January 8, 1942 Diary

Thursday 8th Day - 357 Days to Follow

Warmer today.

Letter from Mass.

I went to club with Burkes, at Johnsons.

Eleven there.  Mable Kirkmeyer as visitor.

Dad and Don to Rehwalts for a pig [and] saw Alice Campion, bot brooder for $10.

Temperature 4 [degrees] above this P.M.  NE wind this evening.

Club met with Glayds Johnson

Started on skirts.  Those taking Mrs. Agnes Kenter, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Thames, Miss Baker, Helen A. two, Athelda Burke, Gladyes J., 

Fred and Mae Atherton, Francis Hill - from Oklahoma arrived at 8o'clock at Hills.

The letter from Mass. indicates that Margie got a letter from her eldest son Ken, who worked for MIT.  He had a degree in entomology from Colorado State University.  More on him and his family later.

Margie's very last line refers to the Aunt (Mae Atherton) and brother (Francis) of her daughter-in-law, Florence (Hill) Arbuthnot.  Francis was a cattlemen in Oklahoma and did not move to Colorado when the rest of the family moved to Niwot.  Every year at this time, Francis brought cattle Denver to be shown and sold at the annual Stock Show.  He always stopped by to see his sisters, Florence and Marjorie Knaus on these trips.

Francis M. Hill in January 14, 1956, at the home of his sister Florence Arbuthnot.
Francis is holding his niece, Donlyn Arbuthnot - author of this blog.
Boulder, Colorado

Batchelder Neighbors Club

The club that Margie refers to is the Batchelder Neighbors Club (BNC), a club for the women who lived in the Batchelder School District area.  This club began in 1941 and met for 50 years.  There were 17 founding members including:  Margie Arbuthnot, Una Albert (Margie's daughter), Helen Anderson (later Bloom then Berryman), Elsie Baker, Mable Brown, Ethelda Burke, Carrie Burke Scott, Myrna Dodd, Lettie Ereckson, Daulton Ereckson, Lucille Jones, Ethel Johnson, Gladys Johnson Martin, Jennie Keuter, Agnes Keuter, Eileen Nelson, Grace Thorn.

The club met on alternate Thursdays and had a President, V. President, Sec-Treasurer, a publications chairman and a program chairman.  I don't have the names of who filled these offices in 1942.  The order of business for their meetings was:

Salute to the American Flag,

Patriotic Song,

Roll Call

Minutes of the last meeting

Unfinished business

Bills and Communications

Adjournment

The source for this information is a little booklet that Helen Anderson put together that covers meetings from March 5, 1942 to Dec 10, 1942.  

Basis for this meeting came from a book published in 1929 titled:  A Manual for Club Women, by Anna Steese Richardson - Director of the Good Citizenship Bureau of the Women's Home Companion.  Published by Smith and Corona Typerwriters Inc, New York, NY.

There is no indication how the club came to own this book, but it is preserved along with the club accounts book.

I wish to thank Helen Anderson Berryman's nephew,  Ernie Anderson, who gave to me a box and scrapbook filled with the spiral notebooks and other information that his Aunt had collected and neatly organized about this club.  He entrusted this to me to "do something with it."  This year is my opportunity to do so.  As Margie makes reference to the club in her diary, I shall be taking notes from these documents on what occurred on these dates.  Unfortunately, those notes don't begin until March 5, 1942.  Until then, let's recognize the 50th Anniversary party that these women gathered to celebrate.  I'm sure Margie was there in spirit.

July 31, 1991
50th Anniversary celebration of the Batchelder Neighbors Club
Original Founding Members.
L to R Una Albert, Gladyas (Johnson) Martin, ?, ?, Helen (Anderson) Berryman

Members and guests of the Batchelder Neighbors Club
50th Anniversary Party - July 31, 1991

Photographer unknown.  Taken at the home of Helen Raben

Those in attendance at the NBC 50th Anniversary Party were:

Helen Berryman

Gladys Martin

Hazel Van Cleave

Edith Hornby

Lorrnia Lydin

Sharon Lydin Ruby

Ruth Charlosen

Edris Heldt

Ruth Heldt

Dorothy Zimmerman

Ethelda Thorne

Helen Axelson

Carol Burke Dale

   & son Kelly

Helen Aldrich

Edna Maul (Daughtea)

Florence Arbuthnot (Margie's daughter-in-law)

Helen M. Raber (Hostess)

Una Albert (Daughter of Margie Arbuthnot)

Marjorie (Arbuthnot Campion) Hawn  (Daughter of Margie Arbuthnot)

LaVern M. Johnson*

Pearl Williams 

*Special thanks to LaVern Johnson for helping me to identify some of these guests.
LaVern, you are always such a joy to work with.

January 7 1942 Diary

Wednesday, 7th Day - 358 Days to Follow

Some warmer today.

Don had car trouble so was late for chores today.

I hasn't done much today.  Too lazy.

Wrote to Dorothy this morning.

Happy home late coming.

Carol Jane here this evening.

This is Viola's birthday.

I ironed today.

I should mention that I am not changing my Grandmother's spelling as it's says much about who she was as while she was considered educated, the education lacked much back then.  I will ad comments as needed to help in understanding her posts.  These comments will be in [brackets].

My sister Carol Jane, mentioned in today's entry, is the eldest of Don and Florence (Hill) Arbuthnot's four children.  She and my brother Darold lived with our parents on a farm on Niwot Road, west of where my Dad's parents (Fred and Margie Arbuthnot) lived.  Dad was not sent off to college like his brother Ken was, because his parents didn't want him to leave as they needed him to help out on the farm.  Poor dad was deathly allergic to alfalfa and in 1944, left farming and moved into Boulder, just in time for Carol Jane to start school.  She began in Kindergarten at Whittier Elementary in the fall of 1944.  Ms. Anderson was her teacher.  She was a special teacher as she was the only teacher in all of our 13 years in Boulder schools who had all four of us kids, including Dale and myself.

Fred and Marge's grandchildren in 1939.
Wallace holding Carol Jane, Duane, Donnie, Darline.
Photo taken on the Fred & Margie Farm on Niwot Rd.

Source no. 9

January 6, 1942 Diary

Tuesday, 6th Day, 360 Days to Follow

Not so cold today, 7 below at 6:30 this morning.  Marjorie & Baker came.  Una, Darline  Duane to Boulder to stay.  Marjorie to Mr. Dovali funeral this P.M.  

Am writing a letter to Viola tonight.

Warmer today. 

Not a very good wash day clothes didn't dry

and paid Grange dues today.

Also $4.40 Grange Insurance dues.

$6.40 in all.  [Grange dues were $2.00 and paid quarterly.  The total dues for the year would have been $8.00 in 1942.]

Source No. 9

January 5, 1942 Diary

5th Day - 360 Days to Follow

Diary of Margie (Coe) Arbuthnot

Another cold morning, 20 below at 7 o'clock this morning.  We did a little washing on the board(?).  Don and dad to Niwot this A. M. got car repairs.  
Una sewed, 
Don and dad to Daniel's in P.M.  Got car repaired.  
Lath Jones brought us a tank of water.  
Darline last day of school at Batchelder.  
Had a letter from Lettie today.  
Jones last tank of water this evening.

1923 Students of the Batchelder School
Kindergarten through the 8th Grade
Margie's son Don is the second from the left.

Batchchelder School, Boulder County School District No. 20.
It was when Margie was a student here that she met Fred Arbuthnot, a member of the School Board.
All of the Fred and Margie's children and some of their grandchildren attended school here.
Photo curiously of the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History, Boulder Public Library.

Source No. 9.

January 4, 1942 Diary

4th Day - 361 Days to Follow

Grandmother's family had come to Colorado for her father's health.  Her parents were born in Canada, but due to some kind of banking scandal (or so we have been told), the family had to leave Canada and settled in Wisconsin.  The family acquired the land where IBM is located today.  They lived in a home on 63rd, across from where Coot Lake is today.  The walls of that home were a foot thick, making the home warm int eh winter, and cool in the summer.

L to R - Margie, Carrie Lulu, Jessie, Viola

Margie had many siblings, including sisters Eva, Carrie who went by Lulu, Nora, Jessie, Viola, and Sadie.  She had three brothers Floyd, Fred, and Billie.  By 1942 none of her family lived in Boulder County, which I'm sure, was very sad for Marjorie as she was very close to all of her family.

Here is today's entry:

Another cold morning.  23 below at 6:45 A. M.
Pump engine on the bum
Don got it fixed
Dad [her husband], Donnie, Darline and myself went to Marjorie's for a duck dinner.
Una and Duane came home with us.
Don had car trouble and late going home from chores.
This is Jessie's birthday.

Jessie Iona Coe was born in 1884 and was married to Harry Hagerman.  They lived in Wheatland, Platte County, Wyoming at this time.

Source No. 9

January 3 1942 Diary

3rd Day - 362 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Ann (Coe) Arbuthnot

Very cold.  23 below at 6:45 A. M.
A blizzard during the A. M.
Don and dad to Niwot.

One wonders why they went the two miles into town on such a cold, snowy, and no doubt, windy day.
And no wonder Grandma didn't write very much on this day.  I wouldn't get out from under the covers in that kind of cold.  Would you?

Don't worry, not all of her entries are like this one.  In time, they get more interesting.  I realized that I am only a year younger than my Grandmother when she wrote these entries.  I can relate to how she doesn't get much done in the cold.  But 23 degrees below zero?  Wow!  I wonder if it's been that cold here since this day 77 years ago.

Source No. 9

January 2, 1942 Diary

Margie's post from Friday, January 2, 1942,  Niwot, Boulder County, Colorado
2nd day - 363 days to follow.

"another cold day, 14 below at 7 o'clock A. M.
Don and F[lorence] leave to Boulder.
Florence got glasses.
Took Duane in - 
Darold stayed here.
All here for supper."

Margie was a good grandmother to her many grandchildren, including Duane and Darold.  Her other grandchildren included Wallace, Donnie, Darline, Carol Jane, Roy, Jim, and after 1942, Dale and myself - Donlyn, the last of her grandchildren.

Also, I should mention, that I will be posting Grandmother's entries as she wrote them, misspellings and all.  Any additions to her post, I will place in [brackets].

Source No. 9

Oct 29, 1955  Fred and Margie Arbuthnot,
holding their last grandchild, Donlyn Ann (author of this blog).

Diary of Margie (Coe) Arbuthnot, Jan 1, 1942

Margie Arbuthnot looks on.  Lined up in birth oder are her children
Ken, Marjorie (married to Wallace Campion), Una Albert, Don

A Christmas gift that my Grandmother received in 1941 was a small diary. It contained many reference pages and a blank page for each day of the year.  Dutifully, my Grandmother filled it out.  At the time she wrote this, she had four grown children, and several grandchildren.  Along with her husband, Fred Arbuthnot, she lived on a farm on Niwot Road, just east of 63rd, in Boulder County, Colorado.  All of her children were born on this farm.  While her son Ken lived out of state, the others lived near by.  Marjorie and Una in Boulder, and Don and his wife and children lived west on Niwot Road, on a farm he rented from the Erickson family.  All were members of the Altona Grange No. 127.

Now, 77 years later, I am sharing what her daily postings included for that day.  One post a day.  Here is her post for Jan 1, 1942:

"A cold day, 18 below at 7 o'clock A. M. Marjorie, Wallace, and Baker here for the day, Una went home from work then. Grange [Altona Grange] had a New Years dinner at hall. Marjorie had car trouble so all had dinner here. Had planned on going to the Grange Hall for N. Y. dinner."

Source No. 9

Mines in Gold Hill, Colorado Territory, acquired by the Arbuthnot men in 1862

In the Boulder County Court House the Grantee/Grantor Books are housed for Boulder County.  In Book A (the first record book for this area), on pages 94 and 95, are transactions where the Arbuthnot men acquired lodes (gold mining claims) on the Horsfal Mountain.  The first major gold discovery was on this mountain on January 15, 1859.

A Grantee is the person who is receiving something, such as a title or a deed.
A Grantor is the person who is giving up something, such as the seller of a mine or land.

In this first transaction, Arbuthnot & Sons (Carson W. Arbuthnot, his sons Samuel, William, James, Charles) purchased portions of the Horsfal mine sold by C. W. Chambers for the price of $15,000.  This transaction took place in the last half of C. W. Arbuthnot's term as the Constable of Sugar Loaf Mining District and the Gold Hill Mining District.  Fifteen thousand dollars is a great deal of money back in this day, and I believe this indicates that Sheriff Carson Arbuthnot must have been a very busy Sheriff at this time to amass such a fortune.  His sons probably chipped some of their gold from their other lodes as well.   We will never know if they were able to recover their investment in this particular claim.

C. W. Chambers

To

C. W. Arbuthnot & Sons

Quit Claim Deed

Gold Hill, January 25, 1862

For the consideration of fifteen thousand dollars in hand paid the recipient of which is here by acknowledged I have sold and do here by transfer unto C. W. Arbuthnot and sons all of my rights; title and interest in and to the East fifteen feet of claim No. 5 west and the west fifteen feet of claim No. 4 west both on the Horsefall Lode in Gold Hill District, Colorado Territory.  In testimony where I have set my hand and seal, day and year above written.

C. W. Chambers, L.S.

Attest W. Y. (?) Dodd

Recorded Feb 8, 1862 In Book (?) Page 268

E. S. Glotfelter, Recorder

Filed Feb. 11 at 12 M.

In the next transaction, a couple of weeks after the above transaction, Carson W. Arbuthnot is in partnership with John M. Squires for a portion of the Horsfal Mine.

Grantee/Grantor Book A, Page 95

Load Claim

Arbuthnot & Squires

Gold Hill District, February 5, 1862

This is to certify that I have received the necessary evidence by the Powers invested in me by the laws of this District C. W. Arbuthnot & John M. Squires to be the rightful owners of fractional Quartz Claim eleven feet and six inches which lies between number four and five west on the Horsefall Lode by right of preemption given under my hand and seal given this the fifth day of February 1862.

Charles Dabney, Resident

E. S. Glotfelter, Recorder

Filed Feb. 11 at 12M

Many thanks to Chellee Courtney for this wonderful photo of an old mine up on Horsfal Mountain, Gold Hill, Colorado.

W.D. Goudge Collection, 
courtesy Chellee Courtney, Horsfal Mountain,
Gold Hill, Boulder County, Colorado

Related links:  Gold Hill Town Site