Henry and Harrietta Hitchens were of English decent. One of their sons was James H. Hitchens, born Port Quina, England, on January 4, 1853. James received a common education in his home land and lived there until the age of twenty. In 1873, he emigrated to the United States and moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania where he worked for some time. In 1875 he moved to Colorado and worked in the quartz mines of Georgetown and then on to Central City. He returned to England for two years and then returned to Johnstown in 1878. James again move to Colorado in 1879 and engaged in mining for about four years. During the next four years he ran a business transporting ore. In 1887, James sold most of his teams and moved to the neighborhood of Pool, Colorado.
On January 20, 1876, he was united in marriage with Miss Emma Blight, a native of Cornwall, England. To this union, nine children were born: infant, James H., Harrietta, Annie, Eliza, Henry, Mary E., Chester A. and Albert R. Hitchens.
In September of 1984, Cole Martin Jr. interviewed Albert Hitchens, at the Hitchens Ranch. The interview was published in the spring edition of the "Three Wire Winter, Spring 1985".
From this interview, we confirmed the fact that there is a burial on the Hitchens ranch. (Note: In prior research of sites in Routt County, we were given information that Florence Trull had made comments that there were two burials on the Hitchens ranch.) Alberts recollections of the homestead and of his father have given us a good insight into the Hitchens family. Albert was born November 28, 1892. He tells of the first two room cabin built by James, it had a sod roof. He recalls the freighters stopping at their home and the hard work building the homestead.
At one point Wilma talks about the home remedies they used to "cure" a cold or flu. Homemade cough syrup was made with rock candy, lemon and whiskey. They also used mustard plasters. At one point Wilma states: "Dad had one sister that died about 1918 with the flu epidemic. About 1912, an older sister died of pneumonia. She is buried right up the hill. They didn't even have a cemetery back then." From this we are not certain if there are two graves or just the one. We will continue the research of this site for more information. For more information on the Hitchens family refer to the first edition of the History of Hayden & West Routt County 1876 - 1989.
ROUTT COUNTY CEMETERY: #RT045
COLORADO HISTORICAL SITE: #5RT1163
LOCATION: North of US Highway #40
BURIALS: Possibly 2 burials with no inscribed stones
CONDITION: Unknown
USGS QUAD MAP: MILNER, COLO. 7.5 1971; UTM 13; mE mN
T6N R86W 6th PM; Probably SEC 11
© 2004-2008 Roger & Joyce Cusick
National Association for Cemetery Preservation, Inc.nacpinc@hotmail.com
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