The Carmichael branch of Delta County, Colorado's Howard family

Myrtle Irene Howard , born September 3, 1877 in Castle Creek, Broome County, New York to Ira Howard Sr. and his wife Anna. In the autumn of 1887, the Howard family took the “shanty train” West, settling in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. It is not known when the Howard family became Seventh-Day Adventists, but from the early years of living in Colorado they were active in the Adventist church in Monte Vista and Delta. The Howard family has always been a close-knit, loving farm family.

Jackson (“Jack”) Ellsworth Carmichael  was born on October 11, 1864 in Jefferson, Noble County, Ohio. Prior to 1894 Jack and his parents, David and Sarah Carmichael, moved to Colorado and located in Rio Grande County.

Jack’s father, David L. Carmichael, was born in Virginia , circa 1824. His mother, Sarah Miller, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1827 . In 1844, the Miller family moved to Ohio, and two years later, in 1846 , she married David Carmichael. Together they had seven children. In 1895, Sarah was baptised as a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and remained a faithful and devoted member until her death. David died in Monte Vista between 1900  and 1910. Sarah moved with her son Jack and daughter-in-law Myrtle to the Read / Austin / Cory vicinity of Delta County in the spring of 1911. Sarah passed away on March 4, 1913, at the age of 86 in Delta County,  Colorado. Sarah was survived by her four sons: Jacob, Joseph , Jasper , and Jackson. Collectively the siblings were known as the “4Js”.

Joseph was a mining engineer had convinced Jack to become a partner in a gold mine, the “Lone Pine”, near Prescott, Arizona. There were several occasions when Jack would go down to Arizona and help work on the mine. Glen Edward Carmichael, Jack’s grandson, even got in on this small scale mining operation in the 1980s. The mine is no longer in the Carmichael family, as the other partners wanted to sell out. Today, the area where the “Lone Pine” once operated, there is now paved roads, powerlines, and multimillion dollar homes. Joseph Carmichael had been mining in South America and returned to Dade County, Florida, where he resided at the time. He had written his brother Jack to tell him about his investments and assets, but the next letter the family received was from the local sheriff, saying his body had been found at the railyard and he was penniless.

Jack Carmichael was a stone mason and in 1907 he advertised for Echoes from the Field: “Wanted, two brick moulders and several other men to work in a brick yard, beginning May 5; wages, from $2.50 to S4.50 per day. Address J. E. Carmichael, Monte Vista, Colo. – J.E. Carmichael.”  In 1911, Jack built the Howard family home at Read.

On July 9, 1895, Myrtle Howard married Jack Carmichael in Monte Vista, Colorado. It was not long before the newly formed union began to bear fruit.

On March 19, 1896, Carl Clemet Carmichael was born in Monte Vista.  Carl married Gladys Adonna Johnston in Cory, Colorado on March 12, 1922.  Gladys was born on January 28, 1900 in Madison, Nebraska, and died on May 6, 1983 in Yuba City, Sutter County, California. Carl passed away on April 19, 1986 in Marysville, Yuba County, California.  They had a daughter, Gladys “Euline” Carmichael Epperson, who was born on January 18, 1923 in Cory, Colorado; she died on June 4, 1987 in Yuba City, California.

Ray Luther Carmichael  was born next. It should be noted that Ray’s 1918 WWI Draft registration card lists his date of birth as March 3, 1898 and his age as 20, however his tombstone in the Delta Cemetery has his date of birth as March 3, 1900. This is corroborated by his obituary, which listed the birth year as 1900.  The mystery is further complicated by the fact that Ray is listed as having turned 2 years old at his last birthday on the US Census of 1900, which would place his year of birth in 1898.  On September 4, 1926, Ray married Odell Elone Henson  in Grand Junction;  the licence indicates Ray was 26 at the time and Odell was 18 years old. Odell was born on November 15, 1908 and passed away on September 11, 1997  in Delta.  Ray passed away on January 23, 1986  in Delta.  Odell had been long time member of the Delta Seventh-Day Adventist Church. In later life, Odell’s daughter, Sylvia Griffith, and son-in-law, Jim Griffith  also came.

The third son was Fred Jackson Carmichael, born on May 1, 1905 in Monte Vista. He passed away on June 11, 1982  in Montrose, Colorado. Fred married Elva (or Elma) Fay Wear on March 23, 1934 in Moab, Utah. Elva was born on March 23, 1913 in Delta County, Colorado. She passed away on May 25, 1977  in Montrose County. Fred and Elva are interred at the Grand View Cemetery in Montrose.

The youngest son was Glen Howard Carmichael, who was born on September 11, 1910 in Monte Vista, Rio Grande County, Colorado. Glen passed away on June 26, 1994 in Delta, Colorado.  On October 15, 1931, Glen married Dottis Estelle Wear in Delta. The Wear family moved to Delta County between 1907 and 1910 from Texas.  Dottis was born in Delta on April 18, 1911 and passed away on April 25, 2006.  Glen and Dottis were long time members of the Delta Seventh-Day Adventist Church. They had one son, Glen Edward Carmichael, who retired as the production manager of Hi-Quality produce packing in Delta.

Even though the Jack Carmichael family began in the San Luis Valley in 1895, sometime between the autumns of 1898 and 1899, the Carmichaels embarked beyond the Continental Divide, settling in the lower Gunnison Valley in Delta County. During the 1900 Census, the Carmichaels were renting a farm and house in Eckert, an unincorporated village in the Surface Creek Valley, comprised of a post office, several stores, and numerous fruit orchards. By at least 1906, the Carmichaels were back in the San Louis Valley. During the 1910 Census, the Carmichaels are back in Monte Vista, Colorado.

The Carmichaels must have advocated quite persuasively that Delta County was the place to be, as by the spring of 1911 the Howards had purchased a farm in Read, Colorado from Harry Trail. The contract for the real estate was signed on May 13, 1911 and recorded on June 19, 1911. The owners listed on the Read farm warranty deed were Anna Howard and Amelia Hayes. Immediately after the closing, Ira Sr. and his son, Ira Jr. (Myrtle’s brother), along with Jack Carmichael (who was a stone mason), built the stone house at Read, which was home to the Howards from 1911-1962, when they moved to 10 Hartig Drive in Delta. Echoes from the Field reported on October 4, 1911, “Brother and Sister Carmichael and Sister Wade of Monte Vista have recently moved to Delta. Brother Oosterhous and wife plan to move there soon. This leaves the Company at Monte Vista rather small now, but we believe that others may be found at that place who will take their stand for the truth.”

The Jack Carmichael family rented the home and farm located adjacent  to where Roy and Marjorie (Howard) Long lived on the hill above the Gunnison River.  The modern day address of the place the Carmichaels rented is 8383 Marshalls Road, Austin, Colorado. The 1920 and 1930 Census indicates they were renting here, though it is not exactly known when the letting began or concluded. As of 2017, the home they rented is still there and owned by the Randall Shepard family.  The house was built in 1904.

The Carmichaels raised their family in the newly formed town of Orchard City.  Eventually the family moved to California Mesa and then Delta. Myrtle Howard Carmichael passed away on October 24, 1940 at the age of 63.  A fortnight later, on November 7, 1940, Jack and Myrtle’s niece, Orpha Mae (Howard) Miley passed away. This must have been a tough time for the Howard family.
On February 14, 1952, the patriarch of the family, Jack Carmichael, passed away.  He was 88 years old.  When Jack passed away, his obituary, published in the Central Union Reaper recognised him as one of the early members of the Colorado Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

A question which has persisted is when did the Howards become Seventh-Day Adventists? In a personal interview with Mabel Howard, niece of J.E. and Myrtle Carmichael, she recalled her “Uncle Jack and Aunt Myrt were devote Adventists, along with mama and grandpa [and others in the family].”  In 1898, it was reported in the Review and Herald that Elder Carmichael helped with an evangelistic series over in Cripple Creek.  In Echoes from the Field, dated September 12, 1906, “Brother J. E. Carmichael writes that their church school has started out nicely at Monte Vista. Miss Bayliss of College View is their teacher.”  In 1908, Jack Carmichael was a delegate to the General Conference and Central Union Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist.  At the Conference, Jack Carmichael was granted a ministerial license to be employed with church work in the field.  It appears Jack preached and was part of a spiritual weekend at the La Veta SDA Church in 1909.  La Veta is a statutory town in Huerfano County, Colorado and has had a post office by the same name since 1876. As of this writing, La Veta had roughly 700 inhabitants, roughly the same as when J.E. Carmichael and family would have visited in 1909. In 1913, J.E Carmichael was again granted a ministerial licence, this time for the Western Colorado Conference.

In reviewing the family archieves, it is amazing how many post cards they sent each other, especially when Jack and Myrtle were attending Seventh-Day Adeventist Confrences. One post card was from Iva Mae Oosterhous to Myrtie Carmichael telling them they had arrived safely in Montrose and were looking forward to seeing [President] Taft.

The August 3, 1922 issue of the Review and Herald featured a poem written by Jack Carmichael.  (see insert on previous page). In the early 1940s, Jack became blind. After prior to 1940, Jack and Myrtle, who lived at 215 Howard Street, Delta at the time, moved down the street to live with their son and daughter-in-law, Glen and Dottis Carmichael. A rope was tied from the back door of the house to the carriage house and corral in the back yard, where a milk cow was kept. Every morning, Jack would follow the rope and milk the cow. Jack enjoyed holding and spending time with his grandson, Glen Edward Carmichael, who was born in 1940, the same year Myrtle passed away. Jack passed away in 1952.

Glen Carmichael worked as a sugar beet foreman for many years and then went to work for the union. He eventually became a labour negotiator, travelling around the nation helping negotiate collective bargaining agreements and contracts. The Carmichaels moved to 224 Park Street on Garnet Mesa Hill, next to Dottis’ parents’ home in 1950. Dottis’ dad, Mr. Wear, ran a blacksmith shop behind the house until it burnt down one night. Glen Edward recalls the time he and the neighbour kids built and underground fort and covered it with sticks and branches. “Later that night grandpa came home from his Oddfellows meeting and crashed into the fort. We never heard the end of it.”

In Delta, Colorado: the first 100 years, by Deborah Doherty, Glen Carmichael was interviewed about the Holly Sugar Factory and World War II. “The sugar factory was considered a priority commodity and the workers at the Holly Sugar plant in Delta were deferred when their names came up for the draft. Since its operation was seasonal, however, many of the temporary employees were drafted by the government to work during their off months at a military base in Utah.”

Glen Carmichael leased and managed the old airport from Starr Nelson’s heirs after World War II. He ran Veteran’s Training Programs which were funded by the federal government, as well as private aviation classes. These activities continued when Carmichael moved the operations to Blake Field in the late 1960s. Glen leased a hanger and continued the flight school. In 1968, responsibility of the airport finally became the sole concern of the county government. Carmichael served as airport manager for about eight years. He later partnered with businessman Tim Arnett and opened the Delta Discount Center in 1976.

Carmichael was the founder of Delta’s Civil Air Patrol and formed a search and rescue team, with Glen as the commanding officer. The old Armoury Building, erecting shortly after WWI, served as the Air Patrol’s headquarters and saw many well-disciplined youngsters learn technical aspects of flying, shooting, how to spot dangerous situations, archery, and the use of Geiger counters, and other technical instruments. The Civil Air Patrol was very active during the Cold War.

Glen and Dottis raised two bob cats. They also had a big Siamese cat that rode with them everywhere they went, even to church! Its name was Pauline and could stand with its back legs on the floor and place her front paws on Dottis’ shoulders. Even though Dottis was only about five feet tall, a cat who could do that was still a pretty big cat.

Glen Edward and Dori managed fruit ranches from 1964-70, then managed the airport. Glen later was the production manager at Hi-Quality, one of the last fruit packing sheds in Delta County.

Civil War Sesquicentennial: Ira Howard & the 50th New York Engineers

Priv. Ira Howard, Co E, 50th NY Eng.

Days away from Ira Howard’s 14th birthday, news of the first shots fired at Fort Sumter flooded the newspapers in the small town of Maine, New York. April 12, 1861 saw the beginnings of war, from what had previously been politically divisive national debate. By December 1861 at least six of Ira’s cousins had enlisted in the military. Two of them would not return home alive. By 1864, the Howard family would supply three more soldiers for the war effort, including Ira, who lied about his age to join.

Maine is a town about the size of Orchard City, a few miles north of Binghamton in New York’s central region and was part of a 230,000 acre land deal, in which a group of 60 investors from Berkshire County, Massachusetts made in 1787, commonly referred to as the “Boston Purchase” or the “Boston Ten Townships.”

It was Ira’s great-uncle, Nathan Howard III, who became the patriarch of the family when Nathan Howard II and his second-wife Sarah died of small pox in the spring of 1777 in New London, Connecticut. At the time, Ira’s grandfather, at age five, was nearly the same age as Nathan III’s children. The following year, the Howards moved to Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Nathan used his inheritance to invest in the “Boston Purchase” and in 1790 the Howards moved to Union, New York. Perhaps the New York move was inspired by war stories of Nathan Howard II’s military service in Capt. Coit’s Co. during the French and Indian War of 1757, or perhaps new opportunities in the expanding “American West.”

On 28 March 1806, Broome County was formed, set-off from Tioga County, and named in honour of then-New York Lt. Gov. John Broome. Initially Broome County contained three towns – Chenango, Lisle, and Union. Other towns were established from a part of the initial towns, such as Maine, which was formed from Union in March 1848.

President-Elect Abraham Lincoln
Photo courtesy Library of Congress

President-Elect Abraham Lincoln’s train stopped in Syracuse and Utica, New York on Monday, February 18, 1861 and it is known that several hundred folks from Broome County made the 70 mile journey to see and hear the soon-to-be president on his way to Washington, DC.

The region in and around Binghamton boasted a population of over 30,000 from the mid-1850s onwards. When the railroad reached Broome County in the spring of 1851, some of the first passengers included President Millard Fillmore and statesman Daniel Webster. By 1837 the Chenango Canal connected Utica and Binghamton, which provided an important link between the Erie Canal and the Susquehanna River. This canal system meant a boat could traverse from the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and New York City.

Quickly ranching and farming became the support industries for manufacturing and processing. By the time the Civil War began, Binghamton was home to the nation’s largest cigar manufacturing facility, a famed tannery and shoe industry, along with a timber industry that supported carriage making and construction. Ira’s fourth cousins, Barzilla and Morgan Howard, owned and operated a sawmill and rake factory in Union during the war. Ira’s uncle, James Howard built stores and homes, including the Pitkin Store which is still standing in Union Center. Three of James’ sons served in the war, the middle son, Asa, died of “lung fever” in an army field hospital at Falmouth, during the 1862 Fredericksburg’s Campaign. Ira’s father, Henry Channing Howard, was a farmer.

At age 16, Ira attempted to enlist in the army. The recruiter told Ira he was too young, and then a superior, who overheard the conversation, said, “You should take him, and then we’d have a whole company of Howards.” On the Declaration of Recruit, Ira’s father placed an “x” under the section entitled “Consent in Case of a Minor.” On February 16th, 1864, Ira had mustered in as a private in Company E of the 50th New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment.

Pontoon wagon 1864. Photo curtsey Library of Congress.

The 50th New York Engineers had already built a distinction during the war as the “bridge builders.” Their fame was enshrined in history when they became the first ever “combat engineers” during the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862.

On the morning of December 11, 1862, as the fog cleared along the Rappahannock River, the 50th NY Engineers were assigned to build a pontoon bridge over to Fredericksburg so the Federal infantry could capture the city. Captain James McDonald was ordered to lead the building of the bridge. Before two-thirds of the bridge was built, Confederate snipers and sharpshooters hiding in the city buildings on the heights above the river began picking off the engineers one-by-one. Like the Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc during D-Day, as one of the 50th would be killed, another would take his stead to move another segment of the bridge in place.

Watching 60 engineers die in less than an hour, Gen. Ambrose Burnside decided killing off his entire

battalion of engineers may not be the smartest move. The orders were given to have the artillery batteries of the 89th NY Infantry bombard the area where the Confederate sharpshooters were hiding, then have the engineers run 100 yards over open water to complete the final third of the bridge. This plan failed too, as friendly fire from the cannons killed off more engineers.

The 50th’s arch rivals, the 15th NY Engineers were called up from reserve, as the battalion assigned to Gen. Burnside had now been decimated. The 7th Michigan was called in to help secure the pontoon in what became history’s first ever “bridgehead landing secured under fire.”

On March 24, 1864 Ira joined the roll of Co. E, which already included cousins: Lt. Amos, Priv. Darwin, along with Priv. Edgar, Priv. Edwin, Corp. Jeremiah, and Serg. Joseph, Corp. Orrin, Corp. Charles, and Priv. Levi. It practically was an entire company of Howards in the 50th NY Engineers!

The majority of the engineers died from diseases, rather than enemy bullets. Levi Howard died of Diphtheria in the regiment’s Washington, DC hospital on April 28, 1864. Charles Howard chose not to re-enlist and returned home in September 1864. By the time Ira joined, many of the engineers’ three year contracts were expiring and rampant diseases, poor nutrition, and other realities made re-upping not as romantic as joining in the first place.

Pontoon bridge constructed by the 50th NY Engineers at
Petersburg, Virginia. Photo curtsey Library of Congress.

On April 9, 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant reviewed the troops. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock had the 50th NY Engineers placed to his right, as he was most impressed with the regiment’s training, discipline, and diligence. Gen. Grant reviewed the troops again on April 21st, only on this occasion Ira was sick in the Engineer Brigade Hospital with fever and diarrhea. Being practical, Col. William Pettes, who succeeded Col. Charles Stuart as regiment commander, placed Ira in charge of ambulances. During the 1864 Campaign, Pettes was based out of the Engineer’s Depot at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC. The Brigade Hospital was also located at the Navy Yard.

On May 20th, 1864, Ira re-joined his company at the camp at Dunkirk, Virginia. The 50th had been broken down into four battalions, each with three companies. Each battalion was assigned to a corps of the Army of the Potomac. The battalions each carried a full pontoon train of 50 wagons. The speed and efficiency of the 50th NY Engineers was so good that a bridge could be thrown-up in less than two hours. The Confederates knew the speed in which the Federal Army could travel was directly attributed to the engineers’ ability to build bridges, clear roads and railroads, operate ferries, and keep the telegraph lines open to Washington, DC.  Confederates would often try and target the engineers as a means of slowing down the entire Union Army.

Sometime in late July 1864, Ira was treated in a field hospital near City Point, Virginia. Ira was unconscious with a severe fever, which seemed to be a relapse of the earlier illness. From the field hospital, Ira was sent back to the Regimental Hospital in Washington, DC. During his time in the hospital, Ira was visited by President Abraham Lincoln, who would take time every week to visit the sick and wounded.

Ira & Anna Howard, circa 1890.

Eighteen canvass pontoon boats could bridge 400 feet of river, and required 42 wagons in the train and 252 mules to haul. Two companies of men would have managed such a train. These bridges were the keys to capturing Richmond and moving over 100,000 soldiers and supplies all around Virginia.

In October 1864, Ira recovered from his illness enough to be sent from Washington, back down to Virginia and remained with his company until the entire regiment was discharged at Fort Barry, Virginia on June 13, 1865. Ira would continue to suffer from dyspepsia and disease of the liver, of which a disability and pension was granted by the US Government in 1882.

After the war, Ira returned home to Maine, New York, married Anna Dunham in 1872, then headed west in November 1887, settling in Monte Vista, Colorado. It is not known why the Howards left New York, nor why only a few relations remained in New York, but perhaps it was the same sense of opportunity that brought so many pioneers to Colorado.

In 1911, the Howards moved to Read, and have remained in Delta County ever since. Ira passed away on November 23, 1931 and is interned in the Delta City Cemetery.

Howards at home in Read, Colorado. Ira Howard is on the far left. c. late 1920s.

As this final year of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, it is important to recognize the veterans whose courage not only led them to serve their nation, but to venture West in pursuit of a better life. 

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M. Soper, "One of Delta County's Civil War Connections: Ira Howard." Delta County Historical Society, Quarterly Newsletter. Issue 82 (Apr.-Jun. 2015) p.4-7.