Elizabeth (Read) Fleming
William Fleming Gravestone
Ruth Anna (Banner) Fleming

Fleming Family History

  • The Fleming family’s story is a prime example of how our area pioneers built their American dreams and participated in westward expansion.
  • The story begins with Walter & Elizabeth Fleming who came from Canada to the United States in the mid-1850s with their 3 children (1 girl, 2 boys)
  • While most of the family had been in Canada for several generations, Walter harkened originally from Scotland. 
  • William Fleming, who is buried in Pine Gulch Cemetery,  was the youngest of the 3 children and was ~5 years old when they immigrated.
  • The family initially settled in Illinois and their middle child and son passed away there at the age of 20.
  • By the late 1860s the family moved to Colorado and by 1870 William, Elizabeth, Walter and his wife Ruth planted themselves in the area we now know as Pine Junction. (Daughter Mary and her husband James join them by 1880 after initially living in Denver)
  • Over the years, Walter makes his living as a Carrier & Teamster. These professions were the “truck drivers” of the time – a driver of horse-drawn vehicles used for transporting goods.  This role was essential for logistics and trade in our largely agricultural and rural society. It was also indicative of westward expansion and the beginnings of industrialization.
  • When the family settles in the Pine area the 1870 records list no town and cite Park County, not Jefferson as it later becomes.
  • This is reflective of how newly-settled this area was:
    9 years after Colorado became its own territory (1861) (originally Kansas Territory founded in 1854)
    6 years before Colorado became a state (1876)
    16 years before Pine Grove was developed by Charles Dake (1886)
  • The population is the area was undergoing a massive change, triggered by the discovery of gold.  Hundreds of thousands were flocking to Colorado and one-third setted in Park County.
    1870 Park County: 447 total, increasing 9x to ~3900 by 1880
    1870 Jefferson County: 2400 people, which was triple from 839 10 years before
  • Shortly before their settlement in the Pine area, the Homestead Act was enacted in 1862 and the Flemings built significant holdings as a result:
    Within 20 years they had 160 acres
    Within 40 years they had 480 acres
    It’s possible they had more land through purchases as well.
  • Walter & Elizabeth Fleming Homesteads:
    320 acres total
    3/20/1874 160 acres (NW of cemetery)
    2/9/1889 160 acres (NW of cemetery)
  • William & Anna Fleming homesteads:
    160 acres total
    6/30/1886 160 acres (N of cemetery)
  • In 1880 William Fleming died of typhoid fever at the early age of 30.  His wife Anna was 6 months pregnant with their second child and Charles born 3 mo later. Although the cemetery was not yet formally founded, William was buried in what had become a cemetery from an informal standpoint.
  • In 1890, when Asahel Smith deeded a portion of his property to formally create the Pine Grove Cemetery Association, Walter was named as one of the association trustees – making him an important part of this area’s legacy.
  • Just a few years later after this founding Walter died and Elizabeth followed him in 1902. Although he was a cemetery trustee, they were buried in Riverside Cemetery in Denver.
  • Riverside was founded in 1876, and is Colorado’s oldest operating cemetery with over 67K people are buried there.  The cemetery is a prime example of the ‘fair mount’ cemeteries that began to evolve in the west and is worth reading about unto itself.
  • The Fleming family’s American legacy continues to this date, with Walter survived by the 6th generation living in the US.

Fleming Family Tree

Walter Fleming (1818-1894)

Elizabeth (Read) Fleming (1818-1902)
Married to Walter Fleming in 1842
Children:
Mary (Fleming) Montgomery (1843–1918)
George Fleming (1846–1866)
William Fleming (1850–1880)
Cause of Death: Typhoid
Buried in Pine Gulch Cemetery

Ruth (Banner) Fleming (1852 – 1935)
Married to William Fleming in 1869
Children:
Flora (Fleming) Abrams/Burton (1870–Unknown)
George Fleming (1873–1959)
Edward Fleming (1878–1959)
Charles Fleming (1880–1951)

Married to Elmer Hartzell in 1884 (1861–1909)
Children:
Elma (Hartzell) Beeler (1885–1973)
Emma (Hartzell) Ayers (1891–Unknown)
Cyrus Hartzell (1892–1949)