People

Collection for person entities.


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William Silzell
He was a pioneer of the Whitewater area who came to Mesa County in 1901. He opened a feed yard and boardinghouse in Whitewater.
William Smith
Three Wire Winter Magazine student.
William Thomas "Tom" Bird
Note: Referred to, in error, as Tom Byrd in the article, "Time Writes All History"
William Thomas Carpenter
Together with his wife Susan Etta Carpenter, he was a pioneering resident of Grand Junction, Colorado. The Grand Junction News mentions him as early as 1883. He started the Mesa County Bank, and built and owned a building between 5th and 6th Streets on Main. He opened the Book Cliff Coal Mine in the Bookcliffs mountain range in 1889, and started the Little Book Cliff Railway to transport the coal. He was forced to sell the railway during the Panic of 1893. He and his wife lived in Grand Junction, Colorado near the intersection of 1st Street and Grand Avenue. They divorced in 1901.
William Tunis "Judge" Snook
He was born to Freeman Snook and Lydia (Soule) Snook in Clay, New York, near Syracuse. US Census Records from 1870 list his name as Judge Snook (The nickname "Judge" would seem to be derived from Judson, which was his given name according to his daughter Della (Snook) Mack). According to the 1875 New York State Census, he was married to Jane Snook, but the 1880 US Census shows Jane and their four children living by themselves in New York (though the census still lists Jane as “wife”). According to one story (recounted online without attribution), Snook took the name William Tunis and dropped the name Judge when he went on the lam from New York after killing a man in a horse thieving incident. The Colorado State Census shows William living in Mesa County, Colorado by at least 1885, where he is shown married to Clara (Park) Snook, whom he may have married without first divorcing Jane. The Snooks moved subsequently to Montrose County, and information given by the granddaughter of William Snook, Ida May (Snook) Waggoner, states that William’s son Guy was born in Olathe in 1888. The family returned to Mesa County and was living on the Brink place by 1896. In 1900, they established a homestead just outside of Fruita in what is now known as Snooks Bottom. When the reservoir on the homestead breached in 1910 (according to Snook’s daughter Della (Snook) Mack), the family abandoned the homestead and moved back into Fruita. William purchased the livery stable there, which he operated until giving the reigns over to his son, Guy. He also rounded up and broke wild horses, and then sold them. William and Clara later followed Guy and his wife to Moffat County. There, William built roads in the Craig and Axel areas and then established a homestead on Waddel Creek. The 1930 US Census shows him farming with his wife in the Fruitvale area of Mesa County at the age of 74. The 1940 US Census shows him living with Clara at 549 Pitkin Avenue in Grand Junction.

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