Biography of Alfred George

The career of Alfred George, of the Rifle neighborhood, in Garfield county, is full of interest and valuable suggestions, and his citizenship is of the sterling and useful character which has made the American workingman notably one of the controlling factors in modern civilization. Mr. George was born in Callaway county, Missouri, on October 1, 1851, and in that state he was reared to the age of thirteen, then coming with his mother and sister to Colorado in 1864, he has since mingled with the activities in this state, always bearing cheerfully the share of his community’s burdens properly belonging to him and performed faithfully the share of its duties which has been incumbent on him. He received a slender common-school education, remaining at home and working in the interest of his parents until death ended their labors, the father dying in 1858, when the son was seven, and the mother in 1872, when he was twenty-one. His parents were Alfred and Margaret (Robinson) George, natives of Kentucky, who settled in Missouri when young, where the father died and the mother and children moved to this state in 1864. The father was a cabinetmaker and dealt in real estate, but he also made money as a farmer. He supported the Democratic party in political affairs, and with his wife he belonged to the Methodist church. They had a family of eight children, but two of whom are living, Annie, wife of Jasper P. Sears, of Denver, and Alfred.

Alfred had the usual experience of country boys in the West, for even the Missouri home of the family was on the frontier, and at an early life became inured to the hardships and privations of pioneer life. The trip from Missouri to Colorado was made over the plains with an ox team and occupied three months. There were Indian troubles before and behind the train, but it suffered no disaster and was not attacked. After the death of his mother Mr. George rented land and ranched on it until 1886. In the fall of that year he moved to the Roaring fork, near Emma, and the next spring to Grand Junction. From there he went out on the trail and engaged in raising cattle. In 1887 he settled on East Middle Rifle creek and for a year was occupied in ranching on shares with H. G. Brown. He then, in partnership with G. W. Noble, bought the improvements on his present ranch, which he pre-empted. It comprised one hundred and sixty acres, and a few years later the land was divided, each partner taking one-half. Mr. George has since sold forty acres of his tract, and he is now profitably engaged in farming the other forty with good results, producing large yields of hay, grain, vegetables and fruit, and raising numbers of good cattle and horses. He has a good water right and his land responds generously to skillful tillage. On March 16, 1886, he was married to Miss Clare V. Noble, who was born in Iowa on September 4, 1860, and is the daughter of George W. and Marietta (Woulsey) Noble, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Iowa. Mrs. George is a sister of Mrs. Charles H. Harris, of this state, and the family record of her parents appears in a sketch of Mr. and Mrs. Harris, which will be found on another page of this work. Five children have been born in the George household. One daughter, Anna L., died on April 26, 1901. The living four are Claude A., Harry N., Clara M. and William Jasper. Mr. George has found a fruitful field for his enterprise in Colorado, and is well pleased with the state and devoted to its best interests in every way. He is well esteemed by its people who know him and withholds no effort due on his part to promote their substantial progress and development and lasting good.

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Editors Note

We know from the obituary of Alfred George that he remained in the Rifle neighborhood for the remainder of his life, farming and raising his family until heart trouble took his life on 2 June 1928. Upon his death he left his wife, and four children who surrounded his bed at his passing. From these four children would descend numerous grand-children and great-grand-children. Rose Lee Head has done a wonderful job of providing extensive information on the descendants in an online publication: Descendants of Alfred George (1851-1928) and Clara Vincent Noble (1860-1942)
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Source: Bowen, A. W. Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1905.