GEORGE AND MARTHA CHILES By: Faye Portschy FROM THE LOUP COUNTY CENTENNIEL BOOK 1883-1983 George William Chiles was born in Clayton County, Iowa.  He came to Nebraska in 1878 with his parents, William Walker and Isabella Chiles.  They settled in Roca, Nebraska, where Walker found employment with the railroad and his wife operated the Roca Hotel. In 1889, George married Martha Olive McKinney, daughter of Daniel and Anna McKinney.  Daniel had come from Iowa and settled in Saline County where he homesteaded near Pleasant Hill in 1862.  Daniel and Anna Moore were married in 1864 and moved to Roca in 1868. To support his family George worked on the railroad and in the evening operated a barber shop and candy store.  George and his friend, John Harrop, began to hear about the land they could obtain under the Homestead Act.  In the spring of 1909 they set forth for the sandhills in their covered wagons.  The trip was not without incident as George lost one of his horses on the way.  He somehow obtained another to continue their journey to Loup County. As soon as their claims were staked and filed they started building shelter for the coming winter months.  George had left his wife and youngest daughter, Daisy, in Roca, Nebraska until a dugout had been completed for living quarters.  Late in the summer Daisy and her mother took the train from Roca to Burwell, Nebraska.  They were met by George to begin the long trek by team and wagon to Northwest Loup County. Their sod house was completed by next summer and Daisy celebrated her eleventh birthday, on the homestead, with a cake and a rabbit her father had shot. They begin to acquire some livestock.  During haying season George worked for ranchers on the hay flats around Duff, Nebraska. Their oldest daughter, Estella, and her husband and daughter arrived in 1913 and they worked on what was known as the Russel Ranch, near Duff. During World War I the regular mail carrier was called to duty and being the substitute carrier, George was obligated to carry the mail from Ovitt postoffice to Fox Postoffice and on to Taylor.  He stayed overnight and returned the next day. In the winter months when the snow was too deep for the horse and buggy he strapped the mailbags to the saddle and walked ahead of his horse to break the trail. During the twenties George and Olive left the homestead and moved to Burwell where they farmed until 1928.  At that time they returned to the homestead went through the depression years of the thirties. Their health began to fail and they returned to Roca, Nebraska in 1944 where they spent their remaining years.  They are laid to rest in the Hickman Cemetery, Hickman, Nebraska. transcribed by: Melody Beery

WILLIAM A. CLARK Source: The Trail of the Loup: being a history of the Loup River Region by: Harold Waldstein Foght copyright: 1906 William A. Clark is a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born May, 1854.  He spent the first twenty five years of his life in Juniata and LaSalle counties of that state, though he has lived the rest of his life in Nebraska.  In 1879 he took up a cliam in Loup County about five miles west of Taylor where he still lives.  In 1898 he went to Burwell and spent two years in the implement business there, but he sold out at the end of that time and returned to his Loup county home.  He was elected to the office of county treasurer of Loup county in the fall of 1903.

ASHLEY AND JEMINA COOLEY BY:COLLEEN SWITZER SOURCE: FROM THE LOUP COUNTY CENTENNIEL BOOK 1883-1983 Ashley Branch Cooley was born in Bideport, Vermont, on July 9, 1829, the son of Alfred and Pamela (Southwick) Cooley.  (Alfred Cooley was the 7th generation of Cooley's in America, the family coming to this country in 1640.  Pamela was of the 7th generation of Southwicks....them coming in 1627). Jemina Sheldon, was born at Lisbon, St. Lawrence County, New York, July 29, 1841, the daughter of Benjamin and Dimis (McCarter) Sheldon.  She was the second of eleven children and was of the 10th generation of Sheldons in America...the family came from Essex, England in about 1628.  At the age of sixteen she moved with her parents to Clinton County, Iowa, where she lived until her marriage. Ashley and Jemina were married on February 25, 1863, at Oxford, Jones County, Iowa.  To this union two children were born, Ida May (Carter) and Clarence Burt, the latter passing away at the age of 18. Ashley was a carpenter by trade, but was possessed of ability in other lines, being employed as a clerk and also as a school teacher. In 1865 he and his wife moved to Manmouth, Iowa.  In 1876 they moved to Odebolt, Iowa, living there until the fall of 1883, when they came to Nebraska, locating on a farm in Loup County, in the Madison Square community.  They came in the company of W.I. Cram and were one of the first settlers in this part of Loup county.  Mr. Cooley became one of the leading spirits in the political affairs of the county and over this part of the state.  He held office of County Judge for two terms and established a high reputation as a man of honor and integrity. The Cooleyton post-office was established in 1885, on the Cooley farm and remained there for 18 years. Ashley died on December 10, 1908 at his homestead.  Jemina made her home with her daughter until her death on July 11, 1924.  A son in law, Albey Carter took over the Cooley farm and remained there all his life.  Albey's daughter, Lella and her husband, John B. Rush, continued living on the Cooley farm and John still lives on the original Cooley farm, this place being in the family for 100 years.

CALVIN AND ELIZABETH COPP SOURCE: FROM THE LOUP COUNTY CENTENNIEL BOOK 1883-1983 Calvin and Elizabeth Roblyer Copp settled on the river bank of the North Loup River after coming from Bradshaw, Nebraska.  They came after the locust invasion in 1880 had eaten all their crops.  They built a dugout on the south side of the river and covered it with dirt and branches.  In the spring they crossed the river and homesteaded.  The homestead was one-fourth mile north of the Oscar Anderson buildings.  Their son, Steve was six years old. Carl was a baby.   Roy and Ona Copp Hubbard were born on the homestead.   They sold the homestead to Frank Satterfield in 1903 and moved to Taylor.  Calvin was the County Judge for twenty years.  Steven Copp homesteaded near Calvin's homestead and married Esther Abbott.  They had four sons:  Lee, who married Avis Austin, passed away in 1930, Roy who lives in Douglas, Wyoming; Lugene, who passed away in 1971; Ora, who married Blanche Moses of Grand Island.  Ora and Blanche now live in Taylor since he retired.  they had one son, James, who passed away in New York in 1983.  James has a son Aaron of New York. Ora's first teachers at the old Liberty school in Loup County were: Maggie Moulton; Nola Allen; Ora Clark; Ray Hulbert and Nora Drake.  Ora and Blanche lived in Grand Island from 1922-1978.  July 1, 1978 they moved to Taylor where they reside in the original home of Calvin Copp. COPP, CALVIN Source: The Trail of the Loup: being a history of the Loup River Region by: Harold Waldstein Foght copyright: 1906 Calvin L. Copp was born in Tiogo county, Pennsylvania, in 1848.  He left the old Quaker state when eight years old, and saw life in Missouri and Iowa before he came to Nebraska in 1869.  He married Elizabeth Roblyer of York County and came to Loup county in 1879. He has spent twenty-five years near Almeria and Mooulton farming and is now cozily homed in Taylor.  Mr. Copp has yet large landed interests in the county.He has been a lifelong Republican, though he has never been actively engaged in politics.  Mr. Copp never grows weary telling of the strenuous days when he had to haul whole loads of cedar posts to Grand Island to exchange for a sack of flour and a plug of tobacco.

THOMAS CROUGHELL Source: The Trail of the Loup: being a history of the Loup River Region by: Harold Waldstein Foght copyright: 1906 Thomas Croughell was born in Harford county, Connecticut, in December 1854.  Here he lived until 1878 when he moved to Nebraska and settled in Loup county, about two miles west rom Taylor.  While in Connecticut he worked in a cotton factory where all kinds of cotton fabrics were made.  But since coming to Nebraska he has successfully devoted his time to farming and stockraising.

THE CRAM FAMILY SOURCE: FROM THE LOUP COUNTY CENTENNIEL BOOK 1883-1983 The Cram family began in Germany where the name was spelled von Cramm or Von Kramm, and the spelling was changed to Cram after they came to America about the year 1639.  Wilbur I. Cram was born August 18, 1846 at Crown Point, New York.  He moved with his parents to a farm near Maquoketa, Iowa, and was in partnership with his father, John Cram, in livestock and farming.  He married Honor Filby October 8, 1868.  She was born December 3, 1845 at Hilgay, England.  While living near Maquoketa and Monmouth, Iowa, four sons were born:  Osceola Canel, Albert Irvin, John Edwin and Fred Franklin.  In 1883, Wilbur and Honor and their four sons came to the unorganized territory of Loup County, Nebraska, built a sod house complete with post-fence in front, big window for house plants and bird cages.  After living on their homestead ten years, the Wilbur Cram family moved to Burwell and were in the livestock and feed business. Osce, the oldest son of wilbur and Honor, worked for the Doran brothers in the Burwell Roller Mills.  Laura McClimans was one of the first young women to receive a teacher's certificate in Garfield County.  After their marriage in 1898, Osce and Laura moved to the Loup County farm and built a frame house.  The old soddy made a good warm chicken house.  Six children were born in Loup county; Richard Wilbur, Julia Marie, Mabel Elsie, John Conrad, Honor Lucile, and Bernice Irene.  They attended school in the Madison Square District and later Lookout District No. 26.  The first post office address was Cooleyton, then Walworth, and now Sargent.  The land remained in the family and is now owned by Julia Cram McNeely. Laura (McClimans) Cram died March 2, 1920.  In 1925 Osce married Alice Torrey Huffman.  to this union one son, Fred Lee, was born in Custer County.  Alice (Huffman) Cram died December 13, 1931.  Osce continued to farm until his death August 24, 1961, at the age of 91.

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