Nebraska Signal, Feb. 11, 1932
I have read of the early days of Geneva by Sam Bain, also Arthur T. Scott. Sam Bain was there ahead of me. There are two others now living in Geneva who were there before, J. H. Sager and Prof. C. A. Smith. Curt taught school then. A. T. Scott came after I did.
I will try to write a sketch of part of Geneva as I now remember it to be at that time, 1882. I rode down from Fairmont on the hack with Ed Nuttal, the darkey. We landed at the Putnam House about 4:30 p.m., September 1, 1882. Of course I had to take in the town at once, looking for a job. I was not quite twenty-one and not very flush. I had $8 in my pocket, but I owed $10 of that to my sister at Auburn, Ill.
As I walked up the street I stepped into a store next door to the hotel and met F. H. Briggs, then went on west. Next door was Dempster Bros., J. A. and J. H., merchandise store. The next door was their hardware store. There I met John Mills. He wanted to know where I was from. I told him from Bloomington Ill. He said, “Come upstairs. I want you to meet my family. They are from about twenty miles north of Bloomington.” We went up and there I met Mate Mills and her three girls, Maud, Irma and Viva, the first three girls I ever met in Geneva, NE.
I will try to locate the buildings and businesses as they were when I first struck Geneva. We will commence at the southwest corner of the square. There were only two houses south of the square in section one, Stanton township. The house Frank McClusky lived in and the Knowler house stood where the Northwestern track is. The house was moved west, I think, where Peter Weis lives now. There were only two houses west of the Burlington railroad. J. H. Bigelow lived in one and I think O. P. Locey lived in the others.s They stood on the Clay Center road in the block southeast of the Free Will Baptist church.
Coming back to the southwest corner of the square there was Smith and Platt’s general store. Then several vacant lots. About the center of the block there were two small houses. George and the noted Belle Bigelow lived in one of them and Mrs. George Hedges ran a millinery store in the other. Next north was a store building Sam Yates occupied with a flour and feed exchange. On the corner where the gas station is now was the noted A. G. Camp grocery, where, if you wanted some fresh butter and he did not have it, he would spit on his hands and dish you up some very fine prunes. Where the Taborsky grocery is was where J. H. Camp’s livery barn stood. Where Frank Ashton lives stood the Jim Camp home.l The old building north of the McEachran barn was Willis and Lester Bentley’s blacksmith shop. Upstairs was the first opera house.
Now down Court street. The west Union block was occupied by a small building about sixteen feet square where Sherwood Burr ran the post office. On the next lot was the Cal Bain restaurant bought a little later by Phil Jones. Where the Isabel building now stands was a small frame millinery shop, bought the same fall by Mrs. J. H. Luke. Where the Reese building is was the home of the J. M. Fisher family. The old house now stands on the corner just west of the Congregational church. Then Jones & Barry’s hardware, then L. S. Fiegenbaum’s drug store, then A. O. Taylor’s loan and insurance and Dave Conant’s general store.
The next was Amos Herr’s saloon. Then J. E. Spear’s justice office. On the corner where the State bank is J. D. Hamilton had a law office. Where the city hall is was the home of Charles Carlow. L Across the street where the light plant is was the home of Vincent Dworak. South to where the Citizens bank building stands stood the northrup house, then occupied by Jensen & Cooksey, attorneys, late the second house west of the Congregational church. Where Picard’s store now is was vacant. The next two buildings were Dempsters’ hardware and merchandise. The next where Hrubeskys’ are was vacant. The next was Briggs’ grocery. The next ninety-six feet, which includes the Brayton, Woodworth and Alexander buildings, were occupied by the old Putnam House. The next forty-eight feet, which includes the Hested and Fiegenbaum stores, was occupied by three small buildings.
The one next east of the Alexander market was Mrs. H. Dempster’s bakery. The next was Jones & Lee’s millinery store. The next was Charles Bassett’s furniture store. Part of the next forty-eight feet was Ed Mack’s, one side a barber shop, the other a pool room. On the corner where C. A. Smith’s furniture store now is Thomas Jefferson Fleming ran a livery barn. That was before Clint Spear came to town. Across the street east on the corner was H. H. Martin’s carpenter shop and Nick Longly’s wagon shop. The next was John Shuster’s blacksmith shop. That was all.
The block east of that was a graveyard or cemetery. M. V. King built the first house on that block, now Grandview. The whole 320 acres was owned by John Coburn, the uncle of William T. Voris, who in 1883 or ‘84 sold it to J. H. Bigelow for $8,000. The 320 acres had one house and it is known now as the J. B. McPeck home. There were two other house on the north half section, the Bill Thompson house, later the Charles Thorpe farm, still later the Youngers farm, and a small house facing the north road in which lived Henry Oakes.
In the section south of Grandview, or section six, Chelsea township, there were three houses, the Mark Butler, the Renshaw, later the Darrow place, and Tom Ough, later the Shumway and still later the Pete Hafer house. Jess Thompson lived where Ira Heath lives. John Dye lived where Henry Fisher lives. Milt Selby lived where Frank Sloan’s big barns are facing Court street.
I will not dwell any more on locations. If I remember right Arthur Scott stated that when he came to Geneva in 1882 DeWolf and Shumway were running a butcher shop. Arthur is mistaken, because Rober Schofield bought out Richard Kinsey in the late fall of 1882. It was DeWolf and Schofield until the summer of 1883 when Shumway bought out Schofield. As Mr. Shumway knew me in Illinois he gave me a job
I was the first man who ever cut a pork chop in the town. The next morning after I went to work, W. H. Jameson came in. He said, “We have a new butcher.” Says I, “Yes sir.” He said, “Can you cut a pork chop?” I told him it was part of my stade so I cut some for him. He told me that he had never been able to buy any in Geneva before. He said the other butchers would cut clear across, sowbelly and all.
There were a lot of butchers. Once one said he could run a butcher shop as well as Mark Alexander. So he started up in a little building vacated by Sherwood Burr’s post office. A woman went in and asked for some mutton chops. He said he did not have any but could chop her some, so he took a brisket and chopped it into a stew. He lost that customer right there.
I just put this together the best I knew how. If you feel like telling it to your patrons, do so and head it as you please. This is January 12, 1932. Wishing everyone a more prosperous year, I am
Respectfully,
Mark Alexander