FAMILY STORIES

Cloyd Dale Boydston Family

ty. Mayor Boyle is the great-grandson of pioneers John and Ellen (Trainor) Carey who came in 1871 from Toledo, Ontario, by sleigh, steamboat, and railroad to Fremont, Nebr. They crossed the Platte River by ferry and rented 80 acres with a one-room house on it. Having a sum of $200 cash, they purchased a yoke of oxen and a cow named "Blackie", a most evil-hearted "critter".

   John and Ellen had 11 children, the ninth being Margaret Ellen Carey, born Nov. 21, 1874, in Saunders County. She later married Eugene Boyle and they became the parents of James Harold. James, father of Mayor Boyle, was born Dec. 7, 1904, on a farm east of the Little Flower of Teresa Cemetery in Saunders County. James and his wife, Ethel Ryan, had two other children: James Harold and Helen Claire.

   Great-grandfather John and his family planted a fine grove of trees on the Carey farm. The grove became quite important in the area, hosting such notables as His Eminence, the Bishop, and William Jennings Bryan, in its shady comfort. Families drove over to the Carey farm just to see the grove. The Carey family itself enjoyed many years of work and pleasure in the shade of its trees.

   The following paragraph was taken from Ellen and John Carey -- Nebraska Pioneers by May C. Jones, printed in 1960.

"Margaret completed her education at a Lincoln convent. Like Anna, she was a beautiful woman. They had the deep blue eyes with black hair and lashes of the Careys. She married Eugene Boyle and they lived in the vicinity of Estina the greater part of their lives. They were a most happy couple and had hosts of friends. Gene had a fine tenor voice and sang in the choir at Estina. Margaret played the organ."

   Anton and Helen were both born in Saunders County, living only a half-mile apart from each of our birthplaces. Anton was born to Anton C. and Christina (Machovec) Brabec on his folks farm northwest of Wahoo. When a small boy, his folks moved to a farm near Ithaca, Nebraska. There his folks built a new home. Anton attended Districts 70 and 42 schools. The Dist. 42 schoolhouse has now been moved to Wahoo to the Historical Society property.

   I was born to Richard A. and Gertrude (Koenig) Anderson on the Herman Koenig farm southwest of Colon. I attended School Dist. 53 and Dist. 70.

Back Row: John and Dennis Brabec; Front Row: Helen and Anton Brabec.

   As a young man, Anton moved back to the Dist. 70 community to farm for his dad. We met again and were married on April 27, 1943 at the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Wahoo, Nebraska. We had our wedding dinner and supper at the home of my folks.

   We are proud parents of three sons, Edward, John, and Dennis. They all attended Dist. 70 and St. Wenceslaus schools. Edward graduated from Wahoo Catholic High School. John and Dennis graduated from Bishop Neumann High School.

   Anton loved to fish and hunt so always found time to take his boys along.

   Edward and John were both in the National Guard after they got out of high school. All three boys were very active in 4-H work and enjoyed taking care of their livestock and showing them at the Fairs. Edward was also a 4-H leader for several years.

   Edward married Algene Kavan and they were parents of 5 children: Ann, Julie, Thomas, Margaret, and Kelly. He was a farmer and they lived on the farmstead where I was born. In 1976, Edward was killed in a farm accident.

   John married Elizabeth Trawny and they have 2 children, Jeffrey and Kristin. He also is a farmer and lives on the Art Rufer farm, having purchased 40 acres with the buildings.

   Dennis is also a farmer. He farms with his brother and dad.

   Several years ago we remodeled our farm home as it's been in the family for many years. We started out our married life with no electricity or running water, so we appreciate all the modern conveniences, such as the television that we didn't have when we were growing up. Having worked together to have these things, we are thankful for all our blessings. Submitted by Helen Brabec

   Matej and Mary (Divis) Brabec, maternal grandparents of Dr. Frank T. Machovec, were the parents of eleven children. Their names and the names of their spouses are as follows: Joseph (Edith Anderson); Mary (Frank Vybiral); Mike (Bessie Koutny); Gustie (Frank Styskal); Carrie (Martin Machovec); Anton (Christina Machovec); Frances (Anton Svoboda); Louis (Philomena Bartek); Barbara (Lloyd Koutny); Stella (Anton Cuda); and Theodore (Clara Flood). Mrs. Anton Cuda is the only survivor of this family and resides in Wahoo. There are many descendants of Matej and Mary Brabec living in Saunders County.

Matej Brabec and Family

   Eugene Breunig and Berneta Nelson were married in March of 1954. Born to them were 5 daughters and a son. The children are Diane, Gloria, Stacy, Leslie, Steve, and Amy. They are members of St. Wenceslaus Church, and all attended St. Wenceslaus Grade School and Neumann High. Gloria was chosen the first Saunders County Jr. Miss in 1975. The four older girls are now married and there are four grandchildren. Eugene was the son of Charles and Marie Breunig, and was 8 years old when the family moved from Fremont to Wahoo in 1939. His dad and oldest brother started the Breunig Rendering Works 2 years earlier. Gene is co-owner with his three brothers in that business. His parents and l sister are deceased.

"Miss Nebraska 1953" Berneta Nelson at the Miss Universe Pageant

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   Berneta was born and grew up in Clay County, Nebraska, where her parents farmed for 40 years. They are retired and live in Clay Center. She has one sister living in Lincoln. Berneta was Miss Nebraska in 1953 and the first girl to represent Nebraska in the Miss Universe pageant in Long Beach, California in 1953-54.

   Eugene and Berneta built their own home in 1973 and the family still resides there. Submitted by Berneta Breunig

   My grandparents were Anders and Gustafva Brodd who emigrated from Sweden in 1875, and came to Saunders County in the year 1882. My father was August Brodd, their son. My mother was Hilma Greenberg. She came to America from Sweden when she was sixteen years old and came to her sister's home, Mrs. Nels Eliason at Swedeburg, Nebraska. August and Hilma were married January 25, 1899. I am one of their ten children.

The Brodd's in "1960" Back Row: Arlene, Robert, Roger. 25th Wedding Anniversary of Evald and Dorothea

   My wife Dorothea's grandparents were Anders and Berte Andrea Knudsen who came from Norway and lived southeast of Ceresco. Her father, Herman, was the youngest of five children. Her mother's parents were Olaf and Ida Marie Boquist, who came to the Ceresco community from Illinois. Their daughter, Ida, married Herman Knudsen on May 5, 1897. Dorothea was the youngest of their three children.

   I attended Shakespeare grade school northwest of Ceresco, Ceresco High School, Luther Academy and the University of Nebraska night school. Dorothea attended the Bright Star country school southeast of Ceresco and graduated from the Ceresco High School in 1928.

   We were married at Waverly, Nebraska, September 8, 1935, lived near Ceresco for two years, and moved to Wahoo in 1937, where we have lived ever since. My employment was at the Union State Bank, Ceresco, for five and one-half years. In 1930, I came to the First National Bank at Wahoo, where I worked for forty-five years. I retired in 1975.

   Our family consists of Robert, born December 1937. He attended North Ward School, Wahoo High School, Nebraska Wesleyan and Midland College. He married Laura Ann Peters of Scribner, Nebraska. They were married in Hooper, Nebraska June 28, 1963. They have two sons, Brian and Daryl, who, at present, are attending Hooper-Loganview High School. (Note: This paragraph was printed twice in the original book.)

   Our son, Roger, was born June 24, 1945, attended North Ward grade school, Wahoo High School, and is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He married Charlene Anderson of Omaha, August 26, 1967, who is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan. They have four sons, David, Joel, Charles and William Robert and reside in Omaha, Nebraska.

   We have been very active members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Wahoo during the past forty-two years. Dorothea's extra-curricular activities have been Wahoo Mother's Club, Den Mother, Girl Scout Leader, Wahoo Garden Club and Lutheran Church Women. I have been in Boy Scout leadership for twenty-five years, many years as an active member in Kiwanis club, Bethlehem Lutheran Church choir, Church Board Member, Wahoo Coin Club and, at present, sing barbershop harmony with the Fremont Pathfinder barbershop chorus. I have always lived in Saunders County. Submitted by Evald C. Brodd

   Beulah L. Olson Bronson, the only daughter of Oscar E. Olson and Lillian Swanson Olson was born on the family farm near Swedeburg. She attended School District No. 32 and graduated from Luther Academy in 1939. After doing secretarial work in offices in Wahoo and the "Bomber Plant" near Mead, she went to Seattle, Washington to work in the Boeing Aircraft Factory during World War II. While in Seattle she met L.B. "LEE" Bronson in 1943, a sailor in the U.S. Navy. Lee was born October 26, 1916 at Milford, California and moved to Reno, Nevada when he was 12 years old, attending school in Reno. Lee served in the U.S. Navy for four years on the light cruiser U.S.S. Raleigh -- seeing action in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

   Lee and Beulah were married on June 1, 1945 in Reno, Nevada. After getting out of the service in October, 1945, they came to Omaha, Nebraska and lived for five years. While in Omaha, Lee was employed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Beulah and Lee came to Wahoo in December of 1949 and moved into the home on Sycamore Street that had been built by Beulah's grandfather, Andrew Olson, in 1913. Beulah's parents, Oscar and Lillian Olson, moved to the 240 acre farm in Rock Creek Precinct when they were married in 1913. Lee and Beulah are still residing in the original Andrew Olson home on Sycamore Street in Wahoo.

   In March of 1959, Lee and Beulah purchased the Harry Falke Insurance Agency in Wahoo which they are still operating today as the Bronson Agency. Beulah owns and operates an H & R Block Franchise tax business in the Bronson Agency office and also owns and operates the Wahoo Trading Post on Chestnut Street.

   Beulah's activities were many in the Grace Lutheran Church at Swedeburg and Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Wahoo, on this year's Bethlehem Lutheran Church Centennial Committee. She is licensed to write all general insurance in the state, does the bookkeeping for Bronson Agency, as well as tax preparations for the general public as an operator of an H & R Block Satellite. She still owns and operates the 240-acre farm in Rock Creek Precinct, originally owned by her Grandfather Andrew Olson. She belongs to the Eastern Star, Daughters of the Nile and Shrine Auxiliary.

   Lee's activities, besides developing a successful insurance business, were serving on many boards, being active in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Secretary of Wahoo Industries, Inc., and numerous committees on the development of the Wahoo community. He was one of the original 10 board members that purchased the Luther College campus and started John F. Kennedy College in 1965, a four-year liberal arts college. Lee is past president of the Wahoo Lions Club, a member over 25 years, an American Legion Post #82 member, a Democrat, a Scottish Rite 32 Degree Mason and a Shriner.

   Lee and Beulah are the parents of five children born at Omaha, Nebraska. Twins Wm. Lee and Sandra Lee were born 3-5-46. James Oscar was born 2-3-48. Patricia Lynn was born 4-6-54. Robert John was born 4-21-56. Wm. Lee married Nancy Kimball on 12-5-69. They have two children: Gentry, 8-17-72, and Kaleb, 2-16-80. Sandra Lee married Jaye Ediger on 8-2-75. They have two children: Joshua, 2-24-78, and Kathryn, 9-17-80. James married Cynthia Ferrara on 12-28-72. They have children: Britney, 1-17-77, and James A., 9-17-79.

   My paternal and maternal grandparents were early settlers in the 1880's in Lancaster county. My parents, Edward Carl and Mary Elizabeth Zink Baade, were both born in Lancaster County. I was their second child of two daughters and four sons, born January 1, 1915, west of Bennet, Nebraska.

Elinor L. Brown

   My parents farmed in the Cheney and Bennet areas from 1916-1928 until they purchased their own farm one mile south of Ceresco.

   I attended grade school at District 40, three miles west of Bennet, and completed eighth grade at District 121, southeast of Ceresco. I developed my artistic and musical talents while in grade school and decided to be a teacher at age eight. This was the foundation for my life's career as a teacher and educator-publisher.

   I graduated cum laude from Ceresco High School in 1932 and was top science, math and art student in my class all through high school.

   By passing about twenty-five teachers' examinations during my junior and senior years in high school, and at Nebraska Wesleyan the summer of 1932, I earned my Third Grade Elementary Teaching Certificate.

   I was fortunate to be hired because of a late teaching vacancy at District 35, Pleasant Valley School, Lancaster County, the fall of 1932. I taught the first year for $45.00 per month and was very grateful for it during those depression, drought years of the 1930's. The following two years, I received fifty dollars per month. I taught District 34, Cedar Hill School, the next three years, and the "Meyer-Landon" school north of Greenwood in Cass County for my last year, 1938-1939.

   On June 14, 1939, I married J. Lowell Brown of Lincoln in a beautiful home wedding north of Malcolm where we moved in the spring of 1939. We lived in Greeley, Colorado, 1939-1940, where our first son, Harold, was born. (Deceased January 1981.) My husband taught near Holyoke, Colorado; at Louisville, Nebraska; and Milford, Iowa from 1940-1946 when we moved to our home at 625 South 56 Street in Lincoln, the spring of 1947. Our second son was born at Spirit Lake, Iowa, in June, 1945. Deceased October, 1947. Our daughter, Sharon was born January 16, 1948 in Lincoln, currently teaches music in Fremont, is married to Michael J. Mulcahy, and has a son, Sean.

   I renewed my educational interests while working at Stephenson's School Supply and teaching preschool at Tifereth Israel Synagogue from 1951-1954. I then went into publishing elementary teachers books under the name of Midwest Publishing Company. My first set of books, FALL, WINTER, SPRING FESTIVAL BOOKS were top sellers for many years. I added other books and teaching aids. My business flourished quite well over the years.

   I outgrew the basement of our home and purchased Otto Olsen's old print shop building in Ceresco in 1961. I have carried on my business and

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