People

: Bessie Jane (Jenkins) Milholland; She was born in Illinois to Charles T. Jenkins, a farmer, and Mary Margaret (Beye) Jenkins, a homemaker. The family had moved to Mesa County, Colorado by at least 1897, when Bessie was six, and she grew up in Molina, Colorado on her father’s ranch. She attended the Molina School from 1897 through 1905. As a child she helped her family cream butter and sell dairy goods. On October 8th, 1910 in Mesa, Colorado, Bessie married Danford N. Wheeler, fireman on the railroad and rancher. They moved to Grand Junction for at least a time after their marriage, although later census records show them living in Molina. They had four sons; Danford N. Wheeler Jr., Charles Milton Wheeler, Carl J. Wheeler, and James Lee Wheeler. Her husband, Danford, passed away in 1955. In addition to her farm work, Bessie worked at the Palisade Restaurant as a waitress. She also played the piano for dances at the Molina School. Bessie later married Herbert Ray Milholland on August 29th, 1968 in Grand Junction, Colorado. She was a member of the Rebekahs Lodge in Grand Junction and Palisade.