2010 Apr Stereoscope.pub

OF THE PHELPS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
REMINDER
The PCHS Annual
Meeting will be held on
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
at the Nebraska Prairie
Museum with the Program
beginning at 7:00 p.m.
followed by the meeting
at 8:00 p.m.
PHELPS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bob Butz, President
Eileen Schrock, Vice President
Joan Burbach, Secretary
Dick Anderson
Ben Boell
Warner Carlson
Janet Erickson
John Ivey
Larry Lindstrom
Nancy Morse
John Thorburn
Bob Vandell
STAFF
Dan VanDyke,
Executive Director
Cheryl Mill, Office Manager &
Records and Research
Keith Weaver, Maintenance
Supt.
Sandra Slater, Genealogy
Librarian
Patti Simpson, Stereoscope
Editor
SPRING & SUMMER HOURS
Monday - Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM
Saturday - Sunday, 1 PM to 5 PM
PHONE
308-995-5015
WEB PAGE
www.nebraskaprairie.org
04/2010
From Our President
Ask a simple question and learn a whole
lot about Phelps County history.
The Museum staff takes care of mowing
four Phelps County cemeteries. When we were
discussing this at a recent board meeting, I
Bob Butz, President
asked how many cemeteries are there in Phelps
County, and nobody present at the board
meeting seemed to know. I have since learned there is not a clear-cut
answer to my question. After some research in the Donald O. Lindgren
Library at the Museum, I would say there are 15 cemeteries give or
take a couple.
There is a section in the library devoted to Phelps County
cemeteries as well as those of some other counties. In 1982, the
Holdrege Area Genealogy Club began a cemetery project to locate all
of the Phelps County cemeteries and to record all the known burials.
This project resulted in the publishing of two books in the early
1990’s: Phelps County Cemeteries Vol. 1 and Prairie Home Cemetery. Vol. 2.
They were both revised in 1999 and are available for sale today at the
Museum’s bookstore. This was a remarkable achievement undertaken
by volunteers going through cemetery records and walking the
cemeteries to verify the information on each grave marker. The book
credits eighteen people, some of whom still volunteer at the library on
a weekly basis, while many others are have died and are buried in the
very cemeteries they researched. Sandra Slater, who is now the
Museum’s Genealogy Librarian was the project chairperson and Ada
Hinson, who helped me learn more about our library and cemeteries
were both key participants.
Sixteen cemeteries are actually listed, but Zion Prairie
Cemetery, used by the Swedish Methodist Church for burials in the
1890’s has had all of the burials transferred to other cemeteries and has
been reverted back to agricultural use. Only about half of the sixteen
cemeteries have had any burials during the last ten years. Several have
been inactive for many, many years.
(President Continued on page 3)
2
1936 Terrorists In Holdrege!
As Later Reported In The Holdrege Daily Citizen
It was about 9:30 on the evening of July 24,
1936. H. E. Nelson, a brakeman from McCook, had
just gotten off a freight train which had pulled into
Holdrege and was now on a siding. Nelson began
walking along the tracks near the coal chutes west
of the Burlington Station. He noticed what looked
like tarpaper on the tracks up ahead of him. But
when he got closer, he found it wasn’t tarpaper,
Someone had placed two angle bars across the track
and wired them to the rails.
It would be a danger for any train coming
through Holdrege, but a particular danger for the
one due to pass through in 10 minutes. The
Burlington Zephyr, heading to Chicago from Denver,
was due in at 9:50. Known as the Silver Streak, it
had a cruising speed of about 90 miles an hour. The
Zephyr slowed a little when it came through a town
— down to about 65-70 miles per hour.
All this Nelson probably knew. He also likely
knew that the train normally carried 75-80
passengers and that if it hit those obstructions on
the rails, it would hurl into the coal chute just west
of the station or maybe into a freight train on a
sidetrack.
were picked up for questioning, but all were
released. Hanson also learned that several boys liked
to play in the coal chutes near where the
obstructions were placed. He talked to the boys, and
they admitted they sometimes watched the Zephyr
go through. They also admitted to occasionally
putting lumps of coal on the tracks to watch the
train crush them. But none had put the bars on the
track.
Investigators were stymied until about
August 10th. Hanson learned that a man named
Cecil Hollenhors had been seen loafing around the
railroad yards just before the incident. Hollenhors,
27, had been a laborer in McCook, but now lived
with his father and step mother in Holdrege.
Hanson began questioning Hollenhors, who
denied any knowledge of the sabotage attempt. But
he slipped up when answering one of Hanson’s
questions.
“Why did you try to wreck the Zephyr?”
Hanson asked.
“I never put anything on the tracks by the
coal chutes,” Hollenhors replied.
Nelson went to work, removing the
obstructions just as the Zephyr flashed into sight.
The train passed through without incident.
The news of the attempt to wreck the
Zepyhr didn’t get out. Neither the Holdrege Citizen
nor the Progress carried any stories about the
incident in their next issues. But Phelps County
Sheriff Royal Hanson, along with some railroad
detectives, were already tracking down leads.
The investigation began at the railroad yards.
Several transients who had been riding freight trains
A train, similar to this one, was almost thrown off the tracks
in 1936 due to an attempt to place obstructions on the rails. A
brakeman discovered the trap just minutes before the train
came through Holdrege.
(Terrorists Continued on page 3)
3
(Terrorists Continued from page 2)
Very few people had been aware of where the
obstructions had been placed, so Hanson was pretty
sure this was the man. He questioned him a few
more hours and Hollenhors finally confessed. He did
it, he said, because he was “mad” at his relatives.
Within two days of his confession, Hollenhors was
tried in District Court in Red Cloud and sentenced
to five years in the state penitentiary.
But after he was sentenced, he began to tell a
different story. It turned out that he wasn’t really
mad at his relatives at all. In fact, he had an
accomplice. He said it was a man named Charles
Kennedy, who lived in McCook. Hollenhors said he
and Kennedy used to hang around the McCook rail
yards and often talked about placing obstructions on
the track. Kennedy had even planned to put
obstructions on the track in McCook the same day
as the Holdrege incident, Hollenhors said.
Hanson went to McCook and arrested
Kennedy for aiding and abetting and for placing
obstructions on the railroad tracks. But Kennedy
revealed little during questioning. He was later
taken before the insanity board in McCook and
committed to the state hospital.
Newspapers couldn’t confirm whether he
had ever been involved in the incident or not.
Holdrege Train Depot
***
Nebraska Prairie Museum
Election News
Anderson. All board members except Ben have
indicated they will seek another term. Ben is in
Florida at the time of this printing.
The Phelps County Historical Society will
hold their election at the Annual meeting on
Tuesday, May 4, 2010.
One board member, Joan Burbach, is
resigning her position on the board, There is one
year left on her current term. The board is taking
recommendations to replace Joan for the 2010 2011 term.
Seats up for election this year are; Dr. Bob
Butz, Eileen Schrock, Ben Boell and Dick
(President Continued from page 1)
Most of the early cemeteries were established
around 1880 when Phelps County was experiencing a
population growth and schools, churches and
communities were being established. Prior to this,
many of the dead were buried near their homes or
near the spot where the death occurred, as in the case
of pioneers traveling through the area. There are
some family gravesites and possible other early
cemeteries scattered throughout the county.
For the names, locations and other
information about Phelps County cemeteries and the
information about who is buried in them, please
come to the Museum and use its terrific Library and
knowledgeable staff. They can also help you with
many other genealogy needs.
4
75th Anniversary of the
Republican River Flood
*Photos Courtesy Donald O. Lindgren Genealogy Library
Joy Hayden from the National Weather
Service out of Goodland, Kansas will present the
program on the 75th Anniversary of the Republican
River Flood during this year’s annual meeting .
Please join us on
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
for a great program followed by the
annual meeting of the Phelps County
Historical Society at 8:00 p.m.
Joy will present the museum with at least one
sign recognizing the flood and perhaps another
sign for Alma, Nebraska.
1935 Flood Photos
Courtesy of the
Museum Library
1935 Flood
Historical Marker
located at Oxford
Inundated area of 1935 Republican River Flood
5
The 1935 Republican Flood
Seventy-Five Years Later
Written by Sandra Salter
Plans are being made to honor those who
lost their life in the Republican Valley Flood by
marking each known person’s grave with a
special marker on Memorial Day 2010.
happening.
However, this time the heavy rains came and
on May 31st news came that Cambridge,
Nebraska was already under five feet of water. Then,
at 1:00 a.m. on June 1st literally, a wall of water came
into Oxford cresting at sixteen feet high. The Oxford
Standard story said, “When the houses began to fill
up, and were finally toppled over by the force of the
swift current, shrieks for help could be heard, but
shrouded in darkness, nothing could be seen.” It was
reported later that in Oxford 20 houses were
demolished and that loss of farmlands and property
would be at least a half million dollars.
Death was everywhere along the valley from
the Nebraska-Colorado border and as far down
stream to Franklin, Nebraska.
It is believed that 113 people lost their lives
and some family members were never found.
The Story of the Flood
The Terrible Loss of Life,
The Bravery of the Volunteers
and the Families That Survived
After years of drought in Nebraska, rain was
a welcome site in May of 1935. It started raining in
eastern Colorado on May 30 and continued for two
days dumping 15 inches of rain. The Arikaree River
and South Fork of the Republican River poured out
of their banks, releasing flood waters on the 100-mile
rampage of death and destruction. In South Central
Nebraska, news came to the Republican Valley
families that there might be flooding. Few took it
seriously as there had been such warnings in 1905,
1915 and 1923 with little to moderate flooding
On Saturday, June 1st, Holdrege National
guards headed by Ed Gillette and Second Lieutenant
Bernard Dahlstedt and Sergeant Levi Londborg set
up camp in Oxford. The Holdrege fireman also
rushed to help with the rescue.
That same day, World War I veteran and
Holdrege fireman, Glen M. Anderson, lost his life
when the boat he was on overturned as he sought to
pull a stranded person to safety. Anderson was sited
as he was swept beneath two different bridges
downstream. The Kearney Hub reporter said he was
yelling for help both times, but couldn’t be reached.
His companion was also missing and it is unknown
what happened to him. Mr. Anderson left a wife
Elnora and children, Wanda, age 10; Lorraine, age 8
and G. M., age 6. A huge crowd attended Anderson’s
funeral at the St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church. He is
buried at Prairie Home Cemetery near Holdrege.
Hundreds of stories have been written by the
families that survived. Here is a newspaper story
found in our library:
(Flood Continued on page 6)
6
(Flood Continued from page 5)
The Fuchs Family of Oxford
As told by Howard Fuchs
who was 2 ½ years old at the time
By Ann Brown Regional Correspondent
(Undated article probably written in 1985)
Probably no one suffered more loss then the
Fuchs family. Out of 11 family members only four
survived. The Fuchs family lived a quarter of a mile
from the river and although the family had been
warned of rising water they were not fearful and
decided to stay. Another reason for staying was that
Howard’s sister had chicken pox.
It was about midnight when Howard’s dad
saw the wall of water coming when a flash of
lighting lit up the night sky. The family went to the
upstairs of the two story house, a hole was made in
the roof and they climbed a ladder to the roof of the
house. “A friend, Ralph Blauvelt and Howard’s
sister, Willis Lu were on the north side of the roof.
Howard and his parents were on the other. It was
‘Kind of thrilling’ when the house began to float.
Fuchs said it drifted several miles, hit a tree and
broke apart. The north half, along with Blauvelt and
his sister, fell into the water. They were lost
immediately in the swirling waters.”
“We were also in the water, but Dad was a
strong swimmer. Fuchs was being pulled by his dad,
while his mother held on to the back of dad’s
overalls. His mother let go after Willis Lu was
drowned. His sister’s body was found months later.
His mother’s body was never found.”
Fuchs and his dad made their way to an
island where the water had receded. His dad
retrieved Fuchs’s baby bed, bedding and the family
dog, Jack, as they floated by.
“He slit the mattress with his pocketknife
and put me and the dog in it and we went to sleep.”
Fuchs said, “When the sun came out, he took a good
look at me. I had chicken pox, as if he didn’t have
enough on his mind.”
They were on the island for three days and
most of the four nights, until being rescued by the
National Guard and three Oxford men. They ate
canned food his dad had retrieved by swimming to a
damaged house on the south side of the river and
drank river water.
Fuchs said he cried for his mother. “He (Dad)
finally explained that mom was gone and we would
probably never see her again and I guess I never
asked any more.”
At a first aid station in Oxford, they found his
maternal grandparents, who had spent the night of
the flood on a windmill tower, and his dad’s father
and brother, Charles and Herman.
Fuchs and his father stayed with family in
Oxford for six months until his maternal
grandparents’ house was cleaned. They learned his
paternal grandparent’s house had filled with water
and exploded.
Hermie and Granddad got to a tree and the
rest were lost; Fuchs said “Out of a family of eleven,
there were four of us left.”
The seven who died were his mother, sister,
grandmother, two aunts and two cousins.
“I do get a kind of funny feeling about this
time of the year,” he said about the anniversary of the
flood, “Particularly this year with all the rain, since
it’s very similar to what it was in ‘35.”
The tragedy produced many heroes. The late
W. C. Bartlett of Alma wrote, “Those who did not
see this terrifying flood cannot realize the courage it
took to venture into its swirling torrents in hastily
constructed boats, especially by men unused to
boats and unfamiliar to high waters.” —END
7
502 East Avenue Thru The Years
~ Excerpts from early Citizen
In the 1890’s, the Hampton Hotel was one of
Holdrege’s showplaces. The building was razed in
1938. Memories of the big times within its walls
lingered with many of the Holdrege residents of the
time. The hotel was built with brick manufactured
in Holdrege. It was located at 502 East Avenue—the
present site of the Holdrege Municipal Building.
The brick, three-story, 75x100 ft. Hampton
Hotel replaced the frame Hampton House which
stood at the same location.
E. S. Hampton came to Holdrege in 1885 and
purchased the
Commercial
Hotel, which
name
he
changed
to
the Hampton
House. In the
The Commercial Hotel at
fall of 1887 he
502 East Avenue
doubled the
capacity of the hotel, and by the fall of 1888 it was a
large 2-story structure. When the new brick building was built in 1891, a part of the old Hampton was
moved back on the alley to the east and used as a
barn.
Some 900 invitations were mailed out for the
gala opening of the Hampton Hotel on a Friday
night, March 6, 1891. Commercial men and their
friends as well as citizens of Holdrege were all
invited. There was dancing until 11 p.m. followed by
a banquet. Dancing continued well into the morning
hours. Hastings, McCook, Oxford, Curtis, Blue Hill
and Edgar were among the towns represented.
The Citizens had this to say in their report of
the event: “It is doubtful, if ever there was a finer
spread in the state than the banquet at the
The Hampton Hotel at 502 East Avenue
Hampton.” Guests were loud in their praise of the
new hotel and its furnishings and the banquet and
regal manner they were received by Landlord
Hampton and wife. It is one of the finest hostelries
in the state, outside Lincoln and Omaha. The building alone cost $26,500 and it has 40 rooms for guests
with all the modern improvements.”
Later news stories in the Citizen indicates
the hotel was sold at sheriff’s sale in April of 1898 to
satisfy a tax lien. It was bid in at $16,650 by the
bondholders. Various other operators followed the
Hamptons before the hotel was closed. Chas.
Steinke bought the Hampton in 1906, purchase price
at the time being reported as $25,000. Mr. Steinke
and his wife were former operators of the Central
Hotel, originally the Holdrege House, which in later
years was known as
the Selma.
The hotel
was not operating
at the time the city
purchased the lots
on which it stood
The Holdrege Municipal
in the late summer
Building at 502 East Avenue
of 1938. By September 22, 1938 the
building had been dismantled and the land cleared
in preparation for the erection of the Holdrege
Municipal Building which now stands on the site.
8
Ken Mosman Named 2010
Nebraska Genealogist of the Year
by Sandra Slater
Holdrege Area Genealogy Club nominated
Ken Mosman for the Outstanding Genealogist
Award for Nebraska and submitted his biography to
the Nebraska State Genealogical Society. We were
contacted on April 7, 2010 that he was the 2010
winner for this award.
Congratulation’s Ken, you are very deserving
of this award! We thank you for all your
contributions to our Genealogy Club, the Nebraska
Prairie Museum and to the entire Genealogical
Community.
BIOGRAPHY OF
KENNETH FREEMAN MOSMAN
Mr. Mosman has been
a member of the Holdrege
Area Genealogy Club for
Three years. He has supported
our Club with informative
genealogy programs and also
helped support our genealogy
library by encouraging us to
expand our library and also donating funds help this
expansion become a reality.
Mr. Mosman began working on genealogy
after his retirement. He began to do genealogy in
1959. He found genealogy to be a very rewarding and
a way to keep his mind active. He states that
researching records is never exact and requires
analysis of the records and the individual you are
researching. He stated that he “Gets more out of
genealogy he ever gives.”
One of his book projects he published when
he came to Nebraska was a surname index of all the
former residents of the Christian Children’s Home in
Phelps County, Nebraska. Because he was not
allowed to research the actual Children’s Home
records, information was located through Federal
and school censuses, newspaper research, genealogy
research on the internet and interviews with former
residents of the Children’s Home. After several
months of research, he published the book “Surname
Index of the Former Residents of Christian Orphan’s
Home and the Christian Children’s Home of Phelps
County, Nebraska 1889-1954.” This book was
completed just before the Children’s Home Reunion
in 2008. Because of this research, new Children’s
Home residents came to the reunion for the first
time. This book was very much appreciated by the
former children of the home. Mr. Mosman donated
the published books to the Holdrege Area Genealogy
Club to be sold. This money is used to buy other
books and microfilm for our genealogy library.
He is presently working on a book to publish
on the “Mental Institutions of Nebraska from 18801930.” He, like many of us, believes that no family
member should be forgotten. This book will help
family members find lost relatives.
At present he has published 12 books and
written 11 unpublished manuscripts.
He enjoys presenting programs to genealogy
organizations and has lectured at Norfolk, Cozad,
Holdrege, Hastings, Minden and Beaver City,
Nebraska. He also has spoken at Harlingen,
Mercedes and Weslaco, Texas.
In 2009, he was elected to the council of the
New England Genealogical Society in Boston,
Massachusetts.
9
Activities at the Museum
January and February 2010
In January, the Nebraska Prairie Museum was the site for the seventeenth annual Elementary Quiz Bowl sponsored by Educational Service Unit
#11. Thirteen teams from the six-county ESU area participated. Teams competed
from: Alma, Arapahoe, Axtell, Bertrand, Cambridge, Elwood, Eustis-Farnam, Franklin, Holdrege, Loomis, Minden, Wilcox-Hildreth and
Southern Valley.
In February, ESU #11 hosted the Jr. High
Quiz Bowl at the Nebraska Prairie Museum.
Teams attending were Alma, Arapahoe, Axtell,
Bertrand, Cambridge, Elwood, Eustis-Farnam,
Franklin, Holdrege, Loomis, Minden, Southern
Valley and Wilcox-Hildreth.
ESU #11 will also be sponsoring both the
Senior High and State Quiz Bowls on April 28.
Both Quiz Bowls will be held at the Nebraska
Prairie Museum.
Jr. High Quiz Bowl
1st—FRANKLIN
Jr. High Quiz Bowl
2nd—HOLDREGE
Jr. High Quiz Bowl
3rd—SOUTHERN
VALLEY
Elementary Quiz Bowl
1st—HOLDREGE
Elementary Quiz Bowl
2nd—EUSTIS-FARNAM
Elementary Quiz
Bowl
3rd—MINDEN
10
Phelps County
Historical Society
Memorials &
Honorariums
January 20, 2010 ~
April 5, 2010
In memory of Stuart Carlson
Margery Carlson
Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Carlson
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Lindstrom
Mr. & Mrs. Bud Extrom
In memory of Ulrich Schossmacher
Nancy Morse
In memory of James Peterson
Mr. & Mrs. Jay Lillyhorn
Jack & Hazel Lillyhorn
Douglas & Joan Lillyhorn
Harlan & Mary Lillyhorn
In memory of Duane Beachler
Mr. & Mrs. Ivan Samuelson
Mr. & Mrs. Rodale Emken
In memory of Delilah Lauer
Virginia Lindstrom
Harry Dahlstrom
Mr. & Mrs. Russell Edeal
Carol Peterson
Mr. & Mrs. Kent Person
Mr. & Mrs. Ivan Samuelson
In memory of Joy Sayler
WP & CK Nelson
Carole Peterson
In memory of Ernie Winklemann
Mr. & Mrs. Dean Leopold
In memory of Janice Malone
HH School Class of 1952
In memory of Dr. Donald Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Hendrickson
In memory of Lavern and Dale
McConnell
Mr. & Mrs. Carrol Geer
In memory of Vernon Allard
Mr. & Mrs. Ivan Samuelson
In memory of Donald Carlson
Kenny & Susan Johnson & Family
Bruce & Janet Carlson & Family
Lorraine Carlson
Donna M. Silver
Mr. & Mrs. Ivan Samuelson
Mr. & Mrs. Carrol Geer
In memory of Bertha Atkinson
Carol Peterson
In memory of Ada Steel
Mr. & Mrs. Ron Melbye
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Adams
We Need Your Help!
Can you identify this
photo? We think it was taken
on the steps of the Phelps
County Courthouse, but we
don’t know who the men are in
the photo and we don’t know
why the photo was taken.
A handwritten mark on
the lower left corner says,
“Stryker Photo ‘17.” This makes
us assume that this may be a
group of young men getting
ready to join the military for
WWI.
However, some think this might have been the participants in one of the big checker games held here
in Holdrege about that same time.
If you have any ideas or clues to this photo, please call the Nebraska Prairie Museum in Holdrege at
308-995-5015.
11
Executive Director’s Message
By Dan VanDyke
This & That
Spring has sprung, I
think. Grass is green; buds on the
trees are in bloom. I’m sure it is
spring??
Since the calendar says it
is April then the tourist season is
Dan VanDyke
under way and the Nebraska
Prairie Museum hours have changed. Monday
through Friday the museum will be open from 9:00
AM. – 5:00 PM. and on Saturday and Sunday the
museum will be open from 1:00 PM. – 5:00 PM.
Museum Security and Fire Safety:
The museum has upgraded the security
systems in the museum. Glenwood Telephone has
installed additional security cameras and all doors in
the museum have been armed. The Holdrege Police
Department and Phelps County Sheriffs Department
have come to the museum and toured the facility and
received diagrams of the security system. Protex has
upgraded the fire system by replacing the 45 heat
detectors with smoke alarms. The individual rooms
plus all the display room areas had heat detectors
installed when the museum was first built in 1978
and 2000. Due to new fire code requirements by the
State of Nebraska, the heat detectors had to be
replaced with smoke detectors.
Please take time and visit the museum to see:

The American Indian Heritage Photos and
Paintings Project by Mike Sughroue and Dan
Christensen.
  The Holdrege Drum & Bugle Corps of 1934
display.
Projects planned:
  The Caboose will be moved this summer to the
South of the School House and Anderson Farm
House. Once moved the caboose will be
repainted in historic colors (red) and a platform
will be installed for visitors to walk around and
through the caboose.
  The stained glass windows are being repaired by
Bill Perry. Bill found some colored glass to match.
Once repaired the plan is to install the windows
in the museum in a display that will enhance
their appearance.
  Antique Farming at the museum will take place
south of the museum this spring.
1934 Drum and Bugle Corps Display
currently at the Nebraska Prairie Museum
12
STANDARD MAIL
U S Postage Paid
Holdrege, NE 68949
Permit #254
P.O. BOX 164
HOLDREGE, NEBRASKA 68949
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
1934 Drum and Bugle Corps
items currently on display
at the Nebraska
Prairie Museum