Red Willow Pioneer Rebecca Jane Adams Relph

The pioneer men who first came to Southwestern Nebraska and settled McCook in the latter half of the 19th century are heralded in the history of this region -- with good reason.

Not so much is said about the wives that came with them or arrived soon after. This is unfortunate. Those brave ladies were certainly heroes, and deserve to be recognized as such in their own right.

One can scarcely imagine what it must have been like to bring a woman west to homestead in those early days. They are the ones who civilized the men who civilized this area and deserve our eternal gratitude. One of these brave ladies was Rebecca Jane Adams Relph, the wife of William Relph.

Mrs. Relph did not talk much about it, but coming to Nebraska in the late 1870s must have been a severe culture shock. She was born in Lafayette, Indiana in 1844, to William and Rebecca Adams, and could claim a most distinguished ancestry. She was the great-granddaughter of John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States, and the grand niece of John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States.

We are fortunate to have her daughter, Myrtle's unpublished account of the Relph's immigration to the wide open spaces of Red Willow County after the Civil War, and the early trials that the family faced on the frontier.

William Relph and one of his brothers had come to Lafayette, Indiana from their native Pennsylvania to take advantage of cheap land prices and establish farms. It was here he met Rebecca Jane Adams, "a very attractive girl." The land he bought was covered with what would become a very valuable timber stand (after he had left Indiana for Nebraska) -- however, it just meant work for William, to clear a bit of land for crops and cut logs for the house he would build for his bride, Rebecca.

William and Rebecca were married in Lafayette, Indiana in 1860, and had their first child in 1861, shortly before William was called up for service with the Union Army. Rebecca was left with the responsibility of taking care of their new baby and managing the farm, with their few cows, pigs, chickens and a team of horses. She was brave enough at the railroad station as she saw him off for active service, but upon returning to their cabin she saw his footsteps in the snow and "cried for a week." (The family would grow to 10 children, six daughters and four sons.)

Civil War service was a difficult time for William. He was wounded twice, once when he was shot in the right shoulder at the Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., and loaded onto an ambulance for evacuation. In the driver's haste to escape the battle, the wagon was overturned and William was trampled by horses. For the rest of his life he had a running battle with the Veterans Department over his pension -- from the original $8 per month to $12 per month, and finally, two years before his death -- with the help of George Norris, to $17 per month.

When William came home from the war he was weak from his wounds and felt he would never be able to do heavy work again, so he enrolled in a business college, and subsequently went to work in an office. But he never liked working inside and after a few years, when he had largely recovered his strength, he felt the lure of the West and moved to Nebraska. Again, Rebecca was left with the family, until William could send for them.

William had not yet sent for his family, but a scarlet fever epidemic had hit Indiana, and Rebecca decided to leave immediately to avoid exposing her children. They traveled as far as Kirwin, Kansas, the by rail, the starting place for immigration to Western Kansas and Nebraska. She knew not when or if William would receive her letter and if he could drive his team to Kirwin to pick them up -- time they spent at Kirwin's hotel. Such a contrast from Indiana, which was oftentimes had too much rain. In Kirwin the wind blew so hard they could scarcely stand, and the dust was so thick they could scarcely breathe. The town was filled with immigrant families with many sick children -- all readying themselves for the move west. The talk around the hotel was of cowboys and wild Indian raids. They wondered if William would ever come for them.

However, after only one week William arrived with his wagon and they began the long journey to their new home. They were amazed at the sea of grass they traveled through -- as far as the eye could see -- with nary a house or a tree to be seen. No roads -- only buffalo trails that zig-zagged through the grass. Bleached buffalo bones, prairie dogs, long-eared jack rabbits, and an occasional herd of antelopes, the only sign of life for mile after mile.

Travel was slow -- about 20 miles in a day, and the girls often walked along the way, sometimes getting sidetracked by something and then having to run to catch up with the wagon -- much to the consternation of their father. At night they slept in the wagon -- or under it. Occasionally, they spent the night with settlers. These settlers were starved for social contact and news from "back east", and were invariably cordial and more than willing to share what they had with these travelers.

Finally, on April 1, 1880, they arrived in Cedar Bluffs, Kansas. The next day they went on to their new home in Nebraska, some seven miles northwest of Cedar Bluffs. William had constructed a small sod house for the family. The house had a dirt floor, no doors or glass in the windows. Rebecca went immediately to work, hanging muslin over the windows and a blanket over the door opening and made their home "livable".

The spring that year was rainy. The sod house was cold and damp and the roof leaked. To make matters worse, one of their six children came down with the measles. A neighbor summoned a doctor from Oberlin, Kansas. When he arrived, by horseback he was drunk -- so drunk that after he had prepared his powders William gave him a cup of black coffee and set him on his horse -- then threw the powders he had prepared into the stove, saying that doctor had no idea of what he put into those powders and they would do their own doctoring -- which they did.

That summer was hot, dry and the wind blew. The food was scarce, and William's pension of $12 per month was their only cash income. The whole family picked up buffalo bones, which they sold in Indianola, but it was not enough. William and a couple of quite distant neighbors decided to go on a buffalo hunt. They were gone some three weeks, during which the family was sure they had encountered hostile Indians. Their hunt took them north and east, toward the Colorado line. They returned in the middle of the night, buoyed by a successful hunt, bringing "a nice lot of meat (which they salted to preserve) and hides," which they could sell for much-needed cash.

Though the Relphs had no close neighbors, whenever there would be passers-by there was always talk of hostile Indian raids. Once the family took refuge inside the sod fort near Cedar Bluffs. However, despite continuing talk of hostiles, the constant fear of women and children, and the watchfulness of the men (who feared the Indians taking their prized riding horses more than actual harm coming to the family), they never had an Indian encounter.

William's first sod house was crumbling and leaning badly by fall, so it was decided to send the family to Cedar Bluffs, where the children could attend school for a few months that winter. On Christmas Eve a box of clothes arrived from grandma in Indiana. That night, a baby sister, Minnie arrived. An oft-told family story said that Becca, aged five, thought that the new baby arrived in the box from Indiana.

William's new sod house, put up with the older boys was much better, with plastered walls, and floors laid in the two main rooms, with real doors, glass in the windows, and muslin tacked on the ceiling. They also dug a well, expecting water at 40 feet, but had to go down 125 feet. John, 18, did much of the well work, establishing a trade, so that he was in demand to dig wells all over SW Nebraska.

By 1881 and 1882 families began to arrive in some numbers. Rebecca, who had some nursing experience, rode by horseback many miles caring for the sick and serving as a midwife for new babies. When a young Dr. DeMay arrived in the area Rebecca assisted him in countless deliveries.

There were other signs of progress. The Relphs were leaders in the drive to build a new sod school house in the area, and son, Joe Relph, just 16 years old, was the first teacher. He had 10 pupils. Stoughton, near Marion, had a land office, a post office and a store. There was also a post office at Banksville, a few miles to the west, and another at Valeton, a few miles to the north. Yet Indianola, in Nebraska and Oberlin, in Kansas were the only real trading centers, until McCook came into being, beginning in 1882. When the railroad was coming into Red Willow County, Mr. Relph and sons, John and Joe all went to work for the railroad.

As new families moved into the area there was more and more social contact. A sod church was built, to be used by itinerant preachers, who stayed in various homes on their visits. Picnics were popular, with foot and horse racing -- and visiting. Dances were held in some of the larger homes -- music by mouth harps, violins and the reed organ of Billy Allen. Everyone brought food. Children went to sleep on the floor. The parents danced and visited until dawn, leaving just in time to get home for morning chores.

One by one the Relph children married and left home. William died in 1908 after suffering for nearly five years from severe strokes and paralysis. He was buried in the neighborhood cemetery of Pleasant Prairie.

Rebecca lived until 1934, spending extended stays with one or another of her children. At the time of her passing, this undisputed matriarch of the early pioneers in Red Will County (since 1879) could claim nearly 200 descendants -- children, 58 grandchildren, 114 great-grandchildren, and one great great-grandchild.

From her obituary, "She was a woman of high ideals, keenly interested in religious and educational work, a wonderful homemaker. It can truly be said of her, 'She openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness' -- Proverbs.31:26 ." She was buried beside her husband in the Pleasant Prairie Cemetery.

Source: Pioneer Days by Myrtle (Relph) Benjamin, Trails West to Red Willow County, by Ray and Rutledge