USA > Nebraska > York County > York County, Nebraska and its people : together with a condensed history of the state, Vol. I > Part 45
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ISAAC ONG (Along the Blue in 1866-7)-By Arminda Gilmore
Isaac Ong with his family came from Ilinois in the fall of '68. He also home- steaded on section 18, near MeCool. Mr. Ong proceeded to dig his house into a bank, as was the custom. The summer of '69 was a season of much rain, great heavy rain storms that brought floods of water down the ravines, and also demon- strated the fact that the Nebraska farmer must provide a better roof for his house than a few slabs covered with dirt if he would keep things in the dry.
Mr. and Mrs. Ong were awakened one night by a rushing of water at the door. Soon the house was covered with two feet of water. They sat on the beds watching for coming events. Mr. Ong had brought with him from Illinois a decoy duck, and as it was the eustom to stow many things not in use under the bed, that deeoy duck was placed there. The water ran high, when ont from under the bed the duck came swimming serenely around, apparently perfectly at home. This time the water having come from a rain storm quickly subsided, leaving ouly a very muddy floor which, being of mother earth, was some time drying.
Mr. William Ong, quite an aged man, had also come west with his son. He was the first Squire in York County and did quite a business in the matrimonial line :
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in fact, with Judge Moore to issue the license and Squire Ong to perform the ceremony, south York County people began to think this was the most opportune time for beginning the new home life.
Dentists and doctors were absent for some years, but people did have the ague and toothache, the first must be cured by patent medicine or endured for long weeks, and it was usually endured. Of course people couldn't always go to Milford. where lived a doctor, to have a tooth extracted, and so the toothache was also oftentimes endured.
Mr. Levi Dean had a very painful tooth, one of the kind that keeps jumping. for days, and for weeks he had no rest. A big Swede by the name of Peter John- son was living with Mr. Dean. He was a jolly fellow, full of jokes, and persuaded Mr. Dean to allow him to pull the tooth with a pair of bullet molds. Of course, a local anesthetic was at that time an unheard of thing, even by professional "tooth- pullers," and Johnson had but one idea, and that was to get the tooth out. He was much stronger than Mr. Dean, and he knew he could hold him and extract the tooth at the same time. Ile put that bullet mold into the tooth with a grip firm as steel. Mr. Dean tried to seream. Hle kieked and rolled onto the floor, but that Swede was bound to conquer, the tooth came at last, but Mr. Dean always thought that the cure was worse than the disease.
During the summer of '69 Dr. Deweese located on a homestead near Mr. McFad- den's and was for many years the family physician for the people. During the fall and winter of '70-71 the typhoid fever became prevalent, several deaths occurred, and many families were afflicted. Everyone was glad to have in the community a doctor so competent as was this kind, unassuming Dr. Deweese, who made long trips over the prairies regardless of the stormns, and very often with no prospects of any fee. He was truly a doctor of the people and for the people, in full sympathy with their sufferings and privations.
S. S. DEFFENBAUGH-By Arminda Gilmore
S. S. Deffenbaugh with his wife and two children came from Wyoming. II., in 1874, arriving just a few weeks before the grasshoppers made their first destructive visit to the homesteaders. This little army, no doubt, had often rested on the plains of York County, when their sustenance was only greens and the bark and leaves of the few trees that grew only along the rivers; but now conditions were changed, delicious corn and vegetables were awaiting them, and it took only a few hours for the devastating army to destroy all that the hopeful farmers had in store for the coming year.
That was one of the dark pictures of homestead life. It meant suffering for many fathers and mothers who had sacrificed much for their children, and now perhaps they must hear them cry for food. And here allow me to say that such would have been the case more frequently if it had not been for the relief sent from the east; but even this visit from a destructive enemy did not discourage Mr. Deffenbaugh and his worthy companion. They had come west to get a home; the spirit of progress and enterprise was a rich heritage to them. The beautiful home in which they now live (1913) tells its own story, and speaks in stronger language than can the pen of the writer of the valiant industry of Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Deffenbaugh.
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Among those who settled along the Blue during the summer of 1866 was Nich- olas Nye, an eccentric man who delighted in being called "Old Nick." Going one day into the home of Mr. Ong, he found no one home but Grandma Ong, quite an aged lady. "Madam," he said, "did you ever hear of the Old Nick?" "I certainly have," she replied. "Vell, den, here you see him," he said, in his quaint Pennsyl- vania Dutch accent.
Mr. Nye came from Philadelphia with the Fouses and homesteaded on section 10, range 3. W., the farm now owned by Mr. Hagerman.
Mr. Nye always claimed that cooking food was an unnecessary trouble, and therefore ate his vegetables raw, with meat and fish as a dessert, in the same condition.
II. 0. KLEINSCHMIDT
Mr. Kleinschmidt has a good memory for things which happened many years ago. Ile recalls vividly the experiences of his childhood when his father. a min- ister in the German Methodist Church, was obliged to travel a four weeks' circuit. leaving his wife and children alone in a little home on the banks of the Missouri River in Missouri. He remembers how beautiful the woods were and how full of game, and the deer that used to come to the house at night and gaze in at the candles standing lighted by the windows. He remembers how when five years old he, with his brother, was lost for two days and two nights in the forests near the great river and wandered cold and hungry until found by their distracted parents. With such a pioneer bringing up it is no wonder that as a young man Mr. Klein- schmidt sought a home on Nebraska prairies. In the fall of 1871 he and his part- ner. Mr. Bramstedt, paid twenty-five dollars to the South Platte Land Company for a lot on what is now the west side of the square. There the young men erected a two-story frame store building. This stood about midway in the block. The lumber was hauled from Lincoln. It cost $60 a thousand and the cost of hanling it to York was $12 per thousand more. Later the same material could have been purchased for $25 per thousand on the ground, but Mr. Kleinschmidt found that settlers were regarded as an easy mark by dealers at the sources of supply in those days. The land office and Mrs. Wilson's millinery store were other buildings on the street with the new general store, and the county court house was a sod build- ing located west of where the First National Bank now stands. J. Il. and F. O. Bell kept a store on the Hannis corner, too.
There proved to be more trade than money in the new country. People were obliged to eat and be clothed whether they had the wherewithal or not. The new firm had the goods and let them go to supply need, taking in return what they could get. When Mr. Kleinschmidt wants to indulge in day dreams he speculates as to what he would do if he had the $17,000 which he estimates he donated towards the support of the first settlers of York County.
"I loaned one man the money to square up with Uncle Sam for his elaim," he said. "Now he owns five quarters of York County land and I am still selling prunes."
But Mr. Kleinschmidt does not seem to regret the money or the help he gave in those days. The people were grateful and the spirit of helpfulness and brotherly kindness was alive. The neighbors knew each other's joys and sorrows in a much greater degree than is possible now and everybody was sociable and friendly. On
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the arrival of a stranger from that indefinite place known as "the East" the business men and residents in the little town were wont to gather about the new- comer and give him a hearty welcome without questioning too closely into his past. When trouble came everybody joined hands and kind hearts found ways of showing sympathy.
The people did not have money to spend for luxuries then. Mr. Kleinschmidt bought a box of oranges in the early summer of 1872, thinking that the settlers would enjoy them as a "treat" for the Fourth of July. But half that box of oranges spoiled because the demand was so light. One kind of fruit never failed to sell. Dried eurrants were a staple. The grocer bought them by the barrel. The home- steader took them out by the dollar's worth. Currant pie and currant sauce appeared on the tables of all men from the northern to the southern limits of the county and everybody liked currants.
In 1877 Mr. Kleinschmidt built the cottage on North Lincoln Avenue where he now lives. When he bought the land on which his home was placed he paid at the rate of five dollars a lot. He does not want to sell his home, but if he did. the price would be a trifle higher. During his forty-one years in York, Mr. Klein- schmidt has had experience in the merchandise business, in banking and as deputy county clerk. He has had a hand in the making of the community and whether he ever gets all the eredit belonging to him for his share in the good work or not, he is satisfied with the results. When he goes away from York for a visit, declares he is always glad to get baek.
EZEKIEL EVANS
Ezekiel Evans, the son of Ezekiel and Mary Jermain Evans, was born in Balti- more Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware, February 28, 1829. He lived in the first tier of houses near the Atlantic Ocean for a number of years. He "followed the sea," but desiring to improve conditions, he left for the West at twenty-six years of age and settled in Illinois.
He was married to Miss Martha Jane Williams September 29, 1857, and lived near Warsaw, Haneock County, Illinois, until again the western fever took pos- session of him and he with his wife and family, now consisting of six sons, departed for the West and located in York County.
When he came to the county to homestead he came on the train as far as Lincoln, then by stage as far as Seward, when it was necessary to come the rest of the distance on foot. Ile homesteaded the northeast quarter of section 18, township 11, range 1 west, in April, 1872, and brought his family in the fall of the same year, eoming overland in a "prairie schooner." As he was a minister of the gospel as well as a farmer, he preached from house to "soddy" and dugout ; swam streams and slept on the broad prairies, while his colts ate the grass growing so plentifully. As the settlers at that time seemed so poor, and he so "rich in the faith that God would care for him," could not ask for the "needful" but obeyed his God with trusting faith. With his trusty fowling piece he killed the meat for his family, inereased to ten by the addition of four daughters in Nebraska. Geese, duck, quail, rabbit, and chickens were plentiful, and they who cared to hunt could have them for the killing of them.
He was school director in his frontier days in Illinois, and was also now school
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director in his new home, and built the first schoolhouse in his district. Waco Township.
With the help of his sons he farmed four hundred acres of land in addition to preaching the gospel. They said it did not rain in Nebraska, but that first Lord's day, after he preached the first gospel sermon in York. it did rain until the water was several inches deep over the ground where our court house now stands. The Lord helped him to build up six Churches of Christ in York County.
When on his first trip to see the country, he picked up an Indian arrow head. near where the court house now stands. He thought "if the Indians can live here, the white man can." This thought has proven to be true, as present prosperity shows.
When he looks back to the Anderson-Ford wedding he thinks the roast turkey tasted as good in that nice dugout as now in the most modern dwelling. At that time when hungry it was easy to get together a few dry stieks, toast a quail, some corn or some rye bread. Then after he had a nap the black horse Jim would neigh and be ready to take his master on to the next appointment.
He later moved to Waco, then in 1901 went back to his childhood home with his wife. leaving the children scattered over the West. After six years Nebraska appealed to him as of old and at the earnest wish of his friends and loved ones he returned to York in 1907, and there is settled in his own home. Ile has found that York County is the garden spot of God's creation, and that deep and abundant faith in his Heavenly Father has increased till it is his greatest comfort in his later days, and he hopes to meet his friends where partings are no more (1913).
MARY A. GILMORE
Word was received in York late in 1920 of the death of Mrs. Mary Gihnore, mother of Mrs. W. W. McCoy of this city. Mrs. Gilmore, who was seventy-seven years of age, died at the Soldiers' Home at Milford and had been in failing health for several years. Mrs. Gilmore was one of the early settlers of this part of Nebraska, coming with her husband from Illinois in 1866, and taking a home- stead near McCool. Mr. Gilmore died more than thirty years ago. Mrs. Gilmore has resided at the Home at Milford for the past two years. Burial was made in the Bethel Cemetery at MeCool on Tuesday afternoon, where the funeral services were conducted by her former pastor. Reverend Brink.
REMINISCENCES OF MARY GILMORE-By Arminda Gilmore
In the spring of 1866, A. J. Gilmore, David Bussard, William Whitaker and William O. Bussard, came to Nebraska in search of land: they came in covered wagons. After hunting and finding land that suited them they had to return to Nebraska City to homestead said land; then the fall following Wm. O. Bussard and William Whitaker returned east for their families, traveling in the same cov- ered wagons. David Bussard remained on his homestead, but in the meantime he had purchased a very good chance of one Mr. Hall, which consisted of a very good two-room log house, a lot of potatoes and a large sorghum patch, which sorghum was later made into molasses, furnishing sweetening for all purposes. With
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buffalo, elk, venison, antelope and prairie chickens without number, sorghum cake made a very good dessert.
David Bussard and A. J. Gilmore located along the Blue River in York County, Whitaker and Win. O. Bussard going to Fillmore. For a short time after settling, A. J. Gilmore had his blacksmith shop on the old freight road near Fouse's raneh and the next spring took his wife and little daughter, now Mrs. W. T. Decious of York, and lived in a covered wagon on his claim until he broke prairie and planted sod corn, after which he built his house, which was a story and a half high, dug in the bank on three sides, built up in front of nicely hewed logs 16x18, with dirt floor and roof, but later on there eame a portable sawmill near, and he had native lumber sawed for upper and lower floors, after which the house was known as the "Astor" house on account of its palatial appearance. It was also the stopping place of land seekers and people coming from a great distance to get their smith- work done.
Indians were very numerous. I remember on one occasion Mr. Gilmore having gone to mill at Milford, which trip required three days, his wife and baby being alone there. During his absence there came to the house an uncommonly large and ugly Indian, demanding something to eat, saying, "You no give me eat, me shoot," taking his gun in his hands and looking very savage. Trembling in every limb, I quickly filled a plate with eatables, handing it to him. After eating, he left, saying, "You heap good squaw, good-bye."
Now I will tell you about religious matters. We were without religious meet- ings until two horsemen rode up to David Bussard's door, who proved to be two preachers, W. T. Caldwell and E. J. Lamb of the United Brethren Church. That evening Lamb preached in Bussard's house and the next night Caldwell preached in A. J. Gilmore's house, after which we had preaching every four weeks. The first class was organized in David Bussard's house by Caldwell. To show you how the people enjoyed meeting I will relate a little incident which is as follows: Caldwell had left an appointment for preaching at Elias Gilmore's. When the Sunday eame the Blue River was overflowing its banks, but A. J. Gilmore and family wanted to go to church, so he tied the wagon bed on, put the spring seat on helped his wife up, gave the little girl to her mother and hitched the oxen to the wagon, drove to the river and plunged in, the oxen swimming upstream. The entire congregation came to the river to see them come over and did the same when they returned home.
J. W. RUSH-By Arminda Gilmore
J. W. Rush was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1822, coming to Illinois in 1854, when that state was thought of as "away out west." In 1862, at the age of forty, he enlisted in the 129th Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, going with Sherman in his famous "march to the sea," and engaging in active service in the last battle of the Civil war. In 1872 he again determined to try his fortune in a new state, consequently landed in York County in June of that year, under the law lately coming into effect giving the soldier 160 acres of land. Ile homesteaded that amount on section 18, township 9, range 1 west, when he and his wife and children proceeded to make a home in the best sense of the word. Mr. Rush had brought with him from Pennsylvania a love for the fruit tree, and his was one
Vol. 1-24
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of the first orchards in the county. Several years ago he moved to MeCool and now lives at Blue Vale with his daughter, Mrs. S. S. Deffenbaugh, his wife having died some years ago.
Mr. Rush celebrated his 90th birthday recently, and is, we think, the oldest homesteader living in the county at this time (1913).
ITIRAM SCHNEBLEY-By Arminda Gilmore
Hiram Sehnebley arrived in West Blue in 1873, and located on the same section with Mr. Rush. Mr. Sehnebley's coming to Nebraska was purely accidental. When a young man living near New Salem, Ohio, he caught the western fever every- where prevalent at that time and joined the tide of emigrants pouring into Ne- braska and Kansas. Coming to Lincoln, then nothing but a village with a future, he found his money gone and proceeded to walk westward. Arriving at E. Gil- more's, he learned of the one homestead still vacant, which, because it was a rough 80, no one had taken it. Immediately returning to Lincoln, he filed on the land, thus gaining time in which to earn the money necessary to homesteading, by working during the summer months and teaching school in the winters. He improved his land. upon which he next lived.
Mr. Schnebley is known throughout south York County by the name of "the Berryman." he having what was probably the largest small fruit farm in the county, which he values at about ten thousand dollars.
W. H. TAYLOR-From Old Settlers History
W. Il. Taylor, who had raised a small crop of oats during the summer of 1867. found the same unthreshed in the spring of '68. Clearing off a small spot of ground, he called his neighbors in and proceeded to thresh in a primitive way, that is, by putting the oats on the ground and driving the horses over it-not much like the steam threshers of today. Towards evening two men rode up and informed them that they had followed a band of Indians, who had stolen their horses, from Kansas, and that the Indians were in camp about one mile east. The men had run their horses, and now they wanted Mr. Taylor and his threshing outfit to help get their property.
Knowing it was best for settlers to keep on good terms with the Indians, the men hesitated to go, but after several more men had joined the band they pro- ceeded to the Indian camp. The men from Kansas were evidently used to dealing with the Indians. The leader left all the men but the one who had come with him hid in the bushes, with orders to remain quiet unless they should hear shooting, then to be ready for action. The other man was placed with a gun behind a tree and the leader advanced unarmed to the camp. Calling the chief aside, he explained his mission and demanded his horses. The chief turned and spoke to his tribe. Instantly four warriors came out with bow in one hand and an arrow held between each finger of the other. This meant fight. The man behind the tree stepped out with his gun aimed. This was enough for the chief, it frightened him into submission, he ordered his braves back and told the men to get their horses. The men in ambush were told to watch lest the Indians follow, but no attempt was made to do so.
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The Indians who came through the country at this time had no desire to have trouble with the homesteaders. They frequently passed with horses which they elaimed to have stolen from the Sioux, and it is supposed that they sometimes captured some from the whites. If so, perhaps they were only doing what the white men sometimes did with them, only repeating a lesson too well learned from their dealings with the "pale face."
In the main, the Indian tribes who frequented this section of the country were honest and treated the homesteaders fairly.
Upon Mr. Taylor's death the following memorial appeared in the York New Teller :
"W. H. Taylor passed away at his home in MeCool in 1913. Although in poor health for some months Mr. Taylor was able to move from his farm in Blne Vale to their home in McCool, Saturday, March 22, and did not become seriously ill until Wednesday. Will Taylor was one of the first settlers in York County, having come to Nebraska in company with J. R. and Elias Gilmore in December of 1865. He was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, but came to Illinois in 1859. He enlisted in the 20th Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, at the beginning of the war, but on account of poor health did not serve many years. Since the war he has never been strong. He leaves a wife and one son and a host of friends who will miss him. Thus one by one the ranks are being broken, and soon of the brave men who volunteered for service at the time of our country's greatest need there will be left only a memory. It took courage to march forth in defense of the country, and it was this same courage that was again demonstrated when the men and their little families located on their homesteads in a wilderness of boundless prairie, surrounded by Indians."
LEVI DEAN-From Old Settlers History
Christmas, 1866, was a great event in the pioneer home. No doubt memories of bygone days with far-away friends made the people lonely and somewhat home- sick. But the children must have their pleasures, and the Christmas dinner must be prepared. A fowl for the festive occasion seemed an absolute necessity, but the chickens which had made the journey from Illinois in coops fastened on the hind part of the wagon must not be sacrificed, so they were dependent on the wild turkey for the Christmas dinner.
Levi Dean (father of Mr. N. A. Dean of York) had come west during the summer and was making his home with Elias Gilmore. Ile was an expert marks- man, having learned to shoot game among the hills of old Somerset County, Penn- sylvania, and to him the family looked for the Christmas turkey. Early on the morning of December 24 he took his gun, an old-fashioned rifle, and started in pursuit of his game. Soon finding a large flock of turkeys, he shot and killed two birds with one bullet. (We mention this fact because we think it has never been excelled, and rarely equaled in the county, even by the modern sportsmen with their improved guns.) Thus the Christmas was a success. Other delicacies may have been absent, but the turkeys were the one important factor. The old dugout, decorated with wild berries gathered from the timber, with the bright fire in the huge fireplace, took on quite a festive air. The candy brought from Nebraska City for the children, supplemented by taffy made from the sorghum that had been
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brought from Illinois, made the children happy, and the families of J. R. and Elias Gilmore remember this first Christmas in Nebraska as a happy one.
Mr. Dean did not lose his reputation as a hunter after that Christmas feat was accomplished, and shortly afterwards he killed a wild cat, the only one the writer ever saw, and perhaps the only one ever killed in York County. It was a magnificent animal, symmetrical in form, and beautiful in coloring. Christmas- time also brings to us a memory of the first Indians we ever saw. Soon after the holidays a band of Indians camped west of the house; the coming of the red men had been the event most dreaded- by the children. We had heard Indian stories, gazed on Indian pictures until even our dreams were colored by visits from them. Father had gone to Nebraska City for supplies, thus adding new terror to the situation. "There comes an Indian, crossing the river on the ice," someone said. Mother with a pale, serious face went to the door, determined to show hospitality even to an Indian. Even now. in thought, we can see our youngest brother, W. C. Gilmore, as his chubby form disappeared under the bed while we were trying to decide if it would be better or more safe to hold on to our mother's dress skirt or follow our brother, but finally decided that the dress skirt or mother's presence offered the most protection. The Indian proved to be an intelligent squaw, who could talk English fairly well, and our fear of the red men was overcome to such an extent that we enjoyed their frequent visits thereafter. although their custom of entering the house unannounced often frightened the women folks. In the absence of J. R. Gilmore at one time during that winter, his wife and two small children and Mary Gilmore, now Mrs. A. G. Corey of Fairfield, Neb., were alone. Suddenly the window was darkened, and a big warrior chief was calmly looking into the room. Seeing that he was observed he opened the door, walked in and sat down by the fire. Noticing a butcher knife on the table, he asked for it-of course his request was granted. Then he took out a whetstone and began carefully to sharpen the knife. The women were badly frightened, but knew it was best to remain in the house. After getting the knife in a satisfactory condition, he went to the mirror and proceeded to cut the whiskers from his face. This was his way of shaving.
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