345 E. 1st Street

Description

Real estate appraisal card. 345 E. 1st Street, lots 1-3, block 24, in Salida, Colorado. A January 1, 1885 edition of the Salida Mail includes a drawing of this house and identifies it as the residence of Judge Bowne. John Berdette Bowne, a real estate man and one of Salida's pioneers, lived here until his death in February 1924. When he was six, his parents moved to Barry County, Michigan, where he grew up and eventually ran a country store. John Bowne moved to Colorado in the 1870s, for the benefit of his health and that of his first wife. He moved from Cleora, Colorado (after losing all his possessions in a fire) to Salida when Salida was founded. Judge Bowne was born in Cortland County, New York on 28 March 1831. He had colonial ancestors and was the son of John and Sarah Owen Bowne. Nancy Jane Bush, John Bowne's first wife, died at the age of 56, in 1892. They had married on 15 June 1856, and had one child, Lillian B. Stringfellow. Mrs. Bowne was reported to be the third person to be buried at Fairview Cemetery. John Bowne married his second wife, Emily E. Kenyon, on March 1, 1893. Emily Bowne was another pioneer of the Salida area, following a brother and sister to Colorado in 1890, and settling in Salida in 1891. Mrs. Bowne was born in Warren County, New York on June 13, 1850. Her parents were Randall James and Sarah Burdick Kenyon. Like Judge Bowne, she had colonial ancestry, including one relative who was part of the Mayflower Colony. Two of her great grandfathers were killed in the American Revolution. Her family went west when she was a young child, settling in Iowa, where she spent her formative years. She attended Iowa Wesleyan College, later moving with her family to Kansas for a few years before coming to Colorado. Judge and Mrs. Bowne had two boarders living with them in 1906: Roy R. Bowne, a blacksmith with GT&FD Granger, and Lyle Bowman, a high school student. The 1910 census indicated Judge Bowne's occupation as "own income." He was already retired at this point. When he died in this house in 1924, John Bowne's obituary described him as "public spirited" and said that he "aided in every enterprise for the benefit of the town." He served as justice of the peace under Governor Eaton and was vice president of Salida 1st National Bank in the 1890s. He also was one of the most active people involved in procuring a smelter for Salida and was one of the original organizers of the Fairview Cemetery Association. After John Bowne's death, Mrs. Emily Bowne continued to live at 345 E. 1st; she died in the house of heart trouble in April 1929. Notably, she wrote her own obituary. By 1930, Bernard B. and Genevieve Belwood lived here. Mr. Belwood was born in 1893 in Kansas and Mrs. Belwood was born in 1898 in Nebraska. They had four sons and two daughters, all of whom were born in Oklahoma. The 1930 Census listed the following children here: Larry (17), Laree (15), Bernice (12), Bennett (11), Kenneth (9), and H.G. (7). Mr. Belwood worked at the Singer Sewing Machine Store. In 1931, C. Leroy and Kate Belwood also lived here. No occupation was listed for either of them. Porter and Hattie Whitcomb lived here in 1951. Mr. Whitcomb was a switchman for D&RGW. By 1965, James R. and Betty M. Gaalaas were owners and residents of the house. He was employed with the US Post Office and she worked at Salida Drug. The couple had two children. A Chaffee County Assessor appraisal card indicates that Alfreda Keyon and Helen E. Yingling were once owners of the house. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.