Edgecombe, F. O.

Born February 13, 1874 on a farm near Leipsic, Ohio to Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey M. Edgecombe.
Died August 6, 1947 in Geneva NE
Married Hattie B. Mengal on Sept. 151, 1887, at Valparaiso, NE
Parents of four children: Warren, Ruth, Tyler, and Helen.
In April, 1865 his parents moved to southeastern Nebraska, settling on a farm south of Rulo.
He graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan located in York with a degree in 1884.
In 1886, he entered the Bank of Rulo as a bookkeeper and assistant cashier.
In 1889 Mr. Edgecombe bought a half interest in the Falls City Journal.
In 1890 he retired from the bank, bought the other half interest in the Journal, moved to Falls City and went into the newspaper business.
In 1892, during prairie chicken season, while hunters were walking through a stubble field in western Nebraska, one of them peppered Mr. Edgecombe with shot, causing immediate and permanent blindness.
After 23 days in a Omaha hospital, Mr. Edgecombe resumed his usual work in the Journal office.
In 1893 Mr. Edgecombe was elected president of the Nebraska Press Association.

In 1894, Mr. Edgecombe sold the Falls City Journal.
On February 8, 1894 he moved his family to Geneva. He and his wife walked from the Burlington depot to the Hotel Jameson on wooden sidewalks covered with snow.
The next day he bought the Geneva Republican and the Geneva Journal and combined them into one paper.
In April 1896, he purchased the Nebraska Signal.
Over the next years he purchased 16 other local papers and combined them under the name Nebraska Signal.
In 1904 Mr. Edgecombe and two associates bought the Nebraska Farmer and moved it from Omaha to Lincoln. He sold his interest in 1908.
In 1908 he bought an interest in the Beatrice Daily Express and maintained that 12 years.
In 1913 Tyler Edgecombe joined the staff of the Signal.
In 1925 Mr. Edgecombe was elected president of the National Editorial Association.
In 1947, John Edgecombe, Sr. joined the staff of the Signal.