Home Surname List Name Index Sources GEDCOM File Email Us | Fifteenth Generation5694. Ralph Elmer "Elmer or Babe" Chatfield was born on 1 July 1860 in Wauseon, Fulton Co., Ohio, USA. He appeared in the census in 1880 in Lake Co., Colorado, USA. He appeared in the census in 1900 in Naturita, Montrose Co., Colorado, USA. Elmer or Babe appeared in the census in 1910 in Nucla, Montrose Co., Colorado, USA. He appeared in the census in 1920 in Montrose Co., Colorado, USA. He appeared in the census in 1930 in Garfield, Chaffee Co., Colorado, USA. Elmer or Babe died on 15 December 1953 at the age of 93 in Salida, Chaffee Co., Colorado, USA. He was buried in Fairview Cmtry., Salida, Chaffee Co., Colorado, USA. Find A Grave Memorial# 53101394 From a story donated to the society by Doraljean Chatfield Ralph Elmer Chatfield (known as Elmer or Babe) was born in Wauseon, Ohio in July of 1860. His father, James Lauren, fought in the Civil War. Elmer had one brother, Herbert (Hugh) and one sister, Lottie. He came to Colorado when he was 17, in the year 1877; one year after the state joined the Union. In September 1864 Fannie Elizabeth Spradlin was born on a riverboat on the Licking River in Kentucky. Her father was Joe Spradlin who served as a spy and guide for the northern forces. Her mother, Mary Ann Kendric Gorden, came from a well-established Virginia family. She had three sisters and three brothers. After Joe died the family moved several times, finally settling in Kansas. Fannie attended Normal School in Emporia, graduating with a teacher’s degree. On a visit to Colorado to see a school chum, Lottie Chatfield, she became acquainted with Lottie’s brother, Ralph Elmer Chatfield. They were married on July 25, 1893 in Gypsum. In 1894 their first child, Elda Alice, was born. In 1894 Elmer made a trip to Naturita and decided to invest $2,000 in the Colorado Cooperative Company. In 1896 the Chatfields and their two-year-old daughter arrived at the Colony. They paused briefly in Pinon, then moved on down the valley near Naturita, where they were charged with the responsibility of raising the beans and garden truck needed to sustain the ditchdiggers until they could farm for themselves. Chatfield was one of the few members who purchased company stock with money; because of this he imposed one condition. The Company was to furnish him with one case of cove oysters a year. Since there were no secrets in the Colony everybody knew of the terms and the dire need for cash that impelled to Co-op Directors to agree to this condition. However, oyster stew was the cause of considerable hard feelings among the other members of the colony, who were subsisting on a diet of beans. After a couple of seasons the Chatfields bought a place on the north side of the river about a mile and a half below Naturita. Albert Delaplane built them a frame house where they lived for about ten years. Ralph Elmer "Elmer or Babe" Chatfield and Frances Elizabeth "Fannie" Spradlin were married on 25 July 1893 in Gypsum, Eagle Co., Colorado, USA. Frances Elizabeth "Fannie" Spradlin, daughter of Jonathan F Spradlin and Mary Ann Kendric Gorden, was born on 26 September 1864 in River Boat, Licking River, Kentucky, USA. She appeared in the census in 1870 in West Liberty Precinct, Morgan Co., Kentucky, USA. She appeared in the census in 1900 in Naturita, Montrose Co., Colorado, USA. Fannie appeared in the census in 1920 in Montrose Co., Colorado, USA. She appeared in the census in 1930 in Garfield, Chaffee Co., Colorado, USA. She died on 30 March 1940 at the age of 75 in Salida, Chaffee Co., Colorado, USA. Fannie was buried in Fairview Cmtry., Salida, Chaffee Co., Colorado, USA. Find A Grave Memorial# 53101417 On a visit to Colorado to see a school chum, Lottie Chatfield, she became acquainted with Lottie’s brother, Ralph Elmer Chatfield. They were married on July 25, 1893 in Gypsum. Ralph Elmer "Elmer or Babe" Chatfield and Frances Elizabeth "Fannie" Spradlin had the following children:
|