Sam was originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he was called Wilson. He moved to Ord & North Loup, NE where he was called Sam. He owned and operated a hardward store in Ord, 3rd store building from west edge of north side of the town square. In 1884 he also owned and operated Leader Hardware Store in North Loup, Nebraska. He and his wife built a house at 119 No 21 St, and he and his family lived there. He sold the house to his niece Maud (& Jim) Hastings, who lived there. They then sold it to the Hastings' daughter Jane (& Jim) Ollis...so it was the house where Ruth (Ollis) Cook grew up. Both Sam and his wife are buried in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Family legend is that Sam's hardware stores in Ord and North Loup did not succeed and he had to sell them.
His wife's nickname was pronounced "MAT-tee" (according to her daughter Margaret).
For a time Sam and his family farmed in Mira Valley, south of Ord, Nebraska, and west of North Loup, NE. He was on a North Loup mail route. He wrote the following letter to James G. Hastings, the husband of his neice Maud Gray. The square brackets [ ] in the letter are my (J. Keith Cook) additions for clarification.
The letter: "North Loup, Nebr., March 21/86 [1896]. To My dear old chum, Jas. G. Hastings, I am not sure that I owe you a letter, but I am going to write anyway, and if you are in my debt, just lay this aside till you answer my last letter. I haven't much to write, but tho't I would like to chat with you for awhile. I get a few letters still, but not near as many as of yore.
"This is sabbath evening, and is as lonesome as ever. Ella came home from Ord, where she had been visiting Mrs. Wolf since Wednesday. I batched. [Ella would be Sam's younger sister. This letter would have been written before either Sam or Ella were married, and it may be that they lived in the same household.]
"Had a concert in No. L. [North Loup] last week. Rhoda sang. We are going to give one, wish you were here.
"Schultz lost a horse last week. Paul and his father had fall-out. P. [Paul] left, but went back again.
"Our Kit kicked a hole into her stall, got her foot caught, fell down on the leg, broker her leg (hind) below hock. Put her in sling, fell out twice, set let twice, and 10 days after Walter shot her for me. She kicked to the last.
"Saturday night going from Gray's to the church, old Sailor took sick and died in less time than it takes to write this.
"Maud, Kit's colt run off over to Petty's, got a fall, hurt her spine. I blistered her back, and she did not die. [Blistering was a term used to add a protective cover on a vulnerable body part.] Mollie will foal on 31st of May. So you see, I have only Buck and Billie to work. Altho, I lost no pigs, I had other losses, but Jim, I am all right in this way, it was no fault of mine.
"NEWS . . . George Storis to be married to a Miss Wolf (sister of Charlie) on the 15th day of April A.D. 1886. Next.
"We are going to a sellect [sic] party in No. L. tomorrow evening.
"Roads are just terrible here at present. Never saw them so bad. I am thinking of going to California if I can get a cheap ticket. On $20 to Los Angeles. [He must mean 'only $20.'] Mother wants me to go out, and come home with her . . . Will is still in Chicago. I don't expect him home this summer. [Will is Sam's brother. Their mother was living in North Loup, but must have been visiting in California at the time.]
"Walter McGadden is going to leave [can't make out next word] next month. Rob. Arms [Robert Gray Armstrong, not related, but part of the family mix and in the neighborhood] is working there now. Walt is going Northwest, I guess. No farming down here yet, but I think we can begin soon, as mud dries up. I have my wheat ground ready, and 20 A. [acres] ready for corn, have only 12 A. to plow this spring, and it is a good thing, too. Well, my friend, as it is getting late. I will stop. Give my regards to all inquiring after me, and to others say nothing of Your abundantly S. J. W. Brown." [I'm thinking he mean 'Yours abundantly."]
Sam is shown to be a charter member of the congregation, as is his sister Ella, and their parents, Mr. Wm. M. Brown, and Mrs. Mary Brown. This was a hardware store that Sam Brown owned and operated in North Loup, Nebraska. Ross on the left, Margaret and Bill He later sold it to his niece Maud & her husband Jim Hastings, who later deeded it over to their daughter Jane and her husband James B. Ollis Sr. The Ollises lived in that house most of their married lives. The house was no longer owned by anyone in the family by this time.
Family legend is that Sam's hardware stores in Ord and North Loup did not succeed and he had to sell them.
His wife's nickname was pronounced "MAT-tee" (according to her daughter Margaret).
For a time Sam and his family farmed in Mira Valley, south of Ord, Nebraska, and west of North Loup, NE. He was on a North Loup mail route. He wrote the following letter to James G. Hastings, the husband of his neice Maud Gray. The square brackets [ ] in the letter are my (J. Keith Cook) additions for clarification.
The letter: "North Loup, Nebr., March 21/86 [1896]. To My dear old chum, Jas. G. Hastings, I am not sure that I owe you a letter, but I am going to write anyway, and if you are in my debt, just lay this aside till you answer my last letter. I haven't much to write, but tho't I would like to chat with you for awhile. I get a few letters still, but not near as many as of yore.
"This is sabbath evening, and is as lonesome as ever. Ella came home from Ord, where she had been visiting Mrs. Wolf since Wednesday. I batched. [Ella would be Sam's younger sister. This letter would have been written before either Sam or Ella were married, and it may be that they lived in the same household.]
"Had a concert in No. L. [North Loup] last week. Rhoda sang. We are going to give one, wish you were here.
"Schultz lost a horse last week. Paul and his father had fall-out. P. [Paul] left, but went back again.
"Our Kit kicked a hole into her stall, got her foot caught, fell down on the leg, broker her leg (hind) below hock. Put her in sling, fell out twice, set let twice, and 10 days after Walter shot her for me. She kicked to the last.
"Saturday night going from Gray's to the church, old Sailor took sick and died in less time than it takes to write this.
"Maud, Kit's colt run off over to Petty's, got a fall, hurt her spine. I blistered her back, and she did not die. [Blistering was a term used to add a protective cover on a vulnerable body part.] Mollie will foal on 31st of May. So you see, I have only Buck and Billie to work. Altho, I lost no pigs, I had other losses, but Jim, I am all right in this way, it was no fault of mine.
"NEWS . . . George Storis to be married to a Miss Wolf (sister of Charlie) on the 15th day of April A.D. 1886. Next.
"We are going to a sellect [sic] party in No. L. tomorrow evening.
"Roads are just terrible here at present. Never saw them so bad. I am thinking of going to California if I can get a cheap ticket. On $20 to Los Angeles. [He must mean 'only $20.'] Mother wants me to go out, and come home with her . . . Will is still in Chicago. I don't expect him home this summer. [Will is Sam's brother. Their mother was living in North Loup, but must have been visiting in California at the time.]
"Walter McGadden is going to leave [can't make out next word] next month. Rob. Arms [Robert Gray Armstrong, not related, but part of the family mix and in the neighborhood] is working there now. Walt is going Northwest, I guess. No farming down here yet, but I think we can begin soon, as mud dries up. I have my wheat ground ready, and 20 A. [acres] ready for corn, have only 12 A. to plow this spring, and it is a good thing, too. Well, my friend, as it is getting late. I will stop. Give my regards to all inquiring after me, and to others say nothing of Your abundantly S. J. W. Brown." [I'm thinking he mean 'Yours abundantly."]
Sam is shown to be a charter member of the congregation, as is his sister Ella, and their parents, Mr. Wm. M. Brown, and Mrs. Mary Brown. This was a hardware store that Sam Brown owned and operated in North Loup, Nebraska. Ross on the left, Margaret and Bill He later sold it to his niece Maud & her husband Jim Hastings, who later deeded it over to their daughter Jane and her husband James B. Ollis Sr. The Ollises lived in that house most of their married lives. The house was no longer owned by anyone in the family by this time.
Sam was originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he was called Wilson. He moved to Ord & North Loup, NE where he was called Sam. He owned and operated a hardward store in Ord, 3rd store building from west edge of north side of the town square. In 1884 he also owned and operated Leader Hardware Store in North Loup, Nebraska. He and his wife built a house at 119 No 21 St, and he and his family lived there. He sold the house to his niece Maud (& Jim) Hastings, who lived there. They then sold it to the Hastings' daughter Jane (& Jim) Ollis...so it was the house where Ruth (Ollis) Cook grew up. Both Sam and his wife are buried in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Family legend is that Sam's hardware stores in Ord and North Loup did not succeed and he had to sell them.
His wife's nickname was pronounced "MAT-tee" (according to her daughter Margaret).
For a time Sam and his family farmed in Mira Valley, south of Ord, Nebraska, and west of North Loup, NE. He was on a North Loup mail route. He wrote the following letter to James G. Hastings, the husband of his neice Maud Gray. The square brackets [ ] in the letter are my (J. Keith Cook) additions for clarification.
The letter: "North Loup, Nebr., March 21/86 [1896]. To My dear old chum, Jas. G. Hastings, I am not sure that I owe you a letter, but I am going to write anyway, and if you are in my debt, just lay this aside till you answer my last letter. I haven't much to write, but tho't I would like to chat with you for awhile. I get a few letters still, but not near as many as of yore.
"This is sabbath evening, and is as lonesome as ever. Ella came home from Ord, where she had been visiting Mrs. Wolf since Wednesday. I batched. [Ella would be Sam's younger sister. This letter would have been written before either Sam or Ella were married, and it may be that they lived in the same household.]
"Had a concert in No. L. [North Loup] last week. Rhoda sang. We are going to give one, wish you were here.
"Schultz lost a horse last week. Paul and his father had fall-out. P. [Paul] left, but went back again.
"Our Kit kicked a hole into her stall, got her foot caught, fell down on the leg, broker her leg (hind) below hock. Put her in sling, fell out twice, set let twice, and 10 days after Walter shot her for me. She kicked to the last.
"Saturday night going from Gray's to the church, old Sailor took sick and died in less time than it takes to write this.
"Maud, Kit's colt run off over to Petty's, got a fall, hurt her spine. I blistered her back, and she did not die. [Blistering was a term used to add a protective cover on a vulnerable body part.] Mollie will foal on 31st of May. So you see, I have only Buck and Billie to work. Altho, I lost no pigs, I had other losses, but Jim, I am all right in this way, it was no fault of mine.
"NEWS . . . George Storis to be married to a Miss Wolf (sister of Charlie) on the 15th day of April A.D. 1886. Next.
"We are going to a sellect [sic] party in No. L. tomorrow evening.
"Roads are just terrible here at present. Never saw them so bad. I am thinking of going to California if I can get a cheap ticket. On $20 to Los Angeles. [He must mean 'only $20.'] Mother wants me to go out, and come home with her . . . Will is still in Chicago. I don't expect him home this summer. [Will is Sam's brother. Their mother was living in North Loup, but must have been visiting in California at the time.]
"Walter McGadden is going to leave [can't make out next word] next month. Rob. Arms [Robert Gray Armstrong, not related, but part of the family mix and in the neighborhood] is working there now. Walt is going Northwest, I guess. No farming down here yet, but I think we can begin soon, as mud dries up. I have my wheat ground ready, and 20 A. [acres] ready for corn, have only 12 A. to plow this spring, and it is a good thing, too. Well, my friend, as it is getting late. I will stop. Give my regards to all inquiring after me, and to others say nothing of Your abundantly S. J. W. Brown." [I'm thinking he mean 'Yours abundantly."]
Sam is shown to be a charter member of the congregation, as is his sister Ella, and their parents, Mr. Wm. M. Brown, and Mrs. Mary Brown. This was a hardware store that Sam Brown owned and operated in North Loup, Nebraska. Ross on the left, Margaret and Bill He later sold it to his niece Maud & her husband Jim Hastings, who later deeded it over to their daughter Jane and her husband James B. Ollis Sr. The Ollises lived in that house most of their married lives. The house was no longer owned by anyone in the family by this time.
Family legend is that Sam's hardware stores in Ord and North Loup did not succeed and he had to sell them.
His wife's nickname was pronounced "MAT-tee" (according to her daughter Margaret).
For a time Sam and his family farmed in Mira Valley, south of Ord, Nebraska, and west of North Loup, NE. He was on a North Loup mail route. He wrote the following letter to James G. Hastings, the husband of his neice Maud Gray. The square brackets [ ] in the letter are my (J. Keith Cook) additions for clarification.
The letter: "North Loup, Nebr., March 21/86 [1896]. To My dear old chum, Jas. G. Hastings, I am not sure that I owe you a letter, but I am going to write anyway, and if you are in my debt, just lay this aside till you answer my last letter. I haven't much to write, but tho't I would like to chat with you for awhile. I get a few letters still, but not near as many as of yore.
"This is sabbath evening, and is as lonesome as ever. Ella came home from Ord, where she had been visiting Mrs. Wolf since Wednesday. I batched. [Ella would be Sam's younger sister. This letter would have been written before either Sam or Ella were married, and it may be that they lived in the same household.]
"Had a concert in No. L. [North Loup] last week. Rhoda sang. We are going to give one, wish you were here.
"Schultz lost a horse last week. Paul and his father had fall-out. P. [Paul] left, but went back again.
"Our Kit kicked a hole into her stall, got her foot caught, fell down on the leg, broker her leg (hind) below hock. Put her in sling, fell out twice, set let twice, and 10 days after Walter shot her for me. She kicked to the last.
"Saturday night going from Gray's to the church, old Sailor took sick and died in less time than it takes to write this.
"Maud, Kit's colt run off over to Petty's, got a fall, hurt her spine. I blistered her back, and she did not die. [Blistering was a term used to add a protective cover on a vulnerable body part.] Mollie will foal on 31st of May. So you see, I have only Buck and Billie to work. Altho, I lost no pigs, I had other losses, but Jim, I am all right in this way, it was no fault of mine.
"NEWS . . . George Storis to be married to a Miss Wolf (sister of Charlie) on the 15th day of April A.D. 1886. Next.
"We are going to a sellect [sic] party in No. L. tomorrow evening.
"Roads are just terrible here at present. Never saw them so bad. I am thinking of going to California if I can get a cheap ticket. On $20 to Los Angeles. [He must mean 'only $20.'] Mother wants me to go out, and come home with her . . . Will is still in Chicago. I don't expect him home this summer. [Will is Sam's brother. Their mother was living in North Loup, but must have been visiting in California at the time.]
"Walter McGadden is going to leave [can't make out next word] next month. Rob. Arms [Robert Gray Armstrong, not related, but part of the family mix and in the neighborhood] is working there now. Walt is going Northwest, I guess. No farming down here yet, but I think we can begin soon, as mud dries up. I have my wheat ground ready, and 20 A. [acres] ready for corn, have only 12 A. to plow this spring, and it is a good thing, too. Well, my friend, as it is getting late. I will stop. Give my regards to all inquiring after me, and to others say nothing of Your abundantly S. J. W. Brown." [I'm thinking he mean 'Yours abundantly."]
Sam is shown to be a charter member of the congregation, as is his sister Ella, and their parents, Mr. Wm. M. Brown, and Mrs. Mary Brown. This was a hardware store that Sam Brown owned and operated in North Loup, Nebraska. Ross on the left, Margaret and Bill He later sold it to his niece Maud & her husband Jim Hastings, who later deeded it over to their daughter Jane and her husband James B. Ollis Sr. The Ollises lived in that house most of their married lives. The house was no longer owned by anyone in the family by this time.
Family Members
Siblings
