FAMILY STORIES

ing. Duane and Lauren have over the years been employed by the 3M Co. of St. Paul, Minn.

   Following service, Don was for a time field salesman for Nebraska Sales Book; and since the early 60's the family has resided in Omaha, where he conducts business as a self-employed salesman for DuMar Business Forms.

   Each of the sons married, and added a total of thirteen grandchildren to the Earl Morin family clan.

   Elmo was born in Baker, Minnesota and moved from the Nebraska Sandhills to Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska in 1924. His parents were Evan B. and Mary (Bartak) Morris. He had a brother, James, and sister, Genevieve.

   His father was the inventor of, and held patent rights to, the Farrowing House manufactured and sold by the Nebraska Assembling Company of Wahoo, Nebraska. Later, this company was known as The Economy Housing Company. Elmo's father died in a car-train accident on November 24, 1927, Elmo's 13th birthday.

   Elmo was the nephew of Grant and Agnes (Bartak) Morris who moved to Wahoo in 1925. They were associated with the Nebraska Assembling and Economy Housing Companies. Clara (Bartak) Dolezal (Mrs. Louis E.) was also an aunt of Elmo's.

   Elmo and James attended Wentworth Military Academy for three years and Wahoo High School their senior year.

   Shortly after we were married in 1942, Elmo was drafted into the Army. He left his grocery store (Morris I.G.A.) in care of a manager. He served with the 161st Field Artillery Battalion, 35th Infantry Division in the European Theatre of War. He was injured in early 1945 and returned to the United States for hospitalization, and discharged in 1947 with the rank of Major.

   Some of my fondest memories are of friends made while living in California, Alabama and Tennessee before the 35th Division was shipped overseas. Life as an Army wife was entirely different than any I had anticipated.

   Shortly after discharge from the Army, Elmo was appointed Saunders County Veterans' Service Officer and served in that capacity until his death March 10, 1962. I continued to work in the office until retirement January 1, 1976. Helping veterans and their dependents was a very gratifying job.

   We have one child, Robert Evan Morris. He is a graduate of Wahoo High; the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, and served his residency in Radiology. He was employed for 6½ years by the Wahoo Clinic and Saunders County Community Hospital prior to moving to Fort Collins, Colorado in July, 1982. Robert is married to Nancy Fritzler of Kimball, Nebraska.

   My parents were Gustave and Hannah Kellgren, both of whom were born in Sweden. I was born in Colon, Nebraska. There were five children in our family; Irven, Lila, Roger, Greta and myself. Our father died in December, 1932. I am a graduate of Wahoo High and Luther College. My first job was with the Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph Company as a secretary, earning $40 a month for a 44-hour week. Later I was transferred to their Lincoln office. I have also worked at the Nebraska Ordnance Plant.

   I am a member of the First United Methodist Church, Wahoo and am active in service and social organizations. When I look back to the past, I'm glad I grew up and still live in Wahoo. Submitted by Irma Kellgren Morris

   John Allen Moss was born near New Salem, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, on April 4, 1854. His father was a carpenter and also a farmer. John Allen learned the trade but both his parents passed away before he was eighteen. His older brother wished to remain on the "family farm." They had an uncle who had moved to LaSalle County, Illinois, and decided to join them. Here he worked in 1878, but in 1879, he and three cousins, John Henry, Samuel and Joseph Moss moved west to Nebraska where they rented two farms near Mead. This is probably in the area later acquired by the government in World War II. They were known as the "Moss Brothers," although John Allen was a cousin. About two years later, John Henry returned to Illinois and was married. This made a different pattern for them, living together and John Allen began to broaden friendships through playing for the area dances with his "fiddle," having learned to play in his home state. A romance developed with a charming girl a few years younger. Margaret Fulmer and John Allen were married by Rev. Hackney in Ashland in January, 1882.

John and Margaret Moss 1882

   Because there were two Moss settlers by the first name, John Allen became J. Allen by choice, and that remained throughout his life.

   Here it should be noted that among the furnishings which Margaret acquired that first summer was a New Home sewing machine, a second-hand one, probably made in 1876. This machine has been brought back to Saunders County, and given to the Saunders County Historical Society Museum.

   On December 6, 1882, during a Nebraska snow storm, their first child, Harry Huston, was born.

   In 1885, they moved to Ashland onto a farm owned by Perry Decker, who also owned the elevator where Margaret's father, Wilbur Fulmer, worked. On August 5, 1886 a second son, DeAlton, was born. On May 28, 1894, a son, Joseph Allen, was born, the third child. A daughter, Edith Frances, born January 6, 1900, completed the family.

   J. Allen became a prominent farmer in the area and was one of 32 farmers around Ashland who organized a big threshing group for help for one another. Margaret had been a charter member of the Plainfield Christian Church near Mead, and was baptized there in a creek in the late fall when there was ice on the creek edge. She moved to Ashland at the time the Christian Church was being organized there and was a charter member in Ashland. The children were reared in that faith and all attended the Ashland school. Joseph graduated from Cotner College, Edith from the University of Nebraska.

   DeAlton was a fireman for the Burlington and Joseph was just finishing college when they were called to service in World War I. DeAlton was a railroad engineer on a French engine in France and Joseph was a Captain in the Field Artillery. He was later a college professor and married Lucy Goldsmith of Ashland. They had one daughter, Marilyn Jo Hatcher, who lives in New Mexico. Neither Harry nor DeAlton married and, in later years, kept a home in Lincoln, with their father who passed away at the age of 91 years. Margaret, the mother, had been taken in 1920. Harry retired from the Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph Company after 40 years as a line foreman.

   Edith married Lester Huffman of Seward and retired after 38 years with the USDA as a home economist with the extension service, serving in Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. She is the last of the children, and, after the death of her husband, moved to East Lansing, Michigan, where she lives near her daughter, Vivienne Huffman Kreer, and family.

   The burial plot for the family members is in the Ashland Cemetery where all were laid to rest. Submitted by Edith Huffman.

   Carl Mostrom, son of Fred and Ida Mostrom, was born November 6, 1902, on the family farm in rural Ceresco. He has been a lifelong member of the Ceresco Community. He graduated from Ceresco High School in 1921 and attended Lincoln Business College.

The Mostrom Family. Seated, L. to R.: Lorene, Kris, Carl; Standing, L. to R.: Karlene, Kurt, Phyllis, Jon, Kenneth, Karen.

   In 1922, Carl became engaged in the banking business with his father at the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Ceresco.

   He married Lorene Flodman daughter of Albert and Mabel Flodman of Mead. Lorene was a piano teacher. The wedding was held at the home of the bride's parents at Mead on September 21, 1926.

   The couple have lived in Ceresco ever since their marriage. Their home now is at 204 W. Ash St. Lorene was organist at the Evangelical Covenant Church at Ceresco for 23 years. Carl is Chairman of the Board at the Farmers and Merchants Bank, which was organized in 1911.

   They have one son, Jon, born in 1938, who was educated at North Park College in Chicago and received a degree in business at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He is president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Ceresco and is a volunteer football coach at Raymond Central High School. He married Phyllis Merry (born 1942) of Columbus in 1963. Phyllis is a registered nurse and head of the Ceresco Rescue Unit and member of the Volunteer Fire Department. The couple lives at 525 So. 4th. They have five children. Karen (born 1960) attended Peru State College and Nebraska Wesleyan University and now lives in Ogallala. Kenneth (born 1962) is attending University of South Dakota at Springfield. Karlene (born 1964) attended Southeast Community College and is employed at Tabitha Home in Lincoln, where she also lives. Kurt (born 1965) is a senior at Raymond Central High School. Kris (born 1970) is in the 6th grade at Raymond Central School.

   Laura Lees left Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1929 to go to Rising City, Nebraska, to teach in the Primary Grades. That same year, Lloyd F. Motes graduated from Cotner College and came to Rising City as coach of the basketball teams. They met, fell in love, and were married in November, 1930. They moved to Tobias, Nebraska where Lloyd was the Athletic Teams Coach and, subsequently, Superintendent of Schools. Their daughter, Merlyn, and son, Thomas, were born in Tobias. In 1945, they moved to Gresham, Nebraska, where Lloyd was Superintendent of Schools and Laura taught in the Elementary Grades.

   After six years in Gresham, they came to Wahoo. Laura had lived at Wahoo for most of her school years. Lloyd had grown up near Beloit, Kansas. In

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April, 1952, they opened the Wahoo Dairy Queen. For sixteen years they operated this successful business during the summer months and enjoyed travel over much of the United States during the winter months. They subsequently built and operated the Wahoo Trading Post on the Dairy Queen lot.

   Their daughter, Merlyn, graduated from Kearney State College in 1954 and went to Seattle, Washington as a kindergarten teacher. After two years she moved to San Diego, California to continue her teaching career. She married Berval Poulin, also an instructor in the San Diego School system. They have two daughters, Renee and Gigi, and one son, Baron.

   Thomas attended Doane College, Crete, Nebraska for two years, then enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program. He was designated a Naval Aviator and commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in 1955 at Corpus Christi, Texas. He graduated from the United States Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California in 1962. In the same year he married the former Lu Dean Perkins of Sayre, Oklahoma and they have one daughter, Stacy. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1974 as a Lieutenant Commander and came to Wahoo where they built a home on an acreage just north of Wahoo.

   Lloyd and Laura retired from the Dairy Queen business in 1968. He died in 1974. Laura lives in the home which they had built in 1961 in Wahoo. Submitted by Lloyd F. Motes

   Harvey, the fifth child of Charles and Katie Mumm, was born near Yutan, Nebraska, November 6, 1906.

Harvey Mumm Family. Back Row: Roger, Alton; Front Row: Harvey, Emily, Barbara.

   Emily Woods Mumm was born in Belgrade, Nebraska, in 1911. Her father, George Woods, was a blacksmith, who came to Saunders County in the 1800's from Illinois. Her mother, Gerturde Thorpe, came from Iowa; ancestors from New York and Ohio. There were three brothers and two sisters. The family moved to Yutan in 1925, where Emily finished high school. She attended two years of college at Peru, Nebr. and taught five years in rural schools in Butler and Saunders Counties. Those were the years when "teacher" walked to school, carried the fuel, started the fire in the stove, carried out ashes, carried drinking water, and cleaned the schoolhouse before going home. Wages were $60 to $90 a month, board and room, $15.00.

   Harvey and Emily married in 1935 -- depression years. Wages for a carpenter were 90 cents an hour; house rent, $8 a month; milk, 8¢ a quart. They had three children: Roger, yardmaster for U.P. Railroad in Seattle, Washington; Barbara, who married Charles Le Crone, Arlington, Nebr., and works in the Pharmacy of the Fremont Hospital, (Charles for Western Electric) and Alton, who married Linda Torres, is an installer for Western Electric. Linda is a Dental Assistant for Dr. Monica Thomas. Grandchildren are: Dean, Renea and Cynthia Le Crone; and Erik Mumm.

   Harvey, who had worked on construction and farming, began carpenter work under Joe Schlesiger, about 1930. After several years, he started his own business and, except for a time at the Mead Ordnance Plant during the war, has been a carpenter all his adult life. He has built approximately thirty homes in Saunders and Douglas Counties, as well as remodeling or repairing many homes and farm buildings. His hobby was fishing, going on trips to South Dakota, Minnesota, and Missouri.

   Emily worked with children most of her adult life. Memories include five years of going to Camp Cedars with her Girl Scout troop -- bird walks at five A.M. -- Nature Study with everything from wild plants to bumblebees, and snakes, and singing around evening campfires.

   In 1953, teachers were needed, so Emily went back to teaching, meanwhile going to college -- summers, nights, and by correspondence, to earn her Bachelor's degree, graduating from Midland College, Fremont, in 1969. After a year at District 37, she taught first in primary, then sixth grade in the Yutan Elementary School. In 1966, she was persuaded to take over the Title I classes in Remedial Reading. To gain more expertise in the field, she took Post-Graduate work in Reading at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

   She retired in 1976, after 22 years in the Yutan Public Schools. Not ready to give up, she substituted for the next five years.

   The family are members of the United Church of Christ, and have been active in choir, Women's Fellowship, and Sunday School.

   After Roger moved to Washington, the family made several trips northwest, including one to Alaska in 1979. Submitted by Emily Mumm

   Henry was born in 1842 in Hohne, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He left home at 15 years and for nine years was a sailor and captain of sailing ships and freighters. He came to the United States in about 1866. He worked on the Great Lakes and the Detroit River. Then he was a foreman for a crew, laying rails for Pacific railroad. He became a citizen March 24, 1873. He came to Saunders County in early 1870's and homesteaded on land 2½ miles from Clear Creek. He purchased additional land; one a mile south from Emil Faudel on Febr. 19, 1891; another from James Kane in 1891; and another one mile north of his home place.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mumm

   He married Katharina Kuhr, also born in Hohne, Germany in 1854. They had five children, Henry Jr., John, Anna, Catharina (Tena), and Rosa. John died as a baby. Henry's wife died in 1908. Henry then made his home with daughter Tena. Tena got married to Albert Berger in March, 1914. Albert died in January, 1916. Then Henry moved with Tena and granddaughter, Clara, to Yutan in 1919. Henry passed away May 25, 1926. Survivors were his four children and many grandchildren.

   Henry Jr. married Christian Henningsen. The children were Henry, John, Ernest, Effie, Lillian, Arnold, Eland, Leona, Lloyd, Erma and Glenn. Anna married George Storm. Their children were Minnie, Rose, Arthur and Clarence. Catharina (Tena) married Albert Berger and had a daughter. Rosa married Carl Trost and had sons, Herman and Clarence.

   Grandchildren and great-children of Henry and Katharina were born much later. Effie married Clarence Monnich. Their children are Ladonna Sebade and Corlliss Krusemark. Lillian married Clarence Replogle. Lyle and Sharlene Krusemark are their children. Arnold married Maria Wadsworth. Esther and Brenda are their children. Eland married Edna Anderson. Eland Jr., Beverly Johnson and Allen are their children. Leona married Clarence Witte. The children are Sharon Miller, Roger, William, Constance Pedde, and James. Lloyd married Leatha Keeler. Larry, Sandra Mueller and Susan Bender are their children.

   Erma married Elmer Sievers. The children are Jeris Miller, Glenn, Sherlyn Hayes, and Kathleen Lewis. Glen married Ruth Carlson. Kay Jurgens and Ann are their children.

   Clara Berger married Ben Malchow. Ardven and Arvona Cleaver are their children. Rose Storm married Willie Eggers. The children are Glen, Marilyn Hurrell, and Sharlene Norem. Arthur Storm married Rose Vybiral. John was their only child. Clarence married Lily Carsten. Hermine Ellison and Phyllis Kendle are the children.

   Herman Trost married Irene Syverson. Their children are Charles, Karen Frahm and Terry. Clarence married Elaine Fisher.

   All the land Henry and Katharina Mumm homesteaded and purchased remains in his family of grandchildren as of 1983.

   Born in 1841 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Jurgen Mumm attended school in his native land until he was 14 years old, and then worked as a farm hand until age 23. The threat of conscription into the Danish Navy, the unsettled conditions in Europe, and advertisements of free land in Nebraska were contributing factors to Jurgen's coming to America in 1865. He crossed the Atlantic on the sailing vessel, Oder, the trip taking 42 days.

Jurgen Mumm Family

   Jurgen lived in Illinois for a while; then worked as a teamster in Iowa, arriving in Omaha in 1867 where he began working for the Union Pacific. In 1872, he purchased a homestead claim in Union Precinct 2½ miles west of Clear Creek. He was married to Wiebke Sievers in April, 1872.

   They raised twelve children: Charles, Lena, Elsie, John, George, Katie, Emma, Lizzie, Bertha, Hattie, William, and Herman. Mr. Mumm died in 1918; Wiebke died in 1928.

   Charles Mumm married Katie Ohm. His children were Helen, Harry, Emma, Clarence, and Harvey. Lena Mumm married Joe Schlesiger. Their children were Harry, George, and Laura. Elsie married Henry Spech. Their children were Bill, Lizzie, and Lena.

   John Mumm married Annie Heldt. Their children were Otto and Edgar. George Mumm married Mary Ohm. Their children were Ben, Edward, Artie, Lester, and Gladys. Katie Mumm married Henry Storm. They had Laura, Harry, and Leroy. Emma married Bill Ohm and had one son, Harvey.

   Lizzie married Louis Matzen. Their children were Herbert, Arthur, Irene and Lucille. Bertha Mumm married Chris Kolb. Their children were Frances, Oren, Edgar, Elmer, Delmer, Mabel, Clara, and Margie. Hattie Mumm married Bill

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