Our thanks goes to Deverla SIFERS, Patti RUSSO & Crystal WADE for most of the information on this page
Harriet Jane(Jennie) HOPKIRK was a daughter of John HOPKIRK and Harriet THORLEY
"Jennie" was born 14 Feb 1886 in Rock Vale, Colorado.
Family history says that as a young girl she had an apron full of kittens and she tried to jump a ditch of water and fell in. This is said to have made her deaf.
"Jennie" married Lewis Bradford JONES on 6 January 1904 in Canon City, Colorado. They had one child, Robert Bradford JONES, born 22 October 1904. Robert Bradford JONES died on 6 September 1952 enroute from Lake City, Colorado to Gunnison, Colorado via airplane. Robert's death was caused from a fractured skull due to a fall down a mine shaft.
Harriet Jane "Jennie" HOPKIRK and Lewis Bradford JONES had one child:
Robert
Bradford JONES, born 22 October 1904 in Canon City, Colorado
On 12 October 1907 Harriet Jane "Jennie" HOPKIRK married Walter Logan SIFERS in Canon City, Colorado
"Jennie's" second marriage was to Walter Logan SIFERS on 12 October 1907 in Canon City, Colorado. Walter and "Jennie" had eleven children. Four of their daughters died before the age of 3. From a letter written in 1977 by Edythe SIFERS, the four daughters were probably named Louise, Mary, Laura and Jane. The other children were Robert(by Jennie's first marriage), Walter, James, Albert, Donald, Edythe and Gladys.
An older daughter remembers Walter Logan SIFERS as being a very quiet man, but he liked to tease their mother by untying her apron strings. One time he did it when she had a skillet in her hand and she hit him with it.
Walter worked on building highways and repairing roads, he drove an ore wagon from Cripple Creek to Canon City, and he worked in the molybdenum mine at Climax, Colorado, near Leadville, at the time of his death in 1930.
Walter passed away while there was still a daughter and three young sons aged 7, 5, and 3 living at home. The family moved to Del Norte, Colorado where Ed and Annie SIFERS were living and in 1931 the youngest son, Donald, died at age 4.
Later an older brother, Robert(Jones), moved the family to his home town of Gunnison, were the two remaining sons were raised, and both went into the service. The older of the two, Walter, re-enlisted and was killed during the Korean War.
All things considered, Jennie did a remarkable job raising her family.
The 1910 census lists the family of
Harriet J SIFERS and her husband Walter SIFERS living on West Four Mile
Road, Park County, Colorado. Also in the household arre Robert J SIFERS
age 5 and Gladys I SIFERS age 2. Walter is listed as a farmer, on a
farm. On the same census page is a Peter and Rebecca Sifers, aged 64
and 54, a farmer, on a farm. They are Walter's parents, as there
is a Walter L SIFERS, age 24, living with Peter and Rebecca in the 1900
census.
From the 1920 census we find the family
still on West Four Mile Road, Park County, Colorado. Besides Walter,
now 43 and Jennie, now 34, we have Robert JONES, 15, Gladys T. SIFERS,
11, Edith M. SIFERS, 8, and Albert L SIFERS, 3 3/4 years old. Both
parents can read and write. Walter is listed as a laborer on a farm.
From the 1930 census we find in Lake County. Walter is 54 and with age at forst marriage of 31, while Jennie is 41, with age at first marriage of 21. Jennie only aged 7 years between the two censuses. Walter is still a miner. Also in the household are Gladys, 22, Albert, 14, Walter, 7, James 6 and Donald 1. Walter is still a farmer, renting. His mother Rebecca is close by, listed as a farmer. Peter is not listed, so presumably has passed away. Walter may be working his mother's farm.
From the 1940 census we find this family living in Gunnison, Gunnison County, Colorado. They are living at Lot 20, North Boulevard Street. Jennie is 64 years old, widowed, and the head of the household. Highest grade of school completed for Jennie was 4th grade. Also living with her are son Albert, age 22, a Laborer on a Cattle Ranch. He had been unemployed for the last 26 weeks, and in 1939 he worked 14 weeks and earned $340.00. Albert's work was classified as "Private Work", meaning he did not worik for the government. Son Walter is 17, has had 7 years of schooling and is currently in school. Son james is 15, has had 6 years of schooling and is currently in school. Daughter Gladys Salvage is age 34 and widowed. She attained 5 years of schooling and is now a Seamstress. Her type of work is classified as "Government Work". In 1939 she worked 48 weeks and earned $440.00
Albert L. SIFERS, born about 1916
Walter SIFERS, born about 1923. Died in the Korean War.
James SIFERS, born about 1924
Donald SIFERS, born about 1929 (he is not on the 1940 census, has he passed away?)
And then there were the 4 daughters all
dying before the age of 3, probably named Louise, Mary, Laura, and
Jane, with birth years not known at this time. There may also be a
daughter named Alice. Per the newspaper article
on the death of Robert Bradford JONES, it says he is
survived by a sister
Alice SIFERS living in Pueblo, Colorado in 1952. But there is no Alice
living with the family in any of the censuses from 1910 through 1940.
Is this a mistake? Did the reporter write down Alice, instead of
Albert? Is Alice living with another part of the family because of hard
times?
This page was last updated on 15 April 2012