 
Butler Co. Nebraska |
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Brief History of Butler Co.
Various indigenous peoples inhabited Nebraska by 8000 BC. In the 1800's semi-sedentary Indian tribes, most notably the Ponca, Omaha, Oto, and Pawnee, lived in eastern and central Nebraska. They lived on the Platte river from before the 16th to the latter part of the 19th century.
They spoke a language of the Caddoan stock, and lived by farming and hunting, raising corn, squash and beans and hunting grazing animals principally the bison. In their permanent villages they lived in large earth-covered lodges, but on bison hunts they used skin tepees (tipis). For hunting, travel and transport they used horses obtained in 1600's and 1700's from the Spanish settlements in the southwest. In the 1800's, the Pawnee tribe was composed of relatively independent bands--the Kitkehahki, Chaui, Pitahauerat and Skidi--each divided into more or less kinship villages with hereditary chiefs and priests. They had a lineage & kinship system (of the Crow style), matrilineal descent and matrilocal residence after marriage, which was contracted for a given couple by their maternal uncles. Class distinctions favored chiefs, priests and medicine men or shamans. The Pawnee religion was elaborate including star symbolism and human captive sacrifice. Pawnee culture was broken by the start of the 1900's and the population reduced to less than 1000. Ref: EB vol 17, 1956 edition, pg 406.
These early Pawnee (view photo) anciently lived on Skull Creek, near the spot where Linwood now stands; there they were frequently pounced upon by their murderous and out-numbering foe, the Sioux, their wick-i-ups demolished and their squaws and papooses strewn around the village, mangled and dead. It is said by the "old men" of the Kittikoraks that not many generations ago the Pawnees were more powerful than the Sioux. Kittikorak's band lived for many years upon the present site of the Savannah, which might have been chosen because it was a watering-place for bison and other game.
EARLY SETTLEMENT AND EARLY SETTLERS
Butler County was named "William Orlando Butler of Kentucky, a military hero during the war with Mexico, who declined to be the first territorial governor of Nebraska," according to a local historian. The county seat, David City, was named for William David [or Mrs. Wm. Miles née David[s], owner of the land where David City was built. Butler County is located in the east-central part of Nebr., lying about fifty-one miles west of the Missouri River. Its northern border is washed by the Great Platte River. It has a climate cool enough for wheat and all northern productions, and sufficiently mild for the growth of fruit, vegetables and coarser cereals of southern localities.
To the southward and eastward lie the beautiful and charming valleys of the Big Blue and the Oak, marked in summer time by a thread-like continuation of green groves and plum thickets, winding in and out and through the treeless plains.
In 1714, Etienne Venyard de Bourgmont (Fr.) reached the mouth of the Platte river; in 1720, Col. Pedro de Villasur (Sp.) and his party were killed by Pawnee along the Platte; and in 1739-40, Peter and Paul Mallet (Fr.) crossed the Platte region from east to west. These adventurers probably did not stop in Butler Co.
Trappers and traders used the Platte river, notably the Robert Stuart party in 1812-1813 going east and the William H. Ashley party in 1824. This water route was used annually into the 1840's. Probably members of the exploring party of Lt. John C. Fremont (1842-44) were the first whites who stepped upon Butler County soil. Missionaries, in 1835 and after, went through to Oregon. Oregon homeseekers started passing this way in 1841. The Mormons came next (1847 and after), on their long, weary and perilous journey to Salt Lake, leaving their foot-prints in the shape of a winding, deeply-beaten roadway, familiarly known to early settlers as the "Old Mormon Trail" (they actually used both sides of the Platte river). California gold seekers came and went through the Platte valley in 1849-50 and Colorado gold seekers passed by in 1859.
In 1858, Solomon B. Garfield and James Blair settled with their families to take up their lonely abodes, and are entitled to the honor of being the first permanent white settlers in the county. As is usual with the pioneers of every new country, they avoided the high ground, preferring to settle along the valleys of the streams, snuggling into the little groves and nooks, under the protection of the hills and bluffs, in the vicinity of the prime necessities of pioneer life, water and wood, each new arrival venturing a little farther up the stream to the next grove or thicket.
An early log cabin, located on the Abram Towner farm, one-half mile south and one mile east of Surprise, built in 1866, was said to be the first building of its kind in Butler Co. and on the first homestead in the county. But log houses were probably built by settlers along the Platte river late in the fifties and early in the sixties.
For a view of pioneer travel in late 1860's, read these two letters from settlers to their folks back home.
Links for history of Butler County and it's inhabitants and settlers.
- Pawnee history
- Native American history [then scroll down or search]
- Very Early NE Exploration
- Pawnee page within Ancestry.com
- Indigenous Peoples' Literature
- Pawnee Culture Info
- Tribes, States and Govt. Agencies
- Bellwood -The First 100 Years
- Cutler/Andreas' 1882 History of Butler Co. chapter
- Early settler name index "Butler Co." 1882 History of Nebr.
- Johnson's History of Butler Co. chapter [at bottom of pg. 217]
- Morton & Watkins History of Nebraska general index has lots of names
- NEGenWeb Online Library [historical]
- NE History links for kids and the young at heart
- Everton's explanation of NE records and brief history
- Butler County Portal modern information
- Hruska
Memorial Public Library Local
map [nice genealogy collection]
399 North 5th Street, David City, NE 68632-1699
Phone: 1-402-367-3100
email: hruskalibrary@alltel.net
Use to request search "genealogy request form" PDF format - Ulysses Township Library
410 C Street, Ulysses, NE 68669
email: ulysseslib@clarks.net (attention Cindy)
Phone: 402-549-2451 - Butler County Historical Society [write or call for hours, schedule]
Opal Zeilinger
200 D Street, David City, NE 68632
Phone: 1-402-367-4734 - Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad Depot
1st and Maple Streets., Dwight, NE 68635 - Rising City Community Library Local
map
675 Main St Rising City, NE
Phone: 1-402-542-2344 - The Platte Valley Kin Seekers
P. O. Box 153
Columbus, NE 68602
Nearby Counties
Queries and Surnames
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Current queries are on Message Board |
Pre 1882
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Pre 1882
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1996-98
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1996-98
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Search Butler Co. files
Use this link to broaden your search to Nebraska Archives or any
other state:
US Search state menu offsite
Community Portal
- 1885 NE Map Atlas Butler Co. link
- Map of Butler Co. in 1996 showing townships and section lines
- Butler Co. map by MapBurst! centered on David City (zoomable) offsite
- Butler Co. map by Tiger Maps centered on county (zoomable) offsite
- USGS Topological Maps for all of USA enter town in any state offsite
- GNIS Cemeteries in Butler Co. with maps & photos offsite
- GNIS Churches in Butler Co. with maps & photos offsite
- Churches of Butler Co.
- Old Schools of Butler Co.
The Past: Names and Families
- Abie brief history & photos offsite
- Bellwood brief history & photos offsite
- Index to Bellwood - The First 100 Years offsite If you have a Bellwood connection, you must see this!
- Bellwood - The First 100 Years offsite
- Bellwood Lots of information
- Brainard offsite
- Bruno brief history & photos offsite
- Bruno Diamond Jubilee 1888-1963 offsite thanks to Margaret Skean
- Bruno (Names in Surname Helper also)
- Brainard brief history & photos offsite
- David City brief history & photos offsite
- David City (Names in Surname Helper also)
- David City Class of 1945
- Dwight brief history & photos offsite
- Garrison brief history & photos offsite
- Linwood brief history & photos offsite
- Linwood
- Linwood Class of 1914
- Loma
- Millerton
- Octavia brief history & photos offsite
- Rising City brief history & photos offsite
- Rising City offsite
- Savannah offsite
- Skull Creek
- Summit brief history & photos offsite
- Surprise brief history & photos offsite
- Ulysses brief history & photos offsite
- Ulysses
- Ulysses HS Alumni Association
The Present
- Butler County Courthouse Offices
- County Clerk (uncertified marriage records $1.00, certified records cost more)
- Recorder of Deeds (some land patents, deeds books; use in office)
- Butler County Cemeteries
- David City and useful current facts offsite
- Watch Yahoo.com find Butler Co. cities offsite
Butler County Resources
- Butler Co. Rootsweb Resources
- Who's Who in Butler Co. Nebr.
- 1854-56 NE Terr. Census offsite
- Butler Co. 1860 Census offsite
- Butler Co. 1869 Census offsite
- Organizations & Lodges
- Wolfe's Farm Directory for 1890-91
- Wolfe's Business Directory for 1890-91
- Abie 1890-91
- Appleton 1890-91
- Bellwood 1890-91
- Brainard 1890-91
- Bruno 1890-91
- Butler Center 1890-91
- David City 1890-91
- Dwight 1890-91
- Garrison 1890-91
- Hennigan 1890-91
- Linwood 1890-91
- Millerton 1890-91
- Nimberg 1890-91
- Octavia 1890-91
- Rising City 1890-91
- Savannah 1890-91
- Skull Creek 1890-91
- Summit 1890-91
- Surprise 1890-91
- Ulysses 1890-91
- Butler Co. Plat Book (names & maps) of 1906
- Butler Co. Farmers Directory (names) of 1918
Butler County Military Veterans
- Veteran's graves
- Spanish American Veterans
- Butler County 1917 War Drafts
- WW I Veterans
- WW II Veterans
- Korean War Veterans
- Vietnam War Veterans
- National Guard
Nebraska Links offsite
- Cyndi's List for Nebraska
- NE Random Acts of Genealogical. Kindness
- Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days,Vols 1-3
- Nebraska & Midwest Genealogical Record
- Memorial & Biographical Record Compendium of Local Biography 1899 [on York Co. NEGenweb site]
- Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska 1912
- Name index for above (Butler and nearby counties)
- Slavery in NE [then scroll down to topic]
- Johnson's History of Nebr.
- Andreas History of Nebr.
- Nebraska Civil War Veterans
- Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
- Nebraska's Official Military Roster
- Oldtime Nebraska
- Index to the 1890 Gazetteer
- Libraries remote link of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Dewey Decimal Numbers [for NE counties]
- USGenWeb Archives [home page]
- NEGenWeb Archives [search page]
- NEGenWeb Resources Center
- NEGenWeb COUNTY UNKNOWN
- NEGenWeb Tombstone Inscription Project
- Genuine Nebraska [the tourism folks]
- Nebraska Soldiers and Sailors Home 1900
- Nebraska Photos (lovely)
- NeGenWeb Photo Project
- Nebraska State Genealogical Society
- Nebraska Genealogical Societies
- Nebraska County Genealogical Societies
- Nebraska & Midwest Genealogical Record by NGS [index of records]
- Another Nebr. History site
- Nebraska State Historical Society
- Nebraska Orphan Trains
- Nebraska Vital Records Information
- Virtual Nebraska [search for towns]
- Nebraska Libraries and Societies [for your favorite hobby]
- Social Studies [the school subject]
- Univ. of Mich. site with Nebraska info
- Internet Resources for Nebraskans--A-Z
Railroads in Nebraska
Politics decided when and where almost every railroad line was set up, where it went, and where it terminated. I do not mean politicians, I mean the "office" type of politics. This method of behind the scenes, smoked filled room, decision making came to an end about 1909-1910.
Initially it cost about 10 cents a mile to ride almost any train in Nebraska, but within a couple of years the price dropped to about 7.5 cents a mile.
Once out of town, the trains could (and did) travel at speeds of about 60 miles an hour.
They could carry about 600 to 700 passengers, and quite often did bring that many into Nebraska from points east on a daily basis.
Read more about it in THE IRONROAD, by John McCoy offsite
Butler County Mailing List
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Butler Co. NE Mailing List |
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- Butler Co. Mailing List (opens in new window)
- Nebraska Mailing List County Menu (You are leaving Butler Co.)
Genealogy Channels offsite
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Family Web Sites
- Samuel Barlean family Steve Barlean
- Darnell & Zimmerman families Barbara Ryan-Baxter
- Joseph Miles Adams-Charlotte Van Nortwick Doug and Peg Adams offsite
- Ferrell family Amy Plowman
- Frahm, Sperlich, Hunsche, Ladwig families Joan Frahm
- Frank Dolezal & Mary L. Kaspar J. Genelle Starbird
- Anton J. Franta & Josephine Jezek J. Genelle Starbird
- Hookstra family Amy Plowman
- James V. Koskan & Anna Janousek family Jerilyn Koskan
- McCoy-Albin John McCoy offsite
- Mahony family Margaret Skean offsite
- Anton Shonka JoAnn Dietman offsite
- Dvorak & Semin Charlene Swan
- Streeter family Amy Plowman
- Thayer family Amy Plowman
- Van Bummel family Jo Lynn Drake
- John Eberhardt Weber family Debbie Poythress-Concepcion
- James & Phoebe West family Dawn Carpenter
- J. Varnum & Etta "Bysie" Papa Wood family Susan Davis
- Woolsey-Wilkerson family Carolyn Wilkerson offsite
- Walden-Edmonds family Keith Walden
- George & Mary J. Lapp Zahler family Paula Zahler Allerdyce
If you want to post your GEDCOM online free, learn about this service by RootsWeb:
WorldConnect GEDCOM (upload/search)
Or, if you already have a personal, genealogy web page which has connections to Butler Co. NE, post a query which lists the web address (URL) of the most appropriate web page. If your genealogy has multiple families with Butler Co. connections, it may be appropriate to post a query for each family. Give the best link and take searchers directly to the family in question.
If your web address (URL) changes, remember to post a correction response to the original message.
Maps and More Maps
- Map of Butler Co. in 1996 showing townships and section lines
- Butler Co. map by MapBurst! centered on David City (zoomable)offsite
- Butler Co. map by Tiger Maps centered on county (zoomable) offsite
- USGS Topological Maps for all of USA enter town in any state offsite
- See Grandpa's farm in Nebraska Search for Nebraska, then look for town offsite
- Site: Evolution of Counties of Nebraska evolution of NE counties 1854-1925 offsite
- Nebraska: USGenWeb Map Project offsite
- Site: Evolution and Naming of Nebraska offsite
- Site: Evolution and Naming of York County offsite
- Enlarged Map: Eastern Nebraska (Territory) Counties in 1854 offsite
- Enlarged Map: Eastern Nebraska (Territory) Counties in 1855 offsite
- Enlarged Map: Nebraska Territory 1861-1863 offsite
- Enlarged Map: Nebraska (Territory) Counties 1865 offsite
- Enlarged Map: Nebraska Territory 1854 offsite
- Enlarged Map: Nebraska 1882 offsite
- 1895 Atlas map of Butler Co. NE offsite
- 1895 US Atlas of State and County maps offsite
- Color Landform Atlas of USA offsite
- Nebr. satellite image offsite
- David City, NE (zoomable) offsite
About the USGenWeb Project
| Origins | In March and April, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy Database Project. The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Kentucky, where collected databases would be stored. In addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if an individual were found in more than one county, that individual could be located in the index. At the same time, volunteers were found who were willing to coordinate the collection of databases and generally oversee the contents of county web pages. Contact the county coordinator or county volunteer shown on any county page if you have a desire to contribute or help. |
| Butler Co. | This Butler Co. NEGenWeb page (plus the other 92 NE county pages) and the NEGenWeb pages are an outgrowth of that original Kentucky project and computer space provided by RootsWeb. |
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Nebraska Coordinators |
If any Nebraska county, in which you are interested, does not have a web page
and/or you wish to participate in some way, please contact the NEGenWeb state coordinators: Connie J. Snyder
& Wm. M. Oliver.
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Genealogy Lookup Links
- Butler Co. Genealogy Society
- NE Genealogy Help List [then scroll down to Butler Co.]
- Posom Genealogy Help List [Lookup links or Volunteer to do lookups]
- NE Random Acts of Gene. Kindness
RootsWeb is developing a national census lookup system in which volunteers by county by decade will be linked to this menu. Presently there are many gaps in coverage as one might expect. But give it a look.
- Dawn Carpenter (dawncarpenter@email.msn.com)
Dawn has a copy of the Bellwood Methodist Church roll and will lookup those names.
Molecular Genetics or DNA in Genealogy
Y-DNA (male, surname) and mtDNA (maternal, mitrochondrial dna) are emerging tools for genealogy. Here are links to Genealogy-DNA-L and other major pages of links for this new field.
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GENEALOGY-DNA-L |
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| Contexo DNA info | Cyndi's List: DNA | Duerinck DNA Portal | Pomery DNA Portal |
Butler County Coordinator
| Contact | Please put "Butler Co., NE" in the subject of your message. |
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| Problems | If a file causes a problem for you or your computer, send me the details including the filename. Please report any problems or broken links, thanks. |
| Gratitude | Thanks to Sue Baker, Carolyn Wilkerson, John McCoy, Ted and Carole Miller and others who built the content of this site!! They have done a tremendous job and deserve our thanks. |
Copyright Notice: All files on this site are copyrighted by their creator. They may be linked to but may not be reproduced on another site without specific permission from their creator. Although public information is not, in and of itself, copyrightable, the format in which it is presented, the notes and comments, etc., are. It is however, permissable to print or save the files for personal use ONLY.
Visitor since 3/17/98, thanks for stopping by!
Revised: 23 Jun 2008
Copyright © 1996-2008, Butler Co. NEGenWeb. All rights reserved.
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