Last week we made a quick trip out to Colorado and I got to spend time with my aunt and uncle, Stan and Erna Martin. We had a grand time, laughed a lot and reminisced about when my uncle moved to McCook from Oxford, working for the C B & Q Railroad. ...

The Cemetery Tour was a hot success in more ways than one! We certainly didn’t have to worry about being rained out this time though a few clouds would have been a welcomed addition. Kuddos to the actors and the audience for braving the heat. One of the persons portrayed was Cora (French) Evans who was suggested by Candy Crosby. Candy had discovered Cora, developed her story, and when the portrayer was ill Sunday, stepped in and told Cora’s story sans costume...

Last week I wrote briefly about searching news items for R.F.D Route personal items in the McCook Tribune. Prior to R.F.D., persons living outside of a settlement that had a post office had to either travel to a post office or pay a private carrier to bring their mail to them. ...

Before I delve into North McCook, I have a couple of things I would like to share. Friday my Aunt and cousins joined me in decorating graves throughout SW Nebraska and NW Kansas which was a 200-mile circle encompassing 9 cemeteries and over 50 of our relatives. ...

I don’t write much about Lebanon, that lays along Highway 89 in Red Willow County and was in the early 1900’s petitioning to become an incorporated town. Their first attempt, according to the McCook Tribune, encompassed so much land proposed to be within their city limits, that 7 bridges would become the responsibility of the town. They quickly withdrew their petition for reconsideration...

When I look back at the blessings in my life, and there are many, one that comes to mind over and over is the fact that I grew up surrounded by strong women: my mother, grandmothers, aunts, cousins and my sister didn’t just talk the talk, they walked it every day...

If Densel O’dea’s hard work comes to fruition, there will be a new Historical Marker in Red Willow County located at the site of the town of Red Willow. I had always thought that the town lay around the school house located on the highway between Indianola and McCook, that is, I always believed that until Densel approached me with the information about the actual site south the old school near the railroad tracks...

In 1940, the Nebraska Press Association published a book entitled: Who’s Who in Nebraska 1940. You can view the listings in this collection by going to: www.usgennet.org. The beginning of the publication covers what the editors called: 1867-1940 True Story of Nebraska and then provides a searchable list of Nebraska Counties and the people who were considered to be important enough to make the cut. ...

We all tend to remember things from 50 years ago better than we remember 10 years ago. I’m not sure why that is true, but it tends to be as exhibited by the Facebook page: Remember When in McCook Nebraska. Someone will post a picture or ask a question and 180 responses later you’ve got a history book full of information...

We have always been a giving town and proof of that generosity stands right before our eyes if we just look for it. When I attended the public hearing at the City Council chambers last night, I wondered if we had not forgotten our history of giving and instead look to government to provide all forms of services...

“An Act Appropriating the receipts from the sale and disposal of public lands in certain States and Territories to the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands,” more commonly known as the Reclamation Act of 1902, came about after several states had suffered through severe drought conditions. ...

Mike Manker, who brought the Enright Collection to the Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society library, that was returned to a very grateful family, has again gifted the library with several historical books. Two copies of the booklet “One hundred years of living: Indianola Nebraska” were among these gifts. ...

My normal reading preferences are books that can be read in a day or two between trying to check off a daily list of “to-dos”. This last two weeks, having a bit more time on my hands, I tackled a book that I bought at a garage sale two years ago while on a trip in Utah. ...

Norris Park, so named after Senator George Norris, began its life as the Water Works location or more specifically, the location of the first “water tower” built to bring water to the homes and businesses of McCook. Many readers will remember the old water tower that stood on the north side of, as it was known then, City Park, but the story and costs are worthy of mention...

As promised, Agnes (Clark) Young caught up with many of her fellow 1913 classmates and reported in her journal on their progress in life. What a lot of readers don’t realize is that many towns did not have high schools at that time and so if you wanted to further your education, you had to attend in a town that did...

Sometimes you just must be in the right place at the right time, and today was jackpot day for me at the McCook Public Library. I had stopped by to talk business with Jody Crocker, Library Director, when she presented me with a Commencement Journal written by Agnes H. ...

I was reading a list of “arrangements” that my dear friend’s grand-daughters had proposed to their parents, five things that they thought should be allowed such as more I-pad time and a later bedtime! It reminded me of the first bargain I struck with my parents, probably the last one too! My mother struggled to turn me into a “lady” and I fought just as hard to stay the tomboy she was strapped with. ...

The portions of this story I am using today come from a paper available in the Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society’s library for further research. This is a perfect example of what I requested in my last article and that is why I am sharing it now. ...

It may not be Friday but with this cold weather the Friday night soup bag came out of the freezer today and I’ve got a nice pot of vegetable beef soup going for dinner! It has been cold here, but only on rare occasions is it colder (or hotter) in Lincoln than good ole McCook...

Often I get so wrapped up in history that I forget what the true mission of Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society is. Yes, we preserve the written history of our tri-state corner of the world, but we do much, much more! Within the last few weeks we have returned a family document collection to the Enright family, that they were able to share together with all the relatives that gathered for Alice Enright’s son’s funeral. ...

When my house was quiet again, I went back to the Dalton newspaper which is available online at dalton.advantagepreservation.com to search for my mother, aunts, uncles, etc., which all lived in that vicinity at one time. Not many years are on the site for Dalton, there are far more papers copied for Yuma, Colorado, it just depends how many newspapers were actually available to be scanned. ...

The 75th Anniversary celebration for McCook was an event that captured the support and hard work of a large majority of McCook citizens. The steering committee, consisting of John T Harris, Nellie Petty, Harold Larmon, Fred Marsh and Ralph Miller, did not have to labor alone to provide entertainment during the four day extravaganza in June of 1957...

While I hate dragging the boxes up from the basement, I truly love my Christmas decorations so it’s worth the trouble. When I was placing each ornament on the tree, I kept thinking: “Wow, this is really old!” Whoa there, Susan, that ornament isn’t as old as you are! I’m not sure how it happened but I moved from “Classic” to “Vintage” to plain old “Antique” in the blink of an eye. ...

I picked up one of the booklets held in the SWNGS library. It was entitled “100 Year of Living-Indianola Nebraska 1873-1973”. There is a large amount of history contained within, most of which, according to a note within the book, came from Mrs. Asa Wolf’s personal collection. It seemed fitting that I found a story of the Christmas celebration of 1872 as told by E. S. Hill when he was 93...

We’re having fresh broccoli for dinner so as I was cleaning it, I didn’t throw the stems away but rather peeled them, sliced them and threw them in my soup bag in the freezer. I think you can probably guess my age by the fact I have a soup bag, or maybe you don’t even know what that is! Well, a soup bag is where you store all the bits and pieces of veggies left over from a meal. ...

A genealogist appears to be a person interested in their family tree who researches only information that pertains to themselves or their ancestors. In Southwest Nebraska, they are much, much more. The library maintained by Southwest Nebraska Nebraska Genealogical Society is a written memory bank for area records, plus a research facility for DAR, Mayflower Descendants and many of the 50 United States census, family history, and state history books...

We all learned about the Mayflower, the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving when we were growing up. Somehow the famous voyage seemed exotic and adventurous in the history books, which of course it was, along with dangerous and without a doubt more uncomfortable than most modern day people would be able to endure...

Once in a while I need a real belly laugh just to get through the day and the McCook Tribune, back in the time where “editorial comment” was on the front page, never fails to provide one. The publisher would probably be sued today for this kind of coverage...

In one of my earlier articles I wrote about my GG Grandfather, John C. Eckert, sending peach leather to his homesteading children in Nebraska who quite obviously had no fruit trees at the time. Peach or any other kind of fruit leather was made by boiling down the fruit to a thick concentrate. ...

Walter N. Rogers was a Hereford man, convinced that breed of cattle would be best suited to the plains of southwest Nebraska. True to his vision, Walters secured a large farm site east of McCook and began building the story of Shadeland Park Ranch Herefords...

If you remember in March I wrote about the Enright family and our search to return family photos and memorabilia to them. Now, 6 months later, I had not one, but two responses to that column. One was from Tim Garry, Jr., who just happened to be the great-nephew of Col. (Rev) Neil F. Enright, O.M.I., or as Tim knew him, “Uncle Bud”...

A few house-cleaning things first before I cover some of the things I learned at our Exposition last week. The Heritage Cemetery Tour which was to take place over Heritage Days has been rescheduled for the Sunday of Buffalo Commons next year. We are excited to be able to still present this and to join with the Buffalo Commons group’s great weekend...

Before I delve into the pranks and parties of Halloween’s past, or All Saints Day as it used to be known, I must do a “shout out” to the McCook/Red Willow County Visitors Bureau for their continued support of all things good going on in our wonderful SW Nebraska communities. ...

I’ve taken a DNA test. Don’t be impressed because I might as well not have taken it for what I understand about the results. Yes, I’ve got all these DNA matches through Ancestry and yes, one woman whom I was certain was a relative turned out to be so, but at this point it all just looks impressive on paper...

There are no pictures of this train wreck splashed across the front page, only a vivid description of what happened. From the June 7, 1905 McCook Tribune: “A Community Mourns The Tragedy: On last Sunday evening at 8:44 o’clock, just a few hundred feet beyond the Turkey Creek Bridge, and almost midway between Oxford and Edison stations, took place the most appalling, heart-rending and fatal accident in the history of railroading on the Western Division of the great Burlington Route, and in a twinkling of an eye, without a moments warning, four lives were hurled into eternity, and one was saved as by a miracle, though severely injured.. ...

I once more want to remind everyone of two events that I think you might enjoy. This Sunday, as part of the Heritage Days Celebration (Nebraska’s 150th birthday and McCook’s 135th), we are hosting a Heritage Cemetery Tour that includes people in Riverview, Memorial Park, and Calvary Cemeteries. ...

I’ve mentioned the fact that we are hosting our Third Annual Genealogy Expo on Oct 14 here in McCook and now I’m going to give you a rundown on what will be covered. First up at 9 a.m. will be Megan Harwager from the Nebraska Children’s Home Society. ...

Ok I admit it; I’ve been going through old newspapers again. My husband might be right, it could be an addiction, but then again, I don’t know any re-hab program for it so I guess we will both have to live with it! So several of you got a kick out of football being Foot Ball and now I’ve found a new one, Bath Rooms. Here’s a couple of examples from early days and then some other bits of information that I just couldn’t pass up!...

I’ve written about the fact that McCook held a “Normal School” but not really covered what that type of school was. I’ve also written about my maternal grandmother, Flora Goding, who taught school at age 15, carrying a 7 shot revolver with her as she traveled between the school house and home...

The Ford Motor Company announces eight hour work days and $5 per day wages! U.S. Warships occupy Veracruz, Mexico for 6 months! Wrigley Field opens in Chicago and Babe Ruth makes his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox. Colorado National Guard attacks a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado killing 24! New York stock exchange closes for nearly four months due to war in Europe. ...

The boys of summer have put their bats away and exchanged them for pads and helmets. One of the things that small towns do is support their teams and McCook is no exception. One of the things that small town boys do is play multiple sports which leads to a cohesive group...

The following passages were taken from extractions available to research at our Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society library or online at www.swngs.org. All of these were from print in various McCook Tribune papers. Amy A Daniels was born in Logan County, Ill., January 21, 1871. ...

The sad thing about old newspapers is that a good portion of them were lost to time. Some that were saved had articles clipped from the paper leaving blanks, others were so damaged that it is hard to read what is written, and the McCook papers are no exception to that rule. Consequently, when you are researching McCook and the surrounding area, you need to broaden your search in Nebraska newspapers rather than clicking on a McCook Tribune tab when you are using www.chroniclingamerica.gov ...

A little story first about one of my children’s great grandfathers, Adam Baker, as told to me by his daughter, Dorothy (Baker) Roth: Adam immigrated over to the United States with his father and step-mother. Apparently the relationship between Adam and his father’s second wife was strained and as soon as they disembarked from the ship and passed through customs, Adam approached a police officer on the street and inquired as to whether he had to go with his father to Michigan or if he could refuse. ...

Whenever I mention to my grandchildren that I only wore dresses, never any type of slacks or jeans to school from kindergarten through graduation, they give me a look that kind of suggests I should have my mind examined. It didn’t matter if it was a blizzard and 20 below zero when every young woman left for grade school in the morning; she had a skirt or a dress on. ...

I’ve wanted to review one particular book that my good friend, Brenda Ulery brought to me because she thought I would find it interesting. Boy did I! “Out with the Kansas Hillbillies” by Dorothy “Sunflower Sue” Kelly got my attention immediately and I read it, cover to cover, that day...

While I keep mentioning www.chroniclingamerica.gov for newspaper references, I fail to remind people that our genealogy society has transcriptions of weddings and obituaries on our web page, www.swngs.org. We also have in our library copies clipped from newspapers of those same items plus anniversaries. An index of names available in these reference books spanning 1960-2000 is on the same webpage...

If you are a fan of old photography from the McCook area, you have no doubt seen the name Fearn with a notation of copyright on a picture or two. William Brooks Fearn was apparently the go to photographer in McCook during the early 1900s and according to his advertisements in the McCook Tribune, he had a studio at 110 Main Avenue (Norris) from which he operated. That building would today be the south door into Fuller’s Family Restaurant and also housed the Olympia during my childhood...

Before I cover some of the activities that McCook celebrated for Decoration Day (now Memorial Day), I want to thank everyone that got in touch with me concerning the Franklin home. Even though I have not confirmed it by going to the Courthouse to search records, we all are in accord that the home still stands directly south of Norris Park. ...

Last week we made a quick trip out to Colorado and I got to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle, Stan and Erna Martin. We had a grand time, laughed a lot and reminisced about when my Uncle moved to McCook from Oxford, working for the C B & Q Railroad. ...

Continuing the saga of one of McCook’s earliest doctors, the letters of Dr. Byron B. Davis written to his fiancé were compiled and printed in book form by his son, Dr. John B. Davis. A portion of this book is available at the Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society’s library for research covering the years from 1885 – 1887...

I have been sharing excerpts of Athlene Clemons Martin’s book on the development of Marion, Neb., for the last two weeks. This is the last installment and I wanted to mention that some of the names she covers include: Nilsson, Powell, Pew, Galusha, Weyeneth, Miller, Sims, Sanders, Field, Gatewood, Huff, Stilgebouer, Newberry, Angel, Eifert, Ruby and Hendricks, just to list a few. ...

Susan Doak SW Nebraska Genealogical Society Athlene Clemons Martin’s booklet about Marion and the area surrounding it was donated to our library quite some time ago. I’m going to share some more excerpts from it that paint a picture of how life was in the late 1800 and early 1900’s in Southwest Nebraska...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society Every time I go to the genealogy library here in McCook, I am astounded by the amount of researchable items our bookshelves hold. We are constantly receiving, thankfully, new books, family histories, maps, etc., as gifts from estates!...

My great-grandmother, Mary Eckert Davison, ran the stage coach stop in Ickes, Nebraska. When the telephone was invented, the driver would call ahead to her home (where the Post Office also existed) to let her know how many riders he was carrying so she knew how much lunch to prepare...

Most of the time I try to find more information on someone featured in a story, but with this one, the history contained within the story speaks for its self. Taken from the June 14, 1895 issue of the McCook Tribune comes the following memories of William Springer and his hand in settling Red Willow County...

Thanks to Marilyn Anderjaska, I have more information about the Enright family in McCook. Apparently one child, Neil F., became a priest which was why within the small trunk there was a picture of a very handsome young priest. In February 1952, there was a picture and article featuring Chaplain (Captain) Neil F. ...

If you wonder how I got started on the love story I did last week, it came about from a donation given to the Genealogy Library by Mike Manker, which included several pictures and news clippings from a home that had been auctioned off years ago. The home, which if my story is correct, was next door to where his aunt and uncle lived and they had purchased it after the gentleman who owned it passed away. ...

This is the year of Nebraska's 150th birthday and McCook's 135th and plans are already going strong for several special celebrations during the year to acknowledge these two landmarks! SWNGS is no exception when it comes to wanting to provide the public with both entertainment and enlightenment covering the early years of our state and hometown...

Every time I go to the store to get eggs, I'm astounded by the fact that there are at least 4 types of eggs to choose from: Eggs, Large Eggs, Extra Large Eggs and JUMBO Eggs each appropriately a little more expensive by the dozen than the first. My personal opinion is that the "Eggs" classification is made up of a product that a normal pullet would have been embarrassed to leave in a nest when I was growing up. ...

When after 146 years of operation the Ringling Brothers circus announced their decision to close their business, I was thrown back into childhood memories. The one circus I remember seeing as a child was held in, of all places, the City Auditorium. I remember being there sitting in the upper seats watching the performance below. ...

I think I wrote a while back of going to the Dalton Museum and finding a book of photographs, one of which was a snapshot of my mother when she was expecting my sister. To my knowledge there isn't another picture portraying my mom as an expectant mother, and of course I didn't have my hand scanner with me that day nor did my phone camera do the photograph justice...

When settlers first came to McCook they had dugouts on the banks of the Republican. Whoever came up with the name Fairview for the early McCook settlement must have been talking about the view from those banks, a view that is drastically different today. ...

Whew! I don't know about all of you, but when the day after New Year's comes, I'm ready for a break. So much for reflecting on the past year and making resolutions for the next....I just want all the left overs in my fridge gone, the Christmas decorations put away and clean sheets on all the spare beds so I can shut those bedroom doors and forget about them for another 10 months! Heaven forbid I am going to open a drawer in the fridge in May and find leftover turkey in it....that's my resolution: Empty out, throw out!. ...

So that our volunteer members can enjoy time with their families, the Genealogy Library will be closed until after the New Year's Weekend. Our wishes for a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year go out to everyone! David Stanzel has shared on the Facebook site, Remember When in McCook Nebraska, a fabulous picture that is inscribed at the bottom: "Birds Eye View from the Keystone, McCook, Nebraska."...

This time of year always reminds me of Grandma's houses in Dalton. The country home which holds my earliest memories and the town home which reminds me that a bunch of pre-teens in a little house can think of a lot of things to get them in trouble! It was that way at Grandmas because there were actually two sets of cousins; the first group, which my sister belonged to and were nearly a generation older than the second group, which my brother and I belonged to. ...

Social Security did not exist until 1935 and it was a 30 year break before Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The State Department of Public Welfare was created in Nebraska in 1919. Prior to those enactments, it fell to the states and counties to care for the poor (paupers) of their region...

The genealogy library is getting a new look as members move the DAR and miscellaneous state reference library information into a separate space to better utilize the footprint of our rooms. Again, we are deeply indebted to McCook National Bank for the area they have allowed us to occupy in the Merit Building. ...

As you all know, I am big on everyone voting. Last Tuesday, I'm proud to say that Red Willow County registered voters did an outstanding job of living up to the privilege that our veterans have defended for us in the last 260 plus years. You all responded to that honor with an over 70 percent voter turnout and each of you deserves a pat on the back for doing so. Congratulations for being involved in the process!...

The Order of the Owls, founded in South Bend, Ind. by John W. Talbot, stated as its' purpose "to assist each other in business, to help each other in obtaining employment, to assist the widows and orphans of our brother, to give aid to our brother in any way that they may need, and to assemble for mutual pleasure and entertainment." Built around the central bird, the organizations' local groups were called nests, one of which existed in McCook during 1909...

Before I get started on some items from the Red Willow County Directory, I wanted to share some ways that you can help us preserve information about Southwest Nebraska without actually gifting things such as maps, directories, or family photos to our society. ...

We took a Harley circling trip through some central Sandhills communities this last weekend and I can state for a fact that rural Nebraska is alive and well! I saw towns that I had never visited and with the exception of Kearney, all were smaller in population than McCook but just as vibrant and dedicated to preserving a lifestyle that we all enjoy here on the western side of the state...

Heritage Days appeared to be quite the success this year, the participation and audience seemed higher. McCook has hosted many parades in its' downtown area and because I love parades, I'm always there. I miss Band Day though, when all the bands would show up and march, followed by competition at Weiland Field. It would be nice to see it back again...

Football is one of my sports to watch and home town football games are the best. Homecoming was last week and as I watched the Bison game it reminded me of being in high school, the hoopla and excitement that played out before the big game. Spirit hasn't changed, but the way that the kids show it has. ...

Nebraska is the home of an exquisite National Park Service monument commemorating the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862. Four miles west of Beatrice in Gage County, situated on 211 acres of land, part of which are some of the first acres that were claimed under the act, the monument was included in the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966...

The sweetcorn is now in the freezer and I am beginning to feel as if I have accomplished something. Peaches are next and I expect that tomatoes and salsa will follow shortly though if the cicadas are to be believed, my tomato season will be cut short long before I want it to! In my book, there is no better sandwich than fresh tomatoes on toast with liberal salt and pepper and the season I get to enjoy that in is way too short for me...

The apple butter is "in the books" as they say, seven gallons of apples, two days of cooking and a frantic push to get it all canned before Friday night turned into Saturday morning! Again, it is not my mother's apple butter but then how do you make something just like someone else does anyway?...

Getting to swim at the sandpits was the ultimate when I was young. An ultimate that I got to experience only once since my mother had an extreme aversion to allowing her child to swim in something filled with dangerous areas. I didn't do much better with getting to swim in the river since my dad was fully aware of how many pitfalls existed in the (at that time) mighty Republican...

Everyone who has worked for the railroad knows that danger lies just around the corner even in today's work environment. It was even more true 100 years ago when all the safety practices in place now did not exist. January 1916 did not start off well for the railroad community when two car inspectors, Samuel Simons and Oliver Charlet were crushed while inspecting a car on one of the Coal Chute Tracks in the McCook yard when "the breaking of the coupling on a car of coal that was being hauled up the steep incline to the coal chute when half way up, letting the heavily loaded car run down, and an automatic switch turned it on to the track on which the empty cars were the two unfortunate men were inspecting". ...

In a previous column, I mentioned that early McCook had a female doctor. Unfortunately, I let that factoid slip from my mind until I was browsing through the wedding announcements from the McCook Republican, June 1916. There it was the marriage of Elizabeth Mason and Harrison L. Hohl, held in Omaha at the Lowe Avenue Presbyterian church...

To answer my own question, which I seem to be doing more and more as I get older, the Water Works Park is today our Norris Park. How, you might ask, do I know this tidbit of history? No, I am not THAT old! I know it because the Genealogy library has Sanborn Maps for 1889, 1897, 1909 and 1921. The 1909 map shows the water works park location...

These hot sticky days make me yearn for the cool white sheets right off the clothes line that I slept on through my childhood. Those sheets never died, never got thin, didn't bunch up on the bed and when they finally frayed at the edges, they became the base for my grandmother's quilts. ...

By the time 1898 rolled around, McCook was apparently ready to celebrate Independence Day in style once again. The McCook Tribune exclaimed that the planned events "Will Beat the Record"! Starting at 10 a.m., a calithumpian and trades parade was planned that would end at the water-works park (Norris Park?) at 11. The Reverend W.J. Turner would speak, the Declaration of Independence would be recited and the Brigade Band would provide music throughout the event...

McCook's celebrations of Independence Day have apparently waned and then resurged over the years and the late 1800's were no exception. The following articles were in the McCook Tribune with notation of the papers (if applicable) in which they were originally printed...

I truly love being a grandparent and wish that all my brood lived close by. Since they don't, this grandma gets to do things like travel to watch softball games in 100 degree weather in the pollen and humidity capital of Nebraska. Softball games that started as late as midnight because of rain. ...

The following story comes together with excerpts from both the McCook Tribune and the McCook Republican. It was Saturday night, May 30, 1903. Lee Jones, the son of a Bartley merchant, and a friend named Barton, headed to Indianola for an evening at Haley's saloon. Lee, 28 years old, was described as a moderate drinker who sometimes played cards for money. On this evening though, Lee was only out for a cold beer and some social time...

I'm sure you all have been in my shoes. You find a partial bag of carrots in the back of your vegetable bin. You're not sure when you bought them and they kind of look OK. After all they are a root crop and root crops last forever! Well, at least they aren't squishy like the bag with two leafs of lettuce in it. So, are they soup carrots? Or, are they garbage carrots? When in doubt throw it out?...

Well it's settled! I have determined that I should move to Antarctica. This is not an easy decision considering how much I detest being cold but an extra coat could help. Why Antarctica? It is the only continent that does not have thistle weeds and after four days of trying to eradicate thistles from our pastures, I'm up for a change...

It's time for another one of my tidbits columns, little pieces of information, questions still unanswered and all the kind of stuff that makes for a good stew on days when the weather is cloudy and a gentle rain is falling. First off, I'm still searching for anyone who might remember the Hannum family. ...

In 1926, the McCook Public Schools had an enrollment of 1,750 students: 1,182 in grade school, 318 in junior high and 250 in high school. Based on those numbers, Mr. True, county superintendent of schools, predicted that in 1940 there would be 681 students in high school and 2,560 students overall. ...

Appearing in the 1926 MHS annual was a reprint of a report given by G.B. Nettleton who was Red Willow County's Superintendent of Schools in 1890. The following is a portion of his report on the history of McCook schools, with my comments in parenthesis. The full content is available at the Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Library...

Gifts of annuals or city directories are always appreciated by the Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society and our library has several to choose from. Our latest gifts were given by Jean (Harmon) Hallowell -- both the 1925 and 1926 McCook High School annuals. These were from relatives, Walter and Twildi (Carpenter) Aman...

Well, it's good to be home again and on solid ground, not climbing over 3000' in a RZR up the Moab rocks. Personal opinion: The area around Moab, Utah, is breathtakingly beautiful, with huge canyons (hence the name "Canyonlands"), stunning rock formations and winding expanses of the Colorado River. Riding an UTV up the rocks is one of the "glad I did it; don't need to do it again" experiences of my life...

History tells us that we have two entities to thank for McCook's existence: agriculture and the railroad. Each relied on the other to stay in business. Farmers, stockmen and railroaders had several things in common, not the least of which was being on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when needed; calving doesn't ever seem to occur when the sun is shining and trains like to run in the middle of the night!...

Because so many new and exciting things are happening with our little corner of Nebraska genealogy society, I'm going to put a bit of the "brag" on in this column! First and foremost, thanks to the generosity of our landlord, McCook National Bank, we were able to obtain the suite next door to our library and double the amount of space for records and meetings. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society The DNA results are back and I am 71 percent certain I'm who I think I am. As I mentioned in an earlier article, my cousin (daughter of my father's sister) had submitted DNA from her mother, father, son, and her own DNA. She and I are considered first cousins and yet her DNA results had shown a higher percent of German lineage than Irish or Great Britain. I suspected mine would be quite different, and it was...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society History has made it clear that there was competition between Indianola and McCook during the growing years but west of McCook, the Culbertson residents were fighting just as hard to make their mark on the Southwest Nebraska map!...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society There's one thing about old newspapers that always gets a chuckle out of me, the fact that they didn't need an editorial page because every article of interest had an editorial comment concerning the facts. Readers never had to guess where the newspapers stood on an issue at hand!...

I sent my DNA sample off last week. So, in six weeks or so I will possibly have additional proof of my Irish heritage. Regardless, since I have indisputable proof of two direct Irish descendants, the following websites are very useful. Before Ellis Island, the first immigration center in America was at Castle Clinton (or Castle Garden) located in the Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. ...

Thanksgiving was a huge event on my mother's side of our family. We'd all gather together for dinner at Grandma Floras' house in Dalton, Nebraska. Looking at the house today, I have no idea how we all fit in there, but we did! Because there were essentially two sets of cousins: one older, one younger, we had cousins whose children were the same age as some of the younger cousins. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society This last month has been full of news that reminds me of my childhood. Had you asked any of the children in the 1950s where the Civil Defense Centers were, they could probably have told you. We didn't have tornado drills at school, we had nuclear bomb drills, where we would crawl under our desks and sit quietly. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society Before the written word, it is surmised that people kept records through stories and songs passed down from generation to generation. Considering that thought, you have to remember that literacy, the ability to read and write by the majority of people in our country, is a fairly "new" concept!...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society It pays to do housekeeping for other than the obvious reasons! Lately the Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society members have been cataloguing our library reference materials, updating the files to reflect what we have available for research. ...

I discovered that McCook had a newspaper called the "Trumpet." That was a new one to me! Apparently it was one of McCook's first newspapers. Here are items that were abstracted by a Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society member from the September and October 1885 issues...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society The 1958 McCook City Directory prefaced their pages of information on people with a few pages of statistics. From the area of Community Publicity came this statement from the R. L. Polk & Co, publishers of the directory: "The Directory reflects the achievements and ambitions of the community, depicting in unbiased terms what it has to offer as a place of residence, as a business location, as a manufacturing site and as an educational center."...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Socity I'm going to leave 1958 for a bit and tell you all about our annual Tri State Genealogy Exposition that is taking place on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. We are once again able to use the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints beautiful facility at 411 Elizabeth Lane to host this event which is enhanced by the fact that the LDS Church has its' own family genealogy research library which Virginia Trail will have open for use during both small class sessions. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society The City Directories of McCook are a great source for identifying people or businesses and their locations. When I give an address, remember that the east side of a street was normally an odd number and the west, even. On east/west streets, the odd number was on the north side of the street, even on the south...

In 1958, my Dad was working for Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, driving our only car to work from Indianola to the railyards in McCook. When the rare occasion arose that mom needed the car, we would drive him to work in McCook and then go back home...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society McCook's biggest industry in the early 1950s was of all things, the McCook Packing Corporation. Located where the current McCook Transfer Station/Recycling Center and the adjoining land is now, the corporation combined meat packing and meat processing...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society Frontier County was organized on Jan. 17, 1872, and its boundaries were redefined by an act approved on March 3, 1873. The following persons were instrumental in its organization: Henry (Hank) C. Clifford, John Bratt, Mortimer (Monte) H. ...

A gift to the Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society's library from the Ralph G. Miller collection is a copy of a book written by Bayard H. Paine titled, "PIONEERS, INDIANS and BUFFALOES," which was published by Editor Richard Ferguson in the Curtis Enterprise in weekly installments. M.C. Smith was the publisher of the paper in 1935...

How did it get to be the last week of August? My Frontier County article is going to have to wait a week since I looked at the calendar and realized I needed to let you all know about some upcoming classes and events that will be fun for the "beginner" genealogist and interesting enough for even the most experienced of us!...

Society members with longer tenure than I have commented quite often that our little genealogy library is one of the most extensive available in our three state corner. I believe that has to be true, because every time I enter the library looking for inspiration, I leave with incredible finds...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society The Monday Evening Edition of the McCook Tribune on July 5, 1920, quietly announced that the county fair dates were set for October 5-8 and the location was to be in McCook. Elmer Kay, J. F. Cordeal and C. W. Kelley were appointed as a special executive committee to have "charge completely of the business affairs of the fair association."...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society "If any one of you was in charge of a business enterprise and you found business dull or prospects dark for its success, would you give up, or would you double your energies and work all the harder to save your business or enterprise from ruin?" (McCook Tribune, Sept. 5, 1890)...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society I have a short story to tell about aging. I really don't mind it much, in fact, I am not upset that I can't work as hard now as I could when I was 30 because I can't imagine why I would want to. My eyesight does bother me though and today as I was repairing a life jacket in which the pads had all grouped together so that when you put it on you looked like the "Hunchback of Notre Dame," I broke a needle in my sewing machine. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society Southwest Nebrska Genealogy Society's library holds several treasures, but the 55 volumes of Red Willow County Court records are among the most fascinating. The fact that we nearly lost those original books when we had pipes burst overhead during winter made our search for someone to help digitalize the pages even more important...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society Surprisingly, weddings are on my mind this week so I thought we would take a look at weddings from over a century ago. If you find one of your relatives that was married in Red Willow County on this list and wish to have a copy of the marriage application, SWNGS has most of the original certificates in their library...

Lawrence Wasia was a heck of a broom maker. He grew his own broom straw and then made the brooms by hand in the basement of Louie Glick's Farm and Ranch Store. He sold a lot of brooms because the women found them to be excellently made. The brooms went out the front door, but Lawrence was selling his other specialty out the back. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society It seems in the summer with the marina open, I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off. That picture I remember well from my childhood, along with the pungent aroma of pin feathers being seared. ...

Sue Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society Thanks to Lynda Budig Baumbach, I know now that Major Zurich did not return from World War II. Lynda tells me that her great aunt, Mrs. Ted Barnes, never gave up hope that he was alive but the family never saw him again. So that question is answered...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society On Feb. 27, 1942, a list of the approximately 1,000 men captured at Wake Island by the Japanese army was released by the Navy. Two men were listed as prisoners of war from Southwest Nebraska. One of them was Donald R. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society The flower arrangements are finished as of last night for the graves I decorate each year. Five of the fifteen are service men or women, two from World War II. There is something incredibly stirring about going up to the cemetery when the flags are waving over each service member's grave. ...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society By May of 1943, the McCook City Council had been advised that there was a grant of $7,830 from the Federal Works Agency to maintain and operate a service men's recreation center. During their May 27 meeting, the council tentatively agreed to accept that offer...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society "Quietly Jubilant" was the response of McCook's businessmen, when Captain Wm. E. Grubb of Kansas City announced the building of what was known to him as the McCook Air Base. Secretary Murphy of the Chamber of Commerce had called a number of McCook citizens to join him for a luncheon with the Captain and the response was that this would be "of a permancy (sic) that would remain always a benefit to the community." (McCook Gazette Sept. 9, 1942)...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society While much has been written concerning the Canteen for soldiers traveling the Union Pacific Railway through North Platte, we shouldn't forget that McCook also created a Canteen for those who rode the CB&Q Railway (now Burlington Northern Santa Fe) on their way to war...

Back when I was in high school (somewhere around when dinosaurs wandered the earth), if you were "going steady" with a boy you got his class ring to wear and it was always too big! The solution was a tedious method of wrapping the back of the ring with thread and then sealing each layer with fingernail polish. When you broke up, the poor guy got the ring back complete with the "resizing". How he removed the layers I'll never know!...

Susan Doak Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society A picture posted on the Facebook site, Remember when in McCook, Nebraska, led to research concerning parades during the early years of McCook. The picture depicted a Labor Day parade from 1911, complete with bands, large crowds of bystanders and many lovely ladies in their long dresses...

If you want to do a surname search that will result in several hints go to and enter your last name in their "Search by Surname" box. The initial search is free and when you enter into each hint listed, the site tells you if the information available can be accessed without cost by noting "Free" after the contact listing...