Alma Osgood, the wife of mining magnate John C. Osgood, founder of Redstone, was known as “Lady Bountiful” by the town’s residents because she lavished them with gifts, especially during the holidays.

Carbondale’s equivalent was Mary Jane Francis, a wealthy widow from Philadelphia who bought the Bull Dog Mine on Avalanche Creek. She helped found the Bank of Carbondale and financed the purchase of the safe. Mrs. Francis donated some of her land south of town for the Methodist Church, and for the first public school building.

In the book “Carbondale Pioneers 1879-1890” by Edna Denmark Sweet, the author, herself an important pioneer, compiled stories of the early settlers, many of whom were prominent women. In her chapter on Mary Jane Francis, Sweet wrote:

“Mrs. Francis was a very highly cultured woman [with] unlimited means … She had a philanthropic heart … She reached out and helped the aged and those who were about to lose their homes. She was wonderfully kind to the bachelors of the town who had so many hardships and no luxuries.

“In December 1898 during the holiday season, the First Ladies Aide of the Methodist Church was organized at the home of Mrs. M.J. Francis … There were some 25 women present. At the end of the meeting, Mrs. Francis presented each lady with a beautiful solid gold four-leaf clover pin with the date inscribed on the back.”

Carbondale had many other bountiful ladies; women who contributed to the establishment, management and beautification of the town, as well as the welfare of its citizens.

After the death of her husband George Winters in Mankato, Minnesota, Alberta Grubb Winters came to Carbondale to be near her brothers, Lloyd and Eugene Grubb, and became Mrs. Dow Sebree in 1903. She served as the postmistress for 17 years.

Alberta Grubb “is lovingly known as the grand old mother of Carbondale. She never knew fear and … went to the aid of the sick. There were few doctors and no nurses. Many a time she closed her Post Office at night, rode several miles … over rough roads and swollen streams to some suffering woman in childbirth, and after an all-night vigil returned home just in time to open the Post Office. If it was diphtheria she was the first to go and when our town was stricken with flu she went day and night.

She was town clerk for eight years … was a member of the town council … served as president of the Garden Club … Vice Chairman of the Red Cross and was a charter member of the Carbondale Study Club and Tri-County Federation. She is still living [in 1947] at the ripe old age of 89 years, filled with [a] piling up of good deeds for her neighbors.”

Alberta was not the only community activist in her family. Her sister-in-law, whose first name is never mentioned in “Carbondale Pioneers,” was also renowned.

“Mrs. Eugene Grubb came to Colorado with her husband in 1882. Mrs. Grubb taught in the first school in Aspen. She was Superintendent of Schools in Pitkin County in 1885.

The Grubb brothers and Mrs. Grubb came to Carbondale where they … established the Mount Sopris Ranch. Mrs. Grubb took a very great interest in the social and intellectual life of the community. She was the first president of the Carbondale Study Club and first president of [the] Tri-County Federation.”

It was the Carbondale Study Club that self-published long-time member Edna Sweet’s book in 1947. In it she describes the study club’s origin, purpose and community activities:

“The sturdy pioneer women, feeling the need of a cultural touch, organized the Carbondale Study Club in 1898 … We bought late periodicals and fiction and have always remained a Study Club. We labored always for the upbuilding of the community. We were instrumental in building a road and planting trees around Hillcrest Cemetery. We have helped maintain a Community House, assisted in school clinics, have donated yearly to the educational fund of the Tri-County Federated clubs, and have given competitive prizes to the Public Schools.”

In 1904, the Glenwood Reading Club and the Carbondale Study Club organized the Tri-County Federation of women’s clubs, spanning Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle counties. The Study Club lasted for nearly a century, finally ending at the dawn of the computer age.

Fortunately for Carbondale, The Seven Stars Rebekahs Lodge #91, formed in 1903, is still going strong. The Rebekahs were the women’s auxiliary to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with whom they shared the two-story brick building at 302 Main Street, on property that was owned by three different women over its first 20 years, including Mary Jane Francis, a Rebekahs member.

The building, originally constructed for the Oddfellows, was deeded to the Rebekahs in 1995, and Lodge #91 currently runs the Near New thrift store there, offering grants to schools and funding community projects with the proceeds.

Listen to the Carbondale Historical Society’s Historic Women Audio Series at www.carbondalehistory.org.
For the history of Carbondale’s early buildings see the Historic Commercial Core Walking Tour posted at
www.theclio.com/tour/2529