DENSON, BEN AND MAUDE FAMILY

by Alida Denson Fisher

Entry F107 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Ben Denson Family about 1949 in Mullen. L-R:
Alida Fisher, Maude, Ben and Richard.

Alfred Richard Denson came from En-
gland. He married Catherine Collingwood of
Pennsylvania and they later moved to Neb-
raska. George Bennett (Ben) Denson was
born January 26, 1889, was the youngest of
their ten children. The family lived in
Madison County during Ben's childhood, and
as a young man, he moved to Cherry County.

Maude Ethel Howe was born August 4,
1891 in Iowa. She was the second of four
daughters of Bart and Ruby (Sturgis) Howe.
The family later settled in Cherry County
about 20 miles north of Mullen. Maude and
her sisters attended Wells School. Some of
the older Charlie Long children were among
their classmates.

Ben and Maude were married in 1910. To
this union were born 2 children Darley Alida
February 12, 1911 and Richard Barton,
October 24, 1914. They lived on their home-
stead place in a sod house, 22 miles north of
Mullen. Alida and Richard also attended
Wells School. Some of their classmates were
Vedor, Arnold, Glen, Mildred and Fred
Palmgren; Laverne, Elwin, Lucille and
Evelyn Johnson; LeRoy, June and Eileen
Anders; the Charlie Carter children and the
younger ones of the Charlie Long family.

In 1926, the Densons went to Pierce, Neb-
raska to be near Ben's aging mother, and the
2 children attended school there. In the
spring of 1927, they moved to Hooker County
and lived on the Fred Zempke place on the
Middle Loup River, just north of Mullen, for
5 years. Besides having range cattle, they had
a dairy and a big, big truck garden, delivering
milk and vegetables in town. Alida and
Richard graduated from High School in
Mullen.

Ben and Maude bought the Louis Palm-
gren place joining their homestead in Cherry
County. They moved there in the fall of 1931
and farmed and ranched during the depres-
sion years. They sold out in 1937 and moved
to Mullen. They bought the Art Jacobson
house in the west part of town. They spent
several winters trapping in the Big Creek and
Carver Ranches area. They traveled for
several summers running a shooting gallery
but home was always in Mullen.

Maude died June 2, 1955 and Ben contin-
ued to live in Mullen and with his children
part of the time until his death December 13,
1966. They are both buried in Cederview
Cemetery Mullen, Nebraska.