By Mrs. Olive Selby,
Manhattan Beach, Calif
(as reported in the Benkelman Post)
“I want to say about the cemetery west of Max that I don’t remember many bodies being moved from there but the fences had all been torn down except the little one around the Brethower baby’s grave, with the stones tumbled over and the graves sunken in at the time that Purle Newman lived on the Jorgensen plave. Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Breedon, uncle and aunt of the late Clara Baughman, the Price’s baby, King’s baby I believe, and a Russian family’s baby.
“Silas Bailey, the man murdered by Earnest Bush, and a young boy by the name of Frank Wesley, step-brother of Katye Logan, were buried there and never removed. Mrs. Liss Lawrence and I went to the grove near there to pick mulberries and I couldn’t find where Frank’s grave had been. He had been a school mate of mine and I liked him very much. This cemetery never should have been placed there.
“The first grave yard in the community was started when Sandwich was the town and it was up on the hill northwest of the old Parsons farm overlooking the valley and if it would have been cared for, would have been alright but when the town was moved where it is now, several who had beople buried there had them moved to Benkelman, among the number being a Stoutsenberger boy and a Parsons boy. There are still some graves there. I think Hattie Williams sister, Harvey Krebs and one or two others.
“When John Breedon died, his father, who owned the place which George Bartletts now have, wanted him buried on the hill north of Max. Later a baby granddaughter of his was buried there. They were there for many, many years but when Mr. Pitney bought the place he asked that the bodies be moved to Benkelman.
“About the first baby born in Dundy county I think was Nellie (Kimsey) Ochs. At least she has always had the distinction of being the first girl baby born in Dundy county. I think she was born Marcy 4, 1882, but of the year I am not positively sure. And Katye (Hickman) Logan was supposed to be the first girl born in Max precinct. I think when it comes to speaking of Jeff Gallaghers, we knew them almost as well as we knew ourselves. We were always at their home or they are our. In August, 1902, when Mr. Gallagher took up a ranch foremanship at Wray we moved on to their farm east of Max and stayed until 1905. The grave spoken of by Mr. Sutton was south of the track on a little knoll. It had a little fence around it and a white stone with a lamb on the top. The little boy’s name was Max Joseph, being named for both his father and grandfather and it seems to me that he was born either in ’85 or ’87. While my father was there he took very good care that the fence was kept up in good shape and that stock did not rub it down. But in later years when I passed there I observed the fence was down, the stone overturned and apparently tractors had crossed right there and that too was before the flood. The Gallagher home, which was mostly a dug-out, was practically all covered.
“There are a great many things my Daddy told me or I remember about Dundy country. The Prices spoken of had a sort of a little drug store where Anson Walter now has his recreation hall, They called him Dr. Price. I really don’t know if he was a doctor or not. Roxie Selby told me she took her first teachers examination under him.”