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Letter
to The Editor
World
Herald
Valentine, Neb
-
Jan 3
To the editor of the World
Herald:
In reply to yours of December
28, 1895, I think I can safely say that not more than twenty-five families have
left this county for other states during the last year, and for each family
which has left the county two others have moved in. This statement can be verified from the
election returns, which show a larger vote than any year since 1891.
Of the families which left the county during
the year 1895, I can recollect the names of only the following who have
returned to the county: Conrad Becker,
Martin Becker, William Wade and Jerome Broad.
The two Beckers went to Wisconsin
after selling off everything they had here, but returned this fall, giving as
their reasons for coming back that a poor man could make an easier living here
than he could where they had been.
William Wade returned from Kansas
saying he could make a better living here than he could in Kansas,
where he had to work for 50 cents per day, when he could get work at all.
Jerome Broad and family took a wagon trip
down through parts of Missouri, Arkansas
and Indian Territory; could not find any place where he
thought a poor man could make a living as easily as he could here, and so he
returned without locating anywhere.
About a dozen families went to Arkansas
from the northeast corner of this county and settled in Lonoke
County. From their friends here who are in
communication with them I learn that of these families Irving Bristol has
returned to Northeastern Nebraska; John Shelbourne is
making arrangements to return at once; Felix Nollette has left Arkansas
and writes from Minnesota that
nearly all the Cherry County people will “pull out” as soon as they can get
away. They don’t like the country; too
much moisture; too much fever and argue; those that raised good crops can’t get
any money for it; everything is in trade.
Money is scarce and it takes all they manage to get of it to buy
quinine. I don’t think there will be any
further emigration to speak of, although like many of the western counties
where crops were poor last year there are many grumblers, but the experience of
those who emigrated during 1895 will deter them from committing the same
folly.
The condition of the ground since
the late snows has made the crop prospects for this year much better than at
this time in 1895 and the farmers talk encouragingly of the future.
Signed: George Elliott, County
Clerk.
Omaha World Herald
- January 5, 1896
Transcribed
and Contributed by: Debbie Personette
Faces Trial for Murder
Valentine, Neb
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Oct 15
Cherry County is stirred from end to end over the Sellers “lynching”
case which was called for trial here today.
There are five defendants to stand trial for
first degree murder, but public interest centers almost wholly in the case
of but one of them – Miss Eunice Murphy;
a typical frontier woman, who is charged with inciting to murder, a capital
offense in Nebraska.
The four other
defendants are Kenneth Murphy; the 18 year old brother of Eunice; George B Weed
and his brother, Alma Weed, two strapping cowboys and Harry Heath, a cousin of
Eunice Murphy and an expert “roper”.
The
four young men admit that one night last spring they rode to the ranch house of
“Hutch Jack” with whom Charley Sellers kept bachellor’s hall, dragged Sellers
from his bed at the point of revolvers and hanged him to a telephone pole
nearby. Sellers had been an ardent wooer
of Miss Murphy and the dependants claim that her failure to reciprocate his
affection had maddened Sellers and he had threatened to wipe out the entire
Murphy family and all their connections.
The prosecution, on the other hand, proposes to prove that the facts in
the case were entirely different.
The
prosecuting attorney alleges that he has evidence to show that Miss Murphy had
encouraged Sellers in his attentions, had accepted numerous presents from him,
and had deliberately plotted with the four young men to bring about Seller’s
death in the belief that he had an Insurance policy of $7,000 and had made a
will in her favor.
Grand Forks Herald
- October 17, 1911
Transcribed
and Contributed by: Debbie Personette
Sentence Cut Down
Special Dispatch to the World Herald,
Lincoln
Neb – March 2.
Soney
Ford Cherry County,
sentenced to imprisonment for seven years for the killing of Allen Rothchilds
near Valentine, had received a reduction of sentence to three years and will
serve four years in the penitentiary.
The judgment for the trial court as modified is affirmed by the Supreme
Court.
Omaha World Herald
- March 3, 1904
Transcribed
and Contributed by: Debbie Personette
For Cattle Stealing. An Ex-Sheriff of a Nebraska
County Arrested at Rapid
City, S. D
Rapid City, SD –
April 26
Deputy United States Marshal Mathieson has arrested John G Little,
for four terms Sheriff of Cherry County, Neb., on a charge of cattle
stealing.
Little, it is claimed by the
officials, has been the leader of the worst gang of cattle thieves operatingbetween the Indian reservations and the Northern Nebraska
towns.
It is asserted that they have
stolen and shipped hundreds of cattle to Chicago,
but it has heretofore been impossible to fasten a case upon or arrest
Little.
The particular charge on which
he was arrested is stealing seventy-two head from the herd of the Rosebud
reservation belonging to Slaven, of Kansas City,
the agency beef contractor.
They were
driven into Nebraska and shipped
to Chicago. Deputy United
States marshals and Indian police are now in
pursuit of other members of the gang.
Little’s arrest was only accomplished after much planning and
considerable stratagem, but bloodshed is expected before all are captured.
United States District Attorney Sterling will
return in a few days to personally attend to these cases.
Aberdeen
Daily News - April 26, 1892
Transcribed
and Contributed by: Debbie Personette
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