Farmer North of Ord.
Sons with unknown grave locations

Herman August Albers (1887-?1954) ?Salem, Oregon
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Well Know and Esteemed Farmer and Stockman
Goes to Reward.
Following a year of ill health, several months of which time he as bedfast, John D. Albers passed quietly at his home in east Ord at 10:30 Monday night. He was 84 years, 6 months and 25 days of age at the time of his death. He had spent 41 of those years as a resident of Valley county.

John D. Albers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Garrett Albers, was born in Zetel, Friesland, Lower Saxony, Germany, Feb. 22, 1861 and came to America at the age of 3 months. The family lived in Iowa until he was 9 years old.
They then moved to Hallam, Neb., where they lived a number of years and where John was married to Mary Hendrich, March 12, 1885.

From Hallam they moved by covered wagon to
Phillipsburg, Kans. where they lived for 19 years,
moving to Valley County in 1904 and locating on the
half section known as the Gipe farm on Davis Creek.
Living there ten years, they moved to the farm four
miles north of Ord, now well known as the Albers place.

Except for a year spent in Idaho, they lived there continuously until three years ago when the infirmities of age caused them to give up farm work and move to their present home in Ord. As a young man Mr. Albers joined the Methodist church. Last March he and Mrs. Albers celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

He leaves to mourn his departure, his loving wife; six sons, Walter, Langhorn, Pa.; Henry of California, Ted of Nampa, Idaho, Fritz, of Klamath Falls, Ore.; and Alfred and Richard of Ord; two daughters Mrs. W. L. Craig of Madisonville, Ky., and Mrs. Lena Meyers of Ord; three brothers Henry of Campbell, Nebraska, Louis of Ft. Morgan, Colo. and Ed of Appleton, Wis.; one sister Mrs. Charles Krauter of Wessington, S. D.

Mr. Albers also leaves 20 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren and also a number of relatives and friends. It is no small honor to be born on Washington's birthday, but John D. Albers showed many of the characteristics which made the father of this country beloved by all who knew him.
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Albers, John D. John Didrich Albers married
Marie Hendricks on March 12, 1885. Soon after their marriage he moved to Kansas, where they brought a homestead and settled. They had eight sons and three daughters while living there.
In 1904, the Albers family moved to Davis Creek,
south of Ord, where the youngest son was born. The
eldest was 18 years at the time. There were twelve
children; Walter C., Herman, Henry, Lena, Theodore,
Alfred, Emma, Fred, John, Martha, Richard, and Oscar.
John Albers brought his homestead of 160 acres for
$500. The first house usually built on a new homestead
was almost always of sod. They got this sod by using a
special made plow. The sod pieces were plowed up in
long strips, about half a mile long without being broken.
The pieces were about four inches thick and twenty inches
wide. These strips were cut into lengths about thirty
inches long. The walls were made with these sod pieces,
laying them in the manner that brick is stacked. The roof
was then put on, mostly of hay or straw. In most cases
there were no glass windows, only an opening. The door
was hung on hinges of leather. This type of house was
warm, being heated by a small cast iron stove., burning
almost anything.
John D. Albers lived with his family on the farm at Davis Creek for a period of ten years. Here he saw his oldest son Walt, married to Anna Korn and his first grandchild, Grace Dorothy, born August 7, 1913, in the old sod hut. Five months later his oldest daughter, Lena, married to Fred Meyers, gave birth to another grandchild, Mildred.
John Albers later built a wood house. On this farm,
he raised cattle and some horses. After ten years of
cattle raising on Davis Creek he moved to a place north
of Ord, which was called "The Albers Place". Here he
lived until three years before his death, except for one
year spent in Idaho.
Life on the farm in the early days was a hard life.
Often, just a week or two before the harvest, a hail storm
would come along and ruin all the crops for that year.
Prairie fires were not unusual things and Tornadoes could
tear down the buildings, causing one to start over again.
These old settlers never gave up, and by their strength
made life easier today.
One Saturday evening, Walter, the eldest son, was on
his way to a barn dance. He had his fiddle with him as
he was one of the players. He was on horse-back,
and suddenly a big black wolf charged the horse.
The horse, being frightened, tried to get away, but the
wolf was always ahead of him, wherever he turned.
Walt had left his revolver at home, so was unprotected.
He remembered that someone had said that a wolf is
like a dog, so he took out his fiddle and began to play.
The wolf sat down and began to howl. However, as
soon Walt would stop playing, or tried to move the horse,
the wolf would charge again. Walt played for hours,
until his finger-tips were bloody. Very early the next
morning, some neighbors heard the sound, followed it,
and realizing what had happened and shot the wolf.
Walt rode back home, very tired after the nights
experience. Wolves, Coyotes, Panthers, bobcats and
others of the like were a common sight. Thanks to the
early settlers these things are not a common sight today.
Life was very dangerous in those early days, but also
exciting.