Willard Fisher built a stone house on his farm which took several years to build. The following is quoted from the 23 Jun 1966 edition of the South Omaha Sun.
"During the years of construction, Fisher's one son became big enough to do his
share. You grew up fast on the frontier. Completion of the building was a signal
for a celebration. Fresh killed game, garden fresh vegetables and the inevitable
"corn likker" jugs appeared like magic and disappeared with surprising speed.
"The Fisher farm was successful. Willard raised grain for personal use and barter and
ran a few head of cattle. Christina [Willard's wife] raised a happy family of children and
kept a clean house.
"The dreaded Black Diphtheria struck Sarpy County in 1887. By the time the epidemic had run its course, Willard Fisher and a daughter, Inez, were all that remained of a family of 7. Fisher had lived on his farm for nearly 30 years when the diphtheria bug came to Sarpy. One by one the members of his family came down with the disease. One by one they were laid to rest in the family cemetery at the top of the hill, about a half mile from the house."
There's just one thing wrong with the above story. There are only three marked graves for the children of Willard and these three, along with Willard, all died in 1883! Although the story in the newspaper leads one to believe that Willard's wife died during this epidemic, she died in 1917 and is buried with her mother, her daughter Inez and Inez's husband, Rev. Theodore Morning, in Cedar Dale Cemetery.
Eventually three other cemeteries-- Hrabik, Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol and Bnai Abraham-- would join the Fisher Farm Cemetery "at the top of the hill."
Gary Iske, Sarpy County Genealogical Society, 1995.
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