MATHEWS, H. M. AND EDITH (HUNT)

by Violet Kraye

Entry F280 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Harry Mathews - 1943.

Edith Mathews - 1943.

The Harry M. Mathews family moved to
the Sandhills in October 1910 from Alliance,
Nebraska. Harry was a fireman for the
Burlington R.R. and had been transferred
from Grand Island, Nebraska. Early in the
fall of 1910, he and Ollie Winch filed on
kinkaids in south central Cherry County
about 40 miles north of Mullen, Nebraska.

The two families, with all their possessions
loaded in 2 hayracks, each pulled by 4 horses,
went as far as the Floyd Pool ranch the 1st
day. Harry and Ollie had built sod houses on
their places before moving their families.
These places were in the vicinity of the old
Fern Postoffice and store. It was located east
of the present set of the Wolfenden Ranch
buildings and west of the Dan Sears ranch.
The Wolfenden Ranch now own the Mathews
land and the Bill Sherman own the Winch
place. Legal description of the Mathews
kinkaid is or was; N4, N2SE4, SE4SE4 SC.24
R.33 WT 29N and W2NW4 NE4 Sc19 R.32
WT29N.

Harry Mathews was born at Hannibal,
Missouri. While they lived at Kearney,
Nebraska his parents passed away leaving
him with an older half-brother. The brothers
didn't get along and later Harry was picked
up off the street in Grand Island by Grant
Rogers, from Phillips, Nebraska. He worked
as a chore boy for several years for the Rogers
until he went to work for Mr. and Mrs. Bill
Deering who owned a store at Phillips.
February 1904, Harry and Edith Hunt of
Phillips were married at Grand Island. The
early part of their life was spent at Phillips,
Grand Island and Alliance. Their oldest
child, Violet was born at Phillips, their first
son, Arthur was born at Grand Island and
Ruth was only 6 weeks old when they moved
to Cherry County in 1910, Mable and George
were born in Cherry County near Fern Post
Office and Paul was born southwest of
Mullen in Hooker County. They all attended
rural schools and Mullen Public Schools.
They all graduated from the Hooker County
High School.

Ollie and Harry worked away from home
the first winter (1910- 1911) and the women
and children lived together at the Winch
kinkaid. Their sod house was divided into 2
large rooms. One part had a wooden floor and
this is where the family lived. The other half
had a dirt floor covered with hay and the hay
covered by a large rag rug. This was a
bedroom for the women and children. Mrs.
Winch was known as Aunt Aggie to all the
family. The Winch's had no children but
made a home for a niece, Mary McLennan
and 2 nephews. Later Mary filed on some
land a few miles from the Winch place.

In the early spring of 1911, the Mathews
family moved to their own kinkaid east of the
Wolfenden Ranch and on the south side of
the valley. The place had only a few acres of
wet land, some land suitable for farming and
the rest pasture. It had a nice building site
with a good view of the valley. All the
buildings were made of sod. A windmill was
added a year later. At that time most
communities had people living on every
section of land. Some of the Mathews neigh-
bors were the Floyd, Nick, and Clyde Kime
families; Bob Long, Billy Osborn, Jerry
Warden, the Funks, Woods, Kidders, Jewels,
Williams, Frazy, Wolfendens, Palmers, and
Delivers.

People living so far from town had no
market for dairy, garden or poultry products.
Hogs were saleable but had to be hauled 40
miles to market. Most food for the table was
home grown and preserved. Only the basics
such as flour, sugar, salt, etc. were bought.

Harry was handy with machinery and
bought an old grain binder, repaired it and
did some custom grain binding for neighbors
who raised rye. He also hauled for the general
store that Floyd Kime operated along with
the Fern Postoffice. Supplies were hauled
from Mullen with a 4 horse team and wagon.
This trip took 3 days but it was a source of
a few dollars for a living.

Long distances, poor facilities created
many school problems. A three month term
was not unusual. Teachers had to live with
families who had children in school. None of
the older Mathew children ever attended a
nine month term of school until they went to
high school. Their first teacher was Edna
Kime, a sister to Lizzie Wolfenden. Later 2
of their teachers were Carrie Cox and Jessie
Bush. Edith Adamson was Cherry County
Superintendent of schools at that time. She
tried to visit each school once a year. Many
of the teachers married Sandhill men and
continued to live in the hills.

In the spring of 1917, the family moved to
a place about 7 miles southwest of Mullen in
Hooker County. In 1920, Harry and his life
companion, Edith, moved to Mullen with
their family of three sons and three daugh-
ters. He earned his living as an employee in
a local garage. Soon he had the opportunity
to go into business with Theodore Folk. They
acquired the Chevrolet car agency, then went
into the garage and gas business and set up
business in what was to become the Mathews
Chevrolet Company. Folk disposed of his
part of the business in 1924. Harry or
members of his family operated the business
until it was sold in October of 1970. At that
time of his death (January 7, 1956), he was
next to the oldest Chevrolet dealer in Nebras-
ka. Harry was always firm in his dealings with
the general public and business was always
done on a fair equitable basis.

Mrs. Mathews, Edith Mary Hunt, was born
at Phillips February 22, 1886. She was the 6th
child of Millard and Luella Hunt. She was a
devoted wife and mother. Her thoughtfulness
and cheer disposition won her a wide circle
of friends, many of whom she corresponded
regularly. She was a member of the Mullen
Episcopal Church until the time of her death
January 28, 1946. Her husband Harry, passed
away January 7, 1956. They were both buried
in the Hunt Family plot in the Phillips
Cemetery.