Reminiscences Of Early Days In
Nemaha County, Kansas
Reprinted from
The Bern Gazette
Bern, Nemaha County, Kansas
April 4th, 11th, 18th, & 25th, 1940
The following are some interesting
events in the lives of the Swiss
settlers who contributed much to early
Nemaha county history.
(Editor’s note: We are indebted to John
A. Minger for this series of articles
concerning the early development of this
section of Nemaha county. Mr. Minger,
son of Christ Minger, Sr., was born in
the old Balsiger log house on March 7,
1863. His twin brother, Christ Minger,
Jr., now lives in Marysville. Mr. Minger
has spent considerable time in compiling
the data for, and writing, these
interesting articles.)
Most of the early recorded history of
Nemaha county centers around Baker's
Ford. Many important events took place
at or near the ford. The Fremont
expedition crossed the Nemaha River at
this point in 1841. Some historians say
that Coronado, while in search of the
city of gold, passed through Nemaha
county from south to north in 1441. It
was necessary to follow streams for
their water supply. He, too, may have
crossed the river at what was later
known as Baker's Ford.
Miles Carter, a notorious horse thief
and murderer, was hanged at the ford in
the early sixties. Political and social
activity in behalf of the welfare of the
county seems to have been organized
here.
W. W. Moore of St. Joseph, Missouri.,
staked the first claim at the ford in
1854. He started a store and laid out
town lots, calling the place Urbana. As
the land was taken up by settlers, more
towns were laid out, all within a few
miles of Baker's Ford. Richmond, a few
miles south of Urbana, was made the
county seat in 1855 when the county was
organized. Other towns were Central
City, Farmington and Castle Rock, which
was later named Seneca. In an election a
few years later, Seneca won the county
seat and all the other towns folded up.
The same year that Moore settled at
Baker's Ford, the Swiss began to locate
on the Four Mile. (There is a story that
the original name of this creek was
Silver Creek. Some travelers had asked
an Indian for the name of the next
stream. The Indian thought they asked
for the distance and said "Four mile,"
and it has remained Four Mile ever
since.)
Those Swiss were Farmers. They built no
towns, took no part in politics, and
since they could neither speak nor
understand the English language, they
lived pretty much to themselves. They
lived and worked following Swiss
tradition. Religion, names and dress
were typically Swiss. Many of them
mastered English in time but until then
all conversation was in Swiss (German).
Even the children spoke nothing but
Swiss until after a few years in school.
There is no record as to when the
District No. 32 was organized. The old
log school house was built about 1862.
Mother Lehman turned her home over to
the children where a minister taught
them the art of reading and simple
arithmetic until the school house was
built.
The first to arrive was Fred Meshing
with his son and two daughters. He was a
widower. He staked a claim on the
southeast quarter of Section 4. Balsiger
came a few weeks later and located on
the northeast quarter of the same
section.
Christian Minger located a claim the
same year on Easily Creek. After making
a few improvements, he went back to St.
Joseph after his wife and three
daughters. While making preparations to
return to his claim, there came a report
that the Indians were murdering the
settlers. Not wishing to take any
chances, he remained in St. Joseph until
the following spring.
Coming back to Easily Creek, he found
his claim had been taken by another man.
Then he came over on the Four Mile and
bought Balsiger's rights in his claim.
Balsiger's wife had died the winter
before and he had decided to go back
east.
Balsiger's claim had a house and barn on
it. Since most of the houses were built
alike, a rough description might be of
interest. It was built of unhewn logs,
one story high, about 24' X 36'. It had
two doors, four windows. There was a
large fireplace in one end built of
native stone. There was a stone floor
around the fireplace as a protection
against fire. There was a crane-like
contraption to swing pots and kettles
over the fire, Dutch ovens and other
cooking utensils. The roof of the house
was made of clapboards instead of
shingles. These clapboards were about
three feet long and split out of young
oak trees. They were held down on the
roof with flat stones instead of nails.
Wooden pins were often used in place of
nails; door hinges and latches were made
of wood. Most furniture was home made,
the different parts being held together
with glue and pegs. Most of the farming
tools were home made. Harrows with
wooden teeth were common.
Closely following the Meshings and
Mingers came three more Swiss families
-- Mother Lehman, a widow, and family of
boys and girls; Jacob Spring, Sr. and
family, and Christian Blauer, who
located just across the state line in
1857.
These five families stood the brunt of
the battle of taming the wilderness.
More Swiss families came a few years
later. They were John and Sam Minger,
Henry Hoober, Jacob Hum, Sam Gugelman.
Still later were the Paulis and the
Hannis. The last to locate on the creek
was Rudolph Stauffer.
The community was fortunate to have
several craftsmen among them. Jacob
Spring, Sr. was a stonemason; Sam Minger
was a wagon maker; John Minger was a
cooper; Fred Lehman was a blacksmith. To
add to the self sufficiency of the
community, Christ Minger did veterinary
work, while the Blauers and the Lehmans
kept education and religion alive.
One of the drawbacks was the long
distance to market. It took most of a
week to make a round trip to St. Joseph
with ox team, that being the nearest
market. There was no market even in St.
Joe for live hogs. The hogs were
butchered on the farm, the meat cured
and then taken to St. Joe. Many stories
were told about mishaps and adventure on
these trips. Christ Minger and Fred
Meshing had a heavily loaded wagon on
their return trip from St. Joe. Late one
afternoon while they were crossing
Walnut Creek, the oxen were thirsty.
Instead of crossing the ford, they
turned upstream in two or three feet of
water to drink. The wagon had to be
unloaded. The men had to work hip-deep
in water and mud, then hitch the oxen to
the rear end of the wagon and pull it
back on the ford.
Sometimes it became necessary to make
the trip to St. Joe in winter with
frozen ears and toes as a result of the
cold. The Missouri river had to be
crossed on the ice, as the ferry stopped
during the winter. There were stories of
team and wagons breaking through the
ice.
The first four or five years on Four
Mile were marked with much suffering.
During severe winter weather, when it
was impossible to go to market, they
were sometimes compelled to live on corn
and meat, dried wild fruits and
sauerkraut added to the health and
variety of their diet.
There was much sickness among them.
There were nine deaths in those first
few years. The first death was that of
Mrs. Balsiger. Next were Fred Meshing
and his son, only two weeks apart.
Louise Minger and sister Lena, daughters
of Christian Minger were next. There
were also four young children who passed
away, their identity could not be
learned.
Great must have been the grief of the
parents, especially the mothers, the
hope and joy taken from them, their
lonely lives made lonelier. Neither
words nor monument can do justice to
that courage and fortitude.
Not so many years ago, on the road east
of the Christ Minger place, one could
still see a couple of square rods of
virgin prairie, gently sloping toward
the rising sun. There was a crude fence
around it, some native shrubs and rose
bushes. That was the last resting place
of the bodies of the nine who gave their
lives in the cause of pioneering.
The land changed ownership and the flow
has removed all trace of the graves.
The year 1860 was one of the driest
years ever known in the Kansas
Territory. It was so dry that even the
prairie grass dried up. Only in sloughs
and naturally wet places could they find
grass fit to put up for their winter's
hay for their stock. Their herds were
not so large then and they managed to
get enough to winter their stock,
although the stock was in a badly
run-down condition when the rains and
the grass came the next spring. They
were busy pulling their cattle out of
mud holes, the cows being too weak to
get out on their own strength.
Many settlers left the Territory, never
to return. Some of the northern and
eastern states, who were not affected by
the drouth, sent carloads of food and
clothing for the relief of the
distressed settlers. But the Swiss
colony asked for no aid. They were
naturally a thrifty lot and always kept
a surplus of grain and foodstuff on hand
for any emergency that might come.
Better years followed this drouth and
they began to prepare for better living
conditions. They dug wells for a fine
water supply, where before they had
taken their water from natural springs.
Some of them built new homes, barns and
granaries.
About 1865 Christ Minger built a new log
house much bigger than the old Balsiger
house. This house was covered with real
walnut shingles and it had a basement
under it. With the exception of a frame
addition, the old house still stands
just as it was built 75 years ago 1.
Christ Lehman built the first modern
frame house in the '70s.
(Editor's note: This house is now
occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Jim Goodman.
Some of the timbers in this house are
from the original Meshing house.)
About the time of the drouth, there were
rumors of impending trouble over the
slavery question. Two German papers
furnished the news for the settlement,
The St. Joseph Volksblatt and the
Westliche Post of St. Louis, both
anti-slavery. These papers kept them
informed on most of the important
happenings at Washington. They were
Republicans and Abolitionists.
At this time they were still using the
most primitive methods of farming. They
used a single shovel plow, known as a
bull-tongue, to do their plowing. It
was, along with the wooden tooth harrow,
the one means of stirring the soil. It
was used to furrow the ground for
planting corn, as we use the lister now,
the difference being that the corn was
dropped by hand and covered with a hoe.
The corn was cultivated with a shovel
plow drawn by one horse. All small grain
was cut with a cradle, bunched and bound
by hand with a straw band. Prairie grass
was cut with a scythe for hay.
Wheat and oats were tramped out of the
straw with horses. The bundles were laid
in a circle 30 or 40 feet across, two or
three feet deep, and one or two teams
were driven in a circle over the bundles
until the grain was all tramped out. The
grain and the chaff were then tossed in
the wind to separate them. It will be
easy to understand why there was only a
limited amount of wheat raised for
market. What wheat was sold had to be
taken to St. Joe by wagon where it
usually brought a good price. They had
horses now and travel was speeded up
considerably. Usually two or three men
went to St. Joe at the same time.
The fear of Indians still possessed the
women. All of the women whose men had
gone on the trip would gather at one
home for protection.
On one such occasion, as the women saw a
band of Indians coming, they used their
wits. They hurriedly made a dummy
representing a man. They placed this in
bed with hat and boots protruding from
under the covers and a rifle leaning
against the head of the bed. The chief
looked at the boots and the rifle and
grunted. "Him sick." he said, "No,
sleeping." was the answer. After a few
gesticulations and grunts to his braves,
he asked for chickens. The women pointed
to the chickens, which were running in
the yard. The Indians ran the chickens
down as a dog would a rabbit, each of
the braves carrying away a chicken. The
settlers were never molested by the
Indians, except as they begged for food,
but the fear persisted.
On the Christ Minger place there was a
cane mill. It was a monstrous
contraption, all made of wood, even the
cogs that engaged the rollers being made
of wood. The rollers were upright and
over two feet in diameter, three or four
feet long. The frame was large in
proportion. It must have weighed several
tons. Many from outside the colony had
their sorghum made at this mill.
There were no idle days for these
farmers from planting time to harvest,
then threshing, hay making; corn must be
shocked. After this they went to the
woods and split rails, for it took
thousands of rails to build a rail fence
around a quarter section, six or seven
rails high, and the stakes and riders.
The first wire fence was built by Henry
Hoober. Posts were first set in the
ground, then four holes were drilled in
each post at the proper distance and the
smooth wire was drawn through the holes.
Barbed wire and staples were not known
until several years later.
Patriotism is one of the traits of the
Swiss character. Their small country is
hemmed in on all sides by powerful
nations. Their safety lies in an
iron-clad loyalty to their government.
The story of the heroic deeds of Arnold
Winkelreid and that of William Tell has
been told for generations to the youth
of the land and it's a part of their
religion.
When they came to America, they
transferred their loyalty to the land of
their adoption. When President Lincoln
called for volunteers, they were eager
and ready. John U. Lehman and his
brother Fred were the first to enlist.
Both remained in service for the
duration of the war.
A little later when General Price, with
a large body of rebels, threatened to
destroy Kansas City and other Kansas
border towns, many of the older men
joined the militia and saw service
around Westport. It was said that the
presence of the militia had considerable
bearing on Price's defeat, although the
regulars bore the brunt of the battle.
Rising prices brought on by the war and
the introduction of labor-saving
machinery, such as the moldboard plow,
the corn planter, the mower and reaper
and threshing machine brought on a wave
of prosperity to the community. More
land was put under the plow. They
increased their herds to graze on the
thousands of acres of free range. Some
of them owned huge flocks of sheep. They
did not sell their lambs for market as
is done now, but they sheared the sheep
and sold the wool at a good price at the
woolen mills.
Their hogs were of the large Chester
White breed and they weighed 350 to 450
pounds when full grown. In the spring of
the year they turned them in the timber
to feed on roots, nuts and acorns. They
were fat when they rounded them up in
the fall and usually had increased three
to five times their original number.
Most farmers usually butchered six to
ten hogs for their year's supply of
cured meat. Butcher time was an
interesting event. Usually the neighbors
were called on to help handle those
heavy Chester Whites. Scalding them in a
barrel and hanging them on the racks for
the finishing process was heavy work.
Several tubs full of sausage of various
kinds were made. They had no meat
grinders but used a chopping block which
was about 30 inches in diameter. The
meat was placed on this block and four
or five men with sharp axes walked
around the block, their axes dropping on
the meat one at a time in perfect
rhythm, until the meat was reduced to
the proper fineness. A home made stuffer
consisted of a wooden box six inches
square, a foot or more long and a
plunger attached to a long lever to
force the meat into the casings. (No
need telling that the good wife began
frying sausage for the men as soon as
the first few casings were stuffed.)
About 1868 the first coal oil lamps made
their appearance. Coal oil sold at 40
cents a gallon. Previous to this time
candles were used and before the candles
a saucer filled with lard and a cotton
wick furnished the light. The wick had
to be snuffed frequently. There was a
forked stick in the saucer, too, to push
up the wick as needed.
The older set of boys and girls were
growing up and took a hand in farming
now. Among the young were Christ Blauer,
Jr., an expert rifle shot; Henry Lehman,
who loved to experiment with new farming
methods; Fred Minger, son of Sam, had a
mechanical turn of mind and became an
engineer; Jacob Spring, Jr., whose
popularity kept him in office as Trustee
of Washington township for a quarter of
a century.
The young ladies of that period were
Lizzie Blauer, Louisa Minger, Caroline
Hoober and Mary Spring. These young
ladies helped with the light farm
chores, besides doing their part of the
housework. They brightened up the house
with various decorations. Making
charming strings was one of their
hobbies. They gave occasional parties in
which most of the neighborhood took
part. Even the older people added to the
entertainment by singing the Swiss folk
songs. "John Brown's Body Lies a
Mouldering in the Grave" was their
favorite American song after the war.
An event of interest to the community
was the triple wedding in 1867 of John
U. Lehman and Magdalena Fankhauser,
Christ Lehman and Katie Spring, Rosetta
Lehman and Henry Legler of Valley Falls.
Other weddings some years later were
Louisa Minger and Gottlieb Christ; Mary
Spring and Charles Heiser; Lizzie Blauer
and John Heckendorf; Caroline Hoober and
Jacob Hunzeker; Margaret Pauli and Jacob
Spring; Chris Blauer and Emma Conrad.
Most of these weddings were celebrated
with an elaborate five course dinner.
The neighbors for miles were invited to
the feast.
The first attempt to grow winter wheat
on the Four Mile was not very successful
as it winter killed. There was however a
spring wheat known as grass wheat which
yielded as high as 25 to 30 bushels to
the acre. In late years it, too, had to
be discarded because of chinch bugs.
Then came the hardy Turkish and Russian
varieties of winter wheat.
Christ Minger owned the first mower and
reaper combined. It was what is known as
a dropper and left the gavel the full
width of the swath and it took five men
to bind the bundles as fast as the
reaper cut the grain.
Fankhauser Brothers operated the first
threshing machine on the Four Mile. This
was a horsepower outfit. It had an open
straw carrier and there was always a
cloud of dust around that end of the
machine.
Christ Lehman had a piano for his new
house and also an up-to-date carriage
with lamps and other trappings to make
it truly classy. The rest of the
community bought spring wagons. The
young ladies thought the spring wagon
quite an improvement over the lumber
wagon -- if and when the young men were
allowed to use the spring wagon.
The St. Joseph and Denver Railroad was
built through Sabetha and Seneca in
1870, giving the farmers a closer market
for their livestock and grain.
A star route was established about 1872
between Sabetha and Pawnee, and Four
Mile got a postoffice. Rudolph Stauffer
was its postmaster. He called it Silver
Spring. A few years ago mail from
Germany addressed to Silver Spring was
delivered to the addressee, although the
Silver Spring postoffice had been
abandoned for over fifty years.
There was an earthquake in 1868 that
made the houses tremble. Dishes toppled
over and men plowing in the fields found
it difficult to stay in the furrows.
A tornado unroofed the house of the
Thompson family. Two girls, aged 12 and
14, who slept upstairs, were carried
away with the upper floor and killed.
The girls had asked to come down a few
minutes before. The parents however,
thought there was no danger. The same
storm unroofed Fred Pauli's home but he
escaped injury.
John Minger, Sr. was making some
improvements to his house. He dug a
cellar under his log house, full size of
the house. One morning while the family
were at breakfast, the house dropped
down to the bottom of the cellar.
The grasshoppers of 1874 and a dry
season was almost as hard on the
community as the drouth of 1860. There
was no corn raised in '74, no late crop
of any kind. The 'hoppers came about
August 10 and were so thick in the air
they obscured the sun like a cloud. They
dropped straight down and began
devouring vegetation at once. They were
so hungry they kept on eating until
there wasn't a green thing left, then
they began eating tender twigs and the
bark of trees, even the clothes on one's
back. Next they laid their eggs and
died.
There was plenty of wheat that year.
Next spring they hatched out by the
millions. They cleaned up the wheat and
everything else. About the last of June
they shed their skins for the third time
and emerged with wings. In a few days
they took to the air and disappeared.
There was no wheat that year but a big
crop of late corn was raised. Most of it
was too soft for market.
A branch of the California trail passed
right over the Bern townsite. Its eight-
or ten-deep worn tracks were still in
evidence when the townsite was laid out,
crossing main street somewhere between
the lumber yard and the bank, then
northwest, crossing the little Four Mile
near Fred Miller's place.
In the early days this trail was held in
reverence and awe. It started somewhere
in the East and ended in the goldfields
of California. It seemed to be a thing
apart from the rest of the country. Many
were the stories of adventure and
tragedy that took place along its
course. When the country between Four
Mile and Sabetha was still a wide
expanse of prairie, stones were found
along its course with dates and
initials--no doubt markers of graves.
Such a marker was found a few miles east
of Bern.
There were strange looking outfits
passing over this trail as late as 1870.
They camped along the trail and many
destructive prairie fires started from
these camps. There was a story about a
dog that kept vigil at the ford where
the trail crossed the little Four Mile.
There was a pond above the ford where
the dog was said to have sat on its
haunches with its eyes fixed on the
pond. All attempts to coax him away with
food failed. His dismal baying was heard
nightly. He was seldom seen away from
that spot. Several weeks later he was
found dead, his head almost touching the
water.
From 1876 to 1882, settlers from Iowa,
Kansas and Illinois began taking up
land between the Four Mile and Sabetha.
Previous to that time there was only one
house, known as Seaman's grove, in that
broad expanse of prairie. The grove was
planted in 1858 and the tall cottonwoods
and poplars were a landmark for miles
around. As late as 1880, land could be
bought for from five to eight dollars an
acre. Many of these settlers paid for
their land with the first crop of wheat.
Sam and Frank Hauser discovered coal on
the Jake Wittwer farm in 1877. A year
later they discovered another vein on
the Christ Blauer farm. Charley Hofmann,
Sr., sunk an 80-foot shaft on the hill
west of the Blauer mine and struck 18 to
24 inches of good coal. Each of these
mines employed from 15 to 30 miners.
There was a small village or town at
each of the mines, including a store and
hotel. Most of the coal was sold in the
surrounding towns. Coal was sold at 16
cents a bushel at the mine and delivered
in town at 25 cents. Many were engaged
in hauling coal. The rush was so great
at times that late arrivals had to wait
several hours for their turn.
A steam threshing outfit was brought to
the Four Mile in 1882. It was owned
jointly by Otto Conrad, Christ Minger,
John Minger and O. Y. Harlow. The
traction engine weighed five tons. There
were few bridges that would carry such a
load. It was necessary to cross streams
at fords, sometimes with disastrous
consequences. On one occasion, in
crossing Honey Creek, something went
wrong and the machine left the ford and
skidded several yards up the creek in
water deep enough to put the fire out.
With the aid of six horses it was
finally pulled out.
A history of the Four Mile would hardly
be complete without a few words about
the one-armed peddler and trapper,
George Maxham, who was quite a character
on the creek for many years. He drove an
old dilapidated spring wagon, drawn by a
mule with pant legs on the mule's front
legs to keep the flies off.
"Do you want to buy a book?" were his
first words of greeting. He had very
little else to say. He looked as if he
bore some secret grief, for he never
smiled. Through him many books and
magazines found their way to the homes
on the creek. He sometimes made John
Lehman's his headquarters. How he
managed to set his traps and remove the
pelts from his catches with one hand was
a puzzle. He died a few years ago at a
ripe old age.
There were 45 first generation
descendants of the Swiss colonists.
Twenty-four are still living, scattered
over several states.
The question is sometimes asked how the
young people of that early period
managed to get any enjoyment out of life
-- no autos, no picture shows, no radio,
no bicycles, not even soda pop or slot
machines. Here is a list of some of the
entertainment: There were religious
meetings weekly at the schoolhouse. In
the fall there was a camp meeting,
lasting from 3 to 6 weeks; debating
societies; baseball or town ball, horse
races, foot races, wrestling matches,
dances and parties; now and then a
circus; spelling school or spelling
matches, for there was keen rivalry
between schools about as there is now in
basketball. There were always large
crowds and they came a long distance.
Some of the strange names now seldom
heard were Lions (Lynds) Wolfs, Foxes
and Coons.
Modern Four Mile has lost its old time
charm. There is only a dry ditch now
where the crystal stream used to flow.
There was a good swimming hole at almost
every bend. The axe and dry weather the
past few years have removed most of the
timber. Those stately oaks and walnuts
that were the pride of the pioneers are
gone. There was a giant walnut on the
Meshing farm later owned by Louis
Stalder. Because of its size and fine
proportions it escaped the axe, but when
the log buyers offered $100 per thousand
feet, Mr. Stalder somewhat reluctantly
yielded. Before he cut it down he walked
around it two or three times to take a
last look at the towering monarch. It
was probably 200 years old. It cut four
14-foot logs to the first limb.
The only thing that's left and hasn't
been tampered with is Jungfrau hill on
the Christ Minger place. It was named
after one of the famous Alps in
Switzerland. This Jungfrau is just south
of the state line between little and big
Four Mile. It's all alone and looks as
if it had been dumped in there with a
giant steam shovel.
Four Mile has gone modern.
1. The Christ Minger house was moved in
1976 to the Albany Historical Museum,
two miles north of Sabetha.
donated by John Minger, grandson of
the author.