Short Biography of Joseph H. Stambaugh

Joseph Stambaugh and Catherine Zimmerman were married in Mar. 1849 in the Lutheran church of their native town of Williamsburg Pa. They at once went to their little farm at Bering Mich. Here Mr. Stambaugh engaged in farming and at odd times worked in the wagon factory. They built a lovely home amid lovely surroundings and had plenty of everything, and here too, three children were born. Now in the town, townfolks were talking about the great rich plains of the Nebraska Territory that was now open for settlement. It stirred the adventurous spirit of Joseph Stambaugh, and at once he began looking for a buyer for his Mich. farm. Twas done, and at once they equipped the wagon for the long trek to the golden west where a man could have all the land he wanted for very little money. A plow and garden tools were fastened on the outside of the wagon and bags of seed swung from the bows inside. The two stout oxen were hitched to the wagon and they started. The mother supressed her regrets for the home she was leaving, and with faith believing planned another home in the west. The journey was long and tedious. They made many stops and Mr. Stambaugh, being a carpenter, done many a paying jobs, which added much to the comfort of the family for days ahead. Traveling was new and exciting so long as civilization marked the trail; but when the towns and farms became further apart and the days grew shorter, the novelty of a home in the west began to loose its fancy. There were roads in Ill. and Ind. that made travelling smooth, but Iowa's hills and roadless soft clay was exasperating, even to the oxen who demanded hours of rest in lush green pasture. Then they were ready to go again. At such intervals Mr. Stambaugh would take his shotgun and hunt wild game. The family would enjoy an outdoor cooked meal - wild game and wild fruit was plentiful. They crossed the rivers on ferry boats and forded the shallow streams. The last river to be crossed on a ferry boat was the Mo. river just east of Nebr. City. When they stepped off of the boat and rested a little while on Nebr. soil Mother Stambaugh indulged in a flood of homesick tears and one backward look towards the east that she'd never know again. Then gathering the three children to her she helped them into the wagon and they were off on the last stretch of their long journey. Fourteen miles a day was the greatest distance travelled if the weather was fair. Nebr. City was 12 years old now and could boast a courthouse, a school, a church and a hotel, numerous cabins and shacks were scattered far out over the hills. The family could have located here, but no, the surroundings didn't meet up with the dreams of this pioneer. Two - three days more the oxen plodded, succesions of hills, upland and lowland. Then down in gullies and muddy creek bottoms to come again a way that was level as a floor. Once in a while they would camp at night beside a spring-fed stream edged with willows and cottonwood, elder and ash. A few miles further west they forded Salt Creek and drove a short distance to stop for the night and for good, on what is now Silver Street in Ashland and Julius Olsens property. The grass was tall and green and Mr. Stambaugh took his scythe the next day and cut enough for two stacks of cured hay. This was the 4th day of Oct. 1856. With a sense of pride for something acheived and faith in himself he said, "this is the land of my dreams; acres and acres of fertile farm land and almost for the taking. This shall be our home." He at once set about preparing a shelter for the family; soon other pioneer settlers came and were heartily welcomed. There was security and help in numbers. The Pawnee Indians were numerous but didn't molest the white settlers anymore than to frighten the women folks, and steal anything they could carry off. The baby of this family was a boy with shiny red curls, so unusual was this child that the Indians tried to trade for him. They came back day after day bringing beads and skins of animals they had skinned to tempt Mother Stambaugh into a trade. This put fear in the hearts of the family and they were ever on the watch for these designing neighbors. Mr. Stambaugh took advantage of every offer that the government made the new settlers of Nebr. territory and at last owned many acres. Nebr. became a state in 1867 - Omaha was a land center with a population of 100. The new comers went to Omaha to "prove up" on their land rights. Logs were cut for their building down along the Platte River, walnut and red cedar. Stone was hauled from the hills over by Salt Creek for fireplaces and outdoor ovens and foundations for cellars. The settlers eagerly helped in all civic affairs for the building of a town, for schools and churches and R. R. facilities. Ashland is the answer to these wishes and work and effort. Granchildren and Great Grandchildren now enjoy what these persevering pioneers done in their new found state.

Source: "Stanley Family Data" ¹⁰

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PART 1: First Settlers and Early History

About the middle of August, 1856, Mr. Joseph Stambaugh, in company with Mrs. Stambaugh and their three little children, with all their earthly possessions in a farm wagon drawn by a single pair of horses, set out to find a home in the great Northwest; but, after journeying about one hundred miles into Iowa, and meeting some friends, they were persuaded to turn their steps to Nebraska. In eighteen days they reached the Missouri, crossing at Plattsmouth. A few miles away from the river, and all traces of the settlers had disappeared, only a broad expanse of rolling, billowy prairie as far as the eye could reach. They continued up the trail, reaching Saline Ford on the evening of September 6. The next morning they crossed the ford and camped in the deserted building erected by the speculators. They remained but one month, and Mr. Stambaugh explored the country, and selected a favorable spot to locate, and started for Plattsmouth October 8.

In March, 1857, Mr. Warbritton, in company with Joseph Stambaugh and his hired man, Mr. John Aughe, left Plattsmouth and came to the ford. Mr. Warbritton took up a claim on Section 34, Town 13, Range 9; Mr. Stambaugh on Section 35. Mr. Aughe made a similar claim upon Section 35. During this time, Messrs. Warbritton and Aughe broke the first ground in Saunders County, with which to build them a sod house. They also aided Mr. Stambaugh to build a like home. These pioneer dwellings were all located upon Section 35. The dimensions of Messrs. Warbritton and Aughe's were 10x12 feet; that of Mr. Stambaugh's seventeen feet square.

PART 6: Ashland: Biographical Sketches

JOSEPH STAMBAUGH, farmer and stock raiser, Section 35, Clear Creek Precinct, P. O. Ashland, was born in York County, Pa., March 12, 1823. Is a son of John and Catherine Stambaugh, who were old settlers of Pennsylvania. His mother died in 1858, at an advanced age, and his father died at the age of eighty-seven years. In the year 1842, he left his dear old home, at the age of nineteen years, and came to Ohio, where he started to work at the carpenter trade, in Darke, until the fall of 1845, then went to Michigan, Berrien County, where he continued his carpenter work, and also the wagon making business, which he followed until the fall of 1855, then moved to Fulton County, Ill., where he remained until August, 1856, then moved with his family to Nebraska, and landed at Salt Creek Ford, September 6, 1856, which is now a part of Saunders County, where he lived but one month, and then moved his family back to Cedar Island, and staid all winter, and returned in the spring of 1857, in April, and made some improvement on the claim he had made in the fall of 1856, then returned for his family the first of May, and has made his home there since. He made the first claim in Saunders County. Was married April 14, 1850, in Berrien County, Mich., to Miss Catherine Zemmerman, who was born in Schuylkill County, Pa., September 30, 1832. They have ten children living, viz.: Deliah A., Mary J., George W., John A., Ella R., Emma L., Lorenzo G., Melissa Josephine, Rosa M. and Randolph H.

PART 1: First Settlers and Early History

PART 6: Ashland: Biographical Sketches

Source: "History of the State of Nebraska" ⁶