HENRY AND CATHERINE GRIMM
[pg 253 PHOTO The Grimton Park farm built by George Van Kleek in
1898]
In the winter of December 1872, Henry and Catherine Grimm moved from
what is now Walker, Iowa. They were parents of 15 children, three of
whom died quite young in Iowa. One died of diphtheria in Nebraska at
four years of age.
The eleven children with parents settled at Grimton in western Knox
County on the Middle Branch of the Verdigre Creek. All that were old
enough took homesteads and timber claims. They came in a covered
wagon, led a cow, crossed the Missouri River on the ice at St.
Helena, and moved west until they reached a tributary of the
Verdigre Creek. There one of their horses, “Bill,” died so that’s
how Bill Creek was named. The other horse took them through to what
is now the Grimton area.
Their first house was a dugout in a hillside. Later a log house was
built, and the present home was built by George VanKleek in 1875.
George married Henry Grimm’s youngest daughter, Millie Philena. When
Henry died in 1895, Catherine made her home with them. George
VanKleeks were the parents of one daughter, Dollie Olive, who
married H. J. LeMasters on May 11, 1921. Jay, as he was known,
served in World War I, farming the old homestead after the marriage
to Dollie, the present owner.
After settling here, they saw no one for almost two years except
their own families. More of the settlers to come were Pattersons,
Hoovers, Metzentines, Halls, Bosses, Mixes, Groelings, Everts,
Clydes, Hamms, Burns, Hights, Boelters, Hurts, Tenneys, Blanks,
Hines, and Hamiltons.
Realizing the need for a school, the settlers erected a sod building
with a thatched roof north of the present school. The sod school was
destroyed by prairie fire. The first teacher was Ralph Orlen Newell
and some who followed were G. H. Phelps, M. W. Morgan, Henry Verink,
Cora Tenney, J. H. Kirkpatrich and Charles Carpenter, a son-in-law
of Henry Grimms. The school was also used for church gatherings.
As people came west, many stayed in the Grimm home until they had
homes of their own. Diphtheria also came, so a cemetery site was
needed. The Grimton Cemetery, also named “Walnut Grove Cemetery,”
had its first burial in 1877. Willie F. Bright, eight years, was the
first, followed by two more children the next year.
Gene Persons had a general store; Charles and Fred Carpenter, a
hardware store, and Dr. Hoover, a drugstore. Mr. Hight had a
blacksmith shop and David Grimm, a mill on his homestead, which
later was Oak View Park.
David’s son, Charlie, was the fist white child born in the locality.
The settlers suffered through many hardships such as Indian scares,
prairie fires, the blizzard of 1888, grasshoppers, and years of
drought.
Henry Grimm did a great deal of work in Niobrara, walking home
carrying groceries or a sack of flour on his back. He also helped
Texas cattle cross the river into South Dakota. With money earned,
he bought one ox that did the first plowing on the homestead.
The end of this family came with the death of F. W. Grimm on
November 9, 1959, at Lynch, Nebraska, at the age of 93 years.
-Submitted by Mrs. Max (Vivienne) LeMasters
-Written by Dollie O. LeMasters
(who both live on the old homestead)
Pages
253, 254
