Hooker County is
chiefly adapted to raising cattle, horses and sheep on
the range. Hay, potatoes and vegetables are the principal
crops and some grain is raised. The surface consists of
broken prairie, valleys and sandhills. The Middle Loup
and Dismal Rivers, with their tributaries, furnish good
drainage, and there is an abundant supply of water. The
value of land has increased twenty per cent, since 1897
and at present there is a demand for ranches in the
county. The value of live stock in 1900 was $438,462.00.
The county was organized in 1889, with an area of 720
square miles. Mullen, a town of 100 population, is the
county seat. The population of the county is 432.
J. H. DODD was
born near Quincy, Illinois, October 5, 1846. He ran away
from school to join the army, and served almost three
years in Company B of the Fifteenth Illinois Infantry and
was twice wounded. He railroaded for thirty years,
beginning as a brakeman on the Wabash Railroad, and when
he left the work he was general yardmaster and assistant
trainsmaster of the Rock Island at Topeka, Kansas: Mr.
Dodd came to Cherry County, Nebraska, in 1896 and the
next year settled in Hooker County. May 1, 1867, he was
married to Miss Jennie Moore of Adams County, Illinois,
and they have two children. He is a member of the
People's Independent party, and is serving his third term
as judge of Hooker County.
C. M. BARNEBEY
was born on March 21, 1879, in Schuyler County, Missouri,
from whence his parents moved to Iowa, where they lived
until 1887, when they came to Hooker County, Nebraska.
His father took a homestead here in 1887; on which he
still lives, being one of the very first settlers of this
county. Mr. Barnebey was married to Miss Florence Garrett
of Mullen in 1903. He taught a public school at the age
of seventeen, but is now engaged in ranching. In 1901 he
was elected County Judge and resigned at the end of three
months, going on a trip West. In 1902 he was elected
County Clerk to fill a vacancy and was re-elected in 1903
on the People's Independent ticket.
C. W. RECTOR was
born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, August 30, 1852, and the
next year his parents moved to Barton County, Missouri,
and about 1872 they went to Texas. In 1874 Mr. Rector
started out for himself, going to Western Texas, where he
had thrilling adventures with Indians. After spending
several years on the plains of Texas and Old Mexico he
went to Montana and then to South Dakota. In 1896 he
settled in Hooker County, where he was engaged in the
cattle business until elected Sheriff in 1900. He is
affiliated with the Democratic party and is now serving
his second term. At Alliance, Nebraska, July 16, 1902, he
was married to Miss Josephine Bowers of Hooker
County.
MRS. J. E.
CATRON is a native of England and the date of her
birth is October 25, 1873. She came to the United States
in 1882 and lived in London, Ontario, for two years, and
then came to Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1887 she went to
Ogalalla, Nebraska, where her father homesteaded in what
is now Perkins County, and in 1894 came to Deuel County,
where she was married to Edmond E. Catron in 1893. They
have two children. She attended high school at Lincoln,
Nebraska, two years and also at Grant, Nebraska. Mrs.
Catron taught school for nine years, and is the
Superintendent of Hooker County, having been elected on
the People's Independent ticket.
F. S. ALBRIGHT
was born January 8, 1847, in Johnson County, Illinois,
and raised in Union County. In 1877 he moved to Silver
Cliff, Colorado, and then back to Macon, Missouri, where
he remained five years. After living in Illinois for a
short time he came to Dawes County, Nebraska, and settled
in Hooker County in 1898. He is a tinsmith by trade, but
recently has been engaged in blacksmithing and stock
raising. Mr. Albright is a member of the Democratic party
and has been Deputy Sheriff of Jackson and Union
Counties, Illinois. He is now serving his first term as
Treasurer of Hooker County.
S. M. BOYER is a
native of Virginia, and the date of his birth is June 30,
1876. His parents moved to Eastern Nebraska in 1882
and
then came to Cherry County four years later. His father
served in a Virginia regiment during the Civil War. Mr.
Boyer came to Hooker County in 1902, where he had taken a
homestead in 1898 and now operates a ranch stocked with
about one thousand head of cattle. In politics he is
independent, and has been elected Surveyor of Hooker
County.
