Organizations

: Hudson Essex Motor Company (Grand Junction, Colorado); The company owned an automotive garage located between 5th and 6th Streets on Rood Avenue. It was owned initially by Walter Rait then sold to Dick Reed and Wayne Sheaffer, who renamed it the Schaeffer-Reed Motor Company. It then became the Reed-Simpson Motor Company. At some point, it moved to the corner of 7th Street and White Avenue.

: Independent Abstract Company (Grand Junction, Colorado); A title company purchased by Orlo Williams shortly after his arrival from Iowa in 1906. The business was located on the west side of South Sixth Street, near Colorado Avenue, in what later became known as the Schiesswohl building. Williams later moved the business to the old Daily News building on Main Street. Williams’ son Richard worked for the company and then took over the business in 1943. He purchased two rival companies, the Mesa County Abstract Company, and the Colorado Abstract and Title Company, and moved the office to the location of the Mesa County company on 5th Street. In 1963, Williams sold his company to the Title Guarantee Company.

: Independent Lumber Company (Grand Junction, Colorado); A lumberyard owned by William Clarence Kurtz (who also owned a yard in Montrose) and managed by Alfred Bigum. In addition to selling lumber, the company also apparently employed an architect at one time. Stephen Johnson recalls that an architect who worked for the company drew the plans for Johnson’s House of Flowers on North Avenue in 1937.

: Independent Order of Odd Fellows Mesa Lodge #58 (Grand Junction, Colorado); An organization, with its origins in England, with a chapter in Grand Junction, Colorado. According to oral history interviewee Helen (Young) Johnson, whose husband James "Shorty" Johnson was a member, duties of members were to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, and educate the orphan. The society met weekly, on Tuesdays. Officers were changed every six months. The Odd Fellows put on dances for members and their close relatives at the Odd Fellows Hall at 136 N 5th Street. Music was provided by a small orchestra (including a baby grand piano, owned by the Odd Fellows). Non-members could attend but they had to purchase tickets to help cover the orchestra. Dances played included the foxtrot, waltz, one-step, schottische, and the heel-and-toe polka. As the name implies, this was a club for gentlemen, but wives served in an auxiliary capacity, as part of the Rebekahs. They had a Shriners-style subsidiary called the Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans. They also had a Knights-Templar-style subsidiary called the Patriarchs Militant. These events could be attended by members and their close family.

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