Dr. O. P. Shippey came to Saguache County as a young man and practiced medicine in this area for about 45 years. He was born in Vermont, Ill, in 1873 and was graduated from Gross Medical College in Denver in 1895. Two years later, he was appointed physician and surgeon by Colo. Fuel and Iron Corp. and moved to Villa Grove the closest town to a large mining operation, known as the Orient Mine.

The Saguache Crescent of Feb. 20, 1898 lists J Tracy Melvin as Physician and Surgeon at Saguache and O. P. Shippey, M.D. Villa Grove, CO - “will be at Moffat Wednesday afternoons”.

In Sept. of 1900, Dr, 0. P. Shippey and Grace M. Hall were married in Villa Grove and made the home at the ranch which was established in 1859 by her late father, J. B. Hall.

By 1904, the Orient Mine operation was nearly shut down. A Crescent news item of June 23, 1904  - “Arthur Shippey and his brother Dr. Jacob Shippey were in town Wed. of last week. Dr. Shippey is looking after the practice of his brother Dr. O. P. Shippey, who is visiting his parents at Dougas, Kansas.” (Old newspaper files are fun to read — I learned that Jacob Shippey was also a doctor. The Jan. 26, 1905 Crescent lists the names of County Commissioners as Michael Jordan, Chairman, along with John Smith and Arthur V. Shippey). Another news item from that issue — Dr. O. P. Shippey moved his office furniture, books, etc, over from Villa Grove Friday and will locate here permanently in the office rooms in the rear of the Saguache Pharmacy. His wife is living with her mother in Canon City this winter and they will not move their household goods here before Spring. The doctor finds he can attend to the county work better from this point than from Villa Grove and he has not so much work from Orient as formerly on account of the small force employed in the mines there.”

A short time later, Dr. O. P. Shippey moved his practice to 445 San Juan Ave. which was to be the Shippey home and doctor’s office for many years.

In my next “Remember When” column, I will relate some of memories of Dr. Shippey.