Martha Alice TOPE was born 2 Mar 1841 in Carroll Co., Ohio, and died in Boulder Co., Colorado on 9 Nov 1938. She married Davis Johnson BAXTER In Van Wert, Ohio on 11 August 1881. Davis BAXTER was born to Robert BAXTER and Ama JOHNSON on 7 Feb 1847 and died in Boulder Co., Colorado on 2 Aug 1908. He was first married to Susan SMITH on 07 June 1869 in Pleasant Mills, Adams Co., Indiana. Susan died in Weld Co., Colorado on 8 February 1876.
     "Davis Johnson BAXTER brought his wife, Susan and baby daughter, Agnes, to Boulder County in 1872. He married Susan Smith at Pleasant Mills, Adams County, Indiana, 7 June 1869. His Obituary from the Berthoud Bulletin states that he farmed the land which became the site of Niwot (left hand).
     "Born in Van Wert County, Harrison Township, State of Ohio, 7 February 1847, he was named for his maternal uncle. Davis was not the only one of the nine children of Robert and Ama (Johnson) Baxter to come to Colorado:--Joseph and Emma Baxter, also from Pleasant Wells, settled in Left Hand, Boulder County (1880 Census); Mrs. R. A. (Ama) Wright of Berthoud; Mrs. Thomas (Rebecca) Cavey of Longmont; Mrs. Samuel (Emma) Gulick lived for a while at Hillsborough (1871-1903), ten miles southwest of Greeley; and Eliza Jane Baxter who died 1876.
     "Davis was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, having enlisted in Co. C, 2nd Ohio Regiment of Heavy Artillery, on the 10th day of February 1864 at Lima, Ohio, and was discharged as a corporal at Nashville, Tennessee on 23 August 1865.
     "He filed for Homestead Land in Section 30, 4N, 68W in Weld County and took up 150.5 acres in the NW1/4 on 13 April 1874. Here he spent the rest of his life. He built a house in 1874, another in 1877. Improvements were valued at $700 according to Homestead papers dated 26 February 1881. He dug a well, made corrals and a shelter for his cows and put up fences. The first two years he farmed for someone else until he could dig ditches to carry water to his land. Then he set out 45 apple trees, 50 grape vines, plowed up fifty acres and planted wheat, corn, oats and barley. Ama (Amy) Baxter took up 80 acres under the Homestead Act in 1877 - E1/2, SW1/4 or Section 30. Relinquished 10 March 1881.
     "The work must have been hard for a slender man only 5' 9". Red-headed with a beard, he had a lot of stamina to survive while others succumbed. After the death of his wife in 1876, his Mother cared for the two children, Agnes and Samuel. Agnes died 1877, Ama died at age 62 in 1882 and Samuel too in 1886. Their graves are beside Eliza Jane in the Old Burlington Cemetary [sic] on South Sunset, Longmont.
     "Martha A. Tope, born 2 March 1847 in Carrollton, Ohio, was also from Van Wert County, Ohio. She and Davis Baxter were married in Boulder County on 11 Aug 1881. She brought with her Lula Baxter, age 13.
     "Davis Baxter had both Quaker ancestry and Methodist Episcopal religious persuasion. He was Superintendent of the United Brethern [sic] Sunday School for nine years and was a charter member of the Christian Church.
     "He left this life at home, 2 August 1908, after suffering for sometime with cancer of the left ear and face. Martha survived until 9 November 1938.
     "Mary Baxter, older sister of Davis, married George Tope, George's sister, Martha born 2 March 1841, near Carrollton, Carroll, Ohio, also was from Van Wert County. She became Davis Baxter's second wife.
     "Davis Baxter had both Quaker and Methodist Episcopal persuasion. He was Superintendent of the United Brethren Sunday School for nine years and a charter member of the Christian Church in Berthoud.
     "Issue of Davis and Martha (Tope) Baxter:

1. "Lulu Myrtle BAXTER, b. 19 Sep 1867 d. 10 Dec 1910, married James W. LOGIE
2. "Myra Lena Baxter, b. 29 December 1882, d. 13 December 1973, married Harry K. Cline
3. "Beulah Baxter, b. 21 July 1886, d. 01 June 1888."

Source: CENTENNIAL PROJECT, sponsored by The Colorado Genealogical Society and prepared by Lois DuCharme.