Wm Anderson McCoy Genealogy

Notes

Note

Birth: Feb. 19, 1845
Edgar County
Illinois, USADeath: Aug. 17, 1922
Washington County
Nebraska, USA
REMINISCENCES OF FORT CALHOUN
BY W. H. ALLEN

I reached Fort Calhoun in May, 1856, with my friends [sic-parents], Mr. and Mrs. John Allen; coming with team and wagon from Edgar county, Illinois. I was then eleven years old. Fort Calhoun had no soldiers, but some of the Fort Atkinson buildings were still standing. I remember the liberty pole, the magazine, the old brick-yard, at which places we children played and picked up trinkets. There was one general store then, kept by Pink Allen and Jascoby, and but few settlers. Among those I remember were, my uncle, Thomas Allen; E. H. Clark, a land agent; Col. Geo. Stevens and family, who started a hotel in 1856, and Orrin Rhoades, whose family lived on a claim five miles west of town. That summer my father took a claim near Rhoades', building a log house and barn at the edge of the woods. We moved there in the fall, and laid in a good supply of wood for the huge fireplace, used for cooking as well as heating. Our rations were scanty, consisting of wild game for meat, corn bread, potatoes and beans purchased at Fort Calhoun. The next spring we cleared some small patches for garden and corn, which we planted and tended with a hoe. There were no houses between ours and Fort Calhoun, nor any bridges. Rhoades' house and ours were the only ones between Fontenelle and Fort Calhoun. Members of the Quincy colony at Fontenelle went to Council Bluffs for flour and used our place as a half-way house, stopping each way over night. How we children did enjoy their company, and stories of the Indians. We were never molested by the red men, only that they would come begging food occasionally.

I had no schooling until 1860 when I worked for my board in Fort Cahoun at E. H. Clark's and attended public school a few months. The next two years I did likewise, boarding at Alex. Reed's.

From 1866 to 1869 inclusive I cut cord-wood and railroad ties which I hauled to Omaha for use in the building of the Union

Pacific railroad. I received from $8.00 to $15.00 per cord for my wood, and $1.00 each for ties.

Deer were plentiful and once when returning from Omaha I saw an old deer and fawn. Unhitching my team I jumped on one horse and chased the young one down, caught and tamed it. I put a bell on its neck and let it run about at will. It came to its sleeping place every night until the next spring when it left, never to be seen by us again.

In the fall of 1864 1 was engaged by Edward Creighton to freight with a wagon train to Denver, carrying flour and telegraph supplies. The cattle were corralled and broke at Cole's creek, west of Omaha known then as "Robber's Roost," and I thought it great fun to yoke and break those wild cattle. We started in October with forty wagons, seven yoke of oxen to each wagon. I went as far as Fort Cottonwood, one hundred miles beyond Fort Kearny, reaching there about November 20. There about a dozen of us grew tired of the trip and turned back with a wagon and one ox team. On our return, at Plum creek, thirty-fives miles west of Fort Kearny we saw where a train had been attacked by Indians, oxen killed, wagons robbed and abandoned. We waded the rivers, Loup Fork and Platte, which was a cold bath at that time of year.

I lived at this same place in the woods until I took a homestead three miles farther west in 1868.

My father's home was famous at that time, also years afterward, as a beautiful spot, in which to hold Fourth of July celebrations, school picnics, etc., and the hospitality and good cooking of my mother, "Aunt Polly Allen" as she was familiarly called, was known to all the early settlers in this section of the country.

Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences
Nebraska Society of the DAR
1916, pg 284-285

Events

Event	Date	Place	Sources
Birth	19 February 1845	Paris, Edgar, Illinois, USA	1b 2b 3b

Residence	1880	Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, USA	1c

Residence	1900	Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, USA	2c

Residence	1910	Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, USA	3c

Death	12 August 1922	Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, USA

Families

Pedigree

Source References

Ancestry.com: 1880 United States Federal Census
1. - Page: Year: 1880; Census Place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: 757; Family History Film: 1254757; Page: 225C; Enumeration District: 34; Image: 0130.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: abt 1845 Birth place: Illinois Residence date: 1880 Residence place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, United States
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&h=33262084&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
2. - Page: Year: 1880; Census Place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: 757; Family History Film: 1254757; Page: 225C; Enumeration District: 34; Image: 0130.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: abt 1845 Birth place: Illinois Residence date: 1880 Residence place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, United States
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&h=33262084&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
3. - Page: Year: 1880; Census Place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: 757; Family History Film: 1254757; Page: 225C; Enumeration District: 34; Image: 0130.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: abt 1845 Birth place: Illinois Residence date: 1880 Residence place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, United States
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&h=33262084&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
Ancestry.com: 1900 United States Federal Census
1. - Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: T623_941; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 127.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: Feb 1846 Birth place: Illinois Marriage date: 1869 Marriage place: Residence date: 1900 Residence place: Calhoun City, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&h=31099817&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
2. - Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: T623_941; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 127.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: Feb 1846 Birth place: Illinois Marriage date: 1869 Marriage place: Residence date: 1900 Residence place: Calhoun City, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&h=31099817&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
3. - Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: T623_941; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 127.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: Feb 1846 Birth place: Illinois Marriage date: 1869 Marriage place: Residence date: 1900 Residence place: Calhoun City, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&h=31099817&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
4. - Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: T623_941; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 127.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: May 1845 Birth place: Indiana Marriage date: 1869 Marriage place: Residence date: 1900 Residence place: Calhoun City, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&h=31099818&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
5. - Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: T623_941; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 127.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: Feb 1846 Birth place: Illinois Marriage date: 1869 Marriage place: Residence date: 1900 Residence place: Calhoun City, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&h=31099817&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
6. - Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: T623_941; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 127.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: Feb 1846 Birth place: Illinois Marriage date: 1869 Marriage place: Residence date: 1900 Residence place: Calhoun City, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&h=31099817&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
7. - Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: T623_941; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 127.
  - Source text:
    Birth date: May 1845 Birth place: Indiana Marriage date: 1869 Marriage place: Residence date: 1900 Residence place: Calhoun City, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&h=31099818&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
Ancestry.com: 1910 United States Federal Census
1. - Page: Year: 1910; Census Place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .
  - Source text:
    Birth date: 1845 Birth place: Illinois Residence date: 1910 Residence place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910uscenindex&h=15710615&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
2. - Page: Year: 1910; Census Place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .
  - Source text:
    Birth date: 1845 Birth place: Illinois Residence date: 1910 Residence place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910uscenindex&h=15710615&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
3. - Page: Year: 1910; Census Place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .
  - Source text:
    Birth date: 1845 Birth place: Illinois Residence date: 1910 Residence place: Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910uscenindex&h=15710615&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
Liahona Research, comp: Nebraska, Marriage Index, 1856-1898
1. - Source text:
    Marriage date: 20 Apr 1869 Marriage place: Washington, Nebraska
  - Citation:
    http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=nemarriages_ga&h=8688&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

Birth Name	Allen, William Henry 1a 2a 3a
Gender	male
Age at Death	77 years, 5 months, 22 days
Birth date	19 February 1845 (Paris, Edgar, Illinois, USA)
Death date	12 August 1922 (Fort Calhoun, Washington, Nebraska, USA)