A brush fence, depicted on the 1870 GLO (northwestern quarter of the northwestern quarter of Section 9, T1N, R12E) was located upon the 40-acre ranch of John and Elizabeth Vickrey, who patented the land in 1884 and deeded it to Flower in 1889 (Deed Book 17:485). Vickrey was listed as a native of Illinois, a miner, and residing on the property with his wife, Emma, and children, Ida and Henry, in 1880. The family was assessed for a house and a barn, and in 1992 Charlie Stone recalled that the house site was marked by a poplar tree and a well on the south side of the old highway (Reed’s Turnpike), 100 yards west of the bridge.

By Judith Marvin