Carrie Louella Miller

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Lou

Notes:

Carrie Louella Miller was born 27 May 1883 in Beaman, Grundy County, Iowa, thedaughter of Samuel Jasper Miller and Mary Ellen Nickerson. Carrie was the fifth of nine children: (i) Child (1874-1874), (ii) Odes Bert (1875-1943), (iii) Frank Gree(1878-1958), (iv) Walter Vivian (1880-1961), (v) Carrie Louella (1883-1973), (vi) Elvira Ann (1885-1912), (vii) Emma Frances (1889-1945), (viii) Robert Nickerson (1893-1958), (ix) Letta May (1896-1986).
Some time before 1896[i] Samuel Miller moved from Calhoun County, Iowa to Pierce County, Nebraska. Coincidentally, Robert Reed Cooley (whose son, Robert Berton would become the husband of Carrie in 1903) had moved from Clayton County Iowa to Pierce County, Nebraska before 1894[ii]
Carrie, better known as Lou, was married to Robert Berton Cooley in Pierce County, Nebraska on 2 Jan 1903. Later that year, they had their first child, Orville Dale. Tragedy was to follow with their next two children, however. Carlyle Berton, "Lyle", was born 18 May 1905 near Plainview but died in childhood on10 May 1909. Leo Cooley was born 17 Feb 1907 but survived only 14 days to 3 Mar 1907. The young couple didn't attempt any more children until 1912.
Before 1909 Lou and Bert moved to McLean, Nebr, where they both taught school.
In 1910 three families in Northeastern Nebraska immigrated to plains of northeastern Colorado: The Robert Berton Cooley consisting of Bert, Lou, Dale, and a nephew Beth took up a homestead 4 miles west and 5 miles north of Flagler in Kit Carson County. The Robert Reed Cooley family consisting of RR, Stella his wife and grand nephew Ronald Cooley bought a relinquishment just west of Flagler. The SJ Miller family consisting of SJ, wife Mary Ellen and six children homesteaded in Washington County near Arickaree about 30 miles north of Flagler.
In order to fulfill the requirements of the Homestead Act of 1862, the properties had to be continuously occupied and improvements made for a period of five years before title was transferred from the Government to the homesteader.
Dale writes, "When we went to the homestead, there was a sod house already there. It was a one-room affair with a cow-chip-burning stove in one end and a bed in the other."[iii] Bert began teaching, earning $40 per month at the Huntley school about seven miles due north of Flagler while Lou taught at the Van Patten school at $35 per month.
In the summer of 1910 when school was out Bert joined his Grandpa SJ Miller's threshing crew to run the engine. Since the crops near Flagler had failed in 1910, Grandpa Miller had decided to head north where the crops fared better that year. One day Bert was working about 30 miles north of Flagler near Otis Colo., when he observed the town didn't have a newspaper. That fall Bert began planning for a newspaper in Otis.
The Otis Independent was born with its first issue published on Jan 5, 1911. Bert took up residence in Otis but, nonetheless, the requirement remained that the property near Flagler be occupied. That task was fulfilled by Lou, Dale, and Beth until 1913 when the property was proved up.
Life on the Colorado prairie was not a bed of roses for the kids and mom, who continued teaching. Beth had to be "farmed our" (taken to childcare) every morning and Dale accompanied his mom to school. Quoting the Dale Cooley paper:[iv]
"One day we came home and my mother was about to lay Beth on the bed when she heard the warning, characteristic "w-h-r-r-r" of the rattlesnake. She leaped backwards, went to the stove and got the poker with which she made short work of the rattler. How it to into the house and under the bed, we never knew. Of course, it was an old soddy and so we just had to think that in had been up in the roof area and had fallen down [inside].
"Another day, my mother went to the barn to get the mare "Bess" out to hitch up to go to town when she again got the "message" from a rattlesnake. This one was near the feedbox in the barn. She came to the house, got the "hog-laig"1 and went back out and with a couple of well-place shots, got rid of that threat. She was an excellent shot with a revolver because she and practiced a lot.
"Upon another occasion we were coming home from school one evening and she saw a hawk on a fence post. She stopped the horse, got out the trusty .32 and knocked the hawk off the post. She had to admire her own marksmanship so she went up to examine the bird. When she got to it and was reaching down to pick it up the hawk, in its death throes, drove its filthy claws into her leg just above the ankle. She bled very freely and when we got home she got out the old reliable turpentine and Epsom salts and gave herself the treatment. She was afraid of what she called "blood-poisoning" and what we know today as tetanus."
Mrs. Cooley was a Worthy Matron (presiding officer) of the Order of the Eastern Star[v] and received a pin for 50 year membership in the organization in July 1966. In 1967 she became a life member of the Martha Washington Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.
Lou was active member of the Akron Fortnightly Club, serving as president for one term.[vi]
Carrie Louella Miller Cooley had been a patient for almost four years in the nursing wing of Washington County Hospital in Akron Colo, when she died 10 Aug 1973. She was buried alongside her husband Robert Berton Cooley in the Otis Colorado Cemetery.
---------1 hogleg A large heavy caliber handgun, originally used to refer to a Colt Walker or similar sized revolver. Still in use today when referring to a big bore , long barreled handgun , typically a single action revolver

---------------------------------------------------i Letta May Miller was born in Plainview, Pierce Co, Nebraska 18 Mar 1896 ii Glenn Syren Cooley was born in Plainview, Pierce Co, Nebraska on 14 Jul 1894 iii Dale Cooley paper entitled "The Story of the RB Cooley Family in Washington County"
iv Ibidv The Order of the Eastern Star is a Freemasonry-related fraternal organization open to both men and women. It was established in 1850 by Boston, Massachusetts, lawyer and educator Rob Morris, a former Freemason official. The order is based on teachings from the Bible, but is open to people of all religious beliefs. It has approximately 10,000 chapters in twenty countries and approximately 500,000 members under its General Grand Chapter. Members of the Order are aged 18 and older; men must be Master Masons and women must have specific relationships with Masons. Originally, a woman would have to be the daughter, widow, wife, sister, or mother of a master Mason, but the Order now allows other relatives as well as allowing Job's Daughters, Rainbow Girls, Members of the Organization of Triangle (NY only) and members of the Constellation of Junior Stars (NY only) to become members when of age. The Order was created by Rob Morris in 1850 when, while confined by illness, he set down the principles of the order in his Rosary of the Eastern Star. By 1855, he had organized a "Supreme Constellation" in New York, which chartered chapters throughout the United States. In 1866, Dr. Morris started working with Robert Macoy, and handed the Order over to him while Morris was traveling in the Holy Land. Macoy organized the current system of Chapters, and modified Dr. Morris' Rosary into a Ritual. On December 1, 1874, Queen Esther Chapter No. 1 became the first Prince Hall Affiliate chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star when it was established in Washington, D.C. by Thornton Andrew Jackson. The "General Grand Chapter" was formed in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 6, 1876. Committees formed at that time created the Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star in more or less its current form. Traditionally, a woman who is elected Associate Conductress will the following year be elected to Conductress, then the next year Associate Matron, and the next year Worthy Matron. A man elected Associate Patron will usually the next year be elected Worthy Patron. Usually the woman who is elected to become Associate Matron will let it be known who she wishes to be her Associate Patron, so the next year they will both go to the East together as Worthy Matron and Worthy Patron. There is no male counterpart to the Conductress and Associate Conductress. Only women are allowed to be Matrons, Conductresses, and the Star Points (Adah, Ruth, etc.) and only men can be Patrons. vi Fortnightly clubs were women's organizations with the object of the group being "mental culture and mutual helpfulness". Each meeting began with the reciting of a short prayer comprising an invocation, petition, and conclusion called the "Collect". Mary Stewart wrote the Collect in 1904 as a member of the Longmont (Colorado} Fortnightly Club. It was written to instill a sense of unity among women working together with wide interests and important goals. The meeting had as its basis a general topic, e.g. Fine Arts, Civil Rights, Education, Conservation, etc. and for each general topic one member developed a specific program, e.g. for Fine Arts, "What Makes a Masterpiece" or for Conservation, "What's Happening to Our Land?" The original Fortnightly Club was established [in Columbia, Mo.] in October 1892 for [University of Missouri, Columbia] faculty wives for the dual purpose of providing "congenial associations for the wives of faculty members" and "building community resources and good will at the University." Fortnightly clubs were affiliated with the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC). The GFWC had its origins in 1890, when Sorosis, a women's literary club founded by journalist Jane Cunningham Croly, issued invitations to other women's literary clubs to form an organization with the goal of uniting "women's clubs to enhance community service by volunteers throughout the world."

From Beaman's First 100 Years "In the year 1856 Solon S. Beaman bought this land. In 1860 he moved his family (among which was son H.H.) from Rock City, a small village in Stephenson County, Illinois, reaching their Iowa farm September 30, where they went to work to build a new home." "The town of Beaman is located in the northwest quarter of Section 34, in Clay Township, Grundy County. The land was owned by H.H. Beaman and was platted on October 16 and recorded at Grundy Center October 18, 1875 by the Beamans for the town which would always bear the family name.

(Medical):I attended the deceased from 11/5/72 to 8/10/73 and last saw her alive on 8/10/73 (signed) R.H. Tedrick, D.O., 501 Main, Akron, Colorado 80720 August 11, 1973

Carrie married Robert Berton Cooley on 3 Jan 1903 in Plainview, Pierce Co, Nebraska. Robert (son of Robert Reed Cooley and Stella Alfresine Owen) was born on 15 Oct 1875 in McGregor, Clayton Co, Iowa; died on 12 Dec 1962 in Akron, Washington Co, Colorado; was buried on 14 Dec 1962 in Otis Cemetery, Washington Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: Colorado; University of Denver
• Name: Dale

Notes:

Orville Dale Cooley was born April 5, 1903 in a small house in Plainview, Nebraska. He started school at McLean, Nebraska primarily because his father, Robert Berton, had a job teaching there. It was the year Halley's Comet was visible (1910) and he went outside each evening to see it. He recalls his mother (Carrie Louella Miller) telling him he would see it again "...but I would be an old man when I did. I did see the comet return in 1986 but I didn't feel nearly as old as my mother said I would!" He went to Colorado with his parents March 1, 1910. They had taken a homestead nine miles northwest of Flagler. They had tried to farm but the weather was bad 1910-1911 so both parents were employed as rural teachers in schools north of Flagler. R.B. taught at the Huntley School and Lou taught at the Patten School. In 1911 Dale's father (R.B. or "Bert") started a newspaper in Otis, Colorado, "The Otis Independent". In 1914 with the untimely death of his father's twin brother, Herbert Merton ("Mert") who ran a newspaper in Crofton, Nebraska, Bert sold the Otis Independent and the family moved to Crofton to continue the running Mert's business. Bert eventually could not tolerate the climate in eastern Nebraska, having severe allergies, so in November 1916 the family repurchased the Otis Independent and once again took up residence in that tiny Washington County town. Dale was employed in his father's newspaper but business "was something less than sensational" so, as eldest child in the family, he worked other jobs around the town. He was a cream tester, a soda jerk in more than one drug store, a harvester (pitching wheat to a threshing machine), and a railroad extra on a gang consisting of two Native Americans, 71 Mexican nationals and an Italian boss. Later he got a job in a clothing store where he "something of the cleaning and pressing business, aside from waiting on trade." With the help of a Methodist minister Dale obtained a scholarship to the University of Denver and started school in the fall semester of 1923. While still attending DU he married Mildred Skinner whose father, L.E. Skinner, operated a general merchandise store in Otis. They had gone to school together but Dale says they were not childhood sweethearts. They were married for almost 68 years. Dale and Mildred had two children, Robert Leonard, born 25 Jan 1933 in Otis, Colorado, and Jill Irene, born 17 Jul 1935 in Akron, Colorado. Dale and his cousin Ronald D. Cooley owned and operated The Limon Leader from 15 Feb 1937 through 1 Jun 1972. Dale was very active in state press affairs. He was a member of the board of directors of the Colorado Press Association for several terms and then served as vice president in 1960 and president of the organization in 1961. Also, he was a life member of the Denver Press Club. He was active in Republican politics serving as county chairman for two terms and as a precinct committeeman and delegate to state conventions numerous times. He was one of the founders of the Lincoln County Colorado Historical Society serving as a co-editor of a county history, "Where the Wagons Rolled". Dale was a member of the AF and AM Masonic Lincoln Lodge #146 in Limon, Colo; a 50-year member of Kappa Sigma social fraternity; a member of Sigma Delta Chi professional journalist fraternity. He was a member of the Limon board of education for two terms during which time it was instrumental in acquiring 15 acres of land upon which school buildings and athletic facilities now stand. Dale was active in the organization of the Limon Chamber of Commerce in 1946 and he was a member of the Limon Town Board for two terms.
On August 5, 1989 Dale and Mildred moved to Riverside, California to be near their son and daughter and other family members who had preceded them to the area.
Dale died 12 May 1994 and his body was returned to Limon to be intered at the Pershing Memorial Cemetery with Masonic graveside services.

Education:
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism,

Orville married Alice Mildred Skinner on 11 Jul 1926 in Otis, Washington Co, Colorado. Alice (daughter of Leonard E Skinner and Ethel Campbell Powell) was born on 26 Mar 1905 in Clarence, Shelby Co, Missouri; died on 28 Oct 1996 in Riverside, Riverside Co, California; was buried on 1 Nov 1996 in Pershing Memorial Cemetery, Limon, Lincoln Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Lyle

Notes:

There are no official documents for this child. Most of this data came from an interview the author had with his Grandma Lou Miller in 1968. She had a Miller-Cooley Bible with genealogical data but the present location of this Bible is unknown. I also had an interview with Orville Dale Cooley in 1993. Dale wrote extensively about the history of this Cooley family and said the greatest loss in his life was the death of his younger brother, Lyle.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

There are no official documents for Leo, same as Lyle. Most of this data came from an interview the author had with his Grandma Lou Miller in 1968. She had a Miller-Cooley Bible with genealogical data but the present location of this Bible is unknown. She was reluctant to talk about Leo as about Gwen. I also had an interview with Orville Dale Cooley in 1993. Dale wrote extensively about the history of this Cooley family but knew very little about Leo. Apparently he lived 14 days. There is no burial information about Leo but it stands to reason if both Lyle and Gwen (stillbirth) had gravestones there should be one for Leo somewhere in Antelope County.

(Research):Royal is a village in Antelope County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 63 at the 2010 census. Established in 1890, the history of Royal began at Hering's Mill, located four and one-half miles north of the present town site. In the beginning and for a number of years thereafter, the community was known as Savage. The community was renamed after Royal Thayer, who helped establish the post office.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Coyne

Notes:

Clifford Coyne Cooley was literally born into the newspaper business

(Medical):Other significant conditions: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and generalized arteriosclerosis. Physician: Richard H. Tedrick, D.O., 501 Main, Akron, Colorado 80720 Signed 7 Dec 1979

Buried:
Akron Cemetery, CO
Akron Cemetery is a Cemetery in Washington County, Colorado. It has an elevation of 1,430 meters, or 4,692 feet.

Degrees Minutes Seconds:
Latitude: 40-09'39'' N
Longitude: 103-13'48'' W

Decimal Degrees:
Latitude: 40.1608333
Longitude: -103.23

Clifford married Margaret May Sears on 21 Jun 1936 in Akron, Washington Co, Colorado. Margaret (daughter of Nelson Evans Sears and Edna Maude Barnhouse) was born on 23 May 1912 in Akron, Washington Co, Colorado; died on 18 Jan 1987 in Akron, Washington Co, Colorado; was buried on 21 Jan 1987 in Akron Cemetery, Washington Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Bob

Notes:

Robert Miller Cooley was born 20 Sep 1914 in Otis, Washington County, Colorado to Robert Berton Cooley and Carrie Louella Miller. He attended Otis Grade School and Akron High School graduating in 1933.
He entered the University of Colorado (CU) in Boulder beginning in the fall of 1933 and received his baccalaureate degree in June 1937 in journalism.
He met Eleanor Newcomb at CU in 1935 and upon his graduation they were married 1 July 1937 in Melba, Idaho. Shortly after their marriage they returned to Colorado where he began work with the family-owned newspaper in Akron. They lived for one year in an apartment in his parent's home in Akron until mid 1938 whereupon they moved to a house on Railroad Avenue and present-day Date Street (one block east of state highway 63).
Later they bought the Crutchfield house on present-day Custer Street directly west of his brother, Coyne Cooley. In 1943 he joined the war effort but after a brief stint in the United States Army, he was discharged for health reasons and, upon his return home he was requested to take the position of Chief of the Rationing Board in Greeley, Colorado. They rented out the Custer Street home to Nelson and Maude Sears (the parents of Coyne's wife, Margaret Sears Cooley) and moved to Greeley, Colo.
After a short stay in Greeley they moved to Limon, Colo. to help his brother, Dale, publish the Limon Leader. They were there until June 1945 when they moved to Nampa, Idaho. In January 1946 they bought the Mountain Home News in Mountain Home, Idaho.
Because of his worsening arthritic condition (earlier mis-diagnosed as lead poisoning from being around hot-lead Linotype machines) he elected to move to the drier climate of Arizona in 1953. They resided in Tempe in rented quarters from November 1953 to September 1954 while they had a new home built in west Phoenix on Mulberry Drive. During this time he taught journalism and English at Glendale School District while attending Arizona State University where he obtained a Masters Degree in Journalism.
In July of 1963 the family moved to Reedley in the central valley of California where Robert became Director of Public Information at Reedley College. Just a year later in July of 1964 they moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he accepted the position of Chairman of the Journalism Department and Director of Public Information at Northern Arizona University.
He retired in 1976 and moved back to Idaho with his wife, Eleanor, where they settled in the relatively new Indian Lake subdivision just south of Boise.
He was a member of Sigma Delta Chi, a society of professional journalists; Phi Delta Kappa, an education fraternity; Kappa Delta Pi, an honorary education fraternity; Kappa Sigma, a social fraternity. While in Mountain Home, Idaho, he was a member of Masonic Lodge #30, A.F. & A.M.
Robert Miller died of a stroke 4 Nov 1992 in Rawlins Wyoming on his way to the funeral of his cousin Merton Beth Cooley (both raised as brothers) who had died on 3 Nov 1992 in Sterling Colorado. One's death close to the death of a sibling or close relative is called the bereavement effect. This effect had already occurred in this family in 1979-1980 when cousins-raised-as-brothers Clifford Coyne Cooley and Ronald Delos Cooley died just 37 days apart, Coyne 5 Dec 1979, Ron 11 Jan 1980.

Robert married Eleanor Newcomb on 28 Jun 1937 in Melba, Canyon Co, Idaho. Eleanor (daughter of Lewis Elmer Newcomb and Helen Alice Prisk) was born on 30 Nov 1915 in Melba, Canyon Co, Idaho; died on 13 Jul 2008 in Canon City, Fremont Co, Colorado; was buried on 18 Jul 2008 in Cloverdale Memorial Park, Boise, Ada Co, Idaho. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _STAT: Never Married

Notes:

The gravestone of this child reads as follows
Daughter of
R.B. & C.L Cooley
Jan 23, 1921
A baby girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Cooley, Sunday, January 23, 1921. The little body was laid to rest in the Otis Cemetery the same afternoon, a prayer being offered by Rev. J.S. Dapp at the home and a short service at the cemetery.

Birth:
Stillborn

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Nancy Adair Nolan on 13 Feb 1954. Nancy was born on 20 Sep 1934 in Greeley, Weld Co, Colorado; died on 16 Nov 1999 in Denver, Denver Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Family/Spouse: David Bruce Johnson. David was born on 20 Feb 1937 in Patoka, Gibson Co, Indiana; died on 20 Dec 2015 in Palm Desert, Riverside Co, California. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joseph Roger Gump. Joseph was born on 31 May 1929 in Denver, Denver Co, Colorado; died on 22 Aug 1987 in Englewood, Jefferson Co, Colorado; was buried about Aug 1987 in Fairmount Cem, Denver Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Divorced: 20 Nov 1978, Washington County, Colorado; Colorado Divorce Index 1851-1985

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]