Loup Township
Location
Top tier, 3rd from west (Harrison, Sartoria, Loup, Beaver, Garfield,
Cherry Creek)
Name
Gets its name from the South Loup River which
flows south of the township
Features
Loup River winds through the southwest section, then goes south to
flow through the next four miles of Rusco Township before coming back north
to go through the last two miles of Loup Township.
It is at this point that Peter’s Bridge was built across the river
and a small community which was later called Pleasanton developed.
Kearney to Loup City road crossed the Loup here.
Formation
Petitioned county supervisors to create Loup Precinct in August 1874
Included ranges 15 north of the Loup,
16, 17, & 18
Included all settlement on Loup River.
Present day that is Beaver (15), Loup (16),
Sartoria (17), and Harrison (18) townships
1875 voting took place at the District 21 schoolhouse and Morse’s ranch
Dist 21 was 4 miles west of Ravenna
in present day Beaver Township
Morse’s ranch was on the south side
of the Loup in present day Rusco Township
Population in 1877 was 88
First Settlers in Loup Township
1874 – Pleasant Valley
H. H. Clark – returned to
Kearney to have land in that area resurveyed
to properly locate their claims, moved on
L. A. Colburn –
Pleasant Valley, moved on
Charles B. Oakley – born in
New York in 1848,
homesteaded in Pleasant Valley in 1874, age 25
1860 – Oakley family in Pennsylvania, at least 3 years, in New York before
that
1880 – With family in Loup Township
Father – Robert, born in Virginia in 1823
Mother – Lucinda, born in New York in 1825
Brother – Lewis, 10, born in Nebraska in 1870
1881 – Married Mary
5 children, 2 died
Charley (Wilsey?)– born 1895, WWI vet, died 1960
Fern – born 1897, died 1904
Charles & Mary buried in Pleasant
Valley Cemetery with Fern & Wilsey
29 homesteads filed by end of 1879
Assessments – shows growth
|
1876
Assessors Book |
1882 Assessors
Book |
Acres |
3503* |
|
Livestock totals: |
|
|
horses
|
26 |
137 |
cattle |
50 |
639 |
mules |
5 |
34 |
sheep |
625 |
376 |
swine |
29 |
|
Other Personal property: |
|
|
carriages & wagons |
16
|
69 |
sewing machines |
|
20 |
dogs |
11 |
(not counted?) |
*(Acres in township or acres broken?)
Cemeteries in Loup Township
Pleasanton
On north edge of Pleasanton
One of the first projects of the new
village
acquired and set aside 3 acres for a cemetery – July 1894
Three more acres added in 1945
Perpetual care fund raised and
established in 1976
Pleasant Valley
7 miles northwest of Pleasanton
1st meeting of cemetery board was May
2, 1898
First grave was Augusta Pearson 1883,
daughter of John & Diangta (Aunt Betty)
Pearson who gave a corner of their
homestead for the cemetery
A nonsectarian church was built on
the edge of the cemetery in 1917
Where do I Find the Stories?
Question asked by person attending our Chili & Pumpkin Pie fundraiser last
month
Following week – helping Hastings College student doing research on Kearney
& Black Hills Rail Road
Found misfiled clipping:
Goat Mystery Solved; Owned by Kearneyite, Made Getaway (1913)
The “Mountain Goat” mystery was solved with the capture of a goat which
was not a mountain goat after all, but a common domestic goat which had been
running loose for several weeks.
On Oct. 24 the owner had arranged for his brother-in-law to take it to the
salebarn along with 3 steers.
The steers had attracted so much attention that no one apparently noticed
when the goat slipped away.
The steers were 16 (1) and 17(2) years old
They weighed 1,700 lbs, 1,900 lbs,
and 2,100 lbs.
(comparable to oxen at Trails & Rails last summer)
3 college students had seen the goat and declared it was not a mountain goat
They have short black horns and snow
white hair
This one had 37” horns and long brown
hair with patches of gray
They also said “It’s not a mountain
sheep either.”
|