BlockPrairie Creek Township
The complete chapter on this precinct from History of Hall County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, and Chronological Presentation of Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, and Special Analysis of Its Military and Civil Participation in the Late World War, published 1920. 694 words, covering 2 settlements. Source changes inside the text are labelled at the exact paragraph where the next book begins.
Contents
1 sectionThe section headings the book prints inside this chapter. Each one jumps to where it begins.
The modern record here
2 settlementsWhat the federal record holds for each settlement inside this precinct: wildfires and storm reports since the 1950s, mineral workings, and museum specimens collected nearby. These are counted within a few miles of each settlement, so neighbours share them and the columns are deliberately not added up. Every row links to the settlement's own page, where each figure is broken out.
Settlements in this township
2 placesEvery populated place the Geographic Names Information System records inside this township's Census boundary. 1 of the 2 is named in the chapter; the other was founded later or was never more than a post office.
The chapter
694 wordsReproduced complete and unedited from History of Hall County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, and Chronological Presentation of Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, and Special Analysis of Its Military and Civil Participation in the Late World War, published 1920. The text is machine-read from scans, so expect recognition errors: misspelled names, dropped words, and stray characters. Nothing has been corrected, because correcting a proper name invents one. The headings below are the books' own; source changes are labelled in place.
Prairie Creek Township
The first settlers of Prairie Creek township were Peter Mohr, who later moved to Grand Island, Peter Holling, who later removed to the vicinity of Wood River, George Spencer, deceased, and Danance Dickinson. They came in the spring of 1871 and later in the same year Eli Barnes, Hans Moeller, Nichols, James and Mat Rauert, Nic Depue, Henry Kruse, and Peter Thompson came to swell the settlement. In 1872 George Nollen, Robert Kinkle, Peter Wingert, and Mr. Lanfield cast their lots with the new settlers.
It was many years before the northern part of this township was settled, but along the banks of Prairie Creek a thrifty settlement soon sprang up which organized school districts, built bridges, and connected their settlements with the railroad at Grand Island and Alda. Game was quite plentiful during the early days especially in the sand hills north and during the drought and grasshopper periods the settlers divided their time between hunting deer and antelope and snaking cedar post out of the canyons along the Loup River, for sale in Grand Island, and this was almost the only means by which "cash money" could be secured. At that time the Indians coming through on their annual hunts from the Loup rivers to the Platte and Republican south were frequently visitors of the early settlers, but never hostile and only by their thieving and begging did they give much concern to the earlv settlers.
Peter Mohr, Peter Holling, who later removed to the vicinity of Wood River, George J. Spencer, Dennis Dixon. They came in the spring of 1871. Later came Eli A. Barnes, Samuel M. Schisler, Hans Moeller, Nicholas, James and Mat Rauert, Nicholas M. Depue, Joseph F. Proctor, Henry Kruse, Claus H. Wiese, Peter Thompson, I. P. Beagle, Capt. W. W. Thompson, James Baldwin and A. Baldwin, Isaac L. Messeraul, George Nowlan, Robert Kinkle, Peter Wingert, Anna M. Weeks, John Lanphere, Mr. Barlow, William C. Dean, John Trimble, Mr. Burton and William E. Preston. Mr. Trefren, George and Luther, settled on December 20. With these settlers closes the year 1872. Then came Wesley Milhollen, Thomas Hosier, John Lee and Adam Hessel. School district number 18 composed Prairie Creek township, Othman A. Abbott county superintendent of schools. The first school officers were Eli A. Barnes, moderator, Joseph F. Proctor, treasurer, and John Lanphere, director. The school house was built on the homestead of Eli A. Barnes by James Tout, later of Grand Island. Then the district was divided and the school house moved on northeast corner of George Nowland's homestead, where it now stands.
Other early settlers in the Prairie Creek vicinity were Joe Kilian, John Mader, Jim Baldwin, Henry Schisler. The town of Abbott was formed out of section 30 of this township. In recent years the Robert Taylor ranch has grown to such proportions that the portion of it which lies within Prairie Creek township constitutes over a third of the area of the township.
Wm. H. Sumner, Mary A. Bullock, James Fonner, Thomas Hossler, Josiah Brown, Jacob Lessig, William Dudley, George Rauert, Joachim Rauert, Louis Upperman, A. C. Downs, M. V. Atkinson, H. C. Roehling, Henry Mohr, Sr., Alvin Eager, John E. Mader, James Lewis, C. B. Lewis, Hannah Kent, Benj. Swank, J. C. H. Read, Giles A. Smith, D. R. Castiday, Peter Thompson, Geo. Nouland, John Peterson, James Nichelson C. A. VonWasmer, W. U. Mader, Silas Y. Bryson. Robert Taylor and Kenneth Mc- Donald's ranch holdings now take up a large portion of the township.
With the settlement of Cay Henry Ewoldt, one of the original colony of 1857, within the present confines of Center township, in 1862, this township can point almost as far back for the beginnings of its historj' as its neighboring townships.
Mr. Ewoldt increased his original purchase until he acquired a fine farm of around 500 acres of magnificent land. Martin Schimmer acquired holdings in Center township at an early day. Jacob Shoemaker came in about 1866 or 1867. Other early settlers in this township were Henry Grabach, John Greenfield, C. P. Rathbun, Wm. C. Mullen, William Fishburn, F. W. Hessel and Adam Hessel, G. J. Squires, and William McLellan.
Provenance
Text from History of Hall County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, and Chronological Presentation of Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, and Special Analysis of Its Military and Civil Participation in the Late World War, published 1920, in the public domain in the United States and digitised by the Internet Archive. The settlements listed against this township are matched by point-in-polygon test of each Geographic Names Information System coordinate against the Census Bureau's county subdivision boundary, not by name.