Interview with Andy Anderson

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Class photo in front of the Alma school built in 1886

 

 

Interviewee Andy Anderson has a long family history with the Park County region with family ties to the town of Como. His grandparents on his mother’s side, the Gibbony’s, both emigrated separately from Ireland, but met and were married in Como.  His grandfather started out working on the railroads and he and his grandmother ran the Como Hotel after they were wed.

"They, Pat Gibbony and Delia Walton, met in Como. And they were married in the Catholic Church, there, the first ones married in the catholic church. Then he went to work for the C & S, I think it was in 1892..." -Andy Anderson[1]

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Railroad employees and Como residents on pilot 192 of Denver, Leadville, and Gunnison in the early 1890s

 

Anderson provided a unique perspective on family life and the impact of the mining and railroads in Park County in his 2005 interview. His grandparents had a total of ten children while living in Como. Many of their children also went on to work for both the railroad and the hotel, including his father (a fireman for the railroad) and his mother (a waitress at the Hotel).

“Tom Gibbony, the oldest son, went to work for the railroad about 1913 as a call boy.  Bill Gibbony went to work for them as a fireman. Then Aunt Gertrude she married Joe Delaney and he became a fireman on the railroad.  And the two Gibbony brothers, Emmett and Frank, were fireman and brakeman. So there was a little bit of nepotism in those days." -Andy Anderson[2]

 

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Como School students, 1936

Anderson was born and raised in Como during the 1920s until his family moved to Leadville in 1937 due to the conclusion of railroad operations in Como. His interview included tales about life as a child, what he would wear in the cold winter months as well the people and personalities during this time. His oral history provides a rich description of the lives of Como residents and their ties to the railroads.

 

 

[1] Anderson, Andy. "Interview with Andy “Bud” Anderson." Interview by Tom Klinger, Linda Bjorklund, and Bob Schoppe, September 29, 2005. https://pclha.cvlcollections.org/admin/items/show/428.
[2] Anderson, Andy. "Interview with Andy “Bud” Anderson."