Von Trotha Family

Baron Claus "Claude" Wolfgang Von Trotha (1840-1888) and Helene Niebelung (1847-1936) were married in 1868 in Toledo, Ohio. They both had immigrated to the United States from Germany. Baron Von Trotha fought in the Civil War. The family lived in Ohio, Minnesota and Boulder and Denver, Colorado before homesteading around 1887 on property just north of the Poudre River in the Bracewell/Farmers Spur area. They were considered pioneers of the Poudre Valley.

Claus and Helene had nine children:
Thilo Claus (1870-1900)
Charlotte Ottonie (1871-1953)
Egon Karl (1873-1900) (Died of tonsilitis at age 26.)
Bodo Leopold (1875-1959)
Erich Fritz (1877-1942)
Otto Max (1879-1960)
Esther Daisy Thekla (1881-1950)
Lothar Edgar (1883-1959)
Claus Wolfgang Von Trotha, Jr.(1885-1966)

(Family information retrieved from http://www.theplates.ws/family/wc01/wc01_228.html)

Bode von Trotha

Bodo Leopold Von Trotha (1875-1959) was born in Toledo, Ohio. He came to Colorado with his parents, Claus and Helene Von Trotha, who had immigrated from Germany. The family first lived in Ohio, Minnesota and Boulder and Denver, Colorado before homesteading around 1887 on property just north of the Poudre River in the Bracewell/Farmers Spur area.

Bode was active in the community and contributed significantly to farming, livestock feeding and irrigation in the Greeley area. He was prominent in the community and well respected for his business practices.

Bode was active in politics and honored in the late 1920s for his work as Republican County Chairman. In 1928, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention. In 1930, Bode managed the United States Census in the La Grange/Bracewell area.

Bode married Fern Tweed in 1931 in Greeley, Colorado. They married late in life and didn't have any children.

In 1950, Bode and his brother, Claude, incorporated their business interests by forming Von Trotha Brothers, Inc.

Considered pioneers in livestock feeding in Northern Colorado, the Von Trotha Brothers had one of the largest livestock feeding establishments in the region. They regularly shipped cattle and sheep to the Denver market. Bode was responsible for feeding activities. He also regularly bought cattle and sheep out of Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico. In the early days, both cattle and sheep arrived by train, the railroad unloaded them at the Bracewell siding and Von Trotha workers drove them down County Road 27 to the farm. Bode Von Trotha passed away in 1959 at the age of 84.

Claude von Trotha

Claus Wolfgang Von Trotha (1885-1966) was born in Denver, Colorado. His parents, Claus and Helene Von Trotha, had immigrated to the United States from Germany. The family first lived in Ohio, Minnesota and Boulder and Denver, Colorado before homesteading around 1887 on property just north of the Poudre River in the Bracewell/Farmers Spur area.

Claude was active in the community and contributed significantly to farming, livestock feeding and irrigation in the Greeley area. He was prominent in the community and well respected for his business practices.

Claude served on the Bracewell School Board, was Chairman of the Board of the Weld County Bank, served on the Board of Directors of several local irrigation companies and was actively involved in various other community activities.

In 1936, Claude married Roxena Goodpasture in Denver, Colorado. They married late in life and didn't have any children.

A 1953 article in the Great Western Sugar Publication Through the Leaves, described Claude as "progressive in his farm practices" as he was one of the first to realize the value of commercial fertilizer on all crops. Claude and his brother, Bode, encouraged local farmers to employ more mechanization, such as machine thinning of sugar beets.

In 1950, Bode and his brother, Claude, incorporated their business interests by forming Von Trotha Brothers, Inc.

Considered pioneers in livestock feeding in Northern Colorado, the Von Trotha Brothers had one of the largest livestock feeding establishments in the region. They regularly shipped cattle and sheep to the Denver market. Claude handled the farming operations and management for the Company.

In 1959, Claude created the Von Trotha Educational Trust for the purpose of granting educational scholarships. This educational trust continued to grant scholarships throughout the 1980s. A 1989 article from the North Weld Herald indicates 25 scholarships in the amount of $400 each were awarded that year to students in Weld County.

Claude Von Trotha passed away in 1966 at the age of 81.

Von Trotha Brothers

In 1950, Bode and Claude Von Trotha incorporated their business interests by forming Von Trotha Brothers, Inc. This allowed them to broaden their enterprises in cattle feeding, farming and ranching, the grain elevator business, property and water rights acquisition and to issue corporate stock. Farm tenants working the Von Trotha's land received shares of stock. The brothers also had a land company known as Von Trotha Land Company and were involved with the Greeley Elevator Company.

Considered pioneers in livestock feeding in Northern Colorado, the Von Trotha Brothers had one of the largest livestock feeding establishments in the region, as stated in the 1941 newspaper article entitled, "Von Trotha Steers are Market Toppers". They regularly shipped cattle and sheep to the Denver market. Bode was responsible for feeding activities while Claude handled the farming operations and management. Bode bought cattle and sheep out of Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico. In the early days, both cattle and sheep arrived by train, the railroad unloaded them at the Bracewell siding and Von Trotha workers drove them down County Road 27 to the farm.

Claude, along with his brother, Bode, owned significant land holdings in the Severance area and the Bracewell area, especially along County Road 64. The 1915 map entitled "Irrigated Farms of Northern Colorado" indicated these holdings were irrigated farmland. Bode and Claude purchased the current property in 1916 from Philip Krieger. By 1940, they had purchased additional land in the Bracewell/Farmers Spur area as shown below on the 1940 Rural Landowners Atlas (courtesy of the Greeley History Museum).

The Von Trotha Brothers owned or had an interest in at least six farms, mostly in the Bracewell area, and the tenant farmers for these farms were Peter Firestien and his sons, Conrad, George, John, Henry and Louis. Louis also served as vice president and later as president of Von Trotha Brothers, Inc.

In 1951, the Von Trotha Brothers were instrumental in constructing the Shark's tooth Pipeline which delivered domestic water to 11 families, mostly on farms owned by the Von Trotha Brothers. The pipeline is still used today and each of the customers are stockholders in the Company.

A 1953 article, entitled "Von Trothas Push Machine Thinning" appeared in the Great Western Sugar Publication Through the Leaves. Claude and Bode encouraged local farmers to employ more mechanization, such as machine thinning of sugar beets. The article also states, "The Von Trotha Brothers are a guiding influence in the community and are counseled by many growers in the community."

In 1966, Von Trotha Brothers, Inc. was dissolved. The brothers had married late in life and had no children to whom they could leave the farms. They arranged for the company to dissolve and the farms to be "distributed in liquidation for each of the outstanding shares of capital stock held by the farm tenants". In other words, each of the Firestien brothers who had been working these farms, was able to purchase the farm they had been working. It was at that time, that Conrad and Mabel Firestien purchased the current property.