Nicholas
Fablinger
Nicholas
came to Logan County in September 1886 and homesteaded southeast
of Gandy. He was the son of George and Margaret Pope Fablinger, born
March 6, 1846, in Maryland near Washington D.C.
The
family was living in Illinois when President Lincoln called for volunteers
to serve in the Union Army for 100 days. Eighteen year old
Nicholas enlisted in Co. C. 140 Illinois Volunteers. After
the 100 days he enlisted in the 96th Regiment
and was transferred to Co. H 21st. When the Civil War ended he received
an honorable discharge. In March 1875, Nicholas married
Margaret Blake. The had 3 sons; William, George and Edward and one
daughter Lillian.
This
family lived on a farm in western Illinois. Margaret died
on April 29, 1881, six weeks after the
birth of Lillian. Mr. Fablinger was busy on the farm and wondered how
he could go on farming and be able
to provide all the things his young children needed. After much thought and discussion, with his
wifes parents, who were helping with the care of the children,
Nicholas decided he should go to Nebraska. So with mutual agreement, the two youngest
children Edward, and Lillian, were left to be raised by their grandparents.
He took Will and George as far as Auburn, Ne, where they
were left in the care of an aunt, Mrs. John Schlecht, while he went on west.
Nicholas
found what he was looking for in Logan County about six miles southeast
of Gandy on Garfield Table. He made small living quarters, purchased basic supplies
and equipment, joined the Garfield Methodist Church, helped neighbors
and decided he had made the right choice. He then made the trip back
to get his two sons. How long that trip in the covered wagon must have
been for them! Day after day being jolted up and down like
that; the heat, leaving all familiar faces, and the landscape with
fewer and fewer trees and housed, long stretches of nothing but
sky and grass. Nicholas and his two boys batched and worked long
hours in the field.
The
boys first attended school in the sod school house east of their home and
then the other rural schools. Many years of school was held
for only 3 to 6 months.
On
March 4, 1892, Nicholas and Lizzie C. Applegate were married. They had
two daughters; Margaret (Mrs. Herb Smith: and Lizzie (Mrs. Raliegh Joy). The Fablingers moved to Gandy n September 1913.
Mr. Fablinger was always active in affairs of the community.
He
died January 15, 1917, and Mrs. Lizzie Fablinger died Jan 31, 1919.
They are buried in the McCain Cemetery.
From
the book Logan County Nebraska, Through the years 1885-1985.
Copied by Tracy Johnson Summerville September 2001
