By Steve Doner and Kent Brooks

In the block towards the rising sun we found Charley Malmberg trying to pound the stuffin out of a piece of iron. We don’t know whether Charley has planted the famous chestnut tree or not, but if he hasn’t he ought to, as he has the ideal shop.

Springfield Herald August 20, 1915, Page 2.

In the early 20th century, the growing communities of Baca County, Colorado, found a steadfast figure in Charley John Malmberg (1877-1956). An honest and excellent blacksmith, Malmberg’s life story is interwoven with the region’s history, from his Kansas origins and homesteading near Richards to his pivotal role as a blacksmith in Stonington and the early days of Walsh. 

Our writing of his story began with the image below, in which Steve noticed the broomcorn baler in the left-hand portion of the image, which was probably brought to Charley for repairs.     

Enduring personal hardship—the loss of his first wife, Lilla Estella McClenden, shortly after the birth of their daughter, Idrys—Charley remarried and rebuilt his life and business, first in Stonington and later as one of the first permanent residents of Walsh, where he remained a loyal booster and respected craftsman until his death. His second wife, Ethel, remained in Walsh and passed away in 1991.  

Steve commented that as a kid he remembers Ethel as a tiny little lady walking to the grocery store in Walsh. Mrs. Malmberg lived to be 96 years old. Her story is from a memorial on Find a Grave.

Ethel was the 9th of Alexander Chambers and Miranda Isabell Menefee’s 11 children. Her oldest sister Martha was already married with one child by the time she was born. There were three more sibling weddings before the funeral of her father in July of 1907, when Ethel was just 12 years old.

She moved with her widowed mother from Erath County, Texas, where the family had appeared on the 1900 Census (ED 72; Pg 17-B) prior to her father’s death, to Baca County, Colorado. With her mother, brother Levi and sisters Alice and Ruth, she appears on the 1910 Census in Baca County (ED 201; Pg 7-A). Her mother and sisters, along with brother Joseph and newlywed brother Levi and his wife Annie moved on to Hooker, Texas County, Oklahoma, but Ethel remained in Baca County along with her sister Ellen and her family.

Ethel married Charley Malmberg on Tuesday, 23 April 1918, in Baca County, where they made their home and reared two children. The family is listed on the 1920 Census in Stonington (ED 9; Pg 8-A) and the 1930 & 1940 Census records in Walsh (ED 20: Pg 2-B and ED 5-1; Pg 1-A; Family 3, respectively). Charley died in 1956, when Ethel was 61. They had been married for 38 years.

Ethel continued on another 35 years before she passed on at age 96, the last of her siblings to leave behind her mortal cares. She had also outlived her mother (who’d died at age 81), maternal grandmother (Mary Ann Manson Menefee, age 80 – aee link below) and great-grandmother (Elizabeth Manlove Menefee, age 78) by more than 15 years.

She’d seen the country move from its rural roots to a fast-paced metropolitan lifestyle and lived through the prohibition years, the Great Depression, the Dustbowl of the 1930s and two later major droughts (in the 1950s and 1980s), two World Wars, the Korean Conflict, Viet Nam, the end of the Cold War and, with Operation Desert Storm ending just before her death, the beginnings of U.S.-involved conflicts in the Middle East. She’d been born when the telephone was still a novelty to most households and saw men walk on the moon and begin to use the Internet. Her life encompassed the most remarkable period of rapid growth and development in the United States, and she lived through most of it in the relative calm of her home in Baca County.

The editor of the Herald was extreamly [sic] sory [sic] to hear of the death of Mrs. Lilla Malmberg of Richards. We have known Mrs. Malmberg since they came here ten years ago, when she was a little girl. She was a very quiet and friendly girl and woman; sympathetic, and ready to assist in any cause or wherever help was needed. 

We understand a little girl was born to them about a week ago, and complications set in and took her away. Obituary next week.

Obituary

Mrs. Lilla Estella McClenden Malmburg passed to her reward about 12 o’clock Tuesday night, April 18, 1916, at her home in Richards, Colo.

Mrs. Malmburg united with the Baptist church when twelve years old.

Lilla Estelle McClenden was born May 16, 1895, at Gravel Ridge, Bradley county, Ark., and moved with her parents to Baca county about eight years ago. She was married to Charles J. Malmberg, Feb. 2, 1915.

The funeral services were held at the home Wednesday 11 a. m. by Rev. Hazel and the remains were interred in the Stonington cemetery.

Besides the grief stricken husband and little daughter, Mrs. Malmburg is survived by her father, mother, and two sisters and five brothers.

Lilla Estelle was the oldest daughter of M. U. McClenden and wife. She was a good Christian and leaves a host of friends. We know that our loss is her eternal gain.

Everything was done for her that human and medical skill could do, but the death angel came and claimed our dear sister, friend and neighbor, so we must, as she would have us to do, look to God to heal the broken hearts.

We know that she is deserving of her reward, and that though her body lies in the dark and repelling grave, her spirit is safe with the God whom she faithfully served during her short life on this earth.

Sister Lilla’s little daughter was born April 13, 1916.

Mrs. M. Mitchell

   

CHARLEY JOHN MALMBERG

“Charley” John Malmberg was born April 18, 1877, on a farm near Waushara, Osage County, Kansas, oldest child and son of John Malmberg, (who was born in Sweden, December 2, 1845, and died December 12, 1914) and Eva (Carlson) Malmberg, (born in Sweden, October 31, 1856, and died February 17, 1884). His parents were married April 26, 1876, and to their union were born two sons, Charley, as above, and their daughter, Ida A., born July 1, 1880, and died August 9, 1904, and Eddie Emanuel born July 2, 1882, and he came up missing about age 16 years old. All three children were born at the same place as Charley.

At age 6 years and ten months old, Charley’s mother died at the birth of the fourth child, and the infant also died. Later his father remarried Ruah—, and to this union seven sons were born, Frank, John, Oscar, Everett, Otis and the last being twins, Clyde and Claude Malmberg.

Charley moved to Colorado in 1907, homesteaded 221​ miles east of Richards, Baca County.

Charley Malmberg and Lilla McClendon of Richards, Colorado were united in marriage, February 2, 1915, in the old Springfield Courthouse. To this union was born one daughter, Idrys, April 13, 1916. Lilla died April 18, 1916. The daughter, Idrys was cared for by her grandmother, Lula McClendon until Charlie remarried.

On April 23, 1918, Charley married Ethel Chambers, a school girl friend of Lilla’s. They were married in the Walter Frank home north of Stonington, Baca County, Colorado, with the Rev. Barney Jones performing the ceremony. To this union was born one son, Marion Wesley Malmberg, January 28, 1919.

Charley, as he was known to his friends, became a close friend of Mr. Wentworth who lived 6 miles south and 221​ miles east of Stonington. This area became known as Wentworth Community. Mr. Wentworth proved to be a valuable friend and taught Charley the blacksmithing business. After some time Charley bought Mr. Wentworth out and moved the business to Richards, Colorado. Charley served that community as blacksmith until after the death of his wife, Lilla. He then moved his business to Stonington, Colorado, 9 miles north and 7 miles east of Richards. During this time he was married to Ethel Chambers, and he and his family lived in Stonington for 8 years.

Charley continued to do blacksmithing in Stonington until the Santa Fe Railroad was built in Baca County. Because the Santa Fe Co. offered property and opportunities to residents of Stonington, Charley moved his family and business to Walsh, Colorado. They moved to Walsh in September 1926, and the Malmberg family were the first family to become permanent residents of Walsh.

Charley built a new building with up-to-date equipment for his blacksmith business. He continued in this business until he passed away, February 2, 1956. Charley is remembered as an honest hardworking man and an excellent blacksmith. He was also a loyal booster of Walsh and Baca County. When he visited his children in California, in a few days he was ready to return to Walsh.

Mrs. Ethel Malmberg is still residing in her home in Walsh and in the Walsh 50th Birthday Centennial and Bi-Centennial Celebration, September 17th, 18th, and 19th, 1976, she was chosen and crowned as the Pioneer Queen, along with the Pioneer King, Mr. Jim Cayton. Helping her to celebrate were her children, Idrys and Ted Felkner of Downey, California; Marion and Barbara Malmberg of Yucaipa, California; granddaughter, Terry Lee Peterson, and eighteen month old great-granddaughter, Kimberly, from Brigham City, Utah. Ethel Malmberg

Charley Malmberg’s legacy is that of an honest, hardworking man and an excellent blacksmith who was a loyal booster of both Walsh and Baca County. He continued his blacksmithing business in Walsh until his passing in 1956, a testament to his dedication. His enduring connection to the community he helped build continued through his family, with his second wife, Ethel, being chosen and crowned the Pioneer Queen during the Walsh 50th Birthday Centennial and Bi-Centennial Celebration in 1976. Malmberg’s life embodies the pioneering spirit of the region and his contributions were instrumental in the early days of Walsh.

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