Kearney Women’s Club House

More about the Kearney Women’s Club
Started in 1888 – By 1898 – 74 members
Invited husbands to 10th annual banquet, at the Midway
        November 27th [Thanksgiving??]

Menu began with Rockaways [it was a type of carriage but food?????]
        Typical Thanksgiving meal
        Ended with:
            Assorted cake
            Chocolate & vanilla ice cream
            Coffee
            Cigars [for men only?]

Community Projects (not a complete list) -- What do they do besides meet?

Basically 4 areas: Civic, Culture, Education & Children – all local

Civic – for the good of the city
        Plantings –
            Planted trees in 3rd Ward park; carried water to them
            Planted a tree on Longfellow school grounds for each Kearney soldier killed in WWI
            Planted trees in Centennial Park
            Planted trees and roses in Harvey Park
            Maintained a rose garden at the cemetery for many years
                Moved to Club House yard when cemetery needed the space.
        Installed drinking fountains downtown

Culture
        Donated to Chautauqua fund 1906 and later
        Give music scholarships to high school students

Education
        Worked to bring the Practical Nursing School to Kearney
        Have receptions, do capping and graduations for nursing school

Children
        Conducted Tuberculosis Christmas Seal campaign for many years
        Held first baby clinic, in 1915
        During depression bought shoes and clothing for needy children
        Led move to get school nurse in public schools

From Women's Club History - Buffalo County Poor Farm
        [previous information – closing date not given, sometime about 1920]

“At a meeting in 1921 a report was made on the county poor farm where pasture land was rented at $5.00 an acre, and cultivated land for one-third of the crop. The county poor were cared for at the WCTU Hospital at $6.00 per week for nursing care. The Women’s Club made donations of bedding and food.”

Charles Hanson – Builder of the Women's Club House
(House is located in the Ashland Addition of Kearney Junction at 723 W 22nd St.)

        1855 – Born in Sweden on November 19
        1869 – Came to America, arrived in Chicago, Ill. on May 25 (age 13)

The Illinois Years
        1869-1874 – 5 years - Farmed in Illinois (age 19)
        1875-1876 – 2 years – “followed teaming” [drove a team, aka modern day trucking??]
        1877-78 – Spent the winter in Chicago, Ill. (age 22)

The Nebraska Years
        1878(spring) – 4 years – Phelps Center, Phelps County, Neb.
        1878-1881 - Postmaster until December, 1881
                married in Phelps Co. in spring 1880, to young lady from Sweden
        1882, spring – Opened hardware business
                Dealer in all kinds of agricultural implements and broom corn seed, etc.

    Sometime in next 3-4 years – Went into real estate business

        1885 – construction began on the [Women’s Club] house
        1886 – completed house – had financial problems
        1887 – Sold house to Wallace Downing for $10,000
        1888 – Constructed house at 1322 9th Avenue
                South across street from Bartlett house where Marc & Bert Loescher live now
                Called the Steeple House
                    large tower raising above the second floor on the northeast corner.

    1889 – Kearney’s Boom in full swing
        Office in Room 8, Midway Hotel
            Go see C E Hanson for five to ten acre lots for gardening

        Law Suit
            July 24 – Buffalo County National Bank in county court
                Sued Hanson to recover rent for the building north of the bank
                He had leased it “several years ago” and opened a hardware store.
                Then he sold the stock and turned over the building, including the lease, to the purchasers.

                    They did not pay the rent.
            July 25 – The jury found in favor of the plaintiff [the bank]
                Awarded a judgment of $310.
            August 21 – ad for two houses, one in Kenwood, one in East Lawn, for sale at less than value for next 10 days.
                “Reason for selling: must have money.”

Hanson traveled often – frequently to Illinois

A Fish Story
        Dec. 7, 1889 – while traveling on business in Illinois a week ago,
            Hanson met a man (O’Brien) from the NE Fish Commission
            Had a railroad car adapted for the transportation of live fish ($2,000)
            He had black bass he was bringing back to stock lakes and streams in NE.

            O’Brien said they could bring fish free to any town who asked for them.
            Hanson told of Kearney’s resources and the beauty of its lakes which could be fish resorts.

            As a result Hanson received a letter from O’Brien
                He would be arriving in Kearney on Dec. 11 at 2:52 a.m. with 7,000 black bass, 2-3 years old
                    would deliver them if someone would meet him at the station
                Hanson said he would do it but he would be out of town.

            Hub and Chamber of Commerce were looking for someone who could bring containers to the station to receive the fish.

-----------------------------------------------

[live fish to stock Kearney’s lakes in December??!!]

My local fishing expert, Ken, says black bass are either large mouth or small mouth
These might have been large mouth bass which are more adaptable to Nebraska waters.

 

Ken also says in winter water gets warmer deeper down.

Kearney Lake would have been 20+ feet deep in 1889 so the bass could have survived there in Dec.
 

-----------------------------------------------

Response after reading the article:
        Daryl Bauer
        Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
        Nebraska Game & Parks Commission

In 1889 the Fish Commission purchased a rail car solely for the purpose of transporting fish for stocking across the state. The Fish Commission invested $2000 in that rail car. The rail car had the words “Nebraska Fish Commission” scrawled across the side and was called “Angler”.

                He also says these were probably large mouth bass but could have possibly have been small mouth.