Jesse's mother and stepfather, Walter Lloyd, had purchased the Bank of Bellwood and after his graduation from college he went into the bank as cashier. When Jasper was out of college he also came into the bank. The two brothers later bought out their parent's interest in the bank and in 1917 they sold the bank.
   Jasper moved to California a few years later, but Jesse lived the rest of his life in the old home place. His wife, Ada, died in 1955 and he died in 1967.
   As of June 1980 Dorothy is living in Santa Rosa, Calif. Her children and grandchildren live in that area.
   Col. J. Donald Bell is a retired army officer and he and his wife, Jacqueline, live in Heidelberg, Germany.
   Richard is retired from the Agricultural Extension Service at Michigan State University and lives in East Lansing.
   Robert farmed here for 23 years after being in agricultural work for the State of Nebraska for 15 years. He is retired and he and his wife, Doreen, live in Bellwood. They raised four children, all of whom attended school in Bellwood. Their daughter, Tryka Waldo, and her husband Max and their three children live in DeWitt, Nebr. Their son, David, and his wife, Diane (Vondracek) formerly of Schuyler, and their three children live in Westfield, N. J. Their son, Stephen, and his wife, Connie (Zeilinger) and their two children live in West Point, Nebr. Their son, Bob, and his wife, Joyce (Kallenbach) and their three sons, Jesse, Rodney and Jason live in the old family farm home. The three boys represent the 5th generation of the family to live in the home. Bob is manager of the grain department of the Farmers Coop Grain Co. in Bellwood.

Ada McFall Bell  Jesse D. Bell, Jr.

   Henry Beringer was born to Jacob and Susan Smith Beringer, August 29, 1884, two miles southeast of Bellwood. He farmed all his life around Bellwood. He and his brother, Pete, did custom threshing in the Bellwood area.
   He married Albertina Korger on June 12, 1929, and two children were born to this union, Monica and Jerome. Monica married John W. Zohner and they are living in Lincoln, Ne. Jerome married Mildred Romshek and they are living north of Bellwood.
   Henry retired in 1961. He lived in Bellwood until the time of his death in 1975.

   Four generations of the Besch family, Francis holding Jason, Mrs. Anna Besch and Todd, Michael (standing).

   Mathias Besch, great grandfather, and Catherine Braun Besch, great grandmother, came from Luxembourg, Europe in 1872, and settled in Cascade, Iowa. In 1879, they migrated in a covered wagon to the valley known as the Luxembourg settlement, later moving to a farm south of Bellwood. They were one of the first settlers.
   They had a family of eight children. Matthew P. Besch and Anna C. Beringer were married March 1, 1916. They had seven children of which Francis J. Besch and Kieran N. Besch are the only survivors. Matthew P. Besch passed away in 1934. Francis J. Besch and Nellie E. Jacob were married in November, 1949, and lived one mile south of Bellwood. They had eight children. Nellie was killed in a car accident on September 20, 1973. Their oldest son, Thomas Kevin Besch was killed in a motorcycle accident in California in 1977. The oldest living son resides in Yutan, Nebraska. He and Nancy O'Neil Besch have two sons, Todd J., seven years old and Jason T., eight months old. There are four generations of the Besch family still living.

   Smith A. Bouton was born at Berne, Albany Co., New York, Oct. 30, 1845. By the time he was a young man, New York had been fully developed as a farming state so he and his brother decided to come to Nebraska where the government was then offering free homesteads on the public domain. They arrived in Platte County, Nebraska, May 1, 1866 living there two years then crossed the river to Butler County, Nebraska, to live where there were no roads, no schools, no houses, only the railroad across the Platte River.
   He was married to Isabelle Gerrard, Dec. 7, 1872 who had come overland with her parents who were also pioneers from Fort Wayne, Indiana, arriving Aug. 14, 1869. Her parents homesteaded 2 1/2 miles west and 1 1/2 miles north of Bellwood. In 1899 they moved into Bellwood, selling their farm and engaged in the mercantile business which they sold in 1907.
   They went to pioneer again on the sand dunes of western Nebraska where they homesteaded returning to live in Bellwood in 1918.
   Some of this couple's descendants that may be known in the Bellwood area are: the late Warren Bouton, who was married to Marjorie McGaffin Bouton. (Marjorie came to

this country with her parents, George and Margaret McGaffin from Newry, Ireland in 1901), Robert Bouton of Mass., Richard Bouton, LaRee Day, Marcia Westbrook of Calif., Lois Raric, Pat Raric Mick, Jene', Lyne', Andre' Mick, the late David Raric and Misty Raric, all of Bellwood.

   Henry Brase Sr. was born March 18, 1878, at Westphalen, Germany; son of Conrad and Wilhelmina Dargeloh Brase. His father passed away in 1892. His mother brought the family to Seward, NE in 1895. In July, 1895, she was married to Luttmer Frerichs.
   Henry Brase was married to Mary Kopke, April 9, 1901 at Millerton, NE. He farmed most of his life in Butler County. He passed away June 14, 1953.
   Mary Kopke Brase was born May 12, 1885 at Hanover, Germany. She was the daughter of John and Kathrina Grimm Kopke. Mr. and Mrs. John Kopke and family came to America in 1889 and resided in Butler County the rest of their lives. Mary Brase passed away March 19, 1975.
   Mr. and Mrs. Henry Brase bought a farm in 1911, 2 1/2 miles west and 1 mile north of Bellwood. They moved to the farm March, 1912, and resided there until moving to Bellwood. They were Butler County residents until moving to Columbus, NE in 1951.
   They had eight children, four daughters and four sons: Mrs. Katie Homolka of Columbus, who passed away October, 1978, Mrs. Anna Schlesinger of Columbus, Clara Schrier of Columbus Junction, Iowa, Frieda Wilson of Bellwood, John Brase of Bellwood who passed away February, 1975. Fred Brase of Bellwood, Henry Brase, Jr. of Shelby, NE and Herman Brase of Bellwood who passed away in December, 1951.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Brase, Sr.

   Chauncey Stuart Burch (1836-1920) and Adeline Catherine Pickett (1839-1929) were married in Shelby, New York, April 16, 1862. Four of their six children were born in Danbury, Conn., Daniel Pickett, Eugene Knapp, who died in infancy, Clara Belle, and Frederick Arthur. Mr. Burch was engaged in the mercantile business and was also a Postmaster at Sherman, Conn. In need of a health-restoring climate for himself, he brought his family to Nebraska in 1871. Through a Railroad Land Grant, they acquired 80 acres of land south of the Platte River about 3 miles west and 1/2 miles north of the present site of Bellwood. The railroad was not yet built to Bellwood. They built a sod house and later had a store and Post Office. Chauncey Burch thought he was building a town and named it Alexis, but when the railroad came through it missed Alexis but it later became Alexis Township. (Some notes tell that it was Pepperville first). For a time, a Pony Express route connecting Lincoln with the Union Pacific at Columbus, came through Alexis. In 1874 an immigration map of the State of Nebraska, approved by the State Board of Immigration, shows the Union Pacific Railroad and the Post Offices in Nebraska. These towns in Butler County are: Ensworth, Savannah, Linwood, Ulysses, Urban Cottonwood, Summit, David City and Alexis. In 1878, the Postmaster General of U. S., David M. Key, appointed Chauncey Burch Postmaster at Alexis.
   Two more sons were born here in Nebraska, Chester Chauncey and Luman Howard. Daniel, Belle, and Chester remained in Butler County. Fred lived in Weeping Water and at Omaha and Luman at Everett, Wash.
   Chauncey Burch, a leading citizen of Alexis precinct for many years, held many offices, justice of the peace, assessor, and school director as well as counsellor for many a newcomer and those seeking advice, for he was a self-made man, having once taught school and for many years in the mercantile business. He ran a livery stable and was an

avid trader.
   They later bought more land to the south to add to their original 80 acres. In September, 1877 they bought the land now owned and farmed by their great-grandson, Burch O. Fenstemaker. In 1890 they built the big house which still stands on the corner. In 1889 Chauncey and Adeline's eldest son, Daniel and Mindora Mabey of Amboy, Ill., were married and moved into the big house and his parents moved into a new home in Bellwood. He sold the contents of his store to Jessie D. Bell. Chauncey was also Postmaster of Bellwood for four years. He was a public spirited man and took a keen interest in the upbuilding of the community.
   Forest Newkirk, whose wife, Gladys, is a granddaughter of Chauncey and Adeline Burch, recalls as a boy when he lived in Bellwood, of "Chauncey Burch, dressed in a cut-away coat, a checkered vest and striped pants, chasing his chickens, with his flowing beard streaming back over his shoulders." He also recalls, "Adeline Burch, telling of the early days on the prairie and sometimes at night at the supper table they looked up to see Indian faces pressed against the glass windows, looking in. They were simply curious and were timid and friendly. Adeline's greatest pleasure during reclining years was a family gathering each year on her birthday, January 1, which her children and grandchildren helped her celebrate. This would be their Christmas! "
   Of their children, Chester (1871-1943) and Clara Belle (1868-1917), neither married.
   Luman (1875-1947) and wife Lulu (1875-1959) had 3 children, Irma (1912-1937), Francis and Mrs. Murilla Albin.
   Frederick (1870-1949), and wife Jennie (Renwick) (1882-1965), had 3 daughters, all living. Bernice (Mrs. Fred Rush) of Sargent, Nebr., Mrs. Wilma Miller of Mt. Pleasant, Ia., and Mrs. Mae Rose of Atlantic, Ia.

   Dan and Minnie Burch and their four daughters at their Bellwood farm.

   Daniel (1863-1939) and Mindora (1868-1938) were the parents of five daughters. Adaline (Mrs. Clarence Fenstemaker 1890-1968), Ruth (Mrs. Harry Smith 1891-1973) Pearl (Mrs. Roscoe Anderson 1892-1974), Lizabelle (Mrs. Howard Davis 1894-1958), all deceased. Gladys (Mrs. Forest Newkirk), she and her husband live at Morrilton, Ark. Adaline carried mail at Bellwood on the route in a horse drawn carriage before she was married. The other four girls taught school. Ruth, Pearl and Lizabelle taught in the Bellwood Public Schools. Lizabelle taught a total of 23 years in Butler County, of which 21 years were in the Bellwood Schools. "Dan" and "Minnie" lived on this same farm until they retired from farming and moved to Bellwood, where Minnie was Postmistress for many years. At this time Daniel and Minnie had acquired most of the original land owned by his father and he in turn transferred it to his five daughters and their children have acquired it from them.
   Adaline and Clarence Fenstemaker had 4 children, Burch (wife Doris) of Fullerton, Nebr., Daniel, died at age 2, and twins, Margaret (Mrs. Jim Peden) and Clarence Marvin (wife Vernetta) all of whom live at Santa Maria, Calif.
   Ruth and Harry Smith had 1 son, Ross (wife Idabelle) of Sacramento, Calif.
   Pearl had two step children, Forest and Ross Newkirk by her marriage to George Newkirk, and two step children, John and Ruth by her second marriage to Roscoe Anderson.
   Lizabelle and Howard Davis, 1 daughter, Dorothy (Mrs. Roy Jennings) of San Luis, Obispo, Calif.
   Gladys and Forest Newkirk, one son Ralph, killed in World War II and one daughter Pearl (Mrs. Cotton Jones) of Morrilton, Ark.

   John N. Delahamet was born in Luxembourg in 1846, (he didn't know his exact birth date). His mother and father were both dead when he was nine years old. He stayed with an uncle until he was 11 years old. He went to Paris then and worked for a mason, wheeling cement to help build the 3-story buildings in Paris. When he was 18 years old, he went to work at the shipyards and got on a ship and worked his way to the U. S. by peeling potatoes. He came to Cascade, Iowa and farmed. There he met his bride, Mary Strong and was married in 1876. Mary Strong was born in Lintgen Canton, Mersch, Luxembourg, May 5, 1853. She came to the United States to Cascade, Iowa, in 1857 when she was four years old.
   J. N. Delahamet and his wife moved to Bellwood, NE in 1882 where they resided until his death. Their first baby boy died in infancy. Then Anna (Mrs. John Fohl) was born at Cascade, Iowa on February 6, 1878. She died at Bellwood on May 17, 1955. Two baby boys died. Loretta (Mrs. Nick Schmit), Catherine (Mrs. Peter Birkel) born at Cascade, Iowa, Sept. 16, 1881 and died Aug. 1945. Mary, Victor, Cyril, Margaret (deceased), Virginia (died as an infant), Cecilia, Peter, Richard, Margaret - born at Cascade, Iowa on July 3, 1881 and died Jan. 2, 1964. She was never married. She devoted her life to taking care of her parents until they died on the home place at Bellwood. Mike was born at Bellwood, NE in 1885 and lived to be 26 years old. He died on February 12,1911. Mary (Mrs. Frank Eller) was born at Bellwood on April 1, 1886 and died Aug. 19, 1959. Eight children were born to this union. First son died in infancy, Leo N. Eller, Viola, baby died in infancy, Marcella (deceased), Irene, Frank H. Eller.