52 Ancestors #16: 106th Birthday "Girls"

Ancestor Names: Minnie Hazel (GORDON) Greenlee (1885-1992), Ruth Marion (SCHULTZ) Falkenberg (1881-1987), Susana Bertha Amelia (TALMON) Amsberry (1892-1998)

The person who lived the longest in my tree was Henry Roy Tucker. He lived to be 107 years old and was the fourth cousin twice removed of my sister-in-law. I've written about him before. So I decided to write about the next oldest person. It turns out there are three women who share the honor. Without getting into months and days, let's just say they all lived long enough to see their 106th birthday and leave it at that.

Minne Hazel (Gordon) Greenlee

Minnie was the wife of my fourth cousin twice removed, William Francis Greenlee. She was born on 28 November 1885 in St. Paul, Nebraska, which is located in the Loup valley. St. Paul was established by two surveyors, struck by the beauty of the land, in 1871. Minnie married William Greenlee at the age of 19 in her hometown. They had eight children who lived to adulthood. Her husband became the editor of the newspaper in Oshkosh, Nebraska. He died in 1968 and Minnie died in 1992. They are buried at Oshkosh Cemetery.

Grave site of William and Minnie (Gordon) Amsberry; photograph by
Find a Grave member Debbie McGinley

Ruth Marion (Schultz) Falkenberg

All I know about Ruth comes from a book, Our Schalin Family, by Lucille Fillenberg Effa. Ruth was born on 2 June 1881 and died on 25 August 1987. She married Rudolph Falkenberg, my first cousin twice removed. They had three known children. Rudolph emigrated from the Volyn region of Ukraine (at the time part of the Russian Empire) on 9 May 1893 aboard the S/S Stubbenhuk. His family traveled with a group of other German Baptists to the Fredericksheim area of Alberta, Canada. Rudolph died on 29 August 1940 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. He was a truck driver at the time of his death and was buried at Beechmount Cemetery, also located in Edmonton. Ruth died forty-seven years later on 25 August 1987.

Susana "Susie" Bertha Amelia (Talmon) Amsberry

Susana was born on 18 April 1892 in Cheyenne County, Kansas. Her father was a farmer, who had immigrated from Germany. Susie married Alfred Lee Andrew Amsberry on 2 August 1909 in Benkelman, Nebraska. He was my fourth cousin twice removed. They had twelve children with eight surviving childhood. Alfred was a truck driver in 1940. He died in 1965; Susie, in 1998. Both are buried at Benkelman Cemetery in Benkelman, Nebraska.

Susie (Talmon) Amsberrty and her husband, Alfred, and some of their
children; photograph courtesy of Ancestry.com member igoodwin165.
Susie and Alfred are on the far right.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme Live Long.

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Celebrating a Centenarian: Henry Roy Tucker
Sunday's Obituary: Kathreen Estelle (Gibson) Hecker Huntley Glatfelder
Honoring a Centenarian

52 Ancestors #10: Last of the Covered Wagons -- Duck and Cover

Ancestor: Clarence Mern BEARD (1885-1960)

My AncestryDNA test results have led to many interesting discoveries but one of the earliest connections I figured out was with a fifth cousin once removed. Her tree included many wonderful old photographs of her mother's Beard family, the line we share, and stories they wrote. Perhaps, the most treasured outcome of this cousin connection was the gift of friendship. My "new" cousin has shared many things about her life, including a book her uncle, Clarence Mern Beard, wrote about his family's trip west in a covered wagon at the turn of the century. Railroads already linked east and west so the trip was unusual in that the family was still traveling by covered wagon in the late 1890s. She has graciously allowed me to share portions of the book on my blog.

A typical covered wagon used by many families during the great western
migration; photograph courtesy of The Historical Society of Dauphin County

This excerpt is about a storm that sprung up quickly on the vast grassy plains.

"But shortly afternoon, an innocent little day cloud appeared in the southwest and as we watched, it took on a sinister appearance.  We could see flashes of lightning bolts outward from its dark, mass, and as a towering thunderhead mushroomed upward, this cloud spread laterally with amazing rapidity.  It quickly blotted out the sun, and as it did so its color became an ugly dark green.  Tattered segments of cloud tumbled in a mighty rolling motion: while wisps of vapor, which had the appearance of smoke, rolled in an upward sweep across the face of the storm.  As this disturbance approached, a large flock of long-winged, pigeon-size birds wheeled and darted overhead in what appeared to be mad ecstasy or sheer panic, as they drove steadily before the oncoming storm.  These were the insect-feeding creatures of the whippoorwill family, which mother called night-hawks and father called bull-bats, but which the Indians named thunder-birds, because of their habit of acting as heralds of violent weather.

But we had little time to view this awe-inspiring spectacle, for everything had to be piled into the wagon and a tarpaulin stretched over the open front, to turn what was certain to be a driving rain.  Father quickly drove stakes into the ground by each wheel and anchored the spikes into the ground by each wheel and anchored the spikes to these because a heavy gust of wind might have upset the outfit.  The farmer came racing out and told us all to run for the shelter of the cellar, while he and father led the horses into the barn.  Mother hurried the children and Daisy carried Iona; and we all stumbled into the safety of an underground structure, which served as a cooler in the summer, and a frost-free storehouse in the winter, but in this case a cyclone cellar.

Tornado in Nebraska; photograph courtesy of the National Weather Service

By the time the men had joined us, a funnel-shaped tongue had dropped from the cloud; and as it touched the ground, dust and loose objects seemed to leap upward and disappear in the whirling mass.  It was perhaps a mile from our shelter but we could clearly see its rotating cone coming straight toward us.  There was scarcely a stir of air and an ominous silence oppressed us.  There was a crash of thunder and a few spatters of giant raindrops slapped the ground.   Father waited outside for a moment, watching the wild thing with evident fascination until, at the insistence of our host, he ducked into the shelter and slammed the door.  Then in a matter of seconds, this terror was upon us with the roar of a freight train.  We expected to hear the crash of falling buildings and braced ourselves for the blow.  There was a hissing, rending sound, which was smothered by a deluge of rain and hail and a pall of darkness fell over the whole scene.  We had put out the candles for fear they might start a fire, in case the house overhead should be wrecked."

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme Stormy Weather.

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Clarence Mern Beard was born on 7 November 1885 in Ansley, Nebraska, to William Adam and Emma Elizabeth (Elison) Beard. He was their second child and oldest son. He married Helen May Banker, the daughter of prominent Louisiana businessman, Francis Henry Banker, on 30 May 1912 in Calasieu Parish, Louisiana. The couple had two children. Clarence died on 29 August 1960 in Oakland, California.

AncestryDNA and Finding a New Cousin
The Great Cyclone of 1896
Biblical Plague or Locust Infestation?

52 Ancestors #3: Tough Life, Tough Lady

Ancestor Name: Lela Ann (HARBERT) Amsberry (1873-1952)

Lela Ann Harbert was born on 13 March 1873 in Mason County, West Virginia, to Elbert Francis and Sarah Ellen (Shriver) Harbert. The Harbert family had lived in what became the State of West Virginia since Virginia was a British Colony.

Lela was the third of nine children and her father was a farmer. Like many of his contemporaries, he decided to migrate west and homestead land in Custer County, Nebraska. In April 1887 he followed his friend and neighbor, Francis Everett Amsberry, who had moved his family to Nebraska by renting a half of a box car in 1885.

But life out west did not go well for the Harbert family. Lela's mother died in 1888 when her youngest daughter was just 17 months old and Lela Ann was 15. The younger children were farmed out to willing friends and the older ones were left to fend for themselves. Their father was no longer much of a presence in their lives.

On 25 March 1889 in Custer County, 28-year-old James Martin Amsberry, son of Francis Everett Amsberry, married 16-year-old Lela Ann Harbert. According to a poem he wrote about his wife in 1913, he fell in love with her two years before when he went back to West Virginia to collect debts from people who owed his father money.

In two separate claims James acquired 240 acres of land in Custer County and by 1900 he owned the farm and a printing business. He and Lela had six children between 1890 and 1907.

The James Martin Amsberry Family circa 1896.
James is holding Tinsie Ethel, Roy Frances and Carl
Everett are standing and Guy Matthew is on Lela's lap;
photo courtesy of Ancestry.com member ChrisIller.

In 1902 Lela's brother, John Harbert left his wife, who he married in 1896, and young son. Lela was incensed after a visit from her brother. She wrote to his estranged wife, Jennie:

"He told me he intended to get loose from you as soon as he could but when he investigated he knew he had not a ghost of a chance...He has been running around with Emma Bennett, a woman of disreputable character and also has two illegal children...to parade around the street with that dirty thing...He has acted so mean with us about the rest he owes us that I won't keep no secrets for him. I am done with him...I guess if he lands in the pen, it won't be any worse disgrace than we are enduring now anyhow...I want him to have to pay you about $50 a month, and have to keep on the wrestle to earn it and not have so much to spend with some other woman about like Em Bennett or pour it down his neck.[1]

In 1915 James and Lela's two oldest children, Carl Everett and Roy Francis, and their wives moved to Oregon. A few months later Lela, along with her two youngest children, Hugh Martin and Vivian Louise, followed her older children to Oregon, leaving her husband behind. James followed the next spring after selling his newspaper, The Miller Sun, a public auction. I get the sense James didn't have much business sense as the family always seemed to struggle financially.

Amsberry Men: Father, James Martin
Amsberry on the left and his oldest sons,
Carl and Roy to the right circa 1916;
photograph courtesy of Ancestry.com
member cfm1151

Times were hard for the family in Oregon. They survived on apples the first year. They built a wooden platform and erected a tent and that's where they lived through the winter before Lela's husband arrived. That summer the men built a primitive house. Lela's daughter Vivian described what happened next in her book, My Mother's Daughter:

"The next few years are rather mixed in my mind. Apparently Mama became tired of carrying water uphill from the spring, and eating whatever wild game my brothers could trap and retrieve ahead of the coyotes. So without fanfare, she bundled me up and took me off again into an unknown world. I saw my Dad only a few times after that.

Mama never seemed to be out of a job...Another time she took care of an invalid lady in Portland. I remember how upset she became when Dad called on her there. I couldn't understand what was going on, but not terribly long after that Mama started talking about a divorce...She was repelled at the sight of Dad and equated her life with him as a form of slavery thus befalling every married woman. She grouped all the male gender together as having a single purpose in life, that of 'using' the female counterpart for his pleasures. The very odious overtones of her remarks scarred me for life. For years I thought of sex as a dirty word and something to be hidden in a closet!"

Lela Ann (Harbert) Amsberry date unknown;
courtesy of Ancestry.com member
Brian_Harbert

Lela Ann (Harbert) Amsberry lived a sometimes tragic and always difficult life but I think of her as a tough woman mostly for warping her youngest daughter's view of men, marriage, and sex. She seemed a cold, unforgiving woman. Her life perhaps marred by tragedy and what for her was an unhappy marriage. Sadly, her husband loved her until he died in 1939, likely at the Oregon State Hospital for the Insane where he had been an inmate on or before 1930. He wrote in his diary, "One thing if it is the Lord's desire, I hope to be restored to the mother of my children, the wife of my youth." 

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challengeoptional theme Tough Woman.

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[1]Excerpted from Echoes from the Blockhouse: The Thomas Harbert Family Saga by Brian and David Harbert.

Lela Ann Harbert was born on 13 March 1873 in Marion County, West Virginia, to Elbert Francis and Sarah Ellen (Shriver) Harbert. The family moved to Mason County, West Virginia, before 1876 and then to Custer County, Nebraska, in 1887. She married James Martin Amsberry on 20 March 1989. They had six children between 1890 and 1907. In 1915 Lela Ann moved to Oregon with her two youngest children. She divorced her husband between 1920 and 1930. He died in 1939 and she died in 1952. They are buried beside each other in the same lot in Multnomah Park Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. So James got his wish and was reunited with "the mother of my children, the wife of my youth."

Dead Poets Society

Obama and My 6th Cousin

Kermit John Jackson lived in Hawaii before and after it became a state. He was born on December 19, 1902 in Custer County, Nebraska, and died May 12, 1992 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended the State Teachers College at Kearney, Nebraska, graduating with a degree in business. In 1926, he accepted a teaching and coaching position in LaRue, Ohio. The next year he relocated to Long Beach, California, and worked in the oil fields. In 1928, he began teaching in the Territory of Hawaii.

He married Corene Schroeder. She grew up in Bertha, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1929. She, too, accepted a teaching position in Hawaii, met and married Kermit Jackson in 1933. Kermit and Corene had two sons: Kermit Ian born July 7, 1936, and James Keith born August 7, 1944. Kermit and James are my sixth cousins.

Kermit is the tallest son in the back row, photo courtesy of an Ancestry.com member

In 1952, a young woman named, Irene Beard, wrote a book entitled History of Adam Beard and His Descendants. At that time Kermit was still teaching school in Hawaii and his oldest son, also named Kermit, was attending the Punahou Academy in Honolulu.  President Barack Obama graduated from Punahou School in 1979!

President Obama and Punahou classmates, photo courtesy of NPR

The school was founded in 1841 and built on the lands of the Ka Punahou, named for the fabled natural spring. The spring still flows today through the heart of the campus under the Thurston Memorial Chapel. The school was developed to provide a quality education for the children of Congregational missionaries, allowing them to stay in the Hawaii with their families rather than having to be sent away for schooling.

Photo by Michael Morgan courtesy of the Punahou School

52 Ancestors #13: How Much Tragedy Can a Woman Endure?

Ancestor Name: Lefa Marie (Amsberry) Connett Zeller Hall

Lefa Marie Amsberry was born on 19 April 1895 in Cass County, Kansas. At the age of 18 she married Vernon Andrew Connett, who was only 20 at the time of their marriage. Ten months later their son, Archie Vernon Connett was born. Lefa apparently suffered from what we now know as postpartum depression after Archie's birth. Her doctor suggested the young family take a trip so she could spend time in fresh air.

Lefa Marie Amsberry and her siblings; courtesy of Ancestory.com member cfm1151

Vernon, Lefa, and baby Archie left Kansas to visit relatives in Nebraska in an horse-drawn wagon. When they stopped in North Platte, they met Roy Roberts. The men stuck up a friendship and decided to look for work in North Platte and Vernon took Lefa and Archie to the train station to continue on to their relatives. He would join her later after making some extra money. Lefa never saw Vernon again. At 19 she was a widow, only she didn't know it right away. Roy Roberts, Vernon's new "friend" killed him so he could steal the team of horses and wagon. Eventually, Roy Roberts was brought to trial and convicted of murder.

As published in the Beatrice Daily Sun 6 Febuary 1917

Vernon Connett's body was eventually found along the banks of the South Platte River. Vernon's father and brother traveled to Nebraska to claim the body and take it back to Kansas for burial at the Sheridan Cemetery in Auburn. By that time Lefa had married again to John Victor Zeller. She had a daughter, Clara Mavis Zeller, in 1923 and by 1937 the family had moved to Denver, Colorado while her son Archie completed his post-graduate work.

Clara married early -- very early at the age of 14 -- to Ernest Clifton Manchester. By 1948 Clara and Ernest had three children and were living in Tekoa, Washington. In the early morning hours of 2 March 1948, their house became engulfed in flames. The house was destroyed and the parents burned trying to save their children. Unfortunately, only one, the infant was saved. Their sons, 8-year-old Jerry Ivan Manchester and 6-year-old Lyle Ernest Manchester, died in the fire. Lefa, their grandmother, had just lost two beloved grandchildren at the same time. But more tragedy was to follow four years later.

As published in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin on 2 March 1948

By 1952, her son, Archie, had married Wynona Gottlieb and had three children. He and his wife separated and he had threatened violence several times. On 23 December 1952, he became enraged and slashed his estranged wife's throat. She was able to escape. Archie then turned his rage on his children and held them by their feet and bashed their heads against the wall, killing 4-year-old Michael Stephen Connett, 2-year-old Theresa Anne Connett, and 4-month-old Carl Paul Connett. They were buried the day after Christmas at Mission City Memorial Park, Santa Clara, California. Their Gottlieb grandparents made the arrangements and attended the funeral as their mother, Wynona, was still hospitalized in serious condition. She was only told of their deaths on Christmas Day.

As published in the Oakland Tribune on 24 December 1952

Lefa attended every day of Archie's month-long trial and testified on his behalf. He was convicted of three counts of second degree murder and one count of attempted murder and served 15 years. He was released in 1968.  During the trial it was revealed that Archie and his step-father John Victor Zeller, had a very rocky relationship; their fights sometimes ending in fisticuffs. Lefa eventually divorced Zeller and married for the third time to Jack Huntington Hall. She died on 11 May 1969.

I hope she was eventually able to find happiness.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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Lefa Marie Amsberry was born on 19 April 1895 at Cass County, Kansas, to Floyd Murton and Rosa Ella (Comer) Amsberry. Lefa was my fourth cousin twice removed. She married Vernon Andrew Connett on 20 May 1913 at St Francis, Kansas. She next married John Victor Zeller on 16 Jun 1917 at Bayard, Nebraska. They likely divorced sometime before 1940, although I am not sure. She then married John Huntington Hall sometime before 1953. She died on 11 May 1969 at Fresno, California. During her lifetime her first husband was murdered, two grandchildren died in a fire, and her son murdered three of her grandchildren and served 15 years in California prisons. He was released the year before her death.

NOTE: I told the story of Vernon Andrew Connett's murder in more detail in Week #11 of 52 Ancestors.

I blogged about Archie Vernon Connett several times and wrote an article about his committing infanticide for Your Family Tree magazine. If you are interesting in learning more about this terrible tragedy, links are provided below:

• Connett Family Tragedy
• Connett Family Tragedy Continued
• Wordless Wednesday: Archie Vernon Connett
• Archie Connett in His Own Words: The Crime
• Archie Connett in His Own Words:  The Trial and Prison
• Archie Connett in His Own Words:  Parole

Convicted of Selling Prophylactics

I think this blog has finally found the gutter. I've written before about thinking newspapers were very helpful in providing critical genealogical information such as maiden names and dates, but more importantly, they also add color and personality to our ancestors. I think I found a little too much color!

A very nice lady commented on this blog post and alerted me to a wonderful resource on the City of Kearney Library website under the Research Resources button -- old Kearney Dailey Hub newspapers. For several days I entered the names of my ancestors, who lived near Kearney, Nebraska, and pored through the search results. And found this:

From the Kearney Dailey Hub 3 Dec 1937 courtesy of the City of Kearney Library.

Francis Adam Amsberry[1], what were you thinking? He was 67 years old at the time he offered to drop the appeal of his earlier conviction. In 1930 he indicated to the census enumerator that he was a "commercial trader of magazines." I'm assuming he ran a convenience store and carried all types of merchandise, including prophylatics, and simply got caught out by the new law. I mean does this dapper gentlemen look like a criminal to you?

Francis Adam (F A) Amsberry photo from a member of Ancestry.com

Seriously, from several other articles it's obvious Francis Amsberry was a fine upstanding citizen of his community. This article just touched my funny bone.

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[1] Francis Adam Amsberry was my third cousin, three times moved.

52 Ancestors #11: A Tale of Murder

Ancestor Name: Vernon Andrew Connett

I've loved books before I even knew what genealogy was. I love having them on my bookshelves or in a pile beside my bed, but most of all I love reading them. I resisted using an e-reader until every shelf was full and my husband near rebellion. Now that I've become obsessed with genealogy and my family's history, I love old books about the counties in which my ancestors lived. You can discover the most wonderful little factoids and I've blogged about what I've discovered reading old history books before.

I use Google Play to search for old county history books. Recently, I found An Illustrated History of Lincoln County, Nebraska, and Her People, A Narrative of the Past with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History; Particular Attention Also Given to the Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development of the County from the Early Days to the Present Time, Volume I, edited by Ira L Bare and Will H McDonald, and published in 1920. It included a section entitled "A Platte Valley Tragedy" about the murder of Vernon Andrew Connett on August 2, 1914.

A Platte Valley Tragedy

A book of four hundred pages was published in 1915 entitled "A Tragedy of the Platte Valley."[1] This book refers to the most cold-blooded of Vernon Connett in the summer of 1914, by Roy Roberts, who paid the penalty June 4, 1915 by being legally electrocuted within the walls of the prison at Lincoln, Nebraska. There were several strange incidents connected with this murder -- others were charged with aiding in this awful crime -- but the courts found Roberts guilty. He was twenty-two years of age when he committed the crime…The man whose life he took was only twenty-one years old. He was riding with Vernon Connett in the latter's wagon and was supposed to be looking for a place to work. Connett was killed on this trip, his body secreted along the sands of the Platte River in this county, and found in piecemeals [sic] as the evidence showed. The man, Roy Roberts, changed his name and took the team of horses to Hershey where he finally sold them, including wagon and harness. The defendant was arrested on suspicion and finally brought to trial at North Platte before Judge Grimes in January 1915. It was a case of "circumstantial evidence," though quite clearly defined.

I guess like many modern true crime books rushed to print to take advantage of the headlines, this book contained many errors of fact. Roy Roberts was not electrocuted. He appealed the verdict and was granted another trial. At that trial he was sentenced to a 25-year prison term. The article below explains the reason for his second trial:

From an article published Feburary 6, 1917 in the Nemaha County Herald:

"..The trial attracted so much attention that the crowds became so large that it was necessary to conduct the trial in a theatre. When the case was appealed to the supreme court it was alleged that this had given a sensational setting which had prejudiced the jury. The case was sent back to the district court for a new trial and after witness had been summoned and the jury empaneled Roberts entered a plea of guilty to murder in the second degree and was sentenced to twenty-five years in the penitentiary."

This article appeared in a North Platte newspaper on February 9, 1917:

Body of Connett Buried at Auburn

Nearly two years after the murder of Vernon Connett his body is at its final resting place. After the sentencing of Roy Roberts to 25 years to life in the state penitentiary following his confession, through his plea of guilty to the slaying of Connett, the skull that had been held as the chief exhibit of the state, was released by the sheriff and the body was taken from the morgue where it had been taken from the South Platte River February 15, 1915, and was sent to Auburn, Nebraska for burial. Andrew J Connett and a brother  took charge of the body and placed it on an evening train that bore it eastward toward its resting place.

Vernon Connett's tombstone at Sheridan Cemetery, Auburn, Nebraska (The death date is incorrect)

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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Vernon Andrew Connett was born on 1 April 1893 at Woodbury, Grant, Iowa, to Andrew Jackson and Marta Ellen (Gilbert) Connett. He married Lefa Marie Amsberry on 20 May 1913 at St Francis, Cheyenne, Kansas. They had one son, Archie Vernon Connett born on 13 Mar 1914 at Cheyenne County, Kanasas. Roy Roberts murdered Vernon Andrew Connett on 2 August 1914 near North Platte, Lincoln, Nebraska. Vernon's body was found on 15 Feb 1915 buried in the sands of the South Platte River. His body was interred in Sheridan Cemetery at Auburn, Nemaha, Nebraska.

NOTE: The death date on Vernon Connett's headstone is incorrect. He was killed on 2 August 1914.

[1] You bet I looked for A Tragedy of the Platte Valley. An electronic copy was not available online, but I found a used bookseller who had one.  I won't tell you how much I paid for it!

Biblical Plague or a Locust Infestation?

In 1876 the U.S. Congress called the locust "the single greatest impediment to settlement of the country between Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains." Or so I learned when I read Jeffrey Lockwood's 2004 book, "Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier."

This is yet another case when my quirky taste in reading material has helped with my current genealogy obsession. The book was fascinating because the infestation of locusts was simply amazing to imagine. They would be so dense in the sky, they darkened the day, blotting out the sun. They were voracious eaters, and would even eat the fabric of your clothing in their quest for sustenance. Their annual plagues played a large part in the creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, modern agricultural research, and public welfare. It was one of the first times the federal government aided citizens in time of need, though as with today's highly-divided political climate, that aid was not without detractors. Many believed the homesteaders of the Great Plains states, through bad behavior, caused the locust to attack their crops just like the Old Testament Biblical plague. Many of my Beard and Amsberry ancestors were early settlers of Nebraska and would have lived through these infestations.

Photo courtesy of Nirbiru-planetx.com

I was reminded of Lockwood's book after discovering "Compendium of History, Reminiscence and Biography of Western Nebraska Containing a History of the State of Nebraska," which was published in 1909.  The chapter on miscellaneous historical matters included an article, "The Locust or the Grasshoppers." Harrison Johnson wrote:

"During the growing season of 1874 and 1875 the Rocky Mountain locust, or grasshopper, visited Nebraska and did incalculable damage by devouring crops in a large portion of the state. In many sections, more particularly in the western and middle counties, the destruction of crops by these insects was almost complete, not a vestige of anything green being left untouched by them; and as many of the farmers living in the sections so afflicted were new settlers, the total loss of crops upon which they were dependent for the support of their families, was a great calamity and caused much distress and suffering. The destitution was so widespread and so great in some localities that public aid was asked for, for the relief of the sufferers." 

An 1875 map shows the swath of locust infestation that decimated crops and left land barren. Photo courtesy of the Missouri State Historical Society

He then goes on to state:

"While it is true that the damage done by the locust was very great, and caused much genuine distress among the people in several counties, yet the whole matter was greatly exaggerated and enlarged upon by a certain busy class of persons who somehow always come to the front on such occasions actuated generally by to further their own selfish ends than by any kindly, true feeling for the distressed. This blatant noisy class, with their loud demonstrations and universal begging, not only disgusted the more sensible people, did the state an injury next to that of the locusts themselves."

That last paragraph sounded me of boosterism or something the U.S. Chamber of Commerce might have written 100 or so years ago!

Soddy Profiles: Darius Amsberry

The Illustrated History of Nebraska, History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations to the Present time with Portraits, Maps and Tables, Volume III,  by Albert Watkins, PhD, and published in 1913 was another fabulous find on Google Play. I found a biographical sketch of an Amsberry ancestor, who was mover-and-shaker in Custer County, Nebraska.

Darius Matthew Amsberry, educator, editor, and receiver of the United States land office, Broken Bow, was born in Marion County, Iowa, near the town of Knoxville September 10, 1851. His paternal great grandfather came from England to America. His grandfather, William Amsberry, was a native of New York, removed to Mason County, West Virginia, married Polly Everett, and during the Mexican War served in the United States Army. One of his children was William F. Amsberry, born in Mason County, West Virginia, in 1821. In 1847 he settled in Marion County, Iowa, talking up a homestead near Pella on the Des Moines river, and married Harriet A. Brown, born in West Virginia. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother of the Kimberling family of England. For some years William F. Amsberry was engaged in the sawmill and lumber business at Coalport, Iowa, and from that place moved to Nebraska in 1879, and became the owner of 320 acres in the Muddy valley, Custer county. He died in 1886 and his wife died at their Nebraska home in 1895. They had reared a family of seven children, one of whom is Darius M. Amsberry.

Until the latter was sixteen years old, he attended the public schools of Iowa, and for three years attended the Central University. In February 1874, he became a settler in Hall County, Nebraska. He taught school in all for sixty-four terms, forty-nine of which were spent in Nebraska. For six years he was superintendent of schools for Custer county. As county superintendent of schools he organized 170 school districts. He held the first teachers' institute in the county in a mill building, which was not completed, at Westerville, in April 1882, and in 1883, the institute was held at Broken Bow. The first institute was of three days duration, the second of one week, and the next was organized as a normal institute and lasted six weeks. These institutes established by Mr. Amsberry have since been continued by his successors.

For twenty-three years, he has been editor and publisher of the Broken Bow Republican. He also served for some years as justice of the peace in Custer county. Mr. Amsberry is a member of the Masonic order, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Brotherhood of America, the Royal Highlanders, and the Nebraska Press Association, and he has held office in all of them. He has been chosen a deacon in the Baptist church for more than a quarter of a century, and vice president of the Nebraska Baptist state convention for four years, and is vice president of the board of trustees of the Grand Island Baptist College.

Grand Island Baptist College circa 1910. Photograph courtesy of the JournalStar.com

He was married April 8, 1875, to Evaline Greenlee of Corydon, Iowa, and six children have been born to them: Minnie M. Clay, wife of J. W. Clay; Lorin W.; Anna R. Foote, wife of Carl Foote; Lillie H.; and Jessie, the latter dying in infancy. Minnie and Anna are graduates of the Broken Bow high school and were school teachers before their marriage. William, the eldest son, is an agent of the Adams Express Company at Deadwood, South Dakota. Lorin W. is a printer and pressman, and Lillie H. is attending school at the Grand Island Baptist College.

Soddy Profiles: Perry Marvin Dady

A Soddy, or Soddie, is somone who lived in house built of sod, usually the early settlers of the Great Plains states. Several of my Beard ancestors settled in Custer County, Nebraska, in the late 1880s. Many of them lived in sod houses when they first homesteaded land.

I first found this photograph on Ancestry.com. I believe it is very unusual for the time as the family typically went to the photographer instead of the other way around. It is a photograph of the Perry Marvin Dady family in their parlor.

Courtesy of cfm1151, Ancestry.com member

The women: On the far left is Ellen Josephine (Beard) Dady (1859-1936), standing on the far left is Monna Ruth Dady (1893-1936), the little girl between the men is Lorene Josphine Dady (1902-1980), to the right of Lorene, next to the piano (or organ) is Jennie Florilla Dady (1886-1965), seated at the piano (or organ) is Myrtle Grace Dady (1897-1997).

The men: On the far right with legs crossed is Perry Marvin Dady (1859-1942); the four young men seated, from left to right are:  Harry Leslie Dady (1895-1990), Guy Dady (1892-1971), Otis Marvin Dady (1888-1944), and Perl Spencer Dady (1885-1940)

The framed photograph to the left is of William Ennis Beard (1818-1864) and Almyra Parish (Amsberry) Beard (1829-1888), Ellen Josephine's parents. The framed photograph over the piano (or organ) is of Spencer Dady II (1835-1890) and Adelaide (Wible) Dady (1840-1904), Perry Marvin Dady's parents.

A few weeks later, on Google Play, I found a book with the unwieldy title, "History of Custer County, Nebraska: a Narrative of the Past with Special Emphasis upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the present time," by W L Gaston and A R Humphrey. It was published in 1919. It included a biographical sketch of Perry Marvin Dady:

Perry M Dady whose residence in Custer county covers a period of more than thirty-six years, is now classed among the well-to-do men of the Mason City community. This fact shows him to be another one of Custer county’s agriculturalists who in their careers have exemplified with force the true western spirit of self-made manhood, for when he came to this state in 1882 his worldly possessions amounted to next to nothing and throughout his career he has been called upon to depend wholly upon his own abilities and energies.

Mr. Dady was born on a farm in Mason county, Illinois, March 9, 1859, and is a son of Spencer and Adelaide (Wible) Dady. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, was born in 1835, and as a young man went to Mason county, Illinois, where he started life without assets save those represented by his inherent qualities, and where he gained some small success. He there married Adelaide Wible, who was born in Illinois in 1840, and several years later they moved to Iowa, where Mr. Dady became the owner of a farm.

Perry M Dady received his education in the public schools of Illinois and Iowa, and was reared to farming, a vocation which he adopted for his life work. He was twenty-three years old when he came to Custer county in 1882, and pre-empted a homestead, which forms a part of his present farm. At that time the property was destitute of improvements of any kind, and Mr. Dady lived at first in a dug-out and later in a “soddy,” experiencing at the same time all other inconveniences and hardships which the early settlers were called upon to face. As the years passed, however, he began to secure  results from his hard labor, he added to his equipment and gradually began to erect buildings, of which he now has the full set, modern, well-constructed, attractive and in perfect repair. In every way his property shows the presence of industry and good management . Mr. Dady carries on general farming and raises thoroughbred Red Polled cattle and Poland-China hogs. He has been successful in both departments of his farm enterprise. He has accumulated 440 acres of valuable land and in so doing has at all times maintained his reputation as a man of sterling integrity and business straightforwardness.

Perry Marvin Dady and his wife, Ellen Josephine (Beard) Dady

In 1882 Mr. Dady was united in marriage to Miss Ellen J Beard, who was born in Marion county, Iowa, a daughter of Adam Beard, who died while serving as a Union soldier during the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Dady are the parents of eight children: Perl S, who has a claim in the sand hills of Cherry county, Nebraska; Jennie, who is the wife of Oscar Ruyan, a clerk in Mason City, Nebraska; Otis M, who assists his father in operating part of the home farm; Guy W, who is in the national army and in service in France at the time of this writing; and Monna R, Harry L, Myrtle G, and Lorene J, who are all residing with their parents. The family belongs to the Baptist church, which they attend in Mason City. Mr. Dady maintains an independent stand as to political questions,  and has not been an active politician, although on several occasions he has served efficiently in the capacity of town clerk.

I love finding these old books online. I learn so many interesting things about the early years of our Nation and I love the writing style, so much more florid than today.

Soddy Profiles: Bamboozled by Housewives

Google Play is a wonderful application for genealogists and family history enthusiastists. As part of my research process, I Google the name of the ancestor I am researching and where they lived.  As a result, I am the owner of a free e-book entitled, "Pioneer History of Custer County and Short Sketches of Early Days in Nebraska," by S. D. Butcher, published in 1901.  The book describes the history of most of the towns and villages in Custer County and includes several vignettes about tragedies and other happenings.

My second cousin four times removed, Lucy Caroline Beard (1827-1915) and her husband, Francis Everett Amsberry (1824-1897) traveled from Mason County, West Virginia, to Custer County, Nebraska, in 1885 with most of their 12 children.

Francis Everett and Lucy Caroline (Beard) Amsberry

They settled in the vicinity of Mason City and family then spread mainly to the Broken Bow and Ansley areas of the county.  So naturally, I started reading that section of the book first. This story made me laugh out loud.

Custer County was formed in 1877 and was named after General George Armstrong Custer. The Mason City townsite was located by the Lincoln Land Company in 1886. Ansley was founded the same year. Broken Bow was platted in 1882.

Mason City, Nebraska circa 1901; Mason City is about 20 miles southeast of Broken Bow

The first settlers between the towns of Broken Bow, Merna, and Callaway were men by the name of Ream and Jeffords. To show the innocence and inexperience of these two bachelors, who came to this county in a farm wagon which contained all their possessions and which was drawn by a yoke of oxen, we will tell a little story at their expense.

Jeffords and his wife, who he met and married after this story

As they began to leave the settlements on their journey west into the wilderness, they thought it would be a fine thing to have fresh eggs during the summer in their new home. In order to be able to enjoy such a luxury, they struck a bargain with a thrifty housewife for a dozen fine young chickens. The flock was shortly increased by the addition of six hens which they got at an astonishing bargain from another housewife along the way.

When they arrived near the present site of Broken Bow, they camped with Wilson Hewitt as that kind and accommodating pioneer invited the wayfarers to make their headquarters there until they got their claims located.

The men turned their chickens loose that night before retiring. The next morning they invited Mrs. Hewitt out to inspect the flock. She looked them over with the eye of an experienced housewife and then fell into such a fit of laughter that the boys thought she had gone crazy. When she recovered her composure, she informed the young poultry fanciers that their flock consisted of eleven young roosters, one pullet and six old hens that had probably come over in Noah's ark and had long passed the time to be considered useful layers.

Soddy Profiles: Warren V. Keller

Warren Valorous Keller was my fith cousin once removed. He was born in 1900 and died in 1999, a few months short of his 100th birthday. He was born and raised in Nebraska and is a true "soddy." He even received a life time certificate of membership from the Sons and Daughters of the Soddies. The certificate said:

Born in

Attended Churces

Lived in a Sod House

Helped Build Sod Houses

When he was in his 90s, his neighbor came over and confiscated his snow shovels so Warren would no longer clear sidewalks and driveways.

During the last year of Warren Keller's life his daughter and her husband collected Warren's reminisces about his life and published a book entitled, "A Man of the Twentieth Century: Recollections of Warren V. Keller, a Nebraskan." This blog post is from the first chapter of the book.

When you come to think of it, I almost was never born because of what nearly happened to my mother and father on their wedding day. My parents were marred on April 2, 1894, in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Uncle Jess and Aunt Becky Amsberry stood up with them. On the way back, the dust and wind blew so hard, they could hardly see anything. At one point, the horses stopped and wouldn't go. They got out to see why, and a train sped by. The horses saved their lives.

Photograph from the book entitled, "History of Custer County, Nebraska: A Narrative with Special Emphasis upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time (published in 1919)

It was a cold day when I was born on January 29 in 1900. I was born in a one-room sod house in Mason City, Nebraska. Mason City was founded in 1886 by the Lincoln Land Company who purchased it from homesteaders, Nels Anderson and Mrs. George Runyan. Mason City was named after Honorable O. P. Mason, formerly a Supreme Court Judge for the Nebraska Territory. Its first post office was established in 1886.

A Nebraska "soddy" in front of his sod house probably circa 1890s. Photograph courtesy of Keesee and Sidwell

When I born, I had two sisters, Lorena and Blanche. We lived in Mason City for a while, then moved to Ashland, Nebraska, for a short time and then back to Mason City. When I was two, the family moved to Edison, Washington, on a train and came back on a train. Edison was a small town outside Seattle, where my Dad worked for a sawmill.

We came back to Mason City soon after my sister, Etna, was born. I am not sure why we came back, but I was told that Grandma Peterson said she wouldn't speak to my mother again if they didn't come back and show here my sister, Etna. Etna was born in Washington. She was the only one of my sisters and brothers who was not born in Nebraska. We lived in Edison for about a year and a half.

The Harvy S. Keller Family

Back row, left to right: Etna Keller, Blanche Keller, Warren Keller (profile subject) and Lorene Keller

Front row, left to right: Emery Keller, Harvey Keller (father), Twila Keller, and Rose Alice (Jinks) Keller (mother) and Clara Bell Keller

When we came back to Mason City, we lived in a two-room sod house located in the country 1-1/2 miles north of town. It didn't have any floors and didn't leak when it didn't rain. One day, I remember watching my mother sprinke water over the dirt floor to settle the dust in the family bedroom. The beds rested on boards so they wouldn't sink into the ground. The closest water supply was 100 feet from the house. We had no convenience at all. We had a pump outside and a little coal oil lamp.

When I was five year old, I started to school in Mason City. I had about three blocks to go to school, and our folks would dress us up with plenty of clothes. We walked to school. They never took us to school. We'd waller around through the snow drifts. If there was a snow drift across the road or anywhere else, it stayed there until it thawed in the spring because there weren't any cars. People would just walk or drive their horses over or around the drifts and that's the way they got around until spring came and it was all thawed out and the mud had dried up. Even if it was blizzarding, the folks paid no attention. They just dressed us and we walked to school. And that's the way things were.