My father, Edward, took the job of mine superintendent on April 10, 1898, at the Matchless Mine. Baby Doe Tabor was in charge of giving the gold pieces to my father so he could pay the miners. The miners were paid in $20.00 gold pieces once a month. My father would let me play with the gold pieces on the kitchen table while he figured the monthly payroll with all the windows and doors shut up tight.
A baby sister named Grace, after my mother, was born on January 24, 1901. My mother died of complications just three weeks after my baby sister was born. My mother is buried in the old cemetery in Leadville. My baby sister, Grace, died just a year later on February 15, 1902.
Macon the grocer died about the same time as my mother did. Helena married my father a short time later in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and brought into the family a little girl named Hazel. My father adopted Hazel and she took the name Trezise.
We used to play with the Tabor girls, Rosemary Echo, "Silver Dollar" was the dark haired girl and Elizabeth Bonduel "Lilly" was the blond. They lived with their mother at the Matchless mine. They used to ride a white horse down to our house to play with us. They went to school with us in Leadville.
I can remember my little brother Tom was playing with the cat one day. My mother told him to quit pulling the cat's tail and Tom replied, "I'm just holding his tail, the cat is doing all the pulling!"
There were always lots of kids to play with around our house in those early days. Every family had burros, donkeys or horses. I can remember playing "circus" and all the kids would bring their donkeys and pets and we had a lot of fun. The kids knew how to entertain themselves in those days.
We also worked and helped earn money for our families. I got to go down in the mine with my father several times. I worked hauling railroad ties and did odd jobs around town.
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