Victor Barth

Victor Barth was born in New Jersey August 18, 1882. He had five sisters and two brothers. His father, Jacob Daniel, was an immigrant from Idar Oberstein, Germany.

When he was a youngster, Victor turned on the outside faucet to a lawn sprinkler that his father was showing to a neighbor. Jacob and the neighbor got wet.

With his brother, Emil, Victor went west about 1904. For a short time he sold what was supposed to be butter, but it turned out to be margarine, so that job was abandoned.

Victor and Emil, began ranching Emil's homestead on Deep Creek in Routt County, Colorado. They built a cabin and registered the "bar TH" cattle brand which was the letters "TH" with a bar over them.

In the winter of 1906 Victor returned to New Jersey to earn money to keep the ranch going. He got work with a canvassing job through his friend, Clio Davidson, returning to the ranch in the spring of 1907.

When Emil and his sister Julia could manage the ranch alone, Victor hired out to other ranchers in the area. Around 1908 Emil married Florence Ann Akhurst. Victor and Emil's sister, Julia, who had come west to stay at the ranch, married and moved away with her husband.

Victor got to know the girl who lived on a nearby ranch with her parents. She was Jennie Grace Cool (called by her middle name, "Grace"), and they were wed June 15, 1909. Her parents were married in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1884 before migrating west.

Grace's mother, Josephine tomes, married Marion Vale following the death of her first husband, Peter Cool, who died December 18, 1894. One of Josephine's relatives was superintendent of a coalmine in Renton, Washington. Josephine eventually sold her ranch to a couple whose daughter, Vera, married Emil's second son, Paul.

Victor and Grace moved to Emil and Victor's homestead. Following a prescribed period of time, they "proved" it, the process of making it their own. Victor and Emil decided to dissolve their ranching partnership in 1909 and Victor sold his share in the ranch to Emil for $500.

Victor and Grace moved to the Denny Renton Clay and Coal camp near Renton, Washington to work at the mine, where a Grace's uncle, Sam, was a superintendent. Sam was later killed in a mine explosion.

Their first son, Vincent David, was born at the camp in 1910. Grace was in labor for a long time. The coal company ran its generators all through the night of June 9, 1910 to provide light for the birthing. Although Victor's usual job was running the electric mine trains, at that time of Vincent's birth, he was prospecting for coal outcrops, so on Vincent's birth certificate, his occupation was listed as "prospector."

In 1911, a forest fire threatened the mine and it was closed down. Victor took the family by steamer from Seattle to Los Angeles, California, where Grace's mother, Josephine Vale, had moved after selling the ranch near Emil's, in Colorado. There, Victor got a job as a clerk in a grocery store owned by a relative. The following year, on April 25, 1912, their second son, Donald Scott, was born in Los Angeles.

In 1913 Josephine moved from Los Angeles to Loveland, Colorado. Victor followed with Grace and their two sons in 1915. In a joint venture, Victor transported lumber from the forests in the foothills to the lumber mill in town. When that job ran out, he got work in a Loveland sugar factory cutting sugar out of centrifuges. While working at the sugar factory, Victor salvaged old leather belting used to turn machinery to resole his family's shoes.

In 1916 the family moved to Denver where Victor and his sister Julia's husband, Arthur, launched a joint venture called "The Reliable Repair," to repair appliances. The repaired appliances had to be delivered by streetcar to their owners.

Next, Victor got a job working at Kistler's stationery store at a salary of $12 per week, eventually getting $14 a week. The family rented a house at 4305 Zenobia Street for $10 per month.

On November 17, 1919, Victor and Grace's third son, Jack Edward, was born.

Victor's brother-in-law, his sister Julia's husband, got Victor a job at the Hardisy Iron Works, in 1917. Later, Victor was promoted to superintendent of the company. Victor bought a 1919 Chevrolet, which had a weak rear end and spent a lot of time jacked up in the back yard. By this time, Victor was making $20 a week.

Later, he bought a 1920 Dodge "touring." His purchase of a set of classy, beveled glass wind-wings brought criticism from Grace for his extravagance.

When Hardisy sold out to another company, Victor found himself unemployed. He learned about the Bureau of Reclamation and made application for the position of Inspector of Riveting and Welding. Unfortunately, that job was usually held by a political appointee. Victor kept trying to get the job. Finally, he met with the governor of Colorado who was impressed with his ability, and gave him the job.

In 1923 Victor bought a brick house at 4500 W. 33rd Avenue, costing about $4500. It was at this house that Victor fabricated a car body out of sheet metal. They called it "The Yellow Peril."

In a large pen they raised chickens. Later the chicken pen was turned into a dog run where German Shepherds were raised to sell. One of the dogs, Gary, was kept as a family pet.

Grace met a neighbor across the street in an odd way. She had car trouble on the Loveland Pass road and was assisted by the Mosers who lived at 4525 W. 33rd Avenue, just across the street and down a house. The Mosers and the Barths went together on many interesting outings. The Mosers became close friends to three generations of the Barth family.

Victor retired from his job with the Bureau of Reclamation with the title of Engineer, a great accomplishment for a man who never went beyond the 6th grade. He was presented with a medal commemorating his service to the government.

Grace died on December 18, 1959 in Los Angeles, California. Victor died on January 9, 1966, in Los Angeles.