The settlement of present Alda township begins back almost next to Washington township.

W. G. Eldridge located in Hall County on May 20, 1859, on the northeast quarter of section 14, town 10, range 11. The country was then decidedly sparsely settled. The nearest neighbors on the west were eight miles away. Buffalo, deer, antelope, wolves, and Indians roamed over the vast treeless plains with wild freedom, undaunted by the approach of any white neighbors. A few hundred Indians camping near Mr. Eldridge's humble habitation was not an unusual occurrence. He erected the first dwelling in the fall of 1859. Mr. Eldridge, the father of the Alda community, was a native of Lafayette, Indiana, born on December 23, 1882 (sic). He moved ot Middleport, Illinois, at the age of twenty-one and carried on a harness shop until 1856. He went to Kansas then and without any permanent place of settleent traded ponies and horse with Indians and whites alike. Returning to Indiana in the winter of 1858, he stayed only long enough to get started for Nebraska in March, 1859. He was married in Hall Couinty, in the fall of 1860 to Miss S. S. Shinton, a native of England. They had five children, Annie E. who became the wife of Warren Winslow, Jessie N., Mary I., Jasper J., and Fannie A.

Squire Lamb came to this part of the country in 1858. The Reese family came in 1860. In the meantime John Thomssen, one of the thirty-five members of the colony which settled near Grand Island in 1857, was married in 1860 to the one single lady who had accompanied the original coloney to Hall County. During the year 1860 this bridal couple settled down and became pioneers of the present Alda township. Mr. and Mrs. N. V. Hansen settled on a place adjoining the Thomssen's. Other very early settlers were John Ring and two sons, John House and family, the Hann family, Henry Garn, and Charles and Arthur Lamberson. Francis Corkins came from Illinois to this part of Hall County in the fall of 1867. He worked through that neighborhood until 1875, then was married to Miss Harriet E. Smith and took a soldier's homestead.

W. H. Norton came to this part of the county in 1867. He worked on the Union Pacific railroad during the summers of 1867 and 1868, then settled down on section 14, town 10, range 11. W. W. Mitchell came to Alda vicinity in 1871 and two years later embarked in business in Pawnee, now Alda.

Other settlers in this vicinity prior to the early seventies were:

Wm. Thomssen, Henry Stelk, 1859, Squire Lamb, Henry Lamb, Carl Baasch, 1866, Catherina Buettner, 1863, Fritz Wiese, 1869, Henry Wiese, 1871, Otto Wiese, 1871, J. Knuth, 1870, J. S. Denman, 1871, William Powell, 1869, George L. Rouse, 1873, Claus Stoltenberg, in the county in 1859.

Claus Stoltenberg came to Hall County in April, 1859. He was a native of Holstein, Germany, born September 2, 1832, and grew to manhood in his native land. He emigrated to America in 1856, and after spending some time in New York and in Wisconsin, he came to Nebraska and spent a year and a half in Omaha. He entered 160 acres of land, but afterwards acquired more land around him. He was married here Dece-

mber 6, 1862, to Miss Esther Paustean, a native of Holstein, Germany. They had six children, Alwine (wife of Claus Tagge, of Grand Island), Edward, Ferdinand, Cecile (wife of Bernhard Wise, of Rock County, Nebraska, Wilhelmine and Carl.

A. H. DENMAN

One of the very active men in the development of the Alda community was Hon. A. H. Denman, Sr. He came to Hall County in August, 1871. He was born in Licking County, Ohio, March 26, 1834, and there he attended the district schools during the winter months and assisted his father on the farm in summer months until he was nineteen years of age, when he left to attend Martinsburg College, from which institution he graduated. In his twenty-fourth year he was married to Miss Harriett Robinson of Neward, Ohio. He then settled down to farming in his native county, and while there held the office of county surveyor. In 1864 he moved to McLean County, Illinois, and engaged in tilling the soil there until his removal to Hall County. He located thirtten miles southwest of Grand Island and at once set energetically to farming and raising stock. He gradually increased his acreage, until he became the woner of several hundred acres and a large amount of stock. He devoted his time to the affairs of the community as well as to his own farming operations. For many years he held the position of county supervisor from Alda precinct. In 1882 he was chosen by the people of the county to represent them in the state legislature, which position he filled with honor to himself and his constituents. He was president of the Hall County Agricultural Society in 1889. His death occured very suddenly at the age of fifty-five years.

Mr. Denman was but one member of a family that has left its impress upon the history of Hall County. W. H. Denman, J. A. Denman, Z. H. Denman, Jr., James S. Denman, H. C. Denman, J. Denman, W. C. Denman, C. W. Denman, were among his brothers, sons and nephews who have all made a remarkable record in the development of Alda township and Hall County generally.

Among the early setters of Alda township who were landowners before 1890, were:

William Wrage, Henry Knuth, Z. H. Denman, Sr., W. H. Denman, J. A. Denman, Z. H. Denman, Jr., J. Denman, A. C. Denman, W. C. Denman, Jas. S. Denman, C. W. Denman, H. C. Denman, Claus Stoltenberg, John Thomssen, Sr., Henry Lamb, N. V. Hansen, Heinrich Mann, H. Schoel, Carl Hann, H. A. Rose, R. Gilchrist, Orlando Myers, B. R. Marshall, John Brown, C. A. Judy, A. B. Fraker, Eliz. Quissenberry, W. B. Cummings, P. Marquisse, Jos. Kelso, H. A. Gallup, Wm. Powell, Theodore Martens, Martin Schimmer, Chas. Krueger, Carl Baasch, Carl Schimmer, Henry Wiese, W. Engel, John Seier, Henry Brockman, M. Knuth, John Pehrs, D. Appledorn, John Bergfleth, Hans Behrens, John Chas. Kroeger, F. Lilienthal, B. Knox, Fritz Thesenvitz, A. Hapfel, M. Cornelius, Geo. W. Garrison, Fritz Schroeder, Wm. Juenke, Isaac Wheeler, Chas. Thesenvitz, A. DeWitte, John Quissenberry, M. K. Lewis, Gehrt Dickman, K. W. Lewis, Sylvester Renfrew, J. W. Modesitt, Chas. Fyller [probably Charles Fuller], M. C. Fuller, Perry Hack, A. B. Hankey, W. Powell, Darius Richardson, John Roach, Henry Roach, H. A. Rose, Geo. Elfus.