Grant Township

Named for William Grant who homesteaded in 1874
Listed as a Precinct in 1875 (Assessors books)
        County adopted township system in 1883

Location: Third tier from the top, 2nd in from the west

Rivers & Streams: Wood River winds cattycorner from southeast corner to northwest corner
        All other streams or waterways empty into it.
        Whole township is in the Wood River watershed

Type of land: Mixed crop and pasture

Transportation routes:
        Stagecoach – from Kearney up south side of Wood River through Stanley and Greendale
        Railroad – Kearney & Black Hills - Up Wood River on north side through Amherst
        Highway – State Highway 40 on same route as railroad up north side of Wood River
                Graveled bed completed in 1936
                Paved in 1958

Post Offices:
Huntsville – Couple miles southeast of present day Amherst
Miles B. Hunt – Filed on homestead early in 1873.
        Lived on his land some years before filing
        Post Office established in Oct. 1873, first in the township
        Post Office moved 2 miles west Mar. 15, 1877 and renamed Stanley

Greendale – Mile and a half or so northwest of Amherst
        Post Office established in 1879
        Closed when the railroad was built in 1890

Stanley – Had Post Office from 1877 until 1891 when it was discontinued.
                [another source] In 1890 P O was moved to Amherst
        Located at intersection of present day Eagle Road and Road 145,
                (mile east of road from Odessa to Amherst)
            Mile south & two east of Amherst
        At the crossroads – 2 general stores and post office

Blacksmith shop
A mill on the Wood River northwest of Stanley
School, Dist. 13
Hotel, livery barn, blacksmith shop
Bank
Methodist Church
Dr.’s office
Newspaper – Stanley News

        Literary Society – Tuesday nights

        Topics of debate
"The United States Owes Her Greatness to Her Geographic Position and Not
Her Form of Government."

 
"The School District Should Furnish Text-Books and They Should Be Uniform."

"Courts are Bigger Frauds Than the Railroads." Stanley vs. Riverdale

Towns: Amherst – Established in 1890 as a depot on the K & BH Railroad

Laid out by K & BH Railroad 2 ½ miles northwest.
Train did not stop at Stanley
Hotel moved
Doctor moved
Soon not enough people in Stanley, Post Office discontinued
Incorporated in 1894

Has wide streets. Main St. is 100 feet wide; others are 80 [most streets are 60]

Cemeteries: Old Stanley
        ½ mile west of Stanley – Graves from Huntsville Cemetery moved here

Schools: All closed & joined Amherst, Dist. 119
Dist. 13 – Stanley – organized in 1873 – First school in township

May have been in session before it was officially organized
School census in 1890’s had 70 children
Second building erected about 2 miles east
Second school called “East Stanley”
First school called “West Stanley” or “Old Stanley”

East Stanley closed at end of 1953-54 term
District closed in 1959

Dist: 31- Greendale

Located northwest of Amherst, upstream on the Wood toward Watertown & Miller
Organized in July, 1876
Closed after 1954-55 term.

Dist. 44 – Glendale

Located south and a little west of Amherst
Organized in late 1870’s
Dissolved in 1959
Had a literary society in 1890’s
        “A man will do more for his friends than he will for money”
        “There is more pleasure in pursuit than in possession”

Dist. 74 – Prairie Dell

Located 2 miles east and a little north of Amherst
Organized in Dec. 1883; dissolved in 1959 and divided between 3 districts, one being 119

Dist. 108 – River View

Organized in 1887 by taking land from Dist 31 and 44
Located about one mile west of Amherst on south bank of Wood River
Students from Amherst attended here until Dist 119 was organized

In Feb 1893 Dist 108 purchased land in Amherst and built a second schoolhouse
Dist. 119 was formed in Nov. 1894; this building became theirs.
Last term for Dist. 108 was the 1940-41 school year

Present Day:
2006 Election Results - Grant Twp Board
        Vote for up to 3
        Kevin Klingelhoefer . . . . . . .146 80.22
        WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 36 19.78

County Board Secretary 10-22-2007
        Other two members are Ryan Fisher and Clark Nuttelman

Telephone conversation with Kevin Klingelhoefer 10-22-2007

        Meetings – Annual meeting, other times informal meetings when something comes up
        Responsibilities – Roads & Cemetery

    Roads – Do not own any equipment

Delegated responsibility for road maintenance to county

County asks each year if there are changes to their list of priorities on which
roads are to be graded and/or have snow removed

After ice storm last winter he & son cleared one road themselves

Cemetery – The township owns Old Stanley Cemetery

Delegated operation to the cemetery board which hires maintenance person

Township Board has to make major decisions like if more land were to be
purchased

And Also:
Dec. 4, 1891 - W. L. Moss – Director of Dist. 13 – Charged with Malfeasance of Office

Took lumber appropriated lumber left from building the school to his own use.
        Now a splendid barn is the result
Purchased coal at $4 per ton. Sold it to the school for $7/ton.
It is said that neighbors told him if he returned the lumber, nothing would be said.
He didn’t and was arrested
Long and bitter battle but a year later a jury declared him “not guilty”

From the HUB:
July 1899
Mr. Green does threshing
Finished on Van Blue farm at end of day
Next job on Jesse Blue farm

Mr. Green refused to move machine there, roads too bad
Mr. Blue offered to hitch his horses to it and pull it
Mr. Green refused to take machine where the engine could not pull it.

One word led to another
Mr. Green made a statement
Mr. Blue called him a liar
A fight took place
Mr. Green got the worst of the deal, taking several blows about the head

About a dozen men present; apparently wanted to see who was the “best man”

Township Justice of the Peace fined Blue $5 plus costs –
        court costs, constable costs, $30 in witness fees

Mr. Blue is appealing to the District court – which may make his costs even higher
It was said there was already bad blood between these two and this affair will not improve matters.
[Mr. Blue may have to find someone else to do his threshing next year.]