COOLEY, LEE R.

Lee Cooley, son of Johnson and Elizabeth Colley, was born Oct. 9, 1908 in a sod house located on the south prong of the Middle Loup River 5 miles north of Hecla, Nebr., 11 miles west of Mullen, Nebr. The sod house burned down on New Year's Day 1913. The family spent the rest of the winter in a one room school house. Five children and the parents filled it to capacity. Water was hauled from the creek. The next summer a small frame house was built on the south prong of the Middle Loupe River.

A couple of years later the family moved after building another sod house. The new sod house was 24'x24' and a frame roof that was shingled. When it rained it was dry and cosy. The first `soddie' had a sod roof sealed with gyp (a water repellant clay found in a few places in the sandhills). When it rained on the sod roof it leaded for a week. The bed were covered with oil cloth to keep them dry. In 1914 a 2 story frame house with 3 bedrooms was built (2 more bedrooms were added later). The family lived there until 1927 when the ranch was sold to a Mr. Greathouse.

Lee started school in a courty school and walked 2 miles to school. After a few years he started going to the `Town School', in Hecla. There were 16 students in the Hecla school. Lee rode horseback 4 miles, to school. In 1923 he started High School in Mullen and boarded in town. Board and room cost $20. a mo. Some weekends he would go home to the ranch north of Hecla. He would ride the `local freight' train to Hecla for $.15 a walk to the ranch. He did lots of odd jobs to earn spending money while going to Mullen High, earning $.05 an hour. He planted trees, scooped coal from railroad cars into the bins at the Elevator or Hardware Store, scooped rye at the Elevator when they were shipping it out, hauled manure and did janitor work at the High School. There were 7 coal stoves at the High School, 5 upstairs and 2 in the Home Economics room.

After graduation Lee worked at various jobs on ranches. July 6, 1931 Lee married Erma Wolfenden. She taught school for 2 winters before they announced their marriage because married teachers were not allowed to be hired at that time. In the spring of 1933 they leased the “Stickely'' place on the Dismal River southeast of Mullen. This place consisted of about 10 sec. of land and rented for $300 a year. Lee summered cows with calves for $.25 a mo., furnished salt, water and looked after the cattle. On May 1, 1934 they lost the least on this place and went to work for Erma's father (C.R. Wolfenden) who had a sizable ranch in central Cherry Co. Nebr. They both worked (Lee as a ranch hand, Erma as household help) until Mar. 1, 136. Lee did not get to town for 6 mos. at a time. When they left they were paid $150. wages for 22 mos. work ($3.40 per mo. each). Times were really hard, people were working for room and board during the $30's. From 1936 to Nov. 1941 they rented several places. Lee worked for the neighbors to earn extra cash, he also milked 10 cows, sold the cream and fed milk to the calves, pigs and chickens. He trapped coyotes and muskrat (in the winter), sold pelts for cash. Each year they were able to get a few more cows and eventually built a hand picked herd of 100 commercial Herford cows. Hooker Co. Nebr. has been his home his entire life.

Lee and Erma moved to the W.B. Farrar Ranch (on the Dismal River south of Mullen) in the fall of 1941. This ranch covered 110 Sec. (over 70,000 A.) and provided pasture for 5,000 head of cattle in summer and 4,000 head in winter. Lee was foreman, Erma was cook, laundress, and gardner for the family and 1 or 2 hired men in winter, 6-8 men in the haying season. In the spring of 1946 they moved to their own little ranch 8 miles south of Mullen. They bought it piece by piece 7 Sec. (4,300 A.). They built buildings, planted trees and fixed it up so they were real comfortable. They lived there for 30 years.

Lee got crippled with arthritis and retired in 1968. They sold the cows, bulls and replacement heifers to Frank and Forrest Harding who were neighbors to the north. They rented the ranch to the Harding Brothers for 18 yrs. – That is getting along with your neighbors pretty well. In 1975 Lee and Erma bought the Booker Long home, 204 N. Blaine, in Mullen and moved to town. They traveled quite extensively beginning in the 1950's, being in all 50 states except Wash. and Ore., spent parts of several winters in Fla., went to Australia, New Zealand and Nassau. They never expected, nor wanted to get rich, just make an honest living and be comfortable with lots of good friends and neighbors. The response to Erma's death in Jan. 1987 attested to their huge world of friends and neighbors. Several children were named Lee and Levi in honor of Lee.

Lee and Erma have 2 boys: Cyrus born

1933 and Jack born 1936. Cy married Winnie Michael and they have 2 sons, Frederick Lee and Douglas Duane. Frederick married Carla Bonefield (of Whit-man, Nebr.) and they have one son Travis Lee born 1985. Douglas is single, at this time, and works at the Mullen Co-Op. Jack's story will appear separately in this volume.