Avery-Hanson Genealogy - Person Sheet
Avery-Hanson Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameEdward Morton2 DE LA VERGNE 
943
943Birth14 May 1846, Marietta, OH943
FatherGeorge Washington DE LA VERGNE (1800-1893)
MotherMary YATES (1798-1887)
Notes for Edward Morton2 DE LA VERGNE
Edward considered himself “just an ordinary sort of fellow”. 1034 Edward came to Colorado Springs, CO about 1878 with his sister Catherine, and brother George when his father and mother moved to Colorado Springs to retire. 944
Edward was the youngest and he grew up in the shadow of his handsome and well-known brother George. Edward tried to be a mining man but he felt that he was a failure. Edward was jobless in November 1890, but he kept plugging away, this time taking an assaying course under Professor Henry Lamb. He received his certificate in December 1890. Henry Lamb mentioned casually to him that he ought to go on the other side of Pikes Peak and have a look at a volcanic area called Cripple Creek. The next day Edward noticed some ore samples owned by a man named Bob Womack in the window of the Seldomridge Grain Store, across the street from Edward’s brother George’s furniture store. Edward recalled that the ore appeared much like an easily-extracted form of gold called Sylvanite. Edward set up meetings with himself, Bob Womack, Professor Henry Lamb and others to discuss Bob’s experience with the ore. Edward asked questions but was otherwise silent about his suspicions that the ore might point to a gold field of immense richness. On January 24 1891, on a snowy winter day, Edward and Fred Frisbee started a month-long trip around the Cripple Creek area and obtaining more ore samples, and demonstrating that there was gold in the area and that it could be extracted easily. 1033 Edward went back to Colorado Springs and staked out a six-mile square around the find and called it the Cripple Creek Mining District. When the news got out, Horace Bennett and Julius Meyers, who had just bought four homesteads next to Womack's, platted a town called Fremont on their property. This town would eventually be called Cripple Creek. During 1891 prospectors came in droves but the mining was tough and discouraging. But Edward did not give up. He persuaded a man named James M. Pourtales to invest in the mine. The news of this investment prodded others into investing. Eventually the area exploded and the town of Fremont, later named Cripple Creek, grew into a bawdy gold rush town of 10,000 in 1892. The railroad arrived, more mines produced gold and many millionaires were made - including Edward De La Vergne.
Edward was the youngest and he grew up in the shadow of his handsome and well-known brother George. Edward tried to be a mining man but he felt that he was a failure. Edward was jobless in November 1890, but he kept plugging away, this time taking an assaying course under Professor Henry Lamb. He received his certificate in December 1890. Henry Lamb mentioned casually to him that he ought to go on the other side of Pikes Peak and have a look at a volcanic area called Cripple Creek. The next day Edward noticed some ore samples owned by a man named Bob Womack in the window of the Seldomridge Grain Store, across the street from Edward’s brother George’s furniture store. Edward recalled that the ore appeared much like an easily-extracted form of gold called Sylvanite. Edward set up meetings with himself, Bob Womack, Professor Henry Lamb and others to discuss Bob’s experience with the ore. Edward asked questions but was otherwise silent about his suspicions that the ore might point to a gold field of immense richness. On January 24 1891, on a snowy winter day, Edward and Fred Frisbee started a month-long trip around the Cripple Creek area and obtaining more ore samples, and demonstrating that there was gold in the area and that it could be extracted easily. 1033 Edward went back to Colorado Springs and staked out a six-mile square around the find and called it the Cripple Creek Mining District. When the news got out, Horace Bennett and Julius Meyers, who had just bought four homesteads next to Womack's, platted a town called Fremont on their property. This town would eventually be called Cripple Creek. During 1891 prospectors came in droves but the mining was tough and discouraging. But Edward did not give up. He persuaded a man named James M. Pourtales to invest in the mine. The news of this investment prodded others into investing. Eventually the area exploded and the town of Fremont, later named Cripple Creek, grew into a bawdy gold rush town of 10,000 in 1892. The railroad arrived, more mines produced gold and many millionaires were made - including Edward De La Vergne.