Downer's Grove, Ill., Febr. 7, '21

Dear Journal:

   On arriving in Nebraska City in the last of May, 1871, we were asked to what part of the country we we going. Upon saying "The LIttle Blue River" we were told "It never rains over there." We have learned since living in Thayer county for upwards of fifty years, that they had a wrong conception of this section.

   Upon arriving in Hebron, which at that time was quite a small burg, we soon became somewhat acquainted with the settlers, they being Elder Correll, E. M. Correll (who always worked for the best for Hebron and Thayer county and who was publisher of the Hebron Journal know as "The Family Comforter"), Elder C. J. Rhodes, F. Kingsley, Elder Jacob Hendershot and family, Ed. S. Past, B. F. Young and Rawsons.

   All gave us a warm greeting, and we decided to take homesteads. At that time neighbors were few and far between but were sociable and accommodating, - no casts of society.

   Buffalo, elk, deer, antelope and other animals roamed the prairies.

   We remained on the homestead the first year. I was housekeeper and cooked with a fireplace. The menu was limited but healthy. In the spring of "72, J. B. Smith and Jas. Hoban started making brick. I was cook for the brick-makers for a month, after which E. M. Correll (who put in the first lumber yard in Thayer county) gave me a job as yard-man, and with whom I made my home for a year, which game an opportunity to get acquainted with people.

   That year the brick building in Thayer county was erected with S. & H. brick. I handled all the lumber that was used in the building which was a school house, now occupied by the Hebron Journal.

   Our town continued to grow and is the Queen City of the Little Blue, a city which in speaking of, one can take a pride, as it is known of as a moral Christian city with church and school advantages, - taking place of the sod school-house and dug-out homes.

   I see by the Journal that oil is being prospected for; hope it will prove a gusher, which will make Thayer county noted.

Respectfully,
R. D. Ferguson

Home | Table of Contents | History