation of one hundred and sixty acres, and carries on farming and

raising cattle on a large scale.  The ranch is well located five miles west of

Meeker, within easy reach of a good market for its products, and he has improved

it with good buildings and made it fruitful by judicious and industrious

cultivation.  Mr. Pierson was married in 1873, to Miss Mary Lawson, a native of

Sweden, who died on February 28, 1887, leaving six of their seven children to

survive her, Mrs. J.E. Crook, Benjamin, Alfred, Minnie, Harry and Edna.  The

other child, a son named Nelson, died some years ago.  On November 21, 1888, the

father married a second wife, Miss Betsie Harbardson, also born in Sweden, the

daughter of Harbar and Mary (Ericsson) Harbardson, who passed the whole of their

lives in their native land.  They were members of the Lutheran church, farmers

by occupation and the parents of six children, two of whom are living, Carrie

and Mrs. Pierson.  By his second marriage Mr. Pierson became the father of two

children, Claude and Peter.  He supports the Democratic party in political

affairs, and takes an active interest in the progress of his county and state. 

Among the incidents of thrilling interest which he witnessed in the early days

of his residence in this state were the scalping of Anderson and Burklin in the

Black Hills and the burning to death of a man tied to a tree at Aspen in 1881,

both atrocities perpetrated by Indians. 

Additional Comments:
From Progressive Men of Western Colorado.  Chicago:  A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/rioblanco/bios/pierson286gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cofiles/

File size: 4.1 Kb