Cedar Township
Location:
Second tier, fourth from west, below
Beaver
South, between Ravenna and Sweetwater
Organized in 1874
Features:
Farmland, rolling hills
Waterways:
Two major streams flowing north to
empty into the South Loup
Cedar Creek –
East part of township about 1 1/2 mile in.
First settlements alone or near it
Other in west
about mile then ½ mile in, some early settlement there.
Towns:
Majors – in Sec. 15 – community,
Parts not grouped close enough for a town
Church:
United Presbyterian, organized in
Dec. 1882. Church built in 1887.
Membership
reached 100. Some moved to Poole, others moved away,
decreased to
30 in 1915. Pastor served both Majors and Poole churches.
1915 regular
services ceased, building used as community center.
Sold and
moved to Kearney to be a home.
Cemeteries:
Majors Cemetery, Sec. 15, estab.
April 1887. Land given for church and cemetery
St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, Sec.
35, estab. 1910.
five miles
south & three miles east of Pleasanton.
Private burial ground in Section 8.
St. Peters family
One son –
murdered
One young man
accidentally shot
Child
Decker –
moved to Majors cemetery
School:
Dist 20 – est.1874; Mrs. Carpenter
first teacher
Two 3-month sessions @ $10 a month
1876 build sod schoolhouse
Post office:
Est. 1879; did not submit a name so P
O Dept. assigned name Majors
in honor of Col. Thomas J. Majors of Nemaha County, a senator.
Tax Assessment – 1877:
Real Estate
Treichler (He had moved back to Iowa
but had not sold the land yet)
UP railroad
Personal property
15 assessed, (9 had filed by that
time, so 6 had not filed yet or were “squatting”)
9 had dogs
Miller had 2 mules, not all of others
had horses, no oxen
Almost everyone had cattle, 1-10 head
Carpenter had herd of 31 sheep
Half had 1-3 pigs
Settlement in 1870’s –
1872 –
Mr. West and Mr.Houston came and
looked around
James Treichler & family and
father-in-law, Mr. Dance, moved in
1873 - Early spring –
John Davis & wife, E W Carpenter
family, and Joseph White family came
West & Houston returned, filed on
their land, arranged for Carpenter to break 5 acres of sod on each claim.
Started for home in Ohio
Sunday, April 13 – John Davis left
for Grand Island for supplies
Blizzard –lasted Sun & Mon.
John caught but made it to Grand Island
Mrs. Davis – froze, buried on farmstead, lost
John not in 1880 census, must have moved on
West & Houston, 3 days in Grand Island, never heard from again
Six other families arrived
Three moved on
Three stayed – Mason Alexander Young, Joseph Clayton & Samuel Higgins/Ewer
1874 – Dry year, grasshoppers
Five more families arrived
One moved on
John Dance went back to Iowa
Four stayed - A. St. Peter, John McCool, Henry Luce, & James E. Miller.
1875 – good crops. Dry?
1876 – Grasshoppers again, no crops
James Treichler family returned to
Iowa after grasshoppers ruined their crop
1877 - Excellent crops & high prices
May have been families moving in 1875, ‘76, & ‘77, but no new claims filed
1878 – good crops
Four new claims filed
One moved on; three stayed
1879 – good crops
Ten new families arrived and filed
claims
One left
Rest stayed - Albert J. Stover, and
others
1880-1890 – No crop failures - Explains rapid settlement of
Buffalo County & Nebraska
A major source of information:
Rod Stover’s website -
Cedar Community (Majors) and Poole
Descendent of Albert J. Stover.
Families married neighbors.
Website includes information about
Clayton, Ewers, etc.
No other township in the county so
well documented.
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