Former Utica woman, Now Aged 100, Resident of California since 1902, Recalls Seward County Early Days
A woman who came to Seward county at the age of 12, in 1869, still has a keen mind and memory at the age of 100.
She is Mrs. Marietta Brown, now residing at 11039 Valley View, Whittier, California. Her husband was Ebenezer Brown, who died 30 years ago. They moved to Whittier in 1902.
Mrs. Brown was born Sept. 2, 1857, in Jackson county, Iowa.
Her memory is a mirror, and she recalls events of 90 years ago or last week equally well. She remembers when her father, Henry Jett, enlisted in Company I 31st Regiment Iowa Infantry of the Union Army in 1862. She remembers that he became sick from lying in the swamps at the Battle of Vicksburg, and her mother, Mary Frances Jett, was called to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri to care for him. Her mother nursed him back to health and then stayed nearly a year as kitchen supervisor in the officers' mess.
Meanwhile, Marietta, an only child, was with her grandmother. Her maternal grandfather, Evander West, also was a Union soldier in the Civil War.
Marietta's home in Jackson county was a log house. Later, on another frontier, she lived in a sod house and attended a sod schoolhouse.
When Mrs. Brown's father and grandfather returned home from the war both decided to use their veteran's homestead priority and each preempted 160 acres of Nebraska land.
Mrs. Browns says they went west with two covered wagons and she drove one of the teams. She remembers that she blistered her hands on the reins.
They arrived in Seward county, Nebraska in 1869 when she was twelve, and broke the prairie sod.
They had taken kitchen and farm equipment in the wagons, but no furniture. They made furniture from packing boxes.
The home where Marietta lived was a fine sod house with a board roof, but she says that neighboring sod houses had sod roofs, and she remembers seeing little snakes wiggling down out of the dirt.
The one room sod schoolhouse was established on her grandfather's farm sometime after 1869. There were too few children for school the first year.
The nearest town was Utica, perhaps 10 miles to the northwest. Before it was established, no store was in reach, and the two families wore old clothes and grew what they ate.
Mrs. Brown says that her mother had a fine garden, and she raised pigs and chickens and geese and ducks and guineas.
While she was still a school girl the grasshoppers came. She says they rose like streams of smoke on the horizon and flew overhead in clouds estimated to be three miles deep. Once they flew for three weeks. They spared the Nebraska farms and descended in Kansas.
Mrs. Brown says that her parents grew wheat and corn and sorghum cane. They had the grain ground at a neighboring mill, and they made barrels of sorghum syrup and sold it to the neighbors.
During the first year in Nebraska the settlers hauled water in barrels.
Then Mrs. Brown's grandfather, Evander West, dug 80 feet down and got a fine well. Her grandfather Evander was from New Hampshire and her grandmother, Mary Chase West, was from Boston.
In the ealry days when the buffalo hunters came through Nebraska in the late fall, Mrs. Brown's parents would buy buffalo meat. She says it was good. They used the fresh steaks, or the buffalo dried jerky. Some of the hunters were Indians. They saw lots of Indians.
Her father freighted goods from Nebraska City to Lincoln, and when he had liquor consignments, he had to stay up nights and guard them.
Mrs. Brown says that in September 1875, when she was 17, she married "the youngest fella in the county," nineteen year old Ebenezer Brown. He bought an adjacent claim relinquishment and made a sod house. He plastered it inside, and he packed the earth floor so hard that she could mop it.
He became a carpenter and they moved into Aurora, Nebraska, where they had a good home. In addition to building homes, Ebenezer Brown operated a store. Then they moved to Lincoln, Nebr., where he followed the carpenter trade for 18 or 20 years before they moved to Whittier.
Since August 1951, Mrs. Brown has lived with her daughter, Gertrude Little, an East Whittier pioneer.
Mrs. Brown also has a son and daughter-in-law near Puente, Calif.; a granddaughter; two great grandchildren.
The Jett homestead is the southeast quarter of Section 12, L Township. Harry Cross now owns the east 80 acres.
Mrs. Brown's grandparents homesteaded the southwest quarter of Section 12, where Walter Schulz now lives.
Mrs. Brown's husband, Ebenezer, was a brother of Daniel Brown, who homesteaded the north 80 of the northeast quarter of Section 10, L Township, and their mother homesteaded the south 80.
Seward County Independent, Seward, NE, Wed, February 19, 1958
A woman who came to Seward county at the age of 12, in 1869, still has a keen mind and memory at the age of 100.
She is Mrs. Marietta Brown, now residing at 11039 Valley View, Whittier, California. Her husband was Ebenezer Brown, who died 30 years ago. They moved to Whittier in 1902.
Mrs. Brown was born Sept. 2, 1857, in Jackson county, Iowa.
Her memory is a mirror, and she recalls events of 90 years ago or last week equally well. She remembers when her father, Henry Jett, enlisted in Company I 31st Regiment Iowa Infantry of the Union Army in 1862. She remembers that he became sick from lying in the swamps at the Battle of Vicksburg, and her mother, Mary Frances Jett, was called to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri to care for him. Her mother nursed him back to health and then stayed nearly a year as kitchen supervisor in the officers' mess.
Meanwhile, Marietta, an only child, was with her grandmother. Her maternal grandfather, Evander West, also was a Union soldier in the Civil War.
Marietta's home in Jackson county was a log house. Later, on another frontier, she lived in a sod house and attended a sod schoolhouse.
When Mrs. Brown's father and grandfather returned home from the war both decided to use their veteran's homestead priority and each preempted 160 acres of Nebraska land.
Mrs. Browns says they went west with two covered wagons and she drove one of the teams. She remembers that she blistered her hands on the reins.
They arrived in Seward county, Nebraska in 1869 when she was twelve, and broke the prairie sod.
They had taken kitchen and farm equipment in the wagons, but no furniture. They made furniture from packing boxes.
The home where Marietta lived was a fine sod house with a board roof, but she says that neighboring sod houses had sod roofs, and she remembers seeing little snakes wiggling down out of the dirt.
The one room sod schoolhouse was established on her grandfather's farm sometime after 1869. There were too few children for school the first year.
The nearest town was Utica, perhaps 10 miles to the northwest. Before it was established, no store was in reach, and the two families wore old clothes and grew what they ate.
Mrs. Brown says that her mother had a fine garden, and she raised pigs and chickens and geese and ducks and guineas.
While she was still a school girl the grasshoppers came. She says they rose like streams of smoke on the horizon and flew overhead in clouds estimated to be three miles deep. Once they flew for three weeks. They spared the Nebraska farms and descended in Kansas.
Mrs. Brown says that her parents grew wheat and corn and sorghum cane. They had the grain ground at a neighboring mill, and they made barrels of sorghum syrup and sold it to the neighbors.
During the first year in Nebraska the settlers hauled water in barrels.
Then Mrs. Brown's grandfather, Evander West, dug 80 feet down and got a fine well. Her grandfather Evander was from New Hampshire and her grandmother, Mary Chase West, was from Boston.
In the ealry days when the buffalo hunters came through Nebraska in the late fall, Mrs. Brown's parents would buy buffalo meat. She says it was good. They used the fresh steaks, or the buffalo dried jerky. Some of the hunters were Indians. They saw lots of Indians.
Her father freighted goods from Nebraska City to Lincoln, and when he had liquor consignments, he had to stay up nights and guard them.
Mrs. Brown says that in September 1875, when she was 17, she married "the youngest fella in the county," nineteen year old Ebenezer Brown. He bought an adjacent claim relinquishment and made a sod house. He plastered it inside, and he packed the earth floor so hard that she could mop it.
He became a carpenter and they moved into Aurora, Nebraska, where they had a good home. In addition to building homes, Ebenezer Brown operated a store. Then they moved to Lincoln, Nebr., where he followed the carpenter trade for 18 or 20 years before they moved to Whittier.
Since August 1951, Mrs. Brown has lived with her daughter, Gertrude Little, an East Whittier pioneer.
Mrs. Brown also has a son and daughter-in-law near Puente, Calif.; a granddaughter; two great grandchildren.
The Jett homestead is the southeast quarter of Section 12, L Township. Harry Cross now owns the east 80 acres.
Mrs. Brown's grandparents homesteaded the southwest quarter of Section 12, where Walter Schulz now lives.
Mrs. Brown's husband, Ebenezer, was a brother of Daniel Brown, who homesteaded the north 80 of the northeast quarter of Section 10, L Township, and their mother homesteaded the south 80.
Seward County Independent, Seward, NE, Wed, February 19, 1958
Former Utica woman, Now Aged 100, Resident of California since 1902, Recalls Seward County Early Days
A woman who came to Seward county at the age of 12, in 1869, still has a keen mind and memory at the age of 100.
She is Mrs. Marietta Brown, now residing at 11039 Valley View, Whittier, California. Her husband was Ebenezer Brown, who died 30 years ago. They moved to Whittier in 1902.
Mrs. Brown was born Sept. 2, 1857, in Jackson county, Iowa.
Her memory is a mirror, and she recalls events of 90 years ago or last week equally well. She remembers when her father, Henry Jett, enlisted in Company I 31st Regiment Iowa Infantry of the Union Army in 1862. She remembers that he became sick from lying in the swamps at the Battle of Vicksburg, and her mother, Mary Frances Jett, was called to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri to care for him. Her mother nursed him back to health and then stayed nearly a year as kitchen supervisor in the officers' mess.
Meanwhile, Marietta, an only child, was with her grandmother. Her maternal grandfather, Evander West, also was a Union soldier in the Civil War.
Marietta's home in Jackson county was a log house. Later, on another frontier, she lived in a sod house and attended a sod schoolhouse.
When Mrs. Brown's father and grandfather returned home from the war both decided to use their veteran's homestead priority and each preempted 160 acres of Nebraska land.
Mrs. Browns says they went west with two covered wagons and she drove one of the teams. She remembers that she blistered her hands on the reins.
They arrived in Seward county, Nebraska in 1869 when she was twelve, and broke the prairie sod.
They had taken kitchen and farm equipment in the wagons, but no furniture. They made furniture from packing boxes.
The home where Marietta lived was a fine sod house with a board roof, but she says that neighboring sod houses had sod roofs, and she remembers seeing little snakes wiggling down out of the dirt.
The one room sod schoolhouse was established on her grandfather's farm sometime after 1869. There were too few children for school the first year.
The nearest town was Utica, perhaps 10 miles to the northwest. Before it was established, no store was in reach, and the two families wore old clothes and grew what they ate.
Mrs. Brown says that her mother had a fine garden, and she raised pigs and chickens and geese and ducks and guineas.
While she was still a school girl the grasshoppers came. She says they rose like streams of smoke on the horizon and flew overhead in clouds estimated to be three miles deep. Once they flew for three weeks. They spared the Nebraska farms and descended in Kansas.
Mrs. Brown says that her parents grew wheat and corn and sorghum cane. They had the grain ground at a neighboring mill, and they made barrels of sorghum syrup and sold it to the neighbors.
During the first year in Nebraska the settlers hauled water in barrels.
Then Mrs. Brown's grandfather, Evander West, dug 80 feet down and got a fine well. Her grandfather Evander was from New Hampshire and her grandmother, Mary Chase West, was from Boston.
In the ealry days when the buffalo hunters came through Nebraska in the late fall, Mrs. Brown's parents would buy buffalo meat. She says it was good. They used the fresh steaks, or the buffalo dried jerky. Some of the hunters were Indians. They saw lots of Indians.
Her father freighted goods from Nebraska City to Lincoln, and when he had liquor consignments, he had to stay up nights and guard them.
Mrs. Brown says that in September 1875, when she was 17, she married "the youngest fella in the county," nineteen year old Ebenezer Brown. He bought an adjacent claim relinquishment and made a sod house. He plastered it inside, and he packed the earth floor so hard that she could mop it.
He became a carpenter and they moved into Aurora, Nebraska, where they had a good home. In addition to building homes, Ebenezer Brown operated a store. Then they moved to Lincoln, Nebr., where he followed the carpenter trade for 18 or 20 years before they moved to Whittier.
Since August 1951, Mrs. Brown has lived with her daughter, Gertrude Little, an East Whittier pioneer.
Mrs. Brown also has a son and daughter-in-law near Puente, Calif.; a granddaughter; two great grandchildren.
The Jett homestead is the southeast quarter of Section 12, L Township. Harry Cross now owns the east 80 acres.
Mrs. Brown's grandparents homesteaded the southwest quarter of Section 12, where Walter Schulz now lives.
Mrs. Brown's husband, Ebenezer, was a brother of Daniel Brown, who homesteaded the north 80 of the northeast quarter of Section 10, L Township, and their mother homesteaded the south 80.
Seward County Independent, Seward, NE, Wed, February 19, 1958
A woman who came to Seward county at the age of 12, in 1869, still has a keen mind and memory at the age of 100.
She is Mrs. Marietta Brown, now residing at 11039 Valley View, Whittier, California. Her husband was Ebenezer Brown, who died 30 years ago. They moved to Whittier in 1902.
Mrs. Brown was born Sept. 2, 1857, in Jackson county, Iowa.
Her memory is a mirror, and she recalls events of 90 years ago or last week equally well. She remembers when her father, Henry Jett, enlisted in Company I 31st Regiment Iowa Infantry of the Union Army in 1862. She remembers that he became sick from lying in the swamps at the Battle of Vicksburg, and her mother, Mary Frances Jett, was called to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri to care for him. Her mother nursed him back to health and then stayed nearly a year as kitchen supervisor in the officers' mess.
Meanwhile, Marietta, an only child, was with her grandmother. Her maternal grandfather, Evander West, also was a Union soldier in the Civil War.
Marietta's home in Jackson county was a log house. Later, on another frontier, she lived in a sod house and attended a sod schoolhouse.
When Mrs. Brown's father and grandfather returned home from the war both decided to use their veteran's homestead priority and each preempted 160 acres of Nebraska land.
Mrs. Browns says they went west with two covered wagons and she drove one of the teams. She remembers that she blistered her hands on the reins.
They arrived in Seward county, Nebraska in 1869 when she was twelve, and broke the prairie sod.
They had taken kitchen and farm equipment in the wagons, but no furniture. They made furniture from packing boxes.
The home where Marietta lived was a fine sod house with a board roof, but she says that neighboring sod houses had sod roofs, and she remembers seeing little snakes wiggling down out of the dirt.
The one room sod schoolhouse was established on her grandfather's farm sometime after 1869. There were too few children for school the first year.
The nearest town was Utica, perhaps 10 miles to the northwest. Before it was established, no store was in reach, and the two families wore old clothes and grew what they ate.
Mrs. Brown says that her mother had a fine garden, and she raised pigs and chickens and geese and ducks and guineas.
While she was still a school girl the grasshoppers came. She says they rose like streams of smoke on the horizon and flew overhead in clouds estimated to be three miles deep. Once they flew for three weeks. They spared the Nebraska farms and descended in Kansas.
Mrs. Brown says that her parents grew wheat and corn and sorghum cane. They had the grain ground at a neighboring mill, and they made barrels of sorghum syrup and sold it to the neighbors.
During the first year in Nebraska the settlers hauled water in barrels.
Then Mrs. Brown's grandfather, Evander West, dug 80 feet down and got a fine well. Her grandfather Evander was from New Hampshire and her grandmother, Mary Chase West, was from Boston.
In the ealry days when the buffalo hunters came through Nebraska in the late fall, Mrs. Brown's parents would buy buffalo meat. She says it was good. They used the fresh steaks, or the buffalo dried jerky. Some of the hunters were Indians. They saw lots of Indians.
Her father freighted goods from Nebraska City to Lincoln, and when he had liquor consignments, he had to stay up nights and guard them.
Mrs. Brown says that in September 1875, when she was 17, she married "the youngest fella in the county," nineteen year old Ebenezer Brown. He bought an adjacent claim relinquishment and made a sod house. He plastered it inside, and he packed the earth floor so hard that she could mop it.
He became a carpenter and they moved into Aurora, Nebraska, where they had a good home. In addition to building homes, Ebenezer Brown operated a store. Then they moved to Lincoln, Nebr., where he followed the carpenter trade for 18 or 20 years before they moved to Whittier.
Since August 1951, Mrs. Brown has lived with her daughter, Gertrude Little, an East Whittier pioneer.
Mrs. Brown also has a son and daughter-in-law near Puente, Calif.; a granddaughter; two great grandchildren.
The Jett homestead is the southeast quarter of Section 12, L Township. Harry Cross now owns the east 80 acres.
Mrs. Brown's grandparents homesteaded the southwest quarter of Section 12, where Walter Schulz now lives.
Mrs. Brown's husband, Ebenezer, was a brother of Daniel Brown, who homesteaded the north 80 of the northeast quarter of Section 10, L Township, and their mother homesteaded the south 80.
Seward County Independent, Seward, NE, Wed, February 19, 1958
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