One in a collection by Allen Bachoroski,
Local Historical Writer,
Tales Along the
Highway of Legends
Note: This
is one in a series of historical stories about local families
in the Trinidad region.
Click here to find out more
about how these stories were collected.
Nicholas Burrescia was born in Palazzo, Adrano Sicily
on December 13, 1891. He died in Westminster, Colorado
on January 19, 1972. He was married to Josephine Pecoraro.
on September 19, 1910.
As a young boy, he came to America with his father. They
lived in Independence, Louisiana and several years later,
his mother, sister and brother joined them in Louisiana.
From Louisiana, they moved West to Colorado where they
homesteaded in Hastings, Colorado. Here they purchased
160 acres of grazing land for $20.00 and operated a goat
ranch.
As the herd of goats increased, more land was needed.
They sold the ranch in Hastings and homesteaded near Trinchera.
Here the land was divided with the family. Nicholas' share
of the land was bordering the New Mexico state line.
His family resided in Trinidad during the winter, so the
children could attend the school in the city. The residence
was located on Carbon Avenue. Here an oil rig and derrick
were erected in the front yard. Shares were sold, but
oil was never discovered. During the depression he took
out a mortgage on the ranch, as the stock had to be fed.
He finally declared bankruptcy.
A local doctor, James Donnelly, opened a cheese factory
and hired Nicholas as the manager and chief cheese-maker.
During the flood of 1942, the Purgatorie River ran over
it's banks and destroyed most of the cheese factory.
In the late 1950's he and his wife moved to Westminster,
Colorado to be near their children. Their children include:
Lucy Dunbar, Joe Burrescia, Jim Burrescia, Mary Gies,
Josephine Sciacca, Ann Vecchiarelli, and Eleanor DePalma.
Two young daughters, Jean and Helen died at an early age.
As of 1989 he had 16 grand children and 19 great-grand
children.
(Note:
if you have Photos of this family or know of anyone that
does, please have them get in touch with us so that we
might share some photos of the family here)