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George W. "Denver George" Benkelman

George W. "Denver George" Benkelman

Male 1862 - 1925  (63 years)

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  • Name George W. "Denver George" Benkelman  [1, 2, 3
    Nickname Denver George 
    Birth 23 Sep 1862  Blackhawk, Colorado Territory Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 4, 5
    Gender Male 
    Death 28 Dec 1925  Denver, Denver County, Colorado Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 5, 6
    Burial Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Denver County, Colorado Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Notes 
    • Known as "Denver George." He founded the Finance Service Corporation and the Merchants Biscuit Company. He served as secretary to the Colorado Packing and Provision Company. His father had founded the company, but the younger George managed it until its merger in 1913 with the National Packing Company.

      He tore down the Benkelman residence and built the Benkelman Block at 18th and California. There was housed the Finance Service Corporation.

      BonnieMargaret transcribed his obituary from the Rocky Mountain News as follows:

      "George W. Benkelman, founder and vice president of the Merchants' Biscuit company and the last of a long line of pioneer settlers in the West, fell dead early last evening at the Denver Athletic Club following an acute heart attack. Mr. Benkelman at the time was chatting with friends at the club and until he suddenly dropped forward in his chair, he gave no indication of the sudden seizure of heart disease which caused his almost instant death. Having for many years been closely identified with mining, manufacturing and cattle interests, Mr. Benkelman occupied a prominent position in the financial and industrial life of the city and state." (Jacobs, p. 122 and 123).

      BonnieMargaret also wrote, in a separate paper about the Kansas Benkelmans, that one of his honorary pallbearers was William Buck, a Cheyenne County Rancher, who was located 4 miles north of St. Francis.

      George was unmarried and had no heirs. An item in his will left property in Trust with The Denver National Bank. The will provided that at the end of five years, the bank, as trustee, would convey title to the property to a corporation and one-tenth of the capital stock should be given to Mrs. Mary M. (Lena Benkelman) Schwegler or her heirs.

      Lena died childless, and before the expiration of the trust. Her heirs were the descendants of her brothers and sisters, as they also had predeceased her. This Decree, dated September 2, 1931 by the District Court of Denver, Colorado, is an important genealogical document. The Bank had to locate and identify 60 widely scattered Benkelman heirs to share in this inheritance. BonnieMargaret references this as Court docket No. 111060, filed on June 12, 1931 in the District Couty, State of Colorado, City and County of Denver.

      Bonnie notes that the Denver branch of the Benkelman family were all originally buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Denver, but reinterred to the Fairmount Cemetery on October 14, 1920 by George W.
    • (Research):
      Census Listings:

      1910 Census
      Colorado, Denver County, Denver Ward 9
      Enumerated 21 Apr 1910
      Twenty First Street
      523-91-146
      Benkelman, George W Head M W 47 S Co Germany/German Germany/German Office Beef and Pork Packer
      Benkelman, Charlie A Brother M W 44 m1 1 Colorado Germany/German Germany/German President Oil and Gas co
      Benkelman, Florence E Sister in Law F W 35 m1 1 England/English England/English England/English 1891 None
      Benkelman, Harry J Brother M W 42 S Colorado Germany/German Germany/German Own Income

      1920 Census
      Colorado, Denver County, Denver City
      Enumerated 3 Jan 1920
      SD 1 ED 262 Sheet 2B
      1080-40-41
      Dronn (or Drown), Linnaeus Head M W 46 m Oh Pa Oh Surgeon General Practice
      Dronn(or Drown), Cora M Wf F W 45 m Oh Pa Oh
      Benkelman, George W Lodger M W 57 S Co Germany/English Germany/English Mining Mine
    Person ID I1966  Strong Family Tree
    Last Modified 17 Aug 2014 

    Father Johann Georg "George" Benkelman,   b. 25 Jun 1830, Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Jan 1908, Denver, Denver County, Colorado Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years) 
    Mother Christina "Christine" Rommel,   b. 3 Mar 1831, B?nzwangen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Jan 1903, Denver, Denver County, Colorado Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 71 years) 
    Marriage Abt 1861  Lancaster, Erie County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [7, 8
    • In the 1981 unpublished manuscript, BonnieMargaret Jacobs stated that George Benkelman and Christina Rommel were married in Lancaster, New Yorkafter George had returned their from California for a short visit. The families had lived in close proximity in Germany, and BonnieMargaret theorized that "George's plan (to marry her) was well formulated" prior to his trip back to New York. "When she arrived in America, we don't yet know, but she was there and waiting and willing when George returned." Art Peck instead lists the location of their marriage as in Sturgis, Michigan. Christina's father, Michael Rommel, was assesed taxes in Michigan in 1863 and 1864, and younger sister Mary Rommel was married to Christian Striffler in St. Joseph County, MI "prior to returning to Lancaster"...so it appears possible that George and Christina could have been married in either location. In the footnotes to her chapter on Johann Georg Benkelmann, BonnieMargaret also notes that newspaper biographies of George varied in the account of the location of his marriage, one stating he married Christine on his return to New York, another saying he went to Lancaster and then on to Michigan to marry Christine before heading back west.
    Family ID F1283  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 23 Sep 1862 - Blackhawk, Colorado Territory Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 28 Dec 1925 - Denver, Denver County, Colorado Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Denver County, Colorado Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Photos
    Benkelman, George W.
    Benkelman, George W.
    This photo was identified as "son of Big George (of Denver)." It is most likely their eldest son, George W. Benkelman, and this was confirmed by Marjory Schwegler Battel.

    Documents
    Benkelman and Neighboring Ranches, Republican River Valley, at the borders of Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado
    Benkelman and Neighboring Ranches, Republican River Valley, at the borders of Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado
    From the book, "Sutton's Southwest Nebraska," E.S. Sutton, Published by the Author, Benkelman, Nebraska, 1983
    Sutton, E.S. 'Sutton's Southwest Nebraska' (Published by the Author, Benkelman, Nebraska, 1983); page 166-167
    Sutton, E.S. "Sutton's Southwest Nebraska" (Published by the Author, Benkelman, Nebraska, 1983); page 166-167
    Benkelman Ranch History
    Sutton, E.S. 'Sutton's Southwest Nebraska' (Published by the Author, Benkelman, Nebraska, 1983); page 168-169
    Sutton, E.S. "Sutton's Southwest Nebraska" (Published by the Author, Benkelman, Nebraska, 1983); page 168-169
    Benkelman Ranch History
    Sutton, E.S. 'Sutton's Southwest Nebraska' (Published by the Author, Benkelman, Nebraska, 1983); page 170-171
    Sutton, E.S. "Sutton's Southwest Nebraska" (Published by the Author, Benkelman, Nebraska, 1983); page 170-171
    Benkelman Ranch History
    Benkelman, Nebraska Train Depot
    Benkelman, Nebraska Train Depot
    A train passing through the Benkelman Nebraska Train Depot, northeast of the Benkelman Ranch Holdings in Cheyenne County, Kansas

  • Sources 
    1. [S492] Peck, Edward Arthur THE TEN BENKELMANS WHO EMIGRATED TO AMERICA Ca. 1850s AND CERTAIN OF THEIR DESCENDANTS, 1982.

    2. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 119, 124 (Reliability: 3).

    3. [S873] Find A Grave [database online]; http://www.findagrave.com/, (Thousands of contributors submit new listings, updates, corrections, photographs and virtual flowers every hour to the FIND A GRAVE website. When it comes to administrating, building and maintaining the site, Find A Grave is largely operated by its founder, Jim Tipton.), # 54921675, transcribed, in error as 25 Sep 1862, but the photo shows 23 Sept 1862 (Reliability: 3).

    4. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 119, 124 (Family Bible said Cripple Creek, Colorado, but BonnieMargaret states he was actually born in the Mountain Village of Blackhawk) (Reliability: 3).

    5. [S873] Find A Grave [database online]; http://www.findagrave.com/, (Thousands of contributors submit new listings, updates, corrections, photographs and virtual flowers every hour to the FIND A GRAVE website. When it comes to administrating, building and maintaining the site, Find A Grave is largely operated by its founder, Jim Tipton.), # 54921675 (Reliability: 3).

    6. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 124 (Reliability: 3).

    7. [S492] Peck, Edward Arthur THE TEN BENKELMANS WHO EMIGRATED TO AMERICA Ca. 1850s AND CERTAIN OF THEIR DESCENDANTS, 1982, He shows that they were married in Sturgis, Michigan. (Reliability: 3).

    8. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 117 (Reliability: 3).