John Frank Carr (1852 - 1914)

At the time of their marriage, John Frank was twenty-five years of age and Catherine Amelia was eighteen. The next day after the wedding Frank and Amelia started the long trip to Rulo, Nebraska and then onto Hiawatha, Kansas, just across the state line and about 15 miles south and 5 miles west of Rulo, Nebraska where they began housekeeping on a farm. Catherine Amelia’s brother, Henry William Schutte accompanied them home and became a member of the household.

John Frank’s sister Corilda Ann Carr soon came to make her home with her brother, sister, Amelia and Catherine Amelia’s brother Henry William Schutte. Catherine Amelia often said that she and John Frank were never permitted to live alone and she said so many, many times, oh, if we could only be alone. Here on this farm their first child, Stella Amelia Carr, was born on November 30, 1878.

Living in what is now called tornado alley, they survived several severe storms. On May 30, 1879, the so-called "Irving, Kansas Tornado" passed through the area. The tornado measured F4 on the Fujita scale, and had a damage path 800 yards (730 m) wide and 100 miles (160 km) long. Eighteen people were killed and sixty were injured, then again on April 9, 1882 while they were still living in Kansas a tornado struck in the night. According to the writings of their daughter, Frank ran to close the door but not being able to do so and feeling the house tipping he ran back to the bed to get his wife Catherine and the baby when the roof of the house went and the house settled back on its foundation. Catherine’s brother, Henry William, happened to be away from home that night. Catherine Amelia had ironed and taken his clean clothes upstairs but left them for him to put away in the drawers when he came home. But the next morning those clothes were all hanging in the very top of the highest tree. In the spring of 1879 they moved north to the Edgecombe place in Richardson County, Nebraska. Then in 1881, Frank was able to acquire a place of his own situated on the banks of the Nemaha River, near Rulo. On the opposite side of the river was the Ioway Indian Reservation and their campfires could be clearly seen at night and the noise of their powwows heard. The Ioway Indians from the reservation just across the river and other Ponca’s mainly passing through en route from their former homes in what is now eastern Keya Paha County and Indian country in Oklahoma, were friendly and never caused any trouble. However, on occasion one would quietly appear behind Catherine without her ever hearing or seeing them approach. She was more than occasionally startled when she would turned from the table or stove or back again while doing her housework and see one standing before her. One was named Ketchama and was especially friendly, but to Catherine he was an Indian and very frightening. One day several Indians had been drinking in town and were walking back to their camp when they became tired and all threw themselves down on the well platform to rest. Catherine asked them to please go on; but, they paid no attention to her. John Frank was working in the field and saw them so he hurried to the house not knowing what they might do. He had to get quite rough with them before they would move on. He even had to give them some good hard kicks. Catherine, remembering that she began life as a little, timid, frightened girl that had suffered similar treatment from her stepmother was terrified. She had suffered more from this kind of life than one who had been reared near the frontier. Here in the home of Carr’s on September 17, 1882, came the second child--a little fair-haired, blue-eyed girl- Blanch Elnora. That year John Frank built a new house thinking this would be their permanent home. Then in June of 1883 the rains began. It rained and rained for a month and then the dam in the river above them gave away and the flood came. According to his children, John Frank had never known the meaning of the word fear; however, on this particular day, he became apprehensive as he watched the water creeping nearer and nearer the house. He did not think that it would reach his home; however, by evening the water was level with the porch floor. As dark came on they could see people on the railroad track a mile to the North of them, with lanterns and boats ready to help anyone in distress. Then John Frank decided it was not wise to keep his wife and babies there any longer, so he took his gun and going to an upstairs window that looked towards the North he fired the well-known notice of trouble by firing three shots . Soon there was a boat there for Catherine, Stella and Blanch. He sent his family on to safety but remained in the house that night as he did not leave, wanting to remain to save what he could as soon as it was light enough to get out in the morning. The water never came higher than the porch but as soon as it was light he looked across his farm, and saw the horses standing on the top of a stack of straw in water up to their bellies. Anything that was above water was covered with hogs, chickens and anything that could find footing. Hogs were swimming around in the water everywhere. Frank moved all the furniture upstairs, which had not yet been finished, then he went out to save the hogs by putting them in the house. The first one he got in went right on out again through a big window. Then he pulled the window blinds down and tacked them in place. The hog that went through the window found her way upstairs later and there on a pile of bedding she brought forth her litter of young. After getting the hogs into the house, Frank took the halters and tied the horses together end to end, each tied to the tail of the one in front. Then taking large butcher knife he mounted the lead horse, Old Fly, and started for the railroad tracks. The horses must swim and the knife was to cut the ropes that tied them together if anyone of them should go down. He made the trip safely and would row a boat back every day to feed and care for the hogs and any other stock that might still be there. It was over a week before they could go back to the home. Catherine Amelia cleaned and cleaned and then cleaned some more but said she never did feel that the odor of the hogs was entirely banished.  

After the flood, Frank decided that he had enough water to last a life time so he decided to follow his father Eli Carr and brother Andrew Shutz to higher ground, north across Nebraska, across the Niobrara River and into that portion of Brown County which would one day become Keya Paha County. Early in September of 1883 he loaded his household goods and his family into a pair of covered wagons and left Richardson County. John Frank and Catherine Amelia with their two little girls were in one wagon and Daniel Folck, John Frank Carr’s step-uncle, in the other. John Frank later told his family that when his friends learned that that he was going to marry Catherine, they would ask him what he saw in that little, pale sickly girl and that he thought the move from that low damp climate was the best thing that could have happened for Catherine's health, adding that, in his opinion she would have not likely lived if they had not left Richardson County, Nebraska. When they left Rulo, they went by the way of Onawa, Iowa to visit Catherine’s relatives including the Dubbels and the Schutte’s. Just before reaching Onawa, Blanch was taken sick and they had to layover there a day or two longer. Uncle Daniel Folck who had been over the trail before knew something of the country. In fact on a prior trip, he had killed a man who was trying to steal his mules. As they neared the Niobrara River, John Frank was warned again and again to be on the lookout for horse thieves. He took all the precautions he could and one was to tie one horse to the wagons, with a lariat rope so it could graze but not wander away. Then he would hobble the other horses. They would not leave the horse that was tied so never got very far away from the camp. John Frank had several very good horses and quite often men would seem much interested in them... One night they thought they heard a noise among the horses. Uncle Daniel Folck, who slept under the wagon, was ready with his gun waiting for a chance to shoot when Father spoke to him, telling him to be careful. That disgusted Uncle Daniel because he said he had just gotten his sight on the thief. However, no horses were stolen as the thief had perhaps heard the stirring in the wagons. They reached his brother Andrew's home on September 17, 1883, on Blanch Elnora Carr’s first birthday.   On reaching Brown County on September 17, 1883, John Frank used his preemption rights to construct a dug-out just one mile North of Uncle Andrew's home and John Frank and his family lived in the dug-out during the winter of 1883 – 1884. However, even with time to prepare, winter in the dugout was long, dark and cold. Arriving in September, there was only a couple of months to construct the dug-out and prepare for winter, John Frank was grateful for the assistance of his brother Andrew and his brothers-in-law.

With their own chickens, cattle and hogs, butchering, and smoking meat was a family operation. Catherine Amelia made pickled pigs feet, headcheese, sausage and hominy from the nicest, whitest corn. With fruit from a tree claim or trees within the breaks of the Niobrara River, she would also make plum butter and jelly.

In the early 1880’s the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad reached Ainsworth, Nebraska; a point nearly due south of Springview and it was from Ainsworth or Bassett that nearly everything was brought from or shipped to Springview. The settlers would take their hogs and grain to Ainsworth or Bassett and return with goods from the east. The round trip, by ox-drawn wagon, took several days; however, the men simply took a blanket or two along and slept under their wagons. If they were shipping cattle, they would simply drive them to the railroad yards, yet again a two or three-day trip. In the spring of 1884, John Frank Carr filed on a homestead located several miles northwest of the preemption. And after building a nice new, log house he moved his family into their new home. The first morning after John Frank Carr moved his family into their new house Catherine Amelia Marie Shutte Carr said she saw a herd of deer near the house. When the people first began to settle this part of Nebraska, there were great buffalo [bison] wallows from fifty to a hundred yards across and some of them were quite deep. There were deer, bison, quail, grouse, prairie chicken and rabbits to eat as well as wild turkey. There were all kinds of wild fruit such as sand cherries-wild grapes, plums, June berries, buffalo berries, strawberries, and chokecherries. The families source of drinking water was from a spring in the draw west of where Springview is now located. Once John Frank Carr started shipping sufficient numbers of cattle, he would ride the train to the Omaha stockyards to oversee the sales. He would often return with gifts for the family, one day bringing Catherine Amelia a new black sealskin cape. 

As a result of the election of November 4, 1884 the lands north of the Niobrara River were removed from Brown County and became Keya Paha County. Several settlers in the central part of the new county concluded that a new community was needed. A site was selected. John Frank Carr donated the Northeast quarter of his land, a total of 40 acres in what is now the southwest corner of town. Ed Fleming donated the Southeast quarter of his, Dave Wiseman gave the Northwest quarter of his and Ed Fleming's mother gave the Southwest quarter of her land. These four donations creating a town site of 160 acres. Many names were suggested for the new village and among them were “Carrville,” but John Frank Carr vetoed that idea as he did not wish his name used that way. Springview was finally chosen as being the most appropriate because of the spring that was near.   As a result of the election of November 4, 1884 the lands north of the Niobrara River were removed from Brown County and became Keya Paha County. Several settlers in the central part of the new county concluded that a new community was needed. A site was selected. John Frank Carr donated the Northeast quarter of his land, a total of 40 acres in what is now the southwest corner of town. Ed Fleming donated the Southeast quarter of his, Dave Wiseman gave the Northwest quarter of his and Ed Fleming's mother gave the Southwest quarter of her land. These four donations creating a town site of 160 acres. Many names were suggested for the new village and among them were “Carrville,” but John Frank Carr vetoed that idea as he did not wish his name used that way. Springview was finally chosen as being the most appropriate because of the spring that was near.   The above is an exerpt from the book: The World's Largest Roundup. Contact Richard Carr for more information