MARTHA MAXWELL - CHARLES E.H. AIKEN
Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines
In the late 1880s and early 1900s, a fascination with nature was prevalent, particularly among those in the eastern United States. The Audubon Society and the Sierra Club were two of the organizations that have endured, although others existed prior to and after them, as mentioned above. Taxidermy was a means of studying the animals and birds, allowing others to observe them in museums and exhibits.
Both Aiken and Maxwell were taxidermists. Aiken focused on birds and Maxwell on wild animals. They both collected their own specimens, and both were in Colorado. Aiken in Colorado Springs and Maxwell in Boulder.
Charles Edward Howard Aiken was born on September 7, 1850, in Vermont. The family later moved to Illinois. It was there at the age of eighteen that Aiken began his study of birds. After the family business was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871, they moved to Colorado Springs. Charles continued his study of birds, using the standard method of study by killing them. Aiken went a further step and stuffed and mounted them. He had a music store and museum on Pikes Peak Avenue in Colorado Springs. His collection from his years in Colorado Springs was donated to Colorado College. The Aiken Audubon Society is named for him. For more information: https://libraryweb.coloradocollege.edu/library/specialcollections/Manuscript/Aiken.html You can also access his book "Birds of El Paso County, Colorado" here: https://archive.org/details/birdselpasocoun00unkngoog/page/n64/mode/2up
Charles Aiken died in January 1936.
Martha Dartt Maxwell was born on July 31. 1831 in Pennsylvania. According to the information included when she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, she was five feet tall and a lifelong vegetarian. She and her husband arrived in Colorado around 1863, and she ran a restaurant in the Boulder area. When her mother was ailing, she went to Wisconsin to care for her. Here, the story gets a bit cloudy. Some say she became interested in taxidermy while in Wisconsin, but other sources claim it was when she drove a taxidermist off her property that she developed an interest. Regardless, by 1868, she had opened a museum in Boulder, showcasing her panoramas of animals she had caught, skinned, and stuffed. Helen (Hunt) Jackson was so impressed that she wrote an article that appeared in publications on the East Coast. If you would like to read her book "On the Plaines, and Among the Peaks, of How Mrs. Maxwell Made Her Natural History Collection," you can access it here on Google Books: https://www.google.com/books/edition/On_the_Plains_and_Among_the_Peaks/ePpGAQAAMAAJ?kptab=editions&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL9b2wn63pAhUPCs0KHW9PDK0QmBYwAHoECAEQBw
Martha Maxwell died on May 30, 1881, in Massachusetts. For more on Martha:https://americacomesalive.com/2014/04/05/martha-ann-maxwell-1831-1881-naturalist-taxidermist/
As I continue researching early Colorado and its residents for my upcoming National Park Brides book, the deeper I delve. This post is a revised version of earlier research.
writing as Angela Raines
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| Photo property of the author |
Both Aiken and Maxwell were taxidermists. Aiken focused on birds and Maxwell on wild animals. They both collected their own specimens, and both were in Colorado. Aiken in Colorado Springs and Maxwell in Boulder.
Charles Edward Howard Aiken was born on September 7, 1850, in Vermont. The family later moved to Illinois. It was there at the age of eighteen that Aiken began his study of birds. After the family business was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871, they moved to Colorado Springs. Charles continued his study of birds, using the standard method of study by killing them. Aiken went a further step and stuffed and mounted them. He had a music store and museum on Pikes Peak Avenue in Colorado Springs. His collection from his years in Colorado Springs was donated to Colorado College. The Aiken Audubon Society is named for him. For more information: https://libraryweb.coloradocollege.edu/library/specialcollections/Manuscript/Aiken.html You can also access his book "Birds of El Paso County, Colorado" here: https://archive.org/details/birdselpasocoun00unkngoog/page/n64/mode/2up
Charles Aiken died in January 1936.
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| Charles Edward Howard Aiken |
Martha Maxwell died on May 30, 1881, in Massachusetts. For more on Martha:https://americacomesalive.com/2014/04/05/martha-ann-maxwell-1831-1881-naturalist-taxidermist/
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| Marth Dartt Maxwell |
Until next time
Doris
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