News
ENLARGE
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Sometimes while looking into Mesa County history, some things just jump out and find you. Some people just want to be found while others are hiding in the “witness protection program.”
Recently, while at the Museum of Western Colorado, Loyd Files section archives room, I was cataloging a box of information from Judy Prosser Armstrong's “to be filed” boxes that she didn't finish indexing before she passed away in 2006. I had no idea what I was about to find in this plain, white box.
Opening the box there were photos of the family of Glen Schrader, his wife, brother and parents. It occurred to me that I know this Schrader name from somewhere. As I looked through the generations of Schrader family photos, there was a picture of Charles F. Schrader standing in front of the old Mesa County Jail on the north side of White Street (where R-5 High School now stands).
I noted that it was a nice looking jail. There was a child's red wagon out front, making me think the sheriff and his family also lived there. In fact in the 1910 Census of Grand Junction, Charles and his wife, Carrie, and two sons Glen and Welby are living in the bottom half of the jail and there are seven inmates listed upstairs in the jail cells. Also in the box was a nice photo of Sheriff Charles F. Schrader in his hat and business suit taken by the Frank Dean Studio.
At that moment, the light bulb went off in my brain. It dawned on me that I am the only person in Mesa County who has and now knows where there are photos of Mesa County Sheriff Charles F. Schrader, and I'm holding those pictures in my hands.
Now my interest is really peaked, so I went downstairs to the Museum of Western Colorado gun display of the Mesa County Sheriff's hand guns to see if there was a photo of Sheriff Schrader posted next to his pistol. Sure enough there is Sheriff Schrader's hand gun, but no photo. My next stop was the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, where there is a photo collection and histories of Mesa County Sheriffs on the wall. My memory is right there is no photo of Charles F. Schrader. Now this is getting to be a dance-around-the-table moment.
I showed the two photos to the sheriff staff at the front desk, and they also got excited. One of them went into the administration section of the office to share the information about the photos with the public relation's personnel. When the clerk returned she said how disappointed she was but the staff in the back was too busy to come out front and could I please scan the photos, email the information for their review, and they would get in touch. Ah well, sometimes opportunity knocks at your door and it goes unanswered. By the time the opportunity is realized it has left the room.
Oh, but not to be stopped I researched more on Charles F. Schrader. I found out he was born Charles Franklin Schrader on Nov. 26, 1868, in Lancaster County, Ill. He came to Colorado in 1888 as a member of a survey party for the railroad and in 1890 he was a railroad engineer in Grand Junction and continued in that field until elected sheriff in November 1906. He remained a member of the railroad engineer's union his entire life. On Aug. 9, 1893, he married Carrie Anderson in Mesa County and they had two sons, Glen C. and C. Welby Schrader.
His career in politics was said to be outstanding. He was a Democrat in a Republican county and his election was a tribute to the general public confidence in his ability and honesty to the people. He served in an important year of the wet and dry elections, when the wholesale liquor interests from the outside tried to control local and county elections.
Sheriff Schrader was a man of few words, but a man of action when action was needed. Due to his cooperation with the dry committee, the city and county escaped trouble at the polls when large numbers of transients who were said to have been illegally registered to vote were warned by the sheriff the night before the election, that they would be arrested if they tried to vote under names not their own. Some arrests were made by the sheriff, and the news around the city was that several hundred transients left town the night before the election without trying to vote under false names.
Sheriff Schrader was one of the early county officials who broke tradition against third-term elections in Mesa County. His impartial and conscientious attention to duty earned him four two-year terms; his long service to Mesa County was from January 1907 to January 1915.
After his retirement as sheriff, Charles worked until 1934 for Grand Valley National Bank. During the mid-1920s the bank sent him to Roosevelt, Utah, to make a business survey to establish a bank branch there. He also served as a livestock inspector for the bank. Additionally, Charles was a sheep rancher.
After retiring from the bank, Charles once again made his home in Grand Junction and lived here until his death on Sept. 8, 1939. The last three years of his life he was only able to get around with the help of a wheelchair.
He was survived by his two sons, Glen, a well-known musician, and conductor for the railroad, C. Welby, who was also employed by the D & RG Railroad as a conductor, and Charles' wife, Carrie Anderson Schrader, who was living in Washington state at the time, and was unable to attend the funeral.
Charles was buried in Orchard Mesa Cemetery, his son, C. Welby Schrader, who died in 1967, was buried next him. His wife Carrie died in 1961 in Poulsbo, Wash., and is buried in the Holyrood Catholic Cemetery in Washington. Their other son Glen died in Grand Junction in 1974, and was cremated.
Charles F. Schrader was a faithful member of the Elks Lodge. Wayne N. Aspinall, exalted ruler was in charge of the impressive lodge service, and said at Charles' funeral that his “locomotive engineer's dues” were paid up at the time of his passing. Sheriff Schrader's funeral was attended by many old-time railroad men and pioneer families of Mesa County.
I like to think that what sent me to that box in the archive room in October 2011 to work on the files that Judy Prosser Armstrong had been working on before her death back in 2006 was a message that she must have been talking to Charles Schrader on the other side of the veil. Both Judy and Charles (like voices from the dust) were tapping on my shoulder to open that box.
Anyway, however it happened, the box was opened and one more piece of Mesa County history came forth into the light of day.
I guess Sheriff Charles F. Schrader is still in charge of his life, blowing the whistle of his own train, by letting us know: “Here I am!”
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Garry Brewer is finder of odd knowledge and uninteresting items; a bore to his grandchildren; a pain to his wife on spelling, but a locator of golden nuggets, truths and pearls of wisdom.
ALL PHOTOS
Courtesy photos | Museum of Western Colorado, Loyd Files Room, Michael Menard, the late Judy Prosser Armstrong, Daily Sentinel files, Snap Photo, Glen Schrader family
Recently, while at the Museum of Western Colorado, Loyd Files section archives room, I was cataloging a box of information from Judy Prosser Armstrong's “to be filed” boxes that she didn't finish indexing before she passed away in 2006. I had no idea what I was about to find in this plain, white box.
Opening the box there were photos of the family of Glen Schrader, his wife, brother and parents. It occurred to me that I know this Schrader name from somewhere. As I looked through the generations of Schrader family photos, there was a picture of Charles F. Schrader standing in front of the old Mesa County Jail on the north side of White Street (where R-5 High School now stands).
I noted that it was a nice looking jail. There was a child's red wagon out front, making me think the sheriff and his family also lived there. In fact in the 1910 Census of Grand Junction, Charles and his wife, Carrie, and two sons Glen and Welby are living in the bottom half of the jail and there are seven inmates listed upstairs in the jail cells. Also in the box was a nice photo of Sheriff Charles F. Schrader in his hat and business suit taken by the Frank Dean Studio.
At that moment, the light bulb went off in my brain. It dawned on me that I am the only person in Mesa County who has and now knows where there are photos of Mesa County Sheriff Charles F. Schrader, and I'm holding those pictures in my hands.
Now my interest is really peaked, so I went downstairs to the Museum of Western Colorado gun display of the Mesa County Sheriff's hand guns to see if there was a photo of Sheriff Schrader posted next to his pistol. Sure enough there is Sheriff Schrader's hand gun, but no photo. My next stop was the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, where there is a photo collection and histories of Mesa County Sheriffs on the wall. My memory is right there is no photo of Charles F. Schrader. Now this is getting to be a dance-around-the-table moment.
I showed the two photos to the sheriff staff at the front desk, and they also got excited. One of them went into the administration section of the office to share the information about the photos with the public relation's personnel. When the clerk returned she said how disappointed she was but the staff in the back was too busy to come out front and could I please scan the photos, email the information for their review, and they would get in touch. Ah well, sometimes opportunity knocks at your door and it goes unanswered. By the time the opportunity is realized it has left the room.
Oh, but not to be stopped I researched more on Charles F. Schrader. I found out he was born Charles Franklin Schrader on Nov. 26, 1868, in Lancaster County, Ill. He came to Colorado in 1888 as a member of a survey party for the railroad and in 1890 he was a railroad engineer in Grand Junction and continued in that field until elected sheriff in November 1906. He remained a member of the railroad engineer's union his entire life. On Aug. 9, 1893, he married Carrie Anderson in Mesa County and they had two sons, Glen C. and C. Welby Schrader.
His career in politics was said to be outstanding. He was a Democrat in a Republican county and his election was a tribute to the general public confidence in his ability and honesty to the people. He served in an important year of the wet and dry elections, when the wholesale liquor interests from the outside tried to control local and county elections.
Sheriff Schrader was a man of few words, but a man of action when action was needed. Due to his cooperation with the dry committee, the city and county escaped trouble at the polls when large numbers of transients who were said to have been illegally registered to vote were warned by the sheriff the night before the election, that they would be arrested if they tried to vote under names not their own. Some arrests were made by the sheriff, and the news around the city was that several hundred transients left town the night before the election without trying to vote under false names.
Sheriff Schrader was one of the early county officials who broke tradition against third-term elections in Mesa County. His impartial and conscientious attention to duty earned him four two-year terms; his long service to Mesa County was from January 1907 to January 1915.
After his retirement as sheriff, Charles worked until 1934 for Grand Valley National Bank. During the mid-1920s the bank sent him to Roosevelt, Utah, to make a business survey to establish a bank branch there. He also served as a livestock inspector for the bank. Additionally, Charles was a sheep rancher.
After retiring from the bank, Charles once again made his home in Grand Junction and lived here until his death on Sept. 8, 1939. The last three years of his life he was only able to get around with the help of a wheelchair.
He was survived by his two sons, Glen, a well-known musician, and conductor for the railroad, C. Welby, who was also employed by the D & RG Railroad as a conductor, and Charles' wife, Carrie Anderson Schrader, who was living in Washington state at the time, and was unable to attend the funeral.
Charles was buried in Orchard Mesa Cemetery, his son, C. Welby Schrader, who died in 1967, was buried next him. His wife Carrie died in 1961 in Poulsbo, Wash., and is buried in the Holyrood Catholic Cemetery in Washington. Their other son Glen died in Grand Junction in 1974, and was cremated.
Charles F. Schrader was a faithful member of the Elks Lodge. Wayne N. Aspinall, exalted ruler was in charge of the impressive lodge service, and said at Charles' funeral that his “locomotive engineer's dues” were paid up at the time of his passing. Sheriff Schrader's funeral was attended by many old-time railroad men and pioneer families of Mesa County.
I like to think that what sent me to that box in the archive room in October 2011 to work on the files that Judy Prosser Armstrong had been working on before her death back in 2006 was a message that she must have been talking to Charles Schrader on the other side of the veil. Both Judy and Charles (like voices from the dust) were tapping on my shoulder to open that box.
Anyway, however it happened, the box was opened and one more piece of Mesa County history came forth into the light of day.
I guess Sheriff Charles F. Schrader is still in charge of his life, blowing the whistle of his own train, by letting us know: “Here I am!”
-------------------------------
Garry Brewer is finder of odd knowledge and uninteresting items; a bore to his grandchildren; a pain to his wife on spelling, but a locator of golden nuggets, truths and pearls of wisdom.
ALL PHOTOS
Courtesy photos | Museum of Western Colorado, Loyd Files Room, Michael Menard, the late Judy Prosser Armstrong, Daily Sentinel files, Snap Photo, Glen Schrader family
