Edward Kilduff obituary
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Obituary for
Edward Kilduff
(1847 - 1914)

Edward Kilduff was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania in 1847, the second of Patrick Kilduff and Alice "Ella" Laughlin's seven children. His parents were both born in Ireland. In 1871, at the age of 24, he moved to Colorado, where he lived the rest of his life. In 1872 he married Frances "Fanny" McCormick, who was from a neighboring town in Pennsylvania. Most of Edward and Fanny's siblings also lived in Colorado for a time, most notably Edward's brother Thomas who came in 1875 and remained there, and Fanny's sister Mary, who married Edwin E. DeCoursey. Edward and Fanny had three children, Mary Alice (married Harry C. Bishop), James E. (married Lyda B. Sykes) and Patrick H. Edward was a hotel proprietor in Leadville and Alma, where he and his wife ran the St. Nicholas Hotel. The family appears to have moved back and forth between the two towns a bit, although they spent the most time in Alma. Edward, along with most of his family, is buried in Buckskin Cemetery outside of Alma.

Related Items:
Biography of his brother Thomas.
Links concerning Colorado and the life of the Bishop, Kilduff, DeCoursey and McCormick families there.
Obituary for his grandson Charles L. Bishop.


The Fairplay Flume (Fairplay, Park County, Colorado)
Friday, 1 Jan 1915, p. 1

Death of Ed. Killduff
      Thinking that Mr. Killduff was taking too long a time to do the chores Sunday afternoon, search was made and he was found dead out in the back yard a victim of heart trouble. He appeared to be in good health during the day and his death was a shock to everyone.
      He was born at Wysox, Bradford County, Penn., Sept. 16, 1847 where he remained until 1871 and then came out to Denver, and in May 1872 moved to Quartzville where he was married to Fanny McCormick on Nov. 19, 1872. In the spring of 1873 he and his wife came to Alma where he engaged in the hotel business, running the St. Nicholas hotel until the year 1900 when he disposed of it and went to live with his daughter Mrs. H. C. Bishop and remained there until his death, Sunday Dec. 27, 1914.
      Mr. Killduff was one of the few men who claimed all his acquaintances as friends and left this world without having an enemy. In the early days of mining in Alma he was noted for his kind assistance to the prospectors and many a miner tells of the time when Ed had grub-staked him and wished him good luck in his search for the every elusive gold, and coming back empty handed would be welcomed with kind words and a hope that luck would be better in the future.
      He is survived by three children, Mary A. Bishop and P. H. Killduff of Alma and James E Killduff of Meeker, also two sisters in Pennsylvania 1 and one in Buffalo, N. Y., 2 and a brother Thomas at Meeker.
      The remains were laid to rest in the Alma cemetery Tuesday afternoon [Dec. 29]. The services were attended by a large crowd both from Alma and the surrounding district.
      The Flume extends the heartfelt sympathy of the entire community to the family; in this, their sad hour of bereavement.


1 The two sisters are Susan, wife of Eugene R. Crowley, and Ella, wife of William Sill. Both are known to have spent time in Colorado, but returned to Pennsylvania where they married Wysox farmers.
2 Mary E., widow of William F. Schultz.

Transcribed by Erica DeCoursey
2006