Bertrand J. Stover

and the Poole Stovers

..by Rod Stover, grandson

   I didn't know my grandfather Bert.  He died before I was born.  No one who knew him had a great deal to say about him.  He was an invalid for four years before his death; perhaps that recent memory had something to do with the relative silence.

   Bertrand J. Stover was born 22 June, 1876, in Racine, Wisconsin, the fourth child and only son of Albert J. Stover and Elizabeth Ann Lucas.  Albert J. Stover homesteaded in Buffalo County, Cedar Township, Nebraska, when Bert was but a child, about two years old.

   There is little mention of Bert in his youth.  The A.J. Stovers were neighbors to the Claytons and the Ewers and the Carpenters in Cedar Township.

  Early labors other than on the farm included railroad construction, as there is a Cavalry sword that Bert found while working railroad; now (1999) in the hands of V. Todd Stover.

   A story told by Allen J. Stover in a letter of 1976, although not about Bert, but probably heard from his Dad, Bert:
   "Cyril Carpenter... was about six-foot-two or three, a large raw-boned man with red (sandy) hair and I guess that in his prime wasn't a man to antagonize.  My Dad told of being in a saloon in Alliance in the early 1900's (I believe that the two of them were working for the railroad) when some guy with too many drinks got up on a chair and announced that 'he could lick any blankety-blank so-and-so in the crowd.'  Someone asked Cyril if he was going to take that and Cyril said 'He ain't talking to me.'"
   While on Cyril tales,  Allen went on to relate:  "Cyril professed to be a Seventh Day Adventist so that he always managed to cultivate his corn in front of the church at Majors on Sunday, swearing at his horses loud enough to be heard."
   [included due to similarities to the pranks of A.J. Stover - rrs]
 

   About 1905, Bert and neighbor Earl Clayton sought adventure in the west.

from the Albert J. Stover biography:

   Bert Stover and Earl Clayton traveled some of the Western States in 1905 and got at least as far as St. Johns, Washington, where the Wagners had relocated. Both Bess Wagner and her brother Roy remembered their visit. They even remembered the names of the horses that Bert and Earl rode - Mable and Buck!  Roy remembered a lever-action rifle they carried.  Bert and Earl had come part way by train, then purchased horses for the remainder of the trip. Bess said they arrived dirty, hairy and unkempt.
   They told of stopping at a farm somewhere for provisions, where they offered to pay for some vegetables. They were such a sight that the housewife slammed the door on them and told them to take what they needed and leave.
    Bert and Earl helped the Wagners with their harvest in 1905, then went back to Montana to find work in the mines. One of the horses was killed on the return trip when it fell off the trail into a canyon.  Earl died in a mine near Butte, Montana in July of 1906.  Roy Wagner said that Earl was the only one who didn't survive when the miners encountered gas.... he was the last one to go to safety and was found at the base of the ladder that led the rest of the men out of the mine.
    A.J. wrote to Bert while he was with the Wagners in August, 1905, urging a visit to Portland giving detailed directions for taking the streetcar from downtown Portland.  According to Dorothy Stover Rodehorst, Bert did visit Portland in 1907.

  Bert and May took up residence in Poole about the same time as May's parents, Joe and Rosa Clayton. Bert bought the blacksmith shop and became the village "smithy." Dave Ludwig indicated that Bert and Ernest were in business together. [Ernest Clayton was May & Earl's younger brother; Ludwig is a grandson of Ernest] Bert was active in Village government, and at one time served as Marshall of Poole.
His father-in-law, Joseph Clayton was a long-time mayor of Poole, and the Claytons were an integral part of Stover family life.  [See the Joseph Clayton biography.]

From Dorothy Stover Rodehorst, Dec., 1976:

   "Mom was no outdoor person... Mom went along when we went on our many camping trips, cooking marvelous meals, but definitely staying away from the water.  Dad taught us all how to swim at an early age.  He also built playground equipment as trapeezes, etc.  All the kids played in the back yard - I mean at least half the town of 25 kids.  They all had permission from their parents (of course) and I don't know how mom kept track of the time board.

...insert by Rod Stover...

   Bert was apparently an original Scout Master. I remember a Boy Scout manual (and wonder where it is).

...more from Dorothy Stover:

  Dad played and sang 2 or 3 times a week in Winter.  He knew hundreds of songs.

...from Robert LeRoy Stover, July, 1972: ..hearing Burl Ives recordings reminded him of his father.

...Dorothy continues... Mom read adult type books (In those days, one could) to us children.  This gave us a lopsided sort of learning as no one else's parents read to them.  We were familiar with Carpenter's 'Around the World Series,' Rex Beach, J.O. Curwood, Zane Grey, etc.
   Dad raised a big garden in which we kids were expected to hoe & pick stuff.  He closed his shop about 6:30 and was soon in the garden.  He liked to try new things.  He had a complete overhead irrigation rigged.
   He built an electric lighting system so we had a 32 volt system long before electricity came to town.  However, the bulbs were of low voltage & woe to the one of us who forgot a light."

...insert by Rod Stover...
   The Stover and Clayton households had running water thanks to Bert's ingenuity; the two-story "wash-house," about 12' x 12', had a tank in the upper story, at least six feet in diameter and about eight feet high, that was fed from the nearby windmill. The arrangement allowed running water for both households. The Stover home had a septic tank, and there was a "water closet" tucked in under the stairway to the attic or bedroom for some of the kids. The water system was connected to the kitchen stove to provide hot water for the bath, fired by coal, wood, or corn cobs.

From a letter from Allen J. Stover, Nov., 1976:

   "I think that we had the only 'modern' house in town. Dad being a plumber blacksmith, had put a 'force pump' on the windmill which pumped the water up into a sixty or 70 gallon tank up in the attic, so we had a bathtub, stool and hot water tank which was hooked up to the kitchen stove. The stove had a 'water front' in it so that when you had a fire in the stove, water circulated through the water front and back into the hot water tank."

From a letter from Glenn C. Stover, Nov., 1976:

   "...Yes, there was a water tank in the attic of the house - I don't know what happened to it - but, I remember it. ...No, the tank in the bathroom was a hot water tank which was heated by the kitchen stove. Pressure was provided by the tank in the wash house - there must have been some sort of a valve on the tank in the attic to keep it from overflowing."

   I did not know him well, but my memory of him was of a young boy, perhaps seven or eight years old, accompanying his mother, May Stover, and his sister, Wilma, on a daily walk to the Post Office at Poole.
   In the past I have mentioned that living in a small community can have its bits of heaven and its bits of hell.  Perhaps no one knows this better than Roy.
...
   I have often wondered what kinds of verbal stings Roy may have suffered.  Roy was a bright boy with a slight case of cerebral palsy, which made it impossible for him to fully control his body. As he walked with his mother and his sister his arms flailed and his head and face were somtimes contorted.  It seemed to me that two block walk each way must have been a real struggle for him.
   But I did not know how he felt about it.  I did not have the good judgement to talk with him and find out how he felt. But I have wondered about him many times since I have been away from Poole.
   Now he writes to me, and tells me he graduated from the Poole School, then went on to Kearney where he graduated from high school.  Strictly on his own volition he went to a bakery owner and approached him for work after he finished high school.  The man gave him a job, and appreciated his diligence at doing work given him to do.
   Roy felt he had to get away from the area to prove his ability to succeed.  He saved his money and first went to a school in Wisconsin where he could learn how best to live with his disability.  He was able to work there assisting others more disabled than he.  Here he met a young woman bound to a wheel chair due to infantile paralysis.  They were married.
   Roy's wife was from Ohio, so they moved there nearer her parents.  He found work as a custodian for a church that had 1400 members.  No small job!
   His plan was to have a job, buy a house, have a family, and live as normal a life as possible.  I applaud his courage and his stamina, for he accomplished all of these.  ..... Oh, and he was able to get his driver's license at age 40!  What a lesson in courage!  Today I salute Roy Stover who accomplished his dream in spite of odds that could easily have stopped a lesser man.

   Charles 'Chick' Tillson knew the Stovers all his life.  Chick grew up on a farm on a hill overlooking the South Loup one mile west of Poole.  I was fortunate to have opportunities to visit with him several times around 2002, starting with Chick's help in identifying students in a 1935 photo of Poole School; the following are from notes and recollections of those conversations.

   Chick's father, Walter 'Bub' Tillson, would help Bert at the blacksmith shoeing horses when he returned from service in WW I (a craft he learned in service) and frequently had lunch with the Stovers in Poole. Chick called the Stover home "Dad's second home."  Bert always called Walter by his formal name, never 'Bub.'  'Pat' and 'Dot' Stover (Glenn and Dorothea) were Bub's favorites.  Bub and Maude were regular customers of Pat's Store well into the 1950s.

   Roy Stover was a school mate and good friend of Chick. Chick knew well Roy's determination, frustrations and temper.
   Bert worked on windmills and would wear a safety rope. One of the boys, including Roy, would accompany him on service calls.
   Glenn also spent a lot of time at Tillsons, as well as a local gang including 'Friday' Hanna, Earl Hanna, and Butch Halloway.
   Glenn worked for Walter for 75 cents a day.  Chick remembered the day that Glenn let a horse get tangled in the implement tongue (while mowing or raking); the horse stepped on it and broke it.  Glenn lamented that he wasn't worth the 75 cents a day, but fashioned a replacement tongue out of a tree branch and continued working.  Chick commented on Glenn's character; he was serious and quiet.

   Chick recalled Walter's enjoyment of a story about Keith.  Keith and Glenn apparently farmed the sandy plot just west of Poole.  One day, Keith was headed across that ground or picking corn in a wagon pulled by mules.  He spotted a prairie chicken or pheasant , grabbed his shotgun, stood up and took a shot.  That spooked the mules and they took off. Keith toppled into the wagon and was tangled in the 'span chain' (that kept a wagon full of grain from bowing out) while the mules galloped on.  Chick had no recollection of the fate of the bird, but rather that Walter enjoyed the story over and over.

   ... more by Rod Stover, from wisps of memories, and taking license... just telling it like I think it is, or was. There aren't too many left who can claim I'm wrong and their numbers are dwindling:

   Keith is another story that I wish I could tell first-hand.  Very little biographical information was shared and none of it positive.  He was a fun loving rascal, a first-born rebel, a problem child, and later referrred to by some a "black sheep."  At age 14, he farmed part of the Clayton place, or A.L. Ewer's 40 Acres in the same section.  He and Glenn also farmed near Poole.  One antic that I remember hearing of is that he and his buddies (Friday Hanna?) would shoot cans off each other's heads on the main street of Poole. And that he would open beer bottles with his teeth.  And that Glenn was his booze runner, less likely to be stopped for inspection.  And that he bought a truck for business but defaulted on the debt; others in the family had to bail him out.  Tommy Mahoney would only say: "He had that truck, but he drank too much."

  Gram May never had much to say about Keith except a "Tsk, tsk."  Keith left his first wife, Lucille, about the time that Larry was born, and May remained bitter about the breakup, clearly blaming Keith.  Keith worked as a welder in Grand Island during World War II, an essential war time job.  He also lived in Kearney, and finally in Hastings, Nebraska.  I don't remember that Keith ever visited Poole.  Well, maybe once.

    ...but, from Bette Ewer Hinz, June, 1976: "Mama and I always thought that Keith was favored much too much but I'm sure they didn't realize it.

  Gram May was very fond of Keith's son, Larry, who was raised as a Moritz in Ravenna. (Larry was mostly out of touch with Nebraska Stovers for most of his life; he died in Torrington (?), Wyoming in 2004)

  Keith's funeral was in Hastings. The procession returned to Buffalo County for burial in a fierce blizzard. So fierce that the burial was postponed. A few days later, Keith was buried at Majors, oddly near his infant son's grave and his first wife's plot. The weather was still bad, and some noisy cows joined the interment services. Gram May commented to the effect that Keith was a problem all his life (her words may have been stronger than that; will have to check with Dick Pracher) and a problem in death. Keith would probably have enjoyed her remark.

    ...further comments by Rod Stover, arm-chair psychologist and taking further license...

   My father, Glenn Stover, never expressed any admiration for his Dad. Being an eldest child, I think I can understand. Glenn possibly was caught in an uncomfortable situation between his rebel older brother, Keith, and his younger brother, Allen, and had to shoulder the expectations of the eldest. There were times when it wasn't fair; a rare recollection that Dad shared: He returned from farming on a hot day, suffering exhaustion and near sun-stroke. He sprawled in the yard and begged that Allen or someone put away the team. His father, Bert, was not sympathetic and harshly insisted that it was his responsibility, and to get up and tend to the horses. Sorry for the negative notes, but not all was bliss.

   Times were tough in the late 1930's. Bert's health failed, there were financial difficulties. May Stover worked as Poole School cook and also took on the role of PostMaster of the Poole Post Office in Glenn's absence. On December 9th, 1939, May Clayton paid ten years of back taxes on the home in Poole; $295.27 including interest and advertising. (for sale of back taxes?).

    ...from Bette Ewer Hinz:

  "Bert was always busy and a good provider for his family, so in his last years when he couldn't make an income any more, May said he became very depressed and would sit and cry because he considered himself to have become a useless burden to her - that is probably the reason she didn't talk too much about him - as you surmised, the memory of those last years was too painful and perhaps it was also painful to recall the happy years in contrast to the sad ones."

  Brother V. Todd has a tool that Bert used to make rag rugs. Gram May told him that Bert would stay busy for hours and days staying busy with rug making.

  The illness wasn't anything in particular; according to Glenn, Dr. Ehlers said that Bert was just "worn out." Bert passed away in 1940.

    From the "Ravenna News:"

Prominent Poole
Resident Passes
B.J. Stover Was Business
Man Since 1909 In That Village

   Bertrand J. Stover, for many years a business man at Poole and well-known throughout this commuinity, died at his home after a lingering illness, Sunday, March 2, being 63 years of age at the time. Mr. Stover was born in Racine, Wis., on June 23, 1876. He came to Nebraska with his parents, while still an infant and the family settled on a farm near Cedar Creek, Nebr. There he grew to manhood and has since lived in that community with the exception of a few years spent in Alliance and on the west coast. He was united in marriage with Miss May Clayton, at Kearney, on Jan. 14, 1909. The young couple moved to Poole where Mr. Stover ran a blacksmith shop for many years after. To this union were born six children, all of whom survive him.
   He had been in poor health for over six years, and almost an invalid for the past four years. The surviving members of the family include his wife and children: Sons, Allen of Kearney, Keith of Chester, Glenn and Roy of Poole; daughters, Mrs, R.J. Rodehorst of Pleasanton and Wilma of Poole. Also surviving are one sister, Mrs. Charles Sitz of Kearney, four grandchildren and several neices and nephews.
   Funeral services were held on Tuesday afternoon, with Rev. R. H. Chenoweth of the Methodist church in charge. Interment was in the Majers cemetery south of Poole.
 

    ...from Bette Ewer Hinz:  "At Bert's funeral, the minister said 'his widow has born testimony to me that in all the years of their marriage there have been no cross or angry words exchanged.' I know they always seemed happy and at peace with each other and in agreement as to raising their family."

     ...a letter to May from Homer McConnell dated August 8, 1940:  "Bert's death was a shock to us all. I know he is better off since apparently nothing could be done for him and he suffered so all the time. It was so hard to see him so helpless when he had been so strong. I always think of Bert when I hear 'Red River Valley' and 'My Little Quadroon' over the radio. I think of his camping trips as a young man when we are camped among the pines, or out on lonely trails, or fishing in the tumbling trout streams and in the evening by our campfire under the stars. Bert played a big part in every McConnell kid's life up to Mickey at least. I shall never forget him.

  Glenn indicated that two life insurance policies, who's premiums had been discontinued, turned out to be good. Gram May wished that Bert had known that before he died; he would have been less concerned about the financial situation.

A reunion of Bert's grandchildren in the Fall of 1944 at May Stover's in Poole: Standing are Rodehorsts (Dorothy's); Nancy, Margaret, Richard, Ida Lou and Jim. Seated; Glenda Stover (Allen's), Rodney Stover (Glenn's), Larry Stover (Keith's) and Kathleen Rodehorst.

  The little white house is still around; in the hands of Glenda Stover Prascher, near Riverdale.