FAMILY STORIES

Mr. and Mrs. James Sloup and Family

youngest daughter of Vaclav and Agnes Odvody Koranda. We were married Nov. 9, 1944 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church at Prague, Nebraska. At this time Jim just finished his overseas duty with the 11th Army Air Force on the Aleutian Islands.

   To our union were born 6 children: Joseph, who died at childbirth, Gerald, Theresa, Paul, Ann, and Marilyn. We have 2 grandchildren, Rachael and Michele. We reside at Prague, Nebraska. By James Sloup

   Rudy and Agnes Chromy Sloup were married in Sacred Heart Church, Cedar Hill of Morse Bluff, Nebraska on September 19, 1933. Four children were born to them: Rudy, Agnes, Harvey, and Karen. All are married and have families of their own. We have fourteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Rudy and Agnes Sloup

   Rudy is now a retired farmer but we still live on our home place on the farm near Prague. Rudy served as church trustee under Rev. George Livanec. Agnes was treasurer of the Altar Society for several years. Submitted by Mrs. Rudy Sloup, Prague

   Four generations of Sloup men are named "Rudy". Rudy Sloup IV lives in Fort Huron, Michigan, as does his father, Rudy III. His grandfather, Rudy II, lives in Wahoo and his great-grandfather lives in Prague.

Rudy II, Rudy I, Rudy III, and Rudy Sloup IV

    Joseph L. Smaus is the son of Joseph F. Smaus. He was born and reared on a farm in Saunders County. The farm is located 5 miles southeast of Bruno, Nebraska. He attended school in District 106. He was drafted at Wahoo on July 19, 1941, and served in the Armed Forces until his discharge on June 19, 1945, during World War II. In the army branch of service, it was his duty to train servicemen in Field Artillery for overseas duty. This he did for 3 years. In 1944, he went with his trained troop to Scofield Barracks, Hawaii, leaving from Camp Bowie, Texas, located near Brownwood, Texas.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Smaus

   On Sept. 20, 1943, he married Rosalie Emanuel at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Bend, Nebraska.

   After Joe's army discharge, he owned and operated a freight line until 1961 when he moved to Columbus where he owned, operated, and built a 40-unit motel. Joe and Rosalie are members of St. Bonaventure Catholic Church; however, before moving to Columbus, they lived in Bruno where, at that time, they were in business. They were members of St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Rosalie was organist for the church choir for many years. This was very enjoyable and rewarding experience.

   Joe was a successful business man and can relate many humorous tales of incidents during his tenure in business. He is retired since 1981.

   Joe and Rosalie have 1 daughter, Mary Carol (Mrs. Ronald L. Mustard). Mary Carol received a Civil Service appointment at SAC (Strategic Air Command) Security Police as a Security Specialist, where she is currently employed. Ronald Mustard is Computer Manager at Clarkson Memorial Hospital, Omaha. They are the parents of 2 children, Joel Jonathan and Dana Marie. Mary Carol was born in North Bend, Dodge County, on September 21, 1948. She now lives in Omaha, driving to Offutt Air Base each day.

   Joe has 1 sister, Mollye, living in Omaha; 2 brothers, Roman, living near Bruno, and Milton, living on the Saunders County farm, formerly the Jooseph F. Smaus family farm. Submitted by Joseph L. Smaus

   My paternal grandfather, John A. Smith, was born in Narunga parish in the province of Vastergotland, Sweden. His parents were Andreas Johnson and his wife, Anna Britta Andersdotter. John was the oldest child and as a young man went by the name of Johannes Andreasson, later changing his last name to Smith.

   Andreas Johnson decided to emigrate before 1860, but the threat of Civil War caused him to delay this move until 1865. Andreas, Anna and the younger children emigrated first, settling near Neoga in southern Illinois where they worked as farm laborers. John, who was a young man by then, remained in Sweden but soon decided to join the family in Illinois.

   Before long, he and his sister, Frederika, decided to go further west and came to Omaha. Frederika worked as a domestic and John went to work on the Union Pacific railroad bridge, the first bridge ever built across the Missouri River. The laying of the tracks to the west started at the same time as the building of the bridge. The necessary materials were ferried across from Council Bluffs, the western terminus of the railroad at that time. By the time the bridge was completed, the tracks reached hundreds of miles to the west and John went west to join a track laying crew. The branch line from Julesburg to the gold fields of central Colorado was begun as soon as the tracks reached Julesburg, long before the junction with the Central Pacific in Utah. John worked on the Colorado branch, continuing until the line reached Golden.

   In the early 1870's, John left the railroad and returned east, coming to the Swedish settlement near Mead. Here he met and married Mary Hallner. Mary was already homesteading eighty acres southwest of Mead so John bought more land across the road and they started farming. They had four surviving children, Emil, Cornelius, David and Olga.

   Sometime after John left Omaha, his sister, Frederika, went west to Wyoming where she met and married a soldier named Jacob Kiefer. In the 1870's, they, too, came to Saunders County and started farming southwest of Colon. They were the parents of the Kiefers who lived in that area for many years.

   Since John and Frederika were both settled in Saunders County, their aging parents, Andreas and Anna Johnson, left Illinois and moved to Nebraska. They built a small house on the land John owned and spent their remaining years there.

   Emil, the eldest of the Smith children, traveled and worked in various places throughout the west, including the gold fields at Cripple Creek, Colorado and the wheat fields of the Dakotas. At one time he bought land in Minnesota that had been burned over by the great Hinkley forest fire and farmed there for a couple of years. Eventually, he, Cornelius and Olga all went to California to the Swedish community of Hilmar where the Hallners had settled earlier.

   Only David, my father, remained in Nebraska. He married Josephine Johnson and farmed the family farm. He continued farming until his death in 1947 at which time my mother moved into Wahoo. I still own this land. It is has now been in the family for over a century. Submitted by Roger Smith

   In April, 1871, Alanson Smith and Zenas Smith of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, visiting cousins

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in Marietta, Saunders County, Nebraska, were persuaded to buy farm land in Section 9 where they planted sod corn, dug a bucket well, and built a 1½, 12'x 12' framed house.

   Returning to Pennsylvania, they sold farms and livestock, packed household goods, and readied their families to come west before cold weather. The seven girls and four adults lived through that winter in that small home on Alanson's farmland. Firewood from a Platte River island, helped through cold times.

   Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist families joined in Sunday school work, meeting in the homes. As membership increased, each group built their churches. Baptists built on Section 10, Zenas property, after the relocation of Dist. #57 schoolhouse.

   Ft. Crook Cavalry patrolled the Oregon Trail through this area, used by friendly Indians, and travelers going west. One family, stopping here, needed a burial place for children; the Smith brothers built boxes and donated land for their burial, now known as Green Mound Cemetery.

   To further their education at the University, Alanson moved his family to Lincoln during winters. Emma became a school teacher and taught schools before marrying John Johnson from Maine; Gertrude taught music and church choir, marrying Henry Neff of Pennsylvania; Minnie, at home with ailing parents, married Charles Gamble and took over the farm work.

   At the doctor's advice. Alanson and his wife, Mary, moved to Daytona, Florida. Here, he built two homes, one in Daytona and one on the beach. He was involved in building the Baptist church, also.

   After the early death of her husband, Minnie rented out the farm and took her two daughters to Florida to be with her parents. She taught the beach school and had employment at Daytona telephone office. With the fatal illness of her mother, Gertrude also went to Florida. Daughter Ora was born there in 1893.

   After the death of their father, Alanson, the daughters came back to the farm in Nebraska to raise and educate their children. The girls attended a High School, accredited and provided by their aunt Emma for her children, and others, at her home.

   Eliza, Minnie's daughter, taught High School before and after graduating from the University. She went for her Master's at Chicago University and was given a Nebraska University Professorship in Social Studies, held until her retirement in 1958. Daughter Ruth, graduating from Agricultural College, earned her RN from a hospital in Omaha. She especially enjoyed work with children. Neither of the girls married.

   Gertrude's daughter, Ora, with a Physical Education major, entered Army service during WWI as a Physical Reconstruction Aide, serving at Cape May and on Staten Island. Later, working for a doctor in Haverhill, Massachusetts, she met and married Richard Heald, ex-WWI Navy of New Hampshire.

   They returned to the farm in Nebraska to raise their children.

   During WW2, Richard was employed by Army Civil Service to manage their repair shop at Mt. Tacoma, Washington. They moved to Tacoma where now two of their daughters live: Betty, married to Carl Whinnery, formerly of Fremont, Nebraska; and Joan, married to Vernon Hawkinson of Minnesota. The others are: Jean Roberts, an employee of ATT in Omaha; Patricia, married to Douglas Voss, a farmer near Ames; and John, married to Margret Converse from San Diego, California, who farms the home place.

   Clyde Smith, well known area fur buyer, was born in Ashland on December 31, 1889, the son of Lucinda Johnson and John Ellsworth Smith, better known as "Al".

   Clyde's entire life of 90 years was spent here, having been born at the west end of Silver Street and dying at his home of many years, 742 Silver Street.

   When Clyde was seven years old, his well-known grandfather, Col. John Johnson, passed away, at the age of 107 years. The Colonel came to Ashland in 1860. He operated a meat market for fifteen years, making him one of Saunders County's first business men.

   Col. Johnson was born on October 22, 1789, in the old Northwest Territory, now the Cleveland, Ohio area. His father had come from England, his mother from Scotland. He had earned the title of Colonel when be trained a company of militia in the war of 1812. Col. Johnson was born during the first year of the administration of our first president, George Washington, whom he claimed to have seen once. He also voted for James Madison in the 1812 election. He had been married twice and had six children. One of his younger daughters, Lucinda, married Al Smith, who had been brought to Nebraska by river boat when only four by his grandparents, the Charles Ragers. Al was born in 1863 at Johnstown, Pa., son of Manuel and Elizabeth Rager Smith, and died at Ashland in 1951.

   Al was a farmer who gained fame for his musical talent. He loved to play the fiddle and won many contests, some while playing over the radio. In 1933, he won the title of Nebraska Champion Fiddler.

   Al and Lucinda had three children: John, who lived here and worked for the Ashland Lumber Co.; Clyde; and Grace, who died as a young woman in an auto accident near Yutan in 1916.

   As Clyde grew to manhood be loved to fish, hunt and trap. This lead to his many years in the hide and fur business.

   In 1910, Clyde married Bertha Ewing, who had moved to Ashland with her family from St. Francis, Kansas, where she had been born in a "soddie" on April 12, 1890.

   Five children were born to this couple, Ruth, Donald, Lillian, Mary Lou and Betty Jean. Ruth (Mrs. Dean Smith), Donald, Mary Lou (Mrs. Herschel Pilcher), and Betty Jean (Mrs. George Martines), all live in or near Ashland. Lillian (Mrs. Loren Powell) resided in Rockville, Indiana, at the time of her death in 1982.

   At the time of their marriage, Clyde worked for the Snell Mill; later at Swift and Co. Ice House, and the Burlington Railroad, having helped to build the Platte River railroad bridge near Ashland.

   An avid horse racing fan, Clyde regularly traveled to Lincoln and Omaha for the races. In 1972, be received the "Racing Fan of the Week" award from AK-SAR-BEN.

   In 1926, the state required all fur buyers to be licensed at a fee of $1.00. During the following years Clyde became recognized as the largest private fur buyer in Nebraska. His last state license purchased for 1977-78, cost $50.

   Clyde and Bertha celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary in 1977. Bertha preceded her husband in death on April 3, 1978. Clyde passed away on June 8, 1980. Submitted by Don and Larry Smith

   Donald Smith, life-long Ashland area resident, was born on June 28, 1914, the only son of Clyde and Bertha Ewing Smith.

   While Donald was growing up, he enjoyed hunting and trapping with his father. During later teen years, he worked for the Peterson truck farm near Ashland, along with time spent working on the Sam Gray farm near Greenwood.

   In 1935, Donald celebrated Valentine's Day, February 14th, by marrying his sweetheart, Hazel Baldwin, eldest daughter of Harvey and Leta Gray Baldwin of west Ashland.

   On February 13, 1936, Donald and Hazel became parents; a son, Duane was born. In March of that year, Donald moved his family to the Baldwin farm, west of Ashland, where they started farming. Their neighbors were Hazel's paternal grandparents, the Wm. J. Baldwins. On October 31, 1937, a second son, Larry, was born.

   With the improving farm economy, Donald rented the Jess Weddell farm, and in 1945, this became the family residence, which he later purchased. Having purchased the Baldwin family farm, they were recognized by AK-SAR-BEN in September, 1981, for having had continuous family ownership for 100 years.

   October 31, 1981, marked the sudden death of Hazel.

   Donald and Hazel had made many friends through their love for dancing, their active membership in the Cedar Hill United Methodist Church, the Ashland Saddle Club, Masonic Lodge and Eastern Star.

   Donald and his sons are active members of Sesostris Shrine and their local Shrine Clubs.

   Son Duane and his wife, Jackie (Beilman), live near Nebraska City, Nebraska, where he is employed by the Lincoln Telephone Co. Duane has two sons and a granddaughter: Rodney and his daughter, Erika, of Portland, Oregon, and Russell of Nebraska City.

   Larry and his wife, Jean (Stewart), with their children, Douglas, Brian and Lorinda, continue to operate the family farms west of Ashland.

   The Smith farm has always been a diversified grain and livestock farm, having changed from Shorthorn cattle to purebred Angus in 1951. The Donald Smith and Sons Angus herd was one of the first purebred Angus herds in this area. Donald and Larry have produced seed stock for many breeders and 4-H members.

   Another feature, somewhat different, is their peafowl flock, which has freely roamed the farm site for the past twenty-seven years.

   In August, 1982, Donald married Nina Geiler, also of rural west Ashland, where they presently reside.

   Hazel Hurt Smith was born in Granade, Colo., December 14, 1901. I went to school in Towner, Colo. and after graduating I attended Greeley State College for a while.

Hazel Smith

   In 1922, I moved to Omaha with my mother and sister to attend Univ. of Omaha. I majored in music and minored in psychology.

   In 1925, I married Charles Herbert Smith. We had five children. Cora Edith Fisher and family live in Papillion, NE. Charles Granville Smith and family live in Omaha, Eleanor Smith Hand and her husband live in Yutan, Lawrence Edward Smith and his family live in Yutan, and Margorie Jean Smith Sorenson and her family live in Omaha.

   In 1947, after many years of working for the Metropolitan Utilities District, Mr. Smith passed

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