FAMILY STORIES

southwest of Abie, Nebraska. To this union nine children were born: Edward, Emma, Henry, Gustie, James, Olga, Ella, Wilma, and Ernest. At the time of this printing all survive except Edward who died as a young child.

Mr. and Mrs. James Coufal, Taken in 1976

   James was born near Abie on March 10, 1904. He went through eight grades at the Abie school. On October 18, 1926, he married Wilma Evelyn Votava, daughter of Frank J. and Frances (Pelt) Votava. She was born and raised near Linwood, Nebraska and graduated from David City High School. Two children were born of this union: Arlene Delores and Robert James. James continued farming near Abie until 1938 and then moved to a farm 3½ miles east of Colon. Having retired from farming in 1949 and moving into Colon, he was then employed at the Co-op Grain Elevator for twenty years. Many of those years he served as assistant manager. On August 22, 1973, he received a Meritorious Service Award from the Nebraska State Volunteer Firemen's Association for 25 years of outstanding service as a volunteer fireman. He served as Fire Chief for several years and also as assistant Fire Chief. For 30 years, he has been elected and serves on the Village Board of Colon. For several years he also served as the Mayor.

   Wilma was an expert seamstress and very creative with her love for crochet and knitting. She was an active member of the Colon Chapter of the American Legion Auxiliary. Both Wilma and James enjoyed their grandchildren and great grandchildren which now number twelve.

   Wilma Coufal passed away on January 25, 1980 at St. Joseph Hospital, Omaha, Nebr.

   Arlene Delores attended Lothair Country School and graduated from Mead High School in 1946. She married Vernon J. Konecky and one child, Jacqueline Kaye, was born to this union. This marriage was dissolved after 19 years. She attended Casper College for two years and worked at Cartography for the State of Wyoming. Arlene resided in Casper, Wyoming for about 18 years and then returned to Nebraska and, presently, resides in Colon. Arlene is a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church and the Altar Society in Colon.

   Robert James attended Fremont High School and served with the Army during the Korean War. He married Alyce Rezac and resides near Wahoo, Nebraska.

   James continues to reside in Colon and remains active with his yard work, garden and flowers and enjoys helping neighbors during harvest season. Submitted by Jacqueline Kaye Hallock

   George L. Crinklaw and Eunice Manners, daughter of Joseph and Mary Jane Hazelett Manners, were married at Wahoo on Nov. 26, 1896. They spent their entire married life on the Crinklaw family farm in the Marietta community seven miles northeast of Wahoo. George and Eunice had two children, Willie Raymond, born Sept 7, 1897 at Wahoo, and Helen Mary Crinklaw, born Febr. 21, 1911, also at Wahoo.

   Willis Raymond was married to Elsie Brown, in Wahoo on Febr. 8, 1924. Their only child, Shirley Ann, was married in Wahoo to Caryl Steyer on Aug. 4, 1946. The Steyers now live in Fremont, where Caryl is presently Dean of Midland College. Elsie Brown Crinklaw also lives in Fremont, where her husband, Raymond, died in 1980.

   Helen Mary Crinklaw married Richard Sklenar of Wahoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Dec. 7, 1940. Following his death in 1941, she eventually married Douglas Hooper and lived in Los Angeles until her death in 1981.

   John Crinklaw (1865-1937) came to Saunders County when seven years old with his parents who homesteaded in Marietta Precinct, Section 20, on Silver Creek in 1868. Since this land was within twenty miles of a railroad, Fremont, the homesteads were limited to 80 acres. John's father, Walter Crinklaw, and a brother-in-law, James Gilchrist, pre-empted 80 acres each, giving them 160 acres each in Section 20. With the exception of a short time in Antelope County, he spent his entire life here.

New Years Day 1931, Crinklaw reunion at John Crinklaw farm

   His parents and an older brother and sister helped organize and became charter members of the Marietta Presbyterian Church. His father was a carpenter and helped build the church. He was also a lifetime elder, as was John in later life.

   John purchased 80 acres in Section 29, across the road from his home 40. One acre still in prairie grass, furnished for School District #67, was known as the Crinklaw School. Later the district consolidated with Mead and several country schools.

   John married Nellie Lybolt. She had lived for a time just one and one-half miles east of the Crinklaw homestead. Her father, a Civil War Veteran, had moved his family from New York state and homesteaded there. He then moved his family to Antelope County where Nellie attended Teachers College in Neligh. She taught in Antelope County.

   To this union four children were born; the first, died in infancy; Bernice Templeton of Sterling, Colorado; Evelyn Torrens of Wahoo; and Harold Crinklaw of Auburn, California.

   In addition to his serving as elder in the church, John was a charter member on the Saunders County Fair and served on the board. He served many times on the school board; also with the Old Settlers' Picnic at Mead.

   John built a fine home and buildings. The structural timbers for the barn were cut from cottonwood trees on his place. I believe the sawmill was owned and operated by the Anderson Brothers of Mead. He surrounded these buildings with ash trees and bluegrass. He made a park that was often used for community picnics and socials. He raised and worked Morgan horses and was well-known for his fine buggy teams.

   The neighbors in the community formed a company and built a dam in the stream in his pasture to form an ice pond, and each winter, filled their ice houses. It also provided a skating pond for the children and adults, not to mention a swimming hole in the summer.

   In addition to regular farm activity, he was a distributor for the Page Fence Company, and, in a partnership with his brother on a large apple orchard, many barrels of apples were shipped to stores all over the state.

   Two of John's brothers and two of his sisters live and raised their families in Sections 20 and 29.

   The Curfman family was of German ancestry. The first Curfmans came to this country in the 1700's and settled in Pennsylvania where a good many of them still live.

Cecil Curfman, 1920

   My grandfather, Daniel Curfman, was born in Rayville, Maryland November 16, 1827. In 1851, he married Surlinda Masemore, daughter of Theodore and Delila Masemore, and they had ten children: John, Mary, Daniel, Susan, Margaretta, George, Jacob (my father), Ida, Elmer and Sarah. He was quite proud of the fact that he did not use tobacco in any form, and none of his sons did either.

   In 1870, he and his family were living at Weisburg, Maryland where he owned a small acreage and worked as a papermill superintendent. While never an ordained minister, he preached a sermon occasionally, filling in for a sick or absent minister.

   The family moved to Bloomington, Illinois in 1876. In the late fall of 1877 they left Illinois in a covered wagon, heading for Nebraska. They crossed the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa on a new bridge, but crossed the Missouri River by ferry boat at Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Not trusting banks too much, Grandfather Curfman had $1,200 sewed up in his shirt. He purchased 80 acres of land about four miles north of Ashland in 1878, and he lived there until 1897 when he retired and moved to Ashland. Grandmother died November 28, 1898 and Grandfather on October 3, 1900. They are buried in the Ashland Cemetery, as are two of their daughters, Susan Mowerer, and Sarah Owen, and one son, Jacob.

   Descendants of Daniel Curfman are scattered in all parts of the United States. Of his children, John was a school teacher, Daniel a blacksmith, and George a telegrapher, all living in Pennsylvania. Susan married John Mowerer; Margaretta married, #1, Joseph Miller who was kicked in the head and killed by a horse, and, #2, J.F. Roll who ran a flour mill on Wahoo Creek many years before moving to Montana where he became a Montana legislator; Ida married Charles Beyer, whose father was a pioneer settler at Ithaca; Elmer, a schoolteacher; and Sara (Sadie) who married Frank Owen and lived in Memphis many years.

   In 1894, my father, Jacob Curfman, married Clara Beyer, daughter of William and Ernestine Beyer, early settlers on Wahoo Creek. To this union were born Docia, Cecil and Irene. Docia and Irene taught school for many years, mostly in California. Docia passed away in 1972 at Bakersfield, Califor-

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nia. Irene married Robert Dickinson and they have two children, Lynn and James. I left Saunders County at an early age, lived in Kearney for a while before moving to California. I followed the farming and mechanical trade most of my life. In 1934, I married Olice Dixon and we have a daughter, Cheryl, who married James Berg. They have three children, Alan, Linda and Susan. Submitted by Cecil Curfman

   William Henry Harrison Curtis was the youngest child and only son of Levi and Climena (Roberts) Curtis to reach adulthood. He was born September 23, 1839 in Middlebury Township, Wyoming County, New York. His parents had married here after coming from Berkshire and Franklin Counties in Massachusetts.

   Henry Curtis left western New York about 1869 and located on a farm three miles south of Ashland.

   In 1872, Henry Curtis moved to the village of Ashland. He started a general merchandise business here. In about 1873, he left Ashland and located first at Seward, Neb., and later, at Sutton, Neb. where he bought and sold grain.

   In the fall of 1874, Henry returned to the village of Ashland. He established H.W. Curtis & Co. . . . grain dealers. In 1875, W.A. Hainsberger became a member of the firm. They dealt in the sale of farm machinery and implements.

   Henry Curtis was elected in a special election on Jan. 4, 1879 to fill the place of City Treasurer of Ashland, J.B. Lininger. Henry served on the first village board of Ashland.

   A bachelor until 1885, Henry Curtis married in Ashland, Neb. on December 8, 1885. His bride, it seems, was also his cousin. She was Ellen E. (Curtis) Catlin, daughter of Henry's uncle, Ransom Curtis, and his second wife, Mary Pratt. Ellen was the widow of Albert M. Catlin. Albert and Ellen Catlin were the parents of four daughters: Gertrude, Pearl, Mary and Martha.

   Henry and Ellen Curtis lived in the village of Ashland where Ellen was a seamstress.

   Henry W.H. Curtis passed away December 4, 1891 and is buried in Ashland City Cemetery. After his death, Ellen (Curtis) Catlin Curtis married Dr. George W. Meredith of Ashland on January 17, 1894, as his second wife.

   Ellen Meredith died on June 17, 1909 and was buried in Ashland Cemetery, just west of the town of Ashland, Neb.

   Henry Curtis' mother, Climena (Roberts) Curtis, came west from New York State to Nebraska to make her home with her son, Henry, in 1870 after the death of her husband, Levi Curtis (1869), who is buried in New York. Climena Curtis is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery near Ceresco, Nebr. with her daughter, Emily A. (Curtis) Nash, and her husband, Oscar Nash. Climena died January 19, 1890. Mrs. Roy E. Schiefelbein

   Pastor Friedrich Wilhelm Daberkow was born June 29, 1868 in Pomerania, Germany. His parents, with 4 small sons, came to New York by ship, and, on May 12, 1879, arrived at West Point, Nebraska by train with 27 dollars. Since they needed to earn money, his father hired out as a carpenter and the boys herded cows. In May of 1882, they were able to buy 80 acres at $5 an acre. He paid $100 down and built a dugout to live in. This homestead was about 6 miles southeast of Wisner, Nebraska.

Rev. F.W. Daberkow and Helena. L. to R.: Christian, Lydia, Helena, Dorothy.

   He was the oldest son, and he and his brothers attended Immanuel Lutheran School southeast of Beemer, Nebraska.

   Pastor M. Adam was his teacher and suggested that he should become a pastor if he was willing; his parents consented. So, in the fall of 1883, he went to the seminary at Springfield, Illinois. He could not afford to come home for 3 years. He worked in the summers for farmers at Litchfield and Mt. Olive, Illinois. It was at this one farmer's place he met Helena Hoelmer. He graduated in June, 1890, and, on August 10, 1890, they were married.

   His first calling was to Minnesota. And, in 1903, he came to St. Matthew's Lutheran Church of rural Cedar Bluffs with his wife and their 3 little daughters; Dorothy, Helena, and Lydia. A son, Christian, was born in 1905. In August of that year, they moved into a new home. He taught the parochial school and also served a mission church at Ithaca, Nebraska for 12 years.

   Their second daughter, Helena, went to Deshler College and then assisted him with the parochial school. In the spring of 1919, she was planning to marry Albert Hoffmann on May 25th. On March 14, 1919, however, a tornado struck the area and St. Matthew's Lutheran Church was completely destroyed. The wedding was held in a small church in Cedar Bluffs, and the reception was held in the parsonage which was not destroyed.

   After serving the Cedar Bluffs congregation for 16 years, Pastor Daberkow left in the fall of 1919.

   His last call was to St. John's Lutheran Church southwest of Beemer, Nebraska which was only 3 miles from the original Daberkow Homestead.

   He passed away of a sudden heart attack on May 28, 1929 at the age of 61 years. His wife, Helena, lived until 1949. They are both buried in the church cemetery at Beemer. Submitted by Mrs. John Royuk (nee Esther Hoffmann)

   Ora Daharsh was the son of Marcus and Ellen (Pierce) Daharsh. He was born on Febr. 10, 1883, south of Wahoo and lived out his life in Saunders County. Records in the United States can be traced back as far as the late 1700's, where the name is recorded as being spelled, DeHosh, which is thought to be of Dutch origin.

Jessie, Harvey and Inez Daharsh

   Coming from Hingham, Wisconsin, Marcus Daharsh moved to a farm just over a mile south of Wahoo about 1880. The family consisted of five sons, Eugene, Harry, Earl, Wilmer and Ora. When Ora was very young, his father died and was laid to rest at Greenwood Cemetery in a grave whose location has been lost to the past. After the death of his father, Ora's mother was remarried to Arnold Lemkul and they continued to farm in the same area. In 1903, the Lemkuils moved back to Hingham, Wisconsin.

   "Orie," as he liked to be called, was married to Edith Thoms on February 19, 1904. She was the daughter of Albert Thoms. Ida Bertha Johanna Thoms (or simply Edith) was born in Varchinnhagen, Pommern Province, Germany on Dec. 11, 1879. After the wedding, Orie and Edith Daharsh made their home in Wahoo, where they had seven children and lived out their lives.

   The oldest of the family was Harvey, who worked for many years in Wahoo before moving to Hutchinson, Minnesota with his wife, Jean (Hurst) and family. The second-born was a daughter, Jessie, who married James Forsythe and lived in Omaha. Wilmer was next, but he reached only the age of four before he died.

   A daughter, Inez, worked for the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Company for many years. She married Dewey Olsen who worked for the same company, and they made their home in Wahoo. Ethel was the third girl born and she, too, worked with the telephone company. She has remained in the family home on East 12th Street where family members still gather for special celebrations. The youngest in the Daharsh clan are twins, Ruth and LeRoy. Ruth is married to Ivan Hellerich and they live in Lincoln. LeRoy has been one more family member that has stayed in Wahoo, where he resides with his family.

   Orie Daharsh spent the majority of his working days as a lineman for the City of Wahoo. He was also active as a member of the Wahoo Volunteer Fire Department for a number of years. It was while he was employed by the City that he passed away at the early age of 51 on June 23, 1934. His untimely death left the family to fend for themselves. They all worked together and pulled through the dark year of depression and the pain of their loss.

   Edith joined her husband in death on February 13, 1950, and was laid to rest next to him at Sunrise Cemetery. Many grandchildren and great-grandchildren remember, or are told stories about, the frequent good times at the Daharsh home, especially the birthday and Christmas celebrations. Submitted by Mrs. Inez Olsen

   Jerry Dailey was born in County Cork, Ireland, 1838, son of Daniel and Mary (Driscoll) Dailey. His father died early in life, leaving his widow with six children: Daniel, Dennis, Kate, Ellen, Mary, and Jeramiah (Jerry). The family came to America in 1854, landing in Boston. They located in Lowell, Mass. for a short time and then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

   In 1856, Jeramiah Dailey began work as a section hand on the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad. In 1858, he went to work in a plaster mill. In 1862, he went to the Lake Superior region and worked in the copper mines until 1867. He then went to Fremont, Nebraska, and, in 1868, he pre-empted 160 acres of land in Saunders County (the southeast corner of section 4 in Center precinct). After his land was staked out, he returned to Fremont and secured boards which he took across the Platte River on a boat. He had them drawn to his land and built a small house for his family. Mr. Dailey left his family on the land while he returned to Fremont and worked at anything he could obtain. He carried the hod, cut wood, etc. Having no team, he was obliged to hire a team to break a part of the land. He paid $5 per acre and had five acres broken.

   In July, 1869, he walked to Lincoln, borrowed $500, and walked back again. This enabled him to prove up on his claim, and the land was then his. For the next several years he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad, being a section foreman. Leaving his land as it was, he saved his money to improve it. In 1884, he returned to his farm, built a large house, barn, cribs, etc., and began farming in earnest. He planted many shade trees and a large fruit orchard and raised many hogs and cattle. The subject of this sketch married Johanna Lynch, daughter of Daniel Lynch, both natives of Ireland.

   Eight children were born to them, namely, Mary, died early; Maggie, married, Daniel Hays; Daniel, married, Allie Swartz; Nellie, married, Pat Danan-

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