741 Jefferson Ave Historic Survey

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Resource Number: 5BL 924 Temporary Resource Number: 157508427001 The following photo, in the collection of the Louisville Historical Museum, shows the relationship of the Methodist Church (on the left) to the Louisville Grade School across Spruce to the north. The photo was taken in 1961, not long before the school was demolished: As noted in the 2000 survey, this church was established by, and appealed to, the many English pioneer families who came to Louisville in its earliest years. Many of the men were miners who had come from mining areas of England. Surnames of families who belonged to this church included (but are not limited to) the following prominent Anglo families who lived in Louisville: Carlton, Hutchinson, Dalby, Jenkins, Lawrence, Thirlaway, Thomas, Thompson, Ferguson, Robinson, Hilton, Cable, Pickett, and Henning. Tom Carlton, who was a miner and preacher (though not ordained, apparently), is generally recognized as having been the force behind the establishment of the church. He was born in 1824 in the village of Flimby in Cumberland, which is on the Irish Sea near Maryport and near the border with Scotland. He married in 1844 to Jane McLean (1818-1891) and they had several children. English census records show that he was a "colliery viewer," which was a position similar to that of a foreman. The Carlton family immigrated to the US in the 1870s. By 1880, Tom Carlton was a mining engineer in Gold Hill in Boulder County, and by 1885, he was living in Louisville with his family. Records indicate that he was a preacher for Louisville's English settlers who met in private homes prior to the building of the Methodist Church and that he personally raised $800 for the building. He died in January 1892, not long after the death of his wife, before the Methodist Episcopal Church could be opened. The following two photos are strongly believed to show Jane and Tom Carlton based on the available evidence and writings on the backs of the photos. The photo of Jane Carlton was taken by a local Colorado photographer, while the photo of Tom Carlton was taken in Maryport, England (near his home village of Flimby): 3