BOYER, ROBY AND OLLIE (HALL)
William Roby, son of Hugh Sr., and Margaret “Maggie'' Boyer was born Sept. 21, 1880 at Independence, Va. He was just a lad when his parents and 8 brothers John J., Wiley Reid, Feils L. , Boyd K., Charles F. , Stephen McTeer, Hugh Crumley, Willie Wyeth, packed up their belongings, and commenced the trip westward. They traveled partly by railroad, coming to the city of Omaha, Nebr. When Hugh Boyer and his family stepped off the Union Pacific passen-ger train in the fall of 1882, he had a cash-in-pocket status of $400. And his determination was their initial introduction to the State of Nebraska the region that had recently been opened to settlement.
Roby spent the next few years in Madison County, receiving the benefits of what educa-tional facilities were at that time. He was six years old when the trip to Cherry County, Nebr., started in the spring of 1886. Hugh Boyer Sr. had made a previous jaunt into the wilds of the Sandhills territory for a inspec-tion tour. He liked what he saw, and the change of territory was decided upon. From Madison County, the family went by train via Chicago, Northwestern railroad to the small community of Johnstown, Nebr., then from there transported by team and wagon to their new home. This new experience took them on a trek into the territory of the present day Purdum, Nebr. community, and they fol-lowed the North Loup River westward to the approximate location of Brownlee, post-of-fice, and thence westward to their destina-tion. It was a nine-day trip. Along this trip was the early fall days were warm and “I lost my coat off of the wagon. The remainder of the trip was a chilly one without it''.
The brothers who were known as the “Baseball Nine'' hunted and earned $100.00 during one month by shipping prairie chicken to eastern markets. After his father's death, Roby lived with his widowed mother until they moved into Mullen shortly before World War I. For ten years, they lived in the dwelling that once had been the Hooker County Court house, which is now owned by Stella Baldwin. The small building out back was the small jail-house, with its window of iron bars.
Roby, after coming to town, partner-shipped a business with a cousin, in the handling of car parts for the vehicles that had made their debut into the sandhills at that time. Later, he managed a billiard hall on main-street for a good many years. During his many years in the community of Mullen, he served on the Village Board of Trustees, also Chairman for the County Commissioners for a number of terms.
Roby married Ollie (Phipps) Hall Dec. 31 , 1924 and lived in the former home of Robert Boyer, once a rooming house, which is now owned by Nyle and Gladys Hodges. Roby's mother Margaret and OLlie's son Donald Hall, by a previous marriage joined them. Margaret was 94 years old when she died April 1, 1940.
Roby liked to fish and did some hunting. It was very common to find him with some rattlesnakes in a cage. He liked to pick chokecherries, currants and sand-cherries down on the Loup and Dismal river. His favorite car was a Buick, but at one time drove a Maxwell, Reo, Overland and a chain-driven International equipped with running board, carbide lights and side curtain which were kept under the front seat until it rained. A favorite sport was racing the car from Mullen to Seneca at 20 miles per hour.
Early fire fighting equipment was a small hose cart attached to a car or truck and then to a fire plug. The first fire truck was a Chevrolet Model-26, bought from Mathews Chevrolet, now owned by Schmokers. Frank Fitzgerlad built the hose rack and the truck became one of the best rigs between Alliance and Broken Bow, Nebr. until it was retired in 1950.
Roby saw the first Mullen depot erected and the last one dismantled. He heard the squeaky mail-cart travel from the depot to the postoffice until replaced by trucks from North Platte for mail delivery.
Mullen's first electricity was generated by a small engine in the Mercure building basement, which is now owned by Mullen Co-op Co., and operated by Glen Boyer. About 1921, Charlie Butler came up from Kansas to Alliance and was employed before coming to Mullen to manage the first electrical plant of any size. He has seen the town of Mullen prosper, the main-street that was once a tumble-weed area, ankle-deep in sand, with jack-rabbits, came into being with a paved block and half, in early twneties. The late George Hawley along with others poured out the concrete for this street.
Roby saw the day that Mullen prized two banks, the Citizens State Bank and the Bank of Mullen. Two movie theater's were compet-itive for a year or so in the fore part of twenties. The Roseberry Hall, later on known as the Mullen Opera House, and then the Senk Theatre. This has been lately the dry goods department of the business establish-ment of Edgar Macke. This building was burnt down 1974 and the new building replace by Bill Johnson and now Vinton Feed Store.
After giving up the billiard hall he contin-ued to play the game and enjoyed it. Getting up in his years he continued to get out and walk and take care of his own yard. His wife Ollie passed away Nov. 28, 1971. In early April 1972 took up residency at the Pioneer Memorial Rest Home in Mullen, he was contented there till he passed away Nov. 3, 1976.
If you think the name of Boyer isn't well-known, here's a yarn about a Swede and his wife from Denver, travelling from Cando, North Dakota back to Denver. They stop in Thedford to get some aspirins. They ask how far it is to Mullen. The merchant asked just why they wanted to go to Mullen – and he said: “Pete sake don't go up there, the place is over-run with Boyer's.''