Homesteaders
According to the records in the Department of the Interior at Washington, D. C, the fact has been disclosed that the first homestead in Pierce County was taken November 1, 1867, by August Ninow, whose name is now spelled Nenow.
The filing was made at the Dakota City land office and was the three hundred-seventeenth homestead to be filed upon in the United States.
This homestead is located just south of the town of Hadar on Highway 81.
August Nenow, who took this homestead, belonged to the colony of German settlers who came from Ixonia, Wisconsin, in the summer of 1866 and settled where the city of Norfolk is now located. Following their arrival here they began the erection of places of shelter for their families and then looked over the country to decide which spot they would file on for their homesteads.
Many things had to be considered then that are not to be thought of now: water, timber, fuel, pasture, and even sheltered spots for "dug-out" or soddy. In some instances the construction was of logs.
Indeed, so many things merited consideration that often the most important item to be weighed today, the quality of the soil, received the least consideration. Strange as it may seem to us of this generation, many of the first homestead entries were filed on poor land. Especially does this appear novel when they had "all outdoors" to choose from.
Records are vague as to the settlers between the year of 1867 and 1869 but among them were some of the pioneers who came with the group that settled in Madison County in 1866 but took homesteads in Pierce County. Among that group were the families of:
Ferdinand Conrad
Herman Rohde
August Huebner
Christian Huebner
In the spring of 1869 a colony of Germans came from Wisconsin. Some located in the vicinity of Hadar while others located near Pierce.
Among those locating near Hadar were the families of:
Lichtenberg
Braasch
Wichman
Rohrke
Lierman
Raasch
Eppler and others
Locating near Pierce were the families of:
In 1870 came the families of:
Albert Magdanz
Albert Brever
Bernard Riley
William Buckendahl
August Kolterman
William Schellen
Carl Korth
R. S. Lucas
James H. Brown
Wilson Hall and others
In 1871 settlers located at Plainview. Among them were the families of :
According to the records in the United States Department of Interior the last entry in Pierce county was made by John W. Allison on January 26, 1906. He entered the SE 1-4 Sec. 30, T. 26 N., R. 4 W., 6th P. M.,
Nebraska, under homestead entry: O'Neill 02142, on which patent issued November 5, 1912.
Source: Along Pioneer Trails in
Pierce County, Nebraska
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