Allington Horatio Kramer (1864-1950)

From the Aurora Democrat, January 13, 1950.

   We continue our stroll through the annals of Colorado politics with a visit to the city of Aurora and Allington Horatio Kramer, a two-term mayor of that city as well as a one-term state representative from Adams County. Despite scant information available on his life, enough has been found to compile a substantial review of his life and political career, and this author was amazed to have located the above portrait of Kramer (part of an even larger picture of past Aurora mayors), which was taken just months before his death in September 1950. The son of John W. and Catherine Kramer, Allington Horatio Kramer was born in Pennsylvania on September 17, 1864.

  Little is known of Kramer's formative years in Pennsylvania, and by 1880 had removed with his family to Vieregg, Merrick County, Nebraska. He would attend school in that county and in March 1888 he married in Hamilton, Nebraska to Margaret Ellen "Maggie" Werfield (1865-1955). The couple was wed for over sixty years and this union produced two children, Lulu (born ca. 1890) and Wilbur Roy (1891-1964).

  After residing in Alliance, Nebraska for an indeterminate period, the Kramer family removed to Colorado in 1891, and afterward "engaged in farming and ranching in the San Luis Valley." By 1905 they were residents of Montevista in Rio Grande County, and Kramer's residency in this area saw him be awarded two patents, one for a "new and improved machine for topping beets" in 1905 and a "grinding device" in early 1907.  In 1907 Kramer and his family relocated to Aurora, Colorado and by the following year had built an eleven room home, where they continued to reside for the remainder of their lives.

  Following removal to the still-young city, Kramer followed a career as a business agent for the Colorado Grange and also became well known locally as an inventor, musician, and composer. Kramer's 1950 Aurora Advocate obituary denotes his "making violins from a maple tree which he grew near his home" and was even offered a band position by famed bandleader John Phillip Sousa. Despite a potentially lucrative opportunity for career advancement, Kramer declined the honor owing to his own busy work schedule.

  Just one year following his removal to Aurora, Allington H. Kramer was elected as mayor of that city in April 1908. He would serve two terms in office and turned down the possibility of a third term despite being endorsed by both parties. Kramer would be called to politics again in September 1914 when he entered into the Progressive Party primary for U.S. Representative from Colorado. He did not fare well in the vote count, polling just 3 votes, with victory going to Charles E. Fisher, who polled a meager 29 votes!

From the Wray Rattler, September 1914.

  Kramer would rebound politically in 1916 when he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the  Colorado House of Representatives from Adams County. He proved successful at the polls that November, besting Democrat H.G. Emery by a vote of 1,528 to 1,425. Taking his seat in January 1917, Kramer's one term saw him named to the following committees: Agriculture and Irrigation; County Lines; Enrollment; House Expenditures; Roads and Bridges; State Affairs and Reapportionment; Temperance; and Towns and Cities. 

  In September 1918 Kramer lost his reelection bid in that year's primary, victory going to Abraham D. Radinsky.  Following his loss, Kramer continued residency in Aurora and in 1932 was elected as its delegate to the Republican state convention that was to be held later that year. In March 1946 he and his wife celebrated their fifty-eighth wedding anniversary, being accorded a congratulatory write-up in the Adams County News. In January 1950, the 85-year-old former mayor took part in a gathering of past Aurora mayors to celebrate the inauguration of Chester E. Tupps, who'd been elected mayor the previous November. Also attending this gathering was another oddly named former Aurora mayor, Alpha Omega "A.O." Hill, then serving in the state legislature.

  Several months following that gathering Allington Horatio Kramer died at his Aurora home, two weeks shy of his 86th birthday. Memorialized as a man of "inventive mind" and an "honest, loyal citizen", he was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

From the Aurora Democrat, September 8, 1950.