​Edward A. Pouppirt was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1870. He was one of seven children of French parents. His wife, Lena, was born in 1875, the daughter of local Arapahoe County ranchers Marx and Anna Kern. Ed Pouppirt came to Douglas County in about 1901 and began work at various ranches in the area. At one time, he lived and farmed on what was then known as the old Charlie Cummings place (the 17 Mile House). Ed married Lena Bell Kern in 1904 and they set about building their ranch business. They were ranchers, farmers, and developers. Over time they amassed some 7000 acres of land in Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. They had various herds of range cattle and also ran a dairy herd. Ed bought, sold, and traded properties frequently. At one time their holdings included the old 20 Mile House, which they had purchased from Neil Duncan, the man who replaced James S. Parker on the property. Although in those days no rancher would reveal the number of range stock he owned, it was believed that Ed’s herds varied from 400 to 800 head. Ed was a cattle trader, and as such, his herds naturally varied in size at any given time. They also developed the Pouppirt addition to Parker, which was north of the railroad tracks across from the Rhode Island Hotel.

 

One of the properties they acquired was some meadow land a mile north of Parker, on what today is known as Dransfelt Road. In 1918, they had a home built there by Ed’s brother-in-law, William O’Brien. This house was built off the same plans that O’Brien used to build the Herzog House in 1911. The house was one of the first in Parker to employ acetylene gas lighting. The cellar under the house was used to store various food supplies & had a built-in dumb waiter which was used to haul the supplies to the kitchen pantry. Lena was known to always have a large crock of homemade sauerkraut down in the cellar.

 

The Pouppirts were well known in Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. They were active members of the Cherry Creek Grange, and known to have a drink now and then. During Prohibition, they were moonshiners. They were not known for making whisky, but were arrested and paid fines for distribution several times.

 

Ed and Lena had no children, but spent much time with various nephews and nieces. After Ed’s death in 1942, Lena and nephew Charlie O’Brien were involved in several business ventures. Lena donated land to expand the cemetery on the east, next to the roadway, then again a strip of land on the south side for a very small sum or by donation, so that an east-west road could be built in the cemetery. Lena died in 1960, and both she and Ed are buried in the J. S. Parker Cemetery.

 

Lena had sold the property to Bels & Minnie Lyttle in about 1948, prior to her death. Bels and Minnie had two daughters, Betty and Leila. After Bels and Minnie died, the property passed on to the two girls. They had married twin brothers, Ray & Roy Peaslee, in a double ceremony. Betty was married to Roy (who died in 2002) and Leila married Ray. Betty and Roy lived in the original Pouppirt house, and Leila and Ray lived in a newer house behind the Walgreens store on Parker Road. Leila died in May of 2005, and Ray sold out their part of the property in 2008, moving out of state. At this point in time, the property has been sold to a developer and the house will likely be demolished.

 

Information for this brief was obtained from Our Heritage by the Douglas County Historical Society, A Guide to Historic Sites in the Parker Area by Frank B. McLaughlin, personal interviews with old-time Parker resident Jean Martin, and various articles from Record Journal.

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