We have traced the long arc of the Blommer family as they left Germany in 1840, settled in Loose Creek Missouri, moved to Minnesota in 1855, and then looked at the two sons-in-law, Herman and Sebastian Kreifels, as they left Missouri for Nebraska in 1869. We’ve examined the difficult early years for Herman and Sebastian – […]
P.W. Pearson Probate Records, Part 5
Last time, we examined the Pearson family’s real estate situation and learned that they did not own their farm outright, and were constantly re-mortgaging the farm. Five-year mortgages were apparently typical for this era, and it was not uncommon to make interest payments only during the term of the mortgage. This time we’ll look at the medical […]
P.W. Pearson Probate Records, Part 4
In previous posts on this topic, I’ve examined the will that he signed on February 2, 1920 and we recalled the letter written to the family by Pastor Granlund just the day before. I surmise that Will (P.W.) must have confided in his Pastor on Sunday, February 1 that he knew his illness was terminal and […]
Herman Kreifels – life on the farm near Paul, Nebraska
Upon arriving in Otoe County, Nebraska, Herman was apparently able to buy land outright, probably from the sale of his farm back in Minnesota. According to family lore, he took in Sebastian’s children after Sebastian’s death, Herman’s oldest daughter Elizabeth told her children the following story about living on the farm: One day Elizabeth’s family was […]
The Kreifels brothers – early years in Nebraska
As we saw in the previous post, the two Kreifels brothers and their families left Minnesota sometime in 1869. Their original intent was to move to Kansas, but they were unable to locate a German community there. Herman and his family chose to move to Nebraska City. Sebastian and his kids detoured to Oklahoma and […]
