Menu
Traveling through the hills of home
Though it has been 80 years since Wendell Cheney of McCook left Stockville, the drive through the hills between Indianola and Stockville still fills him with a sense of coming home. He rates the journey from Indianola to Stockville, through the rolling hills and deep ravines, as one of the most scenic trips that he has taken -- this from a man who served his Army tenure in Hawaii and has traveled extensively abroad.
Recently, it was my privilege to accompany Wendell on a nostalgic trip to the scene of his boyhood.
By the time McCook came into existence, Stockville was already a thriving community 10 years old. The early days of Stockville were filled with much anticipation for a promising future. In the 1890s there was a rumor that a North-South railway, from Duluth to Denver was in the works, and Stockville was to be an important division point on that line.
This was about the time that Wendell's father, L. H. Cheney, came to town, and in the early days of the 20th century, Stockville was indeed a busy agricultural community.
There were two banks, two lumberyards, two newspapers, three grocery stores, three eating houses, and one hotel, amid several churches, a school, lodge buildings, and various other supporting businesses.
There were also seven lawyers (including Wendell's father) -- and most importantly, then as now, there was the county courthouse. Today, little of the grand dream that the early settlers had for Stockville remains.
The railroad rumor failed to materialize and businesses have gradually left until today Stockville is left with its county courthouse, the Frontier County Fairgrounds, a convenience store, an antique store, one church and only a few homes.
Wendell Cheney was born in Stockville in 1908 and lived in there until after his freshman year in high school, in 1921, when he moved with his family to McCook. (L.H. Cheney practiced law in McCook for many years. Wendell finished high school in McCook, and was a member of the first class at McCook Junior College. Later Wendell served as Red Willow County Judge.)
Through Wendell's vivid recollections one can imagine things as they were in the days of his youth in Stockville. The courthouse was especially important to the Cheney family. L. H. Cheney served as the county attorney, and Wendell's mother was employed as a clerk in the office where her uncle presided as county clerk. In those early days of the last century, all the transactions were hand written into the record books by clerks who were paid by the word.
In Mrs. Cheney's day, the wage was the princely rate of 2 cents per 100 words. (Examining some of the records from over 100 years ago, Wendell recognizes his Mother's hand, but says it is evident that she was writing hurriedly. It is understandable that when Wendell's father and mother were married that she retired from her work in the Courthouse.) Wendell, too, had his first job at the courthouse. It was his job to sweep out the courtroom and dust the chairs and benches before a court case convened. (Among Wendell's other chores, was bringing in the family cow from the hilly pastures just west of Stockville.)
Stockville claims a great number of outstanding personalities who worked in, or called the Stockville home. Naming just a few who began illustrious careers in Stockville, in just one field---the law -- makes an impressive list. George Norris became one of our great U.S. Senators. Frank Morrison became the Governor of the state of Nebraska.
Robert Van Pelt was appointed to be a Federal Judge by President Eisenhower. Loyal Graham moved to Oregon, was elected to the Oregon state senate. There he became the author of the first law in the United States that placed a tax on gasoline for the building and maintenance of roads. That means of taxation, of course, has been adopted by all states since then.
The courthouse, in the early days, served as the heart of the community. The courtroom, on the second floor, was more than just the site for legal trials. At other times it was transformed into a theater for school and community musicals and theatrical events. At other times it became the location for indoor fairs, community meetings, and pot-luck suppers. The banister at the courthouse is well worn. It has lured children, as a slide, for the last 100 years.
One famous Nebraska court trial took place in the Stockville Courtroom when George Norris presided as judge. A man by the name of Dawkins was accused of murdering a banker from Cambridge, then placing his body in an abandoned well, and covering it with trash.
When Dawkins was brought into the Courthouse for the trial the sheriff, for some reason, was suspicious and had the fellow searched again. He was found to have a concealed pistol, loaded with two bullets. He explained to the court that one of the bullets was for Judge Norris, the other for himself.
Wendell Cheney, too, figured in an important court case at the Frontier County Courthouse in Stockville. In 1973 Harold and Ena Nokes were charged with the murders of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hoyt. Because the bodies had been disposed of in Harry Strunk Lake, north of Cambridge, the first arraignment, at which the Nokeses were charged with first-degree murder, was held at the Courthouse in Stockville, and Wendell Cheney was the presiding Judge at that hearing.
Wendell recalls that hearing as one of the most memorable events of his life -- presiding at an important hearing, in the same seat, at the same bench, in the same courtroom that George Norris and other dignitaries had used over the years. It was a time he will never forget.