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Born:
Died:
| Jul 12, 1876 - Virginia Dale, Larimer Co., CO
May 19, 1941 - Denver, Denver Co., CO
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| Marriage: |
- Nellie Etta Currier - Dec. 15, 1897, Loveland, Larimer Co., CO (divorced
Dec. 1932)
- E. H*** - Jan 1933, Kiowa, CO
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| Children: |
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| During his lifetime, William was a
plasterer, fire department chief and automobile mechanic. Born in
Virginia Dale in 1876, William was the eldest of six children. By 1881,
the family moved to Berthoud, Larimer Co., CO. His mother, Sarah
("Sadie") died when William was only nine years old, and two younger siblings
had also died. In 1908, his father, Daniel (and his sons) formed the Loveland-Estes Park
Automobile Transportation Company. The company was the first to operate
motor vehicles to the park, and used Stanley Steamers as their automobile, and
may have begun the route several years previous to the company's
incorporation. By this time, F.O. Stanley (one of the brothers who
invented the Stanley Steamer) had established the famed Stanley Hotel in Estes
Park, CO. Mr. Stanley soon formed a similar transportation line, and the
two companies shared a tent in Estes Park until buildings could be erected.
The roads were very poor, often flooded as it wound right next to the river
through a rugged canyon.
Will managed the company for a number of years. There appear to have
been many adventures for the entrepreneurs - one such adventure is noted in
the Loveland Reporter, July 2, 1908:
MAKES RECORD TRIP FROM LOVELAND TO DENVER
Will Osborn of the Loveland-Estes Park Auto company, made a record run from
Loveland to Denver, to Long's Peak Inn and return to Loveland last Saturday
from about five o'clock in the morning to ten-o'clock in the evening. Mr.
Larimer and a party of six friends arrived in Denver from Chicago last week
and wished to go to Estes Park by way of Loveland, and desiring to see the
agricultural district between Denver and Loveland, phone for Mr. Osborn to
meet them in Denver with an auto.
The distance covered was over 200 miles and they were delayed on the trip by
having a puncture and stopping about two hours to repair the tire.
There are also reports of several accidents, some of serious nature.
Will moved to Denver after the company was sold. He became an auto
mechanic there, and one obituary notes that he was the first President of the
Auto Mechanics Local, No. 606, and was a life member of Loveland B. P. O. Elks
lodge. He was survived by his second wife, and three children. |
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| Obituaries:
Rocky Mountain News 5/13/41; Estes Park Trail; 5/16/1941; Loveland
Reporter-Herald 5/13/1941 |
Census:
 | 1880 - Weld County, CO; Dist. 110 |
 | 1900 - Loveland, Larimer Co., CO; ED 214 |
 | 1910 - Loveland, Larimer Co., CO; ED 230 |
 | 1920 - Loveland, Larimer Co., CO; ED 158 |
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| City Directories:
Loveland, Larimer Co., CO - 1904, 1906, |
| Colorado Statewide
Business Directory - 1907 - 1916 |
| State of Colorado,
Division of Vital Statistics, Marriage Record Reports |
| HISTORICAL ESTES PARK,
A pictorial History of Estes Park, Colorado, pub Feb, 1968 by The Estes Park
Trail, Estes Park, Larimer County, CO |
| Certificate of
Incorporation of the Loveland-Estes Park Auto Company (1908, Colorado State
Archives) |
| "Rocky Mountain
National Park: A History" by C.W. Buchholtz |
| "Mr. Stanley of Estes
Park" by James H. Pickering |

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| *** Name
withheld to respect privacy of known living child |

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