"Not So Gay Nineties" index

Compendium of Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska
Boyd County residents' biographies

Index to
"Not So Gay Nineties"
by George E. MacGinitie

Submitted by Mary Ferm mmferm@gmail.com

My grandfather, George E. MacGinitie (b 1889) wrote a personal memoir of his childhood in Lynch, Nebraska, entitled "The Not So Gay Ninties". Included are many anecdotes about other residents of the area, whose names are listed below. The time period covered was about 1892-1907. I would be happy to do lookups on any of the listed names. Here is an example from the opening chapter:

"In April 1891, we moved to a homestead at a place in Boyd County that later became known as Lynch. I sat on the wagon seat between my eldest brother John, who was driving, and my mother. The previous fall, my father had gone to file on the homestead. Later my father bought a small house, fourteen by sixteen feet, that he took apart into a floor, four walls, and two pieces of roof, loaded it onto the running gears of a freight wagon and hauled it to our new homestead where it was put together again…The first well we had was a shallow one that soon caved in. Then, when I was about seven or eight years old, Dad hired a short, stocky, broad-shouldered Norwegian farmer named Rasmussen to dig a new one. He dug this well nearly twenty feet deep, throwing all of the soil out through the opening at the top without help from anyone."

Remember, this was a rough life, and many of the anecdotes reflect that.

List of persons mentioned:

Anderson ( dry goods and grocery store owner)(p 210)
Baker: Nick, Charlie (bachelors)(p 212)
Bell, Arthur (child) (p 184, 181)
Blackmere (preacher) (p 130-1)
Boltz, Mike (adult) (p 28)
Brubaker, Uncle John (p 48)
Burkholder, Stafford, Emma (farmer, daughter)(p 21, 169-70)
Chambers, Boone (adult)(p 28)
Faver, Lafayette "Fet" (farmer)(p 67, 212)
Gilman, Grace (child)(p 69)
Gray, "Auntie" (p 131)
Grant, Grandma (p 52,136)
Haley, Miss (teacher) (p 141)
Hallett: Mina, Jeff, Burley, Ada (hotel, livery stable owner, musician, and children)(p 194, 215, 228)
Hallett Hotel (p 205)
Hicking (bachelor farmer in his 50s)(p 202)
Hickman (Presbyterian minister) (p 133)
Higgins, Gail, John (p 41, 53,156)
Hoffman (store owner) (p 27, 210, 223, 229, 231)
Hoover, Doc (p 67)
Irwin: Cal, Jim, Uncle Billy (teamster, child, musician)(p 38,204, 226)
Johnson: Art, Harry, Smoky (children) (p 21,123,127, 143, 145,173,201, 225, 231, 186, 182)
Kendall, Mike (stage driver)(p 196, 226)
Kincaid, Horace (child) (p 78)
Korab, Elmer (child of store owner)(p 174,202, 179)
Lamoroux, George (horse rancher) (p 152)
Lynch, John (pioneer) (p 8, 21, 201)
Melscha: Frank, Dan (soda pop bottler, band leader)(p 209, 228)
Peklo (butcher)(p 35,199)
Pospistel (blacksmith) (p 27)
Provachek (hardware store owner)(p 179, 210)
Rasmussen (laborer, farmer)(p 16)
Russell Mr. (teacher) (p 142)
Sage, George (adult)(p 123)
Stuck (blacksmith) (p 206)
Swindler, Adam (adult)(p 66)
Thomas, Jack (barber)(p 196)
Tomak, Fred (miller's son)(p 45,169, 199)
Torrance, Tom (town marshall) ( p 200)
Walters (hotel owners)(p 205)
Wandt, Hazel (child) (p 140)
Warner, Johnny (child, b 1889) (p 171)
Weigel, Earl (child) (p 191, 181)
Woodall (race horse owner) (p 43-4, 212)
Yedliska, Vac (harness maker) (p 206)

Native Americans from the Ponca/Santee Reservations:

White Dog (adult) (p 159)
Harry Bear (child) (p 164)
Yellow Bird (adult) (p 165)

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This book found in the NEGenWeb Project Online Library, Compendium of Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska, includes biographies of the following Boyd County residents.

Armstrong, Mrs. A.R. - (incl. Rev. N. E. Gardner)
Bailey, Jere B.
Bergstrom, John
Bradstreet, N. P.
Carroll, Joseph
Ducher, Wm.
Hoffman, John C.
Holt, H. E.
Kloke, Wm F.
Knecht, Theodore
Scherer, Franz
Short, G. W.
Stahlecker, John
Walker,Joseph T.
Woods, J. T.
Yocum, C. E.
Youllm, C. Arthur
Zimmerman, Dr. C.F.

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