Leroy Farrar Bowles was born April 10, 1870, one of eight children born to John Mosley Bowles and Artamacia C Samuel Bowles. His exact birthplace is not known, but it was either Marion or Lewis County, Missouri. Lee Bowles was quiet and soft spoke. An early photograph shows him to be quite handsome.
Nobody seems to know why he came to Colorado. His son, Lawrence, believes that Lee simply had a desire to come west and see new country. Lee arrived at Barthoud, Colorado in 1899 or 1900 and worked on a farm owned by Henry Wagner. At Berthoud he met Ivy Eulalia Nelson, the daughter of Phoebe Ellen Nash and Willard C. Nelson. Ivy was born at New Market, Iowa, February 26 1881 and came west with her parents. Ivy and Lee were married October 29, 1902.
Their first home was a farm at Windsor, Colorado where Clayton Oliver was born in 1903 and James Nelson was born in 1905. In 1906 the family moved to a farm between Fort Morgan and Brush, Colorado. Twin sons were born at Fort Morgan, Lawrence Ewell and Ellis Buhl in 1908 In later years, Ivy Bowles joked about having 4 boys in five years. She said there weren't many women who could top that record.
Clayton Bowles told about swimming in the irrigation ditch when they lived at Fort Morgan. An irrigation ditch is a dangerous place for small boys as the water is deep and swift. Clayton said they knew their mother would thresh them later but they swam in the ditch anyhow. Irrigation ditches were simply the only place in 1901 where children could swim.
In 1913 Lee and Ivy purchased a farm sixteen miles north of Fort Morgan in Peace Valley community. The farm was a relinquished homestead. Northern Morgan County is flat, rolling, treeless plain. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Cottonwood trees grow in the creek beds or the Platte River bottom; however, there were no trees on Lee and Ivy's place.
A sod house which sat a quarter mile south of Peace Valley School was their first home. In 1914 Lee brought a house which was already build and moved it by horse drawn skids to a site directly west of the school. He moved it from an abandoned homestead two miles northwest of his farm. The new home site was on a hill close to the road in the NENW of Section 14, Township 6 North, Range 58 West, Morgan County, Colorado.
The family dug a well southwest of their new home by the barn and corral. Lawrence said it was a gosh awful long ways to carry water and uphill to boot. Later they put down another well west of and closer to the house. The well was powered by a windmill and provided water for the house and garden.
The Bowles lived in a fine house compared to what the neighbors had. The house face east, it was one story with two bedrooms, parlor, kitchen, front porch, back porch and pantry. Grape ivy vines grew on the east side of the house and covered the screened in front porch. There was a root cellar west of the house where canned goods, potatoes, carrots, onions and other garden produce were stored.
By prairie standards, Ivy's parlor was luxurious. She had handsome wicker living room set, wool
rug on the floor, lace curtains in the windows and, of course, the upright piano. The kitchen was dominated by a Home Comfort Range with coal bucket and boxes of corn cobs nearby. There was no electricity, indoor plumbing or telephone.
Coal oil lamps provided light. Water was carried by bucket from the well. The Rural Electric power lines didn't reach the Peace Valley community until after World War II or about 1947.
Northern Morgan County looks almost deserted today. When Lee and Ivy lived there, farmsteads were less than a quarter mile apart. Friends and neighbors were nearby. The old Bowles farm was eight miles south of the railroad depot. The Chicago, Burlingrton and Quincy Railroad Trains ran from Sterling, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming with regular stops at New Raymer, Colorado. Clayton called "The Prairie Dog Express". New Raymer was a thriving town in 1915. There were grain elevators, banks, newspapers, general stores, a blacksmith shop and schools.
The center of the community for the Bowles family was the Peace Valley School House. Church services and Sunday school were held there. Summer Sunday school picnics were enjoyed by the family in the neighborhood. People often gathered at a grove of Cottonwood trees on Wildcat Creek. Picnic dinners consisted of fried chicken, potato salad and pies. Three or four freezers of ice cream were cranked out and eaten along with piles of home grown watermelon. After the picnickers had gorged themselves on food , the children played softball and climbed trees while the men pitched horseshoes and the women visited.
Early settlers on the Colorado Plains raised practically all their food. Cattle and hogs raised on the farm were slaughtered for meat. The meat might be eaten fresh or canned or preserved by smoking or salt cured. They raised lots of chickens for meat and eggs. Milk cows provided milk cream, butter and cottage cheese. Big vegetable gardens were a necessity. Bread was homemade and baked in the kitchen range.
To make butter, cream was poured into a Daisy Churn and the paddle was turned by hand until the butter separated from the buttermilk. Next the butterfat was drained off and the butter placed in a big crock, salted and worked with a wooden butter paddle to squeeze out the remaining buttermilk. Fresh, hot homemade bread spread with delicious, freshly churned butter was an unsurpassed treat.
Farm labor was all manual as there were not any power-take-offs back then. Farm machinery was pulled by teams of draft horses. Lee Bowles raised corn, wheat, oats, barley and beans as well as cattle, chickens and pigs. He planted an orchard east of the house: two cherry trees are still alive and producing fruit (as of 1984). They are all that remains of the Bowles Farmstead.
In Colorado there are two types of farms, dry land and irrigated. Lee and Ivy were dry land farmers which means they had to rely on rain and snow to irrigate their crops. During the first years on the farm, moisture was plentiful, crops good, and the Bowles family prospered. Lee raised outstanding watermelons on his corn fields.
A daughter, Evelyn Pearl Bowles, was born in 1916, and another daughter Frances Lee was born in 1921. All the children attended the two-room Peace Valley School. Clayton wasn't able to go to high school, but the others continued their educations at Fort Morgan High.
Lawrence told about his father hauling wheat to the New Raymer elevator in a wagon drawn by horse. It was usually early evening before Lee returned home. The family new when to expect Lee because they could hear him whistling a mile away!
Lawrence said Lee liked to walk and that he walked miles every day. Lee also played the violin. He made two trips to Missouri to see his brothers and sisters. Lee went alone in 1912 and again in 1919 when Ivy accompanied him. Lawrence remembers them boarding the train at the Union Pacific depot north of Fort Morgan.
Ivy Bowles was a relatively tall woman of Swedish descent. She was handy at everything she did. Clayton Bowles said his mother could ride practically any horse and was actually better with horses than her husband was.
The family owned two automobiles. In 1917 they bought a Hubmobile touring car which they drove until 1926 when they purchased an Oldsmobile.
The Depression Years (1931-1939) spelled tragedy. Lee had been depositing money at the bank in New Raymer for years, but when the bank folded at the beginning of the Depression, depositors recouped less than 10 cents on the dollar. If the Depression weren't enough, there was also a draught from 1934 to 1937. The dust storms which raged in 1935 and 1936 completed the financial ruin of Lee and Ivy. It was impossible to raise crops without rain. Without crops there was no cover for the soil and strong winds blew the soil into choking dust storms. The Bowles family were forced to mortgage their farm and like so many other farmers in the Depression were not able to pay off the loan. In 1937 the banks foreclosed and took the farm. Also their son, James Nelson died of sugar diabetes in 1937.
Lee Bowles was 67 years old when he lost the farm. After a life time of hard work, he was left with nothing for his old age. Through no fault of his won, his beloved farm now belonged to a bank. The oldest son, Clayton, remained in the Peace Valley community and managed to prosper by raisin wheat and cattle during World War II.
Throughout the Depression and dust bowl years, Ivy Bowles was a pillar of strength. She pulled her family through it. None of her family went hungry or cold. Ivy worked from sun up until sundown. She gardened, canned, milked cows, baked bread, tended the sick, birthed babies, made clothes and kept spirits up by playing her piano and singing hymns. Her house was always filled with children and grandchildren. Ivy always kept a diary in which she recorded the day to day details that are the fiber of life. She also wrote poetry and numerous letters.
Just once in her life was Ivy seen weeping. That was when lightning struck and killed her milk cow. It happened in 1937 or 1938 toward the end of the Depression. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The cow was so important to the family. Ivy had mouths to feed. Clayton, Jim and their families lived close by and were frequent visitors. Frequently her younger children returned to the farm with their families.
Ivy Bowles had a zest for living and was compassionate, cheerful lady. She was a giver, not a taker. She had lots of initiative and often said, "There's more ‘n one way to skin a cat". As busy as she was, she always found time to cuddle and hug the grandchildren. Ivy loved babies and said it was impossible to spoil a tiny baby. Her advice to new mothers was to get a rocking chair, said it wasn't possible to raise a child without a rocking chair. Ivy completely rejected the theories of child care experts in the 1950's. Her great-grandchildren were loved and cuddled, she saw to it.
Lee and Ivy were both ethical, moral people. They would never take anything that wasn't rightfully theirs.
After they lost the farm, they moved to Englewood, Colorado where they shared a house on South Broadway with Daughter, Evelyn and her husband, Bernie Mohler. Lee's health rapidly deteriorated. He died in 1940 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery at Fort Morgan.
Ivy lived another 27 years in Englewood, Colorado. She was deeply religious and active in the First Christian Church. When the church quilting circle met each week, you could depend on Ivy being there. Never idle, she crocheted, sewed on her treadle sewing machine and looked after grandchildren and anyone else who needed looking after.
Ivy Bowles died in 1967 and is buried beside Lee at Riverside Cemetery, Fort Morgan, Colorado
Written by:
Phyllis Bowles Dollerschell
Granddaughter
March 1984
Nobody seems to know why he came to Colorado. His son, Lawrence, believes that Lee simply had a desire to come west and see new country. Lee arrived at Barthoud, Colorado in 1899 or 1900 and worked on a farm owned by Henry Wagner. At Berthoud he met Ivy Eulalia Nelson, the daughter of Phoebe Ellen Nash and Willard C. Nelson. Ivy was born at New Market, Iowa, February 26 1881 and came west with her parents. Ivy and Lee were married October 29, 1902.
Their first home was a farm at Windsor, Colorado where Clayton Oliver was born in 1903 and James Nelson was born in 1905. In 1906 the family moved to a farm between Fort Morgan and Brush, Colorado. Twin sons were born at Fort Morgan, Lawrence Ewell and Ellis Buhl in 1908 In later years, Ivy Bowles joked about having 4 boys in five years. She said there weren't many women who could top that record.
Clayton Bowles told about swimming in the irrigation ditch when they lived at Fort Morgan. An irrigation ditch is a dangerous place for small boys as the water is deep and swift. Clayton said they knew their mother would thresh them later but they swam in the ditch anyhow. Irrigation ditches were simply the only place in 1901 where children could swim.
In 1913 Lee and Ivy purchased a farm sixteen miles north of Fort Morgan in Peace Valley community. The farm was a relinquished homestead. Northern Morgan County is flat, rolling, treeless plain. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Cottonwood trees grow in the creek beds or the Platte River bottom; however, there were no trees on Lee and Ivy's place.
A sod house which sat a quarter mile south of Peace Valley School was their first home. In 1914 Lee brought a house which was already build and moved it by horse drawn skids to a site directly west of the school. He moved it from an abandoned homestead two miles northwest of his farm. The new home site was on a hill close to the road in the NENW of Section 14, Township 6 North, Range 58 West, Morgan County, Colorado.
The family dug a well southwest of their new home by the barn and corral. Lawrence said it was a gosh awful long ways to carry water and uphill to boot. Later they put down another well west of and closer to the house. The well was powered by a windmill and provided water for the house and garden.
The Bowles lived in a fine house compared to what the neighbors had. The house face east, it was one story with two bedrooms, parlor, kitchen, front porch, back porch and pantry. Grape ivy vines grew on the east side of the house and covered the screened in front porch. There was a root cellar west of the house where canned goods, potatoes, carrots, onions and other garden produce were stored.
By prairie standards, Ivy's parlor was luxurious. She had handsome wicker living room set, wool
rug on the floor, lace curtains in the windows and, of course, the upright piano. The kitchen was dominated by a Home Comfort Range with coal bucket and boxes of corn cobs nearby. There was no electricity, indoor plumbing or telephone.
Coal oil lamps provided light. Water was carried by bucket from the well. The Rural Electric power lines didn't reach the Peace Valley community until after World War II or about 1947.
Northern Morgan County looks almost deserted today. When Lee and Ivy lived there, farmsteads were less than a quarter mile apart. Friends and neighbors were nearby. The old Bowles farm was eight miles south of the railroad depot. The Chicago, Burlingrton and Quincy Railroad Trains ran from Sterling, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming with regular stops at New Raymer, Colorado. Clayton called "The Prairie Dog Express". New Raymer was a thriving town in 1915. There were grain elevators, banks, newspapers, general stores, a blacksmith shop and schools.
The center of the community for the Bowles family was the Peace Valley School House. Church services and Sunday school were held there. Summer Sunday school picnics were enjoyed by the family in the neighborhood. People often gathered at a grove of Cottonwood trees on Wildcat Creek. Picnic dinners consisted of fried chicken, potato salad and pies. Three or four freezers of ice cream were cranked out and eaten along with piles of home grown watermelon. After the picnickers had gorged themselves on food , the children played softball and climbed trees while the men pitched horseshoes and the women visited.
Early settlers on the Colorado Plains raised practically all their food. Cattle and hogs raised on the farm were slaughtered for meat. The meat might be eaten fresh or canned or preserved by smoking or salt cured. They raised lots of chickens for meat and eggs. Milk cows provided milk cream, butter and cottage cheese. Big vegetable gardens were a necessity. Bread was homemade and baked in the kitchen range.
To make butter, cream was poured into a Daisy Churn and the paddle was turned by hand until the butter separated from the buttermilk. Next the butterfat was drained off and the butter placed in a big crock, salted and worked with a wooden butter paddle to squeeze out the remaining buttermilk. Fresh, hot homemade bread spread with delicious, freshly churned butter was an unsurpassed treat.
Farm labor was all manual as there were not any power-take-offs back then. Farm machinery was pulled by teams of draft horses. Lee Bowles raised corn, wheat, oats, barley and beans as well as cattle, chickens and pigs. He planted an orchard east of the house: two cherry trees are still alive and producing fruit (as of 1984). They are all that remains of the Bowles Farmstead.
In Colorado there are two types of farms, dry land and irrigated. Lee and Ivy were dry land farmers which means they had to rely on rain and snow to irrigate their crops. During the first years on the farm, moisture was plentiful, crops good, and the Bowles family prospered. Lee raised outstanding watermelons on his corn fields.
A daughter, Evelyn Pearl Bowles, was born in 1916, and another daughter Frances Lee was born in 1921. All the children attended the two-room Peace Valley School. Clayton wasn't able to go to high school, but the others continued their educations at Fort Morgan High.
Lawrence told about his father hauling wheat to the New Raymer elevator in a wagon drawn by horse. It was usually early evening before Lee returned home. The family new when to expect Lee because they could hear him whistling a mile away!
Lawrence said Lee liked to walk and that he walked miles every day. Lee also played the violin. He made two trips to Missouri to see his brothers and sisters. Lee went alone in 1912 and again in 1919 when Ivy accompanied him. Lawrence remembers them boarding the train at the Union Pacific depot north of Fort Morgan.
Ivy Bowles was a relatively tall woman of Swedish descent. She was handy at everything she did. Clayton Bowles said his mother could ride practically any horse and was actually better with horses than her husband was.
The family owned two automobiles. In 1917 they bought a Hubmobile touring car which they drove until 1926 when they purchased an Oldsmobile.
The Depression Years (1931-1939) spelled tragedy. Lee had been depositing money at the bank in New Raymer for years, but when the bank folded at the beginning of the Depression, depositors recouped less than 10 cents on the dollar. If the Depression weren't enough, there was also a draught from 1934 to 1937. The dust storms which raged in 1935 and 1936 completed the financial ruin of Lee and Ivy. It was impossible to raise crops without rain. Without crops there was no cover for the soil and strong winds blew the soil into choking dust storms. The Bowles family were forced to mortgage their farm and like so many other farmers in the Depression were not able to pay off the loan. In 1937 the banks foreclosed and took the farm. Also their son, James Nelson died of sugar diabetes in 1937.
Lee Bowles was 67 years old when he lost the farm. After a life time of hard work, he was left with nothing for his old age. Through no fault of his won, his beloved farm now belonged to a bank. The oldest son, Clayton, remained in the Peace Valley community and managed to prosper by raisin wheat and cattle during World War II.
Throughout the Depression and dust bowl years, Ivy Bowles was a pillar of strength. She pulled her family through it. None of her family went hungry or cold. Ivy worked from sun up until sundown. She gardened, canned, milked cows, baked bread, tended the sick, birthed babies, made clothes and kept spirits up by playing her piano and singing hymns. Her house was always filled with children and grandchildren. Ivy always kept a diary in which she recorded the day to day details that are the fiber of life. She also wrote poetry and numerous letters.
Just once in her life was Ivy seen weeping. That was when lightning struck and killed her milk cow. It happened in 1937 or 1938 toward the end of the Depression. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The cow was so important to the family. Ivy had mouths to feed. Clayton, Jim and their families lived close by and were frequent visitors. Frequently her younger children returned to the farm with their families.
Ivy Bowles had a zest for living and was compassionate, cheerful lady. She was a giver, not a taker. She had lots of initiative and often said, "There's more ‘n one way to skin a cat". As busy as she was, she always found time to cuddle and hug the grandchildren. Ivy loved babies and said it was impossible to spoil a tiny baby. Her advice to new mothers was to get a rocking chair, said it wasn't possible to raise a child without a rocking chair. Ivy completely rejected the theories of child care experts in the 1950's. Her great-grandchildren were loved and cuddled, she saw to it.
Lee and Ivy were both ethical, moral people. They would never take anything that wasn't rightfully theirs.
After they lost the farm, they moved to Englewood, Colorado where they shared a house on South Broadway with Daughter, Evelyn and her husband, Bernie Mohler. Lee's health rapidly deteriorated. He died in 1940 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery at Fort Morgan.
Ivy lived another 27 years in Englewood, Colorado. She was deeply religious and active in the First Christian Church. When the church quilting circle met each week, you could depend on Ivy being there. Never idle, she crocheted, sewed on her treadle sewing machine and looked after grandchildren and anyone else who needed looking after.
Ivy Bowles died in 1967 and is buried beside Lee at Riverside Cemetery, Fort Morgan, Colorado
Written by:
Phyllis Bowles Dollerschell
Granddaughter
March 1984
Leroy Farrar Bowles was born April 10, 1870, one of eight children born to John Mosley Bowles and Artamacia C Samuel Bowles. His exact birthplace is not known, but it was either Marion or Lewis County, Missouri. Lee Bowles was quiet and soft spoke. An early photograph shows him to be quite handsome.
Nobody seems to know why he came to Colorado. His son, Lawrence, believes that Lee simply had a desire to come west and see new country. Lee arrived at Barthoud, Colorado in 1899 or 1900 and worked on a farm owned by Henry Wagner. At Berthoud he met Ivy Eulalia Nelson, the daughter of Phoebe Ellen Nash and Willard C. Nelson. Ivy was born at New Market, Iowa, February 26 1881 and came west with her parents. Ivy and Lee were married October 29, 1902.
Their first home was a farm at Windsor, Colorado where Clayton Oliver was born in 1903 and James Nelson was born in 1905. In 1906 the family moved to a farm between Fort Morgan and Brush, Colorado. Twin sons were born at Fort Morgan, Lawrence Ewell and Ellis Buhl in 1908 In later years, Ivy Bowles joked about having 4 boys in five years. She said there weren't many women who could top that record.
Clayton Bowles told about swimming in the irrigation ditch when they lived at Fort Morgan. An irrigation ditch is a dangerous place for small boys as the water is deep and swift. Clayton said they knew their mother would thresh them later but they swam in the ditch anyhow. Irrigation ditches were simply the only place in 1901 where children could swim.
In 1913 Lee and Ivy purchased a farm sixteen miles north of Fort Morgan in Peace Valley community. The farm was a relinquished homestead. Northern Morgan County is flat, rolling, treeless plain. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Cottonwood trees grow in the creek beds or the Platte River bottom; however, there were no trees on Lee and Ivy's place.
A sod house which sat a quarter mile south of Peace Valley School was their first home. In 1914 Lee brought a house which was already build and moved it by horse drawn skids to a site directly west of the school. He moved it from an abandoned homestead two miles northwest of his farm. The new home site was on a hill close to the road in the NENW of Section 14, Township 6 North, Range 58 West, Morgan County, Colorado.
The family dug a well southwest of their new home by the barn and corral. Lawrence said it was a gosh awful long ways to carry water and uphill to boot. Later they put down another well west of and closer to the house. The well was powered by a windmill and provided water for the house and garden.
The Bowles lived in a fine house compared to what the neighbors had. The house face east, it was one story with two bedrooms, parlor, kitchen, front porch, back porch and pantry. Grape ivy vines grew on the east side of the house and covered the screened in front porch. There was a root cellar west of the house where canned goods, potatoes, carrots, onions and other garden produce were stored.
By prairie standards, Ivy's parlor was luxurious. She had handsome wicker living room set, wool
rug on the floor, lace curtains in the windows and, of course, the upright piano. The kitchen was dominated by a Home Comfort Range with coal bucket and boxes of corn cobs nearby. There was no electricity, indoor plumbing or telephone.
Coal oil lamps provided light. Water was carried by bucket from the well. The Rural Electric power lines didn't reach the Peace Valley community until after World War II or about 1947.
Northern Morgan County looks almost deserted today. When Lee and Ivy lived there, farmsteads were less than a quarter mile apart. Friends and neighbors were nearby. The old Bowles farm was eight miles south of the railroad depot. The Chicago, Burlingrton and Quincy Railroad Trains ran from Sterling, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming with regular stops at New Raymer, Colorado. Clayton called "The Prairie Dog Express". New Raymer was a thriving town in 1915. There were grain elevators, banks, newspapers, general stores, a blacksmith shop and schools.
The center of the community for the Bowles family was the Peace Valley School House. Church services and Sunday school were held there. Summer Sunday school picnics were enjoyed by the family in the neighborhood. People often gathered at a grove of Cottonwood trees on Wildcat Creek. Picnic dinners consisted of fried chicken, potato salad and pies. Three or four freezers of ice cream were cranked out and eaten along with piles of home grown watermelon. After the picnickers had gorged themselves on food , the children played softball and climbed trees while the men pitched horseshoes and the women visited.
Early settlers on the Colorado Plains raised practically all their food. Cattle and hogs raised on the farm were slaughtered for meat. The meat might be eaten fresh or canned or preserved by smoking or salt cured. They raised lots of chickens for meat and eggs. Milk cows provided milk cream, butter and cottage cheese. Big vegetable gardens were a necessity. Bread was homemade and baked in the kitchen range.
To make butter, cream was poured into a Daisy Churn and the paddle was turned by hand until the butter separated from the buttermilk. Next the butterfat was drained off and the butter placed in a big crock, salted and worked with a wooden butter paddle to squeeze out the remaining buttermilk. Fresh, hot homemade bread spread with delicious, freshly churned butter was an unsurpassed treat.
Farm labor was all manual as there were not any power-take-offs back then. Farm machinery was pulled by teams of draft horses. Lee Bowles raised corn, wheat, oats, barley and beans as well as cattle, chickens and pigs. He planted an orchard east of the house: two cherry trees are still alive and producing fruit (as of 1984). They are all that remains of the Bowles Farmstead.
In Colorado there are two types of farms, dry land and irrigated. Lee and Ivy were dry land farmers which means they had to rely on rain and snow to irrigate their crops. During the first years on the farm, moisture was plentiful, crops good, and the Bowles family prospered. Lee raised outstanding watermelons on his corn fields.
A daughter, Evelyn Pearl Bowles, was born in 1916, and another daughter Frances Lee was born in 1921. All the children attended the two-room Peace Valley School. Clayton wasn't able to go to high school, but the others continued their educations at Fort Morgan High.
Lawrence told about his father hauling wheat to the New Raymer elevator in a wagon drawn by horse. It was usually early evening before Lee returned home. The family new when to expect Lee because they could hear him whistling a mile away!
Lawrence said Lee liked to walk and that he walked miles every day. Lee also played the violin. He made two trips to Missouri to see his brothers and sisters. Lee went alone in 1912 and again in 1919 when Ivy accompanied him. Lawrence remembers them boarding the train at the Union Pacific depot north of Fort Morgan.
Ivy Bowles was a relatively tall woman of Swedish descent. She was handy at everything she did. Clayton Bowles said his mother could ride practically any horse and was actually better with horses than her husband was.
The family owned two automobiles. In 1917 they bought a Hubmobile touring car which they drove until 1926 when they purchased an Oldsmobile.
The Depression Years (1931-1939) spelled tragedy. Lee had been depositing money at the bank in New Raymer for years, but when the bank folded at the beginning of the Depression, depositors recouped less than 10 cents on the dollar. If the Depression weren't enough, there was also a draught from 1934 to 1937. The dust storms which raged in 1935 and 1936 completed the financial ruin of Lee and Ivy. It was impossible to raise crops without rain. Without crops there was no cover for the soil and strong winds blew the soil into choking dust storms. The Bowles family were forced to mortgage their farm and like so many other farmers in the Depression were not able to pay off the loan. In 1937 the banks foreclosed and took the farm. Also their son, James Nelson died of sugar diabetes in 1937.
Lee Bowles was 67 years old when he lost the farm. After a life time of hard work, he was left with nothing for his old age. Through no fault of his won, his beloved farm now belonged to a bank. The oldest son, Clayton, remained in the Peace Valley community and managed to prosper by raisin wheat and cattle during World War II.
Throughout the Depression and dust bowl years, Ivy Bowles was a pillar of strength. She pulled her family through it. None of her family went hungry or cold. Ivy worked from sun up until sundown. She gardened, canned, milked cows, baked bread, tended the sick, birthed babies, made clothes and kept spirits up by playing her piano and singing hymns. Her house was always filled with children and grandchildren. Ivy always kept a diary in which she recorded the day to day details that are the fiber of life. She also wrote poetry and numerous letters.
Just once in her life was Ivy seen weeping. That was when lightning struck and killed her milk cow. It happened in 1937 or 1938 toward the end of the Depression. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The cow was so important to the family. Ivy had mouths to feed. Clayton, Jim and their families lived close by and were frequent visitors. Frequently her younger children returned to the farm with their families.
Ivy Bowles had a zest for living and was compassionate, cheerful lady. She was a giver, not a taker. She had lots of initiative and often said, "There's more ‘n one way to skin a cat". As busy as she was, she always found time to cuddle and hug the grandchildren. Ivy loved babies and said it was impossible to spoil a tiny baby. Her advice to new mothers was to get a rocking chair, said it wasn't possible to raise a child without a rocking chair. Ivy completely rejected the theories of child care experts in the 1950's. Her great-grandchildren were loved and cuddled, she saw to it.
Lee and Ivy were both ethical, moral people. They would never take anything that wasn't rightfully theirs.
After they lost the farm, they moved to Englewood, Colorado where they shared a house on South Broadway with Daughter, Evelyn and her husband, Bernie Mohler. Lee's health rapidly deteriorated. He died in 1940 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery at Fort Morgan.
Ivy lived another 27 years in Englewood, Colorado. She was deeply religious and active in the First Christian Church. When the church quilting circle met each week, you could depend on Ivy being there. Never idle, she crocheted, sewed on her treadle sewing machine and looked after grandchildren and anyone else who needed looking after.
Ivy Bowles died in 1967 and is buried beside Lee at Riverside Cemetery, Fort Morgan, Colorado
Written by:
Phyllis Bowles Dollerschell
Granddaughter
March 1984
Nobody seems to know why he came to Colorado. His son, Lawrence, believes that Lee simply had a desire to come west and see new country. Lee arrived at Barthoud, Colorado in 1899 or 1900 and worked on a farm owned by Henry Wagner. At Berthoud he met Ivy Eulalia Nelson, the daughter of Phoebe Ellen Nash and Willard C. Nelson. Ivy was born at New Market, Iowa, February 26 1881 and came west with her parents. Ivy and Lee were married October 29, 1902.
Their first home was a farm at Windsor, Colorado where Clayton Oliver was born in 1903 and James Nelson was born in 1905. In 1906 the family moved to a farm between Fort Morgan and Brush, Colorado. Twin sons were born at Fort Morgan, Lawrence Ewell and Ellis Buhl in 1908 In later years, Ivy Bowles joked about having 4 boys in five years. She said there weren't many women who could top that record.
Clayton Bowles told about swimming in the irrigation ditch when they lived at Fort Morgan. An irrigation ditch is a dangerous place for small boys as the water is deep and swift. Clayton said they knew their mother would thresh them later but they swam in the ditch anyhow. Irrigation ditches were simply the only place in 1901 where children could swim.
In 1913 Lee and Ivy purchased a farm sixteen miles north of Fort Morgan in Peace Valley community. The farm was a relinquished homestead. Northern Morgan County is flat, rolling, treeless plain. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Cottonwood trees grow in the creek beds or the Platte River bottom; however, there were no trees on Lee and Ivy's place.
A sod house which sat a quarter mile south of Peace Valley School was their first home. In 1914 Lee brought a house which was already build and moved it by horse drawn skids to a site directly west of the school. He moved it from an abandoned homestead two miles northwest of his farm. The new home site was on a hill close to the road in the NENW of Section 14, Township 6 North, Range 58 West, Morgan County, Colorado.
The family dug a well southwest of their new home by the barn and corral. Lawrence said it was a gosh awful long ways to carry water and uphill to boot. Later they put down another well west of and closer to the house. The well was powered by a windmill and provided water for the house and garden.
The Bowles lived in a fine house compared to what the neighbors had. The house face east, it was one story with two bedrooms, parlor, kitchen, front porch, back porch and pantry. Grape ivy vines grew on the east side of the house and covered the screened in front porch. There was a root cellar west of the house where canned goods, potatoes, carrots, onions and other garden produce were stored.
By prairie standards, Ivy's parlor was luxurious. She had handsome wicker living room set, wool
rug on the floor, lace curtains in the windows and, of course, the upright piano. The kitchen was dominated by a Home Comfort Range with coal bucket and boxes of corn cobs nearby. There was no electricity, indoor plumbing or telephone.
Coal oil lamps provided light. Water was carried by bucket from the well. The Rural Electric power lines didn't reach the Peace Valley community until after World War II or about 1947.
Northern Morgan County looks almost deserted today. When Lee and Ivy lived there, farmsteads were less than a quarter mile apart. Friends and neighbors were nearby. The old Bowles farm was eight miles south of the railroad depot. The Chicago, Burlingrton and Quincy Railroad Trains ran from Sterling, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming with regular stops at New Raymer, Colorado. Clayton called "The Prairie Dog Express". New Raymer was a thriving town in 1915. There were grain elevators, banks, newspapers, general stores, a blacksmith shop and schools.
The center of the community for the Bowles family was the Peace Valley School House. Church services and Sunday school were held there. Summer Sunday school picnics were enjoyed by the family in the neighborhood. People often gathered at a grove of Cottonwood trees on Wildcat Creek. Picnic dinners consisted of fried chicken, potato salad and pies. Three or four freezers of ice cream were cranked out and eaten along with piles of home grown watermelon. After the picnickers had gorged themselves on food , the children played softball and climbed trees while the men pitched horseshoes and the women visited.
Early settlers on the Colorado Plains raised practically all their food. Cattle and hogs raised on the farm were slaughtered for meat. The meat might be eaten fresh or canned or preserved by smoking or salt cured. They raised lots of chickens for meat and eggs. Milk cows provided milk cream, butter and cottage cheese. Big vegetable gardens were a necessity. Bread was homemade and baked in the kitchen range.
To make butter, cream was poured into a Daisy Churn and the paddle was turned by hand until the butter separated from the buttermilk. Next the butterfat was drained off and the butter placed in a big crock, salted and worked with a wooden butter paddle to squeeze out the remaining buttermilk. Fresh, hot homemade bread spread with delicious, freshly churned butter was an unsurpassed treat.
Farm labor was all manual as there were not any power-take-offs back then. Farm machinery was pulled by teams of draft horses. Lee Bowles raised corn, wheat, oats, barley and beans as well as cattle, chickens and pigs. He planted an orchard east of the house: two cherry trees are still alive and producing fruit (as of 1984). They are all that remains of the Bowles Farmstead.
In Colorado there are two types of farms, dry land and irrigated. Lee and Ivy were dry land farmers which means they had to rely on rain and snow to irrigate their crops. During the first years on the farm, moisture was plentiful, crops good, and the Bowles family prospered. Lee raised outstanding watermelons on his corn fields.
A daughter, Evelyn Pearl Bowles, was born in 1916, and another daughter Frances Lee was born in 1921. All the children attended the two-room Peace Valley School. Clayton wasn't able to go to high school, but the others continued their educations at Fort Morgan High.
Lawrence told about his father hauling wheat to the New Raymer elevator in a wagon drawn by horse. It was usually early evening before Lee returned home. The family new when to expect Lee because they could hear him whistling a mile away!
Lawrence said Lee liked to walk and that he walked miles every day. Lee also played the violin. He made two trips to Missouri to see his brothers and sisters. Lee went alone in 1912 and again in 1919 when Ivy accompanied him. Lawrence remembers them boarding the train at the Union Pacific depot north of Fort Morgan.
Ivy Bowles was a relatively tall woman of Swedish descent. She was handy at everything she did. Clayton Bowles said his mother could ride practically any horse and was actually better with horses than her husband was.
The family owned two automobiles. In 1917 they bought a Hubmobile touring car which they drove until 1926 when they purchased an Oldsmobile.
The Depression Years (1931-1939) spelled tragedy. Lee had been depositing money at the bank in New Raymer for years, but when the bank folded at the beginning of the Depression, depositors recouped less than 10 cents on the dollar. If the Depression weren't enough, there was also a draught from 1934 to 1937. The dust storms which raged in 1935 and 1936 completed the financial ruin of Lee and Ivy. It was impossible to raise crops without rain. Without crops there was no cover for the soil and strong winds blew the soil into choking dust storms. The Bowles family were forced to mortgage their farm and like so many other farmers in the Depression were not able to pay off the loan. In 1937 the banks foreclosed and took the farm. Also their son, James Nelson died of sugar diabetes in 1937.
Lee Bowles was 67 years old when he lost the farm. After a life time of hard work, he was left with nothing for his old age. Through no fault of his won, his beloved farm now belonged to a bank. The oldest son, Clayton, remained in the Peace Valley community and managed to prosper by raisin wheat and cattle during World War II.
Throughout the Depression and dust bowl years, Ivy Bowles was a pillar of strength. She pulled her family through it. None of her family went hungry or cold. Ivy worked from sun up until sundown. She gardened, canned, milked cows, baked bread, tended the sick, birthed babies, made clothes and kept spirits up by playing her piano and singing hymns. Her house was always filled with children and grandchildren. Ivy always kept a diary in which she recorded the day to day details that are the fiber of life. She also wrote poetry and numerous letters.
Just once in her life was Ivy seen weeping. That was when lightning struck and killed her milk cow. It happened in 1937 or 1938 toward the end of the Depression. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The cow was so important to the family. Ivy had mouths to feed. Clayton, Jim and their families lived close by and were frequent visitors. Frequently her younger children returned to the farm with their families.
Ivy Bowles had a zest for living and was compassionate, cheerful lady. She was a giver, not a taker. She had lots of initiative and often said, "There's more ‘n one way to skin a cat". As busy as she was, she always found time to cuddle and hug the grandchildren. Ivy loved babies and said it was impossible to spoil a tiny baby. Her advice to new mothers was to get a rocking chair, said it wasn't possible to raise a child without a rocking chair. Ivy completely rejected the theories of child care experts in the 1950's. Her great-grandchildren were loved and cuddled, she saw to it.
Lee and Ivy were both ethical, moral people. They would never take anything that wasn't rightfully theirs.
After they lost the farm, they moved to Englewood, Colorado where they shared a house on South Broadway with Daughter, Evelyn and her husband, Bernie Mohler. Lee's health rapidly deteriorated. He died in 1940 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery at Fort Morgan.
Ivy lived another 27 years in Englewood, Colorado. She was deeply religious and active in the First Christian Church. When the church quilting circle met each week, you could depend on Ivy being there. Never idle, she crocheted, sewed on her treadle sewing machine and looked after grandchildren and anyone else who needed looking after.
Ivy Bowles died in 1967 and is buried beside Lee at Riverside Cemetery, Fort Morgan, Colorado
Written by:
Phyllis Bowles Dollerschell
Granddaughter
March 1984
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