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Fredericka "Sophia" Wilke was married to Ferdinand Juhl on February 12, 1883 in Burlington, Iowa.
They then went to the homestead north of Riverdale in Buffalo County, Nebraska and a dugout home. They had eight children together.
Sophia had immigrated from Germany in 1882 and was staying with her brother, Henry in Burlington, Iowa. Henry was nine years older than Sophia and had arrived in the US thirteen years before his sister.
Here is her brother Henry's record:
Name: Heinrich Wilke
Departure Date: 17 Aug 1869 from Hamburg
Birth Date: abt 1847
Age: 22. ...
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Fredericka "Sophia" Wilke was married to Ferdinand Juhl on February 12, 1883 in Burlington, Iowa.
They then went to the homestead north of Riverdale in Buffalo County, Nebraska and a dugout home. They had eight children together.
Sophia had immigrated from Germany in 1882 and was staying with her brother, Henry in Burlington, Iowa. Henry was nine years older than Sophia and had arrived in the US thirteen years before his sister.
Here is her brother Henry's record:
Name: Heinrich Wilke
Departure Date: 17 Aug 1869 from Hamburg
Birth Date: abt 1847
Age: 22. Gender: männlich (Male)
Residence: Salzwedel, Hannover
Occupation: Landmann
Ship Name: Berlin Captain: Hewart. Shipping Clerk: Morris & Co.
Ship Type: Dampfschiff
Accommodation: ohne Angabe
Ship Flag: England
Port of Arrival: Hull (New York via Liverpool)
*Henry's daughter Helena Wilke (Lena) married Sophia's son Charles William (Charlie) in 1910 in Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska.
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Ferdinand and Sophia moved from the homestead farm to a small house in the village of Riverdale in 1912. Ferdinand was not in good health. Their son John Juhl was living on the farm in 1913. Son Alexander returned to the homestead sometime in 1913 from San Francisco where he had lived for about five or six years working as a Teamster or longshoreman on the pier. Alexander had finally responded to the plea that he return home.
Ferdinand wanted Alexander to take over the farm. Alexander was the favorite son after all.
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Ferdinand and Sophia's daughter Helena Juhl Berkheimer wrote on January 31, 1976:
My father was born in Germany on September 30, 1851. Came to America at the age of 17 and settled for a while in Burlington, Iowa; also in St. Louis, Missouri--worked in a saloon for some time. He then, with another man started for the Black Hills of South Dakota to mine gold of which he did get some.
He came back, stopped at Kearney, Nebraska and there he met and became fast friends with the Koeppe family. Louis, the youngest son became a businessman for years in Kearney. (Shirley Spencer met June Koeppe in the Kearney Library in June 2007 when both were using microfesh machines to do research. June knew the Juhl name,)
Ferdinand took out the first homestead (Lot 7-8-9-10) about the year 1879.
The second homestead some time after that. He discovered he could not hold it as only one was allowed by law so he sold it to his wife.
1880: Father had a horse and a mule to pull the breaking plow. He had to break up the prairie, work the ground and plant seed. Corn was planted by hand planter, was pushed into the ground, released a kernel of corn, was covered by foot, then onto the next step.
Corn was picked by hand, shelled by hand sheller. They would get a load by hand, take it to town --an all day trip. Sold for 10 cents a bushel.
He had to have a well. He had two horses, finally a cow. As the years went by, drought, and grasshoppers destroyed crops one year. They flew in like dark clouds. And where they lit, all vegetation was eaten.
Finally a crop. Also a new building (one room) was put up as a home with a dirt floor.
Times got better. A new house was built--other buildings were added.
During this time, the material needed for the railroad being built through Broken Bow was hauled by team and wagon from Kearney past the farm stopping for a place to stay at night and feed their horses. Charges were made for the animals and people.
Another quarter section was added. A neighbor had to sell at $2,000 a few years later so another half section was added to the north which was all prairie.
The family also grew. Four boys to help till the soil.
A homestead had 5 years to make improvements such as buildings to gain a quarter section of land. In December of 1885 they had met all of the requirements. They were homesteaders.
The children Sophia gave birth to were:
Nellie. May 8, 1884. Died Oct 1884
Son stillborn. July 12, 1885
George Quincy June 6, 1886-January 3, 1937
Married Nina Hubbard on March 3, 1911
January 24, 1891-February 19, 1983
John Henry March 25, 1888-March 18, 1969
Married Jenevive Margaret Jacobson April 13, 1918
July 26, 1896-March 13, 1966
Alexander November 16, 1889-January 16, 1951
Married Evalena Henderson on May 28, 1914
November 25, 1890-May 2, 1938
Charles William March 17, 1891- December 9, 1974
Married Helene (Lena) Wilke on February 3, 1910 in Hastings, NE
August 13, 1887-June 17, 1985
Helena Sophia October 30, 1893-September 19, 1988
Married Edward Earl Berkheimer February 26, 1919
April 4, 1988-March 17, 1968
Anna Maria January 11, 1899-February 11, 1992
Married Duane Dennis on June 22, 1918
October 8, 1898-June 16, 1984
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Sophia died November 15, 1943 at the age of 87 years; she too is buried in the Riverdale Cemetery. She had been an invalid for 17 years after having a stroke and was under the care of her daughter Lena for all but one year. One granddaughter was acquainted with her as a young child and could remember the warmth and kindness of Sophia.
It has been said she conversed in the German language and understood the English language.
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HER BROTHER HENRY WILKE
Henry Wilke
Born May 5, 1847 born in Prussia
Arrived United States in 1869 at age of 22
Lived in Burlington, Iowa located on the Mississippi River
Married 1874 at age of 27
Died March 9, 1932
HIS WIFE
Dorothy Dora Straw Wilke
Born Sept. 20 1848
Died June 23, 1937
Burial:
Aspen Grove Cemetery, Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, USA
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Henry Wilke, Jr. -- Nephew
Birth: Sep. 17, 1880, Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, USA
Death: Aug. 19, 1972,Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, USA
Henry Wilke, Jr. married Hulda Brenneke on September 24, 1902 in Burlington, Iowa.
Burial:Aspen Grove Cemetery, Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, USA
Plot: 309 030 04
Find A Grave Memorial# 45079134
Children:
Alice Marguerite Wilke Leedom (1910 - 2008)*
Frederick Henry Wilke (1912 - 2007)
Edith M. Wilke Lundquist (1915 - 2009)*
Hazel Wilke Hill - (1903-1999) Aspen Cemetery
Phyllis Wilke Wagner
Pauline Wilke Johnson. (1907-1966) or Pauline Wilke Lohmann
Violet Wilke Thompson - (1905-1983) Aspen Cemetery
*Rudolph H. Lohmann married March 7, 1928, died in Burlington September 1962. Pauline Wilke Lohmann died in Laverne, CA March 5, 1996.
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Home in 1930: Divide, Buffalo, Nebraska
Ed Berkheimer 42 son- in-law
Lena Berkheimer 36. Daughter and caregiver
Kenneth R Berkheimer 10 Grandson
Leo J Berkheimer 8 Grandson
Frederica Juhl 75
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History of Kearney, Nebraska
In 1848, a fort was established to provide protection for travelers heading west along the Oregon Trail. Named for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny. Fort Kearny afforded a safe haven for pioneers, pony express riders, prospectors and others as they followed the great Platte river road.
According to an official War Department report, more than 30,000 people bound for California, Oregon and Utah passed through Fort Kearny during an 18 month period during the gold Rush of 1849.
Originally built near Nebraska City, the fort was later relocated to its present site, south of Kearney, to increase military strength in the busy central Nebraska corridor. In its 23 years as the first U.S. Army Post on the Oregon Trail, Fort Kearny was never attacked by Indians.
The city of Kearney derives its name from the original fort but due to a postal error an "e" was inadvetently added and then never changed
Settlement began in the summer of 1871 when the Rev. and Mrs. Collins entered a homestead claim. The couple lived in a dwelling called Junction House which was also the site of the first post office, the first school district, the first marriage ceremony, and the first church service.
Kearney Junction began a period of rapid growth increasing from 245 residents in 1873 to well over 10,000 in the late 1880's. Optimistic residents sought to have the nation's capitol moved to Kearney from Washington, DC ; others raised a quarter million dollars to finance the construction of a huge cotton mill.
The bubble burst in the 1890's. The cotton mill was closed, real estate values collapsed, businesses and people drifted away. In 1900, only 5,364 people remained.
In the early twentieth century, Kearney began a steady, if not dramatic, recovery. By 1930 the population had increased to over 8,500 and the community was laying the foundations of its present diversified economy.
The next significant catalyst for development was the completion of Interstate 80 in 1964 linking Kearney to the busiest east-west superhighway in the country. Its strategic geographic positioning, midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as well as within Nebraska's borders, catapulted Kearney into a leading convention and tourism position.
Opera House, Central Avenue and 21st Street, Kearney, NE
The Opera House was described at its opening on May 1, 1891 as "the most imposing structure in Nebraska outside Lincoln and Omaha."
From the Buffalo County Historical Society, September 1986:
" The main floor was divided into the parquet at the front and the less exclusive dress circle at the back. The parquet contained 128 chairs with padded leather seats and plush backs; 28 of the best seats were sofas for two persons. The main floor had a seating capacity of 375. Above the main floor was the balcony, which could seat 350. The first four rows of chairs were plain oak and plush, and the remainder ordinary wood and iron. The gallery, or third tier, had a seating capacity of 350. Seats in the gallery were benches, but even in the highest seats, one had an unobstructed, though somewhat distant, view of the stage." After being closed for more than twenty years, the Opera House was demolished in 1954.
COTTON MILL
By September 22, 1892, the first shipment of cotton goods manufactured in Nebraska to be shipped out of the state left for Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. The mill was soon consuming 50,000 bales of cotton per year with an annual output of white sheetings valued at $3,400,000.
However, the enthusiasm which had helped establish the mill soon evaporated. The drought year of 1893 and a national business depression caused many industries to collapse. Successive owners ran the mill at a loss until it was finally sold in 1901 to a Cincinnati bank which held a mortgage on the property.
The ultimate failure of the Kearney cotton mill was due not only to unfavorable agricultural and business conditions but to several other factors: (1) the distance from raw materials and coal (2) distance from markets for the finished product, and (3) the lack of dependable local labor. As author Jenkins observed, Nebraskans "preferred the freedom of the farm to the confinement of the mill."
In 1911, the Nebraska State Hospital for Tuberculosis was founded and officially opened in 1912. The Frank House's grounds were purchased from the state of Nebraska for $40,000 which included the necessary renovations for the house itself. A one and a half story pavilion was built to the north of the house in 1912 and served as the first hospital building and staff pavilion. In 1914, a much larger brick building was built to accommodate more patients. Today this building is known as the Communications Building on the University of Nebraska at Kearney's West Campus.
HARMON PARK
The oldest portion of the park, the block between 5th and 6th Avenues and 29th and 30th Streets, dates back to August 7, 1876,
In 1924 William E. Harmon of New York City organized the Harmon Foundation for the purpose of lending financial assistance to communities wishing to open playgrounds.
The Harmon Foundation donated $2,000.00 to the city to purchase fourteen acres. The cost was $2,640.00 and the city put up the extra $640.00. The land purchased was the four-block area between 31st and 33rd Streets, and between 5th and 7th Avenues. Later the city would also purchased the half block between Park school grounds and 31st Street, making the park six and one-half blocks in size, and so it remains today.
The Kiwanis Club provided a wading pool for children, and the Cosmopolitan Club constructed three tennis courts.
June 1937 Harmon Park Swimming Pool and Bathhouse opened.
June 21, 1938, the Kearney Daily Hub describes the structure and its equipment: "Kearney's new Sonotorium--was formally dedicated at a program last evening which drew thousands of spectators to Harmon Field park.
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Peggy H. Benjamin, author of YEARS TO SHARE
P.H. Benjamin, 1986 - Custer County (Neb.) - 256 pages
Shared reading suggestion January 2016 - by Ken Carmann.
Non-fiction, 256 pages: historical, biographical, based on the records, journals, account books, letters & personal writings of Dan Haskell & the scrapbooks of his wife, Cora, the story deals with the experiences of the two main characters from 1874-1927. While it is primarily a family story, it covers the early development of an area in Central Nebraska from Dawson & Custer Counties to the well-known Nebraska Sandhills. The story opens with Dan's decision to go West to launch his future in a new state instead of accepting the suggestion of his uncle, Daniel Noyes Haskell, editor of the Boston Evening Transcript, 1835-1874, for whom he was named, to come east & prepare for a position on the leading New England newspaper. From Cozad, in Dawson County, Dan's experiences take him north to the South Loup valley, where he engages in his life-time career, the cattle industry. His marriage to an Ohioan, Cora Wilcher, a relative of William Jennings Bryan, occurred December 18, 1882. Her home was at Morning Sun, ten miles from Oxford, Ohio, where Dan grew up. Dan's father, Enoch, an ardent Abolitionist, migrated from Newburyport & Boston, in 1835. A vivid view of the early ups-&-downs of pioneer life.
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