William Gumb, Wife
Reached Willow Lake
on St. Patrick’s Day
Oddly enough, some of the
best lands in Holt county were
the last to be homesteaded. This ;
was due partly to distance from
town and partly to a preference
on the part of early day settlers
for land with timber adjacent
to streams. So the lush grass
lands of the Southwest became
the heritage of the men and wo
men of the second migration.
Among the^e were William
and Ulalia Gumb, natives of
Callington, Cornwall, England,
who on St. Patrick’s day in 1890
settled on Jand near Willow
Lake, 45 miles Southwest of O’
Neill. The first home of the
Gumb’s, a sod house, is shown
on this page (at right)
and also their home of later
years. Mrs. Lizzie Gumb-Dex
ter was born in that sod house
and now a mother and grand
mother in her own right lives in
the Willow Lake community.
Mrs. Dexter says of her par
ents that they were true
pioneers and persistent plant
ers, trees and other landmarks
today remaining as monu
ments to their efforts.
Mrs. Dexter was one of five
children of the family, four
daughters and one son, C. Wm.
Gumb, of Burwell. One of the
daughters, Mrs. Emily Thomas,
also resides at Burwell. Mrs.
Hettie Ballagh and Mrs. Ula
Rouse are two of the daughters,
who with Mrs. Dexter, have re
mained in Southern Holt coun
ty.. Mrs. Gumb died in 1941 and
Mr. Gumbin 1947.
Recalling the homestead days,
Mrs. Dexter says:
“We used the hay burner for
heat and cooking, flour sacks for
window curtains and clothing,
and many other uses. One room
had flour sack ceiling instead of
wall paper.
“We cut hay late in the Fall
and run up a stack near the
house which we called ‘fire hay’.
Younger sister, brother and I
would take the three hay burn
ers to this pile of hay, fill them
and have one or two in reserve
in case of rain. One evening we
had left one of the hay burners
on top of the hay stack. Next
morning we heard a yipping
and going to the hay pile
found our Shepherd dog,. Silver,
had a family of six puppies.”
When Mr. and Mrs. Gumb re
tired in later life they made
their home in Chambers.
Ten Dollars Builds
Railroad —
With a 10-dollar bill and all
the nerve in the world Donald
McLean brought a railroad into
O'Neill. Tire shadows of sunset
were gathering over the nine
teenth century, but railroad
building had not yet hung the
harp on a willow tree. With $10
for the “treats” and a mighty
bluff, McLean worked a group
of Eastern capitalists into put
ting up the money to build the
railroad from Sioux City to O’
Neill. It was known as the Ore
gon Short Line—Short Line for
short, and during most of its
history until the great Burling
ton system acquired the road
there was shortage of revenue.
The driving of the last spike in
the last tie at the end of Center
precinct was the occasion for
O’Neill’s greatest blowout. The
town went wild—-we had anoth
er railroad. _
Mr. and Mrs. W’lliam Gumb and daughters Emily,
Hattie, Lissie and Ula and son. William. Jr.
. .
wwvwm II .. ..— ■ j lUUUjU—U. <
The Gumb's homestead home—a sodhouse.
With the advent of the automobile the Gumb home was the
scene of many family gatherings. This photograph was taken
on an Easter Sunday.
.• • ■••'■-yrtfloMtiMU'ftf'' • —nivriiririfiifiiinifinnfnnnnmntinniMinn—i.r : x
The Gumbs brought to Holt county the first power mower—the
model T Ford used for power.
O'Neill's First Big
Fire Loss —
|
The Evans hotel, later known
as the Potter House, then again
the Evans, built originally and
owned by Ed Evans, caught
fire a windy day in the late
1880’s and the town witnessed
its most destructive fire. It was
a three-story frame building on
lower Fourth street on the cor
ner opposite the city hall. That
corner has been unoccupied
since.
Veritable Model
of Excellence —
Back in 1902 the National
Printer-Journalist, published in
Chicago, had this to say of The
Frontier: “A veritable model of
editorial excellence and typo
graphical neatness is embodied
in this weekly. . . . Especially
deserving of mention is the ad
of O. F. Biglin. ... In the main
the makeup of this sheet is
faultless.”
Greetings
to the
OLD TIMERS AND FRIENDS
★
Y«ur business has been appreciated
and we will be happy to serve your
needs in
• Good Real Estate Values
• Insurance on Farms, Dwel
lings and Automobiles . . .
also Life, Health and Ac
cident Insurance
• Immediate Delivery on Bonds
INSURE and BE SURE
with . . .
R. H. (“Ray”) SHRINER
Real Estate and Insurance
O’Neill Phone 106
Hagerty Tossed
From a Mule
The moon shone full from a
clear sky on an April night
Pat Hagerty, 250 pounds of a
good Irish frame, was aroused
from sleep when word got to
the Hagerty home up on the
hill West of the cemetery that
there was a fire down town
which threatened the Elkhorn
; Valley bank on the North side
| of Douglas street between
; Fourth and Fifth, as streets
! are now named and numbered.
Hagerty got out of bed, dress
ed and led a mule from the
barn which he mounted and
headed for the scene of t h e
fire about as fast as that mule
could travel. When half way
down town the mule stopped
suddenly at sight of a hole by
the road and Hagerty’s 250
pounds went on over the mule’s
head. He got up unhurt mount
ed again and made it to the
fire. The bank building and a
nother were destroyed.
Depot Becomes Banquet Hall —
The depot at Inman was j
turned into a banquet hall Oc- j
tober 19, 1883. when the Pres
byterian church group put on a
mush and milk social, the funds j
thus acquired going to aid in the j
building of a church.
FATHER CASSIDY
BELOVED BY FLOCK
Iirings Relief to Destitute
During Crucial Period
in Town's History
By MARY E. CULLEN.
Omaha.
To the loved friends and com
panions of yesteryear, and to the
present residents of O’Neill who
may be interested:
The staff of The Frontier hon
ored me by asking me to con
tribute toward the publication
of the Diamond Jubilee issue of
The Frontier, from my own
view point, and while at first I
was hesitantly reluctant, it then
occurred to me it was a nice
way to contact the friends of
other days through the medium
of a letter in the 75th anniver
sary edition of this paper, there
by renewing old and loved as
sociations and memories, and by
paying a small tribute to the
noble pioneers of O’Neill. Prair
ieland (so befittingly named by
Mr. Saunders of The Frontier
staff), as it encompasses O’Neill,
is dear to all who were born
there, and to others of us who
were reared there, and this mis
sive will be reminiscent of the
impressions and associations
that have formed immortal
friendships which reach out
across the miles. ,
Looking down through the
vista of the years, the history of
O’Neill is the story of the in
dividuals who left their homes
in the East to seek a broader,
newer life in the Midwest, un
der the guidance of the renown
ed General John O’Neill. They
came to live close to nature, to
build homes and rear families
and cultivate the soil, which
then produced only the tall,
wild prairie grass. The courage
the personal sacrifices, the dis
appointments and sorrows, the
loheliness, the heroic endurance
and the unfaltering hope of the
founders of O’Neill, moulded
characters so strong in faith
and perseverance that the story
of their lives compiles "like a
saga of the North,” a legend of
the Midwest—a vital, living
page in history.
To what can be attributed
their remarkable characteris
tics? The only answer—their
unswerving loyally, trust and
confidence in God. We, who
knew and loved many of them
for their sterling qualities and
intense humanity, bow today
in reverence to their mem
ory, because this Diamond Ju
bilee means the successful ef
forts of their unremitting toil,
their brave persistence and
their farsighted vision of a
permanent future on Nature’s
prairieland.
This is not a record of a great
industrial city—it is the tale of
a colony of individuals facing
life’s problems with a real pur
pose, a determination to suc
ceed, an invincible will to wrest
a living from the soil, and on the
broad expanse of God’s acres, to
conquer by persistent diligence
the almost insurmountable ob
stacles that lay in their path.
The history of O’Neill is a chron
icle of men of far vision, who
made up the original colony, and
of their successors who follow
ed. either through choice or in
the line of duty. We who remin
isce during the days of the 75th
anniversary of the founding of
this little city, like to think of
those in particular who had so
large a part in the development
of the colony, and with whom
we were so closely associated.
At that time, the experiences of
early davs were oft recounted to
us, and it is to be regretted that
they were not recorded in black
and white, instead of just in
mind and memory.
As you all know, my most un
forgettable character was my
beloved uncle, the late Monsig
nor Cassidy, or as he preferred
to be known, Father Cassidy. It
is an inspiring remembrance
that he had such an important
part and such an intense inter
est in the early development of
O’Neill and its people, particu
larly in their moral and religious
training. I like to think of the
loyalty, reverence and coopera
tion shown to him by the peo
ple of O’Neill whom he so sin
cerely loved, and who so de
votedly reciprocated that love
in word and action.
Father Cassidy’s early history
was the life of a child born in
Ireland and bereft of his moth
er while still an infant. That
dying mother’s prayer was that
her only boy might be a priest.
That prayer was reechoed
through the years until it found
its culmination in Father Cas
sidy’s ordination as a priest of
God on October 8, 1878, by
Bishop O’Connor of Omaha.
SOLID CITIZENS . . . These men (above) were prominent early
day O’Neillities posing fora camera in the late 1880s. Left-to
right are: standing—H. C. McEvony, James Kernan, Frank
Campbell, Rev. M. F. Cassidy, Frank Toohill, Thomas Simonson, <
O. F. Biglin, Barney McCreevy, S. M. Wagers; seated—Dave
Wisegarber and an unidentified man. |
Rev. M. F. Cassidv . . . pastor of Bt. Patrick's parish for ‘7
years ... as he appeared at height of his career.
He was appointed as assist
ant to the late Father Ryan, of
Columbus, and remained there
seven months. He was then
transferred as pastor to Raw
lins, Wyo., and at that time
there were only three priests in
all Wyoming. After seven years
of work in a parish and its mis
sions which extended 400 miles,
(transportation by either stage
coach or horseback), he was ,
transferred to O’Neill where he
labored for 47 years, up to the
time of his death on December
1, 1933. His life was inured to
hardship in all its early stages
of the priesthood, but accept
ance of the sacrifices imposed
on him by his divine vocation
rendered him unflinching and
unswerving in the line of duty
and in the path of right. My
happiest remembrance of him is
that he was a true priest of God,
and was always happy in the
accomplishment of all that per
tained to God’s service.
His life and work in O’Neill
you all know. Through many
years the lives of Father Cas
sidy and his assistants in his
priestly labors were dedicated
to missionary work, as the con
fines of the parish extended
through Emmet on the West,
Spencer and Lynch on the North
and Clearwater on the East.
St. Mary's Academy and its
Sisters were ever the out
standing pride and joy of his
pastorate, for within the walls
of St. Mary's, the Sisters de
voted their lives to the spir
itual, moral and material edu
cation of the children of the
parish, and many others who
came from afar.
The impressions grounded on
youthful minds during their
formative years by those re
sponsible for their training are
the guide posts to their future
destiny, and it is especially
gratifying to think that my un
cle’s advice to those entrusted
to his care, was largely respon
sible for the outstanding success
of the young men and women
who went out from O’Neill seek
ing further education by their
physical and mental efforts, and
succeeding beyond all expecta
tion. O’Neill has always been
justly proud of them, and my
uncle was always happy in the
success of those whom he fond
ly called his boys and girls. His
great spirit of broad tolerance
made him beloved by non-Cath
olic as well as Catholic. His
great heart of charity knew no
distinction in creed, and he was
ever on the alert to seek and
find those in need.
His three predecessors in the
spiritual growth of O’Neill—a
priest from Frenchtown (now
Ewing), the late Father Cullen,
of York, and the late Father
Smith, nurtured the seed of re
ligious fervor already implant
ed in the hearts and souls of the
pioneers, and Father Cassidy
further promoted it in the waters
of devotion and self sacrifice.
Time has passed on and so
have those who suffered the
hardships and struggles of the
early days, but the immortal
spirits of those intrepid souls
still live in the hearts and
minds of their descendants,
and out of the wilderness of
the tall, wild prairie grass has
risen a town of culture, pro*
gress, enterprise and beauty.
While memory cherishes the
fond associations of the past,
our lives are interwoven with
those who are following so
closely in their footsteps, carry
ing on the great work begun in
1874. Father Cassidy and his
co-laborers who were the stal
w'art men and women of other
days, are lying side by side in
God’s acre, but they have left a
heritage of courage to succeed
ing generations that has bol
stered their will to nurture the
seed of progress so valiantly im
planted in the days of ye ster
year. O’Neill of today is the
result and we proudly call it
home. May the great souls of
those who have gone on before,
ever guide us until we too pass
through the eternal portals.
IN MEMORIAN
Dedicated to the memory of the
late Rt. Rev. Msgr. M. F. Cassidy,
pioneer priest of O’Neill, Nebr.
Thou are resting. Priest of God
’Neath ihe shadow of the
Cuoified;
The Master’s arms outstretched,
encompass thee,
As if to draw thee to His side.
“I am ready," “I am satisfied,”
Was thy answer to the Mas
ter's call,
“Thou cans’t be steward no long
er,”
Re-echoed through the voice
less hall.
In thy loved acre, tenderly they
laid thee
Until the final judgment day,
And thy requiem is daily
chanted
In the softly whispered ca
dence of the breeze’s lay.
Down in Mother Nature’s bos
om, O Beloved,
Peace and rest with thee
abound;
Whilst sun and fleeting shad
ows through the cedars,
Loving caress thy earthly
mound.
Rest on, O Priest of God,
Our prayers, a tryst with the*
do keep;
God’s angels hover ever near
thee,
Mary, Mother, guard thy sleep.
Faithful shepherd, noble Father,
Sleeping midst the children of
thy care,
At the clarion call of Christ’s
trumpet,
Lead us, keep us, in thy cam
Day of Judgment, Day trium
phant!
When the Master smiles and
says “Well done,”
The tomb will no more know
thee,
The tomb will no more know
thee,
Thou’lt be with Christy in His
Kingdom Come.
“Voice of The Frontier” . . .
WJAG ... 780 on your dial!
O’Neill
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O’Neill.
-BOOKING ORDERS-j
We are now booking future orders on
41% RANGE CUBES
to be delivered in October or after!
By booking your order now, you will be protected in
event of a price increase. In event of a price decrease
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O’Neill Grain Co.
Phone 57 O’Neal