Century Family

Stove Prairie School stands as legacy

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

To learn about the Vannorsdel family, it would be a good idea to attend school -:- not just any place of learning, but the little country school in Stove Prairie. In the foundation of the building can be found traces of the family's history, since the original one-room school house was built by Emanuel Vannorsdel and two of his neighbors in 1896-97. That century-old structure remains part of the school today.

Emanuel and his wife Phoebe settled in Stove Prairie in 1895, purchasing a ranch 1 mile south of the school. Both are buried in a small cemetery on the old family place, alongside a grandson and great-granddaughter.

While the Vannorsdel family may be considered area old-timers by Western standards, their roots in America date back even further. The family emigrated from Holland (their Dutch name was Van Arsdelen), with some coming to New Amsterdam in 1653 and others -- including Emanuel's ancestors -- sailing to Pennsylvania in 1768. Emanuel and Phoebe ventured west more than a hundred years later, settling first in Illinois and later in Stove Prairie.

Emanuel and Phoebe had 10 children, five girls and five boys. Their son George kept the closest ties to his Stove Prairie roots, perhaps because he helped to build the school when he was a teenager. He kept involved with the Stove Prairie School by serving on the school board for many years.

George married Gertrude Weitzel in 1904. She was born in Russia in 1885 and came with her family to this country on the Oldenburg in 1892. Hers was one of many German families who settled in Russia before emigrating to the United States.

Settling in

Following his wedding, George rented a place for the winter and proceeded to build a 14-by-20-foot cabin for his new bride on his parents' property. The couple later moved to Rist Canyon, but returned to Stove Prairie in the 1930s and purchased a sawmill as well as 320 acres. The home they built in 1934 still remains in the family.

To make a living, George and Gertrude ran the sawmill, cut railroad ties, and sold cream, butter and eggs. The couple had seven children, Ethel, Edith, Blanche, Dana, twins Ray and Roy, and Charles (stillborn).

It's easy to understand why folks didn't just make a "run to town" every day in the early 1900s. In fact, these trips were made by Stove Prairie families only about once a month, when they traveled to Bellvue for needed supplies. Many goods were ordered from Montgomery Ward catalogs.

Still, some "town" traditions seemed important. At George and Gertrude Vannorsdel's home, Sunday traditions were among them. So, on Sunday mornings, the family would do their chores, have breakfast, then get dressed in their Sunday best. One of the girls would play the piano while the others sang hymns. That way, if anybody came to the door the family would be "dressed" for Sunday.

The family Bible has an interesting history of its own, dating back to the era of Emanuel and Phoebe. A traveling salesman, looking for a night's lodging, swapped the Bible for a bed at the Vannorsdel ranch. Unfortunately there was no room in the house, so he stayed in the barn with the horses. The Bible is now kept by Dana Vannorsdel's son, Allen.

Smoothing the roads

In the 1930s, George started another family tradition: road work.

George was county road foreman for the Stove Prairie area, which included Rist Canyon, from the early 1930s until 1953. His son Ray took over the job then, serving until 1983. Over the years, Ray's brothers, Roy and Dana, also worked on county roads, as well as Roy's son Butch.

Dick Vannorsdel, Ray's son, continues the tradition today as the county's road maintenance supervisor on the Laramie River district. He noted that the family has now logged nearly 70 continuous years with the county, keeping life's potholes smoothed out.

Things have changed some since the earlier family members took care of rural roads, according to Dick. First, grading was done with horses until late in the 1930s. Ray Vannorsdel, who started road work at age 14, worked six days a week for $2 a day. People who had their own teams of horses earned an additional $3 a day, so the Vannorsdel clan always had their own teams.

On the upside, there were fewer complaints about the roads -- probably because there were hardly any residents.

The last of the third-generation Vannorsdels, Ray and Blanche, both died in 1998. Ray kept the Stove Prairie tradition going strong, living with his wife Rosemary on the family ranch most of their married life. He ran the sawmill bought by his father, in addition to farming, cutting posts and poles, raising calves and, of course, working for the county road department.

Roy's widow, Ruby Vannorsdel, now lives in Masonville and has served as the family historian. Grandchildren of George and Gertrude who still live or work in northern Larimer County include Jack Davidson and Delores Michleson, both of LaPorte; Dick Vannorsdel of Glendevey; Butch Vannorsdel of Masonville and Joanne Agens of Fort Collins; Betty Hutcheson and Joan Foreman of Fort Collins; and George Williams who lives in Cheyenne and works in LaPorte.

Thanks to Ruby Vannorsdel for information concerning the Vannorsdel family.