Home > United States of America > Nebraska > Cherry County > Valentine > Mount Hope Cemetery > Jacob L. Wagner

Jacob L. Wagner

Birth	:	26 Oct 1899
Death	:	1 Jul 1994
Burial	:	Mount Hope Cemetery, Valentine, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate	:	42.8669014, -100.5350037
Description	:	Jacob L. Wagner Oct 26,1899-July 1,1994 Jacob Wagner was born and grew up five miles north and west of Bristow, Nebraska. His parents were Henry Sr., a native Iowan, and Lucy, a German immigrant. Jake went to school in Bristow then attended business college in Grand Island, Nebraska for a while.That world didn't appeal to him, however, so he returned to the land, and his roots. Jake always liked cattle and raised them as many years as his health would permit. He worked with cattle all his life as Henry Sr. was a cattle buyer and had a feedlot at Spencer. Jake... Read More	Jacob L. Wagner Oct 26,1899-July 1,1994 Jacob Wagner was born and grew up five miles north and west of Bristow, Nebraska. His parents were Henry Sr., a native Iowan, and Lucy, a German immigrant. Jake went to school in Bristow then attended business college in Grand Island, Nebraska for a while.That world didn't appeal to him, however, so he returned to the land, and his roots. Jake always liked cattle and raised them as many years as his health would permit. He worked with cattle all his life as Henry Sr. was a cattle buyer and had a feedlot at Spencer. Jake learned to be a cowboy at an early age, herding cattle his dad bought to their new quarters. 'They were pretty hard to drive sometimes," he recalls. ''They really didn't want to leave home." About 1920, Henry Sr. came to the Winner area. He and his oldest son, Otto, ran a freight line from Winner to Jordan. (Jordan was located where U.S. Highways 18 and 83 intersect about nine miles west of Winner.) With their horses and wagons, the Wagner's hauled lumber to help build the then-booming town. In 1923 Henry Sr. and Lucy decided to come to South Dakota. Tribal land was being sold in Todd County so the family decided to try to make a go of farming here. They bought a farm just north of what is now known as Olsonville. Before the Wagners could farm the land, however, machinery had to be brought from Spencer. That included a big 1917 Titan tractor, forerunner of the International Harvester. Jake drove the tractor onto the railroad car bound for Winner, the nearest rail station to Olsonville. Other machinery was put on a hayrack and pulled to Winner with the team of horses. When everything arrived in Winner, Bill and Henry, younger brothers of Jake, unloaded the tractor, hooked the hayrack behind it, and, leading the horses behind, headed for their new home. Jake soon came to join the family. "This place was broke up with that tractor and it was kind of a shame," Jake's nephew, Alvin Anderson said. "This is really ranchland, not farm country." The family settled one mile north of Olsonville and 1 1/2 miles west of U.S. Highway 83. 'The land was pretty desolate then," Jake says. "There were only a few fences and windmills around." He added that the only people living in the Olsonville area then were the Longcors, Bojes and Schemms. As there were no living quarters for the Wagner family at first, they stayed with Longcors until a house and farm buildings could be erected. The buildings are all gone now with irrigation systems owned by a neighboring farmer in their place. Henry Sr. decided to raise grain and purchased a 16 ft. Case combine. Jake tells of using tractors to pull the new machine up the steep hill just north of Valentine. "There was a very small bridge over the Minnechaduza River then, so we had to take the platform off the combine," he says. "It took a whole day just to get from Valentine to the top of the hill. Then it was getting dark so we slept in the combine overnight. The next day we started out again early. It took us most of the day to get here, about 20 miles." Jake can also vividly recall operating the combine, cutting the 16 ft. swaths of grain. He ran the combine and Henry Sr. ran the tractor to pull it as the combine engine only furnished the power to cut the grain. Jake says another big improvement in the farming operation came when Henry Sr. finally bought a single row cornpicker and the family no longer had to pick the ears by hand. In 1928, Jake and his parents returned to Spencer and Bristow, Nebraska again. His mother passed away in 1941 and then his father died in 1953. In 1959, he came back to Olsonville to live and farm with Alvin. Jake has been with Alvin 35 years now. "He doesn't like being alone," Alvin says. "So he has a home here as long as I can care for him. Alvin's father and mother (Jake's sister) also had a home with him as long as they lived. Jake says he has seen a lot in his nearly 95 years and has had a good life. But the best times of all were when he could work with cattle...herding, feeding, bringing new lives into the world, just watching them graze..."every cowboy's dream," he says. Article written by: Phyllis Littau submitted by Doris Fernau Wagner

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Jacob L. Wagner's memorial?
Jacob L. Wagner's memorial is located at: Mount Hope Cemetery, Valentine, Cherry County, USA.
When did Jacob L. Wagner death?
Jacob L. Wagner death on 1 Jul 1994 in
Where are the coordinates of the Jacob L. Wagner's memorial?
Latitude: 42.8669014
Longitude: -100.5350037

Family Members:

Parent

Henry Wagner

(1865 - 1953)

Siblings

Otto Wagner Wagner

(1895 - 1972)

Luella Viola Wagner Anderson

(1897 - 1982)

Henry J Wagner

(1902 - 1999)

William Jennings Wagner

(1908 - 1993)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Mount Hope Cemetery
Valentine, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8669014, -100.5350037

2. Minnechaduza Cemetery
Valentine, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8731003, -100.5674973

3. Fort Niobrara Post Cemetery
Valentine, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8885630, -100.4779260

4. Taylor Cemetery
Thatcher, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8131000, -100.4832500

5. Richland Harmony Cemetery
Valentine, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.9763985, -100.5736008

6. Crookston Cemetery
Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.9267970, -100.7313580

7. Kewanee Cemetery
Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.9332020, -100.3366500

8. Saint Joseph Cemetery
Kewanee, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.9700000, -100.3373500

9. Saint Agnes Cemetery
Todd County, USA
Coordinate: 43.0372009, -100.6952972

10. Simeon Cemetery
Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.6704000, -100.6629000

11. Sparks Cemetery
Sparks, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.9399986, -100.2463989

12. German Settlement Cemetery
Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8419050, -100.8393860

13. Lakeview Cemetery
Todd County, USA
Coordinate: 43.0746994, -100.7300034

14. Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
Lakeview, Todd County, USA
Coordinate: 43.0750000, -100.7302500

15. Carroll Cemetery
Olsonville, Todd County, USA
Coordinate: 43.1371300, -100.6085100

16. Pure Water Cemetery
Todd County, USA
Coordinate: 43.0889015, -100.7844009

17. Snake Falls Cemetery
Valentine, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.6785540, -100.8543170

18. Mount Hope Cemetery
Wood Lake, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.6372920, -100.2330200

19. Kilgore Cemetery
Kilgore, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.9304110, -100.9639260

20. Norden Cemetery
Norden, Keya Paha County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8685837, -100.0950851

21. Norden West Cemetery
Keya Paha County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8685989, -100.0947037

22. Williamson Gravesite
Nenzel, Cherry County, USA
Coordinate: 42.7888000, -100.9909000

23. Pleasant Dale Cemetery
Keya Paha County, USA
Coordinate: 42.8494000, -100.0608000

24. Linden Pioneer Cemetery
Tripp County, USA
Coordinate: 43.0607986, -100.1258011