KIME, LEVI NICHOLAS

by Jack R. Cooley

Entry F241 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

L to R: Erma (Wolfenden) Cooley, Lizzie (Kime) Wolfenden, Lizzie (Kime) Ladley
and Mrs. Nancy Kime (Mrs. Levi Kime) about 1916.

Legend has it that the Kime's came to
America from Holland, but it is more likely
that they were of English decent, emigrated
to Holland and later came to America.

Levi was born in Seneca Co. OH (county
seat is Tiffin), Nov. 13, 1832. The records
indicate that Levi was the eighth of 10
children born to John and Margaret Kime.
John and Margaret appear to have originated
in Jefferson Co. VA (now W. VA) near
Sheperdstown. Levi was a restless sort and
went by wagon train to Ft. Bridger, WY when
he was 18 ( 1850-53). He was probably a
teamster. It appears that Levi, his parents,
brothers and sisters moved to Iowa Co. Iowa
from Stubenville, OH in 1854.

On May 3, 1856 Levi married Nancy
Willson Layport in Iowa Co. Iowa. Eight
children were born: John David (1856- 1953),
Elizabeth ( "Lizzie") (1858- 1951), Charles
Milton ( "Charlie") (1861- 1954), Henry
Frank ( "Frank") (1863- 1939), George Wil-
liam ( "Will") (1868- ), Clyde Albert (1874-
1876), Kelsey Floyd ( "Floyd") (1898- 1923),
Nellie (1879-1879). Levi and family moved to
Audubon Co. Iowa in 1873.

It appears that the Kime's were farmers in
VA (now W. VA), Ohio and Iowa. After Levi's
parents and older relatives died, having
experienced drouth's in Iowa and spurred on
by free land "out West" through the home-
stead and Kinkaid Acts, Levi & his children
(some were married), along with Herb Green,
Pat Clark, the Bartley's and the Haskin's
came to Holt Co. (now Brown Co.) near
Stuart, NE. They came by wagon train in the
spring of 1880. They forded (or ferried) the
Missouri River at Elkhorn NE. The party
first located in Holt (now Brown) Co. NE
about 8 miles north of Stuart NE. Levi
homesteaded 160A there in 1880. Later he
took a tree claim on the Gordon River in
Cherry Co. NE In 1888 he moved to Valentine
NE and bought an interest in a livery stable
there. He was in the Livery business in
Valentine for 5-10 years with his sons Frank
and Will. Ft. Niobrara was nearby and the
soldiers came to town and got drunk on a
regular basis. The Kime's did a thriving
business gathering them up and hauling them
back to the Fort before they were supposed
to go on duty.

In 1902 Levi moved to Mullen NE and
bought a lot. There was either a house on the
lot or he built one. This was on the north side
of Second St. just west of Cleveland St. (just
east of the Leonard Ridenour home). The
house still stands there today. He bought the
livery barn just east of where Mullen Coop
now stands (i.e. the livery was east of
Washington Ave. and on the north side of the
Alley between First and Second St.). He may
have also bought into a livery in Seneca NE.
Levi purchased 146A of pasture land, pre-
sumably for the livery stock. This land was
on the north side of Mullen. He purchased
the livery for $800 and sold it for $1000. The
pasture cost $400 ($36/A) and the house and
lot sold for $600.

He sold the livery and pasture in the fall
of 1906 and took a Kinkaid near Lone Tree
Lake in Cherry Co. The house in Mullen was
transferred to Diadanna Beeler on June 28,
1907. That was a fateful day. Levi and Nancy,
along with three grandchildren were going to
the home of Levi's son Floyd. They were
going after some coal which Floyd had
brought from Mullen. Levi was driving a four
horse team. One of the lines broke and the
team ran away. The wagon tongue broke and
ran into the ground, pitching everyone to the
ground. Levi was speechless at first but then
seemed to be OK and declined to have a
doctor called. He died within a half hour,
probably of internal injuries. He was 73. He
was buried in a family plot at his son Charlies'
ranch some 20 miles west of Lone Tree Lake?
A few years later the family cemetery was
abandon and he was reinterred at the Cedar-
view Cemetery in Mullen.

Nancy was living with her son John in
Lynnwood, CA when she passed away Febru-
ary 25, 1924. She was 87. She is also interred
in the Mullen Cemetery.