Esther Jackson was the daughter of Colorado pioneers. Her mother, Ross Bell Crystal, was one of five girls whose father carried them west in a covered wagon. Esther’s father, James Koller Sweeny, was a weatherman in the Signal Corps stationed on top of Pike’s Peak before he married Rose, February 29, 1880, in Colorado Springs. Their daughter, Esther Ann Sweeny, was born in Longmont, Colorado, July10, 1895, in a house built by her father. That house is now on the National Register of Historic Places and owned by the City of Longmont.
The Sweeny family later moved to Pueblo, CO, where Esther spent her school years. Her mother taught Esther both piano and pipe organ until Esther was 14, at which age Francis Schwinger took her as a pupil. At 16, she was engaged as organist for local churches. She played classical organ solos between silent motion pictures at the Pueblo Grand Opera House.
