Born in 1883, James Edward Abbe lived above his father’s bookstore in Alfred, Maine. A shutterbug from the beginning, James convinced his father to add cameras and photographic supplies to his inventory. Thus began James’s life and adventures that would span the globe.

James found love first with Eloise Turner. Though they had two children, both died, as did Eloise, the result of complications of her second pregnancy. Not long after, James married Phyllis Edwards, a Virginia school teacher. They too sought children and three were born of their marriage—Elizabeth, Phyllis, and James Jr.

During the next 10 years, James’s visibility as a photographer was enhanced by trips to Europe, his work with Hollywood stars and commissions from magazines Vogue, Ladies Home Journal and Vanity Fair. His rise in fame may be what led to a divorce from Phyllis, which was followed by a third marriage to Mary Ann (Polly Platt) Shorruck, a stage celebrity, in 1923. Now making Paris their home, three more children came along: Patience, Richard and John.

By 1932, James and his family were seasoned world travelers, and he, an epic photojournalist. His greatest triumph came when he photographed Joseph Stalin within the Kremlin, an absolute first for anyone. To smuggle the negatives out of Stalin’s Bolshevist Communist paradise, he taped them within his children’s underwear. While in Russia, James also made the acquaintance of Robert Lamont, a Perry Park ranch owner in Douglas County. Rather fortuitously, Robert gave James an open invitation to drop in, were the family ever to visit Colorado.

Acting on Lamont’s offer, the Abbes passed through our county in 1934. The family ended up occupying his guest quarters for 15 months. While there, the three children with Polly penned a book, Around the World in Eleven Years, a series of stories documenting their extraordinary travels with their world-famous father. Those close to the family knew it was Polly who helped prompt their memories, stitching their many tales into the anthology. Unbelievably, the book proceeded to become a bestseller with 16 printings, eventually being republished in 26 languages.

By 1936, back in Europe again, James documented the Spanish Civil War in pictures. Perhaps re-seeking her own fame, Polly relocated to Hollywood to consider acting careers for herself and the children. While there in 1937, they also wrote Of All Places!, documenting that Hollywood odyssey. The book was well-received but never resonated like their first literary foray.

When the family reunited, it was in Perry Park, where the Abbes secured 350 acres and built a log cabin deeded to the children. On its completion in 1938, the Abbes had a huge bash with 250 people attending. Adolph Coors personally contributed a keg of his best suds. The children’s Around the World book was inserted into the cabin cornerstone, sealed in glass.

Polly took the children to Europe, researching a third book, No Place Like Home. While there, things went sideways and they were all arrested by authorities several times, thought to be spies. James later divorced Polly and began his fourth marriage to Iren Caby, and he became a radio announcer in Wyoming. Polly and the kids continued their travels, and the Perry Park ranch was sold in 1949 to Frank and Eugenia Cole.

Read next month for the fascinating continuation of the Abbe Ranch saga.

 

By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of No Place Like Home by Patience, Richard and John Abbe