Dubois & Cincinnati

dubois
& Cincinnati

Dubois is a friendly little town southeast of Table Rock. It sprang up as a railroad town when the Rock Island line came through. The railroad is gone but the town lives on, with nicely-mowed yards and tree-lined streets. And it even has a tavern. But that's another story.

We have Dubois pictures and stories peppered in our collection and shared by others. Here are a random few. If you have some to share, you can email them to [email protected] and we will be glad to post.

Murder of the Young Laundress

Most people have heard that there was a lynching in Pawnee City many years ago, but no one knows when or why. There was, indeed, a lynching -- although one newspaper article referred to it tongue-in-cheek as suicide, based on his choice of alternatives -- jump or we'll push you.... Almost no one remembers the victim of crimes. One hears the name Charles Starkweather -- but whose life did he cut short? In the case of the lynching, the young woman in question was from Dubois. From all accounts, she had done nothing but refuse a proposal of marriage. That, and her sudden and violent death, are all that we know. But at least remember her name rather than his: It was Bertha Schultz. You will note that in one variation of the story, the vigilante crowd was supposed to have come from Dubois....

the railroad

photo 1504 -- train 330 at the dubois station

Posted on the Facebook page "Rails of Southeast Nebraska"

photo 2076, train 353 at dubois

Posted at PawneeCountyNebrHistory.com

photo 1503, train 318 at dubois

Posted on the Facebook page Rails of Southeast Nebraska with a comment that it was probably taken in the 1920s

photo 2077, a recommendation to board at the fletcher hotel

ray musil's photo of the dubois band, photo 1271

The photo unretouched, uncropped

The Historical Society had a poor copy but Ray Musil of Dubois shared a good-quality scan of his original, along with some comments.

Ray said when sending the photo, “Ludwig Shin is my grandmother's brother and the Rakosniks are her cousins. There is also a Table Rock connection as the Rakosniks had a sister Bessie that married Bohman Wenzbauer. That would make the Wenzbauer siblings my third cousins.”

Ray added, referring to the note at the top, “ I did find a 160 owned by Rudy Habrich in a past plat book that is now owned by Marc Hunzeker but I never found a Hubka owning it in all of my old plat books." He also noted, "That is Albert Panec. That is Frank Jaros, brother of Amos. And it is Andy Daniel. Another set of brothers on there are the Rakosniks. Albin Hubka had a brother Joe, also a cousin Joe, and there are other Joe Hubkas. Probably his brother on there, but can't be sure.”

Below is the copy of the photo that was in the Argus Museum, as mounted on a card along with a name tag. It was tacked to the wall with hundreds of other pictures. The only difference in names is that one man is identified on the back of Ray's photo as Andy Daniel and on the Historical Society photo as Bowman Daniel. Bowman probably went by Andy....

Photo 4474, ZCBJ Lodge dancers, shared by Steve Staley

photo 1630 -- a stereoptican card of kenner's ford near dubois

A stereoptican

Laura Turnbull of Pawnee City shared this stereoptican card, made by her father Archer King, a local photographer of note, more famous for his then-innovative novelty postcards.

Right side of the stereoptican card

bridge at cincinnati, by archer king

Shared by Laura Turnbull, the photographer's daughter

robert turner

Robert Turner, shared by descendant George Turner. He was one of the four men who came to Nebraska together and became the first settlers in Pawnee County.

Photo taken by a Table Rock Historical Society volunteer who helped move the cabin to Table Rock. It had been built onto and around and was basically within an abandoned house. This is how it looked on arrival at the site.

George Turner in front of cabin built by Robert Turner in 1854. The cabin was donated to the Table Rock Historical Society by Walter & Lena Hecht. The cabin was moved to Table Rock, where it sits as a museum. A number of Dubois items are in the museum.

More about the Turner Cabin Museum

A tiny newspaper clipping at the Turner cabin

a family story from cincinnati - dealing with horse thieves

William Steiner has roots in old Cincinnati, and his father told him the following story, which he shared on the Historical Society's Facebook page in September 2018. He says that Willis Shuey, also with roots in old Cincinnati, related the same story. These oral histories (now called "personal histories" by historians) are important sources of information. In this case, it does not seem to have been written down, making them especially valuable.

The "Lynching" at Cincinnati, Nebraska

In the mid 1800's there was a small village on the Nemaha River by the name of Cincinnati. It was located south of DuBois. The Nemaha was damned up there with a small grist mill operating on the the damned up river. There remains a concrete slab in the river where it once resided.

During that time, it was reported to the citizens of Cincinnati there were two horse thieves coming north from Bern, Kansas. In fact the two did arrive in Cincinnati during winter after the pond was frozen over.

The residents of Cincinnati took them into custody, chopped a hole in the ice and the two were "asked" to take a brief swim through the hole in ice.
The residents were asked about the exact whereabouts of the two and no one could remember but all knew.

Photo 4460, the mill at Cincinnati

memories of cincinnati

Historical Society member Luella Hinrichsen grew up in Dubois. In September 2018, she shared some memories:

My mom always said that Cincinnati Lake was "bottomless" and a family in a covered wagon tried to cross it and just disappeared and were never found. In my mind I thought maybe there was an underground waterway that went to the river.

The lake would get mighty dry at times, but I never did see it ALL dry.

Our school went to the lake and Mabel Ord told us about the mill there, it was dry enough to see the remains of the foundation at that time on the south end.

Photo 4465, last house at Cincinnati

Plat map of the south fork area

Shared by Mike Hendricksen, who said this is from about 1919. The little red squares represent country schools, with the red number being the school district number.

a play at dubois

Photo 6496.

This photo of the play is from Mildred Buethe's Stepan family collection. She says that on the back of the card, this is written:

A Big Drama - took place at the DuBois K of P hall, Feb. 20, 1911.

Photo by Henry R. Rakosnik

First row: Ferdinand Hubka and Frank Jaros

Second row: Mr and Mrs Frank Stepan, Ed Hubka, Agnes Horalek, Bessie Stepan, Blanclhe Hubka, and Rose Mae Stepan (Herink)

Seated : Albin Hubka, Rose L. Stepan (cousin) , Frank Mares, Anna S. Slama, and manager Frank Dobrovolny

The Knights of Pythias, Dubois, in 1944

shared by steve staley

Photo 4456, 1890 Dubois from Steve Staley

Dubois main street looking west. Photo 4463.

Dubois main street looking east. Photo 4463b

Photo 4461, Dubois main street circa 1907-1910

Photo 4459, highway bridge. This was originally labeled on this page as being at old Cincinnati, but one of our Dubois experts, Steve Staley, says that it is not. He says that some who have seen it say it is a road bridge that was about a mile east of Dubois.

Photo 4464, Dubois Fire Department in 1963

Names with the Dubois Fire Department picture

a wedding story

Millie Buethe shared this wedding picture of her parents, Joseph Herink and Rose Stepan. He was from a county west of here, and she was from Dubois. They were married in Pawnee City on October 12, 1912. Their attendants were Amos Hubka, a cousin of Joe's, and Bessie Stepan, who was Rose's sister. Millie says of the wedding:

Photo 6678, shared by Millie Buethe

Amos drove them to the new Pawnee courthouse. The story goes that Rose had her handmade floral bouquet in a box in the car. Before they left, her father, thinking he was helping, took the box out so they would have more room. When they got to Pawnee City they realized they had no flowers for the photos so they had to go to a shop to purchase them. So the flowers in the photo were not hand made.

They had a wedding supper at the bride's home near DuBois consisting of noodle soup, pies, kolaches, and many other goodies, all made by Rose's mother and sisters.

After they ate, everything was cleared away and they danced to accordion music provided by Frank and Henry, Rose's brothers. It was not mentioned in Rose's memoirs but I have a feeling they may have had some beer to drink.

henry stepan & his accordion
taken in 1912
he & brother frank provided the music for their sister rose's wedding

Photo 6680, Henry Stepan shared by Millie Buethe

the stepan home

Stepans: Frank , Bessie, Rose, Mary, and Henry. They moved into this house near Dubois in 1906; the picture is undated. Photo 4647, shared by Rose's daughter Mildred Herink Buethe.

the boston home

This is Photo 7729, and it comes from Richard Boston. It is of the James & Caroline Boston family in front of their home in rural Dubois. The home sat one mile south of Prairie Star Cemetery, where they are buried.

Caroline & James Boston, Photo 7730, shared by Rich Boston. They came here after the Civil War, bringing James' parents with them. James had been wounded in battle, and Carolina had left their children behind to go care for him, and eventually for hundreds of other soldiers. In 1894, they moved to Smith Center, Kansas where they lived out their lives. James received a pension, as a wounded veteran, and Caroline received a pension for her work as a nurse.

Above: Taken in 1911,. Back row: Rose Mach, Fannie Sibl, & Rose Mae Stepan. Front row: Rose Sibl, Emma Dvorak, and Molly Jaros Kunz. All six area girls worked in Pawnee City at the time. Photo 4604, shared by Rose Stepan Herink's daughter Mildred Herink Buethe.

Rose Stepan Herink's country school teacher from near Dubois. No name. Shared by Rose's daughter Mildred Buethe.

Millie Herink Buethe's collection of family photos includes many taken in Dubois. They also include many Dubois people elsewhere for visits and even a camping trips.

See many other Dubois family pictures from Millie