FAMILY STORIES

ay, station agent at Abie; Kate, married, John McDermott of Colon; Josie of Colon; Thomas, died early; and Jerry, of whom this sketch continues.

   Jerry Dailey married Nellie Ryan, also of the Colon area. They farmed in their early years. Mr. Dailey later was a blacksmith in Colon, then turned to law enforcement. He was sheriff of Saunders County for 19 years, and, later, Chief of Police in Wahoo until his retirement. To this union were born five children. Joseph died in infancy. Thomas married Ethel Bergman of Columbus, Nebraska. Tom was a World War I veteran and worked for the Farmers Co-Op in Wahoo most of his life, managing the Co-Op for the last several years before his retirement. Ruth and Ruby (twins) worked in various business offices and county offices until their retirements.

   Edgar, of whom this sketch continues, was married to Vada Marie Garvin in Lincoln. Edgar attended the University of Nebraska for 3 years; then went to work teaching and coaching football in the Valley High School, Valley, Nebraska. Then, he became a licensed embalmer and, for many years with Mr. L.E. Hult, ran the Dailey-Hult Funeral Home in Wahoo. Mr. Dailey later sold out to Mr. Hult, and, for the last several years before his retirement, was Chief of Police of Wahoo, as was his father before him.

   Edgar and his wife had three sons, the first, who died in infancy; then, Kenneth and George Jerrold, who are both veterans of World War II. George (Jerry) attended Luther College and University of Nebraska. He married Marion Hinkle of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. They have one son, James, a graduate of Regis College of Denver, Colorado in engineering who married Ereka Skirka of Chicago, Illinois. Ereka also graduated from Loretto Heights College in Denver. To this union one son has been born: Paul.

   Kenneth, with his brother, George, started Dailey's Clinic Pharmacy & Lab in Wahoo, Nebraska in the Wahoo Clinic Building, operating a professional pharmacy and providing lab and x-ray services to the M.D.s of the Wahoo Clinic. Kenneth is a graduate of Creighton University with a B.S. in Pharmacy, and a graduate of University of Maryland with a M.S. in Bacteriology.

   Kenneth married Genevieve Johnson, and to this union were born 6 boys and one daughter. Laurence married Mary Haba of Swedeburg, Nebraska. Larry works at the University of Nebraska Field Lab. Mary is Social Service director at the Saunders County Care Center and has an associate degree in Social Services. They have one son, Kyle, at this time. Daniel, a registered pharmacist and a partner with his father, is a graduate of Nebraska University School of Pharmacy. Kathleen is married to Charles Jelinek of Weston, Nebraska. Charles is a draftsman and also farms. Kathleen is a graduate in Radiology and works as an X-ray Tech. with her father. They have two sons, Brian and Timothy. Patrick married Linda Barry and is in Radiology School. Linda works for the First National Bank in Wahoo. They have one son, Matthew. Gerald, Thomas and Terry (twins) are all in construction work. Tom and Terry are studying Building Construction at Milford Trade School. By Kenneth E. Dailey

   Otto Dau was the son of Peter and Anna Jacobs Dau. His parents came from Germany. They were married in Saunders County in 1887. They lived on a farm south of Yutan where all of their 8 children were born. Anna died in Feb., 1927, and Peter, in March, 1931.

   Otto was born April 16, 1892. He attended Boyles College in Omaha in 1912. He worked in a bank in Iowa and in Yutan, Nebr. He carried mail from Yutan to Memphis and return, for 2 years. He used a horse and buggy at first. He was sworn in as Postmaster in Yutan Oct., 1920. He was carrier one day and Postmaster the next. He held this job nearly 33 years, retiring in 1953. He married Naomi Wagner of Yutan in Sept., 1926. She served as clerk most of the time until he retired.

Otto Dau Family. Back Row L.-R.: Mary Lou, John, James, William; Front Row: Beverly, Otto, Naomi.

   Five children were born to them: James, William, John, Mary Lou, and Beverly. James, William, and Mary Lou graduated from the Yutan High School. Beverly graduated from Wahoo. James and Beverly went to the Lincoln School of Commerce. James and John were in the army, serving in Korea.

   All the children, except John, went to California. James married Nell Marlowe. He works for the city of Los Angeles. William married Phyllis Graser. They have 2 children, Linda and Roger. He worked in a bank and now is in insurance.

   Mary Lou married Robert Harnden. They have 3 married sons: Bradley, Martin, and Douglas. Martin has a son, Robert. Mary Lou works in a bank and Robert, in a lumber yard.

   Beverly married Edward Kennedy. She has one son, Roderick. John lives in Wahoo. He married Patricia McMahon. They have 2 children, Kathleen and Robert. Kathleen married Rodney Urban. They have a daughter, Kelly.

   Otto's family belonged to the Evangelical Reformed Church. After retiring Otto, Naomi, and Beverly moved to McPherson, Kansas; then to Fairbury, Nebr. It was too lonely so they moved to Wahoo.

   Otto loved sports. He took in all the basketball and baseball games. He died in Sept., 1962. Naomi is now living in Ashland. Submitted by Naomi Dau

   I was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899.

Ellen Larson Davis, Taken in 1930

   My parents both came to America from Toupe, Sweden. My mother, the former Anna Anderson, met and married my father, Sven Larson, in Des Moines, Iowa. They settled in Sarpy County, near Omaha, in the vicinity of which is now known as the Southroads Shopping Center. My parents raised 8 children, 3 boys and 5 girls, of which I was their 4th child.

   When I was 15 years old, my parents moved to Saunders County with the family. They took the job of Boarding Managers at the Luther College in Wahoo. My mother also cooked for the students there. So, our family lived right there at the College. I studied music, voice, pipe organ and oil painting. I also worked as a clerk downtown.

   While living in Wahoo, I met Frank Davis, a farmer, who was born and raised in Saunders County on a farm 5 miles north of Wahoo. In 1921, we were married at the Salem Lutheran Church in Omaha.

   After our marriage, Frank and I farmed the Davis land. We had 2 children, a daughter, Valoura, and a son, Vernon. My daughter married Leslie Kessinger, and lives in Omaha, where they raised five children. My son, Vernon, and his wife, Bernice, live on a farm, north of Wahoo.

   In 1939, my husband and I bought our own farm near Colon. Frank farmed until his death in 1960.

   After Frank's death, I bought a house in Wahoo, across from where the Luther College used to be and moved there in 1964. I became a member of the Women's Club, of which I was their president for 2 years. I joined the Garden Club, Women's Auxiliary, and Historical Society. I have been an active member in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church since I was confirmed to 1915, singing in their choir, and teaching Sunday School for many years.

   I have had many wonderful trips to Florida and different places in the United States and Canada. A trip to Europe in 1962, I'll always cherish. I went by train to New York, and from there, I got aboard the "Queen Elizabeth Liner", and sailed across the Atlantic. It was a 30-day tour, which took me to many cities and countries. It was a wonderful experience.

   At my age, I'm now limited to what all I'd like to do. But I enjoy playing the organ and piano, and, doing oil paintings in my idle hours. I have given away more than 50 of my paintings. One of the Lincoln Capitol, hangs in an office at the Capitol Building. In the museum at Falls City, Nebraska, painting hangs of the town's old water tower. And one of my paintings is hanging at the Senior Citizen Center in Wahoo.

   I still live in Wahoo, across from what used to be Luther College, where I once lived, and spent so much time as a young girl. It brings back many memories of the past. Submitted by Ellen Davis

   My wife, Bernice, and I live on a farm, which is 1½ miles south of Colon. I was born in Saunders County, grew up on a farm, and attended school at District 23, and Colon, in the county.

Vernon and Bernice Davis

   William Davis, my grandfather, settled in Saunders County in 1879, having come from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He met and married Amanda Davis, from the Des Moines, Iowa area in 1880, and whose last name was also Davis. They resided on a farm south of Colon, and raised 2 daughters and 1 son. Their son, Frank, who was my father, farmed his fathers land. He married Ellen Larson from Omaha, Nebraska. They had 2 children, a daughter, Valoura, and a son, Vernon. My parents, sister Valoura, and I lived with the grandparents, until I was 12 years old. My father than bought a farm of his own, which was still in the territory, only a mile north.

   When I was 18 years old, I was called into the U.S. Army, and was discharged in 1946. After getting out of the service, I began farming for

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myself, from neighbors in the Colon area. In 1948, was able to get my first car, which was a Ford. But I had to borrow some of the money from a neighbor, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Zerbe, who lived in Colon at that time. I would farm during the spring and summer, and worked many winters at the Ed Borreson Hatchery in Wahoo. Even after I start farming, I spent many winters working elsewhere, in Wahoo, Omaha, and California.

   My father died in 1960. Shortly afterwards, my mother, Ellen, moved to Wahoo, and still resides here. I bought the family farm, which was 160 acres, from the heirs, and began farming the land. Since then I have purchased other land in the county.

   In 1967, in a church wedding in Omaha, I married Bernice Loves. She was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and attended school and grew up there. She was one of nine children, 8 girls and 1 boy. Bernice's mother, Agnes, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bernice's father, Joseph, was born in Austria-Hungary. He came to America when he was 12 years old, and never returned to his native land. His mother had another child, a daughter, born after he left for America, and he never got to meet or see his sister, in his life-time.

   My wife, Bernice, worked at the Federal Reserve Bank in Omaha for many years before our marriage.

   I have been farming for 34 years in the Colon area. My wife and I are still in the farming business and live in the house on the farm, which we own. Besides farming, we have been in the apartment business in Omaha, Nebraska, for over 20 years.

   We both enjoy traveling. And, after retiring, we would both like very much to spend the winters in Southern Florida. Submitted by Vernon C. Davis

   William Mann Davis of Boston, Massachusetts read in the newspaper, "Go West, young man, go West" to the prairies of Nebraska and pick a homestead. So William left his home and started for Nebraska. On his way he stopped at Berwick, Iowa to visit his Uncle Henry Taylor. While there he met a young girl, Amanda Davis, who always said, "I'm not going to change my name."

   William traveled on to Wahoo, Nebraska, where he heard of a 160-acre homestead for $10.00 an acre with a small, one-room house on the southeast corner. So William became a Nebraska farmer.

   William and Amanda were married in Fremont, Nebraska, where they stayed at the Pathfinder Hotel. On receiving her inheritance, Amanda and William built a large 11-room house in the 1850's, which still stands today. They raised 3 children, Martha, Ada, and Frank.

Amanda and William Davis, Ada and Frank in buggy!

   Family history ordinarily concerns and interests those closely related and about whom it is written. I am also interested in the history of Saunders County, Nebraska and the early settlers, including my grandparents and great-grandparents. Some of the following information I have taken from a genealogy book written by Joseph Davis, a brother of my grandmother, Ann Victoria Mauck, a resident of Weston for many years of her life.

   Capt. William and Nancy Davis and family moved from Francisco, Indiana by wagon, followed by other family members several years later. They settled near Wahoo and Weston area. Part of the town of Weston is surveyed from land that was owned by William Davis and other members of his family. He built the first school house in Weston, and also gave a plot of ground for a cemetery where he and great-grandmother, Nancy, and others in the family are buried.

   The church that now stands on the Historical Complex was built under his leadership, and the bell was a gift of the family to the church. Many people have had a part in worshipping in the church and growing in the community to help make this a better world to live in.

   Ann Victoria, my grandmother, was one of Capt. William and Nancy Davis' daughters. She married Jacob Mauck at Francisco, Indiana and they came to Weston to be with the family. My father, Samuel Mauck, was four years old when they traveled by wagon across country.

   Lena Mae Miles, my mother, was born near Steamboat Rock, Iowa. She lived there until she was twelve years old, when she and her father, Matthew Miles, came to live in Weston after the death of her mother and brother. I know very little about my mother's family.

   My mother and father, Sam Mauck, were married in July, 1896, and lived in Weston and Touhy where my father taught school for almost 20 years. Our family moved to Wahoo in 1909 when he was elected to the office of Register of Deeds. He held this office for 4 terms, my mother being his deputy for 8 years. He died while in office, and my mother was appointed to fill the remaining time left of his term. My sister, Mildred, brother, Robert E., and I grew up in Wahoo, attending and graduating from Wahoo schools.

   I married Edwin W. Pearson in 1928. The son of Anna and Nels Pearson, he and his 4 brothers and 4 sisters lived on a farm near Swedeberg. He moved to Wahoo where he finished his education. We lived on a farm south of Wahoo for about 11 years, and had three children, Carl E., LeAnn E., and Rodney D. In 1941, we moved to California to make our home. I still reside in San Gabriel, with my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all living in this area.

   I have many happy memories of my early life in Wahoo. I enjoy returning to Wahoo occasionally to visit relatives and renew friendships that I value from former years. My last visit, September, 1982, was a great pleasure. I visited the Saunders County Historical Complex and I'm sure, as time goes by, more historical information will be added for the pleasure of all visitors. Evelyn Mauck Pearson

Captain William Davis and Family

   William (Bill) Dawson left the farming country of Canada in 1874. He arrived in Saunders County in June 1874. In 1878 he purchased a farm in Douglas precinct on which he resided until June 1912. He died January 31, 1913 and is buried in Fleming Cemetery. The deceased had never married.

   Bill had two sisters living in Saunders County. They were: Sarah Ann (Dawson) Gidley and J. (Dawson) Wilcox. Both resided on farms all their lives.

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