NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center
On-Line Library

WILLIAM J. MOERSEN

William J. Moersen was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He is the son of Theodore and Mary C. Schulten Moersen. His father was born May 12, 1858, in Hannalpel, Westphalia, Germany, and died in Columbus February 16, 1937. His mother was born August 12, 1856, in Bucholt, Westphalia, Germany, and died February 18, 1931, in Columbus.

William Moersen had three sisters and three brothers: Theodore Jr., deceased; Elizabeth, Mrs. Dennis Sullivan; Sophie, Mrs. J. B. Ternes; Frank; Leo, deceased; and Louise, Mrs. Herman Kaufman.

William Moetsen attended St. Francis Academy and after that spent some time in Portland, Oregon.

On March 13, 1915, he was married at Spalding, Nebraska, to Miss Helen Krick, the daughter of Joseph Krick and Maria Anna Farrenkopft Krick. Joseph Krick was born November 11, 1856, at Earl Park, Indiana, and died in 1909 at Spalding, Nebraska. Maria Anna Farrenkopft was born July 7, 1854, and died at Spalding December 29, 1942. Mrs. Moersen had one sister, Anna, Mrs. C. J. Phillips; two half-brothers, Charles Berberich, an undertaker married to Elizabeth Krick, and John Berberich, a barber, married to May Smith.

William and Helen Krick Moersen had seven childen (sic): Wendell Moersen, born November 29, 1916, married to Miss Bertha Herbert; Geraldine, Mrs. Francis Higgins; Angela, Mrs. Dean Lusienski; Mark, a concert pianist, was born July 31, 1923; Camella, a nurse; Winifred, a Francisan (sic) nun; and Kenneth, born October 18, 1931. All were born in Columbus and were graduated from St. Bonaventure's High School, except Mark, who graduated from Kramer High School. Mark studied piano at the St. Louis School of Music, and later in Chicago and New York.

Mr. Moersen, after clerking in a hardware and a grocery store, learned the barber's trade. He was associated with his father for several years in the Moersen Barber Shop on Eleventh Street. Upon the retirement of his father, he became the manager of the shop.

The Moersens are members of St. Bonaventure's Catholic Church. William Moersen is a Democrat.

THEODORE MOHLMAN

Theodore Mohlman, a well-known Grand Prairie Township farmer, was born May 6, 1880, at Hornsby, Illinois. He is the son of Thees and Gretje DeBuhr Mohlman. Thees Mohlman was born in Germany, June 13, 1835, and came to Platte County from Hornsby in August, 1881; he died March 3, 1892, in Platte County. Gretje DeBuhr Mohlman was born in Germany July 21, 1845, and died January 6, 1919, in Platte County.

Theodore Mohlman had two brothers: George, a farmer, married to Bernhardena Janssen; and Eilert, a bookkeeper, married to Anna Brandes. He also had five half-sisters and five half-brothers: Minnie Mohlman, married to Charles W. Smith, a grocer of Gillespie, Illinois, died April 6, 1936; Anna Mohlman, married to William Meyer, a farmer of Gillespie, Illinois, died April 17, 1942; Richard Mohlman, a grocer, married to Mary Kaseberg, died April 30, 1927, in Granite City, Illinois; Catherine Mohlman, a cafeteria manager; John Mohlman, a farmer in Platte County, married to Emma Logeman, died January 31, 1935; Diedrick Adams, employed in a glass factory, married to Elizabeth Bauer; Ella Adams, first married to Hugo Schaad, a farmer, then to Albert Kuehnel, a blacksmith, and later to John Koopman, a farmer. She died June 17, 1936, in Yorktown, Texas; Minnie Adams, married to Carl Rosche, owner of a creamery and general store; John Adams, a farmer, married to Emma Bauer; and Frank Adams, a blacksmith in Platte County, married to Gesine Lutjeluschen, died October 3!, 1942.

Theodore Mohlman attended school in District 72 and at the St. John's Parochial School. It was while attending District 72 that an outstanding experience of Mr. Mohlman's childhood occurred. A quotation from his story:

"My brother, George, and I were caught in the school house in the blizzard of January 12, 1888. It was shortly after dinner when the storm struck with all its fury. Before that it had seemed a calm winter day. Our teacher, Miss Anna Freeman, though excited herself, allayed our fears until her father and brother, with team and wagon, got to the school. They had placed blankets over the wagon to form a cover. Everyone was piled in and was taken to the nearest farm a quarter-of-a mile away. Here the pupils stayed all night with no way of notifying anxious parents of their whereabouts. Our brother, John, we learned later, made several attempts to get to the school house without success. In the morning the weather again was bright and clear, but very cold. The entire landscape, except for a lonely cow, frozen but still standing under a tree a quarter-of-a-mile away, was white."

On the death of his father in 1892, Theodore Mohlman, though only eleven years old, assumed much of the responsibility of the farm.

On January 9, 1906, he was married to Miss Emma Charlotte Schure, the daughter of John Frederick and Wilhelmine Streblow Schure, who came to Platte County from Germany. John Frederick Schure was born in Germany, October 20, 1839, and died in Platte County in April, 1926. He was a farmer. Wilhelmine Streblow Schure was born in Germany, January 2, 1851 and died in Platte County, October 29, 1926.

Emma Schure Mohlman had five brothers and one sister. They are: Charles and William, twins; Frank and Henry, twins; Josephine, a twin to Emma; and George Schure. Charles, a farmer, was married to Juliana Miller. George, a farmer, married Adala Dollerschell, Josephine married Reverend Rudolph Schimmelpfennig, a Lutheran minister.

Theodore and Emma Charlotte Schure Mohlman had two daughters and one son: Violet, Olive and LaVern Mohlman. Violet attended School District 72, St. John's Parochial School, the Columbus High School, Midland College at Fremont, Nebraska, Valparaiso

University at Valparaiso, Indiana, and the Colorado University at Boulder, Colorado. She taught school in District 72, the Grand Prairie High School District 28, Platte Center High School, Brighton. High School at Brighton, Colorado, and Seward High School at Seward, Nebraska.

Olive attended school in District 72, the Immanuel Lutheran Parochial School, Kramer High School, Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, and the University of Colorado. She taught school in Grand Prairie High School District 28, Kackley High School at Kackley, Kansas, Leon Schools at Leon, Iowa, Lincoln School at Newton, Iowa. She was also employed as a bookkeeper in the accounting department of the Continental Telephone Company in Columbus.

LaVern attended District 72, St. John's Parochial School, Grand Prairie High School, District 28 and the Platte Center High School. He was married to Miss Annette Janssen and farms the home place in Grand Prairie Township.

Theodore Mohlman, a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, was an elder in that church for fifteen years, 1929 to 1944. He was also a delegate to the Synod Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1935. Through the years he has been interested in the progress of his home community. He served as treasurer of District 72 from 1904 to 1944 and treasurer of Grand Prairie Township from 1940 to 1944. He was a member of the Grand Prairie community band in which he played the baritone horn.

Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Mohlman moved to Columbus when they retired from active farm work.

MARTIN MOHR SR.

Martin Mohr Sr., was born May 18, 1856, at Saratov, Russia, where he received his early education. On June 7, 1881, he was married to Miss Christina Schreiber, also a native of Russia. In 1890 they immigrated to the United States, settling on a farm near York, Nebraska, where they lived seven years. They moved then to Platte County, locating in the O'Kay neighborhood nine miles northwest of Monroe, where Mr. Mohr and his sons engaged in stock raising and farming.

In 1923, Mr. and Mrs. Mohr Sr., retired from active farm work, and with Anna, Rose and Laura, their daughters, moved to Columbus. At O'Kay, the Mohrs were members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church and helped build the church there. Mr. Mohr was Church Secretary for several years. In Columbus, they were members of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Martin and Christina Schreiber Mohr had eleven children. Two died in infancy, and a daughter, Charlotta, died in 1912. The others were: Jake, a farmer northwest of Monroe married to Lena Lammers; Martin, Jr., who married Muriel Davis, is deceased; George, of Columbus, married to Emma Lindauer; John, of Columbus, married to Hazel Hurley; David, of Fremont, married to Elizabeth Dischner; Ann and Rose, who live in the Mohr home in Columbus; and Laura, Mrs. Arthur Alpers, of Columbus,

Mr. and Mrs. Martin Mohr Sr. celebrated their Golden Wedding in Columbus June 7, 1931.

Martin Mohr died June 29, 1939, and Mrs. Mohr died March 5, 1947.

CLARENCE PHILLIP MOORE

Clarence Phillip Moore was born at Aurora, Nebraska, November 27, 1881, and died in October, 1946, in Columbus. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Francis Moore, natives of Peoria, Illinois. Phillip Moore was born January I, 1853, and died at Aurora, December 5, 1893. Mrs. Moore was born October 18, 1854, and died October 14, 1895.

Clarence P. Moore received his elementary education in the county schools near his home and attended the Aurora Business College and the St. Anthony Business School. He was graduated from the College of Pharmacy at the Creighton University at Omaha.

Clarence P. Moore came to Columbus in December, 1919, and as a registered pharmacist was associated with Will Goodwin and Harry Copeland in the Pollock Drug Company, now the Fricke Drug Company. In 1921, he and Mr. Copeland sold their interests to Sam Torrence. Mr. Moore then entered the insurance business. He was a representative for the New York Life Insurance Company in Columbus for twenty-two years.

On June 18, 1907, at Portsmouth, Iowa, he was married to Miss Blanche Copeland, daughter of Isaac J. and Mary Ellen Copeland. They had two sons and one daughter: Clarice and Donald; and Robert, deceased. Clarice was born at Arcadia and was graduated from the Columbus High School. She studied nursing at the Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital in Omaha and is a graduate nurse. She is married to Leo Wiederhold and they live in Omaha. Donald, born in Columbus December 13, 1924, is a graduate of Kramer High School and attended the University of Nebraska. In World War II, he served in the United States Navy. He is a musician and has played with several bands in the midwest. On September 1, 1948, he was married to Shirley Haun. They live at Lincoln, Nebraska. Robert, born April 11, 1914, died in Columbus September 11, 1920.

Clarence Phillip Moore was a member of A.F. and A.M., and the Eastern Star. Mrs. Moore was a member of the Eastern Star. Mr. and Mrs. Moore, Congregationalists, held membership in the Federated church in Columbus.

In November, 1948, James Moore, a brother of Clarence, was married to Blanche Copeland Moore. They live in Pocatello, Idaho.

FRANK HENRY MORROW, M.D.

Doctor Frank Henry Morrow was born February 5, 1880, in Turin, New York. He is the son of Thomas and Mary McDonald Morrow. Thomas Morrow, a farmer, was born in County Sligo, Ireland, August 15,

1836, and died in 1922 at Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Mary McDonald Morrow was born March 21, 1841 in County Sligo, Ireland, and died August 20, 1926, at Spencer, Nebraska.

Doctor Morrow had four brothers and three sisters: John C., insurance representative in Omaha, died in 1929; Thomas M., attorney-at-law in Scottsbluff, Nebraska; James, who was eighteen when he died in Holt County, Nebraska; William, Scottsbluff attorney, deceased; Lavina, school teacher, of Scottsbluff; Anna, Mrs. George Cronkelton, of Scottsbluff; and Mary, Mrs. Parnell Golden, of Omaha.

Frank H Morrow was a boy when he settled in Holt County with his parents. He attended school at District 64 in Holt County, and was graduated from high school at Atkinson, Nebraska. He then enrolled at the University of Nebraska where he took preparatory work for medicine. After his graduation from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, he served his internship at the Douglas County Hospital. Doctor Morrow has been physician and surgeon in Columbus since 19o8, and is on the staffs of both St. Mary's and Lutheran Hospitals.

On November 4, 1914, he was married to Miss Catherine Rusche, the daughter of Frederick H. and Emma Elizabeth Bauer Rusche, a former teacher in the Columbus Schools. Mrs. Morrow's maternal grandmother was Mamie Catherine Becker Bauer, a sister of John Peter Becker, one of the founders of Columbus. Catherine Morrow had one brother and two sisters: Eleanor Rusche, deceased; Doctor Carl Rusche of Los Angeles, California; and Louise, Mrs. W. S. Frilot, also of Los Angeles.

Doctor Frank H. and Catherine Rusche Morrow had five sons: Thomas F., Frank R., George E., James W., and John C. They were all graduated from Kramer High School. Thomas was graduated from Georgetown University at Washington, D. C. He is with the Lockheed Aviation Corporation at Burbank, California. He is married to Catherine Goodwin. They have a daughter Cathleen.

Frank was graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree of Doctor of Medicine. He is married to Frances Peterson. They have a daughter, Mary Ann.

James was graduated from the St. Louis University with a Bachelor of Science degree. He studied medicine at the University of Nebraska.

John was graduated from Kramer High School in the Class of 1950.

In World War I, Doctor Morrow served as a medical officer in the Signal Corps where he was commissioned a Captain. He was the First Commander of Hartman Post American Legion in 1920.

Doctor Morrow, long interested in education and civic improvements, served nine years as a member of the Columbus Board of Education, and fifteen years as a member of the City Park Board. During his time on the Park Board much of the planting and development of Pawnee Park was accomplished. Since 1921, Doctor Morrow has been on the Board of Directors of the Central National Bank. He holds memberships in the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion, the B.P.O.E. (Elks), Lions International, Chamber of Commerce, Nu Sigma Nu Fraternity, American Medical Association, American College of Surgeons, Nebraska State Medical Society, and the Platte County Medical Society.

Doctor and Mrs. F. H. Morrow are members of St. Bonaventure's Church in Columbus.

GEORGE EDWARD MORROW

George Edward Morrow, son of Doctor Frank H. and Catherine Rusche Morrow was born May 5, 1921, at Columbus, Nebraska. He had four brothers: Thomas F., Frank R:, James W., and John C.

George E. Morrow attended St. Bonaventure's Grade School and was graduated from Kramer High School. Following this he took his first two years of college work at Notre Dame University. He was graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1947 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was a member there of the Kappa Psi Fraternity.

In World War II, George Morrow served three years and five months in the United States Air Forces where he attained the rank of major. He received the following citations: American Theater Service Medal, European African Middle Eastern Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army Commendation Ribbon, Army of Occupation Medal, and Air Medal W/1 Oak Leaf Cluster.

His hobbies are football, music and horseback riding.

On May 16, 1948, at Jackson, Tennessee, he was married to Marguerite C. Allen, the daughter of R. E. and Margaret Roth Allen. Marguerite Allen Morrow has one brother, Earl E., and one sister, Norma.

George Morrow is Sales Manager for the Rogers Motor Company at Columbus. He has memberships in the Apollo Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the Democratic Party. He is a member of St. Bonaventure's Catholic Church.

WILLIAM REED MORSE

William Reed Morse, son of William Henry and Elizabeth Reed Morse, was born August 4, 1846, in Bath, Maine, where he received his schooling. His father and mother were descendants of families who were early pioneers of Bath, Maine, and the neighboring towns. William Henry Morse was a member of the Anthony Morse family, who emigrated from Marlboro, England, to New England, in 1663. Elizabeth Reed Morse was a member of the Andrew Reed family, who emigrated from North Ireland to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, around 1635. These families were active in the Revolutionary War, the French and Indian War, the War of 1812, and in the organization of the First Continental Congress.

William Reed Morse spent a short period at sea as a sailor, and made a number of trips on the sailing vessel, "Pontiac," one of the last of the old clipper sailing vessels.

In 1866, he went to Champaign, Illinois, where he was employed by the Daniel Rugg Boot and Shoe Store.

Early in 1872, he came to Nebraska and settled at Clarks, where he was one of the early pioneers. There were seven houses in Clarks when he arrived. He opened a general store and lived above the store for many years. He was postmaster from 1872-1880.

Others there during that period who later figured in Columbus history were the George, Mitchell, and Hulst families, and Doctor D. T. Martyn.

In 1880, Mr. Morse opened a bank. He was also in the lumber business and later in the real estate and insurance business. Active in public affairs, he was a member of the State Senate, elected in 1880, and a member of the Republican State Central Committee for Nebraska.

On March 2, 1872, in Champaign, Illinois, William Reed Morse married Mary Emma Thomas, daughter of. Reverend John and Huldah Lytell Thomas. Reverend Thomas was a Presbyterian minister for thirty years in Ohio and Illinois. Mrs. Morse was born August 2, 1852, in New Jersey, and attended the Jacksonville, Illinois, seminary.

Mr. and Mrs. Morse had one daughter, Mary Emma, known as Mollie, born August 29, 1881. She was married to Charles H. Campbell, M.D., and was the mother of Harvey Reed Campbell. She died May 1, 1916. Harold M. Morse was married to Lucille Reeder, the daughter of Judge J. G. and Lillian Smith Reeder.

William Reed Morse was an active member of the Masons and the Knights of Pythias. He was a charter member of the Congregational Church at Clarks. He died in Clarks on December 24, 1917. Mrs. Morse died in 1945, at the age of ninety-three.

EMIL LUDWIG MUELLER

Emil Ludwig Mueller, a prominent farmer, was born July 13, 1885, in Platte County. He is the son of Rudolf C. and Susan Karlin Mueller. Rudolf Mueller born January 26, 1861, in Germany, came to Platte County in 1867, and died June 29, 1917. Susan Mueller was born September 7, 1865.

Emil Mueller had four brothers and five sisters: Louise, Mrs. Joseph Schacher; Ida, Mrs. Otto Ewert; Anna, Mrs. Emil Loseke; Otto, an employee of the Loup River Public Power District, married to Katherine Engel; Carl, in the oil and gasoline transport business, married to Fennella Lagge; Ella, Mrs. Joseph Cochran; Edward, an electrical appliance salesman in Omaha, married to Alice Roan and Marie, Mrs. Ted Raymond.

Emil Mueller attended school in Platte County. He was married November 23, 1909, to Miss Adele E. Lueschen, the daughter of John D. and Anna Gesine Schmidt Lueschen.

Mr. and Mrs. Mueller had four sons. Erwin, born August 15, 1911, married Genevieve Beecroft and is engaged in farming. Eldon, born December 18, 1915, married Mary Lueschen. He served forty-two months in the Army Air Corps, eight months of which were spent in the Pacific. He is associated in the grocery business in the J. R. Lueschen Market at Columbus. Harley, born February 8, 1918, is a farmer. He served four years in the Army, twenty-five months of which were spent overseas. Emil, born June 8, 1920, served forty-five months in the Navy, eighteen months of which were spent overseas. Before entering the service, Emil was graduated from the University of Nebraska. All four sons attended Kramer High School. Eldon and Harley also attended the University of Nebraska.

Mr. Mueller is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Sons of Herman, the Izaak Walton League, and is a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Mueller are members of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbus.

ADOLPH MUELLER

Adolph Mueller was born August 8, 1881, in Bismark Township and died January 30, 1939. His parents were Frederick and Magdalena Karlin Mueller. Frederick Mueller was a native of Germany. Magdalena Karlin Mueller was a native of Russia, near the German border.

Adolph Mueller had two brothers and seven sisters: Carl, married to Lillian Kirtman; Albert, married to Stella Held; Martha, Mrs. Frank Aerni, Louise, Mrs. Albert Aerni; Emma, Mrs. Edwin Ahrens; Minnie, Mrs. Alfred Berchtold; Anna, Mrs. Edward Ahrens; Rose, Mrs. Otto Held; and Magdalen, Mrs. Fred Egger. All live in or near Columbus.

Adolph Mueller attended the district school and the Christ Lutheran Parochial School in Bismark Township.

On December 11, 1902, he was married to Miss Mary Schutt. They established their home in the same section with the parental home, and had three children: Olga, Mrs. Ernest Petter of Columbus; Clarence, a farmer living northeast of Columbus, married to Laura Klug; and Harvey, a farmer near Columbus, married to Erna Klug.

Mrs. Mary Schutt Mueller lives in Columbus, Nebraska.

Mr. Mueller, a farmer and stockman, was always interested in local affairs. A charter member of the Farmer's Union Local No. 388, he was its first vice-president. He also served two terms on the School Board of District 10. Mechanically inclined, when a young man he owned and operated a steam threshing machine among the farmers in the Bismark neighborhood.

DANIEL MURDOCK

Daniel Murdock was born on August 1, 1839, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He moved from Kentucky to Platte County in 1884, and settled in that part of Lost Creek Township, which has been Oconee Township since 1906.

His farm was on the site of the present village of Oconee. He owned eleven hundred acres of land and was a general farmer. He built a grain elevator and conducted a lumber business for eighteen years, from 1889 to 1907. In 1907, he sold the grain elevator to the L. B. Hord Company, of Central City, and retired.

On September 27, 1865, he was married to Mary E. Wetherbee, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Murdock had two daughters: Julia, Mrs. John

Dawson of Columbus; and Frances, Mrs. Walker Robert Hitchcock of Columbus. John C. Dawson came to Platte County on April 5, 1890, and bought land in Columbus Township. In 1893, he moved to a farm in Section 10, township 17, range 2 west, where he raised Hereford cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs, owning more than three hundred and eighty head at one time.

Daniel Murdock served as justice of the Peace for two terms and also as Postmaster at Oconee. He was affiliated with the Republican Party.

Mr. and Mrs. Murdock were members of the Unitarian Church. Daniel Murdock died June 27, 1913, at Oconee, and Mrs. Murdock died August 14, 1922.

PATRICK MURRAY

Patrick Murray was born in Ireland, in August, 1826, of Irish parentage. He had three sisters, all of whom immigrated to America with him in 1844. Upon their arrival in New York, they all went to Pennsylvania, where Patrick worked on a farm in Chester County.

One of his sisters, the Venerable Sister Anastasia, was a nun near Wheeling, West Virginia. His other sisters were Margaret and Kate. Margaret was married to Adam Smith, a brother to Michael Smith, one of the founders of Columbus. Adam Smith was killed in the Indian Massacre in 1864, and Mrs. Smith later married Terence Brady. Kate Murray was the wife of Thomas Cushing, also of Columbus. Mr. and Mrs. Cushing had two daughters: Katherine, Mrs. Farley, of Kansas City, and Mae, the wife of Albert Schram, of Washington State. Both Mrs. Farley and Mrs. Schram are deceased.

Patrick Murray came to Nebraska in 1857, and that spring, he walked from Omaha to Columbus with Hugh McDonough. He took a claim three miles northwest of Columbus, where he engaged in farming and stockraising. He built a sod house on his claim and then went to Council Bluffs, where he was married to Bridget Hennessy.

Later, he built a log house, and then as the years passed, he built a frame house for himself, and a large barn of cottonwood lumber. He paid seventy dollars per thousand feet in Omaha for the lumber and hauled it to Columbus with ox-teams. The posts were round, the rafters hand-hewn, and there was not a nail in the construction of the building. Wooden pegs were driven into dovetailed parts into which holes had been drilled. Title to the original Murray claim still remains in the family.

Mr. Murray fed four to five carloads of cattle for the annual market, and he made and sold hay to the United States Government for the cavalry horses. Patrick Murray had little book learning and was only able to sign his name. However, he was known as an excellent financier and employed all honest ways of making money. He acquired as much land as he could and aside from farming, stock-raising, feeding, and hay-making he freighted and traded with the Indians.

Patrick Murray was twice married. On July 4, 1857, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, he was married to Bridget Hennessy. Mrs. Murray survived the injuries received in the Indian Massacre of 1864. She died February 3, 1892.

On July 3, 1892, Patrick Murray was married to Fredericka Schultz, the daughter of John and Fredericka Schultz, of Platte County. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Pacificus Kohen, O.F.M., and the witnesses to the marriage were James Nolan and Catherine Knott. Fredericka Schultz Murray was born in Madison, Wisconsin, March 1, 1873. She had one sister, Sophia, Mrs. Henry Lubker, who later married Charles Todenhof.

Patrick and Fredericka Murray had eight children: Mary, born April 24, 1893, is the wife of John Podraza; Anna was born 1895; Lena, born March 30, 1896, is the wife of Joseph Kula; John, born September 2, 1898, married Sophie Podraza; Fredericka, born July 6, 1899, is Mother Murray, a Mesdames of the Sacred Heart nun; Michael, born February 26, 1901, married Genevieve Backes; Patrick, Jr., born March 24, 1903, married Frances Schefcik; and Antonia, born November 12, 1904, is the wife of Charles G. Kuta. They were all born in Columbus.

Patrick Murray contributed much to the development of early Platte County, and lived to see the change from a wild, uncultivated frontier district to a prosperous region. He was a staunch Democrat and was the Platte County Democratic Chairman at the time that the Honorable Judge John J. Sullivan started his legal career in Columbus.

Patrick Murray died on July 26, 1906, a few months prior to his fiftieth anniversary of residence in Platte County.

WILLIAM P. NANSEL

William P. Nansel, the son of Conrad Nansel, was born June 29, 1872, in Missouri. He came to Platte County in 1892 from Council Bluffs, Iowa. William Nansel had four brothers and three sisters. One brother, Mike, lives in Nance County.

Before coming to Platte County, William Nansel lived in Missouri and at Council Bluffs, Iowa. He attended the rural schools there. His work for many years has been farming.

On April 19, 1898, he was married at St. John's Catholic Church, on Shell Creek south of Lindsay, to Caroline Wilson, the daughter of Daniel Wilson. Mrs. Nansel's brother, Robert Wilson, lives at Primrose, Nebraska. The others are deceased.

William P. and Caroline Wilson Nansel had twelve children, nine of whom are living: Alice Nansel Weise, of Hayward, California; Margaret Nansel Reimers, of Atkinson, Nebraska; Rose Nansel Thayer, of Humphrey; Lucille Nansel Galus, of Columbus; Lela Nansel Reimers, of Monroe; Frances Nansel Curtis, of Monroe; John and Mike Nansel, of Monroe; and William Nansel Jr., of Genoa.

© 2005 for the NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller