LUKE, WILLIAM AND MINNIE

by Wilbert and Paul Ericksen

Entry F265 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

William and Minnin Luke. Homesteaders in South Cherry County.
Parents of Florence (Mrs. Albert) Ericksen.

William Luke's first association with the
Sandhill area was as a carpenter working for
the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley
Railroad Company, which became the Chica-
go Northerwestern R.R. in 1903, as the
railroad was built through Northern Nebras-
ka in 1884 and 1885. William helped to build
the depots and water towers along the way
and was on the construction crew which built
the first high bridge over the Niobrara River
east of Valentine, NE. His wife, Minnie, was
employed as the cook for the boarding car.

William Luke was born at Ashtabula, Ohio
December 25, 1856 to Elijah Shaw and
Melissa (Burnside) Luke. He lived in Ohio
until he was about 12 years of age when his
parents and their family and an uncle and his
family began the trek to Missouri by wagons.
They resided in Missouri a few years but in
the early 1870's they moved to the vicinity of
Bloomington, Nebraska in Franklin County.
He married Minnie Wittgow at Blair, Neb-
raska on March 17, 1885. She was born in
Germany on October 27, 1864 and came to
America with her parents, William and
Caroline (Herman) Wittgow, when she was
four years old. The Wittgows lived at Snyder,
Nebraska. German was spoken in the com-
munity where she grew up and her schooling
was in German.

Mr. and Mrs. Luke seemed to have made
numerous moves between the vicinities of
Snyder and Franklin County. Five children
were born to them: Florence, who became
Mrs. Albert F. Ericksen, was born in Colfax
County, July 26, 1886; Arthur W. was born
September 2, 1887 and died November 30,
1889 (buried at Maple Grove Cemetery at
Bloomington, NE.); Walter was born in
Harlan County on August 17, 1889; Warren
was born near Stanton, NE. on July 15, 1891
and Alice was born July 20, 1899 near Oxford,
NE.

By 1911, William Luke decided that the
Sandhills should be his home and applied for
a homestead under the Kinkaid Act in Cherry
County about thirty miles northwest of
Mullen. Florence, who had been a teacher in
the schools of Harlan County had her own
claim near her parents and lived there until
after her marriage to Albert Ericksen.
Warren and Walter Luke also filed on land
in the vicinity of their parents. Walter
married Laura Prentice. Warren served in
World War I and later married Miriam
Montgomery. Alice married Earl Fairchild
and lived on his homestead.

William was known for his fine team of
mules, Jim and Jack. He raised alfalfa and
corn which was sufficient for winter feed. The
thirty miles to town was a two day trip.
Minnie was a great cook and always had
something up high in the pantry or in the cave
for hungry little visitors. One delicacy Paul
Ericksen remembers was smoked breast of
grouse. Grouse and prairie chickens were a
source of delicacy for sandhill dwellers.

The Lukes lived on the homestead until
1925, when they rented the Fred Muhlback
place 1 miles northwest of Mullen for about
30 cents an acre. In 1926 they bought land in
Section 28 and 29, Township 24, Range 33 in
Hooker County. In August of 1926 their son,
Walter's wife, Laura, died and William and
Minnie went to Thompson Falls, Montana to
help Walter care for his six children. In their
absence, the place was rented to Warren and
his wife who became the parents of a
daughter, Margaret, on October 24, 1928.
Later their daughter, Alice and Earl Fairchild
and their children, Marion Warren, and
Earlene lived on the place. While in Montana,
William worked for the Forest Service and he
thoroughly enjoyed the hunting, fishing and
life in the mountains. They returned to their
home near Mullen in 1930 where they
remained until William's death on July 16,
1933. Minnie then made her home with her
daughter, Florence Ericksen, until her death
on April 24, 1940. Both are buried in the
Cedarview Cemetery at Mullen, Nebraska.