Hooker School
District 8 - 1901
Top Row – Left to right
1 - Ernest Krause – Ernest was a son of Wilhelm and Friederike (Kuhfusz) Krause. Earnest married Elizabeth Finkner, daughter of Michael and Mary (Frey) Finkner. In a couple of years Ernest's older brothers, Herman and John Krause, would buy parts of two of the Hillman homesteads. (Vesta Twp. in Johnson County is just east of Hooker Twp. in Gage County. The families of Adam and Michael Finkner lived just across the road (and just across the county line) from the Hillmans and Krauses.)
2 - Earl Burrows
3 - Roscoe Hibbert – Roscoe was a son of Thomas and Nancy (Fuller) Hibbert. I'm not in contact with any of the Hibbert descendents, but have a photo labeled: Guy Hibbert "Jones." It was in my grandmother's collection of old photos. Guy Hibbert was one of Roscoe's brothers. I have no idea what the "Jones" in quote marks on the inscription means.
4 - Charles Smith
5 - Viva Atkins – Viva's parents were Ulysses and Harriet (McClung) Atkins. She was a younger sister of Cora Atkins.
6 - Minnie Hildebrand
7 - Blanche Bacon – I have not researched the Bacon family, although, several people I have talked to have heard of them. There are several Bacons in this photo and other photos I have.
8 - Ila Hibbert – Ila was a daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Fuller) Hibbert.
9 - Anna Nice – Teacher
10 - Lillian Harper
11 - Cora Atkins – Cora was a daughter of Ulysses and Harriet (McClung) Atkins. She married Harry Hillman. Harry was the oldest son of Clarence and Mary (Kritner) Hillman. Clarence was a younger brother of my great-grandfather, Edwin Rathburn Hillman. Clarence and his three younger sons moved to Kansas. Harry and Cora stayed in Gage County and lived on a farm near Adams. Harry, Cora and her parents are all buried in Highland Cemetery. I have seen a school picture (I think it's the Grandview School) that has one of Harry and Cora's children in it. It was taken in the 1920's. I will try and get a copy of it. I got my copy of the Hooker School Picture from Sharon (Hillman) Duncan, a granddaughter of Harry and Cora.
Clarence did not homestead any land in Hooker Twp. He purchased the John Hillman, Jr. homestead in Section 1 and 40 acres of the John Hillman, Sr. homestead in Section 12. Around 1900 Clarence and Mary were divorced when Mary decided to move to Cripple Creek, Colorado and make her fortune cooking for gold miners. In 1905 Clarence sold both properties to Herman and John Krause. Clarence and three of his four sons moved to Kansas. Eventually Mary (Kritner) Hillman returned to Gage County and lived for a while with Harry and Cora. Later she moved to Kansas to live with another one of her sons. Both Clarence and Mary died in Kansas. Someone has seen to it that their bodies were returned to Nebraska. They are buried in Hooker Cemetery with a common stone. Clarence and Mary had a daughter, Harriet "Hattie" Hillman that lived just two years. She is buried next to her parents. Clarence's mother, Eliza Jane (Berk) Hillman is buried in Hooker Cemetery. I believe his father, John Hillman, Sr. is also buried in Hooker Cemetery, but have no hard evidence of this. Mary (Kritner) Hillman's parents, Michael and Nancy (Roy) Kritner are also buried in Hooker Cemetery. I have a photograph of Michael and Nancy Kritner.
Second Row from Top – Left to right
1 - Ben Hibbert – Ben was a son of Thomas and Nancy (Fuller) Hibbert.
2 - Berdette Hillman -- Berdette was a son of Clarence and Mary (Kritner) Hillman. Clarence and Mary had four boys. Berdette moved to Kansas with his father and two brothers.
3 - Thomas Hibbert, Jr. – Thomas was a son of Thomas and Nancy (Fuller) Hibbert.
Third Row from Top – Left to right
1 - Claude Annabel
2 - Paul Diehm – Paul Diehm was the son of Ferdinand and Eva Anna (Flegler) Diehm. Ferd (as he was called) immigrated to the United States from Germany in the early 1880's. He came with his sister, Rosina, who had married Adam Finkner. (Adam was a brother of Michael Finkner mentioned above.) Ferd and Anna (Flegler) Diehm lived for a while with friends in the Hopewell Community in Johnson County. In the early 1890's they purchased a farm in Section 24 of Hooker Twp. At least three of their children were born on this farm. In 1905 the Diehms sold their farm in Hooker Twp. and bought a farm near Crab Orchard.
3 - Edna Annabel
4 - Alma Krause -- Alma was a daughter of Wilhelm and Friederike (Kuhfusz) Krause. She married George Finkner, a son of Michael and Mary (Frey) Finkner.
5 - Mary McCartney
6 - Jessie Burrows
7 - Martha Carrie Hibbert – She went by Carrie. She was a daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Fuller) Hibbert.
8 - Anna Diehm – Anna was my grandmother. She was a daughter of Ferdinand and Eva Anna (Flegler) Diehm. Anna married Robert Hillman. Robert was the son of Edwin and Emily (Rogers) Hillman. Edwin and Emily had a homestead in Sections 11 and 14 of Hooker Twp. Emily's father, Sherman Rogers, is buried in Hooker Cemetery.
There is one other Hillman that homesteaded in Hooker Twp. His name was Thaddeus Hillman. Thaddeus married Elizabeth Stafford. Thaddeus' homestead was in Section 12 immediately to the west of his father's homestead. It was Thaddeus that deeded two acres of his homestead to the Hooker Cemetery Association. Elizabeth's father, John Stafford, is buried in Hooker Cemetery.
9 - Ruth Atkins – Ruth was a daughter of Ulysses and Harriet (McClung) Atkins.
10 - Olive Bryson – Olive was the daughter of Silas and Julia (Zuver) Bryson. She is also the granddaughter of George and Martha Jane (Hillman) Zuver. Martha (who always went by Jane) was a sister of Clarence, Edwin, Thaddeus and John, Jr. Hillman. (There were other Hillman siblings not mentioned here.)
11 - Goldie Woten – Goldie became a teacher when she grew up. She was the one who supplied the names for the people in this photograph. She taught in the Grandview School District and taught some of Harry and Cora (Atkins) Hillman's children.
12 - Ida Churchill
13 - Sylvia Woten – Sylvia must have been Goldie's sister.
Row – Left to right
1 - Jake Hildebrand
2 - Roy Bacon
3 - Chase Burrows
4 - Harold Atkins – Harold was a son of Ulysses and Harriet (McClung) Atkins.
5 - James Hibbert – James was a son of Thomas and Nancy (Fuller) Hibbert.
6 - Gustave Diehm – He was always called Gus. Gus was a son of Ferdinand and Eva Ann (Flegler) Diehm. Gus was injured in a mustard gas barrage in World War I. He never fully recovered from his injuries and died a young man. Gus never married.
7 - Fred Krause – Fred was a son of Wilhelm and Friederike (Kuhfusz) Krause.
9 - Fred Hildebrand
10 - Guy Hillman – Guy was my grandfather's brother and the youngest child of Edwin and Emily (Rogers) Hillman. He had bright red hair. Guy never married.
11 - Guy Atkins – Guy was a son of Ulysses and Harriet (McClung) Atkins. He is buried in Highland Cemetery.
12 - Clem Bacon
I have information on some of the other families that lived in and near Hooker Twp., but did not have family members in this photo.
Tracy DeVault
105 Wildwood Drive
Prescott, AZ 86305-5096
928-778-6228
Email: tracy@lankaster.com