How This Book Came About

Art Jamison with his cousin, Ed Barry, in Rosita, 1968

By 1916, both of Art Jamison's grandparents had passed. Art worked on trail drives, moving cattle from Texas to Kansas City, Omaha and Chicago. Art eventually settled in Boise, Idaho. There, Art worked for a construction company, and later rose to the rank of  lieutenant in the detective division of the Boise Police Department.

Edmond Henry Barry was born in 1910, in Aguilar, Las Animas County, in southeastern Colorado. Edmond Henry and Arthur Jamison were first cousins on their mothers’ side of the Schriver family. Art was 19 years older than Ed. 

After he lost both of his parents in 1929, at age 19, Edmond moved to Dallas, Texas, to live with relatives on the Barry side of his family. 

Ed remained in Dallas. He and Art kept up with each other over the years. In 1968, they decided to go back to Colorado together to visit the places they had lived, and to look for any relatives who might still be in the area. On this trip, Art, Ed and Ed’s wife, Mary Ann Barry, were able to locate two other first cousins, Maude Traver Thorpe in Cañon City, and Marion Fisher Lutz in Pueblo. The cousins reminisced about their family and about events they remembered. They all enjoyed their time together so much that Art, Ed and Mary Ann made a return trip in 1969. (Art had lost his wife, Nellie, a few years earlier.)

After their visits in Colorado, Ed encouraged Art to record some of his memories of growing up in the Schriver family. Art, living in Boise, composed a few pages at a time and mailed them to Ed in Dallas. Ed typed the stories, using carbon paper to produce 3 copies. Later, Ed had the copies bound into hardback books, using Art's title, The Schriver Family History.

The Schriver Ranch, near the town of Rosita, was in Custer County, Colorado. Westcliffe is now the largest town in the county, and is the county seat.  Edmond donated one of these books to the West Custer County Library in Westcliffe. When he returned a few years later, the librarian told Ed that the book was very, very popular; in fact, they had moved it to the Reference Section because they considered the book too valuable to take a chance on having it damaged or lost. Ed felt gratified that the book was appreciated.