NSGS Ancestree

Nebraska State Genealogical Society Journals

Editor's Note: After checking the Ancestree index records, I did not finding that this material had been published. I do not intentionally use material that has been published in earlier volumes.

The following is taken from a letter dated Jan 4, 1983, written by Annette SPAUR NEWBY.

"I have enclosed copies of material taken from my mother's diaries . ... My mother, Ethelinda WALKER SPAUR, was taken to Seward county Nebraska by her parents when she was three. The family moved from Fulton County, Illinois. Mother attended Wayne Normal College and I have her certificates for teaching from that school. She homesteaded in Grant County after her family moved there. My parents moved to Vernon County, Missouri in 1911 because they did not feel that the 'wild Sand Hill country' was a place to bring up my two older sisters."

Schools taught by Ethel WALKER:

Edith WALKER (continued)

Edith WALKER (continued)

WHITMAN SCHOOL, Whitman, Grant County, September 5, 1891

The publication GRANT COUNTY IT'S FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS published Spring 1980, states "Ethel WALKER was the first teacher of the school in Whitman, NE."

HUFFMAN SCHOOL, near Lena, NE, Arthur County, November 12, 1900

"The Huffman School was at the Huffman Ranch near Lena, NE. The HUFFMAN family had come from Iowa and needed a school teacher for their children. My father, Charles SPAUR had come out from Iowa, after the death of his wife and two baby girls, to be a ranch hand for the Huffmans, whom he had known in Iowa. There he met the local school marm and they were married in Whitman July 12, 1904."

Edith WALKER (continued)

FAIRVW SCHOOL, 1899-1900

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GHOST TOWNS OF PAWNEE COUNTY
Submitted By: Ruth Anna HICKS
Source: Book compiled by: Nancy SOMMERHALDER, Lewiston; Mrs Billy MILLER; Edwin BREDEMEIER

BOOKWALTER

In 1880 J W BOOKWALTER bought many land grants for about $5. to $10. per acre until he owned about 1/3 of Mission Creek precinct. In 1889, the Northwestern Railroad was built from Kansas City to Virginia, so Mr BOOKWALTER laid out his town. Trees were planted and streets laid out and named, some for BOOKWALTER'S children.

Bookwalter flourished for a while with two stores, a blacksmith shop, an elevator, and a depot. J M BOOKWALTER had an office and there were many residences. It was the shipping point for stock and grain for miles around. The school was organized in 1889, classes being held in a store at first. Sunday School was held in the school until the Methodists built a church in 1904. It burned in 1948.

By 1920 the railroad was closed. Much business decreased, and the town ceased to flourish. Only the school house and a few houses remain (in 1955).     [continued]