Lena Alma Stoiber

Silver Queen of the San Juans

She was "Captain Jack" or "Jack Pants" to the miners of Silver Lake Basin, near Silverton, Colorado, high up above the timberline in one of the most rugged spots of the San Juans. She could throw a diamond drill with expert skill, and could boss a crew of miners. She also could entertain with much grace at perfectly appointed dinners in her own tastefully furnished home, "Waldheim".

But most of all, this versatile woman, impetuous and of fiery temper, kept tongues wagging for years because of the spite fences she built in Silverton and Denver, and because of some of the stiletto-edged remarks she made. The woman was Lena Allen Webster-Stoiber-Rood-Ellis.

As an example of Lena's sharp tongue, Polly Pry, Denver columnist, related the following incident. It seems that a certain Leadville family trying to crash Denver society infuriated by a mural which someone had sketched showing the father of the family driving a garbage wagon. A genealogist, hired to look up the family history, produced proof that the ancestor had come over on the Mayflower. When told of this, Mrs. Stoiber remarked, "I didn't know they had riff-raff from the slums of Dublin on the Mayflower!"

Although her given name was Helen, she adopted the name "Lena" and always signed her checks and legal papers with that designation. In 1882, Lena Allen of Minnesota, then 20 years old, married Marshall Webster, a 25-year-old lawyer of the firm of Cobb and Webster in Grand Junction, Colorado.

According to Edwin Price, newly appointed postmaster at Grand Junction, Mrs. Webster was buxom, handsome, talkative, and self-willed. Price had just begun his duties at the post office when she descended upon him with fire in her eye and a stout umbrella gripped precariously in one hand. A letter addressed to her, she declared, had gone astray. After a prolonged outpouring of words, Mrs. Webster went on her way, leaving a thoroughly beaten man.

After a time, the Websters moved to Silverton, Colorado, then a thriving mining camp. Webster opened a law office but just what happened to him is not of record. Some say he died; others, that he disappeared.

At any rate, on March 29, 1888, Lena Alma Allen (Webster) married Edward George Stoiber of Silverton in Chicago, Illinois. Rev. Frank W. Gunsaker, minister of Plymouth Church, performed the ceremony.

E. G. Stoiber, a graduate of Freiburg University in Germany, was an assayer and an expert mining engineer. Attracted by the mining strikes being made in Leadville, Colorado, he came to the United States in 1879. From Leadville he went over to the San Juans on Colorado's Western Slope. There, in time, he acquired the Silver Lake Mine, and was considered one of the best mining engineers and metallurgists in the West.

Mr. and Mrs. Stoiber always shared equally in everything. Court records later bore this out. She helped him run the mine and he often said that he could not have made it a success without her.

Within months after the Stoibers were married, the Silver Lake began to produce a fortune in good silver ore. Almost overnight, Stoiber was one of the richest men in Colorado.

To relive her husband of bothersome details, Lena supervised the miners, ran their huge boarding house, and looked after their families. She gave parties and arranged entertainments for them. Stoiber was able to devote full time to the engineering and mining part of the work. There 12,250 feet above sea level, Ed and Lena Stoiber, and Ed's brother Gus, developed the mine. About 1890 they built a huge mill at the mouth of Arastra Gulch. Later, Ed took over the mine, and Gus the mill.

The Stoiber's first home was on Reese Street in Silverton. When Lena became angry with their next-door neighbors, she bought the lot next to them. One Sunday (when she knew legal papers could not be served against her) she built a barn on the lot, which shut out the neighbor's view. then, because the neighbors on the other side of her took sides with the first neighbors, Lena put up a high fence to obstruct their view. When these folks built a second story on their house, Lena put billboards on top of her fence.

According to Mrs. A. M. Camp of Durango, when another Silverton resident, Mrs. James, offended Mrs. Stoiber, the latter bought lots opposite the James house and put up a high fence, which made it impossible for Mrs. James to see her boarders starting down the mountainside from the North star Mine. This was a great inconvenience...

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Colorado's Legendary Lovers: Historic Scandals, Heartthrobs, and Haunting Romances, by Rosemary Fetter

https://books.google.pl/books?id=nhepDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT120&lpg=PT120&dq...

The Black Widow of Humboldt Street: Lena Allen Webster-Stoiber-Rood-Ellis and husbands

...Edward and Lena took off for Europe in 1903, leaving the house plans in the hands of the architects. The following April, Denver friends received word that Edward Stoiber had died in Paris following the onset of a sudden illness, reportedly typhoid. Lena shipped him back to Denver and installed his remains in an expensive Fairmount Cemetery mausoleum, then proceeded with plans for the house. In 1919, her third husband, Seattle lumber baron Hugh Rood joined her at Stoiberhof. Although the couple appeared to be very happy, Lena still dedicated every April 21 to Edward Stoiber on the anniversary of his death.

The Stoiber and Rood millions gained Lena instant acceptance as a member of Denver's Sacred 36, the moniker for a group that often met for nine tables of cards at the estate of society queen Louise Hill. Lena's fiery temper and unpredictability made people uncomfortable and soon she received few invitations, while hers were being declined. Before long, she was quarreling with another neighbor, Egbert W. Reed. Lena retaliated as usual, this time putting up a 12-foot-high brick wall. After some research, Reed discovered that the wall encroached an inch onto his property, and he got a court order to move the fence. As the case dragged on through the courts for months, Lena angrily stomped off to Europe, telling Reed in no uncertain terms exactly what he could do with the wall. He eventually accepted a $1 settlement and moved to California.

April was apparently a bad month for Lena's husbands. On the night of April 14, 1912, the ocean liner Titanic struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage. When the big ship went down, Rood was among the 1,500 supposed dead. Lena might have gone down with him except for a last-minute decision to remain in London for another week. As she raced to Halifax after the disaster, she continued to hear rumors that her husband had survived. Although tales of passengers picked up by small vessels were common, few were as persistent as the stories about Rood. New York and Denver police, and even Scotland Yard, were for a time besieged with reports that he had been seen in some location or other. Lena spent a fortune on private investigators, but no trace of her husband emerged. Years later, the Denver Post received a letter from someone who might have been Rood, asking if Lena was still alive.

The three-time widow finally gave up on Rood in 1918 and married US naval commander Mark St. Clair Ellis. The brief union soon dissolved because of another woman and a lawsuit, according to Lena. She provided no further details but did not divorce him until 1932.

Lena bought a villa in the picturesque lakeside resort of Stresa, Italy, where she lived in virtual seclusion for nearly 20 years. For the seven dogs that kept her company, she built a private dining room, purchased a car, and hired a chauffeur. Upon her death, a strange note was found among her papers that read: "Today, I refused to become Queen of Serbia." Her acquaintances included Peter I, the widowed King of Serbia, who may have proposed to the wealthy dowager at one time. Over the years, Lena apparently retained the special "something" that appealed to men, much like female black widow spiders that repel everything else but still attract their mates.

Perhaps a clue to the lady's sex appeal (for some Victorian men, at least) can be found in a 1910 interview Lena gave to a New York newspaper. Most Denver women were proud that Colorado had been the first state where men actually voted in favor of women's suffrage in 1893. In the interview, Lena suggested instead that members of her sex (herself included) were too dimwitted to vote. Apparently the former "Captain Jack" turned into a helpless featherbrain whenever a man crossed her path, unless of course he happened to be a neighbor.

Said Stoiber: "In my opinion, in Colorado, the right to vote is exercised to a large extent only among the poorer classes and among that class whose vote can be influenced by a free ride to the polls in an automobile. Of course, there are some women of position who do vote, but a larger proportion are of the strong-minded variety. The really feminine women as a rule are content to leave the governing to men."

At her death, Lena divided the huge estate between her brother-in-law and sister, but other claimants came forth to challenge the will. Mark St. Clair Ellis protested that Lena owed him $136,000 on a promissory note, a claim that was later rejected. Curiously, a woman named Magdalena Dominguez from Lena's hometown in Missouri purported to be her adopted daughter, backing up the story with a notation in a bible dated 1891 and signed by both Lena and Edward Stoiber. Dominguez could never prove the relationship to the court's satisfaction, and after 10 years and several reversals, Stoiber's brother received the bulk of the estate. Vain to the end, Lena maid a special bequest of $10,000 to Sadie Freenor, a former hairdresser who had once told her that she was pretty.

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From the Evening Bulletin, Honolulu, of Saturday, May 18, 1907:

In Gay Paree

Mrs. Edward G. Stoiber is at the Princess Hotel in Paris, and her brother, Mr. Alfred W. Harrison, of Silverton, Colorado, who visited here a few months ago, and became such a social favorite, is with her. Mr. Brunston, also well-known in Honolulu, is in Paris. Both Mr. Harrison and Mr. Brunston had a wonderful trip almost around the world and are in the best of health and spirits. They sail for the United States in a week. Mrs. Stoiber will remain in Europe until the autumn, where she has hosts of friends who always gladly welcome her. The palace in Denver is slowly nearing completion, and by the time Mrs. Stoiber returns will be ready for the decorations. In the Paris edition of the New York Herald of April 21st is the following tribute:

In Memoriam:

Stoiber - In loving memory of my husband, Edward George Stoiber, who passed away Saturday, April 21, 1906, at his home, 92 avenue des Champs-Elysees.

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From The Denver Times of Friday, April 19, 1912:

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/mrs-stoiber-rood-denies-repor...

Says She Has Positive Evidence He Lost His Life on Titanic Disaster.

Recent reports from London that a man seen there had been partially identified as Hugh R. Rood, supposed to have been one of the Titanic victims in April, 1912, have caused Mrs. Lena Stoiber-Rood, formerly of Denver, now in Seattle, to write to friends here, asserting that she has the most positive proof that her husband perished when the Titanic went down, and declaring that any rumour to the contrary is absurd.

She says she has investigated at various times similar rumours and has always found them utterly unbelievable. She has found that her husband was seen on the Titanic a few minutes before the crushed ship took her final plunge and he was never seen again.

She has letters and affidavits from F.K. Stewart (presumably Frederick Kimber Seward), 30 Broad Street, New York; Mr. and Mrs. A.P. Rolph, 5 East India avenue, London, and many others, all offering the most positive evidence obtainable that Mr. Rood went to his death with the Titanic, and courts in the state of Washington, thru which his estate has been administered, have accepted the proof as conclusive in law.

The best information obtainable shows that Mr. Rood went down with C.M. Hays of the Grand Trunk Railroad, with whom he was conversing a few minutes before the vessel sank.

Mrs. Rood writes that she has no intention of remaining in Seattle, and intimates that she may return to Denver, saying that she has not decided whether her legal home is in Colorado or France.

She says she cannot account for the recurring rumours that Mr. Rood is alive, but is prepared to prove to the satisfaction of anyone that the rumours are absolutely without foundation.

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From, the Denver Post of Monday, May 6, 1912:

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/lena-stoiber-rood-seeks-husba...

He Was On Titanic - She Hopes He May Have Escaped Death

Hoping against hope that her husband, Hugh Rood may have by some chance escaped death in the Titanic disaster, Mrs. Lena Stoiber Rood is making every effort to locate him, if he is alive. Failing in this she wishes to verify his death, but until it is verified she refuses to accept as final the report that when the Titanic went down, Hugh Rood also went to his death.

Mrs. Rood is at present at the Plaza Hotel, New York City, and the following advertisement appeared in the New York Herald:

INFORMATION WANTED concerning HUGH R. ROOD of Seattle, Wash. passenger on Titanic, occupying cabin 32. Deck A. Grateful for any news of his survival or death, by telegraph at my expense. Mrs. HUGH ROOD, Hotel Plaza, New York City.

Mrs. Rood, when questioned concerning a rumour that she had contemplated securing a divorce, indignantly denied it. To the interviewer she stated that, when her affairs were settled, it was her intention to return to Denver and make her home.

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March 28, 1935 - The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 19

Lena Stoiber Rood Ellis Died in Italian Retreat

FLORENCE, Italy, March 27. UP-Lena Allen Stoiber Rood Ellis died today In Stresa, Italy, after a serious Illness, according to a cablegram received by A.S. Booth of Pueblo, Col. Mrs. Ellis, Denver society leader in the nineties, at one time was reported to have refused an offer to become the Queen of Serbia. Recently she had lived a secluded life at her villa on Lake Como. Her first husband was Edward G. Stoiber, wealthy Silverton mining man, who died in Paris In 1904. In 1909 she was married to Hugh Rood, millionaire Seattle lumberman who was lost in the Titanic disaster, She was married to Commander Mark St. Clair Ellis, United States Navy, on May 20, 1918, and later separated from him following lawsuits brought by another woman.

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May 10, 1935 - The Evening News from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania • Page 18

Hair Dresser is Remembered by Patron in Will

DENVER, May 10. "It's lovely my dear." Kind words, full of consideration for a woman no longer young who was trying to win back by artificial means beauty lost by years of toil in Colorado's rough mining camps, brought a substantial reward to Sadie L. Freaner, Denver hair dresser, nearly fifty years after they were spoken. The will of the late Mrs. Lena Allen Stoiber Rood Ellis, who died at Stresa, Italy, recently, provided for a gift of $10,000 to Miss Freaner. Behind the bequest was Miss Freaner's kindness to Mrs. Stoiber when, in the late '80's the "silver queen" came to Denver with $3,000,000 and attempted to win a place among the Western city's social elite. Death came to Mrs. Stoiber in the L L castle in which she had been secluded for twenty years or more, a medieval pile on the shores of Lake Maggiore where her only confidante was a hotel porter she made her secretary. Miss Freaner, who for forty-six years was a hairdresser she never changed the title to beautician … Her benefactor's first husband, Edward G. Stoiber left $2,000,000 when he died in 1904. Five years later she married Hugh R. Rood, vice-president of a large manufacturing company in Seattle. He died in 1912, leaving her another fortune of millions. In 1918, Mrs. Rood married Commander Mark St. Clair Ellis, United States Navy. After their divorce, she secluded herself at Stresa.

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Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 3 - Tuesday, February 21, 1939

Estate to be Settled

DENVER, Feb. 21 (UP). The final settlement of the late Mrs. Lena Allen Stoiber Ellis, Colorado bonanza queen, following settlement of the claims of Lieut. Commander Mark St. Clair Ellis, a former husband. A. S. Booth of Pueblo, executor of Mrs. Ellis' estate, filed a release in Denver county court yesterday reporting Ellis' claim for $138,000 had been compromised with a payment of $1000. Mrs. Ellis died in Stresa, Italy, in March, 1935. A major share of her estate goes to Louis Stoiber of Newark, N. J., brother of Mrs. Ellis' first husband, who made a fortune in Colorado mining.

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From the Wikipedia page on the Stoiber-Reed-Humphreys Mansion ("Stoiberhof"):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoiber-Reed-Humphreys_Mansion

The Stoiber-Reed-Humphreys Mansion (a.k.a. Stoiberhof) is located at 1022 Humboldt Street in Denver Colorado. It was designated by the National Register of Historic Places as a landmark on December 29, 1978. It is described as follows by the National Register. "A very large three story house at the S. E. corner of the Humboldt Island district; glass and metal canopy over the front door; balustrades eaves; dormers; walled yard and basement swimming pool."

The mansion was built in 1907 with building materials of tan brick and tile roofing. The builders were Desjarden & Hanjansy and the architects of the house were Marean & Norton, who also designed the mansion used today for the Governor's place of Residence. The architectural style back then was the 20th century Second Renaissance Revival. This very large renaissance Mannerist Revival house with more than forty rooms is Humboldt Island's most impressive and imposing residence. It is one of only five existing homes in Denver of this grand size and quality. The house is notable for its majestic scale, exterior and interior. The old mansion is structured on the western end of a park called Cheesman Park and this area of Denver, Colorado is said to be haunted according to several writings found on the Internet.

The architectural heritage of the nation, as well as structures important to its history, is worthy of preservation. Such structures provide continuity of our past; they are essential to understanding and appreciation of and identity with that heritage. We feel this house is an important piece of our Denver history. It is an unusually elegant structure built in a time when Denver was still a frontier town.