Page 953
LEWIS C. BATTERSON.-An interesting story appears in the relation of the
early life in Hall County of one of its most highly esteemed pioneers,
Lewis C. Batterson, who is, also, one of the county's most substantial
citizens. Like many other of the representative men of the county, he came
from Ohio, and was born in Williams County, May 24, 1848. His parents were
natives of Connecticut and of their family of six children, he is the only
survivor.
Lewis C. Batterson came to Hall County, in November, 1872, homesteaded and
has remained here ever since. He is located in section thirty, town nine,
range twelve, and is the owner of four hundred and six acres all in one
body, in Grand Island, and no finer land can be found in the county. After
coming here he built himself a dugout,did his own housekeeping, and had one
yoke of oxen and fifteen head of cattle that he had brought with him. On
April 13, 1873, when a storm started, Mr. Batterson thought it best to
drive his cattle out of the corrall (sic) down to the river until is (sic)
should abate. He found so much to worry over in regard to his unprotected
cattle during the next three days of furious storm, that he almost forgot
that his little home was buried under snow and that he had neither fire nor
anything to eat. When the storm finally exhausted itself, he managed to dig
a path so that he could look for his cattle. He found that down by the
river where the snow had drifted to the tops of trees that were thirty feet
high, it had a crust so hard he could walk on the top of it. It was a
sorrowful sight when at length he discovered his stock, for all were dead
except one ox and one little calf that had found protection under the body
of the ox. Thinking he would go back and bring the ox some corn, Mr.
Batterson started, but almost human-like, the poor animals struggled after
him, on the top of the snow, over the tree tops, finally reaching the half
buried dugout.
At that time an ox team was worth $175 and it was indeed discouraging to
see his stock, his entire capital, thus wrenched from him. The comforts of
his old home in Ohio came back to him as he sorrowfully considered his
condition and he finally decided to leave Nebraska and return to his native
state. Hence he offered his one ox for sale at $30, which would buy his
railroad ticket to the old Buckeye state. Fortunately no one in his
neighborhood had the above amount, and just at that time Mr. Batterson was
sensible enough to listen to the practical suggestions of another settler,
who reminded him that if he remained and proved up his land, he could sell
at an advance, and in the meawhile (sic) things might take a turn for the
better. He paid a man $1.50 a day to help him skin his dead cattle, hired
an ox-team to haul the hides nine miles to Gibbon, sold them there only to
be told that he could not be paid under a week. The bill amounted to $30
and Mr. Batterson afterward made two trips on foot to collect his money, on
neither occasion finding his debtor at home. In fact he never received one
farthing of it, the man leaving the county. In the meantime, however, Mr.
Batterson had made friends and a neighbor was willing to be security for
him when he bought other oxen, for which he paid $60. With this team he
broke sod and planted corn, also found work at fifty cents a day. He had
one more discouraging experience before becoming well established. He hired
out to a logging company at Laramie, Wyoming, for $3 a day and worked until
he had earned $150, when the company declined to pay on the excuse that
bankers had an attachment on the timber and the company could do nothing.
In the fall of 1874, Mr. Batterson returned to Ohio and on February 23,
1875, married Miss Minerva Cooper, of Williams County, a daughter of
Griffith and Nancy (Amsbaugh) Cooper, the father a native of Virginia and
the mother of Pennsylvania. After marriage Mr. Batterson returned with his
young wife and they started housekeeping, in the little frame shanty he had
erected, twelve by fourteen. In the next spring he built a sod addition for
a kitchen. It was a happy home although there is a great contrast between
that and the present commodious farm house with its modern comforts. To Mr.
and Mrs. Batterson three daughters were born all three now in homes of
their own within easy reach of their parents. The eldest, Della, is the
wife of C. H. Bly, and they live on a farm about four miles southwest of
Wood River. They have three sons. Carrie, the second daughter, is the wife
of S. P. Burmood and they live one-half mile east of the home place, and
have tow sons and one daughter. Blanche, the third daughter, is the wife of
G. L. Burmood, a farmer located four miles south of Wood River, and they
have two daughters.
Mr. Batterson is one of the honored veterans of the Civil War. when sixteen
years old, in February, 1865, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred
Ninety-fifth Ohio Infantry, and took part, as a man, in the closing
campaigns of the war, serving in the Shenandoah Valley. When the war closed
he was sent to Baltimore, then to Washington, D. C., then to Alexandria and
finally to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was mustered out and received his
honorable discharge in December, 1865. He then went to Iowa for awhile,
1871 to Kansas, and from there traveling in a covered wagon, with his
precious bunch of cattle, reached Hall County in 1872. Although there is no
necessity, Mr. Batterson still looks after his own affairs to a large
extent himself. Both he and wife are members of the Evangelical church.
They are widely known and are not only respected but much beloved in their
neighborhood.
(There is a picture of Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Batterson on page 952.)
