THE BATES FAMILY
Jno (John) Brown Bates, born in Hillsdale, Michigan, on February 15,
1860, was the son of Rufus and Mary Bates. He was the seventh of ten
children.
After finishing grade school in Hillsdale, he attended Brian
Teacher’s College and taught for several years in schools in
Montpelier, Ohio, and Brian, Ohio. He then attended the Keokuk,
Iowa, Medical College and received his degree on February 29, 1889.
He traveled west and located in Long Pine, Nebraska, to practice
medicine. Dr. Nye, Dr. Burrell, and Dr. Bates had all attended the
Keokuk Medical School. Dr. Nye located in Plainview, Nebraska. Dr.
Burrell located in Creighton, Nebraska, and Dr. Bates came to
Verdigre.
After Dr. Bates received his degree, he located for a short time in
Page, Nebraska. Here he met and married Mary E. Johnson who came via
covered wagon from Mineral, Illinois, to Long Pine, Nebraska. The
following year they moved to Page, Nebraska. The Johnsons returned
to their farm in Illinois.
Mary E. Johnson and Dr. Bates were married in O’Neill, Nebraska on
November 26, 1890. The following year they located in Verdigre. They
had two children, Cleo Walter, born July 28, 1893, and Mildred
Nadine, born January 10, 1898.
Cleo completed the eleventh grade in the Verdigre school and
finished the twelfth grade in Sheffield, Illinois, living with an
aunt. He graduated in 1917 from the University of Nebraska College
of Engineering. Cleo served in World War II and attained the rank of
Captain at Fort Meyer, Virginia.
Cleo and Marion Greene of Des Moines, Iowa, were married in the
Methodist Church at Omaha on December 2, 1932. Cleo worked with the
Iowa State Road Commission and the Federal Aviation Board and from
1946-1960 with the Pan American Highway in Costa Rica. Upon
retirement, Cleo and Marion returned to their home in Riverside,
California. Cleo passed away January 5, 1972, and is buried in the
Verdigre Riverside Cemetery.
Nadine Bates graduated from Verdigre high School in 1915 and then
attended the University of Nebraska. She taught in Verdigre , was
junior high principal at Bloomfield, taught junior high at Nebraska
City, and then high school at Verdigre.
Harley Nelson and Nadine Bates were married May 28, 1928, in the
Presbyterian Church at Sioux City, Iowa.
They lived in Valentine, Nebraska, where Harley operated a tire shop
and Nadine taught in Crookston. Following the death of Dr. Bates,
Harley and Nadine operated the Bates Store in Verdigre until 1973.
Harley and Nadine reside on the lots purchased by Dr. Bates from
George Quimby in 1902. The original home was sold and moved, and
another home was erected there.
Page 197
