CRAIN - HENRY FAMILY

by Ruby Crain Simonson

Entry F98 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Walter S. and Mable (Henry) Crain - wedding picture, April 12, 1917.

Walter S. Crain, oldest son of Squire and
Martha (Duke) Crain was the sedond child to
be born Hooker County. He was born in
a dugout July 14, 1888. His folks came here
from Crawfordville, Indiana and lived in a
dugout until they were able to build a sod
house. They had to go to Anselmo for their
mail and supplies. Later they moved to the
place where Mick Harding now lives.

Walter always told that he went to school
for eight years - but just went when all the
work was done in the fall and had to quit in
the early spring to help. He was the only boy
in the family and had three younger sisters:
Clara (Crain) Adams, Lillie (Crain) Lowe,
and Pearl (Crain) Harding. When he was
eleven or twelve years old, he helped trail
sheep from Elsie, NE, to the home place
southwest of Mullen. His dad told that their
first shipment of cattle to the Omaha market
brought a return of three cents a pound.

Walter was on the place with his father
until he and his brother-in-law Berlin Adams,
bought a ranch on the Dismal River where
Charles Munn now lives. A few months before
he was married, he sold his share of the ranch
to Berlin.

On April 12, 1917, he married Mable
Henry, daughter of Joseph and Emma (Rus-
sell) Henry of Omaha, Nebraska. They were
married in her parents home. Mable had two
older sisters, Maude and Blanche and two
brothers, Frank and Ralph, younger. She
received her education in Omaha and was an
employee of the Omaha Daily News and the
Cleveland Drug House as a stenographer and
bookkeeper.

In 1915 she came to Mullen as a bookkeep-
er for the J.H. Morrison General Store and
was married to Walter. After a wedding trip
to Montana, they stayed at his parents ranch
while his mother went to Omaha to have a leg
amputated. A milk cow had kicked her and
caused the leg injury.

Later they moved to the place ten miles
southwest of Mullen which Fred Kraye now
owns. Here four children were born, Ralph
Walter in 1919 who only lived six weeks. In
1921 twins (Claude and Ruby) were born and
in 1926 Gay Donald was born and died at
birth.

While on the ranch every summer many of
the nieces and nephews from Omaha and
Sioux City came to spend their vacations. At
one time they took a little neighbor boy,
whose folks were having a rough time, and
sent him to school for a couple of years. All
neighbors, friends, and travelers were always
welcome at the Crain ranch. There was
always a big garden and plenty to eat.

They continued ranching until 1942 when
they moved to the place east of town where
Sam Simonson now lives. They ran a dairy for
several years before retirement in 1953.

Their daughter, Ruby, married Jim Simon-
son in 1942. She and Alan stayed with her
folks while Jim was in World War II. Their
son Claude married Kathryn Kostos in 1945.
Claude and Kathryn had no children and
Ruby and Jim had five. The grandchildren
Alan, Sam, Linda, James, and Tim became
a very important part of Walter and Mabel's
later life.

Mable was an active member of the Order
of the Eastern Star, United Methodist
Church, and the Women's Society of Chris-
tian Service. Walter was a 59-year member of
the Mullen Lodge #282 AF and AM.

Mable died at the age of 72 on June 9, 1960.
Claude died March, 1961 at the age of 40.

After Mable died Walter kept active and
enjoyed going to the bowling alley to visit and
drink coffee. He also went to most of the
school functions, as long as he was able. He
spent his last five year in a trailer home in
Ruby and Jim's yard.

Walter died November 29, 1975, at the age
of 87. He and Mable are buried in Cedarview
Cemetery in Mullen.