Plattsmouth Journal, Monday, February 3, 1919 SAW HALF CENTURY OF LIVING IN NEBRASKA AND EVENT IS PROPERLY CELEBRATED BY FAMILIES OF THESE TWO MEN IN CASS COUNTY MOST OF TIME George E. Buell and George E. Vandenburg Arrived in Omaha on January 23rd, 1869 At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. E. BUELL near Murdock, in Cass county, Nebraska, on Home Rest Farm, January 23rd occurred the celebration of the arrival in Nebraska fifty years ago of George E. Buell and George E. VANDENBURG. Mrs. Buell served a delicious four-course dinner to the following relatives: Mr. and Mrs. G.E. VANDENBURG and son, Edd; Mr. and Mrs. S.M. COX; Mr. and Mrs. F.E. BUELL and son, Noble; Mr. and Mrs. A. ROSENKOETTER and daughter Vera; Mr. and Mrs. L.B. GORTHEY and daughter, Dorothy, and sons Charlie and Fred Buell. On January 11, 1869, these then young men, taking Horace Greeley�s advice, left eastern New York, where they were boys together, for the unknown West. They made a short stay in Ohio; also stopped in Iowa, where they could have bought land for $6 and acre, but they did not have the $6. They arrived at Omaha on January 23, 1869. Their first work was at Bellevue, Nebraska, sawing wood for their board. Here they met their boyhood friend, S.W. Orton, now of Weeping Water, who had come from the same neighborhood a short time before. They helped survey and make ties for the Omaha, south Western railroad, which is now the Burlington. They also sawed wood for the first engines over that road in Nebraska. After this they came on to Cass county where they settled on adjoining farms in 1869. Part of their land was preempted and part was deeded by Pres. Grant. The eighty acres on which the celebration was held was homesteaded by Mr. Buell and he has lived upon it ever since. Their parents and grandparents had lived on adjoining farms in eastern New York since 1792. These men have lived through the hardships of pioneer days and have also lived to see Nebraska develop from the one room shanty and the sod house to the modern home with all of its conveniences also from the ox team (which they drove exclusively for the first four years) to the automobile � and aeroplane. Some of the hardships of the early days were the grasshopper times and the drought of the early 70s. Although the Indians and the buffaloes were scarce in this part of the state at that time, so also were the trees and inhabitants. Nothing much but rolling prairie. They sold corn and hauled it with oxen to Ashland for twelve cents a bushel, in trade and burned many bushels of corn for fuel. They also sold and hauled wheat for 35 cents a bushel and hogs for $2.00 a hundred to Plattsmouth, a distance of 27 cents. Although neighbors lived far apart in those days, their sociability cannot be surpassed by that of the present time. So the early days were not all hardships; there was sunshine as well as shadows. It has been the custom on Home Rest Farm on the 4th of July to hang out �Old glory� and shoot an old flint lock gun that was made and carried by one of Mr. Buell�s ancestors in the Revolutionary war. It was made in Colchester, Conn., in 1776. this gun also spoke on November 11, 1918 and January 23, 1919. In Nebraska the period of the pioneer is past and yet, we have some pioneers with us still. Yes, the pioneer days are past, but their witnesses are in our midst. It is well to recount their deeds while they are still among us. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com