Enderud, Briscoe, and Cantril family photos

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: C-16010

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Enderud, Briscoe, and Cantril Family Photos collection contains 626 digitized photographs from two family scrapbooks and an assortment of loose photographs. The photographs depict members of the Briscoe, Enderud, and Cantril families at various stages of life, including John R. Cantril, Vinona Alward Cantril, Ethel Cantril Enderud, Henry Enderud, Mary Cole Briscoe Enderud, and Bonnie Enderud McCosh. The photographs were primarily taken at family gatherings, such as picnics and celebrations, in the form of snapshots of family, friends, children, and pets.

Photographs in the collection capture various life events, such as the wedding day of Henry Enderud and Ethel Cantril Enderud in 1919, the 50th wedding anniversary of Herman and Rena Augusta Enderud, and vsrious family outings across Colorado. A series of photographs in the collection are school portraits of Douglas County High School students, individually and in groups, from the 1939-1940 academic year. Photographs of the former high school building, which now houses Douglas County Schools’ administration offices at 620 Wilcox Street, are contained within the collection.

Also within the collection are photographs taken during Henry Enderud’s service in the United States Army and Frank Cantril’s service in the United States Navy during World War I.

Several of the photographs were taken outside the historic Cantril House, located at 221 Cantril Street in Castle Rock, Colorado, including one photograph of the residence’s construction in 1909. The Cantril School is also visible in several of the photographs, one of Douglas County’s oldest and most architecturally significant buildings. A few photographs in the collection depict the Castlewood Dam, constructed in 1890, in Castlewood Canyon State Park in Franktown, Colorado. The dam broke in 1933 and only the western portion remains. Photographs in the collection show the dam intact, often with members of the families posed on or near it. Castle Rock Creamery also figures briefly in the collection, as Henry Enderud managed the establishment until 1921.

Dates

1890-1960
Majority of material found within 1920-1940

Conditions Governing Access

Douglas County Libraries Archives and Local History holds only digital reproductions of the photographs in this collection. They can be accessed with the assistance of staff.

Biographical / Historical

Henry Enderud, son of Herman and Rena Augusta Enderud, arrived in Douglas County in 1915 while working for the railroad. His family moved to and settled in Fowler, Colorado from Nebraska in a covered wagon around the turn of the 20th century. Newspaper articles suggest that Enderud took a job at the DuPont dynamite factory in Louviers, Colorado before enlisting in the United States Army in 1917. Henry Enderud then served in World War I and was stationed in France. On October 3, 1918, he suffered a leg injury after stepping on an explosive. He was later awarded the Purple Heart in 1980. After he was discharged from the military, Henry managed the Castle Rock Creamery until 1921 when he purchased Sinclair Refining Company, an agency that transported gasoline to local farmers and businesses in the area. Henry worked distributing for Sinclair Refining Company until 1945 when he sold the business to open Castle Rock Liquor Store of which he was the proprietor until he retired in 1958.

When he returned to Douglas County after the war, Henry married Ethel Cantril, daughter of pioneer, John Cantril, and Vinona Alward Cantril, in 1919. Ethel was a graduate of Douglas County High School, and she attended Colorado Women’s College in Denver, Colorado. Local newspapers, such as the Record Journal of Douglas County, note Ethel’s involvement in social events, entertaining, and local women’s clubs. Henry and Ethel had two daughters, Bonnie Enderud McCosh and Mabel Enderud. Ethel Cantril Enderud passed away suddenly after a surgery in Denver in 1929. The Enderuds’ youngest daughter, Mabel, died six years later in 1935.

Henry Enderud remarried in 1939 to Mary Cole Briscoe. Mary Briscoe Enderud was born in Castle Rock in 1896. Her father, George Cole Briscoe, served as Douglas County sheriff. Mary graduated from Douglas County High School and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins to pursue nursing. She completed her nurse’s training at Mercy Hospital in Denver. She later completed a public health program at the Universities of Minnesota and Washington. She was appointed the first county nurse for Douglas County. She was a respected figure, known for her expertise and record of service in the Douglas County community. Mary passed away on October 3, 1958. A building at Castle Rock Adventist Hospital was named for her in 2017.

The Cantril family came to Colorado in 1862 when John Cantril arrived with his father’s family from Des Moines, Iowa. After settling in Douglas County, John R. Cantril owned a ranch in Perry Park around 1874 and performed sawmill work in Franktown, Stone Canyon, and Perry Park. John Cantril married his first wife, Clara Quick, in 1873. They had two daughters, Laura Cantril Ayers and Mary Cantril. Clara passed away on the Perry Park ranch. John remarried Vinona Alward Cantril in 1889. They had two children, Frank and Ethel Cantril. In 1909, the Cantrils oversaw the construction of a brick house at what is now 221 Cantril Street in Castle Rock. Cantril Street and the first county-wide school were named in honor of the Cantril family. The Cantril family was highly regarded in the community for their role as pioneers and early settlers of Castle Rock.

Extent

58 Gigabytes : 626 digitized photographs (1,252 access and master files)

1 Items (1 file folder.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Enderud, Briscoe, and Cantril Family Photos collection contains 626 digitized photographs from two family scrapbooks and an assortment of loose photgraphs. The photographs depict members of the Briscoe, Enderud, and Cantril families at various stages of life, including John R. Cantril, Ethel Cantril Enderud, Mary Cole Briscoe Enderud, Henry Enderud, and Bonnie Enderud McCosh.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged in the original order established by the compiler. Additional loose photographs are arranged and ordered chronologically when date could be established.