Red Willow County Bicentennial Hall of Fame

I was going through some of the Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society's library books the other day and came across “The Red Willow County Bicentennial Hall of Fame,” which was compiled by a committee of Mr. Bob Paschall, Mr. John B. McDowell and Mrs. Wendell P. Cheney in 1976. They had solicited nominations with short bios from the area and ended up with 47 people that they included in the booklet.

Of course, Donna Cheney brought back wonderful memories of our neighborhood on Sunset Road, her poetry, movies, and Hibiscus blossoms that they shared every year.

Some of the people included I did not know, but one couple stood out for me and that was Asa and Alice Wolfe. Strangely enough, I really didn’t know them personally, but rather remembered sitting behind them in church every Sunday, because as everyone knows you pretty much sit in the same pew unless you’re late. They were such a cute couple, both with snow white hair, hers arranged in a braided crown on her head, and they just had an aura of peace and goodness around them.

Unusual how both were raised by their grandparents: Alice because she was sickly when born and the family thought she would be better cared for in her grandmother’s home in Indianola than in the sod dugout she was born in; Asa because his mother died of typhoid fever when he was just one year old.

Again, I am bringing up the facts about Alice, because too often our female ancestors aren’t given as much credit as they deserve. Alice and Asa were married in 1917 right before he shipped off to World War I. She had taught several years around Red Willow and Frontier Counties prior to their marriage and continued to teach in Fairbury while he was gone. Upon his return, they moved to Iowa and then in the 1930’s came home to McCook.

Asa wrote the resume of Alice’s life and here are two quotes concerning her: “During World War II, she accepted the assignment of secretary for Home Services-later for military men and their families. She was active in this program for about 30 years, and at the same time she assisted the Salvation Army with their services to civilian needy transients. This proved to be a ‘labor of love’ for her for not only did she dispense the aid that the two organizations had to offer, she visited with and counseled many who were down and out. No matter what the race, she always found great pleasure in visiting with any who would take the time to listen.”

“Her hobby was history. She grew up under the tutelage of a grandmother who had lived the facts of the Underground Railroad-an organization albeit it a very loose one, that aided many an escaped slave to flee the bondage of slavery. She was much in demand in various schools with her slave stories. She gave lectures in many communities of early history of Nebraska, the various Indian Tribes and on the many trails through Nebraska-trails that early pioneers had used in their migration west.”

While reading these articles, it occurred to me that it was no wonder they seemed so at peace with the world they lived in. They both had served it well. My how I wish her stories were written down somewhere!

This and many other books are available at the SWNGS library for research on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4PM. Join us at 110 West C Street, Suite M-3 for help in tracing your own history.