Mary
Francis (Fanny) Nevius (First teacher) Born in 1846 in Virginia; moved to Iowa Came with brother Sam Nevius, a lawyer, to Kearney
in 1872
Age 26 1872
school census – 36 children of "school age" in Kearney's School District 7
Ages 6-21
District leased the first floor of a two-story building for six months.
Kearney's first newspaper occupied the upper floor
Teaching and learning processes for both teacher and students was
complicated
No desks, no books
Probably not all 36 attended Report by the County Superintendent described
the school as "poorly furnished and not really adapted to the purpose of a
school."
Principal of school when first building was opened at 24th & 1st 1882 – One of 10 teachers in the school
Kearney district Sometime between 1882 & 1889 she moved to Omaha Taught in the Omaha schools Frequently returned to Kearney to visit her
brother After
retirement she moved to Red Oak, Iowa where she died in 1912 at age 66
Margaret Anderson (A strong woman, don’t cross her) Born Margaret Sinclair
in Illinois May 11, 1849 July 24, 1860 – Palestine Township, Woodland
County, Illinois – age 11
living with parents and 4 younger brothers; father Hector was a farmer Jan 24, 1867 – Married David Anderson Margaret Anderson, wife of the first elected
sheriff, David Anderson, Prime example of the courage of pioneer women
by making a harrowing drive across the prairie to prevent a lynching.
[See Where the Buffalo Roamed, pp. 87-94]
Another time she was waiting outside the jail with gun when prisoners
attempted to escape
June 1, 1880 – Kearney, Nebraska – age 31, living
with husband and two children, Jennie & Charles; David was a farmer
Died in Kearney
March 15, 1887; buried in Kearney Cemetery
Nancy Hull
(founder of WCTU in Kearney) 1876 – Dr. John & Nancy Hull arrived in
Kearney April
1889 – Mother Hull Home incorporated by Nancy Hull; no building for several
years
The women provided meals and clothing from their club rooms 1893 – They rented a house at 1809 Central
Avenue.
The first floor was used for a meeting room and the W.C.T.U. library The
second floor became a hospital. 1894 – Founded the WCTU hospital "The
institution has cared for more patients without pay than has any other
similar institution in this county”
according to her obituary
She was an early leader and "dominant spirit" of
the W.C.T.U. At
her urging the members took an active role in aiding the needy. Mrs. Hull, "sometimes
with one of her lieutenants", rode her white horse around Kearney and the
surrounding area to help the poor.
She had a special concern for "lonely girls" and
took many of them into her own home.