NSGS Ancestree

Nebraska State Genealogical Society Journals

EARLY SETTLERS OF BETHEL COMMUNITY (located l7 miles East of Crawford, Dawes County, Nebraska.

Submitted by Carol Lange Doyle from stories told her by her father Carl LANGE.

One of the first settlers in this area was John HAMILTON, He was born in Morgan County, Illinois in 1829, left home at age 22 and farmed in his home state until 1865 when he moved to Livingston County, Missouri, He came to Nebraska by covered wagon in 1884 and built a log cabin about 1/2 mile east of Bethel Church. His widowed sister, Mary Jane Gill MARTIN lived with him. (Garold Smith now lives there).

Fremont T. BUCHANAN was born in Henricks County, Indiana in 1863 to a farmer and a school teacher, T. M. BUCHANAN and his wife Christina WHITE. His father died when he was a small boy and young BUCHANAN came to Nebraska in 1885 by team and wagon settling 2 miles northwest of Bethel. He built a log cabin and farmed along Indian Creek for many years.

James and Elizabeth (LEMON) WILSON came to the area in 1880 and settled on a farm about 1/2 mile east of Bethel. In 1882 Mr. WILSON donated about 3 acres of land to the community and in 1893 Bethel Church was built with a cemetery adjoining the property on the north. Ray ILIFF lived on this farm in-later years and Alva MILLER has lived there for over 50 years. This farm is located along Indian Creek.

Levi and Emma RICHARDSON came to this community in 1884 from Lyons, Nebraska. They journeyed by train to Valentine and freighted the household goods by team and wagon. They purchased a large farm and ranch about 2 miles south of Bethel on East Ash Creek. Their family consisted of Charles, William, Shannon, Eliza CRIPPS, Emma (Ed HOEVET) and Nellie (STUMPH-CRIPPS). The sons, Charles and William later owned the farm and it is now owned by Levi, son of Charles.

James W and Mary A. BRITTON came to the community about 1885 bringing their sawmill. They located on land along East Ash Creek about 5 miles south of Bethel. Mr. BRITTON donated the lumber to build the Bethel Church. Their family consisted of John, George, Jim, Mary (Charles BALL) and Jennie who later married Charles RICHARDSON, listed in the paragraph above.

Charles E. BALL and his wife Mary BRITTON came by train from Blair, Nebraska to Chadron in 1885. They filed on a homestead located on Fast (sic) Ash Creek about 5 miles south of Bethel. Mary BALL was a midwife and also served as a mortician since none were available in those early days. Mr. Ball died July 12, 1898 and the family continued to live on the homestead until 1912. They had eight children: Ethel (CONNELL) John W., Harry, Nellie (SLIDER), Nettle (GROVES) Earl, Charles and Frank.

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Early Settlers of Bethel Community (continued)

John and Mary BRITTON also lived in the same area along East Ash Creek. He did some farming and also had sawmills in the area. Their family consisted of Minnie (Wyatt HOLDER), Bell (William LEETCH), Mary (Bill HOLDER), Alice (Dan LEETCH) Dee (Lawrence LEETCH), James, George, Wallace, Eva (John WOLF) and Ralph.

Isaac and Mary SEEGRIST moved to the area about 1886 and farmed one mile north of Bethel. They had formerly lived near Firth, Nebraska Mr. SEEGRIST was also a blacksmith and certainly was a welcome member of the community. Their family consisted of Harley, Leonard, Winifred., Ebner, Alfred, Bessie (Andrew VETTER), Laura, Ida and Cloyd. Henry MOTZ now owns this farm.

Mac IMEL was an early resident of the communtiy (sic) and lived about 2 miles Southwest of Bethel. Little is know of Mr. IMEL except he sold his farm to Philip and Cecelia (SMITH) ALLOWAY and Isabelle LANGE now resides there.

Carl and Caroline (HEMSTEDT) LANGE emigrated to the US in 1868 from the Magdeburg, Germany area with their five children. They settled in Illinois and then moved to the area near Firth, Nebraska in about 1872. In 1889, they moved with their son Charles and wife, Augusta (NIEMANN) to the Bethel Community where they farmed about 2 miles southwest of Bethel along East Ash Creek. Augusta LANGE was a midwife in the community and also helped when anyone was ill. They had the following children: Fritz, William, Adolph, Richard, Otto, Martha (AHL), Carl and triplets who died in infancy. Mel GERHOLD now owns the buildings with granddaughter Carol LANGE DOYLE retaining the farmland.

William H. and Annie C. (PHILLIPS) BETSON came to Dawes County about 1888. Mr. BETSON was born in Montgomery Co. Pennsylvania about 1858 to a farming family. He left home at age 10 and in 1881 moved to Jackson County, Kansas. In 1888, He filed on a homestead 4 miles southwest of Bethel. He also freighted for some time between Crawford and Newcastle, Wyoming. He owned a 12 hp steam threshing machine and did custom work for the neighbors. They were parents of 5 children: Charles, Alfred, Katie, Earl and Alice. Earl lived on the farm for many years and now Alfred's grandson (Mark BETSON) lives there.

Charles HOEVET was born in Mechlenburg, Germany in 1832 and emigrated to the US in 1852 living first in Indiana and then he settled in Kankahee County, Illinois. He married Elizabeth RITTER daughter of Jacob and Sarah (HAMMOND) Ritter. They were parents of 9 children: Louis, Charles, Delia (STANTON), Otto, Edward, Albert and Floyd. Dale BRITTON now lives on this farm.

Anthony SMITH was born in Jackson County, Tennessee in 1830 to Calvin M. and Susan (PENNINGTON) SMITH. He moved to Iowa in 1851 with his parents and in 1870 to Nebraska. In 1900, they moved to Dawes County and purchased their farm and ranch about 1 mile south of Bethel along Indian Creek. He married Missinda CRIDDLEBAUGH of North Carolina in 1859. They were parents of two girls, Chelesta (Alfred WHITIES) and Celia (Philip S. ALLOWAY). Walter RICHARDSON, grandson of Levi and Emma, lived on this farm for many years and now his grandson Walter WASSERBURGER farms there.

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Early Settlers of Bethel Community (continued)

Isaac GRIFFITH lived along East Ash Creek 4 miles southwest of Bethel. He farmed and and his children were Elmer, Roy, Charles, Ida and Henry.

William J. KAISER lived along Trunk Butte Creek and Indian Creek where he homesteaded. This is about 2 miles north of Bethel. The farm was a Post office for a time as mail was brought from Whitney and left for the neighbors to pick up. Son, Otnar, was the next owner and upon his death, Omar left the land to two sons of his brother Fred.

in (sic) 1891 William McGANNON moved from Fountin, Minnesota where he had a butcher shop to a farm about 3 miles north of Bethel. He lived there with his wife and sons, Art and Dave.

Isaac YEARNS moved to the community in 1900. Hew as born in Marion County, Iowa in 1861 to James B and Nancy (PORTER) YEARNS. After his father died in 1882, Isaac moved to Valentine, Nebraska and then to the Bethel community. He lived about 3 1/2 miles south west of Bethel and he was also a chiropractor, along with farming.

Some of the other early settlers were STANTON (first name unknown) who lived 2 miles southwest of Bethel. Also Mont M. SCHAFFER, who lived 1/2 mile west, Harry GILLISPIE, CUMMINGS, M. SMOCK (east of Bethel), M WALLBRIDGE (5 miles south of Bethel) in a large canyon. Halsey CRUM lived 5 miles west, Mike BERGMAN who came to the area in the late 1880's lived 3 miles north along Trunk Butte Creek. Bergman's children were: Ernest, Fritz, Charles, Maude, Katie, Annie and Polly.

John and Fredricke (LANGE) SCHMIDT lived about 2 1/2 miles southwest of Bethel and left the area in 1900 when they moved to Idaho. Adolph LANGE later lived on this farm for many years. Godfried and Dorothea (LANGE) SIEFERS lived on several farms in the area in early years.

Mike CASSIDY, a bachelor, lived in a canyon about 3 miles south of Bethel. He farmed a bit and cut piling for the county. The story is that he could make biscuits that were as soft and light as cotton candy.

A man named CUNNINGHAM lived in a canyon along Indian Creek 2 miles south of the church. This canyon was also notorious (not due to Mr. CUNNINGHAM) for being a hide-out for cattle rustlers. The rustlers would bring the cattle from South Dakota to this canyon, hide out for a few days, and then drive them to the Sandhills. They also reversed the process. This canyon is very long and remote, making it an excellent place to hide. They also dug a deep well, butchered the cattle, and threw the hides in the well. A butcher in Chadron would buy the stolen beef from the rustlers and they all made money. This well, full of old hides was discovered in the early 1930's.

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Early Settlers of Bethel Community (continued)

Coxville was a postoffice about 1 mile south of Bethel around the years 1900. Mail was brought from Whitney and then distributed to the neighbors of the area.

There were also several schools in the area: Trunk Butte about 2 miles north of Bethel and was used until the 1950's. Another schoo1 was located several miles south of Bethel and served those who lived in that area along East Ash Creek. This was abandoned in the 1930's and this area is now government land. District 84 or Hardscrabble began as a log school in 1892 and a few years later was replaced by a better building which is still used today. This school is along East Ash Creek 2 miles west of Bethel.

Bethel Church celebrated its Centennial July 25, 1993 with a very special guest present. She was Eva (BRITTON) WOLF born in 1894 the daughter of John BRITTON and Granddaughter of JAMES W. BRITTON who donated the lumber for the church when it was built. She lived in the Bethel Community until the mid 1930's when she moved to Crawford.

Some information for this story also obtained from: Western Nebraska, History, Reminiscence & Biography, published 1909 by Alden Publishing Co.

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WORLD WAR I DRAFT REGISTRANTS
Fillmore County Nebraska

This is the complete listing of men, ages twenty-one to thrity (sic), who registered June 5, 1917 at several polling places in Fillmore County. A total of 1.250 men registered in accordance with the act passed by Congress. This list was abstracted and indexed from the Nebraska Seminal published in Geneva, NE on June 14, 1917 by Rose Marie Hulse of Exeter, NE. Township abbreviations following the name are:

BETHEL CEMETERY - located 17 miles East of Crawford, Dawes Co. Ne

submitted by: Carol Lange Doyle, Rapid City, SD

In 1892-1893 the men in this community cut and delivered logs to a saw mill owned and operated by John Britton. He sawed the lumber for the new church building and this was done in the spring and summer of 1893. The cemetery is just to the north of this church building.

Bethel Cemetery (continued)

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Harlan County Schools . Educational Directory . Harlan County NE, (See Page 79)

1938- 1939 Enrollment in High School Districts, Harlan Co. NE

BELMONT CEMETERY - located Sec 27, T30N R51W. Dawes County about 3 miles east of Belmont, Nebraska

Submitted by Carol Lange Doyle, Rapid City, South Dakota

Belmont Cemetery (continued)

HIGHLAND CEMETERY - icateci (sic) about 20 Mi. SW of Chadron, Dawes Co Sec 1, T3ON, R50W

Submitted by Carol Lange Doyle, Rapid City, SD

Highland Cemetery (continued)

Highland Cemetery (continued)