editor's choice of pictures
There is no rhyme or reason. These are just pictures that the website editor likes a lot. Photos are added from time to time.
Photo 6902 - anna Hanna in her kitchen with a friend
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Anna Hubka Hanna, left, and Tillie Rademacher, circa 1959. Tillie's daughter was married to Anna's son Eddie.
Note the old kitchen clock (surely a family heirloom), flowered wallpaper, clear plastic protecting the wallpaper, flowered curtains that were probably thin plastic as was not uncommon then, the bare lightbulb, the beautiful old chairs (perhaps Anna's since marriage). |
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photo 3703 -- waiters for a ladies tea?
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Who are they and what are they doing? Dunno, but it looks like fun. This is one of Gary Frank's family photos.
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photo 6577 -- a picture of the founder of table rock when very young
Yes, this is Charles Woodbury Giddings, who founded Table Rock when he was in his late 50s. This image was shared by descendant Betty Ann Wilkins. Giddings was a Methodist Circuit Rider for the Wyoming Conference of the church for many years, living in Pennsylvania and traveling all over western Pennsylvania and into New York. He is remembered here in Table Rock as the stern Elder Giddings, but Betty shared a family snippet that he was a bit of a nerd in his youth, a little accident prone. One would think from looking at this picture that he might have gone by Charlie instead of C. W.!
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Photo 2039 -- same fellow but older.
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Photo 838, Lena zelenka Mertes, Emma Rabstejnek, & Minnie Hubka, honored at a Mothers Tea
These three ladies are well-remembered by many.
Joy Vrtiska Robison remembers:
Joy Vrtiska Robison remembers:
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Minnie Hubka lived next door to my grandparents, J.C. & Dorothy Layden for many years. I remember her as a sweet, huggable lady that baked delicious goodies. Loved to visit with her...like a second grandma. |
Joyce Wopata Newton added to Joy's comments:
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Went there many times with Grandma Tenk-- wow those ladies could talk |
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In Czech, too! Loved to listen. |
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Emma Wopata Rabstejnek was my great Aunt on Dads side; a sister to grandpa Albert Wopata. Minnie Hubka was a sister-in-law to Grandma Tenk-- love this picture. |
photo 2005: kids & hay stacks
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John Duder shared this picture.
Hay stacks were not for sissies! Was it an art or a craft to be able to build them this high and solid? It was said proudly of that generation of farmers that they could put a point on a hay stack that would split a raindrop. We don't know the names of the girls on the haystack by the wagon, the boy at the base at the top -- or the boys on the very top. We do know that Lloyd Vrtiska, who died in 2017 at the age of 90, fell off a haystack like this -- perhaps even bigger -- when he was a kid breaking a hip. He was in the hospital in Lincoln for an entire year. Anyway, I like this view of farm life. And the little girl on top looks like she has a bow in her hair! |
Making hay stacks at Henry Hays farm. This is how they were made -- observe the pole, which rotated the hay grappler from wagon to stack and back again.
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Photo 1770: in 1928, the ladies aide society of the christian church
This is the Ladies Aide Group of the Christian Church in about 1928. It was shared by Brad Bowen. Lillian Bessie Herrick Covault (his grandmother) is at the far right. The names of all in this picture: ___Covault & Jean, Cora Jensen, Essie Wright & Pearl, Mary Gilbert & Dwain, Laura Day & Marian, Carrie Johnson & Donald, _______, & Bessie Covault In front: Bernice Johnson, Dorothy Johnson, Lillian Covault. Photo 1770.
the flag of a fallen civil war soldier is delivered
to eagle scout trent plager for safekeeping
In preparation for military Funeral Honors at the ceremony by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to dedicate the new military headstone of William McNeal, two soldiers brought the flag to be presented to the family. Eagle Scout Trent Plager accepted it on behalf of the descendants of McNeal and pledged to keep it safe until such time as it would be presented. William McNeal was a young man of Table Rock who died in the Civil War. His remains were never recovered and his memory lost until only recently. The exchange took place at the base of the Civil War statue in the northeast quarter of the Table Rock Cemetery. which commemorates those who lay in unknown graves -- such as William McNeal. Plager belongs to Troop 387 of Humboldt.
photo 3501 - the Lincoln hotel block
In this postcard donated by Sherry Sitzman Winkinhofer, you can see all four of the buildings that originally comprised the Lincoln Hotel Block -- the hotel, theater, retail store, and -- on the south side of the hotel -- a garage repair facility.
the family car -- the fencl family, Photo 335
No names, but this is front and center on page 1 of a photo album by Lou Fencl. Out for a spin, with this Bohemian dad displaying a jaunty hat, a cigar, and a bottle of.....root...beer.
photo 79. Oops! 1908.
Photo 79 shows the aftermath of a bad day. A very bad day.
Historical Society member Luella Hinrichsen found the newspaper article with the explanation:
Table Rock Argus, Oct. 8, 1908. Last Tuesday morning while at work around the engines in the round house, Foreman J. A. Barnes met with quite an accident. He had built a fire in No. 119's engine and had gone over to the next stall to do some work on the switch engine; he had not worked very long when he noticed the other engine was in motion. He tried to stop the runaway but before he could gain the cab entrance the monster had started through the back end of the round house, and before John could get out of the way, he was caught by some of the falling timbers and pinned to the ground. Fortunately all the large pieces missed him and he only sustained a few bruises which laid him up for a few days. All of the engine left the track through the rear end completely caving it in and miring in the mud so that it took three engines to pull it back on the track. |
photo 3502 -- the brickyard and environ in startling detail
The brickyard breathed its last in the early 1930s and here it sits in the earlier days of abandonment. There is the bridge to the yard. A large white house in the foreground -- built when, for whom, for what purpose? The lovely Snabl farm on the hill in the distance, where lived the parents of Bessie Snable Rexroth and Mary Snabl Sturgeon. The famous "continuous kiln," the round building, within which bricks were turned out by the millions in the hey day years.
Photo 558 - 1887 gathering of civil war vets at sam barnard's orchard
We have a couple of originals of the same picture. This one, with "Civil War Vets" written across the top, was in the better shape; Delores McCourtney Penkava shared it. Hankering to get a closer look? Follow this link:
photo 3023 - from dave leichtman
Photos of Civil War vets being rare, we thought Photo 558 was special. The date of 1887 was anecdotal. Then, in a search for stories about the Kern family, descendant Dave Leichtman produced this stunning photo. There are some variations here. The man with the top hat is not in this copy, for example. There is a man with a kepi here, but not the same one that wore a kepi in the other photo. Why? Dunno. But it is a neat picture.
photo 3002, nancy taylor, twice a civil war widow
Mary Kerns became a young married lady at age 21. That was in 1860. She and her husband Decatur Wymans had two children. In 1862, he was killed in battle. She married his brother, also a soldier, and they had a child, and two years after the war he succumbed to injuries suffered in the war. She came to Table Rock with her children and her extended family in 1867. Five years later, she married John Taylor. She and John were the grandparents of a popular Table Rock teacher, Alice Taylor Covault.
11 boys spiffied up...and a dog
Photo 1866, don't you just love these little boys! And the picture came with names. But, oops -- the names are one short, and we can't figure out who is missing.
This is from a photo album of Margaret Muscheites Hunt, shared by her daughter, Historical Society member Terry Hunt Korell. Margaret wrote below the photo: Marvin Horton, Charles Norris, Delmar Covault, Dwight “Tweeter” Bonham, Howard Bedea, Leonard Mertes, Junior Muscheites, Marion Bonham, Harold Kubick, and Lavon Heuke, with a dog.
Do you know for sure which is which? Please tell me at [email protected].
This is from a photo album of Margaret Muscheites Hunt, shared by her daughter, Historical Society member Terry Hunt Korell. Margaret wrote below the photo: Marvin Horton, Charles Norris, Delmar Covault, Dwight “Tweeter” Bonham, Howard Bedea, Leonard Mertes, Junior Muscheites, Marion Bonham, Harold Kubick, and Lavon Heuke, with a dog.
Do you know for sure which is which? Please tell me at [email protected].
charles & hazel cook wedding
This Circa 1912 wedding picture is taken in front of the newly-remodeled M. E. Church (now the Methodist Church, and white) at the northwest corner of the Square. That's the groom on the little donkey, and the bride standing in the car. I wonder whether the chap holding the sign "No wedding bells for me" ever did marry.... Hazel Wiar Cook, by the way, was the sister of Addie Wilcox and Minnie McNeely of Table Rock.
uncle george purcell smoking a pipe
The Purcells were an early pioneer family. This is Photo 1810 and came from a niece, Margaret Hunt; the niece's daughter, Historical Society member Terry Hunt Korell, shared it. The man with the pipe is Margaret's Uncle George Purcell, and then there is Aunt Sissie Engberry (her name was Mary Jane), Orie Crisler (Aunt Maggie’s husband), and Aunt Maggie Engberry Crisler. Terry's mother wrote on the back of the photo
Uncle George was a real kick – quite a character! He had twinklng blue eyes which sparkled with mischief and – when I knew him – snow white curly hair and mustache. Never without his pipe. In his youth, he loved to fight and play practical jokes. Got in a fight with a man about a presidential election. (George was a Republican) . His opponent bit his little finger off! Uncle George won the fight in spite of it all and nearly killed the man. Uncle George fell in love with a girl but she married another – so George never married!"
photo 3503 -- the old brick school
Of all the many pictures of the school built in 1902, this one shows the most architectural detail. Apparently there was a third entrance like these two, and each was slightly different. The third entrance was on the north side and eliminated when the "new" gym was added in about 1932-1933. And in this photo you can see the sloping roof of that structure on the south side. This is the only picture I've seen that gives you a point of reference like this. The picture is a sad one. The building looks beautiful, but there are no students, no teachers, none of the bursting vitality of humanity that make it sparkle in other pictures.
photo 3460 - lovely game, croquet!
This was taken at the Norris House, the two-story brick house at the northeast corner of the Square. These are grandchildren of Chauncey and Fannie Norris. The little girl who is 2nd from left is Helen Martin, who was born in 1919; the picture was taken when she was about 10. 98-year-old Helen and her daughters Betty Ann Wilkins and Celia Siemkin shared this picture with us in 2017. I love the dresses and the Mary Jane shoes, the little boy's suit, the clear clean window glass.
train 1093 with peggy glenn
This is Photo 149. I like it for so many reasons -- the view of the old coal chute, the lay of the tracks, the beautiful engine, and the men. On the back are the names of four of the men: George Allan, Rufus Mapes, Nate Myers, Peggy Glenn. The problem is that there are SIX men in the photo. So which is which? I like to ask people, "And so which one is Peggy Glenn?" Most spend quite a bit of time searching the picture to figure that out, but the astute get it right off. Hint: it's not a matter of who appears effiminate.
a view from the water tower a few weeks before the attack on pearl harbor
Photo 2304, by Arvid Blecha, taken from the water tower in November 1941. Each of the other pictures that Arvid took from the water tower are almost as stunning, but this is my favorite, for the light, the people standing on the corner, the view of the roofs, and the storefronts.
emma tomek hanging clothes
Photo 1030. Edward Tomek got himself a camera while he was in the service, and when he came home in 1954 he started snapping pictures right and left, including this one of his mom at the clothesline. Edward says she was not pleased! But it's a great picture, just a farm wife on wash day, hanging clothes on a line supported by tree posts, in a mowed yard, with some flowers past the sparkling white sheets.
addie wilcox with her feet up
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This is not "Grandmother" Wilcox, nor is she frail enough to be called "Granny" Wilcox. This is one full-steam-ahead get'r done GRANDMA! She has probably baked 12 dozen cookies or cinnamon rolls or pies and rustled up breakfast, dinner, and supper in between. But she will have her feet up for like....five minutes? Seldom have I seen a picture with so much personality!
Granddaughter Carrie Wilcox Farset shared this. Carrie is the daughter of Addie's son Lyle. There's no date. Addie died in 1986 at the age of 94. 
Addie's high school graduation picture. Class of 1911! Excerpt of Photo 46.
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gordon auctions off a married couple
Just kidding about the auction. I have no idea what he is saying or doing, but here is a young, ebullient Gordon Bethel along with Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mertes -- her name was Mary! They are at the railroad bridge north of Table Rock, but why! There they stand in their Sunday best, the clear focused rails and Gordon's spiffy shiny shoes fight to dominate the picture. It might not be the best quality, but it is one of the most intriguing pictures I've seen. Love it. Photo 3107, shared by Bob & Jeanne Bethel.
may & gardy anderson x 2
May & Vic Anderson were married. Gardy was Vic's brother. Vic buried May and Gardy together in the Table Rock Cemetery and then disappeared from the pages of history. According to Gardy's obituary, May was like a mother to Gardy, who lived with her and Vic for many years. Delores Penkava recalls being told that Gardy's wife died in a circus accident; "she threw knives." Gardy's obituary doesn't mention a wife let alone the circus or knives, but yet here is photographic evidence that they were definitely involved in the entertainment business.
There are two wonderful pictures with May & Gardy in them, the first with Vic in a sharpshooting act. May is magnificent, Mata Hari with a rifle.
There are two wonderful pictures with May & Gardy in them, the first with Vic in a sharpshooting act. May is magnificent, Mata Hari with a rifle.
May Anderson with her husband Vic (far right) and brother-in-law Gardy with the target on his head. Photo 95.
Watching an eclipse of the sun while eating watermelon.
May Anderson is on the left and Gardy is on the far right. May looks a bit different in her regular duds! This is a family photo of Historical Society member Richard Binder. The little boy is Richard's father Howard, the man in the middle is Richard's grandfather Wes, and the little girl is Howard's sister Lois Mae.
just four guys
Four friends, that's all, four friends. Photo 29: John Tomek, Jess Vondrasek, and Rudy & Joe Wopata
house on a bridge
Photo 583. I like this picture because houses don't belong on bridges, and because I know the little blonde girl on the left, standing on a plank in the foreground. It's Delores McCourtney Penkava. Her grandpa, Charlie McCourtney of Table Rock, and his son Bruce (Delores's dad) moved things. Houses, barns, churches, chicken coops, even a grain elevator. They used steam engines, which went about 3 miles an hour, according to Delores, who was often pressed into service in her high school days. This photo was taken in 1935. Charlie built a bridge across the Nemaha just for the house because there was no other practical route. Folks from town came out to watch them building the bridge. They wanted to see him moving the house across but as the afternoon waned he told them he wouldn't be moving it until morning. The next day a disappointed crowd discovered he had moved it the evening before. He hadn't wanted people getting in the way.
delores in a grass skirt
Photo 2429. Not long after World War II, someone returning from the Pacific brought Delores McCourtney a gift. She is modest. "Oh, don't look at that one!" she said in 2015 as I looked at the pictures spread out on her kitchen table. But when I picked it up and smiled, she smiled, too. She didn't object when I put it with the pictures to scan. Delores almost 70 years ago. You may recognize her as the little girl on the house bridge.
dolores with an accordian
Photo 1717. "Oh, oh!" It is Dolores, double 0, not Delores! Dolores Karas Sochor is from a musical family. Here is little Dolores, on the left. With her: Grandpa Frank Karas, dad Edd Karas, and her sister Donna Karas Nemechek. Later, in 1943, Dolores and Donna tied for the votes for Prettiest Girl at Table Rock High School, according the extensive results of a contest reported in the school newspaper, the Echo.
a revelation
Table Rock? No! But wait! Yes! These are stores on the south side of the Square. Mud street, board side walks. There on the far right sits a spiffy frame building where the Argus Newspaper Museum now stands; the building housing the museum was constructed in 1894. And next door to it? The building now housing Sochor Electric, where most mornings Joe (husband of one of the prettiest girls in school in 1943) still goes to tinker on one project or another. Had the photographer told the owner of Joe's building been told about electricity coming to his building, what would he have thought? This part of the business district was built up considerably. A later picture in 1916 shows one or two of the buildings down the street in this picture as ancient store fronts surrounded by fabulous buildings like Willis Fellers' merchantile store. Now Joe's building is the only one left alive.
inside a home
Photo 666. I love this photo for the questions it raises. Whose home is this? Who are these people and why are they gathered at this resplendent table with a starched table cloth (you can tell by how it drapes on the far left). The only person identified on the photo is the vague shadowed Lawrence Griffing on the far right of the back row. Who is the woman in the picture in the background and why is it draped as it is? Who is the woman on the far right? A fancy framed portrait of her (and one of her husband) hangs over the main door in the opera house. Who is the second woman from the right? She appears in several other interesting photographs, including one in a portrait in which a soldier's hat lays on the floor in the foreground, seeming as a symbol of his absence. Is that her husband on her left in this picture? Is he to be gone before many more years pass?
the hat on the floor
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Here sits the woman from the feast above, with a little girl in a pinafore....and no husband. The hat on the floor, does it belong to the man behind her shoulder in the picture above? It looks to be from the Spanish-American war, but might also be a doughboy's hat. Is he dead, then? The poignant mood endears one to the scene.
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mom & daughter, circa 1860s
Lydia Koontz Allison and her daughter Julia, who was born in 1855. This is a digital copy of a family photo, shared by Marilyn Smith, whose husband is a Chambers descendant. Julia married C.W. Chambers. She died at age 19, in 1874.
clay
When clay was taken out of the Norris pasture. Clay for one of Table Rock's two brick factories, but which. And when? Both brick factories were probably built on the cusp of 1890. It appears that the work here was well along. Is this the first place they dug? It is a startling picture of industry given the quiet little village of 2015.
the very first school band, 1929
the postcards of archer king
Around 1908, professional photographer Archie King had studios in Table Rock and in Stella. He gave a whack at a new genre, novelty postcards. This is one of a number of known postcards, shared by his daughter Laura Turnbull of Pawnee City, where he moved after The War. This kind of product required tedious cut-and-paste work and a great eye for proportion. Laura says that her dad's models were Table Rock people, but she doesn't know who. Is that your great great grandpa driving the team?
"m. h." and son
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Photo 2204. Milton H. Marble and his son Harmon. My bet is that they are near the front window of the Marble Hotel, now occupied by Laun Dental. "M. H." as he was called by his neighbors, came here in 1870 and was over 100 years old when he died in 1940. While the faces of the subjects are not well focused, the details of their shirts and suits are impeccable. And I love the light that washes over them. Thank you to descendant Jon Woods for this photo.
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M. H. Marble as a young man, photo also shared by Jon Woods.
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a lovely place for supper
Which cafe or restaurant is this? I don't know. But I want to try one of those desserts on a winter night as I sit at a table spread with a white cloth and feel the warmth of that stove, probably coal fed.
a lovely place for a picnic
In 1929, the Class of 1932 has a picnic on the Nemaha in this photo by Mary Snabl Sturgeon,Class of 1932. Photo 801.
nick goodenkauf at the depot
Photo 953. At the Table rock depot, the first of three. This one was built in 1871 to greet the first trains. The only man whose identity has survived is the man annotated "2." That is Nick Goodenkauf. He was born in 1854. If you can gauge his age, you can gauge the age of this photo. But keep this in mind: this first depot burned down in about 1893.
a boy from the orphan train
Photo 1814. Margaret Hunt wrote of this picture taken a few miles north of Table Rock:
“Great Uncle Jack Purcell took this orphan from New York who came out west on an orphan train to raise. The little boy’s name was Emory and, as Uncle Jack found out, he was ornery.
Jack was too soft-hearted to punish him and Emory hated the farm.
During one of his tantrums, Emory threatened to kill himself. Grandpa Jimmy (James H. Purcell) said, “So you want to kill yourself.”
Emory answered with an emphatic “Yes.”
“So how did you figure to do that?”
Again with feeling: “I’m going to hang myself.”
“Well then, let me help you.” Grandpa went out and found a rope, tied a noose in it, and placed it over Emory’s head. Grandpa had palsy, which caused his hands to shake, and as he shook the noose got tighter and tighter until Emory actually feared for his life and admitted he wasn’t real sure he wanted to die after all.
In the end, Uncle Jack despaired of ever being able to tame Emory. He was sent back to New York City where he eventually became a policeman. He kept in touch with the family all throughout his life.”
Purcell descendant Terry Hunt Korell shared this picture of Emory watching a train go by. It's a neat story, but with the story....ahhhh, with the story!
memorial day
Another photo from Edward Tomek's camera, circa 1954 or 1955. I say "from" his camera rather than "taken by" him, because he is in the picture. He was newly-arrived home from the service. Look for the Marine. The Civil War statue was dedicated in 1903. The stone that can partially be seen on the left is the tombstone of Peter Stevens, a Union Civil War veteran who was in the 2nd Nebraska Cavalry. One of those glorious band uniforms is in the Veterans Museum, in a section devoted to the high school.
the ladies in snow white
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Photo 1275. In 1912, a group of ladies in white dresses -- except for one in black with a dainty handbag. Didn't she get the memo?
Only one woman is identified: "Lydia K. Andrew, 1st row, left side." Lydia is probably not the woman in black. Comparing another photo of her, she is likely the dark-haired woman to the right of the table; she was 38 years old. Lydia & her husband Dann lived here from 1894 to 1924, and in the 1940s returned to be buried in the Table Rock Cemetery. What are these ladies doing? A couple hold pitchers, another a dish towel, and the table is strewn with things above and below. Looks like they've served a picnic, or there was an ice cream social. Lydia and Dann were Methodists. Perhaps it was something to celebrate the remodeling of the church. |
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ladies in snow white, with a ..... ram? what th....?
For years, we wondered what these ladies were doing. Had they kidnapped the Navy goat before the Army-Navy football game? Oh wait, football probably hadn't been invented yet. Was it an Eastern Star ritual? What was going to happen to that goat? There was no one left to ask. Then a chance scan of an edition of the Argus revealed that these are the ladies of an organization called the Degree of Honor posing after having won a prize in the parade. The Degree of Honor was the ladies auxiliary to a fraternal organization of railroad men. The article does not explain the goat, but Historical Society member Larry Layden did some perusing and found that in those days goat was a derogatory term for someone who took advantage of the good works of a union or organization without paying dues. So it looks like the ladies took a goat in hand.
the fencl family
Photo 643. One of a number of great pictures of Czech farm families, this is of the Frank and Celestina Fencl family. Charles, Albert, Harry, Celestina, Agnes, Frank, Barbara, Will, Bertha, Emma, Rosie, and Mary. Thank you to Fran Blecha for sharing this.
1915 flood of taylor branch
From well upstream, Taylor Branch was full of ox bows, notorious for inviting flooding. In this 1915 picture, two men sit on the bridge, oblivious to danger. This is a hair raiser for the editor, who did not see this picture before she moved back to Table Rock on Christmas 2013, to live in the second house from the camera. It is the dark one, and the family home since 1963.
Those two houses also mark the approximate location where the first of three horse thieves were hung during the Civil War. In an 1893 newspaper series about the hangings, it was said that Jim Riley was hung in a grove by the town bridge near where Henry Cooper lives "now," i.e., 1893. In 1893, the lots on which those first two houses sit were the ones owned by Phebe and Henry Cooper. Jim Riley was hung on Christmas Eve, 1864. His ghost did not appear on the 150th anniversary, in 2014. No flood, no ghosts, check. Table Rock is still a good place to live.
Those two houses also mark the approximate location where the first of three horse thieves were hung during the Civil War. In an 1893 newspaper series about the hangings, it was said that Jim Riley was hung in a grove by the town bridge near where Henry Cooper lives "now," i.e., 1893. In 1893, the lots on which those first two houses sit were the ones owned by Phebe and Henry Cooper. Jim Riley was hung on Christmas Eve, 1864. His ghost did not appear on the 150th anniversary, in 2014. No flood, no ghosts, check. Table Rock is still a good place to live.
daddy and daughter
Another lovely photo by Edward Tomek, about 1956. Mervin Willet with his little daughter Kaye, who would grow up to be sweet, smart, a wonderful musician, and the Homecoming Queen for the Class of 1972.
the museum of st. john's catholic church by candle light
Before the annual candle lighting memorial ceremony in memory of loved ones, Nick Sitzman snapped the museum lit only by candles. The church was built in 1877. If mass was ever said after dark in the earliest years, it would have been by candle or lantern light like this.
a table rock girl mingles with movie stars
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This photo was taken during Martha Groves McKelvie's 1918 trip to Hollywood. Harold Lockwood was one of the most popular of the matinee idols of the day, and he was not the only one with whom the glamorous young lady posed. One might suppose that it was she, not he, who was the matinee idol.
It is not clear when or for how long, but Martha Groves McKelvie was said to have lived in Table Rock as a child. Early on, she married Sam McKelvie, who was on his way to becoming Governor of Nebraska. Their first child, Dorothy, died when a baby and is buried in the northwest quarter of the cemetery with members of the extended family. Martha -- or Flossie as she was often called -- returned to Table Rock from time to time, and kept in touch with her aunt and uncle, Willis and Anna Groves Fellers, both merchants. This photo was found in the photo collection of Willis's second wife, Ellen, who Willis married after Anna died. |
Photo 1330, Flossie in Table Rock as a girl.
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steam trains in motion
I am told that it is rare to see a photo of a steam engine in motion. We have a few in our collection, including this one, taken north of Table Rock. The bridge pilings are still there. A second bridge was built in the same place, on pilings that followed the same path; they are just taller so that the new bridge stretched above the old. The second bridge is long gone, too. Now it is a modern crossing that the engineers probably don't even notice.
Below is another photo of a steam engine in motion. This photo was taken from the new viaduct by Arvid Blecha in January 1942. What a beautiful photo! Arvid is remembered as loving trains and taking pictures of them all his life. Photo 2316.
Below is another photo of a steam engine in motion. This photo was taken from the new viaduct by Arvid Blecha in January 1942. What a beautiful photo! Arvid is remembered as loving trains and taking pictures of them all his life. Photo 2316.
at one of the indian caves
Photo 151, at the Indian Caves in the Goat Hill area. Remember the sad lady with the hat on the floor? The one sitting at the banquet table with the dashing man? Here she is again, with her daughter a small girl. It is pretty rough going out there now, with the underbrush having taken over. The elegant, carefully pressed skirts and dresses of these three women would not wear well. They make for a very pretty picture that, with the changes of the area, can never be repeated.
a boy, a horse, and dogs
Photo 1867, Fred (Junior) Muscheites (1918-2008) on horse named Pet with Laddie & Towser. This picture was shared by Terry Hunt Korell, who wrote, "This was Uncle Fred's favorite picture." Fred and his wife-to-be, "B" Barnard, were in the Class of 1935.
they arrived in 1870 -- m. h. marble and wife maria, age 26. she was to die at 28.
Here are Maria and Milton ("M. H.") Marble, Maria was M. H.'s first wife. They were married in 1865, and these photos are likely their wedding pictures; she would have been 21, he 26. They came to Table Rock in 1870 when she was 26. She died two years later. They had six children in the seven years of their marriage. This photo is a family photo shared by Historical Society member Jon Woods.
george & clara cooper lane
George & Clara while raising their children. Photo 294.
He has suspenders and she has a loose house dress. They know how to be comfortable. But also busy -- look at that yard! I like this picture because of the personality they exude but also because of a story that goes with it.
On their 54th anniversary, an article in the Argus said,
"On July 3, 1870, a wedding ceremony was performed which united the loves of two Table Rock young people. So tightly was the knot tied that all the storm and stress of the intervening years have not been able to break it, and the husband and wife are living together today in contented and happy old age in Table Rock.
The contracting parties to this wedding of fifty-four years ago were George M. Lane and Miss Clara Cooper, popular young people of this community, and members of prominent pioneer families of the community.
George had a fine team of horses, but no buggy, and so he went to C. H. Norris, who owned the only buggy then in Table Rock, hitched his own horses to it and in pride and happiness the young couple took their honeymoon trip....
This picture of the old folks is Photo 1806, shared by Terry Hunt Korell. (George died after their 55th anniversary.)
On their 54th anniversary, an article in the Argus said,
"On July 3, 1870, a wedding ceremony was performed which united the loves of two Table Rock young people. So tightly was the knot tied that all the storm and stress of the intervening years have not been able to break it, and the husband and wife are living together today in contented and happy old age in Table Rock.
The contracting parties to this wedding of fifty-four years ago were George M. Lane and Miss Clara Cooper, popular young people of this community, and members of prominent pioneer families of the community.
George had a fine team of horses, but no buggy, and so he went to C. H. Norris, who owned the only buggy then in Table Rock, hitched his own horses to it and in pride and happiness the young couple took their honeymoon trip....
This picture of the old folks is Photo 1806, shared by Terry Hunt Korell. (George died after their 55th anniversary.)
lovely, lovely women, girls, and babies
Photo 1837, Della Purcell McCoy (1872-1947) and her daughters Ruth and Stella. Della's husband ran off with another woman, and she raised the girls herself. For many years, she was a telephone operator, working at both Table Rock and Dubois over time. Here she is at about age 35.
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Julia and Tille Strejc, Photo 1834. They were good friends of Ruth McCoy (the girl on the left). Ruth McCoy Muscheites wrote with this picture:
Rode to school with them from the country. This picture was shared by Historical Society member Terry Hunt Korell, who is Ruth's granddaughter.
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Photo 328, no names. Some have suggested that the girl holding the baby looks like Tillie Strejc. I wish we knew. This is an exquisitely lovely pair.
In 1908, Mable Goodale Barnard, Photo 1885, shared by Terry Hunt Korell.
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Photo 2411, Clara Martin McCourtney, first wife of Charlie McCourtney. Born in 1869, she was 23 when she married Charlie in 1892; perhaps this is her wedding portrait. She died of cancer in 1903, at age 34. They had four children together before she died. Shared by Delores McCourtney Penkava, Charlie's granddaughter.
If you want to read poignant, heart-wrenching stories, read this:
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born in table rock
Darn if the family of the ebullient and feisty Minerva Mehuron didn't move away when she was very young. It would have been fun following her life! This picture was not taken in Table Rock -- but she was born here, so we'll claim her! Minerva was born in Table Rock in 1883, died in Texas in 1959; it was shared on Ancestry by "mljonestx66." Some trusty historical society members, including Larry Layden & Kim Vrtiska, scrutinized the picture and concluded that she was working as a wallpaper hanger -- she has large shears in the pocket of her trousers, and a wallpaper brush at her waist. And what a smile! It doesn't take much to see that twinkle in her eye, either! But the colorized blue shoes? No idea!!!! There must be a story there, but we'll probably never know it.
girl or boy? but dad is a carpenter.
Photo 326 -- no name or date. Is it a little boy wearing dad's shirt and coat? Or is it a little girl with a dress on under the coat? Dunno, but love the picture!
an outburst of joy
One fine day, a family picture was illuminated by an outburst of joy. You can look at a closeup of the family group, but you nened to scan down the whole picture to get a feeling of that day in Table Rock, Nebraska in the 1930s.
The older dark-haired girl is Hazel McCourtney Lutzi, one of Charlie McCourtney's daughters with his second wife, Lula. The boy with that "Hod" on the hat brim is her nephew Harold Craig, son of Charlie's daughter Myrle & Myrle's husband Harold (Hod) Craig. The little dark-haired girl is Harold's little sister Mary Craig Wenzbauer. The blonde is Delores McCourtney Penkava, daughter of Charlie McCourtney's son Bruce. The Delores in the grass skirt..... This is a photo shared by Delores about 80 years later, in 2016.
photo 8929, as a storm looms....
