Routt County CO Archives Biographies.....Donnelson, Ephus  October 21, 1856 - ?
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Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net December 31, 2005, 2:30 am

Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado

     Ephus Donnelson, of Routt county, living on a fine ranch of two hundred and

forty acres five miles northeast of Hayden, is a native of Knoxville, Knox

county, Illinois, where he was born on October 21, 1856.  His parents, John and

Malinda Donnelson, were born in Norway but reared in the United States.  Their

final location, after living in a number of places, was in Minnesota, where the

mother died on April 12, 1880, and the father on February 12, 1901.  They were

members of the Lutheran church, and the father was a Republican in political

allegiance.  They had a family of ten children, four of whom are living, George,

Ephus, Inger and Bertha.  Ephus had but meager educational advantages, having

opportunity only to attend the common schools and then but a short time.  He

remained at home working with and for his parents until he was twenty-four years

of age.  Then, in 1880, he started out in the world for himself, and coming to

Colorado, located at Breckenridge, where he engaged in mining, working for wages

and prospecting on his own account, and remaining there three years.  In 1883 he

moved to Middle Park, and there he was employed on ranches two years.  In 1885

he changed his residence to the neighborhood in which he now lives, taking up a

homestead claim on one-half of the land on which the town of Hayden has since

been built.  His ranch comprised one hundred and sixty acres.  This he improved

and cultivated, and on it he lived and carried on a flourishing ranching and

cattle industry until 1901, when he sold out there and bought the ranch which he

now owns and occupies.  This comprises two hundred and forty acres of excellent

land, well supplied with water and all under cultivation.  Hay, grain, small

fruits and vegetables are raised in abundance, but cattle and horses are the

chief and most profitable products.  His cattle are all well bred Shorthorns and

Herefords and his horses are of good strains.  He has improved his ranch with

superior buildings and other structures, and cultivates his land with every

consideration of skill and diligence looking to the best results.  He not only

has one of the best ranches in his valley but is considered one of the best

farmers in his locality, having the distinction of being an old settler and at

the same time a modern, up-to-date ranch and cattle man.  Politically he

supports the Republican party.  On March 15, 1887, he united in marriage with

Miss Martha J. Reid, a native of Montana.  They have two children, their

daughter Emma M. and their son John G.  Colorado offers plentiful opportunities

to thrifty and industrious men, and Mr. Donnelson is one of the vast number who

have taken advantage of her bounty and made the most of it.  

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

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