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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (June 4, 1959)
• . ' ... STAfE HIST SOC ' . . . tl NCOtN. NE9R. *. Ill W*' Sixteen Pages wkath.r Your Weekly Paper XtImTI] Thursday. May JM Mra' «"3 _ * Saturday Te 56 1 •• -voire or me nrnvnem* Section One 55!&. Juno i !i 45 Advertising Power »o».; ™ a Kffiay S’ 3 An‘l "The Voice of the Beef Empire" Editorials Volume 79-Number 6 O'Neill, Holt County, Nebraska, Thursday, June 4, 1959 Seven Cents Photo and KngmvinK 1>> The Frontier Mr. Saunders points to "Doc" .Mathews’ Homestead Former Editor Saunders Tells Heritage: The Frontier Was Born of Prairie Sod By Jerry lVtsche Editor In the ‘ mind's eye" of many an old-timer, you can no more separate The Frontier from the living prairie sod than you can the grass that grows upon it. And this strange feeling has conic to me more than once as I have spoken with the old-timers who speal^of "the newspaper you're with,” and the open ing of the prairie almost in the same breath. But what was this strange feeling of the con nection between the newspaper and the soil? What is there in the character of a newspaper that leaves you with the Impression that you are as sociated with something that has the earth as Its heritage? And then, someone helped me to see it a few days ago' The same feeling came to me again and again as I walked side by side with the old man to his father s homestead and as usual, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Mr. Romaine Saunders, home again for Memor ial Day to visit "the alwde of the dead,” had a gleam in his eye as he pointed to the homestead site of the founder of The Frontier. “ ‘Doc’ VV. D. Mathews lived rigid there,” the former editor of The Frontier said. And then he swung his arm around to the right and said, “There used to »>e a house there and right over there next to it was where my father home steaded.” But why did “Doc” Mathew* come to O'Neill? What made him pack up un old press and a few fonts of type In a horse-drawn wagon In 1880 and travel all the way from Monroe, Wisconsin? What made him think he could make a go of it here? Why did lie choose this then barren country to start what is probably the most difficult business to get underway from scratch? Why did men like Romaine s brother, Ezra, the first printer in Holt county, and one of the first employees of "Doc,” ever beliese they could gather enough paid foundry type in a "stick” to make a living? “Because Doc saw there was money to be made where it was necessary for homesteaders to publish final proof of land claim and development,” Mr. Saunders replied. “The publisher got $7 50 for every land notice in those days," lie said. So this is the way it was, I thought, this is why the old-timers feel that The Frontier is so closely associated with ttie prairie. The newspaper was, in deed, born of the sod upon which we walk. But just how true, I was just beginning to real ize as Mr. Saunders began to chuckle and tell an other story. At least one other newspaper published In this area didn’t like "Doc” Mathew's move into Holt county. Top on that list, Mr. Saunders explained, was the owner of the Niobrara Tribune, a news paper published at the district land office—a sheet that had formerly received all the land claim notices. "Young ’Doc’ got word one night that his equipment and shop were in danger. He then en listed the aid of a few nearby cowboys who relish ed the idea of a good scrap anyway and the trouble ended right there," Mr. Saunders said. But I found that this business of publishing in formation on the land was just the start of the story. If you think that it is strange that The Fron tier got its very start because of the sod, consider this: The Frontier was nurtured through the hard limes because of the barren prairie. "Times were hard,” Romaine said. "The same ranchers that walked into the newspaper office to publish proof of land claims were beginning to mortgage their ranches,” Mr. Saunders said, and this time there was no chuckle. "It was the sheriff that came in the newspaper office with notices this time,” he said. “Jim Riggs was the editor when one of the early Holt county sheriffs (Romalne didn’t men tion the name) brought with him a fist full of notices. He wanted a ‘rake-off’ (we call it a kick hack now ) and suggested that the notices would go to another newspaper if he didn't get it.” “ 'Go ahead and take it to another newspaper,’ Jim said. ‘But if you do, I intend to tell the whole story in the newspaper'.” That was one story that was never printed,” Mr. Saunders said as the merry gleam came into his eye again. As Mr. Saunders and I drove back to O'Neill, I began to realize that this newspaper’s “heritage of the sod” has not yet ended, and that it continues almost as if its principle reason for existance was to serve the prairie sod on Thursday—the same prairie which serves the world steaks on Sunday. Yes, the heritage still remains. You can feel this each time a rancher or farmer comes to The Fron tier office to get bills printed and to buy advertis ments to sell his farm or ranch. The Frontier was indeed born of the prairie, nurtured by the prairie, and still exists as the result of, ami to satisfy the needs of, our beloved, God given, grass covered sod. 300 St. Joe Alumni Attend First Banquet In Atkinson Sunday Over 300 alumni of St. Joseph’s high school in Atkinson attended the first alumni banquet at the Krnghts of Columbus hall Sunday. The class of 1934 was especially honored with a "This Is \oui Life" theme at the banquet. The alumni man and woman rep resenting the oldest classes pres ent were Mrs. Nora Hayes Ullrich of Atkinson, class of 1914. and Ed Coufal of Stuart, class of 1920^ Those who traveled furthest were Capt. Robert Mack of Ko komo, Ind.. and Miss Charlotte Mtlffr of Denver, Colo. Members of the honored class of 1934 present were Claudine Brew er Mnckley of Beaverton, Ore.. Roy Ries of Atkinson, Charles Prussa of Atkinson, Vincent Mul len of San Bruno, Calif., Eleanor Grof Frichenstein of West Point Margaret Barrette Henning of At kinson. Kathleen Morgan Steinhau ser of Stuart and Catherine Barnes Schaaf of Emmet. The featured speaker was Father John McNally of Elgin, and the toastmaster. William Miller, class of 1948. See picture on inside pages. OLD SETTLERS PICNIC The Old Settlers Picnic Associa tion will hold their annual meeting at 8 pm. Monday at the Mid way school house according to George Mel lor, secretary-treasurer. Lay Teachers to Remain Most lay teachers at St. Mary's Academy plan to be in O'Neill , for the summer months. Many of them are planning short vacation trips. Miss Claire Tomjack, Mrs. F.‘ J. Kubitschek, Mrs. Leo Gokie, Mrs. Jack Arbuthnot and Mrs. Don Becker, teachers at SMA. will be at their homes during the sum mer. Don Templemeyer, St. Mary's coach, will manage the community swimming pool. Fred Tanner Rites At Lynch on Sunday Funeral services for Fred Tan ner 82. retired farmer of Lynch were held Sunday at the First Methodist church at Lynch. Burial was at the L'Eau Qui Court ceme tery at Niobrara. The Rev. Scragg officiated. The Jones Funeral home was in charge of arrangements. Mr. Tanner was born in 1876 at Smithland, la., to Albert and Jane Jackson Tanner. He lived at Ver del until about 23 years ago when he moved to Lynch. Mr Tanner was found dead in bed at his residence May 26. He was preceded in death by his wife, Laura. Survivors include: one son, Fred Tanner of Houston, Tex., 3 brothers and 3 grandchildren. Pallbearers were: Earnest Dar* nell, Carle Darnell. Anton Kal kowski, William Mulhair, Lee Bar nes and Louis Nelson. Stuart Resident Dies; 2 P.M. Rites Today At Community Church The funeral oL Mrs. Lu Emma Fannie Chaney, 85, who died Wed nesday at 1:50 a.in, will be 2 p.m. today at the Stuart Community church, the Rev. Herbert Young of ficiating. Mrs. Chaney had been in the At kinson Memorial hospital for. a few days preceding her death. Her husband. John, preceded her in death in 1947. She came to Nebraska with her parents from Virginia in 1885 and settled near Nebraska City. The family then moved to Douglas. She was married in 1905 and mov ed to Holt county near Dora Lake. In 1912 the couple moved to Stuart where she has resided since. She has made her home the past three years with Mr. and Mrs. Barney Nickless at the Stuart Rest Home. She is survived by brothers Thomas Edwards of Douglas, Bruce of San Francisco; sisters, Mrs. Tom (Lucy! Davis of Atkin son, Mrs. Ed (Elizabeth' Smith of Endicott and Mrs. Benjamin (Vena* McCurry of Pawnee City; 10 step grandchildren and 15 nieces and nephews. The Seger Funeral Home is in charge of funeral arrangements. Mrs. Charles E. Stout A Holt County Pioneer Dies Monday Evening Mrs. Charles E. Stour, 84. last remaining member of a home steading Holt county family, died at 9 p.m. Monday in St. Anthony’s hospital. While a medical patient at the hospital she suffered a frac tured hip in a fall. Her death came 10 days following surgery. The late Mrs. Stout had been a resident of the community more than 80 years. Requiem high mass will be held at 10:30 this morning (Thursday) at St. Patrick’s Catholic church. Very Rev. Timothy O’Sullivan will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary cemetery under direction of Big lin’s. Honorary pallliearers will l>e H. E. Coyne and H. D. Grady. Active pallbearers chosen are Julius D. Cronin, Edward Camp bell, Edward M Gallagher, Car roll i Cal i Stewart and Bennett Gil ligan, all of O’Neill, and James Berigan of Atkinson. Rosary was recited at eight o’ clock Wednesday evening at the re sidence of Mrs Hugh J. Birming ham, 430 East Benton st. Mrs. Stout’s maiden name was Kiltie Dwyer. She was born March 3, 1875, near Hancock, Mich., a daughter of Thomas F. and Mary Dwyer. In 1877 the family homesteaded in the so called Michigan settlement near O’Neill. After completing studies then available at O’Neill, she attended school one year at Chicago, 111., and attended school near St. Louis, Mo., where her aunt was a teach ing nun. As a young woman she was ac tive in musical and dramatic pro ductions here. For many years she was an outstanding soprano in the St. Patrick’s church choir. At Butte, Mont., living with her brother, John, she actively par ticipated in the presidential cam paign of William Jennings Bryan in 1896. MRS. STOUT . . . pioneer On June 9, 1901, at St. Patrick's church here she married Mr. Stout, a young pharmacist from Blair. Mr. Stout owned and operated a drug store many years, known as Gilligan and Stout. Mr. Stout has been a registered pharmacist over 55 years. The late Mrs. Stout had been regarded as one of the last sur viving members of the “Michigan settlement", comprised of Ireland born and Michigan - born settlers who came to the infant O'Neill community under the banner of Gen. John C. O’Neill. One of her brothers was a priest, two sisters were nuns. She was the last remaining member of the family of nine children. The Stouts have resided the past 19 years at 120 South Fifth st. A short time before the Stouts' observance of their 25th wedding anniversary, Mr. Stout w'as elect ed mayor of O'Neill. Subseqently he was reelected for two more terms. Ill June, 1951, the Stouts cele brated their 50th wedding anni ; versary. Simultaneously their daughters and their husbands | celebrated (heir 25th wedding anniversaries. The triple cele bration included a special Mass and renewal of marriage vows. One of the sons-in-law, Mr. Bir mingham, died in September, 1957. Survivors include: Widower; daughters—Mrs. William J. (Irma) F'roelich and Mrs. Flugh J. (De maris) Birmingham, both of O' Neill; grandchildren—William J. Froelich, jr., of Wichita, Kans.; Mrs. Robert Berigan of O’Neill: Miss Mary F'roelich, James and Charles Froelich. all of O'Neill: Miss Mary Louise Birmingham of New York City; Miss Barbara Bir mingham of Chicago and Mrs. William T. Riley of Omaha; four great-grandchildren. Sale Dates Claimed JUNE 6- A cattle and equip ment sale Saturday at the place located one-half mile north of Chambers. L. O. and Wanda Lenz, owners. Grossnicklaus and O’Con nell, auctioneers. JUNE 13 -Cattle and machinery sale at the ranch three and one half miles southeast of O’Neill or three and one-half miles west of Inman along highway 275. K. C. and Eileen Hunt, owners. Col. Ed Thorin, auctioneer. Miller Elected Head Of Concert Association William Miller was elected pres ident of the O'Neill Community Concert Association at their an nual meeting last week. Grant Peacock will serve as vice president, Bennett Grady as treasurer and Mrs. Harold Lind berg, secretary. Winnie Barger and Mrs. Jolin Watson were appointed chairmen. Mrs. John McCar\ille, Mrs. 1 >e maris Birmingham and Mrs. Ho ward Manson will serve on the membership committee. The campaign will Ik? held the week of October 4. The Boys Town choir has been booked for the first fall concert. — Boldt to Hastings Benjamin Boldt, the O’Neill dis trict manager of the Continental Oil company, has been transfer red to Hastings. Bruce Barnett of Lincoln, a dis trict manager in that area, will replace Boldt here. Barnett is married and plans to live in O'Neill. Welcome Mat Was Out For Holt School Alums; Many Outsiders Come Graduates of several Holt coun ty high schools met during the week for alumni banquets. At Ewing, Miss Elja McCullough of Blair and Mrs. Rose Burk Funk of Ewing were honored as 1909 gra duates of the high school. Classes of 1934 and 1959 were also hon ored at the banquet May 26 at the gymnasium. Jerry Rotherham was elected president of the Ewing alumni group. Mrs. Elwyn Robertson was el ected president of the Chambers alumni association at their 7th an nual banquet at the school auditor ium Friday evening. Nearly 1701 alums of tne Chambers school at i tended the affair at which Eu gene Baker was toastmaster. At the Atkinson high school au ditorium Monday evening, several members of the class ol 1934 anu tne 1959 graduates were honored oy toastmaster Jim Puckett and other alumni of Atkinson high school. Mrs. Fern Cmngston was elected president of Uie annual meeting. Inman alumni met Saturday eve ning at the Inman MeUiodist cnurfch for their annual banquet. Mrs. James Gallagher was toast mistress of the event honoring Et Conger, independence, JVlo., as the only members of the 1934 class attending. Mrs. Eva Murton ol Osmonu, who graduated in 1896. was the oldest alumnus present. Mrs. Norbert Clark presided and Mrs. Joe Menish was elected to head the group for the coming year. N , The ninth annual alumni ban quet at Page was attended by near ly 200 graduates of that school. Honor classes were 1919, 1929, 1939, 1949 and 1959. Ellsworth Hunter of the 1919 class was toastmaster. See St. Joseph of Atkinson al umni story also on this page. Joe Stutz Is Named Chamber President At Regular Meeting Joe Stutz, manager of the Mc Donald department store here In O'Neill, was named president of the O’Neill Chamber of Commerce Monday night at the Chamber’s regular meeting. Ray Eby, who Stutz will replace, was elected to a position on the board of directors. A. L. Patton, owner of the Ben Franklin store here, was elected to fill the post of 1st vice president and Dale Wilson, owner of the Coast-to-Coast store was named 2nd vice president. John Watson, cashier at the First National Bank, was elected treas urer. „ xl_ Joe McLiesh, manager of the hardline department at the Gam bles store, was elected to the Chamber Ixiard of directors along with Eby. McLiesh and Eby were elected over Virgil Laursen and Reed Hierley. Hiatt Is Councilman For City's Fourth Ward Arlo Hiatt was appointed coun cilman for the 4th city ward at the last regularly scheduled city coun cil meeting. He replaces Bill Mattern who moved out of the ward and be became ineligible to serve as 4th ward councilman. In other action the city coun cil set a budget of $173,000 for the coming year. This is an increase over last year and is due to the planning of new well and booster pump fac ilities. The band mothers were also appropriated $1,000 by the coun cil. Orchard Woman Dies ORCHARD- Mrs. T. A. Drayton died Tuesday morning in a Sioux City hospital. She suffered a heart attack Friday morning at her home here and was taken by am bulance to Sioux City. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon at the Evangelical United Brethren church in Orchard. Lightning, Tornado and Hail Worry Sandhills Saturday; G'Meiii Television Impaired Photo and Kngrraving by The ProntJe. Keg Pinkerman, who cares for fhe city’s booster tower repairs the innpllfylng and converting units. IJghtning struck the tower and new parts from (Hutada are expected to arrive in a few days. Offer Music Program The O'Neill Schools will offer an eight week instrumental music program starting June 8 and end ing July 31. This program is for students who want to continue les sons during the summer months and also for beginners and students who wish private instruction. A representative of a music in strument company will be here, afternoon and evening June 8 to rent horns to students that do not own an instrument. All students wishing to take part in the summer lesson program must contact Mr. Duane Miller on or before June 8 to schedule a les son time. Attend Moler Funeral Those from this area who attend ed the funeral of A1 Moler, wh( died suddenly at his home in Hast ing May 25, were: Mr. and Mrs John Grutsch, Elwin and Morris Blake Benson, Mr. and Mrs. Davt Moler and Don. Mr. and Mrs. Ivar Baker, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Vitt Mrs. Fred Appleby, Mrs. Fran! Sullivan and Mr. and Mrs. R. J Rohde. The funeral was Friday morn ing at St. Cecelia’s church, Hast ings. Mr. Moler’s ten children born and raised near O'Neill, at tended. The Molers recently cele brated their 40th wedding anniver sary. Concrete Structure Is Left Standing; Wall Is Blown Out At least one tornado and sev eral rejxjrts of serious lightning and hail came along with the need ed inch and more of moisture during the week. Television reception in ONmf was impaired because of light ning which struck the tx>oster tev er northeast of the city on Sitt urday. The tornado touched down on il* Fred Howard farm seven mils north of Orchard Saturday mg!*. No one was injured and although damage to property was slight, the tornado did tear out a soM concrete hog house wall and left j the building standing. See phot* on the inside pages. Mrs. Howard said shingles were torn off roofs, that several hay stacks in the area were hit by the tornado but that little other da mage was reported in the area. I O’Neill will be without televisirt* until Friday according to R** Pinkerman, the TV technition wb*' cares for the municipally owned booster. He told a Frontier reporter that, lightning destroyed the parts of fh* units which convert and amplify the signal from channel 4 to »hais nel 13. s "The parts should be on their way from Canada within the next v few days,” Pinkerman said .Some O'Neill homes reported I that they were able at times ip get channel 4 but fhat reception was sporadic and poor. During the past week O’Neill and the surrounding area received 131 inches and in some areas including Lynch and an area north n? O* chard there were reports of vm and a half inches or more The biggest rain came Saturd® when a full inch fell within V minutes. O’Neill received a trar* on Wednesday and again on Su* day. 1 The extended five-day foreead! calls for more rain with incre*» ing cloudiness for the Sandbiflfc Swimming l<cs*ons Offered The City park board announce* that swimming lessons will agai* he held this year at the O’Neil Municipal pool. Registration is ai follows: Monday, June S, a* O'Neill residents. Tuesday, all Hrifc County residents, and Wednesday for out of coun'y residents an* all those who were unable to re gister earlier. Registration time » 9 a m. for all three days. Redbird's Post Office Is Closed REDBIRD One of the last insti tutions holding the people of this little community together was closed on Memorial Day this year. Postal Inspector C. M. Duxbury of Grand Island closed the books for the last time in the 90-year old post office here. For many years in this for mer Indian country on the Nio brara River northeast of O’Neill, the communtiy has served as a trading post, trapping center, rural school, a post office and a place where one could buy groceries for his family. One by one they faded. Now only Holt county School District 3 re mains. "It just made me sick when I heard about it,” Mrs. Art Bessert, a resident and daughter of one of the first Redbird postmasters said. "There is little now to keep the community together.” H. V. Rosenkrans, the retiring postmaster, said the office was closed by federal authorities be cause it had been listed as fourth class and not doing enough busi ness to warrant its being kept open. Shortly after the Kincaid home stead act was passed there were 59 post offices in the county. Now only 9 remain. They include Amel ia, Atkinson, Chambers, Emmet, Ewing, Inman, Page, Stuart and O’Neill. "When I was a girl, I remember the first post office here in Red bird,” Mrs. Bessert said. "The men dug a hole in the ground and filled the sides with sod ” "Just a few yards away from the little soddy, I remember hear ing the Sioux and Ponca Indian raiding parties riding back and forth against each other,” she add ed. The Redbird post office was named after a fresh water stream that flows into the Niobrara. Former postmaster Rosenkrans said trappers were the first whit* Photo and Engraving by The T>o*a« Former postmaster H. V. Rosenkrans ehecks out his hooks tm the last time in Redblrd. Postal Inspeetor C. M. Duxbury ol «.ra»* Island stands in the rear. mm In the area and worked where Sioux Indiao_yillages on hills over looked the Niobrara Collectors from nearly every state arranged for postmarked let ters on the Jast day of operation. May 31. Postal Inspector Dux bury sat# all mail to Redhird will be route# through Lynch, a few mile* nort* ■west of the little community <9 half a dozen families.
