William Henry Card, known as W.H. Card, was named by E.P. Wilber as part of the original Meeker Townsite Company. Although Mr. Card is not listed on the courthouse memorial rock, he played a role in the area’s early history.
W.H. Card was born June 18, 1847, in Montgomery County, Illinois, to James Madison Card and Sarah Davis. At 18, he joined the Union Army during the Civil War. A recruiter in Jacksonville, Illinois, described him as 5 feet 8 inches tall, with dark hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion. (We’re not entirely sure what “florid complexion” meant in 1865.)
The recruiter also noted “sub for John A. Watt.” As casualties mounted during the war, the Union Army allowed drafted men to send paid substitutes in their place—a legal but controversial provision of the 1863 draft. While it spared wealthier men from service, it created resentment among volunteer units. Flags for these units proudly bore the word “Vol” to emphasize their status. Many substitutes served to support their families but were often stigmatized. Desertion rates were high among both draftees and substitutes. Some even deserted and reenlisted under false names to earn multiple bounties.
William Card, however, served honorably. He completed a year of service with Company K, 50th Illinois Infantry, and was mustered out July 13, 1865, in Louisville, Kentucky. He likely walked home to Illinois after the war.
The 1870 federal census shows William living on his family farm in Hillsboro, Montgomery County, Illinois, at age 22. Between 1870 and 1876, he followed the Union Pacific Railroad to Wyoming, where he met his future wife, Charlotte Francis “Fanny” Ryan. They married Feb. 15, 1876, in Carbon County, Wyoming. Their son, Jesse Francis Card, was born Oct. 1, 1878, at Fort Steele.
In the 1880 census, the family was living at Sheep Mountain in Summit County, Colorado, where William worked as a miner. This was during the period of unrest surrounding the Ute uprising and the eventual opening of the White River Valley. William was present in 1883 when the Meeker Townsite Company was formed.
He did not stay in Meeker, eventually moving north to Williams Fork, though he remained in contact with friends in the area. In 1892, declining health led him to apply for an Army disability pension. Around 1895, he sold his ranch and went to work for the J.W. Hugus Co. in Rawlins, Wyo.
His wife, Fanny, died Feb. 20, 1895, in Williams Fork. Due to the winter season, she was temporarily buried until William could relocate her remains to Saratoga, Wyoming, where she was laid to rest in Cadwell Cemetery near her brother and cousins. William later took their son, Jesse, back East for schooling.
Having previously hauled freight for Hugus between Rawlins and Craig, William had a working relationship with the company. By 1898, he had returned to Illinois and remarried. His second wife, Caroline Virginia “Ginny” Livengood Taylor, had two daughters, Grace and Clara Taylor, from a previous marriage. William moved the family to Texas, where they appear in the 1910 federal census in Smith County.
William Henry Card died Dec. 21, 1916, in Dallas. His widow, listed as Jennie Card, applied for a pension and died in Dallas on Oct. 23, 1940. William’s son, Jesse Francis Card, died April 11, 1948, in St. Louis.
Sources: ColoradoHistoricNewspapers.org; WyomingHistoricNewspapers.org; Dan Davidson, Museum of Northwest Colorado; Rio Blanco Historical Society, This Is What I Remember books; Ancestry.com; FindAGrave.