CEDAR COUNTY, NEBRASKA - MRS. MARY CROUCH SAW FIRST TRAIN TO WYNOT
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CEDAR COUNTY NEWS JUNE 1, 1933

MRS. MARY CROUCH SAW FIRST TRAIN TO WYNOT; NOW SEES LINE DISMANTLED

Fifty years ago a 23 year old girl stood with a great throng of 
cheering citizens on the new railway platform at Wynot and screamed 
joyously as the first train puffed triumphantly up to the station.

A half-century passed, and now this same woman, who has spent the 
intervening years in the Wynot community, sits on the porch of her 
home, the first house built in Wynot, and listens to the dirge of the 
hammers proclaiming the death of the railroad.

She is Mrs. Mary Crouch, resident of the community for 68 years, one 
of the honored members of the Golden Circle of Cedar County Pioneers 
sponsored by the news.

Mrs. Crouch vividly recalls when the first train steamed into Wynot 
on October 2, 1883 (1907) thrilling residents as they had never been 
thrilled before and giving promise of a new era of prosperity for the 
town.

Few events in the community could compare in glamour and excitement 
with the opening of the railroad.  It was a social occasion of great 
note when everyone, including Mrs. Crouch who was then Miss Keegan, 
put on his or her "Sunday" clothes and drove to the station in the 
best family carriage.

The horses began to prick up their ears and snort when the engineer 
tied open the steam whistle a mile out of town so that the train 
pulled into the station in a grand blare of noise, with banners 
waving from its sides and the whole town shouting a welcome.

Probably nothing occuring since in the community has been so colorful 
as that great occasion which Mrs. Crouch remembers so vividly. But 
now the whistle is that of the work train, dismantling the line.  
The shouts are those of men directing the work, and the noise of 
hammers resembles the tolling of a bell at a funeral. Instead of a 
large crowd gathered at the station, only a few despondent citizens 
stand around to watch the work.

Mrs. Crouch is one of the few who can remember every detail 
concerning the rise and the fall of the Wynot branch railroad. And 
probably she will miss it more than the others, because it has become
 more of a part of her life.

Mrs. Crouch was born Sept. 19, 1860 at Niobrara, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Peter Keegan. She came with her parents to Cedar county in 
1865, where they took up a claim on a farm just north of Wynot now 
occupied by Elmer Keegan, son of F.W. Keegan, who died there.

This place was her home until she married D.F. Crouch on April 12, 
1887. The ceremony was performed at the home of her parents by Rev. 
John Martin, the first Presbyterian minister in Hartington.  For a 
time the couple lived near what is now Homewood Park, then lived on  
a place east of Wynot, until 1907, when they moved into town where 
Mr. Crouch conducted the first livery barn in Wynot.

Mrs. Crouch was a teacher at the Jones Mill at the time she was married 
and she had taught in other schools previous to this time.  With her 
long experience in education, she believes in such serious studies as 
grammar, history and arithmetic, backed up by a good willow, and 
believes there are too many uncecessary things in present-day schools.

Although she was a member of the Presbyterian church during the early 
part of her life, when it ceased to exist in Wynot she affiliated with 
the Lutheran church and is still an active member. She was formerly a 
member of the Eastern Star and a Royal Neighbor Lodges for many years.

Mrs. Crouch has lived for the past 25 years in a house which was the 
first to be built in Wynot. She is a lover of flowers and her home was 
one of the prettiest in the town when she was able to care for them.

A daughter, Mrs. F.A. Thorpe lives in Wynot, and a son Donald, lives 
in Billings, Mont.  Mrs. Crouch as two grandhildren, a sister Mrs. 
Henry Hoese, and a brother Peter Keegan of Astrola, Oregon.