Book chronicles early citizens of McCook

The trouble with doing research, let me rephrase that, the trouble with “MY” doing research is that I hunt for what answers my question and ignore the other things contained within a paper or a book. That is exactly what I had done with Trails West to Red Willow County by Robert T. Ray and Lois Rutledge. I should have understood the treasures they preserved for us all.

The subtitle of their collaboration is “ Past and Present Family History and Biography” but the present portion is no longer valid since the book is 37 years old. Published in 1982, it is 283 pages of our history told through family memories as well as first person experiences. I’m going to share just a few of the passages (not in full quotes) in this column and then return the book to the SWNGS library for others to explore.

Isiah Hugh Wasson: 1842-1916. Isiah was born in Pennsylvania and moved with his family to La Claire, Iowa when he was six. His playmate in La Claire was none other than the famous “Buffalo Bill” Cody. He was a captain on the Mississippi River for the transport department after not being allowed to serve in the Civil War due to being underweight. He was on the first raft taken down the Mississippi by a steam tugboat and assisted in building the steamboat Moline after which he served as Master and Captain on that boat for 22 years. In 1880 he purchased a half section of land three miles south of McCook, moving into the city proper in April and dying the next month.

Angelo P. Wells: 1845-1906. Angelo served in the Civil War, Company 1, Eighty-fifth New York Volunteers in 1861. Three years later, both he and his father were taken prisoner and were held in Charleston, Florence and the infamous Andersonville prisons. They were released in 1865. After the war, he attended and graduated from Hahneman Medical College moving to McCook in 1888. Recognized as a leading physician from that school in our state, he served two years as the president of the state medical association.

John Henry Yarger: 1840-1917. John grew up in Flat Rock, Ohio, enlisting in Company K, Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteers Infantry in 1861. His rank grew during his four years of service with Company K, serving as Corporal, Sergeant, and Commissary Sergeant. When he had fulfilled his service in Company K and was discharged, he immediately re-enlisted, and for nearly a year served as First Lieutenant, commanding Company G, Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteers and was again honorably discharged in November 1865. He was a Charter member of the Methodist church having moved to McCook in 1884.

Juliet Upshur (Jackson) Walker: 1857-1915. Little did we know that a daughter of the gallant General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson lived in McCook! Coming here as a widow, her husband Warren Walker having passed away in 1883 at Seward, Nebraska, Juliet purchased a home on the corner of Main (Norris) and F streets in 1911. Her time with us was brief as she passed in 1915 after a long illness. The services were held in her home with her mother, brothers, and sister in attendance. She had transferred her church affiliation to the Congregational Church in McCook and the officers of same church were her pall bearers: W.W. and A. McMillen, H. C. Clapp, F. L. Schwab, M. Lawritson and L. Suess.

I still haven’t made it through the book from cover to cover but will have by the time I return it to the SWNGS library. Located at 110 West C, Suite M-3, library hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1-4 PM.