BARNEBEY, WILLIAM AND LYDIA (CALDWELL)

by Zelma Barnebey Scott

Entry F14 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

William and Lydia Barnebey

William Barnebey and his wife, Lydia
Ellen (Caldwell), were among the earliest
settlers in the Mullen area. William was born
in Indiana on April 7, 1839, and prior to
coming to Nebraska had been farming his
meager holdings in New Sharon, Iowa. His
wife, Lydia, was born in Pennsylvania on July
9, 1849, and had moved to Iowa at the age of
fourteen. She and William were married on
December 30, 1875, at Bloomfield, Iowa. In
the ensuing years six children were born into
their family: Mary Belle ( "Sis"), Charlie
Mack, Nannie Novella, Nettie Margaret
(died in infancy), Johnie Burk, and Lillie
Alice.

William had heard the fantastic promises
of land in the great Sandhills region of
Nebraska. After discussing the matter with
wife Lydia Ellen, a decision was made to
dispose of holdings in Iowa and try their
fortune further west. Selling property was not
easy, but in April, 1887, William managed to
trade his home for a Missouri Jack mule
which he figured would be much easier to sell
for needed cash than it would be to sell the
home. William put his wife and the three
children they had at that time (Mary Belle,
Charlie and Nan) on the train bound for
Broken Bow, Nebraska, which at that time
was the end of the line. His plan worked out,
for just two days later he sold the mule, and
with '400 in his pocket he climbed on the train
to join his family in Broken Bow.

They remained in Broken Bow for a couple
of months until their second son, John, was
born. During this time William purchased a
wagon, team of oxen, plow, lumber for the
new home and other needed supples. By June
he was ready, and he preceded his family on
the hundred mile journey to the region now
known as Hooker County which was then still
unorganized territory. William soon located
and filed a claim on a 160 acre homestead two
miles south and one-half mile west of the
present site of Mullen.

William began to ready things for his
family by building a house of sod bricks with
the roof of split lumber covered with a layer
of tar paper and then another layer of sod. He
soon completed the 20 by 36 foot one room
dwelling using curtains for dividers. William
then returned to Broken Bow for his family,
arriving back in their new Nebraska San-
dhills home on June 18, 1887, when baby
John was only two weeks old.

Lydia's father, Joseph M. Caldwell, M.D.,
who was born February 19, 1823, in Pennsyl-
vania, was also among the early settlers in
Hooker County. At the time of his death on
August 10, 1887, he was living on land which
he had filed on as a government pre-emption.
It was there that he was buried until some
years later, when what was left of his remains
were brought to Cedarview Cemetary at
Mullen and buried in the Barnebey plot.

William Barnebey and his family were part
of the first organized Methodist Church in
this area, and William and son Charlie are
included among those who signed the Articles
of Incorporation in August, 1903. Lydia,
having come from a family whose father and
one son were both physicians, traveled about
the countryside attending at the births of
many babies in the area. The oldest daughter,
Mary Belle, married depot agent, Anson
Andrews, and made their home in the Mullen
depot before moving to Ulysses, Nebraska,
where they lived out their lives. Sons, Charlie
and John, both spent most of their lives in
Hooker County. Charlie served in public
offices and held a number of jobs in Mullen
over the years. John worked as a ranch hand
in the area and lived the last years of his life
at the home of Sarah and Lloyd Ginkens. Nan
Barnebey was the first teacher in the sod
schoolhouse of District #6 when it was
organized in 1903, being paid $8 a month
salary. Daughter, Lillie, married Ira Pierce
and continued living on the Barnebey place
until moving to Colorado after the death of
mother, Lydia.