FAMILY STORIES

   In the 1960's and 1970's, George, Nadine and family enjoyed trips to Wyoming, Colorado, the Dakotas, Missouri, Arkansas, and other states as well as a vacation in Manitoba and Ontario, two Canadian provinces.

   In her spare time, Nadine likes gardening, working crossword puzzles, making rugs, and collecting spoons. Nadine, Bill and Nancy are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Wahoo. Submitted by Nadine Miners

   Glenn Miners, son of Fred and Ada Miners, was born at the home of his grandparents, George and Helena Miners. George, a native of Hanover, Germany, homesteaded eighty acres of land northeast of Wahoo. Ada's parents were Lars and Bertha (Borrenson) Larsen. They were both natives of the Scandinavian Countries. Glenn's grandmother, Bertha, lived with her parents in a dugout. Glenn remembers his grandmother often telling them about how they would wake up in the morning sometimes finding that they would have rattlesnakes lying beside them. They would signal with their eyes telling on what side the snake would be and then they would carefully remove it.

   Glenn attended a country school at District 23 near Wahoo. He walked 1 3/4 miles to school with his brothers and sisters. The road they walked was still the original prairie. It seemed like skunks also loved the road, as they could tell by the smell. Glenn's parents, Fred and Ada Miners, farmed north of the original Miners homestead. Glenn worked as a helping hand at several farms around the Wahoo area in his teens. In those days jobs were not available in town like they are today. Wages were $60 a month before the depression. When the depression came, wages were then $25 a month with room and board included.

   I, Caroline, was born at the home of my parents, Theodor and Maggie (Stange) Lorenz. Theodor's parents were Peter and Meta (Iven) Lorenz; both of them were born in Germany. Maggie Lorenz's parents were Claus and Catheriene (Ohm) Stange. They, too, were born in Germany. My parents farmed northwest of Yutan. I attended country school at District 66 until the eighth grade, finishing my education in the Yutan Public School, graduating in 1934.

   Glenn and I were married February 26, 1936 in Yutan. After our marriage we lived 3½ miles northwest of Yutan. Glenn farmed the ground owned by my dad. When we first started farming, we used horses. Later on, a tractor was bought to replace the horses. There was no electricity on the place so carbon lights were used until we got electricity. Having no electricity, ice was bought in town for the wooden ice box to keep our food from spoiling. Cooking was done on the cookstove in the winter but when summer came, a kerosene stove was used instead.

   Two children were born to this marriage, Lyle and Linda. Both children attended a country school, Dist. 35, and finished their high school years at Yutan High.

   Lyle served four years in the United States Air Force. He received his training at Lackland Air Base in Texas and his schooling at Lowry Air Base in Colorado. He spent eighteen months in Okinawa. He married Laura Mae Drews, daughter of Chris (deceased) and Pauline (Sievers) Drews. They have 1 daughter, Vickie, and 3 sons, Douglas, Michael and Dale. Dale is in the Omaha schools. Lyle is presently working at Bemis Bag Company in Omaha. His hobby is woodworking.

   Linda married Danny Street, son of Merle and Mildred (Smith) Street. Mildred is now deceased. They have two children. A daughter, Lorissa, and one son, Keith. Both children are attending Yutan Public High School. She is presently driving a school bus for Yutan High School. Her hobbies are crocheting and needlework.

   Glenn and I are members of St. John's Lutheran Church in Yutan. Glenn is on the board of the Hollst Lawn Cemetery. We both enjoy going to the Senior Center at Yutan for dinner and craft day. Glenn has enjoyed his Shorthorn cattle since he started to farm and continues to have some, even after retiring from farming in 1976. I enjoy doing latchhook and needlepoint.

   We are still residing on the farm we moved to after our marriage, building a new home in 1975. Submitted by Caroline Miners

   Karl and Kathy Moline, Route 1, Ceresco, Nebraska were married June 12, 1976 in Los Angeles, California.

Karl and Kathy Moline

   Karl's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Harold Moline, Ceresco. He has one sister, Mrs. Karen Scopis, San Dimas, California. Paternal grandparents were the late Mr. and Mrs. Karl Moline, Mead, Nebraska. Maternal grandparents were the late Mr. and Mrs. Victor Hedlund, Ceresco, Nebraska.

   Kathy's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Robert O'Rourke, Glendora, California. She has one sister, Janet of Glendora. Her paternal grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Martin O'Rourke, Chicago, Illinois. Her maternal grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. John Boland, Chicago.

   Karl and Kathy live on their farm 5 miles east and 1 mile north of Ceresco. Submitted by Karl Moline

   What fun it is to study our ancestry!

Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Moline, taken 1940

   We found our great-grandfather, John Adolf Moline, was born 1848 in Gordegords, Sweden and came to America in 1879 with his wife, Emily, and 2-year-old son, Charles Warner. They settled in Indiana where Emily died in 1882. John took his son to live near Mead. After 2 years, he left Charles with cousins, Dave Petersons, and homesteaded in Keith County. For income he caught wild horses and broke them for the Army. He died in Ogallala in 1919.

   Charles became the foster son of Peter Carlson where he lived until he married Ellen Charling in 1900. Ellen, daughter of Carl and Emma (Jonsson) Charling, was born in 1880. When Carl Jonsson and family came to America in 1879 and settled near Ithaca, they changed their name to Charling. Carl helped build the railroad through Ithaca, working his horse and scraper for 50¢ a day.

   Charles and Ellen made their home on a farm where they lived until 1941. Their land was included in the Ordnance Plant, so they moved into the Charling home in Ithaca where their son, Ernest, and his wife live today.

   Charles spent time with his son, Orval, helping him improve his baseball pitching. Orval became known for this ability. Charles liked to hunt and fish and he was also a good trap shooter. The family claims he was one of the first to break 99 straight rocks. (He claimed he dusted the 100th). This talent shows up in grandsons, Wayne and Rodney Williams and great-grandsons, Steve and Chuck Jurgensen.

   The Molines were members of the Ithaca Methodist Church and their children attended Dist. #30 school.

   Charles died in 1945 and Ellen in 1947. Their children were Verner, Ernest, Orval, Lillian Wilgus, Evadne Paswater, Mildred Beyer, and Dorothy Ueberrhein.

   Their youngest daughter, Marjorie, married Richard Williams. Richard's father, Albert, son of John and Ellen Williams, was born at Cheever, New York in 1872. He moved to Memphis in 1895 where he worked for Armour Co. in the world's largest ice house. He married Stella Owen in 1907. They had 5 children. Albert spent his last years as care taker of the Memphis State Park. His grandchildren remember skating and sledding on this lake.

   Richard, their only son, spent his lifetime in the Memphis area. He farmed and was a heavy equipment operator. In 1951, he went to Greenland on a government job to build an air strip.

   Richard and Marjorie's children numbered four. Wayne married Lorine Renter. They own and operate Todd Valley Plumbing Co. in Ashland. Their children are Cindy and Micheal. Bonnie married Keith Jurgensen. They farm north of Wann. Their children are Steven, Pamela and Charles. Rodney married Audrey Fick. They farm west of Memphis and Rodney does some farm managing. Their children are Valerie, Greggory, and Annette. Rita was killed in a car accident in 1966 at the age of 18. Submitted by Bonnie Jurgensen

   My grandfather, Francis Moore, was born in New York State, February 29, 1836.

   When he was sixteen years old, he ran away from home and joined the Union Army. He fought in the Civil War and was taken prisoner and spent thirteen months in Andersonville Prison in Georgia. The prison was a fenced in area with no facilities whatsoever. A stream ran through the camp. This stream was the water they drank, bathed in, and washed their clothes in. The sanitary conditions were so bad that body lice could be seen crawling on the banks of the stream.

   At meal time they were called to eat in a company of fifty men at a time. If one man of the group did not show, no one got any food. The men were already starving, so when they were turned away with no food, they would seek out the one who did not show and beat him. When they were served corn meal mush, it was corn, ground cobs and all. Sometime during his imprisonment, he got to work outside the prison, cutting wood for the kitchen. One day, when he thought the time was right, he walked away. He blackened his face with charcoal. Eventually, he joined a group of colored men and went along with them. After he had been gone three weeks, he and his group were cutting wood near a road when a man

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came by on horse back. My grandfather looked up. This was his downfall, because black men do not have blue eyes and my grandfather's eyes were blue. He was taken back to prison and given 49 lashes across his bare back with a blacksnake. He did not try to escape again.

   After the war, he headed north and settled in Kentucky. There he met my grandmother, Eunice Rexroat, who was born there April 8, 1846. They were married and lived at Louisville where two of their daughters were born, Della and Mary Elizabeth (my mother). Later, they moved by covered wagon to Olney, Illinois, where two more daughters were born, Martha and Cora. In 1885, they all came to Saunders County, Nebraska, where they lived on the W.H. Orme farm north of Colon.

   When he retired, they moved into Colon. Later, they bought a house in Lincoln at 806 Pine Street, which has been changed to Sumner Street.

   Aunt Martha worked in Rudge & Gunzel's Dept. Store for many years as alteration lady.

   Grandmother Moore passed away in December, 1918, at age 72.

   Grandfather Moore went to live at the Old Soldier's and Sailor's Home at Milford, Nebraska, and passed away there in August, 1919, at age 83. They are both buried in the cemetery south of Milford.

   Aunt Martha and Aunt Cora were both members of Christian Science faith and, at their death, were cremated. Aunt Della Johnson is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery at Cedar Bluffs. Submitted by Ruby McCauley Lubker

   Matej Moravec and his wife, Anna Zeman, left their native land, Czechoslovakia, in 1890 with their three small children, Mary, Anna, and Toni. Matej had worked in a sugar beet factory and served annually in the military service. Wishing no further military service, Matej decided to move and try his fortune in a new and strange land, America.

Back Row, Standing L to R: Emma, Agnes, Mary, Jim, Joe, Ann, Rose, Antonia; Front Row: Matej, Lillian, Anna Zeman Moravec.

   Virtually penniless after buying passage to the New World, Matej Moravec and his party moved to Nebraska near the Weston area, and, later, the Prague area of Saunders County, where he found work as a farm hand. Matej moved his family from farm to farm trying to improve his status and his family's livelihood.

   Anna, his daughter, often related that she and her sisters watched the youngest children when their mother walked to the nearest village. This trip often lasted an entire day because the land they farmed was often five or six miles from Prague. The trips were not made frequently and were made only for necessities, such as fabric, sugar, coffee, flour, or kerosene.

   Meat was a luxury and was eaten only when Matej could trap a bird or wild game. Sometimes a kindly landowner gave the family a part of a hog he butchered. Sometimes the family received a calf, or piglet, or some hens as part of their pay. But these animals were never used as food. It was by this method that the family was able to acquire a herd or flock of its own. Even the eggs were seldom eaten, because they became the barter at a grocery store. Eventually, Matej obtained horses by a similar manner. A bit of trading and exchanging improved the quality and quantity of animals owned.

   As the family increased in number, the responsibility of the older girls also increased. It became necessary to stay home from school to watch the younger brothers or sisters while the mother toiled in the fields to assist the father. When the oldest girls were able, they often worked in the fields also, not only to harvest the crop, but to harrow the fields and/or help with the haying. Thus, the older children were unable to obtain a complete education. Staying home from school meant becoming behind in class work and when they nearly reached the place where their class was, they were kept home again, only to fall behind once again.

   By the early 1900's, the family became more established and moved less often. Now instead of being only a hired hand, Matej rented a farm. Soon he was able to rent a farm in a richer farm area, and by 1924 he was able to purchase his own farm of 160 acres of excellent farm land four miles west of Dwight, Nebr. He resided there until 1928 when he purchased a new home in Dwight. He and Anna lived here until his death in 1938. Anna lived with the youngest son, Joseph, until 1949 when she died. Submitted by Rosalyn M. Chmelka

   Leaving his mark in Saunders County, a near century ago, was Johan Adolph Morin, born in Skäne, Sweden in 1868, son of a clergyman of the State Church. With an aptitude for business evident in his early life, he was promoted to head clerk in a large department store at age 21. With no further advancement in native Sweden, he determined to go to America, emigrating in the late 1800's, and made his first stop in Mead, Nebraska. Even before speaking English he secured employment in Joseph & Graff's department store on Wahoo's main street, where he remained for several years.

The A. Morin Family, About 1912. Back, L. to R.: Viola, Earl, and Mamie; Front: Adolph and Emma Morin.

   He married Emma Turnwall of Weston, Nebr. in 1893. They established a home in Norton, Kansas, where they were self-employed in the restaurant business as a husband-wife team. Here son, Earl, was born. A move to Holdrege, Nebr. soon followed, continuing in the same line of work. After discouraging years of drought and grasshoppers, the family decided on yet another move, and in 1896, permanently settled in Wahoo, again as restaurant keepers on the south side of 5th Street.

   After a number of years at this location, they purchased and moved into the Rupp Building along the same side of the street. With steady attention to details they expanded slowly, and with gradual introduction of staples over the years, broadened the business to include a modest grocery store. By the same economy, other departments were added and in 1920 they moved into the double-room Joseph & Graff building, where as a green Swede, he had started his career in America some 35 years earlier.

   The business had now expanded to a general merchandise store and continued as a family venture. Under the new partnership of "A. Morin & Son," it also included the two daughters, Viola and Mamie, who had joined the family several years after moving to Wahoo. The store continued to enlarge; the future looked promising until the untimely death of the firm's senior member in 1924 at age 55.

   After near forty years of thus serving Saunders County, a career had ended, and the business of 'A. Morin & Son' was shortly discontinued. A. Morin had laid no claim to brilliancy, but his honesty and fair dealing were never questioned.

   Earl Adolphus was born to Adolph and Emma Morin in Norton, Kansas June 23, 1894. After a time of restaurant business in Kansas the family moved to Holdrege, Nebraska, where as a husband-wife partnership they continued the same line of work. A third move followed and in 1896 the family returned to Wahoo, residing there for their remaining lifetimes.

The Earl Morin Family. Front, L. to R.: Earl, Esther and Donald; Back, L. to R.: Duane and Lauren.

   No doubt Earl spent a good part of his childhood days in the restaurant, where Mom and Dad were both involved. The old Opera House was directly above their store, and he often related of playing 'show' on its stage with a younger playmate, Darryl Zanuck, later of motion picture fame.

   The restaurant business made a gradual transition to include staples; and as a young lad, Earl shared his part in the family venture, delivering groceries around town in a horse-drawn delivery wagon.

   His violin lessons began early, first at Luther, later at UNL. His father, a lover of music, would bring him to the store each morning and encourage his daily practice. A common interest in music throughout high school days was shared with a contemporary, Howard Hanson, one of Wahoo's five famous sons. Together they organized and conducted the WHS orchestra, small string groups and a community string quartette. Earl graduated from Wahoo High in 1913. In the 1940's, he was privileged to serve two terms on the Wahoo School Board.

   Though involved in the family business, Earl still continued his music profession, teaching violin and other instruments, privately and at Luther College. He organized community bands and orchestras in the surrounding areas, performing at schools, church and community functions in the county.

   During WWI, he served with the armed forces in the Medical Corps, and maintained a lifelong interest in the American Legion, serving one term as local post commander. He entered politics and served one term as clerk of the District Court; and during depression years worked in the Farm Security Administration in the Court House. He was employed for a time in the Mead Ordnance Plant. At the time of death in 1957 at age 63, following a heart attack, Earl was serving his third term as Saunders County Clerk.

   In 1921, he married Esther Lind of Wahoo, and their home was blessed with three sons, Duane, Lauren and Donald.

   With similar interests and aptitudes, the brothers competed in organized athletics during their young years and participated in extra-curricular school programs, also church-related activities and scouting. Their involvement in music was encouraged -- violin, piano, brass instruments and the WHS chorus. In turn they were honor graduates of Wahoo High and valedictorians of their respective classes. Each served their country during WW II or the Korean conflict, returning to complete their education at UNL. With degrees in Chemical Engineer-

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