Celebrating the ordinary among us

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.

I was asked by a sweet lady what she could do for the Southweset Nebraska Genealogy Society group after I helped her with some family research. We don’t turn down new members ever, but for her I found a special project.

With all the time I have spent researching our tri-State area, both in books and newspapers, it occurred to me that there are many families who came here, settled, worked and left new generations in their stead; many families who led quiet, unassuming lives but were indeed the backbone of McCook or other communities succeeding. They aren’t in the books, they aren’t in the newspaper except maybe for an obituary and their stories have been lost over the years which is a crying shame. It wasn’t just the land men, the bankers, the merchants or the railroaders who built the prairies into what they are today.

So, because I had not seen her maiden name in any of my research, I asked her if she would mind writing down a history of who, what, when and where concerning her family’s decision to settle in the middle of nowhere and make a life. She agreed, and I am excited to see the results and file them in our genealogy library for future generations.

What can you do for SWNGS? If you’re not interested in a membership or volunteering, I’d ask that you do the same thing. Don’t think: “Well, my family didn’t come here until later; no one would want to read about them!” We are building a history for the past and the future and these stories become part of the knowledge we are trying to safe-keep. It doesn’t have to be perfectly put together but help us resurrect the lost builders of our history by uncovering their stories. You can mail them to: SWNGS, PO BOX 156, McCook, NE 69001 or email to sdoak@swnebr.net or swngs@hotmail.com.

Now for a bit of history gathered from the McCook Tribune issues 110 years ago in January 1908. On January 17, the City of McCook issued a mandatory quarantine due to an outbreak of smallpox. The quarantine closed all schools, meeting rooms, churches, and home deliveries and threatened that all dogs and cats more than 30 feet from their home residence would be shot on site. People were advised to limit their shopping and return home upon finishing their purchases.

There was such an outcry from the public that the Nebraska State Health Inspector was brought to town in order to get a better assessment of the risk. By Jan. 24, 1908, the quarantine had been lifted (probably to a great relief of many mothers who had been sequestered in their homes with their children for seven days) since the health inspector found that outside of the families already ill, only one new case had been identified and no deaths had occurred.

Once again I find references to a home being moved: “R. B. Askey of Oxford has purchased the Williams residence on East Dennison Street which was damaged by fire some time since. He has moved the building to South McCook and is engaged in making repairs to same. He expects to open a broom factory in the building in the near future.”

Also from the a January issue of the Tribune came this Red Willow news item: “The first land taken in this section, was when the exploring party, sent out by the Republican Valley Land and Townsite Co., located claims in the then unorganized county of Red Willow, and in Dec., 1871, entered them at the land office at Beatrice, when a special plat was prepared for the purpose. The recent selling of the Buck farm (Mrs. Buck, a widow, was living in Denver in 1908) leaves the John Longnecker’s homestead the only one which has been continuously occupied by and still in the possession of the original owners.”

Please continue to monitor the weather prior to making a trip down to the library these days. Located at 110 West C, Suite M-3, we are normally open on Tuesdays and Thursday from 1-4PM but the recent frigid, icy conditions has hamper that a bit. Also this Saturday there will be an open meeting for anyone wanting to work on a DAR application. You can contact Sherrie Dack (308-350-0126) for more information.