| What makes it historical? |
Mrs. Hornbek came a long way before she even became a Hornbek! Born in Massachusetts, she married trader, Simon Harker, and moved with him to Oklahoma. When her husband’s health deteriorated, they moved to Colorado Territory and claimed a homestead under the terms of the Homestead Act of 1862. There, in 1863, Mr. Harker died, leaving Adeline to care for three kids on a remote homestead. Nevertheless, she persisted!
After making a living selling crops to miners, Adeline remarried Elliot Hornbek in 1866 and had one more child with him. Little is known about Elliot Hornbek, except that he abandoned his family in 1875.
With another child and another last name, Adeline Hornbek moved her family from Denver to Florissant in 1878 and filed the area’s first homestead application. Here, she had the valley’s first multi-story home built and added the facilities to raise cows, horses, pigs, and chickens, as well as maintain a full garden! Even beyond that incredible amount of work, she had a job at the Florissant mercantile and served on the school board! After her death, her property would become part of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument! |
