Bob and I are hoping while we are visiting South Dakota in March that the weather will be good enough that we can take a day trip directly south to NE Nebraska to see where my grandparents and mother moved from in 1932. My great-grandfather had moved to the area between Monowi and Verdel NE to homestead with his children. My grandmother was born there and the youngest of 11 children. When she married my grandfather, they lived on 100 acres just south of Lynch, NE along Louse Creek, south of the Niobrara River. My mother was born in the area and I grew up hearing stories of life there. My great-grandparents and some of their children are buried in the Alford Cemetery just south of Monowi and north of the Niobrara River.

In much homework, I did come across this photo of Gram's that is of a house and she wrote "Home" on it. Which of her homes there, as a Masden girl, or a Lansberry wife I cannot tell.

Tags: Family, Nebraska, Geneology

In more exploration of my grandmother’s birthplace and home of her youth, it sounds like the homestead was off Hwy. 12 on the north side in the county of Knox, close to Verdel (population: 30 people). The homestead was sold after her brother, Artie, was killed in a car wreck in 1959. Some of her older sisters and brothers were born in the area of Council Bluffs, IA and Tilden, NE. Tilden is located south of the homestead closer to central Nebraska at the eastern edge of Madison county. A lot of this area is sparsely populated. I always think of Nebraska is having more people than Oregon in a large part of the state yet that does not seem likely. I will have to look into more of this history and the area as the blog continues. The Ponca Indians lived near by and Ponca Creek is named for the tribe. There is a monument to them on private land in the area. The following is Ponca Creek which drains into the Niobrara River between Monowi and Verdel.

Tags: Nebraska

Putting away the Christmas ornaments and removing the tree. Sorting through the photo albums of my mother’s to label them. I came across information and clippings about my grandmother’s early years and family in Nebraska. She grew up in Monowi which now has a population of 1. Her 1922 Commencement book had a graduation class of 5. The incorporated town (which is the smallest in the United States) is owned by the 1 inhabitant, a woman in her 70s. People moved away from the area in the 1930s as my family did. My grandfather, Ed, moved there from central Nebraska, the town of Fullerton, to teach school. He fell in love with my grandmother, Vada, the youngest of 11. They were married 51 years, until he died on April 13, 1976, their 51st anniversary. They were a love story the whole time together.

Tags: Nebraska